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Show t">'l l o;l "~' ..:-4 Cl ~ '-' ..c: ..';....) ' ..0 >..-- ( 17 ) •\:d, on account of re,iected love and of natwnal hatred, besides the f?roc ii·y of a Pawnee ~varrior and leader; but I was resolved that he should 111 itl·;er captt1re my beloved bride nor dance around my scalp; and we t\ ,·~sbe d along almost as f~1s t a lightning, followed by Black-Thunder ,,;HI his band, like a gloomy cloud chased by the winds, whose howli. Ji,' was more than outdone by the dreadful war-whoop of our fierce I u rs nC' rS. "'vVhcn the foremost fired his rifle at us, of course m vain, I wielded :1J,d StO} ped my hors , aimed and fired, whereupon he fell uead from his l! c)rse, which ra11 away ; but, in the meantime, his next follow r lmd rea ched us and fired, yet also luckily without eflect; wield ing !t is to trluhawk at h1s approaeh towards me. after I had dismounted, 1.f' cast a glanf'e at Diora, vvho had remained sittiug on hor ·eb<l ck. .A sudd en fmious yell escaped him, but I claimed his immediate 7l!tcu tion with my tomahawk, which clankcJ against his in repeated stnkes, till n l length he .fdl down with a heavy groan, as I had Lr o ~<.:n hi right sbo uld t>r by a blow, that di sa i.Jlecl hir.n to hold his \'.'l'Jpon any long(·r. He no\v seemed to wait for being sc:·1!ped and L1J!,;d; but although 1 wr~s his fr1ir vanguisher, clcdi ned tak in ()" the ~ i\Y<Frc trOJ)hv, nor diu l kill him; to save Diora wa~ my only ~ " . des;ire, and I would have been ashamed to strike a conquered and Ltl1t-n enemy, partic tda rly in her presence, as be \ ·Vir unfort unat<· U!t>ugh already in tb ese hllmiliating circumstances, to be vanqllished l1y or ·,who was ltis more s ucce~s ful rival in love. W1th one leap 1 .' 1.\'llng m y~c1f behind Diora on horseback, 1 ·a ving poor niack-I'htHI ( L.>r hal f-dc(ld on the ground, a his companions wt:: re c.lready within rill -shot, and I bad no more time to spnrc without endangP ring our ~af ly, as it would have been m (l dlt l SS to stand alone <~ gC'I 1n s t. such a numb,,· of' -ncm',cs. 'J'}Jcy all .. to pped \·vhcn they· reached their leader, a1 d rt~ m .: i nc d busily engaged a bout him, while every motn('nt increased tlte distance bctwcl'n th em and ou1·~c l ves . He was, perhRp. , inluc d hy my gP n e ro~it y 111 sparing his lilc and in not scalpinp; hitn, to forbid Lis warriors all furth er pursuit after us, or he remnined un eonsciou:-;, or he was dead, and they would not fight without him; for at sunri:-:~e, after some hours' fast riding, we saw nothing more of them. "Diora was very talkative, both in riding and resting, and re1ated to m some very interesting incidents of her father's and O'rand-father's lives, w bich I will try to relate h re in her own words: 0 . "' \Vhcn my father was still very young, though he had aJrcad _y rlts tingui ..,hed ltiJOself in battles, for which om people esteemed hilfl like a chief, the Pawnee~ marlf' war to the Iteans, of whom a youn~ squaw was captured by one of our warriors. ": Ile gave her up to the medicine-man, who doomE:. l her to be !)·:rnt alive at the stake, in sacrifice to the Great Star. Letel 'sha, my fc~ m o u s grnnd-fnthu, whom they called '"·ith great re. pect the KmfPf'IJ i ,:f, had alwa.v~ opposed that old cruel custom of our peorlc; but llH'Y li <:: tc·ned more to the medicine-man, than to him, except in war(; q·c . So the unfortunate lt an sqn:nv was hour:~d to the stake RrOmHI which our people asscmh1ed in large crowcls, to see her die in the fl ames. Young P~talesharoo was sitting silent among the spectator~ 2 |
