[CAMPBELL] THE ANCIENT LITERATURE OF AMERICA 43 



Tliat beck(iiis him lionie. to liis i)e<)ple'.s canip 

 In vain : strength fails, and the cold death damp 

 Has told him he must die. 



He is going home to the Spirit Land ' 



That mortal ne'er hath seen, 

 Already in vision he seems to stand 

 In face of a well known spirit band, 

 Who welcome him over the shadowy strand 



To the forest's eternal green. 



Then his thoughts tiy back to the dear loved spot 



Where his children's camp tires glow : 

 And he grieves to tliink of his own sad lot, 

 Alone in the forest to die and rot, 

 With the magic arrow so often shot 



From his swift unerring bow. 



Well fashioned it was of stout hickory wood 



That shaft no quarry could shun ; 

 Its white flint barb had oft drunk the blood 

 Of murderous foes, and the red man's food. 

 " I could die ' thinks the chief in a better mood 



Could I leave this gift to my son." 



So he prays to the Spirit who dwells afar 



In the regions of light above, 

 " O thou who behold'st where thy children are, 

 Send down thy servant, the bright North Star, 

 To bear to the foremost in peace and in war 



This sign of his father's love." 



His prayer is heard. Ere the chieftain dies. 



The arrow has ta'en its flight ; 

 By unseen hands it is winged, and flies 

 Far up in the radiant nortliern skies, 

 Till it reaches the goal and safely lies 



In the North Star's guiding light. 



Up rises the Evening Star with pride, 



And scorn of her heavenly foes ; 

 The Spirit's power she has long defied. 

 Now she rushes to meet the red man's guide. 

 Till the hostile orbs ai-e side by side. 



And in deadly conflict close. 



Fierce battle they wage in the realms of light 



O'er the magic earthly prize ; 

 Dark clouds come forth on the face of night, 

 To hide from mortals the woeful sight, 

 Where the good and the evil spirits fight 



For victory in the skies. 



Shot forth in the deadly strife, down fall 



Bright flakes of silvery sheen ; 

 Severed from heaven without recall, 

 They dart through sky and earth's cloudy pall, 

 And glimmer on earth neath the pine trees 



And the maples red and green. 



