72 THE ROMANCE OF EVERIFARM 



returned to her with a bough of the flowering 

 dogwood that grew on the opposite bank could claim 

 her as his bride. The two mighty men — the great 

 kind-hearted hunter, and the sinister, ferocious 

 looking warrior — plunged into the stream swollen 

 by the recent spring rains, and, battling with the 

 strong current, began the race to the opposite shore 

 and return. 



"The hunter, with his greater experience, by keep- 

 ing his body at an angle with the current was able 

 to forge ahead of his opponent and was soon seen 

 climbing the opposite shore and cutting off the 

 cherished token of victory. The beaten warrior was 

 not far behind, and had not as yet admitted defeat, 

 so when the hunter plunged back into the swirling 

 waters with the dogwood blossoms, he found him- 

 self face to face with a villainous red-skinned war- 

 rior who, with his knife in his teeth, was contesting 

 his return. With determination and revengeful 

 defeat written on his face, he made a rush at the 

 hunter, who avoided the first thrust, but while the 

 token of victory he was carrying in his teeth meant 

 life's happiness to him, yet it was the immediate 

 cause of his undoing, for it momentarily blinded 

 him just as the enraged warrior made the second and 



