Summary
A Winnebago prince, christened Heart-of-Oak, leaves the cedar-scented hush of a government reservation and strides into the gaslit corridors of an Eastern college, his mind aflame with the conviction that diplomas, not war-axes, will secure the continuance of his people. His kid-sister Little Fawn—eyes as wide as river-mouths—idolizes the brother who can splice oars as deftly as tribal legends. On the varsity crew he locks strokes with Granville Wingham, blue-blooded heir to railroad millions; their synchronized rhythm masks the fault-line of race. Carolyn, Granville’s porcelain-fiancée, treats the redskin scholar like a rare folio—handled with cotton gloves, never fully opened. Come autumn, Little Fawn, draped in bead-work that clicks like hail on tin, descends upon the campus; at the sophomore masquerade she ignites Granville’s latent curiosities, her fringed hem a match to his dormant libertinism. Summer herds them westward to Wingham’s sprawling ranch, where cottonwoods hiss secrets across the prairie. Heart-of-Oak, scenting disaster, cautions his sister against the pallid temptations of miscegenation, trusting honor in a place where treaties are scraps. Yet Granville’s letters—inked with promises as flimsy as tissue—lure Little Fawn into elopement. The betrayal detonates something primordial: the collegiate sophisticate peels away, revealing the ancestral avenger. Over jagged buttes he stalks the fleeing couple, drags the bound seducer to a clearing, and prepares to carve retribution into pale flesh. Carolyn, summoned as collateral penance, arrives to witness a tableau of intended carnage; Little Fawn, reappearing like a revenant, intercepts a bullet meant for the white woman, her blood darkening the dust. Heart-of-Oak’s howl ricochets across the mesas; his vengeance collapses into ash. He dismisses the survivors with a gesture older than language, cradling the corpse of the only encyclopedia he ever loved.
Synopsis
Heart-of-Oak, an Indian, shakes the dust of a Western reservation for a college career in the east. Heart-of-Oak is the son of a noted chief, and has taken the preservation of his race deeply at heart. His younger sister, Little Fawn, worships him. At college the Indian quickly becomes a favorite. He wins a place on the varsity crew, and finds a friend in a fellow oarsman Granville Wingham, a young American of wealthy parents. Granville's sister Carolyn also has a high regard for Heart-of-Oak, though the attachment never becomes romantic, Carolyn being betrothed to a young man whom she has known since childhood. Little Fawn wins a scholarship in the Indian school in the West, and surprises her brother by announcing that she is ready to return east with him the second year to share his studies. Carolyn befriends Little Fawn in her strange surroundings. At the sophomore ball, dressed in an Indian costume, she innocently captures Granville's admiration. On their return West for the summer Little Fawn secretly cherishes memories of the handsome white student who has covertly made love to her. Wingham, the elder, owns a ranch near the reservation. His son and daughter visit the property. They see a great deal of Heart-of-Oak and his sister. With deep foreboding the Indian watches Little Fawn and his friend. He talks gravely with the girl, telling her that for the sake of her own people she should not think of marriage outside her ancestral race. The Indian puts his trust in his college friend, whom he believes to be the soul of honor. When the disillusionment comes Heart-of-Oak tracks the runaways into the wilderness. The deep-rooted passion of the redskin for revenge takes possession of this educated Winnebago, who reverts to the type of his savage forebears. Ordering his sister into the hills, he closes in ferocious man-to-man battle with her lover, until the white man, bound and helpless, lies at the mercy of his erstwhile friend. Meanwhile, Carolyn has been summoned by the ruthless Indian. His vengeance is to be complete. But Little Fawn, driven back to the place by anxiety for the man she loves, is in time to sacrifice her own life for the safety of the white woman, his fury quenched by the sight of his sister, dead at his feet, Heart-of-Oak commands his victims to return to their own people, that he may be alone with his next of kin.
