The Prairie (Fiscle Part 3) Of 2, J Fenimore Cooper [best e reader for manga txt] 📗
- Author: J Fenimore Cooper
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Though A Single Gleam Of Fierce Joy Broke Through His Clouded Brow,
And The Heart Of Middleton Grew Cold As He Caught The Expression Of
That Eye, Which The Chief Turned On The Nearly Insensible But Still
Lovely Inez.
The Exultation Of Receiving The White Captives Was So Great, As For A
Time To Throw The Dark And Immovable Form Of Their Young Indian
Companion Entirely Out Of View. He Stood Apart, Disdaining To Turn An
Eye On His Enemies, As Motionless As If He Were Frozen In That
Attitude Of Dignity And Composure. But When A Little Time Had Passed,
Even This Secondary Object Attracted The Attention Of The Tetons. Then
It Was That The Trapper First Learned, By The Shout Of Triumph And The
Long Drawn Yell Of Delight, Which Burst At Once From A Hundred
Throats, As Well As By The Terrible Name, Which Filled The Air, That
His Youthful Friend Was No Other Than That Redoubtable And Hitherto
Invincible Warrior, Hard-Heart.
Part 3 Chapter 25 Pg 77What, Are Ancient Pistol And You Friends, Yet?
--Shakspeare.
The Curtain Of Our Imperfect Drama Must Fall, To Rise Upon Another
Scene. The Time Is Advanced Several Days, During Which Very Material
Changes Had Occurred In The Situation Of The Actors. The Hour Is Noon,
And The Place An Elevated Plain, That Rose, At No Great Distance From
The Water, Somewhat Abruptly From A Fertile Bottom, Which Stretched
Along The Margin Of One Of The Numberless Water-Courses Of That
Region. The River Took Its Rise Near The Base Of The Rocky Mountains,
And, After Washing A Vast Extent Of Plain, It Mingled Its Waters With
A Still Larger Stream, To Become Finally Lost In The Turbid Current Of
The Missouri.
The Landscape Was Changed Materially For The Better; Though The Hand,
Which Had Impressed So Much Of The Desert On The Surrounding Region,
Had Laid A Portion Of Its Power On This Spot. The Appearance Of
Vegetation Was, However, Less Discouraging Than In The More Sterile
Wastes Of The Rolling Prairies. Clusters Of Trees Were Scattered In
Greater Profusion, And A Long Outline Of Ragged Forest Marked The
Northern Boundary Of The View. Here And There, On The Bottom, Were To
Be Seen The Evidences Of A Hasty And Imperfect Culture Of Such
Indigenous Vegetables As Were Of A Quick Growth, And Which Were Known
To Flourish, Without The Aid Of Art, In Deep And Alluvial Soils. On
The Very Edge Of What Might Be Called The Table-Land, Were Pitched The
Hundred Lodges Of A Horde Of Wandering Siouxes. Their Light Tenements
Were Arranged Without The Least Attention To Order. Proximity To The
Water Seemed To Be The Only Consideration Which Had Been Consulted In
Their Disposition, Nor Had Even This Important Convenience Been Always
Regarded. While Most Of The Lodges Stood Along The Brow Of The Plain,
Many Were To Be Seen At Greater Distances, Occupying Such Places As
Had First Pleased The Capricious Eyes Of Their Untutored Owners. The
Encampment Was Not Military, Nor In The Slightest Degree Protected
From Surprise By Its Position Or Defences. It Was Open On Every Side,
And On Every Side As Accessible As Any Other Point In Those Wastes, If
The Imperfect And Natural Obstruction Offered By The River Be
Excepted. In Short, The Place Bore The Appearance Of Having Been
Tenanted Longer Than Its Occupants Had Originally Intended, While It
Was Not Wanting In The Signs Of Readiness For A Hasty, Or Even A
Compelled Departure.
This Was The Temporary Encampment Of That Portion Of His People, Who
Had Long Been Hunting Under The Direction Of Mahtoree, On Those
Grounds Which Separated The Stationary Abodes Of His Nation, From
Those Of The Warlike Tribes Of The Pawnees. The Lodges Were Tents Of
Skin, High, Conical, And Of The Most Simple And Primitive
Construction. The Shield, The Quiver, The Lance And The Bow Of Its
Master, Were To Be Seen Suspended From A Light Post Before The
Opening, Or Door, Of Each Habitation. The Different Domestic
Implements Of His One, Two, Or Three Wives, As The Brave Was Of
Greater Or Lesser Renown, Were Carelessly Thrown At Its Side, And Here
And There The Round, Full, Patient Countenance Of An Infant Might Be
Found Peeping From Its Comfortless Wrappers Of Bark, As, Suspended By
A Deer-Skin Thong From The Same Post, It Rocked In The Passing Air.
Children Of A Larger Growth Were Tumbling Over Each Other In Piles,
The Males, Even At That Early Age, Making Themselves Distinguished For
That Species Of Domination Which, In After Life, Was To Mark The Vast
Distinction Between The Sexes. Youths Were In The Bottom, Essaying
Part 3 Chapter 25 Pg 78Their Juvenile Powers In Curbing The Wild Steeds Of Their Fathers,
While Here And There A Truant Girl Was To Be Seen, Stealing From Her
Labours To Admire Their Fierce And Impatient Daring.
Thus Far The Picture Was The Daily Exhibition Of An Encampment
Confident In Its Security. But Immediately In Front Of The Lodges Was
A Gathering, That Seemed To Forbode Some Movements Of More Than Usual
Interest. A Few Of The Withered And Remorseless Crones Of The Band
Were Clustering Together, In Readiness To Lend Their Fell Voices, If
Needed, To Aid In Exciting Their Descendants To An Exhibition, Which
Their Depraved Tastes Coveted, As The Luxurious Roman Dame Witnessed
The Struggles And The Agony Of The Gladiator. The Men Were Subdivided
Into Groups, Assorted According To The Deeds And Reputations Of The
Several Individuals Of Whom They Were Composed.
They, Who Were Of That Equivocal Age Which Admitted Them To The Hunts,
While Their Discretion Was Still Too Doubtful To Permit Them To Be
Trusted On The War-Path, Hung Around The Skirts Of The Whole,
Catching, From The Fierce Models Before Them, That Gravity Of
Demeanour And Restraint Of Manner, Which In Time Was To Become So
Deeply Ingrafted In Their Own Characters. A Few Of The Still Older
Class, And Who Had Heard The Whoop In Anger, Were A Little More
Presuming, Pressing Nigher To The Chiefs, Though Far From Presuming To
Mingle In Their Councils, Sufficiently Distinguished By Being
Permitted To Catch The Wisdom Which Fell From Lips So Venerated. The
Ordinary Warriors Of The Band Were Still Less Diffident, Not
Hesitating To Mingle Among The Chiefs Of Lesser Note, Though Far From
Assuming The Right To Dispute The Sentiments Of Any Established Brave,
Or To Call In Question The Prudence Of Measures, That Were Recommended
By The More Gifted Counsellors Of The Nation.
Among The Chiefs Themselves There Was A Singular Compound Of Exterior.
They Were Divided Into Two Classes; Those Who Were Mainly Indebted For
Their Influence To Physical Causes, And To Deeds In Arms, And Those
Who Had Become Distinguished Rather For Their Wisdom Than For Their
Services In The Field. The Former Was By Far The Most Numerous And The
Most Important Class. They Were Men Of Stature And Mien, Whose Stern
Countenances Were Often Rendered Doubly Imposing By Those Evidences Of
Their Valour, Which Had Been Roughly Traced On Their Lineaments By The
Hands Of Their Enemies. That Class, Which Had Gained Its Influence By
A Moral Ascendency Was Extremely Limited. They Were Uniformly To Be
Distinguished By The Quick And Lively Expression Of Their Eyes, By The
Air Of Distrust That Marked Their Movements, And Occasionally By The
Vehemence Of Their Utterance In Those Sudden Outbreakings Of The Mind,
By Which Their Present Consultations Were, From Time To Time,
Distinguished.
In The Very Centre Of A Ring, Formed By These Chosen Counsellors, Was
To Be Seen The Person Of The Disquieted, But Seemingly Calm, Mahtoree.
There Was A Conjunction Of All The Several Qualities Of The Others In
His Person And Character. Mind As Well As Matter Had Contributed To
Establish His Authority. His Scars Were As Numerous And Deep As Those
Of The Whitest Head In His Nation; His Limbs Were In Their Greatest
Vigour; His Courage At Its Fullest Height. Endowed With This Rare
Part 3 Chapter 25 Pg 79Combination Of Moral And Physical Influence, The Keenest Eye In All
That Assembly Was Wont To Lower Before His Threatening Glance. Courage
And Cunning Had Established His Ascendency, And It Had Been Rendered,
In Some Degree, Sacred By Time. He Knew So Well How To Unite The
Powers Of Reason And Force, That In A State Of Society, Which Admitted
Of A Greater Display Of His Energies, The Teton Would In All
Probability Have Been Both A Conqueror And A Despot.
A Little Apart From The Gathering Of The Band, Was To Be Seen A Set Of
Beings Of An Entirely Different Origin. Taller And Far More Muscular
In Their Persons, The Lingering Vestiges Of Their Saxon And Norman
Ancestry Were Yet To Be Found Beneath The Swarthy Complexions, Which
Had Been Bestowed By An American Sun. It Would Have Been A Curious
Investigation, For One Skilled In Such An Enquiry, To Have Traced
Those Points Of Difference, By Which The Offspring Of The Most Western
European Was Still To Be Distinguished From The Descendant Of The Most
Remote Asiatic, Now That The Two, In The Revolutions Of The World,
Were Approximating In Their Habits, Their Residence, And Not A Little
In Their Characters. The Group, Of Whom We Write, Was Composed Of The
Family Of The Squatter. They Stood Indolent, Lounging, And Inert, As
Usual When No Immediate Demand Was Made On Their Dormant Energies,
Clustered In Front Of Some Four Or Five Habitations Of Skin, For Which
They Were Indebted To The Hospitality Of Their Teton Allies. The Terms
Of Their Unexpected Confederation Were Sufficiently Explained, By The
Presence Of The Horses And Domestic Cattle That Were Quietly Grazing
On The Bottom Beneath, Under The Jealous Eyes Of The Spirited Hetty.
Their Wagons Were Drawn About The Lodges, In A Sort Of Irregular
Barrier, Which At Once Manifested That Their Confidence Was Not
Entirely Restored, While, On The Other Hand, Their Policy Or Indolence
Prevented Any Very Positive Exhibition Of Distrust. There Was A
Singular Union Of Passive Enjoyment And Of Dull Curiosity Slumbering
In Every Dull Countenance, As Each Of The Party Stood Leaning On His
Rifle, Regarding The Movements Of The Sioux Conference. Still No Sign
Of Expectation Or Interest Escaped From The Youngest Among Them, The
Whole Appearing To Emulate The Most Phlegmatic Of Their Savage Allies,
In An Exhibition Of Patience. They Rarely Spoke; And When They Did It
Was In Some Short And Contemptuous Remark, Which Served To Put The
Physical Superiority Of
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