The Indian Princess Part 13

[_They retire._

_Enter MIAMI and GRIMOSCO._

GRIMOSCO. Be satisfied; I cannot fail--hither the king will soon come.

This deep shade have I chosen for our place of meeting. Hush! he comes.

Retire, and judge if Grimosco have vainly boasted--away!

[_MIAMI retires._

_Enter POWHATAN._

POWHATAN. Now, priest, I attend the summons of thy voice.

GRIMOSCO. So you consult your safety, for 'tis the voice of warning.

POWHATAN. Of what would you warn me?

GRIMOSCO. Danger.

POWHATAN. From whom?

GRIMOSCO. Your enemies.

POWHATAN. Old man, these have I conquered.

GRIMOSCO. The English still exist.

POWHATAN. The English!

GRIMOSCO. The n.o.bler beast of the forest issues boldly from his den, and the spear of the powerful pierces his heart. The deadly adder lurks in his covert till the unwary footstep approach him.

POWHATAN. I see no adder near me.

GRIMOSCO. No, for thine eyes rest only on the flowers under which he glides.

POWHATAN. Away, thy sight is dimmed by the shadows of age.

GRIMOSCO. King, for forty winters hast thou heard the voice of counsel from my lips, and never did its sound deceive thee; never did my tongue raise the war cry, and the foe appeared not. Be warned then to beware the white man. He has fixed his serpent eye upon you, and, like the charmed bird, you flutter each moment nearer to the jaw of death.

POWHATAN. How, Grimosco?

GRIMOSCO. Do you want proof of the white man's hatred to the red? Follow him along the bay; count the kings he has conquered, and the nations that his sword has made extinct.

POWHATAN. Like a warrior he subdued them, for the chain of friendship bound them not to each other. The white man is brave as Aresqui; and can the brave be treacherous?

GRIMOSCO. Like the red feathers of the flamingo is craft, the brightest plume that graces the warrior's brow. Are not your people brave? Yet does the friendly tree shield them while the hatchet is thrown. Who doubts the courage of Powhatan? Yet has the eye of darkness seen Powhatan steal to the surprise of the foe.

POWHATAN. Ha! priest, thy words are true. I will be satisfied. Even now I received a swift messenger from my son: to-day he will conduct the English to my banquet. I will demand of him if he be the friend of Powhatan.

GRIMOSCO. Yes; but demand it of him as thou drawest thy reeking hatchet from his cleft head. [_KING starts._] The despoilers of our land must die!

POWHATAN. What red man can give his eye-ball the glare of defiance when the white chief is nigh? He who stood alone amidst seven hundred foes, and, while he spurned their king to the ground, dared them to shoot their arrows; who will say to him, "White man, I am thine enemy?" No one. My chiefs would be children before him.

GRIMOSCO. The valour of thy chiefs may slumber, but the craft of thy priest shall watch. When the English sit at that banquet from which they shall never rise; when their eyes read nothing but friendship in thy looks, there shall hang a hatchet over each victim head, which, at the silent signal of Grimosco--

POWHATAN. Forbear, counsellor of death! Powhatan cannot betray those who have vanquished his enemies; who are his friends, his brothers.

GRIMOSCO. Impious! Can the enemies of your G.o.d be your friends? Can the children of another parent be your brethren? You are deaf to the counsellor: 'tis your priest now speaks. I have heard the angry voice of the Spirit you have offended; offended by your mercy to his enemies.

Dreadful was his voice; fearful were his words. Avert his wrath, or thou art condemned; and the white men are the ministers of his vengeance.

POWHATAN. Priest!

GRIMOSCO. From the face of the waters will he send them, in mighty tribes, and our sh.o.r.es will scarce give s.p.a.ce for their footsteps. Powhatan will fly before them; his beloved child, his wives, all that is dear to him, he will leave behind. Powhatan will fly; but whither? which of his tributary kings will shelter him? Not one. Already they cry, "Powhatan is ruled by the white; we will no longer be the slaves of a slave!"

POWHATAN. Ha!

GRIMOSCO. Despoiled of his crown, Powhatan will be hunted from the land of his ancestors. To strange woods will the fugitive be pursued by the Spirit whom he has angered--

POWHATAN. Oh, dreadful!

GRIMOSCO. And at last, when the angel of death obeys his call of anguish, whither will go his condemned soul? Not to the fair forests, where his brave fathers are. Oh! never will Powhatan clasp the dear ones who have gone before him. His exiled, solitary spirit will forever houl on the barren heath where the wings of darkness rest. No ray of hope shall visit him; eternal will be his night of despair.

POWHATAN. Forbear, forbear! O priest, teach me to avert the dreadful doom.

GRIMOSCO. Let the white men be slaughtered.

POWHATAN. The angry Spirit shall be appeased. Come.

[_Exit._

GRIMOSCO. Thy priest will follow thee.

_Enter MIAMI._

MIAMI. Excellent Grimosco! Thy breath, priest, is a deadly pestilence, and hosts fall before it. Yet--still is Miami a captive.

GRIMOSCO. Fear not. Before Powhatan reach Werocomoco thou shalt be free.

Come.

MIAMI. Oh, my soul hungers for the banquet; for then shall Miami feast on the heart of his rival!

[_Exeunt with savage triumph._

_Music. The PRINCESS rushes forward, terror depicted in her face. After running alternately to each side, and stopping undetermined and bewildered, speaks._

PRINCESS. O whither shall I fly? what course pursue?

At Werocomoco, my frenzied looks Would sure betray me. What if hence I haste?

I may o'ertake my lover, or encounter My brother and his friends. Away, my Nima!

[_Exit NIMA._