"Who are you?"
" Cha-cha-chee-kee-hobah," was the answer.
Then straightening himself as much as age would permit, he placed his pipe again in his mouth, and turning his face toward the door of the hut, struck the palms of his hands three times together, and uttered in a cracked voice the single word :
" Leni ! "
Wondering what all this meant, I turned my eyes in the same direction, and tba next moment, to my astonishment, beheld the beautiful form of the mysterious Prai rie Flower enter from without.
With a light, quick tread, her face flushed with animation and joy, she glided up to the decrepid old Indian, and in a silvery voice, such as one might expect from so lovely a creature, said a few words and re ceived a reply in a language to me wholly unintelligible. Then springing to me, she kneeled at my side, and turning her eye* upward, hor sweet lips seamed moving to an earnest prayer from a guileless heart.
I no longer had fears for my safety .
THE PRAIRIE FLOWER; OR,
for in such a presence and with such an act of devotion, I knew myself safe. I was only afraid to speak or move, lest I should wake to find it all a delusive dream.
But my desire to be assured of its re ality would not long let me remain silent, and at last I said :
" Sweet being, tell me the meaning of all I see."
" Friend, you must not talk," she replied in good English ; " it will do you harm."
" Nevertheless, fair creature, you must answer my question. My curiosity is won derfully excited, and silence will harm me more than conversation."
She turned and addressed a few words to the old man, who now approached her side and gazed down upon me with a mild look. His reply was apparently satisfac tory ; for looking full upon me again, she said:
"You may be right, and I will answer. You were badly wounde4 in the fight."
" I am aware of that."
" You were left upon the ground for dead."
" Ha ! indeed I But the battle who won ?"
" Your friends were victorious."
" Surprising ! What lucky chance of fortune gave them the victory ? "
" A reinforcement."
" Indeed ! from where ? "
" Fort John."
This fort, now demolished, stood at the time of which I write about a mile below Fort Laramie, and was well garrisoned. From a mistaken confidence in our own abilities to win the day, we had neglected calling there for volunteers to augment our numbers and render our success more certain.
" And what brought them to our aid so opportunely ? " I inquired.
" Certain timely information."
" By whom conveyed ? "
" A friend to your race."
" By the same messenger that brought intelligence of the enemy to Fort Lara mie ? "
" It matters not by whom. Let the re sult suffice."
" How shall I thank you, sweet Prairie Flower?"
'For what?"
" For all that you have done."
" I need no thanks."
" say not thus."
" Then thank me by your silenqg,"
" I will ; and by my prayers for yor safety and happiness."
" Bless you ! " she exclaime 1, fei v« ntljr " The only boon I would have asked, saw one."
" And what is that ? "
" That you will not seek to kncT :noi of me and my history than I may choose to tell ; and. that whatever you may see and hear that seems mysterious, you will reveal to none without my permission."
" To please sweet Prairie Flower," I answered, " I will strive not to be a med dler nor a babbler ; though she must bear in mind where so much interest is excited, the task she has imposed is a hard one."
" Then by adhering to it, you will con fer upon her the deeper obligation."
" Yet I cannot forbear one question."
"Well?"
" Is Prairie Flower not of my race?"
" The judgment of the querist musf answer him."
"Will not you?"
" Not now perhaps nevt,r."
" I regret your decision, yet will not press the point. But to return to the bat tle."
"What would you know?"
" How it was won how I came to b neglected and why I am here."
"A reinforcement charging suddenly upon the enemy, alarmed and put him to flight. The victors pressed upon his rear, and left their killed and wounded upon the gory field. Before they returned, a few who beheld, but did not join the fight, found you and another in whom life was not yet extinct, and bore you both away."
"And and that other ? " I gasped. " Was was it my friend ? "
" None other."
"And he he is alive?"
"Ay, and doing well."
" Thank God ! thank God ! A. weight of grief is lifted from my heart. Bui where 0, tell me quickly where- Is b now ? "
" Not far hence."
"And all is owing to you ? "
"Nay, I said not that."
ADVENTURES IN THE *AR WEST.
" God bless you for an angel of mercy ! I must thank you my heart is bursting witk gratitude! "
" Nay, spare your thanks to mortal ! Thank God not me for I am only an humble instrument in his hands."
" Mysterious being, who art thou? "
" lie-member your promise and question not."
"But you seem more of Heaven than earth."
" It is only seeming then. But I must remind you that you have now talked full long."
" Nay, but tell me where I am ? "
" In the lodge of Cha-cha-chee-kee-ho- bah, or Old-Man-of-the-Mountains."
" Is it he that stands beside you ?"
" The same. He is ' Great Medicine,' and has cured you."
"And how long have I been here ? "
" Four days."
" Good heavens ! you astonish me ! Surely not four days?"
" Prairie Flower would not tell you wrong*" said my informant, with a re proachful look.
" I know it, sweet being. I will not doubt you and only intended to express surprise. Then I have been four days nconscious."
"Ay, a week."
"A week?" I exclaimed, looking her earnestly in the face: "A week, say you ? A-iul was the battle fought a week ago ? "
" It was a week ago last night."
"And pray in what part of the country am I now ? "
" On the Black Hills."
"Indeed! And how far from Fort Laramie ? "
" Not less than sixty miles."
"And how was I borne here ? "
" On a litter."
" By whom ? "
" My friends."
"White men or red?"
"The latter."
"And for what purpose ? "
" To restore you to health."
"And what object could you or they have in bestowing such kindness on strangers ? "
" To do good."
" For which of course you expect a recompense ? ' '
Prairie Flower looked at me earnestly a moment, with a sweet, sad, reproachful expression, and then said with a sigh :
"Like the rest of the world, you mis construe our motives."
"Forgive me!" I exclaimed, almost passionately for her appearance and words touched my very soul : " Forgive me, sweet being ! I was wrong, I see. On your part it was solely charity that prompted this noble act. But it is so rare that even a good action is done in this world without a selfish motive, that, in the thoughtlessness of the moment, I even imputed the latter to you."
" That is why I suppose so few under stand us ? " she said, sadly.
" You must be a very singular people," I rejoined, looking her full in the eye. " Will you not tell me the name of your tribe?"
She shook her head.
" I told you before," she answered, " you must not question me touching my history or tribe. Let it suffice that we are known as the Mysterious or Great Medi cine Nation ; that to us all roads are free, and with us all nations are at peace. We war upon none and
none upon us."
"And yet do you not excite others to deeds you seem to abhor ? "
" What mean you ? " she asked quickly, a flush of surprise giving a beautiful glow to her noble features.
" Forgive me if I speak too plainly. But was not your message to Forl Larar mie the cause of a bloody battle between the whites and Indians at Bitter Cotton- wood ? "
" The immediate cause of warrior meet ing warrior in the game of death, most undoubtedly," she answered, with a proud look and sparkling eyes. " But do you not 'overlook the fact, that it was done to save the innocent and defenceless ? Were not the Indians gathered there in mighty force to prey upon the weak ? and was it not the duty of those who sought to d* right to warn the few against the many the unwary of their, hidden foe ? Could Prairie Flow-er stand idly by and see de* fenceless women and children drawn into a fatal snare, and made a bloody sacrifice to a heartless enemy ? Had the pale- face so laid in wait for the red-man, Prairie
THE PRAIRIE FLOWER; OR,
Flower, if in her power, had so warned the latter. Prairie Flower did not call the red- man there ; she regretted to see him there ; but being there, she could do no less than warn and put the pale-face on his guard."
This was said with .such a proud look of conscious rectitude an expression so sub lime, and an eloquence so pathetic that I could hardly realize I was gazing upon and listening to an earthly habitant. I felt ashamed of my ungallant and unjust insinuation, and hastened to reply :
" Forgive me, sweet Prairie Flower, for having again wronged you for having again done you injustice ! But, as before, I overlooked the motive in the act. 1 will strive not to offend again and wound your sensitive feelings by doubting your gener ous intentions. Are there many more like you, sweet Prairie Flower ? "
" Our tribe numbers between sixty and seventy souls."
"Is this your fixed abiding place ? "
" Only for a time. Our home is every where between the rising and the setting sun. We go wherever we think ourselves the most beneficial in effecting good."
" Perhaps you are Christian missiona ries ?"
" We believe in the holy religion of Jesus Christ, and endeavor to inculcate its doc trines."
" Why then did this old man use mys terious signs ? "
" He is of another race and generation, was once a great medicine in his tribe, and cannot divest himself of old habits."
" You seem rightly named the Mysteri ous Tribe ; and of you in particular I have heard before." ' " Indeed ! When and how ? "
I proceeded to detail briefly the story of the old trapper.
She mused a moment and replied :
" I remember such a person now, me- tbinks. He was found, as you say, with life nearly extinct. By careful nursing he 'Was restored to health. But he seemed inquisitive, and I employed the ruse of telling him his life was in danger to hurry his departure, lest he might prove trouble some. I trust there was nothing wrong in that. But come, come, I have forgotten my own caution, and talked too long by far. You need repose and silence/'
" But one thing more ! My friend ? "
" You shall see him soon perhaps to morrow."
" 0, no ! say to-day !"
" I cannot. To-morrow is the eatlieo* And so adieu ! Seek repose and forget fulness in sleep."
With this she turned, and glided out of the apartment in the same noiseless man ner she had entered it. The old man look ed at me a moment shook his head and trembling hands turned shuffled away to his fire and I was left alone to reflect on what I had seen and heard and my pre sent condition.
CHAPTER XIV.
SICK-BED REFLECTIONS GREAT MEDICINH
REAPPEARANCE OF PRAIRIE FLOWER OUB
CONVERSATION GRATITUDE MT WOUNDS
HER SUDDEN EMBARRASSMENT DEPAR TURE, ETC.
IT is a painful thing to one who has nev er known sickness, to be confined day aftei day to his bed, racked with torture, debar red even the liberty of enjoying for a mo ment the bright sunshine and clear air of heaven, unable perhaps to lift his head from his pillow, and yet beholding others, flushed with health and happiness, coming and going as they please, and seeming to prize lightly all which he most covets. Il is only on a bed of sickness and pain, thai we are taught to value as we should thai greatest of all blessings, good health 9 blessing without which all others are rob bed of their pleasures : for what are for tune and friends and all their concomitants, to one who is borne down by a weight of bodily suffering ? True, these may in a measure minister to his comforts for with out money and friends, the sick bed is only a pallet of the most abject misery yet all the joys arising therefrom in connection with health, are lost to the invalid ; and he lays, and sighs, and groans, and envies the veriest strolling mendicant on earth tbe enjoyment of his strength and liberty.
Such were my thoughts, as hour after hour, from the disappearance of Prairie Flower, I lay and mused upon all the events of my chequered life, up to tb
ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST.
69
present time. Born to wealth, blessed with health, kind friends, and a college ed ucation, I might have passed my whole life in "luxurious ease, but for the restless desire of travel and adventure. Not a dis comfort had I ever known ere my depart ure from the paternal roof; and when I remembered, that now I was thousands of miles away, in an Indian camp of the wil derness, wounded nigh nnto death, unable to rise from my pallet, solely dependent upon strangers of a savage race for my existence and the few favors I received, perhaps rendered a cripple or an invalid for life, and reflected on how much I had sacrificed for this my feelings may be better imagined than described.
To what extent I was wounded I knew not for I had neglected to question Prai rie Flower on the subject and I was now too weak to make the examination myself. My head, one of my arms, and both of my lower limbs were bandaged in a rude way, and my weakness had doubtless been caused by excessive hemorrhage. From the manner of Prairie Flower and the old Indian, I was led to infer that the crisis of danger was past ; but how long it would take me to recover, I had no means of as certaining, or whether I should be again blessed with Cie use of my limbs. Per haps I might here be confined for months, and then only regain my wonted strength to find myself a cripple for life.
These thoughts pained and alarmed me, and I looked eagerly for the return of Prairie Flower, to gain the desired information. But she came not; and through sheer exhaustion, I was at last forced to drop the subject, while I strove to resign myself to such fate as He, who had preserved my existence as it were by a miracle, should, in his wise dispensation, see proper to decree.
Then my thoughts turned upon Prairie Flower. What mystery was shrouding this singular and angelic being, that she feared to be questioned regarding her his tory and tribe ? Was she of the Indian race ? I could not believe it. She seem ed too fair and lovely, and without the lineaments which distinguish this people from those nations entitled to the name of pale-face. Might she not be a missionary, who, blessed with great self-denial and a
desire to render herself useful while on earth, and yet too modest to avow it, had, at a tender age, gone boldly among the savages and labored zealously in her noble calling, to enlighten their dark minds and teach them the sacred truths of Christiani ty ? She had admitted that all believed in the doctrines preached by the Saviour; ana though she had not openly acknowledged, she certainly had not denied, my imputa tion regarding the calling of herself and friends. This, then, was the best solution of the mystery I could invent. But even admitting this to be true that she was in reality of the Anglo-American race, and a pious instructor who found her enjoyments in what to others would have been a source of misery still it was a matter for curious research, how one of her age should have become so familiar with the language and habits of all the various tribes of the Far West and why, if she had friends, she had been permitted to venture among them alone and at the risk of her life. View the matter as I would, I found it ever shrouded with a vail of mystery and ro mance, beyond which a
ll my speculations were unable to penetrate.
Thus I lay and pondered for several hours, during which time I saw not a liv ing soul the old Indian excepted who, having finished his pipe, sat doubled up on the ground by his smouldering fire, as mo tionless and apparently as inanimate as so much lead. Once, and only once, he raised his head, peered curiously around him for a moment, and then settled down into the previous position. Fixing my gaze upon him, and wondering what secrets of the past and his own eventful life might per chance be locked in his aged breast, I at last felt my eyes grow heavy, the old man grew less and less distinct, and seemed to nod and swim before my vision, sometimes single and sometimes double, and then all became confused, and I went off into a gentle sleep.
How long I slept I am unable to say ; but an acute sense of pain awoke me ; when, to my surprise, I found it already dark, and the old man bending^over me, en gaged in dressing my wounds, and applying a kind of whitish liniment of a soothing and healing nature, prepared by himself and kept oil hand for such and similar purpose*.
THE PRAIRIE FLOWER; OR,
Some half an hour was he occupied in this proceeding, during which I suffered more or less pain from the removal of the bandages, which, having become dry and stiff, adhered rather too closely to the af fected parts.
Thinking it useless to question him, I made no remark, but passively suffered him to do as he pleased which he did, without appearing to notice me any more than it' I were dead, and he performing the last office of sepulture.
At length, the bandages being replaced, and my condition rendered as comfortable as circumstances would permit, he ten dered me some light food and water both of which I partook sparingly and with the single word "Onh-chi," and a nod of his head, turned away and left me to my meditations. In ten minutes I was again asleep.
Bennett, Emerson - Prairie Flower 01 Page 15