CONVERSATIONAL.
The two men stood for a moment silently face to face, devouring each
other with their glances, with frowning brows and compressed lips, like
two duellists on the point of crossing swords; and, in truth, they were
about to engage in a duel, the more terrible because the only weapons
they could employ were cunning and dissimulation.
The power of the Indian priests is immense; it is the more terrible,
because it is uncontrolled, and only depends on the deity they invoke,
and whom they compel to interfere in all circumstances when they have
need of his support. No people are so superstitious as the Redskins.
With them religion is entirely physical, they are completely ignorant
of dogmas, and prefer blindly believing the absurdities their diviners
lay before them, rather than give themselves the trouble of reflecting
on mysteries which they do not understand, and which, in their hearts,
they care little for.
We have said that the High Priest of Quiepaa Tani was a man of lofty
intellect, constantly residing in the city, possessing the secrets,
and, consequently, the confidence of most families; he had built up his
popularity on a solid and almost immovable basis. Addick was aware of
this. On several occasions he had been obliged to have recourse to the
occult powers of the soothsayer, and, therefore, perfectly comprehended
the unpleasant consequences which would result to him from a rupture
with such a man. Chiuchcoatl stood with his arms folded on his chest,
and with apathetic face, before the young Chief, whose eyes flashed,
and features expressed the most violent indignation. Still, at the
expiration of a few moments, Addick, by an extraordinary effort of his
will, subdued the fire of his glance, smoothed down the expression of
his face, and offered his hand to the Priest, saying to him in a soft
and conciliatory voice, in which no trace of his internal agitation was
perceptible, "My father loves me. What he has done is well, and I thank
him for it."
The Amantzin bowed deferentially, while slightly touching, with the end
of his three fingers, the hand held out to him. "The Wacondah inspired
me," he said, with a hypocritical voice.
"The holy name of the Wacondah be blessed," the Chief replied. "Will
not my father allow me to see the prisoners?"
"I should like it. Unfortunately, that is impossible."
"What?" the young man exclaimed, with a shade of impatience, he could
not completely hide.
"The law is positive. Entrance to the Palace of the Virgins of the Sun
is prohibited to men."
"That is true; but these young girls are not priestesses. They are
Paleface women whom I brought here."
"I know it. What my brother says is just."
"Well, my father sees that nothing prevents my prisoners being restored
to me."
"My son is mistaken. Their presence among the Virgins of the Sun
has placed them beneath the effect of the law. Forced by imperious
circumstances, I did not reflect on this when I made them enter the
Palace. In order to carry out my son's wishes, I wished to save them at
any price. Now I regret what I have done; but it is too late."
Addick felt an enormous temptation to dash out the brains of the
wretched juggler, who deluded him so impudently with his hypocritical
accent and gentle manner; but, fortunately for the Priest, and probably
for himself, as such a deed, just as it was, would not have gone
unpunished, he succeeded in mastering himself. "Come," he continued,
in a moment, "my father is kind, he would not wish to reduce me to
despair. Are there no means to remove this apparently insurmountable
difficulty?"
The Priest seemed to hesitate. Addick looked earnestly at him, while
awaiting his answer. "Yes," he continued, presently, "there is,
perhaps, one way."
"What?" the young man exclaimed, joyfully. "Let my father speak!"
"It would be," the old man answered, laying a stress on every word,
and, as it were, unwillingly, "it would be by obtaining authority from
the Great Council to remove them from the Palace."
"Wah! I did not think of that. In truth, the Great Council may
authorize that. I thank my father. Oh! I shall obtain the permission."
"I hope so," the Priest answered, in a tone which staggered the young
man.
"Does my father suppose that the Great Council would wish to insult me
by refusing so slight a favour?" he asked.
"I suppose nothing my son. The Wacondah holds in his right hand the
hearts of the Chiefs. He can alone dispose them in your favour."
"My father is right. I will go immediately to the Council. It must be
assembled at this moment."
"In truth," the Amantzin answered, "the first hachesto of the powerful
Sachems came to summon me a few moments before I had the pleasure of
seeing my son."
"Then my father is proceeding to the Council?"
"I will accompany my son, if he consents."
"It will be an honour for me. I can, I trust, count on the support of
my father?"
"When has that support failed Addick?"
"Never. Still, today, above all, I should like to be certain that my
father will grant it to me."
"My son knows that I love him. I will act as my duty ordains," the
Priest replied, evasively. Addick, to his great regret, was forced to
put up with this ambiguous answer.
The two men then went out, and crossed the square, to enter the palace
of the Sachems, where the Council assembled. A crowd of Indians,
attracted by curiosity, thronged this usually deserted spot, and
greeted with shouts the passage of renowned sachems. When the High
Priest appeared, accompanied by the young Chief, the Indians fell
back before them with a respect mingled with fear, and bowed silently
to them. The Amantzin was more feared than loved by the people, as
generally happens with all men who hold great power. Chiuchcoatl did
not seem to notice the emotion his presence produced, and the hurried
whispers that were audible on his passing. With eyes sunk, and modest
even humble step, he entered the palace at the heels of the young
Chief, whose assured countenance and haughty glance formed a striking
contrast with the demeanour his comrade affected.
The place reserved for the meeting of the Great Council was an immense
square hall, extremely simple, and facing north and south; at one end
was fastened to the whitewashed wall a tapestry made of the feathers
and down of rare birds, on which was reproduced, in brilliantly
coloured feathers, the revered image of the sun, resting on the great
sacred tortoise, the emblem of the world. Beneath this tapestry, and
sustained by four crossed spears planted in the ground, was the sacred
calumet, which must never be sullied by contact with the earth. This
calumet, whose red bowl was made of a precious clay, only found in a
certain region of the Upper Missouri, had a tube ten feet in length,
adorned with feathers and gold bells, and from its extremity hung a
small medicine bag of elk skin, studded with hieroglyphics. In the
centre of the hall, in an oval hole, hollowed for the purpose, was
piled, with a certain degree of symmetry, the wood destined for the
council fire, and which could only be lighted by the High Priest. The
hall was lighted by twelve lofty windows, hung with long curtains of
vicuna skin, through which a gloomy and uncertain light filtered,
perfectly harmonizing with the imposing aspect of the vast apartment.
At the moment the Amantzin and Addick entered the place of meeting,
all the Chiefs comprising the Council had arrived; they were walking
about in groups, conversing and waiting. So soon as the High Priest
entered, each took his place by the fire, at a sign from the eldest
Sachem. This Sachem was an old man, whom two warriors held under
the arms to support. A long beard, white as silver--a singular fact
among Indians--fell on his chest; his features were stamped with
extraordinary majesty; and, indeed, the other Chiefs showed him
profound respect and veneration. This Chief was called Axayacatl, that
is to say, "the face of the water." He claimed descent from the ancient
Incas, who governed the country of the Anahuac before the Spanish
conquest, and, like his namesake, the eighth king of Mexico, his totem
was a face, before which he placed the symbol for water. We may remark,
in support of his claim, that his skin had not that reddish hue of new
copper which distinguishes the Indian race, but, on the contrary,
approached the European type. Whatever his descent might be, though,
one thing certain was, that in his youth he had been one of the bravest
and most renowned chiefs of the Comanches, that haughty and untameable
nation, which calls itself the Queen of the Prairies. When Axayacatl's
great age and numerous wounds prevented him waging war longer, the
Indians, by whom he was generally revered, had unanimously elected him
supreme Chief of Quiepaa Tani, and he had performed his duties for
more than twenty years, to the satisfaction of all the Indian nations.
After assuring himself that all the Chiefs were assembled round the
fire, the Sachem took from the hands of the hachesto, who stood by
his side, a lighted log, which he placed in the centre of the wood
prepared for the Council, saying, in a weak, though perfectly distinct
voice,--"Wacondah! thy children are assembling to discuss grave
matters; may the flame, which is thy Spirit, breathe in their hearts,
and raise to their lips words wise and worthy of thee."
The wood--probably covered with resinous matter--caught fire almost
immediately, and a brilliant flame soon mounted, with a whirl, toward
the roof.
While the Sachem was pronouncing the words we have just written, two
subaltern priests had taken the sacred calumet from the spot where
it was placed, and, after filling it with tobacco expressly reserved
for extraordinary ceremonies, they lifted it on their shoulders, and
presented it respectfully to the Amantzin. The latter took, with a
medicine rod, in order to confound evil omens, a burning coal from
the hearth, and lit the calumet, while pronouncing the following
invocation:--"Wacondah! sublime and mysterious being. Thou, whom the
world cannot contain, and whose powerful eye perceives the smallest
insect timidly concealed beneath the grass, we invoke thee, thee whom
no man can comprehend. Grant that the sun, thy visible representative,
may be favourable to us, and not drive far away the holy smoke of the
great calumet which we send toward him."
The Amantzin, still holding the bowl of the calumet in the palm of
his hand, presented the tube in turn to each Chief, beginning with
the eldest. The Sachems each inhaled a few puffs of smoke, with the
decorum and reverence required by etiquette, with their eyes fixed on
the ground, and the right arm laid on the heart. When the tube of the
calumet at length reached the High Priest, he had the bowl held by one
of his acolytes, and smoked till all the tobacco was reduced to ashes.
Then the hachesto approached, emptied the ash into a little elkskin
pouch, which he closed, and threw into the fire, saying in a loud and
impressive voice,--"Wacondah! the descendants of the sons of Aztlan
implore thy clemency. Suffer thy luminous rays to descend into their
hearts, that their words may be those of wise men."
Then the two priests took the calumet again, and placed it beneath the
image of the sun. The old Sachem took the word again. "The council
has assembled," he said, "two renowned Chiefs, who only arrived this
morning at Quiepaa Tani, on their return from a long journey, have,
they say, important communications to make to the Sachems. Let them
speak; our ears are open."
We will enter into no details of the discussion that took place in the
Council; we will not even quote the speeches uttered by Red Wolf and
Addick, for that would carry us too far, and probably only weary the
reader. We need only say, that though the passions of the Sachems were
cleverly played on by the two Chiefs who had called the meeting, and
that sharp attacks were sharply returned, all passed with the decorum
and decency characteristic of Indian assemblies; that, although each
defended his opinion inch by inch, no one went beyond the limits of
good taste; and we will sum up the debate by stating that Red Wolf and
Addick completely failed in their schemes, and that the good sense, or
rather the ill will, of their colleagues prevented them attaining the
object of their desires.
The High Priest, while pretending to support Addick, managed to embroil
the question so cleverly, that the Council declared unanimously that
the two young Palefaces shut up in the Palace of the Virgins of the Sun
must be considered, not as the property of the Chief who brought them
to the city, but as prisoners of the entire confederation, and as such
remain under the guardianship of the Amantzin, to whom the order was
intimated to watch them with the greatest care, and under no pretext
allow the young Chief to approach them. Chiuchcoatl, when he insinuated
to Addick that he should apply to the Council, knew perfectly well
what the result would be but not wishing to make an enemy of the young
man by refusing his request, he adroitly thrust the responsibility of
the refusal on the whole Council, and thus rendered it impossible for
Addick to call him to account for his dishonourable conduct toward him.
Red Wolf had been more fortunate, from the simple reason that his
communication concerned the city. The Apache Chief demanded that
a party of five hundred warriors, commanded by a renowned Chief,
should be called under arms, to watch over the common safety, gravely
compromised by the appearance, in the vicinity of Quiepaa Tani, of
some forty Palefaces, whose evident intention it was to attack and
carry the city by storm.
The Chiefs granted Red Wolf what he asked, and even much more than he
had ventured to hope. Instead of five hundred warriors, it was settled
that a thousand should be called; one-half of them, under the orders
of Atoyac, would traverse the country in every direction, in order
to watch the approach of the enemy, while the other half, under the
immediate orders of the governor, would guard the interior. After this,
the Council broke up.
The High Priest then approached Atoyac, and asked him if he really had
a renowned Tlacateotzin at his house. The other replied, that, on the
same day, a great Yuma medicine man had arrived at Quiepaa Tani, and
done him the honour of entering his _calli_. Flying Eagle then joined
Atoyac in assuring the High Priest that this medicine man, whom he had
known for a long time, justly enjoyed a very extensive reputation among
the Indians, and that he had himself seen him effect marvellous cures.
The Amantzin had no reason to distrust Flying Eagle; he therefore put
the greatest confidence in his words, and, on the spot, begged Atoyac
to bring this Tlacateotzin as speedily as possible to the Palace of
the Virgins of the Sun, that he might devote his attention to the two
Paleface maidens placed under his ward by the Council-General of the
nation, and whose health had inspired him with great fears for some
time past.
Addick heard these words, and rapidly approached the High Priest. "What
does my father say, then?" he exclaimed, in great agitation.
"I say," the Amantzin replied, in his most honeyed voice, "that the two
maidens my son entrusted to my care have been tried by the Wacondah,
who sent them the scourge of illness."
"Is their life in danger?" the young man continued, with ill-suppressed
agony.
"The Wacondah alone holds in his power the existence of his creatures;
still I believe that the danger may be conquered; besides, as my son
has heard, I expect an illustrious Tlacateotzin of the Yuma race, just
come from the shore of the boundless Salt Lake, who, by the aid of his
science, can, I doubt not, restore strength and health to the slaves
whom my son took from the Spanish barbarians."
Addick, at this unpleasant news, could not suppress a movement of
anger, which proved to the High Priest that he was not entirely his
dupe, but suspected what had happened; but, either through respect,
or fear lest he might be mistaken in his supposition, though more
probably because the place where Addick was did not appear to him
propitious for an explanation like that he wished to have with the
Amantzin, he contented himself with begging the old man not to neglect
anything to save the captives, adding, that he would be grateful to him
for any attention he might pay them. Then, suddenly breaking off the
conversation, he bowed slightly to the High Priest, turned his back on
him, and left the hall, talking eagerly in a low voice with Red Wolf,
who had waited for him a few paces off.
The Amantzin looked after the young man with a most peculiar expression
in his eyes; then, resuming his conversation with Atoyac and Flying
Eagle, he begged them to send the Yuma medicine man to them that
evening, if possible. The latter promised this, and then left him to
return to the _calli_, where the physician was doubtless waiting for
them.
Still, what had passed at the council afforded Flying Eagle serious
matter for reflection, by letting him see that the two Apache Chiefs
knew the greater part of Marksman's secret, and if the latter wished
to succeed, he must waste no time, but set to work at once. After
ten minutes' walking, the Chiefs reached the _calli_, where they
found Marksman awaiting them. The hunter, as we have seen, offered no
objections to Atoyac's request, but, on the contrary, after taking up
his medicine box, followed him eagerly.