"Mrs. Porter immediately confirmed what I had said, and gave special point
to the hospitality of the house, and the great desire I had to see Red
Jacket. Her appeal, added to the reply, relaxed the rigor of his manner
and that of the other chiefs, while it relieved our interview of all
painful feelings.
"After this general letting down of the scene, Red Jacket turned to me
familiarly and asked; 'What are you? You say you are not a government
agent, are you a gambler? [Footnote: The name given by Red Jacket to a
land speculator.] or a black coat? or what are you?' I answered: 'I am yet
too young a man to engage in any profession: but I hope some of these days
to be a black coat.' He lifted up his hands accompanied by his eyes, in a
most expressive way, and though not a word was uttered, every one fully
understood that he very distinctly expressed the sentiment, what a fool!
"I had too often been called to bear from those reputed great and wise
among _white_ men, the shame of the cross, to be surprised by his
manner; and I was too anxious to conciliate his good feelings to attempt
any retort, so that I commanded my countenance, and seeming not to have
observed him, I proceeded to tell him something about our colleges, etc.,
etc. That gradually led his mind away from the ideas with which it was
filled and excited when he arrived.
"A good deal of general conversation ensued, addressed to one and another
of the chiefs, and we were just arriving at the hour of dinner, when our
conference was suddenly broken up by the arrival of a breathless
messenger, saying that an old chief, whose name I forget, had just died,
and the other chiefs were immediately needed to attend his burial.
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