University of Virginia Library

1. SCARLET FEATHER.

1. CHAPTER I
The Lodge.

The young chieftain Natanis stood in front of his hunting-lodge leaning
upon his bow. Tall and noble in person, and in his attitude commanding,
yet graceful, he looked like a young Apollo just returned from the chase.
At his feet lay a doe with a freshly oozing wound in her soft white breast,
and upon the ground by his side crouched, panting, a huge black wolf-dog.

The bronzed chest and right arm of the young Indian were naked. A
panther's skin hung negligently from his left shoulder in massive folds. He
had slain the fine animal without weapon, as Samson had overpowered the
lion, and with a vanity pardonable in a young and handsome chief, wore
his skin as a trophy of his exploit. Beneath this shaggy toga was visible a
buff-coloured hunting-shirt of dressed deer's hide, girdled at the waist by a
gorgeously embroidered belt of wampum. In this belt he carried a long
French dagger with a silver handle and sheath of the same metal. His leggins
were also of deer's skin, died scarlet and fringed with bead-work in a
very curious and beautiful manner. Upon his feet he wore moccasins, elaborately
wrought with beads of the richest tints in representations of birds
or stags in flight pursued by winged arrows.

At his back was slung a quiver, containing, at this time, a single arrow.
The quiver was made of the silvery bark of the birch tree, and ornamented
with divers pictorial figures, beautifully colored, though with rudely-drawn
outlines. Upon his head he wore no covering; but a hand of wampum in
which was delicately worked in parti-colored grasses, his name and warlike
deeds bound his brow, leaving the jet black masses of hair falling free upon
his finely moulded shoulders. From the front of this band towered a bright,
scarlet feather, rising above his lofty forehead from amid a dark eagle's plumage
that half encircled it like a crescent. This feather was the badge and
insignia of his rank as chief of the powerful Abenaquies; and it also gave
him the designation, by which he was known among warriors, of—`The
Scarlet Feather.'

Before him flowed the waters of the romantic Kennebis,[1] its dark, transparent

tide almost bathing his feet and reflecting his stately form. The
river was narrow, and its opposite bank almost overcast with its shadows
the green spot where the cabin of Natanis stood. It was near the close of
a sunny day in October, that season of richness, when Nature, investing
herself with a thousand dyes, mocks even the gorgeous pallete of the
painter.

Natanis gazed silently, as if in admiration, upon the darkly flowing water
reflecting from its banks foliage of gold, crimson and orange, and upon
the gorgeous forests that clothed the hills and mountains; and from these,
his eye rested in the distance through a gorge of the river hills upon a lofty
peak shining with snow, and thence uplifted, they reposed upon the deep,
still, pure blue of heaven over all.

It was a sweet, secluded spot where the young chieftain had pitched his
hunting lodge; a green, quiet vale upon the river back shut in by pleasant
hills, yet commanding a beautiful and varied prospect. At intervals as he
stood leaning thus upon his bow as if calmly enjoying the scene and the
hour before entering his cabin, the sound of a distant waterfall would come
fitfully and soothingly to his ear. Drawn up on the green sward before
his cabin was a light birch canoe of that graceful shell-shape peculiar to
these barks of the sons of the forest; and by the side of his cabin-door reclined
the sharp flat paddle and a salmon-spear which he had just before
taken out of it; for he had landed at his lodge from his canoe but a few
moments before. Around the lodge, upon branches cut for the purpose,
hung several skins of deer, stags, and does; and one of a huge black bear,
the glittering tusks being left in the head. Within the lodge were a few
rude implements for preparing food, and upon the ground was thrown a
skin which served the occupant for a couch.

The sun-beams of the closing day had left in shadow the vallies, and
were lingering upon the snowy peak of Mout Bigelow, when Natanis changed
his position and turned to enter the lodge. Before going in, he sent as
if by habit a quick, searching glance up and down the river. As he did
so, his eye was arrested by a canoe gliding out of the shadows of the bank
below and approaching the lodge. His whole manner was transformed by
the sight, as if by magic. His figure dilated and his dark eyes lighted up
with fire. He seized his yew bow, which was seven feet long, with a firmer
grasp, pressed his knee upon the middle, and strung it till the deer's sinew,
which formed the chord, had the tension of a steel rod. Then drawing
from the quiver his sole remaining arrow, he fitted it to the string, and throwing
himself at once into an attitude defying, and yet inquiring, he waited
the movements of the canoe. He saw that it contained two persons, and
that they were `pale faces.'

As the boat came within a hundred yards of the lodge, it stopped at the
bank, and one of the men alighted, and waved an Indian calumet in token
of his peaceful intentions; at the the same time he placed against a tree a
rifle which he carried, and there leaving it standing, advanced a few paces
unarmed, and stood still, as if awaiting the decision of the young Chief.

Natanis, after surveying him a moment longer, seemed to recognize him,
dropped the head of his arrow, and holding it and the bow together in one
hand, made a dignified motion of the hand for the stranger to approach.—
The intruder was a man of extraordinary make, being full six feet and a
half in height, yet as slender as a youth of seventeen, a compound of long
bones and sinews most uncouthly, yet muscularly put together. He wore a
tall, box-skin cap with the tail pointed down his back, a blue, linsey-woolsy
hunting frock, checked trowsers, with half, deer-skin leggins and moccasins.
He carried a knife, sheathed in a leathern case stuck in a belt that had once
been a soldier's, and a sort of haversack of bear-skin was slunk across his
left shoulder and rested upon his hip. His countenance was large featured,

hardy, and stamped with decision and good nature. He had no beard,
his hair was yellow in hue, and worn long and strait over his neck; and his
skin was burned as brown as mahogany.

He walked towards Natanis with enormous strides which seemed his
natural gait.

`There! stand there!' commanded the young chief pointing with his bow
to a point about ten paces from him. `What would you, stranger, that you
visit the lodge of Abenaquis?' he enquired with dignity.

`I come as a friend of the Abenaquies,' answered the hunter in the Tarratine
language with which he had been addressed. `If thou art Natanis,
“The Scarlet Feather,” I am thy friend.'

`The Abenaquis well knows all his friends. He knoweth not thee! yet,
he suspects who it is that has sought him in his hunting lodge! I have heard
of Ustaloga, called also the “Sharp Knife!”'

`You guess right, Natanis. I am the hunter you call the “Sharp Knife!”
If you know me, you know I am the friend of the Abenaquies!'

`I know thou art a great warrior, and art from a child a dweller of the
forest with the tribe of the Kennebis; yet I have never seen thee before.—
But I believe thou art a friend to our race.'

`I am more Indian than Christian, Scarlet Feather,' said the hunter laughing;
`I never knew my white name, having been taken prisoner by the Chief
Ustaloga, who gave me his own name, and raised me a warrior!'

`You have done great deeds in battle, I hear! I am glad to welcome a
brave man to my lodge. Enter, Ustaloga, and be welcome to my hospitality.
Who comes with you? go bring thy brother.'

`'Tis thy brother, chief.'

`My brother?' repeated Natanis with surprise, and endeavoring to pierce
with his keen eye the foliage which partly hid the companion of the hunter
from his sight.

`It is the Sagamore Sebatis, chief. He delays but to bring with him some
presents for thee!'

`My brother Sabatis?' cried the young Indian warrior, his fine, dark countenance
illuminated with an expression of pleasure, which the next moment
passed by, leaving behind a sorrowful expression; for he suddenly recollected
that when he and his brot er had last parted, it was in coldness.—
He therefore restrained the impulse by which he was first moved to hasten
to meet him, and remained where he was, calm and silent, awaiting his approach.

The chief, Sabatis, at length advanced towards the lodge, bearing in his
hand a package wrapped in the skiu of an otter. He was a man of large
stature, of great breadth of shoulder, a massive frame, and features bold and
prominent. He wore a blue striped blanket, with a deep fringe, wrapped
round his form, leggings of undressed deer-skin, and a single eagle's feather
tipped with crimson, bound in the masses of his dark locks. He was older
than Natanis, and with a sterner visage; yet his carriage was marked by
the smae lofty port, and haughtiness of air.

`Welcome, brother,' said Natanis, as the Sagmore came near; and he advanced
a pace, and stretched forth his hand.

`Natanis, let us meet as brothers;' said the elder, throwing his arms
around him and embracing him. The young chief with frankness and cordiality
returned the embrace, and the brothers were reconciled!

`Come, brother, let us enter the lodge. I have a doe here, and we will
feast together!'

`No, Natanis, not now. I and Sharp Knife have both eaten. I have
come to see thee on affairs touching thyself and thy greatness. Let us
talk, for we must pursue our journey with the rising of the moon!'

`Whither does the prow of your canoe lead you?'

`Northward! We seek in haste the river's source, and our feet must not
rest until we have crossed the mountains of the wilderness, and our canoe
floats again in the waters that flow north into Lake Megantic.'

`Why this haste? Do you pursue game, brother, you and Sharp Knife,
that you thus follow the trails into the northern wilderness?'

`Listen, brother!' answered the Sagamore Sebatis, after the three had
seated themselves on skins in front of the lodge, Natanis a little removed
from, and facing his guests.

`My ears are open, brother.'

`Three moons ago, Natanis, when I sought you in the midst of your people,
and there proposed to you to join with me in taking part with the English
of Quebec against the pale faces who inhabit our hunting grounds, you
refused.'

`I did refuse, Natanis. The English I know not. They are far removed
from us! Their king's lodge is beyond the sea, and his hunting grounds lie
beyond the rising of the sun. What have we to do with giving our arms
and aid to strangers? So I answered thee then, so I answer thee now!'

`And who are these you would take part with? are they not the very
men who invade our hunting grounds, and who press us back from the sea
and the pleasant valleys of the rivers into the wilderness? The English of
Canada have not robbed us of our lands, and they are at war with those who
possess them from the shores of the Kennebis and the Bay of Massachoiset
to the far south, more than a moon's journey.'

`I know not the English. They are neither my foes nor friends! The
Americans I do know! I know that there are among them men of wisdom
also great warriors! why should I take up the hatchet against them? It is
true they dwell upon lands that our father once hunted over; but those
lands have been sold to them brother! I shall not mix with this war!' he
concluded in a firm tone of voice.

The Sagamore sat silent, and his countenance grew dark after his brother
had ceased. The hunter, seeing that he would soon reply with anger, hastened
to prevent any quarrels, and said to him,

`Scarlet Feather, noble Sagamore, does not show any hostility to the
English. He will remain neutral at least.'

`I want my brother's arm and warriors,' answered Sebatis sternly and impatiently.
`I have given the English the promise of mine, and the braves
of my tribe. Natanis, we are brothers! We are chiefs over brother tribes,
which our father divided between us. Let us not be at enmity. Thy tribe,
numbering eight hundred Abanaquies, and mine of a thousand Tarantine
warriors, will be of great service to the English.'

`And have you, brother, sold yourself, and your warriors?! demanded Natanis
with haughty surprise.

`No! I have only pledged myself as an ally, and to be ready to serve the
English King, whensoever I may be called on!' replied Sebatis with equal
haughtiness.

`What does he give thee, brother, for this service? asked Natanis with
contempt.

`When the war is ended, I am to have restored to my domains by the
English King, the hunting grounds of my fathers, now possessed by the
white-faces, and lying between the Kennebis and Andre-coquin!'

`And this they pledge thee?' pursued Scarlet Feather, his fine, dark face
eloquent with scorn and pity.

`They do. I have the word of the English Sagamore Carlton whom I
saw in Quebec four moons ago!'

`And what is this service required of thee?'

`To be ready to march upon the frontier of Massachoisetts whensoever I

shall receive orders, placing myself under the command of one of their chiefs
to unite with their army against Boston!'

`And is there such a plan?' demanded Natanis starting with surprise.

`The movements of the British I don't fully know. Besides you are their
enemy, brother!' replied Sebatis cautiously, and darting a searching glance
upon him.

Said I, I was their enemy?'

`He did not say so, Sagamore, that is a fact,' said Sharp Knife readily.

`True!'

`Brother!' said Natanis, speaking with enthusiasm, his dark eye kindling
with the fire of scorn and contempt, that was awakened in his generous bosom;
`have I been so unhappy as to sit here and listen to such base words
as thou hast given utterance to! Have I heard a son of the warrior Abanaquis,
has Natanis heard his brother confess that he has sold his independence
to the Pale-Face? Shame brother! have you been so dazzled by the
gold of the white man, that dishonor appears to you without a stain? If you
have lost your hunting grounds, are you so craven as to seek their restoration
by the aid of the British bayonet? Where are your thousand warriors?
are they women? Have they no arms? are they sick? Does it become a
warrior chief of the Tarratine nation to descend thus from his dignity and
native independence? Have I lived to hear Sabatis confess that he is ready
at any moment to place himself and his braves under the command of an
inferior chief of the great British Sagamore? Shame, brother! where are
the shades of our fathers that they do not rise from their forest graves, and
reecho shame upon their degenerate son?'

Sabatis listened without moving a muscle. It was plain the Hunter anticipated
that he would the next instant spring upon Natanis, for he rose
quickly and stepped between then. Sabatis, however, remained perfectly
unmoved. The young chief Scarlet Feather having thus spoken with such
eloquent indignation his feelings, sat silent, haughtily awaiting his brother's
reply. At length Sabatis opened his lips and spake. His voice was calm
and deep:

`Brother, you have spoken, and my cars have heard what was in your
heart. You are young, and I heed not your fiery speech. What I have
done, I have done! I have wisdom, and know what I do. I am chief of my
tribe, and I will lead them to what fighting ground I will. We are brothers;
let us be at peace. There is my hand.'

Natanis took his brothers' hand, and the two remained a few moments
seated in silence. The excitement gradually disappeared from the face of
Scarlet Feather, and lighting his calumet, Natanis smoked a few whiffs, and
then handed it to Sabatis.

`Brother, where are your warriors?' asked Natanis in a careless tone, after
he had again received the pipe from the Sagamore, smoked and handed
it to the Hunter.

`They are on the Konoco Lake. They hunt and fish there! I left them
three days ago to come hither.' Sabatis cast his eye down as he a
and Scarlet Feather saw that his brother deceived him in his reply.

`Why are you here? If I am not mistaken this is not far from the Nerijewees,
the foes of your tribe, he remarked in a quiet way.

`Their lodges are in the valley beyond the ridge of hills to the East!' answered
Sehatis looking in that direction.

`You are bold also, Scarlet Feather,' said the Hunter to lodge so nigh
them! We little thought to find you here!'

`Nor did I look for Sabates so far from his hunting grounds. Why does
his brother have the honor of his visit? did Sabatis come expressly to see
Natanis, or has be met the Scarlet Feather by accident?'

Sabatis made no reply. He was not inclined to tell the truth! The truth

was that the meeting was purely accidental. He had seen and recognized
Natanis the moment the latter had beheld the boat advancing, when finding
that he was discovered, he had landed and sent `Sharp Knife' forward, after
first holding a short discussion with him; for this unexpected recounter with
his brother was far from pleasing, either to him or Sharp Knife. He remained
behind himself, to make up a parcel of pretended gifts, from trinkets he
had brought to reward such Indians as he might employ in his expedition
to assist in carrying his canoe from one river to another. From policy, therefore,
he had feigned great joy on beholding his brother, though he apprehended
difficulty, in the further prosecution of his purposes in passing up the
river, from his opposition, should he diseover or suspect the object of this
secret expedition.

As Natanis regarded both his brother and the Hunter with a look of suspicion
while he put his question to him, the Sagamore said evasively,

`It was accident meeting you here, brother! but our visit was to you;
though we expected to find you a day's journey to the north and east.'

`My tribe's lodges lie to the south and east! why then should my brother
seek for me in the direction he has named?' demanded Natanis with increased
suspicion. `But I am found by you, brother. What would you
with Natanis? why have you come so far, and unattended to seek me.'

Before replying, Sebatis spoke a few moments earnestly aside with the
Hunter, and seemed to be influenced in his answer by Sharp Knife's opinion.

`To get your final decision, brother! will you take part with the British?
If you consent, I have a great advantage to offer you and an important
secret for your ear!'

Natanis was about to reply with a stern refusal, when the last words his
brother uttered, seemed to suggest to his mind a sudden thought. His
whole bearing was instantly changed to one of eager desire and intense
interest.

`Advantage said you, brother?' he asked with earnestness. `What advantage
can I gain by joining in this quarrel between the pale-faces?'

Sabatis looked at Sharp Knife inquiringly as much as to say, `shall he be
trusted?' The Hunter shook his head doubtfully. This was not unnoticed
by Natanis, who was by this confirmed in his resolution to adopt the course
which had just before suggested itself to his mind.

`Brother, I fear to trust you, yet I would do so,' said the Sagamore.

`Did you not come to see me to trust me? Will my brother go again as
he came?' and the young warrior rose and walked haughtily away some
steps.

`I will not trust you, brother,' answered the Chief after a moment's hesitation,
rising also. `By the light of the Great Spirit I will not trust you!'

`We must do it, Sagamore, and confide in Scarlet Feather's honor;' said
Sharp Knife very firmly, but in a tone that Scarlet Feather could not hear.
`If we do not, he will, at any rate, suspect us; and as we can't return now
but must go on with our message, he will of course suspect mischief, seeing
us continue our way north, after having visited him. We can give him
no excuse for keeping up the river. Besides, if we turn back, and then
double on our trail again, you may be sure, with his suspicions awakened
as they are, he will be a spy upon our heels. It was the fiend's luck falling
in with him here; and I wonder what he is doing, pitching his hunting lodge
so far from his own ground, and so near those of the Nerijewecs! It would
seem as if he was waiting for us; yet he could not know of our coming;
and besides, he does'nt seem to suspect the news we bear! we had best
trust him, as I think, from what he just said, he might be brought over to
our views; the idea of advantage to himself seems to have taken hold of
him.'

The Tarratine chief deliberated a moment, and then, as if deciding to
make a confidant of his brother, advanced towards him as he stood gazing
silently into the shadowy waters as they flowed by at his feet.

At the moment Sabatis came near, the quick eye of the young chief had
detected a stag coming down to the water on the opposite shore to quench
his thirst. The shades of evening placed the spot where the lodge stood in
dark shadows, it being on the west bank, while the shore on which the stag
stood, was still reflecting the light of the western sky. Quicker than lightning,
the bow of Scarlet Feather was raised, and his arrow levelled from
his ear. Sabatis, who was at the instant, almost within its range, fancying
himself the object, sprang back with a cry of surprise, drew his tomahawk
from his helt, and brandished it before him! The Hunter sprung forward
to arrest the arrow which from the position in which he stood, seemed to
his view aimed at the Sagamore's heart. But the arrow flew singing from
its string, which rung with a loud twang as if a chord of a base-viol had
been strongly struck, and the dashing, headlong plunge of the stag into the
flood showed them the true object of the young chiefs hostile demonstration.
Natanis smiled proudly and said with a tone of mingled grief
and contempt,

Brother! did you think that Natanis would lift his hand against the child
of his own mother! we are brothers.'

The Sagamore gloomily, and with a mortified look, replaced his tomahawk
in his girdle, while the hunter, springing into the canoe, darted swiftly
across the rapidly flowing river to secure the noble animal which had mingled
its life with the dark tide.