, 1880-06-10
Lotus Flower.

Two persons stood side by side in the
little forest glade They were man
and wonsn-a man tall, dark and
muscular, whose deerskin wrappings
were the exact symbol Of his character ;
one of Natures hunters he, whom
neither wind nor rain nor storm could
r daunt, who feared neither white bandit
a nor red rover whose whole life, in fact,
had been passed beyond the limits of
the white mans haunts, and whose only
training had been.in the use of the rifle
and the knife.
The. woman beside him was 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
eyes sssimilated we'll 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 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.
tion with the beauties Of Nature, young
Ned Merlin had drank in with his life
q feeling of tenderness, of romantic sen.
timent, which all along had made him,
no less brave, free hunter, and had de.
yeloped him more and more into a
noble-hearted man. So his love for the
pure, brave-hearted Indian girl who
stood beside him was of the deepest,
truest nature. Rth VII
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
bills 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 o dusky chieftain strobe,
rife in hand, toward the pair. Ned
Merlin threw his rife to his shoulder,
but Lotrs Flower struck the barrel up.
ward, and the chieftain's life was saved.
The next moment they were surrounded
by q cleaning circle Of uplifted knives
and hatchets, and, despite his desperate
struggles, Ned Merlin was securely
bound
'sThe pale-faced hunter has turned
aside the heart Of n 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 /"
"Yes, let the pale.face die r said the
= young brave, who stood beside the pris-
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, ne was feared by a majority Of
his people. UnscrupuIous and unprin.
cipled in the attainment Of bis purposes
he had reached his eminent position as
leading warrior Of hin tribe by violence
and difficulty. Although not yet a chief
he was an eager Aspirant for that posi-
tion, and there we're many, the wors,
sPirilS among the rising young men. who
were secretly aiding him in the attain
ment Of bis parpose.
This Tiger slayer was in love With
The daughter of the chief. Great Bsmr
Lotus Flower had been ths one brirh,
ntar, The onc ray os sunshine in his bola
had heart H. loved her an pell a. HI,
nasHFe waA capable oi loving Natural
" .lealoua, b. had d1gEra be- isasssr.
at diaercni tunes, sad On ors "a a. os,u
tsnns had discovered her .scrsi --sbs lsr,
she bore the yeung white bunasr ThH
waa enough 50 fru hts most ftfsara ta1
KSorA Tbs white mnn rheai3 ne