Teton,” speaking again in the language of the listener, “I ask you, is not that a wonderful medicine?
If the Dahcotahs are wise, they will not breathe the air he breathes, nor touch his robes.
They know, that the Wahconshecheh (bad spirit) loves his own children, and will not turn his back on him that does them harm.”
The old man delivered this opinion in an ominous and sententious manner, and then rode apart as if he had said enough.
The result justified his expectations.
The warrior, to whom he had addressed himself, was not slow to communicate his important knowledge to the rest of the rear-guard, and, in a very few moments, the naturalist was the object of general observation and reverence.
The trapper, who understood that the natives often worshipped, with a view to propitiate, the evil spirit, awaited the workings of his artifice, with the coolness of one who had not the smallest interest in its effects.
It was not long before he saw one dark figure after another, lashing his horse and galloping ahead into the centre of the band, until Weucha alone remained nigh the persons of himself and Obed.
The very dulness of this grovelling-minded savage, who continued gazing at the supposed conjuror with a sort of stupid admiration, opposed now the only obstacle to the complete success of his artifice.
Thoroughly understanding the character of this Indian, the old man lost no time in getting rid of him also.
Riding to his side he said, in an affected whisper—
“Has Weucha drunk of the milk of the Big-knives, to-day?”
“Hugh!” exclaimed the savage, every dull thought instantly recalled from heaven to earth by the question.
“Because the great captain of my people, who rides in front, has a cow that is never empty.
I know it will not be long before he will say, Are any of my red brethren dry?”
The words were scarcely uttered, before Weucha, in his turn, quickened the gait of his beast, and was soon blended with the rest of the dark group, who were riding, at a more moderate pace, a few rods in advance.
The trapper, who knew how fickle and sudden were the changes of a savage mind, did not lose a moment in profiting by this advantage.
He loosened the reins of his own impatient steed, and in an instant he was again at the side of Obed.
“Do you see the twinkling star, that is, may be, the length of four rifles above the prairie; hereaway, to the North I mean?”
“Ay, it is of the constellation—-”
“A tut for your constellations, man; do you see the star I mean?
Tell me, in the English of the land, yes or no.”
“Yes.”
“The moment my back is turned, pull upon the rein of your ass, until you lose sight of the savages.
Then take the Lord for your dependence, and yonder star for your guide.
Turn neither to the right hand, nor to the left, but make diligent use of your time, for your beast is not quick of foot, and every inch of prairie you gain, is a day added to your liberty, or to your life.”
Without waiting to listen to the queries, which the naturalist was about to put, the old man again loosened the reins of his horse, and presently he too was blended with the group in front.
Obed was now alone.
Asinus willingly obeyed the hint which his master soon gave, rather in desperation than with any very collected understanding of the orders he had received, and checked his pace accordingly.
As the Tetons however rode at a hand-gallop, but a moment of time was necessary, after the ass began to walk, to remove them effectually from before the vision of his rider.
Without plan, expectation, or hope of any sort, except that of escaping from his dangerous neighbours, the Doctor first feeling, to assure himself that the package, which contained the miserable remnants of his specimens and notes was safe at his crupper, turned the head of the beast in the required direction, and kicking him with a species of fury, he soon succeeded in exciting the speed of the patient animal into a smart run.
He had barely time to descend into a hollow and ascend the adjoining swell of the prairie, before he heard, or fancied he heard, his name shouted, in good English, from the throats of twenty Tetons.
The delusion gave a new impulse to his ardour; and no professor of the saltant art ever applied himself with greater industry, than the naturalist now used his heels on the ribs of Asinus.
The conflict endured for several minutes without interruption, and to all appearances it might have continued to the present moment, had not the meek temper of the beast become unduly excited.
Borrowing an idea from the manner in which his master exhibited his agitation, Asinus so far changed the application of his own heels, as to raise them simultaneously with a certain indignant flourish into the air, a measure that instantly decided the controversy in his favour.
Obed took leave of his seat, as of a position no longer tenable, continuing, however, the direction of his flight, while the ass, like a conqueror, took possession of the field of battle, beginning to crop the dry herbage, as the fruits of victory.
When Doctor Battius had recovered his feet, and rallied his faculties, which were in a good deal of disorder from the hurried manner in which he had abandoned his former situation, he returned in quest of his specimens and of his ass.
Asinus displayed enough of magnanimity to render the interview amicable, and thenceforth the naturalist continued the required route with very commendable industry, but with a much more tempered discretion.
In the mean time, the old trapper had not lost sight of the important movements that he had undertaken to control.
Obed had not been mistaken in supposing that he was already missed and sought, though his imagination had corrupted certain savage cries into the well-known sounds that composed his own latinized name.
The truth was simply this. The warriors of the rearguard had not failed to apprise those in front of the mysterious character, with which it had pleased the trapper to invest the unsuspecting naturalist.
The same untutored admiration, which on the receipt of this intelligence had driven those in the rear to the front, now drove many of the front to the rear.
The Doctor was of course absent, and the outcry was no more than the wild yells, which were raised in the first burst of savage disappointment.
But the authority of Mahtoree was prompt to aid the ingenuity of the trapper, in suppressing these dangerous sounds.
When order was restored, and the former was made acquainted with the reason why his young men had betrayed so strong a mark of indiscretion, the old man, who had taken a post at his elbow, saw, with alarm, the gleam of keen distrust that flashed in his swarthy visage.
“Where is your conjuror?” demanded the chief, turning suddenly to the trapper, as if he meant to make him responsible for the re-appearance of Obed.
“Can I tell my brother the number of the stars?
The ways of a great medicine are not like the ways of other men.”
“Listen to me, grey-head, and count my words,” continued the other, bending on his rude saddle-bow, like some chevalier of a more civilised race, and speaking in the haughty tones of absolute power; “the Dahcotahs have not chosen a woman for their chief; when Mahtoree feels the power of a great medicine, he will tremble; until then he will look with his own eyes, without borrowing sight from a Pale-face.
If your conjuror is not with his friends in the morning, my young men shall look for him.