The Frontiersmen Part 18

There was a loud murmur of dissatisfaction among the Senecas; and many of them sprang to their feet with the intention of taking vengeance, at once, for this seemingly public insult. Panther, however, immediately restored silence.

"My brother," said he, "is a great warrior; he is cunning as a fox; but he is surrounded by warriors as brave and cunning as himself. We will hear what he has got to say."

"Now, I want to say to you, Panther, and to the rest of you," continued Ichabod, unmoved, "what I said to Deersfoot before I was brought in here, that if you want to put me to tortur', and think that's the best use you can make of me, I've nothing to say agin it, for that's good Injin law; but if you ra'ally want to make the most out of me that you can, then you'll listen to what I've got to say."

He paused for a few moments; but as the Indians remained silent, he took it as a manifestation of their disposition to give him their attention.

"You see," continued he, "that ever since the white men came over the ocean to this country, they've been increasing and growing more powerful, and you've been growing weaker. The people who came over, in the first place, established colonies--they _fit_ the French--they _fit_ the Injins, and finally they had a fight with England for independence; and notwithstanding all their Cornwallis's and Burgoyne's, and the Injins to boot, they got what they fout for. Now, you can see, that there's no use in your keeping up these old-fas.h.i.+oned customs of tomahawking and scalping, and living in the woods, and acting like Injins, more than like white people. If you do, it won't be long before there won't be a red man left in the country. It's rather hard to tell you these things to your faces; but they're facts, as you can see with half an eye. Now there _is_ a way, in which you can not only keep your own, but get the start of the white people, in this territory, to boot.

It may be going agin flesh and blood and color to tell such a secret to _you_, but still, I'm willing to do it."

His auditory, at the first glance, would have seemed to be wholly unmoved at this long introduction; but on a closer view, it would have been seen, that while many of the Senecas shot forth wilder and fiercer glances from behind pa.s.sionless faces, others seemed moved by a feeling of curiosity to hear the end of this strange exordium. Panther, after a short silence, replied:

"My brother is brave; he is not afraid to speak in the midst of his enemies. It is true that the Injins are weak and the pale-faces are strong. We are dropping like the leaves; and the hunter comes home to his wigwam at night, tired and hungry, and brings but little game. The pale-faces are growing stronger. I have thought of it much. There _is_ a way to make them grow weaker; but _that_ is not the way which appears to the eyes of my brother. His way, I am afraid, is not a good way. He would have us forget that we are Injins. _That_ we cannot do. Tho Great Spirit made us red men; he made us Injins. He placed us in the forests; he gave us tomahawks and knives with which to fight our enemies; and bows and arrows to shoot the bear and deer. We cannot be anything but Injins. Our fathers and grandfathers were Injins; and the little pappoose is an Injin. As soon as he is grown, he takes to the path of his nation. I may speak foolish; but this is what I know. If the white men destroy us, we will die like Injins; if they drive us from our hunting-grounds, we will not go without scalps. We will do as the Great Spirit tells us."

There was a loud expression of satisfaction at this speech of Panther; and he sat down under a deluge of applause, that a little alarmed Snake-tongue for his laurels. He waited with impatience until Ichabod should give him an opportunity to a.s.sert his superiority in the way of speech-making. Silence having been again restored, Ichabod continued:

"To the threats you made, Panther, in your speech, I shall not reply. My business, just now, is peaceable; and I'm addressing you for your profit; and I shall not be diverted by angry insinuations. I've said that the Injins are growing weaker, and the white men are growing stronger. Now I want to give you a lesson, in the first place, in political economy. A nation never become great and prosperous, that relied wholly on fighting. There is no surer and better way for that, than for a nation to be industrious, and keep a sharp eye out for the chances. It may be, that you can't understand that idea, precisely; for I never knew an Injin that _could_ understand how anything could be made by honest labor: but I'll try and make the thing plain to you. Now, you see, as these Colonies are free and independent, this country that has been growing so fast, is going to grow a great deal faster. You'll see, in a few years, at most, that a valley like this will be occupied by white men, and villages will start up, and water-powers will be selected on all such streams as this. Now, why can't you get the start of the white men? I've been talking with Squire Barton about setting up a factory down here; and having all this land about here laid out into building lots. Now, you see, if you'll just look at the thing in a reasonable point of view, you'll see the advantages of going into this business with a jump. I'm given you a hint of the thing, Panther, and you might make a sly bargain with the Oneidas, and buy up a large quant.i.ty of these lots. They'll be valuable, some day, sartain. That's one way in which you could make money out of it. Then there's another way in which it would be a decided advantage to all your nation, male and female, old and young, under the present order of things. A man with half an eye can see that there's a a great lack of clothing among you; and some of you wouldn't hardly answer to be presented into fas.h.i.+onable company. You havn't but mighty little of it; and what you do wear, is of a kind of heathenish, Injin sort. Now, you see, at a small profit, we could supply you with cloth, so that you could wear pantaloons, jackets and coats, and look like gentlemen; and then all you'd have to do, would be to behave yourselves, to be a respectable sort of people. Now, if you can't see the advantages of this speculation, all that I've got to say is, that I pity you; and you may work your tortur' on me just as soon as you please. I've the satisfaction of knowing that I've done my duty by you like a Christian."

The Senecas seemed completely astounded by this long speech, and its conclusion. The most of them looked at each other with a vacant stare, as though they could not comprehend its meaning; while others regarded it as a public insult, and intended as such; which, while it exasperated their feelings, gave them a much greater regard for the bravery of their prisoner. At length Snake-tongue slowly arose, and glancing with a mien of dignity upon the a.s.sembly, proceeded to reply:

"My brother has spoken," said he; "he speaks with the tongue of a pale-face, and we poor Injins cannot understand. But we have heard enough; we can guess what our brother means. He means to put up a house on the river and drive away the fish. He means to cut down the trees, and make them into houses, and drive away the deer. He wants us to wear clothes like the pale-faces. It is a strange speech. My brother does not smile; he looks as if he talked from his heart. If he means us well, then we thank him, although we cannot see it as he does. We do not want the land of the Oneidas. The Oneidas are squaws; they stayed in their wigwams when their brothers went on the warpath. We do not want the land of the squaws; let them keep it; we will not steal it or buy it. But my brother wants us to wear the clothes of the pale-faces. It is strange that my brother should speak such a thing. How would an Injin look in the pantaloons and coat of a pale-face? His brethren could not know him; they would look him in the face and laugh. The little pappooses would laugh at him. It cannot be; my brother does not know the Senecas; they live after the traditions of their fathers--and their fathers never wore the clothes of the pale-faces. The Great Spirit gave them bows and arrows, and told them to shoot bears and deer, and make clothes from their skins. That is what we have done; that is what we mean to do. We have bought blankets from the pale-faces: some of our wise men have said that it was wrong to do so--that our fathers did not wear blankets of wool, and that _we_ ought not to do it. I have thought so myself. But to wear pantaloons, jacket and coat! My brother might as well say that the Senecas should learn to read in books, and hoe corn and potatoes in the fields. We will not talk about it; my brother does not know the Senecas.

We are Injins, and we will live like Injins."

"My brother has spoken; we have heard him, and we do not like his words.

He is a brave warrior; we know it; but we are going to try and see how brave he is. Our young men will bind him to a tree, and will throw their tomahawks to see how near they can come to his head and not hit it. We will then try something else. We like to know a brave warrior. It does us good to see a brave warrior laugh at his enemies; and my brother must be glad to know that we are going to treat him like a brave. We shall hurt him all we can. We do not wear pantaloons, jackets and coats; if we did, we should not know how to honor him: we should be like the pale-faces. My brother must be glad that we do not dress like the pale-faces. Our young men are ready."

This speech was received with "rounds of applause" in other words, "it brought down the house;" and Snake-tongue sat down with a much greater reputation for oratory than he possessed when he arose. When the a.s.sembly once more became silent, and as three or four of the Senecas advanced towards Ichabod for the purpose of conducting him to the place selected for the torture, he said with a look of contempt:

"I might have known better than to cast pearls afore swine. They are nothing but venomous, thick-skulled Senecas; and they may go without clothes all their life-times, before I'll ever give 'em a piece of decent advice agin."

Ichabod was now led a short distance from the lodges, in the direction of the river, to the border of the cleared land. He was there fastened to a tree, with thongs around his feet and waist. The upper part of his body was left free, that he might display his fear by attempting to dodge the hatchets as they were thrown at him. It was now about four o'clock in the afternoon; and the bright autumn sun shone directly in his face, so that it was with extreme difficulty, after a little while, that he could even raise his eyes sufficiently to observe his enemies.

Yet he did so; for he knew that any shrinking in that respect, would be deemed a mark of cowardice on his part.

The Indians had now gathered in front of him, at the distance of fifteen or twenty feet, and were preparing for the commencement of the ceremony.

Resting against a stump, at a short distance on one side, was Guthrie, who was surveying the prisoner with a look of malicious pleasure, which he did not attempt to conceal.

Deersfoot was the first who advanced from the crowd of Senecas with his tomahawk in his hand. As he stepped forward, he said to Ichabod:

"I shall now throw my hatchet. I shall come as close as I can. I shall try not to hit my brother. If I do, he will be ashamed of me."

He threw his tomahawk with a force that drove the blade into the tree within an inch of Ichabod's head, almost to the handle. Ichabod, during the whole process, surveyed Deersfoot with a smile. As the hatchet struck the tree, he exclaimed:

"Well done, Deersfoot. That's almost as good as a bullet from a rifle in _practised_ hand, could have done it. You've got an expert hand, any way, for that kind of we'pon."

A murmur of admiration broke from the Indians at this specimen of Ichabod's coolness. Another Seneca stepped forward, and had just raised his hatchet in the act to throw, when a loud yell in the opposite direction attracted the attention of the Senecas. In a moment, two of their number, who had been stationed as lookouts in that direction, were seen advancing towards the crowd, accompanied by two whites. The reader will at once recognize in these strangers, the attorney and his worthy companion, the bailiff. The latter, however, had been disarmed; and although they were not bound, their faces showed signs of indignation at what they, no doubt, supposed to be uncivil treatment. As they approached the crowd of Indians, Bagsley cried out,

"Will anybody be civil enough to show me the ringleader of this disorderly a.s.sembly?"

Panther stepped forward. "If the pale-faces wish to see the chief of the Senecas, he is here."

"I am happy to make your acquaintance, sir," said Bagsley. "I have the honor to be a member of the legal profession--an attorney-at-law, sir, and this gentleman who accompanies me is a deputy sheriff, sir--one who, at this moment, bears in his own person, all the dignity and authority of sheriff of the county of Tryon, in whose bailiwick you now are."

"Ugh!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Panther; and the emphatic exclamation was answered by the whole crowd of Senecas.

"Our business here, sir, is to arrest one Ichabod Jenkins, upon a _capias ad respondendum_, at the suit of Samuel Parsons, for _25, 7s.

6d_. I have been given to understand that he is in your custody, or that you know his whereabouts."

Panther made a gesture towards the tree where Ichabod was confined.

Bagsley, whose view in that direction had been interrupted by the body of Indians who stood between him and the tree, now discovered the unfortunate debtor.

"I am much obliged to you, gentlemen," said he, "for having detained him until our arrival. I presume it was done as a matter of accommodation to us, as you probably had heard of our coming. Although you have made the arrest without color of law, and _ex colore officii_, and also without process, yet I will undertake to defend you, should he be malicious enough to bring his suit for a.s.sault and battery and false imprisonment.

And, further, as you have behaved so properly in this matter, I shall feel disposed to compromise amicably with you a cause of action for the same offence, in which I have been retained by Mr. Barton. Mr. Rogers, you will do your duty."

That worthy was about moving towards Ichabod, when his course was at once arrested. The Indians, evidently, did not understand the value of the proceeding, except that they were in danger of losing their victim if this movement was not prevented. At a gesture from Panther, the intruders were surrounded.

"The pale-face is our prisoner," said he. "We do not understand what you wish. Our young men are trying to see how brave he is, and we cannot let him go."

"You don't mean to say," exclaimed Rogers, "that you are going to prevent this arrest! I'd like to see you do that! Stand back there,"

shouted he, waving his arm towards the Senecas in his front. But this gesture had only the effect of narrowing the circle within which to stood.

"Gentlemen," said Bagsley, "you are probably entirely unacquainted with that beautiful system of jurisprudence which has been embellished by the writings of c.o.ke, and adorned by the lives of Hale, Holt and Mansfield.

You are probably, also, unacquainted with a statute recently enacted by the Honorable, the Legislature of the State, of New York. You cannot be aware that, by interfering with our proceedings, which are perfectly regular--I give you my word and honor, as an attorney--you are subjecting yourselves to fine and imprisonment."

"We know no law, except Injin law," said Panther, "and we are trying to do our duty, as we understand it. We do not know pale-face law and we do not want to know it."

"I must confess," answered Bagsley, "that I am not very well acquainted with the Indian system of jurisprudence. It is, I presume, an unwritten system--_leges non scriptae_--and, as such, I have great respect for it; it is undoubtedly an admirable system; but it is not the system to which I allude. You are, gentlemen, in the county of Tryon, under the jurisdiction of the State of New York, and amenable to its laws. I really hope, gentlemen, that you perceive the point in the case, and will retire, and leave us to the discharge of our duty. It will be extremely unpleasant for us to be called upon to exercise the authority with which we are clothed, and I really hope there will be no occasion for it."

And he and Rogers again attempted to move forward; but the Senecas pressed still closer; and they now found themselves completely hemmed in, and unable to move in either direction. Ichabod, who had seen and understood the whole proceeding now exclaimed--

"If I've got any friend among you Senecas, here, I hope you'll finish this business as soon as practicable. A blow of a tomahawk will be thankfully received; or if you've got up this matter to try a new system of tortur' on me, I'll acknowledge myself a squaw at once, if that'll be any pleasure to you. I can't stand out agin this kind of horrors, any way."

Rogers, who now found he would not be suffered to proceed in the making of the arrest, by the actual touching of the person of Ichabod, cried out--

"Ichabod Jenkins, I arrest you by virtue of ----" but his voice was drowned in the yells of the Senecas; and the two intruders were immediately seized and bound.

"Gentlemen," said Bagsley, "bound or unbound. I will do my duty towards _you_, at least. I shall certify to the court, according to the statute, in such case made and provided, the names of the resisters, aiders, consenters, commanders and favorers, who have interfered with this arrest, and by a writ judicial, your bodies will be attached to appear in the same court."

The voice of the attorney was drowned in the yells of the now angry Senecas; and he, together with the bailiff, were at once led to one of the lodges, where they were left, bound hand and foot.

Ichabod laughed with great glee over the discomfiture of this new enemy, whom he looked upon as more formidable than the other.

"I thank you, red-skins, for this act of friends.h.i.+p; its ra'ally kind in you; and I shan't have nigh so bad an opinion of your nation, hereafter, as I have had. You _do_ hate a lawyer; and there we agree. It's a pity that we can't be friends, under the circ.u.mstances; but I reckon that's impossible. So, proceed to business again, and get through with this part of your tortur' as fast as possible."

Order having been again restored, the Indian who had been interrupted by the arrival of Bagsley and his companion, again stepped forward.

"My brother," said he, addressing Ichabod, "is brave when he faces an Injin; but he does not like the men with long, forked tongues. We do not like them either. We think too much of our brother to give him up. He is a great warrior; and we want to do him honor according to Injin law. I may hit my brother, but I shall try not to."

He threw his tomahawk as he spoke, and the blade grazed Ichabod's head so closely that it severed a lock of hair from his brows. This was considered a great exploit; and the Senecas testified their admiration by loud yells.