The lost hunter: A tale of early timesAdams, John Turvill
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The lost hunter: A tale of early times
Adams, John Turvill
Adventure stories; Indians of North America -- Fiction; New England -- Fiction
Ohquamehud, with all his burning passion for revenge, dared not
undertake anything against his enemy, in opposition to the commands of
the Manito. After the signal interposition, as he conceived it to
be, in favor of Holden at the cabin of the latter, he thought it not
prudent to renew the attempt at the same place. The terror of that
moment was too deeply impressed to allow him to hazard its repetition.
But the power of that Manito might not extend elsewhere, and there
were other Manitos who, perhaps, were more powerful, and might be more
propitious. He would endeavor to conciliate one of them, and so arrive
at the accomplishment of his wishes.
It has been observed that the falls of the Yaupaae were a favorite
place of resort for the Solitary. Especially at this season of the
year (for it was now the delicious month of June, the loveliest of the
twelve) did he love to haunt its neighborhood. There was something
in the wild scenery, in the dash and tumult of the water, and in
its ceaseless shout, that harmonized well with his feelings in their
various moods. His was a grand soul, and felt itself allied to the
grandeur of nature. As the air, driven through the pipes of a mighty
organ, issues out in solemn concords and divine harmonies, of power to
lift the spirit on wings of cherubim and seraphim above "the mists of
this dim spot which men call earth" and recall its contemplations to
its heavenly origin, so these sights and sounds, playing through
the soul of the Solitary, chased away whatever would clog its upward
flight, soothing while they elevated, and bridging over the chasm that
separates the lower from the upper spheres. This habit of Holden was
well known to the Indian, for he had often seen the Solitary musing on
a rock that overhung the falls. The retirement of the place, likewise,
was favorable to the purpose of an assassin. It was seldom in those
days, except tempted by its romance, that a person visited the
spot. There were other reasons, also, that had an influence over the
superstitious mind of the Indian, in determining his choice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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