here? And where came
he from when he came here? Who were his kindred, and of what race and
nation was he? These were questions that I asked myself day after day,
but was unable to answer them. I resolved to find out, and attempted to
make friends with him as the most tangible way of succeeding. He was
reserved and haughty, and I doubted my success; but I was agreeably
surprised when he deigned to receive and converse with me, though at
the same time he treated me with a degree of contempt by no means
agreeable; yet it came from him with such a glance of pity in his eye
as if he earnestly commiserated my inferiority, that I half forgave him
at the moment. He conversed about everything save the one subject
nearest my heart--_himself_. But on this point he was silent, and when,
day after day, I entreated him to give me a history of himself, the
thought seemed to call up such agonizing recollections as to make every
renewal of the subject difficult for me and painful to him.

"Many months went by, but as yet I was no farther advanced than at
first, on the one great subject of which I so longed to be familiar. I
fancied of late the old man had become more taciturn and reserved than
formerly, showing a disinclination to converse on any subject, and I
could not avoid seeing his steps grow slower; he took less exercise
than had been his custom, and I saw plainly he was passing away. Then I
feared he would never relent; that death would come upon him and his
history remain unknown.

"One evening, after I had in vain endeavored to gain access to the old
man through the day, I wandered out and stood on a high cliff, against
whose base the waves of the lake beat with a sullen roar; and looking
far away over the turbulent surface of this prince of inland seas, was
wondering if ever its waters would become tributary to the will of my
race, or if, as now, the canoe of the Indian was all the vessel that
should breast its rugged waves. The place where I stood was a sort of
table, or level rock, the highest peak of the cliff, rising in a
cone-like shape, some thirty feet above. Below it was irregular, and
the path to the place where I stood tortuous, difficult, and dangerous;
but when once there, one of the grandest views on the whole lake was
presented. I had not been there long, when, hearing a footstep
approach, and thinking it a dangerous place to be caught in if it
should be an unfriendly Indian, I caught hold of some shrubs growi