le the fire in his _teepee_;
She must sit in the lodge of her foe,
as a slave at the feet of her master.
Alas for her waiting! the wings
of the East-wind have brought her no tidings;
On the meadow the meadow-lark sings,
but sad is her song to Winona,
For the glad warbler's melody brings
but the memory of voices departed.
The Day-Spirit walked in the west
to his lodge in the land of the shadows;
His shining face gleamed on the crest
of the oak-hooded hills and the mountains,
And the meadow-lark hied to her nest,
and the mottled owl peeped from her cover.
But hark! from the _teepees_ a cry!
Hear the shouts of the hurrying warriors!
Are the feet of the enemy nigh,--
of the crafty and cruel Ojibways?
Nay; look!--on the dizzy cliff high--
on the brink of the cliff stands Winona!
Her sad face up-turned to the sky.
Hark! I hear the wild wail of her death-song:

"My Father's Spirit, look down, look down--
From your hunting grounds in the shining skies;
Behold, for the light of my heart is gone;
The light is gone and Winona dies.

I looked to the East, but I saw no star;
The face of my White Chief was turned away.
I harked for his footsteps in vain; afar
His bark sailed over the Sunrise-sea.

Long have I watched till my heart is cold;
In my breast it is heavy and cold as a stone.
No more shall Winona his face behold,
And the robin that sang in her heart is gone.

Shall I sit at the feet of the treacherous brave?
On his hateful couch shall Winona lie?
Shall she kindle his fire like a coward slave?
No!--a warrior's daughter can bravely die.

My Father's Spirit, look down, look down--
From your hunting-grounds in the shining skies;
Behold, for the light in my heart is gone;
The light is gone and Winona dies."

[Illustration: DOWN WHIRLING AND FLUTTERING SHE FELL,
AND HEADLONG PLUNGED INTO THE WATERS.]

Swift the strong hunters climbed as she sang,
and the foremost of all was Tamdoka;
From crag to crag upward he sprang;
like a panther he leaped to the summit.
Too late!--on the brave as he crept
turned the maid in her scorn and defiance;
Then swift from the dizzy height leaped.
Like a brant arrow-pierced in mid-heaven.
Down whirling and fluttering she fell,