The Pioneers; Or, The Sources of the Susquehanna
Page 19
CHAPTER XVIII.
"Poor wretch! the mother that him bare, If she had been in presence there, In his wan face, and sunburnt hair, She had not known her child." --Scott.
It diminished, in no degree, the effect produced by the conversationwhich passed between Judge Temple and the I young hunter, that theformer took the arm of his daughter and drew it through his own, whenhe advanced from the spot whither Richard had led him to that where theyouth was standing, leaning on his rifle, and contemplating the deadbird at his feet. The presence of Marmaduke did not interrupt thesports, which were resumed by loud and clamorous disputes concerning theconditions of a chance that involved the life of a bird of much inferiorquality to the last. Leather-Stocking and Mohegan had alone drawn asideto their youthful companion; and, although in the immediate vicinity ofsuch a throng, the following conversation was heard only by those whowere interested in it.
"I have greatly injured you, Mr. Edwards," said the Judge; but thesudden and inexplicable start with which the person spoken to receivedthis unexpected address, caused him to pause a moment. As no answer wasgiven, and the strong emotion exhibited in the countenance of the youthgradually passed away, he continued: "But fortunately it is in somemeasure in my power to compensate you for what I have done. My kinsman,Richard Jones, has received an appointment that will, in future, depriveme of his assistance, and leave me, just now, destitute of one who mightgreatly aid me with his pen. Your manner, notwithstanding appearances,is a sufficient proof of your education, nor will thy shoulder sufferthee to labor, for some time to come." (Marmaduke insensibly relapsedinto the language of the Friends as he grew warm.) "My doors are opento thee, my young friend, for in this infant country we harbor nosuspicions; little offering to tempt the cupidity of the evil-disposed.Be come my assistant, for at least a season, and receive suchcompensation as thy services will deserve."
There was nothing in the manner of the offer of the Judge to justify thereluctance, amounting nearly to loathing, with which the youth listenedto his speech; but, after a powerful effort for self-command, hereplied:
"I would serve you, sir, or any other man, for an honest support, for Ido not affect to conceal that my necessities are very great, even beyondwhat appearances would indicate; but I am fearful that such new dutieswould interfere too much with more important business; so that I mustdecline your offer, and depend on my rifle, as before, for subsistence."
Richard here took occasion to whisper to the young lady, who had shrunka little from the foreground of the picture:
"This, you see, Cousin Bess, is the natural reluctance of a half-breedto leave the savage state. Their attachment to a wandering life is, Iverily believe, unconquerable."
"It is a precarious life," observed Marmaduke, without hearing thesheriff's observation, "and one that brings more evils with it thanpresent suffering. Trust me, young friend, my experience is greater thanthine, when I tell thee that the unsettled life of these hunters is ofvast disadvantage for temporal purposes, and it totally removes one fromthe influence of more sacred things."
"No, no, Judge," interrupted the Leather-Stocking, who was hithertounseen, or disregarded; "take him into your shanty in welcome, but tellhim truth. I have lived in the woods for forty long years, and havespent five at a time without seeing the light of a clearing bigger thana window in the trees; and I should like to know where you'll find aman, in his sixty-eighth year, who can get an easier living, for allyour betterments and your deer laws; and, as for honesty, or doingwhat's right between man and man, I'll not turn my back to thelongest-winded deacon on your Patent."
"Thou art an exception, Leather-Stocking," returned the Judge, noddinggood-naturedly at the hunter; "for thou hast a temperance unusual in thyclass, and a hardihood exceeding thy years. But this youth is made ofI materials too precious to be wasted in the forest--I entreat thee tojoin my family, if it be but till thy arm is healed. My daughter here,who is mistress of my dwelling, wilt tell thee that thou art welcome."
"Certainly," said Elizabeth, whose earnestness was a little checkedby female reserve. "The unfortunate would be welcome at any time, butdoubly so when we feel that we have occasioned the evil ourselves,""Yes," said Richard, "and if you relish turkey, young man, there areplenty in the coops, and of the best kind, I can assure you."
Finding himself thus ably seconded, Marmaduke pushed his advantage tothe utmost. He entered into a detail of the duties that would attendthe situation, and circumstantially mentioned the reward, and all thosepoints which are deemed of importance among men of business. The youthlistened in extreme agitation. There was an evident contest in hisfeelings; at times he appeared to wish eagerly for the change, andthen again the incomprehensible expression of disgust would cross hisfeatures, like a dark cloud obscuring a noonday sun.
The Indian, in whose manner the depression of self-abasement was mostpowerfully exhibited, listened to the offers of the Judge with aninterest that increased with each syllable. Gradually he drew nigher tothe group and when, with his keen glance, he detected the most markedevidence of yielding in the countenance of his young companion, hechanged at once from his attitude and look of shame to the front of anIndian warrior, and moving, with great dignity, closer to the parties,he spoke.
"Listen to your father," he said; "his words are old. Let the YoungEagle and the Great Land Chief eat together; let them sleep, withoutfear, near each other. The children of Miquon love not blood: they arejust, and will do right. The sun must rise and set often, be fore mencan make one family; it is not the work of a day, but of many winters.The Mingoes and the Delawares are born enemies; their blood can nevermix in the wigwam; it never will run in the same stream in the battle.What makes the brother of Miquon and the Young Eagle foes? They are ofthe same tribe; their fathers and mothers are one. Learn to wait, myson, you are a Delaware, and an Indian warrior knows how to be patient."
This figurative address seemed to have great weight with the youngman, who gradually yielded to the representations of Marmaduke,and eventually consented to his proposal. It was, however, to be anexperiment only; and, if either of the parties thought fit to rescindthe engagement, it was left at his option so to do. The remarkable andill-concealed reluctance of the youth to accept of an offer, whichmost men in his situation would consider as an unhoped-for elevation,occasioned no little surprise in those to whom he was a stranger; andit left a slight impression to his disadvantage. When the partiesseparated, they very naturally made the subject the topic of aconversation, which we shall relate; first commencing with the Judge,his daughter, and Richard, who were slowly pursuing the way back to themansion-house.
"I have surely endeavored to remember the holy man dates of ourRedeemer, when he bids us 'love them who despitefully use you,' in myintercourse with this incomprehensible boy," said Marmaduke. "I know notwhat there is in my dwelling to frighten a lad of his years, unless itmay he thy presence and visage, Bess."
"No, no," said Richard, with great simplicity, "it is not CousinBess. But when did you ever know a half-breed, 'Duke, who couldbear civilization? For that mat ter, they are worse than the savagesthemselves! Did you notice how knock-kneed he stood, Elizabeth, and whata wild look he had in his eyes?"
"I heeded not his eyes, nor his knees, which would be all the betterfor a little humbling. Really, my dear sir, I think you did exercisethe Christian virtue of patience to the utmost. I was disgusted with hisairs, long before he consented to make one of our family. Truly we aremuch honored by the association! In what apartment is he to be placed,sir; and at what table is he to receive his nectar and ambrosia?"
"With Benjamin and Remarkable," interrupted Mr. Jones; "you sorely wouldnot make the youth eat with the blacks! He is part Indian, it is true;but the natives hold the negroes in great contempt. No, no; he wouldstarve before he would break a crust with the negroes."
"I am but too happy, Dickon, to tempt him to eat with ourselves," saidMarmaduke, "to think of offering even the indignity you propose."
"Certainly; he is to fill the station of one. Let him receive thetreatment that is due to his place, until we find him unworthy of it."
"Well, well, 'Duke," cried the sheriff, "you will find it no easy matterto make a gentleman of him. The old proverb says that 'it takes threegenerations to make a gentleman.' There was my father whom everybodyknew my grandfather was an M.D., and his father a D.D.; and his fathercame from England, I never could come at the truth of his origin; buthe was either a great mer chant in London, or a great country lawyer, orthe youngest son of a bishop."
"Here is a true American genealogy for you," said Marmaduke, laughing."It does very well till you get across the water, where, as everythingis obscure, it is certain to deal in the superlative. You are sure thatyour English progenitor was great, Dickon, whatever his profession mighthave been?"
"To be sure I am," returned the other. "I have heard my old aunt talk ofhim by the month. We are of a good family, Judge Temple, and have neverfilled any but honorable stations in life."
"I marvel that you should be satisfied with so scanty a provision ofgentility in the olden time, Dickon. Most of the American genealogistscommence their traditions like the stories for children, with threebrothers, taking especial care that one of the triumvirate shall bethe pro genitor of any of the same name who may happen to be betterfurnished with worldly gear than themselves. But, here, all are equalwho know how to conduct themselves with propriety; and Oliver Edwardscomes into my family on a footing with both the high sheriff and thejudge."
"Well, 'Duke, I call this democracy, not republicanism; but I saynothing; only let him keep within the law, or I shall show him that thefreedom of even this country is under wholesome restraint."
"Surely, Dickon, you will not execute till I condemn! But what says Bessto the new inmate? We must pay a deference to the ladies in this matter,after all."
"Oh, sir!" returned Elizabeth, "I believe I am much like a certain JudgeTemple in this particular--not easily to be turned from my opinion. But,to be serious, although I must think the introduction of a demi-savageinto the family a somewhat startling event, whomsoever you think properto countenance may be sure of my respect."
The Judge drew her arm more closely in his own and smiled, while Richardled the way through the gate of the little court-yard in the rear ofthe dwelling, dealing out his ambiguous warnings with his accustomedloquacity.
On the other hand, the foresters--for the three hunters, notwithstandingtheir difference in character, well deserved this common name--pursuedtheir course along the skirts of the village in silence. It was notuntil they had reached the lake, and were moving over its frozen surfacetoward the foot of the mountain, where the hut stood, that the youthexclaimed:
"Who could have foreseen this a month since! I have consented to serveMarmaduke Temple--to be an inmate in the dwelling of the greatest enemyof my race; yet what better could I do? The servitude cannot be long;and, when the motive for submitting to it ceases to exist, I will shakeit off like the dust from my feet."
"Is he a Mingo, that you will call him enemy?" said Mohegan. "TheDelaware warrior sits still, and waits the time of the Great Spirit. Heis no woman, to cry out like a child."
"Well, I'm mistrustful, John," said Leather-Stocking, in whose air therehad been, during the whole business, a strong expression of doubt anduncertainty. "They say that there's new laws in the land, and I'm sartinthat there's new ways in the mountains. One hardly knows the lakes andstreams, they've altered the country so much. I must say I'm mistrustfulof such smooth speakers; for I've known the whites talk fair whenthey wanted the Indian lands most. This I will say, though I'm a whitemyself, and was born nigh York, and of honest parents, too."
"I will submit," said the youth; "I will forget who I am. Cease toremember, old Mohegan, that I am the descendant of a Delaware chief, whoonce was master of these noble hills, these beautiful vales, and of thiswater, over which we tread. Yes, yes; I will become his bonds man--hisslave, Is it not an honorable servitude, old man?"
"Old man!" repeated the Indian solemnly, and pausing in his walk, asusual, when much excited; "yes, John is old. Son of my brother! ifMohegan was young, when would his rifle be still? Where would the deerhide, and he not find him? But John is old; his hand is the hand of asquaw; his tomahawk is a hatchet; brooms and baskets are his enemies--hestrikes no other. Hunger and old age come together. See Hawk-eye! whenyoung, he would go days and eat nothing; but should he not put the brushon the fire now, the blaze would go out. Take the son of Miquon by thehand, and he will help you."
"I'm not the man I was, I'll own, Chingachgook," returned theLeather-Stocking; "but I can go without a meal now, on occasion. Whenwe tracked the Iroquois through the 'Beech-woods,' they drove thegame afore them, for I hadn't a morsel to eat from Monday morning comeWednesday sundown, and then I shot as fat a buck, on the Pennsylvanyline, as ever mortal laid eyes on. It would have done your heart good tohave seen the Delaware eat; for I was out scouting and skrimmaging withtheir tribe at the time. Lord! The Indians, lad, lay still, and justwaited till Providence should send them their game, but I foraged about,and put a deer up, and put him down too, afore he had made a dozenjumps. I was too weak and too ravenous to stop for his flesh, so I tooka good drink of his blood, and the Indians ate of his meat raw. John wasthere, and John knows. But then starvation would be apt to be too muchfor me now, I will own, though I'm no great eater at any time."
"Enough is said, my friend," cried the youth. "I feel that everywherethe sacrifice is required at my hands, and it shall be made; but say nomore, I entreat you; I can not bear this subject now."
His companions were silent; and they soon reached the hut, which theyentered, after removing certain complicated and ingenious fastenings,that were put there apparently to guard a property of but very littlevalue. Immense piles of snow lay against the log walls of this secludedhabitation on one side; while fragments of small trees, and branchesof oak and chestnut, that had been torn from their parent stems by thewinds, were thrown into a pile on the other. A small column of smokerose through a chimney of sticks, cemented with clay, along the side ofthe rock, and had marked the snow above with its dark tinges, in a wavyline, from the point of emission to an other, where the hill recededfrom the brow of a precipice, and held a soil that nourished trees of agigantic growth, that overhung the little bottom beneath.
The remainder of the day passed off as such days are commonly spent in anew country. The settlers thronged to the academy again, to witness thesecond effort of Mr. Grant; and Mohegan was one of his hearers. But, notwithstanding the divine fixed his eyes intently on the Indian when heinvited his congregation to advance to the table, the shame of lastnight's abasement was yet too keen in the old chief to suffer him tomove.
When the people were dispersing, the clouds that had been gatheringall the morning were dense and dirty, and before half of the curiouscongregation had reached their different cabins, that were placed inevery glen and hollow of the mountains, or perched on the summits of thehills themselves, the rain was falling in torrents. The dark edges ofthe stumps began to exhibit themselves, as the snow settled rapidly;the fences of logs and brush, which before had been only traced by longlines of white mounds, that ran across the valley and up the mountains,peeped out from their covering, and the black stubs were momentarilybecoming more distinct, as large masses of snow and ice fell from theirsides, under the influence of the thaw.
Sheltered in the warm hall of her father's comfortable mansion,Elizabeth, accompanied by Louisa Grant, looked abroad with admirationat the ever-varying face of things without. Even the village, whichhad just before been glittering with the color of the frozen element,reluctantly dropped its mask, and the houses exposed their dark roofsand smoked chimneys. The pines shook off the covering of snow, andeverything seemed to be ass
uming its proper hues with a transition thatbordered on the supernatural.