It was soon after this that I became
aware that she must have some reason for her anxious scrutiny,
some message to deliver or warning to give. Once when I made a
slight motion as if to go to her, she shook her head and laid her
finger upon her lips.
A dancer fell from sheer exhaustion, another and another, and
warriors from the dozen or more seated at our right began to take
the places of the fallen. The priests shook their rattles, and made
themselves dizzy with bending and whirling about their Okee; the
old men, too, though they sat like statues, thought only of the
dance, and of how they themselves had excelled, long ago when
they were young.
I rose, and making my way to the werowance of the village where
he sat with his eyes fixed upon a young Indian, his son, who bade
fair to outlast all others in that wild contest, told him that I was
wearied and would go to my hut, I and my servant, to rest for the
few hours that yet remained of the night. He listened dreamily, his
eyes upon the dancing Indian, but made offer to escort me thither.
I pointed out to him that my quarters were not fifty yards away, in
the broad firelight, in sight of them all, and that it were a pity to
take him or any others from the contemplation of that whirling
Indian, so strong and so brave that he would surely one day lead
the war parties.
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