diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/adfrc10.txt | 1080 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/adfrc10.zip | bin | 0 -> 24207 bytes |
2 files changed, 1080 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/adfrc10.txt b/old/adfrc10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f7cf634 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/adfrc10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1080 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext A Drift from Redwood Camp, by Bret Harte +#40 in our series by Bret Harte + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + +*It must legally be the first thing seen when opening the book.* +In fact, our legal advisors said we can't even change margins. + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +Title: A Drift from Redwood Camp + +Author: Bret Harte + +July, 2001 [Etext #2712] + + +Project Gutenberg Etext A Drift from Redwood Camp, by Bret Harte +******This file should be named adfrc10.txt or adfrc10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, adfrc11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, adfrc10a.txt + + +This etext was prepared by Donald Lainson, charlie@idirect.com. + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-six text +files per month, or 432 more Etexts in 1999 for a total of 2000+ +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach over 200 billion Etexts given away this year. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only ~5% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding; currently our funding is mostly +from Michael Hart's salary at Carnegie-Mellon University, and an +assortment of sporadic gifts; this salary is only good for a few +more years, so we are looking for something to replace it, as we +don't want Project Gutenberg to be so dependent on one person. + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (CMU = Carnegie- +Mellon University). + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails. . .try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +We would prefer to send you this information by email. + +****** + +To access Project Gutenberg etexts, use any Web browser +to view http://promo.net/pg. This site lists Etexts by +author and by title, and includes information about how +to get involved with Project Gutenberg. You could also +download our past Newsletters, or subscribe here. This +is one of our major sites, please email hart@pobox.com, +for a more complete list of our various sites. + +To go directly to the etext collections, use FTP or any +Web browser to visit a Project Gutenberg mirror (mirror +sites are available on 7 continents; mirrors are listed +at http://promo.net/pg). + +Mac users, do NOT point and click, typing works better. + +Example FTP session: + +ftp metalab.unc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext01, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + +*** + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** + +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +We are planning on making some changes in our donation structure +in 2000, so you might want to email me, hart@pobox.com beforehand. + + + + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Donald Lainson, charlie@idirect.com. + + + + + +A Drift from Redwood Camp + +by Bret Harte + + + + +They had all known him as a shiftless, worthless creature. From +the time he first entered Redwood Camp, carrying his entire effects +in a red handkerchief on the end of a long-handled shovel, until he +lazily drifted out of it on a plank in the terrible inundation of +'56, they never expected anything better of him. In a community of +strong men with sullen virtues and charmingly fascinating vices, +he was tolerated as possessing neither--not even rising by any +dominant human weakness or ludicrous quality to the importance of a +butt. In the dramatis personae of Redwood Camp he was a simple +"super"--who had only passive, speechless roles in those fierce +dramas that were sometimes unrolled beneath its green-curtained +pines. Nameless and penniless, he was overlooked by the census and +ignored by the tax collector, while in a hotly-contested election +for sheriff, when even the head-boards of the scant cemetery were +consulted to fill the poll-lists, it was discovered that neither +candidate had thought fit to avail himself of his actual vote. He +was debarred the rude heraldry of a nickname of achievement, and in +a camp made up of "Euchre Bills," "Poker Dicks," "Profane Pete," +and "Snap-shot Harry," was known vaguely as "him," "Skeesicks," or +"that coot." It was remembered long after, with a feeling of +superstition, that he had never even met with the dignity of an +accident, nor received the fleeting honor of a chance shot meant +for somebody else in any of the liberal and broadly comprehensive +encounters which distinguished the camp. And the inundation that +finally carried him out of it was partly anticipated by his passive +incompetency, for while the others escaped--or were drowned in +escaping--he calmly floated off on his plank without an opposing +effort. + +For all that, Elijah Martin--which was his real name--was far from +being unamiable or repellent. That he was cowardly, untruthful, +selfish, and lazy, was undoubtedly the fact; perhaps it was his +peculiar misfortune that, just then, courage, frankness, +generosity, and activity were the dominant factors in the life of +Redwood Camp. His submissive gentleness, his unquestioned modesty, +his half refinement, and his amiable exterior consequently availed +him nothing against the fact that he was missed during a raid of +the Digger Indians, and lied to account for it; or that he lost his +right to a gold discovery by failing to make it good against a +bully, and selfishly kept this discovery from the knowledge of the +camp. Yet this weakness awakened no animosity in his companions, +and it is probable that the indifference of the camp to his fate in +this final catastrophe came purely from a simple forgetfulness of +one who at that supreme moment was weakly incapable. + +Such was the reputation and such the antecedents of the man who, +on the 15th of March, 1856, found himself adrift in a swollen +tributary of the Minyo. A spring freshet of unusual volume had +flooded the adjacent river until, bursting its bounds, it escaped +through the narrow, wedge-shaped valley that held Redwood Camp. +For a day and night the surcharged river poured half its waters +through the straggling camp. At the end of that time every vestige +of the little settlement was swept away; all that was left was +scattered far and wide in the country, caught in the hanging +branches of water-side willows and alders, embayed in sluggish +pools, dragged over submerged meadows, and one fragment--bearing up +Elijah Martin--pursuing the devious courses of an unknown tributary +fifty miles away. Had he been a rash, impatient man, he would have +been speedily drowned in some earlier desperate attempt to reach +the shore; had he been an ordinary bold man, he would have +succeeded in transferring himself to the branches of some +obstructing tree; but he was neither, and he clung to his broken +raft-like berth with an endurance that was half the paralysis of +terror and half the patience of habitual misfortune. Eventually he +was caught in a side current, swept to the bank, and cast ashore on +an unexplored wilderness. + +His first consciousness was one of hunger that usurped any +sentiment of gratitude for his escape from drowning. As soon as +his cramped limbs permitted, he crawled out of the bushes in search +of food. He did not know where he was; there was no sign of +habitation--or even occupation--anywhere. He had been too +terrified to notice the direction in which he had drifted--even if +he had possessed the ordinary knowledge of a backwoodsman, which he +did not. He was helpless. In his bewildered state, seeing a +squirrel cracking a nut on the branch of a hollow tree near him, he +made a half-frenzied dart at the frightened animal, which ran away. +But the same association of ideas in his torpid and confused brain +impelled him to search for the squirrel's hoard in the hollow of +the tree. He ate the few hazel-nuts he found there, ravenously. +The purely animal instinct satisfied, he seemed to have borrowed +from it a certain strength and intuition. He limped through the +thicket not unlike some awkward, shy quadrumane, stopping here and +there to peer out through the openings over the marshes that lay +beyond. His sight, hearing, and even the sense of smell had become +preternaturally acute. It was the latter which suddenly arrested +his steps with the odor of dried fish. It had a significance +beyond the mere instincts of hunger--it indicated the contiguity of +some Indian encampment. And as such--it meant danger, torture, and +death. + +He stopped, trembled violently, and tried to collect his scattered +senses. Redwood Camp had embroiled itself needlessly and brutally +with the surrounding Indians, and only held its own against them by +reckless courage and unerring marksmanship. The frequent use of a +casual wandering Indian as a target for the practising rifles of +its members had kept up an undying hatred in the heart of the +aborigines and stimulated them to terrible and isolated reprisals. +The scalped and skinned dead body of Jack Trainer, tied on his +horse and held hideously upright by a cross of wood behind his +saddle, had passed, one night, a slow and ghastly apparition, into +camp; the corpse of Dick Ryner had been found anchored on the +river-bed, disembowelled and filled with stone and gravel. The +solitary and unprotected member of Redwood Camp who fell into the +enemy's hands was doomed. + +Elijah Martin remembered this, but his fears gradually began to +subside in a certain apathy of the imagination, which, perhaps, +dulled his apprehensions and allowed the instinct of hunger to +become again uppermost. He knew that the low bark tents, or +wigwams, of the Indians were hung with strips of dried salmon, and +his whole being was new centered upon an attempt to stealthily +procure a delicious morsel. As yet he had distinguished no other +sign of life or habitation; a few moments later, however, and grown +bolder with an animal-like trustfulness in his momentary security, +he crept out of the thicket and found himself near a long, low +mound or burrow-like structure of mud and bark on the river-bank. +A single narrow opening, not unlike the entrance of an Esquimau +hut, gave upon the river. Martin had no difficulty in recognizing +the character of the building. It was a "sweathouse," an +institution common to nearly all the aboriginal tribes of +California. Half a religious temple, it was also half a sanitary +asylum, was used as a Russian bath or superheated vault, from which +the braves, sweltering and stifling all night, by smothered fires, +at early dawn plunged, perspiring, into the ice-cold river. The +heat and smoke were further utilized to dry and cure the long +strips of fish hanging from the roof, and it was through the narrow +aperture that served as a chimney that the odor escaped which +Martin had detected. He knew that as the bathers only occupied the +house from midnight to early morn, it was now probably empty. He +advanced confidently toward it. + +He was a little surprised to find that the small open space between +it and the river was occupied by a rude scaffolding, like that on +which certain tribes exposed their dead, but in this instance it +only contained the feathered leggings, fringed blanket, and eagle- +plumed head-dress of some brave. He did not, however, linger in +this plainly visible area, but quickly dropped on all fours and +crept into the interior of the house. Here he completed his feast +with the fish, and warmed his chilled limbs on the embers of the +still smouldering fires. It was while drying his tattered clothes +and shoeless feet that he thought of the dead brave's useless +leggings and moccasins, and it occurred to him that he would be +less likely to attract the Indians' attention from a distance and +provoke a ready arrow, if he were disguised as one of them. +Crawling out again, he quickly secured, not only the leggings, but +the blanket and head-dress, and putting them on, cast his own +clothes into the stream. A bolder, more energetic, or more +provident man would have followed the act by quickly making his way +back to the thicket to reconnoitre, taking with him a supply of +fish for future needs. But Elijah Martin succumbed again to the +recklessness of inertia; he yielded once more to the animal +instinct of momentary security. He returned to the interior of the +hut, curled himself again on the ashes, and weakly resolving to +sleep until moonrise, and as weakly hesitating, ended by falling +into uneasy but helpless stupor. + +When he awoke, the rising sun, almost level with the low entrance +to the sweat-house, was darting its direct rays into the interior, +as if searching it with fiery spears. He had slept ten hours. He +rose tremblingly to his knees. Everything was quiet without; he +might yet escape. He crawled to the opening. The open space +before it was empty, but the scaffolding was gone. The clear, keen +air revived him. As he sprang out, erect, a shout that nearly +stunned him seemed to rise from the earth on all sides. He glanced +around him in a helpless agony of fear. A dozen concentric circles +of squatting Indians, whose heads were visible above the reeds, +encompassed the banks around the sunken base of the sweat-house +with successive dusky rings. Every avenue of escape seemed closed. +Perhaps for that reason the attitude of his surrounding captors was +passive rather than aggressive, and the shrewd, half-Hebraic +profiles nearest him expressed only stoical waiting. There was a +strange similarity of expression in his own immovable apathy of +despair. His only sense of averting his fate was a confused idea +of explaining his intrusion. His desperate memory yielded a few +common Indian words. He pointed automatically to himself and the +stream. His white lips moved. + +"I come--from--the river!" + +A guttural cry, as if the whole assembly were clearing their +throats, went round the different circles. The nearest rocked +themselves to and fro and bent their feathered heads toward him. A +hollow-cheeked, decrepit old man arose and said, simply:-- + +"It is he! The great chief has come!" + + . . . . . . + +He was saved. More than that, he was re-created. For, by signs +and intimations he was quickly made aware that since the death of +their late chief, their medicine-men had prophesied that his +perfect successor should appear miraculously before them, borne +noiselessly on the river FROM THE SEA, in the plumes and insignia +of his predecessor. This mere coincidence of appearance and +costume might not have been convincing to the braves had not Elijah +Martin's actual deficiencies contributed to their unquestioned +faith in him. Not only his inert possession of the sweat-house and +his apathetic attitude in their presence, but his utter and +complete unlikeness to the white frontiersmen of their knowledge +and tradition--creatures of fire and sword and malevolent activity-- +as well as his manifest dissimilarity to themselves, settled their +conviction of his supernatural origin. His gentle, submissive +voice, his yielding will, his lazy helplessness, the absence of +strange weapons and fierce explosives in his possession, his +unwonted sobriety--all proved him an exception to his apparent race +that was in itself miraculous. For it must be confessed that, in +spite of the cherished theories of most romances and all statesmen +and commanders, that FEAR is the great civilizer of the savage +barbarian, and that he is supposed to regard the prowess of the +white man and his mysterious death-dealing weapons as evidence of +his supernatural origin and superior creation, the facts have +generally pointed to the reverse. Elijah Martin was not long in +discovering that when the Minyo hunter, with his obsolete bow, +dropped dead by a bullet from a viewless and apparently noiseless +space, it was NOT considered the lightnings of an avenging Deity, +but was traced directly to the ambushed rifle of Kansas Joe, swayed +by a viciousness quite as human as their own; the spectacle of +Blizzard Dick, verging on delirium tremens, and riding "amuck" into +an Indian village with a revolver in each hand, did NOT impress +them as a supernatural act, nor excite their respectful awe as much +as the less harmful frenzy of one of their own medicine-men; they +were NOT influenced by implacable white gods, who relaxed only to +drive hard bargains and exchange mildewed flour and shoddy blankets +for their fish and furs. I am afraid they regarded these raids of +Christian civilization as they looked upon grasshopper plagues, +famines, inundations, and epidemics; while an utterly impassive God +washed his hands of the means he had employed, and even encouraged +the faithful to resist and overcome his emissaries--the white +devils! Had Elijah Martin been a student of theology, he would +have been struck with the singular resemblance of these theories-- +although the application thereof was reversed--to the Christian +faith. But Elijah Martin had neither the imagination of a +theologian nor the insight of a politician. He only saw that he, +hitherto ignored and despised in a community of half-barbaric men, +now translated to a community of men wholly savage, was respected +and worshipped! + +It might have turned a stronger head than Elijah's. He was at +first frightened, fearful lest his reception concealed some hidden +irony, or that, like the flower-crowned victim of ancient +sacrifice, he was exalted and sustained to give importance and +majesty to some impending martyrdom. Then he began to dread that +his innocent deceit--if deceit it was--should be discovered; at +last, partly from meekness and partly from the animal contentment +of present security, he accepted the situation. Fortunately for +him it was purely passive. The Great Chief of the Minyo tribe was +simply an expressionless idol of flesh and blood. The previous +incumbent of that office had been an old man, impotent and +senseless of late years through age and disease. The chieftains +and braves had consulted in council before him, and perfunctorily +submitted their decisions, like offerings, to his unresponsive +shrine. In the same way, all material events--expeditions, +trophies, industries--were supposed to pass before the dull, +impassive eyes of the great chief, for direct acceptance. On the +second day of Elijah's accession, two of the braves brought a +bleeding human scalp before him. Elijah turned pale, trembled, and +averted his head, and then, remembering the danger of giving way to +his weakness, grew still more ghastly. The warriors watched him +with impassioned faces. A grunt--but whether of astonishment, +dissent, or approval, he would not tell--went round the circle. +But the scalp was taken away and never again appeared in his +presence. + +An incident still more alarming quickly followed. Two captives, +white men, securely bound, were one day brought before him on their +way to the stake, followed by a crowd of old and young squaws and +children. The unhappy Elijah recognized in the prisoners two +packers from a distant settlement who sometimes passed through +Redwood Camp. An agony of terror, shame, and remorse shook the +pseudo chief to his crest of high feathers, and blanched his face +beneath its paint and yellow ochre. To interfere to save them from +the torture they were evidently to receive at the hands of those +squaws and children, according to custom, would be exposure and +death to him as well as themselves; while to assist by his passive +presence at the horrible sacrifice of his countrymen was too much +for even his weak selfishness. Scarcely knowing what he did as the +lugubrious procession passed before him, he hurriedly hid his face +in his blanket and turned his back upon the scene. There was a +dead silence. The warriors were evidently unprepared for this +extraordinary conduct of their chief. What might have been their +action it was impossible to conjecture, for at that moment a little +squaw, perhaps impatient for the sport and partly emboldened by the +fact that she had been selected, only a few days before, as the +betrothed of the new chief, approached him slyly from the other +side. The horrified eyes of Elijah, momentarily raised from his +blanket, saw and recognized her. The feebleness of a weak nature, +that dared not measure itself directly with the real cause, vented +its rage on a secondary object. He darted a quick glance of +indignation and hatred at the young girl. She ran back in startled +terror to her companions, a hurried consultation followed, and in +another moment the whole bevy of girls, old women, and children +were on the wing, shrieking and crying, to their wigwams. + +"You see," said one of the prisoners coolly to the other, in +English, "I was right. They never intended to do anything to us. +It was only a bluff. These Minyos are a different sort from the +other tribes. They never kill anybody if they can help it." + +"You're wrong," said the other, excitedly. "It was that big chief +there, with his head in a blanket, that sent those dogs to the +right about. Hell! did you see them run at just a look from him? +He's a high and mighty feller, you bet. Look at his dignity!" + +"That's so--he ain't no slouch," said the other, gazing at Elijah's +muffled head, critically. "D----d if he ain't a born king." + +The sudden conflict and utter revulsion of emotion that those +simple words caused in Elijah's breast was almost incredible. He +had been at first astounded by the revelation of the peaceful +reputation of the unknown tribe he had been called upon to govern; +but even this comforting assurance was as nothing compared to the +greater revelations implied in the speaker's praise of himself. +He, Elijah Martin! the despised, the rejected, the worthless +outcast of Redwood Camp, recognized as a "born king," a leader; his +power felt by the very men who had scorned him! And he had done +nothing--stop! had he actually done NOTHING? Was it not possible +that he was REALLY what they thought him? His brain reeled under +the strong, unaccustomed wine of praise; acting upon his weak +selfishness, it exalted him for a moment to their measure of his +strength, even as their former belief in his inefficiency had kept +him down. Courage is too often only the memory of past success. +This was his first effort; he forgot he had not earned it, even as +he now ignored the danger of earning it. The few words of +unconscious praise had fallen like the blade of knighthood on his +cowering shoulders; he had risen ennobled from the contact. Though +his face was still muffled in his blanket, he stood erect and +seemed to have gained in stature. + +The braves had remained standing irresolute, and yet watchful, a +few paces from their captives. Suddenly, Elijah, still keeping his +back to the prisoners, turned upon the braves, with blazing eyes, +violently throwing out his hands with the gesture of breaking +bonds. Like all sudden demonstrations of undemonstrative men, it +was extravagant, weird, and theatrical. But it was more potent +than speech--the speech that, even if effective, would still have +betrayed him to his countrymen. The braves hurriedly cut the +thongs of the prisoners; another impulsive gesture from Elijah, and +they, too, fled. When he lifted his eyes cautiously from his +blanket, captors and captives had dispersed in opposite directions, +and he was alone--and triumphant! + +From that moment Elijah Martin was another man. He went to bed +that night in an intoxicating dream of power; he arose a man of +will, of strength. He read it in the eyes of the braves, albeit at +times averted in wonder. He understood, now, that although peace +had been their habit and custom, they had nevertheless sought to +test his theories of administration with the offering of the scalps +and the captives, and in this detection of their common weakness he +forgot his own. Most heroes require the contrast of the unheroic +to set them off; and Elijah actually found himself devising means +for strengthening the defensive and offensive character of the +tribe, and was himself strengthened by it. Meanwhile the escaped +packers did not fail to heighten the importance of their adventure +by elevating the character and achievements of their deliverer; and +it was presently announced throughout the frontier settlements that +the hitherto insignificant and peaceful tribe of Minyos, who +inhabited a large territory bordering on the Pacific Ocean, had +developed into a powerful nation, only kept from the war-path by a +more powerful but mysterious chief. The Government sent an Indian +agent to treat with them, in its usual half-paternal, half- +aggressive, and wholly inconsistent policy. Elijah, who still +retained the imitative sense and adaptability to surroundings which +belong to most lazy, impressible natures, and in striped yellow and +vermilion features looked the chief he personated, met the agent +with silent and becoming gravity. The council was carried on by +signs. Never before had an Indian treaty been entered into with +such perfect knowledge of the intentions and designs of the whites +by the Indians, and such profound ignorance of the qualities of the +Indians by the whites. It need scarcely be said that the treaty +was an unquestionable Indian success. They did not give up their +arable lands; what they did sell to the agent they refused to +exchange for extravagant-priced shoddy blankets, worthless guns, +damp powder, and mouldy meal. They took pay in dollars, and were +thus enabled to open more profitable commerce with the traders at +the settlements for better goods and better bargains; they simply +declined beads, whiskey, and Bibles at any price. The result was +that the traders found it profitable to protect them from their +countrymen, and the chances of wantonly shooting down a possible +valuable customer stopped the old indiscriminate rifle-practice. +The Indians were allowed to cultivate their fields in peace. +Elijah purchased for them a few agricultural implements. The +catching, curing, and smoking of salmon became an important branch +of trade. They waxed prosperous and rich; they lost their nomadic +habits--a centralized settlement bearing the external signs of an +Indian village took the place of their old temporary encampments, +but the huts were internally an improvement on the old wigwams. +The dried fish were banished from the tent-poles to long sheds +especially constructed for that purpose. The sweat-house was no +longer utilized for worldly purposes. The wise and mighty Elijah +did not attempt to reform their religion, but to preserve it in its +integrity. + +That these improvements and changes were due to the influence of +one man was undoubtedly true, but that he was necessarily a +superior man did not follow. Elijah's success was due partly to +the fact that he had been enabled to impress certain negative +virtues, which were part of his own nature, upon a community +equally constituted to receive them. Each was strengthened by the +recognition in each other of the unexpected value of those +qualities; each acquired a confidence begotten of their success. +"He-hides-his-face," as Elijah Martin was known to the tribe after +the episode of the released captives, was really not so much of an +autocrat as many constitutional rulers. + + . . . . . . + +Two years of tranquil prosperity passed. Elijah Martin, foundling, +outcast, without civilized ties or relationship of any kind, +forgotten by his countrymen, and lifted into alien power, wealth, +security, and respect, became--homesick! + +It was near the close of a summer afternoon. He was sitting at the +door of his lodge, which overlooked, on one side, the far-shining +levels of the Pacific and, on the other, the slow descent to the +cultivated meadows and banks of the Minyo River, that debouched +through a waste of salt-marsh, beach-grass, sand-dunes, and foamy +estuary into the ocean. The headland, or promontory--the only +eminence of the Minyo territory--had been reserved by him for his +lodge, partly on account of its isolation from the village at its +base, and partly for the view it commanded of his territory. Yet +his wearying and discontented eyes were more often found on the +ocean, as a possible highway of escape from his irksome position, +than on the plain and the distant range of mountains, so closely +connected with the nearer past and his former detractors. In his +vague longing he had no desire to return to them, even in triumph +in his present security there still lingered a doubt of his ability +to cope with the old conditions. It was more like his easy, +indolent nature--which revived in his prosperity--to trust to this +least practical and remote solution of his trouble. His +homesickness was as vague as his plan for escape from it; he did +not know exactly what he regretted, but it was probably some life +he had not enjoyed, some pleasure that had escaped his former +incompetency and poverty. + +He had sat thus a hundred times, as aimlessly blinking at the vast +possibilities of the shining sea beyond, turning his back upon the +nearer and more practicable mountains, lulled by the far-off +beating of monotonous rollers, the lonely cry of the curlew and +plover, the drowsy changes of alternate breaths of cool, fragrant +reeds and warm, spicy sands that blew across his eyelids, and +succumbed to sleep, as he had done a hundred times before. The +narrow strips of colored cloth, insignia of his dignity, flapped +lazily from his tent-poles, and at last seemed to slumber with him; +the shadows of the leaf-tracery thrown by the bay-tree, on the +ground at his feet, scarcely changed its pattern. Nothing moved +but the round, restless, berry-like eyes of Wachita, his child- +wife, the former heroine of the incident with the captive packers, +who sat near her lord, armed with a willow wand, watchful of +intruding wasps, sand-flies, and even the more ostentatious advances +of a rotund and clerical-looking humble-bee, with his monotonous +homily. Content, dumb, submissive, vacant, at such times, Wachita, +debarred her husband's confidences through the native customs and +his own indifferent taciturnity, satisfied herself by gazing at him +with the wondering but ineffectual sympathy of a faithful dog. +Unfortunately for Elijah her purely mechanical ministration could +not prevent a more dangerous intrusion upon his security. + +He awoke with a light start, and eyes that gradually fixed upon the +woman a look of returning consciousness. Wachita pointed timidly +to the village below. + +"The Messenger of the Great White Father has come to-day, with his +wagons and horses; he would see the chief of the Minyos, but I +would not disturb my lord." + +Elijah's brow contracted. Relieved of its characteristic metaphor, +he knew that this meant that the new Indian agent had made his +usual official visit, and had exhibited the usual anxiety to see +the famous chieftain. + +"Good!" he said. "White Rabbit [his lieutenant] will see the +Messenger and exchange gifts. It is enough." + +"The white messenger has brought his wangee [white] woman with him. +They would look upon the face of him who hides it," continued +Wachita, dubiously. "They would that Wachita should bring them +nearer to where my lord is, that they might see him when he knew it +not." + +Elijah glanced moodily at his wife, with the half suspicion with +which he still regarded her alien character. "Then let Wachita go +back to the squaws and old women, and let her hide herself with +them until the wangee strangers are gone," he said curtly. "I have +spoken. Go!" + +Accustomed to these abrupt dismissals, which did not necessarily +indicate displeasure, Wachita disappeared without a word. Elijah, +who had risen, remained for a few moments leaning against the tent- +poles, gazing abstractedly toward the sea. The bees droned +uninterruptedly in his ears, the far-off roll of the breakers came +to him distinctly; but suddenly, with greater distinctness, came +the murmur of a woman's voice. + +"He don't look savage a bit! Why, he's real handsome." + +"Hush! you--" said a second voice, in a frightened whisper. + +"But if he DID hear he couldn't understand," returned the first +voice. A suppressed giggle followed. + +Luckily, Elijah's natural and acquired habits of repression suited +the emergency. He did not move, although he felt the quick blood +fly to his face, and the voice of the first speaker had suffused +him with a strange and delicious anticipation. He restrained +himself, though the words she had naively dropped were filling him +with new and tremulous suggestion. He was motionless, even while +he felt that the vague longing and yearning which had possessed him +hitherto was now mysteriously taking some unknown form and action. + +The murmuring ceased. The humble-bees' drone again became +ascendant--a sudden fear seized him. She was GOING; he should +never see her! While he had stood there a dolt and sluggard, she +had satisfied her curiosity and stolen away. With a sudden +yielding to impulse, he darted quickly in the direction where he +had heard her voice. The thicket moved, parted, crackled, and +rustled, and then undulated thirty feet before him in a long wave, +as if from the passage of some lithe, invisible figure. But at the +same moment a little cry, half of alarm, half of laughter, broke +from his very feet, and a bent manzanito-bush, relaxed by frightened +fingers, flew back against his breast. Thrusting it hurriedly +aside, his stooping, eager face came almost in contact with the +pink, flushed cheeks and tangled curls of a woman's head. He was so +near, her moist and laughing eyes almost drowned his eager glance; +her parted lips and white teeth were so close to his that her quick +breath took away his own. + +She had dropped on one knee, as her companion fled, expecting he +would overlook her as he passed, but his direct onset had extracted +the feminine outcry. Yet even then she did not seem greatly +frightened. + +"It's only a joke, sir," she said, coolly lifting herself to her +feet by grasping his arm. "I'm Mrs. Dall, the Indian agent's wife. +They said you wouldn't let anybody see you--and I determined I +would. That's all!" She stopped, threw back her tangled curls +behind her ears, shook the briers and thorns from her skirt, and +added: "Well, I reckon you aren't afraid of a woman, are you? So +no harm's done. Good-by!" + +She drew slightly back as if to retreat, but the elasticity of the +manzanito against which she was leaning threw her forward once +more. He again inhaled the perfume of her hair; he saw even the +tiny freckles that darkened her upper lip and brought out the +moist, red curve below. A sudden recollection of a playmate of his +vagabond childhood flashed across his mind; a wild inspiration of +lawlessness, begotten of his past experience, his solitude, his +dictatorial power, and the beauty of the woman before him, mounted +to his brain. He threw his arms passionately around her, pressed +his lips to hers, and with a half-hysterical laugh drew back and +disappeared in the thicket. + +Mrs. Dall remained for an instant dazed and stupefied. Then she +lifted her arm mechanically, and with her sleeve wiped her bruised +mouth and the ochre-stain that his paint had left, like blood, upon +her cheek. Her laughing face had become instantly grave, but not +from fear; her dark eyes had clouded, but not entirely with +indignation. She suddenly brought down her hand sharply against +her side with a gesture of discovery. + +"That's no Injun!" she said, with prompt decision. The next minute +she plunged back into the trail again, and the dense foliage once +more closed around her. But as she did so the broad, vacant face +and the mutely wondering eyes of Wachita rose, like a placid moon, +between the branches of a tree where they had been hidden, and +shone serenely and impassively after her. + + . . . . . . + +A month elapsed. But it was a month filled with more experience to +Elijah than his past two years of exaltation. In the first few +days following his meeting with Mrs. Dall, he was possessed by +terror, mingled with flashes of desperation, at the remembrance of +his rash imprudence. His recollection of extravagant frontier +chivalry to womankind, and the swift retribution of the insulted +husband or guardian, alternately filled him with abject fear or +extravagant recklessness. At times prepared for flight, even to +the desperate abandonment of himself in a canoe to the waters of +the Pacific: at times he was on the point of inciting his braves to +attack the Indian agency and precipitate the war that he felt would +be inevitable. As the days passed, and there seemed to be no +interruption to his friendly relations with the agency, with that +relief a new, subtle joy crept into Elijah's heart. The image of +the agent's wife framed in the leafy screen behind his lodge, the +perfume of her hair and breath mingled with the spicing of the bay, +the brief thrill and tantalization of the stolen kiss still haunted +him. Through his long, shy abstention from society, and his two +years of solitary exile, the fresh beauty of this young Western +wife, in whom the frank artlessness of girlhood still lingered, +appeared to him like a superior creation. He forgot his vague +longings in the inception of a more tangible but equally +unpractical passion. He remembered her unconscious and spontaneous +admiration of him; he dared to connect it with her forgiving +silence. If she had withheld her confidences from her husband, +he could hope--he knew not exactly what! + +One afternoon Wachita put into his hand a folded note. With an +instinctive presentiment of its contents, Elijah turned red and +embarrassed in receiving it from the woman who was recognized as +his wife. But the impassive, submissive manner of this household +drudge, instead of touching his conscience, seemed to him a vulgar +and brutal acceptance of the situation that dulled whatever +compunction he might have had. He opened the note and read +hurriedly as follows:-- + +"You took a great freedom with me the other day, and I am justified +in taking one with you now. I believe you understand English as +well as I do. If you want to explain that and your conduct to me, +I will be at the same place this afternoon. My friend will +accompany me, but she need not hear what you have to say." + +Elijah read the letter, which might have been written by an +ordinary school-girl, as if it had conveyed the veiled rendezvous +of a princess. The reserve, caution, and shyness which had been +the safeguard of his weak nature were swamped in a flow of immature +passion. He flew to the interview with the eagerness and +inexperience of first love. He was completely at her mercy. So +utterly was he subjugated by her presence that she did not even run +the risk of his passion. Whatever sentiment might have mingled +with her curiosity, she was never conscious of a necessity to guard +herself against it. At this second meeting she was in full +possession of his secret. He had told her everything; she had +promised nothing in return--she had not even accepted anything. +Even her actual after-relations to the denouement of his passion +are still shrouded in mystery. + +Nevertheless, Elijah lived two weeks on the unsubstantial memory of +this meeting. What might have followed could not be known, for at +the end of that time an outrage--so atrocious that even the +peaceful Minyos were thrilled with savage indignation--was +committed on the outskirts of the village. An old chief, who had +been specially selected to deal with the Indian agent, and who kept +a small trading outpost, had been killed and his goods despoiled by +a reckless Redwood packer. The murderer had coolly said that he +was only "serving out" the tool of a fraudulent imposture on the +Government, and that he dared the arch-impostor himself, the so- +called Minyo chief, to help himself. A wave of ungovernable fury +surged up to the very tent-poles of Elijah's lodge and demanded +vengeance. Elijah trembled and hesitated. In the thraldom of his +selfish passion for Mrs. Dall he dared not contemplate a collision +with her countrymen. He would have again sought refuge in his +passive, non-committal attitude, but he knew the impersonal +character of Indian retribution and compensation--a sacrifice of +equal value, without reference to the culpability of the victim-- +and he dreaded some spontaneous outbreak. To prevent the enforced +expiation of the crime by some innocent brother packer, he was +obliged to give orders for the pursuit and arrest of the criminal, +secretly hoping for his escape or the interposition of some +circumstance to avert his punishment. A day of sullen expectancy +to the old men and squaws in camp, of gloomy anxiety to Elijah +alone in his lodge, followed the departure of the braves on the +war-path. It was midnight when they returned. Elijah, who from +his habitual reserve and the accepted etiquette of his exalted +station had remained impassive in his tent, only knew from the +guttural rejoicings of the squaws that the expedition had been +successful and the captive was in their hands. At any other time +he might have thought it an evidence of some growing scepticism of +his infallibility of judgment and a diminution of respect that they +did not confront him with their prisoner. But he was too glad to +escape from the danger of exposure and possible arraignment of his +past life by the desperate captive, even though it might not have +been understood by the spectators. He reflected that the omission +might have arisen from their recollection of his previous aversion +to a retaliation on other prisoners. Enough that they would wait +his signal for the torture and execution at sunrise the next day. + +The night passed slowly. It is more than probable that the selfish +and ignoble torments of the sleepless and vacillating judge were +greater than those of the prisoner who dozed at the stake between +his curses. Yet it was part of Elijah's fatal weakness that his +kinder and more human instincts were dominated even at that moment +by his lawless passion for the Indian agent's wife, and his +indecision as to the fate of his captive was as much due to this +preoccupation as to a selfish consideration of her relations to the +result. He hated the prisoner for his infelicitous and untimely +crime, yet he could not make up his mind to his death. He paced +the ground before his lodge in dishonorable incertitude. The small +eyes of the submissive Wachita watched him with vague solicitude. + +Toward morning he was struck by a shameful inspiration. He would +creep unperceived to the victim's side, unloose his bonds, and bid +him fly to the Indian agency. There he was to inform Mrs. Dall +that her husband's safety depended upon his absenting himself for a +few days, but that she was to remain and communicate with Elijah. +She would understand everything, perhaps; at least she would know +that the prisoner's release was to please her, but even if she did +not, no harm would be done, a white man's life would be saved, and +his real motive would not be suspected. He turned with feverish +eagerness to the lodge. Wachita had disappeared--probably to join +the other women. It was well; she would not suspect him. + +The tree to which the doomed man was bound was, by custom, selected +nearest the chief's lodge, within its sacred enclosure, with no +other protection than that offered by its reserved seclusion and +the outer semicircle of warriors' tents before it. To escape, the +captive would therefore have to pass beside the chief's lodge to +the rear and descend the hill toward the shore. Elijah would show +him the way, and make it appear as if he had escaped unaided. As +he glided into the shadow of a group of pines, he could dimly +discern the outline of the destined victim, secured against one of +the larger trees in a sitting posture, with his head fallen forward +on his breast as if in sleep. But at the same moment another +figure glided out from the shadow and approached the fatal tree. +It was Wachita! + +He stopped in amazement. But in another instant a flash of +intelligence made it clear. He remembered her vague uneasiness and +solicitude at his agitation, her sudden disappearance; she had +fathomed his perplexity, as she had once before. Of her own accord +she was going to release the prisoner! The knife to cut his cords +glittered in her hand. Brave and faithful animal! + +He held his breath as he drew nearer. But, to his horror, the +knife suddenly flashed in the air and darted down, again and again, +upon the body of the helpless man. There was a convulsive +struggle, but no outcry, and the next moment the body hung limp +and inert in its cords. Elijah would himself have fallen, half- +fainting, against a tree, but, by a revulsion of feeling, came the +quick revelation that the desperate girl had rightly solved the +problem! She had done what he ought to have done--and his loyalty +and manhood were preserved. That conviction and the courage to +act upon it--to have called the sleeping braves to witness his +sacrifice--would have saved him, but it was ordered otherwise. + +As the girl rapidly passed him he threw out his hand and seized her +wrist. "Who did you do this for?" he demanded. + +"For you," she said, stupidly. + +"And why?" + +"Because you no kill him--you love his squaw." + +"HIS squaw!" He staggered back. A terrible suspicion flashed upon +him. He dashed Wachita aside and ran to the tree. It was the body +of the Indian agent! Aboriginal justice had been satisfied. The +warriors had not caught the MURDERER, but, true to their idea of +vicarious retribution, had determined upon the expiatory sacrifice +of a life as valuable and innocent as the one they had lost. + + . . . . . . + +"So the Gov'rment hev at last woke up and wiped out them cussed +Digger Minyos," said Snapshot Harry, as he laid down the newspaper, +in the brand-new saloon of the brand-new town of Redwood. "I see +they've stampeded both banks of the Minyo River, and sent off a lot +to the reservation. I reckon the soldiers at Fort Cass got sick o' +sentiment after those hounds killed the Injun agent, and are +beginning to agree with us that the only 'good Injun' is a dead +one." + +"And it turns out that that wonderful chief, that them two packers +used to rave about, woz about as big a devil ez any, and tried to +run off with the agent's wife, only the warriors killed her. I'd +like to know what become of him. Some says he was killed, others +allow that he got away. I've heerd tell that he was originally +some kind of Methodist preacher!--a kind o' saint that got a sort +o' spiritooal holt on the old squaws and children." + +"Why don't you ask old Skeesicks? I see he's back here ag'in--and +grubbin' along at a dollar a day on tailin's. He's been somewhere +up north, they say." + +"What, Skeesicks? that shiftless, o'n'ry cuss! You bet he wusn't +anywhere where there was danger of fighting. Why, you might as +well hev suspected HIM of being the big chief himself! There he +comes--ask him." + +And the laughter was so general that Elijah Martin--alias +Skeesicks--lounging shyly into the bar-room, joined in it weakly. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext A Drift from Redwood Camp, by Bret Harte + diff --git a/old/adfrc10.zip b/old/adfrc10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae90061 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/adfrc10.zip |