266 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



Again the boy beat his drum ; louder and louder he sang his 

 love song until his soft rich voice broke into a wail. Presently 

 the door-skin of Granny's lodge was gently pushed aside, and 

 Neykia stepped indolently forth. 



Shading her eyes with her hand, the girl gazed at the hillside, 

 but failed to discern her lover in the tree top. She listened 

 awhile and then, upon hearing once more the love song above 

 the beating of the drum, yielded to the dictates of her heart 

 and began to climb the hill. Little Pine saw her coming, 

 ceased his drumming, and slid down to hide behind the tree 

 trunk. 



A faintly marked woodland path led close by, and along it 

 the maiden was advancing. As she came abreast of the tree 

 the youth, in fun, gave a shout, and the maid — evidently 

 pretending bashful alarm — took to flight. 



Though fleet of foot, she suffered him to overtake her soon 

 and catch her by the arm, and hold her while she feigned to 

 struggle desperately for freedom. That won, she turned away 

 with a laugh, sat down upon a bank of wild flowers, and with 

 shyly averted face, began plucking them. Little Pine sat down 

 beside her. A moment later she sprang up and with merry 

 laughter ran into the denser forest, and there, with her lover 

 swiftly following her, disappeared from view. 



At sunset that evening Oo-koo-hoo and his wife sat smoking 

 beside their fire; and when the hermit thrush was singing, 

 the whippoorwill whippoorwilling, the owl oo-koo-hooing, 

 the fox barking, the bull frog whoo-wonking, the gander honk- 

 ing, the otter whistling, the drake quacking, the squirrel chat- 

 tering, the cock grouse drumming, and the wolf howling — 

 each to his own chosen mate, the hunter turned to me and 

 smiled : 



"Do you hear Shing-wauk singing?" 



I listened more attentively to the many mingling love songs 

 of the forest dwellers, and sure enough, away off along the 



