"It happened that this young man had left a pretty maiden behind him, whose choice needle- work adorned his quiver. He was very hand- some as well as brave.
"At daybreak the canoes were again launched upon the bosom of the great river. All was quiet --a few birds beginning to sing. Just as the sun peeped through the eastern tree-tops a great war- cry came forth from the near shores, and there was a rain of arrows. The birchen canoes were pierced, and in the excitement many were cap- sized.
"The Sioux were at a disadvantage. There was no shelter. Their bow-strings and the feathers on their arrows were wet. The bold Ojibways saw their advantage and pressed closer and closer; but our men fought desperately, half in and half out of the water, until the enemy was forced at last to retreat. Nevertheless that was a sad day for the Wahpeton Sioux; but saddest of all was Winona's fate!
"Morning Star, her lover, who led the canoe fleet that morning, was among the slain. For two days the Sioux braves searched in the water for their dead, but his body was not recovered.
"At home, meanwhile, the people had been alarmed by ill omens. Winona, eldest daughter of the great chief, one day entered her birch canoe alone and paddled up the Mississippi, gazing now into the,water around her, now into the blue sky above. She thought she heard some young men giving courtship calls in the distance, just as they do at night when approaching the teepee of the beloved; and she knew the voice of Morning Star well! Surely she could distinguish his call among the others! Therefore she listened yet more intently, and looked skyward as her light canoe glided gently up stream.
"Ah, poor Winona! She saw only six sand- hill cranes, looking no larger than mosquitoes, as they flew in circles high up in the sky, going east where all spirits go. Something said to her: 'Those are the spirits of some of the Sioux braves, and Morning Star is among them!' Her eye followed the birds as they traveled in a chain of circles.
"Suddenly she glanced downward. 'What is this?' she screamed in despair. It was Morn- ing Star's body, floating down the river; his quiver, worked by her own hands and now dyed with his blood, lay upon the surface of the water.
"'Ah, Great Mystery! why do you punish a poor girl so? Let me go with the spirit of Morn- ing Star!'
