The Black Hand. 457
thyself be beaten by the cunning right
hand of a boy! Disgraced
thou art, and no longer shalt thou be
numbered among the
members of my frame." And the hand
clung to the rock and
turned black, and spread and grew until
it was as the hand of
a giant; and while the chief, Ahyomah
and the tribe stood silently
watching the wonder, the defeated
warrior wrapped his robe
about him, spoke no word of farewell,
and striding swiftly into
the dark depths of the forest, was seen
no more by man.
THE BLACK HAND.
HON. ALFRED KELLEY.
Have you ever seen the place where the
murderer's hand
Had instamped on the rock its indelible
brand,
A stain which nor water nor time could
efface?
'Tis a deep lonely glen, 'tis a wild
gloomy place,
Where the waters of Licking so silently
lave,
Where the huge frowning rock high
impends o'er the wave,
On whose pine-covered summit we hear the
deep sigh
When the zephyrs of evening so gently
pass by.
Here a generous savage was once doomed
to bleed,
'Twas the treacherous white man
committed the deed.
The hand of the murderer fixed the
imprint,
'Twas the blood of the victim that gave
the black tint.
A captive in battle the white man was
made,
And deep in the wilds is the victim
conveyed,
Here far from his kindred the youth must
be slain,
His prayers, his entreaties, his
struggles are vain.
The war dance is treading, his death
song is singing,
And the wild savage yell in his ears is
a-ringing.
The fire for the torture is blazing on
high,
His death doom is sealed, here the white
man must die,
The hatchet is raised, the weapon
descends,
But quick an old chief o'er the victim
now bends.
The hatchet he seizes and hurls to the
ground.
He raises the youth and his limbs are
unbound.
"My son fell in battle,"
exclaims the old chief,
"But ye saw not my sorrow, tho'
deep was my grief,
458
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
And now shall the white man to me be a
son,
'Tis your chief that has said it - his
will shall be done.
A friend and a father to him will I
prove,
And me as a father and friend shall he
love."
Long years had passed by, and peace had
again
Spread her soft balmy wings over
mountain and plain,
The red man and white man in friendship
now meet,
For the hatchet is buried deep under
their feet.
Long years had rolled on, while the
chief and his son
Rich spoils from the forest together had
won.
Now loaded with furs from the far
distant lake,
The path to the traders together they
take.
Through the Narrows of Licink their
pathway extends,
Around the huge rock on its margin it
bends,
Where the shelf on its face scarce
admits them to creep
Along the dark front that impends o'er
the deep.
The chief, with fatigue and with age now
oppressed,
In the shade of the rock seeks a moment
of rest;
Here, lulled by the waters, he closes
his eyes,
While his spirit communes with his
friends in the skies.
By his side the false white man now
silently knelt,
And carefully drawing his knife from the
belt,
With one deadly plunge of the murderous
steel
Reached the heart full of kindness -a
heart that could feel.
Then quick in the river the Indian was
thrown
Lest the tale should be told, lest the
deed should be known.
Oh! the shriek that he gave as he sank
in the flood,
As the waves eddied round him,
deep-stained with his blood.
0h! the glare of his eye as they closed
o'er his head,
While with hoarse sullen murmur they
welcomed the dead.
Rock told it to rock, oft repeating the
sound,
While shore answering shore still
prolonged it around.
That look and that sound touched the
murderer's heart,
With phrenzy he reeled, and with
shuddering start,
His hand, while still reeking, with
madness he placed
On the rock, and the blood-stain could
ne'er be effaced.
The Black Hand. 459
'Twas avarice prompted the horrible deed, 'Twas avarice doomed the kind chieftain to bleed. To form the safe towing-path, long since that day The face of the rock had been blasted away. Now the gay painted boat glides so smoothly along, Its deck crowned with beauty and cheerful with song. And the print of the black hand no longer is seen, But the pine-covered summit is still evergreen, And still through the branches we hear the deep sigh Of the spirits of air as they sadly pass by, While in mournful procession they move one by one Still thinking with grief on the deed that was done. |
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