Yet just such sadness I
felt, when I looked on the island, glittering in the sunset, canopied by
the rainbow, and thought no friend would welcome me there; just such
childish joy I felt, to see unexpectedly on the landing, the face of one
whom I called friend.
The remaining two or three days were delightfully spent, in walking or
boating, or sitting at the window to see the Indians go. This was not
quite so pleasant as their coming in, though accomplished with the same
rapidity; a family not taking half an hour to prepare for departure, and
the departing canoe a beautiful object. But they left behind, on all the
shore, the blemishes of their stay--old rags, dried boughs, fragments
of food, the marks of their fires. Nature likes to cover up and gloss
over spots and scars, but it would take her some time to restore that
beach to the state it was in before they came.
S. and I had a mind for a canoe excursion, and we asked one of the
traders to engage us two good Indians, that would not only take us out,
but be sure and bring us back, as we could not hold converse with them.
Two others offered their aid, beside the chief's son, a fine looking
youth of about sixteen, richly dressed in blue broadcloth, scarlet sash
and leggins, with a scarf of brighter red than the rest, tied around his
head, its ends falling gracefully on one shoulder. They thought it,
apparently, fine amusement to be attending two white women; they carried
us into the path of the steamboat, which was going out, and paddled with
all their force,--rather too fast, indeed, for there was something of a
swell on the lake, and they sometimes threw water into the canoe.
Pages:
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249