Myths and Legends of Our Own Land, vol 6 | Page 7

down their lodges they left Wallen's Ridge and wandered far away until
they came to a valley where no foot had left its impress, and there they
besought the Great Spirit to forgive the wrong their medicine-man had
done, and to free them from the terrible spirits that had been living
among them. The prayer was granted, and the lodges stood for many
years in a safe and happy valley.

THE SKY WALKER OF HURON
Here is the myth of Endymion and Diana, as told on the shores of
Saginaw Bay, in Michigan, by Indians who never heard of Greeks.
Cloud Catcher, a handsome youth of the Ojibways, offended his family
by refusing to fast during the ceremony of his coming of age, and was
put out of the paternal wigwam. It was so fine a night that the sky
served him as well as a roof, and he had a boy's confidence in his
ability to make a living, and something of fame and fortune, maybe. He
dropped upon a tuft of moss to plan for his future, and drowsily noted
the rising of the moon, in which he seemed to see a face. On awaking
he found that it was not day, yet the darkness was half dispelled by
light that rayed from a figure near him--the form of a lovely woman.
"Cloud Catcher, I have come for you," she said. And as she turned
away he felt impelled to rise and follow. But, instead of walking, she
began to move into the air with the flight of an eagle, and, endowed
with a new power, he too ascended beside her. The earth was dim and
vast below, stars blazed as they drew near them, yet the radiance of the
woman seemed to dull their glory. Presently they passed through a gate
of clouds and stood on a beautiful plain, with crystal ponds and brooks
watering noble trees and leagues of flowery meadow; birds of brightest
colors darted here and there, singing like flutes; the very stones were
agate, jasper, and chalcedony. An immense lodge stood on the plain,
and within were embroideries and ornaments, couches of rich furs,
pipes and arms cut from jasper and tipped with silver. While the young
man was gazing around him with delight, the brother of his guide
appeared and reproved her, advising her to send the young man back to

earth at once, but, as she flatly refused to do so, he gave a pipe and bow
and arrows to Cloud Catcher, as a token of his consent to their marriage,
and wished them happiness, which, in fact, they had.
This brother, who was commanding, tall, and so dazzling in his gold
and silver ornaments that one could hardly look upon him, was abroad
all day, while his sister was absent for a part of the night. He permitted
Cloud Catcher to go with him on one of his daily walks, and as they
crossed the lovely Sky Land they glanced down through open valley
bottoms on the green earth below. The rapid pace they struck gave to
Cloud Catcher an appetite and he asked if there were no game.
"Patience," counselled his companion. On arriving at a spot where a
large hole had been broken through the sky they reclined on mats, and
the tall man loosing one of his silver ornaments flung it into a group of
children playing before a lodge. One of the little ones fell and was
carried within, amid lamentations. Then the villagers left their sports
and labors and looked up at the sky. The tall man cried, in a voice of
thunder, "Offer a sacrifice and the child shall be well again." A white
dog was killed, roasted, and in a twinkling it shot up to the feet of
Cloud Catcher, who, being empty, attacked it voraciously.
Many such walks and feasts came after, and the sights of earth and taste
of meat filled the mortal with a longing to see his people again. He told
his wife that he wanted to go back. She consented, after a time, saying,
"Since you are better pleased with the cares, the ills, the labor, and the
poverty of the world than with the comfort and abundance of Sky Land,
you may return; but remember you are still my husband, and beware
how you venture to take an earthly maiden for a wife."
She arose lightly, clasped Cloud Catcher by the wrist, and began to
move with him through the air. The motion lulled him and he fell
asleep, waking at the door of his father's lodge. His relatives gathered
and gave him welcome, and he learned that he had been in the sky for a
year. He took the privations of a hunter's and warrior's life