The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-21 00:00:00

DEERFO(,
)2' IN A NEW CHARAICTEI?.

The Morceste, - Chronicle gives cuerel icy to the
following narrativ .e I—During the short, .sojourn of
this fiery-footed re, Iskin in Worcester, he was one
day taking his east )' with a party of ad mite rs, in-
dulging a little in "fire-water," the delight of his
race, at the Yew and ' Young-tin, in Ithur.ial-street,
when a gentleman from Ledbury asked him to
gratify the company with an Indian war-whoop
and its accompanimen ts. Deerfoot was at first in-
dispose 4 to grant the 1 equest, probably feeling that
a veritable Indian yell would grate harshly- on the
ear, and perhens startle 3 the company out of their
proprieties; but :Ton it s being pressed he courte-
ously signified his I,7illin guess to "amuse," b.ut eau-
tioned the guests not to
be terrified at the discor-
dant horror of the sound, 0 r the wild eccentricity of
the actions which might
fitting, and protracted,
a ecompany it. Prelimi-
nariess, and the gentleman
adjusted, the Indi r. 9, with gaping jaws,
is quality, clapping his
uttered a yell so shrill, ear-sp
icles, and looking as
that it literally cleft all head
who had invited a taste of 23
end brought back to
. hands incontinently Zo his ant
I,ale as the blood of a turnip, rut hed out of the house
omething in the
like one frantic, but was pursued t
• W. H. Payne,
a series of strange
caown,:,..it the issue. The war dance,
Netions and flexible bounds, a
style o,f the late Mr. Flexmore, of
accompo,,nied with grimaces which could be com-
pared to _ nothing but the gargoyles k.-'f the middle
ages, was II :Ixt exhibited. As his blood ,grew- warm
'
carried back
1 with exereit 'e and whooping, and his i,.-leas were
Indian gradual 137
to his people and native wit'ds, the
his actions, and appeared to lose all control over
co be thoroughly absorbed in the
character he had cssumed. His eyes glared with
rage • his whole l'A -,/,`lo seemed to dilate with pas -
sion he looked the i.m.
versonation ()LA., Fury, or of
, '
baleful Eris shaking
to ‘f,th and desoTation from ht.Nr
eg,,l,:er of the entertainment',
snaky hair. The besp
ed, like Sancho at the
trembled in every limb, a,
adventure of the fulling 1. nills, was "strangely
moved." But fear seemed &Ix -olutely to have bereft
him of his faculties, the burdeti to' be greater than
he could bear, when the Indian, Nvith a wilder,
louder, and shriller whoop, and more
_frantic ges-
tue9 than ever, and looltingpnmistakab2y as though
.
he meant mischief; and. was most terribly in' earnest,
seized his victim, and with a sounding N7f.tlack of
his tomahawk, benevolently meant as a subotitute
for chloroform to destrk )y. sensation and prev ,wt hu-
man nature from sinkinil• under terror of the approach-
ing infliction, whirled i tint round as though he bad
been a feather weight, and fixed him betwoen
his knees as if in a vice. .Resistance was out of the
question. As well might tb e mouse essay resistant e
in the cat's jaws. in a ~-ace went the fatal knife was
unsheathed, in another it v vas whipped round the
patient's head, like the boast 'wife cuts paste for the
lid of a pudding; the third m oment, with a hideous
yell of exultation that scam ,ly marked the dull
the was -
sound produced by the rendin,Trt
e skin
*antifrom
fleshy fibre, the scalp of the unto.
tally brandished in D
,eerfoot's hae'd, which relaxed.
its gripe and left the tortured pa tient at liberty..
In a panic of fright he
darted from OW ill-omened
spot, his hands clasped in agony to his poor head,
which was utterly bereft iNf thatch. Deerfoot rushed
behind him to the door, ae'cl contemptuous ;p flung
the spoil after him. It w..`21 relieve the reader's
anxiety, which must be by tli...s time painful, to be
told that the scalp was an art.,;ficial one, the hair
having originally appertained to some one else, but
been converted by the ingenious workmanship of
some Truefit or -Hadley into the ecvering of a
stranger's pate—to wit, a wig—warranted not to,
be distinguishable from the natural crop. The knife.
which had done duty in the work of severance was
shaped out of lath, just such a one as George Bevis
counselled John Holland to get in Cade's robe. lion
(see Shakspeare, 2d part of " Henry V 1.," act iv.,
scene 2).
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