a canoe."

As she spoke, a small object came darting across the river. It
approached so fast, that in a minute or two they could distinguish
plainly that it was, in fact, a tiny bark canoe. One Indian woman,
seated at the end, seemed to be its only occupant; the repeated flashes
of sunlight on her paddle showed how quick and dexterous were its
movements as she steered straight for the landing in front of the
farmhouse.

"Look here, Percy," said Mr. Bellairs; "I don't believe you have seen a
squaw yet. Get up and quote appropriate poetry on the occasion."

"'Hiawatha' I suppose? I don't know any," and Mr. Percy rose lazily.
"She is an odd figure. How do you know it's a woman at all?"

"Don't you see the papoose lying in the canoe?"

"Conclusive evidence, certainly; but upon my word the lady's costume is
not particularly feminine."

They were all standing up now, watching the canoe which had drawn quite
near the bank. In a minute or two longer it touched the land, and the
woman rose. She was of small size, but rather squarely built; her long
jet black hair, without ornament or attempt at dressing, hung loosely
down over her shoulders; she wore mocassins of soft yellow leather
ornamented with beads; trousers of black cloth, with a border of the
same kind of work, reached her ankles; a cloth skirt, almost without
fulness, came a little below the knee, and was covered, to within three
or four inches of its edge, by an equally scanty one of red and white
cotton, with a kind of loose bodice and sleeves, attached to it; a
blanket, fastened round her shoulders in such a manner that it could be
drawn over her head like a monk's cowl, completed her dress. A little
brown baby, tightly swathed in an old shawl, lay at her feet, exposed,
seemingly without discomfort, to the hot glare of the sun. She stood a
moment, as if examining the house, and the group of figures in front of
it; then picked up her child, slipped it into the folds of her blanket,
so that it hung safely on her back, its black eyes peeping out over her
shoulders, took a bundle of mats from under the seat of her canoe, and
stepped on shore.

As she came, with light firm steps, up the bank, not exactly approaching
them, but turning to the house-door, the party under the trees
separated; the gentlemen, attracted by the lightness and beauty of the
canoe, went down to the water's edge to look at it more closely. Bella
wanted to see the papoose, and perhaps to barg