The girl wished to escape from the place where Tcatc'ē′wiqsō had concealed her, as she did not like him. She pulled one hair from her head and tied it around one of the roots, hoping the men would find it. Tecatc'ē′wiqsō boiled the roots and gave them to the panther when he returned at night. He ate of it and soon found the hair. He said, "There is a woman’s hair." "No," said Tcatc'ē′wiqsō; "it is a hair of my head. If it is pulled, it grows very long." The panthers, the wildcats, and Tcatc'ē′wiqsō had quite long hair, but even the longest was only half as long as the one found among the roots.
After supper the panther and the wildcats played about the house, the cats hiding, and the panther running after them. Whenever they went near the roots Tcatc'ē′wiqsō cried, "Don't go near there, else you will spoil my roots."
The panther grew suspicious and told one of the wildcats to peep under the roots when running about. Then he found the girl. The panther resolved to take her from Tcatc'ē′wiqsō. The next day he went hunting again and killed an elk. When returning at night he pretended to have hurt his foot. He said to Tcatc'ē′wiqsō, "I have hurt my foot and have been unable to bring home the elk's head. Will you please go and fetch it?" Before returning, however, he had bewitched the elk's head, and ordered it to roll down the hill whenever Tcatc'ē′wiqsō had carried it up. Tcatc'ē′wiqsō went out, loaded the elk head on his shoulder, and turned homeward. As soon as he had climbed the first hill the elk head rolled down, and he had to go and carry it up again; but all his endeavors were to no purpose, the elk head rolled down as often as he had carried it up. Finally he grew impatient, and was about to return home, when the head said, "Tcatc'ē′wiqsō! my eyes are fat and good to eat." Then he resolved to try once more, but met with no better success, and finally he gave it up and went home. When he arrived he found that the panther had gone, and taken the girl with him.
The panther had ordered the wildcats to stay at home and to detain Tcatc'ē′wiqsō. One of them said, "Tcatc'ē′wiqsō, they have taken your wife from you." When he heard this he was very angry and cried, ‘"I will eat you when I catch you." He jumped towards one of the wildcats, intending to bite it, but it had made its escape and Tcatc'ē′wiqsō bit only dirt. He tried to catch another one, but with no better results. Then the cats ran away, and he was unable to catch them. He followed them, dancing while he was running. Then he said, "I want to make the distance shorter." He took up the trail which he was following and pulled it, hoping to shorten by this means the distance between himself and the fugitives; but although he thought he had the trail in his hands, he did not hold anything. The wildcats teased and detained him continually, but
