The Pottawattamie, in particular, was a subject of
great distrust to him, and he believed it highly possible some of
that old chief's tribe might be after his scalp ere many suns had
risen. Gershom acquiesced in these opinions, and, as soon as his
brain was less under the influence of liquor than was common with
him, he appeared to be quite happy in having it in his power to form
a species of alliance, offensive and defensive, with a man of his
own color and origin. Great harmony now prevailed between the two,
Gershom improving vastly in all the better qualities, the instant
his intellect and feelings got to be a little released from the
thraldom of the jug. His own immediate store of whiskey was quite
exhausted, and le Bourdon kept the place in which his own small
stock of brandy was secured a profound secret. These glimmerings of
returning intellect, and of reviving principles, are by no means
unusual with the sot, thus proving that "so long as there is life,
there is hope," for the moral, as well as for the physical being.
What was a little remarkable, Gershom grew less vulgar, even in his
dialect, as he grew more sober, showing that in all respects he was
becoming a greatly improved person.
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