"I am going to send you above," he said. "Hitherto you have destroyed men, but when I have sent you away you shall give them cooling rain to keep them alive." So he sent them above, where they became the thunder-clouds. Proceeding on his journey, he again crossed the Great Water with a single stride, and related to the old wizard all that had happened. "I have sent the Thunder-men above, because they would not stop eating men. Have I done well?" "Very well." "I have killed the whole village where the Snake-woman was, because she had taken another husband. Have I done well?" "Very well. It was for that I gave you the sword." The youth returned to his father, and married a very beautiful woman of his own village. A Subterranean Adventure There lived in a populous village a chief who had two sons and one daughter, all of them unmarried. {293} Both the sons were in the habit of joining the hunters when they went to shoot buffaloes, and on one such occasion a large animal became separated from the herd. One of the chief's sons followed it, and when the pursuit had taken him some distance from the rest of the party the buffalo suddenly disappeared into a large pit. Before they could check themselves man and horse had plunged in after him. When the hunters returned the chief was greatly disturbed to learn that his son was missing. He sent the criers in all directions, and spared no pains to get news of the youth. "If any person knows the whereabouts of the chiefs son," shouted the criers, "let him come and tell." This they repeated again and again, till at length a young man came forward who had witnessed the accident. "I was standing on a hill," he said, "and I saw the hunters, and I saw the son of the chief. And when he was on level ground he disappeared, and I saw him no more." He led the men of the tribe to the spot, and they scattered to look for signs of the youth. They found his trail; they followed it to the pit, and there it stopped. They pitched their tents round the chasm, and the chief begged his people to descend into it to search for his son. "If any man among you is brave and stout-hearted," he said, "let him enter." There was no response. "If any one will go I will make him rich." Still no one ventured to speak. "If any one will go I will give him my daughter in marriage." There was a stir among the braves and a youth came forward. {294} "I will go," he said simply. Ropes of hide were made by willing hands, and secured to a skin shaped to form a sort of bucket.