sented her with the necklace he had made. The pearls, lying close 

 about her white throat, could do her no harm while on the water, for 

 there the Sea-King held sway, but when the canoe grated on the 

 pebbles of the island, and she stepped ashore, the maiden vanishd, and 

 in her place a white doe sprang gracefully forward and disappeared 

 in the thicket. 



As Chico floated swiftly away, his song was borne over the water: 



"Go, white doe, hide in the forest, 

 Feed upon the sweet wild grasses; 

 No winged arrow e'er shall harm you, 

 No red hunter e'er shall win you; 

 Roam forever, fleet and fearless, 

 Living free, and yet in fetters." 



Far and wide Virginia's friends searched for her, but without 

 success. Then O-kis-ko overheard the old women sagely whispering 

 to one another of Chico's wiles, saying that he had bewitched the girl, 

 and changed her into a white doe. Believing them, O-kis-ko tried, in 

 vain, to capture the animal. At length, despairing, he sought We- 

 nau-don, the magician of Po-mou-ik, who had long cherished a grudge 

 against Chico. We-nau-don had bathed in the Naiad's magic spring, 

 whose powerful waters held the secret of perpeutal youth and brought 

 success in love. He instructed O-kis-ko to make an arrow of witch 

 hazel and fasten it to a triangle of three purple mussel-pearls, and a 

 heron's wing, and taught him to repeat the charm, 



"Mussel-pearl arrow, to her heart go; 

 Loosen the fetters which bind the white doe; 

 Bring the lost maiden back to O-kis-ko." 



Wingina, a neighboring chief, becoming annoyed at the tales he 

 heard of the white doe that none could take prisoner, made a feast 

 and invited the tribes to join in a hunt for her. The Croatoans did 

 not reply to the invitation, for they believed the doe to be Virginia's 

 spirit, and fearful of harming her, would take no part in the chase. 

 O-kis-ko, thinking to set the maiden free, offered to try his arrow and 

 so did a boastful hunter named Wau-che-se. 



On Roanoke Island, Wau-che-se stationed himself beneath a pine 

 tree, while O-kis-ko was concealed in the shrubbery nearby. In a few 

 moments, the white doe appeared, stepping cautiously, at the head of 

 the herd. O-kis-ko bent his bow and softly repeating the charm three 

 times, sent the dart of witch hazel straight to her breast. The deer 

 vanished and before him stood the lost maiden. But scarcely had he 

 beheld her before she fell at his feet, slain by Wau-che-se's silver 

 arrow, begging O-kis-ko, with her last breath, to remember her 

 forever. 



As Virginia's blood mingled with the water of the magic spring 

 by which she had fallen, it became dry, and O-kis-ko, bending eagerly 

 forward, saw a little green shoot springing up from the bed of the 

 spring, toward the sunlight. Sorrowfully he buried the silver arrow 

 under the twigs and leaves, and inconsolable at his loss, visited the spot 



73 



