306 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



bosom did she lie like a water-fowl that suns it- 

 self on the broad mirror of the Natchez. Day and 

 night, like the doe after his fawn, did Canondah fol- 

 low the steps of the White Rose, to shield her from 

 harm; and yet, now that she is a woman, and has 

 become the White Rose of the Oconees, she shuts her 

 from her heart. Tell thy Canondah what it is that 

 makes thy bosom heave and thy cheek grow pale." 



"Does not Canondah know?" replied Rosa in a 

 gentle tone. " Poor Rosa has good cause to be sad 

 and heavy of heart." 



" Is the great chief of the Salt Lake the cause of 

 her grief 1 " 



Rosa shuddered, took a step backwards, and cover- 

 ing her face with her hands, sobbed aloud. The In- 

 dian girl sprang to her feet, and throwing her arm 

 round her friend's waist, drew her gently towards a 

 neighbouring cotton-tree, up which a vine had crept 

 and twined itself, and now dangled its graceful fes- 

 toons, tasselled with ripe grapes, from the very top- 

 most branches. " Sad is the path of an Oconee 

 maiden," said Canondah, after a long pause, during 

 which she had filled her basket with the grapes. 

 " Whilst the warriors are absent at the hunting- 

 grounds, we sigh away our days in the wigwam, or 

 labour wearily in the fields. Would that Canondah 

 were a man ! " 



"And El Sol?" lisped Rosa with a melancholy 

 smile. "Canondah should not complain." 



