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Файл:The Chainbearer; or, The Littlepage Manuscripts
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
CHAPTER VIII
«With what free growth the elm and plane
Fling their huge arms across my way;
Gray, old, and cumber’d with a train
Of vines, as huge, and old, and gray!
Free stray the lucid streams, and fi nd
No taint in these fresh lawns and shades;
Free spring the fl owers that scent the wind,
Where never scythe has swept the glades».
– B
RYANT.
I had heard enough of my father’s early adventures to
know that the man mentioned in the last chapter had been
a conspicuous actor in them, and remembered that the latter
enjoyed the fullest confi dence of the former. It was news to
me, however, that Surefl int and the Trackless were the same
person; though, when I came to refl ect on the past, I had some
faint recollection of having once before heard something of
the sort. At any rate, I was now with a friend, and no longer
thought it necessary to be on my guard. This was a great relief, in every point of view, as one does not like to travel at
the side of a stranger, with an impression, however faint, that
141
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
the latter may blow his brains out, the fi rst time he ventures to
turn his own head aside.
Susquesus was drawing near to the decline of life. Had he
been a white man, I might have said he was in a «green old age»;
but the term of «red old age» would suit him much better. His
features were still singularly fi ne; while the cheeks, without
being very full, had that indurated, solid look, that fl esh and
muscles get from use and exposure. His form was as erect as in
his best days, a red man’s frame rarely yielding in this way to
any pressure but that of exceeding old age, and that of rum.
Susquesus never admitted the enemy into his mouth, and consequently the citadel of his physical man was secure against
every invader but time. In-toed and yielding in his gait, the old
warrior and runner still passed over the ground with an easy
movement; and when I had occasion to see him increase his
speed, as soon after occurred, I did not fail to perceive that
his sinews seemed strung to their utmost force, and that every
movement was free.
For a time, the Indian and I talked of the late war, and of
the scenes in which each of us had been an actor. If my own
modesty was as obvious as that of Surefl int, I had no reason to be dissatisfi ed with myself; for the manner in which
he alluded to events in which I knew he had been somewhat
prominent, was simple and entirely free from that boasting in
which the red man is prone to indulge; more especially when
he wishes to provoke his enemies. At length I changed the current of the discourse, by saying abruptly:
«You were not alone in that pine thicket, Susquesus; that
from which you came when you joined me?»
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
«No – sartain; wasn’t alone. Plenty people dere».
«Is there an encampment of your tribe among those
bushes?»
A shade passed over the dark countenance of my companion, and I saw a question had been asked that gave him pain.
He paused some little time before he answered; and when he
did, it was in a way that seemed sad.
«Susquesus got tribe no longer. Quit Onondagos t’irty summer, now; don’t like Mohawk».
«I remember to have heard something of this from my
father, who told me at the same time, that the reason why
you left your people was to your credit. But you had music in
the thicket?»
«Yes; gal sing – gal love sing; warrior like to listen».
«And the song? In what language were the words?»
«Onondago», answered the Indian, in a low tone.
«I had no idea the music of the red people was so sweet. It is
many a day since I have heard a song that went so near to my
heart, though I could not understand what was said».
«Bird, pretty bird – sing like wren».
«And is there much of this music in your family, Susquesus? If so, I shall come often to listen».
«Why not come? Path got no briar; short path, too. Gal
sing, when you want».
«Then I shall certainly be your guest, some day, soon.
Where do you live, now? Are you Surefl int, or Trackless, today? I see you are armed, but not painted».
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
«Hatchet buried berry deep, dis time. No dig him up, in
great many year. Mohawk make peace; Oneida make peace;
Onondago make peace – all bury ‘e hatchet».
«Well, so much the better for us landholders. I have come to
sell and lease my lands; perhaps you can tell me if many young
men are out hunting for farms this summer?»
«Wood full. Plenty as pigeons. How you sell land?»
«That will depend on where it is, and how good it is.
Do you wish to buy, Trackless?»
«Injin own all land, for what he want now. I make wigwam
where I want; make him, too, when I want».
«I know very well that you Indians do claim such a right;
and, so long as the country remains in its present wild state,
no one will be apt to refuse it to you. But you cannot plant and
gather, as most of your people do in their own country».
«Got no squaw – got no papoose – little corn do for
Susquesus. No tribe – no squaw – no pappose!»
This was said in a low, deliberate voice, and with a species of
manly melancholy that I found very touching. Complaining
men create very little sympathy, and those who whine are
apt to lose our respect; but I know no spectacle more imposing than that of one of stern nature smothering his sorrows
beneath the mantle of manliness and self-command.
«You have friends, Susquesus», I answered, «if you have no
wife nor children».
«Fader, good friend; hope son friend, too. Grandfader great
friend, once; but he gone far away, and nebber come back.
Know moder, know fader – all good».
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
«Take what land you want, Trackless – till it, sell it –
do what you wish with it».
The Indian eyed me keenly, and I detected a slight smile of
pleasure stealing over his weather-worn face. It was not easy to
throw him off his habitual guard over his emotions, however; and the gleam of illumination passed away, like a ray of
sunshine in mid-winter. The sternest white man might have
grasped my hand, and something like a sign of gratitude would
probably have escaped him; but, the little trace of emotion
I have mentioned having disappeared, nothing remained on
the dark visage of my companion that in the least resembled
an evidence of yielding to any of the gentler feelings. Nevertheless, he was too courteous, and had too much of the innate
sentiment of a gentleman, not to make some return for an offer
that had so evidently and spontaneously come from the heart.
«Good» – he said, after a long pause. «Berry good, dat;
good, to come from young warrior to ole warrior. T’ankee –
bird plenty; fi sh plenty; message plenty, now; and don’t want
land. Time come, maybe – s’pose he must come – come to all
old red men, hereabout; so s’pose must come».
«What time do you mean, Trackless? Let it come when it
may, you have a friend in me. What time do you mean, my
brave old Surefl int?»
The Trackless stopped, dropped the breech of his rifl e on
the ground, and stood meditating a minute, motionless, and as
grand as some fi ne statue.
«Yes; time come, do s’pose», he continued. «One time,
ole warrior live in wigwam, and tell young warrior of
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
scalp, and council-fi re, and hunt, and war-path; now,
make broom and basket».
It was not easy to mistake this; and I do not remember
ever to have felt so lively an interest, on so short an acquaintance, as I began to feel in this Onondago. Priscilla Bayard
herself, however lovely, graceful, winning, and feminine, had
not created a feeling so strong and animated, as that which
was awakened within me in behalf of old Surefl int. But I fully understood that this was to be shown in acts, and not in
words. Contenting myself for the present, after the fashion of
the pale-faces, by grasping and squeezing the sinewy hand of
the warrior, we walked on together, making no farther allusion to a subject that I can truly say was as painful to me as it
was to my companion.
«I have heard your name mentioned as one of those who
were at the Nest with my father when he was a young man,
Susquesus», I resumed, «and when the Canada Indians attempted to burn the house».
«Good – Susquesus dere – young Dutch chief kill
dat time».
«Very true – his name was Guert Ten Eyke; and my father
and mother, and your old friend Colonel Follock, who was afterward major of our regiment, you will remember, they love
his memory to this day, as that of a very dear friend».
«Dat all, love memory now?» asked the Indian, throwing
one of his keenest glances at me.
I understood the allusion, which was to aunt Mary, whom
I had heard spoken of as the betrothed, or at least as the beloved of the young Albanian.
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
«Not all; for there is a lady who still mourns his loss, as if
she had been his widow».
«Good – do’ squaw don’t mourn fery long time. Sometime
not always».
«Pray, Truefl int, do you happen to know any thing of a man
called the Chainbearer? He was in the regiment, too, and you
must have seen him in the war».
«Sartain – know Chainbearer – know him on war-path –
know him when hatchet buried. Knew Chainbearer afore ole
French war. Live in wood wid him – one of us. Chainbearer my friend».
«I rejoice to hear this, for he is also mine; and I shall be
glad to come into the compact, as a friend of both».
«Good – Susquesus and young landlord friend of Chainbearer – good».
«It is good, and a league that shall not be forgotten easily by me. The Chainbearer is as honest as light, and as certain
as his own compass, Truefl int – true, as yourself».
«‘Fraid he make broom ‘fore great while, too», said the Indian, expressing the regret I have no doubt he felt, very obviously in his countenance.
Poor old Andries! But for the warm and true friends he
had in my father, Colonel Dirck, and myself, there was some
danger this might be the case, indeed. The fact that he had
served his country in a revolution would prove of little avail,
147
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
that country being too poor to provide for its old servants, and
7
possibly indisposed, had she the means.
intending to refl ect on eithe r the people or the government;
for it is not easy to make the men of the present day understand the deep depression, in a pecuniary sense, that rested on
the land for a year or two after peace was made. It recovered, as
the child recovers from indisposition, by the vigor of its constitution and the power of its vitality; and one of the means by
which it recovered, was by turning to the soil, and wielding
the sickle instead of the sword. To continue the discourse:
«The Chainbearer is an honest man, and, like too many of
his class, poor», I answered; «but he has friends; and neither
7
This must pass for one of the hits the republic is exposed
to, partly because it deserves them, and partly because it is a republic. One hears a great deal of this ingratitude of republics, but
few take the trouble of examining into the truth of the charge,
or its reason, if true. I suppose the charge to be true in part, and
for the obvious reason that a government founded on the popular will, is necessarily impulsive in such matters, and feels no
necessity to be just, in order to be secure. Then, a democracy is
always subject to the infl uence of the cant of economy, which is
next thing to the evil of being exposed to the waste and cupidity of those who take because they have the power. As respects
the soldiers of the revolution, however, America, under the impulsive feeling, rather than in obedience to a calm, deliberate
desire to be just, has, since the time of Mr. Mordaunt Littlepage,
made such a liberal provision for pensioning them, as to include
a good many of her enemies, as well as all her friends. – E.
I say this without
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
he nor you, Surefl int, shall be reduced to that woman’s work
without your own consent, so long as I have an unoccupied
house, or a farm, at Ravensnest».
Again the Indian manifested his sense of my friendship
for him by that passing gleam on his dark face; and again all
signs of emotion passed slowly away.
«How long since see him?» he asked me suddenly.
«See him – the Chainbearer, do you mean? I have not seen
him, now, for more than a twelvemonth; not since we parted
when the regiment was disbanded».
«Don’t mean Chainbearer – mean him», pointing ahead –
«house, tree, farm, land, Nest».
«Oh! How long is it since I saw the patent? I never saw it,
Surefl int; this is my fi rst visit».
«Dat queer! How you own land, when nebber see him?»
«Among the pale-faces we have such laws, that property
passes from parent to child; and I inherit mine in this neighborhood, from my grandfather, Herman Mordaunt».
«What dat mean, ‘herit? How man haf land, when he don’t
keep him?»
«We do keep it, if not by actually remaining on the spot, by
means of our laws and our titles. The pale-faces regulate all
these things on paper, Surefl int».
«T’ink dat good? Why no let man take land where he want
him, when he want him? Plenty land. Got more land dan got
people. ‘Nough for ebberybody».
«That fact makes our laws just; if there were not land
enough for everybody, these restrictions and divisions might
seem to be, and in fact be, unjust. Now, any man can have
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
a farm, who will pay a very moderate price for it. The state sells,
and landlords sell; and those who don’t choose to buy of one
can buy of the other».
«Dat true ‘nough; but don’t see need of dat paper. When he
want to stay on land, let him stay; when he want to go somewhere, let ‘noder man come. What good pay for betterment?»
«So as to have betterments. These are what we call
the rights of property, without which no man would aim at
being anything more than clad and fed. Who would hunt,
if anybody that came along had a right to pick up and skin
his game?»
«See dat well ‘nough – nebber do; no, nebber. Don’t see
why land go like skin, when skin go wid warrior and hunter,
and land stay where he be».
«That is because the riches of you red men are confi ned to
movable property, and to your wigwams, so long as you
choose to live in them. Thus far, you respect the rights of property as well as the pale-faces; but you must see a great difference between your people and mine! between the red man and
the white man?»
«Be sure, differ; one strong, t’oder weak – one rich, t’oder
poor – one great, t’oder little – one drive ‘way, t’oder haf to
go – one get all, t’oder keep nuttin’ – one march large army,
t’oder go Indian fi le, fi fty warrior, p’raps – dat reason t’ing so».
«And why can the pale-faces march in large armies, with
cannon, and horses, and bayonets, and the red man not do
the same?»
«Cause he no got ‘em – no got warrior – no got gun – no
got baggonet – no got nuttin’«.
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