THE TALKING LEAVES

1882. The story begins: Look, Rita! look! What can it mean, Ni-ha-be? See them all get down and walk about. They have found something in the grass. And they're hunting for more. Rita leaned forward till her long hair fell upon the neck of the beautiful little horse she was riding, and looked with all her eyes. Hark! they are shouting. You could not hear them if they did. They look as if they were. Ni-ha-be sat perfectly still in her silver-mounted saddle, although her spirited mustang pony pawed the ground and pulled on his bit as if he were in a special hurry to go on down the side of the mountain. The two girls were of about the same size, and could not either of them have been over fifteen years old. They were both very pretty, very well dressed and well mounted, and they could both speak in a strange, rough, and yet musical language; but there was no other resemblance between them.