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Richardson, John, 1796-1852

"Wacousta : a tale of the Pontiac conspiracy (Complete)"

Now,
indeed, do I glory in my mistake. The torture will be
a more fitting death for you."
Had an arm of the insulted soldier been at liberty, the
offence would not have gone unavenged even there; for
such was the desperation of his heart, that he felt he
could have hugged the death struggle with his insolent
captor, notwithstanding the fearful odds, nor quitted
him until one or both should have paid the debt of fierce
enmity with life. As it was he could only betray, by his
flashing eye, excited look, and the impatient play of
his foot upon the ground, the deep indignation that
consumed his heart.
The tall savage exulted in the mortification he had
awakened, and as his eye glanced insolently from head to
foot along his enemy, its expression told how much he
laughed at the impotence of his anger. Suddenly, however,
a change passed over his features. The mocassin of the
officer had evidently attracted his attention, and he
now demanded, in a more serious and imperative tone,--
"Ha! what means this disguise? Who is the wretch whom I
have slain, mistaking him for a nobler victim; and how
comes it that an officer of the English garrison appears
here in the garb of a servant? By heaven, it is so! you
are come as a spy into the camp of the Indians to steal
away the councils of the chiefs.


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