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Файл:The Oak Openings; or, the Bee-Hunter
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THE OAK OPENINGS; OR, THE BEE-HUNTER
foot, as it might be, have perseveringly predicted the halt, the
defeat, the disasters, and final discomfiture, which it has not
yet pleased Divine Providence to inflict on this slight effort of
the young Hercules, as he merely moves in his cradle. Alas, the
enemy that most menaces the overthrow of this new and otherwise invincible exhibition of human force, is within; seated
in the citadel itself; and must be narrowly watched, or he will
act his malignant purpose, and destroy the fairest hopes that
ever yet dawned on the fortunes of the human race!
The conference between the chiefs lasted fully an hour.
Crowsfeather possessed much of the confidence of Peter, and,
as for Onoah, neither Tecumseh, nor his brother the Prophet,
commanded as much of the respect of Crowsfeather as he did
himself. Some even whispered that the “Tribeless” was the individual who lay behind all, and that the others named merely
acted as he suggested, or advised. The reader will obtain all the
insight into the future that it is necessary now to give him, by
getting a few of the remarks made by the two colloquists, just
before they joined the rest of the party.
“My father, then, intends to lead his pale-faces on a crooked
path, and take their scalps when he has done with them,” said
Crowsfeather, who had been gravely listening to Peter’s plans
of future proceeding; “but who is to get the scalp of the Chippewa?”
“One of my Pottawattamie young men; but not until I have
made use of him. I have a medicine-priest of the pale-faces and
a warrior with me, but shall not put their scalps on my pole
until they have paddled me further. The council is to be first
held in the Oak Openings” – we translate this term freely,
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
that used by Peter meaning rather “the open woods of the
prairies” – “and I wish to show my prisoners to the chiefs, that
they may see how easy it is to cut off all the Yankees. I have
now four men of that people, and two squaws, in my power; let
every red man destroy as many, and the land will soon be clear
of them all!”
This was uttered with gleamings of ferocity in the speaker’s face, that rendered his countenance terrible. Even Crowsfeather quailed a little before that fierce aspect; but the whole
passed away almost as soon as betrayed, and was succeeded by
a friendly and deceptive smile, that was characteristic of the
wily Asiatic rather than of the aboriginal American.
“They cannot be counted,” returned the Pottawattamie
chief, as soon as his restraint was a little removed by this less
terrific aspect of his companion, “if all I hear is true. Blackbird says that even the squaws of the pale-faces are numerous
enough to overcome all the red men that remain.”
“There will be two less, when I fasten to my pole the scalps
of those on the other side of the river,” answered Peter, with
another of his transient, but startling gleams of intense revenge. “But no matter, now: my brother knows all I wish him
to do. Not a hair of the head of any of these pale-faces must
be touched by any hand but mine. When the time comes, the
knife of Onoah is sure. The Pottawattamies shall have their
canoes, and can follow us up the river. They will find us in the
Openings, and near the Prairie Round. They know the spot;
for the red men love to hunt the deer in that region. Now, go
and tell this to your young men; and tell them that corn will
not grow, nor the deer wait to be killed by any of your people,
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THE OAK OPENINGS; OR, THE BEE-HUNTER
if they forget to do as I have said. Vengeance shall come, when
it is time.”
Crowsfeather communicated all this to his warriors, who
received it as the ancients received the words of their oracles.
Each member of the party endeavored to get an accurate notion of his duty, in order that he might comply to the very letter
with the injunctions received. So profound was the impression
made among all the red men of the north-west by the previous labors of the “Tribeless” to awaken a national spirit, and
so great was their dread of the consequences of disobedience,
that every warrior present felt as if his life were the threatened
penalty of neglect or disinclination to obey.
No sooner, however, had Crowsfeather got through with
his communication, than a general request was made that the
problem of the whiskey-spring might be referred to Onoah for
solution. The young men had strong hopes, not-withstanding
all that had passed, that this spring might yet turn out to be
a reality. The scent was still there, strong and fragrant, and
they could not get rid of the notion that “fire-water” grew on
that spot. It is true, their faith had been somewhat disturbed
by the manner in which the medicine-man had left them, and
by his failure to draw forth the gushing stream which he had
impliedly promised, and in a small degree performed; nevertheless little pools of whiskey had been found on the rock, and
several had tasted and satisfied themselves of the quality of the
liquor. As is usual, that taste had created a desire for more, a
desire that seldom slumbered on an Indian palate when strong
drinks were connected with its gratification.
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
Peter heard the request with gravity, and consented to look
into the matter with a due regard to his popularity and influence. He had his own superstitious views, but among them
there did not happen to be one which admitted the possibility
of whiskey’s running in a stream from the living rock. Still he
was willing to examine the charmed spot, scent the fragrant
odor, and make up his own estimate of the artifices by which
the bee-hunter had been practising on the untutored beings
into whose hand chance had thrown him.
While the young men eagerly pointed out the precise
spots where the scent was the strongest, Peter maintained the
most unmoved gravity. He did not kneel to smell the rocks,
like the other chiefs, for this an innate sense of propriety
told him would be undignified; but he made his observations
closely, and with a keen Indian-like attention to every little
circumstance that might aid him in arriving at the truth. All
this time, great was the awe and deep the admiration of the
lookers-on. Onoah had succeeded in creating a moral power
for himself among the Indians of the northwest which much
exceeded that of any other red man of that region. The whites
scarcely heard of him, knew but little of his career, and less of
his true character, for both were shrouded in mystery. There
is nothing remarkable in this ignorance of the pale-faces of
the time. They did not understand their own leaders; much
less the leaders of the children of the openings, the prairies,
and the forest. At this hour, what is really known by the mass
of the American people of the true characters of their public
men? No nation that has any claim to civilization and publicity knows less, and for several very obvious reasons. The want
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THE OAK OPENINGS; OR, THE BEE-HUNTER
of a capital in which the intelligence of the nation periodically
assembles and whence a corrected public opinion on all such
matters ought constantly to flow, as truth emanates from the
collisions of minds, is one of these reasons. The extent of the
country, which separates men by distances that no fact can
travel over without incurring the dangers of being perverted
on the road, is another. But the most fatal of al he influences
that tend to mislead the judgment of the American citizen, is
to be found in the abuse of a machinery that was intended to
produce an exactly contrary effect. If the tongue was given to
man to communicate ideas to his fellows, so has philosophy
described it as “a gift to conceal his thoughts.” If the press
was devised to circulate truth, so has it been changed into a
means of circulating lies. One is easily, nay, more easily, sent
abroad on the four winds of the heavens than the other. Truth
requires candor, impartiality, honesty, research, and industry;
but a falsehood, whether designed or not, stands in need of
neither. Of that which is the most easily produced, the country gets the most; and it were idle to imagine that a people
who blindly and unresistingly submit to be put, as it might
be, under the feet of falsehood, as respects all their own public men, can ever get very accurate notions of those of other
nations.
Thus was it with Onoah. His name was unknown to the
whites, except as a terrible and much-dreaded avenger of the
wrongs of his race. With the red men it was very different. They
had no “forked tongues” to make falsehood take the place of
truth; or if such existed they were not believed. The Pottawat-
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
tamies now present knew all about Tecumseh1, of whom the
whites had also various and ample accounts. This Shawanee
chief had long been active among them, and his influence was
extended far and near. He was a bold, restless, and ingenious
warrior; one, perhaps, who better understood the art of war, as
it was practised among red men, than any Indian then living.
They knew the name and person, also, of his brother Elkswata-
2
, or the Prophet, whose name has also become incorporat-
wa
ed with the histories of the times. These two chiefs were very
powerful, though scarce dwelling regularly in any tribe; but
their origin, their careers, and their characters were known to
3
all, as were those of their common father, Pukeesheno,
4
their mother, Meethetaske
. But with Onoah it was very different. With him the past was as much of a mystery as the future.
No Indian could say even of what tribe he was born. The totem
that he bore on his person belonged to no people then existing
on the continent, and all connected with him, his history, nation, and family, was conjecture and fancy.
It is said that the Indians have traditions which are communicated only to a favored few, and which by them have been
transmitted from generation to generation. An enlightened
and educated red man has quite recently told us in person,
that he had been made the repository of some of these traditions, and that he had thus obtained enough of the history of
his race to be satisfied that they were not derived from the lost
and
1
A “tiger stooping for his prey.”
2
“A door opened.”
3
“I light from fly – “
4
“A turtle laying her eggs in the sand.
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THE OAK OPENINGS; OR, THE BEE-HUNTER
tribes of Israel, though he declined communicating any more.
It is so natural to resort to secrecy in order to extend influence,
that we can have no difficulty In believing the existence of
the practice; there probably being no other reason why Free
Masonry or Odd Fellowship should have recourse to such an
expedient, but to rule through the imagination in preference
to the judgment. Now Peter enjoyed all the advantages of mystery. It was said that even his real name was unknown, that
of Onoah having been given in token of the many scalps he
took, and that of Wa-wa-nosh, which he also sometimes bore,
having been bestowed on him by adoption in consequence of
an act of favor extended to him from an Ojebway of some note,
while that of Peter was clearly derived from the whites. Some
of his greatest admirers whispered that when the true name
of the “Tribeless” should get to be known, his origin, early career, and all relating to him would at once become familiar to
every red man. At present, the Indians must rest content with
what they saw and understood. The wisdom of Wa-wa-nosh
made itself felt in the councils; his eloquence no speaker has
equalled for ages; as for his vengeance on the enemies of his
race, that was to be estimated by the scalps he had taken. More
than this no Indian was to be permitted to know, until the
mission of this oracle and chief was completed.
Had one enlightened by the education of a civilized man
been there, to watch the movements and countenance of Peter
as he scented the whiskey, and looked in vain for the cause of
the odor, and for a clew to the mystery which so much perplexed the Pottawattamies, he would probably have discovered some reason to distrust the sincerity of this remarkable
237
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
savage’s doubts. If ever Peter was an actor, it was on that occasion. He did not, in the least, fall into any of the errors of his
companions; but the scent a good deal confounded him at first.
At length he came to the natural conclusion, that this unusual
odor was in some way connected with the family he had left on
the other shore; and from that moment his mind was at ease.
It did not suit the views of Peter, however, to explain to the
Pottawattamies that which was now getting to be so obvious to
himself. On the contrary, he rather threw dust into the eyes of
the chiefs, with a view to bring them also under the influence
of superstition. After making his observations with unmoved
gravity, he promised a solution of the whole affair when they
should again meet in the Openings, and proposed to recross
the river. Before quitting the shore Peter and Crowsfeather
had a clear understanding on the subject of their respective
movements; and, as soon as the former began to paddle up
against the wind, the latter called his young men together,
made a short address, and led them into the woods, as if about
to proceed on a march of length. The party, notwithstanding,
did not proceed more than a mile and a half, when it came to
a halt, and lighted a fire in order to cook some venison taken
on the way.
When Peter reached the south shore, he found the whole
group assembled to receive him. His tale was soon told. He
had talked with the Pottawattamies, and they were gone. The
canoes, however, must be carried to the other shore and left
there, in order that their owners might recover their property when they returned. This much had Peter promised, and
his pale-face friends must help him to keep his word. Then
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THE OAK OPENINGS; OR, THE BEE-HUNTER
he pointed to the Openings as to their place of present safety.
There they would be removed from all immediate danger, and
he would accompany them and give them the countenance
and protection of his name and presence. As for going south
on the lake, that was impossible, so long as the wind lasted,
and it was useless even could it be done. The troops had all left
Chicago, and the fort was destroyed.
Parson Amen and Corporal Flint, both of whom were completely deluded by Peter, fancying him a secret friend of the
whites, in consequence of his own protestations to that effect
and the service he had already rendered them, in appearance
at least, instantly acquiesced in this wily savage’s proposal. It
was the best, the wisest, nay, the only thing that now could
be done. Mackinaw was gone, as well as Chicago, and Detroit
must be reached by crossing the peninsula, instead of taking
the easier but far more circuitous route of the lakes. Gershom
was easily enough persuaded into the belief of the feasibility,
as well as of the necessity, of this deviation from his original
road, and he soon agreed to accompany the party.
With le Bourdon the case was different. He understood
himself and the wilderness. For him the wind was fair, and
there was no necessity for his touching at Mackinaw at all. It is
true, he usually passed several days on that pleasant and salubrious island, and frequently disposed of lots of honey there;
but he could dispense with the visit and the sales. There was
certainly danger now to be apprehended from the Ottawas,
who would be very apt to be out on the lake after this maritime excursion against the fort; but it was possible even to
elude their vigilance. In a word, the bee-hunter did not believe
239
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
in the prudence of returning to the Openings, but thought it
by far the wisest for the whole party to make the best of its
way by water to the settlements. All this he urged warmly on
his white companions, taking them aside for that purpose, and
leaving Peter and Pigeonswing together while he did so.
But Parson Amen would as soon have believed that his
old congregation in Connecticut was composed of Philistines,
as not to believe that the red men were the lost tribes, and
that Peter, in particular, was not especially and elaborately described in the Old Testament. He had become so thoroughly
possessed by this crotchet as to pervert everything that he saw,
read, or heard, into evidence, of some sort or other, of the truth
of his notions. In this respect there was nothing peculiar in the
good missionary’s weakness, it being a failing common to partisans of a theory, to discover proofs of its truths in a thousand
things in which indifferent persons can find even no connection with the subject at all. In this frame of mind the missionary would as soon think of letting go his hold on the Bible itself, as think of separating from an Indian who might turn out
any day to be a direct representative of Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob. Not to speak irreverently, but to use language that
must be familiar to all, the well-meaning missionary wished to
be in at the death.
Corporal Flint, too, had great faith in Peter. It was a part
of the scheme of the savage to make this straight for-ward soldier an instrument in placing many scalps in hit power; and
though he had designed from the first to execute his bloody
office on the corporal himself, he did not intend to do so until
he had made the most of him as a stool-pigeon. Here were four
240
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