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Show 228 THE LILY AND TH£ TOTE:\[. Land. We loathed him the worse for hi~ miserable fear; and it made us all more resolute in courage to sec o~c so cast down with his terrors, whom we had seen of late so insolcn~ in l1i.". triumphs. "When the lots were determined, the king of Calos drew nigh to examine us more l.tccdfully. lie lmd not before regarded us with any consideration. Verily, he was a noble savage to the eye. His person was tall, like one of the sons of Anak, and his carriage was that of a great warrior, born a prince, to whom it was natural equally to conquer and to rule. Rich were the garments of flowing cotton which he wore loosely, like a robe, mostly white, but with broad stains of crimson about the skirts and shoulders. "A great balddck hung suspended at his ba.ck, which bore a quiver, made of tlHl skin of the rattle-snake, filled with arrows, each shaf~ better than a cloth-yard's length. Tho macana which he carried in his grasp, was a. mighty club of hard wood, close in grain, and weighty as stone, which, SAve at the grasp or handle, was studded with r-harp blades of flint, which resembled it to the mighty blade of the sword-fish. With this weapon mine eyes have seen him smite down two powerful enemies at a single stroke. Gren.t wa11 his forehead and high, and his check bones stood forth like knots upon his face, as if the cheoks were guarded by n. shield. Black was llis piercing eye, which growred and fiery when he was angered i and, at such seasons, it W!l.S easier for him to smite than to speak. Unlike his people, ho wore the natural growth of his hair, long and flowing straight adown his back, glossy with its original blacknCS.!!, 11nd with the oil of the bear, of which, like all his people, tho lord of Calos made plentiful usc. This king might be full forty years of age. Yet looked he neither young nor old-neither so young that you might not hold him the gravest and best counsellor of wisdom in THE ADVENTURE OF LE DARBU. 229 the land, nor so old, but that he might better and more ingeniously lead in battle than any of \lis warriors. Cortes, he was the most ready flrst to march when the invasion of the distant tribes l!ad been rcsoh·cd on; and,of a truth, never was stat<'sman in the great courts of Europe-not the counsellors of the great Carlos himself-so cool in ~Speculation, so just in judgment, so heedful to consider all the advantages and all the risks of a.n enterprise, before the first step was set. down in the adoption of a. policy. For seven years had I sufficient means, in the immediate service of llis household, to watch the courses of his thoughts and character, and to know the ,·irtucs and the strength thereof. I saw l1im de\·ise among his chiefs, and inform them with his own devices. I have seen him lead in batHe, when all the plans were his own, and it was his equal teaching and valiancy by which the field was \von. Verily, I say that this lord of Calos were a prince to mate with the best in Europe ; and, but that we have in European warf:trC such engines of miscl1ief :\5 come not within the use or knowledge of his race, it were difficult to circumvent him in stratagem, or overcome his braves in battle. With an hundred shot-no lessand employing at the same time all the red-men as allies, wl10 are hostile to this king of Calos-and they arc many-and 1 doubt not Monsieur Laudonnierc, but that you could penetratft his dominions and make the conquest thereof. But of him could you make no conquest. He is a warrior of the proudest stomach, who would rather perish than lose the victory; and who, most surcly,would never survi,·e the overthrow of his dominion. " :Me, did this great king examine with more curious eyes than ho bestowed upon the other captives. J know not for what reason, unless because of the superior size and strength which 1 possess, and tho cl,treme length and thickness of my beard aud |
