CHAPTER XXXII
TURNING THE TABLES
Although Jack Carleton and Otto Relstaub understood nothing of theconversation (excepting the few words of mangled English) betweenWish-o-wa-tum, the Osage chieftain, and the Shawanoe who entered hislodge, little was lost upon Deerfoot.
Without quoting the language, it may be said that Arorara declaredthe two boys to be thieves and wretches of the worst imaginabledegree. They had stolen the horses of the Shawanoes and Miamis, andhad treacherously shot, not only the warriors, but the squaws andpapooses, when they lay asleep by their camp-fires.
Arorara said he had been sent by his people to follow across theriver, and punish them for their many crimes. His purpose inplacing the guns as he had done, near the entrance of the lodge, wasto tempt the boys to make a rush to escape.
When they did so, Arorara proposed that he and Wish-o-wa-tum shouldleap upon them with knives.
When this plan was fully explained to the chief, he nodded his headand signified that he would willingly lend his hand. It was amatter of indifference to him, and, but for the coming of theShawanoe, he probably would have allow the boys to depart withoutharm. With Wish-o-wa-tum the whole question resolved itself intoone of policy. He lived alone and had never been disturbed by thewhite settlers, who were locating in different parts of the territory.If he should help in the taking off of youngsters, their friendswould not be likely to suspect him, and there was little probabilityof the truth ever reaching their ears.
But, if he refused the request of the guest, the fierce tribe towhich he belonged would be sure to go out of their way to punishhim. He therefore gave his assent, and added that he was ready dohis part whenever Arorara wished.
It was at that juncture that the two red men essayed expression inEnglish, and Deerfoot saw that he must interfere at once. Whilemoving to the front of the lodge, he scanned his immediate surroundings,so far as he could, but neither saw nor heard anything of the otherShawanoe. In short, from what has already been told, it will be seenthat it was impossible for him to be in that vicinity.
Throwing back the deerskin, the youthful warrior stepped quicklywithin the wigwam. His bow was flung over his back, and, beingperfectly familiar with the interior, he extended his hand andcaught up the weapon nearest him, standing erect and facing all theoccupants as did Arorara a short time before. This movement and theentrance itself were made with such deftness that no one observedhis presence, with the exception of Otto Relstaub, who by accidenthappened to look toward him just as he entered.
But the startling words of the German lad, accompanied by theextension of his arm and finger toward the door, turned every eyelike a flash in that direction. They were just in time to catch aglimpse of the arms of Deerfoot, as they were raised like theflitting of the wings of a bird, and almost in the same breath theyouth was seen to be looking along the gleaming barrel pointed thebreast of the astounded warrior.
"Dog of a Shawanoe!" exclaimed Deerfoot, his voice as firm andunwavering as his nerves; "coward! Serpent that creeps in the grassand strikes the heel of the hunter; Arorara speaks with a doubletongue; he says he took the scalp of Deerfoot, but the scalp ofDeerfoot is here, and he dares Arorara and Waughtauk and Tecumsehand all the chiefs and sachems and warriors of the Shawanoes, totake it!"
The rifle, with the hammer drawn back, was flung to the ground, andwhipping out his hunting knife, the youth grasped the handle withfingers of steel and assumed a defiant attitude. His face was aflamewith passion, and his breast became a raging volcano of wrath.
In truth, Deerfoot had lost control of himself for the moment. Anoverwhelming sense of his persecution caused his nature to revolt,and he longed for the excuse to leap upon the Shawanoe who hadfollowed him across the Mississippi. There was a single moment whenhe gathered his muscles for a tiger-like bound at his enemy, he wasrestrained only by the pitiful expression on the terrifiedcountenance.
The youth addressed his words to Arorara and his blazing eyes werefixed on him. He had no quarrel with Wish-o-wa-tum and understoodhis position, but he would not have shrunk from an attack by both.Deerfoot knew that either was more powerful than he, but in cat-likeagility there could be no comparison between them.
Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, however, showed very plainly that he heldthe invader of his lodge in great fear. He displayed visible emotion,when listening to the ringing words of defiance; but he possessedsense enough to perceive they were not addressed to him, and hecontinued to smoke his pipe in silence.
The squaw at the further end of the wigwam started, and with thepipe in her grasp, stared with a dazed expression at the daringintruder; then, like the true mother the world over, she leanedforward, caught up her sleeping infant and held him to her breast,ready to defend him with her life.
Arorara looked in turn straight into the burning countenance ofDeerfoot. The elder warrior had unconsciously assumed an admirablepose, his left foot forward, his hand resting on the handle of histomahawk, his whole position that of a gathering his strength for atremendous leap. But though his fingers toyed with the weapon athis waist, they did not draw it forth; it was for that precisesignal the youth was waiting.
While in this attitude, which might have been accepted as indicatingthe most heroic courage, Deerfoot saw the lump or Adam's apple risesink in his throat, precisely as if he were to swallow something.It was done twice, and was a sign of weakness on the part ofArorara.
The consuming anger of Deerfoot burned out like a flash of powder.Hatred became contempt; enmity turned to scorn, and the mortal perilof the warrior vanished.
"Who now is the dog?" asked Deerfoot in English, with a curl of hislip. "Arorara is brave when he stands before the youths who have noweapons; he then speaks with the double tongue; he cannot utter thetruth. Arorara has his tomahawk and knife, Deerfoot has his; letthem fight and see whose scalp shall remain."
"Don't you do dot, old Roarer," exclaimed Otto Relstaub, steppingforward in much excitement; "if you does, den you won't be oldRoarer not any more, as nefer vose-yaw! Dunderation!"
"Let them alone," commanded Jack Carleton, catching his arm anddrawing him back; "don't interfere."
"Don't you sees?" asked Otto, turning his head and speaking in awhisper; "I want to scare old Roarer."
"There's no call for doing that, for he's so seared now he can'tspeak; he won't fight Deerfoot."
Arorara possessed less courage than Tecumseh, who, when challengedby Deerfoot in almost the same manner, would have fought him to thedeath had not others interposed. The Shawanoe was now in mortalterror of such an encounter.
"Deerfoot and Arorara are brothers," said he, swallowing again thelump that rose in his throat; "they belong to the same totem; theyare Shawanoes; the Great Spirit would frown to see them harm eachother."
The words were spoken in Shawanoe, but Jack and Otto saw, from thelooks and manner of the elder warrior, that he was subdued and couldnot be forced into a struggle with the lithe and willowy youth.
It was not flattering to the pride of the young Kentuckian and hiscompanion that while Arorara felt no fear of them jointly, he wasterrified by the bearing of Deerfoot, who voluntarily relinquishedthe advantage he possessed in the hope that it would induce theother to fight.
The abject words of Arorara caused a reaction in the feelings ofDeerfoot. His conscience condemned him for his outburst of passion,and had the situation permitted, he would have prostrated himself inprayer and begged the forgiveness of the Great Spirit whom he hadoffended.
But nothing in his face or voice or manner betrayed the change.
He remained standing in front of the deerskin, which was thrownback, so that the light from the camp-fire shone against the gloombeyond; his left hand held the knife with the same rigid grasp, andthe limbs, which in the American Indian rarely show much musculardevelopment, were as drawn as steel.
The squaw clasped the sleeping infant to her husky bosom and glaredat Deerfoot, like a lioness at bay. Had he advanced to do ha
rm toher offspring, she would have sprang upon him with the fierceness ofthat beast and defended the little one to the death. Had the youthassailed Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, probably she would have sat aninterested spectator of the scene until it became clear which way itwas going, when she might have wrapped her baby in bison-skin,placed him carefully away, and taken a part in the struggle.
The Osage resumed the deliberate puffing of his pipe, but glancedfrom one face to the other of the two Shawanoes. Stolid and lazy ashe was, by nature and training, he could not help feeling stirred bythe curious scene.
Jack Carleton and Otto were on their feet, studying the twocountenances with equal intentness. Both were cheered by theconsciousness that danger no longer threatened them, and thatwhatever followed must accord with the fact that Deerfoot theShawanoe was master of the situation.