In those times there was a romantic spot in the Land of Shemlon, on the Nephite borders, where the Lamanitish maidens were in the habit of gathering to "sing, and to dance, and to make themselves merry." All the gaiety of innocence was theirs, and the overflowing spirit of youth abounded among them.
One day, unknown to the maidens, the fugitive priests of Noah discovered them. The priests hid themselves, and from their secret places, watched them play their games, and otherwise disport themselves. The priests laid in wait, and then when there were only a few gathered suddenly surprised them and carried twenty-four of them away. We may conjecture that there were some Lamanite girls who escaped the priests' grasp and they, undoubtedly, reported the strange men, unmistakably Nephites, as kidnappers.