The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-06-10
Lotus Flower.

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little forest glade. They were a man
and a Il man tall, dark and
muscular, whose deerskin wrappinSs
were the exact symbol Of his character !;
n of Natures hunters he, whom
neither wind nor rain nor storm could
daunt. who feared neither white bandit
nor red rover whose whole life, in fact,
had been passed beyond the limits of
the white mans haunts. and whose only
training bad been in the use of the rifle
and the knife.
The woman beside him was a Utah
girl. Even among the wild red men
there will sometimes be found a rarely
beautiful woman. The girl was all
symmetry and grace. Her large, dark
ewes assimilated well with the rich
brown of her dusky cheek, and the
flowing masses of jetty hair fell in lus-
trous folds upon the beautifully rounded
shoulders. One hand rested lovingly
upon the young mans shoulder, as she
lifted those glorious eyes to his.
Strange that SO strong a mixture OF
sentiment had gotten into this young
hunters disposition. Whether it were
the babbling brooks, the signing winds
among the trees, this lifelong associa-
ton with the beauties of Nature, young
Ned Merlin had drank in with his life
a feeling of tenderness, Of romantic SEN
timent, which all along had made him
no less a brave, free hunter, and had de-
yeloped him more and more into q
nobie-hear-ed man. SO his love for the
pure, brave-hearted Indian girl who
stood beside him was of the deepest,
trnest nature.
Thus they stood communing with
each other in the same place where they
first had plighted their troth to each
other. They stood there in their shady
covert, while the sun crept down behind
the tree tops and bathed the western
hills with his fast retreating splendors.
There they stood, heart to heart and
life to life, in this dream of love and
happiness.
But while these two thus stood to-
gether, this happy quiet was roughly
assailed by an unlocked for event. The
bushes parted on the northern side of
the glade, and q dusky chieftain strobe,
rifle in hand, toward the pair. Ned
Merlin threw his rifle to his shoulder,
but Lotus Flower struck the barrel up
ward, and the chieftain's life was saved.
The mex moment they were surrounded
by a cleaning circle of splifted knives
and hatchets, and, despite his desperate
struggles, Ned Merlin was securely
bound.
1.-THE pale-faced hunter has turned
aside the heart of a red maiden" said
the chief. 'She no longer looks upon
the young men of her people with
favor. Her brow is sad when she looks
upon the Great Bear, her father, and
the Great Spirit is very angry with the
Lotus Flower. The white hunter has
done this, and he must die p
eyes, let the pale-face die y said the
young brave, who stood beside the PMS
oner, knife in hand.
This was Tiger Slayer, the bravest
warrior Of his tribe. He was renowned
among all the nations Of Utah. Keen
eyed. sagacious, a dead shot, a great
trailer, he vas feared by a majority Of
his people. Inscriptions and unprin-
cipled in the attainment Of his purposes
he had reached his eminent position as
leading warrior of his tribe by violence
and difficulty. Although not yet a chief,
he was an eager aspirant for that posi-
ton, and there were many the worst
spirits among the rising young men, who
were secretly aiding him in the attain
ment Of his purpose.
This Tiger Slayer was in love with
the daughter of the chief, Great Bear.
Lotus Flower had been the one bright
star, the n ray of sunshine in bis bold,
bad heart. He loved her as well as his
nature was capable of loving. Natural
ly jealous, he had logged her footsteps
at different times, and on one Of the coca
sions had discovered her secret the love
she bore the young white hunter. This
was enough to fire his most furious pas
sions. The white man should meet