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Show AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP I've heard her make a solemn vow" A warrior I will be Until a hundred foes shall bow, And yield their scalps to me; I will revenge my brother's deathI swear it on my life, Or never, while I draw a breath, Will I become a wife. ,. I've seen her on her foaming steed, vVith battle-axe in hand, Pursuing at her utmost speed The Black Foot and Shi-an. I've seen her wield her polished lance A hundred times and more, When charging fierce in the advance Amid the battle's roar. I've seen her with her scalping-knife Spring on the fallen foe, And, ere he was yet void of life, Make sure to count her coo. I've seen her, at full speed again, oft~draw her trusty bow, Across her arrow take good aim, ~'\nd lay a warrior low. I've heard her say, " I'll take ill] shield, My battle-axe, and bow, And follow you, through glen or field , Where'er you dare to go; I'll rush amid the blood and strife Where any warrior leads:" Pine Leaf would choose to lose her life Amid such daring deeds. I've heard her say, "The spirit land Is where my thoughts incline, Where I can grasp my brother's hand, Extended now for mine. There's nothing now in this wide world- ""' No ties that bid me stay; But, a broken-hearted Indian girl, I weep both night and day. uu \ • JAMES P. BECKWOURTH. " He tells me in my midnight dreams I must revenge his fall, Then come where flowers and cooling streams Surround their spirits, all. He tells me that the hunting-ground, So far away on high, Is filled with warriors all around Who nobly here did die. " He says that all is joy and mirth Where the Great Spirit lives, And joy that's never known on earth He constantly receives. No brother to revenge his wrongsThe war-path is my road: A few more days I'll sing his songs, Then hie to his abode." I've heard her say, "I'll be your bride ; You've waited long, I know ; A hundred foes by me have died, By my own hand laid low. 'Tis for my nation's good I wed ; For I would still be free Until I slumber with the dead ; But I will marry thee.' ' And when I left the heroine, A tear stood in her eye As last I held her hand in mine, And whispered a good-by. '' Oh, will you soon return again ?" The heroine did say ; " Y~s, when the green grass decks the plain ,' ' I 'said, and came away . rrnE END. 537 , • |