Part 4 (1/2)

[Footnote P: See Appendix, Note _m_.]

[Footnote Q: Eleanor Dare.]

[Footnote R: See Appendix, Note _k_.]

[Footnote S: See Appendix, Note _k_.]

[Footnote T: See Appendix, Note _k_.]

[Footnote U: Tobacco.]

II

THE PALE-FACE MAIDEN

Nature feels no throb of pity, Makes no pause for human heartbreak; Though with agony we quiver, She gives forth no sign of feeling.

Waxed and waned the moon, in season, Ebbed and flowed the tides obedient; Summers filled the land with plenty, Winters chilled the summers' ardor.

No winged s.h.i.+ps gleamed in the offing; No Pale-Faces sought their kindred; In the Land-of-Wind-and-Water Roamed the Red Man unmolested.

While the babe of Ro-a-no-ak Grew in strength and wondrous beauty; Like a flower of the wildwood, Bloomed beside the Indian maidens.

And Wi-no-na Ska[V] they called her, She of all the maidens fairest.

In the tangles of her tresses Sunbeams lingered, pale and yellow; In her eyes the limpid blueness Of the noonday sky was mirrored.

And the squaws of darksome features Smiled upon her fair young beauty; Felt their woman hearts within them Warming to the Pale-Face maiden.

And the braves, who scorned all weakness, Listened to her artless prattle, While their savage natures softened, Of the change themselves unconscious.

Like the light of summer morning Beaming on a world in slumber Was the face of young Wi-no-na To the Cro-a-to-ans who loved her.

She, whose mind bore in its dawning Impress of developed races, To the rude, untutored savage Seemed divinely 'dowed with reason.

She, the heir of civilization, They, the slaves of superst.i.tion, Gave to her a silent rev'rence, Growing better with such giving.

Oft she told them that the Cross-Sign, Made by Man-te-o before them When he talked to his own nation, Was the symbol of a Spirit Great, and good, and wise, and loving; He who kept the maize-fields fruitful, He who filled the sea with fishes, He who made the sun to warm them And sent game to feed His children.

If, when in their games or councils, They grew quarrelsome and angry, Suddenly among them standing Was a maiden like the sunrise, Making with her taper finger This strange sign which they respected; And without a word of pleading Strife and wrath would no more vex them, While the influence of her presence Lingered 'round them like enchantment.

Thus the babe of Ro-a-no-ak Grew to be the joy and teacher Of a tribe of native heathen In the land which gave her shelter.

And the tide of her affections Flowed to those who gave her friends.h.i.+p; Whom alone she knew as human, Whom to her became as kindred.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote V: Literally, ”first-born white daughter.”]

III

SAVAGE SORCERY

Man-to-ac, the Mighty Father, When he filled the earth with blessings, Deep within the heart of Woman Hid the burning Need-of-Loving; Which through her should warm the ages With a flame of mutual feeling, Throbbing through her sons and daughters With a force beyond their power.

And this law of human loving, Changeless through unending changes, Fills each living heart with yearning For another heart to love it; And against this ceaseless craving Creed, nor clime, nor color standeth; Heart to heart all nature crieth That the earth may thrill with gladness.