ly seen.

Here the hunter, having to attend his sheep, left the three brothers,
to amuse themselves for half an hour with the curiosities in his
cottage; after which, he returned to redeem his pledge, by relating
the history he had promised them.

[Illustration: Indian Pipes.]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VII.

"And now," said the hunter, "for my account of Nikkanochee.[4] I met
with him in Florida, his own country, when he was quite a child;
indeed he is even now but a boy, being not more than twelve or
thirteen years of age. The Seminole Indians, a mixed tribe, from whom
prince Nikkanochee is descended, were a warlike people, settled on the
banks of the River Chattahoochee. In a battle which took place between
the Indians and a party of whites, under Major Dade, out of a hundred
and fourteen white men, only two escaped the tomahawks of their
opponents. A Seminole was about to despatch one of these two, when he
suddenly called to mind that the soldier had once helped him in
fitting a handle to his axe. This arrested his uplifted weapon, and
the life of the soldier was spared."

[Footnote 4: This sketch is supposed to be a narrative of
facts, though the authority for it is not within the
publishers' reach.]

_Austin._ Noble! noble! If all the Seminoles were like him, they were
a noble people.

_Hunter._ The tribe had good and bad qualities; but I tell you this
anecdote, because it affords another proof that the hardy Indian
warrior, in the midst of all his relentless animosity against his
enemy, is still sensible of a deed of kindness. On another occasion,
when the Seminoles, to avenge injuries which their tribe had received,
wasted the neighbourhood with fire and tomahawk, they respected the
dwelling of one who had shown kindness to some of their tribe. Even
though they visited his house, and cooked their food at his hearth,
they did no injury to his person or his property. Other dwellings
around it were burned to the ground, but for years his habitation
remained secure from any attack on the part of the grateful Seminoles.

_Basil._ When I go abroad, I will always behave kindly to the poor
Indians.

_Hunter._ The father of Nikkanochee was king of the Red Hills, in the
country of the Seminoles; but not being very much distinguished as a
warrior, he gave up the command of his fighting men to his brother
Oseola, a chief famous for