Still, as he had
yielded to an Indian there was an affectation of leaving the chief to the
clemency of his conquerors. Perhaps some deeply-pondered scheme of policy
had its influence in this act of seeming justice.
When Conanchet was placed in the centre of the curious circle, he found
himself immediately in presence of the principal chief of the tribe of the
Mohegans. It was Uncas, son of that Uncas whose fortunes had also
prevailed, aided by the whites, in the conflict with his father, the
hapless but noble Miantonimoh. Fate had now decreed, that the same evil
star, which had governed the destinies of the ancestor, should extend its
influence to the second generation.
The race of Uncas, though weakened of its power, and shorn of much of its
peculiar grandeur, by a vicious alliance with the English, still retained
most of the fine qualities of savage heroism. He, who now stood forth to
receive his captive, was a warrior of middle age, of just proportions, of
a grave though fierce aspect, and of an eye and countenance that expressed
all those contradictory traits of character which render the savage
warrior almost as admirable as he is appalling.
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