The reader will readily understand that Floating Tom’s worldly goods were of no great amount. A couple of beds, some wearing apparel, the arms and ammunition, a few cooking utensils, with the mysterious, and but half-examined chest, formed the principal items. These were all soon removed, the ark having been hauled on the eastern side of the building, so that the transfer could be made without being seen from the shore. It was thought unnecessary to disturb the heavier and coarser articles of furniture, as they were not required in the ark, and were of but little value in themselves. As great caution was necessary in removing the different objects, most of which were passed out of a window with a view to conceal what was going on, it required two or three hours before all could be effected. By the expiration of that time, the raft made its appearance, moving from the shore. Deerslayer immediately had recourse to the glass, by the aid of which he perceived that two warriors were on it, though they appeared to be unarmed. The progress of the raft was slow, a circumstance that formed one of the great advantages that would be possessed by the scow, in any future collision between them; the movements of the latter being comparatively swift and light. As there was time to make the dispositions for the reception of the two dangerous visiters, every thing was prepared for them, long before they had got near enough to be hailed. The Serpent and the girls retired into the building, where the former stood near the door, well provided with rifles; while Judith watched the proceedings without through a loop. As for Deerslayer, he had brought a stool to the edge of the platform, at the point towards which the raft was advancing, and taken his seat, with his rifle leaning carelessly between his legs.
As the raft drew nearer, every means possessed by the party in the castle was resorted to, in order to ascertain if their visiters had any fire-arms. Neither Deerslayer nor Chingachgook could discover any; but Judith, unwilling to trust to simple eye-sight, thrust the glass through the loop, and directed it towards the hemlock boughs that lay between the two logs of the raft, forming a sort of flooring, as well as a seat for the use of the rowers. When the heavy-moving craft was within fifty feet of him, Deerslayer hailed the Hurons, directing them to cease rowing, it not being his intention to permit them to land. Compliance, of course, was necessary, and the two grim-looking warriors instantly quitted their seats, though the raft continued slowly to approach, until it had driven in much nearer to the platform.
“Are ye chiefs?” demanded Deerslayer, with dignity.-- “Are ye chiefs?--or have the Mingos sent me warriors without names, on such an ar’n’d? If so, the sooner ye go back, the sooner the one will be likely to come that a warrior can talk with.”
“Hugh!” exclaimed the elder of the two on the raft, rolling his glowing eyes over the different objects that were visible in and about the castle, with a keenness that showed how little escaped him. “My brother is very proud, but Rivenoak (we use the literal translation of the term, writing as we do in English) is a name to make a Delaware turn pale.”
“That’s true, or it’s a lie, Rivenoak, as it may be; but I am not likely to turn pale, seeing that I was born pale. What’s your ar’n’d, and why do you come among light bark canoes, on logs that are not even dug out?”
“The Iroquois are not ducks, to walk on water! Let the pale-faces give them a canoe, and they’ll come in a canoe.”
“That’s more rational, than likely to come to pass. We have but four canoes, and being four persons, that’s only one for each of us. We thank you for the offer, howsever, though we ask leave not to accept it. You are welcome, Iroquois, on your logs.”
“Thanks--my young pale-face warrior--he has got a name--how do the chiefs call him?”
Deerslayer hesitated a moment, and a gleam of pride and human weakness came over him. He smiled, muttered between his teeth, and then looking up proudly, he said--
“Mingo, like all who are young and actyve, I’ve been known by different names, at different times. One of your warriors whose spirit started for the happy-grounds of your people, as lately as yesterday morning, thought I desarved to be known by the name of Hawkeye; and this because my sight happened to be quicker than his own, when it got to be life or death, atween us.”
Chingachgook, who was attentively listening to all that passed, heard and understood this proof of passing weakness in his friend, and on a future occasion he questioned him more closely concerning the whole transaction on the point, where Deerslayer had first taken human life. When he had got the whole truth, he did not fail to communicate it to the tribe; from which time the young hunter was universally known among the Delawares, by an appellation so honourably earned. As this, however, was a period posterior to all the incidents of this tale, we shall continue to call the young hunter by the name under which he has been first introduced to the reader. Nor was the Iroquois less struck with the vaunt of the white man. He knew of the death of his comrade, and had no difficulty in understanding the allusion; the intercourse between the conqueror and his victim on that occasion, having been seen by several savages on the shore of the lake, who had been stationed at different points just within the margin of the bushes, to watch the drifting canoes, and who had not time to reach the scene of action ere the victor had retired. The effect on this rude being of the forest, was an exclamation of surprise; then such a smile of courtesy, and wave of the hand, succeeded, as would have done credit to Asiatic diplomacy. The two Iroquois spoke to each other, in low terms, and both drew near the end of the raft that was closest to the platform.
“My brother, Hawkeye, has sent a message to the Hurons,” resumed Rivenoak, “and it has made their hearts very glad. They hear he has images of beasts with two tails! Will he show them to his friends?”
“Inimies would be truer,” returned Deerslayer; “but sound isn’t sense, and does little harm. Here is one of the images; I toss it to you under faith of treaties. If it’s not returned, the rifle will settle the p’int atween us.”
The Iroquois seemed to acquiesce in the conditions, and Deerslayer arose and prepared to toss one of the elephants to the raft, both parties using all the precaution that was necessary to prevent its loss. As practice renders men expert in such things, the little piece of ivory was soon successfully transferred from one hand to the other; and then followed another scene on the raft, in which astonishment and delight got the mastery of Indian stoicism. These two grim old warriors manifested even more feeling, as they examined the curiously-wrought chess-man, than had been betrayed by the boy; for, in the case of the latter, recent schooling had interposed its influence; while the men, like all who are sustained by well-established characters, were not ashamed to let some of their emotions be discovered. For a few minutes they apparently lost all consciousness of their situation, in the intense scrutiny they bestowed on a material so fine, work so highly wrought, and an animal so extraordinary. The lip of the moose is, perhaps, the nearest approach to the trunk of the elephant that is to be found in the American forest; but this resemblance was far from being sufficiently striking to bring the new creature within the range of their habits and ideas, and the more they studied the image, the greater was their astonishment. Nor did these children of the forest mistake the structure on the back of the elephant for a part of the animal. They were familiar with horses and oxen, and had seen towers in the Canadas, and found nothing surprising in creatures of burthen. Still, by a very natural association, they supposed the carving meant to represent that the animal they saw was of a strength sufficient to carry a fort on its back; a circumstance that in no degree lessened their wonder.
“Has my pale-face brother any more such beasts?” at last the senior of the Iroquois asked, in a sort of petitioning manner.
“There’s more where them came from, Mingo,” was the answer; “one is enough, however, to buy off fifty scalps.”
“One of my prisoners is a great warrior--tall as a pine-- strong as the moose--active as a deer--fierce as the panther! Some day he’ll be a great chief, and lead the army of King George!”
&nb
sp; “Tut--tut--Mingo; Harry Hurry is Harry Hurry, and you’ll never make more than a corporal of him, if you do that. He’s tall enough, of a sartainty; but that’s of no use, as he only hits his head ag’in the branches as he goes through the forest. He’s strong, too; but a strong body isn’t a strong head, and the king’s generals are not chosen for their sinews. He’s swift, if you will, but a rifle-bullet is swifter; and as for f’erceness, it’s no great recommend to a soldier; they that think they feel the stoutest, often givin’ out at the pinch. No--no--you’ll never make Hurry’s scalp pass for more than a good head of curly hair, and a rattlepate beneath it!”
“My old prisoner very wise--king of the lake--great warrior, wise counsellor!”
“Well, there’s them that might gainsay all this, too, Mingo. A very wise man wouldn’t be apt to be taken in so foolish a manner as befel Master Hutter; and if he gives good counsel, he must have listened to bad, in all that affair. There’s only one king of this lake, and he’s a long way off, and isn’t likely ever to see it. Floating Tom is some such king of this region, as the wolf that prowls through the woods, is king of the forest. A beast with two tails is well worth two such scalps!”
“But my brother has another beast?--He will give two,” holding up as many fingers, “for old father?”
“Floating Tom is no father of mine, but he’ll fare none the worse for that. As for giving two beasts for his scalp, and each beast with two tails, it is quite beyond reason. Think yourself well off, Mingo, if you make a much worse trade.”
By this time the self-command of Rivenoak had got the better of his wonder, and he began to fall back on his usual habits of cunning, in order to drive the best bargain he could. It would be useless to relate more than the substance of the desultory dialogue that followed, in which the Indian manifested no little management, in endeavouring to recover the ground lost under the influence of surprise. He even affected to doubt whether any original for the image of the beast existed, and asserted that the oldest Indian had never heard a tradition of any such animal. Little did either of them imagine, at the time, that long ere a century elapsed, the progress of civilization would bring even much more extraordinary and rare animals into that region, as curiosities to be gazed at by the curious, and that the particular beast, about which the disputants contended, would be seen laving its sides and swimming in the very sheet of water on which they had met. As is not uncommon on such occasions, one of the parties got a little warm, in the course of the discussion; for Deerslayer met all the arguments and pre- varications of his subtle opponent, with his own cool directness of manner, and unmoved love of truth. What an elephant was, he knew little better than the savage; but he perfectly understood that the carved pieces of ivory must have some such value in the eyes of an Iroquois, as a bag of gold, or a package of beaver-skins, would in those of a trader. Under the circumstances, therefore, he felt it to be prudent not to concede too much at first, since there existed a nearly unconquerable obstacle to making the transfers, even after the contracting parties had actually agreed upon the terms. Keeping this difficulty in view, he held the extra chess-men in reserve, as a means of smoothing any difficulty in the moment of need.
At length the savage pretended that further negotiation was useless, since he could not be so unjust to his tribe as to part with the honour and emoluments of two excellent, full-grown, male scalps, for a consideration so trifling as two toys like those he had seen--and he prepared to take his departure. Both parties now felt as men are wont to feel, when a bargain that each is anxious to conclude, is on the eve of being broken off, in consequence of too much pertinacity in the way of management. The effect of the disappointment was very different, however, on the respective individuals. Deerslayer was mortified, and filled with regret; for he not only felt for the prisoners, but he also felt deeply for the two girls. The conclusion of the treaty, therefore, left him melancholy and full of regret. With the savage, his defeat produced the savage desire of revenge. In a moment of excitement, he had loudly announced his intention to say no more; and he felt equally enraged with himself and with his cool opponent, that he had permitted a pale-face to manifest more indifference and self-command than an Indian chief. When he began to urge his raft away from the platform, his countenance lowered, and his eye glowed, even while he affected a smile of amity and a gesture of courtesy, at parting.
It took some little time to overcome the vis inertiœ of the logs, and while this was doing by the silent Indian, Rivenoak stalked over the hemlock boughs that lay between the logs, in sullen ferocity, eyeing keenly the while, the hut, the platform, and the person of his late disputant. Once he spoke in low, quick terms to his companion, and he stirred the boughs with his feet, like an animal that is restive. At that moment, the watchfulness of Deerslayer had a little abated, for he sat musing on the means of renewing the negotiation without giving too much advantage to the other side. It was perhaps fortunate for him that the keen and bright eyes of Judith were as vigilant as ever. At the instant when the young man was least on his guard, and his enemy was the most on the alert, she called out, in a warning voice, to the former, most opportunely giving the alarm.
“Be on your guard, Deerslayer,” the girl cried; “I see rifles, with the glass, beneath the hemlock brush, and the Iroquois is loosening them with his feet!”
It would seem that the enemy had carried their artifices so far as to employ an agent who understood English. The previous dialogue had taken place in his own language, but it was evident, by the sudden manner in which his feet ceased their treacherous occupation, and in which the countenance of Rivenoak changed from sullen ferocity to a smile of courtesy, that the call of the girl was understood. Signing to his companion to cease his efforts to set the logs in motion, he advanced to the end of the raft which was nearest to the platform, and spoke.
“Why should Rivenoak and his brother leave any cloud between them?” he said. “They are both wise, both brave, and both generous; they ought to part friends. One beast shall be the price of one prisoner.”
“And, Mingo,” answered the other, delighted to renew the negotiation on almost any terms, and determined to clinch the bargain if possible by a little extra liberality, “you’ll see that a pale-face knows how to pay a full price, when he trades with an open heart, and an open hand. Keep the beast that you had forgotten to give back to me, as you was about to start, and which I forgot to ask for, on account of consarn at parting in anger. Show it to your chiefs. When you bring us our fri’nds, two more shall be added to it--and--” hesitating a moment in distrust of the expediency of so great a concession, then, deciding in its favour--“and, if we see them afore the sun sets, we may find a fourth, to make up an even number.”
This settled the matter. Every gleam of discontent vanished from the dark countenance of the Iroquois, and he smiled as graciously, if not as sweetly, as Judith Hutter, herself. The piece already in his possession was again examined, and an ejaculation of pleasure showed how much he was pleased with this unexpected termination of the affair. In point of fact, both he and Deerslayer had momentarily forgotten what had become of the subject of their discussion, in the warmth of their feelings; but such had not been the case with Rivenoak’s companion. This man retained the piece, and had fully made up his mind, were it claimed under such circumstances as to render its return necessary, to drop it in the lake, trusting to his being able to find it again, at some future day. This desperate expedient, however, was no longer necessary; and, after repeating the terms of agreement, and professing to understand them, the two Indians finally took their departure, moving slowly towards the shore.
“Can any faith be put in such wretches?” asked Judith, when she and Hetty had come out on the platform, and were standing at the side of Deerslayer, watching the dull movement of the logs. “Will they not rather keep the toy they have, and send us off some bloody proofs of their getting the better of us in cunning, by way of boasting? I’ve heard of acts as bad as this.”
&
nbsp; “No doubt--Judith; no manner of doubt, if it wasn’t for Indian natur’. But I’m no judge of a red-skin, if that two-tail’d beast doesn’t set the whole tribe in some such stir, as a stick raises in a beehive! Now, there’s the Sarpent; a man with narves like flint, and no more cur’osity in every-day consarns, than is befitting prudence.--Why he was so overcome with the sight of the creatur’, carved as it is in bone, that I felt ashamed for him! That’s just their gifts, however, and one can’t well quarrel with a man for his gifts, when they are lawful. Chingachgook will soon get over his weakness, and remember that he’s a chief, and that he comes of a great stock, and has a renowned name to support and uphold; but, as for yonder scamps, there’ll be no peace among’em, until they think they’ve got possession of every thing of the natur’ of that bit of carved bone, that’s to be found among Thomas Hutter’s stores!”
“They only know of the elephants, and can have no hopes about the other things.”
“That’s true, Judith; still, covetousness is a craving feelin’. They ’ll say, if the pale-faces have these curious beasts with two tails, who knows but they’ve got some with three, or, for that matter, with four! That’s what the schoolmasters call nat’ral arithmetic, and ’t will be sartain to beset the feelin’s of savages. They ’ll never be easy, till the truth is known.”
The Deerslayer; or, The First Warpath . . . Volume 1 Page 27
