But Sunmaker was troubled by his daughter’s frequent visits to the agency across the river, and by her intimacy with Neeta, the daughter of Hahko, who had been away to school, and who had returned much changed, being neither white woman nor red.
She was living alone in a small hut on the river bank, and was not a good woman for Nistina to visit.
He could not know that his daughter went there because Neeta could read the white man’s papers, and would know if anything had happened to Hawk. No one knew, either, that Nistina slyly asked about learning to read. She laughed when she asked these questions, as though the matter were of no consequence. “How long did it take you to learn to read? Is it very hard to learn to write?”
“Oh no; it is very easy,” Neeta replied, boastingly, and when Nistina went away her eyes were very thoughtful.
Again and again she called before she could bring herself to the point of asking Neeta to go with her to the head of the school.
Neeta laughed. “Ho! Are you going to school? You will need to hump low over your toes, for you will go among the smallest girls.”
Nistina did not waver. “Come, go with me.”
With a smile on her face Neeta led the way to the office of the superintendent. “Professor Morten, I bring you a new scholar.”
Morten, a tall, grave-faced man, looked up from his desk, and said: “Why, it’s Nistina! Good morning, Nistina.”
“Mornin’,” said she, as well as she could.