Only the wind sang in the brown branches, and from
some forest brake came a stag's hoarse cry. As he sat in the
sunshine he glistened all over, like an Ethiop besprent with silver;
for his dark limbs and mighty chest had been oiled, and then
powdered with antimony. Through his scalp lock was stuck an
eagle's feather; across his face, from temple to chin, was a bar of
red paint; the eyes above were very bright and watchful, but we
upon whom that scrutiny was bent were as little wont as he to let
our faces tell our minds.
One of his young men brought a great pipe, carved and painted,
stem and bowl; an old man filled it with tobacco, and a warrior lit
it and bore it to the Emperor. He put it to his lips and smoked in
silence, while the sun climbed higher and higher, and the golden
minutes that were more precious than heart's blood went by, at
once too slow, too swift.
At last, his part in the solemn mockery played, he held out the pipe
to me. "The sky will fall, and the rivers run dry, and the birds cease
to sing," he said, "before the smoke of the calumet fades from the
land."
I took the symbol of peace, and smoked it as silently and soberly -
ay, and as slowly - as he had done before me, then laid it leisurely
aside and held out my hand. "My eyes have been holden," I told
him, "but now I see plainly the deep graves of the hatchets and the
drifting of the peace smoke through the forest.
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