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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Wacousta (Volume II), by John Richardson
+#2 in our series by John Richardson
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+Title: Wacousta (Volume II)
+       or The Prophecy
+
+Author: John Richardson
+
+Release Date: December, 2003 [Etext #4720]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on March 7, 2002]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Wacousta (Volume II), by John Richardson
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+
+WACOUSTA;
+  or
+THE PROPHECY.
+
+Volume Two of Three
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+It was on the evening of that day, so fertile in melancholy
+incident, to which our first volume has been devoted,
+that the drawbridge of Detroit was, for the third time
+since the investment of the garrison, lowered; not, as
+previously, with a disregard of the intimation that might
+be given to those without by the sullen and echoing rattle
+of its ponderous chains, but with a caution attesting
+how much secrecy of purpose was sought to be preserved.
+There was, however, no array of armed men within the
+walls, that denoted an expedition of a hostile character.
+Overcome with the harassing duties of the day, the chief
+portion of the troops had retired to rest, and a few
+groups of the guard alone were to be seen walking up and
+down in front of their post, apparently with a view to
+check the influence of midnight drowsiness, but, in
+reality, to witness the result of certain preparations
+going on by torchlight in the centre of the barrack
+square.
+
+In the midst of an anxious group of officers, comprising
+nearly all of that rank within the fort, stood two
+individuals, attired in a costume having nothing in common
+with the gay and martial habiliments of the former. They
+were tall, handsome young men, whose native elegance of
+carriage was but imperfectly hidden under an equipment
+evidently adopted for, and otherwise fully answering,
+the purpose of disguise. A blue cotton shell jacket,
+closely fitting to the person, trowsers of the same
+material, a pair of strong deer-skin mocassins, and a
+coloured handkerchief tied loosely round the collar of
+a checked shirt, the whole surmounted by one of those
+rough blanket coats, elsewhere described, formed the
+principal portion of their garb. Each, moreover, wore a
+false queue of about nine inches in length, the effect
+of which was completely to change the character of the
+countenance, and lend to the features a Canadian-like
+expression. A red worsted cap, resembling a bonnet de
+nuit, was thrown carelessly over the side of the head,
+which could, at any moment, when deeper disguise should
+be deemed necessary, command the additional protection
+of the rude hood that fell back upon the shoulders from
+the collar of the coat to which it was attached. They
+were both well armed. Into a broad belt, that encircled
+the jacket of each, were thrust a brace of pistols and
+a strong dagger; the whole so disposed, however, as to
+be invisible when the outer garment was closed: this,
+again, was confined by a rude sash of worsted of different
+colours, not unlike, in texture and quality, what is worn
+by our sergeants at the present day. They were otherwise
+armed, however, and in a less secret manner. Across the
+right shoulder of each was thrown a belt of worsted also,
+to which were attached a rude powder horn and shot pouch,
+with a few straggling bullets, placed there as if rather
+by accident than design. Each held carelessly in his left
+hand, and with its butt resting on the earth, a long gun;
+completing an appearance, the attainment of which had,
+in all probability, been sedulously sought,--that of a
+Canadian duck-hunter.
+
+A metamorphosis so ludicrously operated in the usually
+elegant costume of two young English officers,--for such
+they were,--might have been expected to afford scope to
+the pleasantry of their companions, and to call forth
+those sallies which the intimacy of friendship and the
+freemasonry of the profession would have fully justified.
+But the events that had occurred in such rapid succession,
+since the preceding midnight, were still painfully
+impressed on the recollection of all, and some there were
+who looked as if they never would smile again; neither
+laugh nor jeering, therefore, escaped the lips of one of
+the surrounding group. Every countenance wore a cast of
+thought,--a character of abstraction, ill suited to the
+indulgence of levity; and the little conversation that
+passed between them was in a low and serious tone. It
+was evident some powerful and absorbing dread existed in
+the mind of each, inducing him rather to indulge in
+communion with his own thoughts and impressions, than to
+communicate them to others. Even the governor himself
+had, for a moment, put off the dignity and distance of
+his usually unapproachable nature, to assume an air of
+unfeigned concern, and it might be dejection, contrasting
+strongly with his habitual haughtiness. Hitherto he had
+been walking to and fro, a little apart from the group,
+and with a hurriedness and indecision of movement that
+betrayed to all the extreme agitation of his mind. For
+once, however, he appeared to be insensible to observation,
+or, if not insensible, indifferent to whatever comments
+might be formed or expressed by those who witnessed his
+undissembled emotion. He was at length interrupted by
+the adjutant, who communicated something in a low voice.
+
+"Let him be brought up, Mr. Lawson," was the reply. Then
+advancing into the heart of the group, and addressing
+the two adventurers, he enquired, in a tone that startled
+from its singular mildness, "if they were provided with
+every thing they required."
+
+An affirmative reply was given, when the governor, taking
+the taller of the young men aside, conversed with him
+earnestly, and in a tone of affection strangely blended
+with despondency. The interview, however, was short, for
+Mr. Lawson now made his appearance, conducting an individual
+who has already been introduced to our readers. It was
+the Canadian of the Fleur de lis. The adjutant placed a
+small wooden crucifix in the hands of the governor.
+
+"Francois," said the latter, impressively, "you know the
+terms on which I have consented to spare your life. Swear,
+then, by this cross; that you will be faithful to your
+trust; that neither treachery nor evasion shall be
+practised; and that you will, to the utmost of your power,
+aid in conveying these gentlemen to their destination.
+Kneel and swear it."
+
+"I do swear it!" fervently repeated the aubergiste,
+kneeling and imprinting his lips with becoming reverence
+on the symbol of martyrdom. "I swear to do dat I shall
+engage, and may de bon Dieu have mercy to my soul as I
+shall fulfil my oat."
+
+"Amen," pronounced the governor, "and may Heaven deal by
+you even as you deal by us. Bear in mind, moreover, that
+as your treachery will be punished, so also shall your
+fidelity be rewarded. But the night wears apace, and ye
+have much to do." Then turning to the young officers who
+were to be his companions,--"God bless you both; may your
+enterprise be successful! I fear," offering his hand to
+the younger, "I have spoken harshly to you, but at a
+moment like the present you will no longer cherish a
+recollection of the unpleasant past."
+
+The only answer was a cordial return of his own pressure.
+The Canadian in his turn now announced the necessity for
+instant departure, when the young men, following his
+example, threw their long guns carelessly over the left
+shoulder. Low, rapid, and fervent adieus were uttered on
+both sides; and although the hands of the separating
+parties met only in a short and hurried grasp, there was
+an expression in the touch of each that spoke to their
+several hearts long after the separation had actually
+taken place.
+
+"Stay one moment!" exclaimed a voice, as the little party
+now moved towards the gateway; "ye are both gallantly
+enough provided without, but have forgotten there is
+something quite as necessary to sustain the inward man.
+Duck shooting, you know, is wet work. The last lips that
+were moistened from this," he proceeded, as the younger
+of the disguised men threw the strap of the proffered
+canteen over his shoulder, "were those of poor Ellen
+Halloway."
+
+The mention of that name, so heedlessly pronounced by
+the brave but inconsiderate Erskine, produced a startling
+effect on the taller of the departing officers. He struck
+his brow violently with his hand, uttered a faint groan,
+and bending his head upon his chest, stood in an attitude
+expressive of the deep suffering of his mind. The governor,
+too, appeared agitated; and sounds like those of suppressed
+sobs came from one who lingered at the side of him who
+had accepted the offer of the canteen. The remainder of
+the officers preserved a deep and mournful silence.
+
+"It is times dat we should start," again observed the
+Canadian, "or we shall be taken by de daylight before we
+can clear de river."
+
+This intimation once more aroused the slumbering energies
+of the taller officer. Again he drew up his commanding
+figure, extended his hand to the governor in silence,
+and turning abruptly round, hastened to follow close in
+the footsteps of his conductor.
+
+"You will not forget all I have said to you," whispered
+the voice of one who had reserved his parting for the
+last, and who now held the hand of the younger adventurer
+closely clasped in his own. "Think, oh, think how much
+depends on the event of your dangerous enterprise."
+
+"When you behold me again," was the reply, "it will be
+with smiles on my lip and gladness in my heart; for if
+we fail, there is that within me, which whispers I shall
+never see you more. But keep up your spirits, and hope
+for the best. We embark under cheerless auspices, it is
+true; but let us trust to Providence for success in so
+good a cause,--God bless you!"
+
+In the next minute he had joined his companions; who,
+with light and noiseless tread, were already pursuing
+their way along the military road that led to the eastern
+extremity of the town. Soon afterwards, the heavy chains
+of the drawbridge were heard grating on the ear, in
+despite of the evident caution used in restoring it to
+its wonted position, and all again was still.
+
+It had at first been suggested their course should be
+held in an angular direction across the cleared country
+alluded to in our last chapter, in order to avoid all
+chance of recognition in the town; but as this might have
+led them into more dangerous contact with some of the
+outlying parties of Indians, who were known to prowl
+around the fort at night, this plan had been abandoned
+for the more circuitous and safe passage by the village.
+Through this our little party now pursued their way, and
+without encountering aught to impede their progress. The
+simple mannered inhabitants had long since retired to
+rest, and neither light nor sound denoted the existence
+of man or beast within its precincts. At length they
+reached that part of the road which turned off abruptly
+in the direction of the Fleur de lis. The rude hut threw
+its dark shadows across their path, but all was still
+and deathlike as in the village they had just quitted.
+Presently, however, as they drew nearer, they beheld,
+reflected from one of the upper windows, a faint light
+that fell upon the ground immediately in front of the
+auberge; and, at intervals, the figure of a human being
+approaching and receding from it as if in the act of
+pacing the apartment.
+
+An instinctive feeling of danger rose at the same moment
+to the hearts of the young officers; and each, obeying
+the same impulse, unfastened one of the large horn buttons
+of his blanket coat, and thrust his right hand into the
+opening.
+
+"Francois, recollect your oath," hastily aspirated the
+elder, as he grasped the hand of their conductor rather
+in supplication than in threat; "if there be aught to
+harm us here, your own life will most assuredly pay the
+forfeit of your faith."
+
+"It is noting but a womans," calmly returned the Canadian;
+"it is my Babette who is sorry at my loss. But I shall
+come and tell you directly."
+
+He then stole gently round the corner of the hut, leaving
+his anxious companions in the rear of the little building,
+and completely veiled in the obscurity produced by the
+mingling shadows of the hut itself, and a few tall pear
+trees that overhung the paling of the orchard at some
+yards from the spot on which they stood.
+
+They waited some minutes to hear the result of the
+Canadian's admittance into his dwelling; but although
+each with suppressed breathing sought to catch those
+sounds of welcome with which a daughter might be supposed
+to greet a parent so unexpectedly restored, they listened
+in vain. At length, however, while the ears of both were
+on the rack to drink in the tones of a human voice, a
+faint scream floated on the hushed air, and all again
+was still.
+
+"Good!" whispered the elder of the officers; "that scream
+is sweeter to my ear than the softest accents of woman's
+love. It is evident the ordinary tones of speech cannot
+find their way to us here from the front of the hut. The
+faintness of yon cry, which was unquestionably that of
+a female, is a convincing proof of it."
+
+"Hist!" urged his companion, in the same almost inaudible
+whisper, "what sound was that?"
+
+Both again listened attentively, when the noise was
+repeated. It came from the orchard, and resembled the
+sound produced by the faint crash of rotten sticks and
+leaves under the cautious but unavoidably rending tread
+of a human foot. At intervals it ceased, as if the person
+treading, alarmed at his own noise, was apprehensive of
+betraying his approach; and then recommenced, only to be
+checked in the same manner. Finally it ceased altogether.
+
+For upwards of five minutes the young men continued to
+listen for a renewal of the sound, but nothing was now
+audible, save the short and fitful gusts of a rising wind
+among the trees of the orchard.
+
+"It must have been some wild animal in search of its
+prey," again whispered the younger officer; "had it been
+a man, we should have heard him leap the paling before
+this."
+
+"By Heaven, we are betrayed,--here he is," quickly rejoined
+the other, in the same low tone. "Keep close to the hut,
+and stand behind me. If my dagger fail, you must try
+your own. But fire not, on your life, unless there be
+more than two, for the report of a pistol will be the
+destruction of ourselves and all that are dear to us."
+
+Each with uplifted arm now stood ready to strike, even
+while his heart throbbed with a sense of danger, that
+had far more than the mere dread of personal suffering
+or death to stimulate to exertion in self-defence.
+Footsteps were now distinctly heard stealing round that
+part of the hut which bordered on the road; and the young
+men turned from the orchard, to which their attention
+had previously been directed, towards the new quarter
+whence they were intruded upon.
+
+It was fortunate this mode of approach had been selected.
+That part of the hut which rested on the road was so
+exposed as to throw the outline of objects into strong
+relief, whereas in the direction of the thickly wooded
+orchard all was impenetrable gloom. Had the intruder
+stolen unannounced upon the alarmed but determined officers
+by the latter route, the dagger of the first would in
+all probability have been plunged to its hilt in his
+bosom. As it was, each had sufficient presence of mind
+to distinguish, as it now doubled the corner of the hut,
+and reposed upon the road, the stout square-set figure
+of the Canadian. The daggers were instantly restored to
+their sheaths, and each, for the first time since the
+departure of their companion, respired freely.
+
+"It is quite well," whispered the latter as he approached.
+"It was my poor Babette, who tought I was gone to be
+kill. She scream so loud, as if she had seen my ghost.
+But we must wait a few minute in de house, and you shall
+see how glad my girl is to see me once again."
+
+"Why this delay, Francois? why not start directly?" urged
+the taller officer; "we shall never clear the river in
+time; and if the dawn catches us in the waters of the
+Detroit, we are lost for ever."
+
+"But you see I am not quite prepare yet," was the answer.
+"I have many tings to get ready for de canoe, which I
+have not use for a long times. But you shall not wait
+ten minute, if you do not like. Dere is a good fire, and
+Babette shall give you some ting to eat while I get it
+all ready."
+
+The young men hesitated. The delay of the Canadian, who
+had so repeatedly urged the necessity for expedition
+while in the fort, had, to say the least of it, an
+appearance of incongruity. Still it was evident, if
+disposed to harm them, he had full opportunity to do so
+without much risk of effectual opposition from themselves.
+Under all circumstances, therefore, it was advisable
+rather to appear to confide implicitly in his truth,
+than, by manifesting suspicion, to pique his self-love,
+and neutralize whatever favourable intentions he might
+cherish in their behalf. In this mode of conduct they
+were confirmed, by a recollection of the sacredness
+attached by the religion of their conductor to the oath
+so solemnly pledged on the symbol of the cross, and by
+a conviction of the danger of observation to which they
+stood exposed, if, as they had apprehended, it was actually
+a human footstep they had heard in the orchard. This
+last recollection suggested a remark.
+
+"We heard a strange sound within the orchard, while
+waiting here for your return," said the taller officer;
+"it was like the footstep of a man treading cautiously
+over rotten leaves and branches. How do you account for
+it?"
+
+"Oh, it was my pigs," replied the Canadian, without
+manifesting the slightest uneasiness at the information.
+"They run about in de orchard for de apples what blows
+down wid de wind."
+
+"It could not be a pig we heard," pursued his questioner;
+"but another thing, Francois, before we consent to enter
+the hut,--how will you account to your daughter for our
+presence? and what suspicion may she not form at seeing
+two armed strangers in company with you at this unseasonable
+hour."
+
+"I have tell her," replied the Canadian, "dat I have
+bring two friends, who go wid me in de canoe to shoot de
+ducks for two tree days. You know, sir, I go always in
+de fall to kill de ducks wid my friends, and she will
+not tink it strange."
+
+"You have managed well, my brave fellow; and now we follow
+you in confidence. But in the name of Heaven, use all
+possible despatch, and if money will lend a spur to your
+actions, you shall have plenty of it when our enterprise
+has been accomplished."
+
+Our adventurers followed their conductor in the track by
+which he had so recently rejoined them. As they turned
+the corner of the hut, the younger, who brought up the
+rear, fancied he again heard a sound in the direction of
+the orchard, resembling that of one lightly leaping to
+the ground. A gust of wind, however, passing rapidly at
+the moment through the dense foliage, led him to believe
+it might have been produced by the sullen fall of one of
+the heavy fruits it had detached in its course. Unwilling
+to excite new and unnecessary suspicion in his companion,
+he confined the circumstance to his own breast, and
+followed into the hut.
+
+After ascending a flight of about a dozen rude steps,
+they found themselves in a small room, furnished with no
+other ceiling than the sloping roof itself, and lighted
+by an unwieldy iron lamp, placed on a heavy oak table,
+near the only window with which the apartment was provided.
+This latter had suffered much from the influence of time
+and tempest; and owing to the difficulty of procuring
+glass in so remote a region, had been patched with slips
+of paper in various parts. The two corner and lower panes
+of the bottom sash were out altogether, and pine shingles,
+such as are used even at the present day for covering
+the roofs of dwelling houses, had been fitted into the
+squares, excluding air and light at the same time. The
+centre pane of this tier was, however, clear and free
+from flaw of every description. Opposite to the window
+blazed a cheerful wood fire, recently supplied with fuel;
+and at one of the inner corners of the room was placed
+a low uncurtained bed, that exhibited marks of having
+been lain in since it was last made. On a chair at its
+side were heaped a few dark-looking garments, the precise
+nature of which were not distinguishable at a cursory
+and distant glance.
+
+Such were the more remarkable features of the apartment
+into which our adventurers were now ushered. Both looked
+cautiously around on entering, as if expecting to find
+it tenanted by spirits as daring as their own; but, with
+the exception of the daughter of their conductor, whose
+moist black eyes expressed, as much by tears as by smiles,
+the joy she felt at this unexpected return of her parent,
+no living object met their enquiring glance. The Canadian
+placed a couple of rush-bottomed chairs near the fire,
+invited his companions to seat themselves until he had
+completed his preparation for departure, and then, desiring
+Babette to hasten supper for the young hunters, quitted
+the room and descended the stairs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+The position of the young men was one of embarrassment;
+for while the daughter, who was busied in executing the
+command of her father, remained in the room, it was
+impossible they could converse together without betraying
+the secret of their country, and, as a result of this,
+the falsehood of the character under which they appeared.
+Long residence in the country had, it is true, rendered
+the patois of that class of people whom they personated
+familiar to one, but the other spoke only the pure and
+native language of which it was a corruption. It might
+have occurred to them at a cooler moment, and under less
+critical circumstances, that, even if their disguise had
+been penetrated, it was unlikely a female, manifesting
+so much lively affection for her parent, would have done
+aught to injure those with whom he had evidently connected
+himself. But the importance attached to their entire
+security from danger left them but little room for
+reflections of a calming character, while a doubt of that
+security remained.
+
+One singularity struck them both. They had expected the
+young woman, urged by a natural curiosity, would have
+commenced a conversation, even if they did not; and he
+who spoke the patois was prepared to sustain it as well
+as his anxious and overcharged spirit would enable him;
+and as he was aware the morning had furnished sufficient
+incident of fearful interest, he had naturally looked
+for a verbal re-enactment of the harrowing and dreadful
+scene. To their surprise, however, they both remarked
+that, far from evincing a desire to enter into conversation,
+the young woman scarcely ever looked at them, but lingered
+constantly near the table, and facing the window. Still,
+to avoid an appearance of singularity on their own parts
+as far as possible, the elder of the officers motioned
+to his companion, who, following his example, took a
+small pipe and some tobacco from a compartment in his
+shot pouch, and commenced puffing the wreathing smoke
+from his lips,--an occupation, more than any other,
+seeming to justify their silence.
+
+The elder officer sat with his back to the window, and
+immediately in front of the fire; his companion, at a
+corner of the rude hearth, and in such a manner that,
+without turning his head, he could command every part of
+the room at a glance. In the corner facing him stood the
+bed already described. A faint ray of the fire-light fell
+on some minute object glittering in the chair, the contents
+of which were heaped up in disorder. Urged by that wayward
+curiosity, which is sometimes excited, even under
+circumstances of the greatest danger and otherwise
+absorbing interest, the young man kicked the hickory log
+that lay nearest to it with his mocassined foot, and
+produced a bright crackling flame, the reflection of
+which was thrown entirely upon the object of his gaze;
+it was a large metal button, on which the number of his
+regiment was distinctly visible. Unable to check his
+desire to know further, he left his seat, to examine the
+contents of the chair. As he moved across the room, he
+fancied he heard a light sound from without; his companion,
+also, seemed to manifest a similar impression by an almost
+imperceptible start; but the noise was so momentary, and
+so fanciful, neither felt it worth his while to pause
+upon the circumstance. The young officer now raised the
+garments from the chair: they consisted of a small grey
+great-coat, and trowsers, a waistcoat of coarse white
+cloth, a pair of worsted stockings, and the half-boots
+of a boy; the whole forming the drum-boy's equipment,
+worn by the wretched wife of Halloway when borne senseless
+into the hut on that fatal morning. Hastily quitting a
+dress that called up so many dreadful recollections, and
+turning to his companion with a look that denoted
+apprehension, lest he too should have beheld these
+melancholy remembrances of the harrowing scene, the young
+officer hastened to resume his seat. In the act of so
+doing, his eye fell upon the window, at which the female
+still lingered. Had a blast from Heaven struck his sight,
+the terror of his soul could not have been greater. He
+felt his cheek to pale, and his hair to bristle beneath
+his cap, while the checked blood crept slowly and coldly,
+as if its very function had been paralysed; still he had
+presence of mind sufficient not to falter in his step,
+or to betray, by any extraordinary movement, that his
+eye had rested on any thing hateful to behold.
+
+His companion had emptied his first pipe, and was in the
+act of refilling it, when he resumed his seat. He was
+evidently impatient at the delay of the Canadian, and
+already were his lips opening to give utterance to his
+disappointment, when he felt his foot significantly
+pressed by that of his friend. An instinctive sense of
+something fearful that was to ensue, but still demanding
+caution on his part, prevented him from turning hastily
+round to know the cause. Satisfied, however, there was
+danger, though not of an instantaneous character, he put
+his pipe gently by, and stealing his hand under his coat,
+again grasped the hilt of his dagger. At length he slowly
+and partially turned his head, while his eyes inquiringly
+demanded of his friend the cause of his alarm.
+
+Partly to aid in concealing his increasing paleness, and
+partly with a view to render it a medium for the conveyance
+of subdued sound, the hand of the latter was raised to
+his face in such a manner that the motion of his lips
+could not be distinguished from behind.
+
+"We are betrayed," he scarcely breathed. "If you can
+command yourself, turn and look at the window; but for
+God's sake arm yourself with resolution, or look not at
+all: first draw the hood over your head, and without any
+appearance of design. Our only chance of safety lies in
+this,--that the Canadian may still be true, and that our
+disguise may not be penetrated."
+
+In despite of his native courage,--and this had often
+been put to honourable proof,--he, thus mysteriously
+addressed, felt his heart to throb violently. There was
+something so appalled in the countenance of his
+friend--something so alarming in the very caution he had
+recommended--that a vague dread of the horrible reality
+rushed at once to his mind, and for a moment his own
+cheek became ashy pale, and his breathing painfully
+oppressed. It was the natural weakness of the physical
+man, over which the moral faculties had, for an instant,
+lost their directing power. Speedily recovering himself,
+the young man prepared to encounter the alarming object
+which had already so greatly intimidated his friend.
+Carefully drawing the blanket hood over his head, he rose
+from his seat, and, with the energetic movement of one
+who has formed some desperate determination, turned his
+back to the fire-place, and threw his eyes rapidly and
+eagerly upon the window. They fell only on the rude
+patchwork of which it was principally composed. The
+female had quitted the room.
+
+"You must have been deceived," he whispered, keeping his
+eye still bent upon the window, and with so imperceptible
+a movement of the lips that sound alone could have betrayed
+he was speaking,--"I see nothing to justify your alarm.
+Look again."
+
+The younger officer once more directed his glance towards
+the window, and with a shuddering of the whole person,
+as he recollected what had met his eye when he last looked
+upon it. "It is no longer there, indeed," he returned in
+the same scarcely audible tone. "Yet I could not be
+mistaken; it was between those two corner squares of wood
+in the lower sash."
+
+"Perhaps it was merely a reflection produced by the lamp
+on the centre pane," rejoined his friend, still keeping
+his eye riveted on the suspicious point.
+
+"Impossible! but I will examine the window from the spot
+on which I stood when I first beheld it."
+
+Again he quitted his seat, and carelessly crossed the
+room. As he returned he threw his glance upon the pane,
+when, to his infinite horror and surprise, the same
+frightful vision presented itself.
+
+"God of Heaven!" he exclaimed aloud, and unable longer
+to check the ebullition of his feelings,--"what means
+this?--Is my brain turned? and am I the sport of my own
+delusive fancy?--Do you not see it NOW?"
+
+No answer was returned. His friend stood mute and
+motionless, with his left hand grasping his gun, and his
+right thrust into the waist of his coat. His eye grew
+upon the window, and his chest heaved, and his cheek
+paled and flushed alternately with the subdued emotion
+of his heart. A human face was placed close to the
+unblemished glass, and every feature was distinctly
+revealed by the lamp that still lay upon the table. The
+glaring eye was fixed on the taller of the officers; but
+though the expression was unfathomably guileful, there
+was nothing that denoted any thing like a recognition of
+the party. The brightness of the wood fire had so far
+subsided as to throw the interior of the room into partial
+obscurity, and under the disguise of his hood it was
+impossible for one without to distinguish the features
+of the taller officer. The younger, who was scarcely an
+object of attention, passed comparatively unnoticed.
+
+Fatigued and dimmed with the long and eager tension of
+its nerves, the eye of the latter now began to fail him.
+For a moment he closed it; and when again it fell upon
+the window; it encountered nothing but the clear and
+glittering pane. For upwards of a minute he and his friend
+still continued to rivet their gaze, but the face was no
+longer visible.
+
+Why is it that what is called the "human face divine" is
+sometimes gifted with a power to paralyse, that the most
+loathsome reptile in the creation cannot attain? Had a
+hyena or cougar of the American forest, roaring for prey,
+appeared at that window, ready to burst the fragile
+barrier, and fasten its talons in their hearts, its
+presence would not have struck such sickness to the soul
+of our adventurers as did that human face. It is that
+man, naturally fierce and inexorable, is alone the enemy
+of his own species. The solution of this problem--this
+glorious paradox in nature, we leave to profounder
+philosophers to resolve. Sufficient for us be it to know,
+and to deplore that it is so.
+
+Footsteps were now heard upon the stairs; and the officers,
+aroused to a full sense of their danger, hastily and
+silently prepared themselves for the encounter.
+
+"Drop a bullet into your gun," whispered the elder,
+setting the example himself. "We may be obliged to have
+recourse to it at last. Yet make no show of hostility
+unless circumstances satisfy us we are betrayed; then,
+indeed, all that remains for us will be to sell our lives
+as dearly as we can. Hist! he is here."
+
+The door opened; and at the entrance, which was already
+filled up in the imaginations of the young men with a
+terrible and alarming figure, appeared one whose return
+had been anxiously and long desired. It was a relief,
+indeed, to their gallant but excited hearts to behold
+another than the form they had expected; and although,
+for the moment, they knew not whether the Canadian came
+in hostility or in friendship, each quitted the attitude
+of caution into which he had thrown himself, and met him
+midway in his passage through the room. There was nothing
+in the expression of his naturally open and good-humoured
+countenance to denote he was at all aware of the causes
+for alarm that had operated so powerfully on themselves.
+He announced with a frank look and unfaltering voice
+every thing was in readiness for their departure.
+
+The officers hesitated; and the taller fixed his eyes
+upon those of mine host, as if his gaze would have
+penetrated to the innermost recesses of his heart. Could
+this be a refinement of his treachery? and was he really
+ignorant of the existence of the danger which threatened
+them? Was it not more probable his object was to disarm
+their fears, that they might be given unprepared and,
+therefore, unresisting victims to the ferocity of their
+enemies? Aware as he was, that they were both well provided
+with arms, and fully determined to use them with effect,
+might not his aim be to decoy them to destruction without,
+lest the blood spilt under his roof, in the desperation
+of their defence, should hereafter attest against him,
+and expose him to the punishment he would so richly merit?
+Distracted by these doubts, the young men scarcely knew
+what to think or how to act; and anxious as they had
+previously been to quit the hut, they now considered the
+moment of their doing so would be that of their destruction.
+The importance of the enterprise on which they were
+embarked was such as to sink all personal considerations.
+If they had felt the influence of intimidation on their
+spirits, it arose less from any apprehension of consequences
+to themselves, than from the recollection of the dearer
+interests involved in their perfect security from discovery.
+
+"Francois," feelingly urged the taller officer, again
+adverting to his vow, "you recollect the oath you so
+solemnly pledged upon the cross of your Saviour. Tell
+me, then, as you hope for mercy, have you taken that oath
+only that you might the more securely betray us to our
+enemies? What connection have you with them at this
+moment? and who is HE who stood looking through that
+window not ten minutes since?"
+
+"As I shall hope for mercy in my God," exclaimed the
+Canadian with unfeigned astonishment, "I have not see
+nobody. But what for do you tink so? It is not just. I
+have given my oat to serve you, and I shall do it."
+
+There was candour both in the tone and countenance of
+the man as he uttered these words, half in reproach, half
+in justification; and the officers no longer doubted.
+
+"You must forgive our suspicions at a moment like the
+present," soothingly observed the younger; "yet, Francois,
+your daughter saw and exchanged signals with the person
+we mean. She left the room soon after he made his
+appearance. What has become of her?"
+
+The Canadian gave a sudden start, looked hastily round,
+and seemed to perceive for the first time the girl was
+absent. He then put a finger to his lip to enjoin silence,
+advanced to the table, and extinguished the light. Desiring
+his companions, in a low whisper, to tread cautiously
+and follow, he now led the way with almost noiseless step
+to the entrance of the hut. At the threshold of the door
+were placed a large well-filled sack, a light mast and
+sail, and half a dozen paddles. The latter burden he
+divided between the officers, on whose shoulders he
+carefully balanced them. The sack he threw across his
+own; and, without expressing even a regret that an
+opportunity of bidding adieu to his child was denied him,
+hastily skirted the paling of the orchard until, at the
+further extremity, he had gained the high road.
+
+The heavens were obscured by passing clouds driven rapidly
+by the wind, during the short pauses of which our
+adventurers anxiously and frequently turned to listen if
+they were pursued. Save the rustling of the trees that
+lined the road, and the slight dashing of the waters on
+the beach, however, no sound was distinguishable. At
+length they gained the point whence they were to start.
+It was the fatal bridge, the events connected with which
+were yet so painfully fresh in their recollection.
+
+"Stop one minutes here," whispered the Canadian, throwing
+his sack upon the sand near the mouth of the lesser river;
+"my canoe is chain about twenty yards up de bridge. I
+shall come to you directly." Then cautioning the officers
+to keep themselves concealed under the bridge, he moved
+hastily under the arch, and disappeared in the dark shadow
+which it threw across the rivulet.
+
+The extremities of the bridge rested on the banks of the
+little river in such a manner as to leave a narrow passage
+along the sands immediately under the declination of the
+arch. In accordance with the caution of their conductor,
+the officers had placed themselves under it; and with
+their backs slightly bent forward to meet the curvature
+of the bridge, so that no ray of light could pass between
+their bodies and the fabric itself, now awaited the
+arrival of the vessel on which their only hope depended.
+We shall not attempt to describe their feelings on finding
+themselves, at that lone hour of the night, immediately
+under a spot rendered fearfully memorable by the tragic
+occurrences of the morning. The terrible pursuit of the
+fugitive, the execution of the soldier, the curse and
+prophecy of his maniac wife, and, above all, the forcible
+abduction and threatened espousal of that unhappy woman
+by the formidable being who seemed to have identified
+himself with the evils with which they stood menaced,--all
+rushed with rapid tracery on the mind, and excited the
+imagination, until each, filled with a sentiment not
+unallied to superstitious awe, feared to whisper forth
+his thoughts, lest in so doing he should invoke the
+presence of those who had principally figured in the
+harrowing and revolting scene.
+
+"Did you not hear a noise?" at length whispered the elder,
+as he leaned himself forward, and bent his head to the
+sand, to catch more distinctly a repetition of the sound.
+
+"I did; there again! It is upon the bridge, and not unlike
+the step of one endeavouring to tread lightly. It may be
+some wild beast, however."
+
+"We must not be taken by surprise," returned his companion.
+"If it be a man, the wary tread indicates consciousness
+of our presence. If an animal, there can be no harm in
+setting our fears at rest."
+
+Cautiously stealing from his lurking-place, the young
+officer emerged into the open sands, and in a few measured
+noiseless strides gained the extremity of the bridge.
+The dark shadow of something upon its centre caught his
+eye, and a low sound like that of a dog lapping met his
+ear. While his gaze yet lingered on the shapeless object,
+endeavouring to give it a character, the clouds which
+had so long obscured it passed momentarily from before
+the moon, and disclosed the appalling truth. It was a
+wolf-dog lapping up from the earth, in which they were
+encrusted, the blood and brains of the unfortunate Frank
+Halloway.
+
+Sick and faint at the disgusting sight, the young man
+rested his elbow on the railing that passed along the
+edge of the bridge, and, leaning his head on his hand
+for a moment, forgot the risk of exposure he incurred,
+in the intenseness of the sorrow that assailed his soul.
+His heart and imagination were already far from the spot
+on which he stood, when he felt an iron hand upon his
+shoulder. He turned, shuddering with an instinctive
+knowledge of his yet unseen visitant, and beheld standing
+over him the terrible warrior of the Fleur de lis.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the savage in a low triumphant
+tone, "the place of our meeting is well timed, though
+somewhat singular, it must be confessed. Nay," he fiercely
+added, grasping as in a vice the arm that was already
+lifted to strike him, "force me not to annihilate you on
+the spot. Ha! hear you the cry of my wolf-dog?" as that
+animal now set up a low but fearful howl; "it is for your
+blood he asks, but your hour is not yet come."
+
+"No, by Heaven, is it not!" exclaimed a voice; a rapid
+and rushing sweep was heard through the air for an instant,
+and then a report like a stunning blow. The warrior
+released his grasp--placed his hand upon his tomahawk,
+but without strength to remove it from his belt tottered
+a pace or two backwards--and then fell, uttering a cry
+of mingled pain and disappointment, at his length upon
+the earth.
+
+"Quick, quick to our cover!" exclaimed the younger officer,
+as a loud shout was now heard from the forest in reply
+to the yell of the fallen warrior. "If Francois come not,
+we are lost; the howl of that wolf-dog alone will betray
+us, even if his master should be beyond all chance of
+recovery."
+
+"Desperate diseases require desperate remedies," was the
+reply; "there is little glory in destroying a helpless
+enemy, but the necessity is urgent, and we must leave
+nothing to chance." As he spoke, he knelt upon the huge
+form of the senseless warrior, whose scalping knife he
+drew from its sheath, and striking a firm and steady
+blow, quitted not the weapon until he felt his hand
+reposing on the chest of his enemy.
+
+The howl of the wolf-dog, whose eyes glared like two
+burning coals through the surrounding gloom, was now
+exchanged to a fierce and snappish bark. He made a leap
+at the officer while in the act of rising from the body;
+but his fangs fastened only in the chest of the shaggy
+coat, which he wrung with the strength and fury
+characteristic of his peculiar species. This new and
+ferocious attack was fraught with danger little inferior
+to that which they had just escaped, and required the
+utmost promptitude of action. The young man seized the
+brute behind the neck in a firm and vigorous grasp, while
+he stooped upon the motionless form over which this novel
+struggle was maintained, and succeeded in making himself
+once more master of the scalping knife. Half choked by
+the hand that unflinchingly grappled with him, the savage
+animal quitted his hold and struggled violently to free
+himself. This was the critical moment. The officer drew
+the heavy sharp blade, from the handle to the point,
+across the throat of the infuriated beast, with a force
+that divided the principal artery. He made a desperate
+leap upwards, spouting his blood over his destroyer, and
+then fell gasping across the body of his master. A low
+growl, intermingled with faint attempts to bark, which
+the rapidly oozing life rendered more and more indistinct,
+succeeded; and at length nothing but a gurgling sound
+was distinguishable.
+
+Meanwhile the anxious and harassed officers had regained
+their place of concealment under the bridge, where they
+listened with suppressed breathing for the slightest
+sound to indicate the approach of the canoe. At intervals
+they fancied they could hear a noise resembling the
+rippling of water against the prow of a light vessel,
+but the swelling cries of the rushing band, becoming at
+every instant more distinct, were too unceasingly kept
+up to admit of their judging with accuracy.
+
+They now began to give themselves up for lost, and many
+and bitter were the curses they inwardly bestowed on the
+Canadian, when the outline of a human form was seen
+advancing along the sands, and a dark object upon the
+water. It was their conductor, dragging the canoe along,
+with all the strength and activity of which he was capable.
+
+"What the devil have you been about all this time,
+Francois?" exclaimed the taller officer, as he bounded
+to meet him. "Quick, quick, or we shall be too late. Hear
+you not the blood-hounds on their scent?" Then seizing
+the chain in his hand, with a powerful effort he sent
+the canoe flying through the arch to the very entrance
+of the river. The burdens that had been deposited on the
+sands were hastily flung in, the officers stepping lightly
+after. The Canadian took the helm, directing the frail
+vessel almost noiselessly through the water, and with
+such velocity, that when the cry of the disappointed
+savages was heard resounding from the bridge, it had
+already gained the centre of the Detroit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Two days had succeeded to the departure of the officers
+from the fort, but unproductive of any event of importance.
+About daybreak, however, on the morning of the third,
+the harassed garrison were once more summoned to arms,
+by an alarm from the sentinels planted in rear of the
+works; a body of Indians they had traced and lost at
+intervals, as they wound along the skirt of the forest,
+in their progress from their encampment, were at length
+developing themselves in force near the bomb proof. With
+a readiness which long experience and watchfulness had
+rendered in some degree habitual to them, the troops flew
+to their respective posts; while a few of the senior
+officers, among whom was the governor, hastened to the
+ramparts to reconnoitre the strength and purpose of their
+enemies. It was evident the views of these latter were
+not immediately hostile; for neither were they in their
+war paint, nor were their arms of a description to carry
+intimidation to a disciplined and fortified soldiery.
+Bows, arrows, tomahawks, war clubs, spears, and scalping
+knives, constituted their warlike equipments, but neither
+rifle nor fire-arms of any kind were discernible. Several
+of their leaders, distinguishable by a certain haughty
+carriage and commanding gesticulation, were collected
+within the elevated bomb-proof, apparently holding a
+short but important conference apart from their people,
+most of whom stood or lay in picturesque attitudes around
+the ruin. These also had a directing spirit. A tall and
+noble looking warrior, wearing a deer-skin hunting frock
+closely girded around his loins, appeared to command the
+deference of his colleagues, claiming profound attention
+when he spoke himself, and manifesting his assent or
+dissent to the apparently expressed opinions of the lesser
+chiefs merely by a slight movement of the head.
+
+"There he is indeed!" exclaimed Captain Erskine, speaking
+as one who communes with his own thoughts, while he kept
+his telescope levelled on the form of the last warrior;
+"looking just as noble as when, three years ago, he
+opposed himself to the progress of the first English
+detachment that had ever penetrated to this part of the
+world. What a pity such a fine fellow should be so
+desperate and determined an enemy!"
+
+"True; you were with Major Rogers on that expedition,"
+observed the governor, in a tone now completely divested
+of the haughtiness which formerly characterised his
+address to his officers. "I have often heard him speak
+of it. You had many difficulties to contend against, if
+I recollect."
+
+"We had indeed, sir," returned the frank-hearted Erskine,
+dropping the glass from his eye. "So many, in fact, that
+more than once, in the course of our progress through
+the wilderness, did I wish myself at head-quarters with
+my company. Never shall I forget the proud and determined
+expression of Ponteac's countenance, when he told Rogers,
+in his figurative language, 'he stood in the path in
+which he travelled.' "
+
+"Thank Heaven, he at least stands not in the path in
+which OTHERS travel," musingly rejoined the governor.
+"But what sudden movement is that within the ruin?"
+
+"The Indians are preparing to show a white flag," shouted
+an artillery-man from his station in one of the embrasures
+below.
+
+The governor and his officers received this intelligence
+without surprise: the former took the glass from Captain
+Erskine, and coolly raised it to his eye. The consultation
+had ceased; and the several chiefs, with the exception
+of their leader and two others, were now seen quitting
+the bomb-proof to join their respective tribes. One of
+those who remained, sprang upon an elevated fragment of
+the ruin, and uttered a prolonged cry, the purport of
+which,--and it was fully understood from its peculiar
+nature,--was to claim attention from the fort. He then
+received from the hands of the other chief a long spear,
+to the end of which was attached a piece of white linen.
+This he waved several times above his head; then stuck
+the barb of the spear firmly into the projecting fragment.
+Quitting his elevated station, he next stood at the side
+of the Ottawa chief, who had already assumed the air and
+attitude of one waiting to observe in what manner his
+signal would be received.
+
+"A flag of truce in all its bearings, by Jupiter!" remarked
+Captain Erskine. "Ponteac seems to have acquired a few
+lessons since we first met."
+
+"This is evidently the suggestion of some European,"
+observed Major Blackwater; "for how should he understand
+any thing of the nature of a white flag? Some of those
+vile spies have put him up to this."
+
+"True enough, Blackwater; and they appear to have found
+an intelligent pupil," observed Captain Wentworth. "I
+was curious to know how he would make the attempt to
+approach us; but certainly never once dreamt of his having
+recourse to so civilised a method. Their plot works well,
+no doubt; still we have the counter-plot to oppose to
+it."
+
+"We must foil them with their own weapons," remarked the
+governor, "even if it be only with a view to gain time.
+Wentworth, desire one of your bombardiers to hoist the
+large French flag on the staff."
+
+The order was promptly obeyed. The Indians made a
+simultaneous movement expressive of their satisfaction;
+and in the course of a minute, the tall warrior, accompanied
+by nearly a dozen inferior chiefs, was seen slowly
+advancing across the common, towards the group of officers.
+
+"What generous confidence the fellow has, for an Indian!"
+observed Captain Erskine, who could not dissemble his
+admiration of the warrior. "He steps as firmly and as
+proudly within reach of our muskets, as if he was leading
+in the war-dance."
+
+"How strange," mused Captain Blessington, "that one who
+meditates so deep a treachery, should have no apprehension
+of it in others!"
+
+"It is a compliment to the honour of our flag," observed
+the governor, "which it must be our interest to encourage.
+If, as you say, Erskine, the man is really endowed with
+generosity, the result of this affair will assuredly call
+it forth."
+
+"If it prove otherwise, sir," was the reply, "we must
+only attribute his perseverance to the influence which
+that terrible warrior of the Fleur de lis is said to
+exercise over his better feelings. By the by, I see
+nothing of him among this flag of truce party. It could
+scarcely be called a violation of faith to cut off such
+a rascally renegade. Were he of the number of those
+advancing, and Valletort's rifle within my reach, I know
+not what use I might not be tempted to make of the last."
+
+Poor Erskine was singularly infelicitous in touching,
+and ever unconsciously, on a subject sure to give pain
+to more than one of his brother officers. A cloud passed
+over the brow of the governor, but it was one that
+originated more in sorrow than in anger. Neither had he
+time to linger on the painful recollections hastily and
+confusedly called up by the allusion made to this formidable
+and mysterious being, for the attention of all was now
+absorbed by the approaching Indians. With a bold and
+confiding carriage the fierce Ponteac moved at the head
+of his little party, nor hesitated one moment in his
+course, until he got near the brink of the ditch, and
+stood face to face with the governor, at a distance that
+gave both parties not only the facility of tracing the
+expression of each other's features, but of conversing
+without effort. There he made a sudden stand, and thrusting
+his spear into the earth, assumed an attitude as devoid
+of apprehension as if he had been in the heart of his
+own encampment.
+
+"My father has understood my sign," said the haughty
+chief. "The warriors of a dozen tribes are far behind
+the path the Ottawa has just travelled; but when the red
+skin comes unarmed, the hand of the Saganaw is tied behind
+his back."
+
+"The strong hold of the Saganaw is his safeguard," replied
+the governor, adopting the language of the Indian. "When
+the enemies of his great father come in strength, he
+knows how to disperse them; but when a warrior throws
+himself unarmed into his power, he respects his confidence,
+and his arms hang rusting at his side."
+
+"The talk of my father is big," replied the warrior, with
+a scornful expression that seemed to doubt the fact of
+so much indifference as to himself; "but when it is a
+great chief who directs the nations, and that chief his
+sworn enemy, the temptation to the Saganaw may be strong."
+
+"The Saganaw is without fear," emphatically rejoined the
+governor; "he is strong in his own honour; and he would
+rather die under the tomahawk of the red skin, than
+procure a peace by an act of treachery."
+
+The Indian paused; cold, calm looks of intelligence passed
+between him and his followers, and a few indistinct and
+guttural sentences were exchanged among themselves.
+
+"But our father asks not why our mocassins have brushed
+the dew from off the common," resumed the chief; "and
+yet it is long since the Saganaw and the red skin have
+spoken to each other, except through the war whoop. My
+father must wonder to see the great chief of the Ottawas
+without the hatchet in his hand."
+
+"The hatchet often wounds those who use it unskilfully,"
+calmly returned the governor. "The Saganaw is not blind.
+The Ottawas, and the other tribes, find the war paint
+heavy on their skins. They see that my young men are not
+to be conquered, and they have sent the great head of
+all the nations to sue for peace."
+
+In spite of the habitual reserve and self-possession of
+his race, the haughty warrior could not repress a movement
+of impatience at the bold and taunting language of his
+enemy, and for a moment there was a fire in his eye that
+told how willingly he would have washed away the insult
+in his blood. The same low guttural exclamations that
+had previously escaped their lips, marked the sense
+entertained of the remark by his companions.
+
+"My father is right," pursued the chief, resuming his
+self-command; "the Ottawas, and the other tribes, ask
+for peace, but not because they are afraid of war. When
+they strike the hatchet into the war post, they leave it
+there until their enemies ask them to take it out."
+
+"Why come they now, then, to ask for peace?" was the cool
+demand.
+
+The warrior hesitated, evidently at a loss to give a
+reply that could reconcile the palpable contradiction of
+his words.
+
+"The rich furs of our forests have become many," he at
+length observed, "since we first took up the hatchet
+against the Saganaw; and every bullet we keep for our
+enemies is a loss to our trade. We once exchanged furs
+with the children of our father of the pale flag. They
+gave us, in return, guns, blankets, powder, ball, and
+all that the red man requires in the hunting season.
+These are all expended; and my young men would deal with
+the Saganaw as they did with the French."
+
+"Good; the red skins would make peace; and although the
+arm of the Saganaw is strong, he will not turn a deaf
+ear to their desire."
+
+"All the strong holds of the Saganaw, except two, have
+fallen before the great chief of the Ottawas!" proudly
+returned the Indian, with a look of mingled scorn and
+defiance. "They, too, thought themselves beyond the
+reach of our tomahawks; but they were deceived. In less
+than a single moon nine of them have fallen, and the
+tents of my young warriors are darkened with their scalps;
+but this is past. If the red skin asks for peace, it is
+because he is tired of seeing the blood of the Saganaw
+on his tomahawk. Does my father hear?"
+
+"We will listen to the great chief of the Ottawas, and
+hear what he has to say," returned the governor, who, as
+well as the officers at his side, could with difficulty
+conceal their disgust and sorrow at the dreadful
+intelligence thus imparted of the fates of their companions.
+"But peace," he pursued with dignity, "can only be made
+in the council room, and under the sacred pledge of the
+calumet. The great chief has a wampum belt on his shoulder,
+and a calumet in his hand. His aged warriors, too, are
+at his side. What says the Ottawa? Will he enter? If so,
+the gate of the Saganaw shall be open to him."
+
+The warrior started; and for a moment the confidence that
+had hitherto distinguished him seemed to give place to
+an apprehension of meditated treachery. He, however,
+speedily recovered himself, and observed emphatically,
+"It is the great head of all the nations whom my father
+invites to the council seat. Were he to remain in the
+hands of the Saganaw, his young men would lose their
+strength. They would bury the hatchet for ever in despair,
+and hide their faces in the laps of their women."
+
+"Does the Ottawa chief see the pale flag on the strong
+hold of his enemies. While that continues to fly, he is
+safe as if he were under the cover of his own wigwam. If
+the Saganaw could use guile like the fox" (and this was
+said with marked emphasis), "what should prevent him from
+cutting off the Ottawa and his chiefs, even where they
+now stand?"
+
+A half smile of derision passed over the dark cheek of
+the Indian. "If the arm of an Ottawa is strong," he said,
+"his foot is not less swift. The short guns of the chiefs
+of the Saganaw" (pointing to the pistols of the officers)
+"could not reach us; and before the voice of our father
+could be raised, or his eye turned, to call his warriors
+to his side, the Ottawa would be already far on his way
+to the forest."
+
+"The great chief of the Ottawas shall judge better of
+the Saganaw," returned the governor.--"He shall see
+that his young men are ever watchful at their posts:--Up,
+men, and show yourselves."
+
+A second or two sufficed to bring the whole, of Captain
+Erskine's company, who had been lying flat on their faces,
+to their feet on the rampart. The Indians were evidently
+taken by surprise, though they evinced no fear. The low
+and guttural "Ugh!" was the only expression they gave to
+their astonishment, not unmingled with admiration.
+
+But, although the chiefs preserved their presence of
+mind, the sudden appearance of the soldiers had excited
+alarm among their warriors, who, grouped in and around
+the bomb-proof, were watching every movement of the
+conferring parties, with an interest proportioned to the
+risk they conceived their head men had incurred in
+venturing under the very walls of their enemies. Fierce
+yells were uttered; and more than a hundred dusky warriors,
+brandishing their tomahawks in air, leaped along the
+skirt of the common, evidently only awaiting the signal
+of their great chief, to advance and cover his retreat.
+At the command of the governor, however, the men had
+again suddenly disappeared from the surface of the rampart;
+so that when the Indians finally perceived their leader
+stood unharmed and unmolested, on the spot he had previously
+occupied, the excitement died away, and they once more
+assumed their attitude of profound attention.
+
+"What thinks the great chief of the Ottawas now?" asked
+the governor;--"did he imagine that the young white men
+lie sleeping like beavers in their dams, when the hunter
+sets his traps to catch them?--did he imagine that they
+foresee not the designs of their enemies? and that they
+are not always on the watch to prevent them?"
+
+"My father is a great warrior," returned the Indian; "and
+if his arm is full of strength, his head is fall of
+wisdom. The chiefs will no longer hesitate;--they will
+enter the strong hold of the Saganaw, and sit with him
+in the council."
+
+He next addressed a few words, and in a language not
+understood by those upon the walls, to one of the younger
+of the Indians. The latter acknowledged his sense and
+approbation of what was said to him by an assentient and
+expressive "Ugh!" which came from his chest without any
+apparent emotion of the lips, much in the manner of a
+modern ventriloquist. He then hastened, with rapid and
+lengthened boundings, across the common towards his band.
+After the lapse of a minute or two from reaching them,
+another simultaneous cry arose, differing in expression
+from any that had hitherto been heard. It was one denoting
+submission to the will, and compliance with some conveyed
+desire, of their superior.
+
+"Is the gate of the Saganaw open?" asked the latter, as
+soon as his ear had been greeted with the cry we have
+just named. "The Ottawa and the other great chiefs are
+ready;--their hearts are bold, and they throw themselves
+into the hands of the Saganaw without fear."
+
+"The Ottawa chief knows the path," drily rejoined the
+governor: "when he comes in peace, it is ever open to
+him; but when his young men press it with the tomahawk
+in their hands, the big thunder is roused to anger, and
+they are scattered away like the leaves of the forest in
+the storm." "Even now," he pursued, as the little band of
+Indians moved slowly round the walls, "the gate of the
+Saganaw opens for the Ottawa and the other chiefs."
+
+"Let the most vigilant caution be used every where along
+the works, but especially in the rear," continued the
+governor, addressing Captain Blessington, on whom the
+duty of the day had devolved. "We are safe, while their
+chiefs are with us; but still it will be necessary to
+watch the forest closely. We cannot be too much on our
+guard. The men had better remain concealed, every twentieth
+file only standing up to form a look-out chain. If any
+movement of a suspicious nature be observed, let it be
+communicated by the discharge of a single musket, that
+the drawbridge may be raised on the instant." With the
+delivery of these brief instructions he quitted the
+rampart with the majority of his officers.
+
+Meanwhile, hasty preparations had been made in the
+mess-room to receive the chiefs. The tables had been
+removed, and a number of clean rush mats, manufactured,
+after the Indian manner, into various figures and devices,
+spread carefully upon the floor. At the further end from
+the entrance was placed a small table and chair, covered
+with scarlet cloth. This was considerably elevated above
+the surface of the floor, and intended for the governor.
+On either side of the room, near these, were ranged a
+number of chairs for the accommodation of the inferior
+officers.
+
+Major Blackwater received the chiefs at the gate. With
+a firm, proud step, rendered more confident by his very
+unwillingness to betray any thing like fear, the tall,
+and, as Captain Erskine had justly designated him, the
+noble-looking Ponteac trod the yielding planks that might
+in the next moment cut him off from his people for ever.
+The other chiefs, following the example of their leader,
+evinced the same easy fearlessness of demeanour, nor
+glanced once behind them to see if there was any thing
+to justify the apprehension of hidden danger.
+
+The Ottawa was evidently mortified at not being received
+by the governor in person. "My father is not here!" he
+said fiercely to the major:--"how is this? The Ottawa
+and the other chiefs are kings of all their tribes. The
+head of one great people should be received only by the
+head of another great people!"
+
+"Our father sits in the council-hall," returned the major.
+"He has taken his seat, that he may receive the warriors
+with becoming honour. But I am the second chief, and our
+father has sent me to receive them."
+
+To the proud spirit of the Indian this explanation scarcely
+sufficed. For a moment he seemed to struggle, as if
+endeavouring to stifle his keen sense of an affront put
+upon him. At length he nodded his head haughtily and
+condescendingly, in token of assent; and gathering up
+his noble form, and swelling out his chest, as if with
+a view to strike terror as well as admiration into the
+hearts of those by whom he expected to be surrounded,
+stalked majestically forward at the head of his
+confederates.
+
+An indifferent observer, or one ignorant of these people,
+would have been at fault; but those who understood the
+workings of an Indian's spirit could not have been deceived
+by the tranquil exterior of these men. The rapid, keen,
+and lively glance--the suppressed sneer of exultation--the
+half start of surprise--the low, guttural, and almost
+inaudible "Ugh!"--all these indicated the eagerness with
+which, at one sly but compendious view, they embraced
+the whole interior of a fort which it was of such vital
+importance to their future interests they should become
+possessed of, yet which they had so long and so
+unsuccessfully attempted to subdue. As they advanced into
+the square, they looked around, expecting to behold the
+full array of their enemies; but, to their astonishment,
+not a soldier was to be seen. A few women and children
+only, in whom curiosity had overcome a natural loathing
+and repugnance to the savages, were peeping from the
+windows of the block houses. Even at a moment like the
+present, the fierce instinct of these latter was not to
+be controlled. One of the children, terrified at the wild
+appearance of the warriors, screamed violently, and clung
+to the bosom of its mother for protection. Fired at the
+sound, a young chief raised his hand to his lips, and
+was about to peal forth his terrible war whoop in the
+very centre of the fort, when the eye of the Ottawa
+suddenly arrested him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+There were few forms of courtesy observed by the warriors
+towards the English officers on entering the council
+room. Ponteac, who had collected all his native haughtiness
+into one proud expression of look and figure, strode in
+without taking the slightest notice even of the governor.
+The other chiefs imitated his example, and all took their
+seats upon the matting in the order prescribed by their
+rank among the tribes, and their experience in council.
+The Ottawa chief sat at the near extremity of the room,
+and immediately facing the governor. A profound silence
+was observed for some minutes after the Indians had seated
+themselves, during which they proceeded to fill their
+pipes. The handle of that of the Ottawa chief was
+decorated with numerous feathers fancifully disposed.
+
+"This is well," at length observed the governor. "It is
+long since the great chiefs of the nations have smoked
+the sweet grass in the council hall of the Saganaw. What
+have they to say, that their young men may have peace to
+hunt the beaver, and to leave the print of their mocassins
+in the country of the Buffalo?--What says the Ottawa
+chief?"
+
+"The Ottawa chief is a great warrior," returned the other,
+haughtily; and again repudiating, in the indomitableness
+of his pride, the very views that a more artful policy
+had first led him to avow. "He has already said that,
+within a single moon, nine of the strong holds of the
+Saganaw have fallen into his hands, and that the scalps
+of the white men fill the tents of his warriors. If the
+red skins wish for peace, it is because they are sick
+with spilling the blood of their enemies. Does my father
+hear?"
+
+"The Ottawa has been cunning, like the fox," calmly
+returned the governor. "He went with deceit upon his
+lips, and said to the great chiefs of the strong holds
+of the Saganaw,--'You have no more forts upon the lakes;
+they have all fallen before the red skins: they gave
+themselves into our hands; and we spared their lives,
+and sent them down to the great towns near the salt lake.'
+But this was false: the chiefs of the Saganaw, believing
+what was said to them, gave up their strong holds; but
+their lives were not spared, and the grass of the Canadas
+is yet moist with their blood. Does the Ottawa hear?"
+
+Amazement and stupefaction sat for a moment on the features
+of the Indians. The fact was as had been stated; and yet,
+so completely had the several forts been cut off from
+all communication, it was deemed almost impossible one
+could have received tidings of the fate of the other,
+unless conveyed through the Indians themselves.
+
+"The spies of the Saganaw have been very quick to escape
+the vigilance of the red skins," at length replied the
+Ottawa; "yet they have returned with a lie upon their
+lips. I swear by the Great Spirit, that nine of the strong
+holds of the Saganaw have been destroyed. How could the
+Ottawa go with deceit upon his lips, when his words were
+truth?"
+
+"When the red skins said so to the warriors of the last
+forts they took, they said true; but when they went to
+the first, and said that all the rest had fallen, they
+used deceit. A great nation should overcome their enemies
+like warriors, and not seek to beguile them with their
+tongues under the edge of the scalping knife!"
+
+"Why did the Saganaw come into the country of the red
+skins?" haughtily demanded the chief. "Why did they take
+our hunting grounds from us? Why have they strong places
+encircling the country of the Indians, like a belt of
+wampum round the waist of a warrior?"
+
+"This is not true," rejoined the governor. "It was not
+the Saganaw, but the warriors of the pale flag, who first
+came and took away the hunting grounds, and built the
+strong places. The great father of the Saganaw had beaten
+the great father of the pale flag quite out of the Canadas,
+and he sent his young men to take their place and to make
+peace with the red skins, and to trade with them, and to
+call them brothers."
+
+"The Saganaw was false," retorted the Indian. "When a
+chief of the Saganaw came for the first time with his
+warriors into the country of the Ottawas, the chief of
+the Ottawas stood in his path, and asked him why, and
+from whom, he came? That chief was a bold warrior, and
+his heart was open, and the Ottawa liked him; and when
+he said he came to be friendly with the red skins, the
+Ottawa believed him, and he shook him by the hand, and
+said to his young men, 'Touch not the life of a Saganaw;
+for their chief is the friend of the Ottawa chief, and
+his young men shall be the friends of the red warriors.'
+Look," he proceeded, marking his sense of the discovery
+by another of those ejaculatory "Ughs!" so expressive of
+surprise in an Indian, "at the right hand of my father
+I see a chief," pointing to Captain Erskine, "who came
+with those of the Saganaw who first entered the country
+of the Detroit;--ask that chief if what the Ottawa says
+is not true. When the Saganaw said he came only to remove
+the warriors of the pale flag, that he might be friendly
+and trade with the red skins, the Ottawa received the
+belt of wampum he offered, and smoked the pipe of peace
+with him, and he made his men bring bags of parched corn
+to his warriors who wanted food, and he sent to all the
+nations on the lakes, and said to them, 'The Saganaw must
+pass unhurt to the strong hold on the Detroit.' But for
+the Ottawa, not a Saganaw would have escaped; for the
+nations were thirsting for their blood, and the knives
+of the warriors were eager to open their scalps. Ask the
+chief who sits at the right hand of my father," he again
+energetically repeated, "if what the Ottawa says is not
+true."
+
+"What the Ottawa says is true," rejoined the governor;
+"for the chief who sits on my right hand has often said
+that, but for the Ottawa, the small number of the warriors
+of the Saganaw must have been cut off; and his heart is
+big with kindness to the Ottawa for what he did. But if
+the great chief meant to be friendly, why did he declare
+war after smoking the pipe of peace with the Saganaw?
+Why did he destroy the wigwams of the settlers, and carry
+off the scalps even of their weak women and children?
+All this has the Ottawa done; and yet he says that he
+wished to be friendly with my young men. But the Saganaw
+is not a fool. He knows the Ottawa chief had no will of
+his own. On the right hand of the Ottawa sits the great
+chief of the Delawares, and on his left the great chief
+of the Shawanees. They have long been the sworn enemies
+of the Saganaw; and they came from the rivers that run
+near the salt lake to stir up the red skins of the Detroit
+to war. They whispered wicked words in the ear of the
+Ottawa chief, and he determined to take up the bloody
+hatchet. This is a shame to a great warrior. The Ottawa
+was a king over all the tribes in the country of the
+fresh lakes, and yet he weakly took council like a woman
+from another."
+
+"My father lies!" fiercely retorted the warrior, half
+springing to his feet, and involuntarily putting his hand
+upon his tomahawk. "If the settlers of the Saganaw have
+fallen," he resumed in a calmer tone, while he again sank
+upon his mat, "it is because they did not keep their
+faith with the red skins. When they came weak, and were
+not yet secure in their strong holds, their tongues were
+smooth and full of soft words; but when they became strong
+under the protection of their thunder, they no longer
+treated the red skins as their friends, and they laughed
+at them for letting them come into their country." "But,"
+he pursued, elevating his voice, "the Ottawa is a great
+chief, and he will be respected." Then adverting in
+bitterness to the influence supposed to be exercised over
+him,--"What my father has said is false. The Shawanees
+and the Delawares are great nations; but the Ottawas are
+greater than any, and their chiefs are full of wisdom.
+The Shawanees and the Delawares had no talk with the
+Ottawa chief to make him do what his own wisdom did not
+tell him."
+
+"Then, if the talk came not from the Shawanees and the
+Delawares, it came from the spies of the warriors of the
+pale flag. The great father of the French was angry with
+the great father of the Saganaw, because he conquered
+his warriors in many battles; and he sent wicked men to
+whisper lies of the Saganaw into the ears of the red
+skins, and to make them take up the hatchet against them.
+There is a tall spy at this moment in the camp of the
+red skins," he pursued with earnestness, and yet paling
+as he spoke. "It is said he is the bosom friend of the
+great chief of the Ottawas. But I will not believe it.
+The head of a great nation would not be the friend of a
+spy--of one who is baser than a dog. His people would
+despise him; and they would say, 'Our chief is not fit
+to sit in council, or to make war; for he is led by the
+word of a pale face who is without honour.'"
+
+The swarthy cheek of the Indian reddened, and his eye
+kindled into fire. "There is no spy, but a great warrior,
+in the camp of the Ottawas," he fiercely replied. "Though
+he came from the country that lies beyond the salt lake,
+he is now a chief of the red skins, and his arm is mighty,
+and his heart is big. Would my father know why he has
+become a chief of the Ottawas?" he pursued with scornful
+exultation. "When the strong holds of the Saganaw fell,
+the tomahawk of the 'white warrior' drank more blood than
+that of a red skin, and his tent is hung around with
+poles bending under the weight of the scalps he has taken.
+When the great chief of the Ottawas dies, the pale face
+will lead his warriors, and take the first seat in the
+council. The Ottawa chief is his friend."
+
+"If the pale face be the friend of the Ottawa," pursued
+the governor, in the hope of obtaining some particular
+intelligence in regard to this terrible and mysterious
+being, "why is he not here to sit in council with the
+chiefs? Perhaps," he proceeded tauntingly, as he fancied
+he perceived a disinclination on the part of the Indian
+to account for the absence of the warrior, "the pale face
+is not worthy to take his place among the head men of
+the council. His arm may be strong like that of a warrior,
+but his head may be weak like that of a woman; or, perhaps,
+he is ashamed to show himself before the pale faces, who
+have turned him out of their tribe."
+
+"My father lies!" again unceremoniously retorted the
+warrior. "If the friend of the Ottawa is not here, it is
+because his voice cannot speak. Does my father recollect
+the bridge on which he killed his young warrior? Does he
+recollect the terrible chase of the pale face by the
+friend of the Ottawa? Ugh!" he continued, as his attention
+was now diverted to another object of interest, "that
+pale face was swifter than any runner among the red skins,
+and for his fleetness he deserved to live to be a great
+hunter in the Canadas; but fear broke his heart,--fear
+of the friend of the Ottawa chief. The red skins saw
+him fall at the feet of the Saganaw without life, and
+they saw the young warriors bear him off in their arms.
+Is not the Ottawa right?" The Indian paused, threw his
+eye rapidly along the room, and then, fixing it on the
+governor, seemed to wait with deep but suppressed interest
+for his reply.
+
+"Peace to the bones of a brave warrior!" seriously and
+evasively returned the governor: "the pale face is no
+longer in the land of the Canadas, and the young warriors
+of the Saganaw are sorry for his loss; but what would
+the Ottawa say of the bridge? and what has the pale
+warrior, the friend of the Ottawa, to do with it?"
+
+A gleam of satisfaction pervaded the countenance
+of the Indian, as he eagerly bent his
+ear to receive the assurance that the fugitive
+was no more; but when allusion was again
+made to the strange warrior, his brow became
+overcast, and he replied with mingled haughtiness
+and anger,--
+
+"Does my father ask? He has dogs of spies among the
+settlers of the pale flag, but the tomahawk of the red
+skins will find them out, and they shall perish even as
+the Saganaw themselves. Two nights ago, when the warriors
+of the Ottawas were returning from their scout upon the
+common, they heard the voice of Onondato, the great
+wolf-dog of the friend of the Ottawa chief. The voice
+came from the bridge where the Saganaw killed his young
+warrior, and it called upon the red skins for assistance.
+My young men gave their war cry, and ran like wild deer
+to destroy the enemies of their chief; but when they
+came, the spies had fled, and the voice of Onondato was
+low and weak as that of a new fawn; and when the warriors
+came to the other end of the bridge, they found the pale
+chief lying across the road and covered over with blood.
+They thought he was dead, and their cry was terrible;
+for the pale warrior is a great chief, and the Ottawas
+love him; but when they looked again, they saw that the
+blood was the blood of Onondato, whose throat the spies
+of the Saganaw had cut, that he might not hunt them and
+give them to the tomahawk of the red skins."
+
+Frequent glances, expressive of their deep interest in
+the announcement of this intelligence, passed between
+the governor and his officers. It was clear the party
+who had encountered the terrible warrior of the Fleur de
+lis were not spies (for none were employed by the garrison),
+but their adventurous companions who had so recently
+quitted them. This was put beyond all doubt by the night,
+the hour, and the not less important feet of the locality;
+for it was from the bridge described by the Indian, near
+which the Canadian had stated his canoe to be chained,
+they were to embark on their perilous and uncertain
+enterprise. The question of their own escape from danger
+in this unlooked for collision with so powerful and
+ferocious an enemy, and of the fidelity of the Canadian,
+still remained involved in doubt, which it might be
+imprudent, if not dangerous, to seek to have resolved by
+any direct remark on the subject to the keen and observant
+warrior. The governor removed this difficulty by artfully
+observing,--
+
+"The great chief of the Ottawas has said they were the
+spies of the Saganaw who killed the pale warrior. His
+young men has found them, then; or how could he know they
+were spies?"
+
+"Is there a warrior among the Saganaw who dares to show
+himself in the path of the red skins, unless he come in
+strength and surrounded by his thunder?" was the sneering
+demand. "But my father is wrong, if he supposes the friend
+of the Ottawa is killed. No," he pursued fiercely, "the
+dogs of spies could not kill him; they were afraid to
+face so terrible a warrior. They came behind him in the
+dark, and they struck him on the head like cowards and
+foxes as they were. The warrior of the pale face, and
+the friend of the Ottawa chief, is sick, but not dead.
+He lies without motion in his tent, and his voice cannot
+speak to his friend to tell him who were his enemies,
+that he may bring their scalps to hang up within his
+wigwam. But the great chief will soon be well, and his
+arm will be stronger than ever to spill the blood of the
+Saganaw as he has done before."
+
+"The talk of the Ottawa chief is strange," returned the
+governor, emphatically and with dignity. "He says he
+conies to smoke the pipe of peace with the Saganaw, and
+yet he talks of spilling their blood as if it was water
+from the lake. What does the Ottawa mean?"
+
+"Ugh!" exclaimed the Indian, in his surprise. "My father
+is right, but the Ottawa and the Saganaw have not yet
+smoked together. When they have, the hatchet will be
+buried for ever. Until then, they are still enemies."
+
+During this long and important colloquy of the leading
+parties, the strictest silence had been preserved by the
+remainder of the council. The inferior chiefs had
+continued deliberately puffing the smoke from their curled
+lips, as they sat cross-legged on their mats, and nodding
+their heads at intervals in confirmation of the occasional
+appeal made by the rapid glance of the Ottawa, and uttering
+their guttural "Ugh!" whenever any observation of the
+parlant parties touched their feelings, or called forth
+their surprise. The officers had been no less silent and
+attentive listeners, to a conversation on the issue of
+which hung so many dear and paramount interests. A pause
+in the conference gave them an opportunity of commenting
+in a low tone on the communication made, in the strong
+excitement of his pride, by the Ottawa chief, in regard
+to the terrible warrior of the Fleur de lis; who, it was
+evident, swayed the councils of the Indians, and
+consequently exercised an influence over the ultimate
+destinies of the English, which it was impossible to
+contemplate without alarm. It was evident to all, from
+whatsoever cause it might arise, this man cherished a
+rancour towards certain individuals in the fort, inducing
+an anxiety in its reduction scarcely equalled by that
+entertained on the part of the Indians themselves. Beyond
+this, however, all was mystery and doubt; nor had any
+clue been given to enable them to arrive even at a well
+founded apprehension of the motives which had given birth
+to the vindictiveness of purpose, so universally ascribed
+to him even by the savages themselves.
+
+The chiefs also availed themselves of this pause in the
+conversation of the principals, to sustain a low and
+animated discussion. Those of the Shawanee and Delaware
+nations were especially earnest; and, as they spoke across
+the Ottawa, betrayed, by their vehemence of gesture, the
+action of some strong feeling upon their minds, the
+precise nature of which could not be ascertained from
+their speech at the opposite extremity of the room. The
+Ottawa did not deign to join in their conversation, but
+sat smoking his pipe in all the calm and forbidding
+dignity of a proud Indian warrior conscious of his own
+importance.
+
+"Does the great chief of the Ottawas, then, seek for
+peace in his heart at length?" resumed the governor; "or
+is he come to the strong hold of Detroit, as he went to
+the other strong holds, with deceit on his lips?"
+
+The Indian slowly removed his pipe from his mouth, fixed
+his keen eye searchingly on that of the questioner for
+nearly a minute, and then briefly and haughtily said,
+"The Ottawa chief has spoken."
+
+"And do the great chiefs of the Shawanees, and the great
+chiefs of the Delawares, and the great chiefs of the
+other nations, ask for peace also?" demanded the governor.
+"If so, let them speak for themselves, and for their
+warriors."
+
+We will not trespass on the reader, on whom we have
+already inflicted too much of this scene, by a transcript
+of the declarations of the inferior chiefs. Suffice it
+to observe, each in his turn avowed motives similar to
+those of the Ottawa for wishing the hatchet might be
+buried for ever, and that their young men should mingle
+once more in confidence, not only with the English troops,
+but with the settlers, who would again be brought into
+the country at the cessation of hostilities. When each
+had spoken, the Ottawa passed the pipe of ceremony, with
+which he was provided, to the governor.
+
+The latter put it to his lips, and commenced smoking.
+The Indians keenly, and half furtively, watched the act;
+and looks of deep intelligence, that escaped not the
+notice of the equally anxious and observant officers,
+passed among them.
+
+"The pipe of the great chief of the Ottawas smokes well,"
+calmly remarked the governor; "but the Ottawa chief, in
+his hurry to come and ask for peace, has made a mistake.
+The pipe and all its ornaments are red like blood: it
+is the pipe of war, and not the pipe of peace. The great
+chief of the Ottawas will be angry with himself; he has
+entered the strong hold of the Saganaw, and sat in the
+council, without doing any good for his young men. The
+Ottawa must come again."
+
+A deep but subdued expression of disappointment passed
+over the features of the chiefs. They watched the
+countenances of the officers, to see whether the
+substitution of one pipe for the other had been attributed,
+in their estimation, to accident or design. There was
+nothing, however, to indicate the slightest doubt of
+their sincerity.
+
+"My father is right," replied the Indian, with an appearance
+of embarrassment, which, whether natural or feigned, had
+nothing suspicious in it. "The great chief of the Ottawas
+has been foolish, like an old woman. The young chiefs of
+his tribe will laugh at him for this. But the Ottawa
+chief will come again, and the other chiefs with him,
+for, as my father sees, they all wish for peace; and that
+my father may know all the nations wish for peace, as
+well as their head men, the warriors of the Ottawa, and
+of the Shawanee, and of the Delaware, shall play at ball
+upon the common, to amuse his young men, while the chiefs
+sit in council with the chiefs of the Saganaw. The red
+skins shall come naked, and without their rifles and
+their tomahawks; and even the squaws of the warriors
+shall come upon the common, to show the Saganaw they may
+be without fear. Does my father hear?"
+
+"The Ottawa chief says well," returned the governor; "but
+will the pale friend of the Ottawa come also to take his
+seat in the council hall? The great chief has said the
+pale warrior has become the second chief among the Ottawas;
+and that when he is dead, the pale warrior will lead the
+Ottawas, and take the first seat in the council. He, too,
+should smoke the pipe of peace with the Saganaw, that
+they may know he is no longer their enemy."
+
+The Indian hesitated, uttering merely his quick ejaculatory
+"Ugh!" in expression of his surprise at so unexpected a
+requisition. "The pale warrior, the friend of the Ottawa,
+is very sick," he at length said; "but if the Great Spirit
+should give him back his voice before the chiefs come
+again to the council, the pale face will come too. If my
+father does not see him then, he will know the friend of
+the Ottawa chief is very sick."
+
+The governor deemed it prudent not to press the question
+too closely, lest in so doing he should excite suspicion,
+and defeat his own object. "When will the Ottawa and the
+other chiefs come again?" he asked; "and when will their
+warriors play at ball upon the common, that the Saganaw
+may see them and be amused?"
+
+"When the sun has travelled so many times," replied
+Ponteac, holding up three fingers of his left hand. "Then
+will the Ottawa and the other chiefs bring their young
+warriors and their women."
+
+"It is too soon," was the reply;. "the Saganaw must have
+time to collect their presents, that they may give them
+to the young warriors who are swiftest in the race, and
+the most active at the ball. The great chief of the
+Ottawas, too, must let the settlers of the pale flag,
+who are the friends of the red skins, bring in food for
+the Saganaw, that a great feast may be given to the
+chiefs, and to the warriors, and that the Saganaw may
+make peace with the Ottawas and the other nations as
+becomes a great people. In twice so many days," holding
+up three of his fingers in imitation of the Indian, "the
+Saganaw will be ready to receive the chiefs in council,
+that they may smoke the pipe of peace, and bury the
+hatchet for ever. What says the great chief of the
+Ottawas?"
+
+"It is good," was the reply of the Indian, his eye lighting
+up with deep and exulting expression. "The settlers of
+the pale flag shall bring food to the Saganaw. The Ottawa
+chief will send them, and he will desire his young men
+not to prevent them. In so many days, then," indicating
+with his fingers, "the great chiefs will sit again in
+council with the Saganaw, and the Ottawa chief will not
+be a fool to bring the pipe he does not want."
+
+With this assurance the conference terminated. Ponteac
+raised his tall frame from the mat on which he had been
+squatted, nodded condescendingly to the governor, and
+strode haughtily into the square or area of the fort.
+The other chiefs followed his example; and to Major
+Blackwater was again assigned the duty of accompanying
+them without the works. The glance of the savages, and
+that of Ponteac in particular, was less wary than at
+their entrance. Each seemed to embrace every object on
+which the eye could rest, as if to fix its position
+indelibly in his memory. The young chief, who had been
+so suddenly and opportunely checked while in the very
+act of pealing forth his terrible war whoop, again looked
+up at the windows of the block house, in quest of those
+whom his savage instinct had already devoted in intention
+to his tomahawk, but they were no longer there. Such was
+the silence that reigned every where, the fort appeared
+to be tenanted only by the few men of the guard, who
+lingered near their stations, attentively watching the
+Indians, as they passed towards the gate. A very few
+minutes sufficed to bring the latter once more in the
+midst of their warriors, whom, for a few moments, they
+harangued earnestly, when the whole body again moved off
+in the direction of their encampment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+The week that intervened between the visit of the chiefs
+and the day appointed for their second meeting in council,
+was passed by the garrison in perfect freedom from alarm,
+although, as usual, in diligent watchfulness and
+preparations for casualties. In conformity with his
+promise, the Indian had despatched many of the Canadian
+settlers, with such provisions as the country then
+afforded, to the governor, and these, happy to obtain
+the gold of the troops in return for what they could
+conveniently spare, were not slow in availing themselves
+of the permission. Dried bears' meat, venison, and Indian
+corn, composed the substance of these supplies, which
+were in sufficient abundance to produce a six weeks'
+increase to the stock of the garrison. Hitherto they had
+been subsisting, in a great degree, upon salt provisions;
+the food furtively supplied by the Canadians being
+necessarily, from their dread of detection, on so limited
+a scale, that a very small portion of the troops had been
+enabled to profit by it. This, therefore, was an important
+and unexpected benefit, derived from the falling in of
+the garrison with the professed views of the savages;
+and one which, perhaps, few officers would, like Colonel
+de Haldimar, have possessed the forethought to have
+secured. But although it served to relieve the animal
+wants of the man, there was little to remove his moral
+inquietude. Discouraged by the sanguinary character of
+the warfare in which they seemed doomed to be for ever
+engaged, and harassed by constant watchings,--seldom
+taking off their clothes for weeks together,--the men
+had gradually been losing their energy of spirit, in the
+contemplation of the almost irremediable evils by which
+they were beset; and looked forward with sad and
+disheartening conviction to a fate, that all things tended
+to prove to them was unavoidable, however the period of
+its consummation might be protracted. Among the officers,
+this dejection, although proceeding from a different
+cause, was no less prevalent; and notwithstanding they
+sought to disguise it before their men, when left to
+themselves, they gave unlimited rein to a despondency
+hourly acquiring strength, as the day fixed on for the
+second council with the Indians drew near.
+
+At length it came, that terrible and eventful day, and,
+as if in mockery of those who saw no beauty in its golden
+beams, arrayed in all the gorgeous softness of its autumnal
+glory. Sad and heavy were the hearts of many within that
+far distant and isolated fort, as they rose, at the first
+glimmering of light above the horizon, to prepare for
+the several duties assigned them. All felt the influence
+of a feeling that laid prostrate the moral energies even
+of the boldest: but there was one young officer in
+particular, who exhibited a dejection, degenerating almost
+into stupefaction; and more than once, when he received
+an order from his superior, hesitated as one who either
+heard not, or, in attempting to perform it, mistook the
+purport of his instructions, and executed some entirely
+different duty. The countenance of this officer, whose
+attenuated person otherwise bore traces of languor and
+debility, but too plainly marked the abstractedness and
+terror of his mind, while the set stiff features and
+contracted muscles of the face contributed to give an
+expression of vacuity, that one who knew him not might
+have interpreted unfavourably. Several times, during the
+inspection of his company at the early parade, he was
+seen to raise his head, and throw forward his ear, as if
+expecting to catch the echo of some horrible and appalling
+cry, until the men themselves remarked, and commented,
+by interchange of looks, on the singular conduct of their
+officer, whose thoughts had evidently no connection with
+the duty he was performing, or the spot on which he stood.
+
+When this customary inspection had been accomplished,--how
+imperfectly, has been seen,--and the men dismissed from
+their ranks, the same young officer was observed, by one
+who followed his every movement with interest, to ascend
+that part of the rampart which commanded an unbroken view
+of the country westward, from the point where the encampment
+of the Indians was supposed to lie, down to the bridge
+on which the terrible tragedy of Halloway's death had
+been so recently enacted. Unconscious of the presence of
+two sentinels, who moved to and fro near their respective
+posts, on either side of him, the young officer folded
+his arms, and gazed in that direction for some minutes,
+with his whole soul riveted on the scene. Then, as if
+overcome by recollections called up by that on which he
+gazed, he covered his eyes hurriedly with his hands, and
+betrayed, by the convulsed movement of his slender form,
+he was weeping bitterly. This paroxysm past, he uncovered
+his face, sank with one knee upon the ground, and upraising
+his clasped hands, as if in appeal to his God, seemed to
+pray deeply and fervently. In this attitude he continued
+for some moments, when he became sensible of the approach
+of an intruder. He raised himself from his knee, turned,
+and beheld one whose countenance was stamped with a
+dejection scarcely inferior to his own. It was Captain
+Blessington.
+
+"Charles, my dear Charles!" exclaimed the latter hurriedly,
+as he laid his hand upon the shoulder of the emaciated
+De Haldimar, "consider you are not alone. For God's sake,
+check this weakness! There are men observing you on every
+side, and your strange manner has already been the subject
+of remark in the company."
+
+"When the heart is sick, like mine," replied the youth,
+in a tone of fearful despondency, "it is alike reckless
+of forms, and careless of appearances. I trust, however,"
+and here spoke the soldier, "there are few within this
+fort who will believe me less courageous, because I have
+been seen to bend my knee in supplication to my God. I
+did not think that YOU, Blessington, would have been the
+first to condemn the act."
+
+"I condemn it, Charles! you mistake me, indeed you do,"
+feelingly returned his captain, secretly pained at the
+mild reproach contained in the concluding sentence; "but
+there are two things to be considered. In the first
+instance, the men, who are yet in ignorance of the great
+evils with which we are threatened, may mistake the cause
+of your agitation; you were in tears just now, Charles,
+and the sentinels must have remarked it as well as myself.
+I would not have them to believe that one of their officers
+was affected by the anticipation of coming disaster, in
+a way their own hearts are incapable of estimating. You
+understand me, Charles? I would not have them too much
+discouraged by an example that may become infectious."
+
+"I DO understand you, Blessington," and a forced and
+sickly smile played for a moment over the wan yet handsome
+features of the young officer; "you would not have me
+appear a weeping coward in their eyes."
+
+"Nay, dear Charles, I did not say it."
+
+"But you meant it, Blessington; yet, think not,"--and he
+warmly pressed the hand of his captain,--"think not, I
+repeat, I take your hint in any other than the friendly
+light in which it was intended. That I have been no
+coward, however, I hope I have given proof more than once
+before the men, most of whom have known me from my very
+cradle; yet, whatever they may think, is to me, at this
+moment, a matter of utter indifference. Blessington,"
+and again the tears rolled from his fixed eyes over his
+cheek, while he pointed with his finger to the western
+horizon, "I have neither thought nor feeling for myself;
+my whole heart lies buried there. Oh, God of Heaven!" he
+pursued after a pause, and again raising his eyes in
+supplication, "avert the dreadful destiny that awaits my
+beloved sister."
+
+"Charles, Charles, if only for that sister's sake, then,
+calm an agitation which, if thus indulged in, will
+assuredly destroy you. All will yet be well. The delay
+obtained by your father has been sufficient for the
+purpose proposed. Let us hope for the best: if we are
+deceived in our expectation, it will then be time enough
+to indulge in a grief, which could scarcely be exceeded,
+were the fearful misgivings of your mind to be realised
+before your eyes."
+
+"Blessington," returned the young officer,--and his
+features exhibited the liveliest image of despair,--"all
+hope has long since been extinct within my breast. See
+you yon theatre of death?" he mournfully pursued, pointing
+to the fatal bridge, which was thrown into full relief
+against the placid bosom of the Detroit: "recollect you
+the scene that was acted on it? As for me, it is ever
+present to my mind,--it haunts me in my thoughts by day,
+and in my dreams by night. I shall never forget it while
+memory is left to curse me with the power of retrospection.
+On the very spot on which I now stand was I borne in a
+chair, to witness the dreadful punishment; you see the
+stone at my feet, I marked it by that. I saw you conduct
+Halloway to the centre of the bridge; I beheld him kneel
+to receive his death; I saw, too, the terrible race for
+life, that interrupted the proceedings; I marked the
+sudden upspring of Halloway to his feet upon the coffin,
+and the exulting waving of his hand, as he seemed to
+recognise the rivals for mastery in that race. Then was
+heard the fatal volley, and I saw the death-struggle of
+him who had saved my brother's life. I could have died,
+too, at that moment; and would to Providence I had! but
+it was otherwise decreed. My aching interest was, for a
+moment, diverted by the fearful chase now renewed upon
+the height; and, in common with those around me, I watched
+the efforts of the pursuer and the pursued with painful
+earnestness and doubt as to the final result. Ah,
+Blessington, why was not this all? The terrible shriek,
+uttered at the moment when the fugitive fell, apparently
+dead, at the feet of the firing party, reached us even
+here. I felt as if my heart must have burst, for I knew
+it to be the shriek of poor Ellen Halloway,--the suffering
+wife,--the broken-hearted woman who had so recently, in
+all the wild abandonment of her grief, wetted my pillow,
+and even my cheek, with her burning tears, while
+supplicating an intercession with my father for mercy,
+which I knew it would be utterly fruitless to promise.
+Oh, Blessington," pursued the sensitive and affectionate
+young officer, "I should vainly attempt to paint all that
+passed in my mind at that dreadful moment. Nothing but
+the depth of my despair gave me strength to support the
+scene throughout. I saw the frantic and half-naked woman
+glide like a phantom past the troops, dividing the air
+with the rapidity of thought. I knew it to be Ellen; for
+the discovery of her exchange of clothes with one of the
+drum boys of the grenadiers was made soon after you left
+the fort. I saw her leap upon the coffin, and, standing
+over the body of her unhappy husband, raise her hands to
+heaven in adjuration, and my heart died within me. I
+recollected the words she had spoken on a previous
+occasion, during the first examination of Halloway, and
+I felt it to be the prophetic denunciation, then threatened,
+that she was now uttering on all the race of De Haldimar.
+I saw no more, Blessington. Sick, dizzy, and with every
+faculty of my mind annihilated, I turned away from the
+horrid scene, and was again borne to my room. I tried to
+give vent to my overcharged heart in tears; but the power
+was denied me, and I sank at once into that stupefaction
+which you have since remarked in me, and which has been
+increasing every hour. What additional cause I have had
+for the indulgence of this confirmed despondency you are
+well acquainted with. It is childish, it is unsoldierlike,
+I admit: but, alas! that dreadful scene is eternally
+before my eyes, and absorbs my mind, to the exclusion of
+every other feeling. I have not a thought or a care but
+for the fate that too certainly awaits those who are most
+dear to me; and if this be a weakness, it is one I shall
+never have the power to shake off. In a word, Blessington,
+I am heart-broken."
+
+Captain Blessington was deeply affected; for there was
+a solemnity in the voice and manner of the young officer
+that carried conviction to the heart; and it was some
+moments before he could so far recover himself as to
+observe,--
+
+"That scene, Charles, was doubtless a heart-rending one
+to us all; for I well recollect, on turning to remark
+the impression made on my men when the wretched Ellen
+Halloway pronounced her appalling curse to have seen the
+large tears coursing each other over the furrowed cheeks
+of some of our oldest soldiers: and if THEY could feel
+thus, how much more acute must have been the grief of
+those immediately interested in its application!"
+
+"THEIR tears were not for the denounced race of De
+Haldimar," returned the youth,--"they were shed for
+their unhappy comrade--they were wrung from their stubborn
+hearts by the agonising grief of the wife of Halloway."
+
+"That this was the case in part, I admit," returned
+Captain Blessington. "The feelings of the men partook of
+a mixed character. It was evident that grief for Halloway,
+compassion for his wife, secret indignation and, it may
+be, disgust at the severity of your father, and sorrow
+for his innocent family, who were included in that
+denunciation, predominated with equal force in their
+hearts at the same moment. There was an expression that
+told how little they would have pitied any anguish of
+mind inflicted on their colonel, provided his children,
+whom they loved, were not to be sacrificed to its
+accomplishment."
+
+"You admit, then, Blessington, although indirectly,"
+replied the young De Haldimar in a voice of touching
+sorrow, "that the consummation of the sacrifice IS to be
+looked for. Alas! it is that on which my mind perpetually
+lingers; yet, Heaven knows, my fears are not for myself."
+
+"You mistake me, dearest Charles. I look upon the
+observations of the unhappy woman as the ravings of a
+distracted mind--the last wild outpourings of a broken
+heart, turning with animal instinct on the hand that has
+inflicted its death-blow."
+
+"Ah, why did she except no one member of that family!"
+said the unhappy De Haldimar, pursuing rather the chain
+of his reflections than replying to the observation of
+his captain. "Had the weight of her malediction fallen
+on all else than my adored sister, I could have borne
+the infliction, and awaited the issue with resignation,
+if not without apprehension. But my poor gentle and
+unoffending Clara,--alike innocent of the cause, and
+ignorant of the effect,--what had she done to be included
+in this terrible curse?--she, who, in the warm and generous
+affection of her nature, had ever treated Ellen Halloway
+rather as a sister than as the dependant she always
+appeared." Again he covered his eyes with his hands, to
+conceal the starting tears.
+
+"De Haldimar," said Captain Blessington reprovingly, but
+mildly, "this immoderate grief is wrong--it is unmanly,
+and should be repressed. I can feel and understand the
+nature of your sorrow; but others may not judge so
+favourably. We shall soon be summoned to fall in; and I
+would not that Mr. Delme, in particular, should notice
+an emotion he is so incapable of understanding."
+
+The hand of the young officer dropped from his face to
+the hilt of his sword. His cheek became scarlet; and even
+through the tears which he half choked himself to command,
+there was an unwonted flashing from his blue eye, that
+told how deeply the insinuation had entered into his
+heart.
+
+"Think you, Captain Blessington," he proudly retorted,
+"there is an officer in the fort who should dare to taunt
+me with my feelings as you have done? I came here, sir,
+in the expectation I should be alone. At a fitting hour
+I shall be found where Captain Blessington's subaltern
+should be--with his company."
+
+"De Haldimar--dear De Haldimar, forgive me!" returned
+his captain. "Heaven knows I would not, on any
+consideration, wantonly inflict pain on your sensitive
+heart. My design was to draw you out of this desponding
+humour; and with this view I sought to arouse your pride,
+but certainly not to wound your feelings. De Haldimar,"
+he concluded, with marked expression, "you must not,
+indeed, feel offended with one who has known and esteemed
+you from very boyhood. Friendship and interest in your
+deep affliction of spirit alone brought me here--the same
+feelings prompted my remark. Do you not believe me?"
+
+"I do," impressively returned the young man, grasping
+the hand that was extended to him in amity. "It is I,
+rather, Blessington, who should ask you to forgive my
+petulance; but, indeed, indeed," and again his tone
+faltered, and his eye was dimmed, "I am more wretched
+even than I am willing to confess. Pardon my silly
+conduct--it was but the vain and momentary flashing of
+the soldier's spirit impatient of an assumed imputation,
+and the man less than the profession is to be taxed with
+it. But it is past; and already do you behold me once
+more the tame and apprehensive being I must ever continue
+until all is over."
+
+"What can I possibly urge to console one who seems so
+willing to nurse into conviction all the melancholy
+imaginings of a diseased mind," observed Captain
+Blessington, in a voice that told how deeply he felt for
+the situation of his young friend. "Recollect, dearest
+Charles, the time that has been afforded to our friends.
+More than a week has gone by since they left the fort,
+and a less period was deemed sufficient for their purpose.
+Before this they must have gained their destination. In
+fact, it is my positive belief they have; for there could
+be nothing to detect them in their disguise. Had I the
+famous lamp of Aladdin," he pursued, in a livelier tone,
+"over the history of which Clara and yourself used to
+spend so many hours in childhood, I have no doubt I could
+show them to you quietly seated within the fort, recounting
+their adventures to Clara and her cousin, and discoursing
+of their absent friends."
+
+"Would I to Heaven you had the power to do so!" replied
+De Haldimar, smiling faintly at the conceit, while a ray
+of hope beamed for a moment upon his sick soul; "for
+then, indeed, would all my fears for the present be at
+rest. But you forget, Blessington, the encounter stated
+to have taken place between them and that terrible stranger
+near the bridge. Besides, is it not highly probable the
+object of their expedition was divined by that singular
+and mysterious being, and that means have been taken to
+intercept their passage? If so, all hope is at an end."
+
+"Why persevere in viewing only the more sombre side of
+the picture?" returned his friend. "In your anxiety to
+anticipate evil, Charles, you have overlooked one important
+fact. Ponteac distinctly stated that his ruffian friend
+was still lying deprived of consciousness and speech
+within his tent, and yet two days had elapsed since the
+encounter was said to have taken place. Surely we have
+every reason then to infer they were beyond all reach of
+pursuit, even admitting, what is by no means probable
+the recovery of the wretch immediately after the return
+of the chiefs from the council."
+
+A gleam of satisfaction, but so transient as to be scarcely
+noticeable, passed over the pale features of the youthful
+De Haldimar. He looked his thanks to the kind officer
+who was thus solicitous to tender him consolation; and
+was about to reply, when the attention of both was diverted
+by the report of a musket from the rear of the fort.
+Presently afterwards, the word was passed along the chain
+of sentinels, upon the ramparts, that the Indians were
+issuing in force from the forest upon the common near
+the bomb-proof. Then was heard, as the sentinel at the
+gate delivered the password, the heavy roll of the drum
+summoning to arms.
+
+"Ha! here already!" said Captain Blessington, as, glancing
+towards the forest, he beheld the skirt of the wood now
+alive with dusky human forms: "Ponteac's visit is earlier
+than we had been taught to expect; but we are as well
+prepared to receive him now, as later; and, in fact, the
+sooner the interview is terminated, the sooner we shall
+know what we have to depend upon. Come, Charles, we must
+join the company, and let me entreat you to evince less
+despondency before the men. It is hard, I know, to
+sustain an artificial character under such disheartening
+circumstances; still, for example's sake, it must be
+done."
+
+"What I can I will do, Blessington," rejoined the youth,
+as they both moved from the ramparts; "but the task is,
+in truth, one to which I find myself wholly unequal. How
+do I know that, even at this moment, my defenceless,
+terrified, and innocent sister may not be invoking the
+name and arm of her brother to save her from destruction."
+
+"Trust in Providence, Charles. Even although our worst
+apprehensions be realised, as I fervently trust they will
+not, your sister may be spared. The Canadian could not
+have been unfaithful, or we should have learnt something
+of his treachery from the Indians. Another week will
+confirm us in the truth or fallacy of our impressions.
+Until then, let us arm our hearts with hope. Trust me,
+we shall yet see the laughing eyes of Clara fill with
+tears of affection, as I recount to her all her too
+sensitive and too desponding brother has suffered for
+her sake."
+
+De Haldimar made no reply. He deeply felt the kind
+intention of his captain, but was far from cherishing
+the hope that had been recommended. He sighed heavily,
+pressed the arm, on which he leaned, in gratitude for
+the motive, and moved silently with his friend to join
+their company below the rampart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Meanwhile the white flag had again been raised by the
+Indians upon the bomb-proof; and this having been readily
+met by a corresponding signal from the fort, a numerous
+band of savages now issued from the cover with which
+their dark forms had hitherto been identified, and spread
+themselves far and near upon the common. On this occasion
+they were without arms, offensive or defensive, of any
+kind, if we may except the knife which was always carried
+at the girdle, and which constituted a part rather of
+their necessary dress than of their warlike equipment.
+These warriors might have been about five hundred in
+number, and were composed chiefly of picked men from the
+nations of the Ottawas, the Delawares, and the Shawanees;
+each race being distinctly recognisable from the others
+by certain peculiarities of form and feature which
+individualised, if we may so term it, the several tribes.
+Their only covering was the legging before described,
+composed in some instances of cloth, but principally of
+smoked deerskin, and the flap that passed through the
+girdle around the loins, by which the straps attached to
+the leggings were secured. Their bodies, necks, and arms
+were, with the exception of a few slight ornaments,
+entirely naked; and even the blanket, that served them
+as a couch by night and a covering by day, had, with one
+single exception, been dispensed with, apparently with
+a view to avoid any thing like encumbrance in their
+approaching sport. Each individual was provided with a
+stout sapling of about three feet in length, curved, and
+flattened at the root extremity, like that used at the
+Irish hurdle; which game, in fact, the manner of
+ball-playing among the Indians in every way resembled.
+
+Interspersed among these warriors were a nearly equal
+number of squaws. These were to be seen lounging carelessly
+about in small groups, and were of all ages; from the
+hoary-headed, shrivelled-up hag, whose eyes still sparkled
+with a fire that her lank and attenuated frame denied,
+to the young girl of twelve, whose dark and glowing cheek,
+rounded bust, and penetrating glance, bore striking
+evidence of the precociousness of Indian beauty. These
+latter looked with evident interest on the sports of the
+younger warriors, who, throwing down their hurdles, either
+vied with each other in the short but incredibly swift
+foot-race, or indulged themselves in wrestling and leaping;
+while their companions, abandoned to the full security
+they felt to be attached to the white flag waving on the
+fort, lay at their lazy length upon the sward, ostensibly
+following the movements of the several competitors in
+these sports, but in reality with heart and eye directed
+solely to the fortification that lay beyond. Each of
+these females, in addition to the machecoti, or petticoat,
+which in one solid square of broad-cloth was tightly
+wrapped around the loins, also carried a blanket loosely
+thrown around the person, but closely confined over the
+shoulders in front, and reaching below the knee. There
+was an air of constraint in their movements, which accorded
+ill with the occasion of festivity for which they were
+assembled; and it was remarkable, whether it arose from
+deference to those to whom they were slaves, as well as
+wives and daughters, or from whatever other cause it
+might be, none of them ventured to recline themselves
+upon the sward in imitation of the warriors.
+
+When it had been made known to the governor that the
+Indians had begun to develop themselves in force upon
+the common unarmed, yet redolent with the spirit that
+was to direct their meditated sports, the soldiers were
+dismissed from their respective companies to the ramparts;
+where they were now to be seen, not drawn up in formidable
+and hostile array, but collected together in careless
+groups, and simply in their side-arms. This reciprocation
+of confidence on the part of the garrison was acknowledged
+by the Indians by marks of approbation, expressed as much
+by the sudden and classic disposition of their fine forms
+into attitudes strikingly illustrative of their admiration
+and pleasure, as by the interjectional sounds that passed
+from one to the other of the throng. From the increased
+alacrity with which they now lent themselves to the
+preparatory and inferior amusements of the day, it was
+evident their satisfaction was complete.
+
+Hitherto the principal chiefs had, as on the previous
+occasion, occupied the bomb-proof; and now, as then, they
+appeared to be deliberating among themselves, but evidently
+in a more energetic and serious manner. At length they
+separated, when Ponteac, accompanied by the chiefs who
+had attended him on the former day, once more led in the
+direction of the fort. The moment of his advance was the
+signal for the commencement of the principal game. In an
+instant those of the warriors who lay reclining on the
+sward sprang to their feet, while the wrestlers and racers
+resumed their hurdles, and prepared themselves for the
+trial of mingled skill and swiftness. At first they formed
+a dense group in the centre of the common; and then,
+diverging in two equal files both to the right and to
+the left of the immediate centre, where the large ball
+was placed, formed an open chain, extending from the
+skirt of the forest to the commencement of the village.
+On the one side were ranged the Delawares and the Shawanees,
+and on the other the more numerous nation of the Ottawas.
+The women of these several tribes, apparently much
+interested in the issue of an amusement in which the
+manliness and activity of their respective friends were
+staked, had gradually and imperceptibly gained the front
+of the fort, where they were now huddled in groups at
+about twenty paces from the drawbridge, and bending
+eagerly forward to command the movements of the
+ball-players.
+
+In his circuit round the walls, Ponteac was seen to remark
+the confiding appearance of the unarmed soldiery with a
+satisfaction that was not sought to be disguised; and
+from the manner in which he threw his glance along each
+face of the rampart, it was evident his object was to
+embrace the numerical strength collected there. It was
+moreover observed, when he passed the groups of squaws
+on his way to the gate, he addressed some words in a
+strange tongue to the elder matrons of each.
+
+Once more the dark warriors were received at the gate by
+Major Blackwater; and, as with firm but elastic tread,
+they moved across the square, each threw his fierce eyes
+rapidly and anxiously around, and with less of concealment
+in his manner than had been manifested on the former
+occasion. On every hand the same air of nakedness and
+desertion met their gaze. Not even a soldier of the
+guard was to be seen; and when they cast their eyes
+upwards to the windows of the blockhouses, they were
+found to be tenantless as the area through which they
+passed. A gleam of fierce satisfaction pervaded the
+swarthy countenances of the Indians; and the features of
+Ponteac, in particular, expressed the deepest exultation.
+Instead of leading his party, he now brought up the rear;
+and when arrived in the centre of the fort, he, without
+any visible cause for the accident, stumbled, and fell
+to the earth. The other chiefs for a moment lost sight
+of their ordinary gravity, and marked their sense of the
+circumstance by a prolonged sound, partaking of the
+mingled character of a laugh and a yell. Startled at
+the cry, Major Blackwater, who was in front, turned to
+ascertain the cause. At that moment Ponteac sprang lightly
+again to his feet, responding to the yell of his
+confederates by another even more startling, fierce, and
+prolonged than their own. He then stalked proudly to the
+head of the party, and even preceded Major Blackwater
+into the council room.
+
+In this rude theatre of conference some changes had been
+made since their recent visit, which escaped not the
+observation of the quick-sighted chiefs. Their mats lay
+in the position they had previously occupied, and the
+chairs of the officers were placed as before, but the
+room itself had been considerably enlarged. The slight
+partition terminating the interior extremity of the
+mess-room, and dividing it from that of one of the
+officers, had been removed; and midway through this,
+extending entirely across, was drawn a curtain of scarlet
+cloth, against which the imposing figure of the governor,
+elevated as his seat was above those of the other officers,
+was thrown into strong relief. There was another change,
+that escaped not the observation of the Indians, and that
+was, not more than one half of the officers who had been
+present at the first conference being now in the room.
+Of these latter, one had, moreover, been sent away by
+the governor the moment the chiefs were ushered in.
+
+"Ugh!" ejaculated the proud leader, as he took his seat
+unceremoniously, and yet not without reluctance, upon
+the mat. "The council-room of my father is bigger than
+when the Ottawa was here before, yet the number of his
+chiefs is not so many."
+
+"The great chief of the Ottawas knows that the Saganaw
+has promised the red skins a feast," returned the governor.
+"Were he to leave it to his young warriors to provide
+it, he would not be able to receive the Ottawa like a
+great chief, and to make peace with him as he could wish."
+
+"My father has a great deal of cloth, red, like the blood
+of a pale face," pursued the Indian, rather in demand
+than in observation, as he pointed with his finger to
+the opposite end of the room. "When the Ottawa was here
+last, he did not see it."
+
+"The great chief of the Ottawas knows that the great
+father of the Saganaw has a big heart to make presents
+to the red skins. The cloth the Ottawa sees there is
+sufficient to make leggings for the chiefs of all the
+nations."
+
+Apparently satisfied with this reply, the fierce Indian
+uttered one of his strong guttural and assentient "ughs,"
+and then commenced filling the pipe of peace, correct on
+the present occasion in all its ornaments, which was
+handed to him by the Delaware chief. It was remarked by
+the officers this operation took up an unusually long
+portion of his time, and that he frequently turned his
+ear, like a horse stirred by the huntsman's horn, with
+quick and irrepressible eagerness towards the door.
+
+"The pale warrior, the friend of the Ottawa chief, is
+not here," said the governor, as he glanced his eye along
+the semicircle of Indians. "How is this? Is his voice
+still sick, that he cannot come; or has the great chief
+of the Ottawas forgotten to tell him?"
+
+"The voice of the pale warrior is still sick, and he
+cannot speak," replied the Indian. "The Ottawa chief is
+very sorry; for the tongue of his friend the pale face
+is full of wisdom."
+
+Scarcely had the last words escaped his lips, when a wild
+shrill cry from without the fort rang on the ears of the
+assembled council, and caused a momentary commotion among
+the officers. It arose from a single voice, and that
+voice could not be mistaken by any who had heard it once
+before. A second or two, during which the officers and
+chiefs kept their eyes intently fixed on each other,
+passed anxiously away, and then nearer to the gate,
+apparently on the very drawbridge itself, was pealed
+forth the wild and deafening yell of a legion of devilish
+voices. At that sound, the Ottawa and the other chiefs
+sprang to their feet, and their own fierce cry responded
+to that yet vibrating on the ears of all. Already were
+their gleaming tomahawks brandished wildly over their
+heads, and Ponteac had even bounded a pace forward to
+reach the governor with the deadly weapon, when, at the
+sudden stamping of the foot of the latter upon the floor,
+the scarlet cloth in the rear was thrown aside, and twenty
+soldiers, their eyes glancing along the barrels of their
+levelled muskets, met the startled gaze of the astonished
+Indians.
+
+An instant was enough to satisfy the keen chief of the
+true state of the case. The calm composed mien of the
+officers, not one of whom had even attempted to quit his
+seat, amid the din by which his ears were so alarmingly
+assailed,--the triumphant, yet dignified, and even severe
+expression of the governor's countenance; and, above all,
+the unexpected presence of the prepared soldiery,--all
+these at once assured him of the discovery of his treachery,
+and the danger that awaited him. The necessity for an
+immediate attempt to join his warriors without, was now
+obvious to the Ottawa; and scarcely had he conceived the
+idea before it was sought to be executed. In a single
+spring he gained the door of the mess-room, and, followed
+eagerly and tumultuously by the other chiefs, to whose
+departure no opposition was offered, in the next moment
+stood on the steps of the piazza that ran along the front
+of the building whence he had issued.
+
+The surprise of the Indians on reaching this point, was
+now too powerful to be dissembled; and, incapable either
+of advancing or receding, they remained gazing on the
+scene before them with an air of mingled stupefaction,
+rage, and alarm. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed since
+they had proudly strode through the naked area of the
+fort; and yet, even in that short space of time, its
+appearance had been entirely changed. Not a part was
+there now of the surrounding buildings that was not
+redolent with human life, and hostile preparation. Through
+every window of the officers' low rooms, was to be seen
+the dark and frowning muzzle of a field-piece, bearing
+upon the gateway; and behind these were artillerymen,
+holding their lighted matches, supported again by files
+of bayonets, that glittered in their rear. In the
+block-houses the same formidable array of field-pieces
+and muskets was visible; while from the four angles of
+the square, as many heavy guns, that had been artfully
+masked at the entrance of the chiefs, seemed ready to
+sweep away every thing that should come before them. The
+guard-room near the gate presented the same hostile front.
+The doors of this, as well as of the other buildings,
+had been firmly secured within; but from every window
+affording cover to the troops, gleamed a line of bayonets
+rising above the threatening field-pieces, pointed, at
+a distance of little more than twelve feet, directly upon
+the gateway. In addition to his musket, each man of the
+guard moreover held a hand grenade, provided with a short
+fuze that could be ignited in a moment from the matches
+of the gunners, and with immediate effect. The soldiers
+in the block-houses were similarly provided.
+
+Almost magic as was the change thus suddenly effected in
+the appearance of the garrison, it was not the most
+interesting feature in the exciting scene. Choking up
+the gateway, in which they were completely wedged, and
+crowding the drawbridge, a dense mass of dusky Indians
+were to be seen casting their fierce glances around; yet
+paralysed in their movements by the unlooked-for display
+of a resisting force, threatening instant annihilation
+to those who should attempt either to advance or to
+recede. Never, perhaps, were astonishment and disappointment
+more forcibly depicted on the human countenance, than as
+they were now exhibited by these men, who had already,
+in imagination, secured to themselves an easy conquest.
+They were the warriors who had so recently been engaged
+in the manly yet innocent exercise of the ball; but,
+instead of the harmless hurdle, each now carried a short
+gun in one hand and a gleaming tomahawk in the other.
+After the first general yelling heard in the council-room,
+not a sound was uttered. Their burst of rage and triumph
+had evidently been checked by the unexpected manner of
+their reception, and they now stood on the spot on which
+the further advance of each had been arrested, so silent
+and motionless, that, but for the rolling of their dark
+eyes, as they keenly measured the insurmountable barriers
+that were opposed to their progress, they might almost
+have been taken for a wild group of statuary.
+
+Conspicuous at the head of these was he who wore the
+blanket; a tall warrior, on whom rested the startled eye
+of every officer and soldier who was so situated as to
+behold him. His face was painted black as death; and as
+he stood under the arch of the gateway, with his white
+turbaned head towering far above those of his companions,
+this formidable and mysterious enemy might have been
+likened to the spirit of darkness presiding over his
+terrible legions.
+
+In order to account for the extraordinary appearance of
+the Indians, armed in every way for death, at a moment
+when neither gun nor tomahawk was apparently within miles
+of their reach, it will be necessary to revert to the
+first entrance of the chiefs into the fort. The fall of
+Ponteac had been the effect of design; and the yell pealed
+forth by him, on recovering his feet, as if in taunting
+reply to the laugh of his comrades, was in reality a
+signal intended for the guidance of the Indians without.
+These, now following up their game with increasing spirit,
+at once changed the direction of their line, bringing
+the ball nearer to the fort. In their eagerness to effect
+this object, they had overlooked the gradual secession
+of the unarmed troops, spectators of their sport from
+the ramparts, until scarcely more than twenty stragglers
+were left. As they neared the gate, the squaws broke up
+their several groups, and, forming a line on either hand
+of the road leading to the drawbridge, appeared to separate
+solely with a view not to impede the action of the players.
+For an instant a dense group collected around the ball,
+which had been driven to within a hundred yards of the
+gate, and fifty hurdles were crossed in their endeavours
+to secure it, when the warrior, who formed the solitary
+exception to the multitude, in his blanket covering, and
+who had been lingering in the extreme rear of the party,
+came rapidly up to the spot where the well-affected
+struggle was maintained. At his approach, the hurdles of
+the other players were withdrawn, when, at a single blow
+from his powerful arm, the ball was seen flying into the
+air in an oblique direction, and was for a moment lost
+altogether to the view. When it again met the eye, it
+was descending perpendicularly into the very centre of
+the fort.
+
+With the fleetness of thought now commenced a race that
+had ostensibly for its object the recovery of the lost
+ball; and in which, he who had driven it with such
+resistless force outstripped them all. Their course lay
+between the two lines of squaws; and scarcely had the
+head of the bounding Indians reached the opposite extremity
+of those lines, when the women suddenly threw back their
+blankets, and disclosed each a short gun and a tomahawk.
+To throw away their hurdles and seize upon these, was
+the work of an instant. Already, in imagination, was the
+fort their own; and, such was the peculiar exultation of
+the black and turbaned warrior, when he felt the planks
+of the drawbridge bending beneath his feet, all the
+ferocious joy of his soul was pealed forth in the terrible
+cry which, rapidly succeeded by that of the other Indians,
+had resounded so fearfully through the council-room. What
+their disappointment was, when, on gaining the interior,
+they found the garrison prepared for their reception,
+has already been shown.
+
+"Secure that traitor, men!" exclaimed the governor,
+advancing into the square, and pointing to the black
+warrior, whose quick eye was now glancing on every side,
+to discover some assailable point in the formidable
+defences of the troops.
+
+A laugh of scorn and derision escaped the lips of the
+warrior. "Is there a man--are there any ten men, even
+with Governor de Haldimar at their head, who will be bold
+enough to attempt it?" he asked. "Nay!" he pursued,
+stepping boldly a pace or two in front of the wondering
+savages,--"here I stand singly, and defy your whole
+garrison!"
+
+A sudden movement among the soldiers in the guard-room
+announced they were preparing to execute the order of
+their chief. The eye of the black warrior sparkled with
+ferocious pleasure; and he made a gesture to his followers,
+which was replied to by the sudden tension of their
+hitherto relaxed forms into attitudes of expectance and
+preparation.
+
+"Stay, men; quit not your cover for your lives!" commanded
+the governor, in a loud deep voice:--"keep the barricades
+fast, and move not."
+
+A cloud of anger and disappointment passed over the
+features of the black warrior. It was evident the object
+of his bravado was to draw the troops from their defences,
+that they might be so mingled with their enemies as to
+render the cannon useless, unless friends and foes (which
+was by no means probable) should alike be sacrificed.
+The governor had penetrated the design in time to prevent
+the mischief.
+
+In a moment of uncontrollable rage, the savage warrior
+aimed his tomahawk at the head of the governor. The latter
+stepped lightly aside, and the steel sank with such force
+into one of the posts supporting the piazza, that the
+quivering handle snapped close off at its head. At that
+moment, a single shot, fired from the guard-house, was
+drowned in the yell of approbation which burst from the
+lips of the dark crowd. The turban of the warrior was,
+however, seen flying through the air, carried away by
+the force of the bullet which had torn it from his head.
+He himself was unharmed.
+
+"A narrow escape for us both, Colonel de Haldimar," he
+observed, as soon as the yell had subsided, and with an
+air of the most perfect unconcern. "Had my tomahawk obeyed
+the first impulse of my heart, I should have cursed myself
+and died: as it is, I have reason to avoid all useless
+exposure of my own life, at present. A second bullet may
+be better directed; and to die, robbed of my revenge,
+would ill answer the purpose of a life devoted to its
+attainment. Remember my pledge!"
+
+At the hasty command of the governor, a hundred muskets
+were raised to the shoulders of his men; but, before a
+single eye could glance along the barrel, the formidable
+and active warrior had bounded over the heads of the
+nearest Indians into a small space that was left unoccupied;
+when, stooping suddenly to the earth, he disappeared
+altogether from the view of his enemies. A slight movement
+in the centre of the numerous band crowding the gateway,
+and extending even beyond the bridge, was now discernible:
+it was like the waving of a field of standing corn,
+through which some animal rapidly winds its tortuous
+course, bending aside as the object advances, and closing
+again when it has passed. After the lapse of a minute,
+the terrible warrior was seen to spring again to his
+feet, far in the rear of the band; and then, uttering a
+fierce shout of exultation, to make good his retreat
+towards the forest.
+
+Meanwhile, Ponteac and the other chiefs of the council
+continued rooted to the piazza on which they had rushed
+at the unexpected display of the armed men behind the
+scarlet curtain. The loud "Waugh" that burst from the
+lips of all, on finding themselves thus foiled in their
+schemes of massacre, had been succeeded, the instant
+afterwards, by feelings of personal apprehension, which
+each, however, had collectedness enough to disguise. Once
+the Ottawa made a movement as if he would have cleared
+the space that kept him from his warriors; but the
+emphatical pointing of the finger of Colonel de Haldimar
+to the levelled muskets of the men in the block-houses
+prevented him, and the attempt was not repeated. It was
+remarked by the officers, who also stood on the piazza,
+close behind the chiefs, when the black warrior threw
+his tomahawk at the governor, a shade of displeasure
+passed over the features of the Ottawa; and that, when
+he found the daring attempt was not retaliated on his
+people, his countenance had been momentarily lighted up
+with a satisfied expression, apparently marking his sense
+of the forbearance so unexpectedly shown.
+
+"What says the great chief of the Ottawas now?" asked
+the governor calmly, and breaking a profound silence that
+had succeeded to the last fierce yell of the formidable
+being just departed. "Was the Saganaw not right, when he
+said the Ottawa came with guile in his heart, and with
+a lie upon his lips? But the Saganaw is not a fool, and
+he can read the thoughts of his enemies upon their faces,
+and long before their lips have spoken."
+
+"Ugh!" ejaculated the Indian; "my father is a great chief,
+and his head is full of wisdom. Had he been feeble, like
+the other chiefs of the Saganaw, the strong-hold of the
+Detroit must have fallen, and the red skins would have
+danced their war-dance round the scalps of his young men,
+even in the council-room where they came to talk of
+peace."
+
+"Does the great chief of the Ottawas see the big thunder
+of the Saganaw?" pursued the governor: "if not, let him
+open his eyes and look. The Saganaw has but to move his
+lips, and swifter than the lightning would the pale faces
+sweep away the warriors of the Ottawa, even where they
+now stand: in less time than the Saganaw is now speaking,
+would they mow them down like the grass of the Prairie."
+
+"Ugh!" again exclaimed the chief, with mixed doggedness
+and fierceness: "if what my father says is true, why does
+he not pour out his anger upon the red skins?"
+
+"Let the great chief of the Ottawas listen," replied the
+governor with dignity. "When the great chiefs of all the
+nations that are in league with the Ottawas came last to
+the council, the Saganaw knew that they carried deceit
+in their hearts, and that they never meant to smoke the
+pipe of peace, or to bury the hatchet in the ground. The
+Saganaw might have kept them prisoners, that their warriors
+might be without a head; but he had given his word to
+the great chief of the Ottawas, and the word of a Saganaw
+is never broken. Even now, while both the chiefs and
+the warriors are in his power,--he will not slay them,
+for he wishes to show the Ottawa the desire of the Saganaw
+is to be friendly with the red skins, and not to destroy
+them. Wicked men from the Canadas have whispered lies in
+the ear of the Ottawa; but a great chief should judge
+for himself, and take council only from the wisdom of
+his own heart. The Ottawa and his warriors may go," he
+resumed, after a short pause; "the path by which they
+came is again open to them. Let them depart in peace;
+the big thunder of the Saganaw shall not harm them."
+
+The countenance of the Indian, who had clearly seen the
+danger of his position, wore an expression of surprise
+which could not be dissembled: low exclamations passed
+between him and his companions; and, then pointing to
+the tomahawk that lay half buried in the wood, he said,
+doubtingly,--
+
+"It was the pale face, the friend of the great chief of
+the Ottawas, who struck the hatchet at my father. The
+Ottawa is not a fool to believe the Saganaw can sleep
+without revenge."
+
+"The great chief of the Ottawas shall know us better,"
+was the reply. "The young warriors of the Saganaw might
+destroy their enemies where they now stand, but they seek
+not their blood. When the Ottawa chief takes council from
+his own heart, and not from the lips of a cowardly dog
+of a pale face, who strikes his tomahawk and then flies,
+his wisdom will tell him to make peace with the Saganaw,
+whose warriors are without treachery, even as they are
+without fear."
+
+Another of those deep interjectional "ughs" escaped the
+chest of the proud Indian.
+
+"What my father says is good," he returned; "but the pale
+face is a great warrior, and the Ottawa chief is his
+friend. The Ottawa will go."
+
+He then addressed a few sentences, in a tongue unknown
+to the officers, to the swarthy and anxious crowd in
+front. These were answered by a low, sullen, yet assentient
+grunt, from the united band, who now turned, though with
+justifiable caution and distrust, and recrossed the
+drawbridge without hinderance from the troops. Ponteac
+waited until the last Indian had departed, and then making
+a movement to the governor, which, with all its haughtiness,
+was meant to mark his sense of the forbearance and good
+faith that had been manifested, once more stalked proudly
+and calmly across the area, followed by the remainder of
+the chiefs. The officers who were with the governor
+ascended to the ramparts, to follow their movements; and
+it was not before their report had been made, that the
+Indians were immerging once more into the heart of the
+forest, the troops were withdrawn from their formidable
+defences, and the gate of the fort again firmly secured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+While the reader is left to pause over the rapid succession
+of incidents resulting from the mysterious entrance of
+the warrior of the Fleur de lis into the English fort,
+be it our task to explain the circumstances connected
+with the singular disappearance of Captain de Haldimar,
+and the melancholy murder of his unfortunate servant.
+
+It will be recollected that the ill-fated Halloway, in
+the course of his defence before the court-martial,
+distinctly stated the voice of the individual who had
+approached his post, calling on the name of Captain de
+Haldimar, on the night of the alarm, to have been that
+of a female, and that the language in which they
+subsequently conversed was that of the Ottawa Indians.
+This was strictly the fact; and the only error into which
+the unfortunate soldier had fallen, had reference merely
+to the character and motives of the party. He had naturally
+imagined, as he had stated, it was some young female of
+the village, whom attachment for his officer had driven
+to the desperate determination of seeking an interview;
+nor was this impression at all weakened by the subsequent
+discourse of the parties in the Indian tongue, with which
+it was well known most of the Canadians, both male and
+female, were more or less conversant. The subject of that
+short, low, and hurried conference was, indeed, one that
+well warranted the singular intrusion; and, in the
+declaration of Halloway, we have already seen the importance
+and anxiety attached by the young officer to the
+communication. Without waiting to repeat the motives
+assigned for his departure, and the prayers and
+expostulations to which he had recourse to overcome the
+determination and sense of duty of the unfortunate
+sentinel, let us pass at once to the moment when, after
+having cleared the ditch, conjointly with his faithful
+follower, in the manner already shown, Captain de Haldimar
+first stood side by side with his midnight visitant.
+
+The night, it has elsewhere been observed, was clear and
+starry, so that objects upon the common, such as the rude
+stump that here and there raised its dark low head above
+the surface, might be dimly seen in the distance. To
+obviate the danger of discovery by the sentinels, appeared
+to be the first study of the female; for, when Captain
+de Haldimar, followed by his servant, had reached the
+spot on which she stood, she put the forefinger of one
+hand to her lips, and with the other pointed to his booted
+foot. A corresponding signal showed that the lightness
+of the material offered little risk of betrayal. Donellan,
+however, was made to doff his heavy ammunition shoes;
+and, with this precaution, they all stole hastily along,
+under the shadows of the projecting ramparts, until they
+had gained the extreme rear. Here the female suddenly
+raised her tall figure from the stooping position in
+which she, as well as her companions, had performed the
+dangerous circuit; and, placing her finger once more
+significantly on her lips, led in the direction of the
+bomb-proof, unperceived by the sentinels, most of whom,
+it is probable, had, up to the moment of the alarm
+subsequently given, been too much overcome by previous
+watching and excitement to have kept the most vigilant
+look-out.
+
+Arrived at the skirt of the forest, the little party drew
+up within the shadow of the ruin, and a short and earnest
+dialogue ensued, in Indian, between the female and the
+officer. This was succeeded by a command from the latter
+to his servant, who, after a momentary but respectful
+expostulation, which, however, was utterly lost on him
+to whom it was addressed, proceeded to divest himself of
+his humble apparel, assuming in exchange the more elegant
+uniform of his superior. Donellan, who was also of the
+grenadiers, was remarkable for the resemblance he bore,
+in figure, to Captain de Haldimar; wanting, it is true,
+the grace and freedom of movement of the latter, but
+still presenting an outline which, in an attitude of
+profound repose, might, as it subsequently did, have set
+even those who were most intimate with the officer at
+fault.
+
+"This is well," observed the female, as the young man
+proceeded to induct himself in the grey coat of his
+servant, having previously drawn the glazed hat close
+over his waving and redundant hair: "if the Saganaw is
+ready, Oucanasta will go."
+
+"Sure, and your honour does not mane to lave me behind!"
+exclaimed the anxious soldier, as his captain now
+recommended him to stand closely concealed near the ruin
+until his return. "Who knows what ambuscade the she-divil
+may not lade your honour into; and thin who will you have
+to bring you out of it?"
+
+"No, Donellan, it must not be: I first intended it, as
+you may perceive by my bringing you out; but the expedition
+on which I am going is of the utmost importance to us
+all, and too much precaution cannot be taken. I fear no
+ambuscade, for I can depend on the fidelity of my guide;
+but the presence of a third person would only embarrass,
+without assisting me in the least. You must remain behind;
+the woman insists upon it, and there is no more to be
+said."
+
+"To ould Nick with the ugly winch, for her pains!" half
+muttered the disappointed soldier to himself. "I wish it
+may be as your honour says; but my mind misgives me sadly
+that evil will come of this. Has your honour secured the
+pistols?"
+
+"They are here," returned his captain, placing a hand on
+either chest. "And now, Donellan, mark me: I know nothing
+that can detain me longer than an hour; at least the
+woman assures me, and I believe her, that I may be back
+then; but it is well to guard against accidents. You must
+continue here for the hour, and for the hour only. If I
+come not then, return to the fort without delay, for the
+rope must be removed, and the gate secured, before Halloway
+is relieved. The keys you will find in the pocket of my
+uniform: when you have done with them, let them be hung
+up in their proper place in the guard-room. My father
+must not know either that Halloway suffered me to pass
+the gate, or that you accompanied me."
+
+"Lord love us! your honour talks as if you nivir would
+return, giving such a heap of orders!" exclaimed the
+startled man; "but if I go back alone, as I trust in
+heaven I shall not, how am I to account for being dressed
+in your honour's rigimintals?"
+
+"I tell you, Donellan," impatiently returned the officer,
+"that I shall be back; but I only wish to guard against
+accidents. The instant you get into the fort, you will
+take off my clothes and resume your own. Who the devil
+is to see you in the uniform, unless it be Halloway?"
+
+"If the Saganaw would not see the earth red with the
+blood of his race, he will go," interrupted the female.
+"Oucanasta can feel the breath of the morning fresh upon
+her cheek, and the council of the chiefs must be begun."
+
+"The Saganaw is ready, and Oucanasta shall lead the way,"
+hastily returned the officer. "One word more, Donellan;"
+and he pressed the hand of his domestic kindly: "should
+I not return, you must, without committing Halloway or
+yourself, cause my father to be apprised that the Indians
+meditate a deep and treacherous plan to get possession
+of the fort. What that plan is, I know not yet myself,
+neither does this woman know; but she says that I shall
+hear it discussed unseen, even in the heart of their own
+encampment. All you have to do is to acquaint my father
+with the existence of danger. And now be cautious: above
+all things, keep close under the shadow of the bomb-proof;
+for there are scouts constantly prowling about the common,
+and the glittering of the uniform in the starlight may
+betray you."
+
+"But why may I not follow your honour?" again urged the
+faithful soldier; "and where is the use of my remaining
+here to count the stars, and hear the 'All's well!' from
+the fort, when I could be so much better employed in
+guarding your honour from harm? What sort of protection
+can that Ingian woman afford, who is of the race of our
+bitterest enemies, them cursed Ottawas, and your honour
+venturing, too, like a spy into the very heart of the
+blood-hounds? Ah, Captain de Haldimar, for the love of
+God, do not trust yourself alone with her, or I am sure
+I shall never see your honour again!"
+
+The last words (unhappily too prophetic) fell only on
+the ear of him who uttered them. The female and the
+officer had already disappeared round an abrupt angle of
+the bomb-proof; and the soldier, as directed by his
+master, now drew up his tall figure against the ruin,
+where he continued for a period immovable, as if he had
+been planted there in his ordinary character of sentinel,
+listening, until they eventually died away in distance,
+to the receding footsteps of his master; and then ruminating
+on the several apprehensions that crowded on his mind,
+in regard to the probable issue of his adventurous project.
+
+Meanwhile, Captain de Haldimar and his guide trod the
+mazes of the forest, with an expedition that proved the
+latter to be well acquainted with its bearings. On quitting
+the bomb-proof, she had struck into a narrow winding
+path, less seen than felt in the deep gloom pervading
+the wood, and with light steps bounded over obstacles
+that lay strewed in their course, emitting scarcely more
+sound than would have been produced by the slimy crawl
+of its native rattlesnake. Not so, however, with the less
+experienced tread of her companion. Wanting the pliancy
+of movement given to it by the light mocassin, the booted
+foot of the young officer, despite of all his precaution,
+fell heavily to the ground, producing such a rustling
+among the dried leaves, that, had an Indian ear been
+lurking any where around, his approach must inevitably
+have been betrayed. More than once, too, neglecting to
+follow the injunction of his companion, who moved in a
+stooping posture, with her head bent over her chest, his
+hat was caught in the closely matted branches, and fell
+sullenly and heavily to the earth, evidently much to the
+discomfiture of his guide.
+
+At length they stood on the verge of a dark and precipitous
+ravine, the abrupt sides of which were studded with
+underwood, so completely interwoven, that all passage
+appeared impracticable. What, however, seemed an
+insurmountable obstacle, proved, in reality, an inestimable
+advantage; for it was by clinging to this, in imitation
+of the example set him by his companion, the young officer
+was prevented from rolling into an abyss, the depth of
+which was lost in the profound obscurity that pervaded
+the scene. Through the bed of this dark dell rolled a
+narrow stream, so imperceptible to the eye in the "living
+darkness," and so noiseless in its course, that it was
+not until warned by his companion he stood on the very
+brink of it, Captain de Haldimar was made sensible of
+its existence. Both cleared it at a single bound, in
+which the activity of the female was not the least
+conspicuous, and, clambering up the opposite steep,
+secured their footing, by the aid of the same underwood
+that had assisted them in their descent.
+
+On gaining the other summit, which was not done without
+detaching several loose stones from their sandy bed, they
+again, fell into the path, which had been lost sight of
+in traversing the ravine. They had proceeded along this
+about half a mile, when the female suddenly stopped, and
+pointing to a dim and lurid atmosphere that now began to
+show itself between the thin foliage, whispered that in
+the opening beyond stood the encampment of the Indians.
+She then seated herself on the trunk of a fallen tree,
+that lay at the side of the almost invisible path they
+had hitherto pursued, and motioning to her companion to
+unboot himself, proceeded to unlace the fastenings of
+her mocassins.
+
+"The foot of the Saganaw must fall like the night dew on
+the prairie," she observed: "the ear of the red skin is
+quicker than the lightning, and he will know that a pale
+face is near, if he hear but his tread upon a blade of
+grass."
+
+Gallantry in the civilised man is a sentiment that never
+wholly abandons him; and in whatever clime he may be
+thrown, or under whatever circumstances he may be
+placed,--be it called forth by white or by blackamoor,--it
+is certain to influence his conduct: it is a refinement,
+of that instinctive deference to the weaker sex, which
+nature has implanted in him for the wisest of purposes;
+and which, while it tends to exalt those to whom its
+influence is extended, fails not to reflect a corresponding
+lustre on himself.
+
+The young officer had, at the first suggestion of his
+guide, divested himself of his boots, prepared to perform
+the remainder of the journey merely in his stockings,
+but his companion now threw herself on her knees before
+him, and, without further ceremony, proceeded to draw
+over his foot one of the mocassins she had just
+relinquished.
+
+"The feet of the Saganaw are soft as those of a young
+child," she remarked, in a voice of commiseration; "but
+the mocassins of Oucanasta shall protect them from the
+thorns of the forest."
+
+This was too un-European,--too much reversing the
+established order of things, to be borne patiently. As
+if he had felt the dignity of his manhood offended by
+the proposal, the officer drew his foot hastily back,
+declaring, as he sprang from the log, he did not care
+for the thorns, and could not think of depriving a female,
+who must be much more sensible of pain than himself.
+
+Oucanasta, however, was not to be outdone in politeness.
+She calmly reseated herself on the log, drew her right
+foot over her left knee, caught one of the hands of her
+companion, and placing it upon the naked sole, desired
+him to feel how impervious to attack of every description
+was that indurated portion of the lower limb.
+
+This practical argument was not without its weight, and
+had more effect in deciding the officer than a volume of
+remonstrance. Most men love to render tribute to a delicate
+and pretty foot. Some, indeed, go so far as to connect
+every thing feminine with these qualities, and to believe
+that nothing can be feminine without them. For our parts,
+we confess, that, although no enemies to a pretty foot,
+it is by no means a sine qua non in our estimate of female
+perfection; being in no way disposed, where the head and
+heart are gems, to undervalue these in consideration of
+any deficiency in the heels. Captain de Haldimar probably
+thought otherwise; for when he had passed his unwilling
+hand over the foot of Oucanasta, which, whatever her face
+might have been, was certainly any thing but delicate,
+and encountered numerous ragged excrescences and raspy
+callosities that set all symmetry at defiance, a wonderful
+revolution came over his feelings; and, secretly determining
+the mocassins would be equally well placed on his own
+feet, he no longer offered any opposition.
+
+This important point arranged, the officer once more
+followed his guide in silence. Gradually the forest, as
+they advanced, became lighter with the lurid atmosphere
+before alluded to; and at length, through the trees,
+could be indistinctly seen the Indian fires from which
+it proceeded. The young man was now desired by his
+conductress to use the utmost circumspection in making
+the circuit of the wood, in order to gain a position
+immediately opposite to the point where the path they
+had hitherto pursued terminated in the opening. This,
+indeed, was the most dangerous and critical part of the
+undertaking. A false step, or the crackling of a decayed
+branch beneath the foot, would have been sufficient to
+betray proximity, in which case his doom was sealed.
+
+Fortunate did he now deem himself in having yielded to
+the counsel of his guide. Had he retained his unbending
+boot, it must have crushed whatever it pressed; whereas,
+the pliant mocassin, yielding to the obstacles it
+encountered, enabled him to pass noiselessly over them.
+Still, while exempt from danger on this score, another,
+scarcely less perplexing, became at every instant more
+obvious; for, as they drew nearer to the point which the
+female sought to gain, the dim light of the half-slumbering
+fires fell so immediately upon their path, that had a
+single human eye been turned in that direction, their
+discovery was inevitable. It was with a beating heart,
+to which mere personal fear, however, was a stranger,
+that Captain de Haldimar performed this concluding stage
+of his adventurous course; but, at a moment when he
+considered detection unavoidable, and was arming himself
+with resolution to meet the event, the female suddenly
+halted, placing, in the act, the trunk of an enormous
+beech between her companion and the dusky forms within,
+whose very breathing could be heard by the anxious officer.
+Without uttering a word, she took his hand, and, drawing
+him gently forward, disappeared altogether from his view.
+The young man followed, and in the next moment found
+himself in the bowelless body of the tree itself; into
+which, on the side of the encampment, both light and
+sound were admitted by a small aperture formed by the
+natural decay of the wood.
+
+The Indian pressed her lips to the ear of her companion,
+and rather breathed than said,--"The Saganaw will see
+and hear every thing from this in safety; and what he
+hears let him treasure in his heart. Oucanasta must go.
+When the council is over she will return, and lead him
+back to his warriors."
+
+With this brief intimation she departed, and so noiselessly,
+that the young officer was not aware of her absence until
+some minutes of silence had satisfied him she must be
+gone. His first care then was to survey, through the
+aperture that lay in a level with his eye, the character
+of the scene before him. The small plain, in which lay
+the encampment of the Indians, was a sort of oasis of
+the forest, girt round with a rude belt of underwood,
+and somewhat elevated, so as to present the appearance
+of a mound, constructed on the first principles of art.
+This was thickly although irregularly studded with tents,
+some of which were formed of large coarse mats thrown
+over poles disposed in a conical shape, while others were
+more rudely composed of the leafy branches of the forest.
+
+Within these groups of human forms lay, wrapped in their
+blankets, stretched at their lazy length. Others, with
+their feet placed close to the dying embers of their
+fires, diverged like so many radii from their centre,
+and lay motionless in sleep, as if life and consciousness
+were wholly extinct. Here and there was to be seen a
+solitary warrior securing, with admirable neatness, and
+with delicate ligatures formed of the sinew of the deer,
+the guiding feather, or fashioning the bony barb of his
+long arrow; while others, with the same warlike spirit
+in view, employed themselves in cutting and greasing
+small patches of smoked deerskin, which were to secure
+and give a more certain direction to the murderous bullet.
+Among the warriors were interspersed many women, some of
+whom might be seen supporting in their laps the heavy
+heads of their unconscious helpmates, while they occupied
+themselves, by the firelight, in parting the long black
+matted hair, and maintaining a destructive warfare against
+the pigmy inhabitants of that dark region. These signs
+of life and activity in the body of the camp generally
+were, however, but few and occasional; but, at the spot
+where Captain de Haldimar stood concealed, the scene was
+different. At a few yards from the tree stood a sort of
+shed, composed of tall poles placed upright in the earth,
+and supporting a roof formed simply of rude boughs, the
+foliage of which had been withered by time. This simple
+edifice might be about fifty feet in circumference. In
+the centre blazed a large fire that had been newly fed,
+and around this were assembled a band of swarthy warriors,
+some twenty or thirty in number, who, by their proud,
+calm, and thoughtful bearing, might at once be known to
+be chiefs.
+
+The faces of most of these were familiar to the young
+officer, who speedily recognised them for the principals
+of the various tribes Ponteac had leagued in arms against
+his enemies. That chief himself, ever remarkable for
+his haughty eye and commanding gesture, was of the number
+of those present; and, a little aloof from his inferiors,
+sat, with his feet stretched towards the fire, and half
+reclining on his side in an attitude of indolence; yet
+with his mind evidently engrossed by deep and absorbing
+thought. From some observations that distinctly met his
+ear, Captain de Haldimar gathered, the party were only
+awaiting the arrival of an important character, without
+whose presence the leading chief was unwilling the
+conference should begin. The period of the officer's
+concealment had just been long enough to enable him to
+fix all these particulars in his mind, when suddenly the
+faint report of a distant rifle was heard echoing throughout
+the wood. This was instantly succeeded by a second, that
+sounded more sharply on the ear; and then followed a long
+and piercing cry, that brought every warrior, even of
+those who slept, quickly to his feet.
+
+An anxious interval of some minutes passed away in the
+fixed and listening attitudes, which the chiefs especially
+had assumed, when a noise resembling that of some animal
+forcing its way rapidly through the rustling branches,
+was faintly heard in the direction in which the shots
+had been fired. This gradually increased as it evidently
+approached the encampment, and then, distinctly, could
+be heard the light yet unguarded boundings of a human
+foot. At every moment the rustling of the underwood,
+rapidly divided by the approaching form, became more
+audible; and so closely did the intruder press upon the
+point in which Captain de Haldimar was concealed, that
+that officer, fancying he had been betrayed, turned
+hastily round, and, grasping one of the pistols he had
+secreted in his chest, prepared himself for a last and
+deadly encounter. An instant or two was sufficient to
+re-assure him. The form glided hastily past, brushing
+the tree with its garments in its course, and clearing,
+at a single bound, the belt of underwood that divided
+the encampment from the tall forest, stood suddenly among
+the group of anxious and expectant chiefs.
+
+This individual, a man of tall stature, was powerfully
+made. He wore a jerkin, or hunting-coat, of leather; and
+his arms were, a rifle which had every appearance of
+having just been discharged, a tomahawk reeking with
+blood, and a scalping-knife, which, in the hurry of some
+recent service it had been made to perform, had missed
+its sheath, and was thrust naked into the belt that
+encircled his loins. His countenance wore an expression
+of malignant triumph; and as his eye fell on the assembled
+throng, its self-satisfied and exulting glance seemed to
+give them to understand he came not without credentials
+to recommend him to their notice. Captain de Haldimar
+was particularly struck by the air of bold daring and
+almost insolent recklessness pervading every movement of
+this man; and it was difficult to say whether the
+haughtiness of bearing peculiar to Ponteac himself, was
+not exceeded by that of this herculean warrior.
+
+By the body of chiefs his appearance had been greeted
+with a mere general grunt of approbation; but the
+countenance of the leader expressed a more personal
+interest. All seemed to expect he had something of moment
+to communicate; but as it was not consistent with the
+dignity of Indian etiquette to enquire, they waited calmly
+until it should please their new associate to enter on
+the history of his exploits. In pursuance of an invitation
+from Ponteac, he now took his seat on the right hand of
+that chief, and immediately facing the tree, from which
+Captain de Haldimar, strongly excited both by the reports
+of the shots that had been fired, and the sight of the
+bloody tomahawk of the recently arrived Indian, gazed
+earnestly and anxiously on the swarthy throng.
+
+Glancing once more triumphantly round the circle, who
+sat smoking their pipes in calm and deliberative silence,
+the latter now observed the eye of a young chief, who
+sat opposite to him, intently riveted on his left shoulder.
+He raised his hand to the part, withdrew it, looked at
+it, and found it wet with blood. A slight start of surprise
+betrayed his own unconsciousness of the accident; yet,
+secretly vexed at the discovery which had been made, and
+urged probably by one of his wayward fits, he demanded
+haughtily and insultingly of the young chief, if that
+was the first time he had ever looked on the blood of a
+warrior.
+
+"Does my brother feel pain?" was the taunting reply. "If
+he is come to us with a trophy, it is not without being
+dearly bought. The Saganaw has spilt his blood."
+
+"The weapons of the Saganaw, like those of the smooth
+face of the Ottawa, are without sting," angrily retorted
+the other. "They only prick the skin like a thorn; but
+when Wacousta drinks the blood of his enemy," and he
+glanced his eye fiercely at the young man, "it is the
+blood next his heart."
+
+"My brother has always big words upon his lips," returned
+the young chief, with a scornful sneer at the implied
+threat against himself. "But where are his proofs?"
+
+For a moment the eye of the party thus challenged kindled
+into flame, while his lips were firmly compressed together;
+and as he half bent himself forward, to scan with greater
+earnestness the features of his questioner, his right
+hand sank to his left side, tightly grasping the handle
+of his scalping-knife. The action was but momentary.
+Again he drew himself up, puffed the smoke deliberately
+from his bloody tomahawk, and, thrusting his right hand
+into his bosom, drew leisurely forth a reeking scalp,
+which he tossed insolently across the fire into the lap
+of the young chief. A loud and general "ugh!" testified
+the approbation of the assembled group, at the unequivocal
+answer thus given to the demand of the youth. The eye
+of the huge warrior sparkled with a deep and ferocious
+exultation.
+
+"What says the smooth face of the Ottawas now?" he
+demanded, in the same insolent strain. "Does it make his
+heart sick to look upon the scalp of a great chief?"
+
+The young man quietly turned the horrid trophy over
+several times in his hand, examining it attentively in
+every part. Then tossing it back with contemptuous coolness
+to its owner, he replied,--
+
+"The eyes of my brother are weak with age. He is not
+cunning, like a red skin. The Ottawa has often seen the
+Saganaw in their fort, and he knows their chiefs have
+fine hair like women; but this is like the bristles of
+the fox. My brother has not slain a great chief, but a
+common warrior."
+
+A flush of irrepressible and threatening anger passed
+over the features of the vast savage.
+
+"Is it for a boy," he fiercely asked, "whose eyes know
+not yet the colour of blood, to judge of the enemies that
+fall by the tomahawk of Wacousta? but a great warrior
+never boasts of actions that he does not achieve. It is
+the son of the great chief of the Saganaw whom he has
+slain. If the smooth face doubts it, and has courage to
+venture, even at night, within a hundred yards of the
+fort, he will see a Saganaw without a scalp; and he will
+know that Saganaw by his dress--the dress," he pursued,
+with a low emphatic laugh, "that Oucanasta, the sister
+of the smooth face, loved so much to look upon."
+
+Quicker than thought was the upspringing of the young
+Indian to his feet. With a cheek glowing, an eye flashing,
+and his gleaming tomahawk whirling rapidly round his
+head, he cleared at a single bound the fire that separated
+him from his insulter. The formidable man who had thus
+wantonly provoked the attack, was equally prompt in
+meeting it. At the first movement of the youth, he too
+had leapt to his feet, and brandished the terrible weapon
+that served in the double capacity of pipe and hatchet.
+A fierce yell escaped the lips of each, as they thus met
+in close and hostile collision, and the scene for the
+moment promised to be one of the most tragic character;
+but before either could find an assailable point on which
+to rest his formidable weapon, Ponteac himself had thrown
+his person between them, and in a voice of thunder
+commanded the instant abandonment of their purpose.
+Exasperated even as they now mutually were, the influence
+of that authority, for which the great chief of the
+Ottawas was well known, was not without due effect on
+the combatants. His anger was principally directed against
+the assailant, on whom the tones of his reproving voice
+produced a change the intimidation of his powerful opponent
+could never have effected. The young chief dropped the
+point of his tomahawk, bowed his head in submission, and
+then resuming his seat, sat during the remainder of the
+night with his arms folded, and his head bent in silence
+over his chest.
+
+"Our brother has done well," said Ponteac, glancing
+approvingly at him who had exhibited the reeking trophy,
+and whom he evidently favoured. "He is a great chief,
+and his words are truth. We heard the report of his rifle,
+and we also heard the cry that told he had borne away
+the scalp of an enemy. But we will think of this to-morrow.
+Let us now commence our talk."
+
+Our readers will readily imagine the feelings of Captain
+de Haldimar during this short but exciting scene. From
+the account given by the warrior, there could be no doubt
+the murdered man was the unhappy Donellan; who, probably,
+neglecting the caution given him, had exposed himself to
+the murderous aim of this fierce being, who was apparently
+a scout sent for the purpose of watching the movements
+of the garrison. The direction of the firing, the allusion
+made to the regimentals, nay, the scalp itself, which he
+knew from the short crop to be that of a soldier, and
+fancied he recognised from its colour to be that of his
+servant, formed but too conclusive evidence of the fact;
+and, bitterly and deeply, as he gazed on this melancholy
+proof of the man's sacrifice of life to his interest,
+did he repent that he had made him the companion of his
+adventure, or that, having done so, he had not either
+brought him away altogether, or sent him instantly back
+to the fort. Commiseration for the fate of the unfortunate
+Donellan naturally induced a spirit of personal hostility
+towards his destroyer; and it was with feelings strongly
+excited in favour of him whom he now discovered to be
+the brother of his guide, that he saw him spring fiercely
+to the attack of his gigantic opponent. There was an
+activity about the young chief amply commensurate with
+the greater physical power of his adversary; while the
+manner in which he wielded his tomahawk, proved him to
+be any thing but the novice in the use of the formidable
+weapon the other had represented him. It was with a
+feeling of disappointment, therefore, which the peculiarity
+of his own position could not overcome, he saw Ponteac
+interpose himself between the parties.
+
+Presently, however, a subject of deeper and more absorbing
+interest than even the fate of his unhappy follower
+engrossed every faculty of his mind, and riveted both
+eye and ear in painful tension to the aperture in his
+hiding-place. The chiefs had resumed their places, and
+the silence of a few minutes had succeeded to the fierce
+affray of the warriors, when Ponteac, in a calm and
+deliberate voice, proceeded to state he had summoned all
+the heads of the nations together, to hear a plan he had
+to offer for the reduction of the last remaining forts
+of their enemies, Michilimackinac and Detroit. He pointed
+out the tediousness of the warfare in which they were
+engaged; the desertion of the hunting-grounds by their
+warriors; and their consequent deficiency in all those
+articles of European traffic which they were formerly in
+the habit of receiving in exchange for their furs. He
+dwelt on the beneficial results that would accrue to them
+all in the event of the reduction of those two important
+fortresses; since, in that case, they would be enabled
+to make such terms with the English as would secure to
+them considerable advantages; while, instead of being
+treated with the indignity of a conquered people, they
+would be enabled to command respect from the imposing
+attitude this final crowning of their successes would
+enable them to assume. He stated that the prudence and
+vigilance of the commanders of these two unreduced
+fortresses were likely long to baffle, as had hitherto
+been the case, every open attempt at their capture; and
+admitted he had little expectation of terrifying them
+into a surrender by the same artifice that had succeeded
+with the forts on the Ohio and the lower lakes. The plan,
+however, which he had to propose, was one he felt assured
+would be attended with success. He would disclose that
+plan, and the great chiefs should give it the advantage
+of their deliberation.
+
+Captain de Haldimar was on the rack. The chief had
+gradually dropped his voice as he explained his plan,
+until at length it became so low, that undistinguishable
+sounds alone reached the ear of the excited officer. For
+a moment he despaired of making himself fully master of
+the important secret; but in the course of the deliberation
+that ensued, the blanks left unsupplied in the discourse
+of the leader were abundantly filled up. It was what the
+reader has already seen. The necessities of the Indians
+were to be urged as a motive for their being tired of
+hostilities. A peace was to be solicited; a council held;
+a ball-playing among the warriors proposed, as a mark of
+their own sincerity and confidence during that council;
+and when the garrison, lulled into security, should be
+thrown entirely off their guard, the warriors were to
+seize their guns and tomahawks, with which (the former
+cut short, for the better concealment of their purpose)
+their women would be provided, rush in, under pretext of
+regaining their lost ball, when a universal massacre of
+men, women, and children was to ensue, until nothing
+wearing the garb of a Saganaw should be left.
+
+It would be tedious to follow the chief through all the
+minor ramifications of his subtle plan. Suffice it they
+were of a nature to throw the most wary off his guard;
+and so admirably arranged was every part, so certain did
+it appear their enemies must give into the snare, that
+the oldest chiefs testified their approbation with a
+vivacity of manner and expression little wont to
+characterize the deliberative meetings of these reserved
+people. But deepest of all was the approval of the tall
+warrior who had so recently arrived. To him had the
+discourse of the leader been principally directed, as
+one whose counsel and experience were especially wanting
+to confirm him in his purpose. He was the last who spoke;
+but, when he did, it was with a force--an energy--that
+must have sunk every objection, even if the plan had not
+been so perfect and unexceptionable in its concoction as
+to have precluded a possibility of all negative argument.
+During the delivery of his animated speech, his swarthy
+countenance kindled into fierce and rapidly varying
+expression. A thousand dark and complicated passions
+evidently struggled at his heart; and as he dwelt leisurely
+and emphatically on the sacrifice of human life that must
+inevitably attend the adoption of the proposed measure,
+his eye grew larger, his chest expanded, nay, his very
+nostril appeared to dilate with unfathomably guileful
+exultation. Captain de Haldimar thought he had never
+gazed on any thing wearing the human shape half so
+atrociously savage.
+
+Long before the council was terminated, the inferior
+warriors, who had been so suddenly aroused from their
+slumbering attitudes, had again retired to their tents,
+and stretched their lazy length before the embers of
+their fires. The weary chiefs now prepared to follow
+their example. They emptied the ashes from the bowls of
+their pipe-tomahawks, replaced them carefully at their
+side, rose, and retired to their respective tents. Ponteac
+and the tall warrior alone remained. For a time they
+conversed earnestly together. The former listened
+attentively to some observations made to him by his
+companion, in the course of which, the words "chief of
+the Saganaw--fort--spy--enemy," and two or three others
+equally unconnected, were alone audible to the ear of
+him who so attentively sought to catch the slightest
+sound. He then thrust his hand under his hunting-coat,
+and, as if in confirmation of what he had been stating,
+exhibited a coil of rope and the glossy boot of an English
+officer. Ponteac uttered one of his sharp ejaculating
+"ughs!" and then rising quickly from his seat, followed
+by his companion, soon disappeared in the heart of the
+encampment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+How shall we attempt to paint all that passed through
+the mind of Captain de Haldimar during this important
+conference of the fierce chiefs?--where find language to
+convey the cold and thrilling horror with which he listened
+to the calm discussion of a plan, the object of which
+was the massacre, not only of a host of beings endeared
+to him by long communionship of service, but of those
+who were wedded to his heart by the dearer ties of
+affection and kindred? As Ponteac had justly observed,
+the English garrisons, strong in their own defences, were
+little likely to be speedily reduced, while their enemies
+confined themselves to overt acts of hostility; but,
+against their insidious professions of amity who could
+oppose a sufficient caution? His father, the young officer
+was aware, had all along manifested a spirit of conciliation
+towards the Indians, which, if followed up by the government
+generally, must have had the effect of preventing the
+cruel and sanguinary war that had so recently desolated
+this remote part of the British possessions. How likely,
+therefore, was it, having this object always in view, he
+should give in to the present wily stratagem, where such
+plausible motives for the abandonment of their hostile
+purpose were urged by the perfidious chiefs! From the
+few hasty hints already given him by his guide,--that
+kind being, who evidently sought to be the saviour of
+the devoted garrisons,--he had gathered that a deep and
+artful plan was to be submitted to the chiefs by their
+leader; but little did he imagine it was of the finished
+nature it now proved to be. Any other than the present
+attempt, the vigilance and prudence of his experienced
+father, he felt, would have rendered abortive; but there
+was so much speciousness in the pleas that were to be
+advanced in furtherance of their assumed object, he could
+not but admit the almost certainty of their influence,
+even on him.
+
+Sick and discouraged as he was at the horrible perspective
+thus forced on his mental view, the young officer had
+not, for some moments, presence of mind to reflect that
+the danger of the garrison existed only so long as he
+should be absent from it. At length, however, the cheering
+recollection came, and with it the mantling rush of blood,
+to his faint heart. But, short was the consoling hope:
+again he felt dismay in every fibre of his frame; for he
+now reflected, that although his opportune discovery of
+the meditated scheme would save one fort, there was no
+guardian angel to extend, as in this instance, its
+protecting influence to the other; and within that other
+there breathed those who were dearer far to him than his
+own existence;--beings, whose lives were far more precious
+to him than any even in the garrison of which he was a
+member. His sister Clara, whom he loved with a love little
+inferior to that of his younger brother; and one, even
+more dearly loved than Clara,--Madeline de Haldimar, his
+cousin and affianced bride,--were both inmates of
+Michilimackinac, which was commanded by the father of
+the latter, a major in the ---- regiment. With Madeline
+de Haldimar he had long since exchanged his vows of
+affection; and their nuptials, which were to have taken
+place about the period when the present war broke out,
+had only been suspended because all communication between
+the two posts had been entirely cut off by the enemy.
+
+Captain de Haldimar had none of the natural weakness and
+timidity of character which belonged to the gentler and
+more sensitive Charles. Sanguine and full of enterprise,
+he seldom met evils half way; but when they did come, he
+sought to master them by the firmness and collectedness
+with which he opposed his mind to their infliction. If
+his heart was now racked with the most acute suffering--his
+reason incapacitated from exercising its calm deliberative
+power, the seeming contradiction arose not from any
+deficiency in his character, but was attributable wholly
+to the extraordinary circumstances of the moment.
+
+It was a part of the profound plan of the Ottawa chief,
+that it should be essayed on the two forts on the same
+day; and it was a suggestion of the murderer of poor
+Donellan, that a parley should be obtained, through the
+medium of a white flag, the nature of which he explained
+to them, as it was understood among their enemies. If
+invited to the council, then they were to enter, or not,
+as circumstances might induce; but, in any case, they
+were to go unprovided with the pipe of peace, since this
+could not be smoked without violating every thing held
+most sacred among themselves. The red, or war-pipe, was
+to be substituted as if by accident; and, for the success
+of the deception, they were to presume on the ignorance
+of their enemies. This, however, was not important, since
+the period of their first parley was to be the moment
+chosen for the arrangement of a future council, and the
+proposal of a ball-playing upon the common. Three days
+were to be named as the interval between the first
+conference of Ponteac with the governor and the definitive
+council which was to ensue; during which, however, it
+was so arranged, that, before the lip of a red skin should
+touch the pipe of peace, the ball-players should rush in
+and massacre the unprepared soldiery, while the chiefs
+despatched the officers in council.
+
+It was the proximity of the period allotted for the
+execution of their cruel scheme that mainly contributed
+to the dismay of Captain de Haldimar. The very next day
+was appointed for carrying into effect the first part of
+the Indian plan: and how was it possible that a messenger,
+even admitting he should elude the vigilance of the enemy,
+could reach the distant post of Michilimackinac within
+the short period on which hung the destiny of that devoted
+fortress. In the midst of the confused and distracting
+images that now crowded on his brain, came at length one
+thought, redolent with the brightest colourings of hope.
+On his return to the garrison, the treachery of the
+Indians being made known, the governor might so far, and
+with a view of gaining time, give in to the plan of his
+enemies, as to obtain such delay as would afford the
+chance of communication between the forts. The attempt,
+on the part of those who should be selected for this
+purpose, would, it is true, be a desperate one: still
+it must be made; and, with such incentives to exertion
+as he had, how willingly would he propose his own services!
+
+The more he dwelt on this mode of defeating the subtle
+designs of the enemy, the more practicable did it appear.
+Of his own safe return to the fort he entertained not a
+doubt; for he knew and relied on the Indian woman, who
+was bound to him by a tie of gratitude, which her conduct
+that night evidently denoted to be superior even to the
+interests of her race. Moreover, as he had approached
+the encampment unnoticed while the chiefs were yet awake
+to every thing around them, how little probability was
+there of his return being detected while all lay wrapped
+in the most profound repose. It is true that, for a
+moment, his confidence deserted him as he recurred to
+the earnest dialogue of the two Indians, and the sudden
+display of the rope and boot, the latter of which articles
+he had at once recognised to be one of those he had so
+recently worn; but his apprehensions on that score were
+again speedily set to rest, when he reflected, had any
+suspicion existed in the minds of these men that an enemy
+was lurking near them, a general alarm would have been
+spread, and hundreds of warriors despatched to scour the
+forest.
+
+The night was now rapidly waning away, and already the
+cold damp air of an autumnal morning was beginning to
+make itself felt. More than half an hour had elapsed
+since the departure of Ponteac and his companion, and
+yet Oucanasta came not. With a sense of the approach of
+day came new and discouraging thoughts, and, for some
+minutes, the mind of the young officer became petrified
+with horror, as he reflected on the bare possibility of
+his escape being intercepted. The more he lingered on
+this apprehension, the more bewildered were his ideas;
+and already, in horrible perspective, he beheld the
+destruction of his nearest and dearest friends, and the
+host of those who were humbler followers, and partakers
+in the same destiny. Absolutely terrified with the
+misgivings of his own heart, he, in the wildness and
+unconnectedness of his purpose, now resolved to make the
+attempt to return alone, although he knew not even the
+situation of the path he had so recently quitted. He had
+actually moved a pace forward on his desperate enterprise,
+when he felt a band touching the extended arm with which
+he groped to find the entrance to his hiding-place. The
+unexpected collision sent a cold shudder through his
+frame; and such was the excitement to which he had worked
+himself up, it was not without difficulty he suppressed
+an exclamation, that must inevitably have sealed his
+doom. The soft tones of Oucanasta's voice re-assured him.
+
+"The day will soon dawn," she whispered; "the Saganaw
+must go."
+
+With the return of hope came the sense of all he owed to
+the devotedness of this kind woman. He grasped the hand
+that still lingered on his arm, pressed it affectionately
+in his own, and then placed it in silence on his throbbing
+heart. The breathing of Oucanasta became deeper, and the
+young officer fancied he could feel her trembling with
+agitation. Again, however, and in a tone of more subdued
+expression, she whispered that he must go.
+
+There was little urging necessary to induce a prompt
+compliance with the hint. Cautiously emerging from his
+concealment, Captain de Haldimar now followed close in
+the rear of his guide, who took the same circuit of the
+forest to reach the path that led towards the fort. This
+they speedily gained, and then pursued their course in
+silence, until they at length arrived at the log where
+the exchange of mocassins had been made.
+
+"Here the Saganaw may take breath," she observed, as she
+seated herself on the fallen tree; "the sleep of the red
+skin is sound, and there is no one upon the path but
+Oucanasta."
+
+Anxious as he felt to secure his return to the fort,
+there was an implied solicitation in the tones of her to
+whom he owed so much, that prevented Captain de Haldimar
+from offering an objection, which he feared might be
+construed into slight.
+
+For a moment or two the Indian remained with her arms
+folded, and her head bent over her chest; and then, in
+a low, deep, but tremulous voice, observed,--
+
+"When the Saganaw saved Oucanasta from perishing in the
+angry waters, there was a girl of the pale faces with
+him, whose skin was like the snows of the Canadian winter,
+and whose hair was black like the fur of the squirrel.
+Oucanasta saw," she pursued, dropping her voice yet lower,
+"that the Saganaw was loved by the pale girl, and her
+own heart was very sick, for the Saganaw had saved her
+life, and she loved him too. But she knew she was very
+foolish, and that an Indian girl could never be the wife
+of a handsome chief of the Saganaw; and she prayed to
+the Great Spirit of the red skins to give her strength
+to overcome her feelings; but the Great Spirit was angry
+with her, and would not hear her." She paused a moment,
+and then abruptly demanded, "Where is that pale girl now?"
+
+Captain de Haldimar had often been rallied, not only by
+his brother-officers, but even by his sister and Madeline
+de Haldimar herself, on the conquest he had evidently
+made of the heart of this Indian girl. The event to which
+she had alluded had taken place several months previous
+to the breaking out of hostilities. Oucanasta was
+directing her frail bark, one evening, along the shores
+of the Detroit, when one of those sudden gusts of wind,
+so frequent in these countries, upset the canoe, and left
+its pilot struggling amid the waves. Captain de Haldimar,
+who happened to be on the bank at the moment with his
+sister and cousin, was an eye-witness of her danger, and
+instantly flew down the steep to her assistance. Being
+an excellent swimmer, he was not long in gaining the
+spot, where, exhausted with the exertion she had made,
+and encumbered with her awkward machecoti, the poor girl
+was already on the point of perishing. But for his timely
+assistance, indeed, she must have sunk to the bottom;
+and, since that period, the grateful being had been
+remarked for the strong but unexpressed attachment she
+felt for her deliverer. This, however, was the first
+moment Captain de Haldimar became acquainted with the
+extent of feelings, the avowal of which not a little
+startled and surprised, and even annoyed him. The last
+question, however, suggested a thought that kindled every
+fibre of his being into expectancy,--Oucanasta might be
+the saviour of those he loved; and he felt that, if time
+were but afforded her, she would. He rose from the log,
+dropped on one knee before the Indian, seized both her
+hands with eagerness, and then in tones of earnest
+supplication whispered,--
+
+"Oucanasta is right: the pale girl with the skin like
+snow, and hair like the fur of the squirrel, is the bride
+of the Saganaw. Long before he saved the life of Oucanasta,
+he knew and loved that pale girl. She is dearer to the
+Saganaw than his own blood; but she is in the fort beyond
+the great lake, and the tomahawks of the red skins will
+destroy her; for the warriors of that fort have no one
+to tell them of their danger. What says the red girl?
+will she go and save the lives of the sister and the wife
+of the Saganaw."
+
+The breathing of the Indian became deeper; and Captain
+de Haldimar fancied she sighed heavily, as she replied,--
+
+"Oucanasta is but a weak woman, and her feet are not
+swift like those of a runner among the red skins; but
+what the Saganaw asks, for his sake she will try. When
+she has seen him safe to his own fort, she will go and
+prepare herself for the journey. The pale girl shall lay
+her head on the bosom of the Saganaw, and Oucanasta will
+try to rejoice in her happiness."
+
+In the fervour of his gratitude, the young officer caught
+the drooping form of the generous Indian wildly to his
+heart; his lips pressed hers, and during the kiss that
+followed, the heart of the latter bounded and throbbed,
+as if it would have passed from her own into the bosom
+of her companion.
+
+Never was a kiss less premeditated, less unchaste.
+Gratitude, not passion, had called it forth; and had
+Madeline de Haldimar been near at the moment, the feeling
+that had impelled the seeming infidelity to herself would
+have been regarded as an additional claim on her affection.
+On the whole, however, it was a most unfortunate and
+ill-timed kiss, and, as is often the case under such
+circumstances, led to the downfall of the woman. In the
+vivacity of his embrace, Captain de Haldimar had drawn
+his guide so far forward upon the log, that she lost her
+balance, and fell with a heavy and reverberating crash
+among the leaves and dried sticks that were strewed
+thickly around.
+
+Scarcely a second elapsed when the forest was alive with
+human yells, that fell achingly on the ears of both; and
+bounding warriors were heard on every hand, rapidly
+dividing the dense underwood they encountered in their
+pursuit.
+
+Quick as thought the Indian had regained her feet. She
+grasped the hand of her companion; and hurrying, though
+not without caution, along the path, again stood on the
+brow of the ravine through which they had previously
+passed.
+
+"The Saganaw must go alone," she whispered. "The red
+skins are close upon our trail, but they will find only
+an Indian woman, when they expect a pale face. Oucanasta
+will save her friend."
+
+Captain de Haldimar did as he was desired. Clinging to
+the bushes that lined the face of the precipitous descent,
+he managed once more to gain the bed of the ravine. For
+a moment he paused to listen to the sounds of his pursuers,
+whose footsteps were now audible on the eminence he had
+just quitted; and then, gathering himself up for the leap
+that was to enable him to clear the rivulet, he threw
+himself heavily forward. His feet alighted upon an elevated
+and yielding substance, that gave way with a crashing
+sound that echoed far and near throughout the forest,
+and he felt himself secured as if in a trap. Although
+despairing of escape, he groped with his hands to discover
+what it was that thus detained him, and found he had
+fallen through a bark canoe, the bottom of which had been
+turned upwards. The heart of the fugitive now sank within
+him: there could be no doubt that his retreat was
+intercepted. The canoe had been placed there since he
+last passed through the ravine: and it was evident, from
+the close and triumphant yell that followed the rending
+of the frail bark, such a result had been anticipated.
+
+Stunned as he was by the terrific cries of the savages,
+and confused as were his ideas, Captain de Haldimar had
+still presence of mind to perceive the path itself offered
+him no further security. He therefore quitted it altogether,
+and struck, in an oblique direction, up the opposite face
+of the ravine. Scarcely had he gone twenty yards, when
+he heard the voices of several Indians conversing earnestly
+near the canoe he had just quitted; and presently afterwards
+he could distinctly hear them ascending the opposite brow
+of the ravine by the path he recently congratulated
+himself on having abandoned. To advance or to recede was
+now equally impracticable; for, on every side, he was
+begirt by enemies, into whose hands a single false step
+must inevitably betray him. What would he not have given
+for the presence of Oucanasta, who was so capable of
+advising him in this difficulty! but, from the moment of
+his descending into the ravine, he had utterly lost sight
+of her.
+
+The spot on which he now rested was covered with thick
+brushwood, closely interwoven at their tops, but affording
+sufficient space beneath for a temporary close concealment;
+so that, unless some Indian should touch him with his
+foot, there was little seeming probability of his being
+discovered by the eye. Under this he crept, and lay,
+breathless and motionless, with his head raised from the
+ground, and his ear on the stretch for the slightest
+noise. For several minutes he remained in this position,
+vainly seeking to catch the sound of a voice, or the fall
+of a footstep; but the most deathlike silence had succeeded
+to the fierce yellings that had so recently rent the
+forest. At times he fancied he could distinguish faint
+noises in the direction of the encampment; and so certain
+was he of this, he at length came to the conclusion that
+the Indians, either baffled in their search, had
+relinquished the pursuit, or, having encountered Oucanasta,
+had been thrown on a different scent. His first intention
+had been to lie concealed until the following night, when
+the warriors, no longer on the alert, should leave the
+path once more open to him; but now that the conviction
+of their return was strong on his mind, he changed his
+determination, resolving to make the best of his way to
+the fort with the aid of the approaching dawn. With this
+view he partly withdrew his body from beneath its canopy
+of underwood; but, scarcely had he done so, when a hundred
+tongues, like the baying of so many blood-hounds, again
+rent the air with their wild cries, which seemed to rise
+up from the very bowels of the earth, and close to the
+appalled ear of the young officer.
+
+Scarcely conscious of what he did, Captain de Haldimar
+grasped one of his pistols, for he fancied he felt the
+hot breathing of human life upon his cheek. With a sickly
+sensation of fear, he turned to satisfy himself whether
+it was not an illusion of his heated imagination. What,
+however, was his dismay, when he beheld bending over him
+a dark and heavy form, the outline of which alone was
+distinguishable in the deep gloom in which the ravine
+remained enveloped! Desperation was in the heart of the
+excited officer: he cocked his pistol; but scarcely had
+the sharp ticking sound floated on the air, when he felt
+a powerful hand upon his chest; and, with as much facility
+as if he had been a child, was he raised by that invisible
+hand to his feet. A dozen warriors now sprang to the
+assistance of their comrade, when the whole, having
+disarmed and bound their prisoner, led him back in triumph
+to their encampment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+The fires of the Indians were nearly now extinct; but
+the faint light of the fast dawning day threw a ghastly,
+sickly, hue over the countenances of the savages, which
+rendered them even more terrific in their war paint. The
+chiefs grouped themselves immediately around their
+prisoner, while the inferior warriors, forming an outer
+circle, stood leaning their dark forms upon their rifles,
+and following, with keen and watchful eye, every movement
+of their captive. Hitherto the unfortunate officer had
+been too much engrossed by his despair to pay any immediate
+attention to the individual who had first discovered and
+seized him. It was sufficient for him to know all hope
+of the safety of the garrison had perished with his
+captivity: and, with that recklessness of life which
+often springs from the very consciousness of inability
+to preserve it, he now sullenly awaited the death which
+he expected at each moment would be inflicted. Suddenly
+his ear was startled by an interrogatory, in English,
+from one who stood behind him.
+
+With a movement of surprise, Captain de Haldimar turned
+to examine his questioner. It was the dark and ferocious
+warrior who had exhibited the scalp of his ill-fated
+servant. For a moment the officer fixed his eyes firmly
+and unshrinkingly on those of the savage, seeking to
+reconcile the contradiction that existed between his
+dress and features and the purity of the English he had
+just spoken. The other saw his drift, and, impatient of
+the scrutiny, again repeated, as he fiercely pulled the
+strong leathern thong by which the prisoner now found
+himself secured to his girdle,--
+
+"Who and what are you?--whence come you?--and for what
+purpose are you here?" Then, as if struck by some sudden
+recollection, he laid his hand upon the shoulder of his
+victim; and, while his eye grew upon his features, he
+pursued, in a tone of vehemence,--"Ha! by Heaven, I
+should know that face!--the cursed lines of the blood
+of De Haldimar are stamped upon that brow! But stay, one
+proof and I am satisfied." While he yet spoke he dashed
+the menial hat of his captive to the earth, put aside
+his hair, and then, with fiendish exultation, pursued,--"It
+is even so. Do you recollect the battle of the plains of
+Abraham, Captain de Haldimar?--Recollect you the French
+officer who aimed so desperately at your life, and whose
+object was defeated by a soldier of your regiment? I am
+that officer: my victim escaped me then, but not for
+ever. The hour of vengeance is nearly now arrived, and
+your capture is the pledge of my success. Hark, how the
+death-cry of all his hated race will ring in madness on
+your father's ear!"
+
+Amazement, stupefaction, and horror, filled the mind of
+the wretched officer at this extraordinary declaration.
+He perfectly recollected that the individual who had
+evinced so much personal hostility on the occasion alluded
+to, was indeed a man wearing the French uniform, although
+at the head of a band of savages, and of a stature and
+strength similar to those of him who now so fiercely
+avowed himself the bitter and deadly foe of all his race.
+If this were so, and his tone and language left little
+room for doubt, the doom of the ill-fated garrison was
+indeed irrevocably sealed. This mysterious enemy evidently
+possessed great influence in the councils of the Indians;
+and while the hot breath of his hatred continued to fan
+the flame of fierce hostility that had been kindled in
+the bosom of Ponteac, whose particular friend he appeared
+to be, there would be no end to the atrocities that must
+follow. Great, however, as was the dismay of Captain de
+Haldimar, who, exhausted with the adventures of the night,
+presented a ghastly image of anxiety and fatigue, it was
+impossible for him to repress the feelings of indignation
+with which the language of this fierce man had inspired
+him.
+
+"If you are in reality a French officer," he said, "and
+not an Englishman, as your accent would denote, the
+sentiments you have now avowed may well justify the
+belief, that you have been driven with ignominy from a
+service which your presence must eternally have disgraced.
+There is no country in Europe that would willingly claim
+you for its subject. Nay, even the savage race, with whom
+you are now connected, would, if apprised of your true
+nature, spurn you as a thing unworthy to herd even with
+their wolf-dogs."
+
+A fierce sardonic laugh burst from the lips of the warrior,
+but this was so mingled with rage as to give an almost
+devilish expression to his features.
+
+"Ignominy--ignominy!" he repeated, while his right hand
+played convulsively with the handle of his tomahawk; "is
+it for a De Haldimar to taunt me with ignominy? Fool!"
+he pursued, after a momentary pause, "you have sealed
+your doom." Then abruptly quitting the handle of his
+weapon, he thrust his hand into his bosom, and again
+drawing forth the reeking scalp of Donellan, he dashed
+it furiously in the face of his prisoner. "Not two hours
+since," he exclaimed, "I cheered myself with the thought
+that the scalp of a De Haldimar was in my pouch. Now,
+indeed, do I glory in my mistake. The torture will be
+a more fitting death for you."
+
+Had an arm of the insulted soldier been at liberty, the
+offence would not have gone unavenged even there; for
+such was the desperation of his heart, that he felt he
+could have hugged the death struggle with his insolent
+captor, notwithstanding the fearful odds, nor quitted
+him until one or both should have paid the debt of fierce
+enmity with life. As it was he could only betray, by his
+flashing eye, excited look, and the impatient play of
+his foot upon the ground, the deep indignation that
+consumed his heart.
+
+The tall savage exulted in the mortification he had
+awakened, and as his eye glanced insolently from head to
+foot along his enemy, its expression told how much he
+laughed at the impotence of his anger. Suddenly, however,
+a change passed over his features. The mocassin of the
+officer had evidently attracted his attention, and he
+now demanded, in a more serious and imperative tone,--
+
+"Ha! what means this disguise? Who is the wretch whom I
+have slain, mistaking him for a nobler victim; and how
+comes it that an officer of the English garrison appears
+here in the garb of a servant? By heaven, it is so! you
+are come as a spy into the camp of the Indians to steal
+away the councils of the chiefs. Speak, what have you
+heard?"
+
+With these questions returned the calm and self-possession
+of the officer. He at once saw the importance of his
+answer, on which hung not merely his own last faint chance
+of safety, but that also of his generous deliverer.
+Struggling to subdue the disgust which he felt at holding
+converse with this atrocious monster, he asked in turn,--
+
+"Am I then the only one whom the warriors have overtaken
+in their pursuit?"
+
+"There was a woman, the sister of that boy," and he
+pointed contemptuously to the young chief who had so
+recently assailed him, and who now, in common with his
+followers, stood impatiently listening to a colloquy that
+was unintelligible to all. "Speak truly, was SHE not the
+traitress who conducted you here?"
+
+"Had you found me here," returned the officer, with
+difficulty repressing his feelings, "there might have
+been some ground for the assertion; but surely the councils
+of the chiefs could not be overheard at the distant point
+at which you discovered me."
+
+"Why then were you there in this disguise?--and who is
+he," again holding up the bloody scalp, "whom I have
+despoiled of this?"
+
+"There are few of the Ottawa Indians," returned Captain
+de Haldimar, "who are ignorant I once saved that young
+woman's life. Is it then so very extraordinary an attachment
+should have been the consequence? The man whom you slew
+was my servant. I had brought him out with me for protection
+during my interview with the woman, and I exchanged my
+uniform with him for the same purpose. There is nothing
+in this, however, to warrant the supposition of my being
+a spy."
+
+During the delivery of these more than equivocal sentences,
+which, however, he felt were fully justified by
+circumstances, the young officer had struggled to appear
+calm and confident; but, despite of his exertions, his
+consciousness caused his cheek to colour, and his eye to
+twinkle, beneath the searching glance of his ferocious
+enemy. The latter thrust his hand into his chest, and
+slowly drew forth the rope he had previously exhibited
+to Ponteac.
+
+"Do you think me a fool, Captain de Haldimar," he observed,
+sneeringly, "that you expect so paltry a tale to be palmed
+successfully on my understanding? An English officer is
+not very likely to run the risk of breaking his neck by
+having recourse to such a means of exit from a besieged
+garrison, merely to intrigue with an Indian woman, when
+there are plenty of soldiers' wives within, and that too
+at an hour when he knows the scouts of his enemies are
+prowling in the neighbourhood. Captain de Haldimar," he
+concluded, slowly and deliberately, "you have lied."
+
+Despite of the last insult, his prisoner remained calm.
+The very observation that had just been made afforded
+him a final hope of exculpation, which, if it benefited
+not himself, might still be of service to the generous
+Oucanasta.
+
+"The onus of such language," he observed coolly and with
+dignity, "falls not on him to whom it is addressed, but
+on him who utters it. Yet one who professes to have been
+himself a soldier, must see in this very circumstance a
+proof of my innocence. Had I been sent out as a spy to
+reconnoitre the movements, and to overhear the councils
+of our enemies, the gate would have been open for my
+egress; but that rope is in itself an evidence I must
+have stolen forth unknown to the garrison."
+
+Whether it was that the warrior had his own particular
+reasons for attaching truth to this statement, or that
+he merely pretended to do so, Captain de Haldimar saw
+with secret satisfaction his last argument was conclusive.
+
+"Well, be it so," retorted the savage, while a ferocious
+smile passed over his swarthy features; "but, whether
+you have been here as a spy, or have merely ventured out
+in prosecution of an intrigue, it matters not. Before
+the sun has travelled far in the meridian you die; and
+the tomahawk of your father's deadly foe--of--of--of
+Wacousta, as I am called, shall be the first to drink
+your blood."
+
+The officer made a final effort at mercy. "Who or what
+you are, or whence your hatred of my family, I know not,"
+he said; "but surely I have never injured you: wherefore,
+then, this insatiable thirst for my blood? If you are,
+indeed, a Christian and a soldier, let your heart be
+touched with humanity, and procure my restoration to my
+friends. You once attempted my life in honourable combat,
+why not wait, then, until a fitting opportunity shall
+give not a bound and defenceless victim to your steel,
+but one whose resistance may render him a conquest worthy
+of your arm?"
+
+"What! and be balked of the chance of my just revenge?
+Hear me, Captain de Haldimar," he pursued, in that low,
+quick, deep tone that told all the strong excitement of
+his heart:--"I have, it is true, no particular enmity to
+yourself, further than that you are a De Haldimar; but
+hell does not supply a feeling half so bitter as my enmity
+to your proud father; and months, nay years, have I passed
+in the hope of such an hour as this. For this have I
+forsworn my race, and become--what you now behold me--a
+savage both in garb and character. But this matters not,"
+he continued, fiercely and impatiently, "your doom is
+sealed; and before another sun has risen, your stern
+father's gaze shall be blasted with the sight of the
+mangled carcase of his first born. Ha! ha! ha!" and he
+laughed low and exultingly; "even now I think I see him
+withering, if heart so hard can wither, beneath this
+proof of my undying hate."
+
+"Fiend!--monster!--devil!" exclaimed the excited officer,
+now losing sight of all considerations of prudence in
+the deep horror inspired by his captor:--"Kill me--torture
+me--commit any cruelty on me, if such be your savage
+will; but outrage not humanity by the fulfilment of your
+last disgusting threat. Suffer not a father's heart to
+be agonised--a father's eye to be blasted--with a view
+of the mangled remains of him to whom he has given life."
+
+Again the savage rudely pulled the thong that bound his
+prisoner to his girdle, and removing his tomahawk from
+his belt, and holding its sullied point close under the
+eye of the former, exclaimed, as he bent eagerly over
+him,--
+
+"See you this, Captain de Haldimar? At the still hour of
+midnight, while you had abandoned your guard to revel in
+the arms of your Indian beauty, I stole into the fort by
+means of the same rope that you had used in quitting it.
+Unseen by the sentinels I gained your father's apartment.
+It was the first time we had met for twenty years; and
+I do believe that had the very devil presented himself
+in my place, he would have been received with fewer marks
+of horror. Oh, how that proud man's eye twinkled beneath
+this glittering blade! He attempted to call out, but my
+look paralysed his tongue, and cold drops of sweat stole
+rapidly down his brow and cheek. Then it was that my
+seared heart once more beat with the intoxication of
+triumph. Your father was alone and unarmed, and throughout
+the fort not a sound was to be heard, save the distant
+tread of the sentinels. I could have laid him dead, at
+my feet at a single blow, and yet have secured my retreat.
+But no, that was not my object. I came to taunt him with
+the promise of my revenge--to tell him the hour of my
+triumph was approaching fast; and, ha!" he concluded,
+laughing hideously as he passed his large rude hand
+through the wavy hair of the now uncovered officer," this
+is, indeed, a fair and unexpected first earnest of the
+full redemption of my pledge. No--no!" he continued, as
+if talking to himself, "he must not die. Tantulus-like,
+he shall have death ever apparently within his grasp;
+but, until all his race have perished before his eyes,
+he shall not attain it."
+
+Hitherto the Indians had preserved an attitude of calm,
+listening to the interrogatories put to the prisoner with
+that wonder and curiosity with which a savage people hear
+a language different from their own; and marking the
+several emotions that were elicited in the course of the
+animated colloquy of the pale faces. Gradually, however,
+they became impatient under its duration; and many of
+them, in the excitement produced by the fierce manner of
+him who was called Wacousta, fixed their dark eyes upon
+the captive, while they grasped the handles of their
+tomahawks, as if they would have disputed with the former
+the privilege of dying his weapon first in his blood.
+When they saw the warrior hold up his menacing blade to
+the eye of his victim, while he passed his hand through
+the redundant hair, they at once inferred the sacrifice
+was about to be completed, and rushing furiously forward,
+they bounded, and leaped, and yelled, and brandished
+their own weapons in the most appalling manner.
+
+Already had the unhappy officer given himself self up
+for lost; fifty bright tomahawks were playing about his
+head at the same instant, and death--that death which is
+never without terror to the young, however brave they
+may be in the hour of generous conflict--seemed to have
+arrived at last. He raised his eyes to Heaven, committing
+his soul to his God in the same silent prayer that he
+offered up for the preservation of his friends and
+comrades; and then bending them upon the earth, summoned
+all his collectedness and courage to sustain him through
+the trial. At the very moment, however when he expected
+to feel the crashing steel within his brain, he felt
+himself again violently pulled by the thong that secured
+his hands. In the next instant he was pressed close to
+the chest of his vast enemy, who, with one arm encircling
+his prisoner, and the other brandishing his fierce blade
+in rapid evolutions round his head, kept the yelling band
+at bay, with the evident unshaken determination to maintain
+his sole and acknowledged right to the disposal of his
+captive.
+
+For several moments the event appeared doubtful; but,
+notwithstanding his extreme agility in the use of a
+weapon, in the management of which he evinced all the
+dexterity of the most practised native, the odds were
+fearfully against Wacousta; and while his flashing eye
+and swelling chest betrayed his purpose rather to perish
+himself than suffer the infringement of his claim, it
+was evident that numbers must, in the end, prevail against
+him. On an appeal to Ponteac, however, of which he now
+suddenly bethought himself, the authority of the latter
+was successfully exerted, and he was again left in the
+full and undisturbed possession of his prisoner.
+
+A low and earnest conversation now ensued among the
+chiefs, in which, as before, Wacousta bore a principal
+part. When this was terminated, several Indians approached
+the unhappy officer, and unfastening the thong with which
+his hands were firmly and even painfully girt, deprived
+him both of coat, waistcoat, and shirt. He was then bound
+a second time in the same manner, his body besmeared with
+paint, and his head so disguised as to give him the
+caricature semblance of an Indian warrior. When these
+preparations were completed, he was led to the tree in
+which he had been previously concealed, and there firmly
+secured. Meanwhile Wacousta, at the head of a numerous
+band of warriors, had departed once more in the direction
+of the fort.
+
+With the rising of the sun now vanished all traces of
+the mist that had fallen since the early hours of morning,
+leaving the unfortunate officer ample leisure to survey
+the difficulties of his position. He had fancied, from
+the course taken by his guide the previous night, that
+the plain or oasis, as we have elsewhere termed it, lay
+in the very heart of the forest; but that route now proved
+to have been circuitous. The tree to which he was bound
+was one of a slight belt, separating the encampment from
+the open grounds which extended towards the river, and
+which was so thin and scattered on that side as to leave
+the clear silver waters of the Detroit visible at intervals.
+Oh, what would he not have given, at that cheering sight,
+to have had his limbs free, and his chance of life staked
+on the swiftness of his flight! While he had imagined
+himself begirt by interminable forest, he felt as one
+whose very thought to elude those who were, in some
+degree, the deities of that wild scene, must be paralysed
+in its first conception. But here was the vivifying,
+picture of civilised nature. Corn fields, although trodden
+down and destroyed--dwelling houses, although burnt or
+dilapidated--told of the existence of those who were of
+the same race with himself; and notwithstanding these
+had perished even as he must perish, still there was
+something in the aspect of the very ruins of their
+habitations which, contrasted with the solemn gloom of
+the forest, carried a momentary and indefinable consolation
+to his spirit. Then there was the ripe and teeming
+orchard, and the low whitewashed cabin of the Canadian
+peasant, to whom the offices of charity, and the duties
+of humanity, were no strangers; and who, although the
+secret enemies of his country, had no motive for personal
+hostility towards himself. Then, on the river itself,
+even at that early hour, was to be seen, fastened to the
+long stake driven into its bed, or secured by the rude
+anchor of stone appended to a cable of twisted bark, the
+light canoe or clumsy periagua of the peasant fisherman,
+who, ever and anon, drew up from its deep bosom the
+shoal-loving pickerel or pike, or white or black bass,
+or whatever other tenant of these waters might chance to
+affix itself to the traitorous hook. It is true that his
+view of these objects was only occasional and indistinct;
+but his intimate acquaintance with the localities beyond
+brought every thing before Captain de Haldimar's eye;
+and even while he sighed to think they were for ever cut
+off from his reach, he already, in idea, followed the
+course of flight he should pursue were the power but
+afforded him.
+
+From this train of painful and exciting thought the
+wretched captive was aroused, by a faint but continued
+yelling in a distant part of the forest, and in the
+direction that had been taken by Wacousta and his warriors.
+Then, after a short interval, came the loud booming of
+the cannon of the fort, carried on with a spirit and
+promptitude that told of some pressing and dangerous
+emergency, and fainter afterwards the sharp shrill reports
+of the rifles, bearing evidence the savages were already
+in close collision with the garrison. Various were the
+conjectures that passed rapidly through the mind of the
+young officer, during a firing that had called almost
+every Indian in the encampment away to the scene of
+action, save the two or three young Ottawas who had been
+left to guard his own person, and who lay upon the sward
+near him, with head erect and ear sharply set, listening
+to the startling sounds of conflict. What the motive of
+the hurried departure of the Indians was he knew not;
+but he had conjectured the object of the fierce Wacousta
+was to possess himself of the uniform in which his wretched
+servant was clothed, that no mistake might occur in his
+identity, when its true owner should be exhibited in it,
+within view of the fort, mangled and disfigured, in the
+manner that fierce and mysterious man had already
+threatened. It was exceedingly probable the body of
+Donellan had been mistaken for his own, and that in the
+anxiety of his father to prevent the Indians from carrying
+it off, the cannon had been directed to open upon them.
+But if this were the case, how were the reports of the
+rifles, and the fierce yellings that continued, save at
+intervals, to ring throughout the forest to be accounted
+for? The bullets of the Indians evidently could not reach
+the fort, and they were too wily, and attached too much
+value to their ammunition, to risk a shot that was not
+certain of carrying a wound with it. For a moment the
+fact itself flashed across his mind, and he attributed
+the fire of small arms to the attack and defence of a
+party that had been sent out for the purpose of securing
+the body, supposed to be his own; yet, if so, again how
+was he to account for his not hearing the report of a
+single musket? His ear was too well practised not to know
+the sharp crack of the rifle from the heavy dull discharge
+of the musket, and as yet the former only had been
+distinguishable, amid the intervals that ensued between
+each sullen booming of the cannon. While this impression
+continued on the mind of the anxious officer, he caught,
+with the avidity of desperation, at the faint and improbable
+idea that his companions might be able to penetrate to
+his place of concealment, and procure his liberation;
+but when he found the firing, instead of drawing nearer,
+was confined to the same spot, and even more fiercely
+kept up by the Indians towards the close, he again gave
+way to his despair, and resigning himself to his fate,
+no longer sought comfort in vain speculation as to its
+cause. His ear now caught the report of the last shell
+as it exploded, and then all was still and hushed, as if
+what he had so recently heard was but a dream.
+
+The first intimation given him of the return of the
+savages was the death howl, set up by the women within
+the encampment. Captain de Haldimar turned his eyes,
+instinct with terror, towards the scene, and beheld the
+warriors slowly issuing from the opposite side of the
+forest into the plain, and bearing in silence the dead
+and stiffened forms of those who had been cut down by
+the destructive fire from the fort. Their mien was sullen
+and revengeful, and more than one dark and gleaming eye
+did he encounter turned upon him, with an expression that
+seemed to say a separate torture should avenge the death
+of each of their fallen comrades.
+
+The early part of the morning wore away in preparation
+for the interment of the slain. These were placed in
+rows under the council shed, where they were attended by
+their female relatives, who composed the features and
+confined the limbs, while the gloomy warriors dug, within
+the limit of the encampment, rude graves, of a depth just
+sufficient to receive the body. When these were completed,
+the dead were deposited, with the usual superstitious
+ceremonies of these people, in their several receptacles,
+after which a mound of earth was thrown up over each,
+and the whole covered with round logs, so disposed as to
+form a tomb of semicircular shape: at the head of each
+grave was finally planted a pole, bearing various devices
+in paint, intended to illustrate the warlike achievements
+of the defunct parties.
+
+Captain de Haldimar had followed the course of these
+proceedings with a beating heart; for too plainly had he
+read in the dark and threatening manner both of men and
+women, that the retribution about to be wreaked upon
+himself would be terrible indeed. Much as he clung to
+life, and bitterly as he mourned his early cutting off
+from the affections hitherto identified with his existence,
+his wretchedness would have been less, had he not been
+overwhelmed by the conviction that, with him, must perish
+every chance of the safety of those, the bare recollection
+of whom made the bitterness of death even more bitter.
+Harrowing as were these reflections, he felt that immediate
+destruction, since it could not be avoided, would be
+rather a blessing than otherwise. But such, evidently,
+was not the purpose of his relentless enemy. Every
+species of torment which his cruel invention could supply
+would, he felt convinced, be exercised upon his frame;
+and with this impression on his mind, it would have
+required sterner nerves than his, not to have shrunk from
+the very anticipation of so dreadful an ordeal.
+
+It was now noon, and yet no visible preparation was making
+for the consummation of the sacrifice. This, Captain de
+Haldimar imputed to the absence of the fierce Wacousta,
+whom he had not seen since the return of the warriors
+from their skirmish. The momentary disappearance of this
+extraordinary and ferocious man was, however, fraught
+with no consolation to his unfortunate prisoner, who felt
+he was only engaged in taking such measures as would
+render not only his destruction more certain, but his
+preliminary sufferings more complicated and protracted.
+While he was thus indulging in fruitless speculation as
+to the motive for his absence, he fancied he heard the
+report of a rifle, succeeded immediately afterwards by
+the war-whoop, at a considerable distance, and in the
+direction of the river. In this impression he was confirmed,
+by the sudden upstarting to their feet of the young
+Indians to whose custody he had been committed, who now
+advanced to the outer edge of the belt of forest, with
+the apparent object of obtaining a more unconfined view
+of the open ground that lay beyond. The rapid gliding of
+spectral forms from the interior of the encampment in
+the same direction, denoted, moreover, that the Indians
+generally had heard, and were attracted by the same sound.
+
+Presently afterwards, repeated "waughs!" and
+"Wacousta!--Wacousta!" from those who had reached the
+extreme skirt of the forest, fell on the dismayed ear of
+the young officer. It was evident, from the peculiar
+tones in which these words were pronounced, that they
+beheld that warrior approaching them with some communication
+of interest; and, sick at heart, and filled with
+irrepressible dismay, Captain de Haldimar felt his pulse
+to throb more violently as each moment brought his enemy
+nearer to him.
+
+A startling interest was now created among the Indians;
+for, as the savage warrior neared the forest, his lips
+pealed forth that peculiar cry which is meant to announce
+some intelligence of alarm. Scarcely had its echoes died
+away in the forest, when the whole of the warriors rushed
+from the encampment towards the clearing. Directed by
+the sound, Captain de Haldimar bent his eyes upon the
+thin skirt of wood that lay immediately before him, and
+at intervals could see the towering form of that vast
+warrior bounding, with incredible speed, up the sloping
+ground that led from the town towards the forest. A ravine
+lay before him; but this he cleared, with a prodigious
+effort, at a single leap; and then, continuing his way
+up the slope, amid the low guttural acclamations of the
+warriors at his extraordinary dexterity and strength,
+finally gained the side of Ponteac, then leaning carelessly
+against a tree at a short distance from the prisoner.
+
+A low and animated conversation now ensued between these
+two important personages, which at moments assumed the
+character of violent discussion. From what Captain de
+Haldimar could collect, the Ottawa chief was severely
+reproving his friend for the inconsiderate ardour which
+had led him that morning into collision with those whom
+it was their object to lull into security by a careful
+avoidance of hostility, and urging the possibility of
+their plan being defeated in consequence. He moreover
+obstinately refused the pressing request of Wacousta, in
+regard to some present enterprise which the latter had
+just suggested, the precise nature of which, however,
+Captain de Haldimar could not learn. Meanwhile, the rapid
+flitting of numerous forms to and from the encampment,
+arrayed in all the fierce panoply of savage warfare,
+while low exclamations of excitement occasionally caught
+his ear, led the officer to infer, strange and unusual
+as such an occurrence was, that either the detachment
+already engaged, or a second, was advancing on their
+position. Still, this offered little chance of security
+for himself; for more than once, during his long conference
+with Ponteac, had the fierce Wacousta bent his eye in
+ferocious triumph on his victim, as if he would have
+said,--"Come what will--whatever be the result--you, at
+least, shall not escape me." Indeed, so confident did
+the latter feel that the instant of attack would be the
+signal of his own death, that, after the first momentary
+and instinctive cheering of his spirit, he rather regretted
+the circumstance of their approach; or, if he rejoiced
+at all, it was only because it afforded him the prospect
+of immediate death, instead of being exposed to all the
+horror of a lingering and agonising suffering from the
+torture.
+
+While the chiefs were yet earnestly conversing, the alarm
+cry, previously uttered by Wacousta, was repeated, although
+in a low and subdued tone, by several of the Indians who
+stood on the brow of the eminence. Ponteac started suddenly
+to the same point; but Wacousta continued for a moment
+or two rooted to the spot on which he stood, with the
+air of one in doubt as to what course he should pursue.
+He then abruptly raised his head, fixed his dark and
+menacing eye on his captive, and was already in the act
+of approaching him, when the earnest and repeated demands
+for his presence, by the Ottawa chief, drew him once more
+to the outskirt of the wood.
+
+Again Captain de Haldimar breathed freely. The presence
+of that fierce man had been a clog upon the vital functions
+of his heart; and, to be relieved from it, even at a
+moment like the present, when far more important interests
+might be supposed to occupy his mind, was a gratification,
+of which not even the consciousness of impending death
+could wholly deprive him. From the continued pressing of
+the Indians towards one particular point in the clearing,
+he now conjectured, that, from that point, the advance
+of the troops was visible. Anxious to obtain even a
+momentary view of those whom he deemed himself fated
+never more to mingle with in this life, he raised himself
+upon his feet, and stretched his neck and bent his eager
+glance in the direction by which Wacousta had approached;
+but, so closely were the dark warriors grouped among the
+trees, he found it impossible. Once or twice, however,
+he thought he could distinguish the gleaming of the
+English bayonets in the bright sunshine, as they seemed
+to file off in a parallel line with the ravine. Oh, how
+his generous heart throbbed at that moment; and how
+ardently did he wish that he could have stood in the
+position of the meanest soldier in those gallant ranks!
+Perhaps his own brave and devoted grenadiers were of the
+number, burning with enthusiasm to be led against the
+captors or destroyers of their officer; and this thought
+added to his wretchedness still more.
+
+While the unfortunate prisoner, thus strongly excited,
+bent his whole soul on the scene before him, he fancied
+he heard the approach of a cautious footstep. He turned
+his head as well as his confined position would admit,
+and beheld, close behind him, a dark Indian, whose eyes
+alone were visible above the blanket in which his person
+was completely enveloped. His right arm was uplifted,
+and the blade of a scalping knife glittered in his hand.
+A cold shudder ran through the veins of the young officer,
+and he closed his eyes, that he might not see the blow
+which he felt was about to be directed at his heart. The
+Indian glanced hurriedly yet cautiously around, to see
+if he was observed; and then, with the rapidity of thought,
+divided, first the thongs that secured the legs, and then
+those which confined the arms of the defenceless captive.
+When Captain de Haldimar, full of astonishment at finding
+himself once more at liberty, again unclosed his eyes,
+they fell on the not unhandsome features of the young
+chief, the brother of Oucanasta.
+
+"The Saganaw is the prisoner of Wacousta," said the Indian
+hastily; "and Wacousta is the enemy of the young Ottawa
+chief. The warriors of the pale faces are there" (and he
+pointed directly before him). "If the Saganaw has a bold
+heart and a swift foot, he may save his life:" and, with
+this intimation, he hurried away in the same cautious
+manner, and was in the next instant seen making a circuit
+to arrive at the point at which the principal strength
+of the Indians was collected.
+
+The position of Captain de Haldimar had now attained its
+acme of interest; for on his own exertions alone depended
+every thing that remained to be accomplished. With
+wonderful presence of mind he surveyed all the difficulties
+of his course, while he availed himself at the same moment
+of whatever advantages were within his grasp. On the
+approach of Wacousta, the young Indians, to whose custody
+he had been committed, had returned to their post; but
+no sooner had that warrior, obeying the call of Ponteac,
+again departed, than they once more flew to the extreme
+skirt of the forest, after first satisfying themselves
+the ligatures which confined their prisoner were secure.
+Either with a view of avoiding unnecessary encumbrance
+in their course, or through hurry and inadvertence, they
+had left their blankets near the foot of the tree. The
+first thought of the officer was to seize one of these;
+for, in order to gain the point whence his final effort
+to join the detachment must be made, it was necessary he
+should pass through the body of scattered Indians who
+stood immediately in his way; and the disguise of the
+blanket could alone afford him a reasonable chance of
+moving unnoticed among them. Secretly congratulating
+himself on the insulting mockery that had inducted his
+upper form in the disguising warpaint of his enemies, he
+now drew the protecting blanket close up to his eyes;
+and then, with every nerve braced up, every faculty of
+mind and body called into action, commenced his dangerous
+enterprise.
+
+He had not, however, taken more than two or three steps
+in advance, when, to his great discomfiture and alarm,
+he beheld the formidable Wacousta approaching from a
+distance, evidently in search of his prisoner. With the
+quickness of thought he determined on his course. To
+appear to avoid him would be to excite the suspicion of
+the fierce warrior; and, desperate as the alternative
+was, he resolved to move undeviatingly forward. At each
+step that drew him nearer to his enemy, the beating of
+his heart became more violent; and had it not been for
+the thick coat of paint in which he was invested, the
+involuntary contraction of the muscles of his face must
+inevitably have betrayed him. Nay, even as it was, had
+the keen eye of the warrior fallen on him, such was the
+agitation of the officer, he felt he must have been
+discovered. Happily, however, Wacousta, who evidently
+took him for some inferior warrior hastening to the point
+where his fellows were already assembled, passed without
+deigning to look at him, and so close, their forms almost
+touched. Captain de Haldimar now quickened his pace. It
+was evident there was no time to be lost; for Wacousta,
+on finding him gone, would at once give the alarm, when
+a hundred warriors would be ready on the instant to
+intercept his flight. Taking the precaution to disguise
+his walk by turning in his toes after the Indian manner,
+he reached, with a beating heart, the first of the numerous
+warriors who were collected within the belt of forest,
+anxiously watching the movements of the detachment in
+the plain below. To his infinite joy he found that each
+was too much intent on what was passing in the distance,
+to heed any thing going on near themselves; and when he
+at length gained the extreme opening, and stood in a line
+with those who were the farthest advanced, without having
+excited a single suspicion in his course, he could scarcely
+believe the evidence of his senses.
+
+Still the most difficult part of the enterprise remained
+to be completed. Hitherto he had moved under the friendly
+cover of the underwood, the advantage of which had been
+to conceal that part of his regimental trousers which
+the blanket left exposed; and if he moved forward into
+the clearing, the quick glance of an Indian would not be
+slow in detecting the difference between these and his
+own ruder leggings. There was no alternative now but to
+commence his flight from the spot on which he stood; and
+for this he prepared himself. At one rapid and comprehensive
+view he embraced the immediate localities before him. On
+the other side of the ravine he could now distinctly see
+the English troops, either planning, as he conceived,
+their own attack, or waiting in the hope of drawing the
+Indians from their cover. It was evident that to reach
+them the ravine must be crossed, unless the more circuitous
+route by the bridge, which was hid from his view by an
+intervening hillock, should be preferred; but as the
+former had been cleared by Wacousta in his ascent, and
+was the nearest point by which the detachment could be
+approached, to this did he now direct his undivided
+attention.
+
+While he yet paused with indecision, at one moment fancying
+the time for starting was not yet arrived, and at the
+next that he had suffered it to pass away, the powerful
+and threatening voice of Wacousta was heard proclaiming
+the escape of his captive. Low but expressive exclamations
+from the warriors marked their sense of the importance
+of the intelligence; and many of them hastily dispersed
+themselves in pursuit. This was the critical moment for
+action: for, as the anxious officer had rather wished
+than expected, those Indians who had been immediately in
+front, and whose proximity he most dreaded, were among
+the number of those who dashed into the heart of the
+forest--Captain de Haldimar now stood alone, and full
+twenty paces in front of the nearest of the savages. For
+a moment he played with his mocassined foot to satisfy
+himself, of the power and flexibility of its muscles,
+and then committing himself to his God, dashed the blanket
+suddenly from his shoulders, and, with eye and heart
+fixed on the distant soldiery, darted down the declivity
+with a speed of which he had never yet believed himself
+capable. Scarcely, however, had his fleeing form appeared
+in the opening, when a tremendous and deafening yell rent
+the air, and a dozen wild and naked warriors followed
+instantly in pursuit. Attracted by that yell, the terrible
+Wacousta, who had been seeking his victim in a different
+quarter, bounded forward to the front with an eye flashing
+fire, and a brow compressed into the fiercest hate; and
+so stupendous were his efforts, so extraordinary was his
+speed, that had it not been for the young Ottawa chief,
+who was one of the pursuing party, and who, under the
+pretence of assisting in the recapture of the prisoner,
+sought every opportunity of throwing himself before, and
+embarrassing the movements of his enemy, it is highly
+probable the latter would have succeeded. Despite of
+these obstacles, however, the fierce Wacousta, who had
+been the last to follow, soon left the foremost of his
+companions far behind him; and but for his sudden fall,
+while in the very act of seizing the arm of his prisoner,
+his gigantic efforts must have been crowned with the
+fullest success. But the reader has already seen how
+miraculously Captain de Haldimar, reduced to the last
+stage of debility, as much from inanition as from the
+unnatural efforts of his flight, finally accomplished
+his return to the detachment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+At the western extremity of the lake Huron, and almost
+washed by the waters of that pigmy ocean, stands the fort
+of Michilimackinac. Constructed on a smaller scale, and
+garrisoned by a less numerical force, the defences of
+this post, although less formidable than those of the
+Detroit, were nearly similar, at the period embraced by
+our story, both in matter and in manner. Unlike the latter
+fortress, however, it boasted none of the advantages
+afforded by culture; neither, indeed, was there a single
+spot in the immediate vicinity that was not clad in the
+eternal forest of these regions. It is true, that art
+and laborious exertion had so far supplied the deficiencies
+of nature as to isolate the fort, and throw it under the
+protecting sweep of its cannon; but, while this afforded
+security, it failed to produce any thing like a pleasing
+effect to the eye. The very site on which the fortress
+now stood had at one period been a portion of the wilderness
+that every where around was only terminated by the sands
+on the lake shore: and, although time and the axe of the
+pioneer had in some degree changed its features, still
+there was no trace of that blended natural scenery that
+so pleasingly diversified the vicinity of the sister
+fort. Here and there, along the imperfect clearing, and
+amid the dark and thickly studded stumps of the felled
+trees, which in themselves were sufficient to give the
+most lugubrious character to the scene, rose the rude
+log cabin of the settler; but, beyond this, cultivation
+appeared to have lost her power in proportion with the
+difficulties she had to encounter. Even the two Indian
+villages, L'Arbre-Croche and Chabouiga, situate about a
+mile from the fort, with which they formed nearly an
+equilateral triangle, were hid from the view of the
+garrison by the dark dense forest, in the heart of which
+they were embedded.
+
+Lake ward the view was scarcely less monotonous; but it
+was not, as in the rear, that monotony which is never
+occasionally broken in upon by some occurrence of interest.
+If the eye gazed long and anxiously for the white sail
+of the well known armed vessel, charged at stated intervals
+with letters and tidings of those whom time, and distance,
+and danger, far from estranging, rendered more dear to
+the memory, and bound more closely to the heart, it was
+sure of being rewarded at last; and then there was no
+picture on which it could love to linger so well as that
+of the silver waves bearing that valued vessel in safety
+to its wonted anchorage in the offing. Moreover, the
+light swift bark canoes of the natives often danced
+joyously on its surface; and while the sight was offended
+at the savage, skulking among the trees of the forest,
+like some dark spirit moving cautiously in its course of
+secret destruction, and watching the moment when he might
+pounce unnoticed on his unprepared victim, it followed,
+with momentary pleasure and excitement, the activity and
+skill displayed by the harmless paddler, in the swift
+and meteor-like race that set the troubled surface of
+the Huron in a sheet of hissing foam. Nor was this all.
+When the eye turned wood-ward, it fell heavily, and
+without interest, upon a dim and dusky point, known to
+enter upon savage scenes and unexplored countries; whereas,
+whenever it reposed upon the lake, it was with an eagerness
+and energy that embraced the most vivid recollections of
+the past, and led the imagination buoyantly over every
+well-remembered scene that had previously been traversed,
+and which must be traversed again before the land of the
+European could be pressed once more. The forest, in a
+word, formed, as it were, the gloomy and impenetrable
+walls of the prison-house, and the bright lake that lay
+before it the only portal through which happiness and
+liberty could be again secured.
+
+The principal entrance into the fort, which presented
+four equal sides of a square, was from the forest; but,
+immediately opposite to this, and behind the apartments
+of the commanding officer, there was another small gate
+that opened upon the lake shore; but which, since the
+investment of the place, had been kept bolted and locked,
+with a precaution befitting the danger to which the
+garrison was exposed. Still, there were periods, even
+now, when its sullen hinges were to be heard moaning on
+the midnight breeze; for it served as a medium of
+communication between the besieged and others who were
+no less critically circumstanced than themselves.
+
+The very day before the Indians commenced their simultaneous
+attack on the several posts of the English, the only
+armed vessel that had been constructed on these upper
+lakes, serving chiefly as a medium of communication
+between Detroit and Michilimackinac, had arrived with
+despatches and letters from the former fort. A
+well-concerted plan of the savages to seize her in her
+passage through the narrow waters of the river Sinclair
+had only been defeated by the vigilance of her commander;
+but, ever since the breaking out of the war, she had been
+imprisoned within the limits of the Huron. Laborious
+indeed was the duty of the devoted crew. Several attempts
+had been renewed by the Indians to surprise them; but,
+although their little fleets stole cautiously and
+noiselessly, at the still hour of midnight, to the spot
+where, at the last expiring rays of twilight, they had
+beheld her carelessly anchored, and apparently lulled
+into security, the subject of their search was never to
+be met with. No sooner were objects on the shore rendered
+indistinct to the eye, than the anchor was silently
+weighed, and, gliding wherever the breeze might choose
+to carry her, the light bark was made to traverse the
+lake, with every sail set, until dawn. None, however,
+were suffered to slumber in the presumed security afforded
+by this judicious flight. Every man was at his post; and,
+while a silence so profound was preserved, that the noise
+of a falling pin might have been heard upon her decks,
+every thing was in readiness to repel an attack of their
+enemies, should the vessel, in her course, come accidentally
+in collision with their pigmy fleets. When morning broke,
+and no sign of their treacherous foes was visible, the
+vessel was again anchored, and the majority of the crew
+suffered to retire to their hammocks, while the few whose
+turn of duty it chanced to be, kept a vigilant look-out,
+that, on the slightest appearance of alarm, their slumbering
+comrades might again be aroused to energy and action.
+
+Severe and harassing as had been the duty on board this
+vessel for many months,--at one moment exposed to the
+assaults of the savages, at another assailed by the
+hurricanes that are so prevalent and so dangerous on the
+American lakes,--the situation of the crew was even less
+enviable than that of the garrison itself. What chiefly
+contributed to their disquietude, was the dreadful
+consciousness that, however their present efforts might
+secure a temporary safety, the period of their fall was
+only protracted. A few months more must bring with them
+all the severity of the winter of those climes, and then,
+blocked up in a sea of ice,--exposed to all the rigour
+of cold,--all the miseries of hunger,--what effectual
+resistance could they oppose to the numerous bands of
+Indians who, availing themselves of the defenceless
+position of their enemies, would rush from every quarter
+to their destruction.
+
+At the outset of these disheartening circumstances the
+officer had summoned his faithful crew together, and
+pointing out the danger and uncertainty of their position,
+stated that two chances of escape still remained to them.
+The first was, by an attempt to accomplish the passage
+of the river Sinclair during some dark and boisterous
+night, when the Indians would be least likely to suspect
+such an intention: it was at this point that the efforts
+of their enemies were principally to be apprehended; but
+if, under cover of storm and darkness, they could accomplish
+this difficult passage, they would easily gain the Detroit,
+and thence pass into lake Erie, at the further extremity
+of which they might, favoured by Providence, effect a
+landing, and penetrate to the inhabited parts of the
+colony of New York. The other alternative was,--and he
+left it to themselves to determine,--to sink the vessel
+on the approach of winter, and throw themselves into the
+fort before them, there to await and share the destiny
+of its gallant defenders.
+
+With the generous enthusiasm of their profession, the
+noble fellows had determined on the latter course. With
+their officer they fully coincided in opinion, that their
+ultimate hopes of life depended on the safe passage of
+the Sinclair; for it was but too obvious, that soon or
+late, unless some very extraordinary revolution should
+be effected in the intentions of the Indians, the fortress
+must be starved into submission. Still, as it was
+tolerably well supplied with provisions, this gloomy
+prospect was remote, and they were willing to run all
+chances with their friends on shore, rather than desert
+them in their extremity. The determination expressed by
+them, therefore, was, that when they could no longer keep
+the lake in safety, they would, if the officer permitted
+it, scuttle the vessel, and attempt an entrance into the
+fort, where they would share the fate of the troops,
+whatever it might chance to be.
+
+No sooner was this resolution made known, than their
+young commander sought an opportunity of communicating
+with the garrison, This, however, was no very easy task;
+for, so closely was the fort hemmed in by the savages,
+it was impossible to introduce a messenger within its
+walls; and so sudden had been the cutting off of all
+communication between the vessel and the shore, that the
+thought had not even occurred to either commander to
+establish the most ordinary intelligence by signal. In
+this dilemma recourse was had to an ingenious expedient.
+The dispatches of the officer were enclosed in one of
+the long tin tubes in which were generally deposited the
+maps and charts of the schooner, and to this, after having
+been carefully soldered, was attached an inch rope of
+several hundred fathoms in length: the case was then put
+into one of the ship's guns, so placed as to give it the
+elevation of a mortar; thus prepared, advantage was taken
+of a temporary absence of the Indians to bring the vessel
+within half a mile of the shore, and when the attention
+of the garrison, naturally attracted by this unusual
+movement, was sufficiently awakened, that opportunity
+was chosen for the discharge of the gun; and as the
+quantity of powder had been proportionably reduced for
+the limited range, the tube was soon safely deposited
+within the rampart. The same means were adopted in
+replying; and one end of the rope remaining attached to
+the schooner, all that was necessary was to solder up
+the tube as before, and throw it over the ramparts upon
+the sands, whence it was immediately pulled over her side
+by the watchful mariners.
+
+As the dispatch conveyed to the garrison, among other
+subjects of interest, bore the unwelcome intelligence
+that the supplies of the crew were nearly expended, an
+arrangement was proposed by which, at stated intervals,
+a more immediate communication with the former might be
+effected. Whenever, therefore, the wind permitted, the
+vessel was kept hovering in sight during the day, beneath
+the eyes of the savages, and on the approach of evening
+an unshotted gun was discharged, with a view of drawing
+their attention more immediately to her movements; every
+sail was then set, and under a cloud of canvass the course
+of the schooner was directed towards the source of the
+Sinclair, as if an attempt to accomplish that passage
+was to be made during the night. No sooner, however,
+had the darkness fairly set in, than the vessel was put
+about, and, beating against the wind, generally contrived
+to reach the offing at a stated hour, when a boat, provided
+with muffled oars, was sent off to the shore. This ruse
+had several times deceived the Indians, and it was on
+these occasions that the small gate to which we have
+alluded was opened, for the purpose of conveying the
+necessary supplies.
+
+The buildings of the fort consisted chiefly of block-houses,
+the internal accommodations of which were fully in keeping
+with their rude exterior, being but indifferently provided
+with the most ordinary articles of comfort, and fitted
+up as the limited resources of that wild and remote
+district could supply. The best and most agreeably situated
+of these, if a choice could be made, was that of the
+commanding officer. This building rose considerably
+above the others, and overhanging that part of the rampart
+which skirted the shores of the Huron, commanded a full
+view of the lake, even to its extremity of frowning and
+belting forest.
+
+To this block-house there were two staircases; the
+principal leading to the front entrance from the
+barrack-square, the other opening in the rear, close
+under the rampart, and communicating by a few rude steps
+with the small gate that led upon the sands. In the lower
+part of this building, appropriated by the commanding
+officer to that exclusive purpose, the official duties
+of his situation were usually performed; and on the
+ground-floor a large room, that extended from front to
+rear of the block-house on one side of the passage, had
+formerly been used as a hall of council with the Indian
+chiefs. The floor above this comprised both his own
+private apartments and those set apart for the general
+use of the family; but, above all, and preferable from
+their cheerful view over the lake, were others, which
+had been reserved for the exclusive accommodation of Miss
+de Haldimar. This upper floor consisted of two sleeping
+apartments, with a sitting-room, the latter extending
+the whole length of the block-house and opening immediately
+upon the lake, from the only two windows with which that
+side of the building was provided. The principal staircase
+led into one of the bed-rooms, and both of the latter
+communicated immediately with the sitting-room, which
+again, in its turn, opened, at the opposite extremity,
+on the narrow staircase that led to the rear of the
+block-house.
+
+The furniture of this apartment, which might be taken as
+a fair sample of the best the country could afford, was
+wild, yet simple, in the extreme. Neat rush mats, of an
+oblong square, and fantastically put together, so as to
+exhibit in the weaving of the several coloured reeds both
+figures that were known to exist in the creation, and
+those which could have no being save in the imagination
+of their framers, served as excellent substitutes for
+carpets, while rush bottomed chairs, the product of Indian
+ingenuity also, occupied those intervals around the room
+that were unsupplied by the matting. Upon the walls were
+hung numerous specimens both of the dress and of the
+equipments of the savages, and mingled with these were
+many natural curiosities, the gifts of Indian chiefs to
+the commandant at various periods before the war.
+
+Nothing could be more unlike the embellishments of a
+modern European boudoir than those of this apartment,
+which had, in some degree, been made the sanctum of its
+present occupants. Here was to be seen the scaly carcass
+of some huge serpent, extending its now harmless length
+from the ceiling to the floor--there an alligator, stuffed
+after the same fashion; and in various directions the
+skins of the beaver, the marten, the otter, and an
+infinitude of others of that genus, filled up spaces that
+were left unsupplied by the more ingenious specimens of
+Indian art. Head-dresses tastefully wrought in the shape
+of the crowning bays of the ancients, and composed of
+the gorgeous feathers of the most splendid of the forest
+birds--bows and quivers handsomely, and even elegantly
+ornamented with that most tasteful of Indian decorations,
+the stained quill of the porcupine; war clubs of massive
+iron wood, their handles covered with stained horsehair
+and feathers curiously mingled together--machecotis,
+hunting coats, mocassins, and leggings, all worked in
+porcupine quill, and fancifully arranged,--these, with
+many others, had been called into requisition to bedeck
+and relieve the otherwise rude and naked walls of the
+apartment.
+
+Nor did the walls alone reflect back the picture of savage
+ingenuity, for on the various tables, the rude polish of
+which was hid from view by the simple covering of green
+baize, which moreover constituted the garniture of the
+windows, were to be seen other products of their art.
+Here stood upon an elevated stand a model of a bark canoe,
+filled with its complement of paddlers carved in wood
+and dressed in full costume; the latter executed with
+such singular fidelity of feature, that although the
+speaking figures sprung not from the experienced and
+classic chisel of the sculptor but from the rude scalping
+knife of the savage, the very tribe to which they belonged
+could be discovered at a glance by the European who was
+conversant with the features of each: then there were
+handsomely ornamented vessels made of the birch bark,
+and filled with the delicate sugars which the natives
+extract from the maple tree in early spring; these of
+all sizes, even to the most tiny that could well be
+imagined, were valuable rather as exquisite specimens of
+the neatness with which those slight vessels could be
+put together, sewn as they were merely with strips of
+the same bark, than from any intrinsic value they possessed.
+Covered over with fantastic figures, done either in paint,
+or in quill work artfully interwoven into the fibres of
+the bark, they presented, in their smooth and polished
+surface, strong evidence of the address of the savages
+in their preparation of this most useful and abundant
+produce of the country. Interspersed with these, too,
+were numerous stands filled with stuffed birds, some of
+which combined in themselves every variety and shade of
+dazzling plumage; and numerous rude cases contained the
+rarest specimens of the American butterfly, most of which
+were of sizes and tints that are no where equalled in
+Europe. One solitary table alone was appropriated to
+whatever wore a transatlantic character in this wild and
+museum-like apartment. On this lay a Spanish guitar, a
+few pieces of old music, a collection of English and
+French books, a couple of writing-desks, and, scattered
+over the whole, several articles of unfinished needle-work.
+
+Such was the apartment in which Madeline and Clara de
+Haldimar were met at the moment we have selected for
+their introduction to our readers. It was the morning of
+that day on which the second council of the chiefs, the
+result of which has already been seen, was held at Detroit.
+The sun had risen bright and gorgeously above the adjacent
+forest, throwing his golden beams upon the calm glassy
+waters of the lake; and now, approaching rapidly towards
+the meridian, gradually diminished the tall bold shadows
+of the block-houses upon the shore. At the distance of
+about a mile lay the armed vessel so often alluded to;
+her light low hull dimly seen in the hazy atmosphere that
+danced upon the waters, and her attenuated masts and
+sloping yards, with their slight tracery of cordage,
+recalling rather the complex and delicate ramifications
+of the spider's web, than the elastic yet solid machinery
+to which the lives of those within had so often been
+committed in sea and tempest. Upon the strand, and close
+opposite to the small gate which now stood ajar, lay one
+of her boats, the crew of which had abandoned her with
+the exception only of a single individual, apparently
+her cockswain, who, with the tiller under his arm, lay
+half extended in the stern-sheets, his naked chest exposed,
+and his tarpaulin hat shielding his eyes from the sun
+while he indulged in profound repose. These were the only
+objects that told of human life. Everywhere beyond the
+eye rested on the faint outline of forest, that appeared
+like the softened tracing of a pencil at the distant
+junction of the waters with the horizon.
+
+The windows that commanded this prospect were now open;
+and through that which was nearest to the gate, half
+reclined the elegant, slight, and somewhat petite form
+of a female, who, with one small and delicately formed
+hand supporting her cheek, while the other played almost
+unconsciously with an open letter, glanced her eye
+alternately, and with an expression of joyousness, towards
+the vessel that lay beyond, and the point in which the
+source of the Sinclair was known to lie. It was Clara de
+Haldimar.
+
+Presently the vacant space at the same window was filled
+by another form, but of less girlish appearance--one that
+embraced all the full rich contour of the Medicean Venus,
+and a lazy languor in its movements that harmonised with
+the speaking outlines of the form, and without which the
+beauty of the whole would have been at variance and
+imperfect. Neither did the face belie the general expression
+of the figure. The eyes, of a light hazel, were large,
+full, and somewhat prominent--the forehead broad, high,
+and redolent with an expression of character--and the
+cheek rich in that peculiar colour which can be likened
+only to the downy hues of the peach, and is, in itself,
+a physical earnest of the existence of deep, but not
+boisterous--of devoted, but not obtrusive affections;
+an impression that was not, in the present instance,
+weakened by the full and pouting lip, and the rather
+heavy formation of the lower face. The general expression,
+moreover, of a countenance which, closely analysed, could
+not be termed beautiful, marked a mind at once ardent in
+its conceptions, and steady and resolute in its silent
+accomplishments of purpose. She was of the middle height.
+
+Such was the person of Madeline de Haldimar; but attractive,
+or rather winning, as were her womanly attributes, her
+principal power lay in her voice,--the beauty, nay, the
+voluptuousness of which nothing could surpass. It was
+impossible to listen to the slow, full, rich, deep, and
+melodious tones that fell trembling from her lips upon
+the ear, and not feel, aye shudder, under all their
+fascination on the soul. In such a voice might the
+Madonna of Raphael have been supposed to offer up her
+supplications from the gloomy precincts of the cloister.
+No wonder that Frederick de Haldimar loved her, and loved
+her with all the intense devotedness of his own glowing
+heart. His cousin was to him a divinity whom he worshipped
+in the innermost recesses of his being; and his, in
+return, was the only ear in which the accents of that
+almost superhuman voice had breathed the thrilling
+confession of an attachment, which its very tones announced
+could be deep and imperishable as the soul in which it
+had taken root. Often in the hours that preceded the
+period when they were to have been united heart and mind
+and thought in one common destiny, would he start from
+her side, his brain whirling with very intoxication, and
+then obeying another wild impulse, rush once more into
+her embrace; and clasping his beloved Madeline to his
+heart, entreat her again to pour forth all the melody of
+that confession in his enraptured ear. Artless and
+unaffected as she was generous and impassioned, the fond
+and noble girl never hesitated to gratify him whom alone
+she loved; and deep and fervent was the joy of the soldier,
+when he found that each passionate entreaty, far from
+being met with caprice, only drew from the lips of his
+cousin warmer and more affectionate expressions of her
+attachment. Such expressions, coming from any woman,
+must have been rapturous and soothing in the extreme;
+but, when they flowed from a voice whose very sound was
+melody, they acted on the heart of Captain de Haldimar
+with a potency that was as irresistible as the love itself
+which she inspired.
+
+Such was the position of things just before the commencement
+of the Indian war. Madeline de Haldimar had been for some
+time on a visit to Detroit, and her marriage with her
+cousin was to have taken place within a few days. The
+unexpected arrival of intelligence from Michilimackinac
+that her father was dangerously ill, however, retarded
+the ceremony; and, up to the present period, their
+intercourse had been completely suspended. If Madeline
+de Haldimar was capable of strong attachment to her lover,
+the powerful ties of nature were no less deeply rooted
+in her heart, and commiseration and anxiety for her father
+now engrossed every faculty of her mind. She entreated
+her cousin to defer the solemnisation of their nuptials
+until her parent should be pronounced out of danger, and,
+having obtained his consent to the delay, instantly set
+off for Michilimackinac, accompanied by her cousin Clara,
+whom, she had prevailed on the governor to part with
+until her own return. Hostilities were commenced very
+shortly afterwards, and, although Major de Haldimar
+speedily recovered from his illness, the fair cousins
+were compelled to share the common imprisonment of the
+garrison.
+
+When Miss de Haldimar joined her more youthful cousin at
+the window, through which the latter was gazing thoughtfully
+on the scene before her, she flung her arm around her
+waist with the protecting manner of a mother. The mild
+blue eyes of Clara met those that were fastened in
+tenderness upon her, and a corresponding movement on her
+part brought the more matronly form of her cousin into
+close and affectionate contact with her own.
+
+"Oh, Madeline, what a day is this!" she exclaimed; "and
+how often on my bended knees have I prayed to Heaven that
+it might arrive! Our trials are ended at last, and
+happiness and joy are once more before us. There is the
+boat that is to conduct us to the vessel, which, in its
+turn, is to bear me to the arms of my dear father, and
+you to those of the lover who adores you. How beautiful
+does that fabric appear to me now! Never did I feel half
+the pleasure in surveying it I do at this moment."
+
+"Dear, dear girl!" exclaimed Miss de Haldimar,--and she
+pressed her closer and in silence to her heart: then,
+after a slight pause, during which the mantling glow upon
+her brow told how deeply she desired the reunion alluded
+to by her cousin--"that, indeed, will be an hour of
+happiness to us both, Clara; for irrevocably as our
+affections have been pledged, it would be silly in the
+extreme to deny that I long most ardently to be restored
+to him who is already my husband. But, tell me," she
+concluded, with an archness of expression that caused
+the long-lashed eyes of her companion to sink beneath
+her own, "are you quite sincere in your own case? I know
+how deeply you love your father and your brothers, but
+do these alone occupy your attention? Is there not a
+certain friend of Charles whom you have some little
+curiosity to see also?"
+
+"How silly, Madeline!" and the cheek of the young girl
+became suffused with a deeper glow; "you know I have
+never seen this friend of my brother, how then can I
+possibly feel more than the most ordinary interest in
+him? I am disposed to like him, certainly, for the mere
+reason that Charles does; but this is all."
+
+"Well, Clara, I will not pretend to decide; but certain
+it is, this is the last letter you received from Charles,
+and that it contains the strongest recommendations of
+his friend to your notice. Equally certain is it, that
+scarcely a day has passed, since we have been shut up
+here, that you have not perused and re-perused it half
+a dozen times. Now, as I am confessedly one who should
+know something of these matters, I must be suffered to
+pronounce these are strong symptoms, to say the very
+least. Ah! Clara, that blush declares you guilty.--But,
+who have we here? Middleton and Baynton."
+
+The eyes of the cousins now fell upon the ramparts
+immediately under the window. Two officers, one apparently
+on duty for the day, were passing at the moment; and, as
+they heard their names pronounced, stopped, looked up,
+and saluted the young ladies with that easy freedom of
+manner, which, unmixed with either disrespect or effrontery,
+so usually characterises the address of military men.
+
+"What a contrast, by heaven!" exclaimed he who wore the
+badge of duty suspended over his chest, throwing himself
+playfully into a theatrical attitude, expressive at once
+of admiration and surprise, while his eye glanced
+intelligently over the fair but dissimilar forms of the
+cousins. "Venus and Psyche in the land of the Pottowatamies
+by all that is magnificent! Come, Middleton, quick, out
+with that eternal pencil of yours, and perform your
+promise."
+
+"And what may that promise be?" asked Clara, laughingly,
+and without adverting to the hyperbolical compliment of
+the dark-eyed officer who had just spoken.
+
+"You shall hear," pursued the lively captain of the guard.
+"While making the tour of the ramparts just now, to visit
+my sentries, I saw Middleton leaning most sentimentally
+against one of the boxes in front, his notebook in one
+hand and his pencil in the other. Curious to discover
+the subject of his abstraction, I stole cautiously behind
+him, and saw that he was sketching the head of a tall
+and rather handsome squaw, who, in the midst of a hundred
+others, was standing close to the gateway watching the
+preparations of the Indian ball-players. I at once taxed
+him with having lost his heart; and rallying him on his
+bad taste in devoting his pencil to any thing that had
+a red skin, never combed its hair, and turned its toes
+in while walking, pronounced his sketch to be an absolute
+fright. Well, will you believe what I have to add? The
+man absolutely flew into a tremendous passion with me,
+and swore that she was a Venus, a Juno, a Minerva, a
+beauty of the first water in short; and finished by
+promising, that when I could point out any woman who was
+superior to her in personal attraction, he would on the
+instant write no less than a dozen consecutive sonnets
+in her praise. I now call upon him to fulfil his promise,
+or maintain the superiority of his Indian beauty."
+
+Before the laughing Middleton could find time to reply
+to the light and unmeaning rattle of his friend, the
+quick low roll of a drum was heard from the front. The
+signal was understood by both officers, and they prepared
+to depart.
+
+"This is the hour appointed for the council," said Captain
+Baynton, looking at his watch, "and I must be with my
+guard, to receive the chiefs with becoming honour. How
+I pity you, Middleton, who will have the infliction of
+one of their great big talks, as Murphy would call it,
+dinned into your ear for the next two hours at least!
+Thank heaven, my tour of duty exempts me from that; and
+by way of killing an hour, I think I shall go and carry
+on a flirtation with your Indian Minerva, alias Venus,
+alias Juno, while you are discussing the affairs of the
+nation with closed doors. But hark! there is the assembly
+drum again. We must be off. Come, Middleton, come.--Adieu!"
+waving his hand to the cousins, "we shall meet at dinner."
+
+"What an incessant talker Baynton is!" observed Miss de
+Haldimar, as the young men now disappeared round an angle
+of the rampart; "but he has reminded me of what I had
+nearly forgotten, and that is to give orders for dinner.
+My father has invited all the officers to dine with him
+to day, in commemoration of the peace which is being
+concluded. It will be the first time we shall have all
+met together since the commencement of this cruel war,
+and we must endeavour, Clara, to do honour to the feast."
+
+"I hope," timidly observed her cousin, shuddering as she
+spoke, "that none of those horrid chiefs will be present,
+Madeline; for, without any affectation of fear whatever,
+I feel that I could not so far overcome my disgust as to
+sit at the same table with them. There was a time, it is
+true, when I thought nothing of these things; but, since
+the war, I have witnessed and heard so much of their
+horrid deeds, that I shall never be able to endure the
+sight of an Indian face again. Ah!" she concluded, turning
+her eyes upon the lake, while she clung more closely to
+the embrace of her companion; "would to Heaven, Madeline,
+that we were both at this moment gliding in yonder vessel,
+and in sight of my father's fort!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+The eyes of Miss de Haldimar followed those of her cousin,
+and rested on the dark hull of the schooner, with which
+so many recollections of the past and anticipations of
+the future were associated in their minds. When they had
+last looked upon it, all appearance of human life had
+vanished from its decks; but now there was strong evidence
+of unusual bustle and activity. Numerous persons could
+be seen moving hastily to and fro, their heads just
+peering above the bulwarks; and presently they beheld a
+small boat move from the ship's side, and shoot rapidly
+ahead, in a direct line with the well-known bearings of
+the Sinclair's source. While they continued to gaze on
+this point, following the course of the light vessel,
+and forming a variety of conjectures as to the cause of
+a movement, especially remarkable from the circumstance
+of the commander being at that moment in the fort, whither
+he had been summoned to attend the council, another and
+scarcely perceptible object was dimly seen, at the distance
+of about half a mile in front of the boat. With the aid
+of a telescope, which had formed one of the principal
+resources of the cousins during their long imprisonment,
+Miss de Haldimar now perceived a dark and shapeless mass
+moving somewhat heavily along the lake, and in a line
+with the schooner and the boat. This was evidently
+approaching; for each moment it loomed larger upon the
+hazy water, increasing in bulk in the same proportion
+that the departing skiff became less distinct: still, it
+was impossible to discover, at that distance, in what
+manner it was propelled. Wind there was none, not as much
+as would have changed the course of a feather dropping
+through space; and, except where the dividing oars of
+the boatmen had agitated the waters, the whole surface
+of the lake was like a sea of pale and liquid gold.
+
+At length the two dark bodies met, and the men in the
+boat were seen to lie upon their oars, while one in the
+stem seemed to be in the act of attaching a rope to the
+formless matter. For a few moments there was a cessation
+of all movement; and then again the active and sturdy
+rowing of the boatmen was renewed, and with an exertion
+of strength even more vigorous than that they had previously
+exhibited. Their course was now directed towards the
+vessel; and, as it gradually neared that fabric, the rope
+by which the strange-looking object was secured, could
+be distinctly though faintly seen with the telescope. It
+was impossible to say whether the latter, whatever it
+might be, was urged by some invisible means, or merely
+floated in the wake of the boat; for, although the waters
+through which it passed ran rippling and foaming from
+their course, this effect might have been produced by
+the boat which preceded it. As it now approached the
+vessel, it presented the appearance of a dense wood of
+evergreens, the overhanging branches of which descended
+close to the water's edge, and baffled every attempt of
+the cousins to discover its true character. The boat had
+now arrived within a hundred yards of the schooner, when
+a man was seen to rise from its bows, and, putting both
+his hands to his mouth, after the manner of sailors in
+hailing, to continue in that position for some moments,
+apparently conversing with those who were grouped along
+the nearest gangway. Then were observed rapid movements
+on the decks; and men were seen hastening aloft, and
+standing out upon the foremast yards. This, however, had
+offered no interruption to the exertions of the boatmen,
+who still kept plying with a vigour that set even the
+sail-less vessel in motion, as the foaming water, thrown
+from their bending oar-blades, dashed angrily against
+her prow. Soon afterwards both the boat and her prize
+disappeared on the opposite side of the schooner, which,
+now lying with her broadside immediately on a line with
+the shore, completely hid them from the further view of
+the cousins.
+
+"Look!--Look!" said Clara, clinging sensitively and with
+alarm to the almost maternal bosom against which she
+reposed, while she pointed with her finger to another
+dark mass that was moving through the lake in a circular
+sweep from the point of wood terminating the clearing on
+the right of the fort.
+
+Miss de Haldimar threw the glass on the object to which
+her attention was now directed. It was evidently some
+furred animal, and presented all the appearance either
+of a large water-rat or a beaver, the latter of which it
+was pronounced to be as a nearer approach rendered its
+shape more distinct. Ever and anon, too, it disappeared
+altogether under the water; and, when it again came in
+sight, it was always several yards nearer. Its course,
+at first circuitous, at length took a direct line with
+the stern of the boat, where the sailor who was in charge
+still lay extended at his drowsy length, his tarpaulin
+hat shading his eyes, and his arms folded over his
+uncovered and heaving chest, while he continued to sleep
+as profoundly as if he had been comfortably berthed in
+his hammock in the middle of the Atlantic.
+
+"What a large bold animal it is," remarked Clara, in die
+tone of one who wishes to be confirmed in an impression
+but indifferently entertained. "See how close it approaches
+the boat! Mad that lazy sailor but his wits about him,
+he might easily knock it on the head with his oar. It
+is--it is a beaver, Madeline; I can distinguish its head
+even with the naked eye."
+
+"Heaven grant it may be a beaver," answered Miss de
+Haldimar, in a voice so deep and full of meaning, that
+it made her cousin startle and turn paler even than
+before. "Nay, Clara, dearest, command yourself, nor give
+way to what may, after all, prove a groundless cause of
+alarm. Yet, I know not how it is, my heart misgives me
+sadly; for I like not the motions of this animal, which
+are strangely and unusually bold. But this is not all:
+a beaver or a rat might ruffle the mere surface of the
+water, yet this leaves behind it a deep and gurgling
+furrow, as if the element had been ploughed to its very
+bottom. Observe how the lake is agitated and discoloured
+wherever it has passed. Moreover, I dislike this sudden
+bustle on board the schooner, knowing, as I do, there is
+not an officer present to order the movements now visibly
+going forward. The men are evidently getting up the
+anchor; and see how her sails are loosened, apparently
+courting the breeze, as if she would fly to avoid some
+threatened danger. Would to Heaven this council scene
+were over; for I do, as much as yourself, dearest Clara,
+distrust these cruel Indians!"
+
+A significant gesture from her trembling cousin again
+drew her attention from the vessel to the boat. The
+animal, which now exhibited the delicate and glossy fur
+of the beaver, had gained the stern, and remained stationary
+within a foot of her quarter. Presently the sailor made
+a sluggish movement, turning himself heavily on his side,
+and with his face towards his curious and daring visitant.
+In the act the tarpaulin hat had fallen from his eyes,
+but still he awoke not. Scarcely had he settled himself
+in his new position, when, to the infinite horror of the
+excited cousins, a naked human hand was raised from
+beneath the surface of the lake, and placed upon the
+gunwale of the boat Then rose slowly, and still covered
+with its ingenious disguise, first the neck, then the
+shoulders, and finally the form, even to the midwaist,
+of a dark and swarthy Indian, who, stooping low and
+cautiously over the sailor, now reposed the hand that
+had quitted the gunwale upon his form, while the other
+was thrust searchingly into the belt encircling his waist.
+
+Miss de Haldimar would have called out, to apprise the
+unhappy man of his danger; but her voice refused its
+office, and her cousin was even less capable of exertion
+than herself. The deep throbbings of their hearts were
+now audible to each; for the dreadful interest they took
+in the scene, had excited their feelings to the most
+intense stretch of agony. At the very moment, however,
+when, with almost suspended animation, they expected to
+see the knife of the savage driven into the chest of the
+sleeping and unsuspecting sailor, the latter suddenly
+started up, and, instinct with the full sense of the
+danger by which he was menaced, in less time than we take
+to describe it, seized the tiller of his rudder, the only
+available instrument within his reach, and directing a
+powerful blow at the head of his amphibious enemy, laid
+him, without apparent life or motion, across the boat.
+
+"Almighty God! what can this mean?" exclaimed Miss de
+Haldimar, as soon as she could recover her presence of
+mind. "There is some fearful treachery in agitation; and
+a cloud now hangs over all, that will soon burst with
+irresistible fury on our devoted heads. Clara, my love,"
+and she conducted the almost fainting girl to a seat,
+"wait here until I return. The moment is critical, and
+my father must be apprised of what we have seen. Unless
+the gates of the fort be instantly closed, we are lost."
+
+"Oh, Madeline, leave me not alone," entreated the sinking
+Clara. "We will go together. Perhaps I may be of service
+to you below."
+
+"The thought is good; but have you strength and courage
+to face the dark chiefs in the council-room. If so, hasten
+there, and put my father on his guard, while I fly across
+the parade, and warn Captain Baynton of the danger."
+
+With these words she drew the arm of her agitated cousin
+within her own, and, rapidly traversing the apartment,
+gained the bed-room which opened close upon the head of
+the principal staircase. Already were they descending
+the first steps, when a loud cry, that sent a thrill of
+terror through their blood, was heard from without the
+fort. For a moment Miss de Haldimar continued irresolute;
+and leaning against the rude balustrade for support,
+passed her hand rapidly across her brow, as if to collect
+her scattered energies. The necessity for prompt and
+immediate action was, however, evident; and she alone
+was capable of exertion. Speechless with alarm, and
+trembling in every joint, the unhappy Clara had now lost
+all command of her limbs; and, clinging close to the side
+of her cousin, by her wild looks alone betrayed
+consciousness had not wholly deserted her. The energy of
+despair lent more than woman's strength to Miss de
+Haldimar. She caught the fainting girl in her arms,
+retraced her way to the chamber, and depositing her burden
+on the bed, emphatically enjoined her on no account to
+move until her return. She then quitted the room, and
+rapidly descended the staircase.
+
+For some moments all was still and hushed as the waveless
+air; and then again a loud chorus of shouts was heard
+from the ramparts of the fort. The choked breathing of
+the young girl became more free, and the blood rushed
+once more from her oppressed heart to the extremities.
+Never did tones of the human voice fall more gratefully
+on the ear of mariner cast on some desert island, than
+did those on that of the highly excited Clara. It was
+the loud laugh of the soldiery, who, collected along the
+line of rampart in front, were watching the progress of
+the ball-players. Cheered by the welcome sounds, she
+raised herself from the bed to satisfy her eye her ear
+had not deceived her. The windows of both bed-chambers
+looked immediately on the barrack square, and commanded
+a full view of the principal entrance. From that at which
+she now stood, the revived but still anxious girl could
+distinctly see all that was passing in front. The ramparts
+were covered with soldiers, who, armed merely with their
+bayonets, stood grouped in careless attitudes--some with
+their wives leaning on their arms--others with their
+children upraised, that they might the better observe
+the enlivening sports without--some lay indolently with
+their legs overhanging the works--others, assuming
+pugilistic attitudes, dealt their harmless blows at each
+other,--and all were blended together, men, women, and
+children, with that heedlessness of thought that told
+how little of distrust existed within their breasts. The
+soldiers of the guard, too, exhibited the same air of
+calm and unsuspecting confidence; some walking to and
+fro within the square, while the greater portion either
+mixed with their comrades above, or, with arms folded,
+legs carelessly crossed, and pipe in mouth, leant lazily
+against the gate, and gazed beyond the lowered drawbridge
+on the Indian games.
+
+A mountain weight seemed to have been removed from the
+breast of Clara at this sight, as she now dropped upon
+her knees before the window, and raised her hands in
+pious acknowledgment to Heaven.
+
+"Almighty God, I thank thee," she fervently exclaimed,
+her eye once more lighting up, and her cheek half suffused
+with blushes at her late vague and idle fears; while she
+embraced, at a single glance, the whole of the gladdening
+and inspiriting scene.
+
+While her soul was yet upturned whither her words had
+gone before, her ears were again assailed by sounds that
+curdled her blood, and made her spring to her feet as if
+stricken by a bullet through the heart; or powerfully
+touched by some electric fluid. It was the well-known
+and devilish war-cry of the savages, startling the very
+air through which it passed, and falling like a deadly
+blight upon the spirit. With a mechanical and desperate
+effort at courage, the unhappy girl turned her eyes below,
+and there met images of death in their most appalling
+shapes. Hurry and confusion and despair were every where
+visible; for a band of Indians were already in the fort,
+and these, fast succeeded by others, rushed like a torrent
+into the square, and commenced their dreadful work of
+butchery. Many of the terrified soldiers, without thinking
+of drawing their bayonets, flew down the ramparts in
+order to gain their respective block-houses for their
+muskets: but these every where met death from the crashing
+tomahawk, short rifle, or gleaming knife;--others who
+had presence of mind sufficient to avail themselves of
+their only weapons of defence, rushed down in the fury
+of desperation on the yelling fiends, resolved to sell
+their lives as dearly as possible; and for some minutes
+an obstinate contest was maintained: but the vast
+superiority of the Indian numbers triumphed; and although
+the men fought with all the fierceness of despair, forcing
+their way to the block-houses, their mangled corpses
+strewed the area in every direction. Neither was the
+horrid butchery confined to these. Women clinging to
+their husbands for protection, and, in the recklessness
+of their despair, impeding the efforts of the latter in
+their self-defence--children screaming in terror, or
+supplicating mercy on their bonded knees--infants clasped
+to their parents' breasts,--all alike sunk under the
+unpitying steel of the blood-thirsty savages. At the
+guard-house the principal stand had been made; for at
+the first rush into the fort, the men on duty had gained
+their station, and, having made fast the barricades,
+opened their fire upon the enemy. Mixed pele-mele as they
+were with the Indians, many of the English were shot by
+their own comrades, who, in the confusion of the moment,
+were incapable of taking a cool and discriminating aim.
+These, however, were finally overcome. A band of desperate
+Indians rushed upon the main door, and with repeated
+blows from their tomahawks and massive war-clubs, succeeded
+in demolishing it, while others diverted the fire of
+those within. The door once forced, the struggle was soon
+over. Every man of the guard perished; and their scalpless
+and disfigured forms were thrown out to swell the number
+of those that already deluged the square with their blood.
+
+Even amid all the horrors of this terrific scene, the
+agonised Clara preserved her consciousness. The very
+imminence of the danger endued her with strength to
+embrace it under all its most disheartening aspects; and
+she, whose mind had been wrought up to the highest pitch
+of powerful excitement by the mere preliminary threatenings,
+was comparatively collected under the catastrophe itself.
+Death, certain death, to all, she saw was inevitable;
+and while her perception at once embraced the futility
+of all attempts at escape from the general doom, she
+snatched from despair the power to follow its gloomy
+details without being annihilated under their weight.
+
+The confusion of the garrison had now reached its acme
+of horror. The shrieks of women and the shrill cries of
+children, as they severally and fruitlessly fled from
+the death certain to overtake them in the end,--the
+cursings of the soldiers, the yellings of the Indians,
+the reports of rifles, and the crashings of tomahawks;--
+these, with the stamping of human feet in the death
+struggle maintained in the council-room below between
+the chiefs and the officers, and which shook the block-house
+to its very foundation, all mixed up in terrible chorus
+together, might have called up a not inapt image of hell
+to the bewildered and confounding brain. And yet the sun
+shone in yellow lustre, and all Nature smiled, and wore
+an air of calm, as if the accursed deed had had the
+sanction of Heaven, and the spirits of light loved to
+look upon the frightful atrocities then in perpetration.
+
+In the first distraction of her spirit, Clara had utterly
+lost all recollection of her cousin; but now that she
+had, with unnatural desperation, brought her mind to bear
+upon the fiercest points of the grim reality, she turned
+her eye every where amid the scene of death in search of
+the form of her beloved Madeline, whom she did not remember
+to have seen cross the parade in pursuance of the purpose
+she had named. While she yet gazed fearfully from the
+window, loud bursts of mingled anguish and rage, that
+were almost drowned in the fiercer yells with which they
+were blended, ascended from the ground floor of the
+block-house. These had hitherto been suppressed, as if
+the desperate attack of the chiefs on the officers had
+been made with closed doors. Now, however, there was an
+evident outburst of all parties into the passage; and
+there the struggle appeared to be desperately and fearfully
+maintained. In the midst of that chaotic scene, the loud
+and piercing shriek of a female rose far above the
+discordant yell even of the savages. There was an instant
+of pause, and then the crashing of a skull was heard,
+and the confusion was greater than before, and shrieks,
+and groans, and curses, and supplications rent the air.
+
+The first single shriek came from Madeline de Haldimar,
+and vibrated through every chord of the heart on which
+it sank. Scarcely conscious of what she did, Clara,
+quitting the window, once more gained the top of the
+staircase, and at the extremity of her voice called on
+the name of her cousin in the most piteous accents. She
+was answered by a loud shout from the yelling band; and
+presently bounding feet and screaming voices were heard
+ascending the stairs. The terrified girl fancied at the
+moment she heard a door open on the floor immediately
+below her, and some one dart suddenly up the flight
+communicating with the spot on which she stood. Without
+waiting to satisfy herself, she rushed with all the
+mechanical instinct of self-preservation back into her
+own apartment. As she passed the bed-room window, she
+glanced once more hastily into the area below, and there
+beheld a sight that, filling her soul with despair,
+paralysed all further exertion. A tall savage was bearing
+off the apparently lifeless form of her cousin through
+the combatants in the square, her white dress stained
+all over with blood, and her beautiful hair loosened and
+trailing on the ground. She followed with her burning
+eyes until they passed the drawbridge, and finally
+disappeared behind the intervening rampart, and then
+bowing her head between her hands, and sinking upon her
+knees, she reposed her forehead against the sill of the
+window, and awaited unshrinkingly, yet in a state of
+inconceivable agony, the consummation of her own unhappy
+destiny.
+
+The sounds of ascending feet were now heard in the passage
+without; and presently, while the clangour of a thousand
+demons seemed to ring throughout the upper part of the
+building, a man rushed furiously into the room. The blood
+of the young girl curdled in her veins. She mechanically
+grasped the ledge of the window on which her aching head
+still reposed, and with her eyes firmly closed, to shut
+out from view the fiend whose sight she dreaded, even
+more than the death which threatened her, quietly awaited
+the blow that was to terminate at once her misery and
+her life. Scarcely, however, had the feet of the intruder
+pressed the sanctuary of her bedchamber, when the heavy
+door, strongly studded with nails, was pushed rapidly
+to, and bolt and lock were heard sliding into their
+several sockets. Before Clara could raise her head to
+discover the cause of this movement, she felt herself
+firmly secured in the grasp of an encircling arm, and
+borne hastily through the room. An instinctive sense of
+something worse even than death now flashed across the
+mind of the unhappy girl; and while she feared to unclose
+her eyes, she struggled violently to disengage herself.
+
+"Clara! dear Miss de Haldimar, do you not know me?"
+exclaimed her supporter, while, placing her for a moment
+on a seat, he proceeded to secure the fastenings of the
+second door, that led from the bed-chamber into the larger
+apartment.
+
+Re-assured by the tones of a voice which, even in that
+dreadful moment of trial and destruction, were familiar
+to her ear, the trembling girl opened her eyes wildly
+upon her protector. A slight scream of terror marked her
+painful sense of the recognition. It was Captain Baynton
+whom she beheld: but how unlike the officer who a few
+minutes before had been conversing with her from the
+ramparts. His fine hair, matted with blood, now hung
+loosely and disfiguringly over his eyes, and his pallid
+face and brow were covered with gore spots, the evident
+spatterings from the wounds of others; while a stream
+that issued from one side of his head attested he himself
+had not escaped unhurt in the cruel melee. A skirt and
+a lappel had been torn from his uniform, which, together
+with other portions of his dress, were now stained in
+various parts by the blood continually flowing from his
+wound.
+
+"Oh, Captain Baynton," murmured the fainting girl, her
+whole soul sinking within her, as she gazed shudderingly
+on his person, "is there no hope for us? must we die?"
+
+"No, by Heaven, not while I have strength to save you,"
+returned the officer, with energy. "If the savages have
+not penetrated to the rear, we may yet escape. I saw the
+postern open just now, on my passage round the rampart,
+and the boat of the schooner upon the strand. Ha!" he
+exclaimed, as he flew to the window, and cast his eye
+rapidly below, "we are lost! The gate is still clear,
+and not an Indian to be seen; but the coward sailor is
+pulling for his life towards the vessel. But hold! another
+boat is now quitting the ship's side. See, how manfully
+they give themselves to the oars: in a few minutes they
+will be here. Come, Clara, let us fly!" and again he
+caught her in his arms, and bore her across the room.
+"Hark, hear you not the exulting yellings of the monsters?
+They are forcing the outer door: mark how they redouble
+their efforts to break it open! That passed, but one more
+barrier remains between us and inevitable and instant
+death."
+
+"And my cousin, my uncle!" shrieked the unhappy girl, as
+the officer now bore her rapidly down the back staircase.
+
+"Oh, ask me not!" exclaimed Baynton: "were I to linger
+again on all I have witnessed, I should go mad. All, all
+have perished! but, hark!"
+
+A tremendous yell now bursting from the passage, announced
+at once, the triumph of the savages in having effected
+an entrance into the bed-room, and their disappointment
+at finding their pursuit baulked by a second door.
+Presently afterwards their heavy weapons were to be heard
+thundering at this new obstacle, in the most furious
+manner. This gave new stimulus to the exertions of the
+generous officer. Each winding of the staircase was
+familiar to him, and he now descended it with a rapidity
+which, considering the burden that reposed against his
+chest, could only have been inspired by his despair. The
+flight terminated at a door that led directly upon the
+rampart, without communicating with any of the passages
+of the building; and in this consisted the principal
+facility of escape: for, in order to reach them, the
+savages must either make the circuit of the block-house,
+or overtake them in the course they were now following.
+In this trying emergency, the presence of mind of the
+young officer, wounded and bleeding as he was, did not
+desert him. On quitting the larger apartment above, he
+had secured the outside fastenings of a small door at
+the top of the stairs, and having now gained the bottom,
+he took a similar precaution. All that remained was to
+unclose the bolts of the ponderous door that opened upon
+their final chance of escape: this was speedily done,
+but here the feelings of the officer were put to a severe
+test. A rude partition divided him from the fatal
+council-room; and while he undid the fastenings, the
+faint and dying groans of his butchered brother officers
+rung in his ears, even at the moment that he felt his
+feet dabbling in the blood that oozed through the
+imperfectly closed planks of which the partition was
+composed. As for Clara, she was insensible to all that
+was passing. From the moment of the Indian yell, announcing
+their entry into the bed-room, she had fainted.
+
+The huge door came now creaking back upon its hinges,
+when the sounds of the yet unfinished conflict in front,
+which had hitherto been deadened in their descent through
+the remote staircase, rang once more fiercely and
+startlingly upon the ear. A single glance satisfied
+Captain Baynton the moment for exertion was come, and
+that the way to the lake shore, which, by some strange
+oversight, both the Indians and the men had overlooked,
+was perfectly clear. He clasped his unconscious burden
+closer to his chest, and then, setting his life upon the
+cast, hastened down the few steps that led to the rampart,
+and dashed rapidly through the postern; in the next minute
+he stood on the uttermost verge of the sands, unharmed
+and onfollowed. He cast his eyes anxiously along the
+surface of the lake; but such was the excitement and
+confusion of his mind, produced by the horrid recollection
+of the past scene, it was not until he had been abruptly
+hailed from it, he could see a boat, at the distance of
+about two hundred yards, the crew of which were lying on
+their oars. It was the long boat of the schooner, which,
+prevented from a nearer approach by a sand bar that ran
+along the lake to a considerable extent, had taken her
+station there to receive the fugitives. Two tall young
+men in the dress, yet having little the mien, of common
+sailors, were standing up in her stern; and one of these,
+with evident anxiety in his manner, called on Baynton by
+name to make the best of his way to the boat. At that
+moment a loud and frantic yell came from the block-house
+the latter had just quitted. In the wild impulse of his
+excited feelings, he answered with a cheer of defiance,
+as he turned to discover the precise point whence it
+proceeded. The windows of the apartment so recently
+occupied by the unhappy cousins, were darkened with savage
+forms, who now pealed forth their mingled fury and
+disappointment in the most terrific manner.
+
+"Fly, fly, Baynton, or you are lost!" exclaimed the same
+voice from the boat; "the devils are levelling from the
+windows."
+
+While he yet spake several shots came whizzing along the
+waters, and a spent ball even struck the now rapidly
+fleeing officer in the back; but the distance was too
+great for serious injury. The guns of the savages had
+been cut so short for their desperate enterprise, that
+they carried little further than a horse pistol.
+
+Again, in the desperation of his feelings, and heedless
+of the danger he was drawing on himself and charge, the
+officer turned fiercely round and shouted, at his utmost
+lungs, a peal of triumph in the ears of his enemies.
+Scarcely, however, had the sounds escaped his lips, when
+two hideously painted Indians sprang through the postern,
+and, silent as the spectres they resembled, rushed down
+the sands, and thence into the lake. Loud shouts from
+the windows above were again pealed forth, and from the
+consternation visible on the features of those within
+the boat, the nearly exhausted Baynton learnt all the
+risk he incurred. Summoning all his strength, he now made
+the most desperate efforts to reach his friends. The lake
+was little more than knee deep from the shore to the bar,
+but, encumbered as he was, the difficulty opposed to his
+movements was immeasurably against him, and yet he seemed
+generously resolved rather to perish than relinquish his
+charge. Already were his pursuers, now closely followed
+by a numerous band, within twenty yards of him, when the
+two young men, each armed with a cutlass and pistol,
+sprang from the boat upon the sand bar: as the Indians
+came on they fired deliberately at them, but both missed
+their aim. Encouraged by this failure, the fearless devils
+dashed eagerly on, brandishing their gleaming tomahawks,
+but littering not a sound. Already was the unfortunate
+Baynton within a few feet of the bar, when he felt that
+the savages were immediately upon him.
+
+"Take, take, for God's sake take her!" he cried, as with
+a desperate effort he threw the light form of the still
+unconscious girl into the arms of one of the young men.
+"My strength is quite exhausted, and I can do no more."
+
+For the first time a yell burst from the lips of the
+pursuing savages, as they saw him, to whom the guardianship
+of the wretched Clara was now confided, suddenly spring
+from the sand bar into the lake, and in a few rapid
+strokes gain the side of the boat. Leaving the hapless
+Baynton to be disposed of by his companion, the foremost
+darted upon the bank, burning with disappointment, and
+resolved to immolate another victim. For a moment he
+balanced his tomahawk, and then, with the rapidity of
+thought, darted it at the covered head of the youth who
+still lingered on the bar. A well-timed movement of the
+latter averted the blow, and the whizzing steel passed
+harmlessly on. A gutteral "Ugh!" marked the disappointment
+of the Indian, now reduced to his scalping-knife; but
+before he could determine whether to advance or to retreat,
+his opponent had darted upon him, and, with a single blow
+from his cutlass, cleft his skull nearly asunder. The
+next instantaneous purpose of the victor was to advance
+to the rescue of the exhausted Baynton; but, when he
+turned to look for him, he saw the mangled form of what
+had once been that gallant and handsome officer floating,
+without life or motion, on the blood-stained surface of
+the Huron, while his fiendish murderer, calmly awaiting
+the approach of his companions, held up the reeking scalp,
+in triumph, to the view of the still yelling groups within
+the block-house.
+
+"Noble, generous, self-devoted fellow!" exclaimed the
+youth, as he fixed his burning tearless eye for a moment
+on the unfortunate victim; "even you, then, are not spared
+to tell the horrid story of this butchery; yet is the
+fate of the fallen far, far more enviable than that of
+those who have survived this day." He then committed his
+cutlass to its sheath; and, leaping into the deep water
+that lay beyond the bar, was, in a few seconds, once more
+in the stern of the boat.
+
+Meanwhile, the numerous band, who followed their two
+first fierce comrades into the lake, bounded rapidly
+forward; and, so active were their movements, that, at
+almost the same moment when the second of the youths had
+gained his temporary place of refuge, they stood yelling
+and screaming on the sand bar he had just quitted. Two
+or three, excited to desperation by the blood they had
+seen spilt, plunged unhesitatingly into the opposite
+depths of the lake; and the foremost of these was the
+destroyer of the ill-fated Baynton. With his bloody
+scalping-knife closely clutched between his teeth, and
+his tomahawk in his right hand, this fierce warrior
+buffeted the waves lustily with one arm, and, noiselessly
+as in the early part of his pursuit, urged his way towards
+the boat. In the stern of this a few planks from the
+schooner had been firmly lashed, to serve as a shield
+against the weapons of the savages, and was so arranged
+as to conceal all within while retiring from the shore.
+A small aperture had, however, been bored for the purpose
+of observing the movements of the enemy without risk.
+Through this an eye was now directed, while only the
+blades of the oars were to be seen projecting from the
+boat's sides as they reposed in their rowlocks. Encouraged
+by the seeming apathy and inertness of the crew, the
+swimming savages paused not to consider of consequences,
+but continued their daring course as if they had apprehended
+neither risk nor resistance. Presently a desperate splash
+was heard near the stern of the boat, and the sinuous
+form of the first savage was raised above the gunwale,
+his grim face looking devilish in its war-paint, and his
+fierce eyes gleaming and rolling like fire-balls in their
+sockets. Scarcely was he seen, however, when he had again
+disappeared. A blow from the cutlass that had destroyed
+his companion descended like lightning on his naked and
+hairless head; and, in the agony of death, he might be
+seen grinding his teeth against the knife which the
+instinctive ferocity of his nature forbade his
+relinquishing. A yell of fury burst from the savages on
+the bar, and presently a shower of bullets ran whistling
+through the air. Several were heard striking the rude
+rampart in the stem; but, although the boat was scarcely
+out of pistol-shot, the thickness of the wood prevented
+all injury to those within. Another fierce yell followed
+this volley; and then nearly a score of warriors, giving
+their guns in charge to their companions, plunged furiously
+into the water; and, with an air of the most infuriated
+determination, leaped rather than swam along its surface.
+
+"Now, then, my lads, give way," said he at the look-out;
+"there are more than a dozen of the devils in full cry;
+and our only chance is in flight! Ha! another here!" as,
+turning to issue these directions, he chanced to see the
+dark hand of a savage at that moment grasping the gunwale
+of the boat, as if with a view to retard her movements
+until the arrival of his companions.
+
+A heavy blow from his cutlass accompanied these words.
+The fingers, divided at their very roots, rolled to the
+bottom of the boat, and the carcase of the savage dropped,
+with a yell of anguish, far in the rear. The heavy
+oar-blades of the seamen now made play, dashing the lake
+away in sheets of foam; and, in less than five minutes,
+the heads of the swimming savages were seen mingling like
+so many rats upon the water, as they returned once more
+in disappointment from their fruitless pursuit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+The sun had gone down, as he had risen, in all the
+gloriousness of his autumnal splendour, and twilight was
+now fast descending on the waters of the Huron. A slight
+breeze was just beginning to make itself felt from the
+land, the gradual rising of which was hailed by many an
+anxious heart, as the schooner, which had been making
+vain attempts to quit her anchorage during the day, now
+urged her light bows through the slightly curling element.
+A death-like silence, interrupted only by the low gruff
+voice of a veteran seaman, as he issued, in technical
+language, the necessary orders for the management of the
+vessel, prevailed every where along her decks. The dress
+and general appearance of this individual announced him
+for a petty officer of the royal service; and it was
+evident, from the tone of authority with which he spoke,
+he was now in the enjoyment of a temporary command. The
+crew, consisting of about thirty souls, and chiefly
+veterans of the same class, were assembled along the
+gangways, each man wearing a brace of pistols in the
+belt, which, moreover, secured a naked cutlass around
+his loins; and these now lingered near the several guns
+that were thrown out from their gloomy looking ports, as
+if ready for some active service. But, although the arming
+of these men indicated hostile preparation, there was
+none of that buoyancy of movement and animation of feature
+to be observed, which so usually characterise the
+indomitable daring of the British sailor. Some stood
+leaning their heads pensively on their hands against the
+rigging and hammocks that were stowed away along the
+bulwarks, after the fashion of war ships in boarding;
+others, with arms tightly folded across their chests,
+spirted the tobacco juice thoughtfully from their closed
+teeth into the receding waters; while not a few gazed
+earnestly and despondingly on the burning fort in the
+distance, amid the rolling volumes of smoke and flame
+from which, ever and anon, arose the fiendish yell of
+those who, having already sacked, were now reducing it
+to ashes. Nor was this the only object of their attention.
+On the sand bank alluded to in our last chapter were to
+be dimly seen through the growing dusk, the dark outlines
+of many of the savages, who, frantic with rage at their
+inability to devote them to the same doom, were still
+unwilling to quit a spot which approached them nearest
+to the last surviving objects of their enmity. Around
+this point, were collected numerous canoes, filled also
+with warriors; and, at the moment when the vessel, obeying
+the impulse given by her flowing sails, glided from her
+anchorage, these followed, scudding in her wake, and made
+a show of attacking her in the stern. The sudden yawing
+of the schooner, however, in bringing her tier of bristling
+ports into view, had checked the ardour of the pursuing
+fleet; and the discharge of a single gun, destroying in
+its course three of their canoes, and carrying death
+among those who directed them, had driven them back, in
+the greatest hurry and confusion, to their yelling and
+disappointed comrades.
+
+The after-deck of the schooner presented a different,
+though not less sombre and discouraging, scene. On a pile
+of mattresses lay the light and almost inanimate form of
+Clara de Haldimar; her fair and redundant hair overshadowing
+her pallid brow and cheek, and the dress she had worn at
+the moment of her escape from the fort still spotted with
+the blood of her generous but unfortunate preserver.
+Close at her side, with her hands clasped in his, while
+he watched the expression of deep suffering reflected
+from each set feature, and yet with the air of one
+pre-occupied with some other subject of painful interest,
+sat, on an empty shot-box, the young man in sailor's
+attire, whose cutlass had performed the double service
+of destroying his own immediate opponent, and avenging
+the death of the devoted Baynton. At the head of the rude
+couch, and leaning against a portion of the schooner's
+stern-work, stood his companion, who from delicacy appeared
+to have turned away his eyes from the group below, merely
+to cast them vacantly on the dark waters through which
+the vessel was now beginning to urge her course.
+
+Such was the immediate position of this little party,
+when the gun fired at the Indians was heard booming
+heavily along the lake. The loud report, in exciting
+new sources of alarm, seemed to have dissipated the spell
+that had hitherto chained the energies and perception of
+the still weak, but now highly excited girl.
+
+"Oh, Captain Baynton, where are we?" she exclaimed,
+starting up suddenly in terror, and throwing her arms
+around him, who sat at her side, as if she would have
+clung to him for protection. "Is the horrid massacre not
+finished yet? Where is Madeline? where is my cousin? Oh,
+I cannot leave the fort without her."
+
+"Ha! where indeed is she?" exclaimed the youth, as he
+clasped his trembling and scarcely conscious burden to
+his chest, "Almighty God, where is she?" Then, after a
+short pause, and in a voice of tender but exquisite
+anguish, "Clara, my beloved sister, do you not know me?
+It is not Baynton but your brother, who now clasps you
+to his breaking heart."
+
+A deluge of tears was the only answer of the wretched
+girl. They were the first she had shed,--the first marks
+of consciousness she had exhibited. Hitherto her heart
+had been oppressed; every fibre of her brain racked almost
+to bursting, and filled only with ghastly flitting visions
+of the dreadful horrors she had seen perpetrated, she
+had continued, since the moment of her fainting in the
+block-house, as one bereft of all memory of the past, or
+apprehension of the present. But now, the full outpouring
+of her grief relieved her overcharged brain and heart,
+even while the confused images floating before her
+recollection acquired a more tangible and painful character.
+She raised herself a moment from the chest on which her
+burning head reposed, looked steadfastly in the face that
+hung anxiously over her own, and saw indeed that it was
+her brother. She tried to speak, but she could not utter
+a word, for the memory of all that had occurred that
+fatal morning rushed with mountain weight upon her fainting
+spirit, and again she wept, and more bitterly than before.
+
+The young man pressed her in silence to his chest; nor
+was it until she had given full vent to her grief, that
+he ventured to address her on the subject of his own
+immediate sorrows. At length, when she appeared somewhat
+more calm, he observed, in a voice broken by emotion,--
+
+"Clara, dearest, what account have you to give me of
+Madeline? Has she shared the fate of all? or have you
+reason to suppose her life has been spared?"
+
+Another burst of tears succeeded to these questions, for
+coupled with the name of her cousin arose all the horrid
+associations connected with her loss. As soon, however,
+as she could compose herself, she briefly stated all she
+had witnessed of the affair, from the moment when the
+boat of the schooner was seen to meet the strange looking
+object on the water, to that when she had beheld her
+ill-fated cousin borne away apparently lifeless in the
+arms of the tall Indian by whom she had been captured.
+
+During this recital, the heart of Captain de Haldimar,
+--for it was he,--beat audibly against the cheek that
+still reposed on his breast; but when his sister had, in
+a faint voice, closed her melancholy narrative with the
+manner of her cousin's disappearance, he gave a sudden
+start, uttering at the same time an exclamation of joy.
+
+"Thank God, she still lives!" he cried, pressing his
+sister once more in fondness to his heart; then turning
+to his companion, who, although seemingly abstracted,
+had been a silent and attentive witness of the scene,--"By
+Heaven! Valletort, there is yet a hope. She it was indeed
+whom we saw borne out of the fort, and subsequently made
+to walk by the cruel Indian who had charge of her."
+
+"Valletort, Valletort," murmured Clara unconsciously,
+her sick heart throbbing with she knew not what. "How is
+this, Frederick?--Where, then, is Captain Baynton? and
+how came you here?"
+
+"Alas! Clara, poor Baynton is no more. Even at the moment
+when he confided the unconscious burden, preserved at
+the peril of his own life, to the arms of Sir Everard
+here, he fell beneath the tomahawk of a pursuing savage.
+Poor, noble, generous Baynton," he continued, mournfully;
+"to him, indeed, Clara, are you indebted for your life;
+yet was it purchased at the price of his own."
+
+Again the pained and affectionate girl wept bitterly,
+and her brother proceeded:--
+
+"The strange object you saw on the lake, my love, was
+nothing more than a canoe disguised with leafy boughs,
+in which Sir Everard Valletort and myself, under the
+guidance of old Francois of the Fleur de lis, whom you
+must recollect, have made the dangerous passage of the
+Sinclair in the garb of duck hunters,--which latter we
+had only discarded on reaching the schooner, in order to
+assume another we conceived better suited to our purpose.
+Alas!" and he struck his hand violently against his brow,
+"had we made directly for the shore without touching the
+vessel at all, there might have been time to save those
+we came to apprise of their danger. Do you not think
+there was, Valletort?"
+
+"Most assuredly not," returned his companion, anxious to
+remove the impression of self-blame that existed in the
+mind of Captain de Haldimar. "From the moment of our
+reaching the schooner, which lay immediately in our route,
+to that when the shout was raised by the savages as they
+rushed into the fort, there was scarcely an interval of
+three minutes; and it would have required a longer period
+to have enabled us even to gain the shore."
+
+"Thank, thank you for that!" exclaimed the officer,
+drawing himself up with the air of one who breathes more
+freely. "I would not, for the wealth and honours of the
+united world, that such a cause for self-reproach should
+linger on my mind. By Heaven! it would break my heart to
+think we had been in time to save them, and yet had lost
+the opportunity through even one moment of neglect." Then
+turning once more to his sister,--"Now, Clara, that I
+see you in safety, I have another sacred duty to perform.
+I must leave you, but not alone."
+
+"What mean you, Frederick?" exclaimed his agitated sister,
+clinging more closely to his embrace. "Scarce have we
+met, and you talk of leaving me. Oh, whither would you
+go?"
+
+"Surely, my love," and he spoke half reproachfully,
+although with tenderness of accent, "my meaning must be
+obvious. But what do I say? You know it not. Madeline
+still lives. We saw her, as we pulled towards the shore,
+led across the clearing in the direction of Chabouiga.
+Hear me, then: the canoe in which we came is still towing
+from the vessel's stern, and in this do I mean to embark,
+without further loss of time, in search of her who is
+dearer to me than existence. I know," he pursued with
+emotion, "I have but little hope of rescuing, even if I
+do succeed in finding her; but at least I shall not have
+to suffer under the self-reproach of having neglected
+the only chance that now lies within my reach. If she
+be doomed to die, I shall then have nothing left to live
+for--except you, Clara," he concluded, after a pause,
+pressing the weeping girl to his heart, as he remarked
+how much she seemed pained by the declaration.
+
+Having placed his sister once more on the couch, and
+covered her with a cloak that had been brought from the
+cabin of the unfortunate commander, Captain de Haldimar
+now rose from his humble seat, and grasping the hand of
+his friend,--
+
+"Valletort," he said, "I commit this dear girl to your
+keeping. Hitherto we have been equal sharers in an
+enterprise having for its object the preservation of our
+mutual companions and friends. At present, interests of
+a more personal nature occupy my attention; and to these
+must I devote myself alone. I trust you will reach Detroit
+in safety; and when you have delivered my unfortunate
+sister into the arms of her father, you will say to him
+from me, I could not survive the loss of that being to
+whom I had sworn eternal fidelity and affection. Francois
+must be my only companion on this occasion. Nay," he
+continued, pointing to his sister, in answer to the rising
+remonstrance of the baronet," will you desert the precious
+charge I have confided to your keeping? Recollect,
+Valletort," in a more subdued tone, "that besides yourself,
+there will be none near her but rude and uneducated
+sailors;--honest men enough in their way, it is true;
+but not the sort of people to whom I should like to
+confide my poor sister."
+
+The warm and silent pressure by Sir Everard of his hand
+announced his participation in the sentiment; and Captain
+de Haldimar now hastened forward to apprise the Canadian
+of his purpose. He found mine host of the Fleur de lis
+seated in the forecastle of the schooner; and with an
+air of the most perfect unconcern discussing a substantial
+meal, consisting of dried uncooked venison, raw onions,
+and Indian corn bread, the contents of a large bag or
+wallet that lay at his feet. No sooner, however, had the
+impatient officer communicated his design, asking at the
+same time if he might expect his assistance in the
+enterprise, than the unfinished meal of the Canadian was
+discontinued, the wallet refilled, and the large greasy
+clasp-knife with which the portions had been separated,
+closed and thrust into a pocket of his blanket coat.
+
+"I shall go to de devils for you, capitaine, if we must,"
+he said, as he raised his portly form, not without effort,
+from the deck, slapping the shoulder of the officer at
+the same time somewhat rudely with his hand. There was
+nothing, however, offensively familiar in this action.
+It expressed merely the devotedness of heart with which
+the man lent himself to the service to which he had
+pledged himself, and was rather complimentary than
+otherwise to him to whom it was directed. Captain de
+Haldimar took it in the light in which we have just shown
+it, and he grasped and shook the rough hand of the Canadian
+with an earnestness highly gratifying to the latter.
+
+Every thing was now in readiness for their departure.
+The canoe, still covered with its streaming boughs, was
+drawn close up to the gangway, and a few hasty necessaries
+thrown in. While this was passing, the officer had again
+assumed his disguise of a duck-hunter; and he now appeared
+in the blanket costume in which we introduced Sir Everard
+and himself at the opening of this volume.
+
+"If I may be so bold as to put in my oar, your
+honour,"--said the veteran boatswain, on whom the command
+of the schooner had fallen, as he now advanced, rolling
+his quid in his mouth, and dropping his hat on his
+shoulder, while the fingers of the hand which clutched
+it were busily occupied in scratching his bald head,--"if
+I may be so bold, there is another chap here as might
+better sarve your honour's purpose than that 'ere fat
+Canadian, who seems to think only of stuffing while his
+betters are fasting."
+
+"And who is he, my good Mullins?" asked Captain de
+Haldimar.
+
+"Why, that 'ere Ingian, your honour, as began the butchery
+in the fort, yonder, by trying to kill Jack Fuller while
+he laid asleep this morning, waiting for the captain in
+the jolly boat. Jack never seed him coming, until he felt
+his black hands upon his throat, and then he ups with
+the tiller at his noddle, and sends him floundering across
+the boat's thwarts like a flat-fish. I thought, your
+honour, seeing as how I have got the command of the
+schooner, of tying him up to the mainmast, and giving
+him two or three round dozen or so, and then sending him
+to swim among the mascannungy with a twenty-four pound
+shot in his neckcloth; but, seeing as how your honour is
+going among them savages agin, I thought as how some good
+might be done with him, if your honour could contrive to
+keep him in tow, and close under your lee quarter, to
+prevent his escape."
+
+"At all events," returned the officer, after a pause of
+some moments, during which he appeared to be deliberating
+on his course of action, "it may be dangerous to keep
+him in the vessel; and yet, if we take him ashore, he
+may be the means of our more immediate destruction;
+unless, indeed, as you observe, he can be so secured as
+to prevent the possibility of escape: but that I very
+much doubt indeed. Where is he, Mullins? I should like
+to see and question him."
+
+"He shall be up, your honour, in no time," replied the
+sailor, once more resuming his hat, and moving a pace or
+two forward. Then addressing two or three men in the
+starboard gangway in the authoritative tone of command:
+--"Bear a hand there, my men, and cast off the lashings
+of that black Ingian, and send him aft, here, to the
+officer."
+
+The order was speedily executed. In a few minutes the
+Indian stood on the quarter-deck, his hands firmly secured
+behind, and his head sunk upon his chest in sullen
+despondency. In the increasing gloom in which objects
+were now gradually becoming more and more indistinct, it
+was impossible for Captain de Haldimar to distinguish
+his features; but there was something in the outline of
+the Indian's form that impressed him with the conviction
+he had seen it before. Advancing a pace or two forward,
+he pronounced, in an emphatic and audible whisper, the
+name of "Oucanasta!"
+
+The Indian gave an involuntary start,--uttered a deep
+interjectional "Ugh!"--and, raising his head from his
+chest, fixed his eye heavily on the officer.
+
+"Hookynaster!--Hookynaster!" growled Jack Fuller, who
+had followed to hear the examination of his immediate
+captive: "why, your honour, that jaw-breaking name reminds
+me as how the chap had a bit of a paper when I chucked
+him into the jolly boat, stuck in his girdle. It was
+covered over with pencil-marks, as writing like; but all
+was rubbed out agin, except some such sort of a name as
+that."
+
+"Where is it?--what have you done with it?" hastily asked
+Captain de Haldimar.
+
+"Here, in my backy-box, your honour. I kept it safe,
+thinking as how it might sarve to let us know all about
+it afterwards."
+
+The sailor now drew from the receptacle just named a
+dirty piece of folded paper, deeply impregnated with the
+perfume of stale and oft rechewed quids of coarse tobacco;
+and then, with the air of one conscious of having "rendered
+the state some service," hitched up his trowsers with
+one hand, while with the other he extended the important
+document.
+
+To glance his eye hurriedly over the paper by the light
+of a dark lanthorn that had meanwhile been brought upon
+deck, unclasp his hunting-knife, and divide the ligatures
+of the captive, and then warmly press his liberated hands
+within his own, were, with Captain de Haldimar, but the
+work of a minute.
+
+"Hilloa! which the devil way does the wind blow now?"
+muttered Fuller, the leer of self-satisfaction that had
+hitherto played in his eye rapidly giving place to an
+air of seriousness and surprise; an expression that was
+not at all diminished by an observation from his new
+commander.
+
+"I tell you what it is, Jack," said the latter,
+impressively; "I don't pretend to have more gumption (qu.
+discernment?) than my messmates; but I can see through
+a millstone as clear as any man as ever heaved a lead in
+these here lakes; and may I never pipe boatswain's whistle
+again, if you 'ar'n't, some how or other, in the wrong
+box. That 'ere Ingian's one of us!"
+
+The feelings of Captain de Haldimar may easily be
+comprehended by our readers, when, on glancing at the
+paper, he found himself confirmed in the impression
+previously made on him by the outline of the captive's
+form. The writing, nearly obliterated by damp, had been
+rudely traced by his own pencil on a leaf torn from his
+pocket-book. In the night of his visit to the Indian
+encampment, and at the moment when, seated on the fatal
+log, Oucanasta had generously promised her assistance in
+at least rescuing his betrothed bride. They were addressed
+to Major de Haldimar, and briefly stated that a treacherous
+plan was in contemplation by the enemy to surprise the
+fort, which the bearer, Oucanasta (the latter word strongly
+marked), would fully explain, if she could possibly obtain
+access within. From the narrative entered into by Clara,
+who had particularly dwelt on the emotions of fear that
+had sprung up in her own and cousin's heart by the sudden
+transformation of a supposed harmless beaver into a fierce
+and threatening savage, he had no difficulty in solving
+the enigma.
+
+The Indian, in whom he had recognised the young chief
+who had saved him from the fury of Wacousta, had evidently
+been won upon by his sister to perform a service which
+offered so much less difficulty to a warrior than to a
+woman; and it was clear, that, finding all other means
+of communication with the fort, undiscovered by his own
+people, impracticable, he had availed himself of the
+opportunity, when he saw the boat waiting on the strand,
+to assume a disguise so well adapted to insure success.
+It was no remarkable thing in these countries, to see
+both the beaver and the otter moving on the calm surface
+of the waters in the vicinity of the forts, even at
+mid-day; and occupied as the Indians were, to a man, at
+that moment with their cruel projects, it was by no means
+likely that their attention should have been called off
+from these to so apparently unimportant a circumstance.
+The act that had principally alarmed the cousins, and
+terminated, as we have seen, in the sudden attack of the
+sailor, had evidently been misconceived. The hand supposed
+to be feeling for the heart of the sluggard, had, in all
+probability, been placed on his chest with a view to
+arouse him from his slumber; while that which was believed
+to have been dropped to the handle of his knife, was, in
+reality, merely seeking the paper that contained the
+announcement, which, if then delivered, might have saved
+the garrison.
+
+Such was the tram of conjecture that now passed through
+the mind of the officer; but, although he thus placed
+the conduct of the Indian in the most favourable light,
+his impression received no confirmation from the lips of
+the latter. Sullen and doggedly, notwithstanding the
+release from his bonds, the Ottawa hung his head upon
+his chest, with his eyes riveted on the deck, and
+obstinately refused to answer every question put to him
+by his deliverer. This, however, did not the less tend
+to confirm Captain de Haldimar in his belief. He knew
+enough of the Indian character, to understand the indignant
+and even revengeful spirit likely to be aroused by the
+treatment the savage had met with in return for his
+intended services. He was aware that, without pausing to
+reflect on the fact, that the sailor, ignorant of his
+actual purpose, could merely have seen in him an enemy
+in the act of attempting his life, the chief would only
+consider and inflame himself over the recollection of
+the blow inflicted; and that, with the true obstinacy of
+his race, he would rather suffer captivity or death
+itself, than humble the haughty pride of his nature, by
+condescending to an explanation with those by whom he
+felt himself so deeply injured. Still, even amid all his
+own personal griefs,--griefs that rendered the boon in
+some degree at present valueless,--Captain de Haldimar
+could not forget that the youth, no matter by what motive
+induced, had rescued him from a dreadful death on a
+previous occasion. With the generous warmth, therefore,
+of a grateful mind, he now sought to impress on the Indian
+the deep sense of obligation under which he laboured;
+explaining at the same time the very natural error into
+which the sailor had fallen, and concluding with a
+declaration that he was free to quit the vessel in the
+canoe in which he himself was about to take his departure
+for the shore, in search of her whom his sister had
+pledged herself, at all hazards, to save.
+
+The address of the officer, touching and impressive as
+language ever is that comes from the heart, was not
+altogether without effect on the Indian. Several times
+he interrupted him with a short, quick, approving "Ugh!"
+and when he at length received the assurance that he was
+no longer a prisoner, he raised his eyes rapidly, although
+without moving his head, to the countenance of his
+deliverer. Already were his lips opening to speak for
+the first time, when the attention of the group around
+him was arrested by his giving a sudden start of surprise.
+At the same moment he raised his head, stretched his
+neck, threw forward his right ear, and, uttering a loud
+and emphatic "Waugh!" pointed with his finger over the
+bows of the vessel.
+
+All listened for upwards of a minute in mute suspense;
+and then a faint and scarcely distinguishable sound was
+heard in the direction in which he pointed. Scarcely had
+it floated on the air, when a shrill, loud, and prolonged
+cry, of peculiar tendency, burst hurriedly and eagerly
+from the lips of the captive; and, spreading over the
+broad expanse of water, seemed to be re-echoed back from
+every point of the surrounding shore.
+
+Great was the confusion that followed this startling yell
+on the decks of the schooner. "Cut the hell-fiend
+down!"--"Chuck him overboard!"--" We are betrayed!"--"Every
+man to his gun!"--"Put the craft about!" were among the
+numerous exclamations that now rose simultaneously from
+at least twenty lips, and almost drowned the loud shriek
+that burst again from the wretched Clara de Haldimar.
+
+"Stop, Mullins!--Stop, men!" shouted Captain de Haldimar,
+firmly, as the excited boatswain, with two or three of
+his companions,--now advanced with the intention of
+laying violent hands on the Indian. "I will answer for
+his fidelity with my life. If he be false, it will be
+time enough to punish him afterwards; but let us calmly
+await the issue like men. Hear me," he proceeded, as he
+remarked their incredulous, uncertain, and still threatening
+air;--"this Indian saved me from the tomahawks of his
+tribe not a week ago; and, even now, he has become our
+captive in the act of taking a note from me to the
+garrison, to warn them of their danger. But for that
+slumbering fool," he added, bitterly, pointing to Fuller,
+who slept when he should have watched, "your fort would
+not now have been what it is,--a mass of smoking ruins.
+He has an ocean of blood upon his soul, that all the
+waters of the Huron can never wash out!"
+
+Struck by the vehement manner of the officer, and the
+disclosure he had just made, the sailors sunk once more
+into inaction and silence. The boatswain alone spoke.
+
+"I thought, your honour, as how Jack Fuller, who sartainly
+is a better hand at a snooze than a watch, had got into
+a bit of a mess; but, shiver my topsails, if I think it's
+quite fair to blame him, neither, for clapping a stopper
+on the Indian's cable, seeing as how he was expecting a
+shot between wind and water. Still, as the chap turns
+out to be an honest chap, and has saved your honour's
+life above all, I don't much care if I give him a grip.
+Here, old fellow, tip us your fist!"
+
+Without seeming to understand that his cry had been
+productive of general and intense alarm throughout the
+vessel, the Indian had viewed the sudden rushing of the
+crew towards him as an act of gratuitous hostility; and,
+without shrinking from the attack, had once more resumed
+his original air of dogged sullenness. It was evident
+to him, from the discussion going on, that some violence,
+about to be offered to his person, had only been prevented
+by the interference of the officer. With the natural
+haughtiness of his savage nature, he therefore rejected
+the overtures of the sailor, whose hand he had observed
+among the first that were raised against him.
+
+While the angry boatswain was yet rolling his quid within
+his capacious jaws, racking his brain for the strongest
+language wherein to give vent to his indignation, his
+ears were suddenly saluted by a low but clear "Hilloa!"
+from the bows of the schooner.
+
+"Ay, ay!" was the brief response.
+
+"There's something approaching us ahead, on the weather
+fore quarter," continued the same voice, which was that
+of the man on the look-out.
+
+The most profound silence now pervaded the deck. Every
+individual, including Captain de Haldimar and the boatswain,
+had flown to the gangway of the quarter indicated, which
+was on the side occupied by the couch of the unfortunate
+Clara. Presently a noise like that produced by a single
+paddle rapidly dividing the water, was heard by every
+anxious ear. Night had long since thrown her mantle over
+the surrounding waste; and all that was to be seen
+reflected from the bosom of the gradually darkening river,
+scarcely ruffled by the yet incipient breeze, were a few
+straggling stars, that here and there appeared in the
+overcast heavens. Hitherto no object could be discovered
+by those who strained their eyes eagerly and painfully
+through the gloom, although the sounds became at each
+moment more distinct. It was evident the party, guided
+by the noise of the rippling waves that fell from the
+bows of the schooner, was enabled to follow up a course,
+the direct clue to which had been indicated by the cry
+of the captive. Every man stood near his gun on the
+starboard battery, and the burning matches hanging over
+their respective buckets ready to be seized at a moment's
+notice. Still, but little room for apprehension existed;
+for the practised ear of the mariners could easily tell
+that a solitary bark alone approached; and of one, or
+even ten, they entertained no fear. Suddenly, as the
+course of the vessel was now changed a point to windward,
+--a movement that brought her bows more off the adjacent
+shore,--the sound, in which all were more or less
+interested, was heard not more than twenty yards off,
+and in a line with the gangway at which the principal of
+the crew were assembled. In the next minute the low hull
+of a canoe came in sight, and then a tall and solitary
+human figure was seen in the stern, bending alternately
+to the right and to the left, as the paddle was rapidly
+and successively changed from side to side.
+
+Another deep and exulting "Ugh!" was now heaved from the
+chest of the Indian, who stood calmly on the spot on
+which he had first rested, while Fuller prepared a coil
+of rope to throw to the active steersman.
+
+"Avast there, Jack!" growled the boatswain, addressing
+the sailor; "how can the stranger keep the bow of his
+craft on, and grapple at the same time? Just pass one
+end of the coil round your waist, and swing yourself
+gently into her."
+
+The head of the canoe was now near enough for the purpose.
+The sailor did as he was desired, having previously
+divested himself of his shoes, and leaping forward,
+alighted on what appeared to be a bundle of blankets
+stowed away in her bows. No sooner, however, had he
+secured his footing, when with another desperate leap,
+and greatly to the astonishment of all around, he bounded
+once more to the deck of the schooner, his countenance
+exhibiting every mark of superstitious alarm. In the act
+of quitting the canoe he had spurned her violently several
+feet from the vessel, which the silent steersman was
+again making every effort to reach.
+
+"Why what the devil's the matter with you now?" exclaimed
+the rough boatswain, who, as well as Captain de Haldimar
+and the rest of the crew, had quitted the gangway to
+learn the cause of this extraordinary conduct. "Damn my
+eyes, if you ar'n't worse scared than when the Ingian
+stood over you in the jolly boat."
+
+"Scared, ay, to be sure I am; and so would you be scared
+too, if you'd a see'd what I did. May I never touch the
+point at Portsmouth, if I a'n't seen her ghost."
+
+"Where?--whose ghost?--what ghost?--what do you mean,
+Jack?" exclaimed several of the startled men in the same
+breath, while the superstitious dread so common to mariners
+drew them still closer in the group that encircled their
+companion.
+
+"Well, then, as I am a miserable sinner," returned the
+man, impressively, and in a low tone, "I see'd in the
+bows of the canoe,--and the hand that steered it was not
+made of flesh and blood like ours,--what do you think?--
+the ghost of---"
+
+Captain de Haldimar heard no more. At a single bound he
+had gained the ship's side. He strained his eyes anxiously
+over the gangway in search of the canoe, but it was gone.
+A death-like silence throughout the deck followed the
+communication of the sailor, and in that pause the sound
+of the receding boat could be heard, not urged, as it
+had approached, by one paddle, but by two. The heart of
+the officer throbbed almost to suffocation; and his
+firmness, hitherto supported by the manly energies of
+his nature, now failed him quite. Heedless of appearances,
+regardless of being overlooked, he tottered like a drunken
+man for support against the mainmast. For a moment or
+two he leant his head upon his hand, with the air of one
+immersed in the most profound abstraction; while the
+crew, at once alarmed and touched by the deep distress
+into which this mysterious circumstance had plunged him,
+stood silently and respectfully watching his emotion.
+Suddenly he started from his attitude of painful repose,
+like one awaking from a dream, and demanded what had
+become of the Indian.
+
+Every one looked around, but the captive was nowhere to
+be seen. Search was made below, both in the cabin and in
+the fore decks, and men were sent up aloft to see if he
+had secreted himself in the rigging; but all returned,
+stating he was nowhere to be found. He had disappeared
+from the vessel altogether, yet no one knew how; for he
+had not been observed to stir from the spot on which he
+had first planted himself. It was plain, however, he had
+joined the mysterious party in the canoe, from the fact
+of the second paddle having been detected; and all attempts
+at pursuit, without endangering the vessel on the shallows,
+whither the course of the fugitives was now directed,
+was declared by the boatswain utterly impracticable.
+
+The announcement of the Indian's disappearance seemed to
+put the climax to the despair of the unfortunate officer.
+--"Then is our every hope lost!" he groaned aloud, as,
+quitting the centre of the vessel, he slowly traversed
+the deck, and once more stood at the side of his no less
+unhappy and excited sister. For a moment or two he remained
+with his arms folded across his chest, gazing on the dark
+outline of her form; and then, in a wild paroxysm of
+silent tearless grief, threw himself suddenly on the edge
+of the couch, and clasping her in a long close embrace
+to his audibly beating heart, lay like one bereft of all
+sense and consciousness of surrounding objects.
+
+
+
+
+END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Wacousta (Volume II), by John Richardson
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+End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Wacousta (Volume II), by John Richardson
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