The Prairie (Fiscle Part 3) Of 2 by J Fenimore Cooper (top non fiction books of all time .TXT) 📖

Gloom Of Midnight.

 

"The Dahcotah Knows That My Tongue Is Not Forked. Let Him Open His

Eyes Wider. Does He Not See A Very Great Medicine?"

 

The Light Was Not Necessary To Recall To The Savage Each Feature In

The Really Remarkable Costume And Equipage Of Dr. Battius. In Common

With The Rest Of The Band,  And In Conformity With The Universal

Practice Of The Indians,  This Warrior,  While He Had Suffered No Gaze

Of Idle Curiosity To Disgrace His Manhood,  Had Not Permitted A Single

Distinctive Mark,  Which Might Characterise Any One Of The Strangers,

To Escape His Vigilance. He Knew The Air,  The Stature,  The Dress,  And

The Features,  Even To The Colour Of The Eyes And Of The Hair,  Of Every

One Of The Big-Knives,  Whom He Had Thus Strangely Encountered,  And

Deeply Had He Ruminated On The Causes,  Which Could Have Led A Party,

So Singularly Constituted,  Into The Haunts Of The Rude Inhabitants Of

His Native Wastes. He Had Already Considered The Several Physical

Powers Of The Whole Party,  And Had Duly Compared Their Abilities With

What He Supposed Might Have Been Their Intentions. Warriors They Were

Not,  For The Big-Knives,  Like The Siouxes,  Left Their Women In Their

Villages When They Went Out On The Bloody Path. The Same Objections

Applied To Them As Hunters,  And Even As Traders,  The Two Characters

Under Which The White Men Commonly Appeared In Their Villages. He Had

Heard Of A Great Council,  At Which The Menahashah,  Or Long-Knives,  And

The Washsheomantiqua,  Or Spaniards,  Had Smoked Together,  When The

Latter Had Sold To The Former Their Incomprehensible Rights Over Those

Vast Regions,  Through Which His Nation Had Roamed,  In Freedom,  For So

Many Ages. His Simple Mind Had Not Been Able To Embrace The Reasons

Why One People Should Thus Assume A Superiority Over The Possessions

Of Another,  And It Will Readily Be Perceived,  That At The Hint Just

Received From The Trapper,  He Was Not Indisposed To Fancy That Some Of

The Hidden Subtilty Of That Magical Influence,  Of Which He Was So Firm

A Believer,  Was About To Be Practised By The Unsuspecting Subject Of

Their Conversation,  In Furtherance Of These Mysterious Claims.

Abandoning,  Therefore,  All The Reserve And Dignity Of His Manner,

Under The Conscious Helplessness Of Ignorance,  He Turned To The Old

Man,  And Stretching Forth His Arms,  As If To Denote How Much He Lay At

His Mercy,  He Said--

 

"Let My Father Look At Me. I Am A Wild Man Of The Prairies; My Body Is

Naked; My Hands Empty; My Skin Red. I Have Struck The Pawnees,  The

Konzas,  The Omahaws,  The Osages,  And Even The Long-Knives. I Am A Man

Amid Warriors,  But A Woman Among The Conjurors. Let My Father Speak:

The Ears Of The Teton Are Open. He Listens Like A Deer To The Step Of

The Cougar."

 

"Such Are The Wise And Uns'archable Ways Of One Who Alone Knows Good

From Evil!" Exclaimed The Trapper,  In English. "To Some He Grants

Part 3 Chapter 21 Pg 37

Cunning,  And On Others He Bestows The Gift Of Manhood! It Is Humbling,

And It Is Afflicting To See So Noble A Creatur' As This,  Who Has Fou't

In Many A Bloody Fray,  Truckling Before His Superstition Like A Beggar

Asking For The Bones You Would Throw To The Dogs. The Lord Will

Forgive Me For Playing With The Ignorance Of The Savage,  For He Knows

I Do It In No Mockery Of His State,  Or In Idle Vaunting Of My Own; But

In Order To Save Mortal Life,  And To Give Justice To The Wronged,

While I Defeat The Deviltries Of The Wicked! Teton," Speaking Again In

The Language Of The Listener,  "I Ask You,  Is Not That A Wonderful

Medicine? If The Dahcotahs Are Wise,  They Will Not Breathe The Air He

Breathes,  Nor Touch His Robes. They Know,  That The Wahconshecheh (Bad

Spirit) Loves His Own Children,  And Will Not Turn His Back On Him That

Does Them Harm."

 

The Old Man Delivered This Opinion In An Ominous And Sententious

Manner,  And Then Rode Apart As If He Had Said Enough. The Result

Justified His Expectations. The Warrior,  To Whom He Had Addressed

Himself,  Was Not Slow To Communicate His Important Knowledge To The

Rest Of The Rear-Guard,  And,  In A Very Few Moments,  The Naturalist Was

The Object Of General Observation And Reverence. The Trapper,  Who

Understood That The Natives Often Worshipped,  With A View To

Propitiate,  The Evil Spirit,  Awaited The Workings Of His Artifice,

With The Coolness Of One Who Had Not The Smallest Interest In Its

Effects. It Was Not Long Before He Saw One Dark Figure After Another,

Lashing His Horse And Galloping Ahead Into The Centre Of The Band,

Until Weucha Alone Remained Nigh The Persons Of Himself And Obed. The

Very Dulness Of This Grovelling-Minded Savage,  Who Continued Gazing At

The Supposed Conjuror With A Sort Of Stupid Admiration,  Opposed Now

The Only Obstacle To The Complete Success Of His Artifice.

 

Thoroughly Understanding The Character Of This Indian,  The Old Man

Lost No Time In Getting Rid Of Him Also. Riding To His Side He Said,

In An Affected Whisper--

 

"Has Weucha Drunk Of The Milk Of The Big-Knives,  To-Day?"

 

"Hugh!" Exclaimed The Savage,  Every Dull Thought Instantly Recalled

From Heaven To Earth By The Question.

 

"Because The Great Captain Of My People,  Who Rides In Front,  Has A Cow

That Is Never Empty. I Know It Will Not Be Long Before He Will Say,

Are Any Of My Red Brethren Dry?"

 

The Words Were Scarcely Uttered,  Before Weucha,  In His Turn,  Quickened

The Gait Of His Beast,  And Was Soon Blended With The Rest Of The Dark

Group,  Who Were Riding,  At A More Moderate Pace,  A Few Rods In

Advance. The Trapper,  Who Knew How Fickle And Sudden Were The Changes

Of A Savage Mind,  Did Not Lose A Moment In Profiting By This

Advantage. He Loosened The Reins Of His Own Impatient Steed,  And In An

Instant He Was Again At The Side Of Obed.

 

"Do You See The Twinkling Star,  That Is,  May Be,  The Length Of Four

Rifles Above The Prairie; Hereaway,  To The North I Mean?"

 

Part 3 Chapter 21 Pg 38

"Ay,  It Is Of The Constellation---"

 

"A Tut For Your Constellations,  Man; Do You See The Star I Mean? Tell

Me,  In The English Of The Land,  Yes Or No."

 

"Yes."

 

"The Moment My Back Is Turned,  Pull Upon The Rein Of Your Ass,  Until

You Lose Sight Of The Savages. Then Take The Lord For Your Dependence,

And Yonder Star For Your Guide. Turn Neither To The Right Hand,  Nor To

The Left,  But Make Diligent Use Of Your Time,  For Your Beast Is Not

Quick Of Foot,  And Every Inch Of Prairie You Gain,  Is A Day Added To

Your Liberty,  Or To Your Life."

 

Without Waiting To Listen To The Queries,  Which The Naturalist Was

About To Put,  The Old Man Again Loosened The Reins Of His Horse,  And

Presently He Too Was Blended With The Group In Front.

 

Obed Was Now Alone. Asinus Willingly Obeyed The Hint Which His Master

Soon Gave,  Rather In Desperation Than With Any Very Collected

Understanding Of The Orders He Had Received,  And Checked His Pace

Accordingly. As The Tetons However Rode At A Hand-Gallop,  But A Moment

Of Time Was Necessary,  After The Ass Began To Walk,  To Remove Them

Effectually From Before The Vision Of His Rider. Without Plan,

Expectation,  Or Hope Of Any Sort,  Except That Of Escaping From His

Dangerous Neighbours,  The Doctor First Feeling,  To Assure Himself That

The Package,  Which Contained The Miserable Remnants Of His Specimens

And Notes Was Safe At His Crupper,  Turned The Head Of The Beast In The

Required Direction,  And Kicking Him With A Species Of Fury,  He Soon

Succeeded In Exciting The Speed Of The Patient Animal Into A Smart

Run. He Had Barely Time To Descend Into A Hollow And Ascend The

Adjoining Swell Of The Prairie,  Before He Heard,  Or Fancied He Heard,

His Name Shouted,  In Good English,  From The Throats Of Twenty Tetons.

The Delusion Gave A New Impulse To His Ardour; And No Professor Of The

Saltant Art Ever Applied Himself With Greater Industry,  Than The

Naturalist Now Used His Heels On The Ribs Of Asinus. The Conflict

Endured For Several Minutes Without Interruption,  And To All

Appearances It Might Have Continued To The Present Moment,  Had Not The

Meek Temper Of The Beast Become Unduly Excited. Borrowing An Idea From

The Manner In Which His Master Exhibited His Agitation,  Asinus So Far

Changed The Application Of His Own Heels,  As To Raise Them

Simultaneously With A Certain Indignant Flourish Into The Air,  A

Measure That Instantly Decided The Controversy In His Favour. Obed

Took Leave Of His Seat,  As Of A Position No Longer Tenable,

Continuing,  However,  The Direction Of His Flight,  While The Ass,  Like

A Conqueror,  Took Possession Of The Field Of Battle,  Beginning To Crop

The Dry Herbage,  As The Fruits Of Victory.

 

When Doctor Battius Had Recovered His Feet,  And Rallied His Faculties,

Which Were In A Good Deal Of Disorder From The Hurried Manner In Which

He Had Abandoned His Former Situation,  He Returned In Quest Of His

Specimens And Of His Ass. Asinus Displayed Enough Of Magnanimity To

Render The Interview Amicable,  And Thenceforth The Naturalist

Continued The Required Route With Very Commendable Industry,  But With

Part 3 Chapter 21 Pg 39

A Much More Tempered Discretion.

 

In The Mean Time,  The Old Trapper Had Not Lost Sight Of The Important

Movements That He Had Undertaken To Control. Obed Had Not Been

Mistaken In Supposing That He Was Already Missed And Sought,  Though

His Imagination Had Corrupted Certain Savage Cries Into The Well-Known

Sounds That Composed His Own Latinized Name. The Truth Was Simply

This. The Warriors Of The Rearguard Had Not Failed To Apprise Those In

Front Of The Mysterious Character,  With Which It Had Pleased The

Trapper To Invest The Unsuspecting Naturalist. The Same Untutored

Admiration,  Which On The Receipt Of This Intelligence Had Driven Those

In The Rear To The Front,  Now Drove Many Of The Front To The Rear. The

Doctor Was Of Course Absent,  And The Outcry Was No More Than The Wild

Yells,  Which Were Raised In The First Burst Of Savage Disappointment.

 

But The Authority Of Mahtoree Was Prompt To Aid The Ingenuity Of The

Trapper,  In Suppressing These Dangerous Sounds. When Order Was

Restored,  And The Former Was Made Acquainted With The Reason Why His

Young Men Had Betrayed So Strong A Mark