Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 6 1888.djvu/206

198 the forest, and she replied, pointing to the youngest, "When that girl was a baby; but the animal is not a bear, it is a man."

"She is a foolish old woman. She does not know a bear from a man," said the nephew to himself. "I know it is a bear's track, and I will follow it."

In his journeying he reached another house, and saw an old man, and asked, "When did the great bear go past?" And the man answered, "That is the track of your own uncle who went past. He made the track to catch your attention. He will be glad to see you. I moved into this house when he made the track that I might have this oil to eat on my corn-bread."

"I know it is a bear's track and not a man's," muttered the boy to himself.

He continued to follow the great track, and in a few hours reached another house where the track seemed to end. Near the house there was a deep ravine, and not far off a lake.

Stopping at the door, he asked, "When did the great bear go past? I am after him, and am going to shoot him."

The man in the house said, "My nephew, you have at last come home and I am glad. I made that track when you were a little boy. I made it and filled it with oil to catch your mind and lead you home. That old man who told you not to go to the north stole you away from this house when you were twelve moons old. I wanted to show you the way home, so I made the track. The old man will come for you, but he shall not have you. I will command my house to become a stone house, and he cannot hurt you."

The old man in the wilderness wondered what had become of the boy. He feared that his orders were disobeyed, and that the boy had found the track. So he started very early in the morning to look him up. He saw the boy's track near the track of the bear. "Yes, my nephew has surely found out why I told him not to go to the north; I will follow him. But first I will change into a grizzly bear, and he will see me and be afraid, and I can catch him." The old man accordingly turned into a bear and started on the run. Reaching the