The Eyes of the Woods: A Story of the Ancient WildernessAltsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
General
The Eyes of the Woods: A Story of the Ancient Wilderness
Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
Frontier and pioneer life -- Fiction
Near the close of the day, and going toward the northeast, he was far
from the valley, but obviously was coming to another, as the hills were
sinking fast and he saw the tops of trees below him. The fog had been
thinning until it was mere wisps and tatters, and now a smart wind
seizing all these remnants whirled them off to the east, leaving a
glorious clear sky, suffused in the west with the red and gold of the
setting sun, a deep brilliant light that touched the whole horizon with
fire.
Henry looked upon it and worshiped. He worshiped like a forest runner
and a man of the old, old time, when nothing of heaven or of religion
was revealed. He worshiped like an Indian to whom, as to many other
races, the sun was a symbol of warmth, of light and life, almost the
same as Manitou, that is to say, almost the same as God. Nor did he
forget to be grateful once more. It was not for any merit of his that
protection had been given to him so often, but because he was an
instrument in a good purpose. So thinking, he was full of humility and
meant to continue in the perilous path that he had chosen, the path of
service for others.
The spiritual quality was strong in Henry's nature; in truth, it was
rooted in the characters of all the five, although it differed in its
manifestations, and he gazed long at the western heavens, where the
splendid colors of the setting sun blazed in their deepest hues and then
faded, leaving only a warm glow behind. The night, as the forecast
already showed, would be clear and cold, and he descended into the new
valley, which was much wider than the one he had left. It was
comparatively free of undergrowth, and he saw through the trees the
gleam of water which proved to be a river on his right, and of fair
size.
He believed that the larger valley would receive the smaller one and its
draining creek not far ahead, and a new problem was presented. Unless he
swam the river and kept to the east the warriors would come on anew from
the west and pin him against the stream.
Should he plunge into the cold waters? It was not a prospect that he
liked; but, while he considered it, he became aware that the miracle
created in his behalf was not yet finished. He had thought that it was
done when the wolves intervened, and again that it was done when the
great fog came, but there was yet another link in the lengthening chain
of marvelous events.
A sound from the river and he stepped hastily to the shelter of a great
tree trunk. It was the plash of a paddle, and as he looked, peeping from
the side of the trunk, a warrior stepped from a canoe at the river's
brink and took a long look at the forest. Henry judged that he was an
outpost or sentinel of some kind, or perhaps a member of a provision
fleet. The man tied his canoe with a willow withe to a sapling and
strode away out of sight, doubtless intending to meet the band to which
he belonged. Henry's heart leaped. He was always quick to perceive and
to act, and he saw his opportunity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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