Old Indian Days | Page 7

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warfare--an unknown hunt- ing! Although he was very anxious to meet
Taluta, whenever the idea occurred to him he trembled like a leaf in the

wind, and profuse perspiration rolled down his stoic visage. It was not
customary to hold any social inter- course with the members of the
opposite sex, and he had never spoken familiarly to any woman since
he became a man, except his old grandmother. It was well known that
the counsel of the aged brings luck to the youth in warfare and love.
Antelope arose early the next morning, and without speaking to any
one he made a cere- monious toilet. He put on his finest buckskin shirt
and a handsome robe, threw a beaded quiver over his shoulder, and
walked directly away from the teepees and into the forest--he did not
know why nor whither. The sounds of the camp grew fainter and fainter,
until at last he found himself alone.
"How is it," mused the young man, "that I have hoped to become a
leader among my people? My father is not a chief, and none of my
ancestors were distinguished in war. I know well that, if I desire to be
great, I must deny myself the pleasure of woman's company until I
have made my reputation. I must not boast nor exhibit myself on my
first success. The spirits do not visit the common haunts of men! All
these rules I have thus far kept, and I must not now yield to
temptation. . . . Man has much to weaken his ambition after he is
married. A young man may seek oppor- tunities to prove his worth, but
to a married man the opportunity must come to try him. He acts only
when compelled to act. . . . Ah, I must flee from the woman!. . . .
Besides, if she should like someone else better, I should be
humiliated. . . . I must go upon a long war-path. I shall forget her. . . ."
At this point his revery was interrupted by the joyous laughter of two
young women. The melodious sing-song laughter of the Sioux maiden
stirred the very soul of the young war- rior.
All his philosophy deserted him, and he stood hesitating, looking about
him as if for a chance of escape. A man who had never before felt the
magnetic influence of woman in her simplicity and childlike purity, he
be- came for the moment incapable of speech or action.
Meanwhile the two girls were wholly uncon- scious of any disturbing
presence in the forest. They were telling each other the signals that each

had received in the dance. Taluta's com- panion had stopped at the first
raspberry bushes, while she herself passed on to the next thicket. When
she emerged from the pines into an opening, she suddenly beheld
Antelope, in his full-dress suit of courtship. Instantly she dropped her
eyes.
Luckily the customs of courtship among the Sioux allow the covering
of one's head with the blanket. In this attitude, the young man made a
signal to Taluta with trembling fingers.
The wild red man's wooing was natural and straightforward; there was
no circumspection, no maneuvering for time or advantage. Hot words
of love burst forth from the young warrior's lips, with heavy breathing
behind the folds of the robe with which he sought to shield his
embarrassment.
"For once the spirits are guiding my for- tunes! It may seem strange to
you, when we meet thus by accident, that I should speak im- mediately
of my love for you; but we live in a world where one must speak when
the oppor- tunity offers. I have thought much of you since I saw you at
the maidens' feast. . . . Is Taluta willing to become the wife of Tatoka?
The moccasins of her making will cause his feet to be swift in pursuit
of the game, and on the trail of the enemy. . . . I beg of you, maiden, let
our meeting be known only to the birds of the air, while you consider
my pro- posal!"
All this while the maiden stood demurely at his side, playing with the
lariat of her pony in her brown, fine hands. Her doeskin gown with
profuse fringes hung gracefully as the drooping long leaves of the
willow, and her two heavy braids of black hair, mingled with strings of
deers' hoofs and wampum, fell upon her bosom. There was a faint glow
under- neath her brown skin, and her black eyes were calm and soft, yet
full of native fire.
"You will not press for an answer now," she gently replied, without
looking at him. "I expected to see no one here, and your words have
taken me by