THE CHRONICLES OF THE NATCHEZ
These pages have been poorly written if he who reads has not discovered
that I am of a nature not easily discouraged by events, or disheartened
by misfortune. God had sufficiently armored me with hope; so that in
the midst of much darkness I sought for whatever light of guidance
there might be, making the most of it. Yet the intense, unanticipated
loneliness of that bare hut chilled my blood, and I scarcely recall a
more wretched time than while I waited, stung and tortured by fears,
for the return of De Noyan.
In truth the rough conclusions voiced by the angry sectary merely
confirmed my own fear. I had marked within the eyes of Naladi--dreamy
as they appeared beneath the shading of long lashes--no promise of
tenderness of heart. I believed it was seldom she inclined to mercy,
seldom she would step between her warriors and their revenge. I
acknowledge freely I felt to some degree the strange spell of her
power, the magic influence of her soft, sinuous beauty, which I doubt
if any man could utterly resist. Yet I recognized her from the first,
even as she stood wrapped in the sun's rays on the rock summit, as one
who, by instinct and nature, was scarce less a savage than her most
desperate follower, although she possessed the rare gift of masking her
cruelty beneath the pleasing smile of a woman not entirely unacquainted
with the courtesies of refinement.
I marvelled greatly who she could be, thus sporting the polite graces
of a reception-room in the midst of these squalid huts. What was her
strange life-story? How ever came such a woman, with charm of face,
and grace of manner, to be acknowledged leader over such a people? It
was not so odd that a clever, resourceful woman, driven perhaps by
necessity, should have made unscrupulous use of their dominant
superstitions, and, by naming herself "Daughter of the Sun," have
obtained supreme power. The perfect acting of such an assumed
character would not prove difficult to her, while their servile worship
of the protesting Puritan, whose red hair alone had elevated him to
sainthood, proved how easily these savages might be deceived, and led
slaves by subtle magic. Yet who was the woman? Whence came she? Why
should she ever have chosen such a life?
And Eloise! Through what misfortune had she already attained the
undisguised dislike of this Amazon? To what fate would this unmerited
disfavor condemn her? It is a terrible thing to remain chained and
helpless at such a time, to realize that cruel wrong, possibly torture,
is being visited upon another, upon one you know and love, and yet be
unable to uplift hand or voice in warning. I am by nature cool in
action, yet there are few who fret more grievously when held in leash,
compelled to await in uncertainty the coming of the unknown.
All I could do that day was to pace the hard earthen floor, vainly
endeavoring to quiet the wild throbbing of my heart with every hope I
might conjure up, now and then approaching the unguarded entrance of
the lodge to search anxiously for some ground of hope. It was thus the
long afternoon wore away, until the deepening shadows of sun-setting
rested heavily along the western cliffs, and the workers in the fields
began trooping through the village, their shouts of greeting shrill and
discordant, while the grim priests found place before the draped
entrance to their dread altar-house, with blazing fagots signalling
their distant brethren on the dizzy summit. It was then De Noyan
finally returned and found me raging from wall to wall like one
distracted.
It required but a glance to note the subtile change the afternoon had
wrought in his personal appearance, yet at the time I did not greatly
marvel at it. The stains of battle and exposure, that had so decidedly
disfigured him, had disappeared before the magic of new raiment, which
had about it the color and cut of French fashion; so it was now a fair
and prosperous gallant of the court, powdered of hair, waxen of
moustache, who came jauntily forward with his greetings.
"What said I, Master Benteen?" he questioned cheerily to my stare of
surprise. "Did I not boldly contend that this would yet prove a
pleasant resting-place to relieve the tedium of a journey? Can you
gaze upon this gay attire, longer doubting the verity of my dreams?
But no happiness finds reflection in your face; 'tis gloomy as a day of
rain. Prithie, the afternoon must have been passed by you far less
pleasantly than its hours sped with me."
"I have been conversing with good Master Cairnes," I responded gravely.
"I found him in no state of mind or body to bring me pleasant thought."
"_Parbleu_! I warrant not from all I hear of that worthy servant," the
Chevalier laughed gayly. "'T is told me the grim-faced old hypocrite
sits in worshipful state, a veritable god, trussed like a bronze idol
or some mummy of the Egyptians. By my faith, I should enjoy gazing on
his solemn face, and listening to his words withal."
"'T is an unhappy experience for a Christian."
"Ay! a pity; yet it should do the canting preacher good to play heathen
god a while. She pictured to me most vividly his struggles to escape a
fit draping with which to match his hair. _Sacre_! I have not laughed
so heartily since leaving New Orleans."
"She?" I exclaimed in new interest. "Have you been with your wife?"
He stroked his moustache, gazing at me in apparent surprise.
"Nay, friend Benteen; you must be the very soul of innocence to make
such hasty guess. I rested beneath the same roof with her, so I was
informed, yet she who spake thus regarding the plight of the Puritan
chanced to be the fair Queen, Naladi."
"Naladi? But you speak no Spanish,--how could you hold converse with
her?"
"There are always ways, if the lady be fair. The hands, eyes, lips can
all be made into messengers of speech. But in this case she brought
forth a black boy--a most mischievous imp--who managed to convey her
words in my own tongue. Still it was difficult to do justice in such a
way to so charming a woman; much came to my lips which I hesitated to
utter through the medium of that interpreter."
I looked at him in speechless amazement at this revelation of his
supreme conceit, his reckless vanity. Anxiety alone prompted me to
smother my resentment, hoping thus to obtain information.
"But your wife, Madame de Noyan? You say she was beneath the same
roof, and yet you saw her not? Do you mean you made no effort to
obtain speech with her?"
He leaned back against the wall of the hut, crossing his long limbs
negligently over the soft fur of the robe beneath, drawing from his
pocket a small mirror.
"Ay, I mentioned it; but _la reine Naladi_ appeared not overly well
pleased with the suggestion, so I concluded not to press the matter
unduly. One never gains by being ungallant at such a time. Besides,
there is no doubt Eloise is well attended; the Queen referred to her
most kindly."
"The preacher told me," I broke forth indignantly, determined to test
him to the full, "that this same sweet Naladi compelled her savage
minions to drag Madame harshly forth from the altar-house, despite her
pleadings. Perchance this tender-spoken Queen has little of the angel
beneath her fairness of skin."
"_Sacre_! I hope not. I opine an angel would prove wearisome to
company with for long. My own taste inclines toward flesh and blood.
You say Master Cairnes told you this sad tale?"
"Ay, adding that the pitiful Naladi only laughed at the sobs of Madame."
"Pish! between the two, her word has most weight with me. No doubt
'twas a vision born of his own temper. The Queen assured me most
graciously of the welfare and contentment of Eloise. It would have
been boorish to question her further. Besides, she took my thought
from other things, repeating to me the strange tale of these savages,
although the black made poor enough work with her words."
It was abundantly evident the man was fairly crazed with conceit,
already well entangled in the web of this designing creature. For the
hour, at least, all serious consideration of her who should rightfully
claim his attention had been completely blotted out. He had become a
willing victim to a will infinitely stronger than his own, his
conscience deadened by the poison of beauty; so, while my blood rioted
in protest to his simpering French vanity, I could perceive no means by
which I might arouse him to more manly action. To cross such a man
only invites to the surface the worst elements of his nature; besides,
were I to stir him by strong protest, it might be doubtful if he
comprehended the nature of my scruples in the matter. Any such
misunderstanding would result in the exchange of hard words, and in my
making an enemy where now I possessed a friend. Not that the Chevalier
was a particularly valuable ally, yet he wielded a good sword upon
occasion, and would prove more useful in friendship than in enmity. I
might despise him, yet he remained the husband of Madame, and I durst
pick no quarrel with him. To do so would raise a barrier between us,
rendering our situation among the savages darker than ever. As to the
moral side of the affair, it would be sheer waste of words to broach
it, as De Noyan could form no clearer conception of such an issue than
a babe unborn. He swung as the wind blew, and in all his pampered life
had probably never dreamed of denying himself a liberty. Saint Andrew!
it was a knotty problem for such a head as mine to solve. I believe I
chose the better course in assuming the role of a neutral, as I sat
staring at the fellow while he twisted his moustaches into their
old-time curl, gazing at himself in the pocket mirror, utterly
oblivious of my presence.
"So this beauty of a Queen told you the tale of her people," I remarked
at last, determining to humor his mood. "It would interest me to hear
the story. Those I have thus far seen differ widely from any other
order of savages with whom I have come in contact."
"Your judgment is right. As she tells the story, they are not of
Indian blood, but belong to a far older race. She says they are the
remnant of a master people--although regarding their exact lineage she
spoke but little--who once, hundreds of years ago no doubt, held
undisputed dominion from the banks of a great red river flowing through
the prairies far to the northward, down to the salted sea bounding the
land upon the east. She said their ancestors mined in the rocks, and
cultivated the rich land of the valleys. They were ruled over by five
kings; and when one of these died all their wives were burned above the
grave, and a hundred slaves sacrificed to the Sun, which they
worshipped, and called Elagabalus. These were all buried around the
body of the king, whose tomb was of rock, and a huge mound of earth
erected over them by the labor of thousands of slaves taken in battle.
Yet their chief king, in the day of their great power, she called
Palenque, placing his capital to north and east of this place, a land
journey of thirty days. Here was built a great city of wood and stone,
surrounded by an immense wall of earth, to which all the smaller kings
journeyed in state once each year to make account of their kingdoms,
and offer up slaves on the altar of the great temple in sacrifice to
the Sun. They would gather thus from noon to noon, and thousands of
captives would be slaughtered before the altar by the priests. She
told me they once possessed vast store of yellow metal and flashing
stones, with other treasures. Cities were set apart under guard to
have special care over them. Some of these have descended even unto
the present, but are kept hidden away by the priests, though she
promised later to let me view them secretly. And she related a most
strange tale of destiny--of a long, barbarous war, filled with the
names of warriors and towns sounding most uncouth to my ears; a war
lasting many years, during which the Chichimes--for so she named the
wild hordes sweeping down upon them from the northward--drove their
fathers backward from city to city, beginning far away in the kingdom
named Talapa, and pillaging clear to the banks of the great river where
Palenque reigned. Their ancestors erected vast forts of earth, thus
managing to hold their own against the invaders, so long as their
slaves remained loyal. But at last these also rose in revolt, and,
when all supplies had been cut off, the hopeless remnant of defenders
fell back down the broad river, bearing with them much of their most
valued treasure, never permitting the sacred flame, which was the gift
of the Sun, to die out upon their altars. Like flies they died in the
preservation of this symbol of their religion; for 'tis their faith,
that if it be kept burning undimmed, there will yet come to them a
great leader from the Sun to restore their lost glories. She described
to me the arts of that past, the many beautiful things the race had
made, those wondrous cities protected by high walls, the vast mounds of
earth moulded into strange figures of extinct animals, uplifted as
altars, and sometimes utilized for the burial of their dead and their
treasure. _Sacre_! I can recall a portion of the story, yet it was a
weird, fascinating tale as she told it slowly, and with all
seriousness, although the black boy stammered so badly in his words I
got only dim pictures here and there."
"But how came they here?" I questioned.
"I was coming to that. It was some trouble with the French in
Bienville's day. Only a few escaped, and they were driven into these
hills; yet 't is said they saved a considerable amount of treasure
which had come to them from their fathers, together with some of the
mummified bodies of their kings. It is forty years since they
discovered this dell, and only the older men have any memory of the
discovery."
"What do they call themselves?"
"'Nalmas' was the word the Queen used, but they are that same people
whom we knew about in New Orleans as 'Natchez'; their old country was
called Tlapalan."
I sat silent, pondering upon his words, but before I thought out
further questioning, a warrior, bearing food, entered the hut. Setting
this down upon the ground before us, he drew back into the gathering
night shadows without uttering a word. That which I had just heard
caused me to gaze upon the fellow--a tall, stalwart savage--with newly
awakened interest, and I could not help observing again how widely the
type differed from those Indian tribes with whom my wandering border
life had rendered me familiar. Not only was this man of fairer,
clearer complexion, but his cheek-bones were not in the least
prominent, his nose was wide at the base and somewhat flattened, while
his forehead sloped sharply backward in such peculiar form as to
warrant the opinion that the deformity arose from a compression of the
frontal bone in infancy. The hair, although worn long and flowing down
the back, was decidedly wavy, and not coarse; the color was a ruddy
brown. The eyes of these Indians were bold, cruel, crafty, yet in many
instances the coloring was so light as to be startling; the average
stature was greater than that of those other Indians that I knew. In
short, they impressed me as being all that was claimed, a distinct
race, with characteristics more nearly allied to the Ethiopian and the
Mongolian than to the surrounding red races. As I figured this out
somewhat slowly, De Noyan busted himself with the meal, and, thus
engrossed, apparently forgot the topic of our conversation.
"And did this Queen Naladi claim to belong to this old race?" I
questioned, thinking thus to test his observation.
"Why not?" he asked in return, suspending operations, and glancing up
at me in surprise. "She referred to herself as the 'Daughter of the
Sun,' once saying that her ancestors ruled over this people for a
thousand years."
"She told you that?"
"At least so the black interpreted her words. Why question it?"
"Doubtless to your thought there exists small cause for questioning the
word of so fair a woman," I acknowledged dryly. "Yet to my vision, not
wholly blinded by her charms, she possesses more of the Caucasian in
face and manner than any other of the race. If she is not of European
birth I am a poor judge, Monsieur, and 't is my belief, if she told you
she was not, the woman lied."
I was scarcely prepared for the result of my words upon him; his face
flushed, a sudden glow of anger sweeping into his eyes.
"You are, indeed, of bold heart," he exclaimed scornfully, "to malign a
woman in her absence."
"There are women no words can malign," I retorted sharply, stung by his
tone, "I opine this Queen of savages belongs to that class. To my mind
it would be better were you to wax indignant over the wrongs of your
wife rather than over a just picturing of this harlot."
Before I could move to draw aside, he was upon his feet, and I felt the
stinging blow of his hand across my lips.
"_Sacre_!" he cried, transported by sudden rage, "Charles de Noyan
takes such affront from no man. I denounce you as a cowardly vilifier
of an absent woman."
I know not why I failed to strike the fellow down. My hand was hard on
the knife hilt within my doublet, yet I drew it not as we stood there
eye to eye. There was that between us--the dim, shadowy face of a
woman--which held me as by a chain. It seemed to me then as if my
knife point would have to pass through her before it touched his heart,
and, feeling thus, God gave me power to choke back the hot resentment,
and restrain my hand.
"Monsieur," I said sternly, "never has the hand of man touched me
before in anger without my making full return for the blow. Yet now I
strike you not. The time may come when I shall wipe out this insult,
but here and now you stand safe from my arm."
"Safe!" he sneered. "_Parbleu_! you are a cowardly hound to talk thus.
Safe! think you I have anything to fear at your hands?"
"I bid you restrain your tongue, Chevalier," I said, my voice unsteady.
"God being my witness, never before did you stand so close to death as
now. Look," and I held up the keen blade before his eyes. "This steel
thirsts for your blood; only one thought has intervened to save you."
"What was that?"
"The fact that you are the husband of one who was once Eloise
Lafrénière."
I know not how much of the truth he suspected, but for a moment we
stood thus, I half imagining he contemplated a leap at my throat. Then
his eyes fell, and he drew back with a short laugh.
"_Le Diable_! 'tis easy for some people to discover excuses at such a
time. Still, Monsieur, as you refuse to fight I may as well lie down;
having been early awake I am somewhat weary."
I watched him silently while he arranged his robes for the night.
"Before you sleep," I ventured, "it would please my curiosity to know
where this pure and peerless Queen of yours makes her abode."
"Ah! would you pay her a visit?" he asked suspiciously.
"Far from it; rather that I may avoid her. Yet we are not in specially
pleasant surroundings, and such information might not come amiss."
He sulked a moment over his answer, but finally relented.
"In that large hut upon the second mound."
"You spoke as if Madame de Noyan were beneath the same roof, yet you
saw her not. Does the hut differ from this in being divided into
rooms?"
"A partition runs through it from roof to floor. Naladi holds court in
the south room, which is decorated most lavishly with things of beauty."
"Then Madame occupies the northern portion?"
"So I understood," with a sleepy yawn. "I asked little in detail;
'twas enough for me to be assured she was well."