pretty
to-morrow. Oh! I shall be so proud of you when you start for the school."

Then a white arm drew the mother down close to the bed and a sweet girlish
voice said,

"Be all ready when the carriage comes for me to-morrow, mother dear, for
you are going with me, even though it is early. No other girl has a mother
who has worked so hard as you have to keep her in school. You are the best
mother in the whole world and I am so proud of you."

"Well, if you are as proud of me as I am of you, we are the happiest
little family in the whole world," said the mother, kissing her on both
cheeks. And two people were happy because real love was there.

THE FIR TREE AND THE WILLOW WAND[B]

All this happened years ago when the red men lived along the lake shores
and hunted in the woods. The Indians still tell the tale and shake their
heads sadly, whether because of the sadness of the story or because they
sigh for the old days, I do not know.

Willow Wand was the daughter of old Chief Seafog. She was not like the
other girls of the tribe. She was straight and lithe like a willow, and
she looked more like a beautiful boy than she did like an Indian maiden.
This is not strange when you think that she wore the leather leggins and
the short jacket of the Indian boy and carried a bow and quiver of arrows
thrown over her shoulder. And in spite of the fact that she shot a
straighter arrow than most of the lads about her, they all loved her, for
she would run with them and hunt with them, and at night, by the fire, she
would tell them strange and beautiful stories. In her face they saw a
light that they did not see in the faces of the other girls and squaws of
the village, for Willow Wand had a secret which made her full of
mysteries.

As Willow Wand grew taller, the time came when she thought of wedding.
Young Fir Tree, the most daring of the young braves, loved her, and Willow
Wand knew that she loved him. And when Fir Tree went to old Chief Seafog,
Willow Wand went with him, which made it not difficult for them to receive
the old man's blessing.

So on one brilliant day in Indian summer, Fir Tree and Willow Wand were
married. The fallen leaves danced at their wedding feast and the blue
mists of autumn were the bridal veil. Every one was as happy as an Indian
could be. And in the starlight, Fir Tree took Willow Wand to his tepee. He
brought a great buffalo robe from the tent and spread it on the hillside,
and they sat