Chapter 11 10. The Sword of Captain Jack

one eight seven three On June 6, the U.S. Congress began investigating the Mobile Credit Corporation case.On March 3, the Salary Earnings Act improved the treatment of members of Congress and government officials, taking effect retroactively.On May 7, the U.S. Marine Corps landed in Panama to protect American life and property.On September 15, the last German troops withdrew from France.On September 19, the Jackcock Bank collapsed, causing a financial panic.On September 20, trading on the New York Stock Exchange was suspended for ten days; causing a serious economic crisis throughout the United States and the world.Around the World in Eighty Days by Wayne, and Mark Twain's The Elegant Times were published.

After all, I am alone, and I am the voice of my people. I will say whatever they think in their hearts.I don't want to fight anymore, I want to be a human being.You deny me white rights, my skin is red, my heart is white, and yet I am a Modak.I am not afraid of death, I will not fall on a stone; when I am dead, the enemy will lie under my body.While I was asleep at the Loss River, your big soldiers started attacking me, and they drove us up these rocks like a wounded deer. I've been telling the white people before, come and settle on my land; it's theirs, and it's Captain Jack's too.They can come and live with me and I won't be mad at them.I have never received anything from anyone unless I bought and paid for it myself.I've always lived and wanted to live like a white man.I always want to live in peace, and never ask anyone for anything.I live on what I shoot and trap.

Kent Pushey of the Modaks (Captain Jack) The California Indians were as mild as the climate in which they lived.The Spaniards gave them names, founded them churches, changed them, and corrupted them.Among the Indians in California, the tribes are not well organized; every village has a chief, but among these unarmored peoples there are no great war chiefs.Since the discovery of gold in 1848, thousands of white people from all over the world have poured into California, taking whatever they want from these tame Indians, and corrupting those Indians who have not been corrupted by the Spaniards people, and then systematically wiped out entire tribe populations, hitherto long forgotten.Nobody remembers the Chirunas, the Chimericos, the Yobrelis, the Nibiwes, the Alonas, and a hundred more tribes whose bones have been Enclosed under flagstones on 1.5 million kilometers of speedways, parking lots and house grounds.

Among these non-resisting Indians in California, there was only one family exception, the Modak tribe, who lived in the harsh climate of Torrey Lake, along the state line with Oregon.Until 1850, the Modak people almost didn't know that there were white people. Later, immigrants began to come in batches and occupied the best land, thinking that the Modak people would obey their orders obediently.As soon as the Modaks showed resistance, the invading whites planned to kill them all, and the tribe retaliated with an ambush. During this period of time, Kent Pushey, a young Modak man, grew up. He couldn't understand why Modak and white people couldn't live together without killing each other.The Torrey Lakes area is as limitless as the sky, with enough wild deer, antelope, ducks, geese, fish and sweetroot trees to feed everyone.He blamed his father for not making peace with white people.His father, who was a chief, told him that the white men were treacherous and that they had to be thrown out first if they were to live in peace.Soon after, the chief was killed in a battle with the whites, and Kent Pushey became the chief of the Modak tribe.

Kent Pushey then went to the white people's residential areas, to find those white people he trusted, and to conclude peace treaties with them.Met some good people in Verica, and immediately all the Modaks went there to trade.I've always told the white folks in my district, Kent Pushey said, if they want a home there, they can; The tribe lives the same.I'd love them to settle there, and I'd love to be with white people.The young chief liked the clothes they wore, too, and their houses and wagons and their fine animals. The whites near Willica gave these visiting Indians new names, and the Modaks found it very amusing, and often used these names among themselves.Kent Pushy is Captain Jack, and the others are Jim the Hookhand, Frank the Steamboat, Charlie the Scarface, Charlie the Boston, the Curly-haired Man, Jim the Dirty Bum, John the Skinny, and Allen's men.

During the White Civil War, disputes arose between the white residents and the Modaks.If a Modak cannot kill a deer to support his family, he sometimes kills a cow in the pasture; or, if he needs a horse, borrows one from the resident pasture.The white friends of the Modaks would tax the immigrants who used their land as Indians; but the majority of the whites did not like this method, and through their politicians, arranged a treaty to remove the Modaks from Drive out of the Torrey Lake area. The Diyo commissioners promised Captain Jack and the other leaders that if they moved north to a reservation in Oregon, each family would have their own land, a set of carts, horses, wagons, farm implements, tools, and clothing. All food and food are provided by the government.Captain Jack wanted his land near Lake Tory, but the contracting committee members disagreed.Jack more or less reluctantly signed the treaty, and the Modaks moved north to the Cremaus Reservation.There was trouble from the very beginning. The reservation was on land owned by the Clemaus Indians, and the Clemaus regarded the Modaks as invaders.When the Mordaks felled the fences to enclose the designated farmlands, the Klemaus came and stole the fences.The supplies promised by the government never arrived; the reservation administrator distributed food and clothing to the Cremaus, but never, it seems, did the Modaks. (The general meeting in Washington did not vote to allocate half a dollar to buy supplies for the Modak tribe.)

When Captain Jack saw that the people were getting more and more hungry, he led them out of the reservation.They came down into the valley of the River Lost, where they had once lived, to search for game and fish and sweetroot.However, the ranch whites who lived in that valley, where the Modaks were not, often complained loudly to the authorities.Captain Jack warned the people to stay away from the whites; but it was not easy to keep three hundred Indians invisible.In the summer of 1872, the Indian Bureau warned Captain Jack to go back to the Cremaus Reservation.Jack replied that his people could not live with the Cremaus, and demanded a reservation be made somewhere on the Lost River, where the Modaks had always been.The Bureau of Indians considered this a reasonable request, but the ranchers objected to giving any part of this rich grazing area to the Indians.In the fall of 1872, the government ordered the Modaks to return to the Cremaus Reservation. Jack refused, and the Army was ordered to transport the Modaks back by force.On November 28, 1872, when it was raining icy cold, Major Zhu Kesheng led 38 cavalrymen from a company of the 1st Cavalry Regiment and rode out of Fort Kremaus and headed south. Straight down the Loss River.

Just before daybreak the cavalry arrived at Mordak's camp, dismounted, with lances at the ready, and surrounded the cone-curtain area.Scarface Charlie and several other men came out of the camp with weapons. Major Zhu Kesheng asked to see the chief. As soon as Jack came out, the major told him that the chief had issued an order to bring the Mordak tribe back to the Cremaus reservation. go. I'll go, said Captain Jack, and I'll take all my people with me.But don't have the slightest faith in anything you white people tell me.You see, you frightened me, and frightened our people, by coming here to our camp when it was dark.I will not run away before you, you want to see me, you want to talk to me, you can come up to me like a man.

Major Zuckerson said he was not looking for trouble, and gave Jack the order to assemble his men before the privates.Once assembled, the major pointed to a sagebrush bush at one end of the formation, and ordered: Put your guns here. Why?asked Jack. You are the chief, you put the gun down, and all your men will do the same.If you do this, we'll be out of trouble. Captain Jack hesitated, knowing that his subordinates were unwilling to disarm. I had never hit a white man before, so he said: I don’t want to do it now either. The major insisted that they surrender their guns, and promised: I will not let anyone hurt you.

Captain Jack put the gun on the sagebrush and gestured for the others to do the same, and one by one they came forward and piled up the rifles.Scarface Charlie was last, and he put his rifle on top of the pile, but the pistol was still in his belt.The major ordered him to hand over the pistol. You have my guns.Scarface said. The major calls to Lieutenant Porter: Disarm him! You fucking, give me that pistol, quick!Potter stepped forward, giving orders. Scarface Charlie laughed aloud, and said he was not a dog to be scolded and barked at. Potter drew his revolver: You son of a bitch, I'm going to teach you how to talk back to me.

Scarface again, he's not a dog; add to that, he wants to keep his pistol. Just as Porter raised his revolver to a shooting position, Scarface pulled out the pistol from his belt, and the two fired at the same time. In the past, he himself missed; he turned and rushed to the pile of guns, grabbed his rifle from above, and every Mordak warrior followed his example.The cavalry commander ordered the officers and soldiers to shoot, and in the next few seconds, both sides fired fiercely; then the soldiers retreated, leaving one dead and seven wounded on the battlefield. By this time the women and children of the Modak tribe were paddling south in canoes to Lake Torrey.Captain Jack and the warriors followed along the shore, hidden among the thick reeds; they made their way to the lava beds of California, the ancient Hunan refuge of the Modaks. A lava bed is a field of fire that has burned into the voids, potholes, and fissures of the rock.The pit chosen by Captain Jack for his base was a crater-like fire pit surrounded by a succession of natural ditches and lava parapets.He knew that he had a number of warriors who could fight back a large army if need be, but hoped that the soldiers would let them go now, that the white men would not want these useless rocks. When Major Zuckerson's troops approached Jack's Camp, a small band of Modaks, led by Jim Hooked, camped on the other side of the Lost River.That morning, as Captain Jack and his tribe fled toward the lava bed, they heard gunshots from the direction of Jim Hooked's camp.I was on the run and didn't want to fight, and he said later: They killed some of our women, they killed our men, and I didn't stop to ask about any of the dead or wounded, just left and fled, and I had very little The clansmen do not want to fight. It wasn't until a day or two later that he realized that there was something wrong with the man who hooked Jim.Hooked Jim suddenly appeared outside Jack's stronghold, along with Curly, Boston Charlie, and eleven Mordaks.They told Jack that when the soldiers came to his camp, several white residents came to their camp and shot at them; a man.On their way to the lava bed, Jim Hookhand and the men, determined to avenge the dead, stopped at an isolated farmstead and killed a dozen of its inhabitants. At first Jack thought Jim the Hook was talking nonsense, but everyone else said it was true.When they called out the names of the dead white people, Jack couldn't believe that some of the residents were white people he knew and trusted.Why are you killing those people?He asked: I never asked you to kill my friends, you are responsible for what you do. This time, Captain Jack knew for sure that the soldiers would definitely come, even if they were in this clearing of the lava bed, they would come to take revenge.And because he was the chief of the Mordaks, he had to pay for the crimes committed by Jim the Hookhand and the others. It was not until the Ice Moon Soldiers came. On January 13, 1873, the Modaks who were guarding the outer defenses saw a group of blue uniformed soldiers approaching a high hill overlooking the lava bed. They were a few shots away. Shoot, beat these scouts away.Three days later, a regular army of 225 officers and soldiers, supported by 104 volunteers from Oregon and California, came like ghosts through the fog in the winter afternoon.They took positions along the line of hills facing Captain Jack's stronghold, and when night fell they lit sagebrush fires for warmth.Their commander hoped that the Mordraks, seeing the attacking company and battalion, might come and surrender. Captain Jack really wanted to surrender. He knew that the most important thing for the soldiers to catch were those Modak tribesmen who killed the residents; Li, rather than sacrificing the lives of all the people in a bloody battle. Hooked Jim, Curly-haired and those who killed the people were against any surrender; they forced Jack to call a meeting to vote on what the clan should do.Of the fifty-one fighters in the center of the stronghold, only fourteen wanted to surrender, and thirty-seven voted to fight to the death with the soldiers. Before daybreak on the seventeenth they heard the soldiers' trumpets blare through the lava beds shrouded in fog.Not long after, howitzers sounded off the attack of the blue uniforms, and the Modaks readied, their heads camouflaged with sagebrush leaves, scuttling in and out of the crevices, laying down the soldiers on the first line of engagement. They were killed one by one. By noon, the attacking forces had spread out over a kilometer and a half of the front, their communications severely hampered by terrain and dense fog.Under cover, Modak's soldiers hurried back and forth along the front line, pretending to have the upper hand.When a company of soldiers approached the stronghold, the Modaks concentrated their fire, and even the women joined the soldiers to shoot.In the evening, Jack and Allen's men led a charge, and the soldiers were beaten down, and the dead and wounded were abandoned on the battlefield. Before sunset the fog cleared, and the Mordraks saw the soldiers retreating to their camp on the hill.The soldiers went to the place where the corpses in blue uniforms were lying, and picked up nine lances and six bullet belts; a little further on, there were also a lot of ammunition and military rations scattered by the rout. When night fell, the Mordrakes celebrated with a great campfire.No one was killed in this battle, and no one was seriously injured. The captured rifles and ammunition were enough to fight another day.The next morning, they were waiting in full force, but when the soldiers came, there were only a few of them, holding a white flag.They demanded that the body be recovered, and before the end of the day all the soldiers on the hill had left. Captain Jack decided that the blue uniform would come again, so he sent scouts to a distant place to monitor them.But the days passed, and the soldiers stayed far away.We fought with the Indians, we drilled lava beds, and when we got to their stronghold, the commander of the attacking force reported that it was a center several kilometers in diameter, full of rocky voids, holes, fissures, and it was almost impossible to drive them out. Breaking through the lair requires a thousand officers and soldiers, and it is necessary to use various mortar companies at will, carefully plan and implement.Please send 300 infantry as soon as possible. On February 28, Winnema, Captain Jack's cousin, came to the lava bed. She was married to a white Riddle, and he and three other white men came with her.The Modaks were at ease when they went to Willika, and they were very friendly white people.Winnema, a cheerful, buoyant, round-faced young woman who now called herself Jumpy Ryder, had adopted her husband's way of life, but Jack believed in her.She told him that she had brought four white men to talk to him, and they planned to spend the night at the stronghold to confirm their friendship.Jack assured her that he would welcome them and would do neither of them any harm. Then during the meeting, several white people explained that the elders in Washington had already sent many committee members who wanted to negotiate peace. to find a peaceful way, the commissioners waited at Fairchild Farm not far from the lava bed. What happens when the Mordaks ask the question: Jim the Hook and his gang killed the immigrants in Oregon?They replied that if they surrendered as prisoners of war, they would not be subject to Oregon law.Instead it is taken far away and placed on a reservation in the warmer regions of Indian Land or Arizona. Go back and tell those committee members, Jack replied, saying that I am willing to listen to them in the meeting, see what conditions they have for us, tell them to come to see me, or ask me to go.If they will protect me from my enemies during these peace conferences, I'll go and see them. The next morning, the guests left.Winnemah promised to notify Jack as soon as the time and place of the meeting were decided.On the same day, Jim the Hooker and his men slipped out to the Fairchild Farm, found the peace commissioners, and declared that they would surrender as prisoners of war. The peace committee consisted of Mitsam, who was at one time a Modak administrator in Oregon; Thomas, a clergyman in California; Dayo, an assistant administrator of the Kremaus Reservation; overseeing their activities The most important was General Comby, the commander of the troops assembled outside the lava bed, that is, Chief Peygle who had made peace with Chief Manuelito's Na'vi peace twelve years ago in New Mexico. When the Modaks under Jim Hookhands came to Comby's headquarters and surprisingly announced their surrender, the general was so happy that he hurriedly sent a telegram to the great soldier Sherman in Washington, reporting that Said that the Mordak War was over, and asked for instructions on when and where these prisoners of war should be transported. Compby was excited, but he didn't arrest Jim Hooked and his eight tribesmen.These Modaks wandered out, entered the barracks, and made some close observations of the soldiers who thought they were going to protect them from falling into the hands of the Oregonians.As they were going round and round, they happened to meet an Oregonian who recognized them and threatened to arrest them for murdering the residents of Lost River.He said that the governor of Oregon wanted their lives, and that as long as the governor was within his reach, they would all be hanged. Immediately, Jim the Hooker and his party took their chance, mounted their mounts, and galloped back to the lava bed as fast as they could.They warned Captain Jack not to go to Fairchild's for a meeting with the commissioners; the planned meeting was a trap for the Mordaks to be caught and sent back to Oregon to be hanged. Over the next few days, Winnemah and Rydell brought news back and forth, hooking what Jim suspected to be true about themselves, and political pressure from Oregon forcing General Compey to negotiate peace with Commissioners, withdraw the pardon promised to Jim Hooker.However, Captain Jack and the rest of the Modak tribe were free to report and surrender under guaranteed safety. Captain Jack was now in a typical dilemma. He could save himself if he let Jim Hookhand go, but Jim Hookhand had come to him for protection under the authority of the Mordak chief. On March 6, Jack, with the assistance of his sister Mary, wrote a letter to the members of the peace talks, and she sent it to Fairchild Farm.Let everything be wiped off, washed off, no more bloodshed, he wrote: My heart is very bad for these murderers, I have only a few men under my command, I don't see why I should abandon them.Will they give up on those who killed our sleeping people?The man who murdered our people, I never wanted anyone. I understand how I would give up my mount and let it be hanged; but I don't understand how I would let my people go and let them be hanged.I could give up my horse to be hanged without a cry, but if I give up my men I'll cry over it. However, Compby and the peace committee members still have to meet with Captain Jack. It is much worse to persuade him to go to war for the sake of the tribe than to surrender the murderer.Although Grand Warrior Sherman told Comby that attacking the Modaks with his troops would require no reservation other than the lava-bed tombs of their own choice.The general remained patient. On March 21, Captain Jack and Scarface Charlie saw Compby and a small escort of cavalry riding down the hill overlooking their stronghold.Jack didn't know what caused this daring approach, and he deployed his warriors in the rocks, watching Mere One ride forward from the guard.This man was an army medical officer, and he suggested that Captain Jack and General Compby have an informal meeting.After a few minutes they were talking, Compby reassuring Jack that if he led his people out of the lava bed, they would be treated well, with food and clothing and lots and lots of presents.Jack asked Compby, since he had so many things to give to the Modaks, why didn't he bring some of these things?He also asked Comby why he didn't take the soldiers away; he said that all the Modaks wanted was to be left alone. In this short meeting, neither Jack nor Compby mentioned the group of people who hooked Jim and killed the residents.Jack didn't promise anything, he had to wait and see what Compby's next step was. The next step for Comby is to mobilize more troops and deploy them in several directions opposite the Modak stronghold.The 1st Cavalry, and several companies of the 21st Infantry, supported by the 4th Artillery, were now within easy reach of the Indians. On April 2, Captain Jack sent a courier to the peace committee, and he asked to meet them halfway between his stronghold and the nearest large barracks.On that day, Comby, Meacham, Thomas, Dayo, Winnema, and Riddle rode out to a rocky basin under the high hill of the big barracks. Jack, Jim the Hook, and several other Modaks was waiting for them there; they also brought their women, as tokens of peaceful intentions.Although Jack greeted Meacham as an old friend, he spoke to Comby in a more or less harsh manner, asking why he drove the soldiers so close to both sides of the Mordak stronghold? Comby wanted to brush the matter off, saying that he had moved the headquarters very close to Jack's stronghold to make it easier to meet with each other, and that the headquarters needed soldiers to make him feel safe.Jack didn't accept Compby's explanation, he demanded that the soldiers be withdrawn from the lava bed and sent home, and then he brought up the sensitive subject of Hooked Jim's people, Jack said, unless Hooked Jim's people are also subject to all The other Modaks are treated the same way, and there is nothing to discuss about surrendering.Compey replied that the War Department had to decide what to do with them and where to send them, and could not promise amnesty to the murderers of the residents. While they were negotiating, black clouds covered the bed of lava and cold rain fell.Compby said it was impossible to continue talking in the rain.You are better dressed than I am, replied Jack mockingly: I will not melt like snow.Compby pretended not to know Jack's words, but announced that at tomorrow's meeting, he would pitch a tent to keep out the rain. The next morning, Comby sent some soldiers down the mountain to set up a conference tent.Instead of standing on a rocky basin, they chose a level ground of sagebrush bushes, within sight of the troops' tents and the mighty battery of artillery. Two days later Jack sent a messenger to Meacham to meet him, and Jack's old friend, Fairchild, who had a farm nearby.Jack agreed not to come with General Compby or Reverend Thomas.Meacham and Fairchild were baffled by the request, but went with Winnemah and Riddle to the conference tent.The Mordaks were already waiting, and Jack welcomed the whites warmly, explaining that he didn't trust Comby because he wore a blue uniform and said too much about his friendship with the Indians; Reliable, because he can't help but keep his soldiers close to the lava bed.As for Reverend Thomas, a Sunday doctor, his kind of talisman was incompatible with the Mordak religion.Now we can talk, Jack said: I know you and Fairchild very well.He went on to explain how the soldiers forced them to flee to the Lost River and seek shelter in lava beds.Give us a home on the Lost River, he pleaded: I can take care of my people, I won't ask anyone for help, we can make a living for ourselves, and let us have the same opportunities as others. Mitsam pointed out that the Lost River was in Oregon, where the Modaks had shed the blood of the white population, and the commissioner said: between you and the white people, this bloodshed will continue. Jack sat silently for several minutes.I heard you, he said: Make me this bed of lava my home, I can live here, take your soldiers away, and we can put everything in order.No one wants the rocky land here, give me a home here. Mitsam replied that there would be peace for the Modaks in the lava bed, as long as they handed over those who killed the Lost River.He promised that they would be treated fairly in court. Who will judge them?Jack asked: White or Indian? Of course it's white.Mitsam admitted. Will you then hand over to the Mordaks the men who killed the Indian women and children at the Loss River? Mitsam shook his head: The laws of the Modaks are dead, and now the laws of the white people rule the country. There is only one living law in an era. Will you bring to trial the man who shot at my people?Jack continued to ask: Just use your laws. Meacham knew, and Captain Jack knew it, that it was impossible.White men's laws rule the country, the commissioner said again: Indian laws are dead. White man's laws are for white man's good, Jack said; but they were made to keep Indians out.No, my friend, I can't hand the lads over to be hanged.I know they did wrong and their blood is bad they didn't start; the white man was the first to do it, I can't hand over my youth; get the soldiers out and all trouble will end. The soldiers cannot withdraw, Mitsam replied, as long as you stay in the lava bed. Jack grabbed Mitsam's arm and asked imploringly, "My friend, tell me, what should I do?"I don't want to fight. The only way to peace right now is to come out of the rock, Mitsam puts it bluntly: There will be no peace if you stay in the lava bed. You want me to come out and send myself into your power, Jack wailed: I can't do this, I'm afraid, no, I'm not afraid, but my people are afraid that I'm the voice of the people, I'm a Mordak, I Not afraid of death can show him (Compby) how the Mordaks can die. Both men knew there was nothing more to say, and Mitsam invited Jack to go with him to the barracks tent and continue the discussion with General Compey and the other commissioners, but Jack would not.He said that he had to hold a meeting with the tribe to discuss it first. If there was any further discussion, he would let the committee members know. Meacham reported to General Comby that Captain Jack would never surrender Jim Hookhand and his gang, so he would not surrender Lava Bed without a fight.Comby decided to give another chance to any Modak who would leave.The next day, he sent Winnema to inform Jack that anyone of his people who wanted to surrender could go back with her. While Winnima waited, Captain Jack called a meeting, and only eleven Mordaks were in favor of accepting Comby's surrender.Hooked Jim, Skinny John, and Curly-haired doctor all spoke out, strongly opposed to the surrender, and cursed the conspiracy of Comby and the peace talks committee. , will kill him. That night, when Winnema was riding back to Combi headquarters, Wem, a young Modak tribe, who was related to Winnema, stopped her not far from home and warned her not to go back. She has come to the stronghold of the Modak tribe, and she is also going to tell her white friends not to hold meetings with the tribe.Weym said that Jim Hooker's men were planning to kill anyone who opposed them.Winnemah galloped back to the army tent, but she was terrified of telling anyone but her husband the warning.However, her husband Riddle immediately went to the headquarters to inform several committee members of this warning.None of them believed it, thinking it was just an angry statement. However, in the lava bed, the angry words attacking the peace talks committee members became more and more intense.On the night of April 7th, Jim the Hooker and his men decided to show their cards with the Chief; some of them suspected that Jack was on the verge of betraying them. Skinny John was the first to speak at the meeting, and his words were very powerful: I have been played by white people many, many times, and I don't plan to be fooled again.He denounced the peace talks committee members for playing tricks and delaying time, allowing the army to bring in more soldiers and cannons.As soon as they think there are enough troops here, they will pounce on us and kill half of us. The second person who spoke was Black Jim: I agree, and I will not be cheated by the soldiers again, beaten to death like a dog, and I will kill my people before they catch me.Then he spoke about killing them at the next meeting with the peace negotiators. Seeing that the words went further and further away, Captain Jack wanted to say that they were wrong.He asked for some time to bargain with the peace negotiators for the rescue of Jim Hooker and for a good place to keep.All I ask of you is to wait for An An's identity. Black Jim called Jack blind.Don't you see the soldiers arriving every two or three days?Don't you know that the last batch of soldiers arrived at the cannon, and the shells they fired were as big as your head?The peace negotiators are determined to use this kind of cannon to blow your head off to make peace.Other speakers also supported Black Jim's statement. When Jack tried to persuade them again, they shouted at him: What you said is not good!We are doomed to die, so let's fight a battle and die early, because we are going to die anyway. Jack thought it was useless to say any more, so he turned and left the meeting, but Black Jim stopped him, and if you were our chief, promise us that next time you have a meeting with Compby, you will kill him. I can't, and I don't want to. Jim Hooker, who had been watching coldly, now stepped up to his Chief.You have to kill Comby, or you will be killed yourself; you must kill, or your own people will kill you. Jack knew this was a challenge to his chief's authority, but held back his anger.Why are you forcing me to do such a cowardly act? That's no coward's move, retorted Jim Hookhand: Killing Compby in front of all the soldiers would be a hero. Jack refused to promise anything, and started to leave the venue again, hooked Jim's men, some of them threw women's scarves and jewelry on his shoulders, and mocked him: You are a mother, a fish-hearted woman, Not a Mordrakh, we're done with you. Jack knew he had to save power and buy time, so he had to speak.I will kill Comby.He said, pushing the people on both sides away, and walked back to his cave alone. On the second and third day, Winnema did not bring any news.所以就把能說、能懂英語的莫達克人波士頓查理，派去告訴康比，莫達克族要求在四月十一日星期五早上，同他以及和談委員們開會。波士頓查理告訴康比說，莫達克人會不攜武器與會，也要各和談委員去時也不帶武器。 四月十日早上，傑克把族人都叫到洞外面集合在一起，春意已深了，太陽光很快就晒走了夜霧。我內心告訴自己，我也同雲、同風談過，他說道：可是我要說的是，生命是甜沁沁的，愛情是堅固的；人們打仗救自己的生命，人也殺人以贏得內心的慾望，那就是愛情。死極其慘，很快死就要到我們身上了。他告訴族人，倘若他們再度掀起戰鬥，統統都會死，連自己的女人兒女都在內。如果他們一定要打的話，讓大兵先起頭好了。他提醒他們，自己曾答應過和談委員，只要和會繼續進行，就不做出戰爭的行動。他懇求道：讓我向全世界昭示，傑克上尉是個言而有信的漢子。然後他談到自己答應過殺死康比將軍的話。不要緊逼著我去做這件事，假使你們抓住了我在氣頭上所說的話，我們就大數難逃了。鉤手吉姆，你和我一樣明明白白。 俺們認為你的話要兌現，鉤手吉姆答道：你一定要殺康比。你說的話很好，不過現在提出這些話來，為時已經太晚了。 傑克望著團團圍坐在岩石上的這五十個人，燦爛的太陽光照在他黑黝黝的臉上。他說道：所有要我殺掉康比的人，就站起來。僅僅只有十來個忠心耿耿的部下坐著不動。 我明白你們不愛生命，也不愛任何別的事情了。他在緊緊想著另一項辦法時，聲音都陰陰沉沉起來。他說，同康比在開會時，他會把莫達克族所要求的告訴那位將軍。我定會要求他很多次，如果他答應了我的條件，我就不殺他，你們聽見了沒有？ heard it.他們統統回答。 這個辦法行嗎？ Can.They all agreed. 而今，僅僅只有康比說的話，能阻止這次殺戮了。 一八七三年的耶穌受難日，拂曉便天朗氣清，涼涼的微風吹得會議帳篷的帆布飄飄動動。這座帳篷靜靜地樹立在軍隊營棚和熔岩床據點的中間。傑克上尉、鉤手吉姆、瘦筋約翰艾倫手下、黑吉姆、髒游民吉姆都早早到了會議的場地。他們中有人用山艾樹生起一堆火來，在等和談委員來時暖和暖和，這一回他們沒有把婦女帶來，也沒有人帶步槍，可是在上衣底下，卻全都揣著一把手槍。 和談委員們那天都到得很遲（溫妮瑪不住警告他們不要去），但是在十一點過後，康比將軍和湯姆士牧師都走來了，後面騎在馬上的幾個人，是戴約、米察姆、溫妮瑪和瑞德爾。隨同委員們一起來的傳譯員是到兵營來同他們會合的波士頓查理，假查理，兩個查理都隨隨便便掛了枝步槍，可是和議委員們外表上看沒有一個帶武器，米察姆和戴約在他們上衣口袋裡，帶著一把掌心雷小手槍。 康比帶了一盒雪茄菸，一進帳篷就每人送上一支，他們就用山艾樹小堆的火種點著了菸，坐在火堆四周圍的石頭上，靜靜地抽了一會兒雪茄。 據瑞德爾事後的回憶，康比第一個發言。他告訴他們，他和印第安人打了三十年的交道，到這兒來是同他們好好兒談談締結一項和平，只要是他答應給他們的，就會督促使他們得到，假如他們從山裡出來跟他一起走，就會帶他們到一片好地方去，安頓下來，就能像白人一樣的生活。 第二個發言人是米察姆，開頭就是老一套，華府的大家長派他到那裡來，把他們所流的血要統統擦掉。他說，希望能帶他們到一處好地方去，他們在那裡會有好房屋住，吃得飽，穿得好，蓋得暖。米察姆發完言，傑克上尉就告訴他，他不願離開莫達克地區，要求在托里湖和熔岩床附近，劃一片保留區。他也重說了以前的要求，在他們談和以前，先把大兵撤走。 顯然，傑克這種反反覆覆的要求，使米察姆很惱火，他提高了嗓門兒我們談判要像大人一樣嘛，別像個小蘿蔔頭。他隨後暗示，願意那麼做的莫達克族人，可以待在熔岩床，一直到他們發現了一處可以太太平平生活的保留區為止。 瘦筋約翰就坐在米察姆對面三公尺處，他大為冒火，用莫達克話要這位和談委員住口。就在這時，鉤手吉姆站起身來，晃晃蕩蕩走到米察姆身旁站立的坐椅那裡去。米察姆的上裝正蓋在馬鞍上，鉤手吉姆取下這件上裝穿上，扣好鈕釦，走到火堆前面來時，還裝成怪模怪樣，別的人都已經停止了談話望著他。你們看俺可像米察姆？他用不三不四的英語問道。 米察姆想對這一下打岔開開玩笑，把自己的帽子遞給鉤手吉姆，拿去戴上吧，那你就真是米察姆了。 鉤手吉姆不耍寶了。你自己再看一下吧，帽子一會兒就是俺的了。 康比顯然明白了鉤手吉姆話中的意思，他立刻恢復了談判，說唯有華府的大家長，才有權把大兵調走，要求傑克相信他。 姓康的，我要告訴你，傑克答道：只要這些大兵緊緊逼著我，我們就沒法子有和平。如果你答應我一處家園，就在這帶地區的什麼地方，那你今天就答應。姓康的，現在就答應我，我別的什麼都不要，現在是你的機會了，等你說話我已經等厭了。 米察姆察覺到桀克上尉說話的緊迫性，叫道：將軍，看在老天爺份上，答應他吧。 康比還沒有來得及說什麼話，傑克一躍而起，轉身離開了火堆。瘦筋約翰轉身朝這位將軍走過去。你把大兵撤走，把土地還來，他厲聲叫道：我們討厭透了談判，不再談了！ 傑克上尉車轉身來，用莫達克話一聲令下：歐威尅打死（動手！）。從上衣裡拔出手槍，正正對準了康比，撞機響了，槍卻沒有擊發。康比萬分驚愕地瞪著他，這時槍聲一響，康比往後一倒就死了。也就在這一剎那前後，波士頓查理朝著湯姆士牧師開槍，把他打死。溫妮瑪把瘦筋約翰的手槍打到一邊，救了米察姆一命。在這陣大亂裡，戴約和瑞德爾都逃脫了。傑克把康比的軍服剝下來後，就領著莫達克人回到據點裡，等著大兵前來。在最後這次會議上的中心議題把鉤手吉姆的殺人凶手投案根本都沒有討論到。三天以後，戰鬥開始，一連連的迫擊炮猛轟熔岩床，一波波的步兵朝著岩石的工事猛衝。等到大兵終於攻進這處據點裡，卻發現是空空如也，莫達克族已經從洞穴和石縫裡溜走了。陸軍沒有什麼心情去把這些頑強死戰的莫達克人，從隱匿的地方搜出來，便從俄勒岡州溫泉保留區裡，雇用了七十二名印第安人特尼諾族傭兵，這些溫泉族探馬發現了莫達克族的匿身處，可是把大兵帶到去圍剿時，傑克上尉設下了埋伏，幾幾乎把前衛的斥堠部隊一網打盡。 終於，大兵壓倒性的兵力和火力，迫使莫達克人化整為零。他們不得不殺馬作糧，有時好幾天沒有水喝。印第安人間的傷亡越來越多時，鉤手吉姆就為了領導的策略和傑克上尉爭論起來。經過幾天的奔逃、藏匿和戰鬥後，鉤手吉姆和他那一股人，就把庇護了他們、也不肯把他們送交康比法辦的酋長攆開了。傑克只剩下了三十七名戰士，來迎戰上千名的大軍。 以後不久，鉤手吉姆那一股人就向軍隊投了降，以協助追緝傑克上尉，作為赦免他們的交換條件。新任司令戴維士將軍，答應陸軍對他們加以保護。五月二十七日，鉤手吉姆和他那一股裡的三個人，便出發去陷害那位不肯出賣他們的酋長。他們在清水湖附近找到了傑克，安排了一次晤談，告訴他說是奉派來帶他去投案。他們說，大兵會對莫達克族公正，而且還有足夠的吃食。 你們並不比那些在山谷裡奔跑的山狗好得了多少，傑克回答他們道：你們到這裡來，騎著大兵的馬，佩戴著公家的槍，打算把我趕下山去，把我送給大兵，來買自己的自由吧。你們曉得生命是甜沁沁的了吧，可是你們強迫我答應去殺那個人康比的時候，怎麼沒這麼想呢。我一直都曉得生命是甜沁沁的，也就是這個原因，我不願同白人開仗。我以為一旦打起來我們會肩併肩站在一起，一直打到死。現在我才明白，為了殺死康比，僅僅只有我一個人，或者還有兩三個人，送掉自己的命。你們和所有其他歸順的人，會好好兒沒事，還有足夠的吃食，這可是你們說的。呵，你們這些鳥兒心的東西，轉而來反對我了 最使這位莫達克族酋長寒心的事，就是這些吃裡扒外的，竟就是不幾星期以前，那幾個把女人衣服往他頭上拋、稱他是魚兒膽的母貨、逼著他答應殺康比的人。他們和他一樣知道得清清楚楚，他去投降已經太晚了，會以謀殺康比的罪名把他絞決。他告訴他們，自己打定了主意，要一枝槍在手而死，而不是一根繩繞在頸子上，然後下令他們回去，如果願意，同白人一起去生活吧。但是他發誓，如果他們再走進了步槍的射程以內，就要像打死髒狗般開槍把他們打死。 追擊繼續了好幾天，戴維士將軍說道：那與其說是戰爭，毋寧說是追一隻野獸，每一支分遣隊都相互競爭，看誰能先到終點線。 一支騎兵隊經過一次越過崎嶇岩石，穿越一片矮林的激烈徒步賽跑後，把傑克上尉和三名追隨到底的戰士給團團圍住。傑克出來投降時，身上還穿著康比將軍的藍軍服，卻已經骯骯髒髒破破爛爛了。他把步槍繳給一位軍官，說道：傑克兩條腿跑不動了，我準備一死而已。 戴維士將軍很想要立刻把他絞死，可是華府陸軍部下令付審。這次審訊是一八七三年七月在克勒麥斯堡舉行，傑克上尉，瘦筋約翰、波士頓查理，和黑吉姆都以謀殺罪提起公訴。並沒有一名律師代表莫達克人，儘管准他們有權反詰證人，他們大多數人懂的英語極少，說得又糟糕。正當審訊進行時，士兵就在犯人的欄寨外面，搭建起一座絞刑架，所以會是什麼判決，已經毫無疑義的了。 在證人中，對這些在數難逃的人犯最不利的，便是鉤手吉姆和他的手下人了；陸軍部為了他們出賣自己的族人，已經給了他們自由。 檢察官訊問過鉤手吉姆以後，傑克上尉並沒有反詰他，可是在法庭中最後發言裡，由瑞德爾擔任傳譯，他說道：鉤手吉姆一直是要打仗的人們之一，而且展開殺人和謀殺我這條命只不過是短短一段時間。你們白人沒有征服我，打垮了我的，是我自己的族人。 十月三日，傑克上尉被處絞刑。在處決的當天晚上，他的屍體給秘密分解後，載出運往威里卡加以防腐。一陣子以後，他的屍體在東部各大城市中以賽會節目出現，參觀券是大洋一角。 至於那殘存的一百五十三名男男女女和小孩兒，包括鉤手吉姆和他那一股人在內，都給放逐到了印第安人地方。六年後，鉤手吉姆死了，大多數人也都在一九〇九年前死去；直到那時，美國政府才准許孑遺的莫達克族五十三個人，回到俄勒岡州的一處保留區去。