hers, as they thread the
mazes of their dance among the clustering stars. The sight fills the
soul of an Indian with great joy, for he thinks that it is occasioned by
the spirits of his departed friends, indulging in the sport they loved
so well on earth, and dancing merrily to the music of the stars. The red
blush which tinges the face of night with a hue like that which mounts
to the cheeks of a beautiful maiden, when the name of her beloved youth
is whispered in her ear, is the flame which arises from the fires
kindled by the kind spirits of the north, to thaw the frozen mist which
impedes their light footsteps across the face of the heavens. And the
laugh is the laugh of eager joy, which those spirits utter when,
indulging in their loved pastime, they remember the occurrence which led
to their glorious destiny, and made the bright and starry north their
place of residence after death.

[Footnote A: This month (November) is sometimes called by them the
"Beaver-Moon," being the month in which they commence their hunt of that
animal.]

Once upon a time, the tribe of the Burntwood Tetons had assembled to
hold a merry feast and joyful dance upon the coming-in of the green
corn. It was a season of unusual plenty; the stalks of maize had grown
almost to the height and thickness of the surrounding trees, and the
ears thereon were many, sound, and sweet. Not only was this best beloved
food of the Indian in great plenty, but every thing else which
contributes to the enjoyment of Indian life, and makes the red man
happy, was in equal abundance. Every bush was loaded with rich, ripe
berries; and never, in the memory of the oldest Teton, had the woods
been so stocked with game, or the waters so frequently made to ripple
with the gambols of the nimble fish. The boy of twelve summers could
feed all his father's children with the spoils of his feeble bow and
tiny arrows, and the daughter of six would pluck more berries from the
prairie and hill-side, in the space of half a sun, than could be eaten
in her father's cabin by its hungry inmates for four sleeps. The Moon of
Planting saw the Great Spirit in good humour with his children, the
Tetons, because they had kept his commands, as laid down by his priests
and prophets: the Moon of Green Corn found him equally pleased and
gracious. Thence it was that he had showered prosperity upon all the
undertakings of our nation, and thence that he had given to our corn to
grow up like trees,