waved slowly up and down, as if the tree had
life. Looking for a while at the old man, I was satisfied that he was
engaged in an act of worship or prayer, or communion of some kind with
a supernatural being. I longed to penetrate his thoughts, but I could
do nothing more than conjecture and speculate. I knew that though the
intellect of an Indian can embrace the idea of an all-wise, all-powerful
Spirit, the supreme Ruler of the universe, yet his mind will not always
ascend into communion with a being that seems to him so vast, remote,
and incomprehensible; and when danger threatens, when his hopes are
broken, when the black wing of sorrow overshadows him, he is prone to
turn for relief to some inferior agency, less removed from the ordinary
scope of his faculties. He has a guardian spirit, on whom he relies
for succor and guidance. To him all nature is instinct with mystic
influence. Among those mountains not a wild beast was prowling, a bird
singing, or a leaf fluttering, that might not tend to direct his destiny
or give warning of what was in store for him; and he watches the world
of nature around him as the astrologer watches the stars. So closely is
he linked with it that his guardian spirit, no unsubstantial creation of
the fancy, is usually embodied in the form of some living thing--a bear,
a wolf, an eagle, or a serpent; and Mene-Seela, as he gazed intently on
the old pine tree, might believe it to inshrine the fancied guide and
protector of his life.

Whatever was passing in the mind of the old man, it was no part of
sense or of delicacy to disturb him. Silently retracing my footsteps, I
descended the glen until I came to a point where I could climb the steep
precipices that shut it in, and gain the side of the mountain. Looking
up, I saw a tall peak rising among the woods. Something impelled me to
climb; I had not felt for many a day such strength and elasticity of
limb. An hour and a half of slow and often intermittent labor brought me
to the very summit; and emerging from the dark shadows of the rocks and
pines, I stepped forth into the light, and walking along the sunny verge
of a precipice, seated myself on its extreme point. Looking between the
mountain peaks to the westward, the pale blue prairie was stretching to
the farthest horizon like a serene and tranquil ocean. The surrounding
mountains were in themselves sufficiently striking and impressive, but
this contrast gave redoubled effect to their stern