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Algonquin Legends of New England by Charles Godfrey Leland
page 64 of 357 (17%)
more seek to do so, and thou shalt fight them to the bitter end, and
yet it shall be."

And as he said, so it came to pass; and Mikchich, being of good cheer,
bade farewell to his nephew. [Footnote: This is amusingly, though not
very clearly, set forth in the Indian manuscript as follows: "Make
believe but you dond want be trown. So he shaken hands witt is nuncel
kick hororch good by do him. Tell is uncle you--I shall not be kill and
I am going Lever (to live)--we may meet again."] And they seized him
and threw him into a great fire, but he turned over and went to sleep
in it, being very lazy; and when the fire had burnt out he awoke, and
called for more wood, because it was a cold night.

Then they seized him yet again, and spoke of drowning. But, hearing
this, he, as if he were in mortal dread, begged them not to do this
thing. And he said they might cut him to pieces, or burn him, as they
would, but not to throw him into the water. [Footnote: This in the
original is extremely like Brer Rabbit's prayer not to be thrown into
the brier-bush. As this legend is one of the oldest of the Algonquin,
and certainly antedating the coming of the whites, I give it the
priority over the negro.] Therefore they resolved to do so, and dragged
him on. Then he screamed horribly and fought lustily, and tore up trees
and roots and rocks like a madman; but they took him into a canoe and
paddled out into the middle of the lake (or to the sea), and, throwing
him in, watched him sink as he vanished far down below. So they thought
him dead, and returned rejoicing.

Now the next day at noon there was a hot sunshine, and something was
seen basking on a great rock, about a mile out in the lake. So two
young men took a canoe and went forth to see what this might be. And
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