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8. CHAPTER VIII.

The elfin cast a glance around,
As he lighted down from his courser toad,
Then round his breast his wings he wound,
And close to the river's brink he strode;
He sprang on a rock, he breathed a prayer,
Above his head his arm he threw,
Then tossed a tiny curve in air,
And headlong plunged in the water blue.

Drake.

An hour had intervened between the time when le Bourdon
had removed the canoes of the Pottawattamies, and
the time when he returned alone to the northern side of the
river. In the course of that hour, the chief of the savages
had time to ascertain all the leading circumstances that
have just been related, and to collect his people in and
around the hut, for a passing council. The moment was
one of action, and not of ceremonies. No pipe was
smoked, nor any of the observances of the great councils
of the tribe attended to; the object was merely to glean
facts and to collect opinions. In all the tribes of this
part of North America, something very like a principle of


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democracy is the predominant feature of their polities. It
is not, however, that bastard democracy which is coming
so much in fashion among ourselves, and which looks into
the gutters solely for the “people,” forgetting that the
landlord has just as much right to protection as the tenant,
the master as the servant, the rich as the poor, the gentleman
as the blackguard. The Indians know better than
all this. They understand, fully, that the chiefs are entitled
to more respect than the loafers in their villages, and
listen to the former, while their ears are shut to the latter.
They appear to have a common sense, which teaches them
to avoid equally the exaggerations of those who believe in
blood, and of those who believe in blackguardism. With
them the doctrines of “new men” would sound as an absurdity,
for they never submit to change for change's sake.
On the contrary, while there is no positive hereditary rank,
there is much hereditary consideration; and we doubt if a
red man could be found in all America, who is so much of
a simpleton as to cite among the qualifications of any man
for a situation of trust and responsibility, that he had never
been taught how to perform its duties. They are not
guilty of the contradiction of elevating men because they
are self-taught, while they expend millions on schools.
Doubtless they have, after a fashion of their own, demagogues
and Cæsars, but they are usually kept within moderate
limits; and in rare instances, indeed, do either ever
seriously trespass on the rights of the tribe. As human
nature is everywhere the same, it is not to be supposed
that pure justice prevails even among savages; but one
thing would seem to be certain, that, all over the world,
man in his simplest and wildest state is more apt to respect
his own ordinances, than when living in what is deemed a
condition of high civilization.

When le Bourdon reached the point whence he could
get a good view of the door of the hut, which was still
illuminated by the fire within, he ceased using the paddle
beyond the slight effort necessary to keep the canoe nearly
stationary. He was quite within the range of a rifle, but
trusted to the darkness of the night for his protection.
That scouts were out, watching the approaches to the hut,
he felt satisfied; and he did not doubt that some were


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prowling along the margin of the Kalamazoo, either looking
for the lost boats, or for those who had taken them
away. This made him cautious, and he took good care
not to place his canoe in a position of danger.

It was very apparent that the savages were in great uncertainty
as to the number of their enemies. Had not the
rifle been fired, and their warrior killed and scalped, they
might have supposed that their prisoner had found the
means of releasing his limbs himself, and thus effected his
escape; but they knew that the Chippewa had neither gun
nor knife, and as all their own arms, even to those of the
dead man, were still in their own possession, it was clear
that he had been succoured from without. Now, the Pottawattamies
had heard of both the bee-hunter and Whiskey
Centre, and it was natural enough for them to ascribe some
of these unlooked-for feats to one or the other of these
agents. It is true, the hut was known to have been built
three or four years earlier, by an Indian trader, and no one
of the party had ever actually seen Gershom and his family
in possession; but the conjectures on this head were as
near the fact, as if the savages had passed and repassed
daily. There was only one point on which these close calculators
of events were at fault. So thoroughly had everything
been removed from the chienté, and so carefully the
traces of its recent occupation concealed, that no one
among them suspected that the family had left the place
only an hour before their own arrival. The bee-hunter,
moreover, was well assured that the savages had not yet
blundered on the hiding-place of the furniture. Had this
been discovered, its contents would have been dragged to
light, and seen around the fire; for there is usually little
self-restraint among the red men, when they make a prize
of this sort.

Nevertheless, there was one point about which even those
keen-scented children of the forest were much puzzled,
and which the bee-hunter perfectly comprehended, notwithstanding
the distance at which he was compelled to
keep himself. The odour of the whiskey was so strong, in
and about the chienté, that the Pottawattamies did not know
what to make of it. That there should be the remains of
this peculiar smell—one so fragrant and tempting to those


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who are accustomed to indulge in the liquor—in the hut
itself, was natural enough; but the savages were perplexed
at finding it so strong on the declivity, down which the
barrels had been rolled. On this subject were they conversing,
when le Bourdon first got near enough to observe
their proceedings. After discussing the matter for some
time, torches were lighted, and most of the party followed
a grim old warrior, who had an exceedingly true nose for
the scent of whiskey, and who led them to the very spot
where the half-barrel had been first stove, by rolling off a
rock, and where its contents had been mainly spilled. Here
the earth was yet wet, in places, and the scent was so strong,
as to leave no doubt of the recent nature of the accident
which had wasted so much of a liquor, that was very precious
in Pottawattamie eyes; for accident they thought it
must be, since no sane man could think of destroying the
liquor intentionally.

All the movements, gestures, and genuflections of the
savages were plainly seen by the bee-hunter. We say the
genuflections, for nearly all of the Indians got on their
knees and applied their noses to the earth, in order to scent
the fragrance of the beloved whiskey; some out of curiosity,
but more because they loved even this tantalizing
indulgence, when no better could be had. But le Bourdon
was right in his conjectures, that the matter was not to end
here. Although most of the Indians scented the remains
of the whiskey out of love for the liquor, a few of their
number reasoned on the whole transaction, with quite as
much acuteness as could have been done by the shrewdest
natural philosopher living. To them it was very apparent
that no great length of time, a few hours at most, could
have elapsed since that whiskey was spilled; and human
hands must have brought it there, in the first place, and
poured it on the ground, in the second. There must have
been a strong reason for such an act, and that reason presented
itself to their minds with unerring accuracy. Their
own approach must have been seen, and the liquor was
destroyed because it could not be removed in time to prevent
its falling into their hands. Even the precise manner
in which the whiskey had been disposed of, was pretty
nearly conjectured by a few of the chiefs, acute and practised


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as they were; who, accustomed to this species of exercise
of their wits, had some such dexterity in examining
facts of this nature, and in arriving at just results, as the
men of the schools manifest in the inquiries that more
especially belong to their habits and training. But their
conclusions were confined to themselves; and they were
also sufficiently enveloped in doubts, to leave those who
made them ready enough to receive new impressions on
the same subject.

All this, moreover, le Bourdon both saw and understood;
or, if not absolutely all, so much of it as to let him comprehend
the main conclusions of the savages, as well as
the process by which they were reached. To obtam light,
the Indians made a fire near the charmed spot, which
brought themselves and their movements into plam view
from the canoe of the bee-hunter. Curiosity now became
strongly awakened in the latter, and he ventured in nearer
to the shore, in order to get the best possible view of what
was going on. In a manner, he was solving an enigma;
and he experienced the sort of pleasure we all feel at exercising
our wits on difficulties of that nature. The interest
he felt rendered the young man careless as respected
the position of his canoe, which drifted down before the
strong breeze, until le Bourdon found himself in the very
edge of the wild rice, which at this point formed but a
very narrow belt along the beach. It was this plant, indeed,
that contributed to make the young man so regardless
of his drift, for he looked upon the belt of rice as a species
of land-mark to warn him when to turn. But, at no other
spot along that whole shore, where the plant was to be
found at all, was its belt so narrow as at this, immediately
opposite to the new fire of the savages, and almost within
the influence of its rays. To le Bourdon's surprise, and
somewhat to his consternation, just as his little craft touched
the rice, the forms of two stout warriors passed along the
beach, between him and the light, their feet almost dipping
in the water. So near were these two warriors to him,
that, on listening intently, he heard not only their voices,
as they communicated their thoughts to each other in low
tones, but the tread of their moccasined feet on the ground.
Retreat, under the circumstances, would not be safe for


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it must have been made under the muzzles of the rifles;
and but one resource presented itself. By grasping in his
hand two or three stalks of the rice-plant, and holding
them firmly, the drift of the canoe was arrested.

After a moment's reflection, le Bourdon was better satisfied
with this new station than he had been on first gaining
it. To have ventured on such a near approach to his enemies,
he would have regarded as madness; but now he was
there, well concealed among the rice, he enjoyed the advantages
of observation it gave him, and looked upon the
chance that brought him there, as lucky. He found a
thong of buckskin, and fastened his canoe to the stalks of
the plant, thus anchoring or mooring his little bark, and
leaving himself at liberty to move about in it. The rice
was high enough to conceal him, even when erect, and he
had some difficulty in finding places favourable to making
his observations through it. When the bee-hunter made
his way into the bow of his canoe, however, which he did
with a moccasined and noiseless foot, he was startled at
perceiving how small was his cover. In point of fact, he
was now within three feet of the inner edge of the rice-plants,
which grew within ten feet of the shore, where the
two warriors already mentioned were still standing, in close
communication with each other. Their faces were turned
towards the fire, the bright light from which, at times,
streamed over the canoe itself, in a way to illumine all it
contained. The first impulse of le Bourdon, on ascertaining
how closely he had drifted to the shore, was to seize a
paddle and make off, but a second thought again told him
it would be far safer to remain where he was. Taking his
seat, therefore, on a bit of board laid athwart, from gunwale
to gunwale, if such a craft can be said to have gunwales
at all, he patiently awaited the course of events.

By this time, all or nearly all of the Pottawattamies had
collected at this spot, on the side of the hill. The hut was
deserted, its fire got to be low, and darkness reigned
around the place. On the other hand, the Indians kept
piling brush on their new fire, until the whole of that hill-side,
the stream at its foot, and the ravine through which
the latter ran, were fairly illuminated. Of course, all
within the influence of this light was to be distinctly seen,


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and the bee-hunter was soon absorbed in gazing at the
movements of savage enemies, under circumstances so
peculiar.

The savages seemed to be entranced by the singular,
and to most of them unaccountable circumstance of the
earth's giving forth the scent of fresh whiskey, in a place
so retired and unknown. While two or three of the numbers
had certain inklings of the truth, as has been stated,
to much the greater portion of their body it appeared to
be a profound mystery; and one that, in some inexplicable
manner, was connected with the recent digging up of the
hatchet. Ignorance and superstition ever go hand in hand,
and it was natural that many, perhaps that most of these
uninstructed beings should thus consider so unusual a
fragrance, on such a spot. Whiskey has unfortunately
obtained a power over the red men of this continent, that
it would require many Fathers Matthew to suppress, and
which can only be likened to that which is supposed to
belong to the influence of witchcraft. The Indian is quite
as sensible as the white man of the mischief that the “fire-water”
produces; but, like the white man, he finds how
hard it is to get rid of a master passion, when we have
once submitted ourselves to its sway. The portion of the
band that could not account for the fact of the scent of
their beloved beverage's being found in such a place, and
it was all but three of their whole party, were quite
animated in their discussions on the subject, and many
and crude were the suggestions that fell from their lips.
The two warriors on the beach, were more deeply impressed
than any of their companions, with the notion that
some “medicine charm” was connected with this extraordinary
affair.

The reader will not be surprised to hear that le Bourdon
gazed on the scene before him with the most profound
attention. So near did he seem to be, and so near was he,
in fact, to the savages who were grouped around the fire,
that he fancied he could comprehend what they were saying,
by the expressions of their grim and swarthy countenances.
His conjectures were in part just, and occasionally
the bee-hunter was absolutely accurate in his notions
of what was said. The frequency with which different


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individuals knelt on the ground, to scent an odour that is
always so pleasant to the red man, would of itself have
given a clue to the general character of the discourse; but,
the significant and expressive gestures, the rapid enunciation,
and the manner in which the eyes of the speakers
glanced from the faces near themselves to the spot consecrated
by whiskey, pretty plainly told the story. It was
while thus intently occupied in endeavouring to read the
singular impression made on the minds of most of those
wild beings, by an incident so much out of the usual track
of their experience, that le Bourdon suddenly found the
bow of his canoe thrusting itself beyond the inner margin
of the rice, and issuing into open water, within ten feet of
the very spot where the two nearest of the savages were
still conferring together, apart. The buckskin thong
which served as a fastening had got loosened, and the light
craft was again drifting down before the strong southerly
wind, which still continued to blow a little gale.

Had there been an opportunity for such a thing, the
bee-hunter would have made an effort to escape. But so
sudden and unexpected was this exposure, that he found
himself almost within reach of a rifle, before he was aware
of his approaching the two warriors on the shore, at all.
His paddle was in the stern of the canoe, and had he used
the utmost activity, the boat would have grounded on the
beach, ere he could have obtained it. In this situation,
therefore, he was absolutely without any other means, than
his hands, of stopping the canoe, had there even been time.

Le Bourdon understood his real situation without stopping
to reflect; and, though his heart made one violent
leap as soon as he perceived he was out of cover, he immediately
bethought him of the course he ought to pursue.
It would have been fatal to betray alarm, or to attempt
flight. As accident had thus brought him, as it might be
on a visit, to the spot, he at once determined to give his
arrival the character of a friendly call, and the better to
support the pretension, to blend with it, if possible, a little
of the oracular, or “medicine” manner, in order to impose
on the imaginations of the superstitious beings into whose
power he had so unwittingly fallen.

The instant the canoe touched the shore, and it was


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only a moment after it broke through the cover, le Bourdon
arose, and extending his hand to the nearest Indian, saluted
him with the mongrel term of “Sago.” A slight exclamation
from this warrior communicated to his companion an
arrival that was quite as much a matter of surprise to the
Indians as to their guest, and through this second warrior,
to the whole party on the hill-side. A little clamour succeeded,
and presently the bee-hunter was surrounded with
savages.

The meeting was marked by the self-command and dignified
quiet that are so apt to distinguish the deportment
of Indian warriors, when they are on the war-path, and
alive to the duties of manhood. The bee-hunter shook
hands with several, who received his salutations with perfect
calmness, if not with absolute confidence and amity.
This little ceremony gave our hero an opportunity to
observe the swarthy countenances by which he was surrounded,
most of which were fierce in their paint, as well
as to reflect a little on his own course. By a fortunate
inspiration he now determined to assume the character of
a “medicine man,” and to connect his prophecies and juggleries
with this lucky accident of the whiskey. Accordingly,
he inquired if any one spoke English, not wishing
to trust his explanations to his own imperfect knowledge
of the Ojebway tongue, which is spoken by all the numerous
tribes of that widely-extended nation. Several could render
themselves intelligible in English, and one was so expert
as to render communication with him easy, if not very
agreeable. As the savages, however, soon insisted on
examining the canoe, and taking a look at its contents,
previously to listening to their visitor's explanations, le
Bourdon was fain to submit, and to let the young men
satisfy their curiosity.

The bee-hunter had come on his hazardous expedition
in his own canoe. Previously to quitting the south shore,
however, he had lightened the little craft, by landing everything
that was not essential to his present purpose. As
nearly half of his effects were in the canoe of Whiskey
Centre, the task was soon performed, and lucky it was for
our hero that he had bethought him of the prudence of the
measure. His sole object had been to render the canoe


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swifter and lighter, in the event of a chase; but, as things
turned out, he saved no small portion of his property by
using the precaution. The Indians found nothing in the
canoe, but one rifle, with a horn and pouch, a few light
articles belonging to the bee-hunter's domestic economy,
and which he had not thought it necessary to remove, and
the paddles. All the honey, and the skins, and stores,
and spare powder and lead, and, in short, every thing else
that belonged to le Bourdon was still safe, on the other side
of the river. The greatest advantage gained by the Pottawattamies
was in the possession of the canoe, itself, by
means of which they would now be enabled to cross the
Kalamazoo, or make any other similar expedition, by
water.

But, as yet, not a sign of hostility was betrayed by either
party. The bee-hunter seemed to pay no attention to his
rifle and ammunition, or even to his canoe, while the savages,
after having warily examined the last, together with
its contents, returned to their visitor, to re-examine him,
with a curiosity as lively as it was full of distrust. At this
stage in the proceeding, something like a connected and
intelligible conversation commenced between the chief who
spoke English, and who was known in most of the north-western
garrisons of the Americans, by the name of Thundercloud,
or Cloud, by way of abbreviation, on account of
his sinister looks, though the man actually sustained a
tolerably fair reputation for one of those who, having been
wronged, was so certain to be calumniated. No man was
ever yet injured, that he has not been slandered.

“Who kill and scalp my young man?” asked Cloud, a
little abruptly.

“Has my brother lost a warrior?” was the calm reply.
“Yes, I see that he has. A medicine-man can see that,
though it is dark.”

“Who kill him, if can see?—who scalp him, too?”

“An enemy did both,” answered le Bourdon, oracularly.
“Yes; 't was an enemy that killed him; and an enemy
that took his scalp.”

“Why do it, eh? Why come here to take Pottawattamie
scalp, when no war-path open, eh?”

“Pottawattamie, the truth must always be said to a medicine-man.


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There is no use in trying to hide truth from
him. There is a war-path open; and a long and a tangled
path it is. My Great Father at Washington has dug up
the hatchet against my Great Father at Quebec. Enemies
always take scalps when they can get them.”

“Dat true—dat right, too—nobody grumble at dat—but
who enemy? pale-face or red-skin?”

“This time it was a red-skin—a Chippewa—one of your
own nation, though not of your own tribe. A warrior called
Pigeonswing, whom you had in thongs, intending to torture
him in the morning. He cut his thongs, and shot your
young man—after which he took his scalp.”

“How know dat?” demanded the Cloud, a little fiercely.
“You 'long, and help kill Pottawattamie, eh?”

“I know it,” answered le Bourdon, coolly, “because
medicine-men know most of what happens. Do not be
so hasty, chief, for this is a medicine spot—whiskey grows
here.”

A common exclamation escaped all of the red men, who
comprehended the clear, distinct, and oracular-like language
and manner of the bee-hunter. He intended to
make an impression on his listeners, and he succeeded admirably;
perhaps as much by means of manner as of
matter. As has been said, all who understood his words
—some four or five of the party—grunted forth their surprise
at this evidence of their guest's acquaintance with
the secrets of the place, in which they were joined by the
rest of their companions, as soon as the words of the pale-face
had been translated. Even the experienced and wary
old chiefs, who had more than half conjectured the truth,
in connection with this mysterious odour of whiskey, were
much unsettled in their opinions concerning the wonder,
and got to be in that condition of mind, when a man does
not know what to think of any particular event. The bee-hunter,
quick-witted, and managing for his life, was not
slow to perceive the advantage he had gained, and he proceeded
at once to clinch the nail he had so skilfully driven.
Turning from Cloud to the head chief of the party, a warrior
whom he had no difficulty in recognising, after having
so long watched his movements in the earlier part of the
night, he pushed the same subject a little further.


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“Yes; this place is called by the whites, Whiskey
Centre,” he added—“which means that it is the centre of
all the whiskey of the country round about.”

“Dat true,” said Cloud, quickly—“I hear so'ger at Fort
Dearborn call him Whiskey Centre!”

This little circumstance greatly complicated the mystery,
and le Bourdon perceived that he had hit on a lucky explanation.

“Soldiers far and near— soldiers drunk or sober— soldiers
with scalps, and soldiers without scalps — all know
the place by that name. But you need not believe with
your eyes shut, and noses stopped, chief, since you have
the means of learning for yourselves the truth of what I
tell you. Come with me, and I will tell you where to dig
in the morning for a Whiskey Spring.”

This communication excited a tremendous feeling among
the savages, when its purport came to be explained to the
whole party. Apart from the extraordinary, miraculous
nature of such a spring, which in itself was sufficient to
keep alive expectation and gratify curiosity, it was so comfortable
to have an inexhaustible supply of the liquor running
out of the bowels of the earth, that it is no wonder
the news spread infinite delight among the listeners. Even
the two or three of the chiefs who had so shrewdly divined
the manner in which the liquor had been spilled, were
staggered by the solemnity and steadiness of the bee-hunter's
manner, and perhaps a little carried away by
sympathy with those around them. This yielding of the
human mind to the influence of numbers, is so common an
occurrence as scarcely to require explanation, and is the
source of half the evils that popular associations inflict on
themselves. It is not that men capable of seeing the truth
are ever wanting; but men capable of maintaining it, in
the face of clamour and collected power.

It will be readily conceived that a medicine-man, who is
supposed to possess the means of discovering a spring that
should overflow with pure whiskey, would not be left without
urgent demands for a speedy exercise of his art. This
was now the case with le Bourdon, who was called on from
all sides, to point out the precise spot where the young men
were to commence digging in order to open on the treasure.


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Our hero knew that his only hope of escape was
connected with his steadily maintaining his assumed character;
or, of maintaining this assumed character, with his
going on, at once, to do something that might have the
effect, temporarily at least, of satisfying the impatience of
his now attentive listeners. Accordingly, when the demand
was made on him to give some evidence of his power,
he set about the task, not only with composure, but with a
good deal of ingenuity.

Le Bourdon, it will be remembered, had, with his own
hands, rolled the two barrels of whiskey down the declivity.
Feeling the great importance of effectually destroying them,
he had watched their descent, from the top to the bottom
of the hill, and the final disappearance of the staves, &c.,
in the torrent which brawled at its foot. It had so happened,
that the half-filled cask broke and let out its liquor,
at a point much more remote from the stream, than the
filled cask. The latter had held together until it went
over the low rocky precipice, already mentioned, and was
stove at its base, within two yards of the torrent, which
received all its fragments and swept them away, including
most of the liquor itself; but not until the last had been
spilled. Now, the odorous spot which had attracted the
noses of the savages, and near which they had built their
fire, was that where the smallest quantity of the whiskey
had fallen. Le Bourdon reasoned on these circumstances
in this wise:— if half a barrel of the liquor can produce
so strong a scent, a barrel filled ought to produce one still
stronger; and I will manifest my medicine-character, by
disregarding for the present moment the spot on the hill-side,
and proceed at once to that at the foot of the rocks.
To this latter point, therefore, did he direct all the ceremony,
as well as his own footsteps, when he yielded to the
solicitations of the Pottawattamies, and undertook to point
out the position of the Whiskey Spring.

The bee-hunter understood the Indian character too
well, to forget to embellish his work with a proper amount
of jugglery and acting. Luckily, he had left in the canoe
a sort of frock of mottled colours, that he had made himself,
to wear in the woods in the autumn as a hunting dress,
under the notion that such a covering would conceal his


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approach from his game, by blending its hues with those
of the autumn leaf. This dress he now assumed, extorting
a good deal of half-suppressed admiration from the younger
warriors, by the gay appearance he made. Then he drew
out his spy-glass to its greatest length, making various
mysterious signs and gestures as he did so. This glass
proved to be a great auxiliary, and possibly alone kept the
doubters in awe. Le Bourdon saw at once that it was entirely
new, even to the oldest chief, and he felt how much
it might be made to assist him. Beckoning to Cloud, and
adjusting the focus, he directed the small end of his glass to
the fire, and placed the large end to that Indian's eye. A
solitary savage, who loved the scent of whiskey too much
to tear himself away from the spot, was lingering within
the influence of the rays, and of course was seen by the
chief, with his person diminished to that of a dwarf, and
his form thrown to a seeming distance.

An eloquent exclamation followed this exhibition of the
medicine-man's power; and each of the chiefs, and most
of the other warriors, were gratified with looks through
the glass!

“What dat mean?” demanded Cloud, earnestly. “See
Wolfeye well 'nough —why he so little? —why he so far
off, eh?”

“That is to show you what a medicine-man of the pale-faces
can do, when he is so minded. That Indian is named
Wolfseye, and he loves whiskey too well. That I know,
as well as I know his name.”

Each of these exhibitions of intelligence extorted exclamations
of wonder. It is true, that one or two of the
higher chiefs understood that the name might possibly have
been obtained from Cloud; but how was the medicine-man
to know that Wolfseye was a drunkard? This last had
not been said in terms; but enough had been said, to let
those who were aware of the propensity feel that more was
meant than had been expressed. Before there was time,
however, to deliberate on, or to dissect this specimen of
mysterious knowledge, le Bourdon reversed the glass, and
applied the small end to the eye of Cloud, after having
given it its former direction. The Indian fairly yelled,


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partly with dread, and partly with delight, when he saw
Wolfseye, large as life, brought so near himself that he
fancied he might be touched with his own hand.

“What dat mean?” exclaimed Cloud, as soon as surprise
and awe enabled him to find his voice. “Fuss he little,
den he big—fuss he great way, den he close by—what dat
mean, eh?”

“It means that I am a medicine-man, and this is a medicine-glass,
and that I can see with it into the earth,
deeper than the wells, or higher than the mountains!”

These words were translated, and explained to all there.
They extorted many ejaculations of wonder, and divers
grunts of admiration and contentment. Cloud conferred
a moment with the two principal chiefs; then he turned
eagerly to the bee-hunter, saying—

“All good, but want to hear more—want to l'arn more
—want to see more.”

“Name your wants freely, Pottawattamie,” answered le
Bourdon, with dignity; “they shall be satisfied.”

“Want to see — want to taste Whiskey Spring — see
won't do—want to taste.”

“Good—you shall smell first; then you shall see; after
that you shall taste. Give me room, and be silent; a great
medicine is near.”

Thus delivering himself, le Bourdon proceeded with his
necromancy.


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