The Prairie

by James Fenimore Cooper

  CHAPTER XVII

  Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight With a new Gorgon--Do not bid me speak; See, and then speak yourselves. --Shakspeare.

  The little run, which supplied the family of the squatter with water,and nourished the trees and bushes that grew near the base of the rockyeminence, took its rise at no great distance from the latter, in a smallthicket of cotton-wood and vines. Hither, then, the trapper directedthe flight, as to the place affording the only available cover in sopressing an emergency. It will be remembered, that the sagacity of theold man, which, from long practice in similar scenes, amounted nearly toan instinct in all cases of sudden danger, had first induced him totake this course, as it placed the hill between them and the approachingparty. Favoured by this circumstance, he succeeded in reaching thebushes in sufficient time and Paul Hover had just hurried the breathlessEllen into the tangled bush, as Ishmael gained the summit of the rock,in the manner already described, where he stood like a man momentarilybereft of sense, gazing at the confusion which had been created amonghis chattels, or at his gagged and bound children, who had been safelybestowed, by the forethought of the bee-hunter, under the cover of abark roof, in a sort of irregular pile. A long rifle would have throwna bullet from the height, on which the squatter now stood, into thevery cover where the fugitives, who had wrought all this mischief, wereclustered.

  The trapper was the first to speak, as the man on whose intelligence andexperience they all depended for counsel, after running his eye over thedifferent individuals who gathered about him, in order to see that nonewere missing.

  "Ah! natur' is natur', and has done its work!" he said, nodding to theexulting Paul, with a smile of approbation. "I thought it would be hardfor those, who had so often met in fair and foul, by starlight and underthe clouded moon, to part at last in anger. Now is there little timeto lose in talk, and every thing to gain by industry! It cannot be longafore some of yonder brood will be nosing along the 'arth for our trail,and should they find it, as find it they surely will, and should theypush us to a stand on our courage, the dispute must be settled with therifle; which may He in heaven forbid! Captain, can you lead us tothe place where any of your warriors lie?--For the stout sons of thesquatter will make a manly brush of it, or I am but little of a judge inwarlike dispositions!"

  "The place of rendezvous is many leagues from this, on the banks of LaPlatte."

  "It is bad--it is bad. If fighting is to be done, it is always wise toenter on it on equal terms. But what has one so near his time to do withill-blood and hot-blood at his heart! Listen to what a grey head andsome experience have to offer, and then if any among you can point outa wiser fashion for a retreat, we can just follow his design, and forgetthat I have spoken. This thicket stretches for near a mile as it maybe slanting from the rock, and leads towards the sunset instead of thesettlements."

  "Enough, enough," cried Middleton, too impatient to wait until thedeliberative and perhaps loquacious old man could end his minuteexplanation. "Time is too precious for words. Let us fly."

  The trapper made a gesture of compliance, and turning in his tracks, heled Asinus across the trembling earth of the swale, and quickly emergedon the hard ground, on the side opposite to the encampment of thesquatter.

  "If old Ishmael gets a squint at that highway through the brush," criedPaul, casting, as he left the place, a hasty glance at the broad trailthe party had made through the thicket, "he'll need no finger-boardto tell him which way his road lies. But let him follow! I know thevagabond would gladly cross his breed with a little honest blood, but ifany son of his ever gets to be the husband of--"

  "Hush, Paul, hush," said the terrified young woman, who leaned on hisarm for support; "your voice might be heard."

  The bee-hunter was silent, though he did not cease to cast ominous looksbehind him, as they flew along the edge of the run, which sufficientlybetrayed the belligerent condition of his mind. As each one was busy forhimself, but a few minutes elapsed before the party rose a swell of theprairie, and descending without a moment's delay on the opposite side,they were at once removed from every danger of being seen by the sons ofIshmael, unless the pursuers should happen to fall upon their trail.The old man now profited by the formation of the land to take anotherdirection, with a view to elude pursuit, as a vessel changes her coursein fogs and darkness, to escape from the vigilance of her enemies.

  Two hours, passed in the utmost diligence, enabled them to make a halfcircuit around the rock, and to reach a point that was exactly oppositeto the original direction of their flight. To most of the fugitivestheir situation was as entirely unknown as is that of a ship in themiddle of the ocean to the uninstructed voyager: but the old manproceeded at every turn, and through every bottom, with a decision thatinspired his followers with confidence, as it spoke favourably of hisown knowledge of the localities. His hound, stopping now and then tocatch the expression of his eye, had preceded the trapper throughoutthe whole distance, with as much certainty as though a previous andintelligible communion between them had established the route by whichthey were to proceed. But, at the expiration of the time just named, thedog suddenly came to a stand, and then seating himself on the prairie,he snuffed the air a moment, and began a low and piteous whining.

  "Ay--pup--ay. I know the spot--I know the spot, and reason there is toremember it well!" said the old man, stopping by the side of his uneasyassociate, until those who followed had time to come up. "Now, yonder,is a thicket before us," he continued, pointing forward, "where wemay lie till tall trees grow on these naked fields, afore any of thesquatter's kin will venture to molest us."

  "This is the spot, where the body of the dead man lay!" cried Middleton,examining the place with an eye that revolted at the recollection.

  "The very same. But whether his friends have put him in the bosom of theground or not, remains to be seen. The hound knows the scent, butseems to be a little at a loss, too. It is therefore necessary that youadvance, friend bee-hunter, to examine, while I tarry to keep the dogsfrom complaining in too loud a voice."

  "I!" exclaimed Paul, thrusting his hand into his shaggy locks, like onewho thought it prudent to hesitate before he undertook so formidablean adventure; "now, heark'ee, old trapper; I've stood in my thinnestcottons in the midst of many a swarm that has lost its queen-bee,without winking, and let me tell you, the man who can do that, is notlikely to fear any living son of skirting Ishmael; but as to meddlingwith dead men's bones, why it is neither my calling nor my inclination;so, after thanking you for the favour of your choice, as they say, whenthey make a man a corporal in Kentucky, I decline serving."

  The old man turned a disappointed look towards Middleton, who was toomuch occupied in solacing Inez to observe his embarrassment, whichwas, however, suddenly relieved from a quarter, whence, from previouscircumstances, there was little reason to expect such a demonstration offortitude.

  Doctor Battius had rendered himself a little remarkable throughout thewhole of the preceding retreat, for the exceeding diligence with whichhe had laboured to effect that desirable object. So very conspicuouswas his zeal, indeed, as to have entirely gotten the better of all hisordinary predilections. The worthy naturalist belonged to that speciesof discoverers, who make the worst possible travelling companions to aman who has reason to be in a hurry. No stone, no bush, no plant is eversuffered to escape the examination of their vigilant eyes, and thundermay mutter, and rain fall, without disturbing the abstraction of theirreveries. Not so, however, with the disciple of Linnaeus, during themomentous period that it remained a mooted point at the tribunal of hisbetter judgment, whether the stout descendants of the squatter werenot likely to dispute his right to traverse the prairie in freedom. Thehighest blooded and best trained hound, with his game in view, could nothave run with an eye more riveted than that with which the Doctor hadpursued his curvilinear course. It was perhaps lucky for his fortitudethat he was ignorant of the ar
tifice of the trapper in leading themaround the citadel of Ishmael, and that he had imbibed the soothingimpression that every inch of prairie he traversed was just so muchadded to the distance between his own person and the detested rock.Notwithstanding the momentary shock he certainly experienced, when hediscovered this error, he now boldly volunteered to enter the thicketin which there was some reason to believe the body of the murdered Asastill lay. Perhaps the naturalist was urged to show his spirit, on thisoccasion, by some secret consciousness that his excessive industry inthe retreat might be liable to misconstruction; and it is certain that,whatever might be his peculiar notions of danger from the quick, hishabits and his knowledge had placed him far above the apprehension ofsuffering harm from any communication with the dead.

  "If there is any service to be performed, which requires the perfectcommand of the nervous system," said the man of science, with a lookthat was slightly blustering, "you have only to give a direction to hisintellectual faculties, and here stands one on whose physical powers youmay depend."

  "The man is given to speak in parables," muttered the single-mindedtrapper; "but I conclude there is always some meaning hidden in hiswords, though it is as hard to find sense in his speeches, as todiscover three eagles on the same tree. It will be wise, friend, to makea cover, lest the sons of the squatter should be out skirting on ourtrail, and, as you well know, there is some reason to fear yonderthicket contains a sight that may horrify a woman's mind. Are you manenough to look death in the face; or shall I run the risk of the houndsraising an outcry, and go in myself? You see the pup is willing to runwith an open mouth, already."

  "Am I man enough! Venerable trapper, our communications have a recentorigin, or thy interrogatory might have a tendency to embroil usin angry disputation. Am I man enough! I claim to be of the class,mammalia; order, primates; genus, homo! Such are my physical attributes;of my moral properties, let posterity speak; it becomes me to be mute."

  "Physic may do for such as relish it; to my taste and judgment it isneither palatable nor healthy; but morals never did harm to any livingmortal, be it that he was a sojourner in the forest, or a dweller inthe midst of glazed windows and smoking chimneys. It is only a few hardwords that divide us, friend; for I am of an opinion that, with use andfreedom, we should come to understand one another, and mainly settledown into the same judgments of mankind, and of the ways of world.Quiet, Hector, quiet; what ruffles your temper, pup; is it not used tothe scent of human blood?"

  The Doctor bestowed a gracious but commiserating smile on thephilosopher of nature, as he retrograded a step or two from the placewhither he had been impelled by his excess of spirit, in order to replywith less expenditure of breath, and with a greater freedom of air andattitude.

  "A homo is certainly a homo," he said, stretching forth an arm in anargumentative manner; "so far as the animal functions extend, there arethe connecting links of harmony, order, conformity, and design, betweenthe whole genus; but there the resemblance ends. Man may be degradedto the very margin of the line which separates him from the brute,by ignorance; or he may be elevated to a communion with the greatMaster-spirit of all, by knowledge; nay, I know not, if time andopportunity were given him, but he might become the master of alllearning, and consequently equal to the great moving principle."

  The old man, who stood leaning on his rifle in a thoughtful attitude,shook his head, as he answered with a native steadiness, that entirelyeclipsed the imposing air which his antagonist had seen fit to assume--

  "This is neither more nor less than mortal wickedness! Here have I beena dweller on the earth for four-score and six changes of the seasons,and all that time have I look'd at the growing and the dying trees, andyet do I not know the reasons why the bud starts under the summer sun,or the leaf falls when it is pinch'd by the frosts. Your l'arning,though it is man's boast, is folly in the eyes of Him, who sits inthe clouds, and looks down, in sorrow, at the pride and vanity of hiscreatur's. Many is the hour that I've passed, lying in the shades of thewoods, or stretch'd upon the hills of these open fields, looking up intothe blue skies, where I could fancy the Great One had taken his stand,and was solemnising on the waywardness of man and brute, below, as Imyself had often look'd at the ants tumbling over each other in theireagerness, though in a way and a fashion more suited to His mightinessand power. Knowledge! It is his plaything. Say, you who think it so easyto climb into the judgment-seat above, can you tell me any thing of thebeginning and the end? Nay, you're a dealer in ailings and cures: whatis life, and what is death? Why does the eagle live so long, and why isthe time of the butterfly so short? Tell me a simpler thing: why is thishound so uneasy, while you, who have passed your days in looking intobooks, can see no reason to be disturbed?"

  The Doctor, who had been a little astounded by the dignity and energyof the old man, drew a long breath, like a sullen wrestler who is justreleased from the throttling grasp of his antagonist, and seized on theopportunity of the pause to reply--

  "It is his instinct."

  "And what is the gift of instinct?"

  "An inferior gradation of reason. A sort of mysterious combination ofthought and matter."

  "And what is that which you call thought?"

  "Venerable venator, this is a method of reasoning which sets at noughtthe uses of definitions, and such as I do assure you is not at alltolerated in the schools."

  "Then is there more cunning in your schools than I had thought, for itis a certain method of showing them their vanity," returned the trapper,suddenly abandoning a discussion, from which the naturalist was justbeginning to anticipate great delight, by turning to his dog, whoserestlessness he attempted to appease by playing with his ears. "This isfoolish, Hector; more like an untrained pup than a sensible hound; onewho has got his education by hard experience, and not by nosing over thetrails of other dogs, as a boy in the settlements follows on the trackof his masters, be it right or be it wrong. Well, friend; you who cando so much, are you equal to looking into the thicket? or must I go inmyself?"

  The Doctor again assumed his air of resolution, and, without furtherparlance, proceeded to do as desired. The dogs were so far restrained,by the remonstrances of the old man, as to confine their noise to lowbut often-repeated whinings. When they saw the naturalist advance, thepup, however, broke through all restraint, and made a swift circuitaround his person, scenting the earth as he proceeded, and then,returning to his companion, he howled aloud.

  "The squatter and his brood have left a strong scent on the earth,"said the old man, watching as he spoke for some signal from his learnedpioneer to follow; "I hope yonder school-bred man knows enough toremember the errand on which I have sent him."

  Doctor Battius had already disappeared in the bushes and the trapper wasbeginning to betray additional evidences of impatience, when the personof the former was seen retiring from the thicket backwards, with hisface fastened on the place he had just left, as if his look was bound inthe thraldom of some charm.

  "Here is something skeery, by the wildness of the creatur'scountenance!" exclaimed the old man relinquishing his hold of Hector,and moving stoutly to the side of the totally unconscious naturalist."How is it, friend; have you found a new leaf in your book of wisdom?"

  "It is a basilisk!" muttered the Doctor, whose altered visage betrayedthe utter confusion which beset his faculties. "An animal of the order,serpens. I had thought its attributes were fabulous, but mighty natureis equal to all that man can imagine!"

  "What is't? what is't? The snakes of the prairies are harmless, unlessit be now and then an angered rattler and he always gives you noticewith his tail, afore he works his mischief with his fangs. Lord, Lord,what a humbling thing is fear! Here is one who in common delivers wordstoo big for a humble mouth to hold, so much beside himself, that hisvoice is as shrill as the whistle of the whip-poor-will! Courage!--whatis it, man?--what is it?"

  "A prodigy! a lusus naturae! a monster, that nature has delighted toform, in order to exhibit her power! Never before have I wit
nessed suchan utter confusion in her laws, or a specimen that so completely bidsdefiance to the distinctions of class and genera. Let me record itsappearance," fumbling for his tablets with hands that trembled too muchto perform their office, "while time and opportunity are allowed--eyes,enthralling; colour, various, complex, and profound--"

  "One would think the man was craz'd, with his enthralling looks andpieball'd colours!" interrupted the discontented trapper, who began togrow a little uneasy that his party was all this time neglecting to seekthe protection of some cover. "If there is a reptile in the brush, showme the creatur', and should it refuse to depart peaceably, why theremust be a quarrel for the possession of the place."

  "There!" said the Doctor, pointing into a dense mass of the thicket,to a spot within fifty feet of that where they both stood. The trapperturned his look, with perfect composure, in the required direction, butthe instant his practised glance met the object which had so utterlyupset the philosophy of the naturalist, he gave a start himself, threwhis rifle rapidly forward, and as instantly recovered it, as if a secondflash of thought convinced him he was wrong. Neither the instinctivemovement, nor the sudden recollection, was without a sufficient object.At the very margin of the thicket, and in absolute contact with theearth, lay an animate ball, that might easily, by the singularity andfierceness of its aspect, have justified the disturbed condition of thenaturalist's mind. It were difficult to describe the shape or colours ofthis extraordinary substance, except to say, in general terms, thatit was nearly spherical, and exhibited all the hues of the rainbow,intermingled without reference to harmony, and without any veryostensible design. The predominant hues were a black and a brightvermilion. With these, however, the several tints of white, yellow, andcrimson, were strangely and wildly blended. Had this been all, it wouldhave been difficult to have pronounced that the object was possessed oflife, for it lay motionless as any stone; but a pair of dark, glaring,and moving eyeballs which watched with jealousy the smallest movementof the trapper and his companion, sufficiently established the importantfact of its possessing vitality.

  "Your reptile is a scouter, or I'm no judge of Indian paints and Indiandeviltries!" muttered the old man, dropping the butt of his weapon tothe ground, and gazing with a steady eye at the frightful object, as heleaned on its barrel, in an attitude of great composure. "He wantsto face us out of sight and reason, and make us think the head of ared-skin is a stone covered with the autumn leaf; or he has some otherdevilish artifice in his mind!"

  "Is the animal human?" demanded the Doctor, "of the genus homo? I hadfancied it a non-descript."

  "It's as human, and as mortal too, as a warrior of these prairies isever known to be. I have seen the time when a red-skin would have showna foolish daring to peep out of his ambushment in that fashion on ahunter I could name, but who is too old now, and too near his time, tobe any thing better than a miserable trapper. It will be well to speakto the imp, and to let him know he deals with men whose beards aregrown. Come forth from your cover, friend," he continued, in thelanguage of the extensive tribes of the Dahcotahs; "there is room on theprairie for another warrior."

  The eyes appeared to glare more fiercely than ever, but the mass which,according to the trapper's opinion, was neither more nor less than ahuman head, shorn, as usual among the warriors of the west, of its hair,still continued without motion, or any other sign of life.

  "It is a mistake!" exclaimed the doctor. "The animal is not even of theclass, mammalia, much less a man."

  "So much for your knowledge!" returned the trapper, laughing with greatexultation. "So much for the l'arning of one who has look'd into so manybooks, that his eyes are not able to tell a moose from a wild-cat! Nowmy Hector, here, is a dog of education after his fashion, and, thoughthe meanest primmer in the settlements would puzzle his information, youcould not cheat the hound in a matter like this. As you think the objectno man, you shall see his whole formation, and then let an ignorantold trapper, who never willingly pass'd a day within reach of aspelling-book in his life, know by what name to call it. Mind, I mean noviolence; but just to start the devil from his ambushment."

  The trapper very deliberately examined the priming of his rifle, takingcare to make as great a parade as possible of his hostile intentions, ingoing through the necessary evolutions with the weapon. When he thoughtthe stranger began to apprehend some danger, he very deliberatelypresented the piece, and called aloud--

  "Now, friend, I am all for peace, or all for war, as you may say. No!well it is no man, as the wiser one, here, says, and there can be noharm in just firing into a bunch of leaves."

  The muzzle of the rifle fell as he concluded, and the weapon wasgradually settling into a steady, and what would easily have proved afatal aim, when a tall Indian sprang from beneath that bed of leaves andbrush, which he had collected about his person at the approach of theparty, and stood upright, uttering the exclamation--

  "Wagh!"