SAUK AND SHAWANOE.
At the instant the almost inaudible rustling struck the ear of Deerfoot
the Shawanoe, he caught sight of a rifle barrel as it was thrust among
the undergrowth and aimed at him. It was the faintest possible sound,
caused by the pushing aside of the leaves which he heard, and which he
was expecting for a full minute to hear. The lightning-like glance cast
toward the point showed him the dark barrel, and the ferocious gleam of
the face of an Indian, crouching on one knee just beyond.
The warrior who aimed the weapon meant to send the bullet through the
chest of the youth, whose approach, stealthy as it was, he had detected.
The distance was so slight that the briefest possible time was required
to make his aim certain; but while in the very act of doing so, the
sinewy youth vanished like a puff of vapor.
The savage was dumfounded, for nothing of the kind had ever occurred, so
far as his experience went, and it was unexplainable to him. He had used
the proverbial caution of his people, and he knew from the expectant
position of the youth that his suspicions were excited, but he could not
comprehend by what means he had passed so suddenly from sight. The red
man was in the very act of pressing the trigger when he discovered he
was not aiming at any target.
If the Indian tongue contained an execration, it may well be imagined
that a most vigorous one escaped the lips of the baffled redskin, who
was shut out from his prize at the moment of closing his fingers upon
it.
The warrior was a brawny, full-grown Indian, almost in middle life, who
had sunk on one knee and brought his gun to his shoulder, after briefly
studying the form which had approached his lurking place. He had never
seen the stranger until that moment, and he only knew that he belonged
to some totem unknown to him. It was probable that his home was on the
eastern shore of the Mississippi, and he resented the intrusion upon his
hunting grounds as he did that of a white man: consequently he was as
quick to take the life of one as of the other.
Finding that his intended victim had disappeared beyond all question,
the next step of the fierce assassin was to solve the meaning of the
unaccountable occurrence. He noiselessly straightened up, and craning
his head forward peeped through the undergrowth. All that he saw was the
huge boulder or rock, within a few feet of where the youth had been
standing. It followed, therefore that he had flung himself behind it,
and was hiding there at that moment.
The painted visage glowed with a baleful light, for he was assured his
triumph was postponed only for a few moments. The boulder might serve as
a shelter while the relative positions of the two were the same, but it
was in the power of the savage to change that by putting forth only
moderate skill.
Taking care not to reveal himself, he began a guarded movement to the
right, his course being the same as if starting to describe a circle
about the hiding place. It will be seen that if he could accomplish this
without exposing himself to the fire of the other, he would not need to
go far before gaining a view of the opposite side of the boulder, and
necessarily of him who was seeking to screen himself from discovery. To
do this, however, the victim must remain where he was, for manifestly,
if he shifted his position correspondingly, he would continue invisible,
but he counted himself fortunate that he had noticed the peculiar
configuration of the boulder, which rendered such a man[oe]uvre beyond
the power of an ordinary warrior. As for himself, he had no personal
fear, for the trees were so numerous that he could use them to shield
his body while leaping from one to the other, while in many places he
could steal along the ground without the possibility of detection.
If the fool had but known the woodcraft of the youth against whom he was
so eager to pit himself, he would have turned and fled from the spot as
from a plague; but he had never heard the name of Deerfoot, and little
dreamed of the skill of the extraordinary youth.
The warrior stooped, crept, leaped, and stole through the wood with a
celerity that was astonishing. Within a very short time after beginning
the movement, he had described one-fourth of the circle and gained the
view he wished. It must be remembered, too, that he had kept the boulder
under such close surveillance as to be morally certain the youth could
not shift his position without being observed.
But to his amazement he saw nothing of his victim. The flat slope and
the leafy ground were free from anything resembling a human being. He
stood peering from behind the tree, and at his wit's end to know what it
meant. He held his rifle so that the hammer could be raised the moment
the necessity came, and he must have felt that the wiser course was for
him to leave the spot without further search.
Probably such would have been his course had he not heard a most
alarming sound directly behind him. It was the faint cough of a person
seeking to clear his throat. The Indian turned like a flash, and saw the
dusky youth a rod distant, holding his bow loosely in his right hand,
while his terrible left was drawn back over his shoulder, the fingers
clenching the handle of his tomahawk. His position was precisely that of
one who was on the very point of launching the deadly missile which
would have cloven the skull, as though made of card-board. He had taken
the posture, and then uttered the slight cough with a view of "calling
the attention" of the party of the first part to the fact, and he
succeeded. The elder was in the position of the hunter who while seeking
the tiger awoke to the fact that the tiger was seeking him.
The warrior, whose face was daubed with red, black and yellow paint, was
literally struck dumb. He had been engaged in many an encounter with
strange Indians, but never had the affray been introduced in a more
favorable manner to himself, and never had he been more utterly
overwhelmed.
He saw that the youth was merely holding his tomahawk; the very second
it was needed, he could drive it into his chest or brain. He was too
proud to ask for mercy, for he had no thought it would be granted. He
could only face his master and await his doom.
Deerfoot was not the one to prolong the wretchedness of another, no
matter if his most deadly enemy. He stood with his left foot slightly
advanced and his muscles gathered, so that he did not require the
slightest preparation, and, having held the pose just long enough to
make sure it had produced its full effect, he slowly lowered the
tomahawk, keeping his eyes fixed on his enemy. When the weapon was at
his side, he said:
"The Sauk is a wolf; he steals behind the hunter that he may leap on his
shoulders when he sleeps; but the hunter heard the sound of his claws on
the leaves and turned upon him."
These words were uttered in the mongrel tongue of the Sauk, for
Deerfoot, after a careful inspection of the painted warrior, was quite
sure he belonged to that restless and warlike tribe. He had encountered
the people before, though at rare intervals, and he had hunted with a
pioneer who was familiar with the tongue. The youth detected so many
resemblances to other aboriginal languages with which he was familiar
that he quickly mastered it and could speak it like a native.
The warrior, as has been said, was a brawny savage, well on toward
middle life. He was attired in the usual fashion among the Indians, his
dress looking slouchy and untidy. His straggling black hair, instead of
being ornamented with eagle feathers, was gathered in a knot, so as to
form what is often called a scalp-lock, and to proclaim the fact that
the wearer of the same challenged any one to take it if he could.
Besides his long rifle, he carried his knife and tomahawk, after the
manner of his people. He would have proved a dangerous foe in a
hand-to-hand struggle, but he was deprived of whatever advantage he
might have possessed by being taken at such overwhelming disadvantage.
He caught every word uttered by Deerfoot, who had not mistaken his
totem. He had no thought that the youth intended to show him mercy, but
believed he was indulging in a little preliminary sermonizing--so to
speak--before claiming his scalp for the ridge-pole of his wigwam.
The words of Deerfoot served to awaken the Sauk from his paralysis, and,
throwing his head back, he said:
"The Sauk is no wolf; the Shawanoe is the fox that steals upon the
hunting grounds of the Sauks."
"The lands that stretch to the rising and setting sun belong not to the
Shawanoe nor Sauk nor Huron, but the Great Spirit, who loves his
children to chase the buffalo and hunt the deer and bear where they can
be found; but why should the Sauk and the Shawanoe be enemies?"
And to give point to the question, Deerfoot advanced and offered his
hand. The Sauk concealed his surprise and gave the fingers a warm grasp,
but while doing so each looked distrustfully in the face of the other.
The frightful stains on the broad face of the elder did not alarm
Deerfoot, who had seen much more frightful countenances among his own
people. He gazed calmly into the eyes of the warrior, as the two stood
close together with their hands clasped. The Indian is an adept in
concealing whatever emotions may stir him, but Deerfoot saw the savage
was puzzled over his action. He could not but know that the Shawanoes
were the most warlike Indians in the Mississippi Valley, and one of the
last weaknesses of which they could be accused was that of showing mercy
to an enemy.
One point was necessary for Deerfoot to establish. If the Sauk was
alone, nothing was to be feared from him; but if he had brother warriors
within call, the youth had need to be on his guard.
"Why does the brother of Deerfoot hunt the woods alone?" asked the
young Shawanoe, introducing himself in this characteristic fashion.
"Because Hay-uta fears not to go everywhere alone; from the ridge-pole
of his wigwam flutter the scalps of the Shawanoes, the Hurons, the
Foxes, the Osages, and the strange red man whom he has met and slain in
the forest."
The old nature in Deerfoot prompted him to take this vaunting warrior to
task. The answer of the Sauk was indefinite, but the youth could wait a
few minutes for the information he sought.
"Hay-uta, the Man-Who-Runs-Without-Falling, has not taken the scalp of
Deerfoot, _and cannot do so_!"
The flash of the eye which accompanied these words added to their force.
Before they could receive reply the youth added:
"Hay-uta is a brave man when he talks to squaws; less than twenty great
suns have passed over the head of Deerfoot, but he is not afraid of the
Man-Who-Runs-Without-Falling."
Indian nature is quick to resent such taunts, and beyond a doubt the hot
blood flushed the skin beneath the paint. Deerfoot noted the glitter of
the eye, and a twitch of the muscles of the arm whose hand rested on the
knife, as he made answer:
"The Shawanoe is a dog that crept up behind the Sauk, without giving him
warning; the rattlesnake speaks, but the Shawanoe does not."
Deerfoot was angered by these words because they were untrue.
"The Shawanoe was walking through the wood, when the Great Spirit
whispered, 'Take care; a snake is crawling through the grass; he is
called Hay-uta; he will strike his fangs through the moccasin of
Deerfoot, unless he crushes him with his heel; Hay-uta was not brave,
because he hid behind a tree, and he pointed his gun through the bushes,
meaning to shoot the Shawanoe before he could chant a word of his
death-song.'"
This charge was an exasperating one, and instantly raised the anger of
the warrior to white heat.
"The dog of a Shawanoe holds his tomahawk and bow; let him lay them
aside as Hay-uta does his weapon, and then it shall be shown who is the
brave warrior."
It was a curious fact that while this wrathful conversation was going
on, the couple had been steadily backing away from each other. The act
showed that in spite of the token of comity that had just passed between
them, they were mutually so suspicious as to be ready to fly at each
other. The last taunt forced the quarrel to the exploding point.
Deerfoot slipped the cord which held the quiver of arrows in place over
his head, by a motion so quick as scarcely to be perceptible, flung his
bow a rod from him, tossed his tomahawk a dozen feet away, and whipping
out his hunting-knife, grasped it with his left hand, and defiantly
confronted the Sauk, who was scarcely behind him in taking up the gauge
of battle.