crusoe acts a conspicuous and humane part--a friendgained--a great feast.
when the foot-race was concluded the threehunters hung about looking on at the variousgames for some time, and then strolled towards the lake.
"ye may be thankful yer neck's whole," said joe,grinning, as henri rubbed his shoulder with a ruefullook. "an' we'll have to send that injun and his familya knife and some beads to make up for the fright theygot.""ha! an' fat is to be give to me for my brokeshoulder?""credit, man, credit," said dick varley, laughing.
"credit! fat is dat?""honour and glory, lad, and the praises of themsavages.""ha! de praise? more probeebale de ill-vill of derascale. i seed dem scowl at me not ver' pritty.""that's true, henri; but sich as it is it's all ye'll git.""i vish," remarked henri after a pause--"i vish icould git de vampum belt de leetle chief had on. itvas superb. fat place do vampums come from?""they're shells--""oui," interrupted henri; "i know fat dey is. deyis shells, and de injuns tink dem goot monish, mais iask you fat place de come from.""they are thought to be gathered on the shores o'
the pacific," said joe. "the injuns on the west o' therocky mountains picks them up and exchanges themwi' the fellows hereaway for horses and skins--so i'mtold."at this moment there was a wild cry of terror hearda short distance ahead of them. rushing forward theyobserved an indian woman flying frantically down theriver's bank towards the waterfall, a hundred yardsabove which an object was seen struggling in the water.
"'tis her child," cried joe, as the mother's frantic cryreached his ear. "it'll be over the fall in a minute!
run, dick, you're quickest."they had all started forward at speed, but dick andcrusoe were far ahead, and abreast of the spot in a fewseconds.
"save it, pup," cried dick, pointing to the child,which had been caught in an eddy, and was for a fewmoments hovering on the edge of the stream that rushedimpetuously towards the fall.
the noble newfoundland did not require to be toldwhat to do. it seems a natural instinct in this sagaciousspecies of dog to save man or beast that chancesto be struggling in the water, and many are the authenticstories related of newfoundland dogs saving life in casesof shipwreck. indeed, they are regularly trained to thework in some countries; and nobly, fearlessly, disinterestedlydo they discharge their trust, often in the midstof appalling dangers. crusoe sprang from the bankwith such impetus that his broad chest ploughed up thewater like the bow of a boat, and the energetic workingsof his muscles were indicated by the force of eachsuccessive propulsion as he shot ahead.
in a few seconds he reached the child and caught itby the hair. then he turned to swim back, but thestream had got hold of him. bravely he struggled, andlifted the child breast-high out of the water in hispowerful efforts to stem the current. in vain. eachmoment he was carried inch by inch down until he wason the brink of the fall, which, though not high, was alarge body of water and fell with a heavy roar. heraised himself high out of the stream with the vigour ofhis last struggle, and then fell back into the abyss.
by this time the poor mother was in a canoe as closeto the fall as she could with safety approach, and thelittle bark danced like a cockle-shell on the turmoil ofwaters as she stood with uplifted paddle and staringeyeballs awaiting the rising of the child.
crusoe came up almost instantly, but alone, for thedash over the fall had wrenched the child from his teeth.
he raised himself high up, and looked anxiously roundfor a moment. then he caught sight of a little handraised above the boiling flood. in one moment he hadthe child again by the hair, and just as the prow of theindian woman's canoe touched the shore he brought thechild to land.
springing towards him, the mother snatched her childfrom the flood, and gazed at its death-like face with eyeballsstarting from their sockets. then she laid hercheek on its cold breast, and stood like a statue of despair.
there was one slight pulsation of the heart anda gentle motion of the hand! the child still lived.
opening up her blanket she laid her little one againsther naked, warm bosom, drew the covering close aroundit, and sitting down on the bank wept aloud for joy.
"come--come 'way quick," cried henri, hurrying offto hide the emotion which he could not crush down.
"ay, she don't need our help now," said joe, followinghis comrade.
as for crusoe, he walked along by his master's sidewith his usual quiet, serene look of good-will towards allmankind. doubtless a feeling of gladness at havingsaved a human life filled his shaggy breast, for he waggedhis tail gently after each shake of his dripping sides;but his meek eyes were downcast, save when raised toreceive the welcome and unusually fervent caress. crusoedid not know that those three men loved him asthough he had been a brother.
on their way back to the village the hunters weremet by a little boy, who said that a council was to beheld immediately, and their presence was requested.
the council was held in the tent of the principalchief, towards which all the other chiefs and many ofthe noted braves hurried. like all indian councils, itwas preceded by smoking the "medicine pipe," and wasfollowed by speeches from several of the best orators.
the substance of the discourse differed little from whathas been already related in reference to the treaty betweenthe pale-faces, and upon the whole it was satisfactory.
but joe blunt could not fail to notice thatmahtawa maintained sullen silence during the wholecourse of the meeting.
he observed also that there was a considerable changein the tone of the meeting when he informed them thathe was bound on a similar errand of peace to several ofthe other tribes, especially to one or two tribes whichwere the pawnees' bitter enemies at that time. thesegrasping savages having quite made up their minds thatthey were to obtain the entire contents of the two balesof goods, were much mortified on hearing that part wasto go to other indian tribes. some of them even hintedthat this would not be allowed, and joe feared at onetime that things were going to take an unfavourableturn. the hair of his scalp, as he afterwards said,"began to lift a little and feel oneasy." but san-it-sa-rishstood honestly to his word, said that it would bewell that the pale-faces and the pawnees should bebrothers, and hoped that they would not forget thepromise of annual presents from the hand of the greatchief who lived in the big village near the rising sun.
having settled this matter amicably, joe distributedamong the indians the proportion of his goods designedfor them; and then they all adjourned to another tent,where a great feast was prepared for them.
"are ye hungry?" inquired joe of dick as theywalked along.
"ay, that am i. i feel as if i could eat a buffaloalive. why, it's my 'pinion we've tasted nothin' sincedaybreak-this mornin'.""well, i've often told ye that them redskins thinkit a disgrace to give in eatin' till all that's set beforethem at a feast is bolted. we'll ha' to stretch oursel's,we will.""i'se got a plenty room," remarked henri.
"ye have, but ye'll wish ye had more in a little.""bien, i not care!"in quarter of an hour all the guests invited to thisgreat "medicine feast" were assembled. no women wereadmitted. they never are at indian feasts.
we may remark in passing that the word "medicine,"as used among the north american indians, has a verymuch wider signification than it has with us. it is analmost inexplicable word. when asked, they cannotgive a full or satisfactory explanation of it themselves.
in the general, we may say that whatever is mysteriousis "medicine." jugglery and conjuring, of a noisy,mysterious, and, we must add, rather silly nature, is"medicine," and the juggler is a "medicine man." thesemedicine men undertake cures; but they are regularcharlatans, and know nothing whatever of the diseasesthey pretend to cure or their remedies. they carrybags containing sundry relics; these are "medicine bags."every brave has his own private medicine bag. everythingthat is incomprehensible, or supposed to be supernatural,religious, or medical, is "medicine." this feast,being an unusual one, in honour of strangers, and inconnection with a peculiar and unexpected event, was"medicine." even crusoe, since his gallant conduct insaving the indian child, was "medicine;" and dickvarley's double-barrelled rifle, which had been an objectof wonder ever since his arrival at the village, wastremendous "medicine!"of course the indians were arrayed in their best.
several wore necklaces of the claws of the grizzly bear,of which they are extremely proud; and a gaudily picturesquegroup they were. the chief, however, hadundergone a transformation that well-nigh upset thegravity of our hunters, and rendered dick's efforts tolook solemn quite abortive. san-it-sa-rish had once beento the trading-forts of the pale-faces, and while therehad received the customary gift of a blue surtout withbrass buttons, and an ordinary hat, such as gentlemenwear at home. as the coat was a good deal too smallfor him, a terrible length of dark, bony wrist appearedbelow the cuffs. the waist was too high, and it waswith great difficulty that he managed to button thegarment across his broad chest. being ignorant of thenature of a hat, the worthy savage had allowed thepaper and string with which it had been originallycovered to remain on, supposing them to be part andparcel of the hat; and this, together with the high collarof the coat, which gave him a crushed-up appearance,the long black naked legs, and the painted visage, gaveto him a tout ensemble which we can compare to nothing,as there was nothing in nature comparable to it.
those guests who assembled first passed their time insmoking the medicine pipe until the others should arrive,for so long as a single invited guest is absent the feastcannot begin. dignified silence was maintained whilethe pipe thus circulated from hand to hand. when thelast guest arrived they began.
the men were seated in two rows, face to face.
feasts of this kind usually consist of but one species offood, and on the present occasion it was an enormouscaldron full of maize which had to be devoured. aboutfifty sat down to eat a quantity of what may be termedthick porridge that would have been ample allowancefor a hundred ordinary men. before commencing, san-it-sa-rishdesired an aged medicine man to make an oration,which he did fluently and poetically. its subjectwas the praise of the giver of the feast. at the end ofeach period there was a general "hou! hou!" of assent--equivalentto the "hear! hear!" of civilized men.
other orators then followed, all of whom spoke withgreat ease and fluency, and some in the most impassionedstrains, working themselves and their audience up to thehighest pitch of excitement, now shouting with frenziedviolence till their eyes glared from their sockets and theveins of their foreheads swelled almost to bursting asthey spoke of war and chase, anon breaking into softmodulated and pleasing tones while they dilated uponthe pleasures of peace and hospitality.
after these had finished, a number of wooden bowlsfull of maize porridge were put down between the guests--onebowl to each couple facing each other. but beforecommencing a portion was laid aside and dedicated totheir gods, with various mysterious ceremonies; for here,as in other places where the gospel is not known, thepoor savages fancied that they could propitiate god withsacrifices. they had never heard of the "sacrifice of abroken spirit and a contrite heart." this offering beingmade, the feast began in earnest. not only was it arule in this feast that every mouthful should be swallowedby each guest, however unwilling and unable heshould be to do so, but he who could dispose of it withgreatest speed was deemed the greatest man--at leaston that occasion--while the last to conclude his supperwas looked upon with some degree of contempt!
it seems strange that such a custom should ever havearisen, and one is not a little puzzled in endeavouringto guess at the origin of it. there is one fact thatoccurs to us as the probable cause. the indian is, aswe have before hinted, frequently reduced to a statebordering on starvation, and in a day after he may beburdened with superabundance of food. he oftentimestherefore eats as much as he can stuff into his bodywhen he is blessed with plenty, so as to be the betterable to withstand the attacks of hunger that may possiblybe in store for him. the amount that an indianwill thus eat at a single meal is incredible. he seemsto have the power of distending himself for the receptionof a quantity that would kill a civilized man.
children in particular become like tightly inflated littleballoons after a feast, and as they wear no clothing, theextraordinary rotundity is very obvious, not to sayridiculous. we conclude therefore that unusual powersof gormandizing, being useful, come at last to be cultivatedas praiseworthy.
by good fortune dick and joe blunt happened tohave such enormous gluttons as vis-à-vis that the portionsof their respective bowls which they could notdevour were gobbled up for them. by good capacityand digestion, with no small amount of effort, henrimanaged to dispose of his own share; but he was last ofbeing done, and fell in the savages' esteem greatly. theway in which that sticky compost of boiled maize wentdown was absolutely amazing. the man opposite dick,in particular, was a human boa-constrictor. he well-nighsuffocated dick with suppressed laughter. he wasa great raw-boned savage, with a throat of indiarubber,and went quickly and quietly on swallowing mass aftermass with the solemn gravity of an owl. it matterednot a straw to him that dick took comparatively smallmouthfuls, and nearly choked on them too for want ofliquid to wash them down. had dick eaten none at allhe would have uncomplainingly disposed of the whole.
jack the giant-killer's feats were nothing to his; andwhen at last the bowl was empty, he stopped short likea machine from which the steam had been suddenly cutoff, and laid down his buffalo horn-spoon without a sigh.
dick sighed, though with relief and gratitude, whenhis bowl was empty.
"i hope i may never have to do it again," said joethat night as they wended their way back to the chief'stent after supper. "i wouldn't be fit for anything fora week arter it."dick could only laugh, for any allusion to the feastinstantly brought back that owl-like gourmand to whomhe was so deeply indebted.
henri groaned. "oh! mes boy, i am speechless! iam ready for bust! oui--hah! i veesh it vas to-morrow."many a time that night did henri "veesh it vas to-morrow,"as he lay helpless on his back, looking upthrough the roof of the chief's tent at the stars, andlistening enviously to the plethoric snoring of joe blunt.
he was entertained, however, during those wakinghours with a serenade such as few civilized ears everlisten to. this was nothing else than a vocal concertperformed by all the dogs of the village, and as theyamounted to nearly two thousand the orchestra was apretty full one.
these wretches howled as if they had all gone mad.
yet there was "method in their madness;" for they congregatedin a crowd before beginning, and sat down ontheir haunches. then one, which seemed to be the conductor,raised his snout to the sky and uttered a long,low, melancholy wail. the others took it up by twosand threes, until the whole pack had their noses pointingto the stars and their throats distended to the uttermost,while a prolonged yell filled the air. then it sankgradually, one or two (bad performers probably) makinga yelping attempt to get it up again at the wrong time.
again the conductor raised his nose, and out it came--fullswing. there was no vociferous barking. it wassimple wolfish howling increased in fervour to an electricyell, with slight barks running continuously through itlike an obbligato accompaniment.
when crusoe first heard the unwonted sound hesprang to his feet, bristled up like a hyena, showed allhis teeth, and bounded out of the tent blazing with indignationand astonishment. when he found out whatit was he returned quite sleek, and with a look of profoundcontempt on his countenance as he resumed hisplace by his master's side and went to sleep.
