The Prairie (59 page)

The day dawned, the following morning, on a more, tranquil scene. The
work of blood had entirely ceased; and as the sun arose, its light was
shed on a broad expanse of quiet and solitude. The tents of Ishmael were
still standing, where they had been last seen, but not another vestige
of human existence could be traced in any other part of the waste. Here
and there little flocks of ravenous birds were sailing and screaming
above those spots where some heavy-footed Teton had met his death, but
every other sign of the recent combat had passed away. The river was to
be traced far through the endless meadows, by its serpentine and smoking
bed; and the little silvery clouds of vapour, which hung above the pools
and springs, were beginning to melt in air, as they felt the quickening
warmth, which, pouring from the glowing sky, shed its bland and subtle
influence on every object of the vast and unshadowed region. The prairie
was like the heavens after the passage of the gust, soft, calm, and
soothing.

It was in the midst of such a scene that the family of the squatter
assembled to make their final decision, concerning the several
individuals who had been thrown into their power, by the fluctuating
chances of the incidents related. Every being possessing life and
liberty had been afoot, since the first streak of grey had lighted the
east; and even the youngest of the erratic brood seemed conscious that
the moment had arrived, when circumstances were about to transpire
that might leave a lasting impression on the wild fortunes of their
semi-barbarous condition.

Ishmael moved through his little encampment, with the seriousness of one
who had been unexpectedly charged with matters of a gravity, exceeding
any of the ordinary occurrences of his irregular existence. His sons
however, who had so often found occasions to prove the inexorable
severity of their father's character, saw, in his sullen mien and cold
eye, rather a determination to adhere to his resolutions, which usually
were as obstinately enforced as they were harshly conceived, than any
evidences of wavering or doubt. Even Esther was sensibly affected by
the important matters that pressed so heavily on the interests of her
family. While she neglected none of those domestic offices, which would
probably have proceeded under any conceivable circumstances, just as
the world turns round with earthquakes rending its crust and volcanoes
consuming its vitals, yet her voice was pitched to a lower and more
foreboding key than common, and the still frequent chidings of her
children were tempered by something like the milder dignity of parental
authority.

Abiram, as usual, seemed the one most given to solicitude and doubt.
There were certain misgivings, in the frequent glances that he turned
on the unyielding countenance of Ishmael, which might have betrayed how
little of their former confidence and good understanding existed between
them. His looks appeared to be vacillating between hope and fear. At
times, his countenance lighted with the gleamings of a sordid joy, as
he bent his look on the tent which contained his recovered prisoner,
and then, again, the impression seemed unaccountably chased away by the
shadows of intense apprehension. When under the influence of the
latter feeling, his eye never failed to seek the visage of his dull and
impenetrable kinsman. But there he rather found reason for alarm than
grounds of encouragement, for the whole character of the squatter's
countenance expressed the fearful truth, that he had redeemed his dull
faculties from the influence of the kidnapper, and that his thoughts
were now brooding only on the achievement of his own stubborn
intentions.

It was in this state of things that the sons of Ishmael, in obedience
to an order from their father, conducted the several subjects of his
contemplated decisions, from their places of confinement into the open
air. No one was exempted from this arrangement. Middleton and Inez, Paul
and Ellen, Obed and the trapper, were all brought forth and placed in
situations that were deemed suitable to receive the sentence of their
arbitrary judge. The younger children gathered around the spot, in
momentary but engrossing curiosity, and even Esther quitted her culinary
labours, and drew nigh to listen.

Hard-Heart alone, of all his band, was present to witness the novel and
far from unimposing spectacle. He stood leaning, gravely, on his lance,
while the smoking steed, that grazed nigh, showed that he had ridden far
and hard to be a spectator, on the occasion.

Ishmael had received his new ally with a coldness that showed his entire
insensibility to that delicacy, which had induced the young chief to
come alone, in order that the presence of his warriors might not create
uneasiness, or distrust. He neither courted their assistance, nor
dreaded their enmity, and he now proceeded to the business of the hour
with as much composure, as if the species of patriarchal power, he
wielded, was universally recognised.

There is something elevating in the possession of authority, however it
may be abused. The mind is apt to make some efforts to prove the fitness
between its qualities and the condition of its owner, though it may
often fail, and render that ridiculous which was only hated before. But
the effect on Ishmael Bush was not so disheartening. Grave in exterior,
saturnine by temperament, formidable by his physical means, and
dangerous from his lawless obstinacy, his self-constituted tribunal
excited a degree of awe, to which even the intelligent Middleton could
not bring himself to be entirely insensible. Little time, however, was
given to arrange his thoughts; for the squatter, though unaccustomed to
haste, having previously made up his mind, was not disposed to waste the
moments in delay. When he saw that all were in their places, he cast a
dull look over his prisoners, and addressed himself to the Captain, as
the principal man among the imaginary delinquents.

"I am called upon this day, to fill the office which in the settlements
you give unto judges, who are set apart to decide on matters that arise
between man and man. I have but little knowledge of the ways of the
courts, though there is a rule that is known unto all, and which
teaches, that an 'eye must be returned for an eye,' and a 'tooth for
a tooth.' I am no troubler of countyhouses, and least of all do I like
living on a plantation that the sheriff has surveyed; yet there is
a reason in such a law, that makes it a safe rule to journey by, and
therefore it ar' a solemn fact that this day shall I abide by it, and
give unto all and each that which is his due and no more."

When Ishmael had delivered his mind thus far, he paused and looked
about him, as if he would trace the effects in the countenances of his
hearers. When his eye met that of Middleton, he was answered by the
latter—

"If the evil-doer is to be punished, and he that has offended none to
be left to go at large, you must change situations with me, and become a
prisoner instead of a judge."

"You mean to say that I have done you wrong, in taking the lady from her
father's house, and leading her so far against her will into these wild
districts," returned the unmoved squatter, who manifested as little
resentment as he betrayed compunction at the charge. "I shall not put
the lie on the back of an evil deed, and deny your words. Since things
have come to this pass between us, I have found time to think the matter
over at my leisure, and though none of your swift thinkers, who can see,
or who pretend to see, into the nature of all things, by a turn of the
eye, yet am I a man open to reason, and give me my time, one who is not
given to deny the truth. Therefore have I mainly concluded, that it
was a mistake to take a child from its parent, and the lady shall be
returned whence she has been brought, as tenderly and as safely as man
can do it."

"Ay, ay," added Esther, "the man is right. Poverty and labour bore hard
upon him, especially as county officers were getting troublesome, and
in a weak moment he did the wicked act; but he has listened to my words,
and his mind has got round again into its honest corner. An awful and a
dangerous thing it is to be bringing the daughters of other people into
a peaceable and well-governed family!"

"And who will thank you for the same, after what has been already
done?" muttered Abiram, with a grin of disappointed cupidity, in which
malignity and terror were disgustingly united; "when the devil has once
made out his account, you may look for your receipt in full only at his
hands."

"Peace!" said Ishmael, stretching his heavy hand towards his kinsman,
in a manner that instantly silenced the speaker. "Your voice is like a
raven's in my ears. If you had never spoken, I should have been spared
this shame."

"Since then you are beginning to lose sight of your errors, and to
see the truth," said Middleton, "do not things by halves, but, by
the generosity of your conduct, purchase friends who may be of use in
warding off any future danger from the law—"

"Young man," interrupted the squatter, with a dark frown, "you, too,
have said enough. If fear of the law had come over me, you would not be
here to witness the manner in which Ishmael Bush deals out justice."

"Smother not your good intentions; and remember, if you contemplate
violence to any among us, that the arm of that law you affect to
despise, reaches far, and that though its movements are sometimes slow,
they are not the less certain!"

"Yes, there is too much truth in his words, squatter," said the trapper,
whose attentive ears rarely suffered a syllable to be utterly unheeded
in his presence. "A busy and a troublesome arm it often proves to be
here, in this land of America; where, as they say, man is left greatly
to the following of his own wishes, compared to other countries;
and happier, ay, and more manly and more honest, too, is he for the
privilege! Why do you know, my men, that there are regions where the law
is so busy as to say, In this fashion shall you live, in that fashion
shall you die, and in such another fashion shall you take leave of the
world, to be sent before the judgment-seat of the Lord! A wicked and a
troublesome meddling is that, with the business of One who has not made
His creatures to be herded, like oxen, and driven from field to field,
as their stupid and selfish keepers may judge of their need and wants.
A miserable land must that be, where they fetter the mind as well as the
body, and where the creatures of God, being born children, are kept
so by the wicked inventions of men who would take upon themselves the
office of the great Governor of all!"

During the delivery of this pertinent opinion, Ishmael was content to be
silent, though the look, with which he regarded the speaker, manifested
any other feeling than that of amity. When the old man was done, he
turned to Middleton, and continued the subject which the other had
interrupted.

"As to ourselves, young Captain, there has been wrong on both sides. If
I have borne hard upon your feelings, in taking away your wife with an
honest intention of giving her back to you, when the plans of that devil
incarnate were answered, so have you broken into my encampment,
aiding and abetting, as they have called many an honester bargain, in
destroying my property."

"But what I did was to liberate—"

"The matter is settled between us," interrupted Ishmael, with the air of
one who, having made up his own opinion on the merits of the question,
cared very little for those of other people; "you and your wife are
free to go and come, when and how you please. Abner, set the Captain at
liberty; and now, if you will tarry until I am ready to draw nigher to
the settlements, you shall both have the benefit of carriage; if not,
never say that you did not get a friendly offer."

"Now, may the strong oppress me, and my sins be visited harshly on my
own head, if I forget your honesty, however slow it has been in showing
itself," cried Middleton, hastening to the side of the weeping Inez,
the instant he was released; "and, friend, I pledge you the honour of
a soldier, that your own part of this transaction shall be forgotten,
whatever I may deem fit to have done, when I reach a place where the arm
of government can make itself felt."

The dull smile, with which the squatter answered to this assurance,
proved how little he valued the pledge that the youth, in the first
revulsion of his feelings, was so free to make.

"Neither fear nor favour, but what I call justice, has brought me to
this judgment," he said, "do you that which may seem right in your eyes,
and believe that the world is wide enough to hold us both, without our
crossing each other's path again! If you ar' content, well; if you ar'
not content, seek to ease your feelings in your own fashion. I shall
not ask to be let up, when you once put me fairly down. And now, Doctor,
have I come to your leaf in my accounts. It is time to foot up the small
reckoning, that has been running on, for some time, atwixt us. With you,
I entered into open and manly faith; in what manner have you kept it?"

The singular felicity, with which Ishmael had contrived to shift the
responsibility of all that had passed, from his own shoulders to those
of his prisoners, backed as it was by circumstances that hardly admitted
of a very philosophical examination of any mooted point in ethics,
was sufficiently embarrassing to the several individuals, who were
so unexpectedly required to answer for a conduct which, in their
simplicity, they had deemed so meritorious. The life of Obed had been so
purely theoretic, that his amazement was not the least embarrassing at
a state of things which might not have proved so very remarkable had
he been a little more practised in the ways of the world. The worthy
naturalist was not the first by many, who found himself, at the precise
moment when he was expecting praise, suddenly arraigned, to answer for
the very conduct on which he rested all his claims to commendation.
Though not a little scandalised, at the unexpected turn of the
transaction, he was fain to make the best of circumstances, and to bring
forth such matter in justification, as first presented itself to his
disordered faculties.