Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1916-06-07

| the banks of the river Sarratay for
| the conveyance to the opposite shore
of the assembled Cherokees. And
down they came, warrior after war
rier. tribe after tribe, emblem after
| emblem, descending from the crags
around, in various order, and hurry
| ing all with shouts and whoops and
| songs, grotesqIely leaping to the
rivers bank, like so many boys just
let out OF school. Hilarity is. in
deed, the life of nature! Ciyiliza-
| tion refines the one at the expense of
the other. and then it is that no hu-
| man luxury or sport, as known in
society, stimulates appetite for any
length of time. We can only laugh
in the woods-society suffers but
smile; and desperate sanctity, with
| the cOuntenance Of a crow, fr0wns
even at that.
But down, around, and gathering
from every side, they came-the tens
and the twentics Of the several tribes
Of the Cherokee. Grouped along
the banks of the river were the boats
assigned to each. Some, already fill
ed, were sporting in every direction
over the clear bosom Of that beauti-
full water. Moitoy himself, at the
head Of the tribe Of Nequassee, from
which he came, had already embark
ed; while the venerable Attakulla,
with Jocassee, the gentle, sat upon a
little bank in the neighborhood OF
the Occony boats, awaiting the
arrival OF Chcochee and his party.
And why came they not? One after
another OF the several tribes had
filled their boats and were either on
the river or across it. But two clus-
ters of canoes yet remained, and they
were those Of the rival tribes. A
green bird Haunted over the one,
and brown viper, in many f"lds,
was twined about the pole of the
other.
There was sufficient reason why
they came not. The strife had be-
gun; for when. gathering his thir-
teen warriors in a little hollow at
the termination Of the valley Through
which they came, Nagoochie beheld
the slow and painful approach Of the
two stragglers upon whom the Deco
nics had SO practiced-when he saw
the green bird. the beautiful emblem
OF his tribe, distigured and defiled-
there was no longer and measure or
method in his madness. There was
no longer a thought OF Jocassee to
keep him back; and the feeling OF
ferocious Indignation which filled his
bosom was the common feeling with
his brother warriors. They lay in
wait for the coming Of the Occonies,
down at the foot Of the Yellow Hill,
where the woods gathered green
and thick. They were few-but half
in number Of their enemies-but they
were strong in ardor, strong in JUS
tice, and even death was preferable
to longer endurance of that dis
honour to which they had already
'>N'' WV i"i'5 oHbJSItSu. HSS DS-
held the approach OF the Brown vi
pers, as, one by one, they wound out
from the gap Of the mountain with
fierce satisfaction. The two parties
were now in sight Of each other, and
could not mistake the terms Of their
encounter. No word was spoken be-
tween them, but each began the scalp
song Of his tribe, preparing at the
same time his weapon, and advancing
to the struggle.
The green bird has BILL" sang
the Estatoces; and he flies like an
arrow to his prey
The brown viper has poison and
fang responded the Occonies; and
he lies under the bush for his en-
emy.'
Give me to clutch the war-tuft,'
cried the leaders OF each party, al
most in the same breath.
"ro taste the blood, cried ano-
ther.
And make my knife laugh in the
heart that shrinks,' sung another and
another.
| will put my foot Oh the heart
cried an Occony.
81 tear away the scalp shouted
an Estate, in reply; while a joint
chorus from the two parties prom
iSed--
dog that runs, to the black
spirit that keeps in the dark