s now wholly at a loss which way to turn. To
retrace her steps through the intricacies of that dark forest, would be
as vain as the thought of it was appalling. To go on, when she was
absolutely certain she was out of her track, seemed little less than
madness. To choose either the right hand or the left, was to leap in the
dark, and involve herself in new doubts and difficulties. She needed
rest. Her apparel was torn by her difficult passages through the tangled
thickets, and her frequent contests with the enemies she found there.
Pondering deeply on the difficulties before her, she began to think,
that if there was any place of shelter near, she would make herself a
new home, and live and die alone in the great wilderness.

"And why," said she to herself, "why should I return to the wigwam of my
father? Kaf-ne-wah-go is not there. My mother, she has gone with him to
the spirit land. O-ken-ah-ga waits no longer for my return. I left my
brave chief in his blood. His voice will no longer be heard in the
valley, with the hunters, nor his shout in the battle. He fell in the
glory of his strength, like the young oak that is full of sap, and whose
roots have struck deep into the earth. And my child, the son of
O-ken-ah-ga, alas! he has not even a grave to sleep in. He lies on the
cold bosom of the earth, and I know not where. Why then should I return
to a desolate home, only made more desolate by the memory of what it
was?"

With such thoughts as these, she beguiled her inward yearnings for the
spot where all her joys had been, and where all her hopes were buried.
Wandering on the shores of the lake and the stream by day, and seeking
such shelter as she could find in the clefts of the rocks at night, she
sought for a place where she might provide a suitable protection against
the cold and the storms of winter, which were not far distant. Wild
berries and fruits afforded her only sustenance for a considerable time,
until her own ingenuity provided her with the means of procuring a more
certain substantial diet.

Having found a convenient spot in a deep ravine of the mountain, which
opened towards the south, and was consequently always exposed to the
sun, she immediately commenced the construction of a place to dwell in.
The spot selected was romantic and beautiful in the extreme, and seemed
to have been designed by nature "for some especial use." It was
sufficiently elevated to command a fine view of the opening, including