American Family Robinson

  Chapter Third.

  Howe's Story of a singular piece of Metal.

  In compliance with Mr. Duncan's wish Howe related the story of thesingular piece of metal he had seen, similar to the one they haddiscovered.

  "Some twenty years ago," said he, "my father and I carried on anextensive traffic with the Indians around Lake Superior for furs, oftenbeing gone a year on our expeditions, during which time we livedentirely with the Indians, when not in some inhabited region, byourselves, which we often were, for a trapper penetrates and brings tolight hidden resources, of which the Indian never dreams. During one ofthese excursions, we had been struck with the singular appearance of anold man, tottering with age, who belonged to the wigwam of the Indianchief with whose people we were trading. His thin hair, falling fromthe lower part of his head, was long, curling and white, leaving thetop bald, and the scalp glossy. His beard was very heavy, parting onthe upper lip, and combed smoothly and in waving masses, fell on hisbreast. His must have been a powerful, athletic frame in his manhood,for when I saw him he was over seven feet high, and though feeble andtottering, his frame was unbent, and his eye was blue and glittering,with a soul his waning life could not subdue. His features, as well ascomplexion, were totally unlike the rest of the tribe. His forehead wasbroad and high, his chin wide and prominent, his lips full, with apeculiar cast about them I had never seen on any other human being,giving the impression of nobleness mingled with a hopeless agony andsorrow. Such, at least, was the impression made on my mind, which timehas never effaced. He was a strange old man, with such a form and face,and so unlike any other human being, that his very presence inspiredthe heart with feelings of reverence. The Indians have no beard. Thisfact impressed us with the idea that he was a white man; but when Icompared him to the white race, he was as unlike them as the Indians.Singular in all his ways and manners, he seemed a being isolated fromevery human feeling or sympathy.

  "My father said he had known this man for thirty-five years, and whenhe first saw him he was old, but then there was a woman with him, whomhe tenderly cherished, and who, but a few years before, died of extremeold age. Otherwise he knew nothing more of them, as he never sought tolearn farther than what the chief had told him. When he asked who theywere, he was answered that they were all that was left of a nationtheir ancestors had conquered so many moons ago, and the chief caught ahandful of sand, to designate the moons by the grains.

  "I was more deeply impressed with the sight of this old man than I candescribe; and what I heard of him only deepened the impression, untilit haunted me continually. Who was he? How came he here? And where camehe from when he came here? Who were his kindred, and of what race andnation was he? These were questions that I asked myself day after day,but was unable to answer them. I resolved to find out, and attempted tomake friends with him as the most tangible way of succeeding. He wasreserved and haughty, and I doubted my success; but I was agreeablysurprised when he deigned to receive and converse with me, though atthe same time he treated me with a degree of contempt by no meansagreeable; yet it came from him with such a glance of pity in his eyeas if he earnestly commiserated my inferiority, that I half forgave himat the moment. He conversed about everything save the one subjectnearest my heart--_himself_. But on this point he was silent, and when,day after day, I entreated him to give me a history of himself, thethought seemed to call up such agonizing recollections as to make everyrenewal of the subject difficult for me and painful to him.

  "Many months went by, but as yet I was no farther advanced than atfirst, on the one great subject of which I so longed to be familiar. Ifancied of late the old man had become more taciturn and reserved thanformerly, showing a disinclination to converse on any subject, and Icould not avoid seeing his steps grow slower; he took less exercisethan had been his custom, and I saw plainly he was passing away. Then Ifeared he would never relent; that death would come upon him and hishistory remain unknown.

  "One evening, after I had in vain endeavored to gain access to the oldman through the day, I wandered out and stood on a high cliff, againstwhose base the waves of the lake beat with a sullen roar; and lookingfar away over the turbulent surface of this prince of inland seas, waswondering if ever its waters would become tributary to the will of myrace, or if, as now, the canoe of the Indian was all the vessel thatshould breast its rugged waves. The place where I stood was a sort oftable, or level rock, the highest peak of the cliff, rising in acone-like shape, some thirty feet above. Below it was irregular, andthe path to the place where I stood tortuous, difficult, and dangerous;but when once there, one of the grandest views on the whole lake waspresented. I had not been there long, when, hearing a footstepapproach, and thinking it a dangerous place to be caught in if itshould be an unfriendly Indian, I caught hold of some shrubs growing inthe crevices of the rock, and silently let myself down a few feet belowthe table, whose overhanging rock I knew would protect me fromobservation, and where I could have a full view of the rock by lookingthrough the shrubs, by whose friendly aid I had descended to myretreat.

  "I had scarcely secreted myself when, to my astonishment, the old manadvanced slowly up the path, his labored breathing showing how painfulto him was the exertion. Fearing no harm I was soon by his side,begging him to lean on me and to allow me to assist him. He looked downon me with a peculiar expression, akin to that I should express shouldBenny here insist on going out buffalo hunting, and which annoyed meexceedingly, of which he, however, took no notice.

  "After standing with folded arms, looking intently over the watertowards the far south, he turned to me and said:

  "'It shall be even so. Come hither, son of a degenerate race, and learnthe secrets of the past. Long before your race knew this continentexisted, my people were in the vigor and glory of national prosperity.From the extreme north, where the icebergs never yield to the sun,through the variations of temperature to the barren rocks in thefarthest south, were ours, all, from ocean to ocean!'

  "He paused for a moment, as if endeavoring to recall somehalf-forgotten facts, then proceeded in a sorrowful tone.

  "'But troubles came. Our kings had fostered two different races ontheir soil, who were at first but a handful, and who had at twodifferent periods been driven by winds on our shore. The first thatwere thus cast on our hospitality were partially civilized in theirways, and though far removed above the brute, were not like us; so widewas the difference that an intermarriage with them would have beenpunished with death. They were human, and therefore protected, theirinsignificance being their greatest friend; for my ancestors no morethought of laying tribute on them, even when they came to numberthemselves by thousands, than you would on an inferior race. The otherrace were savages of the worst character; more savage than beasts ofprey, and so they multiplied and became strong, and even preyed uponthemselves. Thus our forests became filled with beasts in the shape ofman, and our districts with an imbecile race. Centuries rolled onward,and the savages multiplied and grew audacious. They even penetrated ourcities and preyed upon us, while we, paralyzed by such acts ofingratitude, were weakened by what should have made us strong. Wepassively beheld a loathsome reptile, that might at first have beencrushed in an hour, thrive to become a monster to devour us.

  "At length, but, alas! too late, we awoke to the danger of oursituation. We drove them from our cities to the mountains, but ere wecould take active measures to prevent a recurrence of these outrages,the other race we had fostered started up like a swarm of locusts, anddeclaring themselves our equals, demanded to be recognized as such. Sopreposterous was this demand, that we were at first disposed to treatit only as the suggestion of a disordered intellect, but, of course,could never comply with so degrading a request, for nothing we could docould invest them with strength, intellect, or form like ours. Soonafter our refusal they too grew audacious, and forming a league withthe savages, set up a king whom they said should make laws and governthe land. Then commenced a terrible war of extermination. This wholecontinent was drenched with blood. _We_
fought to save _our_ homes andour country, _they_ to gain the supremacy. It was not a battle of ayear or of half a century. As many years as I have seen, the torrentwas never stayed, and when an advantage was gained, on either side,life was never spared. By slow degrees, they possessed themselves offortress after fortress, and city after city: _we_, the while, growingweaker, they stronger, until we were compelled to take refuge in thecities of our king. These cities were built and walled with granite,and we supposed them to be impregnable; and laying as they did in the_centre_ of the continent, and in proximity to one another, we hopedyet to withstand them. But, alas! we had another foe to encounter.Gaunt hunger and famine came with their ghastly forms and bony arms,blighting the strong and the brave. But it could not make traitors orcowards of us, and dying we hurled defiance at our foes. The walls ofour cities unmanned, were scaled--the gates thrown open; and ourstreets filled with the murderers whom we had reared to exterminate us.A few were found alive, and these few were saved by the victors thatthe arts and sciences might not die. From these I am descended; butthough we refused to transmit this knowledge to them, they treated uswith great care, hoping that after a lapse of time we would amalgamatewith them. But we were made of sterner stuff than that. We could seeour race and nation blotted from existence, but not degraded. After thelapse of many centuries we were forgotten in the struggles of a halfcivilized race and the savages for supremacy, and my people dying outyear by year, are all gone save _myself_, the last of the rightfulowners of this continent."

  As the old man concluded, his head fell forward on his breast and heremained silent and motionless so long, that I feared the recalling ofthe past had been too great a task for him, and going up to him, I laidmy hand on his. Throwing it aside, he said: "Young man, I have told youof the past, and now there is a page of the future I will unfold toyou. Your race shall possess the heritage of my ancestors. And as thesavages exterminated us, so shall you them. But, beware, you too arefostering a serpent that at last will sting, and perhaps devour you.""The arts and sciences of your race speak of them; were they likeours," I said, anxious to learn more of this strange people: "Yours,"he replied with more warmth than he had exhibited, "are not unlikeours, though far inferior to them. Your race boasts of discoveries andinventions! ah! boy, you are but bringing to light arts long lost, butin perfection centuries of centuries before your people ever knew ofthis land."

  "Is there any proof of this? is there nothing remaining to give oculardemonstration of these facts?" I asked.

  "A few," said he. "Nothing very satisfactory, but what there is, youshall see."

  So saying, he let himself down to the same spot where I had, in hidingfrom him, I following. On removing a few pieces of loose rock the doorleading to a cavern was visible, which we entered. It was a large caverunning back into a lofty arched room, as far as I could see in thesurrounding gloom. The old man took a couple of torches from a pilethat lay on a shelving rock close by the door, lighted them, and givingone to me bade me follow. The farther we went the wider and loftier wasthe cave, until I began to wonder where it would end. At this moment hepaused before a stone tablet of immense proportions, raised about threefeet from the floor, the ends resting on blocks of granite. All overits surface was hieroglyphics engraved in characters I had never seenbefore, though I have often found similar ones since.

  "Here," said he, "are recorded the heroic deeds of our race whilefighting to save our firesides from a rapacious foe. Every character isa history in itself. Yet your race know it not; but still boast ofsciences you do not possess."

  "No," said I, "we cannot decypher these characters, we have neverclaimed to have done so; but if you can give me a key to them, tell mehow we may make an alphabet to it, we may still be able to do so."

  "It would be useless for me to do so," said he, with his old manner ofsuperiority, "your intellect could not grasp it; you would notunderstand me."

  "Try me," said I, eagerly, "try me and see."

  But he only beckoned me away, then advancing a few paces took from arecess in the rock, a heavy flagon not unlike our own in shape, andplacing it in my hand, informed me that their vessels for drinking werelike that, varied in shape and size according to taste. Holding it tothe light, I was astonished to find it was made of gold, fine and pureas any I had ever seen. There were instruments of silver, also, whichhe assured me, would carry sound many miles, and others of glass andsilver to shorten objects to the sight at an equal distance. And these,said he, handing me some curious shaped vases are like the material ofwhich we made many of our ornaments to our dwelling. They appeared tobe made of glass, yet they were elastic. He said the material wasimperishable. There were helmets, shields, curiously shaped weapons,chisels, and many things I knew not the use of, all made of copper,among the rest a shield precisely like the one you have, Anne."

  "Did you bring nothing away? uncle," asked the children.

  "No: when he had shown me all he desired me to see, he led me back tothe mouth of the cave, and motioning me out, followed, closing theopening he had made and ascending to the table where we stood before.

  "Then I begged the old man to tell me more of his race, to unfold thecurtain that hung like a pall between them and us. He shook his headsadly, and standing with his face towards the south, communing withhimself awhile, turned to me, and said: 'You believe in a God, good andevil, rewards and punishments?'"

  I answered in the affirmative.

  "Would you hesitate to break an oath taken in the name of the God inwhich you believe?" he asked.

  "I would not dare to commit such a crime," I answered.

  "Then, swear," said he, "that what I have told and shown you, you willnever reveal to human being by word or sign."

  "Oh, no, you cannot mean that; leave us some clue to your lost race," Ientreated.

  "Yes, swear," repeated he imperiously.

  "No: oh! no, I cannot. Though for your sake," I said, "I will be silentany reasonable number of years you shall dictate to me."

  He gazed sternly on me for a few moments, then said.

  "Let it be so. When I have passed away you are absolved from youroath."

  "You will teach me to read the recorded past," I said inquiringly, "andtell me of the arts now lost, at some future day!"

  "It is too late, my days are spent, he said; then rousing himself, heexclaimed, in a voice that still rings in my ears: 'Son of adegenerate race, go over this whole continent and there trace thehistory of my people. Our monuments are there, and on them are chiseledour deeds, and though we moulder in the dust, they can never die; theyare imperishable. Go where the summer never ends, where the treesblossom, still laden with fruit, and there we once were mighty as theseforests, and numerous as the drops in this lake; there read of ourglory--but not of our shame--that was never chiseled in our monumentalpillars; it is here, (placing his hand on his heart) and with _me_ mustdie. Go, (said he, waving with his hand towards the path that ascendedthe table) go, and leave the last of a mighty race, to die alone. It isnot fitting you should be here: Go? I am called.'"

  I obeyed him reluctantly, but I never saw him again.