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Show 264 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [ BTH. AJCN. 19 at the spot. Bending low his head he asks of the blood stains upon the ground if they have heard- i. e., if the hunter has asked pardon for the life that he has taken. If the formulistic prayer has been made, all is well, because the necessary sacrifice has been atoned for; but if otherwise, the Little Deer tracks the hunter to his house by the blood drops along the trail, and, unseen and unsuspected, puts into his body the spirit of rheumatism that shall rack him with aches and pains from that time henceforth. As seen at rare intervals- perhaps once in a long lifetime- the Little Deer is pure white and about the size of a small dog, has branching antlers, and is always in company with a large herd of deer. Even though shot by the master hunter, he comes to life again, being immortal, but the fortunate huntsman who can thus make prize of his antlers has in them an unfailing talisman that brings him success in the chase forever after. The smallest portion of one of those horns of the Little Deer, when properly consecrated, attracts the deer to the hunter, and when exposed from the wrapping dazes them so that the}' forget to run and thus become an easy prey. Like the Uhlnsfi'tl stone ( see number 50), it is a dangerous prize when not treated with proper respect, and is- or was- kept always in a secret place away from the house to guard against sacrilegious handling. Somewhat similar talismanic power attached to the down from the young antler of the deer when properly consecrated. So firm was the belief that it had influence over " anything about a deer" that eighty and a hundred years ago even white traders used to bargain with the Indians for such charms in order to increase their store of deerskins by drawing the trade to themselves. The faith in the existence of the miraculous Little Deer is almost as strong and universal to- day among the older Cherokee as is the belief in a future life. The bears ( yfinu) are transformed Cherokee of the old clan of the Ani'- Tsa'giihl ( see story, " Origin of the Bear"). Their chief is the White Bear, who lives at Kuwa'hl, '' Mulberry place," one of the high peaks of the Great Smoky mountains, near to the enchanted lake of Ataga'hi ( see number 89), to which the wounded bears go to be cured of their hurts. Under Kuw&' hi and each of three other peaks in the same mountain region the bears have townhouses, where they congregate and hold dances every fall before retiring to their dens for the winter. Being really human, they can talk if they only would, and once a mother bear was heard singing to her cub in words which the hunter understood. There is one variety known as kalfis'- gftndhi'ta, " long hams," described as a large black bear with long legs and small feet, which is always lean, and which the hunter does not care to shoot, possibly on account of its leanness. It is believed that new- born cubs are hairless, like mice. The wolf { wa'rya) is revered as the hunter and watchdog of Kana'ti, and the largest gens in the tribe bears the name of Ani'- wa' va, " Wolf |