The Middle Five: Indian Boys at SchoolLa Flesche, Francis
History
The Middle Five: Indian Boys at School
La Flesche, Francis
Indians of North America -- Juvenile literature
The young man travelled many days, when one morning he beheld a maiden
sitting on the brow of a hill. He went to her and asked why she sat
there all alone. Without lifting her eyes, modesty forbidding her to
return his gaze, the maiden replied, "I go to marry Hi_n_-hpe'-ah-gre."
The youth was seized with fear lest the young woman might be the
White-swan transformed to beguile him; but being struck by her maidenly
bearing, and becoming enamoured of her beauty, he turned aside from
suspicion and permitted himself to be persuaded that the fair creature
before him was in reality one of his own kind. And so he spoke and
said, "I am he, Hi_n_-hpe'-ah-gre, the man whom you seek to follow." In
reply the maiden said, "It makes my heart throb with delight to meet
and to see with my own eyes the man I am to marry. Sit down and rest
your head in my lap, and when the weariness of travel has left you, I
shall follow you wherever you may lead." Joy filling the heart of the
youth, and no longer troubled with misgivings, he laid his head upon
the lap of the maiden and soon fell fast asleep.
"Tha! Tha!" exclaimed the woman, using a word of magic, and four times,
in quick succession, she pulled the ears of the young man. He awoke
with a start and attempted to rise, but a transformation had taken
place, instead of a man standing upright, he found himself to be a
four-footed beast. His body had changed, but his reason was still that
of a man. He turned to see his companion, and lo! he beheld, not the
beautiful maiden in whose lap he had fallen asleep, but one who looked
down upon him with contempt, and whom he knew to be the White-swan. The
thought that he had been outwitted came to the young man like a flash,
and as swiftly his magic word returned to his mind. He tried to utter
it, but he only yelped and gave a dismal howl like that of a dog. A
cringing, mangy, lop-eared dog, he now followed the White-swan and--Are
you asleep?"
I was almost asleep, so I did not answer him, then he became silent.
When I awoke Edwin was gone; I called him but he did not answer. Brush
and I went downstairs and called softly in the school-room, but the boy
was not there, then we went to the large door of the hall and found it
unbolted. We returned to the dormitory and went to bed, and I soon
fell asleep again.
Toward morning I was awakened by strange sounds on the stairs leading
up to our dormitory. I recognized the footsteps of a human being, but
there were other footsteps that were like those of a four-footed beast.
They approached my bed; they came near, and a voice said in Indian in a
loud whisper, "Lie down, lie down!"
"Is it you, Oo-ma'-a-be?" I asked.
"Yes, I've been after my dog," he answered, getting into bed with his
clothes on.
"Get up and undress; you can't sleep with your clothes on! What did you
go after the dog for?"
"I wanted you to see him, and I thought we'd keep him here. He is a
fine dog; he can swim too!"
"But were you not afraid? It was dark."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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