Myths and Legends of Our Own Land, vol 4 | Page 6

which the face of his dead friend often
arose accusingly before him, the unhappy wretch vowed that he would
never again look his fellows openly in the face: he would pay a penalty
and conceal his shame. Then it was that I put a veil between myself and
the world."
Joseph Moody passed away and, as he wished, the veil still hid his face
in the coffin, but the clergyman who had raised it for a moment to
compose his features, found there a serenity and a beauty that were
majestic.

THE HOME OF THUNDER
Some Indians believe that the Thunder Bird is the agent of storm; that
the flashes of his eyes cause lightning and the flapping of his cloud-
vast wings make thunder. Not so the Passamaquoddies, for they hold
that Katahdin's spirit children are Thunders, and in this way an Indian
found them: He had been seeking game along the Penobscot and for
weeks had not met one of his fellow creatures. On a winter day he came
on the print of a pair of snow-shoes; next morning the tracks appeared
in another part of the forest, and so for many days he found them.
After a time it occurred to him to see where these tracks went to, and he
followed them until they merged with others in a travelled road, ending
at a precipice on the side of Katahdin (Great Mountain).
While lost in wonder that so many tracks should lead nowhere, he was
roused by a footfall, and a maiden stepped from the precipice to the
ledge beside him. Though he said nothing, being in awe of her
stateliness and beauty, she replied in kind words to every unspoken
thought and bade him go with her. He approached the rock with fear,
but at a touch from the woman it became as mist, and they entered it

together.
Presently they were in a great cave in the heart of Katahdin, where sat
the spirit of the mountain, who welcomed them and asked the girl if her
brothers had come. "I hear them coming," she replied. A blinding flash,
a roar of thunder, and there stepped into the cave two men of giant size
and gravely beautiful faces, hardened at the cheeks and brows to stone.
"These," said the girl to the hunter, "are my brothers, the Thunder and
the Lightning. My father sends them forth whenever there is wrong to
redress, that those who love us may not be smitten. When you hear
Thunder, know that they are shooting at our enemies."
At the end of that day the hunter returned to his home, and behold, he
had been gone seven years. Another legend says that the stone-faced
sons of the mountain adopted him, and that for seven years he was a
roaming Thunder, but at the end of that time while a storm was raging
he was allowed to fall, unharmed, into his own village.

THE PARTRIDGE WITCH
Two brothers, having hunted at the head of the Penobscot until their
snow-shoes and moccasins gave out, looked at each other ruefully and
cried, "Would that there was a woman to help us!" The younger brother
went to the lodge that evening earlier than the elder, in order to prepare
the supper, and great was his surprise on entering the wigwam to find
the floor swept, a fire built, a pot boiling, and their clothing mended.
Returning to the wood he watched the place from a covert until he saw
a graceful girl enter the lodge and take up the tasks of housekeeping.
When he entered she was confused, but he treated her with respect, and
allowed her to have her own way so far as possible, so that they became
warm friends, sporting together like children when the work of the day
was over. But one evening she said, "Your brother is coming. I fear him.
Farewell." And she slipped into the wood. When the young man told
his elder brother what had happened there--the elder having been
detained for a few days in the pursuit of a deer--he declared that he
would wish the woman to come back, and presently, without any
summons, she returned, bringing a tobogganload of garments and arms.
The luck of the hunters improved, and they remained happily together
until spring, when it was time to return with their furs.
They set off down the Penobscot in their canoe and rowed merrily

along, but as they neared the home village the girl became uneasy, and
presently "threw out her soul"--became clairvoyant--and said, "Let me
land here. I find that your father would not like me, so do not speak to
him about me." But the elder brother told of her when they reached
home, whereon the father exclaimed, "I