" As
soon as this little burst of feeling had subsided, the conversation
went on.
"We have had a pale-face medicine-man among us, Onoah," continued
Crowsfeather, "and he has so far blinded us that we know not what to
think."
The chief then recounted the leading events of the visit of the bee-
hunter to the place, stating each occurrence fairly, as he
understood it, and as fairly confessing that even the chiefs were at
a loss to know what to make of the affair. In addition to this
account, he gave the mysterious Onoah the history of the prisoner
they had taken, the death of Elks-foot, their intention to torture
that very morning the Chippewa they had captured, and his flight,
together with the loss of their young man, and the subsequent escape
of their unknown enemies, who had taken away all of their own
canoes. How far the medicine-man had anything to do with the other
events of his narrative, Crowsfeather very candidly admitted he
could not even conjecture. He was still at a loss whether to set
down the conjurer for a pretender, or as a real oracle. Peter,
however, was less credulous even than the chiefs. He had his
superstitious notions, like all uneducated men, but a clear head and
quick intellect placed him far above the weaknesses of the red man
in general.
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