FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138  
139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   >>   >|  
he nearest of kin, the avengers of blood, they will seek your life. You have no witness to your story, not even the body or a grave to show. When they find your mother has not arrived, their suspicions will be aroused. I believe your story, strange as it is. When they demand of me the cause of your mother's non-arrival I will tell them as you have told me; but they will not believe it, and so you must not meet them, as in all probability they will kill you, in spite of all that I can do. So you must flee away from the avengers. You, my only son of your mother, must not fall by the hands of her brothers. Meet me here to-night when the moon is at her brightest, and I will then have decided what you must do. Flee quickly.' "It was indeed time for me to go, for hardly had I slipped away, and hidden in the deep grass, ere I heard angry voices in reply to my father's quiet words. But I could make out nothing at the time of what was said. For hours I there remained. The day passed on, and the night followed, and yet I waited until the old moon came up to its brightest point. Then, returning to the appointed spot, there I found my father waiting for me. His great sorrow was still on him, his love for the son of her whom he had loved so well had shown itself in his acts. He had with him a good horse and a warrior's bow and quiver of arrows. In addition he had a supply of food and some other necessary things. He embraced me more tenderly than I ever remember his having done before, and then for an instant his strong Indian nature broke, and with one convulsive sob he said, `Kah-se-ke-at' (`My beloved'), which was his pet name for my mother. But quickly he regained his composure, and, pointing to the north star, he said I was to direct my course so much west of that and try to reach the friendly band of Maskepetoon, the great chief of the land of the Saskatchewan. He commanded me to ride fast, as he feared trouble, as my uncles, to whom he had told my story in the presence of all the relatives, would not be pacified, but had demanded that I be delivered up. So I was armed and mounted, but ere my father would let me go he drew me down to him and kissed me, and then said:-- "`Be brave, my son; never begin a quarrel; but if the story of your mother's death is true--and I believe you, for you have never deceived me--then in your innocency, if you are followed and attacked, use your weapons, and if you must die,
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138  
139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
mother
 

father

 

avengers

 

brightest

 

quickly

 
embraced
 
things
 

convulsive

 
beloved
 

supply


tenderly

 

arrows

 
instant
 

remember

 
strong
 

addition

 
Indian
 
nature
 

quiver

 

kissed


mounted

 

relatives

 

pacified

 

demanded

 

delivered

 

attacked

 

weapons

 

innocency

 

quarrel

 

deceived


presence

 
uncles
 

direct

 

regained

 

composure

 
pointing
 

friendly

 
feared
 

trouble

 
commanded

Saskatchewan
 

Maskepetoon

 
warrior
 
passed
 

arrival

 

probability

 
decided
 

brothers

 
witness
 

nearest