The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-06-05

MED me land / friendless orphan).
There was no resource now but to seek
consolation in the flowing bowl. l
drew my flask from my pocket, but it
was all in vain. A sign confronted me,
which said
"No drinking allowed on these prem
ises."
On that spot might have persisted of
thirst but for the saving words of an
honored maxim that fitted across my
memory at that critical moment, "All
signs fail in dry time" Common law
takes precedence of the statutes. Twas
saved.
The noble red man has always been
darling of mine. love to read about
him in tales and legends and romance.
| love to read of his inspired sagacity !;
and of his love of the wild, free life of
mountain and forest and his grand
truthfulness; his hatred of treachery
and his general nobility of character
and his stately metaphorical manner of
speech and his chivalrous love for his
dusky maiden; and the picturesque
pomp of his dress and accouterment.
Especially the picturesque pomp of his
dress and accouterment When / found
the shops at Niagara Falls full of dainty
Indian bead-work and stunning mecca
sins, and equally stunning toy figures
representing human beings who carried
their weapons in holes bored through
their arms and bodies. and had feet
shaped like pie. was filed with emo
ton. / knew that now, at last / was
going to come face to face with the no.
bic red man. A lady clerk in the shop
told me, indeed, that all her grand ar
ray of curiosities were made by the In
dians, and that there were plenty about
the Falls, and that they were friendly,
and it would not be dangerous 10 speak
to them. And sure enough, as L APP
preached the bridge leading over Lunar
Island, / came upon noble old son of
the forest sitting under a tree, diligent-
~ at work on bead reticule. He wore
a SLOUGH hat and brogans, and had a
short black pipe in his mouth. Thus
does the baneful influence of our etfem-
mate civilization dilute the picturesque
pomp which is so natural to the Indian
when far removed from us in his native
haunts. / addressed the relic as fol-
lows
els the Wawhoo- Wang wang of the
Wack-a- Whack happy? Does the great
Speckled Thunder sigh for the war
path, or is his heart content with
dreaming of his dusky maiden, the
Pride of the Forest :? Does the mighty
sachem yearn to drink the blood of his
enemies, or is he satisfied to make bead
reticules for the papooses of the pale
face? Speak, sublime relic of by
gone grandeur-venerabler ruin, speak y
The relic said
can is it meself, Dinnis Hooligan,
that we'd be takin' for bloody Injin,
We drawlin lantern jawed, spider-legged
divil BY the piper that played before
Moses, I'll ate We !"
went away from there.
By-and-by, in the neighborhood of the
Terrapin Tower, l came upon a gentle
daughter of the aborigines, in fringed
and beaded buckskin moccasins and
leggins, seated on a bench with her
pretty wares about her. She had just
carved out Il wooden chief that had a
strong family resemblance TO clothes
pin, and was now boring hole through
his abdomen to put his bow through. /
hesitated moment, and then addressed
her:
"Is the heart of the forest maiden
heavy? Is the Laughing. Tadpole lone
ly? Does she mourn over the extin-
guished council fires of her race, and
the vanished glory of her ancestors Or
does her sad spirit wander afar to the
hunting. grounds whittier her brave
Gobbler. of-the-Lightnings is gone ?
Why is my daughter silent? Has
she aught against the pale-face strang-
er %
The maiden said
"Faix, an is it Biddy Malone We dare
to be calm names? Lave this, or
! I'll shy yer lean carcase over the
catharact, ye snivelling blagyard p
/ adjourned from there also.
"Confound these Indians" / said,
"they told me they were tame but, if
appearance should go for any thing,
1 should say they were all on the war
, path.
, [ made one more attempt to fraternize
: with them, and only one. l came upon
camp of them gathered in the shade OF
great tree, making wampum and moe
casins, and addressed them in the Ian
guage of friendship
| "Noble red men, braves, grand
SdCISIlo, wal -ciiiciS, SIuo"o anu Liz IL
: you Muck IA Mucks. the paleface from
the land of the setting sun greets you
You, Benefcent Polecat-you, De
l vourer- Of Mountains you, Roaring
= Thundergust-you, Bully-boy-with-a
, Glass Eye-the paleface from beyond
t the great waters greets you all Wa
t and pestilence have thinned your ranks
p and destroyed your once proud nation
Poker, and seyen-up, and a vain moderl
expense for soap, unknown to you
glorious ancestors, have depleted YOU
purses. Appropriating, in your sim
e plicity, the property of others has got
ten you into trouble. Misrepres, ntine
facts, in your simple innocence, ha'
r damaged your reputation with the soul
usurper. Trading for forty-rod whisk.
i to enable you to get drunk and happ.
: and tomahawk your families, has played
the everlasting mischief with the pictur
n esque pomp of your dress, and here
you are, in the broad light of the nine
9 teenth century, gotten up like the rag
e tag and bobtail of the purlieus of New
: York For shame Remember you
a. Al 1 l.