Sachem after
sachem rose and spoke. Tobacco was sacrificed to the fire-god. Would
the relatives of the dead Mohawks consider the wampum belts full
compensation? Could the Iroquois suffer a youth to live who had joined
the murderers of the Mohawks? Could the Mohawks afford to offend the
great Iroquois chief who was the French youth's friend? As they
deliberated, the other councillors returned, accompanied by all the
members of Radisson's friendly family. Again the father sang and
spoke. This time when he finished, instead of sitting down, he caught
the necklace of wampum from Radisson's neck, threw it at the feet of
the oldest sachem, cut the captive's bonds, and, amid shouts of
applause, set the white youth free.
One of the incomprehensible things to civilization is how a white man
_can_ degenerate to savagery. Young Radisson's life is an
illustration. In the first transports of his freedom, with the Mohawk
women dancing and singing around him, the men shouting, he leaped up,
oblivious of pain; but when the flush of ecstasy had passed, he sank to
the mat of the Iroquois lodge, and he was unable to use his burned feet
for more than a month. During this time the Iroquois dressed his
wounds, brought him the choice portions of the hunt, gave him clean
clothing purchased at Orange (Albany), and attended to his wants as if
he had been a prince. No doubt the bright eyes of the swarthy young
French boy moved to pity the hearts of the Mohawk mothers, and his
courage had won him favor among the warriors.
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