The following Saturday night found the party encamped in the very bosom
of the mountains, in one of the most lovely nooks upon the surface of
the earth. As they looked around upon the verdant dell, and upon the
snow-capped mountains that arose in the distance, all the arid plain
they had passed,--the desert of alkali, and the hills of sand--seemed
like a dream, so great was the contrast between them and Virginia Dale.
Even George was enraptured, and when the children as usual gathered at
evening around the fire, he declared that he would go no father but
turn hermit, and hunt and fish for a living, in that lovely spot.
"I wish I could stay with you," said Aggie, "but I shouldn't like to
leave papa and mamma. But only look at the moon rising above that snowy
peak; isn't it perfectly lovely?"
"Watching the moon is all very well?" exclaimed Gus, "but I would much
rather hear a good story. This is the very night for a story, and a
sentimental one at that. Guy get your thinking-cap on, that's a good
fellow!"
"Oh yes, do!" assented Aggie.
"I have had it tightly drawn over my ears the whole time I have been
sitting here," answered Guy laughing, "and the result is that I have
been thinking of a story the Indians tell about the first snow storm."
"Oh yes! put it all off on the Indians!" cried Gus, "we all know what
that means!"
"Well, what do they say?" asked George, "that they thought it was
salt, and put it into their soup, and were surprised to find that it
made it watery--and nothing more?"
"Now don't tease Guy," interrupted Aggie, "I want to know what the
Indians really did say, and where the first fall of snow really was."
"According to my authority," answered Guy, gravely, "it took place
among these very mountains. Years, years ago, so many years that all
remembrance of the time is now lost, and only vague reports of it
remain, the snowy mountains we now see were covered with verdure, even
more luxuriant than that which makes this vale so beautiful. The long
leaves, and the shining silk of the corn waved in the breeze that
softly played about the lofty summits, lovely flowers opened, and
rich fruits ripened in the warm sunshine that ever fell upon them.
The bounding deer came to the very doors of the wigwams that were so
thickly placed that they seemed to form a vast city, and the very trout
in the sparkling streams leaped into the hands of the happy people that
inhabited this earthly paradise!"
"Gracious, what a saving of fishing-tackle!" ejaculated George.
Guy took no notice of this irreverent remark, but continued:
"On the very summit of yonder peak, which seems to rise at least a
thousand feet above its neighbors, and where the sun shone the warmest,
the grains and fruits were most luxuriant, and the deer larger and
tamer than in any other place, lived an old man, the chief of all the
tribes that lived between the mountains and the great ocean in the far
west. The oldest men amongst the Indians could not remember when he
was young, and their great-grandfathers had told them that he was old
when they were children. His beard was like silver, and his face bore
the marks of that wisdom which can only come with age, yet his form was
not bent, and his eyes were as strong as the eagle's, that soars up and
looks in the face of the sun."
"Wonderful man!" said Gus.
"He was indeed wonderful, and the wisest man upon the earth; he knew
all secrets of the land, and sea, and air, and from them he had gained
the elixir that still kept the blood warm in his veins after the lapse
of centuries, but he could not get from them contentment,--his soul at
last wearied of the habit of clay it had worn so long, and he began
a search for one worthy to be the inheritor of his wisdom, and the
successor of his power, that he might lie down and be at rest.
"He found one at length, but not among the young men of his tribe,
among whom he sought long and patiently. The strength of mind, the
purity of soul he desired, were found only in the person of a lovely
girl, the daughter of one of the bravest warriors of the mountains. To
her he gave the elixir of life, and instructed her in all the secrets
he had gained. Lastly, he took off the robe he wore, and putting it
upon her, led her out of the wigwam and declared her a priestess before
all the people. Soon after the great magician became a decrepit old
man, the weight of his years came upon him and he died, and his body
was laid upon a burning pile and consumed to ashes, while all the
people mourned around it. Then the priestess went to her wigwam on the
high mountains and sat down and thought of the last words the dead man
had said to her, 'Beware of him who reigneth at the northernmost part
of the earth, for if thou showest weakness or any human passion he will
have dominion over thee and all thy people.' But years passed on and
no human feeling agitated her. She lived alone communing with spirits,
and at sundry times appearing among the people to astonish them by her
wisdom which as years advanced, become a thousand times more potent
than had been that of the old magician. And as her wisdom increased so
also did her beauty. Spirits came and took the ebony from her hair, and
covered it with gold; they brought blue from the skies and prisoned
it in her eyes; the white stars laid their light upon her face, and
sunbeams rendered her smile so warm and tender that it gladdened all
upon whom it fell.
"As I have said, she was troubled by no human feeling; but alas! she
inspired what she did not feel, for all the young braves worshipped
her, not only as a priestess, but as a peerless maiden, and all their
awe could not destroy their love. As she knew every thing, she was of
course aware of their silent devotion, but she laughed in the solitude
of her wigwam, and sang:
'Alstarnah must no passion own,
That mortal e'er before hath known.'
"And this she would sing over and over to herself, that she might keep
the words of the magician in mind. But after the lapse of many years,
she one day ceased to sing, for Alstarnah felt the most powerful of all
human passions--she loved."
"I'm glad of that!" ejaculated Gus, "just paid her out for keeping up
that monotonous drone so long."
"Oh! don't interrupt!" cried Aggie, impatiently, "who did she love,
Guy?"
"The young chief, Gervassen, who had come many thousand miles from the
burning plains of the far south, to behold the renowned priestess of
the mountains. As Alstarnah excelled all women in beauty and wisdom, so
did he all men in beauty and strength. He was as tall and slender as
the mountain pine, and his face was as fair to look upon as the great
star that hung above the North King's palace. He came to the mountains
with great pomp, for a thousand of his enemies pursued him, and he slew
them all with the masses of rock that he hurled down upon them. See,
there they lie now like mighty castles in ruins.
"When the priestess, Alstarnah, saw this man she thought no more of the
magician's words or of her own power, but gloried in the beauty that
had been given her, and said, 'He will surely love me, for there is not
upon all the earth a woman as fair.'
"And her words were true, Gervassen did love her, and more bold than
all the rest, entreated her to be his wife. With great joy she placed
her hand in his, but at the moment she was about to speak, she felt an
icy wind blow over her and a voice exclaim: 'Beware of the King of the
North! Pity thy people!'
"She fled to her wigwam in terror, and for days refused to admit the
chieftain, who stood without pleading for an answer but at length she
ventured to glance at him through a tiny hole in the buffalo hide that
formed the walls of her tent, and in an instant all her love for her
people and all fear of the warning voice vanished, and she promised to
be Gervassen's bride.
"Again came the icy wind and the voice, but so infatuated was she that
they failed to turn her from her purpose, although her lover asked
the meaning of them. She trembled as she told him that years before
there had been a tremendous battle waged between the King of the North
and the forces of the great magician. That the latter had finally
triumphed, after a terrible struggle, and after yielding one important
point to his enemy, which was, that if the magician or any of his
successors yielded to human passion, the help of the spirits should be
withdrawn from them, and their dominion and people left to the power of
the terrible North King.
"'It cannot be that he exists,' returned the warrior, 'else he would
have endeavored to enter the land over which my tribe is scattered, and
never, never has one of his subjects been seen or heard of upon it.'
"In spite of all her wisdom, this reasoning of Gervassen convinced
Alstarnah, who soon after stood up before all the people and bade them
farewell, saying that she was going to dwell in the wigwam of the
mighty chieftain, Gervassen.
"Then she took her lover's hand and began the descent of the charmed
mountain, followed by all her people, who were weeping and wailing,
and entreating that she would come back to them. But still she went
on, but only slowly, because of the great press of people around her;
and suddenly an icy wind passed over them, and all fell to the earth
shivering and terror-stricken, for they had never felt cold before,
and they looked up to the mountain, and lo! upon the very summit, at
the door of the deserted wigwam, stood a terrible figure, clothed in
white, and having a face as white as his robes, and his hair was like
the long crystals that hang from the roofs of caves that the water goes
through, and his eyes were like two great diamonds, white, yet blazing
like the sun. Over his head he waved a sceptre, and as fast as he
waved, great flakes of whiteness came out of the clouds and covered all
the mountain tops, and came nearer and nearer to the frightened people.
"'It is the terrible North King,' they cried. 'See, he is throwing his
arrows upon us.'
"'I will return,' cried Alstarnah, filled with remorse. 'I will return
and save my people.'
"But once more she heard the voice as it wailed 'Too late! too late!'
and the icy wind came and arrested her returning footsteps, for it
chilled her to ice by the side of Gervassen, for whom she had dared so
much. Then he and all the people were filled with still greater terror
and turned to flee down the mountains, but the snow flakes--the deadly
arrows of the North King, came faster and faster, falling before as
well as behind them, clogging the feet and chilling the life-blood of
the people Alstarnah had betrayed.
"First, Gervassen fell, almost at the side of Alstarnah: then, one by
one, all the rest of the people sank down and were buried by the soft,
white snow, until at last not one remained to tell of the verdure that
once crowned the mountains where the North King still reigns, or of the
people he slew with terrible arrows of snow, like those he still loves
to throw in derision upon any daring traveler that attempts to invade
his dominions."
"And that is the story of the first Snow Storm."
"I'll tell you what, Guy," commented George, "You won't tell stories
about facts, I know, but you make up for it when you have fancies to
deal with."
Guy laughed, saying, "He supposed there was no harm in that."
And little Aggie said, as she bade him good-night, "I guess you will
be forgiven even if there is, Guy. And I am sure I shall never look at
these mountains or see snow again without thinking of your story."