The Governor then asked him if he intended to prevent the settlement of the new purchase. He replied, that he hoped no attempt would be made to settle it until his return from the south;—that he had formed a confederacy of all the north-western tribes, and as soon as the council broke, he should visit the southern tribes for the same purpose;—that while he was absent, many Indians from the far west tribes, would settle at his town, and that the lands of the late purchase they would wish to use as hunting grounds, and that therefore he would wish no attempt made to survey them until his return, as it might lead to some difficulty;—and farther, that he wished no revenge sought for any injury which might be committed during his absence; that his intentions were peaceable, and upon his return he would himself visit the President, and settle all their differences;—that in the mean time, as the affairs of all the north-western Indians were in his hands, and nothing could be done without him, he would send messengers to all the tribes to prevent them from doing any mischief. These remarks called for a reply on the part of the Governor; nothing was effected—the council adjourned, and the brothers with their warriors, leaving the town, retired to their camp.
The next morning early, Tecumseh, having exacted a promise from his brother, that he would make no move until his return, descended the Wabash with twenty four men, on his way to the south, while Elkswatawa, with the remainder of the band, returned quietly to Tippecanoe.
CHAPTER XX.
“There is a trampling in the wood;—
The mat, the cabin's entrance rude,
Shakes;—it was no dream of fear,—
Behold an Indian's face appear,
He stands within the cot.—”
YAMOYDEN.
We must now return to Kenah, the Prophet's messenger. Having left the wigwam of Netnokwa, dissatisfied with his visit, and vowing vengeance against its inmates, he continued his wanderings for the purpose of still farther disseminating his doctrines. Journeying among her own tribe, every day gave him proofs of the great influence she wielded, and he saw that it was vain to attempt to effect any thing, while in her own lodge she permitted the doctrines of the Prophet to be ridiculed, and his agents to be treated with derision and disrespect. Satisfied with the correctness of this opinion, and not being able by his own means to counteract the effect which the sentiments there uttered were likely to produce, he at once bent his steps towards the camp of the Prophet, determined to lay the matter before him, and to ask his interference. In doing this, besides the desire he had widely to disseminate the doctrines he was preaching, he was angered to find himself thwarted by one of that hated race, whose destruction he was plotting; and he resolved within his own mind, that if he could obtain the Prophet's consent, she should expiate her offence by death.
Having arrived in the country on the Wabash, he lost no time in searching out the Prophet, whom he found engaged as he had left him, in exciting and preparing the Indians for the part they were to act. Seeking an opportunity, he gave a detail of his wanderings, and dwelt particularly on the reception he had met with at Netnokwa's lodge, and the opposition he had encountered to the propagation of his doctrines, in the person of a pale face girl. He urged the necessity there was for removing her, together with the Indian maiden, who was entirely under her influence; and likewise, the propriety of adopting some strong measures relative to Netnokwa. He urged this the more, because he believed her at most lukewarm in her support of his doctrines, and feared that from the high place she held in the affections of the Indians, she might, if permitted to waver in her opinions, destroy at any moment, the influence which he had already obtained among them. He was angered, and his thirst for vengeance caused him to urge with great eagerness, the immediate adoption of some strong plans.
When Kenah first announced his visit to the lodge of Netnokwa, the countenance of the Prophet was darkened with anger, and he bit his lips in suppressed rage; yet Kenah finished his story, and still the Prophet, to his surprise, remained silent. Had the persons whose deaths he wished, been any other than those they were, no difficulty would have ensued; they would have been removed without a struggle, for the Prophet always thirsted for blood;—he was never known to forgive an enemy, nor ever, under any circumstances, to intercede for a victim; the narrative of Kenah had embittered his feelings in the highest degree;—he was mad with rage, and still he refused to answer Kenah's demand, requiring time to pass upon the matter. Taking this view of his character, Kenah viewed his conduct as perfectly incomprehensible. His divine mission had been ridiculed and denied, he himself decried as an impostor, and that too by a woman, and she of a hated race, and yet he required time to act.
Kenah felt that a change had come over the Prophet, and leaving him, he mentioned the circumstances, and they soon became the common talk of the camp. But while he did this, he little knew the difficulties which lay in the way of the Prophet. At the first recital of the events which Kenah had detailed, the Prophet knew that the white maiden alluded to, could be no other than the same who was captured by Yanatah, and whom he had given to Netnokwa to take with her home;—and that the red maiden who was said to be under her influence, and whose death Kenah also thought desirable, could be no other than she who was to have been the bride of Tecumseh. When he recollected that this difficulty had occurred in consequence of his having once, and once only, permitted a pale face who was in his clutches to escape from them, he felt a pang, such as is ordinarily felt, when one reverts for a moment to some deep crime which stains his past life. Under these circumstances he for some time hesitated what to do. Netnokwa was powerful, and possessed great influence, which it was necessary either to obtain or destroy. How to do this, while those who resided with her, were suffered to ridicule his doctrines, he could not tell. To accuse her of witchcraft, and order her to the stake, was now impossible, for he had lately declared, in the words of the Great Spirit, that all witches were exterminated, and he (the Great Spirit) appeased.
To connive in any way at the death of her daughter, was equally impossible, standing as she did toward Tecumseh, somewhat in relation of an affianced bride; and to order to death the captive maiden, who was under the same roof, he equally feared would call down his displeasure; for he knew the opposition he had felt to the summary method which had been practiced for removing the chiefs who were his enemies, and also his general repugnance to shedding the blood of women and children. With these views, and still undecided, he summoned Kenah, and explained to him the difficulties by which he was surrounded; and after a discussion of the plan best to be adopted, it was agreed that Netnokwa, with her daughter and the captive, should be brought at once to the camp of the Prophet, where they could be at least prevented from doing any mischief, and where they should remain until Tecumseh's return from the south, when, in general council, some disposition should be made of them. This plan appearing feasible, and having been agreed upon, they began to make preparations for carrying it into effect. Kenah was cautioned that Netnokwa was to be borne away without the knowledge of her tribe, and that neither she nor the maidens who were with her, were to receive the least injury. He deemed wisely that, once safely in his power, he could turn her influence to his own account, and at least keep her as a hostage for the good conduct of her tribe. It was but a short time after this resolve, when Kenah, having selected some half a dozen of the Prophet's most confidential followers, left the camp, and set out in the direction of Netnokwa's lodge.
The Indian affairs were now every day assuming a more warlike character, and Tecumseh and Elkswatawa, although engaged in different quarters of the country, were using all their exertions to prepare for the coming conflict. No open act of hostility had as yet been committed; but their plans were fast maturing, and Tecumseh had avowed his purpose to strike a sure and heavy blow as soon as he should return from the south, where he was now engaged in uniting in one common bond, the various tribes in that quarter. While such were the exertions of Tecumseh and Elkswatawa, General Harrison was arduously engaged in organizing and disciplining the militia under his command, and preparing for the crisis which he saw fast approaching. Accounts, containing all the information he could gather, relative to the proceedings of the Indians were regularly forwarded to the War Department, and he was in daily expectation of receiving orders requiring him to disperse the band of the Prophet, which, moving as it did always, just on the frontiers, served to keep the citizens in a state of perpetual alarm.