I came out of the wood a new being. My wounded arm and my torn and inflamed1 limbs were forgotten. I held my head high, and walked like a free man. It was not that I had slain2 my enemy and been delivered from deadly peril3, nor had I any clearer light on my next step. But I had suddenly got the conviction that God was on my side, and that I need not fear what man could do unto me. You may call it the madness of a lad whose body and spirit had been tried to breaking-point. But, madness or no, it gave me infinite courage, and in that hour I would have dared every savage5 on earth.
I found some Indians at the edge of the wood, and told one who spoke6 Powhatan the issue of the fight. I flung the broken arrow on the ground.
Then I strode towards the tents, looking every man I passed squarely in the eyes. No one spoke, no one hindered me; every face was like a graven image.
I reached the teepee in which I had spent the night, and flung myself down on the rude couch. In a minute I was sunk in a heavy sleep.
Onotawah, and the other a tall Indian who wore no war paint.
They came towards me, and the light fell on the face of the second. To my amazement9 I recognized Shalah. He put a finger on his lip, and, though my heart clamoured for news, I held my peace.
Shalah addressed me in English.
"The maiden12 is safe, brother. There will be no more fighting at the stockade13. Those who assaulted us were of my own tribe, and yesterday I reasoned with them."
Then he spoke to the chief, and translated for me.
"He says that you have endured the ordeal14 of the stake, and have slain your enemy in fight, and that now you will go before the great Sachem for his judgment15. That is the custom of our people."
He turned to Onotawah again, and his tone was high and scornful. He spoke as if he were the chief and the other were the minion16, and, what was strangest of all, Onotawah replied meekly17. Shalah rose to his feet and strode to the door, pointing down the glen with his hand. He seemed to menace the other, his nostrils18 quivered with contempt, and his voice was barbed with passion. Onotawah bowed his head and said nothing.
Then he seemed to dismiss him, and the proud chief walked out of the teepee like a disconsolate19 schoolboy.
Instantly Shalah turned to me and inquired about my wounds. He looked at the hole in my arm and at my scorched20 legs, and from his belt took a phial of ointment21, which he rubbed on the former. He passed his cool hands over my brow, and felt the beating of my heart.
"You are weary, brother, and somewhat scarred, but there is no grave hurt. What of the Master?"
I told him of Ringan's end. He bent22 his head, and then sprang up and held his hands high, speaking in a strange tongue. I looked at his eyes, and they were ablaze23 with fire.
"My people slew24 him," he cried. "By the shades of my fathers, a score shall keep him company as slaves in the Great Hunting-ground."
"Talk no more of blood," I said. "He was amply avenged25. 'Twas I who slew him, for he died to save me. He made a Christian26 end, and I will not have his memory stained by more murders. But oh, Shalah, what a man died yonder!"
He made me tell every incident of the story, and he cried out, impassive though he was, at the sword-play in the neck of the gorge27.
"I have seen it," he cried. "I have seen his bright steel flash and men go down like ripe fruit. Tell me, brother, did he sing all the while, as was his custom? Would I had been by his side!"
Then he told me of what had befallen at the stockade.
"The dead man told me a tale, for by the mark on his forehead I knew that he was of my own house. When you and the Master had gone I went into the woods and picked up the trail of our foes28. I found them in a crook29 of the hills, and went among them in peace. They knew me, and my word was law unto them. No living thing will come near the stockade save the wild beasts of the forest. Be at ease in thy mind, brother."
"You speak of your tribe. But these men were no Senecas."
He smiled gravely. "Listen, brother," he said. "The white men of the Tidewater called me Seneca, and I suffered the name. But I am of a greater and princelier house than the Sons of the Cat. Some little while ago I spoke to you of the man who travelled to the Western Seas, and of his son who returned to his own people. I am the son of him who returned. I spoke of the doings of my own kin4."
"But what is your nation, then?" I cried.
"One so great that these little clanlets of Cherokee and Monacan, and even the multitudes of the Long House, are but slaves and horseboys by their side. We dwelt far beyond these mountains towards the setting sun, in a plain where the rivers are like seas, and the cornlands wider than all the Virginian manors32. But there came trouble in our royal house, and my father returned to find a generation which had forgotten the deeds of their forefathers33. So he took his own tribe, who still remembered the House of the Sun, and, because his heart was unquiet with longing34 for that which is forbidden to man, he journeyed eastward35, and found a new home in a valley of these hills. Thine eyes have seen it. They call it the Shenandoah."
I remembered that smiling Eden I had seen from that hill-top, and how
Shalah had spoken that very name.
"We dwelt there," he continued, "while I grew to manhood, living happily in peace, hunting the buffalo36 and deer, and tilling our cornlands. Then the time came when the Great Spirit called for my father, and I was left with the kingship of the tribe. Strange things meantime had befallen our nation in the West. Broken clans37 had come down from the north, and there had been many battles, and there had been blight38, and storms, and sickness, so that they were grown poor and harassed39. Likewise men had arisen who preached to them discontent, and other races of a lesser40 breed had joined themselves to them. My own tribe had become fewer, for the young men did not stay in our valley, but drifted back to the West, to that nation we had come from, or went north to the wars with the white man, or became lonely hunters in the hills. Then from the south along the mountain crests41 came another people, a squat10 and murderous people, who watched us from the ridges42 and bided43 their chance."
"The Cherokees?" I asked.
"Even so. I speak of a hundred moons back, when I was yet a stripling, with little experience in war. I saw the peril, but I could not think that such a race could vie with the Children of the Sun. But one black night, in the Moon of Wildfowl, the raiders descended44 in a torrent45 and took us unprepared. What had been a happy people dwelling46 with full barns and populous47 wigwams became in a night a desolation. Our wives and children were slain or carried captive, and on every Cherokee belt hung the scalps of my warriors48. Some fled westwards to our nation, but they were few that lived, and the tribe of Shalah went out like a torch in a roaring river.
"I slew many men that night, for the gods of my fathers guided my arm. Death I sought, but could not find it; and by and by I was alone in the woods, with twenty scars and a heart as empty as a gourd50. Then I turned my steps to the rising sun and the land of the white man, for there was no more any place for me in the councils of my own people.
"All this was many moons ago, and since then I have been a wanderer among strangers. While I reigned51 in my valley I heard of the white man's magic and of the power of his gods, and I longed to prove them. Now I have learned many things which were hid from the eyes of our oldest men. I have learned that a man may be a great brave, and yet gentle and merciful, as was the Master, I have learned that a man may be a lover of peace and quiet ways and have no lust52 of battle in his heart, and yet when the need comes be more valiant53 than the best, even as you, brother. I have learned that the God of the white men was Himself a man who endured the ordeal of the stake for the welfare of His enemies. I have seen cruelty and cowardice54 and folly55 among His worshippers; but I have also seen that His faith can put spirit into a coward's heart, and make heroes of mean men. I do not grudge56 my years of wandering. They have taught me such knowledge as the Sachems of my nation never dreamed of, and they have given me two comrades after my own heart. One was he who died yesterday, and the other is now by my side."
These words of Shalah did not make me proud, for things were too serious for vanity. But they served to confirm in me my strange exaltation. I felt as one dedicated57 to a mighty task.
"Tell me, what is the invasion which threatens the Tidewater?"
"The whole truth is not known to me; but from the speech of my tribesmen, it seems that the Children of the West Wind, twelve moons ago, struck their tents and resolved to seek a new country. There is a restlessness comes upon all Indian peoples once in every five generations. It fell upon my grandfather, and he travelled towards the sunset, and now it has fallen upon the whole race of the Sun. As they were on the eve of journeying there came to them a prophet, who told them that God would lead them not towards the West, as was the tradition of the elders, but eastwards58 to the sea and the dwellings59 of the Palefaces."
"Is that the crazy white man we have heard of?"
"He is of your race, brother. What his spell is I know not, but it works mightily60 among my people. They tell me that he hath bodily converse61 with devils, and that God whispers His secrets to him in the night-watches. His God hath told him—so runs the tale—that He hath chosen the Children of the Sun for His peculiar62 people, and laid on them the charge of sweeping64 the white men off the earth and reigning65 in their stead from the hills to the Great Waters."
"Do you believe in this madman, Shalah?" I asked.
"I know not," he said, with a troubled face. "I fear one possessed66 of God. But of this I am sure, that the road of the Children of the West Wind lies not eastward but westward49, and that no good can come of war with the white man. This Sachem hath laid his magic on others than our people, for the Cherokee nation and all the broken clans of the hills acknowledge him and do his bidding. He is a soldier as well as a prophet, for he has drilled and disposed his army like a master of war."
"Will your tribe ally themselves with Cherokee murderers?"
"I asked that question of this man Onotawah, and he liked it little. He says that his people distrust this alliance with a race they scorn, and I do not think they pine for the white man's war. But they are under the magic of this prophet, and presently, when blood begins to flow, they will warm to their work. In time they will be broken, but that time will not be soon, and meanwhile there will be nothing left alive between the hills and the bay of Chesapeake."
"Do you know their plans?" I asked.
"The Cherokees have served their purpose," he said. "Your forecast was right, brother. They have drawn67 the fire of the Border, and been driven in a rabble68 far south to the Roanoke and the Carolina mountains. That is as the prophet planned. And now, while the white men hang up their muskets69 and rejoice heedlessly in their triumph, my nation prepares to strike. To-night the moon is full, and the prophet makes intercession with his God. To-morrow at dawn they march, and by twilight70 they will have swarmed71 across the Border."
"Have you no power over your own people?"
"But little," he answered. "I have been too long absent from them, and my name is half forgotten. Yet, were they free of this prophet, I think I might sway them, for I know their ways, and I am the son of their ancient kings. But for the present his magic holds them in thrall72. They listen in fear to one who hath the ear of God."
I arose, stretched my arms, and yawned.
"They carry me to this Sachem," I said. "Well and good. I will outface this blasphemous73 liar63, whoever he may be. If he makes big magic, I will make bigger. The only course is the bold course. If I can humble74 this prophet man, will you dissuade75 your nation from war and send them back to the sunset?"
"Assuredly," he said wonderingly. "But what is your plan, brother?"
"None," I answered. "God will show me the way. Honesty may trust in Him as well as madness."
"By my father's shade, you are a man, brother," and he gave me the
"A very weary, feckless cripple of a man," I said, smiling. "But the armies of Heaven are on my side, Shalah. Take my pistols and Ringan's sword. I am going into this business with no human weapons." And as they set me on an Indian horse and the whole tribe turned their eyes to the higher glens, I actually rejoiced. Light-hearted or light-headed, I know not which I was, but I know that I had no fear.
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1
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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2
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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3
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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4
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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5
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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6
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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7
cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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8
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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9
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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10
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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11
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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12
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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13
stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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14
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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15
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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minion
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| n.宠仆；宠爱之人 | |
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17
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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18
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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19
disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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20
scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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21
ointment
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| n.药膏，油膏，软膏 | |
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22
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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23
ablaze
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| adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的 | |
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24
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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25
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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26
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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27
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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28
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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29
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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30
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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31
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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32
manors
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| n.庄园（manor的复数形式） | |
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33
forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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34
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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35
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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36
buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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37
clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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38
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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39
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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40
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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41
crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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42
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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43
bided
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| v.等待，停留( bide的过去式 )；居住；等待；面临 | |
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44
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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45
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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46
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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47
populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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48
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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49
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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50
gourd
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| n.葫芦 | |
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51
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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52
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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53
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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54
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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55
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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56
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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57
dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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58
eastwards
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| adj.向东方（的），朝东（的）；n.向东的方向 | |
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59
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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60
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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61
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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62
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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63
liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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64
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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65
reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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66
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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67
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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68
rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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69
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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70
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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71
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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72
thrall
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| n.奴隶；奴隶制 | |
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73
blasphemous
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| adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的 | |
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74
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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75
dissuade
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| v.劝阻，阻止 | |
参考例句： |
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76
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
参考例句： |
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