The Last Algonquin by Theodore Kazimiroff

Author:Theodore Kazimiroff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2009-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Indian Again

A war was coming. It had already begun in many subtle ways. News of its reasons had filtered even into the dark mine shafts. Slaves spoke of the war as one that would free them forever. Bosses spoke of it as one that would burn much coal in ships and factories. They all spoke as if the shooting had started, but it had not yet.

The friends talked about this coming war one night, and Cass told Joe as much as he knew of it. Joe could understand enough to see that it was bound to happen. Cass ended by saying that he and several other runaway slaves at the mine had decided to leave and volunteer their service in the Northern army. He asked Joe to join them. The Indian thought long and hard about Cass's proposition. But the next day he told Cass that while he wished him well, he would not go along. He thought too little of these white Americans to join in their war and do their fighting. There was no cowardice in Two Tree's decision and both men knew it. It was more because Joe, the native born, was even less "American" than Cass, from far away. Joe's ties were with the land itself, not with these men who had usurped it from his people. He would not be drawn among them by a war of their making.

Cass and the other slaves set the day for leaving and made their preparations quietly. They didn't know how the boss would react, so secrecy was kept. When the time came, Joe made his goodbyes and knew that he would feel the loss of his friend. As he watched them leave, he thought he knew how his ancestors had felt when they watched their clansmen go off to join the Iroquois. He almost went to join the slaves then, but something held him back.

When the men mustered for work in the morning, Joe was also gone. In the early, predawn hours he had wrapped his few belongings in the bearskin, and walked into the winter woods. Joe hadn't followed the others, he had set off to the north. By sunrise, many miles separated him from the coal mines. His spirits rose with each additional step. Later that day, Two Trees, the Indian, sat at a small fire and watched a rabbit roasting. The sight and aroma made him wonder why he had spent the time mining coal. But simultaneously he knew the answer. It had hardened and toughened him both physically and mentally. The experience had taught him much. The mine had been Joe's school, his education. He had learned many things about the white men and about himself. He now knew that they didn't want him on any but the most demeaning terms. He knew that equality between them and himself was at least as impossible as it was for the black slaves. He had learned to be hated, and to hate. But, he had also discovered friendship.

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