The Prairie

  CHAPTER XXXI

  Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew? --Shakspeare.

  The day dawned, the following morning, on a more, tranquil scene. Thework of blood had entirely ceased; and as the sun arose, its light wasshed on a broad expanse of quiet and solitude. The tents of Ishmael werestill standing, where they had been last seen, but not another vestigeof human existence could be traced in any other part of the waste. Hereand there little flocks of ravenous birds were sailing and screamingabove those spots where some heavy-footed Teton had met his death, butevery other sign of the recent combat had passed away. The river was tobe traced far through the endless meadows, by its serpentine and smokingbed; and the little silvery clouds of vapour, which hung above the poolsand springs, were beginning to melt in air, as they felt the quickeningwarmth, which, pouring from the glowing sky, shed its bland and subtleinfluence on every object of the vast and unshadowed region. The prairiewas like the heavens after the passage of the gust, soft, calm, andsoothing.

  It was in the midst of such a scene that the family of the squatterassembled to make their final decision, concerning the severalindividuals who had been thrown into their power, by the fluctuatingchances of the incidents related. Every being possessing life andliberty had been afoot, since the first streak of grey had lighted theeast; and even the youngest of the erratic brood seemed conscious thatthe moment had arrived, when circumstances were about to transpirethat might leave a lasting impression on the wild fortunes of theirsemi-barbarous condition.

  Ishmael moved through his little encampment, with the seriousness of onewho had been unexpectedly charged with matters of a gravity, exceedingany of the ordinary occurrences of his irregular existence. His sonshowever, who had so often found occasions to prove the inexorableseverity of their father's character, saw, in his sullen mien and coldeye, rather a determination to adhere to his resolutions, which usuallywere as obstinately enforced as they were harshly conceived, than anyevidences of wavering or doubt. Even Esther was sensibly affected bythe important matters that pressed so heavily on the interests of herfamily. While she neglected none of those domestic offices, which wouldprobably have proceeded under any conceivable circumstances, just asthe world turns round with earthquakes rending its crust and volcanoesconsuming its vitals, yet her voice was pitched to a lower and moreforeboding key than common, and the still frequent chidings of herchildren were tempered by something like the milder dignity of parentalauthority.

  Abiram, as usual, seemed the one most given to solicitude and doubt.There were certain misgivings, in the frequent glances that he turnedon the unyielding countenance of Ishmael, which might have betrayed howlittle of their former confidence and good understanding existed betweenthem. His looks appeared to be vacillating between hope and fear. Attimes, his countenance lighted with the gleamings of a sordid joy, ashe bent his look on the tent which contained his recovered prisoner,and then, again, the impression seemed unaccountably chased away by theshadows of intense apprehension. When under the influence of thelatter feeling, his eye never failed to seek the visage of his dull andimpenetrable kinsman. But there he rather found reason for alarm thangrounds of encouragement, for the whole character of the squatter'scountenance expressed the fearful truth, that he had redeemed his dullfaculties from the influence of the kidnapper, and that his thoughtswere now brooding only on the achievement of his own stubbornintentions.

  It was in this state of things that the sons of Ishmael, in obedienceto an order from their father, conducted the several subjects of hiscontemplated decisions, from their places of confinement into the openair. No one was exempted from this arrangement. Middleton and Inez, Pauland Ellen, Obed and the trapper, were all brought forth and placed insituations that were deemed suitable to receive the sentence of theirarbitrary judge. The younger children gathered around the spot, inmomentary but engrossing curiosity, and even Esther quitted her culinarylabours, and drew nigh to listen.

  Hard-Heart alone, of all his band, was present to witness the novel andfar from unimposing spectacle. He stood leaning, gravely, on his lance,while the smoking steed, that grazed nigh, showed that he had ridden farand hard to be a spectator, on the occasion.

  Ishmael had received his new ally with a coldness that showed his entireinsensibility to that delicacy, which had induced the young chief tocome alone, in order that the presence of his warriors might not createuneasiness, or distrust. He neither courted their assistance, nordreaded their enmity, and he now proceeded to the business of the hourwith as much composure, as if the species of patriarchal power, hewielded, was universally recognised.

  There is something elevating in the possession of authority, however itmay be abused. The mind is apt to make some efforts to prove the fitnessbetween its qualities and the condition of its owner, though it mayoften fail, and render that ridiculous which was only hated before. Butthe effect on Ishmael Bush was not so disheartening. Grave in exterior,saturnine by temperament, formidable by his physical means, anddangerous from his lawless obstinacy, his self-constituted tribunalexcited a degree of awe, to which even the intelligent Middleton couldnot bring himself to be entirely insensible. Little time, however, wasgiven to arrange his thoughts; for the squatter, though unaccustomed tohaste, having previously made up his mind, was not disposed to waste themoments in delay. When he saw that all were in their places, he cast adull look over his prisoners, and addressed himself to the Captain, asthe principal man among the imaginary delinquents.

  "I am called upon this day, to fill the office which in the settlementsyou give unto judges, who are set apart to decide on matters that arisebetween man and man. I have but little knowledge of the ways of thecourts, though there is a rule that is known unto all, and whichteaches, that an 'eye must be returned for an eye,' and a 'tooth fora tooth.' I am no troubler of countyhouses, and least of all do I likeliving on a plantation that the sheriff has surveyed; yet there isa reason in such a law, that makes it a safe rule to journey by, andtherefore it ar' a solemn fact that this day shall I abide by it, andgive unto all and each that which is his due and no more."

  When Ishmael had delivered his mind thus far, he paused and lookedabout him, as if he would trace the effects in the countenances of hishearers. When his eye met that of Middleton, he was answered by thelatter--

  "If the evil-doer is to be punished, and he that has offended none tobe left to go at large, you must change situations with me, and become aprisoner instead of a judge."

  "You mean to say that I have done you wrong, in taking the lady from herfather's house, and leading her so far against her will into these wilddistricts," returned the unmoved squatter, who manifested as littleresentment as he betrayed compunction at the charge. "I shall not putthe lie on the back of an evil deed, and deny your words. Since thingshave come to this pass between us, I have found time to think the matterover at my leisure, and though none of your swift thinkers, who can see,or who pretend to see, into the nature of all things, by a turn of theeye, yet am I a man open to reason, and give me my time, one who is notgiven to deny the truth. Therefore have I mainly concluded, that itwas a mistake to take a child from its parent, and the lady shall bereturned whence she has been brought, as tenderly and as safely as mancan do it."

  "Ay, ay," added Esther, "the man is right. Poverty and labour bore hardupon him, especially as county officers were getting troublesome, andin a weak moment he did the wicked act; but he has listened to my words,and his mind has got round again into its honest corner. An awful and adangerous thing it is to be bringing the daughters of other people intoa peaceable and well-governed family!"

  "And who will thank you for the same, after what has been alreadydone?" muttered Abiram, with a grin of disappointed cupidity, in whichmalignity and terror were disgustingly united; "when the devil has oncemade out his account, you may look for your receipt in full only at hishands."

  "Peace!" said Ishmael, stretching his heavy hand towards his k
insman,in a manner that instantly silenced the speaker. "Your voice is like araven's in my ears. If you had never spoken, I should have been sparedthis shame."

  "Since then you are beginning to lose sight of your errors, and tosee the truth," said Middleton, "do not things by halves, but, bythe generosity of your conduct, purchase friends who may be of use inwarding off any future danger from the law--"

  "Young man," interrupted the squatter, with a dark frown, "you, too,have said enough. If fear of the law had come over me, you would not behere to witness the manner in which Ishmael Bush deals out justice."

  "Smother not your good intentions; and remember, if you contemplateviolence to any among us, that the arm of that law you affect todespise, reaches far, and that though its movements are sometimes slow,they are not the less certain!"

  "Yes, there is too much truth in his words, squatter," said the trapper,whose attentive ears rarely suffered a syllable to be utterly unheededin his presence. "A busy and a troublesome arm it often proves to behere, in this land of America; where, as they say, man is left greatlyto the following of his own wishes, compared to other countries;and happier, ay, and more manly and more honest, too, is he for theprivilege! Why do you know, my men, that there are regions where the lawis so busy as to say, In this fashion shall you live, in that fashionshall you die, and in such another fashion shall you take leave of theworld, to be sent before the judgment-seat of the Lord! A wicked and atroublesome meddling is that, with the business of One who has not madeHis creatures to be herded, like oxen, and driven from field to field,as their stupid and selfish keepers may judge of their need and wants.A miserable land must that be, where they fetter the mind as well as thebody, and where the creatures of God, being born children, are keptso by the wicked inventions of men who would take upon themselves theoffice of the great Governor of all!"

  During the delivery of this pertinent opinion, Ishmael was content to besilent, though the look, with which he regarded the speaker, manifestedany other feeling than that of amity. When the old man was done, heturned to Middleton, and continued the subject which the other hadinterrupted.

  "As to ourselves, young Captain, there has been wrong on both sides. IfI have borne hard upon your feelings, in taking away your wife with anhonest intention of giving her back to you, when the plans of that devilincarnate were answered, so have you broken into my encampment,aiding and abetting, as they have called many an honester bargain, indestroying my property."

  "But what I did was to liberate--"

  "The matter is settled between us," interrupted Ishmael, with the air ofone who, having made up his own opinion on the merits of the question,cared very little for those of other people; "you and your wife arefree to go and come, when and how you please. Abner, set the Captain atliberty; and now, if you will tarry until I am ready to draw nigher tothe settlements, you shall both have the benefit of carriage; if not,never say that you did not get a friendly offer."

  "Now, may the strong oppress me, and my sins be visited harshly on myown head, if I forget your honesty, however slow it has been in showingitself," cried Middleton, hastening to the side of the weeping Inez,the instant he was released; "and, friend, I pledge you the honour ofa soldier, that your own part of this transaction shall be forgotten,whatever I may deem fit to have done, when I reach a place where the armof government can make itself felt."

  The dull smile, with which the squatter answered to this assurance,proved how little he valued the pledge that the youth, in the firstrevulsion of his feelings, was so free to make.

  "Neither fear nor favour, but what I call justice, has brought me tothis judgment," he said, "do you that which may seem right in your eyes,and believe that the world is wide enough to hold us both, without ourcrossing each other's path again! If you ar' content, well; if you ar'not content, seek to ease your feelings in your own fashion. I shallnot ask to be let up, when you once put me fairly down. And now, Doctor,have I come to your leaf in my accounts. It is time to foot up the smallreckoning, that has been running on, for some time, atwixt us. With you,I entered into open and manly faith; in what manner have you kept it?"

  The singular felicity, with which Ishmael had contrived to shift theresponsibility of all that had passed, from his own shoulders to thoseof his prisoners, backed as it was by circumstances that hardly admittedof a very philosophical examination of any mooted point in ethics,was sufficiently embarrassing to the several individuals, who wereso unexpectedly required to answer for a conduct which, in theirsimplicity, they had deemed so meritorious. The life of Obed had been sopurely theoretic, that his amazement was not the least embarrassing ata state of things which might not have proved so very remarkable hadhe been a little more practised in the ways of the world. The worthynaturalist was not the first by many, who found himself, at the precisemoment when he was expecting praise, suddenly arraigned, to answer forthe very conduct on which he rested all his claims to commendation.Though not a little scandalised, at the unexpected turn of thetransaction, he was fain to make the best of circumstances, and to bringforth such matter in justification, as first presented itself to hisdisordered faculties.

  "That there did exist a certain compactum, or agreement, between ObedBatt, M.D., and Ishmael Bush, viator, or erratic husbandman," hesaid, endeavouring to avoid all offence in the use of terms, "I amnot disposed to deny. I will admit that it was therein conditioned, orstipulated, that a certain journey should be performed conjointly, or incompany, until so many days had been numbered. But as the said time hasfully expired, I presume it fair to infer that the bargain may now besaid to be obsolete."

  "Ishmael!" interrupted the impatient Esther, "make no words with a manwho can break your bones as easily as set them, and let the poisoningdevil go! He's a cheat, from box to phial. Give him half the prairie,and take the other half yourself. He an acclimator! I will engage toget the brats acclimated to a fever-and-ague bottom in a week, and nota word shall be uttered harder to pronounce than the bark of acherry-tree, with perhaps a drop or two of western comfort. One thingar' a fact, Ishmael; I like no fellow-travellers who can give a heavyfeel to an honest woman's tongue, I--and that without caring whether herhousehold is in order, or out of order."

  The air of settled gloom, which had taken possession of the squatter'scountenance, lighted for an instant with a look of dull drollery, as heanswered--

  "Different people might judge differently, Esther, of the virtue of theman's art. But sin' it is your wish to let him depart, I will not ploughthe prairie to make the walking rough. Friend, you are at liberty to gointo the settlements, and there I would advise you to tarry, as men likeme who make but few contracts, do not relish the custom of breaking themso easily."

  "And now, Ishmael," resumed his conquering wife, "in order to keep aquiet family and to smother all heart-burnings between us, show yonderRed-skin and his daughter," pointing to the aged Le Balafre and thewidowed Tachechana, "the way to their village, and let us say tothem--God bless you, and farewell, in the same breath!"

  "They are the captives of the Pawnee, according to the rules of Indianwarfare, and I cannot meddle with his rights."

  "Beware the devil, my man! He's a cheat and a tempter, and none cansay they ar' safe with his awful delusions before their eyes! Take theadvice of one who has the honour of your name at heart, and send thetawny Jezebel away."

  The squatter laid his broad hand on her shoulder, and looking hersteadily in the eye, he answered, in tones that were both stern andsolemn--

  "Woman, we have that before us which calls our thoughts to other mattersthan the follies you mean. Remember what is to come, and put your sillyjealousy to sleep."

  "It is true, it is true," murmured his wife, moving back among herdaughters; "God forgive me, that I should forget it!"

  "And now, young man; you, who have so often come into my clearing, underthe pretence of lining the bee into his hole," resumed Ishmael, after amomentary pause, as if to recover the equilibrium of his mind, "with youthere is a heavier accou
nt to settle. Not satisfied with rummagingmy camp, you have stolen a girl who is akin to my wife, and who I hadcalculated to make one day a daughter of my own."

  A stronger sensation was produced by this, than by any of the precedinginterrogations. All the young men bent their curious eyes on Paul andEllen, the former of whom seemed in no small mental confusion, while thelatter bent her face on her bosom in shame.

  "Harkee, friend Ishmael Bush," returned the bee-hunter, who found thathe was expected to answer to the charge of burglary, as well as to thatof abduction; "that I did not give the most civil treatment to your potsand pails, I am not going to gainsay. If you will name the price youput upon the articles, it is possible the damage may be quietly settledbetween us, and all hard feelings forgotten. I was not in a church-goinghumour when we got upon your rock, and it is more than probable therewas quite as much kicking as preaching among your wares; but a hole inthe best man's coat can be mended by money. As to the matter of EllenWade, here, it may not be got over so easily. Different people havedifferent opinions on the subject of matrimony. Some think it is enoughto say yes and no, to the questions of the magistrate, or of the parson,if one happens to be handy, in order to make a quiet house; but I thinkthat where a young woman's mind is fairly bent on going in a certaindirection, it will be quite as prudent to let her body follow. Notthat I mean to say Ellen was not altogether forced to what she did, andtherefore she is just as innocent, in this matter, as yonder jackass,who was made to carry her, and greatly against his will, too, as I amready to swear he would say himself, if he could speak as loud as he canbray."

  "Nelly," resumed the squatter, who paid very little attention to whatPaul considered a highly creditable and ingenious vindication, "Nelly,this is a wide and a wicked world, on which you have been in such ahurry to cast yourself. You have fed and you have slept in my camp fora year, and I did hope that you had found the free air of the borders,enough to your mind to wish to remain among us."

  "Let the girl have her will," muttered Esther, from the rear; "he, whomight have persuaded her to stay, is sleeping in the cold and nakedprairie, and little hope is left of changing her humour; besides,a woman's mind is a wilful thing, and not easily turned from itswaywardness, as you know yourself, my man, or I should not be here themother of your sons and daughters."

  The squatter seemed reluctant to abandon his views of the abashed girl,so easily; and before he answered to the suggestion of his wife, heturned his usual dull look along the line of the curious countenances ofhis boys, as if to see whether there was not one among them fit to fillthe place of the deceased. Paul was not slow to observe the expression,and hitting nigher than usual on the secret thoughts of the other,he believed he had fallen on an expedient which might remove everydifficulty.

  "It is quite plain, friend Bush," he said, "that there are two opinionsin this matter; yours for your sons, and mine for myself. I see but oneamicable way of settling this dispute, which is as follows:--do you makea choice among your boys of any you will, and let us walk off togetherfor the matter of a few miles into the prairies; the one who staysbehind, can never trouble any man's house or his fixen, and the one whocomes back may make the best of his way he can, in the good wishes ofthe young woman."

  "Paul!" exclaimed the reproachful, but smothered voice of Ellen.

  "Never fear, Nelly," whispered the literal bee-hunter, whosestraight-going mind suggested no other motive of uneasiness, on the partof his mistress, than concern for himself; "I have taken the measure ofthem all, and you may trust an eye that has seen to line many a bee intohis hole!"

  "I am not about to set myself up as a ruler of inclinations," observedthe squatter. "If the heart of the child is truly in the settlements,let her declare it; she shall have no let or hinderance from me. Speak,Nelly, and let what you say come from your wishes, without fear orfavour. Would you leave us to go with this young man into the settledcountries, or will you tarry and share the little we have to give, butwhich to you we give so freely?"

  Thus called upon to decide, Ellen could no longer hesitate. The glanceof her eye was at first timid and furtive. But as the colour flushed herfeatures, and her breathing became quick and excited, it was apparentthat the native spirit of the girl was gaining the ascendency over thebashfulness of sex.

  "You took me a fatherless, impoverished, and friendless orphan," shesaid, struggling to command her voice, "when others, who live in whatmay be called affluence compared to your state, chose to forget me; andmay Heaven in its goodness bless you for it! The little I have done,will never pay you for that one act of kindness. I like not your mannerof life; it is different from the ways of my childhood, and it isdifferent from my wishes; still, had you not led this sweet andunoffending lady from her friends, I should never have quitted you,until you yourself had said, Go, and the blessing of God go with you!'"

  "The act was not wise, but it is repented of; and so far as it canbe done, in safety, it shall be repaired. Now, speak freely, will youtarry, or will you go?"

  "I have promised the lady," said Ellen, dropping her eyes again to theearth, "not to leave her; and after she has received so much wrong fromour hands, she may have a right to claim that I keep my word."

  "Take the cords from the young man," said Ishmael. When the order wasobeyed, he motioned for all his sons to advance, and he placed them ina row before the eyes of Ellen. "Now let there be no trifling, but openyour heart. Here ar' all I have to offer, besides a hearty welcome."

  The distressed girl turned her abashed look from the countenance of oneof the young men to that of another, until her eye met the troubled andworking features of Paul. Then nature got the better of forms. She threwherself into the arms of the bee-hunter, and sufficiently proclaimed herchoice by sobbing aloud. Ishmael signed to his sons to fall back, andevidently mortified, though perhaps not disappointed by the result, heno longer hesitated.

  "Take her," he said, "and deal honestly and kindly by her. The girl hasthat in her which should make her welcome, in any man's house, and Ishould be loth to hear she ever came to harm. And now I have settledwith you all, on terms that I hope you will not find hard, but, on thecontrary, just and manly. I have only another question to ask, and thatis of the Captain; do you choose to profit by my teams in going into thesettlements, or not?"

  "I hear, that some soldiers of my party are looking for me near thevillages of the Pawnees," said Middleton, "and I intend to accompanythis chief, in order to join my men."

  "Then the sooner we part the better. Horses are plenty on the bottom.Go; make your choice, and leave us in peace."

  "That is impossible, while the old man, who has been a friend of myfamily near half a century, is left a prisoner. What has he done, thathe too is not released?

  "Ask no questions that may lead to deceitful answers," sullenly returnedthe squatter; "I have dealings of my own with that trapper, that it maynot befit an officer of the States to meddle with. Go, while your roadis open."

  "The man may be giving you honest counsel, and that which it concernsyou all to hearken to," observed the old captive, who seemed in nouneasiness at the extraordinary condition in which he found himself."The Siouxes are a numberless and bloody-minded race, and no one cansay how long it may be, afore they will be out again on the scent ofrevenge. Therefore I say to you, go, also; and take especial heed, incrossing the bottoms, that you get not entangled again in the fires, forthe honest hunters often burn the grass at this season, in order thatthe buffaloes may find a sweeter and a greener pasturage in the spring."

  "I should forget not only my gratitude, but my duty to the laws, were Ito leave this prisoner in your hands, even by his own consent, withoutknowing the nature of his crime, in which we may have all been hisinnocent accessaries."

  "Will it satisfy you to know, that he merits all he will receive?"

  "It will at least change my opinion of his character."

  "Look then at this," said Ishmael, placing before the eyes of theCaptain the bullet that had been found about th
e person of the dead Asa;"with this morsel of lead did he lay low as fine a boy as ever gave joyto a parent's eyes!"

  "I cannot believe that he has done this deed, unless in self-defence, oron some justifiable provocation. That he knew of the death of your son,I confess, for he pointed out the brake in which the body lay, but thathe has wrongfully taken his life, nothing but his own acknowledgmentshall persuade me to believe."

  "I have lived long," commenced the trapper, who found, by the generalpause, that he was expected to vindicate himself from the heavyimputation, "and much evil have I seen in my day. Many are the prowlingbears and leaping panthers that I have met, fighting for the morselwhich has been thrown in their way; and many are the reasoning men, thatI have looked on striving against each other unto death, in order thathuman madness might also have its hour. For myself, I hope, there is noboasting in saying, that though my hand has been needed in putting downwickedness and oppression, it has never struck a blow of which its ownerwill be ashamed to hear, at a reckoning that shall be far mightier thanthis."

  "If my father has taken life from one of his tribe," said the youngPawnee, whose quick eye had read the meaning of what was passing, in thebullet and in the countenances of the others, "let him give himselfup to the friends of the dead, like a warrior. He is too just to needthongs to lead him to judgment."

  "Boy, I hope you do me justice. If I had done the foul deed, with whichthey charge me, I should have manhood enough to come and offer my headto the blow of punishment, as all good and honest Red-men do the same."Then giving his anxious Indian friend a look, to re-assure him ofhis innocence, he turned to the rest of his attentive and interestedlisteners, as he continued in English, "I have a short story to tell,and he that believes it will believe the truth, and he that disbelievesit will only lead himself astray, and perhaps his neighbour too. We wereall out-lying about your camp, friend squatter, as by this time youmay begin to suspect, when we found that it contained a wronged andimprisoned lady, with intentions neither more honest nor dishonest thanto set her free, as in nature and justice she had a right to be. Seeingthat I was more skilled in scouting than the others, while they layback in the cover, I was sent upon the plain, on the business of thereconnoitrings. You little thought that one was so nigh, who saw intoall the circumventions of your hunt; but there was I, sometimes flatbehind a bush or a tuft of grass, sometimes rolling down a hill into abottom, and little did you dream that your motions were watched, as thepanther watches the drinking deer. Lord, squatter, when I was a man inthe pride and strength of my days, I have looked in at the tent door ofthe enemy, and they sleeping, ay, and dreaming too, of being at home andin peace! I wish there was time to give you the partic--"

  "Proceed with your explanation," interrupted Middleton.

  "Ah! and a bloody and wicked sight it was. There I lay in a low bed ofgrass, as two of the hunters came nigh each other. Their meeting was notcordial, nor such as men, who meet in a desert, should give each other;but I thought they would have parted in peace, until I saw one put hisrifle to the other's back, and do what I call a treacherous and sinfulmurder. It was a noble and a manly youth, that boy--Though the powderburnt his coat, he stood the shock for more than a minute, before hefell. Then was he brought to his knees, and a desperate and manful fighthe made to the brake, like a wounded bear seeking a cover!"

  "And why, in the name of heavenly justice, did you conceal this?" criedMiddleton.

  "What! think you, Captain, that a man, who has spent more thanthreescore years in the wilderness, has not learned the virtue ofdiscretion. What red warrior runs to tell the sights he has seen, untila fitting time? I took the Doctor to the place, in order to see whetherhis skill might not come in use; and our friend, the bee-hunter, beingin company, was knowing to the fact that the bushes held the body."

  "Ay; it ar' true," said Paul; "but not knowing what private reasonsmight make the old trapper wish to hush the matter up, I said as littleabout the thing as possible, which was just nothing at all."

  "And who was the perpetrator of this deed?" demanded Middleton.

  "If by perpetrator you mean him who did the act, yonder stands the man;and a shame, and a disgrace is it to our race, that he is of the bloodand family of the dead."

  "He lies! he lies!" shrieked Abiram. "I did no murder; I gave but blowfor blow."

  The voice of Ishmael was deep, and even awful, as he answered--

  "It is enough. Let the old man go. Boys, put the brother of your motherin his place."

  "Touch me not!" cried Abiram. "I'll call on God to curse you if youtouch me!"

  The wild and disordered gleam of his eye, at first induced the young mento arrest their steps; but when Abner, older and more resolute thanthe rest, advanced full upon him, with a countenance that bespoke thehostile state of his mind, the affrighted criminal turned, and, makingan abortive effort to fly, fell with his face to the earth, to allappearance perfectly dead. Amid the low exclamations of horror whichsucceeded, Ishmael made a gesture which commanded his sons to bear thebody into the tent.

  "Now," he said, turning to those who were strangers in his camp,"nothing is left to be done, but for each to go his own road. I wish youall well; and to you, Ellen, though you may not prize the gift, I say,God bless you!"

  Middleton, awe-struck by what he believed a manifest judgment of Heaven,made no further resistance, but prepared to depart. The arrangementswere brief, and soon completed. When they were all ready, they tooka short and silent leave of the squatter and his family; and then thewhole of the singularly constituted party were seen slowly and silentlyfollowing the victorious Pawnee towards his distant villages.