CHAPTER XVII.
A SUSPICIOUS SOUND.
By and by Fred Linden and Terry Clark became drowsy. Devoutly kneeling,they spent several minutes in prayer, and then stretched out on a singleblanket, with their backs toward each other, and the face of Fred insuch a position that he could look across the blaze at Deerfoot on theother side. The latter had remained still and motionless, while thelads, remembering the lesson they had learned at their mothers' knee,asked their Heavenly Father to hold them in His keeping. The youngShawanoe, who spent many an hour in communion with his Maker, wastouched to see that his friends did not forget their duty.
Deerfoot stirred the burning wood so that it threw out more light, andthen, reclining on his left elbow, so that the illumination camedirectly in his face (the worst direction possible), he drew frombeneath his hunting-shirt the small Bible, that had been presented tohim by the Preston family, and began reading it.
Fred Linden, who had his eyes fixed upon him, was so interested that hisdrowsiness departed. Without moving he watched him closely. He saw himturning the leaves back and forth, as if looking for some place he hadin mind. It took him but a minute to find it, when, still leaning on hiselbow, and with the light striking his face and the printed page, heseemed to become so absorbed as to lose all consciousness of hissurroundings.
Fred Linden, without betraying that he was awake, surveyed thisremarkable performance with an admiration that for the moment made hiseyes misty with emotion.
The eyes of Deerfoot were downcast, as he read the page, so that theycould not be seen but the handsome oval face; the luxuriant black hair,with the eagle feathers thrust into the crown; the rows of gleamingbeads around the neck; the deerskin shirt that covered the breast andarms to the wrists, on the left one of which shone the golden bracelet;the red sash, behind which were shoved the knife and tomahawk; thebrilliant fringes of the hunting-shirt and leggins; the small,ornamented moccasins; all these of themselves made a striking figure;but Fred, handsome and rugged himself, who was not accustomed to see anything like beauty in the human form, was struck with the symmetry of thefigure before him. He particularly noticed the tapering legs, and couldnot help saying to himself:
"There is no Indian or white man that can run as fast as he."
And the mental declaration of the lad was truth. The fleetness of theyoung warrior had never been equaled, and he had never yet met theperson whom he could not outrun with ease and without putting forth hiswhole speed.
"He don't look strong, but he is the last person that I would want tomeet in a fight; I'll bet he is so quick that he could dodge the bulletfired at him."
I must draw the line here: Deerfoot could not do any thing of the kind.
"And he is reading his Bible! I never in all my life saw an Indian whocould read a word of print, or do more than sign his name with a crossor some figure like a bug: I wonder whether we couldn't hire him toteach school for us at Greville."
Fred thought a great many queer things about his new friend, but laywatching him fully ten minutes before he spoke. Then, when he saw himturn a leaf, he said in a low voice:
"Deerfoot, will you please read aloud?"
Fred expected that the Shawanoe would start and look up in surprise; buthe never raised his eyes, or gave the least sign that these words of hiswere unexpected. He knew that Fred was watching him from the first, andso, before the words were more than fairly out of his mouth, Deerfootbegan reading in a low, impressive monotone, as though he had merelyresumed, after turning over the leaf.
"After this I beheld, and lo! a great multitude, which no man couldnumber, of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues, stoodbefore the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, andpalms in their hands;
"And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders,and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces andworshiped God.
"Singing, Amen; blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honorand power and might be unto our God for ever and for ever, Amen.
"And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, Who are these which arearrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
"And I said unto him, sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, these arethey which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robesand made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
"Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day andnight in His temple; and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell amongthem.
"They shall hunger no more, neither shall they thirst any more; neithershall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
"For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, andshall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipeaway all tears from their eyes."
Deerfoot read a few minutes longer from his favorite part in the NewTestament and then ceased. He had not lifted his eyes from the page, buthe knew that Fred Linden was asleep. He observed it in his breathing,which was as soft as that of an infant.
The rocky cavern, the smoldering camp-fire, the two sleeping boys, themotionless Indian stretched out and reading his Bible by the faintlight, the great, solemn forest walling them in, the profound stillnessthat reigned everywhere: these were elements in a picture the like ofwhich it may be said (except where Deerfoot was one of the figures), hadnever been seen anywhere else, and was not likely ever to be seen again.
The fire sank lower and the light on the printed page became so dim thateven the keen eyes of the young Shawanoe could not trace the words. Helooked at the embers as if asking himself whether he should renew theblaze and continue reading. But the hour for meditation had come, and heclosed the book. Looking fondly at the stiff, wooden cover, he touchedhis lips with infinite tenderness to it, and carefully placed it in theinner receptacle of his hunting-shirt, murmuring as he did so:
"The best friend that Deerfoot ever knew!"
O light of life! Comforter of the sorrowing heart! Consoler of thestricken soul!
In the flush of bounding health, when the passions throb high, we maynot heed thy blessed teachings, but when man's promises prove false, andthe head bows before the endless strife, and woes overwhelm us like aflood, there is relief, there is light, there is life in Thee. Thewicked may jeer, the learned may scoff, the powerful may despise, thefavored may turn away, but there comes the time when learning, gifts,wealth, power, beauty and all the world can give turn to ashes, and theyhave no boon compared to Thine. "And God shall wipe away all tears fromtheir eyes." The pampered monarch, the dying beggar, the statesman, theslave, the mother bowed with woe, the father shaken with grief,childhood in its innocence, man in his strength, beauty in its scorn,trembling old age, can find no balm but in Thee. Better that the sunshould be blotted from the heavens and the earth left a trackless voidthan that Thy light should be denied the world.
Deerfoot lay flat on his face, his arms crossed so that his head andshoulders were held a few inches above the flinty floor, and his darkeyes were fixed on the embers in front. It was his favorite enjoyment,when the stirring incidents of the day were done, and he had read fromthe only Book he ever wanted to read, to spend a time in meditating onthe truths that it may be said had become a part of his very being.
Many a time had he lain thus, as motionless as if dead, while thewonderful brain was busy with thoughts that stirred the profoundestdepths of his nature. There are beliefs that come to us at which reasonmay laugh, but which it can not shake or disturb. There are questionsthat the glib unbeliever may ask that we can not answer. But away downin our hearts is a faith which the whole world can not remove, and whichcan be uprooted only by ourselves. Woe to him who dares lay violenthands upon it!
Deerfoot no more doubted that he and every one was in the direct keepingof God than he doubted that he breathed and moved. He knew that theGreat Spirit had caused him to be made a prisoner by whites so that hemight learn the way of life; he knew that He had given him an insightinto the mysteries of His word that was de
nied to many others. A deep,outstretching sympathy for those less favored than he suffused his wholebeing. Gladly would he have given up his life in pain and torture andagony, as did One in the dim long ago, if by so doing he could earn thesmile of his Heavenly Father.
But this remarkable young Christian felt that he was doing the workappointed for him to do. Here and there he dropped a word that proved tobe seed sown upon good ground, and which had borne its fruit. He had methis enemies in fair combat and had never taken wrong advantage of them:his marvelous bow and arrow, and his still more effective rifle, hadbrought many a dusky miscreant low, but he had used his amazing gifts inthe line of duty, and for the good of others. Would that he could havewon them by love, but it was not in the nature of things that he shoulddo so. He had "broken the Bread of Life" to more than one, and he hopedthat ere he should be called home, he should point the way to others.
Suddenly he raised his chin from his hands and turned his head slightlyto one side. His ear, whose acuteness was almost beyond belief, hadcaught a suspicious sound. Profound as might be the meditation of theShawanoe, he could never forget his surroundings.
The Hunters of the Ozark Page 17
