He had only time to see that this difference consisted in the
head-dress, and in the color and quantity of paint on their bodies,
when his gaze was attracted and riveted to the foremost figures.
The first was that of a very tall and stately chief, toward whom
Silvertip now advanced with every show of respect. In this Indian's
commanding stature, in his reddish-bronze face, stern and powerful,
there were readable the characteristics of a king. In his deep-set
eyes, gleaming from under a ponderous brow; in his mastiff-like jaw;
in every feature of his haughty face were visible all the high
intelligence, the consciousness of past valor, and the power and
authority that denote a great chieftain.
The second figure was equally striking for the remarkable contrast
it afforded to the chief's. Despite the gaudy garments, the paint,
the fringed and beaded buckskin leggins--all the Indian
accouterments and garments which bedecked this person, he would have
been known anywhere as a white man. His skin was burned to a dark
bronze, but it had not the red tinge which characterizes the Indian.
This white man had, indeed, a strange physiognomy. The forehead was
narrow and sloped backward from the brow, denoting animal instincts.
The eyes were close together, yellowish-brown in color, and had a
peculiar vibrating movement, as though they were hung on a pivot,
like a compass-needle.
Pages:
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71