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Show 28G THE LILY A:i"D THE TOTEM. "But ''cry slowly ;-and hearken to us now, brothers of tho red-men, while we ask,-do the skies that pavilion the territories of the P aracous.<.!i Utina rain down such things as these." Ticrc D'Erlach showed them a bunch of the arrows which they had found planted by ll1c wayside tts they came. Tho thin lips of the s:wagcs parted into slight smiles as they beheld them. "These grow not by nature," continued D'Arlach; "they fall not from heaven in the heavy showers. 1'hcy arc sown by the red-men along the path which the white man travels. What is the fruit which is to grow from such scod as this ?" The chiefs were silent. 'I' he youth proceeded: "Brothers, we arc calm ;- we arc not angry, though we well know what these arrows mean. 1V c are patient, for we know our own strength. The Paraeousei hn!! promised us supplies of grain, nnd hither we have come. l!~our days shall 'vc rcmnin in waiting for it. Till tl1at time, these well-beloved men shall remain in our keeping. When we receive the supplies which have been promised us, they shall be yours. W c hn\'C spoken." Thus ended the first conference. '!'hat night the French lieutenants found their way to the presence of the Parncou~i. He wa.s kept concealed in n. smnll wigwam, deeply embowered in the woods, but in ncar and convenient neighborhood to the village. lie himself had sent for them, and one of his sons l1nd shown the way. They found the old monarch still maintaining the state of a prince, but he was evidently humbled. llis captivity bad lessened his authority; and his anxiety to comply with the engagements made witJ1 the French had in some degree impaired his influence over his people. They had resolved to destroy the pale-faces, a.s insolent invaders of their territory, consumers of its substance and enemies of its peace. It was this hostility and this C..:APTJVIT'' o~· "filE. Gll:EAT l'.AII.\COUSSI 287 determination that had interposed all the obstacles in the way of procuring the supplies promised. "They resist me, thci1· P arncoussi," saitl Utina bitterly," and have resolved on fighting with you ! They will wage war against you to the last. Sec you not the planted tti"TOWS th:lt nJ:\rkcd your pathway to my village? These arrows nrc ]>Inn ted from the tenitories of Utiua, by every pathway, to tho very gates of La Caroline. 1'hcy will meet your eyes wherever you shall return to the fortre~. They mean nothing less than war, and such warfare as admits of no pence. Go you, therefore, go you with all speed to your vessels, and make wha~ haste you can to the garrison. The woods swarm with my warriors, and they no longer heed my voice. 1'hey will lmnt. you to your vessel. 1'hcy mean to thro'v trees athwart the creek so that her escape may be cut off, while they do you to death \Vith thei1· arrows, and I cannot be there to S."lJ to my people-' stay your shafts, these be our friends and allies.' They no longer hearken to my voice. I am a Parncouss:i without subjects, a ruler without obcdiencc,- a. shadow, where I only used to be the substance." The despondency of the king was without hypocrisy. It sensibly impressed our Frenchmen. They felt that he spoke the truth. Tic was then, in fact, excluded from the bouse of council, a.s incurring the suspicion of the red-men as fatally friendly to the whites. While they still conversed, they were alarmed by violent shrieks, as of one in modal terror. " That scream issues from a Prcncb throat!" exclaimed D'Erlach, as he rushed forth. He was followed by Lieutenant Ottigny and another. Tho Parncoussi never left his scat. Tho screams guided them into a neighboring thicket, into which they hurried, arriving there not a moment too soon. A Frenchman |
