But that could not be; he must remain in the place the
Great White Mother had reserved for him; he and his braves must assemble,
and draw their rations at the appointed times and seasons, and grunt
thanks to those who ruled over them.
It was on one of these virginal days, when there was a restless stirring
among the young bucks, who smelled the wide waters, the pines and the
wild shrubs; who heard the cry of the loon on the lonely lake and the
whir of the wild duck's wings, who answered to the phantom cry of ancient
war; it was on such a day that the two chiefs opened their hearts to each
other.
Near to the boscage on a little hill overlooking the great river, Gabriel
Druse had come upon Tekewani seated in the pine-dust, rocking to and fro,
and chanting a low, sorrowful refrain, with eyes fixed on the setting
sun. And the Ry of Rys understood, with the understanding which only
those have who live close to the earth, and also near to the heavens of
their own gods. He sat down beside the forlorn chief, and in the silence
their souls spoke to each other. There swept into the veins of the Romany
ruler something of the immitigable sadness of the Indian chief; and, with
a sudden premonition that he also was come to the sunset of his life, his
big nomad eyes sought the westering rim of the heavens, and his breast
heaved.
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