A dim and fitful glare from the fire served to reveal the
form of the luckless Indian youth seated upon a log, his eye fixed
upon vacancy. For a moment curiosity kept the whole party silent, and
then, education and habit exerting their influence, the group began
to put in practice those arts which might be expected to awaken in
the prisoner an exhibition of feeling derogatory to his dignity.
'An Assineboin has no eyes; he is a burrowing mole,' said one
tauntingly; 'he creeps about the woods like a serpent, and falls into
the trap of the hunters: a beaver is wiser than he. He is very
cunning, but he cannot deceive a Sioux: he is very brave, but he is a
prisoner, and not a wound shows that he struggled. Go; it is a squaw
whom my people have brought in by mistake.'
A general laugh was the reward of the speaker's wit, while the Indian
moved neither eye, limb, nor muscle. The girl, irritated, opened upon
him with all that volubility of tongue which so strongly
characterises their race.
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