In the end, they call upon their tamanous (tamanowas, itamanoas), a kind of "spirit power" or "spirit guardian," in order to escape their enemies.
And remember how badly they treated Grouse as the story started? Keep an eye out for Grouse at the end of the story here.
[Notes by LKG]
This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).
Bluejay and His Companions (cont.)
So both Bluejay and Hair-seal dived, and Bluejay came up immediately under the brush and floated there where no one could see him. He waited until he shivered so with the cold that the brush moved with his shaking, and his master began to be afraid the people would notice it, so he rocked the canoe and made waves to conceal the motion of the brush, and no one suspected that Bluejay was hidden there.
Now, they had agreed that when the sun had passed from one tree to another not far off, each was to have the right to hit the other in the head with a sharp bone. So, when Bluejay saw that the sun had reached the second tree, he dived down and found Hair-seal lying with his head down close to the bottom. Bluejay jabbed him with the bone before Hair-seal knew what was happening, and Hair-seal came floating up to the surface. All the people shouted, "Bluejay's up!" But it turned out to be Hair-seal, while Bluejay went back under the brush without showing himself. There he waited about half an hour longer, and then came out shouting and laughing, and saying that he felt splendidly and not tired at all. In that way Hair-seal was beaten, and the people let Bluejay and his party go on again.
They paddled on as before until they came to another village, and there the people challenged the four wanderers to go into a sweat-house with four of their people and see which could stand the most heat. So four of the village people went into one corner of the sweat-house, and the four travelers into the other. Then the door was closed so that it was pitch dark, and soon it became very hot. But Beaver and Land Otter began to dig, and in a very short time they had tunnelled to the river. Then all four got into the water and were as comfortable as could be, while the four men from the village were nearly baked.
When the time was up, Bluejay and his friends came back into the sweat-house, and when the door was opened, they all jumped out. Bluejay and his friends were as fresh as possible, while the four men from the village were nearly cooked, and their eyes were all white from the heat. So, having beaten the people at their own game, they were allowed to go on and, paddling as hard as they could, before they knew it they had rounded another point, and come upon a village as before. They ran the canoe clear up on the beach and tied it, and, taking their paddles, went into one of the houses.
The people immediately challenged the new arrivals to sit up five days and five nights without sleeping, against four of their own number. The friends were afraid not to accept, so they started the match. One party sat on one side of the house and the other on the other. The men from the village had spears, and when any one of them was falling asleep, they would prod him with a spear and wake him. They kept calling out to each other all night, "Are you awake? Are you still awake?" And they reviled each other constantly.
Bluejay did all the talking for his side, and was hardly quiet a minute. All the next day they jeered at each other, and so they did the next night. Bluejay and the spokesman of the other side kept talking back and forth the whole time. The next day they did the same thing, and so on the third night, and the fourth day and the fourth night it was still the same.
On that night the men from the village nearly went to sleep, but Bluejay's men were all right as yet. Bluejay himself was almost done up, but his master would pull his ears and kept him awake, for Bluejay's master was the best man of them all.
The fifth night, the men of the village went to sleep, and Bluejay's master told Land Otter and Beaver to dig so that they could get out. They did so and fetched four pieces of old wood with phosphorescent spots on them, and they placed the pieces where they had been sitting, one piece for each man, and the spots looked like eyes. Then, while the other crowd was still sleeping, they got out, and, taking everything they could lay their hands on, they stole away in the canoe.
Just before daylight one of the other four waked and called Bluejay several times, but got no answer. So he waked the others and, taking their spears, they speared what they thought were their rivals. But when daylight came, they saw that they had been fooled, and that their spears were sticking into wood.
There was great excitement, and the people decided to give chase and, making ready their canoes, they started after the fugitives. Along in the afternoon, Bluejay's master said, "I feel sure some one is following us," and, looking back, they saw a lot of canoes in pursuit. Then they paddled with all their might, and Bluejay's master paddled so hard that at every stroke he broke a paddle, until he had broken all they had, and they floated helpless.
Then the others turned to Bluejay and said, "You are always talking about your tamanous. Make use of him now, if you have one, for we are in a bad fix." But Bluejay could only hang his head, for he had no tamanous.
Then Land Otter called on his tamanous, and a little wind arose.
Then Beaver called upon his, and the wind became a little stronger, but all the time the other canoes were drawing closer.
Then Bluejay's master called upon his tamanous, and there swept down a great storm and a fog. The storm lasted only a short time, and when it had passed, they looked about them and saw hundreds of capsized canoes, but not a man living, for all the people had been drowned.
They went around and gathered up all the paddles they wanted and went on, and at last reached the Quinault country and were among good people. The people who had pursued them were probably Makahs, for they are a bad lot.
Finally they reached their home near Damon's Point and, after that, whenever they came in from sealing, they were careful to give Grouse the biggest and fattest seal.
Next: Dug-From-Ground
(1200 words)
