Going to an open piece of ground near the Indian camp, he dug some little holes in the soft, rich soil; then mixing a quant.i.ty of onion seed with his powder, he began to plant it.
The Indians were curious to know what he was doing, and stood by greatly interested.
"What are you doing?" said one. "Planting gunpowder," replied the trader.
"Why do you plant it?" inquired another.
"To raise a crop of powder. How could I raise it without planting?" said the trader. "Do you not plant corn in the ground?"
"And will gunpowder grow like corn?" exclaimed half a dozen at once.
"Certainly it will," said the trader. "Did you not know it? As you do not want my powder, I thought I would plant it, and raise a crop which I could gather and sell to the Crows."
Now the Crows were another tribe of Indians, which was always at war with this tribe. The idea of their enemies having a large supply of powder increased the excitement, and one of the Indians said:
"Well, well, if we can raise powder like corn, we will buy your stock and plant it."
But some of the Indians thought best to wait, and see if the seed would grow. So the trader agreed to wait a few days.
In about a week the tiny sprouts of the onion seed began to appear above the ground.
The trader calling the Indians to the spot, said: "You see now for yourselves. The powder already begins to grow, just as I told you it would."
The fact that some small plants appeared where the trader had put the gunpowder, was enough to convince the Indians.
Every one of them became anxious to raise a crop of gunpowder.
The trader sold them his stock, in which there was a large mixture of onion seeds, at a very high price, and then left.
From this time, the Indians gave no attention to their corn crop. If they could raise gunpowder, they would be happy.
They took great care of the little plants as they came up out of the ground, and watched every day for the appearance of the gunpowder blossoms.
They planned a buffalo hunt which was to take place after the powder harvest.
After a while the onions bore a plentiful crop of seeds, and the Indians began to gather and thresh it.
They believed that threshing the onion seeds would produce the powder.
But threshing failed to bring it. Then they discovered that they had been cheated.
Of course the dishonest trader avoided these Indians, and did not make them a second visit.
After some time, however, he sent his partner to them for the purpose of trading goods for furs and skins.
By chance they found out that this man was the partner of the one who had cheated them.
They said nothing to him about the matter; but when he had opened his goods and was ready to trade, they coolly helped themselves to all he had, and walked off.
The trader did not understand this. He became furiously angry, and went to make his complaint to the chief of the nation.
"I am an honest man," said he to the chief. "I came here to trade honestly. But your people are thieves; they have stolen all my goods."
The old chief looked at him some time in silence, and then said: "My children are all honest. They have not stolen your goods. They will pay you as soon as they gather their gunpowder harvest."
The man had heard of the trick played upon the Indians; but did not know before this, that his partner was the one who had cheated them. He could not say a word. He departed at once. Arriving at his home, he said to his partner:
"We must separate. I have learned a lesson. I can not remain in business with a dishonest man. You cheated the Indians for a little gain. You have lost it, and I advise you, henceforth, to deal honestly with all men."
Directions for Reading.--In the first paragraph of the lesson, notice the places marked below (__) where words are likely to be run together in reading, and avoid making such errors.
"Out__in the West, there__are men who trade for furs__and skins__of animals."
Point out similar places in the second paragraph.
Name four _emphatic words_ occurring in the last sentence of the lesson.
Language Lesson. Syllabify, accent, and mark sounds of letters in the following words: _dispose, gunpowder, complaint, henceforth_.
Give reasons for the capital letters and marks of punctuation used in the last paragraph of the lesson.
Tell the story in your own words, using the points given in the following
a.n.a.lysis.--1. Trading with the Indians. 2. The use of fire-arms among the Indians. 3. The trader"s trick. 4. Visit of the trader"s partner. 5.
What the Indians did. 6. The return of the partner. 7. What he said to the trader.
LESSON XX.
floss"y, _made of silk_.
mag"ic, _unnatural power_.
war"bling, _singing_.
mope, _become stupid or dull_.