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} -dl.catalog dt { margin-top:1em; } -.author { text-align:right; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:0em; display:block; } - -dl.biblio dt { margin-top:.6em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:justify; clear:both; } -dl.biblio dt div { display:block; float:left; margin-left:-6em; width:6em; clear:both; } -dl.biblio dt.center { margin-left:0em; text-align:center; text-indent:0; } -dl.biblio dd { margin-top:.3em; margin-left:3em; text-align:justify; font-size:90%; } -p.biblio { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; } -.clear { clear:both; } -p.book { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; } -p.review { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; font-size:80%; } -p.pcap { margin-left:0em; text-indent:0; text-align:center; margin-top:0; font-size:110%; } -p.pcapc { margin-left:4.7em; text-indent:0em; text-align:justify; } -span.inside { font-size:80%; font-weight:bold; display:block; - float:left; margin-top:.5em; margin-bottom:.5em; - margin-right:1em; max-width:8em; } -span.attr { font-size:80%; font-family:sans-serif; } -span.pn { display:inline-block; width:4.7em; text-align:left; margin-left:0; text-indent:0; } -</style> -</head> -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Wolf-Cap;, by Charles Howard</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Wolf-Cap;</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0;'>or, The Night-Hawks of the Fire-Lands; A Tale of the Bloody Fort</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Charles Howard</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: September 6, 2021 [eBook #66231]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Edwards, Stephen Hutcheson, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Northern Illinois University Digital Library)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOLF-CAP; ***</div> -<div id="cover" class="img"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Wolf-Cap; or, The Night-Hawks of the Fire-Lands" width="642" height="1000" /> -</div> -<div class="box"> -<h1>WOLF-CAP; -<br /><span class="smallest"><span class="smallest">OR,</span> -<br />THE NIGHT-HAWKS OF THE FIRE-LANDS.</span></h1> -<p class="tbcenter"><b>A TALE OF THE BLOODY FORT</b></p> -<p class="tbcenter">BY CAPT. CHAS. HOWARD, -<br /><span class="smallest">AUTHOR “ELK KING,” “WOLF QUEEN,” “MERCILESS MATT.”</span></p> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="smaller">NEW YORK:</span> -<br />BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS, -<br /><span class="smaller">98 WILLIAM STREET.</span></p> -</div> -<p class="center smaller">Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by -<br />FRANK STARR & CO., -<br />in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.</p> -<h2 id="toc" class="center">CONTENTS</h2> -<dl class="toc"> -<dt><a href="#c1"><span class="cn">I </span>Doubly Warned</a> 9</dt> -<dt><a href="#c2"><span class="cn">II </span>Silver Hand, the Wyandot</a> 16</dt> -<dt><a href="#c3"><span class="cn">III </span>The Battle at Strong’s</a> 22</dt> -<dt><a href="#c4"><span class="cn">IV </span>Caught</a> 29</dt> -<dt><a href="#c5"><span class="cn">V </span>The Outcroppings of Treason</a> 36</dt> -<dt><a href="#c6"><span class="cn">VI </span>Without the Fort</a> 43</dt> -<dt><a href="#c7"><span class="cn">VII </span>The Work of a Lie</a> 49</dt> -<dt><a href="#c8"><span class="cn">VIII </span>A Bit of Mutiny</a> 56</dt> -<dt><a href="#c9"><span class="cn">IX </span>Sent Into Exile</a> 62</dt> -<dt><a href="#c10"><span class="cn">X </span>Baffled in Ambush</a> 68</dt> -<dt><a href="#c11"><span class="cn">XI </span>Treason in the Camp</a> 73</dt> -<dt><a href="#c12"><span class="cn">XII </span>Rowing and Running for Life</a> 79</dt> -<dt><a href="#c13"><span class="cn">XIII </span>The Last Night-Hawk</a> 84</dt> -<dt><a href="#c14"><span class="cn">XIV </span>Wolf’s Den</a> 91</dt> -<dt><a href="#c15"><span class="cn">XV </span>Retribution</a> 97</dt> -</dl> -<div class="pb" id="Page_9">9</div> -<h1 title=""><span class="smaller">WOLF-CAP; -<br /><span class="smallest"><span class="smallest">OR,</span> -<br />THE NIGHT-HAWKS OF THE FIRE-LANDS.</span></span></h1> -<h2 id="c1"><span class="small">CHAPTER I.</span> -<br />DOUBLY WARNED.</h2> -<p>A small apartment, walled with rough logs, and blackened -by smoke.</p> -<p>A substantial fire burns in an uncouth but serviceable fireplace, -and a man reclines on the puncheons in the ruddy -blaze.</p> -<p>His sole companion is a huge yellow dog of the mastiff -species; and his master’s long black locks rest upon his shaggy -coat.</p> -<p>It is nine o’clock at night, and the moon shines in an unclouded -firmament.</p> -<p>Not a sound disturbs the stillness of the wood; but just -at the edge of the meager clearing that lies before the cabin, -a little river flows northward with a low noise, for it is almost -bank full.</p> -<p>Man and dog are wide awake; the former gazes into the -fire, the latter looks up into the hard, sunbrowned face.</p> -<p>The master is a great, strong man, whose looks, physique -and voice, when he speaks, indicates a long frontier life. He -is perhaps three and forty years of age. Some would say that -he is fifty; but people must not judge age by certain crows-feet -on the brow; troubles make young men old. His occupation -is revealed by a quantity of animal traps lying in one -corner of the room, and suspended from a rafter overhead -hangs a bundle of skins, ready for the market at Fort Sandusky.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_10">10</div> -<p>But he rises and looks at the dog, who bristles up and runs -to the door, protected by a strong oaken plank.</p> -<p>“What is it, Yellow Dick?” asks the trapper, standing beside -his companion, rifle in hand, and peering into the moonlight -through a crevice between two logs. “I would hev -sworn that I heard the voice of a man; but—”</p> -<p>He paused abruptly, for Yellow Dick had suddenly pricked -his long ears anew, and the trapper began to unbarricade the -door.</p> -<p>“’Tis old Johnny, Dick, as sure as death,” he said, glancing -at the mastiff while he worked at his plank. “He hasn’t -been this way for a three month. Mebbe he brings news -from the seat of war.”</p> -<p>The dog seemed to understand the man, for his fierceness -abated, and he stepped from the portal.</p> -<p>“There! I knew it was Johnny Appleseed,” the trapper -said triumphantly, as he opened the cabin door, and let a -flood of moonlight into the dingy room. “Here he comes, -down the river. What’s that he’s saying, Dick?”</p> -<p>The speaker leaned forward and caught these words uttered -in a melodious voice:</p> -<p>“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, and he hath anointed -me to blow the trumpet in the wilderness and sound the -alarm in the forest: for behold the tribes of the heathen are -round about your door, and a devouring flame followeth after -them.”</p> -<p>The herald of danger stood near the edge of the water, and -looked like some wild being from spirit-land.</p> -<p>“Old Johnny means somethin’; somethin’s gone wrong -somewhar,” cried the trapper, becoming excited, and then in -a louder tone he spoke the singular cognomen of the man of -the wilderness—“Johnny Appleseed!”</p> -<p>The latter turned and after some hesitation came forward.</p> -<p>“Do not detain the Lord’s anointed long,” said the little -wiry man, exhibiting his old restless activity, “for the Philistines -are this night sweeping down upon the scattered tents -of Israel, who will be found without the cities of refuge.”</p> -<p>“But, Johnny, what has happened?” queried the settler, -who could not repress a smile at the herald’s quaint phraseology.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_11">11</div> -<p>“The Philistines hold revel in the great walled city on the -northern water.”</p> -<p>“What! has Hull surrendered?”</p> -<p>“Even so, Israel is again in captivity, and the families on -her borders must feel the fire now.”</p> -<p>The trapper was silent for a while.</p> -<p>“Then the red-coated and red-skinned devils are coming to -devastate the frontiers,” he said, in a tone scarcely audible.</p> -<p>“Their forces no man can number,” said the strange herald. -“They are like the sands of the sea-shore. But I must go. -I am appointed to deliver my message before every door in -the forest, that the Lord’s chosen may flee from the wrath to -come.”</p> -<p>“Then go, Johnny. I should not have detained you a minute. -Yours is an errand of mercy. I have a duty to perform -this night. Go, Johnny; tell them all of the swoop of the -red eagles; and tell them that Wolf Cap says, ‘Fly to the block-houses -without delay!’”</p> -<p>The pioneer hero started forward, but paused after taking -a step, and drew the portion of an old volume from his -bosom.</p> -<p>“Here news right fresh from heaven,” he said, and he tore -a leaf from the book and handed it to the trapper.</p> -<p>It was a leaf from Swedenborg’s writings, for Johnny -Appleseed—Jonathan Chapman—is no myth, and he was a -true disciple of the Swedish seer.</p> -<p>Having accomplished his duty, the strange man, clad in -nothing save a garment fashioned from a coffee sack, and -bearing a long distaff, started off to spread dismay throughout -the fire-lands.</p> -<p>“So Hull has surrendered,” muttered Wolf-Cap through -clenched lips, as he turned into the cabin again. “I know it -was a cowardly affair, for Detroit was proof against ten thousand -foes; but Hull was the wrong man in the right place. I -know it; I told the soldiers so when I war there not long -ago. These frontiers hev got to be desolated now, through -the cowardice of one man,” the lone trapper continued, busying -himself with preparations for a night journey. “Our -block-houses are poor excuses for bulwarks; but we must get -the women and children in them as quickly as possible.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_12">12</div> -<p>He donned his hunting accouterments and the wolf-skin -cap which had given him the <i>sobriquet</i> that entitles our romance, -and replenished the fire.</p> -<p>“I’ll leave you to keep house, Dick,” he said, addressing -the dog. “I’ll be back about daybreak. Now old fellow do -your duty, and don’t let a sneakin’ red-skin over this portal.”</p> -<p>He patted the dog’s shaggy back, barricaded the door, and -made his exit from the cabin, by the roof.</p> -<p>“I’m pretty sure that Johnny missed ’em,” he said, pausing -for a moment beside the cabin and communing with himself. -“He came down the river, and they are too far to his left. -Yes, I guess he missed ’em.”</p> -<p>The last word still quivered his lips when he started in a -north-easterly direction, leaving the river to his left.</p> -<p>A well-defined trail stretched before him, and he walked -rapidly through the moonlit forest, trailing his long-barreled -rifle at his side.</p> -<p>It was a night in August, 1812, and, as not a breath of -wind was stirring, the heat was oppressive. Once or twice -the hunter started a deer from the weed-fringed margin of -some forest stream, or frightened a coyote from his feast of -freshly-slain bird.</p> -<p>Suddenly he paused and listened to a silver voice, soaring -skyward far away.</p> -<p>“That’s Huldah’s voice,” he said, audibly. “No woman -can sing like her in these parts. I don’t know, but some how -or other I think an uncommon sight of that girl. She looks -so much like Bessie did twenty years ago,” and here the rough -deer-skin sleeve dashed a tear from the speaker’s eye.</p> -<p>“But I wonder what makes her so happy just now—when -terror sits in many a white girl’s heart. Ah! old Johnny did -not warn <i>them</i>!”</p> -<p>He leaped the little rivulet by which he stood while speaking, -and threaded the forest mazes again. Presently he came -upon a neat clearing, in the center of which, surrounded by -a rail-fence, stood a cabin, somewhat larger than his bachelor -abode. An air of industry pervaded the spot, and the honeysuckles -that half concealed the little square windows, proclaimed -the presence of the softer—the flower-loving sex.</p> -<p>The song that had startled the trapper by the little creek, -<span class="pb" id="Page_13">13</span> -was mute now, and a dead silence brooded over the settler’s -home, on which the moonlight softly fell.</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap leaned against a tree at the edge of the clearing, -and thought of the coming whirlwind of destruction.</p> -<p>He thought till he gritted his teeth, and started forward, -impulsively.</p> -<p>“Here’s the toil of months,” he cried. “Levi has labored -like a giant to build a shelter for Huldah’s head, and now to -think that the flames must, in one brief hour, destroy it all. -Oh, I wish I could wield the thunderbolts of heaven for a -single minute!”</p> -<p>He approached the cabin boldly, his giant form bathed in -moonshine, and a low growl saluted his ears as he stepped -upon the little porch before the door.</p> -<p>“Who’s there?” said a woman’s voice, beyond the heavy -door.</p> -<p>“Me—Wolf-Cap,” answered the trapper, and he heard nimble -fingers undoing the fastenings.</p> -<p>“Come in, neighbor Belt,” said a voice as the door flew -open, and a beautiful young girl, whose right hand griped a -rifle, appeared to the hunter.</p> -<p>He obeyed, and as he crossed the threshold the door was -closed again and barred.</p> -<p>“Ye warn’t lookin’ for me to-night, I guess,” he said, -taking in the room at a glance.</p> -<p>“No, neighbor Belt; but you are none the less welcome. -Father has just retired—”</p> -<p>“I’ll be thar in a minute, Belt,” interrupted a man’s voice -in the next room. “I thought it war you when I heard your -step on the porch. What’s up? Ye kin talk while I -dress.”</p> -<p>“A good deal what’s bad is up,” said Wolf-Cap, in a loud -one. “Hull has surrendered, and a swarm of British and -Indians are pouring down upon the frontier.”</p> -<p>“Who told you, Belt?”</p> -<p>The speaker had appeared like a flash, and, scarcely more -than half-dressed, stood before the trapper.</p> -<p>“Who told me?—Johnny Appleseed. He went down the -<span class="pb" id="Page_14">14</span> -last, Armstrong. We’ve enjoyed comparative quiet thus far -during the war; but the cowardice—I know it was just that -and nothin’ else—of Hull, has unloosed the dogs of hell, an’ -they’ll be here pretty soon. To the block-house is the cry -now. If safety lies anywhere, it is there.”</p> -<p>Levi Armstrong, the old settler, stood in the dim light of -the tin fat lamp, and quivered with rage.</p> -<p>“Belt,” he said, slowly and with emphasis, “I’m not goin’ -to give up the work of my hands without a struggle. You -kin bet on that.”</p> -<p>“But Huldah must go to the block-house. Strong’s is the -strongest, and best defended. We must act—”</p> -<p>“So long as father remains from the block-house I remain, -too,” interrupted Huldah Armstrong, as she touched Wolf-Cap’s -arm. “I share his love for our home. He shall not -be separated from me.”</p> -<p>“Huldah, you must go to Strong’s to-morrow,” said Levi. -“I will go with you.”</p> -<p>“Truly, father?”</p> -<p>“Truly, girl.”</p> -<p>“Then I am content to go,” she said. “When do you look -for the marauders, neighbor Belt?”</p> -<p>“They are liable to come at any hour,” was the reply. -“But in truth <i>I</i> do not look for them for several days yet. -No doubt Johnny heard of the disaster from some Indian, and -is many hours in advance of the slayers.”</p> -<p>“And what are you going to do, Belt?” asked Levi Armstrong.</p> -<p>“I had settled upon no plan of action. I’ve got a cabin, -and I hate to leave it to the torch. The Night-Hawks are -with Proctor, you know. I wonder if they will come down -upon the frontiers?”</p> -<p>“To be sure they will, neighbor Belt.”</p> -<p>“God help the frontiers, then.”</p> -<p>“Yes, yes.”</p> -<p>“But I must go back,” said the trapper; “nobody is at -home but Yellow Dick. I guess we’ll not go to the block-house -till to-morrow night. I think we’re safe in keeping -aloof till then; ’tis best, you know, to seem in ignorance of -the threatening danger.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_15">15</div> -<p>“I think so too, Belt. You’ll come over to-morrow evening, -ready for the run?”</p> -<p>“I’ll be here, and then”—with a glance at Levi that -told much—“we’ll shelter our heads beneath Strong’s -roof.”</p> -<p>Several minutes later Wolf-Cap was returning to his cabin, -and at length the grayish dawn of day revealed it to -him.</p> -<p>“Nobody has disturbed Dick,” he said, after inspecting the -little structure’s surroundings. “He’s a good housekeeper—no -woman in this land kin beat him, but— What’s that? -By Huron! somebody hes nailed a piece of paper to my -door.”</p> -<p>The trapper was walking forward while speaking, and it -was a piece of paper on his cabin door that called the exclamation -to his lips. With his eyes fastened upon the object, -he quickened his steps, and presently paused on the flagstone -stoop.</p> -<p>Before his eyes was a piece of dingy paper, bordered with -blood, and held in its place by a knife, the point of which was -buried deeply in the firm wood!</p> -<p>The uncouth letters had been traced on the dirty sheet with -a stick dipped in gore, and were arranged in the following -order:</p> -<blockquote> -<p>“<span class="sc">We hunt you. You know us. Fly or die!</span></p> -<p><span class="lr">“<span class="sc">The Night-Hawks.</span>”</span></p> -</blockquote> -<p>The trapper looked at the warning a long time, and gradually -a smile of contempt wreathed his lips.</p> -<p>“So, Royal Funk, you and your devils are in these parts -again,” he said, “and I tell you, once for all, that I am not -an illegal squatter. You can’t scare Card Belt.”</p> -<p>Then, without more words, he ascended to the roof and -joined Yellow Dick, who received him with manifestations -of delight in the room below. Fearlessly he threw wide the -cabin door, and spread a map of the North-west, face downward, -on the floor.</p> -<p>Then, with a piece of charcoal, he traced these words on -the parchment:</p> -<p>“<i>Roy Funk, I’m going to remain on the fire-lands. You can’t</i> -<span class="pb" id="Page_16">16</span> -<i>frighten me. I spare not and no mercy ask. No block-house -shall shelter me!</i>”</p> -<p>Twice the trapper read the defiance to his dog, as though -the animal was possessed of comprehension, and then he pinned -it to the door with the point of a knife.</p> -<h2 id="c2"><span class="small">CHAPTER II.</span> -<br />SILVER HAND, THE WYANDOT.</h2> -<p>The reader has heard Wolf-Cap aver that he was not an -illegal squatter on the fire-lands, and while he prepares to sustain -the defiance nailed to his cabin door, let us inquire into -the meaning of his declaration, and thereby, if possible, add -to the interest of our story.</p> -<p>The “fire-lands” were not, as the casual reader would suppose, -a tract of country blackened and rendered barren almost -by the flames. On the contrary, their broad acres, well watered -by majestic rivers, teemed with plenty, and even their -<i>indolent</i> farmer to-day finds no starvelings about his premises.</p> -<p>Erie, Huron, and a small part of Ottawa counties, comprise -that portion of the Western Ohio Reserve known as the fire-lands. -The tract embraces five hundred thousand acres, and -the term “fire-lands” originated from the circumstance of the -State of Connecticut having granted these lands, in 1792, as a -donation, to certain sufferers by fire occasioned by the English -during the Revolutionary war, particularly at New London, -Fairfield and Norwalk. Connecticut, at that time, holding -jurisdiction over much land in Ohio, made other grants, -of a nature similar to the above, and to this day the Western -Reserve is often called by its old title—New Connecticut.</p> -<p>Though Wolf-Cap, or Card Belt, was not a sufferer at English -hands, he had a right to the ground on which his little -cabin stood. That right was a grant from the proprietors of -the fire-lands; but he had had the misfortune to lose the document -while <i>en route</i> to his claim. He had trapped along -<span class="pb" id="Page_17">17</span> -the streams of his native State, Connecticut, until they refused -to yield the wished-for supply of fur-bearing animals, and, -longing for a new pelt El Dorado, he fell in with the inducements -offered by the settlements of New Connecticut.</p> -<p>He established his claim to a certain spot of ground, notwithstanding -the loss of the title, and erected his cabin, in -1811. A treaty had previously been made with the Wyandots, -who inhabited a portion of the ground, and until the -breaking out of the war of 1812, the red denizens of the fire-lands -had kept the promises of the treaty unbroken.</p> -<p>But in the settlement of the fire-lands, as in the settlement -of all new countries, a class of rough characters appeared on -the surface. These were, in the greater part, Canadian trappers, -who were dwelling on the grant prior to its change of -owners, and they refused to accede to the demands of the -legal squatters. They had no right to the land, for they had -been English soldiers, and disturbers of the peace between -whites and Indians.</p> -<p>They drove honest squatters from their homes, and carried -on a reign of terror throughout the fire-lands, until the Connecticut -company overawed them with settlers. Still they -carried on their lawlessness. At midnight they would break -into some squatter’s cabin and demand a sight of his deed; -and if the poor man could not produce it, as was often the -case, considering the poor facilities extant those days for preserving -paper documents, he would be hustled from his door, -and the torch applied to the logs.</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap’s domicil was invaded one night, two months -prior to the opening of hostilities; but he gave the Night-Hawks—as -the outlaws were called—such a warm reception, -that they were glad to depart without accomplishing their -purpose. In the affray one of the scoundrels was fatally shot -by the trapper, and their numbers thus reduced to nine.</p> -<p>The leader of the band was a rather handsome, brigandisa -sort of man, boasting of the name of Royal Funk. He had -served under Arnold in his descent upon Connecticut, and followed -other Tories to the West after the patriot struggle. He -had a commanding eye, and a nature fitted to lord it over a -lot of low characters like those whom he drew around him -in New Connecticut, and christened the Night-Hawks.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_18">18</div> -<p>Their villainies were brought to a close by the declaration of -war. One day they left the fire-lands, and joined the British -army of the North-west, and the settlers breathed freer. They -devoutly wished that every Night-Hawk might fall beneath -American bullets, and for months the tract enjoyed a peace -that seemed a foretaste of the one quiet peace called blessed!</p> -<p>British gold drew hundreds of savages to the flag of St. -George; but a portion of the Wyandots adhered heroically to -the American cause. The fire-land settlers centered all their -hopes on Hull. If he would repulse the allies before Detroit, -their homes were safe. If the General failed, then the Night-Hawks -and their red helpers would return to devastate homes -illy defended.</p> -<p>Therefore, the reader can imagine the terror spread throughout -the grant by the wild message of Johnny Appleseed: -“The tribes of the heathen are round about your doors, and -a devouring flame followeth after them.”</p> -<p>“We are going to help Proctor. When we return, look -out, usurper.”</p> -<p>Such words Wolf-Cap found chalked on his cabin door, on -his return from Sandusky, one day in the spring lately passed. -He saw that he had saved his life by being absent, and he -awaited with impatience and anxiety the result of British -operations in the North-west. Noble-minded and courageous, -almost to a fault, he did not fear the threats of the Night-Hawks, -as the reader has seen by his defiance; but the unprotected -settlers called forth his sympathy.</p> -<p>“I’ll help take Huldah to Strong’s,” he said, looking at his -dog, after posting his defiance, “and then I’ll make this cabin -our castle, Dick. I don’t know as I’ve got much to live for, -since Bessie left me, and I’ll try to rid the people of several -of their plagues afore I go. Here be six rifles an’ plenty -o’ ammunition, and we’ll drop a doe to-night, if it gets -cloudy.”</p> -<p>The trapper hailed the approach of night with joy, and -locking Yellow Dick within the cabin, took up the trail to -Levi Armstrong’s hut. His frequent visits to the cabin had -traced a well-defined trail, and as he hurried along, he planned -for the future, which cast gloomy clouds over him—hunted -man as he was.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_19">19</div> -<p>“Just let any body touch one o’ Huldah Armstrong’s black -hairs,” he suddenly exclaimed, aloud. “Just let ’em do it, I -say, and, be he white or red, I’ll let a ray of sunshine through -his heart. That girl is just the purest, fairest creature in -New Connecticut, and I’m her champion, I am—Card Belt. -I love that girl,” and in the gloaming a crimson flush appeared -on his cheek; “but not like a <i>young</i> man. No! I’m -old enough to be her father, and I love her because she looks -like Bessie. I often wonder if she will ever have a young -lover. Ah! if she gets down to Strong’s, the young bucks -will go up over her face, and they won’t be able to drop an -Indian for looking into her eyes.”</p> -<p>He communed thus with himself until he reached the creek -near Armstrong’s clearing, when the whiz of a bullet broke -his train of thoughts, and brought him to a sudden halt.</p> -<p>“That’s close,” he ejaculated, glancing at the work made -by the ball in the tree near his head. “But a miss is as -good as a mile, and I’ll show the greaser that two men can -play with rifles at the same time.”</p> -<p>The next moment he sunk into the tall grass that lined -the margin of the stream, resolved to outwit his foe.</p> -<p>“I begin to see through the mist,” he said, with a broad -smile, a moment after disappearing among the grass. “Silver -Hand is up to one of his old tricks again. Curse that Indian! -I’ve got to break him of such practices. He shoots too uncommon -close, sometimes.”</p> -<p>Then a bird-call issued from the trapper’s throat, and was -answered from a spot a short distance away, on the opposite -bank of the stream.</p> -<p>“I knew it was that red-skin,” and with the last word the -trapper’s cap appeared above the grass. “Howsomever it is -best to be cautious—there!”</p> -<p>A slight noise told that the cap had been struck by some -object, and the hunter lowered it to find it perforated by an -arrow of singular workmanship.</p> -<p>Then, placing the cap on his head without withdrawing -the shaft, he rose to his feet simultaneously with the appearance -of a tufted Indian beyond the murky water.</p> -<p>A minute later and the twain had met.</p> -<p>“Silver Hand, you haven’t visited a fellow much o’ late,” -<span class="pb" id="Page_20">20</span> -said Wolf-Cap, looking into the black eyes of the prepossessing -young Wyandot. “I wasn’t looking for you hereabouts; -but you’re the very chap I wanted to see.”</p> -<p>“Silver Hand glad to see Wolf-Cap, too,” said the Indian. -“He much to tell white brother ’bout the big white coward -in the north.”</p> -<p>“I don’t want to talk about Hull, chief,” said the trapper. -“I swear away down in my heart when I think of his cowardice. -But we have work to do. The frontiers swarm -with fiends now, and I go to guide a family to Strong’s fort. -Of course you’re going with me, Silver Hand; we’ll talk as -we walk.”</p> -<p>The trapper started forward with a look at the Indian -but the red arm darted forward and touched his arm.</p> -<p>“Wolf-Cap need go no further—house empty,” said Silver -Hand.</p> -<p>“Whose house?” and a deathly pallor overspread the settler’s -face, and told how he dreaded to hear the Wyandot’s -answer.</p> -<p>“The house of the tall old pale-face and pretty girl.”</p> -<p>“Empty, Silver Hand? You must be mistaken. They -were to wait for me.”</p> -<p>“But they gone, sure,” persisted the chief. “Silver Hand -stop at cabin to tell them about the big coward; but he find -nobody in house. The dog, too, was gone; but Silver Hand -find paper on the door—paper with pale-face words on -it.”</p> -<p>The chief produced a piece of paper from his bosom as he -spoke, and handed it to the trapper.</p> -<p>It was night now, but the light of the rising moon enabled -Wolf-Cap to decipher the rude writing on the sheet.</p> -<blockquote> -<p>“We have gone to Strong’s with the Logans. We left at -sundown, and you will find us in the old fort.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>Thus read the message on the door, and the trapper bit his -lip when he looked up at the young warrior.</p> -<p>“Mebbe we’ll find ’em there and mebbe we won’t,” he -said angrily. “I guess the Logans were frightened nigh to -death, and would give old Levi no rest, until he promised to -guide them to Strong’s. I thought he had a head of his own, -and he promised to wait for me, too.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_21">21</div> -<p>Wolf-Cap was silent for several moments, and the Indian -regarded him with a puzzled expression of countenance.</p> -<p>“When pale-faces leave lodge?” he questioned at length.</p> -<p>“At sundown. They’re not half-way to Strong’s now. -We’ll let ’em go, though, Silver Hand; but we could intercept -them if we wanted to. Old Levi needs a lesson for his -action.”</p> -<p>“But his girl too putty to be in the woods at night. Bad -Wyandots and Night-Hawks come down together from the -north, and—”</p> -<p>“There! that’s enough, chief,” interrupted the trapper. “I -could let old Levi go; but Huldah, never! Come! we kin -catch ’em at the mouth of Eel Creek, for they’ve taken the -black-deer trail to Strong’s. It’ll take fast travelin’, Silver -Hand; but we kin do it. You an’ me kin do any thing.”</p> -<p>Silver Hand sprung to the task with great eagerness, and -wheeling to the left, the twain hurried down the right bank -of the creek. A rapid march of several hours brought them -to the objective point; and Silver Hand at once dropped upon -all-fours to examine the trail.</p> -<p>“Party gone by!” he said at last, looking up at the trapper. -“Old settler, young man and four squaws. They walkin’ -fast, too—almost run.”</p> -<p>“The—deuce!” exclaimed Wolf-Cap, much chagrined at -the result of their journey. “But,” with a faint smile of -satisfaction; “I’m glad they passed this point safely. It argues -well for their arrival at Strong’s. How long since did -they pass, Silver Hand?”</p> -<p>The Wyandot examined the trail again.</p> -<p>“Only little while ago; grass still bent down.”</p> -<p>“Then we stand some chances of catching them this side -of Strong’s.”</p> -<p>“Yes, by fast walkin’.”</p> -<p>“I’ll see ’em inside the fort afore I go back to my hut,” -said Wolf-Cap with determination. “Royal Funk and me -for it, then, for I tell you, Silver—”</p> -<p>The distant report of a rifle broke his sentence, and caused -him to shoot an anxious look into the Wyandot’s eyes.</p> -<p>Three more faint reports followed the first, and Wolf-Cap -was about to spring forward, when Silver Hand thrust him -<span class="pb" id="Page_22">22</span> -backward toward the rushes that grew about the mouth of the -creek.</p> -<p>“Chief—”</p> -<p>“‘Sh!”</p> -<p>The swift tread of feet was heard, and nine dark forms -darted past the couple’s concealment, and disappeared in the -darkness that hid from them the flash of the distant rifles.</p> -<p>Without a word, and at the same moment, the trail-hunters -leaped to their feet.</p> -<p>For a moment they listened to the dying footsteps, and -Silver Hand was the first to speak.</p> -<p>“Wolf-Cap count ’em?” he asked.</p> -<p>“Yes. American bullets have spared every Night-Hawk,” -grated the trapper. “We must call ’em back,” and drawing -a pistol from his belt he discharged it in the air.</p> -<p>The next second the admirable counterfeit of a death-yell -pealed from the Wyandot’s throat, and the twain shrunk back -into the rushes again to await the result of their stratagem.</p> -<p>“They’re comin’ back, chief,” said the trapper in a low -tone. “Now, come with me. We’ll git between ’em an’ -our friends if we can.”</p> -<p>Certain sounds told them that at least a goodly portion of -the outlaws were returning, and silently they entered the -water and waded away.</p> -<p>The sounds of battle toward Strong’s had died in the -gloom, and an impenetrable vail of fearful mystery hung over -the fate of the fugitives.</p> -<h2 id="c3"><span class="small">CHAPTER III.</span> -<br />THE BATTLE AT STRONG’S.</h2> -<p>Strong’s block-house so frequently alluded to in the foregoing -pages, had been erected as a place of refuge for the inhabitants -of the “fire-lands.” It was a large structure, capable -of affording shelter for fifty families, and built with a -view to strength and endurance. The heavy logs were -secured in the old dovetail fashion, and the roof was doubly -<span class="pb" id="Page_23">23</span> -clapboarded. The second story projected five feet over the -first, thus enabling the defenders to fire upon any foe that -might attempt to force the lower doors. The Huron river lay -fifty yards from the front palisade of the block-house, which -stood at the foot of a hill, cleared by the settlers’ axes.</p> -<p>The bottom of the hill was selected for the building site, -owing to the proximity of water, and a well also yielded the -life-giving fluid within the fort. The strong palisade that -surrounded the “house of refuge,” was a double security, and -the settlers felt proud of their work when completed. A -stalwart settler named Zebulon Strong had superintended the -erection of the stronghold, hence its rather imposing cognomen.</p> -<p>There were other block-houses in the “fire-lands”; but -none were near enough to afford assistance to Strong’s in a -case of imminent danger.</p> -<p>“I guess the families are all in now,” said Zebulon Strong, -to a young man who was standing by a loop-hole, in the -second story of the backwoods fort.</p> -<p>“All in, captain? bless you, no. The Logans are out yet.”</p> -<p>“And old Levi Armstrong, too,” said another settler, who, -standing near, had caught the brief conversation.</p> -<p>“Yes, there is Levi; I had overlooked him,” the youth remarked -quickly.</p> -<p>“He and the Logans do not rightly belong here,” said -Strong. “Levi lent Throop a hand at his fort down on -Massanga creek, and there he belongs. He will take the Logans -with him.”</p> -<p>“But should he ask admittance here, you will not refuse, -captain?”</p> -<p>“Our quota of families is full now. We can’t accommodate -another,” answered Strong, with the air of a man elevated -by a small command. “And, besides, I am confident -that we are surrounded now. The girls maintain that they -caught a glimpse of Indians at the river, and I, myself, have -seen feathers on the top of the hill. They wait for the opening -of the gates; but nothing under heaven can induce me to -please them in that particular. We’ve a good supply of -water, and I tell you, sir, that the gates don’t open again until -the danger is passed.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_24">24</div> -<p>The foregoing conversation occurred on the night of Levi -Armstrong’s abandonment of his cabin, and Zebulon Strong’s -mien told that he was determined to adhere to his determination -at all hazards.</p> -<p>Johnny Appleseed had performed a noble duty. Those -whom he had warned allowed no grass to grow under their -feet. While he yet lingered in sight of the uncouth cabin, it -was deserted, and its inmates were flying toward Strong’s -fort. All those who claimed shelter beneath its roof had -caused their names to be registered in the commandant’s book, -so, when the last registered family had passed the palisades, -the gates were closed and barred.</p> -<p>The appearance of the Indians quickly followed the strange -man’s warning. They had executed forced marches from -Detroit, hoping to reach the “fire-lands” in advance of tidings -of the surrender; but found themselves outwitted. This -disappointment only strengthened their desire for blood, and -on the evening that followed the gathering at the fort, they -made their presence known.</p> -<p>After declaring that the gates should open no more until -the danger had passed, Captain Zebulon Strong left the two -men, the younger of whom turned to the loop-hole looking -upon the level plain, that stretched from the block-house to -the river. The moon was shining brightly, and from his -elevated position he caught the shimmer of the Huron’s -waves.</p> -<p>“I have seen no Indian feathers,” he murmured, sweeping -the bank with his eye. “The captain is getting too arbitrary -of late. It’s all well enough to be cautious; but this thing -of barring the gates against our fellow-men won’t do.”</p> -<p>The last word was spoken in an underbreath, for the crack -of rifles smote his ears, and instantly the block-house was a -scene of confusion.</p> -<p>The reports sounded terribly distinct on the night air, and -seemed to emanate from a spot about three hundred yards -down the river.</p> -<p>“Keep your senses, women!” was heard the stern, hoarse -voice of Zebulon Strong, and the look which he threw upon -the timid ones forced them into quietude. “We are not attacked -yet. When the devils have forced the palisades and -<span class="pb" id="Page_25">25</span> -swarm up-stairs, then there will be time for shrieks. What -do you see, Harmon?”</p> -<p>The interrogative was addressed to the youth with whom -he had conversed a short time before, and the motion of the -young man’s hand caused the commandant to step forward.</p> -<p>“Look through this loop, captain,” said Mark Harmon, -stepping aside. “Look down the river. The Indians have -fired on some fugitives, and they run for their lives.”</p> -<p>Zebulon Strong put his eyes to the loop-hole, and saw four -dark figures running toward the fort. The foremost was a -man, who carried a dark, human-shaped object over his left -shoulder; the others, seemingly, were women.</p> -<p>“Open the gates and let ’em in!” cried a voice, and presently -the same words were heard on all sides.</p> -<p>“<i>I</i> command this block-house!” and with a livid face and -flashing eyeballs, Zebulon Strong sprung from the loop and -wheeled upon his people. “The gates don’t open till <i>I</i> give -the order. The Indians are ready for a rush so soon as the -gates grind ajar. Every stump on the plain shelters a red-skin. -No, the gates don’t open!”</p> -<p>“But the fugitives are the Logans and the Armstrongs!” -remonstrated Mark Harmon, biting his lip with indignation.</p> -<p>“They belong at Throop’s!” hoarsely hissed the captain. -“We’ll be massacred if we open the gates to them.”</p> -<p>“Better die for an act of mercy than outraging the dictates -of humanity.”</p> -<p>A contemptuous sneer came to the captain’s lips, and as he -turned to the port-hole again he drew a pistol.</p> -<p>“I’ll kill the next man who talks of opening the gates this -night,” he said, fiercely. “The fugitives might have been safe -at Throop’s; let them pay for their decision at our palisades, -if it comes to this.”</p> -<p>The women shrunk to the space allotted to them with epithets -of “monster,” “fiend,” and the like, falling from their -lips, and the men exchanged looks of indignation.</p> -<p>“They will reach the gates before their pursuers!” cried a -watcher at a port-hole, joyously; but the words fell on blank -ears, for the gates, alas! through the inhumanity of one man, -would not be open to them.</p> -<p>“Levi is carrying his daughter,” said a second settler. -<span class="pb" id="Page_26">26</span> -“John Logan is not with them; he must have been shot down -the river.”</p> -<p>The sight of the brave fugitives almost at his gates, and -hard pressed by a savage foe, did not soften Captain Strong’s -heart, in which cowardice and personal fear burrowed like a -ground-hog.</p> -<p>The pale faces of the fugitives were visible in the moonlight, -and all at once a cry came from the very shadow of the -palisades:</p> -<p>“Open the gates!”</p> -<p>Zebulon Strong turned from the port-hole and halloed to -the guards below:</p> -<p>“Watch the gates closely. Kill the first man who attempts -to open them.”</p> -<p>“All right, captain!” responded a voice from the darkness -below, and the commandant was rising erect when Mark Harmon -leaped upon him.</p> -<p>The young frontiersman was almost as strong as the captain, -and he bore him to the puncheons before he could resist.</p> -<p>“I’m sorry it comes to this, captain,” he said, beckoning -several men to his assistance. “We’re not going to let women -die at our doors when we can save them. Now lie still -until we release you, or by heavens we’ll turn you without the -fort!”</p> -<p>Other hands than the young borderman’s now seized the -captain, who soon relinquished his struggles, and Harmon -sprung to his feet.</p> -<p>“Quick, Mark!” cried a man at a port-hole. “Quick! -they’re thundering at the gates.”</p> -<p>The next instant the youth had disappeared, and six stalwart -bordermen vanished with him like a flash.</p> -<p>“Helpless friends are at the gate!” he cried, as, pistol in -hand, he sprung toward the sentries. “We command this -fort now. Stand back!”</p> -<p>The sentries, instead of retreating, flew to the work of unbarring -the clumsy gate, and in a moment the work was accomplished.</p> -<p>“Have you no mercy, Captain Strong?” cried Levi Armstrong’s -voice, while the eight men worked at the fastenings.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_27">27</div> -<p>“Yes, yes—in a minute we’ll save you,” shouted young -Harmon, and when the gate flew open he was the first to -leap forward.</p> -<p>As he did so, full twenty dark forms rose from behind as -many stumps, and the next second, a volley poured in at the -gate.</p> -<p>Two of the rescuers staggered back, and Mark Harmon, -uninjured, but with a wounded girl in his arms, turned to the -gate again.</p> -<p>“Quick! they are charging you!” shouted a dozen agonized -voices from the upper portion of the block-house; but such -words were unnecessary, for the men at the gate comprehended -their danger.</p> -<p>The clearing seemed literally covered with savages, and -between the foremost and the bordermen a terrible fight was -progressing at the palisades. A volley was poured into the -red ranks from the port-holes, and a number fell; but the -greater portion of the settlers had rushed below, and were -trying to beat the red-skins from the gate that it might be -closed.</p> -<p>At last, after half an hour of the most desperate fighting -on record, the ponderous gate was swung to again and barred; -and with blows indicative of future vengeance, on the heavy -oaken boards, the Indians retreated to cover.</p> -<p>Twelve of their number had fallen in the attack, while no -less than ten of the bordermen, or one fourth of the fort’s -defenders, lay dead between the palisades and the strong -logs.</p> -<p>But the mission of humanity had resulted in success!</p> -<p>Levi Armstrong, his daughter Huldah, and the Logan girls -were safe, for a while at least, behind strong timbers; but -the yells of their foes told the settlers that the Wyandot -looked upon his defeat in the light of success.</p> -<p>He had reduced the number of the fort’s defenders, when -not a single man could be spared, while the loss of his twelve -braves would not be felt by the hundreds that still remained.</p> -<p>“Captain Strong,” said Mark Harmon after the fight, “we -are willing to restore you to your command, for we honor -your experience in Indian warfare. Humanity compelled us -<span class="pb" id="Page_28">28</span> -to treat you as we have. <i>Now</i> we are willing that the gates -shall remain closed.”</p> -<p>“I should say you were,” said Zebulon Strong, with an ill-concealed -sneer, as he glanced at the dead bordermen who -had been borne into the fort, prior to burial. “I will take -command again. I’m to be obeyed in every thing after this. -We are besieged now, and like men we will die, if die we -must, together.”</p> -<p>His speech was greeted with applause, and many despairing -ones took new hope; but Levi Armstrong whispered to -Mark Harmon:</p> -<p>“The captain must be watched. He hasn’t begun to forgive -you fellers for savin’ our lives.”</p> -<p>After Zebulon Strong resumed command of the fort, its defensive -resources were thoroughly inspected, and the dead -buried.</p> -<p>The settlers knew that the siege would be pushed with the -utmost vigor, and that every Indian artifice would be used to -place them at the mercy of the tomahawk.</p> -<p>They could not look to final success, for their supply of -water was meager, and the whole Indian force of the “fire-lands” -could be brought to bear against them.</p> -<p>“There’s one man whom we should have with us,” remarked -a young settler, in the presence of Captain Strong, -shortly after the burial.</p> -<p>“Who is he?” asked a dozen voices.</p> -<p>“Wolf-Cap. I tell you he’s worth a dozen rifles.”</p> -<p>“Ay, a hundred,” said Mark Harmon. “If he and Silver -Hand were in the fort!”</p> -<p>“We can get along without ’em,” grated Strong, shooting a -fierce look at the young frontiersman. “We’ll fight our own -battle without the aid of illegal squatters and Indians!”</p> -<p>His last sentence was uttered in a subdued tone, as he -turned from the group, and other men than the old settler -and Mark Harmon thought that the captain would bear -watching.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_29">29</div> -<h2 id="c4"><span class="small">CHAPTER IV.</span> -<br />CAUGHT.</h2> -<p>Wolf-Cap entertained several good reasons for suggesting -Strong’s fort as a place of refuge for the Armstrong family. -Throop’s block-house was nearer the settler’s cabin than -Strong’s; but the latter was better adapted for defense. It -was the strongest post in the “fire-lands,” and the trapper assured -himself that Zebulon Strong would receive the fugitives -with open arms, and hail the settler’s presence with joy.</p> -<p>Left to his own choice, Levi Armstrong would have sought -shelter at Throop’s, which post his hands had helped to rear, -and consequently he could well claim protection there. The -Logans, too, belonged to Throop’s; but fearful lest the little -block-house, illy-defended, would soon succumb to the red -tomahawk, they resolved to seek Strong’s. As the sequel will -show, they would have fared better at the first-named fort.</p> -<p>The band of six fugitives, after leaving the Armstrong -cabin, traveled fast. Levi counseled a delay till the arrival -of Wolf-Cap; but John Logan and his sisters would listen to -no such counsel, and the settler therefore broke his promise -to the trapper.</p> -<p>The mouth of Eel Creek was reached, and the Huron -crossed in safety, and the fears of the fugitives began to subside.</p> -<p>Strong’s fort would soon be reached, and then they could -bid defiance to the fiends of the fire-lands.</p> -<p>But suddenly, while pushing down the left bank of the -Huron, the report of a rifle saluted their ears, and John Logan -fell to rise no more. Instantly the settler turned to combat -his foes, when three more shots were poured into their little -ranks by the hidden enemies, and then the fugitives, knowing -themselves near Strong’s and ahead of the slayers, turned and -fled.</p> -<p>Fortunately, the little party escaped injury by the second -volley; but Levi lifted his daughter from the ground, and -bore her, shielded by his body, to the frontier fort.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_30">30</div> -<p>The Indians kept near the fugitives, but did not attempt to -make a capture. They seemed bent on the success of some -stratagem, which was seen by the whites at the eleventh hour. -The fort was already invested by a powerful force of savages -fresh from the victory at Detroit, and certain signals told the -settlers’ pursuers of well-laid plans. But the bravery of the -fort’s defenders had defeated the stratagem, as the reader has -seen; but not without the loss of valuable men.</p> -<p>“Stop, chief! In the name of Heaven, listen to that.”</p> -<p>The speaker was Card Belt, and it was the volley fired by -the stump-sheltered savages at the opening of Strong’s gates, -that called forth his words.</p> -<p>“Indians attack fort,” said the Wyandot, in his native -tongue. “White people get to gates, and when they open, -Indians shoot.”</p> -<p>“But a real battle is raging. Hark! I hear the yells of -the Indians. Come! we’ll go and help the boys!”</p> -<p>But the chief slowly shook his head.</p> -<p>“No use go there,” he said. “We can’t help pale-faces,” -and standing in the shadows of several giant trees, the couple -listened to the sound of battle.</p> -<p>The trapper, while he listened, acknowledged the strength -of Silver Hand’s counsel. He believed that Fort Strong was -invested, and knew that, for the present, they could render -no assistance to its inmates. In the future, they might be -able to help them.</p> -<p>At last the couple heard the yells of the beaten savages, -and exchanged looks of satisfaction.</p> -<p>“I’d like to know whether Levi and his girl got into Strong’s -or not,” said Wolf-Cap, with an anxious expression of countenance. -“Silver Hand, they’d better not touch one o’ Huldah -Armstrong’s hairs. I say I’ll kill the first fellar what -does—there! I should judge that its pretty near midnight -now,” he continued, after a pause, during which the Indian -made no attempt to speak. “We’d better be movin’ somewhere. -The fellars what we fooled down on Eel Creek haven’t -passed yet; but mebbe they’ve joined their red brethren -by another route. They could do that, you know. The troubles -of Strong’s fort has begun now, and we’ve got to help -’em, somehow or other. But first, let’s go down to my hut -<span class="pb" id="Page_31">31</span> -and stir up a few eatables. Besides, I want to see if every -thing’s right thar, and to liberate Yellow Dick.”</p> -<p>The Wyandot acquiesced in the trapper’s proposition, and -a moment later the spot was deserted.</p> -<p>Silver Hand belonged to the same nation that besieged Fort -Strong with malicious intent. During the Revolutionary war -the Wyandots divided; a faction headed by the celebrated -Captain Pipe aided the British, while the minor division, under -the leadership of White Eyes, sided with the colonies. -The factions refused to come together after the war, so when -the second trouble with English oppression sought the combat -of lead and steel, the unreconciled Indians resumed their -old relations. The English Wyandots, led by Splitlog and -Roundhead joined Proctor’s forces, while the friends of the -United States opposed them. To the latter party Silver Hand -belonged.</p> -<p>He was present at the encounter of Hull, but effected his -escape after that catastrophe, and hastened to his old hunting-grounds—the -fire-lands.</p> -<p>The white trapper and his staunch red ally reached the vicinity -of the proscribed cabin during that period of darkness -preceding dawn.</p> -<p>The skies were darkened overhead, for the moon had disappeared, -and the scene was made quite dismal by the ominous -hootings of a great owl perched upon the cone of the -hut.</p> -<p>“Things are too still here for me, Silver Hand,” whispered -the trapper, in his cautious tone, when they had halted near -the solitary hut. “I’ve come home at all times o’ nights and -mornin’s, but never afore hev I see’d an owl on the roof. Jest -listen to ’im. Why I kin hear ’im say ‘go away’ as plainly -as I hear his voice. No, chief, I don’t rush into the old hut -jist now. We’re on the edge of a trap!”</p> -<p>Silver Hand did not appear to hear the trapper’s words.</p> -<p>His body was bent forward, and he was trying to discern -the minutiæ of the cabin and its immediate vicinity. But the -darkness baffled him.</p> -<p>For the period of an hour the twain crouched, like bowlders, -in their place of concealment, and then Wolf-Cap moved -forward, leaving the Indian to await his return.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_32">32</div> -<p>He approached the cabin until the owl suddenly vacated -his perch, and hied away to the forest. Quickly but noiselessly, -then, the trapper returned to his ally.</p> -<p>“Owl gone,” said Silver Hand, before the white man could -find a tongue. “Who scared ’im?”</p> -<p>“That’s jest what I’m goin’ to tell you, chief. My cabin -is inhabited. I know it, and somebody from the inside frightened -that owl. I know that the bird didn’t leave of his own -accord, and he didn’t see a mouse, either. Now, I’m going -to find out who’s taken possession of the hut.”</p> -<p>Thereupon a series of snake-like movements were inaugurated -by the couple, who succeeded in passing around the cabin -without discovering a foe.</p> -<p>Whoever was in the hut kept very quiet, and the mystery -deepened with each succeeding moment.</p> -<p>His dog’s silence increased Wolf-Cap’s suspicion of foul-play. -Yellow Dick had always greeted his return with a peculiar -cry; but now the death of silence reigned, and the -trapper had touched the wall of his old home without eliciting -any noise from the dog.</p> -<p>A second inspection of the clearing and adjacent forest followed -the first, and then Wolf-Cap turned suddenly upon the -Indian, with compressed lips.</p> -<p>“I won’t stand it any longer,” he said, sternly. “The rascal’s -got to show himself now. Watch everywhere, chief, -while I oust ’im. If I don’t do it, the Night-Hawks -will.”</p> -<p>The last sentence was spoken in an undertone; and with -a quantity of light brushwood the trapper moved toward the -cabin.</p> -<p>By the help of steps cut in the logs he ascended to the roof, -and deposited his burden between the dry clapboards. Then -he sprinkled a quantity of powder among the combustible -stuff, and ignited the whole with his flints.</p> -<p>“Now!” he exclaimed, springing to the ground and glancing -up at the fire taking firm hold on the clapboards. “Now, -I fancy as how the fellow will show himself.”</p> -<p>His surmises proved correct.</p> -<p>The tenants of his cabin did show themselves. The roof -of the cabin was soon in a blaze, and the twain watched the -<span class="pb" id="Page_33">33</span> -door with ready rifles. A lurid light overspread the clearing, -and bathed the bosom of the river in romantic beauty.</p> -<p>By and by the trapper began to think that, after all, he had -surmised incorrectly, for the howls of a dog emanated from -the burning building. Silver Hand listened to the cries, the -suspicious part of his nature fully aroused, and himself undecided -how to act.</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap wanted to save his dog, and the Indian noted -the working of his face in the firelight that stole to their retreat.</p> -<p>“Silver Hand, I’ve been taken in,” said Belt, suddenly. “I -can’t hear Dick howl that way. By Huron! he shan’t cry -for mercy when <i>I</i> am about!”</p> -<p>“But why he keep still so long?” retorted Silver Hand, -quickly. “Trapper answer that if he kin!”</p> -<p>It is doubtful whether Wolf-Cap caught the gist of the -Wyandot’s sentences, for he jerked his arm from the red fingers -that encircled it, and rushed in to the firelight.</p> -<p>The thought of his noble dog—the guardian of his life and -home for many years—cooped up within a blazing building, -blinded him to the arguments of caution, and the Indian muttered -an oath and leaped to his feet when he saw that Wolf-Cap -was gone!</p> -<p>The daring trapper had reached the path that led from his -door to a spring near the river, when he suddenly paused.</p> -<p>A strange and suspicious voice beyond the logs had startled -him.</p> -<p>It sounded like a man’s voice, and his acute senses had already -shaped it into the words, “All ready?”</p> -<p>He had not time to turn to join Silver Hand nor to signal -him. He was within six feet of the cabin door, and was -looking to his rifle, when the ponderous oaken portal swung -wide, and five stalwart fellows threw themselves upon him.</p> -<p>They—the Night-Hawks—were the tenants of his cabin!</p> -<p>He retreated a step, and delivered a shot that stretched one -man upon the ground, and then, after a desperate struggle, he -was secured and his weapons taken from him.</p> -<p>Silver Hand lent no assistance to his friend; and his assistance -would have availed the trapper nothing. Therefore -the chief’s disappearance was not a sign of cowardice; on the -<span class="pb" id="Page_34">34</span> -contrary it was a sign of good judgment, big with assurances -of future help.</p> -<p>“So, cabin-burner, you have bid defiance to the Night-Hawks,” -said the spokesman of the outlaws, pointing to the -paper still visible on the cabin door: “No block-house shall -shelter me. I spare not, and no mercy ask.”</p> -<p>A wild laugh greeted this quotation from the trapper’s defiance, -and the outlaws crowded near him.</p> -<p>“Men, I mean every word I have written on my door,” -he said, calmly. “There war nine of ye; there ar’ but eight -now,” and here his glance fell upon the man whom he had -shot dead. “I war willin’ to take the odds ag’in’ me for I -am no illegal squatter, and I hate outlaws. Royal Funk, I -am free to confess that you’ve got the upper hand now.”</p> -<p>“And I’m going to keep it, Card Belt,” replied the desperado, -with a smile. “I posted a fair warning on your door -last night. ‘Fly or die,’ it said. You would not fly, so—”</p> -<p>“I must die, eh?”</p> -<p>“Just so.”</p> -<p>“When—now?”</p> -<p>“No. We’re going to take you down to the Indians at -Fort Strong, and I guess the Night-Hawks will treat the settlers -to a public execution. You and Silver Hand played it -on us to-night. We were following the Armstrongs when -you called us back.”</p> -<p>“So you came down here and hid in the old cabin?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Whar’s my dog?”</p> -<p>“In the house.”</p> -<p>A twitch of pain followed by an angry pallor, came to the -trapper’s lips, and the light of vengeance flashed in his -eyes.</p> -<p>“Come, Frank, let’s be goin’,” said one of the outlaws at -this juncture. “’Tis gettin’ day, an’ Splitlog may need us at -Strong’s. We want to be there at the death.”</p> -<p>“For that moment you must wait a long time,” said Wolf-Cap, -addressing the leader of the Night-Hawks. “Strong’s -is prepared to stand a desperate siege.”</p> -<p>“True; but its fate is inevitable. Card Belt, so sure as -the sun rises this day, Strong’s fort shall be given to the -<span class="pb" id="Page_35">35</span> -flames, and its inmates, all save one, to the tomahawk. We -are determined to depopulate ‘the fire-lands.’ Why man, -four hundred Indians invest the fort at this hour. How can -it escape?”</p> -<p>“It can! it shall!” cried the trapper. “But,” and his -tone softened, “but you say that one person in Strong’s -shall not die. Pray, Royal Funk, who is to be thus favored?”</p> -<p>“A certain woman—my lady-love,” said the outlaw, striking -a ridiculous attitude, with his head thrown back, and his -thumbs inserted into the sides of his hunting-frock just below -the armpits. “What! didn’t you know I was in love, Wolf-Cap?”</p> -<p>“No.”</p> -<p>“Why, all these brave fellows know it. They’ve patted -me on the back and said, ‘Go it, Roy.’ But the mirth of the -whole matter is, Belt, that I’ve never told my love to her. -She’s ignorant of my passion, and you see I must get her out -of Strong’s so as to breathe it softly into her ears. Old Levi -might object; but <i>I generally marry orphans</i>!”</p> -<p>Despite his anticipations, Wolf-Cap started when the -identity of the outlaw’s love was declared.</p> -<p>What! should Royal Funk, the Night-Hawk captain, possess -Huldah Armstrong?</p> -<p>Not, thought Wolf-Cap, if he could prevent him. But he -was under sentence of death, and stood in the shadow of the -Terror’s wing.</p> -<p>Half an hour after the capture of Wolf-Cap, the Night-Hawks -started to join the besiegers of Strong’s fort.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_36">36</div> -<h2 id="c5"><span class="small">CHAPTER V.</span> -<br />THE OUTCROPPINGS OF TREASON.</h2> -<p>When the flush of day broke upon Strong’s fort, not a foe -was to be seen.</p> -<p>The numerous stumps in the clearing sheltered no feathered -head; but the whites knew that their enemies had not raised -the siege. The greater portion of the dusky besiegers had -withdrawn to the river bank, while large numbers lay behind -the hill, in the rear of the fort.</p> -<p>But, as the light became stronger, the defenders caught -glimpses of tufts of feathers along the river; but no shots -were fired.</p> -<p>In the opinion of several settlers, the perilous situation of -affairs called for a council of war, and accordingly Captain -Strong, much against his will, was induced to convene such -an assembly. The council met in the lower room of the -fort.</p> -<p>“Men,” said Strong, who could not conceal his ill-humor, -“as I have said, I see no necessity for this council. I thought -<i>I</i> was director of affairs here, and when Indians are to be -dealt with, I know what to do. But I will listen to any suggestions -you may offer, and, if I like, will adopt them.”</p> -<p>Several old “fire-lands” men shook their heads gravely at -the captain’s words; but made no reply.</p> -<p>Mark Harmon, the young frontiersman, opened the council.</p> -<p>“In the first place,” he said, “we need a new well.”</p> -<p>“We have a well, sir,” said Strong, tartly.</p> -<p>“You seem to forget that we have depended on the river -for much water. That supply is effectually cut off now, and -our sole well will not supply the demand in case the fort -should be set on fire with blazing arrows. We are in for a -desperate siege; the result of the gate battle has exasperated -our foes, and they will leave no hellish contrivance for our -capture untried. I look for terrible times to-night.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_37">37</div> -<p>“And you will not be disappointed, Harmon,” said an old -gray-haired settler. “We stand on the edge of a crater.”</p> -<p>“Gentlemen, I anticipate but little hardship,” said Strong, -who had listened to the young scout, with a clearly defined -sneer. “The Wyandots will abandon the siege before two -days, for there are other forts weaker than ours. Throop’s, -Martin’s, and Westfall’s can not withstand a siege. Knowing -this, the Indians will desert us for them; then, during their -absence, we can strengthen our own resources.”</p> -<p>“Suppose, captain, that an attack should be made to-night, -and our roof be set on fire,” said Levi Armstrong. “’Tis -said that there are but two feet of water in the well now, and -none flowing in.”</p> -<p>“The statement is not correct,” retorted Strong, quickly. -“Yesterday I fathomed four feet of water, and more was entering. -The well is a good one, and can not be dipped dry. -I know whereof I speak; therefore my positiveness, gentlemen.”</p> -<p>The council broke up without a command being given for -a new well. A number of the settlers sided with Zebulon -Strong; but a wary few felt that the proposed well was an -absolute want.</p> -<p>However, Mark Harmon got a guard over their water supply, -and each family received a certain quantity of the -precious fluid. The stubbornness of the captain was the cause -of much comment; but as he was an old woodman and knew -much of Indian sieges, it was generally admitted that he knew -best, and so the day wore on.</p> -<p>“Do you think we will be attacked to-night, Mr. Harmon?”</p> -<p>The speaker’s mellow tones denoted her to be Huldah Armstrong, -and she looked anxiously into the borderer’s face as -she asked the question. They stood near a port-hole that -looked at the hills, behind whose bare summit the sun had -just disappeared.</p> -<p>“I look for bloodshed before dawn,” he said. “The savages -would have us believe that they have deserted the vicinity; -but they still remain. They are not going to raise the -siege so soon after its inauguration, Miss Armstrong.” And -then glancing through the port he quickly changed the subject. -“But your run for life was perilous.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_38">38</div> -<p>“Yes; and, Mr. Harmon, father says we owe our lives to -your daring. Therefore, let me thank you.”</p> -<p>He blushed to his temples and averted his eyes, which had -returned to her face.</p> -<p>“No thanks, Miss Armstrong. The brave fellows who -fought at the gates are the heroes, not I. But I am rejoiced -to see you safe after such a noble run for life. But—”</p> -<p>“A flag—a flag!” was the cry that broke the youth’s sentence, -and drew his eye to the musket port again.</p> -<p>“As I live, Miss Armstrong, our foes are treating us to a -flag of truce,” he said, his eyes still riveted upon several figures -that had suddenly appeared on the top of the hill. “This -is an action by me entirely unexpected. What can it -mean?”</p> -<p>Captain Strong was soon notified of the approach of the -flag, and watched it through one of the openings.</p> -<p>His face worked strangely while he looked, and there was -the light of vengeance in his large, sloe-black eyes. But he -kept his face near the port, so that no one in the fort could -study its expressions.</p> -<p>“If they demand a surrender, of course you will refuse to -comply, captain,” ventured an old settler, who stood near the -borderman.</p> -<p>Instantly, with a face crimsoned with rage, Zebulon -Strong wheeled from the little embrasure:</p> -<p>“Am I to be dictated to on every hand?” he cried, appealing -to the inmates of the apartment. “If I am captain here -merely in name, I want to know it. I know a thing or two, -and if I am to be advised by every frightened man and woman -in the fort, you can take my broken sword, and elect another -commander. What! surrender to yon horde of butcherers? -Never. When they take Fort Strong, there shall be -no living soul to torture.”</p> -<p>A loud cheer greeted Strong’s final words, and cries of, -“We want no other captain!” “Do what you please!” resounded -on every side.</p> -<p>So the officer sheathed the Revolutionary sword which he -had drawn, and turned to see that the bearers of the flag of -truce had halted about twenty yards from the palisades.</p> -<p>“Ho! Captain Strong,” came a loud and clear voice from -<span class="pb" id="Page_39">39</span> -the little group, and it was seen that the speaker was a white -man clad in the full scarlet uniform of a British officer.</p> -<p>“Well, what is wanting?” answered Strong, through the -embrasure.</p> -<p>“You are surrounded by nine hundred Indians, and four -hundred of his majesty’s troops,” said the spokesman of the -flag-bearers. “Colonel O’Neill, commander of the combined -forces, desires to spare the effusion of noble blood, and therefore -summons you to surrender at once.”</p> -<p>“Upon what terms?” asked Strong, as a murmur of defiance -ran through the ranks of the fort’s defenders.</p> -<p>“Your people will be permitted to depart in peace; but -the fort, of course, will be destroyed,” said the Briton.</p> -<p>“Nine hundred Indians and four hundred British,” said -Strong, turning to his men after the Englishman’s last words. -“I did not think the odds were so terrible.”</p> -<p>“The soldier lies!” cried Levi Armstrong, stepping forward. -“He has spoken to terrify us, and the quarter we would receive -is the quarter given to Captain Heald at Chicago. Bordermen, -remember that massacre of men, women and children. -Shall we surrender?”</p> -<p>“No! no!” rung on every side, and Captain Strong’s face -assumed the hue of ashes.</p> -<p>“What is your answer?” cried the English officer, his impatience -manifest in his voice. “Colonel O’Neill pledges his -word of honor as a soldier of his majesty’s army, that the -tomahawk shall be withheld in the event of a quick surrender. -He can control the Wyandots, and he will. If the -commander of your fort is Zebulon Strong, he then knows -Colonel Argent O’Neill to be a gentleman.”</p> -<p>“Colonel Argent O’Neill—I know him,” said the captain. -“But my men refuse to surrender.”</p> -<p>“Colonel O’Neill speaks to Captain Strong—not to his -men,” returned the soldier, proudly; but with a sneer of contempt -in his tone.</p> -<p>“Go back to your commander and tell him that Fort Strong -will be the abode of the dead when he takes it. We know a -Briton’s promise to be but another name for a lie.”</p> -<p>The last speaker was Mark Harmon, and his words were -applauded as he turned from the embrasure.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_40">40</div> -<p>“I was about to answer him,” said Strong, in a hoarse -voice.</p> -<p>“He is answered!” was the young borderman’s reply.</p> -<p>The captain bit his lips and turned to the port again as -the British officer spoke:</p> -<p>“The consequences be upon your own head, Captain -Strong,” he said. “I have performed my duty; you have refused -to perform yours. My colonel will give the conduct of -the siege to the Indians now.”</p> -<p>Thereupon the speaker turned abruptly on his heel, and -the flag of truce disappeared over the brow of the hill.</p> -<p>A minute later the flash of a musket and the thud of a -bullet told the defenders of Fort Strong that the battle had -opened.</p> -<p>A single gun from the fort sent a defiance to the hidden -foes, and for the space of an hour quiet reigned.</p> -<p>Captain Strong now seemed eager to defend the block-house -to the last, and exchanged words of encouragement -with the settlers as he inspected the defenses.</p> -<p>“Well, we’re in for it, now, Morgan,” he said, in a low -tone, to a burly fellow stationed near the gate where, a few -hours before, so much blood had been shed. “They refuse -to surrender, and now your part of the work comes. Are you -ready?”</p> -<p>“Yes,” answered the sentry, glancing around. “The darkness -will aid me.”</p> -<p>“Can you scale the wall?”</p> -<p>“Easily from the inside here.”</p> -<p>“Then make haste. You know the signal. I will do the -rest.”</p> -<p>Captain Strong slipped a piece of paper into the guard’s -hand as he spoke the last word, and turned away.</p> -<p>The next moment Morgan Sawyer scaled the pickets, and -dropped to the ground on the outer side!</p> -<p>Then he ran toward the hill under cover of the intense -darkness. For dense clouds obscured the sky from horizon -to horizon, thus effectually blotting out the light of the moon.</p> -<p>Captain Strong had hardly gained the interior of the fort, -when Sawyer’s escape was discovered.</p> -<p>“What! a traitor among us?” cried the commander, -<span class="pb" id="Page_41">41</span> -counterfeiting indignation and surprise to an admirable degree. -“And at the gate, too! Harmon and Cole, at once to the -portals! I know <i>you</i> can be trusted. Matt Hunter, you will -take Isaac’s place at the well. Curse Morg Sawyer! may the -fiends scalp him for his treachery!”</p> -<p>The commander’s wish was echoed by more than one determined -settler, who waited for the onslaught of the savages.</p> -<p>The men at the embrasures listened and looked for their -foes, and Zebulon Strong walked uneasily about, listening all -the time for a certain sound.</p> -<p>Once or twice he pushed the long black locks from his -ears, and paused for a moment at one of the ports.</p> -<p>Suddenly a pistol-shot came from the hill, then another, -and another.</p> -<p>Strong was descending to the first floor of the block-house -when the sounds fell upon his ears, and he paused in the center -of the ladder with a smile.</p> -<p>“Morg has succeeded,” he said, in the lowest of mutterings. -“Now let Hunter do his duty.”</p> -<p>The pistol-shots died away, and no volley of musketry followed.</p> -<p>In the dim light of the candles, old Levi Armstrong looked -at Mark Harmon and moved to his side.</p> -<p>“What do you think now?” he whispered.</p> -<p>“The foe on the hill is signaling the foe by the river.”</p> -<p>“Thus you interpret the shots?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“I differ. They are the result of Morg Sawyer’s treason. -This roof still shelters his confederates.”</p> -<p>The young hunter caught the settler’s arm.</p> -<p>“For heaven’s sake, whom do you suspect?” he asked. -“Tell me. We must act at once if we have traitors in our -midst.”</p> -<p>The old man bent nearer to reply, when the whiz of a -burning arrow startled him, and caused him to spring to the -embrasure.</p> -<p>But the fiery missile missed the fort, and quivered in a -stump near the river.</p> -<p>“Now take the buckets, men!” cried the voice of Captain -Strong. “We must fight fire with water!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_42">42</div> -<p>Instantly a score of stout leathern buckets were brought -into requisition, and the boards that covered the well removed.</p> -<p>“A little water for the women, first,” said Levi Armstrong, -dropping one of the buckets into the well by means of a -rope.</p> -<p>Down, down went the receptacle, and the men stood about -with anxious faces. They wanted to know how much water -was in the well, for upon a generous supply of the fluid, their -lives and the lives of their wives and little ones depended.</p> -<p>At last the bucket was heard to strike water, and old Levi -looked up almost despairingly.</p> -<p>“There’s scarcely two feet o’ water in the well,” he said.</p> -<p>“I fathomed four last night,” said Zebulon Strong, confidently. -“But quick! draw up, Armstrong, and let more -buckets be lowered. The burning arrows shoot from the hill -like meteors.”</p> -<p>The next instant the water was at the top, and the settler -threw the rope to Matt Hunter.</p> -<p>“This is for the women,” said the old man; “but I’ll taste -it first.”</p> -<p>He raised the bucket to his lips, but a moment later ejected -the mouthful of water which he had taken, and started toward -the well, with flashing eyes.</p> -<p>“Let nobody swallow a drop of that water!” he cried. “It -has been poisoned, and the poisoner is still sheltered by the -roof of Fort Strong!”</p> -<p>The effect of the startling words was utterly indescribable. -It could not have been equaled by the sudden dropping of a -thunderbolt into the fort.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_43">43</div> -<h2 id="c6"><span class="small">CHAPTER VI.</span> -<br />WITHOUT THE FORT.</h2> -<p>During the brief period of time that intervened between -the battle at the gates and the discharge of blazing arrows at -the fort itself, the beautiful fire-lands had not escaped the vengeance -of the settlers’ enemies.</p> -<p>The deserted cabins were given over to the mercies of the -torch, and the work of months perished in a few hours. The -red burners were accompanied by British soldiers, who outdid -the fiends of the forest in heartless ferocity, and at nightfall -they returned to the besiegers loaded with plunder and glutted -with diabolism.</p> -<p>“Well, what are you going to do with your man, now that -you’ve got him?” asked Colonel O’Neill of Royal Funk, when -the outlaw reappeared at the British head-quarters, fresh from -the work of destruction above referred to.</p> -<p>“What am I going to do with ’im, colonel? Why, I’ll tell -you. It was my intention to execute ’im on top o’ the hill, -yesterday; but I’ve changed my mind. There’s a girl in Fort -Strong—a girl whom I want—Huldah Armstrong, and strange -to say, Card Belt wants her, too.”</p> -<p>“Ah! I see,” said the British officer, with a smile. “He -is your rival.”</p> -<p>“Yes, colonel; but I hold the best hand now, as you will -admit by glancing at the cards. We are bound to take the -fort.”</p> -<p>“It will be ours before another sunset. You know what -Strong is doing?”</p> -<p>“Andrews told me, an hour since. But can we rely on -him?”</p> -<p>“We can,” said O’Neill, assuringly, and with emphasis. -“Strong, at the heart, is a coward, yet he will do desperate -things. He was a secret Tory in Herkimer county, New York, -during the Revolution, and while campaigning in that region, -I became acquainted with him. More than once he furnished -<span class="pb" id="Page_44">44</span> -me with valuable information concerning the movements of -the enemy, and I believe that the rebels never suspected him. -His loyalty to King George has never for a moment abated. -I tell you we have a friend in Fort Strong, without whom we -could do nothing. For Splitlog was about to relinquish the -siege when the deserter reached our camp with Strong’s proposition. -Now the Indians will stay with us. But the thread -of your story has been broken. I want to know what you -are going to do with the squatter.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I’ll tell you in a few words,” answered the leader of -the Night-Hawks. “I’m going to marry Huldah Armstrong -in his presence, after the Wyandot fashion, and then—why, -then I’m going to dispose of him.”</p> -<p>“After the Wyandot fashion, also, I suppose,” smiled the -colonel.</p> -<p>“Just so,” said Funk, returning the smile. “When do you -open the battle?”</p> -<p>“The Indians are preparing the fiery arrows now,” was the -reply. “Ha! there goes one, already!” and the colonel’s -hand directed the outlaw’s gaze to a blazing arrow shooting -toward the fort.</p> -<p>It was quickly followed by another and another, until a -perfect shower of fiery missiles rained upon the fort.</p> -<p>But the firm and dry clap-boards that formed the roof resisted -nobly, and the arrows rebounded and dropped into the -yard below.</p> -<p>“We must get the arrows <i>under</i> the boards,” said O’Neill, -turning to the chief, Splitlog, who stood at his side. “Send -some of your bravest Wyandots nearer the fort, and tell them -to shoot their red arrows beneath the roof.”</p> -<p>“Indians get shot down if they go nearer fort,” returned -the chief, with a shrug of the shoulders. “Let white chief -send <i>his</i> men.”</p> -<p>O’Neill bit his lip with anger.</p> -<p>“Who proposed this attack?” he cried, with flashing eyes. -“I brought my men hither at your request. They were not -to risk their lives. If your Indians are brave, they can fire -the fort.”</p> -<p>Splitlog turned away without another word, and a few -minutes later a number of fiery arrows were seen to ascend -<span class="pb" id="Page_45">45</span> -almost from beneath the very palisades. Several remained in -the roof, and Colonel O’Neill clapped his hands over the demon’s -success.</p> -<p>Thus far during the battle not a shot had been fired from -the fort. The allies wondered at this silence; but they were -not cognizant of the thrilling scenes being enacted behind the -strong walls.</p> -<p>Lashed to a tree on the river’s bank, and strongly guarded -by three white men and two Wyandots, Wolf-Cap saw the discharge -of the fiery missiles. Since his arrival among the allies -he had seen nothing of Royal Funk; but he knew that -that worthy had absented himself but temporarily.</p> -<p>“We’ll get the fort to-night,” said one of the outlaws, turning -to Wolf-Cap, during the flight of the blazing shafts.</p> -<p>“Sir, you don’t know who defends it,” the trapper said, -quickly, and with pride. “Yon walls protect the bravest -men in New Connecticut.”</p> -<p>“But, Captain Strong—what do you think of <i>him</i>?” asked -the outlaw, with a curious smile.</p> -<p>“He has completely deceived me.”</p> -<p>The white guards exchanged significant glances.</p> -<p>“What do you know about him, Belt?”</p> -<p>“I know that he intends to betray a lot of women and -children to the tender mercies of the tomahawk. I’ve seen -Mary Sawyer in your camp. I heard the three pistol-shots -on the hill. I have heard something about Strong’s antecedents, -and, putting things together, I kin read the blackest -tale of treason on record.”</p> -<p>“Wouldn’t you like to be in the fort, just now?” taunted -Sam Cole, the Night-Hawk.</p> -<p>The trapper’s eyes flashed; but he said nothing.</p> -<p>“But how about that notice you put on your door for us? -You said that no walls should protect you while you fought -us.”</p> -<p>“I intend to adhere to that declaration,” said Wolf-Cap -firmly.</p> -<p>“So you wouldn’t creep into Fort Strong if we war to let -you go?”</p> -<p>“I would not!”</p> -<p>The outlaws laughed derisively.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_46">46</div> -<p>“I’ve a mind to try you,” said Cole, drawing his knife and -glancing at his fellow-guards.</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap said nothing.</p> -<p>The place where they stood was thickly studded with young -trees and tall grass, the latter much soiled by human feet. A -fire some distance down the river threw a weird light over -the scene; but toward the fort, in its river front, the depth -of darkness prevailed.</p> -<p>The Indian guards gazed at the outlaw with an immobility -of countenance, and when he stepped toward the trapper with -uplifted knife, they did not interpose a hand. They had -lately taken their stations as Wolf Cap’s guards, and had -watched the helpless man with vigilant eyes.</p> -<p>“I say I’ve a mind to try you, Wolf-Cap,” reiterated the -outlaw.</p> -<p>“No, it won’t do, Sam,” suddenly cried another, springing -forward and laying his brawny hand on Cole’s shoulder. -“He’ll escape if you cut his cords. What do a squatter’s -words amount to? Let him be!”</p> -<p>For a moment Cole glared fiercely upon the speaker, and -then sullenly dropped the knife again.</p> -<p>“I’ve heard that Card Belt is a man of his word,” he said. -“And I want to try ’im.”</p> -<p>With the last word the outlaw shook the hand from his -shoulder, and stepped toward the trapper again.</p> -<p>“Don’t do it, Sam.”</p> -<p>“I will!”</p> -<p>“You shan’t!”</p> -<p>The knife of the last speaker suddenly leaped from its -leathern sheath, and he advanced upon Cole, who turned and -pushed him back.</p> -<p>“Stand off, Duke White,” were Cole’s menacing words. -“I don’t want a difficulty with you. I know what I’m doing. -I’ll try Wolf-Cap if I wish to.”</p> -<p>“You shall not!” and White tried to step between Cole -and the captive.</p> -<p>But, with a fierce oath, Cole hurled Duke from the tree. -Duke recovered in a moment, and with all the baser passions -of his soul fully aroused, he sprung at his Titan comrade.</p> -<p>Cole saw the movement, and received the attack with the -<span class="pb" id="Page_47">47</span> -knife, for it was apparent that the blood of a Night-Hawk -had to be shed by a brother’s hand.</p> -<p>I say that Cole met the attack with the knife, and blood -flowed from the wound inflicted in Duke White’s breast by -the shining steel. The next moment they had grappled, and -swayed to and fro in the struggle of life and death like contending -giants.</p> -<p>The third white guard started forward to strike Cole with -clubbed rifle, when one of the Indians, with a quick glance -at his companion, leaped toward the tree.</p> -<p>A knife flashed in the brave’s hands, and when it descended -Wolf-Cap sprung from the sycamore—free! He saw the -second savage hurl the third guard into the murky waves of -the Huron, and glanced at the struggling Night-Hawks, now -on the ground.</p> -<p>“Wolf-Cap run down the river,” said the trapper’s deliverer, -quickly pointing down the stream.</p> -<p>“No! I go to the fort, Silver Hand. Seek the black cave. -I’ll meet you there at dawn. Quick! They come.”</p> -<p>He spoke in the Wyandot tongue, and the next instant -bounded toward the fort. He glided rapidly through the -gloom, avoiding the numerous stumps, and yells on the river-bank -told him that the deed just enacted there had been discovered.</p> -<p>But he ran on, unarmed, save with a knife, which Silver -Hand had thrust into his grip, and he struck the ponderous -gate of the palisade twice with the bony hilt.</p> -<p>“Guard! guard!” he shouted, and then he heard the sentry -speak to some one beyond the pickets.</p> -<p>“Listen! I know that voice.”</p> -<p>“’Tis me—Wolf-Cap,” called the trapper quickly upon the -guard’s words. “I don’t want to get in. Captain Strong is a -traitor; he has promised to betray you into the hands of the -Indians!”</p> -<p>A moment of silence followed. The trapper had paused -for breath.</p> -<p>“Your roof is on fire. Put it out, and see to the traitor. -Hold out like men. You’ll get help from outside by-and-by.”</p> -<p>Then Wolf-Cap turned from the gate and started toward -the river.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_48">48</div> -<p>The darkness favored his flight. As yet no attack had -been made upon the fort from the stream. The major portion -of the besiegers were on the hill, the summit of which -was on a level with the embrasures, into which the foe could -shoot with effect.</p> -<p>Thus far the enemy had trusted to the blazing arrows; but, -as the trapper gained the stream, a volley was poured into -the block-house.</p> -<p>The next moment it was returned by the besieged, and numerous -cries told Wolf-Cap that some of the foe had fallen.</p> -<p>“I don’t like to leave the boys,” said the trapper, sadly, -pausing in his flight, and listening to the battle which had -now opened furiously. “And Huldah is yonder in the midst -of it all. But the Indians wait for me at the cave. Three -can do more than one. I wish the two war here now; -then—”</p> -<p>There was the quick, sharp snapping of a twig, and Silver -Hand and his assistant stood before the trapper.</p> -<p>“We no go to cave,” said Silver Hand. “Hide here ’while -to watch fight. But look, Wolf-Cap! roof all on fire. Why -don’t pale-faces put it out? They got water in fort.”</p> -<p>“Yes, but the traitor has disabled them somehow. I’m -afraid it’s all day with the brave fellows. But they shan’t -die alone!” and the trapper started forward.</p> -<p>“Silver Hand and Golden Cheek go with Wolf-Cap,” said -the Wyandot, and a moment later the trio were hurrying toward -the seemingly doomed structure.</p> -<p>That side of the roof which looked to the hill was in a furious -blaze, which threw a lurid glare upon the battle-ground, -and the discharges of musketry by both parties resembled a -pitched battle.</p> -<p>Suddenly the artillery of heaven added its thunder to the -fight, and great drops of rain began to fall thick and fast from -the inky clouds.</p> -<p>But let us return to the fort, and see what followed Levi -Armstrong’s discovery of the poisoning of the well.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_49">49</div> -<h2 id="c7"><span class="small">CHAPTER VII.</span> -<br />THE WORK OF A LIE.</h2> -<p>The settler’s eyes fell upon Zebulon Strong, as the startling -words written at the conclusion of chapter five rung from his -lips.</p> -<p>But the captain stood the scrutiny unflinchingly, and started -forward with drawn sword.</p> -<p>“The traitor shall die!” he cried. “Let every one look to -his neighbor, and watch him closely. As for myself, I believe -that Morg Sawyer is the villain; but he is beyond our power. -Men, to the lower floor with picks; we’ll dig another well -immediately. By the help of God, we’ll hold out against the -red and white fiends until fresh water can be struck!”</p> -<p>He turned away as he finished, and was ordering a number -of men below to inaugurate the digging of a new well, when -Huldah Armstrong bounded toward the settler and touched -his arm.</p> -<p>“Father,” she said, in a cautious tone, “Captain Strong is -the traitor! I was standing near the logs, a moment since, -and heard Wolf-Cap at the gate. He told the guards that our -captain had betrayed us into the hands of the savages.”</p> -<p>The next instant Levi jerked his arm from Huldah’s grip, -and started toward Strong, who was handing buckets of water -to the men on the roof.</p> -<p>“Men,” he cried, in thunderous tones, “treason must not -thrive here. Captain Strong, you must consider yourself the -prisoner of the garrison.”</p> -<p>Before turning to the old settler the traitor passed the -bucket he was in the act of lifting to the nearest man.</p> -<p>He retained a wonderful self composure.</p> -<p>“I submit, if it be the will of the men,” he said, calmly. -“Heaven forefend that I should seek to betray these women -and children into merciless hands,” and he glanced around on -the swarthy faces revealed by the tallow dips.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_50">50</div> -<p>“Let the captain help us,” cried several voices; but old Levi -silenced the speakers with a look.</p> -<p>“I’d like to, but it won’t do,” he said. “The evidence is -strong against him. I saw him whispering to Morg Sawyer -at the gate, a minute before that dog’s desertion, and Wolf-Cap -has just shouted over the palisades that he is a traitor.”</p> -<p>For the first time the captain’s face grew pale, and Levi -proceeded to disarm him.</p> -<p>“I’m sorry for all this, Cap,” he said, sympathetically; “but -you see, we’ve got to do it, and—”</p> -<p>“Arrest Captain Strong!” interrupted a sturdy young settler, -whose head shot above the hatchway at this juncture. -“Wolf-Cap has just halloed over the gate that he is a traitor. -Ah! so you’ve already caught the dog! Zeb Strong, for a -shilling I’d strike you stiff and cold on these boards. I’ve -two sisters here, and to think that you would give them over -to the tomahawk!”</p> -<p>The youth towered before the suspected man with flashing -eyes and leveled gun, and other weapons were drawn to shed -the captain’s blood.</p> -<p>“No, no, boys; he’s not condemned yet,” said Levi Armstrong, -pushing the weapons aside. “We’ll tend to him after -the fight.”</p> -<p>“But we may not win.”</p> -<p>“Then, of course, he dies.”</p> -<p>A guard of several men was placed over the captain, who -was taken below where strong arms threw up the earth in -great heaps. Mad eyes fell upon the captive, and he was told -that his life would be forfeited if he attempted to escape.</p> -<p>Above, the settlers fought the flames at the risk of their -lives, for the foe were raining bullets from the hill and the -battle had opened in terrible earnest.</p> -<p>Suddenly a startling cry came from the vicinity of the -well.</p> -<p>“No more water!”</p> -<p>And the words were echoed on every side. Mothers -pressed their babes to their breasts, and told the little ones -that the last drop of water had been drawn from the -well!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_51">51</div> -<p>“What of the fire?” shouted Armstrong to the men on the -roof.</p> -<p>“If we had more water we could master it,” was the reply. -“Without water we are doomed.”</p> -<p>Then he leaped to the gangway and cried to the well-diggers -below.</p> -<p>“No water yet?”</p> -<p>“No!” was the despairing answer.</p> -<p>The fire-fighters threw the buckets from the roof and clambered -down after them. But all who went up did not come -down. Several had been shot by the enemy, and lay dead -on the ground between the fort and the palisades.</p> -<p>Now every one believed that the fort was doomed to destruction. -The clapboards on the western roof were blazing -furiously, and cinders were falling among the besieged. The -light added to the ghastly scene; but the settlers stood nobly -at the port-holes and more than one shot proved the death-knell -of a foe.</p> -<p>All at once a peal of thunder, rattling over their heads, -shook the fort to its very foundation, and ejaculations of joy -burst from every throat.</p> -<p>“God be praised!” cried a woman bursting from the shuddering -throng with her babe in her arms. “He is sending -the rain to save us. Praised be His holy name!”</p> -<p>A moment later and the storm clouds broke and great gray -drops fell splattering in the fire.</p> -<p>The rain was greeted with a hearty cheer that reached the -ears of the besiegers, and every faint heart took hope. For -a moment the rain descended in scattered quantities, and then -it came down in gigantic and irresistible sheets.</p> -<p>“We are saved—hurrah! hurrah!” cried the younger settlers, -stepping back from the ports and slipping in the blood -and water that covered the puncheons. “Open the well and -let the water in.”</p> -<p>Sure enough, the crimson demon was yielding to the deluge, -and every one saw in their deliverance the hand of -Deity.</p> -<p>“We’re not out of the fire yet,” said Levi Armstrong, calmly, -for to him command of the fort had been given by unanimous -consent. “After the rain we must fight again, then no -<span class="pb" id="Page_52">52</span> -roof can protect us—the fire-arrows will drop among us. -But we must to work. Remove the ammunition below to a -dry place, and let our dead be laid aside and the wounded -cared for.”</p> -<p>Brave men sprung with eagerness to the task. Several -kegs of powder were carried below, and the loss of the garrison -looked after.</p> -<p>It was discovered that it had suffered quite severely during -the battle. From behind stumps, the Indians had fired into -the ports, distinctly revealed by the widely-leaping flames of -the roof, and with fatal effect. The majority of the stricken -settlers were killed outright—shot through the head—while -every wound was dangerous. Twenty-one men had fallen, -including the loss at the gate and another, Morgan Sawyer, -had deserted.</p> -<p>The well-diggers struck water as the storm broke over -the fort; but they did not cease their labors, for they knew -that it would not last long—a summer shower, but a furious, -a saving one.</p> -<p>“Miss Armstrong, can I trust you?”</p> -<p>“You can.”</p> -<p>“Then come with me.”</p> -<p>The first speaker was Matt Hunter, the man whom Captain -Strong had placed over the well after Sawyer’s defection.</p> -<p>He was a small, wiry man, rather prepossessing in appearance, -and had fought like a tiger with the water buckets.</p> -<p>Huldah Armstrong drew from his look that he had something -in view for the good of the garrison, and followed him -to the gangway.</p> -<p>But, as the settler had put his foot on the first round of -the ladder, the face of a strange man was revealed below, and -he started back.</p> -<p>“Wolf-Cap!” he shouted to the busy men and women about -him. “Wolf-Cap is here!”</p> -<p>Immediately the cry of “Wolf-Cap” resounded throughout -the fort, and the next minute the Night-Hawks’ foe appeared -above the hatch!</p> -<p>“Welcome, welcome, neighbor Belt!” cried old Levi, -springing to the trapper. “Bloody times, these.”</p> -<p>“Ay, ay,” said Wolf-Cap, quickly. “But to the ports; -<span class="pb" id="Page_53">53</span> -This is the darkest hour of the night. The foe is crawling -through the storm both from the river and hill. Thank -heaven! the rain has saved your fort.”</p> -<p>The settlers sprung to their places.</p> -<p>“The demons carry ladders,” continued Wolf-Cap, “and -they’ll make a desperate effort to carry the palisades by -storm.”</p> -<p>Matt Hunter and Huldah did not wait to hear the trapper’s -words, but hurried below and paused before the guard at the -lower door.</p> -<p>“You can’t get out here,” said the sentry.</p> -<p>“Can’t,” echoed Hunter. “We’re on a mission from our -new captain.”</p> -<p>“True, Miss?” asked the soldier, looking at Huldah.</p> -<p>“Mr. Hunter should know,” she answered, and the heavy -door was unbolted, and they stepped into the yard.</p> -<p>“Miss Armstrong, I am on a secret mission for your father,” -he said, when they heard the door shut violently. “I can -not disclose it yet, so please bear with me. We must now -relieve the gate guards.”</p> -<p>He walked rapidly toward the gate, where three sturdy -settlers stood.</p> -<p>“Jones, Vanderberg and Poston, I believe,” he said, pausing -before the trio, whose forms were just visible in the -gloom.</p> -<p>“Yes,” answered a rough voice, “them’s we. What’s -wanting?”</p> -<p>“Our new captain wants Vanderberg and Poston to the -council up-stairs. Wolf-Cap advocates a change of tactics. -We—Miss Armstrong and I—will guard the gate with Jones, -until relieved. We were sent hither for that duty.”</p> -<p>Matt Hunter paused; but the two men hesitated. Since -the arrest of Zebulon Strong, they did not know whom to -trust, and theirs was the most important post connected with -the safety of the fort.</p> -<p>“No doubt other strength will be sent hither on your appearance -above,” said Hunter, uneasily. “Your voices are -needed in the council. You can leave your muskets here; -but I think we will not need ’em. Wolf-Cap reports the foe -under cover.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_54">54</div> -<p>His last words decided the guards; they leaned their muskets -against the stockade and left the gate.</p> -<p>Without difficulty they gained the interior of the fort, and -paused a moment to inquire into the progress of the well-diggers.</p> -<p>Then they ascended the ladder and appeared in the battle-room. -The storm had spent its fury by this time, but the -wind was flaring the dips and imparting a demi-gloom to the -entire interior of the place. Still, the light enabled the sentries -to see men at the port-holes, and the women were scrubbing -the floor with bedding. There was nothing that looked -like a council of war.</p> -<p>“Where’s the cap’n?” asked Vanderberg, touching a woman’s -arm—and the dame could not repress a cry when she -looked up into his white face.</p> -<p>“Here,” called a lusty voice from a darkened corner, and -a tall form advanced toward the guard. “I’m here—what’s -wanting?” and then the commander caught sight of Vanderberg’s -face. “Roger Vanderberg, what are <i>you</i> doing <i>here</i>?” -he cried, and his hand closed on the settler’s arm. “Your -post is at the outer gate. What can have brought you hither? -Speak! These are nights when traitors are abroad.”</p> -<p>The guard, now thoroughly alarmed and frightened, could -not find his tongue for a moment.</p> -<p>“And Poston, you here too? Who <i>is</i> at the gate?”</p> -<p>“Sir, your daughter and Matt Hunter,” cried Vanderberg, -with considerable fire in his tone. “He sent me up to the -council.”</p> -<p>“Council? there’s no council here,” and the old settler’s -cheeks suddenly grew pale. “I never sent for you—never! -Matt Hunter must mean something terrible. We’ll go down -and see.”</p> -<p>He sprung to the hatch, and quickly disappeared, followed -by the sentries.</p> -<p>The lower guard opened the door without a challenge, and -the trio passed into the yard.</p> -<p>There Levi Armstrong’s worst fears were realized. The -gate was deserted and stood ajar!</p> -<p>Deserted? No! At the foot of one of the posts lay the -body of a man.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_55">55</div> -<p>“Heavens! Huldah is gone!” cried the settler, staggering -from the scene, for a moment completely unmanned.</p> -<p>For a moment only.</p> -<p>“The gate! the gate!” he cried, springing forward, but -Vanderberg and Poston had foreseen the danger.</p> -<p>Their strong arms closed the ponderous structure, as a hundred -arrows buried their flinty heads in the boards!</p> -<p>The gate was then barricaded in a jiffy.</p> -<p>“Listen! They’re about to storm us,” said Vanderberg.</p> -<p>“Quick, then! Summon thirty men hither!” shouted Levi. -“We must meet them here first. ’Twill be daylight soon, -thank heaven!”</p> -<p>Vanderberg sprung to execute the task assigned him, and -the old settler bent over the form lying at the gate.</p> -<p>It was poor Jones. His skull had been crushed by the butt -of a musket, and he was quite dead.</p> -<p>“The old fort swarms with traitors,” said Armstrong, looking -up at Poston. “Hunter was Strong’s confederate. Now -we’ll meet the storming dogs.”</p> -<p>He muttered the last sentence as a body of men emerged -from the fort.</p> -<p>“Huldah isn’t gone, Armstrong?” said the foremost man, -whose wolf-skin cap proclaimed his personality.</p> -<p>“Gone—gone, Belt!”</p> -<p>“Curse the luck! Why didn’t I shoot Matt Hunter, when -I caught him tampering with my traps, two years ago?”</p> -<p>“Would to heaven you had.”</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap looked at the settler and then gritted his great -teeth till they fairly cracked.</p> -<p>“Matt Hunter took the girl along to buy his own liberty,” -he murmured. “Royal Funk will get her now. But he -sha’n’t wear her—no! not while my name is Card Belt.”</p> -<p>“Nor while mine is Mark Harmon!”</p> -<p>The trapper started and saw the young borderman standing -by his side.</p> -<p>“Your hand on that, boy!” cried the trapper, with a smile, -and two hands were clasped and sealed in determination.</p> -<p>“I guess the dogs have gone back to growl,” said Belt, -glancing up. “They’ve let the golden moment slip. It’s -gettin’ too light to attack now.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_56">56</div> -<h2 id="c8"><span class="small">CHAPTER VIII.</span> -<br />A BIT OF MUTINY.</h2> -<p>Fort Strong could not have successfully resisted an assault -of the allies on the stockade. The settlers knew this; -but were determined that the foe should be met with courage -as fierce as his own, and that he should find none but dead -bodies when he entered the fort.</p> -<p>Already the women were arming themselves and their words -of encouragement threw more strength into their husbands’ -arms.</p> -<p>We left Wolf-Cap and the two Indian chiefs hurrying toward -the fort, and have also witnessed the former’s appearance -among the besieged. Before entering, he had tarried a -while without for the purpose of watching the enemy. His -great heart leaped for joy when the rain began to descend, -and beside the gate, he dismissed the chiefs with low words, -intended for their ears alone.</p> -<p>He heard the foe approach, and learned that they bore ladders -which, no doubt, they had constructed beyond the hill -during the day, and then he hastened to prepare the settlers -for the new danger.</p> -<p>But the sky grew lighter, and the assault came not. From -some cause which the besieged could not fathom, the proposed -attack had been suddenly abandoned, and when the light rendered -objects distinguishable from the fort, not an enemy -could be seen.</p> -<p>The dun storm clouds rolled heavily toward the south, and -by-and-by the sun’s rays fell upon the charred roof of Fort -Strong.</p> -<p>But let us follow the fortunes of Huldah Armstrong, and -learn why the assault was abandoned—abandoned when the -most unlearned warrior could foresee the result of a grand attack -with the ladders.</p> -<p>To all appearances, the Indians had been withdrawn from -the river; but such was not the case. The light of the burning -<span class="pb" id="Page_57">57</span> -roof revealed the ground between fort and stream, but not -a brave lay behind the stumps. Colonel O’Neill attacked the -fort from the hill only, thinking that the garrison might be -driven to an attempt to fly to the river and escape by boats. -Therefore, he had drawn the Indians to the tall grass on the -bank, and during the entire fight not a shot was fired from -the ambush.</p> -<p>But the colonel’s plans did not succeed.</p> -<p>“Why this delay?” exclaimed the officer, angrily, looking -and listening from the summit of the hill where he stood, surrounded -by half a dozen Indians and as many English officers. -“The assault should have been made ere this.”</p> -<p>“We have not heard Funk’s signal yet, colonel,” answered -one of the officers, suggestively.</p> -<p>“Fire and fury! he should have given it five minutes since,” -and O’Neill looked at a beautiful chronometer which he drew -from his bosom. “The truth of the matter is, Funk is crazy -after a girl in the fort, and if he can get her, he will let the -foe beat us off. Curse the laggard!”</p> -<p>A minute’s silence followed the Briton’s last words. The -signal, whatever it was to have been, did not cleave the cool -night air—not a sound came from the fort.</p> -<p>“The jig is up,” hoarsely hissed O’Neill, stamping his foot -with rage. “Funk’s infernal passion for that girl has ruined -our plans. Splitlog, is he a specimen of the men you associate -with? Go and recall the forces! The day is breaking -now, and if our men are not instantly withdrawn, they will -be slaughtered like sheep.”</p> -<p>The Wyandot sachem left the hill, and presently every besieger -relinquished the designed attack.</p> -<p>Colonel O’Neill was livid with rage, and threatened to -withdraw his troops.</p> -<p>“Frank is the cause of all this,” he thundered to Splitlog. -“You should take the villain out and shoot him when he -shows his face in camp. But he’ll never have the audacity to -show his face here. Perhaps he succeeded in getting the -girl, and has fled to parts unknown. The fort would have -been ours after a brief struggle. The deserter declares that -Strong has six men on whom he can depend. So, chief, you -see what we have missed by one man’s absorbing passion.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_58">58</div> -<p>“Night-Hawk do bad work, sure,” said Splitlog, like the -colonel, in no good humor. “He better not come back to -braves.”</p> -<p>“Killing him won’t mend matters; but—”</p> -<p>The interruption that broke the sentence was caused by -the sudden appearance of a young Wyandot warrior, who informed -the twain that Royal Funk and his Night-Hawks -were boldly approaching.</p> -<p>O’Neill and the chief exchanged looks of surprise.</p> -<p>“That man possesses the audacity of the devil,” said the -colonel. “Now stick to your word, Splitlog; pay him up. -Do not listen to his excuses. If you do, he’ll conquer.”</p> -<p>White and red occupied the tent of the former, and when -they stepped out, they beheld a large body of soldiers and -savages approaching.</p> -<p>At the head of the array walked Roy Funk and his remaining -Night-Hawks, six in number, for Sam Cole had slain his -white adversary at the tree to which Wolf-Cap was bound at -the opening of the fort fight, and the second Night-Hawk -whom Silver Hand threw into the river on the same occasion, -would march no more to deeds of brigandage.</p> -<p>There was a cloud on the outlaw’s face as he neared the -little group; but he walked boldly erect, unmindful of the -fierce looks and muttered epithets that the Indians hurled -upon him.</p> -<p>At length he halted before the couple at the tent, and -looked them calmly in the eye without a word.</p> -<p>“You have come to report,” said O’Neill, suddenly and sarcastically.</p> -<p>“With your permission, sir,” retorted the Night-Hawk -captain.</p> -<p>“If you wish, you may tell the story of your treachery. -Though I would rather not hear it, I will listen. You know -the disaster you have hurled upon this army.”</p> -<p>“I am, to some extent, perhaps, to blame for the non-attack -on the stockade. I am willing to take all the blame on -my shoulders at any rate. They are strong,” and he shrugged -them, “and can carry heavy loads.”</p> -<p>“But let the Night-Hawk talk of his dog acts,” cried Splitlog, -stepping nearer Funk, furious almost beyond control.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_59">59</div> -<p>“I was about ready to give my signal when we beheld -a suspicious figure creeping from the fort to the river. -We followed, and captured a man—Matt Hunter by name. -He was a deserter and told us much. Captain Strong is a -prisoner in the fort. His designs have been discovered. -Wolf-Cap is in the fort.”</p> -<p>“I thought you held him captive?” said O’Neill, at this -juncture.</p> -<p>“I did, but Cole wanted to trust his honesty, and Duke -White here interfered. They fought and Cole got the best -of Duke; but, after all, Wolf-Cap escaped.”</p> -<p>“But what about the man you caught?”</p> -<p>“The boys gave him to the Wyandots by the river. He’s -yonder now with Sawyer, the other deserter. He was carrying -a woman from the fort.”</p> -<p>“Stealing a woman, eh? Go on, Roy Funk, this is a romantic -story you’re telling. Took some hard thinking no -doubt.”</p> -<p>An illy-concealed sneer pervaded the officer’s words; but -the outlaw chief did not appear to notice it.</p> -<p>“We got the girl of course, and,” looking at O’Neill, “she’s -my girl, colonel—Huldah Armstrong.”</p> -<p>“This will all do to tell, Roy Funk,” said the soldier; “but -it won’t slip down. You don’t understand greasing lies. -That is an art which you should have mastered.”</p> -<p>“You’ll believe me if I produce the deserter and girl?” -flashed Funk.</p> -<p>“I will, and not until then will I credit a single word you -have uttered.”</p> -<p>The outlaw turned quickly upon one of his men.</p> -<p>“Jackson, go and bring Hunter and the girl here,” he -said, in maddened tones, and the look which he then darted -at his other Night-Hawks drew them nearer his imperiled -form.</p> -<p>“You shall see that I haven’t lied!” he said, turning to -O’Neill again. “Splitlog has enjoyed a long acquaintance -with me, and he can not put his finger on a single lie of -mine.”</p> -<p>“But what say you in extenuation of your crime of disobeying -orders?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_60">60</div> -<p>“Circumstances, sir, interposed to check my career, and -when I had disposed of my captives, you were withdrawing -your troops. But, Colonel O’Neill, I want you to understand -that I am a free man here. Roy Funk and his fellows do as -they please; but for this time I have condescended to be a -subordinate. You, sir, are the minority here. Splitlog by -superiority of numbers commands.”</p> -<p>O’Neill bit his lip and referred the outlaw to the Wyandot -for punishment. He felt that Splitlog would rid himself of -Funk’s presence, and now he devoutly wished the forest freebooter -out of his way.</p> -<p>A brief time elapsed between Jackson’s disappearance and -his return.</p> -<p>A line of knolls or hills encircled the southern side of the -fort, and terminated at the river. They enabled the outlaw -to perform his errand without being seen by the besieged -settlers, and he approached the assemblage with Huldah Armstrong -and the treacherous borderman.</p> -<p>“There!” said Funk, in triumph, looking at his prisoners. -“Colonel O’Neill, have I lied?”</p> -<p>The British soldier did not reply, for he was looking at -the settler’s daughter, whose wonderful backwoods beauty was -entrancing his Highland-tainted heart.</p> -<p>“What does Night-Hawk want to do with white girl?” -asked Splitlog, breaking the silence that followed Funk’s -speech.</p> -<p>“I intend making her Mrs. Funk, as I have told the colonel,” -said the outlaw, quickly, glancing at the officer as he -spoke. “She is mine!”</p> -<p>“But Night-Hawk didn’t give signal. He let a squaw run -off with his head.”</p> -<p>Splitlog’s anger was rising again, and O’Neill was secretly -rejoicing.</p> -<p>“I know it, chief; but to-night we’ll work together.”</p> -<p>“Like we did when it was dark before,” hissed the Wyandot, -and his right arm started back threateningly. “The -Night-Hawk is a traitor, and traitors are dogs. He no man -at all who’ll let blue eyes draw him from duty.”</p> -<p>“Well, what is Splitlog going to do about it?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_61">61</div> -<p>The question was put calmly, but there was the lurking of -a defiant, devil-may-care spirit in the words.</p> -<p>“He going to make example, as the pale-faces say,” was the -reply. “Little Hickory, take the girl—”</p> -<p>“No you won’t!” interrupted the outlaw, and before the -chief addressed could advance a step, Jackson threw Huldah -Armstrong forward and Funk caught her in his arms.</p> -<p>“I appeal to the braves of the Wyandot nation, and to true -English soldiers,” he cried, springing upon a fallen tree and -looking around over the crowd. “I have fought for the flag -of St. George and for the wampum of the Wyandots. I failed -in a duty last night, but to-night we can take the fort. Put -yourselves in my place last night. For such a pretty woman -as this, who would not have forgotten every thing save love?”</p> -<p>Numerous cheers greeted the outlaw’s speech, but Splitlog, -with a cloud on his face, advanced toward the log.</p> -<p>“Stop, chief,” cried Funk, cocking one of his pistols, and -looking down upon the Wyandot. “I don’t want to shed -blood on this occasion. My men will stand by me—if we go -down, ’twill be as the fall of one man.”</p> -<p>Stern determination was written on the Night-Hawk’s face, -and he glanced at Huldah, hanging half-senseless across his -left arm.</p> -<p>“Don’t give in to him!” whispered O’Neill to Splitlog, -who had stopped. “Make an example of the dog!”</p> -<p>The chief was inclined to do so.</p> -<p>“A vote! a vote!” cried the soldiers.</p> -<p>“We’ll have no votes on this question!” thundered Colonel -O’Neill.</p> -<p>“We will!” answered a stalwart corporal, stepping forward, -pistol in hand. “Colonel O’Neill, your men say that Funk’s -fate shall not be settled by one man.”</p> -<p>“Fire and furies, this is mutiny!” and the English sword -leaped from its scabbard. “Corporal, who commands the -Ninety-first—you or I?”</p> -<p>Corporal Quitman did not reply, but saluted his superior -and stepped aside.</p> -<p>“We will vote on Funk’s life!” came a cry from the rebellious -quarter, and the Indians began to demand a ballot, in -their own language.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_62">62</div> -<p>Colonel O’Neill was shaking with rage.</p> -<p>“Colonel, you had best listen to the men!” ventured Quitman, -again.</p> -<p>“Who gave you authority to suggest to me?” roared the -epauleted Briton, starting toward the corporal. “Sergeant -Wilkinson, arrest the mutineer.”</p> -<p>But the sergeant did not stir.</p> -<p>“What! dare you disobey, too?”</p> -<p>“I dare!” was the quiet response. “Colonel, if a majority -of the Wyandots and the old Ninety-first say that Funk’s deed -deserves death, we will submit. But one man, and he an <i>Indian</i>, -shall not dictate in such a case as this.”</p> -<p>The mutineers applauded the sergeant’s words, and Colonel -O’Neill stepped back, and gazed with horror into Splitlog’s -face.</p> -<p>“I know what you want, colonel,” said Roy Funk, at this -juncture, “and I don’t blame you, either, for you don’t pick -up such a girl as this in the woods every day. Let the red-coats -vote, and the Indians, too. If they say I deserve death, -you may kill me.”</p> -<p>O’Neill looked up at the outlaw, and then turned to the -sachem.</p> -<p>“I leave it to you, Splitlog,” he said. “Count me out; -but Funk should live if he can cower such a man as you!”</p> -<h2 id="c9"><span class="small">CHAPTER IX.</span> -<br />SENT INTO EXILE.</h2> -<p>Splitlog shrugged his shoulders and turned to his braves.</p> -<p>The lives of many brave men hung upon his savage caprices, -and the silence that followed O’Neill’s last and bitter -words seemed palpable.</p> -<p>The Wyandot hated, detested the British, Colonel O’Neill -particularly; but he had sold his nation to the English cause, -and he must not, in a single act, manifest an abatement of -zeal. The colonel, under whose command Splitlog had already -<span class="pb" id="Page_63">63</span> -fought, had said that Royal Funk’s disobedience should -be punished with death, and the Indian believed that he spoke -to the king.</p> -<p>But the British soldiers were demanding something of a -trial for the outlaw, and his Indians were joining in the clamor. -So far as he was personally concerned, he would not -punish Funk, and here was an opportunity to favor the forest -freebooter. Funk, no doubt, had done Splitlog a service in -days gone by, and an Indian never forgets such an action.</p> -<p>He stood before the outlaw a moment in silence, and then -spoke.</p> -<p>“Splitlog hears the voices of his people,” he said. “He -will not strike the Night-Hawk until they have pronounced -on his fate. He,” pointing to Funk, “has lived long among -the Wyandots; they know him—he is brave.”</p> -<p>As the Indian paused, O’Neill stepped forward, and laid -his hand on the naked shoulder. The Briton’s face was still -aflame with rage.</p> -<p>“Say nothing for nor against him, chief,” he said, in the -Wyandot tongue. “Tell your braves to say life or death, -and that quickly.”</p> -<p>He snapped the words out fiercely, and darted a malignant -look at Splitlog as he turned away:</p> -<p>“I’ll pay you for this, you scarlet dog,” he murmured, under -his breath. “I’ll pay you for lying, see if I don’t.”</p> -<p>Splitlog smiled contemptuously, and bit his nether lip.</p> -<p>“Down with you, Wyandots,” he cried, angrily, flashing -his eyes over his armed nation. “Down like wolves, and let -the warriors who vote for life hold up their guns.”</p> -<p>Like one man the red assembly dropped to the ground, -and near two hundred guns were held on high!</p> -<p>A majority voted for life.</p> -<p>“I knew they’d do it,” hissed O’Neill. “And Splitlog -sanctions the decision. My men shall not vote.”</p> -<p>A stern determination clothed the last words, and they -were yet quivering on his lips when the chief, with a triumph -which his best dissimulative arts could not conceal, turned -upon him:</p> -<p>“Now let the red-coats vote,” cried Splitlog. “If many -<span class="pb" id="Page_64">64</span> -of them say ‘death,’ the waters of the Huron shall roll over -the Night-Hawk.”</p> -<p>An eager gleam of hope lit up the colonel’s eyes at this.</p> -<p>Sword in hand he leaped upon the log near the Night-Hawk -captain.</p> -<p>“You who vote for life will advance ten paces westward. -Right about—face. Forward—march!”</p> -<p>Many a Briton obeyed the military command, and the colonel -ordered a sergeant to count the ayes.</p> -<p>Two hundred and one men voted for life, and strange to -say, <i>a like number had kept their places</i>!</p> -<p>“I vote for death!” said the colonel, when he had informed -Splitlog of the even counts; “therefore I make a majority, -and the outlaw dies.”</p> -<p>“Did Splitlog vote?” cried the chief. “No! he left it to -his men. But he will look to the vote of the red-coats. He -says that the Night-Hawk shall fly from the land of the Wyandots -before the sun sweeps over the bosom of the Huron -again, and he shall never return. Does this suit the king’s -soldier?”</p> -<p>“He should die. We, his own people, say as much,” said -O’Neill.</p> -<p>“But Indians say, ‘Live, Night-Hawk.’ Splitlog must listen -to his people; when they say ‘No,’ he must not say -‘Yes.’”</p> -<p>“So be it, then. But he shall not take his captive along.”</p> -<p>“Whatever is his he may keep,” answered the Indian, and -then he looked up at Royal Funk.</p> -<p>“Night-Hawk, you are free to go,” he said. “After this -night, let these forests hear your tread no more. Splitlog -and his braves say so.”</p> -<p>“Agreed,” answered Funk. “I accept your mercy. I go, -never to return. Soldiers who voted for my life, I thank -you; and, Colonel O’Neill, my fervent prayer is that we may -meet again.”</p> -<p>“Amen!” grated the Briton. “I echo your prayer from -the bottom of my heart!”</p> -<p>“Come, boys,” said the outlaw, descending from his perch, -and addressing his band in a low tone, “we’ll leave this accursed -place at once, or so soon as we can get off. We’ll go -<span class="pb" id="Page_65">65</span> -down the river in barges, and after a while strike over land -toward Detroit. There’s no use in talking. Our days are -up in the ‘fire-lands,’ though I’d like to linger here to settle -scores with Wolf-Cap.”</p> -<p>The Night-Hawks expressed their willingness to follow -their leader, but they abominated the thought of a forced exile. -They had lorded it over the fire-lands until they believed -themselves invincible, but they had discovered one at whose -command they must depart.</p> -<p>“Well, Miss Huldah, we are going to leave the old fire-lands, -and we’re never coming back any more. What do you -think about that?”</p> -<p>For a moment the settler’s child said nothing. She stood -before the outlaw in the little tent which Colonel O’Neill had -given him, when they were on better terms than now, and -looked up into his darkly handsome face.</p> -<p>“Of course, sir, I do not wish to go,” were the words that -fell from her lips, at last. “But I know ’tis useless for me to -appeal to you.”</p> -<p>“Utterly useless, Huldah,” he answered, calmly. “I will -offer you no violence, and none shall come to you from any -one. But let me tell you now that I am very passionate, and -that no hand shall snatch you from me. I will make no -avowal of love; this is not the place for such; but if I did -not love you I would return you to the old man who, in <i>your</i> -presence calls you child. Huldah, tell me how many lovers -you possess?”</p> -<p>“None, unless I must regard you as such,” she answered, -with a faint smile.</p> -<p>“You should have thought a moment before you spoke. -There’s Wolf-Cap—”</p> -<p>“His hair is gray in many places,” said Huldah, interrupting -him. “He is not my lover.”</p> -<p>“Granted; but hasn’t some young hunter in Fort Strong -looked softly into your eyes? Speak truly, Huldah Armstrong—I -want to know.”</p> -<p>For a moment the settler’s daughter recalled the daring -young men who had bravely defended their loved ones in the -besieged fort, and a flush of crimson mantled her fair -cheeks.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_66">66</div> -<p>“I think I have no lover,” she said, looking up again.</p> -<p>“But you blushed while you thought,” said the outlaw, -quickly; “and blushes, like figures, Huldah, do not lie. Some -young buck-skin-clad fellow has made your heart beat fast behind -the walls of the doomed fort. Tell me his name.”</p> -<p>“Why would you know?”</p> -<p>“I would kill him, if he escaped the massacre. Huldah, I -will endure no rivals for your hand. Remember this. But -you have skipped a lover.”</p> -<p>The fair girl, whose cheeks had grown pale beneath the -vengeful words, looked surprised.</p> -<p>“Yes, you possess a third lover, Huldah. Can you not -name him?”</p> -<p>“I can not. Your words are fraught with mystery,” she -replied.</p> -<p>“Colonel O’Neill is your lover. He tried to have me shot, -that he might possess you. What do you think of your red-coated -Adonis? He’s the handsomest of all your lovers—isn’t -he, Huldah?”</p> -<p>The outlaw laughed at his sarcastic question, and turned -to talk to one of his men, whose face appeared at the opening.</p> -<p>A short conversation in a low whisper passed between the -Night-Hawks, when the face disappeared, and Funk turned to -his captive again.</p> -<p>“We won’t get off till near sundown,” he said. “That -liveried dog has refused to loan us his boats, and Splitlog has -been compelled to send to the mouth of the Catauga for several -of his own. By heavens! Huldah, I want to meet that -man away from his men. I’d promote Major Gosnoke to the -colonelcy with a bullet. There’s something devilish afoot. I -feel it. This night will witness treacherous deeds. O’Neill -will not give you up tamely—neither will I!”</p> -<p>A moment later the outlaw walked from the tent, and Huldah -Armstrong heard him say a few words to the Night-Hawks -who guarded her, before he walked away.</p> -<p>The long hours of that summer day waned, and not a shot -was fired at the fort. It was a painful silence to the girl, and -told of bloody scenes during the coming darkness. She could -see the charred roof from her prison, but not a besieged form -greeted her eye.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_67">67</div> -<p>By and by the trees on the river-bank cast long shadows, -and Splitlog, followed by numerous warriors and a few soldiers, -was seen approaching the outlaw’s tent.</p> -<p>Five Night-Hawks received the company with lowering -gaze, and a word from the chief drew out Roy Funk and his -prisoner.</p> -<p>“We’re ready, chief,” said the Night-Hawk leader.</p> -<p>“Then to the river,” replied Splitlog, pointing to the water. -“The boats wait for the Night-Hawks of the fire-lands.”</p> -<p>The entire party marched down to the river, where an outlaw -and several Indians guarded two large and strong boats.</p> -<p>“This is the beginning of our journey, Huldah,” said Roy -Funk, as he gently lifted the settler’s daughter into one of the -barks. “The beginning, I say; God knows what the ending -will be.”</p> -<p>His words implied grave doubts of a safe termination of the -voyage; but the next moment he was talking cheerfully to his -men and the chief.</p> -<p>“We’ll see you again, Splitlog,” called the outlaw, as the -boats were cast from their moorings. “We’ll drink fire-water -some day over our doings in the fire-lands. But remember -what I whispered in your ear: watch him, as you would -a snake!”</p> -<p>Then the outlaws seized the pliant paddles, and the two big -boats moved rapidly down the current.</p> -<p>For the dusk that stretched before the voyagers seemed -to breathe of a lurking foe.</p> -<p>Splitlog and his companions watched the boats until a bend -in the river hid them from sight.</p> -<p>“Now,” said the chief, turning away, “the white man’s -fort falls. The night is coming on, and the flames of the -big timbers must light the sky.”</p> -<p>But other scenes than the taking of the block-house, were -to demand the Wyandot’s attention before dawn.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_68">68</div> -<h2 id="c10"><span class="small">CHAPTER X.</span> -<br />BAFFLED IN AMBUSH.</h2> -<p>An hour after the departure of the exiles, night spread her -pall over the earth, and two men scaled the stockade of Fort -Strong and glided toward the hill lately tenanted by the -foe.</p> -<p>The spies—for spies the couple undoubtedly were—boasted -of white skins, and the moon, just rising and showering her -light through the trees beside the river, proclaimed them -Wolf-Cap and Mark Harmon.</p> -<p>“I can’t understand this silence,” remarked the old trapper -to his companion. “Surely the demons hevn’t given over the -attack.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps they have quarreled among themselves,” said -young Harmon.</p> -<p>“It may be. O’Neill is a fidgety fellow, they say, and if -he gets spiteful at Splitlog, why he’ll withdraw his support. -Why they didn’t attack us last night when they could have -won, may ever remain a mystery. But silence now—we’ve -reached the hill.”</p> -<p>For some minutes the twain crouched at the foot of the -acclivity and listened, but heard nothing. Where was the foe? -Wolf-Cap was puzzled, and threw one of his queer enigmatical -looks into Harmon’s face.</p> -<p>“Bless me! if I don’t b’lieve they’ve vamosed,” he whispered, -and then, bidding his comrade retain his position, he -proceeded to extend the reconnoissance to the top of the hill.</p> -<p>Ten minutes later he returned.</p> -<p>“Good news for the fort, boy!” he said, in tones of undisguised -joy. “The varmints hev vamosed the diggin’s.”</p> -<p>“What! they haven’t retreated with victory in their -grasp?” exclaimed the youth.</p> -<p>“They’re gone, anyhow. The red dogs marched around -the hills to the river, and the Indians took a south-easterly -trail. This tells the story of a family quarrel. O’Neill has -<span class="pb" id="Page_69">69</span> -got his back up about suthin’ and so he cut loose from Splitlog.”</p> -<p>“But why didn’t the Indian remain and attack?”</p> -<p>“He wanted to show his choler, too. He wouldn’t stay -for spite, but we’ll hear from him in the Muskingum valley -afore long.”</p> -<p>“Then let’s go back and tell the good news,” said Mark -Harmon, eagerly. “Then we hunt for Huldah.”</p> -<p>“Yes; we’ll follow Splitlog until we find Funk, for the -outlaw will, of course, stick with the chief; they’ve been old -cronies for years, and Funk isn’t the man to trust himself -among a British regiment with a pretty woman. O’Neill -might want Huldah, you see, and, backed by his men, Funk -wouldn’t hev the ghost of a show as his rival.”</p> -<p>The spies now set out on their return to the fort, and -Wolf-Cap rapped heavily on the gate with the butt of his gun.</p> -<p>“Don’t be afraid to fling ’er wide, boys,” he cried, in a -loud tone. “The devils hev got scared at their own shadow, -and the old fort is saved!”</p> -<p>“Saved! saved! the foe has fled!” shouted the guard, as -he opened the gate, and then cheer on cheer shook the old -structure to its staunch foundation logs.</p> -<p>Fathers dropped their weapons and embraced wives in the -transport of joy, and mothers kissed their children a hundred -times, and thanked God for deliverance with tearful -eyes.</p> -<p>“We’re going now, Mark, and I,” said Wolf-Cap to Levi -Armstrong, in the midst of the rejoicings, “and we’re going -to fetch your girl back, too.”</p> -<p>“You shall not go alone, Belt. I will—”</p> -<p>“You will stay right where you are!” interrupted the hunter, -imperatively. “You are needed here. Some band of -dusky fellows may attack the fort during my absence, and -these helpless women and children can not spare you. Did -I say that Mark and I war going alone? Yes. But we are -not. Silver Hand and Golden Cheek will join us somewhar -in the woods, and those two fellows kin outwit a thousand -Night-Hawks.”</p> -<p>Armstrong reluctantly consented to remain in command of -the fort.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_70">70</div> -<p>“When will you return, Belt?” he asked.</p> -<p>“Within five days, or more.”</p> -<p>“Shall we keep Strong untried for five days?”</p> -<p>“No; put him on trial to-morrow. If he is proven a traitor, -deal with him accordingly. You can testify for me, for I -have told you all that I know bearing on the case. But we -must be off, Armstrong.”</p> -<p>The trapper put forth his hand, and with many good -wishes for the journey, Armstrong pressed it and saw the -twain pass out the gate.</p> -<p>“I may never see him again,” said the old settler, pausing -suddenly as the ponderous gate swung back. “He ought to -know all now. I will tell him; it will make him more cautious, -and he will hate me, I know. Yes, I will disclose the -secret.”</p> -<p>Quickly then, he turned to the gate again, and bade the -sentry open.</p> -<p>“I want to see Wolf-Cap again,” said Levi, and then he -stepped without.</p> -<p>The dusky forms of the two men were still visible toward -the river.</p> -<p>He hurried forward; but his heart failed him, for he suddenly -returned to the fort without hailing the trapper.</p> -<p>“I can’t break the spell,” he said, slowly and in an undertone, -shaking his head. “I still hold the blessed belief into -which I have schooled my heart for many years. When -Wolf-Cap brings her back, I’ll tell him all. God give her -back to me, for I love her. Though he kill me, I will tell -him all.”</p> -<p>It was the earnest prayer of a brave man, and he soon rejoined -the settlers, still happy over the unexpected deliverance.</p> -<p>But we must return to the British colonel.</p> -<p>At a certain point two miles below the bend in the river, -mentioned at the conclusion of the preceding chapter, several -large trees lay on the ground, hurled down by the fury -of some storm-demon. These trees furnished a natural ambush, -almost entirely impenetrable by the human eye, and -from their leafy coverts a company of soldiers could sweep -the stream either way, for a great distance.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_71">71</div> -<p>The ambush was not untenanted when Roy Funk and his -companions left the Indians, and turned the prows of their canoes -toward Lake Erie.</p> -<p>The moon, as she scaled the horizon, looked down upon -scarlet uniforms beneath the leaves, and the night-winds -heard low voices.</p> -<p>“Colonel, do you think Gosnoke equal to the emergency?” -asked a soldier, looking at the British colonel peeping through -the boughs.</p> -<p>“I do. Ere this, he has obeyed orders, and peacefully -too, for we have heard no noise. Splitlog knows now, that -I am not to be trampled, and spit on with impunity. I -played the red-skin devil a British trick to-night, and he will -never forget it. But I’m tired of waiting here. It is almost -time for Gosnoke’s appearance, and here Funk and his accursed -hounds have not hove in sight.”</p> -<p>The officer never took his eyes from the shining surface of -the water, while he answered the private, and his nervous -actions proclaimed his impatience.</p> -<p>The reader can guess the motive that led the Briton to the -ambush. He intended to intercept the exiles, and finish the rivalry -that existed between himself and the Night-Hawk for -the face of Huldah Armstrong. He selected a dozen soldiers -whom he could trust, and while the outlaws were preparing -to depart, he led his men to the ambush.</p> -<p>Major Gosnoke was left at the hill to withdraw the British -forces from co-operation with Splitlog’s warriors. He—the -colonel—dared not carry out his treachery in person, for the -Wyandot sachem was an impulsive savage, and he might pay -the penalty of his desertion with his life.</p> -<p>For many minutes after the brief conversation between the -colonel and his privates, a dead silence reigned over forest -and stream, but all at once this was broken by the voice of a -soldier.</p> -<p>“The boats are coming!”</p> -<p>Colonel O’Neill started and looked up the river. Two -black spots were visible on the shining water. Undoubtedly -the canoes belonged to the Night-Hawk’s party.</p> -<p>“Ready, men?” whispered O’Neill, turning to his troops. -“The devils are sailing right into our clutches. We want no -<span class="pb" id="Page_72">72</span> -noise now. Murphy, you are to do the hailing—recollect.”</p> -<p>The soldier nodded, and all eyes were fastened on the approaching -boats.</p> -<p>The muskets were at full cock, ready, if needed, to pour -a deadly fire into the barges.</p> -<p>Colonel O’Neill held his breath and glanced anxiously -from the boats to Murphy, who, with the hailing words on -his lips, awaited his commands.</p> -<p>“They’re in the shadow now,” said O’Neill, in reply to -a look from his soldier. “When they emerge and execute -four more strokes, you may speak.”</p> -<p>A group of trees threw a belt of shadow across the stream -a short distance above the ambush, and into this darkness the -two boats had glided.</p> -<p>All at once they drifted into the moonlight again, and the -studied words were on Murphy’s tongue, when he suddenly -started back, and threw a look of amazement into the colonel’s -face.</p> -<p>The boats were empty!</p> -<p>The men in the ambush exchanged looks of surprise, mingled -with superstition.</p> -<p>Colonel O’Neill was so chagrined that he could not speak -for several moments.</p> -<p>He riveted his eyes upon the boats, reluctantly believing -the evidence of his senses.</p> -<p>“Tom Murphy, swim out and intercept the boats!” he -suddenly roared. “Hell and furies! we have been betrayed!”</p> -<p>Murphy obeyed, and with the aid of several comrades -drew the barges ashore.</p> -<p>To the bottom of one canoe a piece of paper was pinned.</p> -<p>“Take care of my boats, colonel,” it said. “I will take -care of myself.”</p> -<p>Roy Funk’s name was appended to the writing!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div> -<h2 id="c11"><span class="small">CHAPTER XI.</span> -<br />TREASON IN THE CAMP.</h2> -<p>Colonel O’Neill’s face grew red and white by turns with -rage.</p> -<p>He looked at the writing until the letters swam before his -eyes.</p> -<p>His prey had escaped, and he swore roundly for several -minutes before a gentlemanly word passed his lips.</p> -<p>“Murphy,” he said, his anger slumbering but not appeased. -“Murphy, you, with two men, will await the arrival -of the command at this point, and will proceed with it to -the destination communicated by me to Gosnoke.”</p> -<p>“Pray, where does our colonel go?” asked Murphy, who -ventured because he was on familiar terms with O’Neill.</p> -<p>“I’m going after Funk. By heavens! that scoundrel shall -not escape me. He’s abandoned the boats somewhere up the -river, and taken to the forest trails. But how did he know -that we were waiting here?”</p> -<p>“Ah! that puzzles the b’hoys, kurnel,” said an Irish soldier. -“Faith an’ they must hev smelt us, fur devil a noise -did we make among the trees.”</p> -<p>“Some dastardly red-skin has betrayed us, Teddy,” said -O’Neill, coloring again. “Now, Murphy, mind what I have -told you. The trail they would take, I think, leads in a -north-westerly direction to the lake shore. It can be reached -by marching due west from this point; but I am not acquainted -with the forest hereabout.”</p> -<p>“Methinks, I can lead you to the trail,” said a man who, -though clad in English uniform, was no soldier. “I’ve -tramped these parts several times. By good marching, -we can reach the falls of Beaver river by eleven. There we -will strike the Detroit trail and discover something of Roy -Funk.”</p> -<p>The Briton was pleased, and a few minutes later disappeared -with his men in the funereal recesses of the wood.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_74">74</div> -<p>“I agree with the Indian. There’s no use in running our -legs off after we have eluded the foe. It’s a long way to -Detroit, and we might as well rest here as on the lake shore. -Boys, I apprehend no pursuit. Splitlog, of course, will not -follow, and O’Neill will lead his regiment to the lakes when -it joins him on the river. The Indian counsels a rest till -morning. He has walked us fast, and Miss Armstrong is -greatly fatigued.”</p> -<p>The words just written fell from Royal Funk’s lips, several -hours after O’Neill’s disappointment in the ambush.</p> -<p>He stood on the bank of a narrow stream which, in those -days, bore the rather pretentious cognomen of Beaver <i>river</i>. -At this point a beautiful cascade added to the wild scenery, -and he faced his Night-Hawks, who had just halted from a -fatiguing march.</p> -<p>“Of course we are willin’ to rest, cap’n,” said one of the -men. “That is, if you really think it best to do so, and of -course you would not talk as you hev if you did not. A rest -till daylight will do us no harm; but,” and the speaker approached -Funk and glanced at a half-naked Indian leaning -against a tree, as he lowered his voice, “but, cap’n, do you -fully trust the Wyandot?”</p> -<p>“Why should I call him a traitor? Because he has just -saved our lives, Whalley? He’s a genuine Wyandot; I’ve -seen him a hundred times with Splitlog. But what have you -against ’im?”</p> -<p>“Nothin’, cap’n, nothin’,” answered Whalley; “only I -wanted to know if you thought him sound.”</p> -<p>“Don’t fear for Spagano,” said Funk. “He’s a faithful -fellow. Remember, we would have rowed into O’Neill’s -muskets if it hadn’t been for him.”</p> -<p>The Indian upon hearing his name pronounced left the tree -and came forward.</p> -<p>He was a tall, muscular fellow, naked to the waist, and -wore a crest of painted dove feathers.</p> -<p>“What Night-Hawks want with Spagano?” he asked, in -broken English.</p> -<p>“Nothing. But hold, chief. Where had we best camp -to-night—here or across the river?”</p> -<p>“Here,” and, with a curious smile, the Indian described a -<span class="pb" id="Page_75">75</span> -circle with his hand. “We safe this side Beaver—not so safe, -p’r’aps, on other side.”</p> -<p>Preparations for a sojourn till day, on the bank of Beaver -river, were at once inaugurated by the party, and several of -the outlaws employed themselves in catching fish below the -falls.</p> -<p>Spagano, the Wyandot guide, lingered about the little -camp.</p> -<p>To him the outlaws owed their lives. It was in this manner:</p> -<p>Immediately after rounding the bend that shut the exiles -from Splitlog’s sight, an Indian made his appearance on the -river-bank, and Funk was induced to take him in. He proved -to be the bearer of startling news, and declared that he was -acting in accordance with the wishes of the Wyandot sachem—Splitlog.</p> -<p>Colonel O’Neill and two hundred soldiers (the Indian’s exaggerated -statement) were waiting for the outlaws at Dead -Tree Bend. They were well armed, and the colonel was determined -to rid the “fire-lands” of the Night-Hawks at one -blow.</p> -<p>Royal Funk believed the Indian and ran his boats ashore. -Then debarking, he wrote the message that so irritated the -Briton, and sent the canoes adrift.</p> -<p>The journey to the lake-shore had now to be performed -overland, and as the Wyandot was desirous of visiting Detroit, -he was made the head guide of the party. Before the -brave’s appearance, Funk felt that his red-coated rival lay -somewhere in ambush; but now he believed that he had successfully -eluded him, and that they would not meet in the -forest again.</p> -<p>Spagano was impatient, and ill at ease as he helped prepare -the camp.</p> -<p>More than once he glanced furtively at Huldah Armstrong, -reclining on a robe at the foot of a sturdy oak, and often -paused in his labors as if to catch certain sounds for which -he seemed to be waiting. While gathering brushwood, for -the fire, he made several lengthy journeys into the forest, and -in the dim light, he practiced the old savage habit of listening -with the ear applied to the ground.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_76">76</div> -<p>Once Roy Funk came suddenly upon Spagano in this attitude -of detecting sounds, and inquired into his action.</p> -<p>“Indian listening for British footsteps; but none come to -his ears.”</p> -<p>Funk was satisfied with the reply, and commended the -Wyandot’s watchfulness.</p> -<p>It was ten or perhaps quite eleven o’clock before the rude -camp was finished, and after midnight but three persons -therein appeared awake. The trio consisted of Spagano and -two Night-Hawks. The recumbent forms of the remaining -outlaws, including their leader, lay in the light of the dying -fire, and resembled wooden statues more than breathing clay.</p> -<p>The white guards sat at the foot of a large tree; Spagano -stood erect and wide-awake, a few feet to their right.</p> -<p>“Whalley, I’m as sleepy as a winter-treed b’ar,” said one of -the men, in his uncouth tongue. “Say, haven’t I nodded a -little within this past hour or such matter? I don’t see what’s -come over me to-night. I know my chin has pounded my -knees while we’ve been sittin’ here. But I can’t help it, -Whalley; and if I do drop asleep, you’ll let me go, and keep -mum to the captain, won’t you?”</p> -<p>“Yes, but keep awake if you can, Zigler,” returned Whalley, -and a yawn stretched his mouth to its greatest dimensions. -“Mind ye, if we go to sleep, that Indian kin do as he pleases, -and we might wake up and find ourselves as dead as a herrin’.”</p> -<p>“Dead or no dead, Whalley, I’ve got to sleep,” drawled -Zigler. “Wonder where that Injun got his whisky? Never -had any to affect my <i>eyes</i> afore.”</p> -<p>Whalley here glanced at the Wyandot, who stood immobile -against the tree, looking into the darkness of the wood.</p> -<p>“If I thought he had drugged the whisky, curse me if I -wouldn’t—”</p> -<p>He paused suddenly, for Zigler was asleep!</p> -<p>“Zig, this won’t do!” he said, with a smile, shaking his -companion’s shoulder lightly. “We’re in the frying-pan yet. -Wake up!”</p> -<p>Zigler responded with a swinish grunt.</p> -<p>“Well, sleep then,” said Whalley, supplementing his words -with an oath. “I’ll watch the Indian <i>my</i>self!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_77">77</div> -<p>He fastened his eyes upon the Wyandot; but soon the Indian -faded into a bluish mist, as it were, and the watcher was -asleep, like his comrade!</p> -<p>Spagano looked at the sleepers, and glanced from them to -the flask hanging at his waist. The glance was fraught with -triumph, and breathed of the red-man’s proverbial treachery -to the white.</p> -<p>He watched the guards for several minutes and then approached. -The scrutiny pleased him, and he crawled from -the camp and disappeared in the forest. He moved down -the trail which the Night-Hawks had lately traversed, and -thirty yards from the camp paused and put his ear to the -ground.</p> -<p>All at once he started to his feet, and sprung toward the -camp.</p> -<p>Excitement burned in his swarthy face; but he was calm -withal, and when on the edge of the light of the dying fire, -he dropped to the ground, and after listening a moment with -head turned toward the wood, crawled forward to Huldah -Armstrong’s cot.</p> -<p>Spagano was proving himself a traitor, and his bearing told -that this was not his first Judas act.</p> -<p>He reached the robe-couch, and bent over the sleeping -girl.</p> -<p>She lay near Roy Funk, who tossed uneasily about, the victim -of some terrible dream.</p> -<p>It seemed impossible for Spagano to steal the girl, if theft -was his intention, without rousing her, but he proved himself -equal to the emergency.</p> -<p>Suddenly stooping, he clapped one brawny hand over the -bright-red lips, while the other snatched their owner from the -ground, in the twinkling of an eye!</p> -<p>Then he sprung backward over the sleeping Night-Hawks; -but was brought to an abrupt stand by the sound of rushing -feet.</p> -<p>He leaned forward and looked with an expression of satisfaction, -which was soon transformed into one of horror.</p> -<p>For Colonel O’Neill appeared, like a giant, in the flickering -light, and the savage caught a glimpse of a phalanx of red-coats -in his rear.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_78">78</div> -<p>What would be done?</p> -<p>It was evident that Spagano was aiding parties other than -O’Neill and Royal Funk, and that he had mistaken a deadly -footstep for a friendly one.</p> -<p>He looked into the Briton’s eyes a moment, and then -glanced at the sleeping outlaws.</p> -<p>The next instant he threw Huldah before his heart, and -sprung toward the forest, a wild yell pealing from his throat -as he executed the latter action.</p> -<p>The effect of spring and yell was electrical!</p> -<p>Royal Funk and all his comrades, save Whalley and Zigler, -leaped to their feet, to be greeted with a volley from the British -muskets.</p> -<p>It was a telling volley. Every Night-Hawk sunk back, -either killed or wounded, and Spagano, the girl-stealer, reeled -like a youthful drunkard.</p> -<p>Huldah Armstrong fell from his grasp, and the next moment -Colonel O’Neill was at her side. As he stooped to lift -her up, the Wyandot darted to his feet and hurled him back -with the strength of a tiger.</p> -<p>Soldiers sprung to their leader’s aid; but ere they reached -the spot Spagano and the girl were gone!</p> -<p>The red-coats caught a glimpse of the Indian’s dusky figure -as he disappeared, and started to pursue. For several minutes -his footsteps guided them, and then those sounds ceased. -Colonel O’Neill was resolved that Huldah Armstrong should -not escape him.</p> -<p>He had the fire fanned into a new existence, and soon a -dozen torches flashed their lurid flames throughout the forest.</p> -<p>The soldiers knew that it was poor policy to hunt a hidden -Indian with torches, but it was evident that Spagano was -desperately, ay, mortally, wounded, and had fallen somewhere -in the neighborhood. This conjecture, advanced by -the colonel, was soon confirmed.</p> -<p>The Wyandot was found dead at the bottom of a forest -knoll; but Huldah Armstrong was still missing!</p> -<p>“Blast the Indian!” hissed O’Neill, spurning the corpse -with his foot. “He’s past torture, curse ’im! But the girl—we’ll -find her yet. We must find her! A hundred -guineas to the soldier who first discovers her.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_79">79</div> -<h2 id="c12"><span class="small">CHAPTER XII.</span> -<br />ROWING AND RUNNING FOR LIFE.</h2> -<p>Spagano bore Huldah Armstrong to the knoll where his -strength suddenly deserted him, and he sunk to the earth.</p> -<p>“White girl go,” he said, looking at Huldah, who stood -over him undecided how to act. “Indian got to die here. -English bullet cut life-string. The red-coat soldier want -girl; he come here soon. Look, there burns his soldiers’ -fires. Quick, girl! keep from him. Wolf-Cap in the wood; -he find you soon.”</p> -<p>“Wolf-Cap,” cried Huldah. “Was you working for -him?”</p> -<p>The Indian nodded, unable to speak.</p> -<p>“Where is he?”</p> -<p>A feeble red hand pointed to the south-east, and the Indian -fell back with a groan.</p> -<p>The settler’s daughter bent over him, but the red-man’s -soul was pursuing the trail to his happy hunting grounds, far, -far away from the death-freighted wood.</p> -<p>“Dead—my only friend gone!” exclaimed the girl. “What -shall I do? Give myself to the Briton? No, no! a thousand -deaths in these forests are preferable to a life with -him.”</p> -<p>The torches of the red-coated hunters flashed in her face, -and snatching up Spagano’s rifle, she turned, and fled in the -direction lately indicated by the Indian’s finger.</p> -<p>The moon had reached the meridian now, and the faint -light which she showered through the trees, enabled the flying -girl to pick her way without great difficulty. She was -confident that she was hurrying toward the Huron, and she -knew that by following the river-trail, she would eventually -reach Fort Strong. This hope nerved her to great endurance, -and at last, as the day was breaking, she saw the murky -water rushing lakeward.</p> -<p>A thrill of joy shot through her heart, and lifting her eyes -<span class="pb" id="Page_80">80</span> -to heaven, she thanked God for guiding her to the water, -which was to her, at that hour, a synonym of safety.</p> -<p>She felt fatigued and threw herself upon the ground to -recruit her strength. She felt herself alone by the river, and -the birds performed their matutinal antics about her, perfectly -happy and unconcerned.</p> -<p>Lighter and lighter grew the forest, but Huldah Armstrong -saw it not. A desire to rest was to her but the precursor of -a doze, and she reclined on the river-bank with closed eyes -and half-shut hands.</p> -<p>Suddenly a boat rounded a bend a few yards above her -place of repose, and came rapidly toward her.</p> -<p>It was a small boat, and contained a man, who handled -the oars like one accustomed to their use. He was a white, -and wore the oft described garb of the settler; but a sword -lay at his side, and rifles and pistols. He glanced uneasily at -the banks, as he kept his canoe in the middle of the stream, -and seemed eager to reach a certain objective point still far -away.</p> -<p>But all at once his gaze fell upon Huldah Armstrong, -plainly seen from the river, and a moment after the discovery, -he ran his canoe cautiously to the bank.</p> -<p>At first, after striking the shore, he was inclined to believe -the maiden a decoy; but after a close scrutiny of the vicinity, -he became bolder and crept up the bank.</p> -<p>His large black eyes burned with a hateful triumph, not -unmixed with the baser passions, and his first care was to remove -the rifle from Huldah’s feeble grasp.</p> -<p>Then, precisely as Spagano had done a few hours before, -he lifted her from the ground; but held her at arms’ length -that he might enjoy her horror and surprise at finding herself -captive again.</p> -<p>Huldah opened her eyes with a spasmodic start, and the -bright color of life deserted her cheeks.</p> -<p>“Captain Strong, what does this mean? and how came -you here?” she cried, staring into his face, covered with a -fiendish smile.</p> -<p>“I boated it, girl,” he answered; “but I can’t tell all -now. We’ll continue my voyage, and when I get the craft -under way again, I’ll tell a little story.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_81">81</div> -<p>“But whither are you going?”</p> -<p>“’Tis very natural that you should put that question, seeing -that I’m Captain Strong, and you Huldah Armstrong,” -he said, with a light chuckle. “I’m going to Detroit, I guess, -and you’re going along.”</p> -<p>“No, no! Is it possible, Captain Strong, that you possess -the inhumanity of the savage?”</p> -<p>“It is, if you would think so. But we’re losing time -here. I want to overtake the barges; they’re traveling -slowly, being heavily loaded, and I guess we can come up -with them at the mouth of the Huron.”</p> -<p>With the last word he started toward the river with his -prize, and presently, with her hands fastened upon her back, -the settler’s child faced the captain in the craft.</p> -<p>“Now, my girl, we’re fairly under way,” he said, when -they had proceeded some distance, “and I’ll tell you the -promised story.”</p> -<p>“I should like to hear it, Captain Strong. I can not conceive -how you escaped from the fort.”</p> -<p>He smiled.</p> -<p>“Men relent, sometimes,” he answered. “After the abandonment -of the siege, they placed me on trial, and I found -that a current had set in in my favor. But many cried like -wolves for my death—among them, one Levi Armstrong. -But a vote was taken, and a meager majority pronounced in -favor of my exile. I swore never to return to the “fire-lands,” -and they marched me down to the river and shoved me off -with every thing I called my own. I was glad to get off, for, -girl, I expected to die. If it hadn’t been for you and your -father, I’d have been with the king’s soldiers now.”</p> -<p>“How did I prevent you?” asked Huldah.</p> -<p>“You told your father that you heard me whispering to -Sawyer at the gate, and the old man resolved to nab me -then.”</p> -<p>“Then, Captain Strong, you really are a traitor?” said the -girl, bitterly.</p> -<p>He bit his lip and looked daggers at her before he spoke -again.</p> -<p>“Well—yes; but it is a hard name to bear.”</p> -<p>“You poisoned the well.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_82">82</div> -<p>“Yes—but Matt Hunter stood by me on that.”</p> -<p>“You thought the men would surrender before being -burned alive?”</p> -<p>“They would. Oh, we had our plans perfected, Huldah -Armstrong. Your father arrested me in the nick of time. -Twenty minutes more of freedom and I would have flung -wide the gates to the Indians.”</p> -<p>“And what reward was you to receive for your Arnold -trick?”</p> -<p>“My life and yours!”</p> -<p>“I was to have been the price of a massacre?”</p> -<p>“Yes. I’m talking plainly now,” he said. “The three -pistol-shots on the hill told me that O’Neill accepted the propositions -which I sent him by the deserter Sawyer; but our -plans failed.”</p> -<p>The girl did not reply; her eyes wandered from his expression -of triumph, and she thought of her perilous situation.</p> -<p>Captain Armstrong hated her, and to humor his hate he -would make her a hopeless captive. Mercy at his hands was -not to be thought of; he would shoot her down before he -would surrender her into other hands, and she upbraided herself -for not allowing O’Neill to capture her in the forest. The -colonel, a monster though he was, possessed several good -traits; Zebulon Strong, the traitor, could boast of none.</p> -<p>“You’re tryin’ to catch the British troops?” she said, after -a long silence.</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Then what?”</p> -<p>“Why, we’ll go to Detroit, thence east. I shall enter the -army, probably; but build no hopes on my words; they’re -poor foundations, girl. You shall never leave me until the -hand of death falls heavily on one or both of us. I swear it -by all that is good and bad! It is the oath of Zebulon Strong, -and he is a desperate man. There—girl, what do you see?”</p> -<p>A strange light had suddenly flashed in Huldah’s eyes, and -quickly the traitor turned his head and looked up the river.</p> -<p>A boat containing three men was bearing down upon -him!</p> -<p>An oath shot from his throat as he turned again.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_83">83</div> -<p>“By the eternal world! I’ve seen them in time!” he said, -“and they might as well turn back, for they can’t catch Zeb -Strong.”</p> -<p>Relinquishing the oars for a moment, he doffed his coat -and the next minute the canoe was flying down the stream -like an arrow.</p> -<p>The figures in the pursuing boat were seen to spring to the -oars with new life, and the race soon became one of the most -exciting character. Captain Strong possessed the strength of -a giant in his iron frame, and his oars lashed the waves into -foam, as he drove the boat toward his goal, lake Erie, distant -many miles.</p> -<p>“You needn’t pray for their success,” he cried, looking up -into Huldah’s wishful, hopeful face, “for they can’t catch us! -It’s impossible. Your father gave me a splendid boat with -oars that can not break. By heavens! with this canoe I -could shoot the fury rapids of perdition. With these -sticks—”</p> -<p>Snap went an oar!</p> -<p>A cry of horror rung from the captain’s throat, and he tried -to use the broken paddle, but without effect.</p> -<p>The boat began to become unmanageable, and he tried to -guide it ashore with the sound oar, swearing like a trooper -all the time.</p> -<p>“Didn’t I say that nothing but death could separate us?” -he asked, darting Huldah a look of despair. “I’m Zebulon -Strong—don’t forget that. I’m a traitor, too, and a devil!”</p> -<p>The canoe struck the bank at last, and the captain looked -at his followers, now within rifle-shot. He saw three weapons -leveled at his breast; but he was shielding it with the -girl, and they dared not shoot.</p> -<p>“Drop the girl!” came a voice from the boat.</p> -<p>Strong greeted it with a laugh.</p> -<p>“I’m no fool!” he cried. “I’m Zebulon Strong, I am. So -good-by, boys! we’ll meet again, mebbe,” and he waved his -hat at the occupants of the boat, then sprung into the forest.</p> -<p>A minute after his disappearance, the trio reached the spot -and sprung upon his trail. They were Wolf-Cap, Mark Harmon -and an Indian well known to the reader, as Silver Hand. -Already the traitor and his prize had vanished among the trees, -<span class="pb" id="Page_84">84</span> -and his trail led toward the spot where Colonel O’Neill had -lately surprised the Night-Hawks’ camp.</p> -<p>Undoubtedly the captain knew but little of the intricacies -of the wood he was treading; perhaps he was bewildered, -for he was running <i>from</i> Detroit, having turned his back upon -the walls surmounted by the British flag.</p> -<p>The trio were confident of catching him, for the trail was -plain, and certain signs told them that he was giving out.</p> -<p>“He’ll never turn traitor again if we catch ’im,” said Wolf-Cap, -with determination.</p> -<p>“Never, Wolf-Cap,” echoed young Harmon.</p> -<p>Three seconds later the crack of a distant rifle fell upon -the pursuers’ ears.</p> -<p>They did not pause; but exchanged meaning looks, and -quickened their gait.</p> -<p>The drama that followed the surprise of the Night-Hawks’ -camp was enacted over again.</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap and his followers at last came up with Zebulon -Strong.</p> -<p>But the captain lay full length on the ground, with a bullet -in his brain!</p> -<p>Sooner than he had expected, death had separated him -and his captive.</p> -<h2 id="c13"><span class="small">CHAPTER XIII.</span> -<br />THE LAST NIGHT-HAWK.</h2> -<p>Tired and disheartened in his search for our heroine, Colonel -Argent O’Neill rejoined his soldiers in the Night-Hawk’s -camp an hour or so before day.</p> -<p>He found Royal Funk but slightly wounded, and, with -Whalley and Zigler, the two guards drugged by Spagano, -closely watched by the troops. Funk looked daggers at the -officers as he approached and a smile of satisfaction stole -over his bronzed face when he noted that Huldah had escaped.</p> -<p>“So you spoke truly when you prophesied that we would -<span class="pb" id="Page_85">85</span> -meet again,” exclaimed the colonel, halting before the outlaw -with drawn sword. “Fire and furies! I’m rejoiced that we -have met, and fortune has given me the best hand, as you -see. It’s a hand of trumps, too.”</p> -<p>“But, colonel, where’s the girl?”</p> -<p>The words were quietly but tauntingly spoken, and the -smile grew broader on the Night-Hawk’s face while his lips -moved.</p> -<p>O’Neill did not reply, but allowed his face to become livid -with smothered anger.</p> -<p>“Yes, colonel, where is the girl?” he asked, again. “If -you hold such a superb hand, why didn’t you capture my -queen with one of your trumps?”</p> -<p>“Because your knave—that infernal Indian—baffled me,” -said O’Neill, apparently a little calmer.</p> -<p>“Ah, then, he’ll keep the prize.”</p> -<p>“No, we found him dead in the woods; but the girl was -gone!”</p> -<p>A flash of hope lighted up the renegade’s eyes.</p> -<p>“You should find her, then.”</p> -<p>“Alas! I have no good trailer with me.”</p> -<p>“I could track her.”</p> -<p>“But you won’t!” retorted the colonel. “Roy Funk, I’m -not going to set you free and trust to your guidance. Colonel -Argent O’Neill is not a condemned fool! But you’ll be free -directly—free forever,” and the old malignant look came -back to the red-coat’s eyes. “We’re going to leave -this place. Curse the winding paths of this American -wood! No such forests in England; that is God’s -land; this the devil’s. Our guide got bewildered, else we -would have been here long ago, and we would have had the -girl, too.”</p> -<p>“She will never be yours now, sir.”</p> -<p>“Never! how do you know that?”</p> -<p>“I need not explain. Suffice it to say, Colonel O’Neill, -that she will never in this world become your property.”</p> -<p>“Will she ever become yours?” asked the soldier, with a -devilish leer, as he leaned forward.</p> -<p>“That remains to be seen,” was the outlaw’s calm reply.</p> -<p>“What! do you plot in the very jaws of death?” cried -<span class="pb" id="Page_86">86</span> -O’Neill, springing back. “Fire and furies! I’ll settle <i>that</i> -question before the break of day. Boys, are your muskets -loaded?”</p> -<p>A tall sergeant answered in the affirmative.</p> -<p>“I’m going to exterminate the Night-Hawks of the fire-lands,” -continued the angry colonel, turning to Funk again. -“As you are their leader, you should be the last survivor. -Kings often witness the destruction of their kingdoms. -Ready to die, I suppose, Roy Funk?”</p> -<p>“Ready!” was the firm response.</p> -<p>“What would you do did I stand in your shoes and you -in mine?”</p> -<p>“I’d shoot you down like a dog!”</p> -<p>“But I’m more merciful. I’m going to grant you a soldier’s -death, for you have fought for the flag of our king.”</p> -<p>Then six soldiers were selected as executioners, and Whalley -and Zigler were placed side by side, fifteen paces from -the muzzles of the leveled muskets. Royal Funk was taken -aside and closely guarded on a spot from whence he could -witness the death of the last of his band.</p> -<p>He spoke to the doomed men and bade them die game, -which they promised to do.</p> -<p>Whalley and Zigler were brave men. They had faced -death in the covert, before stern vigilance committees, and -the field of battle, and they were not the persons to become -frightened at the monster’s hideous visage now.</p> -<p>Colonel O’Neill conducted the execution. He gave the -command of death in a stern tone, characteristic of the disciplined -soldier that he was, and the leaden volley stretched -the Night-Hawks dead upon the leaves.</p> -<p>“Well done, was it not?” he said, turning to Funk who -had witnessed the murder without an outward sign of emotion. -“My men shoot well.”</p> -<p>“Quite well,” was the reply, and as the outlaw’s glance -fell upon the still forms on the ground, for the first time, a -tear of affection stole to his eye.</p> -<p>“Braver men than they never lived,” he murmured; and -then, in a lower tone: “I am the last.”</p> -<p>He was now led forward, and halted between the corpses -of his two last followers.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_87">87</div> -<p>“I accord you a liberty,” said O’Neill, admiring, despite -his hate, the unflinching courage of the man with whom he -was dealing. “Raynor, untie his hands.”</p> -<p>The soldier addressed drew a knife and obeyed the command.</p> -<p>Funk’s hands crept around to his side, and seemed to hang -listlessly there.</p> -<p>“Royal Funk, would you see the deadly flash?” asked -O’Neill.</p> -<p>“I am a soldier, I would die as one!” was the reply.</p> -<p>The colonel drew a large handkerchief, and tossed it to a -soldier saying:</p> -<p>“Blindfold him, then. As a soldier, shall the outlaw die,” -he said, sarcastically.</p> -<p>Two soldiers, one bearing a musket, now stepped forward -to blindfold the Night-Hawk’s black eyes. One stepped behind -him and was in the act of drawing the kerchief into -position, when Funk’s hands left his side. They shot upward -like rockets, and the soldier who stood before him with -bayoneted gun was hurled backward, like the covering of an -exploding rocket. His musket was wrenched from his hand -at the same moment, and the blindfolder was brained with -the stock before anybody could realize the terrible state of -affairs.</p> -<p>Roy Funk was free, with a musket in his hand!</p> -<p>Like a tiger he leaped upon Colonel O’Neill, who retreated -a step, and threw up his sword to ward off the glistening -bayonet.</p> -<p>But as well he might have tried to stop the descent of an -avalanche with a straw.</p> -<p>The bayonet came down upon his breast with giant force, -and the next instant he staggered back with the shining steel -buried among his vitals!</p> -<p>“There, take that, colonel,” cried Royal Funk, as he sent -the bayonet home, and then he hurled to the earth the only -soldier who had presence of mind enough to attempt to impede -his further progress.</p> -<p>“Hurrah! Roy Funk is free again! Another band of -Night-Hawks shall gather at his call, and woe to the Briton -who crosses his path then.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_88">88</div> -<p>He turned on his heel with the last word, and darted -away.</p> -<p>The soldiers regained their equilibrium as he disappeared, -and a volley that hurtled harmlessly among the branches was -sent after him.</p> -<p>“Free! free to hate the English, as I hate the Americans,” -he murmured, as he bounded through the forest. “They -have killed my Night-Hawks, and by heaven! from this hour -I never spare an English life. Now for the lake shore, -where I gathered the brave fellows who sleep beneath British -guns. There I’ll find others as brave, perhaps, as they, and -we’ll hunt O’Neill’s detachment down like the Indian hunts -the slayers of his wigwam pets. O’Neill—I’ve settled <i>him</i>! -Forever I’ve canceled accounts with that liveried dog. But -the girl Huldah Armstrong? Shall I give her up, now that -I am free?”</p> -<p>He paused suddenly and seemed inclined to retrace his steps.</p> -<p>He was running in a north-easterly direction, his objective -point the lake, and he knew—he had gleaned from O’Neill’s -words—that Spangano had fled with the settler’s daughter -in an opposite direction.</p> -<p>The outlaw was tempted to go back, and hunt for the prize -that had been his.</p> -<p>He had run a great distance, and daylight was chasing -night from the forest of the Huron.</p> -<p>It was extremely hazardous for him to go back now. The -British troops were between him and the missing girl, and no -doubt they would trail him to the death for the murder of -their colonel. Perhaps, while he stood undecided how to -act, they were on his track.</p> -<p>“I can return with my new men,” he said, suddenly, “and -then I can snatch Huldah from my enemies. It’s getting too -light for me to go back. I’ll not risk my life for a girl, -now.”</p> -<p>He started forward again as he spoke the last word, but -his rapid gait had dwindled into the well-known dog-trot of -the Indian, and his whiter associate, the renegade.</p> -<p>His eagle eye took in every thing as he pushed forward, -and all at once it flashed with a new light, and he halted and -sprung behind a tree.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_89">89</div> -<p>Some dark figure was approaching in the gray dawn; it -was coming directly toward him. That it was a man he at -once conceived, and the swaying of the body proclaimed him -a white. If Indians were pursuing the man, the outlaw was -safe; he could meet them boldly; but if white was chasing -white, he had best remain concealed. He kept his eye on the -runner until he almost started from the tree with excitement, -and an oath escaped his lips.</p> -<p>The fugitive was Captain Strong, and he bore Huldah -Armstrong in his arms!</p> -<p>“In the name of heaven, how did he get the girl?—and -how did he escape the vengeance of the settlers?” exclaimed -the Night-Hawk, looking at the sight that greeted his eyes. -“But fate is aiding me, and I’ll make something of this golden -opportunity.”</p> -<p>For several moments after the discovery of his identity, -Zebulon Strong, flying from Wolf-Cap and his friends, as the -reader already knows, continued to run directly toward Funk, -but suddenly he veered toward the right.</p> -<p>Had he caught a glimpse of his new foe? The outlaw -was inclined to believe thus, and cocked his musket with an -oath.</p> -<p>“I’ve shot deer with muskets,” he said, audibly, “and as a -running shot, I’ve been celebrated. Can I hit a man’s head -at forty yards? Well, if I can’t, then my name isn’t Royal -Funk!”</p> -<p>Talking thus to himself, the outlaw raised the weapon, and -glanced over the glittering barrel at his rival, who ran on, unconscious -of the new foe.</p> -<p>For a moment Funk sighted the moving figure, and then a -jet of flame leaped from the bore of the gun.</p> -<p>Captain Strong stopped suddenly in his tracks, and, with -the cry of “A dead shot!” the murderer bounded from the -tree and ran toward him.</p> -<p>But the traitor suddenly attempted to continue his flight. -He ran forward a few steps, then reeled, and fell dead!</p> -<p>Huldah, released, started back and gazed bewildered upon -the corpse. Her unexpected delivery had stunned her senses, -for she did not move nor take her eyes from the dead until a -hand encircled her arm.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_90">90</div> -<p>Then she started violently, and recognized her new captor -with a shriek.</p> -<p>“Mine again, and forever, girl!” cried the outlaw, as he -jerked her from the ground, and then he asked, quickly, -“Who chased you?”</p> -<p>“You shall see presently,” she cried, casting a quick, wishful -look toward the river.</p> -<p>“Not Indians, as I know,” said Funk, reading the language -of her eyes. “Well, we’ll outwit ’em, Huldah, whoever they -be. Roy Funk is alone in the world now. His boys are all -dead, and he wants somebody to cheer his heart.”</p> -<p>He spoke the last words while he was running, with our -heroine in his arms, in a northerly direction, and at no insignificant -pace.</p> -<p>“If I know these woods, we’re not far from a place of -safety. Whoever hunts you shall never take you back to the -old stamping-ground. Huldah Armstrong, you will not believe -me, perhaps, when I say I love you. I do, earnestly, -truly, and with a pure love. You could make a man of -Royal Funk, if you would. Your obstinacy, coupled with -your pretty face, has caused me to act as I have. If the stars -love their Creator and the dove his burnished sweetheart, I -love you. Your lovers are out of the way, now—all save -Royal Funk, I mean. Will you not wean him from his wild -life by loving him? Will you not be the making of a -<i>man</i>?”</p> -<p>He looked down into the girl’s eyes, as he spoke, with genuine -earnestness, and for a moment his footsteps were the only -noise-makers in the great forest.</p> -<p>Then she answered him:</p> -<p>“Royal Funk, do not seek my love. It can never be -yours.”</p> -<p>He sighed:</p> -<p>“Then I must do that which I would not. You shall be -my wife. Death alone shall separate us!”</p> -<p>Huldah started. Captain Strong had uttered the same -words!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_91">91</div> -<h2 id="c14"><span class="small">CHAPTER XIV.</span> -<br />WOLF’S DEN.</h2> -<p>The reader will recollect that Wolf-Cap dismissed his Indian -allies, Silver Hand and Golden Cheek, beneath the palisades -of Fort Strong, a few moments prior to his appearance -among the ranks of the besieged.</p> -<p>The red twain sought the camp of the foe, and in time witnessed -the triumph of Royal Funk, as already related. Silver -Hand, the shrewder of the two, saw that Colonel O’Neill -would not relinquish the contest for Huldah Armstrong’s person -without another struggle, and so he watched that red-coated -worthy narrowly. He therefore sent his confederate -down the river to intercept the Night-Hawk, and to warn him -of the ambush.</p> -<p>Golden Cheek undertook the mission cheerfully, while Silver -Hand hastened to secure the assistance of Wolf-Cap, in -order to snatch Huldah from her outlawed lover’s power, and -to put an end to the marauding band.</p> -<p>Spagano, the Indian, who turned Roy Funk from the ambush, -and afterward stole Huldah from his camp and was shot -by O’Neill’s men, as the reader has already seen, was none -other than Golden Cheek. He had mistaken the British footsteps -for those of his friends, and he had thought to steal the -girl on their approach, that they might pour a destructive volley -among the sleepers.</p> -<p>But he failed, and fell in the wood, like many of his ancestors -had fallen before him.</p> -<p>Silver Hand was more successful. He found Wolf-Cap and -Mark Harmon after trailing them some distance, and hastened -down the river. They were surprised when they beheld Zebulon -Strong bearing Huldah Armstrong down the self-same -stream, and the pursuit which they inaugurated in bright anticipations, -ended over the captain’s corpse.</p> -<p>“This beats me,” said Wolf-Cap, who dropped on his knees -beside the dead frontiersman. “I can’t see through it all. -<span class="pb" id="Page_92">92</span> -Here lies the man we’ve been chasing, an’ thar’s a British bullet -in his brain. Now the question is: who shot ’im? It -war no Indian, for the red-skins don’t take to muskets; they -shoot rifles, and I’m sure that Funk isn’t in these parts. He -shoots a rifle with the smallest bore you ever saw. What -have you discovered, chief?”</p> -<p>The Indian addressed was approaching, with the glow of -discovery on his face.</p> -<p>“White man shoot traitor and run off with girl.”</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap rose to his feet.</p> -<p>“A white man, you say, chief?”</p> -<p>“Yes, pale-face.”</p> -<p>“Show me the signs!”</p> -<p>Silver-Hand strode forward, and pointed to a faint trail, -leading in a north-easterly direction. Wolf-Cap examined the -“sign” a minute, and then looked up into his companion’s -eyes.</p> -<p>“Well, he’s got the girl ag’in,” he said.</p> -<p>“He—who?” cried Harmon.</p> -<p>“Roy Funk!”</p> -<p>“He would not be alone in these parts and running toward -the Huron’s mouth. Golden Cheek was to have guided -him to Beaver River.”</p> -<p>“Don’t I know his foot-track?” queried the trapper. -“Haven’t I seen it too often to be deceived? I ruther guess -I have. Come, boys, while Huldah is in Royal Funk’s power -it is a sin to rest. I’ve an idea where he intends stopping a -while; but I hope he will go further on—I do, indeed.”</p> -<p>The Night-Hawk’s trail told the trio that he was hurrying -through the woods at no insignificant speed, but they did not -follow in a gait equal to his own.</p> -<p>Before leaving Zebulon Strong, Wolf-Cap had covered him -with brush, and all alone the traitor slept the everlasting sleep -of the dead. Huldah Armstrong seemed a fatal prize. She -had brought death to the door of more than one heart. Spagano—brave -Golden Cheek—Zebulon Strong, Colonel O’Neill -and the Night-Hawks had already fallen for her, and perhaps -others yet might die for the beautiful prize.</p> -<p>The trio pursued the trail an hour in silence, and Mark -Harmon was the first to speak.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_93">93</div> -<p>“Wolf-Cap,” he said, in a low tone, glancing at Silver -Hand, who was walking along, with his head on his breast, -his dark eyes on the faint trail, “I’ve been thinking about -some words that puzzle me.”</p> -<p>Card Belt slowly lifted his eyes to the youth.</p> -<p>“War it some words that I left drop?” he inquired.</p> -<p>“No.”</p> -<p>“Did Silver Hand shoot ’em out?”</p> -<p>“No; they fell from Armstrong’s lips last night, in the -fort.”</p> -<p>“Well, what did old Levi say?”</p> -<p>“I was standing at the third port-hole looking toward the -hill, and all at once I heard a voice at my elbow. It said: -‘If she was mine I could not love her more. God pity me -and let me live to make amends.’ I turned quickly, for there -was a depth of agony in the speaker’s tone, and I beheld Levi -Armstrong moving from the port-hole at my left.”</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap’s face was ghastly in its coloring, when the youth -looked into it again, and a white hand griped his arm.</p> -<p>“Are you sure it was old Levi?” stammered the trapper.</p> -<p>“I am, for I spoke to him a second later,” answered the -young man confidently. “I heard the words plainly, and you -know all that he said.”</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap suddenly stopped in his tracks, and drew the -whole attention of his companions upon him.</p> -<p>“I begin to see light now, and I curse myself for being so -blind until this moment,” he said. “Let me tell you.”</p> -<p>“Wolf-Cap speak after while,” said Silver Hand. “We -on trail now and this no time for long talks. Pale Night-Hawk -fly to the big water with snow-bird, and he must be -caught before he sees the green waves.”</p> -<p>“Heaven is helping me,” said Belt, impressively. “I feel -that the end of this terrible wood drama is near at hand. I -will tell my story here, and now! Silver Hand, you may -lean against that tree, or trail the Night-Hawk. I care not -which you do.”</p> -<p>The impatient Indian bit his lip, and leaned against the -designated tree.</p> -<p>“Twenty years ago,” said Belt, looking at Harmon, “I -lived beside the Mystic, in Connecticut. Not alone did I inhabit -<span class="pb" id="Page_94">94</span> -the little cabin, where now the stranger dwells. A -wife kissed me then, and a babe was soon to cheer our -childless home with its sunny smiles. How I waited for the -new joy; but alas!” and a cloud leaped to the trapper’s brow, -“alas! the devil came to our home. One night I returned -from Saybrook and found an empty cabin on the Mystic. -My wife—my Bessie—was gone!”</p> -<p>Belt paused, and, with face buried in his broad hands, he -swayed to and fro like a storm-cursed tree.</p> -<p>“Mark Harmon,” he cried, suddenly removing his hands, -“God alone knows how I loved her. She never knew herself, -for humanity could not fathom my devotion and love. I -sunk to my floor on the fearful discovery, and in the morning, -a neighbor found me, but little less than a madman. Then -my eyes were opened. I found several letters in the old house -addressed to Bessie. They were signed “Ralph” and “Morton.” -I put the two words together and had a name—“Ralph -Morton.” For the owner of that name I hunted for eighteen -years, almost; but I found no traces of him nor my wife. -When I ceased to hunt, I had given her up for dead. I love -Huldah, because she looks like Bessie did twenty years ago.</p> -<p>“Now I do see light. I feel that Levi Armstrong is -Ralph Morton. God keep me alive till I can tell him so.”</p> -<p>“What would you do with him?” ventured the young -borderman.</p> -<p>“What would you do, young man, with the devil who -should snatch heavenly happiness from your heart?” said the -trapper slowly.</p> -<p>“I would hunt him down and kill him!”</p> -<p>“That’s just what I am going to do,” returned Wolf-Cap -through closed lips. “Some men might forgive such a wrong -as mine, but I—never! Now for her, Mark Harmon, chief,” -and the trapper started forward. “Oh Heaven! do not deceive -me at this day—oh do not raise my hopes to dash them -down into darkness, for Huldah must be my child, or I die!”</p> -<p>The Wyandot was eager to resume the trail, and led the -van with a quick step. For several miles it remained plain, -and then it was lost in the waters of a narrow creek.</p> -<p>“I am not surprised,” said Wolf-Cap. “He is breaking -for the very place where I don’t want to find ’im.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_95">95</div> -<p>“Why does he not continue his flight?”</p> -<p>“Because his captive is tired. In Wolf’s Den he will rest -until she recruits her strength.”</p> -<p>“In Wolf’s Den?” echoed Harmon. “I have heard of this -place.”</p> -<p>“I should reckon you had, boy. Everybody in these parts -has heard of it, and I’ve been thar. Why, thar are a thousand -caves in one, and dark halls lead—perhaps to the iron -gates of hell. Men have entered the “den” never to return. -Strange winds blow torches out, and there are bats in the -darkness as big as a coon. I have believed the Night-Hawks -used it for their head-quarters, before they descended upon -the ‘fire-lands’.”</p> -<p>“Then he is acquainted with its terrors.”</p> -<p>“Probably. But we’ll follow him to the greatest of them -all—death.”</p> -<p>The trio waded down the creek whose banks were masses -of solid rock, which ofttimes towered to a hight of a hundred -feet above the water. The gray stone was covered with -a loathsome species of the dark green creeper, and the repulsive -head of many a glittering lizard protruded from the -fissures.</p> -<p>“This is Satan’s land,” said Wolf-Cap, looking up at the -spectacle just described, “and presently we’ll enter his cave.”</p> -<p>A few steps brought them to a great fissure, that extended -from the top of the cliff to the water’s edge, and into which -a man could edge his way.</p> -<p>“Well, here we are,” remarked the trapper, stooping to examine -the foot of the crack. “It looks like the cave of -death, but,” looking up suddenly, “it is inhabited.”</p> -<p>“What!” cried Harmon, springing to his side, “has he entered -here?”</p> -<p>“Yes, the ground tells me so!”</p> -<p>At last the end of the Night-Hawk’s trail had been -reached; but the final scene was wrapped in fearful obscurity.</p> -<p>“I’ve been here afore, and I’ll lead the way,” continued -Wolf-Cap, stepping forward.</p> -<p>“No, Silver-Hand go ’head,” cried the Wyandot, suddenly, -and his right hand pushed the trapper aside. “Wyandot -know more ’bout cave than pale-faces think.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_96">96</div> -<p>The next instant the Indian sprung into the fissure, and -darkness, damp and impenetrable, swooped down upon the -adventurers.</p> -<p>It at once became evident to the whites that their guide -knew much about the interior structure of the cave, for he -pushed forward in the darkness, seemingly with a well-known -destination in view.</p> -<p>But suddenly something struck the wall above the trios’ -heads, and then fell heavily to the ground.</p> -<p>Silver Hand stooped and ran his hand over the stony floor -until it grasped a warm object, with gigantic wings unspread.</p> -<p>“A winged rat,” he said in a low voice, touching his companions’ -hands with his prize. “It fell from—”</p> -<p>He paused suddenly, for other huge bats were striking the -walls and falling at their feet.</p> -<p>“By heavens! does it rain bats here?” exclaimed Wolf-Cap, -as Silver Hand griped his arm.</p> -<p>“Somebody in the lodges of the winged rats,” he said. -“He knock ’em down here.”</p> -<p>“They must come from the bat-chamber. I’ve heard of -it,” said the trapper, quickly. “He is fighting ’em there; -but how can we reach it?”</p> -<p>“Come,” said the Wyandot, with eagerness. “Silver -Hand fight the flying rats there once himself. He find the -place soon.”</p> -<p>Then they started forward, just as another quartette of -dead bats fell from the mysterious gloom above.</p> -<p>Somebody was fighting the winged mammals above the -three, for, as they advanced, they could hear his sturdy blows.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_97">97</div> -<h2 id="c15"><span class="small">CHAPTER XV.</span> -<br />RETRIBUTION.</h2> -<p>Let us return to the Night-Hawk and his prisoner.</p> -<p>To the former some of the events of Wolf Den was not -unknown. Wolf-Cap had spoken truly when he told his -companions that the cave had once served as the rendezvous -of the outlaws, and as such a place, their leader should be -acquainted with its intricacies.</p> -<p>He saw that his captive needed rest, and Wolf Den naturally -suggested itself. Therefore, he made it his objective point -after shooting Captain Strong, and intended to hide among -its dark chambers until Huldah had fully recruited her -strength.</p> -<p>“We’ll go up to the bat-chamber, girl,” he said, after entering -the mouth of the den. “It is rather a gloomy place; -but the only one where we can catch a breath of fresh air.”</p> -<p>So he lifted her from the ground and clambered up the -great broken rocks that obstructed the natural stairway.</p> -<p>Up, up, still up he bore the girl, and at last paused with a -long-fetched sigh of relief and satisfaction. He had reached -the top of the stair.</p> -<p>Funk here lowered the girl, and constructed a torch from -a sleeve of his hunting-frock.</p> -<p>“This cave used to swarm with bats,” he said, leading -Huldah toward a dark portal of elephantine proportions. -“But we drove them out, and used it for head-quarters. -Yes, this is the place, here are the stones on which we sat, -and the giant night-hawk, which Sam Cole drew on the wall, -still remains. Now, girl— What? a bat?”</p> -<p>His exclamation was caused by the flapping of unseen -wings, and then a black object shot through the torchlight, accompanied -by a demoniacal chattering.</p> -<p>It was a bat, and a great one, too.</p> -<p>“I thought they would never return after the smoking we -gave them,” he continued, as a dozen of the hideous beings -<span class="pb" id="Page_98">98</span> -darted from the wall to which they had been clinging. -“But I’ll fight and drive them out now, for we must take -this chamber. Here, and here only, do we breathe fresh air. -It comes from the forest above us; the atmosphere in -other chambers is noxious.”</p> -<p>He thrust the torch into Huldah’s hands, and doffed his -coat. Then, catching it at the neck, he braced himself, and -struck boldly at the hideous, chattering, screeching bats.</p> -<p>The walls of the chamber, which were black upon the -couple’s entrance, were now gray, for they had been literally -covered with the somber mammals, which now flew about in -every direction.</p> -<p>More than one great horned owl added to the terror of -the combat, and the monster wings brushed the cheeks of -our heroine, who held the torch above her head that the -Night-Hawk might see what he was doing.</p> -<p>The heavy coat did good service. It knocked the bats to -the right and left, and dashed many to the feet of other -characters of our story, as the reader has seen.</p> -<p>“We’re whipping the demons, Huldah!” exclaimed Roy -Funk, triumphantly, glancing at the girl. “Already they are -retreating to other fastnesses. Aha! they know Roy Funk! -they’ve met him before!”</p> -<p>He stood like a giant in the center of the cave, whirling -the curious weapon about his head, and dashing his enemies -to the stones. His arm never grew weary, nor did his blows -weaken. But all at once he started back, and, dropping the -coat, picked up the musket, that lay at his feet.</p> -<p>His face was turned toward the entrance to the cave, upon -which the firelight fell, and his eyes were riveted upon three -figures standing there.</p> -<p>They were Wolf-Cap, Mark Harmon, and Silver Hand. -The outlaw saw this in an instant.</p> -<p>To recover the musket was the work of a second, and -quickly whirling upon Huldah, he snatched the torch from -her hand, and threw it above his head for the purpose of -sending it after the bats he had hurled to the dark corridors -below. In darkness he might hope to escape his new enemies, -who, alas for his plans, had been, for once, too quick for -him.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_99">99</div> -<p>The Indian darted forward like a rocket as the flaring stick -shot aloft, and his hand closed on the outlaw’s arm. But -Funk wrenched his arm from the gripe, and struck his -foe across the face with the fiery weapon. He renewed his -blow, under which the Wyandot staggered, but recovered in -a second and hurled him back. With the desperation befitting -his situation, Roy Funk struggled manfully, but Silver -Hand held him down, while Wolf-Cap secured his limbs with -ropes or cords.</p> -<p>“Well, boys, you’ve caught me at last,” he said, looking -up into the faces of his white hunters. “But if it hadn’t -been for these infernal bats, Roy Funk would have triumphed -at last. I did my best to outwit you, and if I was free I -would do it again. Now, what are you going to do with the -outlaw?”</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap and the young borderman held a conversation in -low tones.</p> -<p>“We are going to take you back to Fort Strong,” said -Belt, at length looking at the outlaw. “The settlers shall -judge you according to your deeds. I had intended killing -you with my own hands, Roy Funk, but you have wronged -others more than you have wronged me. Where are your -men?”</p> -<p>In a few words the outlaw narrated the attack on his -camp by Colonel O’Neill, and the destruction of the Night-Hawks.</p> -<p>“So you’re the last of ’em?” said Wolf-Cap.</p> -<p>“I am the last.”</p> -<p>“Do you want to go to Fort Strong?”</p> -<p>“I care not whither you take me. But if I have to depart, -Card Belt, I would reveal a secret before we quit this -place.”</p> -<p>“Wal, drive ahead then, for we must get out o’ this hole -in a few minutes.”</p> -<p>“There was a time when the great pursuit of my life was -the getting of gold,” said the outlaw. “I was successful and -my eagerness became catching, for my men contracted it. We -amassed wealth in Canada and stored it in this very cave. It -is nothing to me now. I will lead you to the spot, and show -you what now is yours.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_100">100</div> -<p>Wolf-Cap and Harmon exchanged glances, while Silver -Hand looked on in stern silence.</p> -<p>“Well, show us your gold!” said the trapper.</p> -<p>“Yonder door leads to it,” replied Funk, looking over his -right shoulder at a hole in the wall. “Light the way, somebody.”</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap started forward with the torch.</p> -<p>Silver Hand led the outlaw after the trapper, and Mark -Harmon walked beside Huldah.</p> -<p>The dark portal led to another cave smaller than the bat-chamber, -but as gloomy. A strange smile toyed with the -outlaw’s lips, as he walked forward, and there was a lurking -triumph in his tone when he commanded the party to -halt.</p> -<p>“Now, Roy Funk, where’s your gold?”</p> -<p>“Beneath this bowlder,” answered the Night-Hawk, striking -a huge rock with his foot.</p> -<p>“It can not be moved,” said Harmon.</p> -<p>Royal Funk laughed.</p> -<p>“Who said it must be moved?” he asked. “If you can -trust me, undo my hands a moment, and I will show you the -results of ten years’ toiling for gold.”</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap drew his knife, but Silver Hand shook his head.</p> -<p>“Outlaw lie,” he said.</p> -<p>“The Indian does not like me,” said Funk. “I, and I -alone, can reveal the hidden gold, and when I have shown -you it we may talk about a ransom if you will entertain such -a subject.”</p> -<p>“We will not, let me tell you this now. All the gold in -the world could not buy your freedom,” was Harmon’s reply. -“But we will see your riches. Now, mind you, Roy Funk, -not a sign of treachery here. This pistol is ready to speak, -so play the man, if life is of any value to you.”</p> -<p>“If I betray your trust, shoot me,” the Night-Hawk said.</p> -<p>The next moment Wolf-Cap severed his bonds, and he -stooped by the stone and ran his hand beneath.</p> -<p>For a minute he fumbled there, glancing up at the quartette -above.</p> -<p>“I touch the box now,” he said, at length, “and here -it is!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_101">101</div> -<p>As he uttered the last word his hand shot from beneath the -stone, and threw a cloud of dust into the watchers’ eyes.</p> -<p>They started back; the outlaw sprung forward! He -caught Huldah Armstrong from the ground, and darted toward -a precipice, dimly revealed by the torch.</p> -<p>“Fiend!” rung from Mark Harmon’s lips, as he leaped after -the outlaw, his eyes half-blinded by the cunning trick.</p> -<p>He saw the Night-Hawk on the edge of the cave-cliff, and -his hand shot forward to save the woman he loved.</p> -<p>His fingers closed on her arm, and with all his strength he -jerked her toward him. Half over the precipice, the outlaw -could not struggle, and the young frontiersman tore Huldah -from his grip and started back.</p> -<p>Then a despairing shriek welled from Roy Funk’s pale -lips, and clutching wildly at air he fell headlong into the -darkness below!</p> -<p class="center"><span class="gs">* * * * * * *</span></p> -<p>“We’ll look down on the old fort from yonder hill,” said -Wolf-Cap, on the evening following the scenes just related. -“Then, Huldah, you’ll find a father; then—” he turned suddenly -from the girl, and finished the sentence under his -breath—“then, I’ll take vengeance for the wrongs of the -past. Levi Armstrong—no, Ralph Morton rather, you shall -tell me what became of Bessie.”</p> -<p>A few steps brought them to the summit of the hill designated -by the trapper; but alas! Fort Strong did not greet -their vision. A confused heap of embers proclaimed where -it had once stood!</p> -<p>The spectators stared blankly into each other’s faces, unable -to speak.</p> -<p>Suddenly Wolf-Cap started forward without a word, and -the others followed.</p> -<p>Everywhere among the ruins the victims of savage atrocity -scalped and tomahawked, were to be seen.</p> -<p>“They’re all dead!” said Harmon. “May Heaven curse -the fiends—”</p> -<p>A groan!</p> -<p>Wolf-Cap started forward, and lifted a log from the chest -of a man.</p> -<p>It was Levi Armstrong. He opened his eyes and smiled.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_102">102</div> -<p>“Oh, father! father!” cried Huldah, throwing herself upon -him. “Tell me, father, how all this happened.”</p> -<p>“Splitlog came back and took me unawares,” was the reply, -in a feeble voice. “But, Huldah, I—am not your -father!”</p> -<p>She started.</p> -<p>“Belt, you know me,” and the glassy eyes wandered to the -trapper.</p> -<p>“You are Ralph Morton.”</p> -<p>“Yes,” with a sigh. “My crime is too great to be forgiven. -’Twas all my fault. Your Bessie fled because I -threatened. Forgive her!”</p> -<p>“I did, long ago,” said Wolf-Cap, with tearful eyes.</p> -<p>“She is dead, then?”</p> -<p>“Yes. Huldah, this man is your father. He will tell you -all. Card Belt, you can not take vengeance now, for I am -dying.”</p> -<p>But little remains to be told to complete our story now. -Wolf-Cap guided Mark Harmon to a minister in the beautiful -Muskingum valley, and saw his long-lost daughter take -the vows of a bride. For many years the trio dwelt in the -then town of Mansfield; but in the city of the same name, -their descendants dwell and are honored to-day.</p> -<p>After all, it was well that Matt Hunter stole Huldah from -Fort Strong, for in the massacre that followed she would -doubtless have perished. Silver Hand lived to a good old -age, a true friend to the Americans, and the grasses of but -four summers have waved over his grave.</p> -<p>As for Johnny Appleseed, who appeared in the opening of -our romance, we may say, that he, too, fell beneath death’s -sickle, ripe for the harvest of the simply just.</p> -<p>Roy Funk sleeps in Wolf’s Den, while the bones of his -followers have been covered by populous cities and flourishing -towns.</p> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="smaller">THE END.</span></p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_104">104</div> -<h2 id="c16"><span class="small"><span class="smallest">THE ILLUMINATED DIME</span><br />POCKET NOVELS!</span> -<br />PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY.</h2> -<p>Comprising the best works only of the most popular living writers in the field -of American Romance. Each issue a complete novel, with illuminated cover, -rivaling in effect the popular chromo, yet sold at the standard price, <span class="sc">TEN CENTS</span>.</p> -<h3 id="c17"><span class="ss">NOW READY, AND IN PRESS.</span></h3> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 1—Hawkeye Harry, the Young Trapper Ranger.</b> By Oll Coomes.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 2—Dead Shot</b>; or, The White Vulture. By Albert W. Aiken.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 3—The Boy Miners</b>; or, The Enchanted Island. By Edward S. Ellis.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 4—Blue Dick</b>; or, The Yellow Chief’s Vengeance. By Capt. Mayne Reid.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 5—Nat Wolfe</b>; or, The Gold-Hunters. By Mrs. M. V. Victor.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 6—The White Tracker</b>; or, The Panther of the Plains. By Edward S. Ellis.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 7—The Outlaw’s Wife</b>; or, The Valley Ranche. By Mrs. Ann S. Stephens.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 8—The Tall Trapper</b>; or, The Flower of the Blackfeet. By Albert W. Aiken.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 9—Lightning Jo, the Terror of the Santa Fe Trail.</b> By Capt. Adams.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 10—The Island Pirate.</b> A Tale of the Mississippi. By Captain Mayne Reid.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 11—The Boy Ranger</b>; or, The Heiress of the Golden Horn. By Oll Coomes.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 12—Bess, the Trapper.</b> A Tale of the Far South-west. By Edward S. Ellis.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 13—The French Spy</b>; or, The Fall of Montreal. By W. J. Hamilton.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 14—Long Shot</b>; or, The Dwarf Guide. By Capt. Comstock.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 15—The Gunmaker of the Border.</b> By James L. Bowen.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 16—Red Hand</b>; or, The Channel Scourge. By A. G. Piper.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 17—Ben, the Trapper</b>; or, The Mountain Demon. By Maj. Lewis W. Carson.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 18—Wild Raven, the Ranger</b>; or, The Missing Guide. By Oll Coomes.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 19—The Specter Chief</b>; or, The Indian’s Revenge. By Seelin Robins.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 20—The B’ar-Killer</b>; or, The Long Trail. By Capt. Comstock.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 21—Wild Nat</b>; or, The Cedar Swamp Brigade. By Wm. R. Eyster.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 22—Indian Jo, the Guide.</b> By Lewis W. Carson.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 23—Old Kent, the Ranger.</b> By Edward S. Ellis.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 24—The One-Eyed Trapper.</b> By Capt. Comstock.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 25—Godbold, the Spy.</b> A Tale of Arnold’s Treason. By N. C. Iron.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 26—The Black Ship.</b> By John S. Warner.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 27—Single Eye, the Scourge.</b> By Warren St. John.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 28—Indian Jim.</b> A Tale of the Minnesota Massacre. By Edward S. Ellis.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 29—The Scout.</b> By Warren St. John.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 30—Eagle Eye.</b> By W. J. Hamilton.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 31—The Mystic Canoe.</b> A Romance of a Hundred Years Ago. By Edward S. Ellis.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 32—The Golden Harpoon</b>; or, Lost Among the Floes. By Roger Starbuck.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 33—The Scalp King.</b> By Lieut. Ned Hunter.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 34—Old Lute, the Indian-fighter</b>; or, The Den in the Hills. By E. W. Archer.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 35—Rainbolt, the Ranger</b>; or, The Demon of the Mountain. By Oll Coomes.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 36—The Boy Pioneer.</b> By Edward S. Ellis.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 37—Carson, the Guide</b>; or, the Perils of the Frontier. By Lieut. J. H. Randolph.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 38—The Heart Eater</b>; or, The Prophet of the Hollow Hill. By Harry Hazard.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 39—Wetzel, the Scout</b>; or The Captive of the Wilderness. By Boynton Belknap.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 40—The Huge Hunter</b>; or, The Steam Man of the Prairies. By Ed. S. Ellis.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 41—Wild Nat, the Trapper.</b> By Paul Prescott.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 42—Lynx-cap</b>; or, The Sioux Track. By Paul Bibbs.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 43—The White Outlaw</b>; or, The Bandit Brigand. By Harry Hazard.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 44—The Dog Trailer.</b> By Frederick Dewey.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 45—The Elk King.</b> By Capt. Chas. Howard.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 46—Adrian, the Pilot.</b> By Col. Prentiss Ingraham.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 47—The Man-hunter.</b> By Maro O. Rolfe.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 48—The Phantom Tracker.</b> By Frederick Dewey.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 49—Moccasin Bill.</b> By Paul Bibbs.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 50—The Wolf Queen.</b> By Captain Charles Howard.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 51—Tom Hawk, the Trailer.</b> By Lewis Jay Swift.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 52—The Mad Chief.</b> By Captain Chas. Howard.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 53—The Black Wolf.</b> By Edwin E. Ewing.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 54—Arkansas Jack.</b> By Harry Hazard.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 55—Blackbeard.</b> By Paul Bibbs.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 56—The River Rifles.</b> By Billex Muller.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 57—Hunter Ham.</b> By J. Edgar Iliff.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 58—Cloudwood</b>; or, The Daughter of the Wilderness. By J. M. Merrill.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 59—The Texas Hawks.</b> By Jos. E. Badger, Jr.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 60—Merciless Mat.</b> By Capt. Chas. Howard.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 61—Mad Anthony’s Scouts.</b> By Emerson Rodman.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 62—The Luckless Trapper</b>; or, The Haunted Hunter. By William R. Eyster.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 63—The Florida Scout</b>; or, The Princess of the Everglades. By Jos. E. Badger, Jr.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 64—The Island Trapper.</b> By Capt. Chas. Howard. Ready.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 65—Wolf-Cap.</b> By Capt. Chas. Howard. Ready.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 66—Rattling Dick.</b> By Harry Hazard. Ready Jan. 2d.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 67—Sharp-Eye.</b> By Major Max Martine. Ready Jan. 16th.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 68—Iron-Hand.</b> By Frederick Forest. Ready Jan. 30th.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 69—The Yellow Hunter.</b> By Capt. Chas. Howard. Ready Feb. 16th.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 70—The Phantom Rider.</b> By Maro O. Rolfe. Ready Feb. 28th.</p> -<p class="t0"><b>No. 71—Delaware Tom.</b> By Harry Howard. Ready March. 14th.</p> -</div> -<p>☞ <span class="sc">Beadle’s Dime Pocket Novels</span> are always in print and for sale by all newsdealers; or will be sent, -post-paid, to any address; single numbers, ten cents; six months (13 Nos.) $1.25; one year (26 Nos.) $2.50. -Address,</p> -<p class="center"><b>BEADLE AND ADAMS, Publishers, 98 William Street, New York</b>.</p> -<h2 id="trnotes">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> -<ul> -<li>Silently corrected a few typos.</li> -<li>Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.</li> -<li>In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.</li> -<li>Created a Table of Contents based on the chapter headings.</li> -</ul> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOLF-CAP; ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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