MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

Appearance, With Gabriel And Roche, At The Mission

At San Francisco. As Soon As They Heard Of Our Arrival, We Were

Requested to Honour Them With Our Company At A Public Feast, In honour

Of Our Success!! It Was The Meal Of Judas. We Were All Three Seized and

Handed over To The Mexican Agents. Bound Hand And Foot, Under An Escort

Of Thirty Men, The Next Morning We Set Off To Cross The Deserts And

Prairies Of Sonora, To Gain The Mexican Capital, Where We Well Knew That

A Gibbet Was To Be Our Fate.

 

 

 

Such Was The Grateful Return We Received from Those Who Had Called us To

Their Assistance[17]. Such Was My First Lesson In civilized life!

 

 

 

[Footnote 17: Americans, Or Europeans, Who Wish To Reside In mexico, Are

Obliged to Conform To The Catholic Religion, Or They Cannot Hold

Property And Become Resident Merchants. These Were The Apostates For

Wealth Who Betrayed me.]

Chapter XVIII

As Circumstances, Which I Have Yet To Relate, Have Prevented my Return

To The Shoshones, And I Shall Have No More To Say Of Their Movements In

These Pages, I Would Fain Pay Them A Just Tribute Before I Continue My

Narrative. I Wish The Reader To Perceive How Much Higher The Western

Indians Are In the Scale Of Humanity Than The Tribes Of The East, So

Well Described be Cooper And Other American Writers. There Is A

Chivalrous Spirit In these Rangers Of The Western Prairies Not To Be

Exceeded in history Or Modern Times.

 

 

 

The Four Tribes Of Shoshones, Arrapahoes, Comanches, And Apaches Never

Attempt, Like The Dacotah And Algonquin, And Other Tribes Of The East,

To Surprise An Enemy; They Take His Scalp, It Is True, But They Take It

In The Broad Day; Neither Will They Ever Murder The Squaws, Children,

And Old Men, Who May Be Left Unprotected when The War-Parties Are Out.

In Fact, They Are Honourable And Noble Foes, Sincere And Trustworthy

Friends. In many Points They Have The Uses Of Ancient Chivalry Among

Them, So Much So As To Induce Me To Surmise That They May Have Brought

Them Over With Them When They First Took Possession Of The Territory.

 

 

 

Every Warrior Has His Nephew, Who Is Selected as His Page: He Performs

The Duty Of A Squire, In ancient Knight Errantry, Takes Charge Of His

Horse, Arms, And Accoutrements; And He Remains In this Office Until He

Is Old Enough To Gain His Own Spurs. Hawking Is Also A Favourite

Amusement, And The Chiefs Ride Out With The Falcon, Or Small Eagle, On

Their Wrist Or Shoulder.

 

 

 

Even In their Warfare, You Often May Imagine That You Were Among The

Knights Of Ancient Days. An Arrapahoe And A Shoshone Warrior Armed with

A Buckler And Their Long Lances, Will Single Out And Challenge Each

Other; They Run A Tilt, And As Each Has Warded off The Blow, And Passed

Unhurt, They Will Courteously Turn Back And Salute Each Other, As An

Acknowledgment Of Their Enemy'S Bravery And Skill. When These Challenges

Take Place, Or Indeed in any Single Combat Without Challenge, None Of

These Indians Will Take Advantage Of Possessing a Superior Weapon. If

One Has A Rifle And Knows That His Opponent Has Not, He Will Throw His

Rifle Down, And Only Use The Same Weapon As His Adversary.

 

 

 

I Will Now Relate Some Few Traits Of Character, Which Will Prove The

Nobility Of These Indians[18].

 

 

 

[Footnote 18: There Is Every Prospect Of These North-Western Tribes

Remaining In their Present Primitive State, Indeed of Their Gradual

Improvement, For Nothing Can Induce Them To Touch Spirits. They Know

That The Eastern Indians Have Been Debased and Conquered by The Use Of

Them, And Consider An Offer Of A Dram From An American Trader As An

Indirect Attempt Upon Their Life And Honour.]

 

 

 

Every Year During The Season Dedicated to The Performing Of The

Religious Ceremonies, Premiums Are Given By The Holy Men And Elders Of

The Tribe To Those Among The Young Men Who Have The Most Distinguished

Themselves. The Best Warrior Receives A Feather Of The Black Eagle; The

Most Successful Hunter Obtains A Robe Of Buffalo-Skin, Painted inside,

And Representing Some Of His Most Daring Exploits; The Most Virtuous Has

For His Share A Coronet Made Either Of Gold Or Silver; And These

Premiums Are Suspended in their Wigwams, As Marks Of Honour, And Handed

Down To Their Posterity. In fact, They Become A Kind Of _Ecusson_, Which

Ennobles A Family.

 

 

 

Once During The Distribution Of These Much-Coveted prizes, A Young Man

Of Twenty-Two Was Called by The Chiefs To Receive The Premium Of Virtue.

The Indian Advanced towards His Chiefs, When An Elder Of The Tribe

Rising, Addressed the Whole Audience. He Pointed the Young Man Out, As

One Whose Example Should Be Followed, And Recorded, Among Many Other

Praiseworthy Actions, That Three Squaws, With Many Children, Having Been

Reduced to Misery By The Death Of Their Husbands In the Last War Against

The Crows, This Young Man, Although The Deceased were The Greatest Foes

Of His Family, Undertook To Provide For Their Widows And Children Till

The Boys, Grown Up, Would Be Able To Provide For Themselves And Their

Mothers. Since That Time, He Had Given Them The Produce Of His Chase,

Reserving To Himself Nothing But What Was Strictly Necessary To Sustain

The Wants Of Nature. This Was A Noble And Virtuous Act, One That Pleased

The Manitou. It Was An Example Which All The Shoshones Should Follow.

 

 

 

The Young Man Bowed, And As The Venerable Chief Was Stooping To Put The

Coronet Upon His Head, He Started back And, To The Astonishment Of All,

Refused the Premium.

 

 

 

"Chiefs, Warriors, Elders Of The Shoshones, Pardon Me! You Know The Good

Which I Have Done, But You Know Not In what I Have Erred. My First

Feeling Was To Receive The Coronet, And Conceal What Wrong I Had Done;

But A Voice In my Heart Forbids My Taking What Others Have Perchance

Better Deserved.

 

 

 

"Hear Me, Shoshones! The Truth Must Be Told; Hear My Shame! One Day, I

Was Hungry; It Was In the Great Prairies. I Had Killed no Game, And I

Was Afraid To Return Among Our Young Men With Empty Hands. I Remained

Four Days Hunting, And Still I Saw Neither Buffaloes Nor Bears. At Last,

I Perceived the Tent Of An Arrapahoe. I Went In; There Was No One There,

And It Was Full Of Well-Cured meat. I Had Not Eaten For Five Days; I Was

Hungry, And I Became A Thief, I Took Away A Large Piece, And Ran Away

Like A Cowardly Wolf. I Have Said: The Prize Cannot Be Mine."

 

 

 

A Murmur Ran Through The Assembly, And The Chiefs, Holy Men, And Elders

Consulted together. At Last, The Ancient Chief Advanced once More

Towards The Young Man, And Took His Two Hands Between His Own. "My Son,"

He Said, "Good, Noble, And Brave; Thy Acknowledgment Of Thy Fault And

Self-Denial In such A Moment Make Thee As Pure As A Good Spirit In the

Eyes-Of The Great Manitou. Evil, When Confessed and Repented of, Is

Forgotten; Bend Thy Head, My Son, And Let Me Crown Thee. The Premium Is

Twice Deserved and Twice Due."

 

 

 

A Shoshone Warrior Possessed a Beautiful Mare; No Horse In the Prairie

Could Outspeed her, And In the Buffalo Or Bear Hunt She Would Enjoy The

Sport As Much As Her Master, And Run Alongside The Huge Beast With Great

Courage And Spirit. Many Propositions Were Made To The Warrior To Sell

Or Exchange The Animal, But He Would Not Hear Of It. The Dumb Brute Was

His Friend, His Sole Companion; They Had Both Shared the Dangers Of

Battle And The Privations Of Prairie Travelling; Why Should He Part With

Her? The Fame Of That Mare Extended so Far, That In a Trip He Made To

San Francisco, Several Mexicans Offered him Large Sums Of Money;

Nothing, However, Could Shake Him In his Resolution. In those Countries,

Though Horses Will Often Be Purchased at The Low Price Of One Dollar, It

Often Happens That A Steed, Well Known As A Good Hunter Or A Rapid

Pacer, Will Bring Sums Equal To Those Paid In england For A Fine

Racehorse.

 

 

 

One Of The Mexicans, A Wild Young Man, Resolved to Obtain The Mare,

Whether Or No. One Evening, When The Indian Was Returning From Some

Neighbouring Plantation, The Mexican Laid Down In some Bushes At A Short

Distance From The Road, And Moaned as If In the Greatest Pain. The Good

And Kind-Hearted indian Having Reached the Spot, Heard His Cries Of

Distress, Dismounted from His Mare, And Offered any Assistance: It Was

Nearly Dark, And Although He Knew The Sufferer To Be A Pale-Face, Yet He

Could Not Distinguish His Features. The Mexican Begged for A Drop Of

Water, And The Indian Dashed into A Neighbouring Thicket To Procure It

For Him. As Soon As The Indian Was Sufficiently Distant, The Mexican

Vaulted upon The Mare, And Apostrophized the Indian:--

 

 

 

"You Fool Of A Red-Skin, Not Cunning Enough For A Mexican: You Refused

My Gold; Now I Have The Mare For Nothing, And I Will Make The Trappers

Laugh When I Tell Them How Easily I Have Outwitted a Shoshone."

 

 

 

The Indian Looked at The Mexican For A Few Moments In silence, For His

Heart Was Big, And The Shameful Treachery Wounded him To The Very Core.

At Last, He Spoke:--

 

 

 

"Pale-Face," Said He, "For The Sake Of Others, I May Not Kill Thee. Keep

The Mare, Since Thou Art Dishonest Enough To Steal The Only Property Of

A Poor Man; Keep Her, But Never Say A Work How Thou Earnest By Her, Lest

Hereafter A Shoshone, Having Learned distrust, Should Not Hearken To The

Voice Of Grief And Woe. Away, Away With Her! Let Me Never See Her Again,

Or In an Evil Hour The Desire Of Vengeance May Make A Bad Man Of Me."

 

 

 

The Mexican Was Wild, Inconsiderate, And Not Over-Scrupulous, But Not

Without Feeling: He Dismounted from The Horse, And Putting The Bridle In

The Hand Of The Shoshone, "Brother," Said He, "I Have Done Wrong, Pardon

Me! From An Indian I Learn Virtue, And For The Future, When I Would

Commit Any Deed of Injustice, I Will Think Of Thee."

 

 

 

Two Apaches Loved the Same Girl; One Was A Great Chief, The Other A

Young Warrior, Who Had Entered the War-Path But A Short Time. Of Course,

The Parents Of The Young Girl Rejected the Warriors Suit, As Soon As The

Chief Proposed himself. Time Passed, And The Young Man, Broken-Hearted,

Left All The Martial Exercises, In which He Had Excelled. He Sought

Solitude, Starting Early In the Morning From The Wigwam, And Returning

But Late In the Night, When The Fires Were Out. The Very Day On Which He

Was To Lead The Young Girl To His Lodge, The Chief Went Bear-Hunting

Among The Hills Of The Neighbourhood. Meeting With A Grizzly Bear, He

Fired at Him: But At The Moment He Pulled the Trigger His Foot Slipped,

And He Fell Down, Only Wounding The Fierce Animal, Which Now, Smarting

And Infuriated with Pain, Rushed upon Him.

 

 

 

The Chief Had Been Hurt In his Fall, He Was Incapable Of Defence, And

Knew That He Was Lost. He Shut His Eyes, And Waited for His Death-Blow,

When The Report Of A Rifle And The Springing Of The Bear In the Agonies

Of Death Made Him Once More Open His Eyes; He Started upon His Feet,

There Lay The Huge Monster, And Near Him Stood The Young Warrior Who

Timely Rescued him.

 

 

 

The Chief Recognized his Rival, And His Gratitude Overpowering all Other

Feelings, He Took The Warrior By The Hand, And Grasped it Firmly.

 

 

 

"Brother," He Said, "Thou Hast Saved my Life At A Time When It Was

Sweet, More So Than Usual. Let Us Be Brothers."

 

 

 

The Young Man'S Breast Heaved with Contending Passions; But He, Too, Was

A Noble Fellow.

 

 

 

"Chief," Answered he, "When I Saw The Bear Rushing Upon Thee, I Thought

It Was The Manitou Who Had Taken Compassion On My Sufferings, My Heart

For An Instant Felt Light And Happy; But As Death