"Yes, that is true of you, Ta-wan-ne-ars. But there is no soul which
I have the right to seek."
"Nevertheless, my brother would find the soul of the maiden and guard
it," he insisted. "I have seen."
"But I may not help her," I objected. "She will have none of me."
"O my brother," he answered, "once there was one of my people who
loved a maiden. And this maiden's soul was taken away by illness and
went to dwell with Ata-ent-sic, the Goddess of Lost Souls, who rules
the Land of Lost Souls which is behind the Setting Sun. The warrior
was bidden in a dream to seek the maiden's soul, and he journeyed for
three months to the Setting Sun, past the Abode of Evil, where dwells
Ha-ne-go-ate-geh, the Evil Spirit.
"And when he came to the Land of Souls he found his maiden's soul
dancing with the other lost souls in a bark cabin before Ata-ent-sic.
And Jous-ke-ha, the grandson of Ata-ent-sic, who was a very old man,
brought him a pumpkin which had been hollowed out, and told him to
place the maiden's soul within. And he did so. And he returned to
his people, and made a feast, and after the feast they raised up the
maiden's soul out of the pumpkin shell."
He stopped under a flickering lanthorn, which cast a feeble light
before the George.
"Surely, my brother, we shall not have to travel so dreadful a
journey to regain the souls which we seek!"
I saw the grave smile, with a hint of pleading, on his face; and I
reached out and caught his hand.
"Whatever be the end of my search, brother," I said, "I will go to
the setting sun, and beyond if need be, to aid you to find the soul
which you seek."
"The same words are in my heart, brother," he replied simply.