登陆注册
5142800000057

第57章

The night before the fugitives reached Fort Penn, the Iroquois began the celebration of the Thanksgiving Dance for their great victory and the many scalps taken at Wyoming.They could not recall another time when they had secured so many of these hideous trophies, and they were drunk with the joy of victory.

Many of the Tories, some in their own clothes, and some painted and dressed like Indians, took part in it.

According to their ancient and honored custom they held a grand council to prepare for it.All the leading chiefs were present, Sangerachte, Hiokatoo, and the others.Braxton Wyatt, Blackstaffe, and other white men were admitted.After their deliberations a great fire was built in the center of the camp, the squaws who had followed the army feeding it with brushwood until it leaped and roared and formed a great red pyramid.Then the chiefs sat down in a solemn circle at some distance, and waited.

Presently the sound of a loud chant was heard, and from the farthest point of the camp emerged a long line of warriors, hundreds and hundreds of them, all painted in red and black with horrible designs.They were naked except the breechcloth and moccasins, and everyone waved aloft a tomahawk as he sang.

Still singing and brandishing the tomahawks, which gleamed in the red light, the long procession entered the open space, and danced and wheeled about the great fire, the flames casting a lurid light upon faces hideous with paint or the intoxication of triumph.The glare of their black eyes was like those of Eastern eaters of hasheesh or opium, and they bounded to and fro as if their muscles were springs of steel.They sang:

We have met the Bostonians* in battle, We slew them with our rifles and tomahawks.

Few there are who escaped our warriors.

Ever-victorious is the League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee.

[*Note: All the Americans were often called Bostonians by the Indians as late as the Revolutionary War.]

Mighty has been our taking of scalps, They will fill all the lodges of the Iroquois.

We have burned the houses of the Bostonians.

Ever-victorious is the League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee.

The wolf will prowl in their corn-fields, The grass will grow where their blood has soaked;Their bones will lie for the buzzard to pick.

Ever-victorious is the League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee.

We came upon them by river and forest;

As we smote Wyoming we will smite the others, We will drive the Bostonians back to the sea.

Ever-victorious is the League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee.

The monotonous chant with the refrain, "Ever-victorious is the League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee," went on for many verses.

Meanwhile the old squaws never ceased to feed the bonfire, and the flames roared, casting a deeper and more vivid light over the distorted faces of the dancers and those of the chiefs, who sat gravely beyond.

Higher and higher leaped the warriors.They seemed unconscious of fatigue, and the glare in their eyes became that of maniacs.

Their whole souls were possessed by the orgy.Beads of sweat, not of exhaustion, but of emotional excitement, appeared upon their faces and naked bodies, and the red and black paint streaked together horribly.

For a long time this went on, and then the warriors ceased suddenly to sing, although they continued their dance.A moment later a cry which thrilled every nerve came from a far point in the dark background.It was the scalp yell, the most terrible of all Indian cries, long, high-pitched, and quavering, having in it something of the barking howl of the wolf and the fiendish shriek of a murderous maniac.The warriors instantly took it up, and gave it back in a gigantic chorus.

A ghastly figure bounded into the circle of the firelight.It was that of a woman, middle-aged, tall and powerful, naked to the waist, her body covered with red and black paint, her long black hair hanging in a loose cloud down her back.She held a fresh scalp, taken from a white head, aloft in either band.It was Catharine Montour, and it was she who had first emitted the scalp yell.After her came more warriors, all bearing scalps.The scalp yell was supposed to be uttered for every scalp taken, and, as they had taken more than three hundred, it did not cease for hours, penetrating every part of the forest.All the time Catharine Montour led the dance.None bounded higher than she.

None grimaced more horribly.

While they danced, six men, with their hands tied behind them and black caps on their heads, were brought forth and paraded around amid hoots and yells and brandishing of tomahawks in their faces.

They were the surviving prisoners, and the black caps meant that they were to be killed and scalped on the morrow.Stupefied by all through which they had gone, they were scarcely conscious now.

Midnight came.The Iroquois still danced and sang, and the calm stars looked down upon the savage and awful scene.Now the dancers began to weary.Many dropped unconscious, and the others danced about them where they lay.After a while all ceased.

Then the chiefs brought forth a white dog, which Hiokatoo killed and threw on the embers of the fire.When it was thoroughly roasted, the chiefs cut it in pieces and ate it.Thus closed the Festival of Thanksgiving for the victory of Wyoming.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 决世屠尊

    决世屠尊

    乱世红尘,卷一地风风雨雨,天马行空,挥世事豪情。爱字不放手,战字不低头!萧萧乾坤,谁为红颜……
  • The Perfect Wagnerite

    The Perfect Wagnerite

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 根本说一切有部毗奈耶药事

    根本说一切有部毗奈耶药事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 我会为这世界带来光明

    我会为这世界带来光明

    寒言中学。风无忧转校到高二C班的时候,班上是一片欢呼。虽然他并不是哪里来的美少女,也并不是哪里来的富二代。他只是一个普普通通的男子高中生而已。乍看之下,班上女多男少,欢呼的都是女生。说起来,风无忧的人生一直很平静的,在班上也是默默无闻的。如今在班上这么受欢迎,风无忧心说莫不是自己人生的春天到了。
  • 情感·温馨卷(散文精品)

    情感·温馨卷(散文精品)

    其实,世间好远的事情很多,何苦把痛苦加在别人身上呢? 如果能把心思花在一些美好的有意义的事情上,一个失业的人也不至失去尊严的气度,反过来做一些无知而折损福德的事,自以为好地,伤害的则是自己的心。
  • 春秋穀梁传注疏

    春秋穀梁传注疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 红楼恨梦之黛玉问情

    红楼恨梦之黛玉问情

    什么?穿越之后我竟然变成了林黛玉,她是严咏春?咏春拳的创始人竟然称了我的老师?更可怕的是他——陈家洛,红花会的总舵主?那个出现在他旁边的人是不是化为蝴蝶的香妃啊?可为什么我心里那么不舒服?天上掉下个林妹妹。这个林妹妹可真美,想我风度翩翩的贾府二少年难道还迷不倒她么?只是这个林妹妹好像有点带刺,怎么也不如宝姐姐那朵华丽的牡丹花。从第一眼看见她就被她的文采所打动,小小的年纪见识却是如此的不凡。为了她,我守着快要盛开的冰山雪莲,为了她,我尽快的学好武功就是为了亲自把这多雪莲送给她。她的美比她娘还要美,当年的清朝第一大美女为了拉拢住林如海身为皇帝的朕没办法才放手,今天老天爷竟然把这朵娇嫩的小花送到了朕的身边朕怎么能不爱惜她呢,不是说身高不是距离,年龄不是问题么?只是她竟然是我弟弟的意中人......引子一一曲清词一杯茶,深宫何处忆儿家?点点红楼尽滴泪,梦断深宫去天涯。引子二十年恩爱终成梦,苦心教导亦成空。且看风云变幻时,金陵烟雨展神通。引子三家住虚无缥缈中,读书习武两无成。怀揣金银不会用,流落江湖一狂生。************************************************强力推荐好友冰冷女人的玄幻小说异世逆天,(既天道不公,那我就做那逆天的存在.....).强力推荐好友月飞扬的邪恶小娘子(“你干嘛砸我的头!”某男愤恨道!)强力推荐好友流光倾城的扑到美人师父(一道天雷,她换魂,变身绝色。天下苍生皆被她所媚,只他一人,端坐如莲。)
  • 我们说好不哭的

    我们说好不哭的

    【么么哒的小萌文】我和莫凉意高一的时候就认识了,不过,我们可没有早恋,我们只是早早的认识了彼此而已。我不是什么校园女神,不是什么高冷的女汉子,我真的是一个萌萌的妹子,“不信,你去问莫凉意去!”。我的高中时代几乎就是,饿了找刘诗然,想静就找小童睿,想玩就找代星月,想哭就找哥哥仲夏,想八卦就找蒋希瑞,缺爱了就去找莫凉意。“你喜欢我吗?”“我不喜欢你妈,我喜欢你。”“那你喜欢我哪一点啊?”“呃···,我喜欢你每一点。”“么么哒,我也喜欢你。”
  • 二重犯

    二重犯

    外表看似18岁少女,内心却住着一个48岁抠脚大汉的90后射手座女屌丝。重口味,资深美剧日漫迷,恐怖电影B级片发烧粉。脑洞上的巨人,行动上的矮子,拖延癌已弃疗。一觉醒来,你发现四周有些不对劲。首先是家具摆设。你意识到这里既不是阴暗潮湿的看守所,也不是后来被列入案发现场的凌乱出租房,而是摆设整齐的、案发之前的你的家。
  • 晋太康三年地记

    晋太康三年地记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。