The Prairie (Fiscle Part 3) Of 2, J Fenimore Cooper [best e reader for manga txt] 📗
- Author: J Fenimore Cooper
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Should Not Have Journeyed So Far, And Seen So Much. But I Have Tarried
Long Among A People, Who Lived In Those Woods You Mention, And Much
Part 3 Chapter 25 Pg 83Reason Did I Find To Imitate Their Courage And Love Their Honesty. The
Master Of Life Has Made Us All, Pawnee, With A Feeling For Our Kind. I
Never Was A Father, But Well Do I Know What Is The Love Of One. You
Are Like A Lad I Valued, And I Had Even Begun To Fancy That Some Of
His Blood Might Be In Your Veins. But What Matters That? You Are A
True Man, As I Know By The Way In Which You Keep Your Faith; And
Honesty Is A Gift Too Rare To Be Forgotten. My Heart Yearns To You,
Boy, And Gladly Would I Do You Good."
The Youthful Warrior Listened To The Words, Which Came From The Lips
Of The Other With A Force And Simplicity That Established Their Truth,
And He Bowed His Head On His Naked Bosom, In Testimony Of The Respect
With Which He Met The Proffer. Then Lifting His Dark Eye To The Level
Of The View, He Seemed To Be Again Considering Of Things Removed From
Every Personal Consideration. The Trapper, Who Well Knew How High The
Pride Of A Warrior Would Sustain Him, In Those Moments He Believed To
Be His Last, Awaited The Pleasure Of His Young Friend, With A Meekness
And Patience That He Had Acquired By His Association With That
Remarkable Race. At Length The Gaze Of The Pawnee Began To Waver; And
Then Quick, Flashing Glances Were Turned From The Countenance Of The
Old Man To The Air, And From The Air To His Deeply Marked Lineaments
Again, As If The Spirit, Which Governed Their Movements, Was Beginning
To Be Troubled.
"Father," The Young Brave Finally Answered In A Voice Of Confidence
And Kindness, "I Have Heard Your Words. They Have Gone In At My Ears,
And Are Now Within Me. The White-Headed Long-Knife Has No Son; The
Hard-Heart Of The Pawnees Is Young, But He Is Already The Oldest Of
His Family. He Found The Bones Of His Father On The Hunting Ground Of
The Osages, And He Has Sent Them To The Prairies Of The Good Spirits.
No Doubt The Great Chief, His Father, Has Seen Them, And Knows What Is
Part Of Himself. But The Wahcondah Will Soon Call To Us Both; You,
Because You Have Seen All That Is To Be Seen In This Country; And
Hard-Heart, Because He Has Need Of A Warrior, Who Is Young. There Is
No Time For The Pawnee To Show The Pale-Face The Duty, That A Son Owes
To His Father."
"Old As I Am, And Miserable And Helpless As I Now Stand, To What I
Once Was, I May Live To See The Sun Go Down In The Prairie. Does My
Son Expect To Do As Much?"
"The Tetons Are Counting The Scalps On My Lodge!" Returned The Young
Chief, With A Smile Whose Melancholy Was Singularly Illuminated By A
Gleam Of Triumph.
"And They Find Them Many. Too Many For The Safety Of Its Owner, While
He Is In Their Revengeful Hands. My Son Is Not A Woman, And He Looks
On The Path He Is About To Travel With A Steady Eye. Has He Nothing To
Whisper In The Ears Of His People, Before He Starts? These Legs Are
Old, But They May Yet Carry Me To The Forks Of The Loup River."
"Tell Them That Hard-Heart Has Tied A Knot In His Wampum For Every
Teton," Burst From The Lips Of The Captive, With That Vehemence With
Which Sudden Passion Is Known To Break Through The Barriers Of
Part 3 Chapter 25 Pg 84Artificial Restraint "If He Meets One Of Them All, In The Prairies Of
The Master Of Life, His Heart Will Become Sioux!"
"Ah That Feeling Would Be A Dangerous Companion For A Man With White
Gifts To Start With On So Solemn A Journey," Muttered The Old Man In
English. "This Is Not What The Good Moravians Said To The Councils Of
The Delawares, Nor What Is So Often Preached, To The White-Skins In
The Settlements, Though, To The Shame Of The Colour Be It Said, It Is
So Little Heeded. Pawnee, I Love You; But Being A Christian Man, I
Cannot Be The Runner To Bear Such A Message."
"If My Father Is Afraid The Tetons Will Hear Him, Let Him Whisper It
Softly To Our Old Men."
"As For Fear, Young Warrior, It Is No More The Shame Of A Pale-Face
Than Of A Red-Skin. The Wahcondah Teaches Us To Love The Life He
Gives; But It Is As Men Love Their Hunts, And Their Dogs, And Their
Carabines, And Not With The Doting That A Mother Looks Upon Her
Infant. The Master Of Life Will Not Have To Speak Aloud Twice When He
Calls My Name. I Am As Ready To Answer To It Now, As I Shall Be
To-Morrow, Or At Any Time It May Please His Mighty Will. But What Is A
Warrior Without His Traditions? Mine Forbid Me To Carry Your Words."
The Chief Made A Dignified Motion Of Assent, And Here There Was Great
Danger That Those Feelings Of Confidence, Which Had Been So Singularly
Awakened, Would As Suddenly Subside. But The Heart Of The Old Man Had
Been Too Sensibly Touched, Through Long Dormant But Still Living
Recollections, To Break Off The Communication So Rudely. He Pondered
For A Minute, And Then Bending His Look Wistfully On His Young
Associate, Again Continued--
"Each Warrior Must Be Judged By His Gifts. I Have Told My Son What I
Cannot, But Let Him Open His Ears To What I Can Do. An Elk Shall Not
Measure The Prairie Much Swifter Than These Old Legs, If The Pawnee
Will Give Me A Message That A White Man May Bear."
"Let The Pale-Face Listen," Returned The Other, After Hesitating A
Single Instant Longer, Under A Lingering Sensation Of His Former
Disappointment. "He Will Stay Here Till The Siouxes Have Done Counting
The Scalps Of Their Dead Warriors. He Will Wait Until They Have Tried
To Cover The Heads Of Eighteen Tetons With The Skin Of One Pawnee; He
Will Open His Eyes Wide, That He May See The Place Where They Bury The
Bones Of A Warrior."
"All This Will I, And May I, Do, Noble Boy."
"He Will Mark The Spot, That He May Know It."
"No Fear, No Fear That I Shall Forget The Place," Interrupted The
Other, Whose Fortitude Began To Give Way Under So Trying An Exhibition
Of Calmness And Resignation.
"Then I Know That My Father Will Go To My People. His Head Is Grey,
And His Words Will Not Be Blown Away With The Smoke. Let Him Get On My
Part 3 Chapter 25 Pg 85Lodge, And Call The Name Of Hard-Heart Aloud. No Pawnee Will Be Deaf.
Then Let My Father Ask For The Colt, That Has Never Been Ridden, But
Which Is Sleeker Than The Buck, And Swifter Than The Elk."
"I Understand You, Boy, I Understand You," Interrupted The Attentive
Old Man; "And What You Say Shall Be Done, Ay, And Well Done Too, Or
I'm But Little Skilled In The Wishes Of A Dying Indian."
"And When My Young Men Have Given My Father The Halter Of That Colt,
He Will Lead Him By A Crooked Path To The Grave Of Hard-Heart?"
"Will I! Ay, That I Will, Brave Youth, Though The Winter Covers These
Plains In Banks Of Snow, And The Sun Is Hidden As Much By Day As By
Night. To The Head Of The Holy Spot Will I Lead The Beast, And Place
Him With His Eyes Looking Towards The Setting Sun."
"And My Father Will Speak To Him, And Tell Him, That The Master, Who
Has Fed Him Since He Was Foaled, Has Now Need Of Him."
"That, Too, Will I Do; Though The Lord He Knows That I Shall Hold
Discourse With A Horse, Not With Any Vain Conceit That My Words Will
Be Understood, But Only To Satisfy The Cravings Of Indian
Superstition. Hector, My Pup, What Think You, Dog, Of Talking To A
Horse?"
"Let The Grey-Beard Speak To Him With The Tongue Of A Pawnee,"
Interrupted The Young Victim, Perceiving That His Companion Had Used
An Unknown Language For The Preceding Speech.
"My Son's Will Shall Be Done. And With These Old Hands, Which I Had
Hoped Had Nearly Done With Bloodshed, Whether It Be Of Man Or Beast,
Will I Slay The Animal On Your Grave!"
"It Is Good," Returned The Other, A Gleam Of Satisfaction Flitting
Across His Features. "Hard-Heart Will Ride His Horse To The Blessed
Prairies, And He Will Come Before The Master Of Life Like A Chief!"
The Sudden And Striking Change, Which Instantly Occurred In The
Countenance Of The Indian, Caused The Trapper To Look Aside, When He
Perceived That The Conference Of The Siouxes Had Ended, And That
Mahtoree, Attended By One Or Two Of The Principal Warriors, Was
Deliberately Approaching His Intended Victim.
Part 3 Chapter 26 Pg 86
I Am Not Prone To Weeping, As Our Sex
Commonly Are.
--But I Have That Honourable
Grief Lodged Here, Which Burns Worse Than
Tears Drown
--Shakspeare.
When Within Twenty Feet Of The Prisoners, The Tetons Stopped, And
Their Leader Made A Sign To The Old Man To Draw Nigh. The Trapper
Obeyed, Quitting The Young Pawnee With A Significant Look, Which Was
Received, As It Was Meant, For An Additional Pledge That He Would
Never Forget His Promise.
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