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

Their Mocassins, Their Leggings, Even Their

Bridles, Are Braided with The Hair Of Thy People, Perhaps Of Thy

Brothers. Take Thy 'Shoba-Wapo' (Fire-Water), And Give It To Drink To

Thy Warriors, That We May See Them Raving and Tumbling Like Swine.

Silence, And Away With Thee. Our Squaws Will Follow Ye On Your Trail For

A Mile, To Burn Even The Grass Ye Have Trampled upon Near Our Village.

Away With You All, Now And For Ever! I Have Said!!!"

 

 

 

The American Force Was Numerous And Well Armed, And A Moment, A Single

Moment, Deeply Wounded by These Bitter Taunts, They Looked as If They

Would Fight And Die To Resent The Insult; But It Was Only A Transient

Feeling; For They Had Their Orders, And They Went Away, Scorned and

Humiliated. Perhaps, Too, An Inward Voice Whispered to Them That They

Deserved their Shame And Humiliation; Perhaps The Contrast Of Their

Conduct With That Of The Savages Awakened in them Some Better Feeling,

Which Had A Long Time Remained dormant, And They Were Now Disgusted with

Themselves And Their Odious Policy.

 

 

 

As It Was, They Departed in silence, And The Last Of Their Line Had

Vanished under The Horizon Before The Indians Could Smother The

Indignation And Resentment Which The Strangers Had Excited within Their

Hearts. Days, However, Passed away, And With Them The Recollection Of

The Event. Afterwards, I Chanced to Meet, In the Arkansas, With The

Colonel Who Commanded. He Was Giving a Very Strange Version Of His

Expedition; And As I Heard Facts So Distorted, I Could Not Help

Repeating To Myself The Words Of Auku-Wonze-Zee, "The Oposh-Ton-Ehoc Is

A Double-Tongued liar!"

Chapter XXIII

One Morning, Roche, Gabriel, And Myself Were Summoned to The Great

Council Lodge; There We Met With The Four Comanches Whom We Had Rescued

Some Days Before, And It Would Be Difficult To Translate From Their

Glowing Language Their Warm Expressions Of Friendship And Gratitude. We

Learned from Them, That Before The Return Of The Cayugas From The

Prairie They Had Concealed themselves In some Crevices Of The Earth

Until Night, When They Contrived to Seize Upon Three Of The Horses, And

Effect Their Escape. At The Passage Of The Great Chasm They Had Found

The Old Red sash Of Roche, Which They Produced, Asking at The Same Time

Permission To Keep It As A Token From Their Pale-Face Brothers. We Shook

Hands And Exchanged pipes. How Noble And Warm Is An Indian In

His Feelings.

 

 

 

In The Lodge We Also Perceived our Friend Of Former Days, "Opishka

Koaki" (The White Raven); But As He Was About To Address The Assembly,

We Restrained from Renewing Our Acquaintance, And Directed all Our

Attention To What Was Transacting. After The Ordinary Ceremonies,

Opishka Koaki Commenced:--

 

 

 

"Warriors, I Am Glad You Have So Quickly Understood My Messages; But

When Does A Comanche Turn His Back On Receiving The Vermilion From His

Chief? Never! You Know I Called you For War, And You Have Come. 'Tis

Well. Yet, Though I Am A Chief, I Am A Man. I May Mistake; I May Now And

Then Strike A Wrong Path. I Will Do Nothing, Attempt Nothing, Without

Knowing The Thoughts Of My Brave Warriors. Then Hear Me!

 

 

 

"There Live Under The Sun A Nation Of Reds-Kins, Whose Men Are Cowards,

Never Striking an Enemy But When His Back Is Turned, Or When They Number

A Hundred to One. This Nation Crawls In the Prairies About The Great

Chasms; They Live Upon Carrion, And Have No Other Horses But Those They

Can Steal From The Deer-Hearted watchinangoes. Do My Warrior? Know Such

A People? Let Them Speak! I Hear!"

 

 

 

At That Moment A Hundred voices Shouted the Name Of Cayugas.

 

 

 

"I Knew It!" Exclaimed the Chief, "There Is But One Such A People With A

Red skin; My Warriors Are Keen-Sighted, They Cannot Be Mistaken. Now, We

Comanches Never Take The Scalp Of A Cayuga Any More Than That Of A

Hedge-Hog; We Kick Them Out Of Our Way When They Cross Our Path; That'S

All. Hear Me, My Braves, And Believe Me, Though I Will Speak Strange

Words: These Reptiles Have Thought That Because We Have Not Killed them

As Toads And Scorpions, It Was Because We Were Afraid Of Their Poison.

One Thousand Cayugas, Among Other Prisoners, Have Taken Eight Comanches;

They Have Eaten Four Of Them, They Would Have Eaten Them All, But The

Braves Escaped; They Are Here. Now, Is An Impure Cayuga A Fit Tomb For

The Body Of A Comanche Warrior? No! I Read The Answer In your Burning

Eyes. What Then Shall We Do? Shall We Chastise Them And Give Their

Carcases To The Crows And Wolves? What Say My Warriors; Let Them Speak?

Speak? I Hear?"

 

 

 

All Were Silent, Though It Was Evident That Their Feelings Had Been

Violently Agitated. At Last, An Old Chief Rose And Addressed opishka:--

 

 

 

"Great Chief," Said He, "Why Askest Thou? Can A Comanche And Warrior

Think In any Way But One? Look At Them! See You Not Into Their Hearts?

Perceive You Not How Fast The Blood Runs Into Their Veins? Why Ask? I

Say; Thou Knowest Well Their Hearts' Voice Is But The Echo Of Thine Own.

Say But A Word, Say, 'Let Us Go The Cayugas!' Thy Warriors Will Answer:

'We Are Ready, Show Us The Path!' Chief Of A Mighty Nation, Thou Hast

Heard My Voice, And In my Voice Are Heard The Thousand Voices Of Thy

Thousand Warriors."

 

 

 

Opishka Koaki Rose Again. "I Knew It, But I Wanted to Hear It, For It

Does My Heart Good; It Makes Me Proud To Command So Many Brave Warriors.

Then To-Morrow We Start, And We Will Hunt The Cayugas Even To The

Deepest Of Their Burrows. I Have Said!"

 

 

 

Then The Four Rescued prisoners Recounted how They Had Been Taken, And

What Sufferings They Had Undergone. They Spoke Of Their Unfortunate

Companions And Of Their Horrible Fate, Which They Should Have Also

Shared had It Not Been For The Courage Of The Three Pale-Face Brothers,

Who Killed five Cayugas, And Cut Their Bonds; They Themselves Killed

Five More Of Their Cowardly Foes And Escaped, But Till To-Day They Had

Had No Occasion Of Telling To Their Tribe The Bravery And Generosity Of

The Three Pale-Faces.

 

 

 

At This Narrative All The Warriors, Young And Old, Looked as Though They

Were Personally Indebted to Us, And Would Have Come, One And All, To

Shake Our Hands, Had It Not Been For The Inviolable Rules Of The Council

Lodge, Which Forbids Any Kind Of Disorder. It Is Probable That The Scene

Had Been Prepared beforehand By The Excellent Chief, Who Wished to

Introduce Us To His Warriors Under Advantageous Circumstances. He Waved

His Hand To Claim Attention, And Spoke Again.

 

 

 

"It Is Now Twelve Moons, It Is More! I Met Owato Wanisha And His Two

Brothers. He Is A Chief Of The Great Shoshones, Who Are Our

Grandfathers, Far--Far Under The Setting Of The Sun Beyond The Big

Mountains. His Two Brothers Are Two Great Warriors From Powerful Nations

Far In the East And Beyond The Sioux, The Chippewas Beyond The

'Oposh-Ton-Ehoc[20],' Even Beyond The Deep Salt-Water. One Is A

'Shakanah' (Englishman), The Other A 'Naimewa' From The

'Maha-Mate-Kosh-Ehoj' (An Exile From The French). They Are Good And They

Are Brave: They Have Learned wisdom From The 'Macota Konayas' (Priests),

And Owato Wanisha Knows How To Build Strong Forts, Which He Can Better

Defend Than The Watchinangoes Have Defended theirs. I Have Invited him

And His Brother To Come And Taste The Buffalo Of Our Prairies, To Ride

Our Horses, And Smoke The Calumet Of Friendship. They Have Come, And

Will Remain With Us Till We Ourselves Go To The Big Stony River (The

Colorado Of The West). They Have Come; They Are Our Guests; The Best We

Can Command Is Their Own Already; But They Are Chiefs And Warriors. A

Chief Is A Chief Everywhere. We Must Treat Them As Chiefs, And Let Them

Select A Band Of Warriors For Themselves To Follow Them Till They Go

Away From Us.

 

 

 

[Footnote 20: Americans.]

 

 

 

"You Have Heard What Our Scouts Have Said; They Would Have Been Eaten By

The Cayugas, Had It Not Been For Our Guests, Who Have Preserved not Only

The Lives Of Four Men--That Is Nothing--But The Honour Of The Tribe. I

Need say No More; I Know My Young Men; I Know My Warriors; I Know They

Will Love The Strangers As Chiefs And Brothers. I Have Said."

 

 

 

Having Thus Spoken, He Walked slowly Out Of The Lodge, Which Was

Immediately Deserted for The Green Lawn Before The Village. There We

Were Sumptuously Entertained by All The Principal Chiefs And Warriors Of

The Tribe, After Which They Conducted us To A New Tent, Which They Had

Erected for Us In the Middle Of Their Principal Square. There We Found

Also Six Magnificent Horses, Well Caparisoned, Tied to The Posts Of The

Tent; They Were The Presents Of The Chiefs. At A Few Steps From The Door

Was An Immense Shield, Suspended upon Four Posts, And On Which A Beaver,

The Head Of An Eagle, And The Claws Of A Bear Were Admirably

Painted--The First Totem For Me, The Second For Gabriel, And The Third

For Roche. We Gratefully Thanked our Hospitable Hosts, And Retired to

Rest In our Rich And Elegant Dwelling.

 

 

 

The Next Morning We Awoke Just In time To Witness The Ceremony Of

Departure; A War Party, Already On Horseback, Was Waiting For Their

Chief. At The Foot Of Our Shield Were One Hundred lances, Whose Owners

Belonged to The Family And Kindred of The Indians Whom We Had Rescued

From The Cayugas. A Few Minutes Afterwards, The Owners Of The Weapons

Appeared in the Square, Well Mounted and Armed, To Place Themselves At

Our Entire Disposal. We Could Not Put Our Authority To A Better Use Than

By Joining Our Friends In their Expedition, So When The Chief Arrived,

Surrounded by The Elders Of The Tribe, Gabriel Advanced towards Him.

 

 

 

"Chief," He Said, "And Wise Men Of A Brave Nation, You Have Conferred

Upon Us A Trust Of Which We Are Proud. To Owato Wanisha, Perhaps, It Was

Due, For He Is Mighty In his Tribe; But I And The Shakanah Are No

Chiefs. We Will Not Decline Your Favour, But We Must Deserve It. The

Young Beaver Will Remain In the Village, To Learn The Wisdom Of Your Old

Men, But The Eagle And The Bear Must And Will Accompany You In your

Expedition. You Have Given Them Brave Warriors, Who Would Scorn To

Remain At Home; We Will Follow You."

 

 

 

This Proposition Was Received with Flattering acclamations, And The

Gallant Army Soon Afterwards Left The Village On Its Mission Of Revenge.

 

 

 

The Cayugas Were, Before That Expedition, A Powerful Tribe, About Whom

Little Or Nothing Had Ever Been Written Or Known. In their Customs And

Manners Of Living They Resemble In every Way The Club Indians Of The

Colorado, Who Were Destroyed by The Small-Pox. They Led a Wandering

Prairie Life, But Generally Were Too Cowardly To Fight Well, And Too

Inexpert In hunting To Surround Themselves With Comforts, Even In the

Midst Of Plenty. Like The Clubs, They Are Cannibals, Though, I Suspect,

They Would Not Eat A White Man. They Have But Few Horses, And These Only

When They Could Be Procured by Stealth, For, Almost Always Starving,

They Could Not Afford To Breed them, Always Eating The Colts Before They

Could Be Useful.

 

 

 

Their Grounds Lie In the Vicinity Of The Great Fork Of The Rio Puerco,

By Lat. 35 Degrees And Long. 105 Degrees From Greenwich. The Whole

Nation Do Not Possess Half-A-Dozen Of Rifles, Most All Of Them Being

Armed with Clubs, Bows, And Arrows. Some Old Comanches Have Assured me

That The Cayuga Country Abounds With Fine Gold.

 

 

 

While I Was With The Comanches, Waiting The Return Of The Expedition, I

Had An Accident Which Nearly Cost Me My Life. Having Learned that There

Were Many Fine Basses To Be Fished in a Stream Some Twenty Miles Off, I

Started on Horseback, With The View Of Passing The Night There. I Took

With Me A Buffalo-Hide, A Blanket, And A