am. His having to leave in this way gave great joy to the mother of
Shakoona, and to her brothers and sisters, especially Miskoodell, who
was now a bright young girl herself.

"But old Oosahmekoo, although repulsed this time, was not to be easily
put off. He saw that he had broken the usages of his tribe in the way
that he had acted, and so, pretending to hide his anger, he found times
to meet the father of Shakoona and offer his gold for her. Without
letting him know the reason of their so doing, his family all seemed
very indignant that Oosahmekoo should have so insulted the old father,
and so they kept him in such a state that he refused the chief's offer,
but not in such a way as to discourage him from persisting in his
efforts.

"The winter passed away, and I prepared to return with my heavy pack of
rich furs. On the trail of many days I reached the hunting lodges of
some of our people, who, being near, had frequently gone to the village.
There they had learned about the efforts of Oosahmekoo to buy my Indian
maiden, and of it they told me. When I heard it my heart got hot, and
clutched my knife and said something, but my friends urged me to be wise
and careful, for the old chief was cruel and powerful. Some of them
with lighter loads hurried on, and one who was my true friend went fast
and quietly told Shakoona that I was coming on the trail. And some one
else had told Oosahmekoo, and had also told him that I was the favourite
hunter of Shakoona, and that I was bringing home sufficient rich furs to
more than equal his gold in value, to lay at the feet of Wahbunoo. The
news given to Shakoona filled her heart with joy, while that given to
the old chief made him furious and eager to destroy me. With the help
of her mother, who remembered how I had killed the bear, and thus likely
saved her life, Shakoona was able to get away, and met me on the trail
long before I entered the village. From her I heard all there was to
know. She put her arms around my neck and kissed me, and said she would
die before she would be the sixth wife of such a man. There we promised
that we would rather die than be separated. We saw that we would have
to be very wise and careful, as my friends had said. I was glad to
learn that all my maiden's family were friendly to me. Only a little
while dare Shakoona stay with me. If her stern father missed her there
would be trouble, even if his love for her was only what she, by her
sa