Three Years on the Plains | Page 5

of the western part of New York, the judge was
living in Whitesboro', four miles west of Utica. All around was an
unbroken forest of beech, maple, and other trees, held by wild tribes of
Indians, who had been for ever so long owners of the soil. Judge W----,
feeling how much he was at their mercy in his lonely place, was
anxious to keep on good terms with them, and secure their friendship in
return.
Many of the chiefs had heard of his friendly ways, and went to see him,
carrying presents, because of the gifts he had sent them; but he was
much troubled that an old chief of the tribe, having great influence with
his people, had never come to see him, or sent him any presents, or
shown any signs of welcome. After awhile the judge made up his mind
to go and see the sachem in his wigwam, and thus secure a friendship
he might rely on in case of any difficulty. His family was small,--only
his daughter, a widow, and her only child, a fine boy, five years old. So,
one day he went to pay the chief a visit, taking the widow and her son

along with him. He found him seated at the door of his tent, enjoying a
nice breeze of a fine summer's morning, and was welcomed by the old
chief with kind manners and the word "Sago," meaning, "How do you
do?" Judge W---- presented his daughter and her little boy to the old
chief, and said they had come to live in his country; they were anxious
to live in peace with them, and introduce among them the arts of
civilization. Listening to these words, the chief said,--
"Brother, you ask much and promise much; what pledge can you give
of your good faith?"
Judge.--"The honor of a man who never knew deceit."
Sachem.--"The white man's word may be good to the white man, yet it
is but wind when spoken to the Indian."
Judge.--"I have put my life into your hands by coming hither; is not this
a proof of my good intentions? I have trusted the Indian, and I will not
believe that he will abuse or betray my trust."
"So much is well," said the chief; "the Indian repays trust with trust: if
you will hurt him, he will hurt you. But I must have a pledge. Leave
this boy with me in my wigwam, and I will bring him back to you in
three days with my answer."
If an arrow had pierced the bosom of the young mother, she could not
have felt a sharper pang than that which the Indian's proposal had
caused her.
She flew towards her boy, who stood beside the chief looking into his
face with pleased and innocent wonder, and, snatching him to her arms,
would have rushed away with him.
A gloomy frown came over the sachem's brow, and he remained silent.
The judge knew that all their lives depended upon a right action at once;
and following his daughter, who was retreating with her child into the
woods, he said to her, "Stay, stay, my daughter; bring back the child, I

beg of you! I would not risk a hair of his head, for he is as dear to me as
to you,--but, my child, he must remain with the chief! God will watch
over him, and he will be as safe in the sachem's wigwam as in your
arms beneath your own roof." She yielded, and her darling boy was left;
but who can tell the agony of the mother's heart during the following
days?
Every night she awoke from her sleep, seeming to hear the screams of
her child calling upon its mother for help. How slowly and heavily
passed the hours away. But at last the third day came. The morning
waned away, and the afternoon was far advanced, yet the chief came
not. There was sorrow over the whole home, and the mother, pale and
silent, walked her room in despair. The judge, filled with anxious
doubts and fears, looked through the opening in the forest towards the
sachem's abode.
At last, as the rays of the setting sun were thrown upon the tops of the
tall trees around, the eagle feathers of the chief were seen dancing
above the bushes in the distance. He came rapidly, and the little boy
was at his side. He was gayly attired as a young chief: his feet dressed
in moccasins, a fine beaver-skin thrown over his shoulders, and eagle's
feathers stuck in his hair. He was laughing and gay, and so proud of his
honors that he seemed two inches taller than before. He was soon
clasped in his mother's arms, and in that brief moment