er,
seize the very choicest portions that had been set aside for Minnehaha,
and without any question being asked them, or any blame for their
strange conduct, they would flit back into the darkest shadow and devour
their food like hungry wolves.

Never once did Nokomis or Minnehaha or Hiawatha reprove them by a single
word or look, preferring to endure the insult rather than to break in
any way the law of hospitality and the sacred custom of free-giving; and
through it all the pale, sad women never said a word.

One night, however, Hiawatha lay awake, watching the embers of the fire,
when he heard loud groans and sobbing, and saw the two strange guests
sitting bolt upright on their couches, weeping bitterly. And Hiawatha
asked them: "O my guests, why is it that you are so unhappy and weep
together in the middle of the night? Has old Nokomis or Minnehaha
wronged you in any way or failed to treat you with proper courtesy?"

The two women left off weeping, and answered in low and gentle voices:
"Hiawatha, we are spirits. We are the souls of those who once lived here
on earth, and we have come from the kingdom of Chibiabos to warn you.

"Every cry of sorrow for the dead is heard in the Land of Spirits, and
calls back those of us for whom you mourn. We are much saddened by this
useless sorrow, and we have come from the Blessed Islands to ask you to
tell all your people what we say. Do not vex our ears with weeping, and
do not lay upon our graves so many robes, and kettles, and wampum-belts,
for the spirits find these a heavy burden. Only give us food to carry
with us on our journey, and see that a fire is lighted for us on the
four nights following our death. For the journey to the Land of Spirits
takes four days and four nights, and the cheerful firelight saves us
from groping in the darkness. Now farewell, Hiawatha. We have put you to
a great trial and have found you brave and noble. Do not fail in the
greater trial and the harder struggle that you will shortly have to
suffer."

Their voices died away, and sudden darkness filled the wigwam. Hiawatha
heard the rustle of their garments as they passed him, saw a gleam of
starlight as they lifted the curtain from the doorway; and when he
rekindled the fire he found that the pale, sad women, his strange
guests, had disappeared.

XX

THE FAMINE

OH, the cruel and bitter winter that followed! The ice on the rivers and
lakes became thicker and harder than ever be