on the fleet-footed second that follows.
A score of swift-runners are there
from the several bands of the nation;
And now for the race they prepare,
and among them fleet-footed Tamdoka.
With the oil of the buck and the bear
their sinewy limbs are anointed,
For fleet are the feet of the deer
and strong are the limbs of the bruin,
And long is the course and severe
for the swiftest and strongest of runners.

Hark!--the shouts and the braying of drums,
and the Babel of tongues and confusion!
From his teepee the tall chieftain comes,
and Duluth brings a prize for the runners--
A keen hunting-knife from the Seine,
horn-handled and mounted with silver.
The runners are ranged on the plain,
and the Chief waves a flag as a signal,
And away like the gray wolves they fly
--like the wolves on the trail of the red deer;
O'er the hills and the prairie they vie,
and strain their strong limbs to the utmost,
While high on the hills hangs a cloud
of warriors and maidens and mothers,
To behold the swift runners,
and loud are the cheers and the shouts of the warriors.

Now swift from the lake they return,