American Republican and Baltimore daily clipper. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1844-1846, 1846-05-07

was laid aside. Those fierce wild men gazeC
intentlY at Clarke. The American saw tina
the crisis had arrived; they could no longel
! doubt that the Indians understood the advan
| tage they possessed, and were disposed to use
it; and common sense Of danger ca used eac
eye TO turn on the leading commissioner. He
sat undsturbed, and apparently careless, until
the chief who had thrown the belts upon the
table had taken his seat; then, with a small
cane which he held in his hand, he reached, as
if playiully, toward the war belt, entangling
the end of the stick in it, drew it towards him,
and then with twitch of the cane, threw the
belt in the midst Of the chiefs. The effect
was electric. Every man in council, of each
party, sprang to their feet the savages with a
loud exclamation of establishment, "Hugh!''
the Americans in expectation of hopeless con-
f1ict, against overwhelming numbers. Every
hand grasped weapon,
Clark alone was unawed The expression
of his countenance changed to a ferocious
sternness, and his eyes flashed, but otherwise
he was unmoved. A bitter smile was slightly
perceptible on his compressed bps, as he gazed
on that savage band, whose hundred eyes were
bent fercely in horrd exultation upon him, as
they stood ike pack Of wolves at bay, thirst
ing for blood, and ready to rush upon him,
whenever one holder than the rest should COM
mence the attack. 1t was one of those mo-
ments of indecison, when the slightest weight
thrown into either scale will make it prepon-
derate; moment in which bold man, con-
versant with the secret springs of human ac-
ton, may seize upon the minds of all round
him, and sway them at his will. Such man
was the intrepid Virginian. He spoke, and
there was no man bold enough to gainsay him
none that could return the fierce glance of
his eye. Raising his arm and waving his
hand toward the door, he exclaimed: "Dogs!
you may go?" The Indians hestated for a
moment, and then rushed tumultuously out of
the council-room.
The decision of Clarke on the occasion, saw
ed himself and comrades from massacre. The
plan of the savages had been artfully laid; he
had read it in their features and conduct, as
plain as if it had been written on a schroll be-
fore them. He met it in manner unexpected;
the crisis was brought on sooner than it was in
tended, and on principle similar to that, by
which, when line of battle is broken, the dis
mayed troops fly before order can be restored the
new & suddenturn given to these proceedings by
the energy of Clarke, COMPOUNDED the Indians,
and before the broken thread of their scheme
of treachery could be reunited, they were panic
struck. They had come prepared to browbeat,
to humble, and then to destroy; they looked for
remonstrance and alteration; for the luxury of
drawing the tolls gradually around their victims;
of beholding their agony and degradation, and
bringing on the final catastrophe by an appoint
ed signal, when the scheme should be ripe
They had expected to see on our part great
caution, skillful playing off, and an unwiII-
ingness to take offence, which were gradually
goaded into an alarm, irritation and submission
The cool contempt with which their first insult
was thrown back into their teeth surprised them
and they were foied by the self possession ofone
man. They had no Tecumseh among them,
no master-spirit to change their plan so as to
adopt new exigency; and those braves, who
in many battle had shown themselves to be
men of true valor, quailed before the moral
superiority which assumed the vantage ground
of position they could not comprehend, and
therefore feared to assail