Brant

“ With Miss Percy Fred had felt indignant at the man who had been indirectly the cause of Brant’s death, and although he did not curse him as she had done, he never thought of him without a feeling of horror. And now it was proven that he was the father of the girl he loved more than his life, and with his recollection of Mr. Grey he knew that he was not the unprincipled man he had imagined Brant’s adversary to be. He, like Brant, was infected with a disease he had not the strength to resist, and his life had paid the penalty of his misdeeds. ”

“ Every line of those strong, rustic features was relaxed under a burden which even the long, lank, angular figure—overgrown and unfinished as his own West—seemed to be distorted in its efforts to adjust itself to; while the dark, deep-set eyes were abstracted with the vague prescience of the prophet and the martyr. Shocked at that sudden change, Brant felt his cheek burn with shame. ”

“ Nobody will know that the Southern spy was the wife of the Northern general! You see, I have thought even of that!”
“And thinking of that,” said Brant slowly, “you have put yourself—I will not say in my power, for you are in the power of any man in this camp who may know you, or even hear you speak. Well, let us understand each other plainly. I do not know how great a sacrifice your devotion to your cause demands of you; I do know what it seems to demand of me. ”

“ Young Brant had been seized around the waist by some of the Indians, at the instant he was leaping upon his father; while the latter, irritated by the wound, had also been seized in like manner by some white men, to prevent farther injury. The affray was the work of an instant, during which Captain Brant had drawn a large dirk, which he always carried upon his thigh, and with which he struck at his son. ”

“ Will a murderer? Oh, no; anything but that!
Not until his daughter had gone away and he had sat down to go thoughtfully over the details again did the judge realize what his championship of Brant would require of him. Then it became evident, with a keen pang of fresh misfortune, that he was bound hand and foot; that any effort made to clear Brant must inevitably result in entangling his own son. As the matter rested, William was free and unsuspected, and George Brant would hang—if the jury so willed. ”

“ And as for Brant, if she had been an angel of light, preaching repentance and a better mind to the hardened sinner of the mining camps, nothing she could have said or done would have touched him so nearly as this tacit acceptance of his protection. But also it gave him a soul-harrowing glimpse of the bottomless chasm separating the chivalrous gentleman of her maidenly imaginings from one George Brant, late of Silverette and Gaynard’s faro bank. How this clean-hearted young woman would shrink from him if she could but dimly imagine the manner of man he was! ”

“ He gave Brant a letter of introduction to his talented daughter, Theodosia, then but fourteen years old. Her father said of Brant in this letter: "Colonel Brant is a man of education—speaks and writes the English perfectly—and has seen much of Europe and America. Receive him with respect and hospitality. He is not one of those Indians who drink, but is quite a gentleman; not one who will make you fine bows, but one who understands and practices what belongs to propriety and good breeding. ”

“ Brant experienced a sense of relief to find himself on deck again and proceeded to tackle one of Korry's cigars. However, he started involuntarily when Meech, appearing noiselessly out of the shadows, proffered him a light.
In the flare of the extended match, Brant studied the engineer's thin features and crooked smile at close quarters. The scrutiny was distinctly unfavorable. The man reminded him of a slinking, treacherous creature, dangerous when cornered, but preferring flight to fight in the open. ”

“ Brant is an Indian by birth. In the American war he fought under the English banner, and he has since been in England, where he was most graciously received by the King, and met with a kind reception from all classes of people. His manners are semi-European. He is attended by two Negroes; has established himself in the English way; has a garden and a farm; dresses after the European fashion; and nevertheless possesses much influence over the Indians. He assists at present (1795) at the Miami Treaty, which the United States are concluding with the western Indians. ”

“ Ain’t that rich?”
“Very rich,” said Brant grimly. Then he saw his advantage and made good use of it. “In fact, it is much too rich to spoil. Go find the fellow and tell him I’m in a bad humour, but that he is safe as long as he keeps away from me. Will you do that?”
“Sure,” assented the brakeman, getting upon his feet. “I’ll do better than that: I’ll scare him till he won’t get a good breath this side o’ the Missouri River.”
Brant’s eyes narrowed, and in the turning of a leaf the mantle of humility slipped from him and he became Brant the man-queller. ”

“ In one of Brant's hostile incursions upon the settlements, during the war of the Revolution, Rose and his nephew, with others, were taken prisoners, and marched in the direction of Niagara. During the journey, Brant took Rose aside one morning, and admonished him not to move far away from himself (Brant,) but at all times on their march to keep within call. "I have reason to believe," said the Chief, "that that nephew of yours is plotting your death. He is endeavoring to bribe one of my Indians to kill you. ”

“ With head erect, the strong-knit figure of the chief stands at repose. The eyes are mild and wide-set and about the lips a smile is playing. In the portrait we see, too, the resolute heart, the thoughtful mind, and the restless energy that made Joseph Brant a ruler of the native races.
On being asked as to the help he might render to the English arms in the New World, Brant asserted strongly that he and his people were loyal. He said that, as War Chief, he would lead three thousand of his warriors into the struggle, and that they would fight manfully as subjects of the king. ”

“ Brant sat down again. “What do you want me to say?” he asked.
“Say? Why, everything. Do you know these men? or is it a case of mistaken identity? Are they after your scalp? or do you yearn for theirs? Can’t you open up the blinds and let in a little daylight?”
Brant shook his head. “Not for publication. You don’t know what you ask, Forsyth.”
“Publication be hanged! Who said anything about printing it, I’d like to know! Don’t you suppose a newspaper man has bowels as well as other people? ”

“ The termination of Brant's military life brought not therewith a state of inactivity. The proverbial indolence of his race in regard to all matters excepting the war-path and the chase, was not a characteristic of him. On the contrary, the history of man scarcely supplies a parallel instance of such active, unremitting, and unwearied public service, as well in the council as in the field, as was performed by this celebrated man, from the day when he first fleshed his youthful tomahawk at Lake George, until his death more than half a century afterward. ”

“ Brant was not only trusted, consulted, and distinguished by several eminent British officers in America, but personally beloved by them. Now I could conceive men in power, for defensible reasons of state politics, to have officially trusted, and even publicly distinguished at courts or levees, an active and sagacious Indian chief, of whose private character they might nevertheless still entertain a very indifferent opinion. But I cannot imagine high-minded and high-bred British officers forming individual and fond friendships for a man of ferocious character. ”

“ He reported to General Arnold, who promptly released his brother, and gave him a full pardon.
Brant was again at Oquaga in 1778, the terror of the border. Women turned pale and children trembled at his very name. In the bitter animosity of the day no story of cruelty was too black to be laid upon Brant, the great chief of these savage warriors. Brant felt keenly the hatred with which he was regarded in afterlife among frontiersmen. The proud chief wished to be regarded as a gentleman in every respect. ”

“ You are a brave man,” softly cried Brant, his eyes glittering with admiration, his hand flashing out his knife and raising it in salute.
“I overturned their medicine-lodge. I killed their sorcerer and threw his scalp in the face of his warriors.” ”

“ And again: "Scorning to wield the hatchet for his tribe, 'Gainst Brant himself I went to battle forth, Accursed Brant I he left of all my tribe Nor man, nor child, nor thing of living birth. No I not the dog that watched my household hearth Escaped that night of blood upon the plains. All perish'd! I alone am left on earth! To whom nor relative nor blood remains— No, not a kindred drop that runs in human veins." * Brant always denied any participation in the invasion, but the evidence of history was against him, and the verdict of the world was, that he was the chief actor in the tragedy. ”

“ Brant had watched the movements of his pursuers, and comprehending Hathorn's design, he wheeled his column, and threading a deep and narrow ravine which the whites had crossed, brought his whole force in the rear of the Americans. ”

“ Every bit of cover—bush, tree, or boulder—held its man. With dogged valour the savages stood their ground, till driven back by the very impetus of the onset. The enemy were massed deep in front and but little impression could be made on their compact ranks. More distressing still, the Americans had brought their heavy artillery into play, and it began to thunder against the defences. On this day Brant was an inspiring figure to his thin line of warriors. ”

“ Two children, Isaac and Christiana, were born to him of this, his first, marriage. We may pass rapidly over these tranquil years of Brant's life. He did his domestic duties as a man should; and Sir William Johnson, finding him trustworthy, had constant work for him, and sent him on many important missions to the Indians, even to the far-western tribes. During this period Brant became a communicant in the Anglican Church, and, knowing well what hardships the missionaries had to endure, he gave them what help he could in their work among the red people. ”

“ The athletic young head waiter, drawn to the door of No. 4 by what promptings of curiosity he knew not, had his eye glued to a crack in the panel and his ears strained to catch the reply to Harding’s appeal; and knowing nothing of the man, but much of the danger signals readable in the man’s face, he wondered at Brant’s preoccupation. And when Brant began to speak without looking up, the athlete swore softly to himself, and cautiously tried the handle of the door—tried it and found it locked. ”

“ There was a pause, a rattle of arms voices—another pause—and Brant stood breathlessly listening. Then the voice rose again slowly and clearly: “Pass the mulatto woman!”
Thank God! she was saved! But the thought had scarcely crossed his mind before it seemed to him that a blinding crackle of sparks burst out along the whole slope below the wall, a characteristic yell which he knew too well rang in his ears, and an undulating line of dusty figures came leaping like gray wolves out of the mist upon his pickets. He heard the shouts of his men falling back as they fired ”

“ Brant had developed into a warmer solicitude, understood or ignored by her,—what were his hopes and aspirations regarding her future,—were by the course of fate never disclosed. A man of easy ethics, but rigid artificialities of honor, flattered and pampered by class prejudice, a so-called “man of the world,” with no experience beyond his own limited circle, yet brave and devoted to that, it were well perhaps to leave this last act of his inefficient life as it was accepted by the deputy. ”

“ On the contrary, making the necessary allowances for his position, his own blood, and the description of warriors he commanded, after the most diligent and laborious investigation, the author is free to declare his belief that Brant was no less humane than he is on all hands admitted to have been brave. He was an Indian, and led Indians to the fight, upon their own principles and usages of war. Bold and daring, sagacious and wily, he often struck when least expected ”

“ Well, about that time I had a talk with Brant, and I’m ashamed to say he made me fly the track again—made me believe he did do it, after all; and I went on believing it till one day about a week ago, when Harry Antrim told me what you told him Brant had told you. That is pretty badly tangled up, but I guess you know what I am driving at.”
[292] “Mr. Brant told me he was innocent—is that what you mean?” she asked.
“That’s it precisely, and I just put it up that he would come pretty near telling you the truth; that you are the one person in the world he wouldn’t lie to. ”

“ On reaching the Genessee river, they met a party of Indians preparing to plant corn. These laborers had a fine horse, which Brant directed to be instantly killed, dressed, and divided among his famishing company. They had neither bread nor salt; but Brant instructed the prisoners to use the white ashes of the wood they were burning as a substitute for the latter ingredient, and it was found to answer an excellent purpose. ”

“ This missive kindled the indignation of Brant, and elicited some spirited letters in reply. Its burden was the existence of difficulties among the Indians themselves, arising, as the Baronet had left the Chief to infer, from their distrust of the proceedings of Brant himself. The council, which the Superintendent-General had directed his Deputy, Captain Claus, to convoke, had been held, but does not seem to have been attended by any other results than an entire exoneration, by the sachems, of their principal Chief from all censure. ”