The Lake Gun by James Fenimore Cooper
page 14 of 22 (63%)
page 14 of 22 (63%)
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been obliged to keep in the chilled waters of the lake; in
five hundred more the Manitou will let him rest on its bottom." "What was the offense that has drawn down upon this chief so severe a punishment?" "Listen to our traditions, and you shall know. When the Great Spirit created man, He gave him laws to obey, and duties to perform--" "Excuse me, Seneca, but your language is so good that I hardly know what to make of you." An almost imperceptible smile played about the compressed lip of the young Indian, who, at first, seemed disposed to evade an explanation; but, on reflection, he changed his purpose, and communicated to Fuller the outlines of a very simple, and, by no means, unusual history. He was a chief of the highest race in his tribe, and had been selected to receive the education of a pale-face at one of the colleges of that people. He had received a degree, and, yielding to the irrepressible longings of what might almost be termed his nature, he no sooner left the college in which he had been educated, than he resumed the blanket and leggings, under the influence of early recollections, and a mistaken appreciation of the comparative advantages between the civilized condition, and those of a life passed in the forest and on the prairies. In this respect our young Seneca resembles the white |
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