War was decided upon; and night was fast approaching when Wenona, with pale and agitated looks, pressed forward among the warriors. "My father," said she, "where is my brother?"
Iron Heart started; but recovering himself, he replied, "I know not. Seek him yourself, if you would find him."
"I have sought him," she said, "but the old woman, Flying Cloud, tells me I may seek him no more, for she saw his body floating down the river, as she came up in her canoe. She laughed, too, and said I would see him one day in the land of spirits."
All looked towards Iron Heart, but he made his way among them, and returned to the wigwam. In vain Wenona wept, and besought him to go in search of her brother; not even would he inquire of Flying Cloud.
"I will go, then, and look for him myself," said the girl. "Is he not my brother, my mother's son?"
"Cease your noise," said her father, sternly. "If the Great Spirit have called my son, is he not already a brave warrior in the city of spirits?"
Wenona was quiet at her father's rebuke, but her heart was ill at ease. She hoped he would return in the night. She remembered that Flying Cloud was always bitter and ill-tempered; and besides, was not her brother at home on the water? Could he not swim as easily as he could tread down the grass on the prairie? She reasoned herself into the hope that Chaské had been tired, and had laid down to rest; and she fell asleep with the expectation that his merry voice would arouse her at break of day.
And how did he sleep in whose heart lay the secret of the death of his son? in whose ear was sounding the voice of that son's blood?
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