Elkswatawa : $b or, The prophet of the west. A tale of the frontierFrench, James Strange
General
Elkswatawa : $b or, The prophet of the west. A tale of the frontier
French, James Strange
Tippecanoe, Battle of, Ind., 1811 -- Fiction
“No, Rolfe, there is no lie in a face, when the soul beams out as it
now does in his. I would trust it, if 'twas green or grizzle, much
less red.”
“But then, Earth, where have they gone, and when did they leave, and
who carried them away?”
“Ah, that I can't tell; let Oloompa alone,—he'll worm it out. These
red skins are mighty keen upon tracks. Now you may believe me or not,
but I had rather have that fellow's eyes upon a warm trail, than old
Jupe's nose;—she was mighty good. Poor thing! she's gone now.”
“But then, Earth, he will have to examine so closely as he goes along,
that we shall not be able to go as far in a month, as those who have
taken her away, will in a day.”
“Ah! there you are out agin, Rolfe. When Oloompa satisfies himself
that he is right, he will follow their tracks through the woods in a
hand gallop. It is true he will have to stop sometimes, to see if they
have turned off,—but that won't take him long. You see the Ingens
havn't roads as we have, and are therefore compelled to travel by
courses.—If he can find out where they are going, he has got 'em slick
enough.”
As Earth finished the remark, Oloompa made his appearance at the door,
and said with a bright face, “Come! come quick!—you shall see.”
Rolfe and Earth both ran forward, that they might behold it, whatever
it were, and found Oloompa wild with pleasure, and gazing on the
little images made by Miskwa, and which still occupied the positions
in which she had left them.
“Oh! Earth,” said Rolfe, wringing his hands in disappointment, “this
is too bad, I thought it was something.”
“Yes,” said Earth, “the fellow is a fool;” then gazing at them more
closely, “but Rolfe, it was a right slick dirt-dauber that made 'em.”
“Can the white man see?” said Oloompa, now joyously happy.
“See?—the devil!” said Earth, “what does he want to see for. I
wouldn't give a wasp's nest for all of 'em, for if the water was in
good order, and I had one, I could catch a dish of big pickles;—but
these here things are good for nothing upon the face of the earth.”
“It is the red man's letter,” said Oloompa.
“Nonsense,” said Earth, “I take up my hand full of mud, and throw it
against the house;—does the red man read it?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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