The Prairie (Fiscle Part 3) Of 2 by J Fenimore Cooper (phonics reading books TXT) 📕

Stopped Within Reach Of Him,  He Stretched Forth His Arm,  And Laying A

Hand Upon The Shoulder Of The Attentive Old Man,  He Stood Regarding

Him,  A Minute,  With Eyes That Seemed Willing To Penetrate The Recesses

Of His Most Secret Thoughts.

"Is A Pale-Face Always Made With Two Tongues?" He Demanded,  When He

Found That,  As Usual,  With The Subject Of This Examination,  He Was As

Little Intimidated By His Present Frown,  As Moved By Any Apprehensions

Of The Future.

"Honesty Lies Deeper Than The Skin."

"It Is So. Now Let My Father Hear Me. Mahtoree Has But One Tongue,  The

Grey-Head Has Many. They May Be All Straight,  And None Of Them Forked.

A Sioux Is No More Than A Sioux,  But A Pale-Face Is Every Thing! He

Can Talk To The Pawnee,  And The Konza,  And The Omawhaw,  And He Can

Talk To His Own People."

"Ay,  There Are Linguists In The Settlements That Can Do Still More.

But What Profits It All? The Master Of Life Has An Ear For Every

Language!"

"The Grey-Head Has Done Wrong. He Has Said One Thing When He Meant

Another. He Has Looked Before Him With His Eyes,  And Behind Him With

His Mind. He Has Ridden The Horse Of A Sioux Too Hard; He Has Been The

Friend Of A Pawnee,  And The Enemy Of My People."

"Teton,  I Am Your Prisoner. Though My Words Are White,  They Will Not

Complain. Act Your Will."

"No. Mahtoree Will Not Make A White Hair Red. My Father Is Free. The

Prairie Is Open On Every Side Of Him. But Before The Grey-Head Turns

His Back On The Siouxes,  Let Him Look Well At Them,  That He May Tell

His Own Chief,  How Great Is A Dahcotah!"

"I Am Not In A Hurry To Go On My Path. You See A Man With A White

Head,  And No Woman,  Teton; Therefore Shall I Not Run Myself Out Of

Breath,  To Tell The Nations Of The Prairies What The Siouxes Are

Doing."

"It Is Good. My Father Has Smoked With The Chiefs At Many Councils,"

Returned Mahtoree,  Who Now Thought Himself Sufficiently Sure Of The

Other's Favour To Go More Directly To His Object. "Mahtoree Will Speak

With The Tongue Of His Very Dear Friend And Father. A Young Pale-Face

Will Listen When An Old Man Of That Nation Opens His Mouth. Go; My

Father Will Make What A Poor Indian Says Fit For A White Ear."

"Speak Aloud!" Said The Trapper,  Who Readily Understood The

Metaphorical Manner,  In Which The Teton Expressed A Desire That He

Should Become An Interpreter Of His Words Into The English Language;

"Speak,  My Young Men Listen. Now,  Captain,  And You Too,  Friend Bee-

Hunter,  Prepare Yourselves To Meet The Deviltries Of This Savage,  With

The Stout Hearts Of White Warriors. If You Find Yourselves Giving Way

Under His Threats,  Just Turn Your Eyes On That Noble-Looking Pawnee,

Whose Time Is Measured With A Hand As Niggardly,  As That With Which A

Trader In The Towns Gives Forth The Fruits Of The Lord,  Inch By Inch,

In Order To Satisfy His Covetousness. A Single Look At The Boy Will

Set You Both Up In Resolution."

"My Brother Has Turned His Eyes On The Wrong Path," Interrupted

Mahtoree,  With A Complacency That Betrayed How Unwilling He Was To

Offend His Intended Interpreter.

"The Dahcotah Will Speak To My Young Men?"

"After He Has Sung In The Ear Of The Flower Of The Pale-Faces."

"The Lord Forgive The Desperate Villain!" Exclaimed The Old Man In

English. "There Are None So Tender,  Or So Young,  Or So Innocent,  As To

Escape His Ravenous. Wishes. But Hard Words And Cold Looks Will Profit

Nothing; Therefore It Will Be Wise To Speak Him Fair. Let Mahtoree

Open His Mouth."

"Would My Father Cry Out,  That The Women And Children Should Hear The

Wisdom Of Chiefs! We Will Go Into The Lodge And Whisper."

As The Teton Ended,  He Pointed Significantly Towards A Tent,  Vividly

Emblazoned With The History Of One Of His Own Boldest And Most

Commended Exploits,  And Which Stood A Little Apart From The Rest,  As

If To Denote It Was The Residence Of Some Privileged Individual Of The

Band. The Shield And Quiver At Its Entrance Were Richer Than Common,

And The High Distinction Of A Fusee,  Attested The Importance Of Its

Proprietor. In Every Other Particular It Was Rather Distinguished By

Signs Of Poverty Than Of Wealth. The Domestic Utensils Were Fewer In

Number And Simpler In Their Forms,  Than Those To Be Seen About The

Openings Of The Meanest Lodges,  Nor Was There A Single One Of Those

High-Prized Articles Of Civilised Life,  Which Were Occasionally Bought

Of The Traders,  In Bargains That Bore So Hard On The Ignorant Natives.

All These Had Been Bestowed,  As They Had Been Acquired,  By The

Generous Chief,  On His Subordinates,  To Purchase An Influence That

Might Render Him The Master Of Their Lives And Persons; A Species Of

Wealth That Was Certainly More Noble In Itself,  And Far Dearer To His

Ambition.

The Old Man Well Knew This To Be The Lodge Of Mahtoree,  And,  In

Obedience To The Sign Of The Chief,  He Held His Way Towards It With

Slow And Reluctant Steps. But There Were Others Present,  Who Were

Equally Interested In The Approaching Conference,  Whose Apprehensions

Were Not To Be So Easily Suppressed. The Watchful Eye And Jealous Ears

Of Middleton Had Taught Him Enough To Fill His Soul With Horrible

Forebodings. With An Incredible Effort He Succeeded In Gaining His

Feet,  And Called Aloud To The Retiring Trapper--

"I Conjure You,  Old Man,  If The Love You Bore My Parents Was More Than

Words,  Or If The Love You Bear Your God Is That Of A Christian Man,

Utter Not A Syllable That May Wound The Ear Of That Innocent--"

Exhausted In Spirit And Fettered In Limbs,  He Then Fell,  Like An

Inanimate Log,  To The Earth,  Where He Lay Like One Dead.

Paul Had However Caught The Clue And Completed The Exhortation,  In His

Peculiar Manner.

"Harkee,  Old Trapper," He Shouted,  Vainly Endeavouring At The Same

Time To Make A Gesture Of Defiance With His Hand; "If You Ar' About To

Play The Interpreter,  Speak Such Words To The Ears Of That Damnable

Savage,  As Becomes A White Man To Use,  And A Heathen To Hear. Tell

Him,  From Me,  That If He Does Or Says The Thing That Is Uncivil To The

Girl,  Called Nelly Wade,  That I'll Curse Him With My Dying Breath;

That I'll Pray For All Good Christians In Kentucky To Curse Him;

Sitting And Standing; Eating And Drinking,  Fighting,  Praying,  Or At

Horse-Races; In-Doors And Outdoors; In Summer Or Winter,  Or In The

Month Of March In Short I'll--Ay,  It Ar' A Fact,  Morally True--I'll

Haunt Him,  If The Ghost Of A Pale-Face Can Contrive To Lift Itself

From A Grave Made By The Hands Of A Red-Skin!"

Having Thus Ventured The Most Terrible Denunciation He Could Devise,

And The One Which,  In The Eyes Of The Honest Bee-Hunter,  There Seemed

The Greatest Likelihood Of His Being Able To Put In Execution,  He Was

Obliged To Await The Fruits Of His Threat,  With That Resignation Which

Would Be Apt To Govern A Western Border-Man Who,  In Addition To The

Prospects Just Named,  Had The Advantage Of Contemplating Them In

Fetters And Bondage. We Shall Not Detain The Narrative,  To Relate The

Quaint Morals With Which He Next Endeavoured To Cheer The Drooping

Spirits Of His More Sensitive Companion,  Or The Occasional Pithy And

Peculiar Benedictions That He Pronounced,  On All The Bands Of The

Dahcotahs,  Commencing With Those Whom He Accused Of Stealing Or

Murdering,  On The Banks Of The Distant Mississippi,  And Concluding,  In

Terms Of Suitable Energy,  With The Teton Tribe. The Latter More Than

Once Received From His Lips Curses As Sententious And As Complicated

As That Celebrated Anathema Of The Church,  For A Knowledge Of Which

Most Unlettered Protestants Are Indebted To The Pious Researches Of

The Worthy Tristram Shandy. But As Middleton Recovered From His

Exhaustion He Was Fain To Appease The Boisterous Temper Of His

Associate,  By Admonishing Him Of The Uselessness Of Such

Denunciations,  And Of The Possibility Of Their Hastening The Very Evil

He Deprecated,  By Irritating The Resentments Of A Race,  Who Were

Sufficiently Fierce And Lawless,  Even In Their Most Pacific Moods.

In The Mean Time The Trapper And The Sioux Chief Pursued Their Way To

The Lodge. The Former Had Watched With Painful Interest The Expression

Of Mahtoree's Eye,  While The Words Of Middleton And Paul Were Pursuing

Their Footsteps,  But The Mien Of The Indian Was Far Too Much

Restrained And Self-Guarded,  To Permit The Smallest Of His Emotions To

Escape Through Any Of Those Ordinary Outlets,  By Which The Condition

Of The Human Volcano Is Commonly Betrayed. His Look Was Fastened On

The Little Habitation They Approached; And,  For The Moment,  His

Thoughts Appeared To Brood Alone On The Purposes Of This Extraordinary

Visit.

The Appearance Of The Interior Of The Lodge Corresponded With Its

Exterior. It Was Larger Than Most Of The Others,  More Finished In Its

Form,  And Finer In Its Materials; But There Its Superiority Ceased.

Nothing Could Be More Simple And Republican Than The Form Of Living

That The Ambitious And Powerful Teton Chose To Exhibit To The Eyes Of

His People. A Choice Collection Of Weapons For The Chase,  Some Three

Or Four Medals,  Bestowed By The Traders And Political Agents Of The

Canadas As A Homage To,  Or Rather As An Acknowledgment Of,  His Rank,

With A Few Of The Most Indispensable Articles Of Personal

Accommodation,  Composed Its Furniture. It Abounded In Neither Venison,

Nor The Wild-Beef Of The Prairies; Its Crafty Owner Having Well

Understood That The Liberality Of A Single Individual Would Be

Abundantly Rewarded By The Daily Contributions Of A Band. Although As

Pre-Eminent In The Chase As In War,  A Deer Or A Buffaloe Was Never

Seen To Enter Whole Into His Lodge. In Return,  An Animal Was Rarely

Brought Into The Encampment,  That Did Not Contribute To Support The

Family Of Mahtoree. But The Policy Of The Chief Seldom Permitted More

To Remain Than Sufficed For The Wants Of The Day,  Perfectly Assured

That All Must Suffer Before Hunger,  The Bane Of Savage Life,  Could Lay

Its Fell Fangs On So Important A Victim.

Immediately Beneath The Favourite Bow Of The Chief,  And Encircled