University of Virginia Library

3. CHAPTER III.

“But we must keep this secret to ourselves, for as yet it remained
unknown to Attakulla, and the time could not come for
its revealment until the young warrior had gone home to his people.
Jocassée was not so sure that all parties would be so ready
as herself to sanction her proceeding. Of her father's willingness,
she had no question, for she knew his good nature and good sense;
but she had a brother of whom she had many fears and misgivings.
He was away, on a great hunt of the young men, up at Charashilactay,
or the falls of the White Water, as we call it to this
day—a beautiful cascade of nearly forty feet, the water of which
is of a milky complexion. How she longed, yet how she dreaded,
to see that brother! He was a fierce, impetuous, sanguinary
youth, who, to these characteristics, added another still more distasteful
to Jocassée;—there was not a man among all the Occonies
who so hated the people of the Green Bird as Cheochee.
What hopes, or rather what fears, were in the bosom of that
maiden!

“But he came not. Day after day they looked for his return,
and yet he came not; but in his place a runner, with a bearded
stick, a stick covered with slips of skin, torn from the body of a
wolf. The runner passed by the lodge of Attakulla, and all its
inmates were aroused by the intelligence he brought. A wolf-hunt
was commanded by Moitoy, the great war-chief or generalissimo
of the Cherokee nation, to take place, instantly, at Charashilactay,
where an immense body of wolves had herded together,
and had become troublesome neighbours. Old and young, who
had either taste for the adventure, or curiosity to behold it, at
once set off upon the summons; and Attakulla, old as he was,
and Nagoochie, whose own great prowess in hunting had made it
a passion, determined readily upon the journey. Jocassée, too,
joined the company,—for the maidens of Cherokee were bold
spirits, as well as beautiful, and loved to ramble, particularly

when, as in the present instance, they went forth in company with
their lovers. Lodge after lodge, as they pursued their way,
poured forth its inmates, who joined them in their progress, until
the company had swollen into a goodly caravan, full of life,
anxious for sport, and carrying, as is the fashion among the Indians,
provisions of smoked vension and parched grain, in plenty,
for many days.

“They came at length to the swelling hills, the long narrow
valleys of the Keochee and its tribute river of Toxaway, named
after that great chief of the Little Estatoees, of whom we have
already heard something. At one and the same moment they
beheld the white waters of Charashilactay, plunging over the
precipice, and the hundred lodges of the Cherokee hunters. There
they had gathered—the warriors and their women—twenty different
tribes of the same great nation being represented on the
ground; each tribe having its own cluster of cabins, and rising
up, in the midst of each, the long pole on which hung the peculiar
emblem of the clan. It was not long before Nagoochie marshalled
himself along with his brother Estatoees—who had counted
him lost—under the beautiful green bird of his tribe, which
waved about in the wind, over the heads of their small community.

“The number of warriors representing the Estato in that great
hunt was inconsiderable—but fourteen—and the accession, therefore,
of so promising a brave as Nagoochie, was no small matter.
They shouted with joy at his coming, and danced gladly in the
ring between the lodges—the young women in proper taste, and
with due spirit, hailing, with a sweet song, the return of so handsome
a youth, and one who was yet unmarried.

“Over against the lodges of the Estatoees, lay the more imposing
encampment of the rival Occonies, who turned out strongly,
as it happened, on this occasion. They were more numerous
than any other of the assembled tribes, as the hunt was to take
place on a portion of their own territory. Conscious of their superiority,
they had not, you may be sure, forborne any of the
thousand sneers and sarcasms which they were never at a loss to
find when they spoke of the Green Bird warriors; and of all their
clan, none was so bitter, so uncompromising, generally, in look,

speech, and action, as Cheochee, the fierce brother of the beautiful
Jocassée. Scorn was in his eye, and sarcasm on his lips, when
he heard the rejoicings made by the Estatoees on the return of
the long-lost hunter.

“`Now wherefore screams the painted bird to-day? why
makes he a loud cry in the ears of the brown viper that can strike?'
he exclaimed contemptuously yet fiercely.

“It was Jocassée that spoke in reply to her brother, with the
quickness of woman's feeling, which they wrong greatly who hold
it subservient to the strength of woman's cunning. In her reply,
Cheochee saw the weakness of her heart.

“`They scream for Nagoochie,' said the girl; `it is joy that
the young hunter comes back that makes the green bird to sing
to-day.'

“`Has Jocassée taken a tongue from the green bird, that she
screams in the ears of the brown viper? What has the girl to do
with the thoughts of the warrior? Let her go—go, bring drink to
Cheochee.'

“Abashed and silent, she did as he commanded, and brought
meekly to the fierce brother, a gourd filled with the bitter beverage
which the Cherokees love. She had nothing further to say on the
subject of the Green Bird warrior, for whom she had already so
unwarily spoken. But her words had not fallen unregarded
upon the ears of Cheochee, nor had the look of the fond heart
which spoke out in her glance, passed unseen by the keen eye of
that jealous brother. He had long before this heard of the great
fame of Nagoochie as a hunter, and in his ire he was bent to surpass
him. Envy had grown into hate, when he heard that this
great reputation was that of one of the accursed Estatoees; and,
not satisfied with the desire to emulate, he also aimed to destroy.
This feeling worked like so much gall in his bosom; and when
his eyes looked upon the fine form of Nagoochie, and beheld its
symmetry, grace, and manhood, his desire grew into a furious
passion which made him sleepless. The old chief, Attakulla, his
father, told him all the story of Nagoochie's accident—how Jocassée
had found him; and how, in his own lodge, he had been
nursed and tended. The old man spoke approvingly of Nagoochie;
and, the better to bring about a good feeling for her lover,

Jocassée humbled herself greatly to her brother,—anticipated his
desires, and studiously sought to serve him. But all this failed to
effect a favourable emotion in the breast of the malignant young
savage towards the young hunter of the Green Bird. He said
nothing, however, of his feelings; but they looked out and were
alive to the sight, in every aspect, whenever any reference, however
small, was made to the subject of his ire. The Indian passion
is subtlety, and Cheochee was a warrior already famous
among the old chiefs of Cherokee.