{Red Cloud} Well spoken, O War Chief. By voices in council we learn our minds, and that, too, is strength. Also, is it kindness. For kindness and strength and beauty are one. The eagle in the high blue of the sky is beautiful. The salmon leaping the white water in the sunlight is beautiful. The young man fastest of foot in the race is beautiful. And because they fly well, and leap well, and run well, are they beautiful. Beauty must beget beauty. The ring-tail cat begets the ring-tail cat, the dove the dove. Never does the dove beget the ring-tail cat. Hearts must be kind. The little turtle is not kind. That is why it is the little turtle. It lays its eggs in the sun-warm sand and forgets its young forever. And the little turtle is forever the Kttle turtle. But we are not little turtles, because we are kind. We do not leave our young to the sun in the sand. Our women keep our young warm under their hearts, and, after, they keep them warm with deer-skin and campfire. Because we are kind we are men and not little turtles, and that is why we eat the little turtle that is not strong because it is not kind. {War Chief} _(Gesturing to be heard.)_ The Modoc come against us in their strength. Often the Modoc come against us. We cannot be kind to the Modoc. {Red Cloud} That will come after. Kindness grows. First must we be kind to our own. After, long after, all men will be kind to all men, and all men will be very strong. The strength of the Nishinam is not the strength of its strongest fighter. It is the strength of all the Nishinam added together that makes the Nishinam strong. We talk, you and I, War Chief and First Man, because we are kind one to the other, and thus we add together our wisdom, and all the Nishinam are stronger because we have talked. _(A voice is heard singing. Red Cloud holds up his hand for silence.)_ MATING SONG {Dew-Woman} In the morning by the river, In the evening at the fire, In the night when all lay sleeping, Torn was I with life's desire. There were stirrings 'neath my heart-beats Of the dreams that came to me; In my ears were whispers, voices, Of the children yet to be. {Red Cloud} _(As Red Cloud sings, Dew-Woman steals from behind a tree and approaches him.)_ In the morning by the river Saw I first my maid of dew, Daughter of the dew and dawnlight, Of the dawn and honey-dew. She was laughter, she was sunlight, Woman, maid, and mate, and wife; She was sparkle, she was gladness, She was all the song of life.