she at once set forth ; and she was no sooner out of sight than the young man and his dog , spirit - iron , blowing a strong breath in the face of the toad - woman 's four children ( who were all bad spirits , or bear - fiends ) , they put out their life . they then set them up by the side of the door , having first thrust a piece of the white fat in each of their mouths . the toad - woman spent a long time in finding the bear which she had been sent after , and she made at least five and twenty attempts before she was able to climb to the carcass . she slipped down three times where she went up once . when she returned with the great bear on her back , as she drew near her lodge she was astonished to see the four children standing up by the door - posts with the fat in their mouths . she was angry with them , and called out : " why do you thus insult the pomatum of your brother ? " she was still more angry when they made no answer to her complaint ; but when she found that they were stark dead , and placed in this way to mock her , her fury was very great indeed . she ran after the tracks of the young man and his mother as fast as she could ; so fast , indeed , that she was on the very point of overtaking them , when the dog , spirit - iron , coming close up to his master , whispered to him--"snakeberry ! " " let the snakeberry spring up to detain her ! " cried out the young man ; and immediately the berries spread like scarlet all over the path , for a long distance ; and the old toad - woman , who was almost as fond of these berries as she was of fat bears , could not avoid stooping down to pick and eat . the old toad - woman was very anxious to get forward , but the snakeberry - vines kept spreading out on every side ; and they still grow and grow , and spread and spread ; and to this day the wicked old toad - woman is busy picking the berries , and she will never be able to get beyond to the other side , to disturb the happiness of the young hunter and his mother , who still live , with their faithful dog , in the shadow of the beautiful wood - side where they were born . 
astonished .
how did the toad-woman feel when she saw her children standing up by the door-posts with fat in their mouths ?
how did the toad-woman feel when she saw her children standing up by the door-posts with fat in their mouths ?