The Lake of the Sky eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 436 pages of information about The Lake of the Sky.

The Lake of the Sky eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 436 pages of information about The Lake of the Sky.
Just then the old Moon came tramping up, and the whole sky trembled.  The people on earth said it was thundering.  He grabbed the two girls by their hair and shaking them till they were almost dead, he hurled them down through the hole.
Down, down, they went, straight down to where their old grandfather was walking along, little suspecting what was coming.  They both hit him and, coming as they did with such force, they made a deep hole in the earth in which they were almost buried.
That hole is over by Gardnerville.  In that hole Indians can always find plenty of wild-grub—­wild-wheat, wild potato, wild acorn—­plenty there.  Snow very deep.  No difference.  Always plenty wild grub there.  I see that hole.  I believe that story!

    THE ORIGIN OF THE DIFFERENT INDIAN TRIBES

Long, long ago, away over in Paiuti-land there were some young boys and girls playing.  They played all sorts of games, but they liked hand-ball best.  And as they played, they sang songs of gladness.
There was one old woman, their grandmother, who would not play with them.  She had a little baby, her youngest grandchild, whom she was trying to quiet, but the little one cried and cried continuously.

    By-and-by the old woman heard a noise outside.  She was
    frightened and called to the young folks.  “Some one’s coming! 
    You better stop!  Better hide!  Maybe Evil One, devil, coming!”

    But the young folks paid no attention to her warning.  They
    kept on playing harder than ever.  The old woman covered the
    baby with a big basket and hid her own face in her shawl.

Then the Evil One came in.  All the young folks turned to see who was coming in and as soon as they looked upon his face they fell dead.  Only the old woman and the baby were left; for the Evil One did not see them.

    When he was gone, the old woman snatched up the baby and
    hurried off down to the river.  As she was hurrying along she
    met an old man.

“Where are you going?” said he.  Then the old woman saw that it was the Evil One himself.  She was afraid but she did not want him to know it.  She kept the baby covered in the basket and answered, “I’m going to the river to get wild potatoes!”

    “Where are all the girls?” asked the Evil One.

    “Oh, they are all over behind the big mountain, playing ball!”

    The Evil One went off to find them, because he thought there
    were still some left, and the old woman quickly dug a big hole
    and hid herself and the baby away in it.

When the Evil One found that the old woman had told him a lie, he was very angry.  He came back and hunted all day long till sundown for her that he might kill her.  But he could not find any trace of her.  He finally went home and then the old woman took the baby and hid on the top of a big rock, over near where Sheridan now is.

    In the morning the Evil One came back to hunt further, but
    without success.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Lake of the Sky from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.