The red chieftain fumed7 and chafed8 like a caged lion. His allies, the Wyandots and the Mingoes, had sent word that they could not move their forces for three days, and so, despite his desire for war, he was compelled to remain inactive.
The wily sachem knew full well that he could accomplish nothing unless he came down upon his foes9 in overwhelming numbers.
Ke-ne-ha-ha had faced the deadly fire of the white rifles on many a bloody10 field. He had felt the prowess of the hardy11 bordermen, and had learned to respect it. No hot-headed boy was he, to rashly dare the power of the white-skins, without a force far superior to their own.
And so he waited, and while he waited—furious as the angry bear cheated of his prey—he called down the curses of the Great Spirit upon the heads of the slow-moving chiefs, his allies.
He paced restlessly up and down the narrow confines of his wigwam.
“The chiefs of the Wyandots and the Mingoes are like turtles; they should have houses on their backs. A warrior4 should be like the eagle or the hawk—swift as the forked light of the Great Spirit. The white-skins must know that the red-men will soon take the war-path against them. The great chief, Boone, has long ears. Like a fox he crept into the Shawnee village; he will carry back to his people the news that the red warriors are arming for the fight.”
The meditations12 of the chief were interrupted by the entrance of his daughter, Le-a-pah.
[36]
“May Le-a-pah speak with her father, the great chief?” asked the girl, with a timid smile.
“The heart of the father is always open to the words of his child,” replied the chief, drawing the little form of the girl to him as he spoke14, and smoothing back the dark masses of ebon hair from her low forehead.
“Will my father be angry if Le-a-pah speaks straight?” and the girl looked shyly into her father’s face as she spoke.
“Let my daughter speak; the chief will not be angry at his singing-bird, because her tongue is not forked,” said Ke-ne-ha-ha, tenderly.
“My father is the great chief of the Shawnee nation; will my father be angry if his child has looked upon a young brave with loving eyes?”
An earnest look the chief cast into his daughter’s face.
“The singing-bird wishes to leave her father, then?”
“Did not the mother of the singing-bird leave her father when she came to sing in the lodge15 of the great chief?” the maiden16 asked, shyly.
“My daughter speaks straight. It is the course of nature. The leaf falls from the tree and seeks the embrace of the earth. What is the name of the chief in whose wigwam Le-a-pah would sing?”
“He is only a young brave,” began the girl, timidly.
“Youth is not a crime,” interrupted the chief; “nor would I give my child to a brave whose hairs are like the snow in color. Spring should not sit in the lap of Winter, else her blood will be chilled into ice—it is bad.”
“The young brave is not yet a great warrior, but he has a heart as big as a bear, and no white plume3 is bound up in his scalp-locks. He will be a great chief when years come heavy upon his head,” said the girl, cheered by the encouraging words of the great chief.
“Let my daughter speak his name, and then Ke-ne-ha-ha will know how to answer,” said the father.
“He is called the White Dog,” and then the girl gazed anxiously into her father’s face, but the face of the chief was like a face of marble; not a muscle moved as the name of his daughter’s lover fell upon his ears. Even the keen womanly instinct of Le-a-pah, now made doubly keen by the fires of love burning so intensely in her bosom17, could not detect whether her father was pleased or displeased18.
“The young warrior that captured the great white fighting-man, Boone?” said the chief, slowly.
“The young brave is very young,” said the chief, gravely. But the heart of the girl could not be deceived. Her heart had told her that her father approved of her choice.
“Le-a-pah is young, too,” replied the girl.
“The chief is new on the war-path.”
“Yet, alone he grappled with the great white hunter, and brought him to the earth. What other red warrior has ever done the like?”
A grim smile crept over the stern features of the chief as he listened to the unanswerable words of the girl.
“My daughter is as wise as the fox—she speaks for her lover as stoutly21 as the she-wolf fights for her young.”
“The great chief is not angry at Le-a-pah because she speaks for the man she loves?”
“My father will then give his consent that the young chief shall claim Le-a-pah as his own?”
“Ke-ne-ha-ha will then be alone in the world. The Red Arrow, his eldest23 joy, lies beneath the big oaks that sway their leafy branches in the woods of the Scioto valley. It is the will of the Great Spirit—the chief will not murmur24 at it.”
“Then Le-a-pah may go and sing in the lodge of the young warrior, and make glad his heart?” asked the girl, her heart swelling25 with joy.
“Yes—on one condition,” replied the chief.
“And what is that?” asked the girl, puzzled.
“The chief must first know. If he accepts the condition and performs the service asked, then Le-a-pah shall be his wife, and Ke-ne-ha-ha will himself give her into his hands.”
“Ke-ne-ha-ha too is growing old. In years to come he will be too old to lead the Shawnee warriors to battle. His feet will be feeble upon the war-path and his sight will be dim. The Shawnees will select a new chief to lead them. Who so fit as the son-in-law of their old sachem, if Ke-ne-ha-ha lifts up his voice in his favor?”
The heart of the girl beat high with pride as she listened to the words of her father and thought of the future that looked so bright before her.
“Le-a-pah can not speak as she would, for her heart is too full.”
“Let my daughter send the young chief to me. Ke-ne-ha-ha will tell him of the service that he must attempt in order to win the flower of the Shawnee tribe.”
“It is a service of danger?” and a look of anxious fear swept over her dark face.
“If the flower is not worth the winning, no chieftain’s hand shall ever pluck it from the parent stem,” replied the father.
“The young brave will face a thousand deaths, Le-a-pah will pledge her life for it,” said the girl, promptly27, and then she left the wigwam.
In a few minutes the young warrior who aspired28 to the hand of the great chieftain’s daughter stood within the lodge of the great chief.
Ke-ne-ha-ha cast a searching glance into the frank and open face of the young Indian. Therein he saw written both courage and skill.
“The young brave would have the daughter of Ke-ne-ha-ha to sing in his wigwam?”
“The chief speaks straight,” replied the young warrior, firmly.
“The love of a pure girl is priceless; no treasure like it on the earth; it is the greatest blessing29 that Manitou ever gave to his red children. What will the young warrior give or do to win the singing bird?”
“He will give his life for Le-a-pah; do all possible things. Let the chief speak—tell of the service that he wishes the young warrior to do,” said the Shawnee, promptly.
For a moment Ke-ne-ha-ha looked into the face of the young brave as though pondering upon the words that he was about to speak.
The warrior waited anxiously, impatient to know of the deed that he must do to win the girl that he loved so fondly.
“Yes,” replied the warrior, and a look of dread31 crept over his face as he heard the name of the terrible scourge32 of the Shawnee nation.
“The paws of the Wolf Demon are red with the blood of my people. Many Shawnee warriors have fallen by the tomahawk of this terrible being. On their breasts he cuts his totem—a Red Arrow. Does the chief know why the totem of the Demon is a Red Arrow?”
“No,” the warrior replied.
“The Red Arrow was the eldest daughter of Ke-ne-ha-ha—the sister of Le-a-pah. She left her tribe to dwell in the wigwam of a white stranger. Ke-ne-ha-ha followed and struck to the death the false girl who forsook33 her tribe. He killed also the white skin. The dead white was eaten up by a wolf, but the soul of the white-skin lived. It eat up the soul of the animal, and the beast became the Wolf Demon—a wolf with a human soul. The Wolf Demon can be killed. Ke-ne-ha-ha has grappled with him. He did not clutch air but substance. The human wolf can be struck to the death if the blow be given rightly.”
The words of the great chief opened the eyes of the young brave. He guessed what the service was that the Shawnee chieftain wished at his hands.
“Let the great chief speak of the deed that must be done to win the hand of Le-a-pah.”
“The human wolf can be killed—”
“Yes.”
“Let my young brave try to kill the Wolf Demon. If he draws one drop of blood from the scourge of the Shawnees, he shall have the daughter of Ke-ne-ha-ha.”
A look of fierce determination settled upon the face of the young warrior.
“The Shawnee warrior accepts the offer,” he said, firmly. “He will seek for the Wolf Demon in the wood. He will search for him as the panther searches for the red chief that steals its cub34. If mortal hands can take the life of the Shawnee terror, then he shall fall by the knife of the White Dog.”
“It is good!” cried Ke-ne-ha-ha, and a look of satisfaction came over his face. “Let the young warrior perform the service and the great chief of the Shawnee nation will give him his child.”
“The White Dog will seek the Wolf Demon at once.”
Then the warrior turned upon his heel and left the wigwam.
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1
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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plumed
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| 饰有羽毛的 | |
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plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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fumed
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| 愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
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8
chafed
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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10
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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13
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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14
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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15
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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aspired
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| v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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31
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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32
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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33
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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