two looked forward to a long life of happiness together, when the

very night before the wedding feast a sudden illness seized the

girl, and, without a word to her friends who were weeping round

her, she passed silently away.



The heart of her lover had been set upon her, and the thought of

her remained with him night and day. He put aside his bow, and

went neither to fight nor to hunt, but from sunrise to sunset he

sat by the place where she was laid, thinking of his happiness

that was buried there. At last, after many days, a light seemed

to come to him out of the darkness. He remembered having heard

from the old, old people of the tribe, that there was a path that

led to the Land of Souls--that if you sought carefully you could

find it.



So the next morning he got up early, and put some food in his

pouch and slung an extra skin over his shoulders, for he knew not

how long his journey would take, nor what sort of country he

would have to go through. Only one thing he knew, that if the

path was there, he would find it. At first he was puzzled, as

there seemed no reason he should go in one direction more than

another. Then all at once he thought he had heard one of the old

men say that the Land of Souls lay to the south, and so, filled

with new hope and courage, he set his face southwards. For many,

many miles the country looked the same as it did round his own

home. The forests, the hills, and the rivers all seemed exactly

like the ones he had left. The only thing that was different was

the snow, which had lain thick upon the hills and trees when he

started, but grew less and less the farther he went south, till

it disappeared altogether. Soon the trees put forth their buds,

and flowers sprang up under his feet, and instead of thick clouds

there was blue sky over his head, and everywhere the birds were

singing. Then he knew that he was in the right road.



The thought that he should soon behold his lost bride made his

heart beat for joy, and he sped along lightly and swiftly. Now

his way led through a dark wood, and then over some steep cliffs,

and on the top of these he found a hut or wigwam. An old man

clothed in skins, and holding a staff in his hand, stood in the

doorway; and he said to the young chief who was beginning to tell

his story, 'I was waiting for you, wherefore you have come I

know. It is but a short while since she whom you seek was here.

Rest in my hut, as she also rested, and I will tell you what you

ask, and whither you should go.'



On hearing these words, the young man entered the hut, but his

heart was too eager within him to suffer him to rest, and when he

arose, the old man rose too, and stood with him at the door.

'Look,' he said, 'at the water which lies far out yonder, and the

plains which stretch beyond. That is the Land of Souls, but no

man enters it without leaving his body behind him. So, lay down

your body here; your bow and arrows, your skin and your dog.

They shall be kept for you safely.'



Then he turned away, and the young chief, light as air, seemed

hardly to touch the ground; and as he flew along the scents grew

sweeter and the flowers more beautiful, while the animals rubbed

their noses against him, instead of hiding as he approached, and

birds circled round him, and fishes lifted up their heads and

looked as he went by. Very soon he noticed with wonder, that

neither rocks nor trees barred his path. He passed through them

without knowing it, for indeed, they were not rocks and trees at

all, but only the souls of them; for this was the Land of

Shadows.



So he went on with winged feet till he came to the shores of a

great lake, with a lovely island in the middle of it; while on

the bank of the lake was a canoe of glittering stone, and in the

canoe were two shining paddles.



The chief jumped straight into the canoe, and seizing the paddles

pushed off from the shore, when to his joy and wonder he saw

following him in another canoe exactly like his own the maiden

for whose sake he had made this long journey. But they could not

touch each other, for between them rolled great waves, which

looked as if they would sink the boats, yet never did. And the

young man and the maiden shrank with fear, for down in the depths

of the water they saw the bones of those who had died before, and

in the waves themselves men and women were struggling, and but

few passed over. Only the children had no fear, and reached the

other side in safety. Still, though the chief and the young girl

quailed in terror at these horrible sights and sounds, no harm

came to them, for their lives had been free from evil, and the

Master of Life had said that no evil should happen unto them. So

they reached unhurt the shore of the Happy Island, and wandered

through the flowery fields and by the banks of rushing streams,

and they knew not hunger nor thirst; neither cold nor heat. The

air fed them and the sun warmed them, and they forgot the dead,

for they saw no graves, and the young man's thoughts turned not

to wars, neither to the hunting of animals. And gladly would

these two have walked thus for ever, but in the murmur of the

wind he heard the Master of Life saying to him, 'Return whither

you came, for I have work for you to do, and your people need

you, and for many years you shall rule over them. At the gate my

messenger awaits you, and you shall take again your body which

you left behind, and he will show you what you are to do. Listen

to him, and have patience, and in time to come you shall rejoin

her whom you must now leave, for she is accepted, and will remain

ever young and beautiful, as when I called her hence from the

Land of Snows.'