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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7087.txt b/7087.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7c9e4b --- /dev/null +++ b/7087.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12162 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Gaut Gurley, by D. P. Thompson +#2 in our series by D. P. Thompson + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Gaut Gurley + +Author: D. P. Thompson + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7087] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 9, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GAUT GURLEY *** + + + + +Produced by Wendy Crockett, David Moynihan, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +GAUT GURLEY; + +OR, + +THE TRAPPERS OF UMBAGOG. + +A TALE OF BORDER LIFE. + +BY + +D. P. THOMPSON, + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER I. + +Town and Country contrasted, in relation to Vice and Crime.--A Display +Party to avoid Bankruptcy.--Gaut Gurley, and other leading Characters, +introduced as Actors in this scene of City Life. + +CHAPTER II. + +Retrospect of the life of the Country Merchant, in making Money, to become +a "Solid Man of Boston."--Humble Beginnings.--Tempted into Smuggling from +Canada in Embargo times, and makes a Fortune, by the aid of the desperate +and daring Services of Gaut Gurley.--A Sketch of the Wild Scenes of +Smuggling over the British line into Vermont and New Hampshire.--Removal to +the City. + +CHAPTER III. + +Gambling (an allegory) invented by the Fiends, and is proclaimed the +Premium Vice by Lucifer.--A Gambling Scene between Gaut Gurley and the +merchant, Mark Elwood.--The Failure of the latter.--The Refusal of his +brother, Arthur Elwood, to help him.--The Surprise and Distress of his +Family. + +CHAPTER IV. + +The Downward Path of the Habitual Gambler.--His Family sharing in the +Degradation, and becoming the suffering Victims of his Vices.--The Sudden +Resolve to be a Man again, and remove to an unsettled Country, to begin +Life anew in the Woods. + +CHAPTER V. + +The moral and intellectual Influences of Forest Life.--Scenery of +Umbagog.--Description of Elwood's new Home in the Woods.--The Burning of +his first _Slash_.--His House catches Fire, and he and his Wife engage +in extinguishing it, praying for the return of their Son, Claud Elwood, to +help them in their terrible strait. + +CHAPTER VI. + +Claud Elwood and his Forest Musings.--Dangerous Assault, and slaying of a +Moose.--Rescue of Gaut's Daughter from the enraged animal.--Strange +Developments.--Incipient Love Scene.--Trout-catching.--Return of Claud and +Phillips (the Old Hunter here first introduced), to aid in saving the +Elwood Cottage from the fire.--The Thunder-shower comes to complete the +conquest of the fire.--The destruction of the King Pine by a Thunderbolt. + +CHAPTER VII. + +Journey up the Magalloway, to bring home the slaughtered Moose.--Love and +its entanglements; its Sunshine now, its Storms in the distance. + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Jaunt of Claud and Phillips over the Rapids to the next Great Lake, for +Deer-hunting and Trout-catching.--Rescue of Fluella, the Indian Chief's +Daughter, from Drowning in the Rapids.--Her remarkable Character for +Intellect and Beauty. + +CHAPTER IX. + +The Logging Bee.--The introduction of a New Character in Comical Codman, +the Trapper.--The Woodmen's Banquet.--The forming of the Trapping and +Hunting Company, to start on an Expedition to the Upper Lakes. + +CHAPTER X. + +Developments of the dark and designing character of Gaut Gurley.---Tomah, +the college-learned Indian. + +CHAPTER XI. + +Mrs. Elwood's Bodings, on account of the connection of her Husband and Son +with Gaut and his Daughter.--Her Interview with Fluella.--Claud's Interview +with Fluella and her Father, the Chief.--The Chief's History of his Tribe. + +CHAPTER XII. + +Adventures of the Trappers the first day of their Expedition up the +Lakes.--Bear-hunt, Trout-catching, etc.--Introduction of Carvil, an amateur +Hunter from the Green Mountains. + +CHAPTER XIII. + +The Trappers' Central Camp on the Maguntic Lake.--Three Stories of most +remarkable Adventures in the Woods, told at the Camp-fire by three Hunters +and Trappers. + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The Voyage to Oquossah, the farthest large Lake.--The stationing of the +Trappers at different points on the Lake.--The appointment of Gaut as +Keeper of the Central Camp, on the Lake below.--The Results of their Fall's +Operations, and Preparations to return Home. + +CHAPTER XV. + +The Trappers overtaken by a terrible Snow-storm.--Their Suffering before +reaching Central Camp.--The discovery that this Camp had been Burnt, and +Robbed of their whole Stock of Furs.--Their Providential Escape from Death. + +CHAPTER XVI. + +The Legal Prosecution to Recover their Furs, or punish Gaut, the supposed +Criminal.--The unsatisfactory Result, and Gaut's dark menaces of Revenge. + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Gaut's Efforts to get the old Company off into the Forest, on a Spring +Expedition.--All refuse but Elwood and Son, who conclude to go.--Love +Entanglements, and the boding Fears of Mrs. Elwood. + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Opening of Spring in the Settlement.--The Trappers fail to Return.--Gaut +comes without them.--The Alarm and Suspicions of the Settlers that he has +Murdered, the Elwoods.--The Circumstantial Evidence. + +CHAPTER XIX. + +The attempt to Arrest Gaut.--His retreat to a Cave in the Mountain.--His +final Dislodgement and Capture, for Trial and Examination. + +CHAPTER XX. + +Retrospect of the Adventures of Gaut and the Elwoods.--The Murder of Mark +Elwood, and the Wounding of Claud, by Gaut.--Claud's life saved by +Fluella. + +CHAPTER XXI. + +Gaut's Trial, Sentence, and Imprisonment.--General Denouement of the +Story.--Gaut breaks Jail, escapes, and becomes a desperate Pirate-leader. + +SEQUEL. + +Awful Fate of a Pirate Ship.--Gaut's Death. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + "God made the country and man made the town." + +So wrote the charming Cowper, giving us to understand, by the drift of the +context, that he intended the remark as having a moral as well as a +physical application; since, as he there intimates, in "gain-devoted +cities," whither naturally flow "the dregs and feculence of every land," +and where "foul example in most minds begets its likeness," the vices will +ever find their favorite haunts; while the virtues, on the contrary, will +always most abound in the country. So far as regards the virtues, if we are +to take them untested, this is doubtless true. And so far, also, as regards +the mere _vices_, or actual transgressions of morality, we need, perhaps, +to have no hesitation in yielding our assent to the position of the poet. +But, if he intends to include in the category those flagrant crimes which +stand first in the gradation of human offences, we must be permitted to +dissent from that part of the view; and not only dissent, but claim that +truth will generally require the very reversal of the picture, for of such +crimes we believe it will be found, on examination, that the country ever +furnishes the greatest proportion. In cities, the frequent intercourse of +men with their fellow-men, the constant interchange of the ordinary +civilities of life, and the thousand amusements and calls on their +attention that are daily occurring, have almost necessarily a tendency to +soften or turn away the edge of malice and hatred, to divert the mind from +the dark workings of revenge, and prevent it from settling into any of +those fatal purposes which result in the wilful destruction of life, or +some other gross outrage on humanity. But in the country, where, it will be +remembered, the first blood ever spilled by the hand of a murderer cried up +to Heaven from the ground, and where the meliorating circumstances we have +named as incident to congregated life are almost wholly wanting, man is +left to brood in solitude over his real or fancied wrongs, till all the +fierce and stormy passions of his nature become aroused, and hurry him +unchecked along to the fatal outbreak. In the city, the strong and bad +passions of hate, envy, jealousy, and revenge, softened in action, as we +have said, on finding a readier vent in some of the conditions of urban +society, generally prove comparatively harmless. In the country, finding no +such softening influences, and no such vent, and left to their own +workings, they often become dangerously concentrated, and, growing more and +more intensified as their self-fed fires are permitted to burn on, at +length burst through every barrier of restraint, and set all law and reason +alike at defiance. + +And if this view, as we believe, is correct in regard to the operation of +this class of passions, why not in regard to the operation of those of an +opposite character? Why should not the same principle apply to the +operation of love as well as hate? It should, and does, though not in an +equal degree, perhaps, apply to them both. It has been shown to be so in +the experience of the past. It is illustrated in many a sad drama of real +life, but never more strikingly than in the true and darkly romantic +incidents which form the groundwork of the tale upon which we are about to +enter. + +It was on a raw and gusty evening in the month of November, a few years +subsequent to our last war with Great Britain, and the cold and vapor-laden +winds, which form such a drawback to the coast-clime of New England, were +fitfully wailing over the drear and frost-blackened landscape, and the +wayfarers, as if keenly alive to the discomforts of all without, were seen +everywhere hurrying forward to reach those comforts within which were +heralded in the cheerful gleams that shot from many a window, when a showy +and conspicuous mansion, in the environs of Boston, was observed to be +lighted up to an extent, and with a brilliancy, that betokened the advent +of some ambitious display on the part of the bustling inmates. Carriages +from different parts of the city were successively arriving, discharging +their loads of gaily-dressed ladies and gentlemen at the door, and rattling +off again at the crack of the whips of the pert and jauntily equipped +drivers. Others on foot, and from the more immediate neighborhood, were, in +couples and singly, for some time constantly dropping in to swell the +crowd, witness, and perhaps add to, the attractions of the occasion, which +was obviously one of those social gatherings that have been sometimes, in +conventional phrase, not inaptly denominated a _jam_; where people go to be +in the fashion, to see, be seen, and try as hard as they can to be happy; +but where the aggregate of happiness enjoyed is probably far less, as a +general rule, than would be enjoyed by the same company at home in the +pursuit of their ordinary avocations. + +Meanwhile, as the guests were assembling and being conducted to the +withdrawing rooms, through the cash-bought and obsequious politeness of +some of the troop of waiters hired for the occasion, the master of the +mansion had taken his station in the nook of a window commanding the common +entrance, and was there stealthily noting, as the company, severally or one +group after another, mounted the doorsteps, who had honored his cards of +invitation whom he wished to see there, and who had come whom he wished to +have stayed away. He was a well-favored man, somewhat past the middle age +of life, with regular features, and a good general appearance, but with one +of those unsettled, fluctuating countenances which are usually found in men +who, while affecting, perhaps, a show of independence, lack self-reliance, +fixed principles, or some other of the essential elements of character. And +such indeed was Mark Elwood, the reputedly wealthy merchant whom we have +thus introduced as one of the leading personages of our story. Though often +moved with kind and generous impulses, he yet was governed by no settled +principles of benevolence; though often shrewd and sagacious, he yet +possessed no true wisdom; and, though often bold and resolute in action, he +yet lacked the faith and firmness of true courage. In short, he might be +regarded as a fair representative of the numerous class we are daily +meeting with in life,--men who do many good things, but more questionable +ones; who undertake much, accomplish little; bustle, agitate, and thus +contrive to occupy the largest space in public attention; but who, when +sifted, are found, as Pope maliciously says of women, to + + "have no character at all." + +After pursuing his observations a while, with an air of disappointment or +indifference, Elwood was about to turn away, when his eye caught a glimpse +of an approaching group of guests, whose appearance at once lighted up his +countenance with a smile of satisfaction, and he half-ejaculated: "There +they come!--the solid men of Boston. The presence of these, with the others +who will all serve as trumpeters of the affair, will quell every suspicion +of my credit till some new strike shall place me beyond danger. Yes, just +as I calculated, the money spent will be the cunningest investment I have +made these six months. But who is that tagging along alone after the rest?" +he added, his countenance suddenly changing to a troubled look, and slowly, +and with a strange emphasis, pronouncing the name, "GAUT GURLEY!" he +hurried away from his post of observation. + +The person whose obviously unexpected appearance among the arriving guests +had so much disturbed our host, having leisurely brought up the rear, now +paused a few paces from the door, and took a deliberate survey of all that +was visible through the windows of the scene passing within. He was a man +of a personal appearance not likely to be forgotten. His strong, upright, +well-proportioned frame, full, rounded head, and unexceptionable features, +were unusually well calculated to arrest the attention, and, at a little +distance especially, to secure the favorable impressions of others; but +those impressions faded away, or gave place to opposite emotions, on a +nearer approach, for then the beholder read something in the countenance +that met his, which made him pause,--something which he could not fathom, +but which at once disinclined him to any acquaintance with the man to whom +that countenance belonged. + +Perhaps it should be viewed as one of the kindest provisions of Providence, +made in aid of our rights and instincts of self-preservation, that man +should not be able wholly to hide the secrets of his heart from his +fellow-men,--that the human countenance should be so formed that no +schooling, however severe, can prevent it from betraying the evil thoughts +and purposes which may be lurking within. It is said that God alone can +read the secrets of the heart; but we have often thought that He has +imparted to us more of this attribute of His omniscience than that which is +vouchsafed us in any one of our other faculties; or, in other words, that, +to the skill we may acquire by practice in reading the countenance, He has +added something of the light of intuition, to enable us to pierce into the +otherwise impenetrable recesses of the bosom, and thus guard ourselves +against the designs which may there be disclosed, and which, but for that, +the deceptions of the tongue might forever conceal. All this, we are aware, +may pass as a mere supposition; yet we think its correctness will be very +generally attested by officers of justice, policemen, jailers, and all +those who have had much experience in the detection of crime. + +But, whether the doctrine is applicable or not in the generality of cases, +it was certainly so in that of the unbidden guest whose appearance we have +attempted to describe. Unlike Elwood, he had character, but all those who +closely noted him were made to feel that his character was a dark and +dangerous one. + +After Gaut, for such he was called among his acquaintance, had leisurely +run his eye from window to window of the many lighted apartments of the +house, and scanned, as he did, with many a sneering smile, the appearances +within, as long as suited his pleasure, he boldly walked in, and, with all +the assurance of the most favored, proceeded to mingle with the company. + +On quitting his lookout, Elwood repaired to the reception-room, where Mrs. +Elwood, the mistress of the mansion, was already in waiting, nerving +herself to perform, as acceptably as she could, her part of the stereotyped +ceremony of receiving the guests, and exchanging with them the salutations +and commonplaces of the evening. Mrs. Elwood, though not beautiful, nor +even handsome, was yet every way a comely woman; and the quiet dignity and +the unpretending simplicity of her manner, together with a certain +intelligent and appreciating cast of countenance, which always rested on +her placid, features, seldom failed to impress those who approached her +with feelings of kindness and respect. She looked pale and fatigued, from +the labors and anxieties she had gone through in the preparations for the +present occasion; and, in addition to this, which is ever the penalty to +the mistress of the house in getting up a large party, there was an air of +sadness in her looks that told of secret sorrows which were not much +mitigated by all the show of wealth that surrounded her. + +By this time the company, having mostly arrived and divested themselves of +hats, gloves, bonnets, shawls, together with all other of the loose +etceteras of dress then in vogue, and carefully consulted the confidential +mirrors to secure that adjustment of collars, curls, smirks, and smiles +which are deemed most favorable for effect in public, were now shown into +the suit of apartments where the host and hostess were waiting to receive +them. + +But it is far from our purpose to attempt a detailed description of the +thousand little nothings which go to make up the character of one of these +great fashionable parties. Who ever came from one the wiser? Not one guest +in ten, probably, is found engaged in a conversation in which the ordinary +powers of the speaker are exercised. A forced glee and smartness seem +everywhere to prevail among the company, who are continually sacrificing +their common sense in their eager attempts to appear gay and witty. Who was +ever made really happier by being in such an assemblage? Although the +participants may exhibit to casual observation the semblance of enjoyment, +yet a close inspection will show that they are only _acting_, and that, as +we have already intimated, their apparent enjoyment is no more deserving +the name of social happiness than that which is often represented as +enjoyed by a company of stage actors, in the harassing performance of the +fictitious scenes of some genteel comedy. Who was ever made any better? Any +rational discussion tending to exalt or purify the mind would be deemed out +of place; and any moral teachings would be ridiculed or find no listeners. +And, finally, who was ever made healthier? In the bad air generated among +so many breaths in confined apartments, the high nervous excitement that +usually prevails among the company, and the exposure to cold or dampness to +which their unprepared systems are often subjected in returning home, Death +has marked many a victim for his own; while, at the best, lassitude and +depression are sure to follow, from which it will require days to recover. + +In these strictures on overgrown parties, we would not, of course, be +understood as intending to include the smaller social gatherings, where men +and women do not, as they are prone to do in crowds, lose their sense of +personal responsibility, in deporting themselves like rational beings; for +such doubtless often lead to pleasing and instructive interchange of +thought, and the cultivation of those little amenities of life which are +scarcely less essential than the virtues themselves in the structure of +good society. + +But it is time we had returned from this digression to the characters and +incidents immediately connected with the action of our tale. + +A short time after the frosts of formality, which usually attend the +introductory scenes of such assemblages, had melted away and given place to +the noisy frivolities of the evening, and while the bustling host, and +pale, anxious-looking hostess, were together taking their rounds among +their three hundred guests, bestowing their attentions on the more +neglected, calling out the more modest, and exchanging civilities with +all,--while this was passing, suddenly there arose from without a confused +noise, as of quick movements and mingling voices, which, from its character +and the direction whence it came, obviously indicated some altercation, or +other disturbance, at the outer door. This attracting the quickened +attention of Mr. and Mrs. Elwood, the former left his companion, and was +threading his way through the throng, when he was met by a servant, who in +a flurried under-tone said: + +"There is out here at the door, Mr. Elwood, a sort of a countryfied, +odd-looking old fellow, in rusty brown clothes, that has been insisting on +coming in, without being invited here to-night, and without telling his +business or even giving his name. And he pressed so hard that we had to +drive him back off the steps; but he refused to go away, even then, and +kept asking where Mark was." + +"Mark! why, that is my given name: didn't you know it?" said Elwood, +rebukingly. + +"No, sir, I didn't," replied the fashionable _pro tempore_ lackey. "And if +I had, my orders has always been on sech occasions not to admit any but the +invited, who won't send in their names, or tell their business. And I +generally calculate to go by Gunter, and do the thing up genteel." + +"Well, well," said Elwood, impatiently cutting short the other in the +defence of his professional character, and leading the way to the door, +"well, well, we had better see who he is, perhaps." + +When they reached the front entrance, they caught, by means of the +reflected light of the entry and chambers, an imperfect view of the object +of their proposed scrutiny, walking up and down the bricked pathway leading +to the house. But, not being able to identify the new-comer with any one of +his acquaintances, at that distance, Elwood walked down and confronted him; +when, after a momentary pause, he siezed the supposed intruder by the hand, +and, in a surprised and agitated tone, exclaimed: + +"My brother Arthur! How came you here?" + +"By steam and stage." + +"Not what I meant: but no matter. We were not expecting you; and I fear the +waiters have made a sad mistake." + +"As bad an one as I did, perhaps, in declining to be catechized at my +brother's door." + +"No, _you_ were right enough; but the waiters, being only here for the +extra occasion,--the bit of flare-up you see we have here to-night,--and +not knowing you, thought they must do as others do at such times. So +overlook the blunder, if you will, and walk in." + +Mark Elwood, much chagrined and discomposed at the discovery of such an +untoward first reception of his brother, now ushered him into the +brilliantly-lighted hall, where the two stood in such singular contrast +that no stranger would have ever taken them for brothers,--Mark being, as +we have before described him, a good-sized, and, in the main, a +good-looking man; while the other, whom we have introduced as Arthur +Elwood, was of a diminutive size, with commonplace features, and a severe, +forbidding countenance, made so, perhaps, by intense application to +business, together with the unfavorable effect caused by a blemished and +sightless eye. + +"Well, brother," said Mark, after a hesitating and awkward pause, "shall I +look you up a private room, or will you go in among the company,--that is, +if you consider yourself in trim to join them?" + +"Your rooms must all be in use, and I should make less trouble to go in and +be lost in the crowd. My trim will not kill anybody, probably," was the dry +reply to the indirect hint of the other. + +In all this Mark's better judgment coincided; but he had no moral courage, +and, fearing the cut and color of his somewhat outre-looking brother's +garments might excite the remarks of his fashionable guests, he would have +gladly disposed of him in some private manner till the company had +departed. Finding him, however, totally insensible to all such +considerations, he concluded to make the best of it, and accordingly at +once led the way into the guest-crowded apartments. + +Here, contrary to his doubting brother's expectation, Arthur Elwood, whose +character appeared to be known to several of the wealthier guests, was soon +treated with much respect, for, in addition to what a previous knowledge of +him secured, Mrs. Elwood had promptly come forward to greet him, and be +cordially greeted in return, and, unlike her husband, had not hesitated +to bestow on him publicly the most marked attentions. As soon, however, as +she had thus testified her sense of the superiority of worth over outward +appearance, and thus, by her delicate tact, given him the consideration +with the company which she thought belonged to the brother of her husband, +she gracefully relinquished him to the latter; when the two, by tacit +mutual consent, sought a secluded corner, and seated themselves for a +private conversation. + +"As I said, I did not expect you, Arthur," commenced Mark Elwood, in the +unsteady and hesitating tone of one about to broach a matter in which he +felt a deep interest. "I was not looking for you here at all, these days; +but presumed, when I wrote you, that, if you concluded to grant the favor I +asked, you would transact the business through the mail." + +"Loans of money are not always favors, Mark," responded the other, +thoughtfully; "and when I make them, I like to know whether they promise +any real benefit. I could, as you say, have transacted the business through +the mail, but I confess, Mark, I have lately had some misgivings and doubts +whether your commercial fabric here in Boston was not too big and broad for +the foundation; and I thought I would come, see, and judge for myself." + +"But I only asked for the loan of a few thousands," said Mark, meekly. "The +fact is, Arthur, that, owing to some bad luck and disappointments in money +matters, I am, just now, a little embarrassed about meeting some of my +engagements; and I trust you will not refuse to give me a lift. What say +you, Arthur?" + +"I don't say, but will see and decide," replied the other. "But, Mark," he +added, after a pause, "Mark, what will this useless parade here to-night +cost you?" + +"O, a mere trifle,--a few hundreds, perhaps." + +"And you think hundreds well spent, when you are wanting thousands to pay +your debts, do you?" + +"O, you know, Arthur, a man, to keep up his credit, must _display_ a little +once in a while." + +"No, I did not know that, Mark. I did not know that the throwing away of +hundreds would help a man's credit in thousands, especially with those +whose opinion would be of any use to him. But go," added the speaker, +rising, "go and see to your company: I can take care of myself." + +The brothers, rising from an interview in which they had felt, perhaps, +nearly an equal degree of secret embarrassment,--the one believing that his +last hope hung on the result, and the other feeling conscious of entering +on a most ungracious duty,--now separated, and mingled with the gay throng, +who, swaying hither and thither, and, seemingly without end or aim, moving +round and round their limited range of apartments, like the froth in the +circling eddies of a whirlpool, continued to laugh, flirt, and chatter on, +till the advent of the last act of the social farce,--the throwing open of +a suit of hitherto sealed apartments, and the welcome disclosure of the +varied and costly delicacies of the loaded refreshment tables, which the +company, by their strong and simultaneous rush thitherward, the rattling of +knives and forks, spoons and glasses, the rapid popping of champagne corks, +and the low, eager hum of gratified voices that followed, evidently deemed +the best, as well as the closing, act of the evening's entertainment. + +While this scene was in progress, Gaut Gurley, who had been for some time +in vain watching the opportunity, caught Mark Elwood unoccupied in one of +the vacated apartments, and abruptly approached and confronted him. + +"Well, what now, Gaut?" exclaimed Elwood, with an assumed air of +pettishness, after finding there was no further chance of escaping an +interview which he had evidently been trying to avoid; "what would you have +now?" + +"I would just know whether you intend to keep your engagement," replied +Gurley, fixing his black, quivering eyes keenly on the other. + +"What engagement?" + +"To give me a chance to win back that money." + +"Which you demand when you have taken from me an hundred to one!" + +"And who had a better right? Through whose means did you make your fortune? +Besides this, haven't I always given you a fair chance to win back all you +could?" + +"I want no more of such chances," + +"But you promised; and I want to know whether you mean to keep that promise +or not." + +"Supposing I do, you would not have me leave home to-night, would you?" + +"Yes, to-night." + +"But my brother, as you have already discovered, I presume, has just +arrived on a visit; and you know I can't decently leave him." + +"And what do _I_ care for that? Say whether you will meet me at the old +room, or not, as soon as your company have cleared out?" + +"You are unreasonable, cruel, Gaut." + +"Then say you will _not_ go, and see what will come of it, Mark Elwood!" + +"I must go--I _will_ go, Gaut," replied Elwood, turning pale at the last +intimation. "As soon as I get rid of the company, I will start directly for +the place." + +"Well, just as you can afford," said Gaut, doggedly, as he turned on his +heel, and made his way out of the house. + +Mark Elwood drew a long breath as he was thus relieved of the other's +presence, and was leaving the room, when Mrs. Elwood, who had felt much +disturbed at discovering among her guests one of whose questionable +character and connection with her husband she was already apprised, and +who, from an adjoining apartment, had caught a slight glimpse of the +meeting just described, and enough of the conversation to enable her to +guess at its import, hurriedly came forward, and, in a voice tremulous from +suppressed emotion, said: + +"You surely are not going out to-night, Mr. Elwood?" + +"No--that is--only for a short time," he said, hesitating, and a little +confused at the discovery of his design, which a second thought told him +she had made; "only for a short time. But don't stop me to talk now; you +see the company are retiring. I must see the gentlemen off." + +"Mr. Elwood, I must be heard," persisted the troubled and anxious wife. "I +cannot bear to have you go off, and leave your only brother, whom you have +not seen for years, and for such company! O Mr. Elwood, how can you let +that bad man--" + +"Hush! don't get into such a stew. I shall soon be back," interrupted the +other. "You can excuse my absence. There, I hear them inquiring for me. I +must go," he added, abruptly breaking away, and leaving his grieved +companion to hide her emotions as she best could from the guests who were +now seen approaching for their parting salutations. + +In a few minutes the company had dispersed for their respective homes, and +with them, also, had unnoticed slipped away their infatuated host. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + "At first, he, busy, plodding poor, + Earned, saved, and daily swelled his store; + But soon Ambition's summits rose, + And Avarice dug his mine of woes." + +For the better understanding of some of the allusions of the preceding +chapter, and of others that may yet appear in different parts of our tale, +as well, indeed, as for a better appreciation of the whole, we will here +turn aside from the thread of the narrative just commenced, to take a brief +retrospect of the leading events and circumstances with which the previous +lives of the several personages we have introduced had been connected, and +among which their characters had been shaped and their destinies +determined. + +Some twenty two or three years previous to the juncture we have been +describing, Arthur and Mark Elwood, by the fruits of their unremitting +industry as laborers on a farm in summers, and as pedlars of what they +could best buy and sell in winters, added to the few hundred dollars +patrimony they each inherited, were enabled, in a few years, to realize the +object of their early ambition, in the opening of a small retail store, in +one of the little outskirt villages of northern New-Hampshire. + +Such, like that of hundreds of others among us who now count their wealth +by half millions, was the slender beginning of these two brothers. And, +although they were from the first, as we have seen them at the last, as +different in their general characters as they were in their persons, they +yet got on very well together; for, however they might disagree respecting +the modes and means of acquisition, they were always as one in regard to +the great result each alike had in view, and that was to make money and be +rich. And, by a sort of tacit understanding, falling into the departments +of business best suited to their different tastes and capacities, the +quiet, cautious, calculating, and systematic Arthur confined himself to the +store, kept the books, contrived the _ways and means_, and, in short, +did the principal head-work of the establishment; while Mark, being of a +more stirring turn, and, from his brisk _bon homme_ manner and less +scrupulous disposition, better calculated for drumming up customers and +securing bargains for the store, did most of the outdoor business, riding +about the country, contracting for produce, securing barter deal, and +making himself, in all things, the runner and trumpeter of the company. At +night they usually met together to compare notes and report progress; and +they were never happier than when they sat down in their small store-room, +hemmed in and surrounded by casks of nails, quintals of codfish, farming +tools, etc., on one side, and narrow shelves of cheap calicos, India +cottons, and flaunting ribbons, on the other, and recounted to each other +the business and bargains of the day. Thus the two, working on, like the +spring and balance-wheel of some piece of mechanism, in harmony together, +soon placed themselves beyond all fears of failure, and seemed happy and +contented with their situation and prospects. + +This situation of affairs, however, was not destined to be of very long +continuance. Not long after finding themselves safely on the highway to +independence, they very naturally began to think of selecting, from among +the fair young customers of their store, the ones who might make them +eligible companions for life. And, as the wayward love-fates would have it, +they both secretly fixed their affections on one and the same girl,--the +pretty and sensible Alice Gregg, who, though a plain farmer's daughter, +was, to the vexation and envy of her numerous rustic suitors, to be won by +nothing short of one of the village merchants. Alice was not long in +discovering her advantage, nor in deciding to avail herself of it, so far +as to confine her election to one of these, her two undeclared lovers. And, +after balancing a while in her mind the account between her judgment, which +would have declared for the reserved but sterling Arthur, and her fancy, +which clamored hard for the manly-looking and more social Mark, she finally +yielded the reins to the latter, and took measures accordingly. After this, +Arthur's taste in selecting a piece of goods did not, as before, seem to be +appreciated. Her handkerchief was never dropped where he had any chance to +pick it up; and she was never quite ready to go till Mark was nearest at +hand to help her into her wagon or side-saddle. By this delicate system of +female tactics, common with girls of more pretensions than Alice, she +effectually repressed the advances of the one, and as effectually +encouraged those of the other; and the result, as she had anticipated, was +a declaration from Mark, an acceptance on her part, and a speedy marriage +between them. Arthur's heart bled at the event; but it bled inwardly; and +he had at least the consolation of believing that no one suspected the +state of his feelings, except, perhaps, Alice, and he was not unwilling +that _she_ should know them. He therefore put the best face on the matter +he could,--appeared wholly unconcerned,--attended the wedding, and with +forced gayety _openly_ wished the new married couple the happiness which he +_secretly_ wished was his own. The tender passion had been a new thing to +the money-loving Arthur. By its elevating influences, he, who had looked +for enjoyment only in wealth, had been enabled to raise his vision to a +higher sphere of happiness. And thus to lose the bright glimpses, and be +thrown back to earth again, was, in reality, however he might disguise the +fact from others, a serious blow to his feelings, and one, indeed, which +soon mainly led to a movement on his part that gave a new turn to his +apparent destinies, and a no less one, probably, to those of his then +almost envied brother Mark. For, finding it impossible to feel his former +interest in business, in a place whose associations had become painful to +him, he secretly resolved to leave it as soon as he believed he could do so +without leading to any surmises respecting the true cause of the change he +contemplated. Accordingly, in a few months, he began to suggest his own +unfitness for making a profitable partner in country trade, and finally +came out with a direct proposition to his brother to buy him out at a sum +which he knew would be a temptingly low one. And the result was, that the +proposition was accepted, "the partnership dissolved by mutual consent," +and the released Arthur, with his portion, soon on his way to one of the +eastern seaports, to set up business, as he soon did, for himself alone. + +The withdrawal of Arthur Elwood deprived this little establishment of its +only really valuable guidance, and left it to the chance fortunes of +greater gains or greater losses than would have been likely to occur under +the cautious and hazard-excluding system of business which he had adopted +for its control. But, nothing for a year or two occurring to induce Mark +Elwood to depart from the system under which the business had been +conducted, and Arthur's prudent maxims of trade, to which he had been +accustomed to defer, remaining fresh in his mind, he naturally kept on in +the old routine, which he was the more willing to follow, as by it he found +himself clearly on the advance. He was blessed in his family; for his wife, +who had no undue aspirations for wealth or show, had not only proved an +efficient helper by her economy and good counsels, but added still more to +his gratification by bringing him a promising boy. Being the only trader of +the village, or hamlet it might more properly be called, he was conscious +of being the object of that peculiar kind of favor and respect which was +then--more freely than at the present day, perhaps--accorded to the country +merchant by the masses among whom he resided. And, finding his still +comparatively moderate expectations thus every day fully realized, he was +satisfied with his condition in the present, and hopeful and happy in the +prospects it presented in the future; for the demon of unlawful gain had +not then tempted him into forbidden paths by the lure of sudden riches. + +But that demon at length came in the shape of Gaut Gurley. From what part +of the country this singular and questionable personage originally came, +was unknown, even in the neighboring village (which was within the borders +of Maine) where he had recently located himself with a young wife and +child. And, as he very rarely made any allusions to his own personal +affairs, every thing relating to his origin, life, and employments, +previous to his appearance in this region, was a matter of mere conjecture, +and many a dark surmise, also, we should add, respecting his true +character. For the last few years, however, he was known to have followed, +at the appropriate seasons of the year, the business of trapping, or +trading for furs with the Indians, around the northern lakes. He had +several times passed through the village on his returns from his northern +tours, and called on the Elwoods, whose contrasted characters he seemed +soon to understand. But he pressed no bargains upon them for his peltries; +for, disliking the close questionings and scrutinizing glances of Arthur, +and finding he could make no final trade with Mark without the assent of +the former, he gave up all attempts of the kind, and did not call again +during the continuance of the partnership, nor till this time; when, +finding that Mark was in trade alone, he announced his intention of +spending some time in the village, to see what arrangements could be made, +as he at first held out to Elwood, for establishing this as his place for +the regular sales or deposit of his furs. + +But the fur traffic, whatever it might have been formerly, was now not the +main, if any part of the object he had in view. The times had changed, +closing many of the old avenues of trade, but opening new ones to tempt the +ever restless spirit of gain. And, although the fur trade was still +profitable, there was yet another springing up, which, for those who, like +him, had no scruples about engaging in it, promised to become far more so. +The restrictions which it had been the policy of our government to throw +around commerce, in the incipient stages of our last national quarrel with +Great Britain, had caused an unprecedented rise in the prices of silks and +other fine fabrics of foreign import. This had put whatever there was of +the two alleged leading traits of Yankee character, acquisitiveness and +ingenuity, on the _qui vive_ to obtain those goods at the former prices, +for the purpose of home speculation. And Canada, being separated by a land +boundary only from the States, presented to the greedy eyes of hundreds of +village mammonists, who, like Elwood, were plodding along at the slow jog +of twenty per cent profits, opportunities of so purchasing as to quadruple +their gains; which were quite too severe a test for their slender stock of +patriotism to withstand. It was but a natural consequence, therefore, that +all of them whose love of gain was not overcome by their fear of loss by +detection and the forfeiture of their goods, should soon be found, in spite +of all the vigilance and activity of the host of custom-house officers by +whom the government had manned the Canadian lines, secretly engaged in that +contraband traffic. + +The history of smuggling as carried on between the Northern States and +Canada, from the enactment of the embargo at the close of 1807, and +especially from the enactment of the more stringent non-intercourse law of +1810, to the declaration of war in 1812, and even, to a greater or less +extent, to the proclamation of peace in 1815, is a portion of our annals +that yet remains almost wholly unwritten. Although the contraband trade in +question was doubtless more or less followed along the entire extent of our +northern boundaries, from east to west, yet along no portions of them half +so extensively, probably, as those, of Vermont and New Hampshire, which, +from their close contiguity to Montreal and Quebec, the only importing +cities of the Canadas, afforded the most tempting facilities and the best +chances for success. Along these borders, indeed, it was for years one +almost continuous scene of wild warfare between the custom-house officers +and their assistants, and the smugglers and their abettors, both parties +carrying arms, and the smugglers, especially, going armed to the teeth. In +these skirmishes many were, at different times, killed outright; many more +were missing, even on the side of the officials, for whom dark fates were +naturally conjectured; while hundreds, on both sides, were crippled or +otherwise seriously wounded. Sometimes, when a double sleigh, or wagon, +deeply laden with smuggled goods, in charge of three or four stout and +resolute fellows aboard, who, with as many more, perhaps, of their +confederates on horseback or in light teams, before and behind, were making +their way, at full speed, with their prize, from the line to some secret +and safe depository in the interior, was suddenly beset and brought to a +stand by an equal or greater number of government officials, deeply intent +on a seizure, a most furious conflict would ensue, in which the combatants, +growing desperate for the seizure or defence of the prize, would ply their +hard yeoman fists, clubs, loaded whipstocks, or whatever was at hand, with +terrible effect, and often prolong the melee till the snow or ground was +encrimsoned with blood, and scarcely an uninjured man remained on the +ground. Sometimes the besetting officials were made prisoners, and marched +off at the cocked pistol's mouth into the deep woods, and, after being led +forward and backward through the labyrinths of the forest till bewildered +and lost, were suddenly left to find their way out as they best could,--a +feat which there was no danger of their accomplishing till long after both +the smugglers and their goods were beyond the reach of pursuers. And +sometimes the smugglers, when closely pressed and seeing no hope of rescue +if taken, as their last resort, drew their dirks and pistols; and wo to the +official who then persisted in attempting a seizure. + +But the system of tactics more generally practiced by the smugglers was +that of craft and concealment, carried out by some ingenious measure to +prevent all suspicion of the times and places of their movements, by +travelling in the night or in stormy weather, or in the most unfrequented +routes, and, when pursued, by putting the pursuers on false scents, or by +feints of running away with loads of empty boxes to mislead pursuit, till +the goods, which had been previously taken to some place of temporary +concealment, could be removed from the vicinity of the search and sent on +their destination. + +Such were the general features of the illicit traffic which characterized +the period of which we are treating,--a traffic which laid the foundations +of many a village fortune, whose dashing heirs would not probably be very +willing to acknowledge the true source from which the wealth and position +they may now be enjoying was derived,--and finally a traffic which, in its +attending homicides and desperate affrays, its hot pursuits and marvellous +escapes, its curious concealments and artful subterfuges, and, lastly, in +the family and neighborhood feuds which it left behind, would furnish +materials for a series of tales as wild and romantic, if not always as +creditable to the actors, as any thing ever yet spread before the public. + +It was this questionable business which was then occupying the thoughts of +Gaut Gurley, and in which it was his aim to involve Mark Elwood, whom he +had pitched on for the purpose, as not only a man of sufficient means, with +no scruples which could not be overcome, but a man whom he believed he +could make dependent on him, when once enlisted, and to whom he could +dictate terms for his own services. And it is no wonder that a man of his +dark cunning, working on one of the obtuse moral sense, the love of money, +and the thoughtlessness of consequences, of Elwood, should, as he did, soon +completely succeed in his objects. For, after having kindled Elwood's +political prejudices against the embargo law, which was held up to be such +an outrage on the commercial rights of the North that it were almost a +merit to violate it, Gaut proceeded to show how enormous were the profits +to be made in this trade, and how safely the goods might be smuggled in, +through the back roads and forest routes with which he was familiar, by +employing Frenchmen, as he could, at a cheap rate, to bring them in large +panniers on the backs of their Canadian ponies, or by engaging Indians, who +could be enlisted for even less wages, to bring them in knapsacks through +the woods. And so clearly did he demonstrate all this to the mind of +Elwood, that the latter, being unable any longer to resist the temptation +of thus securing the gains of a traffic, by the side of which the small +profits of his store at home dwindled into contempt, soon resolved to +engage in it. + +From this time Gaut was in high favor with Elwood. The two, indeed, seemed +to have suddenly become inseparable. They were always found together, and +always engaged in some closely private conversation, the purport of which +no others were permitted to know, or were enabled to conjecture, except +from the new business movement which was observed soon to follow the +forming of their mysterious connection. And that movement was that Elwood +put his store in charge of a clerk, and, giving out that he was about to +engage more extensively in the fur trade, which would require him to be +often absent, went off with a strong and fleet double team, in a northerly +direction, with Gaut for his only companion. + +With the advent of this new era in the life of Elwood, every thing became +changed about his establishment. His bustling presence, with his bantering, +off-hand, and communicative talk, no longer enlivened the store and +neighborhood; and people, who before seemed to know every thing about his +business and plans, now knew nothing. For he was now most of the time +absent in conducting his operations at the north, or in his stealthy +journeyings thence to the cities, to receive and dispose of the valuable +packages which he had put on their passage. He generally came and departed +in the night, and, even during his brief stays at home, he kept himself +secluded, seeming to wish to be seen as little as possible. All this, of +course, led to considerable talk and various speculations; but he so well +shrouded his movements from the public, and kept afloat so many plausible +stories to account for his change of business, that he prevented suspicions +from taking any definite shape about home, or spreading abroad to any +extent that endangered his operations, although those operations were +constantly continued for years, and, from cautious and small beginnings, at +length became more bold, extensive, and successful, perhaps, than any thing +of the kind ever carried on in the interior of New England. But there was +one whose suspicions of the true character of the business in which he was +engaged, notwithstanding his denials and evasions, even to her, and whose +fears and anxieties on account of the dangers she believed he was +constantly incurring, not only from seizure of his property and the +personal violence to which he was exposed in trying to defend it, but from +his association of reckless confederates, especially Gaut Gurley, of whose +dark character, as little as she had seen of him, she was already filled +with an instinctive dread,--there was one whose suspicions, and consequent +anxieties, he could never succeed in quieting; and that was his discreet +and faithful wife. She had, during the first year or two of his new career, +often expostulated with him on the doubtful character of his business; but +he, by always making light of her fears, by telling her some truth and +withholding more, and disclosing as great a part of his astonishing gains +as he supposed would pass with her for honest acquisitions, generally +silenced, if he did not convince, her; and she, finding him always +light-hearted and satisfied with himself, when he came home, finally ceased +her remonstrances, having concluded she would try to conquer her doubts and +fears, or at least say no more on the subject. + +At length, however, after a prolonged absence on a tour, in which he had a +large venture at stake, he came home in a greatly altered mood. His usual +buoyancy of spirits was gone; he appeared gloomy and abstracted; and, +although, in reply to the anxious inquiries of his wife, he represented +himself to have been entire successful,--even to a greater extent than ever +before,--yet it was quite obvious that something very untoward, to say the +least, must have happened to him. He would not leave his house after dark, +he placed loaded pistols within the reach of his hand when he went to bed, +and he would often start up wildly from his sleep. His whole conduct, +indeed, was such as to excite the deeper concern of his perplexed wife, for +she feared it betokened his connection with something very +wrong,--something that had brought him into deadly peril,--something, +perhaps, done to others, which made her tremble to think of, but something, +at all events, which made her more than ever dread to have him go back +again to the scene of his operations. But of the last-named of her fears +she was shortly relieved; for, to her agreeable surprise, he soon assured +her of his determination to break off entirely from the business he had +been pursuing, and, as much to her gratification as to the evident vexation +of Gaut Gurley, who had come on to look his employer up, he firmly +persisted in carrying out his resolution. Nor was this all. He rapidly drew +his business to a close, broke off his old associations, privately left the +place, and, in a few weeks, sent for his family to join him in Boston, +where it appeared he had been for some time secretly transferring his +capital, and where he had now established himself in business, with all the +means required, even there, of doing it to the best advantage. And for some +years he _did_ engage in business to advantage, the same strangely good +luck attending him, and prospering wonderfully in all he undertook, till he +gained the reputation of being among the wealthiest of the city. But the +spoiler came in a second appearance of Gaut Gurley, who, having squandered +in the country the bounteous sums of money which Elwood had paid him for +his services, now followed the latter to the city. And, with the coming of +that personage, together with the foolish ambition that had, about that +time, seized Elwood, to outshine some of his city competitors in display +and expensive living, commenced the wane of a fortune which, as large as it +was, it had required but two short years to bring to the verge on which we +represented its unhappy master as standing in the opening scene of our +story. + +Having now related all we designed in this retrospect of events, we will +return from the somewhat long but necessary digression, and take up the +thread of the narrative where we left it. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + "I strive in vain to set the evil forth. + The words that should sufficiently accurse + And execrate the thing, hath need + Come glowing from the lips of eldest hell. + Among the saddest in the den of woe, + Most sad; among the damn'd, most deeply damn'd." + + +Once on a time, before the dark catalogue of vices was made complete by the +wicked inventions of men, or the evil made to counterbalance the good in +the world, the Arch Enemy of mankind, deeply sensible of the vantage-ground +occupied by the antagonistic Being, and anxiously casting about him for the +means of securing an equilibrium of power, called around him a small +company, consisting of those of his Infernal subjects whom he had +previously noted for their excellence, in subtility and devilish invention, +and, after fully explaining his wants and wishes to his keenly appreciating +auditory, made proclamation among them, that the Demon who should invent a +new vice, which, under the name and guise of Pastime, should be best +calculated to seduce men from the paths of virtue, pervert their hearts, +ruin them for earth and educate them for hell, should be awarded a crown of +honor, with rank and prerogative second only to his own. He then, with many +a gracious and encouraging word to incite in them a spirit of emulation, +and nerve them for exertion in the important enterprise thus set before +them, dismissed them, to go forth among men, observe, study, and come again +before him on a designated time, to report the results of their respective +doings, and submit them to his decision. Eager to do the will of their lord +and Lucifer; as well as to gain the tempting distinctions involved in his +award, the commissioned, fiend-group dispersed, and scattered themselves +over the earth, which was understood to be their field of operations. And, +after noting, as long as they chose, all the different phases of human +society, the secret inclinations of those composing it, their follies, +weaknesses, and points most vulnerable to temptation, they each returned to +the dark dominions whence they came, to cogitate in retirement, concoct and +reduce to form those schemes for securing the great object in view, which +their observations and discoveries on earth had suggested. + +At the time appointed for the hearing and decision, the demoniac +competitors again assembled before their imperial arbiter; not this time in +secret conclave, but in the presence of thousands of congregated fiends, +who, having been apprised of the new plan about to be presented for +peopling the Commonwealth of Hell with recruits from earth, had come up in +all directions from their dismal abodes, to hear those plans reported, and +witness the awarding of the prize for the one judged most worthy of +adoption. Lucifer then mounted his throne, commanded silence, and ordered +the competitors to advance and present, in succession, such plans as they +would lay before him for his consideration and decision. They did so; and +one of them, a young and genteel-looking devil, to whom, from a suppose +congeniality of tastes and feelings with the objects of his care, had been +especially assigned the duty of supervising the fashionable walks of +society, now stepped confidently forward and said: + +"I present for your consideration, most honored Lucifer, I present FASHION +as one of those social institutions of men which might the most easily +become, with a little fostering at our hands, to us the most productive of +vices, under a name least calculated to alarm. It already holds an almost +omnipotent sway over the wealthier, or what they call the higher, classes +of society, who hesitate at no sins that can be committed with its +sanction; and the disposition is every day growing stronger and stronger, +among all classes, to fall in with its behests. Encourage its progress, +make its rule absolute with all, and the world's boasted morality would +trouble us, devils, no more. This would be the direct and natural result +among the most wealthy, who would leave no vice unpracticed, no sin +uncommitted, provided they could excuse themselves under plea that it was +fashionable. With those of more limited means the effect would be still +better; for devotion to Fashion would beget extravagance--extravagance, +poverty--poverty, desperation--desperation, crime; so with all classes, the +result, for our purpose, would be equally favorable and _much the same_. +The new vice I therefore propose is the one to be made out of, and go under +the name of, FASHION." + +"There may be something in this conception," said Lucifer, thoughtfully, +after the speaker had closed; "but is it safe against all contingencies? +What if the world should take it into their heads to make it fashionable to +be good?" + +"Not the least danger of that," rejoined the other, promptly. "That is a +contingency about as likely to happen as that your highness should turn +Christian," he added, with a sardonic grin. + +"You are right," responded Lucifer; "and, as your scheme comes within the +rule, on the score of originality, we will reserve it for consideration." + +"My plan," said the next demon who spoke, "consists in inciting man to the +general use of intoxicating drinks, under the plea of taking a social +glass; for, let the use of these become general, and all men were devils +ready made, and---" + +"True, most true!" interrupted Lucifer; "but that is not new. That is a +vice I invented myself, as long ago as the time Noah was floating about in +the ark, and the first man I caught with it was the old patriarch himself. +Since then it has been my most profitable agent in the earth, bringing more +recruits to my kingdom than all the other vices put together. But our +present movement was to insure something new. The plan, therefore, does not +come within the rule, and must be set aside." + +"The new vice which I propose," said the third demon who came forward, "is +involved in the general cultivation of music, which I contend would render +men effeminate, indolent, voluptuous, and finally vicious and corrupt, so +that whole nations might eventually be kept out of heaven and secured for +hell through its deteriorating influences." + +"I am not a little dubious about trying to make a vice out of music, which +would be all reliable for our purposes," remarked Lucifer, with a negative +shake of the head. "I fear it might prove a sword which would cut both +ways. It may, it is true, be doing a pretty fair business just now in some +localities; but methinks I already see, in the dim vista of the earth's +future, a cunning Wesley springing up, and exhorting his brethren 'Not to +let the Devil have all the good tunes, but appropriate them to the service +of the Lord.' Now if the religious world should have wit enough, as I +greatly fear me they would, to follow the sagacious hint of such a leader, +they might make music an agency which would enlist two followers for the +white banner of Heaven where it would one for the red banner of Hell. The +experiment would be one of too doubtful expediency to warrant the trial. +The proposition, therefore, cannot be entertained." + +Many other methods of creating an efficient new vice were then successively +proposed by the different competitors; but they were all, for some +deficiency, or want of originality, in turn, rejected, till one more only +remained to be announced; when its author, an old, dark-eyed demon, who was +much noted for his infernal cunning, and who, conscious perhaps of the +superiority of his device, had contrived to defer its announcement till the +last, now came forward, and said: + +"The scheme I have devised for the accomplishment of the common object of +the patriotic enterprise which your Highness has put afoot, proposes a new +vice, which, passing under the guise of innocent pastime, will not only, by +itself, be fully equal to any other of the many vices now known among men, +for its certainty to lure them to its embrace, fascinate, infatuate, +deprave, and destroy them, but will insure the exercise and combine the +powers of them all. It addresses itself to the intellectual by the implied +challenge it holds out to them to make a trial of their skill; it appears +to the unfortunate in business as a welcome friend, which is rarely turned +away; it presents to pride and vanity the means of gratification that are +not to be rejected; it holds out to avarice an irresistible temptation; it +begets habits of drunkenness; and thus insures all the fruits of that +desolating vice; it engenders envy, hatred, and the spirit of revenge; in +short, it brings into play every evil thought and passion that ever entered +the head and heart of man, while it the most securely holds its victims, +and most speedily hunts them down to ruin and death." + +"The name? the name?" eagerly shouted an hundred voices from the excited +fiend-throng around. + +"The name," resumed the speaker, in reply, "the name by which I propose to +christen this new and terrible device of mine, to counteract the power of +virtue, and curtail the dominions of Heaven, is GAMBLING!" + +"Gambling! Gambling!" responded all hell, in thunders of applause; "and +Gambling let it be," shouted Lucifer, as the prize was thus awarded by +acclamation to the distinguished inventor of Gambling. + +From this supposable scene among the demons, we pass, by no unnatural +transition, to a kindred one among men. + +In a back, secluded room, in the third story of a public house in Boston, +of questionable respectability, there might have been found, a few hours +after the dispersion of the party before described, a small band of men +sitting around a table, intently engaged in games of chance, in which money +was at stake; while on a sideboard stood several bottles of different kinds +of liquors, with a liberal supply of crackers and cigars. Of this company, +two, who have been already introduced to the reader,--Mark Elwood and Gaut +Gurley,--seemed to be especially pitted against each other in the game. It +was now deep into the night, and Elwood said something about going home. +But his remark being received only with jeers by the company, he sank into +an abashed silence and played on. Another hour elapsed, and he spoke of it +again, but less decidedly. Another passed, and he seemed wholly to have +forgotten his purpose; for he, as well as all the rest of the company, had, +by this time, become intensely absorbed in the play, allowing themselves no +respite or intermission, except to snatch occasionally a glass of liquor +from the sideboard, in the entrancing business before them. And, as the +sport proceeded, deeper and deeper grew the excitement among the infatuated +participants, till every sense and feeling seemed lost to every thing save +the result of each rapidly succeeding game; and the heat of concentrated +thought and passion gleamed fiercely from every eye, and found vent, in +repeated exclamations of triumph or despair, from every tongue, according +to the varying fortunes of the parties engaged. On one side was heard the +loud and exultant shout of the winner at his success, and on the other, the +low bitter curse of the loser at his disappointment; the countenance of the +one, in his joy and exultation, assuming the self-satisfied and domineering +air of the victor and master, and the countenance of the other, in his +grief and envy, darkening into the mingled look of the demon and the slave. + +And thus played on this desperate band of gamesters till morning light, +which, now stealing through the shutters of their darkened room, came and +joined its voiceless monitions with those which their consciences had long +since given them, in warning them to break up and return to their families, +made wretched by their absence. So completely, however, had they abandoned +themselves to the fatal witcheries of the play, that they heeded not even +this significant admonition; but, with uneasy glances towards the windows, +to note the progress of the unwelcome intrusions of day, turned with the +redoubled eagerness often shown by those who know their time is limited to +their hellish engagement. + +Through the whole night, Fortune seemed to have held nearly an even scale +between Elwood and his special adversary, Gaut Gurley, contrary to the +evident anticipations of the latter, and despite all his attempts to secure +an advantage. Thus far, however, he had signally failed in his purpose; +and, at the last game, Elwood had even won of him the largest sum that had +as yet been put at stake between them. This seemed to drive him almost to +madness; and in his desperation he loudly demanded that the stakes should +be doubled for the next trial. It was done. The game was played, and Gurley +was again the loser. + +"I will now stay no longer," said Elwood, rising. "I was forced here +to-night, as you well know, Gurley, against my will, and against all +reason, to stop your clamor for a chance to win back what you absurdly +called your money lost at our last sitting; though Heaven knows that what I +then won was but a pitiful fraction of the amount you have taken from me, +within the last two years, in the same or in a worse way. I have now given +you your chance,--yes, chance upon chance, all night,--till your claim has +been a dozen times cancelled; and, I repeat I will stay no longer." + +"You shall!" fiercely cried Gurley, with an oath. "You shall stay to give +me another chance, or I will brand you as a trickster and a sneak!" + +"Gentlemen," said Elwood, turning to the company, in an expostulating tone, +"gentlemen, I appeal to you all if I have not--" + +"I will have no appeal," interrupted Gurley, in a voice trembling with +rage. "I say I _will_ have another chance, or--" + +"Take it, then," hastily interposed Elwood, as if unwilling to let the +other finish the sentence; "take it: what will you have the stakes?" + +"Double the last." + +"Double?" + +"Yes, double!" + +"Have your own way, then," said Elwood, with forced composure, taking up +and shuffling the cards for the important game. + +The stake was for a thousand; and the trembling antagonists played as if +life and death hung on the event. And the whole company, indeed, forgetful +of their own comparatively slight interest, in the momentous one thus put +at stake, at once turned their eyes on the two players, and watched the +result with breathless interest. That result was soon disclosed; when, to +the surprise of all, and the dismay of Gaut Gurley, the victory once more +strangely fell to the lot of Mark Elwood, who, gathering up the stakes with +trembling eagerness, hastily rose from the table, as if to depart. + +"What in the name of Tophet does all this mean?" fiercely exclaimed Gurley, +throwing an angry and suspicious look round the table upon those who had +doubtless been, at other sittings, his confederates in fleecing Elwood. +"Yes, what is the meaning of this? I ask _you_, and _you_, sir?" + +"Better ask your own partner," said one of the men addressed, with a +defiant look. + +"Elwood? Pooh!" exclaimed Gaut, with a bitter sneer. + +"And why not?" responded the former. "He may have as good luck as the best +of us, as it appears he has had. And hark ye, Gaut, you look things at us +that it might not be safe for you to say in this room." + +"Gentlemen, you will all bear me out in leaving, now," here interposed +Elwood, beginning to make towards the door. + +"Stop, sir!" thundered Gaut. "You are not a-going to sneak off with all +that money in your pocket, by a d--d sight!" + +"Why not, sir?" replied Elwood; "why not, for all you can say?" + +"Because I have lost, sir!" shouted Gurley, hoarse with rage. "I have lost +three games running,--lost all I have. I demand a fair chance to win it +back; and that chance I will have, or I'll make you, Mark Elwood, curse the +hour you refused it." + +"Gaut Gurley, you insatiate fiend!" exclaimed Elwood, in a tone of mingled +anger and distress; "you it was who first led me into this accursed habit +of play, by which you have robbed me of untold thousands yourself, and been +the means of my being robbed of thousands more by others. You have brought +me to the door of ruin before, and would now take all I have to save me +from absolute bankruptcy." + +"Whining hypocrite!" cried Gurley, starting up in rage. "Do you tell that +story when you have my last dollar in your pocket? But your pitiful whining +shall not avail you. If you leave this room alive, you leave that money +behind you." + +"Stop, stop!" here interposed one of the company, who had noted what had +inadvertently fallen from Elwood, in his warmth, respecting his apprehended +bankruptcy; "stop, no such recriminations and threatenings here! I can show +Elwood a way to dispose of a part of his money, at least, without bringing +on _any_ one the charge of robbing or being robbed. Here is a note of your +signing, Mr. Elwood,--a debt of honor,--for a couple of hundreds, +contracted in this very room, you will remember. You may as well pay it." + +"I have a similar bit of paper," said another, coming forward and +presenting a note for a still larger sum. + +"And I, likewise," said a third, joining the group, with an additional +piece of evidence of Elwood's folly, in the shape of a gambling note; "and +I shall insist on payment with the rest, seeing the money cannot be +disposed of between you and Gaut without a quarrel and danger of +bloodshed." + +With a perplexed and troubled air Elwood paced the room a moment, without +uttering a word in reply to the different demands that had so unexpectedly +been made upon him. He glanced furtively towards the door, as if +calculating the chances of escaping through it before any one could +interpose to prevent him. He then glanced inquiringly at the company for +such indications of sympathy or forbearance as might warrant the attempt; +but in their countenances he read only that which should deter him from +resorting to any such means of escaping the dilemma in which he now found +himself. And, suddenly stopping short and turning to the new claimants for +his money, he said: + +"Well, gentlemen, have your way, then. I had hoped to be permitted to carry +away money enough to meet my bills and engagements of to-day,--at least, as +much as I brought here. But, as I am not to be allowed that privilege, hand +on your paper, every scrap of my signing, and you shall have your pay." + +A half-dozen notes of hand were instantly produced and thrown upon the +table, and the holder of each was paid off in turn; the last of whom drew +from Elwood nearly every dollar he had in his possession. + +"There, gentlemen," he exclaimed, with a sort of desperate calmness, "in +this line of deal, at least, my accounts are all squared. I am quits with +you all." + +"Not with me, by a d--d sight!" exclaimed Gurley, no longer able to +restrain his rage at being thus baulked in his desperate purpose of getting +hold of Elwood's money, by fair means or foul, before permitting him to +leave the room. "Not with me, sir, till the amount of that last stake, +which was just enough to make me whole, is again in my pocket; and I'll +follow you to the gates of hell, but I'll have it!" + +Cowering and trembling beneath the threats and fiendish glances of the +other, Elwood siezed his hat, and rushed from the room. + +On escaping from this "den of thieves," and gaining the street below, +Elwood's first thought was of home and his shamefully neglected family, and +he turned his steps in that direction. But, before proceeding far, he began +to hesitate and falter in his course. He became oppressed with the feelings +of a criminal. He was ashamed to meet his family; for, fully conscious that +his looks must be haggard, his eyes red and bloodshot, and his whole +appearance disordered, he knew his return in such a plight, at that hour in +the morning, would betray the wretched employments of the night, especially +to his keen-sighted brother, on whose assistance he now doubly depended to +save him from ruin. He therefore changed his course, and was proceeding +towards his store, when he met his confidential clerk, who was out in +search of him, and who, in great agitation, informed him that his drafts of +yesterday had all been returned dishonored; that bills were pouring in, and +the holders clamorous for their pay. Struck dumb by the startling +announcement, it was some moments before Elwood could collect his thoughts +sufficiently to bid his clerk return, and put off his creditors till the +next day, when he would try to satisfy them all. And, having done this, he +turned suddenly into another street, wound his way back to the inn he had +just left, took a private room, locked himself in, and for a while gave way +to alternate paroxysms of grief, remorse, and self-reproaches. After +exhausting himself by the violence of his emotions, he threw himself upon a +bed, and, thinking an hour's repose might mend his appearance, so as to +enable him the better to disguise the cause of his absence, on his return +to his family, which he now concluded to defer till towards dinner-time, he +fell into a slumber so profound and absorbing, that he did not awake till +the shadows of approaching night had begun to darken his room. + +Leaping from his couch, in his surprise and vexation at having so overslept +himself, he hastily made his toilet, and immediately set out for home,--a +home which, for the first time in his life, he now dreaded to enter. To +that wretched home we will now repair, preceding his arrival, to relate +what had there occurred in his absence. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish _father_, who will +no more be admonished."--ECCL. + +After the breaking up of the party, as described in the former chapter, +Arthur Elwood, on joining the family circle, and not meeting his host and +brother there, as he naturally expected, expressed his surprise at the +circumstance, and inquired the cause of his absence. But, perceiving that +the subject gave pain to Mrs. Elwood, who deemed it prudent but to repeat, +as she hesitatingly did, what her husband had told her, that he had gone +out, soon to be back, the former forbore any further inquiries or comments, +and soon retired to rest, wishing her a good-night and pleasant slumbers. + +"Good-night and pleasant slumbers!" slowly and murmuringly repeated the +anxious and troubled wife, on whose ear the words, kindly meant as she knew +them to be, fell as if in mockery to her feelings. "Pleasant slumbers for +me! Heaven grant they may be made so by his speedy coming; but--" and, +being now alone, and thus relieved of the restraining presence of others, +she burst into tears, and wept long and bitterly. + +Woman was not created to act independently. The sphere in which she is +formed to move, though different, is yet so immediately connected--with +that of man, that her destiny is inseparable from his. Her happiness and +prosperity are not in her own keeping. The welfare of the husband is the +welfare of the wife; and, if poverty and disgrace, the concomitants of +vice, fall on him, she must participate equally in the physical evil, and +drink as much deeper of the cup of moral misery as her unblunted +sensibilities are more lively, and her sense of right and wrong are more +acute, than those of him who has become dead to the one and lost to the +other. What wonder, then, that she should so agonize and weep in secret +over his moral deviations, and all the more bitterly, because, with the +most intense desire to do so, she has no power to remedy the evil? But, for +that sorrow and suffering, who before high Heaven will be held responsible? +Who, but the doubly-guilty husband whose conduct has caused them? + +Through the whole of that, to her, long and dreary night, Mrs. Elwood never +once thought of retiring to rest, but kept up her vigils in waiting and +watching for her husband: now listening pensively to the wind that seemed +to moan round her solitary apartment in unison with her own feelings; now +straining her senses to catch some sound of his approach; and now, perhaps, +throwing herself upon a sofa, and falling, for a moment, into a troubled +slumber, but only to start up at the first sound of the rattling windows, +to listen again, and again to be disappointed. In this manner she wore away +the lingering hours of the night, till the long prayed-for daylight, which +she supposed, at the farthest, would bring back her truant husband, made +its welcome appearance. But daylight came not this time to remove the cause +of her anxieties. Elwood had several times before staid out nearly through +the night, but the approach of daylight had always, till now, brought him +home; and, not making his appearance, as she confidently expected, she +became, as the morning advanced, really alarmed for his personal safety, +and would have immediately sent out for him, but she knew not whom to send. +She therefore concluded to put off the already long-delayed breakfast no +longer; and, summoning her brother-in-law, who, with herself (her son, whom +we have yet more particularly to introduce to the reader, being temporarily +absent from town), now constituted all the family remaining to join in the +repast. The two then sat down to the table, and partook the meal mostly in +gloomy silence, one still hoping all might yet turn out well, and therefore +repressing her twofold apprehensions; and the other, out of regard to her +feelings, kindly forbearing to pain her with remarks and inquiries on a +subject which they mutually felt conscious was oppressing the hearts of +both. + +After the meal was over, Arthur Elwood arose, and, briefly announcing his +intention of going out to look up his brother, who, he said, would be +likely soon to be found at his store, left the house. At the usual dinner +hour, Arthur Elwood returned to the house, and was met at the door by his +anxious hostess, whose countenance quickly fell as she perceived him to be +alone. + +"Have you not yet seen my husband?" she eagerly demanded. + +"No, but have heard of him. He is somewhere in the city, I believe," +replied the other. + +"In the city and not return?" persisted the surprised and distressed wife. +"How can this be?--what does it mean?" + +"I do not know," replied Arthur, with a thoughtful and perplexed air. + +Mrs. Elwood for a moment stood mute as a statue; for, but too well +conjecturing what was passing in the mind of the other, she durst not ask +his opinion. But, soon regaining her usual composure, she led the way to +the dinner-table, where the meal that followed was partaken much as the one +that preceded it,--in silence and mutual constraint, which was only +relieved by an occasional forced, commonplace remark. + +"I shall again go to Mark's store," said Arthur, with stern gravity, as he +rose from the table, after he had finished his repast, "and I shall also +take the liberty of looking into the condition of his affairs. After that, +I may return here again, though to remain only for a short time, as I leave +for home in the evening." + +Towards night Arthur Elwood returned, and in his usual quiet way entered +the room where Mrs. Elwood was sitting; when, shaking his head as if in +reply to the question respecting her still absent husband, which he saw, by +the painfully inquiring expression of her countenance, was rising to her +lips, he took a seat by her side, and, with an air of concern and a slight +tremor of voice, commenced: + +"I have been debating with myself, sister Alice, whether it were a greater +kindness to go away without seeing you, and of course without apprising you +of what I may have discovered respecting your husband and his affairs, or +come here and tell you truths which would be painful,--too painful, +perhaps, for you to bear." + +"'Tis better I should know all," rather gasped than uttered Mrs. Elwood. +"You will tell me the truth,--_others_ may not. Go on." + +"Your husband," resumed the other, "wrote me for the help of a few +thousands, which I would have freely loaned, but for my suspicions that all +was not right with him; and, as I plainly told him, I came on to ascertain +for myself whether such help would be thrown away, or really relieve him, +as he represented, from a mere temporary embarrassment. I have now been +into the painful investigation, and find matters, I grieve to say, tenfold +worse than I suspected. He is, and must have been for a long time, the +companion and the victim of blacklegs and cutthroats, and--" + +"I suspected,--I knew it," interrupted the eager and trembling listener; +"and O Arthur, how I have tried and wept and prayed to induce him to break +off from them; for I felt they would eventually ruin him." + +"_Eventually_ ruin him! Why, Alice, with his own miscalculations in +business, folly and extravagance in every thing, they have done so +already." + +"But the main part of his property," demanded the other, with a startled +look, "you don't mean but what the main part of his property is still +left?" + +"Yes, I do, Alice,--but I see you are not prepared for this. Still, you may +as well know it now as ever. Yes, Alice, your husband is irretrievably +bankrupt!" + +Mrs. Elwood was not _indeed_ prepared for this development. She had +foreseen, it was true, the coming evil; but she supposed it was yet in the +distance. She knew her husband's property had been a large one; and the +announcement, from one she could not disbelieve, that it was all gone, +struck her dumb with surprise and consternation. She uttered not a word. +She could not speak, but sat pale and trembling, the very picture of +distress. + +After pacing the room a few moments, with frequent commiserating glances at +the face of the other, whose distress evidently deeply moved him, Arthur +Elwood stopped short before her and said: + +"Sister Alice, my time is about up,--I must go." + +"Have you no word to leave for my husband when he comes?" asked Mrs. +Elwood, with an effort to appear composed. + +"No,--none whatever to _him_; but with you, Alice," he added, drawing out a +small package of bank notes and dropping them into her lap, "with you, and +for you alone, against a day of necessity, I leave that trifle--no +hesitation--keep it--put it out of sight--there, that is right. Now only +one thing more,--what of your son?" + +"Claud?" + +"Yes. You know it has happened that I have never seen him." + +"I do know it, and have much regretted his absence; for I wished you to see +him. But I am now looking for him every hour, and if you could delay--" + +"No, no, I must go. Tell him to forget, at once, that he was ever a rich +man's only son and heir, and learn to profit by a rich man's errors; for, +till he does this, which, if he is like others, will require some time, he +will make no real advance in life." + +"Your impression may be natural, but it hardly does him justice. He is +_not_ like most others. Claud is a man now." + +"So much the better, then, for you and himself. But you see with a mother's +eyes, probably, and speak with a mother's heart. I will inquire about him, +however, as indeed I will about you all. Good-by." + +Thus did the unimpassioned Arthur Elwood, with a seeming business-like +roughness and want of feeling, assume to hide the emotions which he really +felt in the discovery of his brother's ruin, and in witnessing the distress +he had just caused in communicating it, hurry through the painful +interview, and abruptly depart, leaving Mrs. Elwood to struggle in secret +with the chaos of thoughts and emotions which Arthur's unexpected +revelation had brought over her. She was not left long, however, to +struggle with her feelings alone. In a short time the sound of a familiar +footstep hastily entering the front hall of the magnificent mansion,--alas! +now no longer her own,--suddenly caught her ear; when, with the +exclamation, "Claud, O Claud!" she rushed forward to her advancing son, +and, to use the expressive language of Scripture, "fell on his neck and +wept." + +"I heard of father's failure," said the son, a fine looking youth of about +twenty, with his mother's cleanly cut features and firm, thoughtful +countenance, joined to his father's manly proportions. "I learned, as I +came into the city, an hour ago, that father had just failed, his store +been shut up, and all his property put into the hands of his creditors; and +I hurried home to break the news to you. But I see you know it all." + +"Yes, that the blow was impending, but not that it had already fallen, as +you now report; but it may as well come to-day as to-morrow or next week. +Half my nights, for months, Claud, have been made sleepless by the bodings +and fears of the evil day, which, as things were going, I felt must +eventually come; but never, till within this very hour, did I dream that +our misfortunes were so near. But, though the storm has burst so much +sooner than I expected, I could bravely face it, could we say that it was +caused by no fault of our own; but to be brought upon us in this manner, my +son, it is hard, hard to bear." + +"But you have not been to blame, mother; and I did not suppose you thought +enough of wealth to grieve so at its loss." + +"I do not, Claud. It is not that; still, I could not help thinking of your +disappointment, even in that view of the misfortune." + +"Mine, mother? Why, I am no worse off than father was when he started in +life; no worse off than thousands who begin with no other resources than +what lie in clear heads and strong hearts. I can take care of myself; and, +what is more, I can take care of you, dear mother. Surely, you won't doubt +me?" + +"No, Claud, no. You have _always_ been my pride, latterly almost my only +hope; and I know not now but that you must be my only staff, on which to +lean as I pass down the decline of life." + +"And I will be one to you, mother; but come, cheer up, and let us go in and +talk over these matters more calmly." + +The mother and son accordingly retired to her usual sitting-room; where, +since her overcharged bosom had found relief in tears, and her sinking +spirits had been raised by the kind and comforting words of her dutiful +son, she told him all that had occurred during the two preceding days, +which constituted the brief but eventful period of his absence. They then +were beginning to counsel together on the prospects and probabilities of +their gloomy future; but their conversation was suddenly cut short by the +abrupt entrance of the wretched husband and father, who, on his way from +the hotel where he had spent the day in sleeping off his debauch in +concealment, having received an intimation of what was going on among his +creditors, had hurried home, with a confidence and self-possession which he +could not summon when he started; for, out of this movement among his +creditors, which he still would not believe was any thing more than a sort +of practical menace to enforce payment, he saw not only how he could frame +a plausible excuse for his guilty absence, but make the circumstance an +irresistible plea for forcing from his brother a loan sufficient to enable +him to arrest his failure and continue business. On entering the room, +therefore, after saluting his wife and son in a sort of brisk, unconcerned +manner, and muttering that he "thought they would never let him get home +again," he eagerly inquired for Arthur; and, on being informed that his +brother had started for his home, without leaving any note or word for him, +and especially on being told by his son--as he at length calmly and +persistingly was, in despite of his multiplied prevarications and denials, +what they all knew, and what he himself should have been the last to be +ignorant of--that the question of his failure, for more than he could ever +pay, had already been settled against him, he became frantic in the +outpourings of his rage, disappointment, and chagrin; sometimes declaring +that the world, grown envious of his prosperity, had all suddenly become +his enemies, and grossly belied him; sometimes savagely charging his +brother, wife, and son with conspiring together against him; and sometimes +cursing his own blindness and folly. And thus he continued to rave, and +walk the room for hours, till his wife and son, having partaken their +evening meal before his unheeding eyes, and become sick and wearied in +listening to his insane ravings,--to which they had wholly ceased making +any reply,--retired to rest, leaving him to partake such food as was left +on the table, to occupy, as he chose to do, the same sofa which his hapless +wife had done the night before, to sleep down the wild commotion of his +feelings, and awake a calmer and more humbled, but not yet a better or much +wiser man. + +But we do not propose to describe in detail the rapid descent from opulence +and station to poverty and insignificance, which now transpired to mark +this era in the singular fortunes of Elwood and his family. Their history, +for the next three months, was but the usual painful one which awaits the +failed merchant everywhere in the cities. The crushing sense of misfortune +which, for the first few days after the unexpected blow has fallen, weighs +down the self-deceived or otherwise unprepared victims; the succeeding +weeks of dejection and mortified pride; then the painful trial of parting +with the showy equipage, the costly furniture, and the cherished mementoes, +which had required, perhaps, the care of half a life in gathering; then the +compulsory abdication of the great and conspicuous mansion for the small, +obscure, hired cottage; then the saddening bodings and deep concern felt in +seeing the means of living daily diminishing, with no prospect of ever +being replenished; and, finally, the humiliating resort of the wife and +children to the needle or menial employments, for the actual necessaries of +life,--these, all these, are but the usual graduated vicissitudes of sorrow +and trial which are allotted to those whose folly and extravagance have +suddenly thrown them on the downward track of fortune, and which the +Elwoods, in common with others, were now doomed to experience, and, on the +part of Mrs. Elwood, especially, with aggravations not necessarily incident +to such reverses. She would have borne all the deprivations and evils +incident to her husband's failure without a murmur, could she have seen in +him any amendment in those habits and vicious inclinations which had led to +his downfall. But she could not. The hopes she had confidently entertained, +that his misfortunes would humble and reform him, were doomed to +disappointment. He still madly clung to his old associates of the +gambling-table; and all the money he could get was lost or squandered among +them, till he became too poor and desperate even for them, and they drove +him from their society to join another and a lower set, who in turn +compelled him to seek other still lower and more degraded associations. And +so descended, step by step, along the path of degradation, the once +princely merchant, till, despised and shunned by all respectable men, he +became the fit companion of the meanest thimble-riggers of the cellars, and +the lounging tipplers of the streets. + +His case, however, as hopeless as it might appear, was not permitted to +become an irretrievable one. Through a seemingly accidental circumstance, a +light one day broke on his beclouded and half-maddened brain, that led to a +self-redemption as happy for himself and family as it was unexpected by +all. A former friend, one morning, moved perhaps by his forlorn appearance, +in passing him with a light carriage, invited him to ride a few miles into +the country; where, being unexpectedly called off in another direction, he +left Elwood to return on foot by a nearer route across the fields to his +home. After travelling some distance, he reached an elevation which +overlooked the city, and, feeling a little fatigued, he sat down on a mossy +hillock to rest and enjoy the prospect. As he cast his eye over that busy +haunt of men, with its numerous spires shooting upward, its long lines of +princely dwellings, its encircling forest of masts, its lofty warehouses, +and other evidences of wealth and business, his own former important +participation in its busy scenes, and his present worse than insignificant +position there, rose in vivid contrast in his awakening mind; and the +thought of his past but squandered wealth came up only to add poignancy to +the sense of his present poverty and humiliation, which thus, and for the +first time, was brought home to his agitated bosom. Suddenly leaping from +his seat, from the torturing force of the reflection, he exclaimed: "Must I +bear this? Cannot I still be a man? I will! yes, before Heaven, I +_will_!" And, resuming his seat, his mind became intently engaged in +studying out ways and means for carrying the sudden but stern resolution +into effect; when, after another hour thus employed, he again jumped up, +and, with the air of one who has reached some unalterable conclusion, he +rapidly made his way homeward. + +While the besotted Elwood was undergoing, so unexpectedly, even to himself, +such a moral transformation in the solitude of the fields, an event +occurred to his sorrowful wife at home, which was equally unexpected to +_her_; which, though of a wholly different character, produced an equally +great revulsion in her feelings as the one happening to her husband, about +the same hour, was to him, or was producing in _his_ feelings, and which, +by the singular coincidence, seemed to indicate that the angel of mercy was +at length spreading his wings at the same time over both heads of this +unfortunate family. She had been having one of her most disconsolate days, +and was sitting alone in her little room, gloomily pondering over her +disheartening trials, without being able to see one ray of light in the +dark future, when she received a call from one of her husband's chief +creditors; who announced that those creditors, at a recent meeting, having +ascertained her meritorious conduct and needy situation, had voted her the +sum of five hundred dollars, which, confiding in her discretion for a +judicious outlay of the money, he now, he said, had the pleasure of +presenting her. And, having placed the money in her hands, and taken the +tear of gratitude--which, preventing the utterance of the word-thanks she +attempted, had started to her cheek at the unexpected boon--as a sufficient +acknowledgment, he kindly bade her adieu, and departed. + +That evening the husband and wife met as they had not for months before: +each at first surprised at seeing the unclouded brow and hopeful +countenance of the other, but each soon instinctively feeling that +something had occurred to both, which was not only of present moment, but +the harbinger of happier days to come. When confidence and hope are +springing up in doubtful or despairing bosoms, the tongue is soon loosened +from the frosts of reserve, however closely they may have before imprisoned +it. Elwood, with many expressions of regret at his past conduct, and of +wonder at the blindness and folly which had permitted him so long to +persevere in it, told his gratified companion all that had that day passed +through his mind,--his sudden sense of shame and degradation; his bitter +self-reproaches, and succeeding determination to reform; to atone for the +past, as far as he could, by future good conduct; to begin, in fine, the +world anew, and, after placing himself beyond the reach of those +temptations to which he had so fatally yielded, devote the remainder of his +days to honest industry. And she, anxious to encourage and strengthen him, +and fearing his total want of means might defeat his good +resolutions,--she, also, as she believed it would be true wisdom to do, +informed him of _her_ good fortune, and offered him a portion of her +unexpected acquisition, to enable him to engage in such business as he +should decide to follow. They then discussed, and soon mutually agreed on, +the expediency of leaving the city, where, as they had once there enjoyed +wealth and station, they must both ever be subjected to mortifying +contrasts,--both constantly doomed + + "To see profusion which they must not share,"-- + +and he be exposed to temptations which he might not always have the +firmness to withstand. + +"But I resolved," said Elwood, after a pause, "not only on going to the +country, but on to a new lot of land in the very outskirts of civilization. +You, however, should I succeed in getting up comfortable quarters, would +not be content to make such a place your home?" + +"Anywhere, Mark; and the farther from the dangerous influences of this +wicked city, the better. Yes, to the very depths of the wilderness, and I +will not complain." + +"It is settled, then. I was once, in one of my early excursions, along the +borders of the wild lakes lying on the northeastern line of New Hampshire, +where a living may be obtained from the cultivation of the soil alone; but +where more may be made, at particular seasons, in taking the valuable furs +that there abound. There I will go, contract for a lot of land, and prepare +a home, leaving you, and Claud, if he shall decide for a woodman's life, to +come on and join me next summer." + +"That Claud will do; for he often declares himself disgusted with the +trickery of trade, and to be longing for the country life of his boyhood. +But here he comes, and can speak for himself." + +The son now joined in the family deliberations, and learning, with surprise +and gratification, what had occurred during the eventful day, joyfully fell +in with his father's proposition; when it was soon decided that the latter +should take half the money that day given to Mrs. Elwood, to lay out in a +lot of land and house, and immediately proceed on his journey. + +Whatever Mark Elwood had once firmly decided on, he was always prompt and +energetic in executing. Before nine o'clock that evening, his knapsack of +clothing was made up for a journey on foot, which, contrary to the wishes +of his wife and son, he decided should be his mode of travelling. He then +went to bed, slept six hours, rose, dressed, bade his family good-by, +turned his back on the now loathed city, and, by sunrise next morning, was +far on his way towards his designated home among the distant wilds of the +North. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + "There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, + There is a rapture in the lonely shore, + There is society where none intrudes,-- + I love not man the less, but nature more." + +Once more in the green wilderness! Welcome the wild scenes of our boyhood, +which, as the checkered panorama of the past is unrolled at our bidding, +rise on the mental vision in all their original freshness and beauty! It +was here we first essayed to study the works of nature, and in them trace +the Master-hand that moulded and perfected them. It was here we learned to +recognize the voice of God in the rolling thunder, and his messengers in +the swift-winged lightnings; to mark the forms of beauty and grandeur in +every thing, from the humble lichen of the logs and rocks, to the high and +towering pine of the plain and the mountain,--from the low murmurings of +the quiet rivulet, to the loud thunderings of the headlong cataract,--and +from the soft whisperings of the gentle breeze, to the angry roar of the +desolating tornado; and, finally, it was here that our first and most +enduring lessons of devotion were learned, here that our first and truest +conceptions of the grand and beautiful were acquired, and here that the +leading tone of our intellectual character, such as it may be, was +generated and stamped on us for life. + +The second part of our story, to which the preceding chapters should be +taken, perhaps, as merely introductory, opens about midsummer, and among +that remarkable group of sylvan lakes--nearly a dozen in number--which, +commencing on the wild borders of northerly New Hampshire, and shooting off +in an irregular line some fifty miles northeasterly into the dark and +unbroken forests of Maine, appear on the map, in their strangely shapeless +forms and scattered locations, as if they must have been hurled, by the +hand of some Borean giant, down from the North Pole in a volley of huge +ice-blocks, which fell and melted where they now lie, sparkling, like rough +gems, on the shaggy bosom of the wilderness. + +Near the centre of an opening of perhaps a dozen acres, about a mile from +where the sinuous Androscoggin debouches full grown, like Minerva from the +head of Jupiter, from its parent reservoir, the picturesque Umbagog, stood +a newly rigged log house, of dimensions and finish which indicated more +taste and enterprise than is usually exhibited in the rude habitations of +the first settlers. It was a story and a half high, and the walls were +built of solid pine timber, originally roughly hewed, but recently dressed +down with broad axe over the whole outward and inner surfaces so smoothly +that, at a little distance, they presented, with their still visible seams, +more the appearance of the wainscoting of some costly cottage than the +humble log cabin. The building had also been newly shingled, new doors +supplied, the windows enlarged, the yard around leveled off, with other +improvements, of a late date, betokening considerable ambition for +appearance, and considerable outlay of means, for so new a place, to fit up +a tidy and comfortable abode for the occupants. In the surrounding field +were patches of growing maize, wheat, potatoes, and some of the common +table vegetables; the hay crop for the winter sustenance of the only cow +and yoke of oxen, the best friends of the new settler, having been just cut +and stored in an adjoining log-building, as was evident from the fresh look +of the stubble, and the stray straws hanging to the slivered stumps or +bushes in the field, and from the fragrant and far-scenting locks +protruding from the upper and lower windows of the well-crammed receptacle +passing under the name of barn. Beyond this little opening, and bounding it +on every side, stood the encircling wall of woods, through and over which +gleamed the bright waters of the far-spreading Umbagog on the north; while +all around, towering up in their green glories, rose, one above another, +the amphitheatric hills, till their lessening individual forms were lost, +or mingled in the vision with the lofty summits of the distant White +Mountains in the south and west, and of the bold detached eminences which +shot up from the dark wilderness and studded the horizon in all other +directions. + +Such, and in such a locality, was, as the reader probably has already +inferred, the residence which Mark Elwood had pitched upon for beginning +life anew. On leaving the city, as represented in the last chapter, he had, +under the goading remembrance of follies left behind, and the incitements +of hope-constructed prospects before, perseveringly pushed on, till he +reached this lone and wild terminus of civilized life; when, finding, a +mile beyond the last of the scattered settlements of the vicinity, a place +on which an opening had been made and the walls and roof of a spacious log +house erected, the year before, he had succeeded in purchasing it, for +ready money, at a price which was much below its value, and which left him +nearly half his little fund to be expended in more thoroughly clearing the +land, getting in crops, making the house habitable, and felling an +additional tract of forest. And with so much energy and resolution had he +pursued his object of seeing himself and family once more united at a +comfortable home, that, within three months from the time he commenced +operations, which was in the first of the spring months, he had +accomplished it all; for his wife and son, rejoicing in the knowledge of +his success which he had communicated to them, and promptly responding to +his invitation to join him, had come on, with their little all of goods and +money, in teams hired for the purpose; and they were now all together fully +installed in their new home, pleased with the novelty and freshness of +every thing around them, proud and secure in their conscious independence +and exemption from the dangers and trials they had recently passed through, +and contented and happy in their situation. + +The particular time we have taken for the reappearance of the family on +this, their new stage of action, was a warm but breezy afternoon, on one of +the last days of July. Elwood was engaged in his new-mown field, in cutting +and grubbing up the bushes and sprouts which had sprung up during the +season around the log-heaps and stumps, and could not easily or +conveniently be cut by the common scythe while mowing the grass. He was no +longer robed in the broadcloth and fine linen, in which, as the rich +merchant, he might have been seen, perhaps, one year ago that day, +sauntering about "on 'change" among the solid men of Boston. These had been +mostly worn out or sold during the changing fortunes of the year, and their +place was now wisely supplied by the long tow-frock and the other coarse +garments in common use among the settlers. Nor had his physical appearance +undergone a much less change. Instead of the pallid brow, leaden eye, +fleshly look, and the red cheek of the wine-bibber and luxurist of the +cities, he exhibited the embrowned, thin, but firm and healthy face, and +the clear and cheerful complexion of the contented laborer of the +country,--tell-tale looks both, which we always encounter with as much +secret disgust in the former as we do with involuntary respect in the +latter. He now paused in his labors, and stood for some time looking about +the horizon, as if watching the signs of the weather; now noting the +progress of the haze gathering in the south, and now turning his cheek +first one way and then another, apparently to ascertain the doubtful +direction of the wind, which, from a lively western breeze, had within the +last hour lulled down into those small, fluctuating puffs usually +observable when counter-currents are springing up, balancing, and beginning +to strive for the mastery. After a while he moved slowly towards the house, +continuing his observations as he went, till he came near the open window +at which Mrs. Elwood was sitting at her needle-work, from which she +occasionally lifted her eyes, and glanced somewhat anxiously along the path +leading down through the woods to a landing-place on the lake; when, +looking round and observing her husband standing near, giving token of +being about to speak, she interposed and said: + +"You have seen nothing of Claud, I suppose? What can be the reason why he +does not return? He was to have been at home long before this, was he not?" + +"Yes," carelessly replied Elwood, "unless he concluded to take a bout in +the woods. He took his fowling-piece with him, to use in case the trout +wouldn't bite, you know. Phillips, the old hunter, came into the field +where we were last night, and said he was out of meat, and must skirt the +lake to-day for a buck. I presume Claud may have joined him. There! hark! +that sounded like Claud's piece," he added, as the distant report of a gun +rose from the woods westward of the lake and died away in swelling echoes +on the opposite shore. "And there, again!" he continued, as another and +sharper report burst, the next moment, from the same locality,--"there goes +another, but not his, as he could not have loaded so quick. That must have +been Phillips' long rifle. They are doubtless together somewhere near the +Magalloway,--some three miles distant, I should judge,--and are probably +having fine sport with something." + +"That may be the case, perhaps," responded Mrs. Elwood. "I wish, however, +he would come; for I cannot yet quite divest myself of the idea that there +may be danger in these wild scenes of the lakes and the woods. But what was +you about to say when I first spoke? You were going to say something, I +thought." + +"O--yes--why, I was about to say that I had made up my mind to set fire to +the _slash_. It is dry enough now to get a good burn; and it looks to me a +good deal like rain. I wish to get the land cleared and ready to sow with +winter wheat by the first of September; and I don't like to risk the chance +of finding every thing in so good order again." + +"There is no danger that the fire will spread, or be blown to the +buildings, is there?" + +"No, the wind is springing up in the south now, and will drive the fire +only towards the lake in the direction of the landing." + +"But Claud may be there." + +"Well, if he should be, the fire won't burn up the lake, I think; and, if +it besets the path in the woods, he can come round some other way," +jocosely said Elwood, moving away to carry his purpose into execution. + +Having procured a parcel of splinters split from the dry and resinous roots +of some old pine stub,--that never-failing and by no means contemptible +substitute for lamp or candle among the pioneers of a pine-growing +country,--he proceeded rapidly to the edge of the _slash_, as a tract of +felled forest is generally denominated by the first settlers, especially +of the northern States. Here, pausing a moment to mark with his eye the +most favorable places to communicate the fire, he picked his way along the +southern end to the farthest side of the tangled mass of trees of every +description composing the slash, which was a piece of some four or five +acres, lying on the western border and extending north and south the whole +length of the opening. And, having reached his destination, and kindled all +his splinters into a blaze, he threw one of them into the thickest nest of +pine or other evergreen boughs at hand, and darted back to his next marked +station, where he threw in another of his blazing torches, and so on till +he reached the cleared ground, which was not one moment too soon for his +safety. For so dry and inflammable had every thing there become, under the +scorching sun of the preceding fortnight, which had been relieved by +neither rain nor cloud, that, the instant the fire touched the tinder-like +leaves, it flashed up as from a parcel of scattered gunpowder; and, +bursting with almost explosive quickness all around, and swiftly leaping +from bough to bough and treetop to treetop, it spread with such astonishing +celerity that he found it hard on his heels, or whirling in a hot cloud +over his head, at every pause he made to throw in a new but now unnecessary +torch, in his rapid and constantly quickened run through the slash. And +when, after running some distance into the open field, to escape the +stifling smoke and heat by which he was even there assailed, he turned +round to note more fully the surprising progress that the terrible element +he had thus let loose was making, he beheld all that part of the slash +which he had a moment before passed through already enveloped, from side to +side, in a continuous blaze, whose red, curling crest, mounting every +instant higher and higher, was advancing with the seeming speed of a +race-horse on its fiery destination. Half-appalled by the sight of such a +sudden and unexpected outburst of the fire he had kindled, Elwood hurried +on to his house, and joined his startled wife in the yard; when the two +took station on an adjoining knoll, and looked down upon the conflagration +in progress with increasing wonder and uneasiness,--so comparatively new +was the scene to them both, and so far did it promise to exceed all their +previous conceptions, in magnitude and grandeur, of any thing of the kind +to be met with in the new settlements. And it was, indeed, a grand and +fearful spectacle: For, with constantly increasing fury, and with the +rapidity of the wind before which it was driving, still raged and rolled on +the red tempest of fire. Now surging aloft, and streaking with its winding +jets of flame the fiercely whirling clouds of smoke that marked its +advance, and now dying away in hoarse murmurs, as if to gather strength for +the new and more furious outburst that the next moment followed, it kept on +its terrific march till it reached the central elevation, which embraced +the most tangled, densely covered, and combustible part of the slash, and +on which had been left standing an enormous dry pine, that towered so up +high above the surrounding forest as to have long served as a landmark for +the hunters and fishermen, in setting their courses through the woods or +over the lake. Here the fiery billow, as if governed by the human tactics +of a military assault, paused, parted, and swept by on either side, till it +had inclosed the elevation; when suddenly it shot up from every side in an +hundred converging tongues of flame, which, soon meeting and expanding into +one, quickly enveloped the whole hill in one broad, unbroken robe of +sheeted fire, encompassed and mounted the veteran pine, and around its +colossal trunk formed a huge, whirling pyramid of mingling smoke and flame +that rose to the mid-heavens, shedding, in place of the darkened sun, a +lurid glare over the forest, and sending forth the stormy roar of a +belching volcano. The next moment a shower of cinders and the burning +fragments of twigs, bark, and boughs which had been carried high up by the +force of the ascending currents, fell hot and hissing to the earth over +every part of the adjoining fields, to and even far beyond the spot where +Elwood and his wife were standing. + +"Good Heavens!" exclaimed Elwood, aroused from the mute amazement with +which he and his more terrified companion had been beholding the scene, as +soon as these indications of danger were thus brought to his very feet. +"Good Heavens! this is more than I bargained for. See,--the fire is +catching on the stumps all over the field!" + +"The house!" half-screamed Mrs. Elwood. "What is that rising from the +shingles up there near the top of the roof?" + +"Smoke, as I am alive!" cried the other, in serious alarm, as he glanced up +to the roof, where several slender threads of smoke were beginning to steal +along the shingles. "Run, Alice, run with the pails for the brook, while I +throw up the ladder against the gable. We must be lively, or within one +hour we shall be as houseless as beggars." + +"O, where is Claud? where is Claud?" exclaimed the distressed wife and +mother, as she flew to the house to do her husband's bidding. + +Yes, where was Claud? At the risk of the charge of purposely tantalizing +the reader, we must break off here, to follow the young man just named, in +the unexpected adventures which he also had experienced during that +eventful day. But for this we will take a new chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + "To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell, + To slowly trace the forest's shady scene, + Where things that own not man's dominion dwell, + And mortal foot hath ne'er, or rarely, been; + To climb the trackless mountain all unseen, + With the wild flock that never needs a fold; + Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean,-- + This is not Solitude: 't is but to hold + Converse with nature's charms, and view her stores unroll'd." + +It was about the middle of the forenoon, on the day marked by the incidents +narrated in the preceding chapter, when Claud Elwood, who had become pretty +well initiated into the sports of the locality, entered his light canoe, +with his fishing-tackle and fowling-piece, and pushed out upon the broad +bosom of the forest-girt Umbagog. Having had the best success, when up on +the lake the last time, on the western margin, he pulled away in that +direction, and, after rowing a couple of miles up the lake, he laid down +his oar, unrolled his elm-bark cable, and let down his stone anchor, at a +station a furlong or so from the shore. + +It was a beautiful spot, and a beautiful day to enjoy it in. From the +water's edge rose, deeply enshrouded in their bright green, flowing, and +furbelowed robes of thickly interwoven pines, the undulating hills, back to +the summit level of that long, narrow tongue of forest land, which, for +many miles, only separates the Umbagog from the parallel Magalloway, the +noble stream that here comes rushing down from the British highlands, to +join the scarcely larger Androscoggin, almost at the very outset of its +"varied journey to the deep." Turning from this magnificent swell on the +west, the eye, as it wandered to the right over the bright expanse of +intervening waters, next rested on the long, crescent-shaped mountain +ridge, behind which slept, in their still deeper and wilder seclusion, the +broad Mooseeluk-maguntic and the Molechunk-a-munk, which, with the Umbagog, +make up the three principal links in this remarkable chain of lakes. Still +farther to the right lay the seemingly boundless, rolling forests, forming +the eastern and southern rim of this basin of the lakes; whose gradually +sloping sides, like some old pinnacled city, were everywhere bristling with +the giant forms of the heaven-aspiring pine, and whose nearer recesses were +pierced, in the midst, by the long, lessening line of the gleaming Umbagog; +while around the whole circle of the horizon, scattered here and there far +back into the blue distance, rose mountain after mountain in misty grandeur +to the heavens. + +After thus slowly sweeping the horizon, to note, for the tenth time, +perhaps, the impressive character of the scenery, whose everywhere +intermingling beauty and grandeur he was never tired of contemplating, +Claud withdrew his gaze, and turned his attention to, the more immediate +object of his excursion. After a few moments spent in regulating his hook +and line, he strung his angle-rod, and threw out to see whether he could +succeed in tempting, at that unfavorable hour, the fickle trout from their +watery recesses. But all in vain the attempt. Not a trout was seen stirring +the water at the surface, or manifesting his presence around the hook +beneath; and all the endeavors which the tantalized angler made, by +changing the bait, and throwing the line in different directions around +him, proved, for the next hour, equally fruitless. While he was thus +engaged, intently watching his line, each moment expecting that the next +must bring him a bite, one of those peculiar, subdued, but far-reaching +sounds, which are made by the grazing of the oar against the side of the +boat in rowing, occasionally greeted his ear from some point to the south +of him; though, for a while, nothing was to be seen to indicate by whom the +sounds were produced. Soon, however, a man in a canoe, who had been +coasting, unseen, along the indentures of the shore, and whom Claud +instantly recognized as Phillips, the hunter already named, shot round a +neighboring point, and, in a few minutes more, was at his side. + +"Well, what luck?" cheerily exclaimed Phillips, a keen, hawk-eyed, +self-possessed looking man, with a round, compact, and sinewy frame. "What +luck to-day, young man?" + +"None whatever," replied Claud, with an air of disappointment. + +"I suppose so, unless you began before ten o'clock." + +"But why did you suppose so?" + +"O, I knew it from my knowledge of human nature," said the hunter, +humorously. "Trout are very much like other folks, only a great deal more +sensitive to heat. Now, you don't see men, who are well fixed under a cool +shade in a sweltering hot day, very anxious to run out bare-headed in the +sun, when there is no call for it; much less, then, the trout, that can't +bear the sun and heat at all. Though there are, probably, a ton of them +within a stone's throw of us, not one will come out with this bright sun; +they are lying behind the rocks and old logs at the bottom, and won't begin +to circulate these three hours." + +"And are you not a-going to try them?" + +"I? No; I would as soon think of fishing now on the top of these hills. +Besides this, I have a different object. I am bound to carry home something +that will pass for fresh meat, if it is nothing but a coon. I shall haul up +my canoe somewhere about here; follow up the lake-shore a mile or so, with +the idea of catching a deer in the edge of the water, come there to keep +off the flies; then, perhaps, cross over to the Magalloway, down that, and +over to this place; when, by way of topping off, I will show you, by that +time, if you are about here so long, how trout are taken." + +So saying, the hunter dipped his springy oar into the water, and, with a +few vigorous strokes, sent his canoe to the shore, and, having moored it to +a root, he glided into the thickets, and disappeared with a tread so +noiseless as to leave Claud, for many minutes, wholly in doubt whether the +man was standing still in the bushes or proceeding on his excursion. + +It was now noon, and Claud, seeing no prospect of any immediate success in +his piscatory employment, which had been made to appear to him, by the +remarks of the hunter, more discouraging than ever, drew up his anchor, and +rowed to a point of the shore which was embowered by a group of magnificent +pines. Here, finding a cool spring, as well as a refreshing shade, he drew +out his lunch, and very leisurely proceeded to discuss it, with the +ice-cold water of the spring by which he had seated himself for the +purpose. His fare was coarse; but it was partaken with a relish of which +those who have never experienced the effects of the air and exercise, +incident to a life in the woods, can have no just conception; and to which +the palled appetite of the + + "vain lords of luxury and ease, + Whom slumber soothes not, pleasure cannot please," + +is poor in comparison, though all the king's banquets and metropolitan +feasts in the world should vie together to make good the substitute. +Claud's life had thus far been, in the main, a quiet and commonplace one; +nothing having occurred to him to arouse those strong and over-mastering +passions to which it is the lot of most of us, at some period of our lives, +to become subjected. It had been checkered, however, by one bit of romance, +which, to say the least, had greatly excited his imagination. About a year +previous to the time of which we are now writing, and one day while he was +walking the streets of Boston, a small, closely-enwrapped package was put +in his hand by an unknown boy, who, with the simple announcement, "_For +you, Sir_," turned quickly away, and made off with the air of one who has +completed his mission, and would avoid being questioned. Glancing within +the wrapper, and perceiving it inclosed a small encased picture, or +likeness, of some female, which he thought must have been delivered to him +through mistake, Claud looked hastily round for the messenger, and, not +seeing him, he walked backward and forward along the street, and lingered +some time in the vicinity, still expecting the boy would soon return to +claim the package. But, being disappointed in this, he went home, and, +retiring to his room, undid the wrapper, which he carefully but vainly +examined for some name, mark, or other clue to the mystery; and then, with +much interest, fell to inspecting the picture. It was, obviously, a +well-painted miniature likeness of a fair, dark-eyed girl, but representing +no remembered face, except in the peculiar expression of the strong and +commanding countenance; which, he thought, either in man or woman, he must +have somewhere before encountered. The whole likeness, indeed, together +with the circumstances under which it came into his hands, made, at the +time, a lively impression on his mind; and, keeping the affair wholly to +himself, he often contemplated that fair face in private; and, for months +afterwards, he never was in a public assembly, where the sex were present, +without running his eye over it in search of the original. But, as he never +found it, the impression gradually wore away, and, in the exciting changes +that had occurred in the fortunes of his family, it had been nearly +obliterated from his mind; when, that morning, while searching his trunk +for some implement belonging to his gun, he came across the miniature, and +put it in his pocket. And now, in the leisure that followed his repast, he +bethought him of it; and, laying it before him on the bed of moss on which +he was reclining, he contemplated it with renewed interest, and that sort +of dreamy enthusiasm which the sudden revival of old associations in such +solitudes is apt to awaken in the mind, especially when those associations +are connected, as now, with a matter of mystery and romance. + +After indulging in his reveries a while, he put up his miniature, aroused +himself from his day-dream, and rose to his feet when, feeling inclined for +some kind of action, he decided on a short excursion in the woods, in the +direction of the Magalloway, where probably he would fall in with Phillips, +and return with him to the lake. Accordingly, after loading his gun with +ball and buckshot, so as to be prepared for any large wild animals he might +chance to encounter, he leisurely took his way through the heavy, ascending +forest that lay in his course; here pausing to note the last night's bed of +some solitary bear, and there to trace the marks of the death-struggle of a +victim deer, that, with all its vigilance and wondrous agility, had been +surprised and brought down by the stealthy and far-leaping catamount. The +ever-varying tenants of the forest, also, were constantly presenting as he +passed on, some novelty to attract his unaccustomed eye; now in the smooth, +tall shaft of the fusiform fir--the dandy of the forest--standing up with +its beautiful cone-shaped top among its rougher neighbors, trim and +straight as the bonneted cavalier of the old pictures, among the slouchy +forms of his homelier but worthier opponents; now in the low and stocky +birch standing on its broad, staunch pedestal of strongly-braced roots +below, and throwing out widely above its giant arms, as if striving to +shoulder and stay up the weight of the superincumbent forest; and now in +the imperial pine, proudly lifting its tall form an hundred feet over the +tops of the plebeian trees around, to revel in the upper currents of the +air, or bathe its crowning plumes of living green in the clouds of heaven. + +Proceeding in this manner, he at length found himself gradually descending +the western slope of the hill; when he soon arrived in the vicinity of the +river, a glimpse of which, together with a small clearing and a +tidy-looking cottage on its banks, he now caught through the tops of the +intervening trees. While still walking on, his attention was attracted to a +comparatively open place in the woods, where, at some previous period, a +severe fire had killed all the smaller trees, and consumed the underbrush, +which had been replaced by scattering shrubs of the white poplar +intermingled with a plentiful growth of the black-raspberry, whose luscious +fruit--the first to reward the pioneer, and for which he has to contend +sharply with the birds and bears to obtain his share--was now beginning to +ripen. As he was entering this open space, which appeared to extend some +distance round the point of a screening knoll, he was suddenly brought to a +stand by a noise somewhere in the bushes or woods ahead, such as had never +before saluted his ears. It was like nothing else, or _if any_ thing else, +like the wild snorting of a frightened horse prolonged into the dying note +of the steam whistle. Claud recoiled a step before the unaccustomed sound, +and involuntarily cocked and raised his gun to his shoulder. But he was +allowed no time to speculate. The next instant, the loud and piercing +shriek of a female, nearer but in the same direction, rose and rang through +the forest. With a speed quickened at every step by the rapidly repeated +cry of distress, he bounded towards the spot, when, turning the point of +the knoll, he suddenly found himself in full view of the object of his +solicitude,--a girl, in the full bloom of youthful beauty, who, with bonnet +thrown back and her loosened hair streaming in wild disorder over her +shoulders, instantly rushed forward for his protection. Claud stopped +short, in mute surprise at the unexpected apparition; for the first glance +at her face told him that the original of his mysterious miniature was +before him,--before him, here in the woods! Breathless and speechless in +her wild affright, she pointed, with a glance over her shoulder, to a +thick, high tangle of large, strongly limbed, knotty, windfallen trees, a +short distance behind her, and fled past him to the rear. Looking in the +indicated direction, the startled and perplexed young man distinguished the +outlines of a monstrous moose madly plunging at the woody barrier, and +trying to force his enormous antlers through the unyielding limbs +preparatory to leaping it in pursuit of his victim, who had eluded the +infuriated animal, and barely escaped the fatal blows of his uplifted +hoofs, by creeping under the providentially placed obstruction. Claud +instantly raised his piece, when, feeling uncertain of his aim, he withheld +his fire, and stood waiting for a fairer view. But, before he could obtain +it, the moose, tired of vain attempts to force his passage through the +bristling barricade of logs and limbs before him, disappeared for one +moment, but the next came crashing round the nearest end of it, and, with +renewed demonstrations of rage and hostility, made directly for the new +opponent he beheld in his way. Still unalarmed for his own safety, Claud +waited with levelled gun till his formidable assailant was within forty +yards of him, when he took a quick aim and fired. Reeling under the +discharge of his heavily loaded piece, and blinded by the smoke, he could +not, at first, see the effect of his fire; but when he did so, the next +instant, it was only to behold the monster brute, maddened, not stopped, by +the flesh wounds inflicted, rushing on him with a force and fury which +compelled him to leap suddenly aside, to avoid being beat into the earth by +those terrible hoofs, which he saw lifted higher and higher, at each +approaching step, for his destruction. Mindful, in his peril, of the +precautions already learned from the hunters, Claude, while the moose, +whose tremendous impetus was driving him straight ahead, could break up, so +as to turn in the pursuit,--Claud made, with all the speed of which he was +master, for a huge hemlock, luckily standing at no great distance on his +right; a course which he thought would divert the monster from pursuit of +the maiden, and, at the same time, best insure his own safety. But, so +prodigious was the rushing speed of the foiled and now doubly exasperated +moose, that the imperilled huntsman had barely time to reach the sheltering +tree and dodge behind it, before the hotly pursuing foe was at his heels, +rasping and tearing with his spiked antlers the rough bark of the tree, in +his attempts to follow round it near and fast enough to overtake and strike +down his intended victim. Round and round then sped both pursuer and +pursued, as fast as the frantic rage of the one, and the keen instinct of +self-preservation in the other, could impel them. Although the moose, from +the great width of his interfering horns, was compelled to sweep round the +tree in a circle requiring him to go over double the distance travelled by +Claude, yet so much greater was his speed, that it called for the utmost +exertions of the latter to keep clear of the battle-axe blows which he +heard falling every instant with fatal force behind him. His gun had +already been struck, shivered, and beat from his hand; and, as he glanced +over his shoulder and saw the fierce and glaring eyes of his ruthless +pursuer, and his uplifted and forward-thrown hoofs striking closer and +closer to his heels at every bound, a sense of his deadly peril flashed +over his mind with that strange and paralyzing effect which the first full +conviction of impending death often produces on the stoutest hearts. He +felt his strength giving way, his brain beginning to whirl, and he was on +the point of yielding himself to his fate; when a stream of smoke and flame +accompanied the startling report of a rifle, shot out from the edge of a +neighboring thicket. The moose gave a convulsive start, floundered forward +on his knees, swayed backward and forward an instant, then fell over +broad-side into the bushes with a heavy crash, straightened out, gasped, +and died. + +"Dunno but you'll think I waited too long, young man," cried Phillips, now +advancing with a quick, leaping step from his covert. "The fact was, I +felt, on seeing you getting into such close quarters, that I had better be +rather particular about my aim, so as to stop him at once; besides that, I +was at first a little out of breath. I had heard the fellow blow when an +hundred rods off,--then the woman scream,--then your gun; and, thinking +like enough there would be trouble, I legged it for the spot, and got to my +stand just as he treed you." + +"I feel very grateful to you, Mr. Phillips, for this timely rescue," +responded Claud, recovering his composure. "This, I suppose, is the +far-famed moose?" + +"Yes, and a bouncer at that," replied the hunter, going up and, placing his +foot on the broad and still quivering flank of the huge animal. "Good +twenty hands high, and weighs, well, not much short of fifteen hundred, I +should say." + +"But are they often thus dangerous?" asked Claud. + +"Not very often, perhaps," rejoined the hunter. "But still the bull moose, +at this season of the year, is sometimes, when wounded, about as ugly a +customer as you meet with in the woods. This fellow I judge to have been +_oncommon_ vicious, as he begun his tantrums before he was touched at all, +it seems. I dunno but 'twas the woman put the devil into him, as women do +into two-legged animals sometimes,--don't they, young man?" + +"The woman? O yes, the young lady," said Claud, reminded of his duty as a +gallant by the remark, though unwilling to appropriate to himself the +prophetic joke with which it was coupled. "Where is she? I must go and see +to her." + +"She has already seen to herself, I guess," said the hunter. "As I was +coming up, I glimpsed her cutting round and running, like a wild turkey, +for the clearing, to which the moose had cut off her retreat. She has +reached the house by this time, doubtless; for it is hard by, down on the +river here, a hundred rods or such a matter." + +"Who is she? Do you know the family?" eagerly inquired the young man. + +"No," answered the hunter. "They are new-comers in these parts." + +"What could have brought her here so far into the woods?" persisted Claud. + +"The raspberries, very likely," said the other, indifferently, while taking +out and examining the edge of his knife. "But come, we must get this moose +into some condition, so that he will keep; then be off to let the settlers +know of our luck. And early to-morrow morning, we will, all hands, come up +the river in boats, and distribute him. He will make fresh meat enough to +supply the whole settlement." + +The hunter now, with the assistance of his new pupil in the craft, +proceeded to dressing the moose, the process of which, bleeding, +disemboweling, and partially skinning, was soon completed; when, cutting +some stout green skids with the hatchet he ever carried in his belt, and +inserting the ends under the bulky carcass, the two contrived to raise it, +by means of old logs rolled up for the purpose, several feet from the +ground, so as to insure a free circulation of air beneath it. This being +done, the hunter kindled two log fires, one on each side, to keep off, he +said, the wolves and other carnivorous animals. They then, after cutting +out the tongue and lip, which are esteemed the tidbits of this animal, took +up their line of march for the lake, which, with the long, rapid lope of +the woodsman, measured off, as usual, in Indian file, and with little or no +interrupting conversation, they reached in a short time, and without +further adventure. + +"Now," said the hunter, as he reached the spot where his canoe was tied, +and turned round towards his lagging companion,--"now, sir, what say you to +taking a five-pound trout?" + +"Perfectly willing," replied Claud, smiling; "and I would even take up with +a smaller one." + +"Well, I won't,--that is, not much smaller; and I think I'll have one of at +least the size I named." + +"What makes you so confident?" + +"Because, it being a hot, shiny morning, they took to their coverts early, +and must be sharp-set, by this time. Besides that, it is just about the +best time for them that could be got up: a deep cloud, as you see, is +coming over the sun, and this wind is moving the water to the bottom. All +sizes will now be coming out, and the big ones, like big folks, will make +all the little ones stand back till their betters are served." + +Each now taking to his canoe, they pushed out some twenty or thirty rods +into the lake, cast anchor, and threw out their lines. Claud, who baited +with grubs, soon had drawn in two, weighing as many pounds a piece, and +began to feel disposed to banter the hunter, who had baited with a flap of +moose-skin, which he had brought along with him, and which, to Claud, +seemed little likely to attract the fishes to his hook. But he soon found +himself mistaken; for, turning to give utterance to what was passing in his +mind, he beheld the other dallying with a trout, which he had hooked, and +now held flapping on the surface of the water, evidently much larger than +either of his own. + +"That is a fine one!" cried Claud. "Why don't you pull him in?" + +"Not big enough," said the hunter, in reply to the question; while he +turned to the fish with an impatient "Pshaw! what work the cretur makes of +it! Hop off, hop off, you fool! There," he added, as the trout at length +broke away and disappeared, "there, that is right. Now be off with yourself +till you grow bigger, and give me a chance at the fine fellow whose tail I +saw swashing up round here just now." + +The hunter then carefully adjusted his bait, and threw out the whole lingth +of his line. After alternately sinking his hook, and then drawing it to the +surface, for two or three throws, the line suddenly straightened, moved +slowly backward at first, then swept rapidly round and round, or darted off +in sharp short angles, with downward and forward plunges so quick and +powerful as to make the stout sapling pole sway and bend, like a whipstock, +in the steadying hands of the hunter. For four or five minutes he made no +attempt to draw in his prize, but let the fish have full play to the length +of its tether, till its efforts had become comparatively feeble; when, +slowly bringing it alongside, he took the line in his hand, and, with a +quick jerk, landed the noble fellow safely on the bottom of the canoe. + +"There, sir!" exclaimed the hunter, seizing the trout by the gills, and +triumphantly holding it up to view, "there is about what I bargained for: +two feet long, not an inch shorter,--seven pounds weight, and not an ounce +lighter! Now, being satisfied, I am done." + +"What, leave off with such luck?" asked Claud in surprise. + +"Yes, young man," said the other, "I hold it all but a downright sin to +draw from God's storehouse a single pound more than is really needed. This +will last my family as long as it will keep, this warm weather, with the +plenty of moose-meat we shall have. Any thing more is a waste, which +_I_ will not commit. And _you_, sir, who have just hauled in your third and +largest one, I perceive, and have now nearly as many pounds as I +have,--what can _you_ want of more? Come, let us pull up and off for our +homes. It is nearly time, any way." + +Although loth to break off his sport, yet inwardly acknowledging the +justness of the hunter's philosophy, Claud reluctantly drew in and wound up +his line, hauled in his anchor, and, handling his oar, shot out abreast of +the other, who had already got under way, into the heaving waters of the +now agitated lake. Side by side, with the quick and easy dip of their +elastic single oars, the rowers now sent their light, sharp canoes, dug out +to the thinness of a board from the straight-grained dry pine, rapidly +ahead over the broken and subdued waves of the cove, in which they had been +stationed, till they rounded the intervening woody point which had cut off +the view of the lower end of the lake. + +"Good Heavens!" exclaimed Claud, starting back, with suspended oar, as now, +coming out in view of the lake, his eye fell on the huge pillar of smoke, +which, deeply enshrouding that part of the distant forest lying east of the +outlet of the lake with its expanded base, was rolling upward its thousand +dark, doubling folds; "good Heavens, Phillips, look yonder! Where and what +is it? It looks like a burning city." + +"It is a fire, of course, and no small one, either; but where, I can't +exactly make out," slowly responded the hunter, intently fixing his keen +eyes on the magnificent spectacle which had thus unexpectedly burst on +their view in the distance. "Let me see," he continued, running his eye +along the border of the lake in search of his old landmarks: "there is the +tall stub that stands half a mile down on the west bank of the river, and +is now just visible in the edge of the smoke; but where is the king pine, +that stands nearly against it, over in your slash? Young man," he added, +with a startled air, "was your father calculating to burn that slash +to-day?" + +"No, unless it looked likely to rain." + +"Well it _does_ look likely to rain, in the shape of a shower gathering +yonder, which has already given out one or two grumbles of distant thunder, +if my ears served me as well as usual." + +"Yes; but such a smoke and fire can't come from our slash. It must be a +larger and more distant one." + +"So I thought at first; but I begin to think different. Do you see that +perpendicular, broken line of light, occasionally flashing out from the +smoke, and extending upward to a height that no ground fire ever reached? +That is your king pine in a blaze from bottom to top. Hark! why, I can hear +it roaring clear here, like a distant hurricane. It must be a prodigious +hot fire to make all that show and noise." + +"Can it endanger our buildings?" asked Claud, in alarm. + +"I am afraid so," replied the other, with a dubious shake of the head. "But +hark again! 'tis your father's horn blowing for help." + +"Let us row, then, as for our lives!" cried the now thoroughly aroused and +agitated young man. "If any thing happens before I get there, I shall never +forgive myself for my prolonged absence, to the last day of my life. You +will join me in going there, will you not?" + +"Yes, and outstrip you by half a mile. But that won't be the best way. +Throw your anchor into the stern of my canoe, and fall in behind. There; +now keep the anchor-line slack between us, if you can," rapidly said the +hunter, bending his sinewy form to the work, with a power that sent his +canoe half out of the water at every stroke of his swiftly-falling oar. + +Leaving them to bound over the billowy waters of the lake towards their +destination, with all the speed which strong arms and nerves made tense +with excitement could impart, let us anticipate their arrival, to note what +befell the objects of their anxieties, whom we so abruptly left in their +perils from the fire, to bring up the other incidents of the day having an +equal bearing on the story, with which we have thus far occupied the +present somewhat extended chapter. + +The immediate danger to their house from the fire, with which we left the +alarmed Elwood and his wife contending, was, indeed, easily overcome by +dashing pails of water over the roof. But scarcely had they achieved this +temporary triumph in one place over an element proverbially terrible when +it becomes master, before it was seen kindling into flickering blazes on +the roof of the barn and the locks of hay protruding from its windows and +the crevices between the logs of which it was built. Here, also, they soon +succeeded in extinguishing the fire in the same manner. They were not, +however, allowed a moment's respite from either their labors or alarms. The +fences were by this time on fire in numerous places; and the chips and wood +in the door-yard were seen to be igniting from the sparks and cinders +which, every instant, fell thicker and hotter around their seemingly +devoted domicil. The fences, after a few vain attempts to save them, were +given up a prey to the devouring element, and the whole exertions of the +panting and exhausted sufferers were turned to saving their buildings; and +even at that they had no time to spare; for, so hot had the air become from +the burning slash, which, through its whole length, was now glowing with +the red heat of a furnace, that every vestige of moisture had soon +disappeared from the drenched roofs, and they were again on fire. + +"Is there no way of raising help?" exclaimed Mrs. Elwood, in her extremity, +as she witnessed these increasing manifestations of danger. + +"I never thought of that," said Elwood. "Hand me the dinner-horn. If there +are any within hearing, they will understand, with the appearance of this +fire, that we are calling for assistance." + +With a few sharp, loud blasts, Elwood threw aside the horn, and again flew +to the work of extinguishing the fires where they became most threatening. +And thus, for nearly another hour, the distressed settler and his heroic +wife, suffering deeply from heat and exhaustion, toiled on, without gaining +the least on the fearful enemy by which they were so closely encompassed. +And they were on the point of giving up in despair, when the welcome shout +of "Help at hand!" from the ringing voice of the hunter, then just entering +the opening, revived hope in their sinking hearts. The next moment that +help was on the spot; but it was unnecessary. A mightier Hand was about to +interpose. From the bold, black van of the hurrying and deeply-charged rack +of cloud, that had now unheeded gained the zenith, a stream of fire, before +which all other fires paled into nothing, at that instant descended on the +top of the burning pine, and, rending it from top to bottom by the single +explosion, sent its wide-flying fragments in blazing circles to the ground. +A sharp, rattling sound, terminating in a cannon-like report, followed, +shaking the rent and crashing heavens above, and the bounding earth +beneath, in the awful concussion. Before the stunned and blinded settlers +had recovered from the shock, or the deep roll of the echoing thunder had +died away among the distant mountains, another and more welcome roar +saluted their ears. It was that of the rapidly-approaching rain striking +the foliage of the neighboring forest; and, scarcely had they time to gain +the cover of the house, before the deluging torrents poured over it with a +force and fury beneath which the quelled fires speedily sunk, hissing, into +darkness and death. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + "Wo is the youth whom Fancy gains, + Winning from Reason's hands the reins." + +The morning of the next day, serene and beautiful as a bride decked in her +fresh robes and redolent in her forest perfumery, came smiling over the +wilderness hills of the east, to greet our little pioneer family on their +deliverance from the perils of yesterday. The war of the elements, that had +raged so fearfully round their seemingly devoted domicile, had all passed +away; and, after sleeping off the fatigue and excitement of the previous +day, they rose to look around them, to find themselves safe, and call +themselves satisfied. Their buildings had been, after all, but very +slightly injured, and their green crops but little damaged; their fences, +indeed, were mostly consumed; but these could be replaced from the timber +of the burnt slash, with little more labor than would be required to pile +up and burn that timber where it lay. But, whatever such additional labor +might be, it was more than compensated by the very intensity of the fire +which caused it, and which, at the same time, had so utterly consumed all +the underbrush, limbs of the trees, and even the smaller trees themselves, +that weeks less than with ordinary burns would be required in the clearing. +Elwood, therefore, came in from his morning survey happily disappointed in +the supposed extent of his losses; and, joining his wife and son in the +house, whom he found busily engaged in cutting up, mealing, and placing in +the hissing pan over the fire the broad, red, and rich-looking pieces of +trout, the fruit of yesterday's excursion on the lake, he told them, with a +gratified air, the result of his observation, which, on a merchant-like +calculation of loss and gain from the conflagration, he made out to show +even a balance in his favor. Mrs. Elwood rejoiced with her husband on the +happy turn of affairs, and wondered why her son did not manifest the same +flow of spirits. But the latter, for some reason or other, appeared +unusually abstracted during the whole morning; and, when asked to relate +the particulars of his perilous adventure with the moose, which he had the +evening before but briefly mentioned, he exhibited a hesitation, and a sort +of shying of the question, in that part of the adventure relating to the +rescued girl, which did not escape the quick eye of the mother. It was +evident to her that something was kept back. But what that something was +she was wholly unable to conjecture. It was so unusual for her son to show +any lack of frankness that the circumstance disturbed her, and, though she +knew not exactly why, sent a boding chill over her heart, which caused her +also to become thoughtful and silent. And Mr. Elwood, who possessed none of +those mental sympathies which, in some, will often be found unconsciously +mingling with the thoughts of others, so far, at least, as to apprise them +of the general character and drift of those thoughts, now, in his turn, +wondered why his wife, as well as son, should all at once become so +unsocial and taciturn. + +It will doubtless be generally said that this mental sympathy, or the +intuitive perception of the main drift of what is passing in the minds of +others, has an existence only in the fancy of fictionists. We, however, +after years of close observation, have wholly ceased to doubt its reality. +Scores of times have we been affected by thoughts and intentions which we +knew must have a source other than in our own mind. Scores of times have +we, in this manner, been put on our guard against the selfish designs which +others were harboring to our disadvantage, of which no tongue had informed +us, and of which, afterwards, we had tangible proof. And, on careful +inquiry among persons of thought and sensibility, we have become convinced +that the principle holds good to a very considerable extent among others; +and that attention to the subject is only wanting to make it a generally +received opinion. It was this principle that now affected Mrs. Elwood: not +that she had the most distant idea that her son harbored aught of wrong +intention toward any of his family, but she felt that his mind was somehow +becoming subservient to schemes which existed somewhere in the minds of +others, which concerned her or her family. But she _felt_ rather than +thought this; and, knowing she could give no reason for her singular +impression, prudently kept it to herself. + +"Good-morning, good-morning, gentlefolks," rang out the cheery voice of the +hunter, who now looked in at the door as the Elwoods were rising from their +breakfast. "Things look a little altered round here, this morning. I should +hardly have known the place without the king pine, which, in its prime, was +a tree of a thousand." + +"That tree was an old acquaintance of yours, I suppose," remarked Elwood. + +"Yes, of twenty years' standing; and I shall miss and mourn it as an old +friend. But it died like a monarch, yielding only under the direct blow of +the Almighty." + +"Then you consider the lightning more especially the instrument of Heaven +than the wind, fire, and other elements, do you?" + +"To be sure I do. Wind, we know what it is; fire we know; water we also +know; because we can see them, touch them, measure them. But who can see a +piece of lightning when not in motion? who can find the least fragment of +it after it has struck? It rends a tree, makes a smooth hole through a +board, and ploughs up the ground. But go to the tree, and there is nothing +there; look under the board, it is the same; and dig along the furrow it +has ploughed to where it stopped, and it is not there, as it would be if it +was any material thing, like a bullet, an axe, knife, or other instrument +that produces such effects, in all other instances. No, 'tis not matter; it +is the power of God; and your philosophers, who pretend to explain it, +don't know what they are talking about. But enough of that. I came here to +rally you out to go up the river with the rest of us, for the moose. You +will both go, won't you?" + +"Claud will, doubtless," replied Mr. Elwood. "Indeed, I have half a mind to +go myself." + +"Perhaps Claud, having had a fatiguing excursion yesterday, will stay at +home, and let his father go, to-day," suggested Mrs. Elwood. + +"It was not at all fatiguing, mother," responded Claud. + +"The wind blows up the river to-day, ma'am," said the hunter, with a +knowing look. + +Little more was said; but the result was that Claud and the hunter now soon +went off together on the proposed excursion. On reaching the mouth of the +Magalloway, they found four others waiting for them, with their canoes, +when the whole party commenced their little voyage up the river. After +leisurely rowing against the here slow and gentle current of the stream for +an hour or two, they reached their destination, and hauled up at a point +most convenient for gaining the spot where the slaughtered moose had been +left the evening before. Led on by the hunter, all now started for the +place just named, except Claud, who, under pretence of taking a short +gunning bout in the woods, and of soon coming round to join his companions, +proceeded, as soon as the latter were out of sight, with slow and +hesitating steps, up the river, for the opening and supposed residence of +the fair unknown who had so long been the object of his wondering fancies, +and who had, notwithstanding the exciting scenes he had witnessed at home, +been the especial subject of his dreams after he retired to rest the night +before. But what a strange, wayward, timid, doubting, and inconsistent +thing is the tender passion in its incipient stages, especially when that +passion has principally been wrought up by the imagination! He soon came to +the clearing of which he was in quest, and obtained a clear view of the, to +him, charmed cottage. But, instead of entering the opening directly, he +went nearly round it, frequently pausing and advancing nearly to the edge +of the woods; but as often retreating, being unable quite to make up his +mind to show himself at all to the inmates of the cottage. Once he gave it +up entirely, and started off for his companions. But, after he had +proceeded a dozen rods, he came again to a stand, hesitated a while, and, +as if ashamed of his irresolution, wheeled rapidly about, proceeded, with a +quick, firm step, to the border of the woods, struck directly for the +house, and, with assumed unconcern, marched up to the door,--where he was +met, not by the young lady he expected first to see, but by her father. But +who was that father? To his utter surprise, it was _his_ father's old +tempter and ruiner, the dark and inscrutable Gaut Gurley! + +With a manner, for him, unusually gracious, Gurley extended his hand to +Claud; ushered him into the house; formally introduced him to his wife, an +ordinary, abject-looking woman; and then to his daughter, the fair, +dark-eyed, tall, shapely, and every way magnificent Avis Gurley, the girl +who had so long, but unwittingly, been the object of the young man's dreamy +fancies. + +"I have but very lately discovered," remarked Gurley, who seemed to feel +himself called on to lead off in the conversation, after the usual +commonplace remarks had been exchanged, "I have but lately discovered that +I had, by a singular coincidence, again cast my lot in the same settlement +with your family. Having made up my mind, a few months ago, to try a new +country, and coming across the owner of this place, who was on a journey in +New Hampshire, and who offered to sell and move off at once, I came on with +him, struck a bargain, returned for my family, and brought them here about +a fortnight ago. But, having been absent most of the time since, I didn't +mistrust who my neighbors were." + +"And you probably perceived, sir," said Avis, turning to Claud, with a +smile, "you probably perceived, in your yesterday's adventure up here in +the woods, that I have been in as bad a predicament as my father." + +"How is that, Avis?" asked Gurley. + +"Why, father," responded the other, "Mr. Elwood will readily suppose that I +should not have been straying into the wood for flowers and berries, had I +known we had any such neighbors as the one from whose pursuit he so kindly +rescued me last evening." + +"I was as much surprised at the ferocity of the animal as you were, I +presume," said Claud, in reply. "And I was far more indebted to the hunter, +Phillips, for my _own_ rescue, than _you_ were to _me_ for _yours_. I +merely turned the furious brute aside. It was he who, coming up in the nick +of time, brought him dead to the earth." + +"I supposed there were two of you," remarked Gurley. "I was half a mile up +the river, yet I heard the firing plain enough; and, returning soon after, +and hearing my daughter's story, I went to the place; but, by that time, +you had dressed the animal and were gone. By the voices I heard in the +woods, a short time ago, I concluded you came up, with others, for the +beef." + +"We did. You here should certainly be entitled to a liberal share. Will you +not go up there?" + +"Yes; I was thinking about it before you came in. I will go; but, as I wish +to go a short distance into the woods, partly in another direction, I will +now walk on and come round to the spot; and, if I don't meet you there, you +may just tell your father how surprised I have been to find myself again in +the same neighborhood with himself." + +"Umph!" half audibly exclaimed the hitherto mute wife, with a look that +seemed to say, "What a bouncer he is telling now!" and she was evidently +about to say something, comporting with the significant exclamation, but a +glance from her husband, as he passed out of the door, quelled her into +silence. + +On the departure of Gurley, his wife rose and left the room; when Claud, +unexpectedly finding himself alone with his fair companion, instead of +entering into the easy conversation with her which the dictates of common +gallantry would seem to require, soon began to manifest signs of constraint +and embarrassment, which did not escape the eye of the young lady, and +which caused her no little surprise and perplexity. She knew nothing of +what had been passing in his mind, nor once dreamed of the circumstance +which had first impressed her image there. She had, indeed, known nothing +of the Elwoods, except what she had heard her father say of them as a +family, with whose head he had in some way been formerly connected in +business. Had she been asked, she would doubtless have recalled the fact +that her father had, the year before, employed an artist to paint a +miniature likeness of her, which he subsequently pretended to have sent to +a relative of his residing in Quebec, and she never entertained the least +suspicion that it was not thus properly disposed of. She had never seen +Claud till yesterday, when he so opportunely appeared for her rescue; and, +even then, she had no idea who it was to whom she had thus become indebted. +She, however, had been much prepossessed with his appearance and manly +bearing, and felt a lively sense of gratitude for the voluntary service; +and when, by the introduction of her father, she became apprised of the +character of her deliverer, she felt doubly gratified that he had turned +out to be one who, she believed, would not take any mean advantage of the +obligation. For these reasons, she could not understand why he should +appear so reserved, unless it was that she had failed to interest him; and, +finally concluding that this must be the case, she did that which, with her +maidenly pride and high spirit, she would otherwise have scorned to do, she +exerted herself to the utmost to interest and please him; and, when he rose +to return to his companions, she followed him into the yard, and smilingly +said: + +"You are fond of gunning excursions, are you not, Mr. Elwood?" + +"Yes, O yes, quite so," replied Claud, with awkward hesitation. + +"And would not an occasional excursion in _this_ direction be as pleasant +as any other?" she asked, with playful significance. + +But, instead of replying in the same spirit, the bewildered young man +turned, and sent a gaze into the depths of her lustrous dark eyes, so +serious and intense that it brought a blush to her cheek; when, stammering +out his intention of often taking her house in his way in future, he +hurriedly bade her good-by, and departed, leaving her more perplexed than +ever. + +As for Claud, it would be difficult to describe his sensations on leaving +the house, or make any thing definite out of the operations of his mind. +Both heart and brain were working tumultuously, but not in unison. The +train which his imagination had been laying was on the point of being +kindled into, a blaze by the reality. He knew it; he felt it; but he knew +also that it was the part of wisdom to smother the flame while it yet might +be controlled. The unexpected and startling discovery which he had just +made, that the girl who had so wrought upon his fancy, both when seen in +the picture and met in the original, was the daughter of Gaut Gurley, +raised difficulties and dangers in the path he found himself entering, +which his judgment told him could only be avoided by his immediate +desistance. For he was well aware how deeply rooted was his mother's +aversion to this man, and how fatal had been his influence over his father, +who had but a few months before escaped from his toils, and then only, +perhaps, because there was no more to be gained by keeping him in them any +longer. A connection with the daughter, therefore, however opposite in +character from her father, would not only greatly mar his mother's +happiness, but in all probability lead to a renewal of the intimacy between +his father and Gurley; an event which he himself felt was to be deprecated. +But the Demon of Sophistry, who first taught self-deceiving man how to make +"the wish father to the thought," here interposing, whispered to the +incipient lover that his father had reformed, and why not then Gaut Gurley? +This reasoning, however, could not be made to satisfy his judgment; and +again commenced the struggle between head and heart, one pulling one way +and the other in another way,--too often an unequal struggle, too often +like one of those contests between man and wife, where reason succumbs and +will comes off triumphant. + +Such were the fluctuating thoughts and purposes which occupied the agitated +bosom of Claud Elwood, in his solitary walk to the place where the boats +had been left, and where the subject was now driven from his mind, for a +while, by the appearance of his companions and the merry jokes of the +hunter. They had cut up the moose meat, which they had found in good +condition, and brought all they deemed worth saving down to the landing. +And, being now ready to embark, they apportioned the meat among the +different canoes, and rowed with the now favoring current rapidly down the +river together till they reached its mouth, when they separated, and bore +their allotted portions of the moose to their respective homes. + +For the two succeeding days and nights the hapless Claud was the prey of +conflicting emotions,--the more oppressive because he carefully kept them +pent up in his own bosom. He dared not make the least allusion before his +parents to the lady whom they knew he had rescued, or his visit to her +home, for he could not do so without revealing the fact that the dreaded +Gaut Gurley, with his family, had found his way into the vicinity; while, +if he did disclose this fact, he felt that he could not hold up his head +before them till he had conquered his feelings towards the daughter. And +sometimes he thought he had conquered them, and resolved that he would +never see her again. But, brooding over his feelings in the solitudes of +the woods, he only cherished and fanned the flame he was thinking to +extinguish; and he again relapsed,--again paused,--again "resolved, +re-resolved, and _did_ the same;" for, on the third day, under the excuse +of taking another excursion on the lake, he was drawn, as surely as the +vibrating needle to the pole, to the beautiful load-star of the Magalloway. + +Suspecting the state of young Elwood's feelings towards her, and fearing +that she might have been too forward in her advances at their last +interview, Avis Gurley, this time, received him with a dignity and maidenly +reserve, which, when contrasted with her former sociability and cordiality +of manner, seemed to him like studied coolness. This soon led him, in turn, +to sue for favor. And so earnestly did he pursue his object, that, before +he was aware of what he was saying, he had revealed the secret of his +heart. She received his remarks in respectful silence, but gave no +indication by which he could judge whether the inadvertent disclosure was +pleasing or otherwise, except what might be gathered from her increased +cordiality on other subjects, to which she now adroitly turned the +conversation. This was just enough to encourage him, and at the same time +leave him in that degree of doubt and suspense which generally operate as +the greatest incentive to persevere in the pursuit of an object. It proved +so in his case; and, to this natural incentive to persevere, was now added +another, that of respect for her character,--a respect which every hour's +conversation with her enhanced, and which he might accord to her with +entire justice. Gaut Gurley, like many other bad men, was proud of having a +good daughter. He early perceived that she inherited all that was comely +and good in him, physically and morally, without any of his defects or +faults of character. And, desirous so to rear her as to make the most of +her natural endowments, and so, at the same time, that her character should +not be marred by his example, he had been at considerable expense with her +education, and had even deported himself with much circumspection in her +presence. This, as will be readily inferred of one of his designing +character, he did from a mixed motive: partly from parental pride and +affection, and partly to make her, through some advantageous marriage, +subservient to his own personal interests. + +In this state of affairs between Claud and Avis, closed this, their second +interview. Another, and another, and yet another, succeeded at brief +intervals. And so rapid is the course of love, when springing up in +solitudes like these, where nothing occurs to divert the gathering current, +but every thing conspires to increase it,--where to our young devotees all +around them seemed to reflect their own feelings,--where the aeolian music +of the whispering pines that embowered their solitary walks seemed but to +give voice to the melody that filled their own hearts,--where to them the +birds all sang of love,--where love smiled upon them in the pensive beams +of the moon, glistened in the stars, and was stamped on all the expanse of +blue sky above, and on all the forms of beauty on the green earth +beneath,--so rapid, we repeat, is the course of love, thus born, and thus +fostered, that a fortnight had scarcely elapsed before they had both +yielded up heart and soul to the dominion of the well-named blind god, and +uttered their mutual vows of love and constancy. + +This was the sunshine of their love; but the storms were already gathering +in the distance. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + "The sigh that lifts her breastie comes. + Like sad winds frae the sea, + Wi' sic a dreary sough, as wad + Bring tears into yer e'e." + +When Claud Elwood reached home, on the eventful visit to the Magalloway +which resulted in the exchange of vows between him and Avis Gurley, as +intimated at the close of the last chapter, he at once suspected, from the +sad and troubled looks of his mother and the disturbed manner of his +father, that the secret of his late visits abroad, as well as of the +unexpected advent of the family visited, had, in some way, become known to +them in his absence. A feeling of mingled delicacy and self-condemnation, +however, prevented him from making any inquiries; and, with a commonplace +remark, which was received in silence, he took a seat, and, with much +inward trembling, awaited the expected _denouement_. But it did not come so +soon nor in so harsh terms as he expected. There are occasions when we feel +so deeply that we are reluctant to begin the task of unburdening our minds; +and, when we do speak out, it is oftener in sorrow than in anger. It was so +in the present instance. Mr. Elwood had that day been abroad among the +settlers, and, for the first time, learned not only that Gaut Gurley had +moved with his family into the settlement, but that Claud was courting his +daughter, and a match already settled on between them. On his return home, +Elwood felt almost as much reluctance in making known his discoveries to +his wife as Claud had before him; for he well knew how deeply they would +disquiet her. But, soon concluding there would be no wisdom in attempting +concealment, he told her what he had heard. As he had anticipated, the news +fell like a sudden thunderclap on her heart. She had experienced, indeed, +many strange misgivings respecting her son's late mysterious absences; but +she was not prepared for such a double portion of ill-omened news as she +deemed this to be, and it struck her mute with dismay, for it at once +brought a cloud over the future, which to her eye was dark with portents. +Elwood himself was also obviously considerably disquieted by the news, +showing no little uneasiness and excitement,--an excitement, perhaps, +resembling that which is said to be manifested by a bird in the presence of +the devouring reptile. He doubtless would gladly have been relieved from +any further connection with Gaut. He doubtless would gladly have avoided +even the slightest renewal of their former acquaintance. But, for reasons +which he had never disclosed, he felt confident he should not long be +suffered to enjoy any such exemption. And feeling, for the same reasons, +how weak he should be in the hands of that man, he was troubled, far more +troubled than he would have been willing to own, at the discoveries of the +day, even if that part of it relating to the intimacy of his son and Gaut's +daughter should prove, as he believed, a mere conjecture. + +It was at this juncture, and before a word of comment had been offered +either by Mrs. Elwood or her husband on the news he had related, that Claud +arrived and entered the room. + +"Well, God's will be done!" sadly uttered Mrs. Elwood, at length breaking +the embarrassing silence, but without raising her eyes from her work, which +lay neglected in her lap. + +"What does mother mean?" doubtfully asked Claud, turning to his father. + +"I have been telling her some unexpected news, which greatly disturbs her +mind,--more than is necessary, perhaps," replied the other, with poorly +assumed indifference. + +"What news?" rejoined the son, having made up his mind that, if his own +secret was involved, as he supposed, the long dreaded _eclaircissement_ +might as well come now as ever. + +"Why, that Gaut Gurley has moved with his family into the settlement. And +that is not all; but the rest of it, which relates to a lately-formed +intimacy between you and Gaut's daughter, I presume is mere guess-work." + +Mrs. Elwood turned a searching glance to the face of her son, and waited to +hear his reply to the last remarks, but he was silent; and the last gleam +of hope, which had for the moment lighted up the mother's countenance, +faded like a moon-beam on the edge of an eclipsing cloud; and, after a long +pause and silence which no one interrupted, she slowly and sadly said: + +"When I consented to leave the comforts and social blessings to which I had +been accustomed, and come into this lone wilderness, with its well-known +hardships and privations, my great and indeed only motive was, to see my +family placed beyond the temptations of the city, and especially beyond the +fatal, and to me always mysterious, influence of that wicked and dangerous +man, Gaut Gurley. And with this object I came cheerfully, gladly. And when +I reached this place, fondly hoping and believing we had escaped that man, +and were forever secure from his wiles, I became happy,--happier than since +I left my native hills in New-Hampshire. It soon became to _me_, lone and +dreary as it might appear to others,--it soon became to _me_, in my fancied +security from the evils we had fled, a second Paradise. But to me it is a +Paradise no longer; the Serpent has found his way into our Eden; and, not +content with having beguiled and ruined one, must now have the other so +entangled in the toils that both will be kept in his power." + +"You are going a great ways to borrow trouble, it appears to me, Alice," +remarked Elwood, after a pause. + +"It certainly seems so to me, also, mother," said Claud. "You cannot know +but Gurley comes here with as honest purposes as father. But, were it +otherwise, the daughter should not be held responsible for the faults of +the father, nor, without good reason, be accused of favoring any sinister +designs he may entertain." + +"Claud takes a just view of the case, on both points, I presume," rejoined +Mr. Elwood. "As to Gurley, I know not how, or why, he came here; nor do I +wish or expect to have any thing to do with him. And as to Claud, I trust +he knows enough to take care of himself." + +"You have both evaded the spirit of my remarks," responded Mrs. Elwood. +"When I speak of Gaut Gurley's motives and designs, you must know I judge +from his past conduct. Have either of you as safe grounds of judging him? +And when I allude to his daughter, I do so with no thought of holding her +amenable for the faults of her father, or even of assuming the ground that +she has inherited any of his objectionable traits of character. I intend +nothing of the kind, for I know nothing of her. But I do say, that, +whenever she marries, she becomes the connecting link between her husband +and her father, the chain extending both ways, so as to bind their +respective families together, and give one the power and means of evil +which could in no other way be obtained. In view of all these +circumstances, then, I feel that a calamity is in store for us. God grant +that my fears and forebodings may prove groundless." + +The husband and son were saved the difficult and embarrassing task of +replying, by the arrival of Philips, who, in his free and easy manner, +entered and took a seat with the family. + +"I came, gentlefolks," said the hunter, after a few commonplace remarks had +been exchanged,--"I came to see if you know what a 'bee' means?" + +"A bee? what, honey-bees?" asked Mr. Elwood, in surprise at the oddness of +the question. + +"No, not a honey-bee, exactly, or a humble-bee, but a sort of work-meeting +of men or women, to help a neighbor to husk his corn, for instance, build +him a log house, or do off some other job for him in a day, which alone +would take him perhaps weeks. These turn-outs we new settlers call 'bees.' +Nothing is more common than for a man to get up a bee to knock off at once +a pressing job he wants done. And, when a new-comer appears to be delicate +about moving in the matter, the neighbors sometimes volunteer, and get up a +bee for him, among themselves." + +"I may have heard of the custom; but why do you say you came to ask me if I +know any thing about it?" + +"Well, I kinder thought I would. You have a pretty stiff-looking burnt +piece here to be logged off soon, have you not?" + +"Why, yes." + +"And it would be a hard and heavy month's job for you and the young man to +do it, would it not?" + +"The best part of a month, perhaps; but I was intending to go at it in +season, that we might get it all cleared and sown by the middle of +September; which must be done, if I join you and the rest of the usual +company in the fall trapping and hunting expedition." + +"Of course you will join us. It is our main and almost only chance here of +getting any money." + +"So I have always understood, and therefore made up my mind to go into it, +if I can get ready. I have been down the river to-day and engaged my seed +wheat. To-morrow I thought of going abroad again, to try to engage some +help for clearing the piece." + +"Well, you need not go a rod for that purpose." + +"Why not?" + +"Because we have got up a bee for you in the settlement, large enough, we +think, to log off your whole piece in a day." + +"Indeed! Who has been so kind as to start such a project?" + +"Several of us: Codman, that you may have seen, or at least heard of, as +the best trapper in the settlement, took upon himself to enlist those round +the southerly end of the lake, where he lives; and I have arranged matters +a little in this section and on the river below. But, in justice, I should +name, as the man who has taken the most interest in the movement, the new +settler who has this summer come into the parts, and made his pitch over on +the Magalloway. His name is Gurley." + +A dead silence of several minutes ensued, during which Mrs. Elwood looked +sadly and meaningly from the husband to the son, both of whose countenances +seemed to fall and shrink before her significant glances. + +"Well," at length resumed the hunter, perceiving no response was to be made +to his last remark, "seeing we had got all arranged and ready, I came to +notify you, so that you should not be taken by surprise. We propose to be +on the ground, men and oxen, early day after to-morrow. There will be +fifteen or twenty of us, perhaps, with five or six yoke of oxen, and like +enough a stiff horse or two." + +"But how can I provision such a company on so short notice?" + +"No trouble about that. You have salt pork?" + +"A good supply." + +"Corn meal?" + +"Yes; and wheat flour, with fine new potatoes." + +"All right. I will take care of the rest. I will take the young man, here, +into my largest canoe, to-morrow morning, if he be so disposed, and we will +go up the lake, perhaps into the upper lake, and it will be a strange case +if we don't return at night with fish, and I think flesh, enough to victual +the company; and, in the mean time, my women will come up and be on hand +to-morrow and next day, to help Mrs. Elwood do the baking and cooking." + +The friendly movement of the neighbors, thus announced, was not, of course, +to be opposed or questioned by those for whose benefit it was intended, any +further than Mr. Elwood had done in relation to his ability to entertain +the company so well as their kindness deserved. Mr. Elwood and his son, +indeed, who had been dreading the hard job of clearing off their land, were +greatly gratified at the unexpected kindness. And even Mrs. Elwood, pained +and annoyed as she was by the part taken by Gaut Gurley, whose only motive +she believed was to gain some advantage for meditated evil, entered +cheerfully into the affair, and joined her husband in handsome expressions +of acknowledgment to the hunter, and assurances of doing their best to +provide properly for the company. The matter was therefore considered as +settled; and the hunter departed, to call, as he had proposed, early the +next morning for Claud, for an excursion up the lake, to procure fresh +provisions for the coming occasion. + +The family were early astir the next morning, intent on their respective +duties in preparation for the appointed logging bee. They had scarcely +dispatched their breakfast, before the hunter, as he had promised, called +for Claud; when the two departed together, with their guns and fishing +gear, for the lake, whither we propose to accompany them. + +"Well, now, let us settle the order of the day," said Phillips, after they +had reached the landing and deposited their luggage in the canoe selected +for the purpose. + +"I am a companion of the voyage, to-day, and, as you know, but a learner in +these sports," responded Claud. "You have but to name your plan." + +"Well, my plan is this: to steer across and get up the lake to the inlet +and rapids which connect this to the next upper lake, called by the Indians +the Molechunk-a-munk; up these rapids into that lake, where we will take a +row of a few hours, and home again by nightfall. In these rapids, going or +returning, we may safely count, at this season, on a plenty of trout; and, +on the borders of the lake beyond, I know of several favorite haunts of the +deer, one of which I propose to take into the canoe as ballast to steady it +for running the rapids, on our way back." + +"What is the whole distance?" + +"Four or five miles of this lake, as many of the river or rapids, and as +far into the upper lake as we please." + +"You are laying out largely for one day, are you not?" + +"No, 'tis nothing. You see, I have brought round for our use my best birch +bark canoe. I have rowed her fifty miles a day round the lakes many a time. +We shall bound over the lake in almost no time, and the rapids, which are +the only drawback, can soon be surmounted, by oar or setting-pole, or, what +may be cheapest, carrying the canoe round those most difficult of passage. +The boat does not weigh an hundred. I could travel with it a mile on my +head, as fast as you would wish to walk without a pound of luggage. So, in +with you, and I'll show you how it is done." + +Accordingly they launched forth in their primitive craft, which, as before +intimated, was the once noted birch bark canoe built by the hunter +agreeably to the exact rules of Indian art. Few, who have never seen and +observed the process of constructing this canoe, which, for thousands of +years before the advent of the white man, was the only craft used by the +aborigines in navigating the interior waters, have any idea how, from such +seemingly fragile materials, and with no other tools than a hatchet, knife, +and perhaps a bone needle, the Indian can construct a canoe so extremely +light and at the same time so tough and durable. In building his canoe, +which is one of the greatest efforts of his mechanical skill, the Indian +goes to work systematically. He first peels his bark from a middle-sized +birch tree, and cuts it in strips five or six inches wide, and twelve, +fifteen, or twenty feet long, according to the length and size of the +designed canoe. He then dries them thoroughly in the sun, after which he +nicely scrapes and smooths off the outside. He next proceeds to soak these +strips, which are thus made to go through a sort of tanning process, to +render them tough and pliable, as well as to obviate their liability to +crack by exposure to the sun. After the materials are thus prepared, he +smooths off a level piece of ground, and drives around the outside a line +of strong stakes, so that the space within shall describe the exact form of +the boat in contemplation. Inside of these stakes he places and braces up +the wet and pliable pieces of bark, beginning at the bottom and building up +and bending into form the sides and ends, till the structure has attained +the required height. In this situation it is left till it is again +thoroughly dried and all the pieces become fixed in shape. A light inside +framework is then constructed, resembling the skeleton of a fish, and of +dimensions to fit the canoe already put in form in the manner we have +described. The pieces of cured material are then numbered and taken down; +when the architect, beginning at the bottom, lapping and sewing together +the different pieces, proceeds patiently in his work, till the sides are +built, the ends closed nicely up, and each piece lashed firmly to the +framework, which, though of surprising lightness, is made to serve as keel, +knees, and ribs of the boat. Every seam and crevice is then filled with +melted pitch. The Indian then has his canoe fit for use; and he may well +boast of a boat, which, for combined strength and lightness, and especially +for capacity of burden, no art of the shipbuilder has ever been able to +surpass, and which, if it has not already, might serve for a model of the +best lifeboat ever constructed, in these days of boasted perfection in +marine arts and improvements. + +Bounding over the smooth waters like a seabird half on wing, our voyagers +soon found themselves on the northerly side of the lake; when, rounding a +point, they began to skirt the easterly shore of the bay that makes up to +the inlet, at a more leisurely pace, for the purpose of being on the +lookout for deer, which might be standing in the edge of the water round +the coves, to cool themselves and keep off the flies. Not seeing any signs +of game, however, they steered out so as to clear the various little capes +or woody points of land inclosing the numerous coves scattered along the +indented shore, and struck a line for the great inlet at the head of the +lake, which they now soon reached, and commenced rowing against the at +first gentle and then rapid current, which here pours down from, the upper +lakes, through the rocky and picturesque defiles, in the form of a +magnificent river, rivalling in its size the midway portions of the +Connecticut or Hudson. + +"Now, young man," said the hunter, laying aside his paddle and taking up +the strong, elastic setting-pole he had provided for the occasion, "now you +must look out for your balance. The river, to be sure, is quite low, and +the current, of course, at its feeblest point; but we shall find places +enough within the next mile where the canoe, to go up at all, must go up +like the jump of a catamount. So, down in the bottom of the boat, on your +braced knees, with your haunches on your heels, and leave all to me." + +"What! do you expect to force the canoe up rapids like these?" asked Claud, +in surprise, as he cast his eye over the long reach of eddying, tumbling +waters, that looked like a lessening sheet of foam as it lay stretched +upward in the distant perspective. + +"I expect to try," coolly replied the hunter; "and, if you lay asleep in +the bottom of the canoe, I should expect to succeed. And, as it is, if you +can keep cool and obey orders, we will see what can be done." + +Claud implicitly obeyed the directions of the hunter, without much faith, +however, in the success of his bold attempt. But he soon perceived he had +underrated the skill and strength of arm which had been relied on to +accomplish the seemingly impossible feat. Standing upright and slightly +bracing in the bottom of his canoe, the hunter first marked out with his +eye his course through a given reach of the rock-broken and foaming waters +above; then, nicely calculating the resisting force of each rapid to be +overcome, and the required impetus, and the direction to be given to his +canoe to effect it, he sharply bid Claud be on his guard, and sent the +light craft like an arrow into the boiling eddies before him. And now, by +sudden and powerful shoves, he was seen shooting obliquely up one rapid; +tacking with the quickness of light, and darting off zigzag among the rocks +and eddies towards another, which was in turn surmounted; while the boat +was forced, surging and bounding forward, with increasing impetus, now up +and now athwart the rushing currents, till he had gained a resting-place in +the still water of some sheltering boulder in the stream, when he would +mark off, with a rapid glance, another reach of falls, and shoot in among +them as before. Thus, with the quick tacks and turns and sudden leaps of +the ascending salmon, and almost with the celerity, he made his way up the +long succession of rapids, until the last of the series was overcome, and +he found himself safely emerging into the smooth waters of the beautiful +lakelet or pond which divides, in the upper portion of its course, this +remarkable stream. Another row of a mile or so now brought the voyagers +where the water again took the form of a swift river, tumbling and foaming +over the rocks, in the last series of rapids to be overcome. These also +were surmounted in the same manner and with the same success as the former. + +But this part of the voyage was marked with an unexpected adventure, and +one which seemed destined to lead to the operation of new and singular +moral agencies, both in the near and more distant future, having an +important bearing on the fate and fortunes of young Elwood. They had +reached the last and most difficult of all the rapids yet encountered, and +were resting, preparatory to the anticipated struggle, in a smooth piece of +water under the lee of a huge rock, on either side of which the divided +stream rushed in two foam-covered torrents, with the force and swiftness of +a mill-race; when they were startled by the shrill exclamations of a female +voice, in tones indicative of surprise and alarm. The sounds, which came +from some unseen point not far above them in the stream, were evidently +drawing near at a rapid rate. Presently a small Indian canoe, with a single +female occupant, whose youth and beauty, even in the distance, were +apparent, shot swiftly into view, and came tossing and whirling down the +stream, unguided, and wholly at the mercy of the crooked and raging +currents along which it was borne with the speed of the wind. The +imperilled maiden uttered a cry of joy at the appearance of our voyagers, +and held up the handle of a broken oar, to indicate to them at once the +cause of her fearful dilemma and need of assistance. + +"I will throw her one of our paddles, and she will best take care of +herself," hurriedly exclaimed the hunter, seizing the implement, and +awaiting her nearest approach to throw it within her reach. + +The critical point was the next instant reached, but the hunter, in his +nervous anxiety and haste, made his throw a little too soon and with too +much force. The paddle struck directly under the prow of the canoe, and +shot beyond, far out of reach of the expectant maiden's extended hands. +Another oar was hurled after her, with no better effect; when, for the +first time, a shade of despair passed over her agitated countenance; for +she saw herself rapidly drifting directly into the jaws of a wild and +fearful labyrinth of breakers not fifty yards below, where, in all +probability, her fragile canoe would be dashed to pieces, and herself +thrown against the slippery and jagged rock, drawn down, and lost. Claud, +who had witnessed, with trembling anxiety, the hunter's vain attempts to +place the means of self-preservation in the hands of the maiden, and who +now perceived, in their full light, the perils of the path to which she was +helplessly hastening, could restrain his generous impulses no longer; and, +quickly throwing off his hat and coat, he leaped overboard, dashed headlong +into the current, and struck boldly down it to overtake the receding canoe. + +"Hold! madness! They will both perish together!" rapidly exclaimed the +hunter, surprised and alarmed at the rash attempt of his young companion. +"But I will share in their dangers,--perhaps save them, yet." + +Accordingly he hastily headed round his canoe, and, hazardous as he knew +must be the experiment, sent it surging down the current after his +endangered young friends; for the one, as will soon appear, was no less his +favorite than the other. In the mean time, Claud, in swimming over a sunken +rock, luckily gained a foothold, which enabled him to rise and plunge +forward again with redoubled speed; and, so well-timed and powerful were +his exertions, that he came within reach of the stern of the fugitive canoe +just as it was whirling round sideways in the reflux of the waves caused by +the water dashing against a high rock standing partly in the current. It +was a moment of life or death, both to the man and maiden; for the boat was +on the point of going broadside over the first fall into the wild and +seething waters, seen leaping and roaring in whirlpools and jets of foam +among the intricate passes of the ragged rocks below. Making sure of his +grasp on the end of the canoe that had been thus fortunately thrown within +his reach, the struggling Claud made an effort to draw it from the edge of +the abyss into which it was about to be precipitated; but, with his most +desperate exertions, he was barely enabled to keep it in position, while +his strength was rapidly giving way. The unequal contest was quickly +noticed by the hapless girl; and, after watching a moment, with a troubled +eye, the fruitless efforts and wasting strength of the young man, she +calmly rose to her feet, exhibiting, as she stood upright in the boat, with +the spray dashing over her marble forehead and long flowing hair, in the +faultless symmetry of her person, the beautiful cast of her features, and +the touching eloquence of her speaking countenance, a figure which might +well serve as a subject for the pencil of the artist. + +"Let go, brave stranger," she cried, in clear, silvery tones, after +throwing a grateful and admiring glance down upon her gallant rescuer; "let +me go, and save yourself. I can die as befits a daughter of my people." + +"Hold on, there, Claud! Courage, girl! I see a way to save you both," at +that critical instant rang above the roar of the waters the sharp voice of +the hunter, who, with wonderful tact and celerity, had shot down obliquely +across the main current, out of it through a narrow side pass, down that +and round the intervening rocks, and was now driving with main strength up +another pass, abreast of the objects of his anxiety. "There: now seize the +head of my canoe, and hold on to both; and, on your life, be quick!" he +continued, shouting to the exhausted young man, while he himself was +struggling with all his might to get and keep his boat in the right +position among the battling currents. + +After one or two ineffectual attempts, Claud, with a last desperate effort, +fortunately succeeded in securing his grasp on the hunter's boat, without +losing his hold on the other; when, with one mighty effort of the latter, +they were all drawn out of the vortex together, and soon brought safely to +shore. + +"Fluella, my fair young friend," said the hunter, taking a long breath, and +respectfully turning to the rescued girl, as the party stepped on to the +dry beach, "I have not often--no, never--felt more rejoiced than now, in +seeing you stand here in safety." + +"I know the danger I have been in," responded the maiden, feelingly. "O +yes, know to remember, and know to remember, also, those who made my +escape. Mr. Phillips, I am grateful much." + +"Don't thank _me_," promptly replied the hunter. "I am ashamed not to have +been the first in the rescue, when the chief's daughter was in danger." + +"But, Mr. Phillips," rejoined the other, with an expressive smile, "you +have not told me who this stranger is, who seemed to measure the value of +his own life by such a worthless thing as mine." + +"True, no," returned the hunter; "but this gentleman, Fluella, is young Mr. +Claud Elwood, who, with his father and mother, has recently moved into the +settlement; and they are now my nearest neighbors, at the foot of the lower +lake. And to you, Claud, I have to say, that this young lady is the +daughter of Wenongonet, the red chief, the original lord of these lakes, +and still living on the one next above." + +Both the maiden and her gallant young preserver seemed equally surprised, +at the announcement of each others' name and character: the former, because +it suggested questions in the solution of which she felt an interest, but +which, with the characteristic prudence of her race, she forbore to ask; +and the latter, because he found it hard to realize that the +fair-complexioned and every way beautiful girl, who stood before him, +readily speaking his own language, and neatly and even richly arrayed in +the usual female habiliments of the day, with the single exception of the +gay, beaded moccasins, that enveloped her small feet and ankles,--found it +extremely difficult to realize that one of such an exterior, and of so much +evident culture, could possibly have descended from the tawny and +uncultivated sons of the forest. + +"You two should hereafter be friends, should you not?" observed the hunter, +perceiving their mutual restraint, of which he wished to relieve them. + +Rousing himself, with a prompt affirmative reply to the question, Claud +gallantly advanced, and extended his hand to his fair companion, who, with +evident emotion, and a slight suffusion of the cheek, gave him her own in +return, as she said: + +"O yes. Mr. Phillips' friend is my friend, and, I--I--why, I can't thank +him _now_; the words don't come; the thanks remain unshaped in my heart." + +"Excuse me," replied Claud, "excuse me if I say, Miss Fluella, as Mr. +Phillips calls you, that you have already expressed, and in the finest +terms, far more than I am entitled to; so let that pass, and tell us how +your mishap occurred?" + +"O, naturally enough, though rather stupidly," responded the other, +regaining her ease and usually animated manner. "You must know that I +sometimes play the Indian girl, in doing my father's trouting. And, having +rowed down to the rapids this morning for that purpose, I ran my canoe on +to a rock, up here at the head of the falls, and threw into an eddy below, +till I had taken a supply. But, like other folks, I must have the _one +more_,--a large one I had seen playing round my hook; and, in my eagerness +to take him, I did not notice that my canoe had slipped off the rock till I +found it drifting down the current. I seized my oar, but, with the first +blow in the water it snapt in my hands. You know the rest, unless, perhaps, +the number of fish I caught," she added, pointing to a string of fine trout +still lying safely in the bottom of her canoe. + +"Brave girl!" exclaimed the hunter, going up to the boat with Claud, to +inspect the fish, which they had not before noticed. "A good ten pounds, +and fine ones, too. Claud shall remain here while I go a piece up the lake +for a deer, and follow your example, except the race down the rapids; but +that he can't do, for I shall take our canoe with me, and make him fish +from the shore, which will be just as well. Are you agreed to that +arrangement, young man?" + +This proposition being accepted, and it being also settled by common +consent that no further attempt should, at this time, be made to ascend the +remaining rapids with either of the boats the hunter and Claud, accompanied +by the light-footed Fluella, took up her canoe and set off with it, along +shore, towards a convenient landing in the lake above, then not more than +sixty or seventy rods distant. In a short time the proposed landing was +reached, and the boat let down into the water. The maiden, with an easy and +sprightly movement, then flung herself into her seat, and, with a paddle +hastily whittled for her out of a piece of drift-wood, by the ever ready +hunter, sent her little craft in a curving sweep into the lake; when, +facing round to her preservers, while a sweet and grateful smile broke over +her dimpling features, she bade and bowed them adieu, and went bounding +over the undulating waves towards her home, on an island some miles +distant, near the southeastern border of this romantic sheet of water. + +"Can it be," half-soliloquized Claud, as he stood rivetting his wondering +gaze on the beauteous figure, which, gracefully bowing with the +lightly-dipping oar, was receding from his rapt view, and gradually melting +away in the distance; "can it be that she is but a mere Indian girl, one of +those wild, untutored children of the forest?" + +"It is even so, young man," responded the hunter, rousing himself from the +reverie into which he also seemed to have fallen at the departure of his +fair favorite; "it is even so; but, for all that, the very flower of all +the womankind, white or red, according to my ideas, that ever graced the +borders of these lakes." + +"But how came she by those neatly-turned English features, and that clear, +white complexion?" + +"Why, her mother, who is now dead, was an uncommon handsome woman for a +squaw, and had, as I perhaps should have qualified when I answered so about +this girl, some white blood in her veins; or rather had, as the old chief +once told me, somewhere away back among the gone-by generations, a female +ancestor, a pure white woman, who was made captive by the Indians, and +married into their tribe, and who was as handsome as a picture. But the +white blood seemed to have been pretty much lost among the descendants, +till the appearance of this nonsuch of a girl, in whom every drop of it +seemed to have again been collected." + +"Some might, perhaps, draw different conclusions in the case." + +"Yes, and draw them very wrongfully, too, as I have no doubt many people do +in such cases; for I have often noticed it among families, and ascertained +it as a fact, that where a person of particular looks and character once +lived, his or her like, though not coming out visibly in any of the +descendants for a long time, is sure sooner or later to appear, and so will +frequently leap out in a child four or five generations off; a complete +copy, in looks, blood, and character, of the original (as far as can be +judged from family tradition), who may have been dead an hundred years. +This is my notion; and I hold that every person is destined to be at least +once reproduced among some of his descendants. I, or the exact like of me, +will likely enough be seen in some of my blood descendants, fifty or an +hundred years hence, building dams or mills on these very falls, or even +riding in a carriage around these wild lakes, where I have spent nearly my +whole life in hunting moose, and the other wild animals known only in the +unbroken forest." + +"Your theory may be true, but it does not quite account, I think, for the +evident intelligence and culture of this remarkable girl. To appear and +converse as she does, she must have seen considerable of good society out +of the forest, and, I should think, schools." + +"She has, both. Her father, one fall, when she was a girl of ten or eleven, +took her along with him to a city on the coast, where he went to sell his +furs and nice basket-work, and where she, some how, excited the lively +interest of a good family, and particularly of a wealthy gentleman then +living in the family. Well, the short of the matter is, that they persuaded +the chief to leave her through the winter; and, she becoming a favorite +with them all, they instructed her, sent her to school, and dressed her as +they would an own daughter, and would only part with her in the spring on +condition of her returning in the fall. And so it has gone on till now, she +living with them winters, and here with her father summers; for, though +they would like to take her entirely out of the woods, she would not desert +her father, who loves her as his life, and calls her the light of his +lodge,--no, not for all the gold in the cities." + +"You must then be well acquainted with this Indian family, and can give me +their history." + +"As far as is proper for me to tell, as well as anybody, perhaps. When I +was a young man, I at times used to live with the chief, who always made me +welcome to his lodge, and gave me his confidence. He was then but little +past his prime, and one of the smartest men, every way, I ever knew. He was +then worth property, and lived with his first wife, this girl's mother, +who, as I told you, was very good-looking and intelligent. But his second +wife was as homely as his first was handsome. As to Wenongonet himself, who +has now got to be, though still active, an old man, he claims to have been +a direct descendant of Paugus,--a grandson, I believe, of that noted +chief,--who was slain in Lovewell's bloody fight, and whose tribe, once +known as the Sokokis or Saco Indians, who were great fighters, it is said, +were then forever broken up, the most of them fleeing over the British +highlands and joining the St. Francis Indians in Canada. The family of +Paugus, however, with a few of the head men, who survived the battle, +concluded to remain this side of the mountain, and try to keep up a show of +the tribe on these lakes, where they lived till Paugus' son, who on the +death of his father became their sagamore or chief, died, when they +gradually drew off into Canada, leaving Wenongonet, the last chief's son, +the only permanent Indian resident, after a while, on these lakes. But +come, young man, enough of Indian matters for to-day: we must now be +stirring, or our day's work may come short. Help me to take my canoe up +here into the lake; and, within four hours, the time to which I will limit +my absence, we will see what can be done by each, in our different +undertakings." + +The employment of another half-hour fully sufficed to place the canoe of +the hunter in the smooth water above the rapids; when the latter, with a +cheery "heigh ho," at each light dip of his springy oar, struck off towards +the foot of the pine-covered hills that lift their green summits from the +western shores of the lake, leaving his young companion to proceed to his +allotted portion of the sports or labors of the day. Preparing his long +fishing-rod and tackle, according to the instructions which the hunter had +given him for adapting his mode of fishing to the locality and season, +Claud made his way along down the edge of the stream to a designated point, +a short distance above the place where, on the occurrence of the incident +before described, they had ceased to ascend the rapids in their canoes. He +here found, as he had been told, below a traversing reach of bare breakers, +a large, deep eddy of gently revolving water, in the centre of which lay +tossing on the swell a broad spiral wreath of spotless foam. The hunter, in +selecting these rapids, and especially this resting-spot of the ascending +fish, as the place where he could safely warrant the taking of the needed +supply of trout, had not spoken without knowledge; for it may well be +doubted whether there could be found, in all the regions of the north, a +reach of running water of equal length with this wild and singularly +picturesque portion of the Androscoggin river, containing such quantities +of this beautiful fish as are found about midsummer, swarming up the rapids +on their way from the Umbagog to the upper lakes. + +So, at least, Claud then found it; for, having passed to the most outward +point of rocks inclosing the eddy, he no sooner threw in and drew his +_skip bait_ round the borders of the foam-island just named, than a dozen +large trout shot up from beneath, and leaped splashing along the surface, +in keen rivalry for the prize of the bait. With a second throw, he securely +hooked one of a size which required all his strength to draw it, as he at +length did, flapping and floundering to a safe landing. And for the next +three hours he pursued the sport with a success which, notwithstanding the +great number that broke away from his hook, well made good the augury of +his beginning. By that time he had caught some dozens, of sizes varying +from one to seven pounds, and enough, and more than he needed. But still he +could not forego his exciting employment, and, insensible of the lapse of +time, continued his drafts on the seemingly inexhaustible eddy, till roused +by the long, shrill _halloo_ of the returned hunter, summoning him to the +landing above. Throwing down his pole by the side of his proud display of +fish, he hastened up to the lake, where he found the hunter complacently +employed in removing, for lightness of carriage, the head and offal of a +noble fat buck; when the two, with mutual congratulations on their success, +took up canoe, and, with a stop only long enough to take in the trout, +carried and launched their richly-freighted craft at a convenient place in +the stream below. Seeing Claud securely seated in the bottom of the canoe, +and the freight nicely balanced, the hunter took his paddle, instead of +setting-pole, the better to restrain the speed of the boat at the most +rapid and dangerous passes, and struck out into the current, adown which, +under the quick and skilful strokes of its experienced oarsman, it was +borne with almost the swiftness of a bird on the wing, till it reached the +quiet waters of the pond; and, this being soon passed over, they entered +and descended the next reach of rapids with equal speed and safety. All the +dangers and difficulties were now over; and, leisurely rowing homeward, +they were, by sunset, at the cottage of the Elwoods, displaying the fruits +of their enterprise, and recounting their singular adventures to the +surprised and gratified inmates. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + + "Then came the woodman with his sturdy-team + Of broad-horned oxen, to complete the toil + Which axe and fire had left him, to redeem, + For culture's hand, the cold and root-bound soil." + +The next morning, it being the day appointed for the "logging bee," the +Elwoods were again up betimes, to be prepared for the reception of the +expected visitants. On going out into the yard, while yet the coming sun +was only beginning to flush the eastern horizon, Mr. Elwood perceived, +early as it was, a man, whom he presumed, from the handspike and axe on his +shoulder, to be one of the company, entering the opening and leisurely +approaching, with an occasional glance backward along the road from the +settlements below. Not recognizing the man as an acquaintance, Elwood noted +his appearance closely as he was coming up. He was a rather young-looking +man, of a short, compactly built figure, with quick motions, and that +peculiar springy step which distinguishes men of active temperament and +hopeful, buoyant spirits; while the fox like cut of his features, the +lively gray eyes that beamed from them, and the evidently quick coming and +going thoughts that seemed to flash from his thin-moving nostrils and play +on his curling lips, served to indicate rapid perceptions, shrewdness, and +a kind and perhaps fun-loving disposition. + +"Hillo, captain,--or captain of the house, as I suppose you must be," he +sang out cheerily, as with slackening step he approached Elwood; "did you +ever hear spoken of, a certain rough-and-ready talking sort of a chap they +call Jonas Codman?" + +"I have heard of a Mr. Codman, and was told that he would probably be here +to-day," doubtfully replied Elwood. + +"Well, I am he, such as he is, pushed forward as a sort of advanced +guard,--no, herald must be the book-word,--to tell you that you are taken. +Did you mistrust it?" + +"No, not exactly." + +"You _are_, nevertheless. But I'll tell you a story, which, if you can see +the moral, may give you some hints to show you how to turn the affair to +your advantage without suffering the least inconvenience yourself; and here +it is: + +"There was once a curious sort of a fellow, whose land was so covered with +stones, which had rolled down from a mountain, that little or nothing could +grow among them; and the question was, how he should ever remove them. +Well, one day, when he was thinking on the matter, he found in the field an +old Black-Art book, on the cover of which he read, '_One chapter will bring +one, two chapters two, and so on; but set and keep them at work, lest a +worst thing befall_.' So, to see what would come of it, he read one +chapter; when a great, stout, dubious-looking devil made his appearance, +and asked what he should go about? 'Go to throwing these stones over the +mountain,' said the man. The devil went at it. But the man, seeing the poor +devil was having a hard job of it, read on till he had raised about a dozen +of the same kind of chaps, and set them all at work. And so smashingly did +they make the stones fly that, by sunset, the last were disappearing; and +the man was about to set them to pulling up the stumps on his newly-cleared +land. But they shook their heads at this, and, being pretty well tuckered +out, agreed to quit even, if he would, and go off without the usual pay in +such cases made and provided in devildom; when, he making no objections, +they, with another squint at the green gnarly stumps, cut and run; and all +the chapters he could read after that--for he began to like the fun of +having his land cleared at so cheap a rate--would never bring them back +again." + +So saying, the speaker turned; and, without the explanation or addition of +a single word, retraced his steps and disappeared in the woods, leaving the +puzzled Elwood to construe the meaning of his story as he best could. Very +soon, however, sounds reached his ears which enabled him to form some +conjecture what the man intended by his odd announcement. The mingling +voices of ox-team drivers, with their loud and peculiarly modulated "_Haw +Buck! gee! and up there, ye lazy loons_!" were now heard resounding through +the woods, and evidently approaching along the road from the settlement. +And soon an array of eight sturdy pair of oxen, each bearing a bundle of +hay bound on the top of their yoke with a log chain, and each attended by a +driver, with a handspike on his shoulder, marching by their side, emerged +one after another from the woods, and came filing up the road towards the +spot where he stood. As the long column approached, Elwood, with a flutter +of the heart, recognized in the driver most in advance, the erect, stalwart +figure and the proud and haughty bearing of Gaut Gurley. + +"Good-morning, good-morning, neighbor Elwood, as I have lately been pleased +to find you," exclaimed Gurley, with an air of careless assurance, as he +came within speaking distance. "We have come, as you see, to give you a +lift at your logging. So show us right into your slash, and let us go at +it, at once. We shall find time to talk afterwards." + +Elwood, with some general remark expressive of his obligation to the whole +of the company at hand for their voluntary and unexpected kindness, led the +way to the burned slash, and went back to meet and salute the rest of the +company, as they severally came up. Having performed this ceremony with +those having the immediate charge of the oxen, till the whole had passed on +to their work, he turned to the rest of the company, whom, though before +unnoticed by him, he now found following immediately behind the teams. +These consisted of some half-dozen sturdy logmen, with their implements, +appointed to pair off with the drivers of the teams, so as to provide two +men to each yoke of oxen; the hunter, Phillips, with his brisk wife and +buxom daughter, bearing a basket of plates, knives, forks, spoons, and +extra frying-pans, to supply any deficiency Mrs. Elwood might find in +furnishing her tables or in cooking for so large a company; and lastly, +Comical Codman, as he was often called by the settlers, who, though the +first to come forward to meet Elwood, was now bringing up the rear. + +"A merry morning to you," exclaimed the hunter, as the logmen turned off to +the slash; "a merry morning to you, neighbor Elwood. This looks some like +business to-day. You were not expecting us a very _great_ sight earlier +than this, I conclude," he added, with a jocular smile. + +"Earlier? Why, it is hardly sunrise yet, and I am wholly at a loss to know +how men living at such distances could get here at this hour." + +"Well, that is easily explained. They haven't had to travel so far this +morning as you imagine. They came on as far as my place last night, mostly, +and such as could be accommodated nestled with me in my house. The rest +camped out near by in the bush, which is just as well generally with us +woodsmen. But you, having no mistrust of this, as it seems, were taken, I +suppose, by surprise at our appearance so early." + +"I should have been, wholly so, but for the coming ahead of this +gentleman," replied Elwood, pointing to Codman; "and then, I was rather at +loss to know what he intended by his queer way of announcing you." + +"Very likely. He never does or says any thing like other folks. Jonas," +continued the hunter, turning to the odd genius of whom he was speaking, +"you are a good trapper, but I fear you make a bad fore-runner." + +"Well, I am all right now here in the rear, I suppose," replied the other, +with an oddly assumed air of abashment. "A man is generally good for one +thing or t'other. If I ain't a good forerunner, it then follows that I am a +good hind-runner." + +"You see he must have his fol-de-rol, Mr. Elwood," said the hunter. "But, +for all that, he is a good fellow enough at the bottom, if you can ever +find it: ain't all that so, Jonas?" + +"Sort of so and sort of not so; but a little more not than sorter, they may +say, perhaps. And I don't think, myself, there is much either at the top or +bottom to brag on," rejoined Codman, suddenly darting off to join his +companions in the slash; and now whistling a tune, as he went, and now +crowing like a cock, in notes and tones each of its kind so wondrous loud +and shrill that the whole valley of the lake seemed wakened by the strange +music. + +The operations of the day having been thus auspicuously commenced in the +slash, Elwood, retaining the hunter with him at the house to advise and +assist in such arrangements and preparations for breakfast as might render +the meal most acceptable to the company, entered at once upon his duties as +host; and, it being found that neither the room nor tables in the house +were sufficient to seat all the company, it was decided, for the purpose of +avoiding every appearance of invidious distinction, to prepare temporary +tables and seat the whole of them, except the females, in the open air near +the house. Accordingly the hunter, who, from his experience as a woodman, +was ever ready at such contrivances, went to work; and, clearing and +levelling off a smooth place, driving into the ground three sets of short +stout crotches, laying cross-pieces in each, and then two new pine planks +longitudinally over the whole, he soon erected a neat and substantial +table, long enough to seat a score of guests. Seats on each side were then +supplied by a similar process; when Mrs. Elwood, who had watched the +operation with a housewife's interest, made her appearance with a roll of +fine white tablecloths, the relics of her better days, and covered the +whole with the snowy drapery, making a table which might vie in appearance +with those of the most fashionable restaurants of the cities. Upon this +table, plates, knives and forks, with all other of the usual +accompaniments, were speedily arranged by the quick-footed females; while +the sounds of boiling pots, and the hissing frying-pans spreading through +the house and around the yard the savory fumes of the cooking trout, +betokened the advanced progress of the culinary operations within, which +were now soon completed; when the fact was announced by Mr. Elwood by +several long and loud blasts on his "tin horn" to the expectant laborers in +the field, who, while the meal was being borne smoking on to the table, +chained their oxen to stumps and saplings about the field, parcelled out to +them the hay, and repaired to their morning banquet. + +Banquet! A banquet among backwoodsmen? Yes; and why not? It is strange that +a thousand generations of epicures should have lived, gluttonized, and +passed away from the earth, without appearing to understand the chief +requisite for that class of animal enjoyments which they seem to make the +great end and aim of their lives,--without appearing to realize that it is +the appetite, not the quality of the food, that makes the feast; that there +can be no such thing as a feast, indeed, without a _real_ not factitious +appetite; and that there can be no real appetite without toil or some +prolonged and vigorous exercise. Nero ransacked his whole kingdom, and +expended millions for delicacies; and yet he never experienced, probably, +one-half the enjoyments of the palate that were experienced from the +coarsest fare by his poorest laboring subject. No, the men of ease and +idleness may have surfeits, the men of toil can only have banquets. And it +is doubtless a part of that nicely balanced system of compensations which +Providence applies to men, that the appetites of the industrious poor +should make good the deficiencies in the quality of their food, so that it +should always afford equal enjoyment in the consumption with that +experienced by the idle rich over their sumptuous tables. + +The meal passed off pleasantly; and when finished, the gratified and chatty +workmen, with their numbers now increased by the addition of the two +Elwoods and the hunter, returned, with the eager alacrity of boys hurrying +to an appointed game of football, to their voluntary labors in the field, +in which they had already made surprising progress. + +The business of the day was now resumed in earnest. The teamsters having +quickly scattered to their respective teams and brought them with a lively +step on to the ground, and having there each received their allotted quota +of log-rollers, to pile up the logs as fast as drawn, at once penetrated at +different points into the thickest parts of the blackened masses of timber +before them, awaiting their sturdy labors. Here the largest log in a given +space, and the one the most difficult to be removed, was usually selected +as the nucleus of the proposed pile. Then two logs of the next largest size +were drawn up on each side, and placed at a little distance in a line +parallel with the first, when the intermediate spaces were filled with +limbs, knots, and the smallest timber at hand; so that a fire, when the +process of burning the piles should be commenced, communicated at the +centre thus prepared, would spread through the whole, and not be likely to +go out till all the logs were consumed. When this foundation was laid, the +next nearest surrounding logs were drawn alongside and rolled up on skids, +by the logmen stationed there with their handspikes for the purpose. Then +generally commenced a keen strife between the teamster and the log-rollers, +to see which should first do their part and keep the others the most +closely employed. And the result was that in a very short time a large pile +of logs was completed, and a space of ten or fifteen square rods was +completely cleared around it. This done, an adjoining thicket of timber was +sought out, another pile started, and another space cleared off in the same +manner. And thus proceeded the work, with each team and its attendants, in +every part of the slash; while the same spirit of rivalry which had thus +began to be exhibited between the members of each gang soon took the form +of a competition between one gang and another, who were now everywhere seen +vieing with each other in the strife to do the most or to build up the +largest and greatest number of log-heaps in the shortest space of time. The +whole field, indeed, was thus soon made to exhibit the animated but +singular spectacle of men, engaged in a wholly voluntary labor, putting +forth all the unstinted applications of strength and displaying all the +alertness and zeal of men at work for a wager. But, among all the +participants in the labors of the day, no one manifested so much interest +in advancing the work, no one was so active and laborious, as Gaut Gurley. +Not only was he continually inciting and pressing up all others to the +labor, but was ever foremost in the heaviest work himself, generally +selecting the most difficult parts for himself, and often performing feats +of strength that scarcely any two men on the ground were able to perform. +Nor was the Herculean strength which he so often displayed before the eyes +of the astonished workmen, ever made useless, as is sometimes the case with +men of great physical powers, by any misapplication of his efforts. He +seemed perfectly to understand the business in which they were engaged; +and, while all wondered, though no one knew, where he had received his +training for such work, it was soon, by common consent, decided that he was +much the most efficient hand on the ground, many even going so far as to +declare that his equal was never before seen in that part of the country. + +"You see that, don't you, captain?" said Codman, coming up close to Elwood, +and speaking in a half whisper, as he pointed to Gaut Gurley, who, having +noticed two of the stoutest of the hands vainly trying to roll up a large +log, rushed forward, and, bidding them stand aside, threw it up +single-handed without appearing to exert half his strength. "You see that, +don't you, captain?" he repeated, with an air of mingled wonder and +waggishness. "Now, what do you think of my story, and the great, stout, +black-looking devil that came, on reading the first chapter, and made the +big stones fly so?" + +"I haven't thought much about it," carelessly replied Elwood, evidently +wishing not to appear to understand the allusion of the other. "But why do +you ask such a question?" + +"Don't know myself, it's a fact; but I happened to be thinking of things. +But say, captain, you haven't been reading any chapters in any strange book +yourself, lately, have you?" said Codman, with a queer look. + +"No, I guess not," replied Elwood, laughingly, though visibly annoyed by +the subject. + +"No? Nor none of the family?" persisted the other, glancing towards Claud +Elwood, who was standing near by. "Well, I wish I knew what put that story +into my head, when I let it off this morning. It is de-ive-lish queer, at +any rate, considering." So saying, he walked off to his work, croaking like +a rooster at some questionable object. + +Although none of the settlers present seemed disposed to attribute the +extraordinary physical powers, which Gaut Gurley had so unmistakably shown, +to any supernatural agency, as the trapper, Codman, whose other +singularities were not without a smart sprinkling of superstition, was +obviously inclining to do, yet those powers were especially calculated, as +may well be supposed of men of their class, to make a strong impression on +the minds of them all, and invest the possessor with an importance which, +in their eyes, he could in no other way obtain. Accordingly he soon came to +be looked upon as the lion of the day, and suddenly thus acquired, for the +time being, as he doubtless shrewdly calculated he could do in this way, a +consequence and influence of which no other man could boast, perhaps, in +the whole settlement. + +Meanwhile the work of clearing off the logs was prosecuted with increasing +spirit and resolution. And so eagerly intent had all the hands become, in +pressing forward to its completion their self-imposed task, which all could +see was now fast drawing to a close, that they took no note of the flight +of time, and were consequently taken by surprise when the sound of the horn +summoned them to their midday meal. + +"Why! it can't yet be noon," exclaimed one, glancing up at the sun. + +"No" responded another. "Some of us here have been counting on seeing the +whole job nearly done by noon, but it will take three hours yet to do that. +No, the women must have made a mistake." + +"Well, I don't know about that: let us see," said the hunter, turning his +back to the sun, and throwing out one foot as far as he could while keeping +his body perpendicular. "Now my clock, which, for noon on the 21st of June, +or longest day of summer, is the shadow of my head falling on half my foot, +and then passing off beyond it about half an inch each day for the rest of +the season, makes it, as _I_ should calculate the distance between my foot +and the shadow of my head, now evidently receding,--makes it, for this last +day of August, about a quarter past twelve." + +"I am but little over half past eleven," said Codman, pulling out and +inspecting an old watch. "Phillips, may be, is thinking of that deer that +he has been promising himself and us for dinner; and, before I take his +calculation on shadows and distances, I should like to know how many inches +he allowed for the hurrying influence of his appetite." + +"What nonsense, Comical! But what you mean by it is, I suppose, that I +can't tell the time?" + +"Not within half an hour by the sun." + +"Why, man, it is the sun that makes the time; and, as that body never gets +out of order or runs down, why not learn to read it, and depend directly +upon it for the hour of the day? If half the time men spend in bothering +over timepieces were devoted to studying the great clock of the heavens, +they need not depend on such uncertain contrivances as common clocks and +watches to know the time of day." + +"But how in cloudy weather?" + +"Tell the time of day by your feelings. Take note of the state of your +appetite and general feelings at the various hours of the day, when it is +fair and you know the time, and then apply the rule when you have no other +means of judging; and you may thus train yourself, so that you need not be +half an hour out of the way in your reckoning through the whole day." + +"Well, supposing it is night?" + +"Night is for sleep, and it is no consequence to know the time, except the +time waking. And, as to that, none need be in fault, if they had you +anywhere within two miles to crow for them." + +"A regular hit! I own it a hit, Mr. Hunter. But here comes Mr. Elwood: we +will leave the question of the time of day to him." + +"We have a correct noon-mark at the house, and the women are probably +right," replied Elwood. "At all events, men who have worked like lions, as +you all have this forenoon, must by this time need refreshment. So, let us +all drop work, and at once be off to dinner." + +With such familiar jokes and converse, the light-hearted backwoodsmen threw +off their crocky frocks, and, after washing up at a runlet at hand, marched +off in chatty groups to the house, where they found awaiting their arrival +the well-spread board of their appreciating hostess, this time made more +tempting to their vigorous and healthy appetites by the addition, to the +fine trout of the morning, of the variously-cooked haunches of the hunter's +venison. And, having here done ample justice to their excellent meal, they +again hastened back to their labor in the field, unanimously declaring for +the good husbandman's rule, "Work first and play afterwards," and saying +they would have no rest nor recreation till they had seen the last log of +the slash disposed of. And with such animation did they resume their +labors, and with such vigor continue to apply themselves in carrying out +their resolution, and in hastening the hour of its fulfilment, that by the +middle of the afternoon their task was ended; and the gratified Mr. Elwood +had the satisfaction of seeing the formidable-looking slash of the morning +converted into a comparatively smooth field, requiring only the action of +the fire on the log heaps, with a few days' tending, to make it fit for the +seed and harrow. + +"Come, boys," said the hunter to the company, now all within speaking +distance, except two or three who had somehow disappeared; "come, boys," he +repeated, after pausing to see the last log thrown up in its place, "let us +gather up here near the middle of the lot. Comical Codman and some others, +I have noticed, have been putting their heads together, and I kinder +surmise we may now soon expect some sort of christening ceremony of the +field we have walked through in such fine style to-day; and, if they make +out any thing worth the while, it may be well to give them a good cheer or +two, to wind off with." + +While the men were taking their stand at the spot designated by the hunter, +Codman was seen mounting a conspicuous logheap at the southerly end of the +field; and two more men, at the same time, made their appearance on the +tops of different piles on opposite sides of the lot, and nearly abreast of +the place where the expectant company were collected and standing, silently +awaiting the commencement of the promised ceremony. Presently one of the +two last-named, with a preliminary flourish of his hand, slowly and loudly +began: + + "Since we see the last logs fairly roll'd, + And log-heaps full fifty, all told, + We should deem it a shame + If so handsome and well-cleared a field, + Bidding fair for a hundred-fold yield, + Be afforded no name." + +To this, the man standing on the opposite pile, in the same loud and +measured tone promptly responded: + + "Then a name we will certainly give it, + If you'll listen, and all well receive it, + As justly you may: + + We will call it the thing it will make, + We will name it the Pride of the Lake, + Or the Job of a Day." + +Before the last words of this unique duet had died on the ear, Comical +Codman on his distant perch straightened up, and, triumphantly clapping his +sides like the boastful bird whose crowing he could so wonderfully imitate, +raised his shrill, loud, and long-drawn _kuk-kuk-ke-o-ho_ in a volume of +sound that thrilled through the forest and sent its repeating echoes from +hill to hill along the distant borders of the lake. + +"There, the dog has got the start of us!" exclaimed the hunter, joining +the rest of the company in their surprise and laughter at the prompt +action of the trapper as well as at the striking character of his +performance,--"fairly the start of us; but let's follow him up close, boys. +So here goes for the new name!" + +And the prolonged "hurra! hurra! hurra!" burst from the lips of the +strong-voiced woodmen in three tremendous cheers for the "_Pride of the +Lake and the Job of a Day_." + +All the labors and performances of the field being now over, the company +gathered up their tools, and by common consent moved towards the house, +where, it was understood, an hour or so, before starting for their +respective homes, should be spent in rest, chatting with the women, or +other recreation, and a consultation also be held, among those interested, +for forming a company, fixing on the time, and making other arrangements +for the contemplated trapping and hunting expedition of the now +fast-approaching season. + +As the company were proceeding along promiscuously towards the house, Gaut +Gurley, who had thus far through the day manifested no desire for any +particular conversation with Mr. Elwood, nor in any way deported himself so +as to lead others to infer a former acquaintance between them, now suddenly +fell in by his side; when, contriving to detain him till the rest had +passed on out of sight, he paused in his steps and said: + +"Well, Elwood, I told you in the morning, you know, that we would do the +work first and the talking afterwards. The work has now been done, and I +hope to your satisfaction." + +"Yes--O yes--entirely," replied Elwood, hesitating in his doubt about what +was to follow from the other, whose unexpected conduct and stand for his +benefit he hardly knew how to construe. "Yes, the neighbors have done me a +substantial favor, and you all deserve my hearty thanks." + +"I was not fishing for thanks," returned Gaut, half-contemptuously, "but +wished a few words with you on private matters which concern only you and +myself. And, to come to the point at once, I would ascertain, in the first +place, if you know whether you and I are understood, in this settlement, to +be old acquaintances or new ones?" + +"New ones, I suppose, of course, unless it be known to the contrary through +your means. _I_ have not said a word about it, nor have my family, I feel +confident," replied Elwood, demurely. + +"Very well; our former acquaintance is then wholly unsuspected here. Let it +remain so. But have you ever hinted to any of the settlers what you may +have known or heard about me, or any former passages of my life, which +occurred when I used to operate in this section or elsewhere?" + +"No, not one word." + +"All is well, then. As you have kept and continue to keep my secrets, so +shall yours be kept. It is a dozen or fifteen years since I have been in +this section at all. It is filling up with new men. There are but two +persons now in the settlement that can ever have seen or known me. And they +will not disturb me." + +"Then there _are_ two that _have_ known you? Who can they be?" + +"One is Wenongonet, an old Indian chief, as he calls himself, still living +on one of the upper lakes, they say, but too old to ramble or attend to +anybody's business but his own. The other is Phillips, the hunter." + +"Phillips! Phillips, did you say? Why, as much as he has been at our house, +he has never dropt a word from which one could infer that you were not a +perfect stranger to him." + +"I did not suppose he had. Phillips is a peaceable, close-mouthed fellow; +pretends not to know any thing about anybody, when he thinks the parties +concerned would rather have him ignorant; keeps a secret by never letting +anybody know he has one; and never means to cross another man's path. I can +get along with _him_, too. And the only question now is whether _you_ and I +can live together in the same settlement." + +"It will probably be your fault if we can't. I shall make war on no one." + +"My fault! Why I _wish_ to be on good terms with you; and yet, Elwood, you +feel out of sorts with me, and, in spite of all I can do, seem disposed to +keep yourself aloof." + +"If I do seem so, it may be because the past teaches me that the best way +to avoid quarrels is to avoid intimacies. You know how we last parted in +that gambling-room. I had no business to be there, I admit; but that was no +excuse for your treatment." + +"Treatment! Why, Elwood, is it possible you have been under a +misapprehension about that, all this time?" responded Gaut, with that +peculiar wheedling manner which he so well knew how to assume when he +wished to carry his point with another. "My object then was to save the +money for you and me, so that we could divide it satisfactorily between +ourselves. I was angry enough at those other fellows, whom I saw getting +all your money in that way, I confess; and, in what I said, I was whipping +them over your shoulders. I thought you understood it." + +"I didn't understand it in that way," replied Elwood, surprised and +evidently staggered at the bold and unexpected statement. "I didn't take +you so: could that be all you intended?" + +"Certainly it was," resumed Gaut, in the same insinuating tone. "Had I +supposed it necessary, I should have seen you and explained it at the time. +But it is explained now; so let it go, and every thing go that has been +unpleasant between us; let us forget all, and henceforth be on good terms. +Our children, as you may have suspected, seem intent on being friends; and +why should not we be friends also? It will be a gratification to them, and +we can easily make it the means of benefiting each other. You know how much +I once did in helping you to property,--I can do so again, if we will but +understand each other. What say you, Elwood? Will you establish the treaty, +and give me your hand upon it?" + +Elwood trembled as the other bent his fascinating gaze upon him, hesitated, +began to demur feebly; but, being artfully answered, soon yielded and +extended his hand, which Gaut seized and shook heartily; when at the +suggestion of the latter they separated and proceeded by different courses, +so that they might not be seen together, to join the company at the house, +whom they found, as they expected, in consultation about the proposed +trapping and hunting expedition to the upper lakes, the time of starting, +and the names and number of those volunteering to join the association, +only remaining to be fixed and ascertained. That time was finally fixed on +the 15th of September, and the company was formed to consist of the two +Elwoods, Phillips, Gurley, Codman, and such others as might thereafter wish +to join them. This being settled, they broke up and departed for their +respective homes. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + + "All good to me is lost; + Evil, be thou my good"-- + +The next scene in the slowly unfolding panorama of our story opens at the +house of Gaut Gurley, on the banks of the Magalloway. Gaut reached home, on +the evening of the logging bee, about sunset; and, having put out his team, +entered his house, where he found his wife alone, his daughter being absent +on a visit to a neighbor. Contrary to what might have been expected, after +the favorable impression he had so evidently made on the settlers that day, +and the attainment of the still more important object with him, the +regaining of his old fatal influence over Elwood, he appeared morose and +dissatisfied. Something had not worked to his liking in the complicated +machinery of his plans, and he showed his vexation so palpably as soon to +attract the attention of his submissive but by no means unobservant wife, +who, after a while, plucked up the courage to remark: + +"What is the case, Gaut? Have you been working yourself to death for those +Elwoods, to-day, or has something gone wrong with you, that makes you look +so sour this evening?" + +"I have worked hard enough, God knows; but that I intended, for I had +objects in view, most of which I think I have accomplished, but--" + +"But not all, I suppose you would say?" + +"Well, yes, there is one thing that has not gone exactly to suit me, over +there." + +"What is that, Gaut?" + +"It is of no consequence that you should know it. If I should name it, you +would not see its bearing on my plans, I presume." + +"Perhaps not, for I don't know what your plans are, these days. I used to +be able to guess out the objects you had in view, before you came here, +whether you told me or not. But, since you have been in this settlement, I +have been at loss to know what you are driving at; I can't understand your +movements at all." + +"What movements do you mean, woman?" + +"All of them; but particularly those that have to do with the Elwoods." + +"What is there in my course toward them, since they came here, that you +can't understand?" + +"Well, I'll tell you, Gaut. When you believed Elwood to be rich, I could +easily see that you thought it would be an object to bring about an +acquaintance between his son and only heir, and our Avis; and I knew you +was, those days, studying how it could be done, and I always suspected that +you in some way disposed of that picture of her for the purpose, instead of +sending it to your relations, and----" + +"And what?" exclaimed Gaut, turning fiercely on his wife. "Suspected! What +business had you to suspect? And you told Avis what you thought, I +suppose?" + +"Not a word, never one word; for I knew she was so proud and particular, +that, if she mistrusted any thing of that kind to have been done, she would +flounce in a minute. No, I never hinted it to her, or anybody else, and it +was guesswork, after all," replied the abashed wife, in a deprecating +tone,--she having been tempted, by the unusual mood which her stern husband +had manifested for discussing his private affairs with her, to venture to +speak much more freely than was her wont. + +"Well, see that you don't hint any thing about that, nor any thing else you +may take it into your silly head to guess about my objects," rejoined the +other, in a somewhat mollified tone. "But now go on with what you were +going to say." + +"Well, I could understand your course before Elwood failed; but, when he +did, I could see no object, either in following him here, or having any +thing particular to do with him, or any of his family. But you seized on +the first chance, after we came here, to court them, and have followed it +up; first, in the affair of the young man and Avis, and then, in drumming +up the whole settlement in getting up this logging bee for the old man. +Now, Gaut, you don't generally drive matters at this rate without something +in view that will pay; and, as I can see nothing to be gained worth so much +pains, I don't understand it." + +"I didn't suppose you did, and it is generally of little consequence +whether you see through my plans or not; but, in this case--" + +Here Gaut suddenly paused, rose, and took several turns across the room, +evidently debating with himself how far it was policy to disclose his plans +to his wife; when, appearing to make up his mind, he again seated himself +and resumed: + +"Yes, as this is a peculiar case, and coming, perhaps, in part within the +range of a woman's help, if she knows what is wanted, and one which she may +unintentionally hurt, if she don't, I suppose I must give you some insight +into my movements, so that you can manage accordingly, help when you can, +and do no mischief when you can't; as you probably will do, for you well +know the consequences of doing otherwise." + +"I will do all I can, if I can understand what you want, and can see any +object in it," meekly responded the woman. + +"Well, then, in the first place," resumed the other, "you know how many +years I slaved myself, and what risks I run, to help Elwood make that +fortune; how he threw me off with simple wages, instead of the share I +always intended to have for such hard and dangerous services; and how he +failed, like a fool, before I got it." + +"I knew it all." + +"Then you can easily imagine how much it went against my grain to be balked +in that manner. At all events, it did; and I soon determined not to give up +the game so, even if that was all. And ascertaining that Elwood, by +allowances made by the creditors to his wife, and sales of furniture which +they allowed the family to retain, brought quite a little sum of money into +the settlement,--enough, at any rate, to pay for his place, put him well +afloat, and make him a man of consequence in such a new place,--I soon made +up my mind on buying and settling, for present purposes, here, too, as we +did." + +"Yes, but what do you expect to make here more than in any other new +country? And what can you make out of the Elwoods, more than any other new +settlers?" + +"A good deal, if all things work to my mind. There is money to be made +here. I could do well in the fur business alone, and at the worst. And, by +the aid of one who could be made to favor my interests, there is no telling +what could be done. Now, what claim had I on any other settler to be that +one to aid me? On Elwood I had a claim to help _me_ to property in turn; +and I determined he should do it. But he must first be brought into the +traces. He has got out with me, and must be reconciled before I can do much +with him." + +"Well, I should think he ought to be by this time, after what you have been +doing for him, without his asking." + +"Without asking? Why, that was just the way to do it. As I calculated, he +was taken by surprise, disarmed, and yielded; so that object is +accomplished, as well as making the right impression on the other settlers +by beating them at their own work." + +"I begin to understand, now." + +"You will understand more, soon; that was only part of my object." + +"What was the other part?" + +"To insure the consummation of the match between Avis and young Elwood, +which now seems in fair progress, but which would be liable to be broken +off, if his family should continue to be unfriendly to me." + +"Why, that was the thing I could understand least of all. The young man is +well enough, I suppose, but I thought you had looked to have Avis make more +of herself, and do better for us. She is still young, and we don't know +what chances she may have. If she and the young man should keep on +intimate, and set their hearts on it, I don't know that I should oppose it +much; but what object we can have in helping it on, I can't, for the life +of me, see. I have not said a word against it, because I saw that you were +for it. But, if I had been governed by my own notions, I should have sooner +discouraged than helped it on." + +"I suspected so; and, for that reason, as well as others, I see I must tell +you a secret, which the Elwoods themselves don't know, and which I meant +should never pass my lips; and, when I tell it to you, see that it never +passes yours. That young man, Claud Elwood, whom you think so ordinary a +match, is heir to a large property. A will is already executed making him +so." + +"Is that so, Gaut?" + +"Yes, I have known it for months. I made the discovery before I decided to +move here." + +"It is a wonder how you could keep it from me." + +"Humph! It is a greater wonder how I came to tell you at all, and I fear I +shall yet repent it; but things had come to a pass that seemed to make it +necessary." + +"But who is the man, and where, who is going to give the young man such a +property?" + +"It is not for you to know. I have told you enough for all my purposes. And +this brings me back to your first question, when I admitted that there was +one thing which had not gone to my liking. There _was_, indeed, one thing +that disturbed and vexed me; and that was the discovery I made, over there, +today, that Elwood's wife is an enemy to me. I contrived all ways to get +speech with her, but she studiously avoided giving me a chance, nor was I +able once even to catch her eye, that I might give her a friendly nod of +recognition. I know she never wished me about, in former times, but I then +attributed her coldness to the pride of the rich over the poor. But I now +think it was because she hated me. I am satisfied she is an enemy, at +heart; and will, for that reason, prove a secret and I fear dangerous +opposer to a match which will connect me with her family, unless something +is done to reconcile her." + +"How can that be done?" + +"Perhaps _you_ can do something. We start, in about a fortnight, on the +fall hunt,--both the Elwoods, myself, and others. When we are gone, you can +go down into that neighborhood, get acquainted with some of the women, and +get them to call with you on Mrs. Elwood; and, if Avis could be made to go +and see her, so much the better. She would make an impression without +trying. You would have to manage, but how, I am not now prepared to decide. +I will think of it, and you may, and we will talk it over again. I have +told you this, now, that you might understand the situation of affairs; and +the object, which you will now see, is worth playing for. And, if we can +carry this last point, the last danger will be removed,--unless Claud +himself proves fickle." + +"I guess there will not be much danger of that in _this_ settlement. What +girl is there that he could think of in comparison with Avis?" + +"I think there is none; and still, there is one whom I would rather he +would not see." + +"Who can that be, I should like to know?" + +"She is the daughter, or is claimed to be, of an old Indian chief, called +Wenongonet, who lives up the lakes, and was once a man of some consequence, +both with Indians and whites." + +"An Indian girl! Fudge!" + +"You might alter that tune, if you should see her. She is white as you are, +and has, most of the time, of late years, lived in some of the old +settlements, been schooled, and so on. I saw her, soon after we came here, +with another woman, at the south end of the lake, where she was visiting in +the family of one of the settlers, and I inquired her out, as she appeared +so much above the common run of girls. But she is courted, they say, by a +young educated Indian, called Tomah, from Connecticut-river way, where I +used to see him. He _ought_ to be able to take care of her. But hark! what +was that? It sounded like the trotting of some heavy horse. I'll see." + +So saying, Gaut rose and went to the window, when, after casting a +searching look out into the road, and pausing a moment, in evident doubt +and surprise at what met his gaze, he muttered: "The devil is always at +hand when you are talking about him; for that must be the very +fellow,--Tomah himself! But what a rig-out! Wife, look here." + +The woman promptly came to the window, when her eyes were greeted with the +appearance of a smart-looking and jauntily-equipped young Indian, mounted +on the back of a stately, antlered moose, that, by some contrivance +answering to a bridle, he was about bringing to a stand in the road, +opposite to the house. Without heeding the exclamations of surprise and +questions of his wife, who had never seen an animal of the kind, Gaut +stepped out of the door, and, after pausing long enough to satisfy himself +that he was not known to the other, said, after the distant greeting +customary among strangers had been exchanged: + +"That is a strange horse you are travelling on, friend." + +"No matter that, when he carry you well," replied the Indian, whose +language was a little idiomatic, notwithstanding his education. + +"Perhaps not; but I should think he would be a hard trotter for most +riders." + +"Moose don't care for that: he say, he carry you ten miles an hour, you not +the one to complain: if you no like, you no ride." + +"How did you tame him to be so manageable?" + +"Caught him a little calf, four years ago; trained him young to mind +halter; then ox-work, horse-work. This year ride him. No trouble, you let +him enough to eat." + +"Where did you catch him?" + +"Over the mountain. Live there. My name John Tomah. Been here to hunt some, +but not see you before. Another man live in this house last spring." + +"Yes, I am a new-comer. But I have heard some of the settlers speak of you, +I think. You are the Indian that has been to college?" + +"Yes, been there some, but in the woods more. Love to hunt, catch beaver, +sable, and such things. Come here to hunt now, soon as time. But must have +moose kept when off hunting: thought the man lived here do that. May be you +keep him, while I come back. Pay you, all right." + +"Yes, if I could; but where could I keep him? He would jump any pasture or +yard fence there is here, and then run away, would he not?" + +"No. Stay, after week or two, and get wonted, same as horse or cow. I go to +work, make yard, keep him in a while, and feed him with grass or browse. I +tend him first. You keep him,--you keep me, till go hunting; then get boy. +Pay well, much as you suit." + +Gaut Gurley never acted without a strong secret motive. He had been +intently studying the young Indian during the conversation just detailed, +with a view of forming an opinion how far his subservience could be +secured; and, appearing to become satisfied on this point, and believing +the first great step for making him what was desired would be accomplished +by yielding to his request gracefully, however much family inconvenience it +might occasion, Gaut now turned cordially to him, and said: + +"Yes, Tomah, I will do it. I like your looks, and I will do it for +_you_, but wouldn't for anybody else. We can get along with your animal, +somehow; and you shall stay, too, till our company start on our hunt, and +then you shall go with us. I will see that you have fair play. I will be +your friend; and perhaps I may want a good turn of you some time." + +"Like that; go with you; show you how catch beaver. Do all I can." + +"Very well; and perhaps I can help you in some way. You have an affair that +you feel a peculiar interest in, with somebody on the upper lake, and--" + +"You know that?" interrupted the startled but evidently not displeased +Indian. + +"Yes, I have heard something about it." + +"But how you help there?" + +"O, I can contrive a way for you to make the matter work as you wish, if +you will only persevere." + +"Persevere? Ah, means keep trying. Yes, do that; but she don't talk right, +now; perhaps, will, you help, then we be great friends, sure." + +The treaty being thus concluded, the gratified young Indian dismounted, +with his rifle and pack, containing his blanket, hunting-suit, etc., which +he carried before him, laid across the shoulder of his novel steed; and, +under the guidance of Gaut, he led the animal into the cow-yard, where he +was tied and fed, and the fence, already made high to exclude the wolves, +as usual among first settlers, was topped out by laying on a few additional +poles, so as to prevent the possibility of his escape. This being done, +Gaut conducted his new-found friend into the house, and introduced him, to +his wife and also to his daughter, who had by this time returned, as the +young Indian that had been to college, but still had a liking for the +woods. + +"I have often thought I should feel interested in seeing an educated native +of the forest," remarked Avis, after the civilities of the introduction had +been exchanged. "Books, when you became able to read and understand them," +she continued, turning to the Indian, "books must have opened a new world +to you, and the many new and curious things you found in them must have +been exceedingly gratifying to you, Mr. Tomah." + +"Yes, many curious things in books," replied Tomah, indifferently. + +"And also much valuable knowledge?" rejoined Avis, interrogatively. + +"Valuable enough to some folks, suppose," replied the other, with the air +of one speaking on a subject in which he felt no particular interest. +"Lawyers make money; preachers get good pay for talking what they learn in +books; so doctors." + +"But surely," persisted the former, who, though disappointed in his +replies, yet still expected to see, if she could draw him out, the +naturally shrewd mind of the native made brilliant by the light of science, +"surely you consider an education a good thing for all, giving those who +receive it a great advantage over those who do not?" + +"Yes, education good thing," responded Tomah, his stolid countenance +beginning to lighten up at the idea which now struck him as involving the +chief if not the sole benefit of his scientific acquirements; "yes, +education good, very good, sometime. Instance: I go to Boston with my moose +next winter; show him for pay, one, two days; then reckon up money--add; +then reckon up expenses--subtract; tell how much I make. Make much, stay; +make little, go to other place. Yes, education good thing." + +"But I should think you might do better with your education than you could +by following the usual employments of your kind of people," resumed the +other, still unwilling to see the subject of her scrutiny fall so much +below her preconception of an educated Indian. "You say, lawyers, +preachers, and doctors make money from the superiority which their +education has given them; now, why don't you profit by _your_ education, +and go into a profession like one of theirs, and obtain by it the same +wealth and position which you see them enjoying?" + +"Did try," replied Tomah, with an evident effort to elevate his language, +and meet the question candidly. "When I came home from the school, people +all say, Now you go and live like white folks, in village, and study to be +doctor, make money, be great man. So went; study one year; try hard to +like; but no use. Uneasy all the time; could not keep down the Indian in +me; he always rising up, more every day, all the time drawing me away to +the woods,--pull, pull, pull. I fight against him; put him down little some +time; but he soon up again, stronger than ever. Found could not make myself +over again; must be as first made; so gave up; left study for the woods; +and said, Now let Indian be Indian as long as he like." + +Satisfied, or rather silenced, by Tomah's reasons, Avis turned the +conversation by asking him to relate to her how he caught and tamed his +moose. She found him completely at home in this and other of his adventures +in the forest, which he was thus encouraged to relate, and in which he +often became a graphic and interesting narrator, and displayed the keen +observation of the objects of nature, together with the other peculiar +qualities of his race, to so much advantage that she soon relinquished her +favorite idea of ever finding a philosopher in an educated Indian. + +In presenting the above picture, drawn from one of the many living +prototypes that have fallen within our personal observation, or come within +our knowledge derived from reliable sources, we had no wish to disparage +the praiseworthy acts and motives of those spirited and patriotic men who, +like Moore, in establishing his well-known charity school, in connection +with Dartmouth college, may have, in times past, founded and endowed +schools for the education of the natives of the forest; nor would we dampen +the faith and hopes of those philanthropists who still believe in the +redemption of that dwindling race by the aids of science and civilization; +but we confess our inability to perceive any general results, flowing from +the attempts of that character, at all adequate to the pains and outlay +bestowed on the experiment. And we think we cannot be alone in this +opinion. We believe that those results, when gathered up so that all their +meagreness could be seen, have sadly disappointed public expectations; that +this once favorite object and theory, of elevating and benefiting the red +man by taking him from his native woods and immuring him in the schoolroom, +has been, in the great majority of the cases, a futile one; and that whole +system, indeed, can now be regarded as but little less than a magnificent +failure. + +There have been, it is true, some brilliant exceptions to the application +of our remarks, such as may be found in the pious and comparatively learned +Samson Occom, the noted Indian preacher of the times of the Pilgrims; in +the eloquent Ojibway chief of our own times, and a few others; as well as +in the person we have already introduced into this work, the intelligent +and beautiful Fluella. But _only_ as exceptions to the general rule, we +fear, can we fairly regard them,--for, where there is one Occom, there are +probably ten Tomahs. + +Education, or so much of it as he has the patience and ability to acquire, +seems often to unsettle and confuse the mind of the red man; for, while his +old notions and traditions are disturbed or swept away by it, he fails of +grasping and digesting the new ones which science and civilization present +to his mind; and he falters and gropes, like an owl in the too strong light +of the unaccustomed sun. In his natural condition, he can _at least_ +realize the happy picture which the poet has drawn of him: + + "Lo the poor Indian! whose untutored mind + Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind: + His soul proud science never taught to stray + Far as the solar walk or milky way; + Yet simple nature to his hope has given, + Behind the cloud-topt hill, an humbler heaven, + Some safer world in depth of wood embraced; + Some happier island in the wat'ry waste, + + Where slaves once more their native land behold, + No fiends torment, no Christian thirsts for gold. + To be content's his natural desire; + He asks no angel's wings, no seraph's fire; + But thinks, admitted to that equal sky, + His faithful dog shall bear him company." + +But now, in his new and anomalous position, even this happiness and this +content is taken away, while he is unable to embrace an adequate +substitute. His old faith is shaken, but no new one is established. Before, +he could see God in clouds or hear him in the wind; but now he can scarcely +see God in any thing. His physical system, in the mean while, deprived as +it is of the forest atmosphere, in which it was alone fitted to exist and +reach its greatest perfection, suffers even more than his mental one. And +his whole man, both mental and physical, begins to degenerate, and soon +dwindles into insignificance. Yes, it is only in his native forests that +the Indian appears in his wild and peculiar dignity of character. There +only can he become a being of romance, and there only a hero. And there, in +conclusion, we would say, in view of the unsatisfactory results of the +experiments made to elevate him by any of the methods yet adopted,--there +we would let him remain. + +But we must now on with our tale, the main incidents of which we have only +foreshadowed, not touched. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + + "Hearts will be prophets still." + +The week succeeding the logging bee was an extremely busy one with the +Elwoods, who still had a heavy task to perform on their new field, before +it could be considered properly cleared or fitted for seeding and +harrowing. Sixty days before, that field was covered with a heavy growth of +primitive forest, standing in its native majesty, a mountain mass of green +vigor and sturdy life, and as seemingly invincible against the assaults of +man as it had been against those of the elements whose fury it had so long +withstood. But the busy and fatal axe had done its work. That towering +forest had been laid prostrate with the earth, and the first process of the +Herculean task of converting the forest into the field had been completed. +The second and third process, also, in the burning of the slash and the +gathering the trunks of the trees into log-heaps, as we have seen, had been +in turn successfully accomplished. But the fourth and last process still +remained to be performed. Those unseemly log-heaps, cumbering no +inconsiderable portion of the field, must be disposed of, to complete the +work. This was now the first task of the Elwoods, and time pressed for its +speedy execution. Accordingly, the next morning after the bee, they sallied +out, each with a blazing brand in his hand, and commenced the work of +firing the piles,--a work which, unlike that of firing a combustible and +readily catching slash, required not only considerable time, but often the +exercise of much skill and patience. But they steadily persevered, and, +before sunset, had the gratification of beholding every one of those many +scores of huge log-piles, that thickly dotted the ground, clearly within +the grasp of the devouring element; and afterwards of seeing that grasp +grow stronger and stronger on the solid material on which it had securely +fastened, till, to the eye of fancy, the dark old forest seemed by day to +be reproduced in the numerous, thickly-set columns of smoke that shot +upward and spread out into over-arching canopies above, while, with the +gathering darkness of the night, that forest seemed gradually to take the +form of a distant burning city in the manifold tapering pillars of fire +which everywhere rose from the field, fiercely illuminating the dark and +sombre wood-wall of the surrounding forest, and dimly glimmering over the +sleeping waters of river and lake beyond. + +They had now made the fire their servant, and got it safely at work for +them; but that servant, to insure its continued and profitable action, must +be constantly fed and fostered. The logs, becoming by the action of the +fire partially consumed, and, by thus losing their contact with each other, +ceasing to burn, required, every few hours, to be rolled together, +adjusted, and repacked; when, being already thoroughly heated and still +partly on fire, they would soon burst out again into a brisk blaze. This +tending and re-packing of the piles demanded, for many of the succeeding +days, the constant attention of the Elwoods; who, going out early each +morning, and keeping up their rounds at short intervals through the day and +to a late hour at night, assiduously pursued their object, till they had +seen every log-heap disappear from the field, and the last step of their +severe task fully accomplished. + +Few of those who live in cities, villages, or other places than those where +agricultural pursuits prevail; few of those, indeed, who have been tillers +only of the subdued and time-mellowed soils of the old States and +countries, have any adequate conception of the immense amount of hard labor +required to clear off the primitive forest, and prepare the land for the +first crop; nor have they, consequently, any just appreciation of the +degree of resolution, energy, and endurance necessary to insure continued +perseverance in subduing one piece of forest-land after another, till a +considerable opening is effected. It is the labor of one man's life to +clear up a new farm; and few there be, among the multitudes found making +the attempt, who have the sustaining will and resolution--even if the +pecuniary ability is not wanting--to accomplish that formidable +achievement. Probably not one in five of all the first pioneer settlers of +a new country ever remain to become its permanent settlers. The first set +of emigrants, or pioneers, are seen beginning with great resolution and +energy, and persevering unfalteringly till the usual ten-acre lot is +cleared, the log-house thrown up, and the settlement of the family +effected. Another piece of forest is the next year attacked, but with a far +less determined will, and the clearing prosecuted with a proportionate lack +of energy and resolution; and the job, after being suffered to linger along +for months beyond the usual period for completion, is finally finished. +But, in view of the hard labors and prolonged struggles they have +experienced in their two former trials for conquering the wilderness, they +too often now falter and hesitate at a third attempt. Perhaps the lack of +means to hire that help, which would make the toil more endurable, comes +also into the case; and the result is that no new clearing is begun. They +live along a while as they are; but, for want of the first crops of the +newly-cleared land and the usual accessions to their older fields, they +soon find themselves on the retrograde, and finally sell out to a new set +of incoming settlers, who in their turn begin with fresh vigor, and with +more means generally for prosecuting advantageously the work which had +discouraged or worn out their predecessors. But even of this second set a +large proportion fail to succeed, and, like the former, eventually yield +their places to more enterprising and able men, who, with those of the two +former sets of settlers that had succeeded in overcoming the difficulties +and retaining their places, now join in making up the permanent settlers of +the country. + +Such is generally the history of the early settlement of every new country. +Those who have endured the most hardship, encountered the greatest +difficulties, and performed the hardest labor, do not generally reap the +reward which might eventually crown their toils, but leave that reward to +be enjoyed by those to whom such hardships and toils are comparatively +unknown. This seems hard and unjust; but, from the unequal conditions and +characters of men, it is doubtless a necessary state of things, and one +which, though it may occasionally be somewhat modified, will never, +probably, as a general thing, be very essentially altered. + +The Elwoods, having now thus brought the labors of clearing to a successful +close, next proceeded to the lighter and more cleanly task of taking the +incipient step towards securing the ever-important first crop which was to +reward them, in a good part, for their arduous toils. Accordingly, the +previously engaged supply of winter wheat intended for seed was brought +home, the requisite help and ox-work enlisted, the seed sown, and the +harrows and hoes put in motion to insure its lodgment beneath the surface +of the broken soil. And, by the end of the second day from its +commencement, this task was also completed, leaving our two persevering +settlers only the work of gathering in the small crops of grain and +potatoes they had succeeded in raising on their older grounds, to be +performed before leaving home on the contemplated trapping and hunting +expedition; the appointed day for which was still sufficiently distant to +allow them abundant time to do this, and also to make all other of the +necessary arrangements and preparations for that, to them, novel and +interesting event. + +But how, in the meanwhile, stood that domestic drama of love and its +entanglements, which was destined to be deeply interwoven with the other +principal incidents of this singular story? All on the surface seemed as +bright and unruffled as the halcyon waters of the sleeping ocean before the +days of storm have come to move and vex it. But how was it within the vail +of the heart and teeming mind, where the currents and counter-currents of +that subtle but powerful passion flow and clash unseen, often gaining their +full height and unmasterable strength before any event shall occur to +betray their existence to the public. How was it there? We shall see. + +While the events we have described in the last foregoing chapters were +transpiring, Mrs. Elwood held her peace, studiously avoiding all allusion +to what still constituted the burden of her mind,--the thickening intimacy +between her family and the Gurleys; but, though she was silent on the +subject, yet her heart was not any the less sad, nor her thoughts any the +less busy. She had been made aware that a reconciliation had taken place +between her husband and Gaut Gurley; and she had seen how artfully the +latter had brought it about, and regained his old fatal influence over the +former. She believed she fully understood the motives which actuated Gaut +in all these movements. And she now looked on in helpless anguish of heart +to see the toils thus drawn tighter and tighter around the unconscious +victims, and those victims, too, her husband and son, with whose happiness +and welfare her own was indissolubly connected. She saw it with anguish, +because her feelings never for once were permitted even the alleviation of +a doubt that it could result in aught else than evil to her family. She +could not reason herself into any belief of Gaut's reformation. She felt +his black heart constantly throwing its shadow on to her own; she _felt_ +this, but could not give to others, nor perhaps even to herself, what might +be deemed a satisfactory reason for her impressions and forebodings; for in +her was exemplified the words of the poet: + + "The mind is capable to show + Thoughts of so dim a feature, + That consciousness can only know + Their presence and their nature." + +Such thoughts were hers,--dim and flitting, indeed; but she felt conscious +of their continued presence, of their general character, and deeply +conscious what they portended. They took one shape, moved in one course, +and all pointed one way, and that was to evil,--some great impending evil +to the two objects of her love and solicitude. + +"But is there no hope?" she murmured aloud, in the fullness of her heart, +while deeply pondering the matter, one day, as she sat alone at her open +window, looking out on her husband and son engaged in their harvest, which +she knew they were hurrying on to a close, before leaving her on the +contemplated long, and perhaps perilous, expedition into the wilderness,--a +circumstance that doubtless caused the subject, in the thus awakened state +of her anxieties, to weigh at this time peculiarly heavy on her mind. "Is +there no hope," she repeated, with a sigh, "that this impending calamity +may in some part be averted? Must they both be sacrificed? Must the faults +of the erring father be visited on the innocent son, who had become the +last hope of the mother's heart? Kind Heaven! may not that son, _at least_, +be delivered from the web of toils into which he has so strangely fallen, +and yet be saved? Grant, O grant that hope--that one ray of hope--in this +my hour of darkness!" + +But what sound was that which now fell upon her ear, as if responsive to +her ejaculation? It was a light tap or two on the door, which, after the +customary bidding of _walk in_ had been pronounced, was gently opened, when +a young female of extreme beauty and loveliness entered. Mrs. Elwood +involuntarily rose, and stood a moment, mute with surprise, in the +unexpected presence. Soon recovering, however, she invited the fair +stranger to a seat, still deeply wondering who she could be and what had +occasioned her visit. + +"You are the good woman of the house?--the wife of the new settler?--the +mother of Mr. Claud Elwood?" asked the stranger girl, pausing between each +interrogatory, till she had received an affirmative nod from Mrs. Elwood. + +"Yes," replied the latter kindly, but with an air of increasing curiosity, +"yes, I am Mrs. Elwood. Would you like to see my son, Claud?" + +"No," rejoined the girl, in the same subdued and musical accents. "No, it +was not him, but you, I came to see and speak with," she added, carefully, +withdrawing a screening handkerchief from a light parcel she bore in her +hand, and displaying a small work-basket of exquisite make, which, +advancing with hesitating steps, she presented to the other, as she +resumed: + +"I came with this, good lady, to see if you would be suited to have such an +article?" + +"It is very pretty," said Mrs. Elwood, examining the workmanship with +admiration, "beautiful, indeed. Did you make it?" + +"I did, lady," said the other modestly. + +"Well, it certainly does great credit to your skill and taste," rejoined +the other. "I should, of course, be pleased to own it, but I have little +money to pay for such things. You ought to sell it for quite a sum." + +"But I do not wish to sell it," responded the girl, looking up to Mrs. +Elwood with an expostulating and wounded expression. "I do not wish to take +money for it; but hoped you would like it well enough to accept it for a +gift,--a small token." + +"O, I should," said Mrs. Elwood, "if I was entitled to any such present; +but what have I ever done to deserve it of you? I do not even know who you +are, kind stranger." + +"They, call me Fluella," responded the other, the blood slightly suffusing +her fair, rounded cheek. "_You_ have not seen me, I know. You have not done +me the great favor that brings my gratitude. It is your brave son that has +done both." + +"O, I understand now," exclaimed Mrs. Elwood. "You are the chief's +daughter, whom Claud and Mr. Phillips helped out of a difficulty and danger +on the rapids, some time since. But your token should be given to Claud, +should it not?" + +"It would be unsuitable, too much," quickly replied the maiden, in a low, +hurried tone. "I could not do a thing like that. But if you would accept +such a small thing?" + +"I cannot but appreciate and honor your delicacy," returned Mrs. Elwood, +with a look of mingled admiration and respect. "I think you must be an +excellent girl; and I will accept your present,--yes, thankfully,--and +never forget the manner in which it was bestowed." + +"Your words are in my heart, lady. I came, feeling much doubtful; I return, +much happy," said the maiden, rising to depart. + +"Do not go yet," interposed the matron, who was beginning to feel a lively +interest in the other; "do not go yet. Claud should know you are here. I +will call him," she added, starting for the door. + +"O no, no,--do not, do not. He would not wish to be troubled by one like +me," hurriedly entreated the maiden, with a look of alarmed delicacy. + +"O, you are mistaken. He would be pleased to see you, and expect to be +called," said Mrs. Elwood, in a tone of gentle remonstrance, while pausing +at the unexpected objection. "But it is unnecessary; for I see that he is +already coming, and in a moment will be here," she added, glancing out of +the window. + +Having made the announcement, she turned encouragingly to the maiden, to +reassure her, believing her request that Claud should not be called in +proceeded entirely from over-diffidence. But one glance of her quick and +searching eye was sufficient to apprise the former that there was a deeper +cause for those tender alarms. The cheeks of the beautiful girl were deeply +suffused with crimson, her bosom was heaving wildly, and her whole frame +was trembling like an aspen. As her eyes met the surprised gaze of the +matron, she became conscious that her looks had betrayed the secret she was +the most anxious to conceal; and she cast an imploring look on the face of +the other, as if to entreat the mercy of shielding the weakness. + +Mrs. Elwood understood the silent appeal; and, approaching and laying her +hand gently on the shoulder of the other, said, in a low, kindly tone: + +"Have no fears. You have made a friend of me." + +The girl silently removed the hand, brought it to her lips, and, as a +bright tear-drop fell upon it, kissed it eagerly. The two then separated, +and resumed their respective seats, to compose themselves before the +expected entrance should be made. + +In a few moments Claud carelessly entered the house; but stopped short in +surprise, at the threshold, on so unexpectedly seeing the well-remembered +face and form of the heroine of his late romantic adventure on the rapids, +in the room with his mother. But, almost instantly recovering his usual +manner, he gallantly advanced to the trembling maiden, took her by the +hand, and respectfully inquired about her welfare, and pleasantly adverted +to the singular circumstances under which they had become acquainted. Soon +becoming in a good measure assured, by a reception so much more +condescending and cordial than she had dared hope for, from one whose image +she had been cherishing as that of some superior being, the grateful and +happy girl, now forgetful of her wish to depart, gradually regained her +natural ease and vivacity, and sustained her part in the general +conversation that now ensued, with an intelligence and instinctive +refinement of thought and expression that equally charmed and surprised her +listeners. She at length, however, rose to depart, observing that her +father, who was in waiting for her at the landing, would chide her for her +long delay; when Claud offered to attend her to the lake. To this she at +first objected; but, on Claud's assurance that he should be pleased with +the walk, and that it would afford him the opportunity of meeting her +father, whom he had a curiosity to see, she blushingly assented, and the +couple sociably took their way to the lake together, leaving Mrs. Elwood +deeply revolving in her mind the new train of thoughts that had been +awakened by the remarkable personal beauty and evident rare qualities of +her fair visitor, and the discovery of the state of her feelings,--thoughts +which the matron laid up in her heart, but forbade her tongue to utter. + +On reaching the landing, Fluella drew a bone whistle from her pocket, and +blew a blast so loud and shrill that the sound seemed to penetrate the +inmost depths of the surrounding forest. The next moment a similar sound +rose in response from the woods, apparently about half a mile distant, on +the right. + +"He has heard me; that was my father's whistle. He has been taking a short +bout in the woods with his rifle, but will now soon be here. And Mr. Elwood +will wait, I know, for the chief wishes to thank the brave that rescued his +daughter," said the maiden, looking inquiringly at Claud. + +"Yes," replied Claud, "yes, certainly; for, even without company, I am +never tired of standing on this commanding point, and looking out on this +beautiful lake and its surrounding scenery." + +"Ah! then you think, Mr. Elwood," exclaimed Fluella, with a countenance +sparkling with animation, "you think of our woods life, like one of your +great writers, whom I have read to remember, and who so prettily says: + + 'And this our life, exempt from public haunt, + Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks, + Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.' + +One would almost think this wise writer must be one of my people, he +describes our ways of becoming instructed so truly; for we Indians, Mr. +Elwood, read few other books than those we see opened to us on the face of +nature, or hear or read few other sermons than those in the outspread pages +of the bright lake, the green woods, and the grand mountain." + +"You Indians!" said Elwood, looking at the other with a playful yet +half-chiding expression. "Why, Fluella, should a stranger look at your fair +skin, hear you conversing so well in our language, and quoting so +appropriately from our books, he would hardly believe you an Indian, I +think, unless you told him." + +"Then I would tell him, Mr. Elwood," responded the maiden, with dignity, +and a scarcely perceptible spice of offended pride in her manner. "I +_am_ one,--on my father's side, at least, wholly so; and, for the first ten +or twelve years of my life, was but a child of the woods and the wigwam; +and I will never shame at my origin, so far as that matters." + +"But you did not learn to read in the wigwam, Fluella?" said Claud, +inquiringly. + +"No," replied the girl; the proud air she had assumed, while speaking of +her origin, quickly subsiding into one of meekness. "No; but I supposed +that Mr. Phillips, who knows, might have told you that, for many years +past, I have lived much with your people, learned their ways, been to their +schools, and read their books. And, in owning my natural red father, may be +I should have also said, I have a good white father, who has done every +thing for the poor, ignorant, Indian girl." + +"But where does this good and generous white father live, and what is his +name?" asked Claud. + +"He lives near the seaside city," answered she, demurely; "I may say so +far. But I do not name him, ever. We think it not best. But, if he comes +here sometime, as he may, you shall see him, Mr. Elwood." + +At this point of the dialogue, the attention of its participants was +arrested by the sound of breaking twigs and other indications of the near +approach of some one from the forest; and, the next moment, emerging +through the thick underbrush, which he parted by the muzzle of his rifle as +he made his way, the expected visitant came into view. Seemingly unmindful +of the presence of others near by, or of the curious and scrutinizing gaze +of Claud, he advanced with a firm, elastic tread, and stately bearing, +exhibiting a strong, erect frame, a large, intellectual head, and +handsomely moulded features, with a countenance of a grave and thoughtful +cast, but now and then enlivened by the keenly-glancing black eyes by which +it was particularly distinguished. With the exception of moccasins and +wampum belt, he was garbed in a good English dress; and, so far as his +exterior was in question, might have easily been mistaken, at a little +distance, for some amateur hunter from the cities; while, from the vigor of +his movements, and other general appearance, he might have equally well +passed for a man of the middle age, had not the frosts of time, which were +profusely sprinkled over his temples, and other visible parts of his head, +betrayed the secret of his advanced age. + +"My daughter is not alone," he said, in very fair English utterance, coming +to a stand ten or twelve yards distant from the young couple. + +"No" promptly replied the daughter, assuming the dignified tone and +attitude usual among those engaged in the ceremonies of some formal +presentation, or public introduction. "No, but my father will be pleased to +learn that this is the Mr. Claud Elwood, who did your daughter such good +service in her dangers on the rapids, and whom she has now conducted here, +that he might have the opportunity to see the chief, and receive the thanks +which it is more fitting for the father than the daughter to bestow." + +"My daughter's words are good," said the chief. "The young brave has our +thanks to last; but the Red Man's thanks are acted, the White Man's spoken. +Does the young man understand the creed of our people?" + +Fluella looked at Claud as if he was the one to answer the question, and he +accordingly remarked: + +"I have ever heard, chief, that your people always notice a benefit done to +them, and that he who does them one secures their lasting gratitude." + +"The young man," rejoined the chief, considerately, "has heard words that +make, sometime, too much; they make true, the good-doer doing no wrong to +us after. But when he takes advantage of our gratitude he wipes out the +debt; he does more,--he stands to be punished like one an enemy always." + +The maiden here cast an uneasy glance at Claud, and a deprecating one at +her father, at the unnecessary caution, as she believed it, which she +perceived the latter intended to convey by his words to the former. But, to +her relief, Claud did not appear as if he thought the remarks had any +application to himself, for he frankly responded: + +"Your distinction is a just one, chief. Your views about these matters are +my own views. Your creed is a good creed, so far as the remembrance of +benefits is concerned; and I wish I could see it observed as generally +among my people as I believe it to be among yours. But, chief, your +daughter makes too much out of my assistance, the other day. I did only a +common duty,--what I should have been a coward not to have done. I have no +claim for any particular gratitude from her or you." + +"Our gratitude was strong before; the young man now makes stronger," +remarked the other, exchanging appreciating glances with his daughter. + +"No, chief," resumed Claud, "I did not come here to boast of that small +service, nor claim any thanks for it, but to see a sagamore, who could give +me the knowledge of the Red Man which I would like to possess; to see one +who, in times gone by, was as a king in this lake country. His own history, +and that of his people especially, I would like to hear. They must be full +of interest and instruction to an inquirer like me. Will not the chief +relate it briefly? I have leisure,--my ears are open to his words." + +"Would the young man know the history of Wenongonet, alone?" said the +other, with a musing and melancholy air. "It may be told easier than by +words. Does the young man see on yonder hill that tall, green pine, which +stands braced on the rocks, and laughs at the storms, because it is strong +and not afraid?" + +"I do." + +"That is Wenongonet fifty winters ago. Now, does the young man see that +tall, dry pine, in the quiet valley below, with a slender young tree +shooting up, and tenderly spreading its green branches around that aged +trunk, so it would shield its bare sides in the colds of winter, and fan +its leafless head in the heats of summer?" + +"Yes, I see that, also." + +"That dry tree, already tottering to its fall, is Wenongonet now." + +"But what is the young tree with which you have coupled it?" + +"The young man has eyes," said the speaker, glancing affectionately at his +blushing daughter. + +"But the young man," he resumed after a thoughtful pause, "would know more +of the history of the Red Men who once held the country as their own? Let +him read it in the history of his own people, turned about to the opposite. +Let him call the white man's increase from a little beginning, the red +man's decrease from a great,--the white man's victories, the red man's +defeats,--the white man's flourishing, the red man's fading; and he will +have the history of the red men, and the reasons of their sad history, in +this country. + +"Two hundred year-seasons ago, the Abenaques were the great nation of the +east. From the sea to the mountains they were the lords of Mavoshen. +[Footnote: The name by which the Province of Maine was designated by the +early voyagers, and the Indian word probably from which the present name of +the State of Maine was derived.] They were a nation of warriors and a wise +and active people. But, of all the four tribes--the Sokokis, the +Anasquanticooks, the Kenabas, the Wawenocks--who made up this great nation, +the Sokokis were the wisest and bravest. Wenongonet is proud when he thinks +of them. They were his tribe. All the land that sent its waters through the +Sawocotuc [Footnote: The Indian appellation of the river Saco, which is +doubtless an abbreviation of the Indian name here introduced.] to the sea +was theirs. They stood with their warriors at the outposts against the +crowding white settlers from the west and south. They were pleased to stand +there, because it was the post of danger and of honor in the nation. And +there they bravely kept their stand against that wide front of war, and +took the battle on themselves, till the snows of more than a hundred +winters were made red by their rifles and tomahawks. But those who court +death must often fall into his embrace. So with the Sokokis. They were at +first a great and many people; but they wasted and fell, as time, the +bringer of new and strange things, wore away, before the thick and more +thick coming of their greedy and pushing foes,--by their fire-water in +peace and their bullets in war, till the many became few, the great small. +What the bloody Church, with his swarm of picked warriors, had left after +his four terrible comings with fire and slaughter, the bold Lovewell +finished, on that black day when the great Paugus and all the flower of the +tribe found red graves round their ancient stronghold and home,--their +beloved Pegwacket. [Footnote: The name of a once populous Indian village, +which occupied the present beautiful site of the village of Fryeburg, Me., +near Lovewell's Pond, where the sanguinary conflict here alluded to +occurred in 1725.] This was the last time the tribe was ever assembled as a +separate people. The name of the Sokokis, at which so many pale faces had +been made paler, was buried in the graves of the brave warriors who had +here died to defend its glory. The feeble remnant, panic-struck and +heart-broken, fled northward, and, like the withered leaves of the forest +flying before the strong east wind, were scattered and swept over the +mountains into Canada; all but the family of Paugus, who took their stand +on these lakes, where his son, Waurumba, took the empty title of chief and, +dying, left it still more empty to Wenongonet, the last of the long line of +sagamores,--the last ever to stand here to tell the young white man the +story of their greatness, and the fate of their tribe." + +On concluding his story, the chief turned to his daughter and significantly +pointed to the lengthening shadows of the trees on the water, with a motion +of his head towards their home up the lakes. + +"The chief thinks," said Fluella, arousing herself from the thoughtful +attitude in which she had been silently listening to the +conversation,--"the chief thinks it time we were on the water, on our way +home. We shall have now to bid Mr. Elwood a good-evening." + +So saying, she stepped lightly into the canoe and took her seat. She was +immediately followed by the chief, who, quickly handling his oar, sent the +light craft, with a single stroke, some rods into the lake, when, partially +turning its bow towards the spot where Claud was standing on the shore, he +said: + +"Should the young man ever stray from his companions in the hunt, or find +himself weary, or wet, or cold, or in want of food, when out on the borders +of the Molechunk-a-munk, let him feel, and doubt not, that he will be +welcome to the lodge of Wenongonet." + +"And, if Mr. Elwood should be in the vicinity of our lake this fall, and +_not_ happen to be in a so very sad condition, he might, perhaps, find a +good welcome on calling,--so, especially, if he come before the time of the +first snows," added Fluella, playfully at first, but with a slight +suffusion of the cheek as she proceeded to the close. + +"I thank the chief," responded Claud with a respectful bow. "And I thank +you, my fair friend," he continued, turning more familiarly to Fluella. "I +hope to come, some time. But why do you speak of the first snows?" + +"O, the birds take wing for a warmer country about that time, and perhaps +some who have not wings may be off with them," replied Fluella, in the same +tone of playfulness and emotion. + +A stately bow from the father, and another with a sweetly eloquent smile +from the daughter, completed, on their part, the ceremonies of the adieu; +when the canoe was headed round, and, by the easy and powerful +paddle-strokes of the still vigorous old man, sent bounding over the waters +of the glassy lake. + +Slowly and thoughtfully Claud turned and took his way homeward. "Who could +have expected," he soliloquized, "to witness such an exhibition of +intellect and exalted tone of feeling in one of that despised race, as that +proud old man displayed, in his eloquently-told story? And that daughter! +Well, what is she to me? My faith is given to another. But why feel this +strange interest? Yet, after all, it is probably nothing but what any one +would naturally feel in the surprise occasioned on beholding such qualities +in such a place and person. No, no, it can be nothing more; and I will +whistle it to the winds." + +And he accordingly quickened his steps, and literally began to whistle a +lively tune, by way of silencing the unbidden sensation which he felt +conscious had often, since he first met this fair daughter of the wilds, +been lurking within. But, though he thus resolved and reasoned the +intruding feeling into nothing, yet he felt he would not like to have Avis +Gurley know how often the sparkling countenance and witching smile of this +new and beautiful face had been found mingling themselves with the +previously exclusive images of his dreams. But, if they did so before this +second interview, would they do it less now? His head resolutely answered, +"Yes, less, till they are banished." His heart softly whispered, "No." And +we will not anticipate by disclosing whether head or heart was to prove the +better prophet. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + + "Away! nor let me loiter in my song, + For we have many a mountain path to tread, + And many a varied shore to sail along,-- + By truth and sadness, not by fiction, led." + +The day agreed on, by the trappers, for starting on their expedition into +the unbroken wilds around and beyond the upper lakes to the extreme +reservoirs of the lordly Androscoggin, had at length arrived. All the +married men belonging to the company, not having sons of their own old +enough, had engaged those of their neighbors to come and remain with their +families during their absence from home, which, it was thought probable, +would be prolonged to nearly December. Steel-traps and rifles had been put +in order, ammunition plentifully provided, and supplies of such provisions +as could not be generally procured by the rifle and fish-hook in the woods +and its waters, carefully laid in; and all were packed up the night +previous, and in readiness for a start the next morning. + +It had been agreed that the company should rendezvous on the lake-shore, at +the spot which we have already often mentioned, and which, by common +consent, was now beginning to be called Elwood's Landing. And, accordingly, +early on the appointed morning, Mark Elwood and his son Claud, having +dispatched their breakfast, which Mrs. Elwood had been careful to make an +unusually good and plentiful one, shouldered their large hunting packs, +with their blankets neatly folded and strapped outside; and, having bid +that anxious and thoughtful wife and mother a tender farewell, left the +house and proceeded with a lively step to the border of the lake. On +reaching their canoe at the landing, they glanced inquiringly around them +for some indications of the presence or coming of their expected +companions. But not a living object met their strained gaze, and not the +semblance of a sound greeted their listening ears. A light sheeted fog, of +varying thickness and density in the different portions of the wide +expanse,--here thin and spray-like, as if formed of the breath of some +marine monster, and there thickening to the appearance of the stratiform +cloud,--lay low stretched, in long, slow-creeping undulations, over the +bosom of the waveless lake. + +"The first on the ground, after all," exclaimed Mr. Elwood, on peering out +sharply through the partially-obstructing fog in the direction of the +outlet of the lake, up through which most of the company, who lived on the +rivers below, were expected to come. "That is smart, after so much +cautioning to us to be here in season. But they cannot be very far off, can +they, Claud?" + +"One would suppose not," replied the latter; "but sounds, in this dense and +quiet state of the atmosphere, could be distinguished at a great distance, +and, with all that my best faculties can do, I cannot hear a single sound +from any quarter.--But stay, what was that?" + +"What did you think you heard, Claud?" asked Mr. Elwood, after waiting a +moment for the other to proceed or explain. + +"Why, I can hardly tell, myself," was the musing reply; "but it was some +shrill, long-drawn sound, that seemed to come from a great distance in the +woods off here to the south-east, or on the lake beyond." + +"Perhaps it was a loon somewhere up the lake," suggested Mr. Elwood. + +"It may be so, possibly," rejoined Claud, doubtfully; "but, if there were +any inhabitants near enough in that direction, I should think it must +be--hark, there it is again! and, as I thought, the crowing of a rooster." + +"A rooster! then it must be the echo of one, that has somehow struck across +from Phillips' barn; but how could that be? Ah, I have just thought: your +rooster must be Codman coming down the lake. You know how curiously he +imitated that creature at the logging bee, don't you?" + +"No; I happened to be in a noisy bustle in the house, just at the time of +those queer performances of his, and heard them imperfectly. But, if the +sound I heard was not that of a veritable rooster, I never was so deceived +in my life respecting the character of a sound." + +"Well, I think you will find I am right, but we will wait, listen, and +see." + +The event soon proved the truth of Mr. Elwood's conjecture. Suddenly a +canoe, rounding a woody point a half-mile to the right, shot into view, and +the old loud and shrill _Kuk-kuk-ke-o-ho_ of Comical Codman rang far and +wide over the waters to the echoing hills beyond. But, before Claud had +sufficiently recovered from his surprise to respond to the triumphant "_I +told you so_" of his father, the strange salute was answered by a merry, +responsive shout of voices in the opposite direction; and presently two +canoes, each containing two men, emerged into view from the fog hanging +over the outlet, and, joining in a contest of speed, to which they seemed +to perceive the single boatman was, by his movements, challenging them, +rapidly made their way towards the understood goal of the landing. + + "The race is run. + The vict'ry won!" + +exclaimed the trapper, in his usual cheery tone and inimitable air of mock +gravity, as he drew up his oar, to let the impulse of his last stroke send +his canoe in to the shore of the landing, as it did, while the foremost of +his competitors in the friendly race was yet fifty yards distant. "Mighty +smart fellows, you!" he resumed, waggishly cocking his eye towards the +hunter, who had charge of the boat most in advance. "_What bright and +early_ chaps, living only from two to five miles off, to let one who has +ten miles to come be in first at the rendezvous!" + +"Well, Codman, I suppose we must give in," responded the hunter. "But, to +do all this, you must have risen long before day; how did you contrive to +wake up?" + +"Why, crowed like the house a-fire, and waked myself up, to be sure!" +replied Codman, promptly. "How did you suppose I did it? But let that all +go; I want to look you over a little. You have brought some new faces with +you, this time, haven't you, Mr. Hunter?" + +"Yes, here is one," answered Phillips, pointing to a tall, +sandy-complexioned, but good-looking man of about thirty, who, having +occupied the forward seat of the canoe, now quietly stepped ashore; "yes, +gentlemen," added the hunter, addressing himself to the Elwoods, standing +on the bank, as well as to the trapper, "I make you acquainted with Mr. +Carvil,--a man, if I ain't a good deal out in my reckoning, who might be +relied on in most any circumstances." + +The customary salutations were then exchanged with the stranger; when the +hunter, instinctively understanding that often violated rule of true +politeness which requires of the introducer some accompanying remark, +giving a clue to the position and character of the introduced, so as to +gratify the natural curiosity felt on such occasions, and to impart more +freedom to the conversation, quickly resumed: + +"Mr. Carvil is a Green Mountain boy, who loves hunting, partly for the +health it gives, and partly for the fun of it. His old range has usually +been round the Great Megantic, the other side of the highlands, in Canada, +where I have heard of him through the St. Francis Indians. But, having a +mind to see and try this side, he came on a few days ago, inquired me out, +and turned in with me. We from below have invited him to join our company; +are you all here agreed to that?" + +"Certainly," said Mark Elwood, in his usual off-hand manner. + +"Certainly," added Claud, more specifically, "I think we ought to be +gratified in such an acquisition to our company." + +"And you, Codman?" said the hunter, turning inquiringly to the trapper. "It +is your turn to speak. But don't show the gentleman so many of your bad +streaks, to begin with, as to put him out of conceit of you before he has +time to find out your good ones." + +"Well, I don't see but I must run the risk, then," said the trapper; "my +streaks always come out as they come up, I never pick any of them out as +samples for strangers. But to the question,--well, let's run him over +once, if he won't be mad: high cheek bones, showing him enough of the +Indian make to be a good hunter; a crank, steady eye, indicating honest +motives, and a good resolution, that won't allow a man to rest easy till +his object is carried out; and lastly, a well-put-together, wiry frame, to +bear fatigues, and do the work which so large a head must often lay out for +it. Yes, he passes muster with me bravely: let him in, with a welcome." + +Carvil rewarded these good-natured running commentaries on his person and +supposed qualities, with a complacent bow; when the trapper turned to the +other canoe, which, with Gaut Gurley and the young Indian described in a +preceding chapter on board, now came within speaking distance, and sang +out: + +"Hil-lo! there, you, captain, who made the big logs fly so like the +de-i-vel, the other day, whether the old chap had any hand in it or not, +what red genius is that you have brought along with you?" + +"It's Tomah, the young red man from the Connecticut-river region, who +hunted some in this section last fall, I understand. I supposed you had met +him before," replied Gaut. + +"O, ah, well, yes," responded Codman; "I bethink me, now, it is the young +Indian that went to college, but couldn't be kept there long enough to make +any thing else, though long enough, may be, to spoil him for a hunter." + +"May be not, too," retorted Tomah, with a miffed air, which showed he did +not so readily appreciate the half-serious, half-sportive manner of the +trapper as the other stranger had done. "May be, when you out with me +catching beaver, one, two month, you no crow so loud." + +"That's right," interposed the hunter; "the Indian gives you what you +deserve for your nonsense, Codman. But a truce to jokes. Let us all aboard, +strike out, and be on our way over the lake." + +In compliance with this suggestion, those not already in the boats took to +their seats, handled their oars, pushed off, and, headed by the hunter and +his boat companion, and falling, one after another, into a line, rowed +steadily on across, the broadest part of the lake, taking a lofty pine, +whose attenuated top looked like a reed rising over the fog in the +distance, as a guide and landmark to the great inlet, where the most +arduous task of their expedition was to be encountered,--the surmounting of +the long line of rapids leading to the great lakes above. But that task, +after a pleasant rowing of a couple of hours had brought them to it, was, +by dint of hard struggles against the current, with oars as long as oars +could be made to prevail; with setting-poles when oars ceased to serve the +purpose; and with ropes attached to the boats and drawn from point to point +or rock to rock, when neither oars nor poles were of any avail; together +with the carrying both boats and baggage by land round the last and most +difficult ascent,--that task was at length accomplished, and, before one +o'clock in the afternoon, all the boats, with their loading, were safely +launched on the broad bosom of the wild and picturesque Molechunk-a-munk. + +Here, however, the company decided on taking their mid-day's lunch, and an +hour's rest, before proceeding on their voyage. But, not deeming it +expedient to incur the trouble and delay which the building of fires and +the new cooking of provisions would require, they drew out only their bread +and cold meats, for the occasion; and these, as the company were seated in +an irregular circle on the rocks, were discussed and dispatched with that +keen relish which abstinence and a toil-earned appetite alone could have +brought them. + +After they had finished their repast, they, at the suggestion of Phillips +and Codman, the only persons of the company who were familiar with the +lakes and country above, took up a question which they had before +discussed, without settling, but which, they were told by the persons just +named, must now, before proceeding any farther, be definitely settled and +understood. This question was that of the expediency of establishing a +general head-quarters for the season, by building a large, storm-proof +camp, and locating it at some central point on the shore of one of the two +great lakes opening still above the one on which they were now about to +embark. The object of this was to insure the company comfortable quarters, +to which they could resort in case of falling sick, or encountering long +storms, at which their furs could be collected and more safely kept, their +more cumbrous stores left, and from which their provisions could be +distributed, with the least trouble and travel, to the smaller and more +temporary camps that each of the company, or any two of them, might make at +the nearest terminations, on the neighboring waters, of the different +ranges of woods they should select for their respective fields of +operations. The main part of the question, that of the necessity of +establishing general head-quarters, was at once, and unanimously, decided +in the affirmative. The remaining part, that of the most eligible location +for these quarters, was then fully discussed, and finally settled by fixing +the point of location about midway of the eastern side of the +Mooseeluk-maguntic, the next great lake above, and, counting from the +south, the third in this unique chain of secluded lakes and widely +clustering lakelets, through which the far-spanning Androscoggin pours its +vast volume of wild waters to the distant bosom of the welcoming ocean. + +"Wisely arranged," remarked the hunter, at the close of the discussion. +"The next object in view, then, is to reach there this evening, in season +to work up something in the shape of a camp, that will serve for the night, +and until the good one we propose to build can be completed." + +"That can be done easily enough," said Codman, "that is, if we will tax our +marrow-bones a little extra in pulling at the oars. The distance over this +lake, up the narrows, or river, and across the end of the Maguntic to the +mouth of that second stream we have talked of, can't be much more than a +dozen miles, and all smooth sailing. Lord, yes! if we put in like decent +oarsmen, I warrant we make fetch come, so as to be there by the sun an hour +high, which will give time to build a comfortable camp, and for cooking up +the jolly good supper I'm thinking to have, to pay us for all these sweats +and hard pulls up these confounded rapids and over these never-ending +lakes." + +"Well, let us put in, then, boys," responded Gaut Gurley. "I am as much for +the go-ahead principle as the best of you. Let us try the motion, and +_earn_ the good supper, whether we get it or not. But, to make the supper +quite the thing for the occasion, it strikes me we ought to have something +a little fresher than our salt junk." + +"True, O King, and Great Mogul of the lubber-lifts," rejoined the trapper; +"thou talkest like one not altogether without knowledge of the good living +of the woods. That something fresher we will have, if it be only a mess of +fish, which I think I can take out of that stream in a short time after we +get there." + +"That could be done as we go along, if these lakes are as well stocked with +large trout as they are reputed," observed Carvil, in the calm, deliberate +manner which characterized him on all occasions. + +"But we mustn't stop for that," said the trapper. + +"There is no need of stopping," quietly replied the former. + +"That's a queer idea," said the trapper, evidently at fault. "How are we to +put in and wait for bites, without stopping, I would like to know?" + +"Perhaps I may be able to demonstrate the matter, as we proceed on our way. +At all events, since the question is raised, I will try," replied Carvil, +drawing from his pocket a roll of small silk cord, to which a fish-hook, +without any sinker, was attached. "Can any of you handily get at your pork, +so as to cut off and throw me a small bit? There, that will do," he +continued, taking the proffered bit of meat, and baiting his hook with it. +"Now, the experiment I propose to try is what in my region we call +'troulling,' which consists of throwing out a baited hook and paying out, +as the boat moves on, a hundred feet, or so, of line, that is left to +trail, floating on the surface of the water behind; when most large fish, +like bass, or trout, especially if you make a sharp tack, occasionally, so +as to draw the line across an undisturbed portion of the water, will see, +and, darting up, sieze it, and hook themselves. And, if you have many large +trout _here_, and they are any related to those I have found in the Great +Maguntic, and other large bodies of fresh water, they will some of them +stand a pretty good chance to be found adding to our supper to-night." + +"Sorry to hear it," said the trapper, "for I have always considered the +trout a sensible fish, and I should be sorry to lose my respect for them. +But, if they will do that, they are bigger fools than I took them to be. +But you'll find they just won't." + +"Well, I don't know about that, now. I am not so sure but there may be +something in it," remarked the hunter, who had been listening to Carvil +with evident interest. "Though we have never tried that method in this +region, to my knowledge, yet my experience rather goes to confirm the +notion. I remember to have caught several fine trout, when I had laid down +my pole, and was moving off with my boat, but had left my line trailing +behind. Those great fellows are not very bashful about seizing any thing +they think they can eat, which they can see on the surface. I have known +them do a stranger thing than to come up and seize a piece of pork." + +"What was that?" asked the trapper. + +"Well, I don't know as you will believe the story," answered the other, +"but it will be equally true, if you don't. Some years ago I was out on the +Umbagog, for a mess of trout, but couldn't get a bite; and, seeing a flock +of black ducks in a neighboring cove, I hauled in my line, and rowed off +towards them, thinking I might get a shot, and so have something to carry +home, by way of mending my luck at fishing. But, before I got near enough +to count with much certainty on the effect of a shot, if I fired, they all +flew up, but one, which, though it seemed to be trying hard enough, could +not raise its body out of the water. As my canoe drifted in nearer, I once +or twice raised my rifle to fire at it; but it acted so strangely, flapping +the water with its wings, and tugging away at swimming, without appearing +to gain scarce a single foot, that I soon laid down my piece and concluded +I would try to take it alive, supposing it must have got fast tangled with +something, but with what, I was wholly unable to conceive. So, taking up my +oar, and gunning my canoe, so as to send it by within reach of the bird, I +gave two or three strong pulls, threw down the oar, put out my hand, and +sat ready for the grab, which the next moment I made, seizing the panting +and now sinking duck by one of its outspread wings, and pulling it in, with +a big trout fastened to its foot and leg so tight by the teeth that the +hold did not give way till the greedy fish was brought slapping over the +side, and landed safely in the bottom of the canoe. That trout, when I got +home, weighed just seven pounds and nine ounces." + +"Wheugh! whiz! kak! ke-o-ho!" exclaimed, whistled, and crowed Comical +Codman. + +"I do not doubt it in the least," said Carvil. + +"Nor can I, of course, on Mr. Phillips' statement," added Mark Elwood; +"but, if I had not known his scrupulousness in matters of fact, I should +not have believed that so strange a circumstance had ever happened in the +world." + +"So the story is voted gospel, is it?" rejoined the trapper. "Well, then, I +propose we commission its author to cruise along the coves this afternoon, +so that he may bring into camp to-night trout enough caught in that way to +make up what Mr. Carvil may miss taking by _his_ method, together with a +brace or two of nice ducks, which would be a still further fine addition to +our supper." + +"Yes, ducks or some other kind of flesh, to go with the fish, we may now +safely count on being secured, by some of the various proposed methods," +here interposed Claud Elwood, seriously. "And I second the motion of such a +cruise along the shores, by Mr. Phillips, who so seldom fails of killing +something. And if he, Mr. Carvil, and father, will agree to an exchange of +boat companions for the afternoon, I should like to go with him. I have +chosen him my schoolmaster in hunting, and I should have a chance for +another lesson before we go into the separate fields of our approaching +operations." + +Gaut Gurley started at the suggestion, and cast a few quick, searching +glances at Claud and the hunter, as if suspecting a concert of action +between them, for some purpose affecting his secret plans; but, appearing +to read nothing in either of their countenances to confirm such suspicions, +and seeing all the rest of the company readily falling in with the +proposal, he held his peace, and joined the others in handling the oars for +their immediate departure; which was now in a few minutes taken, the main +part of the company striking in a direct line across the middle of the lake +for their destination, leaving the hunter and Claud moving off obliquely to +the right, for a different and farther route among the intervening islands, +and along the indented shores beyond,--where it will best comport with the +objects of our story, we think, to accompany them in their solitary +excursion. + +"Where away, as the sailors have it?" said Claud, after the two, each with +a single oar, had rowed on a while in silence; "where away, Mr. Phillips, +or in the line of what object in sight would you lay your course?" + +"Why, I had proposed, in my own mind," replied the hunter, "to steer direct +across, so as to graze the east side of the great island you see yonder in +the distance; but, as we shall pass so near the cove which lies snuggled +away between two sharp, woody points here, a little ahead to the right, we +might as well, perhaps, haul in and take a squint round it." + +"What shall we find there?" + +"Perhaps nothing. It is the place, however, where I found that deer which I +killed when we were here before." + +"Well, if you can count on another, we should turn in there now." + +"We will; but a hunter, young man, must never talk of certainties when +going to any particular spot in search of such roving things as the animals +of the forest. He must learn to bear disappointment, and be prepared to +find nothing where he or others had before found every thing. He must have +patience. Loss of patience is very apt to be fatal to success in almost any +business, but especially so in hunting. You spoke of taking lessons of me +in the craft: this is the very first grand lesson I would impress on your +mind. But we are now close upon the point of land, which we are only to +round to be in the cove. If you are disposed to row the boat alone, now, +keep in or out, stop or move on, as I from to time give the word, I will +down on my knees in the bow of the boat, with cocked rifle in hand, ready +for what may be seen." + +Readily complying, Claud carefully rowed round the point and entered the +dark and deep indenture constituting the cove, whose few acres of surface +were thrown almost wholly into the shade, even at sunny noonday, by the +thickly-clustered groups of tall, princely pines, which, like giant +warriors in council, stood nodding their green plumes around the +closely-encircling shores. Closely hugging the banks, now stopping behind +some projecting clump of bushes, now in some rock-formed nook, and now in +the covert of some low-bending treetop, to give the keen-eyed hunter a +chance to peer round or through these screening objects into the open +spaces along the shore beyond, he slowly pushed along the canoe till the +whole line of the cove was explored, and they reached the point +corresponding to the one at which they commenced their look-out for game, +and all without seeing a living creature. + +"Pshaw! this is dull business," exclaimed Claud, as they came out into the +open lake, where he was left free to speak aloud. "This was so fine a +looking place for game that I felt sure we should see something worth +taking; and I am quite disappointed in the result." + +"So that, then, is the best fruit you can show of my first lesson in +hunting, is it, young man?" responded the hunter, with a significant smile. + +Claud felt the implied rebuke, and promised better behavior for the future; +when both seated themselves at the oars, and, as men naturally do, after an +interval of suppressed action, plied themselves with a vigor that sent +their craft swiftly surging over the waters in the line of their original +destination. + +They now soon reached, and shot along the shore of, a beautifully-wooded +island, nearly a half-mile in extent, about midway of which the +hunter-rested on his oars, and, after Claud, on his motion, had done the +same, observed, pointing through a partial opening among the trees, along a +visible path that led up a gentle slope into the interior of the island: + +"There! do you catch a glimpse of a house-like looking structure, in an +open and light spot in the woods, a little beyond where you cease to trace +the path?" + +"Yes, quite distinctly. What is it?" + +"That belongs to the chief, and might properly enough be called his +summer-house, as he generally comes here with his family to spend the hot +months. He raises fine crops of corn in his clearing on there beyond the +house, and saves it all, because the bears, coons, and squirrels, that +trouble him else-where, are so completely fenced out by the surrounding +water." + +"Are the family there, now?" + +"No; they have moved back to his principal residence, a mile or two +distant, on a point of land over against the opposite side of this island, +and not far out of our course." + +"Indeed! what say you, then, to giving them a call as we pass by?" + +"We shall not have time, which is a good reason for not calling now, if +there were not still stronger ones." + +"What stronger reasons, or what other reasons at all?" + +"Well, perhaps there are none. But, supposing two of the company we left +behind, who might happen to conceive they have some secret interest at +stake, should ever suspect that your leading object in leaving them was to +make the very visit you are now proposing, would you not prefer that we +should have it in our power to set their minds at rest, when we join them +to-night, by telling them all the places we _did_ touch at?" + +"It is possible I should, in such a case," replied Claud, looking surprised +and puzzled; "but, 'suspected,' did you say? _Why_ should they suspect? and +what if they do?" + +"Three questions in a heap, when one is more than I could wisely attempt to +answer," evasively answered the cautious hunter. + +"But you must have some reasons for what you said," persisted the other. + +"Reasons founded upon guesses are poor things to build a statement on," +rejoined the hunter. "Half the mischief and ill-feeling in the world comes +from statements so made. And, guessing aloud is often no better. I rather +think, all things considered, we had better not stop at the chief's, this +time. I can show you where he lives, as we pass; and, if that will do, we +will now handle oars, and be on our way." + +Much wondering at the enigmatical words of the other, Claud, without +further remark, put in his oar and thoughtfully rowed on, till they had +passed round the head of the island; when, on the indication of the hunter, +they stretched away towards a distant promontory, on the northeastern shore +of the lake. A steady and vigorous rowing of half an hour brought them +within a few hundred yards of the headland, for which they had been +steering; when the hunter lifted his oar, and said: + +"There! let the canoe run on alone, a while, and give me your attention. +Now, you see," he continued, pointing in shore to the right, "you see that +opening in the woods, yonder, on the southern slope extending down near the +lake, eighty rods or such a matter off, don't you? Well, that, and divers +other openings, where the timber has been cut down and burnt over, for +planting corn, scattered about in the woods in different places, as well as +a large tract of the surrounding forest-land, are the possessions of the +chief." + +"But where is their house?" + +"Down near the lake, among the trees. You can't see much of it, but it is a +smart, comfortable house, like one of our houses, and built by a carpenter; +for the chief used formerly to handle considerable money, got by the furs +caught by himself, and by the profits on the furs he bought of the St. +Francis Indians, who came over this way to hunt. But stay: there are some +of the family at his boat-landing. I think it must be Fluella and her +Indian half-brother. She is waving a handkerchief towards us. Let us wait +and see what she wants." + +The female, whose trim figure, English-fashioned dress, and graceful +motions went to confirm the hunter's conjectures, now appeared to turn and +give some directions to the boy, who immediately disappeared, but in a few +minutes came back, entered a canoe, and put off towards the spot where our +two voyagers were resting on their oars. In a short time the canoe came up, +rowed by an ordinary Indian boy of about fourteen, who, pulling alongside, +held up a neatly-made, new, wampum-trimmed hunting pouch, and said: + +"The chief send this Mr. Claud Elwood,--gift. Fluella say, wish Mr. +Phillips and Mr. Claud Elwood good time." + +And so saying, and tossing the article to Claud, he wheeled his canoe +around, and, without turning his head or appearing to hear the compliments +and thanks that both the hunter and Claud told him to take to the chief and +his daughter, sped his way back to the landing. + +"There, young man!" exclaimed the obviously gratified hunter, "that is a +present, with a meaning. I would rather have it, coming as it does from an +Indian, and that Indian such a man as the chief,--I would rather have it, +as a pledge of watchfulness over your interests in the settlement, whether +you are present there or absent,--than a white man's bond for a hundred +dollars; and I would also rather have it, as a token of faith, given when +you are roaming this northern wilderness, than a passport from the king of +England. The chief's _Totem_, the bald eagle, is woven in, I see, among the +ornaments. Every Indian found anywhere from the great river of Canada to +the sea eastward will know and respect it, and know, likewise, how to treat +the man to whom it was given." + +"But how," asked Claud, "could stranger Indians, whom I encountered, know +to whom it was given, or that I did not find, buy, or steal the article?" + +"Let an Indian alone for that. You have but three fingers on your left +hand, I have noticed." + +"True, the little finger was accidentally cut clean off by an axe, when I +was a child; but what has that to do with the question?" + +"Enough to settle it. Do you notice something protruding as if from under +the protecting wing of the eagle of the _Totem_, there?" + +"Yes; and surely enough it resembles a human hand, with only three +fingers." + +"That is it; and you may yet, in your experiences in these rough and +sometimes dangerous wilds, know the value of that gift." + +"At any rate, I feel gratified at this mark of the chiefs good will; the +more because I was so little expecting it, especially at this time. How +could they have possibly made out who I, or indeed either of us, was, at +such a distance?" + +"A very natural inquiry, but answered when I tell you that Fluella has a +good spy-glass, that a year or two ago she brought, among other curious +trinkets, from her other home in the old settlement. And she makes it often +serve a good purpose, too. She has spied out, for her father's killing, +many a moose or deer that had come down to the edge or into the water of +the lake round the shores to drink, eat wild-grass, or cool themselves, as +well as many a flock of wild geese, lighting here on their fall or spring +passages. She knew, I think, about the day we were to start, and, being on +the lookout, saw the rest of our company passing off here to the west, an +hour or two ago, and, not seeing us among them, expected us to be along +somewhere in this direction. Now, is all explained?" + +"Yes, curiously but satisfactorily." + +"Then, only one word more on the subject: let me advise you not to show +that hunting-pouch when we join the company, nor wear it till we are off on +our separate ranges. I have my reasons, but mustn't be asked to give them." + +"All this is odd, Mr. Phillips; but, taking it for granted that your +reasons are good ones, I will comply with your advice." + +"Very well. The whole matter being now disposed of, let us move on round +the point, and into the large cove we shall find round there. We mustn't +give up about game so. No knowing what may yet be done in that line." + +Having risen to his feet, raised his hunting-cap, and bowed his adieu to +the still lingering maiden on shore, Claud now joined his companion at the +oars; when they rapidly passed round the headland, and soon entered the +bay-like recess of water, which, sweeping round in a large wood-fringed +circle, opened upon the view immediately beyond. After skirting along the +sometimes bold and rocky, and sometimes low and swampy, thickly-wooded +shore, with a sharp lookout for whatever might come within range of the +eye, but without stopping for any special examination till they had reached +the most secluded part of the cove, the hunter suspended his oar, and +signified his intention of landing. Accordingly, running in their canoe by +the side of an old treetop extending into the water, and, throwing their +mooring-line around one of its bare limbs, they stepped noiselessly ashore, +and ascended the bank, when the hunter, pausing and pointing inward, said, +in a low, suppressed tone: + +"There, within a short distance from us, commences one of the thickest +windfall jungles in these parts, and extends up nearly to the chiefs +outermost cornfield, about half a mile off. I have been threatening to come +here some time; and if, as I will propose, we go into the tangle, and get +through, or half through, without encounter of some kind, I confess I shall +be uncommonly disappointed. But, before entering, let us sit down on this +old log a few minutes, and, while looking to our flints and priming, keep +our ears open for such sounds as may reach them." + +And, bending low his head, with closed eyes, and an ear turned towards the +thicket, the hunter listened long and intently in motionless silence, after +which he quickly rose, and, while glancing at his gun-flint and priming, +said: + +"There are no distinct sounds, but the air is disturbed in the kind of way +that I have frequently noticed when animals of some size were in the +vicinity. Let us forward into the thicket, spreading out some ten rods +apart, and worming ourselves among the windfalls, with a stop and a +thorough look every few rods of our progress. Should you start up a +panther, which ain't very likely, you had better whistle for me, before +firing; but, if any thing else, blaze away at it." + +Nodding his assent, and starting off in a course diverging to the right of +the one he perceived his companion to be taking, Claud slowly, and as he +best could, made his way forward, sometimes crawling underhand sometimes +clambering over the tangled masses of fallen trees, which, with a thick +upshooting second growth, lay piled and crossed in all conceivable shapes +and directions before him. After proceeding in this manner thirty or forty +rods, he paused, for the third or fourth time, to look and listen; but +lastly quite as much for his companion as for game, for, with all his +powers, he could detect no sound indicating that the latter could be +anywhere in the vicinity. While thus engaged, he heard a small, shrill, +plaintive sort of cry, as of a little child, coming from somewhere above +him; when, casting up his eyes, he beheld a large raccoon sidling round a +limb, and seemingly winking and nodding down towards him. With the +suppressed exclamation of "Far better than nothing," he brought his piece +to his face and fired; when the glimpse of a straight-falling body, and the +heavy thump on the ground that followed, told him that the object of his +aim was a "_dead coon_." But his half-uttered shout of exultation was cut +short by the startling report of a rifle, a little distance to the rear, on +his left. And the next moment a huge old bear, followed by a smaller one, +came smashing and tearing through the brush and tree-tops directly towards +him. And with such headlong speed did the frightened brutes advance upon +him, that he had scarce time to draw-his clubbed rifle before the old one +had broke into the little open space where he stood, and thrown herself on +her haunches, in an attitude of angry defiance. Recoiling a step in the +only way he could move, and expecting the next moment to find himself +within the fatal grasp of the bear, if he did not disable her, Claud aimed +and struck with all his might a blow at her head. But, before the +swiftly-descending implement reached its mark, it was struck by the fending +paw of the enraged brute, with a force that sent its tightly-grasping owner +spinning and floundering into the entangled brushwood, till he landed +prostrate on the ground. And, ere he had time to turn himself, the +desperate animal had rushed and trampled over him, and disappeared through +a breach effected in one of the treetops that had hemmed him in and +prevented his retreat from such a doubtful, hand-to-hand encounter. As the +discomfited young huntsman was rising to his feet, his eyes fell upon +Phillips, hurrying forward, with looks of lively concern; which, however, +as he leaped into the small open space comprising the battle-ground, and +saw how matters stood, at first gave place to a ludicrous smile, and then +to a merry peal of laughter. + +"I can't say I blame you much for your merriment," said Claud, joining, +though rather feebly, in the laugh, as he brushed himself and picked up his +rifle; "for, to be upset and run over by a bear would have been about the +last thing I should have dreamed of myself." + +"O well," said the other, checking his risibles, "it had better turn out a +laughing than a crying matter, as it might have done if you had kept your +footing; for, if you had not been overthrown and run over, you would have +probably, in this cramped-up place, stood up to be hugged and scratched in +a way not so very agreeable; and I rather guess, under the circumstances, +you may as well call yourself satisfied to quit so; for the bears have left +you with a whole skin and unbroken ribs, though they have escaped +themselves where, with our time, it will be useless to follow them. But, if +you had not fired just as you did, we would have had all three of them." + +"What! have you killed one?" asked Claud, in surprise. + +"To be sure I have," answered the hunter. "Then you supposed it was one of +your rough visitors I fired at, and missed? No, no. I had got one of the +black youngsters in range, and was waiting for a chance at the old one, +knowing if I killed her first the young ones would take to the trees, where +they could easily be brought down. Seeing them, however, on the point of +running at the report of your rifle, I let drive at the only one I was sure +of; when the two others, they being nearly between us, tacked about and ran +towards you. But go get your 'coon, and come along this way, to look at my +black beauty." + +"How did you know I had killed a 'coon?" inquired the other. + +"Heard him squall before you fired, then strike the ground afterwards with +a force that I thought must have killed him, whether your bullet had or +not," replied the hunter, moving off for his bear, with which, tugging it +along by a hind leg, he soon joined Claud, who was threading his way out +with his mottled trophy swung over his shoulder. + +"Why, a much larger one than I supposed," exclaimed the latter, turning and +looking at the cub; "really, a fine one!" + +"Ain't he, now?" complacently said the hunter. "There, heft him; must weigh +over half a hundred, and as fat as butter,--for which he is doubtless +indebted to the chiefs cornfield. And I presume we may say the same of that +streaked squaller of yours, which I see is an uncommonly large, plump +fellow. Well," continued the speaker, shouldering the cub, "we may now as +well call our hunt over, for to-day,--out of this plaguey hole as soon as +we can, and over the lakes to camp, as fast as strong arms and good oars +can send us." + +On, after reaching and pushing off their now well-freighted canoe, +on,--along the extended coast-line of this wild lake, westward to the great +inlet, up the gently inflowing waters of that broad, cypress-lined stream, +to the Maguntic, and then, tacking eastward, around the borders of that +still wilder and more secluded lake,--on, on, they sped for hours, until +the ringing of the axe-fall, and the lively echo of human voices in the +woods, apprised them of their near approach to the spot which their +companions had selected, both for their night's rest and permanent +head-quarters for the season. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + + "And now their hatchets, with resounding stroke, + Hew'd down the boscage that around them rose, + And the dry pine of brittle branches broke, + To yield them fuel for the night's repose; + The gathered heap an ample store bespoke. + They smite the steel: the tinder brightly glows, + And the fired match the kindled flames awoke, + And light upon night's seated darkness broke. + High branch'd the pines, and far the colonnade + Of tapering trunks stood glimmering through the glen; + So joyed the hunters in their lonely glade." + +"Hurra! the stragglers have arrived!" exclaimed Codman, the first to notice +the hunter and Claud as they shot into the mouth of the small, quiet river, +on whose bank was busily progressing the work of the incipient encampment. +"Hurra for the arrival of the good ship Brag, Phillips, master; but where +is his black duck, with a big trout to its foot? Ah, ha! not forthcoming, +hey? Kuk-kuk-ke-oh-o!" + +"Don't crow till you see what I have got, Mr. Trapper," replied the hunter, +running in his canoe by the sides of those of his companions on shore. +"Don't crow yet,--especially over the failure of what I didn't undertake: +you or Mr. Carvil was to furnish the big trout, you will recollect." + +"That has been attended to by me, to the satisfaction of the company, I +rather think," remarked Carvil, now advancing towards the bank with the +rest. "Not only one big trout, but two more with it, was drawn in by my +method, on the way." + +"O, accident, accident!" waggishly rejoined the trapper; "they were hooked +by mere accident. The fact is, the trouts are so thick in these lakes that +a hook and line can't be drawn such a distance through them without getting +into some of their mouths. But, allowing it otherwise, it don't cure but +half of your case, Mr. Hunter. Where is the black duck?" + +"_Here_ is the black duck," responded the hunter, stepping ashore and +drawing his cub out from under some screening boughs in the bow of the +boat. + +A lively shout of laughter burst from the lips of the company at the +disclosure, showing alike their amusement at the practical way in which the +hunter had turned the jokes of the teasing trapper, and their agreeable +surprise at his luck in the uncertain hunting cruise along the shores, on +which they, without any expectation of his success, had banteringly +dispatched him. "Ah, I think you may as well give up beat, all round, Mr. +Codman," observed Mark Elwood, after the surprise and laughter had +subsided. "But come up here, neighbor Phillips, and see what a nice place +we are going to have for our camp." + +Leaving the game in charge of Claud and Carvil, who volunteered to dress +it, the rest of the company walked up with the hunter to the spot where the +new shanty was in progress, wishing to hear his opinion of the location +selected, and the plan on which it had been commenced. + +The location to which the company had been guided by the trapper was a +level space, about ten rods back from the stream here falling into the lake +from the east, and at the foot of a rocky acclivity forming a portion of +the southern side of a high ridge that ran down to the lake. The first ten +feet of the rise was formed by the smooth, even face of a perpendicular +rock, which from the narrow shelf at the top fell off into a less +precipitous ascent, extending up as far as the eye could reach among the +stunted evergreens and other low bushes that partially covered it. About a +dozen feet in front of this abutting rock, equidistant from it, and some +fifteen feet apart, stood two spruce trees, six or eight inches in diameter +at the bottom, but tall, and tapering towards the top. These, the company, +who had reached the place about two hours before, had contrived, by rolling +up some old logs to stand on, to cut off, and fell, six or seven feet from +the ground; so that the tall stumps might serve for the two front posts of +the proposed structure. And, having trimmed out the tops of the two fallen +trees, and cut them into the required lengths, they had laid them from the +top of the rock to the tops of the stumps, which had been first grooved +out, so as to receive and securely fasten the ends of the timbers. These, +with the stout poles which they had then cut and laid on transversely, at +short intervals, made a substantial framework for the roof of the shantee. +And, in addition to this, rows of side and front posts had been cut, +sharpened, driven into the ground at the bottom, and securely fastened at +the top to the two rafters at the sides and the principal beam, which had +been notched into them at the lower ends to serve for the front plate. + +"Just the spot," said the hunter, after running his eye over and around +the locality a moment, and then going up and inspecting the structure in +progress. "I thought Codman could not miss so remarkable a place. I have +been thinking of building a camp here for several years; but it never +seemed to come just right till this fall. Why, you all must have worked +like beavers to get along with the job so well, and to do it so thoroughly. +The bones of the thing are all now up, as far as I can see, and made strong +enough to withstand all the snows and blows of half a dozen winters. So, +now, nothing remains but to put on the bark covering." + +"But how are we to get the bark covering?" asked Gaut Gurley. "Bark will +not peel well at this season, will it?" + +"No, not very well, I suppose," replied the former. "But I will see what I +can do towards hunting up the material, to-morrow. A coat of these spruce +boughs, spread over this framework above, and set up here against the +sides, will answer for to-night. And this rigging up, gathering hemlock +boughs for our beds, building a good fire here in front, and cooking the +supper, are all we had better think of attempting this evening; and, as it +is now about sunset, let us divide off the labor, and go at it." + +The encampment of these adventurous woodsmen presented, for the next hour, +a stirring and animated scene. The different duties to be performed having +been apportioned by mutual agreement among the company, they proceeded with +cheerful alacrity to the performance of their respective tasks. Phillips +and Carvil set busily to work in covering, inclosing, and rigging up the +camp,--to adopt the woodsman's use of that word, as we notify the critic we +shall do, as often as we please, albeit that use, contrary to Noah Webster, +indicates the structure in which men lodge in the woods, rather than the +place or company encamping. Mark Elwood, Gaut Gurley, and the young Indian +Tomah, proceeding to a neighboring windfall of different kinds of wood, +went to work in cutting and drawing up a supply of fuel, among which, the +accustomed backlog, forestick, and intermediate kindling-wood, being +adjusted before the entrance of the camp, the fire from the smitten steel +and preserving punkwood was soon crackling and throwing around its ruddy +glow, as it more and more successfully competed with the waning light of +the departing day. Claud and Codman, in fulfilment of their part of the +business on hand, then unpacked the light frying-pans, laid in them the +customary slices of fat salted pork, and shortly had them sharply hissing +over the fire, preparatory to receiving respectively their allotted quotas +of the tender and nutritious bearsteaks, or the broad layers of the rich, +red-meated trout. + +In a short time the plentiful contents of the pans were thoroughly cooked, +the pans taken from the fires, the potatoes raked from the glowing embers, +in which they had been roasting under the forestick, the brown bread and +condiments brought forward, and all placed upon the even face of a broad, +thin sheet of cleft rock, which they had luckily found in the adjacent +ledge, and brought forward and elevated on blocks within the camp, to +serve, as it well did, for their sylvan table. Gathering round this, they +proceeded to help themselves, with their camp knives and rude trenchers, +split from blocks of the freely-cleaving basswood, to such kinds and +portions of the savory viands, smoking so invitingly in the pans before +them, as their inclinations severally prompted. Having done this, they drew +back to seats on broad chips, blocks of wood, piles of boughs, or other +objects nearest at hand, and began upon their long anticipated meal with a +gusto which made them for a while too busy for conversation, other than an +occasional brief remark on the quality of the food, or some jocose allusion +to the adventures of the day. After they had finished their repast, +however, and cleared away the relics of the supper, together with the few +utensils they had used in cooking and eating it, they replenished their +fire; and, while the cheerful light of its fagot-fed blaze was flashing up +against the dark forest around, and shooting away through the openings of +the foliage in long glimmering lines over the waters below, they all placed +themselves at their ease,--some sitting on blocks, some leaning against the +posts, and some reclining on piles of boughs,--and commenced the social +confab, or that general conversation, in which woodsmen, if they ever do, +are prone to indulge after the fatigues of the day are over, and the +consequent demands of appetite have been appeased by a satisfactory meal. + +"Now, gentlemen, I will make a proposition," said Mark Elwood, in a pause +of the conversation, which, though it had been engaged in with considerable +spirit, yet now began to flag. "I will propose, as we have an hour or two +on hand, to be spent somehow, before we shall think of rolling ourselves up +in our blankets for the night,--I propose that you professional hunters, +like Phillips, Codman, and Carvil, here, each give us a story of one of +your most remarkable adventures in the woods. It would not only while away +the hour pleasantly for us all, but might furnish useful information and +timely hints for us beginners in this new life, upon which we are about to +enter. For my part, I should like to listen to a story, by these old +witnesses, of the strange things they must have encountered in the woods. +What say you, Gurley, Claud, and Tomah? Shall we put them on the stand?" + +"Yes, a good idea," replied Gaut, his habitual cold reserve relaxing into +something like cordiality; "I feel just in the humor to listen,--more so +than to talk, on this hearty supper. Yes, by all means let us have the +stories." + +"O, I should be exceedingly gratified," joined in Claud, in his usual frank +and animated manner. + +"I like that, too; like to hear hunting story, always, much," added Tomah, +with a glistening eye. + +"Well, no particular objection as far as I am concerned," responded the +trapper, seriously; but adding, with his old waggish gleam of the eye: +"that is, if you will take what I give, and swallow it as easily as you did +Phillips' fish story. But let Carvil, who must be the youngest, go on with +_his_ story first; I will follow; and Phillips shall bring up the rear." + +Carvil, after making a few excuses that were not suffered to avail him, +commenced his narration, which we will head + + THE AMATEUR WOODSMAN'S STORY. + +"I call myself a woodsman, and a pretty good one, now; but, four years ago, +I was almost any thing else but one of _any_ kind. I should have then +thought it would have certainly been the death of me to have lain out one +night in the woods. And I had no more idea of ever becoming a hunter or +trapper, to remain out, as I have since done, for weeks and months in the +depths of the wilderness, with no other protection than my rifle, and no +other shelter than what I could fix up with my hatchet for the night, where +I happened to be, on the approach of darkness, than I now have of +undertaking to swim the Atlantic. And, as the circumstances which led to +this revolution in my opinions and habits, when _out_ of the woods, may as +much interest you, in the account, as any thing that happened to me after I +got into them, I will first briefly tell you how I came to be a woodsman, +and then answer your call by relating a hunting incident which occurred to +me after I became one; which, if not very marvellous, shall, at least, have +the merit of truth and reality. + +"I was brought up rather tenderly, as to work; and my parents, absurdly +believing that, with my then slight frame, any employment requiring any +labor or physical exertion would injure me, put me to study, and assisted +me to the means of entering college at eighteen, and of graduating at +twenty-two. Well, I did not misimprove my opportunities for knowledge, I +believe; but, instead of gaining strength and manhood by my exemption from +labor, I grew feebler and feebler. Still, I did not know what was wanting +to give me health and constitution, nor once think that a mind without a +body is a thing not worth having; and so I went on, keeping within doors +and studying a profession, until I found myself a poor, nervous, miserable +dyspeptic, and threatened with consumption. It was now plain enough that, +if I would avoid a speedy death, something must be done; and, by the advice +of the doctors, who were about as ignorant of the philosophy of health as +myself, I concluded to seek a residence and livelihood in one of the +Southern States. Accordingly, I packed up and took stage for Boston, timing +my journey so as to get there the day before the ship, on which I had +previously ascertained I could find a passage, was to sail for Savannah. +But, the morning after I arrived, a severe storm came on, and the sailing +of the ship was deferred till the next day; so, having nothing to do, +knowing nobody to talk with, and the weather being too stormy to go out to +see the city, I took to my solitary room in the hotel, where, fortunately, +there were neither books nor papers to prevent me from thinking. And I +_did_ think, that day, almost for the first time in my life, without the +trammels of fashionable book-theories, and more effectually than I had ever +done before. I had a favorite classmate in college, whose name was Silas +Wright, who had a mind that penetrated, like light, every thing it was +turned upon, and who never failed to see the truth of a matter, though his +towering ambition sometimes prevented him from following the path where it +led. In recalling, as I was pacing the floor that gloomy day, my old +college friends and their conversation, I happened to think of what Wright +once said to me on the subject of health and long life. + +"'Carvil,' said he, 'did you know that we students were committing treason +against the great laws of life which God has laid down for us?' + +"'No.' + +"'Well, we are. Man was made for active life, and in the open air.' + +"'But _you_, it seems, are not observing the theory about which you are so +positive?' + +"'No, and don't intend to. To observe that, I must relinquish all thought +of mounting the professional and political ladder, even half way to the +mark I _must_ and _will_ reach. I have naturally a strong constitution, and +I calculate it will last, with the rapid mounting I intend, till I reach +the top round, and that is all that I care for. But I shall know, all the +while, that I am going up like a rocket, whose height and brilliancy are +only attained by the certain and rapid wasting of the substance that +composes it. But the case is different with you, Carvil. You have a +constitution yet to make, or your rocket will go out, before you can get +high enough, in these days of jostling and severe competition, to warrant +the attempt of mounting at all.' + +"Such was one of Wright's intuitive grasps at the truth, hid under the +false notions of the times, or the artificial theories of books, which he +was wasting his life to master, and often only mastering to despise. And I, +being now earnestly in search of the best means of health, eagerly caught +at his notion, which placed the matter in a light in which I had never +before seriously viewed it, and, indeed, struck me with a force that soon +brought me to a dead stand in all my calculations for the future. 'What is +it,' thought I, running into a sort of mental dialogue with myself, and +calling in what little true science I had learned, to aid me in fully +testing the soundness of the notion, before I finally gave in to it; 'what +is it that hardens the muscles, and compacts the human system?'--'Thorough +exercise, and constant use.'--'Can these be had in the study-room?' +'No.'--'And what is the invigorating and fattening principle of the air we +breathe?'--'Oxygen.'--'Can this be had in the close or artificially-heated +room?'--'No, except in stinted and uncertain proportions. It can be +breathed in the open fields, but much more abundantly in the +woods.'--'Well, what do I need?'--'Only hardening and invigorating.'--'But +shall I go to the relaxing clime of the South for this?'--'No; the northern +wilderness were a hundred times better.'--'It is settled, +then.'--'Landlord,' I cried aloud, as I saw that personage at that moment +passing by my partly open door, 'when does the first stage, going north, +start?' + +"'In twenty minutes, and from my door.' + +"'Order on my luggage, here; make out your bill; and I will be on hand.' + +"And I was on hand at the time, and the next hour on my way home, which I +duly reached, but only to start off immediately to the residence of a +hunter acquaintance, a dozen miles off, who, I knew, was about to start for +the head-waters of the Connecticut, on his annual fall hunting expedition. +I found him, joined him, and within ten days was entering, with pack and +rifle, the unbroken wilderness, by his side, though with many misgivings. +But my first night out tested and settled the matter forever. We had had a +fatiguing march, at least to me, and the last part of it in the rain. We +had to lay down in a leaking camp, and I counted myself a dead man. But, to +my astonishment, I awoke the next morning, unhurt, and even feeling better +than I had for a month. And I constantly grew better and hardier, through +that and my next year's campaign in that region, and through the two +succeeding ones I made on the Great Megantic; where the incident which I +propose to relate to you, it being my best strike in moose-hunting, +occurred, and which happened in this wise: + +"It was a raw, gloomy day in November, and I had been lazily lying in my +solitary camp, on the borders of this magnificent lake, all the forenoon. +But, after dinner, I began to feel a little more like action, and soon +concluded I would explore a sort of creek-looking stream, four or five rods +wide, which I had noticed entering the lake about a mile off, but which I +had never entered. Accordingly, I loaded my rifle, took my powder-horn, put +two spare bullets in my vest-pocket, not supposing I could have use for +more, entered my canoe, and pulled leisurely away for the place. After +reaching and entering this sluggish stream, I went on paddling and pushing +my way along through and under the overhanging bushes and treetops, +something like half a mile, when I came to higher banks and a series of +knolls jutting down to the stream, which, with frequent sharp curves and +crooks, wound its way among them. On turning one of these sharp points, my +eyes suddenly encountered a sight that made my heart jump. On a high, open, +and almost bare bluff, directly before me, and not fifteen rods distant, +stood two tremendous moose, as unconcernedly as a pair of oxen chewing +their cuds, or dozing in a pasture. The last was unusually large, the +biggest a monster, appearing, to my wide-opened eyes, with his eight or +nine foot height, and ten or eleven foot spread of antlers, as he stood up +there against the sky, like some reproduced mastodon of the old legends. +Quietly falling back and running in under a screening treetop, I pulled +down a branch and put in under my foot to hold and steady my canoe. When I +raised my rifle, I aimed it for the heart of the big moose, and fired. But, +to my great surprise, the animal never stirred nor moved a muscle. +Supposing I had somehow unaccountably missed hitting him, even at all, I +fell, with nervous haste, to reloading my piece; and, having got all right, +as I supposed, I raised it this time towards the smaller moose, standing a +little nearer and presenting a fairer mark; took a long and careful aim, +and again let drive; but again without the least effect. Utterly confounded +to have missed a second time, with so fair a shot, I stood half confused a +moment, first querying whether something was not the matter with my eyes, +and then thinking of stories I had heard of witches turning away bullets +from their object. But I soon mechanically began to load up again; and, +having got in my powder, I put my hand in my pocket for a bullet, when I +found there both the balls I had brought with me from camp, and +consequently knew that in my eager haste in loading for my last shot, I had +neglected to put in any bullet at all! But I now put in the bullet, looked +at it after it was entered, to make sure it was there, and then felt it all +the way down, till I had rammed it home. I then raised the luckless piece +once more, uncertain at first which of the two moose I should take, this +time. But, seeing the smaller one beginning to move his head and lay back +his horns, which I well enough knew was his signal for running, I instantly +decided to take _him_, took a quick, good aim, and fired. With three +dashing bounds forward, the animal plunged headlong to the ground. Knowing +that one to be secure, at least, I then turned my attention to the big one. +To my astonishment, he was still there, and, notwithstanding all the +firing, had not moved an inch. But, before I got loaded for another trial +upon him, I looked up again, when a motion in his body had become plainly +visible. Presently he began to sway to and fro, like a rocking tower, and, +the next moment, went over broadside, with a thundering crash, into the +bushes. My first shot, it appeared, had, after all, done the business, +having pierced his lungs and caused an inward flow of blood, that stopped +his breath at the time he fell. All was now explained, except the wonder +that such shy animals should stand so much firing without running. But the +probability is, that, not seeing me, they took the reports of my rifle for +some natural sound, such as that of thunder, or the falling of a tree; +while, perhaps, the great one, when he was hit, was too much paralyzed to +move, by the rupture of some important nerve. But, however that may be, you +have the facts by which to judge for yourselves. And I have now only to +add, that, having gone to the spot, bled, partially dressed the animals, +and got them into a condition to be left, I went off to the nearest camps +and rallied out help; when, after much toil and tugging, we got the +carcases home to my shanty, for present eating, curing, and distributing +among the neighboring hunters, who soon flocked in to congratulate me on my +singular good luck, and receive their ever freely-bestowed portions, and +who unanimously pronounced my big prize the largest moose ever slain in all +the regions of the Great Megantic." + + THE TRAPPER'S STORY. + +"My story," commenced the trapper, who was next called on for his promised +contribution to the entertainment of the evening, "my story is of a +different character from the one you have just heard. It don't run so much +to the great and terrible as the small and curious. It may appear to you +perhaps a little queer, in some parts; but which, after the modest drafts +that have been made on my credulity, you will, of course, have the good +manners to believe. It relates to an adventure in beaver-hunting, which I +met with, many years ago, on Moosehead Lake, where I served my +apprenticeship at trapping. I had established myself in camp, the last of +August, about the time the beavers, after having collected in communities, +and established their never-failing democratic government, generally get +fairly at work on their dams and dwelling-houses, for the ensuing cold +months, in places along the small streams, which they have looked out and +decided on for the purpose. I was thus early on the ground, in order to +have time, before I went to other hunting, to look up the localities of the +different societies, so that I need not blunder on them and disturb them, +in the chase for other animals, and so that I should know where to find +them, when their fur got thick enough to warrant the onslaught upon them +which I designed to make. + +"In hunting for these localities in the vicinity around me, I soon +unexpectedly discovered marks of what I thought must be a very promising +one, situated on a small stream, not over half a mile in a bee-line over +the hills from my camp. When I discovered the place,--as I did from +encountering, at short intervals in the woods, two wolverines, always the +great enemy and generally the prowling attendant of assembled +beavers,--these curious creatures had just begun to lay the foundation of +their dam. And the place being so near, and the nights moon-light, I +concluded I would go over occasionally, evenings,--the night being the only +time when they can ever be seen engaged on their work,--and see if I could +gain some covert near the bank, where, unperceived, I might watch their +operations, and obtain some new knowledge of their habits, of which I might +thereafter avail myself, when the season for hunting them arrived. +Accordingly, I went over that very evening, in the twilight, secured a +favorable lookout, and laid in wait for the appearance of the beavers. +Presently I was startled by a loud rap, as of a small paddle struck +flatwise on the water, then another, and another, in quick succession. It +was the signal of the master workman, for all the workers to leave their +hiding-places in the banks, and repair to their labors in making the dam. +The next moment the whole stream seemed to be alive with the numbers in +motion. I could hear them, sousing and plunging in the water, in every +direction,--then swimming and puffing across or up and down the +stream,--then scrambling up the banks,--then the auger-like sound of their +sharp teeth, at work on the small trees,--then soon the falling of the +trees,--then the rustling and tugging of the creatures, in getting the +fallen trees out of the water,--and, finally, the surging and splashing +with which they came swimming towards the ground-work of the dam, with the +butt end of those trees in their mouths. The line of the dam they had +begun, passed with a curve up stream in the middle, so as to give it more +strength to resist the current; across the low-water bed of the river some +five rods; and extended up over the first low bank, about as much farther, +to a second and higher bank, which must have bounded the water at the +greatest floods. They had already cut, drawn on, and put down, a double +layer of trees, with their butts brought up evenly to the central line, and +their tops pointing in opposite directions,--those of one layer, or row, +pointing up, and those of the other, down stream. Among and under this line +of butts had been worked in an extra quantity of limbs, old wood, and short +bushes, so as to give the centre an elevation of a foot or two, over the +lowest part of the sides, which, of course, fell off considerably each way +in the lessening of the tops of the trees, thus put down. Over all these +they had plastered mud, mixed in with stones, grass, and moss, so thick as +not only to hold down securely the bodies of the trees, but nearly conceal +them from sight. + +"Scarcely had I time to glance over these works, which I had not approached +near enough to inspect much, before the beavers from below, and above came +tugging along, by dozens on a side to the lower edges of their embankment, +with the loads or rafts of trees which they had respectively drawn to the +spot. Lodging these on the solid ground, with the ends just out of water, +they relinquished their holds, mounted the slopes, paused a minute to take +breath, and then, seizing these ends again, drew them, with the seeming +strength of horses, out of the water and up to the central line on top; +laid the stems or bodies of the trees parallel, and as near together as +they could be got; and adjusted the butt ends, as I have stated they did +with the foundation layers, so as to bring them to a sort of joint on the +top. They then all went off for new loads, with the exception of a small +squad, a part of which were still holding their trees in a small space in +the dam, where the current had not been checked, and the other part +bringing stones, till they had confined the trees down to the bottom, so +that they would not be swept away. This task of filling the gap, however, +after some severe struggling with the current, was before long +accomplished; when those engaged upon it joined in the common work, in +which they steadily persevered till this second double layer of trees, with +the large quantities of short bushes which they brought and wove into the +chinks, near the top, was completed, through the whole length of their dam. +They then collected along on the top of the dam, and seemed to hold a sort +of consultation, after which they scattered for the banks of the stream, +but soon returned, walking on their hind legs, and each bringing a load of +mud or stones, held between his fore paws and throat. These loads were +successively deposited, as they came up, among the stems and interlacing +branches of the trees and bushes they had just laid down, giving each +deposited pile, as they turned to go back, a smart blow with the flat of +their broad thick tails, producing the same sound as the one I have +mentioned as the signal-raps for calling them out to work, only far less +loud and sharp, since the former raps were struck on water, and the latter +on mud or rubbish. Thus they continued to work,--and work, too, with a +will, if any creatures ever did,--till I had seen nearly the whole of the +last layers plastered over. + +"Thinking now I had seen all that would be new and useful to me, I +noiselessly crept away and returned to camp, to lay awake half the night, +in my excitement, and to dream, the other half, about this magnificent +society of beavers, whose numbers I could not make less than three dozen. +I did not go to steal another view of the place for nearly a week, and then +went in the daytime, there now being no moon, till late,--when, to my +surprise, I found the dam finished, and the river flowed into a pond of +several acres, while on each side, ranged along, one after another, stood +three family dwellings in different states of progress; some of them only +rising to the surface of the water, showing the nature of the structure, +which, you know, is built up with short, small logs, and mud, in a squarish +form, of about the size of a large chimney; while others, having been built +up a foot or two above the water, and the windows fashioned, had been +arched over with mud and sticks, and were already nearly finished. + +"Knowing that the establishment was now so nearly completed that the +beavers would not relinquish it without being disturbed by the presence of +a human foe,--which they will sometimes detect, I think, at nearly a +quarter of a mile distance,--I concluded to keep entirely away from them +till the time of my contemplated onslaught, which I finally decided to +begin on one of the first days of the coming November. + +"Well, what with hunting deer, bear, and so on, for food, and lynx, otter, +and sable, for furs, the next two months passed away, and the long +anticipated November at length arrived; when, one dark, cloudy day, having +cut a lot of bits of green wood for bait, got out my vial of castor to +scent them with, and got my steel traps in order, with these equipments and +my rifle I set off, for the purpose of commencing operations, of some kind, +on my community of beavers. On reaching the spot, I crept to my old covert +with the same precautions I had used on my former visits, thinking it +likely enough that, on so dark a day, some of the beavers might be out; +and, wishing to know how this was, before proceeding openly along, the +banks to look out the right places to set my traps, I listened a while, but +could hear no splashing about the pond, or detect any _other_ sounds +indicating that the creatures were astir; but, on peering out, I saw a +large, old beaver perched in a window of one of the beaver-houses on the +opposite shore. I instinctively drew up my rifle,--for it was a fair shot, +and I knew I could draw him,--but I forbore, and contented myself with +watching his motions. I might have lain there ten minutes, perhaps, when +this leader, or judge in the beaver Israel, as he soon showed himself to +be, quietly slid out into the water, swam into a central part of the pond, +and, after swimming twice or three times round in a small circle, lifted +his tail on high, and slowly and deliberately gave three of those same old +loud and startling raps on the water. He then swam back to his cabin, and +ascended an open flat on the bank, where all the underbrush had been cut +and cleared off in building the dam. In a few minutes more, a large number +of beavers might be seen hastening to the spot, where they ranged +themselves in a sort of circle, so as just to inclose the old beaver which +came first, and which had now taken his stand on a little moss hillock, on +the farther side of the little opening, to which he had thus called them, +and, evidently, for some important public purpose. Soon another small band +of the creatures made their appearance on the bank above, seeming to have +in custody two great, lubberly, cowed-down looking beavers, that they were +hunching and driving along, as legal officers sometimes have to do with +_their_ prisoners, when taking them to some dreaded punishment. When this +last band reached the place, with these two culprit-looking fellows, they +pushed them forward in front of the judge, as we will call him, and then +fell into the ranks, so as to close up the circle. There was then a long, +solemn pause, in which they all kept still in their places round the +prisoners, which had crouched sneaking down, without stirring an inch from +the places where they had been put. Soon, however, a great, fierce, +gruff-appearing beaver left the ranks, and, advancing a few steps within +them, reared himself on his haunches, and began to sputter and gibber away +at a great rate, making his fore-paws go like the hands of some over-heated +orator; now motioning respectfully towards the judge, and now spitefully +towards the prisoners, as if he was making bitter accusations, and +demanding judgment against them. After this old fellow had got through, two +or three others, in turn, came forward, and appeared also to be holding +forth about the matter, but in a far milder manner than the other, which I +now began much to dislike for his spitefulness, and in the same proportion +to pity the two poor objects of his evident malice. There was then another +long and silent pause, after which, the judge proceeded to utter what +appeared to be his sentence; and, having brought it to a conclusion, he +gave a rap with his tail on the ground. At this signal, the beavers in the +ranks advanced, one after another, in rapid succession toward the +prisoners, and, circling round them once, turned and gave each one of them +a tremendous blow with their tails over the head and shoulders; and so the +heavy blows rapidly fell, whack, whack, whack, till every beaver had taken +his part in the punishment, and till the poor prisoners keeled over, and +lay nearly or quite dead on the ground. The judge beaver then quietly left +his stand and went off; and, following his example, all the rest scattered +and disappeared, except the spiteful old fellow that had so raised my +dislike, by the rancor he displayed in pressing his accusations, and, +afterwards, by giving the culprits an extra blow, when it came his turn to +strike them. He now remained on the ground till all the rest were out of +sight, when,--as if to make sure of finishing what little remains of life +the others, in their compunction, might have left in the victims, so as to +give them, if they were not quite killed by the terrible bastinadoing they +had received, a chance to revive and crawl off,--he ran up, and began to +belabor them with the greatest fury over the head. This mean and malicious +addition to the old fellow's previously unfair conduct was too much for me +to witness, and I instantly drew my rifle and laid him dead beside the +bodies he was so rancorously beating. Wading the stream below the dam, I +hastened to my prizes, finished their last struggles with a stick, seized +them by their tails, and dragged them to the spot I had just left; and +then, after concealing my traps, with the view of waiting a few days before +I set them, so as to give the society a chance to get settled, I tugged the +game I had so strangely come by, home to camp, where a more particular +examination showed them to be the three largest and best-furred beavers I +had ever taken. + +"This brings me to the end of the unaccountable affair, and all I can say +in explanation of it; for how these creatures, ingenious and knowing as +they are, should have the intelligence to make laws,--as this case seems to +pre-suppose,--get up a regular court, try, sentence, and execute offenders; +what these offenders had done,--whether they were thievish interlopers from +some other society, or whether they had committed some crime, such as +burglary, bigamy, or adultery, or high treason, or whether they had been +dishonest office-holders in the society and plundered the common treasury, +is a mystery which you can solve as well as I. Certainly you cannot be more +puzzled than I have always been, in giving the matter a satisfactory +explanation. + +"And now, in conclusion, if you wish to know how I afterwards succeeded in +taking more of this notable society of beavers, I have only to say, that, +having soon commenced operations anew, I took, before I quit the ground +that fall, by rifle, by traps, by digging or hooking them out of their +hiding places in the banks, and, finally, by breaking up their +dwelling-houses, twenty-one beavers in all; making the best lot which I +ever had the pleasure of carrying out of the woods, and for which, a month +or two after, I was paid, in market, one hundred and sixty-eight hard +dollars." + + THE OLD HUNTER'S STORY. + +"I never but once," commenced the hunter, who had announced himself ready +with the last story, when called on for that purpose by his comrades, after +they had commented to their liking on the trapper's strange adventure,--"I +never but once, in my whole life, became afraid of encountering a wild +beast, or was too much unnerved in the presence of one to fire my rifle +with certainty and effect. But that, in one event, I _was_ in such a sorry +condition for a hunter, I freely confess. And, as you called for our most +remarkable adventures, and as the occurrence I allude to was certainly the +most remarkable one _I_ ever met with in _my_ hunting experience, I will +relate it for the story you assign me. + +"It was about a dozen years ago, and on the borders of lake Parmagena, a +squarish-shaped body of water, four or five miles in extent, lying +twenty-five miles or so over these mountains to the northwest of us, and +making up the chief head-water of the river Magalloway. My camp was at the +mouth of the principal inlet, and my most frequented hunting route up along +its bank. On my excursions up that river, I had often noticed a +deeply-wooded, rough, and singularly-shaped mountain, which, at the +distance of four or five miles from the nearest point of the stream, +westward, reared its shaggy sides over the surrounding wilderness, and +which I thought must make one of the best haunts for bear and moose that I +had seen in that region. So, once having a leisure day, and my fresh +provisions being low, I concluded I would take a jaunt up to this mountain, +thinking that I should stand a good chance to find something there, or on +the way, to replenish my larder. And accordingly I rigged up, after +breakfast, and, setting my course in what I judged would prove a bee-line +for the place, in order to save distance over the river route, I took up my +march through the woods, without path, trail, or marked trees to guide me. + +"After a rough and toilsome walk of about three hours, I reached the foot +of the mountain of which I was in search, and seated myself on a fallen +tree, to rest and look about me. The side of the eminence next to me was +made up of a succession of rocky, heavily-timbered steeps and shelves, that +rose like battlements before me, while, about midway, it was pierced or +notched down by a dark, wild, thicket-tangled gorge, which extended along +back up the mountain, as far as the eye could penetrate beneath, or +overlook above the tops of the overhanging trees. + +"To think of trying to ascend such steeps was out of the question; and I +was debating in mind whether I would attempt to go up through that +forbidding and _pokerish_-looking gorge, or, giving up the job altogether, +strike off in the direction of the river, and so go home that way, when a +hideous yell, which brought me instantly to my feet, rose from an upper +portion of the ravine, apparently about a hundred rods distant. I at once +knew it came from a painter, or 'evil devil,' as the Indians justly call +that scourge and terror of the woods; and, from the strength and volume of +his voice, I also knew he must be a large one, while, from its savage +sharpness, I further conjectured it must be a famine cry, which, if so, +would show the animal to be a doubly ticklish one to encounter. + +"Feeling conscious that it was but the part of wisdom to avoid such an +encounter as I should be likely to be favored with if I remained where I +was, I soon moved off in an opposite direction, steering at once for the +nearest point of the river, which was at the termination of a long, sharp +sweep of the stream to the west, and nearer by a mile than in most other +parts of its course. I had not proceeded more than a quarter of a mile +before the same savage screech,--which was more frightful than I can +describe, being seemingly made up of the mingling tones of a man's and a +woman's voice, raised to the highest pitch in an agony of rage or +pain,--the same awful screech, I say, rose and thrilled through the +shuddering forest, coming this time, I perceived, from the mouth of the +gorge, where the animal had so quickly arrived, found my trail, doubtless, +and started on in pursuit. I now, though still not really afraid, quickened +my steps into a rapid walk, hoping that, now he had got out of the thickets +of the ravine, he would not follow me far in the more open woods; yet +thinking it best, at all events, to put what distance I could between him +and me, without too much disturbing myself. Another of those terrific +yells, however, coming from a nearer point than before, as fast as I had +made my way from him, told me that the creature was on my tracks, and +rapidly gaining on me in the race. I then started off at a full run; but +even this did not insure my escape, for I was soon startled by another +yell, so near and fierce, that I involuntarily turned round, cocked my +rifle, and stood on the defence. The next moment the animal met my sight, +as he leaped up on to the trunk of a lodged tree, where he stood in open +view, eagerly snuffing and glaring around him, about forty rods from the +place where I had been brought to a stand,--revealing a monster whose size, +big as I had conjectured it, perfectly amazed me. He could not have been +much less than six feet from, snout to tail, nor much short of nine, tail +included. But for his bowed-up back, gaunter form, and mottled color, he +might have passed for an ordinary lioness. The instant he saw me, he began +nervously fixing his paws, rapidly swaying his tail, like a cat at the +first sight of her intended prey, and giving other plain indications that +he was intent on having me for his dinner. + +"I had my rifle to my shoulder: it was a fair shot, but still I hesitated +about firing. My experience with catamounts, which, though of the same +nature, are yet no more to be compared with a real panther, like this, than +a common cur to a stout bulldog, had taught me the danger of wounding +without killing them outright. If _those_ were so dangerous under ordinary +circumstances, what would this be, already bent on destroying me? And +should I stand, at that distance, an even chance to finish him, which could +only be done by putting a ball through his brain, or spine, or directly +through his heart? I thought not. The distance was too great to be sure of +any thing like that; and besides, my nerves, I felt, were getting a little +unsteady, and I also found I was losing my faith, which is just the worst +thing in the world for a hunter to lose. While I was thinking of all this, +the creature leaped down, and, the next instant, I saw his head rise above +the bushes, in his prodigious bounds towards me. With that glance, I turned +and ran; ran as I never did before; leaping over logs, and smashing +headlong through brush and bushes, but still distinctly hearing, above all +the noise I made, the louder crash of the creature's footfalls, striking +closer and closer behind me. All at once, however, those crashing sounds +ceased to fall on my ear, and the thought that my pursuer had sprung one +side into an ambush, from whence he would pounce on me before I could see +him, flashing over my mind, I suddenly came to a stand, and peered eagerly +but vainly among the bushes around me for the crouching form, of my foe. +While thus engaged, a seeming shadow passing over the open space above +caused me to glance upward, when, to my horror, I saw the monster coming +down from a tree-top, with glaring eyes, open mouth, and outspread claws, +directly upon me! With a bound, which at any other time I should have been +utterly incapable of making, I threw myself aside into the bushes just in +time to escape his terrible embrace; and, before he had rallied from the +confusion caused by striking the ground and missing his prey, I had gained +the distance of a dozen rods, and thrown myself behind a large tree. But +what was now to be done? I knew, from his trotting about and snuffing to +regain the sight and scent of me, which I could now distinctly hear, that +he would soon be upon me. If I distrusted the certainty of my aim before +this last fright, should I not do it much more now? I felt so; and, as I +was now within a mile of the river,--where, if I could reach it, I thought +it possible to find a way to baffle, at least, if I did not kill, my +ruthless pursuer,--I concluded that my best chance for life was to run for +the place. But, in peering out to ascertain the exact whereabouts of the +painter before I started, my ear caught the sound of other and different +footsteps; and the next moment I had a glimpse of a bear's head, bobbing up +and down in his rapid course through the bushes, as he ran at right angles, +with all his might, directly through the space between me and the painter, +which, I saw, was now just beginning to advance towards me, but which, to +my great relief, had seen and was turning in pursuit of the flying and +frightened bear. + +"But still, fearing he would give up that pursuit, and again take after me, +I ran for the river, which I at length reached, and threw myself exhausted +down on the bank. As it happened, I had struck the river exactly at the +intended point, which was where a small sand-island had been thrown up in +the middle of the stream. To this island, in case I kept out of the claws +and jaws of the painter till I reached the river, I had calculated to wade; +believing, from, what I knew of the repugnance of this class of animals to +water, that he would not follow me, or, if he did, I need not fail of +shooting him dead while coming through the stream. But I soon found that +_I_ was not the only one that had thought of this island, in our terrible +extremity. + +"I had lain but a few minutes on the bank, before I caught the sounds of +near and more distant footfalls approaching apace through the forest above +me. Starting up, I cocked my rifle, and darted behind a bush near the edge +of the water, and had scarcely gained the stand, when the same bear that I +had left fleeing before the painter, made his appearance a few rods above +me, coming full jump down the bank, plunging into the stream, and swimming +and rushing amain for the island. As soon as he could clear the water, he +galloped up to the highest part of his new refuge, and commenced digging, +in hot haste, a hole in the sand. The instant he had made an excavation +large and deep enough to hold his body and sink it below the surface, he +threw himself in on his back, hurriedly scratched the sand at the sides a +little over his belly and shoulders, and lay still, with his paws stiffly +braced upwards. + +"The next moment the eagerly-pursuing painter came rushing down the bank to +the water, where the bear had entered it; when, after a hesitating pause, +he gave an angry yell, and, in two prodigious bounds, landed on the edge of +the island. Having raised my rifle for a helping shot, if needed, I +awaited, with beating heart and eyes wide open, the coming encounter. With +eyes shooting fire, the painter hastily fixed his feet, and, with a long +leap, came down on his intrenched opponent. A cloud of dust instantly +enveloped the combatants, but through it I could see the ineffectual passes +of the painter at the bear's head, and the rapid play of the bear's hind +paws under the painter's belly. This bout between them, however, was of but +short continuance, and terminated by the painter, which now leaped suddenly +aside, and stood for a moment eyeing his opponent askance, as if he had +found in those rending hind-claws already much more than he had bargained +for. But, quickly rousing himself, he prepared for the final conflict; and, +backing to the water's edge, he gave one short bound forward, and, leaping +ten feet into the air, came down again, with a wild screech, on his still +unmoved antagonist. + +"This time, so much more furiously flew up the dust and sand from the spot, +that I could see nothing; but the mingling growls and yells of the +desperately-grappling brutes were so terrific as to make the hair stand up +on my head. Presently, however, I could perceive that the cries of the +assailant, which had been becoming less and less fierce, were now turning +into howls of pain; and, the next moment, I saw him, rent and bloody, with +his entrails out and dragging on the ground behind him, making off till he +reached the water on the opposite side of the island, when he staggered +through the current, feebly crawled up the bank, and disappeared in the +woods, where he must have died miserably within the hour. + +"I went home a grateful man; leaving the bear, that had done me such good +service, to depart in peace, as I saw him doing before I left, apparently +little injured from the conflict." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + + "Ours the wild life the forest still to range, + From toil to rest, and joy in every change." + +The low chirping of the wood-birds, the tiny barkings of the out-starting +squirrels, the hurrying footsteps of the night-prowling animals, on their +way to their coverts, on the land; and the leaping up of fish, the flapping +of the wings of ducks, and the far-heard, trumpet-toned cry of the great +northern diver, on the water, those unfailing concomitants of approaching +day, in the watered wilderness, early aroused the next morning our little +band of soundly-sleeping hunters from their woodsmen's feather beds,--the +soft, elastic boughs of the health-giving hemlock,--and put them on the +stir in building their fire, and making preparations for their breakfast. +The business of the day before them was the completion of their camp +building; which, being intended, as before mentioned, for their general +head-quarters and storehouse, required far more care and labor in the +construction than the ordinary structures that are made to serve for +shelters for the sojourners of the woods. And, as soon as they had +dispatched their morning repast, they rose and prepared themselves to +commence the task on hand. As the main part of the company were scattering +into the woods, with their hatchets, in search of straight poles to rib out +the sides and roof of their structure, which was the first thing in order +to be done, Phillips, without explaining his object, quietly intimated to +Codman a wish for company, in a short excursion with canoes up the river; +and, the latter complying with the intimation, and putting himself under +the hunter's lead, the two took to their canoes, with each another canoe in +tow, and commenced rowing up the stream; which, having run its rapid and +noisy race down to the foot of the mountains, a mile or two above, was +here, with gentle pace and seeming reverence, advancing to the lake with +its welcome tribute of crystal waters. + +"Hillo, there, Mr. Hunter!" sung out the trapper to the other, now some +distance ahead, "what may be some of the whys and wherefores of this shine +we are cutting, stringing along here with canoes to our tails? What suppose +you should be telling, before a great while, lest this end of the fleet +might be missing?" + +"Soon show you," replied the hunter, without turning his head. "I always +liked the Indian fashion of answering questions by deeds instead of words, +where the circumstances admit,--it is so much more significant and +satisfactory, besides the world of lying it often prevents." + +After rowing a short distance farther, in silence, the hunter turned his +canoe in shore; and, after the other had followed his example, he said: + +"Now, follow me a few rods back into this thicket, up here." And, leading +the way, he proceeded to what at first appeared to be an irregular pile of +brush, lying by the side of a large fallen tree, but which, when the top +brush was removed, and an under-layer of evergreen boughs brushed aside, +disclosed a large, compact collection of peeled spruce bark, cut in regular +lengths of six or seven feet, and in breadths of about one foot, of exact +uniformity, and made so straight and flat by solid packing that a rick of +sawed boards would have scarcely presented a more smooth and even +appearance. + +"Well, I will give in, now, and acknowledge myself beat in wood-craft," +said the trapper, comprehending, at once, by whom and for what purpose this +acceptable pile of covering material had been cut, and thus nicely cured +and stored away for use. "To have done this, you must have come here in +June, the peeling month; but how came you to think of this process of +preparing the bark, or come here at all to do it, so long beforehand, on +the uncertainty of its being needed, this fall, except perhaps by +yourself?" + +"Well, happening to think, one day, how much better camps might be made +from bark peeled, cut, and pressed into the required lengths and shapes, +beforehand, as we prepare it for our Indian canoes, than by following our +usual bungling method, I concluded to put things in train for trying the +experiment this fall; and this fall especially, as I was then calculating, +unless you wished to join, to hunt only in company with the two Elwoods, +and I was desirous of getting up an extra good camp for them." + +"You take an unusual interest in the affairs of this newly-come family, I +have noticed." + +"If I do, I may have my reasons for it." + +"Special reasons, doubtless." + +"Ordinary reasons would be enough. In the first place, they are fine +people, the son and mother uncommonly so, and the father also I consider a +well-disposed man, but who may have some weak points; and this being so, +and the son being inexperienced in dealing with designing men, a neighbor, +like me, ought, I am sure, to be unwilling to see any advantage taken of +them." + +"Yes, a fair reason enough for your course, if you had no other; but may be +you have other inducements, received, for instance, on your visit to the +seaside, the past summer." + +"That is all guess-work, remember; but come, let us drop the subject, get +this bark into our canoes, and be off down the river with it to camp." + +They did so; and, on reaching camp, agreeably surprised their companions +with the abundant supply of excellent material which they had brought for +covering the cabin, and for which, when the circumstances became known, all +were disposed to accord due credit to the provident hunter. + +With the material thus obtained, the ribbing of the frame having by this +time been completed, all hands now commenced the work of laying on, +fitting, and confining the pliant and close-lying strips of bark to the +framework of the structure, both above and below. And with so much +assiduity and skill did they prosecute their labors, that before night +their camp was covered and inclosed on every side, and made to present to +the eye, a cabin neat and comely in appearance, and as tight, warm, and +secure against storms, as many a dwelling-house in the open country, +covered with boards and shingles. + +After the company had completed the roof and walls of their camp, +constructed a rude door, and made what interior arrangements they deemed +necessary for sleeping and storing their provisions, they went out, for the +hour or two now remaining before sunset, and scattered for short excursions +in their canoes along the neighboring coves of the lake, for the various +purposes of fishing, shooting ducks, or inspecting the shores for +indications of beaver, otter, and other classes of the smaller fur-animals +of amphibious habits. All returning, however, at sunset, they proceeded to +cook and eat their suppers, much in the same manner as on the preceding +evening; after which, in compliance with the suggestions made by several of +the company during the day, they went into a general consultation for the +purpose of fixing on the different locations and ranges of river and +forest, which each, or each pair of them, should take for their hunting or +trapping during the season before them. They soon agreed, in the first +place, without any difficulty, in making the shores of the Oquossak, the +next lake above, and the last and perhaps largest of the four great lakes +forming the chief links of this singular chain of inland waters, the +base-line of their operations. Phillips and Codman, having procured a wide +strip of the outer bark of the white birch,--ever the woodman's substitute +for writing paper, when writing becomes necessary,--then proceeded to draw +a map, from personal recollection, of the strangely-irregular lake in +question. By this, when completed, it appeared that the main inlet, or the +uppermost portion of the Androscoggin river, coming down from the north +through a chain of lakelets, or ponds, and running parallel with the +eastern shore of the lake, and but a few miles distant from it, entered +into a deep, pointed bay, about a third of the way down the eastern shore; +where it was joined by another and scarcely lesser river, coming from or +through a different chain of these lakelets, scattered along far to the +east and northeast of the Oquossak; while a third considerable stream +entered the lake at its extreme northwestern termination. These three +inlets, that constituted all the rivers of any magnitude running into this +lake, would not only afford, it was readily seen, the most desirable +hunting-grounds in the sections through which they flowed, but give the +greater part of the hunters, if they encamped in pairs, and had their camps +at the mouths of these streams, as was expected, an opportunity of locating +in near vicinity; while two more of the remaining part of the company +would, at the mouth of the northwestern inlet, be less than five miles +distant. This arrangement would dispose of six of the company,--two of them +on the inlet last mentioned, and four on the two rivers that entered the +lake together,--and leave one to remain on the Megantic, to take charge of +the head-quarters, or store-camp there, and hunt anywhere he chose in its +vicinity. But who the one to be placed in this trust should be, was the +next question to be decided. Gaut Gurley, who had been secretly scheming +for this post ever since the arrangement which he saw must necessarily +create it was agreed on, and who had been insidiously making interest for +it, with all the company, except Phillips and Codman, now proposed that the +question should be decided by ballot, and without discussion. And, the +proposition being seconded by Tomah and assented to by all, each took a +small piece of birch bark, marked with a coal the name of the person he +would vote for, and deposited it in a hat placed on their stone table for +the purpose. After all had voted, the hat was turned and the votes +assorted; when it appeared that four votes had been thrown for Gaut Gurley +and three for Mark Elwood, making seven in all, and showing that all the +company had voted. + +"Well, friend Elwood," said Gaut, with a well-assumed air of indifference, +when the result was seen, "shall _I_ resign in _your_ favor, or _you_ in +_mine_? This thing should be unanimous." + +Elwood looked up inquiringly at Gaut, when he read something in the +countenance of the latter which gave him to understand what was expected of +him, and he accordingly responded: "I should suppose there could not be +much question which of the two, a minority or a majority candidate, should +ask the other to stand aside,--especially when, as in your case, the +majority candidate is clearly chosen. I voted, gentlemen, for Mr. Gurley," +he added, turning to the rest of the company; "and I hope those who voted +for me will cheerfully acquiesce in the choice of the majority." + +"I am a comparative stranger to you all," remarked Carvil, "and, though I +voted for Mr. Elwood, I will yet very willingly agree to the selection you +have made." + +Gaut, knowing well enough who had thrown their votes against him, now +glanced at Phillips and Codman; but gathering from their silence and demure +and downcast looks that no approving expression was likely to be drawn from +either of them, he interrupted the pause that followed Carvil's remarks, by +saying: + +"Perhaps, then, I ought to accept the post thus assigned me; and on some +accounts it will come right all round. I should be compelled, any way, to +return once or twice to the settlements during our campaign, on business, +and I can attend to that, and procure the fresh supplies of bread and other +things we shall need, all under one head. And, besides that, I had already +made up my mind I should select this stream, and the coves on this lake, +for my trapping and hunting for beaver and other water animals, which I +once knew how to take, in preference to going any farther. So I will accept +the post, warrant the safe-keeping of the common property, and see what I +can do towards contributing my share to the stock of furs." + +This point being thus regarded by the company as settled, they next +proceeded to the discussion of the more particular duties which should +devolve on their chosen camp-keeper; which, at length, resulted in the +arrangement that he should go up with his canoe into the Oquossak, once a +week, make the circuit of the lake so far as to visit the nearest or +lake-shore camps of each or each pair of his companions, bring them fresh +provisions, and take back to head-quarters all the furs each had caught in +the interim, and be held responsible for the good condition and +safe-keeping of all the peltries, and other common property of the company, +thus placed in his charge. + +After this matter (which was destined to have an important bearing on the +fate and fortunes of more than one of the leading personages of our story) +was thus disposed of, they then, in conclusion of the business of the +evening, proceeded, by mutual agreement, to apportion the different +locations for hunting on the upper lake, already fixed on, among the three +pairs of hunters the company would now make; decide what individuals should +join to form each pair; and what general plan of operations they should +adopt, after they had got settled in their respective places. By the +amicable arrangement thus made, Phillips and Claud Elwood were to form one +of these pairs, and fix their lake-camp at the mouth of the river already +named as coming in from the east; Carvil and Mark Elwood to constitute +another pair, and encamp at the mouth of the great inlet entering at the +same place; while Codman and the young Indian, Tomah, who, from their +mutual challenges in beaver-catching, had by this time become friends, and +willing to hunt from the same starting-point, were to have their camp at +the mouth of the river coming in at the northwest end of the lake. By the +plan now adopted, also, each of these three hunting parties, after they had +reached their respective destinations and built their camps, were to +explore the rivers ten or fifteen miles upward through the forest, and to +some suitable and convenient terminus of their proposed trapping and +hunting range; there build a camp, in which to lodge on their outward +jaunts; and mark off, on their return, by blazing the trees, lines for +setting log-traps for sable, marten, stoat, or ermine,--for, whatever may +be said to the contrary, the noted ermine of Europe is a native of our +northern forests. These marked lines were to diverge from the upper camps +along the ridges on each side of the river; sometimes running many miles +apart, then turning down to the stream, where indications of beaver and +otter had been discovered, so as to afford a chance for setting and tending +steel-traps for those animals; then running back again on to the high hills +and ridges; but finally converging in, and meeting at the lake camp. And, +these preliminary steps being taken, everything would then be in readiness +for setting the traps, and for entering on the hopeful business of their +expedition. + +All these arrangements being now definitely settled and understood, the +consultation was broken up, and the company betook themselves once more to +their sylvan couches, calculating on an early start the next day for their +several destinations on the Oquossak, the nearest of which was at least a +dozen miles distant. + +Accordingly, with the first crack of dawn the next morning, the loud and +startling gallinaceous cachinnation of the droll and wide-awake trapper +aroused the woodsmen from their slumbers, and warned them to be up and +doing. And soon the whole company were in motion, the kindled fire was +crackling and flashing up amidst the dry pine faggots, thrown, on to feed +and start it into the steadier blaze and heat of more solid fuel, and the +process of cooking was going busily forward. In a short time they were +again gathered, in high spirits, round their stone table, unconsciously +partaking, as the event proved, the last meal they were ever all to enjoy +together in the woods. But let us not anticipate. + +As soon as they had dispatched their breakfast, the band about to depart +loaded their canoes with traps, guns, camp-kettles, and the provisions +needed for immediate use; and, wishing Gaut Gurley a happy and successful +time at his solitary station, pushed merrily away into the broad lake, +turned their course northward, and sped on their voyage. A few miles rowing +brought them to the great inlet, which, like the principal inlets to the +lakes below, was another reach of the Androscoggin, flowing directly from +the east through a channel, still nearly a hundred yards in width and +nearly three miles in length, from its entrance into one lake to the point +where it debouches from the other. After a row of an hour up this channel, +made interesting and impressive by the magnificent colonnades of princely +pines, that, as far as the eye could reach, stood towering away in +lessening perspective along its banks, they suddenly emerged into the +bright and far-stretching waters of the unmapped Oquossak, which lay +nestling and inflected among the dark green cliffs of the boldly +intersecting mountains, like some rough, unshapen gem, gleaming out from +the rubbish of a mine. And laying their course northeasterly, for the +distant bay receiving the waters of the confluent streams before described, +they now pulled away through the lake, in as direct a line as its irregular +form, would permit. And now, skirting long reaches of its deeply-wooded +shores, from which the old forest, never broken by the axe, and rarely ever +trod by the foot of the white man, was seen, stretching away back, lift +after lift, in pristine grandeur, to the tall summits of the amphitheatric +mountains,--now shooting athwart, under some dark headland that stood out +boldly disputing the empire with the water, and now threading their way +among the clustering green islands that studded the bright and beautiful +expanse,--they rowed steadily onward for hours, and at length were +gladdened by the sight of the dim but well-remembered outlines of the +pointed bay, whose farthest shore was to be the home and haven for most of +their number, during their present sojourn in this wild and remote fastness +of the wilderness. + +To row in, disembark their luggage, select sites for camps, to build those +camps, so far as to make them serve for shelters for the night, and to +prepare and eat their suppers, occupied the company, who had all decided to +remain there that night through the remainder of the day till bed-time. The +next morning, after an early breakfast, Codman and Tomah took leave of +their companions, and proceeded on further up the lake to their allotted +station; leaving the two Elwoods, and their respective hunting companions, +to complete their camps, which were situated in near vicinity, get all in +readiness, and the next day enter in earnest on the main business of the +campaign. + +But it is not our intention to follow either of these pairs, or now +distinct parties, of adventurous woodsmen, in the general routine of their +camp life,--in their solitary and almost daily marches among the tangled +wilds, from their inner to outer camps; their toils and fatigues on the +way; their pleasant meetings at the ends of their ranges at night, to +recount the adventures of the day, and lodge together; their heats and +their colds, their dark hours and their bright ones, their curious +experiences and startling encounters with wild animals; and finally their +varying success in realizing the objects of their expedition, through the +successive scenes of the next nine or ten weeks, where + + --"rifle flashed, + The grim bear hushed its savage howl, + In blood and foam, the panther gnashed + Its fangs with dying howl; + The fleet deer ceased its flying bound, + Its snarling wolf-foe bit the ground, + And, with its moaning cry, + The beaver sank beneath the wound, + Its pond-built Venice by." + +Suffice it to say, that they were all blest with uninterrupted health and +increasing vigor, in realization of the favorite theory of Carvil, in +relation to the invigorating and fattening principle of the super-abounding +oxygen of the woods. They all highly enjoyed their wild life, and were, +even beyond their most sanguine expectations, successful in their aggregate +acquisitions of peltries and all kinds of game. Gaut Gurley, whose +unremitted attention and apparent faithfulness in the duties of his post +soon disarmed the distrusting, came round punctually, every week, supplied +them with all they needed, and, while reporting his own good success, in +his short ranges in the vicinity of his head-quarters encampment, seemed +greatly gratified at the continued successes of all the rest, and +exultingly bore off their furs for curing and safe storage with the rich +and rapidly-increasing collection at his camp; setting the mark of their +collected value, the last time he came round, at upwards of a thousand +dollars, and encouraging them with the hope that, probably, before any +change would occur in the weather which would compel them to relinquish the +business and return to the settlement, a much larger sum would be realized +from their exertions. And, in view of this gratifying condition of their +affairs, the company at large--as winter at the farthest could not be very +distant--now began to anticipate, with much satisfaction, the time when +they should return to their families, to gladden them with their welcome +presence, and, from the fruits of their enterprise, make such unlooked-for +pecuniary additions to the means of domestic comfort and happiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + + "As the night set in, came hail and snow, + And the air grew sharp and chill, + And the warning roar of a terrible blow + Was heard on the distant hill; + And the norther,--see, on the mountain peak, + In his breath, how the old trees writhe and shriek! + He shouts along o'er the plain, ho, ho! + He drives from his nostrils the blinding snow, + And growls with a savage will." + + C. G. EASTMAN. + +We will now take the reader to the wild and secluded banks of Dead river, +the great southwesterly tributary of the lordly Kennebec, the larger twin +brother of the Androscoggin, both of which, after being born of the same +parent range of mountains, and wandering off widely apart, at length find, +at the end of their courses, like many a pair of long estranged brothers, +their final rest in a common estuary at the seaboard. At a point on the +banks of the tributary above named, where its long southward sweep brings +it nearest, and within twenty miles of the Oquossak, and within a quarter +of that distance from the terminating camps of the outward ranges of the +hunters, two men in hunting-suits might have been seen, in the fore part of +one of the last days of November, in the season of the eventful expedition +we have been describing, intently engaged in inspecting some fragments of +wrought wood, which, from the clue of some protruding piece, they had +kicked up from the leaves and decayed brushwood that had nearly concealed +them from view. One of these men was past the middle age, of a hardy but +somewhat worn appearance. The other was in the prime of young manhood, of a +finely-moulded form and an unusually prepossessing face and countenance. +But we may as well let the dialogue that ensued between them disclose their +identity; the matter that was now engaging their attention; and their +reasons for thus appearing in this remote position. + +"This piece," said the elder, closely scanning the fragment he held in his +hand, "is evidently oak, and looks mightily as if it was once the stave of +an oak keg or half-barrel. Yes, and here is another that will settle the +question," he continued, pulling from its concealment a larger and sounder +fragment. "There! can't you trace the chine across the end of this?" + +"Yes, quite distinctly, and I should not hesitate to pronounce all these +fragments the remains of an oak barrel that had once been opened, or left +here, if I could conceive how such a thing could come here, in the heart of +this extensive wilderness. How do you solve the mystery Mr. Phillips?" + +"Well, Claud, I am as much at fault as you. Barrels don't float up stream; +and to suppose this came down stream, and still farther from any +inhabitants, wouldn't help on the explanation any more; while to suppose it +was brought here by hunters through the woods, where they could have no use +for it even if they could get it here, is scarcely more probable." + +"True; but can't we get a clue from something else about the place? This +open space, hereabouts, wears something of the aspect of a place from which +the trees have been once cut away, or greatly thinned, out, for some great +encampment, for instance. Did you ever hear of any expedition of men +through this region, in such numbers as would require the transportation of +large quantities of provisions, drawn possibly by oxen, or more probably by +men on light sledges?" + +"Well, now, come to think of it, I have. And I guess you have blundered +right smack on the truth, at the first go off; which is more than I can +claim for myself, I admit. Yes, nearly fifty years ago, at the beginning of +the old war, as you must have often read, an army _did_ pass somewhere +through the wilderness of Maine to Quebec. It was under the command of that +fiery Satan, Benedict Arnold,--the only man in America, may be, who could +have pushed an army, at that time of the year, some weeks later in the +season than it is now, through a hundred and fifty miles' reach of such +woods as these are, between our last and the first Canadian settlement. My +father was one of that army of bold and hardy men. They passed up the +Kennebec some distance, and, then, according to his account, left it, and, +with the view of getting over the Highlands on to the Great Megantic more +easily, turned up a branch, which must have been this very stream. Yes, I +see, now. You are right about the appearance of this spot. There _was_ once +a great encampment here, and doubtless that of Arnold's army, staying over +night, and breaking open a barrel of meat, conveyed here in some such way +as you suggested." + +"It is an interesting discovery; for that was a remarkable expedition, and +must have been one of great hardship and suffering." + +"Hardship and suffering! Why, they fell short of provisions long before +they got out of the wilderness, and, besides the hardships of cold and +fatigue, came near starving to death! I have heard my father tell how he +was one of a party of thirteen, who, with other like squads, were permitted +to scatter forward in search of some inhabitants, for food, lest they all +perished together; how, after going two days without putting a morsel into +their mouths, except their shoe-strings or the inner bark of trees, they at +length were gladdened by the sight of an opening, with a log house, and a +cow standing before the door; how, the instant their eyes fell on the cow, +they ran like blood-hounds for the spot, seized an axe, brought the animal +to the ground, ripped up the hide on one thigh, cut off slices of the +quivering flesh, and, by the time the aroused family had got out into the +yard, were munching and gobbling them down raw, with the desperate +eagerness of ravenous beasts." [Footnote: A historical fact, once related +to the author by an old soldier who was one of the party here described.] + +"Horrible! but they paid the poor people for their cow, I trust?" + +"Yes, twice-over, but that did not reconcile them to the loss of their only +cow, where it was so difficult to get another. The children screamed, and +even the man and his wife wrung their hands and cried as if their hearts +would break." + +"That incident is to me a new feature among the horrors of war, which I +probably should have never heard of but for coming here and making this +curious discovery of one of the relics of that terrible and fruitless +campaign of our Revolution. I am glad we concluded to come." + +"So am I; for that, and the other reason that I wanted to see the lay of +the country, round this river, where, as it happened, I had never been. But +my mind misgave me several times, on the way." + +"Why so, pray?" + +"I can hardly tell, myself, but I began to kinder feel as if something +wrong was going on somewhere, and that, though this place could not be more +than five miles from our upper camp, where we stayed last night, we had yet +better be making our way directly back to the lake. Besides that, I haven't +liked the symptoms of the weather, to-day." + +"I don't know that I have noticed any thing peculiar in the weather, except +a chilliness of the air that I have not felt before this season." + +"That's the thing," rejoined the hunter, glancing uneasily up through the +treetops, to try to get a view of the sky. "But there are other indications +I don't fancy. There is a peculiar raw dampness in the air, and a sort of +low, moaning sound heard once in a while murmuring along through the +forest, such as I have often noticed before great storms, and sudden +changes from fall to winter weather, this time of the year. And hush! +hark!" he exclaimed, suddenly cutting short his remark, as the well-known, +solemn, and quickly-repeated _konk! konk!_ of wild geese, on their passage, +greeted their ears. + +They ran down to the water's edge to get a view of the open sky, when, +looking up, they saw a large flock of these winged, semi-annual voyagers of +the air, coming in view over the forest, in their usual widespread, +harrow-shaped battalions, and with seemingly hurried flight, pitching down +from the British highlands toward the lower regions to the south. And that +flock had scarcely receded beyond hearing, when another, and yet another, +with the same uneasy cries and rapid flight, passed, in quick succession, +over the open reach of sky above them. + +"How far do you calculate the nearest shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is +from here?" asked the hunter, musingly. + +"O, not so very great a distance,--three hundred miles, perhaps," replied +Claud, looking inquiringly at the other. + +"Well," slowly responded the hunter, "those God-taught creatures know more +about the coming changes of the weather than all the philosophers in the +world. These are but the advanced detachments of armies yet behind them, +already, doubtless, on their way from Labrador, and even more northern +coasts beyond. In the unusual mild November we have had, they never +received their warning till this morning. And these, being on the southern +outposts of their summer quarters, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, started at +daylight, I presume,--about four hours ago, just about the time I perceived +a change in the atmosphere myself. This, at the rapid headway you perceive +they are making, would give them time to get here by this hour of the day." + +"Then you take this as an indication of the approach of winter weather?" + +"I do. And the evident hurriedness of their flight, and the sort of +quickened, anxious tone of their cries, show that _they_, at least, think +it is not far behind them. But let us put all the signs together. I must +get to some place where I can see more of the sky. I noticed, as I was +coming in sight of the river, a short way back in the woods, a high, sharp +hill, with a bare, open top, rising from the river, about a hundred rods up +along here to the left. What suppose we pack up, and go and ascend it? We +can, there, besides getting the view we want of the lay of the country, +see, probably, the horizon nearly all round. And, all this done, we will +then hold a council of war, and decide on our next movement." + +This proposal meeting the ready approval of the young man, the two took +their rifles, and proceeded to the foot of the eminence in question, which +they found to be a steep, conical hill, rising abruptly three or four +hundred feet above the general level of the surrounding forest, with a +small, pointed apex, from which some tornado had hurled every standing tree +except a tall, slender green pine, that shot up eighty or ninety feet, as +straight as a flagstaff, from the centre. After a severe scramble up the +steeps, in some places almost perpendicular, they at length reached the +summit, and commenced leisurely walking round the verge, looking down on +the variegated wilderness, which, with its thousand dotted hills and +undulating ridges, lay stretched in cold solitude around them. With only a +general glance, however, over the surrounding forests, the gaze of the +hunter was anxiously lifted upwards, to study the omens of the heavens. The +sun, by this time, was scarcely visible beneath the cold, lurid haze which +had for some hours been gradually stealing over it; while around the +horizon lay piled long, motionless banks of leaden clouds, thick and heavy +enough evidently to be dark, but yet of that light, dead, glazed, uncertain +hue, which the close observer may have often noted as the precursor of +winter-storms. After a long and attentive survey of every visible part of +the heavens, the hunter, with an ominous shake of the head, dropped his +eyes to the ground, and said: + +"I was right, but didn't want to believe it when I got up this morning; and +the wild geese are right. We are on the eve of winter, and our best hope is +that it may come gently. But even that favor, I greatly fear, we shall not +be permitted to realize." + +"Well, sir, with that view of the case, in which I am inclined to concur, +what do you propose now?" asked Claud. + +"Why, I propose, seeing we have all the fur pelts we took from the traps +yesterday put up in packs, and have left nothing in our upper camp of any +consequence,--I propose, that, instead of going back to our nearest marked +line, as we talked of, we strike directly across the woods, by the nearest +route, to our lake camp; or, if you are willing to put up with two or three +miles additional travel, we will steer so as to take the upper camp of your +father and Carvil in our way. We might find them there, perhaps." + +"Then let us steer for their camp; I can stand the jaunt. But can you +determine the direction to be taken to strike it?" + +"Nearly, I think. Their camp, you know, is on the neck or connecting piece +of river, between two long ponds, lying about southwest of us. I rather +expected to be able to get a glimpse of one of those ponds from the +hilltop, but find I can't. I presume I could, however, from the top of this +pine tree." + +"Yes, but to climb it would be a long, and perhaps dangerous task, would it +not?" + +"No, neither. We woodsmen are often compelled to resort to such a course, +to take our latitude and bearings. And, on the whole, I think in this case +it might be the cheapest way. So I will up it, and you may be watching for +wild geese, that are still, I perceive, every few minutes, somewhere in +sight. Very likely some flock may soon come over us near enough for a +shot." + +So saying, the resolute and active hunter, casting aside coat, cap, and +boots, sprang up several feet on to the clasped trunk of the pine, over +whose rough bark he now, by means of the vigorous clenches of his arms and +legs, fast made his way upwards. It was a hard struggle for him, however, +till he reached the lower limbs, some fifty feet from the ground, when, +swinging himself up by a grappled limb, he quickly disappeared among the +thick, mantling boughs, on his now doubly-rapid ascent; and, in a few +minutes more, he was heard by his companion below, breaking off the +obstructing tiptop branches, and, as he gazed abroad from his dizzy height, +shouting out the discoveries which were the object of his bold attempt. + +"Make ready there, below!" he startlingly exclaimed, all at once, after a +long pause, in which he seemed to be silently noting the distant objects in +the forest; "make ready there, below, for a famous large flock of wild +geese, just heaving in sight over the hills, and coming directly to this +spot." + +The next moment the expected flock, spread out in columns answering to the +two sides of a triangle, each a quarter of a mile in extent, and the +nearest nearly in a line with the summit where the young huntsman stood, +with raised rifle, awaiting their approach, came in full view, making the +forest resound with their multitudinous and mingling cries, and the loud +beating of their long wings on the air, as they swept onward in their close +proximity to the earth. Singling out the nearest goose of the nearest +column, Claud quickly caught his aim, and fired; when the struck bird, with +a convulsive start, suddenly clasped its wings, and, in its onward impulse, +came down like lightning into the bushes, within five rods from its +exulting captor. + +"Done like a marksman,--plumped through and through under the wing. You are +improving, young man," exclaimed the hunter, who now, rapidly coming down, +had reached the foot of the tree, as Claud came forward from the bushes, +with his prize. "It is a fine fat one, ain't it?" he continued, glancing at +the heavy bird, as he was pulling on his boots. "We will take it along with +us for our supper." + +"Yes, rather a lucky shot," returned the other, self-complacently. "But +what discoveries did you make up there, that will aid us in our course, Mr. +Phillips?" + +"O, that is all settled," answered the latter, putting on his pack, and +buttoning up, preparatory to an immediate start. "I caught glimpses of both +the ponds, noted all the hilltops, ridges, and other noticeable landmarks, +in the line between here and there, and can lead you as straight as a gun +to the spot, for which we will now be off; and the sooner the better, as it +is fast growing colder and colder, and the whole heavens are every moment +growing more dark and dubious." + +They then, after making their way down the precipitous side of the hill to +its western foot, struck off, under the lead of the hunter, in a line +through the forest, preserving their points of compass, when none of their +general landmarks were visible, by noting the peculiar weather-beaten +appearance of the mosses on the north sides of the trees, and the usual +inclination of the tips of the hemlocks from west to east. And for the next +hour and a half, on, on they tramped, in Indian file, and almost unbroken +silence, making headway with their long, loping steps, notwithstanding the +obstructing fallen trees, brushwood, and constantly occurring inequalities +of the ground, with a speed which none but practised woodsmen can attain in +the forest, and which is scarcely equalled by the fastest foot-travellers +on the smooth and beaten highways of the open country. + +At length they were gratified by an indistinct sight of some body of water, +gleaming dimly through the trees from some point in front; and the walk of +a few hundred yards more brought them out, as it luckily happened, directly +to the camp of which they were in search. It was, however, tenantless; +their companions had already departed; but the bed of live coals in the +usual place, from which the thin vapor was still perceptibly ascending, +showed that they could not have left more than an hour before. In glancing +into the deserted shanty, they descried a clean strip of white birch bark, +lying conspicuously on the ground, a few feet within the entrance. On +picking it up, they were soon enabled to read the following words, traced +with the charred end of a twig: + + "Thinking something unusual to be brewing overhead, we + are off for the lake about 10 A. M. CARVIL." + +"A very observing, considerate man, that Mr. Carvil," said the hunter, +still musingly keeping his eyes on the unique dispatch. "He is one of the +few book-learned men I have ever known, who could apply science to the +natural philosophy of the woods. I can see how justly he reasoned out this +case: knowing that we had some thought of a jaunt to Dead river this trip, +he judged we should notice the signs of the weather just as we did, and, as +it seems, _he_ did; and that, in consequence, when we got there, we should +decide on the nearest route back, which would bring us so near their camp +that we should be tempted to come to it; and so he left this notice for us +that they thought it wisdom to depart." + +While the hunter was thus delivering himself, as he stood by the fire +before the entrance, spreading out his hands over the coals, Claud went +inside, and, returning with two fine, fresh trout, which the late occupants +had, for some cause, left behind them, held them up to his musing +companion, and exclaimed: + +"Look here, Mr. Phillips,--see what they have left for us!" + +"Good!" cried the hunter, rousing himself, "for, whether they left them by +design or mistake, they come equally well in play at this time. You out +with your knife and split them through the back, and I will prepare the +coals. We will roast them for a lunch, which will refresh and strengthen us +for the ten or twelve miles walk that is still to be accomplished, before +reaching the lake." + +After dispatching the welcome meal, which in this primitive fashion they +had prepared for themselves out of the material thus unexpectedly come to +hand, and enjoying the half-hour's rest consequent on the grateful +occupation, they again swung on their packs, and, striking into one of the +marked lines of their companions, set forth with fresh vigor on their +journey. Their walk, however, was a long and dreary one. Contrary to what +they had ever before experienced, in jaunts of this length through the +woods, not a single hunting adventure occurred, to enliven the tedium of +the way. For, although the heavens above were made vocal with the screams +of wild geese, still pouring along in their hurried flight to the south, to +escape the elemental foe behind, like the rapidly succeeding detachments of +some retreating army, yet not a living creature, biped or quadruped, was +anywhere to be heard or seen in the forest beneath. All seemed to have +instinctively shrunk away and fled, as from the presence of some impending +evil, to their dens and coverts, there to await, cowering and silent, the +dreaded outbreak. Slowly, but steadily, the lurid storm-clouds were +gathering in the heavens, bringing shade after shade over the darkening +wilderness. Low, hollow murmurs in the troubled air were now heard, +ominously stealing along the wooded hills; and now, in the sharp, momentary +rattling of the seared beech-leaves, the whole forest seemed shivering in +the dead chill that was settling over the earth. The cold, indeed, was now +becoming so intense as to congeal and skim over all the pools and still +eddies of the river, and make solid ice along the shores of the rapid +currents of the stream; while even the ground was fast becoming so frozen +as to clumper and sound beneath the hurrying tread of our anxious +travellers. By three in the afternoon, it had become so dark that they +could scarcely see the white blazings on the sides of the trees, by which +they were guided in their course; and in less than another hour, they were +stumbling along almost in utter darkness, uncertain of their way, and +nearly despairing of reaching their destination that night. But, while they +were on the point of giving up the attempt, the bright glare of an +ascending blaze, shooting fiercely through the thickets before them, +greeted their gladdened eyes, and put them on exertions that soon brought +them rejoicing into the comfortable quarters of their almost equally +gratified friends and comrades; where it was at once decided that, instead +of proceeding to their own camp, to build a fire and lodge, they should +turn in for the night. + +After some time passed in the animated and cheery interchange of inquiries +and opinions, which usually succeeds on the meeting of anxiously-sought or +expected friends, Claud and Phillips, having by this time warmed and +measurably rested themselves, took hold with Carvil and Mark Elwood in +dressing and cooking for supper and for breakfast the next morning, Claud's +goose, and a pair of fine ducks from a flock which the two latter had +encountered just before reaching camp that afternoon; and, after completing +this process with their good supply of game, and the more agreeable one of +eating so much of it as served for a hearty supper, they drew up an extra +quantity of fuel for the large fire which they felt it would be necessary +to keep up through the night; and then, seating themselves in camp, went +into an earnest consultation on the measures and movements next to be +taken. When, in view of the lateness of the season, coupled as it was with +the alarming portents of an immediate storm, which they had all noticed, it +was unanimously determined that they should embark, early next morning, for +head-quarters on the Maguntic, where Gaut Gurley, instead of preparing to +come round again, as was now nearly his usual time to do, would, under the +altered aspect of things, doubtless be awaiting them, and making +arrangements for the return of all to the settlement. Then, building up a +fire of solid logs, for long burning, the tired woodsmen drew up their +bough-pillows towards the entrance of the camp, so as to bring their feet +near the fire, closely wrapped their thick blankets around them, lay down, +and were soon buried in sound slumber. And it was well for them that they +were thus early taking their needed rest; for, soon after midnight, they +were awakened by the lively undulations of the piercing cold air that was +driving and whistling through the sides of their camp, and by the puffs of +suffocating smoke that the eddying winds were ever and anon driving from +their fire directly into their faces. One after another they rose, and ran +out to see what had caused the, to them, sudden change that had occurred in +the air since they went to sleep. And they were not long in ascertaining +the truth. The expected storm had set in, with that low, deep commotion of +the elements, and that slowly gathering impetus, which, as may often be +noted at the commencement of great storms, was but the too certain prelude +of its increase and duration. The fine snow was sifting down apace to the +already whitened ground, and the rising wind, even in their mountain-hemmed +nook, was whirling in fierce and fitful eddies about their camp, and +shrilly piping among the strained branches of the vexed forest around; +while its loud and awful roar, as it careered along the sides of the +distant mountains, told with what strength and fury the storm was +commencing over the country at large. In the situation in which the company +now found themselves, neither sleep, comfort, nor quiet were to be expected +for the remainder of the night. They therefore piled high the wood on their +fire, and gathered round the hot blaze, to protect them from the cold, that +had now not only grown more intense, but become doubly difficult to +withstand, from the force with which it was brought by the driving blasts +in contact with their shivering persons. And thus,--in alternately turning +their backs and fronts to the fire, while standing in one place, and often +shifting places from one side of the fire to the other; in now taking +refuge within their camp when the constantly veering gusts bore the smoke +and flame outward, and then fleeing out of it when the stifling column was +driven inward; but finding no peace nor rest anywhere, among those shifts +and commotions of the battling elements,--they wore away the long and +comfortless hours of that dreary night, till the return of morning light, +which, after many a vain prayer for its speedier appearance, at length +gradually broke over the storm-invested wilderness. + +As soon as it was light enough to see objects abroad, or see them as well +as they can ever be discerned through the fast-falling snow of such a +driving storm, Phillips and Carvil sallied out through the snow, already +eight inches deep, and made their way down to the nearest shore of the +lake, about a quarter of a mile distant, to ascertain the condition of the +water before embarking upon it in their canoes, as they had designed to do +immediately after breakfast. On reaching the shore, they found the narrow +bay, before mentioned as forming the estuary of the two rivers on which +they had been located, comparatively calm, though filled with congealing +snow and floating ice from the rivers. But all beyond the line of the two +points of land inclosing the bay was rolling and tumbling in wild +commotion, madly lashing the rocky headlands with the foaming waters, and +resounding abroad over the hills with the deep, hoarse roar of the +tempest-beaten breakers of the ocean. + +"Do you see and hear that?" exclaimed Phillips, pointing to the lake. + +"Yes, yes; but what was that I just caught a glimpse of, out there in the +offing, to the right?" hastily cried Carvil. + +They both peered forward intently; and the next moment they saw a canoe, +containing a single rower, low bending to his oar, shoot by the northern +headland with the speed of an arrow, strike obliquely out of the white line +of rolling waves into the bay, and make towards the point where they stood. + +"Who can it be?" inquired Carvil, after watching a while in silence the +slow approach of the obstructed canoe. + +"In a minute more we shall see," replied the hunter, bending forward to get +a view of the man's face, which, being seen the next moment, he added, with +a shout: "Hallo, there, Codman, is that you? Why didn't you crow, to let us +know who was coming?" + +"Crow?" exclaimed the trapper, driving through the ice to the shore; "did +you ever hear a rooster crow in a time like this? There! I am safe, at +last," he added, leaping out upon the shore, and glancing back with a +dubious shake of the head towards the scene from which he had thus escaped. +"Yes, safe now, for all my fright; but I would not be out another hour on +that terrible lake for all the beaver in the province of Maine! I started +at daylight, got out a mile or two, tolerably, but after that, Heaven only +knows how I rode on those wild waves without swamping! But no matter,--I am +here." + +"But where is Tomah, the Indian?" asked the hunter. + +"Tomah!" said Codman, in surprise. "Why, haven't you seen him? He went off +three days ago, saying he must return to the settlement, to be training his +moose to the sledge, so as to start for Boston with him, the first snow. He +said he should leave it with Gaut Gurley to see to his share of the furs. I +supposed he would call at one of your camps. But come, move on. I suppose +you have a fire at camp, and something to eat; I am frozen to death, and +starved to death, besides being more than half-dead from the great scaring +I've had; but that's all over now, and I'm keen for breakfast. So troop +along back to your camp, I say." + +To return to camp, take their cold and comfortless breakfast, and decide on +the now hard alternatives of remaining where they were, to await the event +of the storm, without provisions, and with their imperfect means of +protection from the rigor of the elements, or of starting off through the +cumbering snow beneath their feet, and the driving tempest above their +heads, with the hope of reaching head-quarters by land, before another +night should overtake them, was but the work of half an hour. To remain, +with the foretaste of the past and the prospects of the future, was a +thought so forbidding that none of them could for a moment entertain it; +and to set out to travel by land, with such prospects, over the mountains, +by the long, winding route on the eastern side of the lake,--which was the +only one left to them, and which could not be less than fifteen miles in +extent,--was a scarcely less forbidding alternative. But it must be +adopted. So, gathering in their steel traps and iron utensils, they buried +them all, except their lightest hatchet, under a log, that they should not +be encumbered with more weight than was absolutely necessary; snugly +packing up the few peltries they had taken since Gaut Gurley had been +round, and putting the scanty remains of their food into their pockets, for +a lunch on the way, they set forth on their formidable undertaking. + +Led on and guided by the calm and resolute hunter,--who at different times +had been over the whole way, and in whose skill and discretion, as a +woodsman, for conducting them by the nearest and easiest route, they all +had undoubting confidence,--they vigorously made their way onwards through +the accumulating snows and natural obstructions of the forest; now +threading the thickets of the valleys; now skirting the sides of the hills; +now crossing deep ravines; and now climbing high mountains in their +toilsome march. And, though the storm seemed to rage more and more fiercely +with the advancing hours of the day,--whirling clouds of blinding snow in +their faces, hurling the decayed limbs and trunks of the older tenants of +the wood to the earth around them, in the fury of its blasts, and rattling +and creaking through the colliding branches of the writhing green trees, as +it swept over the wilderness,--yet, for all these difficulties of the way +and commotions of the elements, they faltered not, but continued to move +forward in stern and moody silence, hour after hour, in the footsteps of +their indomitable leader, until they reached the extreme eastern point of +the lake, where their destination required them to turn round it, in a +sharp angle to the west. Here, at the suggestion of their leader, who made +the encouraging announcement that the worst half of their journey was +accomplished, they made a halt, under the lee of a sheltering mountain, for +rest and refreshment. And, sitting down on a fallen tree, from whose +barkless trunk they brushed off the snow, they took out and commenced +chewing their stale and frozen bread, with a few small pieces of duck-meat, +remaining from their breakfast, and comprising the last of their +provisions. The animal heat, produced by their great and continued +exertions in travelling, had thus far prevented them, from suffering much +from the cold, or perceiving its actual intensity. But they had been at +rest scarcely long enough to finish their meagre repast, when they were +driven from their seats by the chill of the invading element, and were +eagerly demanding, as a lesser annoyance, again to be led forward on their +journey. The snow by this time had accumulated to the depth of a foot and a +half, and still came swiftly sifting down aslant to the earth, without the +least sign of abatement; while the wind, which was before a gale, had now +risen to a hurricane, causing the smitten earth to tremble and shake under +the force of the terrible blasts that went shrieking and howling through +the bowed, bending, and twisting forests, where + + "The sturdiest birch its strength was feeling, + And pine trees dark and tall + To and fro were madly reeling, + Or dashing headlong in their fall." + +But, still undismayed by these manifestations of elemental power around +them, or the prospects before them, all terrific and disheartening as they +were, and nerved by the consciousness that their only chance of escape from +a fearful death depended on their exertions, the bold and hardy woodsmen +again started out into the trackless waste, and labored desperately onward, +mile after mile, through the impeding snow; sometimes taken to the armpits +in its gathering drifts, and sometimes thrown at full length beneath its +submerging depths by stepping into some hole or chasm it had concealed from +their sight. And thus resolutely did they beat and buffet their rough way +through the perplexed and roaring wilderness, and thus stoutly did they +bear up against the constantly thickening dangers that environed them +during the last part of that dreadful day. But, as night drew on, their +strength and spirits began to flag and give way. The cold was increasing in +intensity. The tempest howled louder than ever over their heads, and the +snow had become so deep and drifted that furlongs became as miles in their +progress. And yet, as they supposed, they were miles from their +destination. At length, one after another, they faltered and stopped. The +strong men quailed at the fate which seemed staring them in the face, and +they were on the point of giving up in despair. But hark! that cheery shout +which rises above the roaring of the wind, from their more hardy and +hopeful leader, who, while all others stopped, had pushed on some thirty +rods in advance. It comes again! + +"Courage, men! We have struck the river, at whose mouth stands our camp, +now not half a mile distant." + +Aroused by the glad tidings, that sent a thrill of joy through their +sinking hearts, they sprang forward, with the revivified energies which new +and suddenly-lighted hope will sometimes so strangely impart, and were soon +by the side of the exulting hunter; when together they rushed and +floundered along down the banks of the stream towards the place, in joyful +excitement at the thought that their troubles were now so nearly over, and +with visions of the comfortable quarters, warm fires, and smoking suppers, +which they confidently expected were awaiting them at camp, brightly +dancing before them. Joy and hope lent wings to their speed; and, in a +short time, they could discern the open place and the well-remembered +outlines of the locality where the camp was situated. But no bright light +greeted their expectant eyes. They were now at the spot, but, to their +utter consternation, no camp was to be seen! Could they be mistaken in the +place? No; there was the open path leading to the structure; there rose the +steep side of the hill; and there, at the foot of it, stood the +perpendicular rock against which it was erected! What could it mean? After +standing a moment in mute amazement, peering inquiringly at each other, in +the fading twilight, they started forward for the rock, and, in so doing, +came upon the two front posts, still standing up some feet out of the snow. +They were black and charred! The sad truth then flashed over their minds. +Their camp had been burnt to the ground, and with it, also, probably, their +rich collection of furs,--nearly the whole fruit of all the toils and +fatigues of their expedition! O death, death! what shall save the poor +trappers, now? + +"Great God! I have had a presentiment of this," exclaimed Phillips, the +first to find utterance, in a voice trembling with unwonted emotion. + +"How could it have happened?" and "Where is Gaut Gurley?" simultaneously +burst from the lips of the others. + +"Well may you, ask those questions, and well couple them together, I +fancy," responded the hunter, with bitter significance. "But away with all +speculations about _that_, now. We have something that more nearly concerns +us to attend to, in this strait, than forming conjectures about the loss of +our property: our lives are at stake! If you will mind me, however, you may +all yet be saved." + +"Direct us, direct us, and we will obey," eagerly responded one and all. + +"Two of you follow me, then, for something dry, if we can find it, for a +fire, and the rest go to kicking away and treading down the snow under the +rock, with all your might!" sharply commanded the hunter, dashing his way +towards the thickets, with hatchet in hand. + +With that ready obedience which a superior in energy and experience will +always command among his fellows, in emergencies like this, the men went to +work in earnest. In a short time the snow was cleared away or beat down +compactly over a space some yards in extent along the side of the rock, +while the others soon returned with a supply of the driest wood to be +found, together with an armfull of hemlock boughs, to strew over the beaten +snow. The next thing requiring their attention was the all-important object +of starting a fire. But in this they were doomed to sad disappointment. +Their punk-wood tinder had been so dampened by the snow sifting into their +coat-pockets, where they had deposited it, that it could not be made to +catch the sparks of the smitten steel. They then tried the flashing of +their guns; but they had no paper, and could find no dry leaves or fleecy +bark of the birch, and the finest splinters or shavings they could whittle, +in the dark, from the clefts of the imperfectly dry pine, would not take +fire from the light, evanescent flash of the powder in their pans. Again +and again did they renew the doubtful experiment; but every succeeding +trial, from the dampness of their material in the driving snow, and from +the unmanageable condition of their benumbed fingers and shivering frames, +became more and more hopeless, till at length they were compelled to +relinquish wholly the fruitless attempt. + +"This is a calamity, indeed!" exclaimed the hunter. "I feared it might be +so from the first. Could we have foreseen the want, so as to have been on +the lookout for material coming along, or have got here before dark, it +might have been averted. But as it is, there is one resort left for us, if +we would live in this terrible wind and cold till morning, and that is, to +keep in constant and lively motion. Whoever lies down to sleep is a dead +man!" + +But he found it difficult to impress on the minds of most of them his idea +of the danger of ceasing motion. They began to say they felt more +comfortable now, and, being very tired, must lay down to take a little +rest. Sharply forbidding the indulgence, the hunter sallied out, cut and +trimmed two or three green beech switches, and returned with them to his +wondering companions; when, finding Mark Elwood, in disregard of his +warning, already down and dozing on a bunch of boughs under the rock, he +sternly exclaimed: + +"Up, there, in an instant!" + +"O, let me lie," begged the unconsciously freezing man: "do let me lie a +little while. I am almost warm, now, but very, very sleepy," he added, +sinking away again into a doze. + +Instantly a smart blow from the tough and closely-setting switch of the +hunter fell upon the outstretched legs of the dozer, who cringed and +groaned, but did not start. Another and another, and yet another, fell with +the quickness and force of a pedagogue's rod on the legs of an offending +urchin, till the aroused, maddened and enraged victim of the seeming +cruelty leaped to his feet, and, with doubled fists, rushed upon the +assailant, who darted off into the snow and led his pursuer a doubling race +of several hundred yards before he returned to the spot. + +"There are some spare switches," resumed the active and stout-hearted +hunter, as he came in a little ahead of the puffing, reanimated, and now +pacified Elwood; "take them in hand, and do the same by me, if you see me +going the same way; it is our only salvation!" + +But, notwithstanding all this preaching, and the obvious effects of this +wholesome example, others of the company, deceived by the insidious +sensation which steals upon the unsuspecting victims of such exposures, as +the treacherous herald of their death,--others, in turn, required and +promptly received the application of the same strange remedy. But this +could not always last. The fatigue of their previously overtasked systems +prevented them from keeping up their exertions many hours more; and, +declaring they could bear up no longer, one after another sunk down under +the rock; and even their hitherto indomitable leader himself now visibly +relaxed, and at length threw himself down with the rest, feebly murmuring: + +"I know what this feeling means; but it is so sweet! let us all die +together!" + +At that instant a shock, quickly followed by the loud, gathering rumblings +of an earthquake, somewhere above them, suddenly aroused and brought every +man to his feet. And the next moment an avalanche of snow, sweeping down +the steep side of the rock-faced declivity above, shot obliquely over their +heads to the level below, leaving them unharmed, but buried twenty feet +beneath the outward surface. + +"Now, God be praised!" cried the hunter, at once comprehending what had +happened, and starting forward to feel out what space was left them between +their shielding rock in the rear and the wedged and compact slant snow-wall +in front, which, with the no less deeply blocked ends, formed the roof and +sides of their new and thus strangely built prison-house. "This is the work +of Providence! We are now, at least, safe from the cold, as you will all, I +think, soon have the pleasure of perceiving." + +"You are right, Mr. Phillips," responded Carvil; "and it is strange some of +us did not think of building a snow-house at the outset. Even the wild +partridges, that in coldest weather protect themselves by burrowing in the +snow, might have taught us the lesson." + +"Yes, but it has been far better done in the way God has provided for us. +And we have only now to get our blood into full circulation to insure us +safety and rest through the night; and let us do this by shaking out our +boughs, and treading down the snow, as smooth as a floor, to receive them +for our bedding." + +"It may be as you say about its being mild here, Mr. Phillips," doubtingly +observed Mark Elwood; "but it seems strange philosophy to me, that being +inclosed in snow, the coldest substance in nature, should make us warmer +than in the open air." + +"And still I suspect it is a fact, father," said Claud. "The Esquimaux, and +other nations of the extreme north, it is known, live in snow-houses, +without fire, the whole of their long and rigorous winters." + +"O, Phillips is right enough about _that_," added Codman, now evidently +fast regaining his usual buoyancy of spirits; "yes, right enough about +_that_, whether he was about that plaguey switching he gave us, or not. +Why, I can feel a great change in the air here already! warm enough, soon; +safe, at any rate; so, hurra for life and home, which, being once so +honestly lost, will now be clear gain. Hurra! whoo-rah! whoo-rah-ee! +Kuk-kuk-ke-o-ho!" + +And the hunter _was_ right, and the trapper was right. Their perils and +physical sufferings were over. They were not only safe, but fast becoming +comfortable. And, by the time they had trod down the snow as hard and +smooth as had been proposed, and shaken out the boughs and distributed them +for their respective beds, the air seemed as warm as that of a mild day in +October. Their clothes were smoking and becoming dry by the evaporation of +the dampness caused by the snow. Their limbs had become pliant, and their +whole systems restored to their wonted warmth and circulation. And, +wrapping themselves in their blankets, they laid down--as they knew they +could now safely do--and were soon lost in refreshing slumber, from which +they did not awake till a late hour the next morning. + +When they awoke, after their deep slumbers, they at once concluded, from +the altered and lighter hue of all around them, as well as by their own +feelings, that it must be day without; and with one accord commenced, with +their hatchets, cutting and digging a hole through the wall of their snowy +prison-house, in the place where they judged it most likely to be thinnest. +After working by turns some thirty or forty minutes, and cutting or beating +out an upward passage eight or ten yards in extent, they suddenly broke +through into the open air. The roaring of the storm no longer greeted their +ears. The terrible conflict of the elements, which yesterday kept the +heavens and earth in such hideous commotion, was over and gone. Though it +was as cold as in the depths of winter, the sky was almost cloudless; and +the sun, already far on his diurnal circuit, was glimmering brightly over +the dreary wastes of the snow-covered wilderness. By common consent, they +then packed up, and immediately commenced beating their slow and toilsome +way towards the nearest habitation, which was that of the old chief, now +only about five miles distant, over land, on the shore of the lake below. +With far less fatigue and other suffering, save that of hunger, than they +had anticipated, they reached the hospitable cabin of Wenongonet before +night. Here their wants were supplied; here an earnest discussion--in which +they were aided by the shrewd surmises of the chief--was held, respecting +the burning of their camp and the probable loss of their common property; +and, finally, here, though the "_Light of the Lodge_" was absent at her +city home, they were agreeably entertained through the night and succeeding +day,--when, the lakes having become frozen over sufficiently strong to make +travelling on the ice as safe as it was convenient and easy, they, on the +second morning after their arrival at his house, bade their entertainer +good-by, and set out for their homes in the settlement, which they +respectively reached by daylight, to the great relief of their anxious and +now overjoyed families and friends. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + + "There was a laughing devil in his sneer, + That rais'd emotions both of hate and fear." + +In the early part of an appointed day, about a fortnight after the return +of the imperilled and unfortunate trappers to their homes, as described in +the preceding chapter, an unusual gathering of men was to be seen within +and around a building whose barn, open shed, watering-trough, and +sign-post, showed its aspirations to be a tavern, occupying a central +position among a small, scattering group of primitive-looking houses, +situated on the banks of the Androscoggin, five miles below that lake, and +where it might be considered as fairly under way, as an uninterrupted +river, in its devious course to the ocean. + +In the yard and around the door stood men, gathered in small knots, engaged +in low, earnest conversation; while, every few minutes, some were seen +issuing from the house and hastily departing, as if dispatched on special +messages,--the company in the mean time being continually augmented by +fresh arrivals of the settlers, who came straggling in from both directions +of the great road, which, leading from the more thickly-settled parts of +Maine to the Connecticut, here passed over the Androscoggin. + +Within the house, in the largest room, and behind a table, drawn up near +the wall at the farther end, sat a magistrate, in all the grave dignity of +a court, with pen in hand and paper before him, as if in readiness to take +such testimony in the case on hand as should be presented for his +consideration. On his right sat Mark Elwood, Phillips, and Codman, +appearing as the representatives of the injured trappers or hunters, who +were the prosecutors in the case; while on his left sat Gaut Gurley, in +custody of the sheriff and his assistant, who had arrested and brought him +there to answer to the complaint of the former. Gaut appeared perfectly +unconcerned, glancing boldly about him with an air of proud defiance; while +his former companions, the trappers just named, sat looking down at their +feet, compressing their lips and knitting their brows in moody and +indignant silence. + +But, before proceeding with any further description of the court, its +parties or doings, let us briefly recur to what had happened in the interim +between the return of the trappers and their present appearance in court, +for redress for the outrages that they supposed had been designedly +committed upon them, or at least for bringing to punishment the man who, +they felt morally certain, must be the perpetrator. + +After the trappers had reached their homes, become fully restored from the +chill and fatigues they had undergone during the terrible storm with which +their expedition so disastrously terminated, and attended to such domestic +wants as demanded their immediate care, they met at the house of Phillips, +in accordance with an appointment they made when they parted, to report +what evidence each might be able to collect relative to the burning of +their camp, and the suspected previous abstraction of their furs; and +thereupon to decide what measures should be taken in the premises. Finding +that Gaut Gurley had been seen at home, or in the vicinity, some days +previous to the storm, and that he was not likely to come to _them_, they +dispatched a disinterested person to _him_, to notify him of their arrival, +and the condition in which they found matters at the store-camp, left in +his charge, and also of their wish that he would attend their proposed +meeting, and account for the catastrophe which had so unexpectedly +occurred. He pretended to know nothing of the affair, and feigned great +surprise at the news; said he had left the camp and its stores, all safe, +two days before the storm, to come to the settlement for more provisions; +believing that his companions would remain a fortnight longer; that, having +procured his supplies, he was intending to return to camp the day the storm +came on; and finally that it devolved on those last at the camp, and not on +_him_, to account for what had taken place. He therefore declined meeting +them on the business. As soon as they ascertained that Gaut had taken this +stand, which only added to their previous convictions of his guilt, the +different members of the company made journeys to the nearest villages or +trading-places in Maine and New Hampshire, to see if any furs, answering in +description to their collection, had recently been sold in any of those +towns. And at length they found, in one of the frontier villages in Maine, +a small collection of peltries, which they thought they could identify, and +which the trader said he had lately purchased of an unknown travelling +pedlar, who, out of a large lot of peltries, would sell only these at +prices that would warrant the purchasing. This small lot of furs they +prevailed on the trader to let them take home with them, for the purpose of +making proof in court. This was all the direct evidence they could find to +implicate Gaut; but they believed it would be sufficient. For, at the +meeting they then held, Mark Elwood found among the furs a beaver-skin, +that he could swear was of his own taking, from a careless slit he +remembered to have made in the skinning. Codman found another, which he +could safely identify by a mangled ear which was caught in one end of the +trap, while the tail was caught in the other. And Phillips found an otter +skin, with a bullet-hole on each side, made, as he well remembered, by +shooting the animal through and through in the region of the heart. On this +proof they unanimously decided on a prosecution; and accordingly Phillips +and Mark Elwood set off the next day for Lancaster, the shire-town on the +Connecticut, for legal advice, warrants, and a sheriff to serve them. On +reaching the place, they were told by the attorney they consulted that they +could not make out larceny or theft against Gurley for taking the furs +placed in his trust, but for their private redress must resort to a civil +action of trover, or unlawful conversion of the common property. A criminal +process for arson, or the burning of the camp, would probably be sustained. +And the result of the consultation was, that a complaint and warrant for +arson should be issued, and the arrest made by the sheriff, who should also +have in his hands a civil process returnable to the court of Common Pleas, +to serve on Gurley and his property, provided the proof elicited at the +court of inquiry on the criminal charge should be such as to afford them +any prospect of a recovery. + +It was under these circumstances that Gaut Gurley had been arrested for the +burning of the camp, and brought before the magistrate, who, with the +lawyers employed on both sides, had come to this place, as before +described, for the hearing of the case. + +The magistrate now declared the court open, and directed the parties to +proceed with the case. The attorney for the prosecution then rose, read the +complaint, and briefly stated what they expected to prove, to substantiate +the allegations it contained. Mark Elwood, Phillips, Codman, and the trader +who had purchased the furs of the pedlar, and who had been summoned for the +purpose, were then called to the stand, and sworn, as witnesses on the part +of the prosecution. + +The trader, being first called on, testified to the identity of the furs +which had been produced in court with the lot he had bought of the pedlar, +as before mentioned; and he further stated that the man had a large lot, +which well answered the general description given by the complainants of +the lot they had in camp; but where or how he obtained the lot, or who he +was, or where he went to when he left town, he did not learn, and had no +means of ascertaining. All he could say, was, that these were the furs he +purchased, and the only ones of the whole lot on the prices of which he and +the fellow could agree, so as to effect a trade. + +Phillips, next called, swore plumply that the bullet-pierced otter-skin +before him was taken by his own hand from the animal he shot. He also added +that there were several strings of sable-skins in the lot before him, which +he felt confident he had seen among the furs of the company, and he +especially pointed out one strung together by a braid of wickape bark. And +in this last statement he was confirmed by Codman, who, besides identifying +one beaver-skin, had the same impression in relation to the string of +sable; but neither of them would swear positively in the matter of the +smaller furs. + +Mark Elwood, the last of the witnesses to be examined, then took the stand; +and, contrary to what might have been expected from one of his wavering +disposition, and particularly from one who had been so strangely kept under +the influence and fear of the man on trial, bore himself resolutely under +the menacing looks which the latter fixed upon him by way of intimidation. +For some time he had utterly refused to harbor the idea of Gaut's guilt. He +believed the burning of the camp was accidental; that Gaut, in anticipation +of the storm, had taken all the furs home with him, and would soon call the +company together for the distribution. But when he heard of the course Gaut +was taking, and coupled it with the other circumstances, he suddenly +changed his tone, fell into the belief of his companions, and more loudly +and openly than any of them denounced the crime and its author,--seemingly +throwing off, at once and forever, the mysterious spell which had so long +bound him. Accordingly he now swore confidently to the beaver-skin in +question, as one of his own taking, and, facing him boldly, even went so +far as to declare his full belief in Gaut's guilt, not only in the burning +of the camp, but in the stealing of the furs. + +This gratuitous assertion of a mere matter of belief in the respondent's +guilt, which was no legal evidence in the case, at once aroused, as might +have been expected, the ire of Gaut's lawyer, who, with, fierce +denunciations of the conduct of the witness, subjected him to a severe +cross-examination. + +"What reason, then," asked the somewhat mollified lawyer, now himself +incautiously venturing on ground which, with a better knowledge of the +parties, he would have seen might injure his cause, and on which his client +evidently wished him not to push inquiries. "What reason, then, could you +have for your extraordinary conduct in trying, against all rule, to lug in +here your mere ungrounded conjectures, to prejudice the court and +spectators against an innocent man?" + +"Innocent?" here broke in Phillips, provoked by what, in his exasperated +state of feeling, he viewed as the cool impudence and hypocrisy of the +lawyer. "Innocent, hey? Well, well, there are various ways of lying in this +world, I see plainly." + +"What do _you_ know about my client, whom you are all conspiring to ruin?" +exclaimed the excited lawyer, turning fiercely on the interposing hunter. + +"Know about him?" retorted the other. "I know enough, besides this +outrageous affair; I know enough to--" + +"Beware!" suddenly exclaimed Gaut Gurley, with a look that brought the +speaker to a stand. + +"I don't fear you, sir," said the hunter, confronting the other with an +unflinching countenance. "But you may be right; it may be _I had_ better +forbear; it may be your time is not yet come," he added, in a low, +significant tone. + +"Now, I will finish with you, sir," resumed Gaut's lawyer, turning again +sternly to Elwood, from whom he--like many other over-acting attorneys, who +cannot see where they should stop in examinations of this kind--seemed to +think he could draw something more that would make for his client. "When +that fellow interrupted me, just now, I was asking what reason, besides +some grudge or malice, you had for your unwarrantable course in pronouncing +the respondent guilty, without proof; for, allowing the furs you swear to +_were_ once yours, you don't show, by a single particle of proof, that he +had any thing to do with it more than yourselves, who were quite as likely +to have taken them as he. Yes, what reasons,--facts, facts, I mean; no more +guess-work here; so speak out, sir, like an honest man, if you can." + +"I will, then," promptly responded Elwood. "You shall have facts, to your +heart's content; I said what I did because I am convinced he _is_ guilty." + +"Convinced!" sneeringly interrupted the other; "there it is again; +thrusting in sheer conjectures for evidence! I must call on the court to +interpose with the stubborn and wilful fellow. Didn't I tell you, sir, I'd +have no more of your guess-work? Facts, sir, facts, or nothing." + +"Well, you shall have them, then," replied the other, in a determined tone, +"for I know enough facts to convince _me_, at least, of his guilt. Both +before and after we started on our expedition, he threw out hints to me +which I did not then quite understand, but which, since this affair, I have +recalled, and now know what they meant. He hinted, if I would fall into his +plan and keep council, we might--" + +"Might what?" sharply demanded the excited and alarmed attorney. "Do you +know you are under oath, sir? Might what, I say?" + +"Might get all the furs into our hands, and--" + +"Traitor! liar! scoundrel!" exclaimed Gaut Gurley, in a tone that sounded +like the hiss of a serpent, as he bent forward and glared upon Elwood, with +an expression so absolutely fiendish as to make every one in the room pause +and shudder, and as to be remembered and recounted, months afterwards, in +connection with events which seemed destined to spring from this worse than +fruitless trial. + +"You was going to say," said the attorney for the prosecution, here eagerly +pricking up and turning to the interrupted and now evidently discomposed +witness,--"you was going to say, he proposed that he and you should take +all the furs to yourselves, and so rob the rest of the company!" + +"I can't tell the words; but I think he meant that," replied Elwood, in +more subdued tones. + +"O ho," exclaimed Gaut's lawyer; "you _now_ think, that is, you guess, he +meant something that you didn't dream of his meaning at the time he uttered +it. Pretty evidence this; make the most of it!" + +"We will," said the opposite counsel; "and I request the court to take it +all down, together with the prisoner's exclamations of _traitor_, etc., +which involves, indirectly, an admission that I shall remark on in the +argument. Yes, let all this be noted carefully. It is important. It goes to +show the previous design, which, coupled with the identified furs, is, I +trust the court will see, sufficient to fix the crime on the respondent, +beyond all doubt or question." + +"We will soon show you how much you will make out of your identified furs," +rejoined the other lawyer, with a confident and defiant air. + +"Have you witnesses to introduce on the part of the defence?" asked the +court. + +"Yes, your honor; but our most important one has not yet arrived. We are +expecting him every minute." + +At that moment, a shout of surprise and laughter, together with an unusual +commotion in the yard, arrested the attention of all in the court-room; and +they mostly rushed to the door or windows to ascertain the cause, when they +were amused to behold the young Indian, Tomah, driving into the yard, with +his moose harnessed to a pung or sledge, of his own rigging up, on +which---with reins and whip in hand---he sat as jauntily as a coachman, and +almost with, the same ease, apparently, brought his strange steed to a +stand before the door. + +"Our witness has come!" exclaimed Gaut's lawyer, exultingly. "Mr. Sheriff, +send out and bring him in. We will now dispose of this miserable +prosecution, in short metre." + +In a few minutes Tomah entered the room, and, readily comprehending,--from +a knowledge of the usages of courts he had obtained during his residence in +the villages of the whites,--what was expected of him, now demurely +advanced in front of the magistrate, raised his hand, and received the oath +of a witness. He was then shown the lot of furs that had been identified by +the hunters present, his attention directed to the peculiar marks by which +part of them had been distinguished, and he was asked if he had ever seen +these furs, and noticed the marks on them, before. + +"Yes, think so," replied Tomah, quietly, as he rapidly handled every large +skin, and each parcel of the smaller ones, keenly noting the palpable marks +shown him on the former, and every tie confining together the latter. "Yes; +here bullet-holes on otter; slit on this beaver; cropt ear on that; little +fat back of fore-legs on rest of beaver; wickape strings on that bunch +sable; elm-bark tie on that; and beech twigs on that. Yes, seen 'em all." + +"Where? And how do you know the furs? Tell the court all about it," said +Gaut's lawyer, as an exultant smile played over his sardonic features. + +"Well, now," calmly and with his usual passionless cast of countenance +replied Tomah, after a considerable pause; "well, this lot of skins all +taken from the great lot taken by our company up round the great lakes, +this fall. I come back to settlement, three, four, five days, may be, 'fore +the rest; to see to moose, train him for Boston, and make sled; wanted my +part of furs to sell right off, to bear expenses, and get off on journey +soon. Mr. Gurley, then, after while, said he venture to divide off to me +greater part of what I would get for my share of skins then got into the +great camp. So he do it; and I take my part, just this lot you show me +here, and steer off with them to Bethel; but, 'fore got quite there, come +cross pedlar and sold them cheap, for money, and go right back to Mr. +Gurley's, where moose was. Found Mr. Gurley home, too; said he left all +furs safe in camp; come for provisions to carry back, to hunt one, two +weeks longer; but storm come, and he stayed to home, and soon heard all the +men got home, too; big storm, bad; I no start for Boston yet, but most +ready; go soon, get heap of money for moose, certain." + +The counsel for the prosecution and his clients--on hearing such a piece of +testimony from a witness whom they themselves would have summoned, but for +the belief that he would be so much under the influence and training of +Gaut, that little could be drawn from him making against the latter--were +taken so completely by surprise, by the unexpected _denouement_, that they +all sat mute and dumb-founded for some moments; both lawyer and clients +being scarcely able to credit their own senses, and each hoping that the +other had discovered some flaw in the testimony, by which it could be +picked to pieces. But no such flaw or discrepancy could be discovered; and +the testimony, after the severe and prolonged cross-examination to which it +was subjected by the rallying and desperate attorney, remained wholly +unshaken, in every material part, standing out, in all its decisive force +and effect, for the exclusive benefit of the respondent. Every person in +the room, indeed, at length became convinced that the young Indian had told +the truth, and that he could know nothing of Gaut's guilt, though +unconciously made a witness in his favor; with the view, probably, of +meeting just such an exigency as had occurred in the present prosecution. + +The attorney for the prosecution, then, it being agreed to submit the case +on the testimony now in, made a long and ingenious speech, abandoning the +matter of the identified furs; dwelling largely on Gaut's dimly-hinted +proposals to Elwood to join in the crime; and, on the ground that he was +the only person in a situation to burn and rob the camp, raising the +violent presumption that he must have perpetrated the double crime. + +Gaut's lawyer then rose, with a confident and exultant air, and said he +might, with the best reason in the world, make a plea to the jurisdiction +of the court, since he had discovered that the camp which was alleged to +have been burnt was situated some miles within the boundary of Maine; that +no New Hampshire magistrate, of course, could take jurisdiction of the +case; and, that the respondent, on that ground alone, must be at once +discharged, if he wished it. But he did not wish it. He courted a trial and +decision, on the merits of the cases which, after briefly urging the strong +points of the defence, he submitted to the court. + +Tomah's testimony had settled the case; and, though nearly every one in the +room, probably, were deeply impressed with suspicions of Gaut's guilt, yet +all felt that the evidence was not sufficient for a legal conviction. And +they were not surprised, therefore, when the court, after briefly +commenting on the testimony, pronounced the full discharge of the prisoner. + +"Ha, ha!" exclaimed Gaut, with a laugh so inconceivably devilish that his +own lawyer, even, recoiled at the sound. "Ha, ha!" he repeated, with a +smile on his lips, made ghastly by the fires of concentrated malice that +shot from his eyes. "Wouldn't my good friends, here, like to try this game +again?" + +"Yes," boldly retorted the hunter. "Yes, and we shall, with evidence Heaven +will direct us where to find. Your time hasn't come. But it _will_ come! +God ain't dead yet!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + + "Be still the unimaginable lodge + For solitary thinkings; such as dodge + Conception to the very bourn of Heaven, + Then leave the naked brain; be still the leaven + That, spreading in this dull and clodded earth, + Gives it a touch ethereal, a new birth." KEATS. + +It is not to be supposed that a lawsuit, or prosecution, in so new and +remote a settlement, especially one that involved so many interests, and +whose result must have so many and complicated bearings, as the one +described in the last chapter, would be suffered to pass away like any +ordinary occurrence and be forgotten. With the settlers, besides the +novelty of having a court held among them, for any cause, it was an +extraordinary occurrence that there should be any grounds for a prosecution +or lawsuit of this character,--extraordinary that any one should be found +base enough to violate the common faith and honesty which the trappers and +hunters had, up to that time, so implicitly reposed in, and observed with +each other,--and doubly extraordinary that the perpetrator could not be +detected and brought to punishment. To them, such a flagitious betrayal of +trust was a new and startling event. They felt it deeply concerned them +all; and the sensation it produced was accordingly as profound as it was +general, in all that region of the country. + +But, if such was the effect of the unfortunate occurrence in question, on +the community at large, how much more deeply would the effect be naturally +felt by the parties immediately concerned? By the loss of their stock of +furs, three families, at least, were deprived of the means on which they +had relied for supplying them, with a large part of the necessaries of +life, through the ensuing winter; while, besides this, many a wife and +child were doomed to sad disappointment, in being thus deprived of the +fondly-anticipated purchases of articles of dress, books, and various other +little comforts, which had been promised them on the division and sale of +the peltries. Nor were these the only interests and feelings affected by +the event and its concomitants. Friendships were broken, and even more +tender relations were disturbed, if, indeed, their further existence were +not to be terminated. By the open, and as was supposed irreconcilable, +quarrel between Mark Elwood and the terribly vindictive Gaut Gurley, their +children, Claud and Avis, who were understood to be under mutual engagement +of marriage, were placed in a position at once painful and embarrassing in +the extreme. And Claud, especially, although he had carefully abstained +from all accusations of Gaut, had taken no part in getting up the +prosecution, and purposely absented himself from the trial, yet felt very +keenly the perplexing dilemma into which he would be thrown, by continuing +the connecting link between two such deadly foes as he now found his +father, whom he could not desert, and Gaut Gurley, whom he felt conscious +he could not defend. And for this reason he had, from time to time, +deferred the visit to Avis, which he had designed, and which she would +naturally expect on his return from the expedition. But still he could not +see how a quarrel between the fathers discharged him from his obligations +to her; and he grew more and more doubtful and uneasy in the position he +found himself occupying. He was soon, however, to be relieved. One day, a +short time after the trial, while he was anxiously revolving the subject in +mind, a boy, who had come as a special messenger from the Magalloway +settlement (for the purpose, as it appeared), brought him the following +letter: + +"DEAR CLAUD,--You do not know, you cannot know, what the effort costs me to +write this. You do not know, you cannot know, what I have felt, what I have +suffered since I became fully apprised of the painful circumstances under +which your late expedition was brought to a close; and especially since I +became apprised of the lamentable scenes that occurred in the court, +growing out of that unfortunate--O how unfortunate, expedition! Before that +court was held, and during the doubtful days which intervened between it +and your escape from the terrible perils that attended your return, the +hope that all would, all _must_ turn out right, in some measure relieved my +harrowing fears and anxieties; though even then the latter was to the +former as days of cloud to minutes of sunshine. But, when I heard what +occurred at the trial,--the bitter crimination and recrimination, the open +rupture, the menaces exchanged, and the angry parting,--and, more alarming +than all, when I saw my father return in that fearful mood, from which he +still refuses to be diverted, the last gleam of hope faded, and all became +cloud, all gloom,--dark, impenetrable, and forbidding. My nights, when +sleep at length comes to close my weeping eyes, are passed in troubled +dreams; my days in more troubled thoughts, which I would fain believe were +dreams also. O, why need this be? I have done nothing,--you have done +nothing; and I have no doubt of your faith and honor for performing all I +shall ever require at your hands. But, Claud, I love you, and all + + 'Know love is woman's happiness;' + +and all know, likewise, that the ties of love are but gossamer threads, +which a word may rupture, a breath shake, and even the power of unpleasant +associations destroy. Still, is there not one hope,--the hope that this +thread, hitherto so blissfully uniting our hearts, subtle and attenuated as +it is, may yet be preserved unbroken, if we suffer no opinion, no word, no +syllable to escape our lips, respecting the unfortunate affair that is +embroiling our parents; if we wholly deny ourselves the pleasure of that +social intercourse which, to _me_, at least, has thus far made this +wilderness an Eden of delight? But can it be thus preserved, if we keep up +that intercourse, as in the sunshine of our love,--those pleasant, +fleeting, rosy months, when I was so happy, O so very happy, in the +feelings of the present and the prospects of the future? No, no, it is not +possible, it is not possible for you to come here, and encounter my father +in such a mood, and then return and receive the upbraidings of your own, +that you are joining or upholding the house of his foes. It is not possible +for you to do this, and your heart receive no jar, and mine no fears or +suspicions of its continued fealty. I dare not risk it. Then do not, +dearest Claud, O do not come here, at least for the present. Perhaps my +dark forebodings, that our connection is not to be blessed for our future +happiness, may be groundless. Perhaps the storm that now so darkly hangs +over us may pass harmlessly away. Perhaps this painful and perplexing +misunderstanding--as I trust in Heaven's mercy it only is--may yet be +placed in a light which will admit of a full reconciliation between our +respective families. But, till then, let our relations to each other stand, +if you feel disposed to let them, precisely as we left them at our last +mournfully happy parting; for, till then, though it break my heart, I could +never, never consent to a renewal of our intercourse. Have I said enough, +and not too much? I could not, under the almost insupportable weight of +grief, fear, and anxiety, that is distracting my brain, and crushing my +poor heart,--I could not say less, I dare not say more. O Claud, Claud, why +has this dreadful cloud come over us? O, pray that it may be speedily +removed, and once more let in, on our pained and perplexed hearts, the +sunshine of their former happiness. Dearest Claud, good-by; don't come, but +don't forget. + + "AVIS." + +Claud felt greatly relieved, in some respects, by this unexpected missive; +in others, the contents caused him uneasiness and self-condemnation. It +relieved him from the sense of obligation he had entertained, to make the +dreaded visit to the house of Gaut Gurley,--who, with every desire to +arrive at a different conclusion, he could no longer believe guiltless of +the basest of frauds, and the basest of means to conceal it. It relieved +him, indeed, on this point; but, as we have said, made him sad and +thoughtful on others. The great grief and distress under which the fair +writer was so evidently laboring, and the deep-rooted love for him which +was revealed in almost every line, but which her pride, in the bright hours +of their courtship, had never permitted her to disclose, keenly touched his +feelings, and rose in condemnation of the comparative indifference, which, +in spite of all his efforts to correct its waywardness, he felt conscious +had been gradually stealing over his heart, since his admiration, to say +the least, had been raised by a rival vision of loveliness. In the +newly-awakened feeling of the moment, however, he bitterly upbraided +himself for his tergiversations in suffering his thoughts to vacillate +between the Star of the Magalloway, who had his plighted faith, and Flower +of the Lakes, who had no claims to his special consideration. But still, +when his thoughts wandered over the scenes of the past summer, which now, +since trial and hardship had brought his mind back within the dominion of +reason and judgment, seemed much more like dreams than realities,--when he +thought of the manner in which he became acquainted with Avis Gurley; how +he persisted in gaining her affections, and kindling into an over-mastering +flame his own fancy-lit love; and finally, how, against the known wishes of +his family, and the dictates of his own sober judgment, he had urged her +into an engagement of marriage, which he could now see had, as his mother +predicted, in all probability led to a renewal of the intimacy between his +father and Gaut Gurley, and that last intimacy to the present disaster, and +a new quarrel, whose consequences might yet well be looked for with +uneasiness and apprehension,--when he thought of all this, he deeply +condemned his own indiscretion, and could not help wishing himself clear +from an engagement, which, like every thing connected with the schemes of +that dark and dreaded man, who was now an object of suspicion through the +whole settlement, seemed destined to lead only to trouble and disaster. +Such was the maze of perplexity by which the young man, now too late for an +honorable retreat, found himself on every side thickly environed. Yet, for +all this, and in despite of all these perplexities and misgivings, he +resolved he would not cease to play the man, but honorably fulfil all his +obligations in such manner as should be required of him. + +So much for the love and its hapless entanglements, which had been so +deeply but so unsatisfactorily occupying, for the last few weeks, the +thoughts of Claud Elwood, who then little suspected that there was another +heart, besides that of the pure, proud, and impassioned Avis Gurley, whose +every pulse, in the great unseen system of intermingling sympathies, beat +in trembling vibration to his own,--a heart that had been won uncourted and +unknown,--a heart that had secretly nursed, in the favoring solitudes of +these wild lakes, and brooded over, a passion more deep and intense than +words could well be found to describe. There _was_ such a heart; and that +heart was now wildly beating, in the agonizing uncertainties of a hoped +reciprocation, in the bosom of that peerless child of the forest, the +beautiful Fluella; and all the more intense were its workings, because +confined to its own deep recesses, where the hidden flame was laboring +constantly for an outlet to its pride-walled prison, but as constantly +shrinking in terror from the disclosure. She had once, however, through the +violence of emotions which she could not control, accidentally betrayed the +state of her feelings; but it was to one in whose discretion and friendship +she was soon made to repose undoubting confidence, and with whom, +therefore, she at length became reconciled to let her secret remain. The +person, who had thus become the depositary of that secret was, as the +reader may remember, Mrs. Elwood. The consciousness that this lady knew +all, coupled as it was with the thought of the relation in which the latter +stood to the object of her secret idolatry, had irresistibly drawn to her +the yearning heart of the guileless maiden. She had longed for another +interview, but dare not seek it; longed for some excuse for opening a +communication with her, but could not find one. At length, however, fortune +opened the desired avenue; and, after much hesitation and trembling, she +summoned up the courage to avail herself of the offered opportunity. +Phillips, in his determination to ferret out the outrage which had been +committed on him and his companions, and of the author of which he still +entertained no doubt, had, immediately after the trial, commenced a series +of rapid journeys to all the nearest villages or trading towns in Maine and +New Hampshire, to ascertain if any lot of furs, answering to those caught +by his company, had been sold in those places. And one of these journeys, +for that and other purposes, he had extended to the seaboard. On his return +home, he immediately repaired to his neighbor Elwood's, and, unperceived, +slipped into the hands of Mrs. Elwood a letter, which the wondering matron +soon took to a private room, curiously opened, and, with a deep, undefined +interest and varying emotions, commenced reading. It ran thus: + +"MRS. ELWOOD, MY FRIEND,--Our Mr. Phillips has been here, and told us all +that has happened in your settlement. Mrs. Elwood, I am greatly troubled at +the loss your family suffer, with the rest of the hunters, but still more +troubled and fearful for your husband and your noble son, about what may +grow out of the quarrel with that dark man. My father knew him, time long +past, and said there would be mischief done the company, when we heard he +was going with them. I hope Mr. Elwood will keep out of his way; and I +hope, Claud,--O, I cannot write the thought. Mrs. Elwood, I am very +unhappy. I sometimes wish your brave and noble son had suffered me to go +down and be lost in the dark, wild waters of those fearful rapids. By the +goodness of my white father, whom I am proud to hope you may some time see +with me in your settlement, I have all the comforts and indulgences that a +heart at ease could desire; warm, carpeted rooms, dress, books, company, +smooth flatterers, who mean little, it may be, together with _real_ +friends, who mean much, and prove it by actions, which do not, like words, +ever deceive. And yet, Mrs. Elwood, they are all now without any charms for +me. My heart is in your settlement. The grand old forest, and the bright +lake, were always things of beauty for me, before I saw _him_; but now, +when associated _with_ him,--O, Mrs. Elwood, if I did not know you had +something of what I meant should forever be kept secret from all but the +Great Eye, in your keeping, and if you had not made me feel you would be my +discreet friend, and keep it as safe from all as an unspoken thought, I +would not for worlds write what I have, and what I every moment find my pen +on the point of writing more fully. O, how I wish I could make you +understand, without words, what I feel,--how I grieve over what I almost +know must be vain hopes, and vainer visions of happiness! You have +sometimes had, it may be, very bright, delightful dreams, which seemed to +bring you all your heart desired; and then you suddenly awoke, and found +all had vanished, leaving you dark and sad with disappointment and regret. +If you have, you may fancy what my thoughts are undergoing every hour of +the day. O, how my heart is drawn away towards you! I often feel that I +must fly up, like a bird, to be there. I should come now, but for what +might be thought. I shall certainly be there in early spring. I can't stay +away, though I may come only to see what I could bear less easy than these +haunting, troubled fancies. Mrs. Elwood, adieu. You won't show this, or +breathe a word about it,--I know you won't; you could not be so cruel as +that. Mrs. Elwood, may I not sign myself your friend? FLUELLA." + +On perusing this unexpected communication, Mrs. Elwood felt--she scarcely +knew herself what she felt, except a keenly appreciating sense of the +writer's embarrassed feelings, and except, also, the pleasurable emotions +which this timid and tender outpouring of an unsophisticated heart somehow +afforded her. Ever since her singular interview with this remarkable girl, +as described in a former chapter, Mrs. Elwood had not ceased to think of +her as of some good angel, sent by an interposing Providence, in answer to +the agonizing supplications which immediately preceded her unexpected +appearance at the time,--sent to be the means, in some unforeseen way, of +extricating her family from the fatal influences, as she viewed them, under +which they had insidiously been brought by their different connections with +the Gurleys. Especially had she been impressed that this would prove the +case, in all that related to her idolized son, Claud; whom, in her +disregard to all considerations of lineage, when relieved by such +excellence of beauty and character, she would a thousand times rather have +seen united to the Indian girl than to the one he appeared to have chosen. +She was, therefore, besides being touched by the broken pathos of the +letter, gratified by its reception; for it seemed to come as a sort of +confirmation of her grateful presentiment, that her son, at least, was to +be happily disenthralled. Nor was she, at this time, without the evidence +which led her to hope that her husband, also, had now finally escaped from +the toils that had, once and again, caused him such calamity and suffering. +The sudden and terrible outbreak of indignation, which, with equal surprise +and gratification, she had seen him exhibit against Gaut, and the quarrel +in court, which followed in consequence, must, she thought, now forever +keep them separate. If so, poorly as her family could afford to suffer +their part of the loss of the avails of the fall's work, she would +cheerfully bear it, and even look upon the event in the light of a +Heaven-sent mercy. But even of this poor comfort she was destined soon to +be deprived. After the trial, Mark Elwood--who, however bravely he bore +himself at first, on that occasion, was finally seen to quail under the +terrible glances of Gaut--soon became strangely silent respecting the +prosecution and supposed perpetration of the offence about which he had +before manifested so much zeal and indignation. And, in the active +exertions which Phillips and Codman, in the vain search for evidence or +some clue to the robbery of the furs, perseveringly kept up during the +whole of the long and dreary winter that followed, he could not be induced +to take any decided part. Nor would he, when they met him at his own house, +or that of Phillips, as they several times did, that winter, to compare the +discoveries and observations they had made, and discuss the subject, any +longer maintain the position he at first so boldly took, respecting Gaut's +guilt, or say any thing in aid of their deliberations. _He_, indeed, as +_they_ grew more decided and convinced, seemed to grow more wavering and +doubtful. Such was his demeanor and conduct in company of his late +companions; while, with his own family, he appeared moody, irresolute, and +restless, and even, at length, he began to throw out occasional hints +tending to defend or extenuate the conduct of the very man whom, a few +weeks before, he had so confidently denounced as a thief and a robber. +Alarmed at these indications of returning weakness and fatuity in her +husband, Mrs. Elwood soon put herself on inquiry, to ascertain the cause; +and she was not long in making discoveries that more than justified her +worst fears and suspicions. + +It appeared that Gaut Gurley, after his arrest, and after his escape from +the punishment of the law, through the means, as was now generally +believed, which he had cunningly provided before he entered on the +commission of the offence charged, remained almost constantly at home, +during nearly the whole winter, brooding, in savage mood, over his own dark +thoughts and varying schemes for advantage and revenge, keeping his family +in continual awe of him, and causing all who approached him to recoil, +shuddering, from his presence, and mark him as a dangerous man in the +community. Towards spring, however, he appeared suddenly to change his +tactics, or, at least, to undergo a great change in his deportment and +conduct. All at once, he came round in his usual manner. The dark cloud had +been banished from his brow. He civilly accosted every acquaintance he met, +appeared cheerful and good-humored, and desirous of prolonging the +conversation with all with whom he came in contact, without seeming to +notice, in the least, the evident inclination of most of the settlers to +avoid his company. He came down, every few days, to the little village +before named as the place where the court was held, and lounged for hours +about the tavern; which, during the winter season, was the common resort of +the settlers. Here he soon encountered his old companions, Phillips, +Codman, and the Elwoods, all of whom, notwithstanding the cold and demure +manner with which the two former, at least, turned away from him, he +saluted with careless ease, and as if nothing had happened to disturb their +former social relations. And, having thus surmounted the somewhat difficult +task of breaking the ice with them, without receiving the open and absolute +repulse which, however disposed, they did not deem it wise to give him, he, +at the next meeting, ventured to broach the subject of their late quarrel, +affecting to laugh at their mutual exhibitions of folly in getting so angry +with each other in court, under the belief, on his part, that _they_ had +got the furs, and, on their part, that _he_ had made way with them; when +neither of them were guilty, and ought not to be charged with the offence. +For himself, he said, he was now satisfied, on thinking the matter over, +who were the real culprits. They were a couple of "cussed runagate +Indians," that had strolled over from Canada, and, having discovered his +camp, had laid in wait for his absence. He had seen the tracks of two +different-sized moccasins in the sand on the lake-shore, but two days +before he left; but the circumstance was forgotten, or he should not have +left the camp unguarded. It was a great loss for them all; but it would not +help the matter to mourn now. It must be borne; and he knew of no way to +make it up but to try their luck in another expedition. He should, for his +part; for he had no notion of giving up so. + +Such was the drift of his conversation at this interview; and, seeming to +think he had ventured far enough for one experiment on their credulity, he +dropped that subject and struck off on to others. But the next time he met +them he contrived to turn the conversation upon the same theme; when, +telling them with a confidential air that, a few days before he left camp, +he discovered, on a stream coming in at the upper end of the Megantic, a +succession of freshly-constructed beaver dams, which, from the number of +houses and other indications around each, he thought must be occupied by +one of the largest colonies of beavers ever collected on one stream in that +part of the country, he directly proposed to them to join him, when the +spring opened, in an expedition to secure this extraordinary collection of +the valuable animals that were, unquestionably, still all there, and as +unquestionably might be captured. + +This story, with the accompanying proposal, presented, as Gaut well knew, +the most tempting inducement that could be offered, to trappers. But it +made no impression on Phillips and Codman. They deeply distrusted the man, +his whole story, and the motives which they believed moved him to concoct +it. Spurning in their hearts, therefore, the bait that had been so artfully +laid for them, they would have nothing to do with _him_ or his proposal. +And, both then and thereafter, they remained unmoved, and stood proof +against all the arguments his taxed ingenuity and devilish cunning could +invent and bring to bear upon them. + +With the infatuated Mark Elwood, however, the case seemed to be almost +wholly reversed. He again listened,--was again lost. He, restless, uneasy, +and evidently apprehensive of something he did not disclose, from +continuing under the terrible displeasure which Gaut had so significantly +manifested towards him,--he had appeared, from the first, to hail with +pleasure the indications of the relenting mood of the other, and seemed but +too glad to be again noticed with favor. He could see no reason to distrust +the man's sincerity, he said, when others raised the question; and he was +much inclined to adopt his version of the robbery and burning of their +camp. When, therefore, the proposal of a new expedition was made, under the +circumstances we have named, the blinded Elwood seemed fully prepared to +accept it; and he would have openly and without reserve done so, but for +the restraining presence of his companions, who, he felt conscious, would +disapprove and deprecate his conduct. Gaut had noticed all this, and was +not long in bringing about a private interview with his dupe and victim, +which resulted, as might be supposed, in settling the matter in just the +way he intended. + +From that time, the conduct of Mark Elwood became wholly inexplicable to +all his friends and acquaintances in the settlement. He commenced with +defending Gaut Gurley, thus giving the lie to all he had said, and ended +with declaring an intention of accompanying him in another trapping +expedition to the upper lakes, to be entered upon on a given day in April, +then near at hand. And, in spite of all the advice and warnings of his late +associates in the former disastrous campaign; the remonstrances of his son, +who shared in the apprehensions of the others; and the agonizing tears and +entreaties of his wife, he strangely persisted in his purpose, and, like +the fated one of the Scriptures, steadily "set his face" towards his +contemplated destination. + +"The man is _hurried_!" said Phillips to Codman, as they left Elwood's on a +second and last visit, made with the sole object of dissuading him from a +step which they shrank from themselves,--that of going into the distant +forest with such a desperate fellow as they now deeply suspected Gaut +Gurley to be,--"the man is evidently _hurried_. When I saw that look Gaut +gave Elwood in court, I knew he was marked for destruction, more especially +than the rest of us, who are doubtless both placed on the same list. And +Elwood would see it himself, if he was right-minded. Yes, he is _hurried_, +and can't help it. He will go, and God grant my fears may not be realized." + +And he did go, but not alone. As soon as Claud became fully satisfied that +his father's purpose was not to be shaken, he began earnestly to debate in +mind the question whether he himself should not, as a filial duty, become a +participant in the expedition, with the view of making his presence +instrumental in averting the apprehended danger. And, although he perceived +that his mother's distress, all troubled and doubtful as she was in +deciding between her conflicting duties of affection, would be enhanced by +the step; and, although his mind had been still more staggered by a brief +confidential note from Avis Gurley, advising him, if not too late, to find +means to break up the project of the expedition entirely, yet he finally +made up his mind in the affirmative. And, accordingly, on the morning of +the appointed day, both father and son, after a leave-taking with the +despondent wife and mother, more ominously sad and mournful than had ever +before marked their family trials, set forth again for the wild wastes of +the lakes, with their now doubly questionable companion. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + + "But there was weeping far away; + And gentle eyes, for him, + With watching many an anxious day, + Were sorrowful and dim." + BRYANT'S MURDERED TRAVELLER. + +It was the second week in May; and spring, delightful spring, sweet herald +of happiness to all the living creatures that have undergone the almost +literal imprisonment of one of the long and dreary winters of our +hyperborean clime, was beginning to sprinkle the green glories of +approaching summer over the reanimated wilderness. In the physical world, +all seemed light and laughing around: + + --"the green soil with joyous living things + Swarm'd, the wide air was full of joyous wings." + +The sun, no longer feebly struggling through the dark, obstructed medium of +a northern winter's atmosphere, was throwing abroad his clear, unstinted +floods of living light, bathing with soft radiance the diversified face of +the basking forest, and gleaming far and brightly over the soothed waters +of the sleeping lake. The mild and genial zephyrs were discoursing the low, +sweet, melancholy music of their aeolian harps, among the gently-wavering +tops of the whispering pines. The choral throng of feathered songsters were +filling every grove, glade, or glen, of field and forest, with the glad +strains of their merry melodies. And all nature seemed crying aloud, in the +fulness of her happiness, + + "The summer is coming; rejoice ye, rejoice!" + +So smiled every thing, animate and inanimate, in the visible physical +world, as circumscribed to this secluded settlement, on the morning when +opened the first scene in the closing act of our story's changeful drama. +But in the moral world, so far as the interests and feelings of most of our +leading personages were involved, the skies were overcast with contrasted +clouds of doubt and darkness. + +On that morning, at the Elwood Landing, on the western shore of Umbagog, +stood a collected group of excited people, of different ages and sexes, +gazing anxiously across the lake in the direction of the great inlet, as if +expecting the appearance of some object or person from that quarter. But, +before naming the cause of their assembling and the objects of their +present solicitude, we will leave them a moment for a brief--but, for the +understanding of the reader, necessary--recurrence to what had transpired, +in the interim between the departure of the two Elwoods and Gaut Gurley, +and the present occasion. + +For nearly a month after her husband and son left home, Mrs. Elwood had +been wholly unable to obtain any tidings of them, or any information even +of their locality on the upper lakes. And gloomily, O how gloomily, with +her, passed the long and dreary days and sleepless nights of that dismal +period! Little had occurred to vary the monotony of her harrowing +anxieties; and that little tended rather to increase than relieve them. +For, even from the limited intercourse she had with families of the +settlers,--although their conversation, out of regard to her feelings, was +restrained and guarded, when the subject nearest her heart was +introduced,--she gathered the fact that she was not alone in her fears and +anxieties, but that they were shared, to a greater or less extent, by the +people of the whole settlement; among whom the subject was being daily +discussed, at every fireside, with avowed apprehensions that some fearful +fate was awaiting one or both of the Elwoods, in their sojourn in the +forest, in whose dark recesses there would be no witnesses to restrain the +evil-doer from the purposes of robbery and revenge which they generally +believed he secretly entertained. But, among all the settlers, no one had +exhibited so much anxiety and restlessness as the hunter, Phillips. He had +been almost continually absent from home, evidently to distant places, but +where and with what objects he declined to make known. The direction and +object of one of these secret journeys, however, was inferred from the +unexpectedly early return of Fluella, the lovely maid of the forest, who +had no sooner reached her old home than she flew to the Elwood cottage, to +mingle her tears and sympathies with those of the anxious and troubled +matron; who, in the circumstances, could have received no more acceptable +visit. With the opening of the season, also, other absentees had returned +to the settlement. Carvil had come back, to ascertain what had been +effected in relation to the supposed robbery of the furs, the fall before, +having intrusted his interests to the care of Phillips; and now feeling, +with the others, apprehensive for the result of the new expedition, he was +anxiously awaiting the return of the absent trappers. Tomah, the eccentric +young Indian, likewise had surprised the settlers by his sudden +reappearance among them, in a suit of superfine broadcloth, hat and boots +to match, gold watch, showy seals, and all the gewgaw _etceteras_ that go +to make up the animal they call a city dandy. He had sold his moose, it +appeared, for four hundred dollars, and brought nearly the whole of it home +on his bedizened person,--with the object, as he soon admitted, of dazzling +the hitherto obdurate Fluella. + +"Yes,--catch her sartain, now," he said, with a complaisant glance over his +dashing rig, on departing for the chief's, as soon as he ascertained the +fair object of his pursuit had returned to her father's. But he soon came +back, in a great miff, and offered to sell the whole of his fine new outfit +for just one half what it cost him. Contrary to expectation, he declared he +would have nothing more to do with Gaut Gurley; concerning whom he had seen +something, about the time of the trial, to awaken his suspicions, and +against whom he now evidently stood ready to array himself, with the rest, +on the next occasion. + +With these few incidents, April passed away, and the first day of May, the +usual limit of the fur season, had arrived; but with it the absent trappers +had failed to make their appearance. Another week passed, and still they +came not. "What could it mean?" was on every tongue. Men ominously shook +their heads, and women and children began, in the connection, to talk in +suppressed voices of the dark character of Gaut Gurley. + +At this juncture, word came that Gaut had returned, and had several times +been seen about his home. A man was immediately dispatched to Gaut's +residence, for inquiries about the Elwoods; but the messenger returned and +reported that Gaut said he parted with them on the Maguntic,--he to go over +the mountains to his home, on the Magalloway, and they, in their canoe, +that had been frozen up in Oquossak, the fall before, to go to Bethel to +sell their furs. Further than this, he knew nothing about them. + +"I don't believe a word of it!" exclaimed the hunter, who with many others +had anxiously awaited, at the tavern, the messenger's return: "not one word +of it! They would not have gone off to Bethel after such an absence, before +returning home; or, if they had, they would have been here before this +time. But the story shall be investigated without twelve hours delay. It is +time we were moving in the business. Who will furnish me with a good +saddle-horse?" + +The horse was furnished; and within half an hour the excited hunter was +speeding his way to Bethel. + +He returned early the next morning, in a state of still greater excitement +and concern than before; having ridden all night, in his anxiety to reach +the settlement by the time people were up, so that immediate measures might +be put afoot to scour the country in search of the missing Elwoods, whose +continued absence had now become doubly mysterious and alarming, by the +discovery he had made, as he feared he should, that they had not gone to +Bethel at all, nor been seen or heard of anywhere in that direction. + +The news of Gaut's return alone, his improbable story, and the discovery of +its almost certain falsity, spread like wild-fire over the settlement; and +the people, already prepared to believe the worst by their previous +suspicions of Gaut's evil designs, rose up as one man, instinctively +shuddering at the thought of the apprehended crime, and feeling +irresistibly impelled to attempt something to bring about that fearful +atonement which Heaven demands of every man who wilfully sheds the blood of +his fellow-man. So deep and absorbing was this feeling, indeed, in the +present instance, that men dropped their hoes in the field, left their axes +sticking in the trees, and threw aside all other kinds of business, and, +with excited and troubled looks, hurried off to the scene of action, to +see, hear, and join in whatever movement the exigencies of the case might +require to be made. And before night nearly the whole of the settlers, +residing within a circuit of a dozen miles of the surrounding country, had +assembled at the tavern in the rustic hamlet, which, as before mentioned, +they made, on all extraordinary occasions, the place of their common +rendezvous. Here, after conversing a while in scattered groups, exchanging +in low, hurried tones, and with many an apprehensive glance around them, +their various opinions and conjectures, they gradually gathered in one room +in the tavern, formed themselves into something like an organized meeting, +and began their deliberations. But, before they had settled on any definite +course of action, their attention was suddenly turned from the channel +their minds were all evidently taking, by a new and unexpected occurrence. + +Two young men, who had that day been across the lake to the Great Rapids, +for the purpose of fishing, returned to the village about sunset, with the +news that they had discovered, at the foot of the most dangerous pass of +the rapids, wedged in among the projecting flood-wood of the place, a +partially-wrecked and stove canoe, which they both recognized as the one +kept by the Elwoods at their landing last summer, and, of course, the one +they took away with them in their succeeding fall expedition. This fact, +all at once readily perceived, might throw an entirely new aspect over the +whole of the mysterious affair; and they soon decided on dispatching the +same young men, at daybreak the next morning, across the lake, to examine +carefully both shores of the inlet up to, and some distance beyond, the +place where they found the canoe, to see if they could find any thing else, +or discover any indications going to show that anybody had been wrecked and +drowned there; then to return, as quickly as possible, with the wrecked +canoe in tow, and whatever else they might find, to the Elwood landing; +where the company would assemble, by the middle of the forenoon, to receive +them, hear their report, examine the canoe, and take action according to +the circumstances. + +It was done; and this was the occasion of the assembling at the landing of +the mingled and anxious group which we began to describe near the +commencement of this chapter, and to which we will now return. + +Foremost in the mingled group of people which we have thus brought to view, +was the agonized wife and mother of the missing or lost men; whose doubtful +fate was also engrossing, though less intensely, every thought and feeling +of the sympathizing company around her. She had gradually worked herself +down to the extremest verge of the low shore, and had unconsciously placed +one foot in the edge of the water, as if irresistibly drawn to the farthest +possible limit in the supposed direction of those two objects of her +affection, who, alive or dead, were still her all-in-all of this world; and +there she stood, slightly inclined forward, but motionless, mute, and pale +as a marble statue, with lips painfully compressed, and eyes, glazed and +watery, intently fixed on the opposite shore of the lake to which she was +looking for relief, at least from the terrible suspense under which she was +suffering. By her side, a little back, stood the wife of the hunter, and +two or three other women of the vicinity, who had more particularly +interested themselves in her troubles,--some shedding sympathetic tears, +and some offering an occasional word, which they hoped might in a slight +degree divert her sorrows or console her in her anguish. But, alike +regardless of their falling tears and soothing remarks, she gazed on, in +unbroken silence, hour after hour, taking no note of time, or any object +around her, in the all-absorbing intensity of her feelings. Little, indeed, +was said by _any_ of the company. The younger portion stood in hushed awe +at the sight of grief in the older, and at the thought of what might the +next hour befall. And the men, though visibly exercised by strong emotions, +and occasionally revealing a trembling lip or starting tear, as they +glanced at the face of the chief sufferer, yet offered scarce a remark to +relieve the pervading gloom of the sad and anxious hour. The whole group, +indeed, might have been taken for a funeral cortege, awaiting on the shore +the expected remains of some deceased friend. + +After standing in this manner till nearly noon, the company caught sight of +a scarcely-perceptible object on the water, in the direction of the great +inlet. And, although for some time it appeared like a speck, as seen +against the low, green fringe of the opposite and far-distant shore, yet it +at length so enlarged on the vision that the form of a canoe and the gleam +of flashing oars became distinctly discernible. Soon a little variation in +the line of approach brought not only the canoe and the rowers, but another +canoe in tow, plainly in view; and then all knew that their painful +suspense was about to be ended. Another half-hour had to be passed by the +company, who still stood there in trembling expectation, awaiting the +approach of the canoes; when, as the latter now came within hailing +distance, the impatient hunter stepped down to the water's edge, and called +out: + +"What news do you bring?" + +"None! but we have brought the canoe." + +"I see; but have you made no discoveries?" + +"None whatever." + +"No caps, packs, or bunches of furs washed up anywhere?" + +"No, nothing. We examined thoroughly both shores of the rapids, and found +nothing, and no mark or sign of any thing about which any conclusion could +be formed respecting the manner the canoe got there." + +"But the oars?" + +"We found them in the same flood-wood with the boat, and they appeared as +if they were thrown out of the canoe when it struck." + +The canoe, which was the object of scrutiny, and which had been injured +much less than had been supposed, a break in the upper part of the bow +being the only ruptured part, was now drawn up on the shore; when Phillips, +Codman, and Tomah took upon themselves to go into a minute and careful +inspection of every part of its outer and inner surface, together with +every appearance from which any inference having the least bearing on the +question at issue could be drawn by these experienced and observing +canoe-men. + +"Men no leave oars in canoe, when go over falls," at length observed the +Indian, standing back with the air of one who has satisfied himself with an +examination,--"no leave oars that way; have them out to use; and then, when +upset, drop 'em in the river; where get scattered, go down, wash up +different places, mile apart, may be,--not together, right close side of +canoe, likely. Don't believe so much story, like that come to." + +"Spoke like a man who knows something," said the trapper, the next to offer +comments. "And here is a loosened slip-knot in the end of this bark +boat-rope, which I have been looking at. See! it has been drawn into a +fixed knot, that hasn't been altered since it has had considerable use and +steady pulling through it, as I see by the chafed bark inside the small +hole within the knot. The hole is too small to have been brought into this +shape by hitching it to a stake or projecting limb of a tree on shore. It +looks exactly as if a tie attached to some other canoe had been passed +through it, to draw this canoe along by; and here is a slight mark of a +knife, where that tie has been cut out, owing to the difficulty of untying. +This canoe must have been hitched behind some other canoe, and towed down +to the head of the rapids, and there sent adrift." + +"Yes," responded the hunter, who had been particularly confining his +attention to the outer and top edges along the sides of the boat; "yes; and +here is the moss or scurf that had gathered on these upper edges, on both +sides, during the snows and thaws of winter, still remaining entire and +unbroken, in every part of this delicate weather coating, which even a +thumbnail, as you see, can't pass over without marring it or leaving a +mark. No man could have rowed this canoe twenty rods without grazing these +edges and leaving marks on them. Yes, you are both right. This canoe, which +I suppose you all agree was Mr. Elwood's, has not been rowed since he left +it hauled up on the shore of the Oquossak last fall, to be buried by the +great snow-storm; and the Elwoods are both safe, for all being wrecked and +drowned from _that_ boat, or any other, I presume." + +The countenance of Mrs. Elwood, who stood at some little distance from the +spot where the examination of the canoe had been going on, but near enough +to hear most of what was said, visibly brightened at this announcement. The +hunter saw the expression, and a shade of anguish passed over his face, as, +turning to those immediately around him, and speaking in a low, subdued, +and commiserating tone, he resumed: + +"I cannot find it in my heart to dampen the new-lighted hope which this +turn of the affair seems to give that poor, wretched wife and mother. But, +to my mind, all this makes it doubly certain that the Elwoods have met with +foul play. It looks exactly like one of Gaut's devilish schemes of finesse, +to cause this canoe to be sent down the rapids, and be so found as to lead +folks to suppose the owners were drowned, and to put the public on a false +scent. Yes, friends, you may depend there has been foul play,--I dare not +guess how foul. I have felt it the last fortnight, as if same unseen hand +was writing the dreadful secret on my heart. I feel it still, now stronger +than ever. And I call God to witness my resolution, that I will know no +rest or relaxing till I see the dark deed laid open to day, and its +infernal author brought to justice. Will you all join me in the work, +without flinching or flagging?" + +The low but firmly-responded "Yes, yes, all of us," told the hunter that he +would know no lack of efficient aid in carrying out his resolution. + +"Let us, then," he said, "leave the women and boys, a few minutes, and +retire back here a few rods, out of their hearing, to determine on the +first steps to be taken." + +In accordance with this suggestion, the men withdrew, by themselves, to a +convenient place on the site of an old camping-ground, within the forest, a +few rods farther up the lake, leaving Mrs. Elwood and her female attendants +slowly retracing their steps back to her house, from which they had +accompanied her to this spot, and the boys amusing themselves in seeing who +could throw a stone farthest into the lake. The men, now relieved from the +fear of causing Mrs. Elwood needless alarm, and of having their remarks +reported by others of the mingled company,--to the injury, perhaps, of the +investigation on hand,--at once gave vent to their smothered convictions, +and feelings of indignation and horror, in an exciting debate; which soon +resulted in the determination to dispatch, the next morning, four men in +two canoes up the lakes, in search of the missing, or such traces of them +as might lead to a discovery of their fate; while the rest should remain in +the settlement, to watch for new indications there and keep a vigilant eye +on the movements of the bold but wary villain, whom they all believed to be +the perpetrator of the supposed outrage. But, before they had fully settled +the details of their plan, their attention was arrested by a shouting from +the boys, who announced that a strange canoe was approaching them from the +other part of the lake. Hearing this, and thinking the new-comer might have +perhaps arrived from the upper lakes, and could give them important +information, the men immediately suspended their consultation, and came out +to the landing to hail him, or to await his approach. They soon discovered +that the rower was an Indian, and it was not long before the trapper began +to recognize the canoe, from some peculiarity about the bow, to be his own, +and the one he had left with the boats of his companions on the Oquossak +the season before. This, if true, might lead to important developments; and +the company kept their eyes keenly fixed on the rower, to see if he would +manifest any disposition to avoid them. But he kept steadily on towards the +landing, and, in another minute, was within near hailing distance. + +"Hillo! my red friend, where did you get that canoe?" cried the trapper. + +"Tell you soon,--you make me believe you right to know," quietly replied +the native, without appearing to be in the least disturbed by the question, +or any inference which might naturally be drawn from it. + +"Well, I _can_ make you believe I have a right to know, if you are +_willing_ to believe; for I can swear the canoe is my own, and prove it, +too, by some of these gentlemen," returned the trapper, with warmth. + +"Maybe,--we see soon," responded the other, an intelligent, good-looking, +middle-aged Indian, now slipping ashore and firmly confronting the company. + +"Now tell us where you got it, sir," again sharply demanded the trapper. "I +have offered to swear to my ownership, and prove it; so tell how you came +by it, unless you would have us believe you stole it." + +"Stole it?" reproachfully said the Indian. "Ask that man," he added, +pointing to Carvil, whom he appeared to have previously recognized,--"ask +him, if me do thing like that?" + +"Moose-killer, is this you?" exclaimed Carvil, who had been eying the +stranger Indian with a hesitating air. "I thought, from the first, I knew +you, but couldn't quite decide. Moose-killer, I am glad you have come. We +are just at this time trying to search out a dark affair, which we fear has +happened, and with which this boat you came in may possibly be connected. +We should be glad to make a few inquiries of you, when you are ready to +hear them. There need," he added, turning to the trapper and the others, +"there need be no fear but this man will tell a true story; I have met him +on the Great Megantic, where he goes by the name I have called him, on +account of his well-known expertness in moose-killing." + +The Indian started at the significant allusion which had been made to the +subject that was then engaging the attention of those present, and its +possible connection with his canoe; and, with unusual promptness for one of +his demure and slow-speaking race, announced himself ready to tell his +story. + +"Moose-killer is about to speak," said Carvil, looking round on the eagerly +expectant company. "We will all listen. What he will say will be true." + +"Hear, in my country," thereupon began Moose-killer, in the abbreviated, +broken, and sententious language peculiar to the Red Man,--"hear, in my +country, beaver bring more this side the mountains; so come over, and been +to Bethel-town to sell 'em. Come over mountains, down piece, the river you +call Magalloway,--then strike off down to big lake, Megantic. Then follow +shore long way; but stop sudden,--start back! See much blood on the +leaves,--trail all along down to the water. Then go back, look again,--find +where man fall, bleed much,--die,--lay there till dead quite. Man, because +see where hands catch hold of moss, leaves,--feet kick in ground. All dead, +because feet limber and no catch in brush dragging to shore,--find where +canoe hitch to shore,--dead man put in, rowed away, sunk in lake, likely. +Look all over ground again, much time,--then come on long way, and find +that canoe, hid in bushes,--take it, go sell beaver,--then come here quick +to tell story, see who missing." + +We will not undertake to describe the intense excitement which this brief +but pregnant story of the Indian produced on the company, who; though +hoping to gather something from him that might be of use in the inquiry on +hand, were yet little expecting a development so startling as this. +They--especially those but little acquainted with the Indian +character--could, at first, hardly believe that a story of such horrors, if +true, could be told so quietly, and with so little apparent feeling, as the +narrator had exhibited during his recital; and they immediately subjected +him to a long and close cross-examination. Nothing, however, was elicited +to weaken his story, but some things to confirm it. Among these was a faint +stain of blood, which Moose-killer pointed out to the company, in the bow +of the canoe, and which was evidently but lately made; while the size and +height of the man, supposed to be murdered, which the Indian judged of by a +similar curious process with that by which he reached his other +conclusions, were seen to correspond with the dimensions of the elder +Elwood; who was believed to be the man thus indicated, though it left the +fate of Claud still shrouded in mystery. + +"Poor Mark Elwood!" exclaimed the hunter, with a sigh, as they closed their +examination of the Indian. "He is dead; whatever may have become of his +son, for whom there is still some hope, _he_, at least, is dead! murdered +in cold blood! and who need doubt the identity of the accursed author of +the deed?" + +"This is, certainly, something like tangible evidence," responded Carvil, +whose former studies enabled him to speak more understandingly, in the +matter of legal evidence, than his companions. "And, though it is still +only circumstantial, yet, when taken in connection with Gaut's false story, +and all other of the attending circumstances, it stands out most remarkably +significant against the man; and, even without any additional proof, it +would, I think, warrant us in arresting him." + +"In God's name, then, let it be done, before he escapes from the country!" +cried the hunter, with startling emphasis. "But we must all keep the +discoveries we have made to-day, as well as the movements we may now make, +as secret as death, lest he hear of them and take the alarm." + +An earnest consultation was then held, and a plan of operations soon +adopted. By this it was arranged that Moose-killer--who, when he had +gathered what was known of Gaut Gurley, and obtained a description of his +person, entered into the arrangements with an unexpected alacrity--it was +arranged that Moose-killer, Carvil, Tomah, and two of the settlers, should +start immediately up the lakes, in further search for the body of Mark +Elwood (whose fate was now treated as settled), and, also, for a more +general search round the two upper lakes for his son, Claud; who, it was +hoped, had by some means been separated from his father, and suffered to +escape, despite the improbability that he would remain so long absent, if +nothing had befallen him. Phillips also concluded to accompany them as far +as the next lake above, to see the chief and his daughter, to confide to +them the discoveries of the day, and put them on the lookout for further +indications. The rest of the company were to return quietly and separately, +as far as could conveniently be done, to the village, and there remain till +after dark; when two of their number were to ride, as fast as horses could +carry them, to Lancaster, for warrants, a sheriff, and his posse, to be on +the ground as early as possible the next morning; while others were to +proceed up the Magalloway, and lurk round in the woods within sight of the +house of Gaut Gurley, as spies on his movements. + +The company then separated on their several destinations; and, during the +remainder of the afternoon, nothing occurred in the settlement which need +here be mentioned, except the secret and cautiously-made preparations for +the proposed action of the night, that, though imperceptible to the +uninitiated, were yet actively going on at the village. About sunset, +however, the hunter returned from his visit to the chief's; but in a state +of no little perplexity and concern, at an event which he unexpectedly +found had there occurred. This was the unaccountable absence of Fluella, +who, without apprising her father of her intentions, had secretly left home +several days before. As the hunter had depended considerably on the girl's +acuteness and means of observation at the commanding point of her +residence, he was both disappointed and puzzled at her absence. And, as he +had been debating with himself, on his way across the lake, whether he had +not better call on Mrs. Elwood, and take the first step towards gradually +preparing her mind for the worst, in regard to her husband, he now resolved +to do so, with the further object of getting her version of Fluella's +absence at such a juncture. Accordingly, he called at the house; and, +seeing the afflicted woman's entreatingly expectant looks, he at once +entered on his painful task by hinting his fears for the fate of her +husband; when, somewhat to his surprise, she cut him short by sadly +remarking: + +"I know it all." + +"How?--what have you heard?" eagerly asked the hunter. + +"I don't know it by what I have heard," she replied, in the same sad +accents; "for I have heard less, perhaps, than you; but I knew it would be +so, from the hour he departed. And, a few days ago, my heart received a +shock. It was from the same blow that killed him. Yes, poor Mr. Elwood is +dead! I have buried him! But my son Claud--O, my son Claud!" The astonished +hunter then told her of the singular absence of Fluella; when, again to his +surprise, she started up, and joyfully exclaimed, "He lives!--though in +danger, perhaps, he lives, and I shall see him again!" + +Wondering whether her reason was not unsettled, the hunter departed, and +hurried on to the village. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + + "What justice ever other judgment taught, + But he should die who merits not to live." + SPENSER. + +About the middle of the afternoon, on the day next succeeding the eventful +one which was marked by the occurrences narrated in the last chapter, a +cavalcade of about a dozen men on horseback, followed by a single wagon, +containing some fire-arms, two or three pairs of iron handcuffs, and a few +other articles of luggage, came clattering down the road from the west, +towards the tavern with which the reader has already been made familiar. +The men, who had been dispatched for the shire-town of the county, had +ridden hard all night, reached the place at daylight, drummed up the +officers of justice, got them started at an early hour, and urged them on +with such speed that, within twenty hours, they had arrived at the scene of +action. After the halt of an hour at the tavern, for rest and refreshment, +and a brief consultation with the settlers, the sheriff, and his posse, now +swelled by volunteers from the settlement, set forth, under the guidance of +Phillips, for the residence of the supposed criminal, calculating to reach +there about dusk,--the hour they deemed most favorable for making the +arrest. After proceeding in silence about two-thirds of the way to their +destination, they halted, to make their final preparations and arrangements +for the onset; when, knowing the great strength and desperate character of +the man with whom they would have to deal, they first carefully prepared +their fire-arms, and then detailed a half-dozen of their number, most +conversant with the locality, to go forward, spread themselves around the +borders of Gaut's clearing, and cautiously advance to the house, so as to +head off any attempt he might make to escape, when the main body made their +appearance. All the time spent in these precautions, however, as well as +this whole jaunt thus far up the river, was destined to be mostly lost; +for, as the company were again beginning to move forward, they were met by +the scouts, dispatched the night before, hurrying back, most of them in a +disabled condition, and with the report that Gaut had escaped about an hour +before. They had lain in their coverts all day, and in the fore part of it +nothing had been seen to excite their suspicions; but, towards night, they +noticed him cleaning his rifle and pistols, as near as they could judge, +and then, soon after, bringing out a pack and placing it by the side of his +rifle at the door; and scarcely had they time to concentrate before he came +out, shouldered his pack, took his arms, and proceeded towards a canoe +moored on the bank of the river. They then instantly resolved to intercept +him; and, running for the spot, came up to him just as he had laid his +rifle in the boat; when he turned upon them with the suddenness and fury of +a pursued tiger; seized the foremost, who had laid his hands on the canoe, +and, with giant strength, threw him headlong into the river; hurled the +second with stunning effect on the ground; knocked down a third with his +fist; leaped into his canoe, sent it swiftly across the stream, ran up the +opposite bank, and disappeared in the woods, before they had recovered from +their confusion, or thought of having recourse to their rifles to stop him. + +"Slipped through our fingers and gone!" said the sheriff with an air of +chagrin and disappointment. + +"Yes, for this onset," said Codman, the next to volunteer remarks in the +provoking nonplus in which they now all found themselves. "Yes, but I +should like mightily to know how he got wind of our movements? If the devil +didn't tell him, I don't think he done as well by his friend as he ought." + +"Perhaps," rejoined the sheriff, after the laugh of some and the approving +glances of others, which had followed the characteristic remark of the +trapper, had passed away,--"perhaps he, or some of his family, caught a +glimpse of these scouts round their clearing during the day; or perhaps he +has an accomplice, or tool, whom he had engaged to watch public movements, +and bring him word." + +"I have thought of some such thing, myself," remarked Phillips. "In the +case of his robbing our camp, last fall, I felt quite confident he must +have had some accomplice, or some secret agent, to take off the furs for +him. If he has such an one now, I think it must be a Jesuit priest, as I +have heard that such a looking personage has, once or twice, been seen at +Gaut's house since he moved into the settlement." + +"Well, if the villain has such a character as that in tow, he would be +devil enough for all common purposes," responded the sheriff. "But, however +all that may be, I fear he has struck a line for Canada, and this is the +last we shall ever see of him in this country." + +"Not for Canada," confidently said the hunter; "for I know enough about him +to make me feel quite sure that he will never again trust his head within +reach of British authority." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the sheriff, "what is it you know?" + +"I think it had better not be told just yet," answered the other, +decisively. "Let us first see whether he can't be caught and hung here, for +his last crying offence." + +"But do you think he can yet be overtaken, and arrested?" asked the former. + +"Certainly I do," returned the hunter, with earnest confidence. "He must, +and _shall_, be taken! God's curse is on the man; and he will never, I tell +you, _never_ be suffered to escape us." + +"Well, then," resumed the sheriff, thoughtfully, "what course do you think +he will take, and where secrete himself, so that he can be found? I, on my +part, stand ready to do every thing in my power to bring the miscreant, of +whose guilt I think there can now be but little doubt, to immediate +justice. Now, as you are said to be a man of observation and energy, Mr. +Phillips, let us have the benefit of your opinion and advice in the +matter." + +"It is my opinion," said the hunter, in response, after dropping his head a +moment in study, "it is very clearly my opinion that the fellow will now +aim to reach some of the eastern cities,--over the Umbagog, most likely, in +a canoe that he keeps concealed somewhere on the western shore, which is +only a mile or two over this ridge, that rises from the other bank of the +river, here against us. He will not be likely to come back to his house, or +the river, where he will still suppose we are on the watch; nor will he +start out on the lake till after dark, lest he be seen, and his course +traced; but lie concealed till that time in some of the difficult rocky +steeps that shut down to the lake." + +"Your ideas of his probable aims and movements appear reasonable, Mr. +Phillips. Now, what are the steps you would advise to be taken for his +apprehension?" asked the sheriff. + +"Well, my plan would be something like this," replied the hunter, musingly. +"I would post half a dozen men, for the night,--to be relieved in the +morning,--a half mile or so apart, along this river, above and below here, +to be walking back and forth, and occasionally firing a gun. The others go +back, and a sufficient number get on to the lake before dark to have canoes +in station every quarter of a mile along the western shore. Codman, you +will be a good hand to manage this company. As for myself, I will wade the +river somewhere hereabouts, go over through the woods to the lake-shore, be +mousing round the shore a little, in search of his canoe, and, if I find +it, be out on the water by the time you get there; if not, I will be within +call of some of you, and give, for a signal, the cry of a raccoon, which I +can imitate tolerably, I believe." + +"But you don't propose to go alone?" asked several, anxiously. "It might be +dangerous business, if you should happen to encounter him with no help +within call." + +"Yes, I think I will go alone," quietly replied the hunter. "If he can see +me before I do him, he will do better than I think he can. And, if I +_do_ get my eye on him first, he will stop and yield, or die, as sure as my +rifle is true to its old trust; for I should feel it my bounden duty to +stop him by bullet, if need be, in case he should attempt to flee, as much +as I should to shoot a painter carrying off one of my own children." + +By the approval of the sheriff, and the concurrence of all, the hunter's +plan of operations was immediately adopted. And, accordingly, the +designated numbers were told off to man the river, and at once set in +motion to perform the duty; while the rest retraced their way to the +village, except the hunter, who, seeking a shoal place, waded the river, +and was soon out of sight among the thickets of the opposite bank. + +On the return of the company to the tavern, every boat to be found on the +river, from that place to the lake, was immediately put in requisition, for +the service of the night. And by early twilight, eight canoes, each +containing two or three well-armed men, led on by the trapper, in a single +canoe, were seen emerging from the outlet into the broad lake, and slowly +filing off along its western border. Coasting in closely to the shore, so +as to keep within the shadow of the woods, they pursued their noiseless way +up the lake, to a point where the low, marshy land lying between the lower +part of the Umbagog and the Magalloway rises into the gradually-swelling +ridge, which, a mile or two farther on, becomes a rocky, precipitous +mountain, whose beetling cliffs, overhanging the deep, dark waters beneath, +were crowned with their primeval growth of towering pines. Here they paused +long enough to station one of their canoes, near a small point, commanding +a view across the corresponding coves on either side; and then cautiously +proceeded onward, dropping a canoe, in like manner, every five or six +hundred yards, till the extremity of the western coast was reached, the +line efficiently manned, and the trapper left to cruise alone over the +cordon of boats thus stretched along the shore, to carry any needed +intelligence, and make independent observations. It was now dark, and, +being a moonless night, all within the shade of the mountains, especially, +was wrapt in almost impenetrable gloom; so that the ear, rather than the +eye, must now be depended on for whatever discoveries were to be made. +Nothing as yet, to the disappointment and increasing anxiety of the +company, had been seen or heard of the hunter. + +"He cannot have been killed, so soon, can he?" whispered the sheriff, in +one of the last-stationed canoes, as the trapper glided alongside, to hold +communication with the officer. + +"No," was the low-toned reply; "that could not have happened, if there were +any _fear_ of such a thing, without one or more rifle-shots, which, in this +calm evening, and this favorable locality for conveying sounds to a great +distance, we must have heard, even down to the tavern. No, I will risk him. +I think he must have got on to the fellow's trail, and, if near the lake, +lies in some spot where he can't move away without danger of alarming the +game. We have nothing to do but wait patiently. Phillips knows we are here +in waiting, and he will report himself as soon as he can." + +They did not, however, have to wait long. In a few minutes, a small, +shrill, quavering cry, which few could have distinguished from that of a +raccoon, rose from a thicket on the shore, a short distance below. + +"Ah! that is he," softly cried the trapper; "I know the thicket he is +hailing from. If you will remain just where you are, I will scull my canoe +down to the spot, take him in with me, if he has not found a boat,--or at +any rate bring him here to make his report." + +Like the gliding of a fish, shrinking away from sight, the light canoe, +under the invisible impulse of the dexterously handled oar of the trapper, +passed noiselessly away, and disappeared in the darkness. But, long before +the expectant officer, who had been vainly listening for some sound, either +of the going or the coming of the absent canoe, had thought of its return, +it was again at his side, with the anticipated addition to its occupants. + +"Here is the man, to speak for himself," said the trapper, putting out a +hand to guard off and prevent the canoes from grazing. + +"Well, Mr. Phillips," said the sheriff, in the same cautious under-tone by +which all their communications had been graduated, "we are all looking to +you,--what is your report?" + +"In the first place, that he is here." + +"Where?" + +"Sixty or seventy rods to the north of us, in a secure retreat up among the +rocks, about a dozen rods from the shore." + +"Are you sure of that?" + +"Yes." + +"How did you make the discovery?" + +"I will tell you. When I came over, I struck down to the lake, nearly +abreast the lower end of the ridge, and cautiously moved along the shore, +upwards, in search of the suspected boat; without discovering it, however, +till I came to the rocky pass I have alluded to, a short distance above +here; when, peering out into the approaching darkness, I caught sight of it +run under a treetop lying partly in the water. Your boats had not got on +there; and thinking, if I took the boat out on to the water, as I had +proposed, he might discover the loss too soon, take the alarm, and conclude +to escape through the woods round the upper lakes, I varied my plan, and +stationed myself back a few rods, to see if he would not come down to +escape by his canoe. I had trailed him to the top of this rocky eastern +slope, before I struck down to the lake, and knew he must be somewhere +near; so I cocked my rifle, for instant use, and stood ready for his +approach. And in a short time I caught the sound of his movements, sliding +cautiously down the rocky steeps from the spot above, where I suspected he +had housed himself. But, before he reached the bottom of the short ravine +he must come down, or could be seen where I stood, a dry stick unluckily +broke under my foot, and the sound, as I perceived at once, brought him to +a stand. And, though he did not know, and don't know yet, whether the sound +was caused by the step of man or beast, yet he soon seemed to think it +safest to retreat; and my ear could distinctly trace his movements, as he +clambered and pulled himself along back up the ledges to his retreat. I +then went down to the shore; and perceiving, from the slight agitation of +the water and the faint sound of its gurgling under oars, that you had got +on to the ground, I stole down the shore a piece, and gave the signal, as +you heard." + +"Are you familiar with the place where you think he lies concealed?" + +"Yes, nearly as much so as with my own door-yard." + +"What sort of a place is it, and how many ways are there to reach it or to +escape from it?" + +"It is the most curious place in all these parts, and there is but one way, +I ever could find, to get to it; and that is, by climbing up the ledgy +shelf of the face of the hill, through a sort of ravine that opens from it +down to the lake, where there is scarce room, enough, on either side, to +pass along the shore between the perpendicular cliffs and the water. It is +an old bear's den, in fact, passing horizontally into the rocks twelve or +fifteen feet, of varying breadth, and, after you get in, from three to six +feet in height. I have taken at least a half-dozen fine bears from it, in +my day, and supposed I was the only one knowing of it; but Gaut must have +discovered it before this; for I at once found by his trail that he steered +directly for the spot, on leaving the Magalloway." + +"He did?" interposed the trapper; "_he_ find it, when he has been here in +the settlement less than a year, and knows little about the woods; and _I_, +who have been here a dozen years, knew nothing about it? He never found it +without _help_, and that, too, from the same character that let him know we +were coming to his house, to-day. I tell you, the Old Boy is in that man!" + +"Then we will hang him and the Old Boy with one rope," resumed the hunter, +"for we are now sure of him." + +"I hope so," said the sheriff; "but can he be taken to-night?" + +"He might, possibly, if we were willing to run risks enough," replied the +hunter, doubtfully. "But I should hardly think it advisable to make the +attempt. He could not be drawn from the cave, if we made the onset; while, +if we entered it, he could easily kill several of us before he could be +secured." + +"What shall be done, then?" + +"I have been studying on that, and the best thing I can think of, is, to +post men enough to guard him securely through the night; and then have on +force enough in the morning to unburrow him, by some means or other, which +we will contrive when the time comes." + +"But will he not come down, to escape in his boat, to-night?" + +"I rather expect not. After hearing the noise I made, and, then coupling it +with my signal, which he will then be suspicious of, as well as of the +sounds that most likely have reached or will reach his ears from some of +our boats; after all this, he will, probably, be afraid of falling into a +trap, and would prefer taking his chances of escape by daylight. But, if he +should come down, I will arrange things so that we will have him, to a dead +certainty." + +The suggestions of the hunter were again adopted; and he was again +requested to take the lead in putting the proposed plan into execution. + +Accordingly, after directing the trapper to concentrate those stationed in +their canoes above with those in one or two below, he entered the boat with +the sheriff and his associate; and, taking an oar, slowly rowed along +towards the place he had designated as the retreat of the desperate outlaw, +on whose seizure they were so resolutely determined. + +After reaching the spot, and waiting till the expected boat-crews arrived, +the hunter quietly landed, and stationed two of the men in the narrow pass +north of the gorge, with orders to keep a sharp lookout through the night, +hail whoever might approach, and shoot him down before suffering him to +escape. He next led two more up round the nearest approaches of the cave, +and posted one on each side, a little above it, to prevent all possibility +of escape over the rocks and ledges in that direction; and then, returning +down to the shore, selected the trapper to occupy with him the southern +pass to the gorge, thus reserving for himself, and the man on whom he +believed he could best rely in an emergency, the post where an encounter +would be most likely to occur. After completing these arrangements, and +landing a pair of handcuffs from the sheriff's boat, he dismissed the +officer to collect all the rest of the company, not thus retained, and +return to the village for the night, and for a fresh rally the next +morning. + +It was now ten o'clock at night; and from that time, for the next six +hours, the stillness and darkness of death brooded over the slumbering +waters of the lake. The mute men on guard,--to whom the slowly-passing +hours seemed doubly long and gloomy, from the oppressive sense of the duty +of silence,--stood immovably at their posts, alternately employing +themselves in guessing at the hour of the night, and intently listening to +catch some sound which should indicate the presence of the dreaded object +of their watch. But, through the whole night, no such sound or indication +reached their strained senses; and most of them, at length, were brought to +the belief that either he had never been there, or that he had, by some +unknown means, effected his escape. The hunter, however, never for a moment +permitted his faith to waver. He not only felt confident that Gaut was +still in his dark cage in the rocks, but that, the next day, safe means +would be found to uncage him, and deliver him over to hands of justice, to +undergo the penalties of his crimes. And, as soon as the anxiously-awaited +daylight began to make its appearance in the east, he began gradually to +work his noiseless way into the mouth of the gorge, and then up over the +steeps and ragged ledges, till he had gained a stand under cover of a tuft +of clinging evergreens, where he could obtain an unobstructed view of the +mouth of the cavern, some six rods above. Here, low crouched behind his +bushy screen, with rifle cocked and levelled at the entrance, he lay, +silently awaiting the approach of daylight, expecting that Gaut would then, +at least, be peering out to ascertain the state of affairs on the shore +below. And the event soon showed the correctness of his reasoning. As the +brightening flushes of morning fell on the water, and began to throw the +reflected light on the face of the mountain, so as to bring its darker +recesses to view, the hunter's practised ear soon detected a movement +within the cave; and presently the head, and then the shoulders, of the +wary outlaw rose gradually in sight against the rocks, immediately over the +low entrance. + +"Yield yourself a prisoner, or die!" suddenly broke from the lips of the +concealed hunter. + +Gaut cast a startled glance around him, and then instantly threw himself to +the ground, but barely in time to escape the bullet of the exploding rifle +below, which struck the rock in the exact spot that a half-second before +was darkened by the shade of his head and shoulders. + +"Went through the hair on top of his head, I think, but missed his skull by +something like an inch, probably," said the hunter, quickly gliding down a +few feet over the edge of the shelf, where he lay so as to put a rock +between him and the mouth of the cave. "But, on the whole, I am glad of it; +for I had rather see him go by the hand of the hangman than my own." + +The hunter then quietly reloaded his rifle, and went down among his excited +companions; who, the ban of silence being now removed by his example, came +forward to talk over this unexpected and startling incident of the morning, +which had served the double purpose of demonstrating to the former that +Gaut would never surrender himself a prisoner, and to the latter, the +doubted fact that the object of their search was there, as represented to +them the evening before. With the whole of them, indeed, the affair had now +assumed a new aspect. Phillips and Codman put their heads together, and +began to start and discuss various expedients for dislodging the intrenched +fugitive; while the others, in their excitement and agitation, walked +hurriedly about in their confined positions speaking or thinking of the +desperate and dangerous struggle now likely soon to ensue in the attempted +capture, and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the sheriff and the +additional force, which, it was understood, he would rally and bring on +with him. + +"They are coming!" at length cried one of the men from the cliff above; +"they are coming in troops, and in all directions." + +The men on shore now eagerly ran down to the farthest projecting rocks, or +on fallen trees extending into the water, to obtain unobstructed views of +the company thus announced to be approaching in the distance; when, instead +of the few they had expected, they beheld a whole fleet of canoes emerging +from the distant outlet below, and rowing with all speed towards them; +while, at the same time, another company of boats was seen approaching from +the settlement around the upper end of the lake. + +It appeared that, when the sheriff with his attendants reached the village +the evening before, and announced the exciting tidings that the desperate +man, whom all were so intent on hunting down, had been driven to a +stronghold among the rocks of the mountain up the lake, where it might +require a large force to take him, men started off in all directions, and +rode all night with the news; which, flying like wind over this and the +adjoining settlements, threw the whole country, for thirty or forty miles +around, into commotion, and put scores of bold men immediately on the march +for the scene of action. And the upshot was that, by sunrise the next +morning, more than fifty men, hurrying in from all quarters, had assembled +at the village, and having appropriated all the boats on the rivers, for +many miles above and below, had joined the company of the sheriff, and +under his lead were now on their way to the great point of attraction; +together with many others entering the lake from other quarters. + +In a short time the long retinue of canoes came clustering to the shore; +when the motley company, preceded by the sheriff and his immediate +attendants, all landed, and, crowding around the hunter and his associates, +listened, with many a half-suppressed exclamation, indicative of the deep +excitement that agitated the mass, to the recital of the discoveries and +incidents of the morning. + +"I cannot believe," said the sheriff who had been listening with keen +interest to the hunter's account of his bold but fruitless attempt to +compel the submission of the desperado, "I cannot believe, after all, that +the fellow will be so foolhardy as to persist in his refusal to surrender, +when he knows there is now no longer any chance for him to escape. I will +try him faithfully before resorting to extreme measures." + +"That may be well enough, perhaps," remarked the hunter, demurely, feeling +a little rebuked for his own hastiness in firing on the man, by some of the +expressions of the officer; "yes, that will be well enough. But, if you +succeed in drawing him out to be taken by means of words alone, I will try +the experiment on the very next wolf or painter I drive into his den." + +"Nevertheless, it shall be tried," returned the officer. + +And accordingly, having called to his side a small band of well-armed +assistants, he proceeded with them up the gorge, till he had gained the +shelf which afforded the hunter a covert in the previous assault; when he +stepped fearlessly out in full view of the mouth of the cavern, and, with +a loud voice, calling the name of Gaut Gurley, "commanded him, in the name +and by the authority of the State of New Hampshire, to come out and +surrender himself a prisoner, to answer, in court, to the charges set forth +in a warrant then ready to be produced." + +The officer now paused; and all listened; but no sound came from the cave. +The summons was then repeated, in a still louder and more determined tone +of voice. And this time a sound, resembling the growl of a chafed tiger, +was heard within, belching out a volley of muttered curses, and ending with +the distinguishable words of defiance: + +"If you want me, come and take me; and we will see who dies first." + +"Your blood be on your own head, then, obstinate wretch!" exclaimed the +excited officer. "Men, prepare to throw a volley of bullets into that +cavern. Ready--aim--fire!" + +The single report of a half-dozen exploding muskets instantly followed the +word, ringing out and reverberating along the mountain like the shock of a +field-piece; while, with the dying sound, a hoarse shout of derisive +laughter from the cave greeted the ears of the awe-struck and shuddering +company around. + +"There is no use in that," said the hunter, who had followed and posted +himself a little in the rear of the besieging party, under the apprehension +that the besieged might make a rush out of his retreat, in the smoke and +confusion consequent on the firing,--"there is no use in any thing of that +kind. The entrance, after the first four or five feet, suddenly expands +into quite a large space, into one of the corners of which he could easily +step, as he doubtless did just now, and be safe against a regiment of +rifles from without." + +"Then we will smoke him out!" fiercely exclaimed the sheriff, recovering +from his astonishment at finding the culprit had not been annihilated, and +beginning to be enraged at seeing himself and his authority thus alike +despised; "we will smoke him out, like a burrowed wild beast, and soon +convince the scoffing villain that we are not to be foiled in this manner. +Hillo, there, below! gather and bring up here at least a cartload of dry +and green boughs." + +With eager alacrity the throng below sprang to do the bidding of the +officer; and, in a short time, they came clambering up the steeps, with +their shouldered loads of mingled material, to the post occupied by the +advanced party; who took, and, keeping as much as possible out of the range +of the entrance, carried them up, and threw them over the next shelf on to +the little level space lying around the mouth of the cavern. This process +was briskly continued, till a pile as large as a haycock was raised against +the upright ledge through which the cave opened by a low narrow mouth at +the bottom. A fire was then struck, a pine knot kindled, and held ready for +the intended application; when the sheriff, proclaiming to the desperate +object of these fearful preparations what was in store for him, commanded +him once more, and for the last time, to surrender. But, receiving no +reply, he then, ordering the men to stand ready with poles to scatter the +material the moment the victim should cry for mercy, seized the flaming +brand and hurled it into the most combustible part of the pile before him. + +Within the space of a minute the appearance of the quickly-catching blaze, +now seen leaping in a thousand dimly-sparkling tongues of flame, from layer +to layer and from, side to side, through the crevices of the loosely-packed +mass, gave proof that the whole pile was becoming thoroughly ignited. And +the next moment the cave, and the whole visible range of rocks above, were +lost to sight in the dense cloud of smoke that deeply wrapt and rolled over +them. Expecting every instant to hear the agonized cries of the victim, now +seemingly enfolded in the very embrace of the terrible element, calling +aloud for mercy and offering submission, the whole company, crowding the +gorge below, or peering over from the surrounding cliffs, climbed for the +purpose, stood for some time mute and appalled at the spectacle, and the +thought of the fearful issue it involved. No sound or sight, however, +except the crackling of the consuming fagots and the flaring sheet of the +ascending flames, greeted their expectant senses. + +"Pretty much as I have long thought it would turn out, in the end," said +the trapper, the first to break the silence, as the fire was seen to be +slacking away, without any thing yet being heard from the dreaded inmate of +the cave. "His master is taking him off in a winding-sheet of smoke and +flame. I shouldn't be surprised at a clap of thunder or an earthquake to +wind up with." + +"At any rate," observed another of the crowd, "he must be suffocated by +this time." + +"Yes," responded a third, "dead, dead as a door-nail; so, there is an end +of the incarnate Beelzebub that we have known by the name of Gaut Gurley." + +"I am not so clear about that," now interposed the hunter, who had stood +intently watching the varying aspects of the fire and smoke about the cave. +"I thought, myself, that this operation must put him on begging terms, if +any thing would; and the question is, whether it wouldn't now, before he +found himself in any danger of smothering. I don't understand it; but +stay,--what is that rising from the top of the rocks, some distance back +from the front of the den? Mr. Sheriff, do you see it?" + +"See what, sir?" + +"Why, that slender column of smoke rising gently out of the top of the +rocks, directly over the cave, and growing more visible every moment, as +the smoke from the fire down here in front becomes light and thin in the +clear blaze." + +"I do see what appears, here, to be something of the kind not proceeding +directly from the fire;--yes, plainly, now. What does it mean, Mr. +Phillips?" + +"It means that the rascal has a chimney to his house, or what, for his +safety, is the same. The rocks forming the top of the cavern are piled up +so loosely that the smoke rises through them almost as easy and natural as +from a chimney. He had nothing to do but to throw himself on the bottom, to +be out of its way, and breathe as good air as the best of us." + +"By Heavens, Phillips, I believe you are right! And that is not all there +is to it, either: if our smoking-out experiment has failed, it has shown a +better one. The same looseness of the rocks that permitted the escape of +the smoke so freely, will permit, also, their being removed or torn away. +We will now uncage him by digging down into his den. Ho there! my merry men +below, go to cutting heavy pry-poles, and look up your crow-bars, picks, +sledge-hammers, and shovels. There is work for you all." + +As soon as the unexpected discoveries which had led to these new orders, +and consequent change of the whole plan of attack, were understood and +fully comprehended by all, the solemn and revolting character of the scene +was instantly converted into one of bustle and animation. As the plan thus +indicated by the sheriff required the scene, of operations to be +transferred to the top of the rocks above the cave, to which there was no +means of access from the gorge in front, he, leaving a strong guard in the +pass now occupied, took the hunter and came down to the shore; when the +latter, followed by the officer and a score of resolute, strong-armed men +with their various implements, led the devious way back through the woods, +and up round the ledgy and precipitous face of the mountain, till they +reached a point a little above the level of the cave. Here they paused, and +sent the hunter out along a lateral shelf of the declivity, to search for +the most accessible path to their destination. While the company were +pausing here for this purpose, their attention was suddenly arrested by the +heralding shouts of another company of men, evidently approaching from the +other side of the mountain. And, soon after, a band of a dozen well-armed, +hardy-looking fellows, headed by a tall, powerfully-framed man, made their +appearance, pushing their way down the brush-tangled steeps from above. + +"Turner!" exclaimed the sheriff, addressing the leader of the approaching +band, who was at once recognized to be an ex-sheriff of the county, and one +of the most daring and successful felon-hunters ever known in northern +New-Hampshire; "General Turner, of all men you are the one I should have +most wished to see, just at this time. We have a tough case on hand; but +how did you get here?" + +"The only way left for us. When we reached the tavern down here on the +river, not a boat was to be had; and so we steered up the Magalloway, and +came over by land, as you see. I had heard of this desperate character, and +your dealings with him, before the present outrage, and have now come to +help you put him through. Now tell us the state of the siege,--some idea of +which we got from a man we met, a mile back on our way." + +The sheriff then related all that had transpired, and named the new plan of +operations, of which they were then proceeding to test the feasibility. + +"We will have him!" said Turner, with a determined look. "If we can't tear +away the rocks with bars and sledges, we will send off for a barrel of +gunpowder to blow them open; and if that fails, I will go into the cave, +myself, and if I don't snake him out before I've done with him, he must be +a harder customer than it has ever yet been my lot to encounter." + +By this time the hunter had returned, and now pointed out the best way to +the place of which they were in quest; when the sheriff, ex-sheriff, and +their respective followers, preceded by their guide, commenced forcing +their passage along the craggy cliffs; and, within ten minutes, they found +themselves standing on the off-set forming the rocky roofing of the cavern. +The appearance of the place was much more favorable for the proposed +attempt at excavation than any of them had anticipated. From the front face +of the rock, which was pierced by the mouth of the cave at the bottom, and +which presented a perpendicular of about fifteen feet, the topmost stones +rapidly fell off to a depression over the centre of the cave, which, it was +at once seen, must greatly reduce the depth of rock to be removed or broken +up, before reaching the interior. And, in addition to this encouraging +discovery, the rocks in and around this depression, through which the smoke +was yet visibly oozing, appeared to be detached from the main ledge, and, +though heavy, such as might be removed by appliances at command. Still, +there was a formidable mass to be disrupted and removed before an entrance +could be effected in that direction. But the men, impatient of inaction, +and eager to be doing something to forward the common object,--like all +bodies of excited people anxious to cooperate, but unable to decide on a +course of action,--scarcely waited to be told what was wanted, before they +all sprang to the work with that resistless union of faith and exertions +which requires no intervention of miracles to remove mountains. The moss, +earth, decayed wood, and all else of the loose covering of rocks, quickly +disappeared under their busy hands or rapidly-plied implements. The smaller +stones and broken fragments, as soon as loosened or beat off by the bars +and sledges, were seized and hurled in showers over the surrounding ledges; +the larger ones, when started from their beds by the long heavy prys, were +grappled with the united strength of all that could get to them, rolled up, +pitched over the precipice in front, and sent bounding and crashing down +the gorge below. And the whole forest resounded with the din of their heavy +blows and the mingling sounds of their varied labors. + +While all who could find room to work on the excavation were thus briskly +pushing forward their operations, a smaller party were engaged in beating +down the rocky battlement in front; and so vigorously and successfully +were the efforts of these also directed, that, in a short time, the top was +so lowered, and the seamy rocks so split down, that, with the mass of +stones thrown over, a path of easy descent was formed from the top, down to +the shelf below, on one side of the mouth of the cave; which was now +securely blocked up, and closely invested by the party previously stationed +in near vicinity to guard it. + +Thus bravely, and with no token of faltering at the obstacles which they +frequently encountered, and which sometimes required their greatest +exertions to overcome, did these strong-armed and determined men push on +their herculean labors, for the space of nearly two hours; when suddenly a +shout of exultation rose from those at work lowest down in the excavation, +and the next moment the voice of the ex-sheriff was heard exclaiming to +those around him: + +"Courage, men! the game is nearly unkenneled. I have driven my bar through, +and the hole is so large that the bar has slipped from my hands and gone to +the bottom!" + +The excitement now became intense; and all crowded round the rim of the +excavation, and, with uneasy looks and hushed voices, eagerly peered down +into the dimly-visible perforation at the bottom; while those already +within the excavated basin began, with beating hearts, carefully loosening +and pulling out the shivered and detached stones, lying around the small +aperture just effected, and continued the process until all the outer edges +of the broad, thin rock, which the crow-bar had perforated, and which +appeared to form the lower or interior layer of the roofing of the cavern, +were fully laid bare, and brought within the reach of the outstretched arms +of those bending down to grasp them. A dozen brawny hands were then seen +securing their gripe on one side of the rock; when, at the word of the +sheriff, a sudden pull was made with a force that raised the whole mass +nearly a foot from its bed. + +"It comes bravely!" said the sheriff. "Now fix yourselves for another pull; +while two or three of you above there come forward with your rifles, and +stand with them levelled at the hole, as we open it, lest the desperate dog +make a rush before we are prepared. Now altogether,--there, now!" + +The effort was made, and the sheeted rock was brought to a perpendicular; +when it was grappled by the men with might and main, lifted clear from its +bed, and thrust aside, letting the sunlight down upon the bottom of the +cave through a chasm nearly large enough to permit two men to jump in +abreast. There was now a dead pause; and all eyes were turned on the chasm +in silent and trembling expectation. But nothing appearing, the hunter and +ex-sheriff crept down prostrate to the brink of the chasm, and worked their +heads cautiously below, to get a fuller view of the interior. After +looking, with slightly varied positions, about a minute, they both rose and +came up on the bank; when the ex-sheriff, turning to the hunter, softly +said: + +"He is there. I caught sight of his legs standing in a corner near the +mouth of the cave. Did _you_ get a view?" + +"Yes, a better one than that; I saw his legs, and as much of his body as I +could without bringing my _own_ head within the line of his eyes. He stands +there on the watch, with cocked rifle pointing to this opening, while he +has a dirk within his left hand grasping the rifle, and I think a pistol +within his other hand, held in a similar manner. I can read his plan." + +"What is it, as _you_ read it?" + +"To take the first that enters with his rifle, pistol the second, make a +rush through the rest, and stab as he goes." + +"About the truth, probably. But what is to be done? Shall you and I leap +down, make a spring upon him, and stand our chance?" + +"Why,--yes," replied the hunter, with a little hesitation; "yes, if we +can't do better than throw away one good life, at least, for a bad one. But +if we could contrive to divert his attention suddenly to the mouth of the +cave--" + +"You are right! Stay here a moment, and I will put matters in train to +carry out your suggestion," eagerly interrupted Turner, taking the sheriff +confidentially aside. + +In a few minutes the determined ex-sheriff followed by four or five stout, +resolute men, whose special assistance he had bespoken for the occasion, +returned to the side of the hunter, and said: + +"Get down there in your old position, where you can watch his movements. +They have gone down to unblock the mouth of the cave outside, and make a +feint of entering. If they succeed in drawing his fire, I will take that as +a signal,--if not, then you give me the word, at the right moment, when his +head, and with it naturally his rifle, is turned to the supposed new point +of attack, and I will leap down and make a spring to get within the line of +the muzzle before he can fire; and, the instant I disappear, you and these +men follow, and be close on my heels for the grapple." + +The hunter then edged down to his former place of observation, where he +lay, while Turner sat crouching on the brink ready for the leap, narrowly +watching the movements of the dreaded foe within, who was seen to be still +standing motionless in the same position as before. Presently the movements +of those outside the old entrance of the cavern, as they began cautiously +to remove the blockading stones, became clearly audible, and soon a few +straggling rays of light began to gleam into the interior from that +direction. On perceiving these indications, the wary desperado began, for +the first time, to exhibit signs of uneasiness. Slightly changing his +position, he glanced rapidly from the already half-cleared entrance in +front to the chasm just opened through the top in the rear. But neither +seeing or hearing any thing that led him to expect any assault, except from +the front, and evidently supposing it was now the intention of his +assailants to drive him up through the top opening, to be seized as he came +out, he drew back a step, and, turning the muzzle of his rifle towards the +mouth of the cave, stood ready to fire upon the first who should make his +appearance. This movement was not lost on the keenly-watching, hunter, who +saw that it afforded a fair chance for a successful surprise; and he once +parted his lips to give the signal for the onset. But, perceiving from the +incoming light that the mouth of the cave was cleared from its +obstructions, he ventured to await the effect of the feint now momentarily +expected from that quarter. He had judged wisely. The delay was not in +vain. A rustling sound, seeming to come from some one squeezing through the +entrance, was now heard; and soon a dark object, resembling the head and +shoulders of a man, making slow and cautious advances, was fully protruded +into the cavern; when, suddenly, the whole ledge shook with the stunning +report of a rifle, and the next moment, Turner, Phillips, and their chosen +backers, had all disappeared in the cloud of smoke that came pouring up +through the chasm. Quick, heavy, muffled sounds, as of fiercely-grappling +tigers, instantly came from within. And within another minute, the +stentorian voice of the daring leader of the onset was heard, shouting for +the hand-cuffs and fetters. + +The fierce siege was over. The desperate intentions and giant strength of +the besieged, after a brief but terrible struggle, had been thwarted and +overcome by the intrepidity and equal strength of the ex-sheriff; and he, +now firmly clenched round the body, and held down, with every limb in the +vise-like grasp of his iron-fisted captors, lay disarmed, helpless, and +panting on the ground. + +"There!" sternly cried the victorious leader of the hazardous assault, as +he rose to his feet, after he had seen the heavy irons securely locked on +the wrists and ankles of the silent and sullen prisoner,--"there! drag him +out, feet foremost, into the open light of day, where he and his dark deeds +have all now got to come, to meet the vengeance of an outraged community!" + +It was done, and with no gentle hand; when a long, wild shout of exultation +fiercely broke from the closely-encircling throng, thrilling the trembling +forest around with the din, and rolling away to the farthest shores of the +lake, to proclaim that the first murderer of the settlement--the +black-hearted Gaut Gurley--was now a prisoner, and in the uncompromising +hands of public justice. + +The animated spectacle which now ensued, of trundling, pushing, and +tumbling the chafed and growling prisoner down to the shore, amid the +unrestrained demonstrations of the exulting multitude; the noisy and +bustling embarkation, on the lake; the ostentatious display of mimic +banners, formed by raising on tall poles, handkerchiefs, hats, coats, and +whatever would make a show in the distance, as the long line of canoes, +with the closely guarded prisoner in the centre, filed off in gorgeous +array, through the glitter of the sun-lit lake, on their way to the great +outlet; the pause and concentration there; the rapid descent down the river +to the village, where a board of magistrates were waiting to sit on the +case of the expected prisoner; and, finally, the loudly heralding +_kuk-kuk-ke-o-hos_ of the overflowing trapper, to announce, over a two-mile +reach of the stream, the triumphant approach,--this animated and here +extraordinary spectacle, we must leave to the delineation of the reader's +imagination. Our attention is more strongly demanded in a different +direction, to bring up other important incidents of our story, before +proceeding any farther with the actors who have figured in this part of the +narrative, or taking note of the examination to which they were now +hurrying the prisoner. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + + "By thine infinite of woe, + All we know not, all we know; + If there be what dieth not, + Thine, affection, is its lot." + +Deep in the wilderness of woods and waters encircling the mouth of a small +inlet, at the extreme northwestern end of the picturesque Maguntic, there +lay encamped, at the point of a low headland, on one of the first nights of +May, the three trappers, whose expedition had been the subject of so many +gloomy speculations, and whose unexpectedly prolonged absence had caused, +as we have seen, so much anxiety in the settlement to which they belonged. +They had extended their outward journey more than double the distance +contemplated by the Elwoods, at least when they left home; the mover of the +expedition, Gaut Gurley, having proposed to make the shores of the +Maguntic, and its feeding streams only, the range of their operations. But +when they arrived there, as they did, on the ice, which was still firm and +solid on the lakes, Gaut pretended to believe that the rich beaver-haunts, +to which he had promised to lead them, could not be identified, much less +reached, until the ice had broken up in the streams and lake. He, +therefore, now proposed that they should first proceed over to the chief +inlet of the Oquossak, stay one night in the camp, which was left in the +great snowstorm of the fall before, dig out the steel-traps buried there, +and, the next day, slide over the boats, also left there, on the glare +ice,--as all agreed could easily be done on some light and simple +contrivance,--and land them on the west shore of the Maguntic, where they +could be concealed, and found ready for use when the lake opened. He would +then, he said, lead them to a place among the head-water streams of the +Magalloway, only a day's journey distant, where he once "trapped it" +himself, and where, as the rivers there broke up early, he could promise +them immediate success. + +All this had been done; and the party, having spent nearly three weeks +among the lakelets and interweaving streams going to make up the sources of +the Magalloway and Connecticut rivers, with occasional recourse to the +nearest habitations on the upper Magalloway, for provisions, but with very +indifferent success in taking furs, had now, on the urging of young Elwood, +returned to the Maguntic,--which, after a hard day's journey, they had +reached, at the point where we have introduced them, about sunset the day +but one preceding, thrown up a temporary shanty, and encamped for the +night. On rising the next morning, Gaut had proposed that Claud remain at +camp that day, to build a better shanty, and hunt in the near vicinity; +while he and Mark Elwood should explore the stream, to a pond some miles +above, where his previously discovered beaver-haunts, he said, were mostly +to be found, and where, the snow and ice having wholly disappeared, they +could now operate to good advantage. With this arrangement, however, the +young man, whose secret suspicions had been aroused by one or two previous +attempts made by Gaut to separate him from his father, plausibly refused to +comply; and the consequence was, that they had all made the proposed +explorations together, returned to camp without discovering any indications +of the promised beaver, and laid down for the night, with the +understanding, reluctantly agreed to by the moody and morose Gaut, that +they should proceed down the lake to their boats the next morning, and +embark for an immediate return to their homes, where the Elwoods felt +conscious they must, by this time, be anxiously expected. + +Such were the circumstances under which we have brought this +singularly-assorted party of trappers to the notice of the reader, as they +lay sleeping in their bough-constructed tents,--Gaut and Mark Elwood under +one cover, and Claud under another, which he had fixed up for himself on +the opposite side of their fire,--on the ominous night which was destined +to prelude the most tragic and melancholy scene of our variously eventful +story. + +It was the hour of nature's deepest repose, and the bright midnight moon, +stealing through the gently-swaying boughs of the dark pines that rose +heavenward, like pinnacles, along the silent shores around, was throwing +her broken beams fitfully down upon the faces of the unconscious sleepers, +faintly revealing the impress which the thoughts and purposes of the last +waking hours had left on the countenance of each. And these impresses were +as variant as the characters of those on whose features they rested: that +lingering on the sternly-compressed lips and dark, beetling brows of Gaut +Gurley, ever sinister, was doubly so now; that on the face of Mark Elwood, +whose vacillations of thought and feeling, through life, had exempted his +features from any stamp betokening fixed peculiarity of character, was one +of fatuous security; and that resting on the intellectual and guileless +face of Claud Elwood was one of simple care and inquietude. + +But what is that light, shadowy form, hovering near the sylvan couch of +Claud, like some unsubstantial being of the air; now advancing, now +shrinking away, and now again flitting forward to the head of the youthful +sleeper, and there pausing and preventing the light from longer revealing +his features? Yes, what is it? would ask a doubting spectator of this +singular night-scene. A passing cloud come over the moon? No, there is none +in the heavens. But why the useless speculation? for it is gone now, +leaving the sleeper's face again visible, and wearing a more unquiet and +disturbed air than before. His features twitch nervously, and expressions +of terror and surprise flit over them. He dreams, and his dream is a +troubled one. Let the novelist's license be invoked to interpret it. + +He was alone with his father on a boundless plain, when suddenly a dark, +whirlwind tempest-cloud fell upon the earth around them, and soon separated +him from the object of his care. As he was anxiously pressing on through +the thickly-enveloping vapors, in the direction in which the latter had +disappeared, he was suddenly confronted by a monstrous, black, and fearful +living apparition, who stood before him in all the horrid paraphernalia +ascribed to the prince of darkness, apparently ready to crush him to the +earth, when a bright angel form swiftly interposed. Starting back, with the +rapidly-chasing sensations of terror and surprise, he looked again, and the +fiend stood stript of his infernal guise, and suddenly transformed into the +person of Gaut Gurley, who, with a howl of dismay, quickly turned and fled +in confusion. The amazed dreamer then turned to his deliverer, who had been +transformed into the beauteous Fluella, whose image, he was conscious, was +no longer a stranger among the lurking inmates of his heart. A sweet, +benignant smile was breaking over her lovely features; and, under the +sudden impulse of the grateful surprise, he eagerly stretched out his arms +towards her, and, in the effort, awoke. + +"Where, where is she?" he exclaimed, springing to his feet, and glaring +wildly around him. "Why!" he continued, after a pause, in which he appeared +to be rallying his bewildered senses,--"why! what is this? a dream, nothing +but a dream? It must be so. But what a strange one! and what could have +caused it? Was there not some one standing over me, just now, darkening my +face like a shadow? I feel a dim consciousness of something like it. But +that, probably, was part of the same dream. Yes, yes, all a mere dream; all +nothing; so, begone with you, miserable phantoms! I will not suffer--" + +But, as if not satisfied with his own reasoning, he stopped short, and, for +many minutes, stood motionless, with his head dropped in deep thought; +when, arousing himself, he returned to his rude resting-place, and laid +down again, but only to toss and turn, in the restless excitement which he +obviously found himself unable to allay. After a while spent in this +tantalizing unrest, he rose and slowly made his way down to the edge of the +lake, a few rods distant, where, scooping up water with his hands, he first +drank eagerly, then, bathed his fevered brow, and then, rising, he stood +some time silent on the shore,--now pensively gazing out on the +darkly-bright expanse of the moon-lit lake; and now listening to the +mysterious voices of night in the wilderness, which, in low, soft, +whispering undulations of sound, came, at varied intervals, gently +murmuring along the wooded shores, to die away into silence in the remote +recesses of the forest. These phenomena of the wilds he had once or twice +before noted, and tried to account for, without, however, attaching much +consequence to them. But now they became invested with a strange +significance, and seemed to him, in his present excited and apprehensive +state of mind, portentous of impending evil. While his thoughts were taking +this channel, the possibility of what might be done in his absence suddenly +appeared to occur to him; and he hastened back to camp, where he slightly +replenished the fire, and, taking a recumbent position, with his loaded +rifle within reach, kept awake, and on the watch, till morning. + +After daylight Claud arose, as if nothing unusual had occurred to disturb +him, bustled about, built a good fire, and began to prepare a morning meal +from the fine string of trout he had taken during yesterday's excursion. +The noise of these preparations soon awoke the two sleepers; who, +complimenting him on his early rising, also arose, and soon joined him in +partaking the repast, which, by this time, he had in readiness. + +As soon as they had finished their meal, which was enlivened by no other +than an occasional brief, commonplace remark, the thoughts of each of them +being evidently engrossed by his own peculiar schemes and anxieties, the +trappers, by common consent, set about their preparations to depart; and, +having completed them, leisurely took their way down the western shore of +the lake towards the spot at which they had hauled up and concealed their +canoe, and which, if they followed the deep indentures of the shore in this +part of the lake, must be four or five miles distant. + +For the first mile or two of their progress nothing noticeable to an +indifferent observer occurred to vary the monotony of their walk, as they +tramped steadily and silently forward, in the usual, and, indeed, almost +the only practicable mode of travelling in the forest, appropriately +denominated Indian file. But young Elwood, whose feelings had been deeply +stirred by the fancies of the night, which, to say the least, had the +effect to make him more keenly apprehensive and vigilant, had noted several +little circumstances, that, to him, wore a questionable appearance. Gaut, +who at first led the way, soon manoeuvred to get Mark Elwood, the next in +the order of their march, in front; and then urged him forward at a much +faster pace than before, at the same time often casting furtive glances +behind him, as if to see whether Claud, who seemed inclined to walk more +slowly than the rest, would not fall behind, and soon be out of sight. And, +when the latter quickened his pace, he showed signs of vexation, which had +not passed unnoticed. All this Claud had noted, together with the singular +expression which Gaut's countenance assumed, and which filled him with an +undefinable dread, and a lively suspicion that the man was on the eve of +attempting the execution of foul purposes. Consequently he resolved to +follow up closely, having no fears for himself, and believing his presence +would prevent any attempt that might be meditated against his father. This +precaution, for some time, the young man was careful to observe; but, as he +was passing over a small brook that crossed his path, his eye caught the +appearance of a slight trail, a few rods up the stream, and curiosity +prompted him to turn aside to examine it. When he reached the place, he +soon detected indications which convinced him that some person had recently +been there; and, forgetful of his resolution, in the interest the +circumstance excited, he commenced a closer inspection, which resulted in +discovering a fresh imprint, in the soft mud on one side of the brook, of a +small moccasined foot. This curious and unexpected discovery, uncertain as +were its indications of any identity of the person, or even of the age or +sex of the person, by whom that delicate footprint was made, at once +diverted his attention, from the particular care by which it had been +engrossed, and started that other of the two trains of thought, which, for +the last month, but especially since his singular awakening the past night, +had constituted the chief burden of his mind,--his increasing apprehensions +for his father's safety, and his lurking but irrepressible regard for the +chief's beautiful daughter, whose image, since his dream, had haunted him +with a pertinacity for which a resort to reason alone would fail to +account. + + "If music be the food of love," + +dreams, we apprehend, whatever the immortal bard might have thought of the +matter, have often proved the more exciting stimulus of the tender passion; +many of whose happiest consummations might be traced back to an origin in +some peopled scene of a dreaming fancy, whose peculiar effect on the +sympathies has frequently been felt by the sternest and most sceptical, +though never very clearly explained in any of our written systems of the +philosophy of the soul and its affections. + +In the pleasing indulgence of the feelings and fancies which had been thus +freshly kindled, Claud stood, for some minutes, quite unconscious of the +lapse of time, though it had been long enough to place his companions far +out of sight and hearing. From this reverie he was suddenly aroused by the +sharp report of a rifle, bursting on his ear from the woods, about a +quarter of a mile off, in the direction just taken by his companions. +Starting at the sound, which sent a boding chill through his heart, and +bitterly taxing himself for his inadvertent loitering, he sprang back to +the trail he had left, and made his way along over it towards the place +indicated by the firing, with all the speed which excited nerves and +agonizing anxiety could bring to his aid. But, before reaching the spot at +which he was aiming, and just as he was beginning to slacken his pace, to +look around for it, Gaut Gurley burst through the bushes, a few rods ahead, +and, running towards him with all the manifestations of a man in hasty +retreat before a pursuing foe, eagerly exclaimed: + +"Run, Claud! run for your life! We have just been beset by hostile Indians, +who fired on us, and, I fear, have killed your father. I have misled them a +little; but they will soon be on our trail. Run! run!" he added, seizing +the other by the arm to start him into instant flight. + +"What!" exclaimed the astonished young man, hanging back, and by degrees +recovering from the surprise with which he was at first overwhelmed by the +strange and startling announcement. "What! hostile Indians?--hostile to +whom, to my father, or to me, that I should run from them? Gaut Gurley, +what, O what does this mean?" + +"Why, it means," said the other, keeping up all the motions and flourishes +naturally used by one urging another to flee,--"it means, as I say, our +lives are in danger. Let us escape while we can. Come, come, there's not a +moment to lose!" + +"I will _know_," said Claud, with a quick, searching glance at the face of +the other,--"yes, I _will know_ for myself what has happened," he sternly +added, suddenly breaking from the grasp on his arm, and bounding forward to +execute his purpose with a quickness and rapidity that made pursuit +useless. + +"Hold!" cried Gaut, in an increasingly fierce and angry tone, "hold, +instantly,--on your life, hold! I warn you, sir, to stop, instantly to +stop!" + +But, heeding neither the entreaties nor the threats which, his ear told +him, were strangely mingled in the tones of the words thus thundered after +him, Claud, in his agony of apprehension, eagerly rushed on towards the +forbidden scene, which could not now be thirty rods distant, and had +proceeded, perhaps, forty yards; when, just as he was straightening up, +after stooping to pass under an obstructing limb of a tree, extending +across his path, he became conscious of the sound of the sudden hitting of +the limb, and partly so of the concussion of a shot, still farther in his +rear. But he neither heard nor knew more; and, the next moment, lay +stretched senseless on the ground. + +When he awoke to consciousness, after, he knew not what lapse of time, he +found himself in a different place; lying, as he felt conscious, badly +wounded, on a soft, elastic bed of boughs, within a dense thicket of low +evergreens, through which his opening eye caught the gleams of +widely-surrounding waters. A ministering angel, in the shape of the +peerless daughter of the wilds, who had lately so much occupied his +thoughts, was wistfully bending over him, with a countenance in which +commiseration and woe had found an impersonation which no artist's pencil +could have equalled. + +"Fluella!" he feebly murmured,--"how came you here, Fluella?" + +She saw that the effort to speak caused him a pang, and, without replying +to the question, motioned him to silence; when, being no longer able to +master her emotions, she sat down by his side, and, covering her face with +both hands, began to grieve and sob like a child. Poor girl! who could +measure the depth of her heart's anguish? She could not answer, had she +deemed it best. We must answer the question for her. But, to do so, to the +full understanding of the reader, we must again recur to the events of the +past,--her troubled past, at least,--during the three or four days +preceding the time of her appearance as an actor in the sad scene before +us. + +She had learned from Mrs. Elwood that Claud had pledged himself to her that +he would return from his expedition within the month of April; and to +Fluella, with her undoubting confidence in his word, a failure to redeem +that pledge would be but little less than certain intelligence that some +evil had befallen either him or his father, in their unknown place of +sojourn in the wilderness. Consequently her solicitude--growing out of her +secretly nourished but overmastering love for him--became, as the time +approached which was to relieve or realize her fears for the result of an +expedition undertaken under such dreadful auspices, each day more deep and +absorbing. And, the last morning but one of the expiring month, she went +out early on to the rock-bound shore of the lake, on which her father's +cabin was situated, and commenced her watch from the most commanding +points, for the appearance of the expected party, on their way homeward +from the upper lakes. And during that anxious day, and the still more +anxious one that followed, she kept up her vigils, with no other cessation +than what her brief absences for her hastily-snatched meals at the house +required; sometimes standing, for an hour at a time, in one spot, intently +gazing out into the lake, and sometimes moving restlessly about, and +hurrying from cliff to cliff along the beetling shore, to obtain a better +observation. But, no appearance or indications of their coming rewarding +her vigils during all that time, she retired from the shore, at the +approach of night, on the last day of April, sad and sick at heart from +disappointment, and painfully oppressed with apprehension for the fate of +one for whose safety she felt she would have given her own worthless life +as a willing sacrifice. But, her feelings still allowing her neither peace +nor quietude, she left the house after supper; and, in the light of the +nearly full moon, that was now throwing its mellow beams over the wild +landscape, unconsciously took her way to the lake-shore, where she had +already spent so many weary hours in her fruitless vigils. Here, climbing a +tall rock on the bluff shore, she resumed her watch, and long stood, +straining both eye and ear to catch sight of some moving thing, or the +sound of some plashing oar, out on the lake, that might indicate the +coming, even at this late hour, of the objects of her solicitude. But no +such sight or sound came up from the sleeping waters, to greet and gladden +her aching senses. All there was as motionless and silent as the plains of +the dead. + +"The time is past!" she at length despairingly muttered, slowly withdrawing +her gaze, and standing as if to collect her thoughts and ponder. "Yes, +passed by, now. He will not come!" + +And her ideas immediately reverted to the other alternative for which she +had before made up her mind, in case the party did not return within the +month; but which, having been kept in the background of her thoughts, by +her hope of their coming, now occurred to her with startling effect. She +fancied Claud the victim of outrage or misfortune,--perhaps wounded and +dying, by the same hand that might have previously struck down his +father,--perhaps taken sick on his way home alone, and now lying helpless +in the woods, where none could witness his sufferings or hear his cries for +assistance. The thought sent a pang through her bosom, the more painful +because, being something like a legitimate conclusion of her previous +reasoning, she could not divest herself of it. She stood bewildered in the +woes of her thick-coming fancies. The images thus conjured up from her +distracting anxieties and excited brain, all heightened by the natural +inspirations of the place and the hour, soon became to her vivid realities. +And her burning thoughts at once insensibly ran into the form and spirit of +one of the many beautiful plaints of England's gifted poetess: + + "I heard a song upon the wandering wind, + A song of many tones, though one full soul + Breathed through them all imploringly; and made + All nature, as they pass'd,--all quivering leaves, + And low responsive reeds and waters,--thrill, + As with the consciousness of human prayer. + ------the tones + Were of a suppliant. '_Leave me not_' was still + The burden of their music." + +"I will _not_ leave you!" she exclaimed, startling the silent glens and +grottos around by the wild energy of her tones, and eagerly stretching out +her hands towards the imagined scene, and the suppliant for her ministering +services, "O Claud, I will come to you. My love, my life, my more than +life, I will soon be with you! Go after him?" she resumed, after a sudden +pause, to which she seemed to be brought by recalling her thoughts to their +wonted channel, and being startled at the sober import of her own words. +"Go in search of him in the woods! Yes," she added, after another long and +thoughtful pause,--"yes, why not? I cannot, O, I _cannot_ stay here another +day, with these but too prophetic words, I fear, ringing in my ears. To be +in the same wilderness with him were a pleasure, to the insupportable +suspense I must suffer here. If I discover all to be well, I need not show +myself; but, if it be as I fear, O, what happiness to be near him! Yes, it +is decided; I will start in the morning." + +And, hastily descending from her stand, with the firm, quick step and +decisive air of one whose purpose is fixed, she struck off directly for the +house; where, after a few hasty preparations, she retired to her bed, and, +happily, after the exhausting cares of the day, was soon quieted into sound +and refreshing slumber. + +In accordance with her still unaltered resolution, she rose early the next +morning; and with an indefinite intimation to her family of her intention +to be absent among friends a day or two, swung to her side a small square +basket of nutritious provisions, took a thick shawl to protect her from the +damps of the night, proceeded directly to her canoe at the landing, +embarked, and struck out vigorously along the winding shore, on her way to +the next upper lake. A steady but quiet row of a couple of hours took her +out of the great lake on which she had embarked, up the principal inlet, +and into the Maguntic, whose western shores, she had understood, were to be +the base of the operations of the absent party. Here she turned short to +the left, and, drawing in close to land, rowed slowly and cautiously along +the western shore, following round all the numerous indentations, and +continually sending her searching glances up its wooded shores, that no +appearance of the trail of human beings might escape her observation. + +After rowing two or three miles in this manner, and without noticing any +thing that particularly attracted her attention, she reached the first of +the three headlands, making out from this side a considerable distance into +the lake, beyond the average line of the shore. As she was rounding this +point, her eye fell on a dark protuberance, in a dense thicket a few rods +in-shore, which appeared of a more oblong and regular form than is usual in +such places. And, scanning the appearance more closely, she soon discerned +a small piece of wrought wood, resembling a part of the blade of an oar, +slightly projecting from one side of the apparent brush-heap. Starting at +the sight, she immediately ran her canoe ashore, and proceeded at once to +the spot; when, closely peering under the brush-wood, she discovered three +canoes, with their oars, concealed beneath a deep covering of boughs, +surmounted by a scraggy treetop lying carelessly over them, as if blown +from some neighboring tree. + +This, to her, was an important discovery; for it told her--after she had +carefully examined the place, and found that no one had been to the boats +since they were concealed, which she thought must have been done several +weeks before--it told her, at once, that the trappers had gone to some +distant locality among the streams and mountains, to the west or north, +from which they had not yet returned to the lake; but doubtless would so +return before proceeding homeward, provided the Elwoods had not both been +slain or disabled by their suspected companion. The discovery, +notwithstanding the light it had thrown on the first movements of the +trappers, and much as it narrowed the range of her search for them, but +little relieved her harrowing apprehensions; and she resolved to proceed up +the lake with her observations, which might now as well be confined to this +side of it, and the larger streams which should here be found entering it, +and down some of which the company, if they came at all, would probably now +soon come, on their way to the canoes. And, accordingly, she again set +forth on her solitary journey. But, being conscious that the trappers might +now at any time suddenly make their appearance, she proceeded more +cautiously, keeping as far as possible out of the views that might be taken +from distant points of the lake, and from time to time turning a watchful +eye and ear on the shores around and before her. Thus, slowly and timidly +advancing, she at length reached and rounded the second headland in her +course, where another and still more interesting discovery was in store for +her. As she came out from the overhanging trees beneath which she had shot +along the point, she unexpectedly gained a clear view of the extreme end of +the lake, with what appeared to be the mouth of a considerable stream, and +suddenly backed her oar, to pause and reconnoitre; when she soon noticed +one spot, near the supposed inlet, which wore a different hue from the +rest, and which, a closer inspection told her, must be imparted by the +lingering of undissipated smoke, from a fire kindled there as late, at +least, as that morning. Her heart beat violently at the discovery; for she +felt assured that the trappers had reached the lake, had encamped there the +night before, and could not now be many miles distant. Fearing she should +be seen, if she remained longer on the water, she at once resolved to +conceal her canoe in some place near by, and proceed by land through the +woods to the spot of the supposed encampment, or near enough to ascertain +how far her conjectures were true, and how far her new-lit hopes were to be +realized. All this--after many a misgiving and many an alarm, from the +sudden movements of the smaller animals of the forest, started out from +their coverts by her stealthy advance--had been by her, at length, +successfully accomplished; the camp detected from a neighboring thicket; +cautiously approached, finally entered, and the joyful discovery made that +three persons had slept there the night before. Hieing back, like a +frighted bird, into the screening forest, she selected a covert in a dense +thicket on an elevation about an hundred yards distant, where, unseen by +the most searching eye, she could look down into the camp; and there she +lay down and anxiously awaited the approach of night, and, with it, the +expected return of the party, who, she felt confident, could be no others +than those of whom she was in search. And it was not all a dream with +Claud, when he fancied some one standing by his couch of repose. A flitting +form had, that night, indeed, for a moment hovered over him, looking down, +with the sleepless eye of love, on his broken slumbers, and trying to +divine, perhaps, the very dreams which, through some mysterious agency of +the mental sympathies, her presence was inciting. + +Although the maiden had now the unspeakable satisfaction of knowing that +none of her fears had thus far been realized, yet she felt keenly sensible +that the danger was not over; and she therefore determined that she would +not lose sight of the objects of her vigilance and anxiety, at least until +she had seen them embarked for home on the open lake, where deeds of +darkness would be less likely to be attempted than in the screening forest. +She had, therefore, started from her uneasy slumbers, the next morning, at +daybreak; watched from her covert, with lively concern, the movements in +the camp; and no sooner seen them packed up for a start, and headed towards +their boats, then she shrank noiselessly away from her concealment, which +was situated so as to give her considerably the start of them; and fled +rapidly down the lake, in a line parallel to the one along the shore which +the trappers would naturally take, and so near it that, from chosen stands, +she could see them as they came along. And thus, for miles, like the timid +antelope, she hovered on their flank,--now pausing to get a glance of them +through the trees as they came in sight, and now fleeing forward again, for +a new position, to repeat the observation. Up to this time she had kept +considerably in advance of the moving party; but now, suddenly missing +Claud, she sought a covert, and stood watching for him, till Mark Elwood, +followed by Gaut Gurley, came abreast of the spot she occupied; when, +suddenly, the forest shook and trembled from the report of a gun, bursting +from the bushes, seemingly, almost beneath her feet. A single wild glance +revealed to her appalled senses Gaut Gurley, clenching his smoking rifle, +and, with the look of an exulting fiend, glaring out from behind a tree, +towards his prostrate, convulsed, and dying victim. On recovering from the +deeply paralyzing effect of the horrid spectacle, her first thought was for +Claud; and, with the distracting thought, her eye involuntarily sought for +the murderer of his father, who had shrunk back from his position, but whom +she soon detected hastily reloading his rifle, and then starting, with a +quick step, along back the path in which he had just come,--in search, as +her alarmed heart suggested, of another victim for his infernal malice. +With a sharp, smothered cry of anguish, she bounded out from her covert, +and flew back, in a line parallel with that of the retreating murderer, +till she saw him meet the alarmed young man hurrying forward to the rescue; +when she suddenly paused, and listened with breathless interest to the +dialogue we have already related as occurring between them. She heard--and +her heart bounded with pride as she did so--she heard the manly and +determined language of the young man; she saw him rush by the wretch who +was trying to mislead him, to conceal his own crime. But she saw, also, the +next moment, with a dismay that transfixed her to the spot, the murderous +rifle raised, and the retreating, unconscious object of its aim stumble +forward to the ground; then the monster, as if uncertain of the execution +of his bullet, rush forward, with gleaming knife, apparently to finish his +work; and then disappear in the direction of the concealed canoes, now less +than a half-mile beyond. All this she had witnessed, with an agony which no +pen can describe; and then, with the last glimpse of the retiring assassin, +flown, to the side of his second victim, badly but not fatally wounded; +staunched, as she best could, the blood pouring from his wounds; hurried +off for her canoe, luckily hid near by; brought it up to the shore, within +a few yards of the spot where he had fallen; drawn him gently down to it, +and got him into it, she knew not how; and then, after obliterating the +trail, entered herself, and rowed off to the thickly wooded little island, +a furlong to the northeast, but hid by an intervening point from the view +of the foe, now supposed to be on his way to the boats. Here she had +contrived to draw Claud up, in the light canoe, on the farthest shore, and, +by degrees, got both him and the boat on the dry, mossy ground, safely +within a thicket wholly impervious to outward view. Still fearful of Gaut's +return, she crept to the south end of the island, which she had scarcely +reached when she saw him come round the point, land, drag down the body of +Mark Elwood, take it out some distance from the shore, and sink it, by +steel-traps and stones tied to it, deep in the lake. She then, with lively +concern, saw him return and proceed towards the spot where Claud had +fallen, but soon reappear, evidently much disturbed at not finding the +body, yet not seeming to suspect how it had been disposed of, though +several times coming down to the edge of the water and peering anxiously up +and down the lake; but she was soon relieved from her fears by seeing him +take to his boat, row rapidly round the point, there take in tow two other +canoes,--which, it appeared, he had brought up and left there,--and then +row down the lake, in the direction of the great outlet; under the belief, +doubtless, that Claud had revived, struck down through the woods for the +upper end of the lake below, where, if he had not before sunk down and died +of his wounds, he might be waylaid and finished. Thus relieved of this +pressing apprehension, she hurried back to her charge, and carefully +examined his wounds; when she found that the bullet, whose greatest force +had been broken by the obstructing limb, had struck near the top of his +head, and ploughed over the skull without breaking it; that, of the two +stabs inflicted, one had been turned by the collar-bone, making only a +long, surface wound, the other had passed through the fleshy part of the +arm and terminated on a rib beneath, producing a flow of blood, which, but +for the timely and plentiful application of beaver-fur, pulled from a skin +which she saw protruding from his pack, must have soon terminated his life. +With the drinking-cup she found slung to his side, she brought water, +washed the wounds, laid the ruptured parts in place, and, with plasters of +cloth cut from her handkerchief, and made adhesive by balsam taken from a +tree at hand, covered and protected them; and thus, by the application of a +skill she learned from her father, placed them in a situation where nature, +with proper care, would, of herself, complete the sanatory operation. She +then resumed the process of bathing his head and face, and, within another +hour, was thrilled with joy in witnessing his return to consciousness, in +the manner we described before leaving him for this long but necessary, +digression. + +After giving vent to her painfully laboring emotions a while, the maiden +softly arose, and, creeping down under the overhanging boughs to the edge +of the water, sat down on a stone and bathed her throbbing brow, for some +time, in the limpid wave; after which, having in a good measure regained +her usual firmness and tranquillity, she returned to the side of her +wounded friend, whom she found wrapt in the deep slumber generally produced +by exhaustion from loss of blood. After gazing a while on his face, with +the sad and yearning look of a mother on a disease-smitten child, a new +thought seemed suddenly to occur to her, and she noiselessly stole away to +her former lookout, at the south end of the island, where, with a +brightening eye, she caught sight of the loathed and dreaded homicide, just +entering the distant outlet. Waiting no longer than to feel assured that he +had disappeared with the real intention of descending the stream, she +returned to her still sleeping charge, slowly and carefully slid the canoe +down into the water, headed it round with her hands, gained her seat in the +stern, and pushed out into the lake, shaping her course obliquely down it +towards the mouth of a small river entering from the eastern side, at the +lower end of the lake, but still nearly a mile distant from the outlet in +which the murderer had disappeared. Softly and smoothly as a gently-rocking +cradle, the light canoe, under the skillfully plied oar of the careful +maiden, glided through the waveless waters on her destined course, and, for +more than an hour, steadily kept on its noiseless way, without once +appearing to disturb the repose of the slumbering invalid. But, as the +hitherto low-looking forest bordering the eastern shore began to loom up, +and thus apprise the fair rower that she was now nearing the point to which +she had been directing her course, she noticed, with concern, that the lake +was beginning to be agitated, even where she then was, from a gathering +breeze; while a long, light, advancing line, extending across the lake in +the distance behind her, plainly told of the rapid approach of wind, which +must soon greatly increase the disturbance of the waters, and the +consequent rocking of the canoe. Knowing how injuriously such motion of the +boat might affect the invalid, she put forth her utmost strength in +propelling the canoe forward to reach the quiet haven before her, in season +to escape the threatened roughness of the water. But her best exertions +could secure only a partial immunity from the trouble she thus sought to +avoid. The wind struck her long before gaining the place; when, in spite of +all her endeavors to steady it, the canoe began to lurch and toss among the +gathering waves; while the almost immediate awakening of the disturbed +invalid, his twinges of pain and suppressed groans, told her, as they sent +responsive thrills of anguish through her bosom, how much he was suffering +from the motion. To her great relief, however, she now soon reached and +shot into the still waters of the stream, and this trouble, at least, was +over. Here, after passing in out of sight of the lake, she drew up her oar, +and paused to reflect and conclude what should be her next movement; when +Claud, whose head was pillowed in the bow of the boat, and whose eye was +resting tenderly on her downcast countenance, soon read her perplexity, and +again asked to be informed of all that had happened, and the object of her +present movement. She told him,--with such reservations as maidenly modesty +and pride suggested,--she told him all she had seen, and in conclusion +proposed, as their enemy might ambush them, and as it was now drawing +towards night, and the lake would not be quiet enough for some hours, at +least, to permit them to proceed, that they should row up the river till +they found an eligible spot, and encamp for the night. To this Claud +readily assented; and they again set forth up the gentle stream, that, as +before intimated, here came in from the southeast; and, after proceeding +some distance, the anxious eye of the maiden fell on a place on the left +bank, where a temporary shelter could easily be rigged up, under the +wide-spreading and low-set limbs of a thick-topped evergreen, which, of +itself, would be ample protection against the dews of heaven. Drawing up +the canoe on land near the tree, in the same manner as at the island, she +proceeded to gather large quantities of fine hemlock boughs, and dry, +elastic mosses, arrange them under the tree, in the form of bed and pillow, +and over the whole to spread Claud's blanket; thus making a couch as safe +and comfortable as ever received the limbs of a suffering invalid. Upon +this, partly by his own exertions and partly by her assistance, he was +then, without much difficulty, soon transferred from the canoe; when, with +his light hatchet (she having brought all his implements along with him in +the boat), she soon erected neat, closely-woven wicker walls of boughs, +from the ground to the limbs above, on both sides, providing within one of +them a space for herself. She then brought fuel, kindled a small fire in +front, and took her position at his side, to be ready for such ministering +offices as his case might seem to require. She found that he had again +fallen into a profound slumber, which she at first regarded as a favorable +omen; and, in the conscious security of the spot, in the belief that he had +received none of the injuries she had apprehended from the motion of the +boat, and, above all, in the indulgence of that overweening pride of +affection which covets all pains and sacrifices for the loved one, she felt +a satisfaction which was almost happiness, in her situation. But it was not +destined to be of very long duration. She at length began to perceive a +gradual reddening of his cheeks, and then, soon after, an increasing +shortness of respiration, and a general restlessness of the system. Alarmed +at these symptoms, she felt his pulse, and at once discovered that he was +in a high fever, supervening from his wounds, and caused, or much +aggravated, doubtless, by the jostling of the boat on his way hither. +Starting back, as if some unexpected calamity had suddenly fallen upon her, +she stood some minutes absorbed in earnest self-consultation. What should +she do? She could not, dare not, even were it daytime, leave him to go +miles away for her father, or others, for aid or advice. No; she must stay +by him. And, having seen the alleviating effects of cold water in fevers +and inflammations, and knowing that there were no other remedies within +reach, she at once decided on its application. Accordingly, with her cup of +water at her side, and a piece of soft, clean moss in her hand, she began +sponging his face, neck, and the flesh around his wounds; and repeating +this process at short intervals, she continued the tender assiduities, with +only occasional snatches of repose, till the welcome morning light broke +over the forest. She then rose, and, with a miniature camp-kettle found +among her patient's effects, prepared some gruel from the pounded parched +corn which she had brought with her. This he mechanically took from her +hand, when aroused for the purpose, but immediately relapsed again into the +same state of unconsciousness and stupor in which he had lain through the +night. Through the day and night that followed, but little variation was +discernible in his condition, and as little was made in his treatment, by +his fair, anxious nurse. Through the next day and night it was still the +same; but towards night, on the third day after his attack, he began to +show signs of amendment, and before dark his fever had entirely subsided. +Perceiving this, the rejoiced maiden prepared him some more stimulating +nourishment, in the shape of broth made from jerked venison. Having +partaken freely of this, he then, with a whispered "_I am much better, +Fluella_," sank back on his couch, and was soon buried in a sweet and +tranquil slumber. Having carefully adjusted his blanket around him, and +added her own shawl to the covering, and being now once more relieved of +her most pressing fears for his fate, the exhausted girl laid down on her +own rude couch, and, before she was aware, fell into a slumber so deep and +absorbing that she never once awoke till the sun was peering over the +eastern mountains the next morning. Her first waking glance was directed to +the couch of the invalid. It was empty. Starting to her feet, with a +countenance almost wild with concern, she hurriedly ran her eye through the +forest around her; when, with a suppressed exclamation of joyful surprise, +she soon caught sight of his form, slowly making his way back from a short +walk, which he had, on awakening, an hour before, found himself able to +take, along a smooth and level path on the bank of the river. + +But we have not the space, nor even the ability, to portray adequately the +restrained but lively emotions of joy and the charming embarrassment that +thrilled the tumultuously-beating bosom of the one, and the deep gratitude +and silent admiration that took possession of the other, of this singularly +situated young couple, during the succeeding scenes of Claud's now rapid +convalescence. Suffice it to say, that, on the afternoon of the second day +but one from this auspicious morning, they were on their happy way down +through the lakes and the connecting river, to the chief's residence, where +they safely arrived some hours before night, and where they were greeted +with demonstrations of delight which told what anxieties had been suffered +on their account. Here, for the first time, they learned that the murderer +had been taken and carried to the village for his preliminary trial; that +the examination had been postponed, to allow the prisoner time to send for +his counsel; and that the hearing was to commence that very evening, though +the hunter, who had that day made a hurried journey to the chief's, to see +if Fluella had returned or Claud been heard from, had expressed great fears +that the evidence yet discovered might not be deemed sufficient to convict +him of murder, and perhaps not to imprison him for a final trial. Claud, +perceiving at once the importance of Fluella's testimony, as well as of his +own, proposed that they should immediately proceed that evening down the +lakes to the place of trial. But neither the chief nor his daughter would +suffer him to undertake the journey that night. At her earnest suggestion, +however, it was at length arranged that she, accompanied by her +half-brother, a lad of fifteen, should go down that evening, and that the +chief, with Claud, should follow early the next morning. + +In pursuance of this arrangement, the resolute girl and her attendant, as +soon as she had changed her dress and refreshed herself with a meal, +embarked on the lake, and, at the end of the next hour, they reached the +Great Rapids, leading, as before described, down into the Umbagog. Here her +brother, whose eye and ear, ever since they started, had often been turned +suspiciously to a dark, heavy cloud, which, seeming to hang over the upper +portions of the Magalloway, had been continually sending forth peals of +heavy thunder, hesitated about proceeding any farther, and warned his +unheeding sister of their liability of being overtaken by the +thunder-storm. But, finding her determined to proceed, if she was compelled +to do so alone, he yielded, and, landing their canoe at the usual carrying +places, they shot rapidly down the stream, and in less than another hour +came out on the broad Umbagog, just as darkness was beginning to enshroud +its waters, and cut off their view of the distant shores for which they +were destined. But for the light of day they found an ample substitute in +the electric displays, which, lighting up the lake to the blaze of noonday, +were every instant leaping from, the black, angry clouds, now evidently +passing off, with one almost continued roar of reverberating thunders, but +a few miles to the north of them. A rapid row of about three miles now +brought them to the foot of the lake, where the maiden had proposed to +enter the river, and row down it to the swift water, a short distance above +the village, and then proceed by land. Here, however, her course was +unexpectedly impeded by one of those paradoxical occurrences which is +peculiar to the spot, and which often happens on great and sudden rises of +the Magalloway, that, though entering the Androscoggin a mile down its +course, thus becomes higher than the level of the Umbagog, and pours its +surplus waters along up its stream in the channel of the river last named, +with a strong, rushing current into the lake. And our adventurers now found +that masses of tangled trees, mill-logs, and all sorts of flood-wood, were +driving so strongly and thickly up this channel that it would be in vain +for them to attempt to proceed in that direction. But the purpose of the +heroic girl to reach the village, by some means or other, was not to be +thus shaken. She directed the boat to be rowed back to the Elwood Landing, +where, leaving it, she with her attendant took the path to the cottage; and +reaching this, and finding all dark within she boldly led the way down the +long road to the bridge, miles below, with no other light than the still +lingering flashes of lightning afforded to her hurrying footsteps. But it +was not till after an exhausting walk, and some time past midnight, that +she reached the bridge leading over the river to the tavern, where the +trial was proceeding; and then only to encounter another great obstacle to +her progress. On coming up to the bridge, she perceived, with astonishment +and dismay, that one-half of the structure, with the exception of a single +string-piece, the only connection now remaining between the two sides of +the river, had been swept away by the sudden flood, or the revolving trees +it bore on its rushing surface. She also ascertained, from a woman still +up, watching with a sick child, in a house near by, that every boat on that +side the river had been either carried off by the unexpected freshet, or +taken since the bridge went off, by persons still coming in, to get over to +the exciting trial, which, it was understood, would occupy the whole night. +After pausing a moment, the still unshaken maiden borrowed and lighted a +lantern, when, without disclosing her purpose, she left the house and +proceeded directly to the end of the string-piece. She first examined it +carefully, and finding it broad, level, and fixed in its bed, she then +mounted the dizzy beam, and stood for a moment glancing down on the wild +rush of roaring waters beneath. Her movements, to which the light she +carried had attracted attention, were by this time seen and comprehended by +the crowd around the tavern, on the opposite side, who now came rushing to +the other end of the bridge, to deter her from the bold attempt. But she +heeded them not; and in a moment more was seen, with a quick, firm step, +gliding over the awful chasm; in another, she had reached the end, and +stood in safety on the planks beyond,--where she was greeted by the throng, +who had witnessed with amazement the perilous passage, in a shout of +exultation at her escape, that rose loud and wild above the roar of the +waters around them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + + "So those two voices met; so Joy and Death + Mingled their accents; and, amidst the rush + Of many thoughts, the listening poet cried, + O! thou art mighty, thou art wonderful, + Mysterious Nature! Not in thy free range + Of woods and wilds alone, thou blendest thus + The dirge note and the song of festival; + But in one _heart_, one changeful human heart,-- + Ay, and within one hour of that strange world,-- + Thou call'st their music forth, with all its tones + To startle and to pierce!--the dying Swan's, + And the glad Sky-lark's,--Triumph and Despair!" + +Our tale is running rapidly to a close, and we must no more loiter to +gather flowers by the wayside, but depict the events which now come thickly +crowding together to make up the mingled catastrophe. + +When the sheriff and his scores of exulting assistants reached the village +with their prisoner,--the desperate villain, whom they had, with so much +difficulty and danger, dislodged and seized in his rocky den in the +mountains,--the latter requested a postponement of his examination till the +afternoon of the next day, that he might have time to send for, and obtain, +his lawyer. This request was the more readily granted, as the party sent up +the lakes with Moose-killer, for more evidence, had not yet returned, and +as their expected discoveries, or at least their presence with those +already made, might and would be required to fasten the crime, in law, on +the undoubted criminal. The court, therefore, was adjourned to an +indefinite hour the next afternoon; and the crowd, except the court, its +officers, and those from a distance, dispersed to assemble, the next day, +with increased numbers, to witness the final disposal of one who had now +become, in the minds of all, the monster outlaw of the settlement. The +prisoner was then taken to an adjoining old and empty log-house, a +straw-bed laid on the floor for him, and a strong guard placed over him, +both within and around the house without; so that, being constantly under +the eyes of vigilant, well-armed men, there should be no possibility of his +escape, either by his own exertions, or by the aid of secret accomplices. +And these precautions being faithfully observed, the night wore away +without alarm, or any kind of disturbance. The fore part of the succeeding +day also passed, though people soon began to pour into the village from all +quarters, with singular quietness,--all seeming to be oppressed with that +deep feeling of hushed expectation which may often be seen to predispose +men to a sort of restless silence, on the known eve of an exciting event. +And, through the whole of it, no incident or circumstance transpired +affecting the great interest of the occasion, till about noon; when the +news spread that the anxiously-awaited party from the upper lakes were +approaching. As they came up to the tavern, the now excited crowd quickly +closed around them, and eagerly listened to their report. Of Claud Elwood, +whom they had unknowingly passed and repassed, on their way up and down the +lakes, while he was lying helpless in the secluded retreat to which his +fair and devoted preserver had conveyed him, they had heard nothing, seen +nothing, and discovered no clues by which his locality or fate could be +traced or conjectured. But they had visited, and carefully examined, the +place pointed out by Moose-killer as the one where Mark Elwood was supposed +to have been slain; and, although they had failed to find the body on the +land, or in the lake, with the best means they could command for dragging +it, and although time had measurably effaced the traces by which the +sagacious Indian had judged of the suspected deed, yet every appearance +went to confirm the strict accuracy of his previous account. And, in +addition, they at last found, slightly imbedded in the bark of a tree, in +the range of the path, and a short distance to the south of the spot, a +rifle bullet, which had evidently been, before striking the tree, smeared +with a bloody substance, and also slightly flattened, as it might naturally +have been, in striking a bone, on its way through a man's body. This seemed +to establish, as a fact, the commission of a murder; but on whom committed +was still left a debatable question. The movers of the prosecution had +hoped, through this mission up the lakes, to obtain evidence which would +conclusively establish the guilt of the prisoner. But, to effect this, and +thus insure his conviction, something more conclusive was still obviously +wanting. And it was then that the indefatigable hunter made, as the reader +has already been apprised, his last rapid but fruitless journey to the +chief's residence, in the hope that his mysteriously absent daughter might +have returned with discoveries that would complete the chain of evidence. +He having come back, however, without accomplishing any part of his object, +and the prisoner's counsel having arrived, and, after a consultation with +his client, become strangely clamorous to proceed at once to the +examination, they finally concluded to go into the hearing with the +presumptive evidence in possession, and, backing it with the showing of +Gaut's previously suspicious character, for which they were now well +prepared, call themselves willing to abide the result. All this being now +settled, the court was declared open, and the counsel for the prosecution +was requested to proceed with the case. + +After the attorney for the prosecution had read the papers on which it was +founded, and made a statement of what was expected to be proved in its +support, the witnesses in that behalf were called and sworn. The first +testimony introduced was that of Codman and others, to show the deep malice +and implied threats of revenge which the prisoner had so clearly exhibited +towards the supposed murdered man, in the prosecution of which the latter +was a principal mover, the winter before. But this evidence, when sifted by +the long and severe cross-examination that followed, and found to consist, +instead of definite words, almost wholly of menacing looks and other silent +demonstrations of rage, which are ever extremely difficult to bring out in +words with their original effect, amounted to so little that the prisoner's +counsel attempted to turn it into ridicule with considerable show of +success. Testimony in relation to the canoe of the Elwoods, recently found +washed up among the rapids, which was next introduced, was found, when +tested in the same way, in despite of the opinions of the practical boatmen +who were the witnesses, to be almost equally inconclusive of the prisoner's +guilt; so much so, indeed, that his counsel seemed greatly inclined to +appropriate it, as showing the probable manner in which the Elwoods, if +they were not still both alive, had come to their end. + +By this time,--as the court of inquiry was not opened till nearly sunset, +and as the examinations, cross-examinations, and preliminary speeches of +the opposing counsel, on disputed points of evidence, had been drawn out to +seemingly almost interminable lengths,--by this time, it was nearly +midnight; and the prosecuting party now proposed an adjournment till +morning. But this was strenuously opposed by Gaut's lawyer, who, affecting +to believe that the whole affair was a malicious prosecution growing out of +the suit last winter, and got up by certain men who had banded together to +revenge their defeat on that occasion, and ruin his client, boldly demanded +that the prisoner should be discharged, or his conspiring enemies be +compelled to proceed at once with "their sham prosecution," as he put on +the face to call it. + +This stand, which was obviously instigated by the prisoner himself, who +narrowly watched the proceedings, and, from time to time, was seen +whispering in the ear of his counsel, produced the desired effect: the +motion was overruled, and the counsel for the prosecution told to go on +with his evidence. + +Moose-killer was then called on to the witnesses' stand, when, for the +first time, Gaut exhibited evident feigns of uneasiness, and whispered +something in the ear of his counsel, who thereupon rose and went into a +labored argument against the admissibility of the evidence of an Indian, +who was a pagan, and knew nothing about the God whose invocation +constituted the sacred effect of the oath he had taken. But, on the +questioning of the court, Moose-killer declared his full belief in the +white Christian's God and Bible, and this objection was overruled, and the +witness requested to proceed with his story. + +The demure Indian, unmoved by the burning and vengeful eye of Gaut, which +was kept constantly riveted upon him, then succinctly but clearly related +all the facts, of which the reader has been apprised in the preceeding +pages, in relation to the atrocious deed under investigation. And at the +conclusion of his story he produced the bullet found imbedded in the tree, +called attention to its smeared and flattened appearance, and then asked +for the prisoner's rifle, to see whether it would fit in the bore. The +rifle in question was then brought into court, the bullet applied to the +muzzle, and pronounced an exact fit! A shout of exultation burst from the +crowd, and in a tone so significant of the public feeling, and of their +unanimous opinion on this point, that for a moment both the prisoner and +his counsel were completely disconcerted. But, soon rallying, the latter +started to his feet, and, having summoned back to its place his usual +quantum of brass, demanded "the privilege of just looking at that rifle +they were all making such a fuss about." It was accordingly handed to him; +when, after noticing the size of the bore, which was a common one, and then +glancing at some other rifles held in the hands of different spectators, he +confidently requested that the first half-dozen rifles to be found among +the crowd should be brought on to the stand. Five of the designated number +were soon gathered and brought forward; and it was found, in the +comparison, that three of them were of the same bore as that of Gaut, and +that the ball in question would fit one as well as another. + +"There! what has become of your bullet evidence now?" sneeringly exclaimed +the exulting attorney. "Wondrous conclusive, a'n't it? But, as weak as the +whole story is, I will make it still weaker. It is my turn with you now, my +foxy red friend," he added, settling back in his seat to commence his +cross-examination. + +His vaunted cross-examination, however, resulted in giving him no +advantage. The Indian could not be made, in the whole hour the brow-beating +inquisitor devoted to him, either to cross himself or vary a single +statement of his direct testimony, and he was petulantly ordered to leave +the stand. + +"Not done talk yet," said Moose-killer, lingering, and glancing inquiringly +to the court and the counsel for the prosecution. "More story me tell yet." + +Gaut's lawyer looked up doubtfully to the witness; but, thinking he must +have told all he could to implicate the prisoner, and that any thing now +added might show discrepancies, of which some advantage could be taken, +remained silent, and, for once, interposed no objection to letting the +Indian take his own course; when the latter, on receiving an encouraging +intimation to speak from the other attorney, proceeded, in his peculiarly +broken but graphic manner, to make in substance the following extraordinary +revelation: + +About ten years ago (he said), there came, from what part nobody knew, a +strange, questionable personage, into the neighborhood of a few families of +St. Francois Indians, encamping for the hunting season around the +head-water lakes of the Long River, as he termed the Connecticut, and went +to trapping for sable and beaver. But he soon fell into difficulties with +the Indians, who believed he robbed their traps; and with one family in +particular he had a fierce and bitter altercation. This family had a small +child, that began to ramble from the wigwam out into the woods, and that, +one night, failed to come home. They suspected who had got it, and next day +followed the trail to the man's camp; when they soon found where the child +had been butchered, cut up, and used to bait his sable-traps! But the +monster, becoming alarmed, had fled, and never afterwards could be found. + +With this, Moose-killer, who had evidently put his story in this shape to +avoid interruption, suddenly paused, and then, with one hand raised +imploringly towards the court and the other stretched out menacingly +towards the prisoner, wildly exclaimed: + +"O, that was _my_ child! and this was the man who murdered it!" + +A thrill of horror ran through the crowd as the witness came to the +conclusion of his revolting story. And so completely were all taken by +surprise by the startling, and as most of them believed truthful, +revelation, and so great was the sensation produced by the appalling +atrocities it disclosed, that the proceedings of the court were for some +moments brought to a dead stand. But soon the shrill, harsh voice of Gaut's +lawyer was heard rising above the buzz of the excited crowd, and bursting +in a storm of denunciation and abuse on the witness, and all those who had +a hand in bringing him forward, to thrust in, against all rule, such a +story,--which, if true, had no more to do with the prosecution now in +progress than the first chapter of the Alcoran. But it was not true. It was +a monstrous fabrication. It represented as a fact what never occurred in +all Christendom. It was stamped with falsehood on the face of it; and not +only spoke for itself as such, but was a virtual self-impeachment of the +witness, whose whole testimony the court should now throw to the winds. And +so, for the next half-hour, he went on, ranting and raving, till the court, +interposing, assured him that the witness' last story would not be treated +as testimony in the case; when he became pacified, and took his seat. + +The counsel on the other side, who, during his opponent's explosive display +of rhetorical gas and brimstone, had been holding an earnest consultation +with Phillips (now also at hand with a disclosure which had been reserved +for the present moment), then calmly rose, and said he had a statement to +make, which he stood ready to substantiate, and to which he respectfully +asked the attention of the court, as a matter that should be taken into the +account in considering the prisoner's guilt in the present case, it being +one of the many offences that appeared to have marked his career of almost +unvarying crime and iniquity. He was well aware of the _general_ rule of +evidence, which excludes matters not directly connected with the point at +issue; but there _were_ cases in which that rule often had, and necessarily +ever must be, materially varied,--as in the _crim. con._ cases reported in +the books, where previous like acts were admitted, to show the probability +of the commission of the one charged, and also in cases like the present, +resting, as he admitted it thus far did, on presumptive evidence. In this +view, notwithstanding all that had been said or intimated, he believed the +concluding testimony of the last witness proper to be considered in +balancing the presumptions of the prisoner's guilt or innocence. And +especially relevant did he deem the statement, and the introduction of the +evidence he had at hand to substantiate it, which he had now risen to +offer. But, even were it otherwise, it would soon be seen that the step he +was about to take would be particularly suitable to be taken while the +court and the officers of justice were together, and the prisoner under +their control. With these preliminary remarks, he would now proceed with +the statement he had proposed. + +"This man," continued the attorney (whom we will now report in the first +person), "the man who stands here charged, and, in the minds of nine out of +ten of all present, I fearlessly affirm, _justly_ charged, with a murder, +to the deliberate atrocity of which scarce a parallel can be found in the +world's black catalogue of crime,--this man, I say, is a felon-refugee from +British justice. + +"Many years ago,--as some here present may know, as a matter of history,--a +secret and somewhat extended conspiracy to subvert the government of Lower +Canada was seasonably discovered and crushed at Quebec, which was its +principal seat, and which, according to the plan of the conspirators, was +to be the first object of assault and seizure. This was to be effected by +the contemporaneous rising of a strong force within the city, headed by a +bold adventurer, a bankrupt merchant from Rhode Island, and of an army of +raftsmen, collected from the rivers, without, led on by a reckless and +daring, half-Scotch, half-Indian Canadian, who had acquired great influence +over that restless and ruffian class of men. The former had been in the +province in the year before, and, from witnessing the popular disaffection +then rampant from the enforcement of an odious act of their Parliament to +compel the building of roads, had, with the instigation of such desperate +fellows as the latter, his Canadian accomplice, conceived this plot, and +had now come on, with a small band of recruits, to carry it into execution; +when, as all was nearly ripe for the outbreak, the whole plot was +discovered. The poor Yankee leader was seized, tried for high treason, +condemned to death, and strung up by the neck from the walls of Quebec. +[Footnote: See Christie's History of Lower Canada] But the more wary and +fortunate Canadian leader, though tenfold more guilty, escaped into the +wilderness, this side of the British line; lingered a year or two in this +region, trapping and robbing the Indians; then took to smuggling; engaged +in the service of the man whose murder we are now investigating, followed +him to the city, nearly ruined him there, and then dogged him to this +settlement to complete his destruction." + +"Who do you mean?" thundered Gaut Gurley. + +"Ask your own conscience," replied the attorney, fearlessly confronting the +prisoner. + +"'Tis false as hell!" rejoined Gaut, with a countenance convulsed with +rage. + +"No, you mistake,--it is as true as hell," promptly retorted the other; +"or, rather, as true as there is one for such wretches as you. Mr. +Phillips," he added, turning to the hunter, who stood a little in the +background, with his rifle poised on his left arm, with an air of +carelessness, but, as a close inspection would have shown, so grasped by +his right hand, held down out of sight, as to enable him to bring it to an +instant aim,--"Mr. Phillips, were you in the habit of going to Quebec, fall +and spring, to dispose of your peltries, about the time of this plotted +insurrection?" + +"I was." + +"Did you ever have the Canada leader I have spoken of pointed out to you, +previous to the outbreak?" + +"Often, on going down the Chaudiere river, often; why, I knew him by sight +as well as the devil knows his hogs!" + +"Did you afterwards see and identify him in this region?" + +"I did." + +"Is not, then, all I have stated true; and is not the prisoner, here, the +man?" + +"All as true as the Gospel of St. Mark; and that _is_ the man, the very +man; under the oath of God, I swear it!" + +During this brief but terribly pointed dialogue, Gaut Gurley,--whose +handcuffs, on his complaint that they galled his wrists, had been removed +after he came into court,--sat watching Phillips with that same singularly +sinister expression which we have, on one or two previous occasions, tried +to describe him as exhibiting. It was a certain indescribable, whitish, +lurid light, flashing and quivering over his countenance, that made the +beholder involuntarily recoil. And, as the last words were uttered, his +hand was seen covertly stealing up under the lapel of his coat; but it was +instantly arrested and dropped, at the sharp click of the cocking of the +hunter's rifle, which was also seen stealing up to his shoulder. + +"Nonsense!" half audibly said the sheriff, to something which, during the +bustle and sensation following these manifestations, the hunter had been +whispering in his ear; "nonsense! I searched him myself, and _know_ there +is nothing of the kind about him." + +"I am not so sure about that," responded the hunter, edging along through +the crowd, with his eye still on the prisoner, and soon disappearing out of +the door. + +This little judicial interlude in the remarks of the attorney being over, +he resumed: + +"My statement having been thus corroborated, and, as I am most happy to +find, without any of the expected interruptions, it now only remains for me +to say, that this indefatigable Mr. Phillips, becoming perfectly convinced +that the prisoner was a man of whom it was a patriotic duty to rid the +settlement, has, within the last two months, made a journey into Canada; +obtained a written official request from the governor-general, addressed to +the governor of New Hampshire, for the delivery of Gaut Gurley, at the time +when, on notice, the proper officers would be in waiting to receive him; +that our governor has responded by issuing his warrant; which," he +continued, drawing out a document, "I now, in this presence, deliver to the +sheriff, to be served, but only served, in case we fail--as I do not at all +anticipate--to secure the commitment and final conviction of the prisoner, +on the flagitious offence now under investigation, and loudly demanding +expiation under our own violated laws, in preference to delivering him up +for the punishment of other and less crying felonies." + +The prisoner and his counsel, on this new and unexpected development, held +an earnest whispered consultation. The latter had supposed, till almost the +last moment, that his opponent was intending only to bring in another piece +of what he deemed wholly irrelevant testimony, in the shape of another +gone-by transaction; and he was preparing another storm of wrath for the +judicial outrage. But, when he found that the statement was a preliminary +to a different and more alarming movement, and especially when he saw +placed in the sheriff's hands a warrant for delivering up his client to the +British, to be tried for a former felony, from the punishment of which, he +feared, from what he had just heard, there would be no escape, he was sadly +nonplussed, and knew not which way to turn himself. And it was not until +Gaut, who, though thus suddenly brought into a dilemma which he was little +expecting, was yet at no loss to decide on his course,--that of making +every possible effort to escape the more immediate pending danger, and then +of trusting to chance for eluding the more remote one just brought to +view,--it was not till Gaut, with assurances of the last being but a +miserable, trumped-up affair, had pushed and goaded him up to action, that +the dumbfounded attorney recovered his old confidence. He then straightened +back in his seat, and, with the air of one who has meekly borne some +imposition, or breach of privilege, till it can be borne no longer, turned +gruffly to his opponent, and said: + +"Well, sir, having dragged every thing into this case except what +legitimately belongs to it, I want to know if you are through, _now_? We, +on our side, have no need of introducing testimony to meet any thing you +have yet been able to show. Why, you have not even established the first +essential fact to be settled in prosecutions for homicide. You have +arraigned my client for killing a man, and yet have shown nobody killed! +No, _we_ shall introduce no witnesses till the body of the alleged murdered +man is produced; for, till then, no court on earth--But I am not making a +speech, and will not anticipate. All I intended was, to ask, as I do again, +are you through with your evidence _now_?" + +The attorney for the prosecution then admitted--rather prematurely, as it +was soon seen--that he thought of nothing more which he wished to +introduce. + +"Go on with your opening speech, then," resumed the former. + +"No," said the other, "I waive my privilege of the opening and close, and +will only claim the closing speech." + +"O, very well, sir," said Gaut's lawyer, throwing a surprised and +suspicious look around, as if to see whether some trap was not involved in +this unexpected waiver of the usually claimed privilege. "Very well; don't +blame you; shouldn't think you could find honest materials even for one +speech." + +The hard-faced attorney, who was reputed one of the best of what are +sometimes termed _devil's lawyers_, in all that part of the country, then +consequentially gathered up his minutes of the testimony, glanced over +them, and, clearing his throat, commenced his great final speech, which was +to annihilate his opponent, and quash the whole proceedings of the +prosecution. But he had scarcely spoken ten words, before a tremendous +shout, rising somewhere in the direction of the bridge,--to which their +attention had been before called, when a part of it had been swept away +during the first hours of the night,--broke and reverberated into the room, +bringing him to an instant stand. Feeling that something extraordinary had +occurred, the startled court, parties and spectators, alike paused, and +eagerly listened for something further to explain the sudden outbreak. But, +for several minutes, all was still, or hushed down to the low hum of +mingling voices, and not a distinct, intelligible sound reached their +expectant senses. Soon, however, the noise of trampling feet and the rush +of crowds was heard, and perceived to be rapidly approaching the door of +the court-room. And the next moment the clear, loud voice of the now +evidently excited hunter was heard exultantly ringing out the announcement: + +"A witness, a new witness! A witness that saw the very deed!" + +This sudden and exciting announcement of an occurrence which had been hoped +for, in some shape, on one side, and feared on the other, but, at this late +hour of the night, little expected by either, at once threw all within the +crowded courtroom into bustle and commotion. Both parties to the +prosecution were consequently taken by surprise; and both, though neither +of them were yet apprised of the character of the witness, were aroused and +agitated by the significant announcement. But, of all present, none seemed +so much stirred as the obdurate prisoner, who had, thus far in the +examination, scarcely once wholly lost his usual look of bold assurance, +but who now was seen casting rapid, uneasy, and evidently troubled glances +towards the door; doubtless expecting, each moment, to see the fear which +had haunted him from the first--that Claud Elwood would turn up alive, and +appear in court against him--realized in the person of the new witness. His +lawyer also, appeared to be seized with similar apprehensions; and, the +next moment, he was heard loudly demanding the attention of the court. He +objected, he _pointedly_ objected, he _protested_, in advance, against the +admission of further testimony. He had borne _every thing_ during the +hearing, but could not bear _this_. The pleas were closed, and the case +concluded against the introduction of new evidence; and that, too, by the +express notice and agreement of the counsel for the prosecution. And now to +open it would be in glaring violation of all rule, all law, and all +precedent. In short, it would be an outrage too gross to be tolerated +anywhere but in a land of despotism. And, if the court would not at once +decide to exclude the threatened testimony, he must be heard at length on +the subject. + +But the court declining so to decide, and intimating that they were willing +to hear an argument on the point, of any reasonable length, he spread +himself for the wordy onset. The sheriff--who, in the mean time, had +started for the door to make an opening in the crowd for the expected +entrance,--seeing that a long speech was in prospect, now went out, +conducted the proffered witness, in waiting near by, to another room in the +house to remain there till called; and then returned, and, in a low tone, +made some communication to the court. + +The pertinacious lawyer then went on with his heated protest, as it might +be called far more properly than an argument, to the length of nearly an +hour. The calm, manly, and cogent reply of his opponent occupied far less +time, but obtained far more favor with the sitting magistrates; who, after +a short consultation among themselves, unanimously decided to hear the +proposed evidence, and thereupon ordered the sheriff to conduct the witness +at once into court. + +A breathless silence now ensued in the court-room, and every eye was +involuntarily turned towards the door. In a few minutes the sheriff closely +followed, by two females, made his appearance and cleared his way up to the +stand that had been occupied by the witnesses. No names had been announced, +and both the ladies were veiled, so that their faces could not be seen in +the dusky apartment, lighted only by two dim candles, made dimmer, +seemingly, by the morning twilight, then beginning to steal through the +windows, and to produce that dismal and almost sickening hue peculiar to +the equal mingling of the natural light of day with the artificial light of +lamp or taper. And it was not consequently known, except to one or two +individuals, who they were; but enough was seen, in the enlarged form and +sober tread of the one, and in the rounded, trim figure and elastic step of +the other, to show the former to be a middle-aged matron, and the latter a +youthful maiden. Each was garbed in rich black silk, to which were added, +in the one case, some of the usual emblems of mourning, and in the other, a +few simple, tastily contrasted, light trimmings. + +"What are these ladies' names? or rather, first, I will ask, which of them +is the witness?" said the leading magistrate. + +"I am, I suppose," said the maiden, in tones as soft and tremulous as the +lightly-touched chord of some musical instrument, as she threw back her +veil, and disclosed a beauty of features and sweetness of countenance that +at once raised a buzz of admiration through the room. + +"Your name, young lady?" + +"Fluella, sir; and this lady at my side is Mrs. Mark Elwood, who comes only +as my friend." + +"You understand the usages of courts, I conclude; and, if so, will now +receive the oath, and go on to tell what you know relative to the crime for +which, you have doubtless heard, the prisoner here is arraigned." + +At once raising her hand, she was sworn, and proceeded directly to state +that part of the transaction she had witnessed on the lake, which the +hunter, in the conversation she found means to have with him while waiting +to be taken into court, had advised her was all that would be important as +evidence in the case. + +Gaut Gurley, the alarmed prisoner, who at first had appeared greatly +relieved on finding that the announced witness was not the reanimated young +Elwood, as he had feared, now seemed utterly at fault to conjecture what +either of these women could know of his crime. But the moment the maiden, +whom he had seen the previous year, and regarded with jealous dislike, as +the possible rival of his daughter, revealed herself to his view, his looks +grew dark and suspicious; and when she commenced by mentioning, as she did +at the outset, that she was on a boat excursion along the western shore of +the Maguntic, on the well-remembered day when he consummated his long +cherished atrocity, he seemed to comprehend the drift of what was coming, +and his eyes fastened on her with the livid glare of a tiger; while those +demoniac flashes, before noted as the usual percursor of hellish intent +with him, began to burn up and play over his contracting countenance. + +But these suspicious indications had escaped the notice of all,--even of +the watchful hunter, whose looks, with those of the rest, were for the +moment hanging, with intense interest, on the speaking lips of the fair +witness. And she proceeded uninterrupted, till, having described the +position in the thicket on shore, in which she was standing, as Mark +Elwood, followed by Gaut Gurley, both of whom she recognized, came along, +she, nerving herself for the task, raised her voice, and said: + +"I distinctly saw Mr. Elwood fall, convulsed in death,--heard the fatal +shot, and instantly traced it to Gaut, before he had taken his smoking +rifle from his shoulder,--this same man who now--" + +When, as she was uttering the last words, and turning to the prisoner, she +stopped short, recoiled, and uttered a loud shriek of terror. And, the next +instant, the deafening report of a pistol burst from the corner where the +prisoner was sitting, filling the room with smoke, and bringing every man +to his feet, in the amazement and alarm that seized all at the sudden +outbreak. + +There was a dead pause for a moment; and then was heard the sudden rush of +men, the sharp, brief struggle, and the heavy fall of the grappled +prisoner, as he was borne overpowered to the floor. + +"Thank God!" exclaimed the hunter, the first to reach the bewildered +maiden, and ascertain what had befell from this fiendish attempt to take +her life simply because she was instrumental in bringing a wretch to +justice,--"thank God, she is unhurt! The bullet has only cut the dress on +her side, and passed into the wall beyond." + +"Order in court!" sternly cried the head magistrate. "It is enough! Mr. +Phillips, conduct these ladies to some more suitable apartment. We wish for +no more proof. The prisoner's guilt is already piled mountain-high. We +commit him to your hands, Mr. Sheriff. Within one hour, let him be on his +way to Lancaster jail, there to await his final trial and doom, for one of +the foulest murders that ever blasted the character of human kind!" + +We will not attempt to describe, in detail, the lively and bustling scene, +which, for the next hour or two, now ensued in and around the tavern, that +had lately been the unaccustomed theatre of so many new and startling +developments. The running to and fro of the excited and jubilant throng of +men, women, and children, who, in their anxiety to witness and know the +result of the trial, had passed the whole night in the place,--the +partaking of the hastily snatched breakfast, in the tavern, by some, or on +logs or bunches of shingles in the yard, by others, from provisions brought +along with them, from home,--the hurried harnessing of horses and running +out of wagons, preparatory to the departure of those here with the usual +vehicles of travel,--the resounding blows and lumbering sounds of the score +of lusty men who had volunteered to replace and repair the bridge from the +old materials luckily thrown on the bank a short distance down the stream, +so as to permit the departing teams, going in that direction, to pass +safely over,--and, lastly, the bringing out, the placing on his bed of +straw in the bottom of a wagon, and the moving off of the caged lion, with +his cavalcade of guards before and behind,--the fiercely exultant hurrahing +of the execrating crowd, as he disappeared up the road to the west, +together with the crowning, extra loud and triumphant _kuk-kuk-ke-o-ho!_ of +Comical Codman, who had mounted a tall stump for the purpose, and made the +preliminary declaration that, if he was _ever_ to have another crow, it +should be now, on seeing the Devil's unaccountable and first cousin, to say +the least, in relationship, so handsomely cornered, and, at last so +securely put in limbo,--these, all these combined to form a scene as +stirring to the view, as it was replete with moral picturesque to the mind. +But we must content ourself with this meagre outline; another and a +different, quickly succeeding scene in the shifting panorama, now demands +our attention. + +Among the crowd who had arranged themselves in rows, to witness the +departure of the court officials and the prisoner, were the two now +inseparable friends, Mrs. Elwood and Fluella; who, on turning from the +spectacle, had strolled, arm-in-arm, to a green, shaded grass-plot at the +farther end of the tavern building, and were now, with pensive but +interested looks, bending over the garden fence, and inspecting a small +parterre of budding flowers, which female taste had, even in a place so +lately redeemed from the forest as this, found means to introduce. They +were lingering here, while others were departing, for the arrival of +expected friends, though evidently not conscious of their very near +approach. But even then, as they stood listlessly gazing over upon the mute +objects of their interest, those friends were coming across the bridge, in +the singularly contrasted forms of an aged man, walking without any staff, +and with a firm elastic tread, and quite a youngerly one, walking +_with_ a cane, and with careful steps and a restrained gait, betokening +some lingering soreness of body or limb. On reaching the nearest part of +the tavern-yard, the young man gazed eagerly round among the still numerous +crowd, when, his eye falling on those of whom he seemed to be in search, he +turned to his companion and said: + +"There they are, Chief, I will go forward and take them by surprise." + +The next moment he was standing closely behind the unconscious objects of +his attention; when, with a smiling lip but silent tongue, he gently laid a +hand on a shoulder of each. + +"Claud!" burst from the lips of the surprised and reddening maiden, the +first to turn to the welcome intruder. + +"Claud! Claud!" exclaimed the agitated matron, as she also turned, in +grateful surprise, to greet, for the first time since his return, her +heart's idol. "My son! my son!" she continued, with gathering emotion, +"are you indeed restored alive to my arms, and, but for you, my now +doubly desolate home? Thank Heaven! O thank Heaven! for the happy, happy +restoration!" + +"That is right, dear mother!" at length responded the visibly touched young +man, gently disengaging himself from the long maternal embrace; "that is +all right. But," he added, turning to the maiden, whose sympathetic tears +were coursing down her fair cheeks, "if you would thank any _earthly_ +being for the preservation of my life, it should be this good and lovely +girl at your side." + +"I know it," said the mother, after a thoughtful pause, "I know it; and, +Claud, I would that she were _indeed_ my daughter." + +There was an embarrassing pause. But the embarrassment was not perceived +and felt by these two young persons alone. Another, unknown to them, had +silently witnessed the whole interview from an open, loosely-curtained +window of the chamber above; and perceived, and felt, and appreciated, all +that had transpired, in word and look, no less keenly than the young +couple, whose beating hearts, only, were measuring the moments of their +silent perplexity. That other was Gaut Gurley's lovely and luckless but +strong-hearted daughter. Having instinctively read her father's guilt, she +had come to his trial with a sinking heart; shut herself up alone in this +small chamber; so arranged the screening curtains that she could sit by the +open window unseen, and kept her post through that long night of her silent +woe, hearing all that was said by the crowd below, and, through their +comments, becoming apprised of all that was going on in the court-room, in +the order it transpired. She had known of Fluella's arrival,--her perilous +passage over the river,--of the report she then made to the hunter of her +discoveries,--of her bringing back the wounded Claud in safety,--of the +dastardly attempt of the prisoner to take that heroic girl's life,--of his +sentence, and, finally, of his departure for prison, amidst the execrations +of a justly indignant people. She had known all this, and felt it, to the +inmost core of her rent heart, with the twofold anguish of a broken-hearted +lover and a fate-smitten daughter. She had wrestled terribly with her own +heart, and she had conquered. She had determined her destiny; and now, on +witnessing the last part of the tender scene enacting under her window, she +suddenly formed the high resolve of crowning her self-immolation by a +public sacrifice. + +Accordingly she hastily rose from her seat, and, without thought or care of +toilet, descended rapidly to the yard, and, with hurrying step and looks +indicative of settled purpose, moved directly towards the deeply surprised +actors in the little scene, of which she had thus been made the involuntary +witness. + +"No ceremony!" she said, in tones of unnatural calmness, with a forbidding +gesture to Claud, who, while Fluella was instinctively shrinking to the +side of the more unmoved but still evidently disturbed Mrs. Elwood, had +advanced a step for a respectful greeting. "No ceremony--it is needless; +and no fears, fair girl, and anxious mother--they are without cause. I come +not to mar, but to make, happiness. Claud Elwood, my heart once opened and +turned to you, as the sunflower to its god; and our paths of love met, and, +for a while, ran on pleasantly together as one. But, even then, something +whispered me they would soon again diverge, and lead off to separate +destinies. The boded divergence, as I feared, began with the fatal family +feud of last winter, and has now resulted, as I still more feared, in +plunging us, respectively, in degradation and sorrow, and also in placing +our destinies as wide as the poles asunder. Claud, Claud Elwood,--can you +love this beautiful girl at your side? You speak not. I _know_ that you +can. I relinquish, then, whatever I may have possessed of your heart, to +her, if _she_ wills. And why should she not? Why reject one whose life she +would peril her own to save? She will not. Be you two, then, one; and may +all the earthly happiness _I_ once dreamed of, with none of the bitter +alloy it has been my lot to experience, be henceforth yours. You will know +me no more. With to-morrow's sun, I travel to a distant cloister, where the +world, with its tantalizing loves and dazzling ambitions, will be nothing +more to me forever. Farewell, Claud! farewell, gentle, heroic maiden! +farewell, afflicted, happy mother! If the prayers of Avis Gurley have +virtue, their first incense shall rise for the healing of all the +heart-wounds one of her family has inflicted." + +As the fair speaker ceased, and turned away from this doubtless unspeakably +painful performance of what she deemed her last worldly duty, as well as an +acceptable opening act in the life of penance to which she had resolved now +to devote herself, an audible murmur of applause ran through the throng, +who, in spite of their wish not to appear intrusive, had paused at a little +distance, to listen to and witness the unexpected and singular scene. Among +the voices which had been thus more distinctly raised was that of a +stranger, who, having arrived a few minutes before, given his horse to the +waiter, shook hands with the hunter and the chief, to whom he appeared well +known, had joined the crowd to see what was going on, and who had been +particularly emphatic in the open expression of his admiration. The +remembered tones of his voice, though attracting no attention from others, +instantly reached the quick ears of one of the more silent actors of the +little scene we have been describing. She threw a quick, eager glance +around her; and, having soon singled out from the now scattering crowd, the +person of whom her sparkling eye seemed in search, she flew forward towards +him, with the joyful cry: + +"My father! my white father! I am glad, O, so glad you have come!" and she +eagerly grasped his outstretched hand, shook it, kissed him, and, being now +relieved from the embarrassment she had keenly felt in the position in +which she had just been so unexpectedly placed, appeared to be all joy and +animation. + +"Come, come, Fluella, don't shake my arm off, nor bother me now with +questions," laughingly said the gentleman, thus affectionately beset, as he +pulled the joyous girl along towards the spot where the wondering Mrs. +Elwood and her son were standing. "You must not quite monopolize me; here +are others who may wish to see me." + +"Arthur!" exclaimed Mrs. Elwood, with a look of astonishment, after once or +twice parting her lips to speak, and then pausing, as if in doubt, as the +other was coming up with his face too much averted to be fairly seen by +her; "it is--it is--Arthur Elwood!" + +"Yes, you are right, sister Alice," responded the hard-visaged little man +thus addressed, extending his hand. "It is the same odd stick of an old +bachelor that he always was. But who is this?" he added, with an +inclination of the head towards Claud. "Your son, I suppose?" + +The formal introduction to each other of the (till then) personally +unacquainted uncle and nephew; the full developing to the astonished mother +and son of the fact, already inferred from what they had just witnessed, +that this, their eccentric kinsman, was no other than the foster-father of +Fluella,--that he was the owner of large tracts of the most valuable wild +lands around these lakes, the oversight of which, together with the +unexpected tutelary care of the Elwood family since their removal to the +settlement, he had intrusted to the prudent and faithful Phillips,--and, +finally, the melancholy mingling of sorrows for the untimely death of the +fated brother, husband, and father of these deeply-sympathizing +co-relatives, now, like chasing lights and shadows from alternating +sunshine and cloud on a landscape, followed in rapid succession, in +unfolding to the mournfully happy circle their mutual positions and bonds +of common interest. + +"Evil has its antidotes," remarked Arthur Elwood, as the conversation on +these subjects began to flag and give room for other thoughts growing out +of the association; "evil has its antidotes, and sorrow its alleviating +joys. And especially shall we realize this, if the suggestions of that +self-sacrificing girl, who has just addressed you so feelingly, be now +followed. What say you, Claud?" + +"They will be," promptly responded the young man, at once comprehending all +which the significant question involved; "they will be, on my part, uncle +Arthur, joyfully,--proudly." + +"And you, Fluella?" persisted the saucy querist, turning to the blushing +girl. + +"He has not asked me yet," she quickly replied, with a look in which maiden +pride, archness, and unuttered happiness, were charmingly blended. "If he +should, and _you_ should command me"-- + +"Command? _command_! Now, that is a good one, Fluella," returned the +laughing foster-father. "Well, well, a woman will be a woman still, any way +you can fix it. All right, however, I presume. But, chief," he added, +turning to the natural father, who stood with the hunter a little in the +background, "what has been going on here cannot have escaped your keen +observation; and you ought to have a voice in this matter. What do +_you_ say?" + +"The chief," replied the other, with his usual dignity, "the chief has had +one staff, one light of his lodge; he will now have two. Wenongonet is +content." + +"It is settled, then," rejoined the former, whose usually passionless +countenance was now beaming with pleasure; "all right, all round. Now, +sister Alice, let us all adjourn to your house, where you and Fluella, from +some of those splendid lake trout which I and Mr. Phillips, who, as well as +the chief, must be of the party, will first go out and catch for you,--you +and Fluella, I say, must cook us up a nice family dinner, over which we +will discuss matters at large, and have a good time generally." + +In a few minutes more the happy group were on their way to the Elwood +cottage. + +The principal interest of our story is at an end; and with it, also, the +story itself should speedily terminate. A few words more, however, seem +necessary, to anticipate the inquiries which will very naturally arise in +the mind of the reader, respecting what might be expected soon to follow +the _eclaircissement_ of the few last pages; and, accordingly, as far as +can be done without marring the unity of time, we will proceed, briefly, to +answer the inquiries thus arising. + +The body of the fated Mark Elwood, perforated through the breast by the +bullet of his cold-blooded murderer, having broken from the sinking weights +attached to it, and risen to the surface of the lake, was found in about a +fortnight, brought home, and buried on his farm. + +Not far from the same time the faithful hunter received, from the hands of +a gentleman passing through the settlement, a deed of gift of three hundred +acres of valuable timber-land, adjoining his own little patch of a lot, all +duly drawn, signed, and executed by Arthur Elwood; who, after a pleasant +sojourn of a week at the Elwood cottage, apprising its inmates of what he +had in store for them, in the line of property, had departed for his home, +a happier man than he had been, since, for secret griefs, he had dissolved +partnership with his brother Mark, and left the little interior village +where the pair first made their humble beginning in life. + +Codman, the trapper, continued to trap it still, and, as all the settlers +within a circuit of many miles around them were often unmistakably made +aware, to crow as usual on all extra occasions. + +Tomah, the college-learned Indian, immediately left, with the escort of the +prisoner, and, kept away by the force of some associations connected with +the settlement as disagreeable to him as they were conjecturable to others, +was never again seen in the settlement; against which, on leaving, he +seemed to have kicked off the dust of his feet behind him. + +Carvil, the cultivated amateur hunter, had also immediately departed, with +the court party, on his way to his pleasant home in the Green Mountains; +not wholly to relinquish, however, his yearly sojourns in the forests, to +regain health impaired for the want of a more full supply of his coveted, +life-giving oxygen. + +And, lastly, Gaut Gurley, whose infernal scheming and revolting atrocities +have been so inseparably interwoven with the main incidents of our story, +broke jail, on the night preceding the day set for his final trial, by +digging through the thick stone wall of his prison, with implements +evidently furnished from without, leaving bloody traces of his difficult +egress through the hardly sufficient hole he had effected for the purpose; +and, though instant search was everywhere made for him, he was not, to the +sad disappointment of the thousands intending to be in at the hanging, +anywhere to be found or heard of in the country. And the mystery of his +retreat, and the still unexplained mystery of his strange and ruinous +influence over the man whom he at last so flagitiously murdered, were not +cleared up until years afterwards. + + + + +SEQUEL. + + +It was a terrible storm. The wind, with all the awful accompaniments of +rain, hail, rattling thunders, and fiercely glaring lightnings, had burst +down upon the liquid plains of the startled deep, in all the fury of a +tropical tornado. The black heavens were in terrific commotion above; and +the smitten and resilient waters, as if to escape the impending wrath of +the aroused sister elements, were fleeing in galloping mountains athwart +the surface of the boiling ocean, beneath. + +Could aught human, or aught of human construction, be here, now, and +survive? It would seem an utter impossibility; and yet it was so. Amidst +all this deafening din of battling elements, that were filling the heavens +with their uproar and lashing the darkened ocean into wild fury and +commotion, a staunch-built West India merchant-ship was seen, now madly +plunging into the troughs of the sea, and now quivering like a feather on +the towering waves, or scudding through the flying spray with fearful +velocity before the howling blast. + +On her flush deck, and lashed to the helm, with the breaking waves dashing +around his feet, and the water dripping from the close cap and +tightly-buttoned pea-jacket in which he was garbed, stood her gallant +master, in the performance of a duty which he, true to his responsibility, +would intrust to no other, in such an hour as this,--that of guiding his +storm-tossed bark among the frightful billows that were threatening every +instant, to engulf her. Thus swiftly onward drove the seemingly devoted +ship, strained, shivering, and groaning beneath the terrible power of the +gale, like an over-ridden steed, as she dashed, yet unharmed, through the +mist and spray and constantly-breaking white caps of the wildly-rolling +deep; thus onward sped she, for the full space of two hours, when the wind +gradually lulled, and with it the deafening uproar subsided. Presently a +young, well-dressed gentleman made his appearance on deck, amidships, and, +having noted a while the now evident subsidence of the tempest, slowly and +carefully, from one grasped rope to another, made his way to the side of +the captain, at the wheel. + +"A frightful blow, Mr. Elwood," said the latter; "for the twenty years I +have been a seaman, I have never seen the like." + +"It certainly has exceeded all my conceptions of a sea-storm," said the +other. "But do you know where we are, and where driving at this tremendous +speed?" + +"Yes, I think I do, both. When we were struck by the gale, which I saw was +going to be a terrible norther, and saw it, too, very luckily, at a +distance that enabled me to become well prepared for it, look at my +reckoning, and make all my calculations,--when we were struck, we were +three hundred and fifty miles out of Havana, north'ard, and about forty +from the American coast. I at once put the ship before the wind, and set +her course southeast, which, being perfectly familiar with these seas, I +knew would give her a safe run, and, in about sixty miles, carry her by the +southern point of the Little Bahama Bank, where, rounding this great +breakwater against northers, we should be in a comparatively smooth sea, +that would admit of either laying to or anchoring. It is now over two hours +since we started on this fearful race, which has kept my heart in my mouth +the whole time; and I am expecting, every minute, to get sight of that +rocky headland." + +"But that," rejoined Elwood (for the gentleman was no other than Claud +Elwood, as the reader has doubtless already inferred), "that will bring us, +according to the late rumor, into one of the principal haunts of the +pirates, will it not?" + +"Yes, partly, perhaps," replied the captain; "but I hear that Commodore +Porter has arrived, with the American squadron, in these seas, to break up +these pests, and I presume _has_ done it, or frightened them away, so that +we sha'n't be molested. At any rate, I saw no safer course to outlive such +a tempest. You are the owner of ship and cargo, to be sure; but you put on +me the responsibility of her safety." + +"Certainly," rejoined the other, "for my guidance would be a poor one; and, +instead of any disposition to criticise your course, Captain Golding, I +feel but too grateful, with the life of a beloved wife at stake, to say +nothing of my own, and so much property, that your skill has enabled us to +outride the storm--now nearly over, I think--so unexpectedly well. But what +is that, a little to the left of the ship's course, in the distance ahead?" + +"Ah, that is it!" cheerily exclaimed the captain, casting an eager look in +the indicated direction. "Why, how like a race-horse the ship must be +driving ahead! I looked not ten minutes ago, and nothing was to be seen; +and now there is the headland, in full view, but two or three leagues +distant! And stay,--what is that dark object around and a little beyond the +point? A ship? Yes, it grows distinct now,--a large, black ship. That, sir, +is an American frigate. Hurra to you, Elwood! We will now soon be safe, and +in safe company." + +It was about sunset. The merchantman, having passed the protecting +promontory, and swept around the tall ship of war, had gained an offing, +about a half mile beyond, under the lee of a thickly-wooded, long, narrow +island; and was now lying snugly at anchor, riding out the heavy +ground-swell occasioned by the abated storm; while all on board, +unsuspicious of molestation, were making preparations to turn in for the +night. + +"A sail to the leeward!" shouted a sailor, just sent aloft to make some +alteration in the rigging. + +The word was passed below; and the captain, mates, and Elwood, were +instantly on deck, and on the lookout. They at once descried a large black +schooner, creeping out from behind the farther end of the island against +which they were anchored, about a mile distant, and tacking and beating her +way towards them. She carried no colors by which her character could be +determined; but the very absence of all such insignia, together with the +sinister appearance of her long, low sides, which exhibited the aspect of +masked port-holes, and also the peculiar stir of her evidently large and +strange-looking crew, at once marked her as an object of suspicion. + +"Elwood, your fears were prophetic," said the captain, lowering his glass +from a long, intent observation. "That craft is a pirate, with scarce a +shadow of doubt. But don't the mad creature see the frigate, and the +frigate her?" + +With this, they all turned towards the ship of war; but she was no longer +visible. A narrow vein of land fog, put in motion by some local current in +shore, had been wafted out on to the water, and completely enshrouded her +from their view. + +"I see it all," exclaimed Elwood. "That pirate has been lying, all the +afternoon, concealed behind this island; and his spies, sent into the woods +on the island, and to this end of it, probably, saw both our ship and the +frigate take their positions, and this intervening fog coming on, and +reported all to their master; who at once conceived the bold design which +he has now started out to execute,--that of snatching us, as its prize, +from under the very guns of the frigate!" + +A brief, earnest consultation was then held; when, knowing the uselessness +of trying to signalize the frigate, they first thought to weigh anchor and +try to escape to her protection; but a little reflection told them the +enemy would be down upon them before this could be effected, and they would +be taken, unprepared for defence. The only other alternative left them was, +therefore, quickly adopted; and, in pursuance, the second mate and two +seamen were lowered in the life-boat, with orders to keep the ship between +themselves and the schooner till they got into the screening fog, and then +make their way, with all speed, to the frigate, to invoke her aid and +protection; while all the rest should arm themselves with the muskets, +swords, and pistols on board, and, if possible, hold the enemy at bay till +succor arrived. And scarcely had these hasty preparations been made, before +the piratical schooner, which had made a wide tack outward to catch the +wind, came swiftly sweeping round to their side, like a towering falcon on +his prey. But, by some miscalculation of her helmsman, she went twenty +yards wide of them--not, however, without betraying the full extent of her +bloody purposes; for as, under the impulse of a speed she found herself +unable instantly to check, she swept by on the long, rolling billows, a +score or two of desperate ruffians, headed by their burly and still more +fierce-looking captain, stood on her deck, armed to the teeth, and holding +their hooks and hawsers, ready to grapple and board their intended prey. +But, still forbearing to unmask their batteries or fire a gun, lest they +should thus bring down the frigate upon them, her grim and silent crew +sprang to their posts, to tack ship and come round again, with the +narrowest sweep, to repair their former mischance. And, with surprising +quickness, their well-worked craft was again, and this time with no +uncertain guidance, shooting alongside of the devoted merchantman. Still +the crew of the latter quailed not; but, well knowing there was no longer +any hope of escaping a struggle in which death or victory were the only +alternatives, stood, with knitted brows and fire-arms cocked and levelled, +silently awaiting the onset. It came. With the shock of the partial +collision as the assailing craft raked along the sides of their ship, and +the sudden jerk as she was brought up by the quickly-thrown grapples, the +pirate captain, with a fierce shout of defiance, cleared, at a single +bound, the intervening rails, and landed, with brandished sword, upon their +fore-deck. A dozen more, with a wild yell, were in the act of following, +when they were met by a full volley from the guns of the defenders, poured +into their very faces. There was a pause,--a lurch,--a crack of breaking +fixtures; and the next moment the schooner, torn away from her fastenings +by the force of a monstrous upheaving wave, and thrown around at right +angles to the unharmed prey so nearly within her clutches, was seen rolling +and reeling on the top of a billow, fifty yards distant. At that instant, +twenty jets of blinding flame fiercely burst from the edge of the +fog-cloud, almost within pistol-shot to the windward, and, with the +startling flash, rent sky and ocean leaped as with the concussion of a +closely-breaking volley of linked thunder-peals. There was another and +still more awful pause; when, through the cloud of sulphurous smoke that +was rolling over them, the astounded defenders heard the gurgling rush, as +of waters breaking into newly opened chasms, in the direction of the enemy; +and they comprehended all. The frigate, unperceived by the eager pirates, +had dropped down, rounded to, and sent a whole broadside directly into the +uprolled hull of the devoted craft, which had been reduced to a sinking +wreck by that one tremendously heavy discharge of terrible missiles. Within +two minutes the lifting smoke disclosed her, reeling and lurching for the +final plunge. Within one more, she rose upright, like some mortally-smitten +giant, quivered an instant, and, with all her grim and hideously-screeching +crew, went down, stern foremost, amid the parting waves of the boiling +deep. + +These startling scenes had transpired so rapidly that the amazed crew of +the merchantman had taken no thought of the pirate captain whom they had +seen leaping on their deck; but they now turned to look for him, and, +whether dead or alive, to take charge of him, to crown the fortunate result +of this fearful encounter. There he stood at bay, with back turned to the +foremast, facing his virtual captors, with a brandished sword in one hand +and a pistol in the other, as if daring them to approach or fire on him. +But they were spared the necessity of attempting either. A boat's crew of +armed men from the frigate were already mounting the deck, to claim whoever +of the pirates they found alive, as their trophies. The formidable +desperado was pointed out to them; when, firing a volley over his head, to +confuse without killing him, they rushed forward in the smoke, disarmed, +bound, and dragged him along, to pass him down to their boat. As he was +being urged across the deck, his eyes met those of Elwood. The recognition +was mutual. It was Gaut Gurley! + +It was morning, and the bright sun was looking down upon an ocean as calm +and peaceful as if its passive bosom had never been disturbed by the +ensanguined tumults of warring men, or the commotions of battling elements. + +A youthful couple were standing by the rail, on the deck of the still +anchored merchantman, and glancing up admiringly at the towering masts of +the ship-of-war, which had also anchored for the night on the very spot +from which she had dealt such destruction to the pirates, whose awful fate +and the connected circumstances had been with them the topic of +conversation. + +"This has been such a fearful ordeal to you, dear Fluella," said the young +man, smilingly, "that I shall probably never be able again to induce you to +leave home to cross the ocean, either for health or pleasure, shall I?" + +"For pleasure, no, my dear husband," affectionately responded the other; +"no, with my happy New England home, never, for pleasure, Claud." + +"But this was for _health_," rejoined Elwood. "I have never told you how +much I was concerned about you last summer, or that your physician warned +me, as cold weather approached, he could not answer for your life through +another winter at the North. It was this only that led me to urge you to +accompany me to Cuba, to remain there till I came back for you in the +spring, as I have now done. And, to say nothing of the gains which my two +trips will add to the estate of which I am heir in expectation,--or rather, +as my good uncle will have it, in possession with him,--to say nothing of +this, I shall always be thankful for your coming, for it has so evidently +restored you, I had almost said, to more of health and beauty than I have +seen you exhibiting for the whole two and a half happy years of our married +life." + +"Thank you, Claud, for the beautiful part of it," said the happy wife, +snapping her handkerchief in his face, with an air of mock resentment; "but +I am thinking of home. When shall we reach there?" + +"Well, let us calculate," replied the husband, beginning to catch the +affectionate animation of the other: "this is the 22d of April; and I think +I can promise you the enjoyment of a May-day in New England." + +"I hold you to that, sir," playfully rejoined the wife, "for I wish to be +preparing for our summer residence at your cottage on my native lakes. My +illness deprived me of that pleasure last summer, you know, husband mine." + +"Yes," said he, with kindling enthusiasm, "we will go, Fluella. I want to +see the good old chief; I want to enjoy the visit I have promised me from +my friend Carvil; I want to hear Phillips discourse on woodcraft, and +Chanticleer Codman wake the echoes of the lakes by his marvellous crowing. +Yes, yes, we will go, and make uncle and mother go with us, this time." + +"Uncle and mother!" cried Fluella, laughingly; "how odd that is getting to +sound, Suppose I call your mother aunt? Have they not now been married long +enough to be both entitled to the more endearing names of father and +mother? and are they not happy enough and good enough to merit the dearest +names?" + +"Yes," answered Elwood, "I will correct the habit, if you really wish it. +Yes, yes; the once-styled crusty old bachelor, Arthur Elwood, and my +mother, are indeed a happy couple. Did you ever know a happier?" + +"Yes, one," replied the hesitating, blushing wife, drawing down her +husband's head, and slyly imprinting a kiss on his cheek. + +The conversation between the happy pair was here interrupted by the +appearance of a boat putting off from the frigate, under the charge of a +midshipman; who, having come on board and inquired out Elwood, now +approached and presented him a letter, saying, as he departed, it was from +the pirate prisoner, and would doubtless require no answer. + +The greatly surprised young man tore open the letter, and, in company with +his wife, read, with mingled emotions of pain and indignation, the +following singular but characteristic compound of malicious vaunt and +shameless confession: + +"To CLAUD ELWOOD:--My career is ended, at last. Well, I have the +satisfaction of knowing that I have been nobody's fool nor nobody's tool. +Early perceiving that nine out of ten were only the stupid instruments of +the tenth man, the world over, I resolved to go into the system, and did, +and improved on it so as to make _nineteen_ out of _twenty_ tools to +_me_,--that is all. I have no great fault to find with men generally, +though I always despised the whole herd; for I knew that, if they used me +well, it was only because they dared not do otherwise. I don't write this, +however, to preach upon that, but to let you know another thing, to chew +upon. + +"You call me a murderer; and I want to tell you that _you_ are the _son_ of +a murderer, and therefore stand on a par with my family, even at that. Your +father, when we used to operate together in smuggling, being once hard +chased, on an out-of-the-way road, by one of the custom-house crew, knocked +him down with a club, and finished with the blow, to save a thousand +dollars' worth of silk. But I sacredly kept his secret; yes, even to this +day, besides making one good fortune for him, and being on the point of +making him another. And yet he betrayed and turned against me. Yes, in that +affair about the missing peltries, he betrayed me, out and out, and spoilt +every thing. That was his unpardonable sin, with me. I resolved he should +die for it; and he _did_. I didn't want to kill you, but couldn't suffer +you to become a witness. No, I never had any thing against you, except for +allowing matters to take the turn that drove my daughter to anticipate you +in breaking off the match. But it was just as well, as it turned out. Avis, +in the position of _lady abbess_ of a convent in one of your eastern +cities, which it is settled she will have, will stand quite as high, I +guess, as in the position of lady Elwood. + +"I have done, now, except to ask one favor,--the only one I will ever ask +of _any_ man,--and that is, that you won't publish my name, and couple it +with the unlucky miss-go of last night; so that my wife and daughter, who +know I am in this region, but not my business, may never learn that the +captain of the _Black Rover_ and I are one. As my brave boys are all gone +down, and as _I_ shall have no trial to bring it out, it rests with you to +say whether it is ever to be known or not; for, as I have said, I have no +notion of being either tried or hung, any more than I had at the +North. GAUT." + +On finishing this singular and remorseless missive, with its strange, +painful, but as he feared too true disclosure of the secret of that fatal +influence which had proved the ruin and final destruction of his father, +Claud Elwood was too much troubled and overcome to utter a word of comment; +and, with his pained and shuddering wife, he stood mute and thoughtful, +until aroused by the stir on board, in preparations for weighing anchor, +and the cheering announcement of the captain that a favoring breeze was +springing up, and that within twenty minutes they would be, under the +fairest of auspices, on their rejoicing way to their own beloved New +England. + +But the cheering thought was not to be enjoyed without the drawback of +being compelled to witness one more and a concluding horror. + +As Elwood and his beautiful companion were on the point of retiring from +deck, their attention was suddenly arrested by a light, crashing sound, +high up the tall side of the frigate. They looked, and caught sight of +broken pieces of board or panelling flying out, as if beat or kicked from +what appeared to have been a closed port-hole. Presently the body of a man, +whom they at once recognized, was protruded through the ample aperture he +had evidently thus effected, till he brought himself to a balance on the +outer edge. Then came the sharp cry from some one of the frigate's +officers: + +"Look out, there, for the pirate prisoner!" + +There was at once a lively stir on board, but too late. The next moment the +heavily-manacled object of the alarm descended, like a swiftly-falling +weight, to the water; and, with a dull plunge, the recoiling waves rolled +back, forever closing over the _traitor_, the _robber_, the _murderer_, and +the _pirate_, GAUT GURLEY! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gaut Gurley, by D. P. 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