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Then upon the ground the warriors
Threw their weapons and their war-gear,
Leaped into the rushing river,
Washed the war-paint from their faces,
And in silence all the warriors
Broke the red stone of the quarry,
Smoothed and formed it into Peace-Pipes.
Then appeared old
Nokomis leading by the hand the youthful
Hiawatha, and taught him how to shoot the bow and arrow, while the warriors stood around watching and applauding when he hit the mark.
The third scene was the journey of
Hiawatha in his manhood after his battle with Mudjekeewis, a picturesque figure striding through the woods flecked with sunshine and shadow.
Only once his pace he slackened,
Paused to purchase heads of arrows
Of the ancient arrow-maker.
The wigwam of the ancient arrow-maker was placed far from the rest in the shade of the trees, to give an idea of distance.
The arrow-maker himself, a very old man, sat by the entrance, cutting arrowheads; his daughter, a modest Indian maiden, stood beside him with downcast eyes, while the stranger paused to talk with her father.
This scene was followed by the return of
Hiawatha to the land of the Dakotahs.
Again the old man sat in the doorway, and by him was Minnehaha, ‘plaiting mats of flags and rushes.’
Then uprose the Laughing Water,
Laid aside her mat unfinished,
