🧚 Opening, part 19

And yet this evil soul Was reckless through it all And jolly, for he had With every devilish vice One virtue, as I said, One saving gift, and that Was, that of all the beasts Who in the forest dwelt, Or devils in Hʿlamkîk (That is the Indian hell), He had the hardest heart, Toughest, as all allowed, And most unconquerable.1 He was the first to fight And last one to give in (Indeed, he never did Give in, nor meant to do), From which it came that he Was specially admired By all the blackguard beasts Who prowled about the woods; Wherein they differed little From many among men.2

Now, as of all the rogues, Rowdies and rascal roughs, The Wolves are just the worst, You may right well believe That ’twas with wondrous joy Lox heard, as night came on, Afar a long sad howl, Betokening the presence Of a pack of these pleasant folk; It was music to the ears Of the Indian Devil, Lox.3

So he lifted up his voice All in the Wolfish tongue; For he was deeply learned In many languages; And soon was in the midst Of a score of howling beasts Of lupine land-loafers, Who danced and rolled and screamed, Biting each other for joy At seeing him again-- The Indian Devil, Lox.4

And then the eldest wolf The Sagem or the chief, Said unto him: “I hope Thou’lt camp with us to-night; For truly it is ill For any gentleman To be alone where he Might meet with vulgar beasts!”5 And Lox replied as if He did a favor, all With condescending air; And ate their best dried meat, And took the highest place Beside their fires, and smoked The chief’s best _tomawe_, That is tobacco, from The chieftain’s choicest pipe; While all the others grinned At his tremendous cheek, To see him put it on-- The Indian Devil, Lox.6

And when they laid them down To sleep, the Sagamore Said to the younger wolves: “Be sure and cover up The stranger with your tails.”7 But Lox, who thought it was A blanket made of fur, Soon threw the cover off, And then the chief and all Admired the plucky guest Who seemed to have no care Of cold, or for their care; And little did he care-- The Indian Devil, Lox.8

Then in the early morn When he would wend his way, The Sagem of the Wolves Said to the Wolverine: “Oh Uncle--thou hast yet Before thee three long days All in a land where there Is neither house nor hearth, And thou wilt find it hard To camp without a fire; Now by good luck I have An admirable spell By which thou canst have fires, And only three--yet they Will serve thee to the end-- This is the way ’tis done: Build up a pile of sticks, And then jump over it, Even as children do, And thou wilt see it blaze.9 This is a sacred charm Of great antiquity A secret ’mong the wolves.10 Thou art the very first, Not of our holy race, To whom it hath been given; No Gentile knoweth it.”11 And so he bade farewell To the Indian Devil Lox.12

So Lox went trudging on, Away unto the West; And, as he went, he thought Of the great gift of the Peculiar pious race, And, wondering to himself If ’twere not all a flam, Since ’twas his nature to Suspect all kinds of deeds, As he had ne’er done one Save to some evil end, And being curious And very anxious to Behold some strange new thing, He said unto himself: “Tush!13 I will try it now.”14 So piling up some sticks He bounded over them; They burst into a blaze.15 So all had come to pass As the Wolf prophesied: Which greatly did amaze The Indian Devil Lox.16

So having warmed himself He went his way with joy, But very soon observed That it grew cold again.17 The wind blew sharp and shrill, The snow began to fall, And Lox began to think How very nice ’twould be, And pleasant, to be _warm_.18 Now ’tis a curious truth All very wicked men Have always _one_ weak spot, So Lox the Wolverine Without reflection piled More sticks together; then Jumped over them at once.19 Up leaped a jolly blaze As if to dance with him; This was the second fire And he had still three nights Of bitter killing cold, Ere he could reach his home-- The Indian Devil Lox!20

And yet this Wolverine Who was wise in all that’s bad, Wicked and witty in sin, Had not indeed gone far Or out-walked the afternoon, Before he began to think, As he shivered and cursed the cold, Of lighting another fire.21 “Ah--hem!” he said, “who knows But the weather may take a turn To a thaw, and give us a night Which _may_ be rather warm!22 _Hum! ha!23 _ Methinks by the look Of the clouds that the wind may be South-westerly!24 I think I have heard my grandmother say: That a color such as I see, Of red in the sky, means something-- I forget what it is--but it may be A change for the better--or worse!25 Well, I’ll take the chance.”26 Thus saying, He piled up the sticks again, And had a third fire--although The first night had not come.27 But he warmed himself and was happy-- The Indian Devil Lox!28

Then gayly jumping over Awaited the cheerful blaze.]29

Then as it grew dark and darker, As the coals and sticks grew blacker, When a fire is dying away, He came to his camping place, And then it grew cold in earnest, A cold to split a flint.30 However, Lox the Believing, Said, “What is good for once Must surely be good for ever,” And made up a pile of sticks, Then gayly jumping over Awaited the cheerful blaze.31 But all in vain, not a sparkle, Not a hint of anything burning, Not even a tiny crackle Came from the silent wood.32 But as Lox was persevering, He hopefully kept on jumping, Till after some thirty efforts There arose a little smoke Which came as if it were angry At being so frequently called, And then returned no more.33 But Lox to himself repeating “All smoke has fire behind it,” Kept bravely at his leaping Until the Indian Devil Of madness and desperation Awoke within his soul, And he swore by it that he ever Would keep straight on with his jumping Till something blazed--or burst!34 He himself was almost blazing-- The Indian Devil Lox.35

So he kept on a-leaping, But to him there came no comfort, Not even the glow of a spark; And being at last aweary He fell in a swoon on the wood-pile, And so he froze to death, And that was the last that winter, Which was heard of him in the land.36 Yet I think in time he recovered, For since then, he very often Has appeared among the people-- Lox, The Indian Devil, The Indian Devil Lox.37 L.38

FOOTNOTES:39

[69] Lox, the Indian Devil, is the worst beast in the woods.40

=L’Envoi=41

L’ENVOI42

O happy sylvan hours and days of yore!43 O quaint old speech which echoes in our ears!44 From you we learn our country’s early lore, The forest people’s sorrows, joys and fears.45 So pass in peace, ye simple woodland race!46 We may no longer hope to bid you live.47 In our mad turmoil ye can have no place, But we have taken what ye have to give.48 P.49

APPENDIX50

=The Passamaquoddy Wampum Records=51

APPENDIX52

THE PASSAMAQUODDY WAMPUM RECORDS53

[This is an emendation of the text published by me in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, xxxvi., pp.54 479 ff.55 P.]56