er to the raging fire and the
torments of the avengers, he will tell us so by the words of his mouth.
If he do not speak, it shall be done to her as the Old Eagle and his
brothers have said."

The head chief said, "Chenos has spoken well; wisdom is in his words.
Make for the strange woman a soft bed of skins, and treat her kindly,
for it may be she is the daughter of the Great Spirit."

Then the Indians all returned to their cabins and slept, save the Mad
Buffalo, who, fearing for the life of his prisoner, laid himself down at
the door of the lodge and watched.

When the morning came, the head warrior went to the forest and killed a
deer, fat and proper for an offering, which he brought to Chenos, who
prepared it for a sacrifice; and he sang a song while the flesh lay on
the fire:--

Song of Chenos.

We have built the fire;
The deer we have kill'd;
The skin and the horns we have parted from the flesh;
The flesh is laid on the burning coals;
The sweetness thereof goes up in the smoke:--
Master of Life, wilt thou come and claim thine own?

Wilt thou come, Great Spirit of our fathers,
And say if we may harbour revenge, and not anger thee?
Shall we plant the stake, and bind the fair-one?
The beautiful maid, with her hair like bunches of grapes,
And her eyes like the blue sky,
And her skin white as the blossoms of the forest-tree,
And her voice as the music of a little stream,
And her step as the bound of the young fawn?
Shall her soft flesh be torn with sharp thorns,
And burn'd with fiery flames?

"Let us listen," said Chenos, stopping the warriors in their dance. "Let
us see if the Great Spirit hears us."

They listened, but could not hear him singing. Chenos asked him why he
would not speak, but he did not answer. Then they sung again:--

Shall the flame we have kindled expire?
Shall the sacrifice-embers go out?
Shall the maiden be free from the fire?
Shall the voice of revenge wake no shout?
We ask that our feet may be strong
In the way thou wouldst have us to go;
Let thy voice, then, be heard in the song,
That thy will, and our task, we may know.

"Hush," said Chenos, listening; "I hear the crowing of the Great
Turkey-Cock[A]; I hear him speaking." They stopped, and Chenos went
close to the fire, and talked with his master, but nobody saw with whom
he talked. "What does the Great Spirit tell his prophet?" a