Silas Wormley was pretty sure of the ground he trod on, but was not
absolutely certain. Although the manner of Dove-eye had convinced him
that he had guessed the truth, or very near it, he felt that he was
not able to prove his assertions. If he should charge her with the
deception, before the old men of the Arapahoes, he knew that their
own suspicions would not be strong enough to confirm his accusations.
They would require plain and undeniable proof to convince them of the
falsity of that which they had so long held as a religious belief. If
he should fail in furnishing such proof, he would lose the profits of
his trading, if not his scalp.
He determined, therefore, to make his suspicion a certainty, and he was
not long in forming a plan to accomplish that end.
He knew that Jose, the negro, had long been the servant and constant
companion of the old medicine-man, and that he was devoted to
Dove-eye. It was not to be supposed that the old man could have died
without the knowledge of Jose, and it was probable that he had assisted
Dove-eye in disposing of the body. Wormley had seen enough of the negro
to know that he could not be bribed from his duty to Dove-eye, and that
the secret, if he really knew it, must be forced from him.
To accomplish this, a confederate was necessary, and the trader cast
about for a suitable person.
There was an Indian among the Arapahoes, supposed to be a Pawnee Loup
by birth, who never joined a war party, and who had no belongings of
any kind, not even a gun or a squaw or a lodge. This individual, who
was known by the name of Bull-tail, was an ill-conditioned vagabond,
the butt of the village, and the general recipient of all scattering
kicks and cuffs.
The trader bribed Bull-tail, by the promise of some rum, to assist him
in his undertaking, and the two came upon Jose and seized him, one
morning when he was away from his lodge.
“I have got an account to settle with you, boy,” said the trader. “I
am going to ask you a question, and you had better tell the truth, or
I will squeeze it out of you the hard way. Where did you and Dove-eye
bury the Big Medicine?”
The countenance of the negro, at this unexpected question, convinced
Wormley that he had hit the mark, and he proceeded to press his
advantage.
“You needn’t try to lie out of it,” he said, “or to get out of it in
any way; for I know pretty near all about the matter. Dove-eye has
admitted to me that the old man died, and that you helped her bury him,
and I only want you to show me where the grave is.”
The name of Dove-eye brought the negro to his senses. He perceived
that, whatever she might have admitted, she had not revealed the place
of burial of the old man, and he was determined to disclose nothing
that she had not been willing to make known. He stoutly denied all
knowledge of the grave, or of the death of the old man, or of any thing
connected with his disappearance.
“Very well,” said the trader. “I know that you are lying, and I have
advised you to tell the truth. If you don’t tell it, I must squeeze it
out of you.”
As the negro persisted in refusing to make any disclosures, he was
gagged, stripped, and tied to a tree. The trader cut hickory rods,
which he plied upon the back of the poor fellow until he was tired of
the exercise, and then turned over the task to Bull-tail, who, having
received several flagellations, thought it a great privilege to be
permitted to whip somebody.
Jose kicked and writhed and groaned in his agony; but, when the gag was
removed from his mouth, he refused to utter a word.
“I’ll have it out of you yet!” exclaimed Wormley, with an oath. “In the
settlements, when we get hold of a tough customer, and he won’t let the
truth come out of him, we choke it out, and that’s the way I will serve
you, you black rascal!”
He had brought a rope, which he knotted in the most approved style,
and placed around Jose’s neck, throwing the loose end over the limb of
a tree. After exhorting the negro to confess, Wormley and the Indian
hauled him up until his feet were off the ground, but soon lowered him.
“You see what it is, boy,” said the trader. “You had better make up
your mind to show us that grave, or you will get a choking ten times
worse than this.”
As the negro persisted in his denial, notwithstanding this rough
treatment, Wormley ran him up again, and angrily took a turn with the
rope around a sapling.
The agony of Jose was fearful, and was increased by his struggles. His
eyes rolled back in his head, his tongue protruded from his mouth, and
then he was quiet.
Fearing that he had been killed, the trader let him down. He was
senseless when the rope was removed from his neck; but a liberal
application of cold water brought him to after a while, and he sat up
and stared helplessly about.
“Have I been dead?” he asked.
“Mighty near it, boy,” replied Wormley. “If you ain’t willing, now, to
show us where you and Dove-eye buried the Big Medicine, you will go up
again, and then you will never come down.”
Jose’s pluck and determination had oozed out of him, under the last
trial, and he signified his willingness to show them the place, if they
would allow him to rest a few minutes and regain his strength.
This request was granted, and he led them to the ravine in which the
old man was buried. Wormley sharpened a stick, and dug up the ground,
making the Indian and the negro throw out the earth with their hands,
until the body was partially uncovered. In spite of decomposition,
Bull-tail recognized the features of the Big Medicine, as well as his
long white hair and beard and the peculiar robe that he had always worn.
Having satisfied himself, the trader replaced the earth, and permitted
Jose to depart, after warning him not to mention to Dove-eye the
treatment he had received, or the disclosure he had made.
Jose heeded the warning until he was out of sight of Wormley, when he
hastened to find Dove-eye, and tell her all that happened.
She was greatly troubled. Discovery seemed imminent, if not
unavoidable, and a terrible death stared her in the face. The negro was
very indignant at learning that Wormley had lied to him concerning the
admissions which she was said to have made, and he forgot his own pain
at the sight of the anxiety of his young mistress.
Accusing himself of having brought this trouble upon her, he resolved
to endeavor to extricate her from her embarrassment and at the same
time to make Wormley repent of the base part he was playing. At first
he wished to kill the trader; but Dove-eye said his death would avail
nothing, as long as Bull-tail was also possessed of the secret. He then
suggested flight; but Dove-eye declared that she might as well die
there, as to starve in the mountains, or to be captured by some other
tribe.
At last he hit upon an idea that pleased him amazingly, and he burst
into a laugh as it came into his mind. Bidding his mistress set her
mind at rest, he hastened to carry out his plan.
Removing the earth from the grave in the ravine, he carried away the
remains of the old medicine-man, and buried them in another spot. He
then took up the body of an Indian who had been buried so long that
his features could not be recognized, and laid it in the grave, filling
in the earth so that it looked exactly as Wormley had left it.
Having finished his task, he hastened to Dove-eye, and told her what he
had done.
Dove-eye was overjoyed. She praised the negro highly for the ready wit
and invention by which he had extricated her from this pressing peril,
and declared that the Snake might do his worst, as she was not afraid
of him, and was able to turn the tables upon him whenever he should
seek to harm her.
The trader, satisfied that he had Dove-eye in his power, lost no time
in pressing his advantage. Cautioning Bull-tail to say nothing about
the discovery that had been made, he sought an opportunity of speaking
to Dove-eye privately. She did not avoid him, as she was by no means
unwilling to have the affair brought “to a head.”
“Dove-eye will listen to me now,” he said. “She must listen to me,
unless she is willing to die. I knew that I was right when I told her
that she was deceiving her people; but I was not then able to prove my
words. Now I have the proof, and Dove-eye is in my power. She must do
as I wish her to do, or I will denounce her to the old men.”
“What will you do?” calmly asked Dove-eye. “You had better not tell the
warriors that the Big Medicine has lied to them.”
“I will tell them that you have deceived them. I will tell them that
the Big Medicine will never return from the spirit-land, that he is
dead and in his grave.”
“It is easy for the Snake to tell lies.”
“I can prove that I speak the truth. I will take them to his grave, and
will show them his body.”
“It will be hard even for the Snake to show that which is not to be
found.”
“But I have seen it. You thought your secret was safe with you and
Jose; but he has confessed, and has shown me where you buried the old
man.”
“You may be able to make Jose say many things; but he could not show
you that which he has never seen himself.”
“I have seen the body of the Big Medicine, and I can take the old men
to his grave, where they can see it themselves. I wish to save you,
Dove-eye. I wish you to live and to be my wife. If you will marry me,
you will be safe; if not, I will tell the tribe of what you have done.”
“If all you say were true, I had rather die than become your wife; but
I am not afraid of your lies.”
With this reply the girl turned away and left him.
Boiling with indignation at the contempt with which he was treated,
the trader hastened to the village, and went at once to the lodge of
Black Horse, whom he requested to call together the old men as he had a
matter of the greatest importance to communicate.
The chief summoned the council, the door of the council-lodge was
closed, and Wormley was about to commence his accusation, when he was
interrupted by an uproar without.