THE SURPRISE.
The United States have inherited from England that system of continual
invasion and usurpation which is one of the most salient points in the
British character.
Scarcely was the independence of North America proclaimed, and peace
concluded with the mother country, ere those very men who cried out
so loudly against tyranny and oppression, who protested against the
violation of the rights of nations, of which they said they were the
victims, organized, with that implacable coolness which they owe to
their origin, a hunt of the Red Indians. Not only did they do so over
the whole extent of their territories, but dissatisfied with the
possession of the vast regions which their restless population, spite of
its activity, did not suffice to clear and render valuable, they wished
to make themselves masters of the two oceans, by encircling on all sides
the aboriginal tribes, whom they drove back incessantly, and whom,
according to the prophetic words, filled with bitter displeasure, of an
aged Indian chief, they will eventually drown in the Pacific, by means
of treachery and perfidy.
In the United States, about which people are beginning to be
disabused, but which prejudiced or ill-informed persons still persist
in representing as the classic land of liberty, is found that odious
anomaly of two races degraded and despoiled for the advantage of a third
race, which arrogates to itself a right of life and death over them, and
considers them as nothing more than beasts of burden.
These two races, so worthy of the interest of all enlightened minds, and
of the true friends of the human species, are the black and red races.
It is true, that on the other hand, to prove what thorough
philanthropists they are, the United States did, in the year 1795, sign
a treaty of peace and friendship with the Barbary States, which gave
them advantages incomparably greater than those offered by the Order
of Malta, which was likewise desirous of treating with them--a treaty
guaranteed by the regencies of Algiers and Tripoli.
In this treaty it is positively stated that the government of the United
States is not founded, in any way, upon the Christian religion.
To those to whom this may appear strong, we will reply that it is
logical, and that the Americans in the article of God acknowledge but
one alone--the God Dollar! who, in all times, has been the only one
adored by the pirates of every country.
Draw the conclusion from this who will.
The squatters, a race without hearth or home, without right or law,
the refuse of all nations, and who are the shame and scum of the
North-American population, are advancing incessantly towards the West,
and by clearings upon clearings endeavour to drive the Indian tribes
from their last places of refuge.
In rear of the squatters come five or six soldiers, a drummer, a
trumpeter, and an officer of some kind bearing the banner of the Stars
and Stripes.
These soldiers build a fort with some trunks of trees, plant the flag
on the top of it, and proclaim that the frontiers of the Confederation
extend to that point.
Then around the fort spring up a few cabins, and a bastard population
is grouped--a heterogeneous compound of whites, blacks, reds,
copper-coloured, &c., &c., and a city is founded, upon which is bestowed
some sonorous name--Utica, Syracuse, Rome, or Carthage, for example, and
a few years later, when this city possesses two or three stone houses,
it becomes by right the capital of a new state which is not yet in
existence.
Thus are things going on in this country!--it is very simple, as is
evident.
A few days after the events we have related in our preceding chapter,
a strange scene was passing in a possession built scarcely two years
before, upon the banks of the great Canadian river, in a beautiful
position at the foot of a verdant hill.
This possession consisted of about twenty cabins, grouped capriciously
near each other, and protected by a little fort, armed with four small
cannon which commanded the course of the river.
The village, though so young, had already, thanks to the prodigious
American activity, acquired all the importance of a city. Two taverns
overflowed with tipplers, and three temples of different sects served to
gather together the faithful.
The inhabitants moved about here and there with the preoccupation of
people who work seriously and look sharply after their affairs.
Numerous canoes ploughed the river, and carts loaded with merchandise
passed about in all directions, grinding upon their creaking axles, and
digging deep ruts.
Nevertheless, in spite of all this movement, or, perhaps, on account of
it, it was easy to observe that a certain uneasiness prevailed in the
village.
The inhabitants questioned each other, groups were formed upon the
steps of doors, and several men, mounted upon powerful horses, rode
rapidly away, as scouts, in all directions, after taking their orders
from the captain commanding the fort, who, dressed in full uniform,
with a telescope in his hand, and his arms behind his back, was walking
backwards and forwards, with hasty steps, upon the glacis of the little
fort.
By degrees, the canoes regained the shore, the carts were unteamed, the
beasts of burden were collected in the home pastures, and the entire
population assembled upon the square of the village.
The sun was sinking rapidly towards the horizon, night would soon be
upon them, and the horsemen sent to the environs had all returned.
"You see," said the captain to the assembled inhabitants, "that we had
nothing to fear, it was only a false alarm; you may return peaceably to
your dwellings, no trace of Indians can be found for twenty miles round."
"Hum!" an old half-breed hunter, leaning on his gun, observed, "Indians
are not long in travelling twenty miles!"
"That is possible, White Eyes," the commandant replied, "but be
convinced that if I have acted as I have done, it has been simply with
the view of reassuring the people; the Indians will not dare to avenge
themselves."
"Indians always avenge themselves, captain," said the old hunter,
sententiously.
"You have drunk too much whiskey, White Eyes; it has got into your head;
you are dreaming, with your eyes open."
"God grant you may be right, captain! but I have passed all my life in
the clearings, and know the manners of the redskins, while you have only
been on the frontiers two years."
"That is quite as long as is necessary," the captain interrupted,
peremptorily.
"Nevertheless, with your permission, Indians are men, and the Comanches,
who were treacherously assassinated here, in contempt of the laws of
nations, were warriors renowned in their tribe."
"White Eyes, you are of mixed breed, you lean a little too much to the
red race," said the captain ironically.
"The red race," the hunter replied proudly, "are loyal; they do not
assassinate for the pleasure of shedding blood, as you yourself
did, four days ago, in killing those two warriors who were passing
inoffensively in their canoe, under the pretence of trying a new gun
which you had received from Acropolis."
"Well, well! that's enough! Spare me your comments, White Eyes, I am not
disposed to receive observations from you."
The hunter bowed awkwardly, threw his gun upon his shoulder and retired
grumbling.
"That's all one!--Blood that is shed cries for vengeance; the redskins
are men, and will not leave the crime unpunished."
The captain retired into the fort, visibly annoyed by what the
half-breed had said to him. Gradually the inhabitants dispersed, after
wishing each other good night, and closed their dwellings with that
carelessness peculiar to men accustomed to risk their lives every minute.
An hour later night had completely set in, thick darkness enveloped the
village, and the inhabitants, fatigued with the rude labours of the day,
were reposing in profound security.
The scouts sent out by the captain towards the decline of day had
badly performed their duty, or else they were not accustomed to Indian
cunning, otherwise they never could, by their reports, have placed the
colonists in such deceitful confidence.
Scarcely a mile from the village, concealed amongst and confounded with
the thick bushes and intertwining trees of a virgin forest, of which
the nearest part had already fallen under the indefatigable axe of the
clearers, two hundred warriors of the tribe of the Serpent, guided
by several renowned chiefs, among whom was Eagle Head, who, although
wounded, insisted upon joining the expedition, were waiting, with that
Indian patience which nothing can foil, the propitious moment for taking
a severe vengeance for the insult they had received.
Several hours passed thus, and the silence of night was not disturbed by
any noise whatever.
The Indians, motionless as bronze statues, waited without displaying the
slightest impatience.
Towards eleven o'clock the moon rose, lighting the landscape with its
silvery beams.
At the same instant the distant howling of a dog was repeated twice.
Eagle Head then left the tree behind which he had been screened, and
began to creep with extreme address and velocity, in the direction of
the village.
On reaching the skirts of the forest he stopped; then, after casting
round an investigating glance, he imitated the neighing of a horse with
such perfection that two horses of the village immediately replied to
him.
After waiting for a few seconds, the practised ear of the chief
perceived an almost insensible noise among the leaves; the bellowing of
an ox was heard a short distance away; then the chief arose and waited.
Two seconds later a man joined him.
This man was White Eyes, the old hunter.
A sinister smile curled the corners of his thin lips.
"What are the white men doing?" the chief asked.
"They are asleep," the half-breed answered.
"Will my brother give them up to me?"
"For a fair exchange."
"A chief has but one word. The pale woman and the grey head?"
"Are here."
"Shall they belong to me?"
"All the inhabitants of the village shall be placed in the hands of my
brethren."
"Och! Has not the hunter come?"
"Not yet."
"He will come presently?"
"Probably he will."
"What does my brother say now?"
"Where is that which I demanded of the chief?" the hunter said.
"The skins, the guns, and the powder, are in the rear, guarded by my
young men."
"I trust to you, chief," the hunter replied, "but if you deceive me----"
"An Indian has but one word."
"That is good! Whenever you please, then."
Ten minutes later the Indians were masters of the village, all the
inhabitants of which, roused one after the other, were made prisoners
without a struggle.
The fort was surrounded by the Comanches, who, after heaping up at the
foot of the walls trunks of trees, carts, furniture, and all the farming
implements of the colonists, only waited for a signal from their chief
to commence the attack.
All at once a vague form stood out from the top of the fort, and the cry
of the sparrowhawk echoed through the air.
The Indians set fire to the kind of pyre they had raised and rushed
towards the palisades, uttering altogether that horrible and piercing
war cry which is peculiar to them, and which, on the frontiers, is
always the signal for a massacre.