Was released my Hiawatha. He was standing near his wigwam, On the margin of the water, And he called to old Nokomis, Called and beckoned to Nokomis, In the body of the sturgeon, Wait until their meal is ended, Till their craws are full with feasting, And make oil for us in Winter." And she waited till the sun set, And across the fiery sunset Winged their way to far-off islands, And Nokomis to her labor, Toiling patient in the moonlight, Till the sun and moon changed places, Old Nokomis and the sea-gulls Stripped the oily flesh of Nahma, Till the waves washed through the rib-bones, Till the sea-gulls came no longer, And upon the sands lay nothing But the skeleton of Nahma. 111 IX. HIAWATHA AND THE PEARL-FEATHER. On the shores of Gitche Gumee, Fiercely the red sun descending Burn the prairies on their war-trail; And the moon, the Night-Sun, eastward, Suddenly starting from his ambush, With its glare upon his features. And Nokomis, the old woman, Pointing with her finger westward, Spake these words to Hiawatha : "Yonder dwells the great Pearl-Feather, Megissogwon, the Magician, Manito of Wealth and Wampum, Guarded by his fiery serpents, Guarded by the black pitch-water. You can see his fiery serpents, You can see the black pitch-water |