Star of Evening, Star of Woman, "And her lovers, the rejected, Handsome men with belts of wampum, Handsome men with paint and feathers, Pointed at her in derision, Followed her with jest and laughter. But she said: 'I care not for you, Care not for your belts of wampum, Care not for your paint and feathers, Care not for your jests and laughter; I am happy with Osseo !' "Once to some great feast invited, Through the damp and dusk of evening Walked together the ten sisters, Walked together with their husbands; Slowly followed old Osseo, With fair Oweenee beside him; All the others chatted gayly, These two only walked in silence. And they heard him murmur softly, "Listen!' said the eldest sister, 'He is praying to his father! And they laughed till all the forest "On their pathway through the woodlands Lay an oak, by storms uprooted, Lay the great trunk of an oak-tree, Mouldering, crumbling, huge and hollow. From the other came a young man, Tall and straight and strong and handsome. "Thus Osseo was transfigured, Thus restored to youth and beauty; But, alas for good Osseo, And for Oweenee, the faithful! Strangely, too, was she transfigured. Wasted, wrinkled, old, and ugly! "But Osseo turned not from her, Walked with slower step beside her, Took her hand, as brown and withered As an oak-leaf is in Winter, Called her sweetheart, Nenemoosha, Soothed her with soft words of kindness, Till they reached the lodge of feasting, Till they sat down in the wigwam,s Sacred to the Star of Evening, To the tender Star of Woman. [ "Wrapt in visions, lost in dreaming, At the banquet sat Osseo; All were merry, all were happy, Neither food nor drink he tasted, At the gleaming sky above them. "Then a voice was heard, a whisper, Coming from the starry distance, And the voice said: 'O Osseo! peatla O my son, my best beloved! Broken are the spells that bound you, All the charms of the magicians, All the magic powers of evil; Come to me; ascend, Osseo! "Taste the food that stands before you : It is blessed and enchanted, It has magic virtues in it, It will change you to a spirit. All your bowls and all your kettles They shall shine like shells of scarlet, Bear the dreary doom of labor, Of the whippoorwill afar off, Of the lonely Wawonaissa Singing in the darksome forest. "Then the lodge began to tremble, Straight began to shake and tremble, Till it passed the topmost branches; And they hopped, and sang, and twittered, And their tails like fans unfolded. "Only Oweenee, the youngest, |