Oft she came to the teepee and spoke;
she brought him the tongue of the bison,
Sweet nuts from the hazel and oak,
and flesh of the fawn and the mallard.
Soft hanpa [b] she made for his feet
and leggins of velvety fawn-skin,--
A blanket of beaver complete,
and a hood of the hide of the otter.
And oft at his feet on the mat,
deftly braiding the flags and the rushes,
Till the sun sought his teepee she sat,
enchanted with what he related
Of the white winged ships on the sea
and the teepees far over the ocean,
Of the love and the sweet charity of the Christ
and the beautiful Virgin.

[a] A lodge set apart for guests of the village.
[b] Moccasins.

She listened like one in a trance
when he spoke of the brave, bearded Frenchmen,
From the green sun-lit valleys of France
to the wild Hochelaga [a] transplanted,
Oft trailing the deserts of snow
in the heart of the dense Huron forests,
Or steering the dauntless canoe
through the waves of the fresh water ocean.
"Yea, stronger and braver are they,"
said the aged Menard to Winona,