Part 35 (1/2)

Hubit was nearly out of sight. Keriha could barely see him with the salmon and the tuft, a little spot in the sky. He looked very hard, strained his eyes till blood was running down both his cheeks; still he kept looking.

Hubit thought he was out of sight now, and soon Keriha saw him turn to the west and come down. When he was above Bohem Buli, he dropped straight to it on the north side and went in.

”I'm glad, I'm glad. Oh, I'm so glad!” cried out Keriha, clapping his hands. ”I know now where Hubit's house is. Get ready quickly, my brother, we will go and see Hubit. Oh, you are so slow, my brother, I can't wait for you. Come when you can; I'll go on alone.”

Keriha hurried to Bohem Buli. Norwanchakus followed, and saw Keriha doing strange things; didn't know what he was doing; wondered at him.

He was dodging from side to side, lying down and springing up again.

Norwanchakus went toward him.

”What are you doing?” cried he. ”What is the matter!”

”Don't come so near,” called Keriha. ”Stop, stop!”

When Hubit dropped down to his house in Bohem Buli, he began that minute to make it bigger. He was hurling out immense rocks, and Keriha was dodging them. They came quickly one after another (there are many of those rocks now all around Bohem Buli, at Puitiel Ton, at Waikidi Pom, and on the west beyond Tayam Norel). After the rocks Hubit hurled out great showers of earth; then he stopped.

”How shall I get at that Hubit?” asked Keriha of his brother.

”Go south to a level valley where sakkus grows. Get the tops of that plant.”

Keriha brought plenty of sakkus tops quickly.

”Go now to Halat Pom, in the east, and bring the longest vines possible.”

Keriha brought ten very long vines and made a rope of them, and tied it around a great bundle of sakkus tops, to which he set fire, and then lowered the bundle. He stopped the door with gra.s.s and sticks.

Soon there was a great rumbling, struggling, and roaring in Hubit's house. After a while it stopped and all was still.

”Now, my brother,” said Keriha, ”Hubit is dead, and I am going to have his honeycombs.”

He took a large sharp stone, drew a great circle around the entrance to Hubit's house, and said: ”You, Hubit's honeycomb, be as large as this circle is. Now, my brother,” said he, ”you can go to Bohem Tehil. I will come soon.”

Norwanchakus went home. Keriha began to dig, found many combs, dug till night, stayed all night in Hubit's house--stayed there digging honey and eating, for twenty-five days.

Norwanchakus waited at home for his brother, waited that evening till midnight, waited till morning, saw no sign of Keriha. He waited the next day; then two, three, five days; then twenty days more.

”Well,” said Norwanchakus, ”I can do nothing. Perhaps he is dead, perhaps he is working yet.”

On the twenty-sixth night after Hubit's death, some one came into the house. Norwanchakus looked up. It was Keriha.

After that the two brothers went to Puri Buli. At the foot of the mountain they saw some one half sitting, half lying, and looking at them. When they came nearer, it went into an opening.

”My brother,” said Keriha, ”I want that.”

”Nothing can pa.s.s you,” said the elder brother. ”You want everything.

You would better let this go.”

Keriha paid no heed to Norwanchakus: he split the earth with his little finger and killed the stranger, a Supchit. He skinned the body and said, ”I think that this skin will be warm; I will sleep on it.”

”My brother,” said Norwanchakus, ”you are the only person who has ever killed a Supchit--you may be sorry.”