I will be your
wife, and, mingling again in the feasts and customs of your race, you
will soon be the bold and fearless warrior that you were when you
left us."
And her words were true; for the Indians soon learned that they were not
at liberty to talk to Chaske of his wanderings. He never spoke of his
former wives, except to compare them with his present, who was as
faithful and obedient as they were false and troublesome. "And he.
found," says Chequered Cloud, "that there was no land like the
Dahcotah's, no river like the Father of waters, and no happiness like
that of following the deer across the open prairies, or of listening, in
the long summer days, to the wisdom of the medicine men."
And she who had loved him in his youth, and wept for him in his absence,
now lies by his side--for Chaske has taken another long journey. Death
has touched him, but not lightly, and pointed to the path which leads to
the Land of Spirits--and he did not go alone; for her life closed with
and together their spirits watch over the mortal frames that they
once tenanted.
"Look at the white woman's life," said Chequered Cloud, as she
concluded the story of Chaske, "and then at the Dahcotah's.
Pages:
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273