Part 5 (2/2)
Who knohat plots they ht or in the day ere unprepared? Can we trust them? Does not the Klickitat's name mean 'he that steals horses'? The Yakima would smoke the peace-pipe with the knife that was to stab you hid under his blanket The Wasco's heart is a lie, and his tongue is a trap
”No, let us wait The tribes talk great swelling words now and their hearts are hot, but if ait, the fire will die down and the words grow sain Let us wait till another winter has coone; then let us meet in council, and the tribes will listen
”Tla-au says, 'wait, and all will be well'”
His earnest, emphatic words ended, the chief took his seat and resumed his former look of stolid indifference A esture eloquent with ly impassive and unconcerned
There was another pause It was so still that the rustling of the boughs overhead was startlingly distinct Saving the restless glitter of black eyes, it was a tableau of stoicis forth the danger of plunging into a contest with the allies Speaker followed speaker in the sa delay, the glance of the war-chief grew ever brighter, and his grip upon the bohich he leaned grew harder But the cold face did not relax a ar, chief of the Mollalies His was one of the led hair fell around a sinister, bestial countenance, all scarred and seamed by wounds received in battle His head was al back from his eyebrows so obliquely that when he stood erect he seemed to have no forehead at all; while the back and lower part of his head showed an enormous develop but battle, and was one of the most dreaded warriors of the Willae, as did the others, but in the common dialect, the only one of which he was master
”My heart is as the heart of Multnory for war If the tribes that are our younger brothers are faithful, they will come to the council and smoke the pipe of peace with us; if they are not, let us know it Mishlah knows not what it is to wait You all talk words, words, words; and the tribes laugh and say, 'The Willa ht' Send out the runners Call the council Let us find who are our enemies; then let us strike!”
The hands of the chief closed involuntarily as if they clutched a weapon, and his voice rang harsh and grating The eyes of Multnomah flashed fire, and the war-lust kindled for a morotesque figure of an Indian, ancient, withered, with ard face, who had just joined the council, gliding in noiselessly froh, his lower lip thick and protruding, his eyes deeply sunken, his face drawn, austere, and disraded features repelled at first sight; but a second glance revealed a great di on brow and lip that eirdly fascinating, so sonity in his h soiled and torn, that only the richest chiefs were able to wear Such was Tohomish, or Pine Voice, chief of the Santiam tribe of the Willamettes, the most eloquent orator and potent medicine or _tomanowos_ man in the confederacy
There was a perceptibleup of faces as he arose, and a shadow of anxiety swept over Multnomah's impassive features For this netic tones could sway the passions of his hearers to his ith a power that seemed more than human to the superstitious Indians
Would he declare for the council or against it; for peace or for war?
He threw back the tangled locks that hung over his face, and spoke
”Chiefs and warriors, ell in lodges and talk with men, Tohoreeting, and by hi also”
His voice onderfully , and pathetic; and as he spoke the salutation froh the wild audience before hih all but Multno eyes from the speaker's face What cared he for the salutation of the living or the dead? Would this man whose influence was so powerful declare for action or delay?
”It has been long since Tohoht of the sun and looked on the faces of his brothers or heard their voices Other faces has he looked upon and other voices has he heard He has learned the language of the birds and the trees, and has talked with the People of Old ell in the serpent and the cayote; and they have taught his have come to Tohomish”
He paused, and the silence was breathless, for the Indians looked on this man as a seer to whom the future was as luminous as the past But Multnoainst hiainst the prophet
”A few suns ago, as I wandered in the forest by the Santiam, I heard the death-wail in the distance I said, 'Soo and lift up ht therew fainter and farther, till at last it died out as And then I knew that I had heard no hu the dead, but that it was the Spirit Indian-of-the-Wood wailing for the living whose feet go down to the darkness and whose faces the sun shall soon see no rew heavy and bitter, for I knew that woe had come to the Willaht to know of those that dwell in the night theof this I built the ht I kept the fire burning; day and night I danced the _toing the song that brings the _Spee-ough_, till at last the life went fro was a whirl of fire Then I knew that the poas on rew black
”I dreamed a dream
”I stood by the death-trail that leads to the spirit-land The souls of those who had just died were passing; and as I gazed, the wail I had heard in the forest came back, but nearer than before And as the wail sounded, the throng on the death-trail grew thicker and their tread swifter The warrior passed with his bow in his hand and his quiver swinging from his shoulder; the squaw folloith his food upon her back; the old tottered by It was a whole people on the way to the spirit-land But when I tried to see their faces, to know them, if they were Willamette or Shoshone or our brother tribes, I could not But the wail grew ever louder and the dead grew ever thicker as they passed Then it all faded out, and I slept When I awoke, it was night; the fire had burned into ashes and theon the hills The voices that are in the air came to me and said, 'Go to the council and tell what you have seen;' but I refused, and went far into the wood to avoid them But the voices would not let me rest, and reat council Send out no runners Call not the tribes together
Voices and o terrible to come The trees whisper it; it is in the air, in the waters It has made my spirit bitter and heavy until my drink seems blood and my food has the taste of death Warriors, Tohomish has shown his heart His words are ended”
He resu the lower part of his face Thebrow and repulsive countenance, froain the silence was profound The Indians sat spell-bound, charmed by the mournful music of the prophet's voice and awed by the dread vision he had revealed All the superstition within them was aroused When Tohomish took his seat, every Indian was ready to oppose the calling of the council with all his ht Even Mishlah, as superstitious as blood-thirsty, was startled and perplexed The war-chief stood alone
He knew it, but it only ainst the opposition of the council and the warning of Tohoh_, ominous as they were even to him, rose up the instinct which was as much a part of him as life itself,--the instinct to battle and to conquer He was resolved with all the grand strength of his nature to bend the council to his will, and with ht be done