The men wore mourning
for their enemies, as is the custom among the Dahcotahs.
When the dancing was done, the scalps were buried with the deceased
relatives of the Sioux who took them.
And this is Indian, but what is Christian warfare? The wife of the hero
lives to realize her wretchedness; the honors paid by his countrymen are
a poor recompense for the loss of his love and protection. The life of
the child too, is safe, but who will lead him in the paths of virtue,
when his mother has gone down to the grave.
Let us not hear of civilized warfare! It is all the work of the spirits
of evil. God did not make man to slay his brother, and the savage alone
can present an excuse. The Dahcotah dreams not that it is wrong to
resent an injury to the death; but the Christian knows that God has
said, Vengeance is mine!
CHAPTER IV.
The Track-maker had added to his fame. He had taken many scalps, and the
Dahcotah maidens welcomed him as a hero--as one who would no longer
refuse to acknowledge the power of their charms. They asked him eagerly
of the fight--whom he had killed first--but they derived but little
satisfaction from his replies.
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