64. The Catskill Fairies.

heavily. It was as large as one hundred canoes put together.
The girl held her head in both hands, and crouched down on
the ground.

“ More wonderful still! On the other side of the river an-
other terrible creature moved quickly along, with a grinding,
jarring sound. This one was like a serpent, with links to its
body, and it glided over a shining track. The water-demon
only puffed as it moved, this other one uttered a shriek that
startled all the echoes. The Indian girl hid her face on the
bank. She had seen a steamboat and a train of cars.

“ These strange sights decided her not to go beyond the
edge of the woods until daylight. So she wished for a tent
in which to pass the night by putting her hand into the apron
pocket. A tent immediately sprang up in the ravine, and
when she had entered it she began to feel hungry.

“«T should like a pot of hominy,’

“Lo! a caldron stood before her smoking with the most
delicious hominy, and tasting as if the grandmother had just
taken it from the camp-fire. Then she lay down on the
ground and slept soundly, until the first beams of the rising
sun awakened her.

“The village people were much surprised to see an Indian
girl approach, wearing a curious jacket with little wings on the
shoulders, and glittering slippers on her feet. She was equally
astonished by their white faces and houses. Where was the
lodge of the cruel chief? Where were the patches of maize
tended by the women? Where was the grandmother ?

“*Have my people gone away? Who has conquered them?

“ But the villagers did not know what she said, and the rude