shall forget her...."

At this point his revery was interrupted by the joyous laughter of
two young women. The melodious sing-song laughter of the Sioux maiden
stirred the very soul of the young warrior.

All his philosophy deserted him, and he stood hesitating, looking about
him as if for a chance of escape. A man who had never before felt the
magnetic influence of woman in her simplicity and childlike purity, he
became for the moment incapable of speech or action.

Meanwhile the two girls were wholly unconscious of any disturbing
presence in the forest. They were telling each other the signals that
each had received in the dance. Taluta's companion had stopped at the
first raspberry bushes, while she herself passed on to the next thicket.
When she emerged from the pines into an opening, she suddenly beheld
Antelope, in his full-dress suit of courtship. Instantly she dropped her
eyes.

Luckily the customs of courtship among the Sioux allow the covering
of one's head with the blanket. In this attitude, the young man made a
signal to Taluta with trembling fingers.

The wild red man's wooing was natural and straightforward; there was no
circumspection, no maneuvering for time or advantage. Hot words of love
burst forth from the young warrior's lips, with heavy breathing behind
the folds of the robe with which he sought to shield his embarrassment.

"For once the spirits are guiding my fortunes! It may seem strange to
you, when we meet thus by accident, that I should speak immediately of
my love for you; but we live in a world where one must speak when the
opportunity offers. I have thought much of you since I saw you at the
maidens' feast.... Is Taluta willing to become the wife of Tatoka? The
moccasins of her making will cause his feet to be swift in pursuit of
the game, and on the trail of the enemy.... I beg of you, maiden, let
our meeting be known only to the birds of the air, while you consider my
proposal!"

All this while the maiden stood demurely at his side, playing with
the lariat of her pony in her brown, fine hands. Her doeskin gown with
profuse fringes hung gracefully as the drooping long leaves of the
willow, and her two heavy braids of black hair, mingled with strings
of deers' hoofs and wampum, fell upon her bosom. There was a faint glow
underneath her brown skin, and her black eyes were calm and soft, yet
full of native fire.

"You will not press for an answer now," she gently replied, without