CHAPTER V.
A GREAT MEDICINE COUNCIL.
For some time the three men, of such different birth, race, andmanners, remained silent. It was a solemn moment. Their meetingappeared to them providential.
Above all was the young Frenchman absorbed in his reflections. Alone anhour or two ago, he was now one of a formidable trio.
All the time the Canadian went on with his cooking, while the chiefgave fodder to the horses.
"Supper is ready," suddenly cried Bright-eye, laughing, "let us eat."
And all three seated themselves around a magnificent roast leg ofvenison _a la boucaniere._
We must hasten to remark that nearly all Indian tribes on the bordersof Canada understand and speak French, at all events, they did at thetime of which we speak. This was the more fortunate as Oliver did notknow one word of Huron.
The guests did honour to the feast, that is to say, they left nothingbut the bones.
The meal, which was washed down by several draughts of French brandy,was merry, enlivened by jokes and witticisms. The Indians are alwaysthus among themselves. It is only when in the presence of the whites,whom they hate, that they are grave, silent, and sullen, neverunbending except under the influence of drink, when their conduct isthat of beings under the influence of delirium tremens.
Brandy, or rather spirit in every shape and form, is doing the work ofextermination for the American.
As soon as the repast was finished, they began to smoke, speaking ofindifferent things. It was the design neither of Bright-eye nor Oliverto hurry the young chief. Indian etiquette is excessively severe onthis point. It is a proof of intense ill breeding to question a chief,or even a simple warrior, when he appears anxious for silence.
And yet the sun had disappeared from the horizon; night had spread overthe desert, blotting out the landscape, and mixing up forms in the mostfantastic and strange manner. The sky, of a deep blue, was dotted withstars. The moon, in its second quarter, began to show itself above thetrees, floating in ether, and spreading on every side its silvery rays,that lit the prairie here and there with fantastic gleams. The nightwind shivered through the branches of the trees producing plaintive andmelodious sounds, like those of the Aeolian harp.
The sombre dwellers in the desert, roused by the setting of the sun,moved slowly about in the darkness, breaking the silence occasionallyby their wild brays, their sharp barks, and their deep roars. Underevery blade of grass murmured the never silent world of grasshoppers.
The night was cold. It was the period of the great autumn hunts.Several white frosts had already cooled the earth, soon the temperaturewould be below zero. The rivers and streams would be frozen, and snowwould cover the desert as with a shroud.
The adventurers, after throwing on an armful of dry wood to revive theflame, had wrapped themselves in their ponchos, and, sheltered by thetrees, continued smoking silently.
"This is the hour of the second watch," suddenly observed Numank,drawing from his belt the medicine calumet, which is only used bychiefs in council; "the blue jay has sung twice, all rests around us.Will my pale friends sleep or listen to the voice of a friend?"
"Sleep is for women and children," replied Bright-eye; "men remainawake when a friend desires to speak of serious things. Speak."
"We listen," added Oliver, bowing.
"I will speak, since my friends desire it; but as what I have to say isgrave, it will not be a talk but a medicine council."
"Let it be so," said Bright-eye.
Numank rose, bowed to the four cardinal points, speaking someindistinct words; then he seated himself on his hams again, stuffedhis calumet with moriche, a kind of sacred tobacco only used in greatceremonies. Then having burnt some in the fire as an oblation, he tooka medicine stick, and with it lifted a burning coal to the bowl of thecalumet.
The chief then gave several puffs, and then, still holding the bowl inhis hand, presented the stem to Bright-eye. The hunter gave severalpuffs, as did Oliver in his turn; it then came back to the chief, thisgoing on until the last morsel of tobacco was consumed.
Then Numank-Charake rose, bent again to the four cardinal points of theheavens, shook the ashes into the fire, and spoke.
"Wacondah, master of life," he said, "you who know all, inspire mywords."
This formality over he replaced his calumet and sat down.
Some minutes elapsed, during which he remained wrapped in deep thought.Then he raised his head, before bowed on his chest, bowed to hisaudience, and began.
"Eight moons ago," he said, "I had just returned from an expeditionagainst the Piekanns. After presenting the scalps taken by myself andyoung men to the sachems, and receiving their thanks, I was going tomy wigwam to visit my father, detained at home by old wounds, when Isuddenly saw a young girl leaning against the ark of the first man.The young girl was about fifteen, tall, elegant, and beautiful. Ihad long loved her without ever revealing the secret of my heart. Onthis occasion she seemed to wait for me, and saw me approach with amelancholy glance."
Bright-eye's eyes glistened, despite his self-control.
"When I was near her the young girl spread out her arms towards me,and then made a step forward. I paused, and waited. 'Numank is a greatwarrior,' she said, modestly lowering her eyes; 'his hut is lined withthe scalps of his foes, he has rich skins of every kind of beast, hisball never misses; happy will be the woman whom he loves.'"
"On hearing these words, I was deeply moved, and seizing the hand ofthe young girl, 'Onoura--beautiful child,' I said in her ear, 'I havea little bird in my heart which is always singing and repeating yourname. Does this bird sing in your heart?' She smiled, looked at me fromunder her eyelashes, and murmured, 'Night and day he whispers tenderwords in my ear, and repeats the name of the warrior who loves me. Doesnot Numank-Charake find his hut very solitary during the long winternights, when the wind howls in the forest and the snow covers theearth?' 'My heart has long flown out to you,' I cried, warmly, 'fromthe first hour that I saw you amidst your companions. Do you love me?''For life,' she said, blushing deeply. 'Good,' said I, 'then I willattempt a new expedition to win the marriage presents, and ask youof your father. You will wait for me, Onoura?' 'I will wait for you,Numank. Am I not your slave for life?' and she gently pressed my hand.I then took a wampum off my neck, and placed it on hers. She kissedit, her eyes full of tears, and taking a gold ring from the thumb ofher left hand, she placed it on one of my fingers. I allowed her to doso with a smile. 'You love me,' she said; 'nothing shall ever separateus,' and before I could say another word she fled as does the gazellebefore the hunter. I followed her with my eyes as long as I could, andthen when she had disappeared round a corner I thoughtfully took my wayto my father's hut."
The chief paused. After a few minutes the Canadian, finding that theother was not disposed to continue, touched him gently on the arm.
"Why did Numank-Charake show such want of confidence in his brother?"asked the Canadian, reproachfully.
"What does my brother Bright-eye mean?" asked the chief, with slightembarrassment.
"My brother knows what I mean," said the Canadian, with greatanimation. "Born almost the same day, brought up together, having madeour first trails together on the prairies, as also our first expeditionagainst the Sioux and Piekanns, our hearts melted into one, I thoughtwe had no secrets. I know who is the woman whom my brother loves, butwhy let me guess all about it, instead of telling me? Have I doneanything to offend?"
"Oh, Bright-eye, don't think that," cried the young man, eagerly; "butlove delights in mystery."
"And yet it likes to confide its sorrows and its joys to the heart ofa friend. On that very same night when she had this interview with thechief, Evening Dew--Nouma Hawa--on her return to her hut, told herbrother all. Her heart overflowed with joy, and she could not repressher feelings."
"Then Evening Dew owned her love to Bright-eye?"
"Am I not her brother, and your best friend?"
"True. Let my brother forgive me; I
was wrong not to place confidencein him. Perhaps I was fearful he might disapprove of it."
"On the contrary, it carries out my dearest wishes, and binds us moreand more to one another."
"My brother is better than I am, his heart is better; he will pardonthe weakness of a friend."
"On one condition," said the hunter, laughing; "that Numank-Charake hasno more secrets."
"I promise you," continued the chief, in a low, sad tone; "what I havenow to say is very terrible. But the friends of Numank-Charake mustknow all. Two moons had elapsed since I and Evening Dew had spoken. Ihad not been able to carry out my projects. One day I again met hernear the ark of the first man. 'The chief has forgotten his promise,'she said. 'No,' I replied; 'tomorrow I will keep it.' I left her withonly a few more words. Next day I began to carry out my promise. Iprepared everything, even the usual ceremonies were carried out--thoseyou know so well."
"One moment," interrupted Oliver. "Bright-eye, brought up in yourvillages, knows all about them, but I, as a mere stranger, know notwhat you mean. As I mean to live with you, I should like to know alittle."
"My brother is right," said the chief; "I will tell him the wholeexpedition. Before starting, the turf was taken off a considerablesquare of earth, the mould being made soft and pliable with the hands.It was then surrounded by stakes. When all was ready I went in and satat the end opposed to the direction in which the enemy lived. Aftersinging and praying, I put on the edge of the open space two littlewhite stones."
"After waiting half an hour in prayer, asking the Wacondah to guideme right, the village crier, or hachesto, approached. I gave him myorders. He turned and invited all the great warriors to smoke; then intheir turn the inferior warriors were invited. After all had smoked,everyone examined the result of the ko-sau-ban-zich-egass. The whitestones had fallen in the direction of a well-known path."
"And what was the result?" asked Bright-eye.
"The Wacondah favoured his children. The path led towards the land ofour hereditary foes, the Sioux of the West."
"Good," said the hunter.
"Our party consisted of a hundred and fifty warriors, the picked men ofthe nation, armed with guns. Every man carried the offerings to be castaway on the field of battle, and hidden, if possible, in the entrailsof our foes."
"A pious custom," said Bright-eye.
Oliver looked at the Canadian, wondering whether he spoke seriously ornot. But there was no doubt of his good faith.
"Two days later we started. A small band of twenty presently joined us,commanded by Tubash-Shah, the Cheat. My brother knows this restless andambitious chief. I offered to yield the command to him. My warriorswould not consent. Misunderstandings soon arose. Crossing some vastprairies, we began to feel great thirst, and Tubash at once violatedthe laws of war. I knew that water was not far off. The greater numberof the elder warriors, who had to walk, were exhausted by heat andfatigue. Tubash sent out mounted scouts, and private signals wereagreed on. Soon a small river was discovered. Those who got first to itfired guns, but before the detachments and the laggers had got up tothe river, the sufferings of most of us were excessive. Some vomitedblood, others were delirious. The expedition was a failure. Next daydesertions began among the warriors of Tubash, he setting the firstexample. Soon I had only five-and-twenty men left. They offered tofollow me to the end of the world. But what could I do? With despair inmy soul I turned homeward. Halfway our scouts gave the alarm. An hourlater we were engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with the Sioux. Theirparty, six times as numerous as ours, was luckily composed chiefly ofyoung warriors on their first warpath. Our defence was so desperate,that the Sioux yielded and fled. We were masters of the field, but outof four-and-twenty only ten were alive, and these were badly wounded."
"It would be too terrible to tell the story of our sufferings on theway home. We found that all was known about the expedition. But allthe sachems acclaimed us, the more that I brought back the scalps ofeighteen Sioux who had fallen on the field of battle. But if my honourwas safe, my happiness was lost. Evening Dew was gone."
"My sister abducted?" cried Bright-eye.
"No," said the other, sadly, "not abducted. She went away of her ownaccord."
"Of her own accord?" repeated the hunter.
"During the absence of Bright-eye and myself, a paleface came to thevillage. This man, it appears, for your father and grandfather refusedany explanation, is a relative of my brother. After remaining a week hewent away, accompanied by your father. Evening Dew followed, weepingbitterly. Still she offered no resistance to the orders of her father.Three days after your father returned to his tribe. He was alone. Whathad become of the lovely young girl none could tell me. I made the mostminute inquiries without any result. Not knowing what else to do, Ithen sent a warrior to my brother to appoint a meeting. Here I am, myfriend--what am I to do?"
"I tell you, chief, that your extraordinary story is inexplicable tome. I cannot advise."
"Allow me to speak," said Oliver, "I am wholly disinterested in thematter. I can therefore speak with that calmness which suits neither ofyou at this moment."
"Speak!" cried the two young men.
"My advice is, to start at daybreak for the village. The father ofBright-eye may have reasons for refusing explanations to the chief.Family matters are sacred. But the brother of Evening Dew has a rightto demand a full explanation. I am certain it will be given to him byhis father, who can have no reason for being mysterious with him. Letus then away to the village. Successful or not, we shall know what todo. In every case, my dear friend and brother, count on me."
"What says the chief?" asked Bright-eye.
"The chief thanks Bounding Panther," replied the young man, warmly;"his heart is loyal, and his soul generous. His advice is good andshould be followed. With two such friends, the redskin warrior iscertain of success."
The conversation then continued for some time on a subject alwaysinteresting to a lover and a brother. Then, after throwing a pileof dry wood on the fire, the three men rolled themselves in theirblankets, and lay down on the ground.
The two wood rangers lay face downwards, according to Indian custom.As for Oliver, he lay on his side with his feet to the fire. At thefirst hoot of an owl--the first bird which announces the rising ofthe sun--the chief wakened his companions, and ten minutes later theystarted on their journey.
Les outlaws du Missouri. English Page 5