The eloquent expression of
limb, the tension of sinews, and the compression of muscles, as last
exhibited, were now gone. They had given place to the peculiar repose that
distinguishes the Indian warrior in his moments of inaction, quite as much
as it marks the manner of one schooled in the forms of more polished life.
With one hand he leaned lightly on a musket, while from the wrist of the
other, which hung loose at his side, depended, by a thong of deer's sinew,
a tomahawk from which fell drops of human blood. His person bore no other
covering than that in which he had fought, and, unlike his more aged
companion in authority, his body had escaped without a wound.
In form and in features, this young warrior might be deemed a model of
the excellence of Indian manhood. The limbs were full, round, faultlessly
straight, and distinguished by an appearance of extreme activity, without
being equally remarkable for muscle. In the latter particular, in the
upright attitude, and in the distant and noble gaze which so often
elevated his front, there was a close affinity to the statue of the
Pythian Apollo; while in the full, though slightly effeminate chest,
there was an equal resemblance to that look of animal indulgence, which
is to be traced in the severe representations of Bacchus.
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