University of Virginia Library

9. CHAPTER IX.

M. P. F.

At Length the south breeze began once more to
whisper along the valley, bringing bland airs, spring
birds, sea fowls, the deep trembling roar of unchained
mountain streams, a clear blue sky, magpies and orioles,
cutting the ethereal space, as they sped with
their peculiar business note, on the great instinct errand
of their Creator to the budding groves. The
snipe whistled. The pheasant drummed on the fallen
trunks in the deep forest. The thrasher and the
robin sang; and every thing, wild and tame, that had
life, felt the renovating power, and rejoiced in the retraced
footsteps of the great Parent of nature. The
inmates of William Weldon's dwelling once more
walked forth, in the brightness of a spring morning,

choosing their path where the returning warmth had
already dried the ground on the south slopes of the
hills. The blue and the white violet had already
raised their fair faces under the shelter of the fallen
tree, or beneath the covert of rocks. The red bud
and the cornel decked the wilderness in blossoms; and
in the meadows, from which the ice had scarcely disappeared,
the cowslips threw up their yellow cups
from the water. As they remarked upon the beauty
of the day, the cheering notes of the birds, the deep
hum of a hundred mountain water-falls, and the exhilarating
influence of the renovation of spring, William
Weldon observed in a voice, that showed awakened
remembrances—`dear friends, you have, perhaps,
none of you such associations with this season,
as now press upon my thoughts, in remembrances
partly of joy and sadness. Hear you those million
mingled sounds of the undescribed dwellers in the
spring-formed waters? How keenly they call up the
fresh recollections of the spring of my youth, and my
own country! The winter there, too, is long and severe.
What a train of remembrances press upon me!
I have walked abroad in the first days of spring.—
When yet a child, I was sent to gather the earliest
cowslips. I remember my thoughts, when I first dipped
my feet in the water, and heard these numberless
peeps, croaks, and cries; and thought of the countless
millions of living things in the water, which seemed
to have been germinated by spring; and which appeared
to be emulating each other in the chatter of
their ceaseless song. How ye return upon my
thoughts, ye bright morning visions! What a fairy
creation was life, in such a spring prospect! How
changed is the picture, and the hue of the dark brown
years, as my eye now traces them in retrospect.—
These mingled sounds, this beautiful morning, these
starting cowslips, the whole present scene brings back
the entire past. Ah! there must be happier worlds
beyond the grave, where it is always spring, or the
thoughts, that now spring in my bosom, had not been
planted there.'

During this walk, in which the parties visited successively
all the favorite haunts of the former summer,
the blue lake, Jessy's bower, the deep dells,
where the first breath of spring flushed the red bud,
and the violet, and the crocus, and still heard the oriole,
the thrasher and red bird, Ellswatta discussed the
plans of the coming summer. The nation was to be
divided into two classes, the one to remain with the
greater portion of the women, to pursue the salmon
fishery, and tend the fields; and the other, comprising
the select warriors of each nation, to cross the eastern
mountains, equally prepared to hunt the buffalo,
and avenge the injuries of the preceding autumn inflicted
by the Black-feet. `It was necessary,' he said,
`that the uneasy and fierce spirits of his people should
have scope. It would try, and, perhaps, retain the
loyalty of Nelesho and his Shienne. If they met the
Black-feet, it would give them an opportunity, to measure
back the just retribution of punishment for injuries
inflicted. The disaffected chief could have no
pretext, as in the autumn, to demur against the enrolment
of his warriors under the common standard.—
The question was, would William Weldon and his
family join such a distant, and, it might be, dangerous
expedition?' It may be imagined with what intense
interest Frederic and the young chief awaited the
issue of this discussion. William Weldon had the
wandering protuberance marked in unalterable characters
upon his skull. He had never crossed these
barriers of nature—never seen the prairies, through
which the Missouri winds its interminable course to
the sea. `I will go,' he said, `if my wife and daughter
and friends are cheerfully content to follow me. My

spirit burns to explore these sublime mountains, and
the seas of verdure beyond.' Elder Wood held himself
determined by his duty to follow his distinguished
catechumen, now between darkness and light;
and that there were chances of doing more good in
the expedition, than with the stationary remnant of
the more undistinguished people. A real element in
determining him was, that the blood of a Kentucky
hunter was in his veins; and that his deepest bosom
warmed at the adventurous and spirit-stirring prospect.
Yensi and her daughter declared for following
the choice of the husband and father, without expressing
a preference for either the one course, or the
other. It would have been indecorous, in the circumstances
of the case, that Frederic should remain,
even if William Weldon's family had staid. He was
the more rejoiced to learn, that the family had decided
to join the expedition.

The deliberation was not closed, however, without
a study of days. But there were rumors, that their
enemies, the Black-feet, united with roving bands,
who hunt and fish near the Arctic sea, and the Muscovite
clans, meditated a descent from the mountains
on the Shoshonee valley. In such case the greater
danger would be to remain. Various elements may
naturally be supposed to have influenced the mind of
Jessy, and through her that of her mother, to follow
the expedition.

Every thing now wore the aspect of preparation.
The beautiful spring days were passed in arrangements.
The warriors refitted their yagers and pistols,
and sharpened their dirks. The quivers, bows and
arrows were in readiness. The provisions were laid
in store. The sumpter mules and horses were put in
requisition. The litters were refitted by Josepha,
Yensi and Jessy. Every eye was bright with anticipation,
and every hand busy in getting all things in

readiness. Pleased anticipations, and forecasting of
the pleasures and events of the expedition, gave added
fragrance to the evening tea. When they spoke of
the seeming frailty and inability to endure fatigue of
the daughter and the mother, Jessy presaged, that
she would show herself the worthy daughter of a
storn-beaten mariner; and that she would not be the
first to shrink from danger, or complain of fatigue.
She adverted to emergencies, when her fortitude had
been tested to the utmost, and had sustained her.
Only show her new flowers, new rivers, new mountains,
new plains, new views of nature, and, more than
all, the grand slope of the Missouri, and she would
encounter toil and danger with the best of them. She
was in that happy period of existence, when the mind
is not apt to dip its pencil in colors of gloom, and the
future showed to her radiant and sunny; and all the
toil, fatigue, and hunger and thirst and danger and
misgiving of mind, from mere corporeal exhaustion,
which must, in the most favorable circumstances,
make a part of such an expedition, were wholly laid
out of view.

A thousand arrangements of benevolent and wise
forecast were heeded by Ellswatta, for those who were
to remain behind. The proper distribution of subordination
and command was assigned to a chief, who
was appointed absolute in command in his absence.
A pallisade of considerable strength was raised, as a
garrison fortress, to which they were to fly, in case a
greater force, than they could cope with, should assail
them. All necessary details of direction, touching
summer duties, were carefully prescribed. The expedition
comprised eight hundred warriors, beside
nearly a hundred women. The Shienne, satisfied
with the prospect of an expedition, and fighting,
marched cheerfully under Nelesho. Nor would the

chief have dared, even had he wished, to retain the
services of his warriors from the expedition.

The morning of array for departure had come, and
the whole force assembled near the council house.
The leaves were half formed; and spring had now
reached the glory of its prime. A more faithful picture
of the mixing of joy and sorrow, in all that pertains
to earth, could not where have been found, than
in the circumstances of this departure. Husbands
and wives, parents and children separated, some to
remain for the inglorious pursuits of fishing, and tilling
the ground, and exposed, moreover, to dangers of
invasion, which showed more formidable, as the elect
of the tribe were departing on an expedition of four
hundred leagues. Here it might have been seen, that
the red men not only have hearts, but that their affections
and sympathies are of intense keenness. Amidst
the tears and wailing and parting words and charges
of the masters, even the village dogs, that were to
remain, showed their full measure of grief, by whining
and howling and striving to bite in sunder the
cords that bound them. While the departing dogs
evinced as clearly, in their baying and frisking and
short, joyous yelps, that they were quite as much delighted
with the thought of the expedition, as their
masters. Great quantities of dried vension, salmon,
and kinnicanick, were packed on horses. A more
grotesque object, than a sumpter mule, arrayed for
this march, could not be furnished in the vagaries of
the imagination of a Flemish painter. The large
wooden stirrups, the bridles and harnessing of ropes,
of buffalo hair, the prodigious protuberance, which
the back of the dogged and ruminating animal showed,
on which were lashed a whole stack of blankets,
bottles, tin cups, venison bags, salt, sugar, rum, hatchets,
rackets and balls for play, and the Indian apparatus

for gambling; in short, the uncouth and nameless
trumpery of an Indian's wants, displayed, instead
of a mule, a moving lumber room. Four hundred
marching humps of this sort formed the centre. A
most glorious and full bray, by way of parting flourish
and serenade, arose from every donkey enlisted in the
service. Two litters were arranged between two
trained mules to each litter. These were for William
Weldon's and Ellswatta's family. They were of scarlet
cloth, firmly harnessed to the two mules by thongs.
Nor would any process, but trial, have given adequate
ideas of Indian ingenuity, in inventions of comfort for
travelling, and perfect security in crossing the mountains
on these conveyances.

The warriors were admirably dressed for the service,
with tanned leather dresses, upon which thorns
and bushes could get no hold, and which, by closeness
and pliancy, were wonderfully adapted both to
service and expedition. The tomahawks and dirks
and pistols were all carefully prepared, of the best
temper and the highest polish. The powder and lead
were packed with a caution for security, which noted,
that they were regarded as medicine dependencies;
the yagers glistened, and Ellswatta declared that all
things were ready. The medicine men prayed, in
the customary strain, for pleasant skies and success in
battle, and in hunting, from the Master of Life. In
another phrase, and in another fashion, Elder Wood
had besought similar issues from the God of Israel, in
the dwelling of William Weldon. All attempts to
paint in words would be utterly in vain, to give the
details of thrilling interest, that belonged to the departure
of such an expedition.

A gentle south-west breeze, charged with fragrance,
came delightfully on the senses, just rustling
the leaves, and waving the grass. A fleet of periogues
were ready to convey the women and the infirm, who

belonged to the expedition, as far as the Sewasserna
was boatable. A large and roomy periogue, fitted
up within with buffalo and elk skins, and covered
with an awning of scarlet cloth, surmounted with eagle
and wakon feathers, emblems of chieftainship, received
Josepha, Yensi, Jessy, and two waiting girls.
Elder Wood, though offered the same indulgence,
chose rather the more hardy conveyance of a Spanish
poney. Baptiste, though since he had received the
Wistongah a despised thing, as an excellent wood and
water man, accompanied the expedition, being considered
in the suit of Nelesho, though, on this occasion,
he showed eager desires, by officious civility, to
regain the good will of William Weldon.

The drums beat for the march to commence. A
volley was fired, and the moment the smoke had
cleared away, the bells tinkled on the moving horses
and kine. The dogs bayed again. Parents and
children, husbands and wives embraced for the last
time. The measured trample commenced in a profound
silence of all other sounds. The periogues
hoisted their sails; the procession all moved together,
and the might of the nation moved up the Sewasserna.
Full many a thoughtful Indian turned his face back,
as he moved on, to look at the peaceful smokes of the
town, the dear friends, the loved relatives, the severed
connections, and reflected that many of them perhaps
were never to meet again on this side the grave.

While the two mothers conversed together, Jessy
had her pencil and her drawing paper before her, as
they steadily moved up the rippling stream, now
marking the influence from the breeze, and the lights
and shadows of the sun and the passing clouds upon
the grass and the foliage; or the new configurations
of the serpentine line of mountains, that still converged
the narrow valley of river, as they ascended; or the
fish seen beneath them, scared from their retreats by

such an unwonted array; or the venerable form of
Ellswatta, or the noble figures of the young chief and
his friend, the undistinguished mass of red men, keeping
their course in silence, or the army of dogs and
the driven herds of kine and horses, that followed the
train. The group furnished too much food for varied
thought, a variety too distracting, to be subject to the
grouping of the pencil. She threw it aside, and gave
herself up to the full inspiration of the love of nature.
Who can number the glad and tender thoughts, that
such a scene inspired? Every moment presented a
new aspect of the endless and never satiating variety.
`Oh nature,' she said within herself, `I admire thee
for the impress of thine Author upon thee. My first
and purest joys have been from thee. Thou hast
proved to me, thus far in life, an unfailing fountain of
satisfaction.' As they moved up between the still
converging piles, that bounded their prospect on
either hand, and marked the clumps of trees in the
prairies, and forest opening beyond forest, and mountain
beyond mountain, the wild fowls in infinite numbers
and varieties, hovering above them, and uttering
their cries, the gay song birds welcoming them from
point to point, she sat and mused with that fullness of
heart, and that vague, dreaming and yet delicious sentiment
of joy, that none but a true lover of nature can
understand.

A halt of a few moments gave them time to take
their warrior fare at noon. The expedition afterwards
moved steadily on, till the sun was withdrawn,
and the solemn twilight and the darting of fire flies
admonished them to halt for the night. There is
something delightful to every unsophisticated mind in
the meeting of such friends, in such a beautiful desert,
after a pleasant and fortunate day. The periogues
came to land. A reskoui and Frederic held each a
hand to Jessy and the mothers, as they trod once more

on the flower-fringed borders of the stream. A singular
harbor, indented, like the section of a circle,
and faced with the red pipe stone, which now first
became visible in the banks at this point of the river,
formed a basin sufficiently capacious, to hold all the
periogues. It was alive with fishes. The hook and
line soon covered the grass with them. The reports
of numerous yagers, fired at the geese and swans, wakened
the echoes. Some pitched the tents. Some
brought water, and were detailed for the services of
cookery. The deep song cheo wana he-aw-aw! was
heard on every side. A few children were shooting
the arrow at a target; and the little cheerful town
looked more bright and domestic, in contrast with the
boundless range of forests and mountains in view on
every side. Never was trip commenced with happier
auspices. The tea and coffee smoked in William
Weldon's tent. The cakes and pies were displayed.
Fish, fowl, and venison, the fruit of hunting, were
spread, to which the customary inmates sat down.
All the scene, not only there, but on every side,
showed content, quiet and abundance, a humble but
delightful assemblage of happy pastoral existence.
Nor could any one have imagined, that these same
people, apparently so mild, peaceful and affectionate,
stretched on the grass in the midst of their kine, horses,
dogs and families, might have been excited in a
moment, by the approach of an enemy, to mortal fray,
in which the hatchet would fly with unpitying and
unsparing fury; and in which the only contest would
be, who should spill the most blood, and inflict the
most misery. Such a scene and such a supper were
wonderfully calculated to bring the hearts of the inmates
to a delightful understanding. After they had
supped, and talked over the past, and sketched the
probable future, by permission of Ellswatta and his
family, who were their guests, the bible and psalm
book were produced, and the evening was closed with
hymns of praise to the God of Israel, in which the
voice of the aged and the young chief, the Spanish and
the Chinese mother, chimed in with the sweet notes
of Jessy.

The next day and the next afforded marches and
voyages of the same character—charming spring
days, mild suns, and fair sky, the singing of birds,
the cry of countless flocks of sea fowl over head, the
distant murmur of snow-nursed spring-fountains leaping
down the crags, and all the illimitable variety of
a wild, verdant and beautiful nature, smiling upon
them at every moment with a new face. Thus they
ascended the meanders of the Sewasserna for six
days. Here the mountains had converged to a vale,
which afforded little more than a passage for the
stream; which was becoming both too shallow, and
rapid, to be longer stemmed by the periogues. The
views were every hour becoming at once more sublime,
rugged and desolate; and instead of the cry of
the innumerable sea fowl, the bald eagle, screaming
in the blue, gave the predominant note in the stillness
of nature, and the mountains excluded the sun, except
for an hour or two at noon-day. At this point
spread out from the stream a quiet, deep, circular
pond of a few hundred yards in circumference, into
which the periogues were towed, drawn ashore and
made fast by permanent mooring. The encampment
of this day was on a terrace plain, on the side of a
mountain, on the east bank of the stream, which rose
almost from its shore above the clouds. The cheerful
encampment reared once more the little social
town in the wilderness. The confidential evening
conversations were resumed over the smoking repast;
and the two lovers, every day drinking deeper draughts,
retired at night to meditate upon the wonder-stirring

sight of such a beautiful vision, joined to an Indian
expedition over these unnamed mountains.

Next day was one of scramble and fatigue in ascending
rough and precipitous heights. It was matter
of unceasing surprise to Frederic, to see what
sureness of foot, and unerring clearness of instinct the
mules, and even horses displayed, in this apparently
impracticable ascent. They could see, that a road
had been marked out, by former travel, that the pass
had been ascended before; and, that these animals,
when their fore feet were raised almost perpendicular,
somehow continued to scramble safely up; though
the females of the party chose not to avail themselves
of the aid of their litters; notwithstanding they were
assured, and had occasionally occular proof, that they
were safe. All the day they continued slowly to ascend,
winding along the crevices of the rocks and the
chasms of mountain-gullies. Here was ample occasion
for a tender and necessary species of useful courtesy,
and not uncalled for gallantry, in aiding the mothers
and Jessy up these steep and sometimes painful
ascents. Nor did either Areskoui or Frederic complain
of the lovely burden, as they lifted the sylphid
form of the latter up eminences too high for her
strength to mount; and saw her face suffused with
the flush of exertion, and heard the quick throbbings
of her bosom. But still, the difficulty surmounted,
she was the first to laugh at her own weakness; and
held out her hands to aid her mother and Josepha up
the same ascent. When they had attained an eminence,
it was an imposing spectacle, to see the horses,
mules, and kine scrambling up the same heights below
them, and to note the brawny warriors springing
from rock to rock, as if the crevices of the cliffs threw
up a constant supply of men from their chasms. Nor
was it the least impressive part of the foreground;

that Elder Wood, still in advance of all, was seen with
his grey curls canonically sweeping over his broad
shoulders, his psalm book or bible in his hand, and his
rapt eye still looking at the new heights rising above,
admiring and adoring the Eternal Architect of these
ancient piles.

For two days they continued to ascend, the last
part of the second day being over glaciers and snows,
that had been accumulating for ages. Here they
encamped, in the painful predicament of having no
food for their horses, mules and cattle. But this provident
people had prepared bark, and bundles of gathered
grass for the emergency; and appeared to enjoy
the spectacle of the extreme greediness, with which
the fatigued and hungry animals devoured whatever
was presented them in the form of food. Here they
encamped, kindling such fires as they might, from the
moss and the billets of wood with which they had
charged their mules from lower wooded points of the
mountain. The air was sharp, and freezing. But
cheerful lights were kindled in these icy and desolate
regions; and the parties, warmly clad, and the front
of the tent closed, and warned, beside, that here was
the test of heroic endurance, they passed the evening
in these bleak domains of frost not less cheerfully,
than in positions naturally more comfortable.

Next morning they saw the sun rise on the summit
of the highest range, called by the Shoshonee, `The
Manitou peak.' What a sublime position! What an
imposing spectacle! Great and marvellous are thy
works, Lord God Almighty! was the exclamation of
Elder Wood. `I feel,' exclaimed Jessy, `as if I had
ascended to another sphere, and had already shaken
off the grossness and the burden of mortality.' The
sun, far away on the eastern plains, was struggling
through an ocean of mist. Where they stood was in
clear empyrean blue. To the north, the eye ran

along interminable ridges stretching towards the
dreary regions of the Arctic sea. To the south, the
same line was lost in the blue of the horizon. To
the west was their own sweet valley, and the eye
could readily recognize known peaks, which they had
left behind them eight days ago. How tiny showed
the strides and efforts of man, amidst the grandeur of
a prospect, in which distance was lost! To the east
were the innumerable sources of the Missouri, welling
with their snow dissolved tribute to the common
parent channel, from the southern line of Red river
of the south, to the most northern branch of the Maria
of the north. William Weldon's eye kindled, as
he surveyed the scene, with former passions. `Yonder,
my daughter,' said he, `yonder, but six hundred
leagues away, is my dear native, ungrateful and forsaken
country! But always, always dear; and God
do so to me and more, in Elder Wood's phrase, if I
ever forget thee, my country.' He held out his arms
towards the immeasurable plains; and in his heart
was the keen sentiment of regret, that he had ever
forsaken that country.

Before mid-day, they tasted the spring sources of
the Missouri; and to a benevolent mind it was a treat,
to see the cattle riot in the abundant and fresh herbage,
which had sprung up, quickened by the nitrous
influence of the recently melted snows. Here they
encamped, and found abundance of game; and here
they contemplated the appalling spectacle of a conflict
between two Shienne warriors and a grizzly bear,
who assailed them, as they crossed his lair. The
struggle was one of terrific interest. The powerful
and enraged animal only fought fiercer for the shots
he received. Other warriors rushed to their assistance.
When the savage monster had been at length
dispatched, three of the warriors were found to be severely
wounded in the combat. In this encampment,

they had once more come down to the warm influences
of spring. There was wood, water, game; and
all their wants were abundantly supplied. This
evening was marked by a circumstance of rare interest;
for Nelesho himself shared in the supper in
Ellswatta's tent, said kind things to Jessy, and congratulated
the party upon this uncommonly easy and
pleasant descent to the buffalo-plains.

It was two days before they reached the subjacent
plain, and encamped on the prairie at the mountain's
foot. After a careful reconnoisance, they selected a
strong encampment, guarded on three sides by those
impregnable barriers; and on the greater portion of
the fourth, by the rapid and turbid Missouri, which
rolled along full to the brim, between its banks, shaded
with cotton trees, with leaves half formed, and
emitting their peculiar and delightful fragrance. The
unguarded point of the camp was secured by strong
pallisades. The tents were pitched. The mules and
horses were packed with loads of fresh peeled bark.
Large and comfortable cabins were erected, and covered
with turf and bark; and in the course of two
days an Indian town had sprung up, in these remote
plains, affording all necessary shelter from the elements;
and, viewed with its cheerful accompaniments
of life, the incessant hum of busy movement, and the
natural evaporation of inward glee and animal mirth
in songs and laughter, and rising from a green sward,
abundantly dotted with periwinkles, columbines and
ladies' slippers, showed neither unpleasantly to the
eye, nor the imagination.

The time of arrival was opportune. The hunters,
from the first hour of their reaching the plains, had
brought down enough straggling buffaloes, abundantly
to supply the expedition with fresh provisions.—
But they learned, that the countless droves of the
south, ranging over all the upper area of the vast

plain, in numbers like the migrating sea-fowls, following
the teaching of instinct, were moving towards
the tender and more recently sprung grass of the
north.

Here might have been witnessed the keen excitement
of a hunter's thoughts, in view of this most
noble and useful species of game, and highest reward
of all the varieties of hunting. Ellswatta, in
view of it, was seen, as if growing young again. The
eyes of the women glistened, as they surveyed at a
distance at first dark atoms, only visible by the mirage
of the plains, but enlarging every moment; and
soon assuming, by the same mirage, preternatural dimensions,
like marching castles, until the whole surface
for miles seemed a black and moving mass of animals.
`There are the buffaloes! there are the buffaloes!'
they cried; and it was useless to think, or speak
of aught else. Elder Wood merged for the time the
minister in the Kentuckian. Every body was alive.
Every eye glistened. The buffaloes! The buffaloes!
No other cry was heard. William Weldon, all philosopher
as he was, was not less keen for the sport
than the rest. Indeed, as Yensi and Josepha and
Jessy surveyed the hunt, could they have forgotten
that it was purchased at the expense of life, it would
have been a glorious sight even to them. The yagers
were discharged. The animals fell. In various points
they were seen turning upon their tormentors, and
doing dangerous battle. But a party of relief was
observed wheeling, and flying to the aid of the pursued.
There were not wanting instances of extreme
danger, of being borne down, man and horse. Two
or three hunters actually suffered this fate, and were
severely wounded. The joyous yell, the cry of danger,
of retreat and pursuit, the barking of the dogs,
the enraged, or terrified snorting of the numberless
animals, the manifest indications that the whole souls

of the attacking party were in the assault, threw over
the hunt every imaginable degree of excitement and
interest. It was full three hours before the main moving
sweep of life had passed by, and the hunt was
still surveyed, diminishing gradually, as the straggling
and wounded animals disappeared in the distance,
until it was wholly invisible.

It would be difficult to find a happier collection of
human beings, than these hunters, when they returned
at night, to recount the fortunes of the day. The
chase had been uncommonly successful. Hundreds
of the animals had been slaughtered, and the
`hewers of wood and drawers of water,' were designated;
for it was their business to take the skins from
the animals, and preserve them, and such parts of the
flesh, as were either to be pickled, or dried. From
this time, this portion of the expedition was constantly
and laboriously employed.

And now the feast was spread; and the story went
round; and the Indian forgot his customary taciturnity.
Shouts of laughter arose. The warriors pointed
out from their number those, who had showed peculiar
prowess and intrepidity; not forgetting those
who had shrunk from the furious animals that turned
upon them in wrath; nor, through any delicacy of
forbearance, refraining the hearty laugh at all those
who had shown an undue concern for their own persons.
So engrossing and entire was the interest of
the hunt, even at the table of the chief, that Jessy, accustomed
to see herself an absorbing object of attention,
found, for a day or two, that there was no subject
of conversation to come in competition with a
buffalo hunt. It was natural to expect this of Areskoui,
of Elder Wood and the rest. But it almost
stirred her usually tranquil bosom, to find, that she
could not gain the attention of even Frederic for a
moment; that questions proposed by her, to distract

the conversation from that all engrossing theme, fell
unanswered upon his ear, while his eye glistened, and
his high forehead was lighted up with interest, as he
and Elder Wood were discussing together their mutual
assault upon a prodigious buffalo-bull, who turned,
and gave them battle. `I admire,' thought Jessy, as
as she laid down for repose at night, `if this is the civility,
that favored lovers would show to their mistresses.'
Nor did she fail at breakfast to ask him, if
he had dreamed through the night of his dear friends,
the buffaloes.

Ellswatta had not a little business, as judge, in deciding
many bitter disputes, who had been the fortunate
slayer, where many arrows or balls had pierced
the same animal. Never had expedition been more
busy, or more laboriously occupied. Here they were
laying in supplies of their most savoury food for a
year, and buffalo skins for many a year. The chief
business consisted in tanning, coloring, jerking, and in
every way preparing the various parts of the buffalo
for use; and a buffalo contains in his skin, flesh, fat
and sinew, some material for the supply of almost the
whole circle of Indian emergencies. Probably the
world contained not for the time in its whole cope a
more industrious and happy community, than the
dwellers in this little town at the foot of the mountains.
`Let them hunt,' thought Jessy. `Let them imagine,
that the fate of nations depends on the killing of a buffalo.
For me, I can amuse myself as much in character,
as Frederic;' and she put herself to exploring
the botany, examining the flowers, and classing the
flora, unexampled for its variety and richness, at the
sources of the Missouri. Her port folio, too, contained
the commencement and the rudiments of a most
impressive landscape, taking in the sublime and varied
scenery of the mountains, the interminable plain, the
buffaloes, a buffalo hunt, the perfectly clear and mild

azure of the sky in this mountain atmosphere; and
the Missouri, winding amidst its groves; and commencing
its long way to pay its final tribute to the
Father of Waters. When, at length, repetition began
to abate the intensity of interest connected with
buffalo hunting, Frederic once more returned to the
original and far deeper excitement of an attachment,
which had lost none of its influence, by being for a
short time suspended in its manifestations. He saw,
after much entreaty, this commenced sketch of the
grand scenery around them. His eye kindled. `How
much more worthily have you been employed than
we,' he cried! `Ah! you are determined always to
show your superiority.' A colloquy, thus commenced,
evinced to her that she did infinite injustice to him,
when she deemed that his interest in the concerns of
the mind and the heart, had in any degree abated. He
once more almost trenched on the interdicted
ground. She was soothed, and satisfied with demonstrations,
which she felt herself under the necessity
once more of treating with external severity, reminding
him of the terms of a former treaty upon the subject.
An occasional glance from Areskoui taught
her but too well, that though the pursuit in which
he was now engaged had an all absorbing interest, the
original, unchangeable fire was burning deep in his
bosom, with a devouring intensity, in no degree diminished
by this temporary distraction.

A matter of still deeper interest, than the buffalo
hunt, now presented. An exploring party, which had
pursued the buffalo along the foot of the mountains a
considerable distance to the north, returned in breathless
haste and excitement, to inform them, that a large
and exploring party of the Black-feet, like themselves
prepared either for war or hunting, were encamped
at distance of eight or ten leagues from them. Here
was matter of another sort of importance in the discussion.

All concern for the pursuit of buffaloes was
brought to a dead close. A reconnoitering party was
sent out to examine the number and probable intentions
of their enemies, with the most strict charges to
be cautious and circumspect; and by no means to
give notice of their presence. But on their return,
all necessity of painful lurking in concealment was
proved to be abortive. The enemy were clearly apprised
of the vicinity of their foe; for, like them, they
suffered the buffaloes to pass near them unmolested;
and every thing in their camp gave fearful note of
preparation.

Nor were Ellswatta and his people either improvident,
or indolent. Areskoui explained to his mother
and Yensi, that no fear for the result put them on fortifying
their camp; but tender concern for personages
so dear to them, and a fixed purpose, to leave no danger,
that could be provided against, to contingency.
Hence double pallisades were raised; and every precaution
adopted against all accident within the cope
of Indian experience. The voice of the females
would have been, to commence a return over the mountains.
But Ellswatta convinced them, that such return
was both inexpedient and impracticable, without
having previously settled the controversy with the
Black-feet. It would only bring upon them a certain
attack in the mountains, at a chosen point of disadvantage
to them, by a foe who would assail them with
the fierceness of assured victory, as deeming them
flying in fear. `No,' he said. `They have murdered
our people. They merit vengeance at our hands.
They are our implacable enemies. We came over
the mountains to seek them. We will fight them,
and let the Master of Life decide.'

It may well be thought, this night was one of thoughtfulness,
and a solicitude, that called forth all the powers
and affections of the heart. In the morning they

were to assault a brave, prepared and equally numerous
foe; and no one could calculate, who of them
would fall, and who return. Frederic, for the first
time in his life, was begirt for battle; and there was
in the camp one heart at least, that throbbed fearfully
in view of the impending danger for him. Elder
Wood this evening resumed the Christian minister;
and was wrestling with the God of battles for success
to the righteous cause. Areskoui kindly chided Jessy
for the paleness of apprehension on her cheek.—
`Wakona,' he said firmly and calmly, `we can beat
the Black-feet at any time, and under any circumstances.
That we have proved. Do you suppose, there
can be any doubt of the issue, when we have in our
camp our parents and Wakona, beside the necessity
of avenging injury, and retaining for ourselves, and
those, who come after us, the reputation of braves,
without which life would not be worth possessing?'
It was to no purpose, that she told him, `that the death
of her father and friends would be poorly compensated
by the empty laurels of victory, which would wither
at the end of the song of war and triumph, while
the friends would never return.' `We will fight them,'
was the reply; `fight them, goaded to the battle, not
only by all the motives, which you cannot be supposed
to feel, but by knowing, that a victory is necessary to
our secure and happy return over the mountains.'

The expedition had breakfasted next morning, before
sun rise; and tears, that could not be repressed,
rushed alike to the eye of Yensi and Jessy, as they saw
William Weldon girt with pistols, hatchet, yager and
dirk, and the venerable figure of Elder Wood equally
caparisoned in a style seemingly so little befitting
his peaceful vocation; and all the Kentuckian evidently
stirring in his blood. Ellswatta would have detained
him for the equally important duty of remaining
for the defence of the garrison. But it comported

not with his purposes. `God do so to me and more,'
he answered to Ellswatta, `if I do not go forth, and
fight openly, like a Christian and a Kentuckian, for
what I believe to be the righteous cause, and for
the people who have protected me, and who contain
all my charities.' `Give me,' said Frederic, in
an under tone to Jessy, `give me a little ringlet, as
an amulet, to wear next my bosom.' Though he requested
sportively, and she answered, as if the request
were jest, there was that in his eye, when he made
it, that went to her heart; and full gladly would she
have given the young warrior, clad in weapons to the
teeth, and going forth to the fierce encounter with
such terrible enemies, the fairest curl that wantoned
on her neck. But she said, with a pale face and an
upward cast of the eye, and folded hands, `God in his
mercy preserve all, that are dear to me, and return
them in safety and triumph to the camp.'

It was soon ascertained, that there was no need of
a long march, to meet the enemy. The expedition
had scarcely formed, outside the camp, on the plain,
before they descried at a distance a moving mass,
which might have been at first mistaken for an advancing
herd of buffaloes. But the mirage and brightness
of a June morning soon gave distinct intimations
of a different character. The telescope assured
Frederic and Areskoui, that the Black-feet were advancing
upon them. The plumes in the hair of the
riders could be distinctly seen. Deceived, and animated
by false intelligence, touching the numbers of
the Shoshonee, they had come to meet them, in the
sanguine confidence of an easy victory.

Ellswatta's eyes flashed once more the fire of youth;
and Jessy felt a natural, deep and feminine respect
for the young chief, as she saw the fearless countenance,
the noble port and excited eye of the warrior
spirit going to do battle for his parents and his nation.

Away they sped upon the foe, and Elder Wood by
no means in the rear. The combatants were soon
engaged in mortal struggle; and in Indian battle,
more than in any other, a fight of an army is an aggregate
of individual combats. The loud and fierce
Indian yell arose from either force. Hatchets and
arrows flew, and the deadly yager rang; and full many
powerful pairs of Indians were struggling to throw
each other to the earth, and disengage an arm, to
plunge the murderous knife to the heart of his antagonist.
But, such is the unconquerable and dogged
sullenness of the dying warrior, that the sharp death
groan of other battle fields is never heard in their
mortal strifes. The expiring only gave forth the dull
and heavy note, the claim of nature in mere unconscious
moanings of the departing spirit. Elder Wood
showed indubitable testimony, that he knew how to
wield other weapons, than `the sword of the spirit,'
to fatal effect. He was in the thickest of the fight,
and laying on his stoutest blows, as though his brawny
arms had been beating upon the anvil. Frederic,
too, fought, as if the eyes of his mistress had been upon
him; but a fierce Black-foot warrior would have
given the last account of him, had not Areskoui opportunely
arrived, to despatch his antagonist, when
he was ready to let fall the fatal blow on the young
man's skull. The dogs yelled. The women screamed.
Even the donkies in the garrison brayed loudly,
to increase the uproar. No equal amount of human
power of lungs could have raised a more infernal din.
The battle raged long and fearfully. But the arrangements
of Ellswatta were too wise, and his forces
too intrepid and well trained, to leave the victory
long doubtful. He had retained a fresh reserve, and
when the Black-feet already wavered, this reserve
charged through them, fell upon their rear, and shortly
afterwards the victory was decided, by the rapid
flight of the foe. As their horses were not as fresh
as those of the Shoshonee, this flight was fatal to the
greater portion of their force. Comparatively, but a
few had been previously slain; but now they were
cut down without mercy. Nor would the smallest
remnant have been spared, but for the interposition
of a deep and muddy ravine full of water. The retreating
force knew the ford, plunged in, and escaped,
through the ignorance of the pursuing foe, touching
the bottom, and the chances of return. The pursuers
halted on the shore of the gully, firing upon
those who were so unfortunate as to get their horses
fast in the mud. Those who got fairly through, turned
on the opposite shore, and raised the scream of
defiance, which the Shoshonee answered by a shower
of unavailing balls. The field of battle was examined.
More than a hundred of the Black-feet had
fallen. A single warrior only had been taken prisoner.
Every wounded Black-foot had been despatched,
as a Shoshonee came upon him. Eight of the
victor force had been slain, five Shoshonee and three
Shienne; and a considerable number had been severely
wounded, who had been saved, only because
they were immediately moved out of the reach of
their foe. The prisoner warrior was early warned,
that his fate was, to be offered on the morrow, an expiatory
sacrifice to the shades of the victor warriors
that had fallen.

A great amount of plunder fell into the hands of
the victors; horses, mules, and a considerable amount
of silver, which, it appeared, they had recently taken
from an American trading expedition. There were
clothes, powder, lead, provisions, and various articles,
of which the Shoshonee were in pressing want.—
Fifty women had followed in the rear of their husbands
and fathers, and had fallen into the hands of
the victors. Among the captives was one taken by

Frederic. It was a Spanish girl of thirteen, who lay
mourning on the ground, beside an aged fallen Black-foot
warrior. Her face was bathed in tears; and the
agony of her grief seemed to have rendered her wholly
insensible to personal fear or danger. She was kissing
the yet warm cheek, and wiping away the blood,
that flowed from the death wound of the hoary chief.
`Viva'—she cried. `Oh viva, mio carissimo padre!'
and then she repeated the same words, in the speech
of the Black-feet, in the ear of the fallen Indian, insensible
in death. When Frederic discovered her,
it was with difficulty he aroused her to a sense of her
forlorn condition, as a captive. `Child,' said he, availing
himself of the little Spanish he knew, `you must
go with me.' `Oh no, no!'—she cried, sobbing piteously.
`What, leave my poor old father! No, I cannot.'
Then she begged him piteously, `por l'amor de
Dios,' to aid her to turn him over, and help him to
arise; while she still continued to wipe away the flowing
blood. `He will bleed forever,' she said, `and will
die, unless we help him to get up.' `My dear child,'
said the compassionate Frederic, `the warrior is dead
already. Come, follow me—I will be to you instead
of your father.' `Oh!' she replied, `that is impossible.
You are young, and a bad Shoshonee. My
poor dear old father, you cannot be dead. You would
never leave Katrina so desolate and alone.' Frederic,
moved to compassion by the touching simplicity
of her frantic grief and filial piety, and it may be,
too, by the tones of a voice, uncommonly sweet and
interesting, dismounted, turned the warrior, and showed
his ghastly face. `See you not,' he said, `that he
is dead? That you can never restore him to life?'
`I see now, Shoshonee,' she replied, `that he is dead,
and that he will never again take care of Katrina.—
Well, I will remain, and die with him. Kill me, bad
Shoshonee, if you please; for there is now no one to
care for Katrina. He brought me behind him. He
fed me, and clothed, and helped me over the mountains
and streams. He was always the kindest of fathers,
and intended me for his young son, who remained
at the Black-foot town. Go, bad Shoshonee.
What can you want of a poor orphan girl? Go, and
leave me.' He approached close to the girl, and said
to her, `that he was not a Shoshonee, but one of her
own race; and that he would see her father buried,
and her taken care of, and in due time sent to the
Black-foot town, to marry the son of her dead father.'
This soothing language, and this assurance, that he
was not a Shoshonee, tranquilized her, and seemed
to gain her confidence. She looked full in his face.
`Your words are sweet,' she said, `and now I see, that
you are a pale face, and a fair one, and not a bad
Shoshonee. Look there at my poor dear old father.
How can I go away, and leave him?' At length,
however, she was almost torn away from the body of
the fallen warrior, which she left with such an agony
of distress and tears, as almost unmanned the heart of
him who carried her away. From that moment, she
seemed to have transferred from the warrior to Frederic
her affection and her sense of filial dependence
and obligation; and she held fast to his dress, as she
followed him into the victorious camp, which rung
with every sound of frantic triumph and rejoicing.

`Welcome back a thousand times,' cried the guests
of Ellswatta's tent, and for this time Jessy hesitated
not to hold out to him her hand. `I have brought
you a present,' said Frederic, as he grasped the offered
hand; and he presented the captive Spanish girl.
`She is of your nation, Josepha,' he said. Josepha
addressed the sobbing girl, who answered her in Spanish,
but still clung to Frederic. Josepha called her
to her, and strove to reassure her. `Take her, Wakona,'
said she. `She will be an acquisition to you.'

Jessy held her hand to her, and asked her to come,
and sit by her. `Oh! no,' cried the trembling girl.—
`They have killed my old father, and now would separate
me from my young father.' `Poor thing, said
Jessy; `her heart is full, as well it may be, and she
clearly takes more to you, Frederic, than to me.'
Frederic assured her, `that she should be his little
sister, and that, in committing her to Jessy, and her
parents, he only put her into the hands of those, who
could take a thousand times better care of her, than
he could;' and, he added, to Jessy, `you will soon
teach her, what you so easily succeed in learning every
one, to love you.'

The prisoners were distributed after the usual canons
of Indian equity. The wounded had their
wounds managed with all the extent and tenderness
of Indian skill. The money and silver were awarded,
after a few appropriations, called for by particular
circumstances, by lot. Among the articles of the
plunder was a considerable quantity of tea, coffee
and sugar, probably obtained from the same quarter
from which they had plundered their silver. Rum
and spirits unhappily were among the acquisitions.
The rejoicing song and dance of that evening had,
therefore, every conceivable circumstance of joyful
excitement. Many a young warrior was supplied
with a wife, who, according to the usages of the red
people, received her new husband, perhaps the slayer
of her former one, with perfect docility and submission.
The drums beat. The bright fires blazed. The
spirits were distributed, though Ellswatta heeded,
that no one should receive enough to produce intoxication.

`We certainly ought to be happy this evening,' said
Jessy, as the wonted circle once more assembled round
the tea and coffee at Ellswatta's table. `We are all
safe. Our foes have supplied us with these luxuries,

just as our own were exhausted; and we now expect
the history of this eventful battle.' At the same time
she beckoned the timid Spanish girl to take a seat by
her side. `Let Baptiste give it,' said Elder Wood;
for on this evening of rejoicing, the Canadian had taken
a draught of the plundered spirits, and had found
courage, once more to appear at this place. Baptiste
turned pale, and begged, that Messieurs would excuse
him, as he had seen but part of the affair. `Let Elder
Wood say,' added he, `if Baptiste be not one clever
garcon for de trap, and for des betes sauvages, and
des belles demoiselles!' `But,' he rejoined with his
most significant shrug, `me no love de dem cold knife,
and lead, sacre, no!' Truth is, Baptiste had been ordered
into the battle, but had repaired, as they were
moving toward the enemy, to Ellswatta, begging,
pour l'amour de Dieu, to send him back to guard les
dames. `Sacre,' said he, `my teeth chatter, and I
frissonne, like de dem ague.' Ellswatta laughed
heartily at this sudden attack of the ague, and sent
him back, aware of the annoyance that might result
from the presence of a single coward.

The tale then went round. Areskoui had not discredited
his blood or birth, and Frederic at the table
made his public acknowledgements to him, as the preserver
of his life. Elder Wood, too, had fought like
an enraged giant. His clothes had been pierced, and
blood had flowed from two or three slight wounds.
It was remarked to be a very uncommon circumstance,
that each had been wounded, but neither beyond a
superficial scratch, or in a degree to require dressing,
or be painful. Even the pain and death, by which
this delightful supper was purchased, were less repulsive
in the review, from the circumstance of the
known and terrible ferocity of their murderous foe.
Never were happier faces, perhaps never gladder
hearts, than surrounded this table. They could now

resume their hunting in security; and could carry
back trophies of their valor, and of the ample retribution
of vengeance inflicted upon their great national
foe. It was not until midnight, that Elder Wood
reminded them of the lateness of the hour; and opened
his bible and psalm book, and sang the hymn `Thou
shepherd of Israel and mine,' accompanied by the
sweet note of Jessy, the flute of Frederic, and the deep
tones of Ellswatta's and Areskoui's voice. He then
fell on his knees, and in the speech of the Shoshonee
returned thanks to the Lord of Hosts for the great
victory vouchsafed them over their enemies.

The following morning was signalized by the offering
up the captive Black-foot warrior to the shades
of the Shoshonee who had fallen in the battle of the
former day. The terrible spectacle was of course
unwitnessed by Yensi and Jessy. It was associations
with these horrid traits in Indian character, which,
unconsciously, always mixed with Jessy's thoughts of
Areskoui, that had caused revulsion at the idea of a
more intimate union with him. Josepha, Areskoui,
even the young prisoner Katrina, she knew, would behold
this scene of ineffable horror with the eager interest
of a show.

The prisoner had been pinioned, and closely guarded
through the night; and his keepers related, their
eyes glistening with respect, that he had sung his
death song at eve, spoken calmly of his wife and little
ones, smoked his calumet, and laid him down in all
the straightness of his pinions, and two warriors resting
on either extremity of the cord, to a sleep as profound,
as that of an infant at the mother's breast. The pile
was made, and the stake fixed in the centre of the
battle ground. The unburied bodies of his Black-feet
countrymen were lying, as they fell, about him. The
warriors who had guarded him led him up the pile,
and fastened him firmly to the stake. He smiled disdainfully

at these precautions to bind him. `Vile old
women,' he said, `the Shoshonee feel, that they would
cry like women, and run like cowards. But a Black-foot
needs no bands, when he has to show such old
women how a true warrior knows to suffer.' Thus
saying, he drew his kinnakinnick from his pouch, and
sat down, calmly smoking his pipe. Occasionally
singing, in the red man's peculiar intonation, a verse,
the import of which was,

It would be too horrible, to give the details of the
tortures of this heroic sufferer. The fire reached him.
A mere physical and spasmodic recoil gave evidence
at the moment, that the nerves revolted from the
agony. It was seen but once. He smoked. He
smiled. He sometimes derided his tormentors as ignorant,
and novices in the science of tormenting. He
boasted of having acted a conspicuous part in the recent
burning of the Shoshonee cabins and the murder
of their tenants. Not a groan escaped him; nor a
movement, evincing the subsequent triumph of sensation
over his dogged and invincible resolution. The
last sentence which he was heard to utter, in words
feeble, and inarticulate, was, `shades of my fathers,
acknowledge the stainless spirit of your son.' Some
days after the event, Frederic presented Jessy a measured
version of the scene, as she casually adverted to
the subject.

The next day, and the next, parties sent out in
different directions could discover no buffaloes, or
even other game of importance, within the compass
of vision. The uproar of the battle, and the destructive
hunting of two such numerous parties, as had recently
been assailing these noble animals, had driven
them all far away. After a council debate, it was
determined to leave their present encampment, and
march to the mouth of the Yellow Stone, on the
Missouri. The march was commenced with all practicable
speed. Travelling on these level plains was
perfectly easy; and they were abundantly supplied
with beasts of burden. Every person of the expedition
was mounted; and as they proposed to return to
their encampment, their kine were left behind them,
and every thing that would tend to impede the rapidity
of their march. It was delightful to Jessy, for
the first few hours, to move over a dead level, green
and flowering prairie. But the wearying monotony
and uniformity of the scene were soon felt to be painful.
To avoid following the meanders of the river,
they had set forth into the open and boundless plain.
The day was sultry; and the scorching sun smote upon
them, without the shelter of a tree within the compass
of vision. They shortly suffered for want of water.
To increase the difficulty, a thick, dim mist, like
the deepest smoke of Indian summer, drove up from
the east, attended by a furious wind, which scorched,
like the Sirocco. To crown their suffering and perplexity,

they had advanced into a region of driving
sand, of which there are tracts in that range of the
desert scarcely less extensive than the African Sahara.
The sand not only covered in a moment the
tracks of their beasts, but threatened to bury the whole
expedition in wind-formed sepulchres. A pocket
compass would now have been more to them, than the
gold of both the Indies. But the Indians themselves,
with all their instinctive tact, and almost superhuman
sagacity, were utterly at fault. No one could divine
the point of compass, or the right direction. Then
was heard the groan of nature. Here was a predicament
of trial, beyond even the patient endurance of
the Indians. Not only the intolerable appetite of
burning thirst invaded all the rational part of the expedition;
but it was painful to see the operation of
this last and most tormenting craving of nature upon
the brutes. The dogs howled, and even the neighings
of the horses and the cries of the patient asses were
appalling. The wisest knew not whether to encamp
or advance; nor whether, in advancing, they were
plunging deeper in the burning solitude, or making
back for their camp, to which it was their purpose to
bend their course.

In this terrible emergency, which was not the less
so, for falling upon them in the hour of recent mirth
and triumph, and in which perfect equality of suffering
was imposed in common upon the brutes, and every
individual of the expedition indiscriminately, Jessy
found alleviation for the distress of her own thirst, in
witnessing the docility and uncomplaining patience
of her recent acquisition, Katrina. She spoke of the
kindness of her Black-foot father, shed tears, and related
how earnest he had always showed himself to
relieve all her little wants. She related the history
of her captivity by the Black-feet, who had taken her
away from the Spanish settlements on the Rio del

Norte, four years since. She had almost lost the remembrance
of the names of her parents, though she
still retained her native language, probably, from the
circumstance, that her master himself spoke it, in a
considerable degree. He had proved a father to her,
had adopted her into his family, had intended her for
his son; and had conducted towards her, in every
way, with so much kindness, that she became in feeling
an Indian; and in affection a child of her master's.
She, poor thing, had been used to hardship and suffering,
and complained not, though she looked wistfully
towards the heavens, crossed herself, and said her
pater noster for rain. Elder Wood, too, subdued by
thirst and terror, fasted, and prayed, loud and earnestly,
for rain. It was, indeed, a spectacle to chill the
heart, to see the looks, which this mighty group of
life, bewildered in the burning sands of the desert,
cast upon each other and the sky, as they moved in
this direction and in that, like troubled spirits; seeking
a direction, and rest, and water, and finding none.

The night, which they spent in this position, was
one never to be forgotten. The wind still blew fiercely;
and the mists seemed to be condensed into a compact
atmosphere from earth to sky. Their kindled
lights were in a moment extinguished by the wind;
and the whole camp was involved in an absolute
and rayless darkness, `which might be felt.' In the
general moan of excruciating thirst, no one remained
still, but each wandered abroad, to catch in their
clothes, and to imbibe on their surface any portion of
mist, that might be dispensed in the form of dew, or
humidity. In this predicament, individuals and families
wandered from their place, and were confounded;
and could find each other no more, through that dark
night; and the inmates with William Weldon kept
together, only by holding to each other's hand, or
dress. The powerful voice of Elder Wood, in earnest

cries for the compassion of the Almighty, was heard
through that long night. Hope returned to the bosoms
of this forlorn people once more, a little after midnight;
for flashes of lightning were seen in various
quarters of the sky. `God will have compassion upon
us,' cried the minister, `and will be gracious to give
us rain, that we perish not.' At the same time every
one of the whole camp was feeling in the dark for
whatever in the form of vessel, or rounded skin, or
contrivance of any sort, that could be moulded to hold
water; and stood forth in the open air, looking earnestly
towards the sky, and catching new impulse of
hope from the more frequent flashes of lightning, and
the distant muttering of thunder. But, though these
harbingers of rain inspired courage, the rain came
not; and a faint and almost imperceptible change of
crimson and dusky light announced the twilight of
dawn, without any signs of immediate relief. But
when light enough was in the sky to show the grey
sand at the bottom of the crimson gloom, Ellswatta
seemed to be listening intently, as though to catch
some other sound, than the distant muttering of the
thunder. At length he cried joyfully, `Master of
Life, we thank thee. Wahcondah, we thank thee.
Hearken! Hearken! There is hope and relief.' All
listened in the eagerness of parching thirst, and the
natural desire of life. A faint cry in the air was first
scarcely perceptible. Soon the sound of swans and
geese and ducks and water fowl was heard careering
by. A general shout at the same moment rose from
the whole camp. These children of the solitude instinctively
felt, that they were near some river, and
that the peculiar atmosphere and storm, that had arrested
the flight of the water fowl, was passing away.
`Up, march, strike the tents,' was the general cry,
and in the shortest possible time, the whole body was
in motion in the direction of the movements of the
flocks of sea fowls, whose cry sounded in their ears,
as they phrased it, `come to the waters.'

In truth they saw, as they advanced, first single
tufts of green grass in the sand; next tall weeds and
flowers, and soon the continued green sward, which
indicated the vicinity of water. At nine in the morning,
a cool elastic breeze arose from the direction of
the mountains, bringing life, and elasticity on its wings.
The mists seemed to be rolled up, as if they were
immense folds of crimson, moving gradually down the
plains. The blue of the sky showed; and the sun
came forth. The Missouri, with its skirt of trees,
and its bosom indicated by the steaming ascent of
white mist, showed in its meanders up and down the
plain, as far as the eye could reach. The horses and
asses and dogs all raised their peculiar notes of joy;
and in a few moments the whole mass of life was
quaffing the nectar of the stream.

The Indians returned thanks to the Master of Life;
and William Weldon's family and friends in solemn
thanksgivings, as usual, ascribed all to the God of
Israel. The tents were pitched; and the hunters,
with renovated strength and cheerfulness, shortly after
supplied the camp with fresh game. They found
themselves once more surrounded by ranges of buffaloes;
and the sport was resumed, with as much reckless
excitement and hilarity, as though, a few hours
before, the thought of every one had not been the immediate
and appalling apprehension of the dreadful
death of thirst.

Such success attended the hunting here, that in a
short time, as many buffaloes had been slain, as were
necessary to furnish skins, sinew, fat, tongues, and
jerked flesh, to as great an amount, as they deemed,
they had any means of conveying back over the mountains.
To hunt further, would be for destruction,
and not for use; a clear violation of the simple, but

righteous morality of the red men. Besides, in many
other hearts, beside Jessy's, arose the dear associations,
that excite the desire of home—of a country,
identified with all that charms in the morning of life,
so sheltered, so delightful, so cherished, in comparison
of these unsheltered and illimitable prairies,
mocking the eye with a level carpet of grass and
flowers, without wood or water; and tempting the
traveller, for a straighter direction, to plunge into
sandy deserts of scorching aridity, where myriads
might perish, and no accident again throw a wandering
traveller upon the discovery of their bones.

Their last evening of eastward advance on the
plains had been spent; and the next morning, like
the primeval march of patriarchal tribes on the plains
of Mamre, the Shoshonee, with all their plunder, and
the proceeds of their hunt, were moving up the banks
of the Missouri, determined not to be again enticed,
for a straighter direction, to desert its course, however
sinuous and indirect. Again they reached their
first camp, and released their kine, that manifested
the clearest marks of welcome to their well known
masters.

Their return over the mountains was with a far
greater number of horses and mules, than they had
brought; and every thing, that could bear burdens,
was loaded to the utmost extent of its powers of marching
under its load. It was now high summer, and
the influence of July was seen in every sheltered dell
on their way. In points of elevation as high as the
common flights of the clouds, there were scooped out
strange basins of black soil, of verdure, of mountain
cedars, of the most splendid alpine plants, unfolding
in the pure and elemental air, foliage and flowers of
a brightness and ambrosial aroma, never to be found
in the less pure and oxygenated atmosphere of the
common level. In these basins pure springs gurgled.

The fire-flies gilded the foliage by night. Bats fluttered
athwart their narrow space. In the morning
there was seen the strange form and the uncouth wildness
of the mountain sheep, bounding on the high
cliffs; and the petal of almost every flower was borne
down by the incessant flapping of the hum-bird's
wing.

Encamped in a valley of this sort, and near the
summit of the central ridge, Frederic was gratified
with a spectacle, which was novel; and which he had
often expressed a strong desire to behold—a thunder
storm in the mountains; a spectacle of such grandeur,
that whoever has not seen it, has one scene of interest
yet to desire below the sun. It is seldom, that these
magnificent atmospheric phenomena find their way
to these empyrean heights, and this cool, pure air.
When the magazines of thunder are put in operation
in these upper regions, their display is magnificent,
in proportion to its unfrequency.

It was midnight, when they were aroused from
their slumbers by such repeated bursts of thunder, as
seemed a general explosion of the artillery of the
skies. The sleepers in Ellswatta's tent awakened, and
arose, and looked forth into the dark sky, every moment
brightened by the vivid glare of lightning. Then
might be seen the ancient cedars twisting in the wind,
or yielding their branches, as the lightning streamed
down their trunks. Then might be seen, in indescribable
majesty, the black peaks far above them, lifted
by the evanescent glare to full and high perspective,
from the chaos into which they sunk the moment after.
The whole party sat, awe-struck, in contemplation.
`It is the dread voice of God,' said Elder Wood. `The
Wahcondah is mighty in his wrath,' responded Ellswatta.
`It is too full of terror,' said Jessy, as she made
her way between her father and Elder Wood. `Fear
not, Wakona,' said Areskoui, interposing his form between

her and the glare of lightning, that flashed in at
the tent door. Frederic repeated the verses of the
noble poet.

Nothing of interest, to find a place in these annals,
occurred in their laborious crossing of the mountains.
The young chief and Frederic, as in the outward traverse
sought, it may be presumed, rather than avoided
occasions to aid Jessy when wearied and exhausted;
and the mothers, by gay chiding, reminded the
young men that the same offices were equally due
to them, though neither young nor beautiful. As
before, there was frolic and laughter, and keen hunger,
and fatigue, and some painful falls, and some pleasant
conversations amidst the mountains over the fragrant
steam of the coffee and venison. They had labored
up the last eminence, and the cry—Sewasserna!
Sewasserna! home! home! arose; and the return Indian
song swelled loud at the sight. `There is the
vale. There the wild fowl. There the sweet stream;
and there our little ones, our wives, and the bones of
our forefathers.' The wild chorus cheowanna, haw-haw-hum,
as it swelled and died away among the

mountains, intonated with such tender and natural
sentiments, sounded pleasantly even in the ear of Jessy.
The little secluded pond still retained their periogues,
and the relief and the change from the incessant
fatigue of clambering up precipices and mountains,
to the luxurious repose of reclining in a periogue,
as the current gently wafted it down the
stream, completely screened from the sun by over-shadowing
trees, was delightful.

They arrived at the towns, on a pleasant summer's
sunset. Every thing seemed, at a distance, as when
they left it. The wind still breezed in the pines, and
the smokes still streamed from the habitations. `How
charming,' cried Jessy, embracing her mother, `to return
once more to the natal spot.' By this time, every
individual of the two nations, left behind, that could
move, had met the returning triumphal procession. A
few mothers and wives raised the death-wail, amidst
the general shout of welcome and joy, mourning for
their dead sons and husbands. `See,' cried Elder
Wood, `how nearly sorrow is found to joy, in all that
pertains to earth.' The drums beat, and the two nations
formed one grand triumphal procession to the
council house. There the council-fire was kindled.
Ellswatta, in simple, but strong and expressive phrase,
related the events of the expedition; the ample vengeance
they had taken of their enemies, and the number
they had slain of them; and as he mentioned the
names of his own warriors, that had fallen, the lament
of the wives, mothers and relatives was renewed. In
sympathy, the chiefs smoked in silence; and waited,
till the burst of their grief had subsided. `They are
gone,' said the chief. `They have descended to the
sunless valley. But their spirits departed in the joy
of victory, and surrounded with the brightness of glory.
Mothers ought not to wail for their sons that
have fallen gloriously.' Then the exploits of those

warriors, who had gained distinction, were recounted;
and as they rose at the calling of their names, the eyes
of their relatives glistened; and the shouts of applause
showed how greedy the red people were of glory.

How glad was the heart of Jessy, when all this
noisy ceremonial was finished; and when the course
of former things was quietly resumed in this valley.
Those, left in care of the charming grounds around
her father's dwelling, had diligently heeded their
charge; and the plants, flowers and fruits, left in
the springing freshness of May, were now nurtured
to the luxuriance, maturity and promise of August.
A day's overlooking and care restored every thing,
within and without, to its wonted order. Again she
visited her bower, shivering, indeed, at the recollections
inspired by the place, but entering once more
with full heart into the pleasure of contemplating the
calm and lovely nature before her. Again Elder
Wood, with undiminished earnestness and solemnity,
resumed his missionary duties, relating the wonders
and deliverances of his covenant God in their recent
expedition. Again Frederic and Areskoui failed not
to share in the pleasures of the evening circle at William
Weldon's. The captive Black-feet women had
all quietly fallen into the niches, assigned to them by
immemorial Shoshonee usage.

In the presence and training of Katrina, Jessy
found a new source of amusement and satisfaction, of
a high and even generous kind. Her shining black
locks, clubbed after the Indian fashion, were trained
to float in luxuriant curls upon her neck. The smoke
and dust, inwrought into her skin in the Black-feet
wigwams, had been gradually washed away. Yensi
and Jessy clothed her gracefully in the European
fashion. A fine, smooth, clear olive complection returned
to her cheek. Her new and plentiful diet had
a visibly transforming effect to the same issue.—

Graceful manners and a higher example, as a standard
of thought and action, opened a new world, to inspire
different aims and a nobler purpose. In a short
period of training, she began to emerge not only
graceful, in native elegance of form and movement,
but Yensi and Josepha pronounced her beautiful;
while, to the heart of Jessy, the forming, and training
this interesting girl, not only opened a new employment,
yielding self complacency in the exercise,
but the circumstances, under which she was acquired,
and, unconsciously, the person, from whom she was
acquired, rendered her dear as a child, or a sister.
Every day disclosed new intelligence, worth and grace
in the protege; and, when put to her first lessons, her
quickness of apprehension outran the indications of
her teacher. Both Frederic and Areskoui complained,
that this new pursuit of teaching the favorite Katrina,
robbed them of many of those happy hours,
which had formerly been shared with them. `Certainly,'
replied Jessy, `you are neither of you persons,
to speak slightly of the pleasure of doing our duty.
For me, I never was, and I have no idea, that I can
be more happy, than in teaching this dear girl, tending
my flowers, receiving and reciprocating the smiles
of my parents, economizing the pleasure of intercourse
with you, my good friends, and holding communion
with my Maker. Would, that I were sure
of being always, as now, while I live.'

It scarcely needed the gift of prophecy, to foretell,
that these times of joy and tranquility were not to
last. Baptiste had accompanied a Shienne expedition
down to Astoria; and there were whispers, that
Nelesho and his tribe were resuming their treasonable
purposes. He was once more observed in ominous
communion with Hatch; and parties came and went
between Astoria and the valley, as though a mail had
been established. Areskoui, too, no longer excited

by the arousing anticipations of a command and an
expedition, no longer meeting Jessy, except in the
regulated intercourse of ceremony, and then always
seeing her with one, in whose esteem, he was fearful,
she must continually have an increasing interest,
again became sad. His vivacity vanished. His father
and mother again alternately pitied, chided, and encouraged
him; and his growing and marked dejection
once more awakened the painful sympathy and fears
of Jessy.

Pentanona, or the Eaglet, had commanded the united
nation, during the absence of the young chief on
the recent expedition. Pentanona was his totem, or
sworn brother; and they were mutually and indissolubly
attached. He was charged by Ellswatta, to
bring his son to confession, touching the renewal of a
depression, which seemed to have disappeared during
the late tour, and to urge motives, if he might, to
arouse him from his marked and growing despondency,
by operating upon his pride and his shame. Pentanona
found his opportunity, and accosted him, `why
art thou gloomy and sad, brother of my heart, my
chief? Knowest thou not, that the black hearted and
accursed Nelesho is raising an interest, adverse to
thy succeeding to the chieftainship? That he speaks
tauntingly, and deridingly of thee, as a pale face, a
woman, a sick, and weak girl, unfit to govern a nation
of braves?' `All this I know, brother, and what then?'
`Why, I cannot but allow, that thou seemest sad, and
growest thin, and wantest something of that spirit,
which ought to swell the bosom of a chief. Brother
of my heart, dost thou succeed in gaining the love of
Wakona?' `No, Pentanona, no. Thou knowest well
the source of my sorrows. Thou knowest, that the
inexorable Master of Life has determined, that she
can never be mine. The Wahcondah has fixed our
destiny from our birth. Mine is to consume away,

and shame myself and my nation in this hopeless passion.'
`Areskoui, hearken to the brother of thy heart.
Thou hast forgotten thyself. Wilt thou see Nelesho
triumph; and degrade thyself to settle down under his
authority in quiet submission?' The eye of Areskoui
flashed. `Hold, Pentanona,' he cried, `I will not allow
thee such language.'

`Areskoui, I will speak my mind plainly; and tell
thee the thing, that is, in the truth of real friendship,
and thou mayest shut thine ears, if thou wilt. It
makes an old woman even of me, to see thy head droop,
and thine eye quail. In a short time thou wilt cause
all the Shoshonee to feel shame in the presence of the
Shienne, in the same way. Rumors floatagainst thee
among that bad people. There are not wanting those,
who say the thing, that is not, among thine own people.
Nelesho, the while, looks more proudly, walks
more crect; and at every meeting of the warriors, he
exerts more the spirit of a chief. Oh! brother of my
heart, hear the truth. The buz of the nation is like
that of bees, when you strike the hatchet against the
hollow tree, where they dwell. Brother, my chief,
by the Master of Life I conjure thee rise above the
weakness of the medicine spell of Wakona. Yes, I
grant you, there is a fair skin, fine curls, a bright eye.
But what then? Shall my chief be the slave of things,
like these? She ought to love thee, and be proud to
do it. But thou knowest, that love is settled by the
Master of Life. After all, how soon will Wakona be
as another woman? Does not thy white medicine man
say, that love is a disease, a madness, a folly.'

`Yes,' answered Areskoui, with some bitterness.
`he says all that, and loved the Song Sparrow as foolishly,
and as madly, as I love Wakona. Ah! Pentanona,
it is easy to talk, as thou talkest; but hard to
suffer, as I suffer.' `After all,' he replied, `the skin
only is beautiful; and thou doest shame to thy people,

in loving the white more than the red. Who are
best, the daughters of the red, or the pale people?
Let the two wives of Hatch answer. Who can best
bring water, cook venison, and grind the maize? Who
loves, and follows most faithfully the husband and the
children? Will not Wakona's beauty soon fade; and
when old, will she not look still uglier, than an old
red woman? Below the skin, one is as fair as the
other, even now. Fie! brother! Offer her thy love.
If she accept it, good. If not, drive the accursed, bewitching
race from thy nation. Raise a wall to the
heavens at the entrance of our valley against them,
and let them all go, and dwell in the midst of their
own people. Send away this Wakona. She hath
been in the very abode of the little mischievous white
men, and witchery is in her eye. Seest thou not,
that the pale faced young man is spell bound, and lost
to manhood in the same way, as thou art? They tell
me, that thine eyes shone, like those of the Manitou,
when thou lately assailedst the Blackfoot. Would,
that spirit might abide with thee! Areskoui, I honor
thee, as the Wahcondah. I cannot endure to see
thee bowed down, and to hear thy soft and maiden
toned voice. The Master of Life send the Black-feet
into our valley, and make thee a man again.'

`Ah! Pentanona, I know, that thou speakest bitterly
in love; else I would rebuke thee. Sayest thou,
that the spell of Wakona is in the fairness of her skin?
Ah! if it were only beauty, Areskoui could conquer
that, were she fairer than the daughters of the sun.
But, Pentanona, it is neither the fair skin, nor the
form, nor the curls, nor the eye of Wakona. Ah!
seest thou not a divine something, which belongs to
none of the daughters of the red people? It is the
noble spirit, that flashes in the eye. It is the heaven,
that I seem to behold beyond; as I see the trees and
the sky painted in the depths of the blue lake. Pentanona,

thou hast given friendly counsels; but it is on
a point, which thou dost not and canst not understand.
I would have fled from this spell, when I
found the poison burning in my bosom at first. It
might then have availed to my cure. But my resolve
was too late. Thinkest thou, that I have not struggled
with the sorcery? Ah! then thou little knowest
thy chief. Alas! thou understandest not, that my
veins are half filled with the blood of the pale face.
The Master of Life has so formed me, that, asleep or
awake, her image pursues me, like my shadow. My
heart declares, that she is as much wiser, kinder, and
better, than the rest, as she is fairer. Who has not
heard, that she ministers to all in distress, like the
Master of Life! Thou canst say nothing to me, that
I have not thought a hundred times. Pentanona, do
not vex me, by thy well intended but officious counsels.
I should love on, if my people, and this whole
world were in one scale, and Wakona in the other.
It is the will of the Master of Life. We may not
fight with our destiny. It were far better, Pentanona,
if thou wouldst instruct me, how to win her love
in return. But my thoughts incessantly say, Areskoui,
she can never belong to thee. Thou art a wild,
red man; and the red bird might as well wed with
the eagle. Teach my bosom not to burn, when I see
the mysterious looks of tenderness, which she casts
by stealth on the pale face, who, like me, loves, and
despairs, and dreams not, that she returns his tenderness.
Wakona is kind, and has compassion upon me;
and, perhaps, knows not herself the wishes of her
own heart. Pentanona, there is no resource for me,
but to die; none but to go to that unknown country,
of which Elder Wood preaches to us. Pentanona,
his deep words strangely move my heart. I feel
shame, as I perceive tears moistening my eyes. The
Master of Life could not have formed us merely for
disappointment and sorrow. When I see, what there
is on the brow and in the eye of Wakona, surely
there must be that happy country, after death, of
which the medicine man speaks to us. I wake only
to imagine plans, in which to win her favor. I dream,
to fancy myself of the race of the pale face, powerful,
wise, beautiful, and altogether such, as could not
but charm Wakona. I have imagined every conceivable
project, to reach her affections; and end by the sad
conviction of sinking back into myself, and realizing,
that the Wahcondah has rendered every thing unchanging.
My better judgment tells me, that there
is no device, no charm, no medicine of potency, to
give the wild red man, noble though he may be, a
place in the thoughts of Wakona, so long as the fair
brow of the pale face is beside him. My heart acknowledges,
at the same time, that he is good, and
true, and every way worthy of her. Why should she
not prefer such a son of her own people? Areskoui,
there is nothing for thee, but to die. Ah! but for
my parents, how soon would I be at rest!'

On the other hand, Frederic had his jealousies, his
persuasions, that the eye of Jessy was averted from
him, and turned with favor upon the young chief.—
`And upon what do you build this presumption?' asked
Elder Wood, as he heard him express this opinion.
`Upon the facts,' he replied, `that since her return
from the expedition, she has uniformly conducted
towards me with distance and coldness. I could almost
have sworn at times, when I bore her in my
arms down the cliffs of the mountains, and saw her eyes
averted from mine, with a peculiar expression, that
she returned my love. The illusion is all banished.
The other day, as the subject of removal to society
was discussed, she assured me, that even were there
no other impediments, the idea of renouncing forever
the society of Ellswatta's family would be a source of
bitter regret to her.'

`And is it for this, Frederic, that your cheek glows,
and your eyes flash, and you almost speak of the
maiden with temper? Ah! you will convince me,
that Areskoui is the nobler of the two; for with far
better reason, he never speaks of her, or of you, in
this way.'

`Indeed, Elder Wood, I am aware, that he is the
nobler of the two; and hence my shame and grief;
hence the torturing conviction, that he most deserves
her.'

`Ah! Frederic, you convince me, that all young
men are alike fools and unjust. Here have I been
wishing, and praying, and managing my enginery, to
place such motives before this girl, as would induce
her to regard with favor, and marry my catechumen,
that her influence might influence him, to the civilization
and christianization of the people; and that I
might act upon both, as the instrument of converting
them to Christianity, and through them the whole nation.
God only knows, what day dreams I have had
upon this subject. But she loves him not. She never
will love him. Without believing in fate, I believe
that. He is gloomy. Love and despair are
maddening his brain. I might as well, in his present
frame of mind, preach to the wild winds and waves of
the sea. He meditates suicide. Oh God! what a
world is this! What a volcano of passions is forever
kindling the fires of wrath and ruin in the human bosom!
All my schemes are blown to the winds; and I,
in my sorrow and disappointment, of age and gray
hairs, have the poor consolation, to see the noble
young chief wasting away, like the winter ice in the
suns of spring; to realize that my fond scheme of converting
the Indians was more than half reared on my
own pride; and that, had I achieved the good work,
instead of giving all the glory to God, I should have
walked amidst my air-castles of pride, and said, `is

not this great Babylon, which I have built?' Last of
all, here are you, Frederic, whom I had begun to
love, as a son, jealous of the noble young chief, himself
the victim of love and despair; and speaking with
temper of Jessy Weldon, of whom it is only common
justice to say, that closely as I have watched her, intently
as I have studied her, I have never detected
in her a censurable word or action, or, apparently, an
improper thought. To increase the gloom of my
thoughts, I am convinced, you may say it is superstitious,
but I am forewarned, that Hatch and Baptiste
and Nelesho, and, perhaps enemies at Astoria, are
meditating some black and tragic purpose, in respect
to us. Intimations have come to my dreams, that
trouble and darkness are at hand, and that the guardian
angels of those I love in this vale, where I have
been so happy, and I hope I may humbly say, not
useless, have been heard whispering, as in the city of
God's chosen people, `let us go hence. Let us go
hence.' Of one thing let me assure you. If Jessy
Weldon could love any one, it would be you; and this
ought to satisfy you. With all, that charms in frail
woman, there is in her the wisdom, the disinterestedness
of angelic nature. She sees, and pities the sufferings
of the young chief. She understands his character,
and righteously estimates his worth. She has
been with him from a child. A feeling towards him,
warmer than friendship, and yet not love, colors all
her views, motives and conduct, in reference to him.
Even were she firmly and indissolubly attached to
you, she would never inflict on her brother, as she
calls him, the torture, of declaring such a preference.
There you have the whole clue to her conduct.'

`And you have convinced me,' cried the young man,
grasping his hand, `that every body is noble, but myself.
You have cured me. But you shall see, how
differently I will conduct in future.'