CHAPTER VII.
THE SURPRISE.
The United States have inherited from England that system of continualinvasion and usurpation which is one of the most salient points in theBritish character.
Scarcely was the independence of North America proclaimed, and peaceconcluded with the mother country, ere those very men who cried outso loudly against tyranny and oppression, who protested against theviolation of the rights of nations, of which they said they were thevictims, organized, with that implacable coolness which they owe totheir origin, a hunt of the Red Indians. Not only did they do so overthe whole extent of their territories, but dissatisfied with thepossession of the vast regions which their restless population, spite ofits activity, did not suffice to clear and render valuable, they wishedto make themselves masters of the two oceans, by encircling on all sidesthe aboriginal tribes, whom they drove back incessantly, and whom,according to the prophetic words, filled with bitter displeasure, of anaged Indian chief, they will eventually drown in the Pacific, by meansof treachery and perfidy.
In the United States, about which people are beginning to bedisabused, but which prejudiced or ill-informed persons still persistin representing as the classic land of liberty, is found that odiousanomaly of two races degraded and despoiled for the advantage of a thirdrace, which arrogates to itself a right of life and death over them, andconsiders them as nothing more than beasts of burden.
These two races, so worthy of the interest of all enlightened minds, andof the true friends of the human species, are the black and red races.
It is true, that on the other hand, to prove what thoroughphilanthropists they are, the United States did, in the year 1795, signa treaty of peace and friendship with the Barbary States, which gavethem advantages incomparably greater than those offered by the Orderof Malta, which was likewise desirous of treating with them--a treatyguaranteed by the regencies of Algiers and Tripoli.
In this treaty it is positively stated that the government of the UnitedStates is not founded, in any way, upon the Christian religion.
To those to whom this may appear strong, we will reply that it islogical, and that the Americans in the article of God acknowledge butone alone--the God Dollar! who, in all times, has been the only oneadored by the pirates of every country.
Draw the conclusion from this who will.
The squatters, a race without hearth or home, without right or law,the refuse of all nations, and who are the shame and scum of theNorth-American population, are advancing incessantly towards the West,and by clearings upon clearings endeavour to drive the Indian tribesfrom their last places of refuge.
In rear of the squatters come five or six soldiers, a drummer, atrumpeter, and an officer of some kind bearing the banner of the Starsand Stripes.
These soldiers build a fort with some trunks of trees, plant the flagon the top of it, and proclaim that the frontiers of the Confederationextend to that point.
Then around the fort spring up a few cabins, and a bastard populationis grouped--a heterogeneous compound of whites, blacks, reds,copper-coloured, &c., &c., and a city is founded, upon which is bestowedsome sonorous name--Utica, Syracuse, Rome, or Carthage, for example, anda few years later, when this city possesses two or three stone houses,it becomes by right the capital of a new state which is not yet inexistence.
Thus are things going on in this country!--it is very simple, as isevident.
A few days after the events we have related in our preceding chapter,a strange scene was passing in a possession built scarcely two yearsbefore, upon the banks of the great Canadian river, in a beautifulposition at the foot of a verdant hill.
This possession consisted of about twenty cabins, grouped capriciouslynear each other, and protected by a little fort, armed with four smallcannon which commanded the course of the river.
The village, though so young, had already, thanks to the prodigiousAmerican activity, acquired all the importance of a city. Two tavernsoverflowed with tipplers, and three temples of different sects served togather together the faithful.
The inhabitants moved about here and there with the preoccupation ofpeople who work seriously and look sharply after their affairs.
Numerous canoes ploughed the river, and carts loaded with merchandisepassed about in all directions, grinding upon their creaking axles, anddigging deep ruts.
Nevertheless, in spite of all this movement, or, perhaps, on account ofit, it was easy to observe that a certain uneasiness prevailed in thevillage.
The inhabitants questioned each other, groups were formed upon thesteps of doors, and several men, mounted upon powerful horses, roderapidly away, as scouts, in all directions, after taking their ordersfrom the captain commanding the fort, who, dressed in full uniform,with a telescope in his hand, and his arms behind his back, was walkingbackwards and forwards, with hasty steps, upon the glacis of the littlefort.
By degrees, the canoes regained the shore, the carts were unteamed, thebeasts of burden were collected in the home pastures, and the entirepopulation assembled upon the square of the village.
The sun was sinking rapidly towards the horizon, night would soon beupon them, and the horsemen sent to the environs had all returned.
"You see," said the captain to the assembled inhabitants, "that we hadnothing to fear, it was only a false alarm; you may return peaceably toyour dwellings, no trace of Indians can be found for twenty miles round."
"Hum!" an old half-breed hunter, leaning on his gun, observed, "Indiansare not long in travelling twenty miles!"
"That is possible, White Eyes," the commandant replied, "but beconvinced that if I have acted as I have done, it has been simply withthe view of reassuring the people; the Indians will not dare to avengethemselves."
"Indians always avenge themselves, captain," said the old hunter,sententiously.
"You have drunk too much whiskey, White Eyes; it has got into your head;you are dreaming, with your eyes open."
"God grant you may be right, captain! but I have passed all my life inthe clearings, and know the manners of the redskins, while you have onlybeen on the frontiers two years."
"That is quite as long as is necessary," the captain interrupted,peremptorily.
"Nevertheless, with your permission, Indians are men, and the Comanches,who were treacherously assassinated here, in contempt of the laws ofnations, were warriors renowned in their tribe."
"White Eyes, you are of mixed breed, you lean a little too much to thered race," said the captain ironically.
"The red race," the hunter replied proudly, "are loyal; they do notassassinate for the pleasure of shedding blood, as you yourselfdid, four days ago, in killing those two warriors who were passinginoffensively in their canoe, under the pretence of trying a new gunwhich you had received from Acropolis."
"Well, well! that's enough! Spare me your comments, White Eyes, I am notdisposed to receive observations from you."
The hunter bowed awkwardly, threw his gun upon his shoulder and retiredgrumbling.
"That's all one!--Blood that is shed cries for vengeance; the redskinsare men, and will not leave the crime unpunished."
The captain retired into the fort, visibly annoyed by what thehalf-breed had said to him. Gradually the inhabitants dispersed, afterwishing each other good night, and closed their dwellings with thatcarelessness peculiar to men accustomed to risk their lives every minute.
An hour later night had completely set in, thick darkness enveloped thevillage, and the inhabitants, fatigued with the rude labours of the day,were reposing in profound security.
The scouts sent out by the captain towards the decline of day hadbadly performed their duty, or else they were not accustomed to Indiancunning, otherwise they never could, by their reports, have placed thecolonists in such deceitful confidence.
Scarcely a mile from the village, concealed amongst and confounded withthe thick bushes and intertwining trees of a virgin forest, of whichthe nearest part had already fallen under the indefatigable axe o
f theclearers, two hundred warriors of the tribe of the Serpent, guidedby several renowned chiefs, among whom was Eagle Head, who, althoughwounded, insisted upon joining the expedition, were waiting, with thatIndian patience which nothing can foil, the propitious moment for takinga severe vengeance for the insult they had received.
Several hours passed thus, and the silence of night was not disturbed byany noise whatever.
The Indians, motionless as bronze statues, waited without displaying theslightest impatience.
Towards eleven o'clock the moon rose, lighting the landscape with itssilvery beams.
At the same instant the distant howling of a dog was repeated twice.
Eagle Head then left the tree behind which he had been screened, andbegan to creep with extreme address and velocity, in the direction ofthe village.
On reaching the skirts of the forest he stopped; then, after castinground an investigating glance, he imitated the neighing of a horse withsuch perfection that two horses of the village immediately replied tohim.
After waiting for a few seconds, the practised ear of the chiefperceived an almost insensible noise among the leaves; the bellowing ofan ox was heard a short distance away; then the chief arose and waited.
Two seconds later a man joined him.
This man was White Eyes, the old hunter.
A sinister smile curled the corners of his thin lips.
"What are the white men doing?" the chief asked.
"They are asleep," the half-breed answered.
"Will my brother give them up to me?"
"For a fair exchange."
"A chief has but one word. The pale woman and the grey head?"
"Are here."
"Shall they belong to me?"
"All the inhabitants of the village shall be placed in the hands of mybrethren."
"Och! Has not the hunter come?"
"Not yet."
"He will come presently?"
"Probably he will."
"What does my brother say now?"
"Where is that which I demanded of the chief?" the hunter said.
"The skins, the guns, and the powder, are in the rear, guarded by myyoung men."
"I trust to you, chief," the hunter replied, "but if you deceive me----"
"An Indian has but one word."
"That is good! Whenever you please, then."
Ten minutes later the Indians were masters of the village, all theinhabitants of which, roused one after the other, were made prisonerswithout a struggle.
The fort was surrounded by the Comanches, who, after heaping up at thefoot of the walls trunks of trees, carts, furniture, and all the farmingimplements of the colonists, only waited for a signal from their chiefto commence the attack.
All at once a vague form stood out from the top of the fort, and the cryof the sparrowhawk echoed through the air.
The Indians set fire to the kind of pyre they had raised and rushedtowards the palisades, uttering altogether that horrible and piercingwar cry which is peculiar to them, and which, on the frontiers, isalways the signal for a massacre.
Les trappeurs de l'Arkansas. English Page 11