Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-01-02

| his being generally Iound IN tie morning
asleep upon the floor. wrapped in single
blanket, instead of the snug bed where he
had been placed. Moreover, a certain
cache of pie, broken meat, ETC., found in Il
remote corner of the stable, could have
! nd its suggestion only in the predatory
days, when little Pe-toh-kip had subsistcd
upon such furlively obtained mamma in the
wilderness. Nevertheless, he moved
quietly about the house, apparently taking
but little note of the domestic machinery,
though tractahle and obedient to my com
mands; for, being limited in speech TO his
native tongue, he depended solely upon
me for any expression of his wants Yet
there was so much of simplicity and cum
ming, so much of close reasoning and
child-lke suspicion. so much natural
quickness, sense of humor, RIGHTEOUSNESS,
power of observation, faith, fun and sell
tshness mixed up together in this little
waif mental composition that the person
who found nothing in his character worth
studying would be likely to start from IA
base of nulity in his own brain.
OF his moral conscience, | am safe in
saying it was Just the balance of his own
impulses and opinions. His feelings settled
the right and wrong of Things among
themselves, without any reference to re-
ccived standards. No prophet could be
more confident of his inspiration than little
Pe-toh-kp was of the oracle within him
and he was. moreover. not child to desire
II favor out of rule, to ask, or wish, in
thought or word, for personal benefit to
soul or body, or to fear or evnde any legit-
innate consequence of his own large liber-
.,Nf Il ~. -.
sentiment, strong and active. was undta
modification of his peculiar surroundings
in former life. My wife discovered early
in II course of weekly abluLons to which
he passivcly submitted. that he wore, sus-
pended about his neck, IL totem, in the
shape of birds claw, which he had
found about the yard. And. when some
what summarily deprived of this. he
iurtively set up a dried fish head in it,
ST. ad, and continued his devolions in the
privacy of the stable for some weeks be-
fore he was discovered,
| think it was II vivid sense of the Chris
tian duty she owed this little soul that sug-
gest,d to my wife few weeks laier the
propriety of exposing him NJ intervals to
the means of grace: so she took him TO
church 1t was during the January thaws
the weather was extremely warm FOR the
season, and the large windows behind the
pulpit had been left partially open for the
free admission of air. The presence of
little Pe-roh-kip in the congregation nat
urally attracted considerable attention,
and the battery of eyes fastened upon the
pew became at last exceedingly annoying
SO, much to Ills own delight and my wife 5
regret, | permitted the little fellow to
await the conclusion of service in the
churchyard. Unlucky thought! for, i'm
mcdiately after the first hymn, in the sol
onn hush just preceding prayers, there
suddenly sounded through the deep silence.
the notes of an Indian war song" Iii,
hi-ah, he-ah! !"-in the shrillest of.tones,
balf yelp, half howl, with an inconceivobly
ridiculous effect. There was momenta-
ry struggle, then one universal roar of
laughter. fastening out. covered with
shame as with II mantle, found, beneath
the open windows, and lost to all sense of
his surroundings, little Pc. toh-kip p,stripped
to the waist, his slender figure wrilhing
and twisting in the mazes Of II heHthen
! dance.
70 me, the wild instincts of this child
of nature We're fascinating study, and
confess to becoming negatively accessory
to much Of his idle wanderings. | was
willing, even anxious, that, amid the
splendid artificial culture to which he
should run thread Of his old life, sufii-
ciently distinct to car-mark his nationality
that there should appear not only the cul-
tivated gentleman. but, by certain indubit
able signs, he should be known as the
much deSpised Indian. SO, when little
Pe-teh. kip requested my assistance in
iashionng Il bow. called in the skill of II
carpenter, and had n good one made for
him. In the use Of this primitive weapon
he rapidly became proficient; and it was II
source Of no little pride when | could
summon my evening visitors to witness
this expert bowsman shoot nickel from
between my extended fingers. But there
came IL time when my joy was turned TO
the gall of bitterness by discovering that
this subtle archer, lying concealed in the
long grass of my own door-yard, had from
his coign of vantage, deliberately shot TO
death an entire flock of game chickens.
the pet properly OF my next door neigh
Dor. And as this act of vandalism was
closely followed 10y the unwontcd spectacle
of II valuable terrier rarpering wildly
along the street, transxcd with an arrow.
it was thought advisable to suppress the
bow, and permit the barbarian in little
Pe-,oh. .kips nature to appenr in some less
murdcrous way.
1t was the Itudable desire that little Pc
toh-hip should feel no sense of ineonality
with his fellows. that promp,ed his mis-
tress to dress him, if anything, beyond his
station in life And vet the best Efforts of
The well meaning gentle woman were
constantly set al defiance. during the warm
days of the summer, by the SEEMING i'm
possibility of Keeping him dressed at all;
and her Keen sense of prourirty WAS often
outraged by vague reports which repre-.
seutcd her little charge rs divestinr linn
self of In, Garment, in an adjacent field.
and tbnn roaming over the n,.iohborhnod
in II stale of nature, II was reserved,
however. for a lawn f,te. oiyen in the in
1erest of the sanctuary und,r whose drop
ninos we sat to furnish ocnl,r demon>ira.
lion of tine rrnorts v,gun and misty ,t
host
Iittlo p.-toh.kin hol b.on ipvi,eJ to
| .