Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 30.djvu/384

 determined to stay awake all night and go forth earliest in the morning to get the longest bow. He took extraordinary pains to keep awake, but overreached himself in an excess of ingenuity, and fell asleep just before dawn. When he opened his eyes only the very shortest bow was left for him. But Kareya, pitying his weakness and disappointment, gave him cunning ten times greater than before, so that he was sharp-witted above all the animals in the wood. In return, the grateful coyote befriended The Man and his children ever afterward, doing many helpful things for them. Similarly among the Nishinam, where his history began as the evil principle, assisting at the creation, the coyote afterward turned friendly, killing two cannibal giants, procuring fire for the tribe, and doing other feats common to solar heroes the world over. He obtained fire on the plan of the monkey and the cat in the matter of roasted chestnuts—by sending after it the lizard, who, with the bat and sand-hill crane that helped him, saw some exciting adventures.

When Kareya made the fishes he did not let the salmon come up the Klamath, in consequence of which the Karok, who live on its upper part, were sorely pressed for food. But Kareya had made a great fish-dam at the mouth of the river, and given the key to two old hags to keep, who never ceased the watching even to sleep. Seeing that the Indians were nearly starved, the coyote befriended them. He made a visit to the hags on an ingenious pretext, but only succeeded so far as to find that the key was kept too high for him to reach it. He stayed all night in the cabin with the hags, pretending to sleep, but watching their movements out of a corner of his eye. In the morning one of the hags took down the key and started to get some salmon for her breakfast. Then the coyote happened to think of a way to get the key. Jumping up he darted under the hag, throwing her down and causing her to fling the key a long way off. Before she could scramble up, the coyote had seized the key and opened the dam. Thus the salmon could ascend the Klamath, and the Karok had plenty of food. But they had no fire to cook it with, because Kareya had hidden it in a casket which he gave to two sleepless hags far toward the rising sun. So the coyote promised to try to get this second boon for them.

He stationed a line of animals all along the road from the home of the Karok to the far-distant land where the fire was, the strongest near the fire, and last of all concealed an Indian under a hill. This done, the coyote insinuated himself politely into the good graces of the old guardians, and lay by their hearth all night feeling very comfortable and pretending to sleep. But he was soon convinced that without help there was no way to elude their vigilance; so in the morning he stole out and had a talk with the Indian under the hill, after which he went back and lay down by the hearth as before. Presently, as had been concerted, the Indian was heard hammering at the door, as if to