Shadows of the Plains [pp. 426-427]

SHADOWS OF THE PLAINS.
SHADOWS OF THE PLAINS.
A man in middle Aridzone
Stood by the desert's edge alone;
And long he looked, and leaned, and peered,
Above his twirled and twisted beard,
Beneath his black and slouchy hat...
Nay, nay, the tale is not of that.
A skin - clad trapper, toe - a -tip,
Stood on a mountain top, and he
Looked long and still and eagerly.
"It looks so like some lonesome ship
That sails this ghostly lonely seaThis dried-up desert sea," said he.
A chief from out the desert's rim
Rode swift as twilight swallows swim;
His trim-limbed steed was black as night,
His long black hair had blossomed white
With feathers from the koko's wings;
His iron face was flushed and red,
His eyes flashed fire as he fled,
For he had seen unsightly things.
A wild and wiry man was he,
This tawny chief of Shoshonee;
And O his supple steed was fleet.
About his breast flapped panther-skins,
About his eager flying feet
Flapped beaded braided moccasins:
He rode as rides the hurricane,
He seemed to swallow up the plain;
He rode as never man did ride,
He rode, for ghosts were at his side,
And on his right a grizzled grim...
No, no, this tale is not of him.
An Indian warrior lost his way
While prowling on the desert's edge
In fragrant sage and'prickly hedge,
When suddenly he saw a sight,
And turned his steed in eager flight.
He rode right through the edge of day,
He rode into the rolling night;
He leaned, he reached an eager face
His black wolf-skin flapped out and in,
426
[MAY,