The bones of their kindred lay scattered around. He asked where these enemies lived, and she told him that they were on the other side of the lake. Wolf-Boy wanted to take revenge on the enemies who had killed his people, and asked his grandmother for advice. She said, "You must not think of this. Poor child! You will be killed, and then I shall be all alone." He persisted in his determination, and said to his grandmother, "You must accompany me, grandmother. You are wise, and can see the whole world. You know where our enemies live. I cannot accomplish my object without you." Wolf-Boy had trained himself, under the directions of his grandmother, after the manner of his ancestors. Although still a mere lad, he had obtained great magical power, but had not revealed it to his grandmother, who still considered him an infant. The old woman told him to hollow out a log and make a place in it for her to sit in.1 This he did. He made it like a canoe. She said, "In this kind of vessel your ancestors travelled on the water." She told him to make a paddle and to sit in the stern. They embarked and crossed the lake, which was very large. Wolf-Boy lost sight of the land, and did not know which way to go. He inquired of his grandmother, who told him to take hold of her eyelashes and open her eyelids. Although she appeared to be blind and kept her eyes closed, she had extraordinary powers of vision, and could see a long ways. She looked around, and pointed out the direction they had to take. Immediately the canoe shot forward to the point to which her vision had penetrated. Whenever Wolf-Boy became tired and did not know the proper direction, he inquired of his grandmother, who always said, "Open my eyes, child." The canoe darted forward, following her glance to the utmost range of her vision. This happened four times. At last Wolf-Boy saw the opposite shores of the lake, and soon paddled ashore. Here he left his grandmother,2 telling her that he would now go and vanquish his enemies. She feared for his safety, but he assured her that he had the power to destroy them. He assumed the form of a wolf, and ran until he reached the top of a hill overlooking the village of his enemies. He saw their dwellings in the valley below. There were many lodges and many people. He reached the houses, and circled around the dwellings, drawing ever nearer. The people saw him, and said, "Look at the wolf that is running round our village!" Suddenly he disappeared, and the people saw a small cloud of fine down3 approaching one of the lodges. When it reached the smoke-hole, the house took fire. The down travelled rapidly to the other lodges, and soon the whole village was ablaze. The fire pursued and burned the people who tried to escape. When the chief saw what was happening, he ran out in haste with a large robe, and spread it on the ground near his lodge. He heaped many costly things on it, placed his four young daughters on top, and, holding his hands towards the cloud and the fire, he supplicated the mystery to stop. He said, "Chief, Have mercy on me! I will be your friend. All these presents and my daughters I give you, if you will spare us." Then the down hovered over the robe, and, descending before the chief, assumed the form of a young man. All the lodges and their people were burned, except the chief's lodge and its inmates. Wolf-Boy lived with the chief, whose daughters became his wives. Four years he lived there, and had four children born to him.4 One day the children asked their mothers about their great-grandmother. They wished to see her. The women asked their husband if he had a grandmother, and he answered, "Yes." They said, "Your children cry because they want to see her." Then he thought of his grandmother, and wondered if she were dead. He proposed to go and see her at once. They gathered together much food and necessaries for the journey, and their loads were very large and heavy. Wolf-Boy transformed the loads into small parcels, which the women could carry with ease.5 They found the old woman asleep in the canoe, and woke her up. The young women said, "She cannot see." Wolf-Boy told them that if they lifted up her eyelids, she could see. They did so, and saw that she had the most beautiful, bright, and piercing eyes. They embarked in the canoe, and proceeded to return to Wolf-Boy's country. The old woman told Wolf-Boy to strike the canoe.6 As soon as he had done so, the canoe went very fast. This he did; and whenever he was in doubt as to whether he was going right, he opened his grandmother's eyes. Thus they travelled until they reached home. After some time Wolf-Boy and his family returned, and thenceforth they lived in his father-in-law's country.7 According to some informants, his grandmother stayed behind and became the short-tailed mouse.
1 Some say informants say "to lie in."
2 Some informants say the journey did not end here. They travelled up a river, and four times Wolf-Boy opened his grandmother's eyes to find if he was going in the right direction, and to accelerate the speed of the canoe. When he left the river, he hid the canoe and his grandmother. She said to him, "Your enemies live on the other side of the mountain, in a rich country. There are many of them."
3 Some informants say eagle's down.
4 Some informants say two years and four children; others, four years and two children.
5 Some informants say the food was reduced to such minute proportions that all was put into very small pouches, which the women attached to their clothes.
6 Some informants say with a paddle, others say with a whip. - See RBAE 31 : 832.
7 According to some informants, this place was Lytton; others, who related that Wolf-Boy ascended a river, tell that, after leaving his father-in-law's house, he returned to Lytton, which was the place where he had left his grandmother in the canoe, and that thenceforth he lived there with his wives and children. He never returned across the lake. It is also claimed that his father-in-law's country was south or east of the Okanagon and Salish country.
