When Brooks had left them, half an hour was spent in one of those pleasant after-breakfast dreams, when the mind seems to take a moment's hesitating pause before grappling with the active business of the day. But little was said; each gazed forth from window or from door; each thought perhaps of the other, and each drank in sweet sensations from the scene before the eyes.
Each thought of the other, I have said; and when such is the case, how infinite are the varieties into which thought moulds itself. Walter paused and pondered upon the stranger's state and objects--asked himself who he was, what could be his errand--how--why he came thither? Major Kielmansegge he knew him not to be. A chance word had shown him not only his rank and station, but shown also that there was a secret to be kept--a secret to which perhaps his imagination lent more importance than it deserved. He was an English peer, the young man knew, one of a rank with which in former years he had been accustomed to mingle, and for which, notwithstanding all that had passed, and lapse of time and varied circumstances, he retained an habitual veneration. But what could have led a British peer to that secluded spot? What could be the circumstances which, having led him thither, had suddenly changed his purpose of proceeding onward, and induced him to remain a guest in his father's cottage in a state of half-concealment? Could it be Lord Loudon, he asked himself, the commander-in-chief of the royal forces, whose conduct had been so severely censured in his own ears by the man just gone?
It was not by accident that Lord H---- and Edith Prevost met there. It was for the working out of their mutual destiny under the hand of God; for if there be a God, there is a special providence.
"This is very lovely, Miss Prevost," said the young soldier, when the long meditative lapse was drawing to a close, "but I should think the scene would become somewhat monotonous. Hemmed in by these woods, the country round, though beautiful in itself, must pall upon the taste."
"Oh, no!" cried Edith, eagerly. "It is full of variety. Each day affords something new, and every morning walk displays a thousand fresh beauties. Let us go and take a ramble, if you have nothing better to do; and I will show you there is no monotony. Come, Walter, take your rifle, and go with us. Father, this is not your hour. Can you never come before the sun has passed his height and see the shadows fall the other way?"
"Mine is the evening hour, my child," answered Mr. Prevost, somewhat sadly, "but go, Edith, and show our noble friend the scenes you so much delight in. He will need something to make his stay in this dull place somewhat less heavy."
The stranger made no complimentary reply, for his thoughts were busy with Edith; and he was at that moment comparing her frank, unconscious, undesigning offer to lead him through love-like woods and glades, with the wily hesitation of a court coquette.
"Perhaps you are not disposed to walk," said Edith, marking his reverie, and startling him from it.
"I shall be delighted," he said, eagerly, and truly, too. "You must forgive me for being somewhat absent, Miss Prevost. Your father knows I have much to think of, though indeed thought at present is vain; and you will confer a boon by banishing that idle but importunate companion."
"Oh, then, you shall not think at all when you are with me," said Edith, smiling, and away she ran to cover her head with one of those black wimples very generally worn by the women of that day.
Beyond the cultivated ground, as you descended the gentle hill, lay the deep forest at the distance of some three hundred yards, and at its edge Edith paused and made her companion turn to see how beautiful the cottage looked upon its eminence, shaded by gorgeous maple trees in their gold and crimson garb of autumn, with a tall rock or two of gray and mossy stone rising up amidst them.
Lord H---- gazed at the house and saw that it was picturesque and beautiful--very different indeed from any other dwelling he had seen on the western side of the Atlantic; but there was absent thoughtfulness in his eyes, and Edith thought he did not admire it half enough.
"How strange are men's prejudices and prepossessions," said Lord H----, as they paused to gaze at a spot where a large extent of low woodland lay open to the eye below them. "We are incredulous of everything we have not seen, or to the conception of which we have not been led by very near approaches. Had anyone shown me, ere I reached these shores, a picture of an autumn scene in America, though it had been perfect as a portrait, hue for hue, or even inferior, in its striking coloring, to the reality, I should have laughed at it as a most extravagant exaggeration. Did not the first autumn you passed here make you think yourself in fairyland?"
"No; I was prepared for it," replied Edith. "My father had described the autumn scenery to me often before we came."
"Then was he ever in America before he came to settle?" asked her companion.
"Yes, once," answered Edith. She spoke in a very grave tone, and then ceased suddenly.
But her brother took the subject up with a boy's frankness, saying: "Did you never hear that my grandfather and my father's sister died in Virginia? He was in command there, and my father came over just before my birth."
"It is a long story and a sad one, my lord," said Edith, with a sigh; "but look now as we mount the hill, and see how the scene changes. Every step upon the hillside gives us a different sort of tree, and the brush disappears from amidst the trunks. This grove is my favorite evening seat, where I can read and think under the broad, shady boughs, with nothing but beautiful sights around me."
"Truly, this is an enchanting scene. It wants, methinks, but the figure of an Indian in the foreground; and there comes one, I fancy, to fill up the picture--stay! stay! We shall want no rifles! It is but a woman coming through the trees."
"It is Otaitsa--it is the Blossom!" cried Edith and Walter in a breath, as they looked forward to a spot where across the yellow sunshine as it streamed through the trees, a female figure, clad in the gaily embroidered and bright-coloredgakaah, or petticoat, of the Indian women, was seen advancing with a rapid yet somewhat doubtful step. Edith, without pause or hesitation, sprang forward to meet the newcomer, and in a moment after the beautiful arms of the Indian girl who had sat with Walter in the morning were round the fair form of his sister, and her lips pressed on hers. There was a warmth and eagerness in their meeting unusual on the part of the red race; but while the young Oneida almost lay upon the bosom of her white friend, her beautiful dark eyes were turned toward her lover, as with a mixture of the bashful feelings of youth and the consciousness of having something to conceal, Walter, with a glowing cheek, lingered a step or two behind his sister.
"Art thou coming to our lodge, dear Blossom?" asked Edith; and then added, "Where is thy father?"
"We both come," answered the girl, in pure English, with no more of the Indian accent than served to give a peculiar softness to her tones. "I wait the Black Eagle here since dawn of day. He has gone toward the morning with our father the White Heron; for we heard of Hurons by the side of Corlear, and some thought the hatchet would be unburied. So he journeyed to hear more from our friends by Horicon, and bade me stay and tell you and your brother Walter to forbear that road if I saw you turn your eyes toward the east wind. He and the White Heron will be by your father's council fire with the first star."
A good deal of this speech was unintelligible to Lord H----, who had now approached, and on whom Blossom's eyes were turned with a sort of timid and inquiring look. But Walter hastened to interpret, saying: "She means that her father and the missionary, Mr. Gore, have heard that there are hostile Indians on the shores of Lake Champlain, and have gone down toward Lake George to inquire; for Black Eagle--that is her father--is much our friend, and he always fancies that my father has chosen a dangerous situation here, just at the verge of the territory of the Five Nations, or their Long House, as they call it."
"Well, come to the lodge with us, dear Blossom," said Edith, while her brother was giving this explanation. "You know my father loves you well, and will be glad to have the Blossom with us. Here, too, is an English chief dwelling with us, who knows not what sweet blossoms grow on Indian trees."
But the girl shook her head, saying: "Nay; I must do the father's will. It was with much praying that he let me come hither with him; and he bade me stay here from the white rock to the stream. So must I obey."
"But it may be dangerous," replied Edith, "if there be Hurons so near; and it is sadly solitary, dear sister."
"Then stay with me for a while," said the girl, who would not affect to deny that her lonely watch was somewhat gloomy.
"I will stay with her and protect her," cried Walter, eagerly; "but, dearest Blossom, if we should see danger, you must fly to the lodge."
"Yes, stay with her, Walter--oh, yes, stay with her," said the unconscious Edith; and so it was settled, for Otaitsa made no opposition, though with a cheek in which something glowed through the brown, and with a lip that curled gently with a meaning smile, she asked: "Perhaps my brother Walter would be elsewhere? He may find a long watch wearisome on the hill and in the wood."
"Let us stay a while ourselves," said Lord H----, seating himself on the grass and gazing forth with a look of interest over the prospect. "Methinks this is a place where one may well dream away an hour without the busiest mind reproaching itself for inactivity."
For two hours the four sat there on the hillside, beneath the tall, shady trees, with the wind breathing softly upon them, the lake glittering before their eyes, the murmur of the waterfall sending music through the air. But to the young Englishman these were but accessories. The fair face of Edith was before his eyes, the melody of her voice in his ears.
At length, however, they rose to go, promising to send one of the slaves from the house with food for Walter and Otaitsa at the hour of noon; and Lord H---- and his fair companion took their way back toward the house. The distance was not very far, but they were somewhat long upon the way. They walked slowly back, and by a different path from that by which they went; and often they stopped to admire some pleasant scene; and often Lord H---- had to assist his fair companion over some rock, and her soft hand rested in his. He gathered for her flowers--the fringed gentian and other late blossoms, and they paused to examine them closely and comment on their loveliness; and once he made her sit down beside him on a bank and tell him the names of all the different trees; and from trees his conversation went on into strange, dreamy, indefinite talk of human beings and human hearts. Thus noon was not far distant when they reached the house, and both Edith and her companion were very thoughtful.
Edith was meditative through the rest of the day. Was it of herself she thought? Was it of him who had been her companion through the greater part of the morning?
There had been no word spoken; there had been no sign given; there had been no intimation to make the seal tremble on the fountain, but the master of its destiny was near. She had had a pleasant ramble with one such as she seldom saw--and that was all.
There had been something that day in the manner of her brother Walter, a hesitation, and yet an eagerness, a timidity unnatural, with a warmth that spoke of passion, which had not escaped her eye. In the sweet Indian girl, too, she had seen signs not equivocal: the fluttering blush, the look full of soul and feeling; the glance suddenly raised to the boy's face and suddenly withdrawn; the eyes full of liquid light, now beaming brightly under sudden emotion, now shaded beneath the long fringe like the moon beneath a passing cloud.
For the first time it seemed to her that a dark, impenetrable curtain was falling between herself and all the ancient things of history; that all indeed was to be new, and strange, and different; and yet she loved Otaitsa well, and had in the last two years seen many a trait which had won esteem as well as love. The old Black Eagle, as her father was called, had ever been a fast and faithful ally of the English; but to Mr. Prevost he had attached himself in a particular manner. An accidental journey on the part of the old sachem had first brought them acquainted, and from that day forward the distance of the Oneida settlement was no impediment to their meeting. Whenever the Black Eagle left his lodge he was sure, in his own figurative language, to wing his flight sooner or later toward the nest of his white brother; and in despite of Indian habits, he almost invariably brought his daughter with him. When any distance or perilous enterprise was on hand, Otaitsa was left at the lodge of the English family, and many a week had she passed there at a time, loved by and loving all its inmates. It was not there, however, that she had acquired her perfect knowledge of the English language, or the other characteristics which distinguished her from the ordinary Indian women. When she first appeared there she spoke the language of the settlers as perfectly as they did, and it was soon discovered that from infancy she had been under the care and instruction of one of the English missionaries--at that time, alas! few--who had sacrificed all that civilized life could bestow for the purpose of bringing the Indian savages into the fold of Christ.
Mr. Prevost judged it quite right that Walter should stay with Otaitsa, and he even sent out the old slave Agrippa, who somehow was famous as a marksman, with a rifle on his shoulder, to act as a sort of scout upon the hillside, and watch anything bearing a hostile aspect.
After dinner, too, he walked out himself, and sat for an hour with his son and the Indian girl, speaking words of affection to her that sunk deep into her heart, and more than once brought drops into her bright eyes. No father's tenderness could exceed that he showed her, and Otaitsa felt as if he were almost welcoming her as a daughter.
Evening had not lost its light when a shout from Walter's voice announced that he was drawing nigh the house, and in a moment after he was coming across the cleared land with his bright young companion and two other persons. One was a tall redman, upward of six feet in height, dressed completely in the Indian garb, but without paint. He could not have been less than sixty years of age, but his strong muscles seemed to have set at defiance the bending power of time. He was as upright as a pine, and he bore his heavy rifle in his right hand as lightly as if it had been a reed. In his left he carried a long pipe, showing that his errand was one of peace, though in his belt were a tomahawk and a scalping knife; and he wore the sort of feather crown, orgostoweh, distinguishing the chief. The other man might be of the same age, or a little older. He, too, seemed active and strong for his years, but he wanted the erect and powerful bearing of the other, and his gait and carriage, as much as his features and complexion, distinguished him from the Indian. His dress was a strange mixture of ordinary European costume and that of the half-savage rangers of the forest. He wore a black coat, or one that had once been black, but the rest of his garments were composed of skins, some tanned into red leather, after the Indian fashion, some with the hair still on and turned outward. He bore no arms whatever, unless a very long, sharp-pointed knife could be considered a weapon, though in his hands it only served the unusual service of dividing his food or carving willow whistles for the children of the sachem's tribe.
Running with a light foot by the side of the chief, as he strode along, came Otaitsa; but all the others followed the Indian fashion, coming after him in single file, while old Agrippa, with his rifle on his arm, brought up the rear, appearing from the wood somewhat behind the rest.
"It is seldom I have so many parties of guests in two short days," said Mr. Prevost, moving toward the door. "Generally I have either a whole tribe at once, or none at all. But this is one of my best friends, my lord, and I must go to welcome him."
"He is a noble-looking man," said the young officer, following. "This is the Black Eagle, I suppose, whom the pretty maiden talked of?"
Mr. Prevost made no reply, for by this time the chief's long strides had brought him almost to the door, and his hand was already extended to grasp that of his white friend.
"Welcome, Black Eagle!" said Mr. Prevost.
"Thou art my brother," said the chief in English, but of a much less pure character than that of his daughter.
"What news from Corlear?" asked Mr. Prevost.
But the Indian answered not; and the man who followed him replied in so peculiar a style that we must give his words, although they imported very little as far as the events to be related are concerned.
"All is still on the banks of Champlain Lake," he said; "but Huron tracks are still upon the shore. The friendly Mohawks watched them come and go, and tell us that the Frenchman, too, was there, painted and feathered like the Indian chiefs; but finding England stronger than they thought, upon the side of Horicon, they sailed back to Fort Carrillon on Monday last."
For an instant Lord H---- was completely puzzled to discover what it was that gave such peculiarity to the missionary's language; for the words and accent were those of an ordinary Englishman of no very superior education; and it was not until Mr. Gore had uttered one or two sentences more that he perceived that what he said often arranged itself into a sort of blank verse, not very poetical, not very musical, even, but scanable easily enough.
In the meanwhile the Black Eagle and his host had entered the house and proceeded straight to the great eating-hall, where the whole party seated themselves in silence, Otaitsa taking her place close to the side of Edith, while Walter stationed himself where he could watch the bright girl's eyes without being remarked himself.
For a moment or two no one spoke, in deference to the Indian habits, and then Mr. Prevost broke silence, saying: "Well, Black Eagle, how fares it with my brother?"
"As with the tamarac in the autumn," answered the warrior, "the cold wind sighs through the branches and the fine leaves wither and fall, but the branch stands firm, as yet, and decay has not reached the heart."
"This is a chief from the land of my white fathers," said Mr. Prevost, waving his hand gracefully toward Lord H----. "He has but lately crossed the great water."
"He is welcome to what was once the redman's land," said Black Eagle, and bending his eyes upon the ground, but without any sign of emotion at the thoughts which seemed to be beneath his words, he lapsed into silence for a minute or two. Then raising his head again, he asked: "Is he a great chief? Is he a warrior, or a man of council, or a medicine man?"
"He is a great chief and a warrior," answered Mr. Prevost. "He is, moreover, skilled in council, and his words are clear as the waters of Horicon."
"He is welcome," repeated the chief. "He is our brother. He shall be called the Cataract, because he shall be powerful, and many shall rejoice at the sound of a calm voice. But, my brother----"
"Speak on," said Mr. Prevost, seeing that he paused. "They are friendly ears that listen."
"Thou art too near the Catarqui, thou art too near to Corlear," said the warrior, meaning the river St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain. "There is danger for our brother, and the wings of the Black Eagle droop when he is in his solitary place afar midst the children of the Stone, to think that thou art not farther within the walls of the Long House."
"What does he mean by the walls of the Long House?" asked Lord H---- in a whisper, addressing Edith.
"Merely the territory of the Five Nations, or Iroquois, as the French call them," answered his fair companion.
"I fear not, brother," replied Mr. Prevost. "The fire and the iron have not met to make the tomahawk which shall reach my head."
"But for the maiden's sake," said Black Eagle. "Is she not unto us as a daughter? Is she not the sister of Otaitsa? I pray thee, White Pine Tree, let her go with the Eagle and the Blossom into the land of the children of the Stone but for a few moons, till thy people have triumphed over their enemies, and till the Five Nations have hewed down the trees of the Huron and the Algonquin; till the war hatchet is buried and the pipe of peace is smoked."
"'Twere better, truly, my good friend Prevost," said Mr. Gore. "We have seen sights to-day would make the blood of the most bold and hardy man on earth turn cold and icy, to behold, and know he had a daughter near such scenes of death."
"What were they, my good friend?" asked Mr. Prevost "I have heard of nothing very new or near. The last was the capture of Fort William Henry, some six weeks since; but as yet we have not heard the whole particulars, and surely, if we are far enough away for the tidings not to reach us in six weeks, it is not likely that hostile armies would approach us very soon."
"Thou art deceived, my brother," answered Black Eagle. "One short day's journey lies betwixt thee and the battlefield. This morning we crossed when the sun wanted half an hour of noon, and we are here before he has gone down behind the forest. What we saw chilled the blood of my brother here, for he has not seen such things before. The children of Stone slay not women and children when the battle is over."
"Speak! speak! my good friend, Mr. Gore!" said the master of the house. "You know our habits better, and can tell us more of what has happened. Things which are common to his eye must be strange to yours."
"We passed the ground between the one fort and the other," answered the missionary. "The distance is but seven or eight miles; and in that short space lay well nigh a thousand human bodies, slain by every dark and terrible means of death. There were young and old: the gray-headed officer, the blooming youth, fresh from his mother's side; women and boys and girls, and little infants snatched from the mother's breast, to die by the hatchet or the war club. We heard the tiger Montcalm, in violation of his given word, in defiance of humanity, Christianity, and the spirit of a gentleman, stood by and saw his own convention broken, and gallant enemies massacred by his savage allies. But what the chief says is very true, my friend. You are far too near this scene; and although, perhaps, no regular army could reach this place ere you received timely warning, yet the Indian forerunners may be upon you at any moment, your house in flames, and you and your children massacred ere anyone could come to give you aid. The troops of our country are far away, and no force is between you and Horicon but a small body of our Mohawk brethren, who are not as well pleased with England as they have been."
Mr. Prevost turned his eyes toward Lord H----, and the young Englishman replied to Mr. Gore at once, saying, with a quiet inclination of the head: "On one point you are mistaken, sir. Lord London has returned, and there is now a strong force at Albany. I passed through that city lately, and I think that by the facts which must have come to his knowledge, General Montcalm will be deterred from pushing his brutal incursions further this year, at least. Before another shines upon him he may receive some punishment for his faithless cruelty."
"If not here, hereafter," said the missionary. "There is justice in heaven, sir, and often it visits the evil-doer upon earth. That man's end cannot be happy. But I fear you will not give us aid in persuading our friend here to abandon for a time his very dangerous position."
"I know too little of Mr. Prevost's affairs," replied Lord H----, "to advise either for or against. I know still less of the state of the country between this and the French line. Perhaps in a day or two I may know more; and then, as a military man myself, I can better tell him what are the real dangers of his situation. At all events, I should like to think over the matter till to-morrow morning before I offer an opinion. From what was said just now, I infer that the Hurons and the French having gone back, there can be no immediate peril."
Mr. Gore shook his head, and the Indian chief remained in profound and somewhat dull silence, seeming not very well pleased with the result of the discussion. A few minutes after the evening meal was brought in, and to it, at least, the Black Eagle did ample justice, eating like a European, with a knife and fork, and displaying no trace of the savage in his demeanor at the table. He remained profoundly silent, however, till the party rose, and then, taking Mr. Prevost's hand, he said: "Take counsel of thine own heart, my brother. Think of the flower that grows up by thy side; ask if thou wouldst have it trodden down by the redman's moccasin, and listen not to the Cataract, for it is cold."
Thus saying, he unrolled one of the large skins which lay at the side of the room, and stretched himself upon it to take repose.
Edith took Otaitsa by the hand, saying, "Come, Blossom, you shall be my companion as before;" and Walter retiring the moment after, left Lord H---- and his host to consult together with Mr. Gore.
One hour after the sun had risen again, three travelers took their way onward from the house of Mr. Prevost, along a path which led to the northeast.
Two other persons watched them from the door of the house, and two negro men and a negro woman gazed after them from the corner of the building which joined on to a low fence encircling the stable and poultry yard, and running on round the well cultivated kitchen garden.
The negro woman shook her head, and looked sorrowful, and sighed, but said nothing. The two men talked freely of the imprudence of "Master" in suffering his son to go upon such an expedition.
Mr. Prevost and his daughter gazed in silence till the receding figures were hidden by the trees. Then the master of the house led Edith back, saying: "God will protect him, my child. A parent was not given to crush the energies of youth, but to direct them."
In the meanwhile, Lord H---- and his guide, Captain Brooks, according to his English name, or Woodchuck, in the Indian parlance, followed by Walter Prevost, made their way rapidly and easily through the wood. The two former were dressed in the somewhat anomalous attire which I have described in first introducing the worthy Captain to the reader; but Walter was in the ordinary costume of the people of the province of that day, except inasmuch as he had his rifle in his hand and a large leathern wallet slung over his left shoulder. Each of his companions, too, had a rifle hung across the back by a broad leathern band; and each was furnished with a hatchet at his girdle, and a long pipe, with a curiously carved stem, in his hand.
Although they were not pursuing any of the public provincial roads, and were consequently obliged to walk singly, the one following the other, yet Woodchuck, who led the way, had no difficulty in finding it, or in proceeding steadily.
We are told by an old writer of those days, who, unlike many modern writers, witnessed all he described with his own eyes, that the Indian trails, or footpaths, were innumerable over that large tract of country which the Five Nations called their "Long House," crossing and recrossing each other in every different direction, sometimes almost lost where the ground was hard and dry, sometimes indenting by the repeated pressure of many feet, the natural soil to the depth of thirty-six or forty inches.
It was along one of these that the travelers were passing, and although a stump here and there, or a young tree springing up in the midst of a trail, offered an occasional impediment, it was rarely of such a nature as to retard the travelers in their course, or materially add to their fatigue.
With the calm assurance and unhesitating rapidity of a practised woodsman, Brooks led his two companions forward without doubt as to his course. No great light had he, it is true, for though the sun was actually above the horizon, and now and then his slanting rays found their way through some more open space, and gilded the pathway, in general the thick trees and underwood formed a shade which at that early hour the light could hardly penetrate, and the sober morning was to these travelers still dressed almost in the dark hues of night.
"Set your steps in mine," said Woodchuck, speaking in a whisper over his shoulder to Lord H----, "then we shall be real Indians. Don't you know that when they go out on the war path, as they call it, each man puts down his foot just where his leader put down his before? So, come dog, come cat, no one can tell how many went to Jack Pilberry's barn."
"But do you think there is any real danger?" asked Lord H----.
"There is always danger in a dark wood and a dark eye," answered Woodchuck, with a laugh, "but no more danger here than in Prevost's cottage, from either the one or the other, for you or for Walter. As for me, I am safe anywhere."
"But you are taking strange precautions where there is no danger," replied Lord H----, who could not banish all doubts of his wild companion. "You speak in whispers, and advise us to follow all the cunning devices of the Indians in a wood which we passed through fearlessly yesterday."
"I am just as fearless now as you were then, if you passed through this wood," answered Brooks, in a graver tone, "but you are not a woodsman, or you'd understand better. What I mean, sir, is that we are so often in danger, we think it best to act as if we were always in it; and never knowing how near it may be, to make as sure as we can that we keep it at a distance. You cannot tell there is not an Indian in every bush you pass, and yet you'd chatter as loud as if you were in any lady's drawing-room. But I, though I know there is ne'er a one, don't speak louder than a grasshopper's hind legs, for fear I would get into the habit of talking loud in the forest."
"There is some truth, my friend, I believe in what you say," replied Lord H----, "but I hear a sound growing louder and louder as we advance. It is the cataract, I suppose."
"Yes, just the waterfall," answered the other, in an indifferent tone. "Down half a mile below it Master Walter will find the boat that will take him to Albany. Then you and I can snake up by the side of the river till we have gone as far as we have a mind to. I shouldn't wonder if we got a shot at somewhat on four, a moose or a painter, or a looksevere, or something of that kind. Pity we haven't got a canoe or a batteau, or something to put our game in."
"In heaven's name, what do you call a looksevere?" asked Lord H----.
"Why, the French folks call it a loup-cervier," answered Brooks. "I guess you never saw one. But he is not as pleasant as a pretty maid in a by-place, is he, Walter? He puts himself up into a tree, and there he watches, looking full asleep; but with the devil that is in him moving every joint of his tail the moment he hears anything come trotting along; and when it is just under him down he drops upon it plump, like a rifle shot into a pumpkin."
The conversation then fell off into a word or two spoken now and then, and the voice of the waters grew loud and more loud until Lord H---- could hardly hear his own footfalls. The more practised ear of Brooks, however, caught every sound, and at length he exclaimed: "What's alive? Why are you cocking your rifle, Walter?"
"Hush!" said the lad, "there is something stealing on there, just behind the bushes. It is an Indian, I think, going on all fours. Look quietly out there."
"More likely a bear," replied Woodchuck, in the same low tone which the other had used. "I see--I see. It's not a bear either, but it's not an Indian. It's gone--no, there it is again. Hold hard--let him climb. It's a painter. Here, Walter, come up in front--you shall have him. The cur smells fresh meat. He'll climb in an instant. There he goes--no, the critter's on again. We shall lose him if we don't mind. Quick, Walter! Spread out there to the right. I will take the left, and we shall drive him to the water, where he must climb. You, Major, keep right on ahead. Mind, take the middle trail all along, and look up at the branches, or you may have him on your head. There, he's heading south. Quick, Walter, quick!"
Lord H---- had as yet seen nothing of the object discovered by the eyes of his two companions, but he had sufficient of the sportsman in his nature to enter into all their eagerness, and unslinging his rifle he followed the path or trail along which they had been proceeding, while Walter Prevost darted away into the tangled bushes on his right, and Woodchuck stole more quietly in amongst the trees on his left. He could hear the branches rustle, and for nearly a quarter of a mile could trace their course on either side of him by the various little signs--of now a waving branch, now a slight sound. Once, and only once, he thought he saw the panther cross the trail, but it was at a spot peculiarly dark, and he did not feel at all sure that fancy had not deceived him.
The roar of the cataract in the meantime increased each moment, and it was evident to the young nobleman that he and his companions, on their different courses, were approaching more and more closely to some large stream, toward which it was the plan of good Captain Brooks to force the object of their pursuit. At length, too, the light became stronger, and he heard the report of a rifle, then a fierce, snarling sound, and then a shout from Walter Prevost.
Knowing how dangerous the wounded panther is, the young officer, without hesitation, darted away into the brush to aid Edith's brother, for by this time it was in that light that he generally thought of him; and the lad soon heard his approach, and guided him by his voice, calling, "Here! here!" There was no alarm or agitation in his tones--they were rather those of triumph; and a moment after, as he caught sight of his friend coming forward, he added: "He's a splendid beast. I must have the skin off him."
Lord H---- drew nigh, somewhat relaxing his speed when he found there was no danger, and in another minute he was by the side of the lad, who was quietly recharging his rifle, while at some six or seven yards distance lay a large panther of the American species, mortally wounded, and quite powerless of evil, but not yet quite dead.
"Keep away from him--keep away!" cried Walter, as the young nobleman approached. "They sometimes tear on terribly, even at the last gasp."
"Why, he is nearly as big as a tiger," said Lord H----.
"He is a splendid fellow," answered Walter, joyfully. "One might live a hundred years in England without finding such game."
Lord H---- smiled, and remained for a moment or two, till the young man's rifle was reloaded, gazing at the beast in silence.
Suddenly, however, they both heard the sound of another rifle on the left, and Walter exclaimed, "Woodchuck has got one, too!" But the report was followed by a yell very different from the snarl or growl of a wounded beast. "That's no panther's cry!" exclaimed Walter Prevost, his cheek turning somewhat pale. "What can have happened?"
"It sounded like a human voice," said Lord H----, listening, "like that of someone in sudden agony. I trust our friend the Woodchuck has not shot himself by some accident."
"It was not a white man's voice," said Walter, bending his ear in the direction from which had come the sounds. But all was still, and the young man raised his voice and shouted to his companion.
No answer was returned, however, and Lord H----, exclaiming, "We had better seek him at once--he may need help!" darted away toward the spot whence his ear told him the shot had come.
"A little more to the right, my lord, a little more to the right!" said Walter. "You will hit on a trail in a minute." And raising his voice again, he shouted: "Woodchuck! Woodchuck!" with evident alarm and distress.
He was right in the supposition that they should soon find some path. They quickly struck an Indian trail crossing that on which they had been previously proceeding, and leading in the direction in which they wished to go. Both then hurried on with greater rapidity, Walter rather running than walking, and Lord H---- following, with his rifle cocked in his hand. They had not far to go, however, for the trail soon opened upon a small piece of grassy savanna, lying close upon the river's edge, and in the midst of it they beheld a sight which was terrible enough in itself, but which afforded less apprehension and grief to the mind of Lord H---- than to that of Walter Prevost, who was better acquainted with the Indian habits and character.
About ten yards from the mouth of the path appeared the powerful form of Captain Brooks, with his folded arms leaning on the muzzle of his discharged rifle. He was as motionless as a statue, his brow contracted, his brown cheek very pale, and his eyes bent forward upon an object lying upon the grass before him. It was the form of a dead Indian, weltering in his blood. The dead man's head was bare of all covering except the scalp-lock. He was painted with the war colors, and in his hand, as he lay, he grasped the tomahawk, as if it had been raised in the act to strike the moment before he fell. To the eyes of Lord H---- his tribe or nation was an undiscovered secret, but certain small signs and marks in his garb, and even in his features, showed Walter Prevost at once that he was not only one of the Five Nations, but an Oneida. The full and terrible importance of the fact will be seen by what followed.
For some two minutes the three living men stood silent in the presence of the dead, and Walter exclaimed, in a tone of deep grief: "Alas! Woodchuck, what have you done?"
"Saved my scalp," answered Brooks, sternly, and fell into silence again.
There was another long silence, and then Lord H----, mistaking in some degree the causes of the man's strong emotion, laid his hand upon the hunter's arm, saying: "Come away, my friend. Why should you linger here?"
"It's no use," answered Woodchuck, gloomily. "He had a woman with him, and it will soon be known all through the tribe."
"But for your own safety," said Walter, "yon had better fly. It is very sad indeed--what could make him attack you?"
"An old grudge, Master Walter," answered Brooks, seating himself deliberately on the ground and laying his rifle across his knee. "I knew the critter well, the Striped Snake they called him, and a snake he was. He tried to cheat and to rob me, and I made it plain to the whole tribe. Some laughed, and thought it fair, but old Black Eagle scorned and rebuked him, and he has hated me ever since. He has been long watching for this, and now he has got it."
"Well, well," said Walter, "what's done cannot be undone, and you had better get away as fast as may be, for Black Eagle told me he had left three scouts behind to bring tidings in case of danger, and we cannot tell how near the others may be."
"This was one of them," answered Brooks, still keeping his seat and gazing at the Indian. "But what is safety to me, Walter? I can no more roam the forests. I can no more pursue my way of life. I must go into dull and smoky cities and plod amongst thieving, cheating crowds of white men. The rifle and the hatchet must be laid aside forever; the forest grass must know my foot no more. Flowers and green leaves and rushing streams and the broad lake and the mountain top are lost and gone, the watch under the deep boughs and by the silent waters. Close pressed amidst the toiling herd, I shall become sordid and low and filthy as they are; my free nature lost and gyves upon my spirit. All life's blessings are gone from me; why should I care for life?"
There was something uncommonly plaintive, mournful and earnest in his tones, and Lord H---- could not help feeling for him, although he did not comprehend fully the occasion of his grief. "But, my good friend," he said, "I cannot perceive how your having slain this Indian in your own defence can bring such a train of miseries upon you. You would not have killed him if he had not attacked you."
"Alas for me! alas for me!" was all the answer the poor man made.
"You do not know their habits, sir," said Walter, in a low voice. "They must have blood for blood. If he stays here, if he ever returns, go where he will in the Indian territory, they will track him, they will follow him day and night. He will be amongst them like one of the wild beasts whom we chase so eagerly--pursued from place to place with the hatchet always hanging over his head. There is no safety for him but far away in the provinces beyond those towns that Indians ever visit. So persuade him to come away and leave the body. He can go down with me to Albany, and thence make his way to New York or Philadelphia."
For some minutes Brooks remained deaf to all arguments. His whole mind and thoughts seemed occupied with the terrible conviction that the wild scenes and the free life which he enjoyed so intensely were lost forever.
Suddenly, however, when Lord H---- was just about to give up in despair the task of persuading him, he started up as if some new thought struck him, and gazing first at Walter and then at the young officer, he exclaimed: "But I am keeping you here, and you, too, may be murdered! The death spot is upon me, and it will spread to all around. I am ready to go. I will bear my fate as well as I can, but it is very, very hard. Come! Let us begone quick--stay! I will charge my rifle first. Who knows how soon we may need it for such bloody work again!"
All his energy seemed to have returned in a moment, and it deserted him not again. He charged his rifle with wonderful rapidity, tossed it under his arm, and took a step as if to go. Then for a moment he paused, and advancing close to the dead Indian gazed at him sternly. "Oh, my enemy," he cried, "thou saidst thou wouldst have revenge, and thou hast had it--far more bitter than if thy hatchet had entered into my skull, and I were lying in thy place."
Turning round as soon as he had spoken, he led the way back along the trail, murmuring rather to himself than to his companions: "The instinct of self-preservation is very strong. Better for me had I let him slay me. I know not how I was fool enough to fire. Come, Walter, we must get round the falls, where we shall find some batteaux that will carry us down."
He walked along for some five minutes in silence, and suddenly looked round to Lord H----, exclaiming: "But what's to become of him? How is he to find his way back again? Come! I will go back with him--it matters not if they do catch me and scalp me. I do not like to be dogged and tracked and followed and taken unawares. I can but die at last. I will go back with him as soon as you are in the boat, Walter."
"No, no, Woodchuck! That will not do!" replied the lad. "You forget that if they found you with him they would kill him, too. I will tell you how we will manage it. Let him come down with us to the point, then there is a straight road up to the house, and we can get one of the batteaux men to go up with him and show him the way, unless he likes to go on with me to Albany."
"I cannot do that," replied Lord H----, "for I promised to be back at your father's house by to-morrow night, and matters of much importance may have to be decided. But I can easily land at the point, as you say--whatever point you may mean--and find my way back. As for myself, I have no fears. There seem to be but a few scattered parties of Indians of different tribes roaming about, and I trust that anything like general hostility is at an end for this year at least."
"In Indian warfare the danger is the greatest, I have heard, when it seems the least," replied Walter Prevost; "but from the point to the house, some fourteen or sixteen miles, the road is perfectly safe, for it is the only one on which large numbers of persons are passing to and from Albany."
"It will be safe enough," said Woodchuck; "that way is always quiet; and besides, a wise man and a powerful one could travel at any time from one end of the Long House to the other without risk--unless there were special cause. It is bad shooting we have had to-day, Walter, but still I should have liked to have the skin of that panther. He seemed to me an unextinguishable fine crittur."
"He was a fine creature, and that I know, for I shot him, Woodchuck," said Walter Prevost, with some pride in the achievement. "I wanted to send the skin to Otaitsa--but it cannot be helped."
"Let us go and get it now!" cried Woodchuck, with the ruling passion strong in death. "'Tis but a step back. Darn those Ingians! Why should I care?"
But both his companions urged him forward, and they continued their way through woods skirting the river for somewhat more than two miles, first rising gently to a spot where the roar of the waters was heard distinctly, and then, after descending, rising again to a rocky point midway between the highest ground and the water level, where a small congregation of huts had been gathered together, principally inhabited by boatmen, and surrounded by a stout palisade.
The scene at the hamlet itself had nothing very remarkable in it. Here were women sitting at the door, knitting and sewing, men lounging about or mending nets or making lines, children playing in the dirt, as usual, both inside and outside of the palisade. The traces of more than one nation could be discovered in the features as well as in the tongues of the inhabitants, and it was not difficult to perceive that here had been congregated, by the force of circumstances into which it is not necessary to inquire, sundry fragments of Dutch, English, Indian, and even French--races all bound together by a community of object and pursuit.
The approach of the three strangers did not in any degree startle the good people from their idleness or their occupations. The carrying trade was then a very good one, especially in remote places where traveling was difficult, and these people could always make a very tolerable livelihood without any very great or continuous exertion. The result of such a state of things is always very detrimental to activity of mind or body, and the boatmen, though they sauntered up round Lord H---- and his companions, divining that some profitable piece of work was before them, showed amazing indifference as to whether they would undertake it or not. But that which astonished Lord H---- the most was to see the deliberate coolness with which Woodchuck set about making his bargain for the conveyance of himself and Walter to Albany. He sat down upon a large stone within the enclosure, took a knife from his pocket and a piece of wood from the ground, and began cutting the latter with the former with as tranquil and careless an air as if there were no heavy thought upon his mind--no dark memory behind him--no terrible fate dogging him at the heels. But Woodchuck and Walter were both well known to the boatmen, and though they might probably have attempted to impose upon the inexperience of the lad, they knew they had met their match in the shrewdness of his companion, and were not aware that any circumstance rendered speed more valuable to him than money. The bargaining, then, was soon concluded, but Captain Brooks was not contented till he had bargained also for the services of two men in guiding Lord H---- back to the house of Mr. Prevost. This was undertaken for a dollar apiece, however, and then the whole party proceeded to the bank of the river, where a boat was soon unmoored, and Walter and his companion set forth upon their journey, not, however, till Lord H---- had shaken the latter warmly by the hand, and said a few words in the ear of Captain Brooks, adding: "Walter will tell you more, and how to communicate with me."
"Thank you, thank you," replied the hunter, wringing his hand hard. "A friend in need is a friend indeed. I do not want it, but I thank you as much as if I did; but you shall hear if I do, for somehow I guess you are not the man to say what you don't mean."
After seeing his two companions row down the stream a few yards, the young nobleman turned to the boatmen who accompanied him, saying: "Now, my lads, I want to make a change of our arrangements, and to go back the short way by which we came. I did not interrupt our good friend Woodchuck, because he was anxious about my safety. There are some Indians in the forest, and he feared I might get scalped. However, we shot a panther there which we could not stay to skin, as their business in Albany was pressing. Now I want the skin, and am not afraid of the Indians--are you?"
The men laughed, and replied in the negative, saying that there were none of the redmen there but four or five Oneidas and Mohawks, but adding that the way, though shorter, was much more difficult and bushy, and therefore they must have more pay. Lord H----, however, was less difficult to deal with than Captain Brooks, and yielded readily to their demands.
Each of the men then armed himself with a rifle and took a bag of parched corn with him, and the three set out.
Lord H---- undertook to guide them to the spot where the panther lay, and not a little did they wonder at the accuracy and precision with which his military habits of observation enabled him to direct them step by step. He took great care not to let them approach the spot where the dead Indian had been slain, but turning about a quarter of a mile to the south, led them across the thicket to within a very few yards of the object of his search. It was soon found, when they came near the place, and about half an hour was employed in taking off the skin and packing it up for carriage.
"Now," said Lord H----, "will you two undertake to have this skin properly cured and dispatched by the first trader going west to the Oneida village?"
The men readily agreed to do so if well paid for it, but, of course, required further directions, saying there were a dozen or more Oneida villages.
"It will be sure to reach its destination," said Lord H----, "if you tell the bearer to deliver it to Otaitsa, which, I believe, means the Blossom, the daughter of Black Eagle, the sachem. Say that it comes from Walter Prevost."
"Oh, aye," answered the boatmen, "it shall be done; but we shall have to pay the man who carries it."
The arrangement in regard to payment was soon made, though it was somewhat exorbitant; but to insure that the commission was faithfully executed, Lord H---- reserved a portion of the money, to be given when he heard that the skin had been delivered.
The rest of the journey was passed without interruption or difficulty, and at an early hour of the evening the young nobleman stood once more at the door of his fellow countryman's house.