Before the rigor of winter had set in, Tatoka
brought to his bride many buffalo skins. She
was thoroughly schooled in the arts of sav-
age womanhood; in fact, every Indian maid
was trained with this thought in view--that
she should become a beautiful, strong, skillful
wife and mother--the mother of a noble race
of warriors!
In a short time within that green and pine-
scented enclosure there smiled a little wild para-
dise. Hard by the pine-bough wigwam there
stood a new white buffalo-skin teepee, tanned,
cut, sewed, and pitched by the hands of Stasu.
Away in the woods, down by the rushing brook,
was her tannery, and not far away, in a sunny,
open spot, she prepared her sun-cured meats for
winter use. Her kitchen was a stone fireplace
in a shady spot, and her parlor was the lodge
of evergreen, overhung on two sides by inac-
cessible ledges, and bounded on the other two
by the sparkling stream. It was a secret place,
and yet a citadel; a silent place, and yet not
lonely!
The winter was cold and long, but the pair
were happy in one another's company, and ac-
cepted their strange lot as one that was chosen
for them by the spirits.
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