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Les diagrammes suivants iilustrent ia mAthoda. 6 'S^ vv, GREYSLAER: A ROMANCE OF THE MOHAWK. BT THE AUTHOR or "A WINTER IN THE WEST," AND "WILD SCENES ,IN THE FOEEST AND PRAIBIE." <* There it a dmnity that shapes our ends, Rough hew them how we will." , ' Shakspiari. IN TWO TOLUMES. VOL. I. / I //?||vMA4, (C^ .7Wno) { f Li NEW-YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS. 83 CLIFF-STREET. 1840. « I " » • » I 1 b 1 I u t it w » O ■ •' o « • V • •. . » c • s^v Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1840, By Charles Fenno HorriiAN, In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York. « • • • » ■'I* mS s' H # " Ah ! but even to have set foot upon the iM>nny purple heather, though but for once in your life, would have been something; and yet, perhaps, 'twere better not ; it imight have made you discon- tented with these gloomy forests that cover up your whole country.** " I saw many bald nien among the counsellers of my British father; but the naked crowns of the Sa- gernash did not put me out of conceit of the long locks of an Iroquois,** replied the forester, dryly^ 1 rJ ^f-^ii m 4't i. V,'\>. .^^k. ^^" 16 ORBY8I.ABB ; And then, continuing in a more animated stram, " I have not always, even in my own land, dwelt among these forests, ^hich you think so gloomy* I have wandered for months over meadows laugh- ing with sunshine and flowers, where the purple heather of which you speak, unless it outbbom in richness all that I have seen in an English garden, were but a dull garniture for the delicious fields. And yet, though the prairies seemed so fascinating, when in early youth I followed over them the war- path of the great Pontiac, their charms appear to me now but as the feeble and holyday work of Na- ture, when compared with a temple like that in which we stand. Look there," he cried, pointing upward to the sweeping cone of a pine that towered some two hundred feet towards the heavens, upon the lowest branch of which, still a hundred feet above the soil, an eagle was at the moment light- ing, while the frayed bark, slipping from beneath his talons, floated long in air before reaching the ground. " Look at yon royal pine. Major MacDon- ald ; such trees as that will grow but once in any soil ! they are the production only of Nature in her prime ; and, as one of her doomed children that must soon pass away, I would fain linger near them with my people until the last is gone." ** Doomed, Sachem ? tut, tut, not a bit of doom about the matter ; we'll soon drive the rebels from the ancient seats of your tribe ; or, should the worst come to the worst, why not leave this wild land ? You have the king's commission in your pocket, and can still follow his majesty's banner wherever a trum- pet shall sound." " Never, never !" rejoined the Indian, mournfully ; ** I have been tutored in your schools ; I have wor- shipped in your churches ; I have feasted and slept in your dwellings ; I have fought side by side with your warriors in the field ; I have mingled with your coi cabl has) mei it witi terc the A ROMANCB OW TMB MOHAWK. ^^P' 17 courtiers in the palace, and your counsellera in the cabinet : but, nny ways are still not your ways, nor has the heart of Fhayendanagea been erer for a mo- ment estranged from his tribe." "Why, then, did you lead them to take a part with us in this quarrel, which, you told me but yes- terday, must eventuate in the ultimate success of the rebel arms ?" " Why ? why did not my countrymen accept the overtures of the French king, when Frontenac made his descent upon the cantons with a powerful army, and our allies, the Hollanders, at whom, through us, Ononthio struck the blow, were too feeble to aid us save with their wishes ? why, until your country- men, by their acquisition of this province, became heirs oi the friendship we had sworn to the Dutch, did we stand by Quidar in his quarrel with Fneland to the last ? Why ? why did you. Major MacDon- ald, who have now, with hundreds like yourself, taken up arms for King George, why did you be- come an exile by fighting against him when a strip- lingr The Scotchman sprang to his feet, and paced the turf in agitation for a moment ; then, turning short in front of the other, exclaimed, as he clasped the hand of the noble Mohawk in both of his own and wrung it cordially, " Captain Brant, you are a true and loyal gentle- man, every inch of you ; worthy to have been out in the Forty-five with the best of us ; and if — ** " Hist — crouch," interrupted the Sachem, lightly pressing the shoulder of MacDonald, who, obe- dient to the motion, sank on one knee beside him. ** I see him," whispered the Highlander, glancing in the direction whither his companion pointed ; " a sable roan ! A most noble charger ; his rider must be near." " Yo-hah! a horse of eighteen hands ! there are not B2 k m 18 ORBTSLABK : many such in the depths of an American forest. Look again, brcther soldier." ^* Jesu Maria !" ejaculated the European, in a tone diiflt might be thought to partake as much of alarm ag of wonder, if the suspicion had not been belied by the flashing eye with which he instantly brought his yieger to his shoulder, while the muzzle was as quickly averted by the hand of the Mohawk striking up the barrel. " An old hunter looks at his range as well as at his mark," said Brant, in reply to an inquiring glance of the other ; and the hasty Scot, looking again be- yond his quarry, saw, for the first time, a half-naked Indian standing immediately in his line of fire. ** I must have those antlers to match a pair from the peat-moss in my brother's hall," he murmured, in a tone of disappointment " They shall be yours, but we must not wake these echoes with our firearms. Leave my runner yonder to deal with the moose, and we shall be cer- tain of a savoury broil this evening." The deer-stalker, or still-hunter, as we would term him in this country, seemed to be fully aware of the neighbourhood of his chief, and the precise point where he lay ; for, gliding now like a shadow irom tree to tree, and more than once fitting an ar- row to his bow, as if about to shoot, while continu- ally approaching the moose, he managed to place himself so that the two witnesses of the sport could not be harmed by the shot. The animal, in the moan time, pestered by the August flies that are so annoying to the larger tenants of the forest at this season, kept moving hither and thither within a small circle, pausing ever and anon to browse for a moment ; and still, while feeding, making the dry branches crackle with his incessant trampling. At last he seemed to be more contented, as he got his feet into a marshy piece of ground, from whi( aboi The full es his '■!',\-fn'i..ir:»rx-mfjM V ' 'V j ian forest. ) in a tone of alarm ien belied y brought ;le was as k striking 7e\\ as at ng glance again be- alf-naked fire. pair from urmured, lot wake y runner 1 be cer- ^e would ly aware '■ precise . shadow ig an ar- continu- to place )rt could 1, in the that are forest at r within )wse for the dry ng. i, as he id, from ▲ BOMAMCB OV THE MOHAWK. 19 which the discoloured water bubbled up gratefully about his legs, as his hoofs broke the yielding soil. The Scotchman, who now, for the first time, hau a full view of his huge uncouth form, could not suffi- ciently admire the ease with which the moose \ised his ungainly but flexile snout, to twist ofif the branch- es near him, while lazily catching at those within his reach. But now the movements of the still-hunter equal- ly claimed the attention of the lookers-on of this quiet but exciting kind of woodland sport. The stealthy savage, by flitting from tree to tree in the manner we have described, occasionally drawing his body, like a wounded snake, along the ground, had gained a fallen and decayed trunk within twenty paces of the moose, and, lying concealed behind this natural rampart, was watching, with keen eye, the fitting moment to launch his fatal shaft. At last the moose, having stripped the boughs im- mediately in front of him, yet unwilling to change his position, threw back his broad antlers upon his shoulders, and, twisting his neck obliquely as he caught at a weeping birch that drooped over his left shoulder within reach of his uplifted muzzle, pre- sented his throat as a fair mark for the arrow of^the hunter. The bow twanged, and the barbed flint was driven, with unerring aim, through the neck, severing the swollen artery, and burying itself deep in the vertebrae at the base of the scull. The strick- en animal uttered a terrific snort of rage and agony, plunged, reared, and, wheeling on his hind legs, made a desperate charge at his assailant, but fell dead at the feet of the Indian, just as the undismayed fellow was in the act of bounding forward to encounter him with his tomahawk. " A good shot, Harrowah," cried Brant, moving leisurely from his covert; while the more ardent Scot rushed, with drawn dirk, towards the fallen |v # 80 OKkTILAlB ; moose, as if still hoping to hare a hand in the death of so noble a quarry. But the bright eye was al- ready fixed in death, though a musculaf motion in the long and drooping muzzle made the Highlander quickly withdraw the hand which he had placed on that uncouth appendage. " By Saint Andrew," he cried, "but you have an ugly race to claim kindred with the dun deer of my own heather." " Yet, major, we foresters think that the woods afford no choicer morsel than a moose's muzzle; and your Frenchman of Canada will serve you up a stew of it that will shame the mock-turtle of a London coffee-house." *^ Eat that hideous black thing ?" said the Scot, with no feeble signs of aversion ; ** I've dined often upon horseflesh while serving in Tartary, but Pd as soon sup upon the trunk of an elephant as make a meal off that frightful big lip. Zounds I the thing quivers as if it were still alive ; like the tail of one of your American serpents, which, they tell me, never dies till sunset." The still-hunter stood, in the mean time, with folded arms, gazing listlessly upon the scene, until, giving a sort of grunt in reply to an order from his chief, delivered in his own language, he addressed himself to the care of the carcass. Selecting a smooth-barked beech for the operation, he prepared one of the lower limbs, by the aid of props, to sus- tain the weight of the animal. But the sleight of the slim hunter, and the united strength of his two stal- wart companions, were all put in requisition to trice up the ponderous carcass, after the splinters, by which it was suspended, had been passed through the tough sinews of the gambles. The head was then severed from the trunk, and swung by the pal- mated antlers to the crooked arm of an ancient oak ; and the body, after being flayed to the loins, and re- lieve! hide,! out dispc (t to cal aid, ll A BOMANOB OF THB MOHAWK. 21 in the death eye was al- Lmotjcn in Highlander i placed on ^ou have an deer of my the woods 's muzzle; •ve you up turtle of a the Scot, iined often y, but I'd t as make ' the thing ail of one r tell me, Ime, with ene, until, from his addressed lecting a prepared 9, to BUS- jht of the two stal- n to trice Iters, by through ead was the pal- 3nt oak ; and re- lieved of all superflui lies, was wrapped Jn its own hide, and raised still higher from the ground, to be out of the reach of beasts of prey, until otherwise disposed of " I will send some of my people to bring the meat to camp before nightfall ; and now, Major MacDon- ald, let us learn what tidings the runner brings us." With these words the Sachem moved to the spot where the reader was first introduced to him and his companion, and where blanket and tartan, lying where they had been dropped by the roots of the shadowy tulip-tree, offered inviting seats for the councils of this sylvan triumvirate. CHAPTER 11. FRONTISR FACTIONS. " The]^ left the ploughshare in the naould, Their flocks and herds without a fold, The sickle in the unshorn grain, The corn half garnered on the plain, And mustered in their simple dress, For wrongs to seek a stern redress ; To right those wrongs, come weal, come wo, X w ^jrish or o'ercome their foe." — M'Lillan. The information brought to his chieftain by the Mohawk runner, though of deep import to more, than one actor in the scenes we are about to de- scribe, will hardly be intelligible to the reader, un- less he revives his historical recollection of the po- litical intrigues that distracted the important prov- ince of New- York, as the drama of the Revolution was gradually unfolded along her far-spreading borders. # M OBirtii^BE ; The lonff possession of the fur-trade, and the frequent Indian wars incident to the pursuit of thii hardy and precarious branch of comniprce, had at an early dHy f^iven an adventurous and enterprising character to the population of this province. Their military spirit had been well tested in the arduous campaigns of the old French war ; they had borne no feeble part in the conquest of Canada; and when the fall of Quebec, in consummating the glory of Wolfe, brought peace to the land, it found al- most every man CHpable of bearing arms a soldier. While, therefore, the different parties of Whig and Tory were almost equally balanced in the province of New-York throughout the Revolution, that mem- orabl . political struggle found fewer neutrals ^ere than in any state of the Union ; all men were eager to bear arms on one side or the other, and it is this circumstance only which will account for the great numbers that fell in battle, when the inferior degree of population, as compared with that of several of the other colonies, is considered. But, bitter as were the political animosities exist- ing in every part of this province, both before and after a recourse was had to arms, yet the spirit of fac- tion called out in no district the same stormy feel- ings as now distracted the valley of the Mohawk. The elements of civil dissension had been long brewing in this beautiful region, where such a diver- sity of origin, of interest, and, we may add, of reli- S'on, existed among the heterogeneous population, at the soul of Discord might well have been roused even in times the most peaceable. Here had been the ancient seat of the most powerful and civilized, yet must warlike nation of aborigines, upon the northern part of this hemi- sphere, a large remnant of which still retained their possessions in the immediate neighbourhood of the jEuropean settlements. Here the sturdy and ad* ■:i- A ROMANCn OF THB MOHAWK. 28 TenturouB Dutch trader had at an early day been tempted to abandon hii precarious nneans of life- lihood, and ait down to cultivate the rich alluvial lands that had been readily granted to hinn by the grateful Mohawks, who had ever been treated as brothers by his countrynnen during their sway over the province. Hither the German soldiers of Queen Anne's Protestant allies had in large bodies followed their European neighbours to set- tle upon the extensive tracts, granted to them when New- York first took its modern name in passing to the British crown. Here, side by side with these brave mercenaries, or perched, rather, upon the northern hills that overlooked their fertile meadows, hundreds of Catholic Scotch Highlanders, with many Irish soldiers of fortune, the exiled followers of the last Stuart, had established themselves ; while successive families of the Cameronian coun- trymen of the former had found their frugal homes upon the uplands south of the river, whose cultiva- tion had been rejected by those who preceded them in ffaining an interest in the soil. The diversity of feeling which this difference of origin, of language, and of religion may be presu- med to have created, was still farther enhanced in its effects by the difference in tenure through which the broad dfomains of the valley were held. For while the majority of the old " residenters'' were ^ freeholders, constituting a large and independent yeomanry, yet among those of British descent there were extensive feudal proprietors, holding their pat- ents immediately from the crown, who could num- ber a powerful array of dependants ; and some of whom (as was actually the case with Colonels Butler and Johnson both before and during the war) commanded regiments of militia, raised exclu- fively among their own tenantry. ^ Th«ie was one feature common to this heteroga- ■r^- rl ! #. 24 ORBVSLASB i neous people, which will hardly he thought to have reconciled the jarring elements of strife, though capacitating thenn for acting in unison under some circumstances; and this was that, throughout the valley, there was scarcely an individual who had not been in some way trained to the use of arms. The threatening storm of civil war had at an early day found both patriot and loyalist upon the alert to enlist the principles, the prejudices, or affections of their neighbours upon the side that either was determined to espouse. The leading gentlemen of Tryon county, whether Whig or Tory, kept up in- deed for a Ions time the most friendly relations to- wards each other, so far as outward seeming was concerned. Both parties affected to be actuated by the greatest zeal in preserving the peace of the country, and particularly in all their public confer- ences agreed to act in unison in preventing the Indians from taking any part in the^mpending con* troversy, should a fatal issue be ultimately joined between them. But the acts of either faction seem sufficiently to have belied their words from the first. Secret clubs and committees were organized upon the one side ; and many of the wealthy upon the other, keeping open house for their partisans, made their hospitality a cloak for the dangerous councils that were rife at the festive board. The country was traversed by mounted men, bearing to- kens from one*disaffected family to another. Trav- ellers upon the highways were stopped by the myr- midons of either party, and their papers examined by these border regulators with the coolest assump- tion of authority ; and as, on the one side, the great landed proprietors soon commenced fortifying their houses and arming and drilling their tenantry, so, among the smaller freeholders on the other, several of the influential Whigs ventured to reorganize the militia in their own districts, and officers were de- i. A ROMAHOB Of TBS MOHAWK. posed and others appointed, according to the pecu- liar tenets and wishes of the people. This last innovation had been attended with somd danger ; though in one instance, Sir John Johnson, the leading magistrate of the county, met with a signal discomfiture when rashly intruding upon a party of yillagers whom a lieutenant, elected by themselves, was engaged in drilliiiff. The baronet chanced to be taking a drive wiiTk his lady when he came upon this squad of young soldiers ; and incensed at seeing a man in the uniform of an offi- cer who he knew did not hold the king's commis- sion, leaped from his barouche, and advancing upon the patriot lieutenant, rebuked his presumption with great insolence, and called upon his comrades in- stantly to disperse. Swords were drawn, and Sir John, being tne more skilful fencer of the two, dis- armed his youthful opponent, but was ultimately compelled to retire from the levelled muskets which were instantly presented at his life, when he at- tempted to push his advantage, by seizing the young man and securing him as a traitor to the king taken in open arms. Convinced, by this and similar scenes, of the un- popularity in that part of the province of the cause wnich he had espoused, the zealous baronet adl- dressed himself to the promotion of his royal mas- ter's interest in another quarter ; and, in defiance of the implied stipulation existing between both par- ties of the whites, that the Indians should not be permitted to take a part in the family quarrel, as it was called, he proceeded to avail himself of his connexion with the tribes, to influence them to raise the tomahawk against his political opponents. His brother-in-law, Col. Guy Johnson, tne superintend- ent of Indian affairs for all the provinces of British America, readily lent his powerful aid to the fur- therance of these intrigues ; and the vigilant Whigs, Vol. I. — C A . It. OBBTUJkBB; while keeping t wary eye upon the powerful Tory familiei in their neighbourhood, soon oecame aware that Indian runnert were continually passing and repaasing between the settlements and the strag- gling troops of warriors that hovered on their bor- der. The nnoose-hunter was one of a hundred sim- ilar agents of frontier diplomacy, that were contin- ually traversing the country between Guy Park, the seat of the Indian agency, and the different council- fires, or outlying bande of the Six Nations. Sir John Johnson's numerous tenantry of Scotch Highlanders were already in arms at Johnstown, where the baronet had fortified his large mansion with several brass fieldpieces ; and the different can- tons of the Iroquois, with the single exception of the Oneidas, were known to be so favouraoly dis- posed toward the royal cause, that the only ques- tion was now, how to unite the whole force, both European and aboriginal, so as to make it most ef- fective, and overwhelm at its first outbreak the least movement of rebellion ; this, however, required no feeble energies to accomplish. v> The yeomanry of the valley had long regarded Sir John Johnson with a suspicious eye; alike from the baronial state that he affected upon his princely domains, and the insolent and dictatorial assumption with which he more than once intru- ded upon their popular assemblies. Colonel Guy Johnson, the superintendent of the Indian 'depart- ment, was held in hardly less aversion than his kinsman, and the celebrated Joseph Brant, or Thay- endanagea, as he called himself, who filled the im- portant post of secretary of that department for " all nis inajesty's provinces in North America," had, from his political connexions, lost much of the con- fidence of his old friends. Brant, indeed, though living upon the moat intimate terms with many of the foading Whigs of Tryon county, was always BWW wmimm ▲ BOMAiroB ov nn morawx. •f •uipected to hold himself in retdiness ler employ* ment more congenial to the tastee of an Indian war« rior» who, amid all the allurements of a European court, and when lurrounded by ev^ry luiurjr tnd embellishment of civilized life, had made it his pridt and his boast that he was a ** full-blooded Mohawk.** That hauflhty chief, who, whether at the enters tainments of princes and nobles, in the saloons of fashion, or the palaces of royalty, had always per^ sisted in presenting himself in the peculiar costum* of his people, seemed to have brought home but little from his European intercourse with the learn- ed and the polite, save a strong feeling of attach* ment to the British crown : a sentiment of feudal loyalty, which, notwithstanding his early New-Eng- land education, had become strangely grafted upoll the peculiar love which he bore to the ancient r^ publican institutions of the Five Nations. He seemed to regard England as the only muniment of their freedom, and was willing to render a cor- dial allegiance to her as the price of the protection ; and while, in his intercourse with the whites, arro- gating to himself a full share of that assumption which induced his semi-barbarous countrymen to call themseK«>s the Ongihonwef or "men who sur- passed all otiiers,'* he was still willing to look up to the head of the British empire both as the fount- ain of public honours and the guardian of his coun- try's welfare. But while this aspiring and sagacious sachem saw that the safety of his people and his own pre-emi- nence as a chieftain depended upon their siding with the royal cause — for at a very early day he foretold the blighting influence which this great overshadow- ing republic would bring upon the aborigines when its independence was fully established — yet his pri- vate partialities were from the first at war with the dictates of his ambition and his policy. He had 88 ORBT8LABR been educated in one of the leading Whig familiei of Connecticut; he had fought side by side with the colonial troops in *' the old French war ;" and though he had derived preferment, fortune, and in- fluence from his connexion with the officers of the crown, yet his old friends and neighbours in the valley uf the Mohawk were adherents of the popu- lar cause ; and, save among the powerful family of the Johnsons, his nearest and dearest friends, the comrades of his hunts, the companions of his youth, were banded together against the party which he had joined. What wonder, then, that when the storm of revolution was about to burst upon his na- tive valley, Brant should shrink from imbruing his liands in the blood of its inhabitants, sprung from the same soil, though of a different lineage from himself? These considerations will sufficiently account for the noble Mohawk so long endeavouring to tempo- rize with the patriot party ; and, when finally taking up arms with the loyalists, presenting himself with a few followers, instead of bringing his whole power into the field, after having already made a proud display of his warriors in his celebrated pacific in- terview with the republican general, Herkimer. It would appear, however, from some of his numerous letters still extant, that true Indian policy was not a little mingled with the unwillingness he showed to frocure the gathering of the tribes, when all of the roquois confederates, with the exception of the sin- gle canton already mentioned. Were eager to lift the hatchet for the mother country. Brant thought that the family quarrel was of doubtful duration, and he was unwilling that the brunt of it should fall upon his people until England had tried what she could do to repress the rebellion in the province of New-York, without having re- course to the aid of the Indians. He left it, there- l)ig families y side wiih war;" and ine, and in- cers of the >ur8 in the F the popu- I family of fiends, the 'his youth, which he when the >on his na- truing his rung from Jage from ccount for to tempo- ily taking •self with )le power a proud >acific in- imer. It lumerous t^as not a iowed to )1 of the the sin- D lift the was of ^at the England ebeilion ing re- » there- in A KOMANCX or TUB MOHAWK. fore, for Col. Guy Johnson to collect the warriors of the Six Nations, while he, with a chosen band of hit own Mohawks, hovered near the border, watching the turn events might take, and still secure in the deep forests where we have first introduced him to the reader. % These mountain wilds, which are now chiefly embraced in the counties of Montgomery, Herki- mer, and Hamilton, still preserve much of their savage and romantic character; but, at the day of which we write, they were almost inaccessible to any but an Indian or a hunter of the border. Here the chieftain held his woodland court, until the issue should be fairly joined between the high parties that n6w so threateningly lowered upon each other; and here he awaited the fitting moment, when the contest should be fairly begun, to make the most advantageous descent upon the lower country, and, by some brilliant exploit at the first outbreak of Indian hostilities, make good his haugh- ty claim to be considered as the great captain of all the Indian nations that should take up arms on the side of the crown. In the mean time, however, Sir John Johnson had assiduously kept up his influence with the wary but aspiring sachem ; not only by a constant correspond- ence ; not only through the various Indian runners who were continually bearing messages between himself and Brant,** but also by placing near him a zealous and sagacious Scotch officer, who, being made the bearer of a commission of captain in the royal army, which had been politically bestowed upon Brant, made his way to the camp of the grat- ified Mohawk, and remained among his people un- f ■ * «i ' The Indians conveyed letters in the heads of their tomahawks and the ornaments worn about their persons." — CampbeWs AnruUt of Tryon County. 80 ORBTSLABR der the easy pretence of wishing to become initiated in the wild sports of the aborigines. Leaving these two partisans of the royal faction to discuss the tidings which had just been brought them by the moose-hunter, let us now learn their nature by shifting the|pcene to the valley of the Mohawk, and proceed with the action of our story. CHAPTER III. THB LIBERTY-TRBB. ** Deep in the west, as Independence rores, His banners planting round the land he lovesj Where Nature sleeps in Eden's infant grace, In Time's full hour shall spring a glorious race." — Sfbagvv. Rumours of the first blood shed at Lexington had reached the valley of the Mohawk ; but the length of time it required in those days to traverse the inter- vening country, prevented the story from being soon confirmed in all its particulars; when, one after- noon, it was noised abroad that a messenger, direct from the scene of action, would address the friends of liberty at a meeting to be held in front of the atone church at German Flats. The occasion was deemed a good one, by the leadin^r Whigs of the neighbourhood, for carrying into effect a ifavourite political ceremony of the day, which should at once mark their own adherence to the popular cause, and, by its boldness, encourage and confirm their waver- ing friends. To further which intention, placards and notices were industriously circulated, inviting the people to '' assemble unarmed, for the purpose of peaceable deliberation, and also to erect a liberty* poU r m\ LM i mu ' JR ii m i if ▲ ROMANCE OF THB MOBAWX. 91 come initiated royal faction been brought «^ learn their valley of the of our story. •" — Spraguv, ington had the length *e the inter- being soon one after- iger, direct the friends ont of the -asion was igs of the favourite 'Id at once ause,and, sir waver- < placards inviting purpose a liberty* The yeomanry of the valley had been frequently thus convened of late, to pass some vote of censure upo|i the acts of the British ministry (for here, as elsewhere throughout the provinces, during the ear- ly stages of the Revolution, the name of the king was studiously omitted in all the attacks upon his government) ; and, like well-schooled fencers close- ly practised in mock- combat, the thoroughly organ- ized community was versed in political discussion and habituated to public business, long before its ability for self-government was tested in a real struggle with established power. But the measure now in contemplation was a direct assault upon the dignity of the crown ; and the call " to assemble unarmed for the purpose oi peaceable deliberation^* was too flimsy a covering for the treasonable deed to which it was meant only as a precursor — the rais- ing openly the great emblem of rebellion. Many, therejfore, shook their heads, and stood aloof from those who, they thought, were rashly precipitating matters to a crisis. Some doubted whether an immediate revulsion of public feeling might not result from carrying proceedings at once so far. Some actually felt this revulsion, and stood prepared to co-operate with the Tory magistracy in crushing so daring an outbreak of faction. But others, who, from the first, had counselled more da- ring measures, and had lately hung back in disgust at the cautious, and, apparently, reluctant movements with which they thought their leaders had impelled the ball of revolution, were now emulous to spring forward and take their place among the most active in hurrying it onward. While others, again, know- ing no other principle than the love of change, no impulse save that of curiosity, were urged, by the novelty of the occasion, to be spectators of a scene, where, if sympathetic excitement should impel them il 18 ORBT0Ii4aB; to become actors, circumstances would determine the part they should play. Such an assemblage was the true field for iy|op- ular orator to prove his powers ; and traditioiHitiU tells of the eloquence which wrousht upon t^e materials, and moulded and moved the mass as one ^ man, on thai day. Tradition, too, tells especially of one speaker — a youth of scarce twenty summers —a shy student from Schenectady, who, fired by the impassioned appeals of older and more practised orators, burst through the bashfulness of inexperi- enced youth, and, leaping upon the rostrum, pour- ed forth a flood of eloquence that hurried along Uie most sluggish natures upon its irresistible tide. ** Who, said a by-stander to a sturdy hunter, who, with mouth agape, and eyes riveted, as if by magic, upon the speaker, stood leaning upon his rifle near, ''who in all natur is that springald with sich ft tongue ?" " Why, Adam, is it you, man, that axes me who young Grbtslaer, of Hawksnest, is ? You*ve seen me teachini; the boy afore now, when he came up to Johnstown in his hollowdays, and, thof he be grown a bit, you ought to know my old scholard." ** Lor 1 Bait, that ain't the bookish chap that you larnt the rifle to ? The bold younker that stood the brunt, when scapegrace Dirk de Roos got into that scrape in old Sir William's time ?" ' ** I tell you it is, though," said the woodsman, ?roudly ; " and a right proper shot I made of him. ou see, now, how he plumps his argerments right into the bull's-eye of the matter." '* Sarting 1 he does make a clean go-ahead of it. But when did he come up here to mix in our do- ings ?" " He ? why, man, he's been here this four week, and came up too with the Congress's commission in his pocket, to raise a company. Who but him i iwwjii.i i iiji p jm i ild determine W for \fiop- traditioil%till upon t^e mass as one^ s especially ity summerf , fired by the re practised of inezperi- itrum, pour- d along the le tide, unter, who, f by magic, I rifle near, ith sich a B me who GuVe seen came up lof he be holard." that you stood the into that oodsman, of him. ints right sad of it. I our do- ir week, mission 3ut him ▲ HOM ANOB OF TBI MOHAWK. was it that Sir John raised a rumpus with at the training last week ? Ah ! if the boy only had at goodiJarning with the sword as he has with the rifle, the baronet could never have filliped it out of his hands so sarcily as he did." * ** Oh ! yes, I heerd of that, Bait, as also how you came near having your heels lifted higher than your head, for threatning to blow Sir John clean through if he did not let the stripling go." " rd like to see the day when any of Sir John's folks would try to back that brag of his'n. Vd a mounted him upon the spot only for making it, but the people said 'twas only words, and I must not mind sich, and go and make further fuss, seeing we had got young Max out o* his hands. But hist ! what's the lad saying now ?" ** " I mistrust that that's the Yankee messenger he's introducing to the people," said Adam, in a modest whisper ; for the hunter had gained tenfold in the respect of the simple yeoman since this pop- ular display of his pupil. " Behold," cried the speaker, interrupting himself in the midst of a bold apostrophe to Liberty, whom he .pictured as hovering over the land with wings that shadowed it but for a moment, until she could alight in peace and safety : " Behold the harbinger of her first triumph I fevered with haste, worn with impatient travel, he comes, like the victorious cou- rier from Marathon of old, to tell of Freedom's bloody dawn at Lexington. Up, man, up, and tell a tale that never can grow old, but freshens from the frequent telling ;" and, suiting the action to the word, the youth, carried away by the enthusiasm of the moment, seized the courier by tbo wrist, and dragged the embarrassed man forward. ** Now that awkward loon, Adam," said the hunt- er, " will make a botch of the hull business. A murrain on the Boating folks that sent a critter what couldn't speak." V I ^ -. t\ 84 OBETILiJIR } ** Why, Bait, I ffuess they want all their speakeri to hum, and raaly I don't see biit this chap has done all in natur that was rec^uired of him, in coming here so quick. It wan*t judgmatical in young Max to expect more from him, and pull the fellow up there to gape about like a treed 'possum." The orator appeared himself to be instantly aware of his error, and, even while the worthy Adam wai commenting upon it, had, with ready tact, turned the poor fellow's confusion to advantage. " What !" he cried, " bewildered, my friend, by the crowd of heads you see below ? This stout array of gallant yeomen, the bone and sinew of our land, numbers not half of those devoted to our cause, that will soon pour from every glen and mountain near ; men with tongues as slow a# yours to boast their deeds, but having still the iron will to work them ; men with arms as strong as yours to raise the tree of Liberty, and hearts as true to guard it." A deafening shout of applause burst from the multitude almost before the last words had passed the speaker's lips.. The stout-hmbed New-En^- lander, changed at once from a shamefaced rustic into the hero Of the scene, threw up his head, broadened his chest, ~and displayed his stalwart frame with honest vanity. Then, as if wit had been suddenly bom of praise so well applied, he leaped from the scaffold, and seizing a tall hickory, which, freshly deracinated, was held erect by some labourers near, he bo|re it, amid the plaudits of the crowd, to a hole that had been previously prepared, and, spurning the aid of some tackle erected upon the spot, tossed the heavy sapling from his shoulders, and planted it pointing to the skies. The centre of attraction was now changed, as the crowd collected around the spot, whilethose who stood nearest were active in throwing earth and stones around the roots, to secure the tree in A ROMANCB OF TBI MOHAWK. SA itf position. The preconcerted act of rebellion for which they had chiefly met was fully and success* fully consummated, but any farther measures which might have been contemplated by the leaders of the assemblage, were at this moment summarily dis- comfiied. The trampling of hoofs, and the dust arising from a large body of horsemen at a turning of the road, gave the first intimation of the approach of the roy- alists, while proclaiming that they came in suffi- cient force to crush any violent outbreak of insur- rection. There was a momentary panic in the assemblage, and, before they could recover from the surprise, Sir John Johnson, with a large body of retainers armed with sword and pistol, rode into the midst of the unarmed multitude. He was followed by Colonels Claus, Butler, and Guy Johnson, a civil magistrate by the name of Fenton, and other Tory gentlemen of the county, each backed by a strong party of followers similarly armed, who succes- sively drew up in military array so as nearly to en- circle the astounded Whigs. ** What mummery is this ?" demanded the haughty baronet, glancing round fiercely at those who stood near the Liberty-tree, while more than one, over- awed by his bearing, attempted to slink away in the crowd. A stout Whig, by the name of Sam- mons, stepped boldly forward to make reply ; but, before he could ascend the stage to place himself upon a level with his mounted adversaries. Sir John had thrown himself from his horse, and occupied the place from which Greyslaer and the Boston emissary had descended a fev/ moments before. Without noticing the movement of Sammons, he at OR'^e commenced haranguing the people with creibt vehemence. He appealed to the ancient love tkey had borne his family, rehearsed the virtues of bif father) once so popular throughout the valley, ae OmSTSLABA and exhorted them still to sustain the established magistracy, which had ever kept their best interests at heart. Finding, then, that the attempt to address their affections and rekindle the faded ashes of loyalty met with no response, he endeavoured to awaken their fears. He dwelt upon the strength and power of the king, and painted in strong col- ours the folly of opposing Mt officers and revolt- ing against the crown, out the assemblage was stul mute ; the approving plaudits of his own parti- sans called forth no echo from the moody and stub- born Whigs. Irritated at their sullen obstinacy, Johnson now turned disdainfully from the " motley crew of would-be patriots, as he in derision termed the multitude generally, and poured out his invective upon their leaders. The shrewd New-England features of the Bostonian next caught his attention, and the sharp eye of Sir John instantly detected something in the man's air or apparel which might have escaped any gentleman but the owner of beeves and hemlock forests, whose revenue de- pends so much upon the trade of a tanner. *' Who/' he asked, scornfully levelling his finger at the stout yeoman, " who are the real leaders of your mongrel crew, the vultures that ye bring hither to hatch the e^g of treason, that creatures as foul and contemptible have thrust into our nest of peace and loyalty ? An itinerant New-England leather-dresser ! a vagrant pedler of rebellion ! that could only retail his wares to such offscourings of societ^r as many I see around me, if men whose education should teach them better, had not mis- led the gallant yeomanry, that I grieve to find in iuch disgraceful company. You have bad ^pur musters, too, your militarv gatherinffs, your larray of fools, that would fain play the soldier, with sach a beardless stripling as tnat to lead them. I know ; |l|l %^immi>'^i^^<^*^^l^^^^ iWMRMiMP! A SOMANOB OF THB MOHAWK. 37 the boy 1** cried he, with a tmile of scorn, pointing to Greyslaer, who stood with folded arnis and com- pressed lips, as if with difficulty restraining the ire that boilea within him. " I know the boy ; I knew him in old Sir William's time, who was once dear to all of you ; he was whipped then by my father's overseer for plundering an orchard ! Pity that the lash had not — " ** Liar and villain !*' shouted Greyslaer, springing forward toward the stage. " Seize the traitor !" cried Sir John, striking at the youth with the butt of a loaded whip. Ac- tively evading the blow, Greyslaer succeeded in setting one foot on the scaffold, but the next instant the sturdy baronet had fastened a grip upon his throat, and flung him backward into the arms of one of his myrmidons, who quickly placed himself astride the prostrate stripling. "She must keep quiet now, or te tirk will pin her," said the brawny Highlander, who held him thus in durance, smiling grimly the while at the in- eflfectual efforts of Greyslaer to free himself, in spite of the drawn dagger that flashed before his eyes. The trusty Gael, in the mean time, might have felt less comfortable in his position, had he known that he was covered by the deadly aim of the hunter Bait, whose cool discretion prevented him from firing, save in the last extremity. The benignant Mr. Fenton pressed near to Sir John, as if about to intercede in some way, but the ar- rogant soldier heeded 'not his well-meant offices. An indignant murmur arose among the Whigs at wit- nessing this scene; and, upon a slight movement made among them, weapons were drawn, and a low- browed, lank-haired, saturnine man, whose age might be somewhere about thirty, a trooper in Col- onel ButlePs train, spurring to the front, snapped Vol. I.— D If. 1 uS't Ml 88 •RivAatiR HI his pistol in the face of a bystander. He was in- stantly reprimanded in sharp terms by his superior. "What! fire on an unarmed man, Walter? Shame on ye for one wearing the king^s livery ! May I eat hay with a horse, if I suffer such a thing among my riders, Watty." " We shall have to cut these rebel throats sooner or later," replied the man, doggedly, " and it matters not when the business is beaun." " Shame, shame," cried Air. Fenton. "Walter Bradshawe," said Greyslaer, without making an effort to rise or gain any advantage to protect himself from the consequences of what he was about to say, " you, though so much my senior, were for months my mate at school. I knew you, too, as an aspiring attorney's clerk in my first years at college ; your political career has since made your name common in the mouths of all men, and there must be others here who know you full as Well as I ; and when I say that, as boy and man, you were ever a brute and a ruffian, there's not a mr^n present that can gainsay my words." " Tut, tut, boys, cried Colonel Butler, restrain- ing a fierce movement of his subaltern, " may I eat hay with a horse, but this js a foolish pair on ye here. There's trouble enough without your brawl- ing, and you may soon have an opportunity of fight- ing out your quarrel in the name of king and coun- try, without troubling older people with your ca- pers." A glance of deadly hatred from Bradshawe, which was returned with one of utter scorn from his quon- dam schoolmate, was all the reply the young men made to this speech. In the mean time, notwith- standing the dismay which the sudden appearance of the armed royalists had inspired, xj^ere were no signs of dispersion among the patriot assemblage. !r,Pill!ii!i„;i , ' ▲ SOMANOB 09 THS XOH>WK. 89 A few craven spirits had, indeed, slunk away, but their absence was more than supphed by a number of sturdy countrymen, in the guise of hunters, who, with rine on shoulder, came stragglins into the scene of action, as if brought thither only by acci- dent or curiosity. The Tories, who had trusted only to their arms to give them a superiority over the party, which from the first outnumbered them, be- gan soon to be aware that they were fast losing their only advantage; and Colonel Guy Johnson, acting in his capacity of a county magistrate, saw that it wat true policy to close by an act of civil authority the duties which had been entered upon with a lest peaceful mission. He therefore addressed the peo- ple anew, but in terms more soothing than those which had been adopted by his kinsman the baro- net ; though, like him, he commenced by trying to awaken their old feelings of feudal attachment to hit family. He spoke of the affection which they had alwayi borne to his father-in-law. Sir William Johnson, now but a few months deceased, and who was be- lieved to have been brought to his grave from anx- iety of spirit at the perturbation of the times, and the struggle between loyalty and patriotism, as the crisis approached when he should be compelled to decide between his king and his country. He said that he saw many around him who were the old friends and playmates of his youth, and who, till the last, had always been cherished cuests at his table. And he appealed particularly to the influential fam- ilies of the Fondas, the Harpers, the Campbells, and the Sammonses, several members of which were af- terward so distinguished in the border war of Tryon county, to unite with him in his exertions to pre- vent the e^lpion blood among their mutual kin- dred and neighbours. Finally, after regretting the vm 40 OBBYILABX; # iliill necetiitv ofpIaciRff young Oreytlaer in the cuitody of the •heriff until lie could be tried by hii country in fair proceedingi at law, he nnade a tignal to Sir John, who had already placed the priioner on horte- back in the nnidst of his retainers, and bowing po- litely to the company, the complaisant colonel moved off in the rear of his retiring parly. The people, in the mean time, either too much confused by the unexpected events which had suc- ceeded eacn other, or confounded by the fair and polite words which had last been addressed to them, made no movement to the rescue. But the sound of the retiring troopers had scarcely died upon the ear, before a deep murmur of disapproba- tion pervaded the assemblage. Some reproached each other with pusillanimity in having looked io calmly upon the scene which had just been enacted before them. Those who were armed were told that they should never have permitted one of their friends to be thus torn from among them. And those who had been instrumental in getting up the meeting without providing for such an exigency, were rebuked by the riflemen, who had come last upon the scene of action, because they did not di- rect them what part to take when the difficulty came on, of whose origin the new-comers were themselves ignorant. These mutual bickerings and recriminations, however, which only temporarily suspended the unanimity of council, resulted at last in a general call for immediate action. Every one agreed that young Greyslaer must be at once deliv- ered from the hands of the Johnsons, who, notwith- standing their promises, would doubtless seize the first opportunity of transporting the youth to Cana- da, where, if his fate were a no more cruel one than {)erpetual imprisonment, he woult be alrieast utter- y lost to the cause. y m u ^t a mm it^wmmimam A SOMAHOB Of TBB MOHAWK. il The hunter Bait, who had itood moodily looking on without taking any ihare in theae diicuaaioni, •eemed to catch new life from the determination, when announced. ** I don't know,** laid he, looking round, ** whether or not ye all mean to stick u what you aay ; though I hope 10, raaly. But I do know, that if young Max Greyilaer be not ai firee aa any man here, afore one wilted leaf of this tree falls to the ground, I'll water it with the best blood of the best Tory in the county ! That's right, Adami jist empty another gourd upon the roots, ue poor thing looks thirsty." How the hunter's tow, and the resolve of his ex- cited compatriots, were carried into eflfect, may be best told in another chapter. % Im '<**• 4t ORETSLABR ; CHAPTER IV. . THB FIRST SHOT. " From man to man and bouse to house, like fir* The kindling impulse flew ; till everjr hind, Scarce conscious why, handles his targe and bow, Still talks of change." HlIXBOVSB. ! \. . . ■ . ' It was the middle watch of a summer's night. The shadows lay deep on fell and forest; but abore, the waning moon shone bravely out in the blue heavens. The night was calm ; so calm, so still, that the murmur of myriads of insects grating their wings amid the leaves, made, as it were, "a si- lence audible.** As the moon gradually approached the horizon, leaving the stars only to gladden the welkin, this creeping symphony appeared gradu- ally to have its concord broken in upon by sounds which, though similar in character, did not com- pletely harmonize with the others. A humming noise, like that of a huge beetle booming through the air, first broke the tiny chorus. It was answered by the harsh discord of a locust, who seemed to rap his wings with angry impatience, like some old fel- low jostled by his mate in the midst of a nap. His ire was reproved by a pert young katydid, whosfe shrill tones indicated that her wings were only half grown, and that the froward thing must be the ear- liest of the season. Then followed sundry orches- tral croaks of a tree-toad, which in turn were replied to by the deep diapason of some sturdy bullfrog. At last the feathered tribe seemM preparing to join ■■; fi' A ROMANCB OF THB MOHAWK. 43 IM in this nocturnal conceit. The timid and delicate note of the night-sparrow, rising distinctly fine from a clump of maples, was answered by the shrill and petulant cry of the whippoorwill from the lower Doughs of a broad-armea oak, that stood singly in an open glade of the forest. With the last call the woods became suddenly mute, but the next moment the spot was alive with a dozen dusky figures that glided from the adjacent thickets towards the trysting-tree. "Well answered, my mates,'* cried an actife woodsman, leaping from the oak into the midst of them ; " are we all together ? I see nothing around me but hunting-shirts. Ah ! all right/' he added, as some thirty men, in parties of three each, came cautioiftly forward from blind by-path and tangled forest lair, where the hunters had answered each other's signals while guiding the rest to the place of rendezvous. One of the last comers, who were all in the ordi- nary dress of citizens or plain farmers, now advanced to the first speaker, and, catching his hand, said, while wringing it cordially, " Most neatly managed, my sturdy Bait. You have brought us safely and quietly together when I apprehended the worst nrom the outlying spies of Sir John's Indian rabble. And now, gentlemen, as you have chosen me your leader in this business, I pledge my life to its ac- complishment under the present auspices." ** Why, you see I told you. Major Sammons, that we hunters didn't live among the Injuns for nothin', for where'd be the use of consorting with the red- skins if you didn't catch some of their edication from the cunning varmints ? And you've all seen to- night that the woods afford calls, jist as many and as good calls as a bugle has, for making men act in coD9ort» where they can't see a signal no how. But 15 ;- '■:v' jl H ORBYSLABR ; III now my say's over ; and Iet*s hear the crowing of the game-cock of Caughnawaugha — axing your pardon, major, for the freedom." " Are we all armed ?** said Sammons, glancing around the group ; " Colonel Fonda, you and young Derrick de Roos have, of course, your side-armi with you." "Ay, ay, sword and pistol both for me. But carry on, carry on, major, we are all ready, man, and up to anything ; carry on, carry on.*' The cay youth who thus spoke with so little show of defer- ence to his seniors, was a curly-headed, fair-faced gallant of about three and twenty. His features were frank and good-humoured, and certainly pre- possessing in the main, though something of sensu- ality, if not of dissoluteness, in their cast, slightly Tulgarized by broadening their natural recklessness of expression. " reace for the nonce, mad Dirk," cried Sam- mons, somewhat impatiently. "Kit Lansingh," he continued, turning to a tall and modest-looking younff hunter in a green rifle frock, " you are a model for such younkers to dress their manners by. Captain Vischer, Helmer, Veeder, I see you are prepared. Ah ! Adam, that was well thought ; you are not used to a sword, and your pitchfork may do ffood service. Bleecker, you must lay aside that iusee, or draw the charge ; not a shot must be fired unless Bait and his hunters, who are to cover our retreat, should find it necessary to use their rifles. Doctor, we'll trust you with your pistols ; but, re- member, they must remain in your belt. Clyde, your axe is well thought of; but where's Wentz with his crowbar ?" ** Black Jake has the crow, and I've brought along this suckling mer of the By drew up themselFeg >f the main nee of his le effect of ponderous nly a hol- tinly wait- •y answer, I I sayf ^e hither irs." i'ye want 'with Mike at this hour of the night; a murrain upon ye !" ** Mike, my good fellow, I come with a message from the hall, and you must let me in instantly." '* From the hall, eh ? ye landloper ; Til hall ye, if I get hold of your ugly self the morrow. Sir John doesn't often send midfnight messages to old Mike in these times ; youVe come on a fool's business, and that's your own, misther." " I know, I know you, foolish Mike ; but there's been a rising below of the Whi — , I mean the rebels. Yorpy, the balf-breedi has just brought the news from Caughnawaugha, and Sir John wishes to move young Greyslaer to the hall for safer keeping." '* Let him send the sheriff, then, or a sargeant's guard of his Scotchmen ; the lazy loons have no- thing better to do than play sodger there from one week's end to the other. Ileil a bit will Michael open jail till he does. So clear out wi' ye, or I'll unchain the dog through the wicket." As the sturdy jailer pronounced these words, a deep-mouthed mastiff, who had hitherto been snuff- ing impatiently beneath the door, uttered a fierce growl, and seem^, with the sagacity of his race, that no exit was to be had this way, ran round to the wicket and commenced barking furiously at the party which was crowded near it. " Curse the brute," said Bait ; " will no one stop his mouth with a pitchfork ?" '* Bait, your profanity would bring a blight on the most riffhteous cause," said the leader, sternly; " stand back, and let Jake heave the door at once with his crow ; no time is to be lost." A sinewy mulatto, whose muscles, long exercised in %{\e toil of a journeyman blacksmith* seemed to have assimilated to the tough material in which he worked, moved to the spot and struck the crowbar * ) m, ^ ij 48 0RBY8LABR : - between the door and the lintel. But the blow, though repeated for the second and third time, seem ed to produce but little effect, until his master, rush- ing forward, threw his whole weight into his gigan- tic sledge-hammer, in the same moment that the mulatto summoned all his force for one more effort. The door went down crashing inward, while poor Jake, who pitched himself fairly within the entrance, was saluted on his sconce by the jailer with a huge bunch of keys, which would have crushed the scull of any other than a negro, and which made Jake measure his length upon the floor. " Harm not the faithful Irishman," cried Colonel Fonda, arresting with his hand the uplifted hammer of the blacksmith ;' " the brave fellow has only done his duty." ** Thank yere honour," answered Mike, making a reverence as he felt his heart touched in the right place, and quietly submitting to be secured by the overwhelming force which surrounded him ; ** thank yere honour kindly ; rebel or no rebel, ye're jist the fintleman that Mike would take service under, if Sir ohn was not a kind of third part countryman, and me beholden to him upon the top o' that, yere hon- our," added he, raising his voice, as the colonel, who had seized the jailer's lantern, now gained the top of the staircase. "Max, my boy, Max Greyslaer, where are you ?" shouted Bait ; " whistle but once from your perch, my young hawk o' the mountain, and — ah, Jake, your toothpick's the thing ;" and, interrupting himself, 18 he sudaenly clutched the crowbar from the negro, he dashed in a panel of the first door near him, and the liberated youns: patriot was the next moment overwhelmed with the congratulations of his friendfi. Elated with their success, but still conscious that thc^se lawless proceedings might recoil severely A ROMANCB OF THB MOHAWK. 40 upon themselTesy the band of Whigs unanimously determined to seize the sheriff, who had been the wiUing instrument of the Johnsons in depriving Greyslaer of his liberty, and hold him as an hostage for their own safety. This gentleman, a brave and zealous loyalist, cnanced to be absent from home, passing the night with his friends at tho hall. But nis house was left in charge of one of his myrmi* dons, equally determined in character with the sher- ifif himself. This redoubtable fellow, of German parentage, and who, under the name of Wolfert Yaltmeyer, or Red Wolfert, as he was more generally called, be- came afterward the terror of the border, was a hun- ter by profession ; and, though impatient of restraint, reckless of temper, and wholly undisciplined in char- acter for the ordinary purposes of social life, he waa well suited, not less by his remarkable strength and activity, than by his hardihood and love of daring en- terprise, to fill the station of a bailiff among the frontier community around him. In this capacity he had, in former years, been frequently retained upon an emergency, when his services were tem- porarily in demand ; but the life of a free hunter was so dear to him that he could never be per- suaded to undertake the permanent duties of a sheriff's officer. Indeed, the love of his personal liberty and freedom from all responsibility was so strong in Valtmeyer's bosom, that it seemed to leave room for one only other sentiment — a grasp- ing desire after gold to procure him immunity from labour, and the free indulgence of his lawless pleas- ures. Wolfert Valtmeyer, being such as we have de- scribed him, was not long in making up his mind which of the two contending civil factions to sid) with. For, while property, and the conseqivat Vol. I.— E ■ 1: . i:f 60 ORBYiLABR ; means of rewarding His seryices, was in his coun^ ty chiefly on the side of the Tories, he was already indebted to sonne leading individuals aaiong this party for rescuing him from punishment as a felon, and conniving at his escape to a distant part of the country. Rumours of his death were subsequently put in circulation, while all legal investigation graa- ually died away so completely, that Valtmeyer now ventured, amid the confusion of the times, to steal back to his old haunts, and even offer his secret services to the magistracy of the county. Though the difficulties with the crown had so lately com- menced, yet he had already given signal proofs of his zeal in sustaining the royal cause ; nor was he wanting in courage and conduct upon the present occasion. The house of his principal being sufficiently far from the jail for Valtmeyer not to overhear the com- motion that had already taken place, he was awa- kened in the dead of the night by the angry shouti and imprecations of the crowd that rushed thither, and called from beneath the windows for the sheriff; butt undismayed equally by the suddenness of the attack and the strength of those who came in such force to assail the person whom he represented, Valtmeyer only greeted the uproar with a muttered oath or two, as he prepared to meet the occasion. " Heilege Kreuz Donnerwetter ! but I will make the hide of one hound smoke for it ;" and, growling thus, he leaped half naked from his bed, snatched a loaded pistol from its case, and threw open the win- dow-sash. "Now, verfluchter kerl, look well to thyself,** muttered the ruffian, as he singled out for his aim the leader of the party, who was standing in the porch apart from his followers. Raising his Toice then, and at the same time imitating, as nearly as possible, that of the absent sheriff, *' Is that you, Sammons ?" he cried. »; A BOMANOB OV THB IIOHA'WK. 61 " Yes," was the prompt reply. " Then take that for « d— <1 burglarious rebel.*! A ball whizzed past the head of the sturdy Whig, and buried itself in the doorpost beside him. ** This," says the historian, " was the first shot fired in the Revolution west of the Hudson.'* Though happily uninjured by the bullet, yet it glanced so near that the patriot leader recoiled as it grazed his temples, and nis followers, thinking that e was about to fall, forgot, in the quick thirst o7 ten- geance, the order they had received from his lips an hour before. A dozen rifles were instantly dis charged into the open window, but a scornful shout from the bold Tory within told that their fire was ineffectual. A tumultuous rush at the door was the next movement of the infuriated crowd. It was quickly burst open, and the fate of Valt- meyer turned upon a single cast. The foremost of the assailing party were already upon the staircase, and making tneir way to his bedroom, when the re- port of a distant cannon proclaimed that their volley of firearms had been heard beyond the precincts of the village, and that the Tories would soon be upon them. ** Back men, back ; heard ye not our signal for retiring ? 'Tis the alarm gun fired at the Hall by Sir Jonn. Bait, Adam, down with ye at once! Lansingh, Greyslaer, call off our friends, or we. shall have the bluff Highlanders upon us to spoil our night's work before we regain the woods." " Don't ye hear the major, Squire Dirk ?" cried Bait, throwing his arms around that rash youth, who still attempted to push through the crowd and mount the stairs in the very teeth of the order that had just been given by his leader ; and lifting young De Roos fairly from his feet, the stalwart hunter urged the others before him through the door, and was him- felf the last to retire from the scene. >! i. % &'m I'l 1 62 ORBYSLABli; CHAPTER V. * BTININO VISITER!. " Our fortreit is the good green wood, Our tent the cypreas-tree, We know the forest round ui As seamen know the sea ; We know its walls of thorny Tines, Its glades of reedy srass, Its safe and silent i Jands \ I ' •■ Within the deep morass.*'— tBatant. *' I RATTHiR guess/' quoth Bait, when the part^ had all, by different routes, arrived at last at their place of rendezvous in a moonlit clade of the forest, " I ray ther guess that we've stirrea the game richt in airnest this night, and the best thing we can do to- morrow is to commence running balls for a good long hunt." ** Our sturdy friend speaks truly, gentlemen," ■aid the leader of the party, gravely, " and Heaven only knows how the ' long hunt,' as he terms it, may terminate." '* Be the issue what it may,** exclaimed Greyslaer, in tones of deep fervour, while his earnest, eye kindled with enthusiasm, " the game's afoot, and whether it lead to freedom or the grave, we must henceforth follow the chase." ** Why the devil. Max, do you put on the phiz of a parson when using the lingo of a sportsman ?** cried the gay Derrick de Roos. " It becomes the old cocks, who have drawn apart to prose under the tree yonder, to look sermons, as well as preach them ; but for us, man> for naettlesoina chapt like w»why. A. ROMANO! OW»TBM MOHAWK. 63 ' We hunteri who roHow the chue, the chMe ' . Ride ever with Care a race, a race, And we reck not,' " dec, &c. ' And the rattling youngster, to the great delight of old Bait and sonne of the juniors, and the equal annoyance of Greyslaer and other more thoughtful members of the party, ran through a verse or two of a popular huntmg song, long smce forgotten. ** Well, Mr. de Roos," said Col. Fonda, coming forward from the group, in whose councils Greys- laer seemed to be taking an active part, from the impatient glances he from time to time cast over his shoulder at the singer, from whose side he had in the mean time withdrawn ; " well, sir, we have determined to take decided measures for ascertain- ing the real state of the county, and puttinir our friends upon their guard, and your father's nous* is spoken of as the place of our next meeting on Thursday night." " The old man will be proud to entertain your friends and mine. Col. Fonda ; and yet," added the young man, with a degree of hesitation that show- ed more considerateness than might ha* e been ex- pected from his conduct a moment before ; '' Hawks- nest is the property of my father's ward. Max Greyslaer there ; and, after what has passed this night, an overt act of rebellion by the present ten- ant, in harbouring traitors, as the Tones call us, might make poor Max forfeit his acres, in case the ministry get the better in this family quarrel ; some of the grasping rogues begin already to talk of se- questrations and such matters, you know." Greyslaer, upon overhearing these remarks, ad- vanced, and whispered to his friend, ** If you be not quizzing, according to your wont. Dirk, I con- gratulate you upon the seasonable return to gravity which your speech evinces. But, gentlemen/' he • £2 it y v ■■*# 64 OAETtLABB ; ] continued, raiiinff hie voice as he turned to hit other connpatriots, " 1 shall consider your confidence withdrawn from me, as one unworthy to share it, if the hint sug^sted by my friend De Roos— I doubt not in all kindness— be allowed to have a mo- ment's weight with you. My honour is already committed in the cause you have espoused ; my life I here pledge to it, and he can be no friend to Max Greyslaer who holds his fortune dearer than his life or his honour l** These words, not less than the spirited tone in which they were pronounced, terminated at once ill doubts as to the propriety of the step that was meditated ; and the discussion, as well as the events of the eveninff, seemed at an end. The hunter Bait, who had lounged about the while, without Tenturing to intrude his advice upon those more fitted by education than himself for council, now brightened up, and shook off the air of listlessness that had crept over him. He struck the butt of his rifle smartly upon the sod, and surveying it affec- tionately for a moment, as he held it thus at arm's length perpendicular to the ground, as if to catch inspiration from the gaze, he with becoming gravi- ty thus delivered himself: " Well, I only wanted to see folks get through with their parrorching, for 20U ae^ I*m no great hand at making a speech ; Tve een here to your public meetings and there to your public meetings, and I never felt in my heart ai if Datur called upon me to say anything ; for when natur does call, and right in airnest, she ■peaks out of the mouths of hunters as well as o£ babes and sucklings. She doesn't care, I say, much, when she's right in airnest, what sort o' tool she works with ; jist as I've seen a good hunter, w|io had got out of powder when ravin dintracted hungry, brinff down a buck as slick witlr a bow and arrow as ifit had been his own rifle, and that,- too, when he i I m ▲ ROMAlfCa or TBB MOHAWK. 65 had never used the ridiculous thing in hie life afore. Well, 18 I said, Vm tired of this etarnal parrorching thout the country*8 troublei ; I only wanted to lee folks begin to make a raal thing of it, and then Tender-Tavy — I call the iron crittur after this fashion, gentlemfi, partly out o* respect to Misi Octavia, old Deai ^m Wingear, the tavern-keeper*! darter, and partly because the barrel is of so soft a natur that I can chip it with nny hunting knife. I sny, that when once there was a raal rising of the Whigs, then this here rifle — " interrupting nimself at the word, Bait clapped to his shoulder the repu- table weapon of which he spake, and glancing along the barrel as it gleamed in the moonlight, beckoned with his forefinger to a shadowy figure that stood motionless beneath a spreading chestnut within the range of his fire, " Come in, ye varmint, come in, ye lurching mouser from old Nick's pantry, ye pisoned scum of the devil's copper cal- dron ; come in, ye scouting redskin, or Tender-Tavy shall blow a hole through ye." ** Fire not. Bait," cried Greyslaer and De Roos, both leaping at the same moment before the lev- elled gun : " 'tis the noble Oneida Teondetha." And the two young men bounded forward with out- atretched arms to greet their Indian friend. " Bah t only an Oneida," said the rifleman, drop- ping his piece in a tone of sullen disappointment ; ** I wouldn't harm the boy, pervided he comes as a friend ; but, youngsters, though you seem to be so mighty fond of him, when you know as much of the woods as old Bait, you'll lam that the less one has to do with an Injun the better. Let every man slick to his colour, is my motto." The momentary flash of anger that distorted the smooth and bland features of the Indian, showed that he partially underitood the disparaging words of the »1 se GRKTSLABB ; lilinyi I'i white hunter ; but the didturbed expression passed away as the gentlemen of the party, unheeding the rude rennarks of Bait, advanced with eager cordial- ity successively! and gave their hands to the new- comer. "And what news brings my youAg brother from his people ?" said Greyslaer, addressing the Oneida in his own language. " The song of evil birds has been heard in the lodges of the Ongwi-Honwi. The Oneidas only, of all the Six Nations, have shut their ears, against it. l^heir hearts bleed to know that the rest of their countrymen are bent upon rooting out the sons of Corlaer from the land. The Oneidas will not help to destroy a People born on the same soil with themselves. Their wise men say, it were better at once to extinguish the great council fire that has burned for centuries at Onondaga, and thus dissolve the league of the Aganuschion. The Oneidas are unwilling to take up the hatchet against their form- er brothers, whether red or white ; but they warn you that Thayendanagea has sold the Mohawks to the Sagernash king, and that they now walk with your enemies.'* " What ! Brant actually up in arms !" exclaimed a dozen voices, when Greyslaer had interpreted the information to his friends. ** He flits along the border like a foul bird in scent of carrion. He watches the smoke of your lodffes ; and, if their hearth-fires be unguarded, he will swoop like that night-hawk upon your women and little ones," replied the Indian, as a dusky bird pounced greedily upon a swarm of gnats that hov- ered near. " The wily knave must be looked after instantly, gentlemen ; we must lose no time in collecting in- formation respecting his moTemeati» and determine I! yr. A ROMANCB OV THB MOHAWK. iT upon actire measures at the next meeting of our friends. But as yet we are all in the dark. If you, Mr. de Roos, will take a scout of a dozen men with you, and bring us some tidings of this dangerous chieftain, it will give more shape to our proceedings. This friendly Oneida will doubtless, with Bait and some of his comrades, volunteer — " " Aiing your pardon, colonel, Bait don*t go scout- ing with an Injun in the party. Tender-Tary doesn't' know much difference atwizt one copper face and another, and she'd be jist as like as not^ in a dark swamp, to mistake that sleek chap for one of Brant's people, and go off of herself. So there's an eend o' the matter." And the woodsman, crossing his legs, leaned moodily upon his rifle, with an air of dogged determination to which there was no re- ply. "If Bait chooses," said Greyslaer, "I would rather have him with me, as I shall find difficulty in getting my company together without assistanco in time for the meeting." ** I don't see that, capting, as folks are now en- gaged in harvesting, and you'll find them pretty much, here and there, in bunches, holping one anoth- er. But I feel sarcy-able in persuading some of your wild chaps to come along, that I guess wont move from their homes at this season for your order, no how." "For God's sake, then,. go with Greyslaer, you self-willed old bear. Let's to other matters, gen- tlemen," cried De Roos, impatiently. "If I am an old bear, I never hugged you to harm you, young squire, when I used to carry you as a petted hra^gMMue shoot pigeons from a bough-house^flHKS||^of dandling in other ways that XflHMniSHHLold — paws !" ** True, ^^^^I^^^^HKend," answered De 58 OBBTMLABR ; Roos, good humouredly, while with difficulty re- straining a laugh at the ludicrous words and accom- panying gesture with which the stout-fisted woods- man concluded his mortified appeal to the better feelings of the other. ** I spoke but in jest, Bait, or, at least, too hastily. And now, carry on, boys, carry on ; Kit Lansingh, Helmer, Bleecker, Conyne, which of you lads are ready to take duty under my command, for twenty-four hours, while we look al- ter Brant up by the Garoga lakes ?" Twenty voices initantly replied, all expressing their readiness to go upon the scout ; and De Roos*8 only difficulty was, to select from the number those best suited to such an expedition. " Well, gentlemen," said Mr. Sammons, who was only the temporary leader of the party, and whoto we ought, perhaps, according to the worsh))pful cus- tom of our country, still to distinguish by his militia title of major, " 1 believe we now all understand each other, and had better disperse to our houses ; those of us who live near will see ifthey cannot fur- nish a bed to our friends who have come from a distance on the good errand of this night. Per- haps, though, Mr. de Roos proposes a night march with some of you ?" The young partisan needed not the hint to spur his zeal, but, warmly seconded by his followers, he drew c£f at once, and took his way through the woods with his party, trolling as he went a vOy- ageur's song of the Mohawk boatmen, in which his favourite slang phrase seemed to make the burden of the chorus : *' Cany on, cany on, His the word that will bear, From one bright moment p^M|^||||^er aa fair, So lift the canoe, lads, i^|flBHB|HH|o« Though we're leaving tt^H^HJJHHlHbn the laks : The portage it made, ' Now bend to your oi ▲ AOMANCB OF THB MOHAWK. 09 ' The low-Toiced chant of the retifing party soon died away in the distance, and their departure was the signal for Jbreaking up the assemblage, and the oth- er patriots soon dispersed, the majority taking their route rewards Caughnawaugha, and others moving off in different directions, two and three together, until Bait and Greyslaer were soon left the only tenants of the spot. '' It wants yet some hours of the dawn, capting, and I propose sleeping them off in the woods, be- cause it's the best way of getting an airly start in the morning. And we may perhaps have a good deal of footing to do about among the farms on the off settlements to-morrow, afore we can get your men togetlier. But this here is no sort of place to camp in, with the trails of fifty men leading to it on all sides. There's a dry swale on the other side of yon hill, where one cf ' y old shanties is probably yet standing, and we*' , ;>. take ourselves there as soon as may be. "I used to have shanties like this all about among these hills wherever my traps were set, though none so near the settlements as this," contin- ued the hunter, when they had gained a rocky dell, where the frame of a wretched wigwam, partially covered with birch bark, was discernible to Greys- laer after he got within a few feet of it. "You see, now, capting, the comfort to a man who shanties out as much as I do, of having a home all fixed and ready for you. Here, now, is dried venison in my katchy (cache), under those leaves, if the wood- mice haven't got at it. There, too, I've laid away some — but darn those gnats, I must make a smudge afore we do anything else." With these words. Bait proceeded to strike a light ; and . kindling^first some dry leaves, he scra- ped the mo88 from a iinoist stump near, and cov- t^«. 11 ' r 1% m V h 1 'UiBh I I ••<»*», on OBBTSLAltt; ering up the flame with the damp material, the thick fumes of his " smudge" soon caused the insects to disappear. Greyslaer, in the mean time, had stretched himself upon some hemlock boughs, spread out beneath the shed of bark, which was barely ample enough ^o keep off the dews of niffht; and having refreshed himself upon the fare wnich the hunter drew from his cache, he observed to Bait, as the latter threw a fresh handful of leaves upon the smouldering flame, " That a hunter's fire was a sort of company for him, when passing a night in the solitudes of the wilderness." ^; ** Jist the best sort of company a man can hmre, capting, if he would exercise a free and independent privilege of choosing his own. They say, you know, that the devil hates all flames save those that are kindled by himself; and in my hunts among the wild hills away to the north of us, I never shanty out without a large fire, even in midsummer. I may be kind o' particular in this matter, but ever since! S»t so terribly scared five years aso, I always love e light of a big fire to sleep by.'^ Greyslaer, instantly suspecting that the bhiff woodsman, like many a man equally bold, was the victim of superstitious terrors, asked, with some cu- riosity, what it was that had thus inspired him with a fear of sleeping in darkness, when Bait, after a }ffeliminary hem or two, thus told his story. ** Why, you see, I had gone clean up to Racket Lake to make out a pack of deer-skins for a Scotch trader at Schenectady, hoping to get a few beaver, at the same time, on my own account. Well, I might ha' been in the woods a week or more, en- gaged about my consarns, when, one day, after trampoosing over a pretty smart space of country, looking after my different trapt, and, not having seen a single deer through the livelong dfij, I came, iliiiiiii' it n ▲ ROMANCE OF TBM MOHAWK. 6t about nightfall, to a bark shanty, where some hunter had nnade a pretty good camp for the night, and left it standing. I was tired and disappinted ; and, as I hadn't spirit enough left in me even to skin a chip- munk, if I hadn't a' found this lodge I should have laid myself down, like a tired hounel^ and slept any- where. " But now I began ti think that all sorts of luck hadn't left me, and I spunked up and looked about to see how I could best make nrf^fself comforta- ble for the night. I had shot a brace of ducks du- ring the day, and the first thing to do was to build a fire and cook 'em. But, as I had left my hatchet at the camp from which I started in the morning, thinking to return there and sleep, it cost me a heap of trouble collecting such dead branches as I could lay my hands upon, and dragging 'em tocether be* fore the shanty. And here was a pretty how-de-do when I got 'em there ; the man that built the shed must have been a born nateral to choose such a place for it. For, instead of picking out a patch of firm airth whereon he might build a fire judgmati- cally, he had laid the logs right down on a piece of deep, mucky soil, made up of old roots, I'otten leares, and sich things as go to make up a soil only fit to raise toadstools, ghost .moccasins, or timber so spon^ gy and good for nothing, no one can tell why natur produces it. Well, true enough, his fire had burned right down four feet deep into the ground, through such truck as that;^ and I, of consekins, must either remove the shanty, or go to work to get rid of the hole, before buildfing my fire, if I expected to get any heat from it ; and the night was pison cold; I tell ye. So, having no shovel to fill up the pic with airth, and ne'er an axe to fell a tree across it, I goes mousing about, in the dark, after old lotten stumps and fallen trunkst whose mossy wrappings keep them Vol. I.— F 0» >*»"' qkbtslabh; damp through and throuah the year round, and sli* my roots, which, if they nadn*t snakes under them to nibble my fingers while tearing them up in the dark, yet felt, for all the world, like raal sarpents in the handling. All sich like truck that 1 could lay my hands upon, I managed, with pretty hard work, to drag together, so as nearly to fill up the hole, and, placinff my dry wood upon it, I lit my fire. " " Well, after eating one of my ducks, I dressed and roasted ther-t>ther, so as to have him ready for my breakfast in the morning ; and then, as I put nay feet to the fire and laid myself down to sleep, I felt right comfortable. I slept and I slept, and I don't know for how long, but it must have been a pretty likely nap, howsomdever. Long enough for my fire to bum so low as to get pretty deep down the hole. But the first thing that I remember, before I waked and diskivered that, was my dreaming of being cha- sed by wild Injuns, who came whooping and yellinff after me as if crazy to get my scalp. * tlowh; ' howhi * howhf the sound went clean aown into my ears ; and, waking with a start, I saw a pair of bright black eyes glaring at me. Had I used my own judgmatically, I might have diskivered that these belonged to a great antlered buck that was standing with his fore feet fairly upon the ashes of my fire, which made his eyes gleam unnaterally as he looked straight into mine. But, half awake, and flurried as I was, I snatched up a brand and flung it, with all my might, into his face ; and then, as the poor brute scoured off, ' howht * howhf * howh* a pack of wojves came ravening on his track; tramp, tramp, I heard^ them, nearer and nearer, until, fifty in number, they dashed furiously by my fire, making the bushes fairly winkle as their black troop swept howling on. " Sarting, capting 1 I trembled like a leaf that time, I did, until the opposite mountain threw back ■*«6f w 0'' A BOKANCB OF THB MOHAWK. 68 the last shrieking echo from its side. I don't think I ever knew exactly what a raal scaring was afore that night ; but, since then, I always keep up light enough to let inquiring varmint see that it's Bait the hunter who is sleeping in the neighbourhood, with Tender-Tavy by his side. What, capting, sno- ring already 1 Well, if my story has put the lad to sleep, it hasn't been wasted to no purpose, howsom- dever." And with these last muttered words, after mend- ing his " smudge" with a few handfuls of fresh moss, the good-natured hunter lay down, and was soon dreaming with his comrade. . < f m: ^[ 1 .■ t :' Eli, t' ['•■',y m u OBBTtliABB ■'■Jr I I CHAPTER VI. ■ PRBPARATI0N8 FOR A FORAT* ** Fiercely they trim their crested hair. Hie tanguine battle ataint prepare, And martial gear, while over all Proad waves the feathery coronal. ' Their peag belts are girt for fight, Their loaded pouches slung aright, The musket's tube is brieht ana true. The tomahawk is sharped anew, And counsels stern and flashing eyes Betoken dangerous enterprise." Yamotdbm. Lrt us now return to the wild-wood scenery of our opening chapter. The events recorded in those which have followed it, were, as the reader will readily imagine, the tidings which had been brought to Thayendanagea by the Indian runner. The da- ring acts of the Whics had equally awakened the indignation and the alarm of the royalist, and the message from Sir John declared the country to be in a state of actual revolution, and called upon Brant, as an adherent to the government, to move at once with his. power to its support. It conveyed, too, some slignt reproach for the coolness with which he had hitherto held himself aloof from the troubles which an armed force might have awed into quiet ; and hinted that the best service that the chief could now render to approve his loyalty, would be to seize upon some prominent disaffected persons of the county, and hand them over to the king's magis- trates as hostages for the conduct of their friends lMOTDIH. ▲ ROMANCB OV THB MOHAWK. u and kindred. The heir of Hawksnest, especially, was mentioned as a fierce zealot and turbulent young demagogue, whom it was well to remove from his present sphere of mischief as soon as possible. The task thus enjoined upon Brant was a favour- ite proceeding with the Tories throughout the war of the Revolution, and was often but too successful in its results. In the province of New- York, hundreds were, from time to time, suddenly and secretly torn from among their friends, and carried away to cap- tivity or death. Nor was there any feature of the civil war, during that painful seven years' struggle, more appalling than this. The boldness of the act — for it was frequently practised in the most populous districts, in an armed neighbourhood, in t!ie very capital of the province itself— struck dismay into the families of those who were thus abducted, and the cruel doubt and mystery which shrouded their fato was not less frightful ; for while some, with shat- tered constitutions and spirits broken by confine- ment, returned from the prisons of Canada after the war was over, yet many were never heard of by th^ir friends from the moment of their disappearance, and their destiny is enigmatical to this day. Nor was it only the influential partisan or his active adherent that was thus subjected to this hideous, because se- cret, danger. The hostages, as they were called — the victims, as they were in reality — were taken, like those of the secret tribunal in Germany, from either sex and from any class of society. The homes of the aged and innrm — of the young and the lovely, were alike subject to the terrible visitation. The gay guest, who waved a blithe adieu to the friends who were but now planning some merry- meeting for the morrow, was seen to mount his horse and turn some angle of the road in* safety, but the steed and his rider were never traced after*> F2 m I ! ■I lu i oebtslabb; !;'i ' 1:1 i 'I'^ihl'i ward. The hospitable, festive host, who left the level for a moment to cool his temples in the even- ing air, and whose careless jest, as he psssed to the porch witliout, still rung in the ears of his impatient friends, never again touched with his lips the glass that had been filled foi him in his absence. The waking infant cried vainly for the nursing mother, who had left it to be watched by another for a mo- ment. The distracted bridegroom and fierce broth- er souffht vainly for the maid, whose bridal toilet •eemed just to have been completed, when, by in- visible hands, she was spirited away from her fa- ther's halls. '* We begin our career of arms together with a painful duty. Captain Brant," said MacDonald» after the chief had expressed his determination to move instantly upon the settlements in the direction of the Hawksnest. "1 think I have heard you •peak of having been upon friendly terms with the present tenant of this property, who, if I mistake not, was 4>ne of your nearest neighbours upon the river aide." ** I mean not in any way to liarm old Mr. de Roos ; but this mettlesome young Greyslaer must be re- moved» or he will only qualify his neck for the halter by slirruig up more treason. I shall attempt to de- eoy bim from the house, or, failing in that, will mrpiise it with so strons a party as to make resist- ance hopeless ; and we shall merely ruffle the nerves ef his friends a little in seizing the springald," replied Brant, coolly. '* Are there no females in the family ?" asked the European, with some anxiety. '** X eo ; there are two, a pair of sisters, mated in love as closely as the kissing blossoms that tuft a lingle twig in April ; but no more matched in char- acter than is the oriole, whose lazy nest swings from A ROMAHOB OF TUB MOHAWK. «7 the bough beneath him, with the eagle, whose ma- jestic wing is circling yonder mountain. Yet the pale girl, whom they call Tynlie, is a fair and gen- tle lady, and her kindness has been owned by more than one woman of my own kindred. But Alida, that queenly, stag-eyed Creature — surely, captain, you have heard of the beautiful and haughty Alida de Roos ; she for whom my madcap son has con- ceived so strange a hatred .'^ " Of which of his sons speaks the noble Thayen- danagea ?*' " Of that dark and dangerous boy whom Brad- shawe has spoiled by encouraging in hia. wild doings ; of him who nearly compromised his father's honour and a chieftain's name by consorting with the ruf- fian Valtmeyer." *' Yaltmeyer ? surely, this is not the lady whom Valtmeyer wronged so deeply, when Bradshawe saved his neck from the gallows V* " The same." ** I have heard the story," said the Scotchman, musingly ; " I have heard the dreadful tale. Bu^ after being outraged so cruelly, I should have looked rather for her resemblance in the fragile, fading girl of whom you first spoke, than in the blooming crea- ture you describe as her sister." *' Miss de Roos was scarcely more than a child when the affair happened. Years have passed since then. Time will do much with sorrow, pride, per- haps, more. But, if you had ever marked the bright and glassy glare of Alida's eyes, you would have thought 01 those whom we Indians believe have be- the tabernacles of another spirit than that* come which first possessed the body ; and such a spirit, 'tis said, no mortal grief can overshadow." " A beautiful superstition to assuage the horrors of lunacy, but too fanciful for truth. I have heard, Vt- 68 0RBT8LAIR ; ^!:i lilii indeed, of men with souls so haughty that they would never entertain a grief, if its memory were linked with shame to themselves or linease, espe- cially if the consciousness of unmerited obloquy or the keen hope of ultimate revenge buoyed up their sanguine nature. But v^ith a woman of blighted honour — " "You may hold there, MacDonald. That proud girl could never be made to believe that aught of reproach has assailed her name ; though her slim sister, they say, faints at the sound of Valtmeyer's name, and. has pined away from the moment the ruthless villain crossed Alida's path." " Good God 1 was there no brother, no kinsman to look after this horrible business ?" " Not one save the old father, who lived so reti- red that the story never reached his ears ; for Ali- da was off on a visit to some friends in a distant settlement when the abduction took place. Her brother, young Derrick, then but a child, was with Greyslaer, his father's ward, at school at Albany. And he has turned out such a fiery fellow since he came to man's estate, that no one now would dare to hint the matter to him." "And had the family not one friend to lift an arm in such a quarrel ? and yet indeed it were a delicate business to meddle with," said MacDon- ald, doubtingly. "They had two," answered Brant, with some hesitation ; " two friends to whom the country peo- ple looked for dragging the offender to justice. One of them, Walter Bradshawe, who was said to be wooing the young lady at the time. But he never moved in the matter, save secretly, to use his influence in Valtmeyer's favour." " The base mongrel ! And what said'men of such a recreant?" " His conduct was known but to few, and those n A ROM ANOB OV TBB MOHAWK. 69 iaid it sprung from a mean spirit of vengeance for havine been rejected by the lady. But this may have been mere calumny, for parties were running high at the time ; Bradshawe was never popular, and being a candidate for public office, his charac- ter was roughly handled." " You have said the De Roos family 4Nid. two friends they might have looked to. Had the Other one, then, no influence with the magistracy of the country ?" " He had," said Brant, again hesitating, with tome emotion, before he made his reply ; " he was connected with them both by alliance, by political position, and by official station ; and were not the nonour of his blood involved in the inouiry, no feel- ing of paternal tenderness would have prevented htm from cutting off his misbegotten offiipring with his own hand. And yet the Spirit above us knows 1 love that wayward boy." The chieftain leemed now deeply agitated for a moment, and then tim- ing suddenly, so as to fix his easle glance full upon the eye of his companion, he added, in a stern and almost fierce tone, " I have answered your inqui- ries, sir, from no mere prating spirit that feeds an idle curiosity. You have formed a sudden intima- cy with Au-neh-yesh ; I would warn you, as a gal- lant soldier of the king and a friend of the Mo- hawk, against the son of my own bosom. But though the unnatural boy has twice attempted his father's life, yet one whisper that attaches infamy to the blood of Thayendanagea will bring veng — ** " Spare the threat, noble Sachem ; yo jr secret if ever safe with me. I cannot be too grateful for ths confidence you have this day reposed in mo ; } 9t I cannot think there is anything of malignancy, much less of meanness, in the character of Isaac Brant, or Au-neh-yesh, as you prefer calling him. God forbid that I should attempt to palliate his un- it k. 70 ORBTSLUBR ; ! i' natural conduct towards his father. But phrensied as are the passions of youth, yet — " ** Enough r said the chief, in a tone so ennphat- ic as at once to cut short the discussion ; and then striding forward impatiently, as if to get beyond the reach of a reply fronn his companion, he added, in a low and tremulous, but still distinct voice : " The friend of Thayendanagea will bury this sub- ject for ever in his own bosom." A few moments afterward the two partisans reached the clearing upon the Sacondaga, where the principal warriors of Brant had taken up a strong position in an elbow of the river,. fortifying their camp with mounds and palisades after the milita« ry custom of the Six Nations. The day was now long past the meridian, and the chieftain lost no time in making his prepara- tions for a movement upon the settlements of the "German Flats" on the morrow. After a brief harangue to his followers, he drew out a select band of warriors, his son Au-neh-yesh being one of the number, for the proposed expedition ; and straightway commenced the fantastic pageant inci- dent to the setting out of a war-party at the com- mencement of an Indian compaign ; while MacDon- ald, surveying the spectacle with a curious eye, was not a little surprised to witness the almost child- ish zeal with which Thayendanagea took his full part in the savage mummery. A strange and bom- bastic metamorphosis seemed to have come over the reasoning companion with whom he had hither- to been acquainted ; so changed, indeed, did the whole man seem within one brief hour, that the wondering Scot could scarcely recognise in him the person with whom he had lately walked con- Yersing. ''This Mohawk," said MacDonald, mentally, A ROMANCE OP THE MOHAWK. 71 " with all his talents and attainments, can never be given as an instance of the capacity of his race for civilization. The man seems to have two natures ; or, rather, the artiificial character, produced by edu- cation, is as distinct from his Indian nature as if it belonged to another person. And if they do ever mingle, it is only as I have sometimes seen the blo(M[ of a European veining, without suffusing, the cheek of a half-breed." This opinion of the shrewd Scotchman seems to have been subsequently borne out by the sineular incongruities which characterized the career of the remarkable person of whom it was pronounced ; and the historian of the times still hesitates in what light to regard him who is described by many of his contemporaries " as a mere cruel, coarse-mind- ed savage," at the very time when the chief enjoy- ed the friendship of some of the most chivalric hearts, and could boast an intimate correspondence with some of the most polished minds of Europe. The sun had got low in the heavens by the time the warriors were all arrayed for battle, and the im- portant task of putting on the war-paint concluded. His level beams shot through the tree-tops on the opposite shore, and glancing luridly upon the broad stream that flowed in front of the Iroquois camp, lighted up a grotesque array of forms and faces, mirrored m every variety of attitude in the tranquil river. " Good !" said an Indian, who had just completed his barbaric toilet, and still lingered, surveying the result, with childish gratification, in the tide that rolled at his feet, " very good ; Squinandosh is a great man. The Sacondaga is a nappy stream, to reflect a face so terrible as his. Go, river, and bear his image in thy current while men tremble along thy shorea as they gee it float by. Go, river, i'.; 72 ORBTSLASR l!:J': and tell the great lake into which thou pourest, that thou hast seen Squinandosh." " Who is greater than Kan-au-gou ?" cried an- other, rising with solemn gravity from the position in which he had crouched, " the bravest of the men who surpass all others. He paints not, he, to make his features terrible, but to hide the counte- nance, from which, iC seen, his enemies would fly so fast his bullets would never overtake them." " Behold, Au-neh-yesh ! look well upon the tall one," said a third warrior, with the same Homer- ic diffidence of self-praise. " It is the blood of fifty white warriors that sprinkles his forehead. I hear their widows and children howling after their scalps, which shall dry in the smoke of his lodge ; but what hand shall ever reach up to the scalp of him who walks with his head among the clouds ?" One youth, more sentimentally given, seemed to regret only that there were no fair ones present to yield their admiration to the gallant figure that he made in his own eyes. Rejoicing in the possession of a biiof broken looking-glass, this animated per- sonage paused ever and anon to elaborate his toi- let with son>e additional grace, as he strutted about like a bantom cock, exclaiming : '* Where are the maids of the Mohawk, who love to look upon such a man as * Le-petit-soldat ?* Where is Tze-gwinda, the fawn-eyed girl of the Unadilla, and she whose feet move like a tripping brook, when the hawks- bells tinkle around her slender ankles in the dance, thd laughing Ivalette ? Where Waneka, of the willowy form, and * Cherie,' whose eyes outspark- \ed those of Ononthio's daughters at Montreal } Where is she whose footfalls leave no print behind them on the greensward or snowdrift; she who steals upon men's hearts they know not whence or how, where is * The Spreading Dew V Let each of ^ A BOVANCB OF THB MOHAWK. 78 fJ them come, look upon ' Le-petit-soldatt and sigh to be the squaw of such a warrior." " The Little Opossum is a great pain .er/" added yet another of these heroic worthies ; " none but a medicine can find out his secret for mixing colours. Owaneyo has not yet breathed in the nostrils of the man that is meant to kill him. This island has but one such warrior. Who but ' The Littl^ Opossum' can kill * The Little Opossum ?' " As the night closed in they lighted their torches, formed of the pitchy knots of the yellow pine ; and their barbaric boasting grew still more extravacant as they tossed them wildly in the war-dance. But here the demoniac forms, the distorted features, and ferocious gesticulations, as they moved in savage measure to the deep roll of the Indian drum, gave at least a fiendish dignity to the scene in the eyes of the European. It seemed as if the yawning earth had released a troop of demons from below to prac- tise for a while their mad antics in the upper air ; and the Briton shuddered as he thought of such a hellish crew being let loose to work their will upon his rebellious countrymen. There was a heavy rain during the night, end many of these gallantly-apparelled warriors, who slept in their war-dresses, looked sadl]^ bedraggled, after an hour's march through the dripping forest the next morning; but their appearance was still sufficiently formidable to awaken the admiration of the martial Scotchman; and their military order, their silence, and precision of movement, in obedi- ence to each command of their leader, when they were once fairly started upon the war-path, struck him as chasacterizing a race who were soldiers, both by nature and education. But among no martial people of whom history preserves a record were there severer disciplinari- VoL. I.— G M ^^■ n QRBYSLAMR ; ': ' MS than amonff Uiose semi-civtlized tribeii which are known by the generic name of the Iroqiiois. ; a item and stoical people, whose peculiar institutions and Spartan-like character-^for their discipline ex- tended to all the relations of life — have been so ig- norantly confounded with the loose custonas of the more mercurial races, the mere barbaric tribes that are still scattered over the northern and western parts of this continent. Many, indeed, have de» oied the superiority of the Six Nations over other aboriginal races, and questioned the degree of civil- isation which they had reached, because it was not progressive; because the era of the Revolution found them with the same social habits that are as^ cribed to them by the earliest writers who make mention of the Iroquois. But if that anomalous and remarkable feature of the respect paid to women*^ among them were wanting to confute this position, how, it might be asked, how can that nation be progressive in civilization which makes war the end of {dl its efibrts for improvement, instead of keeping prepared for it merely as the means of preserving the blessings of peace ? which encourages a^^ culture, and builds granaries, only for the supply of armies, and explores the navigable waters of a vast continent, not for the purposes of trade, but to secure the transportation of those munitions which may en- able its forces to keep the field through a succession of campaigns ? Yet such was the policy which en- abled the Six Nations to carry their conquering arms through every region that is now comprehend- ed in this wide-spread Union; and which made them formidable, not only to the wild tribes far west of the Mississippi, but to the Frenchman of * The written treaties of the Five Nations, preserved ^ai^ng the government archives, always open with, ** We, the Sachems and principal women of the Five Nations," dw. which «iois,; a titutions >Iine ex- n so ig« s of the 368 that western ave de<« er other of civil- waa not volution are as^ make ous and women* position, ition be the end keeping ^serving » agri^ ipply of 4 a vast } secure may en- ;cession lich en- quering rehend- 1 noade bes far man of Sachems ▲ ftOMAirCI OF THE MOHAWK. 99 the St. Lawrence, the Englishman of the Chesa^ peake, and th« Spaniard of Mexico. The Scottish soldier listened with thrilling inter- est to the wild and warlike tales of distant forays as Thayendanagea beguiled the march by dwellrnl^ upon the former glories of his people. Their reli^ gion and laws were frequently the subject of his in- quiries ; and, strange and uncouth as many of their observances appeared to him, he had travelled too widely over the earth to judge peculiar usages by the narrow standard of his own national customs. The partisans talked next of the civil war, whose outbreak, so long threatening, seemed now at hand ; and the sagacious and comprehensive views of the chieftain were not thrown away upon his experien- ced companion, though more than once a strange discord was struck in the bosom of the latter by the ferocious sentiments that gleamed through the pol- ished language of his Indian comrade. MacDonald, though a soldier of fortune, had nev- er been engaged in quite so disagreeable a business before. For, though upon the same side with a ma- jority of his Catholic countrymen, yet there were great numbers of Cameronian Scotch acting with the Whigs ; and, Jacobite as he was, he felt that there was a difiference between battling with an op- posite facti€»^ at Culloden and cutting the throats of countrymen who, like himself, had come to find a peaceful home in a strange land. This not unnat- ural feeling of compunction was brought out more strongly by a fierce reply which Brant made to some observation of his about the relations of friend- ship in which the chieftain had recently stood to- wards those with whom he must now come in im- mediate collision. " And what,** said the Mohawk, " what are pri- Tate ties in times like these» when those of nations i • %# r^vmu 7« 0KBT8LABK are so rudely severed ? Do you expect an IndiaM to play the woman, when you white men have for- gotten all the claims of blood and kindred in this strange quarrel with each other ? If the wolf devour his own whelps, why should the panther spare them, inerel3r because they are tenants of the same forest with himself?" But the night has again closed in around us, and the prowling Indian has reachefl the fold he would plunder. A SOMAirCB or VR8 HOHAWX. n I' I CHAPTER VII. THE RIFLING OF THE HAWK8N1ST. ** A crash ! They've forced the door, and then One long, long shrill and piercing scream Conies thrilliiur through the growl of men. 'Tis hers !" The Farmer's Homestead, from which the estate of Greyslaer took its name, lay upon the banks of the Mohawk, immediately at the mouth of one of those wooded gorges through which the tributaries of the river descend from the mountains of Mont-^ gomery to unite with the parent stream. The broad, low-eaved mansion reposed in a rich alluvial meadow, amid a clump of weeping elms ; the lux- uriancy of whose foliage betrayed the neighbour- hood of the brook that watered their roots ; and which, descending impatiently amid the copses of hazel and wild cherry, from the upland in the rear of the house, glided slowly and noiselessly through the green pastures, as if unwilling at the last ti> merge its cuncent into the broader stream beyond^ ** Here," said Thayendagea to his European friend, when, having stationed his band in the under- wood that lined the sides of the gorge, he {)ose. Fearful, therefore, of an ambuscade, Grey»- aer had exercised the greatest caution in approacb- inff the scene of danger. Marching warily along the banks of the river, un* lil he came within half a mile of his destination, he r I 8d QUMtKLkmrn. } y. \ * ,;i had turned aside upon reaching the mouth of the tributary before nnentioned ; and, making the bed of the smaller stream his highway, had struck inland towards the hill, so as, by a serpentine course, to approach the house from the rear. These precau- tions, however, would only have served to tlnrow him into the midst of Brant's party, which, intent upon the operation which had brought their chief to the spot, lay concealed upon the banks of the brook where it first descended to the lowlands, if the mil- itary foresight of the young partisan had not added another safeguard to his march by throwing out a picket upon either side of the stream. The worthy Bah, who chanced to be one of the two persons detailed upon this duty, used always to quote hit deeds of this night in illustration of a fa- vourite assertion of his, that a true woodsman always knew, by instinct, when an Indian was within fifty yards of him. Certain it is, that he had not pro- ceeded in advance of his comrades a hundred yards up the stream, when a faint whistle, like that of a woodcock settlinff in a cornfield when a summer shower has lured him from his favourite morass, caused an instant halt of his party. The call was answered by an Indian, who, risinff slowly from a brake, showed his shaven crown, for a moment, in the moonlight, and then slunk back to his cover, as if having, for the instant, mistaken the cali of a real bird for the signal of some comrade come to relieve him at his post. Some three minutes were now passed by Greys- laer's party in breathless attention for another sig- nal. These were so skilfully employed by the woodsman in gliding towards his foe, that they measured the mortal existence of the unhappy In- dian. A short and desperate struggle, a smothered cry, and the crashing of branches, aa a heavy body ▲ ROMAlfCa OV TBS MOBAWK. 88 rolled throuffh the thicket into the water, finished the career of the warrior Kan-au-gou. " Thank your start, boys, that your lives are not trusted to such a stupid lout as that," whispered Bait, joining his party the next instant. " Capting, that chap was painted for a war-party, and you may depend there is more vermilion in the neighbour- hood. The red devils must be beyond the rifts upon the hill above us ; God knows how many of 'em ; but the best thing we can do is to change our course, and strike straight through the fields to the homestead, where we can stand a siege, if the worst come to the worst." Greyslaer nodded approval, and instantly gave the necessary order; while his men silently deployed from the bed of the stream, and ascended the bank, preparatory to making a swift movement across the meadows to the house. Two fields, separated by n high rail-fence, laid " worm-fashion,** intervened be- tween them apd the homestead, and it was the sound of their feet, in running across the first field, which caught the quick ear of Thayendanagea, and in ihe same moment alarmed his ambqshed followers. Au-neh-yesh, by the order of one of the chiefs, had bounded off, on the instant, to communicate with the Sachem, and had nearly reached the house, when, casting his eyes behind, hun, he beheld Greyslaer** party in the act of surmounting the diviiion'fence we have mentioned. Without waiting tc select his man, he instantly fired upon them, and *h:i shot pro- duced at once the effect intended by the k^en-witted savage. The whites, finding themselves thus at- tacked in the direction of the house, deemed that it was already in possession of the enemy. They fal* tered in their advance, and then, as a tumultuous yell burst from the thickets on their flank, they fjonned in the angles of the serpentine fence, as the :(.:■■< 84 OftBTSLABA } n nearest coyer at hand, and poured their fire upon the advancing foe. The Mohawks recoiled on the in- stant, and both parties lay now protected by their cover> with a broad strip of moonlit meadow be- tween them, into which both were afraid to venture, contenting themselves with keeping up a dropping fire upon each other, as the gleam of weapons be- trayed here and there an object to aim at. The situation of Greyslaer's party seemed now ?recarious in the extreme. ** The Redskins are surrounding us, captain," said one of the brave but undisciplined yeomanry. " We had better back out bv crawling, in the shadow of the fence, to the bushes on the river- side in our rear." '• ** Rayther," said another, " let us go ahead, and make a clean thing of it, by charging through the varmint in front, and gain the heavy timber in their rear." "Now my say is, boys," quoth Bait, '*just to do neither one nor t'other." " What, then, do you counsel. Bait ? for we can- not long maintain ourselves where we lie, if the In- dians are in any strength," said Greyslaer. *' Why, the bizness is a bad one, anyhow you can fix it, capting ; but I think I understand the caper dn't. Don*t you see — sarve you ri^ht. Bill ; I told you they'd spile that hat afore the night was over, if you would pop up your head above the rider instead of firing atween the rails — don't you see that we've only had one shot from the house, while the old fence is already pretty well riddled from the hillside ? Well-— elevate a little lower, Adam, if it's that skulking fellow by the big elm you're trying for— well, then, as I was saying, it's pretty easy to j^ess where the strength of the redskins must lie ; and I don^t see that we can do better than streak it right '# «■ : ':' 4 A KOMAirCI OF THB MOHAWK. 86 ahead for the house, and trust to legs and luck for getting safe into it." The suggestion was too much in accordance with Greyslaer^s feelings not to be eagerly caught at by him. Indeed, so overpowering was his anxiety for the beloyed inmates of the mansion, that nothing but considerations of duty toward the party who had trusted themselves to his guidance, had hitherto prevented him from dashing forward to his destina- tion at all hazards. But if he had still hesitated as to the course to adopt in the present exigency, all doubt as to his movements was at once dispelled in the moment that Bait finished speaking. A sound of terror, the shriek of woman in dia* tress, with the hoarse cry of age imploring mercy and assistance, rose suddenly from the dwelling, chilling the blood of some, and making the pulses of others leap with mad and vengeful impatience. And it was then that, burstine simultaneously from their cover, the red man and the white could be seen urging their way with rival fleetness towards the same goal, for the moment apparently regardless of each other's neighbourhood ; pausing not to strike down a competitor in the race, but striving only who first could reach the bourne. The one tnirsting to share in the massacre that seemed in the act of per- petration ; the other burning with fierce impatience to arrest or avenge the butchery of his friends. A light and agile youth, a fair-haired boy of six- teen, was the first that gained the door of the man- sion; but even as he planted his foot upon the threshold, his head was cloven asunder by an In- dian tomahawk, and, with limbs quivering m death, his body rolled down the steps, while the exulting savage who dealt the blow leaped over it brandish- ing his fatal weapon. But his triumph was short. Greyslaer war' dose upon him, and, as he strained Vol. I.— H in , omsTSLAsm } 1,1 every nerve in rushing forward, he came with hi» drawn rapier so impetuously upon the Ihdian, that tlie point was driven through his back deep into the panel of the door, which burst open from the shock* Leaving his friends for the moment to make good their entrance as best they could, by opposing their hunting-knives and clubbed rifles to the tomahawks and maces of the Indians, who instantly mingled with them in wild melee around the porch^ Greys- laer rushed forward to the sitting-room of the family. He shrunk aghast at the sight of horror which told him that he had come too late. The master of the house lay stunned and senseless upon th^^ floor. Alida, the beautiful Alida, had disappeared ; but her fair-haired sister lay weltering in her blood, while a gash across her forehead, with the tangled locks drawn backward from her brow and the print of gory fingers fresh upon the golden tissue, called Greyslaer's eye to a savage, who shook his scalping- knife at him with a hideous grin of disappointed malice as he sprang through the open window. But there was no time now for grief to have its way. The din of the conflict still rose fresh behind him, and Greyslaer turned to the succour of his friends whom it might avail. " Powder, ppwder, capting !" shouted Bait, who this moment presented himself. *' There's a big redskin keeping three of our men at bay with his tomahawk ; I must use him up at once, to give the rest an opportunity of making a rush from the out- house; our best men are still outside. Bedlow and Boonhoven are both down ; but big Hans, the miller, yet holds the door stoutly, and Bill Stacey has gone up with his axe to drop the gutter from the eaves upon the redskins that are hammeriiig at the wini^ows. Ah ! There's the tool for my purpose," he added, seizing the ducking gun from the chimney. m^ A BOMAIfCB OF THB MOHAWK. •r and throwing down his half-loaded rifle; while Greyslaer had, in the mean time, secured the window through which the ferocious Au-neh-yesh had a mo- ment before made his entrance and escape. Greyslaer now rushed to support the man who was holding the door against odds so stoutly ; while Bait ascended the staircase, freshly priming the ducking gun, and adding a handful of buckshot to the already heavily charged piece as he went. He gained a window in the same moment that Greys- laer, sallying out from the house sword in hand, cut down the sturdy warrior for whom Bait had prepared his charge. A dozen Mohawks instantly rushed forward to avenge the fall of their comrade. But the heavy piece of Bait did good service in the moment, or Greyslaer's career would have been cut shoit for ever. A shower of buckshot drove them quickly to regain their cover. " Now, boys," shouted the woodsman, " make a rush for the house, while the red devils digest that peppering." The handful of outlying whites did not wait for the invitation to be repeated, but rushed pellmell, within the porch so furiously as to bear down each other in the hall, while the sturdv miller made a liberal use of his foot in pushing aside their bodies while shutting the heavy oaken door. Furious at being thus foiled, the brave Mohawks made a simultaneous rush towards the entrance, when, at that instant, the rude and ponderous gutter, loosened from the eaves, descenaed with a crash upon their heads ; and, with a wild howl of grief and dismay, the survivers of their parly drew off their wounded and disabled comrades, and left the stout yeomen masters of the field. bm ' u :a''^ 88 OBBTSLABB ; CHAPTER VIII. THE RUINED HOMESTEAD. **The father gazed in anguish wild, He pressed the bosom of his child : There beat no pulse of life." YAMOTDBIf. ' The human heart has no more bitter grief than that which springs from the recollection of unkind- ness toward those who, loving us when living, are now, by the barriers of the grave, placed for ever be- yond the reach of our remorseful recollection. But love — whether it be the love of kindred, or the wilder, warmer passion, that more generally bears that name — is ever humble and self-chiding when absent from its object. The heart then forgetti ih« frailties that may at times have shaken its esteem ; it softens in degree the faults which have so se- verely tried its regard, that it cannot but remember them ; it pardons every offending quality, that may often have tasked its forbearance, and threatened even the continuance of its tenderness ; it imputes to itself all the blame that it has ever attached to the beloved object ; and finds an excuse for each caprice of the one who may have trifled with it, in its own unworthiness, to inspire true affection. It was not unnatural, therefore, that the young Greyslaer, when he surveyed the desolation that had come over the home of Alida, and thought of her as torn from that home, a captive, dependant upon the mercies of the half-civilized Mohawk — it was not unnatural that, while every humane and 'W- Ik A ROMANCB OF THB MOHAWK. generous impulse of his heart should be called into action, the nnore subtile emotions of latent tenderness should also quicken afresh in his bosom. " She loved me not, she never would have loved me/' said the youth, mournfully ; " yet, God knows, I would have laid down my life for her. Yes, coldly as she received me the last time I crossed this threshold, and forbidding as I for months have found her whene'er we met, I would eive worlds for one haughty and impatient glance, checking my ill-timed assiduities, could she but now sit there in safety to receive them. So noble, so gifted, so gen- tle, to be torn thus — gentle ? No, Alida, the word befits not thy proud and aspiring nature ! Yet why should I hold her high spirit in reproach, because I may at times have chafed at its imperiousness, and thought thai d looked too insolently down upon such a thing as I am ? What am J, that I should aspire to the love of such a being ? What guerdon have I won from glory, what deed of nobleness have I achieved, that I may ai3>rire to mate myself with one whose queen-like step should be upon the neck of emperors ?" And the young man strode to and fro across the apartment with disordered pace and gesticulations that became the extravagance of his languaffe ; while desperate resolves and bitter self-reproaches were so wildly mingled in his speech, that one who had never before witnessed the fantastic mood of a lov- er, would have deemed that, if not the immediate instrument of the calamity that had overtaken his mistress, yet the preferring of his unwelcome suit must be in some way the cause of her disastrous fortunes. But when was thero a lover who was not an egotist, or who did not believe that the dream which wraps his senses must somehow shape the destiny of her who inspires the infatuation ; who can H2 w^a !■.> llfc^M ^' !>.. f^l-vllil M' ',.> 90 OBETflLABB ; be made to think that the current of his feelings, like the ocean tides, may reflect the image without in- fluencing the actions of their mistress ? But Greys- laer, though the first burst of feeling will ever have its way in one so young in years and new to sorrow, was not a man to waste the moments that were pre- cious, in a Ipver's idle rhapsodies ; nor, indeed, had he given way to even this transient weakness, until he had done ail that could be at present accomplish- ed for the distressed household. Tfie bereaved father, when first brought to his SAn i)6f and enabled to recall his share in the events J?* the night, left little doubt, by his teslimonv, as to iitj o*! rfposal that had been made of Alida. But the »ari kixon was so loose and unconnected, as wrung |Di < omeal from the broken-hearted old man, that we h'^v<3 ' itured to enlarge and connect his relation, ia order to make it intelligible to the reader. The shot and shout which heralded the conflict had struck dismay into the family engaged in the peaceful avocations we have described at the open- ing of the last chapter. Tl\e invalid girl had the moment before laid aside the book which she had been engaged in reading aloud ; and her sister, taking m Bible from the chimney piece, handed it to her fa- ther to close the evening with the customary reli- gjious service before retiring. " It would be provoking," remarked Alida, while opening the good book on the table before him, " if ■om9 of Derrick^s rough comrades should not have heard that the night of the rr dezvous was changed, and come and rouse jh an hour hence from our slumbers ! There's one gallant I wot of, Tyntie," added she, passing her hand archly over the head of her sister, "who would not be sorry for the omission, if it but gave him an excuse for showing his new uniform at Hawksnest.'' W'' A ROMANCH OT THB MOHAWK. 91 ** Pshaw, sister, you know that young Harper is no more to noe than any other young man of the ▼alley that comes to our nouse. But I am sure that to-night I should be glad to see him or any of the bold friends that Dirk has collected around us in these stormy times. Brave as you are, I don't be- lieve you would have been sorry if, instead of the boy they sent with the note, wise Max Greyslaer had been the bearer of it." " The striplings are alike to me,'* said Alida, with- out noticing the faint smile of the invalid. " As for Greyslaer, he had to go south to the Reinhollow Settlement to get his friends together; and they woukl have eaten us out of house and home, if we had to keep his hungry hunters over the morrow. But, silly one, think you that, if there were danger, Derrick would have kept aloof himself ? Father, let me look again at his note ! See, there's nothing to alarm us here," pursued she, reading the missive aloud : " We shall not disturb the repose of your house to-night, my dear father, as the proposed meeting of the friends of the king and constitution is deferred. The ministerial malignants are abroad. Johnson, indeed, still lies, with all his power, at the hall ; but his tool, Joseph Brant, has got together some vaga- bond Mohawks at the north, and has prepared to move to-morrow towards the river. He claims that he and his miscreant followers represent the sentiments of the whole Six Nations ; and we arc going westward to intercept his march, and seize his person, Jbefore he can communicate with the other Indians and work us farther mischief. I al- ways told you, honoured sir, that this precious spe- cimen of the civilized savage would go with the British ministers in their tyrannical attempts to en- I :i ' '^■ OS ojumijLM ; alare uf, and I will make your quondam friend con* fess as much before to-morrow night, if — ** The sudden report of firearms, followed imme* diately by the appalling war-whoop, broke off the farther reading of the note, and struck dismay into the defenceless household. The timid lyntie, pressing her hands to her temples, as if to shut out the fearful sounds, bent her head down to the table, cowering like a frightened bird, hopeless* of escape when the fowler is upon her. The old man clasped his hands, and uplifted his aged and prayerful coun- tenance with a look of mute but anxious pleading. Alida only, of the three, seemed to retain the power of action. Pushing the table impatiently from her, she stood, for a moment, with flashing eye and dila- ted form, and senses all alert, as if, Penthisalea-like, the sounds of approaching combat were music to her soul. Then, as the turmoil of the strife rose nearer and clearer, she cast a hurried look of anx- iety at the helpless beings by her side, and rushed to a window to gain intelligence of the extent of the danger. It was the same window beside which Brant and his Scottish accomplice had planted themselves; and, as impetuously throwing up the sash, she lean- ed far out to catch a view of the grounds beyond the end of the house, the sinewy arm of the chieftain encircled her waist in a moment, and, incapacitated from resistance alike by surprise and the position in which she stood, she was lifted from her feet by a power that was equally rapid and resistless, ana placed in the arms of MacDonald, who, moved but not melted by her shrieks, hurried from the spot with his captive. As for Brant, he had only delay- ed for a moment to pinion her arms by securing the ends of his knotted Daldrick, which, unobserved by MacDonald, he had thrown over her shoulders in the bou i?iia.'' n ▲ ROXAIfOB OV THB MOHAWK. 99 the moment he seized her person, and then he bounded through the open window into the apart- ment. " Joseph Brant !" cried the old man, raising the palms of his hands like one startled by an appari- tion, and averting his head as if to shut out the con- viction of the character in which his former neigh- bour now presented himself. " Joseph Brant, my enemy !" " Thayendanagea, your ancient friend," replied the chief, advancing with outstretched hand. " Off, off, perfidious and ruthless villain. If a fa- ther's vengeance could renew the strength in these withered limbs, you durst not — " ** By the eternal spirit of Truth above us, not a hair of your daughter's head, old man, shall come to harm. 'Twas but to prove to you Alida's safety in the hands of Thayendanagea that I have betrayed my share in this night's business ; for that, and[ to assure you of your own, is all< — ** " Yes, as the hound protects the hind from the knife of the hunter, when he has driven her into his hands. Off, dog of an Indian, off, wretched mer- cenary ; or, if your power to save be equal to your will to slay, protect yourself at this moment." And seising a tall andiron from the fireplace, he bran- dished aloft his awkward weapon, and rushed upon the chieftain. Phrensied with passion, the feeble old man had summoned all his remaining energy to deal a single blow at the spoiler of his household ; and as Brant leaped lightly aside from the descend- ing blow, he fell forward, striking his hoary brow with stunning effect against the iron instrument, which came between his head and the floor. At this moment, Alida, escaping from the care of MacDon- ald, presented herself at the window, with the In- dian Au-neh-yesh in close pursuit behind her^ The if 11-* < "i "■: S' J-,. 94 OBBTILAIS ; e:j i ferocious young laTs^e had already raised his torn* ahawk to strike, and it was only the menacing cry of his chieftain and father which saved the hfe of the maid. A few hurried words from him told Brant that there was now no time to be lost, if he would secure the only prey yet in his power. He tore the shrieking sirl from the window-sill, to which she clung ; and lifting her like a child in his arms, rushed through the garden and up the wood- ed hill in the rear of the house. The younff Mohawk turned to bear back the command of his Sachem to his party, but catching a glimpse of Tyntie's prostrate form, who still lay lost in the swoon into which the first alarm had thrown her, he could not resist his ferocious pro- pensities, while the tumult of the strife, which at this moment rose nearer and nearer, urged their gratification. He sprang forward, buried his tom- ahawk in her brain, and, twisting his finders in her long tresses, had already drawn the scalping knife from his girdle, when Greyslaer's sudden appear- ance compelled him to seek safety in flight. The otter incidents of the assault haye been al- ready detailed to the reader in the previous chap- ter. The note we have mentioned, which still lay open upon the table, for the first time acquainted Grayslaer with the altered intentions of his friends. But, under existing circumstances, he determined to remain at the Hawksnest, and await their coming on the following day. An attempt to rescue Alida with his present handful of men would, he soon acknowledged, be worse than vain ; but he did not abandon the idea, until, by a close examination of the ^ound, he had made a tolerably accurate esti- mation of the number of followers Brant had with him, and his means of securing an escape to the upper country. He was even able to trace the footp X SOMANOB or TBB MOHAWK. 95 Mluepn of Alida herself in several places. But a dog belonging to the household, which had been unchttined to assist in the examination, and had proved himself eminently useful in striking the In- dian trail h\ the first instance, and shown his saga- cious eympathy in their search by uttering a sharp howl when they first lighted upon the traces of his mistress, disappeared soon afterward amid the dark- ness of the forest, and the use of the lanterns in groping about added nothing farther to their dis- coveries when the aid of the animal was withdrawn. In the mean time, the patriot party took every precaution to secure themselves against a surprise during the ni^ht. The windows of the house were strongly barricaded, sentinels were posted, and a shed, with other slight outbuildings, which mi^ht cover the approach of an enemy, were levelled with the ground. The body of the unfortunate Tyntie was consigned to the care of a couple of female slaves, whose vociferous grief over the gory re- mains of their young mistress almost drowned the deep mourning of her stricken-hearted father, who had to be forcibly torn from the body and carried off to another chamber. After a night made tedious by broken slumbers and harassing dreams, confusedly alternating each other, it was with no slight feeling of relief that Greyslaer hailed the approach of dawn. The sum- mer landscape wore a Sabbath-like stillness, as he gazed upon it from his open window, while in- halinff the fresh breeze of morning. The mist- wreatns curling up from the river were the only ob- jects moving, and even these stole off as gently as if fearful of breaking the silence by a more rapid motion ; creeping now around some imbowered islet, pausing now to twine for a moment amid the leafy festoons of vines and branching elms upon »•■ f-' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) <. m 1.0 I.I I nt Ui 12.2 IL Hi 20 L25 HI 1.4 U4 Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STKET WHSTH.N.Y. MSSO (716)072-4503 ,\ SJ \\ [V o^ ? .:&V>- 8ome jutting promontory, and now circling the brow of one of £o8e cliffs whose craggy and frowning summits give its only feature of sternness to the soft and lovely vale of the Mohawk, and at once dignify and diversify its exquisite landscape. The heart of the young patriot bled to think that a scene so fair and smiling must be given up to the cruel ravages of war. Of a war too, which, while presenting itself in the worst form of that scourge of humanity, brought with it the threatening hor* Tors of many a savage massacre, superadded to the dire calamity of armed discord among those who call themselves civilized. '* And what,** thought Greyslaer, ^' what are the private griefs of one solitary being like myself, to the sorrows of the thousanda whose fate is wound up in this impending struggle ; what weighs the present doom of all of us, when balanced in the scales of Omniscient Benevolence, against the wel- fare of the millions yet unborn, whose destiny hangs upon the success of our endeavour. God of Heav* en ! but it is a gallant game, a noble stake we play for. But those that come after us ! will they prise it when won, will they cherish the glorious guerdon, and remember the deeds and the men who made it theirs ? Will they love each rodd and inch of their blood-bought patrimony, where every acre that was sown with the dragon teeth of despotism produced its hero T Will they too rear a race of men, fit to be the second crop of a soil so generous ? Will the free-born dames of those days, will the mothers that tutor them-— alas [ if their mothers were to be such as thee, Alida, who could doubt their high- souled nurture !** But the thoughts of the youthful Oreyslacr became less coherent, as they aesUmeli a softer character, nor need we follow the reflections m M BOMANOB or THB MOBAWX. 97 of the ardent young patriot, as they became merged in the vague musing of the less sanguine lover. As the day wore on, and the hour of the expect- ed return oi the younger De Roos to his fatner's house drew nigh, (jrreyslaer shrunk from witnessing the harrowing impression which the desolate house- hold must make upon his friend. Qerrick came not, however, in the manner that was painfully an- ticipated by those who dreaded the snock ot sur- prise that seemed to await him. Ill news flies fast, and the story of his ruined homestead was soon spread over the countr]r ; and when the young De It6o8, retuminff from his bootless quest of Brant, first feH in with his friends and neiffhbours flocking to the scene of disaster, he soon learned, the dark story from the agitated females, who were hunting, in company with their fathers and brothers, toward the Hawksnest. Leaving another to take charge of his own immediate party, the horror-stricken young man threw himself on a fresh horse that was profiered by a kiiisman, and, striking the spurs into his flanks, dashed furiously forwaid. "Where is she? Where are their bodies The exclaimed, foaming with impatience as he leaped from the saddle and rushed into the house, as if the mad energy of his grief could even yet rekindle life in the bosoms of the dead. " My son, nay son !" cried the old man^ moving a fltep toward Derrick, then tottering, and sinkmg helpless into the chair from which he had risen. ** My father !" screamed the youth, in a wild tone of delight and grief, most strangely mingled. ** And did the wretches then spare your gray hair* ; are all, then, not gone f " All ! look there, look there, Derrick ! They left my aged blood to chill in my veins through time, if horror might not curdle it ; but those young pulses Vol. I.— I ' ,: l>.\. 'i\ ' ^■.¥'- li V. 96 o: ibAhasb: !; haTe^^eased to beat for erer.** And the frame of the youth trdinbted like that of a woman ai his fiithet pomted to the narrow cot where, stark and stiff, but atill composed, in the decent attire of a Christian g^rare, reposed the remains of Tyntie, his younger sister. His features were as pale as those of Uie corpse as he advanced to its side and raised the nap* kin which coTered the face. He started. "What» Tyntie, my poor, my senile ffirl ( And was thy iMlcate thread of life, that might have snapped so easily — so nearly worn, too, that any moment might faaye severed it — ^was that frail thread thus rudely mien asunder V* He spoke mournfully, but there was no bitterness in his grief; and nascent hope and bumti^ anxiety were depicted in his counts* nance as he turned hastily to his father, in a hesise and tremulous whisper : " Alida — Alida, my father V* His agitation waa loo great to utter more. "She was borne off by the ?illain Bran^ mihamed as we think and trust,** said Greyslaer, ad?anoing. *' I waited but y^our arrival, Derrick^ to reiaibice ay fifles and start in pursuit.'* A complete reaction now took njaoe in At feel* inffs of the mercurial young De Koos. Bvraeur^ who flies on ma^ic wings» genendly, too, exercises a magical power m exaggerating the tkiia^ that ahe bears. The disniayed youth mi heard m the first instance of the total destruction of his house; indeed^ there had been tales of burning|8 as well as naasa^ cres ; and when he rode so furiouily homeward, it was tiot until he beiMld the quiet smoke ascendiig from the haU of his lakxtcy that he hoped even lo recoTer the bodies of his kindf^ for Uhristiaa bu- lial. To find his father livhiff, and AJkia, hii^fa- ▼onrifta sbter, his pride and his delighly stifl not oubh bered wiih ^ dead, wrought auch a change in kii ▲ BOM ANOH OV *n MOHAWK. mind, that every object around him wore a new aa- peot. The world, which a* few momenta before aeemed bo drear and gloomy, that the verv idea of drawing out hit desolate exiitenee for an hour wai accompanied by ^hat auffocating sense of pain in* tolerable, that most men, perhaps, have sometimee known — the world, the young and half-tried world around him, seemed now almost as fresh and fair as ever. With buoyant step he hurried out to meet his approaching friends, and, as the wagons of the gathenng yeomanry drove into the courtyard, it would have seemed, from the congratulatipns that {Missed among the females, whom sympathy or cu- riosity had brought to the house of mournmg, that every cause of grief were for the moment re- moved. All the particulars relating to the last hours of the ?rounff girt, who thus far had been the chief suf- ererhy these events, were now told over and over, amid frequent exclamations among the females, while the incidents of the flight were recounted with not less animation by the men who participa- ted in it, as they clustered around some mounted rangers, who, being among the new-comers, were now engaged in grooming their horses at the stable. The fate of the orave fellows who had fallen, aqd who, few in number, chanced to be mere hangers- on of the community, with no near kindred to la- ment them, was by their acquaintances and com- rades siticerely deplored. As 4he evening drew on, many of the party dispersed, some to seek a supper and bed with the nearest neighbours, none of whom dwelt within a mile of the Hawksnest ; and others to seek a berth for the nisht in the bam or some other outbuilding, where tney might be ready for attendance upon the funeral on the morrow. Greys- laer, in the mean time, having taken counsel with i i''^"-^ m m W.' ■}> • • » » *'.- ) i t 4 V ■ 100 OBBtlLAVE ; the friends of Alida's family, it was anreed that he and Derrick should lea?e the care of the ceremonial to a near kinsman of the latter, while, selecting a chosen party of followers, they should set out to- gether an hour after midnight to follow up the trail of Brant. « « • >^!i-. that he emoDMl icting a out tOi- ;he trail ■-1*, A BOM ANOl OV JME MOHAWK. 101 CHAPTER IX. mi dkath'8 doings. ** And he look* for tli» print of the rafBan'o feet. Where he bore the maiden eway, And he darta on the fatal path more fleet. Than the blaat that hurries the vapour and aleet h O'er the irild NoTember day/ SvUMT. It wai through the lenity of MacDonald, in re- leasing the bonds of his captive the monaent he dis- covered her arms were pinioned, that Alida had aucceeded in making her single attempt at escape, which we have already seen was futile. The wor- thy Scotchman was deeply chagrined at having in any way participated in tne business of the night, which he deemed a£feoted his character both as an officer and as a gentleman ; and now, while hurry- ing toward tholmlian station, he did not hesitate to eaqpress his regztt that the lady had not succeeded in regaining the protection of her friends. Thay- endanaffea seemed in nowise offended with the blunt- ness of nis language) as the major denounced in no measured terms me Indian system of making war upon women and children, answering only very djryly that that was a^nisstion for the morali^, which he would be happy to discuss with his ^end whieiii they should oe at leisure to talk over the wbol^ aubject of war, witli fiir John's chaplain to make ^ third party in the discussion. *' But, Major MacDon- ald,'',8aid he, "I could tell you that m renrd the position of thia young lady wliich entijreiy jpre- i '• •0": :i ' f ■■■■^,: i08 aBBVlLUIB.; renti her case from being included in the queition you hare raised.*' , '* You hare already told me the considerationi of policy which prompted the act ; but, Sachem, there li but one policy which should ever govern gallant men when the welfare of women is concerned. Our humane civilization teaches us that war—'' " Is an honourable game, at which the noble and the far-descended should play with the lavished lives of their inferiors, the wail of whose desolated kindred can never reach the ears of the upper classes, to whom alone the j^iiie of glory in any event may fall; pardon my intenuption, but that, Major MacDonald, is the real purport of what you would say. You would shudder at the bare thought of 0|ie of ^England's high-bom dames being torn from her luxurious home to a prisoner's dungeon ; and the horror of her being tortured at the stake would darken the recollection of the most brilliant successes in war. But the wretched children, whom you doom to grow up in poverty and contempt by ma- kins them fatherless ; the lacerated hearts of thoa« sands of widows, whose existence yoii protract by your relUdtant bounty, after renderins that existence miserable; these are never rememoered to cast a •hade oter die tale of a victoiy. Call yeii this hu- manity, which embraces but the welfare of a class within its mercies ? Call you this coniideration for womaii, which regards the rank rather than the sex of the sufferers? The MtI Great Spirit of the uniterie ! have I not read of your gallantry, yomr Under mercies tovvard them in the storminff 6f towns and casUes ? J, ah Indian, a smage, have i0en your own reilprdtf, the white man's printed tep- timony to diese abominations of his race; but the breath of life is not in the nostrils of him who has s^en a female insulted by her Iroquois captot.^ '%^-„, A BOMANOB OF TBB MOHAWK. 108 MacDonald listened to the tirade of the chieftain without caring to contradict what he said ; and, by way of cutting short the discussion, and changing |he subject to one of a less abstract nature, he a£ mitted that if war were an e?]!, not the least mm- mary Way of putting an end to it was by the Indian mode of making all who were interested in its re- sult indiscriminate sharers in its horrors. " But I have yet to learn, Sachem,** said he, " why the wel- fare of this young lady is not involved in the ques- tion T Brant smiled grimly, and pointed to a litter of boughs carried by a couple of Indians, whereon le- pdsed the form of Alida, wrapped in his own man- tle. ** Could a father,** he said, *' care more gently for his own daushter than do I for the Lady Alida ? Could that feeble old man, with his rash, hot-head- ed son, have ffiven her the safe shelter she may find, in times like these, beneath the roof of Thay- eiidanagea ? The devil is unchained, I tell ye, Ma- jor MacDonald, and there are wild men enough beside Indians to do his bidding in these parts.** *' Why,** said MacDonald, in a tone of surprise and pleauure, ''why did you not hint this to me before? You spoke but of taking the lady as an hostage ! Had I thought that so generous a concern prompted—** '* Nay, speak not of ffenerosity. Perhaps, after all — ^though her safety is best secured by the act — ^it was but as an hostage that I did seize my captive. But I mean her as an hostage to restrain far more dangerous spirits than the m«l-cap De Roos, or the dreaming enthusiast Greyslaer. There are men- men bearing the commission of the king, who bring the ferocious nature of outlaws to our cause ; men whom you and I would scorn to act with, save in n catise BO holy ; and in the mad dance of devilifh piA« 'If m If::: •l-i! !H. 104 •BmL4B* \\ •ioni which the con? uliion of the timei will let loof e, they muft be restrained by other powers than those of official authority. There is one man who— but this is not the time to speak of him ; let us urge on* ward to our destination/' That time never came with Brant, who seemed to have forgotten the promised solution of his dark, and mysterious langusffe when they arriTcd at the Indian station ; nor aid MacDonald, who soon after departed with an escort through the woods to Johns* town, understand, till long afterward, the bearing of what the chieftain said upon events disclosed in the sequel ; and which may be best unfolded in the regular course of our story, which recurs again to the scene of our last chapter. It was about the hour of midnight tha^fhe young* er De Roos, taking Bait to guide him upon the In- dian track, quietly withdrew to the, hillside with hit followers ; where, after some ten minutes' impatient waiting for Greyslaer, they took up their line of march through the forest without him. Greyf |ier, in the mean time, rising from the pal* let wherfon he had snatched a brief repose, de* scended the staircase, and already had his hand on the outer door, when a deep moaning in the room adjacent to the passage arrested his attention. A feeble liffht streaming through an aperture showed that the door was ajar, and, with cautioos and eub* dned steps, he hesitated not to enter. It was the chamber of the dead. ne flickering taper upon the hear&Tevealed the figure oi an orawoman in a gray doak, whose al* tevualed and eallew feet)ires looked still moie gkaet* \j from the acnriet hood which was thrown back from her Inrehead and rested upon her shouldeBl* She sat upon a low wicker chair, with one of h#r feet upon i^ieotitQol» tad the other with the toe I III!! ,s « ▲ SOMAHOB OF THB MOHAWK. 105 •tiffly upturned, and the heel resting on ihe floor, thrust out 80 far beyond her dresa that its shrivelled froportions showea like the stark limb of a skeleton, [er cheek -supported upon her bony finffers, with the closed lids of her sunken eyes, showed that her ▼igil had been badly kept ; andfGreyslaer, pained at the thought that the remains of the gentle Tyntie should be left to such a watcher, turned from the forlorn old crone to the coffin in which the body had been laid. It was empty. But, before he could rally his thouffhts to account fo( & circumstance so astound- ing, the moaning sounds which had first drawn him to the chamber again caught his ear. He turned; and beheld a sight both piteous and awful. In a shadowy corner of the room, removed as far as possible from the slumbering suardian of the dead, sat the venerable father of the murdered maiden, folding her stiffened corpse in his arms, and pressing it to his bosom with a teiklernesa as passionate as if he thought that the pulses of p»^ rental affection which beat within could rekindle those of life in his departed daughter. The shroud, with its formal drapery, still veiled the lineaments of her clay-cold form ; but the napkin that shielded her throat, and the fillet or muslin hand thatcovered the gash in her forehead, while keeping the long locks smoothly parted beneath it, had escaped from their place ; and the golden tresses, floating loose, mingled with the gray hair of the old man, as ho madly kissed the frightful wound through which her gentle spirit had been dismissed to heaven. The agonized parent, who had thus crept, in the dead of the night, to hold this awful communion with his child, seemed wholly unconscious of the pres- ence of Greyslaer, who would fain have, slunk away in silence as one who, by unwitting intrusion, pio- ».. i :^i I! I'll 106 ««*.oBaTiL4im; \' # faned fome hallowed myitery ; but bit power of to* lition feemed laken away, and he •till continued to •tend, in ipite of himself, ai it were, with eyes riv- eted upon the heart-rending apectacte. At length the mute anguiah of the old man found Tent in worai. The colour went and came atrangely o?er hit aahea countenance ; while hit featuret writhed at if it weri difficult for them to attume the new eiprettion of male? olent and findictife feeling they had now for the firtt time to wear. " Brant, cruel Brant,** cried the wretched parent, *'the God — the Chrittian*t God, whom I aided in teaching thee to worthip, may forgi?e thee thia, but I^I nef er can. A parent'a curte— 4he curte of a bereaTod and atricken heart, be, oh God, upon—** A burtt of aobt, that for a moment threatened to auffo- eate him, cut ahort the blaiphemoua appeal; bat hiatory, in the tragic fate of Brant*a own family, hat shown how deeply the malediction wrought in after Totra; and the old man, like one atartled by a tpell himtelf had e? oked, teemed, with the prophetic eya of approaching dittolution, to foretee the working of hit curte. He thivered aa with a graTO-chill ; and, dropping now upon hit kneet, with the lifeleaa face of nit daughter upturned upon hit botoip, mutely pleading toward heaven, he ettayed in prayer to beaeech a pardon and recall hia wordi. But hit quiverinff lipt refuted to lyllable a tound. A tudden and tubtile agony teemed on the inttant to travel through bi> limbt and rack hit aged frame; and then, while unretittingly permitting Greytlaer to take the body from hit arms, he tank uncontcioua upon the floor. Calling the old woman to hit aid, Greytlaer, with tfie tender care of a mother, lifting the fragile foim if her child in which life ttill feebly hovert, again lontigned the body to its formal receptacle ; and, # 1 1 ▲ ROMAMOB OF TRB MOHAWK. 107 while the crone butied herielf in readjuiting the grafe-clothes of the maiden, he turned to rtiie her wretched father from the ground. But the Borrows of the old man had ceased for erer ; the thread of his feeble existence, protracted only, as it seemed, beyond the usual length, to be interwofen at the last with more than usual mise- ry, had snapped beneath the tension of an agonized spirit. He had been called ewav — after a long life of blameless benevolence and Christian meeknesi, be had been mysteriously called away in a moment of contumacy toward Heaven. He departed, in- deed, with a prayer upon his lips, but his last-utter- ed words were those of imprecation. He had been called, thouj^h, by a God of mercy t It was with a sad heart that Greyslaer, after climbing the hills to strike the trail of his friends, ittocee laer and the flankers at once ; closing in, the whole par^ united upon the banks of the rivulet, at t point where it first commenced its descent from the upland. Taking his orders now from De Root, K2 \' 1 1 1- ■m^':i. ♦ n 114 •BBTUJkBS, w for, Greyslaer wai only acting as a volunteer upon the expedition. Bait ascended a tall hemlock to re- connoitre the point to which they were approaching^, and where it was' presumed that Brant lay with his followers. * " How many fires do they count T cried De Roop from the root of the tree. '* Fires ? Devil the one!** muttered the scout, in a tone of sullen surprise and chasrin. " A fool's er- irand weVe come upon. TheyVe shut themselves up in a block-house and stockade upon the banks 01 the river, and our niflht*s bizness is done for." *' Can we not decoy them from their* defences V* t^ked Greyslaer, anxiously ; " it would be madness to assault their palisades without artillery, arid it would be folly to wait until cannon can be trans- pcoted through woods like these we have traversed to-night." " £asy enough to get some of the critters out, •ad pepper 'em for the fun of it," said Bait ; ** but that wouldn't help us in retaking Miss Alida. By the etamal thunder ! but there's some of the var- mint now, pushing off in a canoe to gig trout or examine a nsh-wier, I don't know which ; but I see by the light of the pine knots in the bow that they push along mighty slow, as if looking for some- uiing at the bottom of the stream. I have it, I have it, capting ; I have it, squire ;" and, as if some rare device had struck him on the instant. Bait straight- way descended the tree. " We can captivate those chaps complete, I tell ye, if they only move a Uttle lurtlier down stream, where yon woody mound ■boulders the current. I know the ground here all to pieces. Those maples, whose round tops are just now slicked up by the moon, cover a thick un- der|rowth that wUl conceal us in creeping along J >m A ROMAHOJi OF THB MOHAWK. 115 the shore, and we can cut off the Injans (roiA the fort as soon as they turn the pint." " Ay, but how do you know they will turn the point r said Greyslaer, who, standing upon a rock round which ^e runnel gurgled, looked down the defile through which it travelled to the river, and caught a glimpse of the moonlit landscape beldw» ** Leave that to me, if chance don't fix it,** re- plied the woodsman ; '* and now, Squire Dirk, as you command here to-night, jist let old Bait oider the position of all of us before we move farther.** <* If you know the ground, as you say you do. Bait, yovL ure the proper person to guide us in our operations. I give you full poweir to act, if you will only secure me a chance of trying my ysger upon the miscreants.** ** Well, well, that shall be cared for, only don*t bjB too headysome, or you*ll spile all. I want to take the Redskins alive, and get some tidings about Miss Alida ; and, if one be. a chief, we may ex- change him. We must divide into three parties to make sure of our object ; I want five of oi](r stoutest men to creep with me to the water*8 side, to the bend south ot the mound^ where we must secure the canoe-men, if anywhere. You, squire^ must throw yourself, with the strength of the party, to the north side, so as to c^\ off the Injuns trom the fort with your rifles if they escape from our hands and at- tempt to return to it. Captins, I*m sorry I cannot S've you more lively work at the outset ; but, if the ing comes to a nght, you will have a 8odger*8 share of it where I*m going to place you. We must trust to your spunk and headwork in getting us out of the scrape if my plan fails ; and you must take a position, with half a dozen men, where you can see what's going on, and bring us off safely if the worst come to the worst ; and if the fire of Squirt r« 3 i>:: . #|l ^k ,>■ w qi I' li' fii'^" Ifl! i ^y. 116 obbtilisb;^ Dirk's party draws a sally from the fort, we shall see hot work, I tell ye. There's a ledge of bald rock to the left yonder, that puts out from the ridge we are on, about a hundred yards from this. Tlwt cliff commands the whole Talley below, and there is a deer runway leading up from the water-side to its base. That way lies our retreat. A half hour hence the moon will touch the cliff, whose edge is •till in deep shadow from the hemlock thicket that covers it ; so you must gain it at onft, and lie there close as a hunted opossum to a gray loff. If we are pur? .ed, you, capting, know as weU as I do what follows ; we'll — ^ ** You will lure the chase to the base of the rock, initke a detour to my rear, and leave me to deal with the rascals in front. Exactly, Bait ; I compre* hend your plan completely ; and its details are wor- thy of a veteran partisan.'' ** I don't know what sort of a chap that may be ; but if it mean an old bushfighter, there's no man in all Tryon county, not even Red Wolfert himself, but must knock under to old Bait in expajrrience." And, with this harmless ebullition of vanity on tlM part of the woodsman, the council of war was bro- ken up. The party was divided agreeably to his suggestions, and the three bands immediately after- ward separated, and sped with silent haste to their different destinations. Greyslaer, havinc but a short distance to move with his handful of followers, soon gained the position indicated by Bait ; and throw- mg himself upon the ffround, with his feet hanging oyer the rocky ledge, pe cast a thoughtful eye over the sleeping landscape below. The moon was in her last quarter, but the a^ nosphere was so clear that her waning beates Kghted up the scene with a splendour that is rardhr witnessed in other climes. 'The Sacondaga, whicB A BOMANei OV THB MOHAWK. 117 near this region, at the present day, winds through green meadows grazed by a thousand cattle, was, at the time of which we write, thickly wooded along its banks. The luxuriant foliage of primefal forests impended in billowy masses over the de* ▼ious water, which only showed to Tiew in shining intenrals, like the broken links of a sih er chain. A few cleared acres only, around the Indian stock- ade, let the moonlight down more broadly upon the stream, where the burned and blackened stumps stood grimly marshalled along the water's edge, liKe the dwarfish opponents of the ffirdled trees, whoso tall, stark stems, and jagged and yerdureless array, bounded the opposite sides of the clearing. The stockade itself lay a deformed and shapeless mass of logs in the midst of this desolate area ; and the eyes of Greyslaer, as he watched the twioklipg lights which ever and anon revealed the floating canoe upon the river, reverted continually to this sullen den, in which he thought Alida was immured. He imaged to himself the lady of his love as look* ing out with the cheerless spirit of a captive upon the few dreary acres of the Indian clearing, which could alone meet her eye from her forest-walled prison-yard ; he thought of her love of nature and exquisite taste in rural refinement, as seekins vain- ly for solace in that circumscribed, uncouth, and mutilated landscape ; and then he thought — so idly does the mind wander in such a mood — ^he thought, revertinff to the white man*s ** improvements,** char- acterized by similar features to those of the scene before him, he thought whether utility could not in any way work out her ends, by some less unsight- ly and devastating process than the ordinary one of clearing a new country. *' And must the prodigal soul of man, too," said be, mentally, ''must the primal freshness of all •i.^' lit .'■■ !♦ ^i' w 118 omiTiidiaB things earthly be thus wtttefally conrerted to theif finafendi ? Muit the toil of ?irgin natore ho thus encambered with the wreck of its beauty, thus en- riched with its own blasted luxuriance, turning again to earth, ere it gather strenjrth to bear things that are truly precious ? Must &e wild heart of youth, redolent of hope and high affections, moring with each generous impulse like this plumy forest to the breeie, must it also give up its first noble, naUDral growth of feelings, and become barren and desolate, like yon blackened clearing, before, like that, it can bear fruits fit for the best purposes of soeial beinff ? * • * The wild Indian, too l Is he aulsjject to the same mysterious law. or has Natme a different dispensation for her own immediate chil* dren? Doth age alone ripen his mind, and l^ gradual and kindly means steal from him the pledges of life's morning promise, and lead him to an inri- ting graTO with youth, all glorious, eternal youth, stiU Rowing beyond its portals ? or doth he too, like us, ffrow old before his time, with faculties quick- ened by suffering and matured by pain 1 Doth he, bewildered by conflicting passions like ours, and misled by stumbling reason, chase the phantom Hope where'er she leads ? or doth rather a narrow but subtle instinct deter him firom^ the Tain pursuit, or guide him with unerring finaer to fruition f* ''But what boots this vain dreaming?" cried he, interrupting himself impatiently, as a doud, at that moment obscuring the moon, snatched the scene which had awakened these reflections from his Tiew. "What matters it that our scheme of ex- istence should be as rain and uncertain as the land- scape that but now glimmered below me, Whdn death, like yon cloud, may come at any moment and <^scure it for eTer!** As the last thought passed through the mind oi *'■ A ROMANCB OV TBB MOHAWK. 119 6reyslaeT» and even before language could hare gifen it shape and utterance, it seemed as if the chilhng image of death had but presented itself as the precursor of the reality. A sharp, stunning blow, that came with such force, alancing along his ribs, as to turn his bod]|r completeljr round, drew a sudden exclamation of pain and surprise from him. " Hah ! God of Hea?en, what's that !*' he cried, clapping his hand to the wound as he rolled over upon the rock, struggling to gain his feet. But the effort was vain, ile oecame dizzy on the moment. He tried to shout to his comrades, but the voice seemed drowned in other sounds. A fearful yell, that rung confusedly in his ears, like the spirit call from an- other world, swallowed up the feeble cry. But still he seemed not dead, for a strange sensation, like that of falling into a fathomless depth, yet called out the exercise of volition. His hands groped about as if clutching at something to hold on oy, and then he lay in utter unconsciousness, with the cdd moonlight streaming on his motionless form. "A ti: :l' rk * 120 CHAPTER XI. THB HVMTnt* AMBUfCADl. ** Anin upon the gniM thej droop, Wnen bunt the well-known whoop on whoop ; And bounding firom the emboeh'd gloom, Like wolves we Mvage warrion eome." Stbiit. Thi plant of the hunter Bait, when he wai per- mitted to arrange the movementa of hia party for the night, were well laid in etery respect saTO one I the omiaaion, on the part of De Rooa and hia foreat connaellor, to keep up a communication with Greyalaer, either by meaaengera or aignala, to be aTaUable in caae they met with any obatacle to the conanmmation of their deaign. The^unfortunate ia- ane of the ambuacade was mainly < attributable to thia OTeTaiffht. " The attempt,'* they aroued, "muat either be fully successful, wnen we shul rejoin our comrades without molestation, or, if we are inter- rupted by a aally from the fort or other untoward occunence, the report of our firearms will soon show Greyslaer how things are going." In guerilla warfare, however, so much often depends upon an inatantaneoua chanse of the mode in which you would effect your design when carrying any glTon piece of stratagie into execution, that the most per- fect concert of action ahould be obsenred if. you would avail yourself of their flexile councils with- out endangermg your brother partisans. The two parties, led severally by Bait and De Rooa, gaining the bottom of the hill upon which I » A BOIIAHOI OV THI MORAWX. lit they hid left the ilUitarred GrejiUor, itpented near the bate of the promontory oefore deacribed, and betook tbemaelfea to iheir appointed atationa. De Rooa poated himielf, with hia men, in a iwamp that fringed a little bay a few hundred yarda below the Indian atockade, from which it waa di? ided by the river, which waa here about a rifle-ahot in breadth. The promontory extended out into the Btream upon hia right, aiid the canoe, which waa the object of attack, waa just tumins thia headland u he reached hia poaition, and miffht be aaid to be thua already cut off from the fort haid he dared to fire upon her. But Bait, who gained the ahore, amid taifgled finea and thicketa of elder, upon the lower aide of the promontory, awaited there hia opportunity to aeize the fishermen in a more peaceable manner. Placing hia followers in a copae near the mouth of the brook already mentioned, he proceeded cao- tioualy to a clump of cheatnuta near, and aelecting one fit for hiapurpoae, he cut off a atick about two feet in length from a green sapling, and, after rollinff it between his palma for a few momenta, aucceeded in drawing out the woody part from ita berk caaina, forming wua from the latter a hollow tube, whidi might answer the purpose of a apeaking-trumpet. Placinff one end of thia to his mouth, and benoing hia body so aa to bring the other within an inch m the ground, and partly to amother the aound he in- tended to produce from the instrument, he drew from it a deep diacordant noise, not unlike the die* tant roaring ot a bull. The call almost immediately brought a reply, both from the hill-side and from the water. From the hills it came back in a wild bel* lowing, that waa evidently that of a real animal an* awering a beaat of its own kind. Upon the water it was replied toby the Indiana, who, equally deceived by aounda that seemed to indicate their vicimty to « Vol. L— L I" r ^i f *r 122 OBBT8LABR : m moose'cleer buck, or bull moose as our hunters call it, attempted, by putting their closed fists to their mouths, to mimic the cry and lure the animal to the water-side, where the torches in the bow of the ihallop would enable them to fix the buck at gaze, and to approach sufficiently near to destroy him with their fishing-spears. Guiding their birchen vessel now into an eddy of the stream by a scarcely perceptible motion of the paddle, they approached with care the spot where Bait and his comrades lay. But the next moment, exchanging some words with each other in a low tone, which made them inaudible to those on shore, the steersman gave a fiirt of his paddle, and the light bark swung round again to the centre of the stream. Here the Indians paused, as if lis- tening intently; and the wary Bait, fearing, now that their attention was fully awakened, to repeat the same lure, which might fail to deceive them when •o near, resorted to another less easy of detection. He took a cup from his hunting-pouch, and, stoop- ing down to the brook, dipped up the water and let it fall again into the current, to imitate the plashing footsteps of an animal stalking along the bed of the itream. The Indians had drawn out toward the channel of the river, in order to give the supposed moose a wide berth between themselves and the «hore, where, as he waded out to lave his flanks, ac- cording to the custom of the animal at this season, they would hold him to advantage in the deep wa- ter. But as the plashing sounds which they had just heard grew fainter, as if the moose were reti- ring from the river side, they abandoned this expec- tation, and, mimicking his bellowing cry once more, they gave the canoe a direction toward the cove, and glided silently into the mouth of the brook. Their glaring torches shone double upoti its shallow A ROMANCB OV THB MOBAWK. 128 ,#-.■'■•■ ^1 and pebbly bottom, and lighted up the overhanging thicket with a ruddy glare. ** Captur, but slay not !" cried Bait, leaping into the frail shallop with a force that drove his feet through the flimsy bottom and anchored it to the spot, at the same moment that an Indian in the bpw was vainly attempting, with his long spear, to push back into the parent stream. A blow from the hatch- et of the woodsman snapped the shaft, leavins the barbed end quivering in the bank, and the other a harmless weapon in the hands of the Indian, who was instantly secured by his opponent. Not so^ however, with his two comrades ; one of those, who held the steering-paddle, threw himself backward over the stern, floundered with mad desperation through the shallow water, and, diving like a duck the moment he attained that deep enough for swim- ming, struck out for the opposite side of the river, which he gained in safety. The remaining Indian was not less successful in his attempt to escape. This man, a warrior of powerful frame and great prowess, deeming himself surrounded, leaped Irom the canoe at the first alarm, and charged into the midst of his enemies ; grasping his fishing-spear by the middle, so as, at the same time, to protect hii person and prevent the long shaft from becoming entangled in the underwood, he levelled a yeoman with a blow from either end at the first onset, and, seizing a rifle from one of the men as they fell, bounded ofl", unharmed, into the forest. " Old Josey himself, by the Etarnal ! there's no Injun breathing but he could have done that," cried Bait ; " we have let the head-devil of them all, boys, slip throuffh our fingers, and we shall have the hull kennel of Hell-hounds let loose upon us in an instant. We must lose no time in crossing from these parts, or our scalps will fly oS like thistle-down ; we must ^f^. <. '14 ■4l! I ■ -^0 •>: M IM OBn-SLABR; I! i:? ' make a divanioD, too, or we'll loae our prisoner." And, binding the hands of bis only captive with ft lendril of grapOTine, the hunter hastily consigned him to the care of his comrades, and told them to more down along the banks of the riyer as rapidly as pos- ■ible, without attempting to regain ihe place first designated as a rendezvous. With these hurried directions, Bait sprang forward to give in person the necessary wamine to De Roos, whom he met mid* way, hurryinff witn his men to join him. '* Turn, But, turn, or the dogs will be on our trail in a moment; Fve seen a dripping savage emer|^ like a musquash from toe water on the opposite iide, where a dozen canoes are drawn up before the •tation, and we must put the rapids between them And our party as quickly as possible.'* " Whatj risk our only prisoner, squire ? when I've jent my men that way with liim, hoping that we eeukl lead off the pursuit toward the cliff, wlieie the capting awaits us." '* It will never do," said De Roos, still keeping his party in motion ; " Greyslaer will get sufficient mrarning to retire in time, seeing the movements •round the fort ; and as for our joining him, it is too late. My men have already seen one armed Indian •kulkin^ between them and the hill, and we may be at this moment surrounded by a hundred." As these words passed hurriedly between the commander of the expedition and his unlucky adv^ ser, Bait, who had for the moment allowed his course to be turned, and hin^self borne along with the rapid march of his comrades, stopped short, exclaiming, " On, then ; on. Squire Dirk ; you may have chan- fed our plans for the better, and the capting, may- ap, would consider your retreat sodger-like, seeing so many lives are at stake ; but I cannot leave him A ROM AN^B OF THB MOHAWK. 125 .r:, : to take his chance of first hearing of it from the In- juns thennselves.'* With these words, only the first of which were heard by De Roos, Bah broke away from his com- rades, and ran back until he reached the brook which the retreating party had crossed a few moments be- fore ; turning then, and following up its current as the readiest highway that offered, amid the heavy forests through whose glooms its course occasion- ally made an opening toward the moonlit sky. " Tarnal crittur ! she's hid her vixen face, he ex- claimed, as, looking upward through one of these openings, he saw that the planet was obscured. "Shine out, old lily-white, shine out, for shame, upon the Redskins, or they'll cross the river and be upon the captine afore I can stir his kiver." The prayer of the woodsman was quickly answer- ed. The moon, indeed, shone out but too soon, for the ^harp crack of a rifle, followed by the war- whoop, and answered by a brief and irregular dis- charge of firearms, showed that her reappearance, instead of being the harbinger of safety, had been but the signal for onslaught. Rushing forward, the hunter gained the top of the hilly ridge whereon he had left Greyslaer, and was moving with hasty but cautious steps toward the shelf of rocks where that luckless officer had taken post with his party. '*The capting, the capting, what have ye done with the capting ?" cried Bah, as he met Greyslaer's men in full flight from the spot. ** Run, Bait ; for your life, run ; it is all up with Captain Max ! a rifle from the woods, below the cliff, picked him off the very moment the moon got hiffh enough to bringhis body out of shadow. The woods are alive with Redskins, and our legs must save us now if we would live to avenge him.'' An incessant whooping, that each moment came L2 .^mn ■■a f; » 126 OKBT8LAXX : IliUlrtil dii iiii lliiil' 'Vifi: nearer and nearer, seemed to proTe the truth of what the man said ; and with a light heel but a heafr heart, the sorrowing woodsman turned and fled with the rest; muttering imprecations on himself the while for having left for a moment, amid such scenes, his commander, friend, and protege. De Roos, in the mean time, hurrying along with his prisoner, followed the course of the Sacondaga, which here runs in a northeast direction for a few miles, and then, leaving it abruptly, struck due south, making for the nearest settlements upon the Mo- hawk. The approach of morning found his party in the neighbourhood of Gal way ; and crossing the highway, or trail as it might rather be called at that day, between Saratoga and Johnstown, he made a sweep to the south of the latter place, and, striking due west, passed Stone Arabia, famous afterward for the gallant fight and subsequent slaughter of the brave Colonel Brown and his regiment, reached the Mohawk at Keeder's Rifts, equally noted in the border-story of after years. The retreat, consider- ing that De Roos had not only to escape from his , Indian foes in the first instance, but that he carried lys prisoner throush a district, the great portion of whose scattered inhabitants were as yet either luke- warm patriots or zealous adherents of the Johnson IMirty, was creditable to his address as a partisan. Worn down with fatigue and long watching. Derrick and his companions were rejoiced to fiml shelter and refreshment in the hospitable mansion of Maior Jelles Fonda, a faithful officer and confi- inntial friend of the father of Sir John Johnson, but #ho, having now sided wiih the patriot party, was exposed to the vengeance of the royalists. Which was afterward so terribly wreaked upon his house- hold by the devastating hand of Ihe tteni and inex.-^ fliable ton of his ih«Bd» A. BOMAlfOB OF TOM MOHAWK. 127 The Mohawk captive, during the route, had borne himself with dogged indifference to his fate, obsti- nately refusing to answer any of the questions with which De Roos, who spoke his language, plied him, whenever occasion offered, during a brief halt of his party. Refreshments were now placed before him, but he refused to partake of them, replyir^g only to the repeated invitations of his captors by glancing, with a look of mute indignation, from their faces to the bonds by which his right arm was still pinioned, the left having been temporarily released to enable him to feed himself. This silent appeal, however, produced no effect upon his wary captors. '* If the scoundrel is too proud to help, himself with one hand, let us see if fasting woVt bring hu- mility with it,** said one. " The cunning cat ! he only wants to get his claws free to use Uiem,** cried another ; " but he can*t come the mouser over us with his mock dignity.** De Roos, who had been looking at the accommo- dations of hia party for the night, at this moment entered the room, and ordered a guard of three men to repair with the prisoner to the kitchen, which was assigned them as their quarters. He at the same time handed the Indian a blanket, wherewith one of the females of the family had provided him, and, for the first time since his capture, a gleam of pleas- ure shot athwart the dusky features of the Mohawk as he stretched out his left hand to receive the boon. Indeed, he folded it about his person with as much care as if he took pride as well as comfort in his pew acquisition ; nor bad he completely adjusted its folds to his satisfaction, before a corner of his new mantle had more than once swept the edge of the table, as he brushed along its sides, while making his way out - ed by the soldier, who turned to close the door be- hind the retreating traveller. ** What tink you of dat trabeller-man, massa V* ■aid the old negro, with a knowing look, as soon at he heard the outer door closed after the other. " Think of him ? why I don't think of him at all, Cu£f ; that sleeping hound by the fire is enough for me to trouble myself about, after trampoosing for twenty-four hours on a stretch, with not even a loon's nap at the eend of it.'* '^Trabeller-man hab mighty fine boss, massa! I' ,'*" ■i';'- M t' # 180 OKBTtlULBE I fm I • \ Him look at like ai two peas to de hoti datWolf Vahmeyer bought last week for Maita Bradiihawe» and drew to nere^ mighty like dat same hoss, massa.'' ** Well, what of that ? you don*t take the chap for a horsO'thief, do you ? He's more like some tra?- elling cobbler, that's going his circuit through the settlements." ** He be bery like a cobbler, certing,*' said the complaisant neero ; and then, after musing a few moments, added, ** He be bery like lawyer Wat Bradshawe too, massa." ' I never saw that rip, Cuff, though, if the trarel- ler has heard as much of him as I have, he wouldn't be beholden to you for discovering the likeness." " Lawyer Wat has shaked hands wid de debbil, certmg I" said the negro, shaking his head myste- riously. "Why do you say that. Cuff?" ^ "'Cause he no fear de debbil." " Why, what the devil do you know about him, you old curmudseon V* " Hab not old black Violet told me of his doings long ago, when he was but a boy ? Let Cuff alone to find out de secret ; he know all about Massa Bradshawe, and he know how to keep de secret too." " Now, Cuff," said the soldier, stopping short in the middle of the room, " you see that Injun there ! Well, he's a raal Injun juggler, and, unless you tell me instantly your secret, as you call it,i'll stir up that fellow with the butt end of my rifle, and he shall fill this room with fiery sarpents in a moment." The poor superstitious negro recoiled with hor- ror at this alarming threat. He had all the awe of his race for the red man, who, having never been reduced to subservience by the white, is regard- ed by the docile African partly as a wayward, -pa,^_ — _.. m A ROMANO! OV TBI MOHAWK. 181 wicked, and disobedient child, who refaMi to b« guided by those who have a natural riffht to author- ity, and partly as a hybrid, heathenish mortal, in Whose paternity the devil has so lar^e a share that the Indian is unfitted to take a part in the ordinary lot of nnankind. " Why you see, massa," said he, beginning at once, vvith trennbling lips, to tell his story, ''itwas when old, Dinah, the black witch, that perhaps you have heerd tell on, was living. She used some- times, of a winter's night, to be let in at de house of Massa Walter's papa, where she slept by de kitch- en fire, but always went up de chimbley on a broom- stick before de morning. Violet herself say — and Violet live at de house for many years^-Violet say she often let Dinah in, but she nebber in her lite see her go out, 'cept one morning, and den she went out a corpse ; and she die wid pains and aches, oh horrible ! so Violet say — " "The devil take Violet; out with your story; what had Wat Bradshawe to do with the business V* cried the impatient soldier, thinking matter might be forthcoming horn this kitchen gossip that would reward him by adding something worth repeating to the many strange stories that were told of Brad- shawe throughout the country. <"What Massa Walter do?" exclaimed the ne- gro, lowering his voice; "why, who but he dat kill de old woman ! Massa Wat, he watch Dinah go up de chimbley, he see dat de black witch al? ways slip off her skin, and hang it up behind de pantry-door before she go up. So he watch him chance, like a mad boy he was ; he go to de dress- er, take de casters, put pepper, mustard, and plenty calt on de skin ; him chuckle, laugh, say * he make de debbil ob de old woman.' Well, de witch come back, slip into her skin, she kick, she holler, she >; '# ■] 0t «»» #' 18t 611 down in fit, and f she die, and dat de end ob MiMV Dinah." » Why— you— tar— nal— old— black— fool !" laid the soldier, with a ludicrously indignant expression of baffled curiosity. " You — ^you — ^you jackass— you. Tve more than a mind to stir up this Injun juggler, to show what raal deviltry is, Cuff, for ma- lunff, me listen to such heathen stuff as that.*' As the soldier spoke, he advanced so near to the sleeping Mohawk as to strike him ^ with his foot while heedlessly throwing it out to annoy the ap* prehensive negro. He had better h^e alarmed ^ coiled rattlesnake. For a knife, ai deadly as the fanffs of a serpent, was the next moment plunged in his bosom as the captive leaped upon him. A window was thrown wide open by some unseen hand in the same moment The negro stood speech* less with horror ; and, before the slumbering com* rades of the unfortunate sentinel could rouse to avenge him, his scalp was filched from his head by the carving-knife which the Indian had secured beneath his blanket while brushing past the supper* table. He shook his gory trophy m the affrighted eves of his half-awakened foemen, and bounded like a deer through the window. In the morning there were no traces to be found either of the young savage or the auspicious-look* ing itinerant. "li 1 rr n A mOMANOB or Tn MOHAWK. 183 CHAPTER XII. THB IjKtlkS LIBOH. " Thus •nor*! monatrovt shapM from earth w drivMi ; "* ' Thvf fiide, th«nr fly— -bat troth mrmM their flight ; Earth haa no ahades te qneneh that beam of hoaren ; Eaeh raj that ahone, ia early time, to light The faltering footatepa in the path of rignt, Eaeh gleam of clearer brightneaa, ahed to aid Kb man'e matorer day hia holder aijiht, All blended, Uke the rainbow'a radiant braid, Pour yet, and atill ahall pour, the blase that cannot fiide." Bbtamv. Thi wound of Oreytlaer had been given pre- cisely in the manner described by the panic*straok fugitiTO, though both he and De Roos were mista« ken in thinkins that their party was surrounded. A larse body 6f Indians had indeed crossed the rtrer, under the shelter of the cape or headland, during the few moments that the moon was obscured ; but this was after De Roos was in full retreat : and the ** skulkioff savage" who had so alarmed his follow- #rs, as well as the sharpshooter who had subsequent- ly picked oft Greyslaer, and struck a panic into his party in turn, was no other than the single despe- rado who had so gallantly achieved his escape firom the canoe. This formiaable warrior — ^for, as Bait surmised, it was no other than ** old Josey," or Thayendanagea himself — was aided by fortune, not less than by his own address, in escaping the per- ils of the night. Foiling by his prowess the am- bushed foes that attempted to seize him, he had, in the first instance, after breaking from their hands, struck directly across the neck of the promontory Vol. I.— M 'mti I li' 184 ORBTf LABB ; u the Bhoneit way to the itation. He had nearly gained the little bay on this aide, where he would take the water to iwim to the opposite shore, when, discorering the position of De Roos*s band by hearing some of the outlyers whisperinjir together, be made a detour to turn their flanx. The gleam of his rifle s^n after betrayed his ticinity to them, as was indicated by a movement of alarm among them ; and, perceiTing that he was obsenred, he widened his circuit by striking inland toward the hill. This route brought him immediately be- neath the projecting ledge whereon Greyslaer was reclining. Deeming himself now surrounded by foes, the .chieftain thought that it only remained for him to fight his way through them as oest he might ; and when the moon, after beinff a few momenta obscured by a cloud, shone out, oringing the form of Greyslaer above him in clear relief against the sky, Brant discharged his piece and raised the war-whoop. His fire was returned with a volley from the bushes, where the whites lay within a few yards of their officer ; but their shot were thrown away, for the darkness that reined below the cliff prevented them from taking aim at their unseen assailant. The single war-whoop of Brant was the next moment echoed back by a tumultuous yell from the nearer side of the river, and the dismayed borderers, hearing no order from their insensible leader, concluded that he was slain^ and sought their own safety in instant flight. The darkness of the woods rendered pursuit in- effectual. The forest rung for a while with the im- patient yells of an Indian chase, and then, before an hour had passed away, the lonely whoop of some solitary savage, hailing nis comrades after a reluc- tant and disappointed return, was all that met the ear These last sounds, had Greyslaer had suffi- 1'^' "iiiii Is A BOMAMOI Of nU MOHAWK. 136 cient coniciouineii to comprehend them, would have told him of the ••Cety of hii friendi, howerer precarious might be ki$ own. The wounded offi- cer, upon reviving from hia awoon, found himaelf Btretched upon a pile of akina in an Indian wigwam, with a noble-Ioolin^ Mohawk, a man of majeatic figure and commanding aapect, atanding near, with eyea bent keenly upon hia own. Greyalaer made a movement aa if to lift one of hia handa, and was about to apeak, but the Medicine-man — for auch the Indian seemed by the taliaman which he wore around hia neck, aa well aa other emblema and equipmenta of the aboriginal leech, or conjuror*! trade, that marked hia appearance — motioned the youth to remain ailent ana ^uiet. The aage then, baring the wound by atrippmg off aome moss or lichen with which the blood had been temporarily atanched, proceeded to dress it. This he did, witn the assistance of a withered old squaw, who stood by, holding the Tarious preparations in her hands, while ever and anon she bowed reverently to the muttered charm of the operator. When this part of his medical treatment was carefully completed, the magician administered a draught with the same sol- emn and superstitious ceremonial ; and his patient soon after stept. The slumbers of Greyslaer must have been long and refreshing, for he found himself so much re- vived upon awaking as to feel a disposition to rise. But upon the first indication of sucn an intention, his ears were saluted by a shrill and discordant cry from the old squaw, who sat crouched among the ashes, watching a brazen kettle, into which from time to time she cast certain roots and herbs, mut- tering some gibberish to herself the while. Her call was answered from without by a gruff " umph,** as of some voice chiding her shrewish ury ; anid 1^ 'nmOSr' 136 oKBTUjun; 1 iii'ii pi; straightway the mat which formed the only door of the lodge was raised, and the beoignant features of the Medicine-man were seen at the entrance. He advanced to the conch of Grejrslaer, and placing his hand upon the fcreliead of his patient, wnile he gazed upon him thoughtfully for some moments, seamed to be at length thoroughly satisfied with the results of his treatment thus far, for straightway he began to iengage him in conrersation, speaking English at the same time with an ease and fluency that astonished the soldier-student. " The Spirit hath not yet need of thee in an- other land, young man. Hx leaTes thee here yet a while, to repent of thy wickedness in aiding to drive his red children from their country.** " /drive them ? I love the Indians !** said Greys- laer, with spirit. " It is only those who make themselves tne slaves of a foreign king, to aid in enchaining my countrymen. It is only the murder^* ous Brant and his renegade crew upon whom I would mako war.** ** Darest thou, young man^ speak thus of the great Thayendanageta ? and yet it fits thy presumptuous years to pass in judgment upon the aeeds oi a sa- chem who hath sat in council with the wisest of thy race.** • " The great Thayendanagea !** scornfully repeat- ed Maz. "A presumptuous half-breed! whrse deini-barbarous vanity has been tickled by sharing in the mummery of European courts. A degen- erate hound, that hfts exchanffed the noble instincts of his forest training, for the dainty tricks of a par- lour-bred spaniel. He sit in council ! the poor tool of prof .'gate Tory partisans, who will use him to enslave his people when they hare destroyed mine." The eyes of the Medicine-man shot fire as Greyslacr, feverish perhaps from his wound, spoke ▲ ROXANOB OF THS MOHAWK 87 thus intemperately of Brant, whose doubtful Indian origin did not commend him to the romantic stu- dent, and whose clerkly employment as secretary of Guy Johnson had not raised him in the eyes of the aspiring youn^ soldier ; while recent events made Max regard him as a crafty, cruel, semi-civilized barbarian, who brought the name of " Mohawk** into abhorrence and contempt. Greyslaer had his eyes fixed upon the rafters above him while thus warmljiland disdainfully inveighing against the cap- tor of Aiida, and he did not, therefore, observe toe agitated movement with which the Medicine-man carried his hand to the knife which he wore in his ffirdle, though, from the excitement under which he spoke, it is doubtful if even such observation would have restrained his heated expressions. The magician took two or three turns through the narrow apartment before he trusted himself to reply, which he did at last with calmness and dig- nity. "Young man, you speak falsely, though proba- bly unknowingly, in calling Joseph Brant a half- breed ; and, were you not intrusted by him to my care, you should die on this ground for so vile a slander. Thayendanagea is a Mohawk of the full blood. And it any gainsay this truth, Brant, much as he holds your European usages to scorn, will — I take it upon myself to say — meet any rebel officer of his own rank in private quarrel, after the foolish fashion of the whites. For the rest — *^ and here a strange and undefinable expression of emotion passed over the swarthy features of the speaker, who seemed to hesitkte for words to express his mingled feelings — " for the rest, the Sachem would, I know, forgive you for the love you seem to bear his race ; and it may be true that he has done ill in linking the fortunes of his tribe with XhOBO of M2 m %■• ? ■»,* 138 aSBTSLABK ; l' ' lli I ',' ';h either party of the whites. The canion birds might have quarrelled over the carcass, but the eagle should never have stooped to share their wrangling, if he would soar with untainted plumage.** ** Your tribesmen, noble Mohawk, if indeed you be an Indian,** answered Greyslaer, touched by the proud yet feeling tone with which the last words w«re uttered, " your red brethren had indeed better keep aloof from us, alike in war or in peace, for Ihey seem to acquire only the worst attHiutes of civilized life by attempting to mingle with us as one people : and their share in this struggle must'—" " Ay, you speak well, young man,^ interrupted the Indian, now wholly thrown off his dignified reserve of manner by what appeared to be a theme of great excitement with him ; " if your vaunted civilization be not all a fraud, your perverted learn- ing but a shallow substitute for the wisdom of the heart, your so-called social virtues but a loose cov- ering for guile, like the frail thatch of leaves that hides the traps of an Indian hunter ; if your reli- gion be not a bitter satire upon the lives of all of ye ; if, in a word, all your conflicting teachings and practices be indeed reconcilable to Truth and pleasing to The Spirit, then hath he created Trutk of as many colours as he hath man ; and his red children should still rest content with the simple system Which alone their hearts are 'fitted to un- derstand.** Greyslaer was precisely at that age when most men of an imaginative cast of mind mistake musing for philosophiiing, sentiment for reliffion ; and with that ready confidence in the result of one's own re- flections and mental experience which is the darling prerogative of youth and immaturity of thought, he did not hesitate to assume the attitude of a teacher in reply to the last remark of the Indian. ** Troth, * A ROMANCB Or THE MOHAWK. 139 noble Mohawk, hath ever been, will ever be iht tame. But the truths of the other world, as well as of this, are often wrapped in mystery. God has, in two dispensations of light from above, revealed to mortals so much of his holy truth as the human mind was fitted to receive. ** The first revelation was like a dawn in the for- est, wlvBre the young day shoots its horizontal rays beneath the dusky canopy of tree-tops, and, glancine between the columned trunks, streams upon the path of the benighted wanderer of the wilderness. That matin-light — those holy rays of the virsin mom of true reliffion — I am willing to believe, iUumined the lake-girdled mountains of the Iroquois hunter as well as the cedar-crowned hills of the Hebrew shepherd. It shone alike, perhaps, upon the path- way of either, if indeed they were not one and the same people. But the realm of glory to which that pathway led ; the snares that beset it ; the solace and refreshment that lay within reach of the travel- ler, alternating his perils, theso it required a second revelation to bring to light ; when the sun of rights eousness, fairly uprisen, should throw the blaze of noontide into that forest, revealing now, in stem reality, its yawning caverns, its precipices and pit- falls ; now touching with mellow beauty its mossy resting-places, or sparkling with cheerful radiance upon its refreshing waysiae-waters ; and now ba- thing with glorious effulgence the region beyond the wilderness, where lay the final rest and reward of the wanderer. The cood men of my race, there- fore, preach not a new Truth to the Indian! they seek but to share with him that broader light which has been vouchsafed to us regarding the same one Eternal Truth.** The Mohawk listened with an air of deep re- ipect to the earnest language of the youth, but hit i If,;-:/ JttL mm' 140 GRET8LABS ; ' '" '1| mt |!| ,| mn own feelings and prejudices were too deeply exci- ted to permit the discussion long to preserve the abstract character which Greyslaer attempted to give it. "I spoke not against the truths of Christiani- ty," said he ; " for they may have their sanctuary as well in the desert an(i the forest as in the city ; I spoke not, I say, of the pure light of Christianity, which your mobbled faith no more resembles than ao the stamed and distorted rays that struggle throuffh a 'dungeon's window resemble the beams of the noontide sun. The holy teachings of your Master come to us like those unwholesome airs which, traTolling out pure and invigorating from the skies, are polluted and made pestiferous by traversing some noxious marsh before they reach the unfortu- nate mortal who is doomed to breathe them. It is Jrour vaunted social system from which I recoil with oathing. Your so-called civilization is, in its Tery essence, a tyrant and enthraller of the soul ; it mer- ges the individual in the mass, and moulds him to the purposes, not of God, but of a community of men. It follows the guidance of true religion so far only as that ministers to its own ends, and then it turns and fashions anew its belief from time to time, to suit the * improved' mechanism of its artifi- cial system. In crowded Europe the evil is irre- mediable ; for man the machine occupies less rooiii than man the herdsman or hunter ; but your mode of existence is not less a curse to ye — the white man's curse, which, he would fain share with his red brother ! But have I not seen how it works amongr you ? Have I not been to your palaces and your churches, and seen there a deformed piece of earth assume airs that become none but the great Spirit above ? Have I not been to your prisons, and seen the wretched debtor peering through the bars ? You i^^ m ▲ KOMAHCK or TBM MOHAWK. 141 call the Indian nations cruel ! Yet liberty to a ra* tional creature as much exceeds property in value as does the light of the sun that of the smallest twinkling star ! But you put them on a level, to the everlasting disgrace of human nature. I have seen the white captive writhins at the Indian stake, and rendinff the air with shrieks of agony ; strange that the unhappy man did not endeavour, by his for- titude, to atone m some de^ee for the crimes com- mitted durinff the life thus justly shortened. I have witnessed all the hideouts torments Uiat you ascribe to such a death, and yet I had rather die by the most severe tortures ever inflicted by the Indian than lan|[uish in one of your prisons a single year! Great Spirit of the Univorse ! and do you call your- selves christians 1 Does the religion of him you call your Saviour inspire this spirit and lead to these practices V** Greyslaer, who listened with curious attention to this strange harangue, as coming from the lips of an Indian, was completely bewildered by the fluency and energy with which the magician delivered hif tirade, and he scrutinized his features and complex- ion, as if expecting to discover the lineaments of some disguised renecado white, who, with talents fitted for a better sphere, had, induced by caprice or compelled by crime, banished himself from so* ciety, and assumed the character of one of the abo- rigines. But the natural and easy manner in which the object of his suspicions turned the next moment and addressed the Indian woman in her own lan- guage, not less than the veneration with which the * The crude sentiments of this '* Medicine>man," as thus spo* ken, seem, by some coincidence or other, to have been afterward partially repeated by Thayendanagea, and in nearly similar words, m a letter to a correspondent of the chieftain.— Viae Stone'M lUf* 0/ JBranf, toI. ii., p. 481. m. V'f}- II '^ ^ :;i li ii mM ill! m 142 ORBTSLABR ; squaw received his behests, dispelled the idea, while little opportunity was given him for making a more minute examination. The Medicine-man, smiling blandly, as if he read what was passing in the mind of his patient, approached to his side, and telling him that he was now about to consiffn him to the care of others, asked Greyslaer, as the only return expected for any service he might have rendered him, 10 curb his tongue hereafter in speaking of Jo- seph Brant ! Before the patriot officer could reply, the magi- cian had turned upon his heel and gained the door ; but, as if struck with an after thought, he instantly returned, and, ere Greyslaer was aware of his inten- tion, he had bared his arm to the shoulder, produced a stained flint from his pouch, and jranded an un- couth device, that made the skin smart with pain as the blood oozed through. " He who loves the Red-man ma^ die by rifle or tomahawk, but he will never be disgraced by the scalping-knife or tortured at the stake if he snows this mark to the followers of Thayendanagea !'' And, before Greyslaer could find language to ex- press his astonishment, either at the act or the words which accompanied it, he was alone with the old woman, who busied herself in reverentially picking up and putting away the mumming tools of his pro- fession which the pseudo magician had flung upon the ground as he disappeared through the door, A ROMANCE OF THE MOUAWK. 143 CHAPTER XIII. THE SQUAW CAMP. " A swampy lair, walled round with sullen hills, "Whose jagged rocks upheaved their splintered crests, Frowning above the fray of wrestling limbs below ; A wild morass, whose tangled thickets hid The blessed sunshine from its oozy pools. Save where some grassy tussock, cincturml by a rilli O'er which the fragrant birch and spicewood drooped, Let down the quivering light upon its floor." MS. Poenu. The above lines describei not inaptly, the scene to which the wounded prisoner had been carried for safety and seclusion. The lodge in which Greys- laer lay helpless upon the bed of pain, stood, among several others in the wilderness, remote from the station where the warriors of the Mohawks were collected ; and, from the pleasant murmur of female voices, and cheering call of children at play» which met his ear when returning strength enabled the wounded officer to be more observant of things around him, he soon became aware that his present domicil must be none other than the " Squaw Camp** of Thayendanagea ; a lonely fastness where, in time of war, the women and children of his tribe were sequestered for safety. !Eager to catch ai anything to vary the monotony of slow convalescence, and prompted by that thirst for sunshine and the breeze which gives such a yearning to the sick man's spirit, Greyslaer would fain have expressed his desire to be lifted out in front of the lodge. But, ianorant of the Mohawk language, he found somo difficulty in making the -^ A ^Im V 144 ORBTILABR \ m^ <'w :;1 m old squaw, who, as his only nurse, affected to reg- ulate all his movements, understand his wishes. Her consent to the step, however, was obtained without any great difficulty, and she transported the invalid beyond the porch by dragging his pallet of skins, with the patient upon it, to the outside of the wig- wam. A rivulet, bounded upon the opposite side by a wall of vines and briers, which in their turn were overhung by tall aspens, intermineled with the swamp-ash and dusky tamarack, rippled against the mossy bank whereon he lay, and hid its wanderings in mazy thickets beyond. The hammock whereon the cluster of wigwams which formed the camp had been raised, seemed to afford the only spot firm enough for such a purpose amid the spongy and quaking morass that spread around on every side. And this grassy esplanade was so limited in extent, that a clump of witch-elms growing in the centre cast their drooping branches nearly to the middle of the stream that bathed the wild flowers on its edges. Beneath one of these trees was collected a group that instantly arrested the earnest gaze of the cap- tive officer. A merry crew of children, which seem- ed to have been confided to her care, were playing with a larffe, solemn hound that reposed at the feet of a slim Indian girl. The girl, leaning against Uie tree, with one pretty foot upraised upon its strag- gling roots, sat weaving a baldric of silk and wam- pum, whose gaudy strings lay partly on the green god beside her, ana were partly neld in long beaded cords by a noble-looking woman that stood behind her, pl^uUy twining the gay tassels in the raven locks of her companion. The face of the larger and more commanding maiden was averted from his gaze when her person first caught the eye of Greys- ler; but her snowy hand, resting for a moment A A BOMANOB OF THB MOHAWK. 145 upon the nut-brown neck of the Indian girl, Buffi* ciently revealed to him the neighbourhood of one of w hid own race and colour; perhaps a country woman ; perhaps, indeed — he could scarcely repress a cry of joy at the thought of the bare possibility — perhapi Alida ! The proud and commandin|; mien — ^proud, even though something mournful in her air was blended with the half sportive act in which she was engaged — was surely that of Alida. The same de- jection or listlessness of manner, call it which you will, it was true, might characterize any female cap- tive so situated ; but the scenes which Miss De Roos had recently passed through would best mark her as the victim of present melancholy. So Greyslaer thought, and his suriinises were al- most ripened to a certainty when he looked again at the hound. He thought he beheld in him the cause of an outcry which had been more than once raised near bis cabin, as the shrewish squaw beat off a dog that from day to day persisted in thrusting his nose under the blanket which formed the door, and smelling round as if in search of an acquaint- ance. The invalid had himself noticed the intni- sion as pertinacious, but believed the offender to be merely one of the wolfish mongrels that bang round an Indian camp. It was like recognising an old friend to discover his mistake. " Brom !** he called, in a low voice ; the hound raised his ears, ** Brom !" he repeated, in the same suppressed tone. The dog shook off the urchins that beleaguered him as he sprang to his feet and looked anxiously around. '* Brom, my poor fellow !** said Greyslaer, somewhat louder, and tne hound bounded upon him, devouring him with caresses. " Down, sir, dovm,** he cried, extricating himself with difficulty from this overpowering outbreak of affection, and turning to look lor the fair mistress of Vol. I.— N ■.* 146 ORBYS&AER ; jl ^l!l ill the animal. But Alida, if it were indeed she, had # disappeared on the instant ; and Ae Indian girl, col- lecting her work together, was preparing to follow her companion. The wounded Greyslaer, whose situation pre- vented his moving, was filled with grief and vexa- tion when, unheeding every gesture by which he attempted to arrest her attention, the Indian girl also flitted from the spot. He sank back, exhausted with tffitation, upon his couch of skins; and believing almost that his fevered senses had deceived him, turned the nejit moment to look for the dog, to see if he too had been spirited away. The hound had # couched down a few yards o£f, where he sat watch- , ioff his new-found acquaintance. He wagged his tafl, and approaching as he caught an encouraginff look from Greyslaer, proved, by rubbing his cold nose against the hand of his friend, that ne at least was a substantial thing of earth. ** Why, oki Brom, are you still true to your mis- tress's friend, while she mes his presence as if he were an evil spirit ?" The dog looked as if he had every disposition in die world to comprehend what was said to him, but, ^lik« most dogs wno fail in rach endeavour, gave ao Mply. ^But hera comes my tarmaffantmme, md yen most walk aS, ray poor fellow.*^ At the youth spoke he warded off a blow wknii the truculent dame aimed at the hound with a stick mkiidtk she seiied from the ffround* and which Greya- iMr, snatcbiDg from her hand, shook at her in a tbrcateniiig manner, to show his displeasuTe,.i}efore casting it into the stream near him. The worthy fiiom, meanwhile, either understanding the last words which had been addresMd to hiM> or nnwil^ lug to create acandal by eiosing a idbmeitic farofl in h A ROMANO! Off THB MOHAWK. 147 Oreyflaer*! establishment, wisely abstracted himself i 3 fast as his legs could carry him. It is a curious facb) that a well-bred dog, who has been happy in his associations with the polite of our species, will never fly at a woman or child ; and Brom, though he preferrml running to fighting in the present instance, curled his tail so erect upon his retreat, that no suspicion could attach to his valour. Turning round when he had gained a discreet distance from the virago, he paused for a few moments, and looked back upon her with a countenance more in sorrow than in anser before taking up the lazy trot with which he finally disappeared behind a remote wig- wam of the group. The young officer was not at a loss to account for the conduct of the white lady in apparently avoiding him; if she were here a captive like him- self. But, assuning her to be such, he could con- ceive no satisfactory reason for her discouraging every kind of communication botween them. Yet such seemed really to be the case when, a few days after his first transient glimpse of lier person, his eye again encountered her figure, as, with the luxurious laziness of an invalid, he loitered in the cool shade, musing upon his situation. His strength, which had ra{{idly improved within the last few days, enabled him now to move toward the lady ; but the eager cry with which he pronounced the name of " Alida*' warned her of his approach; and its earnest and anxious repeiitidn only added quickness to the speed with which she eluded his pursuit. The dispirited Greyslaer began now to doubt whether or not the fair captive, for such both the dress and complexion proclaimed her to be, were really Miss De Roos. And yet, while it would be equally strange for any other of his countrywomen to practise a similar avoidance, considering the situ- SJ^ i •jif' 146 omaYaLkmn ; irr ation of both partiei, and how much a good undep' itanding between them might tend to facilitate their , mutual escape, the circumitancei under whicVAln "da had been carried off, and the pretence of h^r fa* ▼ourite doff in company with the mysterious maid« en, seemed sufficiently to prove that the white lady could be no other than Miss De Roos. Another suspicion which passed through the mind of Greysiaer was hastily dismissed as uti- worthy both of Alida and himself, considering the perils which he had encountered to restore her to ner friends. It was, that the coldness with which she had ever frowned upon his boyish suit actuated her conduct in their present situation. ** She is un- willing," said he, bitterly, " to receive succour at my hands. Nay, she is indifferent to the disaster which has overtaken me in attemptinff to rescue her ; and regardless, perhaps, as to what may be my fate as a wounded prisoner in the hands of these savages ;. and yet she lacks not humanity ! Surely, am f less than naught to her V* We have said that Greysher repelled these un- worthy suspicions, and so he did, mdignant that a thouffht demeaning to his mistress should have found a place in his mind, much less ^^haped itself into words. He repelled it, but in vain, for the same ungenerous thought recuned again and again,, with witheung effect upon his already depressed spirits. Alas ! what a blight does that thought bring over a young, ardent, ingenuous mind ! The thought that it hath lavished its wealth of loving upon one who not only can make no return, but who cares not, recks not how prodiffally the treasures of the heart may be wasted ; who regards the most gen- erous sacrifices of disinterested feeling as mere in- cense upon the altar of vanity ; who derides the A SOHAHOB OF THB MOHAWK. 149 idolatry of true affection, and holds the deepeat throes of deroted passion but as idle sallies of youthful extravagance that have no claim upon her sympathy, that can never awaken her gratitude I ouch, hovk .''ver, is too often the recompense of tht misplaced ^fTrxtion that knows not how to conceal or regulate its own overflowings. Ingratitude, however, is not, therefore, the special fault of the sex ! It is human nature, not woman nature, which sets lightly by a homage which hat never been solicited, and which is paid without stint t When that homage is pertinacious and un- seasonable, it becomes irksome and offensive. The attentions of love that we do not reciprocate, how- ever pleasing to our vanity at first, cease to flatter when passion increases to infatuation. The idola- try which springs from too extravagant an appre- ciation of our character or personal qualities, seeme akin either to folly or madness, and we no longer value the good opinion which is the offspring rath- er of a heated fancy than of a judgment which we can respect. But though these chilling laws of reasoning hu- man nature admit of but little mitigation, yet Alida de Roos was of too magnanimous a spirit to apply them in full to one who loved her, if not wisely, yet with all truth and nobleiiess ; and seeing in her youthful admirer all the qualities to awaken a sit- ter's tenderness,, she mourned his infatuation with a sister's sorrow. Love him she thought she never could, even if her heart had not been preoccupied by an emotion that closed it completeljr against such a sentiment. Her haughty ana aspiring mind had hitherto detected no qualities in GreyslaerVi character which could touch it to gentle issues. It was only as the refined but visionary student, the romantic cherisher of vain and speculative dreans4 N2 \0 ISO OKirtLABR m IH such as float around a young enthusiast who knows the world through books alone, that Greyslaer had hitherto appeared to the lady of his love. The pla^ of his polished fancy, the allurements of his culti- rated intellect, had interested her in studying the character of a stripling who, some years her junior, and continually thrown in her society as the most intimate friend of her brother, did, not unnaturally, attract her kindly regard. But while, with less mental acquirement upon her own part, Alida per- haps OTer-estimated that of which Greyslaer could boast, yet her esteem for his talents and accomplish- ments was full as nearly allied to pity as to admira- tion. . She admired the qualities in themselves, but\ she thought that their possessor, in this instance, was deficient in the power to make them useful either to himself or to others. She thouffht the character of Greyslaer was wholly unsuited to the country and the circumstances amid which his lot was cast. He possessed the requisites, among other scenes and other times, to grace a fortune or uphold an honourable name ; but he lacked the stirring qualities to win either by his own exertions. He was, in a word, one whose impracticable, feeble^ or misapplied energies doomed hini to mediocrity IB life; a mediocrity which, by the comfortable respectability that she believed would attend it, gained nothing in the eyes of a woman whom pov- erty or peril would never have prevented from sha* rinr the destiny .of the man she loved. *Twas strange V yet the acute-minded Alida do Roos seemed never to dream that the wild devotion which the student borck her was what absorbed all the salient energies of his soul ; that she was the bond that kept its pinions from mounting ; that> idol- atry for her alone had robbed ambition's shrine of Greyslaer's wortbip ; that love— love only— «Urab^ ▲ SOMAirCS OV THB MOBAWK. 151 sorbing, all-deYouring love, had dalved the grave in which his youth's best proipise was swallowed up ! The bitter reflections of the lonely prisoner were destined to a more early and agreeable relief than he had anticipated. An hour or more had passed away, and Greyslaer still sat beneath the weeping elm, now moodily gazing upon the stream that twinkled through the- bushes near him, and now casting a fierce and impatient glance upon some lounging Indian, an aged or broken-down warrior of the band, who had been left by the chief for the nominal protection of the camp. At last an object of more agreeable interest presented itself in the shape of Brom, the stag-hound; Greyslaer had not seen the dog for some days; and surmising that the friendly animal had been kept out of his sight b}r desiffn, he was at once struck with the peculiarity of nis conduct now, as the hound, in- stead of bounding easerly forward to fawn upon him, exhibited the coolest indifference to the call of his friends The sagacious Brom went wanderinff hither and thither, smelling idly along the ground, and, though gradually coming nearer, making his ap- I>roaches after such a careless fashion, that Greys- aer was in doubt whether the brute knew him or not. He whistled, and again called him by name ; but the dog, raising his head, looked vacantly around him, and then resumed his course, without adding either to the rapidity or directness of his steps. At last, getting withm a few yards of his friend, the worthy Brom appeared to be for the first time aware of his neighbourhood, though not until he had first passed by, and, as it neemta, thrown H chance look over his shoulder, which %auced him to turn and come gravely forward^'fljpot wddiing to cut an old acquaintance by desigjii. 4^^i*®<^ ^^^ ^* the airs** of the dog— for in happier dayHvrey tU«r ■♦ 152 OBBTSIJ^JBB tixU had frequently seen him put on the fame whimsi- caI dignity for less cause than might have giren Brom offence at his last Tisit to the wiffwam — the young man took the head of the houmiin his lap and patted it kindly. Brom only acknowledged the caress by rubbing his head agamst the knees of his friend, as if his collar were too tight for him; and, placinff his hand under the clasp to loosen it, Greyslaer felt beneath it a scroll of Dirchen bark, whose smooth and flexible texture allows it to be written upon and folded like paper. Agitated with joy at the discovery, the surprise of the youth did not, howeyer, prevent him from instantly concealing the missive in his dress ; while the wise Brom, ap ' parently contented with the interview, went smell- inff ana loitering on his way around the camp, as if nis tour was one of idleness altogether. The note, as read by Grevslaer the moment he had attained the interior of his lodge, from which his quondam nurse and present amiable house* keeper was happily absent, ccmtained only Uiese words, written with charcoal { ** An hour after midnight, be near the fallen syc- amore which crosses the brook within a few paces of your wigwam. The Indian girl will conduct you to an interview with . "A. D.R.'' llO'i' ' :l! f ▲ ROMANOS OV THB MOHAWK. 153 CHAPTER XIV. THE HAVNTBD ROCK. "And in the moantom mist, the torreiit*« eprtf, The quiVeriog forest or the slassy food, Soft-falung showers or hues oiorient day, They imaged spirits beautiltd and good ; Bat when the tempest roared, "^th voices rude, Or fierce red lightning fired the forest-pine, Or withering heats untimely seared the wood, The angry forms they saw of powers malign ; ' TJit)^ Skey besoaght to spare, those blessed for"] ▼me. Samd*. ^ ''And what fears The Spreading Dew in this place, that she would have me now choose another for her to lead the white man to, that I may hear tidings of my friends ?*' " This rock whereon we sit, lady — ^for Teondetba told me thou wen a chieftainess among thy people •^this rock i? sacred to the spirit that watches over true affection. Here the young hunter breathes the TOW that binds his fidelity for ever. And she that hearkens to it here, if listening but from girlish ley- i^^» or induced by maiden prankishness to break it afterward, she withers from the earth like a plant plucked from the garden of the blessed, and sent to shrivel mid the fires of the Evil One.'' "But, foolish girl, I mean not to mislead this youth,'' rejoined Alida, in the Mohawk tongue, wh^ch, like many a lady near the border at tbRt time, she spoke with ease and fluency. ** Is the soul of my young friend so full of Teondetha, that she thinks every mvi, like him, a lover I" v:-':^ t'"^ ■i'! ?> :: ■ ! 'i - ■ "^ \\ i i 154 GBBYSIABR ; <*The image of her true warrior, though erer present to The Spreading Dew, still leaTes room for all ffood spirits, and their ruler, Owaneyo, to be remembered. The brown-haired captive Ioyos my blue-eyed sister; and if he be no more to her than she says, it were mockery to the spirit to bring him here.** ** And by what means got you the idea that this young man thinks of your friend save as a country- woman in captivity like himself?" ** Thou speakest with two tongues, lady ; and I, thouffh the talk of the white man is strange to me, can do the same. The brown-haired warrior is i friend of the Oneidas, and can use the tongue o| Teondetha; and, even if words had not betrayed his secret, as he implored me to look first to your safety, lady, when you came not to the spot to phich I led him upon the opposite side of the duoap yesternight, should I not have known how it t^tood with him ? Doth not the breeze know why the floi^er trembles when it fans it ? And held I not the captive's hand while I spoke of you, when gui- ding him through the thicket's depths ?" " It is too late now, my gentle si8ter,4o change our place of meeting," said Miss De Roos, who saw that it was equally impossible to reason the girl out of the conviction which she had lately adopted, or the superstition which was so intimately ingraft- ed with her forest faith. " I must see the youth to-night, and upon this spot, or we must abandon the interview altogether ; and even now I hear the sound as of some one leaping from bog to bog in the quakins fen around xuJ" \ The Mohawk girl hesitated no longer. Anxiety for the fate of Teondetha's friend* wandering in darkness amid the spongy and treacherous morass, laced everywhere among ite^^blind thickets with III!*' i:.^!! .* ^r A ROMANCE OF TBE MOHAWK. 155 deep and sloughy pools, urged her to spring forward and guide him in safety to the Haunted Rock ; and in a few moments Greyslaer had penetrated the copse of tamaracks that girdled it, and gained the firm and broad ^h form whereon his mistress stood. The Indian maiden, from considerations of delicacy that in such matters seem common to her sex, how- ever uncultiYated, instantly glided away ; and the lovers, if such they may he called, were left alone together. And now, young gallant, so lithe of foot and bold ,of hand, so ready in speech and act, alike amid man- hood's councils and warrior fray, where lurks thy smooth tongue, thy nimble wit and stout endeavour, that have uready proclaimed thee man among the ablest of thy fellows ? Why do thy knees tremble, and thy quivering lips refuse to lackey thy laggard thoughts to utterance? Why tak'st thou not the outstretched hand the maid in friendliness a^porda thee ? Why fall thy muttered syllables like broken drops feMy distiUed from some slow-thawing fount- am f Is il the Divinitf of the place that awes diee ? or doth thy spirit quail before an earthly presence ? ** Ghreyi^aer," sod Alida, solemnly, for her wom- an's heart wms toacbed by the agitation whidi overwhelmed her k)ver, and the bri^t stars shiniiig 4omn upon the spot revealed the paleness ^i fam cheek. " God ! he knows that I wonld spare yon the ftoM my words may inflict to-night ; 1 sought ikis interview for a feur different obiedt from that to winch I now see that it must — 'that ^ oueht, per- hajm, for your future happiness, to tend. I blame ai3rielf in not invitiiig such an ezplanation between na long age. Be a man. Max Gri^jrslaer, and Shrink not at WMt I am about to say. zou kve me?* '* To idoietr^r, to madness,** cried the young men, in a hoarse whisper of passion, while hit thronged '%,, I j 166 OEBTSLABB IM m mm ttimi'a ii feelings, nishinff tumultuously to find vent through his lips, seemednearly to suffocate him as he flung jiimself upon his knees before Alida. If The lady recoiled against a blasted tree that grew near by, and, overcome for a moment, could only mutely motion to him to rise. He sprang to his feet, and stood with folded arms before her. " Alas ! alas!** she said, at length recoYering herself, "you need not have told me that. And yet, the God of Heaven be my judge, I dreamed not-till this night that your regard was of so deep a nature. But you are yet young, Greyslaer ; love cannot exist without hope, and this fancy will soon pass away, or be transferred to another teore worthy of your esteem ) to one who can reciprocate your affection.** I, ** Yes f when the last year's stubble shall sprout with a second spring ; when that scathed^ tree against wh^ch you lean shall shake off the moss that ^nks \ip its sa^ of life, and be clothed anew with verdure of its own ; when — ^** V ** Hold, Max, hold ; this is the very phrensy of passion. I cannot listen to you longer, unless you show some re|o;ard for nay feelings by repressing the vehemence of yours. Oh ! Max Greyslaer, ir you knew how deep a cause I have for grief in which you cannot share, you would from this moment cease to add to my sorrows by urging this mispla* ced, this most unhappy passion.** " You unhappy, Alida ? — forgive me for thus call- inff you. You the victim of a secret sorrow ? You, with that smooth^cheek ; that rounded, pliant form ; that brow on which — ^no, no, the band of srief hath never left its wasting; fingers there, nor h^low care enshrined himself in such « tenement; you but mock me, Alida; or, rather, you would thus, in mercy, cniih my ill-starred passion. But, Miss De ifV ▲ BOMAUCS OF THB MOHAWK. 157 Roos, you know me not ! If the presumption of my love offend you — ^ ** Oh f not offend me" tearfully murmured the af- flicted girl. *' If the madness of my love offend you/' pursued Max, unheeding the low- voiced interruption, " you may teach me to curb, to smother, to bury in my inmost soul the feeling that consumes it ; but there, there it will burn for ever. The heart of Greyslaer can know no second love.'' '* This is too, too much ! It will drive me mad to speak it ; yet nothing else w'U extinguish his un- happy infatuation. Max Greyslaer, near me. I have long since given you the regard of a sister. I hav9 watched you alike in your studies and your sports, with the pride and the interest of an elder sister; and a sister's fondness would have followed, could I have shut out the painful conviction that it was not with the affection of a brother you regarded me. This interest in your welfare alone would im- pel me to leave no step untried to root out this fatal passion 'from your heart. But since the wild avow- al of this night ; since the declaration of desperate feelings you but now betrayed, I feel, though most innocently the cause of them, that you have still deeper claims upon my sympathy, that you have new ones upon my gratitude. I feel that there is but one way to break the miserable chain by which you would link your frte with mine, and give you back to the higher and happier destiny for which, by every circum5tr.iice save this one only, vou are .fitted. Nay, thank me not; I acknowledge you have a right to my confidence." She paused, and the features upon which the domestic sorrows of the last few weeks had left no feeble impress, became agitated with an expression of pain, which even the recollection of that night of horror at the Hawks- VOL. I.— O - I / 168 OBBTIIUUHI • nest hftd failed to trace. Greyilaer himself awaited what was to follow ; and her words, as she resumed, were spoken in a tone low but clear, firm but in- expressibly mournful. " There is," she said, ** there is but one man livinff, Greyslaer — one as Tile, sor- did, ruthless, and malignant as vou are gentle, gen- erous, and noble — one only other who shares the secret you have this night wrung from me." « And he is—" «* My husband !" ' The wretched girl, whose lofty spirit was still farther wrought up by the high and magnanimous sentiment oi generosity which sustained ner for the moment, swooned the instant she had pronounced! the words. The weakness, however, quickly pass- ed away, as, at a cry of alarm from Greyslaer, the Indian maiden bounded from the covert, and applied some cool glossy leaves, wet with the dews of night, to the brow of the sufiferer. The blow was better received by Greyslaer than could have been expected or hoped for by her that dealt it. He was indeed astounded and petrified by the first announcement; but all consideration for himself seemed the next moment merged in concern for his unhappy mistress. " Lady," he said, dropping on one knee before her, and with an air of deep respect pressing his lips to the hand which she did not attempt to withdraw, " you spoke truly, lady, when you said my fate was linked with yours ; but you erred in believing that aught could %ever the chain, though it might lead me to destruction. As a lover, after what I have heard this night, you shall never know me more. But you have still left me something to live for, in taking away the only hope that could make existence happy. You have given me back ^ to myself, but from this moment I am more com- ▲ BOMAMCJ OF THM MOHAWK. 159 pletely youra than ever. The romantic dream of my youth has passed away, the madness of my misplaced and ooyish love is orer ; and here, by the cool light of manhood's enfranchised reason, here upon this planted rock, with ^on brisht heav- en as witness of my vow, I swear, while the puls^a of life beat within me, never to leave nor desert you until I unravel this hideous mystery, and break the spell in which some fiend has manacled your soul. Nay, shrink not, dearest lady, as if my sworn service might prove intrusive. How or why these devilish meshes have been woven ar jund you, I ask you not to explain until I have in some way approved my faith and loyalty. But be it when nr where you choose to make the revelation ; be the deed what it niiay, you claim in return for the pre- cious boon of your confidence, if human hand can work it, it shall be done at your bidding." A light as from a maniac's eye ^ared in that of Alida as the youns man rose slowly up before her after this wild and solemn adjuration. ** No, no, Greyslaer,'* she cried, shaking back thd long tresses which had fallen in disorder over her neck and shoulders. " No, Greyslaer, thou art not yet dear enough to me to share the fruition of the hoarded hope I have lived upon for years. Alida's own hand shall alone avenge Alida! For what else have I cherished the strength of this useless frame ; for what have I forgot my woman's nature, and shared your schooling in feats of arms with my brother? Think you it was an idle caprice of^my sex, or the perverted taste of an Amazon, that made me choose pistol and rapier, instead of needle and distaff, K)r my amusement? No, Max Greyslaer ; my hand, as well as my heart, hath been schooled for years to the accomplishment of one only end, and they will neither of them fail -■■'»« 160 OBBTILABB ; 11 It 'i mil me at my purpofe. That i», if this poor brain hold out.** And, pressing both hands to her temples, the un- fortunate young lady looked so bewildered for a moment, that Greyslaer could hardly resist the con- viction that her intellects were disordered. Yet, if such were indeed the case, how, he thought, could her mind be so well balanced in regard to all other subjects ? In reference to this one, too, her reason, though disturbed, was not clouded; the agitation of the fountain did indeed hide its. depths from view, but the water was bright and limpid still. If it be true, however, " that great wit to mad- ness nearly is allied," while gleams of insanity have been discovered in minds which have exercised a wide and enduring influence over mankind, and, mastering their disease till the last, have left in death the wisest of their survivers doubtful as to the suspicion that has attached to them ; then might a far more experienced observer of human nature than young Greyslaer be at fault. Nor, indeed, were it just to conclude, only from what he had witnessed, that the senses of Alida were deranged. The sentiments which she had just uttered were indeed abhorrent to the nature of her sex, to her Christian education, and all her early associations of refinement. But while the excitement under which she spoke would sufficiently account for her momentary air of wildness, there was none of the incoherence of distraction in her speech; and as for nature and education, the first had been shock- ed, overthrown, and changed by the outrage which trampled upon it, and the last — the last is but an artificial barrier, that at once gives way when the former has become perverted. While these reflections, or others not unlike them, passed hurriedly through the mind of Greyslaer, A ROMANCI OF TU MOHAWK. 161 rain hold , the un- ed for a the con- Yet, if ht, could all other \i reason, agitation ths from . still. i to mad- inity have ercised a Lindi and, re left in ;ful as to iien might Bin nature r, indeed, ,t he had deranged, jred were ex, to her Bociations jnt under nt for her tne of the and as m shock- ige which is but an when the ike them, vreyslaer, the loTely subject of them seemed too busied with her own conflicting thoughts to observe the earnest and anxious gaze that was riveted upon her coun- tenance. At last, as if shaking off the load that weighed upon her spirits, and recoverins from the attitude of dejection that for a moment bowed her commanding form, she said, in a calm voice, ** I would, Mr. Greyslaer, that you could forget what has passed between us this night. I have been hasty in permitting you to commit yourself to take an interest in my affairs which they do not deserve at your hands. I have thought ot the mis- chievous consequences of yielding you a more full and complete confidence ; and it would be ungen- erous in me to claim your active sympathy for the blind and partial revelation of my sorrows already made. I beseech you to remember only the friend.- ly interest with which I requite your regard, and to forcet all else that has passed between us." These formal words, which struck chillingly upon the ear of Greyslaer, were pronounced in that measured tone of superior self-possession with which a master-spirit may sometimes address an inferior, blended with the air of kind authority which considerate age will put on when conversing with inexperienced youth. But, though she knew it not yet, the ascendancy which the generous and haughty-souled Alida had hitherto exercised over the mind of her lover was gone for ever; and Greys- laer made her feel that it was so in his reply. ** An hour ago, Miss De Roos, and I was, per- haps, the rash and doting boy you think me. Rash in aspiring to the hand of one so gifted as yourself, dotinff in that I dared to tell you of my passion ; but though I still bear you a regard passing the love of kindred, however near, boy I am no longer. The day-star of my youth has set for ever ', the dei* a f -W ' ^. 162 ORSYUJLBB Hl'f"' "!'■'■ :•''':'' tiny of my life is written ; for good or for evil, *tif henceforth twined with yours. If vou repent the share you may have had in thus determining my fate, if^it be a generous concern for my welfare that prompted your words, your anxiety is thrown away. It is too late for you to recede ; and I — I have thrown my cast, and am determined to stand the hazard of the die !" " And how," said the lady, with an irresolute, un- easy air, that perhaps betrayed a mingled feeling of jealous pride, of growing self-diffidence, and newly- awakened respect for the lofty and decided tone the youth assumed so unexpectedly, " how, Greys- laer, am I to avail myself ot any service which you ^ might render me ?" - "By designating the villain at whose life you aim, and leaving me to avenge your injuries." " Speak you in earnest. Max Greyslaer ? Do you think me, then, capable of such ignoble and cold- blooded selfishness ? so ignoble as to place my mor- tal quarrel in the hands of one who is a stranger to my blood ; so selfish as to requite affection by im- posing a task that may lead to death?" " Well spoken, young missus, like a gal of spunk as you are, exclaimed a harsh voice near by, while a brawny ruffian, leaping from the thicket, and stri- king the rock with a short Indian war-club as he gained his footing upon it, placed himself between Greyslaer and Alida. "What, ho! younker," he cried ; " you would add to the account that is chalk- ed up agin you already, would you ? God help you in his own way ; Hut, unless the devil fail wild Wat afore then, you will find him a hard reckoner; that is, if your carcass first escape a roasting at the hands of the bloody Mohawk." '* Stand off, ruffian," muttered Greyslaer, choking with passion, as he saw the savage-looking fellow mm A BOMANCI OF TBB MOIUWK. 163 circling the waist of Alida with one arm, while, weaponlesi and feeble from his recent wound, he felt himself incapable of protecting her. *' Fair words, fair wordii, if you please, my young master ; I come here only to rescue this lady from Indian captivity ; and, as the Redskins are still my friends in the main, I should be sorry to rob the stake doubly by knocking you in the head." " Oh, Max," murmured Alida, who had hitherto stood as if paralyzed with horror, " strive not with this dark and terrible man, who even now has step ped, as from the grave, between us." " And so you, too, eh, my fraulein, thought, like many others, that Red Wolfert nad kicked the buck- et, because I took Wat's advice, and cleared out for a while, to save my neck, till things should blow over. But times have changed, my spanking lass ; tall fellows hold up their heads once more, and I come here to exercise the rights of one of them over Mistress — " " Speak, speak but one word, I pray you, Alida ! Is this horrible ruffi — is this your husband ?" "Dunder und blixem, and suppose I be," cried the man, catching the words out of the mouth of Alida, whose senses seemed too much benumbed to make a ready reply. *' Don't you see how the gal wilts like when I look at her, and who but her natural husband should make a woman cower ?' " In the name of the devil, who are you, that speaii so fitly in his tongue V said Greyslaer, making a wary movement toward the man, in the dr :perate hope of clutching from his hand the short r ii w-*' m 168 ORBT8LA1BR '^Wah !** exclaimed the hag, as, with a crooked stick, she vainly pushed a wet and blackened ember toward the smouldering ashes ; " could not the fools leave enough of the fire that has burned for a thou- sand winters to warm these old bones with ? May the Evil One broil them on his own for meddling in the quarrel of Corlear* with the Sagernash ! May their tribes be dispersed like these scattered em- bers ! May they, like them, be trampled upon by — " Stopping short in her imprecation as she caught sight of a half-extinguished branch, which still lay smoking in the corner where it had been tossed, the crone hobbled toward it, and thrust it afresh in the ashes, applying, at the same time, the air from her wheezy lungs to rekindle the flame. Her efforts were followed by a momentary igni- tion, indicated by a few sparks, that made her mut- ter still more angrily, as, to avoid them, she threw back her head, from which the long gray hair droop- ed in the ashes. The dying brand crackled feebly, sighed like a living thing, and expired. ** A-rai-wah ! The Sacred Fire of Onondaga is extinguished for ever !" As she spoke the hag gathered her knees toward her body with one hand, and resting her shrivelled cheek upon the other, commenced rocking backward and forward, croaking a harsh song, in which lam- entations and curses were so wildly intermingled that the eldrich dirge partook equally of the char- acter of either. But this wretched remnant of mortality was not the only mourner for the extinguished pride and power of the now broken Iroquois confederacy. ♦ "Sons of Corlear," or "The Children of Quidar," were the torms by which " The Six Nations" indifferently distingvished the inhabitants of the Colony of New- York ; and, though first adopted during the Dutch ascendancy over the province, we find them used In£an treaties and speeches down to quite a recent period. in IJ: *.M. ▲ ROMANCE OF THB MOHAWK. 169 a crooked ned ember »t the fools for a thou- ith? May leddling in .ah ! May ttered em- ipon by — ^" the caught jh still lay tossed, the ■resh in the r from her jntary ignir le her mut- , she threw hair droop- ded feebly, )nondaga is lees toward |r shrivelled ^ backward which 1am- itermingled If the char- lity was not pride and [deracy. Jar," were the itingnished the Ih first adopted ■find them used lent period. The Christmas sun shone merrily upon tbe^irost- ed window-panes of Johnson Hall ; gleamed upon the armour that decked its walls, and tinted with freshness the evergreens that festooned its ancient portraits. But here, as at Onondaga, its beams seemed to smile only as in mockery of man and his doings. Here were men, haggard and worn with long watching, grouped in disorder throughout the broad corridor. Some were engaged in anxious or angry debate together ; some, as if wearied out with action or discussion, were stretched upon the oak6n settles, regarding with dogged indifference the exci- ted disputes of their comrades ; and one, more swar- thy of feature than the rest, a tall man of a fierce and haughty aspect, was striding impatiently to and fro, casting ever and anon a hasty look at the stair- case, whose polished banister he repeatedly struck with his tomahawk in passing.* Twice he had as- cended several steps, as if determined to seek above some person who had exhausted his patience in de- laying an interview ; and then pamsing a moment as he thundered anew with his hatchet upon the stairs, he turned abruptly upon his heel, breathing indig- nation affainst those who appeared not to heed his savage signal. At last a 'Strong-framed man, hastily arrayed in a dressing-gown, accompanied by a Highland officer in full uniform, presented himself upon the landing of the staircase. The features of either were cloud- ed ; but of the two the former seemed to be labour^ ing under the greater emotion. His look was agi- tated, but not alarmed ; distempered, but not angry. " Brant !" said he, with some severity, " at any other time I would no^ overlook this want of re- spect ; I would not put up with this rudeness from * The marks of the Indian tomahawk are shown upon the staira of the hall to this day. Vol. I.— P •#' 170 ORET8LAXR Li'l I I, anyiiinan breathing. But since we are all here companions in affliction together, a quarrel with so old a friend of my house would not become me." " Companions together, Sir John ? You honoUr the poor Indian by placing him in such company, even in your speech^ though you can find no room for him in your writings when making terms with the enemy ! " Speak, Alan MacDonald, and dispel these un- generous suspicions of our friend ! Tell him the circumstances under which we have been compelled to treat with the commissioners from Albany." "I am wholly at a loss upon what particular point to answer Captain Brant," said MacDonald, coolly. " He seems already to be aware that we have accepted terms from General Schuyler, who is inarching hitherward with three thousand men; and, unless report belies them, with a hundred Mo- hawk warriors in his train !" " Yes ! a pack of frightened curs from the lower castle, with a handful of naked renegades from my own people. The hungry offcasts from my tribe, who nope, with Schuyler's countenance, to make spoil of the blankets and provisions that are laid up here for our projected campaign. But tell me, Sir John Johnson, is the falling off of these wretches to excuse this desertion of your Indian friends, after entangling us in this contemptible quarrel ? God of my people ! that the power and glory which thou hast suffered them to attain should be thus ruinous- ly perilled in a stranger's brawl ! that the league of our ancient confederacy, cemented by the blood of a thousand victories, should dissolve like snow- flakes upon the river, because, in an evil moment, we consented to interfere in a paltry dispute about a few halfpence of revenue between some peddling foreigners, who would cut each other's throats for A ROMANCE OF TUB MOHAWK. 171 )me me. lus ruinous- gain ! Nay, sir, never lay your hand upon your sword ! and you, ye prying knaves, unless ye stand back at nnine or your master's bidding, shall be dealt with less daintily than the rebel general will handle ye. Back, I say, or my signal call shall fill this hall with those who'll flood it with your gore ! By the valour of a Mohawk ! but it were a good deed to call in my warriors, and supplant such rec- reants with men who will hold these walls against all odds till they crumble around them !" And the indignant chieftain strode haughtily to and fro, as if really balancing in his mind this mad procedure, while the baronet, too much incensed by the insolence of Brant to make any concession to bis wrath, was yet too politic to trust himself with a hasty reply. The cool and discreet MacDonald now put in a word to sooth the exasperated mood of the demi-savage, as he considered the chieftain when thus excited. " Captain Brant is too experienced a soldier not to be aware of the impossibility of maintaining our present position against the overpowering force which has been unexpectedly sent against us." " And could not these heavy-limbed fellows have taken to the bush, and shared a hunter's fare for a few weeks, until the first burst of the storm should have spent its fury ? Did you think, in taking up arms in a forest-land like this, where every rock is a fortress, every tree a citadel, did you think that the struggle was to be decided by the capture of a few towns and villages ?" "We did not, noble Thayendanagea," said Sir John, taking the words from the mouth of MacDon- ald. " Nor do we now believe that one compul- sory compromise like the present is ta terminate the resistance of the king's friends in this rebellious colony. Had we treated with the rebels for peace S. li'!' J' r m ' I MM !S 172 ORBTILASR ; throuflhout the proyince, our brave Indian brethren would never have been forgotten in the treaty; but our capitulation refers only to the loyalists in this individual district. Our friends are still in arms in other parts of the colony ; and even here the gallant gentlemen whom you see around you will yet again lift up the royal banner, or flock to it upon the first opportunity, if Thayendanagea keeps it flying in the field. I — I myself will lead them to — ^ " Hold, Sir John ! unless you would have your spoken promise give the lie to your written pledge. Remember that * Sir John Johnson, having given his parole of honour not to take up arms against America^ he can never — ^" ]. " Where, where do you find such words asl those ?" cried the baronet, hardly knowing what he said in his confusion. " The title of the instrument runs thus, please ye, Sir John," replied Brant, coolly drawing a writ- ten document from his bosom, the preamble of which he began to read in a measured, sarcastic tone : " * Terms oflered by the honourable Philip Scliuyler, major-general in the army of the Thir- teen United Colonies, and commanding in the New- York department, to Sir John Johnson, baronet, and all such other persons in the county of Tryon as have evinced their intentions of supporting his ma- jesty's ministry to carry into efiect the unconstitu- tional measures of which the Americans so justly complain :' do you mark the emphasis ?" said the Mohawk, scornfully, while another storm seemed gathering on his brow, as, repeating the phrase, he went on, *' * of which the Americans so ^^5% com- plain ; and to prevent which they have been driv- en to the c|feadful necessity of having recourse to arms : first, that — '* Pshaw ! you have it there in the third article, and may read for yourselves if you A ROMANCE OF THE MOHAWK. 173 have forgotten the contents of the document, when your signatures, confirming your acceptance of these terms, can scarcely be dry upon the original.'* The chieftain, as he spoke, flung the paper con- temptuously at the feet of Sir John, who compre- hended, without looking at it, that it must be a copy of his terms of surrender, furnished by the politic Whigs to shake the loyalty of Brant. " It is in vain. Captain Brant," said he, with sad composure, " to conceal from you the extent of our misfortunes. My poor services, in a military capa- city, are indeed lost to the crown ; and these brave Scottish gentlemen, though suffered to retain their si^-arms, are placed by their parole in the same unmppy predicament as myself. But the king has many as capable servants as we, who may still as- sert their loyalty in the field ; and if the fear of chilling their zeal in my royal master's cause in- duced me to withhold from you the extent of the rebel triumph, I know I shall be forgiven by so ar- dent and generous a partisan as Thayendanagea." The tones in which his gallant friend spoke, not less than the words which he uttered, seemed in- stantly to change the mood of the stormy chieftain, who paced to and fro for a moment before he replied. " Sir John," said Brant, with feeling, ** I have nothing to forgive. It is you of whom I should ask pardon. You are nearer to the great king than I am, and know best how much of his affairs to sup- press and how much to reveal. I have always borne you the love of a brother ; and for that, if for nothing else, you will forgive me for thinking you faithless when you were only unfortunate. But I have heard that within the last hour," he added, with that air of calm fatalism characteristic of the Iroquois, even while using the language of a Eu- . ropean, " I have heard that which might well dis- P2 »*<■ 4;* 174 OEBTflJkKR M ■"^ temper me : the confederacy of the Aganuschion ii broken. A formal asaemblage of Sachems at Onondaga has dissolved the league of the United Cantons that existed beyond the traditions of our race. Our Great Council Fire is extinguished, and the Six Nations, whose delegates consummated the fatal ceremony with the peaceful unanimity of a band of brothers, meet hereafter only as broken tribes arrayed in deadly hostility to each other.*' " Not so, noble Sachem !'* cried the baronet, with brightening features. ** It is only the Oneidas, with their adopted children, the Mohicans, who have se- ceded from the union. The whole Tuscarora tribe, the greater portion of the Onondagas, the fiery Sen- ecas, and valiant Cayugas, are even now assem Ang under Guy Johnson at Oswego, and wait but for you, with your indomitable Mohawks, to lead them, m all their ancient pride of arms, upon the foe. The delegates of the loyal tribes attended the great central fire only to gain time and blind the lazy eyes of the Oneidas, who convoked the council. Their protest against the confederacy taking any part on either side in this war was not receivecl. They declared their secession from the union, and the sacred fire of the united brethren was extin- guished. But the act was illegal ; for, as you know, the Mohawks were not represented in the council ;* and the holy flame of union and power may again ^ * It may have been under tome such pretence as this that the refugee Mohawks, who found a home in Upper Canada after the Revolution, ventured to dedicate a place there as the seat of '* The Great Council Fire of the Six Nations," and call it Onondaga, while, in fact, all the confederates but themselves remained with- in the territory of New- York, keeping the original Onondaga among their reserved lands till the present day. Red Jteket, the famous Seneca, stirred up a serious dispute about this exclusive tssum^ion both of the nrM'onal shrine and general name of his countiymen.— See Sumt^a Life of Brant, vol. ii. ▲ ROMANOB OF TBB MOHAWK. 175 be relighted in a blaze of glory which ihall illumine the land." The eye of the Indian sagamore flashed with fierce dehght ; his mien assumed a lofty bearing, as of one who felt himself yet destined to be the leader of armies, while his nostril dilated as if already he snufifed the battle. These indications of strong emo- tion, however, passed away like a flash, even as Sir John pronounced the last words which seemed to have kindled them ; and then the face of the Mohawk assumed that immovably stoical expression which rendered it impossible to surmise what was passing in his bosom, and which, upon ihe countenance of an Iroquois, always covered his deepest and most earnest thoughts. It might be that vague dreams of ambition, which had heretofore passed through the mind of Brant ; that plans of personal elevation at the expense of his less cultivated countrymen, which, in moments of temptation, had suggested themselves, and been in- dignantly discarded from his thoughts at the sener- ous call of pafPiotism, or reluctantly abandoned from a conviction of their impracticability under the ex- isting organization of the Aganuschion republic — it may be that these dark and aspiring schemes were busy within him now ! It might be — and the loyal, disinterested charac- ter of the man, his romantic love of his doomed race, and his pertinacious aversion to European civ- ilization, while evincing in his own conduct many of its benefits, render this solution by far the most like- ly — it might be that that silent mien and fixed ex- pression of countenance concealed the devotional communings of his heart — a patriot's thanksgiving for a people saved. ** Captain Brant looks grave," said MacDonald ; " he thinks that the responsibility of his part has !lll 176 OKBYILASR ; iii;^ '•li'V i^A t|li W increaied just in proportion that the chance of his playing it successtully with our aid has diminished oy that aid being now withdrawn." If a taunt were implied in this speech, it was so ■lig[ht as to pass unheeded by Brant ; but his heart was not inaccessible to the subtle appeal to his van- ity which it conveyed. " I see, I see," said he, casting his eyes in musing fashion upon the ground, and smiling grimly, as if it were impossible wholly to suppress the pleasurable thrill of pride which he wished to conceal. " The flfeat king depends now upon the Indians to preserve this colony for him. Our warriors are to keep the rebels in check until the great king can send over such an army as shall make it safe for his loyal sub*- jects once more to rise and help him ! Good ! very good ! He shall find that wb are to he depended updn^ The voice and manner of the Sachem sud- denly altered with the last words, as he raised his eyes and cast a stern and haughty gaze around. *' Yes, gentlemen," he continued, in a more cool and lofty tone, " the largest, and the fall'est, and most fertile part of this rich province is now left to the guardianship of one who, among yourselves, bears but the rank of an English captam ; and I would have you know that it is not from ignorance of the value of the pledge, of the cost of protecting it, or of the opportunity of successfully treating with the Americans for the heritage which you are compel- led to abandon, that I here, in the name of my countrymen, assume-its charge. With you. Sir John Johnson, as the official representative of your sovereign, I might have made my own terms for the better defined security of our rights under the British dominion; but a Mohawk chieftain is no trafficker of loyalty. Your king shall learn how far he may depend upon the faith and valour of the Iro- r li li! In, ',. ▲ ROMAIfCI OF TBI MOHAWK. 177 quoif , and the future will reveal the meaiure of hit justice to us in return.* Our power to lerve the British cause remains to be proved. You at leasti Sir John, can bear witness to the readiness of our will:' ** He is a slave that doubts either,** cried the bar- onet. ** Though the terrible Virginian himself should take the field against you, his wisdom and his valour will find a match in Thayendanagea. And /, my noble friend, though prevented by fate from serving with you as a comrade in arms, I, while watching your glorious career, will console myself with the reflection that I have, by temporizing, preserved the services of these brave followers to my sovereign till they can be used with a hope of success hereafter.** The last words, which were addressed as much to the by-standers as to Brant himself, had their full influence in reassuring the spirits of the former; and MacDonald confirmed their effect by immedi- ately adding, "Sir John could certainly not better serve our cause in the present exigency than by securing him in the midst of the party which we wish to keep to- gether. We are still strong in numbers throughout the district, and, while he remains with us, we shall never want a leader at the proper moment for stri- king.** ** Your parole of honour !** said Brant, drawing himself up and looking with a lowering eye upon the company. * The difficulties with the British ffovemment which imhittered the closing years of Brant, his neglected petitions, the invasion alike of the property and the political rights of his tribe, and the forced necessity he was under of asserting his legal claim to the half pay of a British captain, might suggest some doubts as to the wisdom of his confidence in the justice of the crown. But have the Oneidas, who espoused the cause of the republic, fared better than the Mohawks 1 See note at the end of the volume. 178 ORBYSLAEll ; 111;! ill e " Though given to outlawci, it shall never be bro- ken but for cause," replied Johnson. " But the reb- els, drunken with their first success, will soon sup- ply us with legitimate grounds for disregarding the pledge they have wrung from us." " Well, you white men know best how far ye may trust each other," observed the chief, with a signifi- cant and pitying smile, while, in drawing his mantle around him to depart, he muttered less audibly be- neath its folds something still more contemptuous. His precise words were unheard, but their purport was sufficiently intelligible to r^ ise the ire of Mac- Donald, who mutely folded his arms when the chief- tain stretched out his hand to exchange a parting salutation with him. " Kay, Captain MacDonald," said Brant, " I part not thus with a brave comrade and tried soldier. It was of the white man^s, and not the Scotchman's, faith of which I spoke, and you will pardon the prej- udices of the Indian, however you would resent the suspicions of the friend." " I am not so Quixotic, Captain Brant, as to pro- claim myself the champion of my race," replied the other. " But, in giving you my hand, as I now do, 1 will venture to suggest that, if your knowledge of our usages disinclines you to practise European ur- banity, you are not fortunate in your mode of rec- ommending Indian courtesy — by your own exam- ple." " Good !" said Brant, smiling. " Very good !" he repeated, shaking again the hand of him who had chastened him, while MacDonald, whose whim- sical expression of countenance showed how much he was confounded at the odd impression which his pithy lecture had made upon his half-savage friend, followed his retreating figure with his eye as the Mohawk strode out of the apartment. \ .. A ROHANCB OF THE MOHAWK. 179 " The infernal strange dog !" cried the Scotch- man ; " I never know where the devil to find him." " What, Alan," said Johnson, laughing, ** is my red brother Joseph a puzzle to you ? An Indian, man, is like a woman ; you must follow his hu- il^ours without attempting to regulate them. Brant's touches of civilization are like grains of wit in a madman's brain ; they just suffice to mislead him who would discover some regular system of ideas in the lunatic's disordered senses, but, for all that, the fellow has sense and courage, and is as true as steel in matters of moment." And thus ended this singular interview, which, commencing in a scene of passion, that, with its at- tendant grouping of strongly contrasted characters, might well exercise the pen of the dramatist, ter- minated, as do most romantic situations in real life, with commonplace occurrence and discussion ; which, however actual in themselves, detract, it must be confessed, not a little from the poetic dig- nity of their relation. But " these are the days of fact nor fable ;" and the legendary writer of our time must content himself with detailing mere fa- miliar tradition, until another Scott shall arise to revivify the dry bones which it is our humble task to collect together, clothe them anew with all the attributes of breathing life, and make them walk the earth afresh, dignified, exalted, and adorned by the prodigal drapery of immortal Genius. ititi' "' 9 180 GRETSLABR ; 1 i!< IJ*^ V4 kJ [i"i CHAPTER II. THE BORDERERS. " When, lo, he saw his courser reined By an unwelcome hand !" — Earl Rupbrt. There was a proud complacency upon the brow of the Indian chief when he found himself alone beyond the precincts of the Hall. The morning was cold, and the snow lay deep upon the ground ; but while the latter offered no impediment to his devouri-'g steps as he rapidly stalked along, the glowing tnoughts within his bosom seemed to make him insensible to the former. His mantle was in- deed wrapped closely around him, but it was from the tension of strong emotion that his hands were clinched in its folds. His open throat and lofty head, whose plumes tossed in the light breeze that swept the eminence from which he was descend- ing, betrayed none of that sensibility to the ele- ments which belittles the mien of the cloaked and cowering form that now confronts him in his path. It is a half-frozen horseman, who shrinks in his saddle, as if he would thus make his weight as light as possible to his jaded steed. The propor- tions of his figure are concealed by a military ro- quelaire* wrapped closely around him, and his face is so mufHed up with furs as barely to permit his eyes to see the road before them ; yet both are instantly recognised by the keen-eyed Mohawk. Some new emotion now agitates his features, and a look of sudden wrath has succeeded to that of (M ▲ &OMANOB or THB MOHAWK. 181 calm and pleasurable pride. He stops short in his rapid walk, and plants himself in the centre of a little bridge that here crosses the highway, just as the mounted trayeller has gained its opposite side. The horse recoils at the barbaric apparition in his path, and his rider, looking up for the first time, beholds the cause of his affright. " Why, you d — d Indian scarecrow, what m^n you by standing there; to frighten cattle on the king's highway — wae, boy ! wa — e — gently, now, gently — stand out of my path, you stupid blockhead, or, God help me, I'll ride right over you." And, suiting the action to the word, the distempered and insolent traveller plunged both spurs into his horse, which bounded forward upon the bridge ; but, quick as light, the sinewy arm of the Indian has grappled his bridle-rein, and, with starting eye and distend- ed nostril, the mastered steed stands trembling. " Why, Joseph Brant, my good fellow ! who the devil expected to meet you here ! You must for- give my haste in speaking as I did, and I'll pardon this abrupt salutation in so old a friend, ii you'll only loose my rein and let me push ahead to the Hall." " There is time enough for that," said the chief, smothering his indignation at the man's insolent fa- miliarity. " What news bring you from below ?" " Schuyler's within half a day's march, with three thousand Whig militia ; that's all, my good fel- low ; and now let me carry the news to our friends. We must up stakes, I take it, from these parts, and go and lend a lift to the loyalists in the southern corner of the province : and now, my dear Joseph, I ;vish you a good-morning." " Softly, softly, Mr. Bradshawe. There is no necessity for this great haste. Sir John is already in possession of all the news you can give him." Vol. I.— Q % 182 OtfBYSLABR; m''? i:! ^ 11* -n " He is ? The devil ! I met <' U arch-rebel Duer, with a brace of kindred Whigs, at a roadside inn last night — rYates and Glen, I think they were ; and I half guessed that their venturing so far in the valley boded no good to our cause. Surely they cannot have brought the news, conveyed in the shape of a threat, irom Schuyler ?" ^ They were commissioners to settle the terms of Sir John's surrender, and Schuyler's present ad- vance to take possession of Johnstown shows how well they succeeded." The countenance of the traveller grew dark as midnight while Brant thus briefly and coolly told him of the discomfiture of his party. The chiel waited a moment for him to make some comment, but his astonishment was so great that he had not a word wherewith to reply ; and Brant, in the same calm tone, went on. *' These tidings seem to be somewhat strange to Mr. Bradshawe. He has kept himself aloof from his friends of late. It is ai; least four months since I heard of him in these parts." " Yes, why, yels," said the other, confusedly. " Some business took me south last summer about the time the Hawksnest affair and subsequent dis- appearance of young Greyslaer put the country in hot water. None but you, Joseph, cpuld have been at the bottom of that hubbub." " I heard of Mr. Bradshawe in Schoharie," said Brant, dryly, and with an elevation of his eyebrows so slight as to be almost imperceptible. *' Schoharie ? , Oh ! — ay — yes, I have been in Schoharie. I've just come, indeed^ from down that way. I heard of this rebel rising while in Scho- harie, and rode for dear life to warn Sir John." "It is use'fiss to seek him now upon such an er- rand ; and if Mr. Bradshawe wishes to give his reasons for having so long kept out of the way of a-. i u ▲ ROMANCB OF THE MOHAWK. 183 his political friends, I would advise him to take some opportunity when the baronet is in a happier mood." " A d — d politic suggestion ! Josey, you certainly are iro fool. But where the devil are you leading my mare to ?" • " Why," said Brant, with a careless laugh, "two such suspicious characters as we are should not be seen holding so long a talk here on the highwayt when, by moving a few yards, we can throw that knoll between us and any travelling impertinents that may chance to pass. I would confer with you, too, Mr. Bradshawe,"he added, more gravely, " where we are not liable to interiuption.'? " You are a queer chap. Brant. Leave you alone to have your own way. But here we are in the hollow ; 3"d now what have you gc* to say ? Be quick, man, for I'm getting devilish cold." " You will be still colder before I have done with you, Walter Bradshawe, unless you reply promptly to my questions." " Why, my good Joseph, what the h— " " Hold ! no more of that, sir ; blasphemous and vulgar-souled as you are, you can still ape the de«. coram of a gentleman when it suits your turn ; and you shall perish here like a crushed hound in the snow, unless ycu practise it now." " This to me, you d — d Indian dog !" cried Brad- shawe, jerking his rein with one hand, and plucking a pistol from his holster with the other. But, before he could cock the piece, a blow from Brant's toma- hawk sent it flying through the air into an adjacent snowbank, while in the same moment the desperado was hurled from his saddle, and lay prostrate at*the feet of the Mohawk. " One mocion, one word, a look of insolence, and I'll brain you on the spot ; that snow-wreath shall be your winding* sheet, and the April thaws will 1 164 ORITILABS ; alone rereal your fate, if the wolves ia the mean time spare that wretched carcass." '*'VVho the devil thinks of resisting, with knife and tomahawk both at his throat ? Ugh — ugh, you have knocked all the breath out of my body. Gad ! Brant, you inherit a white man's brawn from your Dutch grandfather. Hold ! yon Indian devil ; don't murder me for squinting at a fact which all the country believes except yourself." " They lie who say I'm other than a Mohawk of ihe full blood," exclaimed the Indian, fiercely, but d'-Tiwing back, at the same time, as if stung by an " Perhaps they do ; but you'll not prove the gen- uineness of your blood by spilling mine," replied the v!»^^. r, picking himself leisurely from the ground. *' Give me my other pistol, son of Nickus^ and we can dispute the matter more upon an equality." " Bradshawe, you are a brave man, and, as such, I cannot wholly scorn you ; and were your honour but half as bright as your courage, you should — But enough of this. You will be wise, sir, now, in fooling no longer with my patience, but reply with directness to what I have to ask you. You are re- puted to have sense, Bradshawe, and you see I am not to be trifled with." " Why, as to my sense, Sachem; it seems to have been pretty much at fault in dealing with you. I've always thought you a devilish shrewd fellow for one who was only quarter white man^ — nay, let that cursed knife aloi,e — I say I've thought you so, that's a fact ; though I may sometimes have laugh- ed in my sleeve when you got on your high ropes, and put on quality airs like Sir John. I don't know how it is, however ; I still believe you to be pretty much of an adventurer like myself; but, if you are not a lineal chief, as your enemies say, by nf . A ROMANCB OF THE MOHAWK. 185 Gr— d, you deserye to be a born aristocrat for the neat style in which you do the thing. I speak the truth, I do, by G — d. I could put it in softer phrase, as you know full well ; for you have seen me hu- mouring the shallow fools who ape nobihty here among us provincials. But I talk to you as a man that can't be come over by flummery ; and now go ahead with your questions, which, I suppose, relate to the De Roos girl that Red Wolfert snicked off so handsomely." " Red Wolfert," said Brant, scornfully. " Wolfert Valtmeyer dared not have touched captive of mine but as the instrument of a more powerful scoundrel than himself; and you, Bradshawe, must answer for the acts of your creature. Where is Miss De Roos ?" " Where ? Ask Wolfert. If I use the rascal now and then to farther our political intrigues, does it follow that I know aught of his amorous doings ? I suspected that you would hold me accountable for his dealings with this wench ; for it certainly was a bold flight for such a kite as Valtmeyer to strike at game like her." *' Beware, Mr. Bradshawe ; there are limits to my patience, and you cannot deceive me. It was through your aid that Au-neh-yesh escaped from the hands of the rebels. He repaid you with infor- mation that you valued beyond aught else, for no scruple could prevent you from availing yourself of it to tear the young lady from the refuge in which I had placed her. You, and you only, with the ruf- fian Valtmeyer and my wayward and unhappy son for your instruments, have spirited away this girl, for whose safety both our friends and our foes hold me now accountable. Bradshawe, I tell you, if one hair of her head be injured, I will wreak vengeance 10 dire that men shall stand aghast when they hear Q2 % 186 0RBT8LABB; m i\ 4 \IL 4 of it. The tortures of the Indian stake shall be merciful to those which you shall suffer, till the hapless fate of Thayendanagea's captive is forffot- ten in the hideous punishment of her destroyer. The voice of Brant was calm and low as he pro-* nounced these words; but the ascendancy of his mind was now so completely established over that of Bradshawe, that, daring and reckless as he was, they fell with withering effect upon his spirit ; and he even, for a moment, shivered like the criminal who has just heard his awful and irrevocable doom passing the lips of one who is endowed with all earthly authority to inflict the final sentence of a judicial tribunal. \' " She is safe — I believe — I know — she is — she must be safe," stammered forth the bold borderer, who, for the first time in his life perhaps, felt con- scious that his heart quailed and his cheek blanched beneath the eye of a fellow-mortal. " I left her last where I believed no earthly harm could reach her ; and, so help me Heaven, Sachem, there breathes no human being whom, with my life, I would soon- er guard from injury than this same lady." *' Yes ! as the cougar would protect the hare from the wolf that disputes his prey with him. Where left you Miss De Roos V* The distressed air of mortification that now mark- ed Bradshawe's features showed that he would gladly evade the question. He even turned his head quickly on one side, as if recourse to flight suddenly suggested itself upon the emergency. But the snowdrift that walled in the little hollow in which he stood shut out the desperate hope on that side. He turned his eager gaze to the other, but it straightway fell before the basilisk eye of the In- dian, who, itill grasping the bridle of Bradshawe* s horse, stood with one foot advanced, and his right A ROMANO! OV THB MOHAWK. 187 hand upon his knife, warily watching his victim. But the hand fell to his side, the foot was drawn back, and the deadly glare of his eye changed to a cold and stony gaze in the moment that the crest* fallen borderer slunk back to his former dogged atti- tude of unresisting dejection. ** Where is the lady ?" repeated Brant, between his clinched teeth. , " Take my secret, then, if I must speak — the Cave of Waneonda, where the stream which you Indians call the River of Ghosts holds its way far under ground beneath the forests of Schoharie, there in the — Hah ! what sounds are those ? May my tongue be blistered if its swiftness to betray has — " " *Tis Schuyler^s advancing column. I know the sound of his bugles,'' cried Brant, uneasily; and, even as* he spoke, a squadron of troopers, who form- ed the advanced guard of the Republican forces, wheeled around an angle of the road, and came gallopine forward in all the hasty disorder of new- ly-levied militia flushed with their first success in the operations of war. Their common danger — for Brant and his recent adversary were, on personal as well as political grounds, equally obnoxious to the popular party in their district — impelled them to simultaneous flight. But even at such an exigency, when his life seem- ed on the point of being yielded up to the sabres of this lawless and hot-headed soldiery, the generosity of the chieftain did not desert him. *' Save your- self," cried he to Bradshawe, in the same moment flinging his bridle into the hand of the royalist offi- But remember ! if you have deceived me cer. here, you had better perish on this spot than live to meet my vengeance." The last words were either unheard or unheed- ed by Bradshawe. He made no reply, but, leaping 188 orvvslasr; ,' ■' iwiftly into his saddle, struck the spurs into his horse, and dashed across the fields, so as lo titrn the right flank of the advancing party, and place a hill between himself and the threatening danffer. He had emerged from the hollow so suddenly tnat he gained a hundred yards almost from his starting- place before he was observed by the troopers. And it was well for him that such was the case ; for, as his dark figure swept the snowy waste, it offered so distinct a mark for the yeomanry sharp- shooters, that the volley which they fired, after vain- ly hailing him, must inevitably hay& proved fatal but for the distance. The militiamen, as Brant had perhaps anticipated, instantly wheeled from the road, and with tumultuous cries launched in pur- suit of the flying ofi[icer ; and, though the chase was abandoned with equal suddenness when they found themselves floundering through deep snowdrifts af- ter a fuffitire as well mounted as themselves, and who had soon placed a ridge of upland between himself and their fire, yet the circle which they made in again recovering the road enabled the stealthy Indian to slide unseen along a snowy swale, and sheltei himself in a thicket of ever- greens, from which he soon seized an opportunity to escape into the deep forest. Brant did not retire, however, until he had first seen the march of the Congressional army, whose main body was now at band. The forces were newly levied ; but, though exhibiting few of the.dis- ciplined traits oT veteran soldiery, yet the sturdy yeomanry wore individually that martial air which characterizes Frontiers-men skilled from their boy- hood to the use -of arms, alike in the wild forest- hunt and the Indian foray. The clump of cedars in which Brant had ensconced himself crowned a rocky knoll which commanded a turning of the ▲ BOMAIfOB OF TBI MOHAWK. 189 Toad ; and the stern though dejected mien with which he looked upon the pageant ; the gaze, half sullen, half admiring, which he fixed upon the serried bat- talion, as banner, a^a plume, and fluttering scarf, and bright bayonet flashing in the frosty air, swept beneath his view, might have marked the chief ai the personified genius of his fated race ; a warrior prophet, who gazed admiringly upon the battle cloud whose thunders he knew must destroy hit people. s^. t^w IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) c ^ i^jf 1.0 I.I l^|Z8 |2.5 •^ 1^ 12.2 - ^ lllllio 'n /, f ^/). '/ ^ W ^ .V "i^s. % Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716)873-4503 \ •sj :\ \ sv O^ '^ : A BOMANCB OV TBB MOHAWK. 191 preTented him from cro88in|; ; there the deep snow- driftSt or the steep and slippery banks, preTcnted him from descending to the frozen highway ; and now again there were appearances upon the oppo- site shore which deterred him from trusting himself upon the snowy waste, where his dark figure cross^ iiig over might be seen at a long gunshot, and tempt some idle patriot ranger, or officious *' committee-of- safety*' member to bring him to for a parley. The immediate personal peril weighed not, in- deed, a feather with him. Hut to be recognised and tracked in the snow to his ultimate destination might be fatal to the projects which he had now most at heart. The truth is, that, though Bradshawe had, when he found himself so hard pressed by Brant, designated the Cave of Waneonda as the {>resent retreat of Alida, he was not himself perfect- y assured that she was really there, though his last orders to his creature Yaltmeyer had been to make that disposition of his prize; and, believine that his wishes in this respect had been complied with, he was actually upon his way to the cavern, when the rumoured approach of Schuyler induced him momentarily to cnange his destination, and make the best oi his way to Sir John Johnson. Brant, as it appeared, had been misinformed as to Bradshawe's keeping himself aloof from his political friends, and attending to his own concerns in Scho- harie. His actual business had been among the Tories in the neighbourhood of Wyoming, whom he succeeded in confirming, and drawing off in a body, to unite their forces with a band of Iroquois which had established a position about the forks of the Susquehanna, upon the confines' of New- York and Pennsylvania. And this absence in that then unsettled country will account for his ignoruice of the projected movement and subsequent march of 192 obbthulsii; lii the patriots upon Johnstown, until he had reached thid southwestern settlements of Tryon county. He had unexpectedly, upon an order from Sir ^ John, started upon his ezpeaition immediately after planning the abduction of Brant's fair captire, which was so ruthlessly consummated by his crea- ture Yaltmeyer. He had heard of Valtmeyer's suc- cess only through an Indian runner charged with letters from Sir John, by whom Yaltmeyer also con- trived to transmit intelligence from himself. The tidings from either spoke of the precarious condi- tion of their party, and Bradshawe determined that, whatever course public affairs misht take, his own private views should not necessarily be thwarted. \ At present he thought only how he could best make sure of the prey which Yaltmeyer had thus far secured for him. That ruffian, immediately upon the seizure of his Tictim, had, by the aid of confederates, transported her to a lonely cabin upon the skirts of the settle- ments, where a thrifty innkeeper, privately associ" ated with the outlaw in certain matters of business best known to themselves, maintained a small es- tablishment, which he dignified with the name of his Dairy Farm. The inn of mine host lay some miles distant from this possession upon the public hiehway. During the first months of the present troubles it had been used alike by both parties as a rendezvous for their public meetmgs. But as the cause of the Whigs advanced in popularity, the opposite faction appear- ed to have withdrawn their patronage from the house, though there were some shrewd surmises, that the landlord did not therefore suffer in his coffers. But when it was whispered that the Dairy Farm har- boured a nest of Tory spies, and served merely as a sort of scouting-post to collect "political gossip ▲ BOBIAIICB OF Tarn MOHAWK. 193 from the inn below, the close inquiry that was at once instituted, followed by an examination of the tavern-keeper before a committee of safety, elicited nothing to inculpate that worthy, and, as every one thought, much-injured individual. An old black woman and a strapping mulatto lass, whose labours in the dairy were superintended, from time to time, by the pretty daughter of the proprie- tor, seemed the only permanent or occasional occu- pants of the place. The old woman was deaf and suffering from rheumatism ; the mulatto seemed an exception to thd generality of her quick-witted race, in being as stolid and stupid of intellect as she was simple and isnorant ; and the pretty Tavy Wingear was known the country round as a sprightly, frank, and guileless girl, whom no one would think of ma^ king the depositary of a political secret. All suspi- cions about the Dairy Farm were allayed, and it became nearly as safe a house for the royalist par- tisans as ever, until the affair of the Hawksnest, subsequent to which the Tories had been shy of holding their secret meetings anywhere in this im- mediate neighbourhood. Such was the spot to which Valtmeyer bore his prisoner ; and here, having the two Africans to at- tend upon her, Alida had passed even months, with DO signs of approaching rescue to cheer her solitude. Valtmeyer was often, though never for any lenaUi of time, absent from the house ; and irksome as this imprisonment became, yet, though he proffered her the full range of the premises whenever his eye was there to watch her motions, this was just the season when confinement to her chamber became most wel- come. Long weeks wore on, and the hope of release be- came almost extinct in her bosom. The summer was gone ; autumn, with its varied tints, made the Vol. I.— R ii," ifci % ':.r' '='*" '■lip. 104 ORSTSLABK ; forests around like one gorgeous bed of tulips to the eye. Winter was at hand, with all its icy rigours ; yet the lapse of the seasons and the change of the foliage, as she viewed it from her window, was all that varied the monotonous hours of the unhappy Alida. Once, indeed, and only a few days after she was first immured in this lonely spot, her heart leap- ed as she. heard the blithe tones of a gay young fe- male voice beneath her window. But, flying to the casement, she was scarcely permitted to catch a fflimpse of the young woman from whose lips came the cheering sound, before Valtmeyer had rushed into her apartment and rudely drawn her back from the window. Upon two other- occasions she heard the same tones at a distance ; and once, before the autumn became sere, she had seen a stranger female afar off, fathering flowers upon the hillside, while a Cana- dian pony stood grazing near her. The next mo- ment the country damsel leaped into her saddle, and, galloping gayly past the house, guided her active pony amid the stumps of the clearing until she had reached the road, and soon after disappeared to the Yiew of Alida. The sight of that free-limbed cour- ser, and the thought of escape which its appearance suggested, awakened a fresh yearning for freedom that was all but maddening. But neither the horse nor the ridet ever appeared again. As the winter set in, however, a change of scene, if not a release from imprisonment, was soon to be realized by the unoffending captive. Bradshawe, alarmed for the security of his prey, had written to Valtmeyer by the runner who had brought him a missive from that worthy confederate, giving h slow- ing account of his successful adventure. His letter urged Valtmeyer to lose no time in moving Miss De Roos from so dangerous a neighbourhood. For f tulips to the I icy rigours ; ihange of the dow, was all the unhappy lays after sne er heart leap- jay young ie- nying to the i to catch a )8e lips came ' had rushed er back from rd the same the autumn male afar o£f, hile a Cana- he next mo- r saddle, and, i her active intil she had eared to the imbed cour- I appearance for freedom ler the horse ige of scene, s soon to be Bradshawe, d written to mght him a ving a clow- Hisletter noving Miss :hood. For A ROMAWOB OF TBI MOHAWK. 106 AIida*8 friends were scouring the country round for traces of Thayendanagea's captive. Her fickle-minded but high-spirited brother, so far from slackening in his endeavour to rescue her after the first ill-starred attempt already commemo- rated, had twice beaten up the Mohawk's quarters with a airong band of border yeomanry ; nor did he give up dogging the movements of Brant until the chief had crossed the frontier and passed into Can- ada for a season. Despairing, then, of recoverinff his sister by the means hitherto used. Derrick had made his way to the head-quarters of the patriot army, where, offering his sword to his country, he lived in^he hope of obtaining tidings of the lost Alida through the medium of the first flag of truce that should be sent to the royalist generals in Canada. Bait, too, the humble but zealous friend of the Hawksnest family, adopting less readily the belief that Brant had removed bis captive across the fron- tier, had, after accompanying Derrick in his boot- less wildwood quest at the north, renewed a diligent search among the haunts of the Tories nearer home. It was the restless and prying offices of this faithful fellow — which Valtmeyer, with characteristic hardi- hood, seemed to make light of when detailing them to his employer — that awakened the anxiety of Brad- shawe for the better security of his prize ; and his letter designated a remarkable cavern in Schoharie county, well known both to the outlaw and his ruf- fian principal as the best retreat for security ; and it commanded that, as soon as the winter snows should allow of easy and rapid transportation, a covered sleigh should convey Alida, her two attendants, and such furniture as would be indispensable, to thii ^ dungeon fastness. A valuable farm on the German Flats, with the promised manumission of the Afri- can servants, who were actually the slaves of Brad* '111!' ■!5' 'I ■• '1 4I# ^ #■ 196 obitslabb; M'.i- M"t- •hawe, wai the promised reward for these serrices if they should be faithfully and effectually rendered. This letter was the last connnnunication which Bradshawe had held with the lawless instrument of his crimes. He was now about to realize how far his behests had been obeyed. He burned with impatience to ascertain the result of Valtmeyer's machinations, and he ground his teeth, in wrath at the thought that the momentary quailing of his spir- it before that of Brant had betrayed his secret, en- dangered his final triumph over Alida, and perhaps compromised the safety alike of his confederate and himself. His horse had long since become way- worn and jaded ; still it was scarcely possible that Brant, thouffh he might have taken a more direct course for the cavern, could on foot accomplish the journey as soon as himself. His rage and vexation at the bare possibility were for a moment insupport- able ; and then, as he ferociously vented his feel- inffs upon his tired steed, struggling now with diffi- culty through the deep snowdrifts, he became ealmer the next instant upon rememberins that Brant was alone, and that Taltmeyer, in perrorming his duty of castellan, might possibly despatch the officious and insolent Monawk. In the mean time, as the short winter's day ap- proached to a close, Bradshawe himself began to suffer for the want of refreshment; and he was compelled to admit, at last, that it was impossible for his horse to proceed farther, and that he would prove useless on the morrow unless the wants of the animal were sooniadministered to. And, fortu- nately for both, an asylum soon presented itself in the dfeserted cabin of^some fugitive settler; whom fear of the Indians had driven from his solitary clearing in the forest to some safer home. storm of rain and 9leet set in a few milneiitf A BOMANOI OV THI MOHAWK. 197 lese 8emc«8 ily rendered. «tion which nstrument of Jize how far turned with Valtmeyer's L in wrath at 3^ of his spir- B secret, en- and perhaps federate and econne way- possible that more direct :oinpIish the md Yezation It insupport- ted his feel* w with diffi- ;ame ealmer t Brant wai ng his duty he officious er's day ap- ilf began to ind he was inopossible St he would le wants of And, fortu- :ed itself in ttler;whom lis solitary J. w iii#Beiiti after the horseman gained this welcome shelter; but he heeded not its peltings without, as, after tethering his horse in one corner of the shanty, he kindled a fire upon the hearth, and by its }ight dis* covered a pile of unshocked corn, which he soon laid under contribution, both for himself and his steed. He foddered the horse, while still heated, with the dried blades and husks only, busying him- self in the mean time with shelling the ears. The grain thus procured was partly pounded up, and, by the aid of snow-water, converted into hoe-lutely peril- s traversing li the title of iward which years been ^uld be diffi- Bradshawe e geograph- CHAPTER IV. TBI CAVERN OF WANBONDA. " Earth hath her wondrous scenei, but few like thii. ' The everlaiting lurge hath worn itself A pathway in the solid rock ; and there, Far in those cavemed chambers, where the warm, Sweet sunlight enters not, is heard the war Of hidden waves, imprisoned tempests — bursting > Anon like thunder ; then, with low, deep moan. Falling upon the ear — the mournful wail. As Indian legends tajy, of spirits accursed." Mas. Ellct. In the hilly region of Schoharie county, where the Onidegra ridge of the Helderburg mountains extends its flanking battlements of perpendicular rock along the lovely vale of the Schonarie kill, there ran in former days an old Indian pathway. The principal route between Schonarie court- house and the hamlets to the east and west of that settlement, as well as the gieat Indian trail between Catskill and Canajoharie, had a course nearly par- allel with this path, and it had therefore been neg- lected for so many years as to be nearly forgotten by every one, save some roving Indian that now and then straggled into the settlements, or the white hunter, who, tired with traversing the forest thickets and rocky defiles of the adjacent mountains, took his homeward way along this secluded but well- beaten path. This trail, where Bradshawe was now travelling it, was walled by huge buttresses of rock upon the west, while its terraced edge commanded, through the leafless trees, a complete view of the vale of the Schoharie upon the east ; and as a burst of sunshine f!:!;.. 800 OBirfLABMl !,t?t i! >-; * Wl: e? er and anon lighted up with imilet that landicape which even in winter is moit lovely, even the heart of 10 reckleit an adventurer was touched with the idea of carrying rapine and devastation into a scene 80 exquisitely calm and rural ; " yet such," thought he, with a sternness more in unison with his gener- al character, " such is our only policy, if the King's party ever asain get the ascendancy in the district. We must take the hearthstones from under these people, and then thevMl bother us no longer about their parchment privileges." Alas! did Bradshawe mean to prophesy that Johnson and his bands should sweep, like the be- som of desolation, over this fated region within two years afterward? Did he foresee the part which t men as ruthless as himself should play in those dark days of monstrous violence ? <. But now, as he remembers the devious route that he has travelled to avoid the settlements, and looks back upon the road behind him, circling wide to the east and south of his ultimate destination, the des- perado remembers again that Brant may have reach- ed it before him. lie spurs his horse along the narrow path, descends toward the valley, approach- es the village, wheels off, skirls the valley, and, as- cending once more, tracks his way through a forest of walnut and maples, and arrives at last at the yawning mouth of Waneonda. A moment sufficed Bradshawe to secure his horse, and then he impatiently hurried to descend. The top of the pit, sQijfie twenty or thirty feet in di- ameter, was wholly bidden from the eye by some huge trees which had probably been felled across it purposely to screen tne opening. But their roots were so grown around with thickets, and the trunks lay tossed about in such disorder, that no desisn was apparent in their arrangement ; and they mignt U: i:. ▲ ROMANOV or TBM MOHAWK. 201 It landscape sn the heart sd with the into a scene )h" thought li his gener- F the King's the district, iinder these onger about )phe8y that hke the be- I within two part which ly in those 18 route that s, and looks wide to the 3n, the des- have reach- i along the , approach- ey, and, as- igh a forest last at the secure his descend. r feet in di- e by some ed across it their roots the trunks no desiffn they might hi?e been thought to be blown down by the wind, or fallen from natural decay precisely where they now lay. Below this funnel-like cavity, which was not more than ten feet in depth, there opened a narrow fis- •ure about half that breadth, but extending down- ward into perfect darkness. The top of this black chasm was likewise crossed by several sticks of timber; and to the stoutest and longest of these was attached a perpendicular ladder of rope fifty feet in lensih, secured by the lower end to the rocka below. The ladder was coated with ice, and Brad- shawe was compelled to clutch closely the frozen ruiiffs as his feet slipped repeatedly in descending. A sloping declivity of rocks received him ; and io rough and precipitous was his pathway, now ren- dered doubly perilous by the mud and half-frozen •lime from the dripping walls above, that he would scarcely have dared to venture farther amid the darkness that reigned below. But, groping about for a few moments, he felt the broken limb of a tree, and, passing his hand along it toward the trunk, discovered that a new convenience had been provi- ded since last he visited the spot, and he readily perceived that it must have been for the accommo- dation of Alida that the ponderous piece of timber had been plunged down and placea in its present situation. Lowering himself down the tree in an oblique direction, he soon entirely lost sight of the opening above him ; and the temperature of the cave became so mild that traces of ice were no longer discovered. A ladder of wood then |;ave him a firmer foothold down the third descent ; and a fourth declivity of rough rocks brought him to the bottom of the cavern. The adventurer was now one hundred and fifty feet beneath the surface of the soil ; and no one, un- «,,. j''i '#■ 202 ORBYSIJkBB : if: y less as perfectly familiar with the cave as was Brad- shawe, could have safely effected the descent amid the darkness which reigned around him. The hor- izontal passage in which he now found himself was about ten or twelve feet in breadth, nearly half of which space was occupied by a rivulet running in a southern direction ; and, keeping as close to the wall on his left as possible, Bradshawe followed it for a few paces, until the roof of the cavern drooped so low that he could feel it with his outstretched hands as he placed them before him. Dropping now upon his knees, he crawled along for several yards, until his eyes were greeted by a stream of light which came through a narrow aperture on the left. He crawled through the opening, and entered an apart^^ ment some thirty feet in diameter by a hundred or more in height. ^ Had Bradshawe possessed a taste for the grand and beautiful in nature, the appearance of this chamber might have arrested his attention. The ceiling was fretted with stalactites ;* the walls hung with a rich tracery of spar, which likewise, in a thousand fantastic forms, encumbered the floor upon which, in the course of ages, its broken fragments had fallen. But a solitary lamp, fed with bear's fat, which stood upon a truncated column in the centre, dimly revealing the glistening objects around, seem- ed only to claim his attention as he eagerly advan- ced toward it. A bugle lay by the side of the lamp ; and, taking the latter only in his hand, he repassed throufih the fissure which had admitted him into "the Warder's Ryer ?" to the right, I to the north moving from r. lawe, turning explain how }sence, " the any shelter t to thank our valuable re- n now, that*8 howed signs went up into two, ' Wol- i cleared out iny but our- e, seizing a :d out of the ise who had le soon en- assage lead- e arms and vvhich Valt- stowaee of ^ho did not itory doings Valtmeyer, ader for the BEall, where every one seemed to be too much engaged in their own pastime to notice them, as, passing along the wall on one side, Bradshawe entered a narrow aper- ture toward the south, leading to a distinct suite of apartments. Here Valtmeyer soon brought him the refreshment he so much needed after the toils he had undergone. In one of these chambers, where the air was ever cooled and kept in motion by the dripping of water from above, a thin plate of stone upon which it fell emitted a sound not unlike that which proceeds from the body of a guitar or other stringea instru- ment when the wooden part is lightly tapped by the finger. These monotonous tones, varying only at times to a higher and wilder key, as if the cords of the instrument were swept by some unseen hand, mingled strangely with the low murmur of their voices as the two adventurers conversed together ; while the huge Cyclopean frame of the freebooter, and fiery eye and reckless features of the Tory cap- tain — which looked doubly wan by the blazing torch that the other held before them while sitting in deep shadow himself — ^formed one of those studies which the old masters so loved to paint. A few monients sufficed Bradshawe to despatch his hasty meal, and possess himself of all the in- formation which his zealous coadjutor had to im- part ; and, repassing again through the Outlaws* Hall, without pausing to make himself known to the half-drunken revellers who were still grouped about it much in the same attitudes in which they were first introduced to the reader, he motioned silently to the v^erd-looking ferryman who had brought him into these gloomy realms, and once more regained the shores of the -subterranean lake. The black pool wad then again crossed; and, passing by the Warder's Room on the right, the two < • 208 OBBT8LABS ; s 'h' pursued the arched paesage which Bradshawe had Defore traversed, until they came to the open space in the cave where he had first reached the bottom in descending from the region of dayhght to, these grim abodes. The cloistered arches above rose so loftily that the roof was shrouded in impenetrable darkness ; and here, through a small aperture in the wall on the left, was again heard the sound of water. It seemed not to be a still, sullen lake, like that he had just crossed, but a flowing river, whose waves dash> ed heavily and slowly against the cavernous rocks which confined them on either side ; and now, taking a torch and paddle in his hands, and placing himself in a recumbent posture in a boat barely large enough to admit of its being pushed through the crevice, Bradshawe, by the aid of the half-breed, entered the opening in the curtain of rock, and launched upon the stream beyond. The subterranean voyager, who /first pushed him- self along with his hands only, soon found the vault to enlarge above him, so that he could sit erect in the boat and use his paddle. The water, so clear that his torchlight gleamed upon the bottom some thirty feet below him, was only broken at long in- tervals by a mimic cascade scarcely a foot in height, over which he easily lifted his shi&llop, and proceed- ed upon his errand to the distant chamber where Alida was immured. In this spacious apartment Valtmeyer had partitioned off a ary place by erect- ing a bark shanty over it, and made other provisions for the unhappy female, from whom, in the outlaw's slang, it took its name of " The Lady's Chapel." But Bradshawe has now gained the threshold of that the dreariest bower in which Beauty ever yet received her suiter, and we must pause before venturing to describe the strange and painful interview between them. .■iMk:^ » !l' IP A ROMANCE OF THB MOHAWK. 209 CHAPTER V. THE INTBRYIBW. ** Hernando. Thou art here Wholly within my power ; now, as a guest. Fair cousin, be less scornful. Izidora. Thou wouldst not dare to wrong me I ^ ^ Hernando, I would be Loth to do that ; I claim thy hand ; If thou dost scorn me, lady, then beware !" Velaaco, by Efis Saboint. " The hallowed honour that protects a maid Is round me like a circle of bright fire ; A savage would not cross it, nor shall you. f I'm mistress of my presence — cleave me, sir." — ^Willis. The ruffian Valtmeyer had not, as we have hint- ed, been wholly unmindful of the comfort of his captive when dragging her from the light of day to become the tenant of this dungeon-like abode. Whether this considerateness arose from motives utterly selfish, or whether the outlaw had really some latent sparks of kindness in his rude bosom, it is impossible to say. But certainly he had been at mucn pains in preparing " the ChapeP for its oc- cupant before he ever brought her to the cave. The spot which he had selected for her tent or wigwam of birchen bark had been smoothed by fill- ing up its inequaUties with dry leaves ; and these, when covered by a piece of Indian matting, afford- ed an elastic and comfortable carpet. Hither he had, too, with much trouble — from the difficulty of transporting articles of any bulk through these sin- uous vaults — conveyed bedding, a chair or two, a table — which he was obliged to take to pieces, and S2 m: l!:t li;UM dio ORBTSLABS ; which cost him many an oath in reconstructing — ^and other household articles. Nor had he for- gotten even the ordinary kitchen utensils when pre- paring one comer of the Chapel for the accommo- dation of the two coloured women who were to at- tend upon Alida. It was probably owinff to these arrangements chiefly that the health of Miss De Roos was not utterly prostrated by the long weeks she was com- pelled to pass in the gloomy vaults of Waneonda. For though the air of this remarkable cayem is said to be perfectly pure, and the temperature mild and equable, yet such utler exclusion from the light of day must always be more or less prejudicial, esper cially to one whose anxious spirit is so worn by emotion that the frame needs all fostering care to prevent its giyi:?g way and releasing the tnrobbing tenant. But the thought of Death, which, to most char- acters in her situation, would often have suggested itself as a refuge, had perhaps never once occurred to Alida de Roos. She neither wished for it nor feared it. But she did fear that her bodily strength might give way ; her mind become enfeebled with the decay of her health ; that mind, upon whose in- born and conscious energies she so haughtily relied in the last emergency to which she might be driv- en. She did fear that the greatest trial ofits ascend- ency and its powers — for she knew that she was in Bradshawe's hands — might be deferred till her faculties were impaired by suffering and her hither- to indomitable spirit overborne. The thouffht that those faculties might fail their mistress, and that she might fall irretrievably into the power of Bradshawe, was maddening to her. She revolted from it whenever it swept athwart her brain. She tried to forget her sorrows ; she refused ▲ BOMANCS OF TUB MOHAWK. 211 constructing had he for- ts when pre- e accommo- were to at- rrangements DOS was not le was com- Waneonda. eiTern is said ire mild and the light of idicial, espep so worn by rine care to le tnrobbing 3 most char- ge suggested ice occurred d for it nor dily strength eebled with )n whose in- ghtily relied ght be driv- f its ascend- lat she was rred till her 1 her hither- ht fail their ibly into the her. She ithwart her she refused to entertain her griefs ; she endeavoured to postpone, as it were, reflecting upon the full horrors of her situation ; and she caught at every object within her reach that could occupy her attention, if it did not amuse her mind. She divided their duties with her attendants, and assumed all those which appertained immediately to the care of her own person ; she bor> rowed her needle of the mulatto, who was glad of an excuse for remaining unemployed, and sleeping away the indolent and monotonous hours ; and, lis- tening for hours to her dotard prating, she drew from the elder negress all the superstitious lore which formed the only furniture wherewith the mind of the decrepit crone was supplied. Alida unwittingly thus attached these humble companions to her ; and as their simple-hearted af- fection more and more manifested itself, she began at last to derive a certain solace from their sympa- thy which actually approached to pleasure in their society. The dungeon-doomed captive, who, in his solitary misery, has made friends of animals that belong to the very lowest and most loathsome orders of created beings, can alone, perhaps, appre- ciate this growth of friendship between a mind the most gifted and refined, and those the least tutored and liberalized. On the day — if the phrase be allowable in regions where night alone hath, since creation, reigned — on the day that Bradshawe came on his stern errand to the Lady's Chapel, Alida had, from some slight indisposition, rv:mained withdrawn in her tent ; and the two blacks, for the purpose of washing some household articles, had kindled a fire upon the brink of the stream, within a few yards of its door, where they sat watching a boiling kettle, and chattering together after the manner of their loquacious race. The souqd of their voices prevented their hearing lii;. H m |f ^1 8 i A i^dUi'^M i|:|i 812 OSBTSLABE ; Bradshawe's approach ; and as he extinguished his torch the moment he came within the guiding light of their fire, he was wholly unobserved till he stood suddenly before them. The shriek they simultaneously uttered at the apparition startled Alida from her couch, and she sprang to her feet, lifting, at the same time, the cur- tain of her tent, so that the light of a lamp suspend- ed from within fell brokenly across her loosely ar- rayed person. Bradshawe, motioning with the back of his hand as if he would cuff Hhe negroes aside, pushed his way at once rudely between them. " Shut up, you squalling black brutes," cried the ruffian, in a cnar- acteristic tone, which changed on the instant, as if belonging to another voice, as, bowing low, he sa- luted Alida when he had approached a few paces toward her. " I have come,'* said he, pausing in his advance, and casting his eyes, as in respect to her, upon the ground, " I have come, unheralded and unannoun- ced, I fear, no welcome visiter." " Unheralded ? Who but the savtfce Valtmeyer is your fitting herald ? Unannounced! What bet- ter than the terrors of this hideous dungeon could announce its proper jailer! Waste not the soft speeches that sit so idly on your lips, and are thrown away in my ears. *But tell me, tell me, Walter Bradshawe, whence come you, why come you ? Tell me why I am here ; for what monstrous wickedness have I been kidnapped, kept for months aloof from my friends and family, and brought to this spot ? and why do you stand there blasting my eyes with your presence ? Speak out, man ; out with it all, if words can syllable the foul contri- vings of your heart !" V Thus haughtily did Alida confront her spoiler; •f\^ A BOMANCf or THfl MOHAWK. S18 iguished his l^uiding light till he stood ered at the ich, and she ime, the cur- mp suspend- r loosely ar- : of his hand , pushed his Shut up, you m, in a char- instant, as if ; low, he sa- a few paces his advance, ler, upon the d unannoun- re Valtmeyer f What bet- mgeon could not the soft ips, and are me, tell me, [], why come at monstrous }t for months i brought to lere blasting k out, man ; e foul contri- her spoiler; and as she thus, in look as well as words, gave vent to her outraged feelings, while Bradshawe, standing on the declivity below her, seemed to stoop and cower before her presence, she looked — half emerfling from the drapery of the tent, with the Eale Tight from within brightening the outlines of er features and person, and leavincr the rest in deep shadow — she looked like some indisnant spirit, who, descending from a brighter world, nad pierced its way into these black realms to rebuke their un- hallowed master. " By Jove, she'll unhitch lightning against me next," said Bradshawe, mentally. *' She's a great girl, and no mistake, this same Mistress Brad- shawe f and then, still preserving his obsequious and almost reverential bearing toward her, he rejoined aloud, " I can bear this irom you ; this, and more, A\idEL./rMy heart has not now, for the first time, to be schooled in your unkindness. If you call it kidnapping to rescue you from the horrors of Indian captivity; if you call it outrage to provide a se- cluded and safe home for you, when the havoc of civil war has made thousands shelterless, and your own friends are either scattered or slain ; if you call it wickedness to snatch you from the neigh- bourhood of these scenes of horror as they thicken through the land, and provide you here a retreat which, rude and gloomy as I confess it is, still is not without its comforts and advantages ; if tRese humble, but zealous and unwearying efforts of one who has long since waived his right as a husband to win your regard as a friend, can make no amends for the one rash but well-meant act by which I would have made you mine — then — then, Alida — then—" "Then, sir!" said the lady, scornfully, as he ri: 814 OIUmLABB ; a .11 t I paused a moment for a word ; " well, sir, and what then r ** Vm d— d if / know," said Bradshawe to him- self. " The jade looks so cursed cool that my stump eloquence fails me. I must go it on some other touch.*' " Why don't you finish your speech, sir ?" repeat- ed Alida, noticing his hesitation. " Why stop you so short in your pleadings and specifications ? Even Mr. Bradshawe's enemies allow him the glibness, as well as the guile, of a county-court attorney." He did not reply, and the lady went on. " Brad- shawe, you are a skilful actor, a most specious hypocrite, though your selfish passions are too fit- ful and stormy to make you a consummate one. But you must deem me credulous indeed when you claim for yourself motives of disinterested kindness which would give the lie to all I have known of your character in long years gone by. The very attachment with whose declaration this cruel perse- cution began, was — " " Was true, pure, disinterested, by Heaven !" ex- claimed Bradshawe, now really speaking from his heart ; " was earnest and devoted as ever mortal man bore toward your sex. No, no, Alida, chafe me not with that. Had you but accepted my hon- ourable proposals when first I dared to press my suit, you might nave made me what you would. Wild ancT reckless as men called me, my mother's gen- tleness seemed born anew in my spirit whenever it turned to you." ^ " And where,*^' said Alida, not wholly untouched by this natural burst of feeling, yet shuddering as she spoke the words which followed, " where was that spirit of gentleness when those horrid nuptials were forced upon me ; when, by your lawless in- struments, I was torn from my home, and my hand I m ▲ nOMAMOB OV TBI MOBAWK. 81ft lir, and what ^ lawe to him- ool that my {0 it on some air r repcat- l^hy itop you itions? Even io glibness, as torney." on. " Brad- nost specious ns are too fit- lummate one. eed when you isted kindness ive known of y. The very 8 cruel perse- Heaven !" ex- ling from his 9 ever mortal , Alida, chafe jpted my hon- press my suit, would. Wild mother's gen- )irit whenever ]y untouched huddering as " where was orrid nuptials ir lawless in- and my hand to you in wedlock made the price by which alone you consented to redeem me from the licentioui hands of that young barbarian with whom you, at well as Valtmeyer, were colleagued ? That fearful niffht ! oh God ! oh God !" And the tiow agitated Auda covered her face with her hands, as if shutting out some hideous spectre which her imagination had conjured up for the moment. " You have never had reason," said Bradshawe, coldly, " to believe that I was privy to that deed of violence ; and though, for certain valuable political services he has rendered, I have since taken Valt- meyer into my confidence, no man has ever dared to whisper audibly that I was at that time colleagued with him. No, Alida, though you then disbelieved the tale, I can now only repeat the same story I told you then. And what are the circumstances? I nad been some weeks from home in a remote set- tlement, and, returning by a short road through the wilderness, I stop to bait my horse at the solitary lodge of an Indian missionary. I find the tifnid man in the utmost anxiety about a female prisoner that, within an hour, had been brought to the house by a ferocious young savage, whose band is hover- ing near. His followers have called the spoiler away for a few hasty moments, and left a white desperado to stand guard over the captive. I ask to see her, and, to my horror, discover that it is Alida ; she whom, a short month since, I had hoped to call my Alida ; she for whom still, as her rejected lover, I cherished the deepest respect, the tender- est affection. In my wrath I threaten Valtmeyer for the part he has played in this forced abduction. He derides my anger, and points to the smoke t^ the Indian fires near by, as seen through the win- dow. I entreat, I conjure him. I add bribes to my entreaties, and he consents to hear me, but re- m^ 216 omxTiiiAss ; jects the alternatires of flight or resistance as equal- ly hopeless in rescuinff the prisoner. There is hut one resort remains, lam not personally unknown to Au-neh-yesh ; I must plead to him. But will he hear me in such a cause ? He has already ayow- ed to the Catholic missionary his intention to marry the white woman ; will he be dissuaded from his course by words, when his deeds have Just proyed (he determination of his character. No ! there is no way of rescuing you from the ruthless hands of that licentious son of Brant, but by convincing him that you are already married ; that, in a word, you are my wife. Proofs are wanting ; for, as you do not bear my name, t must make it appear that the espousals long since took place clandestinely. The missionary is the only party at hand whose testimo- ny will be believed ; but he refuses to give it falsely. He will not swear that we are married unless the rite be solemnized ; but he consents, if we accept his ministry at once, to leave a blank in the mar- riage certificate, which I can antedate, so that Au- neh-yesh sliall have no suspicion of being over- reached. What remains to be told T You startle from a stupor as you hear the dreadful sound of his voice approaching from a distance ; there is not a moment to be lost ; the service is hurried through ; you faint at the last response, but the ceremony is finished, and the demi-savage foiled in his claim before he makes his appearance at the door." " God of mercy !" passionately exclaimed Alida, clasping her hands together, " is Thy truth like hu- man truth? Not one word which that man has spoken can I gainsay ; yet, while the very scene he describes passed before my eyes — my own eyes — I feel, I know, that it was all false ; false, fiend- ishly false. A lib; a living, breathing, moving lie.* / K 1 A ROMANCB OF THE MOHAWK. 217 tnce as equal- There is hut ftUy unknown But will he ilready aTow- uion to many tded from his re just proTed No ! there is hless hands of onvincinc him in a word, you for, as you do ppear that the estinely. The (vhose testimo- give it falsely, ried unless the L if we accept k in the mar- te, so that Au- 3f being over- ! You startle ul sound of his there is not a irried through ; e ceremony is d in his claim he door." [claimed Alida, Y truth like hu- that man has the very scene —my own eyes e ; false, fiend- athing, moving She paused. ** Yet I did see that stony-eyed priest ; I did hear Bradshawe pleading with Valtmeyer ; I do remember leaping forward when I hesod the voice of that red barbarian, whose naked arm had been aroiind my waist an hour before. — More I re- member not till they showed me that fatal certifi- cate ; but even then I did not think that this was all a cruel inveiglement, and Bradshawe a specious villain, a most accursed. — When and whence, then, came this firm conviction that I was foully dealt with — that I was a blind victim in the toils of de- mons?" The ill-starred lady, while speaking thus, with eyes intensely fixed on vacancy, pushed back with her fingers the long tresses from her brow, as if her intellectual as well as physical vision could thus be cleared. Then shaking her head, from which the dishevelled hair again tell slowly to her shoulders, she turned and fixed on Bradshawe a look so mourn- ful yet so piercing, that even his features of bronze betrayed the uneasy and painful emotion it awaken- ed. But whether that emotion was one of alarm for the future or of remorse for the past ; whether his guilty heart quailed beneath that penetrating glance, or whether the grief-stricken mien of the Beautiful woman whom he had reduced to this con- dition of forlornness touched some latent feeling of pity and regret, it was impossible to say. The slight agitation passed rapidly from his counte- nance, and, folding his arms with a composed but dejected air, in wmch something of dignity was not unmingled, he said, " Madam, it is in vain for me to attempt removing these ungenerous, these monstrous suspicions. F shall never attempt to combat with them more ; nor would I now have said what I have said, save that I always attributed your hwror of my legal claim Vol. I.— T I ! ' •'m m Hi,, 218 ORBTILAER ; ; i \ n upon your hand to some painful impression upon your mind, made during the fits of delirium which marked the long illness that followed those unhap- py nuptials. I therefore suspended that claim till years should intervene and efface these frightful imaginings. I for years avoided molesting you with my hateful presence, though, unseen by you, I was x)ften hovering near. I kept secret the bond of union between us. I thought that time might soft- en the bitterness of your aversion. I hoped to melt at last that heart of obduracy. But I have reason- ed vainly. An opportunity such as I have recently availed myself of to prove my watchful affection and devotedness, may never again occur ; and if it does, what will be my reward if I embrace it ? Scorn and contempt — ay, those are my wages — scorn for the feelings that prompted the service, contempt for the claim I would thus purchase on your regard." The lady bowed her head and wept. The bor- derer saw he was gaining an advantage, and deter- mined to pursue it. She spoke not, and he thus went on : " Hear me, Alida : there was a time when, in the full tide of youth, madly as I loved you, I would never have taken you as a reluctant partner to my bosom. But years of care and disappointment have sobered this arrogance of all-exacting affection. I am, alas ! no longer young ; and the freshness of both our lives has passed away for ever. I never have loved, I never can love, another than you ; ,and you —you can nevfer belong to another until my death shall set you free. Why, then, oh why shall we both continue to be miserable for our remaining years ? Why will you not make it my privilege, as it is my right, to minister to your happiness, by crown- ing mine ? Why not confide in the partner whom k ViM ▲ SOMANCB OF THB MOHAWK. 219 e when, in the Destiny has, for good or ill, allotted you, and per- mit me to announce you to the world as my wife ? These wars must soon be over," pursued the Tory captain, gathering confidence as he proceeded ; " the rebels are even now splitting into factions among themselves ; and when the king's friends come in for honour and offices, and the forfeited estates of heavy-pursed and rich-landed traitors, Walter Brad- shawe's claims for the spoils that are won by loyalty and valour will not be the feeblest among them. Ay, and men do say that titles will not be with- held when success snail finally entitle us to the full meed of royal bounty and graciousness. Wilt be my Lady Bradshawe, fair Alida ?" And the wily suiter, dropping not ungracefully on one knee, tried that half frank, half humorous smile which had made more than one village maiden pronounce him positively handsome when his features wore it, and which others of the sex, less innocent, had call- ed " the devil's own trick" when they had learned to rue its influence upon their hearts. But Alida — though she too might, in some sense, be numbered among his victims — was made of different metal from those whom Bradshawe had often moulded to his purpose. " Kneel not to me," she cried, " thou base and sordid slave ! thou wretched minion of power de- bauched and misapplied ! thou most fitting tool of drunken tyranny ! Share thy name ! thy loyal name, thy honours, thy titles, forsooth ! Vile parricide, I thank thee for reminding me of my bleeding coun- try, which even now is convulsed with the throe of casting out such wretches as thou from her bosom. By Heaven, Bradshawe, I would rather these rocks should close together and crush me where I stand, or that yon black stream should float my senseless corse to an abyss still lower than that in which your I (- III! II M iillil ft > w r;> .' J. t ' 220 orbtUiAIr: k: Tillany has already buried my living frame ; I would, I would, rather than bear the name of your wife before men for a single day !** " There may be a fate reserved for you in these vaults worse than either," said Bradshawe, in a voice husky with passion, as he regained his feet and stepped a pace or two backward. A sheathed pon- iard, unnoticed by himself, slipped from his belt as he rose, and lay upon the floor of the cavern midway between him and Alida. Her quick eye caught sicht of the weapon in a moment ; and, al- most ere the dreadful import of the last words had reached her ears, she haa sprung forward, plucked the dirk from the ground, and recovered her former position. Bradshawe, recoiling first at the impet- uous bound she had made toward him, now actu- . ally turned pale when he saw her slowly draw the weapon from its sheath, and gaze with a cold smile upon its gleaminff blade. He would have spokeo, but horror kept him tongue-tied ; he woula have leaped forward to snatch the deadly steel from her hand, but the* least motion on his part would pre- cipitate the catastrophe which he verily believed was impending. But the next movement of Alida relieved the fearful suspense that agitated himr She calmly, after feeling its point, passed the naked dagger through her girdle, so as to secure it to her person. " It is small, but it will do," she said, flinging the sheath to the feet of Bradshawe. " Your power over me £rom this moment has its limit. Tne in- strument of my deliverance is in my own hands ; and you can do no more than compel me to use it," she added, with an air of determination, so quiet as sufficiently to speak her resolve, even if the words had not been significant enough to reveal her pur- pose. 'jrff 'ill I, ▲ ROMANCB or TRB MOSAWK. 221 me ; I would, of your wife you in these we, in a voice his feet and iheathed pon- rom his belt if the cavern 5r quick eye ent ; and, al- ,st words had ^ard, plucked id her former It the impel* n, now actu* wrly draw the a cold smile tiave spoken, I would have ^eel from her t would pre- rily believed ent of Alida ^itated him: id the naked ure it to her , flinging the Your power it. The in- own hands ; le to use it/* , so quiet as f the words tal her pur- " I meant not — I did not mean — '* stammered Bradshawe. " Our conference is over, sir ; and it has a fittinff end,** interrupted Alida, haughtily, waving her hand. " I would be alone, Mr. Bradshawe." " Another time, then, when my care for your welfare, so far as I can study it in these dreary re- treats, shall have obliterated these ignominious sus- picions, this most ungenerous and unjust misinter- pretation of every word I utter, I will come, Alida, and in a few days, perhaps, may venture to — " ** Come, sir,' whenever you have made up your mind to the moment my doom is sealed ; but let the victim be released from the presence of the ex- f • ofily known by the 8obTi(][uet of Charq^ JMi Biad had nick- named him, had alwm enjoyed his confidence, and hitherto not undesKiredly ; though, while Brad- shawe regaided himself as tke patron of the half- m -s" ■» i-vr* „.l III PW Ht^ I'll t tl*; SS4 QKITSL4BEi breed, and entitled to his gratitude, the other, per- haps, had merely viewed their relations toward each other as a mutual a£fair of give and take, which left neither party under special obligations to the other. The half-breed, who had originally been a fisher- man by occupation, had, in lormer years, pointed out the cave to Bradshawe when acting as his guide to the trout-streams among the hills. Bradshawe, learning that the spot had been hitherto known only to the Indians, and, for some motive best known to himself, wishing that a knowledge of it should be extended to those white men only to whom he chose to intrust it, determined instantly to take the half- breed into his service, upon condition of his keeping the secret of the place. Time passed on ; the half-breed, carried to an- other part of the country, became a useless hanger- on of Bradshawe's establishment ; nominally a pro- vider for, but really a pensioner upon, Bradshawe's kitchen ; in short, one of that lounging, eel-catching degenerates of the aborigines that may still be found near some of the old families on Long Island, inci- dent, as it were, rather than belonging to the estab- hshment. The abduction of Miss De Roos, which made it necessary for Valtmeyer, who played the part of scapegoat in that afifair, to disappear from among men for a time, was the first thing that call- ed the half-breed and his secret into actual use. Since that time he had silently almost passed into yaltmeyei||;8ervice, who sometimes for a month together reiiioed^him in the cavern, of which he was a perfeictly contented tenant, and which grew more and moire like a h^^lj^ to him. Idle by nature, yet always to be relied imon when any duty was required of him, this inoneiyiive, tacfturn creature was one of the few human^eings who had never provoked the imperious insolence of BradsheweV 'm\. ▲ ROMANCE OF THB MOHAWK. 225 le other, per- I toward each Le, which left to the other, een a fisher- ears, pointed [ as his guide Bradshawe, > known only est known to it should be lom he chose ike the half- f his keeping rried to an- iless hanger- linally a pro- Sradshawe^s eel-catching till be found Island, inci- o the estab- Roos, which played the appear from ng that call- actual use. passed into or a month >f which he which grew e by nature, y duty was m creature had never ^radshaweV nature when brought in familiar contact with him. But his brutality did break out at last in the hour that, foaming with rage and vexation, he called for the service of the ferryman when returning from his fruitless interview with Alida. The jeer at his de- formity was resented by the half-breed even in the moment it was uttered ; for the means of venseance were at'hand, and, as we shall soon see, he did not hesitate to embrace them. The goodly company to which Bradshawe was now about to mtroduce himself in the Outlaws* Hall might, in the slight glimpse we have had of them in these deep cavern shades, have passed well enoush as a redoubtable crew of desperadoes, a real melodramatic set of brigands. But the truth is, that, though felon-loving old Salvator might have picked out a head or two among them for his sav- age pencil, a majority of these worthies would have formed a more suitable study for some American Wilkie — our own Richard Mount, perhaps — whose canvass, borrowing for the nonce some broader and bolder shadows, might delight in preserving the gro- tesque array of characters. Among Valtmeyer*s immediate crew there were, indeed, some as hideous-looking gentlemen as ever said stand and deliver upon the highway. Faces stolid yet ferocious ; looks blended of sinister mal- ice and sensual audacity ; wild, rude, and reckless- featured men, with that dash of the genuine savage in their aspect which is only acquired by pursuing a career of crime upon the extreme borders of so- ciety, where the practitioner incessantly vibrates between civilized and barbarian life ; a variety of the robber species, in shor%«uch as is only found upon our Indian frontiers ; such as the curious may occasionally there light upon even at this day ; but m i ' ■ ' \ liiii 826 OEBTILABB ; r.Jlii r£ . m such 88 only existed in perfection when the name of Red Woffert Valtmeyer was terrible in the land. * But, though these ill-omened visages flowered here and there from beneath the wolfskm cap or checkered handkerchief which swathed around the brows, and, with some tawdry plume or Indian med- al stuck in its folds, generally formed the headgear in this portrait-gallery of infernals, yet there was that both in the guise and features of many which was hardly in keeping with their present associa- tions. The complexions and appointments of a few betrayed them as city-bred and of luxurious nur- ture ; they were ill-disciplined youths, whom the mad spirit of loyalty, or some home disgust, or some silly boyish escapado, had driven from a pa- rent's roof to the stormy border, where, in the whirl of events, they had befin hurled, with the black- bearded men around them, into this place of bad spirits, where so many had huddled together /or safety^. O' :)thers, the faces were coarse, but not weath- er-beaten, and bloated in some instances, as if by the loose debauch of the roadside tippling-house, from which, perhaps, their swaggering air was like- wise borrowed. Here a red flannel shirt, breeches of corduroy, and thick-soled brogans betrayed the quondam vil- lage tradesman ; while there the coat of foxy black, or tattered blue with tarnished metal buttons, and shrunken underclothes of threadbare gray, might have bespoken some bankrupt pedler (or travelling merchant, as the country folk would more reveren- tially call him) ^ save that the rusty-hilted small- sword by his side, besp^^king his oldfashioned claim to gentility, might induce one to set him down as an absconding attorney. All of the motley group, however, notwithstand- :i;,ii!llll ^en the name B in the land. * ges glowered olfskin cap or ed around the »r Indian med- the headgear ^et there was ' many which esent associa- nents of a few luxurious nur- 18, whom the e disgust, or en from a pa- 3, in the whirl ith the black- place of bad I together /or lit not weath- nces, as if by ippling-house, I air was like- of corduroy, quondam vil- ofr foxy black, [ buttons, and gray, might (or travelling more reveren- -hilted small- shioned claim him down as notwithstand- A ROXANOB or TBB MOB AMU 2f ing these little discrepances, seemed to be cWge confreres, who were upon the choicest terms of fel- lowship together ; and thouffh Syl Stickne/s con- tribution of new-comers had been received at first rather coolly by some members of the company, they had all, doubtless, in other scenes and places, often consorted in brotherhood of some kind to es- tablish the harmonious sympathy which reigned among them. The tie of that brotherhood was political foith ! They were all possessed by that spirit which, next to the old democrat Death, is your only true lev- eller, bringing all men on whom it seizes, save only kings and demagogues, upon the same platform. Partu spirit had made them at, first co-labourers, and then co-mates together. But what mattered the temporary inconvenience of so inconffruous an asso- ciation ? The disagreeablenes» ana evils of their state a£fected only themselves ; and what mattered such - transient exposure when the well-being of countless generations was concerned ? Were they not loyal subjects, banded together to sustain, not merely the right of a crowneaking, but to preserve and fix the blessed precedence of rank, with all its orderly succession of prerogative, by which alone civilization can be susuiined ? Thus reasoned some four or five small landed proprietors or eentlemen farmers of undoubted re- spectability, who, having compromised their safety in the plots of their party by being seen riding home from more than one Tory rendezvous, were now compelled " to take earth" for a season, and share this den with the lowest dregs of the faction to which they belonged. These suffering partisans of the royal cause had been now for so many weeks crowded together in familiar contact with their present comrades, that there was really little in their iijiij. 288 OftlTflJkBB ; A) UM fc ;* }^i Ml bearing to disUnffuish them fi^om the rest, thouah a my ridin||-frock and broad-leafed beater, wiw a Mather in it of the same colour, or the uniform of the royal Greens, in which lome of them, who br^re a commiision in the yeomanry militia, were dretted, might hare marked them at being better apparalled than their comrades. ** Ah ! Bradshawe,*' cried one of these worthies, ** Bradshawe, my ace of trumps, I am rejoiced to tee you ; for there are so few faced cards in our pack here, that some of us would throw up our hands in very disffust weie it not for the royal game weVe playing. But by what devilish legerdemain are we • all shuffled here together?" ** Yes, Bradshawe," exclaimed another, " tell u^, if there no chance of our breaking away from this cursed hole till the rebels come to unearth us ?" " If you know if any better hole to creep into, gentlemen, there is nothing to prevent our parting company at any moment that suits your pleasure, ' dryly replied Bradshawe, at the same time saluting the company with a formal courtesy. His personal retainers, crowding tumultuously around him the moment they heard the sound of his Toice, prevented any farther parley with the group of gentlemen who had first accosted him, and with whom, indeed, Bradshawe seemed disposed to con- verse as little as possible. The truth is, that, though he had been more than once indebted to the hospi- tality of some of them, and would on no account have been so impolitic as to treat any of them with positive rudenesr, yet the presence of these royal- ists of the more respectable class put a check upon his conduct that filled him with chagrin ai^d vexa- tion. More than one of these gentlemen had, in less troublous times, been personally acquainted with m ''&} ' ' ^i,-. Eeit, though a a?er, wiui a le uniform of Btn, who brjre were dretted, er apparalled ese worthies, n rejoiced to ii in our pack ip our hands 1 game weVe Bmain are we ler, ** tell us, 'ay fronn this arth us ?*' creep into, our parting ur pleasure, time saluting tumultuously 1 sound of his th the group im, ana with >08ed to con- , that, though ;o the hospi- no account )f them with these royal- check upon in aiid veza- had, in less lainted with ▲ BOMANCl OF TBI MOBAWK. 289 the family of the unfortunate Alida ; and all of them were men of that stamp who would not hesitate to embroil themselves in deadly quarrel to succour a lady so iniquitously dealt with as Miss De Roos had been. Nor would his political faith or loyal services have been any shield to Bradshawe had these coun* try gentlemen dreamed of the villany he was prac- tising against the daughter of an old neighbour well known, and once universally beloved in the county. Their wrath, had it been once really awakened, Bradshawe would have laushed to scorn, and would soon have made them feel, in their present situa^ tion, the folly of chiding the lion when their heads were in his mouth. But while, for very natural rea- sons, not wishing that anything shoulcl create disu- nion between himself and his orother partisans, he felt that, however idly their indignation might ex- plode where they could be so easily overmastered by his immediate crew, yet, to brine his affair with Alida to a successful termination, the secret of the cavern must not be extended to more than were at present intrusted with it. It was therefore not witnout an inward feeling of satisfaction that he lis- tened to a proposition which one of the Tory gen- tlemen, coming forward in behalf of the rest, made him as soon as he was disengaged from receiving the boisterous welcome that others gave him in the Outlaws' Hall. '* We pardon the coldness of your greeting. Cap- tain Bradshawe," said this gentleman, " in consid- eration of the kindness we have already received from some of your servants ; and because our some days' experience of the difficulty of providing for. so many mouths in this place suggests that there must be limits to your hospitality, and — " " Nay, iiiy dear Fenton," said Bradshawe, seizing Vol. I.— U - Ii! 'i\ m 230 ORKTSLABR W ^i''^''-l f B I iK\; both hands of the speaker, " I beg you would not mention — ** " Pardon me, Captain Bradshawe/' said the Ref- ugee, bowing somewhat stiffly as he withdrew his hands from the familiar grasp of the other, " there are four or five of us here who have made up our minds where to dispose of ourselves ; and all that we ask is a couple of your retainers, to act as guides and packmen till we can make our way within the borders of Ulster county, where we are sure of a cordial reception at the house of a royalist gentle- man of our acquaintance." " The men, Mr. Fenton, are entirely at your ser- vice, if you insist upon thus abruptly taking leave of the poor entertainment I have to oner you. But why not, gentlemen, at the least, put off your de- parture till the morrow ?" " We had no idea of starting till to-morrow," re- joined one of the older royalists, bluntly. " Not at all, not at all, said Fenton, rather hur- riedly, and colouring at the same time as he appre- ciated Bradshawe's readiness to get rid of himself and his friends ; " we'll be off within the hour if your men can get ready." " Within the hour be it, since you will go," re- plied Bradshawe, turning at once upon his beel to give the necessary order. ** The churl !" muttered Fenton. " What can you expect from a hog but a grunt ?" echoed Sylla. *' If you sit down with docs, you must look for flejis," rejoined his brother Marius, as the classic piair stood listening to this colloquy of their betters. " I say, Squire Fenton," pursued Syl, " I mistrust Marius and Fll make tracks with you out of this darned hole. A fellow'll turn into a woodchuck if he burrows here much longer." ii\\ ou would not said the Ref- withdrew his )ther, " there made up oui i and all that act as guides ly within the Eire sure of a ^yalist gentle- y at your ser- r taking leave fer you. But off your de- » -morrow, re- 1, rather hur- as he appro- rid of himself n the hour if ivill CO," re- go," neel n his neel to but a grunt ?" nust look for 18 the classic ' their betters, rl, " I mistrust >u out of this woodchuck if A ROMANCE OF THE MOHAWK. 831 This accession to his party was gladly welcomed by Fenton at the time, though, as it included sev- eral of Syl's immediate friends and cronies, it proved subsequently disastrous from the undue confidence it gave Fenton in his numbers, as will appear in the sequel. The arrangements for their departure were soon completed, fiut the final exit of Fenton and his followers was attended by circumstances which can scarcely be understood unless we recur to other ac- tors in the scene, athwart whose shadows a new and strange form is but now flitting to mingle myste- riously with the rest. ^ We have already spoken of the feeling of bitter exasperation which had been excited in the bosom of the hunchback feriyman by the brutal language of his master, but we have not told that the hour which Bradshawe consumed in the Lady's Chapel had seen a trial of the half-breed's fidelity which, considering his Indian origin, was of the severest kind. Scarcely, indeed, had the Tory captain passed through the opening in the rock and launched in his boat upon the river beyond, before the Hunchback found himself in contact with another authority than that which had posted him there as sentinel. Hear- ing the fall of a pebble on the bottom of the cavern, he stepped quickly forward, and threw the light of his torch against the walls of the pit by which you first descend into the cave. He could discover no- thing. Presently another pebble rolled to his feet. It seemed to bound from a led^e of rock near him. Still he could not fix the direction whence it came ; and he climbs half way up the zigzag shaft of the pit to see if it can have been precipitated from without^ He lifts his torch aloft, so as to throw its light where the rope ladder is wont to be suspended from the m f ■ yh i'*' l.-#'-T*'r . 232 GRBYSLAER I crossed trees above. But all looks quiet there and safe. The ladder has been, as usual, drawn in and secured, a thin tendril of grapevine, passing over a cross timber above, being left hanging to raise it from within to its former place, when necessary. Suddenly he sees the grapevine vibrate. The ladder begins slowly to uncoil, and rise before his eyes. He leaps forward, and with one blow cf his hunt- ing-knife severs the vine, and the rope falls by his side. " Ugh !" exclaims an Indian voice without, as the swinging sliver comes burdenless to his hand. The swart features of the Hunchback become ra- ' diant at the sound as he tosses his torch above his head, and hails the stranger in the Mohawk tongue. The vine is again let down. The Hunchback quick- ly attaches it anew to the ladder of rope. It is drawn up from above. A towering figure darkens the opening for a moment, and then £rant stands beside the deformed outcast of his tribe. " My child, how fares he here with his white father r said the chief, kindly. " * The Broken Tomahawk,' " said the man, call- ing himself by his Indian name, *' has no father. The Mohawk owns not him, he owns not the white man. He is here on his own bidding, but will do the will of Thayendanagea." And, speaking thus, he was about to usher the chief farther into the cav- ern ; for Brant was known to him as the companion in arms of Bradshawe, and, as such, the Hunchback had no hesitatiofi in farthering his ingress. The Sachem, however, was by no means desirous of the interview which the half-breed thought he was seek- ing, and his errand here must be a brief one, if he «^ouId despatch it at all. He ascertained that nradshawe had already arrived at Waneonda, and assumed the personal charge of his captive. Brant's liet there and drawn in and )assing over a ig to raise it en necessary. I. The ladder fore his eyes. V cf his hunt- )e falls by his irithout, as the lis hand. :k become ra- Tch above his hawk tongue. :hback quick- rope. It is igure darkens JBrant stands be. ith his white the man, call- tas no father, not the white g, but will do peaking thus, • into the cav- lie companion e Hunchback ngress. The esirous of the \ he was seek- ief one, if he ertained that 'aneonda, and tive. Brant's ▲ ROMANCE OF THE MOHAWK. 23a only chance, then, of rescuing her, depended upon the aid and connivance of the half-breed ; and that aid could only be secured by awakening the fellow's Indian sympathies so strongly in favour of the Mo- hawk that they should overpower his fidelity to the white man. But the Hunchback, though evidently flattered by the frank confidence which the chief seemed to re-* pose in him, and listening with mute respect to the claims which he urged upon his services, was un* flinching in his trust. Brant could wring nothing from him save a promise not to reveal this secret visit to Bradshawe ; and even this promise was ac« companied with a condition which seemed some* ' thing like a threat upon the part of the Hunchback. "Let the chief go," said he. ** Let Thayendana- gea depart in secret as he has come. No bird shall whisper that he has been here, and Thayendana* gea will come no more," There was nothing, therefore, to be done with this stanch seneschal, unless Brant had chosen to strangle him where he stood, or hurl him deathward down the black pit whose entrance he guarded. But it was not in the heart of Brant to crush in cold blood a creature always so inoflensive, and now so Arm when he stood most exposed and defenceless. Had he debated such a thing in his own mind, how* ever, there was now hardly time to eflect it sue* cessfully ; for at this moment the enraged voice of Bradshawe was heard shouting to the half-breed, who waved his hand to Brant, as if motioning him to ascend and leave the cave at once, and then hur« ried to wait upon the Tory captain. Brant seized the opportunity to descend farther into the cavern, with whose peculiarities he was per- fectly familiar, and gained a recess of the rock not far from the fallen tree just as Bradshawe brushed ■111 Ij" f 234 ORBTSLAKB 1 rH-i U4i by it in traversing the passage. The hand of the Mohawk clutched the belt-knife, which was half drawn from its sheath as the glare of the Hunch- back's torch shone full upon him for a moment. The life of Bradshawe turned upon a cast. But, , haply, he passed by unheeding the peril at hand ; ^and the person of Brant being thrown the next in- stant into deep shadow, the knife was shot back into its sheath as he saw the danger of discovery had passed away. That momentary gleam of light, however, had revealed to Brant the features of the Hunchback, and the feelings which agitated them ; for he had overheard the contumelious epithets which Bradshawe applied to the unfortunate. Brant scarcely doubted what their effect would be unon the half-Indian nature of the Hunchback. If not a provocation to revenge, they would at least cancel all ties of kindness which bound him as a retainer of Bradshawe. Nor did the sagacious Mohawk err in his judg- ment ; for, following shortly afterward to the spot where the others embarkea upon the black lake to cross to the threshold of the Outlaws' Hall, the plashing of the ferryman's paddle had hardly died away upon his etur before he again heard its faint dip approach cnce more the shore from which he had just parted. The Hunchback, neither by look nor word, ex'^ressed his surprise at finding the chief awaiting ilini, but mutely drew up his boat, mar- shalled Branr forward to the opening in the curtain of rock, and aided him in launching upon the River of Ghosts. ^ A, ROMANCE OF THE MOHAWK. 235 CHAPTER VII. as a retainer # THE RESCUE. ■* His boat was nigh ; its fragile side Boldly the renturous wanderer tri^d; Indeed, it was a full strange sight To see in the track of the shostly lioht The swarthy chief and the lady bright, On the heaving waves borne on ; While her wan cheek and robe of white * The pale ray played upon, And above his dusky plumage shook ; Backward was flung his feathenr cloak, As his brawny arms were stretched to ply The oars that made their shallop fly." — Sands. Alida, to whom, Laply, the story of her family, desolated through the agency of Brant, was yet un- known, did aot hesitate to accept the deliverance proffered at his hands ; but the noble-hearted girl in- sisted upon the negroes, to whose kindness she was so much indebted, being first romoved from the reach of Bradshawe's cruelty ; for she knew that the first outbreak of his wrath would be terrible, and that it was upon these defenceless creatures it would fall. The little shallop would contain but two persons at a time, and many precious moments were consu- med in ferrying the whole party to the chamber where the Hunchback stood a sullen sentry. The negroes have already found their way to the outside of the cave without farther peril of discov- ery ; and now the swarthy chief and the bright lady have embarked upon those ghostly waters. Their frail boat has brushed safely through the flinty i: : 1 M P- !U ¥^' 236 ORBY8LABB; ml m WSfiA' 2 Ji ^w " I K \^ ' ^. > B^^^'f " |H|^LH' .' ^^^^Hr^p.f ^5^^ ffice of ward- n and his fol- le coolness of :e of mind of ivailed them, B Hunchback jfore the fore- shed the spot 3st imminent, brmed of the shawe's part- hamber from ;o daylight — d them fare- i make np, if tie warmth of seemed more sidy, as it ap- nd contented ird adieu, as, ped upon the i rest succes- lassed up the he first steep, iming that he of the party th the agility wet end was his officiout- A ROMANCE OF THE MOHAWK. 837 ness, and the rest followed, till the two brothers Stickney alone were left at the bottom. " Ho ! treason !" shouted Bradshawe, seizing the luckless Syl by the collar, and flinging him upon the flinty floor of the cave, as he was in the act of moving forward in his turn. " Charon ! Valtmeyer ! — ho there ! Charon, you humpbacked knave, what means this ? Ten men, the number of Fenton's party, have already gone up, yet these two Yankee pedlers are still below." " Pedler yourself. Captain Bradshawe," cried the sturdy Marius ; and, in a moment, the indignant Syl having sprung to his feet, the two New-Eng- landers had rushed together upon the Tory captain, hurled him against the wall of the cavern, and scrambled up to the landing-place where stood the Hunchback, flinging his torchlight over the pit be- low. Bradshawe, recovering himself, cocked a pis- tol and levelled it at Marius on the instant. " Hullo ! capting," cried the undismayed Syl, pressing down the head of his brother, so that the rays of the torch passed over it, and left only his own arm to aim at. " Don't 1 e such a darned fool, capting, as to throw away ;; ^ur shot upon us, who raaly have had nothing to do with this muss. Hum- py here's your man, I reckon ; and, if you wait a moment, I'll pitch him down to you." How far the doughty Syl might have succeeded in a tussle with the active half«breed in such a sp it is impossible now to say; for the Hunchba was about to prepare himself for the encounter^ which he did by quickly flinging the torch from his hands into the abyss below. But the movement that he makes in leaning over to hurl it at Brad- shawe exposes the upper part of his person for an instant, and the flash of Bradshawe's pistol illumi- nates the vault in the moment the blazing missile '•f « , ,-1 fi/ m if' SI** U 238 ORBTILABR leaves the hand of the Hunchback, who instantly fol- lows it, shot to death, and tunnbling from ledge to ledge, a mangled corpse, at the feet of the Tory captain. " Sylla, Marius," shouted Bradshawe, when the reverberations had subsided, " halt the party, and # tell them there is treason among us." But no an- swer came from the classic pair, who had already made their exit from the cavern. Bradshawe, whose presence of mind seems to have deserted him for a moment, instead of at once following the retiring {)arty, groped his way to the Warder's Room, eager- y seized the lantern which was ever kept burning there, ferried himself across the lake, summoned Valtmeyer, with him recrossed the black pool once more, and, leaving his worthy adjutant in the cham- ber where the Hunchback had found a tomb, launch- ed himself upon the River of Ghosts, and wended his way to the remote cell where Alida was immured. The bats were now its only tenants, and the voice- less spot, with no light save the torch of the gloomy voyager to illumine its dark walls, seemed dreary and chill as it had never seemed before to his eyes. The baffled Bradshawe rejoined his comrade. ** Have that carrion flung out to the wolves ; or, stay, it may remain till to-morrow, when we will all move away together." " Do we carry any woman's baggage with us ?" asked Yaltmeyer, keenly eying his superior. " No, Wolfert. I give you those niggers wher- ever you may find them." " And the farm ?" " D — n the farm, and you too, sir ! Don't you see, man, you are plucking at my heartstrings ? The girl's gone ; lost to me, perhaps, for ever. Is this a moment to remind me of the price I paid for her?" And Bradshawe ground another oath be«« A ROMANCB OV THB MOHAWK. 239 instantly fol- from ledge to ; of the Tory we, when the he party, and '* but no an- had already Ishawe, whose rted him for a g the retiring Room, eager- ' kept btrninff :e, summoned ack pool once t in the cham- tomb, launch- I, and wended was immured, and the voice- of the gloomy eemed dreary re to his eyes, his comrade. Ives ; or, stay, t will all move ige with us ?" perior. liggers wher- ! Don't you heartstrings ? for ever. Is rice I paid for ther oath be<« tween his teeth that put a summary end to the con- versation. With the morrow's dawn the den of renegadei had vomited forth its tenants, a wierd and ghastly crew, with beard unshorn and skin cadaverous from long exclusion from the light of day. A fall of snow had obliterated the tracks of those who had departed the night before ; and Bradshawe, unwill- ing to penetrate with such a body of men into the settled country, where farther pursuit of Alida would most probably lead him, made no effort to recover Fenton's trail, but addressed himself to the task of getting his band of followers out of this Whig district as soon as possible. He then laid his course for Oswego, whither great numbers of To- ries had already flocked together, under the lead of Colonels Claus and Butler, and where the royal banner, guarded by a thousand Indian warriors un- der Guy Johnson, was still kept flying. The Cave of Waneondti, which had so lately rung with the wild peal of outlaw merriment, was left to echo only the monotonous sound of its black- rolling waters. And though some hard-hunted ref- ugee, from time to time, had sought a shelter there with the handful of outlaws it occasionally harbour- ed, it was not until after years that its hideous cells again were fully peopled. Those dungeon vaults, so silent now, what tales of wo and horror could they tell? Tales of those times when the John- sons came back on their mad errand of vengeance ; when they desolated the v&le of Schoharie with fire and sword, and Waneonda again disgorged a felon crew to steep the land in crime and blood. But let us now return to the wanderers who have last emerged from these shadowy realms. The surprise of Fenton, when his band was fully mustered on the mountain's side and at some dis- 11^ S40 ORETSLAKR { :- ^ ) • tance from the mouth of t!i<3 cave, may be conceived at finding strangers among the:'- number. But Brant, 80 well known to all the gentlemen of this region from the civil offices he had held previous to the present struggle, had only to reveal himself to be warmly received by his brother partisan. The winter's nicht was closing in rapidly, and Fenton — whose indignation against Bradshawe was fully roused upon hearing the story of Alida's forci- ble detention in the vaults of Waneonda — assisted her down the mountain as they hurried forward on their journey. It was determined that she should at once seek a refuge in the settlement of Schoha- rie, which was at hand ; and the whole party was halted to designate some one who could oe trusted with the duty of placing her in the hands of her friends. It wouM have been madness for Brant, even upon such an embassy, to venture himself in the hands of the patriots ; and his own men would not spare Fenton, who, Although almost equally ob- noxious as a virulent Tory, had still not been charged with any stain of cruelty that would call out personal vengeance. While this discussion was taking place, the atten- tion of the two leaders was distracted by a sudden outcry near. Several of the more lawless mem- bers of the party, as it seemed, had pushed in ad- vance of the rest, for the purpose of driving off some horses that were grazing in a field near by. The farmhouse to which the field belonged chanced, at the moment, to be occupied by a patrol of vil- lagers ; for the Whig militia, since Schuyler's march upon Johnstown, had been industriously employed in scouring the country and arresting every per- son suspected of Toryism upon whom they could lay their hands. This patrol, hearing the clatter of hoofs, now sallied out. The moon, which shone A ROMANCB OF THB MOHAWK. 241 J he conceived ir. But Brant, of this region revious to the himself to be an. 1 rapidly, and radshawe was f Alida*8 forci- )nda — assisted led forward on lat she should int of Schoha- lole party was )uld oe trusted hands of her ess for Brant, ;ure himself in wn men would ost equally ob- still not been [lat would call iace, the atten- d by a sudden lawless mem- pushed in ad- of driving off field near by. )nged chanced, a patrol of vil- liuyler's march usly employed ing every per- om they could g the clatter of which shone Wightly down over the snow-covered fields, show- ed that they were a mere handful of men, whom Fenton's followers outnumbered ; and, though pro- yoked and incensed at the untimely occurrence, Fenton could not resist the temptation to crush the gang of rebellious boors, as he termed them. He sprang from the side of Alida as Brant attempted to seize his arm to prevent the mad movement, drew his rapier, and rushed into the fray. Alida, though now not unused to scenes of blood and violence, had never stood before with hopes and fears divided between her friends and country- men engaged in personal conflict. She covered her head with her mantle and cowered toward the earth. There was a quick, irregular volley of fire- arms, the shout of a sudden onset, followed by the clashing of swords against the barrels of clubbed rifles ; and then came the trampling of many feet, as of men borne down in a struggle or flying along the frozen highway near her. She looked up; Brant had disappeared from her side, and the royal- ists had been driven back past the spot where she stood. Suddenly the Indian warwhoop arose wild and shrilly from a thicket of evergreens at a turning of the road ; and now the patriots, as if seized by a sudden panic, came flying back over the road where they had just pressed the foe. " That s right, boys ; git into kiver as soon as you can ; it's a regular ambush," exclaimed a well- known voice near her. " We've peppered 'cm enough for one night's work." The - spokesman, however, seemed very slow in practising his own recommendation, as, coolly loading his rifle, he trudged along behind the rest. " Run, Bait, run," shouted a fugitive. " The Red- skins are upon us." " Ttiey won't lift my head-thatch this time, how* Vol. L-5-X 849 oRm&ABB ; 'v I somede^er. Vm looking for the chap whose gourd I smashed so handsomely when he came pushinjpf his skewer throuffh my jacket. By the Etarnal, if it be not Squire rentdn,^ Ke suddenly exclaimed, atarting back from the body of that gallant and un- fortunate gentleman^ " Fenton !" faintly ejaculated Alida, r'\o was not twenty paces distant. But her voice was unheeded by Bait ; unheeded, too, were the exclamations of the group who quickly gatherea around him, retra- cing their steps as they saw the last scattered re- mains of the Toty party, preserved by the ruse of Brant, disappear over the hills. "Yes, bovs, that's Squire Fenton, and no mis- take/' said Bait, with something resembling a heavy fish ; *' and he shall have as decent a grave as ever a Christian laid in, if it took the beat acre of ground in the county to hold him. He was as true a gen- tleman as ever sat in the king's commission of the peace among us. As kind and as brave a heart — ** ''He was a d — d Tory," said a ruffian voice among the crew, bringing the butt of his rifle heavi- ly upon the frozen ground as he spoke. " Mister Bill Murphy," said Bait, no way per- turbed, '* you'll just please to take liberties with the a&mes of Tories of your own shooting, and let mine alone. The devil knows that you've sent enough on 'em to their last account, what with firing on flass o' truce and sich like. Bill."* Murphy felt the rude compliment rather than the reproach that wai blended in this speech, and was ailent. * Is not this an tntchromsm? The famous rifle-shot and des- perado whom tradition accedes of shooting down the bearers of flags of truce upon seyeral occasions during the relentless con- flicts between the Whin and Tories of this region, is not men- tioned as thus feloniously signalizing himself until the last groat inroad of the refugees in the subsequent years of the war.— r. D. ▲ BOMANCB Of THB MOBAWK. S43 nrhose gourd ime pushing e Etarnal, it r exclaimed, ilant and un- r'\o was not as unheeded lamations of I hinn, retra- scattered re- - the ruse of ind no mis- ling a heavy rave as ever !re of ground I true a gen* ission of the e a heart — ** uffian voice s rifle heavi- » [10 way per- ties with the and let mine sent enough th firing on her than the ch, and was " But who have we here ?" said Bait, now for the first time noticincr the crouched form of the half- frozen Alida. " Who, in the name of the first moth- er of sals, is this - missus that the Tories have left behind them ?" ¥ Alida, who had shrunk from claiming the protec- tion of these rude and blood-stained men, while still chafinff around the warm remains of her friend, so recently slaughtefed, now dashed these shuddering impressions from her mind, and gladly revealed her- self to Bait. The joy of the worthy woodsman was boundless at beholding her a^ain, though he would scarcely trust his senses to oelieve that it was really Miss De Roos who stood alive before him. He ap- proached without uttering a syllable in reply to her, turned her around as he raised her from the fallen tree acainst which she had been reclining, threw back the hood of the cloak which covered her head, and bared her fair features to the moon ; then re- leasing her hand, he stepped back a pace or two, and, lifting his hat reverentially from his gray head, made a deep obeisance as he exclaimed, '^The great God be praised, Miss Alida, it is really you 1" END OF VOL. I. e-shdt and des- the bearers of relendesa con- >n, is not men- the laat jreat le war.— P. D. ■ 1 1 fc I > ' • > « ' • • . • * ' * » n t ; , • • * ' * • * *^ » % t ,t m . • . ,. ^