The Prairie (Fiscle Part 3) Of 2 - J Fenimore Cooper (books to improve english TXT) 📗

Value In His Eyes,

Far Exceeding Any That Could Be Found In Fifty Teton Scalps. Let That

Be As It Might,  Hard-Heart Had No Sooner Received The Brief

Congratulations Of His Band,  And Communicated To The Chiefs Such Facts

As Were Important To Be Known,  Than He Prepared Himself To Act Such A

Part In The Coming Conflict,  As Would At Once Maintain His Well-Earned

Reputation,  And Gratify His Secret Wishes. A Led Horse,  One That Had

Been Long Trained In The Hunts,  Had Been Brought To Receive His

Master,  With But Little Hope That His Services Would Ever Be Needed

Again In This Life. With A Delicacy And Consideration,  That Proved How

Much The Generous Qualities Of The Youth Had Touched The Feelings Of

His People,  A Bow,  A Lance,  And A Quiver,  Were Thrown Across The

Animal,  Which It Had Been Intended To Immolate On The Grave Of The

Young Brave; A Species Of Care That Would Have Superseded The

Necessity For The Pious Duty That The Trapper Had Pledged Himself To

Perform.

 

Though Hard-Heart Was Sensible Of The Kindness Of His Warriors,  And

Believed That A Chief,  Furnished With Such Appointments,  Might Depart

With Credit For The Distant Hunting-Grounds Of The Master Of Life,  He

Seemed Equally Disposed To Think That They Might Be Rendered Quite As

Useful,  In The Actual State Of Things. His Countenance Lighted With

Stern Pleasure,  As He Tried The Elasticity Of The Bow,  And Poised The

Well-Balanced Spear. The Glance He Bestowed On The Shield Was More

Cursory And Indifferent; But The Exultation With Which He Threw

Himself On The Back Of His Favoured War-Horse Was So Great,  As To

Break Through The Forms Of Indian Reserve. He Rode To And Fro Among

His Scarcely Less Delighted Warriors,  Managing The Animal With A Grace

And Address That No Artificial Rules Can Ever Supply; At Times

Flourishing His Lance,  As If To Assure Himself Of His Seat,  And At

Others Examining Critically Into The Condition Of The Fusee,  With

Which He Had Also Been Furnished,  With The Fondness Of One,  Who Was

Miraculously Restored To The Possession Of Treasures,  That Constituted

His Pride And His Happiness.

 

At This Particular Moment Mahtoree,  Having Completed The Necessary

Arrangements,  Prepared To Make A More Decisive Movement. The Teton Had

Found No Little Embarrassment In Disposing Of His Captives. The Tents

Of The Squatter Were Still In Sight,  And His Wary Cunning Did Not Fail

To Apprise Him,  That It Was Quite As Necessary To Guard Against An

Attack From That Quarter As To Watch The Motions Of His More Open And

More Active Foes. His First Impulse Had Been To Make The Tomahawk

Suffice For The Men,  And To Trust The Females Under The Same

Protection As The Women Of His Band; But The Manner,  In Which Many Of

His Braves Continued To Regard The Imaginary Medicine Of The Long-

Knives,  Forewarned Him Of The Danger Of So Hazardous An Experiment On

The Eve Of A Battle. It Might Be Deemed The Omen Of Defeat. In This

Dilemma He Motioned To A Superannuated Warrior,  To Whom He Had

Confided The Charge Of The Non-Combatants,  And Leading Him Apart,  He

Placed A Finger Significantly On His Shoulder,  As He Said,  In A Tone,

In Which Authority Was Tempered By Confidence--

 

"When My Young Men Are Striking The Pawnees,  Give The Women Knives.

Part 3 Chapter 29 Pg 121

Enough; My Father Is Very Old; He Does Not Want To Hear Wisdom From A

Boy."

 

The Grim Old Savage Returned A Look Of Ferocious Assent,  And Then The

Mind Of The Chief Appeared To Be At Rest On This Important Subject.

From That Moment He Bestowed All His Care On The Achievement Of His

Revenge,  And The Maintenance Of His Martial Character. Throwing

Himself On His Horse,  He Made A Sign,  With The Air Of A Prince To His

Followers,  To Imitate His Example,  Interrupting,  Without Ceremony,  The

War Songs And Solemn Rites By Which Many Among Them Were Stimulating

Their Spirits To Deeds Of Daring. When All Were In Order,  The Whole

Moved With Great Steadiness And Silence Towards The Margin Of The

River.

 

The Hostile Bands Were Now Separated By The Water. The Width Of The

Stream Was Too Great To Admit Of The Use Of The Ordinary Indian

Missiles,  But A Few Useless Shots Were Exchanged From The Fusees Of

The Chiefs,  More In Bravado Than With Any Expectation Of Doing

Execution. As Some Time Was Suffered To Elapse,  In Demonstrations And

Abortive Efforts,  We Shall Leave Them,  For That Period,  To Return To

Such Of Our Characters As Remained In The Hands Of The Savages.

 

We Have Shed Much Ink In Vain,  And Wasted Quires,  That Might Possibly

Have Been Better Employed,  If It Be Necessary Now To Tell The Reader

That Few Of The Foregoing Movements Escaped The Observation Of The

Experienced Trapper. He Had Been,  In Common With The Rest,  Astonished

At The Sudden Act Of Hard-Heart; And There Was A Single Moment When A

Feeling Of Regret And Mortification Got The Better Of His Longings To

Save The Life Of The Youth. The Simple And Well-Intentioned Old Man

Would Have Felt,  At Witnessing Any Failure Of Firmness On The Part Of

A Warrior,  Who Had So Strongly Excited His Sympathies,  The Same

Species Of Sorrow That A Christian Parent Would Suffer In Hanging Over

The Dying Moments Of An Impious Child. But When,  Instead Of An

Impotent And Unmanly Struggle For Existence,  He Found That His Friend

Had Forborne,  With The Customary And Dignified Submission Of An Indian

Warrior,  Until An Opportunity Had Offered To Escape,  And That He Had

Then Manifested The Spirit And Decision Of The Most Gifted Brave,  His

Gratification Became Nearly Too Powerful To Be Concealed. In The Midst

Of The Wailing And Commotion,  Which Succeeded The Death Of Weucha And

The Escape Of The Captive,  He Placed Himself Nigh The Persons Of His

White Associates,  With A Determination Of Interfering,  At Every

Hazard,  Should The Fury Of The Savages Take That Direction. The

Appearance Of The Hostile Band Spared Him,  However,  So Desperate And

Probably So Fruitless An Effort,  And Left Him To Pursue His

Observations,  And To Mature His Plans More At Leisure.

 

He Particularly Remarked That,  While By Far The Greater Part Of The

Women,  And All The Children,  Together With The Effects Of The Party,

Were Hurried To The Rear,  Probably With An Order To Secrete Themselves

In Some Of The Adjacent Woods,  The Tent Of Mahtoree Himself Was Left

Standing,  And Its Contents Undisturbed. Two Chosen Horses,  However,

Stood Near By,  Held By A Couple Of Youths,  Who Were Too Young To Go

Into The Conflict,  And Yet Of An Age To Understand The Management Of

Part 3 Chapter 29 Pg 122

The Beasts. The Trapper Perceived In This Arrangement The Reluctance

Of Mahtoree To Trust His Newly-Found Flowers Beyond The Reach Of His

Eye; And,  At The Same Time,  His Forethought In Providing Against A

Reverse Of Fortune. Neither Had The Manner Of The Teton,  In Giving His

Commission To The Old Savage,  Nor The Fierce Pleasure With Which The

Latter Had Received The Bloody Charge,  Escaped His Observation. From

All These Mysterious Movements,  The Old Man Was Aware That A Crisis

Was At Hand,  And He Summoned The Utmost Knowledge He Had Acquired,  In

So Long A Life,  To Aid Him In The Desperate Conjuncture. While Musing

On The Means To Be Employed,  The Doctor Again Attracted His Attention

To Himself,  By A Piteous Appeal For Assistance.

 

"Venerable Trapper,  Or,  As I May Now Say,  Liberator," Commenced The

Dolorous Obed,  "It Would Seem,  That A Fitting Time Has At Length

Arrived To Dissever The Unnatural And Altogether Irregular Connection,

Which Exists Between My Inferior Members And The Body Of Asinus.

Perhaps If Such A Portion Of My Limbs Were Released As Might Leave Me

Master Of The Remainder,  And This Favourable Opportunity Were Suitably

Improved,  By Making A Forced March Towards The Settlements,  All Hopes

Of Preserving The Treasures Of Knowledge,  Of Which I Am The Unworthy

Receptacle,  Would Not Be Lost. The Importance Of The Results Is Surely

Worth The Hazard Of The Experiment."

 

"I Know Not,  I Know Not," Returned The Deliberate Old Man; "The Vermin

And Reptiles,  Which You Bear About You,  Were Intended By The Lord For

The Prairies,  And I See No Good In Sending Them Into Regions That May

Not Suit Their Natur's. And,  Moreover,  You May Be Of Great And

Particular Use As You Now Sit On The Ass,  Though It Creates No Wonder

In My Mind To Perceive That You Are Ignorant Of It,  Seeing That

Usefulness Is Altogether A New Calling To So Bookish A Man."

 

"Of What Service Can I Be In This Painful Thraldom,  In Which The

Animal Functions Are In A Manner Suspended,  And The Spiritual,  Or

Intellectual,  Blinded By The Secret Sympathy That Unites Mind To

Matter? There Is Likely To Be Blood Spilt Between Yonder Adverse Hosts

Of Heathens; And,  Though But Little Desiring The Office,  It Would Be

Better That I Should Employ Myself In Surgical Experiments,  Than In

Thus Wasting The Precious Moments,  Mortifying Both Soul And Body."

 

"It Is Little That A Red-Skin Would Care To Have A Physician At His

Hurts,  While The Whoop Is Ringing In His Ears. Patience Is A Virtue In

An Indian,  And Can Be No Shame To A Christian White Man. Look At These

Hags Of Squaws,  Friend Doctor; I Have No Judgment In Savage Tempers,

If They Are Not Bloody Minded,  And Ready To Work Their Accursed

Pleasures On Us All. Now,  So Long As You Keep Upon The Ass,  And

Maintain The Fierce Look Which Is Far From Being Your Natural Gift,

Fear Of So Great A Medicine May Serve To Keep Down Their Courage. I Am

Placed Here,  Like A General At The Opening Of The Battle,  And It Has

Become My Duty To Make Such Use Of All My Force As,  In My Judgment,

Each Is Best Fitted To Perform. If I Know These Niceties,  You Will Be

More Serviceable For Your Countenance Just Now Than In Any More

Stirring Exploits."

 

"Harkee,  Old Trapper," Shouted Paul,  Whose Patience Could No Longer

Part 3 Chapter 29 Pg 123

Maintain Itself Under The Calculating And Prolix Explanations Of The

Other,  "Suppose You Cut Two Things I Can Name,  Short Off. That Is To

Say,  Your Conversation,  Which Is Agreeable Enough Over A Well Baked

Buffaloe's Hump,  And These Damnable Thongs Of Hide,  Which,  According

To My Experience,  Can Be Pleasant Nowhere. A Single Stroke Of