down in that beyond country,' she said; 'no one knows what it is like-what dreadful monsters

may inhabit it. Do not go my son.

You are my all; if I should lose you I would die.'

"Then his father came in and the mother ran over to him and told him of this wild plan of their son and begged him to forbid it. The son sat silent, making no further plea; the father sat with bowed head, considering what he had heard; finally he said:

“It is for men to do things; to travel and learn what this great land is like. I think, mother, that he must go; something-something beyond our knowledge, is calling him. He may meet great dangers-he may never return-yet must he go.'

"In vain the mother cried and pleaded, the father had decided and the youth was to have his way. Therefore, she determined to do all in her power to make this venture into the unknown, easy for him. Calling to her assistance other women, with great labor they collected enough drift logs for a raft and bound them strongly together with rawhide thongs and worm-grass ropes. Then she provided food; ground corn, dried squash and other things; sacks of her store of food she placed on the raft.

"The time came for the youth to depart and his father had a last talk with him. 'You may meet a strange people away down in that unknown country,' he said, 'and if you do, a few presents to them will perhaps help you to be kindly treated. Here, my son, are four little packages of my choicest medicine, and here is a

little bag of sacred meal. Keep the meal for offerings in case of danger; give the presents to those whom you may meet in your wanderings.'

"The youth descended the great cliff, all the people following to see him start on the fearsome journey. He sat down on the raft and kindly hands pushed it out into the current. His mother, sobbing bitterly, would have followed him had she not been held; his father turned away and covered his head with his robe so that no one could witness the tears streaming from his eyes. And thus, swiftly borne by the current, the youth on his raft was swept around the bend of the stream and had really begun his journey.

"On he went, and on, with a long stick fending the raft from projecting boulders and shallow places. Several days he travelled, camping by night on the shore, seeing no one-nothing but the different kinds of game and other animals-the deer, the bighorn, the coyotes, the cougars and badgers, which were then very plentiful in the land.

"One morning as he was drifting along close to the shore, he heard someone weirdly singing. Shoving the raft hard against the sand, he stepped ashore to see who and what kind of person the singer might be. Even as he sprang off to the ground an old, old woman appeared, calling and beckoning to him. Bent with age she was, and white-haired and furrow-faced. 'Whence come you?' she asked.

""The river has called me,' he replied, 'I seek to know all about it-how far it goes-to what end-and of the country bordering it.'

"At the entrance, on top of the house in this next pueblo, to which the spider guided him, two mountain lions on guard arose and barred his way, spitting and switching their tails. These he also sprinkled with the sacred meal and they became quiet. He passed them and descended into the room. Here also he found the head men of the village assembled, engaged in offering prayers, in dancing, and singing sacred songs. And having advanced and offered the chief a present, he was made welcome. Four days he stayed there, listening to them, and then went on in turn to two other pueblos, where he listened to still different songs and prayers. At last he returned to the first pueblo and house he had visited and was more kindly welcomed than ever. The beautiful maiden waited upon him, the chief talked long and earnestly to him.

"I see,' he said, 'that you are a steady, wise young man. Therefore I am going to be good to you. These prayers and songs you have heard are all for rain, the rain that makes our corn and other things grow big and ripen. Do you think you can remember them? go back and teach them to your people.'

"The youth repeated and sang them all without one mistake, and performed the dances perfectly.

"That is well,' said the chief; 'You may now return to your home. I see that this maiden loves you, so I give her to you. All this you have learned here you must be careful to teach your wise ones, so that it may be handed down from father to son for evermore, and be the

means of bringing the rain when it is sorely needed. We, the Snake People, have learned much by long and careful study. All this is a free gift to you from us. You may depart.' "Hand in hand the young couple left the place, and, guided by the spider, came to another hole in the earth, running straight up into the blue sky and sunlight of the Upper World.

"Here the spider, descending from the youth's ear, wove a basket of strong web and drew them up in it to the faraway surface of the earth, where she bade them goodbye and disappeared in the distance.

"The youth saw the pueblo of his people; thither he led his young wife and there was great rejoicing over his return. His tales of all he had seen and learned were listened to with wonder; the songs and prayers and dances he taught were learned quickly.

"All was peace and happiness in the pueblo. Rains fell copiously. The crops were large. In honor and gratefulness for what he had done the people named the youth Eldest Brother.

"After a time the young wife conceived and gave birth-not to a child-but to a number of rattlesnakes. This was something so unheard of-so loathsome that a council was held and it was decided that the woman must be driven from the village.

""If that be done to her,' said Eldest Brother, 'then I go too.' They departed, the woman carrying her snake offspring in her bosom, and set up a little home of their own some distance from the pueblo. The snakes grew and crawled away out on the desert to live the life which was

"At the entrance, on top of the house in this next pueblo, to which the spider guided him, two mountain lions on guard arose and barred his way, spitting and switching their tails. These he also sprinkled with the sacred meal and they became quiet. He passed them and descended into the room. Here also he found the head men of the village assembled, engaged in offering prayers, in dancing, and singing sacred songs. And having advanced and offered the chief a present, he was made welcome. Four days he stayed there, listening to them, and then went on in turn to two other pueblos, where he listened to still different songs and prayers. At last he returned to the first pueblo and house he had visited and was more kindly welcomed than ever. The beautiful maiden waited upon him, the chief talked long and earnestly to him.

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"I see,' he said, 'that you are a steady, wise young man. Therefore I am going to be good to you. These prayers and songs you have heard are all for rain, the rain that makes our corn and other things grow big and ripen. Do you think you can remember them? go back and teach them to your people.'

"The youth repeated and sang them all without one mistake, and performed the dances perfectly.

"That is well,' said the chief; 'You may now return to your home. I see that this maiden loves you, so I give her to you. All this you have learned here you must be careful to teach your wise ones, so that it may be handed down from father to son for evermore, and be the