Overland journeys to the Pacific -- Juvenile fiction; Shawnee Indians -- Juvenile fiction; Siksika Indians -- Juvenile fiction
"Among the captives was a manly youth, who was proud and brave, and had
slain three of the Blackfeet and wounded Wahla himself before they made
him prisoner. He scorned to ask mercy, which would have been denied
him, and, without a tremor of limb or a dimming of his bright eyes,
awaited the cruel death that he knew had been prepared for him and his
comrades.
"Wahla had to keep his captives for a week or more until word could be
sent to the other villages, that they might come and feast upon the
deaths of the Cheyennes. During that time, Mul-tal-la cannot tell how,
the young Cheyenne warrior and Mita, daughter of the chieftain, met and
learned to love each other. No one knew their secret, and so, while
preparations were going on for the cruel deaths, she managed to loose
his bonds, and one night the two fled for the home of the Cheyennes,
there to become husband and wife.
"Wahla did not learn of the flight of his daughter and lover until the
next morning, when he started in pursuit. He went alone, for his rage
was so terrible that he was not willing anyone should share the
sweetness of revenge with him. He traveled fast, and drew nigh enough
to catch sight of the two on the second day following their flight. He
did not carry his bow, but had his knife and tomahawk, while the youth
possessed no weapon at all. Had a knife been his, he would not have
used it against Wahla, because he was the father of the maiden whom he
loved more than his life.
"When the two found they could not flee faster than the wrathful
chieftain, they paused and waited for him to come up. Then Mita threw
herself at the feet of her father and prayed him to spare the life of
the Cheyenne. The chief spurned her and ran after the young warrior.
The youth did not flee, but stood with folded arms, calmly awaiting
him.
"'Slay me,' he said, 'but when I die Mita will die with me!'
"Heedless of the appeal, the furious chieftain plunged his knife into
the breast of the youth, who sank to the earth and breathed out his
life. Wahla turned to seize his daughter, but at that moment a wild
shriek rent the air, and she died, clasping his knees and moaning that
he had slain her as well as the Cheyenne.
"When Wahla saw what he had done, he started to hurry to his village,
but his mind had gone from him. You were told that he had been wounded
by the Cheyenne in battle. The wound was in the thigh of the chief, and
it now broke out afresh, as if in punishment for the crime he had
committed. It made him limp sorely, but he would not stop, and ran
faster than ever. Because of his halt gait, he ran in a circle.
"Round and round he went all night, when he perished, but the Great
Spirit kept him running throughout the days and weeks that followed
until he became a shadow. His feet wore a circular path, which may be
seen to-day, as Mul-tal-la has looked upon it many times and my
brothers may do if they will journey a few days to the southward.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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