39. The Indian Munchausen

39. THE INDIAN MUNCHAUSEN (74)

A man was sitting down wishing he had deer, turkeys, and other kinds of game, so he thought, "I will go hunting," and he started off. While he was walking about in the pine woods he was about to shoot

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a turkey on a broken pine when he heard a noise lower down and thought, "What causes that noise?" As he sat watching he saw that it was a deer and thought to himself, "How can I manage to kill both?" He pointed his gun first at the turkey and when he discharged it he dropped the muzzle and hit both.

Then he went to get the deer and laid it down but could not find the turkey, and while hunting about he thought, "It might have fallen into a hole in this tree." He climbed up and when he reached the top and looked he found a hole. He put his legs in, holding to the top of the tree with his hands, and felt about with his feet, and he thought something was lying below, so he let go his hold. His feet struck the turkey, which had lodged close to the top, and it went down inside while he followed, scraping along the sides. He stood upon the bottom. When he picked up the turkey and laid it on his shoulder there were some bear cubs sitting by it which he put into the breast of his shirt. It was dark where he stood and he thought, "How shall I get out?" He stuck his knife into the tree and lifted himself by it, but when he pulled it out to get another hold he would fall back.

After he had been in that place for a while the old bear came down backward. He caught it on one side and stuck his knife into its thigh and it pulled him out. When he got out at the top he stabbed the bear in the neck and cut its throat. He threw it down along with the turkey and the two cubs. Then he got down himself and gathered them together.

Going along from that place the hunter saw a turtle sitting on a log lying near the other bank of a creek. He wanted that also, so he drew his bow and shot an arrow at it. As he did so a fish jumped out of the water and the arrow went through it. It also passed through the turtle. Then he went to get them, but after he had brought the fish and turtle back he missed his arrow and went to search for it. Presently he found it sticking into a tree. When he tried to pull it out it was hard work, so he put his foot against the tree, and this time when he pulled it came out so easily that he fell upon his back. In doing so he landed upon a covey of quail and killed them. Presently he looked at the tree into which he had shot and saw honey flowing out. He hunted for something with which to stop the flow and caught a rabbit by the foot which he struck against the tree and killed. When he again hunted for something he pulled off the head of one of his quails and stopped the hole with that. Then he cut the tree down.

Next he slipped off the skin of his deer and put the honey into it. He collected all of it in one place. "How shall I carry everything home?" he thought, and presently he reflected, "I had better make a

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sled," so he made a sled. After he had finished it he lacked a harness, so he got a cowhide which he had soaking in water, and cut it up. When he got through he harnessed a horse and hitched him to the sled. He put on the sled the deer, the bear, the turkey, the rabbit, the turtle, the fish, the quails, and the honey, and started along leading the horse. As he went on he thought that the sled was dragging behind but when he got home and turned to look back it was sitting where he had left it. "Now," thought he, "I wonder what will happen when the harness dries," so he tied his horse behind the house and sat down. As the skin dried it drew up into a ball and brought the sled home.