ver he
hinted at his passion, she would hastily retire; and twice or
thrice he had caught her eyes fixed on him, when she thought herself
unobserved. Hope lives on scanty aliment, and the young man did not
despair.

Aishkwagon-ai-bee had noticed the liking of Magisaunikwa for his
daughter, and was not displeased. The noble youth had found favor in
his eyes, and he did not disdain his alliance. There was only a single
cause of hesitation in his mind. Wampum-hair had never been on a
war-path, and had always shown a disinclination to shed human blood.
Yet his courage was undoubted. None encountered with more audacity the
panther and the bear, and several were the lives he had saved at the
hazard of his own. A successful war expedition only was necessary to
complete his claims to the highest honors. Save the bloody scalp, no
ornament was lacking in his wigwam.

"Magisaunikwa," said the Sachem, "the fire of your eyes melts not the
snow around the heart of Leelinau, and it is because she looks upon
your hands and sees they were never painted with the blood of an
enemy."

"Can Leelinau be happier." asked the young hunter, "because another is
made miserable? Were I to kill a warrior for her sake, would not her
dreams be disturbed by the groans of his mother?"

The eyes of the Sachem flashed when he heard such language.

"Go," he said, "if thou art a dove, seek not to mate with the hawk."

But the resolution of Wampum-hair was not to be shaken by threats or
reproaches, nor weakened by the seductions of love. In the long and
final fast which revealed to him his guardian spirit, twelve days
with unshaken fortitude, to the wonder of the tribe, had he remained
without food before the vision came. He then beheld a child white as
the water-lily leading a little animal unknown to the country. It was
the size of the beaver, and covered all over with long white hair
that curled closely to its body. Its eyes were mild and sweet, and the
expression of its face gentler than anything ever seen on earth.
The child laid his hand on the heart of the fainting youth, and an
influence soft as the breath of the south wind streamed through his
frame, and he was strengthened, and stood upon his feet and partook
of food. Since then the war-song had been hateful to the ears of
Wampum-hair, and he loathed the vauntings of the braves. He preached
peace to his people, and endeavored to convince them of the folly of
killing their fellow men. But pr