CHAPTER XIII.
Hearest thou voices on the shore
That our ears perceive no more,
Deafened by the cataract's roar?
Bear, through sorrow, wrong, and ruth,
In thy heart the dew of youth,
On thy lips the smile of truth.
--LONGFELLOW.
From all that has been stated, the reader will, probably, be
prepared to learn that Boden did not succeed in his effort to
persuade Gershom, and the other Christians, to accompany him on his
voyage round by Lake Huron. Corporal Flint was obdurate, and Parson
Amen confiding. As for Gershom, he did not like the thought of
retracing his steps so soon, and the females were obliged to remain
with the husband and brother.
"You had better get out of the river while all the canoes are on
this side," said Margery, as she and le Bourdon walked toward the
boats in company, the council having ended, and everything beginning
to assume the appearance of action. "Remember you will be quite
alone, and have a long, long road to travel!"
"I do remember all this, Margery, and see the necessity for all of
us getting back to the settlements as fast as we can. I don't half
like this Peter; his name is a bad one in the garrisons, and it
makes me miserable to think that you may be in his power."
"The missionary and the corporal, as well as my brother, seem
willing to trust him--what can two females do, when their male
protector has made up his mind in such a matter?"
"One who would very gladly be your protector, pretty Margery, has
not made up his mind to the prudence of trusting Peter at all. Put
yourself under my care, and my life shall be lost, or I will carry
you safe to your friends in Detroit."
This might be deemed tolerably explicit; yet was it not sufficiently
so to satisfy female scruples, or female rights. Margery blushed,
and she looked down, while she did not look absolutely displeased.
But her answer was given firmly, and with a promptitude that showed
she was quite in earnest.
"I cannot quit Dorothy, placed as she is--and it is my duty to die
with brother," she said.
"Have you thought enough of this, Margery? may not reflection change
your mind?"
"This is a duty on which a girl is not called to reflect; she must
FEEL, in a matter of conscience."
The bee-hunter fairly sighed, and from a very resolute he became a
very irresolute sort of person. As was natural to one in his
situation, he let out the secret current his thoughts had taken, in
the remarks which followed.
"I do not like the manner in which Peter and Pigeonswing are now
talking together," he said. "When an Injin is so earnest, there is
generally mischief brewing. Do you see Peter's manner?"
"He seems to be telling the young warrior something that makes both
forget themselves. I never saw two men who seem so completely to
forget all the rest of the world as them two savages! What can be
the meaning, Bourdon, of so much fierce earnestness?"
"I would give the world to know-possibly the Chippewa may tell me.
We understand each other tolerably well, and, just as you spoke, he
gave me a secret sign that I have a right to think means confidence
and friendship. That savage is either a fast friend, or a thorough
villain."
"Is it safe to trust any of them, Bourdon? No--no--your best way
will be to go down the lakes, and get back to Detroit as soon as you
can. Not only your property, but your LIFE, is at risk."
"Go, and leave you here, Margery--here, with a brother whose failing
you know as well as I do, and who may, at any moment, fall back into
his old ways! I should not be a man to do it!"
"But brother can get no liquor, now, for it is all emptied. When
himself for a few days, Gershom is a good protector, as well as a
good provider. You must not judge brother too harshly, from what you
have seen of him, Bourdon."
"I do not wish to judge him at all, Margery. We all have our
failin's, and whiskey is his. I dare say mine are quite as bad, in
some other way. It's enough for me, Margery, that Gershom is your
brother, to cause me to try to think well of him. We must not trust
to there being no more liquor among us; for, if that so'ger is
altogether without his rations, he's the first so'ger I ever met
with who was!"
"But this corporal is a friend of the minister, and ministers ought
not to drink!"
"Ministers are like other men, as them that live much among 'em will
soon find out. Hows'ever, if you WILL stay, Margery, there is no
more to be said. I must cache [Footnote: A Western term, obviously
derived from cacher, to conceal. Cache is much used by the Western
adventurers.] my honey, and get the canoe ready to go up stream
again. Where you go, Margery, I go too, unless you tell me that you
do not wish my company."
This was said quietly, but in the manner of one whose mind was made
up. Margery scarce knew how to take it. That she was secretly
delighted, cannot be denied; while, at the same time, that she felt
a generous and lively concern for the fortunes of le Bourdon, is
quite as certain. As Gershom just then called to her to lend her
assistance in preparing to embark, she had no leisure for
expostulation, nor do we know that she now seriously wished to
divert the bee-hunter from his purpose.
It was soon understood by every one that the river was to be
crossed, in order that Gershom might get his household effects,
previously to ascending the Kalamazoo. This set all at--work but the
Chippewa, who appeared to le Bourdon to be watchful and full of
distrust. As the latter had a job before him, that would be likely
to consume a couple of hours, the others were ready for a start long
before he had his hole dug. It was therefore arranged that the bee-
hunter should complete his task, while the others crossed the
stream, and went in quest of Gershom's scanty stock of household
goods. Pigeonswing, however, was not to be found, when the canoes
were ready, and Peter proceeded without him. Nor did le Bourdon see
anything of his friend until the adventurers were fairly on the
north shore, when he rejoined le Bourdon, sitting on a log, a
curious spectator of the latter's devices to conceal his property,
but not offering to aid him in a single movement. The bee-hunter too
well understood an Indian warrior's aversion to labor of all sorts,
unless it be connected with his military achievements, to be
surprised at his companion's indifference to his own toil. As the
work went on, a friendly dialogue was kept up between the parties.
"I didn't know, Pigeonswing, but you had started for the openings,
before us," observed le Bourdon. "That tribeless old Injin made
something of a fuss about your being out of the way; I dare say he
wanted you to help back the furniture down to the canoes."
"Got squaw--what he want--better to do dat?"
"So you would put that pretty piece of work on such persons as
Margery and Dolly!"
"Why not, no? Bot' squaw-bot know how. Dere business to work for
warrior."
"Did you keep out of the way, then, lest old Peter should get you at
a job that is onsuitable to your manhood?"
"Keep out of way of Pottawattamie," returned the Chippewa; "no want
to lose scalp-radder take his'n."
"But Peter says the Pottawattamies are all gone, and that we have no
longer any reason to fear them; and this medicine-priest tells us,
that what Peter says we can depend on for truth."
"Dat good medicine-man, eh? T'ink he know a great deal, eh?"
"That is more than I can tell you, Pigeonswing; for though I've been
a medicine-man myself, so lately, it is in a different line
altogether from that of Parson Amen's."
As the bee-hunter uttered this answer, he was putting the last of
his honey-kegs into the cache, and as he rose from completing the
operation, he laughed heartily, like one who saw images in the
occurrences of the past night, that tended to divert himself, if
they had not the same effect on the other spectators.
"If you medicine-man, can tell who Peter be? Winnebagoe, Sioux, Fox,
Ojebway, Six Nations all say don't know him. Medicine-man ought to
know--who he be, eh?"
"I am not enough of a medicine-man to answer your question,
Pigeonswing. Set me at finding a whiskey-spring, or any little job
of that sort, and I'll turn my back to no other whiskey-spring
finder on the whole frontier; but, as for Peter, he goes beyond my
calculations, quite. Why is he called Scalping Peter in the
garrisons, if he be so good an Injin, Chippewa?"
"You ask question--you answer. Don't know, 'less he take a good many
scalps. Hear he do take all he can find--den hear he don't."
"But you take all you can find, Pigeonswing; and that which is good
in you, cannot be so bad in Peter."
"Don't take scalp from friend. When you hear Pigeonswing scalp
FRIEND, eh?"
"I never did hear it; and hope I never shall. But when did you hear
that Peter is so wicked?"
"S'pose he don't, 'cause he got no friend among pale-face. Bes' take
care of dat man?"
"I'm of your way of thinking, myself, Chippewa; though the corporal
and the priest think him all in all. When I asked Parson Amen how he
came to be the associate of one who went by a scalping name, even he
told me it was all name; that Peter hadn't touched a hair of a human
head, in the way of scalping, since his youth, and that most of his
notions and ways were quite Jewish, The parson has almost as much
faith in Peter, as he has in his religion; I'm not quite sure he has
not even more."
"No matter. Bes' always for pale-face to trust pale-face, and Injin
to trust Injin. Dat most likely to be right."
"Nevertheless, I trust YOU Pigeonswing; and, hitherto, you have not
deceived me!"
The Chippewa cast a glance of so much meaning on the bee-hunter,
that the last was troubled by it. For many a day did le Bourdon
remember that look; and painful were the apprehensions to which it
gave birth. Until that morning, the intercourse between the two had
been of the most confidential character; but something like a fierce
hatred was blended in that look. Could it be that the feelings of
the Chippewa were changed? and was it possible that Peter was in any
way connected with this alteration in looks and sentiments? All
these suspicions passed through le Bourdon's mind, as he finished
his cache; and sufficiently disagreeable did he find it to entertain
them. The circumstances, however, did not admit of any change of
plan; and, in a few minutes, the two were in the canoe, and on their
way to join their companions.
Peter had dealt fairly enough with those who accompanied him. The
Pottawattamies were nowhere to be seen, and Gershom led the corporal
to the place where his household goods had been secreted, in so much
confidence, that both the men left their arms behind them. Such was
the state of things when le Bourdon reached the north shore. The
young man was startled, when his eyes fell on the rifles; but, on
looking around, there did not really appear to be any sufficient
reason why they might not be laid aside for a few minutes.
The bee-hunter, having disposed of all his honey, had now a nearly
empty canoe; accordingly, he received a portion of Gershom's
effects; all of which were safely transported from their place of
concealment to the water side. Their owner was slowly recovering the
use of his body and mind, though still a little dull, from his
recent debauch. The females supplied his place, however, in many
respects; and two hours after the party had landed, it was ready
again to proceed on its journey into the interior. The last article
was stowed in one of the canoes, and Gershom announced his
willingness to depart.
At this moment, Peter led the bee-hunter aside, telling his friends
that he would speedily rejoin them. Our hero followed his savage
leader along the foot of the declivity, in the rear of the hut,
until the former stopped at the place where the first, and principal
fire of the past night, had been lighted. Here Peter made a sweeping
gesture of his hand, as if to invite his companion to survey the
different objects around. As this characteristic gesture was made,
the Indian spoke.
"My brother is a medicine-man," he said. "He knows where whiskey
grows--let him tell Peter where to find the spring."
The recollection of the scene of the previous night came so fresh
and vividly over the imagination of the bee-hunter, that, instead of
answering the question of the chief, he burst into a hearty fit of
laughter. Then, fearful of giving offence, he was about to apologize
for a mirth so ill-timed, when the Indian smiled, with a gleam of
intelligence on his swarthy face, that seemed to say, "I understand
it all," and continued--
"Good--the chief with three eyes"--in allusion to the spy--glass
that le Bourdon always carried suspended from his neck--"is a very
great medicine-man; he knows when to laugh, and when to look sad.
The Pottawattamies were dry, and he wanted to find them some whiskey
to drink, but could not--our brother, in the canoe, had drunk it
all. Good."
Again the bee-hunter laughed; and though Peter did not join in his
mirth, it was quite plain that he understood its cause. With this
good-natured sort of intelligence between them, the two returned to
the canoes; the bee-hunter always supposing that the Indian had
obtained his object, in receiving his indirect admission, that the
scene of the previous night had been merely a piece of ingenious
jugglery. So much of a courtier, however, was Peter, and so entire
his self-command, that on no occasion, afterward, did he ever make
any further allusion to the subject.
The ascent of the river was now commenced. It was not a difficult
matter for le Bourdon to persuade Margery, that her brother's canoe
would be too heavily loaded for such a passage, unless she consented
to quit it for his own. Pigeonswing took the girl's place, and was
of material assistance in forcing the light, but steady craft, up
stream. The three others continued in the canoe in which they had
entered the river. With this arrangement, therefore, our adventurers
commenced this new journey.
Every reader will easily understand, that ascending such a stream as
the Kalamazoo was a very difficult thing from descending it. The
progress was slow, and at many points laborious. At several of the
"rifts," it became necessary to "track" the canoes up; and places
occurred at which the only safe way of proceeding was to unload them
altogether, and transport boats, cargoes, and all, on the shoulders
of the men, across what are called, in the language of the country,
"portages," or "carrying-places." In such toil as this, the corporal
was found to be very serviceable; but neither of the Indians
declined to lend their assistance, in work of this manly character.
By this time, moreover, Gershom had come round, and was an able-
bodied, vigorous assistant, once more. If the corporal was the
master of any alcohol, he judiciously kept it a secret; for not a
drop passed any one's lips during the whole of that toilsome
journey.
Although the difficult places in the river were sufficiently
numerous, most of the reaches were places having steady, but not
swift currents toward the lake. In these reaches the paddles, and
those not very vigorously applied, enabled the travellers to advance
as fast as was desirable; and such tranquil waters were a sort of
resting-places to those who managed the canoes. It was while
ascending these easy channels, that conversation most occurred; each
speaker yielding, as was natural, to the impulses of the thoughts
uppermost in his mind. The missionary talked much of the Jews; and,
as the canoes came near each other, he entered at large, with their
different occupants, into the reasons he had for believing that the
red men of America were the lost tribes of Israel. "The very use of
the word 'tribes,'" would this simple-minded, and not very profound
expounder of the word of God, say, "is one proof of the truth of
what I tell you. Now, no one thinks of dividing the white men of
America into 'tribes.' Who ever heard of the 'tribe' of New England,
or of the 'tribe' of Virginia, or of the 'tribe' of the Middle
States? [Footnote: The reader is not to infer any exaggeration in
this picture. There is no end to the ignorance and folly of sects
and parties, when religious or political zeal runs high. The writer
well remembers to have heard a Universalist, of more zeal than
learning, adduce, as an argument in favor of his doctrine, the
twenty-fifth chapter and forty-sixth verse of St. Matthew, where we
are told that the wicked "shall go away into ever-lasting
punishment; but the righteous into Vis eternal"; by drawing a
distinction between the adjectives, and this so much the more,
because the Old Testament speaks of "everlasting hills," and
"everlasting valleys "; thus proving, from the Bible, a substantial
difference between "everlasting" and "eternal." Now, every Sophomore
knows that the word used in Matthew is the same in both cases, being
"aionion," or "existing forever."] Even among the blacks, there are
no tribes. There is a very remarkable passage in the sixty-eighth
Psalm, that has greatly struck me, since my mind has turned to this
subject; 'God shall wound the head his enemies.' saith the Psalmist,
'and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his
wickedness.' Here is a very obvious allusion to a well-known, and
what we think, a barbarous practice of the red men; but, rely on it,
friends, nothing that is permitted on earth is permitted in vain.
The attentive reader of the inspired book, by gleaning here and
there, can collect much authority for this new opinion about the
lost tribes; and the day will come, I do not doubt, when men will
marvel that the truth hath been so long hidden from them. I can
scarcely open a chapter, in the Old Testament, that some passage
does not strike me as going to prove this identity, between the red
men and the Hebrews; and, were they all collected together, and
published in a book, mankind would be astonished at their lucidity
and weight. As for scalping, it is a horrid thing in our eyes, but
it is honorable with the red men; and I have quoted to you the words
of the Psalmist, in order to show the manner in which divine wisdom
inflicts penalties on sin. Here is plain justification of the
practice, provided always that the sufferer be in the bondage of
transgression, and obnoxious to divine censure. Let no man,
therefore, in the pride of his learning, and, perhaps, of his
prosperity, disdain to believe things that are so manifestly taught
and foretold; but let us all bow in humble submission to the will of
a Being who, to our finite understanding, is so perfectly
incomprehensible."
We trust that no one of our readers will be disposed to deride
Parson Amen's speculations on this interesting subject, although
this may happen to be the first occasion on which he has ever heard
the practice of taking scalps justified by Scripture. Viewed in a
proper spirit, they ought merely to convey a lesson of humility, by
rendering apparent the wisdom, nay the necessity, of men's keeping
them-selves within the limits of the sphere of knowledge they were
designed to fill, and convey, when rightly considered, as much of a
lesson to the Puseyite, with abstractions that are quite as
unintelligible to himself as they are to others; to the high-wrought
and dogmatical Calvinist, who in the midst of his fiery zeal,
forgets that love is the very essence of the relation between God
and man; to the Quaker, who seems to think the cut of a coat
essential to salvation; to the descendant of the Puritan, who
whether he be Socinian, Calvinist, Universalist, or any other "1st,"
appears to believe that the "rock" on which Christ declared he would
found his church was the "Rock of Plymouth"; and to the unbeliever,
who, in deriding all creeds, does not know where to turn to find one
to substitute in their stead. Humility, in matters of this sort, is
the great lesson that all should teach and learn; for it opens the
way to charity, and eventually to faith, and through both of these
to hope; finally, through all of these, to heaven.
The journey up the Kalamazoo lasted many days, the ascent being
often so painful, and no one seeming in a hurry. Peter waited for
the time set for his council to approach, and was as well content to
remain in his canoe, as to "camp out" in the openings. Gershom never
was in haste, while the bee-hunter would have been satisfied to pass
the summer in so pleasant a manner, Margery being seated most of the
time in his canoe. In his ordinary excursions, le Bourdon carried
the mastiff as a companion; but, now that his place was so much
better filled, Hive was suffered to roam the woods that lined most
of the river-banks, joining his master from time to time at the
portages or landings. As for the missionary and the corporal,
impatience formed no part of their present disposition. The first
had been led, by the artful Peter, to expect great results to his
theory from the assembly of chiefs which was to meet in the
"openings"; and the credulous parson was, in one sense, going as
blindly on the path of destruction, as any sinner it had ever been
his duty to warn of his fate, was proceeding in the same direction
in another. The corporal, too, was the dupe of Peter's artifices.
This man had heard so many stories to the Indian's prejudice, at the
different posts where he had been stationed, as at first to render
him exceedingly averse to making the present journey in his company.
The necessity of the case, as connected with the preservation of his
own life after the massacre of Fort Dearborn, and the influence of
the missionary, had induced him to overlook his ancient prejudices,
and to forget opinions that, it now occurred to him, had been
founded in error. Once fairly within the influence of Peter's wiles,
a simple-minded soldier like the corporal, was soon completely made
the Indian's dupe. By the time the canoe reached the mouth of the
Kalamazoo, as has been related, each of these men placed the most
implicit reliance on the good faith and friendly feelings of the
very being whose entire life, both sleeping and waking thoughts,
were devoted, not only to his destruction, but to that of the whole
white race on the American continent. So bland was the manner of
this terrible savage, when it comported with his views to conceal
his ruthless designs, that persons more practised and observant than
either of his two companions might have been its dupes, not to say
its victims. While the missionary was completely mystified by his
own headlong desire to establish a theory, and to announce to the
religious world where the lost tribes were to be found, the corporal
had aided in deceiving himself, also, by another process. With him,
Peter had privately conversed of war, and had insinuated that he was
secretly laboring in behalf of his great father at Washington, and
against the other great father down at Montreal. As between the two,
Peter professed to lean to the interests of the first; though, had
he laid bare his in-most soul, a fiery hatred of each would have
been found to be its predominant feeling. But Corporal Flint fondly
fancied he was making a concealed march with an ally, while he thus
accompanied one of the fiercest enemies of his race.
Peter is not to be judged too harshly. It is always respectable to
defend the fireside, and the land of one's nativity, although the
cause connected with it may be sometimes wrong. This Indian knew
nothing of the principles of colonization, and had no conception
that any other than its original owners--original so far as his
traditions reached--could have a right to his own hunting-grounds.
Of the slow but certain steps by which an overruling Providence is
extending a knowledge of the true God, and of the great atonement
through the death of his blessed Son, Peter had no conception; nor
would it probably have seemed right to his contracted mind, had he
even seen and understood this general tendency of things. To him,
the pale-face appeared only as a rapacious invader, and not a
creature obeying the great law of his destiny, the end of which is
doubtless to help knowledge to abound, until it shall "cover the
whole earth as the waters cover the sea." Hatred, inextinguishable
and active hatred, appeared to be the law of this man's being; and
he devoted all the means, aided by all the intelligence he
possessed, to the furtherance of his narrow and short-sighted means
of vengeance and redress. In all this, he acted in common with
Tecumseh and his brother, though his consummate art kept him behind
a veil, while the others were known and recognized as open and
active foes. No publication speaks of this Peter, nor does any
orator enumerate his qualities, while the other two chiefs have been
the subjects of every species of descriptive talent, from that of
the poet to that of the painter.
As day passed after day, the feeling of distrust in the bosom of the
bee-hunter grew weaker and weaker, and Peter succeeded in gradually
worming himself into his confidence also. This was done, moreover,
without any apparent effort. The Indian made no professions of
friendship, laid himself out for no particular attention, nor ever
seemed to care how his companions regarded his deportment. His
secret purposes he kept carefully smothered in his own breast, it is
true; but, beyond that, no other sign of duplicity could have been
discovered even by one who knew his objects and schemes. So profound
was his art, that it had the aspect of nature. Pigeonswing alone was
alive to the danger of this man's company; and he knew it only by
means of certain semi-confidential communications received in his
character of a red man. It was no part of Peter's true policy to
become an ally to either of the great belligerents of the day. On
the contrary, his ardent wish was to see them destroy each other,
and it was the sudden occurrence of the present war that had given a
new impulse to his hopes, and a new stimulus to his efforts, as a
time most propitious to his purposes. He was perfectly aware of the
state of the Chippewa's feelings, and he knew that this man was
hostile to the Pottawattamies, as well as to most of the tribes of
Michigan; but this made no difference with him. If Pigeonswing took
the scalp of a white man, he cared not whether it grew on an English
or an American head; in either case it was the destruction of his
enemy. With such a policy constantly in view, it cannot be matter of
surprise that Peter continued on just as good terms with Pigeonswing
as with Crowsfeather. But one precaution was observed in his
intercourse with the first. To Crowsfeather, then on the war-path in
quest of Yankee scalps, he had freely communicated his designs on
his own white companions, while he did not dare to confide to the
Chippewa this particular secret, since that Indian's relations with
the bee-hunter were so amicable as to be visible to every observer.
Peter felt the necessity of especial caution in his communication
with this savage, therefore; and this was the reason why the
Chippewa was in so much painful uncertainty as to the other's
intentions. He had learned enough to be distrustful, but not enough
to act with decision.
Once, and once only, during their slow passage up the Kalamazoo, did
the bee-hunter observe something about Peter to awaken his original
apprehensions. The fourth day after leaving the mouth of the river,
and when the whole party were resting after the toil of passing a
"carrying-place," our hero had observed the eyes of that tribeless
savage roaming from one white face to another, with an expression in
them so very fiendish, as actually to cause his heart to beat
quicker than common. The look was such a one as le Bourdon could not
remember to have ever before beheld in a human countenance. In point
of fact, he had seen Peter in one of those moments when the pent
fires of the volcano, that ceaselessly raged within his bosom, were
becoming difficult to suppress; and when memory was busiest in
recalling to his imagination scenes of oppression and wrong, that
the white man is only too apt to forget amid the ease of his
civilization, and the security of his power. But the look, and the
impression produced by it on le Bourdon, soon passed away, and were
forgotten by him to whom it might otherwise have proved to be a most
useful warning.
It was a little remarkable that Margery actually grew to be attached
to Peter, often manifesting toward the chief attentions and feelings
such as a daughter is apt to exhibit toward a father. This arose
from the high and courteous bearing of this extraordinary savage. At
all times, an Indian warrior is apt to maintain the dignified and
courteous bearing that has so often been remarked in the race, but
it is very seldom that he goes out of his way to manifest attention
to the squaws. Doubtless these men have the feelings of humanity,
and love their wives and offspring like others; but it is so
essential a part of their training to suppress the exhibition of
such emotions, that it is seldom the mere looker-on has occasion to
note them. Peter, however, had neither wife nor child; or if they
existed, no one knew where either was to be found. The same mystery
shrouded this part of his history as veiled all the rest. In his
hunts, various opportunities occurred for exhibiting to the females
manly attentions, by offering to them the choicest pieces of his
game, and pointing out the most approved Indian modes of cooking the
meats, so as to preserve their savory properties. This he did
sparingly at first, and as a part of a system of profound deception;
but day by day, and hour after hour, most especially with Margery,
did his manner become sensibly less distant, and more natural. The
artlessness, the gentle qualities, blended with feminine spirit as
they were, and the innocent gayety of the girl, appeared to win on
this nearly remorseless savage, in spite of his efforts to resist
her influence. Perhaps the beauty of Margery contributed its share
in exciting these novel emotions in the breast of one so stern. We
do not mean that Peter yielded to feelings akin-to love; of this, he
was in a manner incapable; but a man can submit to a gentle regard
for woman that shall be totally free from passion. This sort of
regard Peter certainly began to entertain for Margery; and like
begetting like, as money produces money, it is not surprising that
the confidence of the girl herself, as well as her sympathies,
should continue to increase in the favor of this terrible Indian.
But the changes of feeling, and the various little incidents to
which we have alluded, did not occur in a single moment of time. Day
passed after day, and still the canoes were working their way up the
winding channels of the Kalamazoo, placing at each setting sun
longer and longer reaches of its sinuous stream between the
travellers and the broad sheet of Michigan. As le Bourdon had been
up and down the river often, in his various excursions, he acted as
the pilot of the navigation; though all worked, even to the
missionary and the Chippewa. On such an expedition, toil was not
deemed to be discreditable to a warrior, and Pigeonswing used the
paddle and the pole as willingly, and with as much dexterity, as any
of the party.
It was only on the eleventh day after quitting the mouth of the
river, that the canoes came to in the little bay where le Bourdon
was in the habit of securing his light bark, when in the openings.
Castle Meal was in full view, standing peacefully in its sweet
solitude; and Hive, who, as he came within the range of his old
hunts, had started off, and got to the spot the previous evening,
now stood on the bank of the river to welcome his master and his
friends to the chiente. It wanted a few minutes of sunset as the
travellers landed, and the parting rays of the great luminary of our
system were glancing through the various glades of the openings,
imparting a mellow softness to the herbage and flowers. So far as
the bee-hunter could perceive, not even a bear had visited the place
in his absence. On ascending to his abode and examining the
fastenings, and on entering the hut, storehouse, etc., le Bourdon
became satisfied that all the property he had left behind was safe,
and that the foot of man--he almost thought of beast too--had not
visited the spot at all during the last fortnight.
