The sight of the rescued captive was indeed greeted with joyous shouts
of welcome; but they were hushed, almost ere they were uttered, as
those assembled on the river bank noted the black paint with which, in
token of mourning, the returning warriors had covered their faces.
In heavy-hearted silence did his comrades carry their dead back into
the circle of lodges, from which he had departed so bravely and loyally
to the rescue of his friend. As they bore it into the lodge of Micco,
his father, the old warrior sat as though all hope and joy had departed
from his life forever; while outside, the air was rent by the wailings
and bitter lamentations of women.
They laid him to rest, after the manner of his people, in a tomb built
of great tree-trunks, so cunningly fashioned that no wild beast should
ever disturb its contents. Beside him they laid whatever he had
possessed of value, and the things he had prized most highly. The
young girls of the tribe threw over the sleeping form great handfuls of
sweet-scented wild flowers; and, ere the tomb was closed, Rene de Veaux
placed in the calmly folded hands the scarlet feather, with the slender
gold chain and pin attached to it, that had been a token between them.
As they finished the simple rites, and were about to turn away from the
spot, the old chief, thus bereft of the pride and hope of his declining
years, took the hand of the white lad in his, and, in a voice that
faltered with his strong emotion said, so that all present could hear
him,
"I have lost a son, and I have gained a son.
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