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

Distant From The Spot.

 

 

 

This Land Pirating Is Now Carried to A Greater Extent Than Ever. Bands

Of Fifty Or Sixty Pioneers Steal Horses, Cattle, And Slaves From The

West Of Arkansas And Louisiana, And Sell Them In texas, Where They Have

Their Agents; And Then, Under The Disguise Of Indian Warriors, They

Attack Plantations In texas, Carrying away With Them Large Herds Of

Horses And Cattle, They Drive To Missouri, Through The Lonely Mountain

Passes Of The Arkansas, Or To The Attalapas And Opelousas Districts Of

Western Louisiana, Forcing Their Way Through The Lakes And Swamps On

Both Shores Of The River Sabine. The Party Mentioned by The Wakoes Was

One Of This Last Description.

 

 

 

We Left Our Friends, And, After A Journey Of Three Days, We Crossed the

Brazos, Close To A Rich Copper Mine, Which Has For Ages Been Worked by

The Indians, Who Used, As They Do Now, This Metal For The Points Of

Their Arrows And Lances. Another Three Days' Journey Brought Us To One

Of The Forks Of The Trinity, And There We Met With Two Companies Of

Texan Rangers And Spies, Under The Command Of A Certain Captain Hunt,

Who Had Been Sent From The Lower Part Of The River To Protect The

Northern Plantations. With Him I Found Five Gentlemen, Who, Tired of

Residing In texas Had Taken The Opportunity Of This Military Escort To

Return To The Arkansas. As Soon As They Heard That I Was Going There

Myself, They Offered to Join Me, Which I Agreed to, As It Was Now

Arranged that Gabriel And Roche Should Not Accompany Me Further Than To

The Red river[22].

 

 

 

[Footnote 22: It May Appear Singular To The Reader That The Comanches,

Being always At War With The Texans, Should Not Have Immediately

Attacked the Party Under The Orders Of Hunt. But We Were Merely A

Hunting-Party; That Is To Say, Our Band Was Composed chiefly Of Young

Hunters, Not Yet Warriors. On Such Occasions There Is Frequently, Though

Not Always, An Ancient Warrior For Every Eight Hunters, Just To Show To

Them The Crafts Of Indian Mode Of Hunting. These Parties Often Bring

With Them Their Squaws And Children, And Never Fight But When Obliged

To Do So.]

 

 

 

The Next Morning I Received a Visit From Hunt And Two Or Three Inferior

Officers, To Advise Upon The Following Subject. An Agricultural Company

From Kentucky Had Obtained from The Texan Government A Grant Of Lands On

The Upper Forks Of The Trinity. There Twenty-Five Or Thirty Families Had

Settled, And They Had With Them Numerous Cattle, Horses, Mules, And

Donkeys Of A Very Superior Breed. On The Very Evening I Met With The

Texan Rangers, The Settlement Had Been Visited by A Party Of Ruffians,

Who Stole Everything, Murdering Sixty Or Seventy Men, Women And

Children, And Firing all The Cottages And Log-Houses Of This Rising and

Prosperous Village. All The Corpses Were Shockingly Mangled and Scalped,

And As The Assailants Were Painted in the Indian Fashion, The Few

Inhabitants Who Had Escaped and Gained the Texan Camp Declared that The

Marauders Were Comanches.

 

 

 

This I Denied stoutly, As Did The Comanche Party, And We All Proceeded

With The Texan Force To Lewisburg, The Site Of The Massacre. As Soon As

I Viewed the Bodies, Lying Here And There, I At Once Was Positive That

The Deed had Been Committed by White Men. The Comanche Chief Could

Scarcely Restrain His Indignation; He Rode Close To Captain Hunt And

Sternly Said To Him--

 

 

 

"Stoop, Pale-Face Of A Texan, And Look With Thy Eyes Open; Be Honest If

Thou Canst, And Confess That Thou Knowest By Thine Own Experience That

This Deed is That Of White Men. What Comanche Ever Scalped women And

Children? Stoop, I Say, And Behold--A Shame On Thy Colour And Race--A

Race Of Wolves, Preying Upon Each Other; A Race Of Jaguars, Killing The

Female After Having Forced her--Stoop And See.

 

 

 

"The Bodies Of The Young Women Have Been Atrociously And Cowardly

Abused--Seest Thou? Thou Well Knowest The Indian Is Too Noble And Too

Proud To Level Himself To The Rank Of A Texan Or Of A Brute."

 

 

 

Twenty Of Our Comanches Started on The Tracks, And In the Evening

Brought Three Prisoners To The Camp. They Were Desperate Blackguards,

Well Known To Every One Of The Soldiers Under Captain Hunt, Who, In

Spite Of Their Indian Disguise, Identified them Immediately. Hunt

Refused to Punish Them, Or To Make Any Further Pursuit, Under The Plea

That He Had Received orders To Act Against Indian Depredators, But Not

Against White Men.

 

 

 

"If Such Is The Case," Interrupted the Comanche Chief, "Retire

Immediately With Thy Men, Even To-Night, Or The Breeze Of Evening Will

Repeat Thy Words To My Young Men, Who Would Give A Lesson Of Justice To

The Texans. Away With Thee, If Thou Valuest Thy Scalp: Justice Shall Be

Done By Indians; It Is Time They Should Take It Into Their Own Hands,

When Pale-Faces Are Afraid Of Each Other."

 

 

 

Captain Hunt Was Wise Enough To Retire Without Replying, And The Next

Morning The Indians Armed with Cords And Switches, Gave A Severe

Whipping To The Brigands, For Having assumed the Comanche Paint And

War-Whoop. This First Part Of Their Punishment Being Over, Their Paint

Was Washed off, And The Chief Passed them Over To Us, Who Were, With The

Addition I Have Mentioned, Now Eight White Men. "They Are Too Mean,"

Said The Chief, "To Receive A Warrior'S Death; Judge Them According To

Your Laws; Justice Must Be Done."

 

 

 

It Was An Awful Responsibility; But We Judged them According To The Laws

Of The United states And Of Texas: They Were Condemned to Be Hanged, And

At Sunset They Were Executed. For All I Know, Their Bodies May Still

Hang From The Lower Branches Of The Three Large Cotton-Wood Trees Upon

The Head Waters Of The Trinity River.

Chapter XXVII

We Remained a Few Days Where We Were Encamped to Repose Our Horses And

Enable Them To Support The Fatigues Of Our Journey Through The Rugged

And Swampy Wilderness Of North-East Texas. Three Days After The

Execution Of The Three Prisoners, Some Of Our Indians, On Their Return

From A Buffalo Chase, Informed us That Several Texan Companies,

Numbering Two Hundred men, Were Advancing In our Direction, And That

Probably They Were Out Upon An Expedition Against The Indians Of The

Cross Timbers, As They Had With Them Many Waggons Evidently Containing

Nothing But Provisions And Ammunition.

 

 

 

We Were Encamped in a Strong Position, And Of Course Did Not Think Of

Retiring. We Waited for The Texan Army, Determined to Give Them A Good

Drubbing If They Dared to Attempt To Molest Us. Notwithstanding The

Security Of Our Position, We Kept A Good Watch During The Night, But

Nothing Happened to Give Us Alarm. The Next Morning, Two Hours After

Sunrise, We Saw The Little Army Halting Two Miles From Us, On The

Opposite Shore Of A Deep Stream, Which They Must Necessarily Pass To

Come To Us. A Company Of The Comanches Immediately Darted forward To

Dispute The Passage; But Some Flags Of Truce Being Displayed by The

Texans, Five Or Six Of Them Were Allowed to Swim Over Unmolested.

 

 

 

These Worthies Who Came Over Were Captain Hunt, Of Whom I Have Before

Made Mention, And General Smith, Commanding The Texan Army, Who Was A

Certain Butcher From Indiana, Who Had Been Convicted of Having Murdered

His Wife And Condemned to Be Hanged. He Had, However, Succeeded in

Escaping From The Gaol, And Making His Way To Texas. The Third Eminent

Personage Was A Colonel Hookley, And The Other Two Were Interpreters. As

An Indian Will Never Hurt A Foe Who Comes With A Flag Of Truce, The

Comanches Brought These Gentlemen Up To The Camp.

 

 

 

As Soon As General Smith Presented himself Before The Comanche Chief, He

Commenced a Bullying Harangue, Not Stating For What Purpose He Had Come,

Telling Us Gratuitously That He Was The Greatest General In the Land,

And That All The Other Officers Were Fools; That He Had With Him An

Innumerable Number Of Stout And Powerful Warriors, Who Had No Equal In

The World; And Thus He Went On For Half An Hour, Till, Breath Failing

Him, He Was Obliged to Stop.

 

 

 

After A Silence Of A Few Minutes, He Asked the Comanche Chief What He

Could Answer To That? The Chief Looked at Him And Replied, With The Most

Ineffable Contempt: "What Should I Answer?" Said He; "I Have Heard

Nothing But The Words Of A Fool Abusing Other Fools. I Have Heard The

Howl Of The Wolf Long Before The Buffalo Was Wounded; There Can Be No

Answer To No Question; Speak, If Thou Canst; Say What Thou Wishest, Or

Return From Whence Thou Comest, Lest The Greatest Warrior Of Texas

Should Be Whipped by Squaws And Boys."

 

 

 

The Ex-Butcher Was Greatly Incensed at The Want Of Breeding and Manners

Of The "Poor Devil Of A Savage," But At Last He Condescended to Come To

The Point. First Of All, Having Learned from Captain Hunt The Whole

Transaction At Lewisburg, And That The Comanches Had Detained the

Prisoners, He Wished to Have Them Restored to Him. Next He Wanted to Get

The Three Young Pale-Faces, Who Were With The Comanches (Meaning Me,

Gabriel, And Roche). They Were Three Thieves, Who Had Escaped from The

Gaols, And He, The General, Wanted to Punish Them. After All, They Were

Three Vagabonds, D----D Strangers, And Strangers Had Nothing To Do In

Texas, So He Must Have Them. Thirdly And Lastly, He Wanted to Have

Delivered unto Him The Five Americans Who Had Left Captain Hunt To Join

Us. He Suspected them To Be Rascals Or Traitors, Or They Would Not Have

Joined the Indians. He, The Great General, Wished to Investigate Closely

Into The Matter, And So The Comanches Had Better Think Quick About It,

For He Was In a Hurry.

 

 

 

I Should Here Add, That The Five Americans, Though Half-Ruined by The

Thefts Of The Texans, Had Yet With Them Four Or Five Hundred dollars In

Good Bank-Notes, Besides Which Each Had A Gold Watch, Well-Furnished

Saddle-Bags, A Good Saddle, And An Excellent Travelling Horse.

 

 

 

The Chief Answered him: "Now I Can Answer, For I Have Heard Words Having

A Meaning, Although I Know Them To Be Great Lies. I Say First, Thou

Shalt Not Have The Prisoners Who Murdered those Of Thine Own Colour, For

They Are Hung Yonder Upon The Tall Trees, And There They Shall Remain

Till The Vultures And The Crows Have Picked their Flesh.

 

 

 

"I Say, Secondly, That The Three Young Pale-Faces Are Here And Will

Answer For Themselves, If They Will Or Will Not Follow Thee; But I See

Thy Tongue Can Utter Big Lies; For I Know They Have Never Mixed with The

Pale-Faces Of The South. As To The Five Yankees, We Cannot Give Them

Back To Thee, Because We Can Give Back Only What We Have Taken. They Are

Now Our Guests, And, In our Hospitality, They Are Secure Till They Leave

Us Of Their Own Accord. I Have Said!"

 

 

 

Scarcely Were These Words Finished, When The General And His Four

Followers Found Themselves Surrounded by Twenty Comanches, Who Conducted

Them Back To The Stream In rather An Abrupt Manner. The Greatest Officer

Of The Land Swore Revenge, But As His Guides Did Not Understand Him, He

Was Lucky Enough To Reserve His Tongue For More Lies And More Swearing

At A More Fitting Time.

 

 

 

He Soon Rejoined his Men, And Fell Back With Them About A Mile,

Apparently To Prepare For An Attack Upon Our Encampment. In the Evening,

Roche And Some Five Or Six Indians Passed the Stream A Few Miles Below,

That They Might Observe What The Texans Were About; But Unfortunately

They Met With A Party Of Ten Of The Enemy Hunting, And Roche Fell

Heavily Under His Horse, Which Was Killed by A Rifle-Shot. One Of The

Comanches Immediately Jumped from His Horse, Rescued roche From His

Dangerous Position, And, Notwithstanding That The Texans Were At That

Instant Charging, He Helped roche To His Own Saddle And Bade Him Fly.

Roche Was Too Much Stupefied by His Fall That He