I. Ah me!  When I think of him—­when I think of him—­my
       sweetheart, my Algonquin.

   II.  As I embarked to return, he put the white wampum around my
       neck—­a pledge of troth, my sweetheart, my Algonquin.

  III.  I shall go with you, he said, to your native country—­I
       shall go with you, my sweetheart—­my Algonquin.

   IV.  Alas!  I replied—­my native country is far, far away—­my
       sweetheart, my Algonquin.

    V. When I looked back again—­where we parted, he was still
       looking after me, my sweetheart, my Algonquin.

   VI.  He was still standing on a fallen tree—­that had fallen
       into the water, my sweetheart, my Algonquin.

  VII.  Alas!  When I think of him—­when I think of him—­It is when
       I think of him, my Algonquin.

HOW “INDIAN STORIES” ARE WRITTEN

Here we have seven love-stories as romantic as you please and full of sentimental touches.  Do they not disprove my theory that uncivilized races are incapable of feeling sentimental love?  Some think they do, and Waitz is not the only anthropologist who has accepted such stories as proof that human nature, as far as love is concerned, is the same under all circumstances.  The above tales are taken from the books of a man who spent much of his life among Indians and issued a number of works about them, one of which, in six volumes, was published under the auspices of the United States Government.  This expert—­Henry R. Schoolcraft—­was member of so many learned societies that it takes twelve lines of small type to print them all.  Moreover, he expressly assures us[196] that “the value of these traditionary stories appears to depend very much upon their being left, as nearly as possible, in their original forms of thought and expression,” the obvious inference being an assurance that he has so left them; and he adds that in the collection and translation of these stories he enjoyed the great advantages of seventeen years’ life as executive officer for the tribes, and a knowledge of their languages.

And now, having given the enemy’s battle-ship every possible advantage, the reader will allow me to bring on my little torpedo-boat.  In the first place Schoolcraft mentions (A.R., I., 56) twelve persons, six of them women, who helped him collect and interpret the material of the tales united in his volumes; but he does not tell us whether all or any of these collectors acted on the principle that these stories could claim absolutely no scientific value unless they were verbatim reports of aboriginal tales, without any additions and sentimental embroideries by the compilers.  This omission alone is fatal to the whole collection, reducing it to the value of a mere fairy book for the entertainment of children, and allowing us to make no inferences from it regarding the quality and expression of an Indian’s love.