when the
next oik' ran past the Wild Boy struck its tail so that it stood straight
up. and his brother struck the next one so hard with his arrow that
the deer's tail was almost curled over his back. The deer carries his
tail this way ever since. The deer came running past until the last
one had come out of the hole and escaped into the forest. Then came
droves of raccoons, rabbits, and all the other four-footed animals — all
hut the hear, because there was no bear then. Last came great flocks
of turkeys, pigeons, and partridges that darkened the air like a (loud
and made such a noise with their wings that Kana'ti. sitting at home,
heard the sound like distant thunder on the mountains and said to him-
self. "• My bad boyshave got into trouble; T must go and see what they
are doing.-'
So he went up the mountain, and when he came to the place where
he kept the game he found the two boys standing by the rock, and all
the birds and animals were g-oue. Kana'ti was furious, but without
244 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [eth.ann.19
saving a word he went down into the cave and kicked the covers off
four jars in one corner, when out swarmed bedbugs, fleas, lice, and
gnats, and got all over the boys. They screamed with pain and fright
and tried to beat off the insects, but the thousands of vermin crawled
over them and bit and stung them until both dropped down nearly
dead. Kana'ti stood looking on until he thought they had been pun-
ished enough, when he knocked