456 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

Nevertheless, she was greatly terrified. Stuux had been puzzled at his
wife’s unusual actions, and this warning increased his bewilderment, but
he hesitated to show his suspicions by asking what the owl meant. Both
lay awake all night and towards dawn the owl hooted again. The next
day Stux set out, as if for hunting, but lay down and slept instead, which
the impostor was afraid to do in case he should return and look at her,
when she was unprepared. That night the owl again hooted, and as before
the two lay awake without speaking. The third night it was the same,
but on the fourth, though the ow! continued his hooting, the woman was
so much exhausted that she fell asleep. Stuux then felt cautiously across
her body, found the protruding fold of skin and realized something was
amiss. He rose and built up a bright fire towards which he dragged the
sleeper.

“Get up, I want to talk to you,” he said.

As he pulled her by the hair he felt her scalp become loose in his hands,
and realized what had happened. In great anger he cried out:

“But for the owl I should have remained in ignorance. Now I know
what you have done. Why did you kill my wife?”

The woman did not answer. Stuux struck her twice with a club and
she died. The owl stopped calling; its work was done.

The murder had taken place about midnight, but Stam remained
seated beside the fire until dawn without touching the woman he had
slain, because he wanted witnesses to see the corpse before it was dis-
turbed. After eating some food he went to the village where lived his
own relations, those of his wife, and also the mother of the bad woman.
He went first to his own family.

“T am in trouble,” hesaid. ‘I believe that some one has impersonated
my wife. At any rate last night I killed a woman who said she was my
wife, though I think she was not. I want you to come and see what she
looks like.”

Two lads were sent as messengers round the village and soon all gath-
ered to hear what had happened. Stu addressed the people:

“TI don’t want to say much about what took place last night; in fact
I do not know much about it myself. Please come and see. I have killed
a woman who looked like my wife, but I do not think it was she.”

They all set off with him to his camp, where they found, apparently,
the corpse of his wife. Stucx sat down.

“Please take off her clothes and feel beside her hips,” he said.

When they had done so they felt the peculiar rolls of skin.

“Please lift her hair,” he continued.

The people who did so found it slack in their grasp. On more careful
examination they lifted the skin of the face which came up loosely into