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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish + +Author: James Fenimore Cooper + +Posting Date: March 28, 2014 [EBook #8888] +Release Date: September, 2005 +First Posted: August 20, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WEPT OF WISH-TON-WISH *** + + + + +Produced by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish</h1> + +<h2>A Tale</h2> + +<h3>By J. Fenimore Cooper</h3> + + +<blockquote> "But she is dead to him, to all;<br /> +Her lute hangs silent on the wall,<br /> +And on the stairs, and at the door,<br /> +Her fairy step is heard no more."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Rogers.</blockquote> + + +<h4>1871.</h4> + + + + +<h1>To The Rev. J. R. O. of Pennsylvania</h1> + + + +<p>The kind and disinterested manner in which you have furnished the +materials of the following tale, merits a public acknowledgment. As +your reluctance to appear before the world, however, imposes a +restraint, you must receive such evidence of gratitude, as your own +prohibition will allow.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding there are so many striking and deeply interesting events +in the early history of those from whom you derive your being, yet are +there hundreds of other families in this country, whose traditions, though +less accurately and minutely preserved than the little narrative you have +submitted to my inspection, would supply the materials of many moving +tales. You have every reason to exult in your descent, for, surely, if any +man may claim to be a citizen and a proprietor in the Union, it is one, +that, like yourself, can point to a line of ancestors whose origin is +lost in the obscurity of time. You are truly an American. In your eyes, we +of a brief century or two, must appear as little more than denizens quite +recently admitted to the privilege of a residence. That you may continue +to enjoy peace and happiness, in that land where your fathers so long +flourished, is the sincere wish of your obliged friend,</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">The Author</p> + + + + +<h1>Preface.</h1> + + + +<p>At this distant period, when Indian traditions are listened to with the +interest that we lend to the events of a dark age, it is not easy to +convey a vivid image of the dangers and privations that our ancestors +encountered, in preparing the land we enjoy for its present state of +security and abundance. It is the humble object of the tale that will be +found in the succeeding pages, to perpetuate the recollection of some of +the practices and events peculiar to the early days of our history.</p> + +<p>The general character of the warfare pursued by the natives is too well +known to require any preliminary observations; but it may be advisable to +direct the attention of the reader, for a few moments, to those leading +circumstances in the history of the times, that may have some connexion +with the principal business of the legend.</p> + +<p>The territory which now composes the three states of Massachusetts, +Connecticut and Rhode-Island, is said, by the best-informed of our +annalists, to have been formerly occupied by four great nations of +Indians, who were, as usual, subdivided into numberless dependent tribes. +Of these people, the Massachusetts possessed a large portion of the land +which now composes the state of that name; the Wampanoags dwelt in what +was once the Colony of Plymouth, and in the northern districts of the +Providence Plantations; the Narragansetts held the well-known islands of +the beautiful bay which receives its name from their nation, and the more +southern counties of the Plantations; while the Pequots, or as it is +ordinarily written and pronounced, the Pequods, were masters of a broad +region that lay along the western boundaries of the three other districts.</p> + +<p>There is great obscurity thrown around the polity of the Indians, who +usually occupied the country lying near the sea.</p> + +<p>The Europeans, accustomed to despotic governments, very naturally supposed +that the chiefs, found in possession of power, were monarchs to whom +authority had been transmitted in virtue of their birth-rights. They +consequently gave them the name of kings.</p> + +<p>How far this opinion of the governments of the aborigines was true remains +a question, though there is certainly reason to think it less erroneous in +respect to the tribes of the Atlantic states, than to those who have since +been found further west, where, it is sufficiently known, that +institutions exist which approach much nearer to republics than to +monarchies. It may, however, have readily happened that the son, profiting +by the advantages of his situation, often succeeded to the authority of +the father, by the aid of influence, when the established regulations of +the tribe acknowledged no hereditary claim. Let the principle of the +descent of power be what it would, it is certain the experience of our +ancestors proves, that, in very many instances, the child was seen to +occupy the station formerly filled by the father; and, that in most of +those situations of emergency, in which a people so violent were often +placed, the authority he exercised was as summary as it was general. The +appellation of Incas came, like those of the Cæsars and Pharoahs, to be a +sort of synonyme for chief with the Mohegans, a tribe of the Pequods, +among whom several warriors of this name were known to govern in due +succession. The renowned Metacom, or, as he is better known to the whites, +King Philip, was certainly the son of Massassoit, the Sachem of the +Wampanoags that the emigrants found in authority when they landed on the +rock of Plymouth. Miantonimoh, the daring but hapless rival of that Uncas +who ruled the whole of the Pequod nation, was succeeded in authority, +among the Narragansetts, by his not less heroic and enterprising son, +Conanchet; and, even at a much later day, we find instances of this +transmission of power, which furnish strong reasons for believing that the +order of succession was in the direct line of blood.</p> + +<p>The early annals of our history are not wanting in touching and noble +examples of savage heroism. Virginia has its legend of the powerful +Powhatan and his magnanimous daughter, the ill-requited Pocahontas; and +the chronicles of New-England are filled with the bold designs and daring +enterprises of Miantonimoh, of Metacom, and of Conanchet. All the +last-named warriors proved themselves worthy of better fates, dying in a +cause and in a manner, that, had it been their fortunes to have lived in a +more advanced state of society, would have enrolled their names among the +worthies of the age.</p> + +<p>The first serious war, to which the settlers of New-England were exposed, +was the struggle with the Pequods. This people was subdued after a fierce +conflict; and from being enemies, all, who were not either slain or sent +into distant slavery, were glad to become the auxiliaries of their +conquerors. This contest occurred within less than twenty years after the +Puritans had sought refuge in America.</p> + +<p>There is reason to believe that Metacom foresaw the fate of his own +people, in the humbled fortunes of the Pequods. Though his father had been +the earliest and constant friend of the whites, it is probable that the +Puritans owed some portion of this amity to a dire necessity. We are told +that a terrible malady had raged among the Wampanoags but a short time +before the arrival of the emigrants, and that their numbers had been +fearfully reduced by its ravages. Some authors have hinted at the +probability of this disease having been the yellow fever, whose +visitations are known to be at uncertain, and, apparently, at very distant +intervals. Whatever might have been the cause of this destruction of his +people, Massassoit is believed to have been induced, by the consequences, +to cultivate the alliance of a nation, who could protect him against the +attacks of his ancient and less afflicted foes. But the son appears to +have viewed the increasing influence of the whites with eyes more jealous +than those of the father. He passed the morning of his life in maturing +his great plan for the destruction of the strange race, and his later +years were spent in abortive attempts to put this bold design in +execution. His restless activity in plotting the confederation against the +English, his fierce and ruthless manner of waging the war, his defeat, and +his death, are too well known to require repetition.</p> + +<p>There is also a wild and romantic interest thrown about the obscure +history of a Frenchman of that period. This man is said to have been an +officer of rank in the service of his king, and to have belonged to the +privileged class which then monopolized all the dignities and emoluments +of the kingdom of France. The traditions, and even the written annals of +the first century of our possession of America, connect the Baron de la +Castine with the Jesuits, who were thought to entertain views of +converting the savages to Christianity, not unmingled with the desire of +establishing a more temporal dominion over their minds. It is, however, +difficult to say whether taste, or religion, or policy, or necessity, +induced this nobleman to quit the saloons of Paris for the wilds of the +Penobscot. It is merely known that he passed the greater part of his life +on that river, in a rude fortress that was then called a palace, that he +had many wives, a numerous progeny, and that he possessed a great +influence over most of the tribes that dwelt in his vicinity. He is also +believed to have been the instrument of furnishing the savages, who were +hostile to the English, with ammunition, and with weapons of a more deadly +character than those used in their earlier wars. In whatever degree he may +have participated in the plan to exterminate the Puritans, death prevented +him from assisting in the final effort of Metacom.</p> + +<p>The Narragansetts are often mentioned in these pages. A few years before +the period at which the tale commences, Miantonimoh had waged a ruthless +war against Uncas, the Pequod or Mohegan chief. Fortune favored the +latter, who, probably assisted by his civilized allies, not only overthrew +the bands of the other, but succeeded in capturing the person of his +enemy. The chief of the Narragansetts lost his life, through the agency of +the whites, on the place that is now known by the appellation of "the +Sachem's plain."</p> + +<p>It remains only to throw a little light on the leading incidents of the +war of King Philip. The first blow was struck in June, 1675, rather more +than half a century after the English first landed in New-England, and +just a century before blood was drawn in the contest which separated the +colonies from the mother country. The scene was a settlement near the +celebrated Mount Hope, in Rhode-Island, where Metacom and his father had +both long held their councils. From this point, bloodshed and massacre +extended along the whole frontier of New-England. Bodies of horse and foot +were enrolled to meet the foe, and towns were burnt, and lives were taken +by both parties, with little, and often with no respect for age, +condition, or sex.</p> + +<p>In no struggle with the native owners of the soil was the growing power of +the whites placed in so great jeopardy, as in this celebrated contest with +King Philip. The venerable historian of Connecticut estimates the loss of +lives at nearly one-tenth of the whole number of the fighting men, and the +destruction of houses and other edifices to have been in an equal +proportion. One family in every eleven, throughout all New-England, was +burnt out. As the colonists nearest the sea were exempt from the danger, +an idea may be formed, from this calculation, of the risk and sufferings +of those who dwelt in more exposed situations. The Indians did not escape +without retaliation. The principal nations, already mentioned, were so +much reduced as never afterwards to offer any serious resistance to the +whites, who have since converted the whole of their ancient +hunting-grounds into the abodes of civilized man. Metacom, Miantonimoh, +and Conanchet, with their warriors, have become the heroes of song and +legend, while the descendants of those who laid waste their dominions, and +destroyed their race, are yielding a tardy tribute to the high daring and +savage grandeur of their characters.</p> + + + + + +<h1>The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish</h1> + + + + +<h1>Chapter I.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"I may disjoin my hand, but not my faith."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Shakespeare.</blockquote> + + +<p>The incidents of this tale must be sought in a remote period of the annals +of America. A colony of self-devoted and pious refugees from religious +persecution had landed on the rock of Plymouth, less than half a century +before the time at which the narrative commences; and they, and their +descendants, had already transformed many a broad waste of wilderness into +smiling fields and cheerful villages. The labors of the emigrants had been +chiefly limited to the country on the coast, which, by its proximity to +the waters that rolled between them and Europe, afforded the semblance of +a connexion with the land of their forefathers and the distant abodes of +civilization. But enterprise, and a desire to search for still more +fertile domains, together with the temptation offered by the vast and +unknown regions that lay along their western and northern borders, had +induced many bold adventurers to penetrate more deeply into the forests. +The precise spot, to which we desire to transport the imagination of the +reader, was one of these establishments of what may, not inaptly, be +called the forlorn-hope, in the march of civilization through the country.</p> + +<p>So little was then known of the great outlines of the American continent, +that, when the Lords Say and Seal, and Brooke, connected with a few +associates, obtained a grant of the territory which now composes the state +of Connecticut, the King of England affixed his name to a patent, which +constituted them proprietors of a country that should extend from the +shores of the Atlantic to those of the South Sea. Notwithstanding the +apparent hopelessness of ever subduing, or of even occupying a territory +like this, emigrants from the mother colony of Massachusetts were found +ready to commence the Herculean labor, within fifteen years from the day +when they had first put foot upon the well-known rock itself. The fort of +Say-Brooke, the towns of Windsor, Hartford, and New-Haven, soon sprang +into existence, and, from that period to this, the little community, which +then had birth, has been steadily, calmly, and prosperously advancing its +career, a model of order and reason, and the hive from which swarms of +industrious, hardy and enlightened yeomen have since spread themselves +over a surface so vast, as to create an impression that they still aspire +to the possession of the immense regions included in their original grant.</p> + +<p>Among the religionists, whom disgust of persecution had early driven into +the voluntary exile of the colonies, was more than an usual proportion of +men of character and education. The reckless and the gay, younger sons, +soldiers unemployed, and students from the inns of court, early sought +advancement and adventure in the more southern provinces, where slaves +offered impunity from labor, and where war, with a bolder and more +stirring policy, oftener gave rise to scenes of excitement, and, of +course, to the exercise of the faculties best suited to their habits and +dispositions. The more grave, and the religiously-disposed, found refuge +in the colonies of New-England. Thither a multitude of private gentlemen +transferred their fortunes and their families, imparting a character of +intelligence and a moral elevation to the country, which it has nobly +sustained to the present hour.</p> + +<p>The nature of the civil wars in England had enlisted many men of deep and +sincere piety in the profession of arms. Some of them had retired to the +colonies before the troubles of the mother country reached their crisis, +and others continued to arrive, throughout the whole period of their +existence, until the restoration; when crowds of those who had been +disaffected to the house of Stuart sought the security of these distant +possessions.</p> + +<p>A stern, fanatical soldier, of the name of Heathcote, had been among the +first of his class, to throw aside the sword for the implements of +industry peculiar to the advancement of a newly-established country. How +far the influence of a young wife may have affected his decision it is not +germane to our present object to consider, though the records, from which +the matter we are about to relate is gleaned, give reason to suspect that +he thought his domestic harmony would not be less secure in the wilds of +the new world, than among the companions with whom his earlier +associations would naturally have brought him in communion.</p> + +<p>Like himself, his consort was born of one of those families, which, taking +their rise in the franklins of the times of the Edwards and Henrys, had +become possessors of hereditary landed estates, that, by their +gradually-increasing value, had elevated them to the station of small +country gentlemen. In most other nations of Europe, they would have been +rated in the class of the <i>petite noblesse</i>. But the domestic happiness of +Capt. Heathcote was doomed to receive a fatal blow, from a quarter where +circumstances had given him but little reason to apprehend danger. The +very day he landed in the long-wished-for asylum, his wife made him the +father of a noble boy, a gift that she bestowed at the melancholy price of +her own existence. Twenty years the senior of the woman who had followed +his fortunes to these distant regions, the retired warrior had always +considered it to be perfectly and absolutely within the order of things, +that he himself was to be the first to pay the debt of nature. While the +visions which Captain Heathcote entertained of a future world were +sufficiently vivid and distinct, there is reason to think they were seen +through a tolerably long vista of quiet and comfortable enjoyment in this. +Though the calamity cast an additional aspect of seriousness over a +character that was already more than chastened by the subtleties of +sectarian doctrines, he was not of a nature to be unmanned by any +vicissitude of human fortune. He lived on, useful and unbending in his +habits, a pillar of strength in the way of wisdom and courage to the +immediate neighborhood among whom he resided, but reluctant from temper, +and from a disposition which had been shadowed by withered happiness, to +enact that part in the public affairs of the little state, to which his +comparative wealth and previous habits might well have entitled him to +aspire. He gave his son such an education as his own resources and those +of the infant colony of Massachusetts afforded, and, by a sort of delusive +piety, into whose merits we have no desire to look, he thought he had also +furnished a commendable evidence of his own desperate resignation to the +will of Providence, in causing him to be publicly christened by the name +of Content. His own baptismal appellation was Mark; as indeed had been +that of most of his ancestors, for two or three centuries. When the world +was a little uppermost in his thoughts, as sometimes happens with the most +humbled spirits, he had even been heard to speak of a Sir Mark of his +family, who had ridden a knight in the train of one of the more warlike +kings of his native land.</p> + +<p>There is some ground for believing, that the great parent of evil early +looked with a malignant eye on the example of peacefulness, and of +unbending morality, that the colonists of New-England were setting to the +rest of Christendom. At any rate, come from what quarter they might, +schisms and doctrinal contentions arose among the emigrants themselves; +and men, who together had deserted the fire-sides of their forefathers in +quest of religious peace, were ere long seen separating their fortunes, in +order that each might enjoy, unmolested, those peculiar shades of faith, +which all had the presumption, no less than the folly, to believe were +necessary to propitiate the omnipotent and merciful father of the +universe. If our task were one of theology, a wholesome moral on the +vanity, no less than on the absurdity of the race, might be here +introduced to some advantage.</p> + +<p>When Mark Heathcote announced to the community, in which he had now +sojourned more than twenty years, that he intended for a second time to +establish his altars in the wilderness, in the hope that he and his +household might worship God as to them seemed most right, the intelligence +was received with a feeling allied to awe. Doctrine and zeal were +momentarily forgotten, in the respect and attachment which had been +unconsciously created by the united influence of the stern severity of his +air, and of the undeniable virtues of his practice. The elders of the +settlement communed with him freely and in charity; but the voice of +conciliation and alliance came too late. He listened to the reasonings of +the ministers, who were assembled from all the adjoining parishes, in +sullen respect: and he joined in the petitions for light and instruction, +that were offered up on the occasion, with the deep reverence with which +he ever drew near to the footstool of the Almighty; but he did both in a +temper into which too much positiveness of spiritual pride had entered, to +open his heart to that sympathy and charity, which, as they are the +characteristics of our mild and forbearing doctrines, should be the study +of those who profess to follow their precepts. All that was seemly, and +all that was usual, were done; but the purpose of the stubborn sectarian +remained unchanged. His final decision is worthy of being recorded.</p> + +<p>"My youth was wasted in ungodliness and ignorance," he said, "but in my +manhood have I known the Lord. Near two-score years have I toiled for the +truth, and all that weary time have I past in trimming my lamps, lest, +like the foolish virgins, I should be caught unprepared; and now, when my +loins are girded and my race is nearly run, shall I become a backslider +and falsifier of the word? Much have I endured, as you know, in quitting +the earthly mansion of my fathers, and in encountering the dangers of sea +and land for the faith; and, rather than let go its hold, will I once more +cheerfully devote to the howling wilderness, ease, offspring, and, should +it be the will of Providence, life itself!"</p> + +<p>The day of parting was one of unfeigned and general sorrow. +Notwithstanding the austerity of the old man's character, and the nearly +unbending severity of his brow, the milk of human kindness had often been +seen distilling from his stern nature in acts that did not admit of +misinterpretation. There was scarcely a young beginner in the laborious +and ill-requited husbandry of the township he inhabited, a district at no +time considered either profitable or fertile, who could not recall some +secret and kind aid which had flowed from a hand that, to the world, +seemed clenched in cautious and reserved frugality; nor did any of the +faithful of his vicinity cast their fortunes together in wedlock, without +receiving from him evidence of an interest in their worldly happiness, +that was far more substantial than words.</p> + +<p>On the morning when the vehicles, groaning with the household goods of +Mark Heathcote, were seen quitting his door, and taking the road which +led to the sea-side, not a human being, of sufficient age, within many +miles of his residence, was absent from the interesting spectacle. The +leave-taking, as usual on all serious occasions, was preceded by a hymn +and prayer, and then the sternly-minded adventurer embraced his neighbors, +with a mien, in which a subdued exterior struggled fearfully and strangely +with emotions that, more than once, threatened to break through even the +formidable barriers of his acquired manner. The inhabitants of every +building on the road were in the open air, to receive and to return the +parting benediction. More than once, they, who guided his teams, were +commanded to halt, and all near, possessing human aspirations and human +responsibility, were collected to offer petitions in favor of him who +departed and of those who remained. The requests for mortal privileges +were somewhat light and hasty, but the askings in behalf of intellectual +and spiritual light were long, fervent, and oft-repeated. In this +characteristic manner did one of the first of the emigrants to the new +world make his second removal into scenes of renewed bodily suffering, +privation and danger. + +Neither person nor property was transferred from place to place, in this +country, at the middle of the seventeenth century, with the dispatch and +with the facilities of the present time. The roads were necessarily few +and short, and communication by water was irregular, tardy, and far from +commodius. A wide barrier of forest lying between that portion of +Massachusetts-bay from which Mark Heathcote emigrated, and the spot, near +the Connecticut river, to which it was his intention to proceed, he was +induced to adopt the latter mode of conveyance. But a long delay +intervened between the time when he commenced his short journey to the +coast, and the hour when he was finally enabled to embark. During this +detention he and his household sojourned among the godly-minded of the +narrow peninsula, where there already existed the germ of a flourishing +town, and where the spires of a noble and picturesque city now elevate +themselves above so many thousand roofs.</p> + +<p>The son did not leave the colony of his birth and the haunts of his youth, +with the same unwavering obedience to the call of duty, as the father. +There was a fair, a youthful, and a gentle being in the +recently-established town of Boston, of an age, station, opinions, +fortunes, and, what was of still greater importance, of sympathies suited +to his own. Her form had long mingled with those holy images, which his +stern instruction taught him to keep most familiarly before the mirror of +his thoughts. It is not surprising, then, that the youth hailed the delay +as propitious to his wishes, or that he turned it to the account, which +the promptings of a pure affection so naturally suggested. He was united +to the gentle Ruth Harding only the week before the father sailed on his +second pilgrimage.</p> + +<p>It is not our intention to dwell on the incidents of the voyage. Though +the genius of an extraordinary man had discovered the world which was now +beginning to fill with civilized men, navigation at that day was not +brilliant in accomplishments. A passage among the shoals of Nantucket must +have been one of actual danger, no less than of terror; and the ascent of +the Connecticut itself was an exploit worthy of being mentioned. In due +time the adventurers landed at the English fort of Hartford, where they +tarried for a season, in order to obtain rest and spiritual comfort. But +the peculiarity of doctrine, on which Mark Heathcote laid so much stress, +was one that rendered it advisable for him to retire still further from +the haunts of men. Accompanied by a few followers, he proceeded on an +exploring expedition, and the end of the summer found him once more +established on an estate that he had acquired by the usual simple forms +practised in the colonies, and at the trifling cost for which extensive +districts were then set apart as the property of individuals.</p> + +<p>The love of the things of this life, while it certainly existed, was far +from being predominant in the affections of the Puritan. He was frugal +from habit and principle, more than from an undue longing after worldly +wealth. He contented himself, therefore, with acquiring an estate that +should be valuable, rather from its quality and beauty, than from its +extent. Many such places offered themselves, between the settlements of +Weathersfield and Hartford, and that imaginary line which separated the +possessions of the colony he had quitted, from those of the one he joined. +He made his location, as it is termed in the language of the country, near +the northern boundary of the latter. This spot, by the aid of an +expenditure that might have been considered lavish for the country and the +age, if some lingering of taste, which even the self-denying and subdued +habits of his later life had not entirely extinguished, and of great +natural beauty in the distribution of land, water and wood, the emigrant +contrived to convert into an abode, that was not more desirable for its +retirement from the temptations of the world, than for its rural +loveliness.</p> + +<p>After this memorable act of conscientious self-devotion, years passed away +in quiet, amid a species of negative prosperity. Rumors from the old world +reached the ears of the tenants of this secluded settlement, months after +the events to which they referred were elsewhere forgotten, and tumults +and wars in the sister colonies came to their knowledge only at distant +and tardy intervals. In the mean time, the limits of the colonial +establishments were gradually extending themselves, and valleys were +beginning to be cleared nearer and nearer to their own. Old age had now +begun to make some visible impression on the iron frame of the Captain, +and the fresh color of youth and health, with which his son had entered +the forest, was giving way to the brown covering produced by exposure and +toil. We say of toil, for, independently of the habits and opinions of the +country, which strongly reprobated idleness, even in those most gifted by +fortune, the daily difficulties of their situation, the chase, and the +long and intricate passages that the veteran himself was compelled to +adventure in the surrounding forest, partook largely of the nature of the +term we have used. Ruth continued blooming and youthful, though maternal +anxiety was soon added to her other causes of care. Still, for a long +season, nought occurred to excite extraordinary regrets for the step they +had taken, or to create particular uneasiness in behalf of the future. The +borderers, for such by their frontier position they had in truth become, +heard the strange and awful tidings of the dethronement of one king, of +the interregnum, as a reign of more than usual vigor and prosperity is +called, and of the restoration of the son of him who is strangely enough +termed a martyr. To all these eventful and unwonted chances in the +fortunes of kings, Mark Heathcote listened with deep and reverential +submission to the will of him, in whose eyes crowns and sceptres are +merely the more costly baubles of the world. Like most of his +contemporaries, who had sought shelter in the western continent, his +political opinions, if not absolutely republican, had a leaning to liberty +that was strongly in opposition to the doctrine of the divine rights of +the monarch, while he had been too far removed from the stirring passions +which had gradually excited those nearer to the throne, to lose their +respect for its sanctity, and to sully its brightness with blood. When the +transient and straggling visiters that, at long intervals, visited his +settlement, spoke of the Protector, who for so many years ruled England +with an iron hand, the eyes of the old man would gleam with sudden and +singular interest; and once, when commenting after evening prayer on the +vanity and the vicissitudes of this life, he acknowledged that the +extraordinary individual, who was, in substance if not in name, seated on +the throne of the Plantagenets, had been the boon companion and ungodly +associate of many of his youthful hours. Then would follow a long, +wholesome, extemporaneous homily on the idleness of setting the affections +on the things of life, and a half-suppressed, but still intelligible +commendation of the wiser course which had led him to raise his own +tabernacle in the wilderness, instead of weakening the chances of eternal +glory by striving too much for the possession of the treacherous vanities +of the world.</p> + +<p>But even the gentle and ordinarily little observant Ruth might trace the +kindling of the eye, the knitting of the brow, and the flushings of his +pale and furrowed cheek, as the murderous conflicts of the civil wars +became the themes of the ancient soldier's discourse. There were moments +when religious submission, and we had almost said religious precepts, were +partially forgotten, as he explained to his attentive son and listening +grandchild, the nature of the onset, or the quality and dignity of the +retreat. At such times, his still nervous hand would even wield the blade, +in order to instruct the latter in its uses, and many a long winter +evening was passed in thus indirectly teaching an art, that was so much at +variance with the mandates of his divine master. The chastened soldier, +however, never forgot to close his instruction with a petition +extraordinary, in the customary prayer, that no descendant of his should +ever take life from a being unprepared to die, except in justifiable +defence of his faith, his person, or his lawful rights. It must be +admitted, that a liberal construction of the reserved privileges would +leave sufficient matter, to exercise the subtlety of one subject to any +extraordinary propensity to arms.</p> + +<p>Few opportunities were however offered, in their remote situation and +with their peaceful habits, for the practice of a theory that had been +taught in so many lessons. Indian alarms, as they were termed, were not +unfrequent, but, as yet, they had never produced more than terror in the +bosoms of the gentle Ruth and her young offspring. It is true, they had +heard of travellers massacred, and of families separated by captivity, +but, either by a happy fortune, or by more than ordinary prudence in the +settlers who were established along that immediate frontier, the knife +and the tomahawk had as yet been sparingly used in the colony of +Connecticut. A threatening and dangerous struggle with the Dutch, in the +adjoining province of New-Netherlands, had been averted by the foresight +and moderation of the rulers of the new plantations; and though a +warlike and powerful native chief kept the neighboring colonies of +Massachusetts and Rhode-Island in a state of constant watchfulness, from +the cause just mentioned the apprehension of danger was greatly weakened +in the breasts of those so remote as the individuals who composed the +family of our emigrant.</p> + +<p>In this quiet manner did years glide by, the surrounding wilderness +slowly retreating from the habitations of the Heathcotes, until they +found themselves in the possession of as many of the comforts of life as +their utter seclusion from the rest of the world could give them reason +to expect.</p> + +<p>With this preliminary explanation, we shall refer the reader to the +succeeding narrative for a more minute, and we hope for a more interesting +account of the incidents of a legend that may prove too homely for the +tastes of those, whose imaginations seek the excitement of scenes more +stirring, or of a condition of life less natural.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter II.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>Sir, I do know you;<br /> +And dare, upon the warrant of my art,<br /> +Commend a dear thing to you.</blockquote> + +<blockquote> King Lear.</blockquote> + + +<p>At the precise time when the action of our piece commences, a fine and +fruitful season was drawing to a close. The harvests of the hay and of the +smaller corns had long been over, and the younger Heathcote with his +laborers had passed a day in depriving the luxuriant maize of its tops, in +order to secure the nutritious blades for fodder, and to admit the sun and +air to harden a grain, that is almost considered the staple production of +the region he inhabited. The veteran Mark had ridden among the workmen, +during their light toil, as well to enjoy a sight which promised abundance +to his flocks and herds, as to throw in, on occasion, some wholesome +spiritual precept, in which doctrinal subtlety was far more prominent than +the rules of practice. The hirelings of his son, for he had long since +yielded the management of the estate to Content, were, without an +exception, young men born in the country and long use and much training +had accustomed them to a blending of religious exercises with most of the +employments of life. They listened, therefore, with respect, nor did an +impious smile, or an impatient glance, escape the lightest-minded of their +number, during his exhortations, though the homilies of the old man were +neither very brief, nor particularly original. But devotion to the one +great cause of their existence, austere habits, and unrelaxed industry in +keeping alive a flame of zeal that had been kindled in the other +hemisphere, to burn longest and brightest in this, had interwoven the +practice mentioned with most of the opinions and pleasures of these +metaphysical, though simple minded people. The toil went on none the less +cheerily for the extraordinary accompaniment, and Content himself, by a +certain glimmering of superstition, which appears to be the concomitant of +excessive religious zeal, was fain to think that the sun shone more +brightly on their labors, and that the earth gave forth more of its +fruits, while these holy sentiments were flowing from the lips of a father +whom he piously loved and deeply reverenced.</p> + +<p>But when the sun, usually at that season, in the climate of Connecticut, a +bright unshrouded orb, fell towards the tree-tops which bounded the +western horizon, the old man began to grow weary with his own well-doing. +He therefore finished his discourse with a wholesome admonition to the +youths to complete their tasks before they quitted the field; and, turning +the head of his horse, he rode slowly, and with a musing air, towards the +dwellings. It is probable that for some time the thoughts of Mark were +occupied with the intellectual matter he had just been handling with so +much power; but when his little nag stopped of itself on a small eminence, +which the crooked cow-path he was following crossed, his mind yielded to +the impression of more worldly and more sensible objects. As the scene, +that drew his contemplations from so many abstract theories to the +realities of life, was peculiar to the country, and is more or less +connected with the subject of our tale, we shall endeavor briefly to +describe it.</p> + +<p>A small tributary of the Connecticut divided the view into two nearly +equal parts. The fertile flats that extended on each of its banks for more +than a mile, had been early stripped of their burthen of forest, and they +now lay in placid meadows, or in fields from which the grain of the season +had lately disappeared, and over which the plow had already left the marks +of recent tillage. The whole of the plain, which ascended gently from the +rivulet towards the forest, was subdivided in inclosures, by numberless +fences, constructed in the rude but substantial manner of the country. +Rails, in which lightness and economy of wood had been but little +consulted, lying in zigzag lines, like the approaches which the besieger +makes in his cautious advance to the hostile fortress, were piled on each +other, until barriers seven or eight feet in height, were interposed to +the inroads of vicious cattle. In one spot, a large square vacancy had +been cut into the forest, and, though numberless stumps of trees darkened +its surface, as indeed they did many of the fields on the flats +themselves, bright, green grain was sprouting forth, luxuriantly, from the +rich and virgin soil. High against the side of an adjacent hill, that +might aspire to be called a low rocky mountain, a similar invasion had +been made on the dominion of the trees; but caprice or convenience had +induced an abandonment of the clearing, after it had ill requited the toil +of felling the timber by a single crop. In this spot, straggling, girdled, +and consequently dead trees, piles of logs, and black and charred stubs, +were seen deforming the beauty of a field, that would, otherwise, have +been striking from its deep setting in the woods. Much of the surface of +this opening, too, was now concealed by bushes of what is termed the +second growth; though, here and there, places appeared, in which the +luxuriant white clover, natural to the country, had followed the close +grazing of the flocks. The eyes of Mark were bent, inquiringly, on this +clearing, which, by an air line, might have been half a mile from the +place where his horse had stopped, for the sounds of a dozen differently +toned cow-bells were brought, on the still air of the evening, to his +ears; from among its bushes.</p> + +<p>The evidences of civilization were the least equivocal, however, on and +around a natural elevation in the land, which arose so suddenly on the +very bank of the stream, as to give to it the appearance of a work of art. +Whether these mounds once existed everywhere on the face of the earth, and +have disappeared before long tillage and labor, we shall not presume to +conjecture; but we have reason to think that they occur much more +frequently in certain parts of our own country, than in any other +familiarly known to ordinary travellers; unless perhaps it may be in some +of the valleys of Switzerland. The practised veteran had chosen the summit +of this flattened cone, for the establishment of that species of military +defence, which the situation of the country, and the character of the +enemy he had to guard against, rendered advisable, as well as customary.</p> + +<p>The dwelling was of wood, and constructed of the ordinary frame-work, +with its thin covering of boards. It was long, low, and irregular; +bearing marks of having been reared at different periods, as the wants of +an increasing family had required additional accommodation. It stood near +the verge of the natural declivity, and on that side of the hill where +its base was washed by the rivulet, a rude piazza stretching along the +whole of its front and overhanging the stream. Several large, irregular, +and clumsy chimneys, rose out of different parts of the roofs, another +proof that comfort, rather than taste, had been consulted in the +disposition of the buildings. There were also two or three detached +offices on the summit of the hill, placed near the dwelling, and at +points most convenient for their several uses. A stranger might have +remarked that they were so disposed as to form, far as they went, the +different sides of a hollow square. Notwithstanding the great length of +the principal building, and the disposition of the more minute and +detached parts, this desirable formation would not, however, have been +obtained, were it not that two rows of rude constructions in logs, from +which the bark had not even been stripped, served to eke out the parts +that were deficient. These primeval edifices were used to contain various +domestic articles, no less than provisions; and they also furnished +numerous lodging-rooms for the laborers and the inferior dependants of +the farm: By the aid of a few strong and high gates of hewn timber, those +parts of the buildings which had not been made to unite in the original +construction, were sufficiently connected to oppose so many barriers +against admission into the inner court.</p> + +<p>But the building which was most conspicuous by its position, no less than +by the singularity of its construction, stood on a low, artificial mound, +in the centre of the quadrangle. It was high, hexagonal in shape, and +crowned with a roof that came to a point, and from whose peak rose a +towering flagstaff. The foundation was of stone; but, at the height of a +man above the earth, the sides were made of massive, squared logs, firmly +united by an ingenious combination of their ends, as well as by +perpendicular supporters pinned closely into their sides. In this +citadel, or block-house, as from its materials it was technically called, +there were two different tiers of long, narrow loop-holes, but no regular +windows. The rays of the setting sun, however, glittered on one or two +small openings in the roof, in which glass had been set, furnishing +evidence that the summit of the building was sometimes used for other +purposes than those of defence.</p> + +<p>About half-way up the sides of the eminence, on which the dwelling stood, +was an unbroken line of high palisadoes, made of the bodies of young +trees, firmly knit together by braces and horizontal pieces of timber, and +evidently kept in a state of jealous and complete repair. The air of the +whole of this frontier fortress was neat and comfortable, and, considering +that the use of artillery was unknown to those forests, not unmilitary.</p> + +<p>At no great distance from the base of the hill, stood the barns and the +stables. They were surrounded by a vast range of rude but warm sheds, +beneath which sheep and horned cattle were usually sheltered from the +storms of the rigorous winters of the climate. The surfaces of the +meadows, immediately around the out-buildings, were of a smoother and +richer sward, than those in the distance, and the fences were on a far +more artificial, and perhaps durable, though scarcely on a more +serviceable plan. A large orchard of some ten or fifteen years' growth, +too, added greatly to the air of improvement, which put this smiling +valley in such strong and pleasing contrast to the endless and +nearly-untenanted woods by which it was environed.</p> + +<p>Of the interminable forest, it is not necessary to speak. With the +solitary exception on the mountain-side, and of here and there a wind-row, +along which the trees had been uprooted, by the furious blasts that +sometimes sweep off acres of our trees in a minute, the eye could find no +other object to study in the vast setting of this quiet rural picture, but +the seemingly endless maze of wilderness. The broken surface of the land, +however, limited the view to an horizon of no great extent, though the art +of man could scarcely devise colors so vivid, or so gay, as those which +were afforded by the brilliant hues of the foliage. The keen, biting +frosts, known at the close of a New-England autumn, had already touched +the broad and fringed leaves of the maples, and the sudden and secret +process had been wrought upon all the other varieties of the forest, +producing that magical effect, which can be nowhere seen, except in +regions in which nature is so bountiful and luxuriant in summer, and so +sudden and so stern in the change of the seasons.</p> + +<p>Over this picture of prosperity and peace, the eye of old Mark Heathcote +wandered with a keen degree of worldly prudence. The melancholy sounds of +the various toned bells, ringing hollow and plaintively among the arches +of the woods, gave him reason to believe that the herds of the family were +returning, voluntarily, from their unlimited forest pasturage. His +grandson, a fine spirited boy of some fourteen years, was approaching +through the fields. The youngster drove before him a small flock, which +domestic necessity compelled the family to keep at great occasional loss, +and at a heavy expense of time and trouble; both of which could alone +protect them from the ravages of the beasts of prey. A species of +half-witted serving-lad, whom charity had induced the old man to harbor +among his dependants was seen issuing from the woods, nearly in a line +with the neglected clearing on the mountain-side. The latter advanced, +shouting and urging before him a drove of colts, as shaggy, as wayward, +and nearly as untamed as himself.</p> + +<p>"How now, weak one," said the Puritan, with a severe eye, as the two lads +approached him, with their several charges, from different directions, and +nearly at the same instant; "how now, sirrah! dost worry the cattle in +this gait, when the eyes of the prudent are turned from thee? Do as thou +wouldst be done by, is a just and healthful admonition, that the learned, +and the simple, the weak and the strong of mind, should alike recall to +their thoughts and their practice. I do not know that an over-driven colt +will be at all more apt to make a gentle and useful beast in its prime, +than one treated with kindness and care."</p> + +<p>"I believe the evil one has got into all the kine, no less than into the +foals," sullenly returned the lad; "I've called to them in anger, and I've +spoken to them as if they had been my natural kin, and yet neither fair +word nor foul tongue will bring them to hearken to advice. There is +something frightful in the woods this very sun-down, master; or colts that +I have driven the summer through, would not be apt to give this unfair +treatment to one they ought to know to be their friend."</p> + +<p>"Thy sheep are counted, Mark?" resumed the grandfather, turning towards +his descendant with a less austere, but always an authoritative brow; "thy +mother hath need of every fleece, to provide covering for thee and others +like thee; thou knowest, child, that the creatures are few, and our +winters weary and cold."</p> + +<p>"My mother's loom shall never be idle from carelessness of mine," returned +the confident boy; "but counting and wishing cannot make seven-and-thirty +fleeces, where there are only six-and-thirty backs to carry them. I have +been an hour among the briars and bushes of the hill logging, looking for +the lost wether, and yet neither lock, hoof, hide, nor horn, is there to +say what hath befallen the animal."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast lost a sheep!--this carelessness will cause thy mother +to grieve."</p> + +<p>"Grandfather, I have been no idler. Since the last hunt, the flock hath +been allowed to browse the woods; for no man, in all that week, saw wolf, +panther, or bear, though the country was up, from the great river to the +outer settlements of the colony. The biggest four-footed animal, that lost +its hide in the muster, was a thin-ribbed deer, and the stoutest battle +given, was between wild Whittal Ring, here, and a wood-chuck that kept him +at arm's-length, for the better part of an afternoon."</p> + +<p>"Thy tale may be true, but it neither finds that which is lost, nor +completeth the number of thy mother's flock. Hast thou ridden carefully +throughout the clearing? It is not long, since I saw the animals grazing +in that quarter. What hast thou twisting in thy fingers, in that wasteful +and unthankful manner, Whittal?"</p> + +<p>"What would make a winter blanket, if there was enough of it! wool! and +wool, too, that came from the thigh of old Straight-Horns; else have I +forgotten a leg, that gives the longest and coarsest hair at the +shearing."</p> + +<p>"That truly seemeth a lock from the animal that is wanting," exclaimed the +other boy. "There is no other creature in the flock, with fleece so coarse +and shaggy. Where found you the handful, Whittal Ring?"</p> + +<p>"Growing on the branch of a thorn. Queer fruit this, masters, to be seen +where young plums ought to ripen!"</p> + +<p>"Go, go," interrupted the old man; "thou idlest, and misspendest the time +in vain talk. Go, fold thy flock, Mark; and do thou, weak-one, house thy +charge with less uproar than is wont. We should remember that the voice is +given to man, firstly, that he may improve the blessing in thanksgivings +and petitions; secondly, to communicate such gifts as may be imparted to +himself, and which it is his bounden duty to attempt to impart to others; +and then, thirdly, to declare his natural wants and inclinations."</p> + +<p>With this admonition, which probably proceeded from a secret consciousness +in the Puritan that he had permitted a momentary cloud of selfishness to +obscure the brightness of his faith, the party separated. The grandson and +the hireling took their several ways to the folds, while old Mark himself +slowly continued his course towards the dwellings. It was near enough to +the hours of darkness, to render the preparations we have mentioned +prudent; still, no urgency called for particular haste, in the return of +the veteran to the shelter and protection of his own comfortable and +secure abode. He therefore loitered along the path, occasionally stopping +to look into the prospects of the young crops, that were beginning to +spring up in readiness for the coming year, and at times bending his gaze +around the whole of his limited horizon, like one who had the habit of +exceeding and unremitted care.</p> + +<p>One of these numerous pauses promised to be much longer than usual. +Instead of keeping his understanding eye on the grain, the look of the old +man appeared fastened, as by a charm, on some distant and obscure object. +Doubt and uncertainty, for many minutes, seemed to mingle in his gaze. But +all hesitation had apparently disappeared, as his lips severed, and he +spoke, perhaps unconsciously to himself, aloud.</p> + +<p>"It is no deception," were the low words, "but a living and an accountable +creature of the Lord's. Many a day has passed since such a sight hath been +witnessed in this vale; but my eye greatly deceives me, or yonder cometh +one ready to ask for hospitality, and, peradventure, for Christian and +brotherly communion."</p> + +<p>The sight of the aged emigrant had not deceived him. One, who appeared +a wayworn and weary traveller, had indeed ridden out of the forest, at a +point where a path, that was easier to be traced by the blazed trees +that lay along its route, than by any marks on the earth itself, issued +into the cleared land. The progress of the stranger had, at first, been +so wary and slow, as to bear the manner of exceeding and mysterious +caution. The blind road, along which he must have ridden not only far +but hard, or night had certainly overtaken him in the woods, led to one +of the distant settlements that lay near to the fertile banks of the +Connecticut. Few ever followed its windings, but they who had especial +affairs, or extraordinary communion, in the way of religious +friendships, with the proprietors of the Wish-Ton-Wish, as, in +commemoration of the first bird that had been seen by the emigrants, the +valley of the Heathcotes was called.</p> + +<p>Once fairly in view, any doubt or apprehension, that the stranger might at +first have entertained, disappeared. He rode boldly and steadily forward, +until he drew a rein that his impoverished and weary beast gladly obeyed, +within a few feet of the proprietor of the valley, whose gaze had never +ceased to watch his movements, from the instant when the other first came +within view. Before speaking, the stranger, a man whose head was getting +gray, apparently as much with hardship as with time, and one whose great +weight would have proved a grievous burthen, in a long ride, to even a +better-conditioned beast than the ill-favored provincial hack he had +ridden, dismounted, and threw the bridle loose upon the drooping neck of +the animal. The latter, without a moment's delay, and with a greediness +that denoted long abstinence, profited by its liberty, to crop the herbage +where it stood.</p> + +<p>"I cannot be mistaken, when I suppose that I have at length reached the +valley of the Wish-Ton Wish," the visiter said, touching a soiled and +slouched beaver that more than half concealed his features. The question +was put in an English that bespoke a descent from those who dwell in the +midland counties of the mother country, rather than in that intonation +which is still to be traced, equally in the western portions of England +and in the eastern states of the Union. Notwithstanding the purity of his +accent, there was enough in the form of his speech to denote a severe +compliance with the fashion of the religionists of the times. He used that +measured and methodical tone, which was, singularly enough, believed to +distinguish an entire absence of affectation in language.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast reached the dwelling of him thou seekest; one who is a +submissive sojourner in the wilderness of the world, and an humble +servitor in the outer temple."</p> + +<p>"This then is Mark Heathcote!" repeated the stranger in tones of interest, +regarding the other with a look of long, and, possibly, of suspicious +investigation.</p> + +<p>"Such is the name I bear. A fitting confidence in him who knows so well +how to change the wilds into the haunts of men, and much suffering, have +made me the master of what thou seest. Whether thou comest to tarry a +night, a week, a month, or even for a still longer season, as a brother in +care, and I doubt not one who striveth for the right, I bid thee welcome."</p> + +<p>The stranger thanked his host, by a slow inclination of the head; but the +gaze, which began to partake a little of the look of recognition, was +still too earnest and engrossing to admit of verbal reply. On the other +hand, though the old man had scanned the broad and rusty beaver, the +coarse and well-worn doublet, the heavy boots and, in short, the whole +attire of his visiter, in which he saw no vain conformity to idle +fashions to condemn, it was evident that personal recollection had not the +smallest influence in quickening his hospitality.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast arrived happily," continued the Puritan: "had night +overtaken thee in the forest, unless much practised in the shifts of +our young woodsmen, hunger, frost, and a supperless bed of brush, would +have given thee motive to think more of the body than is either +profitable or seemly."</p> + +<p>The stranger might possibly have known the embarrassment of these several +hardships; for the quick and unconscious glance he threw over his soiled +dress, should have betrayed some familiarity already, with the privations +to which his host alluded. As neither of them, however, seemed disposed to +waste further time on matters of such light moment, the traveller put an +arm through the bridle of his horse, and, in obedience to an invitation +from the owner of the dwelling, they took their way towards the fortified +edifice on the natural mound.</p> + +<p>The task of furnishing litter and provender to the jaded beast was +performed by Whittal Ring under the inspection, and, at times, under the +instructions, of its owner and his host, both of whom appeared to take a +kind and commendable interest in the comfort of a faithful hack, that had +evidently suffered long and much in the service of its master. When this +duty was discharged, the old man and his unknown guest entered the house +together; the frank and unpretending hospitality of a country like that +they were in, rendering suspicion or hesitation qualities that were +unknown to the reception of a man of white blood; more especially if he +spoke the language of the island, which was then first sending out its +swarms, to subdue and possess so large a portion of a continent that +nearly divides the earth in moieties.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter III.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"This is most strange: your father's in some passion<br /> +That works him strongly."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Tempest.</blockquote> + + +<p>A few hours made a great change in the occupations of the different +members of our simple and secluded family. The kine had yielded their +nightly tribute; the oxen had been released from the yoke, and were now +secure beneath their sheds; the sheep were in their folds, safe from the +assaults of the prowling wolf; and care had been taken to see that every +thing possessing life was gathered within the particular defences that +were provided for its security and comfort. But while all this caution was +used in behalf of living things, the utmost indifference prevailed on the +subject of that species of movable property, which, elsewhere, would have +been guarded with, at least, an equal jealousy. The homely fabrics of the +looms of Ruth lay on their bleaching-ground, to drink in the night-dew; +and plows, harrows, carts, saddles, and other similar articles, were left +in situations so exposed, as to prove that the hand of man had occupations +so numerous and so urgent, as to render it inconvenient to bestow labor +where it was not considered absolutely necessary.</p> + +<p>Content himself was the last to quit the fields and the out-buildings. +When he reached the postern in the palisadoes, he stopped to call to those +above him, in order to learn if any yet lingered without the wooden +barriers. The answer being in the negative, he entered, and drawing-to the +small but heavy gate, he secured it with bar, bolt, and lock, carefully +and jealously, with his own hand. As this was no more than a nightly and +necessary precaution, the affairs of the family received no interruption. +The meal of the hour was soon ended; and conversation, with those light +toils which are peculiar to the long evenings of the fall and winter in +families on the frontier, succeeded as fitting employments to close the +business of a laborious and well-spent day.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the entire simplicity which marked the opinions and usages +of the colonists at that period, and the great equality of condition which +even to this hour distinguishes the particular community of which we +write, choice and inclination drew some natural distinctions in the +ordinary intercourse of the inmates of the Heathcote family. A fire so +bright and cheerful blazed on an enormous hearth in a sort of upper +kitchen, as to render candles or torches unnecessary. Around it were +seated six or seven hardy and athletic young men, some drawing coarse +tools carefully through the curvatures of ox-bows, others scraping down +the helves of axes, or perhaps fashioning sticks of birch into homely but +convenient brooms. A demure, side-looking young woman kept her great wheel +in motion; while one or two others were passing from room to room, with +the notable and stirring industry of handmaidens, busied in the more +familiar cares of the household. A door communicated with an inner and +superior apartment. Here was a smaller but an equally cheerful fire, a +floor which had recently been swept, while that without had been freshly +sprinkled with river sand; candles of tallow, on a table of cherry-wood +from the neighboring forest; walls that were wainscoted in the black oak +of the country, and a few other articles, of a fashion so antique, and of +ornaments so ingenious and rich, as to announce that they had been +transported from beyond sea. Above the mantel were suspended the armorial +bearings of the Heathcotes and the Hardings, elaborately emblazoned in +tent-stitch.</p> + +<p>The principal personages of the family were seated around the latter +hearth, while a straggler from the other room, of more than usual +curiosity, had placed himself among them, marking the distinction in +ranks, or rather in situation, merely by the extraordinary care which he +took that none of the scrapings should litter the spotless oaken floor.</p> + +<p>Until this period of the evening, the duties of hospitality and the +observances of religion had prevented familiar discourse. But the offices +of the housewife were now ended for the night, the handmaidens had all +retired to their wheels, and, as the bustle of a busy and more stirring +domestic industry ceased, the cold and self-restrained silence which had +hitherto only been broken by distant and brief observations of courtesy, +or by some wholesome allusion to the lost and probationary condition of +man, seemed to invite an intercourse of a more general character.</p> + +<p>"You entered my clearing by the southern path," commenced Mark Heathcote, +addressing himself to his guest with sufficient courtesy, "and needs must +bring tidings from the towns on the river side. Has aught been done by our +councillors, at home, in the matter that pertaineth so closely to the +well-being of this colony?"</p> + +<p>"You would have me say whether he that now sitteth on the throne of +England, hath listened to the petitions of his people in this province, +and hath granted them protection against the abuses which might so readily +flow out of his own ill-advised will or out of the violence and injustice +of his successors?</p> + +<p>"We will render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's; and speak +reverently of men having authority. I would fain know whether the agent +sent by our people hath gained the ears of those who counsel the prince, +and obtained that which he sought?"</p> + +<p>"He hath done more," returned the stranger, with singular asperity; "he +hath even gained the ear of the Lord's Anointed."</p> + +<p>"Then is Charles of better mind, and of stronger justice, than report +hath spoken. We were told that light manners and unprofitable companions +had led him to think more of the vanities of the world, and less of the +wants of those over whom he hath been called by Providence to rule, than +is meet for one that sitteth on a high place. I rejoice that the +arguments of the man we sent have prevailed over more evil promptings, +and that peace and freedom of conscience are likely to be the fruits of +the undertaking. In what manner hath he seen fit to order the future +government of this people?"</p> + +<p>"Much as it hath ever stood; by their own ordinances. Winthrop hath +returned, and is the bearer of a Royal Charter, which granteth all the +rights long claimed and practised. None now dwell under the Crown of +Britain with fewer offensive demands on their consciences, or with lighter +calls on their political duties, than the men of Connecticut."</p> + +<p>"It is fitting that thanks should be rendered therefor, where thanks are +most due," said the Puritan, folding his hands on his bosom, and sitting +for a moment with closed eyes, like one who communed with an unseen being. +"Is it known by what manner of argument the Lord moved the heart of the +Prince to hearken to our wants; or was it an open and manifest token of +his power?"</p> + +<p>"I think it must needs have been the latter," rejoined the visiter, with a +manner that grew still more caustic and emphatic. "The bauble, that was +the visible agent, could not have weighed greatly with one so proudly +seated before the eyes of men."</p> + +<p>Until this point in the discourse, Content and Ruth, with their +offspring, and the two or three other individuals who composed the +audience, had listened with the demure gravity which characterized the +manners of the country. The language, united with the ill-concealed +sarcasm conveyed by the countenance, no less than the emphasis, of the +speaker, caused them now to raise their eyes, as by a common impulse. The +word "bauble" was audibly and curiously repeated. But the look of cold +irony had already passed from the features of the stranger, and it had +given place to a stern and fixed austerity, that imparted a character of +grimness to his hard and sun-burnt visage. Still he betrayed no +disposition to shrink from the subject, but, after regarding, his auditors +with a glance in which pride and suspicion were strongly blended, he +resumed the discourse.</p> + +<p>"It is known," he added, "that the grandfather of him the good people of +these settlements have commissioned to bear their wants over sea, lived in +the favor of the man who last sat upon the throne of England; and a rumor +goeth forth, that the Stuart, in a moment of princely condescension, once +decked the finger of his subject, with a ring wrought in a curious +fashion. It was a token of the love which a monarch may bear a man."</p> + +<p>"Such gifts are beacons of friendship, but may not be used as gay and +sinful ornaments," observed Mark, while the other paused like one who +wished none of the bitterness of his allusions to be lost.</p> + +<p>"It matters not whether the bauble lay in the coffers of the Winthrops, +or has long been glittering before the eyes of the faithful, in the +Bay, since it hath finally proved to be a jewel of price," continued +the stranger. "It is said, in secret, that this ring hath returned to +the finger of a Stuart, and it is openly proclaimed that Connecticut +hath a Charter!"</p> + +<p>Content and his wife regarded each other in melancholy amazement. Such an +evidence of wanton levity and of unworthiness of motive, in one who was +intrusted with the gift of earthly government, pained their simple and +upright minds; while old Mark, of still more decided and exaggerated +ideas of spiritual perfection, distinctly groaned aloud The stranger took +a sensible pleasure in this testimony of their abhorrence of so gross and +so unworthy a venality, though he saw no occasion to heighten its effect +by further speech. When his host stood erect, and, in a voice that was +accustomed to obedience, he called on his family to join, in behalf of +the reckless ruler of the land of their fathers, in a petition to him who +alone could soften the hearts of Princes, he also arose from his seat. +But even in this act of devotion, the stranger bore the air of one who +wished to do pleasure to his entertainers, rather than to obtain that +which was asked.</p> + +<p>The prayer, though short, was pointed, fervent, and sufficiently personal. +The wheels in the outer room ceased their hum, and a general movement +denoted that all there had arisen to join in the office; while one or two +of their number, impelled by deeper piety or stronger interest, drew near +to the open door between the rooms, in order to listen. With this singular +but characteristic interruption, that particular branch of the discourse, +which had given rise to it, altogether ceased.</p> + +<p>"And have we reason to dread a rising of the savages on the borders?" +asked Content, when he found that the moved spirit of his father was not +yet sufficiently calmed, to return to the examination of temporal things; +"one who brought wares from the towns below, a few months since, recited +reasons to fear a movement among the red men."</p> + +<p>The subject had not sufficient interest to open the ears of the +stranger. He was deaf, or he chose to affect deafness, to the +interrogatory. Laying his two large and weather-worn, though still +muscular hands, on a visage that was much darkened by exposure, he +appeared to shut out the objects of the world, while he communed deeply, +and, as would seem by a slight tremor, that shook even his powerful +frame, terribly, with his own thoughts.</p> + +<p>"We have many to whom our hearts strongly cling, to heighten the smallest +symptom of alarm from that quarter," added the tender and anxious mother, +her eye glancing at the uplifted countenances of two little girls, who, +busied with their light needle-work, sate on stools at her feet. "But I +rejoice to see, that one who hath journeyed from parts where the minds of +the savages must be better understood, hath not feared to do it unarmed."</p> + +<p>The traveller slowly uncovered his features, and the glance that his eye +shot over the face of the last speaker, was not without a gentle and +interested expression. Instantly recovering his composure, he arose, and, +turning to the double leathern sack, which had been borne on the crupper +of his nag, and which now lay at no great distance from his seat, he drew +a pair of horseman's pistols from two well-contrived pockets in its sides, +and laid them deliberately on the table.</p> + +<p>"Though little disposed to seek an encounter with any bearing the image of +man," he said, "I have not neglected the usual precautions of those who +enter the wilderness. Here are weapons that, in steady hands, might easily +take life, or, at need preserve it."</p> + +<p>The young Mark drew near with boyish curiosity, and while one finger +ventured to touch a lock, as he stole a conscious glance of wrong-doing +towards his mother, he said, with as much of contempt in his air, as the +schooling of his manners would allow--</p> + +<p>"An Indian arrow would make a surer aim, than a bore as short as this! +When the trainer from the Hartford town, struck the wild-cat on the hill +clearing, he sent the bullet from a five-foot, barrel; besides, this +short-sighted gun would be a dull weapon in a hug against the keen-edged +knife, that the wicked Wampanoag is known to carry."--</p> + +<p>"Boy, thy years are few, and thy boldness of speech marvellous," sternly +interrupted his parent in the second degree.</p> + +<p>The stranger manifested no displeasure at the confident language of +the lad. Encouraging him with a look, which plainly proclaimed that +martial qualities in no degree lessened the stripling in his favor, he +observed that--</p> + +<p>"The youth who is not afraid to think of the fight, or to reason on its +chances, will lead to a manhood of spirit and independence. A hundred +thousand striplings like this, might have spared Winthrop his jewel, and +the Stuart the shame of yielding to so vain and so trivial a bribe. But +thou mayst also see, child, that had we come to the death-hug, the wicked +Wampanoag might have found a blade as keen as his own."</p> + +<p>The stranger, while speaking, loosened a few strings of his doublet, and +thrust a hand into his bosom. The action enabled more than one eye to +catch a momentary glimpse of a weapon of the same description, but of a +size much smaller than those he had already so freely exhibited. As he +immediately withdrew the member, and again closed the garment with studied +care, no one presumed to advert to the circumstance, but all turned their +attention to the long sharp hunting-knife that he deposited by the side of +the pistols, as he concluded. Mark ventured to open its blade, but he +turned away with sudden consciousness, when he found that a few fibres of +coarse, shaggy wool, that were drawn from the loosened joint, adhered to +his fingers.</p> + +<p>"Straight-Horns has been against a bush sharper than the thorn!" +exclaimed Whittal Ring, who had been at hand, and who watched with +childish admiration the smallest proceedings of the different +individuals. "A steel for the back of the blade, a few dried leaves and +broken sticks, with such a carver, would soon make roast and broiled of +the old bell-wether himself. I know that the hair of all my colts is +sorrel, and I counted five at sun-down, which is just as many as went +loping through the underbrush when I loosened them from the hopples in +the morning; but six-and-thirty backs can never carry seven-and-thirty +growing fleeces of unsheared wool. Master knows that, for he is a scholar +and can count a hundred!"</p> + +<p>The allusion to the fate of the lost sheep was so plain, as to admit of no +misinterpretation of the meaning of the witless speaker. Animals of that +class were of the last importance to the comfort of the settlers, and +there was not probably one within hearing of Whittal Ring, that was at all +ignorant of the import of his words. Indeed, the loud chuckle and the open +and deriding manner with which the lad himself held above his head the +hairy fibres that he had snatched from young Mark, allowed of no +concealment, had it been desirable.</p> + +<p>"This feeble-gifted youth would hint, that thy knife hath proved its edge +on a wether that is missing from our flock, since the animals went on +their mountain range, in the morning," said the host, calmly; though even +he bent his eye to the floor, as he waited for an answer to a remark, +direct as the one his sense of justice, and his indomitable love of right, +had prompted.</p> + +<p>The stranger demanded, in a voice that lost none of its depth or firmness, +"Is hunger a crime, that they who dwell so far from the haunts of +selfishness, visit it with their anger?"</p> + +<p>"The foot of Christian man never approached the gates of Wish-Ton-Wish to +be turned away in uncharitableness, but that which is freely given should +not be taken in licentiousness. From off the hill where my flock is wont +to graze, it is easy, through many an opening of the forest, to see these +roofs; and it would have been better that the body should languish, than +that a grievous sin should be placed on that immortal spirit which is +already too deeply laden, unless thou art far more happy than others of +the fallen race of Adam."</p> + +<p>"Mark Heathcote," said the accused, and ever with an unwavering tone, +"look further at those weapons, which, if a guilty man, I have weakly +placed within thy power. Thou wilt find more there to wonder at, than a +few straggling hairs, that the spinner would cast from her as too coarse +for service."</p> + +<p>"It is long since I found pleasure in handling the weapons of strife; may +it be longer to the time when they shall be needed in this abode of peace. +These are instruments of death, resembling those used in my youth, by +cavaliers that rode in the levies of the first Charles, and of his +pusillanimous father. There were worldly pride and great vanity, with much +and damning ungodliness, in the wars that I have seen, my children; and +yet the carnal man found pleasure in the stirrings of those graceless +days! Come hither, younker; thou hast often sought to know the manner in +which the horsemen are wont to lead into the combat, when the +broad-mouthed artillery and pattering leaden hail have cleared a passage +for the struggle of horse to horse, and man to man. Much of the +justification of these combats must depend on the inward spirit, and on +the temper of him that striketh at the life of fellow-sinner; but +righteous Joshua, it is known, contended with the heathen throughout a +supernatural day: and therefore always humbly confiding that our cause is +just, I will open to thy young mind the uses of a weapon that hath never +before been seen in these forests."</p> + +<p>"I have hefted many a heavier piece than this," said young Mark, frowning, +equally with the exertion and with the instigations of his aspiring +spirit, as he held out the ponderous weapon in a single hand; "we have +guns that might tame a wolf with greater certainty than any barrel of a +bore less than my own height. Tell, me grand'ther; at what distance do the +mounted warriors, you so often name, take their sight?"</p> + +<p>But the power of speech appeared suddenly to have deserted the aged +veteran. He had interrupted his own discourse, and now, instead of +answering the interrogatory of the boy, his eye wandered slowly and with a +look of painful doubt from the weapon, that he still held before him, to +the countenance of the stranger. The latter continued erect, like one +courting a strict and meaning examination of his person. This dumb-show +could not fail to attract the observation of Content. Rising from his +seat, with that quiet but authoritative manner which is still seen in the +domestic government of the people of the region where he dwelt, he +beckoned to all present to quit the apartment. Ruth and her daughters, the +hirelings, the ill-gifted Whittal, and even the reluctant Mark, preceded +him to the door, which he closed with respectful care; and then the whole +of the wondering party mingled with those of the outer room, leaving the +one they had quitted to the sole possession of the aged chief of the +settlement, and to his still unknown and mysterious guest.</p> + +<p>Many anxious, and to those who were excluded seemingly interminable +minutes passed, and, the secret interview appeared to draw no nearer its +close. That deep reverence, which the years, paternity, and character of +the grandfather had inspired, prevented all from approaching the quarter +of the apartment nearest to the room they had left; but a silence, still +as the grave, did all that silence could do, to enlighten their minds in a +matter of so much general interest. The deep, smothered sentences of the +speakers were often heard, each dwelling with steadiness and propriety on +his particular theme, but no sound that conveyed meaning to the minds of +those without passed the envious walls. At length, the voice of old Mark +became more than usually audible; and then Content arose, with a gesture +to those around him to imitate his example. The young men threw aside the +subjects of their light employments, the maidens left the wheels which had +not been turned for many minutes, and the whole party disposed themselves +in the decent and simple attitude of prayer. For the third time that +evening was the voice of the Puritan heard, pouring out his spirit in a +communion with that being on whom it was his practice to repose all his +worldly cares. But, though long accustomed to all the peculiar forms of +utterance by which their father ordinarily expressed his pious emotions, +neither Content nor his attentive partner was enabled to decide on the +nature of the feeling that was now uppermost. At times, it appeared to be +the language of thanksgiving, and at others it assumed more of the +imploring sounds of deprecation and petition; in short, it was so varied, +and, though tranquil, so equivocal, if such a term may be applied to so +serious a subject, as completely to baffle every conjecture.</p> + +<p>Long and weary minutes passed after the voice had entirely ceased, and yet +no summons was given to the expecting family, nor did any sound proceed +from the inner room, which the respectful son was emboldened to construe +into an evidence that he might presume to enter. At length, apprehension +began to mingle with conjectures, and then the husband and wife communed +apart, in whispers. The misgivings and doubt of the former soon manifested +themselves in still more apparent forms. He arose, and was seen pacing the +wide apartment, gradually approaching nearer to the partition which +separated the two rooms, evidently prepared to retire beyond the limits of +hearing, the moment he should detect any proofs that his uneasiness was +without a sufficient cause. Still no sound proceeded from the inner room. +The breathless silence which had so shortly before reigned where he was, +appeared to be suddenly transferred to the spot in which he was vainly +endeavoring to detect the smallest proof of human existence. Again he +returned to Ruth, and again they consulted, in low voices, as to the step +that filial duty seemed to require at their hands.</p> + +<p>"We were not bidden to withdraw," said his gentle companion; "why not +rejoin our parent, now that time has been given to understand the subject +which so evidently disturbed his mind?"</p> + +<p>Content, at length, yielded to this opinion. With that cautious +discretion which distinguishes his people, he motioned to the family to +follow, in order that no unnecessary exclusion should give rise to +conjectures, or excite suspicions, for which, after all, the +circumstances might prove no justification. Notwithstanding the subdued +manners of the age and country, curiosity, and perhaps a better feeling, +had become so intense, as to cause all present to obey this silent +mandate, by moving as swiftly towards the open door as a never-yielding +decency of demeanor would permit.</p> + +<p>Old Mark Heathcote occupied the chair in which he had been left, with +that calm and unbending gravity of eye and features which were then +thought indispensable to a fitting sobriety of spirit. But the +stranger had disappeared. There were two or three outlets by which the +room, and even the house, might be quitted, without the knowledge of +those who had so long waited for admission; and the first impression +led the family to expect the re-appearance of the absent man through one +of these exterior passages. Content, however, read in the expression of +his father's eye, that the moment of confidence, if it were ever to +arrive, had not yet come; and, so admirable and perfect was the +domestic discipline of this family, that the questions which the son +did not see fit to propound, no one of inferior condition, or lesser +age, might presume to agitate. With the person of the stranger, every +evidence of his recent visit had also vanished.</p> + +<p>Mark missed the weapon that had excited his admiration; Whittal looked in +vain for the hunting-knife, which had betrayed the fate of the wether; +Mrs. Heathcote saw, by a hasty glance of the eye, that the leathern sacks, +which she had borne in mind ought to be transferred to the sleeping +apartment of their guest, were gone; and a mild and playful image of +herself, who bore her name no less than most of those features which had +rendered her own youth more than usually attractive, sought, without +success, a massive silver spur, of curious and antique workmanship, which +she had been permitted to handle until the moment when the family had been +commanded to withdraw.</p> + +<p>The night had now worn later than the hour at which it was usual for +people of habits so simple to be out of their beds. The grandfather +lighted a taper, and, after bestowing the usual blessing on those around +him, with an air as calm as if nothing had occurred, he prepared to retire +into his own room. And yet, matter of interest seemed to linger on his +mind. Even on the threshold of the door, he turned, and, for an instant, +all expected some explanation of a circumstance which began to wear no +little of the aspect of an exciting and painful mystery. But their hopes +were raised only to be disappointed.</p> + +<p>"My thoughts have not kept the passage of the time," he said. "In what +hour of the night are we, my son?"</p> + +<p>He was told that it was already past the usual moment of sleep.</p> + +<p>"No matter; that which Providence hath bestowed for our comfort and +support, should not be lightly and unthankfully disregarded. Take thou the +beast I am wont to ride, thyself, Content, and follow the path which +leadeth to the mountain clearing; bring away that which shall meet thine +eye, near the first turning of the route toward the river towns. We have +got into the last quarter of the year, and in order that our industry may +not flag, and that all may be stirring with the sun, let the remainder of +the household seek their rest."</p> + +<p>Content saw, by the manner of his father, that no departure from the +strict letter of these instructions was admissible. He closed the door +after his retiring form, and then, by a quiet gesture of authority, +indicated to his dependants that they were expected to withdraw. The +maidens of Ruth led the children to their chambers, and in a few more +minutes, none remained in the outer apartment, already so often named, but +the obedient son, with his anxious and affectionate consort.</p> + +<p>"I will be thy companion, husband," Ruth half-whisperingly commenced, so +soon as the little domestic preparations for leaving the fires and +securing the doors were ended. "I like not that thou shouldst go into the +forest alone, at so late an hour of the night."</p> + +<p>"One will be with me, there, who never deserteth those who rely on his +protection. Besides, my Ruth, what is there to apprehend in a wilderness +like this? The beasts have been lately hunted from the hills, and, +excepting those who dwell under our own roof, there is not one within a +long day's ride."</p> + +<p>"We know not! Where is the stranger that came within our doors as the sun +was setting?"</p> + +<p>"As thou sayest, we know not. My father is not minded to open his lips on +the subject of this traveller, and surely we are not now to learn the +lessons of obedience and self-denial."</p> + +<p>"It would, notwithstanding, be a great easing to the spirit to hear at +least the name of him who hath eaten of our bread, and joined in our +family worship, though he were immediately to pass away for ever from +before the sight."</p> + +<p>"That may he have done, already!" returned the less curious and more +self-restrained husband. "My father will not that we inquire."</p> + +<p>"And yet there can be little sin in knowing the condition of one whose +fortunes and movements can excite neither our envy nor our strife. I would +that we had tarried for a closer mingling in the prayers; it was not +seemly to desert a guest who, it would appear, had need of an especial +up-offering in his behalf."</p> + +<p>"Our spirits joined in the asking, though our ears were shut to the matter +of his wants. But it will be needful that I should be afoot with the young +men, in the morning, and a mile of measurement would not reach to the +turning, in the path to the river towns. Go with me to the postern, and +look to the fastenings; I will not keep thee long on thy watch."</p> + +<p>Content and his wife now quitted the dwelling, by the only door that was +left unbarred. Lighted by a moon that was full, though clouded they passed +a gateway between two of the outer buildings, and descended to the +palisadoes. The bars and bolts of the little postern were removed, and in +a few minutes, the former, mounted on the back of his father's own horse, +was galloping briskly along the path which led into the part of the forest +he was directed to seek.</p> + +<p>While the husband was thus proceeding, in obedience to orders that he +never hesitated to obey his faithful wife withdrew within the shelter of +the wooden defences. More in compliance with a precaution that was become +habitual, than from any present causes of suspicion, she drew a single +bolt and remained at the postern, anxiously awaiting the result of a +movement that was as unaccountable as it was extraordinary.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter IV.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"I' the name of something holy, sir, why stand you<br /> +In this strange stare?"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Tempest.</blockquote> + + +<p>As a girl, Ruth Harding had been one of the mildest and gentlest of the +human race. Though new impulses had been given to her naturally kind +affections by the attachments of a wife and mother, her disposition +suffered no change by marriage. Obedient, disinterested, and devoted to +those she loved, as her parents had known her, so, by the experience of +many years, had she proved to Content. In the midst of the utmost +equanimity of temper and of deportment, her watchful solicitude in behalf +of the few who formed the limited circle of her existence, never +slumbered. It dwelt unpretendingly but active in her gentle bosom, like a +great and moving principle of life. Though circumstances had placed her +on a remote and exposed frontier, where time had not been given for the +several customary divisions of employments, she was unchanged in habits, +in feelings, and in character. The affluence of her husband had elevated +her above the necessity of burthensome toil; and, while she had +encountered the dangers of the wilderness, and neglected none of the +duties of her active station, she had escaped most of those injurious +consequences which are a little apt to impair the peculiar loveliness of +woman. Notwithstanding the exposure of a border life, she remained +feminine, attractive, and singularly youthful.</p> + +<p>The reader will readily imagine the state of mind, with which such a being +watched the distant form of a husband, engaged in a duty like that we have +described. Notwithstanding the influence of long habit, the forest was +rarely approached, after night-fall, by the boldest woodsman, without some +secret consciousness that he encountered a positive danger. It was the +hour when its roaming and hungry tenants were known to be most in motion; +and the rustling of a leaf, or the snapping of a dried twig beneath the +light tread of the smallest animal, was apt to conjure images of the +voracious and fire-eyed panther, or perhaps of a lurking biped, which, +though more artful, was known to be scarcely less savage. It is true, that +hundreds experienced the uneasiness of such sensations, who were never +fated to undergo the realities of the fearful pictures. Still, facts were +not wanting to supply sufficient motive for a grave and reasonable +apprehension.</p> + +<p>Histories of combats with beasts of prey, and of massacres by roving and +lawless Indians, were the moving legends of the border. Thrones might be +subverted, and kingdoms lost and won, in distant Europe, and less should +be said of the events, by those who dwelt in these woods, than of one +scene of peculiar and striking forest incident, that called for the +exercise of the stout courage and the keen intelligence of a settler. Such +a tale passed from mouth to mouth, with the eagerness of powerful personal +interest, and many were already transmitted from parent to child, in the +form of tradition, until, as in more artificial communities, graver +improbabilities creep into the doubtful pages of history, exaggeration +became too closely blended with truth, ever again to be separated.</p> + +<p>Under the influence of these feelings, and perhaps prompted by his +never-failing discretion, Content had thrown a well-tried piece over his +shoulder; and when he rose the ascent on which his father had met the +stranger, Ruth caught a glimpse of his form, bending on the neck of his +horse, and gliding through the misty light of the hour, resembling one of +those fancied images of wayward and hard-riding sprites, of which the +tales of the eastern continent are so fond of speaking.</p> + +<p>Then followed anxious moments, during which neither sight nor hearing +could in the least aid the conjectures of the attentive wife. She listened +without breathing, and once or twice she thought the blows of hoofs, +falling on the earth harder and quicker than common, might be +distinguished; but it was only as Content mounted the sudden ascent of the +hill-side, that he was again seen, for a brief instant, while dashing +swiftly into the cover of the woods.</p> + +<p>Though Ruth had been familiar with the cares of the frontier, perhaps she +had never known a moment more intensely painful than that, when the form +of her husband became blended with the dark trunks of the trees. The time +was to her impatience longer than usual, and under the excitement of a +feverish inquietude, that had no definite object, she removed the single +bolt that held the postern closed, and passed entirely without the +stockade To her oppressed senses, the palisadoes appeared to place limits +to her vision. Still, weary minute passed after minute, without bringing +relief. During these anxious moments, she became more than usually +conscious of the insulated situation in which he and all who were dearest +to her heart were placed. The feelings of a wife prevailed. Quitting the +side of the acclivity, she began to walk slowly along the path her husband +had taken, until apprehension insensibly urged her into a quicker +movement. She had paused only when she stood nearly in the centre of the +clearing, on the eminence where her father had halted that evening to +contemplate the growing improvement of his estate.</p> + +<p>Here her steps were suddenly arrested, for she thought a form was issuing +from the forest, at that interesting spot which her eyes had never ceased +to watch. It proved to be no more than the passing shadow of a cloud +denser than common, which threw the body of its darkness on the trees, and +a portion of its outline on the ground near the margin of the wood. Just +at this instant, the recollection that she had incautiously left the +postern open flashed upon her mind, and, with feelings divided between +husband and children, she commenced her return, in order to repair a +neglect, to which habit, no less than prudence, imparted a high degree of +culpability. The eyes of the mother, for the feelings of that sacred +character were now powerfully uppermost, were fastened on the ground, as +she eagerly picked her way along the uneven surface; and, so engrossed was +her mind by the omission of duty with which she was severely reproaching +herself, that they drank in objects without conveying distinct or +intelligible images to her brain.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the one engrossing thought of the moment, something met +her eye that caused even the vacant organ to recoil, and every fibre in +her frame to tremble with terror. There was a moment in which delirium +nearly heightened terror to madness. Reflection came only when Ruth had +reached the distance of many feet from the spot where this startling +object had half-unconsciously crossed her vision. Then for a single and a +fearful instant she paused, like one who debated on the course she ought +to follow. Maternal love prevailed, and the deer of her own woods scarcely +bounds with greater agility, than the mother of the sleeping and +defenceless family now fled towards the dwellings. Panting and breathless +she gained the postern, which was closed, with hands that performed their +office more by instinct than in obedience to thought, and doubly and +trebly barred.</p> + +<p>For the first time in some minutes, Ruth now breathed distinctly and +without pain. She strove to rally her thoughts, in order to deliberate on +the course that prudence and her duty to Content, who was still exposed to +the danger she had herself escaped, prescribed. Her first impulse was to +give the established signal that was to recall the laborers from the +field, or to awake the sleepers, in the event of an alarm; but better +reflection told her that such a step might prove fatal to him who balanced +in her affections against the rest of the world The struggle in her mind +only ended, as she clearly and unequivocally caught a view of her husband, +issuing from the forest, at the very point where he had entered. The +return path unfortunately led directly past the spot where such sudden +terror had seized her mind. She would have given worlds to have known how +to apprize him of a danger with which her own imagination was full, +without communicating the warning to other and terrible ears. The night +was still, and though the distance was considerable, it was not so great +as to render the chances of success desperate. Scarcely knowing what she +did, and yet preserving, by a sort of instinctive prudence, the caution +which constant exposure weaves into all our habits, the trembling woman +made the effort.</p> + +<p>"Husband! husband!" she cried, commencing plaintively, but her voice +rising with the energy of excitement. "Husband, ride swiftly; our little +Ruth lyeth in the agony. For her life and thine, ride at thy horse's +speed. Seek not the stables, but come with all haste to the postern; it +shall be open to thee."</p> + +<p>This was certainly a fearful summons for a father's ear, and there is +little doubt that, had the feeble powers of Ruth succeeded in conveying +the words as far as she had wished, they would have produced the desired +effect. But in vain did she call; her weak tones, though raised on the +notes of the keenest apprehension, could not force their way across so +wide a space. And yet, had she reason to think they were not entirely +lost, for once her husband paused and seemed to listen, and once he +quickened the pace of his horse; though neither of these proofs of +intelligence was followed by any further signs of his having understood +the alarm.</p> + +<p>Content was now upon the hillock itself. If Ruth breathed at all during +its passage, it was more imperceptibly than the gentlest respiration of +the sleeping infant. But when she saw him trotting with unconscious +security along the path on the side next the dwellings, her impatience +broke through all restraint, and throwing open the postern, she renewed +her cries, in a voice that was no longer useless. The clattering of the +unshodden hoof was again rapid, and in another minute her husband galloped +unharmed to her side.</p> + +<p>"Enter!" said the nearly dizzy wife, seizing the bridle and leading the +horse within the palisadoes. "Enter, husband, for the love of all that is +thine; enter, and be thankful."</p> + +<p>"What meaneth this terror, Ruth?" demanded Content, in as much +displeasure, perhaps, as he could manifest to one so gentle, for a +weakness betrayed in his own behalf; "is thy confidence in him whose eye +never closeth, and who equally watcheth the life of man and that of the +falling sparrow, lost?"</p> + +<p>Ruth was deaf. With hurried hands she drew the fastenings, let fall the +bars, and turned a key which forced a triple-bolted lock to perform its +office. Not till then did she feel either safe herself, or at liberty to +render thanks for the safety of him, over whose danger she had so lately +watched, in agony.</p> + +<p>"Why this care? Hast forgotten that the horse will suffer hunger, at this +distance from the rack and manger?"</p> + +<p>"Better that he starve, than hair of thine should come to harm."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, Ruth; dost not remember that the beast is the favorite of my +father, who will ill brook his passing a night within the palisadoes?"</p> + +<p>"Husband, you err; there is one in the fields!"</p> + +<p>"Is there place, where one is not?"</p> + +<p>"But I have seen creature of mortal birth, and creature too that hath no +claim on thee, or thine, and who trespasseth on our peace, no less than on +our natural rights, to be where he lurketh."</p> + +<p>"Go to; thou art not used to be so late from thy pillow, my poor Ruth; +sleep hath come over thee, whilst standing on thy watch. Some cloud hath +left its shadow on the fields, or, truly, it may be that the hunt did not +drive the beasts as far from the clearing as we had thought. Come; since +thou wilt cling to my side, lay hand on the bridle of the horse, while I +ease him of his burthen."</p> + +<p>As Content coolly proceeded to the task he had mentioned, the thoughts of +his wife were momentarily diverted from their other sources of uneasiness, +by the object which lay on the crupper of the nag and which, until now, +had entirely escaped her observation.</p> + +<p>"Here is, indeed, the animal this day missing from our flock!" she +exclaimed, as the carcass of a sheep fell heavily on the ground.</p> + +<p>"Ay; and killed with exceeding judgment, if not aptly dressed to our +hands. Mutton will not be wanting for the husking-feast, and the stalled +creature whose days were counted may live another season."</p> + +<p>"And where didst find the slaughtered beast?"</p> + +<p>"On the limb of a growing hickory. Eben Dudley, with all his sleight in +butchering, and in setting forth the excellence of his meats, could not +have left an animal hanging from the branch of a sapling, with greater +knowledge of his craft. Thou seest, but a single meal is missing from the +carcass, and that thy fleece is unharmed."</p> + +<p>"This is not the work of a Pequod!" exclaimed Ruth, surprised at her own +discovery; "the red men do their mischief with less care."</p> + +<p>"Nor has the tooth of wolf opened the veins of poor Straight-Horns. Here +has been judgment in the slaughtering, as well as prudence in +consumption of the food. The hand that cut so lightly, had intention of +a second visit."</p> + +<p>"And our father bid thee seek the creature where it was found! Husband, I +fear some heavy judgment for the sins of the parents, is likely to befall +the children."</p> + +<p>"The babes are quietly in their slumbers, and, thus far, little wrong hath +been done us. I'll cast the halter from the stalled animal ere I sleep, +and Straight-Horns shall content us for the husking. We may have mutton +less savory, for this evil chance, but the number of thy flock will be +unaltered."</p> + +<p>"And where is he, who hath mingled in our prayers, and hath eaten of our +bread; he who counselled so long in secret with our father, and who hath +now vanished from among us, like a vision?"</p> + +<p>"That indeed is a question not readily to be answered," returned Content, +who had hitherto maintained a cheerful air, in order to appease what he +was fain to believe a causeless terror in the bosom of his partner, but +who was induced by this question to drop his head like one that sought +reasons within the repository of his own thoughts. "It mattereth not, +Ruth Heathcote; the ordering of the affair is in the hands of a man of +many years and great experience; should his aged wisdom fail, do we not +know that one even wiser than he, hath us in his keeping? I will return +the beast to his rack, and when we shall have jointly asked favor of eyes +that never sleep, we will go in confidence to our rest."</p> + +<p>"Husband, thou quittest not the palisadoes again this night," said Ruth, +arresting the hand that had already drawn a bolt, ere she spoke. "I have a +warning of evil."</p> + +<p>"I would the stranger had found some other shelter in which to pass his +short resting season. That he hath made free with my flock, and that he +hath administered to his hunger at some cost, when a single asking would +have made him welcome to the best that the owner of the Wish-Ton-Wish can +command, are truths that may not be denied. Still is he mortal man, as a +goodly appetite hath proven, even should our belief in Providence so far +waver as to harbor doubts of its unwillingness to suffer beings of +injustice to wander in our forms and substance. I tell thee, Ruth, that +the nag will be needed for to-morrow's service, and that our father will +give but ill thanks should we leave it to make a bed on this cold +hill-side. Go to thy rest and to thy prayers, trembler; I will close the +postern with all care. Fear not; the stranger is of human wants, and his +agency to do evil must needs be limited by human power."</p> + +<p>"I fear none of white blood, nor of Christian parentage: the murderous +heathen is in our fields."</p> + +<p>"Thou dreamest, Ruth!"</p> + +<p>"'Tis not a dream. I have seen the glowing eye-balls of a savage. Sleep +was little like to come over me, when set upon a watch like this. I +thought me that the errand was of unknown character, and that our father +was exceedingly aged, and that perchance his senses might be duped, and +how an obedient son ought not to be exposed.--Thou knowest, Heathcote, +that I could not look upon the danger of my children's father with +indifference, and I followed to the nut-tree hillock."</p> + +<p>"To the nut-tree! It was not prudent in thee--but the postern?"</p> + +<p>"It was open; for were the key turned, who was there to admit us quickly, +had haste been needed?" returned Ruth, momentarily averting her face to +conceal the flush excited by conscious delinquency. "Though I failed in +caution, 'twas for thy safety, Heathcote: But on that hillock, and in the +hollow left by a fallen tree, lies concealed a heathen!"</p> + +<p>"I passed the nut-wood in going to the shambles of our strange butcher, +and I drew the rein to give breath to the nag near it, as we returned with +the burthen. It cannot be; some creature of the forest hath alarmed thee."</p> + +<p>"Ay! creature, formed, fashioned gifted like ourselves, in all but color +of the skin and blessing of the faith."</p> + +<p>"This is strange delusion! If there were enemy at hand, would men subtle +as those you fear, suffer the master of the dwelling, and truly I may say +it without vain-glory, one as likely as another to struggle stoutly for +his own, to escape, when an ill-timed visit to the woods had delivered him +unresisting into their hands? Go, go, good Ruth; thou mayst have seen a +blackened log--perchance the frosts have left a fire-fly untouched, or it +may be that some prowling bear has scented out the sweets of thy +lately-gathered hives."</p> + +<p>Ruth again laid her hand firmly on the arm of her husband, who had +withdrawn another bolt, and, looking him steadily in the face, she +answered by saying solemnly, and with touching pathos--</p> + +<p>"Think'st thou, husband, that a mother's eye could be deceived?"</p> + +<p>It might have been that the allusion to the tender beings whose fate +depended on his care, or that the deeply serious, though mild and gentle +manner of his consort, produced some fresher impression on the mind of +Content. Instead of undoing the fastenings of the postern as he had +intended, he deliberately drew its bolts again and paused to think.</p> + +<p>"If it produce no other benefit than to quiet thy fears, good Ruth," he +said, after a moment of reflection, "a little caution will be well repaid. +Stay you, then, here, where the hillock may be watched, while I go wake a +couple of the people. With stout Eben Dudley and experienced Reuben Ring +to back me, my father's horse may surely be stabled."</p> + +<p>Ruth contentedly assumed a task that she was quite equal to perform with +intelligence and zeal. "Hie thee to the laborers' chambers, for I see a +light still burning in the room of those you seek," was the answer she +gave to a proposal that at least quieted the intenseness of her fears for +him in whose behalf they had so lately been excited nearly to agony.</p> + +<p>"It shall be quickly done; nay, stand not thus openly between the beams, +wife. Thou mayst place thyself, here, at the doublings of the wood, +beneath the loop, where harm would scarcely reach thee, though shot from +artillery were to crush the timber."</p> + +<p>With this admonition to be wary of a danger that he had so recently +affected to despise, Content departed on his errand. The two laborers he +had mentioned by name, were youths of mould and strength, and they were +well inured to toil, no less than to the particular privations and dangers +of a border life. Like most men of their years and condition, they were +practised too in the wiles of Indian cunning; and though the Province of +Connecticut, compared to other settlements, had suffered but little in +this species of murderous warfare, they both had martial feats and +perilous experiences of their own to recount, during the light labors of +the long winter evenings.</p> + +<p>Content crossed the court with a quick step; for, notwithstanding his +steady unbelief, the image of his gentle wife posted on her outer watch +hurried his movements. The rap he gave at the door, on reaching the +apartment of those he sought, was loud as it was sudden.</p> + +<p>"Who calls?" demanded a deep-toned and firm voice from within, at the +first blow of the knuckles on the plank.</p> + +<p>"Quit thy beds quickly, and come forth with the arms appointed for a +sally."</p> + +<p>"That is soon done," answered a stout woodsman, throwing open the door and +standing before Content in the garments he had worn throughout the day. +"We were just dreaming that the night was not to pass without a summons to +the loops."</p> + +<p>"Hast seen aught?"</p> + +<p>"Our eyes were not shut, more than those of others; we saw him enter that +no man hath seen depart."</p> + +<p>"Come, fellow; Whittal Ring would scarce give wiser speech than this +cunning reply of thine. My wife is at the postern, and it is fit we go to +relieve her watch. Thou wilt not forget the horns of powder, since it +would not tell to our credit, were there service for the pieces, and we +lacking in wherewithal to give them a second discharge."</p> + +<p>The hirelings obeyed, and, as little time was necessary to arm those who +never slept without weapons and ammunition within reach of their hands, +Content was speedily followed by his dependants. Ruth was found at her +post, but when urged by her husband to declare what had passed in his +absence, she was compelled to admit that, though the moon had come forth +brighter and clearer from behind the clouds, she had seen nothing to add +to her alarm.</p> + +<p>"We will then lead the beast to his stall, and close our duty by setting +a single watcher for the rest of the night," said the husband. "Reuben +shall keep the postern, while Eben and I will have a care for my +father's nag, not forgetting the carcass for the husking-feast. Dost +hear, deaf Dudley?--cast the mutton upon the crupper of the beast, and +follow to the stables."</p> + +<p>"Here has been no common workman at my office," said the blunt Eben, who, +though an ordinary farm-laborer, according to an usage still very +generally prevalent in the country, was also skilful in the craft of the +butcher. "I have brought many a wether to his end, but this is the first +sheep, within all my experience, that hath kept the fleece while a +portion of the body has been in the pot! Lie there, poor Straight-Horns, +if quiet thou canst be after such strange butchery. Reuben, I paid thee, +as the sun rose, a Spanish piece in silver, for the trifle of debt that +lay between us, in behalf of the good turn thou didst the shoes, which +were none the better for the last hunt in the hills. Hast ever that +pistareen about thee?"</p> + +<p>This question, which was put in a lowered tone, and only to the ear of the +party concerned, was answered in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>"Give it me, lad; in the morning, thou shalt be paid, with usurer's +interest."</p> + +<p>Another summons from Content, who had now led the nag loaded with the +carcass of the sheep without the postern, cut short the secret conference. +Eben Dudley, having received the coin, hastened to follow. But the +distance to the out-buildings was sufficient to enable him to effect his +mysterious purpose without discovery. Whilst Content endeavored to calm +the apprehensions of his wife, who still persisted in sharing his danger, +by such reasons as he could on the instant command, the credulous Dudley +placed the thin piece of silver between his teeth, and, with a pressure +that denoted the prodigious force of his jaws, caused it to assume a +beaten and rounded shape. He then slily dropped the battered coin into the +muzzle of his gun, taking care to secure its presence, until he himself +should send it on its disenchanting message, by a wad torn from the lining +of part of his vestments. Supported by this redoubtable auxiliary, the +superstitious but still courageous borderer followed his companion, +whistling a low air that equally denoted his indifference to danger of an +ordinary nature, and his sensibility to impressions of a less earthly +character.</p> + +<p>They who dwell in the older districts of America, where art and labor +have united for generations to clear the earth of its inequalities, and to +remove the vestiges of a state of nature, can form but little idea of the +thousand objects that may exist in a clearing, to startle the imagination +of one who has admitted alarm, when seen in the doubtful light of even a +cloudless moon. Still less can they who have never quitted the old world, +and who, having only seen, can only imagine fields smooth as the surface +of tranquil water, picture the effect produced by those lingering +remnants, which may be likened to so many mouldering monuments of the +fallen forest scattered at such an hour over a broad surface of open land. +Accustomed as they were to the sight, Content and his partner, excited by +their fears, fancied each dark and distant stump a savage; and they passed +no angle in the high and heavy fences without throwing a jealous glance to +see that some enemy did not lie stretched within its shadows.</p> + +<p>Still no new motive for apprehension arose, during the brief period that +the two adventurers were employed in administering to the comfort of the +Puritan's steed. The task was ended, the carcass of the slaughtered +Straight-Horns had been secured, and Ruth was already urging her husband +to return, when their attention was drawn to the attitude and mien of +their companion.</p> + +<p>"The man hath departed as he came," said Eben Dudley, who stood shaking +his head in open doubt, before an empty stall; "here is no beast, though +with these eyes did I see the half-wit bring hither a well-filled measure +of speckled oats, to feed the nag. He who favored us with his presence at +the supper and the thanksgiving, hath tired of his company before the hour +of rest had come."</p> + +<p>"The horse is truly wanting," said Content: "the man must needs be in +exceeding haste, to have ridden into the forest as the night grew deepest, +and when the longest summer day would scarce bring a better hack than +that he rode to another Christian dwelling. There is reason for this +industry, but it is enough that it concerns us not. We will now seek our +rest, in the certainty that one watcheth our slumbers whose vigilance can +never fail."</p> + +<p>Though man could not trust himself to sleep in that country without the +security of bars and bolts, we have already had occasion to say that +property was guarded with but little care. The stable-door was merely +closed by a wooden latch, and the party returned from this short sortie, +with steps that were a little quickened by a sense of an uneasiness that +beset them in forms suited to their several characters. But shelter was at +hand, and it was speedily regained.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast seen nothing?" said Content to Reuben Ring, who had been chosen +for his quick eye, and a sagacity that was as remarkable as was his +brother's impotency; "thou hast seen nothing at thy watch?"</p> + +<p>"Nought unusual; and yet I like not yonder billet of wood, near to the +fence against the knoll. If it were not so plainly a half-burnt log, one +might fancy there is life in it. But when fancy is at work, the sight is +keen. Once or twice I have thought it seemed to be rolling towards the +brook; I am not, even now, certain that when first seen it did not lie +eight or ten feet higher against the bank."</p> + +<p>"It may be a living thing!"</p> + +<p>"On the faith of a woodman's eye, it well may be," said Eben Dudley; "but +should it be haunted by a legion of wicked spirits, one may bring it to +quiet from the loop at the nearest corner. Stand aside, Madam Heathcote," +for the character and wealth of the proprietors of the valley, gave Ruth a +claim to this term of respect among the laborers: "let me thrust the piece +through the--stop, there is an especial charm in the gun, which it might +be sinful to waste on such a creature. It may be no more than some +sweet-toothed bear. I will answer for the charge at my own cost, if thou +wilt lend me thy musket, Reuben Ring."</p> + +<p>"It shall not be," said his master; "one known to my father hath this +night entered our dwelling and fed at our board; if he hath departed in a +way but little wont among those of this Colony, yet hath he done no great +wrong. I will go nigh, and examine with less risk of error."</p> + +<p>There was, in this proposal, too much of that spirit of right-doing which +governed all of those simple regions, to meet serious opposition. Content, +supported by Eben Dudley, again quitted the postern, and proceeded +directly, though still not without sufficient caution, towards the point +where the suspicious object lay. A bend in the fence had first brought it +into view, for previously to reaching that point, its apparent direction +might for some distance have been taken under shelter of the shadows of +the rails, which, at the immediate spot where it was seen, were turned +suddenly in a line with the eyes of the spectators. It seemed as if the +movements of those who approached were watched; for the instant they left +the defences, the dark object was assuredly motionless; even the keen eye +of Reuben Ring beginning to doubt whether some deception of vision had not +led him, after all, to mistake a billet of wood for a creature of life.</p> + +<p>But Content and his companion were not induced to change their +determination. Even when within fifty feet of the object, though the moon +fell full and brightly upon the surface, its character baffled conjecture. +One affirmed it was the end of a charred log, many of which still lay +scattered about the fields, and the other believed it some cringing animal +of the woods. Twice Content raised his piece to tire, and as often did he +let it fall, in reluctance to do injury to even a quadruped of whose +character he was ignorant. It is more than probable that his less +considerate, and but half-obedient companion would have decided the +question soon after leaving he postern, had not the peculiar contents of +his musket rendered him delicate of its uses.</p> + +<p> +"Look to thy weapons," said the former, loosening his own hunting-knife in +its sheath. "We will draw near, and make certainty of what is doubtful."</p> + +<p>They did so, and the gun of Dudley was thrust rudely into the side of the +object of their distrust, before it again betrayed life or motion. Then, +indeed, as if further disguise was useless, an Indian lad, of some fifteen +years, rose deliberately to his feet, and stood before them in the sullen +dignity of a captured warrior. Content hastily seized the stripling by an +arm, and followed by Eben, who occasionally quickened the footsteps of the +prisoner by an impetus obtained from the breech of his own musket, they +hurriedly returned within the defences.</p> + +<p>"My life against that of Straight-Horns, which is now of no great value," +said Dudley, as he pushed the last bolt of the fastenings into its +socket, "we hear no more of this red skin's companions to-night I never +knew an Indian raise his whoop, when a scout had fallen into the hands of +the enemy."</p> + +<p>"This may be true," returned the other, "and yet must a sleeping +household be guarded. We may be brought to rely on the overlooking favor +of Providence, working with the means of our own manhood, ere the sun +shall arise."</p> + +<p>Content was a man of few words, but one of exceeding steadiness and +resolution in moments of need. He was perfectly aware that an Indian +youth, like him he had captured, would not have been found in that place, +and under the circumstances in which he was actually taken, without a +design of sufficient magnitude to justify the hazard. The tender age of +the stripling, too, forbade the belief that he was unaccompanied. But he +silently agreed with his laboring man that the capture would probably +cause the attack, if any such were meditated, to be deferred. He therefore +instructed his wife to withdraw into her chamber, while he took measures +to defend the dwelling in the last emergency. Without giving any +unnecessary alarm, a measure that would have produced less effect on an +enemy without, than the imposing stillness which now reigned within the +defences, he ordered two or three more of the stoutest of his dependants +to be summoned to the palisadoes. A keen scrutiny was made into the state +of all the different outlets of the place; muskets were carefully +examined; charges were given to be watchful, and regular sentinels were +stationed within the shadows of the buildings, at points where, unseen +themselves, they could look out in safety upon the fields.</p> + +<p>Content then took his captive, with whom he had made no attempt to +exchange a syllable, and led him to the block-house: The door which +communicated with the basement of this building was always open, in +readiness for refuge in the event of any sudden alarm. He entered, caused +the lad to mount by a ladder to the floor above, and then withdrawing the +means of retreat, he turned the key without, in perfect confidence that +his prisoner was secure.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding all this care, morning had nearly dawned before the +prudent father and husband sought his pillow. His steadiness however had +prevented the apprehensions, which kept his own eyes and those of his +gentle partner so long open, from attending beyond the few whose services +were, in such an emergency, deemed indispensable to safety. Towards the +last watches of the night, only, did the images of the scenes through +which they had just passed, become dim and confused, and then both husband +and wife slept soundly, and happily without disturbance.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter V.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Are you so brave? I'll have you talked with anon."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Coriolanus.</blockquote> + + +<p>The axe and the brand had been early and effectually used, immediately +around the dwelling of the Heathcotes. A double object had been gained by +removing most of the vestiges of the forest from the vicinity of the +buildings: the necessary improvements were executed with greater facility, +and, a consideration of no small importance, the cover, which the American +savage is known to seek in his attacks, was thrown to a distance that +greatly diminished the danger of a surprise.</p> + +<p>Favored by the advantage which had been obtained by this foresight, and by +the brilliancy of a night that soon emulated the brightness of day, the +duty of Eben Dudley and of his associate on the watch was rendered easy of +accomplishment. Indeed, so secure did they become towards morning, chiefly +on account of the capture of the Indian lad, that more than once, eyes, +that should have been differently employed, yielded to the drowsiness of +the hour and to habit, or were only opened at intervals that left their +owners in some doubt as to the passage of the intermediate time. But no +sooner did the signs of day approach, than, agreeably to their +instructions, the watchers sought their beds, and for an hour or two, they +slept soundly and without fear.</p> + +<p>When his father had closed the prayers of the morning, Content, in the +midst of the assembled family, communicated as many of the incidents of +the past night as in his judgment seemed necessary. His discretion limited +the narrative to the capture of the native youth, and to the manner in +which he had ordered the watch for the security of the family On the +subject of his own excursion to the forest, and all connected therewith, +he was guardedly silent.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary to relate the manner in which this startling information +was received. The cold and reserved brow of the Puritan became still more +thoughtful; the young men looked grave, but resolute; the maidens of the +household grew pale, shuddered, and whispered hurriedly together; while +the little Ruth, and a female child of nearly her own age, named Martha, +clung close to the side of the mistress of the family, who, having nothing +new to learn, had taught herself to assume the appearance of a resolution +she was far from feeling.</p> + +<p>The first visitation which befell the listeners, after their eager ears +had drunk in the intelligence Content so briefly imparted, was a renewal +of the spiritual strivings of his father in the form of prayer. A +particular petition was put up in quest of light on their future +proceedings, for mercy on all men, for a better mind to those who wandered +through the wilderness seeking victims of their wrath, for the gifts of +grace on the heathen, and finally for victory over all their carnal +enemies, let them come whence or in what aspect they might.</p> + +<p>Fortified by these additional exercises, old Mark next made himself the +master of all the signs and evidences of the approach of danger, by a more +rigid and minute inquiry into the visible circumstances of the arrest of +the young savage. Content received a merited and grateful reward for his +prudence, in the approbation of one whom he still continued to revere with +a mental dependence little less than that with which he had leaned on his +father's wisdom in the days of his childhood.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast done well and wisely," said his father; "but more remaineth to +be performed by thy wisdom and fortitude. We have had tidings that the +heathen near the Providence Plantations are unquiet, and that they are +lending their minds to wicked counsellors. We are not to sleep in too much +security, because a forest journey of a few days lies between their +villages and our own clearing. Bring forth the captive; I will question +him on the matter of this visit."</p> + +<p>Until now, so much did the fears of all turn towards the enemies who were +believed to be lurking near, that little thought had been bestowed on the +prisoner in the block-house. Content, who well knew the invincible +resolution, no less than the art of an Indian, had forborne to question +him when taken; for he believed the time to be better suited to vigilant +action, than to interrogatories that the character of the boy was likely +to render perfectly useless. He now proceeded, however, with an interest +that began to quicken as circumstances rendered its indulgence less +unsuitable, to seek his captive, in order to bring him before the +searching ordeal of his father's authority.</p> + +<p>The key of the lower door of the block-house hung where it had been +deposited; the ladder was replaced, and Content mounted quietly to the +apartment where he had placed his captive. The room was the lowest of +three that the building contained, all being above that which might be +termed its basement. The latter, having up aperture but its door, was a +dark, hexagonal space, partly filled with such articles as might be needed +in the event of an alarm, and which, at the same time, were frequently +required for the purposes of domestic use. In the centre of the area was +a deep well, so fitted and protected by a wall of stone, as to admit of +water being drawn into the rooms above. The door itself was of massive +hewn timber. The squared logs of the upper stories projected a little +beyond the stone-work of the basement, the second tier of the timbers +containing a few loops out of which missiles might be discharged +downwards, on any assailants that approached nearer than should be deemed +safe for the security of the basement. As has been stated, the two +principal stories were perforated with long narrow slits through the +timber, which answered the double purposes of windows and loop-holes. +Though the apartments were so evidently arranged for defence, the plain +domestic, furniture they contained was suited to the wants of the family, +should they be driven to the building for refuge. There was also an +apartment in the roof, or attic, as already mentioned; but it scarcely +entered into the more important uses of the block-house. Still the +advantage which it received from its elevation was not overlooked. A small +cannon, of a kind once known and much used under the name of grasshoppers, +had been raised to the place, and time had been, when it was rightly +considered as of the last importance to the safety of the inmates of the +dwelling. For some years its muzzle had been seen, by all the straggling +aborigines who visited the valley, frowning through one of those openings +which were now converted into glazed windows; and there is reason to +think, that the reputation which the little piece of ordnance thus +silently obtained, had a powerful agency in so long preserving unmolested +the peace of the valley.</p> + +<p>The word unmolested is perhaps too strong. More than one alarm had in fact +occurred, though no positive acts of violence had ever been committed +within the limits which the Puritan claimed as his own. On only one +occasion, however, did matters proceed so far that the veteran had been +induced to take his post in this warlike attic; where, there is little +doubt, had occasion further offered for his services, he would have made a +suitable display of his knowledge in the science of gunnery. But the +simple history of the Wish-Ton-Wish had furnished another evidence of a +political truth, which cannot be too often presented to the attention of +our countrymen; we mean that the best preservative of peace is preparation +for war. In the case before us, the hostile attitude assumed by old Mark +and his dependants had effected all that was desirable, without proceeding +to the extremity of shedding blood. Such peaceful triumphs were far more +in accordance with the present principles of the Puritan, than it would +have been with the reckless temper which had governed his youth. In the +quaint and fanatical humor of the times, he had held a family thanksgiving +around the instrument of their security, and from that moment the room +itself became a favorite resorting-place for the old soldier. Thither he +often mounted, even in the hours of deep night, to indulge in those secret +spiritual exercises which formed the chiefest solace, and seemingly, +indeed, the great employment of his life. In consequence of this habit, +the attic of the block-house came in time to be considered sacred to the +uses of the master of the valley. The care and thought of Content had +gradually supplied it with many conveniences that might contribute to the +personal comfort of his father, while the spirit was engaged in these +mental Conflicts. At length, the old man was known to use the mattress, +that among other things it now contained, and to pass the time between the +setting Of the sun in its solitude. The aperture originally cut for the +exhibition of the grasshopper had been glazed; and no article of comfort, +which was once caused to mount the difficult ladder that led to the +chamber, was ever seen to descend.</p> + +<p>There was something in the austere sanctity of old Mark Heathcote, that +was favorable to the practices of an anchorite. The youths of the dwelling +regarded his unbending brow, and the undisturbed gravity of the eye it +shadowed, with a respect akin to awe. Had the genuine benevolence of his +character been less tried, or had he mingled in active life at a later +period, it might readily have been his fate to have shared in the +persecution which his countrymen heaped on those who were believed to deal +with influences it is thought impious to exercise. Under actual +circumstances, however, the sentiment went no farther than a deep and +universal reverence, that left its object, and the neglected little piece +of artillery, to the quiet possession of an apartment, to invade which +would have been deemed an act bordering on sacrilege.</p> + +<p>The business of Content, on the occasion which caused his present visit to +the edifice whose history and description we have thought it expedient +thus to give at some length, led him no farther than to the lowest of its +more military apartments. On raising the trap, for the first time a +feeling of doubt came over him, as to the propriety of having left the boy +so long unsolaced by words of kindness, or by deed of charity. It was +appeased by observing that his concern was awakened in behalf of one whose +spirit was quite equal to sustain greater trials.</p> + +<p>The young Indian stood before one of the loops, looking out upon that +distant forest in which he had so lately roamed at liberty, with a gaze +too riveted to turn aside even at the interruption occasioned by the +presence of his captor.</p> + +<p>"Come from thy prison, child," said Content, in the tones of mildness; +"whatever may have been thy motive in lurking around this dwelling, thou +art human, and must know human wants; come forth, and receive food: none +here will harm thee."</p> + +<p>The language of commiseration is universal. Though the words of the +speaker were evidently unintelligible to him for whose ears they were +intended, their import was conveyed in the kindness of the accents. The +eyes of the boy turned slowly from the view of the woods, and he looked +his captor long and steadily in the face. Content now indeed discovered +that he had spoken in a language that was unknown to his captive, and he +endeavored by gestures of kindness to invite the lad to follow. He was +silently and quietly obeyed. On reaching the court, however, the prudence +of a border proprietor in some degree overcame his feelings of compassion.</p> + +<p>"Bring hither yon tether," he said to Whittal Ring, who at the moment was +passing towards the stables; "here is one wild as the most untamed of thy +colts. Man is of our nature and of our spirit, let him be of what color +it may have pleased Providence to stamp his features; but he who would +have a young savage in his keeping on the morrow, must look sharply to +his limbs to-day."</p> + +<p>The lad submitted quietly, until a turn of the rope was passed around one +of his arms; but when Content was fain to complete the work by bringing +the other limb into the same state of subjection, the boy glided from his +grasp, and cast the fetter from him in disdain. This act of decided +resistance was, however, followed by no effort to escape. The moment his +person was released from a confinement which he probably considered as +implying distrust of his ability to endure pain with the fortitude of a +warrior, the lad turned quietly and proudly to his captor, and, with an +eye in which scorn and haughtiness were alike glowing, seemed to defy the +fulness of his anger.</p> + +<p>"Be it so," resumed the equal-minded Content, "if thou likest not the +bonds, which, notwithstanding the pride of man, are often healthful to the +body, keep then the use of thy limbs, and see that they do no mischief. +Whittal, look thou to the postern and remember it is forbidden to go +afield, until my father hath had this heathen under examination. The cub +is seldom found far from the cunning of the aged bear."</p> + +<p>He then made a sign to the boy to follow, and proceeded to the apartment +where his father, surrounded by most of the family, awaited their coming. +Uncompromising domestic discipline was one of the striking characteristics +of the sway of the Puritans. That austerity of manner which was thought to +mark a sense of a fallen and probationary state, was early taught; for, +among a people who deemed all mirth a sinful levity, the practice of +self-command would readily come to be esteemed the basis of virtue. But, +whatever might have been the peculiar merit of Mark Heathcote and his +household in this particular, it was likely to be exceeded by the +exhibition of the same quality in the youth who had so strangely become +their captive.</p> + +<p>We have already said, that this child of the woods might have seen some +fifteen years. Though he had shot upwards like a vigorous and thrifty +plant, and with the freedom of a thriving sapling in his native forests, +rearing its branches towards the light, his stature had not yet reached +that of man. In height, form, and attitudes, he was a model of active, +natural, and graceful boyhood. But, while his limbs were so fair in +their proportions, they were scarcely muscular; still, every movement +exhibited a freedom and ease which announced the grace of childhood, +without the smallest evidence of that restraint which creeps into our +air as the factitious feelings of later life begin to assert their +influence. The smooth, rounded trunk of the mountain ash is not more +upright and free from blemish, than was the figure of the boy, who moved +into the curious circle that opened for his entrance and closed against +his retreat, with the steadiness of one who came to bestow instead of +appearing to receive judgment.</p> + +<p>"I will question him," said old Mark Heathcote, attentively regarding the +keen and settled eye that met his long, stern gaze as steadily as a less +intelligent creature of the woods would return the look of man. "I will +question him; and perchance fear will wring from his lips a confession of +the evil that he and his have meditated against me and mine."</p> + +<p>"I think he is ignorant of our forms of speech," returned Content; +"for the words of neither kindness nor anger will force him to a +change of feature."</p> + +<p>"It is then meet that we commence by asking him, who hath the secret to +open all hearts, to be our assistant." The Puritan then raised his voice +in a short and exceedingly particular petition, in which he implored the +Ruler of the Universe to interpret his meaning, in the forthcoming +examination, in a manner that, had his request been granted, would have +savored not a little of the miraculous. With this preparation, he +proceeded directly to his task. But neither questions, signs, nor prayer, +produced the slightest visible effect. The boy gazed at the rigid and +austere countenance of his interrogator, while the words were issuing from +his lips; but, the instant they ceased, his searching and quick eye rolled +over the different curious faces by which he was hemmed in, as if he +trusted more to the sense of sight than that of hearing, for the +information he naturally sought concerning his future lot. It was found +impossible to obtain from him gesture or sound that should betray either +the purport of his questionable visit, his own personal appellation, or +that of his tribe.</p> + +<p>"I have been among the red skins of the Providence Plantations," Eben +Dudley at length ventured to observe; "and their language, though but a +crooked and irrational jargon, is not unknown to me. With the leave of all +present," he continued regarding the Puritan in a manner to betray that +this general term meant him alone, "with the leave of all present, I will +put it to the younker in such a fashion, that he will be glad to answer."</p> + +<p>Receiving a look of assent, the borderer uttered certain uncouth and +guttural sounds, which, notwithstanding they entirely failed of their +effect, he stoutly maintained were the ordinary terms of salutation among +the people to whom the prisoner was supposed to belong.</p> + +<p>"I know him to be a Narragansett," continued Eben, reddening with vexation +at his defeat, and throwing a glance of no peculiar amity at the youth who +had so palpably refuted his claim to skill in the Indian tongues; "you see +he hath the shells of the sea-side worked into the bordering of his +moccasons; and besides this sign, which is certain as that night hath its +stars, he beareth the look of a chief that was slain by the Pequods, at +the wish of us Christians, after an affair in which, whether it was well +done or ill done, I did some part of the work myself."</p> + +<p>"And how call you that chief?" demanded Mark.</p> + +<p>"Why, he had various names, according to the business he was on. To some +he was known as the Leaping Panther, for he was a man of an extraordinary +jump; and others again used to style him Pepperage, since there was a +saying that neither bullet nor sword could enter his body: though that +was a mistake, as his death hath fully proven. But his real name, +according to the uses and sounds of his own people, was My Anthony Mow."</p> + +<p>"My Anthony Mow!"</p> + +<p>"Yes: My, meaning that he was their chief; Anthony, being the given name; +and Mow, that of the breed of which he came;" rejoined Eben with +confidence, satisfied that he had finally produced a sufficiently sonorous +appellative and a perfectly lucid etymology. But criticism was diverted +from its aim by the action of the prisoner, as these equivocal sounds +struck his ear. Ruth recoiled, and clasped her little namesake closer to +her side, when she saw the dazzling brightness of his glowing eyes, and +the sudden and expressive dilation of his nostrils. For a moment, his lips +were compressed with more than the usual force of Indian gravity, and then +they slightly severed. A low, soft, and as even the startled matron was +obliged to confess, a plaintive sound issued from between them, repeating +mournfully--</p> + +<p>"Miantonimoh!"</p> + +<p>The word was uttered with a distinct, but deeply guttural enunciation.</p> + +<p>"The child mourneth for its parent," exclaimed the sensitive mother. "The +hand that slew the warrior may have done an evil deed!"</p> + +<p>"I see the evident and foreordering will of a wise Providence in this," +said Mark Heathcote with solemnity. "The youth hath been deprived of one +who might have enticed him still deeper into the bond of the heathen, and +hither hath he been led in order to be placed upon the straight and narrow +path. He shall become a dweller among mine, and we will strive against the +evil of his mind until instruction shall prevail. Let him be fed and +nurtured, equally with the things of life and the things of the world; for +who knoweth that which is designed in his behalf?"</p> + +<p>If there were more of faith than of rational conclusion in this opinion +of the old Puritan, there was no external evidence to contradict it. While +the examination of the boy was going on in the dwelling, a keen scrutiny +had taken place in the out-buildings, and in the adjacent fields. Those +engaged in this duty soon returned, to say that not the smallest trace of +an ambush was visible about the place; and as the captive himself had no +weapons of hostility, even Ruth began to hope that the mysterious +conceptions of her father on the subject were not entirely delusive. The +captive was now fed, and old Mark was on the point of making a proper +beginning in the task he had so gladly assumed, by an up-offering of +thanks, when Whittal Ring broke rudely into the room, and disturbed the +solemnity of his preparations, by a sudden and boisterous outcry.</p> + +<p>"Away with scythe and sickle," shouted the witling; "it's many a day since +the fields of Wish-Ton-Wish have been trodden down by horsemen in buff +jerkins, or ambushed by creeping Wampanoags."</p> + +<p>"There is danger at hand!" exclaimed the sensitive Ruth. "Husband, the +warning was timely."</p> + +<p>"Here are truly some riding from the forest, and drawing nigh to the +dwelling; but as they are seemingly men of our kind and faith, we have +need rather of rejoicing than terror. They bear the air of messengers from +the River."</p> + +<p>Mark Heathcote listened with surprise, and perhaps with a momentary +uneasiness; but all emotion passed away on the instant, for one so +disciplined in mind rarely permitted any outward exposure of his secret +thoughts. The Puritan calmly issued an order to replace the prisoner in +the block-house, assigning the upper of the two principal floors for his +keeping; and then he prepared himself to receive guests were little wont +to disturb the quiet of his secluded valley. He was still in the act of +giving forth the necessary mandates, when the tramp of horses was heard in +the court, and he was summoned to the door to greet his unknown visiters.</p> + +<p>"We have reached Wish-Ton-Wish, and the dwelling of Captain Mark +Heathcote," said one, who appeared, by his air and better attire, to be +the principal of four that composed the party.</p> + +<p>"By the favor of Providence; I call myself the unworthy owner of this +place of refuge."</p> + +<p>"Then a Subject so loyal, and a man who hath so long proved himself +faithful in the wilderness, will not turn from his door the agents of his +Anointed Master."</p> + +<p>"There is one greater than any of earth, who hath taught us to leave the +latch free. I pray you to alight, and to partake of that we can offer."</p> + +<p>With this courteous but quaint explanation, the horsemen dismounted; and, +giving their steeds into the keeping of the laborers of the farm, they +entered the dwelling.</p> + +<p>While the maidens of Ruth were preparing a repast suited to the hour and +to the quality of the guests, Mark and his son had abundant opportunity to +examine the appearance of the strangers. They were men who seemed to wear +visages peculiarly adapted to the characters of their entertainers being +in truth so singularly demure and grave in aspect, as to excite some +suspicion of their being newly-converted zealots to the mortifying customs +of the Colony. Notwithstanding their extraordinary gravity, and contrary +to the usages of those regions, too, they bore about their persons certain +evidence of being used to the fashions of the other hemisphere. The +pistols attached to their saddle-bows, and other accoutrements of a +warlike aspect, would perhaps have attracted no observation, had they not +been accompanied by a fashion in the doublet, the hat, and the boot, that +denoted a greater intercourse with the mother country, than was usual +among the less sophisticated natives of those regions. None traversed the +forests without the means of defence but, on the other hand, few wore the +hostile implements with so much of a worldly air, or with so many minor +particularities of some recent caprice in fashion. As they had however +announced themselves to be officers of the King, they, who of necessity +must be chiefly concerned in the object of their visit, patiently awaited +the pleasure of the strangers, to learn why duty had called them so far +from all the more ordinary haunts of men: for, like the native owners of +the soil, the self-restrained religionists appeared to reckon an +indiscreet haste in any thing, among the more unmanly weaknesses. Nothing +for the first half-hour of their visit escaped the guarded lips of men +evidently well skilled in their present duty, which might lead to a clue +of its purport. The morning meal passed almost without discourse, and one +of the party had arisen with the professed object of looking to their +steeds, before he, who seemed the chief, led the conversation to a +subject, that by its political bearing might, in some degree, be supposed +to have a remote connexion with the principal object of his journey to +that sequestered valley.</p> + +<p>"Have the tidings of the gracious boon that hath lately flowed from the +favor of the King, reached this distant settlement?" asked the principal +personage, one that wore a far less military air than a younger companion, +who, by his confident mien, appeared to be the second in authority.</p> + +<p>"To what boon hath thy words import?" demanded the Puritan, turning a +glance of the eye it his son and daughter, together with the others in +hearing, is if to admonish them to be prudent.</p> + +<p>"I speak of the Royal Charter by which the people on the banks of the +Connecticut, and they of the Colony of New-Haven, are henceforth permitted +to unite in government; granting them liberty of conscience, and great +freedom of self-control."</p> + +<p>"Such a gift were worthy of a King! Hath Charles done this?"</p> + +<p>"That hath he, and much more that is fitting in a kind and royal mind. The +realm is finally freed from the abuses of usurpers, and power now resteth +in the hands of a race long set apart for its privileges."</p> + +<p>"It is to be wished that practice shall render them expert and sage in its +uses," rejoined Mark, somewhat drily.</p> + +<p>"It is a merry Prince! and one but little given to the study and exercises +of his martyred father; but he hath great cunning in discourse, and few +around his dread person have keener wit or more ready tongue."</p> + +<p>Mark bowed his head in silence, seemingly little disposed to push the +discussion of his earthly master's qualities to a conclusion that might +prove offensive to so loyal an admirer. One inclining to suspicion would +have seen, or thought he saw certain equivocal glances from the stranger, +while he was thus lauding the vivacious qualities of the restored monarch, +which should denote a desire to detect how far the eulogiums might be +grateful to his host. He acquiesced however in the wishes of the Puritan, +though whether understandingly, or without design, it would have been +difficult to say and submitted to change the discourse.</p> + +<p>"It is likely, by thy presence, that tidings have reached the Colonies +from home," said Content, who understood, by the severe and reserved +expression of his father's features, that it was a fitting time for him to +interpose.</p> + +<p>"There is one arrived in the Bay, within the month, by means of a King's +frigate; but no trader hath yet passed between the countries, except the +ship which maketh the annual voyage from Bristol to Boston."</p> + +<p>"And he who hath arrived--doth he come in authority?" demanded Mark; "or +is he merely another servant of the Lord, seeking to rear his tabernacle +in the wilderness?"</p> + +<p>"Thou shalt know the nature of his errand," returned the stranger, casting +a glance of malicious intelligence obliquely towards his companions, at +the same time that he arose and placed in the hand of his host a +commission which evidently bore the Seal of State. "It is expected that +all aid will be given to one bearing this warranty, by a subject of a +loyalty so approved as that of Captain Mark Heathcote."</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter VI.</h1> + + + +<blockquote> "But, by your leave,<br /> +I am an officer of state, and come<br /> +To speak with--"</blockquote> + +<blockquote>Coriolanus.</blockquote> + + +<p>Notwithstanding the sharp look which the Messenger of the Crown +deliberately and now openly fastened on the master of Wish-Ton-Wish, while +the latter was reading the instrument that was placed before his eyes, +there was no evidence of uneasiness to be detected in the unmoved features +of the latter. Mark Heathcote had too long schooled his passions, to +suffer an unseemly manifestation of surprise to escape him; and he was by +nature a man of far too much nerve, to betray alarm at any trifling +exhibition of danger. Returning the parchment to the other, he said with +unmoved calmness to his son--</p> + +<p>"We must open wide the doors of Wish-Ton-Wish. Here is one charged with +authority to look into the secrets of all the dwellings of the colony." +Then, turning with dignity to the agent of the Crown, he added, "Thou +hadst better commence thy duty in season, for we are many and occupy +much space."</p> + +<p>The face of the stranger flushed a little, it might have been with shame +for the vocation in which he had come so far, or it might have been in +resentment at so direct a hint that the sooner his disagreeable office +should be ended, the better it would please his host. Still, he betrayed +no intention of shrinking from its performance. On the contrary, +discarding somewhat of that subdued manner which he had probably thought +it politic to assume, while sounding the opinions of one so rigid, he +broke out rather suddenly in the exhibition of a humor somewhat better +suited to the tastes of him he served.</p> + +<p>"Come then," he cried, winking at his companions, "since doors are opened, +it would speak ill of our breeding should we refuse to enter. Captain +Heathcote has been a soldier, and he knows how to excuse a traveller's +freedom. Surely one who has tasted of the pleasures of the camp, must +weary at times of this sylvan life!"</p> + +<p>"The stedfast in faith weary not, though the road be long and the +wayfaring grievous."</p> + +<p>"Hum--'tis pity that the journeying between merry England and these +Colonies is not more brisk. I do not presume to instruct a gentleman who +is my senior, and peradventure my better; but opportunity is everything, +in a man's fortunes. It were charity to let you know, worthy sir, that +opinions have changed at home: it is full a twelvemonth since I have heard +a line of the Psalms, or a verse of St. Paul quoted, in discourse; at +least by men who are at all esteemed for their discretion."</p> + +<p>"This change in the fashion of speech may better suit thy earthly than thy +heavenly master," said Mark Heathcote, sternly. + +"Well, well, that peace may exist between us, we will not bandy words +about a text more or less, if we may escape the sermon," rejoined the +stranger, no longer affecting restraint, but laughing with sufficient +freedom at his own conceit; a species of enjoyment in which his companions +mingled with great good-will, and without much deference to the humor of +those under whose roof they found themselves.</p> + +<p>A small glowing spot appeared on the pale cheek of the Puritan, and +disappeared again, like some transient deception produced by the play of +light. Even the meek eye of Content kindled at the insult; but, like his +father, the practice of self-denial, and a never-slumbering consciousness +of his own imperfections, smothered the momentary exhibition of +displeasure.</p> + +<p>"If thou hast authority to look into the secret places of our habitations, +do thy office," he said, with a peculiarity of tone which served to remind +the other, that though he bore the commission of the Stuart, he was in an +extremity of his Empire, where even the authority of a King lost some of +its value.</p> + +<p>Affecting to be, and possibly in reality conscious of his indiscretion, +the stranger hastily disposed himself to the execution of his duty.</p> + +<p>"It would be a great and a pain-saving movement," he said, "were we +to assemble the household in one apartment. The government at home +would be glad to hear something of the quality of its lieges in this +distant quarter. Thou hast doubtless a bell to summon the flock at +stated periods."</p> + +<p>"Our people are yet near the dwelling," returned Content: "if it be thy +pleasure, none shall be absent from the search."</p> + +<p>Gathering from the eye of the other that he was serious in this wish, the +quiet Colonist proceeded to the gate, and, placing a shell to his mouth, +blew one of those blasts that are so often heard in the forests summoning +families to their homes, and which are alike used as the signals of +peaceful recall, or of alarm. The sound soon brought all within hearing to +the court, whither the Puritan and his unpleasant guests now repaired as +to the spot best suited to the purposes of the latter.</p> + +<p>"Hallam," said the principal personage of the four visiters, addressing +him who might once have been, if he were not still, some subaltern in the +forces of the Crown, for he was attired in a manner that bespoke him but a +half-disguised dragoon, "I leave thee to entertain this goodly assemblage. +Thou mayst pass the time in discoursing on the vanities of the world, of +which I believe few are better qualified to speak understandingly than +thyself, or a few words of admonition to hold fast to the faith would come +with fitting weight from thy lips. But look to it, that none of thy flock +wander; for here must every creature of them remain, stationary as the +indiscreet partner of Lot, till I have cast an eye into all the cunning +places of their abode. So set wit at work, and show thy breeding as an +entertainer."</p> + +<p>After this irreverent charge to his subordinate the speaker signified to +Content and his father, that he and his remaining attendant would proceed +to a more minute examination of the premises.</p> + +<p>When Mark Heathcote saw that the man who had so rudely broken in upon the +peaceful habits of his family was ready to proceed, he advanced steadily +in his front, like one who boldly invited inquiry, and by a grave gesture +desired him to follow. The stranger, perhaps as much from habit as from +any settled design, first cast a free glance around at the bevy of +fluttered maidens, leered even upon the modest and meek-eyed Ruth herself, +and then took the direction indicated by him who had so unhesitatingly +assumed the office of a guide.</p> + +<p>The object of this examination still remained a secret between those who +made it, and the Puritan, who had probably found its motive in the written +warranty which had been submitted to his inspection. That it proceeded +from fitting authority, none might doubt; and that it was in some manner +connected with the events that were known to have wrought so sudden and +so great a change in the government of the mother country, all believed +probable. Notwithstanding the seeming mystery of the procedure, the search +was not the less rigid. Few habitations of any size or pretension were +erected in those times, which did not contain certain secret places, where +valuables and even persons might be concealed, at need. The strangers +displayed great familiarity with the nature and ordinary positions of +these private recesses. Not a chest, a closet, or even a drawer of size, +escaped their vigilance; nor was there a plank that sounded hollow, but +the master of the valley was called on to explain the cause. In one or two +instances, boards were wrested violently from their fastenings, and the +cavities beneath were explored, with a wariness that increased as the +investigation proceeded without success.</p> + +<p>The strangers appeared irritated by their failure. An hour passed in the +keenest scrutiny, and nothing had transpired which brought them any nearer +to their object. That they had commenced the search with more than usually +confident anticipations of a favorable result, might have been gathered +from the boldness of tone assumed by their chief, and the pointed +personal allusions in which, from time to time, he indulged, often too +freely, and always at some expense to the loyalty of the Heathcotes. But +when he had completed the circuit of the buildings, having entered all +parts from their cellars to the garrets, his spleen became so strong as, +in some degree, to get the better of a certain parade of discretion, which +he had hitherto managed to maintain in the midst of all his levity.</p> + +<p>"Hast seen nothing, Mr. Hallam?" he demanded of the individual left on +watch, as they crossed the court in retiring from the last of the +out-buildings; "or have those traces which led us to this distant +settlement proved false? Captain Heathcote, you have seen that we come not +without sufficient warranty, and it is in my power to say we come not +without sufficient----"</p> + +<p>Checking himself as if about to utter more than was prudent, he suddenly +cast an eye on the block-house, and demanded its uses.</p> + +<p>"It is, as thou seest, a building erected for the purposes of defence," +replied Mark; "one to which, in the event of an inroad of the savages, the +family may fly for refuge."</p> + +<p>"Ah! these citadels are not unknown to me. I have met with others during +my journey, but none so formidable or so military as this. It hath a +soldier for its governor, and should hold out for a reasonable siege. +Being a place of pretension, we will look closer into its mystery."</p> + +<p>He then signified an intention to close the search by an examination of +this edifice. Content unhesitatingly threw open its door, and invited +him to enter.</p> + +<p>"On the word of one who, though now engaged in a more peaceful calling, +has been a campaigner in his time, 'twould be no child's-play to carry +this tower without artillery Had thy spies given notice of our approach, +Captain Heathcote, the entrance might have been more difficult than we now +find it. We have a ladder, here! Where the means of mounting are found, +there must be something to tempt one to ascend. I will taste your forest +air from an upper room."</p> + +<p>"You will find the apartment above, like this below, merely provided for +the security of the unoffending dwellers of the habitations," said +Content; while he quietly arranged the ladder before the trap, and then +led the way himself to the floor above.</p> + +<p>"Here have we loops for the musketoons," cried the stranger, looking about +him, understandingly, "and reasonable defences against shot. Thou hast not +forgotten thy art, Captain Heathcote, and I consider myself fortunate in +having entered thy fortress by surprise, or I should rather say, in amity, +since the peace is not yet broken between us. But why have we so much of +household gear in a place so evidently equipped for war?"</p> + +<p>"Thou forgettest that women and children may be driven to this block for a +residence," replied Content. "It would show little discretion to neglect +matters that might be useful to their wants."</p> + +<p>"Is there trouble with the savages?" demanded the stranger, a little +quickly; "the gossips of the Colony bade us fear nothing on that head."</p> + +<p>"One cannot say at what hour creatures trained in their wild natures may +choose to rise. The dwellers on the borders therefore never neglect a +fitting caution."</p> + +<p>"Hist!" interrupted the stranger; "I hear a footstep above. Ha! the scent +will prove true at last! Hilloa, Master Hallam!" he cried from one of the +loops, "let thy statues of salt dissolve, and come hither to the tower. +Here is work for a regiment; for well do we know the nature of, that we +are to deal with."</p> + +<p>The sentinel in the court shouted to his companion in the stables, and +then, openly and boisterously exulting in the prospects of a final success +to a search which had hitherto given them useless employment throughout +many a long day and weary ride, they rushed together to the block-house.</p> + +<p>"Now, worthy lieges of a gracious master," said the leader, when he +perceived himself backed by all his armed followers, and speaking with the +air of a man flushed with success, "now quickly provide the means of +mounting to the upper story. I have thrice heard the tread of man, moving +across that floor; though it hath been light and wary, the planks are +tell-tales, and have not had their schooling."</p> + +<p>Content heard the request, which was uttered sufficiently in the manner of +an order, perfectly unmoved. Without betraying either hesitation or +concern, he disposed himself to comply. Drawing the light ladder through +the trap below, he placed it against the one above him, and ascending he +raised the door. He then returned to the floor beneath, making a quiet +gesture to imply that they who chose might mount. But the strangers +regarded each other with very visible doubts. Neither of the inferiors +seemed disposed to precede his chief, and the latter evidently hesitated +as to the order in which it was meet to make the necessary advance.</p> + +<p>"Is there no other manner of mounting, but by this narrow ascent?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"None. Thou wilt find the ladder secure, and of no difficult height. It is +intended for the use of women and children."</p> + +<p>"Ay," muttered the officer, "but your women and children are not called +upon to confront the devil in a human form. Fellows, are thy weapons in +serviceable condition? Here may be need of spirit, ere we get our--Hist! +by the Divine Right of our Gracious Master! there is truly one stirring +above. Harkee, my friend; thou knowest the road so well, we will choose to +follow thy conduct."</p> + +<p>Content, who seldom permitted ordinary events to disturb the equanimity of +his temper, quietly assented, and led the way up the ladder, like one who +saw no ground for apprehension in the undertaking. The agent of the crown +sprang after him, taking care to keep as near as possible to the person of +his leader, and calling to his inferiors to lose no time in backing him +with their support. The whole mounted through the trap, with an alacrity +nothing short of that with which they would have pressed through a +dangerous breach; nor did either of the four take time to survey the +lodgment he had made, until the whole party was standing in array, with +hands grasping the handles of their pistols, or seeking as it were +instinctively the hilts of their broadswords.</p> + +<p>"By the dark visage of the Stuart!" exclaimed the principal personage, +after satisfying himself by a long and disappointed gaze, that what he +said was true, "here is nought but an unarmed savage boy!"</p> + +<p>"Didst expect to meet else?" demanded the still unmoved Content.</p> + +<p>"Hum--that which we expected to meet is sufficiently known to the quaint +old gentleman below, and to our own good wisdom. If thou doubtest of our +right to look into thy very hearts, warranty for that we do can be +forthcoming. King Charles hath little cause to be tender of his mercies to +the dwellers of these Colonies, who lent but too willing ears to the +whinings and hypocrisies of the wolves in sheeps' clothing, of whom old +England hath now so happily gotten rid. Thy buildings shall again be +rummaged from the bricks of the chimney-tops to the corner-stone in thy +cellars, unless deceit and rebellious cunning shall be abandoned, and the +truth proclaimed with the openness and fairness of bold-speaking +Englishmen."</p> + +<p>"I know not what is called the fairness of bold-speaking Englishmen, since +fairness of speech is not a quality of one people, or of one land; but +well I do know that deceit is sinful, and little of it, I humbly trust, is +practised in this settlement. I am ignorant of what is sought, and +therefore it cannot be that I meditate treachery."</p> + +<p>"Thou hearest, Hallam; he reasoneth on a matter that toucheth the peace +and safety of the King!" cried the other, his arrogance of manner +increasing with the anger of disappointment. "But why is this dark-skinned +boy a prisoner? dost dare to constitute thyself a sovereign over the +natives of this continent, and affect to have shackles and dungeons for +such as meet thy displeasure?"</p> + +<p>"The lad is in truth a captive; but he has been taken in defence of life, +and hath little to complain of, more than loss of freedom."</p> + +<p>"I will inquire deeply into this proceeding. Though commissioned on an +errand of different interest, yet, as one trusted in a matter of moment, I +take upon me the office of protecting every oppressed subject of the +Crown. There may grow discoveries out of this practice, Hallam, fit to go +before the Council itself."</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt find but little here, worthy of the time and attention of those +burthened with the care of a nation," returned Content. "The youthful +heathen was found lurking near our habitations, the past night; and he is +kept where thou seest, that he may not carry the tidings of our condition +to his people, who are doubtless outlying in the forest, waiting for the +fit moment to work their evil."</p> + +<p>"How meanest thou?" hastily exclaimed the other, "at hand, in the forest, +didst say?"</p> + +<p>"There can be little doubt. One young as this would scarce be found +distant from the warriors of his tribe; and that the more especially, as +he was taken in the commission of an ambush."</p> + +<p>"I hope thy people are not without good provision of arms, and other +sufficient muniments of resistance. I trust the palisadoes are firm, and +the posterns ingeniously defended."</p> + +<p>"We look with a diligent eye to our safety, for it is well known to us +dwellers on the borders that there is little security but in untiring +watchfulness. The young men were at the gates until the morning, and we +did intend to make a strong scouting into the woods as the day advanced, +in order to look for those signs that may lead us to conclusions on the +number and purposes of those by whom we are environed, had not thy visit +called us to other duties."</p> + +<p>"And why so tardy in speaking of this intent?" demanded the agent of the +King, leading the way down the ladder with suspicious haste. "It is a +commendable prudence, and must not be delayed. I take upon me the +responsibleness of commanding that all proper care be had in defence of +the weaker subjects of the Crown who are here collected. Are our roadsters +well replenished, Hallam? Duty, as thou sayest, is an imperative master; +it recalls us more into the heart of the Colony. I would it might shortly +point the way to Europe!" he muttered as he reached the ground. "Go, +fellows; see to our beasts, and let them be speedily prepared for +departure."</p> + +<p>The attendants, though men of sufficient spirit in open war, and when it +was to be exercised in a fashion to which they were accustomed, had, like +other mortals, a wholesome deference for unknown and terrific-looking +danger. It is a well-known truth, and one that has been proved by the +experience of two centuries, that while the European soldier has ever been +readiest to have recourse to the assistance of the terrible warrior of the +American forest, he has, in nearly every instance, when retaliation or +accident has made him the object instead of the spectator of the ruthless +nature of his warfare, betrayed the most salutary, and frequently the most +abject and ludicrous apprehension of the prowess of his ally. While +Content therefore looked so steadily, though still seriously, at the +peculiar danger in which he was placed, the four strangers seemingly saw +all of its horrors without any of the known means of avoiding them. Their +chief quickly abandoned the insolence of office, and the tone of +disappointment, for a mien of greater courtesy; and, as policy is often +seen suddenly to change the sentiments of even more pretending personages, +when interests assume a new aspect, so did his language rapidly take a +character of conciliation and courtesy.</p> + +<p>The handmaidens were no longer leered at; the mistress of the dwelling was +treated with marked deference; and the air of deep respect with which even +the principal of the party addressed the aged Puritan, bordered on an +exhibition of commendable reverence. Something was said, in the way of +apology, for the disagreeable obligations of duty, and of a difference +between a manner that was assumed to answer secret purposes, and that +which nature and a sense of right would dictate: but neither Mark nor his +son appeared to have sufficient interest in the motives of their visiters, +to put them to the trouble of repeating explanations that were as awkward +to those who uttered them, as they were unnecessary to those who listened.</p> + +<p>So far from offering any further obstacle to the movements of the family, +the borderers were seriously urged to pursue their previous intentions of +thoroughly examining the woods. The dwelling was accordingly intrusted, +under the orders of the Puritan, to the keeping of about half the +laborers, assisted by the Europeans, who clung with instinctive +attachment to the possession of the block-house; their leader repeatedly +and rightly enough declaring that though ready at all times to risk life +on a plain, he had an unconquerable distaste to putting it in jeopardy in +a thicket. Attended by Eben Dudley, Reuben Ring, and two other stout +youths, all well though lightly armed, Content then left the palisadoes, +and took his way towards the forest. They entered the woods at the +nearest point, always marching with the caution and vigilance that a +sense of the true nature of the risk they ran would inspire, and much +practice only could properly direct.</p> + +<p>The manner of the search was as simple as it was likely to prove +effectual. The scouts commenced a circuit around the clearing, extending +their line as far as might be done without cutting off support, and each +man lending his senses attentively to the signs of the trail, or of the +lairs, of those dangerous enemies, who they had reason to think were +outlying in their neighborhood. But, like the recent search in the +buildings, the scouting was for a long time attended by no results. Many +weary miles were passed slowly over, and more than half their task was +ended, and no sign of being having life was met, except the very visible +trail of their four guests, and the tracks of a single horse along the +path leading to the settlements from the quarter by which the visiter of +the previous night had been known to approach. No comments were made by +any of the party, as each in succession struck and crossed this path, +nearly at the same instant; but a low call from Reuben Ring which soon +after met their ears, caused them to assemble in a body at the spot whence +the summons had proceeded.</p> + +<p>"Here are signs of one passing <i>from</i> the clearing," said the quick-eyed +woodsman, "and of one too that is not numbered among the family of +Wish-Ton-Wish; since his beast hath had a shodden hoof, a mark which +belongeth to no animal of ours."</p> + +<p>"We will follow," said Content, immediately striking in upon a straggling +trail, that by many unequivocal signs had been left by some animal which +had passed that way not many hours before. Their search, however, soon +grew to a close. Ere they had gone any great distance, they came upon the +half-demolished carcass of a dead horse. There was no mistaking the +proprietor of this unfortunate animal. Though some beast, or rather beasts +of prey, had fed plentifully on the body, which was still fresh and had +scarcely yet done bleeding, it was plain, by the remains of the torn +equipments, as well as by the color and size of the animal, that it was no +other than the hack ridden by the unknown and mysterious guest, who, after +sharing in the worship and in the evening meal of the family of the +Wish-Ton-Wish, had so strangely and so suddenly disappeared. The leathern +sack, the weapons which had so singularly riveted the gaze of old Mark, +and indeed all but the carcass and a ruined saddle, were gone; but what +was left, sufficiently served to identify the animal.</p> + +<p>"Here has been the tooth of wolf," said Eben Dudley, stooping to +examine into the nature of a ragged wound in the neck; "and here, too, +has been cut of knife; but whether by the hand of a red skin, it +exceedeth my art to say."</p> + +<p>Each individual of the party now bent curiously over the wound; but the +results of their inquiries went no further than to prove that it was +undeniably the horse of the stranger, that had forfeited its life. To the +fate of its master, however there was not the slightest clue. Abandoning +the investigation, after a long and fruitless examination, they proceeded +to finish the circuit of the clearing. Night had approached ere the +fatiguing task was accomplished. As Ruth stood at the postern waiting +anxiously for their return, she saw by the countenance of her husband, +that while nothing had transpired to give any grounds of additional alarm, +no satisfactory testimony had been obtained to explain the nature of the +painful doubts, with which, as a tender and sensitive mother, she had been +distressed throughout the day.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter VII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Is there not milking-time,<br /> +When you go to bed, or kiln-hole,<br /> +To whistle off these secrets; but you must be<br /> +Tattling before all our guests?"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Winter's Tale</blockquote> + + +<p>Long experience hath shown that the white man, when placed in situations +to acquire such knowledge, readily becomes the master of most of that +peculiar skill for which the North American Indian is so remarkable, and +which enables him, among other things, to detect the signs of a forest +trail, with a quickness and an accuracy of intelligence that amount nearly +to an instinct. The fears of the family were therefore greatly quieted by +the reports of the scouts, all of whom agreed in the opinion that no party +of savages, that could be at all dangerous to a force like their own, was +lying near the valley; and some of whom, the loudest of which number being +stout Eben Dudley, boldly offered to answer for the security of those who +depended on their vigilance, with their own lives. These assurances had, +beyond a doubt, a soothing influence on the apprehensions of Ruth and her +handmaidens; but they somewhat failed of their effect, with those +unwelcome visiters who still continued to cumber Wish-Ton-Wish with their +presence. Though they had evidently abandoned all ideas connected with the +original object of their visit, they spoke not of departure. On the +contrary as night approached, their chief entered into council with old +Mark Heathcote, and made certain propositions for the security of his +dwelling, which the Puritan saw no reason to oppose.</p> + +<p>A regular watch was, in consequence, set, and maintained till morning, at +the palisadoes. The different members of the family retired to their usual +places of rest, tranquil in appearance, if not in entire confidence of +peace; and the military messengers took post in the lower of the two +fighting apartments of the citadel. With this simple, and to the strangers +particularly satisfactory arrangement, the hours of darkness passed away +in quiet; morning returning to the secluded valley, as it had so often +done before, with its loveliness unimpaired by violence or tumult.</p> + +<p>In the same peaceful manner did the sun set successively three several +times, and as often did it arise on the abode of the Heathcotes, without +further sign of danger, or motive of alarm. With the passage of time, the +agents of the Stuart gradually regained their confidence. Still they never +neglected to withdraw within the protection of the block house with the +retiring light; a post which the subordinate named Hallam, more than once +gravely observed, they were, by their disciplined and military habits, +singularly qualified to maintain. Though the Puritan secretly chafed under +this protracted visit, habitual self-denial, and a manner so long subdued, +enabled him to conceal his disgust. For the first two days after the +alarm, the deportment of his guests was unexceptionable. All their +faculties appeared to be engrossed with keen and anxious watchings of the +forest, out of which it would seem they expected momentarily to see issue +a band of ferocious and ruthless savages: but symptoms of returning levity +began to be apparent, as confidence and a feeling of security increased, +with the quiet passage of the hours.</p> + +<p>It was on the evening of the third day from that on which they had made +their appearance in the settlement, that the man called Hallam was seen +strolling, for the first time, through the postern so often named, and +taking a direction which led towards the out-buildings. His air was less +distrustful than it had been for many a weary hour, and his step +proportionably confident and assuming. Instead of wearing, as he had been +wont, a pair of heavy horseman's pistols at his girdle, he had even laid +aside his broadsword, and appeared more in the guise of one who sought his +personal ease, than in that cumbersome and martial attire which all of his +party, until now, had deemed it prudent to maintain. He cast his glance +cursorily over the fields of the Heathcotes, as they glowed under the soft +light of a setting sun; nor did his eye even refuse to wander vacantly +along the outline of that forest, which his imagination had so lately been +peopling with beings of a fierce and ruthless nature.</p> + +<p>The hour was one when rustic economy brings the labors of the day to a +close. Among those who were more than usually active at that busy moment, +was a handmaiden of Ruth, whose clear sweet voice was heard, in one of the +inclosures, occasionally rising on the notes of a spiritual song, and as +often sinking to a nearly inaudible hum, as she extracted from a favorite +animal liberal portions of its nightly tribute to the dairy of her +mistress. To that inclosure the stranger, as it were by accident, suffered +his sauntering footsteps to stroll, seemingly as much in admiration of the +sleek herd as of any other of its comely tenants.</p> + +<p>"From what thrush hast taken lessons, my pretty maid, that I mistook thy +notes for one of the sweetest songsters of thy woods?" he asked, trusting +his person to the support of the pen in an attitude of easy superiority. +"One might fancy it a robin, or a wren, trolling out his evening song, +instead of human voice rising and falling in every-day psalmody."</p> + +<p>"The birds of our forest rarely speak," returned the girl; "and the one +among them which has most to say, does it like those who are called +gentlemen, when they set wit to work to please the ear of simple +country maidens."</p> + +<p>"And in what fashion may that be?"</p> + +<p>"Mockery."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I have heard of the creature's skill. It is said to be a compound of +the harmony of all other forest songsters; and yet I see little +resemblance to the honest language of a soldier, in its manner of +utterance."</p> + +<p>"It speaketh without much meaning; and oftener to cheat the ear, than in +honest reason."</p> + +<p>"Thou forgettest that which I told thee in the morning, child. It would +seem that they who named thee, have no great cause to exult in their +judgment of character, since Unbelief would better describe thy +disposition, than Faith."</p> + +<p>"It may be, that they who named me little knew how great must be +credulity, to give ear to all I have been required to credit."</p> + +<p>"Thou canst have no difficulty in admitting that thou art comely, since +the eye itself will support thy belief; nor can one of so quick speech +fail to know that her wit is sharper than common. Thus far, I admit, the +name of Faith will not surely belie thy character."</p> + +<p>"If Eben Dudley hear thee use such vanity-stirring discourse," returned +the half-pleased girl, "he might give thee less credit for wit than thou +seemest willing to yield to others. I hear his heavy foot among the +cattle, and ere long we shall be sure to see a face that hath little more +of lightness to boast."</p> + +<p>"This Eben Dudley is a personage of no mean importance, I find!" muttered +the other, continuing his walk, as the borderer named made his appearance +at another entrance of the pen. The glances exchanged between them were +far from friendly, though the woodsman permitted the stranger to pass +without any oral expression of displeasure.</p> + +<p>"The skittish heifer is getting gentle at last, Faith Ring,", said the +borderer; casting the butt of his musket on the ground with a violence that +left a deep impression on the faded sward at his feet. "That brindled ox, +old Logger, is not more willing to come into his yoke, than is the +four-year-old to yield her milk."</p> + +<p>"The creature has been getting kind, since you taught the manner to tame +its humor," returned the dairy girl, in a voice that, spite of every +effort of maiden pride, betrayed something of the flurry of her spirits, +while she plied her light task with violent industry.</p> + +<p>"Umph! I hope some other of my teachings may be as well remembered; but +thou art quick at the trick of learning, Faith, as is plain by the ready +manner in which thou hast so shortly got the habit of discourse with a man +as nimble-tongued as yon riding reprobate from over sea."</p> + +<p>"I hope that civil listening is no proof of unseemly discourse on the part +of one who hath been trained in modesty of speech, Eben Dudley. Thou hast +often said, it was the bounden duty of her who was spoken to, to give ear, +lest some might say she was of scornful mind, and her name for pride be +better earned than that for good-nature."</p> + +<p>"I see that more of my lessons than I had hoped are still in thy keeping. +So thou listenest thus readily, Faith, because it is meet that a maiden +should not be scornful!"</p> + +<p>"Thou sayest so. Whatever ill name I may deserve, thou hast no right to +count scorn among my failings."</p> + +<p>"If I do, may I--" Eben Dudley bit his lip and checked an expression which +would have given grievous offence to one whose habits of decency were as +severe as those of his companion. "Thou must have heard much that was +profitable to-day, Faith Ring," he added, "considering that thy ear is so +open, and that thy opportunities have been great."</p> + +<p>"I know not what thou wouldst say by speaking of my opportunities," +returned the girl, bending still lower beneath the object of her industry, +in order to conceal the glow which her own quick consciousness told her +was burning on her cheek.</p> + +<p>"I would say that the tale must be long, that needeth four several trials +of private speech to finish."</p> + +<p>"Four! as I hope to be believed for a girl of truth in speech or deed, +this is but the third time that the stranger hath spoken to me apart, +since the sun hath risen."</p> + +<p>"If I know the number of the fingers of my hand, it is the fourth!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, how canst thou, Eben Dudley, who hast been afield since the crowing +of the cock, know what hath passed about the dwellings? It is plain that +envy, or some other evil passion, causeth thee to speak angrily."</p> + +<p>"How is it that I know! perhaps thou thinkest Faith, thy brother Reuben, +only, hath the gift of sight."</p> + +<p>"The labor must have gone on with great profit to the Captain, whilst eyes +have been roving over other matters! But perhaps they kept the strong of +arm for the lookers-out, and have set them of feebler bodies to the toil."</p> + +<p>"I have not been so careless of thy life as to forget, at passing +moments, to cast an eye abroad, pert-one. Whatever thou mayst think of +the need, there would be fine wailings in the butteries and dairies, did +the Wampanoags get into the clearing, and were there none to give the +alarm in season."</p> + +<p>"Truly, Eben, thy terror of the child in the block must be grievous for +one of thy manhood, else wouldst thou not watch the buildings so +narrowly," retorted Faith, laughing; for with the dexterity of her sex, +she began to feel the superiority she was gradually obtaining in the +discourse. "Thou dost not remember that we have valiant troopers, from old +England, to keep the younker from doing harm. But here cometh the brave +soldier himself: it will be well to ask vigilance at his hands, or this +night may bring us to the tomahawk in our sleep!"</p> + +<p>"Thou speakest of the weapon of the savages!" said the messenger, who had +drawn near again with a visible willingness to share in an interview which +while he had watched its progress at a distance appeared to be growing +interesting. "I trust all fear is over, from that quarter."</p> + +<p>"As you say, for <i>this</i> quarter," said Eben, adjusting his lips to a low +whistle, and coolly looking up to examine the heavenly body to which he +meant allusion. "But the <i>next</i> quarter may bring us a pretty piece of +Indian skirmishing."</p> + +<p>"And what hath the moon in common with an incursion of the savages? Are +there those among them, who study the secrets of the stars?"</p> + +<p>"They study deviltries and other wickedness, more than aught else. It is +not easy for the mind of man to fancy horrors such as they design, when +Providence has given them success in an inroad."</p> + +<p>"But thou didst speak of the moon! In what manner is the moon leagued with +their bloody plots?"</p> + +<p>"We have her now in the full, and there is little of the night when the +eye of a watcher might not see a red skin in the clearing; but a different +tale may be heard, when an hour or two of jet darkness shall again fall +among these woods. There will be a change shortly; it behoveth us +therefore to be on our guard."</p> + +<p>"Thou thinkest then, truly, that there are outlyers waiting for the +fitting moment?" said the officer, with an interest so marked, as to cause +even the but-half-pacified Faith to glance an arch look at her companion, +though he still had reason to distrust a wilful expression that lurked in +the corner of her eyes, which threatened at each moment to contradict his +relation of the sinister omens.</p> + +<p>"There may be savages lying in the hills, at day's journey in the forest; +but they know the aim of a white man's musket too well, to be sleeping +within reach of its range. It is the nature of an Indian to eat and sleep +while he has time for quiet, and to fast and murder when the killing hour +hath come."</p> + +<p>"And what call you the distance to the nearest settlement on the +Connecticut?" demanded the other with an air so studiously indifferent as +to furnish an easy clue to the inner workings of his mind.</p> + +<p>"Some twenty hours would bring a nimble runner to the outer habitations, +granting small time for food and rest. He that is wise, however, will take +but little of the latter, until his head be safely housed within some such +building as yon block, or until there shall stand between him and the +forest at least a goodly row of oaken pickets."</p> + +<p>"There is no path ridden by which travellers may avoid the forest during +the darkness?"</p> + +<p>"I know of none. He who quits Wish-Ton-Wish for the towns below, must make +his pillow of the earth, or be fain to ride as long as beast can carry."</p> + +<p>"We have truly had experience of this necessity, journeying hither. Thou +thinkest, friend, the savages are in their resting time, and that they +wait the coming quarter of the moon?"</p> + +<p>"To my seeming, we shall not have them sooner," returned Eben Dudley; +taking care to conceal all qualification of this opinion, if any such he +entertained, by closely locking its purport in a mental reservation.</p> + +<p>"And what season is it usual to choose for getting into the saddle, when +business calls any to the settlements below?"</p> + +<p>"We never fail to take our departure about the time the sun touches the +tall pine, which stands on yonder height of the mountain. Much experience +hath told us it is the safest hour; hand of time-piece is not more sure +than yon tree."</p> + +<p>"I like the night," said the other, looking about him with the air of one +suddenly struck with the promising appearance of the weather. "The +blackness no longer hangs about the forest, and it seems a fitting moment +to push the matter, on which we are sent, nearer to its conclusion."</p> + +<p>So saying, and probably believing that he had sufficiently concealed the +motive of his decision, the uneasy dragoon walked with an air of soldierly +coolness towards the dwellings, signing at the same time to one of his +companions, who was regarding him from a distance, to approach.</p> + +<p>"Now dost thou believe, witless Dudley, that the four fingers of thy +clumsy hand have numbered the full amount of all that thou callest my +listenings?" said Faith, when she thought no other ear but his to whom +she spoke could catch her words, and at the same time laughing merrily +beneath her heifer, though still speaking with a vexation she could not +entirely repress.</p> + +<p>"Have I spoken aught but truth? It is not for such as I to give lessons in +journeying, to one who follows the honest trade of a man-hunter. I have +said that which all who dwell in these parts know to be reasonable."</p> + +<p>"Surely nought else. But truth is made so powerful in thy hands, that it +needs be taken, like a bitter healing draught, with closed eyes and at +many swallows. One who drinketh of it too freely, may well-nigh be +strangled. I marvel that he who is so vigilant in providing for the cares +of others, should take so little heed of those he is set to guard."</p> + +<p>"I know not thy meaning, Faith. When was danger near the valley, and my +musket wanting?"</p> + +<p>"The good piece is truer to duty than its master Thou mayest have lawful +license to sleep on thy post, for we maidens know nothing of the pleasure +of the Captain in these matters; but it would be as seemly, if not as +soldierly, to place the arms at the postern and thyself in the chambers, +when next thou hast need of watching and sleeping in the same hour."</p> + +<p>Dudley looked as confused as one of his mould and unbending temperament +might well be, though he stubbornly refused to understand the allusion of +his offended companion.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast not discussed with the trooper from over sea in vain," he said, +"since thou speakest so wisely of watches and arms."</p> + +<p>"Truly he hath much schooled me in the matter."</p> + +<p>"Umph! and what may be the amount of his teaching?"</p> + +<p>"That he who sleepeth at a postern should neither talk too boldly of the +enemy, nor expect maidens to put too much trust----"</p> + +<p>"In what, Faith?"</p> + +<p>"Thou surely knowest I mean in his watchfulness. My life on it, had one +happened to pass at a later hour than common near the night-post of that +gentle-spoken soldier, he would not have been found, like a sentinel of +this household, in the second watch of the night that is gone, dreaming of +the good things of the Madam's buttery."</p> + +<p>"Didst truly come then, girl?" said Eben, dropping his voice, and equally +manifesting his satisfaction and his shame. "But thou knowest, Faith, that +the labor had fallen behind in behalf of the scouting party, and that the +toil of yesterday exceeded that of our usual burthens. Nevertheless, I +keep the postern again to-night, from eight to twelve and--"</p> + +<p>"Will make a goodly rest of it, I doubt not. No, he who hath been so +vigilant throughout the day must needs tire of the task as night draws on. +Fare thee well, wakeful Dudley; if thine eyes should open on the morrow, +be thankful that the maidens have not stitched thy garments to the +palisadoes!"</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the efforts of the young man to detain her, the +light-footed girl eluded his grasp, and, bearing her burden towards the +dairy, she tripped along the path with a half-averted face, in which +triumph and repentance were already struggling for the possession.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the leader of the messengers and his military +subordinate had a long and interesting conference. When it was ended, the +former took his way to the apartment in which Mark Heathcote was wont to +pass those portions of his time that were not occupied in his secret +strivings for the faith, or in exercise without, while superintending the +laborers in the fields. With some little circumlocution, which was +intended to mask his real motives, the agent of the King announced his +intention to take his final departure that very night.</p> + +<p>"I felt it a duty, as one who has gained experience in arms by some +practice in the wars of Europe," he said, "to tarry in thy dwelling while +danger threatened from the lurking savage. It would ill become soldiers to +speak of their intentions; but had the alarm in truth sounded, thou wilt +give faith, when I say that the block-house would not have been lightly +yielded! I shall make report to them that sent me, that in Captain Mark +Heathcote, Charles hath a loyal subject, and the Constitution a firm +supporter. The rumors, of a seemingly mistaken description, which have led +us hither, shall be contradicted; and doubtless it will be found, that +some accident hath given rise to the deception. Should there be occasion +to dwell on the particulars of the late alarm, I trust the readiness of my +followers to do good service to one of the King's subjects will not be +overlooked."</p> + +<p>"It is the striving of an humble spirit to speak nought evil of its +fellows, and to conceal no good," returned the reserved Puritan. "If thou +hast found thy abode in my dwelling to thy liking, thou art welcome; and +if duty or pleasure calleth thee to quit it, peace go with thee. It will +be useful to unite with us in asking that thy passage through the +wilderness may be unharmed; that he who watcheth over the meanest of his +creatures should take thee in his especial keeping, and that the savage +heathen----"</p> + +<p>"Dost think the savage out of his villages?" demanded the messenger, with +an indecorous rapidity, that cut short the enumeration of the particular +blessings and dangers that his host thought it meet to include in the +leave-taking prayer.</p> + +<p>"Thou surely hast not tarried with us to aid in the defence, and yet +feel it doubtful that thy services might be useful!" observed Mark +Heathcote, drily.</p> + +<p>"I would the Prince of Darkness had thee and all the other diabolicals of +these woods in his own good gripe!" muttered the messenger between his +teeth; and then, as if guided by a spirit that could not long be quelled, +he assumed something more of his unbridled and natural air, boldly +declining to join in the prayer on the plea of haste, and the necessity of +his looking in person to the movements of his followers. "But this need +not prevent thee, worthy Captain, from pouring out an asking in our +behalf, while we are in the saddle," he concluded, "for ourselves, there +remaineth much of thy previously-bestowed pious aliment to be digested; +though we doubt not, that should thy voice be raised in our behalf, while +journeying along the first few leagues of the forest, the tread of the +hacks would not be heavier, and, it is certainty, that we ourselves should +be none the worse for the favor."</p> + +<p>Then casting a glance of ill-concealed levity at one of his followers, who +had come to say that their steeds awaited, he made the parting salutation +with an air, in which the respect that one like the Puritan could scarce +fail to excite, struggled with his habitual contempt for things of a +serious character.</p> + +<p>The family of Mark Heathcote, the lowest dependant included, saw these +strangers depart with great inward satisfaction. Even the maidens, in whom +nature, in moments weaker than common, had awakened some of the lighter +vanities, were gladly rid of gallants, who could not soothe their ears +with the unction of flattery, without frequently giving great offence to +their severe principles, by light and irreverent allusions to things on +which they themselves were accustomed to think with fitting awe. Eben +Dudley could scarcely conceal the chuckle with which he saw the party bury +themselves in the forest, though neither he, nor any of the more +instructed in such matters, believed they incurred serious risk from their +sudden enterprise.</p> + +<p>The opinions of the scouts proved to be founded on accurate premises. That +and many a subsequent night passed without alarm. The season continued to +advance, and the laborers pursued their toil to its close, without another +appeal to their courage, or any additional reasons for vigilance. Whittal +Ring followed his colts with impunity, among the recesses of the +neighboring forests; and the herds of the family went and came, as long as +the weather would permit them to range the woods, in regularity and peace. +The period of the alarm, and the visit of the agents of the Crown, came to +be food for tradition; and during the succeeding winter, the former often +furnished motive of merriment around the blazing fires that were so +necessary to the country and the season.</p> + +<p>Still there existed in the family a living memorial if the unusual +incidents of that night. The captive remained, long after the events +which had placed him in the power of the Heathcotes were beginning to be +forgotten.</p> + +<p>A desire to quicken the seeds of spiritual regeneration, which, however +dormant they might be, old Mark Heathcote believed to exist in the whole +family of man, and consequently in the young heathen as well as in others, +had become a sort of ruling passion in the Puritan. The fashions and mode +of thinking of the times had a strong leaning towards superstition; and it +was far from difficult for a man of his ascetic habits and exaggerated +doctrines, to believe that a special interposition had cast the boy into +his hands, for some hidden but mighty purpose, that time in the good +season would not fail to reveal.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the strong coloring of fanaticism which tinged the +characters of the religionists of those days, they were rarely wanting in +worldly discretion. The agents they saw fit to employ, in order to aid the +more hidden purposes of Providence, were in common useful and rational. +Thus, while Mark never forgot to summon the lad from his prison at the +hour of prayer, or to include an especial asking in behalf of the ignorant +heathen in general and of this chosen youth in particular, he hesitated to +believe that a manifest miracle would be exerted in his favor. That no +blame might attach to the portion of duty that was confided to human +means, he had recourse to the discreet agency of kindness and unremitted +care. But all attempts to lure the lad into the habits of a civilized man, +were completely unsuccessful. As the severity of the weather increased, +the compassionate and thoughtful Ruth endeavored to induce him to adopt +the garments that were found so necessary to the comfort of men who were +greatly his superiors in hardihood and in strength. Clothes, decorated in +a fashion suited to the taste of an Indian, were considerately provided, +and entreaties and threats were both freely used, with a view to make the +captive wear them. On one occasion, he was even forcibly clad by Eben +Dudley; and being brought, in the unwonted guise, into the presence of old +Mark, the latter offered up an especial petition that the youth might be +made to feel the merits of this concession to the principles of a +chastened and instructed man. But within an hour, the stout woodsman, who +had been made on the occasion so active an instrument of civilization, +announced to the admiring Faith that the experiment was unsuccessful; or, +as Eben somewhat irreverently described the extraordinary effort of the +Puritan, "the heathen hath already resumed his skin leggings and painted +waist-cloth, notwithstanding the Captain has strove to pin better garments +on his back, by virtue of a prayer that might have clothed the nakedness +of a whole tribe." In short, the result proved, in the case of this lad, +as similar experiments have since proved in so many other instances, the +difficulty of tempting one trained in the freedom and ease of a savage, to +consent to admit of the restraints of a state of being that is commonly +thought to be so much superior. In every instance in which the youthful +captive had liberty of choice, he disdainfully rejected the customs of the +whites; adhering with a singular, and almost heroic pertinacity to the +usages of his people and his condition.</p> + +<p>The boy was not kept in his bondage without extraordinary care. Once, when +trusted in the fields, he had openly attempted to escape; nor was the +possession of his person recovered without putting the speed of Eben +Dudley and Reuben Ring to a more severe trial, as was confessed by the +athletic young borderers themselves, than any they had hitherto undergone. +From that moment, he was never permitted to pass the palisadoes. When +duty called the laborers afield, the captive was invariably secured in his +prison, where, as some compensation for his confinement, he was supposed +to enjoy the benefit of long and familiar communication with Mark +Heathcote, who had the habit of passing many hours of each day, and, not +unfrequently long portions of the night, too, within the retirement of the +block-house. During the time only when the gates were closed, or when some +one of strength and activity sufficient to control his movements was +present, was the lad permitted to stroll, at will, among the buildings of +the border fortress. This liberty he never failed to exercise, and often +in a manner that overcame the affectionate Ruth with a painful excess of +sensibility.</p> + +<p>Instead of joining in the play of the other children, the young captive +would stand aloof, and regard their sports with a vacant eye, or, drawing +near to the palisadoes, he often passed hours in gazing wistfully at those +endless forests in which he first drew breath, and which probably +contained all that was most prized in the estimation of his simple +judgment. Ruth, touched to the heart by this silent but expressive +exhibition of suffering, endeavored in vain to win his confidence, with a +view of enticing him into employments that might serve to relieve his +care. The resolute but still quiet boy would not be lured into a +forgetfulness of his origin. He appeared to comprehend the kind intentions +of his gentle mistress, and frequently he even suffered himself to be led +by the mother into the centre of her own joyous and merry offspring; but +it was only to look upon their amusements with his former cold air, and to +return, at the first opportunity, to his beloved site at the pickets. +Still there were singular and even mysterious evidences of a growing +consciousness of the nature of the discourse of which he was occasionally +an auditor, that would have betrayed greater familiarity with the language +and opinions of the inhabitants of the valley, than his known origin and +his absolute withdrawal from communication could give reason to expect. +This important and inexplicable fact was proved by the frequent and +meaning glances of his dark eye, when aught was uttered in his hearing +that affected, ever so remotely, his own condition; and, once or twice, by +the haughty gleamings of ferocity that escaped him, when Eben Dudley was +heard to vaunt the prowess of the white men in their encounters with the +original owners of the country. The Puritan did not fail to note these +symptoms of a budding intelligence, as the pledges of a fruit that would +more than reward his pious toil; and they served to furnish a great relief +to certain occasional repugnance, which all his zeal Could not entirely +subdue, at being the instrument of causing so much suffering to one who, +after all, had inflicted no positive wrong on himself.</p> + +<p>At the period of which we are writing, the climate of these States +differed materially from that which is now known to their inhabitants. A +winter in the Province of Connecticut was attended by many successive +falls of snow, until the earth was entirely covered with firmly +compressed masses of the frozen element. Occasional thaws and passing +storms of rain, that were driven away by a return of the clear and +cutting cold of the north-western gales, were wont at times to lay a +covering on the ground, that was congealed to the consistency of ice, +until men, and not unfrequently beasts, and sometimes sleighs, were seen +moving on its surface, as on the bed of a frozen lake. During the +extremity of a season like this, the hardy borderers, who could not toil +in their customary pursuits, were wont to range the forest in quest of +game, which, driven for food to known resorting places in the woods, +then fell most easily a prey to the intelligence and skill of such men as +Eben Dudley and Reuben Ring.</p> + +<p>The youths never left the dwellings on these hunts, without exciting the +most touching interest in their movements, on the part of the Indian boy, +On all such occasions, he would linger at the loops of his prison +throughout the day, listening intently to the reports of the distant +muskets, as they resounded in the forest; and the only time, during a +captivity of so many months, that he was ever seen to smile, was when he +examined the grim look and muscular claws of a dead panther, that had +fallen beneath the aim of Dudley, in one of these excursions to the +mountains. The compassion of all the borderers was powerfully awakened in +behalf of the patient and dignified young sufferer, and gladly would they +have given their captive the pleasure of joining in the chase, had not the +task been one that was far from easy of accomplishment. The former of the +woodsmen just mentioned had even volunteered to lead him like a hound in a +leash; but this was a species of degradation against which it was certain +that a young Indian, ambitious of the character and jealous of the dignity +of a warrior, would have openly rebelled. + +The quick interest of the observant Ruth had, as it has been seen, early +detected a growing intelligence in the boy. The means by which one, who +never mingled in the employments, and who rarely seemed to listen to the +dialogues of the family could come to comprehend the meaning of a language +that is found sufficiently difficult for a scholar, were however as much +of a mystery to her, as to all around her. Still, by the aid of that +instinctive tact which so often enlightens the mind of woman was she +certain of the fact. Profiting by this knowledge, she assumed the task of +endeavoring to obtain an honorary pledge from her protege, that, if +permitted to join the hunters, he would return to the valley at the end of +the day. But though the language of the woman was gentle as her own kind +nature, and her entreaties that he would give some evidence of having +comprehended her meaning were zealous and oft repeated, not the smallest +symptom of intelligence, on this occasion, could be extracted from her +pupil. Disappointed, and not without sorrow, Ruth had abandoned the +compassionate design in despair, when, on a sudden, the old Puritan, who +had been a silent spectator of her fruitless efforts, announced his faith +in the integrity of the lad, and his intention to permit him to make one +of the very next party, that should leave the habitations.</p> + +<p>The cause of this sudden change in the hitherto stern watchfulness of Mark +Heathcote was, like so many other of his impulses, a secret in his own +bosom. It has just been said, that during the time Ruth was engaged in her +kind and fruitless experiment to extract some evidence of intelligence +from the boy, the Puritan was a close and interested observer of her +efforts. He appeared to sympathize in her disappointment, but the weal of +those unconverted tribes who were to be led from the darkness of their +ways by the instrumentality of this youth, was far too important to admit +the thought of rashly losing the vantage-ground he had gained, in the +gradually-expanding intellect of the boy, by running the hazard of an +escape. To all appearance, the intention of permitting him to quit the +defences had therefore been entirely abandoned, when old Mark so suddenly +announced a change of resolution. The conjectures on the causes of this +unlooked-for determination were exceedingly various. Some believed that the +Puritan had been favored with a mysterious intimation of the pleasure of +Providence, in the matter; and others thought that, beginning to despair +of success in his undertaking, he was willing to seek for a more visible +manifestation of its purposes, by hazarding the experiment of trusting the +boy to the direction of his own impulses. All appeared to be of opinion +that if the lad returned, the circumstance might be set down to the +intervention of a miracle. Still, with his resolution once taken, the +purpose of Mark Heathcote remained unchanged. He announced this unexpected +intention, after one of his long and solitary visits to the block-house, +where it is possible he had held a powerful spiritual strife on the +occasion; and, as the weather was exceedingly favorable for such an +object, he commanded his dependants to prepare to make the sortie on the +following morning.</p> + +<p>A sudden and an uncontrollable gleam of delight flashed on the dark +features of the captive, when Ruth was about to place in his hands the bow +of her own son, and, by signs and words, she gave him to understand that +he was to be permitted to use it in the free air of the forest. But the +exhibition of pleasure disappeared as quickly as it had been betrayed. +When the lad received the weapons, it was rather with the manner of a +hunter accustomed to their use, than of one to whose hands they had so +long been strangers. As he left the gates of Wish-Ton-Wish, the +handmaidens of Ruth clustered about him, in wondering interest; for it was +strange to see a youth so long guarded with jealous care, again free and +unwatched. Notwithstanding their ordinary dependence on the secret lights +and great wisdom of the Puritan, there was a very general impression that +the lad, around whose presence there was so much that was mysterious and +of interest to their own security, was now to be gazed upon for the last +time. The boy himself was unmoved to the last. Still he paused, with his +foot on the threshold of the dwelling; and appeared to regard Ruth and +her young offspring with momentary concern. Then, assuming the calm air of +an Indian warrior, he suffered his eye to grow cold and vacant, following +with a nimble step the hunters who were already passing without the +palisadoes.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter VIII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Well, I am your theme: you have the start of me. I am dejected; I am + not able to answer the Welsh flannel; ignorance itself is a plummet + over me: use me as you will."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Merry Wives of Windsor.</blockquote> + + +<p>Poets, aided by the general longing of human nature, have given a +reputation to the Spring, that it rarely merits. Though this imaginative +class of writers have said so much of its balmy airs and odoriferous +gales, we find it nearly everywhere the most reluctant, churlish, and +fickle of the four seasons. It is the youth of the year, and, like that +probationary period of life, most fitted to afford the promise of better +things. There is a constant struggle between reality and hope throughout +the whole of this slow-moving and treacherous period, which has an +unavoidable tendency to deceive. All that is said of its grateful +productions is fallacious, for the earth is as little likely to yield a +generous tribute without the quickening influence of the summer heats, as +man is wont to bring forth commendable fruits without the agency of a +higher moral power than any he possesses in virtue of his innate +propensities. On the other hand, the fall of the year, possesses a +sweetness, a repose, and a consistency, which may be justly likened to the +decline of a well-spent life. It is, in all countries and in every +climate, the period when physical and moral causes unite to furnish the +richest sources of enjoyment. If the Spring is the time of hope, Autumn is +the season of fruition. There is just enough of change to give zest to the +current of existence, while there is too little of vicissitude to be +pregnant of disappointment. Succeeding to the nakedness of Winter, the +Spring is grateful by comparison; while the glories of Autumn are enjoyed, +after the genial powers of Summer have been lavishly expended.</p> + +<p>In obedience to this great law of the earth, let poets sing and fancy as +they may, the Spring and Autumn of America partake largely of the +universally distinctive characters of the rival seasons. What Nature has +done on this Continent, has not been done niggardly; and, while we may +boast of a decline of the year that certainly rivals, and, with few +exceptions, eclipses the glories of most of the climates of the old world, +the opening months rarely fail of equalizing the gifts of Providence, by a +very decided exhibition of all the disagreeable qualities for which they +are remarkable.</p> + +<p>More than half a year had elapsed, between the time when the Indian boy +had been found lurking in the valley of the Heathcotes, and that day when +he was first permitted to go into the forest, fettered by no other +restraint than the moral tie which the owner of the valley either knew, or +fancied, would not fail to cause him to return to a bondage he had found +so irksome. It was April; but it was April as the month was known a +century ago in Connecticut, and as it is even now so often found to +disappoint all expectations of that capricious season of the year. The +weather had returned suddenly and violently to the rigor of winter. A thaw +had been succeeded by a storm of snow and sleet, and the interlude of the +spring-time of blossoms had terminated with a biting gale from the +north-west, which had apparently placed a permanent seal on the lingering +presence of a second February.</p> + +<p>On the morning that Content led his followers into the forest, they issued +from the postern clad in coats of skin. Their lower limbs were protected +by the coarse leggings which they had worn in so many previous hunts, +during the past winter, if that might be called past which had returned, +weakened but little of its keenness, and bearing all the outward marks of +January. When last seen, Eben Dudley, the heaviest of the band, was moving +firmly on the crust of the snow, with a step as sure as if he had trodden +on the frozen earth itself. More than one of the maidens declared, that +though they had endeavored to trace the footsteps of the hunters from the +palisadoes, it would have exceeded even the sagacity of an Indian eye to +follow their trail along the icy path they travelled.</p> + +<p>Hour after hour passed, without bringing tidings from the chase. The +reports of fire-arms had indeed been occasionally heard, ringing among the +arches of the woods; and broken echoes were, for some hours, rolling from +one recess of the hills to another. But even these signs of the presence +of the hunters gradually receded with the advance of the day; and, long +ere the sun had gained the meridian, and its warmth, at that advanced +season not without power, was shed into the valley, the whole range of the +adjoining forest lay in its ordinary dull and solemn silence.</p> + +<p>The incident of the hunt, apart from the absence of the Indian boy, was +one of too common occurrence to give birth to any particular motives of +excitement. Ruth quietly busied herself among her women, and when the +recollection of those who were scouring the neighboring forest came at all +to her mind, it was coupled with the care with which she was providing to +administer to their comforts after the fatigue of a day of extraordinary +personal efforts. This was a duty never lightly performed. Her situation +was one eminently fitted to foster the best affections of woman, since it +admitted of few temptations to yield to other than the most natural +feeling; she was, in consequence, known on all occasions to exercise them +with the devotedness of her sex.</p> + +<p>"Thy father and his companions will look on our care with pleasure," said +the thoughtful matron to her youthful image, as she directed a more than +usual provision of her larder to be got in readiness for the hunters; +"home is ever sweetest after toil and exposure."</p> + +<p>"I doubt if Mark be not ready to faint with so weary a march," said the +child already introduced by the name of Martha; "he is young to go into +the woods, with scouters tall as great Dudley."</p> + +<p>"And the heathen," added the little Ruth, "he is young too as Mark, +though more used to the toil. It may be, mother, that he will never come +to us more!"</p> + +<p>"That would grieve our venerable parent; for thou knowest, Ruth, that he +hath hopes of working on the mind of the boy, until his savage nature +shall yield to the secret power. But the sun is falling behind the hill, +and the evening is coming in cool as winter; go to the postern, and look +out upon the fields. I would know if there be any signs of thy father and +his party."</p> + +<p>Though Ruth gave this mandate to her daughter, she did not the less +neglect to exercise her own faculties in the same grateful office. While +the children went, as they were ordered, to the outer gate, the matron +herself ascended to the lower apartment of the block, and, from its +different loops, she took a long and anxious survey of the limited +prospect. The shadows of the trees, that lined the western side of the +view, were already thrown far across the broad sheet of frozen snow, and +the sudden chill which succeeded the disappearance of the sun announced +the rapid approach of a night that promised to support the severe +character of the past day. A freezing wind, which had brought with it the +cold airs of the great lakes, and which had even triumphed over the more +natural influence of an April sun, had however fallen, leaving a +temperature not unlike that which dwells in the milder seasons of the year +among the glaciers of the upper Alps.</p> + +<p>Ruth was too long accustomed to such forest scenes, and to such a +"lingering of winter in the lap of May," to feel, on their account, any +additional uneasiness. But the hour had now arrived when she had reason to +look for the return of the hunters. With the expectation of seeing their +forms issuing from the forest, came the anxiety which is an unavoidable +attendant of disappointment. The shadows continued to deepen in the +valley, until the gloom thickened to the darkness of night, without +bringing any tidings from those without.</p> + +<p>When a delay, which was unusual in the members of a family circumstanced +like that of the Wish-Ton-Wish, came to be coupled with various little +observations that had been made during the day, it was thought that +reasons for alarm were beginning, at each instant, to grow more plausible. +Reports of fire-arms had been heard, at an early hour, from opposite +points in the hills, and in a manner too distinct to be mistaken for +echoes; a certain proof that the different members of the hunt had +separated in the forest. Under such circumstances, it was not difficult +for the imagination of a wife and a mother, of a sister, or of her who +secretly confessed a still more tender interest in some one of the +hunters, to conjure to the imagination the numberless dangers to which +those who were engaged in these expeditions were known to be exposed.</p> + +<p>"I doubt that the chase hath drawn them further from the valley than is +fitting for the hour and the season," observed Ruth to her maidens, who +had gathered in a group about her, at a point that overlooked as much of +the cleared land around the buildings, as the darkness would allow; "the +gravest man becomes thoughtless as the unreflecting child when led by the +eagerness of the pursuit. It is the duty of older heads to think for those +that want experience--but into what indiscreet complaints are my fears +leading! It may be that my husband is even now striving to collect his +party, in order to return. Hast any heard his conch sounding the recall?"</p> + +<p>"The woods are still as the day the first echo of the axe was heard +among the trees," returned Faith. "I did hear that which sounded like a +strain of brawling Dudley's songs, but it proved to be no more than the +lowing of one of his own oxen. Perchance the animal misseth some of its +master's care."</p> + +<p>"Whittal Ring hath looked to the beasts, and it may not be that he hath +neglected to feed, among others, the creatures of Dudley. Thy mind is +given to levity, Faith, in the matter of this young man. It is not seemly +that one of thy years and sex should manifest so great displeasure at the +name of a youth, who is of an honest nature, and of honest habits, too, +though he may appear ungainly to the eye, and have so little favor with +one of thy disposition."</p> + +<p>"I did not fashion the man," said Faith, biting her lip, and tossing her +head; "nor is it aught to me whether he be gainly or not. As to my favor +when he asks it, the man shall not wait long to know the answer. But is +not yon figure the fellow himself, Madam Heathcote?--here, coming in from +the eastern hill, along the orchard path. The form I mean is just here; +you may see it, at this moment, turning by the bend in the brook."</p> + +<p>"There is one of a certainty, and it should be one of our hunting party, +too; and yet he doth not seem to be of a size or of a gait like that of +Eben Dudley. Thou shouldst have a knowledge of thy kindred, girl; to me it +seemeth thy brother."</p> + +<p>"Truly, it may be Reuben Ring; still it hath much of the swagger of the +other, though their stature be nearly equal--the manner of carrying the +musket is much the same with all the borderers too--one cannot easily tell +the form of man from a stump by this light--and--yet do I think it will +prove to be the loitering Dudley."</p> + +<p>"Loiterer or not, he is the first to return from this long and weary +chase," said Ruth, breathing heavily, like one who regretted that the +truth were so. "Go thou to the postern, and admit him, girl. I ordered +bolts to be drawn, for I like not to leave a fortress defended by a female +garrison, at this hour, with open gates. I will hie to the dwelling, and +see to the comforts of those who are a-hungered, since it will not be long +ere we shall have more of them at hand."</p> + +<p>Faith complied, with affected indifference and sufficient delay. By the +time she had reached the place of admission, a form was seen ascending the +acclivity, and taking the direction which led to the same spot. In the +next minute, a rude effort to enter announced an arrival without.</p> + +<p>"Gently, Master Dudley," said the wilful girl, who held the bolt with +one hand, though she maliciously delayed to remove it. "We know thou +art powerful of arm, and yet the palisadoes will scarcely fall at thy +touch. Here are no Sampsons to pull down the pillars on our heads. +Perhaps we may not be disposed to give entrance to them who stay +abroad out of all season."</p> + +<p>"Open the postern, girl," said Eben Dudley, "after which, if thou hast +aught to say, we shall be better convenienced for discourse."</p> + +<p>"It may be that thy conversation is most agreeable when heard from +without. Render an account of thy backslidings, throughout this day, +penitent Dudley, that I may take pity on thy weariness. But lest hunger +should have overcome thy memory, I may serve to help thee to the +particulars. The first of thy offences was to consume more than thy +portion of the cold meats; the second was to suffer Reuben Ring to kill +the deer, and for thee to claim it; and a third was the trick thou hast of +listening so much to thine own voice, that even the blasts fled thee, from +dislike of thy noise."</p> + +<p>"Thou triflest unseasonably, Faith; I would speak with the Captain, +without delay."</p> + +<p>"It may be that he is better employed than to desire such company. Thou +art not the only strange animal by many who hath roared at the gate of +Wish-Ton-Wish."</p> + +<p>"Have any come within the day, Faith?" demanded the borderer, with the +interest such an event would be likely to create in the mind of one who +habitually lived in so great retirement.</p> + +<p>"What sayest thou to a second visit from the gentle-spoken stranger? he +who favored us with so much gay discourse, the by-gone fall of the year. +That would be a guest fit to receive! I warrant me his knock would not be +heard a second time."</p> + +<p>"The gallant had better beware the moon!" exclaimed Dudley, striking the +but of his musket against the ice with so much force as to cause his +companion to start, in alarm. "What fool's errand hath again brought him +to prick his nag so deep into the forest?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, thy wit is ever like the unbroken colt, a headstrong run-away. I +said not, in full meaning that the man had come; I only invited thee to +give an opinion in the event that he should arrive unexpectedly, though I +am far from certain that any here ever expect to see his face again."</p> + +<p>"This is foolish prating," returned the youth, provoked at the exhibition +of jealousy into which he had been incautiously betrayed. "I tell thee to +withdraw the bolt, for I have great need to speak with the Captain, or +with his son."</p> + +<p>"Thou mayst open thy mind to the first, if he will listen to what thou +hast to say," returned the girl, removing the impediment to his entrance; +"but thou wilt sooner get the ear of the other by remaining at the gate, +since he has not yet come in from the forest."</p> + +<p>Dudley recoiled a pace, and repeated her words in the tone of one who +admitted a feeling of alarm to mingle with his surprise.</p> + +<p>"Not in from the forest!" he said; "surely there are none abroad, now that +I am home!"</p> + +<p>"Why dost say it? I have put my jibes upon thee more in payment of ancient +transgressions than for any present offence. So far from being last, thou +art the first of the hunters we have yet seen. Go in to the Madam without +delay, and tell her of the danger, if any there be, that we take speedy +measures for our safety."</p> + +<p>"That would do little good, truly," muttered the borderer, like one +musing. "Stay thou here, and watch the postern, Faith; I will back to the +woods; for a timely word, or a signal blown from my conch, might quicken +their footsteps."</p> + +<p>"What madness hath beset thee, Dudley! Thou wouldst not go into the forest +again, at this hour and alone, if there be reason for fear! Come farther +within the gate, man, that I may draw the bolt the Madam will wonder that +we tarry here so long."</p> + +<p>"Ha!--I hear feet moving in the meadow; I know it by the creaking of the +snow; the others are not lagging."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the apparent certainty of the young man, instead of going +forth to meet his friends, he withdrew a step, and with his own hand drew +the bolt that Faith had just desired might be fastened; taking care at the +same time to let fall a swinging bar of wood, which gave additional +security to the fastenings of the postern. His apprehensions, if any such +had induced this caution, were however unnecessary; for ere he had time to +make, or even to reflect on any further movement, admission was demanded +in the well-known voice of the son of him who owned the valley. The bustle +of the arrival, for with Content entered a group of companions loaded with +venison, put an end to the dialogue. Faith seized the opportunity to glide +away in the obscurity, in order to announce to her mistress that the +hunters had returned--an office that she performed without entering at all +into the particulars of her own interview with Eben Dudley.</p> + +<p>It is needless to dwell on the satisfaction with which Ruth received her +husband and son, after the uneasiness she had just suffered. Though the +severe manners of the Province admitted of no violent exhibition of +passing emotions, secret joy was reigning in the mild eyes and glowing +about the flushed cheeks of the discreet matron, while she personally +officiated in the offices of the evening meal.</p> + +<p>The party had returned teeming with no extraordinary incidents; nor did +they appear to be disturbed with any of that seriousness of air which had +so unequivocally characterized the deportment of him who had preceded +them. On the contrary, each had his quiet tale to relate, now perhaps at +the expense of a luckless companion, and sometimes in order that no part +of his own individual skill, as a hunter, should be unknown. The delay was +accounted for, as similar delays are commonly explained, by distance and +the temptations of an unusually successful chase. As the appetites of +those who had passed the day in the exciting toil were keen and the viands +tempting, the first half-hour passed quickly, as all such half-hours are +wont to pass, in garrulous recitals of personal exploits, and of the +hairbreadth escapes of deer, which, had fortune not been fickle, should +have now been present as trophies of the skill of the hand by which they +fell. It was only after personal vanity was sufficiently appeased, and +when the hunger even of a border-man could achieve no more, that the +hunters began to look about them with a diminished excitement, and to +discuss the events of the day with a fitting calmness, and with a +discretion more suited to their ordinary self-command.</p> + +<p>"We lost the sound of thy conch, wandering Dudley, as we fell into the +deep hollow of the mountain," said Content, in a pause of the discourse; +"since which time, neither eye nor ear of any has had trace of thy +movements, until we met thee at the postern, stationed like a looker-out +on his watch."</p> + +<p>The individual addressed had mingled in none of the gaiety of the hour. +While others fed freely, or joined in the quiet joke, which could escape +the lips of even men chastened as his companions, Eben Dudley had tasted +sparingly of the viands. Nor had the muscles of his hard countenance once +relaxed in a smile. A gravity and silence so extraordinary, in one so +little accustomed to exhibit either quality, did not fail to attract +attention. It was universally ascribed to the circumstance that he had +returned empty-handed from the hunt: and now that one having authority +had seen fit to give such a direction to the discourse, the imaginary +delinquent was not permitted to escape unscathed.</p> + +<p>"The butcher had little to do with this day's killing," said one of the +young men; "as a punishment for his absence from the slaughter, he should +be made to go on the hill and bring in the two bucks he will find hanging +from a maple sapling near to the drinking spring. Our meat should pass +through his hands in some fashion or other, else will it lack savor."</p> + +<p>"Ever since the death of the straggling wether, the trade of Eben hath +been at a stand," added another; "the down-hearted youth seems like one +ready to give up his calling to the first stranger that shall ask it."</p> + +<p>"Creatures which run at large prove better mutton than the stalled +wether," continued a third; "and thereby custom was getting low before +this hunt. Beyond a doubt, he has a full supply for all who shall be +likely to seek venison in his stall."</p> + +<p>Ruth observed that the countenance of her husband grew grave, at these +allusions to an event he had always seemed to wish forgotten; and she +interposed with a view to lead the minds of those who listened, back to +matter more fitting to be discussed.</p> + +<p>"How is this?" she exclaimed in haste; "hath the stout Dudley lost any of +his craft? I have never counted with greater certainty on the riches of +the table, than when he hath been sent among the hills for the fat deer, +or the tender turkey. It would much grieve me to learn that he beginneth +to lack the hunter's skill."</p> + +<p>"The man is getting melancholy with over-feeding," muttered the wilful +tones of one busied among the vessels, in a distant part of the room. "He +taketh his exercise alone, in order that none need discover the failing. +I think he be much disposed to go over sea, in order to become a trooper."</p> + +<p>Until now, the subject of these mirthful attacks had listened like one too +confident of his established reputation to feel concern; but at the sound +of the last speaker's voice, he grasped the bushy covering of one entire +cheek in his hand, and turning a reproachful and irritated glance at the +already half-repentant eye of Faith Ring, all his natural spirit returned.</p> + +<p>"It may be that my skill hath left me," he said, "and that I love to be +alone, rather than to be troubled with the company of some that might +readily be named, no reference being had to such gallants as ride up and +down the colony, putting evil opinions into the thoughts of honest men's +daughters; but why is Eben Dudley to bear all the small shot of your +humors, when there is another who, it might seem, hath strayed even +further from your trail than he?"</p> + +<p>Eye sought eye, and each youth by hasty glances endeavored to read the +countenances of all the rest in company, in order to learn who the +absentee might be. The young borderers shook their heads, as the features +of every well-known face were recognised, and a general exclamation of +denial was about to break from their lips, when Ruth exclaimed--</p> + +<p>"Truly, the Indian is wanting!"</p> + +<p>So constant was the apprehension of danger from the savages, in the +breasts of those who dwelt on that exposed frontier, that every man arose +at the words, by a sudden and common impulse, and each individual gazed +about him in a surprise that was a little akin to dismay.</p> + +<p>"The boy was with us when we quitted the forest," said Content, after a +moment of death-like stillness. "I spoke to him in commendation of his +activity, and of the knowledge he had shown in beating up the secret +places of the deer; though there is little reason to think my words were +understood."</p> + +<p>"And were it not sinful to take such solemn evidence in behalf of so light +a matter, I could be qualified on the Book itself, that he was at my elbow +as we entered the orchard," added Reuben Ring, a man renowned in that +little community for the accuracy of his vision.</p> + +<p>"And I will make oath or declaration of any sort, lawful or conscientious, +that he came not within the postern when it was opened by my own hand," +returned Eben Dudley. "I told off the number of the party as you passed, +and right sure am I that no red skin entered."</p> + +<p>"Canst thou tell us aught of the lad?" demanded Ruth, quick to take the +alarm on a subject that had so long exercised her care, and given food to +her imagination.</p> + +<p>"Nothing. With me he hath not been since the turn of the day. I have not +seen the face of living man from that moment, unless in truth one of +mysterious character, whom I met in the forest, may be so called."</p> + +<p>The manner in which the woodsman spoke was too serious and too natural, +not to give birth in his auditors to some of his own gravity. Perhaps the +appearance of the Puritan, at that moment, aided in quieting the levity +that had been uppermost in the minds of the young men; for, it is certain, +that when he entered, a deeper and a general curiosity came over the +countenances of all present. Content waited a moment in respectful +silence, till his father had moved slowly through the circle, and then he +prepared himself to look further into an affair that began to assume the +appearance of matter worthy of investigation.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter IX.</h1> + + + +<blockquote> "Last night of all,<br /> +When yon same star, that's westward from the pole,<br /> +Had made its course to illume that part of heaven<br /> +Where now it burns, Marcellus, and myself<br /> +The bell then beating one--"<br /> +"Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again!"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Hamlet.</blockquote> + + +<p>It is our duty, as faithful historians of the events recorded in this +homely legend, to conceal no circumstance which may throw the necessary +degree of light on its incidents, nor any opinion that may serve for the +better instruction of the reader in the characters of its actors. In order +that this obligation may be discharged with sufficient clearness and +precision, it has now become necessary to make a short digression from the +immediate action of the tale.</p> + +<p>Enough has been already shown, to prove that the Heathcotes lived at a +time, and in a country, where very quaint and peculiar religious dogmas +had the ascendancy. At a period when visible manifestations of the +goodness of Providence, not only in spiritual but in temporal gifts, were +confidently expected and openly proclaimed, it is not at all surprising +that more evil agencies should be thought to exercise their power in a +manner that is somewhat opposed to the experience of our own age. As we +have no wish, however, to make these pages the medium of a theological or +metaphysical controversy, we shall deal tenderly with certain important +events, that most of the writers, who were cotemporary with the facts, +assert took place in the Colonies of New-England, at and about the period +of which we are now writing. It is sufficiently known that the art of +witchcraft, and one even still more diabolical and direct in its origin, +were then believed to flourish, in that quarter of the world, to a degree +that was probably in a very just proportion to the neglect with which most +of the other arts of life were treated.</p> + +<p>There is so much grave and respectable authority, to prove the existence +of these evil influences, that it requires a pen hardier than any we +wield, to attack them without a suitable motive. "Flashy people," says the +learned and pious Cotton Mather, Doctor of Divinity and Fellow of the +Royal Society, "may burlesque these things; but when hundreds of the most +sober people, in a country where they have as much mother wit, certainly, +as the rest of mankind, <i>know them to be true</i>, nothing but the absurd and +froward spirit of Sadducism can question them." Against this grave and +credited authority, we pretend to raise no question of scepticism. We +submit to the testimony of such a writer as conclusive, though as +credulity is sometimes found to be bounded by geographical limits, and to +possess something of a national character, it may be prudent to refer +certain readers, who dwell in the other hemisphere, to the Common Law of +England, on this interesting subject, as it is ingeniously expounded by +Keeble and approved by the twelve judges of that highly civilized and +enlightened island. With this brief reference to so grave authorities, in +support of what we have now to offer, we shall return to the matter of the +narrative, fully trusting that its incidents will throw some additional +light on the subject of so deep and so general concern.</p> + +<p>Content waited respectfully until his father had taken his seat, and then +perceiving that the venerable Puritan had no immediate intention of moving +personally in the affair, he commenced the examination of his dependant as +follows; opening the matter with a seriousness that was abundantly +warranted by the gravity of the subject itself.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast spoken of one met in the forest," he said: "proceed with the +purport of that interviews and tell us of what manner of man it was."</p> + +<p>Thus directly interrogated, Eben Dudley disposed himself to give a full +and satisfactory answer. First casting a glance around, so as to embrace +every curious and eager countenance, and letting his look rest a little +longer than common on a half-interested, half-incredulous, and a somewhat +ironical dark eye, that was riveted on his own from a distant corner of +the room, he commenced his statement as follows:</p> + +<p>"It is known to you all," said the borderer, "that when we had gained the +mountain-top, there was a division of our numbers, in such a fashion that +each hunter should sweep his own range of the forest, in order that +neither moose, deer, nor bear, might have reasonable chance of escape. +Being of large frame and it may be of swifter foot than common, the young +Captain saw fit to command Reuben Ring to flank one end of the line, and a +man, who is nothing short of him in either speed, or strength, to do the +same duty on the other. There was nothing particularly worthy of mention +that took place on the flank I held, for the first two hours; unless +indeed the fact, that three several times did I fall upon a maze of +well-beaten deer-tracks, that as often led to nothing----"</p> + +<p>"These are signs common to the woods, and they are no more than so many +proofs that the animal has its sports, like any other playful creature, +when not pressed by hunger or by danger," quietly observed Content.</p> + +<p>"I pretend not to take those deceitful tracks much into the account," +resumed Dudley; "but shortly after losing the sound of the conchs, I +roused a noble buck from his lair beneath a thicket of hemlocks, and +having the game in view, the chase led me wide-off towards the wilderness, +it may have been the distance of two leagues."</p> + +<p>"And in all that time, had you no fitting moment to strike the beast?"</p> + +<p>"None whatever; nor, if opportunity had been given, am I bold to say that +hand of mine would have been hardy enough to aim at its life."</p> + +<p>"Was there aught in the deer, that a hunter should seek to spare it?"</p> + +<p>"There was that in the deer, that might bring a Christian man to much +serious reflection."</p> + +<p>"Deal more openly with the nature and appearance of the animal," said +Content, a little less tranquil than usual; while the youths and maidens +placed themselves in attitudes still more strongly denoting attention.</p> + +<p>Dudley pondered an instant, and then he commenced a less equivocal +enumeration of what he conceived to be the marvels of his tale.</p> + +<p>"Firstly," he said, "there was no trail, neither to nor from the spot +where the creature had made its lair; secondly, when roused, it took not +the alarm, but leaped sportingly ahead, taking sufficient care to be +beyond the range of musket, without ever becoming hid from the eye; and +lastly its manner of disappearance was as worthy of mention as any other +of its movements."</p> + +<p>"And in what manner didst thou lose the creature?"</p> + +<p>"I had gotten it upon the crest of a hillock, where true eye and steady +hand might make sure of a buck of much smaller size, when--didst hear +aught that might be accounted wonderful, at a season of the year when the +snows are still lying on the earth?"</p> + +<p>The auditors regarded one another curiously, each endeavoring to recall +some unwonted sound which might sustain a narrative that was fast +obtaining the seducing interest of the marvellous.</p> + +<p>"Wast sure, Charity, that the howl we heard from the forest was the yell +of the beaten hound?" demanded a handmaiden of Ruth, of a blue-eyed +companion, who seemed equally well disposed to contribute her share of +evidence in support of any exciting legend.</p> + +<p>"It might have been other," was the answer "though the hunters do speak of +their having beaten the pup for restiveness."</p> + +<p>"There was a tumult among the echoes, that sounded like the noises which +follow the uproar of a falling tree," said Ruth, thoughtfully. "I remember +to have asked if it might not be that some fierce beast had caused a +general discharge of the musketry, but my father was of opinion that death +had undermined some heavy oak."</p> + +<p>"At what hour might this have happened?"</p> + +<p>"It was past the turn of the day; for it was at the moment I bethought me +of the hunger of those who had toiled since light, in the hills."</p> + +<p>"That then was the sound I mean. It came not from falling tree, but was +uttered in the air, far above all forests. Had it been heard by one better +skilled in the secrets of nature----"</p> + +<p>"He would say it thundered;" interrupted Faith Ring, who, unlike most of +the other listeners, manifested little of the quality which was expressed +by her name. "Truly, Eben Dudley hath done marvels in this hunt; he hath +come in with a thunderbolt in his head, instead of a fat buck on his +shoulders!"</p> + +<p>"Speak reverently, girl, of that thou dost not comprehend," said Mark +Heathcote, with stern authority. "Marvels are manifested equally to the +ignorant and to the learned; and although vain-minded pretenders to +philosophy affirm, that the warring of the elements is no more than nature +working out its own purification, yet do we know, from all ancient +authorities, that other manifestations are therein exhibited. Satan may +have control over the magazines of the air; he can 'let off the ordnance +of Heaven.' That the Prince of the Powers of Darkness hath as good a share +in chemistry as goes to the making of Aurum Fulminans, is asserted by one +of the wisest writers of our age."</p> + +<p>From this declaration, and more particularly from the learning +discovered in the Puritan's speech, there was no one so hardy as to +dissent. Faith was glad to shrink back among the bevy of awe-struck +maidens; while Content, after a sufficiently respectful pause, invited +the woodsman, who was yet teeming with the most important part of his +communication, to proceed.</p> + +<p>"While my eye was searching for the lightning, which should in reason have +attended that thunder, had it been uttered in the manner of nature, the +buck had vanished; and when I rushed upon the hillock, in order to keep +the game in view, a man mounting its opposite side came so suddenly upon +me, that our muskets were at each other's breasts before either had time +for speech."</p> + +<p>"What manner of man was he?"</p> + +<p>"So far as human judgment might determine, he seemed a traveller, who was +endeavoring to push through the wilderness, from the towns below to the +distant settlements of the Bay Province; but I account it exceeding +wonderful, that the trail of a leaping buck should have brought us +together in so unwonted a manner!"</p> + +<p>"And didst thou see aught of the deer, after that encounter?"</p> + +<p>"In the first hurry of the surprise, it did certainly appear as if an +animal were bounding along the wood into a distant thicket; but it is +known how readily one may be led by seeming probabilities into a false +conclusion, and so I account that glimpse as delusion. No doubt, the +animal, having done that which it was commissioned to perform, did then +and there disappear, in the manner I have named."</p> + +<p>"It might have been thus. And the stranger--had you discourse with him, +before parting?"</p> + +<p>"We tarried together a short hour. He related much marvellous matter of +the experiences of the people, near the sea. According to the testimony +of the stranger, the Powers of Darkness have been manifested in the +Provinces in a hideous fashion. Numberless of the believers have been +persecuted by the invisibles, and greatly have they endured suffering, +both in soul and body."</p> + +<p>"Of all this have I witnessed surprising instances, in my day," said Mark +Heathcote, breaking the awful stillness that succeeded the annunciation of +so heavy a visitation on the peace of the Colony, with his deep-toned and +imposing voice. "Did he, with whom you conferred, enter into the +particulars of the trials?"</p> + +<p>"He spoke also of certain other signs that are thought to foretell the +coming of trouble. When I named the weary chase that I had made, and the +sound which came from the air, he said that these would be accounted +trifles in the towns of the Bay where the thunder and its lightnings had +done much evil work, the past season; Satan having especially shown his +spite, by causing them to do injury to the houses of the Lord."</p> + +<p>"There has long been reason to think that the pilgrimage of the righteous, +into these wilds, will be visited by some fierce opposition of those +envious natures, which, fostering evil themselves, cannot brook to look +upon the toiling of such as strive to keep the narrow path. We will now +resort to the only weapon it is permitted us to wield in this +controversy, but which, when handled with diligence and zeal, never fails +to lead to victory."</p> + +<p>So saying, without waiting to hear more of the tale of Eben Dudley, old +Mark Heathcote arose, and assuming the upright attitude usual among the +people of his sect, he addressed himself to prayer. The grave and +awe-struck but deeply confiding congregation imitated his example, and +the lips of the Puritan had parted in the act of utterance, when a low, +faltering note, like that produced by a wind instrument, rose on the +outer air, and penetrated to the place where the family was assembled. A +conch was suspended at the postern, in readiness to be used by any of the +family whom accident or occupation should detain beyond the usual hour of +closing the gates; and both by the direction and nature of this +interruption, it would seem that an applicant for admission stood at the +portal. The effect on the auditors was general and instantaneous. +Notwithstanding the recent dialogue, the young men involuntarily sought +their arms, while the startled females huddled together like a flock of +trembling and timid deer.</p> + +<p>"There is, of a certainty, a signal from without!" Content at length +observed, after waiting to suffer the sounds to die away among the angles +of the buildings. "Some hunter, who hath strayed from his path, claimeth +hospitality."</p> + +<p>Eben Dudley shook his head like one who dissented, but, having with all +the other youths grasped his musket, he stood as undetermined as the rest +concerning the course it was proper to pursue. It is uncertain how long +this indecision might have continued, had no further summons been given; +but he without appeared too impatient of delay to suffer much time to be +lost. The conch sounded again, and with far better success than before. +The blast was longer, louder, and bolder, than that which had first +pierced the walls of the dwelling, rising full and rich on the air, as +though one well practised in the use of the instrument had placed lips to +the shell.</p> + +<p>Content would scarcely have presumed to disobey a mandate coming from his +father, had it been little in conformity with his own intentions. But +second thoughts had already shown him the necessity of decision, and he +was in the act of motioning to Dudley and Reuben Ring to follow, when the +Puritan bade him look to the matter. Making a sign for the rest of the +family to remain where they were, and arming himself with a musket which +had more than once that day been proved to be of certain aim, he led the +way to the postern which has already been so often mentioned.</p> + +<p>"Who sounds at my gate?" demanded Content, when he and his followers had +gained a position, under cover of a low earthen mound erected expressly +for the purpose of commanding the entrance; "who summons a peaceful +family, at this hour of the night, to their outer defences?"</p> + +<p>"One who hath need of what he asketh, or he would not disturb thy +quiet," was the answer. "Open the postern, Master Heathcote, without +fear; it is a brother in the faith, and a subject of the same laws, that +asketh the boon."</p> + +<p>"Here is truly a Christian man without," said Content, hurrying to the +postern; which, without a moment's delay, he threw freely open, saying +as he did so, "enter of Heaven's mercy, and be welcome to that we have +to bestow."</p> + +<p>A tall, and, by his tread, a heavy man, wrapped in a riding-cloak, bowed +to the greeting, and immediately passed beneath the low lintel. Every eye +was keenly fastened on the stranger, who, after ascending the acclivity a +short distance, paused, while the young men, under their master's orders, +carefully and scrupulously renewed the fastenings of the gate. When bolts +and bars had done their office; Content joined his guest; and after making +another fruitless effort, by the feeble light which fell from the stars, +to scan his person, he said, in his own meek and quiet manner--</p> + +<p>"Thou must have great need of warmth and nourishment. The distance from +this valley to the nearest habitation is wearisome, and one who hath +journeyed it, in a season like this, may well be nigh fainting. Follow, +and deal with that we have to bestow as freely as if it were thine own."</p> + +<p>Although the stranger manifested none of that impatience which the heir of +the Wish-Ton-Wish appeared to think one so situated might in all reason +feel, thus invited he did not hesitate to comply. As he followed in the +footsteps of his host, his tread, however, was leisurely and dignified; +and once or twice, when the other half delayed in order to make some +passing observation of courtesy, he betrayed no indiscreet anxiety to +enter on those personal indulgences which might in reality prove so +grateful to one who had journeyed far in an inclement season, and along a +road where neither dwelling nor security invited repose.</p> + +<p>"Here is warmth and a peaceful welcome," pursued Content, ushering his +guest into the centre of a group of fearfully anxious faces. "In a little +time, other matters shall be added to thy comfort."</p> + +<p>When the stranger found himself under the glare of a powerful light, and +confronted to so many curious and wondering eyes, for a single instant he +hesitated. Then stepping calmly forward, he cast the short riding-cloak, +which had closely muffled his features, from his shoulders, and discovered +the severe eye, the stern lineaments, and the athletic form of him who had +once before been known to enter the doors of Wish-Ton-Wish with little +warning, and to have quitted them so mysteriously.</p> + +<p>The Puritan had arisen, with quiet and grave courtesy, to receive his +visiter; but obvious, powerful, and extraordinary interest gleamed +about his usually subdued visage, when, as the features of the other +were exposed to view, he recognised the person of the man who advanced +to meet him.</p> + +<p>"Mark Heathcote," said the stranger, "my visit is to thee. It may, or it +may not, prove longer than the last, as thou shalt receive my tidings. +Affairs of the last moment demand that there should be little delay in +hearing that which I have to offer."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the excess and nature of the surprise which the veteran +Mark had certainly betrayed, it endured just long enough to allow those +wondering eyes, which were eagerly devouring all that passed, to note +its existence. Then, the subdued and characteristic manner, which in +general marked his air, instantly returned, and with a quiet gesture, +like that which friends use in moments of confidence and security, he +beckoned to the other to follow to an inner room. The stranger complied, +making a slight bow of recognition to Ruth, as he passed her on the way +to the apartment chosen for an interview that was evidently intended to +be private.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter X.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"<i>Mar</i>. Shall I strike at it with my partizan.<br /> +<i>Hor</i>. Do, if it will not stand.<br /> + <i>Mar</i>. 'Tis here!<br /> + <i>Hor</i>. 'Tis here!<br /> + <i>Mar</i>. 'Tis gone!"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Hamlet.</blockquote> + + +<p>The time that this unexpected visiter stood uncloaked and exposed to +recognition, before the eyes of the curious group in the outer room, did +not much exceed a minute. Still it was long enough to allow men who rarely +overlooked the smallest peculiarity of dress or air, to note some of the +more distinguishing accompaniments of his attire. The heavy horseman's +pistols, once before exhibited, were in his girdle, and young Mark got a +glimpse of a silver-handled dagger which had pleased his eye before that +night. But the passage of his grandfather and the stranger from the room +prevented the boy from determining whether it was entirely of the same +fashion as that, which, rather as a memorial of by-gone scenes than for +any service that it might now be expected to perform, hung above the bed +of the former.</p> + +<p>"The man hath not yet parted with his arms!" exclaimed the quick-sighted +youth, when he found that every other tongue continued silent. "I would he +may now leave them with my grand'ther, that I may chase the skulking +Wampanoag to his hiding--"</p> + +<p>"Hot-headed boy! Thy tongue is too much given to levity," said Ruth, who +had not only resumed her seat, but the light employment that had been +interrupted by the blast at the gate with a calmness of mien that did not +fail in some degree to reassure her maidens. "Instead of cherishing the +lessons of peace that are taught thee, thy unruly thoughts are ever bent +on strife."</p> + +<p>"Is there harm in wishing to be armed with a weapon suited to my years, +that I may do service in beating down the power of our enemies: and +perhaps aid something, too, in affording security to my mother?"</p> + +<p>"Thy mother hath no fears," returned the matron gravely, while grateful +affection prompted a kind but furtive glance towards the high-spirited +though sometimes froward lad. "Reason hath already taught me the folly +of alarm, because one has knocked at our gate in the night-season. Lay +aside thy arms, men; you see that my husband no longer clings to the +musket. Be certain that his eye will give us warning, when there shall be +danger at hand."</p> + +<p>The unconcern of her husband was even more strikingly true, than the +simple language of his wife would appear to convey. Content had not only +laid aside his weapon, but he had resumed his seat near the fire, with an +air as calm, as assured, and it might have seemed to one watchfully +observant, as understanding, as her own. Until now, the stout Dudley had +remained leaning on his piece, immovable and apparently unconscious as a +statue. But, following the injunctions of one he was accustomed to obey, +he placed the musket against the wall, with the care of a hunter, and then +running a hand through his shaggy locks, as though the action might +quicken ideas that were never remarkably active, he bluntly exclaimed--</p> + +<p>"An armed hand is well in these forests, but an armed heel is not less +wanting to him who would push a roadster from the Connecticut to the +Wish-Ton-Wish, between a rising and a setting sun! The stranger no longer +journeys in the saddle, as is plain by the sign that his boot beareth no +spur. When he worried, by dint of hard pricking, the miserable hack that +proved food for the wolves, through the forest, he had better +appointments. I saw the bones of the animal no later than this day. They +have been polished by fowls and frost, till the driven snow of the +mountains is not whiter!"</p> + +<p>Meaning and uneasy, but hasty glances of the eye were exchanged between +Content and Ruth, as Eben Dudley thus uttered the thoughts which had been +suggested by the unexpected return of the stranger.</p> + +<p>"Go you to the look-out at the western palisadoes," said the latter; "and +see if perchance the Indian may not be lurking near the dwellings, ashamed +of his delay, and perchance fearful of calling us to his admission. I +cannot think that the child means to desert us, with no sign of kindness, +and without leave-taking."</p> + +<p>"I will not take upon me to say, how much or how little of ceremony the +youngster may fancy to be due to the master of the valley and his kin; but +if not gone already, the snow will not melt more quietly in the thaw, than +the lad will one day disappear. Reuben Ring, thou hast an eye for light or +darkness; come forth with me, that no sign escape us. Should thy sister, +Faith, make one of our party, it would not be easy for the red-skin to +pass the clearing without a hail."</p> + +<p>"Go to," hurriedly answered the female; "it is more womanly that I tarry +to see to the wants of him who hath journeyed far and hard, since the +rising of the sun. If the boy pass thy vigilance, wakeful Dudley, he will +have little cause to fear that of others."</p> + +<p>Though Faith so decidedly declined to make one of the party, her brother +complied without reluctance. The young men were about to quit the place +together; when the latch, on which the hand of Dudley was already laid, +rose quietly without aid from his finger, the door opened, and the object +of their intended search glided past them, and took his customary position +in one of the more retired corners of the room. There was so much of the +ordinary, noiseless manner of the young captive in this entrance, that for +a moment they who witnessed the passage of his dark form across the +apartment, were led to think the movement no more than the visit he was +always permitted to make at that hour. But recollection soon came, and +with it not only the suspicious circumstance of his disappearance, but the +inexplicable manner of his admission within the gates.</p> + +<p>"The pickets must be looked to!" exclaimed Dudley, the instant a second +look assured him that his eyes in truth beheld him who had been missing +"The place that a stripling can scale, might well admit a host."</p> + +<p>"Truly," said Content, "this needeth explanation. Hath not the boy entered +when the gate was opened for the stranger?--Here cometh one that may speak +to the fact!"</p> + +<p>"It is so," said the individual named, who re-entered from the inner room +in season to hear the nature of the remark. "I found this native child +near thy gate, and took upon me the office of a Christian man to bid him +welcome. Certain am I, that one, kind of heart and gently disposed, like +the mistress of this family, will not turn him away in anger."</p> + +<p>"He is no stranger at our fire, or at our board," said Ruth; "had it been +otherwise, thou wouldst have done well."</p> + +<p>Eben Dudley looked incredulous. His mind had been powerfully exercised +that day with visions of the marvellous, and, of a certainty, there was +some reason to distrust the manner in which the re-appearance of the +youth had been made.</p> + +<p>"It will be well to look to the fastenings," he muttered, "lest others, +less easy to dispose of, should follow. Now that invisible agencies are at +work in the Colony, one may not-sleep too soundly!"</p> + +<p>"Then go thou to the look-out, and keep the watch, till the clock shall +strike the hour of midnight;" said the Puritan, who uttered the command in +a manner to show that he was in truth moved by considerations far deeper +than the vague apprehensions of his dependant. "Ere sleep overcome thee, +another shall be ready for the relief."</p> + +<p>Mark Heathcote seldom spoke, but respectful silence permitted the lowest +of his syllables to be audible. On the present occasion, when his voice +was first heard, such a stillness came over all in presence, that he +finished the sentence amid the nearly imperceptible breathings of the +listeners. In this momentary but death-like quiet, there arose a blast +from the conch at the gate, that might have seemed an echo of that which +had so lately startled the already-excited inmates of the dwelling. At the +repetition of sounds so unwonted, all sprang to their feet, but no one +spoke. Content cast a hurried and inquiring glance at his father, who in +his turn had anxiously sought the eye of the stranger. The latter stood +firm and unmoved. One hand was clenched upon the back of the chair from +which he had arisen, and, the other grasped, perhaps unconsciously, the +handle of one of those weapons which had attracted the attention of young +Mark, and which still continued thrust through the broad leathern belt +that girded his doublet.</p> + +<p>"The sound is like that, which one little used to deal with earthly +instruments might raise!" muttered one of those whose mind had been +prepared, by the narrative of Dudley, to believe in any thing marvellous.</p> + +<p>"Come from what quarter it may, it is a summons that must be answered;" +returned Content. "Dudley, thy musket; this visit is so unwonted, that +more than one hand should do the office of porter."</p> + +<p>The borderer instantly complied, muttering between his teeth as he shook +the priming deeper into the barrel of his piece, "Your over-sea gallants +are quick on the trail to-night!" Then throwing the musket into the hollow +of his arm, he cast a look of discontent and resentment towards Faith +Ring, and was about to open the door for the passage of Content, when +another blast arose on the silence without. The second touch, of the shell +was firmer, longer, louder, and more true, than that by which it had just +been preceded.</p> + +<p>"One might fancy the conch was speaking in mockery," observed Content, +looking with meaning towards their guest. "Never did sound more resemble +sound than these we have just heard, and those thou drew from the shell +when asking admission."</p> + +<p>A sudden light appeared to break in upon the intelligence of the stranger. +Advancing more into the circle, rather with the freedom of long +familiarity than with the diffidence of a newly-arrived guest, he motioned +for silence as he said--</p> + +<p>"Let none move, but this stout woodsman, the young captain and myself. We +will go forth, and doubt not that the safety of those within shall be +regarded."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the singularity of this proposal, as it appeared to excite +neither surprise nor opposition in the Puritan or his son, the rest of the +family offered no objection. The stranger had no sooner spoken, than he +advanced near to the torch, and looked closely into the condition of his +pistols. Then turning to old Mark, he continued in an under tone--</p> + +<p>"Peradventure there will be more worldly strife than any which can flow +from the agencies that stir up the unquiet spirits of the Colonies. In +such an extremity, it may be well to observe a soldier's caution."</p> + +<p>"I like not this mockery of sound," returned the Puritan; "it argueth a +taunting and fiend-like temper. We have, of late, had in this Colony +tragical instances of what the disappointed malice of Azazel can attempt; +and it would be vain to hope that the evil agencies are not vexed with the +sight of my Bethel."</p> + +<p>Though the stranger listened to the words of his host with respect, it was +plain that his thoughts dwelt on dangers of a different character. The +member that still rested on the handle of his weapon, was clenched with +greater firmness; and a grim, though a melancholy expression was seated +about a mouth, that was compressed in a manner to denote the physical, +rather than the spiritual resolution of the man. He made a sign to the two +companions he had chosen, and led the way to the court.</p> + +<p>By this time, the shades of night had materially thickened, and, although +the hour was still early, a darkness had come over the valley that +rendered it difficult to distinguish objects at any distance from the +eye. The obscurity made it necessary that they, who now issued from the +door of the dwelling, should advance with caution, lest, ere properly +admonished of its presence, their persons should be exposed to some +lurking danger. When the three, however, were safely established behind +the thick curtain of plank and earth that covered and commanded the +entrance, and where their persons, from the shoulders downward, were +completely protected, alike from shot and arrow, Content demanded to +know, who applied at his gates for admission at an hour when they were +habitually closed for the night. Instead of receiving, as before, a ready +answer, the silence was so profound, that his own words were very +distinctly heard repeated, as was not uncommon at that quiet hour, among +the recesses of the neighboring woods.</p> + +<p>"Come it from Devil, or come it from man, here is treachery!" whispered +the stranger after a fitting pause. "Artifice must be met by artifice; +but thou art much abler to advise against the wiles of the forest, than +one trained, as I have been, in the less cunning deceptions of +Christian warfare."</p> + +<p>"What think'st, Dudley?" asked Content--"Will it be well to sally, or +shall we wait another signal from the conch?"</p> + +<p>"Much dependeth on the quality of the guests expected," returned he of +whom counsel was asked. "As for the braggart gallants, that are +over-valiant among the maidens, and heavy of heart when they think the +screech of the jay an Indian whoop, I care not if ye beat the pickets to +the earth, and call upon them to enter on the gallop. I know the manner to +send them to the upper story of the block, quicker than the cluck of the +turkey can muster its young; but----"</p> + +<p>"'Tis well to be discreet in language, in a moment of such serious +uncertainty!" interrupted the stranger. "We look for no gallants of +the kind."</p> + +<p>"Then will I give you a conceit that shall know the reason of the music of +yon conch. Go ye two back into the house, making much conversation by the +way, in order that any without may hear. When ye have entered, it shall be +my task to find such a post nigh the gate, that none shall knock again, +and no porter be at hand to question them in the matter of their errand."</p> + +<p>"This soundeth better," said Content; "and that it may be done with all +safety, some others of the young men, who are accustomed to this species +of artifice, shall issue by the secret door and lie in wait behind the +dwellings, in order that support shall not be wanting in case of violence. +Whatever else thou dost, Dudley, remember that thou dost not undo the +fastenings of the postern."</p> + +<p>"Look to the support," returned the woodsman; "should it be keen-eyed +Reuben Ring, I shall feel none the less certain that good aid is at my +back. The whole of that family are quick of wit and ready of +invention, unless it may be the wight who hath got the form without +the reason of a man."</p> + +<p>"Thou shalt have Reuben, and none other of his kin," said Content. "Be +well advised of the fastenings, and so I wish thee all fitting success, in +a deception that cannot be sinful, since it aims only at our safety."</p> + +<p>With this injunction, Content and the stranger left Dudley to the practice +of his own devices, the former observing the precaution to speak aloud +while returning, in order that any listeners without might be led to +suppose the whole party had retired from the search, satisfied of its +fruitlessness.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the youth left nigh the postern set about the +accomplishment of the task he had undertaken, in sober earnest. Instead of +descending in a direct line to the palisadoes, he also ascended, and made +a circuit among the out-buildings on the margin of the acclivity. Then +bending so low as to blend his form with objects on the snow, he gained an +angle of the palisadoes, at a point remote from the spot he intended to +watch, and, as he hoped, aided by the darkness of the hour and the shadows +of the hill, completely protected from observation. When beneath the +palisadoes, the sentinel crouched to the earth, creeping with extreme +caution along the timber which bound their lower ends, until he found +himself arrived at a species of sentry-box that was erected for the very +purpose to which he now intended it should be applied. Once within the +cover of this little recess, the sturdy woodsman bestowed his large frame, +with as much attention to comfort and security as the circumstances would +permit. Here he prepared to pass many weary minutes, before there should +be further need of his services.</p> + +<p>The reader will find no difficulty in believing that one of opinions like +those of the borderer, did not enter on his silent watch without much +distrust of the character of the guests that he might be called upon to +receive. Enough has been shown to prove that the suspicion uppermost in +his mind was, that the unwelcome agents of the government had returned on +the heels of the stranger. But, notwithstanding the seeming probability of +this opinion, there were secret misgivings of the earthly origin of the +two last windings of the shell. All the legends, and all the most credited +evidence in cases of prestigious agency, as it had been exhibited in the +colonies of New-England, went to show the malignant pleasure the Evil +Spirits found, in indulging their wicked mockeries, or in otherwise +tormenting those who placed their support on a faith, that was believed to +be so repugnant to their own ungrateful and abandoned natures. Under the +impressions, naturally excited by the communication he had held with the +traveller in the mountains, Eben Dudley found his mind equally divided +between the expectation of seeing, at each moment, one of the men whom he +had induced to quit the valley so unceremoniously, returning to obtain, +surreptitiously, admission within the gate, or of being made an unwilling +witness of some wicked manifestation of that power which was temporarily +committed to the invisibles. In both of these expectations, however, he +was fated to be disappointed Notwithstanding the strong spiritual bias of +the opinions of the credulous sentinel, there was too much of the dross of +temporal things in his composition, to elevate him altogether above the +weakness of humanity. A mind so encumbered began to weary with its own +contemplations; and, as it grew feeble with its extraordinary efforts, the +dominion of matter gradually resumed its sway. Thought, instead of being +clear and active, as the emergency would have seemed to require, began to +grow misty. Once or twice the borderer half arose, and appeared to look +about him with observation; and then, as his large frame fell heavily back +into its former semi-recumbent attitude, he grew tranquil and stationary. +This movement was several times repeated, at intervals of increasing +length, till, at the end of an hour, forgetting alike the hunt, the +troopers, and the mysterious agents of evil, the young man yielded to the +fatigue of the day. The tall oaks of the adjoining forest stood not more +immovable in the quiet of the tranquil hour, than his frame now leaned +against the side of its narrow habitation.</p> + +<p>How much time was thus lost in inactivity, Eben Dudley could never +precisely tell. He always stoutly maintained it could not have been long, +since his watch was not disturbed by the smallest of those sounds from the +woods, which sometimes occur in deep night, and which may be termed the +breathing of the forest in its slumbers. His first distinct recollection, +was that of feeling a hand grasped with the power of a giant. Springing to +his feet, the young man eagerly stretched forth an arm, saying as he did +so, in words sufficiently confused--</p> + +<p>"If the buck hath fallen by a shot in the head, I grant him to be thine, +Reuben Ring; but if struck in limb or body, I claim the venison for a +surer hand."</p> + +<p>"Truly, a very just division of the spoil," returned one in an under tone, +and speaking as if sounds too loud might be dangerous. "Thou givest the +head of the deer for a target to Reuben Ring, and keepest the rest of the +creature to thine own uses."</p> + +<p>"Who hath sent thee, at this hour, to the postern? Dost not know that +there are thought to be strangers, outlying in the fields?"</p> + +<p>"I know that there are some, who are not strangers, in-lying on their +watch!" said Faith Ring. "What shame would come upon thee, Dudley, did the +Captain, and they who have been so strongly exercised in prayer within, +but suspect how little care thou hast had of their safety, the while!"</p> + +<p>"Have they come to harm? If the Captain hath held them to spiritual +movements, I hope he will allow that nothing earthly hath passed this +postern to disturb the exercise. As I hope to be dealt honestly by, in +all matters of character, I have not once quitted the gate, since the +watch was set."</p> + +<p>"Else wouldst thou be the famousest sleep-walker in the Connecticut +Colony! Why, drowsy one, conch cannot raise a louder blast than that thou +soundest, when eyes are fairly shut in sleep. This may be watching, +according to thy meaning of the word; but infant in its cradle is not half +so ignorant of that which passeth around it, as thou hast been."</p> + +<p>"I think, Faith Ring, that thou hast gotten to be much given to +backbiting, and evil saying against friends, since the visit of the +gallants from over sea."</p> + +<p>"Out upon the gallants from over sea, and thee too, man! I am not a girl +to be flouted with bold speech from one who doth not know whether he be +sleeping or waking. I tell thee, thy good name would be lost in the +family, did it come to the ears of the Captain, and more particularly to +the knowledge of that soldier stranger, up in the dwelling, of whom even +the Madam maketh so great ceremony, that thou hast been watching with a +tuneful nose, an open mouth, and a sealed eye."</p> + +<p>"If any but thee hadst said this slander of me, girl, it would go nigh to +raise hot speech between us! Thy brother, Reuben Ring, knows better than +to stir my temper, by such falsity of accusation."</p> + +<p>"Thou dealest so generously by him, that he is prone to forget thy +misdeeds. Truly he hath the head of the buck, while thou contentest +thyself with The offals and all the less worthy parts! Go to, Dudley; thou +wast in a heavy dream when I caused thee to awake."</p> + +<p>"A pretty time have we fallen upon, when petticoats are used instead of +beards and strong-armed men, to go the rounds of the sentinels, and to say +who sleepeth and who is watchful! What hath brought thee so far from the +exercises and so nigh the gates, Mistress Faith, now that there is no +oversea gallant to soothe thy ears with lying speech and light +declarations."</p> + +<p>"If speech not to be credited is that I seek," returned the girl, "truly +the errand hath not been without its reward. What brought me hither, +sooth! why, the Madam hath need of articles from the outer +buttery--and--ay--and my ears led me to the postern. Thou knowest, musical +Dudley, that I have had occasion to hearken to thy watchful notes before +this night. But my time is too useful to be wasted in idleness; thou art +now awake, and may thank her who hath done thee a good turn with no wish +to boast of it, that one of a black beard is not the laughing-stock of all +the youths in the family. If thou keepest thine own counsel, the Captain +may yet praise thee for a vigilant sentinel; though Heaven forgive him the +wrong he will do the truth!</p> + +<p>"Perhaps a little anger at unjust suspicions may have prompted more than +the matter needed, Faith, when I taxed thee with the love of backbiting, +and I do now recall that word; though I will ever deny that aught more, +than some wandering recollection concerning the hunt of this day, hath +come over my thoughts, and perhaps made me even forgetful that it was +needful to be silent at the postern; and therefore, on the truth of a +Christian man, I do forgive thee, the----"</p> + +<p>But Faith was already out of sight and out of hearing. Dudley himself, who +began to have certain prickings of conscience concerning the ingratitude +he had manifested to one who had taken so much interest in his reputation, +now bethought him seriously of that which remained to be done. He had much +reason to suspect that there was less of the night before him than he had +at first believed, and he became in consequence more sensible of the +necessity of making some report of the events of his watch. Accordingly, +he cast a scrutinizing glance around, in order to make sure that the facts +should not contradict his testimony, and then, first examining the +fastenings of the postern, he mounted the hill, and presented himself +before the family. The members of the latter, having in truth passed most +of the long interval of his absence in spiritual exercises, and in +religious conversation, were not so sensible of his delay in reporting, as +they might otherwise have been.</p> + +<p>"What tidings dost thou bring us from without?" said Content, so soon as +the self-relieved sentinel appeared. "Hast seen any, or hast heard that +which is suspicious?"</p> + +<p>Ere Dudley would answer, his eye did not fail to study the half-malicious +expression of the countenance of her who was busy in some domestic toil, +directly opposite to the place where he stood. But reading there no more +than a glance of playful though smothered irony, he was encouraged to +proceed in his report.</p> + +<p>"The watch has been quiet," was the answer; "and there is little cause to +keep the sleepers longer from their beds. Some vigilant eyes, like those +of Reuben Ring and my own, had better be open until the morning; further +than that, is there no reason for being wakeful."</p> + +<p>Perhaps the borderer would have dwelt more at large on his own readiness +to pass the remainder of the hours of rest in attending to the security of +those who slept, had not another wicked glance from the dark, laughing eye +of her who stood so favorably placed to observe his countenance, +admonished him of the prudence of being modest in his professions.</p> + +<p>"This alarm hath then happily passed away," said the Puritan, arising. "We +will now go to our pillows in thankfulness and peace. Thy service shall +not be forgotten, Dudley; for thou hast exposed thyself to seeming danger, +at least, in our behalf."</p> + +<p>"That hath he!" half-whispered Faith; "and sure am I, that we maidens will +not forget his readiness to lose the sweets of sleep, in order that the +feeble may not come to harm."</p> + +<p>"Speak not of the trifle," hurriedly returned the other. "There has been +some deception in the sounds, for it is now my opinion, except to summon +us to the gate, that this stranger might enter--the conch hath not been +touched at all to night."</p> + +<p>"Then is it a deception which is repeated!" exclaimed Content, rising from +his chair as a faint and broken blast from the shell, like that which had +first announced their visiter, again struggled among the buildings, until +it reached every ear in the dwelling.</p> + +<p>"Here is warning as mysterious as it may prove portentous!" said old Mark +Heathcote, when the surprise, not to say consternation of the moment had +subsided. "Hast seen nothing that might justify this?"</p> + +<p>Eben Dudley, like most of the auditors, was too much confounded to reply. +All seemed to attend anxiously for the second and more powerful blast, +which was to complete the imitation of the stranger's summons. It was not +necessary to wait long; for in a time as near as might be, to that which +had intervened between the two first peals of the horn followed another, +and in a note so true, again, as to give it the semblance of an echo.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XI.</h1> + + + +<blockquote> "I will watch to-night;<br /> +Perchance 't will walk again."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Hamlet.</blockquote> + + +<p>"May not this be a warning given in mercy?" the Puritan, at all times +disposed to yield credit to supernatural manifestations of the care of +Providence, demanded with a solemnity that did not fail to produce its +impression on most of his auditors. "The history of our Colonies is full +of the evidences of these merciful interpositions."</p> + +<p>"We will thus consider it;" returned the stranger, to whom the question +seemed more particularly addressed. "The first measure shall be to seek +out the danger to which it points. Let the youth they call Dudley, give me +the aid of his powerful frame and manly courage; then trust the discovery +of the meaning of these frequent speakings of the conch, to me."</p> + +<p>"Surely, Submission, thou wilt not again be the first to go forth!" +exclaimed Mark, in a surprise that was equally manifested by Content and +Ruth, the latter of whom pressed her little image to her side as though +the bare proposal presented a powerful picture of supernatural danger. +"'Twill be well to think maturely on the step, ere thou runnest the hazard +of such an adventure."</p> + +<p>"Better it should be I," said Content, "who am accustomed to forest +signs, and all the usual testimonials of the presence of those who may +wish us harm."</p> + +<p>"No," said he, who for the first time had been called 'Submission,' a name +that savored of the religious enthusiasm of the times, and which might +have been adopted as an open avowal of his readiness to bow beneath some +peculiar dispensation of Providence. "This service shall be mine. Thou art +both husband and father; and many are there who look to thy safety as to +their rock of earthly support and comfort, while neither kindred, nor--but +we will not speak of things foreign to our purpose! Thou knowest, Mark +Heathcote, that peril and I are no strangers. There is little need to bid +me be prudent. Come, bold woodsman; shoulder thy musket, and be ready to +do credit to thy manhood, should there be reason to prove it."</p> + +<p>"And why not Reuben Ring?" said a hurried female voice, that all knew to +proceed from the lips of the sister of the youth just named. "He is quick +of eye and ready of hand, in trials like these; would it not be well to +succor thy party with such aid?"</p> + +<p>"Peace, girl," meekly observed Ruth. "This matter is already in the +ordering of one used to command; there needeth no counsel from thy short +experience."</p> + +<p>Faith shrunk back abashed, the flush which had mantled over her brown +cheek deepening to a tint like that of blood.</p> + +<p>Submission (we use the appellation in the absence of all others) fastened +a searching glance, for a single moment, on the countenance of the girl; +and then, as if his intention had not been diverted from the principal +subject in hand, he rejoined coolly--</p> + +<p>"We go as scouters and observers of that which may hereafter call for the +ready assistance of this youth; but numbers would expose us to +observation, without adding to our usefulness--and yet," he added, +arresting his footstep, which was already turned towards the door, and +looking earnestly and long at the Indian boy, "perhaps there standeth one +who might much enlighten us, would he but speak!"</p> + +<p>This remark drew every eye on the person of the captive. The lad stood the +scrutiny with the undismayed and immovable composure of his race. But +though his eye met the looks of those around him haughtily and in pride, +it was not gleaming with any of that stern defiance which had so often +been known to glitter in his glances, when he had reason to think that his +fortunes, or his person, was the subject of the peculiar observation of +those with whom he dwelt. On the contrary, the expression of his dark +visage was rather that of amity than of hatred, and there was a moment +when the look he cast upon Ruth and her offspring was visibly touched with +a feeling of concern. A glance, charged with such a meaning, could not +escape the quick-sighted vigilance of a mother.</p> + +<p>"The child hath proved himself worthy to be trusted," she said; "and in +the name of him who looketh into and knoweth all hearts, let him once +more go forth."</p> + +<p>Her lips became sealed, for again the conch announced the seeming +impatience of those without to be admitted. The full tones of the shell +thrilled on the nerves of the listeners, as though they proclaimed the +coming of some great and fearful judgment.</p> + +<p>In the midst of these often-repeated and mysterious sounds, Submission +alone seemed calm and unmoved. Turning his look from the countenance of +the boy, whose head had dropped upon his breast as the last notes of the +conch rang among the buildings, he motioned hurriedly to Dudley to follow, +and left the place.</p> + +<p>There was, in good truth, that in the secluded situation of the valley, +the darkness of the hour, and the nature of the several interruptions, +which might readily awaken deep concern in the breasts of men as firm +even as those who now issued into the open air, in quest of the solution +of doubts that were becoming intensely painful. The stranger, or +Submission, as we may in future have frequent occasion to call him, led +the way in silence to a point of the eminence, without the buildings, +where the eye might overlook the palisadoes that hedged the sides of the +acclivity, and command a view beyond of all that the dusky and imperfect +light would reveal.</p> + +<p>It was a scene that required familiarity with a border life to be looked +on, at any moment, with indifference. The broad, nearly interminable, and +seemingly trackless forest lay about them, bounding the view to the narrow +limits of the valley, as though it were some straitened oasis amidst an +ocean of wilderness. Within the boundaries of the cleared land, objects +were less indistinct; though even those nearest and most known were now +seen only in the confused and gloomy outlines of night.</p> + +<p>Across this dim prospect, Submission and his companion gazed long and +cautiously.</p> + +<p>"There is nought but motionless stumps, and fences loaded with snow," +said the former, when his eye had roamed over the whole circuit of the +view which lay on the side of the valley where they stood, "We must go +forth, that we may look nearer to the fields."</p> + +<p>"Thither then is the postern," said Dudley, observing that the other took +a direction opposite to that which led to the gate. But a gesture of +authority induced him at the next instant to restrain his voice, and to +follow whither his companion chose to lead the way.</p> + +<p>The stranger made a circuit of half the hill ere he descended to the +palisadoes, at a point where lay long and massive piles of wood, which +had been collected for the fuel of the family. This spot was one that +overlooked the steepest acclivity of the eminence, which was in itself, +just there, so difficult of ascent, as to render the provision of the +pickets far less necessary than in its more even faces. Still no useful +precaution for the security of the family had been neglected, even at +this strong point of the works. The piles of wood were laid at such a +distance from the pickets as to afford no facilities for scaling them, +while, on the other hand, they formed platforms and breast-works that +might have greatly added to the safety of those who should be required to +defend this portion of the fortress. Taking his way directly amid the +parallel piles, the stranger descended rapidly through the whole of their +mazes, until he had reached the open space between the outer of the +rows and the palisadoes, a space that was warily left too wide to be +passed by the leap of man.</p> + +<p>"'Tis many a day since foot of mine has been in this spot," said Eben +Dudley, feeling his way along a path that his companion threaded without +any apparent hesitation. "My own hand laid this outer pile, some winters +since, and certain am I, that from that hour to this, man hath not touched +a billet of the wood--And yet, for one who hath come from over sea, it +would appear that thou hast no great difficulty in making way among the +narrow lanes!"</p> + +<p>"He that hath sight may well choose between air and beechen logs," +returned the other, stopping at the palisadoes, and in a place that was +concealed from any prying eyes within the works, by triple and quadruple +barriers of wood. Feeling in his girdle, he then drew forth something +which Dudley was not long in discovering to be a key. While the latter, +aided by the little light that fell from the heavens, was endeavoring to +make the most of his eyes, Submission applied the instrument to a lock +that was artfully sunk in one of the timbers, at the height of a man's +breast from the ground; and giving a couple of vigorous turns, a piece of +the palisado, some half a fathom long, yielded on a powerful hinge below, +and, falling, made an opening sufficiently large for the passage of a +human body.</p> + +<p>"Here is a sally-port ready provided for our sortie," the stranger +coolly observed, motioning to the other to precede him. When Dudley had +passed, his companion followed, and the opening was then carefully +closed and locked.</p> + +<p>"Now is all fast again, and we are in the fields without raising alarm to +any of mortal birth, at least," continued the guide, thrusting a hand into +the folds of his doublet, as if to feel for a weapon, and preparing to +descend the difficult declivity which still lay between him and the base +of the hill. Eben Dudley hesitated to follow. The interview with the +traveller in the mountains occurred to his heated imagination, and the +visions of a prestigious agency revived with all their original force. +The whole manner and the mysterious character of his companion, was +little likely to reassure a mind disturbed with such images.</p> + +<p>"There is a rumor going in the Colony," muttered the borderer, "that the +invisibles are permitted for a time to work their evil; and it may well +happen that some of their ungodly members shall journey to the +Wish-Ton-Wish, in lack of better employment."</p> + +<p>"Thou sayest truly," replied the stranger; "but the power that allows of +their wicked torments may have seen fit to provide an agent of its own, to +defeat their subtleties. We will now draw nearer to the gate, in order +that an eye may be kept on their malicious designs."</p> + +<p>Submission spoke with gravity, and not without a certain manner of +solemnity. Dudley yielded, though with a divided and a disturbed mind, to +his suggestion. Still he followed in the footsteps of the stranger, with a +caution that might well have eluded the vigilance of any agency short of +that which drew its means of information from sources deeper than any of +human power.</p> + +<p>When the two watches had found a secret and suitable place, not far from +the postern, they disposed themselves in silence to await the result. The +outbuildings lay in deep quiet, not a sound of any sort arising from all +of the many tenants they were known to contain. The lines of ragged +fences; the blackened stumps, capped with little pyramids of snow; the +taller and sometimes suspiciously-looking stubs; an insulated tree, and +finally the broad border of forest,--were alike motionless, gloomy, and +clothed in the doubtful forms of night. Still, the space around the +well-secured and trebly-barred postern was vacant. A sheet of spotless +snow served as a back-ground, that would have been sure to betray the +presence of any object passing over its surface. Even the conch might be +seen suspended from one of the timbers, as mute and inoffensive as the +hour, when it had been washed by the waves, on the sands of the sea-shore.</p> + +<p>"Here will we watch for the coming of the stranger, be he commissioned by +the powers of air, or be he one sent on an errand of earth;" whisper ed +Submission, preparing his arms for immediate use, and disposing of his +person, at the same time, in a manner most convenient to endure the +weariness of a patient watch.</p> + +<p>"I would my mind were at ease on the question of right-doing in dealing +harm to one who disturbs the quiet of a border family," said Dudley, in a +tone sufficiently repressed for caution; "it may be found prudent to +strike the first blow, should one like an over-sea gallant, after all, be +inclined to trouble us at this hour."</p> + +<p>"In that strait thou wilt do well to give little heed to the order of the +offences," gloomily returned the other. "Should another messenger of +England appear----"</p> + +<p>He paused, for a note of the conch was heard rising gradually on the air, +until the whole of the wide valley was filled with its rich and +melancholy sound.</p> + +<p>"Lip of man is not at the shell!" exclaimed the stranger, who like Dudley +had made a forward movement towards the postern, the instant the blast +reached his ear, and who like Dudley, recoiled in an amazement that even +his practised self-command could not conceal, as he undeniably perceived +the truth of that his speech affirmed. "This exceedeth all former +instances of marvellous visitations!"</p> + +<p>"It is vain to pretend to raise the feeble nature of man to the level of +things coming from the invisible world," returned the woodsman at his +side. "In such a strait, it is seemly that sinful men should withdraw to +the dwellings, where we may sustain our feebleness by the spiritual +strivings of the Captain."</p> + +<p>To this discreet proposal the stranger raised no objection. Without taking +the time necessary to effect their retreat with the precaution that had +been observed in their advance, the two adventurers quickly found +themselves at the secret entrance through which they had so lately issued.</p> + +<p>"Enter," said the stranger, lowering the piece of the palisado for the +passage of his companion. "Enter, of a Heaven's sake! for it is truly meet +that we assemble all our spiritual succor."</p> + +<p>Dudley was in the act of complying, when a dark line, accompanied by a low +rushing sound, cut the air between his head and that of his companion. At +the next instant, a flint-headed arrow quivered in the timber.</p> + +<p>"The heathen!" shouted the borderer, recovering all his manhood as the +familiar danger became apparent, and throwing back a stream of fire in the +direction from which the treacherous missile had come. "To the +palisadoes, men! the bloody heathen is upon us!"</p> + +<p>"The heathen!" echoed the stranger, in a deep steady, commanding voice, +that had evidently often raised the warning in scenes of even greater, +emergency, and levelling a pistol, which brought a dark form that was +gliding across the snow to one knee. "The heathen! the bloody heathen +is upon us!"</p> + +<p>As if both assailants and assailed paused, one moment of profound +stillness succeeded this fierce interruption of the quiet of the night. +Then the cries of the two adventurers were answered by a burst of yells +from a wide circle, that nearly environed the hill. At the same moment, +each dark object, in the fields, gave up a human form. The shouts were +followed by a cloud of arrows, that rendered further delay without the +cover of the palisadoes eminently hazardous. Dudley entered; but the +passage of the stranger would have been cut off, by a leaping, whooping +band that pressed fiercely on his rear, had not a broad sheet of flame, +glancing from the hill directly in their swarthy and grim countenances, +driven the assailants back upon their own footsteps. In another moment, +the bolts of the lock were passed, and the two fugitives were in safety +behind the ponderous piles of wood.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"There need no ghost, my lord, come from the grave<br /> +To tell us this."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Hamlet</blockquote> + + +<p>Although the minds of most, if not of all the inmates of the +Wish-Ton-Wish, had been so powerfully exercised that night with a belief +that the powers of the invisible world were about to be let loose upon +them, the danger had now presented itself in a shape too palpable to admit +of further doubt. The cry of 'the heathen' had been raised from every lip; +even the daughter and elàve of Ruth repeated it, as they fled wailing +through the buildings; and, for a moment, terror and surprise appeared to +involve the assailed in inextricable confusion. But the promptitude of the +young men in rushing to the rescue, with the steadiness of Content, soon +restored order. Even the females assumed at least the semblance of +composure, the family having been too long trained to meet the exigencies +of such an emergency, to be thrown entirely off its guard, for more than +the first and the most appalling moments of the alarm.</p> + +<p>The effect of the sudden repulse was such as all experience had taught +the Colonists to expect, in their Indian warfare. The uproar of the onset +ceased as abruptly as it had commenced, and a calmness so tranquil, and a +stillness so profound, succeeded, that one who had for the first time +witnessed such a scene, might readily have fancied it the effects of some +wild and fearful illusion.</p> + +<p>During these moments of general and deep silence, the two adventurers, +whose retreat had probably hastened the assault by offering the temptation +of an easy passage within the works, left the cover of the piles of wood, +and ascended the hill to the place where Dudley knew Content was to be +posted, in the event of a summons to the defences.</p> + +<p>"Unless much inquiry hath deceived me in the nature of the heathen's +craftiness," said the stranger, "we shall have breathing-time ere the +onset be renewed. The experience of a soldier bids me say, that prudence +now urges us to look into the number and position of our foes, that we may +order our resistance with better understanding of their force."</p> + +<p>"In what manner of way may this be done? Thou seest nought about us but +the quiet and the darkness of night. Speak of the number of our enemies we +cannot, and sally forth we may not, without certain destruction to all who +quit the palisadoes."</p> + +<p>"Thou forgottest that we have a hostage in the boy; he may be turned to +some advantage, if our power over his person be used with discretion."</p> + +<p>"I doubt that we deceive ourselves with a hope that is vain," returned +Content, leading the way as he spoke, however, towards the court which +communicated with the principal dwelling. "I have closely studied the eye +of that lad, since his unaccountable entrance within the works, and little +do I find there that should teach us to expect confidence. It will be +happy if some secret understanding with those without, has not aided him +in passing the palisadoes, and that he prove not a dangerous spy on our +force and movements."</p> + +<p>"In regard to that he hath entered the dwelling without sound of conch or +aid of postern, be no disturbed," returned the stranger with composure. +"Were it fitting, this mystery might be of easy explanation; but it may +truly need all our sagacity to discover whether he hath connection with +our foes! The mind of a native does not give up its secrets like the +surface of a vanity-feeding mirror."</p> + +<p>The stranger, spoke like a man who wrapped a portion of his thoughts in +reserve, and his companion listened as one who comprehended more than it +might be seemly or discreet to betray. With this secret and yet equivocal +understanding of each other's meaning, they entered the dwelling, and soon +found themselves in the presence of those they sought.</p> + +<p>The constant danger of their situation had compelled the family to +bring themselves within the habits of a methodical and severely-regulated +order of defense. Duties were assigned, in the event of alarm, to the +feeblest bodies and the faintest hearts; and during the moments which +preceded the visit of her husband, Ruth had been endeavoring to commit +to her female subordinates the several necessary charges that usage, and +more particularly the emergency of the hour, appeared so imperiously to +require.</p> + +<p>"Hasten, Charity, to the block," she said; "and look into the condition of +the buckets and the ladders, that should the heathen drive us to its +shelter, provision of water, and means of retreat, be not wanting in our +extremity; and hie thee, Faith, into the upper apartments, to see that no +lights may direct their murderous aim at any in the chambers. Thoughts +come tardily, when the arrow or the bullet hath already taken its flight! +And now, that the first assault is over, Mark, and we may hope to meet the +wiles of the enemy by some prudence of our own, thou mayst go forth to thy +father. It would have been tempting Providence too rashly, hadst thou +rushed, unbidden and uninformed, into the first hurry of the danger. Come +hither, child, and receive the blessing and prayers of thy mother: after +which thou shalt, with better trust in Providence, place thy young person +among the combatants, in the hope of victory. Remember that thou art now +of an age to do justice to thy name and origin, and yet art thou of years +too tender to be foremost in speech, and far less in action, on such a +night as this."</p> + +<p>A momentary flush, that only served to render the succeeding paleness more +obvious, passed across the brow of the mother. She stooped, and imprinted +a kiss on the forehead of the impatient boy, who scarcely waited to +receive this act of tenderness, ere he hurried to place himself in the +ranks of her defenders.</p> + +<p>"And now," said Ruth, slowly turning her eye from the door by which the +lad had disappeared, and speaking with a sort of unnatural composure, "and +now will we look to the safety of those who can be of but little service, +except as sentinels to sound the alarm. When thou art certain, Faith, that +no neglected light is in the rooms above, take the children to the secret +chamber; thence they may look upon the fields, without danger from any +chance direction of the savages' aim. Thou knowest, Faith, my frequent +teaching in this matter; let no sounds of alarm, nor frightful whoopings +of the people without, cause thee to quit the spot; since thou wilt there +be safer even than in the block, against which many missiles will +doubtless be driven on account of its seeming air of strength. Timely +notice shall be given of the change, should we seek its security. Thou +wilt descend, only, shouldst thou see enemies scaling the palisadoes on +the side which overhangs the stream; since there have we the fewest eyes +to watch their movements. Remember that on the side of the out-buildings +and of the fields, our force is chiefly posted; there can be less reason +therefore that thou shouldst expose thy lives by endeavoring to look, too +curiously, into that which passeth in the fields. Go, my children; and a +heavenly Providence prove thy guardian!"</p> + +<p>Ruth stooped to kiss the cheek that her daughter offered to the salute. +The embrace was then given to the other child, who was in truth scarcely +less near her heart, being the orphan daughter of one who had been as a +sister in her affections. But, unlike the kiss she had impressed on the +forehead of Mark, the present embraces were hasty, and evidently awakened +less intense emotion. She had committed the boy to a known and positive +danger, but, under the semblance of some usefulness, she sent the others +to a place believed to be even less exposed, so long as the enemy could be +kept without the works, than the citadel itself. Still, a feeling of deep +and maternal tenderness came over her mind, as her daughter retired; and, +yielding to its sudden impulse, she recalled the girl to her side.</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt repeat the prayer for especial protection against the dangers +of the wilderness," she solemnly continued. "In thy asking, fail not to +remember him to whom thou owest being, and who now exposeth life, that we +may be safe. Thou knowest the Christian's rock; place thy faith on its +foundation."</p> + +<p>"And they who seek to kill us," demanded the well-instructed child; "are +they too of the number of those for whom he died?"</p> + +<p>"It may not be doubted, though the manner of the dispensation be so +mysterious! Barbarians in their habits, and ruthless in their enmities, +they are creatures of our nature, and equally objects of his care."</p> + +<p>Flaxen locks, that half-covered a forehead and face across which ran the +most delicate tracery of veins, added lustre to a skin as spotlessly fair +as if the warm breezes of that latitude had never fanned the countenance +of the girl. Through this maze of ringlets, the child turned her full, +clear, blue eyes, bending her looks, in wonder and in fear, on the dark +visage of the captive Indian youth, who at that moment was to her a +subject of secret horror. Unconscious of the interest he excited, the lad +stood calm, haughty, and seemingly unobservant, cautious to let no sign of +weakness or of concern escape him, in this scene of womanly emotion.</p> + +<p>"Mother," whispered the still wondering child; "may we not let him go into +the forest? I do not love to--"</p> + +<p>"This is no time for speech. Go to thy hiding-place, my child, and +remember both thy askings and the cautions I have named. Go, and heavenly +care protect thy innocent head!"</p> + +<p>Ruth again stooped, and bowing her face until the features were lost in +the rich tresses of her daughter, a moment passed during which there was +an eloquent silence. When she arose, a tear glistened on the cheek of the +child. The latter had received the embrace more in apathy than in concern; +and now, when led towards the upper rooms, she moved from the presence of +her mother, it was with an eye that never bent its riveted gaze from the +features of the young Indian, until the intervening walls hid him entirely +from her sight.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast been thoughtful and like thyself, my good Ruth," said Content, +who at that moment entered, and who rewarded the self-command of his wife +by a look of the kindest approbation. "The youths have not been more +prompt in meeting the foe at the stockades, than thy maidens in looking to +their less hardy duties. All is again quiet, without; and we come, now, +rather for consultation, than for any purposes of strife."</p> + +<p>"Then must we summon our father from his post at the artillery, in +the block."</p> + +<p>"It is not needful," interrupted the stranger. "Time presses, for this +calm may be too shortly succeeded by a tempest that all our power shall +not quell. Bring forth the captive."</p> + +<p>Content signed to the boy to approach, and when he was in reach of his +hand, he placed him full before the stranger.</p> + +<p>"I know not thy name, nor yet even that of thy people," commenced the +latter, after a long pause in which he seemed to study deeply the +countenance of the lad; "but certain am I, though a more wicked spirit may +still be struggling for the mastery in thy wild mind, that nobleness of +feeling is no stranger to thy bosom. Speak; hast thou aught to impart +concerning the danger that besets this family? I have learned much this +night from thy manner, but to be clearly understood, it is now time that +thou shouldst speak in words."</p> + +<p>The youth kept his eye fastened on that of the speaker, until the other +had ended, and then he bent it slowly, but with searching observation, on +the anxious countenance of Ruth. It seemed as if he balanced between his +pride and his sympathies. The latter prevailed; for, conquering the deep +reluctance of an Indian, he spoke openly, and for the first time, since +his captivity, in the language of the hated race.</p> + +<p>"I hear the whoops of warriors," was his calm answer. "Have the ears of +the pale men been shut?"</p> + +<p>"Thou hast spoken with the young men of thy tribe in the forest, and thou +hadst knowledge of this onset?"</p> + +<p>The youth made no reply, though the keen look of his interrogator was met +steadily, and without fear. Perceiving that he had demanded more than +would be answered, the stranger changed his mode of investigation, masking +his inquiries with a little more of artifice.</p> + +<p>"It may not be that a great tribe is on the bloody path!" he said; +"warriors would have walked over the timbers of the palisadoes, like +bending reeds! 'Tis a Pequot who hath broken faith with a Christian, and +who is now abroad, prowling as a wolf in the night."</p> + +<p>A sudden and wild expression gleamed over the swarthy features of the +boy. His lips moved, and the words that issued from between them were +uttered in the tones of biting scorn. Still he rather muttered than +pronounced aloud--</p> + +<p>"The Pequot is a dog!"</p> + +<p>"It is as I had thought; the knaves are out of their villages, that the +Yengeese may feed their squaws. But a Narragansett, or a Wampanoag, is a +man; he scorns to lurk in the darkness. When he comes, the sun will light +his path. The Pequot steals in silence, for he fears that the warriors +will hear his tread."</p> + +<p>It was not easy to detect any evidence that the captive listened, either +to the commendation or the censure, with answering sympathy; for marble is +not colder that were the muscles of his unmoved countenance.</p> + +<p>The stranger studied the expression of his features in vain, and drawing +so near as to lay his hand on the naked shoulder of the lad, he +added--"Boy, thou hast heard much moving matter concerning the nature of +our Christian faith, and thou hast been the subject of many a fervent +asking; it may not be that so much good seed hath been altogether +scattered by the way-side! Speak; may I again trust thee?"</p> + +<p>"Let my father look on the snow. The print of the moccasin goes and +comes."</p> + +<p>"It is true. Thus far hast thou proved honest; but when the war-whoop +shall be thrilling through thy young blood, the temptation to join the +warriors may be too strong. Hast any gage, any pledge, in which we may +find warranty for letting thee depart?"</p> + +<p>The boy regarded his interrogator with a look that plainly denoted +ignorance of his meaning.</p> + +<p>"I would know what thou canst leave with me, to show that our eyes shall +again look upon thy face, when we have opened the gate for thy passage +into the fields."</p> + +<p>Still the gaze of the other was wondering and confused.</p> + +<p>"When the white man goes upon the war-path and would put trust in his foe, +he takes surety for his faith, by holding the life of one dear as a +warranty of its truth. What canst offer, that I may know thou wilt return +from the errand on which I would fain send thee?"</p> + +<p>"The path is open."</p> + +<p>"Open, but not certain to be used. Fear may cause thee to forget the way +it leads."</p> + +<p>The captive now understood the meaning of the other's doubts, but, as +if disdaining to reply, he bent his eyes aside, and stood in one of +those immovable attitudes which so often gave him the air of a piece of +dark statuary.</p> + +<p>Content and his wife had listened to this short dialogue, in a manner to +prove that they possessed some secret knowledge, which lessened the wonder +they might otherwise have felt, at witnessing so obvious proofs of a +secret acquaintance between the speakers. Both however manifested +unequivocal signs of astonishment, when they first heard English sounds +issuing from the lips of the boy. There was, at least, the semblance of +hope in the mediation of one who had received, and who had appeared to +acknowledge, so much kindness from herself; and Ruth clung to the cheering +expectation with the quickness of maternal care.</p> + +<p>"Let the boy depart," she said. "I will be his hostage; and should he +prove false, there can be less to fear in his absence than in his +presence."</p> + +<p>The obvious truth of the latter assertion probably weighed more with the +stranger than the unmeaning pledge of the woman.</p> + +<p>"There is reason in this," he resumed. "Go, then, into the fields, and say +to thy people that they have mistaken the path; that, they are on, hath +led them to the dwelling of a friend--Here are no Pequots, nor any of the +men of the Manhattoes; but Christian Yengeese, who have long dealt with +the Indian as one just man dealeth with another. Go, and when thy signal +shall be heard at the gate, it shall be open to thee, for readmission."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, the stranger motioned to the boy to follow, taking care, as +they left the room together, to instruct him in all such minor matters as +might assist in effecting the pacific object of the mission on which he +was employed.</p> + +<p>A few minutes of doubt and of fearful suspense succeeded this experiment. +The stranger, after seeing that egress was permitted to his messenger, had +returned to the dwelling, and rejoined his companions. He passed the +moments in pacing the apartment, with the strides of one in whom powerful +concern was strongly at work. At times, the sound of his heavy footstep +ceased, and then all listened intently, in order to catch any sound that +might instruct them in the nature of the scene that was passing without. +In the midst of one of these pauses, a yell like that of savage delight +arose in the fields. It was succeeded by the death-like and portentous +calm, which had rendered the time since the momentary attack even more +alarming than when the danger had a positive and known character. But all +the attention the most intense anxiety could now lend, furnished no +additional clue to the movement of their foes. For many minutes, the quiet +of midnight reigned both within and without the defences. In the midst of +this suspense, the latch of the door was lifted, and their messenger +appeared with that noiseless tread and collected mien which distinguish +the people of his race.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast met the warriors of thy tribe?" hastily demanded the stranger.</p> + +<p>"The noise did not cheat the Yengeese. It was not a girl, laughing in +the woods."</p> + +<p>"And thou hast said to thy people, 'we are friends'?"</p> + +<p>"The words of my father were spoken."</p> + +<p>"And heard--Were they loud enough to enter the ears of the young men?"</p> + +<p>The boy was silent.</p> + +<p>"Speak," continued the stranger, elevating his form, proudly, like one +ready to breast a more severe shock. "Thou hast men for thy listeners. Is +the pipe of the savage filled? Will he smoke in peace, or holdeth he the +tomahawk in a clenched hand?"</p> + +<p>The countenance the boy worked with a feeling that it was not usual for an +Indian to betray. He bent his look, with concern, on the mild eyes of the +anxious Ruth; then drawing a hand slowly from beneath the light robe that +partly covered his body, he cast at the feet of the stranger a bundle of +arrows, wrapped in the glossy and striped skin of the rattlesnake.</p> + +<p>"This is warning we may not misconceive!" said Content, raising the +well-known emblem of ruthless hostility to the light, and exhibiting it +before the eyes of his less-instructed companion. "Boy, what have the +people of my race done, that thy warriors should seek their blood, to this +extremity?"</p> + +<p>When the boy had discharged his duty, he moved aside, and appeared +unwilling to observe the effect which his message might produce on his +companions. But thus questioned, all gentle feelings were near being +forgotten, in the sudden force of passion. A hasty glance at Ruth quelled +the emotion, and he continued calm as ever, and silent.</p> + +<p>"Boy," repeated Content, "I ask thee why thy people seek our blood?"</p> + +<p>The passage of the electric spark is not more subtle, nor is it +scarcely more brilliant, than was the gleam that shot into the dark eye +of the Indian. The organ seemed to emit rays coruscant as the glance of +the serpent. His form appeared to swell with the inward strivings of +the spirit, and for a moment there was every appearance of a fierce and +uncontrollable burst of ferocious passion. The conquest of feeling was, +however, but momentary. He regained his self-command by a surprising +effort of the will, and advancing so near to him who had asked this +bold question, as to lay a finger on his breast, the young savage +haughtily said--</p> + +<p>"See! this world is very wide. There is room on it for the panther and the +deer. Why have the Yengeese and the red-men met?"</p> + +<p>"We waste the precious moments in probing the stern nature of a heathen," +said the stranger. "The object of his people is certain, and, with the aid +of the Christian's staff, will we beat back their power. Prudence +requireth at our hands, that the lad be secured; after which, will we +repair to the stockades and prove ourselves men."</p> + +<p>Against this proposal no reasonable objection could be raised. Content +was about to secure the person of his captive in a cellar, when a +suggestion of his wife caused him to change his purpose. Notwithstanding +the sudden and fierce mien of the youth, there had been such an +intelligence created between them by looks of kindness and interest, that +the mother was reluctant to abandon all hope of his aid.</p> + +<p>"Miantonimoh!" she said, "though others distrust thy purpose, I will +have confidence. Come, then, with me; and while I give thee promise of +safety in thine own person, I ask at thy hands the office of a protector +for my babes."</p> + +<p>The boy made no reply; but as he passively followed his conductress to the +chambers, Ruth fancied she read assurance of his faith, in the expression +of his eloquent eye. At the same moment, her husband and Submission left +the house, to take their stations at the palisadoes.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XIII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Thou art, my good youth, my page;<br /> +I'll be thy master: walk with me; speak freely."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Cymbeline.</blockquote> + + +<p>The apartment, in which Ruth had directed the children to be placed, was +in the attic, and, as already stated, on the side of the building which +faced the stream that ran at the foot of the hill. It had a single +projecting window, through which there was a view of the forest and of the +fields on that side of the valley. Small openings in its sides admitted +also of glimpses of the grounds which lay further in the rear. In addition +to the covering of the roofs, and of the massive frame-work of the +building, an interior partition of timber protected the place against the +entrance of most missiles then known in the warfare of the country. During +the infancy of the children, this room had been their sleeping apartment; +nor was it abandoned for that purpose, until the additional outworks, +which increased with time around the dwellings, had emboldened the family +to trust themselves, at night, in situations more convenient, and which +were believed to be no less equally secure against surprise.</p> + +<p>"I know thee to be one who feeleth the obligations of a warrior," said +Ruth, as she ushered her follower into the presence of the children. "Thou +wilt not deceive me; the lives of these tender ones are in thy keeping. +Look to them, Miantonimoh, and the Christian's God will remember thee in +thine own hour of necessity!"</p> + +<p>The boy made no reply, but in a gentle expression which was visible in his +dark visage, the mother endeavored to find the pledge she sought. Then, as +the youth, with the delicacy of his race, moved aside in order that they +who were bound to each other by ties so near might indulge their feelings +without observation, Ruth again drew near her offspring, with all the +tenderness of a mother beaming in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Once more I bid thee not to look too curiously at the fearful strife that +may arise in front of our habitations," she said. "The heathen is truly +upon us, with bloody mind; young, as well as old, must now show faith in +the protection of our master, and such courage as befitteth believers."</p> + +<p>"And why is it, mother," demanded her child, "that they seek to do us +harm? have we ever done evil to them?"</p> + +<p>"I may not say. He that hath made the earth hath given it to us for our +uses, and reason would seem to teach that if portions of its surface are +vacant, he that needeth truly, may occupy."</p> + +<p>"The savage!" whispered the child, nestling still nearer to the bosom of +her stooping parent. "His eye glittereth like the star which hangs above +the trees."</p> + +<p>"Peace, daughter; his fierce nature broodeth over some fancied wrong!"</p> + +<p>"Surely, we are here rightfully. I have heard my father say, that when the +Lord made me a present to his arms, our valley was a tangled forest, and +that much toil only has made it as it is."</p> + +<p>"I hope that what we enjoy, we enjoy rightfully! And yet it seemeth that +the savage is ready to deny our claims."</p> + +<p>"And where do these bloody enemies dwell? have they, too, valleys like +this, and do the Christians break into them to shed blood, in the night?"</p> + +<p>"They are of wild and fierce habits, Ruth, and little do they know of our +manner of life. Woman is not cherished as among the people of thy father's +race, for force of body is more regarded than kinder ties."</p> + +<p>The little auditor shuddered, and when she buried her face deeper in the +bosom of her parent, it was with a more quickened sense of maternal +affection, and with a livelier view, than her infant perception had ever +yet known, of the gentle charities of kindred. When she had spoken, the +matron impressed the final kiss on the forehead of each of the children, +and asking, aloud, that God might bless them, she turned to go to the +performance of duties that called for the exhibition of very different +qualities. Before quitting the room, however, she once more approached the +boy, and, holding the light before his steady eye, she said solemnly--</p> + +<p>"I trust my babes to the keeping of a young warrior!"</p> + +<p>The look he returned was like the others, cold but not discouraging. A +gaze of many moments elicited no reply; and Ruth prepared to quit the +place, troubled by uncertainty concerning the intentions of the guardian +she left with the girls, while she still trusted that the many acts of +kindness which she had shown him, during his captivity, would not go +without their reward. Her hand rested on the bolt of the door, in +indecision. The moment was favorable to the character of the youth, for +she recalled the manner of his return that night, no less than his former +acts of faith, and she was about to leave the passage for his egress open, +when an uproar arose on the air which filled the valley with all the +hideous cries and yells of a savage onset. Drawing the bolt, the startled +woman descended, without further thought, and rushed to her post, with the +hurry of one who saw only the necessity of exertion in another scene.</p> + +<p>"Stand to the timbers, Reuben Ring! Bear back the skulking murderers on +their bloody followers! The pikes! Here, Dudley is opening for thy valor. +The Lord have mercy on the souls of the ignorant heathen!" mingled with +the reports of musketry, the whoops of the warriors, the whizzing of +bullets and arrows, with all the other accompaniments of such a contest, +were the fearful sounds that saluted the senses of Ruth as she issued into +the court. The valley was occasionally lighted by the explosion of +fire-arms, and then, at times, the horrible din prevailed in the gloom of +deep darkness. Happily, in the midst of all this, confusion and violence, +the young men of the valley were true to their duties. An alarming attempt +to scale the stockade had already been repulsed, and, the true character +of two or three feints having been ascertained, the principal force of the +garrison was now actively employed in resisting the main attack.</p> + +<p>"In the name of him who is with us in every danger!" exclaimed Ruth, +advancing to two figures that were so busily engaged in their own +concerns, as not to heed her approach, "tell me how goes the struggle? +Where are my husband and the boy?--or has it pleased Providence that any +of our people should be stricken?"</p> + +<p>"It hath pleased the Devil," returned Eben Dudley, somewhat irreverently +for one of that chastened school, "to send an Indian arrow through jerkin +and skin, into this arm of mine! Softly, Faith; dost think, girl, that +the covering of man is like the coat of a sheep, from which the fleece +may be plucked at will! I am no moulting fowl, nor is this arrow a +feather of my wing. The Lord forgive the rogue for the ill turn he hath +done my flesh, say I, and amen like a Christian! he will have occasion +too for the mercy, seeing he hath nothing further to hope for in this +world. Now, Faith, I acknowledge the debt of thy kindness, and let there +be no more cutting speech between us. Thy tongue often pricketh more +sorely than the Indian's arrow."</p> + +<p>"Whose fault is it that old acquaintance hath sometimes been overlooked, +in new conversations? Thou knowest that, wooed by proper speech, no maiden +in the Colony is wont to render gentler answer. Dost feel uneasiness in +thine arm, Dudley?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis not tickling with a straw, to drive a flint-headed arrow to the +bone! I forgive thee the matter of too much discourse with the trooper, +and all the side-cuts of thy over-ambling tongue, on conditions that----"</p> + +<p>"Out upon thee, brawler! wouldst be prating here the night long on +pretence of a broken skin, and the savage at our gates? A fine character +will the Madam render of thy deeds, when the other youths have beaten back +the Indian, and thou loitering among the buildings!"</p> + +<p>The discomfited borderer was about to curse in his heart the versatile +humor of his mistress, when he saw, by a side-glance, that ears which had +no concern in the subject, had liked to have shared in the matter of their +discourse. Seizing the weapon which was leaning against the foundation of +the block, he hurried past the mistress of the family, and, in another +minute, his voice and his musket were again heard ringing in the uproar.</p> + +<p>"Does he bring tidings from the palisadoes?" repeated Ruth, too anxious +that the young man should return to his post, to arrest his retreat. "What +saith he of the onset?"</p> + +<p>"The savage hath suffered for his boldness, and little harm hath yet come +to our people. Except that yon block of a man hath managed to put arm +before the passage of an arrow, I know not that any of our people have +been harmed."</p> + +<p>"Hearken! they retire, Ruth. The yells are less near, and our young men +will prevail! Go thou to thy charge among the piles of the fuel, and see +that no lurker remaineth to do injury. The Lord hath remembered mercy, and +it may yet arrive that this evil shall pass away from before us!"</p> + +<p>The quick ear of Ruth had not deceived her. The tumult of the assault was +gradually receding from the works, and though the flashings of the muskets +and the bellowing reports that rang in the surrounding forest were not +less frequent than before, it was plain that the critical moment of the +onset was already past. In place of the fierce effort to carry the place +by surprise, the savages had now resorted to means that were more +methodical, and which, though not so appalling in appearance, were perhaps +quite as certain of final success. Ruth profited by a momentary cessation +in the flight of the missiles, to seek those in whose welfare she had +placed her chief concern.</p> + +<p>"Has other, than brave Dudley, suffered by this assault?" demanded the +anxious wife, as she passed swiftly among a group of dusky figures that +were collected in consultation, on the brow of the declivity; "has any +need of such care as a woman's hand may bestow? Heathcote, thy person is +unharmed!"</p> + +<p>"Truly, one of great mercy hath watched over it, for little opportunity +hath been given to look to our own safety. I fear that some of our young +men have not regarded the covers with the attention that prudence +requires."</p> + +<p>"The thoughtless Mark hath not forgotten my admonitions! Boy, thou hast +never lost sight of duty so far as to precede thy father?"</p> + +<p>"One sees or thinks but little of the red-skins, when the whoop is ringing +among the timbers of the palisadoes, mother," returned the boy, dashing +his hand across his brow, in order that the drops of blood which were +trickling from a furrow left by the passage of an arrow, might not be +seen. "I have kept near my father, but whether in his front or in his +rear, the darkness hath not permitted me to note."</p> + +<p>"The lad hath behaved in a bold and seemly manner," said the stranger; +"and he hath shown the metal of his grandsire's stock--ha! what is't we +see gleaming among the sheds? A sortie may be needed, to save the +granaries and thy folds from destruction!"</p> + +<p>"To the barns! to the barns!" shouted two of the youths, from their +several look-outs. "The brand is in the buildings!" exclaimed a maiden +who discharged a similar duty under cover of the dwellings. Then +followed a discharge of muskets, all of which were levelled at the +glancing light that was glaring in fearful proximity to the combustible +materials which filled the most of the out-buildings. A savage yell, and +the sudden extinguishment of the blazing knot, announced the fatal +accuracy of the aim.</p> + +<p>"This may not be neglected!" exclaimed Content, moved to extraordinary +excitement by the extremity of the danger. "Father!" he called aloud, +"'tis fitting time to show our utmost strength."</p> + +<p>A moment of suspense succeeded this summons. The whole valley was then as +suddenly lighted, as if a torrent of the electric fluid had flashed +across its gloomy bed; a sheet of flame glanced from the attic of the +block, and then came the roar of the little piece of artillery, which had +so long dwelt there in silence. The rattling of a shot among the sheds, +and the rending of timber, followed. Fifty dark forms were seen, by the +momentary light, gliding from among the out-buildings, in an alarm +natural to their ignorance, and with an agility proportioned to their +alarm. The moment was propitious. Content silently motioned to Reuben +Ring; they passed the postern together, and disappeared in the direction +of the barns. The period of their absence was one of intense care to +Ruth, and it was not without its anxiety even to those whose nerves were +better steeled. A few moments, however, served to appease these feelings; +for the adventurers returned in safety, and as silently as they had +quitted the defences. The trampling of feet on the crust of the snow, the +neighing of horses, and the bellowing of frightened cattle, as the +terrified beasts scattered about the fields, soon proclaimed the object +of the risk which had just been run.</p> + +<p>"Enter!" whispered Ruth, who held the postern with her own hand. "Enter, +of Heaven's mercy! Thou hast given liberty to every hoof, that no living +creature perish by the flames?"</p> + +<p>"All; and truly not too speedily--for, see--the brand is again at work!"</p> + +<p>Content had much reason to felicitate himself on his expedition; for, +even while he spoke, half-concealed torches, made as usual of blazing +knots of pine, were again seen glancing across the fields, evidently +approaching the out-buildings by such indirect and covered paths, as might +protect those who bore them from the shot of the garrison. A final and +common effort was made to arrest the danger. The muskets of the young men +were active, and more than once did the citadel of the stern old Puritan +give forth its flood of flame, in order to beat back the dangerous +visitants. A few shrieks of savage disappointment and of bodily anguish, +announced the success of these discharges; but, though most of those who +approached the barns were either driven back in fear, or suffered for +their temerity, one among them, more wary or more practised than his +companions, found means to effect his object. The firing had ceased, and +the besieged were congratulating themselves on success, when a sudden +light glared across the fields. A sheet of flame soon came curling over +the crest of a wheat-stack, and quickly wrapped the inflammable material +in its fierce torrent. Against this destruction there remained no remedy. +The barns and inclosures which, so lately, had been lying in the darkness +of the hour, were instantly illuminated, and life would have been the +penalty paid by any of either party, who should dare to trust his person +within the bright glare. The borderers were soon compelled to fall back, +even within the shadows of the hill, and to seek such covers as the +stockades offered, in order to avoid the aim of the arrow or the bullet.</p> + +<p>"This is a mournful spectacle to one that has harvested in charity with +all men;" said Content to the trembler who convulsively grasped his arm, +as the flame whirled in the currents of the heated air, and, sweeping once +or twice across the roof of a shed, left a portion of its torrent creeping +insidiously along the wooden covering. "The in-gathering of a blessed +season is about to melt into ashes, before the brand of these accur----"</p> + +<p>"Peace, Heathcote! What is wealth, or the fulness of thy granaries, to +that which remains? Check these repinings of thy spirit, and bless God +that he leaveth us our babes, and the safety of our inner roofs."</p> + +<p>"Thou sayest truly," returned the husband, endeavoring to imitate the meek +resignation of his companion. "What indeed are the gifts of the world, set +in the balance against the peace of mind--ha! that evil blast of wind +sealeth the destruction of our harvest! The fierce element is in the heart +of the granaries."</p> + +<p>Ruth made no reply, for though less moved by worldly cares than her +husband, the frightful progress of the conflagration alarmed her with a +sense of personal danger. The flames had passed from roof to roof, and +meeting everywhere with fuel of the most combustible nature, the whole of +the vast range of barns, sheds, granaries, cribs and out-buildings, was +just breaking forth in the brightness of a torrent of fire. Until this +moment, suspense, with hope on one side and apprehension on the other, had +kept both parties mute spectators of the scene. But yells of triumph soon +proclaimed the delight with which the Indians witnessed the completion of +their fell design. The whoops followed this burst of pleasure, and a third +onset was made.</p> + +<p>The combatants now fought under a brightness which, though less natural, +was scarcely less brilliant than that of noon-day. Stimulated by the +prospect of success, which was offered by the conflagration, the savages +rushed upon the stockade with more audacity than it was usual to display +in their cautious warfare. A broad shadow was cast, by the hill and its +buildings, across the fields on the side opposite to the flames, and +through this belt of comparative gloom, the fiercest of the band made +their way to the very palisadoes, with impunity. Their presence was +announced by the yell of delight, for too many curious eyes had been +drinking in the fearful beauty of the conflagration, to note their +approach, until the attack had nearly proved successful. The rushes to the +defence, and to the attack, were now alike quick and headlong. Volleys +were useless, for the timbers offered equal security to both assailant and +assailed. It was a struggle of hand to hand, in which numbers would have +prevailed, had it not been the good fortune of the weaker party to act on +the defensive. Blows of the knife were passed swiftly between the timbers, +and occasionally the discharge of the musket, or the twanging of the bow +was heard.</p> + +<p>"Stand to the timbers, my men!" said the deep tones of the stranger, who +spoke in the midst of the fierce struggle with that commanding and +stirring cheerfulness that familiarity with danger can alone inspire. +"Stand to the defences, and they are impassable. Ha! 'twas well meant, +friend savage," he muttered between his teeth, as he parried, at some +jeopardy to one hand, a thrust aimed at his throat, while with the other +he seized the warrior who had inflicted the blow, and drawing his naked +breast, with the power of a giant, full against the opening between the +limbers, he buried his own keen blade to its haft in the body. The eyes of +the victim rolled wildly, and when the iron hand which bound him to the +wood, with the power of a vice, loosened its grasp, he fell motionless on +the earth. This death was succeeded by the usual yell of disappointment, +and the assailants disappeared, as swiftly as they had approached.</p> + +<p>"God be praised, that we have to rejoice in this advantage!" said Content, +enumerating the individuals of his force, with an anxious eye, when all +were again assembled at the stand on the hill, where, favored by the +glaring light, they could overlook, in comparative security, the more +exposed parts of their defences. "We count our own, though I fear me, many +may have suffered."</p> + +<p>The silence and the occupations of his listeners, most of whom were +stanching their blood, was a sufficient answer.</p> + +<p>"Hist, father!" said the quick-eyed and observant Mark; "one remaineth on +the palisado nearest the wicket. Is it a savage? or do I see a stump, in +the field beyond?"</p> + +<p>All eyes followed the direction of the hand of the speaker, and there was +seen, of a certainty, something clinging to the inner side of one of the +timbers, that bore a marked resemblance to the human form. The part of the +stockades, where the seeming figure clung, lay more in obscurity than the +rest of the defences, and doubts as to its character were not alone +confined to the quick-sighted lad who had first detected its presence.</p> + +<p>"Who hangs upon our palisadoes?" called Eben Dudley. "Speak, that we do +not harm a friend!"</p> + +<p>The wood itself was not more immovable than the dark object, until the +report of the borderer's musket was heard, and then it came tumbling to +the earth like an insensible mass.</p> + +<p>"Fallen like a stricken bear from his tree! Life was in it, or no bullet +of mine could have loosened the hold!" exclaimed Dudley, a little in +exultation as he saw the success of his aim.</p> + +<p>"I will go forward, and see that he is past----"</p> + +<p>The mouth of young Mark, was stopped by the hand of the stranger, who +calmly observed--</p> + +<p>"I will look into the fate of the heathen, myself." He was about to +proceed to the spot, when the supposed dead, or wounded man, sprang to his +feet, with a yell that rang in echoes along the margin of the forest, and +bounded towards the cover of the buildings, with high and active leaps. +Two or three muskets sent their streaks of flame across his path, but +seemingly without success. Jumping in a manner to elude the certainty of +their fire, the unharmed savage gave forth another yell of triumph, and +disappeared among the angles of the dwellings. His cries were understood, +for answering whoops were heard in the fields, and the foe without again +rallied to the attack.</p> + +<p>"This may not be neglected," said he who, more by his self-possession and +air of authority, than by any known right to command, had insensibly +assumed so much authority in the important business of that night. "One +like this, within our walls, may quickly bring destruction on the +garrison. The postern may be opened to an inroad----"</p> + +<p>"A triple lock secures it," interrupted Content. "The key is hid where +none know to seek it, other than such as are of our household."</p> + +<p>"And happily the means of passing the private wicket are in my +possession," muttered the other, in an under tone. "So far, well; but the +brand! the brand! the maidens must look to the fires and lights, while +the youths make good the stockade, since this assault admitteth not of +further delay."</p> + +<p>So saying, the stranger gave an example of courage by proceeding to his +stand at the pickets, where, supported by his companions, he continued to +defend the approaches against a discharge of arrows and bullets that was +more distant, but scarcely less dangerous to the safety of those who +showed themselves on the side of the acclivity, than those which had been +previously showered upon the garrison.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Ruth summoned her assistants, and hastened to discharge +the duty which had just been prescribed. Water was cast freely on all the +fires, and, as the still raging conflagration continued to give far more +light than was either necessary or safe, care was taken to extinguish any +torch or candle that, in the hurry of alarm, might have been left to +moulder in its socket, throughout the extensive range of the dwellings and +the offices.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XIV.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Thou mild, sad mother--<br /> + Quit him not so soon!<br /> +Mother, in mercy, stay!<br /> +Despair and death are with him; and canst thou,<br /> +With that kind, earthward look, go leave him now?"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Dana.</blockquote> + + +<p>When these precautions were taken, the females returned to their several +look-outs; and Ruth, whose duty it was in moments of danger to exercise a +general superintendence, was left to her meditations and to such +watchfulness as her fears might excite. Quitting the inner rooms, she +approached the door that communicated with the court, and for a moment +lost the recollection of her immediate cares in a view of the imposing +scene by which she was surrounded.</p> + +<p>By this time, the whole of the vast range of out-buildings, which had been +constructed, as was usual in the Colonies, of the most combustible +materials and with no regard to the expenditure of wood, was wrapt in +fire. Notwithstanding the position of the intermediate edifices, broad +flashes of light were constantly crossing the court itself, on whose +surface she was able to distinguish the smallest object, while the heavens +above her were glaring with a lurid red. Through the openings between the +buildings the quadrangle, the eye could look out upon the fields, where +she saw every evidence of a sullen intention on the part of the savages to +persevere in their object. Dark, fierce-looking, and nearly naked human +forms were seen flitting from cover to cover while there was no stump nor +log within arrow's-flight of the defences, that did not protect the person +of a daring and indefatigable enemy. It was plain the Indians were there +in hundreds, and as the assaults continued after the failure of a +surprise, it was too evident that they were bent on victory, at some +hazard to themselves. No usual means of adding to the horrors of the scene +were neglected. Whoops and yells were incessantly ringing around the +place, while the loud and often-repeated tones of a conch betrayed the +artifice by which the savages had so often endeavored, in the earlier part +of the night, to lure the garrison out of the palisadoes. A few scattering +shot, discharged with deliberation and from every exposed point within the +works, proclaimed both the coolness and the vigilance of the defendants. +The little gun in the block-house was silent, for the Puritan knew too +well its real power to lessen its reputation by a too frequent use The +weapon was therefore reserved for those moments of pressing danger that +would be sure to arrive.</p> + +<p>On this spectacle Ruth gazed in fearful sadness. The long-sustained and +sylvan security of her abode was violently destroyed; and in the place of +a quiet which had approached as near as may be on earth to that holy peace +for which her spirit strove, she and all she most loved were suddenly +confronted to the most frightful exhibition of human horrors. In such a +moment, the feelings of a mother were likely to revive; and ere time was +given for reflection, aided by the light of the conflagration, the matron +was moving swiftly through the intricate passages of the dwelling, in +quest of those whom she had placed in the security of the chambers.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast remembered to avoid looking on the fields, my children," said +the nearly breathless woman as she entered the room. "Be thankful, babes; +hitherto the efforts of the savages have been vain and we still remain +masters of our habitations."</p> + +<p>"Why is the night so red? Come hither, mother thou mayest look into the +wood as if the sun were shining!"</p> + +<p>"The heathens have fired our granaries, and what thou seest is the light +of the flames. But happily they cannot put brand into the dwellings, while +thy father and the young men stand to their weapons. We must be grateful +for this security, frail as it seemeth. Thou hast knelt, my Ruth; and hast +remembered to think of thy father and brother in thy prayers."</p> + +<p>"I will do so again, mother," whispered the child, bending to her knees, +and wrapping her young features in the garments of the matron.</p> + +<p>"Why hide thy countenance? One young and innocent as thou, may lift thine +eyes to Heaven with confidence."</p> + +<p>"Mother, I see the Indian, unless my face be hid. He looketh at me, I +fear, with wish to do us harm."</p> + +<p>"Thou art not just to Miantonimoh, child," answered Ruth, as she glanced +her eye rapidly round to seek the boy, who had modestly withdrawn into a +remote and shaded corner of the room. "I left him with thee for a +guardian, and not as one who would wish to injure. Now think of thy God, +child," imprinting a kiss on the cold, marble-like forehead of her +daughter, "and have reliance in his goodness. Miantonimoh, I again leave +you with a charge, to be their protector," she added, quitting her +daughter and advancing towards the youth.</p> + +<p>"Mother!" shrieked the child, "come to me, or I die!"</p> + +<p>Ruth turned from the listening captive, with the quickness of instinct. A +glance showed her the jeopardy of her offspring. A naked savage, dark, +powerful of frame, and fierce in the frightful masquerade of his +war-paint, stood winding the silken hair of the girl in one hand, while he +already held the glittering axe above a head that seemed inevitably +devoted to destruction.</p> + +<p>"Mercy! mercy!" exclaimed Ruth, hoarse with horror, and dropping to her +knees, as much from inability to stand as with intent to petition. +"Monster, strike me, but spare the child!"</p> + +<p>The eyes of the Indian rolled over the person of the speaker, but it was +with an expression that seemed rather to enumerate the number of his +victims, than to announce any change of purpose. With a fiend-like +coolness, that bespoke much knowledge of the ruthless practice, he again +swung the quivering but speechless child in the air, and prepared to +direct the weapon with a fell certainty of aim. The tomahawk had made its +last circuit, and an instant would have decided the fate of the victim, +when the captive boy stood in front of the frightful actor in this +revolting scene. By a quick, forward movement of his arm, the blow was +arrested. The deep guttural ejaculation, which betrays the surprise of an +Indian, broke from the chest of the savage, while his hand fell to his +side, and the form of the suspended girl was suffered again to touch the +floor. The look and gesture with which the boy had interfered, expressed +authority rather than resentment or horror. His air was calm, collected, +and, as it appeared by the effect, imposing.</p> + +<p>"Go," he said in the language of the fierce people from whom he had +sprung; "the warriors of the pale men are calling thee by name."</p> + +<p>"The snow is red with the blood of our young men," the other fiercely +answered; "and not a scalp is at the belt of my people."</p> + +<p>"These are mine," returned the boy with dignity, sweeping his arm, while +speaking, in a manner to show that he extended protection to all present.</p> + +<p>The warrior gazed about him grimly, and like one but half-convinced. He +had incurred a danger too fearful, in entering the stockade, to be easily +diverted from his purpose.</p> + +<p>"Listen!" he continued, after a short pause, during which the artillery of +the Puritan had again bellowed in the uproar, without. "The thunder is +with the Yengeese! Our young women will look another way and call us +Pequots, should there be no scalps on our pole."</p> + +<p>For a single moment, the countenance of the boy changed, and his +resolution seemed to waver. The other, who watched his eyes with longing +eagerness, again seized his victim by the hair, when Ruth shrieked in the +accents of despair--</p> + +<p>"Boy! boy! if thou art not with us, God hath deserted us!"</p> + +<p>"She is mine," burst fiercely from the lips of the lad. "Hear my words, +Wompahwisset; the blood of my father is very warm within me."</p> + +<p>The other paused, and the blow was once more suspended. The glaring +eye-balls of the savage rested intently on the swelling form and stern +countenance of the young hero, whose uplifted hand appeared to menace +instant punishment, should he dare to disregard the mediation. The lips of +the warrior severed, and the word 'Miantonimoh' was uttered as softly as +if it recalled a feeling of sorrow. Then, as a sudden burst of yells rose +above the roar of the conflagration, the fierce Indian turned in his +tracks, and, abandoning the trembling and nearly insensible child, he +bounded away like a hound loosened on a fresh scent of blood.</p> + +<p>"Boy! boy!" murmured the mother; "heathen or Christian, there is one that +will bless thee!--"</p> + +<p>A rapid gesture of the hand interrupted the fervent expression of +her gratitude. Pointing after the form of the retreating savage, the +lad encircled his own head with a finger, in a manner that could not +be mistaken, as he uttered steadily, but with the deep emphasis of +an Indian--</p> + +<p>"The young Pale-face has a scalp!"</p> + +<p>Ruth heard no more. With instinctive rapidity, every feeling of her soul +quickened nearly to agony, she rushed below, in order to warn Mark against +the machinations of so fearful an enemy. Her step was heard but for a +moment in the vacant chambers, and then the Indian boy, whose steadiness +and authority had just been so signally exerted in favor of the children, +resumed his attitude of meditation, as quietly as if he took no further +interest in the frightful events of the night.</p> + +<p>The situation of the garrison was now, indeed, to the last degree +critical. A torrent of fire had passed from the further extremity of the +out-houses to that which stood nearest to the defences, and, as building +after building melted beneath its raging power, the palisadoes became +heated nearly to the point of ignition. The alarm created by this imminent +danger had already been given, and, when Ruth issued into the court, a +female was rushing past her, seemingly on some errand of the last +necessity.</p> + +<p>"Hast seen him?" demanded the breathless mother, arresting the steps of +the quick-moving girl. + +"Not since the savage made his last onset, but I warrant me he may be +found near the western loops, making good the works against the enemy!"</p> + +<p>"Surely he is not foremost in the fray! Of whom speakest thou, Faith? I +questioned thee of Mark. There is one, even now, raging within the +pickets seeking a victim."</p> + +<p>"Truly, I thought it had been question of----the boy is with his father +and the stranger soldier who does such deeds of valor in our behalf. I +have seen no enemy within the palisadoes, Madam Heathcote, since the entry +of the man who escaped, by favor of the powers of darkness, from the shot +of Eben Dudley's musket."</p> + +<p>"And is this evil like to pass from us," resumed Ruth, breathing more +freely, as she learned the safety of her son; "or does Providence veil its +face in anger?"</p> + +<p>"We keep our own, though the savage hath pressed the young men to +extremity. Oh! it gladdened heart to see how brave a guard Reuben Ring, +and others near him, made in our behalf. I do think me, Madam Heathcote, +that, after all, there is real manhood in the brawler Dudley! Truly, the +youth hath done marvels in the way of exposure and resistance. Twenty +times this night have I expected to see him slain."</p> + +<p>"And he that lyeth there?" half-whispered the alarmed Ruth, pointing to +a spot near them, where, aside from the movements of those who still +acted in the bustle of the combat, one lay stretched on the earth--"who +hath fallen?"</p> + +<p>The cheek of Faith blanched to a whiteness that nearly equalled that of +the linen, which, even in the hurry of such a scene, some friendly hand +had found leisure to throw, in decent sadness, over the form.</p> + +<p>"That!" said the faltering girl; "though hurt and bleeding, my brother +Reuben surely keepeth the loop at the western angle; nor is Whittal +wanting in sufficient sense to take heed of danger--This may not be the +stranger, for under the covers of the postern breast-work he holdeth +counsel with the young captain."</p> + +<p>"Art certain, girl?"</p> + +<p>"I saw them both within the minute. Would to God we could hear the shout +of noisy Dudley, Madam Heathcote: his cry cheereth the heart, in a moment +awful as this!"</p> + +<p>"Lift the cloth," said Ruth with calm solemnity, "that we may know which +of our friends hath been called to the great account."</p> + +<p>Faith hesitated, and when, by a powerful effort, in which secret interest +had as deep an influence as obedience, she did comply, it was with a sort +of desperate resolution. On raising the linen, the eyes of the two women +rested on the pallid countenance of one who had been transfixed by an +iron-headed arrow. The girl dropped the linen, and in a voice that sounded +like a burst of hysterical feeling, she exclaimed--</p> + +<p>"'Tis but the youth that came lately among us! We are spared the loss of +any ancient friend."</p> + +<p>"Tis one who died for our safety. I would give largely of this world's +comforts, that this calamity might not have been, or that greater leisure +for the last fearful reckoning had been accorded. But we may not lose the +moments in mourning. Hie thee, girl, and sound the alarm that a savage +lurketh within our walls, and that he skulketh in quest of a secret blow. +Bid all be wary. If the young Mark should cross thy path, speak to him +twice of this danger; the child hath a froward spirit, and may not hearken +to words uttered in too great hurry."</p> + +<p>With this charge, Ruth quitted her maiden. While the latter proceeded to +give the necessary notice, the other sought the spot where she had just +learned there was reason to believe her husband might be found.</p> + +<p>Content and the stranger were in fact met in consultation over the danger +which threatened destruction to their most important means of defence. The +savages themselves appeared to be conscious that the flames were working +in their favour; for their efforts sensibly slackened, and having already +severely suffered in their attempts to annoy the garrison, they had fallen +back to their covers, and awaited the moment when their practised cunning +should tell them they might, with more flattering promises of success, +again, rally to the onset. A brief explanation served to make Ruth +acquainted with the imminent jeopardy of their situation. Under a sense of +a more appalling danger, she lost the recollection of her former purpose, +and with a contracted and sorrowing eye, she stood like her companions, in +impotent helplessness, an entranced spectator of the progress of the +destruction.</p> + +<p>"A soldier should not waste words in useless plaints," observed the +stranger, folding his arms like one who was conscious that human effort +could do no more, "else should I say, 'tis pity that he who drew yon line +of stockade hath not remembered the uses of the ditch."</p> + +<p>"I will summon the maidens to the wells," said Ruth.</p> + +<p>"'Twill not avail us. The arrow would be among them, nor could mortal long +endure the heat of yon glowing furnace. Thou seest that the timbers +already smoke and blacken, under its fierceness."</p> + +<p>The stranger was still speaking, when a small quivering flame played on +the corners of the palisado nearest the burning pile. The element +fluttered like a waving line along the edges of the heated wood, after +which it spread over the whole surface of the timber, from its larger base +to the pointed summit. As if this had merely been the signal of a general +destruction, the flames kindled in fifty places at the same instant, and +then the whole line of the stockade, nearest the conflagration, was +covered with fire. A yell of triumph arose in the fields, and a flight of +arrows, sailing tauntingly into the works, announced the fierce impatience +of those who watched the increase of the conflagration.</p> + +<p>"We shall be driven to our block," said Content "Assemble thy maidens, +Ruth, and make speedy preparation for the last retreat." + +"I go; but hazard not thy life in any vain endeavor to retard the flames. +There will yet be time for all that is needful to our security."</p> + +<p>"I know not," hurriedly observed the stranger. "Here cometh the assault in +a new aspect!"</p> + +<p>The feet of Ruth were arrested. On looking upward, she saw the object +which had drawn this remark from the last speaker. A small bright ball of +fire had arisen out of the fields, and, describing an arc in the air, it +sailed above their heads and fell on the shingles of a building which +formed part of the quadrangle of the inner court. The movement was that of +an arrow thrown from a distant bow, and its way was to be traced by a long +trail of light, that followed its course like a blazing meteor. This +burning arrow had been sent with a cool and practised judgment. It lighted +upon a portion of the combustibles that were nearly as inflammable as +gunpowder, and the eye had scarcely succeeded in tracing it to its fall, +ere the bright flames were seen stealing over the heated roof.</p> + +<p>"One struggle for our habitations!" cried Content--but the hand of the +stranger was placed firmly on his shoulder. At that instant, a dozen +similar meteor-looking balls shot into the air, and fell in as many +different places on the already half-kindled pile. Further efforts would +have been useless. Relinquishing the hope of saving his property, every +thought was now given to personal safety.</p> + +<p>Ruth recovered from her short trance, and hastened with hurried steps to +perform her well-known office. Then came a few minutes of exertion, during +which the females transferred all that was necessary to their subsistence, +and which had not been already provided in the block, to their little +citadel. The glowing light, which penetrated the darkest passages among +the buildings, prevented this movement from being made without discovery. +The whoop summoned their enemies to another attack. The arrows thickened +in the air, and the important duty was not performed without risk, as all +were obliged, in some degree, to expose their persons, while passing to +and fro, loaded with necessaries. The gathering smoke, however, served in +some measure for a screen; and it was not long before Content received the +welcome tidings that he might command the retreat of his young men from +the palisadoes. The conch sounded the necessary signal, and ere the foe +had time to understand its meaning, or profit by the defenceless state of +the works, every individual within them had reached the door of the block +in safety. Still, there was more of hurry and confusion than altogether +comported with their safety. They who were assigned to that duty, however, +mounted eagerly to the loops, and stood in readiness to pour out their +fire on whoever might dare to come within its reach, while a few still +lingered in the court, to see that no necessary provision for resistance, +or of safety, was forgotten. Ruth had been foremost in exertion, and she +now stood pressing her hands to her temples, like one whose mind was +bewildered by her own efforts.</p> + +<p>"Our fallen friend!" she said. "Shall we leave his remains to be mangled +by the savage?"</p> + +<p>"Surely not; Dudley, thy hand. We will bear the body within the lower--ha! +death hath struck another of our family."</p> + +<p>The alarm with which Content made this discovery passed quickly to all in +hearing. It was but too apparent, by the shape of the linen, that two +bodies lay beneath its folds. Anxious and rapid looks were cast from face +to face, in order to learn who was missing; and then, conscious of the +hazard of further delay, Content raised the linen, in order to remove all +doubts by certainty. The form of the young borderer, who was known to have +fallen, was first slowly and reverently uncovered; but even the most +self-restrained among the spectators started back in horror, as his robbed +and reeking head showed that a savage hand had worked its ruthless will on +the unresisting corpse.</p> + +<p>"The other!" Ruth struggled to say, and it was only as her husband had +half removed the linen that she could succeed in uttering the +words--"Beware the other!"</p> + +<p>The warning was not useless, for the linen waved violently as it rose +under the hand of Content, and a grim Indian sprang into the very centre +of the startled group. Sweeping his armed hand widely about him, the +savage broke through the receding circle, and, giving forth the appalling +whoop of his tribe, he bounded into the open door of the principal +dwelling, so swiftly as utterly to defeat any design of pursuit. The arms +of Ruth were frantically extended towards the place where he had +disappeared, and she was about to rush madly on his footsteps, when the +hand of her husband stopped the movement.</p> + +<p>"Wouldst hazard life, to save some worthless trifle?"</p> + +<p>"Husband, release me!" returned the woman, nearly choked with her +agony--"nature hath slept within me!"</p> + +<p>"Fear blindeth thy reason!"</p> + +<p>The form of Ruth ceased to struggle. All the madness, which had been +glaring wildly about her eyes, disappeared in the settled look of an +almost preternatural calm. Collecting the whole of her mental energy in +one desperate effort of self-command, she turned to her husband, and, as +her bosom swelled with the terror that seemed to stop her breath, she said +in a voice that was frightful by its composure--</p> + +<p>"If thou hast a father's heart, release me!--Our babes have been +forgotten!"</p> + +<p>The hand of Content relaxed its hold, and, in another instant, the form of +his wife was lost to view on the track that had just been taken by the +successful savage. This was the luckless moment chosen by the foe to push +his advantage. A fierce burst of yells proclaimed the activity of the +assailants, and a general discharge from the loops of the block-house +sufficiently apprised those in the court that the onset of the enemy was +now pushed into the very heart of the defences. All had mounted, but the +few who lingered to discharge the melancholy duty to the dead. They were +too few to render resistance prudent, and yet too many to think of +deserting the distracted mother and her offspring without an effort.</p> + +<p>"Enter," said Content, pointing to the door of the block. "It is my duty +to share the fate of those nearest my blood."</p> + +<p>The stranger made no answer. Placing his powerful hands on the nearly +stupified husband, he thrust his person, by an irresistible effort, within +the basement of the building, and then he signed, by a quick gesture, for +all around him to follow. After the last form had entered, he commanded +that the fastenings of the door should be secured, remaining himself, as +he believed, alone without. But when by a rapid glance he saw there was +another gazing in dull awe on the features of the fallen man, it was too +late to rectify the mistake. Yells were now rising out of the black smoke, +that was rolling in volumes from the heated buildings, and it was plain +that only a few feet divided them from their pursuers. Beckoning the man +who had been excluded from the block to follow, the stern soldier rushed +into the principal dwelling, which was still but little injured by the +fire. Guided rather by chance than by any knowledge of the windings of the +building, he soon found himself in the chambers. He was now at a loss +whither to proceed. At that moment, his companion, who was no other than +Whittal Ring, took the lead, and in another instant, they were at the door +of the secret apartment.</p> + +<p>"Hist!" said the stranger, raising a hand to command silence as he entered +the room. "Our hope is in secrecy."</p> + +<p>"And how may we escape without detection?" demanded the mother, pointing +about her at objects illuminated by a light so powerful as to penetrate +every cranny of the ill-constructed building. "The noon-day sun is scarce +brighter than this dreadful fire!"</p> + +<p>"God is in the elements! His guiding hand shall point the way. But here we +may not tarry, for the flames are already on the shingles. Follow, and +speak not."</p> + +<p>Ruth pressed the children to her side, and the whole party left the +apartment of the attic in a body. Their descent to a lower room was made +quickly, and without discovery. But here their leader paused, for the +state of things without was one to demand the utmost steadines of nerve, +and great reflection.</p> + +<p>The Indians had by this time gained command of the whole of Mark +Heathcote's possessions, with the exception of the block-house; and as +their first act had been to apply the brand wherever it might be wanting, +the roar of the conflagration was now heard in every direction. The +discharge of muskets and the whoops of the combatants, however, while they +added to the horrible din of such a scene, proclaimed the unconquered +resolution of those who held the citadel. A window of the room they +occupied enabled the stranger to take a cautious survey of what was +passing without. The court, lighted to the brilliancy of day, was empty; +for the increasing heat of the fires, no less than the discharges from the +loops, still kept the cautious savages to their covers. There was barely +hope, that the space between the dwelling and the block-house might yet be +passed in safety.</p> + +<p>"I would I had asked that the door of the block should be held in hand," +muttered Submission; "it would be death to linger an instant in that +fierce light; nor have we any manner of----" + +A touch was laid upon his arm, and turning, the speaker saw the dark eye +of the captive boy looking steadily in his face.</p> + +<p>"Wilt do it?" demanded the other, in a manner to show that he doubted, +while he hoped.</p> + +<p>A speaking gesture of assent was the answer, and then the form of the lad +was seen gliding quietly from the room.</p> + +<p>Another instant, and Miantonimoh appeared in the court. He walked with the +deliberation that one would have shown in moments of the most entire +security. A hand was raised towards the loops, as if to betoken amity, and +then dropping the limb, he moved with the same slow step into the very +centre of the area. Here the boy stood in the fullest glare of the +conflagration, and turned his face deliberately on every side of him. The +action showed that he wished to invite all eyes to examine his person. At +this moment the yells ceased in the surrounding covers, proclaiming alike +the common feeling that was awakened by his appearance, and the hazard +that any other would have incurred by exposing himself in that fearful +scene. When this act of exceeding confidence had been performed, the boy +drew a pace nearer to the entrance of the block.</p> + +<p>"Comest thou in peace, or is this another device of Indian treachery?" +demanded a voice, through an opening in the door left expressly for the +purposes of parley.</p> + +<p>The boy raised the palm of one hand towards the speaker, while he laid the +other with a gesture of confidence on his naked breast.</p> + +<p>"Hast aught to offer in behalf of my wife and babes? If gold will buy +their ransom, name thy price."</p> + +<p>Miantonimoh was at no loss to comprehend the other's meaning. With the +readiness of one whose faculties had been early schooled in the inventions +of emergencies, he made a gesture that said even more than his figurative +words, as he answered--</p> + +<p>"Can a woman of the Pale-faces pass through wood? An Indian arrow is +swifter than the foot of my mother."</p> + +<p>"Boy, I trust thee," returned the voice from within the loop. "If +thou deceivest beings so feeble and so innocent, Heaven will remember +the wrong."</p> + +<p>Miantonimoh again made a sign to show that caution must be used, and then +he retired with a step calm and measured as that used in his advance. +Another pause to the shouts betrayed the interest of those whose fierce +eyes watched his movements in the distance.</p> + +<p>When the young Indian had rejoined the party in the dwelling, he led them, +without being observed by the lurking band that still hovered in the smoke +of the surrounding buildings, to a spot that commanded a full view of +their short but perilous route. At this moment the door of the +block-house half-opened, and was closed again. Still the stranger +hesitated, for he saw how little was the chance that all should cross the +court unharmed, and to pass it by repeated trials he knew to be +impossible.</p> + +<p>"Boy," he said, "thou, who hast done thus much, may still do more. Ask +mercy for these children, in some manner that may touch the hearts of +thy people."</p> + +<p>Miantonimoh shook his head, and pointing to the ghastly corpse that lay in +the court, he answered coldly--</p> + +<p>"The red-man has tasted blood."</p> + +<p>"Then must the desperate trial be done! Think not of thy children, devoted +and daring mother, but look only to thine own safety. This witless youth +and I will charge ourselves with the care of the innocents."</p> + +<p>Ruth waved him away with her hand, pressing her mute and trembling +daughter to her bosom, in a manner to show that her resolution was taken. +The stranger yielded, and turning to Whittal, who stood near him, +seemingly as much occupied in vacant admiration of the blazing piles as in +any apprehension of his own personal danger, he bade him look to the +safety of the remaining child. Moving in front himself, he was about to +offer Ruth such protection as the case afforded, when a window in the rear +of the house was dashed inward, announcing the entrance of the enemy, and +the imminent danger that their flight would be intercepted. There was no +time to lose, for it was now certain that only a single room separated +them from their foes. The generous nature of Ruth was roused, and catching +Martha from the arms of Whittal Ring, she endeavored, by a desperate +effort, in which feeling rather than any reasonable motive predominated, +to envelop both the children in her robe.</p> + +<p>"I am with ye!" whispered the agitated woman, "hush ye, hush ye, babes! +thy mother is nigh."</p> + +<p>The stranger was very differently employed. The instant the crash of glass +was heard, he rushed to the rear; and he had already grappled with the +savage so often named, and who acted as guide to a dozen fierce and +yelling followers.</p> + +<p>"To the block!" shouted the steady soldier, while with a powerful arm he +held his enemy in the throat of the narrow passage, stopping the approach +of those in the rear by the body of his foe. "For the love of life and +children, woman, to the block!"</p> + +<p>The summons rang frightfully in the ears of Ruth, but in that moment of +extreme jeopardy her presence of mind was lost. The cry was repeated, and +not till then did the bewildered mother catch her daughter from the +floor. With eyes still bent on the fierce struggle in her rear, she +clasped the child to her heart and fled, calling on Whittal Ring to +follow. The lad obeyed, and ere she had half-crossed the court, the +stranger, still holding his savage shield between him and his enemies, +was seen endeavoring to take the same direction. The whoops, the flight +of arrows, and the discharges of musquetry, that succeeded, proclaimed +the whole extent of the danger. But fear had lent unnatural vigor to the +limbs of Ruth, and the gliding arrows themselves scarce sailed more +swiftly through the heated air, than she darted into the open door of the +block. Whittal Ring was less successful. As he crossed the court, bearing +the child intrusted to his care, an arrow pierced his flesh. Stung by the +pain, the witless lad turned, in anger, to chide the hand that had +inflicted the injury.</p> + +<p>"On, foolish boy!" cried the stranger, as he passed him, still making a +target of the body of the savage that was writhing in his grasp. "On, for +thy life, and that of the babe!"</p> + +<p>The mandate came too late. The hand of an Indian was already on the +innocent victim, and in the next instant the child was sweeping the air, +while with a short yell the keen axe flourished above his head. A shot +from the loops laid the monster dead in his tracks. The girl was instantly +seized by another hand, and as the captor with his prize darted unharmed +into the dwelling, there arose in the block a common exclamation of the +name of "Miantonimoh!" Two more of the savages profited by the pause of +horror that followed, to lay hands on the wounded Whittal and to drag him +within the blazing building. At the same moment, the stranger cast the +unresisting savage back upon the weapons of his companions. The bleeding +and half-strangled Indian met the blows which had been aimed at the life +of the soldier, and as he staggered and fell, his vigorous conqueror +disappeared in the block. The door of the little citadel was instantly +closed, and the savages, who rushed headlong against the entrance, heard +the fitting of the bars which secured it against their attacks. The yell +of retreat was raised, and in the next instant the court was left to be +possession of the dead.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XV.</h1> + + + +<blockquote> "Did Heaven look on,<br /> +And would not take their part?--<br /> + --: Heaven rest them now!"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Macbeth.</blockquote> + + +<p>"We will be thankful for this blessing," said Content, as he aided the +half-unconscious Ruth to mount the ladder, yielding himself to a feeling +of nature that said little against his manhood. "If we have lost one, that +we loved, God hath spared our own child."</p> + +<p>His breathless wife threw herself into a seat, and folding the treasure to +her bosom, she whispered rather than said aloud--"From my soul, Heathcote, +am I grateful!"</p> + +<p>"Thou shieldest the babe from my sight," returned the father, stooping to +conceal a tear that was stealing down his brown cheek, under a pretence of +embracing the child--but suddenly recoiling, he added in alarm--"Ruth!"</p> + +<p>Startled by the tone in which her husband uttered her name, the mother +threw aside the folds of her dress, which still concealed the girl, and +stretching her out to the length of an arm, she saw that, in the hurry of +the appalling scene, the children had been exchanged, and that she had +saved the life of Martha!</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the generous disposition of Ruth, it was impossible to +repress the feeling of disappointment which came over her with the +consciousness of the mistake. Nature at first had sway, and to a degree +that was fearfully powerful.</p> + +<p>"It is not our babe!" shrieked the mother, still holding the child at the +length of her arm, and gazing at its innocent and terrified countenance, +with an expression that Martha had never yet seen gleaming from eyes that +were, in common, so soft and so indulgent.</p> + +<p>"I am thine! I am thine!" murmured the little trembler, struggling in vain +to reach the bosom that had so long cherished her infancy. "If not thine, +whose am I?"</p> + +<p>The gaze of Ruth was still wild, the workings of her features hysterical.</p> + +<p>"Madam--Mrs. Heathcote--mother!" came timidly, and at intervals, from the +lips of the orphan. Then the heart of Ruth relented. She clasped the +daughter of her friend to her breast, and Nature found a temporary relief +in one of those frightful exhibitions of anguish, which appear to threaten +the dissolution of the link which connects the soul with the body.</p> + +<p>"Come, daughter of John Harding," said Content, looking around him with +the assumed composure of a chastened man, while natural regret struggled +hard at his heart; "this has been God's pleasure; it is meet that we kiss +his parental hand. Let us be thankful," he added, with a quivering lip but +steady eye, "that even this mercy hath been shown. Our babe is with the +Indian, but our hopes are far beyond the reach of savage malignity. We +have not 'laid up treasure where moth and rust can corrupt, or where +thieves may break in and steal,' It may be that the morning shall bring +means of parley, and haply, opportunity of ransom."</p> + +<p>There was the glimmering of hope in this suggestion. The idea seemed to +give a new direction to the thoughts of Ruth, and the change enabled the +long habits of self-restraint to regain something of their former +ascendancy. The fountains of her tears became dry, and, after one short +and terrible struggle, she was again enabled to appear composed. But at +no time during the continuance of that fearful struggle, was Ruth +Heathcote again the same ready and useful agent of activity and order that +she had been in the earlier events of the night.</p> + +<p>It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that the brief burst of +parental agony which has just been related, escaped Content and his wife +amid a scene in which the other actors were too much occupied by their +exertions to note its exhibition. The fate of those in the block was too +evidently approaching its close, to allow of any interest in such an +episode to the great tragedy of the moment.</p> + +<p>The character of the contest had in some measure changed. There was no +longer any immediate apprehension from the missiles of the assailants, +though danger pressed upon the besieged in a new and even in a more +horrible aspect. Now and then indeed an arrow quivered in the openings of +the loops, and the blunt Dudley had once a narrow escape from the passage +of a bullet, which, guided by chance, or aimed by a hand surer than +common, glanced through one of the narrow slits, and would have terminated +the history of the borderer, had not the head it obliquely encountered, +been too solid to yield even to such an assault. The attention of the +garrison was chiefly called to the imminent danger of the surrounding +fire. Though the probability of such an emergency as that in which the +family was now placed, had certainly been foreseen, and in some degree +guarded against, in the size of the area and in the construction of the +block, yet it was found that the danger exceeded all former calculations.</p> + +<p>For the basement, there was no reason to feel alarm. It was of stone, and +of a thickness and a material to put at defiance any artifices that their +enemy might find time to practise. Even the two upper stories were +comparatively safe; for they were composed of blocks so solid as to +require time to heat them, and they were consequently as little liable to +combustion as wood well could be. But the roof, like all of that, and +indeed, like most of the present day in America, was composed of short +inflammable shingles of pine. The superior height of the tower was some +little protection, but as the flames rose roaring above the buildings of +the court, and waved in wide circuits around the heated area, the whole of +the fragile covering of the block was often wrapped in folds of fire. The +result may be anticipated. Content was first recalled from the bitterness +of his parental regret, by a cry, which passed among the family, that the +roof of their little citadel was in flames. One of the ordinary wells of +the habitation was in the basement of the edifice, and it was fortunate +that no precaution necessary to render it serviceable in an emergency like +that which was now arrived, had been neglected. A well-secured shaft of +stone rose through the lower apartment into the upper floor. Profiting by +this happy precaution, the handmaidens of Ruth plied the buckets with +diligence, while the young men cast water freely on the roof, from the +windows of the attic. The latter duty, it may readily be supposed, was not +performed without hazard. Flights of arrows were constantly directed +against the borers, and more than one of the youths received greater or +less injuries, while exposed to their annoyance. There were indeed a few +minutes, during which it remained a question of grave interest how far the +risk they ran was likely to be crowned with success. The excessive heat of +so many fires, and the occasional contact with the flames, as they swept +in eddies over the place, began to render it doubtful whether any human +efforts could long arrest the evil. Even the massive and moistened logs of +the body of the work began to smoke; and it was found, by experiment, +that the hand could rest but a moment on their surface.</p> + +<p>During this interval of deep suspense, all the men posted at the loops +were called to aid in extinguishing the fire. Resistance was forgotten +in the discharge of a duty that had become still more pressing. Ruth +herself was aroused by the nature of the alarm, and all hands and all +minds were arduously occupied in a toil that diverted attention from +incidents which had less interest, because they were teeming less with +instant destruction. Danger is known to lose its terrors by familiarity. +The young borderers became reckless of their persons in the ardor of +exertion, and as success began to crown their efforts, something like +the levity of happier moments got the better of their concern. Stolen +and curious glances were thrown around a place that had so long been +kept sacred to the secret uses of the Puritan, when it was found that +the flames were subdued, and that the present danger was averted. The +light glared powerfully through several openings in the shingles, no +less than through the windows; and every eye was enabled to scan the +contents of an apartment which all had longed, though none had ever +before presumed, to enter.</p> + +<p>"The Captain looketh well to the body," whispered Reuben Ring to one of his +comrades, as he wiped the effects of the toil from a sun-burnt brow. "Thou +seest, Hiram, that there is good store of cheer."</p> + +<p>"The buttery is not better stored!" returned the other, with the +shrewdness and ready observation of a border-man. "It is known that he +never toucheth that which the cow yields, except as it comes from the +creature, and here we find of the best that the Madam's dairy can yield!"</p> + +<p>"Surely yon buff jerkin is like to those worn by the idle cavaliers +at home! I think it be long since the Captain hath ridden forth in +such a guise."</p> + +<p>"That may be matter of ancient usage, for thou seest he hath relics of the +fashion of the English troopers in this bit of steel; it is like, he +holdeth deep exercise over the vanities of his youth, while recalling the +times in which they were worn."</p> + +<p>This conjecture appeared to satisfy the other, though it is probable that +a sight of a fresh store of bodily aliment, which was soon after exposed +in order to gain access to the roof, might have led to some further +inferences, had more time been given to conjectures. But at this moment a +new wail proceeded from the maidens who plied the buckets beneath.</p> + +<p>"To the loops! to the loops, or we are lost!" was a summons that admitted +of no delay. Led by the stranger, the young men rushed below, where, in +truth, they found a serious demand on all their activity and courage.</p> + +<p>The Indians were wanting in none of the sagacity which so remarkably +distinguishes the warfare of this cunning race. The time spent by the +family, in arresting the flames, had not been thrown away by the +assailants. Profiting by the attention of those within, to efforts that +were literally of the last importance, they had found means to convey +burning brands to the door of the block, against which they had piled a +mass of blazing combustibles, that threatened shortly to open the way into +the basement of the citadel itself. In order to mask this design, and to +protect their approaches, the savages had succeeded in dragging bundles of +straw and other similar materials to the foot of the work, to which the +fire soon communicated, and which consequently served both to increase the +actual danger of the building and to distract the attention of those by +whom it was defended. Although the water that fell from the roof served +to retard the progress of these flames, it contributed to produce the +effect of all others that was most desired by the savages. The dense +volumes of smoke that arose from the half-smothered fire, first apprised +the females of the new danger which assailed them. When Content and the +stranger reached the principal floor of their citadel, it required some +little time, and no small degree of coolness, to comprehend the situation +in which they were now placed. The vapor that rolled upward from the wet +straw and hay had already penetrated into the apartment, and it was with +no slight difficulty that they who occupied it were enabled to distinguish +objects, or even to breathe.</p> + +<p>"Here is matter to exercise our utmost fortitude," said the stranger to +his constant companion. "We must look to this new device, or we come to +the fate of death by fire. Summon the stoutest-hearted of thy youths, and +I will lead them to a sortie, ere the evil get past a remedy."</p> + +<p>"That were certain victory to the heathen. Thou hearest, by their yells, +that 'tis no small band of scouters who beleaguer us; a tribe hath sent +forth its chosen warriors to do their wickedness. Better is it that we +bestir ourselves to drive them from our door, and to prevent the further +annoyance of this cloud, since, to issue from the block, at this moment, +would be to offer our heads to the tomahawk; and to ask mercy is as vain +as to hope to move the rock with tears."</p> + +<p>"And in what manner may we do this needful service?"</p> + +<p>"Our muskets will still command the entrance, by means of these downward +loops, and water may be yet applied through the same openings. Thought +hath been had of this danger, in the disposition of the place."</p> + +<p>"Then, of Heaven's mercy! delay not the effort."</p> + +<p>The necessary measures were taken, instantly. Eben Dudley applied the +muzzle of his piece to a loop, and discharged it downward, in the +direction of the endangered door. But aim was impossible in the obscurity, +and his want of success was proclaimed by a taunting shout of triumph. +Then followed a flood of water, which however was scarcely of more +service, since the savages had foreseen its use, and had made a provision +against its effects by placing boards, and such vessels as they found +scattered among the buildings, above the fire, in a manner to prevent most +of the fluid from reaching its aim.</p> + +<p>"Come hither with thy musket, Reuben Ring," said Content, hurriedly; +"the wind stirreth the smoke, here; the savages still heap fuel against +the wall."</p> + +<p>The borderer complied. There were in fact moments when dark human forms +were to be seen gliding in silence around the building, though the density +of the vapor rendered the forms indistinct and their movements doubtful. +With a cool and practised eye, the youth sought a victim; but as he +discharged his musket, an object glanced near his own visage, as though +the bullet had recoiled on him who had given it a very different mission. +Stepping backward a little hurriedly, he saw the stranger pointing through +the smoke at an arrow which still quivered in the floor above them.</p> + +<p>"We cannot long abide these assaults," the soldier muttered; "something +must be speedily devised, or we fall."</p> + +<p>His words ceased, for a yell that appeared to lift the floor on which he +stood, announced the destruction of the door and the presence of the +savages in the basement of the tower. Both parties appeared momentarily +confounded at this unexpected success; for while the one stood mute with +astonishment and dread, the other did little more than triumph. But this +inaction soon ended. The conflict was resumed, though the efforts of the +assailants began to assume the confidence of victory, while, on the part +of the besieged, they partook fearfully of the aspect of despair.</p> + +<p>A few muskets were discharged, both from below and above, at the +intermediate floor, but the thickness of the planks prevented the bullets +from doing injury. Then commenced a struggle in which the respective +qualities of the combatants were exhibited in a singularly characteristic +manner. While the Indians improved their advantages beneath, with all the +arts known to savage warfare, the young men resisted with that wonderful +aptitude of expedient, and readiness of execution, which distinguish the +American borderer.</p> + +<p>The first attempt of the assailants was to burn the floor of the lower +apartment. In order to effect this, they threw vast piles of straw into +the basement. But ere the brand was applied, water had reduced the +inflammable material to a black and murky pile. Still the smoke had nearly +effected a conquest which the fire itself had failed to achieve. So +suffocating indeed were the clouds of vapor which ascended through the +crevices, that the females were compelled to seek a refuge in the attic. +Here the openings in the roof, and a swift current of air, relieved them, +in some degree, from its annoyance.</p> + +<p>When it was found that the command of the well afforded the besieged the +means of protecting the wood-work of the interior, an effort was made to +cut off the communication with the water, by forcing a passage into the +circular stone shaft, through which it was drawn into the room above. This +attempt was defeated by the readiness of the youths, who soon cut holes in +the floor, whence they sent down certain death on all beneath. Perhaps no +part of the assault was more obstinate than that which accompanied this +effort; nor did either assailants or assailed, at any time during its +continuance, suffer greater personal injury. After a long and fierce +struggle, the resistance was effectual, and the savages had recourse to +new schemes in order to effect their ruthless object.</p> + +<p>During the first moments of their entrance, and with a view to reap the +fruits of the victory when the garrison should be more effectually +subdued, most of the furniture of the dwelling had been scattered by the +conquerors on the side of the hill. Among other articles, some six or +seven beds had been dragged from the dormitories. These were now brought +into play, as powerful instruments in the assault. They were cast, one by +one, on the still burning though smothered flames, in the basement of the +block, whence they sent up a cloud of their intolerable effluvia. At this +trying moment, the appalling cry was heard in the block, that the well had +failed! The buckets ascended as empty as they went down, and they were +thrown aside as no longer useful. The savages seemed to comprehend their +advantage, for they profited by the confusion that succeeded among the +assailed, to feed the slumbering fires. The flames kindled fiercely, and +in less than a minute they became too violent to be subdued. They were +soon seen playing on the planks of the floor above. The subtle element +flashed from point to point, and it was not long ere it was stealing up +the outer side of the heated block itself.</p> + +<p>The savages now knew that conquest was sure. Yells and whoopings +proclaimed the fierce delight with which they witnessed the certainty of +their victory. Still there was something portentous in the death-like +silence with which the victims within the block awaited their fate. The +whole exterior of the building was already wrapped in flames, and yet no +show of further resistance, no petition for mercy, issued from its bosom. +The unnatural and frightful stillness, that reigned within, was gradually +communicated to those without. The cries and shouts of triumph ceased, and +the crackling of the flames, or the falling of timber in the adjoining +buildings, alone disturbed the awful calm. At length a solitary voice was +heard in the block. Its tones were deep, solemn, and imploring. The fierce +beings who surrounded the glowing pile bent forward to listen, for their +quick faculties caught the first sounds that were audible. It was Mark +Heathcote pouring out his spirit in prayer. The petition was fervent, but +steady, and though uttered in words that were unintelligible to those +without, they knew enough of the practices of the Colonists, to be aware +that it was the chief of the Pale-faces holding communion with his God. +Partly in awe, and partly in doubt of what might be the consequences of +so mysterious an asking, the dark crowd with drew to a little distance, +and silently watched the progress of the destruction. They had heard +strange sayings of the power of the Deity of their invaders, and as their +victims appeared suddenly to cease using any of the known means of safety, +they appeared to expect, perhaps they did expect, some unequivocal +manifestation of the power of the Great Spirit of the stranger.</p> + +<p>Still no sign of pity, no relenting from the ruthless barbarity of their +warfare, escaped any of the assailants. If they thought at all of the +temporal fate of those who might still exist within the fiery pile, it was +only to indulge in some passing regret, that the obstinacy of the defence +had deprived them of the glory of bearing the usual bloody tokens of +victory, in triumph to their villages. But even these peculiar and +deeply-rooted feelings were for gotten, as the progress of the flames, +placed the hope of its indulgence beyond all possibility.</p> + +<p>The roof of the block rekindled, and, by the light that shone through the +loops, it was but too evident the interior was in a blaze. Once or twice, +smothered sounds came out of the place, as if suppressed shrieks were +escaping the females; but they ceased so suddenly as to leave doubts among +the auditors, whether it were more than the deception of their own excited +fancies. The savages had witnessed many a similar scene of human +suffering, but never one before in which death was met by so unmoved a +calmness. The serenity that reigned in the blazing block communicated to +them a feeling of awe; and when the pile came a tumbling and blackened +mass of ruins to the earth, they avoided the place, like men that dreaded +the vengeance of a Deity who knew how to infuse so deep a sentiment of +resignation in the breasts of his worshippers.</p> + +<p>Though the yells of victory were again heard in the valley that night, and +though the sun had arisen before the conquerors deserted the hill, but few +of the band found resolution to approach the smouldering pile, where they +had witnessed so impressive an exhibition of Christian fortitude. The few +that did draw near, stood around the spot rather in the reverence with +which an Indian visits the graves of the just, than in the fierce +rejoicings with which he is known to glut his revenge over a fallen enemy.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XVI.</h1> + + + +<blockquote> "What are these,<br /> +So withered, and so wild in their attire;<br /> +That look not like the inhabitants of earth,<br /> +And yet are on't?"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Macbeth.</blockquote> + + +<p>That sternness of the season, which has already been mentioned in these +pages, is never of long continuance in the month of April. A change in the +wind had been noted by the hunters, even before they retired from their +range among the hills; and though too seriously occupied to pay close +attention to the progress of the thaw, more than one of the young men had +found occasion to remark, that the final breaking up of the winter had +arrived. Long ere the scene of the preceding chapter reached its height, +the southern winds had mingled with the heat of the conflagration. Warm +airs, that had been following the course of the Gulf Stream, were driven +to the land, and, sweeping over the narrow island that at this point forms +the advanced work of the continent, but a few short hours had passed +before they destroyed every chilling remnant of the dominion of winter. +Warm, bland, and rushing in torrents, the subtle currents penetrated the +forests, melted the snows from the fields, and as all alike felt the +genial influence, it appeared to bestow a renovated existence on man and +beast. With morning, therefore, a landscape very different from that last +placed before the mind of the reader, presented itself in the valley of +the Wish-Ton-Wish.</p> + +<p>The winter had entirely disappeared, and as the buds had begun to swell +under the occasional warmth of the spring, one ignorant of the past would +not have supposed that the advance of the season had been subject to so +stern an interruption. But the principal and most melancholy change was in +the more artificial parts of the view. Instead of those simple and happy +habitations which had crowned the little eminence, there remained only a +mass of blackened and charred ruins. A few abused and half-destroyed +articles of household furniture lay scattered on the sides of the hill, +and, here and there, a dozen palisadoes, favored by some accidental cause, +had partially escaped the flames. Eight or ten massive and dreary-looking +stacks of chimneys rose out of the smoking piles. In the centre of the +desolation was the stone basement of the block-house, on which still stood +a few gloomy masses of the timber, resembling coal. The naked and +unsupported shaft of the well reared its circular pillar from the centre, +looking like a dark monument of the past. The wide ruin of the +out-buildings blackened one side of the clearing, and, in different +places, the fences, like radii diverging from the common centre of +destruction, had led off the flames into the fields. A few domestic +animals ruminated in the back-ground, and even the feathered inhabitants +of the barns still kept aloof, as if warned by their instinct that danger +lurked around the site of their ancient abodes. In all other respects, the +view was calm, and lovely as ever. The sun shone from a sky in which no +cloud was visible. The blandness of the winds, and the brightness of the +heavens, lent an air of animation to even the leafless forest; and the +white vapor, that continued to rise from the smouldering piles, floated +high over the hills, as the peaceful smoke of the cottage curled above its +roof. The ruthless band which had occasioned this sudden change was +already far on the way to its villages, or, haply, it sought some other +scene of blood. A skilful eye might have traced the route these fierce +creatures of the woods had taken, by fences hurled from their places, or +by the carcass of some animal that had fallen, in the wantonness of +victory, beneath a parting blow. Of all these wild beings, one only +remained; and he appeared to linger at the spot in the indulgence of +feelings that were foreign to those passions that had so recently stirred +the bosoms of his comrades.</p> + +<p>It was with a slow, noiseless step that the solitary loiterer moved about +the scene of destruction. He was first seen treading, with a thoughtful +air, among the ruins of the buildings that had formed the quadrangle, and +then, seemingly led by an interest in the fate of those who had so +miserably perished, he drew nearer to the pile in its centre. The nicest +and most attentive ear could not have detected the fall of his foot, as +the Indian placed it within the gloomy circle of the ruined wall; nor is +the breathing of the infant less audible, than the manner in which he drew +breath, while standing in a place so lately consecrated by the agony and +martyrdom of a Christian family. It was the boy called Miantonimoh, +seeking some melancholy memorial of those with whom he had so long dwelt +in amity, if not in confidence.</p> + +<p>One skilled in the history of savage passions might have found a clue to +the workings of the mind of the youth, in the play of his speaking +features. As his dark glittering eye rolled over the smouldering +fragments, it seemed to search keenly for some vestige of the human form. +The element however had done its work too greedily, to have left many +visible memorials of its fury. An object resembling that he sought, +however, caught his glance, and stepping lightly to the spot where it lay, +he raised the bone of a powerful arm from the brands. The flashing of his +eye, as it lighted on this sad object, was wild and exulting, like that +of the savage when he first feels the fierce joy of glutted vengeance; but +gentler recollections came with the gaze, and kinder feelings evidently +usurped the place of the hatred he had been taught to bear a race, who +were so fast sweeping his people from the earth. The relic fell from his +hand, and had Ruth been there to witness the melancholy and relenting +shade that clouded his swarthy features, she might have found pleasure in +the certainty that all her kindness had not been wasted.</p> + +<p>Regret soon gave place to awe. To the imagination of the Indian, it seemed +as if a still voice, like that which is believed to issue from the grave, +was heard in the place. Bending his body forward, he listened with the +intensity and acuteness of a savage. He thought the smothered tones of +Mark Heathcote were again audible, holding communion with his God. The +chisel of the Grecian would have loved to delineate the attitudes and +movements of the wondering boy, as he slowly and reverently withdrew from +the spot. His look was riveted on the vacancy where the upper apartments +of the block had stood, and where he had last seen the family, calling, in +their extremity, on their Deity for aid. Imagination still painted the +victims, in their burning pile. For a minute longer, during which brief +space the young Indian probably expected to see some vision of the +Pale-faces, did he linger near; and then, with a musing air and softened +mind, he trod lightly along the path which led on the trail of his people. +When his active form reached the boundary of the forest, he again paused, +and taking a final gaze at the place where fortune had made him a witness +to so much domestic peace and of so much sudden misery, his form was +quickly swallowed in the gloom of his native woods.</p> + +<p>The work of the savages now seemed complete. An effectual check appeared +to be placed to the further progress of civilization in the ill-fated +valley of the Wish-Ton-wish. Had nature been left to its own work, a few +years would have covered the deserted clearing with its ancient +vegetation; and half a century would have again buried the whole of its +quiet glades, in the shadows of the forest. But it was otherwise decreed.</p> + +<p>The sun had reached the meridian, and the hostile band had been gone some +hours, before aught occurred likely to affect this seeming decision of +Providence. To one acquainted with the recent horrors, the breathing of +the airs over the ruins might have passed for the whisperings of departed +spirits. In short, it appeared as if the silence of the wilderness had +once more resumed its reign, when it was suddenly though slightly +interrupted. A movement was made within the ruins of the block. It sounded +as if billets of wood were gradually and cautiously displaced, and then a +human head was reared slowly, and with marked suspicion, above the shaft +of the well. The wild and unearthly air of this seeming spectre, was in +keeping with the rest of the scene. A face begrimed with smoke and stained +with blood, a head bound in some fragment of a soiled dress, and eyes that +were glaring in a species of dull horror, were objects in unison with all +the other frightful accessories of the place.</p> + +<p>"What seest thou?" demanded a deep voice from within the walls of the +shaft. "Shall we again come to our weapons, or have the agents of Moloch +departed? Speak, entranced youth! what dost behold?"</p> + +<p>"A sight to make a wolf weep!" returned Eben Dudley, raising his large +frame so as to stand erect on the shaft, where he commanded a bird's-eye +view of most of the desolation of the valley. "Evil though it be, we may +not say that forewarning signs have been withheld. But what is the +cunningest man, when mortal wisdom is weighed in the scale against the +craft of devils? Come forth! Belial hath done his worst, and we have a +breathing-time."</p> + +<p>The sounds, which issued still deeper from the well, denoted the +satisfaction with which this intelligence was received, no less than the +alacrity with which the summons of the borderer was obeyed. Sundry blocks +of wood and short pieces of plank were first passed, with care, up to the +hands of Dudley, who cast them, like useless lumber, among the other ruins +of the building. He then descended from his perch, and made room for +others to follow.</p> + +<p>The stranger next arose. After him came Content, the Puritan, Reuben Ring, +and, in short, all the youths, with the exception of those who had +unhappily fallen in the contest. After these had mounted, and each in turn +had leaped to the ground, a very brief preparation served for the +liberation of the more feeble of body. The readiness of border skill soon +sufficed to arrange the necessary means. By the aid of chains and buckets, +Ruth and the little Martha, Faith and all of the handmaidens, without even +one exception, were successively drawn from the bowels of the earth, and +restored to the light of day. It is scarcely necessary to say to those +whom experience has best fitted to judge of such an achievement, that no +great time or labor was necessary for its accomplishment.</p> + +<p>It is not our intention to harass the feelings of the reader, further than +is required by a simple narrative of the incidents of the legend. We shall +therefore say nothing of the bodily pain, or of the mental alarm, by which +this ingenious retreat from the flames and the tomahawk had been effected. +The suffering was chiefly confined to apprehension; for as the descent was +easy, so had the readiness and ingenuity of the young men found means, by +the aid of articles of furniture first cast into the shaft, and by +well-secured fragments of the floors properly placed across, both to +render the situation of the females and children less painful than might +at first be supposed, and effectually to protect them from the tumbling +block. But little of the latter however, was likely to affect their +safety, as the form of the building was, in itself, a sufficient security +against the fall of its heavier parts.</p> + +<p>The meeting of the family, amid the desolation of the valley, though +relieved by the consciousness of having escaped a more shocking fate, may +easily be imagined. The first act was to render brief but solemn thanks +for their deliverance, and then, with the promptitude of people trained in +hardship, their attention was given to those measures which prudence told +them were yet necessary.</p> + +<p>A few of the more active and experienced of the youths were dispatched, in +order to ascertain the direction taken by the Indians, and to gain what +intelligence they might concerning their future movements. The maidens +hastened to collect the kine, while others searched, with heavy hearts, +among the ruins, in quest of such articles of food and comfort as could be +found, in order to administer to the first wants of nature.</p> + +<p>Two hours had effected most of that which could immediately be done, in +these several pursuits. The young men returned with the assurance that the +trails announced the certain and final retreat of the savages. The cows +had yielded their tribute and such provision had been made against hunger +as circumstances would allow. The arms had been examined, and put, as far +as the injuries they had received would admit, in readiness for instant +service. A few hasty preparations had been made, in order to protect the +females against the cool airs of the coming night; and, in short, all was +done that the intelligence of a border-man could suggest, or his exceeding +readiness in expedients could in so brief a space supply.</p> + +<p>The sun began to fall towards the tops of the beeches that crowned the +western outline of the view, before all these necessary arrangements were +ended. It was not till then, however, that Reuben Ring, accompanied by +another youth of equal activity and courage, appeared before the Puritan, +equipped, as well as men in their situation might be, for a journey +through the forest.</p> + +<p>"Go," said the old religionist, when the youths presented themselves +before him; "Go; carry forth the tidings of this visitation, that men come +to our succor. I ask not vengeance on the deluded and heathenish imitators +of the worshippers of Moloch. They have ignorantly done this evil. Let no +man arm in behalf of the wrongs of one sinful and erring. Rather let them +look into the secret abominations of their own hearts, in order that they +crush the living worm, which, by gnawing on the seeds of a healthful hope, +may yet destroy the fruits of the promise in their own souls. I would that +there be profit in this example of divine displeasure. Go: make the +circuit of the settlements for some fifty miles, and bid such of the +neighbors as may be spared, come to our aid. They shall be welcome; and +may it be long ere any of them send invitation to me or mine, to enter +their clearings on the like melancholy duty. Depart, and bear in mind, +that you are messengers of peace; that your errand toucheth not the +feelings of vengeance, but that it is succor, in all fitting reason, and +no arming of the hand to chase the savage to his retreats, that I ask of +the brethren."</p> + +<p>With this final admonition, the young men took their leaves. Still it was +evident, by their frowning brows and compressed lips, that some part of +its forgiving principle might be forgotten, should chance, in their +journey, bring them on the trail of any wandering inhabitant of the +forest. In a few minutes, they were seen passing, with swift steps, from +the fields into the depths of the forest, along that path which led to the +towns that lay lower on the Connecticut.</p> + +<p>Another task still remained to be performed. In making the temporary +arrangements for the shelter of the family, attention had been first paid +to the block-house. The walls of the basement of this building were still +standing, and it was found easy, by means of half-burnt timbers, with an +occasional board that had escaped the conflagration, to cover it, in a +manner that offered a temporary protection against the weather. This +simple and hasty construction, with an extremely inartificial office +erected around the stack of a chimney, embraced nearly all that could be +done, until time and assistance should enable them to commence other +dwellings. In clearing the ruins of the little tower of its rubbish, the +remains of those who had perished in the fray were piously collected. The +body of the youth who had died in the earlier hours of the attack, was +found, but half-consumed, in the court, and the bones of two more, who +fell within the block, were collected from among the ruins. It had now +become a melancholy duty to consign them all to the earth, with decent +solemnity.</p> + +<p>The time selected for this sad office was just as the western horizon +began to glow with that which one of our own poets has so beautifully +termed, "the pomp that brings and shuts the day." The sun was in the +tree-tops, and a softer or sweeter light could not have been chosen for +such a ceremony. Most of the fields still lay in the soft brightness of +the hour, though the forest was rapidly getting the more obscure look of +night. A broad and gloomy margin was spreading from the boundary of the +woods, and, here and there, a solitary tree cast its shadow on the meadows +without its limits, throwing a dark ragged line, in bold relief, on the +glow of the sun's rays. One, it was the dusky image of a high and waving +pine, that reared its dark green pyramid of never-fading foliage nearly a +hundred feet above the humbler growth of beeches, cast its shade to the +side of the eminence of the block. Here the pointed extremity of the +shadow was seen, stealing slowly towards the open grave,--an emblem of +that oblivion in which its humble tenants were so shortly to be wrapped.</p> + +<p>At this spot, Mark Heathcote and his remaining companions had assembled. +An oaken chair, saved from the flames, was the seat of the father; and two +parallel benches, formed of planks placed on stones, held the other +members of the family. The grave lay between. The patriarch had taken his +station at one of its ends; while the stranger, so often named in these +pages, stood with folded arms and a thoughtful brow at the other. The +bridle of a horse, caparisoned in that imperfect manner which the +straitened means of the borderers now rendered necessary, was hanging from +one of the half-burnt palisadoes, in the back-ground.</p> + +<p>"A just, but a merciful hand hath been laid heavily on my household;" +commenced the old Puritan, with the calmness of one who had long been +accustomed to chasten his regrets by humility. "He that hath given freely, +hath taken away; and one, that hath long smiled upon my weakness, hath now +veiled his face in anger. I have known him in his power to bless; it was +meet that I should see him in his displeasure. A heart that was waxing +confident would have hardened in its pride. At that which hath befallen, +let no man murmur. Let none imitate the speech of her who spoke +foolishly: 'What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we +not receive evil?' I would that the feeble-minded of the world, they that +jeopard the soul on vanities, they that look with scorn on the neediness +of the flesh, might behold the riches of one stedfast I would that they +might know the consolation of the righteous! Let the voice of thanksgiving +be heard in the wilderness. Open thy mouths in praise, that the gratitude +of a penitent be not hid!"</p> + +<p>As the deep tones of the speaker ceased, his stern eye fell upon the +features of the nearest youth, and it seemed to demand an audible response +to his own lofty expression of resignation. But the sacrifice exceeded the +power of the individual to whom had been made this silent, but +intelligible, appeal. After regarding the relics that lay at his feet, +casting a wandering glance at the desolation which had swept over a place +his own hand had helped to decorate, and receiving a renewed consciousness +of his own bodily suffering in the shooting pain of his wounds, the young +borderer averted his look, and seemed to recoil from so officious a +display of submission. Observing his inability to reply, Mark continued.--</p> + +<p>"Hath no one a voice to praise the Lord? The bands of the heathen have +fallen upon my herds; the brand hath been kindled within my dwellings; my +people have died by the violence of the unenlightened, and none are here +to say that the Lord is just! I would that the shouts of thanksgiving +should arise in my fields! I would that the song of praise should grow +louder than the whoop of the savage, and that all the land might speak +joyfulness!"</p> + +<p>A long, deep, and expecting pause succeeded. Then Content rejoined, in his +quiet tones, speaking firmly, but with the modest utterance he rarely +failed to use--</p> + +<p>"The hand that hath held the balance is just," he said, "and we have been +found wanting. He that made the wilderness blossom hath caused the +ignorant and the barbarous to be the instruments of his will. He hath +arrested the season of our prosperity, that we may know he is the Lord. He +hath spoken in the whirlwind, but his mercy granteth that our ears shall +know his voice."</p> + +<p>As his son ceased, a gleam of satisfaction shot across the countenance of +the Puritan. His eye next turned inquiringly towards Ruth, who sate among +her maidens the image of womanly sorrow. Common interest seemed to still +the breathing of the little assembly, and sympathy was quite as active as +curiosity, when each one present suffered a glance to steal towards her +benignant but pallid face. The eye of the mother was gazing earnestly, but +without a tear, on the melancholy spectacle before her. It unconsciously +sought, among the dried and shrivelled remnants of mortality that lay at +her feet, some relic of the cherub she had lost. A shudder and struggle +followed, after which her gentle voice breathed so low that those nearest +her person could scarce distinguish the words--</p> + +<p>"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be his holy name!"</p> + +<p>"Now know I that he who hath smote me is merciful, for he chasteneth them +he loveth," said Mark Heathcote, rising with dignity to address his house +hold. "Our life is a life of pride. The young are wont to wax insolent, +while he of many years saith to his own heart, 'it is good to be here.' +There is a fearful mystery in one who sitteth on high. The heavens are his +throne, and he hath created the earth for his footstool. Let not the +vanity of the weak of mind presume to understand it, for 'who that hath +the breath of life, lived before the hills?' The bonds of the evil one, of +Satan, and of the sons of Belial, have been loosened, that the faith of +the elect may be purified, that the names of those written, since the +foundations of the earth were laid, may be read in letters of pure gold. +The time of man is but a moment in the reckoning of him whose life is +eternity; earth the habitation of a season! The bones of the bold, of the +youthful, and of the strong of yesterday, lie at our feet. None know what +an hour may bring forth. In a single night my children, hath this been +done. They whose voices were heard in my halls are now speechless and they +who so lately rejoiced are sorrowing. Yet hath this seeming evil been +ordered that good may come thereof. We are dwellers in a wild and distant +land," he continued, insensibly permitting his thoughts to incline towards +the more mournful details of their affliction; "our earthly home is afar +off. Hither have we been led by the flaming pillar of truth, and yet the +malice of the persecuters hath not forgotten to follow. One houseless, and +sought like the hunted deer, is again driven to flee. We have the canopy +of the stars for a roof; none may tarry longer to worship, secretly, +within our walls. But the path of the faithful, though full of thorns, +leadeth to quiet, and the final rest of the just man can never know alarm. +He that hath borne hunger, and thirst, and the pains of the flesh, for the +sake of truth, knoweth how to be satisfied; nor will the hours of bodily +suffering be accounted weary to him whose goal is the peace of the +righteous." The strong lineaments of the stranger grew even more than +usually austere, and as the Puritan continued, the hand which rested on +the handle of a pistol grasped the weapon, until the fingers seemed +imbedded in the wood. He bowed, however, as if to acknowledge the personal +allusion, and remained silent.</p> + +<p>"If any mourn the early death of those who have rendered up their being, +struggling, as it may be permitted, in behalf of life and dwelling," +continued Mark Heathcote, regarding a female near him, "let her remember, +that from the beginning of the world were his days numbered, and that not +a sparrow falleth without answering the ends of wisdom. Rather let the +fulfilment of things remind us of the vanity of life, that we may learn +how easy it is to become immortal. If the youth hath been cut down, +seemingly like unripened grass, he hath fallen by the sickle of one who +knoweth best when to begin the in-gathering of the harvest to his eternal +garners. Though a spirit bound unto his, as one feeble is wont to lean on +the strength of man and mourn over his fall, let her sorrow be mingled +with rejoicing." A convulsive sob broke out of the bosom of the handmaiden +who was known to have been affianced to one of the dead, and for a moment +the address of Mark was interrupted. But when silence again ensued, he +continued, the subject leading him, by a transition that was natural, to +allude to his own sorrows. "Death hath been no stranger in my habitation," +he said. "His shaft fell heaviest, when it struck her, who, like those +that have here fallen, was in the pride of her youth, and when her soul +was glad with the first joy of the birth of a man-child! Thou who sittest +on high!" he added, turning a glazed and tear less eye to heaven; "thou +knowest how heavy was that blow, and thou hast written down the strivings +of an oppressed soul. The burthen was not found too heavy for endurance. +The sacrifice hath not sufficed; the world was again getting uppermost in +my heart. Thou didst bestow an image of that innocence and loveliness that +dwelleth in the skies, and this hast thou taken away, that we might know +thy power. To this judgment we bow. If thou hast called our child to the +mansions of bliss, she is wholly thine, and we presume not to complain; +but if thou hast still left her to wander further in the pilgrimage of +life, we confide in thy goodness. She is of a long-suffering race, and +thou wilt not desert her to the blindness of the heathen. She is thine, +she is wholly thine, King of Heaven! and yet hast thou permitted our +hearts to yearn towards her, with the fondness of earthly love. We await +some further manifestation of thy will, that we may know whether the +fountains of our affection shall be dried in the certainty of her +blessedness--" (scalding tears were rolling down the cheeks of the pallid +and immovable mother) "or whether hope, nay, whether duty to thee calleth +for the interference of those bound to her in the tenderness of the flesh. +When the blow was heaviest on the bruised spirit of a lone and solitary +wanderer, in a strange and savage land, he held not back the offspring it +was thy will to grant him in the place of her called to thyself; and now +that the child hath become a man, he too layeth, like Abraham of old, the +infant of his love, a willing offering at thy feet. Do with it as to thy +never-failing wisdom seemeth best."--The words were interrupted by a heavy +groan, that burst from the chest of Content. A deep silence ensued, but +when the assembly ventured to throw looks of sympathy and awe at the +bereaved father, they saw that he had arisen and stood gazing steadily at +the speaker, as if he wondered, equally with the others, whence such a +sound of suffering could have come. The Puritan renewed the subject, but +his voice faltered, and for an instant, as he proceeded, his hearers were +oppressed with the spectacle of an aged and dignified man shaken with +grief. Conscious of his weakness, the old man ceased speaking in +exhortation, and addressed himself to prayer. While thus engaged, his +tones again became clear, firm and distinct, and the petition was ended +in the midst of a deep and holy calm.</p> + +<p>With the performance of this preliminary office, the simple ceremony was +brought to its close. The remains were lowered, in solemn silence, into +the grave, and the earth was soon replaced by the young men. Mark +Heathcote then invoked aloud the blessing of God on his household, and +bowing in person, as he had before done in spirit, to the will of Heaven, +he motioned to the family to withdraw.</p> + +<p>The interview that succeeded was over the resting-place of the dead. The +hand of the stranger was firmly clenched in that of the Puritan, and the +stern self-command of both appeared to give way, before the regrets of a +friendship that had endured through so many trying scenes.</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest that I may not tarry," said the former, as if he replied to +some expressed wish of his companion. "They would make me a sacrifice to +the Moloch of their vanities; and yet would I fain abide, until the weight +of this heavy blow may be forgotten. I found thee in peace, and I quit +thee in the depths of suffering!"</p> + +<p>"Thou distrustest me, or thou dost injustice to thine own belief," +interrupted the Puritan, with a smile, that shone on his haggard and +austere visage, as the rays of the setting sun light a wintry cloud +"Seemed I happier when this hand placed that of a loved bride into mine +own, than thou now seest me in this wilderness, houseless, stripped of my +wealth, and, God forgive the ingratitude! but I had almost said, +childless? No, indeed, thou mayest not tarry, for the blood-hounds of +tyranny will be on their scent: here is shelter no longer."</p> + +<p>The eyes of both turned, by a common and melancholy feeling, towards the +ruin of the block. The stranger then pressed the hand of his friend in +both his own, and said in a struggling voice--</p> + +<p>"Mark Heathcote, adieu! he that had a roof for the persecuted +wanderer shall not long be houseless: neither shall the resigned for +ever know sorrow."</p> + +<p>His words sounded in the ears of his companion like the revelation of a +prophecy. They again pressed their hands together, and, regarding each +other with looks in which kindness could not be altogether smothered by +the repulsive character of an acquired air, they parted. The Puritan +slowly took his way to the dreary shelter which covered his family; while +the stranger was shortly after seen urging the beast he had mounted, +across the pastures of the valley, towards one of the most retired paths +of the wilderness.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XVII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Together towards the village then we walked,<br /> +And of old friends and places much we talked:<br /> +And who had died, who left them, would he tell;<br /> +And who still in their father's mansion dwell."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Dana</blockquote> + + +<p>We leave the imagination of the reader to supply an interval of several +years. Before the thread of the narrative shall be resumed, it will be +necessary to take another hasty view of the condition of the country in +which the scene of our legend had place.</p> + +<p>The exertions of the provincials were no longer limited to the first +efforts of a colonial existence. The establishments of New-England had +passed the ordeal of experiment, and were become permanent. Massachusetts +was already populous; and Connecticut, the colony with which we have more +immediate connexion, was sufficiently peopled to manifest a portion of +that enterprise which has since made her active little community so +remarkable. The effects of these increased exertions were becoming +extensively visible; and we shall endeavor to set one of these changes, as +distinctly as our feeble powers will allow, before the eyes of those who +read these pages.</p> + +<p>When compared with the progress of society in the other hemisphere, the +condition of what is called, in America, a new settlement, becomes +anomalous. There, the arts of life have been the fruits of an intelligence +that has progressively accumulated with the advancement of civilization; +while here, improvement is, in a great degree, the consequence of +experience elsewhere acquired. Necessity, prompted by an understanding of +its wants incited by a commendable spirit of emulation, and encouraged by +liberty, early gave birth to those improvements which have converted a +wilderness into the abodes of abundance and security, with a rapidity that +wears the appearance of magic. Industry has wrought with the confidence of +knowledge, and the result has been peculiar.</p> + +<p>It is scarcely necessary to say that, in a country where the laws favor +all commendable enterprise, where unnecessary artificial restrictions are +unknown, and where the hand of man has not yet exhausted its efforts, the +adventurer is allowed the greatest freedom of choice, in selecting the +field of his enterprise. The agriculturist passes the heath and the +barren, to seat himself on the river-bottom; the trader looks for the site +of demand and supply and the artisan quits his native village to seek +employment in situations where labor will meet its fullest reward. It is a +consequence of this extraordinary freedom of election, that, while the +great picture of American society has been sketched with so much +boldness, a large portion of the filling-up still remains to be done. The +emigrant has consulted his immediate interests; and, while no very +extensive and profitable territory, throughout the whole of our immense +possessions, has been wholly neglected, neither has any particular +district yet attained the finish of improvement. The city is even now, +seen in the wilderness, and the wilderness often continues near the city, +while the latter is sending forth its swarms to distant scenes of +industry. After thirty years of fostering care on the part of the +government, the Capital, itself, presents its disjointed and sickly +villages, in the centre of the deserted 'old-fields' of Maryland, while +numberless youthful rivals are flourishing on the waters of the West, in +spots where the bear has ranged and the wolf howled, long since the former +has been termed a city.</p> + +<p>Thus it is that high civilization, a state of infant existence, and +positive barbarity, are often brought so near each other, within the +borders of this republic. The traveller, who has passed the night in an +inn that would not disgrace the oldest country in Europe, may be compelled +to dine in the shantee [Footnote: <i>Shanty</i>, or <i>Shantee</i>, is a word much +used in the newer settlements. It strictly means a rude cabin of bark and +brush, such as is often erected in the forest for temporary purposes. But +the borderers often quaintly apply it to their own habitations. The only +derivation which the writer has heard for this American word, is one that +supposes it to be a corruption of <i>Chientà</i>, a term said to be used among +the Canadians to express a dog-kennel.] of a hunter; the smooth and +gravelled road sometimes ends in an impassable swamp; the spires of the +town are often hid by the branches of a tangled forest, and the canal +leads to a seemingly barren and unprofitable mountain. He that does not +return to see what another year may bring forth, commonly bears away from +these scenes, recollections that conduce to error. To see America with the +eyes of truth, it is necessary to look often; and in order to understand +the actual condition of these states, it should be remembered, that it is +equally unjust to believe that all the intermediate points partake of the +improvements of particular places, as to infer the want of civilization at +more remote establishments, from a few unfavorable facts gleaned near the +centre. By an accidental concurrence of moral and physical causes, much of +that equality which distinguishes the institutions of the country is +extended to the progress of society over its whole surface.</p> + +<p>Although the impetus of improvement was not as great in the time of Mark +Heathcote as in our own days, the principle of its power was actively in +existence. Of this fact we shall furnish a sufficient evidence, by +pursuing our intention of describing one of those changes to which +allusion has already been made.</p> + +<p>The reader will remember that the age of which we write had advanced into +the last quarter of the seventeenth century. The precise moment at which +the action of the tale must re-commence, was that period of the day when +the gray of twilight was redeeming objects from the deep darkness with +which the night draws to its close. The month was June, and the scene such +as it may be necessary to describe with some particularity.</p> + +<p>Had there been light, and had one been favorably placed to enjoy a +bird's-eye view of the spot, he would have seen a broad and undulating +field of leafy forest, in which the various deciduous trees of New-England +were relieved by the deeper verdure of occasional masses of evergreens. In +the centre of this swelling and nearly interminable outline of woods, was +a valley that spread between three low mountains. Over the bottom-land, +for the distance of several miles, all the signs of a settlement in a +state of rapid and prosperous improvement were visible. The devious course +of a deep and swift brook, that in the other hemisphere would have been +termed a river, was to be traced through the meadows by its borders of +willow and sumach. At a point near the centre of the valley, the waters +had been arrested by a small dam; and a mill, whose wheel at that early +hour was without motion, stood on the artificial mound. Near it was the +site of a New-England hamlet.</p> + +<p>The number of dwellings in the village might have been forty. They were, +as usual, constructed of a firm frame-work, neatly covered with sidings of +boards. There was a surprising air of equality in the general aspect of +the houses; and, if there were question of any country but our own, it +might be added there was an unusual appearance of comfort and abundance in +even the humblest of them all. They were mostly of two low stories, the +superior overhanging the inferior, by a foot or two; a mode of +construction much in use in the earlier days of the Eastern Colonies. As +paint was but little used at that time, none of the buildings exhibited a +color different from that the wood would naturally assume, after the +exposure of a few years to the weather. Each had its single chimney in the +centre of the roof, and but two or three showed more than a solitary +window on each side of the principal or outer door. In front of every +dwelling was a small neat court, in green sward, separated from the public +road by a light fence of deal. Double rows of young and vigorous elms +lined each side of the wide street, while an enormous sycamore still kept +possession of the spot, in its centre, which it had occupied when the +white man entered the forest. Beneath the shade of this tree the +inhabitants often collected, to gather tidings of each others welfare, or +to listen to some matter of interest that rumor had borne from the towns +nearer the sea. A narrow and little-used wheel-track ran, with a graceful +and sinuous route, through the centre of the wide and grassy street. +Reduced in appearance to little more than a bridle-path, it was to be +traced, without the hamlet, between high fences of wood, for a mile or +two, to the points where it entered the forest. Here and there, roses were +pressing through the openings of the fences before the doors of the +different habitations, and bushes of fragrant lilacs stood in the angles +of most of the courts.</p> + +<p>The dwellings were detached. Each occupied its own insulated plot of +ground, with a garden in its rear. The out-buildings were thrown to that +distance which the cheapness of land, and security from fire, rendered +both easy and expedient.</p> + +<p>The church stood in the centre of the highway, and near one end of the +hamlet. In the exterior and ornaments of the important temple, the taste +of the times had been fastidiously consulted, its form and simplicity +furnishing no slight resemblance to the self-denying doctrines and quaint +humors of the religionists who worshipped beneath its roof. The building, +like all the rest, was of wood, and externally of two stories. It +possessed a tower, without a spire; the former alone serving to betray its +sacred character. In the construction of this edifice, especial care had +been taken to eschew all deviations from direct lines and right angles. +Those narrow-arched passages for the admission of light, that are +elsewhere so common, were then thought, by the stern moralists of +New-England, to have some mysterious connexion with her of the scarlet +mantle. The priest would as soon have thought of appearing before his +flock in the vanities of stole and cassock, as the congregation of +admitting the repudiated ornaments into the outline of their severe +architecture. Had the Genii of the Lamp suddenly exchanged the windows of +the sacred edifice with those of the inn that stood nearly opposite, the +closest critic of the settlement could never have detected the liberty, +since, in the form, dimensions, and style of the two, there was no visible +difference.</p> + +<p>A little inclosure, at no great distance from the church, and on one side +of the street, had been set apart for the final resting-place of those who +had finished their race on earth. It contained but a solitary grave.</p> + +<p>The inn was to be distinguished from the surrounding buildings, by its +superior size, an open horse-shed, and a sort of protruding air, with +which it thrust itself on the line of the street, as if to invite the +traveller to enter. A sign swung on a gallows-looking post, that, in +consequence of frosty nights and warm days, had already deviated from the +perpendicular. It bore a conceit that, at the first glance, might have +gladdened the heart of a naturalist, with the belief that he had made the +discovery of some unknown bird. The artist, however, had sufficiently +provided against the consequences of so embarrassing a blunder, by +considerately writing beneath the offspring of his pencil, "This is the +sign of the Whip-Poor-Will;" a name, that the most unlettered traveller, +in those regions, would be likely to know was vulgarly given to the +Wish-Ton-Wish, or the American night-hawk.</p> + +<p>But few relics of the forest remained immediately around the hamlet. The +trees had long been felled, and sufficient time had elapsed to remove most +of the vestiges of their former existence. But as the eye receded from the +cluster of buildings, the signs of more recent inroads on the wilderness +became apparent, until the view terminated with openings, in which piled +logs and mazes of felled trees announced the recent use of the axe.</p> + +<p>At that early day, the American husbandman like the agriculturists of most +of Europe, dwelt in his village. The dread of violence from the savages +had given rise to a custom similar to that which, centuries before, had +been produced in the other hemisphere by the inroads of more pretending +barbarians, and which, with few and distant exceptions, has deprived rural +scenery of a charm that, it would seem, time and a better condition of +society are slow to repair. Some remains of this ancient practice are +still to be traced in the portion of the Union of which we write, where, +even at this day, the farmer often quits the village to seek his scattered +fields in its neighborhood. Still, as man has never been the subject of a +system here, and as each individual has always had the liberty of +consulting his own temper, bolder spirits early began to break through a +practice, by which quite as much was lost in convenience as was gained in +security. Even in the scene we have been describing, ten or twelve humble +habitations were distributed among the recent clearings on the sides of +the mountains, and in situations too remote to promise much security +against any sudden inroad of the common enemy.</p> + +<p>For general protection, in cases of the last extremity, however, a +stockaded dwelling, not unlike that which we have had occasion to +describe in our earlier pages, stood in a convenient spot near the +hamlet. Its defences were stronger and more elaborate than usual, the +pickets being furnished with flanking block-houses; and, in other +respects, the building bore the aspect of a work equal to any resistance +that might be required in the warfare of those regions. The ordinary +habitation of the priest was within its gates; and hither most of the +sick were timely conveyed, in order to anticipate the necessity of +removals at more inconvenient moments.</p> + +<p>It is scarcely necessary to tell the American, that heavy wooden fences +subdivided the whole of this little landscape into inclosures of some +eight or ten acres in extent; that, here and there, cattle and flocks were +grazing without herdsmen or shepherds, and that, while the fields nearest +to the dwellings were beginning to assume the appearance of a careful and +improved husbandry, those more remote became gradually wilder and less +cultivated, until the half-reclaimed openings, with their blackened stubs +and barked trees, were blended with the gloom of the living forest. These +are, more or less, the accompaniments of every rural scene, in districts +of the country where time has not yet effected more than the first two +stages of improvement.</p> + +<p>At the distance of a short half-mile from the fortified house, or +garrison, as by a singular corruption of terms the stockaded building was +called, stood a dwelling of pretensions altogether superior to any in the +hamlet. The buildings in question, though simple, were extensive; and +though scarcely other than such as might belong to an agriculturist in +easy circumstances, still they were remarkable, in that settlement, by the +comforts which time alone could accumulate, and some of which denoted an +advanced condition for a frontier family. In short, there was an air about +the establishment, as in the disposition of its out-buildings, in the +superior workmanship, in the materials, and in numberless other well-known +circumstances, which went to show that the whole of the edifices were +re-constructions. The fields near this habitation exhibited smoother +surfaces than those in the distance; the fences were lighter and less +rude; the stumps had absolutely disappeared, and the gardens and homestead +were well planted with flourishing fruit-trees. A conical eminence arose, +at a short distance, in the rear of the principal dwelling. It was covered +with that beautiful and peculiar ornament of an American farm, a regular, +thrifty, and luxuriant apple-orchard. Still, age had not given its full +beauty to the plantation, which might have had a growth of some eight or +ten years. A blackened tower of stone, which sustained the charred ruins +of a superstructure of wood, though of no great height in itself, rose +above the tallest of the trees, and stood a sufficient memorial of some +scene of violence, in the brief history of the valley. There was also a +small block-house near the habitation; but, by the air of neglect that +reigned around, it was quite apparent the little work had been of a +hurried construction, and of but temporary use. A few young plantations of +fruit-trees were also to be seen in different parts of the valley, which +was beginning to exhibit many other evidences of an improved agriculture.</p> + +<p>So far as all these artificial changes went, they were of an English +character. But it was England devoid alike of its luxury and its poverty, +and with a superfluity of space that gave to the meanest habitation in the +view, an air of abundance and comfort that is so often wanting about the +dwellings of the comparatively rich, in countries where man is found +bearing a far greater numerical proportion to the soil, than was then, or +is even now the case, in the regions of which we write.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XVIII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Come hither, neighbor Sea-coal--God hath blessed you with a good name: + to be a well-favored man is the gift of fortune; but to write and read + comes by Nature."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Much Ado about Nothing.</blockquote> + + +<p>It has already been said, that the hour at which the action of the tale +must re-commence, was early morning. The usual coolness of night, in a +country extensively covered with wood, had passed, and the warmth of a +summer morning, in that low latitude, was causing the streaks of light +vapor, that floated about the meadows, to rise above the trees. The +feathery patches united to form a cloud that sailed away towards the +summit of a distant mountain, which appeared to be a common rendezvous for +all the mists that had been generated by the past hours of darkness.</p> + +<p>Though the burnished sky announced his near approach, the sun was not yet +visible. Notwithstanding the earliness of the hour, a man was already +mounting a little ascent in the road, at no great distance from the +southern entrance of the hamlet, and at a point where he could command a +view of all the objects described in the preceding chapter. A musket +thrown across his left shoulder, with the horn and pouch at his sides, +together with the little wallet at his back, proclaimed him one who had +either been engaged in a hunt, or in some short expedition of even a less +peaceable character. His dress was of the usual material and fashion of a +countryman of the age and colony, though a short broadsword, that was +thrust through a wampum belt which girded his body, might have attracted +observation. In all other respects, he had the air of an inhabitant of the +hamlet, who had found occasion to quit his abode on some affair of +pleasure or of duty, that had made no very serious demand on his time.</p> + +<p>Whether native or stranger, few ever passed the hillock named, without +pausing to gaze at the quiet loveliness of the cluster of houses that lay +in full view from its summit. The individual mentioned loitered as usual, +but, instead of following the line of the path, his eye rather sought some +object in the direction of the fields. Moving leisurely to the nearest +fence, he threw down the upper rails of a pair of bars, and beckoned to a +horseman, who was picking his way across a broken bit of pasture land, to +enter the highway by the passage he had opened.</p> + +<p>"Put the spur smartly into the pacer's flank," said he who had done this +act of civility, observing that the other hesitated to urge his beast +across the irregular and somewhat scattered pile; "my word for it, the +jade goes over them all, without touching with more than three of her four +feet. Fie, doctor! there is never a cow in the Wish-Ton-Wish, but it would +take the leap to be in the first at the milking."</p> + +<p>"Softly, Ensign;" returned the timid equestrian, laying the emphasis on +the final syllable of his companion's title, and pronouncing the first as +if it were spelt with the third instead of the second vowel.</p> + +<p>"Thy courage is meet for one set apart for deeds of valor, but it would be +a sorrowful day when the ailing of the valley should knock at my door, and +a broken limb be made the apology for want of succor. Thy efforts will +not avail thee, man; for the mare hath had schooling, as well as her +master. I have trained the beast to methodical habits, and she hath come +to have a rooted dislike to all irregularities of movement. So, cease +tugging at the rein, as if thou wouldst compel her to pass the pile in +spite of her teeth, and throw down the upper bar altogether."</p> + +<p>"A doctor in these rugged parts should be mounted on one of these ambling +birds of which we read," said the other, removing the obstacle to the +secure passage of his friend; "for truly a journey at night, in the paths +of these clearings, is not always as safe moving as that which is said to +be enjoyed by the settlers nearer sea."</p> + +<p>"And where hast found mention of a bird of a size and velocity fit to be +the bearer of the weight of a man?" demanded he who was mounted, with a +vivacity that betrayed some jealousy on the subject of a monopoly of +learning. "I had thought there was never a book in the valley, out of mine +own closet, that dealeth in these abstrusities!"</p> + +<p>"Dost think the scriptures are strangers to us? There--thou art now in the +public path, and thy journey is without danger. It is matter of marvel to +many in this settlement, how thou movest about at midnight, amongst +upturned roots of trees, holes, logs and stumps, without falling--"</p> + +<p>"I have told thee, Ensign, it is by virtue of much training given to the +beast. Certain am I, that neither whip nor spur would compel the animal to +pass the bounds of discretion. Often have I travelled this bridle-path, +without fear as in truth without danger, when sight was a sense of as +little use as that of smelling."</p> + +<p>"I was about to say, falling into thine own hands, which would be a +tumble of little less jeopardy than even that of the wicked spirits."</p> + +<p>The medical man affected to laugh at his companion's joke; but, +remembering the dignity suited to one of his calling, he immediately +resumed the discourse with gravity--</p> + +<p>"These may be matters of levity, with those who know little of the +hardships that are endured in the practice of the settlements. Here have I +been on yonder mountain, guided by the instinct of my horse--"</p> + +<p>"Ha! hath there been a call at the dwelling of my brother Ring?" demanded +the pedestrian, observing, by the direction of the other's eye, the road +he had been travelling.</p> + +<p>"Truly, there hath; and at the unseasonable hour that is wont, in a very +unreasonable proportion of the cases of my practice."</p> + +<p>"And Reuben numbereth another boy to the four that he could count +yesterday?"</p> + +<p>The medical man held up three of his fingers, in a significant manner, as +he nodded assent.</p> + +<p>"This putteth Faith something in arrears," returned he who has been called +Ensign, and who was no other than the reader's old acquaintance Eben +Dudley, preferred to that station in the train-band of the valley. "The +heart of my brother Reuben will be gladdened by these tidings, when he +shall return from the scout."</p> + +<p>"There will be occasion for thankfulness, since he will find seven beneath +a roof where he left but four!"</p> + +<p>"I will close the bargain with the young captain for the mountain lot, +this very day!" muttered Dudley, like one suddenly convinced of the +prudence of a long-debated measure. "Seven pounds of the colony money +is no usurer's price, after all, for a hundred acres of +heavily-timbered land; and they in full view of a settlement where +boys come three at a time!"</p> + +<p>The equestrian stopped his horse, and regarding his companion intently and +with a significant air, he answered--</p> + +<p>"Thou hast now fallen on the clue of an important mystery, Ensign Dudley. +This continent was created with a design. The fact is apparent by its +riches, its climate, its magnitude, its facilities of navigation, and +chiefly in that it hath been left undiscovered until the advanced +condition of society hath given opportunity and encouragement to men of a +certain degree of merit, to adventure in its behalf. Consider, neighbor, +the wonderful progress it hath already made in the arts and in learning, +in reputation and in resources, and thou wilt agree with me in the +conclusion that all this hath been done with a design."</p> + +<p>"'Twould be presuming to doubt it; for he hath indeed a short memory, to +whom it shall be necessary to recall the time when this very valley was +little other than a den for beasts of prey, and this beaten highway, a +deer-track. Dost think that Reuben will be like to raise the whole of the +recent gift?"</p> + +<p>"With judgment, and by the blessing of Providence. The mind is active, +Ensign Dudley, when the body is journeying among the forests; and much +have my thoughts been exercised in this matter, whilst thou and others +have been in your slumbers. Here have we the colonies in their first +century, and yet thou knowest to what a pass of improvement they have +arrived. They tell me the Hartford settlement is getting to be apportioned +like the towns of mother England, that there is reason to think the day +may come when the provinces shall have a power, and a convenience of +culture and communication, equalling that which belongeth to some parts of +the venerable island itself!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, Doctor Ergot," returned the other with an incredulous smile, +"that is exceeding the bounds of a discretionable expectation."</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt remember that I said equalling to <i>certain</i> parts. I think we +may justly imagine, that ere many centuries shall elapse, there may be +millions counted in these regions, and truly that, too, where one seeth +nought, at present, but the savage and the beast."</p> + +<p>"I will go with any man, in this question, as far as reason will justify; +but doubtless thou hast read in the books uttered by writers over sea, the +matters concerning the condition of those countries, wherein it is plain +that we may never hope to reach the exalted excellence they enjoy."</p> + +<p>"Neighbor Dudley, thou seemest disposed to push an unguarded expression to +extremity. I said equalling <i>certain</i> parts, meaning always, too, in +certain things. Now it is known in philosophy, that the stature of man +hath degenerated, and must degenerate in these regions, in obedience to +established laws of nature; therefore it is meet that allowance should be +made for some deficiency in less material qualities."</p> + +<p>"It is like, then, that the better sort of the men over sea are +ill-disposed to quit their country," returned the Ensign, glancing an eye +of some unbelief along the muscular proportions of his own vigorous frame. +"We have no less than three from the old countries in our village, here, +and yet I do not find them men like to have been sought for at the +building of Babel."</p> + +<p>"This is settling a knotty and learned point by the evidence of a few +shallow exceptions. I presume to tell you, Ensign Dudley, that the +science, and wisdom, and philosophy of Europe, have been exceeding active +in this matter; and they proved to their own perfect satisfaction, which +is the same thing as disposing of the question without appeal, that man +and beast, plant and tree, hill and dale, lake and pond, sun, air, fire +and water, are all wanting in some of the perfectness of the older +regions. I respect a patriotic sentiment, and can carry the disposition to +applaud the bounties received from the hands of a beneficent Creator as +far as any man; but that which hath been demonstrated by science, or +collected by learning, is placed too far beyond the objections of +light-minded cavillers, to be doubted by graver faculties."</p> + +<p>"I shall not contend against things that are proven," returned Dudley, who +was quite as meek in discussion as he was powerful and active in more +physical contests; "since it needs be that the learning of men in the old +countries must have an exceeding excellence, in virtue of its great age. +It would be a visit to remember, should some of its rare advantages be +dispersed in these our own youthful regions!"</p> + +<p>"And can it be said that our mental wants have been forgotten--that the +nakedness of the mind hath been suffered to go without its comely +vestment, neighbor Dudley? To me, it seemeth, that therein we have +unwonted reason to rejoice, and that the equilibrium of nature is in a +manner restored by the healing exercises of art. It is unseemly in an +unenlightened province, to insist on qualities that have been discreetly +disproven; but learning is a transferable and communicable gift, and it is +meet to affirm that it is to be found here, in quantities adapted to the +wants of the colony."</p> + +<p>"I'll not gainsay it, for having been more of an adventurer in the forest +than one who hath travelled in quest of sights among the settlements along +the sea-shore, it may happen that many things are to be seen there, of +which my poor abilities have formed no opinion."</p> + +<p>"And are we utterly unenlightened, even in this distant valley, Ensign?" +returned the leech, leaning over the neck of his horse, and addressing his +companion in a mild and persuasive tone, that he had probably acquired in +his extensive practice among the females of the settlement. "Are we to be +classed with the heathen in knowledge, or to be accounted as the +unnurtured men who are known once to have roamed through these forests in +quest of their game? Without assuming any infallibility of judgment, or +aspiring to any peculiarity of information, it doth not appear to my +defective understanding, Master Dudley, that the progress of the +settlement hath ever been checked for want of necessary foresight, nor +that the growth of reason among us hath ever been stunted from any lack of +mental aliment. Our councils are not barren of wisdom, Ensign, nor hath it +often arrived that abstrusities have been propounded, that some one +intellect, to say no more in our own favor, hath not been known to grapple +with, successfully."</p> + +<p>"That there are men, or perhaps I ought to say that there <i>is a +man</i>, in the valley, who is equal to many marvels in the way of +enlightened gifts--"</p> + +<p>"I knew we should come to peaceable conclusions, Ensign Dudley," +interrupted the other, rising erect in his saddle, with an air of appeased +dignity; "for I have ever found you a discreet and consequent reasoner, +and one who is never known to resist conviction, when truth is pressed +with understanding. That the men from over sea are not often so well +gifted as some--we will say, for the sake of a convenient illustration, as +thyself, Ensign--is placed beyond the reach of debate, since sight +teacheth us that numberless exceptions may be found to all the more +general and distinctive laws of nature. I think we are not likely to carry +our disagreement further?"</p> + +<p>"It is impossible to make head against one so ready with his knowledge," +returned the other, well content to exist in his own person a striking +exception to the inferiority of his fellows; "though it appeareth to me +that my brother Ring might be chosen, as another instance of a reasonable +stature, a fact that thou mayst see, Doctor, by regarding him as he +approaches through yon meadow. He hath been, like myself, on the scout +among the mountains."</p> + +<p>"There are many instances of physical merit among thy connexions, Master +Dudley," returned the complaisant physician; "though it would seem that +thy brother hath not found his companion among them. He is attended by an +ill-grown, and, it may be added, an ill-favored comrade, that I know not."</p> + +<p>"Ha! It would seem that Reuben hath fallen on the trail of savages! The +man in company is certainly in paint and blanket. It may be well to pause +at yonder opening, and await their coming."</p> + +<p>As this proposition imposed no particular inconvenience, the Doctor +readily assented. The two drew nigh to the place where the men, whom +they saw crossing the fields in the distance, were expected to enter +the highway.</p> + +<p>But little time was lost in attendance. Ere many minutes had elapsed, +Reuben Ring, accoutred and armed like the borderer already introduced +in this chapter, arrived at the opening, followed by the stranger +whose appearance had caused so much surprise to those who watched +their approach.</p> + +<p>"What now, Sergeant," exclaimed Dudley, when the other was within +ear-shot, speaking a little in the manner of one who had legal right to +propound his questions; "hast fallen on a trail of the savage, and made a +captive? or hath some owl permitted one of its brood to fall from the +nest across thy foot-path?"</p> + +<p>"I believe the creature may be accounted a man," returned the successful +Reuben, throwing the breech of his gun to the earth, and leaning on its +long barrel, while he intently regarded the half-painted, vacant, and +extremely equivocal countenance of his captive. "He hath the colors of a +Narragansett about the brow and eyes, and yet he faileth greatly in the +form and movements."</p> + +<p>"There are anomalies in the physicals of an Indian, as in those of other +men," interrupted Doctor Ergot, with a meaning glance at Dudley. "The +conclusion of our neighbor Ring may be too hasty, since paint is the fruit +of art, and may be applied to any of our faces, after an established +usage. But the evidences of nature are far less to be distrusted. It hath +come within the province of my studies, to note the differences in +formation which occur in the different families of man; and nothing is +more readily to be known, to an eye skilled in these abstrusities, than +the aboriginal of the tribe Narragansett. Set the man more in a position +of examination, neighbors, and it shall shortly be seen to which race he +belongs. Thou wilt note in this little facility of investigation, Ensign, +a clear evidence of most of the matters that have this morning been +agitated between us. Doth the patient speak English?"</p> + +<p>"Therein have I found some difficulty of inquiry," returned Reuben, or as +he should now be, and as he was usually called, Sergeant Ring. "He hath +been spoken to in the language of a Christian, no less than in that of a +heathen, and as yet no reply hath been made, while he obeys commands +uttered in both forms of speech."</p> + +<p>"It mattereth not," said Ergot, dismounting and drawing near to his +subject, with a look towards Dudley that should seem to court his +admiration.</p> + +<p>"Happily the examination before me leaneth but little on any subtleties +of speech. Let the man be placed in an attitude of ease; one in which +nature may not be fettered by restraint. The conformation of the whole +head is remarkably aboriginal, but the distinction of tribes is not to be +sought in these general delineations. The forehead, as you see, neighbors, +is retreating and narrow, the cheek-bones, as usual, high, and the +olfactory member, as in all of the natives, inclining to Roman."</p> + +<p>"Now to me it would seem that the nose of the man hath a marked +upturning at the end," Dudley ventured to remark, as the other ran +volubly over the general and well-known distinctive points of physical +construction in an Indian.</p> + +<p>"As an exception! Thou seest, Ensign, by this elevation of the bone, and +the protuberance of the more fleshy parts, that the peculiarity is an +exception. I should rather have said that the nose originally inclined to +the Roman. The departure from regularity has been produced by some +casualty of their warfare, such as a blow from a tomahawk, or the gash of +a knife--ay! here thou seest the scar left by the weapon! It is concealed +by the paint, but remove that, and you will find it hath all the form of a +cicatrice of a corresponding shape. These departures from generalities +have a tendency to confound pretenders; a happy circumstance, in itself, +for the progress of knowledge on fixed principles. Place the subject more +erect, that we may see the natural movement of the muscles. Here is an +evidence of great aquatic habits in the dimensions of the foot, which go +to confirm original conceptions. It is a happy proof, through which, +reasonable and prudent conclusions confirm the quick-sighted glances of +practice. I pronounce the fellow to be a Narragansett."</p> + +<p>"Is it then a Narragansett that hath a foot to confound a trail?" +returned Eben Dudley, who had been studying the movements and attitudes of +the captive with quite as much keenness, and with something more of +understanding, than the leech. "Brother Ring, hast ever known an Indian +leave such an out-turning foot-print on the leaves?"</p> + +<p>"Ensign, I marvel that a man of thy discretion should dwell on a slight +variety of movement, when a case exists in which the laws of nature may be +traced to their sources. This training for the Indian troubles hath made +thee critical in the position of a foot. I have said that the fellow is a +Narragansett, and what I have uttered hath not been lightly ventured. Here +is the peculiar formation of the foot, which hath been obtained in +infancy, a fullness in the muscles of the breast and shoulders, from +unusual exercise in an element denser than the air, and a nicer +construction in--"</p> + +<p>The physician paused, for Dudley had coolly advanced to the captive, and, +raising the thin robe of deer-skin which was thrown over the whole of his +superior members, he exposed the unequivocal skin of a white man. This +would have proved an embarrassing refutation to one accustomed to the +conflict of wits; but monopoly, in certain branches of knowledge, had +produced in favor of Doctor Ergot an acknowledged superiority, that, in +its effects, might be likened to the predominating influence of any other +aristocracy, on those faculties that have been benumbed by its operation. +His opinion changed, which is more than can be said of his countenance, +for, with the readiness of invention which is so often practised in the +felicitous institutions we have named, and by which the reasoning instead +of regulating is adapted to the practice, he exclaimed with uplifted hands +and eyes that bespoke the fullness of his admiration--</p> + +<p>"Here have we another proof of the wonderful agency by which the changes +in nature are gradually wrought! Now do we see in this Narragansett--"</p> + +<p>"The man is white!" interrupted Dudley, tapping the naked shoulder, which +he still held exposed to view.</p> + +<p>"White, but not a tittle the less a Narragansett. Your captive, beyond a +doubt, oweth his existence to Christian parentage, but accident hath +thrown him early among the aboriginals, and all those parts, which were +liable to change, were fast getting to assume the peculiarities of the +tribe. He is one of those beautiful and connecting links in the chain of +knowledge, by which science followeth up its deductions to demonstration."</p> + +<p>"I should ill brook coming to harm for doing violence to a subject of the +King," said Reuben Ring, a steady, open-faced yeoman, who thought far less +of the subtleties of his companion, than of discharging his social duties +in a manner fitting the character of a quiet and well-conditioned citizen. +"We have had so much of stirring tidings, latterly, concerning the manner +the savages conduct their warfare, that it behoveth men in place of trust +to be vigilant; for," glancing his eyes towards the ruin of the distant +block-house, "thou knowest, brother Dudley, that we have occasion to be +watchful, in a settlement as deep in the forest as this."</p> + +<p>"I will answer for the indemnity, Sergeant Ring," said Dudley, with an air +of dignity. "I take upon myself the keeping of this stranger, and will see +that he be borne, properly and in fitting season, before the authorities. +In the mean time, duty hath caused us to overlook matters of moment in thy +household, which it may be seemly to communicate. Abundance hath not been +neglectful of thy interests, during the scout."</p> + +<p>"What!" demanded the husband, with rather more of earnestness than was +generally exhibited by one of habits as restrained as his own; "hath the +woman called upon the neighbors, during my absence?"</p> + +<p>Dudley nodded an assent.</p> + +<p>"And shall I find another boy beneath my roof?"</p> + +<p>Doctor Ergot nodded three times with a gravity that might have suited a +communication even more weighty than the one he made.</p> + +<p>"Thy woman rarely doth a good turn by halves, Reuben. Thou wilt find that +she hath made provision for a successor to our good neighbor Ergot, since +a seventh son is born in thy house."</p> + +<p>The broad, honest face of the father flushed with joy, and then a feeling +less selfish came over him. He asked, with a slight tremor in the voice, +that was none the less touching for coming from the lips of one so stout +of frame and firm of movement--</p> + +<p>"And the woman?--in what manner doth Abundance bear up under the +blessing?"</p> + +<p>"Bravely," returned the leech; "go to thy dwelling, Sergeant Ring, and +praise God that there is one to look to its concerns, in thy absence. He +who hath received the gift of seven sons, in five years, need never be a +poor nor a dependent man, in a country like this. Seven farms, added to +that pretty homestead of mountain-land which thou now tillest, will render +thee a patriarch in thine age, and sustain the name of Ring, hundreds of +years hence, when these colonies shall become peopled and powerful, and, I +say it boldly, caring not who may call me one that vaunteth out of reason, +equal to some of your lofty and self-extolled kingdoms of Europe--ay, even +peradventure to the mighty sovereignty of Portugal, itself! I have +enumerated thy future farms at seven, for the allusion of the Ensign to +the virtues of men born with natural propensities to the healing art, +must be taken as pleasant speech, since it is a mere delusion of old +wives' fancy, and it would be particularly unnecessary, here, where every +reasonable situation of this nature is already occupied. Go to thy wife, +Sergeant, and bid her be of good cheer; for she hath done herself, thee, +and thy country, a service, and that without dabbling in pursuits foreign +to her comprehension." + +The sturdy yeoman, on whom this rich gift of Providence had been +dispensed, raised his hat, and placing it decently before his face, he +offered up a silent thanksgiving for the favor. Then, transferring his +captive to the keeping of his superior and kinsman, he was soon seen +striding over the fields towards his upland dwelling, with a heavy foot, +though with a light heart.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Dudley and his companion bestowed a more particular +attention on the silent and nearly motionless object of their curiosity. +Though the captive appeared to be of middle age, his eye was unmeaning, +his air timid and uncertain, and his form cringing and ungainly. In all +these particulars, he was seen to differ from the known peculiarities of a +native warrior.</p> + +<p>Previously to departing, Reuben Ring had explained, that while traversing +the woods, on that duty of watchfulness to which the state of the colony +and some recent signs had given rise, this wandering person had been +encountered and secured, as seemed necessary to the safety of the +settlement. He had neither sought nor avoided his captor; but when +questioned concerning his tribe, his motive for traversing those hills, +and his future intentions, no satisfactory reply could be extracted. He +had scarcely spoken, and the little that he said was uttered in a jargon +between the language of his interrogator and the dialect of some barbarous +nation. Though there was much in the actual state of the colonies, and in +the circumstances in which this wanderer had been found, to justify his +detention, little had in truth been discovered, to supply a clue either to +any material facts in his history, or to any of his views in being in the +immediate vicinity of the valley.</p> + +<p>Guided only by this barren information, Dudley and his companion +endeavored, as they moved towards the hamlet, to entrap their prisoner +into some confession of his object, by putting their questions with a +sagacity not unusual to men in remote and difficult situations, where +necessity and danger are apt to keep alive all the native energies of +the human mind. The answers were little connected and unintelligible, +sometimes seeming to exhibit the finest subtlety of savage cunning, and +at others to possess the mental helplessness of appearing the most +abject fatuity.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XIX.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"I am not prone to weeping, as our sex<br /> +Commonly are;--<br /> + But I have<br /> +That honorable grief lodged here, which burns<br /> +Worse than tears drown."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Winter's Tale.</blockquote> + + +<p>If the pen of a compiler, like that we wield, possessed the mechanical +power of the stage, it would be easy to shift the scenes of this legend as +rapidly and effectively as is required for its right understanding, and +for the proper maintenance of its interest. That which cannot be done with +the magical aid of machinery, must be attempted by less ambitious, and we +fear by far less efficacious means.</p> + +<p>At the same early hour of the day, and at no great distance from the spot +where Dudley announced his good fortune to his brother Ring, another +morning meeting had place, between persons of the same blood and +connexions. From the instant when the pale light, that precedes the day, +was first seen in the heavens, the windows and doors of the considerable +dwelling, on the opposite side of the valley, had been unbarred. Ere the +glow of the sun had gilded the sky over the outline of the eastern woods, +this example of industry and providence was followed by the inmates of +every house in the village, or on the surrounding hills; and, by the time +the golden globe itself was visible above the trees, there was not a human +being in all that settlement, of proper age and health, who was not +actively afoot.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary to say that the dwelling particularly named was the +present habitation of the household of Mark Heathcote. Though age had +sapped the foundations of his strength, and had nearly dried the channels +of his existence, the venerable religionist still lived. While his +physical perfection had been gradually giving way before the ordinary +decay of nature, the moral man was but little altered. It is even probable +that his visions of futurity were less dimmed by the mists of carnal +interests than when last seen, and that the spirit had gained some portion +of that energy which had certainly been abstracted from the more corporeal +parts of his existence. At the hour already named, the Puritan was seated +in the piazza, which stretched along the whole front of a dwelling, that, +however it might be deficient in architectural proportions, was not +wanting in the more substantial comforts of a spacious and commodious +frontier residence. In order to obtain a faithful portrait of a man so +intimately connected with our tale, the reader will fancy him one who had +numbered four-score and ten years, with a visage on which deep and +constant mental striving had wrought many and menacing furrows, a form +that trembled while it yet exhibited the ruins of powerful limb and +flexible muscle, and a countenance in which ascetic reflections had +engraved a severity, that was but faintly relieved by the gleamings of a +natural kindness, which no acquired habits, nor any traces of metaphysical +thought, could ever entirely erase. Across this picture of venerable and +self-mortifying age, the first rays of the sun were now softly cast, +lighting a dimmed eye and furrowed face with a look of brightness and +peace. Perhaps the blandness of the expression belonged as much to the +season and hour, as to the habitual character of the man. This benignancy +of feature, unusual rather in its strength than in its existence, might +have been heightened by the fact that his spirit had just wrought in +prayer, as was usual, in the circle of his children and dependants, ere +they left those retired parts of the building where they had found rest +and security during the night. Of the former, none known and cherished in +the domestic circle had been absent; and the ample provision that was +making for the morning meal, sufficiently showed that the number of the +latter had in no degree diminished since the reader was familiar with the +domestic economy of his household.</p> + +<p>Time had produced no very striking alteration in the appearance of +Content. It is true that the brown hue of his features had deepened, and +that his frame was beginning to lose some of its elasticity and ease of +action, in the more measured movements of middle age. But the governed +temperament of the individual had always kept the animal in more than +usual subjection. Even his earlier days had rather exhibited the promise +than the performance of the ordinary youthful qualities. Mental gravity +had long before produced a corresponding physical effect. In reference to +his exterior, and using the language of the painter, it would now be said, +that, without having wrought any change in form and proportions, the +colors had been mellowed by time. If a few hairs of gray were sprinkled, +here and there, around his brow, it was as moss gathers on the stones of +the edifice, rather furnishing evidence of its increased adhesion and +approved stability, than denoting any symptoms of decay.</p> + +<p>Not so with his gentle and devoted partner. That softness and sweetness of +air which had first touched the heart of Content was still to be seen, +though it existed amid the traces of a constant and a corroding grief. The +freshness of youth had departed, and in its place was visible the more +lasting, and, in her case, the more affecting beauty of expression. The +eye of Ruth had lost none of its gentleness, and her smile still continued +kind and attractive; but the former was often painfully vacant, seeming to +look inward upon those secret and withering sources of sorrow that were +deeply and almost mysteriously seated in her heart; while the latter +resembled the cold brightness of that planet, which illumines objects by +repelling the borrowed lustre from its own bosom. The matronly form, the +feminine beaming of the countenance, and the melodious voice, yet +remained; but the first had been shaken till it stood on the very verge of +a premature decay, the second had a mingling of anxious care in its most +sympathetic movements, and the last was seldom without that fearful thrill +which so deeply affects the senses, by conveying to the understanding a +meaning so foreign from the words. And yet an uninterested and ordinary +observer might not have seen, in the faded comeliness and blighted +maturity of the matron, more than the every-day signs that betray the turn +in the tide of human existence. As befitted such a subject, the coloring +of sorrow had been traced by a hand too delicate to leave the lines +visible to every vulgar eye. Like the master-touches of art, her grief, as +it was beyond the sympathies, so it lay beyond the ken of those whom +excellence may fail to excite, or in whom absence can deaden affections. +Still her feelings were true to all who had any claims on her love. The +predominance of wasting grief over the more genial springs of her +enjoyments, only went to prove how much greater is the influence of the +generous than the selfish qualities of our nature, in a heart that is +truly endowed with tenderness. It is scarce necessary to say, that this +gentle and constant woman sorrowed for her child.</p> + +<p>Had Ruth Heathcote known that the girl ceased to live, it would not have +been difficult for one of her faith to have deposited her regrets by the +side of hopes that were so justifiable, in the grave of the innocent. But +the living death to which her offspring might be condemned, was rarely +absent from her thoughts. She listened to the maxims of resignation, which +were heard flowing from lips she loved with the fondness of a woman and +the meekness of a Christian; and then, even while the holy lessons were +still sounding in her attentive organs, the workings of an unconquerable +nature led her insidiously back to the sorrow of a mother.</p> + +<p>The imagination of this devoted and feminine being had never possessed an +undue control over her reason. Her visions of happiness with the man whom +her judgment not less than her inclination approved, had been such as +experience and religion might justify. But she was now fated to learn +there is a fearful poetry in sorrow, which can sketch with a grace and an +imaginative power that no feebler efforts of a heated fancy may ever +equal. She heard the sweet breathing of her slumbering infant in the +whispering of the summer airs; its plaints came to her ears amid the +howlings of the gale; while the eager question and fond reply were mixed +up with the most ordinary intercourse of her own household. To her the +laugh of childish happiness that often came on the still air of evening +from the hamlet, sounded like the voice of mourning; and scarce an +infantile sport met her eye, that did not bring with it a pang of anguish. +Twice, since the events of the inroad, had she been a mother; and, as if +an eternal blight were doomed to destroy her hopes, the little creatures +to whom she had given birth, slept, side by side, near the base of the +ruined block. Thither she often went, but it was rather to be the victim +of those cruel images of her fancy, than as a mourner. Her visions of the +dead were calm and even consolatory, but if ever her thoughts mounted to +the abodes of eternal peace, and her feeble fancy essayed to embody the +forms of the blessed, her mental eye sought her who was not, rather than +those who were believed to be secure in their felicity. Wasting and +delusory as were these glimpses of the mind, there were others far more +harrowing, because they presented themselves with more of the coarse and +certain features of the world. It was the common, and perhaps it was the +better, opinion of the inhabitants of the valley, that death had early +sealed the fate of those who had fallen into the hands of the savages on +the occasion of the inroad. Such a result was in conformity with the known +practices and ruthless passions of the conquerors, who seldom spared life, +unless to render revenge more cruelly refined, or to bring consolation to +some bereaved mother of the tribe, by offering a substitute for the dead +in the person of a captive. There was relief, to picture the face of the +laughing cherub in the clouds, or to listen to its light footstep in the +empty halls of the dwelling; for in these illusive images of the brain, +suffering was confined to her own bosom. But when stern reality usurped +the place of fancy, and she saw her living daughter shivering in the +wintry blasts or sinking beneath the fierce heats of the climate, +cheerless in the desolation of female servitude, and suffering meekly the +lot of physical weakness beneath a savage master, she endured that anguish +which was gradually exhausting the springs of life.</p> + +<p>Though the father was not altogether exempt from similar sorrow, it beset +him less ceaselessly. He knew how to struggle with the workings of his +mind, as best became a man. Though strongly impressed with the belief that +the captives had early been put beyond the reach of suffering, he had +neglected no duty, which tenderness to his sorrowing partner, parental +love, or Christian duty, could require at his hands.</p> + +<p>The Indians had retired on the crust of the snow, and with the thaw every +foot-print, or sign, by which such wary foes might be traced, had +vanished. It remained matter of doubt to what tribe or even to what +nation, the marauders belonged. The peace of the colony had not yet been +openly broken, and the inroad had been rather a violent and fierce symptom +of the evils that were contemplated, than the actual commencement of the +ruthless hostilities which had since ravaged the frontier. But while +policy had kept the colonists quiet, private affection omitted no rational +means of effecting the restoration of the sufferers, in the event of their +having been spared.</p> + +<p>Scouts had passed among the conspiring and but half-peaceable tribes, +nearest to the settlement, and rewards and menaces had both been liberally +used, in order to ascertain the character of the savages who had laid +waste the valley, as well as the more interesting fortunes of their +hapless victims. Every expedient to detect the truth had failed. The +Narragansetts affirmed that their constant enemies the Mohicans, acting +with their customary treachery, had plundered their English friends while +the Mohicans vehemently threw back the imputation on the Narragansetts. At +other times, some Indians affected to make dark allusions to the hostile +feelings of fierce warriors, who, under the name of the Five Nations, were +known to reside within the limits of the Dutch colony of New-Netherlands, +and to dwell upon the jealousy of the Pale-faces who spoke a language +different from that of the Yengeese. In short, inquiry had produced no +result; and Content, when he did permit his fancy to represent his +daughter as still living, was forced to admit to himself the probability +that she might be buried far in the ocean of wilderness which then covered +most of the surface of this continent.</p> + +<p>Once, indeed, a rumor of an exciting nature had reached the family. An +itinerant trader, bound from the wilds of the interior to a mart on the +sea-shore, had entered the valley. He brought with him a report, that a +child, answering in some respects to the appearance which might now be +supposed to belong to her who was lost, was living among the savages, on +the banks of the smaller lakes of the adjoining colony. The distance to +this spot was great; the path led through a thousand dangers, and the +result was far from certain. Yet it quickened hopes which had long been +dormant. Ruth never urged any request that might involve serious hazard to +her husband, and for many months the latter had even ceased to speak on +the subject. Still, nature was working powerfully within him. His eyes, at +all times reflecting and calm, grew more thoughtful; deeper lines of care +gathered about his brow; and at length, melancholy took possession of a +countenance which was usually so placid.</p> + +<p>It was at this precise period, that Eben Dudley chose to urge the suit, he +had always pressed after his own desultory fashion, on the decision of +Faith. One of those well-ordered accidents, which, from time to time, had +brought the girl and the young borderer in private conversation, enabled +him to effect his design with sufficient clearness. Faith heard him +without betraying any of her ordinary waywardness, and answered with as +little prevarication as the subject seemed to demand.</p> + +<p>"This is well, Eben Dudley," she said, "and it is no more than an honest +girl hath a right to hear, from one who hath taken as many means as thou +to get into her favor. But he who would have his life tormented by me, +hath a solemn duty to do, ere I listen to his wishes."</p> + +<p>"I have been in the lower towns and studied their manner of life, and I +have been upon the scouts of the colony, to keep the Indians in their +wigwams," returned her suitor, endeavoring to recount the feats of +manliness that might reasonably be expected of one inclined to venture on +so hazardous an experiment as matrimony. "The bargain with the young +Captain for the hill-lot, and for a village homestead, is drawing near a +close: and as the neighbors will not be backward at the stone-bee, or the +raising, I see nothing to--"</p> + +<p>"Thou deceivest thyself, observant Dudley," interrupted the girl, "if thou +believest eye of thine can see that which is to be sought, ere one and the +same fortune shall be the property of thee and me. Hast noted, Eben, the +manner in which the cheek of the Madam hath paled, and how her eye is +getting sunken, since the time when the fur trader tarried with us, the +week of the storm?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot say that there is much change in the wearing of the Madam, +within the bearing of my memory," answered Dudley, who was never +remarkable for minute observations of this nature, however keen he might +prove in subjects more intimately connected with his daily pursuits. "She +is not young and blooming as thou, Faith, nor is it often that we see--"</p> + +<p>"I tell thee, man, that sorrow preyeth upon her form, and that she liveth +but in the memory of the lost infant!"</p> + +<p>"This is carrying mourning beyond the bounds of reason. The child is at +peace; as is thy brother, Whittal, beyond all manner of question. That we +have not discovered their bones, is owing to the fire, which left but +little to tell of--"</p> + +<p>"Thy head is a charnel-house, dull Dudley, but this picture of its +furniture shall not suffice for me. The man who is to be my husband must +have a feeling for a mother's sorrows!"</p> + +<p>"What is now getting uppermost in thy mind, Faith! Is it for me to bring +back the dead to life, or to place a child that hath been lost so many +years once more in the arms of its parents?"</p> + +<p>"It is.--Nay, open not thine eyes, as if light were first breaking into +the darkness of a clouded brain! I repeat, it is!"</p> + +<p>"I am glad that we have got to these open declarations, for too much of my +life hath been already wasted in unsettled gallanting, when sound wisdom, +and the example of all around me, have shown that in order to become the +father of a family, and to be esteemed for a substantial settler, I should +have both cleared and wived some years ago. I wish to deal justly by all, +and having given thee reason to think that the day might come when we +should live together, as is fitting to people of our condition, I felt it +a duty to ask thee to share my chances; but now that thou dealest in +impossibilities, it is needful to seek elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"This hath ever been thy way, when a good understanding hath been +established between us. Thy mind is ever getting into some discontent, and +then blame is heaped on one who rarely doth anything that should in reason +offend thee. What madness maketh thee dream that I ask impossibilities? +Surely, Dudley, thou canst not have noted the manner in which the nature +of the Madam is giving way before the consuming heat of her grief; thou +canst not look into the sorrow of woman, or thou wouldst have listened +with more kindness to a plan of travelling the woods for a short season, +in order that it might be known whether she of whom the trader spoke is +the lost one of our family, or the child of some stranger!"</p> + +<p>Though Faith spoke with vexation, she also spoke with feeling. Her dark +eye swam in tears, and the color of her brown cheek deepened, until her +companion saw new reasons to forget his discontent in sympathies, which, +however obtuse they might be, were never entirely dormant.</p> + +<p>"If a journey of a few hundred miles be all thou askest, girl, why speak +in parables?" he good-naturedly replied. "The kind word was not wanting to +put me on such a trial. We will be married on the Sabbath, and, please +Heaven, the Wednesday, or the Saturday at most, shall see me on the path +of the western trader."</p> + +<p>"No delay. Thou must depart with the sun. The more active thou provest on +the journey the sooner wilt thou have the power to make me repent a +foolish deed."</p> + +<p>But Faith had been persuaded to relax a little from this severity. They +were married on the Sabbath, and the following day Content and Dudley left +the valley, in quest of the distant tribe on which the scion of another +stock was said to have been so violently engrafted.</p> + +<p>It is needless to dwell on the dangers and privations of such an +expedition. The Hudson, the Delaware, and the Susquehannah, rivers that +were then better known in tales than to the inhabitants of New-England, +were all crossed; and after a painful and hazardous journey, the +adventurers reached the first of that collection of small interior lakes, +whose banks are now so beautifully decorated with villages and farms. +Here, in the bosom of savage tribes, and exposed to every danger of field +and flood, supported only by his hopes, and by the presence of a stout +companion that hardships or danger could not easily subdue, the father +diligently sought his child.</p> + +<p>At length a people were found, who held a captive that answered the +description of the trader. We shall not dwell on the feelings with which +Content approached the village that contained this little descendant of a +white race. He had not concealed his errand; and the sacred character, in +which he came, found pity and respect even among those barbarous tenants +of the wilderness. A deputation of the chiefs received him in the skirts +of their clearing. He was conducted to a wigwam, where a council-fire was +lighted, and an interpreter opened the subject, by placing the amount of +the ransom offered, and the professions of peace with which the strangers +came, in the fairest light before his auditors. It is not usual for the +American savage to loosen his hold easily, on one naturalized in his +tribe. But the meek air and noble confidence of Content touched the +latent qualities of those generous though fierce children of the woods. +The girl was sent for, that she might stand in the presence of the elders +of the nation.</p> + +<p>No language can paint the sensation with which Content first looked upon +this adopted daughter of the savages. The years and sex were in accordance +with his wishes; but, in place of the golden hair and azure eyes of the +cherub he had lost, there appeared a girl in whose jet-black tresses and +equally dark organs of sight, he might better trace a descendant of the +French of the Canadas, than one sprung from his own Saxon lineage. The +father was not quick of mind in the ordinary occupations of life, but +nature was now big within him. There needed no second glance, to say how +cruelly his hopes had been deceived. A smothered groan struggled from his +chest, and then his self-command returned with the imposing grandeur of +Christian resignation. He arose, and, thanking the chiefs for their +indulgence, he made no secret of the mistake by which he had been led so +far on a fruitless errand. While speaking, the signs and gestures of +Dudley gave him reason to believe, that his companion had something of +importance to communicate. In a private interview, the latter suggested +the expediency of concealing the truth, and of rescuing the child they had +in fact discovered from the hands of her barbarous masters. It was now too +late to practise a deception that might have availed for this object, had +the stern principles of Content permitted the artifice. But, transferring +same portion of the interest which he felt for the fortunes of his own +offspring, to that of the unknown parent, who, like himself, most probably +mourned the uncertain fate of the girl before him, he tendered the ransom +intended for Ruth, in behalf of the captive. It was rejected. Disappointed +in both their objects, the adventurers were obliged to quit the village, +with weary feet and still heavier hearts.</p> + +<p>If any who read these pages have ever felt the agony of suspense in a +matter involving the best of human affections, they will know how to +appreciate the sufferings of the mother, during the month that her +husband was absent on this holy errand. At times, hope brightened around +her heart, until the glow of pleasure was again mantling on her cheek and +playing in her eye. The first week of the adventure was one almost of +happiness. The hazards of the journey were nearly forgotten in its +anticipated results, and though occasional apprehensions quickened the +pulses of one whose system answered so fearfully to the movements of the +spirit, there was a predominance of hope in all her anticipations. She +again passed among her maidens with a mien in which joy was struggling +with the meekness of subdued habits, and her smiles once more began to +beam with renovated happiness. To his dying day, old Mark Heathcote never +forgot the sudden sensation that was created by the soft laugh that on +some unexpected occasion came to his ear from the lips of his son's wife. +Though years had elapsed between the moment when that unwonted sound was +heard, and the time at which the action of the tale now stands, he had +never heard it repeated. To heighten the feelings which were now +uppermost in the mind of Ruth, when within a day's march of the village +to which he was going, Content had found means to send the tidings of his +prospects of success. It was over all these renewed wishes that +disappointment was to throw its chill, and it was affections thus riveted +that were to be again blighted by the cruelest of all withering +influences,--that of hope defeated.</p> + +<p>It was near the hour of the setting of the sun, when Content and Dudley +reached the deserted clearing on their return to the valley. Their path +led through this opening on the mountain-side, and there was one point, +among the bushes, from which the buildings, that had already arisen from +the ashes of the burning, might be distinctly seen. Until now, the +husband and father had believed himself equal to any effort that duty +might require, in the progress of this mournful service. But here he +paused, and communicated a wish to his companion that he would go ahead +and break the nature of the deception that had led them so far on a +fruitless mission. Perhaps Content was himself ignorant of all he wished, +or to what unskilful hands he had confided a commission of more than +ordinary delicacy. He merely felt his own inability, and, with a weakness +that may find some apology in his feelings, he saw his companion depart, +without instructions or indeed without any other guide than Nature.</p> + +<p>Though Faith had betrayed no marked uneasiness during the absence of the +travellers, her quick eye was the first to discover the form of her +husband, as he came with a tired step across the fields, in the direction +of the dwellings. Long ere Dudley reached the house, every one of its +inmates had assembled in the piazza. This was no meeting of turbulent +delight, or of clamorous greetings. The adventurer drew near amid a +silence so oppressive, that it utterly disconcerted a studied project, by +which he had hoped to announce his tidings in a manner suited to the +occasion. His hand was on the gate of the little court, and still none +spoke; his foot was on the low step, and yet no voice bade him welcome. +The looks of the little group were rather fixed on the features of Ruth, +than on the person of him who approached. Her face was pallid as death, +her eye contracted, but filled with the mental effort that sustained her; +and her lip scarce trembled, as, in obedience to a feeling still stronger +than the one which had so long oppressed her, she exclaimed--</p> + +<p>"Eben Dudley, where hast thou left my husband?"</p> + +<p>"The young Captain was a-foot weary, and he tarried in the second growth +of the hill; but so brave a walker cannot be far behind. We shall see him +soon, at the opening by the dead beech; and it is there that I recommend +the Madam--"</p> + +<p>"It was thoughtful in Heathcote, and like his usual kindness, to devise +this well-meant caution!" said Ruth, across whose countenance a smile so +radiant passed, that it imparted the expression which is believed to +characterize the peculiar benignancy of angels. "Still it was unnecessary; +for he should have known that we place our strength on the Rock of Ages. +Tell me, in what manner hath my precious one borne the exceeding weariness +of thy tangled route?"</p> + +<p>The wandering glance of the messenger had gone from face to face, until it +became fastened on the countenance of his own wife, in a settled, +unmeaning gaze.</p> + +<p>"Nay, Faith hath demeaned well, both as my assistant and as thy partner, +and thou mayest see that her comeliness is in no degree changed--And did +the babe falter in this weary passage, or did she retard thy movements by +her fretfulness? But I know thy nature, man; she hath been borne over many +long miles of mountain-side and treacherous swamp, in thine own vigorous +arms. Thou answerest not, Dudley!" exclaimed Ruth, taking the alarm, and +laying a hand firmly on the shoulder of him she questioned, as, forcing +his half-averted face to meet her eye, she seemed to read his soul.</p> + +<p>The muscles of the sun-burnt and strong features of the borderer worked +involuntarily, his broad chest swelled to its utmost expansion, big +burning drops rolled out upon his brown cheeks, and then, taking the arm +of Ruth in one of his own powerful hands, he compelled her to release her +hold, with a firm but respectful exercise of his strength; and, thrusting +the form of his own wife, without ceremony, aside, he passed through the +circle, and entered the dwelling, with the tread of a giant.</p> + +<p>The head of Ruth dropped upon her bosom, the paleness again came over +her cheeks, and it was then that the inward look of the eye might first +be seen, which afterwards became so constant and so painful an +expression in her countenance. From that hour, to the time in which the +family of the Wish-Ton-Wish is again brought immediately before the +reader, no further rumors were ever heard, to lessen or increase the +wasting regrets of her bosom.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XX.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Sir, he hath never fed of the dainties that are bred in a book, he + hath not eaten paper, as it were; he hath not drunk ink: his intellect + is not replenished; he is only an animal--only sensible in the duller + parts."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Love's Labor Lost.</blockquote> + + +<p>"Here cometh Faith, to bring us tidings of the hamlet," said the husband +of the woman whose character we have so feebly sketched, as he took his +seat in the piazza, at the early hour and in the group already mentioned. +"The Ensign hath been abroad in the hills, throughout the night, with a +chosen party of our people; and perchance she hath been sent with the +substance that they have gathered, concerning the unknown trail."</p> + +<p>"The heavy-footed Dudley hath scarce mounted to the dividing ridge, where +report goeth the prints of moccasons were seen," observed a young man, who +in his person bore all the evidences of an active and healthful manhood. +"Of what service is the scouting that faileth of the necessary distance +by the weariness of its leader?"</p> + +<p>"If thou believest, boy, that thy young foot is equal to contend with the +sinews of Eben Dudley, there may be occasion to show the magnitude of thy +error, ere the danger of this Indian out-breaking shall pass away. Thou +art too stubborn of will, Mark, to be yet trusted with the leading of +parties that may hold the safety of all who dwell in the Wish-Ton-Wish +within their keeping."</p> + +<p>The young man looked displeased; but, fearful that his father might +observe and misinterpret his humor into a personal disrespect, he turned +away, permitting his frowning eye to rest, for an instant, on the timid +and stolen glance of a maiden, whose cheek was glowing like the eastern +sky, as she busied herself with the preparations of the table.</p> + +<p>"What welcome news dost bring from the sign of the Whip-poor-Will?" +Content asked of the woman, who had now come within the little gate of his +court. "Hast seen the Ensign, since the party took the hill-paths; or is +it some traveller who hath charged thee with matter for our ears?"</p> + +<p>"Eye of man hath not seen the man since he girded himself with the sword +of office," returned Faith, entering the piazza and nodding salutation to +those around her; "and as for strangers, when the clock shall strike noon, +it will be one month to the day that the last of them was housed within my +doors. But I complain not of the want of custom, as the Ensign would never +quit the bar and his gossip, to go into the mountain-lots, so long as +there was one to fill his ears with the marvels of the old countries, or +even to discourse of the home-stirrings of the colonies themselves."</p> + +<p>"Thou speakest lightly, Faith, of one who merits thy respect and +thy duty."</p> + +<p>The eye of the former studied the meek countenance of her from whom this +reproof came, with an intenseness and a melancholy that showed her +thoughts were on other matters, and then, as it suddenly recalled to what +had passed, she resumed--</p> + +<p>"Truly, what with duty to the man as a husband, and respect to him as an +officer of the colony Madam Heathcote, the task is not one of easy +bearing. If the King's representative had given the colors to my brother +Reuben, and left the Dudley with the halberd in his hand, the preferment +would have been ample for one of his qualities, and all the better for the +credit of the settlement."</p> + +<p>"The Governor distributed his favor according to the advice of men +competent to distinguish merit," said Content. "Eben was foremost in the +bloody affair among the people of the Plantations, where his manhood was +of good example to all in company. Should he continue as faithful and as +valiant, thou mayest yet live to see thyself the consort of a Captain!"</p> + +<p>"Not for glory gained in this night's marching, for yonder cometh the man +with a sound body, and seemingly with the stomach of a Cæsar--ay, and +I'll answer for it, of a regiment too! It is no trifle that will satisfy +his appetite, after one of these--ha! pray Heaven the fellow be not +harmed--truly, he hath our neighbor Ergot in attendance."</p> + +<p>"There is other than he too, for one cometh in the rear whose gait and air +are unknown to me--the trail hath been struck, and Dudley leadeth a +captive! A savage, in his paint and cloak of skin, is taken."</p> + +<p>This assertion caused all to rise, for the excitement of an apprehended +inroad was still strong in the minds of those secluded people. Not a +syllable more was uttered, until the scout and his companion were +before them.</p> + +<p>The quick glance of Faith had scanned the person of her husband, and, +resuming her spirits with the certainty that he was unharmed, she was the +first to greet him with words:</p> + +<p>"How now, Ensign Dudley," said the woman, quite possibly vexed that she +had unguardedly betrayed a greater interest in his welfare than she might +always deem prudent. "How now, Ensign, hath the campaign ended with no +better trophy than this?"</p> + +<p>"The fellow is not a chief, nor, by his step and dull look, even a +warrior; but he was, nevertheless, a lurker nigh the settlements, and it +was thought prudent to bring him in;" returned the husband, addressing +himself to Content, while he answered the salutation of his wife with a +sufficiently brief nod. "My own scouting hath brought nothing to light, +but my brother Ring hath fallen on the trail of him that is here present, +and it is not a little that we are puzzled in probing, as the good Doctor +Ergot calleth it, into the meaning of his errand."</p> + +<p>"Of what tribe may the savage be?"</p> + +<p>"There hath been discussion among us, on that matter," returned Dudley, +with an oblique glance of the eye towards the physician. "Some have said +he is a Narragansett, while others think he cometh of a stock still +further east."</p> + +<p>"In giving that opinion, I spoke merely of his secondary or acquired +habits," interrupted Ergot; "for, having reference to his original, the +man is assuredly a White."</p> + +<p>"A White!" repeated all around him.</p> + +<p>"Beyond a cavil; as may be seen by divers particulars in his outward +conformation, viz: in the shape of the head, the muscles of the arms and +of the legs, the air and gait, besides sundry other signs, that are +familiar to men who have made the physical peculiarities of the two races +their study."</p> + +<p>"One of which is this!" continued Dudley, throwing up the robe of the +captive, and giving his companions the ocular evidence which had so +satisfactorily removed all his own doubts. "Though the color of the skin +may not be proof positive, like that named by our neighbor Ergot, it is +still something, in helping a man of little learning to make up an opinion +in such a matter."</p> + +<p>"Madam!" exclaimed Faith so suddenly as to cause her she addressed to +start--"for the sake of Heaven's mercy! let thy maidens bring soap and +water, that the face of this man may be cleansed of its paint."</p> + +<p>"What foolishness is thy brain set upon?" rejoined the Ensign, who had +latterly affected some of that superior gravity which might be supposed to +belong to his official station. "We are not now under the roof of the +Whip-Poor-Will, wife of mine, but in the presence of those who need none +of thy suggestions to give proper forms to an examination of office."</p> + +<p>Faith heeded no reproof. Instead of waiting for others to perform that +which she had desired, she applied herself to the task, with a dexterity +that had been acquired by long practice, and a zeal that seemed awakened +by some extraordinary emotion. In a minute, the colors had disappeared +from the features of the captive, and, though deeply tanned by exposure to +an American sun and to sultry winds, his face was unequivocally that of +one who owed his origin to an European ancestry. The movements of the +eager woman were watched with curious interest by all present; and when +the short task was ended, a murmur of surprise broke simultaneously from +every lip.</p> + +<p>"There is meaning in this masquerade," observed Content, who had long and +intently studied the dull and ungainly countenance that was exposed to his +scrutiny by the operation. "I have heard of Christian men who have sold +themselves to gain, and who, forgetting religion and the love of their +race--have been known to league with the savage in order to pursue rapine +in the settlements. This wretch hath the subtlety of one of the French of +the Canadas in his eye."</p> + +<p>"Away! away!" cried Faith, forcing herself in front of the speaker, and, +by placing her two hands on the shaven crown of the prisoner, forming a +sort of shade to his features. "Away with all folly, about the Frenchers +and wicked leagues! This is no plotting miscreant, but a stricken +innocent! Whittal--my brother Whittal, dost know me?"</p> + +<p>The tears rolled down the cheeks of the wayward woman, as she gazed into +the face of her witless relative, whose eye lighted with one of its +occasional gleamings of intelligence, and who indulged in a low, vacant +laugh, ere he answered her earnest interrogatory.</p> + +<p>"Some speak like men from over sea," he said, "and some speak like men of +the woods. Is there such a thing as bear's meat, or a mouthful of hommony, +in the wigwam?"</p> + +<p>Had the voice of one, long known to be in the grave, broken on the ears +of the family, it would scarcely have produced a deeper sensation, or +have quickened the blood more violently about their hearts, than this +sudden and utterly unexpected discovery of the character of their +captive. Wonder and awe held them mute for a time, and then Ruth was seen +standing before the restored wanderer her hands clasped in the attitude +of petition, her eye contracted and imploring, and her whole person +expressive of the suspense and excitement which had roused her +long-latent emotions to agony.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," said a thrilling voice, that might have quickened the intellect +of one even duller than the man addressed, "as thou hast pity in thy +heart, tell me, if my babe yet live?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis a good babe," returned the other; and then laughing again, in his +own vacant and unmeaning manner, he bent his eyes with a species of +stupid wonder on Faith, in whose appearance there was far less change, +than in the speaking but wasted countenance of her who stood immediately +before him.</p> + +<p>"Give leave, dearest Madam," interposed the sister: "I know the nature of +the boy, and could ever do more with him than any other."</p> + +<p>But this request was useless. The system of the mother, in its present +state of excitement, was unequal to further effort. Sinking into the +watchful arms of Content, she was borne away, and, for a minute, the +anxious interest of the handmaidens left none but the men on the piazza.</p> + +<p>"Whittal--my old playfellow, Whittal Ring;" said the son of Content, +advancing with a humid eye to take the hand of the prisoner. "Hast +forgotten, man, the companion of thy early days? It is young Mark +Heathcote that speaks."</p> + +<p>The other looked up into his countenance, for a moment, with a reviving +recollection; but shaking his head, he drew back in marked displeasure, +muttering loud enough to be heard--</p> + +<p>"What a false liar is a Pale-face! Here is one of the tall rogues, wishing +to pass for a loping boy!"</p> + +<p>What more he uttered his auditors never knew, for he instantly changed his +language to some dialect of an Indian tribe.</p> + +<p>"The mind of the unhappy youth hath even been more blunted, by exposure +and the usages of a savage life, than by Nature," said Content, who with +most of the others had been recalled, by his interest in the examination, +to the scene they had momentarily quitted. "Let the sister deal tenderly +with the lad, and, in Heaven's time, shall we learn the truth."</p> + +<p>The deep feeling of the father clothed his words with authority. The +eager group gave place, and something like the solemnity of an official +examination succeeded to the irregular and hurried interrogatories, which +had first broken on the dull intellect of the recovered wanderer.</p> + +<p>The dependants took their stations, in a circle around the chair of the +Puritan, by whose side was placed Content, while Faith induced her brother +to be seated on the step of the piazza, in a manner that all might hear. +The attention of the brother, himself, was drawn from the formality of the +arrangement, by placing food in his hands.</p> + +<p>"And now, Whittal, I would know," commenced the ready woman, when a +deep silence denoted the attention of the auditors, "I would know, if +thou rememberest the day I clad thee in garments of boughten cloth, +from over sea; and how fond thou wast of being seen among the kine in +colors so gay?"</p> + +<p>The young man looked up in her face, as if the tones of her voice gave him +pleasure; but, instead of making any reply, he preferred to munch the +bread with which she had endeavored to lure him back to their ancient +confidence.</p> + +<p>"Surely, boy, thou canst not so soon have forgotten the gift I bought, +with the hard earnings of a wheel that turned at night. The tail of +yon peacock is not finer than thou then wast--But I will make thee +such another garment, that thou mayst go with the trainers to their +weekly muster."</p> + +<p>The youth dropped the robe of skin that covered the upper part of his +body, and making a forward gesture, with the gravity of an Indian, he +answered-- + +"Whittal is a warrior on his path; he has no time for the talk of +the women!"</p> + +<p>"Now, brother, thou forgettest the manner in which I was wont to feed thy +hunger, as the frost pinched thee, in the cold mornings, and at the hour +when the kine needed thy care; else thou wouldst not call me woman."</p> + +<p>"Hast ever been on the trail of a Pequot? Know'st how to whoop +among the men?"</p> + +<p>"What is an Indian whoop, to the bleating of thy flocks, or the bellowing +of cattle in the bushes? Thou rememberest the sound of the bells, as they +tinkled among the second growth of an evening?"</p> + +<p>The ancient herdsman turned his head, and seemed to lend his attention, as +a dog listens to an approaching footstep. But the gleam of recollection +was quickly lost. In the next moment, he yielded to the more positive, and +possibly more urgent, demands of his appetite.</p> + +<p>"Then hast thou lost the use of ears; else thou wouldst not say that thou +forgettest the sound of the bells."</p> + +<p>"Didst ever hear a wolf howl?" exclaimed the other. "That's a sound for a +hunter! I saw the Great Chief strike the striped panther, when the boldest +warrior of the tribe grew white as a craven Pale-face at his leaps!"</p> + +<p>"Talk not to me of your ravenous beasts and Great Chiefs, but rather +let us think of the days when we were young, and when thou hadst +delight in the sports of a Christian childhood. Hast forgotten, +Whittal, how our mother used to give us leave to pass the idle time in +games among the snow?"</p> + +<p>"Nipset hath a mother in her wigwam, but he asketh no leave to go on the +hunt. He is a man the next snow, he will be a warrior."</p> + +<p>"Silly boy! This is some treachery of the savage by which he has bound thy +weakness with the fetters of his craftiness. Thy mother, Whittal, was a +woman of Christian belief, and one of a white race, and a kind and +mourning mother was she over thy feeble-mindedness! Dost not remember, +unthankful of heart! how she nursed thy sickly hours in boyhood, and how +she administered to all thy bodily wants? Who was it that fed thee when +a-hungered or who had compassion on thy waywardness, when others tired of +thy idle deeds, or grew impatient of thy weakness?"</p> + +<p>The brother looked, for an instant, at the flushed features of the +speaker, as if glimmerings of some faintly distinguished scenes crossed +the visions of his mind; but the animal still predominated, and he +continued to feed his hunger.</p> + +<p>"This exceedeth human endurance!" exclaimed the excited Faith. "Look into +this eye, weak one, and say if thou knowest her who supplied the place of +that mother whom thou refusest to remember--she who hath toiled for thy +comfort, and who hath never refused to listen to all thy plaints, and to +soften all thy sufferings. Look at this eye, and speak--dost know me?"</p> + +<p>"Certain!" returned the other, laughing with a half-intelligent expression +of recognition; "'tis a woman of the Pale-faces, and I warrant me, one +that will never be satisfied till she hath all the furs of the Americas on +her back, and all the venison of the woods in her kitchen. Didst ever hear +the tradition, how that wicked race got into the hunting-grounds, and +robbed the warriors of the country?"</p> + +<p>The disappointment of Faith had made her too impatient to lend a pleased +attention to this tale; but, at that moment, a form appeared at her side, +and by a quiet and commanding gesture directed her to humor the temper of +the wanderer.</p> + +<p>It was Ruth, in whose pale cheek and anxious eye, all the intenseness of a +mother's longings might be traced, in its most touching aspect. Though so +lately helpless and sinking beneath her emotions, the sacred feelings +which now sustained her seemed to supply the place of all other aid; and +as she glided past the listening circle, even Content himself had not +believed it necessary to offer succor, or to interpose with remonstrance. +Her quiet, meaning gesture seemed to say, 'proceed, and show all +indulgence to the weakness of the young man.' The rising discontent of +Faith, was checked by habitual reverence, and she prepared to obey.</p> + +<p>"And what say the silly traditions of which you speak?" she added, ere the +current of his dull ideas had time to change its direction.</p> + +<p>"'Tis spoken by the old men in the villages, and what is there said is +gospel-true. You see all around you, land that is covered with hill and +valley, and which once bore wood, without the fear of the axe, and over +which game was spread with a bountiful hand. There are runners and hunters +in our tribe who have been on a straight path towards the setting sun, +until their legs were weary and their eyes could not see the clouds that +hang over the salt lake, and yet they say, 'tis everywhere beautiful as +yonder green mountain. Tall trees and shady woods rivers and lakes filled +with fish, and deer and beaver plentiful as the sands on the sea-shore. +All this land and water the Great Spirit gave to men of red skins; for +them he loved, since they spoke truth in their tribes, were true to their +friends, hated their enemies, and knew how to take scalps. Now, a thousand +snows had come and melted, since this gift was made," continued Whittal, +who spoke with the air of one charged with the narration of a grave +tradition, though he probably did no more than relate what many +repetitions had rendered familiar to his inactive mind, "and yet none but +red-skins were seen to hunt the moose, or to go on the war-path. Then the +Great Spirit grew angry; he hid his face from his children, because they +quarrelled among themselves. Big canoes came out of the rising sun, and +brought a hungry and wicked people into the land. At first, the strangers +spoke soft and complaining like women. They begged room for a few wigwams, +and said if the warriors would give them ground to plant, they would ask +their God to look upon the red-men. But when they grew strong, they forgot +their words and made liars of themselves. Oh, they are wicked knaves! A +Pale-face is a panther. When a-hungered, you can hear him whining in the +bushes like a strayed infant; but when you come within his leap, beware of +tooth and claw!"</p> + +<p>"This evil-minded race, then, robbed the red warriors of their land?"</p> + +<p>"Certain! They spoke like sick women, till they grew strong, and then they +out-devilled the Pequots themselves in wickedness; feeding the warriors +with their burning milk, and slaying with blazing inventions, that they +made out of the yellow meal."</p> + +<p>"And the Pequods! was their great warrior dead, before the coming of the +men from over sea?"</p> + +<p>"You are a woman that has never heard a tradition, or you would know +better! A Pequot is a weak and crawling cub."</p> + +<p>"And thou--thou art then a Narragansett?"</p> + +<p>"Don't I look like a man?"</p> + +<p>"I had mistaken thee for one of our nearer neighbors, the Mohegan +Pequods."</p> + +<p>"The Mohicans are basket-makers for the Yengeese; but the Narragansett +goes leaping through the woods, like a wolf on the trail of the deer!"</p> + +<p>"All this is quite in reason, and now thou pointest to its justice, I +cannot fail but see it. But we have curiosity to know more of the great +tribe. Hast ever heard of one of thy people, Whittal, known as +Miantonimoh--'tis a chief of some renown."</p> + +<p>The witless youth had continued to eat, at intervals; but, on hearing this +question, he seemed suddenly to forget his appetite. For a moment he +looked down, and then he answered slowly and not without solemnity--</p> + +<p>"A man cannot live for ever."</p> + +<p>"What!" said Faith, motioning to her deeply-interested auditors to +restrain their impatience--"has he quitted his people? And thou lived +with him, Whittal, ere he came to his end?"</p> + +<p>"He never looked on Nipset, nor Nipset on him."</p> + +<p>"I know nought of this Nipset; tell me of the great Miantonimoh."</p> + +<p>"Dost need to hear twice? The Sachem is gone to the far land, and Nipset +will be a warrior when the next snow comes!"</p> + +<p>Disappointment threw a cloud on every countenance, and the beam of hope, +which had been kindling in the eye of Ruth, changed to the former painful +expression of deep inward suffering. But Faith still managed to repress +all speech among those who listened, continuing the examination, after a +short delay that her vexation rendered unavoidable.</p> + +<p>"I had thought that Miantonimoh was still a warrior in his tribe," she +said. "In what battle did he fall?"</p> + +<p>"Mohican Uncas did that wicked deed. The Pale-men gave him great riches to +murder the Sachem."</p> + +<p>"Thou speakest of the father; but there was another Miantonimoh; he who in +boyhood dwelt among the people of white blood."</p> + +<p>Whittal listened attentively; and after seeming to rally his thoughts, he +shook his head, saying before he again began to eat--</p> + +<p>"There never was but one of the name, and there never will be another. Two +eagles do not build their nests in the same tree."</p> + +<p>"Thou sayest truly," continued Faith; well knowing that to dispute the +information of her brother, was in effect to close his mouth. "Now tell +me of Conanchet, the present Narragansett Sachem--he who hath leagued with +Metacom, and hath of late been driven from his fastness near the sea--doth +he yet live?"</p> + +<p>The expression of the brother's countenance underwent another change. In +place of the childish importance with which he had hitherto replied to the +questions of his sister, a look of overreaching cunning gathered about his +dull eye. The organ glanced slowly and cautiously around him, as if its +owner expected to detect some visible sign of those covert intentions he +so evidently distrusted. Instead of answering, the wanderer continued his +meal, though less like one who had need of sustenance, than one resolved +to make no communications which might prove dangerous. This change was not +unobserved by Faith, or by any of those who so intently watched the means +by which she had been endeavoring to thread the confused ideas of one so +dull, and yet who at need seemed so practised in savage artifice. She +prudently altered her manner of interrogating, by endeavoring to lead his +thoughts to other matters.</p> + +<p>"I warrant me," continued the sister, "that thou now beginnest to call to +mind the times when thou led'st the cattle among the bushes, and how thou +wert wont to call on Faith to give thee food, when a-weary with threading +the woods in quest of the kine. Hast ever been assailed by the +Narragansetts thyself, Whittal, when dwelling in the house of a +Pale-face?"</p> + +<p>The brother ceased eating. Again he appeared to muse as intently as was +possible, for one of his circumscribed intellects. But shaking his head in +the negative, he silently resumed the grateful office of mastication.</p> + +<p>"What! hast come to be a warrior, and never known a scalp taken, or seen +a fire lighted in the roof of a wigwam?"</p> + +<p>Whittal laid down the food, and turned to his sister. His face was +teeming with a wild and fierce meaning, and he indulged in a low but +triumphant laugh. When this exhibition of satisfaction was over, he +consented to reply.</p> + +<p>"Certain," he said. "We went on a path, in the night, against the lying +Yengeese, and no burning of the woods ever scorched the 'arth as we +blackened their fields! All their proud housen were turned into piles +of coals."</p> + +<p>"And where and when did you this act of brave vengeance?"</p> + +<p>"They called the place after the bird of night as if an Indian name could +save them from an Indian massacre!"</p> + +<p>"Ha! 'Tis of the Wish-Ton-Wish thou speakest But thou wast a sufferer, and +not an actor, brother in that heartless burning."</p> + +<p>"Thou liest like a wicked woman of the Pale faces, as thou art! Nipset was +only a boy on that path, but he went with his people. I tell thee, we +singed the very 'arth with our brands, and not a head of them all ever +rose again from the ashes."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding her great self-command, and the object that was constantly +before the mind of Faith, she shuddered at the fierce pleasure with which +her brother pronounced the extent of the vengeance, that, in his imaginary +character, he believed he had taken on his enemies. Still cautious not to +destroy an illusion which might aid her, in the so-long-defeated and +so-anxiously-desired discovery, the woman repressed her horror, and +continued--</p> + +<p>"True--yet some were spared--surely the warriors carried prisoners back to +their village. Thou didst not slay all?"</p> + +<p>"All."</p> + +<p>"Nay--thou speakest now of the miserables who were wrapt in the +blazing block; but--but some, without, might have fallen into thy +hands, ere the assailed sought shelter in the tower. Surely--surely +thou didst not kill all?"</p> + +<p>The hard breathing of Ruth caught the ear of Whittal, and for a moment he +turned to regard her countenance in dull wonder. But again shaking his +head, he answered in a low, positive tone--"All;--ay, to the screeching +women and crying babes!"</p> + +<p>"Surely there is a child--I would say there is a woman, in thy tribe, of +fairer skin and of form different from most of thy people. Was not such an +one led a captive from the burning of the Wish-Ton-Wish?"</p> + +<p>"Dost think the deer will live with the wolf, or hast ever found the +cowardly pigeon in the nest of the hawk?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, thou art of different color thyself, Whittal, and it well may be, +thou art not alone."</p> + +<p>The youth regarded his sister a moment with marked displeasure, and then, +on turning to eat, he muttered--"There is as much fire in snow, as truth +in a lying Yengeese?"</p> + +<p>"This examination must close," said Content, with a heavy sigh; "at +another hour, we may hope to push the matter to some more fortunate +result; but, yonder cometh one charged with especial service from the +towns below, as would seem by the fact that he disregardeth the holiness +of the day no less than by the earnest manner in which he is journeying."</p> + +<p>As the individual named was visible to all who chose to look in the +direction of the hamlet, his sudden appearance caused a general +interruption to the interest which had been so strongly awakened on a +subject that was familiar to every resident in the valley.</p> + +<p>The early hour, the gait at which the stranger urged his horse, the manner +in which he passed the open and inviting door of the Whip-Poor-Will, +proclaimed him a messenger, who probably bore some communication of +importance from the Government of the Colony to the younger Heathcote, who +filled the highest station of official authority in that distant +settlement. Observations to this purport had passed from mouth to mouth, +and curiosity was actively alive, by the time the horseman rode into the +court. There he dismounted, and, covered with the dust of the road, he +presented himself, with the air of one who had passed the night in the +saddle, before the man he sought.</p> + +<p>"I have orders for Captain Content Heathcote," said the messenger, +saluting all around him with the usual grave but studied courtesy of the +people to whom he belonged.</p> + +<p>"He is here to receive and to obey," was the answer.</p> + +<p>The traveller wore a little of that mysteriousness that is so grateful to +certain minds, which, from inability to command respect in any other +manner, are fond of making secrets of matters that might as well be +revealed. In obedience to this feeling, he expressed a desire that his +communications might be made apart. Content quietly motioned for him to +follow, leading the way into an inner apartment of the house. As a new +direction was given by this interruption, to the thoughts of the +spectators of the foregoing scene, we shall also take the opportunity to +digress, in order to lay before the reader some general facts that may be +necessary to the connexion of the subsequent parts of the legend.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXI.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Be certain what you do, sir; lest your justice<br /> +Prove violence."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Winter's Tale.</blockquote> + + +<p>The designs of the celebrated Metacom had been betrayed to the Colonists, +by the treachery of a subordinate warrior, named Sausaman. The punishment +of this treason led to inquiries, which terminated in accusations against +the great Sachem of the Wampanoags. Scorning to vindicate himself before +enemies that he hated, and perhaps distrusting their clemency, Metacom no +longer endeavored to cloak his proceedings; but, throwing aside the +emblems of peace he openly appeared with an armed hand.</p> + +<p>The tragedy had commenced about a year before the period at which the tale +has now arrived. A scene, not unlike that detailed in the foregoing pages, +took place; the brand, the knife, and the tomahawk, doing their work of +destruction, without pity and without remorse. But, unlike the inroad of +the Wish-Ton-Wish, this expedition was immediately followed by others, +until the whole of New-England was engaged in the celebrated war, to which +we have before referred.</p> + +<p>The entire white population of the Colonies of New-England had shortly +before been estimated at one hundred and twenty thousand souls. Of this +number, it was thought that sixteen thousand men were capable of bearing +arms. Had time been given for the maturity of the plans of Metacom, he +might have readily assembled bands of warriors who, aided by their +familiarity with the woods, and accustomed to the privations of such a +warfare, would have threatened serious danger to the growing strength of +the whites. But the ordinary and selfish feelings of man were as active, +among these wild tribes, as they are known to be in more artificial +communities. The indefatigable Metacom, like that Indian hero of our own +times, Tecumthà, had passed years in endeavoring to appease ancient +enmities and to lull jealousies, in order that all of red blood might +unite in crushing a foe that promised, should he be longer undisturbed in +his march to power, soon to be too formidable for their united efforts to +subdue. The premature explosion in some measure averted the danger. It +gave the English time to strike several severe blows against the tribe of +their great enemy, before his allies had determined to make common cause +in his design. The summer and autumn of 1675 had been passed in active +hostilities between the English and Wampanoags, without openly drawing any +other nation into the contest. Some of the Pequots, with their dependent +tribes, even took sides with the whites: and we read of the Mohegans being +actively employed in harassing the Sachem, on his well-known retreat from +that neck of land, where he had been hemmed in by the English, with the +expectation that he might be starved into submission.</p> + +<p>The warfare of the first summer was, as might be expected, attended by +various degrees of success, fortune quite as often favoring the red-men, +in their desultory attempts at annoyance, as their more disciplined +enemies. Instead of confining his operations to his own circumscribed and +easily environed districts, Metacom had led his warriors to the distant +settlements on the Connecticut; and it was during the operations of this +season, that several of the towns on that river were first assailed and +laid in ashes. Active hostilities had in some measure ceased, between the +Wampanoags and the English, with the cold weather, most of the troops +retiring to their homes, while the Indians apparently paused to take +breath for their final effort.</p> + +<p>It was, however, previously to this cessation of activity, that the +Commissioners of the United Colonies, as they were called, met to devise +the means of a concerted resistance. Unlike their former dangers from the +same quarter, it was manifest, by the manner in which a hostile feeling +was spreading around their whole frontier, that a leading spirit had given +as much of unity and design to the movements of the foe, as could probably +ever be created among a people so separated by distance and so divided in +communities. Right or wrong, the Colonists gravely decided that the war on +their part was just. Great preparations were therefore made to carry it +on, the ensuing summer, in a manner more suited to their means, and to the +absolute necessities of their situation. It was in consequence of the +arrangements made for bringing a portion of the inhabitants of the Colony +of Connecticut into the field, that we find the principal characters of +our legend in the warlike guise in which they have just been re-introduced +to the reader.</p> + +<p>Although the Narragansetts had not at first been openly implicated in the +attacks on the Colonists, facts soon came to the knowledge of the latter, +which left no doubt of the state of feeling in that nation. Many of their +young men were discovered among the followers of Metacom, and arms taken +from whites, who had been slain in the different encounters, were also +seen in their villages. One of the first measures of the Commissioners, +therefore, was to anticipate more serious opposition, by directing an +overwhelming force against this people. The party collected on that +occasion was probably the largest military body which the English, at +that early day, had ever assembled in their Colonies. It consisted of a +thousand men, of whom no inconsiderable number was cavalry--a species of +troops that, as all subsequent experience has shown, is admirably adapted +to operations against so active and so subtle a foe.</p> + +<p>The attack was made in the depth of winter, and it proved fearfully +destructive to the assailed. The defence of Conanchet, the young Sachem of +the Narragansetts, was every way worthy of his high character for courage +and mental resources, nor was the victory gained without serious loss to +the Colonists. The native chief had collected his warriors, and taken post +on a small area of firm land, that was situated in the centre of a densely +wooded swamp; and the preparations for resistance betrayed a singular +familiarity with the military expedients of a white man. There had been a +palisadoed breast-work, a species of redoubt, and a regular block-house, +to overcome, ere the Colonists could penetrate into the fortified village +itself. The first attempts were unsuccessful, the Indians having repulsed +their enemies with loss. But better arms and greater concert finally +prevailed, though not without a struggle that lasted for many hours, and +not until the defendants were, in truth, nearly surrounded.</p> + +<p>The events of that memorable day made a deep impression on the minds of +men who were rarely excited by any incidents of a great and moving +character. It was still the subject of earnest and not unfrequently of +melancholy discourse, around the fire-sides of the Colonists; nor was the +victory achieved without accompaniments which, however unavoidable they +might have been, had a tendency to raise doubts in the minds of +conscientious religionists concerning the lawfulness of their cause. It is +said that a village of six hundred cabins was burnt and that hundreds of +dead and wounded were consumed in the conflagration. A thousand warriors +were thought to have lost their lives in this affair, and it was believed +that the power of the nation was broken for ever. The sufferers among the +Colonists themselves were numerous, and mourning came into a vast many +families, with the tidings of victory.</p> + +<p>In this expedition most of the men of the Wish-Ton-Wish had been +conspicuous actors, under the orders of Content. They had not escaped with +impunity; but it was confidently hoped that their courage was to meet its +reward in a long continuance of peace, which was the more desirable on +account of their remote and exposed situation.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the Narragansetts were far from being subdued. +Throughout the whole continuance of the inclement season, they had caused +alarms on the frontiers; and, in one or two instances their renowned +Sachem had taken signal vengeance for the dire affair in which his people +had so heavily suffered. As the spring advanced, the inroads became still +more frequent, and the appearances of danger so far increased as to +require a new call on the Colonists to arm. The messenger, introduced in +the last chapter, was charged with matter that had a reference to the +events of this war; and it was with an especial communication of great +urgency that he had now demanded his secret audience with the leader of +the military force of the valley.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast affairs of moment to deal with, Captain Heathcote," said the +hard-riding traveller, when he found himself alone with Content. "The +orders of his Honor are to spare neither whip nor spur until the chief men +of the borders shall be warned of the actual situation of the Colony."</p> + +<p>"Hath aught of moving interest occurred, that his Honor deemeth there is +necessity for unusual watchfulness. We had hoped that the prayers of the +pious were not in vain; and that a time of quiet was about to succeed to +that violence, of which, bounden by our social covenants, we have +unhappily been unwilling spectators. The bloody assault of Pettyquamscott +hath exercised our minds severely--nay, it hath even raised doubts of the +lawfulness of some of our deeds."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast a commendable spirit of forgiveness Captain Heathcote, or thy +memory would extend to other scenes than those which bear relation to the +punishment of an enemy so remorseless. It is said on the river, that the +valley of Wish-Ton-Wish hath been visited by the savage in its day, and +men speak freely of the wrongs suffered by its owners on that pitiless +occasion."</p> + +<p>"The truth may not be denied, even that good should come thereof. It is +certain that much suffering was inflicted on me and on mine, by the +inroad of which you speak: nevertheless we have ever striven to consider +it as a merciful chastisement inflicted for manifold sins, rather than as +a subject that might be remembered, in order to stimulate passions that, +in all reason as in all charity, should slumber as much as a weak nature +will allow."</p> + +<p>"This is well, Captain Heathcote, and in exceeding conformity with the +most received doctrines," returned the stranger, slightly gaping, either +from want of rest the previous night, or from disinclination to so grave a +subject; "but it hath little connexion with present duties. My charge +beareth especial concern with the further destruction of the Indians, +rather than to any inward searchings into the condition of our own mental +misgivings, concerning any right it may be thought proper to question, +that hath a reference to the duty of self-protection. There is no unworthy +dweller in the Connecticut Colony, sir, that hath endeavored more to +cultivate a tender conscience, than the wretched sinner who standeth +before you; for I have the exceeding happiness to sit under the +outpourings of a spirit that hath few mortal superiors in the matter of +precious gifts. I now speak of Dr. Calvin Pope; a most worthy and +soul-quieting divine; one who spareth not the goad when the conscience +needeth pricking, nor hesitateth to dispense consolation to him who seeth +his fallen estate; and one that never faileth to deal with charity, and +humbleness of spirit, and forbearance with the failings of friends, and +forgiveness of enemies, as the chiefest signs of a renovated moral +existence; and, therefore, there can be but little reason to distrust the +spiritual rightfulness of all that listen to the riches of his discourse. +But when it cometh to be question of life or death, a matter of dominion +and possession of these fair lands, that the Lord hath given--why, sir, +then I say that, like the Israelites dealing with the sinful occupants of +Canaan, it behoveth us to be true to each other, and to look upon the +heathen with a distrustful eye."</p> + +<p>"There may be reason in that thou utterest," observed Content, +sorrowfully. "Still it is lawful to mourn even the necessity which +conduceth to all this strife. I had hoped that they who direct the +Councils of the Colony might have resorted to less violent means of +persuasion, to lead the savage back to reason, than that which cometh from +the armed hand. Of what nature is thy especial errand?"</p> + +<p>"Of deep urgency, sir, as will be seen in the narration," returned the +other, dropping his voice like one habitually given to the dramatic part +of diplomacy, however unskilful he might have been in its more +intellectual accomplishments. "Thou wast in the Pettyquamscott scourging, +and need not be reminded of the manner in which the Lord dealt with our +enemies on that favor-dispensing day; but it may not be known to one so +remote from the stirring and daily transactions of Christendom, in what +manner the savage hath taken the chastisement. The restless and still +unconquered Conanchet hath deserted his towns and taken refuge in the open +woods; where it exceedeth the skill and usage of our civilized men of war, +to discover, at all times the position and force of their enemies. The +consequences may be easily conjectured. The savage hath broken in upon, +and laid waste, in whole or in part, firstly--Lancaster, on the tenth," +counting on his fingers, "when many were led into captivity; secondly, +Marlborough, on the twentieth; on the thirteenth, ultimo, Groton; Warwick, +on the seventeenth; and Rehoboth, Chelmsford, Andover, Weymouth, and +divers other places, have been greatly sufferers, between the latter +period and the day when I quitted the abode of his Honor. Pierce of +Scituate, a stout warrior, and one practised in the wiles of this nature +of warfare, hath been cut off with a whole company of followers; and +Wadsworth and Brockleband, men known and esteemed for courage and skill, +have left their bones in the woods, sleeping in common among their +luckless followers."</p> + +<p>"These are truly tidings to cause us to mourn over the abandoned condition +of our nature," said Content, in whose meek mind there was no affectation +of regrets on such a subject. "It is not easy to see in what manner the +evil may be arrested without again going forth to battle."</p> + +<p>"Such is the opinion of his Honor, and of all who sit with him in Council; +for we have sufficient knowledge of the proceedings of the enemy, to be +sure that the master-spirit of wickedness, in the person of him called +Philip, is raging up and down the whole extent of the borders, awakening +the tribes to what he calleth the necessity of resisting further +aggression, and stirring up their vengeance, by divers subtle expedients +of malicious cunning."</p> + +<p>"And what manner of proceeding hath been ordered, in so urgent a strait, +by the wisdom of our rulers?"</p> + +<p>"Firstly, there is a fast ordained, that we come to the duty as men +purified by mental struggle and deep self-examination; secondly, it is +recommended that the congregations deal with more than wonted severity +with all backsliders and evil-doers, in order that the towns may not +fall under the divine displeasure, as happened to them that dwelt in the +devoted cities of Canaan; thirdly, it is determined to lend our feeble +aid to the ordering of Providence, by calling forth the allotted number +of the trained bands; and, fourthly, it is contemplated to counteract +the seeds of vengeance, by setting a labor-earning price on the heads of +our enemies."</p> + +<p>"I accord with the three first of these expedients, as the known and +lawful resorts of Christian men," said Content. "But the latter seemeth a +measure that needeth to be entertained with great wariness of manner, and +some distrust of purpose."</p> + +<p>"Fear not, since all suiting and economical discretion is active in the +minds of our rulers, who have pondered sagaciously on so grave a policy. +It is not intended to offer more than half the reward that is held forth +by our more wealthy and elder sister of the Bay; and there is some acute +question about the necessity of bidding at all for any of tender years. +And now, Captain Heathcote, with the good leave of so respectable a +subject, I will proceed to lay before you the details of the number and +the nature of the force that it is hoped you will lead in person in the +ensuing campaign."</p> + +<p>As the result of that which followed will be seen in the course of the +legend, it is not necessary to accompany the Messenger any further in his +communication. We shall therefore leave him and Content busied with the +matter of their conference, and proceed to give some account of the other +personages connected with our subject.</p> + +<p>When interrupted, as already related, by the arrival of the stranger, +Faith had endeavored, by a new expedient, to elicit some evidences of a +more just remembrance from the dull mind of her brother. Accompanied by +most of the dependants of the family, she had led him to the summit of +that hill which was now crowned with the foliage of a young and thrifty +orchard, and, placing him at the foot of the ruin, she tried to excite a +train of recollections that should lead to deeper impressions, and, +possibly, by their aid, to a discovery of the important circumstance that +all so much longed to have explained.</p> + +<p>The experiment produced no happy result. The place, and indeed the whole +valley, had undergone so great a change, that one more liberally gifted +might have hesitated to believe them those that have been described in +our earlier pages. This rapid alteration of objects, which elsewhere know +so little change in a long course of ages, is a fact familiar to all who +reside in the newer districts of the Union. It is caused by the rapid +improvements that are made in the first stages of a settlement. To fell +the forest alone, is to give an entirely new aspect to the view; and it +is far from easy to see in a village and in cultivated fields, however +recent the existence of the one or imperfect the other, any traces of a +spot that a short time before was known is the haunt of the wolf or the +refuge of the deer.</p> + +<p>The features, and more particularly the eye of his sister, had stirred +long-dormant recollections in the mind of Whittal Ring; and though these +glimpses of the past were detached and indistinct, they had sufficed to +quicken that ancient confidence which was partially exhibited in their +opening conference. But it exceeded his feeble powers to recall objects +that would appeal to no very lively sympathies, and which had themselves +undergone so material alterations. Still, the witless youth did not look +on the ruin entirely without some stirrings of his nature. Although the +sward around its base was lively in the brightest verdure of early +summer, and the delicious odor of the wild clover saluted his senses, +still there was that in the blackened and ragged walls, the position of +the tower, and the view of the surrounding hills, shorn as so much of +them now were, that evidently spoke to his earliest impressions. He +looked at the spot, as a hound gazes at a master who has been so long +lost as even to deaden his instinct; and at times, as his companions +endeavored to aid his faint images, it would seem as if memory were +likely to triumph, and all those deceptive opinions, which habit and +Indian wiles had drawn over his dull mind, were about to vanish before +the light of reality. But the allurements of a life in which there was so +much of the freedom of nature mingled with the fascinating pleasures of +the chase and of the woods, were not to be dispossessed so readily. When +Faith artfully led him back to those animal enjoyments of which he had +been so fond in boyhood, the fantasy of her brother seemed most to waver; +but whenever it became apparent that the dignity of a warrior, and all +the more recent and far more alluring delights of his later life, were to +be abandoned ere his being could return into its former existence, his +dull faculties obstinately refused to lend themselves to a change that, +in his case, would have been little short of that attributed to the +transmigration of souls.</p> + +<p>After an hour of anxious, and frequently, on the part of Faith, of angry +efforts to extract some evidences of his recollection of the condition of +life to which he had once belonged, the attempt for the moment was +abandoned. At times, it seemed as if the woman were about to prevail. He +often called himself Whittal, but he continued to insist that he was also +Nipset, a man of the Narragansetts, who had a mother in his wigwam, and +who had reason to believe that he should be numbered among the warriors of +his tribe, ere the fall of another snow.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, a very different scene was passing at the place where +the first examination had been held, and which had been immediately +deserted by most of the spectators, on the sudden arrival of the +Messenger. But a solitary individual was seated at the spacious board, +which had been provided alike for those who owned and presided over the +estate, and for their dependants to the very meanest. The individual who +remained had thrown himself into a seat, less with the air of him who +consults the demands of appetite, than of one whose thoughts were so +engrossing as to render him indifferent to the situation or employment of +his more corporeal part. His head rested on his arms, the latter +effectually concealing the face, as they were spread over the plain but +exquisitely neat table of cherry-wood, which, by being placed at the side +of one of less costly material, was intended to form the only distinction +between the guests, as, in more ancient times and in other countries, the +salt was known to mark the difference in rank among those who partook of +the same feast.</p> + +<p>"Mark," said a timid voice at his elbow, "thou art weary with this +night-watching, and with the scouting on the hills. Dost not think of +taking food before seeking thy rest?"</p> + +<p>"I sleep not," returned the youth, raising his head, and gently pushing +aside the basin of simple food that was offered by one whose eye looked +feelingly on his flushed features, and whose suffused cheek perhaps +betrayed there was secret consciousness that the glance was kinder than +maiden diffidence should allow. "I sleep not, Martha, nor doth it seem to +me, that I shall ever sleep again."</p> + +<p>"Thou frightest me by this wild and unhappy eye. Hast suffered aught in +the march on the mountains?"</p> + +<p>"Dost think one of my years and strength unable to bear the weariness of a +few hours' watching in the forest? The body is well, but the mind endureth +grievously."</p> + +<p>"And wilt not say what causeth this vexation? Thou knowest, Mark, that +there are none in this dwelling--nay, I am certain, I might add in this +valley, that do not wish thee happiness."</p> + +<p>"'Tis kind to say it, good Martha--but, thou never hadst a sister!"</p> + +<p>"'Tis true, I am all of my race; and yet to me it seemeth that no tie of +blood could have been nearer than the love I bore to her who is lost."</p> + +<p>"Nor mother! Thou never knew'st what 'tis to reverence a parent."</p> + +<p>"And is not thy mother mine?" answered a voice that was deeply melancholy, +and yet so soft that it caused the young man to gaze intently at his +companion, for a moment, ere he again spoke.</p> + +<p>"True, true," he said hurriedly. "Thou must and dost love her who hath +nursed thy infancy, and brought thee, with care and tenderness, to so fair +and happy a womanhood." The eye of Martha grew brighter, and the color of +her healthful cheek deepened, as Mark unconsciously uttered this +commendation of her appearance; but as she shrunk, with female +sensitiveness, from his observation, the change was unnoticed, and he +continued: "Thou seest that my mother is drooping, hourly, under this +sorrow for our little Ruth; and who can say what may be the end of a grief +that endureth so long?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis true that there hath been reason to fear much in her behalf; but, of +late, hope hath gotten the better of apprehension. Thou dost not well, +nay, I am not assured thou dost not evil, to permit this discontent with +Providence, because thy mother yieldeth to a little more than her usual +mourning, on account of the unexpected return of one so nearly connected +with her that we have lost."</p> + +<p>"'Tis not that, girl--'tis not that!"</p> + +<p>"If thou refusest to say what 'tis that giveth thee this pain, I can do +little more than pity."</p> + +<p>"Listen, and I will say. It is now many years, as thou knowest, since the +savage Mohawk, or Narragansett, Pequot, or Wampanoag, broke in upon our +settlement, and did his vengeance. We were then children, Martha; and 'tis +as a child, that I have thought of that merciless burning. Our little Ruth +was, like thyself, a blooming infant of some seven or eight years; and, I +know not how the folly hath beset me, but it hath been ever as one of that +innocence and age, that I have continued to think of my sister."</p> + +<p>"Surely thou knowest that time cannot stay; the greater therefore is the +reason that we should be industrious to improve--"</p> + +<p>"'Tis what our duty teacheth. I tell thee, Martha, that at night, when +dreams come over me, as they sometimes will, and I see our Ruth wandering +in the forest, it is as a playful, laughing child, such as we knew her; +and even while waking, do I fancy my sister at my knee, as she was wont to +stand when listening to those idle tales with which we lightened our +childhood."</p> + +<p>"But we had our birth in the same year and month--dost think of me too, +Mark, as one of that childish age?"</p> + +<p>"Of thee! That cannot well be. Do I not see that thou art grown into the +condition of a woman, that thy little tresses of brown have become the +jet-black and flowing hair that becomes thy years, and that thou hast the +stature, and, I say it not in idleness of speech, Martha, for thou knowest +my tongue is no vain flatterer, but do I not see that thou hast grown into +all the excellence of a most comely maiden? But 'tis not thus, or rather +'twas not thus, with her we mourn; for till this hour have I ever pictured +my sister the little innocent we sported with, that gloomy night she was +snatched from our arms by the cruelty of the savage."</p> + +<p>"And what hath changed this pleasing image of our Ruth?" asked his +companion, half-covering her face to conceal the still deeper glow of +female gratification which had been kindled by the words just heard. "I +often think of her as thou hast described, nor do I now see why we may not +still believe her, if she yet live, all that we could desire to see."</p> + +<p>"That cannot be--The delusion is gone, and in its place a frightful truth +has visited me. Here is Whittal Ring, whom we lost a boy; thou seest he is +returned a man, and a savage! No, no; my sister is no longer the child I +loved to think her, but one grown into the estate of womanhood."</p> + +<p>"Thou thinkest of her unkindly, while thou thinkest of others far less +endowed by nature with too much indulgence; for thou rememberest, Mark, +she was ever of more pleasing aspect than any that we knew."</p> + +<p>"I know not that--I say not that--I think not that. But be she what +hardships and exposure may have made her, still must Ruth Heathcote be far +too good for an Indian wigwam. Oh! 'tis horrible to believe that she is +the bond-woman, the servitor, the wife of a savage!"</p> + +<p>Martha recoiled, and an entire minute passed, during which she made no +reply. It was evident that the revolting idea for the first time crossed +her mind, and all the natural feelings of gratified and maiden pride +vanished before the genuine and pure sympathies of a female bosom.</p> + +<p>"This cannot be," she at length murmured--"it can never be! Our Ruth +must still remember the lessons taught her in infancy. She knoweth she +is born of Christian lineage! of reputable name! of exalted hope! of +glorious promise!"</p> + +<p>"Thou seest by the manner of Whittal, who is of greater age, how little of +that taught, can withstand the wily savage."</p> + +<p>"But Whittal faileth of Nature's gifts; he hath ever been below the rest +of men in understanding."</p> + +<p>"And yet to what degree of Indian cunning hath he already attained!"</p> + +<p>"But Mark," rejoined his companion, timidly, as if, while she felt all its +force, she only consented to urge the argument in tenderness to the +harassed feelings of the brother, "we are of equal years; that which hath +happened to me, may well have been the fortune of our Ruth."</p> + +<p>"Dost mean that being unespoused thyself, or that having, at thy years, +inclinations that are free, my sister may have escaped the bitter curse of +being the wife of a Narragansett, or what is not less frightful, the slave +of his humors?"</p> + +<p>"Truly, I mean little else than the former."</p> + +<p>"And not the latter," continued the young man, with a quickness that +showed some sudden revolution in his thoughts. "But though with opinions +that are decided, and with kindness awakened in behalf of one favored, +thou hesitatest, Martha, it is not like that a girl left in the fetters of +savage life would so long pause to think. Even here in the settlements, +all are not difficult of judgment as thou!"</p> + +<p>The long lashes vibrated above the dark eyes of the maiden, and, for an +instant, it seemed as if she had no intention to reply. But looking +timidly aside, she answered in a voice so low, that her companion scarcely +gathered the meaning of that she uttered.</p> + +<p>"I know not how I may have earned this false character among my friends," +she said; "for to me it ever seemeth that what I feel and think is but too +easily known."</p> + +<p>"Then is the smart gallant from the Hartford town, who cometh and goeth so +often between this distant settlement and his father's house, better +assured of his success than I had thought. He will not journey the long +road much oftener, alone!"</p> + +<p>"I have angered thee, Mark, or thou wouldst not speak with so cold an eye, +to one who hath ever lived with thee in kindness."</p> + +<p>"I do not speak in anger, for 'twould be both unreasonable and unmanly to +deny all of thy sex right of choice; but yet it doth seem right, that, +when taste is suited and judgment appeased, there should be little motive +for withholding speech."</p> + +<p>"And wouldst thou have a maiden, of my years, in haste to believe that she +was sought, when haply it may be, that he of whom you speak is in quest of +thy society and friendship, rather than of my favor?" + +"Then might he spare much labor and some bodily suffering, unless he finds +great pleasure in the saddle; for I know not a youth in the Connecticut +Colony, for whom I have smaller esteem. Others may see matter of approval +in him, but, to me, he is of bold speech, ungainly air, and great +disagreeableness of discourse."</p> + +<p>"I am happy that at last we find ourselves of one mind; for that, thou +say'st of the youth, is much as I have long considered him."</p> + +<p>"Thou! Thou thinkest of the gallant thus! Then why dost listen to his +suit? I had believed thee a girl too honest, Martha, to affect such +niceties of deception. With this opinion of his character, why not refuse +his company?"</p> + +<p>"Can a maiden speak too hastily?"</p> + +<p>"And if here, and ready to ask thy favor, the answer would be----"</p> + +<p>"No!" said the girl, raising her eyes for an instant, and bashfully +meeting the eager look of her companion, though she uttered the +monosyllable firmly.</p> + +<p>Mark seemed bewildered. An entirely new and a novel idea took possession +of his brain. The change was apparent by his altering countenance and a +cheek that glowed like flame. What he might have said, most of our +readers over fifteen may presume; but, at that moment, the voices of +those who had accompanied Whittal to the ruin were heard on their return, +and Martha glided away so silently as to leave him for a moment ignorant +of her absence.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Oh! when amid the throngs of men<br /> +The heart grows sick of hollow mirth,<br /> +How willingly we turn us, then.<br /> +Away from this cold earth;<br /> +And look into thy azure breast,<br /> +For seats of innocence and rest!"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Bryant's <i>Skies</i></blockquote> + + +<p>The day was the Sabbath. This religious festival, which is even now +observed in most of the States of the Union with a strictness that is +little heeded in the rest of Christendom, was then reverenced with a +severity suited to the austere habits of the Colonists. The circumstance +that one should journey on such a day, had attracted the observation of +all in the hamlet; but, as the stranger had been seen to ride towards the +dwelling of the Heathcotes, and the times were known to teem with more +than ordinary interests to the Province, it was believed that he found his +justification in some apology of necessity. Still, none ventured forth to +inquire into the motive of this extraordinary visit. At the end of an +hour, the horseman was seen to depart as he had arrived, seemingly urged +on by the calls of some pressing emergency. He had in truth proceeded +further with his tidings, though the lawfulness of discharging even this +imperious duty on the Sabbath had been gravely considered in the Councils +of those who had sent him. Happily they had found, or thought they had +found, in some of the narratives of the sacred volume, a sufficient +precedent to bid their messenger proceed.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the unusual excitement, which had been so unexpectedly +awakened in the dwelling of the Heathcotes, began to subside in that quiet +which is in so beautiful accordance with the sacred character of the day. +The sun rose bright and cloudless above the hills, every vapor of the past +night melting before his genial warmth into the invisible element. The +valley then lay in that species of holy calm which conveys so sweet and so +forcible an appeal to the heart. The world presented a picture of the +glorious handywork of him who seems to invite the gratitude and adoration +of his creatures. To the mind yet untainted, there is exquisite loveliness +and even godlike repose in such a scene. The universal stillness permits +the softest natural sounds to be heard; and the buzz of the bee, or the +wing of the humming-bird, reaches the ear like the loud notes of a general +anthem. This temporary repose is full of meaning. It should teach how much +of the beauty of this world's enjoyments, how much of its peace, and even +how much of the comeliness of nature itself, is dependent on the spirit by +which we are actuated. When man reposes, all around him seems anxious to +contribute to his rest; and when he abandons the contentions of grosser +interests, to elevate his spirit, all living things appear to unite in +worship. Although this apparent sympathy of nature may be less true than +imaginative, its lesson is not destroyed, since it sufficiently shows that +what man chooses to consider good in this world is good, and that most of +its strife and deformities proceed from his own perversity.</p> + +<p>The tenants of the valley of the Wish-Ton-Wish were little wont to disturb +the quiet of the Sabbath. Their error lay in the other extreme, since they +impaired the charities of life by endeavoring to raise man altogether +above the weakness of his nature. They substituted the revolting aspect of +a sublimated austerity, for that gracious though regulated exterior, by +which all in the body may best illustrate their hopes or exhibit their +gratitude. The peculiar air of those of whom we write was generated by the +error of the times and of the country, though something of its singularly +rigid character might have been derived from the precepts and example of +the individual who had the direction of the spiritual interests of the +parish. As this person will have further connexion with the matter of the +legend, he shall be more familiarly introduced in its pages.</p> + +<p>The Reverend Meek Wolfe was, in spirit, a rare combination of the humblest +self-abasement and of fierce spiritual denunciation. Like so many others +of his sacred calling in the Colony he inhabited, he was not only the +descendant of a line of priests, but it was his greatest earthly hope that +he should also become the progenitor of a race in whom the ministry was to +be perpetuated as severely as if the regulated formula of the Mosaic +dispensation were still in existence. He had been educated in the infant +college of Harvard, an institution that the emigrants from England had the +wisdom and enterprise to found, within the first five-and-twenty years of +their colonial residence. Here this scion of so pious and orthodox a stock +had abundantly qualified himself for the intellectual warfare of his +future life, by regarding one set of opinions so steadily, as to leave +little reason to apprehend he would ever abandon the most trifling of the +outworks of his faith. No citadel ever presented a more hopeless curtain +to the besieger, than did the mind of this zealot to the efforts of +conviction; for on the side of his opponents, he contrived that every +avenue should be closed by a wall blank as indomitable obstinacy could +oppose. He appeared to think that all the minor conditions of argument and +reason had been disposed of by his ancestors, and that it only remained +for him to strengthen the many defences of his subject, and, now and then, +to scatter by a fierce sortie the doctrinal skirmishers who might +occasionally approach his parish. There was a remarkable singleness of +mind in this religionist, which, while it in some measure rendered even +his bigotry respectable, greatly aided in clearing the knotty subject, +with which he dealt, of much embarrassing matter. In his eyes, the strait +and narrow path would hold but few besides his own flock. He admitted some +fortuitous exceptions, in one or two of the nearest parishes, with whose +clergymen he was in the habit of exchanging pulpits; and perhaps, here and +there, in a saint of the other hemisphere, or of the more distant towns of +the Colonies, the brightness of whose faith was something aided, in his +eyes, by distance, as this opake globe of ours is thought to appear a ball +of light to those who inhabit its satellite. In short, there was an +admixture of seeming charity with an exclusiveness of hope, an unweariness +of exertion with a coolness of exterior, a disregard of self with the most +complaisant security, and an uncomplaining submission to temporal evils +with the loftiest spiritual pretensions, that in some measure rendered him +a man as difficult to comprehend as to describe.</p> + +<p>At an early hour in the forenoon, a little bell, that was suspended in an +awkward belfry perched on the roof of the meeting-house, began to summon +the congregation to the place of worship. The call was promptly obeyed, +and ere the first notes had reached the echoes of the hills, the wide and +grassy street was covered with family groups, all taking the same +direction. Foremost in each little party walked the austere father, +perhaps bearing on his arm a suckled infant, or some child yet too young +to sustain its own weight; while at a decent distance followed the equally +grave matron, casting oblique and severe glances at the little troop +around her, in whom acquired habits had yet some conquests to obtain over +the lighter impulses of vanity. Where there was no child to need support, +or where the mother chose to assume the office of bearing her infant in +person, the man was seen to carry one of the heavy muskets of the day; and +when his arms were otherwise employed, the stoutest of his boys served in +the capacity of armor-bearer. But in no instance was this needful +precaution neglected, the state of the Province and the character of the +enemy requiring that vigilance should mingle even with their devotions. +There was no loitering on the path, no light and worldly discourse by the +way, nor even any salutations, other than those grave and serious +recognitions by hat and eye, which usage tolerated as the utmost limit of +courtesy on the weekly festival.</p> + +<p>When the bell changed its tone, Meek appeared from the gate of the +fortified house, where he resided, in quality of castellan, on account of +its public character, its additional security, and the circumstance that +his studious habits, permitted him to discharge the trust with less waste +of manual labor than it would cost the village were the responsible +office confided to one of more active habits. His consort followed, but +at even a greater distance than that taken by the wives of other men, as +if she felt the awful necessity of averting even the remotest possibility +of scandal from one of so sacred a profession. Nine offspring of various +ages, and one female assistant, of years too tender to be a wife herself, +composed the household of the divine, and it was a proof of the +salubrious air of the valley that all were present, since nothing but +illness was ever deemed a sufficient excuse for absence from the common +worship. As this little flock issued from the palisadoes, a female, in +whose pale cheek the effects of recent illness might yet be traced, held +open the gate for the entrance of Reuben King, and a stout youth, who +bore the prolific consort of the former, with her bounteous gift, into +the citadel of the village; a place of refuge that nothing but the +undaunted resolution of the woman prevented her from occupying before, +since more than half of the children of the valley had first seen the +light within the security of its defences.</p> + +<p>The family of Meek preceded him into the temple, and when the feet of the +minister himself crossed its threshold, there was no human form visible +without its walls. The bell ceased its monotonous and mournful note, and +the tall, gaunt form of the divine moved through the narrow aisle to its +usual post, with the air of one who had already more than half rejected +the burthen of bodily encumbrance. A searching and stern glance was thrown +around, as if he possessed an instinctive power to detect all delinquents; +and then seating himself, the deep stillness, that always preceded the +exercises, reigned in the place.</p> + +<p>When the divine next showed his austere countenance to his expecting +people, its meaning was expressive rather of some matter of worldly +import, than of that absence of carnal interest with which he usually +strove to draw near to his Creator in prayer.</p> + +<p>"Captain Content Heathcote," he said with grave severity, after permitting +a short pause to awaken reverence, "there has one ridden through this +valley on the Lord's day, making thy habitation his halting-place. Hath +the traveller warranty for this disrespect of the Sabbath, and canst thou +find sufficient reason in his motive, for permitting the stranger within +thy gates to neglect the solemn ordinance delivered on the mount?"</p> + +<p>"He rideth on especial commission," answered</p> + +<p>Content, who had respectfully arisen, when thus addressed by name; "for +matter of grave interest to the well-being of the Colony is contained in +the subject of his errand."</p> + +<p>"There is nought more deeply connected with the well-being of man, whether +resident in this Colony or in more lofty empires, than reverence to God's +declared will," returned Meek, but half-appeased by the apology. "It would +have been expedient for one, who, in common, not only setteth so good an +example himself, but who is also charged with the mantle of authority, to +have looked with distrust into the pretences of a necessity that may be +only seeming."</p> + +<p>"The motive shall be declared to the people, at a fitting moment; but it +hath seemed more wise to retain the substance of the horseman's errand, +until worship hath been offered, without the alloy of temporal concerns."</p> + +<p>"Therein hast thou acted discreetly; for a divided mind giveth but little +joy above. I hope there is equal reason why all of thy household are not +with thee in the temple?"</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the usual self-command of Content, he did not revert to +this subject without emotion. Casting a subdued glance at the empty seat +where she whom he so much loved was wont to worship at his side, he said, +in a voice that evidently struggled to maintain its customary equanimity-- +"There has been powerful interest awakened beneath my roof this day; and +it may be that the duty of the Sabbath has been overlooked by minds so +exercised. If we have therein sinned, I hope he that looketh kindly on the +penitent will forgive! She of whom thou speakest, hath been shaken by the +violence of griefs renewed; though willing in spirit, a feeble and sinking +frame is not equal to support the fatigue of appearing here, even though +it be the house of God."</p> + +<p>This extraordinary exercise of pastoral authority was uninterrupted, +even by the breathings of the congregation. Any incident of an unusual +character had attraction for the inhabitants of a village so remote; but +here was deep, domestic interest, connected with breach of usage and +indeed of law and all heightened by that secret influence that leads us +to listen, with singular satisfaction, to those emotions in others, +which it is believed to be natural to wish to conceal. Not a syllable +that fell from the lips of the divine, or of Content, not a deep tone of +severity in the former, nor a struggling accent of the latter, escaped +the dullest ear in that assembly. Notwithstanding the grave and +regulated air that was common to all, it is needless to say there was +pleasure in the little interruption of this scene; which, however, was +far from being extraordinary in a community where it was not only +believed that spiritual authority might extend itself to the most +familiar practices, but where few domestic interests were deemed so +exclusive, or individual feelings considered so sacred, that a very +large proportion of the whole neighborhood might not claim a right to +participate largely in both. The Reverend Mr. Wolfe was appeased by the +explanation, and after allowing a sufficient time to elapse, in order +that the minds of the congregation should recover their tone, he +proceeded with the regular services of the morning.</p> + +<p>It is needless to recount the well-known manner of the religious exercises +of the Puritans. Enough of their forms and of their substance has been +transmitted to us, to render both manner and doctrine familiar to most of +our readers. We shall therefore confine our duty to a relation of such +portions of the ceremonies, if that which sedulously avoided every +appearance of form can thus be termed, as have an immediate connexion with +the incidents.</p> + +<p>The divine had gone through the short opening prayer, had read the passage +of holy writ, had given out the verses of the psalm, and had joined in the +strange nasal melody with which his flock endeavored to render it doubly +acceptable, and had ended his long and fervent wrestling of the spirit in +a colloquial petition of some forty minutes' duration; in which direct +allusion had been made not only to the subject of his recent examination, +but to divers other familiar interests of his parishioners; and all +without any departure from the usual zeal on his own part, or of the +customary attention and grave decorum on that of his people. But when, for +the second time, he arose to read another song of worship and +thanksgiving, a form was seen in the centre or principal aisle, that, as +well by its attire and aspect, as by the unusual and irreverent tardiness +of its appearance, attracted general observation. Interruptions of this +nature were unfrequent, and even the long practised and abstracted +minister paused, for an instant, ere he proceeded with the hymn, though +there was a suspicion current among the more instructed of his +parishioners, that the sonorous version was an effusion of his own muse.</p> + +<p>The intruder was Whittal Ring. The witless young man had strayed from the +abode of his sister, and found his way into that general receptacle, where +most of the village was congregated. During his former residence in the +valley, there had been no temple: and the edifice, its interior +arrangements, the faces of those it contained, and the business on which +they had assembled, appeared alike strangers to him. It was only when the +people lifted up their voices in the song of praise, that some glimmerings +of his ancient recollections were discoverable in his inactive +countenance. Then, indeed, he betrayed a portion of the delight which +powerful sounds can quicken, even in beings of his unhappy mental +construction. As he was satisfied, however, to remain in a retired part of +the aisle, listening with dull admiration, even the grave Ensign Dudley, +whose eye had once or twice seemed ominous of displeasure, saw no +necessity for interference.</p> + +<p>Meek had chosen for his text, on that day, a passage from the book of +Judges: "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord; and +the Lord delivered them into the hands of Midian seven years." With this +text the subtle-minded divine dealt powerfully, entering largely into the +mysterious and allegorical allusions then so much in vogue. In whatever +manner he viewed the subject, he found reason to liken the suffering, +bereaved and yet chosen dwellers of the Colonies, to the race of the +Hebrews. If they were not set apart and marked from all others of the +earth, in order that one mightier than man should spring from their loins, +they were led into that distant wilderness, far from the temptations of +licentious luxury, or the worldly-mindedness of those who built their +structure of faith on the sands of temporal honors, to preserve the word +in purity. As there appeared no reason on the part of the divine himself +to distrust this construction of the words he had quoted, so it was +evident that most of his listeners willingly lent their ears to so +soothing an argument.</p> + +<p>In reference to Midian, the preacher was far less explicit. That the great +father of evil was in some way intended by this allusion, could not be +doubted; but in what manner the chosen inhabitants of those regions were +to feel his malign influence, was matter of more uncertainty. At times, +the greedy ears of those who had long been wrought up into the impression +that visible manifestations of the anger or of the love of Providence +were daily presented to their eyes, were flattered with the stern joy of +believing that the war which then raged around them was intended to put +their moral armor to the proof, and that out of the triumph of their +victories were to flow honor and security to the church. Then came +ambiguous qualifications, which left it questionable whether a return of +the invisible powers, that had been known to be so busy in the Provinces, +were not the judgment intended. It is not to be supposed that Meek himself +had the clearest mental intelligence on a point of this subtlety, for +there was something of misty hallucination in the manner in which he +treated it, as will be seen by his closing words.</p> + +<p>"To imagine that Azazel regardeth the long suffering and stedfastness of a +chosen people with a pleasant eye," he said, "is to believe that the +marrow of righteousness can exist in the carrion of deceit. We have +already seen his envious spirit raging in many tragical instances. If +required to raise a warning beacon to your eyes, by which the presence of +this treacherous enemy might be known, I should say, in the words of one +learned and ingenious in this craftiness, that, 'when a person, having +full reason, doth knowingly and wittingly seek and obtain of the Devil, or +any other God besides the true God Jehovah, an ability to do or know +strange things, which he cannot by his own human abilities arrive unto,' +that then he may distrust his gifts and tremble for his soul. And, oh! my +brethren how many of ye cling at this very moment to those tragical +delusions, and worship the things of the world, instead of fattening on +the famine of the desert, which is the sustenance of them that would live +for ever! Lift your eyes upward, my brethren--"</p> + +<p>"Rather turn them to the earth!" interrupted a deep, authoritative voice +from the body of the church; "there is present need of all your faculties +to save life, and even to guard the tabernacle of the Lord!"</p> + +<p>Religious exercises composed the recreation of the dwellers in that +distant settlement. When they met in companies to lighten the load of +life, prayer and songs of praise were among the usual indulgences of the +entertainment. To them, a sermon was like a gay scenic exhibition in other +and vainer communities, and none listened to the word with cold and +inattentive ears. In literal obedience to the command of the preacher, and +sympathizing with his own action, every eye in the congregation had been +turned towards the naked rafters of the roof, when the unknown tones of +him who spoke broke the momentary delusion. It is needless to say that, by +a common movement, they sought an explanation of this extraordinary +appeal. The divine became mute, equally with wonder and with indignation.</p> + +<p>A first glance was enough to assure all present, that new and important +interests were likely to be awakened. A stranger of grave aspect, and of a +calm but understanding eye, stood at the side of Whittal Ring. His attire +was of the simple guise and homely materials of the country. Still he bore +about his person enough of the equipments of one familiar with the wars of +the eastern hemisphere, to strike the senses. His hand was armed with a +shining broadsword, such as were then used by the cavaliers of England, +and at his back was slung the short carabine of one who battled in the +saddle. His mien was dignified and even commanding, and there was no +second look necessary to show that he was an intruder of a character +altogether different from the moping innocent at his side.</p> + +<p>"Why is one of an unknown countenance come to disturb the worship of the +temple?" demanded Meek, when astonishment permitted utterance. "Thrice +hath this holy day been profaned by the foot of the stranger, and well may +it be doubted whether we live not under an evil agency."</p> + +<p>"Arm, men of the Wish-Ton-Wish! arm, and to your defences!"</p> + +<p>A cry arose without, that seemed to circle the whole valley; and then a +thousand whoops rolled out of the arches of the forest, and appeared to +meet in one hostile din above the devoted hamlet. Those were sounds that +had been too often heard, or too often described, not to be generally +understood. A scene of wild confusion followed.</p> + +<p>Each man, on entering the church, had deposited his arms at the door, +and thither most of the stout borderers were now seen hastening, to +resume their weapons. Women gathered their children to their sides, and +the wails of horror and alarm were beginning to break through the +restraints of habit.</p> + +<p>"Peace!" exclaimed the pastor, seemingly excited to a degree above +human emotion. "Ere we go forth, let there be a voice raised to our +heavenly Father. The asking shall be as a thousand men of war battling +in our behalf!"</p> + +<p>The commotion ceased as suddenly as if a mandate had been issued from +that place to which their petition was to be addressed. Even the +stranger, who had regarded the preparations with a stern but anxious eye, +bowed his head, and seemed to join in the prayer, with a devoted and +confiding heart.</p> + +<p>"Lord!" said Meek, stretching his meagre arms, with the palms of the hands +open, high above the heads of his flock, "at thy bidding, we go forth with +thy aid, the gates of hell shall not prevail against us; with thy mercy, +there is hope in heaven and on earth. It is for thy tabernacle that we +shed blood; it is for thy word that we contend Battle in our behalf, King +of Kings! send thy heavenly legions to our succor, that the song of +victory may be incense at thy altars, and a foul hearing to the ears of +the enemy--Amen."</p> + +<p>There was a depth in the voice of the speaker, a supernatural calmness in +the tones, and so great a confidence in the support of the mighty ally +implored, that the words went to every heart. It was impossible that +Nature should not be powerful within, but a high and exciting enthusiasm +began to lift the people far above its influence. Thus awakened by an +appeal to feelings that had never slumbered, and stimulated by all the +moving interests of life, the men of the valley poured out of the temple +in defence of person and fire-side, and, as they believed, of religion +and of God.</p> + +<p>There was pressing necessity, not only for this zeal, but for all the +physical energies of the stoutest of their numbers. The spectacle that met +the view, on issuing into the open air, was one that might have appalled +the hearts of warriors more practised, and have paralyzed the efforts of +men less susceptible to the impressions of a religious excitement.</p> + +<p>Dark forms were leaping through the fields, on the hill-sides; and all +adown the slopes that conducted to the valley, armed savages were seen +pouring madly forward, on their path of destruction and vengeance. Behind +them, the brand and the knife had been already used; for the log tenement, +the stacks and the out-buildings of Reuben Ring, and of several others who +dwelt in the skirts of the settlement, were sending forth clouds of murky +smoke, in which forked and angry flames were already flashing fiercely. +But danger most pressed still nearer. A long line of fierce warriors was +even in the meadows; and in no direction could the eye be turned, that it +did not meet with the appalling proof that the village was completely +surrounded by an overwhelming superiority of force.</p> + +<p>"To the garrison!" shouted some of the foremost of those who first saw the +nature and imminency of the danger, pressing forward themselves in the +direction of the fortified house. "To the garrison, or we are lost!"</p> + +<p>"Hold!" exclaimed that voice which was so strange to the ears of most of +those who heard it, but which spoke in a manner that by its compass and +firmness commanded obedience. "With this mad disorder, we are truly lost! +Let Captain Content Heathcote come to my councils."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the tumult and confusion which had now in truth begun to +rage fearfully around him, the quiet and self-restrained individual to +whom the legal and perhaps moral right to command belonged, had lost none +of his customary composure. It was plain, by the look of powerful +amazement with which he had at first regarded the stranger, on his sudden +interruption of the service, and by the glances of secret intelligence and +of recognition they exchanged, that they had met before. But this was no +time for greetings or explanations, nor was that a scene in which to waste +the precious moments in useless contests about opinions.</p> + +<p>"I am here," said he who was thus called for; "ready to lead whither thy +prudence and experience shall point the way."</p> + +<p>"Speak to the people, and separate the combatants in three bodies of equal +strength. One shall press forward to the meadows, and beat back the +savage, ere he encircle the palisadoed house; the second shall proceed +with the feeble and tender, in their flight to its covers; and with the +third--but thou knowest that which I would do with the third Hasten, or we +lose all by tardiness."</p> + +<p>It was perhaps fortunate that orders so necessary and so urgent were +given to one little accustomed to superfluity of speech. Without offering +either commendation or dissent, Content obeyed. Accustomed to his +authority, and conscious of the critical situation of all that was dear, +the men of the village yielded an obedience more prompt and effective than +it is usual to meet in soldiers who are not familiar with habits of +discipline. The fighting men were quickly separated in three bodies, +consisting of rather more than a score of combatants in each. One, +commanded by Eben Dudley, advanced at quick time towards the meadows in +the rear of the fortress, that the whooping body of savages, who were +already threatening to cut off the retreat of the women and children, +should be checked; while another departed in a nearly opposite direction, +taking the street of the hamlet, for the purpose of meeting those who +advanced by the southern entrance of the valley. The third and last of +these small but devoted bodies, remained stationary, in attendance for +more definite orders.</p> + +<p>At the moment when the first of these little divisions of force was ready +to move, the divine appeared in its front, with an air in which spiritual +reliance on the purposes of Providence, and some show of temporal +determination, were singularly united. In one hand he bore a Bible, which +he raised on high as the sacred standard of his followers, and in the +other he brandished a short broadsword, in a manner that proved there +might be danger in encountering its blade. The volume was open, and at +brief intervals the divine read, in high and excited voice, such passages +as accidentally met his eye, the leaves blowing about in a manner to +produce a rather remarkable admixture of doctrine and sentiment. But to +these trifling moral incongruities, both the pastor and his parishioners +were alike indifferent; their subtle mental exercises having given birth +to a tendency of aptly reconciling all seeming discrepancies, as well as +of accommodating the most abstruse doctrines to the more familiar +interests of life.</p> + +<p>"Israel and the Philistines had put their battle in array, army against +army," commenced Meek, as the troop he led began its advance. Then, +reading at short intervals, he continued, "Behold, I will do a thing in +Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall +tingle."--"Oh house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; he is thy help and thy +shield." "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man preserve me from the +violent man."--"Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into +the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not again."--"Let the wicked fall +into their own nets, whilst that I, withal, escape."--"Therefore doth my +father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it +again."--"He that hateth me, hateth my father also."--"Father, forgive +them, for they know not what they do."--"They have heard that it hath +been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."--"For Joshua drew +not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had +utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai------" Thus far the words of +Meek were intelligible to those who remained, but distance soon confounded +the syllables. Then nought was audible but the yells of the enemy, the +tramp of the men who pressed in the rear of the priest, with a display of +military pomp as formidable as their limited means would allow, and those +clear high tones, which sounded in the ears and quickened the blood at the +hearts of his followers, as though they had been trumpet-blasts. In a few +more minutes the little band was scattered behind the covers of the +fields, and the rattling of fire-arms succeeded to the quaint and +characteristic manner of their march.</p> + +<p>While this movement was made in front the party ordered to cover the +village was not idle, Commanded by a sturdy yeoman, who filled the office +of Lieutenant, it advanced with less of religious display, but with equal +activity, in the direction of the South; and the sounds of contention were +quickly heard, proclaiming both the urgency of the measure and the warmth +of the conflict.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, equal decision, though tempered by some circumstances of +deep personal interest, was displayed by those who had been left in front +of the church. As soon as the band of Meek had got to such a distance as +to promise security to those who followed, the stranger commanded the +children to be led towards the fortified house. This duty was performed by +the trembling mothers, who had been persuaded, with difficulty, to defer +it until cooler heads should pronounce that the proper moment had come. A +few of the women dispersed among the dwellings in quest of the infirm +while all the boys of proper age were actively employed in transporting +indispensable articles from the village, within the palisadoes. As these +several movements were simultaneous, but a very few minutes elapsed +between the time when the orders were issued and the moment when they were +accomplished.</p> + +<p>"I had intended that thou shouldst have had the charge in the meadows," +said the stranger to Content, when nought remained to be performed, but +that which had been reserved for the last of the three little bands of +fighting men. "But as the work proceedeth bravely in that quarter, we will +move in company. Why doth this maiden tarry?"</p> + +<p>"Truly I know not, unless it may be of fear. There is an opening for thy +passage into the fort, Martha, with others of thy sex."</p> + +<p>"I will follow the fighters that are about to march to the rescue of them +that remain in our habitation," said the girl, in a low but steady voice,</p> + +<p>"And how know'st thou that such is the service intended for those here +arrayed?" demanded the stranger, with a little show of displeasure that +his military purposes should have been anticipated.</p> + +<p>"I see it in the countenances of them that tarry," returned the other, +gazing furtively towards Mark who, posted in the little line, could with +difficulty brook a delay which threatened his father's house, and those +whom it held, with so much jeopardy.</p> + +<p>"Forward!" cried the stranger. "Here is no leisure for dispute. Let the +maiden take wisdom, and hasten to the fort. Follow, men stout of heart! or +we come too late to the succor."</p> + +<p>Martha waited until the party had advanced a few paces, and then, instead +of obeying the repeated mandate to consult her personal safety, she took +the direction of the armed band.</p> + +<p>"I fear me that 'twill exceed our strength," observed the stranger, who +marched in front at the side of Content, "to make good the dwelling, at so +great distance from further aid."</p> + +<p>"And yet the visitation will be heavy, that shall drive us for a second +time to the fields for a resting-place. In what manner didst get warning +of this inroad?"</p> + +<p>"The savages believed themselves concealed in the cunning place, where +thou know'st that my eye had opportunity to overlook their artifices There +is a Providence in our least seeming calculations: an imprisonment of +weary years hath its reward in this warning!"</p> + +<p>Content appeared to acquiesce, but the situation of affairs prevented the +discourse from becoming more minute.</p> + +<p>As they approached the dwelling of the Heathcotes, better opportunity of +observing the condition of things, in and around the house, was of course +obtained. The position of the building would have rendered any attempt, on +the part of those in it, to gain the fort ere the arrival of assistance, +desperately hazardous, since the meadows that lay between them were +already alive with the ferocious warriors of the enemy. But it was evident +that the Puritan, whose infirmities kept him within doors, entertained no +such design; for it was shortly apparent that those within were closing +and barring the windows of the habitation, and that other provisions for +defence were in the course of active preparation. The feelings of +Content, who knew that the house contained only his wife and father, with +one female assistant, were excited to agony, as the party he commanded +drew near on one side, at a distance about equal to that of a band of the +enemy, who were advancing diagonally from the woods, on the other. He saw +the efforts of those so dear to him, as they had recourse to the means of +security provided to repel the very danger which now threatened; and, to +his eyes, it appeared that the trembling hands of Ruth had lost their +power, when haste and confusion more than once defeated the object of her +exertions.</p> + +<p>"We must break and charge, or the savage will be too speedy!" he said, in +tones that grew thick from breathing quicker than was wont for one of his +calm temperament. "See! they enter the orchard! in another minute, they +will be masters of the dwelling!"</p> + +<p>But his companion marched with a firmer step and looked with a cooler +eye. There was, in his gaze, the understanding of a man practised in +scenes of sudden danger, and in his mien the authority of one accustomed +to command.</p> + +<p>"Fear not," he answered; "the art of old Mark Heathcote hath departed from +him, or he still knoweth how to make good his citadel against a first +onset. If we quit our order, the superiority of concert will be lost, and +being few in numbers, defeat will be certain; but with this front, and a +fitting steadiness, our march may not be repulsed. To thee, Captain +Content Heathcote, it need not be told, that he who now counsels hath seen +the strife of savages ere this hour."</p> + +<p>"I know it well--but dost not see my Ruth, laboring at the ill-fitted +shutter of the chamber? The woman will be slain, in her heedlessness--for, +hark! there beginneth the volley of the enemy!"</p> + +<p>"No, 'tis he who led my troop in a far different warfare!" exclaimed the +stranger, whose form grew more erect, and whose thoughtful and +deeply-furrowed features assumed something like the stern pleasure which +kindles in the soldier as the sounds of contention increase. "'Tis old +Mark Heathcote, true to his breeding and his name! he hath let off the +culverin upon the knaves! behold, they are already disposed to abandon +one who speaketh so boldly, and are breaking through the fences to the +left, that we may taste something of their quality. Now, bold Englishmen, +strong of hand and stout of heart, you have training in your duty, and +you shall not be wanting in example. You have wives and children at hand, +looking at your deeds; and there is one above, that taketh note of the +manner in which you serve in his cause. Here is an opening for your +skill; scourge the cannibals with the hand of death! On, on to the onset, +and to victory!"</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXIII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote><i>Hect</i>. Is this Achilles?<br /> +<i>Achil</i>. I am Achilles.<br /> +<i>Hect</i>. Stand fair, I pray thee--let me look on thee.</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Troilus and Cressida.</blockquote> + + +<p>It may now be necessary to take a rapid glance at the situation of the +whole combat, which had begun to thicken in different parts of the valley. +The party led by Dudley, and exhorted by Meek, had broken its order on +reaching the meadows behind the fort, and, seeking the covers of the +stumps and fences, it had thrown in its fire, with good effect, on the +irregular band that pressed into the fields. This decision quickly caused +a change in the manner of the advance. The Indians took to covers, in +their turn, and the struggle assumed that desultory but dangerous +character, in which the steadiness and resources of the individual are put +to the severest trial. Success appeared to vacillate; the white men at one +time widening the distance between them and their friends in the dwelling, +and, at another, falling back as if disposed to seek the shelter of the +palisadoes. Although numbers were greatly in favor of the Indians, weapons +and skill supported the cause of their adversaries. It was the evident +wish of the former to break in upon the little band that opposed their +progress to the village, in and about which they saw that scene of hurried +exertion which has already been described--a spectacle but little likely +to cool the furious ardor of an Indian onset. But the wary manner in which +Dudley conducted his battle, rendered this an experiment of exceeding +hazard. However heavy of intellect the Ensign might appear on other +occasions, the present was one every way adapted to draw out his best and +most manly qualities. Of large and powerful stature, he felt, in moments +of strife, a degree of confidence in himself, that was commensurate with +the amount of physical force he wielded. To this hardy assurance was to be +added no trifling portion of the sort of enthusiasm that can be awakened +in the most sluggish bosoms, and which, like the anger of an even-tempered +man, is only the more formidable from the usually quiet habits of the +individual. Nor was this the first, by many, of Ensign Dudley's warlike +deeds. Besides the desperate affair already related in these pages, he had +been engaged in divers hostile expeditions against the aborigines, and on +all occasions had he shown a cool head and a resolute mind.</p> + +<p>There was pressing necessity for both these essential qualities, in the +situation in which the Ensign now found himself. By properly extending his +little force, and yet keeping it at the same time perfectly within +supporting distance, by emulating the caution of his foes in consulting +the covers, and by reserving a portion of his fire throughout the broken +and yet well-ordered line, the savages were finally beaten back, from +stump to stump, from hillock to hillock, and fence to fence, until they +had fairly entered the margin of the forest. Further the experienced eye +of the borderer saw he could not follow. Many of his men were bleeding, +and growing weaker as their wounds still flowed. The protection of the +trees gave the enemy too great an advantage for their position to be +forced, and destruction would have been the inevitable consequence of the +close struggle which must have followed a charge. In this stage of the +combat, Dudley began to cast anxious and inquiring looks behind him. He +saw that support was not to be expected, and he also saw, with regret, +that many of the women and children were still busy, transporting +necessaries from the village into the fort. Falling back to a better line +of covers, and to a distance that materially lessened the danger of the +arrows, the weapons used by quite two-thirds of his enemies, he awaited, +in sullen silence, the proper moment to effect a further retreat.</p> + +<p>It was while the party of Dudley stood thus at bay, that a fierce yell +rung in the arches of the forest. It was an exclamation of pleasure, +uttered in the wild manner of those people; as if the tenants of the woods +were animated by some sudden and general impulse of joy. The crouching +yeomen regarded each other in uneasiness, but seeing no sign of wavering +in the steady mien of their leader, each man kept close, awaiting some +further exhibition of the devices of their foes. Ere another minute had +passed, two warriors appeared at the margin of the wood, where they stood +apparently in contemplation of the different scenes that were acting in +various parts of the valley. More than one musket was levelled with intent +to injure them, but a sign from Dudley prevented attempts that would most +probably have been frustrated by the never-slumbering vigilance of a North +American Indian.</p> + +<p>There was however something in the air and port of these two +individuals, that had its share in producing the forbearance of Dudley. +They were evidently both chiefs, and of far more than usual estimation. +As was common with the military leaders of the Indians, they were men +also of large and commanding stature. Viewed at the distance from which +they were seen, one seemed a warrior who had reached the meridian of his +days, while the other had the lighter step and more flexible movement of +a much briefer existence. Both were well armed, and, as was usual with +people of their origin on the war-path, they were clad only in the +customary scanty covering of waist-cloths and leggings. The former, +however, were of scarlet, and the latter were rich in the fringes and +bright colors of Indian ornaments. The elder of the two wore a gay belt +of wampum around his head, in the form of a turban; but the younger +appeared with a shaven crown, on which nothing but the customary +chivalrous scalp-lock was visible.</p> + +<p>The consultation, like most of the incidents that have been just related, +occupied but a very few minutes. The eldest of the chiefs issued some +orders. The mind of Dudley was anxiously endeavoring to anticipate their +nature, when the two disappeared together. The Ensign would now have been +left entirely to vague conjectures, had not the rapid execution of the +mandates that had been issued to the youngest of the Indians, soon left +him in no doubt of their intentions. Another loud and general shout drew +his attention towards the right; and when he had endeavored to strengthen +his position by calling three or four of the best marksmen to that end of +his little line, the youngest of the chiefs was seen bounding across the +meadow, leading a train of whooping followers to the covers that commanded +its opposite extremity. In short, the position of Dudley was completely +turned; and the stumps and angles of the fences, which secreted his men, +were likely to become of no further use. The emergency demanded decision. +Collecting his yeomen, ere the enemy had time to profit by his advantage, +the Ensign ordered a rapid retreat towards the fort. In this movement he +was favored by the formation of the ground, a circumstance that had been +well considered on the advance; and in a very few minutes, the party found +itself safely posted under the protection of a scattering fire from the +palisadoes, which immediately checked the pursuit of the whooping and +exulting foe. The wounded men, after a stern or rather sullen halt, that +was intended to exhibit the unconquerable determination of the whites, +withdrew into the works for succor, leaving the command of Dudley reduced +by nearly one-half of its numbers. With this diminished force, however, he +promptly turned his attention towards the assistance of those who combated +at the opposite extremity of the village.</p> + +<p>Allusion has already been made to the manner in which the houses of a new +settlement were clustered near each other, at the commencement of the +colonial establishments. In addition to the more obvious and sufficient +motive, which has given rise to the same inconvenient and unpicturesque +manner of building, over nine-tenths of the continent of Europe, there had +been found a religious inducement for the inconvenient custom. One of the +enactments of the Puritans said, that "no man shall set his +dwelling-house, above the distance of half-a-mile, or a mile at farthest, +from the meeting of the congregation where the church doth usually +assemble for the worship of God." "The support of the worship of God, in +church fellowship," was the reason alleged for this arbitrary provision of +the law; but it is quite probable that support against danger of a more +temporal character was another motive. There were those within the fort +who believed the smoking piles that were to be seen, here and there, in +the clearings on the hills, owed their destruction to a disregard of that +protection which was thought to be yielded to those who leaned with the +greatest confidence, even in the forms of earthly transactions, on the +sustaining power of an all-seeing and all-directing Providence. Among this +number was Reuben Ring, who submitted to the loss of his habitation, as to +a merited punishment for the light-mindedness that had tempted him to +erect a dwelling at the utmost limits of the prescribed distance.</p> + +<p>As the party of Dudley retreated, that sturdy yeoman stood at a window of +the chamber in which his prolific partner with her recent gift were safely +lodged, for in that moment of confusion, the husband was compelled to +discharge the double duty of sentinel and nurse. He had just fired his +piece and he had reason to think with success, on the enemies that pressed +too closely on the retiring party, and as he reloaded the gun, he turned a +melancholy eye on the pile of smoking embers, that now lay where his +humble but comfortable habitation had so lately stood.</p> + +<p>"I fear me, Abundance," he said, shaking his head with a sigh, "that there +was error in the measurement between the meeting and the clearing. Some +misgivings of the lawfulness of stretching the chain across the hollows, +came over me at the time; but the pleasant knoll, where the dwelling +stood, was so healthful and commodious, that, if it were a sin, I hope it +is one that is forgiven! There doth not seem so much as the meanest of its +logs, that is not now melted into white ashes by the fire!"</p> + +<p>"Raise me, husband," returned the wife, in the weak voice natural to her +feeble situation; "raise me with thine arm, that I may look upon the place +where my babes first saw the light."</p> + +<p>Her request was granted, and, for a minute, the woman gazed in mute grief +at the destruction of her comfortable home. Then, as a fresh yell from the +foe rose on the air without, she trembled, and turned with a mother's care +towards the unconscious beings that slumbered at her side.</p> + +<p>"Thy brother hath been driven by the heathen to the foot of the +palisadoes," observed the other, after regarding his companion with +manly kindness for a moment, "and he hath lessened his force by many +that are wounded."</p> + +<p>A short but eloquent pause succeeded. The woman turned her tearful face +upwards, and stretching out a bloodless hand, she answered--</p> + +<p>"I know what thou wouldst do--it is not meet that Sergeant Ring should +be a woman-tender, when the Indian enemy is in his neighbor's fields! Go +to thy duty, and that which is to be done, do manfully! and yet would I +have thee remember how many there are who lean upon thy life for a +father's care."</p> + +<p>The yeoman first cast a cautious look around him, for this the decent and +stern usages of the Puritans exacted, and perceiving that the girl who +occasionally entered to tend the sick was not present, he stooped, and +impressing his lips on the cheek of his wife, he threw a yearning look at +his offspring, shouldered his musket, and descended to the court.</p> + +<p>When Reuben Ring joined the party of Dudley, the latter had just issued an +order to march to the support of those who still stoutly defended the +southern entrance of the village. The labor of securing necessaries was +not yet ended, and it was on every account an object of the last +importance to make good the hamlet against the enemy. The task, however, +was not as difficult as the force of the Indians might, at first, have +given reason to believe. The conflict, by this time, had extended to the +party which was headed by Content, and, in consequence, the Indians were +compelled to contend with a divided force. The buildings themselves, with +the fences and out-houses, were so many breast-works, and it was plain +that the assailants acted with a caution and concert, that betrayed the +direction of some mind more highly gifted than those which ordinarily fall +to the lot of uncivilized men.</p> + +<p>The task of Dudley was not so difficult as before, since the enemy ceased +to press upon his march, preferring to watch the movements of those who +held the fortified house, of whose numbers they were ignorant, and of +whose attacks they were evidently jealous. As soon as the reinforcement +reached the Lieutenant who defended the village, he commanded the charge, +and his men advanced with shouts and clamor, some singing spiritual songs, +others lifting up their voice in prayer, while a few availed themselves of +the downright and perhaps equally effective means of raising sounds as +fearful as possible. The whole being backed by spirited and well-directed +discharges of musketry, the effort was successful. In a few minutes the +enemy fled, leaving that side of the valley momentarily free from danger.</p> + +<p>Pursuit would have been folly. After posting a few look-outs in secret and +safe positions among the houses, the whole party returned, with an +intention of cutting off the enemy who still held the meadows near the +garrison. In this design, however, their intentions were frustrated. The +instant they were pressed, the Indians gave way, evidently for the purpose +of gaining the protection of the woods; and when the whites returned to +their works, they were followed in a manner to show that they could make +no further movement without the hazard of a serious assault. In this +condition, the men in and about the fort were compelled to be inefficient +spectators of the scene that was taking place around the +"Heathcote-house," as the dwelling of old Mark was commonly called.</p> + +<p>The fortified building had been erected for the protection of the village +and its inhabitants, an object that its position rendered feasible; but it +could offer no aid to those who dwelt without the range of musketry. The +only piece of artillery belonging to the settlement, was the culverin +which had been discharged by the Puritan, and which served for the moment +to check the advance of his enemies. But the exclamations of the stranger, +and the appeal to his men, with which the last chapter closed, +sufficiently proclaimed that the attack was diverted from the house, and +that work of a bloody character now offered itself to those he and his +companion led.</p> + +<p>The ground around the dwelling of the Heathcotes admitted of closer and +more deadly conflict than that on which the other portions of the combat +had occurred. Time had given size to the orchards, and wealth had +multiplied and rendered more secure the inclosures and out-buildings. It +was in one of the former that the hostile parties met, and came to that +issue which the warlike stranger had foreseen.</p> + +<p>Content, like Dudley, caused his men to separate and they threw in their +fire with the same guarded reservation that had been practised by the +other party. Success again attended the efforts of discipline; the whites +gradually beating back their enemies, until there was a probability of +forcing them entirely into the open ground in their rear, a success that +would have been tantamount to a victory. But at this flattering moment, +yells were heard behind the leaping and whooping band, that was still seen +gliding through the openings of the smoke, resembling so many dark and +malignant spectres acting their evil rites. Then, as a chief with a +turbaned head, terrific voice, and commanding stature, appeared in their +front, the whole of the wavering line received an onward impulse. The +yells redoubled; another warrior was seen brandishing a tomahawk on one +flank, and the whole of the deep phalanx came rushing in upon the whites, +threatening to sweep them away, as the outbreaking torrent carries +desolation in its course.</p> + +<p>"Men to your square!" shouted the stranger, disregarding cover and +life, together, in such a pressing emergency; "to your square, +Christians and be firm!"</p> + +<p>The command was repeated by Content, and echoed from mouth to mouth. But +before those on the flanks could reach the centre, the shock had come. All +order being lost, the combat was hand to hand one party fighting fiercely +for victory, and the other knowing that they stood at the awful peril of +their lives. After the first discharge of the musket and the twang of the +bow, the struggle was maintained with knife and axe; the thrust of the +former, or the descent of the keen and glittering tomahawk, being answered +by sweeping and crushing blows of the musket's but, or by throttling +grasps of hands that were clenched in the death-gripe. Men fell on each +other in piles, and when the conqueror rose to shake off the bodies of +those who gasped at his feet, his frowning eye rested alike on friend and +enemy. The orchard rang with the yells of the Indians, but the Colonists +fought in mute despair. Sullen resolution only gave way with life; and it +happened more than once, that fearful day, that the usual reeking token of +an Indian triumph was swung before the stern and still conscious eyes of +the mangled victim from whose head it had been torn.</p> + +<p>In this frightful scene of slaughter and ferocity, the principal +personages of our legend were not idle. By a tacit but intelligent +understanding, the stranger with Content and his son placed themselves +back to back, and struggled manfully against their luckless fortune. The +former showed himself no soldier of parade; for, knowing the uselessness +of orders when each one fought for life, he dealt out powerful blows in +silence. His example was nobly emulated by Content; and young Mark moved +limb and muscle with the vigorous activity of his age. A first onset of +the enemy was repelled, and for a moment there was a faint prospect of +escape. At the suggestion of the stranger, the three moved, in their +order, towards the dwelling, with the intention of trusting to their +personal activity when released from the throng. But at this luckless +instant, when hope was beginning to assume the air of probability, a chief +came stalking through the horrible mêlée, seeking on each side some victim +for his uplifted axe. A crowd of the inferior herd pressed at his heels, +and a first glance told the assailed that the decisive moment had come.</p> + +<p>At the sight of so many of their hated enemies still living, and capable +of suffering, a common and triumphant shout burst from the lips of the +Indians. Their leader, like one superior to the more vulgar emotions of +his followers, alone approached in silence. As the band opened and divided +to encircle the victims, chance brought him, face to face, with Mark. Like +his foe, the Indian warrior was still in the freshness and vigor of young +manhood. In stature, years and agility, the antagonists seemed equal; and, +as the followers of the chief threw themselves on the stranger and +Content, like men who knew their leader needed no aid, there was every +appearance of a fierce and doubtful struggle. But, while neither of the +combatants showed any desire to avoid the contest, neither was in haste to +give the commencing blow. A painter, or rather sculptor, would have seized +the attitudes of these young combatants for a rich exhibition of the power +of his art.</p> + +<p>Mark, like most of his friends, had cast aside all superfluous vestments +ere he approached the scene of strife. The upper part of his body was +naked to the shirt, and even this had been torn asunder by the rude +encounters through which he had already passed. The whole of his full and +heaving chest was bare, exposing the white skin and blue veins of one +whose fathers had come from towards the rising sun. His swelling form +rested on a leg that seemed planted in defiance, while the other was +thrown in front, like a lever, to control the expected movements. His arms +were extended to the rear, the hands grasping the barrel of a musket, +which threatened death to all who should come within its sweep. The head, +covered with the short, curling, yellow hair of his Saxon lineage, was a +little advanced above the left shoulder, and seemed placed in a manner to +preserve the equipoise of the whole frame. The brow was flushed, the lips +compressed and resolute, the veins of the neck and temples swollen nearly +to bursting, and the eyes contracted, but of a gaze that bespoke equally +the feelings of desperate determination and of entranced surprise.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the Indian warrior was a man still more likely to be +remarked. The habits of his people had brought him, as usual, into the +field, with naked limbs and nearly uncovered body. The position of his +frame was that of one prepared to leap; and it would have been a +comparison tolerated by the license of poetry, to have likened his +straight and agile form to the semblance of a crouching panther. The +projecting leg sustained the body, bending under its load more with the +free play of muscle and sinew than from any weight, while the slightly +stooping head was a little advanced beyond the perpendicular. One hand was +clenched on the helve of an axe, that lay in a line with the right thigh +while the other was placed, with a firm gripe, on the buck-horn handle of +a knife, that was still sheathed at his girdle. The expression of the face +was earnest, severe, and perhaps a little fierce, and yet the whole was +tempered by the immovable and dignified calm of a chief of high qualities. +The eye, however, was gazing and riveted; and, like that of the youth +whose life he threatened, it appeared singularly contracted with wonder.</p> + +<p>The momentary pause that succeeded the movement by which the two +antagonists threw themselves into these fine attitudes, was full of +meaning. Neither spoke, neither permitted play of muscle, neither even +seemed to breathe. The delay was not like that of preparation, for each +stood ready for his deadly effort, nor would it have been possible to +trace in the compressed energy of the countenance of Mark, or in the lofty +and more practised bearing of the front and eye of the Indian, any thing +like wavering of purpose. An emotion foreign to the scene appeared to +possess them both, each active frame unconsciously accommodating itself to +the bloody business of the hour, while the inscrutable agency of the mind +held them, for a brief interval, in check.</p> + +<p>A yell of death from the mouth of a savage who was beaten to the very +feet of his chief by a blow of the stranger, and an encouraging shout +from the lips of the latter, broke the short trance. The knees of the +chief bent still lower, the head of the tomahawk was a little raised, the +blade of the knife was seen glittering from its sheath, and the but of +Mark's musket had receded to the utmost tension of his sinews, when a +shriek and a yell, different from any before heard that day, sounded +near. At the same moment, the blows of both the combatants were +suspended, though by the agency of very different degrees of force. Mark +felt the arms of one cast around his limbs, with a power sufficient to +embarrass, though not to subdue him, while the well-known voice of +Whittal Ring sounded in his ears--</p> + +<p>"Murder the lying and hungry Pale-faces! They leave us no food but air--no +drink but water!"</p> + +<p>On the other hand, when the chief turned in anger, to strike the daring +one who presumed to arrest his arm, he saw at his feet the kneeling +figure, the uplifted hands, and agonized features, of Martha. Averting the +blow that a follower already aimed at the life of the suppliant, he spoke +rapidly in his own language, and pointed to the struggling Mark. The +nearest Indians cast themselves on the already half-captured youth. A +whoop brought a hundred more to the spot, and then a calm as sudden, and +almost as fearful, as the previous tumult, prevailed in the orchard. It +was succeeded by the long-drawn, frightful, and yet meaning yell by which +the American warrior proclaims his victory.</p> + +<p>With the end of the tumult in the orchard, the sounds of strife ceased in +all the valley. Though conscious of the success of their enemies, the men +in the fort saw the certainty of destruction, not only to themselves, but +to those feeble ones whom they should be compelled to leave without a +sufficient defence, were they to attempt a sortie to that distance from +their works. They were therefore compelled to remain passive and grave +spectators of an evil they had not the means to avert.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXIV.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Were such things here, as we do speak about?<br /> +Or have we eaten of the insane root<br /> +That takes the reason prisoner?"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Macbeth.</blockquote> + + +<p>An hour later presented a different scene. Bands of the enemy, that in +civilized warfare would be called parties of observation, lingered in the +skirts of the forest nearest to the village; and the settlers still stood +to their arms, posted among the buildings, or maintaining their array at +the foot of the palisadoes. Though the toil of securing the valuables +continued, it was evident that, as the first terrors of alarm had +disappeared, the owners of the hamlet began to regain some assurance in +their ability to make it good against their enemies. Even the women were +now seen moving through its grassy street with greater seeming confidence, +and there was a regularity in the air of the armed men, which denoted a +determination that was calculated to impose on their wild and +undisciplined assailants.</p> + +<p>But the dwelling, the out-buildings, and all the implements of domestic +comfort, which had so lately contributed to the ease of the Heathcotes, +were completely in the possession of the Indians. The open shutters and +doors, the scattered and half-destroyed furniture, the air of devastation +and waste, and the general abandonment of all interest in the protection +of the property, proclaimed the licentious disorder of a successful +assault. Still the work of destruction and plunder did not go on. +Although here and there might be seen some warrior, decorated, according +to the humors of his savage taste, with the personal effects of the +former inmates of the building, every hand had been checked, and the +furious tempers of the conquerors had been quieted, seemingly by the +agency of some unseen and extraordinary authority. The men, who so lately +had been moved by the fiercest passions of our nature, were suddenly +restrained if not appeased; and, instead of that exulting indulgence of +vengeance which commonly accompanies an Indian triumph, the warriors +stalked about the buildings and through the adjacent grounds, in a +silence which, though gloomy and sullen, was marked by their +characteristic submission to events.</p> + +<p>The principal leaders of the inroad, and all the surviving sufferers by +the defeat, were assembled in the piazza of the dwelling. Ruth, pale, +sorrowing, and mourning for others rather than for herself, stood a little +apart, attended by Martha and the young assistant, whose luckless fortune +it was to be found at her post, on this eventful day. Content, the +stranger, and Mark, were near, subdued and bound, the sole survivors of +all that band they had so recently led into the conflict. The gray hairs +and bodily infirmities of the Puritan spared him the same degradation. The +only other being present, of European origin, was Whittal Ring. The +innocent stalked slowly among the prisoners, sometimes permitting ancient +recollections and sympathies to come over his dull intellect, but oftener +taunting the unfortunate with the injustice of their race, and with the +wrongs of his adopted people.</p> + +<p>The chiefs of the successful party stood in the centre, apparently engaged +in some grave deliberation. As they were few in number, it was evident +that the council only included men of the highest importance. Chiefs of +inferior rank, but of great names in the limited renown of those simple +tribes, conversed in knots among the trees, or paced the court at a +respectful distance from the consultation of their superiors.</p> + +<p>The least practised eye could not mistake the person of him on whom the +greatest weight of authority had fallen. The turbaned warrior, already +introduced in these pages, occupied the centre of the group, in the calm +and dignified attitude of an Indian who hearkens to or who utters advice. +His musket was borne by one who stood in waiting, while the knife and axe +were returned to his girdle He had thrown a light blanket, or it might be +better termed a robe of scarlet cloth, over his left shoulder, whence it +gracefully fell in folds, leaving the whole of the right arm free, and +most of his ample chest exposed to view. From beneath this mantle, blood +fell slowly in drops, dying the floor on which he stood. The countenance +of this warrior was grave, though there was a quickness in the movements +of an ever-restless eye, that denoted great mental activity, no less than +the disquiet of suspicion. One skilled in physiognomy might too have +thought, that a shade of suppressed discontent was struggling with the +self-command of habits that had become part of the nature of the +individual.</p> + +<p>The two companions nearest this chief were, like himself, men past the +middle age, and of mien and expression that were similar, though less +strikingly marked; neither showing those signs of displeasure, which +occasionally shot from organs that, in spite of a mind so trained and so +despotic, could not always restrain their glittering brightness. One was +speaking, and by his glance, it was evident that the subject of his +discourse was the fourth and last of their number, who had placed himself +in a position that prevented his being an auditor of what was said.</p> + +<p>In the person of the latter chief, the reader will recognise the youth who +had confronted Mark, and whose rapid movement on the flank of Dudley had +first driven the Colonists from the meadows. The eloquent expression of +limb, the tension of sinews, and the compression of muscles, as last +exhibited, were now gone. They had given place to the peculiar repose that +distinguishes the Indian warrior in his moments of inaction, quite as much +as it marks the manner of one schooled in the forms of more polished life. +With one hand he leaned lightly on a musket, while from the wrist of the +other, which hung loose at his side, depended, by a thong of deer's sinew, +a tomahawk from which fell drops of human blood. His person bore no other +covering than that in which he had fought, and, unlike his more aged +companion in authority, his body had escaped without a wound.</p> + +<p>In form and in features, this young warrior might be deemed a model of +the excellence of Indian manhood. The limbs were full, round, faultlessly +straight, and distinguished by an appearance of extreme activity, without +being equally remarkable for muscle. In the latter particular, in the +upright attitude, and in the distant and noble gaze which so often +elevated his front, there was a close affinity to the statue of the +Pythian Apollo; while in the full, though slightly effeminate chest, +there was an equal resemblance to that look of animal indulgence, which +is to be traced in the severe representations of Bacchus. This +resemblance however to a Deity that is little apt to awaken lofty +sentiments in the spectator, was not displeasing, since it in some +measure relieved the sternness of an eye that penetrated like the glance +of the eagle, and that might otherwise have left an impression of too +little sympathy with the familiar weaknesses of humanity. Still the young +chief was less to be remarked by this peculiar fullness of chest, the +fruit of intervals of inaction, constant indulgence of the first wants of +nature, and a total exemption from toil, than most of those, who either +counselled in secret near, or paced the grounds about the building. In +him, it was rather a point to be admired, than a blemish; for it seemed +to say, that notwithstanding the evidences of austerity which custom, and +perhaps character, as well as rank, had gathered in his air, there was a +heart beneath that might be touched by the charities of humanity. On the +present occasion, the glances of his roving eye, though searching and +full of meaning, were evidently weakened by an expression that betrayed a +strange and unwonted confusion of mind.</p> + +<p>The conference of the three was ended, and the warrior with a turbaned +head advanced towards his captives, with the step of a man whose mind had +come to a decision. As the dreaded chief drew near, Whittal retired, +stealing to the side of the younger warrior, in a manner that denoted +greater familiarity and perhaps greater confidence. A sudden thought +lighted the countenance of the latter. He led the innocent to the +extremity of the piazza, spoke low and earnestly, pointing to the forest, +and when he saw that his messenger was already crossing the fields, at the +top of his speed, he moved, with calm dignity, into the centre of the +group, taking his station so near his friend, that the folds of the +scarlet blanket brushed his elbows Until this movement, the silence was +not broken. When the great chief felt the passage of the other, he glanced +a look of hesitation at his friends, but resuming his former air of +composure, he spoke:</p> + +<p>"Man of many winters," he commenced, in an English that was quite +intelligible, while it betrayed a difficulty of speech we shall not +attempt imitating, "why hath the Great Spirit made thy race like hungry +wolves?--why hath a Pale-face the stomach of a buzzard, the throat of a +hound, and the heart of a deer? Thou hast seen many meltings of the snow: +thou rememberest the young tree a sapling. Tell me; why is the mind of a +Yengeese so big, that it must hold all that lies between the rising and +the setting sun? Speak, for we would know the reason, why arms so long are +found on so little bodies?"</p> + +<p>The events of that day had been of a nature to awaken all the latent +energies of the Puritan. He had lifted up his spirit, with the morning, +in the customary warmth with which he ever hailed the Sabbath; the +excitement of the assault had found him sustained above most earthly +calamities, and while it quickened feelings that can never become extinct +in one who has been familiar with martial usages, it left him, stern in +his manhood, and exalted in his sentiments of submission and endurance. +Under such influences, he answered with an austerity that equalled the +gravity of the Indian.</p> + +<p>"The Lord hath delivered us into the bonds of the heathen," he said, +"and yet his name shall be blessed beneath my roof! Out of evil shall +come good; and from this triumph of the ignorant shall proceed an +everlasting victory!"</p> + +<p>The chief gazed intently at the speaker, whose attenuated frame, venerable +face, and long locks, aided by the hectic of enthusiasm that played +beneath a glazed and deep-set eye, imparted a character that seemed to +rise superior to human weakness. Bending his head in superstitious +reverence, he turned gravely to those who, appearing to possess more of +the world in their natures, were more fitting subjects for the designs he +meditated.</p> + +<p>"The mind of my father is strong, but his body is like a branch of the +scorched hemlock!" was the pithy declaration with which he prefaced his +next remark. "Why is this?" he continued, looking severely at the three +who had so lately been opposed to him in deadly contest. "Here are men +with skins like the blossom of the dog-wood, and yet their hands are so +dark that I cannot see them!"</p> + +<p>"They have been blackened by toil, beneath a burning sun," returned +Content, who knew how to discourse in the figurative language of the +people in whose power he found himself. "We have labored, that our women +and children might eat."</p> + +<p>"No--the blood of red men hath changed their color."</p> + +<p>"We have taken up the hatchet, that the land which the Great Spirit hath +given might still be ours, and that our scalps might not be blown about in +the smoke of a wigwam. Would a Narragansett hide his arms, and tie up his +hands, with the war-whoop ringing in his ears?"</p> + +<p>When allusion was made to the ownership of the valley, the blood rushed +into the cheek of the warrior in such a flood, that it it deepened even +the natural swarthy hue; but, clenching the handle of his axe +convulsively, he continued to listen, like one accustomed to entire +self-command.</p> + +<p>"What a red man does may be seen," he answered, pointing with a grim smile +towards the orchard; exposing, by the movement of the blanket, as he +raised his arm, two of the reeking trophies of victory attached to his +belt. "Our ears are open very wide. We listen, to hear in what manner the +hunting-grounds of the Indian have become the plowed fields of the +Yengeese. Now let my wise men hearken, that they may grow more cunning, as +the snows settle on their heads. The pale-men have a secret to make the +black seem white!"</p> + +<p>"Narragansett----"</p> + +<p>"Wampanoag!" interrupted the chief, with the lofty air with which an +Indian identifies himself with the glory of his people--then glancing a +milder look at the young warrior at his elbow, he added, hastily, and in +the tone of a courtier: "'tis very good--Narragansett, or +Wampanoag--Wampanoag or Narragansett. The red men are brothers and +friends. They have broken down the fences between their hunting-grounds, +and they have cleared the paths, between their villages, of briars. What +have you to say to the Narragansett?--he has not yet shut his ear."</p> + +<p>"Wampanoag, if such be thy tribe," resumed Content, "thou shalt hear that +which my conscience teacheth is language to be uttered. The God of an +Englishman is the God of men of all ranks, and of all time." His listeners +shook their heads doubtingly, with the exception of the youngest chief, +whose eye never varied its direction while the other spoke, each word +appearing to enter deep within the recesses of his mind. "In defiance of +these signs of blasphemy, do I still proclaim the power of him I worship!" +Content continued; "My God is thy God; and he now looketh equally on the +deeds, and searcheth, with inscrutable knowledge, into, the hearts of +both. This earth is his footstool; yonder heaven his throne! I pretend not +to enter into his sacred mysteries, or to proclaim the reason why one-half +of his fair work hath been so long left in that slough of ignorance and +heathenish abomination in which my fathers found it; why these hills never +before echoed the songs of praise or why the valleys have been so long +mute. These are truths hid in the secret designs of his sacred purpose, +and they may not be known, until the last fulfilment. But a great and +righteous spirit hath led hither men, filled with the love of truth and +pregnant with the designs of a heavily-burthened faith, inasmuch as their +longings are for things pure, while the consciousness of their +transgressions bends them in deep humility to the dust. Thou bringest +against us the charge of coveting thy lands, and of bearing minds filled +with the corruption of riches This cometh of ignorance of that which hath +been abandoned, in order that the spirit of the godly might hold fast to +the truth. When the Yengeese came into this wilderness, he left behind him +all that can delight the eye, please the senses, and feed the longing of +the human heart, in the country of his fathers: for fair as is the work of +the Lord in other lands, there is none that is so excellent as that from +which these pilgrims in the wilderness have departed. In that favored +isle, the earth groaneth with the abundance of its products; the odors of +its sweet savors salute the nostrils, and the eye is never wearied in +gazing at its loveliness.--No: the men of the Pale-faces have deserted +home, and all that sweeteneth life, that they might serve God; and not at +the instigations of craving minds, or of evil vanities!"</p> + +<p>Content paused, for as he grew warm with the spirit by which he was +animated, he had insensibly strayed from the closer points of his subject. +His conquerors maintained the decorous gravity with which an Indian always +listens to the speech of another, until he had ended; and then the Great +Chief, or Wampanoag, as he had proclaimed himself to be, laid a finger +lightly on the shoulder of his prisoner, as he demanded--</p> + +<p>"Why have the people of the Yengeese lost themselves on a blind path? If +the country they have left is pleasant, cannot their God hear then from +the wigwams of their fathers? See--if our trees are but bushes, leave them +to the red man he will find room beneath their branches to lie in the +shade. If our rivers are small, it is because the Indians are little. If +the hills are low and the valleys narrow, the legs of my people are weary +with much hunting, and they will journey among them the easier. Now what +the Great Spirit hath made for a red man, a red man should keep. They +whose skins are like the light of the morning should go back towards the +rising sun, out of which they have come to do us wrong."</p> + +<p>The chief spoke calmly, but it was like a man much accustomed to deal in +the subtleties of controversy, according to the fashion of the people to +whom he belonged.</p> + +<p>"God hath otherwise decreed," said Content. "He hath led his servants +hither, that the incense of praise may arise from the wilderness."</p> + +<p>"Your Spirit is a wicked Spirit. Your ears have been cheated. The counsel +that told your young men to come so far, was not spoken in the voice of +the Manitou. It came from the tongue of one that loves to see game scarce, +and the squaws hungry. Go--you follow the mocker, or your hands would not +be so dark."</p> + +<p>"I know not what injury may have been done the Wampanoags, by men of +wicked minds, for some such there are, even in the dwellings of the +well-disposed; but wrong to any hath never come from those that dwell +within my doors. For these lands, a price hath been paid; and what is now +seen of abundance in the valley, hath been wrought by much labor. Thou art +a Wampanoag, and dost know that the hunting-grounds of thy tribe have been +held sacred by my people. Are not the fences standing, which their hands +placed, that not even the hoof of colt should trample the corn? and when +was it known that the Indian came for justice against the trespassing ox, +and did not find it?"</p> + +<p>"The moose doth not taste the grass at the root; he liveth on the tree! +He doth not stoop to feed on that which he treadeth under foot! Does the +hawk look for the musketoe? His eye is too big. He can see a bird. +Go--when the deer have been killed the Wampanoags will break down the +fence with their own hands. The arm of a hungry man is strong. A cunning +Pale-face hath made that fence--it shutteth out the colt, and it shutteth +in the Indian But the mind of a warrior is too big; it will not be kept +at grass with the ox."</p> + +<p>A low but expressive murmur of satisfaction from the mouths of his grim +companions, succeeded the reply of the chief.</p> + +<p>"The country of thy tribe is far distant," returned Content, "and I will +not lay untruth to my soul by presuming to say whether justice or +injustice hath been done them in the partition of the lands. But in this +valley hath wrong never been done to the red man. What Indian hath asked +for food and not got it? If he hath been a-thirst, the cider came at his +wish; if he hath been a-cold, there was a seat by the hearth; and yet hath +there been reason why the hatchet should be in my hand, and why my foot +should be on the war-path! For many seasons we lived on lands, which were +bought of both red and white man, in peace. But though the sun shone clear +so long, the clouds came at last. There was a dark night fell upon this +valley, Wampanoag, and death and the brand entered my dwelling, together. +Our young men were killed, and----our spirits were sorely tried."</p> + +<p>Content paused, for his voice became thick, and his eye had caught a +glimpse of the pale and drooping countenance of her who leaned on the arm +of the still excited and frowning Mark for support. The young chief +listened with a charmed ear. As Content had proceeded, his body was +inclined a little forward, and his whole attitude was that which men +unconsciously assume when intensely occupied in listening to sounds of the +deepest interest.</p> + +<p>"But the sun rose again!" said the great chief pointing at the evidences +of prosperity which were everywhere apparent in the settlement, casting at +the same time an uneasy and suspicious glance at his youngest companion. +"The morning was clear, though the night was so dark. The cunning of a +Pale-face knows how to make corn grow on a rock. The foolish Indian eats +roots, when crops fail and is scarce."</p> + +<p>"God ceased to be angry;" returned Content meekly, folding his arms in a +manner to show he wished to speak no more.</p> + +<p>The great chief was about to continue, when his younger associate laid a +finger on his naked shoulder, and, by a sign, indicated that he wished to +hold communication with him apart. The former met the request with +respect, though it might be discovered that he little liked the expression +of his companion's features, and that he yielded with reluctance, if not +with disgust. But the countenance of the youth was firm, and it would have +needed more than usual hardihood to refuse a request seconded by so steady +and so meaning an eye. The elder spoke to the warrior nearest his elbow, +addressing him by the name of Anna won, and then, by a gesture so natural +and so dignified that it might have graced the air of a courtier, he +announced his readiness to proceed. Notwithstanding the habitual reverence +of the aborigines for age, the others gave way for the passage of the +young man, in a manner to proclaim that merit or birth, or both, had +united to purchase for him a personal distinction, which far exceeded that +shown, in common, to men of his years. The two chiefs left the piazza in +the noiseless manner of the moccasoned foot.</p> + +<p>The passage of these dignified warriors towards the grounds in the rear of +the dwelling, as it was characteristic of their habits, is worthy of being +mentioned. Neither spoke, neither manifested any womanish impatience to +pry into the musings of the other's mind, and neither failed in those +slight but still sensible courtesies by which the path was rendered +commodious and the footing sure. They had reached the summit of the +elevation so often named, ere they believed themselves sufficiently +retired to indulge in a discourse which might otherwise have enlightened +profane ears. When beneath the shade of the fragrant orchard which grew on +the hill, the senior of the two stopped, and throwing about him one of +those quick, nearly imperceptible, and yet wary glances, by which an +Indian understands his precise position, as it were by instinct, he +commenced the dialogue. The discourse was in the dialect of their race, +but as it is not probable that many who read these pages would be much +enlightened were we to record it in the precise words in which it has been +transmitted to us, a translation into English, as freely as the subject +requires, and the geniuses of the two languages will admit, shall be +attempted.</p> + +<p>"What would my brother have?" commenced he with the turbaned head, +uttering the guttural sounds in the low, soothing tones of friendship, and +even of affection. "What troubles the Great Sachem of the Narragansetts? +His thoughts seem uneasy. I think there is more before his eye, than one +whose sight is getting dim can see. Doth he behold the spirit of the brave +Miantonimoh, who died, like a dog, beneath the blows of cowardly Pequots +and false-tongued Yengeese? Or does his heart swell, with longing, to see +the scalps of treacherous Pale-faces hanging at his belt? Speak, my son; +the hatchet hath long been buried in the path between our villages, and +thy words will enter the ears of friend."</p> + +<p>"I do not see the spirit of my father," returned the young Sachem; "he is +afar off, in the hunting-grounds of just warriors. My eyes are too weak to +look over so many mountains, and across so many rivers. He is chasing the +moose in grounds where there are no briars; he needeth not the sight of a +young man to tell him which way the trail leadeth. Why should I look at +the place where the Pequot and the Pale-face took his life? The fire which +scorched this hill hath blackened the spot, and I can no longer find the +marks of blood."</p> + +<p>"My son is very wise--cunning beyond his winters! That which hath been +once revenged, is forgotten. He looks no further than six moons. He sees +the warriors of the Yengeese coming into his village, murdering his old +women, and slaying the Narragansett girls; killing his warriors from +behind, and lighting their fires with the bones of red men. I will now +stop my ears, for the groans of the slaughtered make my soul feel weak."</p> + +<p>"Wampanoag," answered the other, with a fierce flashing of his eagle eye; +and laying his hand firmly on his breast, "the night the snows were red +with the blood of my people, is here! my mind is dark: none of my race +have since looked upon the place where the lodges of the Narragansetts +stood, and yet it hath never been hid from our sight. Since that time have +we travelled in the woods, bearing on our backs all that is left but our +sorrow; that we carry in our hearts."</p> + +<p>"Why is my brother troubled? There are many scalps among his people, and +see, his own tomahawk is very red! Let him quiet his anger till the night +cometh, and there will be a deeper stain on the axe. I know he is in a +hurry, but our councils say it is better to wait for darkness, since the +cunning of the Pale-faces is too strong for the hands of our young men."</p> + +<p>"When was a Narragansett slow to leap, after the whoop was given; or +unwilling to stay, when men of gray heads say 'tis better? I like your +counsel; it is full of wisdom. Yet an Indian is but a man! Can he fight +with the God of the Yengeese? He is too weak. An Indian is but a man, +though his skin be red!"</p> + +<p>"I look into the clouds, at the trees, among the lodges," said the other, +affecting to gaze curiously at the different objects he named, "but I +cannot see the white Manitou. The pale-men were talking to him when we +raised the whoop in their fields, and yet he has not heard them. Go--my +son has struck their warriors with a strong hand; has he forgotten to +count how many dead lie among the trees with the sweet-smelling blossoms?"</p> + +<p>"Metacom," returned he who has been called the Sachem of the +Narragansetts, stepping cautiously nearer to his friend, and speaking +lower, as if he feared an invisible auditor; "thou hast put hate into the +bosoms of the red men, but canst thou make them more cunning than the +Spirits? Hate is very strong, but cunning hath a longer arm. See," he +added, raising the fingers of his two hands before the eyes of his +attentive companion, "ten snows have come and melted, since there stood a +lodge of the Pale-faces on this hill. Conanchet was then a boy. His hand +had struck nothing but deer. His heart was full of wishes. By day he +thought of Pequot scalps, at night he heard the dying words of +Miantonimoh. Though slain by cowardly Pequots and lying Yengeese, his +father came with the night into his wigwam, to talk to his son. 'Does the +child of so many great Sachems grow big?' would he say; 'is his arm +getting strong, his foot light, his eye quick, his heart valiant? Will +Conanchet be like his fathers?--when will the young Sachem of the +Narragansetts become a man?' Why should I tell my brother of these visits? +Metacom hath often seen the long line of Wampanoag Chiefs, in his sleep? +The brave Sachems sometimes enter into the heart of their son?"</p> + +<p>The lofty-minded, though wily Philip struck his hand heavily upon his +naked breast, as he answered--</p> + +<p>"They are always here. Metacom has no soul but the spirit of his fathers!"</p> + +<p>"When he was tired of silence, the murdered Miantonimoh spoke aloud," +continued Conanchet, after permitting the customary courteous pause to +succeed the emphatic words of his companion. "He bade his son arise, and +go among the Yengeese, that he might return with scalps to hang in his +wigwam; for the eyes of the dead chief liked not to see the place so +empty. The voice of Conanchet was then too feeble for the council-fire; he +said nothing--he went alone. An evil spirit gave him into the hands of the +Pale-faces. He was a captive many moons. They shut him in a cage, like a +tamed panther! It was here. The news of his ill-luck passed from the +mouths of the young men of the Yengeese, to the hunters; and from the +hunters it came to the ears of the Narragansetts. My people had lost their +Sachem, and they came to seek him. Metacom, the boy had felt the power of +the God of the Yengeese! His mind began to grow weak; he thought less of +revenge; the spirit of his father came no more at night. There was much +talking with the unknown God, and the words of his enemies were kind. He +hunted with them. When he met the trail of his warriors in the woods, his +mind was troubled, for he knew their errand. Still he saw his father's +spirit, and waited. The whoop was heard that night; many died, and the +Narragansetts took scalps. Thou seest this lodge of stone, over which fire +has passed. There was then a cunning place above, and in it the pale-men +went to fight for their lives. But the fire kindled, and then there was no +hope. The soul of Conanchet was moved at that sight, for there was much +honesty in them within. Though their skins were so white, they had not +slain his father. But the flames would not be spoken to, and the place +became like the coals of a deserted council-fire. All within were turned +to ashes. If the spirit of Miantonimoh rejoiced, it was well; but the soul +of his son was very heavy. The weakness was on him, and he no longer +thought of boasting of his deeds at the war-post."</p> + +<p>"That fire scorched the stain of blood from the Sachem's plain?"</p> + +<p>"It did. Since that time I have not seen the marks of my father's blood. +Gray heads and boys were in that fire, and when the timbers fell, +nothing was left but coals. Yet do they, who were in the blazing lodge, +stand there!"</p> + +<p>The attentive Metacom started, and glanced a hasty look at the ruin.</p> + +<p>"Does my son see spirits in the air?" he asked hastily.</p> + +<p>"No, they live; they are bound for the torments. In the white head, is he +who talked much with his God. The elder chief, who struck our young men so +hard, was then also a captive in this lodge. He who spoke, and she, who +seems even paler than her race, died that night; and yet are they now +here! Even the brave youth, that was so hard to conquer, looks like a boy +that was in the fire! The Yengeese deal with unknown Gods; they are too +cunning for an Indian!"</p> + +<p>Philip heard this strange tale, as a being educated in superstitious +legends would be apt to listen; and yet it was with a leaning to +incredulity, that was generated by his fierce and indomitable desire for +the destruction of the hated race. He had prevailed, in the councils of +his nation, over many similar signs of the supernatural agency that was +exercised in favor of his enemies, but never before had facts so imposing +come so directly and from so high a source before his mind. Even the proud +resolution and far-sighted wisdom of this sagacious chief were shaken by +such testimony, and there was a single moment when the idea of abandoning +a league that seemed desperate took possession of his brain. But true to +Himself and his cause, second thoughts and a firmer purpose restored his +resolution, though they could not remove the perplexity of his doubts.</p> + +<p>"What does Conanchet wish?" he said. "Twice have his warriors broke into +this valley, and twice have the tomahawks of his young men been redder +than the head of the woodpecker. The fire was not good fire; the tomahawk +will kill surer. Had not the voice of my brother said to his young men, +'let the scalps of the prisoners alone,' he could not now say 'yet do they +now stand here!'"</p> + +<p>"My mind is troubled, friend of my father. Let them be questioned, +artfully, that the truth be known."</p> + +<p>Metacom mused an instant; then smiling, in a friendly manner, on his young +and much moved companion, he made a sign to a youth who was straying about +the fields, to approach. This young warrior was made the bearer of an +order to lead the captives to the hill, after which the two chiefs stalked +to and fro in silence, each brooding over what had passed, in a humor that +was suited to his particular character and more familiar feelings.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXV.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>No wither'd witch shall here be seen,<br /> +No goblins lead their nightly crew;<br /> +The female fays shall haunt the green,<br /> +And dress thy grave with pearly dew.</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Collins.</blockquote> + + +<p>It is rare indeed that the philosophy of a dignified Indian is so far +disturbed, as to destroy the appearance of equanimity. When Content and +the family of the Heathcotes appeared on the hill, they found the chiefs +still pacing the orchard, with the outward composure of men unmoved, and +with the gravity that was suited to their rank. Annawon, who had acted as +their conductor, caused the captives to be placed in a row, choosing the +foot of the ruin for their position, and then he patiently awaited the +moment when his superiors might be pleased to renew the examination. In +this habitual silence, there was nothing of the abject air of Asiatic +deference. It proceeded from the habit of self-command, which taught the +Indian to repress all natural emotions. A very similar effect was produced +by the religious abasement of those whom fortune had now thrown into their +power. It would have been a curious study, for one interested in the +manners of the human species, to note the difference between the calm, +physical, and perfect self-possession of the wild tenants of the forest, +and the ascetic, spiritually sustained, and yet meek submission to +Providence, that was exhibited by most of the prisoners. We say of most, +for there was an exception. The brow of young Mark still retained its +frown, and the angry character of his eye was only lost, when by chance +it lighted on the drooping form and pallid features of his mother. There +was ample time for these several and peculiar qualities to be thus +silently exhibited, many minutes passing before either of the Sachems +seemed inclined to re-commence the conference. At length Philip, or +Metacom, as we shall indifferently call him, drew near and spoke.</p> + +<p>"This earth is a good earth," he said; "it is of many colors, to please +the eyes of him who made it. In one part it is dark, and as the worm +taketh the color of the leaf on which he crawls, there the hunters are +black; in another part it is white, and that is the part where pale-men +were born, and where they should die; or they may miss the road which +leads to their happy hunting-grounds. Many just warriors, who have been +killed on distant war-paths, still wander in the woods, because the trail +is hid, and their sight dim. It is not good to trust so much to the +cunning of--"</p> + +<p>"Wretched and blind worshipper of Apollyon!" interrupted the Puritan, "we +are not of the idolatrous and foolish-minded! It hath been accorded to us +to know the Lord; to his chosen worshippers, all regions are alike. The +spirit can mount, equally, through snows and whirlwinds; the tempest and +the calm; from the lands of the sun, and the lands of frosts; from the +depths of the ocean, from fire, from the forest--"</p> + +<p>He was interrupted, in his turn. At the word fire, the finger of Metacom +fell meaningly on his shoulder; and when he had ceased, for until then no +Indian would have spoken, the other gravely asked--</p> + +<p>"And when a man of a pale skin hath gone up in the fire, can he again +walk upon earth? Is the river between this clearing and the pleasant +fields of a Yengeese so narrow, that the just men can step across it when +they please?"</p> + +<p>"This is the conceit of one wallowing in the slough of heathenish +abominations! Child of ignorance! know that the barriers which separate +heaven from earth are impassable; for what purified being could endure the +wickedness of the flesh?"</p> + +<p>"This is a lie of the false Pale-faces," said the wily Philip; "it is told +that the Indian might not learn their cunning, and become stronger than a +Yengeese. My father, and those with him, were once burnt in this lodge, +and now he standeth here, ready to take the tomahawk!"</p> + +<p>"To be angered at this blasphemy, would ill denote the pity that I feel," +said Mark, more excited at the charge of necromancy, than he was willing +to own; "and yet to-suffer so fatal an error to spread among these deluded +victims of Satan, would be neglect of duty. Thou hast heard some legend of +thy wild people, man of the Wampanoags, which may heap double perdition on +thy soul, lest thou shouldst happily be rescued from the fangs of the +deceiver. It is true, that I and mine were in exceeding jeopardy in this +tower, and that to the eyes of men without we seemed melted with the heat +of the flames; but the Lord put it into our spirits to seek refuge whither +fire could not come. The well was made the instrument of our safety, for +the fulfilment of his own inscrutable designs."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the long practised and exceeding subtlety of the +listeners, they heard this simple explanation of that which they had +deemed a miracle, with a wonder that could not readily be concealed. +Delight at the excellence of the artifice was evidently the first and +common emotion of them both; nor would they yield implicit faith, until +assured, beyond a doubt, that what they heard was true. The little iron +door, which had permitted access to the well, for the ordinary domestic +purposes of the family, was still there; and it was only after each had +cast a look down the deep shaft, that he appeared satisfied of the +practicability of the deed. Then a look of triumph gleamed in the swarthy +visage of Philip, while the features of his associate expressed equally +his satisfaction and his regret. They walked apart, musing on what they +had just seen and heard; and when they spoke, it was again in the language +of their people.</p> + +<p>"My son hath a tongue that cannot lie," observed Metacom, in a soothing, +flattering accent. "What he hath seen, he tells; and what he tells, is +true. Conanchet is not a boy, but a chief whose wisdom is gray, while his +limbs are young. Now, why shall not his people take the scalps of these +Yengeese, that they may never go any more into holes in the earth, like +cunning foxes?"</p> + +<p>"The Sachem hath a very bloody mind," returned the young chief, quicker +than was common for men of his station. "Let the arms of the warriors +rest, till they meet the armed hands of the Yengeese, or they will be too +tired to strike heavily. My young men have taken scalps, since the sun +came over the trees, and they are satisfied--Why does Metacom look so +hard? What does my father see?"</p> + +<p>"A dark spot in the middle of a white plain. The grass is not green; it is +red as blood. It is too dark for the blood of a Pale-face. It is the rich +blood of a great warrior. The rains cannot wash it out; it grows darker +every sun. The snows do not whiten it; it hath been there many winters. +The birds scream as they fly over it; the wolf howls; the lizards creep +another way."</p> + +<p>"Thine eyes are getting old; fire hath blackened the place, and what thou +seest is coal."</p> + +<p>"The fire was kindled in a well; it did not burn bright. What I see, +is blood."</p> + +<p>"Wampanoag," rejoined Conanchet, fiercely, "I have scorched the spot with +the lodges of the Yengeese. The grave of my father is covered with scalps +taken by the hand of his son--Why does Metacom look again? What does the +chief see?"</p> + +<p>"An Indian town burning in the midst of the snow; the young men struck +from behind; the girls screaming; the children broiling on coals, and +the old men dying like dogs! It is the village of the cowardly +Pequots--No, I see better; the Yengeese are in the country of the Great +Narragansett, and the brave Sachem is there, fighting! I shut my eyes, +for smoke blinds them!"</p> + +<p>Conanchet heard this allusion to the recent and deplorable fate of the +principal establishment of his tribe, in sullen silence; for the desire of +revenge, which had been so fearfully awakened, seemed now to be +slumbering, if it were not entirely quelled by the agency of some +mysterious and potent feeling. He rolled his eyes gloomily, from the +apparently abstracted countenance of his artful companion, to those of the +captives, whose fate only awaited his judgment, since the band which had +that morning broken in upon the Wish-Ton-Wish was, with but few +exceptions, composed of the surviving warriors of his own powerful nation. +But, while his look was displeased, faculties that were schooled so +highly, could not easily be mistaken, in what passed, even in the most +cursory manner, before his sight.</p> + +<p>"What sees my father, next?" he asked, with an interest he could not +control, detecting another change in the features of Metacom.</p> + +<p>"One who is neither white nor red. A young woman, that boundeth like a +skipping fawn; who hath lived in a wigwam, doing nothing; who speaks with +two tongues; who holds her hands before the eyes of a great warrior, till +he is blind as the owl in the sun--I see her--"</p> + +<p>Metacom paused, for at that moment a being that singularly resembled this +description appeared before him, offering the reality of the imaginary +picture he was drawing with so much irony and art.</p> + +<p>The movement of the timid hare is scarce more hurried, or more undecided, +than that of the creature who now suddenly presented herself to the +warriors. It was apparent, by the hesitating and half-retreating step that +succeeded the light bound with which she came in view, that she dreaded to +advance, while she knew not how far it might be proper to retire. For the +first moment, she stood in a suspended and doubting posture, such as one +might suppose a creature of mist would assume ere it vanished, and then +meeting the eye of Conanchet, the uplifted foot retouched the earth, and +her whole form sunk into the modest and shrinking attitude of an Indian +girl, who stood in the presence of a Sachem of her tribe. As this female +is to enact no mean part in that which follows, the reader may be thankful +for a more minute description of her person.</p> + +<p>The age of the stranger was under twenty. In form she rose above the usual +stature of an Indian maid, though the proportions of her person were as +light and buoyant as at all comported with the fullness that properly +belonged to her years. The limbs, seen below the folds of a short kirtle +of bright scarlet cloth, were just and tapering, even to the nicest +proportions of classic beauty; and never did foot of higher instep, and +softer roundness, grace a feathered moccason. Though the person, from the +neck to the knees, was hid by a tightly-fitting vest of calico and the +short kirtle named, enough of the shape was visible to betray outlines +that had never been injured, either by the mistaken devices of art or by +the baneful effects of toil. The skin was only visible at the hands, face, +and neck. Its lustre having been a little dimmed by exposure, a rich, rosy +tint had usurped the natural brightness of a complexion that had once +been fair even to brilliancy. The eye was full, sweet, and of a blue that +emulated the sky of evening; the brows, soft and arched; the nose, +straight, delicate, and slightly Grecian; the forehead, fuller than that +which properly belonged to a girl of the Narragansetts, but regular, +delicate, and polished; and the hair, instead of dropping in long straight +tresses of jet black, broke out of the restraints of a band of beaded +wampum, in ringlets of golden yellow.</p> + +<p>The peculiarities that distinguished this female from the others of her +tribe, were not confined alone to the indelible marks of nature. Her step +was more elastic; her gait more erect and graceful; her foot less inwardly +inclined, and her whole movements freer and more decided than those of a +race doomed from infancy to subjection and labor. Though ornamented by +some of the prized inventions of the hated race to which she evidently +owed her birth, she had the wild and timid look of those with whom she had +grown into womanhood. Her beauty would have been remarkable in any region +of the earth, while the play of muscle, the ingenuous beaming of the eye, +and the freedom of limb and action, were such as seldom pass beyond the +years of childhood, among people who, in attempting to improve, so often +mar the works of nature.</p> + +<p>Although the color of the eye was so very different from that which +generally belongs to one of Indian origin, the manner of its quick and +searching glance, and of the half-alarmed and yet understanding look with +which this extraordinary creature made herself mistress of the more +general character of the assemblage before which she had been summoned, +was like the half-instinctive knowledge of one accustomed to the constant +and keenest exercise of her faculties. Pointing with a finger towards +Whittal Ring, who stood a little in the background, a low, sweet voice was +heard asking, in the language of the Indians--</p> + +<p>"Why has Conanchet sent for his woman from the woods?"</p> + +<p>The young Sachem made no reply; an ordinary spectator could not have +detected about him even a consciousness of the speaker's presence. On the +contrary, he maintained the lofty reserve of a chief engaged in affairs of +moment. However deeply his thoughts might have been troubled, it was not +easy to trace any evidence of the state of his mind in the calmness of +features that appeared habitually immovable. For a single treacherous +instant, only, was a glance of kindness shot towards the timid and +attentive girl, and then throwing the still bloody tomahawk into the +hollow of one arm, while the hand of the other firmly grasped its handle, +he remained unchanged in feature, as he was rigid in limb. Not so, with +Philip. When the intruder first appeared, a dark and lowering gleam of +discontent gathered at his brow. It quickly changed to a look of sarcastic +and biting scorn.</p> + +<p>"Does my brother again wish to know what I see?" he demanded, when +sufficient time had passed, after the unanswered question of the female, +to show that his companion was not disposed to answer.</p> + +<p>"What does the Sachem of the Wampanoags now behold?" returned Conanchet, +proudly; unwilling to show that any circumstance had occurred to interrupt +the subject of their conference.</p> + +<p>"A sight that his eyes will not believe. He sees a great tribe on the +war-path. There are many braves, and a chief whose fathers came from the +clouds. Their hands are in the air; they strike heavy blows; the arrow is +swift, and the bullet is not seen to enter, but it kills. Blood runs from +the wounds that is of the color of water. Now he does not see, but he +hears! 'Tis the scalp-whoop, and the warriors are very glad. The chiefs in +the happy hunting-grounds are coming, with joy, to meet Indians that are +killed; for they know the scalp-whoop of their children."</p> + +<p>The expressive countenance of the young Sachem involuntarily responded to +this description of the scene through which he had just passed; and it was +impossible for one so tutored, to prevent the blood from rushing faster to +a heart that ever beat strongly with the wishes of a warrior.</p> + +<p>"What sees my father, next?" he asked, triumph insensibly stealing into +the tones of his voice.</p> + +<p>"A Messenger--and then he hears--the moccasons of squaws!"</p> + +<p>"Enough;--Metacom, the women of the Narragansetts have no lodges. Their +villages are in coals, and they follow the young men for food."</p> + +<p>"I see no deer. The hunter will not find venison in a clearing of the +Pale-faces. But the corn is full of milk; Conanchet is very hungry; he +hath sent for his woman, that he may eat!"</p> + +<p>The fingers of that hand, which grasped the handle of the tomahawk, +appeared to bury themselves in the wood; the glittering axe itself was +slightly raised; but the fierce gleaming of resentment subsided, as the +anger of the young Sachem vanished, and a dignified calm again settled on +his countenance.</p> + +<p>"Go, Wampanoag," he said, waving a hand proudly, as if determined to be no +longer harassed by the language of his wily associate. "My young men will +raise the whoop, when they hear my voice; and they will kill deer for +their women. Sachem, my mind is my own."</p> + +<p>Philip answered to the look which accompanied these words, with one that +threatened vengeance; but smothering his anger, with his accustomed +wisdom, he left the hill, assuming an air that affected more of +commiseration than of resentment.</p> + +<p>"Why has Conanchet sent for a woman from the woods?" repeated the same +soft voice, nearer to the elbow of the young Sachem, and which spoke with +less of the timidity of the sex, now that the troubled spirit of the +Indians of those regions had disappeared.</p> + +<p>"Narra-mattah, come near;" returned the young chief, changing the deep and +proud tones in which he had addressed his restless and bold companion in +arms, to those which better suited the gentle ear for which his words were +intended. "Fear not, daughter of the morning, for those around us are of a +race used to see women at the council-fires. Now look, with an open +eye--is there anything among these trees that seemeth like an ancient +tradition? Hast ever beheld such a valley, in thy dreams? Have yonder +Pale-faces, whom the tomahawks of my young men spared, been led before +thee by the Great Spirit, in the dark night?"</p> + +<p>The female listened, in deep attention. Her gaze was wild and uncertain, +and yet it was not absolutely without gleamings of a half-reviving +intelligence. Until that moment, she had been too much occupied in +conjecturing the subject of her visit, to regard the natural objects by +which she was surrounded: but with her attention thus directly turned upon +them, her organs of sight embraced each and all, with the discrimination +that is so remarkable in those whose faculties are quickened by danger and +necessity. Passing from side to side, her swift glances ran over the +distant hamlet, with its little fort; the buildings in the near grounds; +the soft and verdant fields; the fragrant orchard, beneath whose leafy +shades she stood, and the blackened tower, that rose in its centre, like +some gloomy memorial, placed there to remind the spectator not to trust +too fondly to the signs of peace and loveliness that reigned around. +Shaking back the ringlets that had blown about her temples, the wondering +female returned thoughtfully and in silence to her place.</p> + +<p>"'Tis a village of the Yengeese!" she said, after a long and expressive +pause. "A Narragansett woman does not love to look at the lodges of the +hated race."</p> + +<p>"Listen.--Lies have never entered the ears of Narra-mattah. My tongue hath +spoken like the tongue of a chief. Thou didst not come of the sumach, but +of the snow. This hand of thine is not like the hands of the women of my +tribe; it is little, for the Great Spirit did not make it for work; it is +of the color of the sky in the morning, for thy fathers were born near the +place where the sun rises. Thy blood is like spring-water. All this thou +knowest, for none have spoken false in thy ear. Speak--dost thou never see +the wigwam of thy father? Does not his voice whisper to thee, in the +language of his people?"</p> + +<p>The female stood in the attitude which a sibyl might be supposed to +assume, while listening to the occult mandates of the mysterious oracle, +every faculty entranced and attentive.</p> + +<p>"Why does Conanchet ask these questions of his wife? He knows what she +knows; he sees what she sees; his mind is her mind. If the Great Spirit +made her skin of a different color, he made her heart the same. +Narra-mattah will not listen to the lying language; she shuts her ears, +for there is deceit in its sounds. She tries to forget it. One tongue can +say all she wishes to speak to Conanchet; why should she look back in +dreams, when a great chief is her husband?"</p> + +<p>The eye of the warrior, as he looked upon the ingenuous and confiding face +of the speaker, was kind to fondness. The firmness had passed away and in +its place was left the winning softness of affection, which, as it belongs +to nature, is seen, at times, in the expression of an Indian's eye, as +strongly as it is ever known to sweeten the intercourse of a more polished +condition of life.</p> + +<p>"Girl," he said with emphasis, after a moment of thought, as if he would +recall her and himself to more important duties, "this is a war-path; all +on it are men. Thou wast like the pigeon before its wing opens, when I +brought thee from the nest; still the winds of many winters had blown upon +thee. Dost never think of the warmth and of the food of the lodge in which +thou hast past so many seasons?"</p> + +<p>"The wigwam of Conanchet is warm; no woman of the tribe hath as many furs +as Narra-mattah."</p> + +<p>"He is a great hunter! when they hear his moccason, the beavers lie down +to be killed! But the men of the Pale-faces hold the plow. Does not 'the +driven snow' think of those who fenced the wigwam of her father from the +cold, or of the manner in which the Yengeese live?"</p> + +<p>His youthful and attentive wife seemed to reflect; but raising her face, +with an expression of content that could not be counterfeited, she shook +her head in the negative.</p> + +<p>"Does she never see a fire kindled among the lodges, or hear the whoops of +warriors as they break into a settlement?"</p> + +<p>"Many fires have been kindled before her eyes. The ashes of the +Narragansett town are not yet cold."</p> + +<p>"Does not Narra-mattah hear her father speaking to the God of the +Yengeese? Listen--he is asking favor for his child!"</p> + +<p>"The Great Spirit of the Narragansett has ears for his people."</p> + +<p>"But I hear a softer voice! 'Tis a woman of the Pale-faces among her +children: cannot the daughter hear?"</p> + +<p>Narra-mattah, or 'the driven snow,' laid her hand lightly on the arm of +the chief, and she looked wistfully and long into his face, without an +answer. The gaze seemed to deprecate the anger that might be awakened by +what she was about to reveal.</p> + +<p>"Chief of my people," she said, encouraged by his still calm and gentle +brow, to proceed, "what a girl of the clearings sees in her dreams, shall +not be hid. It is not the lodges of her race, for the wigwam of her +husband is warmer. It is not the food and clothes of a cunning people, for +who is richer than the wife of a great chief? It is not her fathers +speaking to their Spirit, for there is none stronger than Manitou. +Narra-mattah has forgotten all: she does not wish to think of things like +these. She knows how to hate a hungry and craving race. But she sees one +that the wives of the Narragansetts do not see. She sees a woman with a +white skin; her eye looks softly on her child in her dreams; it is not an +eye, it is a tongue! It says, what does the wife of Conanchet wish?--is +she cold? here are furs--is she hungry? here is venison--is she tired? the +arms of the pale woman open, that an Indian girl may sleep. When there is +silence in the lodges, when Conanchet and his young men lie down, then +does this pale woman speak. Sachem, she does not talk of the battles of +her people, nor of the scalps that her warriors have taken, nor of the +manner in which the Pequots and Mohicans fear her tribe. She does not tell +how a young Narragansett should obey her husband, nor how the women must +keep food in the lodges for the hunters that are wearied; her tongue useth +strange words. It names a Mighty and Just Spirit it telleth of peace, and +not of war; it soundeth as one talking from the clouds; it is like the +falling of the water among rocks. Narra-mattah loves to listen, for the +words seem to her like the Wish-Ton-Wish, when he whistles in the woods."</p> + +<p>Conanchet had fastened a look of deep and affectionate interest on the +wild and sweet countenance of the being who stood before him. She had +spoken in that attitude of earnest and natural eloquence that no art can +equal; and when she ceased, he laid a hand, in kind but melancholy +fondness, on the half-inclined and motionless head, as he answered.</p> + +<p>"This is the bird of night, singing to its young! The Great Spirit of +thy fathers is angry, that thou livest in the lodge of a Narragansett. +His sight is too cunning to be cheated. He knows that the moccason, and +the wampum, and the robe of fur are liars; he sees the color of the +skin beneath."</p> + +<p>"Conanchet, no;" returned the female hurriedly, and with a decision her +timidity did not give reason to expect. "He seeth farther than the skin, +and knoweth the color of the mind. He hath forgotten that one of his girls +is missing."</p> + +<p>"It is not so. The eagle of my people was taken into the lodges of the +Pale-faces. He was young, and they taught him to sing with another tongue. +The colors of his feathers were changed, and they thought to cheat the +Manitou. But when the door was open, he spread his wings and flew back to +his nest. It is not so. What hath been done is good and what will be done +is better. Come; there is a straight path before us."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, Conanchet motioned to his wife to follow towards the group of +captives. The foregoing dialogue had occurred in a place where the two +parties were partially concealed from each other by the ruin; but as the +distance was so trifling, the Sachem and his companion were soon +confronted with those he sought. Leaving his wife a little without the +circle, Conanchet advanced, and taking the unresisting and +half-unconscious Ruth by the arm, he led her forward. He placed the two +females in attitudes where each might look the other full in the face. +Strong emotion struggled in a countenance which, in spite of its fierce +mask of war-paint, could not entirely conceal its workings.</p> + +<p>"See," he said in English, looking earnestly from one to the other. "The +Good Spirit is not ashamed of his work. What he hath done, he hath done; +Narragansett nor Yengeese can alter it. This is the white bird that came +from the sea," he added, touching the shoulder of Ruth lightly with a +finger, "and this the young, that she warmed under her wing."</p> + +<p>Then, folding his arms on his naked breast, he appeared to summon his +energy, lest, in the scene that he knew must follow, his manhood might be +betrayed into some act unworthy of his name.</p> + +<p>The captives were necessarily ignorant of the meaning of the scene which +they had just witnessed. So many strange and savage-looking forms were +constantly passing and repassing before their eyes, that the arrival of +one, more or less, was not likely to be noted. Until she heard Conanchet +speak in her native tongue, Ruth had lent no attention to the interview +between him and his wife. But the figurative language and no less +remarkable action of the Narragansett, had the effect to arouse her +suddenly, and in the most exciting manner, from her melancholy.</p> + +<p>No child of tender age ever unexpectedly came before the eyes of Ruth +Heathcote, without painfully recalling the image of the cherub she had +lost. The playful voice of infancy never surprised her ear, without the +sound conveying a pang to the heart; nor could allusion, ever so remote, +be made to persons or events that bore resemblance to the sad incidents +of her own life, without quickening the never-dying pulses of maternal +love. No wonder, then, that when she found herself in the situation and +under the circumstances described, nature grew strong within her, and that +her mind caught glimpses, however dim and indistinct they might be, of a +truth that the reader has already anticipated. Still, a certain and +intelligible clue was wanting. Fancy had ever painted her child in the +innocence and infancy in which it had been torn from her arms; and here, +while there was so much to correspond with reasonable expectation, there +was little to answer to the long and fondly-cherished picture. The +delusion, if so holy and natural a feeling may thus be termed, had been +too deeply seated to be dispossessed at a glance. Gazing long, earnestly, +and with features that varied with every changing feeling, she held the +stranger at the length of her two arms, alike unwilling to release her +hold, or to admit her closer to a heart which might rightfully be the +property of another.</p> + +<p>"Who art thou?" demanded the mother, in a voice that was tremulous with +the emotions of that sacred character. "Speak, mysterious and lovely +being--who art thou?"</p> + +<p>Narra-mattah had turned a terrified and imploring look at the immovable +and calm form of the chief, as if she sought protection from him at whose +hands she had been accustomed to receive it. But a different sensation +took possession of her mind, when she heard sounds which had too often +soothed the ear of infancy, ever to be forgotten. Struggling ceased, and +her pliant form assumed the attitude of intense and entranced attention. +Her head was bent aside, as if the ear were eager to drink in a repetition +of the tones, while her bewildered and delighted eye still sought the +countenance of her husband.</p> + +<p>"Vision of the woods!--wilt thou not answer?" continued Ruth. "If there +is reverence for the Holy One of Israel in thine heart, answer, that I may +know thee!"</p> + +<p>"Hist! Conanchet!" murmured the wife, over whose features the glow of +pleased and wild surprise continued to deepen. "Come near, Sachem, the +Spirit that talketh to Narra-mattah in her dreams, is nigh."</p> + +<p>"Woman of the Yengeese!" said the husband advancing with dignity to the +spot, "let the clouds blow from thy sight. Wife of a Narragansett! see +clearly. The Manitou of your race speaks strong. He telleth a mother to +know her child!"</p> + +<p>Ruth could hesitate no longer; neither sound nor exclamation escaped her, +but as she strained the yielding frame of her recovered daughter to her +heart, it appeared as if she strove to incorporate the two bodies into +one. A cry of pleasure and astonishment drew all around her. Then came the +evidence of the power of nature when strongly awakened. Age and youth +alike acknowledged its potency, and recent alarms were overlooked in the +pure joy of such a moment. The spirit of even the lofty-minded Conanchet +was shaken. Raising the hand, at whose wrist still hung the bloody +tomahawk, he veiled his face, and, turning aside, that none might see the +weakness of so great a warrior, he wept.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXVI.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"One sees more devils than vast hell can hold;<br /> +That is, the madman:--"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Midsummer-Night's Dream.</blockquote> + + +<p>On quitting the hill, Philip had summoned his Wampanoags, and, supported +by the obedient and fierce Annawon, a savage that might, under better +auspices, have proved a worthy lieutenant to Cæsar, he left the fields of +Wish-Ton-Wish. Accustomed to see these sudden outbreakings of temper in +their leaders, the followers of Conanchet, who would have preserved their +air of composure under far more trying circumstances, saw him depart, +equally without question and without alarm. But when their own Sachem +appeared on the ground which was still red with the blood of the +combatants, and made known his intention to abandon a conquest that seemed +more than half achieved, he was not heard without murmuring. The authority +of an Indian Chief is far from despotic, and though there is reason to +think it is often aided, if not generated, by the accidental causes of +birth and descent, it receives its main support in the personal qualities +of him who rules. Happily for the Narragansett leader, even his renowned +father, the hapless Miantonimoh, had not purchased a higher name for +wisdom, or for daring, than that which had been fairly won by his still +youthful son. The savage humors and the rankling desire for vengeance in +the boldest of his subalterns, were made to quail before the menacing +glances of an eye that seldom threatened without performance; nor was +there one of them all, when challenged to come forth to brave the anger +or to oppose the eloquence of his chief, who did not shrink from a contest +which habitual respect had taught them to believe would be far too unequal +for success. Within less than an hour after Ruth had clasped her child to +her bosom the invaders had altogether disappeared. The dead of their party +were withdrawn and concealed, with all the usual care, in order that no +scalp of a warrior might be left in the hands of his enemies.</p> + +<p>It was not unusual for the Indians to retire satisfied with the results of +their first blow. So much of their military success was dependent on +surprise, that it oftener happened the retreat commenced with its failure, +than that victory was obtained by perseverance.</p> + +<p>So long as the battle raged, their courage was equal to all its dangers; +but among people who made so great a merit of artifice, it is not at all +surprising that they seldom put more to the hazard than was justified by +the most severe discretion. When it was known, therefore, that the foe had +disappeared in the forest, the inhabitants of the village were more ready +to believe the movement was the result of their own manful resistance, +than to seek motives that might not prove so soothing to their +self-esteem. The retreat was thought to be quite in rule, and though +prudence forbade pursuit, able and well-limbed scouts were sent on their +trail, as well to prevent a renewal of the surprise, as to enable the +forces of the Colony to know the tribe of their enemies, and the direction +which they had taken.</p> + +<p>Then came a scene of solemn ceremonies and of deep affliction. Though the +parties led by Dudley and the Lieutenant had been so fortunate as to +escape with a few immaterial wounds, the soldiers headed by Content, with +the exception of those already named, had fallen to a man. Death had +struck, at a blow, twenty of the most efficient individuals, out of that +isolated and simple community. Under circumstances in which victory was so +barren and so dearly bought, sorrow was a feeling far stronger than +rejoicing. Exultation took the aspect of humility, and while men were +conscious of their well-deserving, they were the more sensible of their +dependence on a power they could neither influence nor comprehend. The +characteristic opinions of the religionists became still more exalted, and +the close of the day was quite as remarkable for an exhibition of the +peculiarly exaggerated impressions of the Colonists, as its opening had +been frightful in violence and blood.</p> + +<p>When one of the more active of the runners returned with the news that the +Indians had retired through the forest with a broad trail, a sure sign +that they meditated no further concealment near the valley, and that they +had already been traced many miles on their retreat, the villagers +returned to their usual habitations. The dead were then distributed among +those who claimed the nearest right to the performance of the last duties +of affection; and it might have been truly said, that mourning had taken +up its abode in nearly every dwelling. The ties of blood were so general +in a society thus limited, and, where they failed, the charities of life +were so intimate and so natural, that not an individual of them all +escaped, without feeling that the events of the day had robbed him, for +ever, of some one on whom he was partially dependent for comfort or +happiness.</p> + +<p>As the day drew towards its close, the little bell again summoned the +congregation to the church. On this solemn occasion, but few of those who +still lived to hear its sounds were absent. The moment when Meek arose for +prayer was one of general and intense feeling. The places so lately +occupied by those who had fallen were now empty, and they resembled so +many eloquent blanks in the description of what had passed, expressing far +more than any language could impart. The appeal of the divine was in his +usual strain of sublimated piety, mysterious insights into the hidden +purposes of Providence being strangely blended with the more intelligible +wants and passions of man. While he gave Heaven the glory of the victory, +he spoke with a lofty and pretending humility of the instruments of its +power; and although seemingly willing to acknowledge that his people +abundantly deserved the heavy blow which had alighted on them, there was +an evident impatience of the agents by which it had been inflicted. The +principles of the sectarian were so singularly qualified by the feelings +of the borderer, that one subtle in argument would have found little +difficulty in detecting flaws in the reasoning of this zealot; but as so +much was obscured by metaphysical mists, and so much was left for the +generalities of doctrine, his hearers, without an exception, made such an +application of what he uttered, as apparently rendered every mind +satisfied.</p> + +<p>The sermon was as extemporaneous as the prayer, if any thing can come +extempore from a mind so drilled and fortified in opinion. It contained +much the same matter, delivered a little less in the form of an +apostrophe. The stricken congregation, while they were encouraged with the +belief that they were vessels set apart for some great and glorious end of +Providence, were plainly told that they merited far heavier affliction +than this which had now befallen; and they were reminded that it was their +duty to desire even condemnation, that he who framed the heavens and the +earth might be glorified! Then they heard comfortable conclusions, which +might reasonably teach them to expect, that though in the abstract such +were the obligations of the real Christian, there was good reason to think +that all who listened to doctrines so pure would be remembered with an +especial favor.</p> + +<p>So useful a servant of the temple as Meek Wolfe did not forget the +practical application of his subject. It is true, that no visible emblem +of the cross was shown to excite his hearers, nor were they stimulated to +loosen blood-hounds on the trail of their enemies; but the former was kept +sufficiently before the mind's eye by constant allusions to its merits, +and the Indians were pointed at as the instruments by which the great +father of evil hoped to prevent 'the wilderness from blossoming like the +rose,' and 'yielding the sweet savors of godliness.' Philip and Conanchet +were openly denounced, by name; some dark insinuations being made, that +the person of the former was no more than the favorite tenement of Moloch; +while the hearer was left to devise a suitable spirit for the government +of the physical powers of the other, from among any of the more evil +agencies that were named in the Bible. Any doubts of the lawfulness of the +contest, that might assail tender consciences, were brushed away by a bold +and decided hand. There was no attempt at justification, however; for all +difficulties of this nature were resolved by the imperative obligations of +duty. A few ingenious allusions to the manner in which the Israelites +dispossessed the occupants of Judea, were of great service in this +particular part of the subject, since it was not difficult to convince +men, who so strongly felt the impulses of religious excitement, that they +were stimulated rightfully. Fortified by this advantage, Mr. Wolfe +manifested no desire to avoid the main question. He affirmed that if the +empire of the true faith could be established by no other means, a +circumstance which he assumed it was sufficiently apparent to all +understandings could not be done, he pronounced it the duty of young and +old, the weak and the strong, to unite in assisting to visit the former +possessors of the country with what he termed the wrath of an offended +Deity. He spoke of the fearful slaughter of the preceding winter, in which +neither years nor sex had been spared, as a triumph of the righteous +cause, and as an encouragement to persevere. Then, by a transition that +was not extraordinary in an age so remarkable for religious subtleties, +Meek returned to the more mild and obvious truths which pervade the +doctrines of him whose church he professed to uphold. His hearers were +admonished to observe lives of humility and charity, and were piously +dismissed, with his benediction, to their several homes.</p> + +<p>The congregation quitted the building with the feelings of men who thought +themselves favored by peculiar and extraordinary intelligences with the +author of all truth, while the army of Mahomet itself was scarcely less +influenced by fanaticism than these blinded zealots. There was something +so grateful to human frailty in reconciling their resentments and their +temporal interests to their religious duties, that it should excite little +wonder when we add that most of them were fully prepared to become +ministers of vengeance in the hands of any bold leader. While the +inhabitants of the settlement were thus struggling between passions so +contradictory, the shades of evening gradually fell upon their village, +and then came darkness, with the rapid strides with which it follows the +setting of the sun in a low latitude.</p> + +<p>Some time before the shadows of the trees were getting the grotesque and +exaggerated forms which precede the last rays of the luminary, and while +the people were still listening to their pastor, a solitary individual was +placed on a giddy eyrie, whence he might note the movements of those who +dwelt in the hamlet, without being the subject of observation himself. A +short spur of the mountain projected into the valley, on the side nearest +to the dwelling of the Heathcotes. A little tumbling brook, which the +melting of the snows and the occasionally heavy rains of the climate +periodically increased into a torrent, had worn a deep ravine in its rocky +bosom. Time, and the constant action of water, aided by the driving storms +of winter and autumn, had converted many of the different faces of this +ravine into wild-looking pictures of the residences of men. There was +however one spot, in particular, around which a closer inspection than +that which the distance of the houses in the settlement offered, might +have detected far more plausible signs of the agency of human hands, than +any that were afforded by the fancied resemblances of fantastic angles and +accidental formations.</p> + +<p>Precisely at that point where a sweep of the mountain permitted the best +view of the valley, did the rocks assume the wildest, the most confused, +and consequently the most favorable appearance for the construction of any +residence which it was desirable should escape the curious eyes of the +settlers, at the same time that it possessed the advantage of overlooking +their proceedings. A hermit would have chosen the place as a spot suited +to distant and calm observation of the world, while it was every way +adapted to solitary reflection and ascetic devotion. All who have +journeyed through the narrow and water-worn vineyards and meadows which +are washed by the Rhone, ere that river pours its tribute into the Lake of +Leman, have seen some such site, occupied by one who has devoted his life +to seclusion and the altar, overhanging the village of St. Maurice, in the +Canton of le Valais. But there is an air of obtrusiveness in the Swiss +hermits age that did not belong to the place of which we write, since the +one is perched upon its high and narrow ledge, as if to show the world in +what dangerous and circumscribed limits God may be worshipped; while the +other sought exemption from absolute solitude, while it courted secrecy +with the most jealous caution. A small hut had been erected against the +side of the rock, in a manner that presented an oblique angle. Care had +been taken to surround it with such natural objects as left little reason +to apprehend that its real character could be known by any who did not +absolutely mount to the difficult shelf on which it stood. Light entered +into this primitive and humble abode by a window that looked into the +ravine, and a low door opened on the side next the valley. The +construction was partly of stone and partly of logs, with a roof of bark +and a chimney of mud and sticks.</p> + +<p>One who, by his severe and gloomy brow, was a fit possessor of so secluded +a tenement, was, at the hour named, seated on a stone at the most salient +angle of the mountain, and at the place where the eye commanded the widest +and least-obstructed view of the abodes of man in the distance. Stones had +been rolled together in a manner to form a little breastwork in his front, +so that, had there been any wandering gaze sweeping over the face of the +mountain, it was far from probable that it would have detected the +presence of a man whose whole form, with the exception of the superior +parts, was so effectually concealed.</p> + +<p>It would have been difficult to say, whether this secluded being had thus +placed himself in order to indulge in some habitual and fancied +communication with the little world of the valley, or whether, he sat at +his post in watchfulness. There was an appearance of each of these +occupations in his air; for at times his eye was melancholy and softened, +as if his spirit found pleasure in the charities natural to the species; +and at others, the brows contracted with sternness, while the lips became +more than usually compressed, like those of a man who threw himself on his +own innate resolution for support.</p> + +<p>The solitude of the place, the air of universal quiet which reigned above, +the boundless leafy carpet over which the eye looked from that elevated +point, and the breathing stillness of the bosom of the woods, united to +give grandeur to the scene. The figure of the tenant of the ravine was as +immovable as any other object of the view. It seemed, in all but color and +expression, of stone. An elbow was leaning on the little screen in front, +and the head was supported by a hand. At the distance of an arrow's +flight, the eye might readily have supposed it no more than another of the +accidental imitations which had been worn in the rock by the changes of +centuries. An hour passed, and scarce a limb had been changed, or a muscle +relieved. Either contemplation, or the patient awaiting of some looked-for +event, appeared to suspend the ordinary functions of life. At length, an +interruption occurred to this extraordinary inaction. A rustling, not +louder than that which would have been made by the leap of a squirrel, was +first heard in the bushes above; it was succeeded by a crackling of +branches, and then a fragment of a rock came bounding down the precipice, +until it shot over the head of the still motionless hermit, and fell, with +a noise that drew a succession of echoes from the caverns of the place, +into the ravine beneath.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the suddenness of this interruption, and the extraordinary +fracas with which it was accompanied, he, who might be supposed to be most +affected by it, manifested none of the usual symptoms of fear or surprise. +He listened intently, until the last sound had died away, but it was with +expectation rather than with alarm. Arising slowly, he looked warily about +him, and then walking with a quick step along the ledge which led to his +hut, he disappeared through its door. In another minute, however, he was +again seen at his former post; a short carabine, such as was then used by +mounted warriors, lying across his knee. If doubt or perplexity beset the +mind of this individual, at so palpable a sign that the solitude he +courted was in danger of being interrupted, it was not of a nature +sufficiently strong to disturb the equanimity of his aspect. A second time +the branches rustled, and the sounds proceeded from a lower part of the +precipice as if the foot that caused the disturbance was in the act of +descending. Though no one was visible the nature of the noise could no +longer be mistaken. It was evidently the tread of a human foot, for no +beast of a weight sufficient to produce so great an impression, would have +chosen to rove across a spot where the support of hands was nearly as +necessary as that of the other limbs.</p> + +<p>"Come forward!" said he who in all but the accessories of dress and +hostile preparation might so well be termed a hermit--"I am already here."</p> + +<p>The words were not given to the air, for one suddenly appeared on the +ledge at the side next the settlement, and within twenty feet of the +speaker. When glance met glance, the surprise which evidently took +possession of the intruder and of him who appeared to claim a better right +to be where they met, seemed mutual. The carabine of the latter, and a +musket carried by the former, fell into the dangerous line of aim at the +same instant, and An a moment they were thrown upwards again, as if a +common impulse controlled them. The resident signed to the other to draw +nigher, and, then every appearance of hostility disappeared in that sort +of familiarity which confidence begets.</p> + +<p>"How is it," said the former to his guest, when both were calmly seated +behind the little screen of stones, "that thou hast fallen upon this +secret place? The foot of stranger hath not often trod these rocks, and no +man before thee hath ever descended the precipice."</p> + +<p>"A moccason is sure," returned the other with Indian brevity. "My father +hath a good eye. He can see very far from the door of his lodge."</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest that the men of my color speak often to their Good Spirit, +and they do not love to ask his favor in the highways. This place is +sacred to his holy name."</p> + +<p>The intruder was the young Sachem of the Narragansetts, and he who, +notwithstanding this plausible apology, so palpably sought secrecy rather +than solitude was the man that has often been introduced into these pages +under the shade of mystery. The instant recognition and the mutual +confidence require no further explanation, since enough has already been +developed in the course of the narrative, to show that they were no +strangers to each other. Still the meeting had not taken place without +uneasiness on the one part, and great though admirably veiled surprise on +the other. As became his high station and lofty character, the bearing of +Conanchet betrayed none of the littleness of a vulgar curiosity. He met +his ancient acquaintance with the calm dignity of his rank, and it would +have been difficult for the most inquiring eye to have detected a +wandering glance, a single prying look, or any other sign that he deemed +the place at all extraordinary for such an interview. He listened to the +little explanation of the other, with grave courtesy, and suffered a short +time to elapse before he made any reply.</p> + +<p>"The Manitou of the pale-men," he then said "should be pleased with my +father. His words are often in the ears of the Great Spirit! The trees and +the rocks know them."</p> + +<p>"Like all of a sinful and fallen race," returned the stranger with the +severe air of the age, "I have much need of my askings. But why dost thou +think that my voice is so often heard in this secret place?"</p> + +<p>The finger of Conanchet pointed to the worn rock at his feet, and his eye +glanced furtively at the beaten path which led between the spot and the +door of the lodge.</p> + +<p>"A Yengeese hath a hard heel, but it is softer than stone. The hoof of the +deer would pass many times, to leave such a trail."</p> + +<p>"Thou art quick of eye, Narragansett, and yet thy judgment may be +deceived. My tongue is not the only one that speaketh to the God of +my people."</p> + +<p>The Sachem bent his head slightly, in acquiescence, as if unwilling to +press the subject. But his companion was not so easily satisfied, for he +felt the consciousness of a fruitless attempt at deception goading him to +some plausible means of quieting the suspicions of the Indian.</p> + +<p>"That I am now alone, may be matter of pleasure or of accident," he added; +"thou knowest that this hath been a busy and a bloody day among the +pale-men, and there are dead and dying in their lodges. One who hath no +wigwam of his own may have found time to worship by himself."</p> + +<p>"The mind is very cunning," returned Conanchet; "it can hear when the ear +is deaf--it can see when the eye is shut. My father hath spoken to the +Good Spirit, with the rest of his tribe."</p> + +<p>As the chief concluded, he pointed significantly towards the distant +church, out of which the excited congregation we have described was +at that moment pouring into the green and little-trodden street of +the hamlet. The other appeared to understand his meaning, and, at the +same instant, to feel the folly, as well as the uselessness, of +attempting any longer to mislead one that already knew so much of his +former mode of life.</p> + +<p>"Indian, thou sayest true," he rejoined gloomily "the mind seeth far, and +it seeth often in the bitterness of sorrow. My spirit was communing with +the spirits of those thou seest, when thy step was first heard; besides +thine own, the feet of man never mounted to this place, except it be of +those who minister to my bodily wants. Thou sayest true; the mental sight +is keen; and far beyond those distant hills, on which the last rays of the +setting sun are now shining so gloriously, doth mine often bear me in +spirit. Thou wast once my fellow-lodger, youth, and much pleasure had I in +striving to open thy young mind to the truths of our race, and to teach +thee to speak with the tongue of a Christian; but years have passed +away--hark! There cometh one up the path. Hast thou dread of a Yengeese?"</p> + +<p>The calm mien with which Conanchet had been listening, changed to a cold +smile. His hand had felt for the lock of the musket, some time before his +companion had betrayed any consciousness of the approaching footstep; but +until questioned, no change of countenance was visible.</p> + +<p>"Is my father afraid for his friend?" he asked, pointing in the direction +of him who approached. "Is it an armed warrior?"</p> + +<p>"No: he cometh with the means of sustaining a burthen that must be borne, +until it pleaseth him who knoweth what is good for all his creatures to +ease me of it. It may be the parent of her thou hast this day restored to +her friends, or it may be the brother; for, at times, I owe this kindness +to different members of that worthy family."</p> + +<p>A look of intelligence shot across the swarthy features of the chief. His +decision appeared taken. Arising, he left his weapon at the feet of his +companion, and moved swiftly along the ledge, as if to meet the intruder. +In another instant he returned, bearing a little bundle closely enveloped +in belts of richly-beaded wampum. Placing the latter gently by the side of +the old man, for time had changed the color of the solitary's hair to +gray, he said, in a low, quick voice, pointing with significance at what +he had done--</p> + +<p>"The Messenger will not go back with an empty hand. My father is wise; he +will say what is good."</p> + +<p>There was little time for further explanation. The door of the hut had +scarcely closed on Conanchet, before Mark Heathcote appeared at the point +where the path bent around the angle of the precipice.</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest what hath passed, and wilt suffer me to depart with brief +discourse," said the young man, placing food at the feet of him he came to +seek; "ha! what hast here?--didst gain this in the fray of the morning?"</p> + +<p>"It is booty that I freely bestow; take it to the house of thy father. It +is left with that object. Now tell me of the manner in which death hath +dealt with our people, for thou knowest that necessity drove me from among +them, so soon as liberty was granted."</p> + +<p>Mark showed no disposition to gratify the other's wish. He gazed on the +bundle of Conanchet, as if his eye had never before looked on a similar +object, and keenly contending passions were playing about a brow that +was seldom as tranquil as suited the self-denying habits of the times +and country.</p> + +<p>"It shall be done, Narragansett!" he said, speaking between his clenched +teeth; "it shall be done!" Then turning on his heel, he stalked along the +giddy path with a rapidity of stride that kept the other in fearful +suspense for his safety, until his active form had disappeared.</p> + +<p>The recluse arose, and sought the occupant of his humble abode.</p> + +<p>"Come forth," he said, opening the narrow door for the passage of the +Chief. "The youth hath departed with thy burthen, and thou art now alone +with an ancient associate."</p> + +<p>Conanchet reappeared at the summons, but it was with an eye less glowing +and a brow less stern than when he entered the little cabin. As he moved +slowly to the stone he had before occupied, his step was arrested for a +moment, and a look of melancholy regret seemed to be cast at the spot +where he had laid the bundle. Conquering his feelings, however, in the +habitual self-command of his people, he resumed his seat, with the air of +one that was grave by nature, while he appeared to exert no effort in +order to preserve the admirable equanimity of his features. A long and +thoughtful silence succeeded, and then the solitary spoke.</p> + +<p>"We have made a friend of the Narragansett Chief," he said, "and this +league with Philip is broken?"</p> + +<p>"Yengeese," returned the other, "I am full of the blood of Sachems."</p> + +<p>"Why should the Indian and the white do each other this violence? The +earth is large, and there is place for men of all colors and of all +nations on its surface."</p> + +<p>"My father hath found but little," said the other, bestowing such a +cautious glance at the narrow limits of his host, as at once betrayed +the sarcastic purport of his words, while it equally bespoke the +courtesy of his mind.</p> + +<p>"A light-minded and vain prince is seated on the throne of a once-godly +nation, Chief, and darkness has again come over a land which of late +shone with a clear and shining light! The just are made to flee from the +habitations of their infancy, and the temples of the elect are abandoned +to the abominations of idolatry. Oh England! England! when will thy cup of +bitterness be full?--when shall this judgment pass from thee? My spirit +groaneth over thy fall--yea, my inmost soul is saddened with the spectacle +of thy misery!"</p> + +<p>Conanchet was too delicate to regard the glazed eye and flushed forehead +of the speaker, but he listened in amazement and in ignorance. Such +expressions had often met his ear before, and though his tender years had +probably prevented their producing much effect, now, that he again heard +them in his manhood, they conveyed no intelligible meaning to his mind. +Suddenly laying a finger on the knee of his companion, he said--</p> + +<p>"The arm of my father was raised on the side of the Yengeese, to-day; yet +they give him no seat it their council-fire!"</p> + +<p>"The sinful man, who ruleth in the island whence my people came, hath an +arm that is long as his mind is vain. Though debarred from the councils of +this valley, Chief, time hath been, when my voice was heard in councils +that struck heavily at the power of his race. These eyes have seen justice +done on him who gave existence to the double-tongued instrument of Belial, +that now governeth a rich and glorious realm!"</p> + +<p>"My father hath taken the scalp of a great chief!"</p> + +<p>"I helped to take his head!" returned the solitary, a ray of bitter +exultation gleaming through the habitual austerity of his brow.</p> + +<p>"Come.--The eagle flies above the clouds, that he may move his wings +freely. The panther leaps longest on the widest plain; the biggest fish +swim in the deep water. My father cannot stretch himself between these +rocks. He is too big to lie down in a little wigwam. The woods are wide; +let him change the color of his skin, and be a gray head at the +council-fire of my nation. The warriors will listen to what he says, for +his hand hath done a strong deed!"</p> + +<p>"It may not be--it may not be, Narragansett That which hath been generated +in the spirit, must abide, and it would be 'easier for the blackamoor to +become white, or for the leopard to change his spots,' than for one who +hath felt the power of the Lord, to cast aside his gifts. But I meet thy +proffers of amity in a charitable and forgiving spirit. My mind is ever +with my people; yet is there place for other friendships. Break then this +league with the evil-minded and turbulent Philip, and let the hatchet be +for ever buried in the path between thy village and the towns of the +Yengeese."</p> + +<p>"Where is my village? There is a dark place near the islands on the shores +of the Great Lake; but I see no lodges."</p> + +<p>"We will rebuild thy towns, and people them anew. Let there be peace +between us."</p> + +<p>"My mind is ever with my people;" returned the Indian, repeating the +other's words, with an emphasis that could not be mistaken.</p> + +<p>A long and melancholy pause succeeded; and when the conversation was +renewed, it had reference to those events which had taken place in the +fortunes of each, since the time when they were both tenants of the +block-house that stood amid the ancient habitations of the Heathcotes. +Each appeared too well to comprehend the character of the other, to +attempt any further efforts towards producing a change of purpose; and +darkness had gathered about the place, before they arose to enter the hut +of the solitary.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXVII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Sleep, thou hast been a grandsire, and begot<br /> +A father to me: and thou hast created<br /> +A mother and two brothers."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Cymbeline</blockquote> + + +<p>The short twilight was already passed, when old Mark Heathcote ended the +evening prayer. The mixed character of the remarkable events of that day +had given birth to a feeling, which could find no other relief than that +which flowed from the usual zealous, confiding, and exalted outpouring of +the spirit. On the present occasion, he had even resorted to an +extraordinary, and, what one less devout might be tempted to think, a +supererogatory offering of thanksgiving and praise. After dismissing the +dependants of the establishment, supported by the arm of his son, he had +withdrawn into an inner apartment, and there, surrounded only by those who +had the nearest claims on his affections, the old man again raised his +voice to laud the Being, who, in the midst of so much general grief, had +deigned to look upon his particular race with the eyes of remembrance and +of favor. He spoke of his recovered grand-child by name, and he dealt with +the whole subject of her captivity among the heathen, and her restoration +to the foot of the altar, with the fervor of one who saw the wise decrees +of Providence in the event, and with a tenderness of sentiment that age +was far from having extinguished. It was at the close of this private and +peculiar worship, that we return into the presence of the family.</p> + +<p>The spirit of reform had driven those, who so violently felt its +influence, into many usages that, to say the least, were quite as +ungracious to the imagination, as the customs they termed idolatrous were +obnoxious to the attacks of their own unaccommodating theories. The first +Protestants had expelled so much from the service of the altar, that +little was left for the Puritan to destroy, without incurring the risk of +leaving it naked of its loveliness. By a strange substitution of subtlety +for humility, it was thought pharisaical to bend the knee in public, lest +the great essential of spiritual worship might be supplanted by the more +attainable merit of formula; and while rigid aspects, and prescribed +deportments of a new character, were observed with all the zeal of +converts, ancient and even natural practices were condemned, chiefly, we +believe, from that necessity of innovation which appears to be an +unavoidable attendant of all plans of improvement, whether they are +successful or the reverse. But though the Puritans refused to bow their +stubborn limbs when the eye of man was on them, even while asking boons +suited to their own sublimated opinions, it was permitted to assume in +private an attitude which was thought to admit of so gross an abuse, +inasmuch as it infers a claim to a religious vitality, while in truth the +soul might only be slumbering in the security of mere moral pretension.</p> + +<p>On the present occasion, they who worshipped in secret had bent their +bodies to the humblest posture of devotion. When Ruth Heathcote arose from +her knees, it was with a hand clasped in that of the child whom her recent +devotion was well suited to make her think had been rescued from a +condition far more gloomy than that of the grave. She had used a gentle +violence to force the wondering being at her side to join, so far as +externals could go, in the prayer; and, now it was ended, she sought the +countenance of her daughter, in order to read the impression the scene had +produced, with all the solicitude of a Christian, heightened by the +tenderest maternal love.</p> + +<p>Narra-mattah, as we shall continue to call her, in air, expression, and +attitude, resembled one who had a fancied existence in the delusion of +some exciting dream. Her ear remembered sounds which had so often been +repeated in her infancy, and her memory recalled indistinct recollections +of most of the objects and usages that were so suddenly replaced before +her eyes; but the former now conveyed their meaning to a mind that had +gained its strength under a very different system of theology, and the +latter came too late to supplant usages that were rooted in her affections +by the aid of all those wild and seductive habits; that are known to +become nearly unconquerable in those who have long been subject to their +influence. She stood, therefore, in the centre of the grave, +self-restrained group of her nearest kin, like an alien to their blood, +resembling some timid and but half-tamed tenant of the air, that human art +had endeavored to domesticate, by placing it in the society of the more +tranquil and confiding inhabitants of the aviary.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the strength of her affections, and her devotion to all +the natural duties of her station, Ruth Heathcote was not now to learn the +manner in which she was to subdue any violence in their exhibition. The +first indulgence of joy and gratitude was over, and in its place appeared +the never-tiring, vigilant, engrossing, but regulated watchfulness, which +the events would naturally create. The doubts, misgivings, and even +fearful apprehensions, that beset her, were smothered in an appearance of +satisfaction; and something like gleamings of happiness were again seen +playing about a brow that had so long been clouded with an unobtrusive +but corroding care.</p> + +<p>"And thou recallest thine infancy, my Ruth?" asked the mother, when the +respectful period of silence, which ever succeeded prayer in that family, +was passed; "thy thoughts have not been altogether strangers to us, but +nature hath had its place in thy heart. Tell us, child, of thy wanderings +in the forest, and of the sufferings that one so tender must have +undergone among a barbarous people. There is pleasure in listening to all +thou hast seen and felt, now that we know there is an end to unhappiness."</p> + +<p>She spoke to an ear that was deaf to language like this. Narra-mattah +evidently understood her words, while their meaning was wrapped in an +obscurity that she neither wished to nor was capable of comprehending. +Keeping a gaze, in which pleasure and wonder were powerfully blended, on +that soft look of affection which beamed from her mother's eye, she felt +hurriedly among the folds of her dress, and drawing a belt that was gaily +ornamented after the most ingenious fashion of her adopted people, she +approached her half-pleased, half-distressed parent, and, with hands that +trembled equally with timidity and pleasure, she arranged it around her +person in a manner to show its richness to the best advantage. Pleased +with her performance, the artless being eagerly sought approbation in eyes +that bespoke little else than regret. Alarmed at an expression she could +not translate, the gaze of Narra-mattah wandered, as if it sought support +against some sensation to which she was a stranger. Whittal Ring had +stolen into the room, and missing the customary features of her own +cherished home, the looks of the startled creature rested on the +countenance of the witless wanderer. She pointed eagerly at the work of +her hands, appealing by an eloquent and artless gesture to the taste of +one who should know whether she had done well.</p> + +<p>"Bravely!" returned Whittal, approaching nearer to the subject of his +admiration--"'tis a brave belt, and none but the wife of a Sachem could +make so rare a gift!"</p> + +<p>The girl folded her arms meekly on her bosom, and again appeared satisfied +with herself and with the world.</p> + +<p>"Here is the hand of him visible who dealeth in all wickedness," said the +Puritan. "To corrupt the heart with vanities, and to mislead the +affections by luring them to the things of life, is the guile in which he +delighteth. A fallen nature lendeth but too ready aid. We must deal with +the child in fervor and watchfulness, or better that her bones were lying +by the side of those little ones of thy flock, who are already inheritors +of the promise."</p> + +<p>Respect kept Ruth silent; but, while she sorrowed over the ignorance of +her child, natural affection was strong at her heart. With the tact of a +woman and the tenderness of a mother, she both saw and felt that severity +was not the means to effect the improvement they desired. Taking a seat +herself, she drew her child to her person, and, first imploring silence by +a glance at those around her, she proceeded, in a manner that was dictated +by the mysterious influence of nature, to fathom the depth of her +daughter's mind.</p> + +<p>"Come nearer, Narra-mattah;" she said, using the name to which the other +would alone answer. 'Thou art still in thy youth, my child; but it hath +pleased him whose will is law, to have made thee the witness of many +changes in this varying life. Tell me if thou recallest the days of +infancy, and if thy thoughts ever returned to thy father's house, during +those weary years thou wast kept from our view?'</p> + +<p>Ruth used gentle force to draw her daughter nearer while speaking, and +the latter sunk into that posture from which she had just arisen, +kneeling, as she had often done in infancy, at her mother's side. The +attitude was too full of tender recollections not to be grateful, and the +half-alarmed being of the forest was suffered to retain it during most of +the dialogue that followed. But while she was thus obedient in person, by +the vacancy or rather wonder of an eye that was so eloquent to express all +the emotions and knowledge of which she was the mistress, Narra-mattah +plainly manifested that little more than the endearment of her mother's +words and manner was intelligible. Ruth saw the meaning of her hesitation; +and, smothering the pang it caused, she endeavored to adapt her language +to the habits of one so artless.</p> + +<p>"Even the gray heads of thy people were once young," she resumed; "and +they remember the lodges of their fathers. Does my daughter ever think of +the time when she played among the children of the Pale-faces?"</p> + +<p>The attentive being at the knee of Ruth listened greedily. Her knowledge +of the language of her childhood had been sufficiently implanted before +her captivity, and it had been too often exercised by intercourse with the +whites, and more particularly with Whittal Ring, to leave her in any doubt +of the meaning of what she now heard. Stealing a timid look over a +shoulder, she sought the countenance of Martha, and, studying her +lineaments for near a minute with intense regard, she laughed aloud in the +contagious merriment of an Indian girl.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast not forgotten us! That glance at her who was the companion of +thy infancy assures me, and we shall soon again possess our Ruth in +affection, as we now possess her in the body. I will not speak to thee of +that fearful night when the violence of the savage robbed us of thy +presence, not of the bitter sorrow which beset us at thy loss; but there +is one who must still be known to thee, my child; He who sitteth above the +clouds, who holdeth the earth in the hollow of his hand, and who looketh +in mercy on all that journey on the path to which his own finger pointeth. +Hath he yet a place in thy thoughts? Thou rememberest His Holy Name, and +still thinkest of his power?"</p> + +<p>The listener bent her head aside, as if to catch the full meaning of what +she heard, the shadows of deep reverence passing over a face that had so +lately been smiling. After a pause, she audibly murmured the word--</p> + +<p>"Manitou."</p> + +<p>"Manitou, or Jehovah; God, or King of Kings, and Lord of Lords! it +mattereth little which term is used to express his power. Thou knowest him +then, and hast never ceased to call upon his name?"</p> + +<p>"Narra-mattah is a woman. She is afraid to speak to the Manitou aloud. He +knows the voices of the chiefs, and opens his ears when they ask help."</p> + +<p>The Puritan groaned, but Ruth succeeded in quelling her own anguish, lest +she should disturb the reviving confidence of her daughter.</p> + +<p>"This may be the Manitou of an Indian," she said, "but it is not the +Christian's God. Thou art of a race which worships differently, and it is +proper that thou shouldst call on the name of the Deity of thy fathers. +Even the Narragansett teacheth this truth! Thy skin is white, and thy ears +should hearken to the traditions of the men of thy blood."</p> + +<p>The head of the daughter drooped at this allusion to her color as if she +would fain conceal the mortifying truth from every eye; but she had not +time for answer ere Whittal Ring drew near, and pointing to the burning +color of her cheeks, that were deepened as much with shame as with the +heats of an American sun, he said--</p> + +<p>"The wife of the Sachem hath begun to change. She will soon be like +Nipset, all red--See," he added laying a finger on a part of his own arm +where the sun and the winds had not yet destroyed the original color; "the +Evil Spirit poured water into his blood too, but it will come out again. +As soon as he is so dark that the Evil Spirit will not know him, he will +go on the war-path; and then the lying Pale-faces may dig up the bones of +their fathers, and move towards the sun-rise, or his lodge will be lined +with hair of the color of a deer!"</p> + +<p>"And thou, my daughter! canst thou hear this threat against the people of +thy nation--of thy blood--of thy God--without a shudder?"</p> + +<p>The eye of Narra-mattah seemed in doubt; still it regarded Whittal with +its accustomed look of kindness. The innocent, full of his imaginary +glory, raised his hand in exultation, and by gestures that could not +easily be misunderstood, he indicated the manner in which he intended to +rob his victims of the usual trophy. While the youth was enacting the +disgusting but expressive pantomime, Ruth watched the countenance of her +child in nearly breathless agony. She would have been relieved by a single +glance of disapprobation, by a solitary movement of a rebellious muscle, +or by the smallest sign that the tender nature of one so lovely, and +otherwise so gentle, revolted at so unequivocal evidence of the barbarous +practices of her adopted people. But no Empress of Rome could have +witnessed the dying agonies of the hapless gladiator, no consort of a more +modern prince could read the bloody list of the victims of her husband's +triumph, nor any betrothed fair listen to the murderous deeds of him her +imagination had painted as a hero, with less indifference to human +suffering, than that with which the wife of the Sachem of the +Narragansetts looked on the mimic representation of those exploits which +had purchased for her husband a renown so highly prized. It was but too +apparent that the representation, rude and savage as it was, conveyed to +her mind nothing but pictures in which the chosen companion of a warrior +should rejoice. The varying features and answering eye too plainly +proclaimed the sympathy of one taught to exult in the success of the +combatant; and when Whittal, excited by his own exertions, broke out into +an exhibition of a violence more ruthless even than common, he was openly +rewarded by another laugh. The soft, exquisitely feminine tones of this +involuntary burst of pleasure, sounded in the ears of Ruth like a knell +over the moral beauty of her child. Still subduing her feelings, she +passed a hand thoughtfully over her own pallid brow, and appeared to muse +long on the desolation of a mind that had once promised to be so pure.</p> + +<p>The colonists had not yet severed all those natural ties which bound them +to the eastern hemisphere. Their legends, their pride, and in many +instances their memories, aided in keeping alive a feeling of amity, and +it might be added of faith, in favor of the land of their ancestors. With +some of their descendants, even to the present hour, the <i>beau ideal</i> of +excellence, in all that pertains to human qualities and human happiness, +is connected with the images of the country from which they sprung. +Distance is known to cast a softening mist, equally over the moral and +physical vision. The blue outline of mountain which melts into its glowing +background of sky, is not more pleasing than the pictures which fancy +sometimes draws of less material things; but, as he draws near, the +disappointed traveller too often finds nakedness and deformity, where he +so fondly imagined beauty only was to be seen. No wonder then that the +dwellers of the simple provinces of New-England blended recollections of +the country they still called home, with most of their poetical pictures +of life. They retained the language, the books, and most of the habits, of +the English. But different circumstances, divided interests, and peculiar +opinions, were gradually beginning to open those breaches which time has +since widened, and which promises soon to leave little in common between +the two people, except the same forms of speech and a common origin: it is +to be hoped that some charity may be blended with these ties.</p> + +<p>The singularly restrained habits of the religionists, throughout the whole +of the British provinces, were in marked opposition to the mere +embellishments of life. The arts were permitted only as they served its +most useful and obvious purposes. With them, music was confined to the +worship of God, and, for a long time after the original settlement, the +song was never known to lead the mind astray from what was conceived to be +the one great object of existence. No verse was sung, but such as blended +holy ideas with the pleasures of harmony; nor were the sounds of revelry +ever heard within their borders. Still, words adapted to their particular +condition had come into use, and though poetry was neither a common nor a +brilliant property of the mind, among a people thus disciplined in ascetic +practices, it early exhibited its power in quaint versification, that was +always intended, though with a success it is almost pardonable to doubt, +to redound to the glory of the Deity. It was but a natural enlargement of +this pious practice, to adapt some of these spiritual songs to the +purposes of the nursery.</p> + +<p>When Ruth Heathcote passed her hand thoughtfully across her brow, it was +with a painful conviction that her dominion over the mind of her child +was sadly weakened, if not lost for ever. But the efforts of maternal love +are not easily repulsed. An idea flashed upon her brain, and she proceeded +to try the efficacy of the experiment it suggested. Nature had endowed her +with a melodious voice, and an ear that taught her to regulate sounds in a +manner that seldom failed to touch the heart. She possessed the genius of +music, which is melody, unweakened by those exaggerated affectations with +which it is often encumbered by what is pretendingly called science. +Drawing her daughter nearer to her knee, she commenced one of the songs +then much used by the mothers of the Colony, her voice scarcely rising +above the whispering of the evening air, in its first notes, but gradually +gaining, as she proceeded, the richness and compass that a strain so +simple required.</p> + +<p>At the first low breathing notes of this nursery song, Narra-mattah became +as motionless as if her rounded and unfettered form had been wrought in +marble. Pleasure lighted her eyes, as strain succeeded strain; and ere the +second verse was ended, her look, her attitude, and every muscle of her +ingenuous features, were eloquent in the expression of delight. Ruth did +not hazard the experiment without trembling for its result. Emotion +imparted feeling to the music, and when, for the third time in the course +of her song, she addressed her child, the saw the soft blue eyes that +gazed wistfully on her face swimming in tears. Encouraged by this +unequivocal evidence of success, nature grew still more powerful in its +efforts, and the closing verse was sung to an ear that nestled near her +heart, as it had often done during the early years of Narra-mattah while +listening to its melancholy melody.</p> + +<p>Content was a quiet but an anxious witness of this touching evidence of a +reviving intelligence between his wife and child. He best understood the +look that beamed in the eyes of the former, while her arms were, with +extreme caution, folded around her who still leaned upon her bosom, as if +fearful one so timid might be frightened from her security by any sudden +or unaccustomed interruption. A minute passed in the deepest silence. Even +Whittal Ring was lulled into quiet, and long and sorrowing years had +passed since Ruth enjoyed moments of happiness so pure and unalloyed. The +stillness was broken by a heavy step in the outer room; a door was thrown +open by a hand more violent than common, and then young Mark appeared, his +face flushed with exertion, his brow seemingly retaining the frown of +battle, and with a tread that betrayed a spirit goaded by some fierce and +unwelcome passion. The burthen of Conanchet was on his arm. He laid it +upon a table; then pointing, in a manner that appeared to challenge +attention, he turned, and left the room as abruptly as he had entered.</p> + +<p>A cry of joy burst from the lips of Narra-mattah, the instant the beaded +belts caught her eye. The arms of Ruth relaxed their hold in surprise, and +before amazement had time to give place to more connected ideas, the wild +being at her knee had flown to the table, returned, resumed her former +posture, opened the folds of the cloth, and was holding before the +bewildered gaze of her mother the patient features of an Indian babe.</p> + +<p>It would exceed the powers of the unambitious pen we wield, to convey to +the reader a just idea of the mixed emotions that struggled for mastery in +the countenance of Ruth. The innate and never-dying sentiment of maternal +joy was opposed by all those feelings of pride, that prejudice could not +fail to implant even in the bosom of one so meek. There was no need to +tell the history of the parentage of the little suppliant, who already +looked up into her face, with that peculiar calm which renders his race so +remarkable. Though its glance was weakened by infancy, the dark glittering +eye of Conanchet was there; there were also to be seen the receding +forehead and the compressed lip of the father; but all these marks of his +origin were softened by touches of that beauty which had rendered the +infancy of her own child so remarkable.</p> + +<p>"See!" said Narra-mattah, raising the infant still nearer to the riveted +gaze of Ruth; "'tis a Sachem of the red men! The little eagle hath left +his nest too soon."</p> + +<p>Ruth could not resist the appeal of her beloved. Bending her head low, so +as entirely to conceal her own flushed face, she imprinted a kiss on the +forehead of the Indian boy. But the jealous eye of the young mother was +not to be deceived. Narra-mattah detected the difference between the cold +salute and those fervent embraces she had herself received, and +disappointment produced a chill about her own heart. Replacing the folds +of the cloth with quiet dignity, she arose from her knees, and withdrew in +sadness to a distant corner of the room. There she took a seat, and with a +glance that might almost be termed reproachful, she commenced a low Indian +song to her infant.</p> + +<p>"The wisdom of Providence is in this, as in all its dispensations;" +whispered Content over the shoulder of his nearly insensible partner. +"Had we received her as she was lost, the favor might have exceeded +our deservings. Our daughter is grieved that thou turnest a cold eye +on her babe."</p> + +<p>The appeal was sufficient for one whose affections had been wounded rather +than chilled. It recalled Ruth to recollection, and it served at once to +dissipate the shades of regret that had been unconsciously permitted to +gather around her brow. The displeasure, or it would be more true to term +it sorrow, of the young mother was easily appeased. A smile on her infant +brought the blood back to her heart in a swift and tumultuous current; and +Ruth, herself, soon forgot that she had any reason for regret, in the +innocent delight with which her own daughter now hastened to display the +physical excellence of the boy. From this scene of natural feeling, +Content was too quickly summoned by the intelligence that some one without +awaited his presence, on business of the last importance to the welfare of +the settlement.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXVIII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"It will have blood; they say, blood<br /> +Will have blood!"</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Macbeth.</blockquote> + + +<p>The visiters were Dr. Ergot, the Reverend Meek Wolfe, Ensign Dudley, and +Reuben Ring. Content found these four individuals seated in an outer room, +in a grave and restrained manner, that would have done no discredit to the +self-command of an Indian council. He was saluted with those staid and +composed greetings which are still much used in the intercourse of the +people of the Eastern States of this Republic, and which have obtained for +them a reputation, where they are little known, of a want of the more +active charities of our nature. But that was peculiarly the age of +sublimated doctrines, of self-mortification, and of severe moral +government, and most men believed it a merit to exhibit, on all +occasions, the dominion of the mind over the mere animal impulses. The +usage, which took its rise in exalted ideas of spiritual perfection, has +since grown into a habit, which, though weakened by the influence of the +age, still exists to a degree that often leads to an erroneous estimate of +character.</p> + +<p>At the entrance of the master of the house, there was some such decorous +silence as that which is known to precede the communications of the +aborigines. At length Ensign Dudley, in whom matter, most probably in +consequence of its bulk, bore more than an usual proportion to his less +material part, manifested some evidences of impatience that the divine +should proceed to business. Thus admonished, or possibly conceiving that a +sufficient concession had been made to the dignity of man's nature, Meek +opened his mouth to speak.</p> + +<p>"Captain Content Heathcote," he commenced, with that mystical involution +of his subject which practice had rendered nearly inseparable from all his +communications; "Captain Content Heathcote, this hath been a day of awful +visitations, and of gracious temporal gifts. The heathen hath been smitten +severely by the hand of the believer, and the believer hath been made to +pay the penalty of his want of faith, by the infliction of a savage +agency. Azazel hath been loosened in our village, the legions of +wickedness have been suffered to go at large in our fields, and yet the +Lord hath remembered his people, and hath borne them through a trial of +blood as perilous as was the passage of his chosen nation through the +billows of the Red Sea. There is cause of mourning, and cause of joy, in +this manifestation of his will; of sorrow that we have merited his anger, +and of rejoicing that enough of redeeming grace hath been found to save +the Gomorrah of our hearts. But I speak to one trained in spiritual +discipline, and schooled in the vicissitudes of the world, and further +discourse is not necessary to quicken his apprehension. We will therefore +turn to more instant and temporal exercises. Have all of thy household +escaped unharmed throughout the strivings of this bloody day?"</p> + +<p>"We praise the Lord that such hath been his pleasure," returned Content. +"Other than as sorrow hath assailed us through the mourning of friends the +blow hath fallen lightly on me and mine."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast had thy season; the parent ceaseth to chastise, while +former punishments are remembered. But here is Sergeant Ring, with +matter to communicate, that may still leave business for thy courage +and thy wisdom."</p> + +<p>Content turned his quiet look upon the yeoman, and seemed to await his +speech. Reuben Ring, who was a man of many solid and valuable qualities, +would most probably have been exercising the military functions of his +brother-in-law, at that very moment, had he been equally gifted with a +fluent discourse. But his feats lay rather in doing than in speaking, and +the tide of popularity had in consequence set less strongly in his favor +than might have happened had the reverse been the case. The present, +however, was a moment when it was necessary to overcome his natural +reluctance to speak, and it was not long before he replied to the +inquiring glance of his commander's eye.</p> + +<p>"The Captain knows the manner in which we scourged the savages at the +southern end of the valley," the sturdy yeoman began, "and it is not +necessary to deal with the particulars at length. There were +six-and-twenty red-skins slain in the meadows, besides as many more that +left the ground in the arms of their friends. As for the people, we got a +few hurts, but each man came back on his own limbs."</p> + +<p>"This is much as the matter hath been reported."</p> + +<p>"Then there was a party sent to brush the woods on the trail of the +Indians," resumed Reuben, without appearing to regard the interruption. +"The scouts broke off in pairs in the duty, and finally men got to +searching singly, of which number I was one. The two men of whom there is +question--"</p> + +<p>"Of what men dost speak?" demanded Content.</p> + +<p>"The two men of whom there is question," returned the other, continuing +the direct course of his own manner of relating events, without appealing +to see the necessity of connecting the threads of his communication; "the +men of whom I have spoken to the Minister and the Ensign--"</p> + +<p>"Proceed," said Content, who understood his man.</p> + +<p>"After one of these men was brought to his end I saw no reason for making +the day bloodier than it already was, the more especially as the Lord had +caused it to begin with a merciful hand which shed its bounties on my own +dwelling. Under such an opinion of right-doing, the other was bound and +led into the clearings."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast made a captive?"</p> + +<p>The lips of Reuben scarce severed as he muttered a low assent; but the +Ensign Dudley took upon himself the duty of entering into further +explanations, which the point where his kinsman left the narrative enabled +him to do with sufficient intelligence.</p> + +<p>"As the Sergeant hath related," he said, "one of the heathen fell, and the +other is now without, waiting a judgment in the matter of his fortune."</p> + +<p>"I trust there is no wish to harm him," said Content, glancing an eye +uneasily around at his companions. "Strife hath done enough in our +settlement this day. The Sergeant hath a right to claim the scalp-bounty, +for the man that is slain; but for him that liveth, let there be mercy!"</p> + +<p>"Mercy is a quality of heavenly origin," replied Meek Wolfe, "and it +should not be perverted to defeat the purposes of heavenly wisdom. Azazel +must not triumph, though the tribe of the Narragansetts should be swept +with the besom of destruction. Truly, we are an erring and a fallible +race, Captain Heathcote; and the greater, therefore, the necessity that we +submit, without rebellion, to the inward monitors that are implanted, by +grace, to teach us the road of our duty----"</p> + +<p>"I cannot consent to shed blood, now that the strife hath ceased," hastily +interrupted Content. "Praised be Providence! we are victors; and it is +time to lean to councils of charity."</p> + +<p>"Such are the deceptions of a short-sighted wisdom!" returned the divine, +his dim, sunken eye shining with the promptings of an exaggerated and +subtle spirit. "The end of all is good, and we may not, without mortal +danger, presume to doubt the suggestions of heavenly gifts. But there is +not question here concerning the execution of the captive, since he +proffereth to be of service in far greater things than any that can depend +on his life or death. The heathen rendered up his liberty with little +struggle, and hath propositions that may lead us to a profitable +conclusion of this day's trials."</p> + +<p>"If he can aid in aught that shall shorten the perils and wantonness of +this ruthless war, he shall find none better disposed to listen than I."</p> + +<p>"He professeth ability to do that service."</p> + +<p>"Then, of Heaven's mercy! let him be brought forth, that we counsel on his +proposals."</p> + +<p>Meek made a gesture to Sergeant Ring, who quitted the apartment for a +moment, and shortly after returned followed by his captive. The Indian was +one of those dark and malignant-looking savages that possess most of the +sinister properties of their condition, with few or none of the redeeming +qualities. His eye was lowering and distrustful, bespeaking equally +apprehension and revenge; his form of that middling degree of perfection +which leaves as little to admire as to condemn, and his attire such is +denoted him one who might be ranked among the warriors of a secondary +class. Still, in the composure of his mien, the tranquillity of his step, +and the self-possession of all his movements, he displayed that high +bearing, his people rarely fail to exhibit, ere too much intercourse with +the whites begins to destroy their distinctive traits.</p> + +<p>"Here is the Narragansett," said Reuben Ring, causing his prisoner to +appear in the centre of the room; "he is no chief, as may be gathered from +his uncertain look."</p> + +<p>"If he effect that of which there hath been question, his rank mattereth +little. We seek to stop the currents of blood that flow like running +water, in these devoted Colonies."</p> + +<p>"This will he do," rejoined the divine, "or we shall hold him answerable +for breach of promise."</p> + +<p>"And in what doth he profess to aid in stopping the work of death?"</p> + +<p>"By yielding the fierce Philip, and his savage ally,' the roving +Conanchet, to the judgment. Those chiefs destroyed, our temple may be +entered in peace, and the voice of thanksgiving shall again rise in our +Bethel, without the profane interruption of savage shrieks."</p> + +<p>Content started, and even recoiled a step, as he listened to the nature of +the proposed peace-offering.</p> + +<p>"And have we warranty for such a proceeding, should this man prove true?" +he asked, in a voice that sufficiently denoted his own doubts of the +propriety of such a measure.</p> + +<p>"There is the law, the necessities of a suffering nature, and God's +glory, for our justification," drily returned the divine.</p> + +<p>"This outsteppeth the discreet exercise of a delegated authority. I like +not to assume so great power, without written mandates for its execution."</p> + +<p>"The objection hath raised a little difficulty in my own mind," observed +Ensign Dudley; "and as it hath set thoughts at work, it is possible that +what I have to offer will meet the Captain's good approbation."</p> + +<p>Content knew that his ancient servitor was, though often uncouth in its +exhibition, at the bottom a man of humane heart. On the other hand, while +he scarce admitted the truth to himself, he had a secret dread of the +exaggerated sentiments of his spiritual guide; and he consequently +listened to the interruption of Eben, with a gratification he scarcely +wished to conceal.</p> + +<p>"Speak openly," he said; "when men counsel in a matter of this weight, +each standeth on the surety of his proper gifts."</p> + +<p>"Then may this business be dispatched without the embarrassment the +Captain seems to dread. We have an Indian, who offers to lead a party +through the forests to the haunts of the bloody chiefs, therein bringing +affairs to the issue of manhood and discretion." + +"And wherein do you propose any departure from the suggestions that have +already been made?"</p> + +<p>Ensign Dudley had not risen to his present rank, without acquiring a +suitable portion of the reserve which is so often found to dignify +official sentiments. Having ventured the opinion already placed, however +vaguely, before his hearers, he was patiently awaiting its effects on the +mind of his superior, when the latter, by his earnest and unsuspecting +countenance, no less than by the question just given, showed that he was +still in the dark as to the expedient the subaltern wished to suggest.</p> + +<p>"I think there will be no necessity for making more captives," resumed +Eben, "since the one we have appears to create difficulties in our +councils. If there be any law in the Colony, which says that men must +strike with a gentle hand in open battle, it is a law but little spoken of +in common discourse, and though no pretender to the wisdom of legislators, +I will make bold to add, it is a law that may as well be forgotten until +this outbreaking of the savages shall be quelled."</p> + +<p>"We deal with an enemy that never stays his hand at the cry of mercy," +observed Meek Wolfe, "and though charity be the fruit of Christian +qualities, there is a duty greater than any which belongeth to earth. We +are no more than weak and feeble instruments in the hands of Providence, +and as such our minds should not be hardened to our inward promptings. If +evidence of better feeling could be found in the deeds of the heathen, we +might raise our hopes to the completion of things; but the Powers of +Darkness still rage in their hearts, and we are taught to believe that the +tree is known by its fruits."</p> + +<p>Content signed to all to await his return, and left the room. In another +minute, he was seen leading his daughter into the centre of the circle. +The half-alarmed young woman clasped her swaddled boy to her bosom, as she +gazed timidly at the grave faces of the borderers; and her eye recoiled in +fear, when its hurried glance met the sunken, glazed, excited, and yet +equivocal-looking organ of the Reverend Mr. Wolfe.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast said that the savage never hearkens to the cry of mercy," +resumed Content; "here is living evidence that thou hast spoken in error. +The misfortune that early befell my family, is not unknown to any in this +settlement; thou seest in this trembling creature the daughter of our +love--her we have so long mourned. The wept of my household is again with +us; our hearts have been oppressed, they are now gladdened. God hath +returned our child!"</p> + +<p>There was a deep, rich pathos in the tones of the father, that affected +most of his auditors, though each manifested his sensibilities in a manner +suited to his particular habits of mind. The nature of the divine was +touched, and all the energies of his severe principles were wanting to +sustain him above the manifestation of a weakness that he might have +believed derogatory to his spiritual exaltation of character. He therefore +sat mute, with hands folded on his knee, betraying the struggles of an +awakened sympathy only by a firmer compression of the interlocked fingers, +and an occasional and involuntary movement of the stronger muscles of the +face. Dudley suffered a smile of pleasure to lighten his broad, open +countenance; and the physician, who had hitherto been merely a listener, +uttered a few low syllables of admiration of the physical perfection of +the being before him, with which there was mingled some evidence of +natural good feeling.</p> + +<p>Reuben Ring was the only individual who openly betrayed the whole degree +of the interest he took in the restoration of the lost female. The stout +yeoman arose, and, moving to the entranced Narra-mattah, he took the +infant into his large hands, and for a moment the honest borderer gazed +at the boy with a wistful and softened eye. Then raising the diminutive +face of the infant to his own expanded and bold features, he touched its +cheek with his lips, and returned the babe to its mother, who witnessed +the whole proceeding in some such tribulation as the startled wren +exhibits when the foot of the urchin is seen to draw too near the nest +of its young.</p> + +<p>"Thou seest that the hand of the Narragansett hath been stayed," said +Content, when a deep silence had succeeded this little movement, and +speaking in a tone which betrayed hopes of victory.</p> + +<p>"The ways of Providence are mysterious!" returned Meek; "wherein they +bring comfort to the heart, it is right that we exhibit gratitude; and +wherein they are charged with present affliction, it is meet to bow +with humbled spirits to their orderings. But the visitations on +families are merely--"</p> + +<p>He paused, for at that moment a door opened, and a party entered bearing a +burthen, which they deposited, with decent and grave respect, on the +floor, in the very centre of the room. The unceremonious manner of the +entrance, the assured and the common gravity of their air, proclaimed that +the villagers felt their errand to be a sufficient apology for this +intrusion. Had not the business of the past day naturally led to such a +belief, the manner and aspects of those who had borne the burthen would +have announced it to be a human body.</p> + +<p>"I had believed that none fell in this day's strife, but those who met +their end near my own door," said Content, after a long, respectful, and +sorrowing pause. "Remove the face-cloth, that we may know on whom the blow +hath fallen."</p> + +<p>One of the young men obeyed. It was not easy to recognise, through the +mutilations of savage barbarity, the features of the sufferer. But a +second and steadier look showed the gory and still agonized countenance of +the individual who had, that morning, left the Wish-Ton-Wish on the +message of the colonial authorities. Even men as practised as those +present, in the horrible inventions of Indian cruelty, turned sickening +away from a spectacle that war calculated to chill the blood of all who +had not become callous to human affliction. Content made a sign to cover +the miserable remnants of mortality, and hid his face, with a shudder.</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to dwell on the scene that followed. Meek Wolfe +availed himself of this unexpected event, to press his plan on the +attention of the commanding officer of the settlement, who was certainly +far better disposed to listen to his proposals, than before this palpable +evidence of the ruthless character of their enemies was presented to his +view. Still Content listened with reluctance, nor was it without the +intention of exercising an ulterior discretion in the case, that he +finally consented to give orders for the departure of a body of men, with +the approach of the morning light. As much of the discourse was managed +with those half-intelligible allusions that distinguished men of their +habits, it is probable that every individual present had his own +particular views of the subject: though it is certain, one and all +faithfully believed that he was solely influenced by a justifiable regard +to his temporal interest, which was in some degree rendered still more +praiseworthy by a reference to the service of his Divine Master.</p> + +<p>As the party returned, Dudley lingered a moment, alone, with his former +master. The face of the honest-meaning Ensign was charged with more than +its usual significance; and he even paused a little, after all were beyond +hearing, ere he could muster resolution to propose the subject that was so +evidently uppermost in his mind.</p> + +<p>"Captain Content Heathcote," he at length commenced, "evil or good comes +not alone in this life. Thou hast found her that we sought with so much +pain and danger, but thou hast found with her more than a Christian +gentleman can desire. I am a man of humble station, but I may make bold to +know what should be the feelings of a father, whose child is restored, +replenished by such an over-bountiful gift."</p> + +<p>"Speak plainer," said Content, firmly.</p> + +<p>"Then I would say, that it may not be grateful to one who taketh his place +among the best in this Colony, to have an offspring with an Indian cross +of blood, and over whose birth no rite of Christian marriage hath been +said. Here is Abundance, a woman of exceeding usefulness in a +newly-settled region, hath made Reuben a gift of three noble boys this +very morning. The accession is little known, and less discoursed of, in +that the good wife is accustomed to such liberality, and that the day hath +brought forth still greater events. Now a child, more or less, to such a +woman, can neither raise question among the neighbors, nor make any +extraordinary difference to the household. My brother Ring would be happy +to add the boy to his stock; and should there be any remarks concerning +the color of the younker, at a future day, it should give no reason of +surprise, had the whole four been born, on the day of such an inroad, red +as Metacom himself!".</p> + +<p>Content heard his companion to the end, without interruption. His +countenance, for a single instant, as the meaning of the Ensign became +unequivocal, reddened with a worldly feeling to which he had long been a +stranger; but the painful expression as quickly disappeared, and in its +place reigned the meek submission to Providence that habitually +characterized his mien.</p> + +<p>"That I have been troubled with this vain thought, I shall not deny," he +answered; "but the Lord hath given me strength to resist. It is his will +that one sprung of heathen lineage shall come beneath my roof, and let his +will be done! My child, and all that are hers, are welcome."</p> + +<p>Ensign Dudley pressed the point no further, and they separated.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXIX.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Tarry a little;--there is something else."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Merchant of Venice.</blockquote> + + +<p>We shift the scene. The reader will transport himself from the valley of +the Wish-Ton-Wish, to the bosom of a deep and dark wood.</p> + +<p>It may be thought that such scenes have been too often described to need +any repetition. Still, as it is possible that these pages may fall into +the hands of some who have never quitted the older members of the Union, +we shall endeavor to give them a faint impression concerning the +appearance of the place to which it has become our duty to transfer the +action of the tale.</p> + +<p>Although it is certain that inanimate, like animate nature, has its +period, the existence of the tree has no fixed and common limit. The oak, +the elm, and the linden, the quick-growing sycamore and the tall pine, has +each its own laws for the government of its growth, its magnitude, and its +duration. By this provision of nature, the wilderness, in the midst of so +many successive changes, is always maintained at the point nearest to +perfection, since the accessions are so few and gradual as to preserve its +character.</p> + +<p>The American forest exhibits in the highest degree the grandeur of repose. +As nature never does violence to its own laws, the soil throws out the +plant which it is best qualified to support, and the eye is not often +disappointed by a sickly vegetation. There ever seems a generous emulation +in the trees, which is not to be found among others or different +families, when left to pursue their quiet existence in the solitude of the +fields. Each struggles towards the light, and an equality in bulk and a +similarity in form are thus produced, which scarce belong to their +distinctive characters. The effect may be easily imagined. The vaulted +arches beneath are filled with thousands of high, unbroken columns, which +sustain one vast and trembling canopy of leaves. A pleasing gloom and an +imposing silence have their interminable reign below, while an outer and +another atmosphere seems to rest on the cloud of foliage.</p> + +<p>While the light plays on the varying surface of the tree-tops, one sombre +and little-varied hue colors the earth. Dead and moss-covered logs; mounds +covered with decomposed vegetable substances, the graves of long-past +generations of trees; cavities left by the fall of some uprooted trunk; +dark fungi, that flourish around the decayed roots of those about to lose +their hold, with a few slender and delicate plants of a minor growth, and +which best succeed in the shade, form the accompaniments of the lower +scene. The whole is tempered, and in summer rendered grateful, by a +freshness which equals that of the subterranean vault, without possessing +any of its chilling dampness. In the midst of this gloomy solitude, the +foot of man is rarely heard. An occasional glimpse of the bounding deer or +trotting moose, is almost the only interruption on the earth itself; while +the heavy bear or leaping panther, is, at long intervals, met seated on +the branches of some venerable tree. There are moments, too, when troops +of hungry wolves are found hunting on the trail of the deer; but these are +seen rather as exceptions to the stillness of the place, than as +accessories that should properly be introduced into the picture. Even the +birds are, in common, mute, or when they do break the silence, it is in a +discordance that suits the character of their wild abode.</p> + +<p>Through such a scene two men were industriously journeying, on the day +which succeeded the inroad last described. They marched as wont, one after +the other, the younger and more active leading the way through the +monotony of the woods, as accurately and as unhesitatingly as the mariner +directs his course by the aid of the needle over the waste of waters. He +in front was light, agile, and seemingly unwearied; while the one who +followed was a man of heavy mould, whose step denoted less practice in the +exercise of the forest, and possibly some failing of natural vigor.</p> + +<p>"Thine eye, Narragansett, is an unerring compass by which to steer, and +thy leg a never-wearied steed;" said the latter, casting the butt of his +musket on the end of a mouldering log, while he leaned on the barrel for +support. "If thou movest on the war-path with the same diligence as thou +usest in our errand of peace, well may the Colonists dread thy enmity."</p> + +<p>The other turned, and without seeking aid from the gun which rested +against his shoulder, he pointed at the several objects he named, and +answered--</p> + +<p>"My father is this aged sycamore; it leans against the young +oak--Conanchet is a straight pine. There is great cunning in gray hairs," +added the chief stepping lightly forward until a finger rested on the arm +of Submission; "can they tell the time when we shall lie under the moss +like a dead hemlock?"</p> + +<p>"That exceedeth the wisdom of man. It is enough, Sachem, if when we fall, +we may say with truth, that the land we shadowed is no poorer for our +growth. Thy bones will lie in the earth where thy fathers trod, but mine +may whiten in the vault of some gloomy forest."</p> + +<p>The quiet of the Indian's face was disturbed. The pupils of his dark eyes +contracted, his nostrils dilated, and his full chest heaved; and then all +reposed, like the sluggish ocean, after a vain effort to heave its waters +into some swelling wave, during a general calm.</p> + +<p>"Fire hath scorched the prints of my father's moccasons from the earth," +he said, with a smile that was placid though bitter, "and my eyes cannot +find them. I shall die under that shelter," pointing through an opening in +the foliage to the blue void; "the falling leaves will cover my bones."</p> + +<p>"Then hath the Lord given us a new bond of friendship. There is a +yew-tree and a quiet church-yard in a country afar, where generations of +my race sleep in their graves. The place is white with stones, that bear +the name of----"</p> + +<p>Submission suddenly ceased to speak, and when his eye was raised to that +of his companion, it was just in time to detect the manner in which the +curious interest of the latter changed suddenly to cold reserve, and to +note the high courtesy of the air with which the Indian turned the +discourse.</p> + +<p>"There is water beyond the little hill," he said. "Let my father drink and +grow stronger, that he may live to lie in the clearings."</p> + +<p>The other bowed, and they proceeded to the spot in silence. It would seem, +by the length of time that was now lost in taking the required +refreshment, that the travellers had journeyed long and far. The +Narragansett ate more sparingly, however, than his companion, for his mind +appeared to sustain a weight that was far more grievous than the fatigue +which had been endured by the body. Still his composure was little +disturbed outwardly, for during the silent repast he maintained the air of +a dignified warrior, rather than that of a man whose air could be much +affected by inward sorrow. When nature was appeased, they both arose, +and continued their route through the pathless forest.</p> + +<p>For an hour after quitting the spring, the progress of our two adventurers +was swift, and uninterrupted by any passing observation or momentary +pause. At the end of that time, however, the speed of Conanchet began to +slacken, and his eye, instead of maintaining its steady and forward +direction, was seen to wander with some of the appearance of indecision.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast lost those secret signs by which we have so far threaded the +woods," observed his companion; "one tree is like another, and I see no +difference in this wilderness of nature; but if thou art at fault, we may +truly despair of our object."</p> + +<p>"Here is the nest of the eagle," returned Conanchet, pointing at the +object he named perched on the upper and whitened branches of a dead pine; +"and my father may see the council-tree in this oak--but there are no +Wampanoags!"</p> + +<p>"There are many eagles in this forest, nor is that oak one that may not +have its fellow. Thine eye hath been deceived, Sachem, and some false sign +hath led us astray."</p> + +<p>Conanchet looked at his companion attentively. After a moment, he +quietly asked--</p> + +<p>"Did my father ever mistake his path, in going from his wigwam to the +place where he looked upon the house of his Great Spirit?"</p> + +<p>"The matter of that often-travelled path was different, Narragansett. My +foot had worn the rock with many passings, and the distance was a span. +But we have journeyed through leagues of forest, and our route hath lain +across brook and hill, through brake and morass, where human vision hath +not been able to detect the smallest sign of the presence of man."</p> + +<p>"My father is old," said the Indian, respectfully. "His eye is not as +quick as when he took the scalp of the Great Chief, or he would know the +print of a moccason--see," making his companion observe the mark of a +human foot that was barely discernible by the manner in which the dead +leaves had been displaced; "his rock is worn, but it is harder than the +ground. He cannot tell by its signs who passed, or when."</p> + +<p>"Here is truly that which ingenuity may portray as the print of man's +foot; but it is alone, and may be some accident of the wind."</p> + +<p>"Let my father look on every side; he will see that a tribe hath passed."</p> + +<p>"This may be true, though my vision is unequal to detect that thou wouldst +show. But if a tribe hath passed, let us follow."</p> + +<p>Conanchet shook his head, and spread the fingers of his two hands in a +manner to describe the radii of a circle.</p> + +<p>"Hugh!" he said, starting even while he was thus significantly answering +by gestures, "a moccason comes!"</p> + +<p>Submission, who had so often and so recently been arrayed against the +savages, involuntarily sought the lock of his carbine. His look and action +were menacing, though his roving eye could see no object to excite alarm.</p> + +<p>Not so Conanchet. His quicker and more practised vision soon caught a +glimpse of the warrior who was approaching, occasionally concealed by the +trunks of trees, and whose tread on the dried leaves had first betrayed +his proximity. Folding his arms on his naked bosom, the Narragansett +chief awaited the coming of the other, in an attitude of calmness and +dignity. Neither did he speak nor suffer a muscle to play, until a hand +was placed on one of his arms, and he who had drawn near said, in tones +of amity and respect--</p> + +<p>"The young Sachem hath come to look for his brother?"</p> + +<p>"Wampanoag, I have followed the trail, that your ears may listen to the +talk of a Pale-face."</p> + +<p>The third person in this interview was Metacom He shot a haughty and +fierce glance at the stranger, and then turned to his companion in arms, +with recovered calmness, to reply.</p> + +<p>"Has Conanchet counted his young men since they raised the whoop?" he +asked, in the language of the aborigines. "I saw many go into the fields, +that never came back. Let the white men die."</p> + +<p>"Wampanoag, he is led by the wampum of a Sachem. I have not counted my +young men; but I know that they are strong enough to say that what their +chief hath promised shall be done."</p> + +<p>"If the Yengeese is a friend of my brother, he is welcome. The wigwam of +Metacom is open; let him enter it."</p> + +<p>Philip made a sign for the others to follow, and led the way to the place +he had named.</p> + +<p>The spot chosen by Philip for his temporary encampment, was suited to such +a purpose. There was a thicket, denser than common, on one of its sides; a +steep and high rock protected and sheltered its rear; a swift and wide +brook dashed over fragments that had fallen, with time, from the precipice +in its front; and towards the setting sun, a whirlwind had opened a long +and melancholy glade through the forest. A few huts of brush leaned +against the base of the hill, and the scanty implements of their domestic +economy were scattered among the habitations of the savages. The whole +party did not number twenty; for, as has been said, the Wampanoag had +acted latterly more by the agency of his allies, than with the materials +of his own proper force.</p> + +<p>The three were soon seated on a rock whose foot was washed by the rapid +current of the tumbling water. A few gloomy-looking and fierce Indians +watched the conference, in the back-ground.</p> + +<p>"My brother hath followed my trail, that my ears may hear, the words of a +Yengeese," Philip commenced, after a sufficient period had elapsed to +escape the imputation of curiosity. "Let him speak."</p> + +<p>"I have come singly into the jaws of the lion, restless and remorseless +leader of the savages," returned the bold exile, "that you may hear the +words of peace. Why hath the son seen the acts of the English so +differently from the father? Massassoit was a friend of the persecuted and +patient pilgrims who have sought rest and refuge in this Bethel of the +faithful; but thou hast hardened thy heart to their prayers, and seekest +the blood of those who wish thee no wrong. Doubtless thy nature is one of +pride and mistaken vanities, like that of all thy race, and it hath seemed +needful to the vain-glory of thy name and nation to battle against men of +a different origin. But know there is one who is master of all here on +earth, as he is King of Heaven! It is his pleasure that the sweet savor of +his worship should arise from the wilderness. His will is law, and they +that would withstand do but kick against the pricks. Listen then to +peaceful counsels, that the land may be parcelled justly to meet the wants +of all, and the country be prepared for the incense of the altar."</p> + +<p>This exhortation was uttered in a deep and almost unearthly voice, and +with a degree of excitement that was probably increased by the intensity +with which the solitary had lately been brooding over his peculiar +opinions, and the terrible scenes in which he had so recently been an +actor. Philip listened with the high courtesy of an Indian prince. +Unintelligible as was the meaning of the speaker, his countenance betrayed +no gleaming of impatience, his lip no smile of ridicule. On the contrary, +a noble and lofty gravity reigned in every feature; and ignorant as he was +of what the other wished to say, his attentive eye and bending head +expressed every wish to comprehend.</p> + +<p>"My pale friend hath spoken very wisely," he said, when the other ceased +to speak. "But he doth not see clearly in these woods; he sits too much in +the shade. His eye is better in a clearing. Metacom is not a fierce beast. +His claws are worn out, his legs are tired with travelling. He cannot jump +far. My pale friend wants to divide the land. Why trouble the Great Spirit +to do his work twice? He gave the Wampanoags their hunting-grounds, and +places on the salt lake to catch their fish and clams, and he did not +forget his children the Narragansetts. He put them in the midst of the +water, for he saw that they could swim. Did he forget the Yengeese? or did +he put them in a swamp, where they would turn into frogs and lizards!"</p> + +<p>"Heathen, my voice shall never deny the bounties of my God! His hand hath +placed my fathers in a fertile land, rich in the good things of the world, +fortunate in position, sea-girt and impregnable. Happy is he who can find +justification in dwelling within its borders!"</p> + +<p>An empty gourd lay on the rock at the side of Metacom. Bending over the +stream, he filled it to the brim with water, and held the vessel before +the eyes of his companions.</p> + +<p>"See," he said, pointing to the even surface of the fluid: "so much hath +the Great Spirit said it shall hold. Now," he added, filling the hollow +of the other hand from the brook, and casting its contents into the gourd, +"now my brother knows that some must come away. It is so with his country. +There is no longer room in it for my pale friend."</p> + +<p>"Did I attempt to deceive thine ears with this tale, I should lay +falsehood to my soul. We are many, and sorry am I to say that some among +us are like unto them that were called 'Legion.' But to say that there +is not still place for all to die where they are born, is to utter +damning untruth."</p> + +<p>"The land of the Yengeese is then good--very good," returned Philip; "but +their young men like one that is better."</p> + +<p>"Thy nature, Wampanoag, is not equal to comprehend the motives which have +led us hither, and our discourse is getting vain."</p> + +<p>"My brother Conanchet is a Sachem. The leaves that fall from the trees of +his country, in the season of frosts, blow into my hunting-grounds. We are +neighbors and friends," slightly bending his head to the Narragansett. +"When a wicked Indian runs from the islands to the wigwams of my people, +he is whipt and sent back. We keep the path between us open, only for +honest red men."</p> + +<p>Philip spoke with a sneer, that his habitual loftiness of manner did not +conceal from his associate chief, though it was so slight as entirely to +escape the observation of him who was the subject of his sarcasm. The +former took the alarm, and for the first time during the dialogue did he +break silence.</p> + +<p>"My pale father is a brave warrior," said the young Sachem of the +Narragansetts. "His hand took the scalp of the Great Sagamore of +his people!"</p> + +<p>The countenance of Metacom changed instantly. In place of the ironical +scorn that was gathering about his lip, its expression became serious and +respectful. He gazed steadily at the hard and weather beaten features of +his guest, and it is probable that words of higher courtesy than any he +had yet used would have fallen from him, had not, at that moment, a signal +been given, by a young Indian set to watch on the summit of the rock, that +one approached. Both Metacom and Conanchet appeared to hear this cry with +some uneasiness. Neither however arose, nor did either betray such +evidence of alarm as denoted a deeper interest in the interruption, than +the circumstances might very naturally create A warrior was shortly seen +entering the encampment, from the side of the forest which was known to +lie in the direction of the Wish-Ton-Wish.</p> + +<p>The moment Conanchet saw the person of the newly-arrived man, his eye and +attitude resumed their former repose, though the look of Metacom still +continued gloomy and distrustful. The difference in the manner of the +chiefs was not however sufficiently strong to be remarked by Submission, +who was about to resume the discourse, when the new-comer moved past the +cluster of warriors in the encampment, and took his seat near them, on a +stone so low, that the water laved his feet. As usual there was no +greeting between the Indians for some moments, the three appearing to +regard the arrival as a mere thing of course. But the uneasiness of +Metacom prompted a communication sooner than common.</p> + +<p>"Mohtucket," he said, in the language of their tribe, "hath lost the +trail of his friends. We thought the crows of the pale-men were picking +his bones!"</p> + +<p>"There was no scalp at his belt, and Mohtucket was ashamed to be seen +among the young men with an empty hand."</p> + +<p>"He remembered that he had too often come back without striking a dead +enemy," returned Metacom, about whose firm mouth lurked an expression of +ill-concealed contempt. "Has he now touched a warrior?"</p> + +<p>The Indian, who was merely a man of the inferior class, held up the trophy +which hung at his girdle to the examination of his chief. Metacom looked +at the disgusting object with the calmness and nearly with the interest, +that a virtuoso would lavish on an antique memorial of some triumph of +former ages. His finger was thrust through a hole in the skin, and then, +while he resumed his former position, he observed drily--</p> + +<p>"A bullet hath hit the head. The arrow of Mohtucket doth little harm!"</p> + +<p>"Metacom hath never looked on his young man like a friend, since the +brother of Mohtucket was killed."</p> + +<p>The glance that Philip cast at his underling, though it was not unmingled +with suspicion, was one of princely and savage scorn. Their white auditor +had not been able to understand the discourse, but the dissatisfaction and +uneasiness of the eyes of both were too obvious not to show that the +conference was far from being amicable.</p> + +<p>"The Sachem hath discontent with his young man," he observed, "and from +this may he understand the nature of that which leadeth many to quit the +land of their fathers, beneath the rising sun, to come to this wilderness +in the west. If he will now listen, I will touch further on the business +of my errand, and deal more at large with the subject we have but so +lightly skimmed."</p> + +<p>Philip manifested attention. He smiled on his guest, and even bowed his +assent to the proposal; still his keen eye seemed to read the soul of his +subordinate, through the veil of his gloomy visage. There was a play of +the fingers of his right hand, when the arm fell from its position across +his bosom to his thigh, as if they itched to grasp the knife whose +buck-horn handle lay within a few inches of their reach. Yet his air to +the white man was composed and dignified. The latter was again about to +speak, when the arches of the forest suddenly rung with the report of a +musket. All in and near the encampment sprung to their feet at the +well-known sound, and yet all continued as motionless as if so many dark +but breathing statues had been planted there. The rustling of leaves was +heard, and then the body of the young Indian, who had been posted on the +rock, rolled to the edge of the precipice, whence it fell, like a log, on +the yielding roof of one of the lodges beneath. A shout issued from the +forest behind, a volley roared among the trees, and glancing lead was +whistling through the air, and cutting twigs from the undergrowth on every +side. Two more of the Wampanoags were seen rolling on the earth, in the +death-agony.</p> + +<p>The voice of Annawon was heard in the encampment, and at the next instant +the place was deserted.</p> + +<p>During this startling and fearful moment, the four individuals near the +stream were inactive. Conanchet and his Christian friend stood to their +arms, but it was rather as men cling to the means of defence in moments of +great jeopardy, than with any intention of offensive hostilities. Metacom +seemed undecided. Accustomed to receive and inflict surprises, a warrior +so experienced could not be disconcerted; still he hesitated as to the +course he ought to take. But when Annawon, who was nearer the scene, +sounded the signal of retreat, he sprung towards the returned straggler, +and with a single blow of his tomahawk brained the traitor. Glances of +fierce revenge, and of inextinguishable though disappointed hatred, were +exchanged between the victim and his chief, as the former lay on the rock +gasping for breath; and then the latter turned in his tracks, and raised +the dripping weapon over the head of the white man.</p> + +<p>"Wampanoag, no!" said Conanchet, in a voice of thunder. "Our lives are +one."</p> + +<p>Philip hesitated. Fierce and dangerous passions were struggling in his +breast, but the habitual self-command of the wily politician of those +woods prevailed. Even in that scene of blood and alarm, he smiled on his +powerful and fearless young ally; then pointing to the deepest shades of +the forest, he bounded towards them with the activity of a deer.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXX.</h1> + + + +<blockquote> "But, peace be with him!<br /> +That life is better life, past fearing death,<br /> +Than that which lives to fear."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Measure for Measure.</blockquote> + + +<p>Courage is both a comparative and an improvable virtue. If the fear of +death be a weakness common to the race, it is one that is capable of being +diminished by frequent exposure, and even rendered extinct by reflection. +It was therefore with sensibilities entirely changed from their natural +course, that the two individuals who were left alone by the retreat of +Philip, saw the nature and the approach of the danger that now beset them. +Their position near the brook had so far protected them from the bullets +of the assailants; but it was equally obvious to both, that in a minute or +two the Colonists would enter an encampment that was already deserted. +Each, in consequence, acted according to those opinions which had been +fostered by the habits of their respective lives.</p> + +<p>As Conanchet had no act of vengeance, like that which Metacom had +performed, immediately before his eyes, he had, at the first alarm, +given all his faculties to the nature of the attack. The first minute +was sufficient to understand its character and the second enabled him +to decide.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said hastily, but with perfect self-possession, pointing as he +spoke to the swift-running stream at his feet; "we will go with the water; +let the marks of our trail run before."</p> + +<p>Submission hesitated. There was something like haughty military pride in +the stern determination of his eye, which seemed reluctant to incur the +disgrace of a flight so unequivocal, and, as he might have believed, so +unworthy of his character.</p> + +<p>"No, Narragansett!" he answered; "flee for thy life, but leave me to reap +the harvest of my deeds. They can but leave my bones by the side of those +of this traitor at my feet."</p> + +<p>The mien of Conanchet was neither excited nor displeased. He quietly drew +the corner of his light robe over a shoulder, and was about to resume his +seat on the stone from which he had but a minute before arisen, when his +companion again urged him to fly.</p> + +<p>"The enemies of a chief must not say that he led his friend into a trap, +and that when his leg was fast he ran away himself, like a lucky fox. If +my brother stays to be killed, Conanchet will be found near him."</p> + +<p>"Heathen, heathen!" returned the other, moved nearly to tears by the +loyalty of his guide; "many a Christian man might take lessons from thy +faith. Lead on--I will follow, at the utmost of my speed."</p> + +<p>The Narragansett sprung into the brook, and took its downward course--a +direction opposite to that which Philip had chosen. There was wisdom in +this expedient, for though their pursuers might see that the water was +troubled, there was no certainty as to the direction of the fugitives. +Conanchet had foreseen this little advantage, and, with the instinctive +readiness of his people, he did not fail to make it of service. Metacom +had been influenced by the course taken by his warriors, who had retired +under shelter of the rocks.</p> + +<p>Ere the two fugitives had gone any great distance, they heard the shouts +of their enemies in the encampment; and soon after, scattering shot +announced that Philip had already rallied his people to resistance. There +was an assurance of safety in the latter circumstance, which caused them +to relax their speed.</p> + +<p>"My foot is not as active as in days that are past," said Submission; "we +will therefore recover strength while we may, lest we be yet taken at +emergency. Narragansett, thou hast ever kept thy faith with me, and come +of what race or worship in what manner thou mayst, there is one to +remember it."</p> + +<p>"My father looked with the eye of a friend on the Indian boy, that was +kept like a young bear in a cage. He taught him to speak with the tongue +of a Yengeese."</p> + +<p>"We passed weary months together in our prison, Chief; and Apollyon must +have been strong in a heart, to resist the opportunity of friendship in +such a situation. But, even there, my confidence and care were repaid, for +without thy mysterious hints, gathered from signs thou hadst gleaned +thyself during the hunt, it would not have been in my power to warn my +friends that thy people contemplated an attack, the unhappy night of the +burning. Narragansett, we have done many acts of kindness, each in his own +fashion, and I am ready to confess this last not to be the least of thy +favors. Though of white blood and of Christian origin, I can almost say +that my heart is Indian."</p> + +<p>"Then die an Indian's death!" shouted a voice, within twenty feet of the +spot where they were wading down the stream.</p> + +<p>The menacing words were rather accompanied than seconded by a shot, and +Submission fell. Conanchet cast his musket into the water, and turned to +raise his companion.</p> + +<p>"It was merely age dealing with the slippery stones of the brook;" said +the latter, as he recovered his footing. "That had well-nigh been a fatal +discharge! but God, for his own purpose, hath still averted the blow."</p> + +<p>Conanchet did hot speak. Seizing his gun, which lay at the bottom of the +stream, he drew his friend after him to the shore, and plunged into the +thicket that lined its banks. Here they were momentarily protected from +missiles. But the shouts that succeeded the discharge of the muskets, were +accompanied by yells that he knew to proceed from Pequots and Mohegans, +tribes that were in deadly hostility to his own people. The hope of +concealing their trail from such pursuers was not to be indulged, and for +his companion to escape by flight he knew to be impossible. There was no +time to lose. In such emergencies, with an Indian, thought takes the +character of instinct. The fugitives stood at the foot of a sapling, whose +top was completely concealed by masses of leaves, which belonged to the +under-brush that clustered around its trunk. Into this tree he assisted +Submission to ascend, and then, without explaining his own views, he +instantly left the spot, rendering his own trail as broad and perceptible +as possible, by beating down the bushes as he passed.</p> + +<p>The expedient of the faithful Narragansett was completely successful. +Before he had got a hundred yards from the place, he saw the foremost of +the hostile Indians hunting like blood-hounds on his footsteps. His +movement was slow, until he saw that, having his person in view, all of +the pursuers had passed the tree. Then, the arrow parting from the bow was +scarce swifter than his flight.</p> + +<p>The pursuit now partook of all the exciting incidents and ingenious +expedients of an Indian chase. Conanchet was soon hunted from his cover, +and obliged to trust his person in the more open parts of the forest. +Miles of hill and ravine, of plain, of rocks, of morass and stream, were +crossed, and still the trained warrior held on his way, unbroken in spirit +and scarce wearied in limb. The merit of a savage, in such an employment, +rests more on his bottom than on his speed. The three or four Colonists, +who had been sent with the party of amicable Indians to intercept those +who might attempt to escape down the stream, were early thrown out; and +the struggle was now entirely between the fugitive and men equally +practised in limb and ingenious in expedient.</p> + +<p>The Pequots had a great advantage in their number. The frequent doublings +of the fugitive kept the chase within the circle of a mile, and as each of +his enemies tired, there were always fresh pursuers to take his plate. In +such a contest, the result could not be questionable. After more than two +hours of powerful exertion, the foot of Conanchet began to fail, and his +speed very sensibly to flag. Exhausted by efforts that had been nearly +supernatural, the breathless warrior cast his person prostrate on the +earth, and lay for several minutes as if he were dead.</p> + +<p>During this breathing-time, his throbbing pulses grew more calm, his heart +beat less violently, and the circulation was gradually returning to the +tranquil flow of nature in a state of rest. It was at this moment, when +his energies were recruited by rest, that the chief heard the tread of the +moccasons on his trail. Rising, he looked back on the course over which he +had just passed with so much pain. But a single warrior was in view. Hope +for an instant regained the ascendency, and he raised his musket to fell +his approaching adversary. The aim was cool, long, and it would have been +fatal, had not the useless tick of the lock reminded him of the condition +of the gun. He cast the wet and unserviceable piece away, and grasped his +tomahawk; but a band of Pequots rushed in to the rescue, rendering +resistance madness. Perceiving the hopelessness of his situation, the +Sachem of the Narragansetts dropped his tomahawk, loosened his belt, and +advanced unarmed, with a noble resignation, to meet his foes. In the next +instant, he was their prisoner.</p> + +<p>"Bring me to your chief," said the captive, haughtily, when the common +herd into whose hands he had fallen would have questioned him on the +subject of his companions and of his own fate. "My tongue is used to speak +with Sachems."</p> + +<p>He was obeyed, and before an hour had passed, the renowned Conanchet stood +confronted with his most deadly enemy.</p> + +<p>The place of meeting was the deserted encampment of the band of Philip. +Here most of the pursuers had already assembled, including all of the +Colonists who had been engaged in the expedition. The latter consisted +of Meek Wolfe, Ensign Dudley, Sergeant Ring, and a dozen private men of +the village.</p> + +<p>The result of the enterprise was, by this time, generally known. Though +Metacom, its principal object, had escaped; yet, when it was understood +that the Sachem of the Narragansetts had fallen into their hands, there +was not an individual of the party who did not think his personal risk +more than amply compensated. Though the Mohegans and Pequots restrained +their exultation, lest the pride of their captive should be soothed by +such an evidence of his importance, the white men drew around the prisoner +with an interest and a joy they did not care to conceal. Still, as he had +yielded to an Indian there was an affectation of leaving the chief to the +clemency of his conquerors. Perhaps some deeply-pondered scheme of policy +had its influence in this act of seeming justice.</p> + +<p>When Conanchet was placed in the centre of the curious circle, he found +himself immediately in presence of the principal chief of the tribe of the +Mohegans. It was Uncas, son of that Uncas whose fortunes had also +prevailed, aided by the whites, in the conflict with his father, the +hapless but noble Miantonimoh. Fate had now decreed, that the same evil +star, which had governed the destinies of the ancestor, should extend its +influence to the second generation.</p> + +<p>The race of Uncas, though weakened of its power, and shorn of much of its +peculiar grandeur, by a vicious alliance with the English, still retained +most of the fine qualities of savage heroism. He, who now stood forth to +receive his captive, was a warrior of middle age, of just proportions, of +a grave though fierce aspect, and of an eye and countenance that expressed +all those contradictory traits of character which render the savage +warrior almost as admirable as he is appalling. Until this moment, the +rival chieftains had never met, except in the confusion of battle. For a +few minutes, neither spoke. Each stood regarding the fine outlines, the +eagle eye, the proud bearing, and the severe gravity, of the other, in +secret admiration, but with a calmness so immovable, as entirely to +conceal the workings of his thoughts. At length, they began to assume +miens suited to the part each was to enact in the coming scene. The +countenance of Uncas became ironical and exulting, while that of his +captive grew still more cold and unconcerned.</p> + +<p>"My young men," said the former, "have taken a fox skulking in the +bushes. His legs were very long; but he had no heart to use them."</p> + +<p>Conanchet folded his arms on his bosom, and the glance of his quiet eye +seemed to tell his enemy, that devices so common were unworthy of them +both. The other either understood its meaning, or loftier feelings +prevailed; for he added, in a better taste--</p> + +<p>"Is Conanchet tired of his life, that he comes among my young men?"</p> + +<p>"Mohican," said the Narragansett chief, "he has been there before; if +Uncas will count his warriors he will see that some are wanting."</p> + +<p>"There are no traditions among the Indians of the islands!" said the +other, with an ironical glance at the chiefs near him, "They have +never heard of Miantonimoh; they do not know such a field as the +Sachem's plain!"</p> + +<p>The countenance of the prisoner changed. For a single instant, it appeared +to grow dark, as if a deep shadow were cast athwart it; and then every +feature rested, as before, in dignified repose. His conqueror watched the +play of his lineaments, and when he thought nature was getting the +ascendancy, exultation gleamed about his own fierce eye; but when the +self-possession of the Narragansett returned, he affected to think no more +of an effort that had been fruitless.</p> + +<p>"If the men of the islands know little," he continued, "it is not so with +the Mohicans. There was once a great Sachem among the Narragansetts; he +was wiser than the beaver, swifter than the moose, and more cunning than +the red fox. But he could not see, into to-morrow. Foolish counsellors +told him to go upon the war-path against the Pequots and Mohicans. He lost +his scalp; it hangs in the smoke of my wigwam. We shall see if it will +know the hair of its son. Narragansett, here are wise men of the +Pale-faces; they will speak to you. If they offer a pipe, smoke: for +tobacco is not plenty with your tribe."</p> + +<p>Uncas then turned away, leaving his prisoner to the interrogatories of his +white allies.</p> + +<p>"Here is the look of Miantonimoh, Sergeant Ring," observed Ensign Dudley +to his wife's brother, after he had contemplated for a reasonable time the +features of the prisoner. "I see the eye and the tread of the father, in +this young Sachem. And more, Sergeant Ring; the chief favors the boy we +picked up in the fields some dozen years agone, and kept in the block for +the matter of many months, caged like a young panther. Hast forgotten the +night, Reuben, and the lad, and the block? A fiery oven is not hotter than +that pile was getting, before we dove into the earth. I never fail to +think of it, when the good Minister is dealing powerfully with the +punishments of the wicked, and the furnaces of Tophet!"</p> + +<p>The silent yeoman comprehended the disconnected allusions of his +relative, nor was he slow in seeing the palpable resemblance between +their prisoner and the Indian boy whose person had once been so familiar +to his eye. Admiration and surprise were blended, in his honest face, +with an expression that appeared to announce deep regret. As neither of +these individuals, however, was the principal personage of their party, +each was fain to remain an attentive and an interested observer of that +which followed.</p> + +<p>"Worshipper of Baal!" commenced the sepulchral voice of the divine; "it +has pleased the King of Heaven and earth to protect his people! The +triumph of thy evil nature hath been short, and now cometh the judgment!"</p> + +<p>These words were uttered to ears that affected deafness. In the presence +of his most deadly foe, and a captive, Conanchet was not a man to suffer +his resolution to waver. He looked coldly and vacantly on the speaker, +nor could the most suspicious or the most practised eye have detected in +his mien his knowledge of the English language. Deceived by the stoicism +of the prisoner, Meek muttered a few words, in which the Narragansett was +strangely dealt by, denunciations and petitions in his favor being blended +in the quaint and exaggerated fashions of the times; and then he submitted +to the interference of those present, who were charged with the duty of +deciding on the fate of the Indian.</p> + +<p>Although Eben Dudley was the principal and the efficient military man in +this little expedition from the valley, he was accompanied by those whose +authority was predominant in all matters that did not strictly appertain +to the executive portion of the duty. Commissioners, named by the +Government of the Colony, had come out with the party, clothed with power +to dispose of Philip, should that dreaded chief, as was expected, fall +into the hands of the English. To these persons the fate of Conanchet was +now referred.</p> + +<p>We shall not detain the narrative to dwell on the particulars of the +council. The question was gravely considered, and it was decided with a +deep and conscientious sense of the responsibility of those who acted as +judges. Several hours were passed in deliberation, Meek opening and +closing the deliberations by solemn prayers. The judgment was then +announced to Uncas, by the divine himself.</p> + +<p>"The wise men of my people have consulted together in the matter of this +Narragansett," he said, "and their spirits have wrestled powerfully with +the subject. In coming to their conclusion, if it wear the aspect of +time-serving, let all remember, the Providence of Heaven hath so +interwoven the interests of man with its own good purposes, that to the +carnal eye they may outwardly seem to be inseparable. But that which is +here done is done in good faith to our ruling principle, which is good +faith to thee and to all others who support the altar in this wilderness. +And herein is our decision: We commit the Narragansett to thy justice, +since it is evident that while he is at large, neither thou, who art a +feeble prop to the church in these regions, nor we, who are its humble and +unworthy servitors, are safe. Take him, then, and deal with him according +to thy wisdom. We place limits to thy power, in only two things. It is not +meet that any born of humanity, and having human sensibilities, should +suffer more in the flesh than may be necessary to the ends of duty; we +therefore decree that thy captive shall not die by torture; and, for the +better security of this our charitable decision, two of our number shall +accompany thee and him to the place of execution; it being always +supposed, it is thy intention to inflict the pains of death. Another +condition of this concession to a foreordered necessity, is, that a +Christian minister may be at hand, in order-that the sufferer may depart +with the prayers of one accustomed to lift his voice in petitions to the +footstool of the Almighty."</p> + +<p>The Mohegan chief heard this sentence with deep attention. When he found +he was to be denied the satisfaction of proving, or perhaps of overcoming, +the resolution of his enemy, a deep cloud passed across his swarthy +visage. But the strength of his tribe had long been broken, and to resist +would have been as unprofitable as to repine would have been unseemly. The +conditions were therefore accepted, and preparations were accordingly made +among the Indians to proceed to judgment.</p> + +<p>These people had few contradictory principles to appease, and no +subtleties to distract their decision. Direct, fearless, and simple in all +their practices, they did little more than gather the voices of the +chiefs, and acquaint their captive with the result. They knew that +fortune had thrown an implacable enemy into their hands, and they believed +that self-preservation demanded his life. To them it mattered little +whether he had arrows in his hands, or had yielded himself an unarmed +prisoner. He knew the risk he ran in submitting, and he had probably +consulted his own character, rather than their benefit, in throwing away +his arms. They therefore pronounced the judgment of death against their +captive merely respecting the decree of their white allies, which had +commanded them to spare the torture.</p> + +<p>So soon as this determination was known, the Commissioners of the +Colony hastened away from the spot with consciences that required some +aid from the stimulus of their subtle doctrines, in order to render +them quiet. They were, however, ingenious casuists; and as they hurried +along their return path, most of the party were satisfied that they had +rather manifested a merciful interposition, than exercised any act of +positive cruelty.</p> + +<p>During the two or three hours which had passed on these solemn and +usual preparations, Conanchet was seated on a rock, a close but +apparently an unmoved spectator of all that passed. His eye was mild, +and at times melancholy; but its brightness and its steadiness remained +unimpaired. When his sentence was announced, it exhibited no change; +and he saw all the pale-men depart, with the calmness he had maintained +throughout. It was only as Uncas, attended by the body of his party and +the two white superintendents who had been left, approached, that his +spirit seemed to awaken.</p> + +<p>"My people have said that there shall be no more wolves in the woods," +said Uncas; "and they have commanded our young men to slay the hungriest +of them all."</p> + +<p>"It is well!" coldly returned the other.</p> + +<p>A gleaming of admiration, and perhaps of humanity, came over the grim +countenance of Uncas, as he gazed at the repose which reigned in the firm +features of his victim. For an instant, his purpose wavered.</p> + +<p>"The Mohicans are a great tribe!" he added; "and the race of Uncas is +getting few. We will paint our brother so that the lying Narragansetts +shall not know him, and he will be a warrior on the main land."</p> + +<p>This relenting of his enemy had a corresponding effect on the generous, +temper of Conanchet. The lofty pride deserted his eye, and his look became +milder and more human. For a minute, intense thought brooded around his +brow; the firm muscles of his mouth played a little, though scarcely +enough to be seen, and then he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Mohican," he said, "why should your young men be in a hurry? My scalp +will be the scalp of a Great Chief to-morrow. They will not take two, +should they strike their prisoner now."</p> + +<p>"Hath Conanchet forgotten any thing, that he is not ready?"</p> + +<p>"Sachem, he is always ready--But"----he paused, and spoke in tones that +faltered,--"does a Mohican live alone?"</p> + +<p>"How many suns doth the Narragansett ask?"</p> + +<p>"One: when the shadow of that pine points towards the brook, Conanchet +will be ready. He will then stand in the shade, with naked hands."</p> + +<p>"Go," said Uncas, with dignity; "I have heard the words of a Sagamore."</p> + +<p>Conanchet turned, and passing swiftly through the silent crowd, his person +was soon lost in the surrounding forest.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXXI.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Therefore, lay bare your bosom."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Merchant of Venice.</blockquote> + + +<p>The night that succeeded was wild and melancholy. The moon was nearly +full, but its place in the heavens was only seen, as the masses of vapor +which drove through the air occasionally opened, suffering short gleams of +fitful light to fall on the scene below. A south-western wind rather +moaned than sighed through the forest, and there were moments when its +freshness increased, till every leaf seemed a tongue, and each low plant +appeared to be endowed with the gift of speech. With the exception of +these imposing and not unpleasing natural sounds, there was a solemn quiet +in and about the village of the Wish-Ton-Wish. An hour before the moment +when we resume the action of the legend, the sun had settled into the +neighboring forest, and most of its simple and laborious inhabitants had +already sought their rest.</p> + +<p>The lights however still shone through many of the windows of the +"Heathcote house," as, in the language of the country, the dwelling of the +Puritan was termed. There was the usual stirring industry in and about the +offices, and the ordinary calm was reigning in the superior parts of the +habitation. A solitary man was to be seen on its piazza. It was young Mark +Heathcote, who paced the long and narrow gallery, as if impatient of some +interruption to his wishes.</p> + +<p>The uneasiness of the young man was of short continuance; for, ere he had +been many minutes at his post, a door opened, and two light and timid +forms glided out of the house.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast not come alone, Martha," said the youth, half-displeased. "I +told thee that the matter I had to say was for thine own ear."</p> + +<p>"It is our Ruth. Thou knowest, Mark, that she may not be left alone, for +we fear her return to the forest. She is like some ill-tamed fawn, that +would be apt to leap away at the first well-known sound from the woods. +Even now, I fear that we are too much asunder.</p> + +<p>"Fear nothing; my sister fondles her infant, and she thinketh not of +flight; thou seest I am here to intercept her, were such her intention. +Now speak with candor, Martha, and say if thou meanest in sincerity that +the visits of the Hartford gallant, were less to thy liking than most of +thy friends have believed?"</p> + +<p>"What I have said cannot be recalled."</p> + +<p>"Still it may be repented of."</p> + +<p>"I do not number the dislike I may feel for the young man among my +failings. I am too happy, here, in this family, to wish to quit it. +And now that our sister----there is one speaking to her at this +moment, Mark!"</p> + +<p>"Tis only the innocent," returned the young man, glancing his eye to the +other end of the piazza. "They confer often together. Whittal hath just +come in from the woods, whither he is much inclined to pass an hour or +two, each evening. Thou wast saying that now we have our sister--?"</p> + +<p>"I feel less desire to change my abode."</p> + +<p>"Then why not stay with us for ever, Martha?"</p> + +<p>"Hist!" interrupted his companion, who, though conscious of what she was +about to listen to, shrunk, with the waywardness of human nature, from the +very declaration she most wished to hear, "hist--there was a movement. Ah! +our Ruth and Whittal are fled!"</p> + +<p>"They seek some amusement for the babe--they are near the out-buildings. +Then why not accept a right to remain for ever----"</p> + +<p>"It may not be, Mark," cried the girl wresting her hand from his grasp; +"they are fled!" + +Mark reluctantly released his hold, and followed to the spot where his +sister had been sitting. She was, in truth, gone; though, some minutes +passed before even Martha seriously believed that she had disappeared +without an intention of returning. The agitation of both rendered the +search ill-directed and uncertain, and there was perhaps a secret +satisfaction in prolonging their interview even in this vague manner, that +prevented them for some time from giving the alarm. When that moment did +come, it was too late. The fields were examined, the orchards and +out-houses thoroughly searched, without any traces of the fugitives. It +would have been useless to enter the forest in the darkness, and all that +could be done in reason, was to set a watch during the night, and to +prepare for a more active and intelligent pursuit in the morning.</p> + +<p>But, long before the sun arose, the small and melancholy party of the +fugitives threaded the woods at such a distance from the valley, as would +have rendered the plan of the family entirely nugatory. Conanchet had led +the way over a thousand forest knolls, across water-courses, and through +dark glens, followed by his silent partner, with an industry that would +have baffled the zeal of even those from whom they fled. Whittal Ring, +bearing the infant on his back, trudged with unwearied step in the rear. +Hours had passed in this manner, and not a syllable had been uttered by +either of the three. Once or twice, they had stopped at some spot where +water, limpid as the air, gushed from the rocks; and, drinking from the +hollows of their hands, the march had been resumed with the same +speechless industry as before.</p> + +<p>At length Conanchet paused He studied the position of the sun, gravely, +and took a long and anxious look at the signs of the forest, in order that +he might not be deceived in its quarter. To an unpractised eye, the arches +of the trees, the leaf-covered path, and the mouldering logs, would have +seemed everywhere the same. But it was not easy to deceive one so trained +in the woods. Satisfied equally with the progress he had made, and with +the hour the chief signed to his two companions to place themselves at his +side, and took a seat on a low shelf of rock, that thrust its naked head +out of the side of a hill.</p> + +<p>For many minutes, after all were seated, no one broke the silence. The eye +of Narra-mattah sought the countenance of her husband, as the eye of woman +seeks instruction from the expression of features that she has been taught +to revere; but still she spoke not. The innocent laid the patient babe at +the feet of its mother, and imitated her reserve.</p> + +<p>"Is the air of the woods pleasant to the Honey-suckle, after living in the +wigwam of her people?" asked Conanchet, breaking the long silence. "Can a +flower, which blossomed in the sun, like the shade?"</p> + +<p>"A woman of the Narragansetts is happiest in the lodge of her husband."</p> + +<p>The eye of the chief met her confiding look with affection, and then it +fell, mild and full of kindness, on the features of the infant that lay at +their feet. There was a minute, during which an expression of utter +melancholy gathered about his brow.</p> + +<p>"The Spirit that made the earth," he continued, "is very cunning. He has +known where to put the hemlock, and where the oak should grow. He has left +the moose and the deer to the Indian hunter, and he has given the horse +and the ox to a Pale-face. Each tribe hath its hunting-grounds, and its +game. The Narragansetts know the taste of a clam, while the Mohawks eat +the berries of the mountains. Thou hast seen the bright bow which shines +in the skies, Narra-mattah, and knowest how one color is mixed with +another, like paint on a warrior's face. The leaf of the hemlock is like +the leaf of the sumach; the ash, the chestnut; the chestnut, the linden; +and the linden, the broad-leaved tree which bears the red fruit, in the +clearing of the Yengeese; but the tree of the red fruit is little like the +hemlock! Conanchet is a tall and straight hemlock, and the father of +Narra-mattah is a tree of the clearing, that bears the red fruit. The +Great Spirit was angry when they grew together."</p> + +<p>The sensitive wife understood but too well the current of the chief's +thoughts. Suppressing the pain she felt, however, she answered with the +readiness of a woman whose imagination was quickened by her affections.</p> + +<p>"What Conanchet hath said is true. But the Yengeese have put the apple of +their own land on the thorn of our woods, and the fruit is good!"</p> + +<p>"It is like that boy," said the chief, pointing to his son; "neither red +nor pale. No, Narra-mattah; what the Great Spirit hath commanded, even a +Sachem must do."</p> + +<p>"And doth Conanchet say this fruit is not good?" asked his wife, lifting +the smiling boy with a mother's joy before his eyes.</p> + +<p>The heart of the warrior was touched. Bending his head, he kissed the +babe, with such fondness as parents less stern are wont to exhibit. For a +moment, he appeared to have satisfaction in gazing at the promise of the +child. But, as he raised his head, his eye caught a glimpse of the sun, +and the whole expression of his countenance changed. Motioning to his +wife to replace the infant on the earth, he turned to her with solemnity, +and continued--</p> + +<p>"Let the tongue of Narra-mattah speak without fear. She hath been in the +lodges of her father, and hath tasted of their plenty. Is her heart glad?"</p> + +<p>The young wife paused. The question brought with it a sudden recollection +of all those reviving sensations, of that tender solicitude, and of those +soothing sympathies, of which she had so lately been the subject. But +these feelings soon vanished; for, without daring to lift her eyes to meet +the attentive and anxious gaze of the chief, she said firmly, though with +a voice that was subdued by diffidence--</p> + +<p>"Narra-mattah is a wife."</p> + +<p>"Then will she listen to the words of her husband. Conanchet is a +chief no longer. He is a prisoner of the Mohicans. Uncas waits for him +in the woods!"</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the recent declaration of the young wife, she heard of +this calamity with little of the calmness of an Indian woman. At first, it +seemed as if her senses refused to comprehend the meaning of the words. +Wonder, doubt, horror, and fearful certainty, each in its turn prevailed; +for she was too well schooled in all the usages and opinions of the people +with whom she dwelt, not to understand the jeopardy in which her husband +was placed.</p> + +<p>"The Sachem of the Narragansetts a prisoner, of Mohican Uncas!" she +repeated in a low tone, as if the sound of her voice were necessary to +dispel some horrible illusion. "No! Uncas is not a warrior to strike +Conanchet!"</p> + +<p>"Hear my words," said the chief, touching the shoulder of his wife, as +one arouses a friend from his slumbers. "There is a Pale-face in these +woods who is a burrowing fox. He hides his head from the Yengeese. When +his people were on the trail, barking like hungry wolves, this man +trusted to a Sagamore. It was a swift chase, and my father is getting +very old. He went up a young hickory, like a bear, and Conanchet led off +the lying tribe. But he is not a moose. His legs cannot go like running +water, for ever!"</p> + +<p>"And why did the great Narragansett give his life for a stranger?"</p> + +<p>"The man is a brave;" returned the Sachem, proudly: "he took the scalp of +a Sagamore!"</p> + +<p>Again Narra-mattah was silent. She brooded, in nearly stupid amazement, on +the frightful truth.</p> + +<p>"The Great Spirit sees that the man and his wife are of different tribes," +she at length ventured to rejoin. "He wishes them to become the same +people. Let Conanchet quit the woods, and go into the clearings with the +mother of his boy. Her white father will be glad, and Mohican Uncas will +not dare to follow."</p> + +<p>"Woman, I am a Sachem and a warrior among my people!"</p> + +<p>There was a severe and cold displeasure in the voice of Conanchet, that +his companion had never before heard. He spoke in the manner of a chief to +his woman, rather than with that manly softness with which he had been +accustomed to address the scion of the Pale-faces. The words came over her +heart like a withering chill, and affliction kept her mute. The chief +himself sate a moment longer in a stern calmness, and then rising in +displeasure, he pointed to the sun, and beckoned to his companions to +proceed. In a time that appeared to the throbbing heart of her who +followed his swift footsteps, but a moment, they had turned a little +eminence, and, in another minute, they stood in the presence of a party +that evidently awaited their coming. This grave group consisted only of +Uncas, two of his fiercest-looking and most athletic warriors, the divine, +and Eben Dudley.</p> + +<p>Advancing rapidly to the spot where his enemy stood, Conanchet took his +post at the foot of the fatal tree. Pointing to the shadow, which had not +yet turned towards the east, he folded his arms on his naked bosom, and +assumed an air of haughty unconcern. These movements were made in the +midst of a profound stillness.</p> + +<p>Disappointment, unwilling admiration, and distrust, all struggled through +the mask of practised composure, in the dark countenance of Uncas. He +regarded his long-hated and terrible foe, with an eye that seemed willing +to detect some lurking signs of weakness. It would not have been easy to +say whether he most felt respect, or regret, at the faith of the +Narragansett. Accompanied by his two grim warriors, the chief examined the +position of the shadow with critical minuteness, and when there no longer +existed a pretext for affecting to doubt the punctuality of their captive, +a deep ejaculation of assent issued from the chest of each. Like some wary +judge, whose justice is fettered by legal precedents, as if satisfied +there was no flaw in the proceedings, the Mohegan then signed to the white +men to draw near.</p> + +<p>"Man of a wild and unreclaimed nature!" commenced Meek Wolfe, in his usual +admonitory and ascetic tones, "the hour of thy existence draws to its end! +Judgment hath had rule; thou hast been weighed in the balances, and art +found wanting. But Christian charity is never weary. We may not resist the +ordinances of Providence, but we may temper the blow to the offender. That +thou art here to die, is a mandate decreed in equity, and rendered awful +by mystery; but further, submission to the will of Heaven doth not exact. +Heathen, thou hast a soul, and it is about to leave its earthly tenement +for the unknown world----"</p> + +<p>Until now, the captive had listened with the courtesy of a savage when +unexcited. He had even gazed at the quiet enthusiasm, and singularly +contradictory passions, that shone in the deep lines of the speaker's +face, with some such reverence as he might have manifested at an +exhibition of one of the pretended revelations of a prophet of his tribe. +But when the divine came to touch upon his condition after death, his mind +received a clear, and to him an unerring, clue to the truth. Laying a +finger suddenly on the shoulder of Meek, he interrupted him, by saying--</p> + +<p>"My father forgets that the skin of his son is red. The path to the happy +hunting-grounds of just Indians lies before him."</p> + +<p>"Heathen, in thy words hath the Master Spirit of Delusion and Sin uttered +his blasphemies!"</p> + +<p>"Hist!--Did my father see that which stirred the bush?"</p> + +<p>"It was the viewless wind, idolatrous and idle-minded infant, in the form +of adult man!"</p> + +<p>"And yet my father speaks to it," returned the Indian, with the grave but +cutting sarcasm of his people. "See," he added, haughtily, and even with +ferocity; "the shadow hath passed the root of the tree. Let the cunning +man of the Pale-faces stand aside; a Sachem is ready to die!"</p> + +<p>Meek groaned audibly, and in real sorrow; for, notwithstanding the veil +which exalted theories and doctrinal subtleties had drawn before his +judgment, the charities of the man were grounded in truth. Bowing to what +he believed to be a mysterious dispensation of the will of Heaven, he +withdrew to a short distance, and, kneeling on a rock, his voice was +heard, during the remainder of the ceremonies lifting its tones in fervent +prayer for the soul of the condemned.</p> + +<p>The divine had no sooner quitted the place, than Uncas motioned to Dudley +to approach. Though the nature of the borderer was essentially honest and +kind, he was, in opinions and prejudices, but a creature of the times. If +he had assented to the judgment which committed the captive to the mercy +of his implacable enemies, he had the merit of having suggested the +expedient that was to protect the sufferer from those refinements in +cruelty which the savages were known to be too ready to inflict. He had +even volunteered to be one of the agents to enforce his own expedient, +though, in so doing, he had committed no little violence to his natural +inclinations. The reader will therefore judge of his conduct, in this +particular, with the degree of lenity that a right consideration of the +condition of the country and of the usages of the age may require There +was even a relenting and a yielding of purpose in the countenance of this +witness of the scene, that was favorable to the safety of the captive, as +he now spoke. His address was first to Uncas.</p> + +<p>"A happy fortune, Mohegan, something aided by the power of the white men, +hath put this Narragansett into thy hands," he said. "It is certain that +the Commissioners of the Colony have consented that thou shouldst exercise +thy will on his life; but there is a voice in the breast of every human +being, which should be stronger than the voice of revenge, and that is the +voice of mercy. It is not yet too late to hearken to it Take the promise +of the Narragansett for his faith--take more, take a hostage in this +child, which with its mother shall be guarded among the English, and let +the prisoner go."</p> + +<p>"My brother asketh with a big mind!" said Uncas, drily.</p> + +<p>"I know not how nor why it is I ask with this earnestness," resumed +Dudley, "but there are old recollections and former kindnesses, in the +face and manner of this Indian! And here, too, is one, in the woman, that +I know is tied to some of our settlements, with a bond nearer than that of +common charity--Mohegan, I will add a goodly gift of powder and of +muskets, if thou wilt listen to mercy, and take the faith of the +Narragansett."</p> + +<p>Uncas pointed with ironical coldness to his captive, as he said--</p> + +<p>"Let Conanchet speak!"</p> + +<p>"Thou nearest, Narragansett. If the man I begin to suspect thee to be, +thou knowest something of the usages of the whites. Speak; wilt swear to +keep peace with the Mohegans, and to bury the hatchet in the path between +your villages?"</p> + +<p>"The fire that burnt the lodges of my people turned the heart of Conanchet +to stone," was the steady answer.</p> + +<p>"Then can I do no more than see the treaty respected," returned Dudley, in +disappointment. "Thou hast thy nature, and it will have way. The Lord have +mercy on thee, Indian, and render thee such judgment as is meet for one of +savage opportunities."</p> + +<p>He made a gesture to Uncas that he had done, and fell back a few paces +from the tree, his honest features expressing all his concern, while his +eye did not refuse to do its duty by closely watching each movement of the +adverse parties. At the same instant, the grim attendants of the Mohegan +chief, in obedience to a sign, took their stations on each side of the +captive. They evidently waited for the last and fatal signal, to complete +their unrelenting purpose. At this grave moment there was a pause, as if +each of the principal actors pondered serious matter in his inmost mind.</p> + +<p>"The Narragansett hath not spoken to his woman," said Uncas, secretly +hoping that his enemy might yet betray some unmanly weakness, in a moment +of so severe trial. "She is near."</p> + +<p>"I said my heart was stone;" coldly returned the Narragansett.</p> + +<p>"See--the girl creepeth like a frightened fowl among the leaves. If my +brother Conanchet will look, he will see his beloved."</p> + +<p>The countenance of Conanchet grew dark, but it did not waver.</p> + +<p>"We will go among the bushes, if the Sachem is afraid to speak to his +woman with the eyes of a Mohican on him. A warrior is not a curious girl, +that he wishes to see the sorrow of a chief!"</p> + +<p>Conanchet felt, hurriedly, for some weapon that might strike his enemy to +the earth, and then a low murmuring sound at his elbow stole so softly on +his ear, as suddenly to divert the tempest of passion.</p> + +<p>"Will not a Sachem look at his boy?" demanded the suppliant. "It is the +son of a great warrior: why is the face of his father so dark on him?"</p> + +<p>Narrah-mattah had drawn near enough to her husband, to be within reach of +his hand. With extended arms she held the pledge of their former +happiness towards the chief, as if to beseech a last and kindly look of +recognition and love.</p> + +<p>"Will not the great Narragansett look at his boy?" she repeated, in a +voice that sounded like the lowest notes of some touching melody. "Why is +his face so dark, on a woman of his tribe?"</p> + +<p>Even the stern features of the Mohegan Sagamore showed that he was +touched. Beckoning to his grim attendants to move behind the tree, he +turned and walked aside, with the noble air of a savage, when influenced +by his better feelings. Then light shot into the clouded countenance of +Conanchet. His eyes sought the face of his stricken and grieved consort, +who mourned less for his danger than she grieved for his displeasure. He +received the boy from her hands, and studied his features long and +intently. Beckoning to Dudley, who alone gazed on the scene, he placed the +infant in his arms.</p> + +<p>"See!" he said, pointing to the child; "it is a blossom of the clearings. +It will not live in the shade."</p> + +<p>He then fastened a look on his trembling partner There was a husband's +love in the glance. "Flower of the open land!" he said; "the Manitou of +thy race will place thee in the fields of thy fathers. The sun will shine +upon thee, and the winds from beyond the salt lake will blow the clouds +into the woods. A Just and Great Chief cannot shut his ear to the Good +Spirit of his people. Mine calls his son to hunt among the braves that +have gone on the long path; thine points another way. Go, hear his voice, +and obey. Let thy mind be like a wide clearing; let all its shadows be +next the woods; let it forget the dream it dreamt among the trees. 'Tis +the will of the Manitou."</p> + +<p>"Conanchet asketh much of his wife; her son is only the soul of a woman!"</p> + +<p>"A woman of the Pale-faces; now let her seek her tribe. Narra-mattah, thy +people speak strange traditions. They say that one just man died for all +colors. I know not. Conanchet is a child among the cunning, and a man with +the warriors. If this be true, he will look for his woman and boy in the +happy hunting-grounds, and they will come to him. There is no hunter of +the Yengeese that can kill so many deer. Let Narra-mattah forget her chief +till that time, and then, when she calls him by name, let her speak +strong, for he will be very glad to hear her voice again. Go; a Sagamore +is about to start on a long journey. He takes leave of his wife with a +heavy spirit. She will put a little flower of two colors before her eyes, +and be happy in its growth. Now let her go. A Sagamore is about to die."</p> + +<p>The attentive woman caught each slow and measured syllable, as one trained +in superstitious legends would listen to the words of an oracle. But, +accustomed to obedience and bewildered with her grief, she hesitated no +longer. The head of Narra-mattah sunk on her bosom, as she left him, and +her face was buried in her robe. The step with which she passed Uncas was +so light as to be inaudible; but when he saw her tottering form, turning +swiftly, he stretched an arm high in the air. The terrible mutes just +showed themselves from behind the tree, and vanished. Conanchet started, +and it seemed as if he were about to plunge forward; but, recovering +himself by a desperate effort, his body sunk back against the tree, and he +fell in the attitude of a chief seated in council. There was a smile of +fierce triumph on his face, and his lips evidently moved. Uncas did not +breathe, as he bent forward to listen:--</p> + +<p>"Mohican, I die before my heart is soft!" uttered firmly, but with a +struggle, reached his ears. Then came two long and heavy respirations. One +was the returning breath of Uncas, and the other the dying sigh of the +last Sachem of the broken and dispersed tribe of the Narragansetts.</p> + + + + +<h1>Chapter XXXII.</h1> + + + +<blockquote>"Each lonely scene shall thee restore;<br /> +For thee the tear be duly shed:<br /> +Beloved till life could charm no more,<br /> +And mourn'd till pity's self be dead."</blockquote> + +<blockquote> Collins.</blockquote> + + +<p>An hour later, and the principal actors in the foregoing scene had +disappeared. There remained only the widowed Narra-mattah, with Dudley, +the divine, and Whittal Ring.</p> + +<p>The body of Conanchet still continued, where he had died, seated like a +chief in council. The daughter of Content and Ruth had stolen to its side, +and she had taken her seat, in that species of dull woe, which so +frequently attends the first moments of any unexpected and overwhelming +affliction. She neither spoke, sobbed, nor sorrowed in anyway that grief +is wont to affect the human system. The mind seemed palsied, though a +withering sense of the blow was fearfully engraven on every lineament of +her eloquent face. The color had deserted her cheeks, the lips were +bloodless, while, at moments, they quivered convulsively, like the +tremulous movement of the sleeping infant; and, at long intervals, her +bosom heaved, as if the spirit within struggled heavily to escape from its +earthly prison. The child lay unheeded at her side, and Whittal Ring had +placed himself on the opposite side of the corpse.</p> + +<p>The two agents, appointed by the Colony to witness the death of Conanchet, +stood near, gazing mournfully on the piteous spectacle. The instant the +spirit of the condemned man had fled, the prayers of the divine had +ceased, for he believed that then the soul had gone to judgment. But there +was more of human charity, and less of that exaggerated severity in his +aspect, than was ordinarily seated in the deep lines of his austere +countenance. Now that the deed was done, and the excitement of his exalted +theories had given way to the more positive appearance of the result, he +might even have moments of harassing doubts concerning the lawfulness of +an act that he had hitherto veiled under the forms of a legal and +necessary execution of justice. The mind of Eben Dudley vacillated with +none of the subtleties of doctrine or of law. As there had been less +exaggeration in his original views of the necessity of the proceeding, so +was there more steadiness in his contemplation of its fulfilment. +Feelings, they might be termed emotions, of a different nature troubled +the breast of this resolute but justly-disposed borderer.</p> + +<p>"This hath been a melancholy visitation of necessity, and a severe +manifestation of the foreordering will," said the Ensign, as he gazed at +the sad spectacle before him. "Father and son have both died, as it were, +in my presence, and both have departed for the world of spirits, in a +manner to prove the inscrutableness of Providence. But dost not see, here, +in the face of her who looketh like a form of stone, traces of a +countenance that is familiar?"</p> + +<p>"Thou hast allusion to the consort of Captain Content Heathcote?"</p> + +<p>"Truly, to her only. Thou art not, reverend sir, of sufficient residence +at the Wish-Ton-Wish, to remember that lady in her youthfulness. But to +me, the hour when the Captain led his followers into the wilderness, +seemeth but as a morning of the past season. I was then active in limb, +and something idle in reflection and discourse; it was in that journey, +that the woman who is now the mother of my children and I first made +acquaintance. I have seen many comely females in my time, but never did I +look on one so pleasant to the eye, as was the consort of the Captain +until the night of the burning. Thou hast often heard the loss she then +met, and, from that hour, her beauty hath been that of the October leaf +rather than its loveliness in the season of fertility. Now look on the +face of this mourner, and say if there be not here such an image as the +water reflects from the overhanging bush. In verity, I could believe it +was the sorrowing eye and bereaved look of the mother herself!"</p> + +<p>"Grief hath struck its blow heavily on this unoffending victim," uttered +Meek, with great and subdued softness in his manner. "The voice of +petition must be raised in her behalf, or----"</p> + +<p>"Hist!--there are some in the forest; I hear the rustling of leaves!"</p> + +<p>"The voice of him, who made the earth, whispereth in the winds; his breath +is the movement of nature!"</p> + +<p>"Here are living men!--But, happily, the meeting is friendly, and there +will be no further occasion for strife. The heart of a father is sure as +ready eye and swift foot."</p> + +<p>Dudley suffered his musket to fall at his side, and both he and his +companion stood in attitudes of decent composure, to await the arrival of +those who approached. The party that drew near, arrived on the side of the +tree opposite to that on which the death of Conanchet had occurred. The +enormous trunk and swelling roots of the pine concealed the group at its +feet, but the persons of Meek and the Ensign were soon observed. The +instant they were discovered, he who led the new-comers bent his footsteps +in that direction.</p> + +<p>"If, as thou hast supposed, the Narragansett hath again led her thou hast +so long mourned into the forest," said Submission, who acted as guide to +those who followed, "here are we, at no great distance from the place of +his resort. It was near yon rock that he gave the meeting with the +bloody-minded Philip, and the place where I received the boon of an +useless and much-afflicted life from his care, is within the bosom of that +thicket which borders the brook. This minister of the Lord, and our stout +friend the Ensign, may have further matter to tell us of his movements."</p> + +<p>The speaker had stopped within a short distance of the two he named, but +still on the side of the tree opposite to that where the body lay. He had +addressed his words to Content, who also halted to await the arrival of +Ruth, who came in the rear, supported by her son, and attended by Faith +and the physician, all equipped like persons engaged in a search through +the forest. A mother's heart had sustained the feeble woman for many a +weary mile, but her steps had begun to drag, shortly before they so +happily fell upon the signs of human beings, near the spot where they now +met the two agents of the Colony.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the deep interest which belonged to the respective +pursuits of the individuals who composed these two parties, the interview +was opened with no lively signs of feeling on either side. To them a +journey in the forest possessed no novelties, and after traversing its +mazes for a day, the newly-arrived encountered their friends, as men meet +on more beaten tracks, in countries where roads unavoidably lead them to +cross each other's paths. Even the appearance of Submission in front of +the travellers, elicited no marks of surprise in the unmoved features of +those who witnessed his approach. Indeed, the mutual composure of on who +had so long concealed his person, and of those who had more than once seen +him in striking and mysterious situations, might well justify a belief +that the secret of his presence near the valley had not been confined to +the family of the Heathcotes. This fact is rendered still more probable, +by the recollection of the honesty of Dudley, and of the professional +characters of the two others.</p> + +<p>"We are on the trail of one fled, as the truant fawn seeketh again the +covers of the woods," said Content. "Our hunt was uncertain, and it might +have been vain, so many feet have lately crossed the forest, were it not +that Providence hath cast our route on that of our friend, here, who hath +had reason to know the probable situation of the Indian camp. Hast seen +aught of the Sachem of the Narragansetts, Dudley? and where are those thou +led'st against the subtle Philip? That thou fell upon his party, we have +heard; though further than thy general success, we have yet to learn. The +Wampanoag escaped thee?"</p> + +<p>"The wicked agencies that back him in his designs, profited the savage in +his extremity. Else would his fate have been that which I fear a far +worthier spirit hath been doomed to suffer."</p> + +<p>"Of whom dost speak?--but it mattereth not We seek our child; she, whom +thou hast known, and whom thou hast so lately seen, hath again left us. We +seek her in the camp of him who hath been to her--Dudley, hast seen aught +of the Narragansett Sachem?"</p> + +<p>The Ensign looked at Ruth, as he had once before been seen to gaze on-the +sorrowing features of the woman; but he spoke not. Meek folded his arms on +his breast, and seemed to pray inwardly. There was, however, one who broke +the silence, though his tones were low and menacing.</p> + +<p>"It was a bloody deed!" muttered the innocent. "The lying Mohican hath +struck a Great Chief, from behind. Let him dig the prints of his moccason +from the earth, with his nails, like a burrowing fox: for there'll be one +on his trail, before he can hide his head. Nipset will be a warrior the +next snow!"</p> + +<p>"There speaks my witless brother!" exclaimed Faith, rushing ahead--she +recoiled, covered her face with her hands, and sunk upon the ground, under +the violence of the surprise that followed.</p> + +<p>Though time moved with his ordinary pace, it appeared to those who +witnessed the scene which succeeded, as if the emotions of many days were +collected within the brief compass of a few minutes. We shall not dwell on +the first harrowing and exciting moments of the appalling discovery.</p> + +<p>A short half-hour served to make each person acquainted with all that it +was necessary to know. We shall therefore transfer the narrative to the +end of that period.</p> + +<p>The body of Conanchet still rested against the tree. The eyes were open, +and though glazed in death, there still remained about the brow, the +compressed lips, and the expansive nostrils, much of that lofty firmness +which had sustained him in the last trial of life. The arms were passive +at its sides, but one hand was clenched in the manner with which it had so +often grasped the tomahawk, while the other had lost its power in a vain +effort to seek the place in the girdle where the keen knife should have +been. These two movements had probably been involuntary, for, in all other +respects, the form was expressive of dignity and repose. At its side, the +imaginary Nipset still held his place menacing discontent betraying itself +through the ordinary dull fatuity of his countenance.</p> + +<p>The others present were collected around the mother and her stricken +child. It would seem that all other feelings were, for the moment, +absorbed in apprehensions for the latter. There was much reason to dread, +that the recent shock had suddenly deranged some of that fearful machinery +which links the soul to the body. This dreaded effect, however, was more +to be apprehended by a general apathy and failing of the system, than by +any violent and intelligible symptom.</p> + +<p>The pulses still vibrated, but it was heavily, and like the irregular and +faltering evolutions of the mill, which the dying breeze is ceasing to +fan. The pallid countenance was fixed in its expression of anguish. Color +there was none, even the lips resembling the unnatural character which is +given by images of wax. Her limbs, like her features, were immovable; and +yet there was, at moments, a working of the latter, which would seem to +imply not only consciousness, but vivid and painful recollections of the +realities of her situation.</p> + +<p>"This surpasseth my art," said Doctor Ergot, raising himself from a long +and silent examination of the pulse; "there is a mystery in the +construction of the body, which human knowledge hath not yet unveiled. The +currents of existence are sometimes frozen in an incomprehensible manner, +and this I conceive to be a case that would confound the most learned of +our art, even in the oldest countries of the earth. It hath been my +fortune to see many arrive and but few depart from this busy world, and +yet do I presume to foretell that here is one destined to quit its limits +ere the natural number of her days has been filled!"</p> + +<p>"Let us address ourselves, in behalf of that which shall never die, to Him +who hath ordered the event from the commencement of time," said Meek, +motioning to those around him to join in prayer.</p> + +<p>The divine then lifted up his voice, under the arches of the forest, in +an ardent, pious, and eloquent petition. When this solemn duty was +performed, attention was again bestowed on the sufferer. To the surprise +of all, it was found that the blood had revisited her face, and that her +radiant eyes were lighted with an expression of brightness and peace. She +even motioned to be raised, in order that those near her person might be +better seen.</p> + +<p>"Dost know us?" asked the trembling Ruth. "Look on thy friends, +long-mourned and much-suffering daughter! 'Tis she who sorrowed over thy +infant afflictions, who rejoiced in thy childish happiness, and who hath +so bitterly wept thy loss, that craveth the boon. In this awful moment, +recall the lessons of youth. Surely, surely, the God that bestowed thee in +mercy, though he hath led thee on a wonderful and inscrutable path, will +not desert thee at the end! Think of thy early instruction, child of my +love; feeble of spirit as thou art, the seed may yet quicken, though it +hath been cast where the glory of the promise hath so long been hid."</p> + +<p>"Mother!" said a low struggling voice in reply The word reached every ear, +and it caused a general and breathless attention. The sound was soft and +low, perhaps infantile, but it was uttered without accent, and clearly.</p> + +<p>"Mother--why are we in the forest?" continued the speaker. "Have any +robbed us of our home, that we dwell beneath the trees?"</p> + +<p>Ruth raised a hand imploringly, for none to interrupt the illusion.</p> + +<p>"Nature hath revived the recollections of her youth," she whispered. "Let +the spirit-depart, if such be his holy will, in the blessedness of infant +innocence!"</p> + +<p>"Why do Mark and Martha stay?" continued the other. "It is not safe, thou +knowest, mother, to wander far in the woods; the heathen may be out of +their towns, and one cannot say what evil chance might happen to the +indiscreet."</p> + +<p>A groan struggled from the chest of Content, and the muscular hand of +Dudley compressed itself on the shoulder of his wife, until the +breathlessly attentive woman withdrew, unconsciously, with pain.</p> + +<p>"I've said as much to Mark, for he doth not always remember thy +warnings, mother; and those children do so love to wander together!--but +Mark is, in common, good; do not chide, if he stray too far--mother, +thou wilt not chide!"</p> + +<p>The youth turned his head, for even at that moment, the pride of young +manhood prompted him to conceal his weakness.</p> + +<p>"Hast prayed to-day, my daughter?" said Ruth, struggling to be composed. +"Thou shouldst not forget thy duty to His blessed name, even though we are +houseless in the woods."</p> + +<p>"I will pray now, mother," said the creature of this mysterious +hallucination, struggling to bow her face into the lap of Ruth. Her wish +was indulged, and for a minute, the same low childish voice was heard +distinctly repeating the words of a prayer adapted to the earliest period +of life. Feeble as were the sounds, none of their intonations escaped the +listeners, until near the close, when a species of holy calm seemed to +absorb the utterance. Ruth raised the form of her child, and saw that the +features bore the placid look of a sleeping infant. Life played upon them, +as the flickering light lingers on the dying torch. Her dove-like eyes +looked up into the face of Ruth, and the anguish of the mother was +alleviated by a smile of intelligence and love. The full and sweet organs +next rolled from face to face, recognition and pleasure accompanying each +change. On Whittal they became perplexed and doubtful, but when they met +the fixed, frowning, and still commanding eye of the dead chief, their +wandering ceased for ever. There was a minute, during which, fear, doubt, +wildness, and early recollections, struggled for the mastery. The hands of +Narra-mattah trembled, and she clung convulsively to the robe of Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Mother!--mother!--" whispered the agitated victim of so many conflicting +emotions, "I will pray again--an evil Spirit besets me."</p> + +<p>Ruth felt the force of her grasp, and heard the breathing of a few words +of petition; after which the voice was mute, and the hands relaxed their +hold. When the face of the nearly insensible parent was withdrawn, to the +others the dead appeared to gaze at each other with a mysterious and +unearthly intelligence. The look of the Narragansett was still, as in his +hour of pride, haughty, unyielding, and filled with defiance; while that +of the creature who had so long lived in his kindness was perplexed, +timid, but not without a character of hope. A solemn calm succeeded, and +when Meek raised his voice again in the forest, it was to ask the +Omnipotent Ruler of Heaven and Earth to sanctify his dispensation to those +who survived.</p> + +<p>The changes which have been wrought, on this continent, within a century +and a half, are very wonderful. Cities have appeared where the wilderness +then covered the ground, and there is good reason to believe that a +flourishing town now stands on, or near, the spot where Conanchet met his +death. But, notwithstanding so much activity has prevailed in the country, +the valley of this legend remains but little altered. The hamlet has +increased to a village; the farms possess more of the air of cultivation; +the dwellings are enlarged, and are somewhat more commodious; the +churches are increased to three; the garrisoned houses, and all other +signs of apprehension from violence, have long since disappeared; but +still the place is secluded, little known, and strongly impressed with the +marks of its original sylvan character.</p> + +<p>A descendant of Mark and Martha is, at this hour, the proprietor of the +estate on which so many of the moving incidents of our simple tale were +enacted. Even the building which was the second habitation of his +ancestor, is in part standing, though additions and improvements have +greatly changed its form. The orchards, which in 1675 were young and +thrifty, are now old and decaying. The trees have yielded their character +for excellence, to those varieties of the fruit which the soil and the +climate have since made known to the inhabitants. Still they stand, for it +is known that fearful scenes occurred beneath their shades, and there is a +deep moral interest attached to their existence.</p> + +<p>The ruins of the block-house, though much dilapidated and crumbling, are +also, visible. At their foot is the last abode of all the Heathcotes who +have lived and died in that vicinity, for near two centuries. The graves +of those of later times are known by tablets of marble: but nearer to the +ruin are many, whose monuments, half-concealed in the grass, are cut in +the common coarse free-stone of the country.</p> + +<p>One, who took an interest in the recollection of days long gone, had +occasion a few years since to visit the spot. It was easy to trace the +births and deaths of generations, by the visible records on the more +pretending monuments of those interred within a hundred years. Beyond that +period, research became difficult and painful. But his zeal was not to be +easily defeated.</p> + +<p>To every little mound, one only excepted, there was a stone, and on each +stone, illegible as it might be, there was an inscription. The +undistinguished grave, it was presumed, by its size and its position, was +that which contained the bones of those who fell in the night of the +burning. There was another, which bore, in deep letters, the name of the +Puritan. His death occurred in 1680. At its side there was an humble +stone, on which, with great difficulty, was traced the single word +'Submission.' It was impossible to ascertain whether the date was 1680, or +1690. The same mystery remained about the death of this man, as had +clouded so much of his life. His real name, parentage, or character, +further than they have been revealed in these pages, was never traced. +There still remains, however, in the family of the Heathcotes, an +orderly-book of a troop of horse, which tradition says had some connexion +with his fortunes. Affixed to this defaced and imperfect document, is a +fragment of some diary or journal, which has reference to the condemnation +of Charles I. to the scaffold.</p> + +<p>The body of Content lay near his infant children, and it would seem that +he still lived in the first quarter of the last century. There was an aged +man, lately in existence, who remembers to have seen him, a white-headed +patriarch, reverend by his years, and respected for his meekness and +justice. He had passed nearly, or quite, half-a-century unmarried. This +melancholy fact was sufficiently shown by the date on the stone of the +nearest mound. The inscription denoted it to be the grave of "Ruth, +daughter of George Harding of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, and wife of +Capt. Content Heathcote." She died in the autumn of 1675, with, as the +stone reveals, "a spirit broken for the purposes of earth, by much family +affliction, though with hopes justified by the covenant and her faith in +the Lord."</p> + +<p>The divine, who lately officiated, if he do not now officiate, in the +principal church of the village, is called the reverend Meek Lamb. Though +claiming a descent from him who ministered in the temple at the period of +our tale, time and intermarriages have produced this change in the name, +and happily some others in doctrinal interpretations of duty. When this +worthy servant of the church found the object which had led one born in +another state and claiming descent from a line of religionists who had +left the common country of their ancestors to worship in still another +manner, to take an interest in the fortunes of those who first inhabited +the valley, he found a pleasure in aiding the inquiries. The abodes of the +Dudleys and Rings were numerous in the village and its environs. He showed +a stone, surrounded by many others that bore these names, on which was +rudely carved, "I am Nipset, a Narragansett; the next snow, I shall be a +warrior!" There is a rumor, that though the hapless brother of Faith +gradually returned to the ways of civilized life, he had frequent glimpses +of those seducing pleasures which he had once enjoyed in the freedom of +the woods.</p> + +<p>Whilst wandering through these melancholy remains of former scenes, a +question was put to the divine concerning the place where Conanchet was +interred. He readily offered to show it. The grave was on the hill, and +distinguished only by a head-stone that the grass had concealed from +former search. It merely bore the words--"the Narragansett."</p> + +<p>"And this at its side?" asked the inquirer. "Here is one also, +before unnoted."</p> + +<p>The divine bent in the grass, and scraped the moss from the humble +monument. He then pointed to a line, carved with more than usual care. The +inscription simply said--</p> + +<p align="center" class="smallcaps">"The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish."</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish, by James Fenimore Cooper + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WEPT OF WISH-TON-WISH *** + +***** This file should be named 8888-h.htm or 8888-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/8/8/8888/ + +Produced by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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