Treasury of American Indian TalesRessler, Theodore Whitson
General
Treasury of American Indian Tales
Ressler, Theodore Whitson
Indians of North America -- Folklore; Indians of North America -- Juvenile literature
“One Conestoga against one Shawnee, or even two Conestogas against one
Shawnee, and I would not in the least be afraid, for the gods know that
one good Shawnee brave could hold his own against any two Conestogas.
But we are on their home grounds. Any attack by a large force of
Conestogas and any one of us would be lucky to live. No, foolish one, we
shall turn and go back in the direction we came. We shall search
elsewhere for the elusive deer.”
With that, Tall Hawk turned to the hunting party and repeated what had
gone on between himself and the other two braves. There were some grunts
from braves who disagreed with Tall Hawk, but for the most part they
were willing to return.
As the party turned to go back down the trail, one of the scouts who had
been sent ahead came running into the circle to report that a large band
of Conestogas were heading for just that place and they would be better
off to start immediately for the home village. Tall Hawk gave the
signal, and the hunting party turned quickly and trotted south toward
the village.
It was fully a day’s journey and they had no rest. The long grind began
to tell upon their numbers. When they would falter and were about to
collapse, Tall Hawk could be heard to shout, “Keep running, fools! Do
you wish your hair to grace the home of one of our Conestoga neighbors?”
This threat served its purpose, and the braves who were tiring suddenly
found fresh strength and would continue the grueling run.
Soon they reached their own hunting grounds and were safe on the other
side when the Conestogas broke from the cover of the forest and into the
meadow which separated the hunting grounds of the two tribes.
Suddenly the leader of the Conestogas raised his hand, and the band of
braves with him stopped running and listened. The chief explained that
they had reached the border and could go no further. And so the score
was equal. Black Hawk was proud of his father, for once again he had
proved to his fellow braves that he was a wise man.
The hunting party slowed down a bit now and, after traveling about two
miles, they camped for the night. They were tired and after a hasty
supper they fell off to sleep one by one until all but the guards were
sound asleep. Black Hawk was soon sound asleep as well, but Tall Hawk
lay awake thinking.
Why did they not sight the deer before they reached the land of the
Conestogas? Surely the scouts that had reported the deer herd to the
village had not imagined seeing so many deer, or had they? And why had
the chase taken them into Conestoga land? Over and over he asked himself
these questions until he could not stay awake any longer and finally he
was asleep with the rest of the party.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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