was too dangerous; he feared wolves,--the fire that would otherwise
affright them might untended sink too low. He feared also some wandering
Indian. Should he be discovered here by means of the unaccustomed light
he might be wantonly murdered as he slept, or in revenge for the
sacrilege of his intrusion among these things that the savages had
esteemed sacred.

Therefore, when he suddenly saw the cheera-taghe he saw them quite
plainly. Tall, stately, splendidly arrayed in their barbaric garb,
draped with their iridescent feather-wrought mantles, their heads
dressed with white plumes, a staff of cane adorned with white feathers
in the right hand, a green bough in the left, preceded by those
curiously sonorous earthen drums, of which the drone blended with the
notes of the religious song, _Yo-he-wah-yah! Yo-he-wah-yah!_ they thrice
led the glittering procession of the "holy dance" around and around the
"beloved square."

A blank interval ensued. And then again he saw them, nearer now, more
distinct; they were entering the temple; they were close at hand;
triumphant of mien, assured, so full of life!--he could laugh to think
that he had had a dream, or had heard somehow, that they were dead or
lost or vaguely gone. For here, without seeming in the least to notice
his presence, they kindled anew with friction of bits of poplar or white
oak the fire for the new year, the _cheera_, the "sacred flame," to bear
it outside to distribute it to the assembled people of Nilaque Great.
Without was summer; the trees were full of green leaves; canoes were
glancing along the shimmering river; the "beloved square" was crowded
with braves,--he saw their feathered crests wave and glisten; the wind
was blowing fresh and cool; the sun shone.