As light as the foot-steps of dawn
are the feet of the stealthy Tamdoka,
And he fears not the Maza Wakan; [a]
he is sly as the fox of the forest.
When he dances the dance of red war
all the hungry wolves howl by the Big Sea, [b]
For they scent on the south-wind
afar their feast on the bones of Ojibways."
Thrice the Chief puffed the red pipe of peace,
ere it passed to the lips of the Frenchman.
Spake DuLuth,--"May the Great Spirit
bless with abundance the Chief and his people;
May their sons and their daughters increase,
and the fire ever burn in their teepees."
Then he waved with a flag his adieu
to the Chief and the warriors assembled;
And away shot Tamdoka's canoe
to the strokes of ten sinewy hunters;
And a white path he clove up the blue,
bubbling stream of the swift Mississippi;
And away on his foaming trail flew,
like a Sea-Gull the bark of the Frenchman.
Then merrily rose the blithe song
of the _voyageurs_ homeward returning,
And thus, as they glided along,
sang the bugle-voiced boatmen in chorus:

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