THE RED FEATHERS
INDIAN AND HUNTING STORIES FOR BOYS
COMRADES OF THE TRAILS
By THEODORE GOODRIDGE ROBERTS
Cloth decorative, illustrated by Charles Livingston Bull. $1.50
A breezy tale of adventures in the Canadian wilds.
FLYING PLOVER
By THEODORE GOODRIDGE ROBERTS
Cloth decorative, illustrated by Charles Livingston Bull. $1.25
A story of Indian life in Labrador.
THE RED FEATHERS
By THEODORE GOODRIDGE ROBERTS
Cloth decorative, illustrated by Charles Livingston Bull. $1.50
A story of remarkable adventures when the world was young.
RALPH SOMERBY AT PANAMA
By FRANCIS RALEIGH
Cloth decorative, illustrated. $1.50
A story of adventures with the Indians, Spaniards and roving pirates
in the 16th century.
HAWK: THE YOUNG OSAGE
By C. H. ROBINSON
Cloth decorative, illustrated. $1.25
A story of Indian life and adventures in the 15th century.
LONGHEAD
By C. H. ROBINSON
Cloth decorative, illustrated. $1.00
An interesting book of prehistoric times.
THE YOUNG MOOSE HUNTERS
By C. A. STEPHENS
Cloth decorative, illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. $1.25
A stirring story of adventures in the wilds of Maine.
THE PAGE COMPANY
53 BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASS.
[Illustration: “SPED HERE AND THERE THROUGH THE AIR, SWIFT AS A CHASING
HAWK”
(_See page 25_)]
The Red Feathers
A Story of Remarkable Adventures
When the World Was Young
By Theodore Roberts
AUTHOR OF “BROTHERS OF PERIL,” “HEMMING THE ADVENTURER,” ETC.
_ILLUSTRATED AND DECORATED BY_
Charles Livingston Bull
[Illustration]
Boston The Page
Company Publishers
_Copyright, 1907_
BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
(INCORPORATED)
_Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London_
_All rights reserved_
Second Impression, June, 1908
Third Impression, January, 1913
Fourth Impression, December, 1915
Fifth Impression, September, 1919
THE COLONIAL PRESS
C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. “RUN-ALL-DAY” 1
II. THE TWO RED FEATHERS 7
III. THE LITTLEST WARRIOR AND HIS SUMMER HOME 15
IV. BRIGHT ROBE TELLS A STORY OF THE RED FEATHERS 20
V. RUN-ALL-DAY’S NEW-FOUND AMBITION 30
VI. RUN-ALL-DAY VISITS WHISPERING GRASS 38
VII. BRIGHT ROBE FINDS HIS ENEMY 47
VIII. THE YOUTH RECOVERS HIS STRENGTH AND VISITS RUN-ALL-DAY 56
IX. THE LITTLE BROWN OWL HUNTS FOR FOOD 73
X. THE LITTLE BROWN OWL HAS MORE TROUBLE 81
XI. THE MAGIC LODGE 90
XII. THE ADVENTURE OF JUMPING WOLF 100
XIII. RUN-ALL-DAY AGAIN MAKES USE OF THE RED FEATHERS 112
XIV. THE GOOD MAGICIAN VISITS RUN-ALL-DAY’S NEW VILLAGE 124
XV. THE LITTLEST WARRIOR’S GREAT PROSPECTS 136
XVI. FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE LITTLE BROWN OWL 143
XVII. A BRIEF RETURN TO POWER 153
XVIII. THE MAKER OF CHIEFS 168
XIX. THE THEFT OF THE RED FEATHERS 178
XX. A JOURNEY TO THE MAGIC FOREST 189
XXI. THE QUEST OF THE FEATHERS 202
XXII. WISE-AS-A-SHE-WOLF AND CRACK BONE THE GIANT 213
XXIII. HOW CRACK BONE WAS DOUBLY OUTWITTED 220
XXIV. THE MAGICIANS AWAKE 229
XXV. THE UNFINISHED BATTLE 238
XXVI. BRIGHT ROBE’S DISCRETION 249
XXVII. THE DIPLOMACY OF BRIGHT ROBE 257
XXVIII. THE QUEST 269
XXIX. PEACE 278
XXX. THE POISONED DART 288
XXXI. THE FREEZING OF THE NARROW SEA 297
XXXII. THE INVASION OF THE ISLAND 304
XXXIII. THE RESCUE OF STAR FLOWER 315
XXXIV. REST 319
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
“SPED HERE AND THERE THROUGH THE AIR, SWIFT AS
A CHASING HAWK” (_See Page 25_) _Frontispiece_
“A GREAT STAG CARIBOU, AS HIGH AS A PINE, HAUNTED
THE WILDS” 1
“THE ASTONISHED BUNNY HAD DEALT HIM A SHREWD
BLOW WITH ONE OF HIS BIG HIND LEGS” 75
“HERE A GOD STOOD HUGE AND BLACK AGAINST A SUNSET
SKY, LOOKING OUT ACROSS A DARKENING WORLD” 95
“HE SPRANG ASIDE INTO THE SHELTER OF A TREE
TRUNK, AND PEERED BACK ALONG THE WAY HE HAD COME” 105
“RED EYE UNTIED THE OPENING OF HIS WIGWAM, AND
THE OWL FLOATED FROM HIS PERCH” 154
“HE CLIMBED A HIGH TREE AT THE EDGE OF THE WOOD” 199
“THE HEAD AND SHOULDERS OF THE GIANT IMMEDIATELY
APPEARED, AND FROM UNDER A FRINGE OF TANGLED HAIR A
PAIR OF ALERT EYES, GRAY AS ICE, GLARED ABOUT” 213
“THEY PASSED BENEATH HIM, WHITE AS FROST AND DEATH” 272
[Illustration: “A GREAT STAG CARIBOU, AS HIGH AS A PINE, HAUNTED THE
WILDS.”]
THE RED FEATHERS
CHAPTER I
“RUN-ALL-DAY”
In the days of which I write, in the island now known as Newfoundland,
men made prayers to the sun, the winds, the frost and the stars. They
believed that giants lived in the north; that a great stag caribou, as
high as a pine, haunted the wilds beyond the Narrow Sea to the west;
that gods moved about in divers shapes, doing good or evil as their
natures prompted them, and that certain wise and crafty men acquired
a knowledge of magic and thereby became stronger than the greatest
warriors. Fog, to these people, was the breath of an old god who lived
to the eastward, just beneath the rim of the sea; and fire was a
spirit,--the offspring of a god,--that sometimes was content to feed on
the fagots cut for it, cooking food for men and warming their bodies,
and sometimes leaped into the woods and consumed the forest for miles
in an outburst of fury.
A man of the Beothic race named Run-all-day had a lodge on the River of
Three Fires, about half-way between its mouth and Wind Lake. There he
lived only in the warmer months of the year. At the approach of winter
he followed the great herds of caribou farther inland and southward,
to the deeper forest and more sheltered barrens. During the summer he
netted and speared the salmon in the River of Three Fires, feeding
himself and his family on the flesh and smoking what could not be used
then for their winter supply. Early in October, before starting on the
inland journey, his wife and children gathered nuts and berries, while
he hunted the fat caribou, which were already gathering in great herds
preparatory to moving to the more sheltered feeding-grounds. With the
venison and the berries his wife, Red Willow, made a rough sort of
pemmican.
Run-all-day was fleet of foot and strong of wind and leg. It was by
his speed and endurance when a boy that he had won his name. He had
also proved himself a warrior of prowess, when occasion demanded, and
might have followed his father as chief of a clan; but the islanders
happened to be entering on a long term of peace when he grew to
manhood, so he took a wife from another village and journeyed away from
his family. His wits were not as quick as his legs and he entertained
no great ambitions of distinguishing himself. He was quite content to
protect and provide for his family--to sleep warm and eat his fill all
the year round and see them do the same. Of course, sometimes at the
tail-end of a bad season, provisions ran low; but if any man could find
game and bring it to the ground, it was Run-all-day.
On a certain June evening, when the west was red and dusk was settling
along the edges of the woods, Run-all-day withdrew his net of raw-hide
thongs from a big pool four miles above his wigwam and seated himself
on the grassy bank for a few minutes’ rest before walking home.
Nine great silver fish lay beside him--a respectable load even for
Run-all-day. To lessen their weight he had already slit them from
throat to tail, with his flint knife, and tossed the entrails into the
bushes. He was well satisfied with his afternoon’s work, and sighed
with contentment and a pleasant weariness.
“It has been a good summer,” he murmured, “and there will be plenty
of food for all of us.” He smiled at that thought, for his family had
increased by one within the past week.
“You are a fortunate man, Run-all-day,” said a voice at his shoulder.
In the fraction of a second the salmon fisher was turned and on his
feet, with the flint blade with which he had cleaned the fish ready in
his hand. His eyes encountered those of a young man who stood not ten
feet distant, with his back to the dusky forest. The stranger’s tunic
of dressed deer-skin was decorated with strings of polished stones. On
his feet were finely worked moccasins and in his hand a short spear.
His face was very kind. To a keener reader of mankind than Run-all-day
it would have suggested the hope and faith of a child, the wisdom that
comes of experience and the charitable spirit of old age.
“Though I may be a stranger to you,” said the young man, smiling, “I am
not your enemy. You need not threaten me with the knife, oh, tireless
runner.”
Run-all-day tossed his weapon beside the dead fish and looked steadily
at the other.
“You do not belong to this river, chief,” said he, “and yet you call me
by my name. Is my reputation so great in the world?”
“To those who have ears to hear of an honest man,” replied the
stranger, “your reputation has travelled far. How is the little warrior
that came to your lodge but five days ago?”
“He is well and sound,” answered Run-all-day. “But what do you know of
him?” he asked, in wonder. “Are you a god?”
“You put the question honestly,” said the young man with the spear.
He stepped close to the salmon fisher.
“I am not a god,” he said. “I am even of your own clan. I am called
Wise-as-a-she-wolf.”
Run-all-day looked at him in open astonishment, for the name of
the great magician was known far and wide. Some people held that
Wise-as-a-she-wolf was stronger than several of the gods themselves;
that he was the greatest student of magic since the days of the wicked
Bright Robe; that his magic had been learned in the Crimson Wigwam and
in the White Lodge beyond the ramparts of eternal ice; that the secrets
of immortality and everlasting youth were his. And yet ’twas said that
for all his power, his heart was kind as a young girl’s.
“Great chief,” said the salmon fisher, at last, “I had thought to see,
in Wise-as-a-she-wolf, a full-grown man.”
“So be it, friend,” replied the other, and, in the twinkling of an eye,
a warrior of great stature and grim visage stood before Run-all-day.
“Have mercy, great chief,” cried the fisherman of the River of Three
Fires. He was strong and courageous; but he had a dread of big magic.
“Have no fear of your kinsman,” laughed the other; and, in the next
second, the youth with the gentle face laid a reassuring hand on
Run-all-day’s shoulder. The gigantic warrior was gone.