on those species of fish which are made
the prey of the larger, than on the food prepared on the hearth of the
Ottawa. Gradually, however, and at length fully, did her tastes
conform to the tastes of those with whom she dwelt.

Yet she had no soul--the spirit of a fish was in her, but not the
spirit of a mortal. She could not weep with the afflicted, nor laugh
with the joyful. She knew indeed her Creator, for all things, whether
animate or inanimate, know Him; but the worship paid by her was not
the worship of one who has reason for what he does, but of one who
follows the prompting of instinct. She still retained her passion for
the evening, and the bright balls which light it, but better loved to
see their reflection in the water, than to behold them dancing about
in the blue sky.

At length, there arose a black cloud in the atmosphere--the
Andirondacks and the Ottawas were no longer friends. A little thing
breeds a quarrel among the sons of the wilderness. A word lightly
spoken, a deer stricken an arrow's flight over a certain limit, an
insult of old date, but unavenged, a woman borne away from an approved
lover, are each deemed of sufficient importance to enlist all the
energies of a nation in the purpose of revenge. A deputation of
Andirondacks came to the chief village of the Ottawas, demanding
satisfaction for a trespass on their hunting-ground, and for doing the
foolish thing, so much reprobated by the red men of the forest as to
occasion frequent wars--the slaying of beasts of venery out of season.
Among the chiefs was the youth Piskaret, who, although he had but just
reached his twentieth summer, was, as I have before said, counted the
strongest, the wisest, and, by anticipation, the bravest, man of the
nation. And with him came his aged father, the great chief of the
Andirondacks.

The feast was made and eaten, the dance was concluded, and the chiefs,
and counsellors, and warriors, were smoking in the great pipe of
peace, when the beautiful maiden, who bore the name of Menana, entered
the council cabin. She had now lost all traces of her origin from the
waters, and to all appearance was a mortal woman. She entered without
that timid step which mortal maidens have when they find themselves
suddenly cast into a crowd of the other sex, with none of their own to
give them countenance. But Menana was not versed in the ways of
mortals, and had none of the feelings which send the blush to the
cheek and tremblin