Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-10-20

lie trould sscdl uD behind her and catch
her in his arms.
down upon the damp earth to sleep. She
knew that she was expected to die,
that she ought to die, but she stunned
death, not from any dread of it, but
for the love of life. No doubt she fully
intended to die but she would put the
thought of it by for a little longer and
dream of the pale faced brave All, he
might love her still-who could tcll?-
for the white people We're so strange! She
slept and doubtless dreamed of the little
field, of her father, of the twilight time
and of the sweet surprise Of her lovers
arms about her, and then she started up
suddenly, putting her hand to her head,
and the recollection of her misfortune
made her heart sad, and soon she slept
again.
"When she awoke, the sun was high
in the heavens. She was hungry and
thirsty. The blood had dried in her
midnight hair, and now she went down
to the river to drink and bathe her
fcvcred face. Then she sat by the river
for a long time, trying to make up her
mind to die, but she could not. There
was a certain amount of mystery about
the river, and she liked to look upon its
quiet face. Whence did it come, and
where was it going? Then, in her wild
way, she likened her life to the river
Where did she come from, and where
was she going? She couldn't make it
out. Only she remembered that her
teacher the brakeman, had said some
thing about another world beyond tho
sky, but he was still in this world and
she loathod 10 leave it, and so she sat all
through the long summer day, with her
hands locked over her knees, rocking to
and fro, half grooming and half moan.
ing:
when the great red sun il half in the sky
| And half IN the earth then the dead must die
! "She knew that she was counted
! among the dead by her people and if
/ she returned to them she would be
/ drowned in this river when the sun
went down.
Yes it was clearly her duty now to
die, and she would drown herself at the
set of sun. Having reconcied herself to
her fate, she fell asleep and when she
awoke the sky was all studded with
stars She had slept over the death
time and now must await another sun
set. She went down TO the river and
bathed her face, Oh, the mystery of the
river, where did it come from and
where was it going? Would it bear her
back to her lost lover? No, it was flow
ing toward the morning and would car
ry her farther away. She turned away,
haunted by the conviction that she had
no place in this world, for she had heard
them sing III the death chant;
"The shadows lie upon the shore,
The dead shall walk tho earth no more.
And yet she could not put out Of
her heart the longing to live, and set.
ting her face from those she loved she
wandered out over the starlit plain.
All night she tramped through the
sagebrush with never pause for rest or
sleep, and when tho red sun swung out
Of tho earth she tramped on and on
Tho sun poured its pitilcss rays upon
her wounded head, her soiled mantle
trailcd upon the dewy earth, her tired
feet We're torn and bleeding and yet to
III tHOSe MS Sne gave Ho Thought
Vaguely now she remembered that she
had fixed purpose, a certain duty to
perform, and that was to be the end of
all. She mus: not lose sight of the river,
but even now when she looked for it
the river was not to be seem Her lips
We're parched; her throat seemed to be
burning. The wide waste DER which
she wandered lay quivering in the
white glare of the MONDAY sun. Away
at the outer edge of this shipless sea
the gray air trcmbled, her brain whirl-
ed, she swooned and fell to the earth,
1.-THE cool night wind was about her
when she came to herself again. but she
could remember but dimly the events of
the past and so, half dazed, she wan
dered ON. Late in tho afternoon she
came to little station where there were
lone operator and a water tank. The
station agent gave her food and Offered
her shelter, but she shook her head and
asked him where the river lay. The