They
are very excellent to behold, and the young men find pleasure in
looking at them."
"Hugh," ejaculated the attentive Mahtoree.
"Ay, well may you put faith in what you hear, for it is no lie. But
when a youth has found a maiden to please him, he speaks to her in a
voice so soft, that none else can hear. He does not say, My lodge is
empty and there is room for another; but shall I build, and will the
virgin show me near what spring she would dwell? His voice is sweeter
than honey from the locust, and goes into the ear thrilling like the
song of a wren. Therefore, if my brother wishes his words to be heard,
he must speak with a white tongue."
Mahtoree pondered deeply, and in a wonder that he did not attempt to
conceal. It was reversing all the order of society, and, according to
his established opinions, endangering the dignity of a chief, for a
warrior thus to humble himself before a woman. But as Inez sat before
him, reserved and imposing in air, utterly unconscious of his object,
and least of all suspecting the true purport of so extraordinary a
visit, the savage felt the influence of a manner to which he was
unaccustomed.
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