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Winona's Warning.

by Hanford Lennox Gordon

'Twas sunrise; the spirits of mist

trailed their white robes on dewy savannas,

And the flowers raised their heads to be kissed

by the first golden beams of the morning.

The breeze was abroad with the breath

of the rose of the Isles of the Summer,

And the humming-bird hummed on the heath

from his home in the land of the rainbow.[AI]

'Twas the morn of departure. DuLuth

stood alone by the roar of the Ha-ha;

Tall and fair in the strength of his youth

stood the blue-eyed and fair-bearded Frenchman.

A rustle of robes on the grass broke his dream

as he mused by the waters,

And, turning, he looked on the face of Winona,

wild-rose of the prairies,

Half hid in her dark, flowing hair,

like the round, golden moon in the pine-tops.

Admiring he gazed she was fair

as his own blooming Flore in her orchards,

With her golden locks loose on the air,

like the gleam of the sun through the olives,

Far away on the vine-covered shore,

in the sun-favored land of his fathers.

"Lists the chief to the cataract's roar

for the mournful lament of the Spirit?"[AJ]

Said Winona, "The wail of the sprite

for her babe and its father unfaithful,

Is heard in the midst of the night,

when the moon wanders dim in the heavens."

"Wild-Rose of the Prairies," he said,

"DuLuth listens not to the Ha-ha,

For the wail of the ghost of the dead

for her babe and its father unfaithful;

But he lists to a voice in his heart

that is heard by the ear of no other,

And to-day will the White Chief depart;

he returns to the land of the sunrise."

"Let Winona depart with the chief,

she will kindle the fire in his teepee;

For long are the days of her grief,

if she stay in the tee of Ta-t'-psin,"

She replied, and her cheeks were aflame

with the bloom of the wild prairie lilies.

"Tanke[AK], is the White Chief to blame?"

said DuLuth to the blushing Winona.

"The White Chief is blameless," she said,

"but the heart of Winona will follow

Wherever thy footsteps may lead,

O blue-eyed, brave Chief of the white men.

For her mother sleeps long in the mound,

and a step-mother rules in the teepee,

And her father, once strong and renowned,

is bent with the weight of his winters.

No longer he handles the spear,

no longer his swift, humming arrows

Overtake the fleet feet of the deer,

or the bear of the woods, or the bison;

But he bends as he walks, and the wind

shakes his white hair and hinders his footsteps;

And soon will he leave me behind,

without brother or sister or kindred.

The doe scents the wolf in the wind,

and a wolf walks the path of Winona.

Three times have the gifts for the bride[55]

to the lodge of Ta-t'-psin been carried,

But the voice of Winona replied

that she liked not the haughty Tamd'ka.

And thrice were the gifts sent away,

but the tongue of the mother protested,

And the were-wolf[52] still follows his prey,

and abides but the death of my father."

"I pity Winona," he said,

"but my path is a pathway of danger,

And long is the trail for the maid

to the far-away land of the sunrise;

And few are the braves of my band,

and the braves of Tamd'ka are many;

But soon I return to the land,

and a cloud of my hunters will follow.

When the cold winds of winter return

and toss the white robes of the prairies,

The fire of the White Chief will burn

in his lodge at the Meeting-of-Waters;[AL]

And when from the Sunrise again

comes the chief of the sons of the Morning,

Many moons will his hunters remain

in the land of the friendly Dakotas.

The son of Chief W'z'-Kut' guides

the White Chief afar on his journey;

Nor long on the T'nka Med'[AM]

on the breast of the blue, bounding billows

Shall the bark of the Frenchman delay,

but his pathway shall kindle behind him."

She was pale, and her hurried voice

swelled with alarm as she questioned replying

"Tamd'ka thy guide? I beheld

thy death in his face at the races.

He covers his heart with a smile,

but revenge never sleeps in his bosom;

His tongue it is soft to beguile;

but beware of the pur of the panther!

For death, like a shadow, will walk

by thy side in the midst of the forest,

Or follow thy path like a hawk

on the trail of a wounded Mast'nca.[AN]

A son of Unkt'hee is he,

the Chief of the crafty magicians;

They have plotted thy death;

I can see thy trail it is red in the forest;

Beware of Tamd'ka, beware.

Slumber not like the grouse of the woodlands,

With head under wing, for the glare

of the eyes that sleep not are upon thee."

"Winona, fear not," said DuLuth,

"for I carry the fire of Wak'nyan[AO]

And strong is the arm of my youth,

and stout are the hearts of my warriors;

But Winona has spoken the truth,

and the heart of the White Chief is thankful.

Hide this in thy bosom, dear maid,

'tis the crucified Christ of the white men.[AP]

Lift thy voice to his spirit in need,

and his spirit will hear thee and answer;

For often he comes to my aid;

he is stronger than all the Dakotas;

And the Spirits of evil, afraid,

hide away when he looks from the heavens."

In her swelling, brown bosom she hid

the crucified Jesus in silver;

"Niw'st',"[AQ] she sadly replied;

in her low voice the rising tears trembled;

Her dewy eyes turned she aside,

and she slowly returned to the teepees.

But still on the swift river's strand,

admiring the graceful Winona,

As she gathered, with brown, dimpled hand,

her hair from the wind, stood the Frenchman.