In the Days of Poor Richard | Page 6

of many feet approaching in the distance. He
went on a little farther and presently concealed himself in the bushes
close to the trail. He had not long to wait, for soon a red scout came on
ahead of the party. He was a young Huron brave, his face painted black
and yellow. His head was encircled by a snake skin. A fox's tail rose
above his brow and dropped back on his crown. A birch-bark horn
hung over his shoulder.
Solomon stepped out of the bushes after he had passed and said in the
Huron tongue: "Welcome, my red brother, I hear that a large band o'
yer folks is comin' and we have got a feast ready."
The young brave had been startled by the sudden appearance of
Solomon, but the friendly words had reassured him.
"We are on a long journey," said the brave.
"And the flesh of a fat ox will help ye on yer way. Kin ye smell it?"
"Brother, it is like the smell of the great village in the Happy
Hunting-Grounds," said the brave. "We have traveled three sleeps from

the land of the long waters and have had only two porcupines and a
small deer to eat. We are hungry."
"And we would smoke the calumet of peace with you," said Solomon.
They walked on together and in a moment came in sight of the little
farm-house. The brave looked at the house and the three men who
stood by the fire.
"Come with me and you shall see that we are few," Solomon remarked.
They entered the house and barn and walked around them, and this, in
effect, is what Solomon said to him:
"I am the chief scout of the Great Father. My word is like that of old
Flame Tongue--your mighty chief. You and your people are on a bad
errand. No good can come of it. You are far from your own country. A
large force is now on your trail. If you rob or kill any one you will be
hung. We know your plans. A bad white chief has brought you here. He
has a wooden leg with an iron ring around the bottom of it. He come
down lake in a big boat with you. Night before last you stole two white
women."
A look of fear and astonishment came upon the face of the Indian.
"You are a son of the Great Spirit!" he exclaimed.
"And I would keep yer feet out o' the snare. Let me be yer chief. You
shall have a horse and fifty beaver skins and be taken to the border and
set free. I, the scout of the Great Father, have said it, and if it be not as I
say, may I never see the Happy Hunting-Grounds."
The brave answered:
"My white brother has spoken well and he shall be my chief. I like not
this journey. I shall bid them to the feast. They will eat and sleep like
the gray wolf for they are hungry and their feet are sore."
The brave put his horn to his mouth and uttered a wild cry that rang in

the distant hills. Then arose a great whooping and kintecawing back in
the bush. The young Huron went out to meet the band. Returning soon,
he said to Solomon that his chief, the great Splitnose, would have
words with him.
Turning to John Irons, Solomon said: "He's an outlaw chief. We must
treat him like a king. I'll bring 'em in. You keep the meat a-sizzlin'!"
The scout went with the brave to his chief and made a speech of
welcome, after which the wily old Splitnose, in his wonderful
head-dress, of buckskin and eagle feathers, and his band in war-paint,
followed Solomon to the feast. Silently they filed out of the bush and
sat on the grass around the fire. There were no captives among
them--none at least of the white skin.
Solomon did not betray his disappointment. Not a word was spoken.
He and John Irons and his son began removing the spits from the fire
and putting more meat upon them and cutting the cooked roasts into
large pieces and passing it on a big earthen platter. The Indians eagerly
seized the hot meat and began to devour it. While waiting to be served,
some of the young braves danced at the fire's edge with short, explosive,
yelping, barking cries answered by dozens of guttural protesting grunts
from the older men, who sat eating or eagerly waiting their turn to grab
meat. It was a trying moment. Would the whole band leap up and start
a dance which might end in boiling blood and tiger fury and a massacre?
But the young Huron brave stopped them, aided no doubt