to be happy
when Wenona smiled? Alas! that her gentle spirit should not always have
been near to soften his!

But as the beauty and warmth of summer passed away, so did Wenona's
strength begin to fail; the autumn wind, that swept rudely over the
prairie flowers, so that they could not lift their heads above the tall
grass, seemed to pass in anger over the wigwam of the old man--for the
eye of the Dahcotah maiden was losing its brightness, and her step was
less firm, as she wandered with her brother in her native woods. Vainly
did the medicine men practice their cherished rites--the Great Spirit
had called--and who could refuse to hear his voice? she faded with the
leaves--and the cries of the mourners were answered by the wailing
winds, as they sang her requiem.

A few months passed away, and her brother was alone. The winter that
followed his sister's death, was a severe one. The mother had never been
strong, and she soon followed her daughter--while the father's age
unfitted him to contend with sorrow, infirmity, and want.

Spring returned, but winter had settled on the heart of the young
Sisseton; she was gone who alone could drive away the shadow from his
brow, what wonder then that his countenance should always be stern. The
Indians called him Eta Keazah, or Sullen Face.

But after the lapse of years, the boy, who brooded over the wrongs of
his father, eagerly seeks an opportunity to avenge his own. His sister
has never been forgotten; but he remembers her as we do a beautiful
dream; and she is the spirit that hovers round him while his eyes are
closed in sleep.

But there are others who hold a place in his heart. His wife is always
ready to receive him with a welcome, and his young son calls upon him to
teach him to send the arrow to the heart of the buffalo. But the
sufferings of his tribe, from want of food and other privations, are
ever before his eyes. Vengeance upon the white man, who has caused them!

CHAPTER II.

Winter is the season of trial for the Sioux, especially for the women
and children. The incursions of the English half-breeds and Cree
Indians, into the Sisseton country, have caused their buffalo to recede,
and so little other game is to be found, that indescribable sufferings
are endured every winter by the Sissetons.

Starvation forces the hunters to seek for the buffalo in the depth of
winter. Their families must accompany them, for they have not the
smallest portion of food to