404: WILD SPORTS IN THE SOUTH. 



, CHAPTER XXIX. 



MIKE AND TIGER TAIL PLAT CHESS. 



" Falstaff, These nine in buckram that I told thee of, began to give me 

 ground. 



Prince Henry. monstrous 1" 



KING HENBY THE FOURTH. 



THERE are some peculiarities in the Indian character 

 that resemble those of a cat. The Indian is patient, and 

 untiring in pursuit of prey, not seizing it by force but by 

 surprise. He never openly attacks an equal, but waylays 

 , him, nor risks a life to take another, though the taking of 

 that other may have been his sole occupation for days. 

 The knowledge of these feline qualities of the savage 

 mind gives to some backwoodsmen their great success 

 in Indian warfare, and a reputation that, like Cceur de 

 Lion's, is handed down from generation to generation 

 among obscurer nations than those that knew the great 

 Crusader 



Mike was a philosopher in this lore. A saying of his 

 was, " I know what an Injin's up to by his paint," mean- 

 ing that his war paint, his trappings, the arms he carried, 

 the decoration of his dress, or its freshness, would show 

 the errand on which its bearer was bent. 



