“Clear out, you wretch!” cried the girl.
“Softly, softly,” replied the Coyote. “Do you remember what your brothers said last night?”
“What was that?” said the girl.
“Why, whoever would kill the speckled Demon, they declared, should have you for his wife.”
“Well, what of that?” said the girl.
“Oh, nothing,” replied the Coyote, “only I’ve killed him!” And, holding up the Demon’s heart and war-badge, he stuck his nose in the air again.
So the poor girl said not a word, but sat there until the Coyote called out: “I say, wife, come down and take me up; I can’t climb the ladders.”
So the poor girl went down the ladder, took her foul-smelling husband in her arms, and climbed up with him.
“Now, take me in with you,” said the Coyote. So she did as she was bidden. Then she was about to mix some dough, but the Coyote kept getting in her way.
“Get out of the way a minute, won’t you?” said the girl, “until I cook something for you.”
“I want you to come and sit down with me,” said the Coyote, “and let me kiss you, for you know you are my wife, now.” So the poor girl had to submit to the ill-smelling creature’s embraces.
Presently along came her brother, the Gray Wolf, but he was a very good-natured sort of fellow; so he received the Coyote pleasantly. Then along came the Bear, with a big antelope over his shoulder; but he didn’t say anything, for he was a lazy, good-natured fellow. Then presently the other brothers came in, one by one; but the Mountain Lion was so late in returning that they began to look anxiously out for him. When they saw him coming from the north with more meat and more game than all the others together had brought, he was evidently not in good humor, for as he approached the house he exclaimed, with a howl: “Hu-hu-ya!”
“There he goes again,” said the brothers and sisters, all in a chorus. “Always out of temper with something.”
“Hu-hu-ya!” exclaimed the Mountain Lion again, louder than before. And, as he mounted the ladder, he exclaimed for a third time: “Hu-hu-ya!” and, throwing his meat down, entered swearing and growling until his brothers were ashamed of him, and told him he had better behave himself.
“Come and eat,” said the sister, as she brought a bowl of meat and put it on the floor.
“Hu-hu-ya!” again exclaimed the Mountain Lion, as he came nearer and sat down to eat. “What in the world is the matter with you, sister? You smell just like a Coyote. Hu-hu-ya!”
“Have you no more decency than to come home and scold your sister in that way?” exclaimed the Wolf. “I’m disgusted with you.”
“Hu-hu-ya!” reiterated the Mountain Lion.
Now, when the Coyote had heard the Mountain Lion coming, he had sneaked off into a corner; but he stuck his sharp nose out, and the Mountain Lion espied it. “Hu-hu-ya!” said he. “Sling that bad-smelling beast out of the house! Kick him out!” cried the old man, with a growl. So the sister, fearing that her brother would eat her husband up, took the Coyote in her arms and carried him into another room.
“Now, stay there and keep still, for brother is very cross; but then he is always cross if things don’t go right,” she said.
So when evening came her brothers began to discuss where they would go hunting the next day; and the Coyote, who was listening at the door, heard them. So he called out: “Wife! Wife!”
“Shom-me!” remarked old Long Tail. “Shut up, you dirty whelp.” And as the sister arose to go to see what her husband wanted, the Mountain Lion remarked: “You had better sling that foul-smelling cub of yours over the roof.”
No sooner had the girl entered than the Coyote began to brag what a runner he was, and to cut around at a great rate.
“Shom-me!” exclaimed the Mountain Lion again. “A Coyote always will make a Coyote of himself, foul-smelling wretch! Hu-hu-ya!”
“Shut up, and behave yourself!” cried the Wolf. “Don’t you know any better than to talk about your brother-in-law in that way?” But neither the Coyote nor the girl could sleep that night for the growlings and roarings of their big brother, the Long Tail.
When the brothers began to prepare for the hunt the next morning, out came the Coyote all ready to accompany them. “You, you?” said the Mountain Lion. “You going to hunt with us? You conceited sneak!”
“Let him go if he wants to,” said the Wolf.
“Hu‑hu‑ya! Fine company!” remarked the Mountain Lion. “If you fellows want to walk with him, you may. There’s one thing certain, I’ll not be seen in his company,” and away strode the old fellow, lashing his tail and growling as he went. So the Coyote, taking a luncheon of dried meat that his wife put up for him, sneaked along behind with his tail dragging in the dust. Finally they all reached the mountain where they intended to hunt, and soon the Mountain Lion and the Bear started out to drive in a herd of antelope that they had scented in the distance. Presently along rushed the leaders of the herd.
“Now, then, I’ll show your cross old brother whether I can hunt or not,” cried the Coyote, and away he rushed right into the herd of antelope and deer before anyone could restrain him. Of course he made a Coyote of himself, and away went the deer in all directions. Nevertheless, the brothers, who were great hunters, succeeded in catching a few of them; and, just as they sat down to lunch, the Mountain Lion returned with a big elk on his shoulders.
“Where is our sweet-scented brother-in-law?” he asked.
“Nobody
