Tecumseh: A Drama | Page 9

Guvner notified him to come--he's?only gettin' what he axed for. There'll be a deal o'?loose har flitterin' about the streets afore night, I?reckon. Harrison's a heap too soft wi' them red?roosters; he h'aint got cheek enough.
GERKIN. I've heerd say the Guvner, end the Chief?Justice tew, thinks a sight o' this tearin' red devil.?They say he's a great man. They say, tew, thet our?treaty Injuns air badly used--thet they shouldn't be?meddled wi' on their resarves, end should hev skoolin'.
BLOAT. Skoolin'! That gits me! Dogoned ef I wouldn't?larn them jest one thing--what them regler officers up?to the Fort larns their dogs--"to drap to shot," only?in a different kind o' way like; end, es fer their?resarves, I say, give our farmers a chance--let them?locate!
TWANG. Thet's so, Major! What arthly use air they--?plouterin' about their little bits o' fields, wi' their?little bits o' cabins, end livin' half the time on mushrats?? I say, let them move out, end give reliable?citizens a chance.
SLAUGH. Wall, I reckon our Guvner's kind's about played?out. They call themselves the old stock--the clean pea?--the rale gentlemen o' the Revolooshun. But, gentlemen,?ain't we the Revolooshun? Jest wait till the live?citizens o' these United States end Territories gits a?chance, end we'll show them gentry what a free people,?wi' our institooshuns, kin do. There'll be no?more talk o' skoolin fer Injuns, you bet! I'd give them?Kernel Crunch's billet.
GERKIN. What was thet, General?
SLAUGH. Why, they say he killed a hull family o'?redskins, and stuck 'em up as scar' crows in his wheat?fields. Gentlemen, there's nothin' like original idees!
TWANG. Thet war an original idee! The Kernel orter hev?tuk out a patent. I think I've heerd o' Crunch. Wam't?he wi' Kernel Crawford, o' the melish', at one time?
SLAUGH Whar?
TWANG. Why over to the Muskingum. You've heerd o' them?Delaware Moravians over to the Muskingum, surely?
SLAUGH. Oh, them convarted chaps! but I a'most forgit?the carcumstance.
TWANG. Wall, them red devils had a nice resarve thar--?as yieldin' a bit o' sile as one could strike this side?o' the Alleghanies. They was all convarted by the?Moravians, end pertended to be as quiet and peaceable?as the Shakers hereabout But Kernel Crawford--who knew?good sile when he sot his eyes on it--diskivered thet?them prayin' chaps had helped a war-party from the?North, wi' provisions--or thort they did, which was the?same thing. So--one fine Sunday--he surrounds their?church wi' his melish'--when the Injuns was all aprayin'?--end walks in himself, jest for a minute or?two, end prays a bit so as not to skeer them tew soon,?end then walks out, end locks the door. The Kernel then?cutely--my heart kind o' warms to thet man--put a squad?o' melish' at each winder wi' their bayonets pinted,?end sot fire to the Church, end charred up the hull?kit, preacher and all! The heft o' them was burnt; but?some thet warn't thar skinned out o' the kentry, end?got lands from the British up to the Thames River in?Canady, end founded what they call the Moravian Towns?thar; and thar they is still--fur them Britishers kind?o' pampers the Injuns, so they may git at our scalps.
SLAUGH. I reckon we'll hev a tussle wi' them gentry?afore long. But for Noo England we'd a hed it afore?now; but them Noo Englanders kind o' curries to the?Britishers. A war would spile their shippin', end so?they're agin it. But we h'aint got no ships to spile in?this western kentry, end so I reckon we'll pitch in.
GERKIN. We'd better git out o' this Injun fry-pan fust,?old hoss! I could lick my own weight in wild-cats, but?this ruck o' Injuns is jest a little tew hefty.
BLOAT. Maybe they want to come to skool, end start?store, end sich!
GERKIN. Gentlemen--I mean to send my lady down stream,?end I reckon you'd better dew the same wi' your 'uns--?jest fer safety like. My time's limited--will you?liquor?
ALL. You bet!
BLOAT. (Meditatively) Skoolin! Wall, I'll be?darned!
[Exeunt.]
SCENE THIRD. THE SAME. A ROOM IN GENERAL HARRISON'S?HOUSE.
Enter_ GENERAL HARRISON, and some Officers of?the American Army_.
HARRISON. What savage handiwork keeps Barron back?
Enter BARRON.
Ah, here he comes, his looks interpreting?Mischief and failure! It is as I feared. What answer do?you bring?
BARRON. Tecumseh comes?To council, with four hundred men at back,?To which, with all persuasion, I objected--?As that it would alarm our citizens,?Whose hasty temper, by suspicion edged,?Might break in broils of quarrel with his braves;?But, sir, it was in vain--so be prepared!?Your Council records may be writ in blood.
HARRISON. Will he attack us, think you?
BARRON. No, not now. His present thought is to?intimidate.?But, lest some rash and foulmouthed citizen?Should spur his passion to the run, fore-arm!
HARRISON. Tut! Arms are scarce as soldiers in our town,?And I am sick of requisitioning.?Nay, we must trust to something else than arms.?Tecumseh is a savage but in name--Let's trust to him!?What says he of our treaties?
BARRON. O, he discharges them as heavy loads,?Which borne by red men only, break their backs.?All lands, he says, are common to