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Here Chactas for a moment became silent. Tears rolled from his blind eyes down his withered cheeks. "Oh René, my son," he said, "you see that Chactas is very foolish in spite of his reputation for wisdom! Why do men still weep, even when age has blinded their eyes? Every night Atala came to see me, and a strange love for her was born in my heart.
Chactas, the chief of the Natchez, and René, the Frenchman, whom he had adopted into his tribe, were sitting at the prow of a pirogue, which, with its sail of sewn skins outstretched to the night wind, was gliding down the moonlit waters of the Ohio, amid the magnificent desert of Kentucky. Behind them was a fleet of pirogues, which René was piloting on a hunting foray.
She made copies of Guido, Sassoferrato and Veronese, the Laokoon group, and the Hercules of Canova, and executed a much-admired bas-relief called "Love and Innocence." Among her original paintings are an "Atala and Chactas," "Petrarch's First Meeting with Laura," a "Descent from the Cross" for the church at Tribano, a "St. Sebastian," "Melancholy," a "St. Ciro," and many Madonnas.
"The young warrior leaped up, full of joy at being relieved by the daughter of his chief, and when he had gone, Atala released me. "'Now, Chactas, she murmured, turning her face away from me, 'you can escape. "'I do not want to escape, I cried, 'unless I can escape with you! "'But they will burn you, she said. 'They will burn you to-morrow!
"What was the matter with her? She was as pale as death, and unable to rise. I bent over her, and so did the missionary. "'Oh, Chactas, she murmured, 'I am dying. Just before the lightning struck the tree at our feet, I took some poison. For I felt that I could no longer resist you, my beloved, and I was resolved to save myself in death. "'But here is a priest, I said.
In descending the majestic stream, he recognized the Arkansas and other riverain tribes visited by Marquette; he traversed the territories of many other native nations, including the Chickasaws, the Taensas, the Chactas, and the Natchez the last of these rendered so celebrated, in times near our own, by the genius of Chateaubriand.
I took poison with me, Chactas, when I fled with you. I have just swallowed it. There is no remedy. Oh, God! Oh, God! "She was dead in my arms. I buried her where she died, and had it not been for the missionary, René, I would have laid down in the grave, by her side, and let the blood well out of all my veins.
I have never seen my father, though my mother, before she died, baptised me, so that his God should be my God. Oh, Chactas, I wish I could see my father before I die! "'What is his name? I said. 'Where does he live? "'He lives at St. Augustin, she replied. 'His name is Philip Lopez. "'O, my beloved, I cried, pressing Atala wildly to may breast. 'Oh, what happiness, what joy!
Sometimes she would kneel down, and clasp her hands in prayer and weep like a woman with a broken heart. What frightened me above all was the secret thought that she tried to conceal in the depths of her soul, but, now and then, half revealed in her wild, sorrowful, and lovely eyes. Oh, how many times did she tell me: "'Yes, I love you, Chactas, I love you! But I can never be your wife!
Seeing that all the Indians were sleeping, Chactas went on talking to his adopted son. "How little, even now, we know of each other, René. You never told me what it was that made you leave France in 1725, and come to Louisiana, and ask to be admitted to our tribe. I have never told you why I have not married and got children to succeed me, and help me in my old age to govern my people.
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