In the meantime Antelope had set himself to master the geography of that region, to study the outlook for game, and ascertain the best approaches to their secret home. It was already settled in his mind that he could never return either to his wife's people or to his own. His fellow-warriors would not forgive his de- sertion, and the Rees could not be expected to welcome as a kinsman one of the foremost of their ancient foes. There was nothing to be done but to remain in seclusion, and let them say what they would of him!
He had loved the Ree maiden from the first moment he beheld her by the light of the blaz- ing embers, and that love must satisfy him. It was well that he had never cared much for company, but had spent many of his young days in solitude and fasting. It did not seem at all strange to him that he had been forced to re- treat into an unknown and wild country with a woman whom he saw in the evening for the first time, and fled with as his own wife before sunrise!
By the afternoon he had thoroughly in- formed himself upon the nature of the sur- rounding country. Everything on the face of the map was surveyed and charted in his mind, in accordance with his habits and training. This done, he turned toward his secret dwelling. As he walked rapidly and noiselessly through the hidden valleys and along the singing streams, he noticed fresh signs of the deer, elk, and other wild tribes among whom he had chosen to abide. "They shall be my people," he said to himself.
Behind a group of cedars he paused to rec- onnoiter, and saw the pine- bough wigwam like a giant plant, each row of boughs overlapping the preceding circular row like the scales of a fish. Stasu was sitting before it upon a buffalo- robe, attired in her best doeskin gown. Her delicate oval face was touched with red paint, and her slender brown hands wereoccupied with a moccasin meant for him to wear. He could scarcely believe that it was a mortal woman that he saw before him in broad day -- the pride of No Man's Trail, for that is what the Crow Indians call that valley!
"Ho, ho, kechuwa!" he exclaimed as he approached her, and her heart leaped in recog- nition of the magnetic words of love.
"It is good that we are alone! I shall never want to go back to my people so long as I have you. I can dwell here with you forever, un- less you should think otherwise!" she exclaimed in her own tongue, accompanied by graphic signs.
"Ho, I think of nothing else! I can see in every creature only friendly ways and good feeling. We can live alone here, happily, un- less you should feel differently," he replied in his own language with the signs, so that his bride understood him.
The environment was just what it should be when two people are united in marriage. The wedding music was played by Nature, and trees, brooks, and the birds of the air contributed their peculiar strains to a great harmony. All of the people on No Man's Trail were polite, and understood the reserves of love. These two had yielded to a ****** and natural im- pulse; but its only justification to their minds was the mysterious leading of the twin spirit! That was the sum total of their excuse, and it was enough.
Before the rigor of winter had set in, Tatoka brought to his bride many buffalo skins. She was thoroughly schooled in the arts of sav- age womanhood; in fact, every Indian maid was trained with this thought in view--that she should become a beautiful, strong, skillful wife and mother--the mother of a noble race of warriors!
In a short time within that green and pine- scented enclosure there smiled a little wild para- dise. Hard by the pine-bough wigwam there stood a new white buffalo-skin teepee, tanned, cut, sewed, and pitched by the hands of Stasu. Away in the woods, down by the rushing brook, was her tannery, and not far away, in a sunny, open spot, she prepared her sun- cured meats for winter use. Her kitchen was a stone fireplace in a shady spot, and her parlor was the lodge of evergreen, overhung on two sides byinac- cessible ledges, and bounded on the other two by the sparkling stream. It was a secret place, and yet a citadel; a silent place, and yet not lonely!
The winter was cold and long, but the pair were happy in one another's company, and ac- cepted their strange lot as one that was chosen for them by the spirits. Stasu had insisted upon her husband speaking to her in his own language, that she might learn it quickly. In a little while she was able to converse with him, and when she had acquired his language she taught him hers.
While Antelope was occupied with hunting and exploring the country, always keeping in mind the danger of discovery by some wander- ing scout or hunter, his wife grew well ac- quainted with the wild inhabitants of No Man's Trail. These people are as full of curiosity as man, and as the Sioux never hunted near his home, they were entirely fearless. Many came to the door of Stasu's lodge, and she was not afraid, but offered them food and spoke to them kindly. All animals judge by signs and are quick in reading tones and gestures; so that the Ree girl soon had grandfathers and grandmothers, after the Indian fashion, among the wolves and bears that came oftenest for food.
Her husband in the field had also his fellow- hunters and friends. When he killed the buf- falo he always left enough meat for the wolves, the eagles, and the ravens to feast upon, and these watched for the coming of the lonely wild man. More than once they told him by their actions of the presence of a distant camp- fire, but in each instance it proved to be a small war-party which had passed below them on the trail.
