16. The Hunter and the Tie-Snake

16. THE HUNTER AND THE TIE-SNAKE (26)

A man went hunting one summer. He killed a deer and carried it along on his back. On the way he got very hot and coming to a pond he went in swimming. While he was sitting in the water he felt something against his hip and looking down he saw something blue lying there. He tried to get out of the water but the creature held him tight and he could do nothing. It began to drag him in and he seized a thick bush, but in vain. It kept on dragging him. It was carrying him toward a big pond. But when he was very near it his body caught against a big drift of logs and the creature left him and went into the water, while the man ran off.