The
night was half spent when they separated to rest, with as firm a faith
in the stories of the old medicine man, as we have in the annals of the
Revolution.
[Illustration]
THE MAIDEN'S ROCK;
OR,
WENONA'S LEAP.
Lake Pepin is a widening of the Mississippi river. It is about twenty
miles in length, and from one to two miles wide.
The country along its banks is barren. The lake has little current, but
is dangerous for steamboats in a high wind. It is not deep, and abounds
in fish, particularly the sturgeon. On its shores the traveller gathers
white and red agates, and sometimes specimens streaked with veins of
gold color. The lover reads the motto from his mistress' seal, not
thinking that the beautiful stone which made the impression, was found
on the banks of Lake Pepin.
At the south end of the lake, the Chippeway river empties into the
Mississippi.
The Maiden's rock is a high bluff, whose top seems to lean over towards
the water. With this rock is associated one of the most interesting
traditions of the Sioux.
But the incident is well-known. Almost every one has read it a dozen
times, and always differently told.
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