Florida -- Fiction; Indians of North America -- Fiction
"See!" said the Indian girl, "the flowers are closing, the birds have
gone into the deep forest. I have been expecting some one, but he has
not come yet. Do you know who it is?"
"No, I do not."
"'Tis Warren. Why do you start and tremble? He will not hurt you. Who
was it you thought I meant?"
"I cannot tell, dear Sansuta."
"No one but him--I think of him always, although," she added lowering
her voice to a whisper, "I dare not call his name. I'm afraid to do
that. I'm afraid of my brother Nelatu and my cousin Wacora. Why does
the sun look so fiery? It is the colour of blood--blood--blood! That
red colour, is it on _your_ hands, too? Ah, no! _You_ are no
murderer!"
"Hush, Sansuta! you are excited."
"Ah, yonder sun! Do you know that I feel as if it were the last time I
should ever see it set. See, there are dark lines across the sky--
ribbed with bands of black clouds. It is the last day--the last day--"
"I see nothing, only the approach of night."
"But you hear something. Don't you hear the spirits singing their death
march over Oluski's grave? He was my father--I hear it. It is a
summons. It is for me. I must go."
"Go? Where?"
"Far away. No; it is of no use clasping me to your heart. It is not
Sansuta's body that will leave you--it is her spirit. In the happy
hunting grounds I shall meet with him--"
A few moments after she became tranquil; but the lucid interval
succeeded, and hot tears coursed down her hollow cheeks.
Again her mind wandered, and for two or three hours, refusing to enter
the house, she sate muttering to herself the same fancies.
Alice could but sit beside her and listen. Now and then she sought to
soothe her, but in vain.
By and bye Sansuta's voice grew faint. She seemed to lean heavier on
the arm of her pale-faced friend, and the lustre of her eye gradually
became dimmer.
The change was alarming, and Alice would have risen and called for help,
but an imploring glance from Sansuta prevented her.
"Don't leave me," she murmured gently.
Her voice was changed; she had recovered reason, and her companion
perceived it.
"Do not leave me. I shall not detain you long. I know you now--have
known you it seems for years. I know all, for there is peace in my
heart towards all, even to those who took his life. Forgiveness has
come back with reason, and my last prayers shall be that they who made
Sansuta unhappy may be forgiven!"
She spoke in so low a voice that it was with difficulty her companion
could hear what she said.
"Kiss me, Alice Rody! Speak to me! Let me hear you say that Sansuta
was your friend!"
"Was--_is_ my friend!"
"No--let me say _was_, for I am about to leave you. The time is come; I
am ready! My last prayer is `Pity and forgiveness! Pity and--'"
By the gentle motion of her lips she appeared to be praying.
That motion ceased, and with it her unhappy life!
Alice still continued to hold her in her arms long after her soul had
passed into Eternity!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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