is it so? Are you
thinking of 'Fiery Wind?'"

"There are enough women to make the teepee," replied Red Earth, "and I
sit alone because I choose to do so. But if I am thinking of 'Fiery
Wind' I do right--he is a great warrior!"

"Tell me if you love Fiery Wind?" said the young man, while his eyes
flashed fire, and the veins in his temple swelled almost to bursting.

"I do not love you," said the girl, "and that is enough. And you need
never think I will become your wife; your spells cannot make me love
you. [Footnote: The Sioux have great faith in spells. A lover will take
gum, and after putting some medicine in it, will induce the girl of his
choice to chew it, or put it in her way so that she will take it up of
her own accord. It is a long time before an Indian lover will take a
refusal from the woman he has chosen for a wife.] Where are Fiery Wind
and his relations? driven from the wigwam of the Chief by you and your
Chippeway mother. But they do not fear you--neither do I!"

And Red Earth looked calmly at the angry face of her lover. For Shining
Iron did love her, and he had loved her long. He had loaded her with
presents, which she always refused; he had related his honors, his brave
acts to her, but she turned a deaf ear to his words. He promised her he
would always have venison in her teepee, and that he never would take
another wife; she was the only woman he could ever love. But he might as
well have talked to the winds. And he thought so himself, for, finding
he could not gain the heart of the proud girl, he determined she should
never be the wife of any other man, and he told her so.

"You may marry Fiery Wind," said the angry lover, "but if you do, I will
kill him."

Red Earth heard, but did not reply to his threats; she feared not for
herself, but she trembled at the prospect of danger to the man she
loved. And while she turned the bracelets on her small wrists, the
warrior left her to her own thoughts. They were far from being pleasant;
she must warn her lover of the threats of his rival. For a while she
almost determined she would not marry Fiery Wind, for then his life
would be safe; but she would not break her promise. Besides, it was hard
for her to destroy all the air-built castles which she had built for her
happy future.

She knew Shining Iron's bravery, and she doubted not he would fulfil his
promise; for a moment prudence suggested that she had better marry him
to avoid his revenge. But she