The Lost Hunter - A Tale of Early Times by John Turvill Adams
page 266 of 512 (51%)
page 266 of 512 (51%)
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Wampum-hair sought his wigwam, melancholy but not discouraged. It was, indeed, impossible to follow the counsel of the friendly Manito. Sleeping or waking the image of Leelinau swam before his eyes, and sometimes smiled as if to incite him to the enterprise. He resolved to undertake a solemn fast. He therefore sought a retired place and built a pointed lodge. Six days and nights he fasted, lying on the ground, and on the seventh day, at the rising of the sun, his guardian spirit, the child with the white beaver, slowly descended from the sky. His face was kind and gentle as at the first, but not as before did he lay his hand on the heart of Wampum-hair. Now he pressed his palm upon the forehead of the hunter, and strange thoughts and determinations, like rising storms, passed through his mind: slowly, then, up through the pointed roof, which opened for his passage, mounted the child till he disappeared in the blue field. Magisaunikwa arose from the ground, and a frown was upon his brow. He ate and was refreshed, and returned to his lodge. It was the last month of snows, and great rains had fallen, and the torrents were shouting from the mountains, and the Yaupáae pouring out a mightier flood than had ever been seen rushing through between the cleft rocks. It was then Wampum-hair announced his intention to undertake the adventure of the Falls, and invited the tribe to gather together to witness its performance. It is said that the heart of Leelinau, touched by so much constancy, was inclined to relent and excuse her lover the terrible ordeal, but this is probably the dream |
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