But to you I was forced to yield!"
Again he paused, as if fearing to appear unduly
hasty; but deliberate as were speech and man-
ner, his eyes betrayed him. They were full of
intense eagerness mingled with anxiety.
"Sometimes I have imagined that I am in the
world with you alone, traveling over the prairie
of life, or sitting in our lonely white teepee,
as the oriole sits with his mate before their
swaying home. Yet I seemed to be never lonely,
because you were there!" He finished his plea,
and with outward calmness awaited her reply.
The maiden had not lost a word, but she was
still thinking. She thought that a man is much
like the wind of the north, only pleasant and
comfortable in midsummer! She feared that
she might some time have to furnish all the fuel
for their love's fires; therefore she held her
peace. Matoska waited for several minutes and
then silently withdrew, bearing his disappoint-
ment with dignity.
Meanwhile the camp was astir with the re-
turning youths and maidens, their horses' sides
fringed with the long meadow grass, singing
plaintive serenades around the circular rows of
teepees before they broke up for the night.
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