Beadle's Dime Novels No. 153: Mohawk Nat — page 28: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

80 MOHAWK NAT. “ Halt there!” He went quickly to the oat and found him opposing the entrance of an Indian girl, who was as manifestly determined to proceed, At the first glance, Lewis was forced to acknow- ledge that she was a royal creature. Forest training had given her a grace of step and motion which the etiquette of courts and cities mever can teach a woman. Her form was gracefully tall and fimely molded. Her feet were shod in dainty moccasins. A dress of buckskin worked with beads reached just to the knee. Her limbs were clad in loose leg- gings worked like the dress. A belt of. beautiful material, which evidently was not worked in an Indian village, en- circled her waist, and in it a small dagger an< a pair of silver- mounted, pistols showed themselves. Her face was not that of an Indian of pure blood. Indeed, a single glance showed that she took her beauty from white blood. The hair, which ‘flowed to her waist, was brown, and waved like the sea, _ She was pushing back the guard with the barrel of a small carbine, of French make, baving no fear of him. Lewis, surprised at this vision of beauty, did not speak, 3 “ Why stop?” demanded the girl, in broken English. . “Go away, man, I will speak with capitaine.” 4 certain pretty way she had of accenting the latter word showed that she understood French, Lewis addressed her in that tongue. “Who are you?” he demanded. “I did not know that the forest held so beautifula woman. Where do you come from and what do you want?” “Too many question,” replied the girl, with a musica! langh. “Ask again. One at a time.” — “ Whe are you?” | - “Iam called among the amnadlintebteetes: the Sway- ing Reed” Iam the daughter of a Huron chief,” “ Why are you here ?” “ Ask the wind why itcomesand goes, ‘The Swaying Reed has no one who dare control her steps. Wher she wishes (0 go, she will. There is no one to stay her course”. _ But you are @ woman, and you are alone in the great for- est. A-thousand dangers lurk in your path. The panther lies hid under the bough, The rattlesnake crawlsthrougl the COMME MOOKSaCOKN