Note 3 — Chapter I · MYTHS AND FOLK-LORE OF THE TIMISKAMING ALGONQUIN.

As the ducks came flying by overhead, they heard his song and came down to join the party. He sang his song and told them, “You are going away to be gone until next spring, and I won’t see you for a long time, so I want to get up a dance for you all, before you go.” A lot of them came down and he gathered a crowd outside. Then he said, “Now, let us go inside and have our good time,” and he opened the door and they all went in. Then he fixed the small fire in the middle so that it would just give enough light to see a little. “Now,” said he, “you must obey the rule of this dance and do whatever you are told when you hear the order.” He sat down on one side of the fire near the door and they all began dancing around. They got well mixed up before long—the geese, ducks, loons, and all kinds of birds, and Ciŋgəbis3 was there too. When he got them warmed up to the dance, they all got mixed up and soon Wiske·djak said, “Now, you must all close your eyes and not open them until I give the word.” Then they obeyed and kept on dancing with their eyes closed. Then, while their eyes were closed, Wiske·djak got up and began wringing the neck of one after another. The noise of the dancing prevented them from hearing what he was doing.