You
are like a lad I valued, and I had even begun to fancy that some of
his blood might be in your veins. But what matters that? You are a
true man, as I know by the way in which you keep your faith; and
honesty is a gift too rare to be forgotten. My heart yearns to you,
boy, and gladly would I do you good."
The youthful warrior listened to the words, which came from the lips
of the other with a force and simplicity that established their truth,
and he bowed his head on his naked bosom, in testimony of the respect
with which he met the proffer. Then lifting his dark eye to the level
of the view, he seemed to be again considering of things removed from
every personal consideration. The trapper, who well knew how high the
pride of a warrior would sustain him, in those moments he believed to
be his last, awaited the pleasure of his young friend, with a meekness
and patience that he had acquired by his association with that
remarkable race. At length the gaze of the Pawnee began to waver; and
then quick, flashing glances were turned from the countenance of the
old man to the air, and from the air to his deeply marked lineaments
again, as if the spirit, which governed their movements, was beginning
to be troubled.
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