"It is not the Yemassee, From his right arm take the arrow, As these words were uttered, the crowd of women and children around cried out for the execution of the judgment thus given, and once again flamed the torches wildly, and the shoutings were general among the multitude. When they had subsided, a huge Indian came forward directly before the prisoner-smeared with blood and covered with scalps which, connected together by slight strings, formed a loose robe over his shoulders. In one hand he carried a torch, in the other a knife. This was Malatchie, the executioner of the nation. He came forward, under the instructions of Enoree-Mattee, the prophet, to claim the slave of Opitchi-Manneyto,-that is, in our language, the slave of hell. This he did in the following strain : ""Tis Opitchi-Manneyto In Malatchie's ear that cries, I have hunted for him long. And, as the besmeared and malignant executioner howled his fierce demand in the very ears of his victim, he hurled the knife which he carried, upwards, with such dexterity into the air, that it rested, point downward, and sticking fast on its descent, into the tree and just above the head of the doomed Occonestoga. With his hand, at the next instant, he laid a resolute gripe upon the shoulder of the victim, as if to confirm and strengthen his claim by actual possession; while, at the same time, with a sort of malignant pleasure, he thrust his besmeared and distorted visage close into that of his prisoner. Writhing against the ligaments which bound him fast, Occonestoga strove to turn his head aside from the disgusting and obtrusive presence; and the desperation of his effort, but that he had been too carefully secured, might have resulted in the release of some of his limbs; for the breast heaved and laboured, and every muscle of his arms and legs was wrought, by his severe action, into a rope, hard, full, and indicative of prodigious strength. There was one person in that crowd who sympathized with the victim; and this was Hiwassee, the maiden in whose ears he had uttered a word, which, in her thoughtless scream and declaration of the event, for she had identified him, had been the occasion which led to his captivity. Something of self-reproach for her share in his misfortune, and an old feeling of regard for Occonestoga, who had once been a favourite with the young of both sexes among his people, was at work in her bosom; and, turning to Echotee, her newly-accepted lover, as soon as the demand of Malatchie had been heard, she prayed him to resist the demand. In such cases, all that a warrior had to do was simply to join issue upon the claim, and the popular will then determined the question. Echotee could not resist an application so put to him, and by one who had just listened to a prayer of his own, so all-important to his own happiness; and being himself a noble youth, one who had been a rival of the captive in his better days, a feeling of generosity combined with the request of Hiwassee, and he boldly leaped forward. Seizing the knife of Malatchie, which stuck in the tree, he drew it forth and threw it upon the ground, thus removing the sign of property which the executioner had put up in behalf of the evil deity. "Occonestoga is the brave of Yemassee," exclaimed the young Echotee, while the eyes of the captive looked what his lips could not have said. "Occonestoga is a brave of Yemassee-he is no dog of Malatchie. Wherefore is the cord upon the limbs of a free warrior? Is not Occonestoga a free warrior of Yemassee? The eyes of Echotee have looked upon a warrior like Occonestoga, when he took many scalps. Did not Occonestoga lead the Yemassee against the Savannahs ? The eyes of Echotee saw him slay the redeyed Suwannee, the great chief of the Savannahs. Did not Occonestoga go on the war-path with our young braves against the Edistoes, the brown-foxes that came out of the swamp? The eyes of Echotee beheld him. Occonestoga is a brave, and a hunter of Yemasseehe is not the dog of Malatchie. He knows not fear. He hath an arrow with wings, and the panther he runs down in chase. His tread is the tread of a sly serpent that comes, so that he hears him not, upon the track of the red deer, feeding down in the valley. Echotee knows the warrior-Echotee knows the hunter-he knows Occonestoga, but he knows no dog of OpitchiManneyto." "He hath drunk of the poison drink of the pale-faces -his feet are gone from the good path of the Yemassee-he would sell his people to the English for a painted bird. He is the slave of Opitchi-Manneyto," cried Malatchie, in reply. Echotee was not satisfied to yield the point so soon, and he responded accordingly. "It is true. The feet of the young warrior have gone away from the good paths of the Yemassee, but I see not the weakness of the chief, when my eye looks back upon the great deeds of the warrior. I see nothing but the shrinking body of Suwannee under the knee, under the knife of the Yemassee. I hear nothing but the war-whoop of the Yemassee, when we broke through the camp of the brown-foxes, and scalped them where they skulked in the swamp. I see this Yemassee strike the foe and take the scalp, and I know Occonestoga-Occonestoga, the son of the well-beloved the great chief of the Yemassee.” "It is good-Occonestoga has thanks for EchoteeEchotee is a brave warrior!" murmured the captive to his champion, in tones of melancholy acknowledgment. The current of public feeling began to set strongly towards an expression of sympathy in behalf of the victim, and an occasional whisper to that effect might be heard here and there among the mul titude. Even Malatchie himself looked for a moment as if he thought it not improbable that he might be defrauded of his prey; and, while a free shout from many attested the compliment which all were willing to pay Echotee for his magnanimous defence of one, who had once been a successful rival in the general estimation, the executioner turned to the prophet and to Sanutee, as if doubtful whether or not to proceed farther in his claim. But all doubt was soon quieted, as the stern father rose before the assembly. Every sound was stilled in expectation of his words on so momentous an occasion. They waited not long. The old man had tasked all the energies of the patriot, not less than of the stoic, and having once determined upon the necessity of the sacrifice, he had no hesitating fears or scruples palsying his determination. He seemed not to regard the imploring glance of his son, seen and felt by all besides in the assembly; but with a voice entirely unaffected by the circumstances of his position, he spoke forth the doom in confirmation with that originally expressed. "Echotee has spoken like a brave warrior with a tongue of truth, and a soul that has birth with the sun. But he speaks out of his own heart-and does not speak to the heart of the traitor. The Yemassee will all say for Echotee, but who can say for Occonestoga when Sanutee himself is silent? Does the Yemassee speak with a double tongue? Did not the Yemassee promise Occonestoga to Opitchi-Manneyto with the other chiefs? Where are they? They are gone into the swamp, where the sun shines not, and the eyes of Opitchi-Manneyto are upon them. He knows them for his slaves. The arrow is gone from their shoulders, and the Yemassee knows them no longer. Shall the dog escape, who led the way to the English-who brought the poison drink to the chiefs, which made them dogs to the English and slaves to Opitchi-Manneyto? Shall he escape the doom the Yemassee hath put upon them? Sanutee speaks the voice of the Manneyto. Occonestoga is a dog, who would sell his father-who would make us women to carry water for the pale-faces. He is not the son of SanuteeSanutee knows him no more. Look,-Yemassees the well-beloved has spoken!" He paused, and turning away, sunk down silently upon the little bank on which he had before rested; while Malatchie, without further opposition-for the renunciation of his own son by one so highly esteemed as Sanutee, was conclusive against the youth-advanced to execute the terrible judgment upon his victim. "Oh! father, chief, Sanutee"-burst convulsively from the lips of the prisoner-" hear me, father-Occonestoga will go on the war-path with thee, and with the Yemassee-against the Edisto, against the Spaniard-hear, Sanutee-he will go with thee against the English."-But the old man bent not-yielded not, and the crowd gathered nigher. "Wilt thou have no ear, Sanutee?-it is Occonestoga-it is the son of Matiwan that speaks to thee." Sanutee's head sunk as the reference was made to Matiwan, but he showed no other sign of emotion. He moved not-he spoke not, and bitterly and hopelessly the youth exclaimed— "Oh! thou art colder than the stone-house of the adder and deafer than his ears. Father, Sanutee, wherefore wilt thou lose me, even as the tree its leaf, when the storm smites it in summer? Save me,father." And his head sunk in despair, as he beheld the unchanging look of stern resolve with which the unbending sire regarded him. For a moment he was unmanned; until a loud shout of derision from the crowd, regarding his weakness, came to the support of his pride. The Indian shrinks from humiliation, where he would not shrink from death; and, as the shout reached his ears, he shouted back his defiance, raised his head loftily in air, and with the most perfect composure, commenced singing his song of death, the song of many victories. "Wherefore sings he his death-song?" was the general inquiry, "he is not to die!" |