"'My heart is too full for many words,' said he; 'the Huron warrior
knows not how to weep like a woman. I thank you, my brothers,' And he
vanished in the forest.
"I had entirely forgotten my Indian, when about four years later he
arrived at my door, accompanied by another savage. I could scarcely
recognize him. He was splendidly clad, and everything about him
bespoke the great hunter and the mighty warrior. In one corner of my
room he and his companion laid down two bundles of merchandise of
great value--the richest furs, moccasins splendidly embroidered with
porcupine quills, and exquisite pieces of work in birch bark, such as
the Indians alone know how to make. I congratulated him upon the happy
turn his affairs had taken.
"'Listen to me, my brother,' said he. 'I owe you much, and I am come
to pay my debt. You saved my life, for you know good medicine. You
have done more, for you know the words which reach the heart; dog of
a drunkard as I was, I am become once more a man as I was created by
the Great Spirit. You were rich when you lived beyond the great water.
This wigwam is too small for you; build one large enough to hold your
great heart. All these goods belong to you,' The gratitude of this
child of the forest brought tears to my eyes; for in all my long life
I had found but two men who could be grateful--the faithful André, my
foster-brother, and this poor Indian, who, seeing that I was going to
accept nothing but a pair of deer-hide moccasins, struck three fingers
rapidly across his mouth with a shrill cry of 'houa,' and took himself
off at top speed with his companion. Never after could I find a trace
of him. Our good curé undertook the sale of the goods, the product of
which, with interest, was lately distributed among his tribe."
The good gentleman sighed, reflected a moment, then resumed his speech:
"I am now going to tell you, my dear Jules, of the most happy and most
wretched periods of my life. Five years of happiness! Five years of
misery! O God! for one single day of the joy of my youth, the joy as
keen as pain, which could make me forget all that I have suffered! Oh,
for one of those happy days when I believed in human friendship, when I
knew not the ingratitude of men!
"When I had completed my studies, all careers were open to me. That
of arms seemed most suitable, but I hated to shed blood. I obtained a
place of trust under the government. For me such a place was ruin. I
had a great fortune of my own, my office was a lucrative one, and I
scattered by handfuls the gold which I despised.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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