/- Cj. jUy dr\ , / f J_j_ 
 
 7: 
 
WACOUSTA; 
 
 THE PROPHECY, 
 
 AN INDIAN TALE 
 
 " Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert, 
 With all her snakes erect upon her crest, 
 She stalks in view, and fires me with her charms." 
 
 The Revenge. 
 
 BY MAJOR RICHARDSON, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " H ARDSCR ABBLE," '"EC ARTE," &C. 
 
 REVISED EDITION. 
 
 NEW YOPJv : 
 
 DEWITT & DAVENPORT, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 TRIBUNE Bj^IL DINGS. 
 
y 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 
 
 DEWITT & DAVENPORT, ] 
 
 ! 
 
 the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern , 
 
 District of New York. 'j 
 
 \ 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This Chapter, written eighteen years svibseqnent to the original publication: 
 of Wacousta in Loudon, will be found unavoidablj^ replete with egotism. B^ 
 none will it be more readily pronounced such than by those who are most 
 open to the charge themselves. "Without its exercise, however, the object of* 
 this mtroduction would not be gained. 
 
 As the reader may be curious to know on what basis, and in what manneT 
 this story (of which I have certainly robbed that first of vigorous Amerieaw 
 Novelists — the " Last of the jNIohicans" Cooper — which tale, albeit I have never 
 read a novel by another author twice, I have absolutely devoured three timeSj) 
 was suggested to me, and on what particular portions of History the story is 
 founded, I am not aware that tliis introductory Chapter, which I have prom 
 ised my Publishers, can be better devoted than to the explanation. 
 
 It is well known to every man conversant with the earlier History of this 
 country that, shortly subsequent to the cession of the Canadas to England by 
 France. Ponteac the great Head of the Indian race of that period, had formed^ 
 a federation of the various tribes, threatening extermination to the British posts 
 established along the Western Frontier. These were nine in number, and the- 
 following stratagem was resorted to by the artful chief to effect their reduc- 
 tion. Investing one fort with his warriors, so as to cut off all communicatioii 
 with the others, and to leave no hope of succor, his practice was to offer terms 
 of surrender which never were kept in the honorable spirit in which the far 
 more noble and generous Tecumseh always acted with his enemies, and thus in 
 turn, seven of these outposts fell victims to their confidence in his truth. 
 Detroit and Michillimackinac, or Mackinaw as it is now called, remained, and 
 all the mgenuity of the Chieftain was directed to the possession of these 
 strongholds. The following plan, well worthy of his invention, was at lengtis 
 determined upon. During a temporary truce, and while, Ponteac was hold- 
 ing forth proposals for an ultimate and durable jDcace, a ball playing was ar- 
 ranged by htm to take place simultaneously, on the common or clearing on 
 which rested the forts of ]Michillimackanac and Detroit. The better to accom- 
 plish their object, the guns of the warriors had been cut short and given to thefe 
 
 iviil6030 
 
IV I N T K U U U C T [ON. 
 
 women wlio were insli'ucted to conceal tlieiu under their blankets, and durinfr 
 the game, and seemingly without design, to approach the drawbridge of 
 the fort. This precaution taken, the players were to approach and throvr 
 over tlieir ball, permission to regain which they presumed would nfM^e de- 
 nied. On apjjroaching the drawbridge, they were with fierce yells to make 
 a general rush, and, securing the arms concealed by the women, to massacre 
 the unprepared garrison. The dny was fixed — the game commenced, a?id 
 was proceeded with in the manner previously a:^ugcd. The ball v\'as dex- 
 t!.')'ouslj- hui'led into the fort, and permission asked to recover it. It was 
 granted. The drav.'bridge was lowered, and tlie Indians dashed forward for 
 the accomplishment of their woi-li of blood. How different the result in the 
 two garrisons ! At Deti-oit, Ponteac and his warriors had scarceh' crossed the 
 drawbridge when to their astonishment and disappointment, tho}- beheld the 
 guns of the ramparts depressed — the artillerymen with lighted matches at 
 their posts and covering the little garrison, composed of a few companies of 
 the 42d Highlanders, who were also under arms, and so distributed as to take 
 the enemy most at an advantage. Sullenly they withdi'ew, and without 
 lOther indication of their purpose than what liad been exjjressed in their man- 
 ner, and carried oft' the missing bah. Their design had been discovered and 
 made known by means of significant warnings to the Governor b}' an Indian 
 woman who owed a debt of gratitude to his family, and was resol ved. at all 
 hazards, to save them. On the same day the same artifice v.'as i-esorted to at 
 Michillimackinac, and wth the most complete success. There was no guardian 
 angel there to warn them of danger, and all fell beneath the i-iile, the toma- 
 hawk, the war-club, and the knife, one or two of the tradeis — a Mr. Henry 
 among the rest — alone excepted. 
 
 It was not long after this event, vrhen tlie head of the military authorities 
 in the Oolonj^, apprised of the fate of these defeated posts, and made acquainted 
 with the perilous condition of Fort Detroit, which was then reduced to the 
 last extremity, sought an officer who Avould volunteer the charge of supplies 
 from Albany to Buffalo, and thence across the lake to Detroit, which, if possi- 
 ble, he vi'as to relieve. That volmiteer was promptly found in my maternal 
 grandfather, Mr. Erskine, from Strabaue, in the North of Ireland, then an offi- 
 cer in the Commissariat Department. The difficulty of the undertaking 
 will be obvious to those who understand the danger attending a journey 
 through the Western wilderness, beset as it was by the Avarriors of Ponteac. 
 ever on the look out to prevent succor to the garrison, and yet the duty was 
 successfully accomplished. He left Albany with provisions and ammunition 
 sufficient to fill several Schenectady boats — I think seven — and yet conducted 
 his charge with such prudence and foresight, that notwithstanding the vigi- 
 lance of Ponteac, he finally and after long A\-atching succeeded, under cover of 
 a dark and stormy night, in throwing into the fort the supplies of which the 
 remnant of the gallant '• Black-watch," as the 42d was originally named, and 
 a company of whom, while out reconuoitering, had been massacred at a spot in 
 the vicinity of the town, thereafter called the Bloody Eun, stood so greatly in 
 need. This important service rendered, Mr. Erskine, in compliance with the 
 
; :c T R O D U C T lOS . 7 
 
 iiLStnictions he had received, veturncd to Alliany. where he reported the success- 
 or the expedition. 
 
 'I'lic colonial authorities were not regardless of his interests. "When the 
 Ponteac confederacy had been dissolved, and quiet and security restored 
 in that remote region, largo tracts of land were granted to ^Ir. Erskine. 
 and other privileges accorded which eventually gave him the command of 
 nearly a hundred thousand dollars — an enormous sum to have been realised 
 at that early period of the country. But it was not destined that he should, 
 i-etain this. The gj-eat bulk of his capital was expended on almost the first 
 'Commercial shipping that ever sldmmed the surface of Lr.kcs Huron and Erie. 
 .Shortly prior to the Revolution, he was possessed of seven vessels of diifercnt 
 tonnage, and the trade in v.-luch he had embarked, and of which he was the 
 head, was rapidly increasing his already large fortune, when one of those au- 
 tumnal hurricanes, which even to this day continue to desolate the waters of 
 the treacherous lake last named, suddenly arose and buried beneath its en- 
 gulfing waves not less than six of these schooners laden with such riches, 
 chiefly furs, of the West, as then were most an object of barter. Jlr. Erskine, 
 who had man-ied the daughter of one of the earhest settlers from France, 
 and of a family well known in history, a lady who had been in Detroit during 
 the siege of the British garrison by Ponteac, now abandoned speculation, and 
 contenting himself with the remnant of his fortune, established himself 
 near the banks of the river, within a short distance of the Bloody Run. Here 
 he continued thi-oughout the Revolution. Esuiy, however, in the present 
 century, he quitted Detroit and repaired to the Canadian shore, where on a 
 property nearly opposite, which he obtained in exchange, and which in honor 
 of his native country he named Strabane — known as such to this day — he 
 passed the autumn of his days. The last time I beheld hun, was a day or 
 two subsequent to the affair of the Thames, when General Harrison and 
 Colonel Johnson were temporary inmates of his dwelling. 
 
 My father, of a younger branch of the Annandale family, the head of wliich 
 was attainted in the Scottish rebellion of 1745, was an officer of Simcoe's 
 ■4veU-known Rangers, in which regiment, and about the same period, the 
 present Lord Hardinge commenced his services in this coimtry. Being quar- 
 tered at Fort Erie, he met and married at the house of one of the earhest 
 Canadian merchants, a daughter of 'Mr. Erskine, then on a visit to her sister, 
 and by her had eight childi-en, of whom I am the oldest and only survivor. 
 Having a few years after his marriage been ordered to St. Joseph's, near 
 Michillimackinac, my father thought it expedient to leave me with Mr. Erskine 
 at Detroit, where I received the fii'st rudiments of my education. But here 
 I did not remain long, for it was dirring the period of the stay of the detach- 
 ment of Simcoe's Rangers at St. Joseph that Mr. Erskine repaired with his 
 family to the Canadian shore, where on the more elevated and conspicuous 
 part of his grounds wliich are situated nearly opposite the foot of Hog 
 Island, so repeatedly alluded to in Wacousta, he had caused a flag-staff to be 
 erected, from which each Sabbath day proudly floated the colors imder which 
 he had served and never could bring himself to disown. It was at Strabane 
 
VI ■ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that the old hidy. with whom I was a great favorite, used to enchain my 
 young iuterest by detailing various facts connected with the siege she so well 
 remembered, and infused into me a longing to grow up to manhood that I 
 might write a book about it. The details of the Ponteac plan for the capture 
 of the two forts were what she most enlarged upon, and although a long lapse 
 of years of absence from the scene, and ten thousand incidents of a higher and 
 more immediate importance might have been supposed to weaken the recol- 
 lections of so early a period of life, the impression has ever vividh^ remained. 
 Hence the first appearance of "VYacousta in London in 1832, more than a 
 quarter of a century later. The story is founded solely on the artifice of 
 Ponteac to possess himself of these two last British forts. All else is ima- 
 ginary. 
 
 It is not a little curious that I, only a few years subsequent to the narration 
 by old Mrs. Erskine of the daring and cunning feats of Ponteac, and his vain 
 attempt to secure the fort of Detroit, should myself have entered it in arms. 
 But it was so. I had ever hated school with a most bitter hatred, and I 
 gladly availed myself of an ofier from General Brock to obtain for me a com- 
 mission in the king's service. Meanwhile I did duty as a cadet with the gal- 
 lant 41st regiment, to whom the English edition of Wacousta was inscribed, 
 and was one of the guard of honor who took possession of the fort. The 
 duty of a sentinel over the British colors, which had just been hoisted, was 
 assigned to me, and I certainly felt not a little proud of the distinction. 
 
 Five times, Avithin half a cAtury. had the flag of that fortress been changed. 
 First the lily of France, then the red cross of England, and next the stripes and 
 stars of America had floated over its ramparts ; and then again the red cross, 
 and lastly the stars. On my return to this country a few years since, I visited 
 those scenes of stirring excitement in which my boyhood had been passed, 
 but I looked in vain for the ancient fortifications which had given a classical 
 interest to that region. The unsparing hand of utilitarianism had passed 
 over them, destroying almost eveiy vestige of the past. Where had risen the 
 only fortress in America at all worthy to give antiquity to the scene, streets 
 had been laid out and made, and houses had been built, leaving not a trace 
 of its existence, save the well that formerly supplied the closelj^ besieged gar- 
 rison with water ; and this, half imbedded in the herbage of an enclosure of a 
 dwelling house of mean appearance, was rather to be guessed at than seen ; 
 while at the opposite extremity of the citj"-, where had been conspicuous for 
 years the Bloody Run, cultivation and improvement had nearly obliterated 
 every trace of the past. 
 
 Two objections have been urged against Wacousta as a consistent tale — the 
 one as involving an improbabilitj-, the other a geograpliical error. It has been 
 assumed that the startling feat accomplished by that man of deep revenge, 
 who is not alone in his bitter hatred and contempt for the base am.ong those 
 who, Uke spaniels, crawl and kiss the dust at the instigation of their su- 
 periors, and yet arrogate to themselves a claim to be considered gentlemen 
 and men of honor and independence — it has. I repeat, been assumed that the 
 feat attributed to him, in connexion with the flag-staif of the fort, was im- 
 
INTRODUCTION. VU 
 
 possible. No one who has ever seen these erections on the small forts of that 
 day, would pronounce tlie same criticism. Never very lofty, they were 
 ascended at least one-third of their height by means of small projections nailed 
 to them, for footholds for the artillerymen, frequently compelled to clear the 
 flag lines entangled at the truck ; therefore a strong and active man, such as 
 Wacousta is described to have been, might very well have been supposed, in 
 his strong anxiety for revenge and escape with his victim, to have doubled 
 his strength and axjtivity on so important an occasion, rendering that easy of 
 attainment by liimself, which an ordinary and unexcited man might deem 
 impossible. I myself have knocked down a gate almost without feeling the 
 resistance, in order to escape the stilettoes of assassins. 
 
 The second objection is to the narrowness attributed, in the talc, to the river 
 St. Clair. This was done in the license usually accorded to a writer of fiction, 
 in order to give greater effect to the scene represented as having occurred there, 
 and of course in no way intended as a geographical description of the river, 
 nor was it necessary. In the same spirit and for the same purpose, it has 
 been continued. 
 
 It will be seen that at the termination of the tragedy enacted at the bridge, 
 by whicli the Bloody Run was in those days crossed, that the wretched wife 
 of the condemned soldier pronounced a curse that could not of coiu-se well be 
 fulfilled in the course of the tale. Some few years ago I published in Can- 
 ada — I might as well have done so in Kamtschatka — the continuation, which 
 was to have been dedicated to the last lung of England, but which, after the 
 death of that monarch, was inscribed to Sir -John Harvey, whose letter, as 
 making honorable mention of a gallant and beloved brother, I feel it a duty 
 to the memory of the latter to subjoin.* 
 
 The Prophecy Fulfilled, which, however, has never been seen out of the 
 small country in which it appeared, Detroit perhaps alone excepted, embraces 
 and indeed is intimately connected with the Beauchamp tragedy, which took 
 
 * " Government House, Fredehicton, N. B., November 26th, 1839. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I am favored with your very interesting communieation of the 2(1 in- 
 stant, by which I leam that you are the brother of two youths, whose gallantry and 
 merit? — and with regard to one of them, his sufferings — during the late war, excited my 
 warmest admiration and sympathy ; I beg you to believe that I am far from insensible to 
 the affecting proofs which you have made known to me of this grateful recollection of any 
 little service which I may have had it in my power to render them ; and I will add that 
 the desire which I felt to serve the father, will be found to extend itself to the son, if your 
 nephew should ever find himself under circumstances to require from me any service which 
 it may be within my power to render him. 
 
 "With regard to your very flattering proposition to inscribe your present work to me. 
 I can only say that, independent of the respect to which the author of so very charming a 
 production as " Wacousta" is entitled, the interesting facts and circumstances so unexpect- 
 edly brought to my knowledge and recollection, would ensure a ready acquiescence on my 
 part. 
 
 " I remain, dear Sir, your very faithful servant, 
 
 (Signed) "J. Harvey. 
 
 " Major riicHAEDsoN, Montreal." 
 
Viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 place at or near Weisiger's Hotel, in Frankfort, Kentucky, where I had been 
 many years before confined as a prisoner of war. While connecting it with 
 the Prophecy Fulfilled, and making it subservient to the end I had in 
 view, I had not read, or even heard of the existence of a work of the same 
 character, which had already appeared from the pen of an American author. 
 Indeed, I have reason to believe that the "Prophecy Fulfilled," although not 
 published until after a lapse of years, was the first written. No similarity 
 of treatment of the subject exists between the two versions, and this, be it 
 remembered, I remark without in the slightest degree impugning the merit of 
 the production of my fellow laborer in the same field. 
 
 The Authoe. 
 
 New York City, 
 Januaiy 1st, 1851. 
 
WACOUSTA; OR, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 
 It was during the raidnioht watch, late in September, 1763, that the 
 English garrison of Detroit was thrown into the utmost consternation by 
 the sudden and mysterious introduction of a stranger within its walls. The 
 circumstance at this moment was particularly remarkable ; for the period 
 was so fearful and pregnant with events of danger, the fort being assailed 
 on every side by a powerful and vindictive foe, that a caution and vigilance 
 of no common kind were unceasingly exercised by the prudent governor for 
 the safety of those committed to his charge. A long series of hostilities had 
 been pvu-sued by the North American Indians against the subjects of Eng- 
 land, within the few years that had succeeded to the final subjection of the 
 Canadas to her victorious arms : and many and sanguinary were the con- 
 flicts in which the devoted soldiery were made to succumb to the cunning 
 and numbers of their savage enemies. In those lone regions, both officers and 
 men, in then- respective ranks, were, by a communionship of suffering, isolation, 
 and peculiarity of duty, drawn towards each other with feelings of almost 
 fraternal affection : and the fates of those who fell were lamented with sin- 
 cerit}^ of soul, and avenged, when opportunity oifered, with a determination 
 prompted equally by indignation and despair. This sentiment of union, ex- 
 isting even between men and officers of different corps, was, Avith occasional 
 exceptions, of course doubly strengthened among those who fought under 
 the same colors, and acknowledged the same head ; and, as it often hap- 
 pened in Canada, during this interesting period, tliat a single regiment was 
 distributed into two or three fortresses, each so far removed from the other 
 that communication could v>"ith the utmost facility, be cut off, the anxiety and 
 uncertainty of these detachments became proportioned to the danger with 
 which they" knew themselves to be more immediately beset. The garrison 
 of Detroit, at the date above named, consisted of a third of the regi- 
 ment, the remainder of which occupied the forts of Michillimackinac and 
 Niagara, and to each division of this regiment was attached an officer's com- 
 mand oif artillery. It is true that no immediate overt act of hostility had 
 for some time been perpetrated by the Indians, who were assembled in force 
 around the former garrison ; but the experienced officer to whom the com- 
 mand had been intrusted was too sensible of the craftiness of the smTOund- 
 ing hordes to be deceived, by any outward semblance of amity, into neglect 
 of those measures of precaution which were so indispensable to the security 
 of his trust. 
 
 In tliis he pursued a line of pohcy happily adapted to the delicate nature 
 of his position. Unwilling to excite the anger or wound the pride of the 
 chiefs, by any outward manifestation of distrust, he affected to confide in 
 the sincerity of their professions, and, by inducing his officers to mix occa- 
 sionally in their councils, and his men in the amusements of the inferior 
 warriors, contrived to impress the conviction that he reposed altogether on 
 their faith. But, although these acts were in some degree coerced by the 
 necessity of the times, and a perfect knowledge of all the misery that must 
 accrue to them in the event of their provoking the Indians into acts of open 
 hostility, the prudent governor took such precautions as were deemed efficient 
 to defeat any treacherous attempt at violation of the tacit treaty on the part 
 
1 • ' ;v A c u s r A ; on, the prophecy. 
 
 of tlie 3iatives. The ofBccrs never ventured out. unless escorted by a portion 
 of their men, who, although appearing to be dispersed among the warriors, 
 still kept sufficiently together to be enabled, in a moment of omergency, to af- 
 ford succor, not only to each other, but to their .superiors. On these occa- 
 sions, as a further security against surprise, the troops left within were in- 
 structed to be in readiness, at a moment's warning, to render assistance, if 
 necessary, to their companions, who seldom, on any occasion, ventured out 
 of reach of the cannon of the fort, the gate of wliich was hermetically 
 closed, while numerous supernumerary sentinels were posted along the 
 ramparts, with a view to give the alarm if anytliing extraordinary was ob- 
 served to occur without. 
 
 Painful and haiassing as were the precautions it was found necessary to 
 adopt on these occasions, and little desirous as were the garrison to mingle 
 with the natives on such terms, still the plan was pursued by the governor 
 from tlie policy already named : nay, it was absolutely essential to the future 
 interests of England that the Indians should be won over by acts of confidence 
 and kindness ; and so little disposition had hitherto been manifested by the 
 Englisli to conciliate, that every thing was to be apprehended from the un- 
 tameable rancor with which these people were but too well disposed to repay 
 a neglect at once galling to their pride and injurious to their interests. 
 
 Such, for a term of many months, had been the trying and painful duty 
 that had devolved on the governor of Detroit ; when, in the summer of 1763, 
 the whole of the western tribes of Indians, as if actuated by one common im- 
 pulse, suddenly threw off the mask, and commenced a series of the most 
 savage trespasses upon the English settlers in the vicinity of the several gar- 
 risons, who were cut off in detail, without mercy, and without reference to 
 either age or sex. On the first alarm the weak bodies of troops, as a last 
 measure of security, shut themselves up in their respective forts, where they 
 were as incapable of rendering assistance to others as of receiving it them- 
 selves. In this emergency the prudence and forethought of the governor of 
 Detroit were eminently conspicuous ; for, having long foreseen the possibility 
 of such a crisis, he had caused a plentiful supply of all that was necessary to 
 the subsistence and defence of the garrison to be provided at an earlier period, 
 .so that, if foiled in their attempts at stratagem, there was little chance that 
 the Indians would speedily reduce them by fiimine. To guard against the 
 former, a vigilant watch was constantly kept by the garrison both day and 
 night, while the sentinels, doubled in number, were constantlj- on the alert. 
 Strict attention, moreover, was paid to such parts of the ramparts as were 
 considered most assailable by a cunning and midnight enemy ; and, in order 
 to prevent any imprudence on the part of the garrison, all egress or ingress 
 was piohibited that had not the immediate sanction of the chief With this 
 view the keys of the gate v»'ere given in trust to the officer of the guard ; to 
 whom, however, it was interdicted to use them unless by dii-ect and positive 
 order of the governor. In addition to this precaution, the sentinels on duty 
 at the gate had strict private instructions not to suffer auy one to pass either 
 in or out unless conducted by the gov(;ruor in person : and this restriction 
 extended even to the officer of the guard. 
 
 Such being the cautious discipline established in the fort, the appearance of 
 a stranger within the walls at the sfUl hour of midnight could not fail to be 
 regarded as an extraordinary event, and to excite an apprehension which could 
 scarcely have been siu-passed had a numerous and armed band of savages sud- 
 denh- appeared among them. The first intimation of this fact was gi^•cn by 
 the violent ringing of an alarm bell ; a rope communicating with which was 
 suspended in tlie governor's apartments, for the purpose of arousing tlie slum- 
 bering soldiers in any case of pressing emergency. Soon after\vards the 
 governor liimsell" was seen to issue from his I'ooms in the open area of the 
 parade, clad in his dressing-gown, and bearing a lamp in one hand and a na- 
 ked sword in the other. His countenance was pale, and his features, violently 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 11 
 
 agitated, betrayed a source of alarm which those who were familiar witli his 
 usual haughtiness of manner were ill able to comprehend. 
 
 •'Which way did he go? — why .<;tand ye here? — follow — pursue him 
 quickly — let him not escape, on your lives !" The.se sentences, hurriedly and 
 impatiently uttered, were addressed to the two sentinels Avho. stationed in 
 front of his apartments, had, on the first .sound of alarm from the )X>rtentous 
 bell, lowered their maskets to the charge, and now stood immovable in that 
 position. 
 
 "Who does your honor mane?" replied one of the men, startled, yet 
 bringing his arms to the " Recover," in salutation of his chief. 
 
 " Why, the man — the stranger — the fellow who has just passed you." 
 
 " Not a living soul has passed us since our watch commenced, your honor," 
 observed the second sentinel ; " and we have now been here upwards of an 
 hour." 
 
 "Impossible, sirs: ye have been asleep on your posts, or ye must have 
 seen him. He passed this way, and could not have escaped yom' observation 
 had ye been attentive to your duty." 
 
 " Well, sure, and your honor knows bist," rejoined the first sentinel ; " but 
 so hilp me St. Patrick, as I have siiwed man and boy in your honor's rigi- 
 ment this twelve years, not even the fitch of a man has passed me this 
 blissed night. And here's my comrade. Jack Halford, who will take his 
 Bible oath to the same, with all due difirince to your honor." The pithy 
 reply to this eloquent attempt at exculpation was a brief "Silence, sirrah, 
 walk about !" 
 
 Tlie men brought their muskets once more, and in silence, to the shoulder, 
 and in obedience to the command of their chief, resumed their limited walk ; 
 crossing each other at regular intervals in the course that enfiladed, as it were, 
 the only entrance to the governor's apartments. 
 
 Meanwhile everything was bustle and commotion among the garrison, 
 who, roused from sleep by the appalling sound of the alarm bell at that late 
 hour,' were hastily arming. Throughout the obscuritj^ might be seen the 
 flitting forms of men, whose already fully accoutred persons proclaimed them 
 to be of the guard ; while in the lofty barracks, numerous lights flashing to 
 and fro. and moving with rapidit3\ attested the alacrity with which the troops 
 otf duty were eqviipping for some service of more than ordinary interest. So 
 noiseless, too, was this preparation, as far as speech was concerned, that the 
 occasional opening and shutting of pans, and ringing of ramrods to ascertain 
 the eiliciency of the muskets, might be heard distinctly in the stillness of the 
 night at a distance of many fiu-longs. 
 
 He. however, who had touched the secret spring of all this picturesque 
 movement, whatever might be his gratification and approval of the prompti- 
 tude with which the summons to arms had been answered by his brave troops, 
 was far from being wholly satisfied with the scene he had conjured up. Re- 
 covered from the first and irrepressible agitation which had driven him to 
 sound the tocsin of alarm, he felt how derogatory to his military dignity and 
 proverbial coolness of character it might be considered, to have awakened a- 
 whole garrison firom their slumbers, when a few files of the guard would 
 have answered his purpose equally well. Besides, so much time had lieen 
 suffered to elapse, that the stranger might have escaped ; and if so. how many 
 might be disposed to ridicule his alarm, and consider it as emanating from an 
 imagination disturbed by sleep, rather than caused by the actual presence of 
 one endowed like themselves with the faculties of speech and motion. For a 
 moment he hesitated whether he should not countermand the summons to 
 arms which had been so precipitately given ; but when he recollected the 
 harrowing threat that had been breathed in his ear by his midnight visiter, — 
 when he reflected, moreover, that even now it was probacble he was lurking; 
 within the precincts of the fort with a view to the destruction of all that it 
 contained. — when, in short, he thought of the imminent danger that must 
 
12 W A C O U S T A ; O II , THE P R O V H K C Y . 
 
 attend them should he be suffered to escape, — he felt the necessity of precau- 
 tion, and determined on his measures, even at the risk of manifesting a pru- 
 dence which might be construed unfavorably. On re-entering his apartments, 
 he found his orderly, who, roused by the midnight tumult, stood waiting to 
 receive the commands of his chief. 
 
 " Desire Major Blackwater to come to me immediately." The mandate was 
 quickly obeyed. In a few seconds a short, tliick-set and elderly officer made 
 his appearance in a gray mihtary undress frock. 
 
 "Blackwater, we have traitors within the fort. Let diligent search be 
 made in every part of the barracks for a stranger, an enemy, who has man- 
 aged to procure admittance among us: let every nook and cranny, every 
 empty cask, be examined forthwith ; and cause a number of additional senti- 
 nels to be stationed along the ramparts, in order to intercept his escape." 
 
 " Good heaven, is it possible V said the major, wiping the perspu-atio-.i from 
 his brows, though the night was unusually chUlj' for the season of the year : — 
 " how could he contrive to enter a place so vigilantly guarded ?" 
 
 " Ask me not hmo, Blackwater," returned the governor, seriously ; ''let it 
 suffice that he has been in this very r«om, and that ten minutes since he stood 
 where you now stand." 
 
 The major looked aghast. — " God bless me, how singular ! How could the 
 savage contrive to obtain admission ? or was he in reality an Indian V " No 
 more questions, Major Blackwater. Hasten to distribute the men, and let 
 dihgent search be made everywhere ; and recollect, neither officer nor man 
 courts his pillow until dawn." 
 
 The " major" emphatically prefixed to his name was a sufficient hint to the 
 .stout officer that the doubts thus familiarly expressed were here to cease, and 
 that he was now addressed in the language of authority by his superior, who 
 expected a direct and prompt compliance with his orders. He therefore 
 slightly touched his hat in salutation, and withdrew to make the dispositions 
 that had been enjoined by Iiis colonel. 
 
 On regaining the parade, he caused the men, already forming into compa- 
 nies, and answering to the roll-call of then- respective non-commissioned 
 officers, to be wheeled into square, and then in a low but distinct voice stated 
 the cause of alarm ; and, having communicated the orders of the governor, 
 finished by recommending to each the exercise of the most scrutinising vigi- 
 lance ; as on the discovery of the individual in question, and the means by 
 which he had contrived to procure admission, the safety of the whole garrison, 
 it was evident, must depend. 
 
 The soldiers now dispersed in small parties throughout tKe interior of the 
 fort, while a select body were conducted to the ramparts by the officers them- 
 selves, and distributed between the sentinels already posted there, in such 
 numbers, and at such distances, that it appeared impossible any thing wearing 
 the human form could pass them unperceived, even in the obscurity that 
 reigned around. 
 
 When this duty was accomplished, the officers proceeded to the posts of 
 the several sentinels who had Ijeen planted since the last relief, to ascertain 
 if any or either of them had observed aught to justify the belief that an ene- 
 my had succeeded in scaling the works. To. ail their inquiries, hovv-ever, they 
 received a negative reply, accompanied by a declaration, more or less positive 
 with each, that .such had been their vigUancc during the watch, had an}- per- 
 son come within their beat, detection must have been inevitable. The first 
 question was put to the sentinel stationed at the gate of the fort, at which 
 point the whole of the officers of the garrison were, vrith one or t\^-o excep- 
 tions, now assembled. The man at first evinced a good deal of, confusion ; 
 but this might arise from the singidar fact of the alarm that had been given, 
 and the equally singjalar circumstance of his being thus closely interrogated 
 by the collective body of his officers : he, hov/ever, persisted in declaring that 
 he had been in no wise inattentive to his dut}'^, and that no cause for alarm or 
 
\\' A c i; s T A ; OK, T n i: p ii o i' a k c v . 13 
 
 suspiiion had occurred near hi.s post. The officers then, in order to save time, 
 separated into two parties, pui'suinp; opposite circuits, and arian^inp; to meet 
 at tiiat point of tlie ra'niparts wliicli ^vas immediately in llu- icar, and over- 
 lookini;- the centre of the semicircuhu- sweep of wild iorest wiiich circumvented 
 the fort. 
 
 '• Well, ]]Iossingtou, 1 know not what jou think of thi.s sort of work," ob- 
 
 ser\-cd Sir ihcrard Valletort, a young lieutenant of the regiment, re-. 
 
 ceutl}^ arrived from England, and of the party wlio now traversed the ram- 
 part to the right ; '" but confound me if I ^vould not ratlier be a barber's 
 ;ipprcntice in London, upon nothing, and find mj-self, than continue a life of 
 this kind much longei'. It positively quite knocks me up ; for what vi-itk 
 early risings, and watchings — I hud almost added prayings — I am but the 
 shadow of my former self." 
 
 "Hist, A^alletcu't,' hist ! speak lower," said Captain Blessington, the senior 
 ofhcer present, ■'• or our search must be in vain. Poor fellow !" he pursued, 
 laughing low and good humoredly at the picture of miseries thus solemnly 
 enimiorated by his subaltern ; — '• how much, in truth, are you to be pitied, 
 who have so i-ecently basked in all the sunshine of enjoyment at home. For 
 cm" parts. Ave have lived so long amid these savage scenes, that we have al- 
 most forgotten what luxury, or even comfort, means. Doubt not, my friend, 
 that in time you will, like us, be reconciled to the change." 
 
 •' Confound me for an idiot, then, if I give myself time," replied Sir Everard, 
 allectcdly. '• It was only five minutes bcfoie that cm-sed alarm bell was 
 sounded in my ears, that I had made up my mind fully to resign or exchange 
 the instant I could do so with credit to myself ; and, I am sure, to be called out 
 of a Avarm bed at this imseasonable hour offers little inducement for me to 
 change ii\y opinion." 
 
 '•Resign or exchange with credit to yourself!" sullenly observed a stout 
 tall officer of about fifty, whose spleen might Avell be accounted for in his 
 rank of " Ensign" Delme. '• Metliinks there can be little credit in exchang- 
 ing or resigning, Avhen one's companions are left behind, and in a post of 
 danger." 
 
 '• By Jasus. and \ c may say^ that with yoiu- own pritty mouth," remarked 
 another veteran, Avho answered to the name of Lieutenant Murphy; '" for it 
 isn't now, while Ave are surromided and bediviled by the savages, that any man 
 of the regiment should be after talking of bating a retrate." 
 
 " I scarcely understand you, gentlemen," Avarmly and quicklj- retorted Sir 
 Everard, Avho, vrith all his dand3'ism and cfteminacy of manner, was of a high 
 and resolute spirit. '" Uo either of you fancy that I Avant courage to face & 
 positive danger, because I may not happen to have any particular vulgar pre- 
 dilection for early rising ?" 
 
 "Nonsejisc, Valletort, nonsense," interrupted, in accents of almost feminine 
 sweetness, his friend Lieutenant Charles de Haldimar, the j-oungest son 
 of the gOA-ernor: '• jiurphy is an eternal echo of the opinions of those who 
 look forAvard to promotion ; and as for Delme — do you not see the drift of his 
 observation ? Shordd you retire, as you haA'e threatened, of course another 
 lieutenant Avill.be appointed in your stead ; but, should you chance to lose 
 your seal]) dunng the struggle Avith the savages, the step goes in the regiment, 
 and he, l)eiiig the senior ensign, obtains promotion in consequence." 
 
 " Ah !" obsei-vcd Captain Blessington, " this is indeed the greatest curse 
 attached to the profession of a soldier. FiA'en among those Avho most esteem, 
 and are draAvn towards each other as well by fellowship in pleasure as com- 
 panionship in daniicr, this vile and debasing principle — this insatiable desirt; 
 for personal advancement — is ceitain to intrude itself; since Ave feel that OA'cr 
 the mangled bodies of our dearest friends and companions, Ave can alone hope 
 to attain preferment and distinction. 
 
 This conver.sation. interi-uptcd oidy by occasional (]^uestioning of the sen- 
 tinels Avh.om they p.issed in their circuit', was carried on in an audible whisper. 
 
14 wacousta; or, the prophecv. 
 
 ■which the close approximation of the parties to each other, and the profound 
 stillness of the night, enabled them to hear with distinctness. 
 
 When the conversation dropped, the party pursued" their course in silence. 
 They had just passed the last sentinel posted in their line of circuit, and were 
 within a few y&rds of the immediate rear of the fortress, when a sharp 
 " Hist !" and sudden halt of their leader, Captain Blessingtou, threw them 
 all into an attitude of the most profound attention. 
 
 " Did you hear 1" he asked in a subdued whisper, after a few seconds of 
 silence, in which he had vainly sought to catch a repetition of tlie sound. 
 
 " Assuredly," he pursued, finding that no one answered, '' I distinctly heard 
 a human groan." " Where ? — in what direction ?" asked Su- Everard and 
 De Haldimar in the same breath. 
 
 " Immediately opposite to us on the common. But see, here are the re- 
 mainder of the party stationarj^, and listening also." 
 
 They now stole gentlj- forward a few paces, and were sooii at the side of 
 their companions, all of whom were straining their necks and bending their 
 heads in the attitude cf men listening attentively." 
 
 " Have you heard anything, Erskine 1 asked Captain Blessington in the 
 same low whisper, and addressing the officer who led the opposite party. 
 
 " Not a sound ourselves, but here is Sir Everard's black servant. Sambo, 
 who has just riveted our attention, by declaring he distinctly heard a groan 
 towards the skirt of the common." •■ He is right," hastily rejoined Blessing- 
 ton ; " I heard it also." 
 
 Again a death-like silence ensued, during which the eyes of the party were 
 .strained eagerlj^ in the direction of the common. The night was clear and 
 starry, yet the dark shadow of the broad belt of forest threw all that part 
 of the waste which came within its immediate range into impenetrable ob- 
 scurity. 
 
 " Do you see anything ?" whispered Valletort to his friend, who stood next 
 him : '" look — look !" and he pointed with his finger. " Nothing." returned 
 De Haldimar, after an anxious gaze of a minute, '• but that dilapidated old 
 bomb-proof" 
 
 " See you not something dark, and slightly moving, immediately in a line 
 with the left angle of the bomb-proof ?" De Haldimar looked again. •' I do 
 begin to fancy I see something," he replied ; "but 'so confusedly and indis- 
 tinctly, that I know not whether it be not merely an illusion of mj^ imagin- 
 ation. Perhaps it is a stray Indian dog devouring the carcass of the wolf 
 you shot yesterday." 
 
 " Be it dog or devil, liere is for a trial of his vulnerability. Sambo, quick, 
 my rifle." 
 
 The j-oung negro handed to his master one of those long heavy rifles, 
 which the Indians usually make choice of for killing buflalo. elk, and other 
 animals whose wildness renders them dilficult of approach. He then, unbid- 
 den, and as if tutored to the task, placed himself in a stifl" upi'ight position in 
 front of his master, with every nerve and muscle braced to the most inflex- 
 ible steadiness. The young officer next threw the rifle on tlie right shoulder 
 of the boy for a rest, and prepared to take his aim on the object that had first 
 attracted his attention. 
 
 " Make haste, massa, — him go directly, — Sambo see him get up." 
 
 All was breathless attention among the group of officers ; and when the 
 sharp ticking sound produced by the cocldng of the rifle of theii- companion 
 fell on their ears, they bent their gaze upon the point towards which the mur- 
 derous weapon was levelled with the most aching and intense interest. 
 
 " Quick, quick, massa, — him quite up," again whispered the boy. 
 
 The words had scarcely passed his lips, Vviicn the crack of the rille, followed 
 ■ by a bright blaze of light, sounded throughout the stillness of the night with 
 exciting sharpness. For an instant all was hushed ; but scarcely had the dis- 
 tant woods ceased to reverberate the spirit-stirring echoes, when the anxious 
 
\V A C O U S T a; O 11, T Jl K 1> K O I' 11 E C Y . 15 
 
 group of officers were sixrpriped ami startled by a sudden Hash, the reiwrt of 
 a second riiie from the common, ami the M'hizzing; of a bnllct past their ears. 
 This was instantly succeeded by a liorce. wild, and prolonged cry, expressive 
 at once of triumph and revenge. It was that peculiar cry which an Indian 
 utters when the reeking scalp has been x\'rcstcd from his murdered victim. 
 
 •' Missed him, as I am a sinner," exclaimed Sir Evorard, springing to his 
 feet, and knocking the butt of his rifle on the ground with a movement of im- 
 patience. "Sambo, you young scoundrel, it was all your fault. — you moved 
 your shoulder as I pulled the trigger. Thank heaven, how^ever, the aim of the 
 Indian appears to have been no better, although the sharp wliistling of his 
 ball proves his piece to have been well levelled for a random shot." 
 
 '• His aim has been too true," faintly pronounced the voice of one somewhat 
 in the rear of his companions. " The ball of the villain has found a lodg- 
 ment in my breast. God bless ye all, my boys ; may your fates be more 
 lucky than mine !" While he yet spoke, Lieutenant INIurphy sank into the 
 arms of Blessington and Be Haldimar, who had flown to him at the first in- 
 timation of his wound, and was in the next instant a corpse. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " To your companies, gentlemen, to your companies on the instant. There 
 is treason in the fort, and we had need of all our diligence and caution. Cap- 
 tain De Haldimar is missing, and the gate has been found unlocked. Quick, 
 gentlemen, quick ; even now the savages may be around us, though unseen." 
 
 " Captain De Haldimar missing ! — the gate unlocked !" exclaimed a number 
 of voices. '• Impossible !— surely we are hot betrayed by our own men." 
 " The sentinel has been relieved, and is now in irons," resumed the communi- 
 cator of this startling piece of intelligence. It was the adjutant of the regi- 
 ment. 
 
 " Away, gentlemen, to yoiu' posts immediately," said Captain Blessing-ton, 
 who, aided by De Haldimar, hastened to deposit the stiffening body of the 
 unfortu)iate Murphy, which they still supported, iipon the rampart. Then 
 addressing the adjutant, '• Mr. Lawson, let a couple of files be sent immedi- 
 ately to remove the body of their officer." 
 
 " That shot which I heard from the common, as I approached, was not fired 
 at random. I find," observed the adjutant, as thej^ all_ now hastily descended 
 to join their men. " Who has fallen ?" '' ;Mm-phy, of the grenadiers," was the 
 rei)ly of one near him. 
 
 " Poor fellow ! oiu- work commences badly," resumed Mr. Lawson : 
 " Murphy killed, and Captain De Haldimar missing. We had few officers 
 enough to spare before, and their loss will be severely felt; I greatly fear, too, 
 these casualties may have a tendency to discourage the men." 
 
 " Nothing more easy than to supply their place, by promoting some of our 
 oldest sergeants," observed Ensign Delme, who, as well as the ill-fated Mur- 
 phy, had risen from the ranks. "If they behave themselves well, the king 
 wiil confirm their appointments." 
 
 " But my poor brother, what of him, Lawson ? what have you learut con- 
 nected with his disappearance?" asked Charles de HaldiVnaT- with deep emo- 
 tion. " Nothing satisfactory, I am sorry to say," returnerl the ailjiitant: -in 
 fact, the whole afliiir is a mystery which no one can unravel ; even at this mo- 
 ment the sentinel, Frank" Halloway, who is strongly suspected of being privy 
 to his disappearance, is undergoing a private examination by your father, the 
 governor." . . 
 
 '' Frank Halloway !" repeated the youth with a start of astonishment ; 
 
16 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 " sui-el}- Hallowa}^ could never prove a traitor. — and especially to my brother, 
 whose "life he once saved at the peril of his owti." 
 
 The officers had now gained the parade, when the '■ Fall in, gentloinen, fall 
 in," quickly pronounced bj' Major Blackwater, prevented all further question- 
 ing on the part of the j'ounger De Haldimar. The scene, though circum- 
 scribed in limit, was pictui-esque in effect, and might have been happily Dlus- 
 trated by the pencil of the painter. Tlie immediate area of the parade was 
 filled with armed men, distributed into three divisions, and forming, with their 
 respective ranks facing outwards, as many sides of a hollow square, the mode 
 of defence invariably adopted by the governor in all cases of sudden alarm. 
 
 In a few minutes from the falling in of the oflBcers with then- respecti^'e 
 companies, the clank of irons was heard in the direction of the guard-room, 
 and several forms were seen slowly advancing into the area already occupied 
 as we have described. This partj' was preceded by the adjutant Lawson, who. 
 advancmg towards Major Blackwater, communicated a message, that was fol- 
 lowed b}' tiie command of the latter officer for the three di-visions to face in- 
 wards. The officer of artillerj- also gave the word to liis men to form lines 
 of single files immediately in the rear of their respective gims, leaving Space 
 enough for the entrance of the approaching partj-, wliich tonsisted of half a 
 dozen files of the guard, under a aron-commissioned officer, and one whose 
 manacled limbs, rather than his unaccoittred uniform, attested him to be not 
 merely a prisoner, but a prisonei' confined for some serious and tiagrant of- 
 fence. 
 
 This partj' now advanced through the vacant quarter of the square, and 
 took then- stations immediately in the centre. Here the countenances of each, 
 and particularly that of the prisoner, who was, if we may so term it, the cen- 
 tre of that centre, Avere thrown into strong relief by the bright glare of the 
 torches, so that the features of the prisoner stood revealed to those aroimd as 
 plainly as if it had been noon day. Not a sound, not a murmur, escaped from 
 the ranks : but, though the etiquette and strict laA^'S of military chscipline 
 chained all speech, the Avorkings of the inwafd mind remained unchecked ; and 
 as they recognised in the prisoner Frank Halloway, one of the bravest and 
 boldest in the field, and as all had hitherto imagined, one of the most devoted 
 to his dutj', an irrepressible thrill of amazement and dismay crept throughout 
 the frames, and for a moment blanched the cheeks of those especially Avho be- 
 longed to the same company. On being summoned from their fruitless search 
 after the stranger, to fall in without delay, it had been whis])ercd among the 
 men that treason had crept into the fort, and a traitor, pai'tly detected in his 
 crime, had been arrested and thrown into irons : but the idea of Frank Hallo- 
 way being that traitor was the last that could have entered into their thoughts, 
 and yet they now beheld him covered with every mark of ignomiu}-, and about 
 to answer iiis high oifcnce, in all human probabilit}-, with his life. 
 
 \7ith the ofiicers the reputation of Halloway for courage and fidelity stood 
 no less high ; but, while they secretly lamented the circumstances of his defal- 
 cation, they could not disguise from themselves the almost certainty of his 
 guilt, for each, as he now gazed i^pon the prisoner, recollected the confusion 
 and hesitation of manner he had e\inced when questioned by them preparatory 
 to then- ascending to the ramparts. 
 
 Once .more the suspense of the moment was interrupted by the entrance of 
 other forms into the area. They were those of the adjutant, followed by a 
 drummer, bearing his instrument, and the governor's orderly, charged with 
 pens, ink, paper, and a book which, from its peculiar form and color, eyery 
 one present knew to be a copy of the articles of war. A variety of contending 
 emotions passed through tlie breasts of many, as they witnessed the silent 
 progress of these prepai'ations, rendered painfully interesting by the peculiarity 
 of their position, and the wildness of the hour at which they thus found them- 
 selves assembled together. The prisoner himself was unmoved : he stood 
 proud, calm, and fearless, amid the guard, of wliom he had so recently formed 
 
\, A i; Ml - i A ; i.i .: , T n i: i> i\ o i' ji k c V . 17 
 
 one ; and uiiough his cjuutLuauc^ was pa.le, as much, pcrhapy, from a sense of 
 the ignominious character in -which lie appeared as froni more private con- 
 siderations, still there was nothing to denote either the abjectness, of fear or 
 the consciousness of merited disgrace. Once or twice a low sobbing, that pro- 
 ceeded at intervals from one of the barraclc windows, caught his ear, and he 
 turned liis glance in that direction with a restless anxiety, which he exerted 
 himself in the instant afterwards to repress; but this -was the only mark of 
 emotion he betrayed. 
 
 The above dispositions having been hastily made, the adjutant and his as- 
 sistants once more retired. After the lapse of a minute, a tall mai'tial-Iooking 
 man, habited in a blue military frock, and of hau(l-;oiin\ t'loiigh stern, haughty, 
 and indexible features, entered the area. lie was roii;).AL(i by Major Black- 
 water, the captain of artillery, and Adjutant liji-ivson. 
 
 " Ai-e the garrison all present, Mr. Lawson ? are tlje officers all present ?" 
 " AU except those of the guard, sir," replied the adjutant, touching his hat 
 Avith a submission that was scrupulotisly exacted on all occasions of duty by 
 liis superior. 
 
 The governor passed his hand for a moment over his Ijrows. It seemed to 
 those around liha as if tlie mention of that guard luul vdllfd up recollections 
 which gave nun pain ; and it might lie so, for his eldest son, ( 'apiaiu Frederick 
 de Haldimar, had commanded tlie guard. Wiiithei' lie h:id disjippeared, or in 
 what manner, no one knew. 
 
 " Are the artillery all present. Captain Weutworth ?" again demaiided the 
 governor, after a moment of silence, and in his wonted firm authoritative voice. 
 "All present, sir," rejoined the oiiicer, following the example of the adju- 
 tant, and saluting liis chief. 
 
 "Then let a di-um-head couvt-martial h<- ;i:-~. n'lLd iiinurdia(..'ly, Mr. Law- 
 son, and without reference to the r.)ster "•'.:<. i!i! s. niiir uilic.rs 1k' selected." 
 
 The adjutant went rouml to the rcsiuM: is •• <!■ , i.-iiin.-. irml ii'. ;i low voice 
 warned Captain Bles>ii! rt-.n. vivA the four senior suliakerii-', for thvd duty. 
 One by one the offic-r.-. as i!i,-y were severally oalk-il u;ioii, left their places 
 in the square, and sheathing llieir swords, steiijied into that pari of the area 
 appointed rfs their (eniporarv cfa.'-t. 'i'li^y v.eiv !io\r a'l assembled, and Cap- 
 t;un Biessingtou. the senior,)'; li;> resak iti the garrison, \vas jireparing to ad- 
 minister the customary oaths, ^vhen the prisoner Hallovv^ay advanced a pace 
 or two in front of his escort, and removing his cap, in a clear, firm, but re- 
 spectful voice, thus addressed the governor : — 
 
 •• Colonel de Haldimar, thaL I nm no traitor, as I have aivi'ai'y toM you, 
 the Almighty God, before whom. 1 ><\-ore aHegi;nv;e to liis majesty, can bear 
 me witness. Appearances. I ovrw. are r,;j:ainst me: but, so tiir I'roni lieing a 
 traitor, I would liave siiee. my last <lr-on ei' ;_.e)f)il in deteuce of the garri.-.in and 
 yom- family. Colonel de llaltiimar."' he jairsueil, after a moiiiei!.:ir\- pau.se, in 
 vrhich he seemed to be struggii:i;;: in subdue the eniotioa vriiieii rose, despite 
 of himself to his throat, '• i rejieal. [ a;ii no traitor, and I scorn the imputa- 
 tion — but here ir; my best answer to the charge. This wound, (and he un- 
 btittoned his jacket, opened his shirt, and disclosed a deep scar upon his white 
 chest.) this wound I received in defence of my captain's life at Quebec. Had 
 I not loved him, I .should not so have exposed luyself, neither but for that 
 should I now stand in tlie situation of shame and danger, in which my com- 
 rades behold me." 
 
 Every heart was touched by this appeal — this bold and manly appeal 
 to the consideration of the governor. T'he officers, especiidly, who were fidly 
 conversant with the general merit of Hidloway, were deeply affected, and 
 Charles de Haldimar — tlie young, the generous, tlie feeling Charles de Haldi- 
 mar." even shed tears. 
 
 •• What mean you, prisoner ?'• inteiTOgated tlie governor, after a short 
 pause, during which lie ajipeared to be weighing and de^hicing inferences from 
 the expressions just uttered. '" What mean vou, by .s;.;itiug, but for that (al- 
 9. 
 
18 wACOUSTA; OB, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 tadi„g to vou,- regard for C.ptain do lfcklin,ar) you «v,,uM not now Ix' in thl, 
 
 ^;:;\:i^;^i:^^<^^^^'^^' »*,I respect ,ny woM, 
 ™^C,S\rto'°d:rn?Wo pledged yonr^lf to .ccrecy ! What 
 
 „ean you man by th,, rho^^^^^^^ 
 
 &='i?er's'^to';rdntyMt,»^ 
 
 from his own »<lm.ss.o°. ^O"", 'JS'^ *4,f^S tKuo^ has been bribed by, 
 speaking m an nod tone, as .f *« h.m^^^ ^^^ ^ .^ f^^_ 
 
 ^threZSn iJwas betntying.li: suddenly chVd himself, and assumed 
 
 %Ztttrepl°^raJ;S!Sd^tbr|Vernor in the same clear.flrm ,0100 
 
 silver Y^l^'lf.w oX l^im^^^^^ ^^'^^'^^ ^^^'^ °^ *^' P"?""'"' 
 
 ogmzed It foi^^tlmt ot the joim |^ -^^^ ^y^^^^^ the sound pro- 
 
 Agam the atter turned lu. &^f ;^;™' ^^^^. ,,.^ distinctly seen by many 
 
 ceeded, and by the glare ot tbe toiche. ^ ^ea^ momentary. In the 
 
 coursing down his manly cheek. ^^ /\^^^!^^.;^^^;\^„ ^ns cap stepped back 
 
 J^"LrltrftrurdI^Sns.o-^onrcharaot.,.r..hat you we,, asham- 
 ed to reyea! it." . , j ij^^j, j(fj<,t . fo,. ;„ the 
 These ™?f f » « °f *' ^^*l ch«t'as allusion was made to the di.sgrace 
 tSwor:K't:.'hJ'rmfT, there- was e™^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
W A C O U S T A ; on, T H K PROPHECY- !■& 
 
 may God, of his mflnite mercy, grant, for Oaptaiu do Huldiniai'sKake, as wi-11 
 as mine, 1 may not then be wholly deserted !" 
 
 There was something so peculiar!}- solemn and impressive in the manner in 
 which the unhappy man now expressed himself, that a feeling of the utmost 
 awe crept into the bosoms of the sxirrountliug throng ; and more than one 
 veteran of the grenadiers, the compan\' to which Halloway belonged, was 
 heard to relieve his chest of the long pent-up sigh that struggled for j'elease. 
 
 " Enough, prisoner," rejoined the governor ; '• on this condition do I grant 
 your request ; but recollect, — your disclosure ensm-es no hope of pardon, un- 
 less, mdeed, you have the fullest proof to offer in yom* defence. Do you per- 
 fectly understand me ?" 
 
 •' I do," replied the soldier firmU' ; and again he placed his cap on his head^ 
 and retired a step or two back among the guard. 
 
 " Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be removed, and conducted to one of th& 
 private cells. Who is the subaltern of the guard ?" 
 
 " Ensign Fortescue," was the answer. 
 
 ■' Then let Ensign Fortescue keep the key of the cell himself. Tell him 
 moreover, I shall hold him individually responsible for his charge." 
 
 Once more the prisoner was marched out of the area ; and, as the clanking 
 sound of his chains became gradually fainter in tlie distance, the same voice 
 that had before interrupted the proceedings, pronoimced a '• God be praised ! 
 God be praised !" with such melody of soiTow in its intonations that no one 
 could listen to it unmoved. Both officers and men were more or less affected, 
 and all hoped — they scarcely knew why or what^but all hoped something 
 favorable would occur to save the life of the brave and unhappy Prank Hal- 
 loway. 
 
 Of the fu'st interruption bj- the wife of the prisoner the governor had taken 
 no notice ; but on this repetition of the expression of her feelings be briefly- 
 summoned, in the absence of the adjutant, the sergeant-major of the regiment 
 to his side. 
 
 " Sergeant-major Bletson, I desire that, in future, on all occasions of this- 
 kind, the women of the regiment may be kept out of the way. Look to it, 
 sir!" 
 
 The sergeant-major, who had stood as erect as his own halbcrt. which he 
 held before him in a saluting position, during this brief adjnonition of his 
 colonel, acknowledged, bj' a certain air of deferential respect and dropping of 
 the eyes, unaccompanied by speech of any kind, that he felt the reproof, and 
 would, in future, take care to avoid all .similar cause for complaint. He then 
 stalked stiffly away, and resumed, in a few hasty strides, his position in rear 
 of the troops. 
 
 " Haid-hearted man !" pursued the same voice: "if my prayers of grati- 
 tude to heaven give offence, may the hour never come when my lips shall 
 pronounce their bitterest curse upon your severity !" 
 
 There was sometliiug so plainly' wild — so solemnly prophetic — in these 
 sounds of sorrow as they fell faintly upon the ear, and especially under the 
 extraordinary circumstances of the night, that they might have been taken 
 for the warnings of some supernatural agency. During their utterance, not 
 even the breathing of human life was to be heard in the ranks. In the next 
 instant, however, Sergeant-major Bletson was seen repairing, with long and 
 hasty strides, to the barrack whence the voice proceeded, and the interruption 
 was heard no more. 
 
 jVIeanwhile the officers, who had been summoned from the ranks for the^ 
 purpose of forming the court-martial, still lingered in the centre of the square, 
 apparently waiting for the order of their superior, before thev' should resume 
 their respective stations. As the quick and comprehensive glance of Colonel 
 de Haldimar now embraced the group, he at once became sensible of the ab- 
 sence of one of the seniors, all of whom he had desired should be selected for 
 the court-raaitial. 
 
^20 wacousta; or, the pkophecy. 
 
 uM T .V- "op " he remaike.1. somcvdiat steiiily, as the adjutant now re- 
 
 sense of the implication, ^^ 
 
 ;;f:hei:'sStid th?a^ul^t, ^^a., ^ » c»uplc of flta of the pja^d, 
 
 ^'^^-^r.l.SrSZfailri't.ui.e,, t„e governor ; ^f^^^^ 
 "a.dlt wh Si c^ldiitd to bo anMan, lurking as a spy "P- *;^<;?-"„rif 
 
 to destroy an onomy at whatever hour 1'\™|M^«J™^/™^ ,,1 ,d„w. those 
 
 ^„^ S;nShli::'-,re tT, rhtTdi^r^ «t'f »; rfndia\: it seeded to 
 
 S;°irat„&h sentiment of P"? -' 'g^'; -triJ Evcrard VaUc- 
 
 ihe governor started involmitaniy. Do jou iina„^M, oir 
 tort, the aim of your rifle was true-that you hit hnn ? ^^^^ 
 
 .^xti;ai^hiSSJ^s:fsS3HsfoftS3S 
 ^;irH\^°o\t^e7it:inTLss^«i'r^^^ 
 
 ■"^iVSlrSnot, si,., relied ^^Erer^^" ^Sl^SJSt^rr" 
 fentl*^i;:!ment%u t:r;rSe^r.:A-t ofteceis, myUnee ntay 
 
 fee overlooked '?" 
 
 fee overlooked '?" „„ fi^o ctip<. leer is if he would have 
 
 The o-overnor fixed h s nenetratmg eyes on the speakei, aS n nx. » 
 
 altogether Avithout souk- -ood ie..al.. liaa juu i ^^ 
 
 ■savi^e, there ra^-lit l-.uTo been u decent palhative on^Tcd , but WR..i 
 
W A C O I.' S 'I' A -, OK, •]■ JI K F R O P 11 li G Y . i^ 
 
 yoiu- leolinc;,-. sir, whoii you voticot, the doalli of yon officer," and lie poiuu.il 
 to tlxo covpso of tho unhappy Murpliy, " is, in a great ilogrcB, attributable to 
 yourscif ? Had 3'ou not pi-ovoked the anger of the savage, and given a dii-ec- 
 tion to his aim by tho impotent and waiiton discharge of your o\vn rifle, this- 
 accident would never have happened." 
 
 This severe reproving of an ollicei-, \vlin Itnd nctcd from tlie most prafst;^ 
 worthy of motives, and who could mf , i' ' ' \c anticipated the unfortu- 
 nate catastrophe that had occurred, a. ' especially liarsh .lud «n- 
 kind by every one present ; and a io\v : inaudible nmrmur passed 
 through the company to '\;-hich f^ir Evtravd v\ ;l.-; attached. For a mir.ute or 
 two that oflicer appeared deeply ] )a!nod, not more fi'ora the rc|>voof itself tJiais 
 from the ncvr light in \\-}<.ich the observation of his chief had taught him to 
 view, for the first time, the cavisc'^s that hacl led to the fall of Murpiiy. Firai?- 
 iug, however, that the governor had no further remarks to address to Iiim, lie' 
 once more returned to hi- " "' ' v ■ ' i i:;ks. 
 
 '• Mr. Lawson," resui;. i . I. turning to the adjutant. " f'.?t 
 
 this victim be carried ^ ' !. lie fcU, and there interred. 1 
 
 know no better grave for a sol' 1 : ■ .-; V \l\ni h;is been mofe- 
 
 tened with his blood. Ilccollei i';'' I'djuiiiiit once mm^i? 
 
 led the party out of the area, — ■ ;. .\.\:..\ ^ , . . r.-,.. Tn • (iuiy uiust fe 
 silently performed, and vrithout the risk of ■;:><:,;; ; '• :• - :>;' ; d ^vi ■:. or». 
 shower of bidlets, from the savages. Major ! ■ • ! ■,.;: . li' ; : 'H"i. as sooa 
 as the corpse had been rcinovrd. •■let [he i-im )>!',■ ihii'.- :;;:ns cMnas thtrf 
 now sta,nd, and remain Wiuly 1m i-dl iii :;! :; miuuif's ivilirc. Sho-uW any- 
 thing extraordinary happen Ir.rnro the m^riii!i>;', you wiii. <>i' course, apprises- 
 me." lie then strode out oi" tin- area vrith the same har.ghty and measures^ 
 step that had characteriseii h's (i it ranee. 
 
 '' Our colonel does not apiieir to be in one of his most amiable moods to-- 
 night," observed Captnin iiles-ington, as the officers, after having dispo.S(iy;I 
 of their respective companies, now proceeded along the ramparts to assist ai 
 the last funeral offices of their xnihappy associate. " lie \v:\s disposed to 7m 
 sevci'e, and must have put you, in some measure, out of conceit with yosr 
 Itivorite rifle, Valletort." 
 
 '' True," rejoined the baronet, wlio had already rallied fVoJii tlie Tiioriieniarv 
 depression of his spirits, " he hit me devilish hard, I eoiiie-s. and \,;;s disjMo. -.5 
 to display more of the commanding ofhcer than quite suits my ideas of c'jc 
 service. His words were as caustic as his looks ; and could both have pieit'- 
 ed me to the quick, there was no inclination on his part wanting. By my 
 soul I could .... but I forgive him. He is the father of iny friend : and for 
 that reason will I chew the cud of my mortitievition. nor siitfe!-. if |iossibtv. 
 a sense of his nnkindness to rankle at njy heart. At all events, f,Ii -singtc.iK 
 my mind is made up, and resign or exchange 1 certainly siiall the instant t 
 nufl a decent loop-hole to creep out of" 
 
 Sir Everard fancied the ear of his captain was alone listening to these ex- 
 pressions of his feehng, or in all pi-obability he would not lr;ve uttered theifi- 
 As he concluded the last sentence, however, he felt hi - : rni gently gi-asped 'by 
 one who walked a pace or two silently in their rear, .lie turned, and rc^c-sg:- 
 nized Charles de Haldimar. 
 
 '• I am sure, Yalletort, 3-ou will believe how much pained I have been at 
 the severity of my father ; but, indeed, there was nothing personally olfensiT& 
 intended. Blcssington can tell yon, as well as myself, it is his manner akk>- 
 gether. Nay, that although he is the first in seniority after Blackwater, tte 
 governor treats liimmth the same distance and hauteur he would use towartfe. 
 the youngest ensign in the service. Such are the effects of his long mihtaff-*- 
 habits, and his ideas of the absolutism of command. Am I not right, Blcs- 
 sington ?" 
 
 " Quite right, Chaxles. Sir Everard may satisfy himself his is no solitarjr 
 instancc of the stern severitv of vour father. Still. I confess. notwithstaiiS- 
 
•22 W A C O U ? T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 ing tlic rigidity of nianncr wliich ho sceius. on all occasions, to think so in- 
 dispensable to the maintenance of anthorit}- in a commanding officer. I never 
 knew him so inclined to find fault as he is to-night." 
 
 " Perhaps." observed Yalletort. good humorcdly. •• his conscience is rather 
 restless ; and he is willing to get rid of it and his spleen altogether. I woidd 
 wager my rifle against the worthless scalp of the rascal I fired at to-night, tluit 
 this same stranger, Avhosc asserted appearance has called us from our comfort- 
 able beds, is but the cieation of his disturbed dreams. Indeed, how is it ])os- 
 sible anything formed of flesh and blood could have escaped us with the vigi- 
 lant watch that has been kept on the ramparts ? The old gentleman certainly 
 liad that illusion strongly impressed on his inind when he so sapiently spoke 
 of my firing at a shadow." ,. 
 
 " But the gate." interrupted CKal-Ics de Haldimar. with something of mild 
 reproach in his tones. — " you forget. Yalletort. the gate was found unlocked, 
 ami that my brother is missing. He. at least, was flesh and blood, as you 
 isay, and yet he has disappeared. AVhat more probable, therefore, than that 
 this stranger is at once the cause and the agent of his abduction ?" 
 
 " Impossible. Charles," observed Captain Blessington ; " Frederick was in the 
 midst of his guard. How. therefore, could he be conveyed away without the 
 alarm being given ? Nimibers only could have succeeded in so desperate an 
 enterprise; ; and yet there is no evidence, or even suspicion, of more than one 
 individual having been here." 
 
 '■• It is a singular affair altogether." returned Sir Everard, musingly. " Of 
 two things." however, I am satisfied. The first is, that the stranger, whoever 
 he may be, and if he really has been here, is no Indian ; the second, that he 
 is personally known to the governor, who has been, or I mistake much, more 
 alarmed at his individual presence than if Ponteac and his whole band had 
 suddenly broken in upon us. Did you remark his emotion, when I dwelt on 
 i^\t peculiar character of personal triumph and revenge which the cry of the 
 Inrkhig villain outside seemed to express ? and did you notice the eagerness 
 with wliich he enquired if I thought I had hit him ? Depend upon it, there is 
 "mure in all this than is di-eamt of in our philosophy." 
 
 '• And it was your luidisguised perception of that emotion," remarked 
 ■Captain Blessington, '• that drew down his severity upon j^our own head. It 
 was, however, too palpable not to bo noticed by all ; and I dare say conjecture 
 is as busily and as vaguely at Avork among our companions as it is with us. 
 *flie clue to the mystery, in a great degree, now dwells with Frank Ilalloway ; 
 ami to hhu wo nmst look for its elxicidntion. His disclosure Avill be one, I 
 «ppreb.end. full of ignominy to himself, but of the highest interest and im- 
 portance to us all. And yet I know not how to believe the man the traitor 
 iic appears." 
 
 •• Di<l you remark that last harrowing exclamation of his wife?" observed 
 4'htirles de Haldimar, in a tone of unspeakable melancholy. " How fearfully 
 prophetic it sounded in my ears. I know not how it is," he pursued, " but 1 
 wisli I had not heard those sounds ; for since that moment I have had a sad 
 strange presentiment of evnl at my heart. Heaven grant my poor brother 
 snay make his appearance, as I still trust he will, at the hour Ilalloway seems 
 to expect, for if not, the latter most assuredly dies. I know my father well ; 
 and, if convicted by a court martial, no human poA\'er can alter the destiny that 
 awaits Frank Halloway." 
 
 " Bally, my dear Charles, riilly." said Sir Everard, affecting a confidence he 
 <lid not feel himself ; " indulge not in these idle and superstitious fancies. T 
 pity Halloway from my soul, ind feel the deepest interest in his prettj^ and 
 ttnhappy wife ; but that is no reason why one should attach importance to the 
 incoherent expressions wrung from her in the agony of grief." 
 
 '' It is kind of you, "V'alletort, to endeavor to cheer my spirits, when, if the 
 Aruth were confessed, you acknowledge the influence of the same feelings. I 
 
\V A C O U S T A ; O U , THE PROPHECY. 23 
 
 thank you for the attempt, l)ut time alone can show how far I shall liave 
 reason, or othei-wise. to lament the oceiirrLMiccs of this night." 
 
 They had now reached that part of the ramparts whence the shot from Sir 
 Everard's ride had been fired. Several men were ocenpied in diiiiiini;- a ni-ave 
 in the precise spot on which the unfortunate iMurpiiy had stood when he re- 
 ceived his death wound ; and into this, when completed, the liody, enshromi-. 
 ed in the cloak already alluded to. was deposited hy his comjianions. 
 
 CIIAPTEll IIJ. 
 
 While the adjutant was yet reading, in a low and solemn voice, the service 
 for the dead, a tierce and distant yell, as if from a legion of devils, burst sud- 
 denly from the forest, ami l/rougjit the hands of the startled ofticers instinc- 
 tively to their swords. This appalling cry lasted without interruption, for 
 many minutes, and was then as abiuptly checked as it had been unexpectedly 
 dehvered. A considerable pause succeeded, and then it rose with even more 
 startling vehemence than before. By one unaccustomed to those devilish 
 sounds, no distinction could have been made in the two several yells that had 
 been thus savagely pealed forth ; but those to whom practice and long expe- 
 rience in the warlike habits and ciistoms of the Indians had rendered their 
 shouts familiar, at once divined, ot- fancied thej' divined, the cause. The finst 
 was. to their conception, a yell expressive at once of vengeance and disappoint- 
 ment in piu'snit, — perhaps of some prisoner who had escaped from their toils ; 
 the second, of triumph and success, — in all ])robability, indicative of the re- 
 capture of that prisoner. For many minutes afterwards the officers continued 
 to listen, with the most aching attention, for a repetition of the cry, or even 
 fainter sounds, that might denote either a nearer approach to the fort, or the 
 final departure of the Indians. xVfter the second yell, however, the woods, in 
 the heart of whicli it appeared to have been uttered, were buried in as pro- 
 found a silence as if they had never yet echoed back the voice of man ; and all 
 at length became satisfied that the Indians, having accomplished some parti- 
 cular purpose, had retired once more to their distant encampment for the 
 night. Captain Erskine was the first who broke the almost breathless silence 
 that prevailed among themselves. 
 
 " On my life, I)e Haldimar is a prisoner with the Indians. He has been at- 
 tempting his escape — has been detected, — followed, and again fallen into their 
 hands. I know their infernal yells l)ut too well. The last expix'ssed their 
 savage joy at the capture of a prisoner ; and there is no one of us missing but 
 De Haldimar." 
 
 " Not a doubt of it," said Captain Blessington ; the cry Avas certainly what 
 you describe it. and Heaven onlv knows what will be the fate of our poor 
 friend." 
 
 No other oflBcer spoke, for all were oppressed by the weight of their own 
 feelings, and souglit rather to give indulgence to speculation in secret, than to 
 share their impi-essions with their companions. Charles de Haldimar stood a 
 little in the rear, leaning his head upon his hand against the box of the sentry, 
 (who was silently though anxiously pacing his walk.) and in an attitude ex- 
 pressive of the deepest dejection and sorrow. 
 
 " I suppose I must finish Lawson's work, althongli I am but a poor hand at 
 this sort of thing," resumed Captain Erskine, taking up the prayer book tlie 
 adjutant had, in hastening on the first alarm to get the men under arms, care- 
 lessly thrown on tho grave of the now unconscious Murphy. 
 
 He then commenced the service at the ))oint where Mr. Lawson had so 
 abruptly broken off, and went through the remainder of the prayers. A ^'cry 
 few minutes sufficed for the performance of this solemn duty, whicli was afiected 
 
34 W A C U S T A ; O II , THE PROPHECY. 
 
 by the fniut (iiiii liiiht of the at IcngtJi dawniuo,' day, and the men in attend- 
 ance proceeded to till np tiie grave of their officer. 
 
 Gradual!}'- tlie mists, that had fallen diiriiig the latter hours of the night, 
 began to ascend from the common, and disperse themselves in air, conveying 
 the appearance of a rolling sheet of vapor retiring back upon itself, and dis- 
 closing objects in succession, until the eye could embrace all that came within 
 its extent of vision. As the ofHcei's yet lingered near the rude grave of their 
 companion, watching with abstracted air the languid and almost mechanical 
 action of their jaded men, as they emptied shovel after shovel of the damp 
 eai'th over the body of its new tenant, they were suddenly startled by an ex- 
 pression of exultation from Sir Evcrard Valletort. 
 
 "By Jupiter. I have pinked him," he exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew 
 my ritle could not err ; and a;-; for my sight, I h.ave cai-ried away too many 
 prizes in target-sliooting to have been deceived in that. How delighted the 
 old governor will be, Charles, to hear this. No more lectui-ing. I am sure, for 
 the next six months at least ;" and the young officer rubbei his hands to- 
 gether, at tlic success of his shot, with as much satisfaction and unconcern for 
 the future, as if he had licen in his own native England, in the midst of a 
 prize-ring. 
 
 Roused by the observation of liis friend, Do Haldimar quitted his position 
 near the sentry box, and advanced to the outer edge of the rampart. To him, 
 as to his companions, the outline of the old bomb-proof was now distinctly 
 visible, but it was some time lu-fore they could discover, in the direction ia 
 which Valletort pointed, a dark speck upon the common ; and this so indis- 
 tinctl}^, they could scarcely distinguish it with the naked eye. 
 
 " Your sight is quite equal to your aim, Sir Evcrard," remarked Lieutenant 
 Johnstone, one of Erskine's subalterns, '•' and both are decidedly superior to 
 mine ; yet T used to be thought a good rifleman too. and have credit for an e3-e 
 no less keen than that of an Indian ; you have the advantage of me, however ; 
 for I honestly admit I never could have picked off yon fellow in the dark as 
 you have done." 
 
 As the dawn increased, the dark shadow of a human form, stretched at its 
 length upon the ground, became perceptible ; and the officers, with one 
 unanimous voice, bore loud testimony to the skill and dexterity of him who 
 had, under such extreme disadvantages, accomplished the death of their skulk- 
 ing enemy. 
 
 " Bravo, Valletort," said Charles de Haldimar, recovering his spirits, as 
 much from the idea, now occuring to him. that this might indeed be the 
 .stranger Avhose appearance had so gi'eatly disturbed his father, as from the 
 gratitication he felt in the praises bestowed on his friend. '• Bravo, my dear 
 fellow !" then approaching, and in a half whisper, " when next I write to 
 Clara, T shall request her, with my cousin's assistance, to prepare a chaplet of 
 bays, wherewith I shall myself crown you as their proxy. But what is the 
 matter now, Valletort 1 Why stand you there gazing upon the common, as 
 if the victim of yom- murderous aim was rising from his bloody couch, to re- 
 proach you with his deatli '? Tell me. shall I write to Clara for the prize, or 
 will you receive it from her own hands ?" 
 
 " Bid her i-ather pour her curses on my head ; and to those, De Haldimar. 
 add your own," exclaimed Sir Kverard, at length raising himself from the 
 statue-like position he had assumed. " Almighty God," he pursued, in the 
 same tone of deep agony, " what have I done ? Where shall 1 hide myself?" 
 
 As he spoke he turned away from his companions, and covering his eyes 
 with his hand, with quick and unequal steps, even like those of a drunken 
 man, walked, or rather ran, along the rampart, as if fearful of being over- 
 taken. The whole group of officers, and Charles de Haldimar in particular, 
 were struck with dismay at the language and action of Sir Evei-ard ; and for 
 a moment they fancied that fiitigue, and watching, and excitement, had par- 
 tmlly aiiccted his brain. But wlien, after tlie lapse of a minute or two, they 
 
W A C O tl S T A ; l> R , THE P R P U K C Y . 35 
 
 agiiin loiikeil out upon the conv.uon, ihc secret of his agitation was too faith- 
 fully and too painfully explained. 
 
 What had at lirst the dusky and dingy hue of a half-naked Indian, was 
 now perceived, by the briglit beams of light just feathering in the oast, to be 
 the gay and striking uniforiu of a British officer. Doubt as to who that offi- 
 cer was there could be none, for the white sword-belt suspended over the 
 right shoulder, and thrown into strong relief by the field of scarlet on which 
 it reposed, denoted the wearer of this distinguished badge of duty to be one 
 of the guard. 
 
 If the)'' could regret, the loss of such a companion as Mitrphj'-, how deep 
 and heartfelt must have been the sorrow they experienced when they beheld 
 the brave, generous, manly, amiable, and highly-talented Frederick de Ilaldi- 
 mar — the pride of the garrison, and the idol of his family — lying extended, a 
 cold, senseless corpse, slain by the hand of the bosom friend of his brother ! — 
 Notwithstanding the stern severity and distance of the governor, whom few 
 circumstances, however critical or exciting, could surprise into relaxation of 
 his habitual stateliness. it would have been dilficult to name two j'oung men 
 more universally liked and esteemed by their brother officers than were the 
 De Haldimars — the first for the qualities already named — the second, for those 
 retiring, mild, winning manners, and gentle aflections, added to extreme and 
 almost feminine beauty of countenance for which he was remarkable. Alas, 
 what a gloomy picture was now exhibited to the minds of all ! Frederick de 
 Haldimar a corpse, and slain by the hand of Sir Everard Valletort ! What 
 but disunion could follow this melancholy catastrophe ? and how could Charles 
 de Haldimar, even if his bland nature should survive the shock, ever bear to 
 look again upon the man who had, however innocently or imintentionally, 
 deprived him of a brother whom he adored ? 
 
 These were the impressions that passed through the minds of the compas- 
 sionating officers, as they directed their glance alternately from the common 
 to the pale and marble-like features of the younger De Haldimar, who. with 
 parted lips and stupid gaze, continued to fix liis eyes upon the inanimate form 
 of his ill-fated brother, as if the very faculty of life itself had been for a period 
 suspended. At length, however, while his companions watched in silence the 
 mining workings of that grief which they feared to interrupt by ill-timed ob- 
 servations, even of condolence, the death-like hue, which had hitherto suftused 
 the usually blooming cheek of the young officer, was succeeded by a flush of 
 the deepest dye, while his eyes, swollen by the tide of blood now rushing 
 violent^ to his face, appeared to be bursting from their sockets. The shock 
 was more than his delicate frame, exhausted as it was by watching and fa- 
 tigue, could bear. He tottered, reeled, pressed his hand upon his head, and 
 before any one could render him assistance, fell senseless on the ramparts. 
 
 Dm-ing the interval between Sir Everard Yalietort's exclamation, and the 
 fall of Charles de Haldimar, the men employed at the grave had performed 
 their duty, and were gazing with mingled astonishment and concern, both on 
 the body of their mm*dered officer, and on the dmnb scene acting around 
 them. Two of these were now despatched for a litter, with which they 
 speedily re-appeared. On this Charles de Haldimar, already delirious with 
 the fever of intense excitement, was carefully placed, and. followed by Captain 
 Blessington and Lieutenant Johnstone, borne to his apartment in the small 
 range of buildings constituting the officers' bariacks. Captain Erskine un- 
 dertook the disagreeable office of communicunni:- Ih'jse distressing events to 
 the governor ; and the remainder of the ofiicers once more hastened to join 
 or linger near their respective companions, in readiness for the order which it 
 was expected would be given to despatch a numerous party of the garrison 
 to secure the body of ( -aptain de Haldimar. 
 
26 vv A c u s T A ; on 
 
 O P H E C V . 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The sun was just rising above the horizon, in all that peculiar softness of 
 splendor which characterises the early days of autumn in America, as Cap- 
 tain Erskine led his company across the drawbridge that communicated with 
 the fort. It was the first time it had been lowered since the investment of the 
 garrison by the Indians ; and as the dull and rusty chains performed their 
 service with a harsh and grating soimd, it seemed as if an earnest were given 
 of melanchoh- boding. Although the distance to be traversed was small, the 
 risk the party incuired was great ; for it was probable the savages, ever on 
 the alert, woxild not suffer them to effect their object unmolested. It waa 
 perhaps singular, and certainly contradictory, that an officer of the acknow- 
 ledgetl prudence and forethought ascribed to the governor — qualities which in 
 a great degree neutralized his excessive severity in the eyes of his troops — 
 should have hazai-ded the chance of having his garrison enfeebled by the de- 
 struction of a part, if not of the whole, of the company appointed to this 
 dangerous duty ; but with all his sevei-ity, Colonel de Haldimar was not with- 
 out strong affection for his children. The feelings of the father, therefore, in 
 a great degree triumphed over the prudence of the commander : and to shield 
 the corpse of his son from the indignities which he well knew would be in- 
 flicted on it by Indian barbarity, he had been induced to accede to the earn&st 
 prayer of Captain Erskine, that he might be permitted to lead out his com- 
 pany for the purpose of securing the body. Every means were, however, 
 taken to cover the advance, and ensure the retreat of the detachment. The 
 remainder of the troops were distributed along the rear of the ramparts, with 
 instructions to lie flat on their faces until summoned by their olflcers from 
 that position ; which was to be done only in the event of close pursuit from 
 the savages. Artillerymen were also stationed at the several guns that flanked 
 the rear of the fort, and necessarily commanded both the common and the 
 outskirt of the forest, with orders to fire with grape-shot at a given signal. 
 Captain Erskine's instructions, were, moreover, if attacked, to retreat back 
 under the guns of the fort slowly and in good order, and without turning his 
 back upon the enemy. 
 
 Thus confident of support, the party, after traversing the drawbridge with 
 fixed bayonets, inclined to the riglit. and following the winding of the ditch 
 by which it was surruunded, made the semi-circuit of the rampart until they 
 gained the immediate centre of the rear, and in a direct line with the bomb- 
 proof Here their made of advance was altered, to guard more ellectually 
 against the enemy with whom they might possibly have to contend. The 
 iVont and rear ranks of the company, consisting in all of ninety men, were so 
 placed as to leave space in the event of attack, for a portion of each to wheel 
 inwards so as to present in an instant three equal faces of a square. As the 
 rear was sufficiently covered by the cannon of the fort to defeat any attempt 
 to turn their flanks, the manoMivre was one that enabled them to present a 
 fuller front in whatever otlier quarter they might be attacked ; and had this 
 additional advantage, that in the advance by single files a narrower front was 
 given to the aim of the Indians, who, unless they fired in an oblique direction, 
 could only of necessity, bring down two men (the leading files) at a time. 
 
 In this order, and anxiously overlooked by their comrades, whose eyes 
 alone peered from above the surface of the rampart on which they lay pros- 
 trate, the detachment ' crossed the common; one rank headed by Captain 
 Erskine, the other by Lieutenant Johnstone. They had now approached 
 within a few yards of the unfortunate victim, when Captain Erskine com- 
 manded a halt of his party ; and two files were ditached from the rear of 
 each rank, to place the body on a litter with wliich they Jiad provided tliem- 
 selves. lie and Johnstone also moved in the same direction in advanc; of the 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 27 
 
 men, prcparctl to render assistance if reriniveii. The corpse lay on its face, 
 and in no way despoiled of any of its alitterinir habiliments ; a circumstance 
 that too well 'confirmed the fi^ct of I)c Tfnldiinar's doatli lia\'ing Veen accom- 
 plished by the ball from Sir Everard A'alletort's rifle. It. ajipearcd, however, 
 the ill-fated officer had struii'uled much in the agonies of death ; for the left 
 leg was drawn up into an unnatural state of contractii)n, and the right hand, 
 closelj- compressed, grasped a (juantity of grass and .soil, which had been evi- 
 dently torn up in a paroxysm of sntferiiig and despair. 
 
 The men placed the litter at the side of the body, whicli they now pro- 
 ceeded to raise. As they were in the act of depositing it on this temporary 
 bier, the plumed hat fell" from the head, and disclosed, to the astonishment of 
 all. the scalpless crown comi)letely saturated in its own clotted blood and 
 oozing bi-ains. An exclamation of horror and disgust escaped at the same 
 moment from the lips of the two olHccr.s, and the men started back from their 
 charge as if a liasilisk liad suddenly appeared before them. Captain Erskino 
 pursued : — 
 
 '•What the devil is the meaning of all this, Johnstone?" "What, in- 
 deed !" rejoined his lieutenant, with a shrug of his shoulders, that was in- 
 tended to express his inability to form any opinion on the subject. 
 
 " Unless it should prove," continued Er.skine. " as I sincerely trust it may, 
 that poor Yalletort is not. after all, the murderer of his friend, it must be 
 so. I)e Ilaldimar has been slain W the same Indian who killed Murphy. 
 Do you recollect his sCalp cry ? He wa,s in the act of despoiling his victim 
 of this trophy of success, when Sir Everai-d fired. Examine the body well, 
 Mitchell, and discover where the wound lies." 
 
 The old soldier to whom this order wa.s addressed now prepared, with the 
 assistance of his comrades, to turn the body upon its back, when suddenly 
 the air was rent with terrific yells, that .seemed to be uttered in their very 
 ears, and in the next instant more than a Inmdred dark and hideous savages 
 sprang simultaneously to their feet within the bomb-proof while every tree 
 along the sku't of the forest gave back the towering form of a warrior. Each 
 of these, in addition to hi.< rifle, was armed with all those destructive imple- 
 ments of warfare which render the Indians of America so formidable and so 
 terrible an enemy. 
 
 ''Stand to your arms, men." shoutecl Captain Er.skine. recovering from 
 his first and unavoidable, though but momentary, sm-prise. " First and 
 fourth sections, on your right and left backwards wheel : — Quick, men. with- 
 in the square, for your lives." As he spoke, he and Lieutenant Johnstone 
 sprang hastily back, and in time to obtain admittance within the troops, who 
 had rapidly executed the mancjeuvre commanded. Not so vrith Mitchell and 
 his companions. On the first alarm they had quitted the body of the muti- 
 lated officer, and flown to secure their arras, but even while in the act of 
 stooping to take them up. they had been grappled by a powerful and vindict- 
 ive foe ; and the first thing they beheld on regaining their upright position, 
 was a dusky Indian at the side' and a gleaming tomahawk flashing rapicUy 
 round the head of each. 
 
 "^^'ire not, on your lives," exclaimed Captain Erskine hastily, as he saw 
 several of the men in front levelling, i^i the excitement of the moment, their 
 muskets at the threatening savages'. '• Prepare for attack." he pm-sued ; and 
 in the next instant each man dropped on his right knee, and a barrier of 
 bristling bayonets seemed to rise from the very bowels of the earth. Attracted 
 by the novelty of the sight, the bold and daring warriors, although still retain- 
 ing their firm grasp of the unhappy soldiers, were for a moment diverted 
 from their bloody purpose, and temporarily suspended the quick and rotatory 
 motion of their weapons. Captain Erskine took advantage of this pause to 
 seize the halbert of one of his sergeants, to the extreme point of which he 
 hastily attached a white pocket handkerchief, that was loosely thrust into 
 
28 \V A C O U S T A ; OR, THE P R P H K C Y , 
 
 the breast of his uniform ; tliis he AvaveJ on liigh three several times, and 
 then relinquishing the halbert, dropped also on his knee within the square. 
 
 " The dog of a Saganaw asks for mercj^," said a voice from within the 
 bomb-proof, and speaking in the dialect of the Ottawas. " His pale liag be- 
 speaks the quailing of his heart, and liis attitude denotes the timidity of the 
 hind. His warriors are like himself, and even now upon their knees they 
 Ciill upon their JNIanitou to preserve them from the vengeance of tlic red- 
 skins. But mercy is not for dogs like these. Now is the time to make our 
 tomahawks warm in their blood ; and every head that v/e count sliall be a 
 scalp upon our war poles." 
 
 As he ceased, one universal and portentous yell burst from the fiend-like 
 band ; and again the weapons of death were fiercely brandished around the 
 heads of the stupified soldiers who had fallen into tlioir power. 
 
 " What can they be about ?" anxiously' exclaimed Captain Erslcine. in the 
 midst of this deafening clamor, to his subaltern. '' Quiet, man ; uanin you, 
 quiet, or I'll cut you down," he pursued, addressing o^ie of his soldiers, whose 
 impatience caused him to bring liis musket half up to his shoulder. And 
 again lie turned his head in the direction of tlie fort : — •' Thank Goil. here it 
 comes at last, — I feared my signal h.ad not been noticed." 
 
 While he yet spoke, the loud roaring of a cannon from the ramparts was 
 heard, and a shower of grape-shot passed over the heads of tlic detachment, 
 and was seen tearing up the earth around the bomb-proof, and scattering 
 fragments of stone and wood into the air. The men simultaneously and im- 
 bidden gave three cheers. 
 
 In an instant the scene was changed. As if moved by some mechanical 
 impulse, the fierce band that lined the bomb-proof sank below the surface, 
 and were no longer visible, while the warriors in the forest again sought shel- 
 ter ])ehmd the trees. Tlie captured soldiers were also liberated without in- 
 jury, so sudden and startling had been the terror produced in the savages by 
 the lightning flash that announced its heavy messengers of destruction. 'Dis- 
 charge after discharge succeeded \vithout intermission ; but the guns had 
 been levelled so high, to ]:)revcnt injury to their own men, they had little 
 other cfiect than to keep the Indians from the attack. The rush of bullets 
 through the close forest, and the ci-ashing of trees and branches as they fell 
 with startling force upon each other, were, with the peals of artillery, the 
 only noises now to be heard; for not a ycl], not a word was uttered by the 
 Indians after the first discharge ; and but for the certainty that existed in 
 every mind, it might have been supposed the whole of them had retired. 
 
 " Now is your time," cried Captain Erskine ; '" ))ring in the litter to the 
 rear, and stooj) as much as possible to avoid the shot." 
 
 The poor half-strangled fellows, howcvci", instead of obeying the order of 
 their captain, looked I'ound in every dii'ection for the enemy by whom they 
 had been so rudely handled, and who had glided from them almost as imper- 
 ceptily and swiftly as they had at first approached. It seemed as if they 
 apprehended tliat any attempt to remove the body would lie visited by those 
 fierce devils with the same appalling and ferocious threatenings. 
 
 '' Why stand ye there, ye dolts," continued their- captain, " looking around 
 as if ye were bewitched 7 Bring the litter into the rear. ]\Iitchell, you 
 fool, are you grown a coward in your old age? Are you not ashamed to 
 .set such an example to your comrades ?" 
 
 The doubt thus implied of the courage of his men, who, in fact, were 
 merely stupified with the scene they had gone through, had, as Captain 
 Erskine expected, the desired effect. They now bent themselves to the litter, on 
 which they had previousl}^ deposited their muskets, and with a self-possession 
 that contrasted singularly with their recent air of Avild astonishment, bore it 
 to tlie rear at the risk of being cut in two at every moment by the fire from 
 the fort. One fierce yell, instinctively proffered by several of the lurking band 
 in the forest, marked their disappointment and rage at the escape of their 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OR, T H E T K O 1' 11 K C V . Uf'.i 
 
 victims ; but all iitteiiipt at uncovering themselves, so as to be enabled to fire, 
 ■\ra>; prevented by the additional showers of grape which that yell immediately 
 brought upon them. 
 
 Tlie position in which Captain Erskhie now found himself was highly crit- 
 ical. Before him. and on either flank, was a multitude of savages, who only 
 awaited the cessation of the fire froni the fort to commence their fierce and 
 impetuous attack. That tliat fire could not long be sustained was evident, 
 since ammunition could ill be spared lui- ilir i,iv.cnt imriicimt purpose, where 
 supplies of all kinds were so diiticult lo I;- oh; lin d ; ;,iiiK if he should attempt 
 a retreat, the upright position of Iiis I'x n caiki- ■>[ {'„■•)]] \n tiie risk of being 
 swept away by the poml-roi!.; iii"t;i!. !'n:u :i I ready fanned their cheeks with 
 the air it so rapidly dividt •!. Su'l'!i'i!l\ . liowrver. the fire from the batteries 
 was discontinued, nnd llii> ue knew to be a ;-ignal for himself. He gave an 
 order in a low voice. :nii! ;!ie detachment quitted their recumbent and defen- 
 sive position, still rini;ii':iir.' formed in square. At the same inst?ait a gun 
 flashed fioui tl^e f'lil : 1 ii not a^ before was heard the rushing sound of the 
 destructive sIioL i r::-irii!_r ilie (I'ei - in iu resistless course. The Indians took 
 courage at tliis cii-.-iiii.^tiinee. for tliey deemed the bullets of their enemies 
 Avere expended ; and tliut they were merely discharging their powder to keep 
 up the apprehension originally produced. Again they showed themselves. 
 like so many demons, from behind their lurking places ; and yells and shouts 
 of the most terrific and threatening character once more rent the air, and 
 echoed through the woods. Their cries of anticipated triumph were, however, 
 of short duration. Presently, a hissing noise was heard m the air ; and close 
 to the bomb-proof, and at the very skirt of the forest, they beheld a huge 
 globe of iron fall perpendicularly to the earth, to the outer part of which was 
 attached what they supposed to be a reed, that spat forth innumerable sparks 
 of fire, without however, seeming to threaten the slightest injury. Attracted 
 by the novel siglit, a dozen warriors sprang to the spot, and fastened their 
 gaze upon it with all the childish wonder and curiosity of men in a savage 
 state. One, more eager and restless than his fellows, stooped over it to feel 
 with his hand of wliat it was composed. At that moment it burst, and limbs, 
 and he:eis. and entrails, were seen living in the air. with the fragments of the 
 shell, mill prostrate and strugc'ling fornis la}- A^-ritlung on every hand in the 
 last, fierce agonies of de;ith. 
 
 A yejl of despair and a shout of triumph burst at the same moment from 
 the adverse parties. Talxin'!- a.lvr.ntage of the terror produced, by this catas- 
 trophe, in the savages, ( '.i;i:iiii i\:-kine cau.sed the men bearmg the corpse to 
 retreat, with all possiM- e:]. elition, inider the ramparts of the fort. He 
 waited imtil they 'iot n ■ > iuiii way. and then threw forward the wheeling 
 sections, that h.id i > , ,, d iiiis movement, once more into single file, in which 
 order he comraem-eil )ii , lelreat. Step by step, and almost imperceptibly, the 
 men paced backwards, ready, at a moment's notice, to re-form the square. 
 Partly recovering from the terror and siu-prise produced by the bursting of 
 the shell, the Indians were quick in perceiving this movement : tilled \<^th rage 
 at h.aring been so long balked of tlieir aim, they tln-ew themselves once more 
 impetuously from their cover ; and, with .-.linmlating veils, at length opened 
 their fire. Several of Captain Erslciue's men w^^va wounded \)y this tUscharge ; 
 when, again, and furiously the cannon opened from the fort. It was then 
 that the superiority of the artillery was made manifest. Both right and left 
 of the retreating files the ponderous shot Hew heavily past, carrying death 
 and terror to the Indians : while not a man of those who intervened was 
 scathed or touched in its progress. The warriors in the forest were once 
 more compelled to shelter themselves behind the trees; but in the bomb-proof, 
 where they were more secure, tliey wei-e also more bold. From this a galling 
 fire, mingled vjith the most hideous yells, was now kept up : and the detach- 
 ment, in tlieir slow retreat, suftered considerably. Several men had been kill- 
 ed; and. nhont twen.ty. including Lieutenant Johnstone, wounded, when again 
 
30 W A C O I) S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 one of those mnrdcrous ;;lob(,'S fell, hissino: in the very centre of the bomb- 
 proof. In an instant, the Indian tire wa.s discontinued ; and their dark and 
 pliant foi-ni.s were seen hurrying with almost incredible rapidity over the di- 
 lapidated n-alls. and flying into the very heart of the forest, so that when the 
 shell exploded, a few seconds afterwards, not a warrior was to be seen. From 
 this moment the attack was not renewed, and Captain Erskine made good his 
 retreat without further molestation. 
 
 " Well, old buffers !" exclaimed one of the leading files, as the detachment, 
 preceded by its dead and wounded, now moved along the moat in the direction 
 of the draw-bridge, " hoM^ did you like the grip of them red savages ? — I 
 say. Mitchell, old Nick -will scarcely know the iace of you, it's so much alter- 
 ed by fright. Did j-ou see," turning to the man in his rear, " how* harum- 
 scarum he looked, when the captain called out to him to come off?" 
 
 •' Hold your clapper, you spooney, and be d d to you !" exclaimed the 
 
 angry veteran. - Had the Ingian fastened his paw on your ugly neck as he 
 did upon mine, all the pitiful life your mother put into you woidVl have been 
 spirited away from very fear ; so you needn't brag !" 
 
 ■' Sure, and if any of ye had a grain of spunk, ye would have fired, and 
 freed a fellow from the clutch of them Ingin thieves," muttered another of 
 the men at the litter. " All the time the devil had me by the throat, swing- 
 ing his tomrayhawk about my head, I saw ye dancing up and down in the 
 heavens, instead of being on yoiu- marrow bones on the common." 
 
 •' And didn't I want to do it ?" rejoined the first speaker. " Ask Tom 
 Winkler heie, if the captain didn't swear he'd cut ndy head off if I even offer- 
 ed so much as to touch the trigger of my musket." 
 
 " Faith, and lucky he did," replied his covering man, (for the ranks had 
 again joined), " since but for that, there wouldn't be at this moment so much 
 as a hair of the scalp of one you left." 
 
 " Bj' gracious," said a good-humored, quaint looking Iri.shman, who had 
 been fixing his eyes on the litter during this colloquy ; " it sames to me, iuy 
 boys, that ye have caught the wrong cow by the horns, and that all your 
 pains has been for nothing at all. at all. By the pope, ye are all wrong; it's 
 like bringing salt butter to Cork, or coals to your Newcastle, as j^e call it. 
 Who the divil ever heard of the oflicer wearing ammunition shoes ?" 
 
 The men all turned their gaze on that part of the vestment of the coi'pse 
 to which their attention had been directed by this remark, when it was at' 
 once perceived, although it had hitherto escaped the observation even of thfe 
 officers, that, not only the shoes were those usually worn by the soldiers, anflt 
 termed ammunition or store shoes, but also, the trowsers were of the descrip 
 tion of coarse grey, peculiar to that class. 
 
 •' By the piper and ye're right, Dick Doherty," exclaimed another Irish- 
 man ; •' sure, and it isn't the officer at all ! Just look at the great black fist 
 of him too, and never call me Phil Sheban, if it ever was made for the hand- 
 ling of an oflicer's spit." 
 
 " What a set of hignoramuses ye must be." grunted old Mitchell, " not to 
 see that the captain's hand is only covered with dirt ; and as for the ammu- 
 nition shoes and trowsers, why you know your officers wear anytliing since 
 we have been cooped up in this here fort." 
 
 " Yes, by the holy poker, off" duty, if they like it," returned Phil Sheban ; 
 " but it isn't even the colonel's own born son that dare to do so while officer 
 of the guard." 
 
 At this point of their conversation, one of the leading men at the litter, in 
 turning to look at its subject, stumbled over the root of a stump that lay in 
 his way, and fell violently forward. The sudden action desti'oyed the eqmli- 
 brium of the corpse, ^^',hich rolled oft" its temporary bier upon the earth, and 
 disclosed, for the first time, a face begrimed with masses of clotted blood, 
 which had streamed forth fiom the sclaped brain during the night. 
 
 •• It's the divil himself," said Phil Sheban. making the sign of the cross, half 
 
W A C O XI S T A : OR, T H K P R n P H E t; Y . 31 
 
 in jest, ludf in oarnost : " for it isn't tlic captain at all. and who bnt tlio dW\l 
 could havo manuiivd to dap on his ri-rinientals '?" 
 
 •' No. it's an Ingian," remarked Dick Bnrford, sagaciously ; " it's an Indian 
 that has killed the captain, and dressed himsell' in his clothes. I thought he 
 smelt strong, when I helped to pick him up." 
 
 '• What a set of prating fools ye are," interrupted the leading ."^crgeant ; 
 " who ever saw an Tngian with light hair ? and sure this hair in the neck is 
 that of a Christian." 
 
 At that moment Captain Erskine, attracted by the sudden halt produced 
 by the fiiUing of the body, came quickly up to the front. 
 
 " What is" the meaning of all this, Cassidy ?" he sternly dcTnanded of the 
 sergeant ; '• why is tliis halt without my orders, and how comes the body 
 here ?" 
 
 " Carter stumbled agamst a root. sii-. and the body rolled over upon the 
 ground." 
 
 *'AikI was the body to roll back again?" angrih^ rejoined his captain. 
 " What mean ye. fellows, by standing there ; quick, replace it upon the litter. 
 and mind this does not occur again." 
 
 '' They say, sir-," said the sergeant, respectfully, as the men proceeded to 
 their duty, " that it is not Captain de ttaldimar after all, but an Ingian." 
 
 " Not Captain de Haldimar ! are ye all mad 1 and have the Intlians. in re- 
 alit}'. tm-ned your brains with fear ?" 
 
 What, however, was his own surprise; and that of Lieutenant Johnstone, 
 when, on a closer examination of the corpse, which the men had now placed 
 with its face uppermost, they discovered the bewildering fact that it was not. 
 indeed, Captain de Haldimar who lay before them, but a stranger, dressed in 
 the uniform of that officer. 
 
 There was no time to solve, or even to dwell on the singular mystery ; for 
 the Indians, though now retired, might be expected to rally and renew the 
 attack. Once more, therefore, the detachment moved forward ; the officers 
 dropping as before to the rear, to watch any movements of the enemy should 
 he re-appear. Nothin.'i'. liowcvei-. oi'i-urred to interrupt their march ; and in 
 a few minutes the heavy flaiikinL;- o\' the cliains of the drawbridge, as it was 
 again raised by its strong pulleys, and the dull creaking sound of the rusty 
 bolts and locks that secured the pondei-ous gate, announced the detachment 
 was once more safely within the t^ort. 
 
 While the wounded men were being conveyed to the hospital, a group, 
 comprising almost all the officers of tlie garrison, hastened to meet Captain 
 Erskine and Lieutenant Johnstone. Congratulations on the escape of the 
 one, and compliments, rather than condolences, on the accident of the otlier. 
 wliich the arm eti echarpe denoted to be slight, were hastily and warmlv 
 profl'ered. These fehcitations were the genuine ebullitions of the hearts of 
 men who really felt a pride, unmixed with jealousy, in the conduct of their 
 fellows ; and so cool and excellent had been the manner in which Captain 
 Erskine had accomjilished his object, that it had claimed the undivided ad- 
 miration of all who had been spectators of the afTair, and had. with the aid 
 of their telescopes, been enabled to follow the minutest movements of the de- 
 tachment. 
 
 •• By heaven !" he at length replied, his chest swelling with gratified pride 
 at the warm and generous approval of his companions ; '•' this more than re- 
 pays me for every risk. Yet, to be sincere, the credit is not mine, but Went- 
 worth's. But for you, my dear fellow," gi-asping and shaking the hand of 
 that oflScer, ■• we should have rendered but a Flemish account of ourselves. 
 How beautifully those guns covered our retreat ! and the first mortar that 
 sent the howling devils flying in air like so many Will-o'the-wi.sps. who placed 
 that. Wentwortii ?" 
 
 •• t did." replied the oflScer, with a quickness tliat denoted a natural feeling 
 of exidtation ; '"but Bombardier Kitson's was the most effective. It was his 
 
32 W A C O U S X A ; OR, T H K I' Xi O !• II E C Y . 
 
 shell that drove the Indians fimiiiy out of the bomb-proof^ and left the coast 
 clear for your retreat." 
 
 '• Then Kitson, and his gunners also, merit our best thanks," pursued 
 Caj)tain Erskine, whose spirits, now that liis detachment was in safet}-^ were 
 more than usually exhilarated by the exciting events of the last hour ; " and 
 what will be more acceptable, perhaps, they shall each have a glass of my 
 best old Jamaica before they sleep, — and such stuff is not to be met with 
 every day in this wilderness of a country. But, confound my stupid head ! 
 where arc Charles de Haldimar and Sir Everard Valletort ?" 
 
 " Poor Charles is in a high fever, and confined to his bed." remarked 
 Captain Blessington, who now came up, adding his congratulations in a low 
 tone, that marked the despondencj' of his heart ; '■' and Sir Everard 1 have 
 just left on the rampart with the company, loolcing. as he well may. tlie very 
 image of despair." 
 
 '■ Run to them, Sumncrs, my dear boy," said Erskine, hastily addressing 
 himself to a young ensign who stood near him ; ''■ run quickly, and reliege 
 them of their error. Say it is not De Haldimar who has been Idiled, therefore 
 they need not make themselves any longer uneasy on that score." The offi- 
 oeis .:i I .t ; !■! of surprise. Sumners, however, hastened to acquit himself 
 of iK ; : ' : - iisk assigned him, without waiting to hear the explanation of 
 the ;■ : ■ ::ii;i. U' -iaration. 
 
 '• ;\'ot l)e ILildimar !" eagerly and anxiously exclaimed Captain Blessing- 
 ton ; '• who then have j-ou brought to us in his uniform, which I clearly dis- 
 tinguished from the rampart as you passed ? Surely you Avould not tamper 
 witli us at ST!ch, a moment, Erskine?" 
 
 " Who it is, I know no more than Adam." rejoined the other ; •' imless, in- 
 deed, it be the devil himself. All I do know, is, it is not our friend De Haldi- 
 mar ; although, as you observe, he most certainly wears his uniform. But 
 you shall see and judge for yourselves, gentlemen. Sergeant Cassid3^" he in- 
 quired of that in(iividual. who now came to ask if the detachment was to be 
 (lismirjsed, '" v/here have you placed the litter ?" 
 
 '• Under the piazza of tiie guard-room, sir." answered the seargent. The.se 
 •words liad scareoly beon liilcr'd, wlic;! n :^: in r;il ;ut1 hasty movement of the 
 officers, anxious to salisly llivMi-"lves hy ]> ■i-crd .^''-sTvation it was not in- 
 deed De Haldimar who liad ialkn. look place in the direction alluded to, and 
 in the next moment they were at the side of the litter. 
 
 A blanket had been thrown upon the corp.se to conceal the loathsome dis- 
 figurement of the face, ovei- which masses of thick coagulated blood were laid 
 in patches and streaks, that set all recognition at defiance. The formation of 
 the head alone, which was round and .short, denoted it to be not De Haldi- 
 mar's. Not a feature was left xindefiled ; and even the eyes were so covered, 
 it was impossible to say whether their lids were closed or open. More than 
 one officer's cheek paled with the sickness that rose to his heart as he gazetl 
 on the hideous spectacle ; yet as the curiosity of all was stronly excited to 
 know who the nuirdcrcd man really was who had been so unaccountably in- 
 ducted in the uniform of their lost companion, they were resolved to satisfy 
 themselves without further delay. A basin of warm water and a sponge were 
 procured from the guard-room" of Ensign Fortescue, who now joined them, 
 and with these Captain Blessington proceeded to remove the disguise. 
 
 In the course of this lavation, it was discovered the extraordinary flow of 
 blood and brains had been jiroduced by the infliction of a deep wound on the 
 back of the head, by the sharp and ponderous tomahawk of an Indian. It 
 was the only b'ow that had been given ; and the circumstance of the decea.sed 
 having been" found lying on his face, accounted for the quantity of gore, ihat, 
 trickling downwards, had so completely disguised every feature. As the coat 
 of thick encru.sted matter gave way beneath the frequent application of the 
 moistening sponge, the palfid hue of the countenance denoted the murdered 
 man to be a white. All doubt, however, was soon at an end. The ammuni- 
 
\v A c o D » T A ; o i: , T ii i; i' ii o p u i; c \ . 33 
 
 tion shors, tlu; grey trowsers, the coarse linen, unci the stilV leathern stock en- 
 circling the nock, attested the sulferer to be ii soldier of the garrison ; but it 
 was not until the face had been completely denuded of its unsightly covering, 
 and every feature fully exposed, that that soldier was at length recognized to 
 be Harry Donellan, the trust}^ and attached servant of Captain de Ilaldimar. 
 
 AVhile yet the officci-s stood apart, gazing at the corpse, and forming a 
 varictj- of conjectures, as vauuf ;is I Ik y were unsatisfactory, in regard to their 
 new mj'stery, Sir Everard \ .illcioi t. pale and breathless with the speed he 
 had used, suddenly appcarc(l iimunn Uiera. 
 
 " God of heaven ! can it be true — t'.nd is it really not De Haldimar whom I 
 have shot '?" wildly asked the agitated yoking man. " Who is this, Erskine ?" 
 he continued, glancing at the litter. '' Explam, for pity sake, and quickly." 
 
 •' Compose yourself, my dear Valletort," replied the oflicer addressed. 
 '• You see this is not De Haldimar, but his servant Donellan. Neither has the 
 latter met his death from your rillc ; there is no mark of a bullet about him. 
 It was an Indian tomahawk that did his business; and I will stake my head 
 against a liickory nut the blow came from the same rascal at whom you fired, 
 and who g^ive back the shot and the scalp halloo." 
 
 This opinion was unanimously expressed by the remainder of the officers. 
 Sir Everard was almost as much overpowered with his jo)^, as he had pre- 
 viously been overwhelmed by his dispair, and he grasped and shook the hand 
 of Captain Erskine, who had thus been the means of relieving his conscience, 
 with an energy of gratitude and feeling that almost drew tears from the eyes 
 of that blunt but gallant officer. 
 
 '• Thank God ! thank God !" he fervently exclaimed : " I have not then even 
 the death of poor Donellan to answer for ;" and hastening from the guard- 
 room, he pursued liis course hurriedly and delightedly to the barrack-room of 
 his friend. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The hour fixed for the trial of the prisoner Hallo way had now arrived, and 
 the officers composing the court were all met in the mess-room of the garri- 
 son, surrounding a long green table covered with green cloth, over which were 
 distributed pens, ink, and paper for taking minutes of the evidence, and such 
 notes of the proceedings as the several members might deem necessary in the 
 course of the trial. Captain Blessington presided ; and next him, on either 
 hand, were the first in seniority, the two junior occupjang the lowest places. 
 The demeanor of the several officers, serious and befitting the duty they were 
 met to perform, was rendered more especially solemn from the presence of the 
 governor, who sitting a little to the right of the president, and without the circle, 
 remained covered with his arms folded across his chest. At a signal given by 
 the president to the orderly in waiting, that individual disappeared from the 
 room, and soon afterwards Frank Halloway, strongly ironed, as on the pre- 
 ceding night, was ushered in by several files of the guard, under Ensign 
 Fortescue himself. 
 
 The prisoner having been stationed a few paces on the left of the president, 
 that officer stood up to administer the customary oath. His example was fol- 
 lowed by the rest of the court, who now rose, and extending each his right 
 hand upon the prayer book, repeated, after the president, the form of words 
 prescribed by military law. They then, after successively touching the sacred 
 volume with their lips, once more resumed their seats at the table. 
 
 The prosecutor was the ^Vdjutant Lawson, who now handed over to the 
 I president a paper, froin whicli the latter officer read, in a clear and distinct 
 voice, the following charires. viz. — 
 3 
 
34 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 " 1st. For having on the night of the — th September. 17G3, while on duty 
 at tlie gate of ^e Fortress of Detroit, either admitted a stranger into the 
 gan-ison himself, or suffered him to obtain admission, without giving the 
 alarm, or using the means necessary to ensure his apprehension, such conduct 
 being treasonable, and in breach of the articles of war. 
 
 "2d. For having been accessor}^ to the abduction of Captain Frederick de 
 Haldimar and private Harry Donellan. the disappearance of whom from the 
 ganison can only be attributed to a secret understanding existing between the 
 prisoner and the enemy without the walls, such conduct being treasonable, and 
 in breach of the articles of war." 
 
 " Private Frank Halloway." continued Captain Blessington, after having 
 read these two short but important charges, " you have heard what has 
 been preferred against you ; what say you, therefore ? Are you guilty, or 
 not guilty ?" 
 
 " Not guilty," firmly and somewhat exultingly replied the prisoner, laying 
 his hand at the same time on his swelling heart. 
 
 " Stay, sir," sternly observed the governor, addressing the president ; you 
 have not read all the charges." 
 
 Captain Blessington took up the paper from the table, on which he had 
 carelessly thrown it, after reading the accusations above detailed, and perceived, 
 for the first time, that a portion had been doubled back. His eye now 
 glanced over a third charge, which had previously escaped his attention. 
 
 " Prisoner," he pursued, after the lapse of a minute. " there is a third 
 charge against you, viz. for having, on the night of the — th Sept. 1763. suf- 
 fered Captain de Haldimar to unclose the gate of the fortress, and accompa- 
 nied by his servant, private Harry Donellan, to pass your post without the 
 sanction of the governor, such conduct being in direct violation of a standing 
 order of the garrison, and punishable with death." 
 
 The prisoner started. ■' What !" he exclaimed, his cheek paling for the first 
 time with momentary apprehension ; " is this voluntary confession of my own 
 to be turned into a charge that threatens my life ? Colonel de. Haldimar, is 
 the explanation which I gave you onl}^ this very hour, and in private, to be 
 made the public instrument of my condemnation ? Am I to die because I 
 had not firmness to resist the prayer of vaj captain and of your son, Colonel 
 de Haldimar ?" 
 
 The president looked towards the governor, but a significant motion of the 
 head was the only reply ; he proceeded, — 
 
 " Piisoner Halloway, what plead j^ou to this char<re '? Guiltv, or not 
 guilty?" 
 
 •' I see plainly," said Halloway, after the pause of a minute, during which 
 he appeared to be summoning ail liis energies to his aid ; " I see plainlj^ that 
 it is useless to strive against m_y fate. Captain de Haldimar is not here, and 
 I must die. Still I shall not have the disgrace of dying as a traitor, though 
 I own I have violated the orders of the garrison." 
 
 " Prisoner," interrupted Captain Blessington, " whatever you may have to 
 urge, you had better reserve for your defence. Meanwhile, what answer do 
 you make to the last charge preferred ? — Are yon guilty, or not guilty ?" 
 
 '• Gruilty." said Halloway, in a tone of mingled pride and sorrow, '' guilty 
 of having listened to the earnest prayer of \x\j captain, and suffered him, in 
 violation of ray orders, to pass my post. Of the other charges I am innocent." 
 The court listened with the most profound attention and interest to the 
 words of the prisoner, and they glanced at each other in a manner that marked 
 their sense of the truth they attached to his delaration. 
 
 " Halloway, prisoner." resum.ed Captain Blessington, mildly, yet impress- 
 ively ; recollect the severe penal^Xjfiy-l^ the third charge, no less than the 
 others, entails, and recall your admissidn. Be advised by me," he pursued, 
 observing his hesitation. ■■ Withdraw yoiu- plea, then, and substitute that of , 
 not guilty to the whole." 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. SS- 
 
 " Captain Blos.<5inp,-toii," rcturn«l tlie prisoner with deep emotion. " I fee? 
 all the kindness ot' vonr motive ; and if anytliint;; ean console me in mj pre- 
 sent situation, it is the circninstance of liaving presiding- at my trial an oftitser 
 so tuiiversally beloved by the whole corps. Still," and again his voice asrv- 
 qnircil its wonted firmness, and his cheek glowed with honest pride, " stili. f 
 scorit to retract my words. Of the two first charges I am as innocent as t&iE- 
 babe imborn. To the last I plead guilty ; and vain would it be to say other- 
 wise, since the gate was found open while I was on duty, and I know t&e 
 penalt}'^ attached to the disobedience of orders." 
 
 After some further but ineffectual reiaonstrances on the part of the presi- 
 dent, the pleas of the prisoner v/ere recorded, and the examination commentT^^L, 
 Governor de Haldimar was the lirst witness. 
 
 That officer, having been sworn, stated, that on the preceding night ho fesucJ 
 been intruded ufwu in his apartment bj^ a strant;er, who could have obtaa-noti 
 admission only through the gat" of the foj-lrc-s. hy \\iiicli also he must humi- 
 made good his escape. That ii \\ .ms c i:';-!!^ tii'' ;;; i-MDcv li-d been in corres-- 
 pondence with their enemies ; m-.i ■ •. ( :i jn ■, - 'i; - i-, rx-mine the gate it had. 
 been found unlocked, while the conltisiou !u;,ii'l :;c! isy iiim on being accuse^p. 
 satisfied all who were present oi'tli' ennrni'!\ i'.' [;is ^uilt. Search had. Ibeess: 
 made everywhere for the keys, but withom sucf "ss. 
 
 The second charge was supported by presumptive evidence alone ; for al- 
 though the governor swore to the disappearance of his son. and the mmtfer 
 flf his servant, and dwelt emphatically on tlie fact of their having been fotrat- 
 bly carried off with the connivance of the jirisoner, still there was no oibmr 
 proof of this, than the deductions dr;r.\-!i IVoia tlie circumstances already 4ie- 
 tailed. To meet this difficulty, however, the third charge had been framed.. 
 
 In proof of this the governor s(:at((!. ■• thnr xIk- pri.^onei'. on being interr?*- 
 gated by him immediately sulise'iuent to his lieiug relieved fi'oiu Ins post, lisii 
 evinced such confusion and hesitation, as to leave no donlit whatever of liiE 
 guilt ; that, influenced by the half promise of connnniication, which the cowrt 
 had heard as well as himself, he had snffere<l tiie trial of the prisoner to'fe 
 delayed until the present hotir, strongly hojiii -■ in' mi'.iit then be induced to 
 reveal the share he had borne in these uuivn-iiy ;mi'1 treasonable practices;- 
 that, with a view to obtain this disclosure. s;> essentia! to tlie safety of tfe 
 garrison, he had, conjointly v*ith jMajor Blackwater, visited the cell of tl.«: 
 prisoner, to whom he related the fact of the rnirdei- of Donellan. in the tli*^ 
 guise of his master's uniform, conjnrin.;' hin' ;•: lie sume time, if he regaMrf 
 his own life, and the safetj^ of those ia'm) ■ '•:<■- - dear to him, to givs-sa 
 clue to the solution of this my.stcrions c!!'- . !i-i;m • -nd disclose the nata-re^ 
 and extent of his connection with the enemy ivithout ; that the prisoner hijWf'^ 
 ever resolutely denied, as before, the guilt imputed to him, but having tml 
 time to concoct a plau.sible story, stated, ((loul;fless v.dth a view to sMsMri. 
 himself from the severe ptmishment lie well Icnew to be attached to his' «f- 
 fence,) that Captain de Haldimar himself had removed the keys from i^- 
 guard-room, opened the gate of the fortress, and a((oin|i:;ir(!l by his serysBsK.. 
 dressed in a colored coat, had sallied forth ujion IL<' ( ii-i";i-i. And this, era- 
 phatically ptirsued the governor, the prisoner ndiiiii^ he ]iermitted, altho'j^ 
 well aware that, by an order of long standing for the security of the garrisBaa.. 
 such a flagrant dereliction of his duty subjected him to the pimishmeat. «(f' 
 death. . ^- ^ 
 
 Major Blackwater was the next witness examined. His testimony weiitte' 
 prove the fitct of the gate having been found open, and the confusion msmt-- 
 fested by the prisoner. It also substantiated that part of the go'venxor^a 
 e\ndeDce on the third charge, which related to the confession recently maffifei' 
 by Halloway, on which that charge had been framed. ^ 
 
 The sergeant of the guard, arid the governor's orderly having sevcraSjr 
 «orroboratcd the first portions of ^fajor Bhvckwator's evidence, the exara^isau- 
 tion ou the part of the prosecution terminated ; when the president called «bb. 
 
"38 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 the prisoner Ilalloway for his defence. The latter, in a clear, firm, and col 
 lectcd tone, and in terms that surprised his auditory, thus addressed the 
 Court:— 
 
 '■ Mr. President, and gentlemen, — Although standing before you in the ca- 
 pacity of a private soldier, and, oh ! bitter and humiliating reflection, in that 
 
 • most wretched and disgraceful of all situations, a suspected traitor, t am not 
 indeed what I seem to be. It is not for me here to enter into the history of 
 mj' past life ; neither will I tarnish the hitherto unsullied reputation of my 
 famih' ])y disclosing my true name. Suffice it to observe, I am a gentleman 
 b}' birth ; and although, of late 3'ears. I have known all the hardships and 
 privations attendant on my fallen fortunes, I was once used to bask in the 
 luxuries of afiiuence, and to look upon those who now preside in judgment 
 •over me as my equals. A marriage of aifection, — a marriage with one who 
 had notliing but her own virtues and her own beauty to recommend her, 
 di-ew upon me the displeasure of my family, and the little I possessed, inde- 
 pendently of the pleasure of my relations, was soon dissipated. My proud 
 soul scorned all thought of supplication to those who had originally spiu-ned 
 my wife fi-om their presence ; and yet my heart bled for the privations of 
 
 . her who. alike respectable in family, was, both from sex and the natural deli- 
 cacy of iiei- frame, so far less constituted to bear up against the frowns of 
 adversity than myself. Our extremity had now become great, — too great for 
 
 • human endurance ; when, through the medium of the public prints, I became 
 acquainted with the glorious action that had been fought in this country by 
 the army imder General AVolfe. A new light burst suddenlj^ upon mj- mind, 
 and visions of after prosperity constantly presented themselves to my view. 
 The field of honor was open before me, and there was a probabilit)- I might, 
 by good conduct, so far merit the approbation of my superiors, as to obtain, 
 in course of time, that rank among themselves to which by birth and educa- 
 tion I was so justly entitled to aspire. Without waiting to consult my Ellen, 
 whose opposition t feared to encounter until opposition would be fruitless, I 
 hastened to Lieutenant Walgrave, the recruiting officer of the regiment, — 
 tendered my services, — was accepted and approved, — received the bounty mon- 
 ey, — and became definitely a soldier, under the assumed name of Frank Hal- 
 loway. 
 
 '• It would be tedious and impertinent, gentlemen," resumed the prisoner, 
 after a short pause, "to dwell on the humiliations of' spirit to which both mj" 
 wife and myself were subjected at our first introduction to our new associ- 
 
 ,ates, who, although invariably kind to us, were nevertheless ill suited, both 
 by education and habit, to awaken anything like congeniality of feelmg or 
 similarity of pursuit. Still we endeavored, as much as possible, to lessen the 
 distance that existed between us ; and from the first moment of oiu- joining 
 the regiment, determined to adopt the phraseology and manners of those 
 with whom an adverse destinj^ had so singularly connected us. In this we 
 
 . succeeded ; for no one, up to the present moment, has imagined either my 
 wife or myself to be other than the simple, unpretending Frank and Ellen 
 Halloway. 
 
 " On joining the regiment in this country," pursued the prisoner, after an- 
 
 ■ other pause, marked by much emotion, " I had the good fortune to lie ap- 
 pointed to the grenadier company. Gentlemen, you all know the amiable 
 qualities of Captain de Ilaldimar. But although, unlike yourselves, I have 
 learnt to admire that officer only at a distance, m}' devotion to his interests 
 has ])ecn proportioned to the kindness with which I have ever been treated 
 by him ; and may I not add, after this avowal of my former condition, my 
 mo.st fervent desire has all along been to seize the first favorable ojiportunity 
 of performing some action that would eventually elevate me to a position in 
 which I might, witiiout blushing for the absence of the ennobling qualities of 
 birth and condition, avow myself his friend, and solicit that distinction from 
 jny equal whidi vvas partially extemled to me by my superior? • The oppor- 
 
W A C O U S T A ; t) R , T H K PROPHECY. 37' 
 
 tunity I sought was not long wjinting. At the nicnioriiblc ud'air witli the 
 French genei-ul, Levi, at Quebec, in whicli our regiment bore so conspicuous a 
 part, I liad the good fortune to save the life of luy captain. A band of Indi- 
 ans, as you all. gentlemen, nnist recollect, had apjjroached our right ilank 
 unperceivcd, and while busily engaged with the French in front, we were 
 oompelled to divide our fire between tliem and our new and fierce assailants. 
 The leader of that band was a Frencli oilicer, who seemed particidarly to 
 direct his attempts against the life of Captain de Haldimar. lie was a man- 
 of powerful proportions and gigmitic stature — '• — " 
 
 •• Hold!" said the governoi-. sl.-nting suddeidy from the seat in which he had' 
 listened with evident impati. me to (bis long outline of the prisoner's history. 
 "Gentlemen." addressing the cuurl. " tli;it is the very sfjvinger who was in 
 my apiirtiuent last niglit. — the bi'ing with wIkiui tlu' prisduei- is evidently in 
 treacherous correspondence, and all this al)snrd tale is Imt a blind to deceive 
 your judgment, and mitigate his own punishment. Who is there to prove 
 the man he has just described was the same who aimed at Captain de Haldi- 
 mar's life at Quebec ?" 
 
 A Hush of deep indignation overspread the features of the prisoner, whose 
 high spirit, now he had avowed his true oi-igin, could ill brook the affront 
 thus put upon his veracity. 
 
 " Colonel de IlaMimar !" he proudly replied, while his cliains clanked with 
 the energy and force with which lie drew up his person into an attitude of 
 striking dignity ; '" for once I sink the private soldier, and address you in the 
 character of the gentleman and your equ.al. I have a soul, sir, notwithstand- 
 ing my fallen fortunes, as keenly alive to honor as vom- own ; and not even to ■ 
 save my wretched life, would I be guilty of the b;i-;('ii<',- < you now attribute 
 to me. You have asked," he pursued, in a nmre solenin (one, " what proof I 
 have to show this individual to be the same who attempted the life of Captain 
 de Haldimar. To Captain de Haldimar himself, should Providence have 
 spared his days, I shall leave the melancholy task of bearing witness to all 
 I here advance, when I shall bo no more. Nay, sir," and his look partook 
 at once of mingled scorn and despondenc}^, " well do I know the fate that 
 awaits me ; for in these proceedings — in that third charge — I plainly read my 
 death-warrant. But what, save my poor and wretched wife, have I to regret? 
 Colonel de Haldimar." he continued, with a vehemence meant to check the 
 growing weakness which the thought of his unfortunate companion called up 
 to his heart, " I saved the life of your son, even b}' your own admission, no 
 matter who,se the arm that threatened his existence ; and in ever}^ other action 
 in which I have been engaged, honorable mention has ever been^ made of my 
 conduct. Now, sir, I ask what has been my rew^ard ? 80 far from attending 
 to the repeated recommendations of my captain for promotion, even in a sub- 
 ordinate rank, have you once deeined it necessary to acknowledge my ser- 
 vices by even a recognition of them in any way whatevci- ?" 
 
 '" Mr. President, Captain Blessington," interrupted the governor haughtily, 
 are we met here to listen to such language from a private soldier ? You will 
 do well, sir, to exercise your ])rcrogative, and stay such impertinent matter, 
 which can have no reference whatever to the defence of the prisoner." 
 
 " Prisoner," resumed the president, who as well as the other members of 
 the court, had listened with the most profound and absorbing interest to the 
 singular disclosure of him whom they still only knew as Frank Halloway, 
 " this language cannot be permitted ; you must confine yourself to vour' 
 defence." 
 
 " Pardon me, gentlemen," returned Halloway, in his usual firm but i«spect- 
 ful tone of voice ; pardon me, if, standing on the brink of the grave as I do, I 
 have so far forgotten the rules of military di.scipline as to sink for a moment 
 the soldier in the gentleman ; but to be taxed with an unworthy fobrication,, 
 and to be treated with contumely ^vhen avowing the secret of my condition, . 
 was more than human pride and human feeling could tolerate." 
 
'38 -jv A c o u s T A ; o n , the prophecy. 
 
 ~ Oonfine yourself, prisoner, to your defence.'" :>p;am reniarkcil Captain 
 Bl^sington, percei-sing tlie restlessness with vrhicli the governor listened to 
 41aese bold and additional observations of Halloway. 
 
 A^ain the governor interposed : — " What possible connection can there be 
 IjefcwBen this man's life, and the crime with vrhich he stands charged ? 
 Captain Blessington. this . is trifling vnth the court, who are assembled to tr}- 
 Mi& prisoner for his treason, and not to waste their time in listening to a 
 liistory utterly foreign to the subject." 
 
 -•' The history of my past life, Colonel de Hardimar," proudly retui-ned the 
 prisoner..'- although tedious and uninteresting to you, is of the utmost im- 
 ptSTtiince to jnyself ; for on that do I ground the most essential part of my 
 ■defence. There is nothing but circumstantial evidence against me on the two 
 ^nst charges ; and as those alone can reflect dishonor on my memory, it is for 
 "Sj® wisdom of this court to determine whether that evidence is to be credited 
 SB opposition to the solemn declaration of hmi, who, in admitting one charge, 
 OfjaaMy affecting his life Avith the others, repudiates as foul those only which 
 ■wculd attaint his honor. Gentlemen," he pm-sued, addressing the court, " it is 
 Ear you to determine v.^hether my defence is to be continued or not ; yet, what- 
 i5s-er be my fate, 1 would fain remove all injurious impression from the minds 
 «f imj judges ; and this can oidj^ be done by a simple detail of circumstances, 
 ■wMcii "may, by the unprejudiced, be as simply believed." 
 
 Mere the prisoner paused : when, after some low and earnest conversation 
 ansong the members of the court, two or three slips of written paper were 
 passed to the President. He glanced his eye hurriedly over them, and then 
 directed Halloway to proceed A^-ith his defence. 
 
 - 1 have stated," pursued the interesting soldier, " that the officer who led 
 iSxi ba-nd of Indians was a man of gigantic stature, and of apparently great 
 iafarength. My attention was particularly directed to him from this circum- 
 stasmce, and as T was on the extreme ilank of the grenadiers, and close to 
 ♦I^tain de Haldimar, I had every oj)portunity of observing his movements 
 pxixicipally pointed at that officer. He first discharged a carbine, the ball of 
 -vsiuch killed a man of the company at his (Captain de Haldimar's) side ; and 
 ibeii, witli evident rage at having been deltated in his aim, he took a pistol 
 foc.Di his belt, and advancing with rapid strides to within a few paces of his 
 felended victim, presented it in the most deliberate manner. At that mo- 
 KfCat, gentlemen, (and it was but the work of a moment,) a thousand confus- 
 ■eil and almost inexplicable feelings I'ose to my heart. The occasion I had 
 forig sought Avas at length within my reach ; but even the personal consider- 
 atons, which had hitherto influenced my mind, were smik in the anxious de- 
 •s'kft I entci'tained to preserve the life of an officer so universally beloved, and 
 sie> every way -".vorthy of the sacrifice. AVhile j-et the pistol remained levelled, 
 I sprang before Captain de Haldimar, received the ball in my breast, and had 
 jast strength sufficient to fire my musket at the formidable enemy, when I 
 jeasRk sensc-icss to the earth. 
 
 -' It will not be difiicult for you, gentlemen, who have feeling minds, to un- 
 dwstand the pleasurable pride with which, on being conveyed to Captain de 
 Maldimar's own apartments in Queb'ec, I found myself almost overwlielmed 
 %• the touching marks of gratitude showered on me by his relatives. Miss 
 tltera de Haldimar, in particular, like a ministering angel, visited my couch of 
 .suffering almost every hour, and always provided with some little delicacy, 
 saiiableto my condition, of which I had long since tutored myself to forget 
 ^Sf^ecn the use. But what principally afforded me pleasure, was to remark the 
 ojmsoljitions which she tendered to my poor drooping Ellen, M-ho, already more 
 tlisji half subdued by the melancholy change in om- condition in life, fre- 
 jqiieutlj' spent hours together in silent grief at the side of my couch, and 
 -Wiitehing every change in my countenance with all the intense anxiety of one 
 who feels the last stay on earth is about to be severed for ever. yVh ! how 1 
 tlien longed to disclose to tliis kind and compassionating being the ti'ue posi- 
 
\V A C U S 1' A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 39 
 
 tion of her on whom she lavished her attention, and to make her known not 
 as the inferior honored by her notice, but as the equal alike worthy of her 
 fi-icndship and deserving of her esteem ; but the wide, wide barrier that di- 
 vided the wife of the private soldier from the daughter and sistei- of the 
 commissioned oilicer sealed my lips, and our true condition continued un- 
 revealed. 
 
 •' Gentlemen," resumed Halloway. after a short pause, '■ if I dwell on these 
 circumstances, it is with a view to show how vile are the charges preferred 
 ag-ainst me. Is it likely, with all the incentives to good conduct 1 have named, 
 I should have proved a traitor to my country ? And, even if so, what to gjiin, 
 I would ask ; and by what means was a correspondence with the eneni)' to be 
 maintained by one in my humble station ? As for the second charge, how in- 
 famous, how injurious is it to my reputation, hov,- unworth}' to be entertained ! 
 From the moment of my recoverj^ from that severe wound, every mark of 
 favor that could be bestowed on persons in our situation had been extended to 
 my wife and mj'self, by the family of Colonel de Haldimai ; ■,]>'. i ' ;;r)tain, 
 knowing me merely as the simple and low born Frank ; ' : i ! .ough 
 
 stiU the preserver of his life, has been unceasing in his exerii- ;i- ; - • uusuch 
 promotion as he thought my conduct generally, independently oi' i:.y duvoted- 
 ness to his person, might claim. How these applications were met, gentlemen, 
 I have ah-ead}" stated ; but notwithstanding Colonel de Haldimar has never 
 deemed me worth}^ of the promotion solicited, that circumstance could in no 
 way weaken my regard and attachment for him who had so often demanded 
 it. How then, in the name of heaven, can a charge so improbable, so extrava- 
 gant, as that of haAii^^- ''. 'n instrumental in the abduction of Cnptain de Hal- 
 dimar. be entertaiued ; luA wlu) is there among you. gentlemen, who will for 
 one moment believe i could harbor a thought .>!> a .-p il .;- ;!, ; .flendingmy- 
 self to the destruction of one for whom I one i h, : : ; r,p the'sacri- 
 
 fice of my blood ? And cow," pursued the pri>.)i!^_r. a'! .■ anniivr short pause, 
 •' I come to the third charge. — that charge which most affects my Ufe. but im- 
 pugns neither my honoi' nor my fidelity. That God, before who:u I know I 
 shaR shortly appear, -ti a*^"^- *^ rlie sincerity of my statement, and before him 
 do I now .solemnly ■ i am about to relate is true. 
 
 '• Soon after the r. , nt, of my v.-atch last night. I heard a voice dis- 
 
 tinctly on the outside oi the i-a'.npart, near my post, calling in a low and sub- 
 dued tone on the name of Captain de Halthmar. T:ie .uceii;.-;, hasiiiy and 
 anxiously uttered, were apparentl}- those of a female. Fiir a moment 1 con- 
 tinued irresolute how to act, and hesitated whether or not I should alarm the 
 garrison ; but. at length, presuming it v.^as some young female of tiic village 
 Avith whom my captain was acquainted, it occurred to nie 'h- - ■ 7i:-ndent 
 course would be to aiipi-vi- that officer himself. While i \. letlier 
 
 to leave mj-- post for a uiDinent for the purpose, a man ( i'-- eade a 
 
 few yards in my from ; it was Captain de Haldimar 's servant, i/unvikm. then 
 in the act of camdng some -things from his master's apartment to the guard- 
 room. I called to him, to say the sentinel at the g?.te wished to see the cap- 
 tain of the guard immediately. In the course of a few minutes lie oamo up to 
 my post, when I told him what I hafi heard. At that moment, the voice 
 o^-ain repeated his name, v,'hen he abniptly left me -and turned to the left of 
 the gate, evidently on his way to the rampart. Soon afterwards I heard Cap- 
 tain de Haldimar immediately above me, sharply calling out '• Hist, hist !' as if 
 the person on the outside, despairing of success, was in the act of retreating. 
 A« moment or two of silence succeeded, when a low conversation ensued be- 
 tween the parties. The distance was so great I could only diijtinguish inarti- 
 mlate sounds ; yet it seemed to me as if they spoke not in English, but in the 
 language of the Ottawa Indians, a tongue with which, as you are well aware, 
 gentlemen, Captain de Haldimar is familiar. This had continued about ten 
 iuinutes when I again heard footsteps hastily descending the rampart, and 
 vnoviug in the direction of the guard-house. Soon afterwards Captain de Hal- 
 
40 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 dimar reappeared at ray post, accompanied by his servant Donellan ; tUc 
 former had the keys of the gate in his hand, and he told me that he must pass 
 to the skirt of the forest on some business of tlie last importance to the safety 
 of the garrison. 
 
 " At first I peremptorily refused, stating the severe penalty attached to the 
 infringement of an order, the oliservation of which had so especially been in- 
 sisted upon by the governor, whose permission, however, I ventured respect- 
 fully to urge, might, without difficult}\ be obtained, if the business was really 
 of the importance he described it. Captain de Haldimar. however, declared he 
 well knew the governor would not accord that permission, imless he was posi- 
 tively acquainted with the nature and extent of the danger to be apprehended ; 
 and of these, he said, he was not himself sufficiently aware. All argument of 
 this nature proving ineffectual, he attempted to enforce his authoritj^, not only 
 in his capacity of otiicer of the guard, but also as my captain, ordering me, on 
 pain of confinement, not to interfere with or attempt to impede his departure. 
 This, however, produced no better result ; for I knew that, in this instancx;, I 
 was amenable to the order of the governor alone, and I again firmly refused to 
 violate my duty. 
 
 " Finding himself thwarted in his attempt to enforce my obedience. Captain 
 de Haldimar, who seemed much agitated and annoyed by what he termed my 
 obstinacy, now descended to entreaty ; and in the name of that life which I 
 had preserved to him, and of that deep gratitude which he had ever since 
 borne to me, conjured me not to prevent his departure. ' Hallo way,' he urged, 
 'your life, my life, my father's life, — the life of my sister Clara perhaps, who 
 nursed you in illness, and who has ever treated your wife with attention and 
 kindness, all these depend upon your compliance with my request. Hear me,' 
 he pursued, following up the impression which he clearly perceived he had 
 produced in me liy this singular and touching language : ' I promise to be back 
 within the hour ; there is no danger attending my departure, and here will I 
 be before you are relieved from your post ; no one can know I ha^•e been ab- 
 sent, and your secret will remain with Donellan and myself. Do you think,' 
 he concluded, ' I would encourage a soldier of my regiment to disobey a stand- 
 ing order of the garrison, vmless there was some very extraordinary reason for 
 my so doing ? But there is no time to be lost in parley. Halloway ! I entreat 
 you to offer no further opposition to my departure. I pledge myself to be 
 back before you are relieved.' 
 
 " Gentlemen," impressively continued tlie prisoner, after a pause, during 
 which every member of the court seemed to breathe for the first time, so 
 deeply had the attention of all been riveted by the latter part of this singu- 
 lar declaration, " how, under these circumstances, could I be expected to act ? 
 Assured by Captain (Ic Haldimar, in the most solemn manner, that the exis- 
 tence of those most dear to his heart hung on my compliance with his request, 
 how could I refuse to him, whose life I had saved, and whose character I so 
 much esteemed, a boon so carnestlj-, nay, so imploringly solicited ? I acceded 
 to his prayei-, intimating at the sam» time, if he returned not before another 
 sentinel should relieve me, the discovery of my breach of duty must be made, 
 and my punishment inevitable. His last words, however, were to assure me 
 he should return at the hour he had named, and when I closed the gate upon 
 him it was under the firm impression his absence would only prove «f the 
 temporary nature he had stated. Gentlemen," abruptly concluded Halloway, 
 " I have nothing further to add ; if 1 have failed in my duty as a soldier, I 
 have, at least, fulfilled that of a man ; and although the violation of the fir§t 
 entails upon me the punishment of death, the motives which impelled me to 
 that violation will not, I trust, be utterly lost sight of by those by whom my 
 punishment is to be awarded." 
 
 The candid, fearless, and manly tone in which Halloway had delivered this 
 long and singular statement, however little the governor appeared to be aftccted 
 by it, evidently made a deep impression on the court, who had listened with 
 
W A C () U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 41 
 
 undiverted attention to the close. Some conversation again ensued, in a low- 
 tone, among several members, when two slips of written paper were passed 
 up, a.s before, to the president. These excited the following interrogatories : — 
 
 " You have stated, prisoner, that Captain de Ilaldimar left the fort accom- 
 panied by his servant Donellan. IIow were they respectively dressed ?" 
 
 " Captain de Haldimar in his uniform ; Donellan, as far as I could observe, 
 in his regimcntid clothing also, with this difference, that he wore his servant's 
 round glazed hat and his grey great coat." 
 
 " How then do you account for the extraordinary circumstance of Donellan 
 having been found murdered in his master's clothes ? Was any allusion 
 made to a change of dress before they left the fort?" 
 
 '•Not the slightest," returned the prisoner ; "nor can I in anyway account 
 for this mysterious fact. When they quitted the garrison, each wore the dress 
 I have described." 
 
 " In what manner did Captain de Haldimar and Donellan effect their pas- 
 sage across the ditch ?" continued the president, after glancing at the second 
 slip of paper. " The draw-bridge was evidently not lowered, and there were 
 no other means at hand to enable him to effect his object with promptitude. 
 IIow do you explain this, prisoner ?" 
 
 When this question was put, the whole body of oflSicers, and the governor 
 especially, turned their eyes simultaneously on Halloway, for on his hesitation 
 or promptness in replying seemed to attach much of the credit they were dis- 
 posed to accord his statement. Halloway observed it, and colored. His re- 
 ply, however, was free, unfaltering, and unstudied. 
 
 *' A rope with which Donellan had provided himself, was secured to one of 
 the iron hooks that support the pulleys immediately above the gate. With 
 this they swung themselves in succession to the opposite bank." 
 
 The members of the court looked at each other, apparently gl9.d that an 
 answer so confirmatory of the truth of the prisoner's statement had been 
 thus readily given. 
 
 " Were they to have returned in the same manner ?" pursued the president, 
 framing his interrogatory from the contents of another slip of paper, which, 
 at the suggestion of the governor, had been passed to him by the prosecutor, 
 Mr. Lawson. 
 
 " They were," firmly replied the prisoner. '• At least I presumed they 
 were, for, I believe in the hurry of Captain de Haldimar's departure, he never 
 once made any direct allusion to the manner of his return ; nor did it occur 
 to me until this moment how they were to regain possession of the rope, with- 
 out assistance from within." 
 
 " Of course," observed Colonel de Haldimar, addressing the president, " the 
 rope still remains. Mr. Lawson, examine the gate, and report accordingly." 
 
 The adjutant hastened to acquit himself of this laconic order, and soon af- 
 terwards returned, stating not only that there was no rope, but that the hook 
 alluded to had disappeared altogether. 
 
 For a moment the clieek of the prisoner paled ; but it was evidently less 
 from any fear connected with his individual existence, than from the shame 
 he felt at having been detected in a supposed falsehood. He however speedil}^ 
 recovered his self-possession, and exhibited the same character of unconcern 
 by which his general bearing throughout the trial had been distinguished. 
 
 On this announcement of the adjutant, the governor betrayed a movement 
 of impatience, that w'as meant to convey his utter disbelief of the whole of the 
 prisoner's statement, and his look seemed to express to the court it should 
 also arrive, without hesitation, at the same conclusion. Even all authoritative 
 as he was^ however, he felt that military etiquette and strict discipline pre- 
 vented his interfering further in this advanced state of the proceedings. 
 
 ■' Prisoner," again remarked Captain Blessington, " your statement in re- 
 gard to the means employed by Captain de Haldimar in effecting his departure, . 
 is. you must admit, unsupported by appearances. How happens it the rope 
 
42 W A C O V K T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 is 110 lon<rer whore you saj it was placed ? No one could liave removed it but 
 yourself. Have 3-011 done so ? and if so. can you produce it. or say where it 
 is to be found ?" 
 
 "Captain Blessinpcton," replied Halloway. proudly, yet respectfully, "I 
 have already invoked that creat Beino;. before whose tribunal I am so shortly 
 to appear, in testimony of the truth of m}' assertion ; and ajrain. in his pres- 
 ence, do I repeat, every word I have uttered is true. I did not remove the 
 rope, neither do I know what is become of it. I admit its disappearance is 
 extraordinary, but a moment's reflection must satisfy the court, I would not 
 have devised a tale, the f\ilsehood of which could at once have been detected 
 on an examination sui?}i as that which, has just been instituted. When Mr. 
 Law-son left this room just now. I fully expected he would have found the rope 
 lying as it had been left. What has become of it, I repeat. I know not ; but 
 in the manner I have stated did Captain de Haldimar and" Donellan cross the 
 ditch. I have nothmj further to add." he concluded once more, drawing up 
 his nne tall person, the native elegance of which could not be wholly disguised 
 even in the dress of a private soldier ; " nothing further to disclose. Yet do 
 I repel with scorn the injurious insinuation against my fidelity, suggested in 
 these doubts. I am prepared to meet my death as best may become a .soldier, 
 and let me add. as best majr become a proud and well born gentleman ; but 
 humanity and common justice should at least be accorded to my memory. I 
 am an unfortunate man. but no traitor." 
 
 The members were visibly impressed by the last sentences of the prisoner. 
 No further question however was asked, and he was again removed by the 
 escort, who had been wondering spectators of the scene, to the cell he had so 
 recently occupied. The room was then cleared of the witnes.ses and stran- 
 gers, the latter comprising nearly the whole of the officers off duty, when the 
 court proceeded to deliberate on the evidence, and pass sentence on the ac- 
 cu.sed. 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 Although the young and sensitive De Haldimar had found physical relief 
 in the summary means resorted to by the surgeon, the moral wound at liis 
 heart not only remained unsoothed. but was rendei-ed more acutely painful by 
 the wretched reflections, which now that he had full leisure to review the 
 past, and anticipate the future in all the gloom attacheil to both, so violently 
 assailed him. From the moment when his brother's strange and mysterious 
 disappearance had been communicated by the adjutant in the manner we have 
 alread3r seen, his spirits had been deeply and fearfully depressed. Still he had 
 every reason to exjject. from the well-known character of Halloway, the strong 
 bope erqiressed by the latter might be realized ; and that, at the hour appoint- 
 ed for trial, his brother would be present to explain the cause of his mysteri- 
 ous absence, justify the conduct of his subordinate, and exonerate him from 
 the treachery with vrhich he now stood charged. Yet. powerful as this hope 
 was. it was unavoidably qu.ilified by flispiriting doubt ; for a nature affection- 
 ate and bland, as that of Charles de Haldimar, could not but harbor distrust, 
 while a shadow of uncei-tainty. in i'cgard to the iJite of a brother so tenderly 
 loved, remained. He had fbrced himself to believe as much as possible what 
 he wished, and the effort had, to a certain extent, succeeded ; but there had 
 been something .so solemn, and -«o impressii'c in the scene that had passed 
 when the prisoner was first brought up for trial, .something so fearfiilly pro- 
 phetic in the wild language of his unhappy wife, he had found it impossible 
 to resist the influence of the almost superstitious awe they had awakened in 
 his heart. 
 
wacousta; on, the prophecy. 43 
 
 What the feelings of the young officer were subsequently, when in the per- 
 son of the uiurdercd nuin on the coinnioU; the victim of Sir Everard Valletort's 
 aim, he recognized that brother, whose disappearance had occasioned him so 
 much inquietude, we shall not atieni])t to describo ; their nature is best shown 
 in the effect they i^roduced — tii', .iiur s' ovi rwliclming- ajrony of body and 
 mind, which had borne him, liki :i .iitj. h jilaui, unrosistinp; to the earth. 
 But now that, in the calm and sn'i: i.ilc of liis cirinnber, lir ]vm] lei.'^uro to re- 
 view the fe^jful cAxnts con.<;pivin'.': to iii-()(h;cL- tliis <■•.! :v;- ! , , Ms ;uic,-nish of 
 spirit was even deeper than Mdiei; i\'v lirsl I'ude sii->.-k ^.r ■ ■.,■. i.-^on Imd flash- 
 ed upon his understandiivr. A li'i^' of sniii.ri'.iv, li:;.' .'\ :; fevered, without 
 rendering him sensible of i, : • ' '. .n: i :;'-*'■; . - ■ :i:i;,i •'.'■, Imd. in the linst 
 instance, oppressed his fa' ii' : -.i-i .i' ■'>;■' .i :;;- !-• .^^ pi'cu ; hut now. slow, 
 sure, stinging, and gradually sijrcc;.i;;i;/ ■-.:r]\ ,<]• i . .■.tine rwry ]>'JAvv thought 
 and rellectidu of which that t;;k' w:is .■•: !,'.-,'!: -,i(i liir Lruiurs lioart of 
 Charles de Haldimar was a prey to f ■ciin- ■ ■l;.-ii wonid b:ive \vi-ini;r the soul, 
 and wounded the sensibilities of one far less gentle and susceptible than him- 
 self. 
 
 Between Sir Everard "\';'jlotort and Charles de Haldimar. who, it has alread}'- 
 been remarked, v.-cre liontnianls in Captain I'.le-sinctnn's company, a senti- 
 ment of friendship had bei'ii ; :ri';'r;'.! to spring up almost from the moment 
 of Sir Everard's joinirr;-. '■'!; yMjun- ,jn'n were n«u-ly of the same age; and 
 although the one -.'.:■ ;•;.!:--. I'.ie other all spirit and vivacity, not a 
 
 shade of disunion 1 ' ^ ;; . ; rin;! iiitrrvened to interrnpt the almost broth- 
 erly attachni'ni -:' -^ ',. '' ,i. en tlieni, and each felt the (lisiiosition of the 
 other was th; "n ;: • . ^ ^ '..lird to his own. In fact, Sii- Everard was far 
 from being tlu --il' -u^ ■::] rl^^wm-iov he v.'as often Avilliiig to appear. Under a 
 semblance of arlectatiou, aiul much assumed levity of manner, never, however, 
 personally oftensive, he concealed a bra\e, gejiei-ous. warm, and manly heart, 
 and talents becoming the i-ank he held in societj-, such as woidd not have re- 
 flected iii-cn, !ii on one numbering twice his years. lie had entered the army, 
 as mo.-u ^.luiiy in' n of rank usually did at that period, rather for the agre- 
 inens it held I'oi lii thin wiili aip- srrious view to advancement in it as a pro- 
 fession. Still 111' ' iii -i.-iMv -; ;!;.■ ),.■■:! iseworthy desire of being something more 
 than what is, amen/ !.; i ' .i-y ;P.;ii, emphatically termed a feather-bed soldier. 
 Not that we mean, ',! w.. :, i) assert he was not a feather-bed soldier in its 
 more literal sense ; in ibit, liis own observ.ations, recorded in the early part 
 of this volume, sr.lii'-. luly jnove his predilection for the indulgence of press- 
 ing his downy coii'-ii. lO wlvxt is termed a decent hour in the dav. 
 
 We need scavrol <i\\i,^ Sir Mverard's theories on this important subject 
 were .seldom n :.; ■ -i ■.>■ yr ,: ii-- - ; for. ivcn l)nu- bffoix' the Indians had bro- 
 ken out into n;.:n ',>.,; ■, h 11 ,11, ii |.i- .MiMOiis v.-cr,. ri'jMJered indispensa- 
 ble, Colonel (le i;:,h' , i ., : i ^ !■ '\!i- i-iH r, i I'iilirr utlii'.^)- ()-,■ man to linger on 
 his pillow after th- ^ miiv.i; had appeared. This was a system to 
 
 which Sir EveravJ recoiu-ile himself. " If the men mast be 
 
 .drilled," he urged, • ; ,: . .. ,., to tlieir h.ealth and discipline, why not place 
 
 them under the direciion of the aijutanl, or the officer of the day, whoever he 
 might chance to be, and not unnecessarily disturl) a body of gentlemen from 
 their comfortable slumbers at that unconscionable hour ?" Poor Sir Everard ! 
 this was the only grievance of which he complained, and h.e complained 
 bittcrlj-. Scarce!}- a morning passed without his inveighing loudly again.st 
 the bar])arit3- of such a custom; threatening at tl.e same time, amid the 
 laughter of his companions, to quit the service in disgust at what he called so 
 ungentlemanly an.d gothic a habit ; and, but for ttt'o motives, there is every 
 probability he would ha-*e seriously availed himself of the earliest Opportunity 
 of retiring. The lii-st of these was his growing friendship for the amiable 
 and gentle Chai-les de Haldimar ; the second, the secret, and scarcely to liim- 
 self acknowledged, interest which had been created in his heart for his sister 
 
44 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 Clara ; whom he only knew from the glowing descriptions of his fi iend, and 
 the strong resemblance she was said to bear to him by the other officers. 
 
 Clara de Haldimar was the constant theme of her younger brother's praise. 
 Her image was ever uppermost in his thoughts — her name ever hovering on 
 his lips ; and when alone with his friend Valletort. it was his delight to dwell 
 on the worth and accomplishments of his amiable and beloved sister. Then, 
 indeed, would his usually calm blue eye sparkle with the animation of his 
 subject, while his coloring cheek marked all the warmth and sincerit}^ \vith 
 which lie bore attestation to her gentleness and her goodness. The heart of 
 Charles do Haldimar. soldier as he was, was pure, generous, and unsophisti- 
 cated as that of the sister whom he so constantly eulogised ; and. while list- 
 ening to his eloquent praises. Sir Everard learnt to feel an interest in a being 
 whom all declared to be the counterpart of her brother, as well in personal 
 attraction as in singleness of nature. With all his afFccted levity, and not- 
 withstanding his earl}^ initiation into fashionable life — the matter-of-fact life 
 Avhich strikes at the existence of our earlier and dearer illusions — there wa.s a 
 dash of romance in the character of the j'^oung baronet which tended much to 
 inci'easc the pleasure he alwa}'S took in the warm descriptions of his friend. 
 The very circumstance of her being personally unknown to him, was. with Sir 
 Everard, an additional motive for interest in Miss de Haldimar. 
 
 Imagination and mysteiy generally work their way together ; and as there 
 was a shade of mysteiy attached to Sir Everard's verj^ ignorance of the per- 
 son of one whom he admired and esteemed from report alone, imagination 
 was not slow to improve the opportunity, and to endow the object with char- 
 acteristics, which perhaps a moi'c intimate knowledge of the party might have 
 led him to qualify. In this manner, in early youth, are the silken and will- 
 ing fettei's of the generous and enthusiastic forged. We invest some object, 
 whose praises, whispered secretly in the ear. have glided imperceptibly to the 
 heart, with all 'the attributes supplied bj' our own vivid and readilj' according 
 imaginations ; and so accustomed do we become to linger on the picture, we 
 adore the semblance with an ardor which the original often fails to excite. 
 
 We do not say Clara de Haldimar would have fallen short of tlie iiigh esti- 
 mate formed of her worth by the friend of her brother ; neither is it to )je 
 understood. Sir Everard suffered this fair vision of his fancy to lead him into 
 the wild and labyrinthan paths of boyish romance. 
 
 Whatever were the impressions of the young baronet, and however he might 
 have been inclined to suffer the fair image of the gentle Clara, such as he xras 
 perhaps wont to paint it, to exercise its spell upon his fancy, certain it is, he 
 never expressed to her brother more than that esteem and interest which it 
 was but natural he should accord to the sister of his friend. Neither had 
 Charles de Haldimar, even amid all his warmth of commendation, ever made 
 the slightest allusion to his sister, that could be con.strued into a desire she 
 should awaken any unusual or extraordinary sentiment of preference. Much 
 and fervently as he desired such an event, there \A-as an innate sense of decorum, 
 and it may be secret pi'ide, that caused him to abstain from any observation 
 having the remotest tendency to compromise the spotless delicacy of his ador- 
 ed sister ; and such he would have considered any expression of his own hopes 
 and wishes, where no declaration of preference had been previously made. 
 There was another motive for this reserve on the part of the young otficer. 
 The baronet was an only child, and would, on attaining his majority, of which 
 he wanted only a few months, become the possessor of a large fortune. IBs 
 sister Clara, on the contrary, had little beyond her own fair fame and the 
 beauty transmitted to her by the mother she had lost. Colonel de Haldimar 
 was a younger son, and had made his wa}^ through life with his sword, and 
 an vuiblemished reputation alone — advantages he had shared with his cliild- 
 ren, for the two eldest of whom his interest and long services had procured 
 commissions in his own regiment. 
 
 But even while Charles de Haldimar abstained from all expression of his 
 
W A C O U t: T A ; OR, THE P R O P H K C V 45 
 
 liopes, he had fully made up his mind that Sir Kverard and his sister were so 
 formed for caeh other, it was next to an impossibility they could meet with- 
 out loving. In one of his letters to the latter, he ha<l alluded to his friend 
 in terms of so high and earnest panegyric, that Clara had acknowledged, ia 
 reply, she was prepared to find in the yoimg baronet one whom she should 
 regard with partiality, if it were oidy on account of the friendship subsisting 
 between liim and lier brothei-. This admission, however, was conmiunicated 
 in confidence, and the young officer had religiously preserved his sister's secret. 
 
 'I'hese and fifty other recollections now crowded on the mind of the sufferer, 
 onlv to render the intensit}'^ of his anguish more complete ; among the bit- 
 terest of which was the certainty that tlie mysterious events of the past night 
 had raised up an insuperable barrier to this union ; for how could Clara dc 
 Haldimar become the wife of him whose hands were, however innocently, 
 stained with the life-blood of her brother ! To dwell on this, and the loss 
 of that brother, was little short of madness, and yet De Haldimar could 
 think of nothing else; nor for a period could the loud booming of the 
 cannon from the ramparts, every report of which shook his chamber to 
 its very foundations, call off his attention from a subject which, while 
 it pained, engrossed every faculty and absorbed every thought. At length, 
 towards the close, he called fointly to the old and faithful soldier, who, 
 at the foot of the bed, stood watching every change of his master's coun- 
 tenance, to know the cause of the cannonade. On being informed the bat- 
 teries in the rear were covering the retreat of Captain Erskine, who, in his 
 attempt to obtain the body, had been surprised by the Indians, a new direc- 
 tion was temporarily given to his thoughts, and he now manifested the ut- 
 most impatience to know the result. 
 
 In a few minutes ^lorrison, who, in defiance of the surgeon's strict order 
 not on any account to quit the room, had flown to obtain .some intelligence 
 which he trusted might remove the anxiety of his suffering master, again 
 made his appearance, stating the corpse was already secured, and close under 
 the guns of the fort, beneath which the detachment, though hotly assailed 
 from the forest, were also fast retreating. 
 
 " And is it really my brother, Morrison ? Are you quite certain that it is 
 Caf>tain de Haldimar 7" asked the 3-oung officer, in the eager accents of one 
 •vrho, ^\■ith the fullest conviction on his mind, yet grasps at the faintest shadow 
 of a consoling doubt. " Tell me that it is not my brother, and half of what 
 I jvossess in the world shall be yours." 
 
 nie old soldier brushed a tear from his eye. '• God bless 3-ou, ]Mr. de Hal- 
 dimar, I would give half ni}' grey hairs to be able to do so ; but it is, indeed, 
 too truly the captain who has been killed. I saw the very wings of his regi- 
 'ncntals as he lay on his fiice on the litter." 
 
 Charles de Haldimar groaned aloud. " Oh God ! oh God ! would that I 
 had never lived to see this day." Then springing suddenly up in his bed — 
 " 3Iorn"son where are my clothes ? I insist on seeing my slaughtered brother 
 myself." 
 
 " (Vood Heaven, sir, consider," said the old man, approaching the bed, and 
 attempting to replace the covering which had been spurned to its very foot, — 
 '• consider you are in a burning fever, and the slightest cold may kill you alto- 
 gether. The doctor's orders are, j-ou Avere on no account to get up." The 
 eiTiirt made by the unfortunate youth was momentary. Faint from the blood 
 he had lost, and giddy from the excitement of his feelings, he sunk back ex- 
 hausted on his pillow, and wept like a child. 
 
 Old ?tIorrison shed tears also ; for his heart bled for the suffei-ings of one 
 whom he had nursed and played with even in early infancy, and whom, al- 
 though his master, he regarded with the affection he would have borne to his 
 own child. As he had justly observed, he would have willingly given half 
 his remaining j-ears to be able to remove the source of the sorrow which so 
 deeply oppressed him. 
 
46 wacousta: or, the prophecy. 
 
 When this paroxT!=in had somewhat subsided. De liaklimar became more 
 compo.-ed ; but his was rather chat composure which grows out of the ajia^hy 
 producefl by overwlielming grief, than the re,sult of any reUef afforded to his 
 sufiering heart bj' the tears he had shed. He had continued some time in 
 thi.'-. faint and apparently tranquil state, when confused sounds in the lianack- 
 yard. followed by the raising of the heavy drawbridge, announced the return 
 of the detachment. Again he started up in his bed and demanded his clothes, 
 declaring his intention to go out and receive the corpse of his iniu-dered broth- 
 er. All opposition on the part of the faithful Morri.son was now likely to 
 prove fniitless. when suddenly the door opened, and an oflBcer burst hurriedly 
 into the room. 
 
 " Courage ! courage ! my dear De Haldiraar ; I am the bearer of good news. 
 Your brother is not the person who has been slain." 
 
 Again De Haldimar sank back upon his pillow, overvvhelmed by a variety 
 of co:iiiicting emotions. A moment afterwards, and he exclaimed reproach- 
 . fully, yet almost gasping with the eagerness of his manner. — 
 
 " For God's sake. Sunmcrs — in the name of coinmon humanity, do not trifle 
 with my feelings. If jou would seek to lull me with false hopes, you are 
 wrong. T am prepared to hear and bear the worst at present ; but to be 
 undeceived again would break my heart." 
 
 •' I swear to you by everj" thing I have been taught to revere as sacred." 
 solemnly returned Ensign Sumners. deeply touched by the affliction he wit- 
 nessed. ■' what I state is .strictly true. Captain Erskine himself sent me to 
 tell you." 
 
 " What, is he only wounded then ?" and a glow of mingled hope and satis- 
 faction v.-as visible even through the flush of pre\-ious excitement on the cheek 
 of the sufferer. " Quick. Morrison, give me my clothes. Where is my broth- 
 er, .Sumners ?" and again he raised up his debilitated frame with the intention 
 of quitting his couch. 
 
 " De Haldimar, m)- dear De Haldimar, compose yourself and listen to me. 
 Your brother is still missing, and we are as much in the dark about his fate 
 as ever. Ail that is certain is. we have no positive knowledge of his death ; 
 but surely that is a thousand times preferable to the horrid apprehensions 
 under which we have all hitherto labored." 
 
 " What mean you. Sumners ? or am I so bewildered with my sufferings as 
 not to comprehend you clearly ? Xay. nay. forgive me ; but I am almost 
 heart-broken at this loss, and .scarcely know what I say. But what is it j'ou 
 mean ? I .saw my unhappy brother l)'ing on the common with my own eyes. 
 
 Poor Yalletort himself " here a rush of bitter recollections flashed on the 
 
 memory of the young man. and the tears coursed each other rapidly down 
 his cheek. His emotion lasted a few moments, and he pursued. — " Poor Yal- 
 letort himself saw him. for he was nearly as much overwhelmed with afflic- 
 tion as I was ; and even Moirison beheld him also, not ten minutes since, 
 under the very walls of the fort ; nay. distingiiished the wings of his uniform ; 
 and yet you would persuade me my Vjrother, instead of Vieing brought in a 
 corpse, is still missing and alive. This is little better than trifling with my 
 wretchedness, Sumners," and again he sank back exhausted on his pillow. 
 
 "I can easily forgive your doubts, De Haldiraar." returned the sympathi.s- 
 ing Sumners, taking the hand of his companion, and pressing it gently in his 
 own ; '• for, in truth, there is a great deal of mystery attached to the whole 
 affair. I have not seen the body myself; but I distinctly heard CaptJiin 
 Erskine state it certainly v/a-s not your brother, and he requested me to ap- 
 prise both Sir Everard Yalletort and yourself of the fact." 
 
 " Who is the murdered man. then ? and how comes he clad in the uniform 
 of one of our officers ? PshaAV ! it is too absurd to be credited. Eiskine is 
 mistaken — he must be mistaken — it can be no other than my poor brother 
 Frederick. Sumners. I am sick, faint, with this cruel uncertainty: go, my 
 
w A c u s T A ; I) 11 , T n K 1' II o r i: K c y . 17 
 
 dear fellow, at once, and cx:uniuL^ Uk' liody ; then return to mo, and satisfy 
 m}^ doubts, if iiossible." 
 
 " Most willingly, if you desire it," returned Suiiniers, moving towards the 
 door ; " but believe me. De Ilaldimar, you miiy make your mind tranquil on 
 the subject — P]rskine spoke with certainty." 
 
 '■ Have you seen A'alletort ?" asked Dc Haldiniar, wl'.ile an involuntary shud- 
 der pervaded his frame. 
 
 •' 1 have. lie flew on the instant to make further in(iuiries ; and was in the 
 act of going to examine the body of the nun'dcrcd man when f came here. 
 But here he is himself, and his comitenance is the harbinger of any thing but 
 a <lenial of my intelligence." 
 
 '• Oh, Charles, what a weight of misery has been removed from my heart !" 
 exclaimed that Officer, now rushing to the bedside of his friend, and seizing 
 his extended hand, — '' Your l)rother. let us hope, still lives." 
 
 •■Almighty God, I thank thee!" fervently ejaculated De Ilaldimar; and 
 then, overcome with joy, surprise, and gratitude, he again sank back upon liis 
 pillow, sobbing and weeping violently. 
 
 Sumners had, with delicate tact, retired the moment Sir Evcrard made his 
 appearance : for he, a,s well as the whole body of officers, was aware of the 
 close friendship that subsisted between the young men. 
 
 We shall not attempt to paint all tliat passed between the friends during 
 the first interesting moments of an interview which neither had expected to 
 enjoy again, or the delight and satisfaction with which they congratulated 
 themselves on the futility of those fears, which, if realised, must have embit- 
 tered every future moment- of their lives with the most harrowing recol- 
 lections. 
 
 With that facility with which in youth the generous and susceptible are 
 prone to exchange their tears for smiles, as some powerful motive for the re- 
 action may promjit, the invalid had already, and {or the moment, lost sight of 
 the painful past in the pleasurable i)resent, so that his a(-tual excitement was 
 strongly in contrast with the melancholy he had so recently exhibited. Never 
 had Charles de Ilaldimar appeared so eminently hiuidsome ; and yet his beauty 
 resembled that of a i'rail and delicate woman, rather than that of one called to 
 the nianl}^ and arduous profession of a soldiei-. The large, blue, long, dark- 
 lashed eye, in whicli a sliade of langor harmonized with the soft but animated 
 expression of the wliole countenance. — the dimpled mouth, — the small, clear, 
 and even teeth, — all these now characterised Charles de Ilaldimar ; and if to 
 these we add a voice rich, full, and melodious, and a smile sweet and fascinat- 
 ing, we shall be at no loss to account for the readiness with which Sir Everard 
 suifered his imagination to draw on the brother for those attributes he ascribed 
 to the sister. 
 
 It was while this impression was strong upon his fancy, he took occasion to 
 remark, in reply to an observation of De Ilaldimar's, alluding to the despair 
 with which his sister would have been seized, had she known one brother had 
 fallen by the hand of the friend of the other. 
 
 " The grief of my own heart, Charles, on tins occasion, would have been 
 little inferior to her own. The truth is, my feelings during the last three 
 hours have let me into a secret, of the existence of which I was, in a great de- 
 gree, ignorant until then : I scarcely know" how to express myself, for the 
 communication is .so truly absurd and romantic you will not credil it." He 
 paused, hesitated, and then, as if determined to anticipate the ridicule he seemed 
 to feel would be attached to his confessioil, with a foi-ced half lau^h pin-suud: 
 '•The fact is, Charles, I have been so much used to listen to your warm and 
 eloquent praises of your sister, I liavc absolutely, I will not say fallen in love 
 with (that would be going too far), but conceived so strong an interest in her, 
 that ray most ardent desire would be to find favor in her eyes. What say 
 you, my friend ? are 3-ou inclined to forward my suit : and if so, is there any- 
 chance for me, think you, with herself?" 
 
48 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 The breast of Charles de Haldimar, who had listened with deep and increas- 
 ing attention to this avowal, swelled high with pleasureablc excitement, and 
 raising himself up in his bed with one hand, while he grasped one of Sir 
 Everard's with the other, he exclaimed with a transport of affection too forci- 
 ble to be controlled, — 
 
 " Oh, Valletort, Valletort ! this is, indeed, all that was wanting to complete 
 my happiness. My sister Clara I adore with all the affection of mj' nature ; 
 I love her better than my own life, which is wrapped up in hers. She is an 
 angel in disposition, — all that is dear, tender, and affectionate, — all that is 
 gentle and lovely in woman ; one whose welfare is dearer far to me than my 
 own, and without whose presence I could not live, Valletort, that prize, — 
 that dearer half of myself, is yours, — yours for ever. I have long wished you 
 should love each other, and I felt, when j-ou met, }-ou Avould. If I have 
 hitherto forborne from expressing this fondest wi.sh of my heart, it has been 
 from delicac}' — from a natural fear of compromising the ptiritj^ of my adored 
 Clara. Now, however, you have confessed j^ourself interested, by a descrip- 
 tion that falls far short of the true merit of that dear girl, I can no longer dis- 
 guise my gratification and delight. Valletort," he concluded, impressively, 
 " there is no other man on earth to whom I would say so much ; but you 
 were formed for each other, and j^ou will, you must, be the husband of my 
 sister." 
 
 If the youthful and affectionate De Haldimar was happy. Sir Everard was 
 no less so ; for already, with the entliusiasm of a young man of twenty, he 
 painted to himself the entire fruition of tho.se dreams of happiness that had 
 so long been familiarised to his imagination. 
 
 A single knock was now heard at the door of the apai-tmcnt ; is was opened, 
 and a sergeant appeared at the entrance. 
 
 " The company are under arms for punishment parade. Lieutenant Valletort," 
 said the man touching his cap. 
 
 In an instant, the visionary prospects of the young men gave place to the 
 stern realities connected with that announcement of punishment. The treason 
 of Hallowa}^, — the absence of Frederick De Haldimar, — the danger by which 
 they were beset, — and the little probability of a re-union with those who were 
 most dear to them, — all these recollections now flashed across their minds with 
 the rapidity of thought ; and the conversation that had so recently passed be- 
 tween them seemed to leave no other impression than what is produced from 
 some visionary speculation of the moment. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 As the bells of of the fort tolled the tenth hour of morning, the groups of 
 dispersed soldiery, warned by the rolling of the assembly drum, once more 
 fell into their respective ranks in the order described in the opening of this 
 volume. Soon afterwards the prisoner Halloway was re-conducted into the 
 square by a strong escort, who took their stations as before in the immediate 
 centre, where the former stood principally conspicuous to the observation of 
 his comrades. His countenance was paler, and had less, perhaps, of the in- 
 ditTerence he had previously manifested ; but to supply this there was a cer- 
 tain subdued air of calm "dignity, and a composure that sprang, doubtless, 
 from the consciousness of the new character in which he now appeared before 
 his superiors. Colonel de Haldimar almost immediately followed and with 
 him were the principal staff of the garrison, all of whom, with the exception 
 of the sick and wounded and their attendants, were present to a man. The 
 former took from the hands of the adjutant, Lawson, a large packet, consisting 
 of several, sheets of folded paper closely written upon. These were the pro- 
 ceedings of the court-martial. 
 
W A C U S T A ; OR, THE P K O I' H E C Y . 49 
 
 After eiiumcratiiiji tl\c several charges, and detailing the evidence of the 
 Tfitnesses examined, the governor came at length to the finding and sentence 
 of the court, which wei-e as follows : — 
 
 '' The com-t having dul}-^ considered the e-vidence adduced against the pris- 
 oner, private Frank Halloway. together with what he has urged in his defence, 
 are of opinion, — 
 
 •' That with regard to the first charge, it is not proved. 
 
 •'That with regiird to the second charge, it is not proved. 
 
 " That with regard to the third charge, even by his own voluntary confes- 
 sion, the prisoner is guilty. 
 
 '• The court having found the prisoner private Frank Halloway guilty of the 
 third charge preferred against him, which is in direct violation of a standing 
 order of the gairison entailing cajiital punishment, do hereby sentence him, 
 the said prisoner, private Frank Halloway, to be shot to death at such time 
 and place as the officer commanding may deem fit to appoint." 
 
 Altliough the utmost order perva<led the ranks, every breath had been sus- 
 pended, every ear stretched during the i-eading of the sentence ; and now that 
 it came arrayed in terror and in blood, every glance was turned in pity on its 
 unhappy victim. But Halloway heard it with the ears of one who lias made 
 up his mind to suffer ; and the faint half smile that played upon his lips 
 spoke more in scorn tlian in sorrow. Colonel de Haldimar pursued : — 
 
 " The coiu-t having found it imperatively incumbent on them to award the 
 punishment of death to the prisoner, private Frank Halloway, at the same 
 time gladly avail themselves of their privilege by strongly recommending him 
 to mercy. The court cannot, in justice to the character of the prisoner, refrain 
 from expressing their imanimous conviction, that notwithstanding the my.ste- 
 rious circumstances which have led to his confinement and trial, he is entirely 
 innocent of the treachery ascribed to him. The court have founded this con- 
 viction on the excellent character, both on duty and in the field, hitlierto 
 borne by the prisoner, — his well-known attachment to the officer with wliose 
 abduction he stands charged, — and the manly, open, and (as the com-t are 
 satisfied) correct history given of his former life. It is, moreover, the im- 
 pression of the court, that, as stated by the prisoner, his guilt of the third 
 charge has been the i-esult only of his attachment for Captain de Haldimar. 
 And for this, and the reasons above assigned, do they strongly recommend 
 the prisoner to mercj-. 
 
 (Signed) " Noel Blessington, Captain and President. 
 
 '■ Sentence approved and confirmed. 
 
 Charles de Haldimar, Colonel and Commandant." 
 
 While these concluding remarks of the court were being read, the prisoner 
 manifested the deepest emotion. If a smile of scorn had previously played 
 upon his !ip, it was because he fancied the court, before whom he had sought 
 to vindicate his fame, had judged him with a severity not inferior to his colo- 
 nel's ; but now that, in the presence of his companions, he heard the flatter- 
 ing attestation of his services, coupled even as it was with the sentence that 
 condemned liim to die, tears of gi-atitude and pleasure rose despite of himself 
 to his eyes; and it required all his self-coiimnuid to enable him to abstain 
 from giving expression tfl his feelings towards those who had so generously 
 interpreted the motives of his dereliction from duty. But when the melan- 
 choly and startling fact of the approval and confirmation of the sentence met 
 his ear, without the slightest allusion to that mercy which had been so ur- 
 gently recommended, he again overcame his weakness, and exhibited his 
 wonted air of calm and unconcern. 
 
 " Let the prisoner be removed, Mr. Lawson," ordered the governor, whose 
 stern and somewhat dissatisfied expression of countenance was the only com- 
 ment on the recommendation for mercy. 
 4 
 
50 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 The order was promptly executed. Once more Ilalloway left the square., 
 and was reconducted to the cell he had occupied since the preceding night. 
 
 " Major Blackwater," pursued the governor, " let a detachment consisting 
 of one-half the gaiTison be got in readiness to leave the fort Avitliin the hour. 
 Captain Wentworth, three pieces of field artUlery will be required. Let them 
 be got ready also." He then retired from the area, while the officers, who 
 had just received Ms commands, prepared to fulfil the respective duties as- 
 signed them. 
 
 Since the first alarm of the garrison no opportunity had hitherto been af- 
 forded the oflicers to snatch the slightest refreshment. Advantage was now 
 taken of the short interval allowed by the governor, and they aU repaired to 
 the mess-room, where their breakfast had long since been provided. 
 
 " Well, Blessington," remarked Captain Erskine. as he filled his plate for 
 the third time from a large haunch of venison, for wliich his recent skirmish 
 with tlie IndiiUis had given liim an unusual relish, " so it appears your recom- 
 mendation of poor Ilalloway to mercy is little likely to be attended to. Did 
 you remark how displeased the colonel looked as he bungled tlu-ough it ? One 
 might almost be tempted to think he had an interest in the man's death, so 
 determined does he appear to carry his point." 
 
 Although several of his companions, perhaps, felt and thought the same, 
 still there was no one who would have ventured to avow his real sentiments 
 in so unqualified a manner. Indeed such an observation proceeding from the 
 lips of any other officer would have excited the utmost surprise ; but Captain 
 Erskine, a brave, bold, frank, and somewhat thoughtless soldier, was one of 
 those beings who are privileged to say anything. His opinions were usually 
 expressed without ceremory ; and his speech was not the most circumspect 
 now, as since his return to the fort he had swallowed, fasting, two or three 
 glasses of a favorite spirit, which, without intoxicating, had greatly excited 
 him. 
 
 '' I remarked enough," said Captain Blessington, who sat leaning his head 
 on one hand, while with the other he occasionally, and almost mechanically, 
 raised a cup filled with a liquid of pale blood color to his lips. — " quite 
 enough to make me regret from my veiy soul I should have been his prin- 
 cipal judge. Poor Halloway, I pity liim much ; for, on my honor, I believe 
 him to be the gentleman he represents himself." 
 
 •' A finer fellow does not live," remarked the last remaining officer of the 
 grenadiers. " But surely C'olonel dc Haldimar cannot mean to carry the sen- 
 tence into effect. Tlie recommendation of a court, couched in such terms as 
 these, ought alone to have some \A"eight with him." 
 
 " It is quite clear, from the fact of his having been remanded to his cell, the 
 execution of the poor fellow will be deferred at least," observed one of Cap- 
 tain Erskine's subalterns. '" If the governor had intended he should suffer 
 immediately, he would have had him shot the moment after his sentence was 
 read. But what is the meaning and object of this new sortie ? and whither 
 are we now going ? Do you know. Captain Erskine, our company is again 
 ordered for this duty ?" 
 
 •'Know it, Leslie ! of com-se I do ; and for that reason am I paying my 
 coiu't to the more substantial pai't of the 1 )realdast. Come, Blessington, my 
 dear fellow, you have quite lost your appetite, and we may have sharp work 
 before we get back. Follow my example : tlu'ow that nasty blood-thicken- 
 ing sassafras sway, and lay a foundation from this venison. None sweeter is 
 to be found in the forests of America. A few slices of that, and then a glass 
 each of my best Jamaica, and we shall have strength to go through the ex- 
 pedition, ii' its object be the capture of the bold Ponteac himself." 
 
 ''I presume the object is rather to seek for Captain de Haldimar," said 
 Lieutenant Eoyce, the officer of the grenadiers; ''but in that case why not 
 send out b.is own company V 
 
 •' Because tlie colonel prefers trusting to cooler heads and mam cxpeiienced 
 
wacousta; or, the propheuv. 51 
 
 arras," good-lunnoredly observed Captain Erskme. '" Blessiiigton is our se- 
 nior, and his men arc all old stagers. My lads, too. have had their mettle up 
 iilready this morning, and there is nothing like? that to prepare men for a 
 dasli of enterprise. It is with theni as with blood horses, the more you put 
 them on their speed the less anxious are they to quit the course. Well. 
 •Johnstone, my brave Scot, ready for another skirkmish?" he asked, as that 
 officer now entered to satisfy the cravings of an appetite little inferior to that 
 of his captain. 
 
 •' With ' nunquam non paratus' foi' mj- motto," gaily retui-netl the 3'oung 
 man, ''it were odd, indee<l. if iv mere scratch like this should prevent me from 
 establishing my claim to it by following wlierever my gallant captain leads." 
 
 " Most courteously spoken, and little in the spirit of a man yet smarting under 
 tlie infliction of a rifle wound, it must be confessed," remarked Lieutenant 
 Leslie. '■ But, Johnstone, you should bear in mind a too close adherericc to 
 that motto has been, in some degree, fatal to your family." 
 
 '• No reflections, Leslie, if you please," returned his brother subaltern, 
 shghtly reddening. '• If the head of our family was unfortunate enough to 
 be considered a traitor to EnglancI, he was not so, at least to Scotland ; and 
 Scotland was the land of his birth. But let iiis politics! errors he forgotten. 
 Though the winged spur no longer adorn the booted ]. ' ' i ;al of An- 
 nandale, the time may not be far distant when some ) - -lular mo- 
 
 parch of England shall restore a title forfeited neithe)- i \ ladice nor 
 
 dishonor, but from an erroneous sense of duty." 
 
 " That is to say," muttered Ensign Delme, looking round for an approval 
 as he spoke, " that our present king is neither liberal nor popular. WeU, Mr. 
 Johnstone, were such an observation to reach the ears of Colonel de Haldjmar 
 you would stand a very fair cliance of being brought to a court martial." 
 
 '■ That is to say nothing of the kind, sir," somewhat fii'cely retorted the 
 young Scot ; " but anything I do say you are at liberty to repeat to Colonel 
 de Haldimar, or whom you will. I cannot understand. Leslie, why you 
 shoidd have made any allusion to the misfortunes of my iamily at tliis par- 
 ticular moment, and in this public manner. I trust it was not with a vie^v to 
 offend me ;" and he fixed his large black eyes upon his brotlier subaltern, as 
 if ha would have read every thought of his mind. 
 
 " Upon my honor, Jotinstone, I meant nothing of the kind," frankly re- 
 turned Leshe. '' I merely meant to hint that as you had had your share of 
 seiwice this morning, j-ou might, at least, have suffered me to borrow yom' 
 spm'S. while you reposed for the present on yom- laurels." 
 
 '' There are my gay and gallant Scots," exclaimed Captain Ersldne, as he 
 swallowed off" a glass of the old Jamaica which stood before him, and with 
 which he usually neutralised the acidities of a meat breakfast. " Settled like 
 gentlemen and lads of spirit, as ^e are." he jjxirsued, as the )^oung men cor- 
 dially shook each other's ha^id across the table. " What an enviable com-, 
 mand is mine, to have a companj'^ of brave fellows who would face the devil 
 himself were it necessary ; and two hot and impatient subs., who ai'e ready 
 to cut each othei''s throat for the pleasure of accompanying me against a set 
 of savages that are little better than so many devils. Come, Johnstone, you 
 know the colonel allows us but one sub. at a time, in con.sequence of om- 
 sc^ircit}'- of officers, therefore it is but fair Leslie should have his turn. It 
 wiU not be long, I dare say, before we shall have another brush with the . 
 rascals." 
 
 " In my opinion," observed Captain Blessington, who had been a silent 
 and thoughful witness of what was passing around him, " neither Leslie nor 
 John.stonc would evince so much anxiety, were they awai-e of the true nature 
 of the duty for vrhich our companies have been ordered. Depend upon it, it 
 is no search after Captain de Haldimar in which we are about to bo engaged ; 
 .for much as the colonel loves his son. he would on no account compromise 
 
52 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 the safety of the garrison, by sendiuG; a party into the forest, where poor De 
 Haldimar. if alive, is at all likely to be found." 
 
 "Faith 3-0U are right. Blessington ; the governor Ls not one to run thesa 
 sort of risks on every occasion. My chief surprise, indeed, is, that he suffered 
 me to venture even upon the common ; but if we are not designed for some 
 hostile expedition, wh}' leave the fort at all ?" 
 
 " The question wDl need no answer if Hallowaj-be found to accom}iany us." 
 
 "Psha! why should Halloway be taken out for the purpose? If he be 
 shot at all, he will be shot on the ramparts, in the presence of, and as an ex- 
 ample to, the whole garrison. Still, on reflection, 1 cannot but thiuk it inn- 
 possible the sentence should be carried into full effect, after the .^^troug. nay„ 
 the almost unprecedented recommendation to mercy recorded on the face of" 
 the proceedings." 
 
 Captain Blessington shook his head despondingly. "What think you,. 
 Erskine, of the policy of making an example, which niay be witnessed b}- tht- 
 enemy as well as the garrison? It is evident, from liis demeanor throughout,, 
 nothing will convnnce the colonel that Halloway is not a traitor, and he may- 
 think it a(ivisal)le to stiike terror into the minds of the savages, by an execu- 
 tion which will have the effect of showing the treason of the soldier to have 
 been discovered.' 
 
 In this opinion man}' of the officers now concurred ; and as the fate of the 
 imfortunate Halloway began to assume a character of almost certainty, even 
 the spirit of the gallant Erskine, the least .subdued by the recent distressing, 
 events, was overclouded ; and all sank, as if by one consent, into silent com- 
 munion with then- thoughts, as they almost mechanically completed the meal, 
 at which habit rather than appetite still continued them. Before any of themt 
 had yet risen fi'om the table, a loud and piercing scream met their ears front 
 without ; and so quick and universal was the movement it produced, that itK 
 echo had scarcely yet died nwaj in distance, when the whole of the breakfast 
 party had issued from the room, and were already spectators of the cause. 
 
 As the officers now passed from the mess-room nearly opposite to the gate,, 
 they observed, at that part of the barracks which ran at right angles with it, 
 and immediately in front of the apartment of the younger De Haldimar, 
 whence he had apparently just issued, the governor, struggling, though gei^tly, 
 to disengage himself from a female, who. with disordered hair and dress, lay 
 almost prostrate upon the piazza, and clasping liis booted leg Avith an energy 
 evidently borrowed from the most rootcnl despair. The quick eye of the 
 haught}- man had already rested on the group of officers drawn by the scream 
 of the supplicant. Numbers, too. of the men, attracted by the same cause, 
 were collected in front of their respective block-houses, and' looking from the 
 windows of the rooms in which they were also breakfasting, prej)aratory to 
 the expedition. Vexed and iiTitatcd beyond measure, at being th.us made a 
 conspicuous object of observation to liis 'inferiors, the unbending governor 
 made a violent and successfid effort to disengage his leg ; and then, ^vithoui 
 uttering a word, or otherwise noticing the unhajipy ))eing who lay extended 
 at his feet, he stalked across the parade to his a])artments at the opj)0,>^ite an- 
 gle, without appearing to manifest the slightest consciousness of the i<cene that 
 had awakened such miiversal attention. 
 
 Several of the officers, among whom was Captain Blessington, now hastened 
 to the assistance of the female, whom all had recognised, from the finst. to 
 be the interesting and unhappy wife of Halloway. Many- of the comrades- 
 of the latter, who had been pained and pitying" spectators of the -scene, 
 also advanced for the same piu-pose ; but. on perceiving their object an- 
 ticipated by their superiors, they withdrew to the block-houses, wlience they 
 had issued. Never was grief more forcibly depicted, than in the whole aj)- 
 pearance of this imfortunate Avoman ; never did anguish assume a character 
 more fitted to touch the soul, or to conunand respect. Her long fair hair, 
 that had hitherto been hid under the coarse ninl) cap. usuall}- worn by the 
 
in the 1'. 
 
 libit of 
 
 tliTowiiip,- theinsc 
 
 Ive, 
 
 these ( •; 
 
 '.|it:iii! 
 
 lilessuiLrlMM. ;i,-.--isl 
 
 r() 
 
 the -^lili; 
 disoi.ln 
 
 .-rill-- ;i 
 
 T d^t<^-'Vl[\ul 
 
 ■ il 
 
 gre:!!rr 
 
 ii( lii'ai 
 
 ■V. <.r .•!i)senre of 1 
 
 i"\'i 
 
 the lirst 
 
 
 va'i oi' luT eniiM-ii 
 
 ms 
 
 \V A C O V 8 T A : OK, T H K 1' K <» I' H K C Y . 53 
 
 ■wives of the sokhers. was now diveNiefl of iill fasteniiip;. and hiy sliadowiiig a 
 white au(i polished hosoiii. wliioh, in lier violent stru!j;ji'Ie.s to detain the gov- 
 pernor, Ir.id hurst from its rude hut modest eonlineuient, and was now dis- 
 played in all the daz/Iing delicacy of youth and sex. If the officers gazed 
 for a moment with excited look upon charms that had long been strangers to 
 their sight, and of an order they little deemed to lind in Ellen llalloway, it 
 was hut the invohnitary trihnte rendcivd by nature unto beauty. The depth 
 and sacredness of that sorrow, which liad left the wretched woman uncon- 
 -seions of her exposure in the instant afterwards imposed a check upon ad- 
 miration, which each felt to be a violation of "the hist 2)rineiples of human 
 delicacy, and tlie feeling was repressed almost in the moment that gave it 
 ^birth. 
 
 They '(v-ere imme(hately in front of the room occn{>ied by Charles de Haldi- 
 mar. in the piazza of whicli were a few old chairs, on which the officers were 
 dr.ring the lieat of the day. On one of 
 ly the ofiicer of grenadiers, now seated 
 1 in way. His first care was to repair the 
 \ ,is the ofhce performed by man with 
 V by lijo-e who witnessed it. This was 
 •ss. 'i'he inviolability of modesty for a 
 moment rose paramount even to the desolation of her heart, and })utting rude- 
 ly aside the hand that reposed miavoidably upon her person, the poor woman 
 started from her seat, and looked wildly about her. as if endeavoring to iden- 
 tify those by whom she was surrounded. But when she ol (served the pitying 
 gaze of the officers fixed upon her, in earnestness am I c( muuiseration, and heard 
 the benevolent accents of the ever kind Blessington exhorting her to compo- 
 sure, her weeping became more violent and her sobs more convulsive. Cap- 
 tain Blessington threw an ai'm round her waist to prevent her from falling; 
 and tlien motioning to two or three women of the company to which her hus- 
 band was attached, who stood at a little distance, in front of one of the block- 
 houses, prepared to deliver her over to their charge. 
 
 " No, no, not yet !" burst at lengtli from the agonised woman, as she shrank 
 fi'om the rude lint well-intentioned touch of the sympathising assistants, who 
 had promptly an,-;wered the signi^k; then, as if obeying some new direction 
 'of hei- feelings, some new impulse of her grief, she liberated herself from the 
 ■slight grasp of Cajitain Blessington, turned suddenlv round, and, before any- 
 •one could anticipate the movement, entered an opening on the piazza, raised 
 'the latch of a door situated at its extremity, and was, in the next instant, in 
 fthe apartment of the younger De Haldimar. 
 
 The scene that met the eyes of the officers, who now followed close after 
 :her, was one well calculated to make an impression on the hearts even of the 
 smost insensible. In the desi)air and recklessness of her extreme sorrow, the 
 young wife of Hallo way had already thrown herself upon her knees at the 
 <'bed side of the sick ofiicer ; and. with her hands upraised and firmly clasped 
 together, was now supplicating him in tones, contrasting singularly in their 
 gentleness with the depth of the sorrow that had rendered her thus regard- 
 Jess of appearances, and insensible to observation. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. de Haldimar !" she implored, '• in the name of God and of our 
 ■blessed Saviour, if you would save me from niadness, intercede foi' my un- 
 happy husband, and preserve him from the horrid fate that awaits him. You 
 >are too good, too gentle, too amiable, to rej( el the ]irayer of a heart-broken 
 woman. Moreover. Mr. de ila.ldiniar." she proeeeiled. with deeper energy, 
 while she caught and pressed, between her own white and bloodless hands, 
 one nearly as delicate that lay extended near her. '• consider all my dear but 
 unfortunate husband has done for your family. Think of the blood he once 
 spilt in the defence of your brother's life ; that brother, through whom alone, 
 oh God ! he is now condemned to die. Call to mind the days and nights of 
 anguish I passed near his couch of snifering, when yet writhing lieneath the 
 
54 W Ji C O U S T A ; O R , T H E P R O P H E C Y . 
 
 wound aimecl at the life of Captain de Haldimar. Abnightj- Providence !" she 
 piu\siied, in the same impassioned yet plaintive voice. " why is not Miss Clara 
 here to plead the cause of the innocent, and to touch the stubborn heart of 
 her merciless father ? She would, indeed, move heaven and earth to save the 
 life of him to whom she so often vowed eternal gratitude and acknowledgment. 
 Ah, she little dreains of liis danger now ; or, if prayer and intercession could 
 avail, my husband would yet live, and this terrible struggle at mj- heart would 
 Ix' no more." 
 
 Overcome by her emotion, the unfortunate woman suffered her aching head 
 to droop upon the edge of the bed, and her sobbing became so painfully vio- 
 lent, that all who heard her expected, at every moment, some fatal termina- 
 tion to her immoderate grief. Charles de Haldimar was little less affected ; 
 and liis sorrow was the more bitter, as he had just proved the utter inefficacy 
 of anything in the shape of appeal to his inflexible father. 
 
 '"Mi's. Halloway, my dear Mrs. Hallowaj-, compose yourself," said Captain 
 Blessington, now approaching, and endeavoring to raise her gently from the 
 flooi', on which she still knelt, while her hands even more fii-mly gi-asped that 
 of De Haldunar. " You are ill, very ill, and the consequence of this dreadful 
 excitement may be fatal. Be advised by me, and retire. I have desired mj 
 room to be prepared for you, and Sergeant Wilmot's wife shall remain with 
 you as long as you maj" require it. 
 
 ''No, no. no !" she again exclaimed with energy. " what care I for my own 
 wretched life — my beloved and unhappy husband is to die. Oh God ! to die 
 without guilt — to be cut off in his youth — to be shot as a traitor — and that 
 simj)ly for obeying the wishes of the oflScer whom he loved ! — the son of the 
 man who now spurns all supplication from his presence. It is inhuman, it is 
 unjust — and Heaven will punish the hard-hearted man who mui-ders him — 
 yes, murders him ! for such a punishment for such an oftcnce is nothing less 
 than murder." Again she wept bitterly, and as Captain Blessington still es- 
 sayed to soothe and raise her : — " No. no ! I will not leave this spot." she con- 
 tinued ; " I will not quit the side of j\Ir. De Haldimar, until he pledges him- 
 self to intercede for my poor husband. It is his duty to save the life of him 
 who saved his brother's life ; and G od and humanjustice are with m}- appeal. 
 Oh, tell me, then, Mr. de Haldimar, — if y^u would save my wretched heart 
 from breaking, — teU me you will intercede for, and oBtain the pardon, of my 
 husband!" ' ^ 
 
 As she concluded this last sentence in passionate appeal, she had risen from 
 her knees ; and, conscious only of the importance of the boon solicited, now 
 threw heiself upon the breast of the highlj^ pained and agitated j'oung officer. 
 Her long aii^d beautiful hair fell floating over liis face, and mingled with his 
 own, while her arms Avere wildly clasped around him. in all the energy of 
 frantic and hopeless adjuration. 
 
 " Almighty God !" exclaimed .the agitated young man, as he made a feeble 
 and fruitless effort to raise the form of the unhappy, woman ; " v/hat shall 1 
 say to impart a comfoi't to this suffering being ? Oh. Mrs. Hallowa}-." he 
 pursued. "' I would Avilliugly give all I possess in this Avorld to be the means 
 of saving your unfortunate husband, — and as much for his own sake as for 
 yours would I do this ; but, alas ! I have not the power. Do not think I 
 speak without conviction. My father has just been with me, and I have 
 pleaded the cause of j-our husband with an earnestness I should scarcely have 
 used had my own life been at stake. But all my entreaties have been in vain. 
 He is obstinate in the belief my brother's strange absence, and Doiiellan's 
 death, are attributable only to the treason of Halloway. Still there is a hope. 
 A detachment is to leave the fort Avithin the houi', and Halloway is to accom- 
 pany them. It may be, my father intends this measure only with a view to 
 terrify liim to a confession of guilt ; and that he deems it politic to make him 
 imdergo all the fearful preliminaries without carrying the sentence itself into 
 effect." 
 
W A C O U S T A ; O R , T H E P R O P H E C V . 55 
 
 The uafortunate woman said no more. When she raised her heaving chest 
 from that of the 3'ouug officer, licr eyes, though retl and shnmk to half their 
 usual size with weeping, were teai'less ; l)ut on lier I'ountonance there was an 
 expression of wild woo, infinite!)- more distressing to l)ehold, in consequence 
 of the almost unnatural check so suddenly im})osed upon her feelings. She 
 tottered, rather than walked, through the group of officers, who gave way on 
 either hand to let hei- pa.ss; and rejecting all assistance ironi the women who 
 hail followed into the room, and who now, in obedience to another signal from 
 Captain Blessington. hastened to her support, finally gained the door and 
 quitted the .ipartment. 
 
 CHAPTER Vlir. 
 
 The sun was high in the meridian, as the second detacliment, commanded 
 by Colonel de Haldimar in person, issued from the fort of Detroit. It was 
 that soft and hazy season, pecidiar to the bland and beautiful autumn of Ca- 
 nada, when the golden light of heaven seems as if transmitted through a veil 
 of tissue, and all of animate and inanimate natm-e, expanding and fructify- 
 ing beneath its fostering influence, breathes the most delicious langiior and 
 voluptuoTis repose. It was one of those still, calm, warm,* and genial days, 
 which in those regions come undei- the vulgar designation of the Indian sum- 
 mer ; a season that is ever hailed l^y the Canadian with a satisfaction propor- 
 tioned to the extreme sultriness of the summer, and the equallj- oppressive 
 rigor of the winter, by which it is immediately preceded and followed. 
 
 Such a day as that we have just described was the September, 1763, 
 
 when the chief portion of the EnglLsh garrison of Detroit issued forth from 
 the fortifications in which they had so long been cooped up, and in the pre- 
 sumed execution of a duty undeniably the most trying and painful that ever 
 fell to the lot of soldier "to perform. The detachment wended its slow and 
 solemn course, with a mournfid pageantry of preparation that gave fearful 
 earnest of the tragedy expected to be enacted. 
 
 In front, and di-agged by the hands of the g-unners, moved two of the three 
 three-pounders, that had been ordered for the duty. Behind these came C.q)- 
 tain Biessington's company, and in their rear, the prisoner Halloway. di^\'>te I 
 of lus imiform, and clad in a "wliite cotton jacket, and a cap of the same ma- 
 terial. Six rank and file of the grenadiers followed, under the command .of a 
 corporal, and behind these again, came eight men of the same company ; fom- 
 of whom bore on their shoulders a coffin, covered" -with a coarse black paU 
 that had perhaps already assisted at fifty interments ; while the other four 
 carried, in addition to their own. thetmuskets of their burdened coim-ades. 
 After these, marched a solitary di'ummer-boy ; whose taU bear-skin cap at- 
 tested liim to be of the grenadiers also, while the muffled instrument marked 
 the duty for which he had been selected. Like his comrades, none of whom 
 exhibited their scarlet uniforms, he wore the collar of his great coat close}}' 
 buttoned beneath his chin, which was only partially visible above the stiff 
 leathern stock that encircled his neck. Although his features were half bu- 
 ried in his huge cap and the high collar of his coat, there was an air of deh- 
 cacy about Ms person that seemed to render him ujisuited to such an office ; 
 and more than once was Captain Erskine, who followed immediately behind 
 him at the head of his company, compelled to call sharply to the urcliin. 
 threatening him with a week's drill unless he mended his fl-eble and unequal 
 pace, and kept from \iuder the feet of his men. The remaining gim brought 
 tip the rear of the detachment, v.^ho marched with fixeii bayonets and two 
 balls in each musket ; the whole presenting a front of sections, that completely 
 filled up the road along which they passed. Colonel de Haldimar, Captain 
 Wentworth, and the Adjutant Lawson followed in the extreme rear. 
 
56 
 
 wacousta; or, the prophecy 
 
 An event so singular as that of the appearance of the Engh'sh witliout their 
 fort, beset as they were by a host of fierce and daTigerons enemies, was not 
 likely to pass unnoticed by a single individual in the little village of Detroit. 
 We have already observed^ that most of the colonist settlers had been cruelly 
 massacred at the very onset of hostilities. Not so, however, with the Cana- 
 dians, who, from their anterior relations with the natives, and the mutual and 
 tacit good understanding that subsisted between both parties, were suflered 
 to continue in quiet and uimiolested possession of their homes, where they pre- 
 served an avowed neutrality, never otherwise infringed than by the assistance 
 secretly and occasionally rendered to the English'troops. \\'hose gold they 
 were glad to receive in exchange for the necessaries of life. 
 
 Every dwelling of the infant town had commenced giving up its tenant^:, 
 from the moment when the head of the detachment was seen traversing the 
 drawbridge ; so that, by the time it reached the highway, and took its direc- 
 tion to the left, the whole population of Detroit were already assembled in 
 groups, and giving expression to the their several conjectures, witli a vivacity 
 of language and energy of gesticulation that would not have (hsgraced tlie 
 parent land itself. As the troops drew nearer, however, they all sank at once 
 into a silence, as much the result of certain unacknowledged and undefined 
 fears, as of the respect the English had ever been accustomed to exact. 
 
 At the further extremity of the town, and at a bend in the road, which 
 branched off more immediately towards the river, stood a public housej whose 
 creaking sign bore three ill executed fleur-de-lis, apologetic emblems of the 
 arms of France. The building itself was little more than a rude log hut, 
 along the front of vv'hich ran a plank, supported by two stumps of trees, and 
 serving as a temporary accommodation both for the traveller and the inmate. 
 On this tench three persons, apparently attracted by the beauty of the day 
 and the mildness of the autumnal sun, were now seated, two of whom were 
 leisurely puffing their pipes, while the third, a female, was employed in card- 
 ing wool, a quantity of which lay in a basket at her feet, while .she warbled, 
 in a low tone, one of the simple airs of her native land. The eider of the two 
 men, whose age might be about fifty, offered nothing remarkable in his ap- 
 pearance ; he Avas dressed in a coat nfade of the common white blanket, while 
 his hair, cut square upon the forehead, and tied into a club of nearly a foot 
 long, fell into the cape or hood attached to it. 
 
 His companion was habited in still a more extraordinary manner. His lower 
 limbs were cased, up to the mid-thigh, in leathern leggings, the seam of which 
 was on the outside, leaving a margin, or border, of about an inch wide, which 
 had been slit into innumerable small fringes, giving them an air of elegance 
 and lightness : a garter of leather, curiously wrought, with the stained quills 
 of the porcupine, encircled each leg, immediately under the knee, where it 
 was tied in a bow, and then suffered to hang pendant half way down the 
 iimb ; to the fringes of the leggings, moreover, were attached numerously 
 dark-colored horny substances, emitting, as they rat-tied against each other, at 
 the slightest movement of the wearer, a tinkling sound, resembling that pro- 
 duced by a number of small thin delicate br;v.ss bells ; these were the tender 
 hoofs of the wild deer, dried, scraped, and otherwise prepared for this orna- 
 mental purpose. 
 
 The form and face of this individual were in perfect keeping with the style 
 of his costume, and the character of his equipment. His stature was beyond 
 that of the ordinary race of men, and his athletic and muscular liml)S united 
 the extremes of strength and activity. His features, marked and prominent, 
 wore a cast of habitual thought, strangely tinctured with ferocity ; and the 
 expression of his otherwise not unhandsome countenance was re])el]ant and 
 disdainful. At the first glance he might have been taken for one of the swar- 
 thy natives of the soil ; but though time and constant exposure to scorching 
 suns had given to his complexion a dusky hue, still there was wanting the 
 quick, black, penetrating eye ; the high cheek bone ; the straight, coarse, 
 
W A C O IT S 1 A : OR, 1 U K 1' R O J> H K V Y . 57 
 
 shilling; l)l;ick hair ; the sui;ill)»iny hnud aiul tuot ; and tlic phicully pi-oud 
 and serious air, by wliioh tlie fovnior is distinguished. His own eye was of a 
 deep hhiish grey ; his hair short, dark and wavy ; liis liantls htrge and muscu- 
 lar ; and so far from exhibiting any of the .seU-command of the In(Uau, the 
 coustaut play of his features betrayed each pa.ssing thouglit with the same 
 rapidity with wliich it \vas conceived. But it" any doubt couM hiive existed 
 in the mind of him who beheld lliis strangely accoutred tigm-e. it would liave 
 been instantly dispelled by a glance at his limbs. From his -leggings to the 
 hip. that poi-tion of the lowc.^r limb was completely bare, and dis'^loscd, at 
 each movement of the gai'ment that was suffered to fall loo.-ely over it, not 
 the swarthy and copper-colored iiesli of the Indian, but the pale though sun- 
 burnt skin of <nie of a more temnerate clime, llis aee mia-ht be about fortv- 
 five. ■ ■ ■ 
 
 At the moment when the Knglish (ietachment approached the bend in the 
 road, these two individuals were (;onvt'rsing earnestly together, pausing only 
 to puff at inteixals tliii']\ and wreathing volumes of smoke from their pipes, 
 which were lilled with a nn'xture of tobacco and odoriferous lierbs. Pres- 
 ently, however, sounds (hat appeared I'amiliar to his ear arrested the attention 
 of the wildly accoutred being we have last desci-ibed. It was the heavy roll 
 of tlie artillery carriages already- advancing along the road, anil somewliat in 
 the rear of the hut. To dash his pipe to the ground, seize ami coik and raise 
 his rifle to his shoulder, was but the work of a momoit. Startled by the 
 suddenness of the ixction, his male cojupanion moved a few ii;ices ;i!so from 
 his seat to discover the cause of this singular movement. The female, on the 
 contrary, stirred not. ])ut ceasing for a moment the occupation in which she 
 liad been engaged, lixed lici' dark and brilliant eyes upon the tall l-'rin of the 
 rilieuKin. wliosi' atii'ctic liiiilis. thrown into powerful relief by lii" ili-leni.ion 
 of each nrr\e and nr.iscle. appeare<l to engross her whole adii'.ii-alii.ii an. I in- 
 terest, without any reference to the cause that had produced this abnij)t an<l 
 hostile change in his movements. It was evident that, unlike the other in- 
 habitants of the town, this group had been taken by sur[)rise, and v.ere 
 utterly unprepared to expect anyibing in ilie s]i-\\.<- <>[' in{:\ir>\\)t\i>n. 
 
 For upwards of a minute, during w iiirli liiv' ma/Tli oi tlic nun I lecaiae au- 
 dible even to' the ears of the female, the formiiialde warrior. I'or such liis garb 
 denoted him to be, continued motionless in the attitude he ha! :it liiM assum- 
 ed. No sooner, however, had the head of the advancing coiumn come within 
 sight, than the aim was taken, the trigger pulled, and tlie small and ragged 
 Ijullet sped hissing from the grooved and delicate bari'el. A trium]:)hant cry 
 was next pealed from the lips of the warrior, — a cry produced by D'" qn'ckly 
 repeated application and removal of one hand to and from the n nii;^. wliile 
 the other suffered tlie ))utt-end of the noM' harmless weapon to !;;;i Ici^.-cly 
 upon the earth. He then slowly and deliberately withdrew witiiin the cover 
 if the but. 
 
 This daiing action, which had been viewed by the leading troops with as- 
 tonishment not nnmingled with alarm, occasioned a temporarj* confusion in 
 the ranks, for all believed they had faJlen into an ambuscade of the Indians. 
 A halt was instantly commanded by Captain Blessington, in order to give 
 time to the governor to come up from the real-, while he proceeded with one 
 of the leading sections to reconnoitre the jVont of the hut. To liis surprise, 
 however, he found neither enemy, nor evidenci' that an enemy had been there. 
 The only individuals visible were the (Canadian, and the dark-eyed female. 
 Both were seated on the bench; — the one smoking his pipe with a well assum- 
 ed appearance of unconcern — the other carding her wool, but with a Inind 
 that by a close observer might be seen to tremble in its office, and a cheek 
 that was paler than at the moment when we first placed her before the imag- 
 ination of the reader. Both, however, started with unaflected surprise on 
 seeing Captain Blessington and his little force turn the corner ofi.the house 
 
58 
 
 wacousta; or, the prophecy 
 
 from the main road ; and certain looks of recognition pa&sed between ail par- 
 ties, that proTed them to l>e no strangers to each other. 
 
 " Ah, monsieur," said the Canadian, in a mingled dialect, neither French 
 nor English, while he attempted an ease and freedom of manner that was too. 
 miserably affected to pass cm-rent Mith the mild but observant ofiBcer whom 
 he addressed, " how much surprise I am, and glad to see j-ou. It is a long- 
 times since you came out of de fort. I hope de governeui- and de officer be 
 all Yery well. I Avas tinking to go to-day to see" if you want any ting. I 
 have got some nice ram of tlie Jamaiqu'e for Oapita'ine Erskine. Will you 
 please to try some ?" "\Yhile speaking, the voluble host of the Flenr de "Lis 
 had risen from his seat. laid aside his pipe, and now stood -with his hands 
 thrust into the pockets of -his blanket coat. 
 
 "It is indeed a long time since we have been here, Master Francois," some- 
 what sarcastically and drily replied Captain l^lessingtou ; " and you have not 
 visited us quite so often latterly yourself, though well aAvare we were in want 
 of fresh provisions. I give you all due credit, however, for j-our intention of 
 coming to-day, but you see we have anticipated you. >Still this is not the 
 }>oint. Where is the Indian who iired at us just now ? and how is it we find 
 you leagued witli our enemies ?" 
 
 '• What, sir, is it you say ?" asked the Canadian, holding up his hands with 
 feigned astohishment. " Me league myself with the savage. Upon my honor 
 T did not see nobody fire, or I should teU you. I love the English too well 
 to do dem harms." 
 
 " Come, come, Fran9ois, no nonsense. If I cannot make you confess, there 
 is one not far from me who will. You know Colonel de Haldimar too well 
 to imagine he -wiU be trifled with in this manner : if he detects jou in a false- 
 hood, lie will certainly cause you to be hanged up at the first tree. Take my 
 advice, therefore, and saj^ where you have secreted this Indian ; and recollect, 
 if we fall into an ambuscade, your life will ))e forfeited at the first shot Ave 
 hear fired." 
 
 At this moment the governor, followed by his adjutant, came rapidlj" up to 
 the spot. Captain Blessington communicated the ill success of his queries, 
 when the former cast on the terrified Canadian one of those severe and searcli- 
 ing looks which he so well knew how to assume. 
 
 "Where is the rascal who fired at us. sirrah? tell me instaptly. or you 
 have not five minutes to live." 
 
 The heart of mine host of the Fleur de Lis quailed within him at this for- 
 midable threat ; and the usually ruddy hue of his countenance had now given 
 place to an ashy paleness. StiU as he positively denied all knowledge of the 
 matter on which he was questioned, he appeared to feel his safety lay in ad- 
 hering to his original statement. Again, therefore, he assured the governor, 
 on his honor (laying his hand upon his heart as he siwke,) that what he had 
 already stated was the fact. 
 
 " Yom- honor — you jjitiful trading scoundrel — how dare you talk to me of 
 your honor ? CoinCy sir. confess at once where you have secreted this felloAA". 
 or prepare to die." 
 
 " If I may be so bold, your honor," said one of Captain Blessington's men. 
 •• the Frenchman lies. When the Ingian fired among us, this fellow w^as 
 peeping under his shoulder and watching us also. If I had not seen him too 
 often at the fort to be mistaken in his person, I should have known liim, at 
 all events, by his blanket coat and red handkerchief" 
 
 This blunt statement of the soldier, confirmed as it was tlie instant after- 
 wards 1))' one of his comrades, was damning proof against the Canadian, 
 even if the flicf of the rifle being discharged from the front of the hut liad 
 not already satisfied all parties of the falsehood of his assertion. 
 
 " CoriK! forward, a couple of files, and seize this villain," resumed the gov- 
 ernor with his wonted sternness of manner. •■ Mr. Lawson, see if his hut 
 
W A C U S T A ; OR, THE F K O P K E C V . 59 
 
 (Iocs not afford a rope strong cnougli to liau^' the traitor to one of his own 
 apple tree.s." 
 
 Botli parties proceeded <it |jjie same moment to execute the two distinct or- 
 ders of their chief. The Canadian -was now firml}- secured in the grasp of 
 the two men who had given evidence a!i,ainsL him, \vhon, seeinji' all the horror 
 (if the dreadful fall' that awaited iuni. he confessed the individual who had 
 tired had heeu sitting witli him the instant jjveviously, hut tliat he knew nO' 
 more of him than of anji- other savage occasionally^ calling at the Fleiu' de Lis. 
 He added, that on discliarging the rifle lie had 1 )onnded across the palings of 
 tiie orchard, and lied in the direction of the foi'est. He denied all knowledge 
 or belief of an enemy waiting in ambush ; stating, moreover, even the indi- 
 vidual in (luestion had not been aware of the sortie of the detachment until 
 apprised nf tlvir near a))pr')a(li by the heavy soiind of the gun carriages. 
 
 •• Here an' luidrniaiilc jii-nof- i>i' the man's villanj', sir," said tJie ailjutant, 
 returning li-oni the hut and exiiibitiug objects of new and fearful interest to 
 the governor. •' This hat and rope I found secreted in one of the bed-rooms 
 of the aubcrge. The first is evidently Donellan's ; and from the hook at- 
 tached to the latter, I apprehend it to be the same stated to have been used 
 by Captain de Haldimar in crossing the ditch." 
 
 The governor took the hat and rope from the hands of his subordinate, ex- 
 amined them attentively, and after a few moments of deep musing, during 
 "svhich his coxmteuance underwent several rapid though scarcely perceptible 
 changes, turned suddenly and eagerly to the soldier who had first convicted 
 tlie Canai-lian in his falsehood, and demanded if he had seen enough of the 
 man who had fired to be able so give even a general description of his person . 
 
 '• Why )'es, your honor, I think I can ; for the fellow stood long enough 
 after firing his piece, for a painter to have taken him oil' from head to foot. 
 He was a taller and larger man by far than our l;iggest grenadier, and that is 
 poor Harry Donellan, as your honor knows. ]^nt as for his dress, though 1 
 could see it all, I scarce!}' can tell how to describe it. All I know is. he wa.-- 
 covered with smoked deer skin, in some such fashion as the great chief Pon- 
 teac, only, instead of having his head bare and shaved, he w^n-r :\ sM-piir; out- 
 landish sort of a hat, covered over with wild birds' featli i - i li )■.' 
 
 " Enough," interrupted the governor, motioning the man m i-ikiiLL ; then, 
 in an rinder tone to himself, — '^ by heaven, the very same." A shade of dis- 
 appointment and suppressed alarm passed rapidly across liis brow ; it was 
 ^ : ' : ■ . :.'■-. '• Captain Blessington," he ordered quickly and impatiently, 
 '.; and grounds for this lurking Indian, who is, no doubt, sc- 
 ,; ;ighborhood. Quick, quick, sir ; there is no time to be lost.'' 
 Tlijii m an intimidating tone to the Canadian, "who had already dropped on 
 his knees, supplicating mercy, and vociferating his innocence in the sanu 
 breath. — ""So, you infernal scoundrel, this is the manner in A\iiic!i miu iiavc 
 repaid om- confidence. Where is my son, sir ? Or have }' ' .r- 
 
 dered him, as you did liis servant "? Tell me, you villain, wh. iv- 
 
 say to these proofs of jronr treachery? But stay, I shall taivc anuLiie; ami 
 fitter opportunity to question you. Mr. Lawson, secure this traitor properly, 
 and let him be conveyed to the centre of the detachment." 
 
 This mandate was promptly obeyed ; and in despite of his own 'unceasing 
 prayers and protestations of innocence, and the tears and entreaties of his 
 dark- eyed daughter Babette, who had thrown herself on her knees at his 
 side, the stout arms of mine host of the Flcur de Lis wei'e soon firmlj'' se- 
 cured behind his back -with the strong rope that had been found under such 
 suspicious circumstances in his possession. Before he was marched off, how- 
 ever, tvro of the men who had been sent in pursuit, returned fi'om the orchard, 
 stating that further search was now fruitless. They hatl penetrated througlt 
 a small thicket at the extremity of the grounds, and had distinctly seen a man 
 answering the description given by their comrades, in full flight towards the 
 forest skirting the heights in front. 
 
s^O W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 The jiovernor was evidently far from beiiij;' satisfied with the result of & 
 search too late instituted to leave even a prospect of success. '■ Where arc 
 tthe Indians principally encamped, sirrah '?" he sternly demanded of his cap 
 a-,ive ; '■ answer me trulj^, or I will carry off this Avench as well, and if a singlt 
 *hair of a man of mine be oven singed by a shot from a skulking- enemy, yoi 
 ■/may expect to see her bayoneted before j'our eyes." 
 
 " Ah. my (rod ! iNIonsieur le Gouverneur." exclaimed the affrighted auber- 
 igiste, " as I am an honest man, I shall tell de truth, but spare my child. 
 'They are all in de forest, and half a mile from de Httle river dat i-nns between 
 ■lis and the Pork Island." 
 
 " Hog Island, I suppose you mean." 
 
 " Yes sir, de Ilog Island is de one I means." 
 
 " Conduct him to the centre, and let him be confronted with the prisoner," 
 -directed the govenor, addressing his adjutant ; '• Captain Blessington, your 
 tmcn may resume their st.ations in the ranks. The order was obeyed ; and 
 notwithstanding the tears and supplications of the now highly excited Babette. 
 ?ji'ho flung herself upon his neck, and was onlj- removed by force, the terrified 
 hOanadian was borne off from his premises by the troops. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 While this scene was enacting in front of the Fleur de Lis, one of a far 
 •more touching and painful nature M'as passing in the very heart of the detach- 
 ■.ment itself. At the moment when the halt was ordered bj* Captain Blessing- 
 :tou, a rumor ran through the ranks that thej^ had reached the spot destined 
 for the execution of their ill-fated comrade. Those only in the immediate 
 front were aware of the true cause ; but although the report of the rifle had 
 been distinctly heard b}^ all, it had been attributed by those in the real- to the 
 jiccidental discharge of one of their own muskets. A low murmin-. expressive 
 ■of the opinion generallj' ente;i-tained, passed graduall}- from rear to front, mitil 
 it at length reached the ears of the delicate drummer boy who mai-(-hed l)e- 
 hind the coffin. His face was still buried in the collar of his coat ; and wliat 
 was left uncovered of his features by the cap, was in some degree hidden l)y 
 :the forward drooping of his head upon his chest. Hitherto he had moved al- 
 laiost mechanically along, tottering and embarrassing himself at everj- step 
 Ttindcr the cumbrous drum that was suspended from a belt ai-ouud his neck 
 tover the left thigh ; but now there was a certain indescribable drawing up of 
 ithe frame, and tension of the whole person, denoting a concentration of all the 
 .moral and physical energies — a sudden working up, as it were, of the intel- 
 lectual and corporeal "being to some determined and momentous purpose. 
 
 At the first lialt of the detachment, the weary supporters of the coffin had 
 'deposited their rude arid sombre burden upon the earth, ])reparatory to its 
 'being resumed by those appointed to relieve them. The dull sound emitted 
 by the hollow fabric, as it touched the ground, caught the ear of him for whom 
 iit was destinod, and he turned to gaze upon the sad and lonely tenement so 
 .>ihortly to liecome his final resting place. Thci-e was an air of calm composure 
 rand dignified s'orrow u.pon his broAV, that infused respect into the hearts of all 
 ■who beheld liim ; and even the nien selected to do the duty of executioners 
 sought to evade his glance, as his steady eye wandered from right U) left of 
 the ftital rank. His attention, however, was principally directed towai'ds the 
 •coffin, which lay before him ; on this he gazed fixedly for ui)wards of a minute. 
 He then tui-ned his eyes in the direction of the fort, shuddered, heaved a pro- 
 found sigh, and looking up to heaven, with the apparent fenor that became 
 his situation, seemed to pray for a moment or two inwardly and devoutly. 
 The tliiclc iuid almost suifocating breathing of one imraediatelv bevond the 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE 1' U O P II E C V . 61 
 
 coffin, was now distinctly hoard by ;ill. Ilallowny started iVoni his attitude 
 of devotion, ji-azed earnestly on the form whenci' it proi'ceded, and then wildly 
 extendinj;- his anus, svillered a smile of satisfaction to illiiminr his pal? features. 
 All C3-es were now turned upon the dianumer buy, who. evidently laboring 
 under convulsive excitement of feelinji', suddenly dashed his oa[» and instrument 
 to the earth, and flew a,s fast as his tottering and uncertain steps would admit 
 across the coffin, and into the arms extended to receive him. 
 
 •• My Ellen ! oh, my own devoted, but too unhappy Ellen !" passionatcly 
 exclaivned the soldier, as he clasped the slight and agitated form of his dis- 
 gui.^ed wife to his throbbing heart. " This, this, indeed, is joy even, in death,. 
 I thought I eouid haw died more happily without you, but nature tugs power- 
 fulh' at niy iv-arl ; and to see you once more, to feel you once more /lere,"' 
 (and he jjresscd her wildly to his chest.) '' is indeed a bliss that i-obs my ap- 
 
 proae 
 
 fate of half its terror." 
 
 ( >h lleginald ! my dearly beloved Reginald ! my min-dercd husband !'" 
 shrieked the unhappy woman; "your Ellen will not smwive you. Her heart 
 is ali'eady broken, though she cannot weep; but the same grave shall contain; 
 us l)otli. Reginald, do you believe me? I swear it; the same grave shall con- 
 tain us botii." 
 
 Exhausted with the fatigue and excitement she had midergone, the faithful 
 and alfeetionate creature now lay. without sense or motion, in the arms of her 
 wi'etched husband. Halloway bore her, unopposed, a pace or two in advance, 
 and de})Osited her unconscious form on the fat;il coffin. 
 
 Xo language of ours can render justice to the trying character of the scene . 
 Ail who witnessed it were painfully affected, and over the bronzed cheek of 
 many a ^ eteran com'sed a tear, which, like that of Sterne's recorthng angel, 
 might ha\e blotted out a catalogue of sins. Although each was prepared to* 
 expect a reprimand from the governor, for .suffering the prisoner to quit his 
 station in the ranks, humanity and nature pleaded too powerfully in his be- 
 half and neither officer nor man attempted to interfere, unless with a view to 
 render assistance. Captain Erskine, in particular, was deeply pained, and 
 would have given anything to recal the harsh language he had used towards 
 the supposed ifUe and inattentive drummer boy. Taking from a pocket in his 
 uniform a small flask of brandy, which he had provided against ca.sualties, the 
 comjiassionating officer .slightly raised the head of the pale and unconscious 
 woman ^vith orie hand, while with the other he introduced a few ch'ops between 
 lier parted lips. Halloway knelt at the opposite .side of the coffin ; one hand 
 searclnug. but in vain, the suspended pulse of his inanimate wife; the other, 
 unbuttoning the breast of the druui-boy's jacket, which, with every other part 
 of the e(juipment. she wore beneatli the loose gi-eat coat so effectually accom- 
 pli.shiug her di.sguise. 
 
 Such was the position of tlie chief actors in this truly distressing- drama, 
 at the moment when Colonel de Haldimar came up with his new prisoner, to 
 mark what effect would be produced on Halloway by his unexpc(>.ted appear- 
 sncc. Ilis own surprise and disappointment may be easily conceived, when, 
 in the form of the re<"umbent lieing who seemed to engross universal atten- 
 tion, lie recognised, by the fair and streaming hair, and half exposed bo.som, 
 the unfortiraate being whom, oidy two lumis jirevious'v. b 'i ai <puniedfrom 
 his feet in the costume of her own S'^x, and reduce'!, li; l! ■ -.ioli-nce of her 
 grief to ahnost infantine debility. Question succeeded (juestiun to those 
 around. Itut mthout eliciting any clue to the means by wh'ch this mysterious 
 disgui-e had been effected. No one had been aware, mrtil the truth was so 
 singularly and suddenly revealed, tbr sn]i]M),<jd drunimci- was any other than 
 one of the lads attached to the grenadier,- ; and as foi- the other facts, they 
 spoke too plainly to the comprehension of (h- governor to ueed explanation. 
 Once more, however, the detachment was (udled to order. Halloway struck 
 his Imnd violently u])on liis brow, kisseil the wan lips of his still unconscious 
 wife, breathing, as he did so, a half murmured hope she might indeed be the 
 
62 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 corpse she appeared. He then raised himself from the earth witlia light and 
 elastic yet linn movement, and resumed the jjlacc he had pre-viously occupied, 
 where, to his surprise, he beheld a second victim bound, and, apparently^ de- 
 voted to the same death. When the eyes of the two unhappy men met, the 
 governor closely watched the expression of the countenance of each ; but 
 although the Canadian started on beholding the soldier, it might he merely 
 because he saw the latter arrayed in the garb of death, and followed by the 
 most unequivocal demonstrations of a doom to which he himself was, in all 
 probability, devoted. As for Halloway, his look betrayed neither conscious- 
 ness nor recognition ; and l;hough too proud to express complaint or to give 
 vent to the feelings of his heart, his whole soul seemed to be absorbed in "the 
 unhapijy partner of his luckless destiny. Presently he saw her borne, and 
 in the same state of insensibility, in the arms of Captain Erskine and Lieu- 
 tenant Leslie, towards the hut of his fellow prisoner, and he heard the former 
 officer enjoin the weeping girl, Babette, to whose charge they delivered her 
 over, to pay every attention to her her situation might require. The detach- 
 ment then proceeded. 
 
 The narrow but deep and rapid river alluded to by the Canadian, as run- 
 ning midway between the town and Hog Island, derived its source far within 
 the forest, and formed the bed of one of those wild, dark, and thickly wooded 
 ravines so common in America. As it neared the Detroit, however, the ab- 
 ruptness of its banks wa^' so considerably lessened, as to render the approach 
 to it on the town side over an almost an imperceptible slope. Within a few 
 yards of its mouth, as we have already observed, a rude but strong wooden 
 bridge, over which lay the high road, had been constructed by the French ; 
 and from the centre of this, all the circuit of intermediate clearing, even to 
 the very skirt of the forest, was distinctly commanded by the naked eye. 
 To the right, on approaching it from the town, lay the adjacent shores of 
 Canada, washed by the Ijroad w.aters of the Detroit, on which it was thrown 
 into strong relief, and which, at the distance of about a mile in front, was 
 seen to diverge into two distinct channels, pursuing each a separate course, 
 until they again met at the western extremity of Hog Island. On the left, 
 and in the front, rose a succession of slightly undulating hills, which, at a 
 distance of little more than half a mile, terminated in an elevation considera- 
 bly above the immediate level of the Detroit side of the ravine. That, again, 
 was crowned with thick and overhanging forest, taking its circular sweep 
 around the fort. The intermediate ground was studded over with rude stumps 
 of trees, and bore in various directions, distmct proofs of the spoliation 
 wrought among the infant possessions of the murdered English settlers. The 
 view to the rear was less open ; the town being partially hidden by the fruit- 
 laden orchards that lined the intervening high road, and hung principally on 
 its left. This was not the case with the fort. Between these orchards and 
 the distant forest lay a line of open country, fully commanded by its cannon, 
 even to the ravine we have described, and in a sweep th;it embraced every 
 thing from the bridge itself to the forest, in which all trace of its source was 
 lost. 
 
 When the detachment had arrived within twenty yards of the bridge, they 
 were made to file off to the left, until the last gun had come up. They were 
 then fronted ; the rear section of Captain Erskine's company resting on the 
 road, and the left flank, covered bj^ the two first guns pointed obliquely, both 
 in front and rear, to guard against surprise, in the event of any of the Indians 
 stealing round to the cover of the orchards. The route b}' whicli they had 
 approached this spot was upwards of two miles in extent ; but, iis they now 
 ■filed otf into the open ground, the lesiding sections observed, hr a direct line 
 over the cleared countr3% and at the distance of little more than three quar- 
 ters of a mile, the dark r.araparts of the fortress that contained their comrades, 
 and could even distinguish the uniforms of the officers and men drawn up in 
 
wacovsta; or, the prophecy. f>3 
 
 lino along the works, where they were evidently assembled to witiies.s tlie 
 execution of tlie sentence on Ilalloway. 
 
 Sncli a sight as that of the Ilnglish so far from their fort, was not likely to 
 escape the notice of the Indians. Tlieir encampment, as the Canadian had 
 truly stated lay Avithin the foi'cst, and beyond the elevated ground already 
 alluded to ; and to have crossed the ravine, or ventured out of reach of the 
 C4iunon of the fort, would have been to seal the destruction of the detach- 
 ment. But the ofhcer to whom their security was entrusted, although he had 
 his own particular views for venturing thus far, knew also at what point to 
 stop ; and such was the confidence of his men in his skill and prudence, they 
 would have feai-lessly followed wherever he might have chosen to lead. Still, 
 even amid all the solemnity of pvepai-ation attendant on the duty they Avere 
 out to perform, tliere was a natural and secret apprehensiveness about each, 
 that caused him to cast his eyes frequently and tixedlj^ on that part of the 
 forest Avhich was known to afford cover to their merciless foes. At times they 
 fancied they beheld the dark and flitting forms of men gliding from tree to 
 tree along the skirt of the wood ; but when they gazed again, nothing of the 
 kind was to be seen, and the illusion was at once ascribed to the heavy state 
 of the atmosphere, and the action of theu* own precautionary instincts. 
 
 Meanwhile the solemn tragedy of death was preparing in mom'nful silence. 
 On the centre of the bridge, and visible to those even within the fort, was 
 placed the coffin of Ilalloway, and at twelve paces in front were drav.n up 
 the six rank and file on whom had devolved, by lot, the cruel duty of the 
 day. With calm and fearless eye the prisoner surveyed the preparation-^ for 
 his approaching end; and whatever might' be the inward workings of liis 
 mind, there was not among the assembled soldiery one individual whose 
 counteuance betrayed so little of soitow and emotion as his ov/n. With a 
 firm step, when summoned, he moved towards the fatal coffin, dashing his 
 cap to the earth as he advanced, and baring his chest with the characteristic 
 contempt of death of the soldier. When he had reached the centre of the 
 bridge, he turned facing his comrades, and knelt upon the coffin. Captain 
 Blessington, who, permitted by the governor, had followed him with a sad 
 heart and heavy step, now drew a prayer-book from his pocket, and read 
 from it in a low voice. He then closed the volume, listened to something the 
 prisoner earnestly communicated to him, received a small packet v/hich he 
 drew from the bosom of his shirt, shook him long and cordially by the hand, 
 and then hastily resumed his post at the head of the detachment. 
 
 The principal inhabitants of the village, led by curiosity, had followed at a 
 distance to witness the execution of the condemned soldier ; and above the 
 heads of the line, and crowning the slope, were coll'ected groups of both sexes 
 and of all ages, that gave a still more imposing character to the scene. Every 
 eye was now turned upon the firing party, who only awaited the signal to ex- 
 ecute their melancholy office, when suddenly, in the direction of the forest, 
 and upon the extreme height, there burst the tremendous and deafening 
 yeUs of more than a thousand savages. For an instant Halloway was for- 
 gotten in the instinctive sense of individual danger,, and all gazed eagerly to 
 ascertain the movements of their enemy. Presently a man, naked to the 
 waist, his body and face besmeared with streaks of black and red ]iaint. and 
 his v.'hole attitude expi'cssing despair and horror, was seen flying down the 
 height with a rapidity proportioned to the extreme peril in which he stood.- 
 At about fifty paces in his rear followed a dozen bounding, screaming In- 
 dians, armed with uplifted tomahavrks, whose anxiety in pursuit lent them a 
 speed that even surpassed the efforts of flight itself. It was evident the ob- 
 ject of the pursued was to reach the detachment, that of the pursuers to pre- 
 vent him. The struggle was maintained for a few moments with equahty, 
 but in the end the latter were triumphant, and at each step the distance that 
 separated them became less. At the first alarm, the attachment, with the 
 exception of the firing party, who still occupied their ground, had been tlu-own 
 
64 wacousta; or, the prophecy, 
 
 into square, and, with a gun planted in oacli angle, awaited the attaclv mo- 
 mentarily expected. But altliough the heights were now alive with the dusky 
 forms of naked warriors, who, fro)n tlie skirt of the forest, watched the ex- 
 ertions of their fellows, the pursuit of the wretched fugitive was confined to 
 these alone. Foremost of the latter, and distinguished bv his violent exer- 
 tions and fiendish cries, was the tall and wildly'attired warrior of the Plenr 
 de Lis. At every bound he gained upon his ^^ctim. Already were they de- 
 scending the nearest of the undulating hills, and both now became conspicu- 
 ous to all around ; but principally the pursuer, wliose gigantic frame and ex- 
 traordinary speed riveted every eye. even while the interest of all was ex- 
 cited for the wretched fugitive alone. 
 
 At that moment Halloway, Avho had been gazing oil the scene ^vith an as- 
 tonishment little inferior to that of his comrades, sprang suddenly to his feet 
 upon the coffin, and waving his hand in the <lirection of the pursuing enemy, 
 shouted aloud in a voice of mingled joy and triumpli, — 
 
 " Ha ! Almighty God, I thank thee ! Here, here comes one who alone has 
 the poiver to snatch me from my impending doom." 
 
 " By Heaven, the traitor confesses, and jtresumes to triumph in his guilt." 
 exclaimed the voice of one, who. while closely attending to every movement of 
 the Indians, was also vigilantly M-atching tlsc oil'ect likely to be produced on 
 the prisoner by this unexpected interruittion. •■ Corporal, do your duty." 
 
 " Stav"; sta}- — one moment stay !" implored Halloway with uplifted hands. 
 
 " Do your duty, sir," fiercely repeated the governor. 
 
 " Oh stop — for (jlod's sake, stop ! Anotlier moment and lie will be here, 
 and I " 
 
 He said no more — a dozen bullets })cneti-ated his Ijody — one passed du-ectly 
 through his heart. He leaped several feet in the air, and then fell heavily, a 
 lifeless bleeding corpse, across the coflin. 
 
 Meanwhile the pursuit of the fugitive was continued, but bj^ the warrior of 
 the Flenr de Lis alone. Aware of their inetliciency to keep pace with this sin- 
 gular being, his companions had relinquished the chase, and now stood resting 
 on the brow of the hill where the wretched Halloway had first recognised 
 his supposed deliverer, watching eagepl3^ thougli within musket shot of the 
 detachment, the result of a race on which so much apparently depended. 
 Neither party, however, attempted to interfere with the other, for all eyes 
 were now turned on the flying man and his pursuer with an interest that de- 
 noted the exti'Hordinary efforts of the one to evade and the other to attain 
 the accomplishment of his object. The immediate course taken was in a 
 direct line for tlie ravine, which it evidently was the object of the fugitive to 
 clear at its nearest point. Already had he approached within a few paces of 
 its brink, and every eye was fastened on the point where if was expected the 
 doubtful leap would be taken, when suddenly, as if despairing to accomplish 
 it at a bound, he tiu-ned to tlie left, and winding along its bank, rencAved his 
 efforts in the direction of the bridge. This movement occasioned a change in 
 the position of the parties, Avhicli was fixvorable to the pursued. Hitherto 
 they liad been so innnediately on a line with each other, it was impossible for 
 thedetachmi-nt to bring a musket to bear upon the warrioi-. without endan- 
 gei'ing hin\ whose life they wvve anxious ti) preserve. For a moment or two 
 his bodv was l;;irlv ex)H)se(l, and a dozen muskets were discharged at intervals 
 from the square, but all without success. Recovering his lost ground, he soon 
 brought the j)ursued again in a lino between hirnself and the detachment, 
 edging j-apidly nearer to him as he advanced, and uttering terrific yells, that 
 were echoed back from his companions on the brow of tlie hill. It was evi- 
 dent. ho^vever. his object was the re-capture, not the desti'uction, of the fly- 
 ing man, fur more than once did he brandish his menacing tomahawk in 
 rapid sweeps around his head, as if preparing to dart it, and as often did he 
 check the movement. The .scene at each succeeding moment became more 
 critical and intensely interesting. 'I'he sfren^tli of the pursued was now 
 
^\^ A c o u s X A ; on, t ii k p li o iMi e c y . 65 
 
 nearly e:vh;ui.-tt.\l, whik' tliai of his formidable enemy seemed to suiter no 
 diminution. Leap after leap he took with fearful superiority, sideling as he 
 advanced. Alread}- had he closed upon his victim, while with a springing 
 efibrt a large and bony hand was extended to secure his shoulder in his grasp. 
 The elibrt was fatal to liim ; for in reaching too far he lost his balance, and 
 fell heavily upon the sward. A shout of exultation burst .from the English 
 troops, and numerous voices now encouraged the pursued to renew his exer- 
 tions. The advice was not lost ; and although only a few seconds had elaps- 
 ed between the fall and recovery of his pursuer, the wretched fugitive had 
 already greatly increased the distance that separated them. A cry of savage 
 rage and disappointment burst from the lips of the gigantic warrior ; and con- 
 centrating all his remaining strength and speed into one final effort, he bound- 
 ed and leapt like a deer in the forest whence he came. The opportunity for 
 re-capture, however, had been lost in his fall, for already the pursued was 
 •within a few feet of the high road, and on the point of turning the extremi- 
 ty of the bridge. One onl}' resource was now left : the warrior suddenly 
 checked himself in his course, and remainetl stationary ; then raising and 
 dropping liis glittering weapon several times in a balancing position, he 
 waited until the pursued had gained the highest point of the open bridge. At 
 that moment the glittering steel, aimed with singular accuracy and precision, 
 flew whistling through the air, and with such velocity of movement as to be 
 almost invisible to the eyes of those who attempted to follow it in its threat- 
 ening course. xVll expected to see it enter into the brain against wluch it had 
 been directed ; but the fugitive had marked the movement in time to save 
 timsclf by stooping low to the earth, while the weapon, passing over him, en- 
 tered with a deadly and crashing sound into the brain of the weltermg corpse. 
 This danger passed, he sprang once more to his feet, nor paused again in his 
 flight until, faint and exhausted, he sank without motion under the very bay- 
 onets of the firing party. 
 
 A new direction was now given to the interest of the assembled and dis- 
 tinct crowds that had witnessed these startling incidents. Scarcely had the 
 wretched man gained the protection of the soldiery, when a shriek divided the 
 an-, so wild, so piercing, and so unearthly, that even the warrior of the Fleur 
 de Lis seemed to lose sight of his -N-ictim in the harrowing interest produced by 
 that dreadful scream. All turned their eyes for a moment in the quarter 
 ■whence it proceeded ; v\-hen presently, from beliind the groups of Canachans 
 crowning the slope, was seen flying, with the rapidity of thought, one who 
 resembled rather a spectre than a being of earth ; — it was the wife of Jlallo- 
 •way. Her long fair hair was wild and streaming — her feet, and legs, and 
 arms were naked — and one solitary and scanty garment displayed rather than 
 concealed the S3'mmetry of her delicate person. She flew to the fatal bridge, 
 threw herself on the body of her bleeding husband, and impi-inting her warm 
 kisses on his bloody lips, for a moment or two presented the image of one 
 whose reason has fled for ever. Suddenly she started from the eartli ; her 
 face, her hands, and her garments so saturated -with the blood of her husband, 
 that a feeling of horror crept throughout the veins of all who beheld her. 
 She stood upon the coffin, and across the corpse — raised her eyes and hands 
 imploringh- to Heaven — and then, in accents wilder even than her words, ut- 
 tered an imprecation that sounded like the prophetic warning of some unholy 
 spirit. 
 
 " Inhuman murderer !" she exclaimed, in tones that almost paralj'zed the 
 ears on which it fell, '• if there be a God of justice and of truth, he Avill 
 avenge this de\Tlish deed. Yes, Colonel de Haldimar, a prophetic voice whis- 
 pers to my soul, that even as I have seen perish before my eyes all that I 
 loved on earth, without mercy and without hope, so even shall you witness 
 the destruction of your accursed race. Here — here — here," and she pointed 
 downwards, with singular energy of action, to the corjjse of her luisbaud. 
 '• here shall their blood How till every vestige of his own is wa.slied away, and 
 5 
 
66 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 oh, if there be spared one brancli of thy detested family, may it be only 
 that they may be reserved for some death too horrible to be conceived ! " 
 
 Overcome by the frantic energy with which she had uttered these appalling 
 words, she sank backwards, and fell, uttering another shriek, into the arms 
 of the warrior of the Fleur de Lis, who bore off his prize in triumph, and fled, 
 with nearly the same expedition he had previously manifested, in the direction 
 of the forest, before any one could recover sufficiently from the effect of the 
 scene to think even of interfering. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 It was on the evening of that day, so fertile in melancholy incident, to 
 which the previous pages have been devoted, that the draw-bridge of Detroit 
 Was, for the third time since the investment of the garrison, lowered ; not as 
 previously, with a disregard of the intimation that might be given to those 
 without by the sullen and echoing rattle of its ponderous chains, but with a 
 caution attesting how much secresy of purpose was sought to be preserved. 
 There was, however, no array of armed men within the walls, that denoted 
 an expedition of a hostile character. Overcome with the harassing duties of 
 the day, the chief portion of the troops had retired to rest, and a few groups 
 of the guard alone were to be seen walking up and down in front of their 
 post, apparently with a view to check the influence of midnight drowsiness, 
 but, in reality, to witness the result of certain preparations going on by torch- 
 light in the centre of the barrack square. 
 
 In the midst of an anxious group of officers, comprising nearly all of that 
 rank within the fort, stood two individuals, attired in a costume having noth- 
 ing in common with the gay and martial habiliments of the former. They 
 were tall, handsome young men, whose native, elegance of carriage was but 
 imperfectly hidden under an equipment evidently adopted for, and otherwise 
 fully answering, the purpose of disguise. A blue cotton shell jacket, closely 
 fitting to the person, trowsers of the same material, a pair of strong deer- 
 skin moccasins, and a colored liandkerchief tied loosely round the collav of a 
 checked shirt, the whole surmounted b}^ a rough blanket coat, forming the 
 principal portion of their garli. Each, moreover, wore a false qzieue of about 
 nine inches in length, the effect of which was completely to change the char- 
 acter of the countenance, and render to the features a Canadian-like expres- 
 sion. A red worsted cap, resembling a bonnet dc nuit, Avas thrown carelessly 
 over the side of the head, which could, at any moment, when deeper disguise 
 should be deemed necessary, command the additional protection of the rude 
 hood that fell back upon the shoulders from the collar of tlie coat to which it 
 was attached. Into a broad belt, that encircled tlic jacket of each, were thrust 
 a brace of pistols and a strong dagger ; the whole so disposed, however, as to 
 be invisible when the outer garment was closed : this, again, was confined by 
 a rude sash of worsted of difterent colors, not imlike, in texture and quality, 
 what is worn by our sergeants at the present day. They were otherwise 
 armed, however, and in a less secret manner. Across the right shoulder of 
 each w!us thrown a belt of worsted also, to which were attached a rude pow- 
 der-horn and shot-pouch, with a few straggling bullets, placed there as if 
 rather by accident than design. Each held carelessly in his left hand, and 
 with its butt resting on the earth, a long gun ; completing an appearance, the 
 attainment of wliich had, in all probability, been sedulously sought.— .that of 
 a Canadian duck-hunter. 
 
 A metamorphosis so ludicrously operated in the usually elegant costume of 
 two young English officers, — for such thej- were, — might have been expected to 
 afford scope to the pleasantry of their companions, and to call forth those sal- 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 6T 
 
 lies whioh tlie intiniary of friendship and the freemasonry of the profession 
 would have fiilly justified. But the events that had occured in such rapid 
 succession, since the preceding midnight, were still painfully impressed on the 
 recollection of all, and some there were who looked as if they never would 
 smile again ; neither laugh nor jeering, therefore, escaped the lips of one of 
 the surrounding group. Every countenance wore a cast of thought, — a char- 
 acter of abstraction, ill suited to the indulgence of levity ; and the little con- 
 versation that passed between them was in a low and serious tone. It was 
 evident some powerful and absorbing dread existed in the mind of each, in- 
 ducing hini rather to indulge in communion with his own thoughts and im- 
 pressions, than to communicate them to others. Even'the governor himself 
 had, for a moment, put oft" his usual distance, to assume an air of unfeigned 
 concern, and it might be, dejection, contrasting strongly with his habitual 
 liaughtiness. Hitherto he had been walking to and fro, a little apart fiom the 
 group, and with a hurriedness and indecision of movement that betrayed to 
 all the extreme agitation of his mind. For once, however, he appeared to be, 
 if not insensible to observation, inditterent to whatever comments might be 
 formed or expressed by those who witnessed his emotion. Ho was at length 
 interrupted by the adjutant, who communicated something in a low voice. 
 
 " Let him be brought iip, Mr. Lawson." was the reply. Then advancing- 
 into the heart of the group, and addressing the two adventurers, he enquired, 
 in a tone that startled from its singular mildness, •' if they were provided with 
 everything they required." 
 
 An affirmative reply was given, when the governor, taking the taller of the 
 young m.eu aside, conversed with him earnestly, and in a tone of affection 
 strangely blended with despondency. The interview, however, was short, for 
 Mr. Lawson now made his appearance, conducting an individual who has al- 
 ready been introduced to our readers. It was the Canadian of the Fleur de 
 Lis. The adjutant placed a small wooden crucifix in the hands of the governor. 
 
 " Frani;ois," said the latter, impressively, "you know the terms on which I 
 have consented to spare j^our life. Swear, then, by this cross ; that you will 
 be faithful to your trust ; that neither treachery nor evasion shall be practised ; 
 and that you will to the utmost of your power, aid in conveying these gentle- 
 men to their destination. Kneel and swear it." 
 
 " I do swear it !" fervently repeated the aubergiste, kneeling and imprinting 
 his lips mth becoming reverence on the symbol of martyrdom. " T swear to 
 do dat 1 shall engage, and may de bon Dieu have merc}^ to my soul as I shall 
 fulfil my oat." 
 
 " Amen," pronounced the governor. '■ and may Heaven deal by you even as 
 you deal by us. Bear in mind, moreover, that as your treachery will be pun- 
 ished, so also shall your fidelity be rewarded. But the night wears apace, and 
 ye have much to do." Then tuinlii':;- to tlie young officers who were to be his 
 companions, — "God bless 3-ou I'lth; niay your enterprise be successful ! I 
 fear," otfering his hand to the }<>un-er, " ! have spoken harshly to you, but 
 at a moment like the present you will no longer cherish a recollection of the 
 unpleasant past." 
 
 The only answer was a cordial return of his own presure. The Canadian 
 in his turn now announced the necessity for instant departure, when the young 
 men, following his example, threw their long guns carelessly over the left 
 shoulder. Low. rai)id. ami fervent adieux were uttered on both sides ; and al- 
 though the hands of the separating jiarties met only in a short and hurried 
 grasp, there was an expression in the touch of each that spoke to their several 
 hearts long after the separation h:id actually taken place. 
 
 " Stay one moment 1" exclaimed a voice, as the little party now moved to- 
 wards the gate-way; "ye are both gallantly enough provided without, but 
 have forgotten there is something quite as necessary to sustain the inward 
 man. Duck shooting, you know, is wet work. The last lips that were 
 moistejied from this," lie proceeded, as the younger of the disguised men threw 
 
68 ' wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 the strap of the proiTered canteen o^■el• liis shoulder, " were those of poor Ellen 
 Halloway." 
 
 The mention of that name, so lieedlessly pronounced by the brave but in- 
 considerate Erskine, produced a startling effect on the taller of the departing 
 officers. He struck his brow violeutlj^ with his hand, uttered a faint groan, 
 and bending his head upon his chest, stood in an attitude expressive of the 
 deep suffering of his mind. The governor, too, appeared agitated : and sounds 
 like those of suppressed sobs came from one who lingered at the side of liim 
 who had accepted the offer of the canteen. The remainder of the officers pre- 
 served a deej) and mournful silence. 
 
 "It is times dat \fe should^start." again observed the Canadian, "or we 
 shall be taken by de daylight be^qrii we can clear de river." 
 
 This intimation once more aroused the slumbering energies of the taller of- 
 ficer. Again he drew up his commanding figure, extended his hand to the 
 governor in silence, and turning abruptly round, hastened to follow close Jh 
 the footsteps of his conductor. 
 
 " You ^■,'ill not forget all I have said to you," whispered the voice of one 
 rrho had reservc-i his parting for the last, and Avho now held the hand of the 
 3-ounger adventurer closely clasped within his own. " Think, oh, tliink how 
 . much depends on tlie event of your dangerous enterprise." 
 
 " When you behold me again," was the reply, '• it will be with smiles on 
 my lip and gladness in my heart ; for if we fail, there is that which whispers 
 1 shall never see you more. But keep up your spirits and hope for the best. 
 •We erabarlc under cheerless auspices, it is true ; but let us trust to ProAidence 
 for success in so good a cause, — God bless you !" 
 
 In the next minute he had joined his companions; who, with light and 
 iioiseless tread, were already pursuing their way along the military road that 
 led to the eastern extronity of the town. Soon afterwards the heavy chains 
 .of the drawbridge were heard grating on the ear, in despite of the evident cau- 
 tion used in restoring it to its wonted position, and all again was still. 
 
 It had at first been suggested their course should be held in an angular 
 direction across the cleared country alluded to in our last chapter, in order to 
 avoid all chance of recognit ion in the town ; but as this might have led them 
 into more dangerous contact with some of the outlying parties of Indians, who 
 Trvere known to prowl around the fort at night, this plan had been abandoned 
 for the more circaitous and safe passage by the village. Thi-ougli this our 
 little party now pursued their way, and without encountering aught to im- 
 pede their progress. The simple mannered inhabitants had long since retired 
 ■to_ rest, and neither light nor sound denoted the existence of man or beast 
 within its j)recincts. At length they reached that part of the road which 
 turned off abruptly in the direction of the Flcur do Lis. The rude hut threw 
 its darl; shadows across their path, but all Avas still and deathlike as in the 
 village they had just quitted. Presently, however, as they drew nearer, tiwy 
 beheld, reiiected from one of the iipper windows, a faint light that fell upon 
 the ground immediately in front of the auberge ; and, at intervals, the figm-e 
 of a human being approaching and receding from it as if in the act of pacing 
 the apartment. 
 
 An instinctive feeling of danger rose at the same moment to the hearts of 
 the young officers ; and each, obeymg the same impulse, unfastened one of 
 tlie large horn buttons of his blanket coat, and thrust- his right hand into the 
 -opening. 
 
 '• Franvois, recollect your oath," hastily aspirated the elder as he grasped 
 the hand of their conductor ratlier in supplication than in threat ; " if there be 
 aught to harm us here, your own life ^vill most assm-edly pay the forfeit of 
 -youi- faith." 
 
 "It is nothing but -a Avoman," calmly retm-ned the Canadian; '"it is my 
 Babette who is sorry at ;ay loss' But I shall come and tell you directly." ' 
 
 .Tie t]i«i stole gently round the corner of the hut. Iwwing his anxioiis'ooui- 
 
^V A C O U S T A ; OR, T H E V II O P il E C Y , 09 
 
 panions in the rwiv of the livilc building, and ('Oinpletel_y viilod in tlie obsciuity 
 prodiu'cd by tlio mingling' shiidows of the hut itself, and a fevr tall pcai- trees 
 that overhung the paling of the orchard at some j-ards from the spot ou which 
 they stood. 
 
 The}'- waited some mirnites to hear the result of the Canadian's admittance 
 into his dwelling; but although each with suppressed breathing sought to 
 catch those sounds of welcome with v/hicli a daughter miiiht be supposed to 
 greet a parent so unexpectedly restored, they listened ni vain. At length, 
 however, while tho ears of both were ou tlie rack to drink in the tones of a 
 human voir ■ .ted ou the hushed air, and all again was still. 
 
 '• Good I" 1 r of tlie Oilicors ; " that Scream is sweeter to 
 
 my ears tlia.i ■ -.s of a woman's love. It is evident the ordi- 
 
 nary tones of speech ca)niot lind their way to us here from the front of the 
 hut. The faintuess of yon cry, which ^vas unquestionably that of a female, 
 is a convincing proof of it." 
 
 •' Hist !" urged his companion, in tlie same almost inondible wlusper. "what 
 sound was tliat ?" 
 
 ]]o(h a:i:iiii Iistvni.-d alteiitivi'iy. whin 1h>' noise was repeuti '. 1: i:;;i!0 
 from the uivi:;;r>l. und r.st".nii!LMl tlw suc-r,'! ;, reduced bythei'::n'i , • i i; m.' 
 rotten stici.:s and leaves uii'ler the (Mulious )mc unavoidably rem'.'..;. :;. . '■ '■■:" 
 a human foot. At uitervals it ceased, as if the person treadinL' i r; ; ;;t 
 his own noise, was apprehensive of betraying his approach; ai;<i i; i,- 
 
 menced, only to be checked in the same manner. Finally itceas^ii aiLo;.,. iw..r. 
 For upwards of five minutes the young men continued to listen for a renewal 
 of the sound, but nothing was now audible, save the short and fitful gusts <>f 
 a rising vrind among the trees of the orchard. 
 
 ■' It must have been some wild animal in search of its prey," again whis- 
 pered the younger officer ; " had it been a man, we should have heard him leap 
 the pahng before this." 
 
 '' .By Heaven, we are betraj^cd, — here he is," quickly rejoined the other, in 
 the same low tone. " Keep close to the hut, and stand behind me. If my 
 dagger fail, j-ou must try your own. But fire not, on your Ufe. unless there 
 be more than two, for the report of a pistol will be the destruction of our- 
 .seives. and ;dl that arc dear to us." P]acli with uplifted arm now stood ready 
 to strike, even while his heart throbbed with a sense of danger, that had far 
 more than the mere dread of personal suffering or death to sthnulate to exer- 
 tion in self-defence. Footsteps were now distinctly heard stealing round that 
 part of the hut Avhich bordered on the road ; and the ^^oung men turned from 
 the orchard, to vrhich their attention had previously 'been directed, towards 
 the new quarter whence they were intruded upon. 
 
 It was fortunate this mode of approach had lieen selected. Tliat part of 
 the hut which rested on the road was so exposed as to throw the outline of 
 objects into strong relief, whereas in the direction of the thickly wooded or- 
 chard all was impenetrable gloom. Had the intruder stolen unannounce*^}. 
 upon the alarmed but determined oificers l)y the latter route, the dagger of 
 the first would in all probai>ility have been plunged to its hilt in his bosom. 
 As it was. each had sufficient presence of mind to distinguish, as it now- 
 doubled the corner of the hut, and reposed upon the road, the stout, square- 
 set figure of the Canadian. The daggers were instantly restored to their 
 sheaths, and each, for the first time >;ince the departure of their companion, 
 respired freely. " It is quite well," whispered the latter as he approached. 
 " It was my poor Babette, who touglit I was gone to be kill. She scream so 
 loud as if she had seen my ghost. But we must wait a few minute in de 
 house and vou shall see how glad my girl is to see me once again." 
 
 ■' Why this delay, Fran9ois 1 why not start directly V urged the taller offi- 
 cer ; ■' we shall never clear the river in time ; and if the dawn catches us in 
 the waters of the Detroit we are lost ibr ever." 
 
 '' But yon see I am not quite prepsu-e yet," was the answer. • T liavc many 
 
W w AGO u ST a: or, the prophecy. 
 
 tings to get ready for the canoe, which I have not use for a long times. But 
 jrou shall not wait ten minute, if you do not like. Dere is a good fire, nii'l 
 Babette shall give you some ting to eat while I get it all ready." 
 
 The young men hesitated. The delay of the Canadian, who had so repeat - 
 edl}^ urged the necessity for expedition while in the fort, had, to say the least 
 of it, an appearance of incongruity. Still it was evident if disposed to harm 
 them he had full opportunity to do so M'ithout much risk of effectual opposi- 
 tion from themselves. Under all circumstances, therefore, it was advisable 
 rather to appear to confide implicitly in his truth, than, by manifesting suspi- 
 cion, to pique his self-love, and neutralise whatever favorable intentions he 
 might cherish in their behalf. In this mode of conduct they were confii'med, 
 by a recollection of the sacredness attached by the religion of their conductor 
 to the oath so solemnly pledged on the symbol of the cross, and by a convic- 
 tion of the danger of observation to which they stood exposed, if, as they 
 had apprehended, it was actually a human footstep they had heard in the or- 
 chard. This last recollection suggested a remark. 
 
 " We heard a strange sound within the orchard, while waiting here for 
 your return," said the taller officer ; " it was like the footstep of a man tread- 
 ing cautiousl)^ over rotten leaves and branches. How do you account for it ?" 
 
 " Oh, it was my pigs " replied the Canadian, without manifesting the shght- 
 -est uneasiness at the information. " They run about in do orchard for dc 
 apples what blows down wid de wind." 
 
 " It could not be a pig we heard," pursued his questioner ; " but another 
 thing, Francois, before we consent to enter the hut, — how will you account to 
 your daughter for our presence ? and what suspicion may she not form at 
 .seeing two armed strangers in company witli j'ou at this unseasonable hour ?" 
 
 " 1 have tell her," replied the Canadian, • dat I have bring two friends, who 
 go wid me in de canoe to shoot de ducks for two tree days. You know, sir, 
 I go always in de fall to kill de ducks wid my friends, and she will not tink 
 it sti'ange." 
 
 '• You have managed well, my brave fellow ; and now we follow you in 
 ■coiiiidence. But in the name of Heaven use all possible despatch, and if 
 money will lend a spiu- to your actions, you shall have plenty of it when our 
 ■enterprise has been accomplished." 
 
 Our adventurers followed their conductor in the track by which he had so 
 recently rejoined them. As they turned the corner of the hut, the younger, 
 ■who brought up the rear, fancied he again heard a sound in the direction of 
 the orchard, resembling that of one hghtly leaping to the ground. A gust of 
 wind, however, passing rapidly at the moment through the dense foliage, led 
 him to believe it might have been produced by the sullen fall of one of the 
 heavy fruits it had detached in its course. UnwUling to excite new and un- 
 necessary suspicion in his companion, he confined the circumstance to his own 
 breast, and followed into the hut. 
 
 After ascending a fiight of alwut a dozen rude steps, they found themselves 
 in a small room, furnished with no other ceiling than the sloping roof itself, 
 and lighted by an unwieldy iron lamp, placed on a heavy oak table, near the 
 -only window with which the apartment was provided. The latter had suf- 
 fered much from the influence of time and tempest ; and owing to the difficulty 
 of pi'ocuring glass in so remote a region, had been patched with slips of paper 
 in various parts. The two corner and lower panes of the bottom sash were 
 out altogether, and pine shingles, such as are used even at the present day for 
 covering the roofs of dweUing houses, had been fitted into the squares, ex- 
 cluding air and light at the same time. The centre pane of this tier was, 
 however, clear and free from flaw of every description. Opposite to the win- 
 dow blazed a cheerful wood fire, recently supplied with fuel ; and at one of 
 the inner corners of the room was placed a low uncurtained bed, that ex- 
 hibited marks of having been lain in since it was last made. On a chair at 
 
wacousta; ok, tiie prophecy. 71 
 
 its side were heajicd a fow dark-look iuj;; gaimcnts, the precise nature of which 
 were not distinguishable at a cursory and distant glance. 
 
 Such were tlie more remarkable features of the apartment into which our 
 adventurers wei-e now ushered. Both looked cautiously around on entering, 
 as if expecting to find it tenanted bj^ spirits as daring as their own ; but, with 
 the exception of the daughter of their conductor, wliose moist black eyes ex- 
 pressed, as much by tears as by smiles, the joy she felt at this unexpected re- 
 turn of her parent, no living object met their enquiring glance. The Cana- 
 dian placed a couple of rush-bottomed chairs near the tire, invited his com- 
 panions to seat tliemselvcs until he had completed his preparations for depar- 
 ture, and then, desiring Babette to hasten su{)per for the young hunters, quit- 
 ted the room and descended the stairs. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The position of the young men was one of embarrassment ; for while the 
 daughter, who was busied in executing the command of her father, remained 
 in the room, it wa,s impossible they could converse together without betray- 
 ing the secret of their coimtry, and, as a resiUt of this, the falsehood of the 
 character under which they appeared. Long residence in the country had, it 
 is true, rendered the patois of that class of people whom they personated fa- 
 miliar to one, but the other spoke only the pure ami native language of which 
 it was a corruption. It might have occurred to them at a cooler moment, and 
 under less critical circumstances, that, even if their disgui.se had been pene 
 trated, it was imlikely a female, manifesting so much lively aflection for her 
 parent, would have done aught to injure those with whom he had evidently 
 connected himself. But the importance attached to their entire security from 
 danger left them but little room for retiections of a calming character, while 
 a doubt of that security remained. 
 
 One singularity struck them both. They had expected the young woman, 
 urged by a natural curiosity, would have commenced a conver.sation, even if 
 they did not ; and he who spoke the patois was prepared to sustain it as well 
 as his anxious and ovir.'liarged spirit wotild enable him; and as he was aware 
 the morning had furnisliLMl sutticient inci<lent of fearful interest, he had na- 
 turally looked for a verbal re-enactment of the harrowing and dreadful scene. 
 To their surprise, however, they both remarked that, for from evincing a de- 
 sire to enter into conversation, the young woman scarcely ever looked at 
 them, but lingered constantly near the table, and facing the window. StUl, 
 to avoid an appearance of singularity on their own parts, as far as possible, 
 the elder of the officers motioned to his companion, who, following his exam- 
 ple, took a snTall pipe and some tobacco from a compartment in his shot 
 pouch, and commenced puffing the wreathing smoke from his lips, — an occu- 
 pation, more than any other, seeming to justify their silence. 
 
 The elder officer sat witli his back to the window, and immediately in front 
 of the fire ; his companion, at a corner of the rude hearth, and in such a man- 
 ner that, without turning his head, he could command every part of the room 
 at a glance. In the corner facing him stood the bed already described. A 
 faint ray of fire-light fell on some minute object glittering in the chair, the 
 contents of which were heaped up in disorder. Urged by that wayward cu- 
 riosity, which is sometimes excited, even under circumstances of the greatest 
 danger and otherwise ab.sorbing interest, the young man kicked the hickory 
 log that lay nearest to it with his mocassined foot, and produced a bright 
 crackling flame, the reflection of which was thrown entirely upon the object 
 of his gaze ; it was a large metal button, on which the number of his regi- 
 ment was distinctly visible. Unable to check hLs desire to know further, he 
 
72 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 left his scat, to examine the contents of the ciiair. As he moved across tho 
 room, he fancied he heard a Hght sonnd from -w-ithout ; his companion, also, 
 seemed to manifest a similar impression by an almost impercepti]>Ie start ; but 
 the noise -svas so momentary, and so fanciful, neither felt it worth his while to 
 pause upon the circumstance. The young officer now raised the garments 
 from the chair : they consisted of a small grey gTcat-coat, and trowsers, a 
 waistcoat of coarse white cloth, a pair of worsted stockings, and the half- 
 boots of a boy ; t'le whole forming the drum-boj-'s equipment worn by the 
 wretched vrife of IIall')vr;iy when borne senseless into the hut on that fatal 
 morning. Hastily quitting a dress that called up so many dreadful recollec- 
 tions, and tTirning to his companion Vi'ith a look that denoted apprehension, 
 lest he too should have beheld these melancholy remembrances of the harrow- 
 ing scene, the young officer h-astened to resume his seat. In the act of so doin^. 
 his eye fell upon the windqvr, at which the female still lingered. JInd a 
 blast from heaven struclc hJS sight, the terror of his soul could not have Ijcen 
 greater. He felt liis clit-ek to pale, and his hair to bristle beneath his cap, 
 while the checked blood crept slowly and coldly, as if its very function had 
 been paral3^sed ; still he had presence of nrind sufficient not to falter in his 
 step, or to betray, by an extraordinary movement, tliat his eye had rested on. 
 
 lytl 
 Hi: 
 
 [is companion had emptied his first pipe, and wan in the act of re-filling- 
 it, when he resumed his seat. He was evidently impatient at the delay of the 
 Canadian, and alreadj^ were his lips ready to give utterance to his disappoint- 
 ment, when he felt his foot si'.i;nificantly pressed by that of his friend. An 
 instinctive sense of something fearful that was to ensue, but still demanding 
 caution on his part, prevented him from turning hastily round to know the 
 cause. Satisfied, however, there was danger, though not of an instantaneous, 
 character, he put his pipe gently by, and stealing liis hand under his coat, 
 again grasped tlie hilt of Iiis dagger. At length he slowly and partially 
 turned his head, v/hile his eyes enquiringly demanded of his friend tlie cause 
 of this alarm. Parth^ to aid in concealing his increasing paleness, and partly 
 with a view to render it a liied.iuTri for the conveyance of subdued sound, the 
 hand of the latter was raised to his face in such a manner that the motion, of 
 his lips could not be distinguished from behind. 
 
 " We are betrayed," he scarcely breathed. " If you can command 3 our- 
 self, turn and look a,t the window ; but for God's sake arm yourself with, 
 resolution, or look not at all : first draw the hood over your helid, and. 
 without any appearance of design. Our only chance of safety lies in this, 
 — that the Canadian may still 1)e true, and tiiat our disguise may not be pene- 
 trated." 
 
 In despite of his native courage, — and this had often been put to honorable 
 proof, — lie. thus mysteriously addressed, felt his heart to throb violently. 
 There wns s'l'.i' (hing so appalled in the counter.ance of his friend — something 
 so alanning in. (li" very caution he had recommended — that a vague dread of 
 the horrible reality rushed at once to his mind, and for a moment his own 
 check became ashy pale, and his breathing painfully oppressed. It was the 
 natural weakness of the physical man. over which the moral faculties, had, 
 for an instant, lost their directing power. Speedily recovering himself, the 
 young man prepared to encounter tlie alarming object which had already so 
 greatly intimidated his friend. Carefully drawing the blanket hood over liis 
 head, he rose from his seat, and, with the energetic movement of one v»'ho has 
 formed some desperate determination, turned his back to the fire-place, and 
 threw his eyes rajiidly and eagerly upon the window. They fell only on the 
 rude patchwork of which it was principally composed. The female had quitted 
 the room. 
 
 " You must have been deceived," he whispered, keeping his eye still tent 
 upon the window, and with so imperceptible a movement of the lips that 
 
W A C O U S !■ A 
 
 r H E P R () P U E C Y . 73 
 
 sound alone could liave betrayed that he was speaking, — " T sec nothing to 
 justify your alarm. Look again." 
 
 The younger officer once nioie directed his glance towards the window, 
 and with a shuddering of the whole person, as he recollected what had met 
 his eye when he last looked upon it. " It is no longer there, indeed," he 
 returned in the same scarcely audible tone. " Yet I coidd not be mistaken ; 
 it was between those two corner squares of wood in the lower sash." 
 
 " Perhaps it was merely a retlection produced by the lamp on the centre 
 pane," rejoined his friend, siill keeping his eye riveted on the suspicious point. 
 •* Impossible ! but 1 will examine the window from the spot on which I stood 
 when I tirst beheld it." 
 
 Again he (juitted his seat, and carelessly crossed the room. As he returned 
 he threw his glance upon the pane, when, to his infinite horror and sm-prise, 
 the same frightful vision presented itself. 
 
 •' God of heaven !" he exclaimed aloud, and unable longer to check the 
 ebullition of his feelings, — "' what means this ? Ts my brain turned ? and am 
 I the sport of my own delusive fancy — Do you not see it noio ?" 
 
 No answer was returned. His friend stood mute and motionless, with his 
 left hand gnisping his gun, and his right thrust into the waist of his coat. 
 His eye grew upon the window, and his chest heaved, and his cheek paled 
 and flushed alternately with the subdued emotion of his heart. A human 
 face was phiced close to the unblemished glass, and every feature was dis- 
 tinctly revealed by the lamp that still lay upon the table. The glaring eye 
 was fixed on the taller of the officers ; but though the expression was un- 
 fiithomably guileful, there was nothing that denoted anything like a recogni- 
 tion of the party. The brightness of the wood fire had so far subsided as to 
 throw the interior of the i-oom into partial obscurity, and under the disguise 
 of his hood it was impossible for one without to distinguish the features of 
 the taller officer. The yoiniger, who was scarcely an object of attention, 
 passed comparatively unnoticed. 
 
 Fatigued and dinmed with the long and eager tension of its nerves, the eye 
 of the latter now began to fail him. For a moment he closed it ; and when 
 again it fell upon the window, it encountered nothing but the clear and glit- 
 tering pane. For upwards of a minute he and his friend still continued to 
 rivet their gaze, but the face was no longer visible. 
 
 Why is it that what is called the " human face divine," is sometimes gifted 
 with a power to paralyse, that the most loathsome reptile in the creation can- 
 not attain ? Had a cougar of the American forest, roaring for prey, appeared 
 at the window, ready to burst the fragile barrier, and fasten its talons in their 
 hearts, its presence would not have struck sucli sickness to the souls of our 
 adventurers as did that human face. It is, that man, naturally fierce and in- 
 exorable, is alone the enemy of his own species. The solution of this pro- 
 blem — this glorious paradox in nature, we leave to profounder philosophers 
 to resolve. Sufficient for us lae it to know and to deplore that it is so. 
 
 Footsteps were now heard upon the stairs ; and the officers, aroused to a 
 full sense of their danger, hastily and silently prepared themselves for the en- 
 counter. " Drop a bullet into yom- gun," whispered the elder, setting the ex- 
 ample himself. "' "We may be obliged to have recourse to it at last. Yet 
 make no show of hostility unless circumstances satisfy us we are betrayed ; 
 then, indeed, all that remains for us will be to seU our lives as dearly as we 
 can. Hist ! he is here." 
 
 The door opened ! and at the entrance, which was already filled up in the 
 imaginations of the young men with a terrible and alarming figure, appeared 
 one whose retiu'u had been anxiously aiid long desired. It was a relief, in- 
 deed, to then- gallant but excited he;irts to behold another than the form they 
 had expected ; and although, for the ujoment, they knew not whether the 
 Canadian came in hostility or fricndsiiip, each quitted the attitude of caution 
 into which he had thrown himself, and met him midway in his passage through 
 
74 \\- A C U S T A 
 
 'I H K r li O F H E C V 
 
 the room. There was nothing in the expression of liis naturally open and 
 good-inunored coinitenance to denote he was at all aware of the causes for 
 alarm that had operated so powerfull^y upon themselves. He announced with 
 a frank look and imfaltering. voice everything was in readiness for their de- 
 parture. 
 
 The officers hesitated ; and the taller fixed his eyes upon those of mine 
 host, as if his gaze would have penetrated to the innermost rcces.ses of his 
 heart. Could this be a refinement of treachery ? and was he really ignorant 
 of the existence of tlie danger which threatened them ? Was it not more pro- 
 bable his object was to disarm their fears, that they might be given unpre- 
 pared and, therefore, unresisting victims to the ferocity of their enemies? 
 Aware as he was, that they were both well provided with arms, and fully de- 
 termined to use them with effect, might not his aim be to decoy them to de- 
 struction without, lest the blood spilt under his roof, in the desperation of 
 their defence, should hereafter attest against him, and expose him to the pun- 
 ishment he would so richly merit ? Distracted by these doubts, the young 
 men scarcely knew what to think or how to act ; and anxious as they had 
 previously been to quit the hut, they now considered the moment of their 
 doing so would he that of their destruction. The importance of the enterprise 
 on which they were embarked was such as to sink all personal considerations. 
 If they had felt the influence of intimidation on their spirits, it arose less from 
 any apprehension of consequences to themselves, than from the recollection of 
 the dearer interests involved in their perfect security from discovery. 
 
 " Franfois," feelingly urged the taller officer, again adverting to his vow, 
 " you recollect the oath you solemnly pledged upon the cross of our Saviour. 
 Tell me, then, as you hope for mercy, have you taken that oath only that you 
 might the more securely betray us to our enemies ? What connection have 
 you with them at this moment ? and who is Jie who stood looking through 
 that window not ten minutes since ?" 
 
 '• As I shall hope for mercy in my God," exclaimed the Canadian with un- 
 feigned astonishment, " T have not see nobody. But what for do you tink so ? 
 It is not just. I have given my oat to serve you, and I shall do it." 
 
 There was candor both in the tone and countenance of the man as he utter- 
 ed these words, half in reproach, half in justification ; and the officers no 
 longer doubted. 
 
 " You must forgive our suspicions at a moment like the present," soothmgly 
 observed the younger ; '• yet. Fi-an^ois. your daughter .saw and exchanged sig- 
 nals with the person we mwvn. vShc left tlie room soon after he made his ap- 
 pearance. What has become of her ?" 
 
 The Canadian gave a sudden start, looked hitstily around, and seemed to 
 perceive for the first time the girl was absent. He then put a finger to his lip 
 to enjoin silence, advanced to the table and extinguished the light. Desiring 
 his companions, in a low whisper, to tread cautiously and follow, he now led 
 the way with almost noiseless step to the entrance of the hut. At the thresliold 
 of the door were placed a large and well-fille(J sack, a light mast and .sail, and 
 half a dozen paddles. The latter burden he divided between the officers, on 
 whose shoulders he carefully balanced them. The sack he threw across his 
 own ; and, without expressing even a regret that an opportunity of bidding 
 adieu to his child was denied him, hastily skirted the palmg of the orchard 
 until, at the further extremity, he had gained the high road. The heavens 
 were ob.scured by passing clouds driven rapicUy by the wind, during the short 
 pauses of which our adventurers anxiously and frequently turne<l to listen if 
 they were pursued. Save the rustling of the trees that lined the road, and 
 the slight dashing of the waters on the beach, however, no sound was dis- 
 tinguishalile. At length they gained the point whence thej^ were to start. It 
 was the fatal bridge, the events connected with which were yet so painfully 
 fresh in their recollection. 
 
 '■ Stop one minutes here," whisjiered the Canadian, throwing his sack upon 
 
W A C U S T A ; OR, THE P K P H E C Y . 75 
 
 the saiul near the moiilh of the lesser river ; " my canoe is chain about twenty 
 yards np de bridge. I' sliall couie to you directly." Then cautionin,^; the of- 
 ficers to keep themselves concealed under the hridj>-e, lie moved liastily under 
 the arch, and disappeared in the dark shadow which it threw across the I'ivulct. 
 
 The extremities of the bridjie rested on the banks of the little river in such 
 a manner as to leave a narrow passage along the sands immerliately under the 
 declination of the arch. In accordance with the caution of their conductor, the 
 officers had placed themselves under it ; and with their backs slightly bent 
 forward to meet the curvature of the bridge, so that no ray of light could pass 
 between tlieir bodies and the fabric itself now awaited the arrival of the vessel 
 on wliich their only hope de])ended. We shall not attempt to describe their 
 feelings on fhiding tln'mselves. at that lone hour of the night, immediately un- 
 der a sjiot rendered fearlullN inc'morable ])y the tragic occurrences of the 
 morning. The terrible jiursuit of the fugitive, the execution of the soldier, the 
 curse and propliecy of his maniac wife, and, above all, the forcible abduction 
 and threatened espousal of that unhappy woman by the formidable being who 
 seemed to have identified himself with the evils with which'they stood menaced, 
 — all rushed with rapiil tracery on the mind, and excited the imagination, un- 
 til each, filled with a s.iitiment not unallied to superstitious awe, feared to 
 whisper forth his tliduglils, lest in so doing he should invoke the presence of 
 those who had principally figured in the harrowing and revolting scene. 
 
 " Did you not hear a noise ?" at length whispered the elder, as he leaned 
 himself forward, and bent his head to tho sand, to catch more distinctly a 
 repetition of the sound. 
 
 " I did ; there again ! It is upon the bridge, and not imlike the step of one 
 endeavoring to tread lightl} . It may be some wild beast, however." 
 
 " We must not be taken by surprise," returned his companion. "If it be 
 a man, the wary tread indicates consciousness of our presence. If an aninaal, 
 there can 1)e no harm in setting our fears at rest." Cautiously stealing from 
 his lurking-])lace, the young officer emerged into the open sands, and in a 
 few measured noiseless strides gained the extremity of the bridge. The dark 
 shadow of something upon its centre caught his eye, and a low sound like 
 that of a dog lapping met his ear. AVhile his gaze yet lingered on the shape- 
 less object, endeavoring to give it a character, the clouds which had so long 
 obscin-ed it passed momentarily from before the moon, and disclosed the ap- 
 palling truth. It was a wolf-dog lapping up from the earth, in which they 
 M-ere encrusted, tlie blood and brains of the mifortunate Frank Halloway. 
 
 Sick and faint at the disgusting siglit. the young man rested his elbow on 
 the railing that passed along the edge of the bridge, and, leaning his head on 
 his hand for a moment, forgot the risk of exposure he incurred, in the in- 
 tenseness of the sorrow that assailed his soul. His heart and imagination 
 were already far from the spot on which he stood, when he felt an iron hand 
 upon his shoulder. He tm-ned, shuddering with an instinctive knowledge of 
 his yet unseen visitant, and beheld .standing over him the terrible warrior of 
 the Fleur de Lis. 
 
 '■ Ha, ha, ha !" laughed the savage, in a low triumphant tone, " the place of 
 our meeting is well timed, though somewhat singular, it must be confessed. 
 Na}'," he fiercely added, grasping mi in a vice the arm that was already lifted 
 to strike him, •• force me not to annihilate you on the spot. Ha ! hear you the 
 cry of my wolf-dog ?" as that animal now set up a low but fearful howl ; " it' 
 is for your blood he asks, but your hour is not yet come." 
 
 '" No, by heaven, it is not ;" exclaimed a voice ; a rapid and rushing sweep 
 was heard through the air for an instant, and then a report like a stunning 
 blow. The warrior released his grasp — placed his hand upon his tomahawk, 
 but without strength to remove it from his belt tottered a pace or two back- 
 wards — and then fell, uttering a cry of mingled pain and disappointment, at 
 his length upon the earth. '■ Qidck, quick to your cover!" exclaimed the 
 young officer, a^ a loud shout \\'as now heard from the forest in reply to the 
 
76 wacousta; or, the prophecy." 
 
 yell of the fallen warrior. " If Fran9ois come not, we are lost : tlie howl of 
 that wolf-dog alone will betray ns, even if his master should be Ixyond all 
 chance of recovery." 
 
 " Desperate diseases require desperate remedies," was the reply ; ■• there is 
 little glory in destroying a helpless enemy, but the necessity is urgent, and 
 we must leave nothing to chance." As he spoke, he knelt upon the huge 
 form of the senseless warrior, whose scalping knife he drew from its sheath, 
 and striking a firm and steady blow, quitted not the weapon until he felt his 
 hand reposing on the chest of his enemy. The howl of the wolf-dog, whose 
 eyes glared like two burning coals throiigh the surrounding gloom, was now 
 exchanged to a fierce and snappish bark. He made a leap at the officer while 
 in the act of rising from the body ; bvit his fangs fastened onlj^ in the chest 
 of the shaggy coat, which he wrung with the strength and fury characteristic 
 of his peculiar species. Tliis new and ferocious attack was fraught with dan- 
 ger little inferior to that which they had just escaped, and required the ut- 
 most promptitude. of action. The young man Mjizcd the brute behind the 
 neck in a firm and vigorous grasp, while he stooped upon the motioiile'^s form 
 over which this novel struggle was maintained, and succeeded in making liim- 
 self once more master of the scalping knife. Half choked by the hand that 
 imflinchingly grappled with him, the savage animal quitted his hold and strug- 
 gled violently to free himself. This was the critical moment. The officer 
 drew the heavy sharp blade, from the handle to the point, across the throat 
 of the infuriated beast, with a force that di^'ided the principal artery. He 
 made a desperate leap upwards, spouting his blood over his destroyer, and 
 then fell gasping across the body of his master. A low growl, intermingled 
 with faint attempts to bark, which the rapidly oozing life rendered more and 
 more indistinct, succeeded ; and at length nothing but a gurgling sound was 
 distinguishable. 
 
 Meanwhile the anxious and harassed officers had regained their place of 
 concealment under the bridge, where they listened with suppressed breathing 
 for the slightest sound to indicate the approach of the canoe. At intervals 
 they fancied they could hear a noise resembling the rippling of v.-ater against 
 the prow of a light vessel, but the swelling cries of a band of Indians, becom- 
 ing at every instant more distinct, were too unceasinglj^ kept up to admit of 
 their judging with accuracy. 
 
 They now began to give themselves up for lost, and many and bitter were 
 the curses they inwardly bestowed on the Canadian, when the outline of a 
 human form was seen advancing along the sands, and a dark object u}x>n the 
 water. It was their conductor, dragging the canoe along, with all the strength 
 and activity of which he was capable. 
 
 " What "the devil have you been about all this this time, Franyois ?" ex- 
 claimed the taller officer, as he bounde<l to meet him. " Quick, quick, or we 
 sliall be too late. Hear you not the blood-hounds on their scent ?" Then 
 seizing the chain in his hand, with a powerful effort he sent the canoe flying 
 through the arcli to the very entrance of the river. The burdens that had 
 been deposited on the sands were hastily flung in, the officers stepping lightly 
 after. The Canadian took the helm, directing the frail vessel almost noise- 
 lessly through the water, and with such velocity, that when the crj' of the 
 disappointed savages was heard resounding from the bridge, it had already 
 gained the centre of the Detroit. 
 
 CHAPTER XIT. 
 
 Two days had succeeded the departure of the officers from the fort, but 
 unproductive of .any event of importance. About daybreak, however, on the 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE P li O P H E C V . 77 
 
 morning- of the third, the harassed garrison were once more sinunioued to 
 arms by an alarm from the sentinels planted in rear of the works: a body of 
 Indians the}^ had traced and lost at intervals, as they wound along the skirt 
 of the forest, in their progress from their encampment, were at length devel- 
 oping themselves in force near the bomb-proof. With a readiness which long 
 experience and watchfulness had rendered in some degree habitual to them, 
 the troops flew to their respective posts ; while a few of the senior officers, 
 among whom was the governor, hastened to the ramparts to reconnoitre the 
 strength and purpose of their enemies. It was evident that the views of these 
 were not immediately hostile ; for neither were they in their war paint, nor 
 were their arms of a description to carry intimidation to a disciplined and 
 fortified soldiery. Bows, arrows, tomahawks, war clubs, spears, and scalping 
 knives, constituted their warlike equipments, but neither rifle nor fire-ai-ms 
 of any kind were discernil^le. Several of their leaders, distinguishable by a 
 ccrt;u'.i liuniility caniaLic and commanding gesticulation, were collected within 
 the > i. \ai i 'M'.hili-]irn. r. apMarently holding a short but important conference 
 apari IVmm their pruplc, most of whom stood or lay in picturesque attitudes 
 around the ruin. These also had a directing spirit. A tall and noble looking 
 warrior, wearing a deer skin hunting frock closely girded around his loins, 
 appeared to command the deference of his colleagues, claiming profound at- 
 tention when he spoke himself and manifesting his assent or chssent to the 
 apptirently expressed oj)inions of the lesser chiefs merely by a slight move- 
 ment of the head. 
 
 •• There he is indeed !" exclaimed Captain Erskine, .speaking as one who 
 communes with his own thoughts, while he kept his telescope levelled on the 
 form of the last warrior : " looking just as noble as when, three years ago, he 
 opposed himself to the progress of the first English detachment that had ever 
 penetrated to this part of the world. "What a pity such a fine fellow should 
 be so desperate and determined an enemy !" 
 
 " True: you were with Major Rogers on that expedition," observed the go- 
 vernor, '• I have often heard him .speak of it. You had many difficulties to 
 contend against, if I recollect." '• We had indeed, sir," returned the frank- 
 hearted Erskine, dropping the glass from his eye. '■ So many, in fact, that 
 more than once, in the course of our progress through the wiklerness, did I 
 wish myself at head-quarters with m.y compan}-. Never shall I forget the 
 proud and determined expression of Ponteac's countenance, when he told Ro- 
 gers, in his figurative language, ' he stood in the path in which he travelled. ' " 
 
 '• Thank heaven, he at least stands not in the path in which others travel," 
 musingly rejoined the governor. '• But what sudden movement is that with- 
 in the ruin ?" 
 
 '• The Indians are preparing to -show a white flag," shouted an artillery man 
 from his station in one of the embrasures below. 
 
 The governor and his officers received this intelligence without surprise : the 
 former took the glass from Captain Erskine, and coolly raised it to his eye. 
 The consultation had ceased ; and the several chiefs, were now seen quitting 
 the bomb-proof to join their respectives tribes. One of those remained, 
 sprang upon an elevated fragment of the ruin, and uttered a prolonged cry. 
 the purport of which, — anil it was fully understood from its peculiar nature, 
 — was to claim attention fi'om the fort. He then received from the hands of 
 the other chief a long spear, to the end of which was attached a piece of wliite 
 linen. This he waved several times above his licad ; then stuck the barb of 
 the spear fi.rmly into the projecting fragment. Quitting his elevated station, 
 he next stood at the side of the Ottawa chief, who had already.assumed the 
 air and attitude of one waiting to observe in what manner his signal would 
 be received. 
 
 '• A flag of truce in all its bearings, by Jupiter !" remarked Captain Erskine. 
 " Ponteac seems to have acquired a few lessons since we first met." 
 
 "This is evidently the suggestion of some European." observed Major 
 
78 vv A c o u s T A : or, the prophecy. 
 
 Blackwatcr ; '" for how could he understand auytliini;' of the nature of a 
 white flag ? Some of these vile spies have put him up to this." 
 
 " True enough, Blackwater ; and they appear to have found an intelligent 
 pupil," observed Captain "VYentworth. " I was curious to know how he would 
 make the attempt to approach us ; but certainly never once dreamt of his 
 having recourse to so civilized a method. Their plot works well, no doubt ; 
 still we have the counter-plot to opppose to it." 
 
 " We must foil them with their own weapons," remarked the governor, 
 •' even if it be only with a view to gain time. Wentworth, desire one of your 
 bombardiers to hoist the French flag on the staif." The order was promptly 
 obeyed. The Indians made a simultaneous movement, expressive of their sa- 
 tisiiiction ; and in the course of a minute, the tall warrior, accompanied by 
 nearly a dozen inferior chiefs, was seen slowly advancing across the common 
 towards the group of officers. 
 
 '■ What generous confidence the fellow has for an Indian !" observed Captain 
 Er.skine, who could not disseml)le his admiration of the warrior. •' He steps 
 as firmly and as proudly within reach of our muskets, as if he was leading in 
 the war-dance." 
 
 '• How strange," mused Captain Blessington, " that one who meditates so 
 deep a treachery, should have no apprehension of it in others !■' 
 
 " It is a compliment to the honor of our flag," observed the governor, 
 '• which it must be our interest to encourage. If, as you say, Erskine, the man 
 is really endowed with generosity, the result of this affair will assuredly call 
 it forth." 
 
 "' If it prove otherwise, sir," was the reply, "we must only attribute his 
 perseverance to the influence which that terrible warrior of the Fleur de Lis 
 is said to exei-cise over his better feelings. By the by, I see nothing of him 
 among this flag of truce part}'. It could .scarcely be called a violation of faith 
 to cut off such a rascally renegade. Were he of the number of those ad- 
 vancing, and Yalletort's rifle within my reach. I know not what use I might 
 not be tempted to make of the last." 
 
 Poor Eiskine was singular^ infelicitous in touching, and ever unconsciously, 
 on a subject sure to give pain to more than one of his brother officers. A 
 cloud passed over the brow of the governor, but it was one that originated 
 more in sorrow than in anger. Neither had lie time to linger on the painful 
 recollections hastily and confusedly called uj) by the allusion made to this for- 
 midable and mysterious being, for the attention of all was now absorbed by 
 the approaching Indians. With a bold and confiding carriage the fierce Pon- 
 teac moved at the head of his little party, nor hesitated one moment in his 
 course until he got near the brink of the ditch, and stood f;ice to llice with the 
 governor, at a distance that gave both parties not only the facility of tracing 
 the expression of each other's features, but of conversing without effort. 
 There he made a sudden stand, and thrusting his spear into the earth, as- 
 sumed an attitude as devoid of apprehension as if he had been in the heart of 
 his own encampment. 
 
 " My father has understood my sign," said the haughty chief The war- 
 riors of a dozen tribes are far behind the path the Ottawa chief has just 
 travelled ; but when the red skin comes unarmed, the hand of the Saganaw 
 is tied behind his back." 
 
 " The strong hold of the Saganaw is his safeguard," replied the governor, 
 adopting the language of the Indian. " When the enemies of his great father 
 come in strength, he knows how to dispei'se them ; but when a warrior throws 
 himself unarmed into his power, he respects his confidence, and his arms hang 
 rusting at his side." 
 
 '' The talk of my father is big," replied the warrior, with a scornful expres- 
 sion that seemed to doubt the fact of so much indifference as to himself; " but 
 when it is a great chief who directs the nations, and that chief his sworn ene- 
 my, the temptation to the Saganaw may be strong." 
 
W A C O U S T A ; O U , T H K P K 1' H E C Y . 79 
 
 "The SaLianuw is without li'ar,'' oiniiliaticiilly irjuiiu'd the p;overnor ; "he 
 is stroHLi- in his own honor ; and ho would ratlier (he under the tomahawk of 
 the red skin, tlian procure a peace hy an sict of treacliery." 
 
 The IntHan i)aiised; cold, aihu looks of intelhgenee passed between him 
 and his follo\\ers, and a few indistinct and guttural st'ntenecs were exchanged 
 among themselves. 
 
 •• Hut our father asks not why our mocassins have hrushcd tlie dew from 
 off the connuon," resumed the chief; " and yet it is long since the Saganaw and 
 the red skin have spoken to each otlier, except through the war whoop. My 
 father must wonder to see the great chief of the Ottawas without the hatchet 
 in his hand." 
 
 " The hatchet often wounds those who use it unskilfully," camly retm-ned 
 the governor. '' The Saganaw is not blind. The Ottawas and the other 
 tribes find the war paint heavy on their skins. They see that my young men 
 are not to be conquered, and they have sent the great head of all "the nations 
 to sue for peace." 
 
 In s|)ite of the habitual reserve and self-possession of his race, the haughty 
 ■warridi- could not repress a movement of impatience at the bold and taunting 
 langiiauc of hiv ruiiiiv . and for a moment there was a fire in his eye that told 
 how willingly he would have washed away the insult in his blood. The same 
 low guttural exclamations that previously escaped their lips, marked the sense" 
 entertained of the remark by his companions. 
 
 •' My father is right," pursued the chief, resuming his self-command ; •' the 
 Ottawas and the other tribes ask for peace, but not because they are afraid 
 of war. When they strike the hatchet into the war post, they leave it there 
 until their enemies ask them to take it out." 
 
 •' Why come they now, then, to ask for peace ?" Avas the cool demand. 
 The warrior hesitated, evidently at a loss to give a reply that could reconcile 
 the palpable contradiction of his words. " The rich furs of our forests have 
 become many," he at length observed, " since we first took up the hatchet 
 against the Saganaw ; and every bullet we keep for our enemies is a loss to 
 our trade. We once exchanged furs with the children of our father of the 
 pale flag. They gave us, in return, guns, blankets, powdei-, ball, and all 
 that the red man requires in the hunting season. These are all expended ; 
 and my young men would deal with the Saganaw as they did with the 
 French." 
 
 " Good ; the red skins would make peace ; and although the arm of the 
 Saganaw is strong, he will not turn a deaf ear to their desire." 
 
 '' All the strongholds of the Saganaw, except two, have fallen before the 
 great chief of the Ottawas !" proudly returned the Indian, with a look of 
 mingled scorn and defiance. '' They, too, thought themselves beyond the 
 reach of our tomahawks ; they were deceived. In less than a single moon 
 nine of them have fallen, and the tents of my young warriors are darkened 
 with their scalps ; but this is past. If the red skin asks for peace, it is be- 
 cause he is tired of seeing the blood of the Saganaw on his tomahawk. Does 
 my father hear '?" 
 
 •■ AVe will listen to the great chief of the Ottawas, and hear what he has to 
 say," returned the governor, who, as well as the officers at his side, could with 
 difficulty conceal their disgust and sorrow at the dreadful intelligence thus 
 imparted of the fates of their companions. " But peace," he pursued with 
 dignity, " can only be made in the councU-room, and under the saci-ed pledge 
 of the calumet. The great chief has a wampum belt on his shoulder, and a 
 calumet in his hand. Ilis aged warriors, too, are at his side. What says the 
 Ottawa ? Will he enter ? If so, the gate of the Saganaw shall be open to 
 him." The warrior started ; and for a moment the confidence that had hith- 
 erto distinguished him seemed to give place to an apprehension of meditated 
 treachery. He, however, speedily recovered himself, and observed emphati- 
 cally. •' It is the great head of all the nations whom my father invites to the 
 
80 W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 council scat. Were he to remain in tlie hands of the Saganaw, his young 
 men would lose their strength. They would bur}' the hatchet for ever in 
 despair, and hide their faces in the laps of their women." 
 
 '• IJoes the Ottawa chief see the pale flag on the stronghold of his enemies 1 
 While that continues to fly he is safe as if he were under the cover of his 
 own wigwam. If the Saganaw could use guile like the fox, Cand this was 
 said with marked emphasis,) what should prevent him from cutting off the 
 Ottawa and his chiefs, even where they now stand ?" A half smile of derision 
 passed over the dark cheek of the Indian. " If the arm of the Ottav/a is 
 strong." he .said, " his foot is not less swift. The short guns of the chiefs of 
 the Sanganaw (pointing to the pistols of the officers) could not reach us ; 
 and before the voice of our father could be raised, or his eye turned, to call 
 his warriors to his side, the Ottawa would be already far on his way to the 
 forest." 
 
 " The great chief of the Ottawas shall judge better of the Saganaw," re- 
 turned the governor. " He shall see that his young men are ever v\'atchful at 
 their posts : — Up, men, and ,show yourselves." A second or two sufficed to 
 bring the whole of Captain Erskine's company, who had been lying flat on 
 their faces, to their feet on the rampart. The Indians were evidently taken 
 by surprise, though they evinced no fear. The low and guttural '• ugh ! " 
 was the only expiession thcj' gave to their astonishment, not unmingled with 
 admiration. 
 
 But, although the chiefs preserved their presence of mind, the sudden ap- 
 pearance of the soldiers had excited alarm among their warrioi'S, who, grouped 
 in and around the bomb-proof, were watching every movement of tiie confer- 
 ring parties, with an interest proportioned to the risk they conceived tlieir 
 head men had incurred in venturing under the very walls of their enemies. 
 Fierce yells were uttered ; and more than a hundred dusky wariiors, brand- 
 ishing their tomahawks in air, leaped along the skirt of the common, evidentlj'" 
 onlj'- awaiting tiie signal of their great chief, to advance and cover his retreat. 
 At the command of the governor, however, the men had again suddenly dis- 
 appeared from the surface of the rampart ; so that when the Indians flnalh^ 
 perceived their leader stood unharmed and unmolested, on the spot ho had 
 prcviou.sly occupied, the excitement died away, and they once more assumed 
 their attitude of profound attention. 
 
 " AYhat thinks the great chief of the Ottawas now ?" a,<^ked the governor; — 
 did he imagine that the young white men lie sleeping like beavers in their 
 dams, when the hunter sets his traps to catch them ? — did he imagine that 
 they foresee not the designs of their enemies ? and that they are not always 
 on the watch to prevent them ?" 
 
 '• My father is a grepvt warrior," returned the Indian ; " and if his arm is 
 fuU of strength, his head is full of wisdom. The chiefs will no longer hesitate; 
 — they will enter the stronghold of the Saganaw, and sit with him in the 
 council." He next addressed a few words, and in a language not understood 
 by those upon the walls, to one of the younger of the Indians. The latter ac- 
 knowledged his sense and approbation of what was said to him by an assen- 
 tient and" expressive " ugh !" which came from his chest without any apparent 
 motion of the lips, much in the manner of a modern ventriloquist. He then 
 hastened, with rapid and lengthened boundings, across the common towards 
 his band. After the lapse of a minute or two from reaching them, another 
 simultaneous cry arose, differing in expression from anj- that had hitherto 
 been heard. It was one denoting submission to the will, and compliance with 
 some conveyed desire, of their superior. 
 
 " Is the gate of the Saganaw open?" asked the latter, as soon as his ear had 
 been greeted with the cry we have just named. " The Ottawa and the other 
 great chiefs are ready ; — -their hearts are bold, and they throw themselves into 
 the hands of the Sag'anaw without fear." 
 
 " Tlie Ottawa chief knows tlie path," drily rejoined the governor : " when 
 
\V A C O II S T A 
 
 THE PROPHECY. 81 
 
 he comes in peace, it is ever open to liiiu ; hut when liis young men press it 
 with the tomahawk in their hands, the big thimder is roused to anger, and 
 they arc scattered away hke the leaves of the forest in the storm. Even now," 
 he pursued, as the little band of Indians moved slowly round the walls, "the 
 g-ate of the Saganaw opens for the Ottawa and the other chiefs." 
 
 '' Lot the most vigilant caution be used everywhere along the works, but 
 especially in the rear," continued the governor, addressing Captain Blessing- 
 ton, on whom the duty of the daj- had devolved. " We are safe, while their 
 chiefs are with us ; ))ut still it will be necessary to watch the forest closely. 
 We cannot be too much on ouv guard. The men had better remain concealed, 
 every twentieth file only standing up to form a look-out chain. If any move- 
 ment of a suspicious nature be observed, let it be communicated by the dis- 
 charge of a single musket, that the drawbridge may be raised on the instant." 
 With the delivery of these brief instructions he quitted the rampart with the 
 majority of his offirors. Meanwhile, hasty iircparations had been made in the 
 mess-room to roceni.' tlie chiels. The tables had been removed, and a number 
 of clean rush niavs. r.ianufactured after the Indian manner, into various lig-ures 
 and devices, spread carefully on the floor. At the further end from the en- 
 trance was placed a small table and chair, covered with scarlet cloth. This 
 was considerably elevated above the sudace of the floor, and intended for the 
 governor. On either side of the room near these, were ranged a number of 
 chairs for the accommodation of the inferior oiBcers. 
 
 Major Blackwater received the chiefs at the gate. With a firm, proud step, 
 rendered more confident by his very unwillingness to betray anything like 
 fear, the tall, and, as Captain Erskine had justly designated him, the noble- 
 looking Ponteac trod the yielding planks that nught in the next moment cut 
 him off from his people for ever. The other chiefs, following thee xample of 
 their leader, evinced the same easy fearlessness of demeanor, nor glanced once 
 behind them to see if there was anything to justify the apprehension of hidden 
 danger. 
 
 The Ottawa was cvidentl}- mortified at not being received by the governor 
 in person. " My father is \\'<l Iumh- !" he said fiercelj^ to the major : — " how is 
 this? The Ottawa and ;lu' niMtr 'iiief are Idngs of all their tribes. The head 
 of one great people should be received only by the head of another great 
 people !" 
 
 " Our father sits in the council-hall," returned the major. " He has taken 
 his seat that he may receive t'ne Avarriors with becoming honor. But I am 
 the second chief, and ouv father hns sent me to receive them." To the proud 
 spirit of the Indian this explanation scarcely suSiced. For a moment he seemed 
 to struggle, as endeavorin!;- to stiilc lus keen sense of an affront put upon him. 
 Atlength he nodded his luad linn.glitilyand condescendingly, in token of assent; 
 and gathering up his noli]i' fm in. and swelling out his chest, as with a view to 
 strike terror as well as ailiui.Hlion into the hearts of those by whom he ex- 
 pected to be sm-roundcd. sUi'.lceil majestically forward at the head of his con- 
 federates. 
 
 An indifferent observer, or one ignorant of these people, would have been 
 at fault ; but those who understood the workings of an Indian's spirit could 
 not have been deceived by the tranquil exterior of these men. The rapid, keen, 
 and lively glance — the suppressed sneer of exultation — the half start of sur- 
 prise — the low, gutteral, and almost inaudible "ugh!" — all these indicated 
 the eagerness with which, at one sly but compendious view, they embraced 
 the whole interior of a fort whicli it was of such vital importance to their future 
 interests they should become possessed of. yet which they had so long and so 
 unsuccessfully attempted tj subdue. As they advanced into the square, they 
 looked around, expecting to behold the full array of their enemies ; but, to 
 their atonishment, not a soldier was to be seen. A few women and children 
 only, in whom curiosit}' hatl overcome a natural loathing and repugnance to 
 the savages, were peeping from the windovrs of the block-houses. Even at a 
 
83 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 moment like the present, the fierce instinct of these latter was not to be con- 
 trolled. One of the children, terrified at the wild appearance of the warriors, 
 screamed violently, and clung to the bosom of its mother for protection. Fired 
 at the sound, a young chief raised his hand to his lips, and was about to peal 
 forth his terrible war whoop in the centre of the fort, when the eye of the 
 Ottawa suddenly arrested him. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 There were few forms of courtesy observed by the warriors towards the 
 English officers on entering the council room. Ponteac, who had collected aU 
 his native haughtiness into one proud expression of look and figure, strode in 
 without taking the slightest notice even of the governor. The other chiefs 
 imitated his example, and all took their seats upon the matting in the order pre- 
 scribed by their rank among the tribes, and their experience in council. The 
 Ottawa chief sat at the near extremity of the room, and immediately facing 
 the governor. A profound silence was observed for some minutes after the 
 Indians had seated themselves, during which they proceeded to fill their pipes. 
 The handle of that of the Ottawa chief was decorated with numerous feathers 
 fancifully disposed. 
 
 " This is well," at length observed the governor. " It is long since the great 
 chiefs of the nations have smoked the sweet grass in the council-hall of the 
 Saganaw. What have they to say, that their young men may have peace to 
 hunt the beaver, and to leave the print of their mocassins in the country of 
 the buflalo ? What says the Ottawa chief?" 
 
 " The Ottawa chief is a great warrior," returned the other, haughtily ; and 
 again repudiating, in the indomitablencss of his pride, the very views that a 
 more artful policy had first led him to avow. " He has already said that, 
 within a single moon, nine of the strongholds of the Saganaw have fallen into 
 his hands, and that the scalps of the white men fill the tents of his warriors. 
 If the red skins wish for peace, it is because they are sick with si^illing the 
 blood of their enemies. Does my fethcr hear ?" 
 
 " The Ottawa has been cunning like the fox," camly returned the governor. 
 " He went with deceit on his lips, and said to the gi-eat cliiefs of the strong- 
 holds of the Saganaw, — ' You have no more forts upon the lakes ; they have 
 all fallen before the red skins : they gave themselves into our hands ; and we 
 spared their lives, and sent them down to the great towns near the salt lake.' 
 But this was false : the chiefs of the Saganaws believing what was said to 
 them, gave up their strong holds ; but their lives were not spared, and the 
 grass of the Canadas is yet moist with their blood. Does the Ottawa hear ?" 
 
 Amazement and stupefaction sat for a moment on the features of the Indi- 
 ans. The fact was as had been stated ; and yet, so completely had the several 
 forts been cut olf from all communication, it was deemed almost impossible 
 one could have received tidings of the fate of the other, unless conveyed 
 through the Indians themselves. 
 
 " The spies of the Saganaw have been very quick to escape the vigilance of 
 the red skins," at length replied the Ottawa ; " yet they have returned with 
 a lie upon their lips. I swear by the Great Spirit, that nine of the strong- 
 holds of the Saganaw have been destroyed. How could the Ottawa go with 
 deceit upon his lips, when his words were truth ?" 
 
 " When the red skins said so to the warriors of the last forts they took, 
 they said true ; but when they went to the first, and said that all the rest had 
 fallen, they used deceit. A great nation should overcome their enemies like 
 warriors, and not seek to beguile them with their tongues under the edge of 
 the scalping knife ! " 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 8S' 
 
 "Why (lid tlieSasmiiiwoome into the couiUry of the red skins?" hanglitily 
 demanded the ehiei'. " AVhy did they take our hunting grounds from us? 
 Why have Ihey strong phu'es encirchng the country of the Indians, like a 
 belt ol' wainpuni round the waist of a wtu'rior ?" 
 
 '• This is not true," rejoined the governor. " It wa.s not the Saganaw, but 
 tlie warriors of the pale flag, who first came and took away the hunting 
 grounds, and built the strong places. The great father of the Saganaw had 
 beaten the great father of the pale flag ([uite out of the ( 'anadas, and he sent 
 his young men to take their place and to make peace with the red skins, and 
 to trade with them, and to call them brothers.." 
 
 '■ 'I'he Saganaw was false," retorted the Indian. " When a chief of the 
 Saganaw came for the first time with his warriors into the country of the 
 Ottawas, the chief of the Ottawas stood in his path, and asked him why, and 
 from whom he came '? That chief was a bold warrior, and his heart was 
 open, and the Ottawa liked him ; and when he said he came to be friendly 
 with the i-cd skins, the Ottawa believed him, and he shook him by the hand, 
 and said to his young men, • Touch not the life of a Saganaw ; for their chief 
 is the friend of the Ottawa chief, and his J'oung men shall be the friends of 
 the red warriors.' Look7' he proceeded, marking his sense of the discovery 
 by another of those ejaculatory '• ughs ! " so expressive of .surprise in an In- 
 dian, "at the right hand of my fatliei- I see h iliitu" nninting to Captain 
 Er.skine, " who came with those of tlio Saii:iii:;v>' who ;;i-i c;ite]-ed the country 
 of the Detroit ; — ask that chief if what the Ottaw a sa^ s is not true. When 
 the Saganaw said he came onl}- to remove the warriors of the pale flag, that 
 he might be friendl^r and trade witli the red skins, the Ottawa received the- 
 belt of wampun' Ic ottliO'l. aii'I ^niokoil the pipe of peace with him, and he 
 made his men iiviim ii;:_~ ■■'> ; wicli' '1 ' urn to his warriors who wanted food, 
 and he sent to all ilic i'.ruiui's mi tlie lakes. and said to them, • The Sagana'sr 
 nmst pass unhm-t to the stioi:i;- liuM on tiie Ik'troit.' But for the Ottawa, 
 not a Saganaw would have escaped ; fur the nations were thirsting for their 
 blood, and the knives of the warriors were eager to open their scalps. Ask 
 the chief who sits at the right hand of my father," he again energetically re- 
 peated. " if what the Ottawa says is not true." 
 
 " What the Ottawa saj'S is trne," rejoined the governor ; for the chief wbo 
 sits on my right hand has often said that, but for the Ottawa, the small num- 
 ber of the warriors of the Saganaw^ must have been cut off; and his heart is 
 big with kindness to the Ottawa for what he did. But if the great chief 
 meant to be fi'iendly, why did he declare war after smoking the pipe of peace 
 wnth the Saganaw ? Why did he destroy the wigwams of the settlers, and 
 cai-ry of!' the scalps even of their weak w^omen and children 1 AU this has 
 the Ottawa done ; and yet he sa3'S that he wished to be friendly with my 
 young men. But tlie Saganaw is not a fool. He knows the Ottawa chief 
 had no will of his own. On the right hand of the Ottawa sits the great chief 
 of the Delawares, and on his left the great chief of the Shawanees. They 
 have long been the sworn enemies of the Saganaw ; and they came from the 
 rivers that run near the salt lake to stir up the red skins of the Detroit to 
 wai-. They whisperetl wicked words in the ear of the Ottawa chief, and he 
 determined to take up the bloody hatchet. This is a shame to a great war- 
 rior. The Ottawa was a king over all the tribes in the country of the fresh 
 lakes, and yet he weakly took council like a woman from another." 
 
 •• Jly father lies !" fiercely retorted the warrior, half springiiig to his feet, 
 and involuntarily putting his hand upon his tomahawk. '• If the settlers of 
 the Saganaw have fallen," he resumed in a calmer tone, wliile he again sank 
 upon his mat, ■' it is because they did not keep their faith with the red skins. 
 When they came weak, and were not secure in their strong holds, their 
 tongties were smooth and full ,of soft words ; but when they became sti-OBg- 
 under the protection of their thunder, they no longer treated the red skins 
 as their friends, and they Liughed at them for Icfdiiij them come into their 
 
S4 M' A C U S T A ; OR, THE P R O V H E C Y . 
 
 country. I>ut." lie pursii."';, elevatin,':: his voice. '• tlic Ottawa is a great chief, 
 and he will bo respected." Then adverting in bitterness to the intiuence sup- 
 posed to be exercised over him — " V^hat my lather has said is false. Tho 
 Shaw'nvi '^ ; ini I lie Delavaircs Jiad no talk with the Ottawa chief to make liim 
 do 1.:. ' . i.-isdoni did not tell him." 
 
 ■' ': alk came not from the Shawanees and the Delawares, it 
 
 came iron; ; •!;■ ;-pie.N of the vrarrioi's of the pale tiag. The great father of the 
 French vv'as angrj- with tlie great father of the Saganaw, because he conquered 
 his waixiors in many Ijattles ; and he ?ent Avicked meiy to whisper lies of the 
 Saganaw into the cars of the I'ed slvins, and to make them take up the hatchet 
 against them. Tliere is a tjill spy at this moment in the camp of the rod 
 skins." he pursued with earnestness, and yet paling as he spoke. " It is said 
 lie is <ho ])o,-oiii !Ticii :! of the great chief of the Ottawas. Bnt I will not be- 
 lieve it. '!'!;(■ ]\i-i'[ ni'n great nation would not be the friend of a spy — of one 
 who is baser than a dog. His people v,'ould despise him ; and they would 
 say, ' Our cliief is not fit to sit isi (■in<]i'-ii. or to make war ; for he is led bj^ 
 the word of a pale face who is wivlirut honor.' " 
 
 The sw;iii!: V rl^rk of i r.c iiKi:;':! reddened, and his eye kindled into fire. 
 "Therv iy. ri.> '\ , in:; -i ;:;■>■:>■ ;..,niir in the camp of the Ottawas," he fierce- 
 ly replied. • i'ii'ri.'i li ■ i;;!i;i,' !riiiv. the country that lies beyond the salt 
 lake, he is ikv,- a < ii: 'of the red skins, and his arm is mighty, and his heart 
 is big. Woti:.i ;,i , ii;'ii T know why he has become a chief of the Ottawas?" 
 he pm-sued wiiit m. ..aul exultation". '' Wh.en the strong holds of the Saga- 
 naw fell, the taiuahm-.k !;i' i]'.v • whito warrior' drank more blood than that 
 of a red skiu. and liis t.iil is ]uuv2: rumsil wilji 5>()k-s bending under the weight 
 of the seal] - 1, 1 ..kcn. When the great chief of the Ottawas dies, the 
 pale face wii i . , ' , arriors, and take the first seat in the council. The Ot- 
 tawa chief \.- ■'■ ' ' '' 
 
 "If the ! :'■ ■' ' h<_' i'rii'iid of the Ott;iw,'i." pursued the governor, in 
 the hoj)e of ■, " t .■; i- jiriTti-niar intrlliuviice in regard to this terrible 
 
 and mysi (•!,;;: ' -,-. '■'■,■ ■ '■ lol hero to sit in council with the chiefs ? 
 Perhai:.^." l-.v ].voc,-;m!('1 i . , ;; ,;, ,■ ; lie fancied he perceived a disinclination 
 •on the [>art, ori;ie iiuli.;: ■ j : ■ i ; ;;>r ti)e absence of the vrarrior, ''the pale 
 face is not v.oi-l'iy lo t.-Jce his place among the head men of the council. His 
 arm may b<.' strong like that of a warrior, but his head may be weak like that 
 of a -woman ; or, perhaps, he is ashamed to show himself liefore the pale 
 faces, who have turned him out of their tribe." 
 
 " My father lies !" again unceremoniously retorted the warrior. " If the 
 friend of the Ottawa is not here, it is because his voice cannot speak. Does 
 my father recoil vet tiie bridge on which he killed his young warrior ? Does 
 he recollect the tcvriMe chase of the pale face by the friend of the Ottawa? 
 Ugh !" he continued, ;is his attention was now diverted to another object of 
 interest, '-thatjjale face was swifter than any runner among the red skins, 
 and for his tiectncss he deserved to live to be a great hunter in the Oanadas; 
 but fear broke his heart — fcai- of the friend of the Ottawa chief. The red 
 skins saw him fall at the feet of the Sagana^w without life, and they saw the 
 young warriors bear him oft" in their arms. Is not the Ottawa right ? The 
 Indian paused, threw his eye rapidly along the room, and then, fixing it on 
 the governor, seemed to wait with deep but suppressed interest for his reply. 
 
 •' Peace to the Ijones of a brave wariior !" seriously and evasively returned 
 the governor: •' the pale face is no longer in the land of the Canadas, and the 
 young -warriors of the Saganaw are sorry for his loss ; but what woidd the Ot- 
 tawa say of the bridge ? and what has the pale warrior, the friend of the Ot- 
 tawa, to do with it ?" 
 
 A gleam of satisfaction pervaded the countenance of the Indian, as he eag- 
 erly bent his ea.r to receive the assurance that the fugitive was no more ; but 
 when allusion was made to the strange warrior, his brow became overcast, and 
 he replied ^vith mingled haughtiness and anger, — " Does m}- father ask ? 
 
W A C O II S T A ; R , 'V II 1'. 1' K O V H K C Y . ISO 
 
 He lias (lojjs of spies aiaon.i;; the settlevri o{" the pule Hag, but the tomahawk 
 of the rod skins will lind them out, and they shall perish even as the Saga- 
 iiaw themselves. 'I'wo nig-hts a;i(), when the warriors of the Ott?.was weie 
 returning' from the scont u})on the common, they heard the voice of Onondato, 
 the wolf-dog of the friend of the Ottawa chief. The voice came from the 
 bridge Avhere the Saganaw killed his j'oung warrior, and it called upon the red 
 skins for assistance. ^ly young men gave their war cr}', and ran like wild 
 deer to destroy the enemies of their chief; but when they came the spies had 
 lied, and the A'oice of Onoinln'n \' :,s low and Aveak as that of a neA\" fawn ; and 
 when the warriors came in lI. .■ :ii'r end of the bridge, they found the pale 
 chief lying across the ron'i :nii! tdvored over vrith blood. They thought he 
 was dead, and their cry was terrible ; for the pale warrior is a grciit chief, and 
 the Ottawas love him ; but when they looked again, tliey saw that the blood 
 was the blood of Onondato, whose throtit the siiies of tlie s; ../:>>,■.■■,- l.-vl I'ut, that 
 he might not hunt them and give them to 11 !■ u> ■i:'ii skins.'' 
 
 Frequent glances, expressive of their deeji iiili rest in nont of 
 
 this iiitdligLMU'c, jiassed between the governor and iiis<s - ; . clciir, 
 
 the iirriN \>iii> h,-i(! encountered the terrible vv^arrior of ilj. ' ■> - ,, oj 
 
 not sjii's [\\n- v.mv: a\ ere employed by the garrison), bi'i ii:.' ■■ , inv.siis 
 companions who had so recently quitted them. 'I'his Wiis put licyuud all 
 doubt by the night, the hour, and the not less important fact of the locality ; 
 for it was from the bridge described by the Indi;^n. ucuv wiiiili llv ( 'anadian 
 had stated his canoe to be chained, they were to ti n ' ''ous and 
 
 imcertain enterprise. The question of their own in this 
 
 unlooked for collision with so powerful and feroii;' : > ,; :;;,. a fid of the 
 fidelity of the Canadian, still remained involved in (i. ;'ss. viiidi it might be' 
 imprudent, if not dangerous, to seek to have resolv. ■' r.y .m;. ilircct remark 
 on the subject to the keen and obser\;nii \\inriM; . T i ,;'i:.- removed 
 this difficulty by artfully observing, — ■ The iii\::i{ (•i;i( i , was has 
 
 said they were the spies of the Saganaw wlio killeil ti;.- ;.:>• ,-, ,;!i ior. His 
 young men have found them, then ; or how could he kuon' they were spies ?" 
 
 " Is there a warrior among the Saganaw who dares to show himself in the 
 path of the red skins, unless he come in strength and surrounded by his 
 thunder ?" was the sneering demand. " But my father is \vroDg if he sup- 
 poses the friend of the Ottawa is killed. No," he pursueil fiercely, •' the dogs 
 of spies could not kUl him ; they were afraid to fiice s<t terrible a warrior. 
 They came behind him in the dark, and they struck liiin on tlu> head like 
 cowards and foxes as they were. The warrior of the pale uice, and liic friend 
 of the Ottawa chief, is sick but not dead. He lies wiiliout m(;Hon in his tent, 
 and liis voice cannot speak to his friend to tell him who v.cje his enemies, 
 that he may bring their scalps to hang up within his wigwain. But the great 
 chief will soon be well, and his arm will be stronger than ever to spill the 
 blood of the Saganaw as he has done before." 
 
 '• The talk of the Ottawa chief is strange," retm-ned the goAcrnor, emphati- 
 cally and with dignity. " He says he comes to smoke the jiipe of peace with 
 the Saganaw, and yet he talks of spilling their blood as if it was water from, 
 the lake. What does the Ottawa mean ?" " Ugh !" exclaimed the Indian, in 
 his surprise. "' My father is right, Init the Ottawa and the Saganaw have not 
 j'-et smoked together. When they have, the hatchet will be buried for ever. 
 Until then, they are still enemies." 
 
 During this long and important colloquy of the leading parties, the strictest 
 silence had been preserved by the remainder of the council. The inferior chiefs 
 had continued delilieratdy i>uffmg the smoke from their curled lips, as they 
 sat cross-legged on tlieii- iii;its. and nodding their heads at intervals in confir- 
 mation of the occasi'iH.i' :i|i!i' ;d made by the rapid glance of the Ottawa, and 
 uttering their gutteral - I uii !'' whenever any observation of the parlant par- 
 ties touched their fl-eliu'rs, or rolled forth their surprise. The officers had been 
 no less silent and attentive listeners to a conversation 0]i t)ie issue of which 
 
'86 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 liung so many dear aud paramount interests. A pause in the conference gave 
 them an opportunity of commenting in a lo^r tone on the communication 
 made, in the strong excitement of his pride, by the Ottawa chief, in regard to 
 the terrible warrior of the Fleur de Lis ; who, it was evident swayed the coun- 
 cils of the Indians, and consequent!}^ exercised an influence over the ultimate 
 destinies of the English, which it was impossible to contemplate without alarm. 
 It was evident to all, fi-om whatsoever cause it might arise, this man cherished 
 a rancor towards certain individuals in the fort, inducing an anxiet}^ in its re- 
 duction scarcely equalled b}^ that entertained on the part of the Indians them- 
 selves. Beyond this, however, all was mystery- and doubt ; nor had any clue 
 been given to enable them to arrive even at a well founded apprehension of 
 the motives which had given birth to the vindictivness of purpose so univer- 
 sally ascribed to him even by the savages themselves. 
 
 The chiefs also availed themselves of'this pause in the conversation of the 
 principals, to sustain a low and animated discussion. Those of the Shawanee 
 and Delaware nations were especially earnest ; and, as they spoke across the 
 Ottawa, betrayed, by their vehemence of gesture, the action of some strong 
 feeling upon their minds, the precise natm-e of which could not be ascertained 
 from their speech at the opposite extremity of the room. The Ottawa did not 
 deign to join in their conversation, but sat smoking his pipe in all the calm 
 forbidding dignity of a proud Indian warrior conscious of his own importance. 
 
 " Does the great chief of the Ottawas, then, seek for peace in his heart at 
 length 1" resumed the governor ; " or is he come to the stronghold of Detroit, 
 as he went to the other strongholds, with deceit on his lips ?" The Indian 
 slowly removed the pipe from his mouth, fixed his keen eye searchingly on 
 that of the questioner for neai'ly a minute, and then briefly and haughtily said, 
 " The Ottawa chief has spoken." 
 
 '' And do the great chiefs of the Shawanees, and the great chiefs jof the Dela- 
 wares. and the great chiefs of the other nations, ask for peace also 7" demanded 
 the governor. " If so, let them speak for themselves, and for their warriors." 
 
 We will not trespass on the reader by a transcript of the declarations of the 
 inferior chiefs. Each in his turn avowed motives similar to those of the Ottawa 
 for wishing the hatchet might be buried for ever, and that their young men 
 should mingle once more in confidence, not only with the English troops, but 
 with the settlers, who would again be brought into the country at the cessa- 
 tion of hostilities. When each had spoken, the Ottawa passed the pipe of 
 ceremony, with whicli he was provided, to the governor. The latter put it to 
 his lips, and commenced smoking. The Indians keenly, and half furtively, 
 watched the act ; and looks of deep intelligence, that escaped not the notice of 
 the equally anxious and observant officers, passed among them. 
 
 " The pipe of the great chief of the Ottawas smokes well," calmly remarked 
 the governor ; " but the Ottawa chief, in his hurry to come and ask for peace, 
 has made a mistake. The pipe and all its ornaments are red like blood : it is 
 the pipe of war, and not the pipe of peace. The great chief of the Ottawas 
 will be angry with himself; he has entered the stronghold of the Saganaw, 
 and sat in the council, without doing any good for his young men. The Ottawa 
 must come again." 
 
 A deep but subdued expression of disappointment passed over the features 
 of the chiefs. They watched the countenances of the ofBcers, to see whether 
 the substitution of one pipe for the other had been attributed, in their estima- 
 tion, to accident or design. There -was nothing, however, to indicate the 
 slightest doubt of their sincerity. 
 
 " My father is right," replied the Indian, with an appearance of embarrass- 
 ment, which, whether natural or feigned, had nothing suspicious in it. " The 
 great chief of the Ottawas has been foolish, like an old woman. The young 
 chiefs of his tribe will laugh at him for this. But the Ottawa chief will come 
 again, and the other chiefs with him, for as my father sees, they all wish for 
 peace ; and that my father may know all the nations wish for peace, as well 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 87 
 
 as tlieir head men, the warriors of the Ottawa, and of the Shawanee, and of 
 the Delaware, shall play at ball upon the common, to amuse his young men, 
 while the chiefs sit in council with the chiefs of the Saganaw. The red skins 
 shall come naked, and ^\^thout their rifles and their tomahawks ; and even the 
 souaws of the warriors shall come upon the common, to show the Saganaw 
 thev may be without fear. Does my father hear ?" 
 
 ••"The Ottawa chief says well," returned the governor; "but will the pale 
 friend of the Ottawa come also to take his seat in the council hall ? The great 
 chief has said the pale warrior has become the second chief among the Ottawas ; 
 and that when he is dead, the pale warrior will lead the Ottawas, and take 
 the first scat in the council. He, too, should smoke the pipe of peace witli the 
 Saganaw. that they may know he is no longer their enemy." 
 
 The Indian hesitated,'uttering merel^y his quick ejaculatory " Ugh !" in ex- 
 pression of his surprise at so unexpected a requisition. " The pale warrior, 
 the friend of the Ottawa, is very sick "he at length said ; " but if the Great 
 Spirit should give him back his voice before the chiefs come again to the coim- 
 cil. the pale face will come too. If my father does not see him then, he will 
 know the "friend of the Ottawa chief is very sick." 
 
 The governor deemed it prudent not to press the question too closely, lest 
 in so doing he should excite suspicion, and defeat his own object.' " When 
 will the Ottawa and the other chiefs come again ?" he asked ; " and when will 
 their warriors plaj' ball upon the common, that the Saganaw may see them 
 and be amused ?" " When the sun has travelled so many times," replied 
 Ponteac, holding up three fingers of liis left hand. " Then will the Ottawa 
 and the other chiefs bring their j'oung warriors and their 3-oung women." 
 
 "It is too soon," was the reply; "the Saganaw must have time to collect 
 thek presents, that they may give them to the young warriors who are swift- 
 est at the race, and most active at the ball. The great chief of the Ottawas, 
 too, must let the settlers of the pale flag, who are the friends of the red skins, 
 bring in food for the Saganaw, that a great feast may be given to the chiefs, 
 and to the warriors, and that the Saganaw may make peace with the Ottawas 
 and the other nations as becomes a great people. In twice so many days," 
 holding up three of his fingers in imitation of the Indian, " the Saganaw will 
 be ready to receive the chiefs in council, that they may smoke the pipe of 
 peace, and bury the hatchet for ever. What says the great chief of the 
 Ottawas ?" 
 
 " It is good," was the reply of the Indian, his eye lighting up with deep 
 and exulting expression. " The settlers of the pale flag shall bring food to 
 the Saganaw. The Ottawa chief will send them, and he will desire his yoimg 
 men not to prevent them. In so many daj-s, then," indicating vnth his fingers, 
 '• the great chiefs will sit again in council with the Saganaw, and the Ottawa 
 cliief will not be a fool to bring the pipe he does not want." 
 
 With this assurance the conference terminated. Ponteac raised his taU 
 frame from the mat on which he had been squatted, nodded condescendingly 
 to the governor, and strode haughtily into the square or area of the fort. The 
 other chiefs followed his example ; and to Major Blackwater was again assign- 
 ed the duty of accompanying them without the works. The glance of the 
 savages, and that of Ponteac in particular, was less wary than at their en- 
 trance. Each seemed to embrace every object on which the eyes could rest, 
 as if to fix its position indelibly m his memory. The young chief, who had 
 been so sudden!}' and opportunely checked while in the very act of pealing 
 forth his terrible war-whoop, again looked up at the windows of the block- 
 house, in quest of those whom his savage instinct had already devoted in in- 
 tention to his tomahawk, but they were no longer there. Such was the 
 silence that reigned every where, the fort appeared to be tenanted only by the 
 few men of the guard, who lingered near their stations, attentively watching 
 the Indians, as they passed towards the gate. A very few minutes sufficed to 
 bring the latter once more in the midst of their warriors, whom for a few 
 
88 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 momentSj they harangued earnestly, Avhou the whole body again moved 
 in the direction of their encampment. 
 
 CHArTER XIV. 
 
 The week that intervened between the visit of the chiefs and the day ap- 
 pointed for their second meeting in council, was passed by the garrison in 
 perfect freedom from alarm, although, as usual, in diligent watchfulness and 
 preparations for ca.'^ualtics. In conformity with his promise, tlie Indian had 
 despatched many of the Oariadian settlers, with such provisions as the coun- 
 try then atibrded, to the governor, and these, happy to obtain the gold of the 
 troops in return for what the}" cotdd conveniently spare. v\ere not slow in 
 avaihng themselves of the permission. Dried bear's meat, venison, and Indian 
 corn, composed the substance of these supplies, which were in sufficient abun- 
 dance to produce a six weeks' increase to the stock of the garrison. Hitherto 
 they had been subsisting, in a great degree, upon salt provisions ; the food 
 fm'tively supplied by the Canadians being necessarily, from their dread of de- 
 tection, on so limited a scale, that a very small portion of the troops had been 
 enabled to profit by it. This, therefore, was an important and luiexpected 
 benefit, derived from the falling in of the garrison with the professed views of 
 the savages ; and one which, perhaps, few officers would, like Colonel de Hal- 
 dimar, have possessed the forethought to have secured. But although it serv- 
 ed to reheve the animal wants of the man, there was little to remove his 
 moral inquietude. Discouraged by the sangniinary character of the warfare 
 in which they seemed doomed to be for ever engaged, and harassed by con- 
 stant watchings, — seldom taking off their clothes for weeks together, — the 
 men had gradually been losing their energy of spirit, in the contemplation of 
 the almost irremediable evils by which they were beset ; and looked forward 
 with sad and disheartening conviction to a fate, that aU things tended to prove 
 to them was unavoidable, however the period of its consummation might be 
 protracted. Among the officers, this dejection, although proceeding from a 
 different cause, was no less prevalent ; and notwithstanding they sought to 
 disguise it before their men, when left to themselves thej^ gave tmlimited rein 
 to a despondency hourly acquiring strength, as the day fixed on for the second 
 council with the Indians drew near. 
 
 At length came that terrible and eventful day, and, as if in mockery of 
 those who saw no beauty in its golden beams, arrayed in all the gorgeous soft- 
 ness of its autumnal glory. Sad and heavy were the hearts of many within 
 that far distant and isolated fort, as they rose, at the first glimmering of light 
 above the horizon, to prepare for the several duties assigned them. All felt 
 the influence of a feeling that laid j^rostrate the moral energies even of the 
 boldest : but there was one j-oung officer in particular, who exhibited a dejec- 
 tion, degenerating almost into stupefaction ; and more than once, when he 
 received an order from his superior, hesitated as one who either heard not, or, 
 in attempting to perform it, mistook the purport of his instructions, and exe- 
 cuted some entirely different duty. The countenance of this officei-, whose 
 attenuated person otherwise bore traces of languor and debility, but too 
 plainly marked the abstractedness and terror of his mind, while the set stiff 
 features and contracted muscles of the face contributed to give an expression 
 of vacuity, that one who knew him not might have interpreted unfavorably. 
 Several times, during the inspection of his company at the early parade, he 
 was seen to raise his head, and throw forward his eat, as if expecting to catch 
 the echo of some horrible and appalling cry, until the men themselves remark- 
 ed, and commented, by interchange of looks, on the singular conduct of their 
 officer, whose thoughts had evidently no connection with the duty he was 
 performing, or the spot on which he stood. 
 
vvacousta; or, the prophecy. 89 
 
 When this customary inspectiou had Ixjen accomplished, — liow imperfectly, 
 has been seen, — and the men dismissed from their ranks, the same young 
 officer was observetl, by one who followed his cvQr}'- movement with interest, 
 to ascend that part of the rampart which commanded an unbroken view of 
 the country westward, from the point where tlie encampment of the Indians 
 was supposed to lie, down to the bridf2;c on which the terrible tragedy of Hal- 
 loway's death had been so recently enacted. Unconscious of the presence of 
 two sentinels, who moved to and fro near their respective posts, on either side 
 of him, the young officer folded his arms, and gazed in that direction for some 
 minutes, with his whole soul i ivetcd on the scene. Then, as if overcome by 
 recollections called up liy l!;;:! on ulsich he gazed, he covered his ej'es hur- 
 riedly with his hands, ami ln'lr.i\ ed. i )y the convulsed movement of his slender 
 form, he was weeping bitterl}-. Tiie paroxysm past, he uncovered his face, 
 sank with one knee upon the ground, and upraising his clasped hands, as if in 
 appeal to liis God, seemed to pray deeply and fervently. Tn this attitude he 
 cx)ntinued for some moments, when he became sensible of the approach of an 
 intruder. He raised himself from his knee, turned, and beheld one whose 
 countenance was stamped with a dejection scarcely inferior to his own. It 
 was Captain Blessington. 
 
 " Charles, my dear Charles !" exclaimed the latter hurriedly, as he laid his 
 hand upon the shoulder of the emaciated De Haldimar, "consider you are not 
 alone. For God's sake, check this weakness ! There are men observing you 
 on every side, and yom- strange manner has already been the subject of re- 
 mark in the compan3^" 
 
 " When the heart is sick, like mine," replied the youth, in a tone of fearful 
 despondency, ''it is alike recldess of forms and careless of appearances. I 
 trust, however," and here spoke the soldier, '' there are few within this fort 
 who will believe me less courageous, because I have been seen to bend my 
 knee in supplication to my God. I (hd not think that you, Blessington, 
 would have been the first to condemn the act." 
 
 ■' I condemn it, Charles ! you mistake me, indeed you do," feelingly retm-ned 
 his captain, secretly pained at the mild reproach containetl in the concluding 
 sentence ; '• but there are two things to be considered. In the first instance, 
 the men who are yet in ignorance of the great evils with which we are threat- 
 ened, may mistake the cause of your agitation ; you were in tears just now, 
 Charles, and the sentinels must have remarked it as well as myself. I would 
 not have them to believe that one of their officers was affected by the antici- 
 pation of coming disaster, in a way their own hearts are incapable of estimat- 
 ing. You understand me, Charles ? I would not have them too much dis- 
 couraged by an example that may become infectious." 
 
 "■ I do understand j-ou, Blessington," and a forced and sickly smile played 
 for a moment over the wan yet handsome features of the young officer ; "you 
 would not have me appear a weeping coward in their eyes." 
 
 " Nay. dear Charles, I did not say it." 
 
 " But you meant it, Blessington ; yet, think not," — and he warmly pressed 
 the hand of his captain. — "think not, I repeat, I take your hint m any other 
 than the friendly light in wliich it was intended. That I have been no 
 coward, however, I hope I have given proof more than once before tbe men, 
 most of whom have known me from my cradle ; yet, whatever they may 
 think, is to me, at this moment, a matter of utter indifierence. Blessington," 
 and again the tears rolled from his fixed eyes over his cheek, while he pointed 
 with his finger to the western horizon, " I have neither thought nor feeling 
 for myself; my whole heart hes buried there. Oh, God of Heaven!" he 
 pvu'sued, after a pause, and again raising his eyes in supplication, " avert the 
 dr^dful destiny that awaits my beloved sister." 
 
 " Charles, Charles, if only for that sister's sake, then, calm an agitation 
 which, if thus indulged in, will assuredly destroy you. AH will yet be well. 
 The delay obtained by your father has been sufficient for the pm-pose proposed. 
 
90 WACO IT ST a; ou, the prophecy. 
 
 Let US hope for the best : if we are deceived in our expectation, it will then 
 be time enough to indulge in a grief, wliich could scarce!}- be exceeded were 
 the fearful misgivings of )^our mind to be realized before your e)'es." 
 
 '• Blessington," returned the young officer, — and his features exhibited the 
 livliest image of despair, — " all hope has long since been extinct in mj^ Ijreast. 
 See you yon theatre of death ?" he mournfully pursued, pointing to the fatal 
 bridge, which was thrown into full relief against the placid bosom of the De- 
 troit : " recollect you the scene that was acted on it ? As for me, it is ever 
 present to my mind, — it haunts me in my thoughts by day, and in my dreama 
 by night. I shall never forget it while memory is left to curse me with 
 the power of retrospection. On the very spot on which I now stand was I 
 borne in a chair, to witness the dreadful punishment ; you see the stone at 
 my feet, I marked it bj^ that. I saw you conduct Halloway to the centre of 
 the bridge ; I beheld him kneel to receive his death ; I saw, too, the terrible 
 race for life that interrupted the proceedings ; I marked the sudden up-spring 
 of Halloway to his feet upon the cofhn, and the exulting waving of his hand, 
 as he seemed to recognise the rivals for mastery in the race. Then was heard 
 the fatal volley, and I saw the death-struggle of him who had saved my brother's 
 life. I could have died, too, at that moment ; and would to Providence I had ! 
 but it was otherwise decreed. My aching interest was, for a moment, diverted 
 by the fearful chase now renewed upon the height ; and, in common with 
 those around me, I watched the efforts of the pursuer and the pursued with 
 painful earnestness and doubt as to the final result. Ah, Blessington, why 
 was this not all ? The tei'i-ible shriek uttered at the moment when the fugi- 
 tive fell, apparently dead, at the feet of the firing party, reached us even here. 
 I felt as if my heart must have bm-st, for I knew it to be the sliriek of poor 
 Ellen Halloway, — the suffering wife, — the broken-hearted woman who had 
 so recently in all the wild abandonment of her grief, wetted mj^ pillo-\A', and 
 even my check, with her burning tears, while supplicating an intercession with 
 my father for mercy, which I kncAv it would be utterly fruitless to promise. 
 The discovery of her exchange of clothes with one of the drum boys of the 
 grenadiers was made soon after you left the fort. I saw her leap upon the 
 coffin, and standing over the body of her unhappy liiisband, raise her hands 
 to heaven in adjuration, and my heart died within me. I recollected the 
 words she had spoken on a previous occasion, during the first examination. of 
 Halloway, and I felt it to be the prophetic denunciation, then threatened, that 
 she was now uttering on all the race of De Haldimar. I saw no more, Bless- 
 ington. Sick, dizzy, and with every faculty of my mind annihilated, I turned 
 away from the horrid scene, and was again borne to my room." 
 
 Captain Blessington was deeply affected ; for there was a solenmity in the 
 voice of the young officer that carried conviction to the hear! . 
 
 The attention of both was.diverted by the report of a musket from the rear 
 of the fort. Presently afterwards, the word was passed along the chain of 
 sentinels upon the ramparts, that the Indians were is.suing in force from the 
 forest upon the common near the bomb-proof. Then was heard, as the senti- 
 nel at the gate delivered the pass-word, the heavy roll of the drum summon- 
 ing to arms. 
 
 "Ha ! here already !" said Captain Blessington, as, glancing towards the 
 forest, he beheld the" skirt of the wood now alive with dusky human forms : 
 " Ponteac's visit is earlier than we had been taught to expect ; but we are as 
 well prepared to receive him now as later ; and, in fact, the sooner the inter- 
 view is terminated, the sooner we shall know what we have to depend upon. 
 Come. Charles, we must join the company, and let me entreat you to- evince 
 less despondency before the men. It is hard, I know, to sustain an artificial 
 character under such disheartening circumstances ; still, for example's sake, it 
 must be done." 
 
 " What I can I will do, Blessington," rejoined the youth, as they both 
 moved from the ramparts ;'• b\it the task is, in truth, one to which I find 
 
w A c o t; s T A ; o r , t h e p r o p a e c y . 91 
 
 myself wliolly unequal. How do 1 know that, even at this moment, my de- 
 fenceless, terrified, and innocent sister may not be invoking the name and arm 
 of her brother to save her from destruction. 
 
 "Trust in Providence, Charles. Even although our worst apprehensions 
 be realised, as I fervently trust they will not, your sister may be spared. The 
 Canadian could not have been unfaithful, or we should liave learnt something 
 of his treachery from the Indiaus. Another week will confirm us in the 
 truth or fallacy of our impressions. Until then let us arm our hearts with 
 hope. Trust me, we shall yet see the laughing eyes of Clara fill with tears 
 of affection, as I recount to her all her too sensitive and too desponding bro- 
 ther has sutfered for her sake." 
 
 De Haldimar made no reply. He deeply felt the kind intention of his cap- 
 tain, but was for from cherishing the hope that had been recommended. 
 He sigiied heavily, pressed the arm on which he leaned, in gratitude for the 
 motive, and moved silently with liis friend to join their company below the 
 rampart. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Meanwhile the wliite flag had again been raised by the Indians upon the 
 bomb-proof; and this having been readily met by a corresponding signal from 
 the fort, a numerous band of savages now issued from the cover with which 
 their dark forms had hitherto been identified, and spread themselves far and 
 near upon the common. On this occasion they were without arms, oflensive 
 or defensive, of any kind, if we may except the knife which was always car- 
 ried at the girdle, and which constituted a part rather of their necessary dress 
 than of their warlike equipment. These warriors might have been about five 
 hundred in number, and were composed chiefly of picked men from the na- 
 tions of the Ottawas, the Delawares, and the Shawanees ; each race being dis- 
 tinctly recognisable from the others by certain peculiarities of form and fea- 
 ture which individualised, if we may so term it, the several tribes. Their 
 only covering was the legging before described, composed in some instances 
 of cloth, but principally of smoked deerskin, and the flap that passed through 
 the girdle around the loins, by which the straps attached to the leggings were 
 secured. Their bodies, necks, and arms were, with the exception of a few 
 slight ornaments, entirely naked ; and even the blanket, that served them as 
 a couch by night and a covering by day, had, with one single exception, been 
 dispensed with, apparently with a view to avoid anything like encumbrance 
 in their approaching sport. Each individual was provided with a stout sap- 
 ling of about three feet in length, curved, and flattened at the root extremity, 
 like that used at the Irish hurdle ; which game, in fact, the manner of baU- 
 playing among the Indians in every way resembled. 
 
 Interspersed among these warriors were a nearly equal number of squaws. 
 These were to be seen lounging carelessly about in small groups, and were of 
 all ages ; from the hoary-headed, shrivelled-up hag, whose eyes still sparkled 
 with a fire that her lank and attenuated frame denied, to the young girl of 
 twelve, whose dark and glowing cheek, rounded bust, and penetrating glance, 
 bore striking evidence of the precociousness of Indian beauty. Theselatter 
 looked with evident interest on the sports of the young warriors, who, throw- 
 ing down their hurdles, either vied with each other in the short but incredibly 
 swift foot-race, or iudulgc-d themselves in wrestling and leaping ; while their 
 companions, abandoned to the full security they felt to be attached to the 
 white flag vraving on the fort, lay at their lazy length upon the sward, osten- 
 sibly follo\ving the movements of the several competitors in these sports, but 
 in reality ^vith heart and eye directed solely to the fortification that lay be- 
 
92 wacousta; or, the puopkecy. 
 
 yond. Each of these females, in addition to the machccoti, or petticoat, which 
 in one solid square of broad-cloth was tightly wrapped around the loins, also 
 carried a blanket loosely thrown around the person, but closely confined over 
 the shoulders in front, and reaching below the knee. There was an an* of con- 
 straint in their movements, which accorded ill with the occasion of festivity 
 for which they were assembled ; and it was remarkable, whether it arose from 
 deference to those to whom they were slaves, as well as wives and daughters, 
 or from whatever other cause it might be, none of them ventured to recline 
 themselves upon the sward in imitation of the warriors. 
 
 When it had been made known to the governor that the Indians had begun 
 to develope themselves in force upon the common unarmed, yet redolent with 
 the spirit that was to direct their meditated sports, the soldiers were dismissed 
 from their respective companies to the ramparts ; where they were now to be 
 seen, not drawn up in formidable and hostile array, but collected together in 
 careless groups, and simply in their side-arms. This reciprocation of con- 
 fidence on the part of the garrison was acknowledged by the Indians by 
 marks of approbation, expressed as much by the sudden and classic disposi- 
 tion of their fine forms into attitudes strikingly illustrative of their admiration 
 and pleasure, as by the interjectional sounds that passed from one to the other 
 of the throng. From the increased alacrity with which they now lent them- 
 selves to the preparatory and inferior amusements of the day, it was evident 
 their satisfaction was complete. 
 
 Hitherto the principal cliiefs had, as on the previous occasion, occupied the 
 bomb-proof; and now, as then, they appeared to be deliberating among them- 
 selves, but evidently in a more energetic and serious manner. At length they 
 separated, when Ponteac, accompanied b}-- the chiefs who had attended him 
 on the former day, once more led in the direction of the fort. The moment 
 of his advance was the signal for the commencement of the principal game. 
 In an instant those of the warriors who lay reclining on the sward sprang 
 to their feet, while the wrestlers and racers resumed their hurdles, and prepar- 
 ed themselves for the trial of mingled skill and swiftness. At first they 
 formed a dense group in the centre of the common ; and then, diverging in 
 two equal files both to the right and to the left of the immediate centre, 
 where the large ball was placed, formed an open chain, extending from the 
 skirt of the forest to the commencement of the village. On the one side were 
 ranged the Delawares and Shawanees. and on the other the more numerous 
 nations of the Ottawas. Tlie women of these several tribes, apparently much 
 interested in the issue of an amusement in which the manliness and activity 
 of then- respective friends were staked, had gradually and imperceptibly gain- 
 ed the front of the fort, where they vrere now huddled in groups, at about 
 twenty paces from the drawbridge, and bending eagerly forward to command 
 the movements of the ball-players. 
 
 In his circuit round the walls, Ponteac was seen to remark the confiding 
 appearance of the unarmed soldiery with a satisfaction that was not sought 
 to be disguised ; and from the manner in which he threw his glance along 
 each face of the rampart, it was evident his object was to embrace the numeri- 
 cal strength collected there. It was moreover observed, when he passed the 
 groups of squaws on his way to the gate, he addressed some words in a 
 strange tongue to the elder matrons of each. 
 
 Once more the dark warriors were received at the gate, by Major Blackwater ; 
 and, as with firm but elastic tread, they moved across the square, each threw 
 his eyes rapidly and anxiously around, and with less of concealment in his 
 manner than had been manifested on the former occasion. On every hand 
 the same air of nakedness and desertion met their gaze. Not even a soldier 
 of the guard was to be seen ; and when they cast their eyes upwards to the 
 windows of the block-houses, they were found to be tenautless as the area 
 through which they passed.' A gleam of fierce satisfaction pei-vaded the 
 swarthy coiuitenances of the Indians: and the features of Ponteac, in particular, 
 
WxVcousta; ok, the prophkcy. 93 
 
 expressed the deepest exultation, lustcad of leading liis party, he now brought 
 up the rear ; and Avhen arrived in the centre of the fort, he, without any visi- 
 ble cause for the accident, stumbled, and fell to the earth. The other chiefs 
 for the mouient lost sight of thuir ordinav}- gravity, and marked their sense 
 of the circumstance by a prolonged sound, jiartakiug of the mingled charac- 
 ter of a laugh and a )"ell. Startled at tlu' cry, Major Blackwater, who was in 
 front, turned to ascertain the cause. At that nioiiKut pDiiteac sprang lightly 
 again to his feet, responding to the yell of his coiitiMkralis by .umther even 
 more startling, fierce, and prolonged than their own. I Ic iIru slall-.ed proud- 
 ly to tlie head of the part}', and even preceded Major Blackwater into the 
 coimcil room. 
 
 In this rude theatre of conference some changes had been made since their 
 recent visit, which escaped not the observation of the quick-sighted chiefs. 
 Their"niats lay in the position they had previously occupied, and the chairs 
 of the oificerswere ]'''/'d m.s ln'foT-e, but the room itself had been considerably 
 enlarged. The s' . 1 ' ^i; ii'mi i crniinating the interior extremity of the 
 mess-room, and dis: ,m;,c i n' -h tluit of one of the officers, had been removed ; 
 and midway throuuii ii\'^, v:. loading entirely across, was drawn a curtain of 
 scarlet cloth. uLvaiiist winch the imposing figure of the governor, elevated as 
 his seat was above those of tlic other otiicers, was thrown into strong rehef. 
 There was another change, that escaped not the observation of the Indians, 
 and that was, not more than one half of the officers who had been present at 
 the first conference were now in the room. Of these latter, one had, more- 
 over, been sent away by the governor the moment the chiefs were ushered in. 
 
 " Ugh 1" ejaculated the proud leader, as he took his seat unceremoniously, 
 and yet not without reluctance, upon the mat. " The councLl-room of my 
 father, is bigger than when the Ottawa was here before, yet the number of his 
 chiefs is not so many." 
 
 '■ The great chief of the Ottawas knows that the Saganaw has promised the 
 red skins a ft'ast," returned the governor. " Were he to leave it to his young 
 warriors to provide it, he would not be able to receive the Ottawa hke a great 
 chief, and to make peace with him as he could wish." 
 
 " My ftither has a great deal of cloth, red, like the blood of a pale face," 
 pursued the Indian, rather in demand than in observation, as he pointed with 
 his finger to the opposite end of the room. " When the Ottawa was here last, 
 he did not see it." 
 
 '■ The great chief of the Ottawas knows that the great father of the Saga- 
 naw has a big heart to make presents to the red skins. The cloth the 
 Ottawa sees there is suflicient to make leggings for the chiefs of all the na- 
 tions." 
 
 Apparently satisfied with this reply, the fierce Indian uttered one of his 
 strong guttural and assentient " ughs," and then commenced filhng the pipe 
 of peace, correct on the present occasion in all its ornaments, which was 
 handed to him by tlie Delaware chief. It was remarked by the officers this 
 operation took up an unusually long portion of Ids time, and that he frequently 
 turned his ear, like a horse stirred by the huntsman's horn, with quick and 
 irrepressible eagerness towards the door. 
 
 " The pale warrior, the friend of the Ottawa chief, is not here," said the 
 governor, as he glanced his eye along the semicircle of Indians. " How is 
 this J Is liis voice stUl sick, that he cannot come ; or iias the great chief of 
 the Ottawas forgotten to tell him?" 
 
 '• The voice of the pale warrior is still sick, and he cannot speak," replied 
 the Indian. '• The Ottawa chief is very sorry ; for the tongue of his friend 
 the pale face is full of wisdom." 
 
 Scarcely had the last words escaped his lips, when a wild shriU cry from 
 without the fort rang on the ears of the assembled council, and caused a mo- 
 mentary commotion among the officers. It arose from a single voice, and that 
 voice could not ])e mislakeii by any ^vl)o had heard it once before. A second 
 
94 W A C O D S T A ; .0 E, , THE PROPHECY. 
 
 or two, during which the officers and chiefs kept their eyes intently fixed on 
 each other, passed anxiously away, and then nearer to the gate, apparently 
 on the very drawbridge itself, was pealed forth the wild and deafening yell of 
 a legion of devilish voices. At that sound, the Ottawa and tlie other chiefs 
 sprang to their feet, and their own fierce cry responded to that yet vibrating 
 on the ears of all. Already were their gleaming tomahawks brandished 
 wildly over their heads, and Ponteac had even bounded a pace forward to 
 reach the governor with the deadly weapon, when at the sudden stamping of 
 the foot of the latter upon the floor, the scarlet cloth in the rear was thrown 
 aside, and twenty soldiers, their eyes glancing along the barrels of their 
 levelled muskets, met the startled gaze of the astonished Indians. 
 
 An instant was enough to satisfy the keen chief of the true state of the case. 
 The calm composed mien of the officers, not one of whom had even attempted 
 to quit his seat, amid the din by which his ears were so alarmingly assailed, — 
 the triumphant, yet dignified, and even severe expression of the govenor's 
 countenance ; and above all, the unexpected presence of the prepared soldiery, — 
 all these at once assured him of the discover}- of his treacherj^, and the danger 
 that awaited him. The necessity for an immediate attempt to join his war- 
 riors without, was now obvious to tlie Ottawa ; and scarcely had he conceived 
 the idea before it was sought to be executed. In a single spring he gained 
 the door of the mess-room, and, followed eagerly and tumultuously by the 
 other chiefs, to whose departure no opposition was offered, in the next moment 
 stood on the steps of the piazza that ran along the front of the building 
 whence he had issued. 
 
 The surprise of the Indians on reaching this point was now too powerful to 
 be dissembled ; and, incapable either of advancing or receding, they remained 
 gazing on the scene before them with an air of mingled stupefaction, rage, and 
 alarm. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed since they . had proudly strode 
 through the naked area of the fort, and yet, even in that short space of time, 
 its appearance had been entirely changed. Not a part was there now of the 
 surrounding buildings that was not redolent with human life, and hostile 
 preparation. Through every window of the officers' low rooms, was to be 
 seen the dark and frowning muzzle of a field-piece, bearing upon the gateway ; 
 and behind these were artillerymen, holding then- lighted matches, supported 
 again by files of bayonets, that glittered in their rear. In the block-houses 
 the same formidable array of field-pieces and muskets was visible ; while from 
 the four angles of the square, as many heavy guns, that had been artfully 
 masked at the entrance of the chiefs, seemed ready to sweep away every thing 
 that should come before them. The guard-room near the gate presented the 
 same hostile front. The doors of this, as well as of the other buildings, had 
 been firmly secured within ; but from every window affording cover to the 
 troops, gleamed a lific of baj^onets rising above the threatening field-pieces, 
 pointed, at a distance of little more than twelve feet, directly upon the gate- 
 way. In addition to his musket, each man of the guard moreover held a hand 
 grenade, provided with a short fuze that could be ignited in a moment from 
 the matches of the gunners, and with immediate effect. The soldiers in the 
 block-houses were similarly provided. 
 
 Almost magical as was the change thus suddenly effected in the appearance 
 of the garrison, it was not the most interesting feature in the exciting scene. 
 Choking up the gateway, in which they were completely wedged, and crowd- 
 ing the drawbridge, a dense mass of dusky Indians were to be seen casting 
 their fierce glances around ; yet paralysed in their movements by the unlooked- 
 for display of a resisting force, threatening instant annihilation to tjiose wlio 
 should attempt either to advance or to recede. Never, perhaps, was astonish- 
 ment and disappointment more forcibly depicted on the human countenance, 
 than as they were now exhibited by these men, who had already, in imagina- 
 tion, secured to themselves an easy conquest. They were the wai'riors wlio 
 had so I'ecently been engaged in the manly yet innocent exercise of the ball ; 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 95 
 
 but, ini^tciifl of the harmless hunlle. each nov.- carried a short gun in one hand 
 and a gleaming- tomahawk in the other. After the first general yelling heard 
 in tlie council-room not a sound was uttered. Their burst of rage and 
 triumph had evidently been checked by the unexpected manner of their 
 reception, and they now stood on the spot on which the further advance of 
 each ha<l been arrested, so silent and motionless, that, but for the rolling of 
 their dark eyes, as they keenly measured the insurmountable barriers that 
 were opposed to their progress, they might almost have been taken for a wild 
 group of statuary. 
 
 Conspicuous at the head of these was he who wore the blanket ; a tall war- 
 rior, on whom rested the startled eye of every otlicer and soldier who was so 
 situated as to behold him. His face was painted black as death ; and as he 
 stood under the arch of the gateway, with his wliite turbaned head towering 
 far above those of his companions, this formidable and mysterious enemy 
 might have been likened to the spirit of darkness presiding over his terrible 
 legions. 
 
 In order to account for the extraordinary appearance of the Indians, armed 
 in every way for death, at a moment when neither gun nor tomahawk was 
 apparently within miles of their reach, it wiU be necessary to revert to the 
 first entrance of the chiefs into the fort. The fall of Ponteac had been the 
 etfect of design ; and the yell pealed forth by liim. on recovering his feet, as 
 if in taunting reply to the laugh of his comrades, was in reality a signal in- 
 tended for the guidance of the Indians witliout. These, now following up 
 their game with increasing spirit, at once changed the direction of their line, 
 bringing the ball nearer to the fort. In their eagerness to effect this object, 
 they had overlooked the gradual secession of the unarmed troops, spectators 
 of then- sport, from the ramparts, imtil scarcely more than twentv stragglers 
 were left. As the}- ueared the gate, the squaws broke up their several groups, 
 and, forming a line on either hand of the road leading to the firawbridge. ap- 
 peared to separate solely with a view not to impede the action of the players. 
 For an instant a dense group collected around the ball, which had been driven 
 to within a hundred yards of the gate, and fifty hurdles were crossed in their 
 endeavors to secure it, when the warrior, who formed the solitary exception 
 to the multitude, in his blanket covering, and who had been lingering in the 
 extreme rear of the party, came rapidly up to the spot where the well-affected 
 struggle was maintained, .^t his approach, the hurdles of the other player.? 
 were withdi-awn. when, at a single blow of his powerful arm. the ball was 
 seen flying into the air in an oblique direction, and was for a moment lost al- 
 together to the view. "When it again met the eye, it was descenrling perpen- 
 dicularly into the very centre of the fort. 
 
 With the fleetness of thought now commenced a race that had ostensibly 
 for its object the recovery of the lost ball ; and in whiciT. he who had driven 
 it with such resistless force, outstripped them all. Their course lav between 
 the two lines of squaws ; and scarcely had the heads of the bounding Indians 
 reached the opposite extremitj- of those lines, when the women suddenly 
 threw back their blankets, and disclosed each a short gun and a tomahawk. 
 To thi-ow away^their hurtUes and seize upon these, was the work of an in- 
 stant. Already, in imagination, was the fort their o%vn ; and. such was the 
 pecuhar exultation of the black and turbaned wan-ior. when he felt the planks 
 of the drawbridge bending beneath his feet, all the ferocious joy of his soul 
 was pealed forth in the terrible cry which, rapidly succeeded by that of the 
 other Indians, had resounded so fearfully through the council room. What 
 their disappointment was. when, on gaining the interior, they found the garri- 
 son prepared for then- reception, has already been shown. 
 
 •• Secure that traitor, men !" exclaimed the governor, advancing into the 
 square, and pointing to the black warrior, whose quick eye was now glancing 
 on every side, to discover some assailable point in the formidable defences of 
 the troops. 
 
96 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 A laugh of scorn and derisiou escaped the lips of the wan-ior. '• Is there a 
 man — are there any ten men, even with Governor de Haldimar at their head, 
 vrho will be bold enough to attempt it?" he asked. '-Naj^!" he pursued, 
 stepping boldly a pace or two in front of tlie wondering savages, — " here i 
 stand singly, and defy your whole garrison !" 
 
 A sudden movement among the soldiers in the guard-room announced they 
 were prepai'ing to execute the order of their chief. The eye of the black 
 warrior sparkled Avith ferocious pleasure ; and he made a gesture to his fol- 
 lowers, which was replied to by the sudden tension of their hitherto relaxed 
 forms into attitudes of expectance and preparation. 
 
 " Stay, men ; Cj,uit not your cover for your lives !" commanded the governor, 
 in a loud deep voice : — '• keep the barricades fast, and move not." 
 
 A cloud of auger and disappointment passed over the featm-es of the black 
 warrior. It was evident the object of his bravado was to draw the troops 
 from their defences, that they might be so mingled with their enemies as to 
 render the cannon useless, unless friends and foes (which was by no means 
 probable) should alike be sacrificed. The goveinor had penetrated the design 
 in time to prevent the mischief. 
 
 In a moment of uncontrolla,ble rage, the lavage warrior aimed his tomahawk 
 at the head of the governor. The latter stepped lightly aside, and the steel 
 sank with such force into one of the posts supporting the piazza, that the 
 quivering handle snapped close off' at its head. At that moment, a single shot, 
 fired from the guard-house, was drowned in the yell of approbation which 
 burst from the lips of the dark crowd. The turban of the warrior was, how- 
 ever, seen flying through the air, carried away by the force of the buUet which 
 had torn it from liis head. He himself was unharmed. 
 
 " A narrow escape for us both, Colonel de Haldimar." he observed, as soon 
 as the yell had subsided, and with an air of the most perfect unconcern. 
 '• Had my tomahawk obeyed the first impulse of my heart, I should have 
 cursed myself and died : as it is, I have reason to avoid all useless exposure 
 of my own life, at present. A second bullet may be better directed ; and to 
 die. robbed of my revenge, would ill answer the piu'pose of a life devoted to its 
 attainment. Remember my pledge !" 
 
 At the hast)'- command of the governor, a hundred muskets were raised to 
 the shoulders of his men ; but, before a single eye could glance along the bar- 
 rel, the formidable and active warrior had bounded over the heads of the neai-- 
 est Indians into a small space that was left unoccupied ; when, stooping sud- 
 denl)^ to the earth, he disappeared altogether from the xievr of his enemies. 
 A slight moving in the centre of the numerous band crowchng the gateway, and 
 extending even beyond the bridge, was now discernible : it was like the waving 
 of a field of standing corn, through which some animal rapidly winds its tor- 
 tuous course, bending aside as the object advances, and closing again when it 
 has passed. After the lapse of a minute, the terrible warrior was seen to 
 spring again to his feet, far in the rear of the band ; and then, uttering a fierce 
 shout of exultation, to make good his retreat towards the forest. 
 
 Meanwhile, Ponteac and the other chiefs of the council continued rooted to 
 the piazza on which they had rushed at the unexpected display of the armed 
 men behind the scarlet curtain. The loud " AYaugh " that bin-st from the Ups 
 of all, on finding themselves thus foiled in their schemes of massacre, had been 
 succeeded, the instant afterwards, by feelings of personal apprehension, which 
 each, however, had collectedness enough to disguise. Once the Ottawa made 
 a movement as if he would have cleared the space that kept him fro^i liis war- 
 riors ; but the emphatical pointing of the finger of Colonel de Haldimar to the 
 levelled muskets of the men in the block-houses prevented him, and the at- 
 tempt was not repeated. It was remarked by the officers, who also stood on 
 the piazza, close behind the chiefs, when the black warrior threw his toma- 
 hawk at the governor, a shade of displeasure passed over the features of the 
 Ottawa ; and that, when he found the daring attempt was not retaliated oa 
 
w A c o ir s T A ; o i; , t u i; i' n o i' ii k c Y . 07 
 
 his people, liis roiintcnunce had been monieutarily lighted up with a satisfied 
 expression, appai-ently marking his sense of forbearance so unexpectedly- 
 shown. 
 
 " What says tlie great chief of the Ottawas now ?" asked the governor, 
 cahaly. and breaking a profound silence that had succeeded to the last fierce 
 yell of the formidable being just departed. '" Was the Saganaw not right, 
 ■when he said <he Ottawa came with guile in his heart, and a lie upon his lips? 
 Bill the Saganaw is not a fool, and he can read the thoughts of his enemies 
 upon their faces, and long before their lips have spoken." 
 
 " Ugh !" ejiiculatcd the Indian ; '• my father is a great chief, and his head is 
 full of wisdom. Had he been feeble, like the other chiefs of the Saganaw, the 
 stronghold of the Detroit must have fallen, and the red skins would have 
 danced their war dance round the scalps of his young men, even in the council 
 room where thej- came to talk of peace." 
 
 " Does the great chief of the Ottawas see the big thunder of the Saganaw?" 
 pursued the governor: "if not, let him open his eyes and look. The Saganavy 
 has but to move his lips, and swifter than the lightning would the pale faces 
 sweep away the warriors of the Ottawa, even where they now stand : in less 
 time than tlie Saganaw is now speaking, would they mow them down like the 
 grass of the prairie." 
 
 " Ugh !" again exclaimed the chief, with mixed doggediiess and fierceness : 
 '■ if what my father says is true, why does he not pour out his anger upon the 
 red skins ?"' 
 
 " Let the great chief of the Ottawas listen," replied the governor with dig- 
 nity. " Wlien the great chiefs of all the nations that are in league with the 
 Ottawas Ciime last to the council, the Saganaw knew that they carried deceit in 
 their hearts, and that they never meant to smoke the pipe of peace, or to bury 
 the hatchet in the ground. The Saganaw might liave kept them prisoners, 
 that their warriors might be without a head ; but he had given his word to 
 the great chief of the Ottawas, and the word of a Saganaw is never broken. 
 Even now, while both the chiefs and the warriors are in his power, he will not 
 slay them, for he wishes to show the Ottawa the desire of the Saganaw is to 
 be friendly with the re<l skins, and not to destroy them. Wicked men from 
 the Canadas have whispered lies in the ear of the Ottawa ; but a great chief 
 should judge for himself and take council only from the wisdom of his own 
 heart. The Ottawa and his warriors may go," he resumed, after a short pause; 
 " the path by which they came is again open to them. Let them depart in 
 peace ; the big thunder of the Saganaw shall not harm them." 
 
 The countenance of the Indian, who had clearly seen the danger of his posi- 
 tion, ^vol•e an expression of surprise w]iich,_,could not be dissembled : low ex- 
 clamations passed between him and his companions ; and, then pointing to the 
 tomahawk that lay half buried in the wood, he said, doubtingly, — 
 
 '" It was the pale face, the friend of the great chief of the Ottawas, who 
 struck the hatchet at my father. The Ottawa i.-; not a fool to believe the 
 Saganaw can sleep without revenge." 
 
 " The great chief of the Ottawas shall know us better," was the reply. 
 " The young warriors of the Saganaw might destroy their enemies where they 
 now stand, but they seek not their blood. When the Ottawa chief takes 
 council from his own heart, and not from the lips of a cowardly dog of a pale 
 face, who strikes his tomahawk and then flies, his wisdom will tell him to 
 make peace with the Saganaw, whose ^^•arriors are without treachery, even as 
 they are without fear." 
 
 Another of those deep interjectional •' ughs " escaped the chest of the proud 
 Indian. 
 
 '• What my father says is good," he returned ; " but the pale face is a great 
 wiirrior. and the Ottawa chief is his friend. The Ottawa will go." 
 
 He then addressed a few sentences, in a tongue unknown to the officers, to the 
 swarthy and anxious crowd in front. These were answered by a low, sullen, 
 7 
 
98 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 yet assentient grunt, from the united band, who now turned, thousch with jus- 
 tifiable caution and distrust, and recrossed the drawbridge without hinderance 
 from the troops. Pontcac waited until the last Indian had departed, and then 
 making a movement to the governor, which, with all its haughtiness, was 
 meant to mark liis sense of the forbearance and good faith that had been mani- 
 fested, once more stalked proudly and camly across the area, followed by the 
 remainder of the chiefs. The officers who Avere with the governor ascended 
 to the ramparts, to follow their movements ; and it was not before their report 
 had been made that the Indians were immerging once more into the heart of 
 the forest, the troops were withdrawn from their formida,ble defences, and the 
 gate of the fort again firmly secured. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 While the reader is left to pause over the rapid succe-ssion of incidents 
 resulting from the mysterious entrance of the warrior of the Fleiu- de Lis into 
 the English fort, be it our task to explain the circumstances connected with 
 the singular disappearance of Captain de Haldimar, and the melancholy mur- 
 der of his unfortunate servant. 
 
 It will be recollected that the ill-foted Hallo way. in the course of his de- 
 fence before the court martial distinctly stated the voice of the individual who 
 had approached his post, calling on the name of Captain de Haldimar, on the 
 night of the alarm, to have been that of a female, and that the language in 
 -which they subsequently conversed was that of the Ottawa Indians. Tliis 
 was strictly the fact ; and the only error into which the unfortunate soldier 
 had fallen, had reference merely to the character and motives of the party. 
 He had naturally imagined, as he had stated, it was some young female of the 
 village, whom attachment for his officer had driven to the desperate determi- 
 nation of seeking an interview; nor was this impression at all weakened by 
 the subsequent discourse of the parties in the Indian tongue, with which it 
 was well known, most of the Canadians, both male and female, were more or 
 less conversant. The object of that short, low, and hurried conference was, 
 indeed, one that well warranted the singular intrusion ; and, in the declara- 
 tion of Halloway, we have already seen the importance and anxietjr atta,ched 
 by the young officer to the communication. Without waiting to repeat the 
 motives assigned for his departure, and the prayers nnd expostulations to 
 which lis had recourse to overcome the determination and sense of duty of the 
 unfortunate sentinel, let us p|iss at once to the moment when, after having 
 cleared the ditch, conjointly with his faithful follower, in the manner already 
 shown, Captain de Haldimar first stood side by side with his midnight visi- 
 tant. 
 
 The night, it has elsewhere been observed, was clear and starry, so that ob- 
 jects upon the common, such as the rude stump that here and there raised its 
 dark low head above the surface, might bo dimly seen' in the distance. To 
 obviate the danger of discovery by the sentinels, appeared to be the first study 
 of the female ; for, when Captain de Haldimar, follo\A^cd by his servant, had 
 reached the spot on which she stood, she put the forefinger of one hand to her 
 lips, and with the other pointed to his liooted foot. A corresponding signal 
 showed that the lightness of the material oifered little risk of betrayal. Do- 
 nellan, however, was made to doff his heavy ammunition shoes ; and, v.'ith 
 this precaution, they all stole hastily along, under the shadows of the project- 
 ing ramparts, until they had gained the extreme rear. Here the female sud- 
 denly raised her tall figure from the stooping position in which she. as ivell as 
 her companions, had performed the dangerous circuit ; and, placing her finger 
 once more significantly on her lips, led in the direction of the bomb-proof, un- 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OK, THE PROPHECY. 99 
 
 perceived by the sentinels, most of wiiora, it is probable, had, vip to the mo- 
 ment of the alarni subsequently f^iveii, been too lauch overcome by previous 
 watchinj^ and excitement to have kept the most vigilant look out. 
 
 Ai-rived at the skirt of the forest, the little party drew up within the sha- 
 dow of the ruin, and a short and earnest dialogue ensued, in Indian, between 
 the female and the officer. This was succeeded by a command from the lat- 
 ter to his servant, wlio, after a momentary but respectful expostulation, which, 
 howcvel-, was utterly lost on him to vv-hom it was addressed, proceeded to di- 
 vest himself of his humble apparel, assuming in exchange the more elegant 
 uniform of his superior. Douellan, who was also of the grenadiers, was re- 
 markable for the resemblance he bore, in figure, to Captain de Ilaldimar ; 
 wanting, it is true, the grace and freedom of movement of the latter, but still 
 presenting an outline which, in an attitude of profound repose, might, as it 
 subsequently did, have set even those who were most intimate with the oflScer 
 at favdt. 
 
 " This is well," observed the female, as the young man proceeded to induct 
 himself in the grey coat of his servant, having previouf-ly drawn the glazed 
 hat close over his waving and redundant hair ; " if the Saganaw is ready, Ou- 
 canasta will go." 
 
 " Sure, and your honor does not mane to lave me behind !" exclaimed the 
 anxious solcher, as his captai||now recommended him to stand close concealed 
 near the ruin until his retui-n. " Who knows what ambuscade the she-divil 
 mav lead yom* honor mto ; and thin who will you have to bring you out 
 of It ?" 
 
 " No, Donellan, it must not be : I first intended it, as you may perceive by 
 my bringing you out ; but the expedition on wtiich I am going is of the ut- 
 most importance to us all, and too much precaution cannot be taken. I fear 
 no ambuscade, for I can depend on the fidelity of my guide ; but the presence 
 of a third person woidd only embarrass, without assisting me in the least. 
 You must remain behind ; the woman insists upon it, and there is no more to 
 be said." 
 
 " To ould Nick vrith the ugly witch, for her pains ! " half muttered the dis- 
 appointed soldier to himself. '" I wish it may be as your honor says ; but my 
 mind misgives me sadly that evil will come of this. Has j^our honor secured 
 the pistols •?" 
 
 " They are here," returned his captain, placing a hand on either chest. 
 " And now, Donellan, mark me : I know notliing that can detain me longer 
 than an hoiu- ; at least the woman assures me, andl beheve her, that I may 
 be back then ; but it is well to guard against accidents. You must continue 
 here for the horn-, and for t!ie hour only. If I come not then, return to the 
 fort without delay, for the rope must be removed, and the gate secured before 
 Halloway is relieved. The keys you will find in tlie -pocket of my uniform : 
 when you have done with them, let them be hung up in their proper place in 
 the guard-room. My father must not knovv- either that Halloway suffered 
 me to pass the gate, or that you accompanied me." 
 
 " Lord love us ! your honor talks as if you would niver return, giving smh 
 a heap of orders ! " exclaimed the startled man ; " but if i go back alone, as 
 I trust in heaven I shall not, how am I to account for being dressed in your 
 honor's regimentals ?" 
 
 " I tell you, Donellan," impatiently returned the ofBcer, " that I shall be 
 back ; but I only wish to guard against accidents. The instant you get into 
 the fort, you will take ofi my clothes and resume your own. Who the devil 
 is to see you in the uniform, unless it be Halloway ?" 
 
 " If the Saganaw would not see the earth red A\dth the blood of his race, 
 he will go." intejTupted the female. '' Oucanasta can feel the breath of the 
 morning fresh upon her cheek, and the council of the chiefs must be begun." 
 
 " The Saganaw is ready, and Oucanasta shall lead the way," hastily returned 
 the officer. •' One word more, Donellan," and he pressed the hand of his do- 
 
"iOO wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 mestic kindly : '• should I not return, yon must, without committing Hallo- 
 way or yourself, cause my father to 1k3 appi'ised that the Indians meditate a 
 deep and treacherous plan to get possession of the fort. What that plan is, 
 I know not yet myself, neither does this woman know ; but she says I shall 
 hear it discussed imseen, even in the heart of their own encampment. All 
 you have to do is to acquaint my father with the existence of danger. And 
 now be cautious : above all things, keep close under the shadow of the boralj- 
 proof ; for there are scouts constantly prowling about the common, and the 
 glittering of the uniform in the starlight may betray you." 
 
 " But why may I not follow your honor ?" again urged the faithful soldier ; 
 " and where is the use of my remaining here to count the stars, and hear the 
 ' all's well ! ' from the fort, when I could be so much better employed in guard- 
 ing your honor from harm ? What sort of protection can that Ingian woman 
 aflbrd, who is of the race of our bitterest enemies, them ciu-sed Ottawas, and 
 your honor venturing, too, like a spy into the very heart of the blood-liounds 1 
 Ah, Captain de Haldimar. for the love of (jrod, do not trust yourself alone 
 'with her, or I am sure I shall never see your honor again ! " 
 
 The last words (unhappily too prophetic) fell only on the ear of him who 
 uttered them. The female and the officer had already disappeared round an 
 abrupt angle of the bomb-proof; and the soldier, as directed by his master, 
 now drew up his tall figui-e against the ruin, where he continued for a period 
 immovable, as if he had been planted there in his ordinary character of sen- 
 tinel, listening, until they eventually died away in distance, to the receding 
 footsteps of his master ; and then ruminating on the several apprehensions 
 that crowded on his mind, in regard to the probable issue of his adventurous 
 ■project. 
 
 Meanwhile, Captain de Haldimar and his guide trod the mazes of the forest, 
 with an expedition that pi-oved the latter to be well acquainted with its bear- 
 ings. On quitting the bomb-]iroof, she had struck into a narrow winding 
 path, less seen than felt in the deep gloom pervading the wood, and with light 
 steps bounded over obstacles that lay strewed in their course, emitting scarcely 
 more sound than would have been produced by the slimy crawl of its native 
 rattlesnake. Not so, hov.'ever, with the less experienced tread of her com- 
 panion. Wanting the pliancy of movement given to it by the light mocassin, 
 the booted foot of the young officer, despite of all his precaution, fell heavily 
 to the ground, producing .such a rustling among the dried leaves, that, had an 
 'Indian ear been lurking anywhere atound, his api^roach must inevitably have 
 been betrayed. More than once, too, neglecting to follow the injunction of 
 his companion,who moved in a stooping posture, with her head bent over her 
 chest, his hat was caught in the closely matted branches, and fell sullenly and 
 heavily to the earth, evidently much to the discomfiture of his guide. 
 
 At length they stood on the verge of a dark and precipitous ravine, the ab- 
 rupt sides of which were studded with underwood, so completely interwoven 
 that all passage appeared impracticable. What, however, seemed an insur- 
 mountable obstacle, proved, in reality, an estimable advantage ; for it was by 
 clinging to this, in imitation of the example set by his companion, the young 
 officer was prevented from rolling into an abyss, "the depth of which was lost 
 in the profoand obscurity that pervaded the scene. Through the bed of this 
 dark dell rolled a narrow stream, so imperceptible to the eye in the '' living 
 darkness," and so noiseless in its course, that it was not until warned by his 
 companion he stood on the very brink of it. Captain de Haldimar was made 
 sensible of its existence. Both cleared it at a single bound, in whicli the ac- 
 tivity of the female was not the least conspicuous, and, clambering up the 
 opposite steep, secured their footing by the aid of the same underwood that 
 had assi;;ied them in their descent. 
 
 On gaining the other summit, which was not done without detaching seve- 
 ral large stones from tlieir sandy bed, they again fell into the path which had 
 been lost sight of in traversing" the ravine. They had proceeded along thi.s 
 
\V A C U S T A ; O II , 'I- H K P .1 O p H i C Y . \0 >i 
 
 about lialf a mile, when the lemale suddenly stop})e(l, and pointing: to a dim 
 and lurid atmosphere that now began to show itself between tlie thin foliage, 
 whispered that in the opening beA'cnd stood the encampment of the Indiana. 
 She then seated hei-self on the trunk of a fallen tree, that lay at the side of 
 the almost invisible path they had hitherto pursued, and motioning to her 
 companion to unboot himself; proceeded to unlace the fastenings of her mo- 
 cassins. 
 
 •• The foot of the Saganaw must fixll like the night dew on the prairie," she- 
 observed ; " the ear of the red skin is quicker than the lightning, and he will 
 know th.at a pale face is near, if he hear but his tread iipon a blade of grass." 
 
 The young officer had, at the lirst .suggestion of his guide, divested himself 
 of his boots, prepared to perform the i-emainder of the journey merely in his 
 stockings, but his companion now threw herself on her knees before him, and, 
 H-ithout further ceremony, proceeded to draw over his foot one of the mocas- 
 sins she had just relinquished. 
 
 " The f.'et of the Saganaw are soft as those of a young child," she remark- 
 ed, in a voice of commiseration ; •' but the mocassins of Oucanasta shall 
 protect them from the thorns of the forest." 
 
 This was too im-European, — too much- reversing the established order of 
 things, to be borne patiently. As if he h.ad felt the dignity of his manhood 
 olFended by the proi)Osal, the officer drew his foot hastily back, declaring, as 
 he sprang from the log, he did not care for the thorns, and could not think of 
 depriving a female, who must be much more sensible of pain than himself. 
 
 Ducanasta, however, was not to be outdone in politeness. She calmly re- 
 seated herself on the log, drew her right foot over her left knee, caught one 
 of the hands of her companion, and placing it upon the naked sole, desired 
 him to leel how impervious to attack of every description was that indurated 
 portion of the lower limb. 
 
 This practical argument was not without its weight, and had more effect in 
 deciding the officer than a volume of remonstrance. When Captain do Haldi- 
 mar had pas.sed his unwilling hand over the foot of Oucanasta, which, what- 
 ever her face might have been, was certs'.ijily anything but delicate, and 
 encountered numerous ragged excrescences and raspy callosities that set all 
 symmetry at defiance, a wonderfid revolution came over his feelings ; and 
 secretly determining the mocassins would be equally well placed on his own 
 feet, he no longer offered any opposition. 
 
 This important point arranged, the officer once more followed his guide in 
 silence. Gradually the forest, as they advanced, became lighter v.'ith the lurid 
 atmosphere before alluded to ; and at length, through the trees, could be in- 
 distinctly seen the Indian fires from which it proceeded. The young man was. 
 now desired by his conductress to use the utmost circumspection in making 
 the cu'cuit of the wood, in order to gain a position immediately opposite to 
 the point where the path they had hitherto pursued terminated in the opening. 
 This, indeed, was the most dangerous and critical part of the undertaking. 
 A false step, or the crackling of a decayed branch beneath the foot, would 
 have been sufficient to betray proximit}^, in which case his doom was sealed. 
 
 Fortunate did he now deem himself in having yielded to the counsel of his 
 guide. Had he retained his unbending boot, it must have crushed w^hatever 
 it pressed ; whereas, the pliant mocassin, yielding to the obstacles it encoun- 
 tered, enabled him to pass noiselessly over them. Still, while exempt from 
 danger on this score, another, scarcely less perplexing, became at everv instant 
 more olivious : for, as they drew nearer to the point vvhich the female sought 
 to gain, the dim light of the half-slimibering fires fell so inmiediately upon 
 their path, that had a single human ej-e been turned in that direction, their 
 discovery was inevitable. It was with a beating heart, to which mere personal 
 fear, however, was a stranger, that Captain de Haldimar performed this con- 
 cluding stage of his adventurous course ; but, at a moment when he considered 
 detection unavoidable, and was arming himself with resolution, to meet the 
 
; ■'^^'. .V f. c 0- vji T A : OR, the prophecy. 
 
 ■cirent, triO female suddenly halted, placins', in the act, the trunk of au enor- 
 T»eus beech between her oorapanion and the dusky forms within, whose very 
 toeathing could be heard by the anxious officer. Without uttering a word, 
 slie took his hand, and drawing him gently forward, disappeared altogether 
 from his view. Tlie young man followed, and in the next moment found 
 laiinself in the bowelless body of the tree itself; into which, on the side of 
 the encampment, both light and sound were admitted by a small aperture 
 &rmed by the natural decay of the wood. 
 
 The Indian pressed her lips to the ear of her companion, and rather breath- 
 ed than said, — " The Saganaw will see and hear every thing from this in safety ; 
 and what he hears let him treasure in his heart. Oucanastamust go. When 
 the council is over she will return, and lead him back to his warriors." 
 
 With this brief intimation she departed, and so noiselessly, that the young 
 officer was not aware of her absence until some minutes of silence had satisfi- 
 ed him she must be gone. His first ca,re then was to survej^, through the 
 aperture that lay in a level with his eye, the character of the scene before 
 hjm. The small plain, in which lay the encampment of the Indians, was a 
 SJit of oasis of the forest, girt around with a rude belt of underwood, and 
 somewhat elevated, so as to present the appearance of a mound, constructed 
 on the first principles of art. This v.-as thic]i;ly, although irregularly studded 
 with tents, some of which wei-e formed of large coarse mats thrown over 
 poles disposed in a conical shape, while others were more rudely composed of 
 the leafy branches of the forest. 
 
 Within these, groups of human forms lay \vrapped in their blankets, stretch- 
 ed, at their lazy length. Others, v^ith their feet placed close to the dying 
 embers of their fires, diverged like .^^o many radii from their centre, and lay 
 jnotionless in sleep, as if life and consciousness were wholly extinct. Here 
 smd there was to be seen a solitiirj' warrior securing, with admiable neatness, 
 and with delicate ligatures formed of the sinew of the deer, the guiding feath- 
 er, or fashioning tlie bony barb of his long arrow,; while others, with the 
 same warlike s)/:!it in view, employed themselves in cutting and greasing small 
 patches of suKilvj 1 d -rskiu, which were to secure and give a more certain 
 direction to iiie murderous bullet. Among the warriors were interspersed 
 laany women, some of whom might be seen supporting in their laps the heavy 
 faeads of their unconscious helpmates, while they occupied themselves, by the 
 Urclight, in parting the long black matted hair, and maintainmg a destructive 
 iv^arfarc against the pigmy inhabitants of that dark i-egion. These signs of 
 life and activity in the body of the <;amp generally were, however, but few 
 aisd occasional ; and, at the spot where Captain de Haldimar stood concealed, 
 the scenic was differeni. At a few yards from the tree stood a sort of shed, 
 composed of tall poles placed upright in the earth, and supporting a roof 
 formed simply of rude boughs, the foliage of which had been withered by time. 
 Tfeis simple edifice might be about fifty feet in circumference. In the centre 
 Mazed a large fire that had been newly fed, and around this were assembled 
 a band of swarthy warriors, some twenty or thirty in number, who, by their 
 jfjw>ud, calm, and thoughtful bearing, might at once be known to be chiefs. 
 
 The faces of most of these were familiar to the young officer, who speedily 
 recognised them for the principals of the various tribes Ponteac had leagued 
 m arms against his enemies. That chief himself, ever remarkable for his 
 IjstHghty eye and commanding gesture, was of the number of those present ; 
 smd sat a " little aloof from his inferiors, with his feet stretched towards the 
 ixre, and half reclining on his side in an attitude of indolence ; yet with his 
 mmd evidently engrossed by deep and absorbing thought. From some ob- 
 is^vations that distinctly met his ear, Captain de Haldimar gathered, the party 
 were only awaiting the arrival of an important character, without whose 
 ]^r«sence "the leading chief was unwilling the conference should begin. The 
 period of the oflicer's concealment had just been long enough to enable him to 
 ^iK all these particulars in his mind, when suddenly the faint report of a 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE 1' R P H K C Y , 103 
 
 distant viflt; was heard eclioing Ihroughont tho wood. This was instantly 
 snccoeded b}' a second, tliat sounded more sliarply on the ear ; and then fol- 
 lowsd a long and piercing cry that brought every warrior, even thotic who 
 slept, quickly to his feet. 
 
 An anxiou.^ interval of some minutes passed away in the fixed and list'^-ir'-;-^ 
 attitudes, which the chiefs especiall}- had assumed, when a noise rescu. : , 
 that of some animal forcing its way rai)idl3'- through the rustling bi:ii. . • 
 was laintly heard in the direction in which the shots had been fired. Ti'Js 
 gradually increased as it evidently approached the encampment, and then, dis- 
 tinctly, could be heard the light yet unguarded boundings of a human foot. 
 At every moment the rustling of the underwood, rapidly divided by the 
 approaching form, became more audible ; and so closel}^ did the intruder press 
 upon the point in which Captain de Haldimar was concealed, that that oiticer, 
 fancN'ing he'had been betra3'ed. turned hastily around, and, grasi'>ing one of 
 the pistols he had secreted in the chest, prepared himself for a last ajid deadly 
 encounter. An instant or two was sufficient to re-assure him. The form 
 glided hastily past, brushing the tree with its garments in its course, and 
 clearing, at a single bound, the belt of underwood that divided the encamp- 
 ment fi'om the tall forest, stood suddenly among the group of anxious and 
 expectant chiefs. 
 
 This individual, a man of tall stature, was powerfully made. He wore a 
 jerkin, or hunting-coat of leather ; and his arms were, a rifle which had every 
 appearance of having just been discharged, a tomahawk reeking with blood, 
 and a scalping knife, which, in the hurrj^ of some recent service it had been 
 made to perform, had missed its sheath, and was thrust naked into the belt 
 that encircled his loins. His countenance wore an expression of malignant 
 triumph ; and as his e3"e fell on the assembled throng, its self-satisiied and 
 exulting glance seemed to give them to understand he came not without cre- 
 dentials to recommend him to their notice. Captain de Haldimar was par- 
 ticularlj^ struck by the air of bold dariiig and almost insolent reckloKsness 
 pervading every movement of this man : and it was difticult to say v/heihor 
 the haughtiness of bearing peculiar to Ponteac himself, was not exceeded by 
 that of this herculean warrior. 
 
 By the body of cb.iefs his appearance had been greeted with a mere general 
 grunt of appi'obation ; but the coumionance of the leader expressed a more 
 personal interest. All seemed to expect he had something of moment to com- 
 municate; but as it was not consistent with the dignity of Indian etiquette 
 to enquu-e, they waited calmly until it should please their new associate to 
 enter on the history of his exploits. In pursuance of an invitation from Pon- 
 teac, he now toolc his seat on the right hand of that chief, and immediately 
 facing the tree, from which Captain de Haldimar. strongly excited both by 
 the reports of the shots that had been tired, and the sight of the bloody toma- 
 hawk of the recently arrived Indian, gazed earnestly and anxiously on the 
 swarthy tlirong. 
 
 Glancing once more triumphantly round the cn-cle. who sat smoking their ' 
 pipes in ca!m' nn 1 deliberative silence, the latter now obsei-ved the eye of a 
 youny- chief who sat opposite to him, intently riveted on his left shoulder. 
 He raised his hand to the part, v.'ithd'rew it, looked at it, and found it wet 
 with blood. A slight start of surprise betrayed his own unconsciousness of 
 the :iccident ; yet, secretlj- vexefl at the discovery which had been made, and 
 iirgcd probably by one of his wayward fits, he demanded haughtily and in- 
 sultingly of the jouug chief, if that was the first time he hi^d ever looked on 
 the blood of a warrior. 
 
 " Docs my brother feel pain ?" was the taunting reply. '• If he is come to 
 us with a trophy, it is not without being dearly bought. The Saganaw has 
 siJilt his blood."" 
 
 " The weapons of the Saganaw, like tho.se of the smooth face of the Ottawa 
 are without sting," angrily retorted the other. '• They only prick the skin 
 
104 W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 like a thorn ; but wlien Wacousta drinks the blood of his enemy," and he 
 glanced his eye fiercely at the young man, '• it is the blood next his heart." 
 
 " My brother has alwa3-s big words upon his lips," returned the yoimg 
 chief, with a scornful sneer at the implied threat against himself. '• But where 
 are his proofs ?" 
 
 For a moment the eye of the party thus challenged kindled into flame, 
 while his lips were firmly compressed together ; and as he half bent himself 
 forward, to scan with greater earnestness the features of his questioner, his 
 right hand sank' to his left side, tightly grasping the handle of his scalping- 
 knife. The action was but momentary. Again he drew himself up, puffed 
 the smoke deliberatel}' from his bloody tomahawk, and. thrusting his right 
 hand into his bosom, drew leisurely forth a reeking scalp, which he tossed 
 insolentlj' across the fire into the lap of the young chief. A loud and general 
 '' ugh !" testified the approbation of the assem]>led group at the unequivocal 
 answer thus given to the demand of the j'outh. The eye of the huge warrior 
 sparkled with a deep and ferocious exultation. 
 
 '•What says the smooth face of the Ottawas now?" he demanded, in the 
 same insolent strain. " Docs it make his heart sick to look upon the scalp of 
 a great chief?" 
 
 The young man quietly turned the horrid trophy over several times in his 
 hand, examining it attentively in eveiy part. Then tossing it back with con- 
 temptuous coolness to its owner, he replied, — 
 
 " T'he eyes of my brother are weak with age. He is not cunning, like a red 
 skin. The Ottawa has often seen the Saganaw in their fort, and he 1-Lnows 
 their chiefs have fine hair like women ; but this is like the bristle of the fox. 
 My brother has not slain a great chief, but a common warrior." 
 
 A flush of irrepressible and threatening anger passed over the features of 
 the vast savage. 
 
 ''Is it for a boy," he fiercely asked, " whose eyes know not yet the color of 
 blood, to judge of the enemies that fall by the tomahawk of Wacousta? but a 
 great warrior never boasts of actions that he does not achieve. It is the son 
 of the great chief of the Saganaw whom he has slain. If the smooth face 
 doubts it. and has courage to ventm-e, even at night, within a hundred 
 j^ards of the fort, he will see a Saganaw without a scalp ; and he will know- 
 that Saganaw b}^ his dress — the dress," he pursued, with a low emphatic 
 laugh, '• that Oucanasta, the sister of the smooth fiice, loved so much to look 
 upon." 
 
 Quicker than thought was the upspringing of the young Indian to his feet. 
 With a cheek glowing, an eye flashing, and his gleaming tomahawk whirling 
 rapidly round his head, he cleared at a single bound the fire that sepai-ated 
 him from his insuiter. T'he formidable man who had thus wantonly pro\oked 
 the attack, was equally prompt in meeting it. At the first movement of the 
 youth, he too had leapt to his feet, and brandished the terrible Aveapon that 
 served in the double capacity of pipe and hatchet. A fierce yell escaped the 
 lips of each, as thej^ thus met in close and hostile collision, and the scene for 
 the moment promised to be one of the most tragic character; but before 
 either could find an assailable point on which to test his formidable weapon, 
 Ponteac himself had thrown his person between them, and in a voice of thun- 
 der commanded the instant abandonment of tlieir purpose. Exasperated even 
 as they now mutually were, the influence of that authority, foi- which the 
 great chief of the Ottawas was well known, was not Vv'ithout due effect on the 
 combatants. His anger was principally directed against the assail,'>.nt, on whom 
 the tones of his reproving voice produced a change the intimidation of his 
 powerful opponent could never have affected. The young chief dropped the 
 point of his tomahawk ; bowed his head in submission, and then resuming his 
 seat, sat during the remainder of the night with his arms folded, aad his head 
 bent in silence over his chest. 
 
 " Our brother has done well," said Ponteac. glancing approvingly at him 
 
w A c o u !j r A ; or, t h e p r o i' h k c y . 105 
 
 who had exhibited the reeking trophy, and wiioni he evidently favored. " He 
 is a great chief, and his words are truth. AYe heard the report of his rifle, and 
 we also heard the cry that told he had borne away the scalp of an enemy. 
 But we will think of this to-morrow. Let us now commence our talk." 
 
 Our i-eaders will readHy imagine the feelings of Captain de Ilaldimar during 
 this short but exciting scene. From the account given by the warrior, there 
 could be no doubt the murdered man was the unhappy Doncllan ; who, pro- 
 bably, neglecting the caution given liim, had exposed himself to the murderous 
 aim of this fierce being, who was apparently a scout sent for the purpose of 
 watching the movements of the garrison. The direction of the firing, the al- 
 lusion made to the regimentals, nay, the scalp itself, which he knew from the 
 short crop to be that of a soldier, and fancied he recognised from its color to 
 be that of his servant, formed but too conclusive evidence of the fact ; and, bit- 
 tcrl)' and deeply, as he gazed on this melancholy proof of the man's sacrifice 
 of life to his interest, did he repent that he had made him the companion of 
 his adventui-e, or that, having done so, he had not either brought him away 
 altogether, or sent him instantly back to the fort. Commiseration for the fate 
 of the unfortunate Donellan naturally induced a spirit of personal hostility to- 
 wards his destroyer ; and it was with feelings strongly excited in favor of him 
 whom he now discovered to be the brother of his guide, that he saw him spring 
 fiercely to the attack of his gigantic opponent. There was an activity about 
 the young chief amply commensurate with the great physical power of his ad- 
 versary ; while the manner in which he wielded his tomahawk, proved him to 
 be anything but the novice in the use of the formidable weapon the other had 
 represented him. It was with a feeling of disappointment, therefore, which 
 the peculiarity of his own position could not overcome, he saw Ponteac inter- 
 pose himself between the parties. 
 
 Presently, however, a subject of deeper and more absorbing interest than 
 even the fate of his unhappy follower engrossed every faculty of liis mind, and 
 riveted both eye and ear in painful tension to the aperture in his hiding-place. 
 The chiefs had resumed their places, and the silence of a few minutes had suc- 
 ceeded to the fierce affray of the warrior.^when Ponteac, in a calm and delibe- 
 rate voice, proceeded to state he had summoned all the heads of the nations 
 together, to hear a plan he had to offer for the reduction of the last remaining 
 forts of their enemies, Michilimackinac and Detroit. He pointed out the 
 tediousness of the warfare in which they were engaged ; the desertion of their 
 hunting-grounds by then- warriors; and their consequent deficiency in all 
 those articles of European traflic which they were formerly in the habit of re- 
 ceiving in exchange for their furs. He dwelt on the beneficial results that 
 would accrue to them all in the event of the reduction of those two important 
 fortresses ; since, in that case, they would be enabled to make such terms 
 with the English as would secure to them considerable advantages ; while, in- 
 stead of being treated with the indignity of a conquered people, they would be 
 enabled to command respect from the imposing attitude this final crowning of 
 their successes would enable them to assume. He stated that the prudence 
 and vigilance of the commanders of these two unreduced fortresses were likely 
 long to baflSe, as had hitherto been the case, every open attempt at their cap- 
 ture ; and admitted he had little expectation of terrifyin_g them into a surren- 
 der by the same artifice that had succeeded with the forts on the Ohio and 
 the lower lakes. The plan, however, which he had to propose, was one he 
 felt assured would be attended with success. He would disclose that plan, 
 and the great chiefs should give it the advantage of their deliberation. 
 
 Captain de Haldimar was on the rack. The chief had gradually dropped 
 his voice as he explained his plan, until at length it became so low, that un- 
 di.stinguishable sounds alone reached the ear of the excited officer. For a mo- 
 ment he dispaircd of making himself fully master of the important secret ; but 
 in the course of the delibenitiou that ensued, the blanks left unsupplied in the 
 discourse of the leader were abundantly filled up. It was what the reader has 
 
106 
 
 \V' A C- O IT S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY 
 
 ali'dady $oen. The necessities of the Indians were to be -argcu as a motive for 
 their hehrj; tired of liostilities. ' A peace Avas to be soiicited ; a councii held ; 
 a ball-pla^ying- among the warriors proposed, as a mark of their own sincerity 
 and confidence durin;^ that council ; and when the ijarrison, luiled into secu- 
 rity, should bo thi'0\\-n entirely off their guard, the wai'riors were to seize their 
 guns and tomahawks, with, which (thorfonner cut short, for the better con- 
 cealment of their piu-jjose) their women would be pi-ovided, rush in, under 
 pretext of regaining their lost ball, when a universal massacre of men, women, 
 and children vras to ensue, until nothing wearing the garb of a Sagunaw should 
 be left. 
 
 It would be tedious to fo'low the chief through all the minor ramiiications 
 of his subtle plan. Suffice it they v.'ere of a nature to throw the most wary 
 ofi' his guard ; and so admirably arranged was every part, so certain did it 
 appear their enemies must fall into the snare, that the oldest chiefs testified 
 their approbation with a vivacity of manner and expression little wont to 
 characterise the deliberative meethigs of these reserved people. But deepest 
 of all vras the approval of tlie tall warrior who had so recently arrived. To 
 him had the discourse of the leader been principally directed, as one whose 
 counsel and experience were especially wanting to confirm him in his pin-pose. 
 He was the last who spoke ; but, when he did, it was with a force — an energy 
 — that must have sunk every objection, even if the plan had not been so per- 
 fect and unexceptionable in its concoction as to have precluded a possibility 
 of all negative argument. During the delivery of his animated speech, his 
 swarthy countenance kindled into fierce and rapidly varying expression. A 
 thousand dark and complicated passions evidently struggled at his heart ; and 
 as he dwelt leisurely and empliatically on the sacrifice of human life that 
 must inevitably attend the adoption of the proposed measure, his eye grew 
 larger, his chest expanded, nay, his very nostril appeared to dilate with un- 
 fathomably guileful exultation. Captain de Haldimar thought he had never 
 gazed on anything, Avearihg the Imman shape, half so atrociously savage. 
 
 Long before the coimcii was terminated, the inferior warriors, who had 
 been so suddenly aroused from their suuBbering attitudes, had again retired 
 to their tents, and stretched their lazy length before the embers of their fires. 
 The weary chiefs now prepared to follow their example. They emptied the 
 ashes from the bowls of their pipe-tomahawks, replaced them carefully at 
 their side, rose, and retired to their respective tents. Ponteac and the tall 
 warrior alone remained. For a time they conversed earnestly together. The 
 former listened attentively to some observations made to him by his com- 
 panion, in the course df which, the words " chief of the Saganav/ — fort — spy 
 — enemy," and- two or thre:; others equally unconnected, were alone audible 
 to the air of him who so attentively sought to catch the slightest sound. He 
 then tlirust his hand under his hunting-coat, and, as if in confirmation of 
 wliat he had been stating, exhibited a coil of rope and the glossy boot of an 
 English officer. Ponteac uttered one of liis sharp ejaculating '• iigiis !" and 
 then rising quickly from his seat, followed by his companion, soon disappeared 
 in the heart of the encampment. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 How shall wc attempt to paint all that passed through the mind of Cap- 
 tain de Haldimar dm-ing this important conference of the fierce chiefs ? — 
 where find language to convey the cold and thrilling horror with which he 
 listened to the calm discussion of a plan, the object of which was the massa- 
 cre, not onlv of a h.ost of beings cndcnred to him by long communionship of 
 service, l)nt o? tliose who were" wedded to his heart by the dearer ties of af- 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 107 
 
 I'ectiou and kindred ? Ar. Ponteao had justly observed, the English p-arrisons, 
 strong- in their own detbnco.-;. \Terc little lilcely to be speedily reduced, A\'hile 
 their enemies confined thoms?lvcs to overt acts of hostility ; but, against their 
 insidious pi-ofessions of n,u\ity who could oppose a suiiieient caution ? His 
 iather, the young oilicer wvs aware, had all along manifested a spirit of con- 
 cilianon tou-ards the Indians, which, if followed up by the government gene- 
 rally, must have had the eflect of preventing the cruel and sanguinary war 
 that had so recently desolated this remote part of the British possessions. 
 How likely, therefore, was it, having his object always in view, he should give 
 in to the present wily strata?:;:em, where such plausible motives for the aban- 
 donment of thoir hosiile purpose were urged by the pej-fidious chiefs ! From 
 the few hasty hints alrca'ly given hini by his guide, — that kind being, who 
 evidentlj- sought to be the savior of the devoted garrison. — he had gathered 
 that a deep and artful plan was to be submitted to the chiefs by their leader ; 
 but little did he imagine it was of the finished nature it now proved to be. 
 Any other than the present attempt, the vigilance and prudence of his expe- 
 rienced ftither, he felt, would have rendered abortive ; but there was so much 
 speciousness in the pleas that were to be advanced in furtherance of their as- 
 sumed object, he could not but admit the almost certainty of their influence, 
 even on him. 
 
 Sick and discouraged as he was at the horrible perspective thus forced on 
 his mental view, the young officer had not, for some moments, presence of 
 mind to reflect that the dang-er of the garrison existed only so long as he 
 should be absent from it. At length, however, the cheering recollection came, 
 and with it the mantling rush of blood, to his faint lieart. But, short was 
 the con.^oling hope : again lie felt dismay in every fibre of his frame ; for he 
 now rcrlected, that although his opportune discovery of the meditated scheme 
 would save one fort, there v.^as no guardian angel to extend, as in this in- 
 stance, its protecting influence to the other ; and within that other there 
 breathed those who were dearer far to him than his own existence ; — beings, 
 whose lives were far more precious to him than any even in the garrison of 
 which he was a member. His sister Clara, whom he loved with a love little 
 inferior to that of his younger brother ; and one, even more dearly loved than 
 Clara, — Madeline de Haklirnar, his cousin and affianced bride. — were both in- 
 mates of Michillimackinac, which was commanded by the fjither of the latter, 
 
 a major in the regiment. With Madeline de Haldimar he had long since 
 
 exchanged his vows of atiection ; and their nuptials, which were to have taken 
 place about the i)eriod when the present war broke out, had only been sus- 
 pended because all communication between the two posts had been entirely 
 cut off by the enemy. 
 
 Captain de Haldimar had none of the natu];al weakness and timiditj-^ of 
 character which belonged to the gentler and more sensitive Charles. San- 
 guine and fuii of enterprise, he seldom met evils half way; but when they 
 did come, he sought to master them by the firmness and collectedness w^ith 
 which he opposed his mind to their infliction. If his heart was now racked 
 with the most acute suffering — his reason incapacitated from exercising its 
 calm deliberate power, the seeming contradiction arose not from any deficiency 
 in his character, but was attributable wholly to the extraordinary circum- 
 stances of tiie moment. 
 
 It wiis a part of the profound plan of the Ottawa chief, that it should be 
 essayed on the two forts on the same day ; and it was a suggestion of the 
 murderer of poor Doneilan. that a parley should be obtained, through the 
 medium of a white flag, the nature of which he explained to them, as it was 
 understood atnong their enemies. If invited to the coimcil, then they were 
 to enter, or not, as circumstances might induce ; but, in any ca,se, they were 
 to go unprovided v.dth the pipe of peace, since this could not be smoked with- 
 out violating everytliing held most sacred among themselves. The red, or 
 war pipe, was to be substituted as if by accident ; and, for the success of the 
 
108 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 deception, they were to presume on the ignorance of tlieir enemies. This, 
 however, was not important, since the period of their first parley was to be 
 the moment chosen for the arrangement of a future council, and the proposal 
 of a ball-playing upon the common. Three days were to be named as the in- 
 terval between the first conference of Ponteac with the governor and the de- 
 finitive council which was to ensue ; during which, however, it was so ar- 
 ranged, that befoi-e the lip of a red skin should touch the pipe of peace, the 
 ball-players should rush in and massacre the inipreparcd soldiery, while the 
 chiefs despatched the officers in council. 
 
 It was the proximity of the period allotted for the execution of their cruel 
 scheme that mainly contributed to the dismay of Captain de Ilaldimar. The 
 very next day was appointed for carrying into effect the fii'st part of the In- 
 dian plan : and how was it possil)le that a messenger, even admitting he 
 should elude the vigilance of the enemy, could reach the distant post of Mich- 
 ilimackinac within the short period on which hung the destiny of that devoted 
 fortress. In the midst of the confused and distracting images that now 
 crowded on his brain, came at length one thought, redolent with the bright- 
 est colorings of hope. On his return to the garrison, the treachery of the 
 Indians being made known, the governor might so far, and with a view of 
 gaining time, give in to the plan of his enemies, as to obtain such delay as 
 would afford the chance of communication between the forts. The attempt, 
 on the part of those who should be selected for this purpose, would, it is true, 
 be a desperate one : still it must be made ; and with such incentives to exer- 
 tion as he had, how wiUingly would he propose his own services ! 
 
 The more he dwelt on this mode of defeating the subtle designs of the ene- 
 mj^, the more practicable did it appear. Of his own safe return to the fort he 
 entertained not a doubt ; for. he knew and relied on the Indian woman, who 
 was bound to him by a tie of gratitude, which her conduct that night evi- 
 dently denoted to be superior even to the interests of her race. Moreover, as 
 he approached the encampment unnoticed while the chiefs were yet awake to 
 everything around them, how little probability was there of his return being- 
 detected while all lay in the most profound repose. It is true that, for a mo- 
 ment, his confidence deserted him as he recurred to the earnest dialogue of 
 the two Indians, and the sudden display of the rope and boot, the latter of 
 which articles he had at once recognised to bt one of those he had so recently 
 worn ; but his apprehensions on that score were again speedily set to rest, 
 when he reflected, had an}^ suspicion existed in the minds of these men that 
 an enemy was lurking near them, a general alarm would have been spread, 
 and hundreds of warriors despatched to scour the forest. 
 
 The night was now rapidly waning away, and already the cold damp air 
 of an autumnal morning was. beginning to make itself felt. Moi:e than half 
 an hour had elapsed since the departure of Ponteac and his companion, and 
 yet Oucanasta came not. With a sense of the approach of day came new 
 and discouraging thoughts, and, for some minutes, the mind of the young 
 officer became petrified with horror, as he reflected on the bare possibility of 
 his escape being intercepted. The more he lingered on this apprehension, the 
 more bewildered were his ideas ; and already in horrible perspective, he be- 
 held the destruction of his nearest and dearest friends, and the host of those 
 who were humbler followers and partakers in the same destiny. Absolutelj^ 
 terrified with the misgivings of his own heart, lie, in the wildness and uncon- 
 nectedness of his purpose, now resolved to make the attempt to return alone, 
 although he knew not even the situation of the path he had so recently 
 quitted. lie had actually moved a pace forward on his desperate enterprise, 
 when he felt a hand touching the extended arm with which he groped to find 
 the entrance to his hiding place. The unexpected collision sent a cold shud- 
 der through his frame ; and such was the excitement to which he had worked 
 himself up, it was not without difficidty he suppressed an exclamation, that 
 
wacousta; oii, the prophecy. 109 
 
 must inevitably liavc scaled liis doom. The soft tone of Oucanasta's voice 
 re-ai;surcd him. 
 
 •• The day vrill soon dawn," she whispered ; " the Saganaw must go." 
 
 With the return of hope came the sense of all he owed to the devotedness 
 of this kind woman. He grasped the liand that still lingered on his arm, 
 pressed it affectionately in his own. and then placed it in silence on his tlirob- 
 bmg heart. The breathing of Oucanasta became deeper, and the young offi- 
 cer fancied he could feel her trembling with agitation. Again, however, and 
 in a tone of more subdued expression, she whispered that he must go. 
 
 There was little urging uecessar}' to induce a prompt compliance with the 
 hint. Cautiously emerging from his concealment, Captain de Ilaldimar now 
 followed close in the rear of his guide, who took the same circuit of the for- 
 est to reach the path that led towards the fort. This they speedily gained, 
 and then pursued their course in silence, until they at length arrived at the 
 log where the exchange of mocassins had been made. 
 
 " Here the Saganaw may take breath," she observed, as she seated herself 
 on the fallen tree ; " the sleep of the red skin is sound, and there is no one 
 upon the path but Oucanasta." 
 
 Anxious as he felt to secure his return to the fort, there was an implied so- 
 licitation in tlic tones of her to whom he owed so much that prevented Cap- 
 tain de Haldimav from oitcring an objection, which he feared might be con- 
 strued into sliL'ht. 
 
 For a moment or two the Indian remained with her arms folded, and her 
 head bent over her c!\est ; and then, in a low. deep, but tremulous voice, ob- 
 served, — 
 
 '• AVheu the Saganaw saved Oucanasta from perishing in the angry waters, 
 there was a girl of the pale faces with him. ■s\-hose skin was like the snows of 
 the Canadian winter, and whose hair was black like the fur of the squirrel. 
 Oucanasta saw," she pursued, dropping her voice yet lower, " that the Saga- 
 naw was loved by the pale girl, and her own heart was very sick, for the 
 Saganaw had saved her life, and she loved him too. But she knew she was 
 very foolish, and that an Indian girl could never be the wife of a handsome 
 chief of the Saganaw ; and she prayed to the Great Spirit of the red skins to 
 give her strength to overcome her feelings ; but the Great Spirit wa,s angry 
 with her, and would not hear her." She paused a moment, and then abruptly 
 demanded, " "Where is that pale girl now?" 
 
 Captain de Haldimar had often been rallied, not only by his brother offi- 
 cers, but even by his sister and Madeline de Haldimar heVself, on the conquest 
 he had evidently made of the heart of this Indian girl. The event to which 
 she had alluded had taken place several months ^jrevious to the breaking out 
 of hostilities. Oucanasta was directing her frail bark, one evening, along the 
 shores of the Detroit, when a gust of wind upset the canoe, and left its pilot 
 struggling amid the waves. Captain de Haldimar. who happened to be on 
 the bank at the moment with his sister and cousin, was an eye-witness of her 
 danger, and instantly flew down the steep to her assistance. Being an excel- 
 lent swimmer, he was not long in gaining the spot, where, exhausted with the 
 exertion she had made, and eucuini»ered with her awkward machecoti, the 
 poor girl was already on the point of perishing. But for his timely assist- 
 ance, indeed, .she must have sunk to the bottom ; and since that period, the 
 gi-ateful being had been remarked for the strong but unexpressed attachment 
 she felt for her deliverer. This, however, was the first moment Captain de 
 Haldimar became acquainted with the extent of feelings, the avowal of which 
 not a little startled and surprised, and even annoyed him. The last question, 
 however, suggested a thought that kindled every fibre of his being into ex- 
 pectancy, — Oucanasta might be the savior of those he loved ; and he felt that 
 if time were but afforded her, she would. He ro.sc from the log, dropped on 
 one knee before the Indian, seized both her hands with eagerness, and then 
 in tones of earnest supplication whispered. — 
 
110 W A C U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 '' Oiicaimsta is right: the pale girl with the skin like snou-, and hair like 
 the fur of the squirrel, is the bride of the Sagana^y. Long before he saved 
 the life of Oueanasta, he kne^y and loved that pale girl. She is dearer to the 
 Sag'anav,'- than his own blood ; but she is in the fort beyond the great lake, 
 and the tomahawks of the red skins v.'ill destroj' her ; for the vrra-riors of that 
 fort 'i.avo no one to tell them of their danger. What says the red girl 1 will 
 she go and save the lives of the sister and the wife of the Saganaw ?" 
 
 Tlie breathing of the Indiaii became deeper; and Captain de Haldimar fan- 
 cied she sighed heavily, as she replied, — 
 
 " Oueanasta is but a weak woman, and her feet are not swift like those of 
 a runner among the red skins ; but what the Saganaw asks, for his sake she 
 will try. When she h%s seen him safe to his own fort, she vnll go and pre- 
 pare herself for the journey. The pale girl shall lay her head on the bosom 
 of the Saganaw, and OiuvuvistM viil try to rejoice in her Imppincss." 
 
 In the fervor of his gr: yoinig officer caught the drooping form 
 
 of the generous Indian \v '!e::rt ; his lips pressed hers, and during 
 
 the kiss that f^''n-"^- "': ' -'er bounded and throbbed as if it 
 
 would have V '; : -i-om of her companion. 
 
 I>iever vra ■ . ';.:,■..;;> ,, . , ^uichaste. Gratitude, not passion, 
 
 had called il ibrLh ; an.i had .Madeline de iJaldiniar been near at the moment, 
 the feeling that impelled the seeming infidelity to herself v.'ould have been re- 
 garded as an additional claim on her affection. On the whole, however, it 
 was a most unfortuntite and ill-tiraed kiss, and, as is often the case under such 
 circumstances, led to the downfall of the woman. In the vivacity of his cm- 
 brace, Captain 'le Haldimar had drawn his guide so far forward upon the log, 
 that she iosi 1; r ^'lirice. and fell wdth a heavy and I'everberating crash among 
 the leaves hik' ir.-icil siieks that were strewed thickly around. 
 
 Scaieely a second elapsed when the forest was alive with human yells, that 
 fell ;icai.igh' on the ears of both; and bounding warriors wore heard on 
 cycvy liaiiti, rapidly dividing the dense underwood they encountered in their 
 pursuit. Quick as thought the Indian had regained her feet. She grasped 
 the ii.ind of her companion ; and hurrying, thoiagh not without caution, 
 along the path, again stood on the brow of the ravine through which the}^ 
 had previously passed. 
 
 ■■ The Saganaw must go alone, she whispered. " 'Jilie rod skins arc close 
 upon our trail, but they will find only an Indian woman when they expect 
 a pale face. Oueanasta will save her friend." 
 
 Ca.ptain de Haldimar did as he was desired. Clinging to the bushes that 
 lined the face of the precipitous descent, he managed once more to gain the 
 bed of the ravine. For a moment he paused to listen to the sounds of his 
 pursuers, whose footsteps were now audible on the eminence he had just 
 quitted ; and then, gathei-ing himself up for the leap that was to enable him 
 to clear the rivulet, he threw himself heavilj^ forward. His feet alighted upon 
 an elevated and yielding substance, that gave way with a crashing sound that 
 echoed fir and near throughout the forest, and he felt himself secured as if in 
 a trap. Although despairing of escape, he groped with his hands to discover 
 what it was that thus detained him, and found he had fallen through a bark 
 canoe, the bottom of which had been turned upwards. The heart of the fu- 
 gitive now sank within him : there could be no doubt that his retreat was in- 
 tercepted. The canoe had been placed there since he last passed through the 
 ravine : and it was evident from the close and triumphant yell that followed 
 the rending of the frail bark, such a result had been anticipated. 
 
 Stunned as he was by the terrific cries of the savages, and confused as were 
 his ideas, Captain de Haldimar had still presence of mind to }>crceive the path 
 itself oiiered Idiu no further security. He therefore quitted it altogether, and 
 struck, hi an oblique direction,, up the opposite face of the ravine. Scarcely- 
 had he gone twenty yards, v.'hcn'l'.e heard the voices of several Indians con- 
 versing earnestly near the canoe ho had just quitted ; and presently afterwards 
 
\V A C O U S T A ; OR, T U K IMl 1' II £ f Y . Ill 
 
 lie coitlii distinc.tiy hear tUoin ascenilTi^i; Ihc opposiie brow of the vavijif by 
 the p;ith ho hivl roccntiy coiigr;i.Uilatetl liimself on having abandoned. To ad- 
 vance or to recede was now eqnjilly impracticable : for, on everj'- side, he wiis 
 be.^irt by enenui.'.-;, into whose lumds a single false step must inevitably betray 
 him. What would he not have j^iven for the presence of Oucanasta, who was 
 •so capable of advising him in this diiiicultyl but, from the moment 9f liis de- 
 scending into the ravine, he had utterly lost sight of her. 
 
 The spot on \\'hicix he now rested was covered with thick brushwood, closely- 
 interwoven at their tops, but affording sufficient space beneath for a temporary 
 close concealment ; so that, unless some Indian should touch him v/ith his 
 foot, there was little seeming probability of his being discovered by the eye. 
 Under this he crept, and lay, breathless and motionless, v/itli his head raised 
 from the ground, and his ear on the stretch for the slightest noise. Fqr several 
 minutes he remained in this position, vainly seeking to catch the sound of a 
 voice, or the fall of a footstep ; but the most deathlike silence had succeeded 
 to the fierce yoUings that had so recently rent the forest. At times he fancied 
 h'i could distinguish faint noises in the direction of tlio encampment ; and so 
 certain was he of tliis. he at length came to th.e conclusion that the Indians, 
 either balfled in their saarch, had relinquished the pursuit, or, having encount- 
 ered Oucanasta, had been thrown on a diircrent scent. His first intention had 
 been to lie concealed until the following night, when the warriors, no longer 
 on the alert, should leave the path once more open to him ; but now that the 
 conviction of their return was strong on his mind, he changed his determina- 
 tion, resolving to make the best of his way to the fort with the aid of the ap- 
 j)roaching dawn. With this view he pai-tiy withdrew his body from beneath 
 its caiiop3'- of underwood ; but scarcely had he done so, when a hundred tongues, 
 like the baying of so many blood-hounds, again rent the air with their wild 
 cries, which seemed to rise up from the very bowels of the earth, and close_to 
 the appalled ear of the j'oung officer. 
 
 Scarcelj'^ conscious of what he did. Captain de Ilaldimar grasped one of his 
 pi-stols, for he fancied he felt the hot breathing of human life upon his cheek. 
 With a sickly sensation of fear, he turned to satisfy himself whether it was 
 not an illusion of his heated iiiiagination. What, however, was his dismay, 
 when he beheld bending over him a dark and heavy form, the outline of which 
 aione was distinguishable in the deep gloom in which the ravine remained en- 
 veloped ! Desperation "^s in the heart of the excited officer : he cocked his 
 pistol ; but scarcely had the sharp clicking sound floated on the air, when he 
 felt a powerful hand upon his chest ; and, with as much facility a,s if he had 
 been a child, was he raised by that invisible hand to his feet. A dozen war- 
 riors now sprang to the assistance of their comrade, when the whole, having 
 disarmed and bound their prisoner, led him back m triumph to their encamp- 
 ment. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The fires of the Indians were now nearly extinct ; but the faint light of the 
 fast dawning day threw a ghastly, sickly, hue over the countenances of the 
 savages, which i-endered them even more terrific in their war p:iint. The 
 chiefs grouped themselves immediately around their prisoner, while the inferior 
 warriors, forming an outer circle, stood leaning their dark forms upon their 
 rifles, and following, with keen and watchful eye, every movement of their 
 captive. Hitherto the unfortunate officer had been too much engrossed by 
 his despair to pay any immediate attention to the individual who had first 
 discovered and seized hnn. It was sufficient for him to know all hope of the 
 safety of the garrison had povishcd with his captivity ; and, with that reck- 
 
112 
 
 wacousta; or, the prophecy 
 
 lessness of life which often springs from the very consciousness of inabihty to 
 preserve it, he now sullenly awaited the death which he expected at each mo- 
 ment would be inflicted. Suddenly his ear was startled by an interrogatory, 
 in English, from one who stood behind him. 
 
 With a movement of surprise, Captain de Haldimar turned to examine his 
 questioner. It was the dark and ferocious warrior who had exhibited the 
 scalp of his ill-fated servant. For a moment the officer fixed his eyes firmly 
 and unshrinkingly on those of the savage, seeking to reconcile the contradic- 
 tion that existed between his dress and featui-es and the purity of the English 
 he had just spoken. The other saw his drift, and, impatient of the scrutiny, 
 again repeated, as he fiercely pulled the strong leathern thong by which the 
 prisoner now found himself secured to his girdle. — 
 
 " Who- and what are you ? — whence come you ? — and for what purpose are 
 you here ?" Then, as if struck by some sudden recollection, he laid^ his hand 
 upon the shoiilder of his victim ; and, while his eye grew upon his features, 
 he pursued; in a tone of vehemence, — " Ha ! by heaven, I should know that 
 face ! — the cursed lines of the blood of De Haklimar are stamped upon that 
 brow ! But stay, one proof and I am satisfied." While he yet spoke he dashed 
 the menial hat of his captive to the earth, put aside his hair, and then, with 
 fiendish exultation, pursued, — '■ It is even so. Do you recollect the battle of 
 the plains of Abraham, Captain de Haldimar ? Recollect you the French 
 officer who aimed so desperately at your life, and whose object was defeated 
 by a soldier of 3'our regiment ? I am that officer ; my victim escaped me then, 
 but not for ever. The hour of vengeance is now nearly arrived, and your 
 capture is the pledge of my success. Hark, how the death-cry of all his Irated 
 race will ring in madness on your father's ear !" 
 
 Amazement, stupefaction, and horror, filled the mind of the wretched officer 
 at this extraordinary declaration. He perfectly recollected that the individual 
 who had evinced so much personal hostility on the occa.sion alluded to, was 
 indeed a man wearing the French uniform, although at the head of a l)and of 
 savages, and of a stature and strength similar to those of him who now so 
 fiercely avowed himself the bitter and deadly foe of all his race. If this were 
 so, and his tone and language left little room for doubt, the doom of the ill- 
 fated garrison was indeed irrevocablj- sealed. This mysterious enemy evi- 
 dentlj' possessed great influence in the councils of the Indians : and while the 
 hot breath of his hatred continued to fan the flame of fierce hostility that had 
 been kindled in the bosom of Ponteac, whose particular friend he appeared to 
 be, there would be no end to the atrocities that must follow. Great, however, 
 as was the dismay of Captain de Haldimar, who, exhausted with the adven- 
 tures of the night, presented a ghastly image of anxiety and fatigue, it was 
 impossible for him to repress the feelings of indignation with which the lan- 
 guage of this fierce man had inspired him. 
 
 " If you are in reality a French officer," he said, " and not an Englishman 
 as your accent would denote, the sentiments you have now avowed may well 
 justify the belief, that 3-ou have been driven with ignominy from a service 
 which your presence must eternally have disgraced. There is no country in 
 Eurojx^ that would willingly claim j-ou for its subject. Nay, even the savage 
 race, with whom j-ou are now connected, would, if apprised of your true 
 nature, spurn you as a thing unworthy to herd even with their Avolf-dogs," 
 
 A fierce sardonic laugh burst from the lips of the warrior, but this was so 
 mingled with rage as to give an almost devilish expression to his features. 
 
 " Ignominy — ignominy !" he repeated, while his right hand played convul- 
 sively with the handle of his tomahav,'k ; •' is it for a De Haldimar to taunt 
 me with ignominj- ? Fool !" he pursued, after a momentary pause, ''you have 
 sealed your doom," Then abruptly quitting the handle of his weapon, he 
 thrust his hand into his bosom, and again drawing forth the reeking .scalp of 
 Donellan, he dashed it furiously in the face of his prisoner. " Not two hours 
 since," he exclaimed, " I cheered myself with the thought that the scalp of a 
 
wacousta; or, the prophbcy. 113 
 
 De Haldimar was in ray ix)uch. Now, indeed, do I glory in ray mistake. 
 The torture will be a more fitting death for you." 
 
 Had an arm of the insulted soldier been at liberty, the offence would not 
 have gone unavenged even there ; for such was the desperation of his heart, 
 that he felt he could have luigged the death struggle with his insolent ca.ptor, 
 notwiilistunding the fearful odds, nor quitted hnn until one or both should 
 have paid the debt of fierce enmity with life. As it was he could only betray, 
 by his H;u<hing eye, excited look, and the impatient play of his foot upon the 
 ground, the deep indignation that consumed his heart. 
 
 The tall savage exulted in the mortification he had awakened, and as his 
 eye glanced insolently from head to foot along his enemy, its expression told 
 how much he laughed at the impotence of his anger. Suddenl}^, however, a 
 change p;xssed over his features. The mocassin of the officer had evidently 
 atti-acted his attention, and he now demanded, in a more serious and impera- 
 tive tone, — 
 
 " Ha ! what means this disguise? Who is the wretch whom I have slain, 
 mistaking him for a nobler victim ; and how comes it that an officer of the 
 English garrison appears here in the garb of a servant ? By heaven, it is 
 so ! you are come as a spy into the camp ef the Indians to steal away the 
 councils of the chiefs. Speak, what have you heard ?" 
 
 With these questions retiu-ned the calm and self-possession of the officer. 
 He at once saw the importance of his answer, on which hung not merely his 
 own last faint chance of safety, but that also of his generous deliverer. Strug- 
 gling to subdue the disgust wliich he felt at holding converse with this atrocious 
 monster, he asked in turn, — 
 
 '• Am I then the only one whom the warriors have overtaken in their pur- 
 suit ?" 
 
 " There was a woman, the sister of that boy," and he pointed contemptu- 
 ousl)'- to the young chief who had so recently assailed him, and who now, in 
 common with his followers, stood impatiently listening to a colloquy that was 
 unintelligible to all. " Speak truly, was she not the traitress who conducted 
 you here ?" 
 
 " Had you found me here," returned the officer, with difficulty repressing 
 his feelings. " there might have been some ground for the assertion ; but 
 surely the councils of the chiefs could not be overheard at the distant point at 
 which you discovered me." 
 
 " Wh}^ then were you there in this disguise ? — and who is he/' again hold- 
 ing up the bloody scalp, '• whom I have despoiled of this ?" 
 
 " There are few of the Ottawa Indians," returned Captain de Haldimar, 
 " who are ignorant that I once saved that young woman's life. Is it then so 
 verj' extraordinary ail attachment should have been the consequence ? The 
 man whom you slew was my servant. I had brought him out with me for 
 protection during my interview with the woman, and I exchanged my uniform 
 with him for the same purpose. There is, no thing in this, however, to warrant 
 the supposition of my being a spy." 
 
 During the delivery of these more than equivocal sentences, which, how- 
 ever, he felt were fully justified by circumstances, the young officer had strug- 
 gled to appear calm and confident ; but, despite of his exertions, his con- 
 sciousness caused his cheek to color, and his eye to quail beneath the 
 searching glance of his ferocious enemy. The latter thrust his hand into his 
 chest, and slowly drew foi'th the rope he had previously exhibited to Ponteac. 
 
 ." Do you think me a fool, Captain de Haldimar," he observed sneeringly, 
 "'that you expect so paltry a tale to be palmed successfully on my under- 
 standing ? An English officer is not ver}' likely to run the risk of breaking 
 his neck by having recourse to such a means of exit from a besieged garrison, 
 merely to intrigue with an Indian woman, when there are plenty of soldiers' 
 wives within, and that too at an hour when he knows the scouts of his ene- 
 
wacotista; or, the prophecy. 114 
 
 mies are prowling in the neighborhood. Capiain de Ilaldiinar," he concluded, 
 slowly and dehberately, " you have lied." 
 
 Despite of the last insult, his prisoner remained calm. The very obserr 
 vation that had just been made afforded him a final hope of exculpation, 
 which, if it benefited not himself, might stUl be of service to the generous 
 Oucanasta. 
 
 '• The onus of such language," he observed coolly and with dignity, " falls 
 not on him to whom it is addressed, but on him who utters it. Yet one who 
 professes to have been himself a soldier, must see in this very circumstance a 
 proof of my innocence. Had I been sent out as a spy to reconnoitre the 
 movements, and to overhear the council of our enemies, the gate would have 
 been open for my egress ; but that roj^e is iu itself an evidence I must have 
 stolen forth unknown to the garrison." 
 
 Whether it was that the warrior had his own particular reasons for attach- 
 ing truth to this statement, or that he merely pretended to do so, Captain de 
 Haldimar saw with secret satisfaction his last argument v.'as conclusive. 
 
 '• Well, be it so," retorted the savage, while a ferocious smile passed over his 
 swarthy features ; " but, whether you have been here as a spy, oi' have merely 
 ventured out in prosecution of an intrigue, it matters not. Before the sun 
 has travelled far in the meridian you die ; and the tomahawk of your father's 
 deadly foe — of — of — of Wacousta, as I am called, shall be the first to drink 
 your blood." 
 
 The officer made a final effort at mercy. '• Who or what you arc, or whence 
 your hatred of my family. I know not." lie s.u'l ; ■' Irat surely 1 have never 
 injured you : wherefore, then, this insatiiiblc thirst for my blood ? If you are 
 indeed a Christian and a soldier, let your heart be touched with humanity, 
 and procure my restoration to my friends. You once attempted my life in 
 honorable combat, why not wait, then, until a fitting opportunity shall give 
 not a bound and defenceless victim to yoiu' steel, but one whose resistance 
 may render him a conquest worthy of your arm V 
 
 '' What ! and be balked of the chance of my just revenge ? Hear me, Cap- 
 tain de Haldimar," he pursued, in that low, quick, deep tone that told all the 
 strong excitement of his heart : — " I have, it is true, no particular enmity to 
 yourself, further than that you are a Ue Haldimar ; but hell does not supply 
 a feeling half so bitter as my enmity to your proud father : and months, nay 
 years, have I passed in the hope of such an hour as this. For this I have for- 
 sworn my race and become — what you now behold me — a savage both in 
 garb and character. But this matters not," he continued, fiercely and impa- 
 tiently, " 3'our doom is sealed ; and before another sun has risen, your stern 
 father's gaze shall be blasted with the sight of the mangled carcass of his first 
 born. Ha ! ha ! ha !" and he laughed low and exultingly, " even now I think 
 I see him withering, if heart so hard can wither, beneath this proof of my 
 imdying hate.'' 
 
 " Fiend ! — monster ! — devil ! " exclaimed the excited officer, now losing sight 
 of all considerations of prudence in the deep horror inspired by his captor : — 
 " Kill me — tortm-e me — commit any cruelty on me, if such be your savage 
 will ; but outrage not humanity by the fulfilment of your last disgusting 
 thi-eat. Suffer not a father's heart to be agonised — a father's eye to be 
 blasted — with a view of the mangled remains of him to whom he has given 
 hfe." 
 
 Again the savage rudely pulled the thong that bound his prisoner to his 
 gii-dle, and removing his tomahawk from his belt, and holding its sullied 
 point close under the eye of the former, exclaimed, as he bent eagerly over 
 him, — 
 
 " See you this, Captain de Haldimar ? At the still hour of midnight, while 
 you had abandoned your guard to revel in the arms of your Indian beauty, 
 I stole into the fort by means of the same rope that you had used in quitting 
 it. Unseen by the sentinels, I gained your father's apartment. It was the 
 
wacousta;or, the prophecy. 115 
 
 first time we had met for twenty years ; and T do believe, that had tlie veiy 
 devil himself presented himself in my place, he would have been received with 
 fewer mai'ks of horror. Oh, how that proud man's eye quailed beneath this 
 glitterin::,- blade ! lie attempted to call out, but my look paralysed his tongue, 
 and cold drops of sweat stole rapidly down his brow and cheek. Then it was 
 tiiat my seare<l heart once more beat with the intoxication of triumph. Your 
 father was alone and unarmed, and throughout the fort not a sound was to be 
 licai'd, save the distant tread of the sentinels. I could have laid him dead at 
 my feet at a single blow, and yet have secured my retreat. Eut no, that was 
 not my object. I came to taunt him with the promise of my revenge — to tell 
 liim tlie hour of my triumph was approaching fast; and, ha!" he concluded, 
 laughing hideously as he passed his "large rude hand through the wavy hair 
 of the now uncovered officer, " this is, indeed, a fair and unexpected first 
 earnest of the full redemption of my pledge. No — no !" he continued, as if 
 talking to himself, " he must not die. Tantalus-like, he shall have death ever 
 . apparently within his grasp ; but until- all his race have perished before his 
 eyes, lie shall not attain it." 
 
 Hitherto the Indians had preserved an attitude of quiet, listening to the 
 inteiTOgatories put to the prisoner with that wonder and cul'iosity with which 
 a savage people hear a language different from their own ; and marking the 
 several emotions that were elicited in the course of the animated colloquy of 
 the pale faces. Gnidually, however, they became impatient under its dura- 
 tion ; and many of them, in the excitement produced by the fierce manner 
 of him who was called TVacousta, fixed their dark eyes upon the captive, 
 while they grasped the handles of their tomahawks, as if thej'' would hare 
 disputed with the fornier the privilege of dying his weapon first in his blood. 
 When they saw the warrior hold up his menacing blade to the eye of his vic- 
 tim, wliile he passed his ha,nd through the redundant hair, that at once in- 
 ferred the sacrifice was about to be completed, and rushing furiouslj'' forward, 
 they bomided. and leaped, and yelled, and brandished their own weapons in 
 the most appalling manner. 
 
 Already had the unhappy officer given himself up for lost ; fifty bright 
 tomahawks were playing about his head at the same instant, and. death — 
 that death which is never Avithout terror to the young, however brave they 
 may be in the hour of generous conflict — seemed to have arrived at last. He 
 raised his eyes to heaven, committing his soul to his God in the same silent 
 prayer that he offered up for the preservation of his friends and comrades ; 
 and then bending them upon the eailh, summoned all his collectedness and 
 coiu-age to sustain him through the trial. At the veiy moment, however, 
 when he expected to feel the crashing steel within Ifis brain, he felt himself 
 again violently pulled by the thong that secured his hands. In the next in- 
 stant he was pressed close to the chest of his vast enemy, who, with one arm 
 encircling his prisoner, and the other brandishing his fierce blade in rapid 
 evolutions romid his head, kept the yelling band at bay, with the evident un- 
 shaken determination to maintain his sole and acknowledged right to the 
 disposal of his captive. 
 
 For several moments the event appeared doubtful ; but, notwithstanding 
 his extreme agility in the use of a weapon, in the management of which he 
 evinced all the dexterity of the most practised native, the odds were fearfully 
 against Wacousta ; and while his flashing eye and swelling chest betrayed his 
 pur]K)sc rather to perish himself than suffer the infringement of his claim, it 
 was evident that numbers must, in the end. prevail against him. On an ap- 
 peal to Ponteac-, however, of which he now suddenly bethought himself, the 
 authority of the latter was successfully exerted, and he was again left in the 
 full and undisturbed possession of his prisoner. 
 
 A low and earnest conversation nov>" ensued among the clucfs, in which, as 
 before. Wacousta bore a principal part. When this was terminated, several 
 Indians approaclied the unhappy officer, and unfastening the thong with 
 
116 wacoosta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 which his hands ^vere firmly and even painfully girt, deprived him both of 
 coat, waistcoat and shirt. He was then bound a second time in the same 
 manner, his body besmeared with paint, and his head so disguised as to give 
 him the caricature semblance of Indian warrior. When these preparations 
 were completed, he M-as led to the tree in which he had been previously con- 
 cealed, and thei-c firmly secured, xileanwhile Wacousta. at the head of a nu- 
 rnerous band of ^^'a^■iors. had departed once more in the direction of the fort. 
 
 With the lisinp; ot' the sun now vanished all traces of the mist that had fallen 
 since the carl}" houi-s of morning, leaving- the unfortunate officer ample leisirre 
 to survey the difficulties of his position. He had fancied, from the course 
 taken b;,^ his guide the previous night, that the plain or oasis, as we have else- 
 where termed it, lay in the very heart of the forest ; but that route nowprov 
 «d to have been circuitous. The tree to which he was bound Avas one of a 
 slight belt, separating the encampment from the open grounds which extend- 
 ed towards the river, and which was so thin and scattered on that side as to 
 leave the clear silver waters of the Detroit visible at intervals. Oh, what 
 would he not have given, at that cheering sight, to have had his limbs free, 
 and his chance of life staked on the swiftness of his flight ! While he had im- 
 agined himself begij-t by interminable forest, he felt as one v.'hose very thought 
 to elude those who wei-e in, some degree, the deities of that wild scene, must 
 be paralysed in its first conception. But here was the vivifying picture of ci- 
 vilised nature. Corn fields, although trodden down and destroyed — dwelling 
 houses, although burnt or dilapidated — told of the existence of those who 
 were of the same race with himself ; and notwithstanding these had perished 
 even as he must perish, still there was something in the aspect of the very 
 Tuins of their habitations which, contrasted with the solemn gloom of the 
 forest, carried a moinentary and indefinable consolation to his spirit. Then 
 there was the ripe and teeming orchard, and the low whitewashed cabin of the 
 Canadian peasant, to whom the offices of charity, and the duties of humanity, 
 were no strangers ; and who, also, although the secret enemies of his country, 
 had no motive for personal hostility towards himself Then, on the river itself, 
 even at that early hour, was to be seen, fastened to the long stake driven into 
 its bed, or secured by the rude anchor of stone appended to a cable of twisted 
 bark, the light canoe or clumsy periagua of the peasant 'fisherman, who, 
 ever and anon, drew up from its deep bosom whatever tenant of these waters 
 might chance to affix itself to the traitorous hook. It is true that his view 
 of these objects was only occasional and indistinct; but his intimate acquaiu-, 
 tance with the localities beyond brought everything before Captain de Haldi- , 
 mar's eye ; and even while he sighed to think they were for ever cut ofl' from 
 his reach, he alread}-, in idea, followed the course of flight he should pursue 
 were the power but afforded him. 
 
 From this train of painful and exciting thought the wretched captive was 
 aroused, by a faint but continued yelling in a distant part of the forest, and in 
 the direction that had been taken by Wacousta and his warriors. Then, after 
 a short interval, came the loud booming of the cannon of the fort, carried on 
 with a spirit and promptitude that told of some pressing and dangerous em- 
 ergency, and fainter aftei'wards the sharp shrill reports of the rifles, bearing 
 evidence the savages were already in close collision with the garrison. Va- 
 rious were the conjectures that passed rapidly through the mind of the young 
 officer, during a firing that had called almost every Indian in the encampment 
 away to the scene of action, save the two or three young Ottawas who had been 
 left to guard his own person, and who lay upon the sward* near him, with 
 head erect aiid ear sharply set, listening to the startling sounds of conflict. 
 What the motive of the hurried departure of the Indians was. he knew not ; 
 but he had conjectured the object of the fierce Wacousta was to possess him- 
 self of the uniform in which his wretched servant was clothed, that no mistake 
 might occur in his identity, when its true owner should be exhibited in it, 
 within view of the fort, mangled and disfigured, in the manner that fierce and 
 
vvacousta; or, thk prophecy. 1 IT 
 
 niyRtci-ious man ha/l alrciidy Uiieati'iH'd. It was exccodiit^ly iirobable the 
 body of Doncllan had been mistaken tor his ownj and tliat in th*i«;nxiety of 
 his father to prevent the Indians fi-oni carryius it olt' the cannon had been 
 directed to open upon them. But if this were the case, how were the reports 
 of the rifles, and the fierce yelHngs tiiat continued, save at intervals, to ring- 
 throughout the forest to be accounted for? The Inillets of the Indians evi- 
 dently could not reach the fort, and they witc Uu, wiiy, :i".(l :i(h"hcd too 
 much value to their ammunition, to risk a shot ihat \v;is 11,1 rvid ,n nfcarry- 
 ing a wound with it. For a moment the fart it-vl; l\:<<'r I >■ i<, ~ his mind. 
 and he attributed the fire of .small arms to thi' attiicl; mil 1 r, ii<\' of a party 
 that had been .sent out for the purpose of seeming; l\<r !.■> |\ . supposed to be 
 hLs own ; yet, if so, again how was he to account lor liis not licaring the re- 
 port Hif a .single musket? His ear was too well practised not to know the 
 sharp crack of the rifle from the heavy dull discharge of the musket, and as 
 yet the former only had been distinguishable, amid the intervals that ensued 
 between each sullen booming of the cannon. While this impi-cssion continued 
 on the mind of the anxious officer, he caught, with the avidity of desperation, 
 at the faint and implorable idea that his companions mi;.',ht be able to pene- 
 trate to his place of concealment, and procure his liberation ; hut when he 
 found the firing, instead of drawing nearer, was confined to the same spot, 
 and even more fiercely kept up by the Indians towards the close, he again 
 gave way to his despair, and resigning himself to his fate, no longer sought 
 comfort in vain speculation as to its cause. His ear now caught the report of 
 the last shell as it exploded, and then all was still and hushed, as if what he 
 Iiad so recently heard was but a di-eam. 
 
 The first intimation given him of the retui'n of the savages was the death 
 howl, set up by the women within the encanipment. Captain de Haldimar 
 turned his eyes, instinct with terror, towards the scene, and beheld the war- 
 riors slowly issuing from the opposite side of the forest into the plain, and 
 bearing in silence the dead and stiffened forms of those who had been cut 
 down by the destructive fire from the fort. Their mien was sullen and re- 
 vengeful, and more than one dark and gleaming eye did he encounter turned 
 upon him, with an expression that seemed to say a separate torture should 
 avenge the death of each of their fallen comrades. 
 
 The early part of the morning wore away in preparation for the interment 
 of the slain. These were placed in rows under the council shed, where they 
 were attended by their female relatives, who composed the features and con- 
 fined the limbs, while the gloomy warriors dug, within the limit of the en- 
 campment, rude graves, of a depth just sufficient to receive the body. When 
 these were completed, the dead were deposited, with the usual superstitious 
 ceremonies of these people, in their several receptacles, after which a mound 
 of earth was thrown up over each, each and the whole covered with round logs, 
 so disposed as to form a tomb of semicircular shape : at the head of each grave 
 was finally planted a pole, bearing various devices in paint, intended to illus- 
 trate the warlike achievements of the defunct parties. 
 
 Captain de Haldimar had followed the course of these proceedings with a 
 beating heart ; for too plainly had he read in the dark and threatening manner 
 both of men and women, that the retribution about to be wreaked upon him- 
 self would be terrible indeed. Much as he clung to life, and bitterly as he 
 mourned at his early cutting off" from the affections hitherto identified with his 
 existence, his wretchedness would have been less, had he not been overwhelmed 
 by the conviction that, with him, must perish every chance of the safety of 
 those, the bare recollection of whom made the bitterness of death even more 
 bitter. Harrowing as were these reflections, he felt that immediate destruc- 
 tion, since it could not be avoided, would be rather a blessing than otherwise. 
 But such, evidently, was not the purpose of his relentless enemy. Every 
 species of torment which his cruel invention could supply would, he felt con- 
 vinced. Iw exercised upon his frame : and with this impression on his mind, it 
 
118 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 would havdirequii-ed sterner nerves than his, not to have shrunk from the 
 veiy anticipation of so dreadful an ordeal. 
 
 It was now noon, and yet no visible preparation vras making for the con- 
 summation of the sacrifice. This, Captain de Haldimar imputed to the absence 
 of the fierce Wacousta, whom he had not seen since the return of the warriors 
 from the skirmish. The momentary disappearance of this extraordinary and fero- 
 cious man was, however, fraught with no consolation to his unfortunate priso- 
 ner, who felt he was only engaged in taking such measures as would render 
 not only his destruction more certain, but his preliminary sufferings more com- 
 plicated and protracted. While he was thus indulging in fruitless speculation 
 as to the, motive for his absence, he fancied he heard the report of a rifle, suc- 
 ceeded immediately afterwards by the war-whoop, at a considerable distance, 
 aaid in the direction of the river. In this impression he was confirmed, by the 
 sudden upstarting to their feet of the young Indians to whose custody he had 
 been 'committed, who now advanced to the outer edge of the belt of forest, 
 with the apparent object of obtaining a more \mconfined view of the open 
 ground that lay beyond. The rapid gliding of spectral forms from the interior 
 of the encampment in the same direction, denoted, moreover, that the Indians 
 generally had heard, and were attracted by the same sovmd. 
 
 Presently afterwards, repeated " waughs !" and " Wacousta ! — Wacousta !" 
 ii'om those who had reached the extreme skirt of the forest, fell on the dis- 
 mayed ear of the young officer. It was evident, from the peculiar tones in 
 which these words were pronounced, that they beheld that warrior approach- 
 ing them with some communication of interest ; and, sick at heart, and filled 
 with irrepressible dismay. Captain de Haldimar felt his ptdse to throb more 
 violently as each moment brought his enemy nearer to him. 
 
 A starthng interest was now created among the Indians ; for. as the savage 
 warrior neared the forest, his lips pealed forth that peculiar cry which is meant 
 to announce some intelhgence of alarm. Scarcely had its echoes died away in 
 the forest, when the whole of the warriors rushed from the encampment to- 
 wards the clearing. Directed by the sound. Captain de Haldimar bent Ids 
 eyes upon the thin skirt of wood that lay immediately before him, and at in- 
 tervals could see the towering form of that -sast warrior bounding, with in- 
 crechble speed, up the sloping ground that led from the town towards the forest. 
 A ravine lay before him but this he cleared with a prodigious effort, at a sin- 
 gle leap ; and then, continuing his -w&y up the slope, amid the low guttural ac- 
 clamations of the warriors at his extraordinary dexterity and strength, finally 
 gained the side of Ponteac, then leaning carelessly against a tree at a short dis- 
 tance from the prisoner. 
 
 A low and animated conversation now ensued between these two important 
 personages, which at moments assumed the character of violent discussion. 
 From what Captain de Haldimar could collect, the Ottawa chief was severely 
 reproving his friend for the inconsiderate ai'dor which had led him that morn- 
 ing into colhsion with those whom it was their object to lull into security by 
 a careful avoidance of hostihty, and urging the possibility of their plan being 
 defeated in consequence. He moreover obstinately refused the pressing request 
 of Wacousta, in regard to some present enterprise which the latter had just 
 suggested, the precise nature of which, however, Captain de Haldimar could 
 not learn. Meanwhile, the rapid flitting of numerous forms to and from the 
 encampment, arrayed in all the fierce panoply of savage warfare, while low ex- 
 clamations of excitement occasionally caught his ear, led the officer to inf?r, 
 strange and unusual as such an occm-rence was, that either the detachment 
 already engaged, or a second, was advancing on their position. Still, this offered 
 little chance of security for himself; for more than once, during his long con- 
 ference with Ponteac, had the fierce Wacousta bent his eye in ferocious triumph 
 on his victim, as if he would have said, — " Come what will — whatever be the 
 result — you, at least, shall not escape me," Indeed, so confident did the latter 
 •feel that the instant of attack would be the signal of his own death, that after 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 119 
 
 the first momentary and instinctive cheering of his spirit, he rather regretted 
 the circumstance of their approach ; or, if he rejoiced at all, it was only because 
 it afforded him the prospect of immediate death, instead of being exposed to 
 all the horror of a lingering and agonising sulfenng from the torture. 
 
 While the chiefs were yet earnestly- conversing, the alarm cry, previously 
 uttered by Waconsta, was repeated, although in a low and subdued tone, by 
 several of the Indians who stood on the brow of the eminence. Pontcac 
 started suddenly to the same point ; but Wacousta continued for a moment or 
 two rooted to the spot on which he stood, with the air of one in doubt as to 
 what course he should pursue. He then abruptly raised his head, fixed his 
 dark and menacing eye on his captive, and was already in the act of approach- 
 ing him, when the earnest and repeated demands for his presence, by the Ot- 
 tawa chief, drew him once more to the outskirt of the wood. 
 
 Again Captain de Haldimar breathed freely. The presence of that fierce 
 man had been a clog upon the vital functions of his heart ; and to be relieved 
 from it, even at a moment like the present, when far more important interests 
 might be supposed to occupy his mind, was a gratification, of which not even 
 the consciousness of impending death could wholly deprive him. From the 
 continued pressing of the Indians towards one particular point in the clearing, 
 he now conjectured, that, from that point, the advance of the troops was visi- 
 ble. Anxious to obtain even a momentary view of those whom he deemed 
 himself fated never more to mingle with in this life, he raised himself upon his 
 feet, and stretched his neck and bent his eager glance in the direction by 
 which Wacousta had approached ; but, so closely were the dark warriors 
 grouped among the trees, he found it impossible. Once or tvrice, however, he 
 thought he could distinguish the gleaming of the English bayonets in the 
 bright sunsliine, as they seemed to file off in a parallel line Vt^ith the ravine. 
 Oh, how his generous heart throbbed at that moment ; and how ardently did 
 he wish that he could have stood in the position of the meanest soldier in those 
 gallant ranks ! Perhaps his own brave and devoted grenadiers were of the 
 number, bijfning ■with enthusiasm to be led against the captors or destroyers 
 of their oflEicer ; and this thought added to his wretchedness still more. 
 
 While the unfortunate prisoner, thus strangely excited, bent his whole soul 
 on the scene before him, he fancied he heard the approach of a cautious foot- 
 step, lie turned his head as well as his confined position would admit, and 
 beheld, close behind him, a dark Indian, whose eyes alone were visible above 
 the blanket in which his person was completely enveloped. His right arm 
 was uplifted, and the blade of a scalping knife glittered in his hand. A cold 
 shudder ran through the veins of the young officer, and he closed his eyes, 
 that he might not see the blow which he felt was about to be directed at his 
 heart. The Indian glanced hurriedly yet cautiously around, to see if he was 
 observed ; and then, with the rapidity of thought, divided, first the thongs 
 that secured the legs, and then those which confined the arms of the defence- 
 less captive. When Captain de Haldimar, full of astonishment at finding 
 himself once more at liberty, again unclosed his eyes, they fell on the not un- 
 handsome features of the young chief, the brother of Oucanasta. 
 
 '■ The Saganawis the prisoner of Wacousta," said the Indian hastily ; " and 
 Wacousta is the enemy of the young Ottawa chief. The warriors of the pale 
 faces are there" ("and he pointed directly before him). " If the Saganaw has 
 a bold heart and a swift foot he may save his life ;" and, with this intimation, 
 he hurried away in the same cautious manner, and was in the next instant 
 seen making a circuit to arrive at the point at which the principal strength of 
 the Indians was collected. 
 
 The position of Captain de Haldimar had now attained its acme of interest; 
 for on Ifis own exertions alone depended every thing that remained to be ac- 
 complished. With wonderful presence of mind he surveyed all the difficidties 
 of his course, while he availed himself at the same moment of whatever advan- 
 tages were within his grasp. On the approach of Wacousta, the young 
 
120 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 Indians, to \vlio.se custody he had been committed, had returned to their post ; 
 but no sooner had that warrior, obeying the call of Ponteac, again departed, 
 than they once more tiew to the extreme skirt of the forest, after first satisfy- 
 ing themselves the ligatures which confined their prisoner were secure. Either 
 with a view of avoiding unnecessary encumbrance in their course, or through 
 hurry and inadvertence, they had left their blankets near the foot of the tree. 
 The first thought of the officer was to seize one of these ; for, in order to gain 
 the point whence his final effort to join the detachment must be made, it was 
 necessary he should pass through the body of scattered Indians who stood 
 immediately in hi^ way ; and the disguise of the blanket could alone afford 
 hmi a reasonable chance of moving unnoticed among them. Secretly con- 
 gratulating himself on the insulting mockery that had inducted his upper form 
 in the disguising war-paint of his enemies, he now drew the protecting blanket 
 close up to his eyes ; and then, with every nerve braced up, ever}- faculty 
 of mind and body called into action, commenced his dangerous enterprise. 
 
 He had not, however, taken more than two or three steps in advance, when, 
 to his great discomfiture and alarm, he beheld the formidable Wacousta ap- 
 proaching from a distance, evidently in search of his prisoner. With the 
 quickness of thought he deternlined on his course. To appear to avoid him 
 would be to excite the suspicion of the fierce warrior ; and desperate as the 
 alternative was, he resolved to move undeviatingly forward. At each step 
 that drew liim nearer to his enemy, the beating of his heart Ijccame more 
 violent ; and had it not been for the thick coat of paint in which he was 
 invested, the involuntary contraction of the muscles of his face must inevitably 
 have betrayed him. Nay, even as it was, had the keen eye of the warrior 
 fallen on him, such was the agitation of the officer, he felt he must have been 
 discovered. Happily, however, Wacousta, who evidently took him for some 
 inferior warrior hastening to the point where his fellows were already assem- 
 bled, passed without deigning to look at him, and so close, their forms almost 
 touched. Captain de Haldimar now quickend his pace. It was evident there 
 was no time to be lost ; for Wacousta, on finding him gone, would at once 
 give the alarm, when a hundred warriors would be ready on 41ie instant to 
 intercept his flight. Taking the precaution to disguise his walk by turning in 
 his toes after the Indian manner, he reached, with a beating heart, the first 
 of the numerous warriors who were collected within the belt of forest, anx- 
 iously watching the movements of the detachment in the plain below. To his 
 infinite joy he found that each was too much intent on what was passing in 
 the distance, to heed any thing going on near themselves ; and when he at 
 length gained the extreme opening, and stood in a line with those who were 
 the farthest advanced, without having excited a single suspicion, in his course, 
 he could scarcely believe the evidence of his senses. 
 
 . Still the most difficult part of the enterprise remained to be completed. 
 Hitherto he had moved under the friendly cover of the underwood, the advan- 
 tage of which had been to conceal that part of his regimental trousers which 
 the blanket left exposed ; and if he moved forward into the clearing, the quick 
 glance of an Indian would not be slow in detecting the difference between 
 these and his own ruder leggings. There was no alternative now but to com- 
 mence his flight from the spot on which he stood ; and for this he prepared 
 himself. At one rapid and comprehensive view he embraced the immediate 
 localities before him. On the other side of the ravine he could now distinctly 
 see the English troops, either planing, as he conceived, their own attack, or 
 waiting in the hope of drawing the Indians fi'om their cover. It was evident 
 that to reach them the ravine must be crossed, unless the more circuitous 
 route by the bridge, which was hid from his view by an intervening hillock, 
 should be preferr^ ; but as the former had been cleared by Wacousta in his 
 ascent, and was the nearest point by which the detachment could be ap- 
 proached, to this did he now du-ect his undivided attention. 
 
 While he yet paused with indecision, at one moment fancying the time for 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 121 
 
 starting was not yet arrived, and at the next that ho had suffered it to pass 
 away, the powerful and threatening voice of Wacousta was heard proclaiming 
 the escape of his cjiptive. Low but expressive exclamations from the warriors 
 marked their sense of the importance of the intcllij^cnce ; and many of them 
 hastily dispersed themselves in pursuit. This was the critical moment for 
 action ; for, as the anxious officer had rather wished than expected, those In- 
 dians who had been immediately in front, and whose proximity he most 
 dreaded, were among; tlu; number of those who dashed into the heart of the 
 forest. . Captain de Ilaldimar now stood alone, and full twenty paces in front 
 of the nearest of the savages. For a moment he played with his mocassined 
 foot, to .satisfy himself of the power and liexibility of its muscles, and then 
 committing himself to his (Jod, dashed the blanket suddenly from liis shoul- 
 ders, and, with eye and heart fixed on the distant soldiery, darted down the 
 declivity with a speed of which he had never yet believed Iiimsclf capable. 
 Scarcely, however, had his fleeing form appeared in the opening, when a tre- 
 mendous and deafening yell rent the air, and a dozen wild and naked warriors 
 followed instantly in pursuit. Attracted by that yell, the terrible Wacousta, 
 who had been seeking his victim in a different quarter, bounded forward to 
 the front, with an eye flashing fire, and a brow compressed into the fiercest 
 hate ; and so stupendous were his efforts, so extraordinary was his speed, 
 that had it not been for the young Ottawa chief, who was one of the pursuing 
 party, and who, under the pretence of assisting in the recapture of the prison- 
 er, sought every opportunity of throwing himself before, and embarrassing 
 the movements of his enemy, it is highly probable the latter would have suc- 
 seeded. Despite of these obstacles, liowever, the fierce Wacousta, who had 
 been the last to follow, soon left the foremost of liis companions far behind 
 him ; and but for his sudden fall, while m the very act of seizing the arm of 
 his prisoner, his gigantic efforts must have been crowned with the fullest suc- 
 cess. But the reader has already seen how miraculously Captain de Haldimar, 
 reduced to the last stage of debility, as much from inanition as from the un- 
 natural efforts of his flight, finally accomplished his return to the detachments 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 At the western extremity of the lake Huron, and almost washed by the waters 
 of that pigmy ocean, stands the fort of MichOlimackinac. Constructed on a 
 smaller scale, and garrisoned by a less numerical force, the defences of this post, 
 although less formidable than those of the Detroit, were nearly similar, at the 
 period embraced by our f=,tory, both in matter and in manner. Unlike the 
 latter fortress, however, it boasted none of the advantages afforded by cul- 
 ture ; neither, indeed, was there a single spot in the immediate vicinity that 
 was not clad in the eternal forest of these regions. It is true, that art and 
 laborious exertion had so far supplied the deficiencies of nature as to isolate 
 the fort, and throw it under the protecting sweep of its cannon; but, while 
 this afforded security, it failed to produce any thing like a pleasing effect to 
 the eye. The very site on which the fortress now stood had at one period 
 been a portion of the wildernes.s that every where around was only termina- 
 ted by the sands on the lake shore : and, although time and the axe of the 
 pioneer had in some degree changed its featm-cs, still there was no trace of 
 that blended natural scenery that so pleasingly diversified the vicinity of the 
 sister fort. Here and there, along the imperfect clearing, and amid the dark 
 and thickly studded stumps of the felled trees, which in themselves were suf- 
 ficient to give the most lugubrious character to the scene, rose the rude log 
 cabin of the settler ; but, beyond this, cultivation appeared to have lost her 
 power in proportion with the difliculties she had to encounter. Even the two 
 
122 WACOtJSTA; OR, tSe prophecy. 
 
 Indian villages, L'Arbre-Croche and Ohabouiga, situate about a mile from the 
 ibTt, with which they formed nearly an equilateral triangle, were hid from 
 the view of the garrison by the dark dense forest, in the heart of which they 
 ■W(rre embedded. 
 
 Lakeward the view was scarcely less monotonous ; but it was iiot, as in the 
 Tear, that monotony which is never occasionally broken in upon by some Oc- 
 CuiTcnce of interest. If the eye gazed, long and anxiousty for the white sail 
 of the well known armed vessel, charged at stated intervals with letters and 
 tidings of those whom time, and distance, and danger, far from estranging, 
 rendered more dear to the memory, and bound inore closely to the heart, it 
 was sure of being rewarded at last ; and then there -n'as no picture on which 
 it could love to linger so well as that of the silver waves bearing that valued 
 vessel in safety to its wonted anchorage in the oflBng. Moreover, the liglvt 
 swift bark canoes of the natives often danced joyously on its surface ; and 
 while the sight was ofi'ended at the savage, skulking among the trees of the 
 forest, like some dark spirit moving cautiousl}'- in its course of secret destruc- 
 tion, and watching the moment when he might pounce unnoticed upon his 
 unprepared victim, it followed, with momentary pleasure and excitement, the 
 activity and skill displayed by the harmless paddler, in the swift and meteor- 
 like race that set the trouWed surface of the Huron in a sheet of hissing fOiim. 
 Nor was this all. When the eye turned wood-ward, it fell heavily, and with- 
 out interest, upon a dim and dusky point, known to enter upon savage scenes 
 and unexplored counti'ies ; whereas, whenever it reposed upon the lake, it was 
 with an eagerness and energy that embraced the most vivid recollections of 
 the past, and led the imagination buoyantly over every well-remembered scene 
 that had previously been traversed, and which must be traversed again before 
 the land of the European could be pressed once more. The forest, in a word, 
 formed, as it were, the gloom}^ and impenetrable walls of the prison-house, 
 and the bright lake that lay before it the only portal through which happiness 
 and liberty could be again secured. 
 
 The principal entrance into the fort, which presented four equal sides of a 
 square, was from the forest ; but immediately opposite to this, and behind the 
 apartments of the commanding officer, there was another small gate that 
 opened upon the lake shore ; but which, since the investment of the place, 
 had been kept bolted and locked, with a precaution befitting the danger to 
 which the garrison was exposed. Still, there were periods, even now, when its 
 sullen hinges were to be heard moaning on the midnight Ijreeze ; for it served 
 as a medium of communication between the besieged and others who were no 
 less critically circumstanced than themselves. 
 
 The very day before the Indians commenced their simultaneous attack on 
 the several posts of the English, the only armed vessel that had been con- 
 structed on these upper lakes, serving chiefly as a medium of communication 
 between Detroit and Michiilim;ickinac, had arrived with despatches and letters 
 from the former fort. A well-concerted plan of the savages to seize her in 
 her passage through the narrow waters of the river Sinclair had onlj^ been 
 defeated by the vigilance of her commander ; but ever since the breaking out 
 of the war, she had been imprisoned within the limits of the Huron. Labori- 
 ous indeed was the duty of tlie devoted crew. Several attempts had been 
 renewed b}^ the Indians to surprise them ; hut, although their little fleets 
 stole cautiousl}^ and noiselessly, at the still hour of midnight, to the spot 
 where, at the last expiring ra)-s of twilight, they had beheld her carelesslj^ 
 anchored, and apparently lulled into security, the subject of their search was 
 ne\^Y to be met with. No sooner were objects on the shore rendered indis- 
 tinct to the eye, than the anchor was silently weighted, and, gliding wherever 
 the breeze might choose to carry her, the light bark was made to traverse the 
 lake, with every sail set, imtU dawn. None, however, were suffered to slum- 
 ber in the presumed security alforded' by this judicious flight. Every man 
 tvns at his post ; and, while a silence so profound was preserved that the 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 123 
 
 noise of a falling pin might have been licard ujwn her docks, cvcr3'thing was 
 in readiness to repel an attack of their enemies, should the vessel, in her 
 course, come accidentally in collision with their pigmy fleets. When morning 
 broke, and no sign of their treacherous foes was visible, the vessel was again 
 anchored, and the majority of the crew suffered to retire to their hammocks, 
 while the few whose turn of duty it chanced to be, kept a vigilant look-ont, 
 that, on the slightest appearance of alarm, their slumbering comrades might 
 again be aroused to energy and action. 
 
 Severe and harassing as had been the duty on board this vessel for mantjr 
 months, — at one moment exposed to the assaults of savages, at another as- 
 sailed by hurricanes that are so prevalent and so dangerous on the American 
 lakes, — the situation of the crew was even less enviable than that of the gar- 
 rison itself. AVhat chiefiy contributed to their disquietude, was the dreadful 
 consciousness that, however their present eftbrts might secure a temporary 
 safety, the period of their fall was only protracted. A few months more 
 must bring with them all the severity of the winter of those climes, and then, 
 blocked up in a sea of ice, — exposed to all the rigor of cold, — all the miseries 
 of hunger, — what effectual resistance could thej^ oppose to the numerous 
 bands of Indians who, swailing themselves of the defenceless position of their 
 enemies, would rush from every quarter to their destruction. 
 
 At the outset of these disheartening circumstances, the officer had sum- 
 moned his faithful crew together, and pointing out the danger and uncertainty 
 of their position, stated that two chances of escape still remained to them. 
 The first was by an attempt to accomplish the passage of the river Sinclair 
 during some dark and boisterous night, when the Indiana would be least 
 likely to suspect such an intention : it was at this point that the efforts of 
 their enemies were principally to be apprehended ; but if, under cover of 
 storm and darkness, they could accomplish this difficult passage, they would 
 easily gain the Detroit, and thence pass into Lake Erie, at the further ex- 
 tremity of which they might, favored by Providence, effect a landing, and 
 penetrate to the inhabited parts of the colony of New York. The other al- 
 ternative was, — and he left it to themselves to determine, — to sink the vessel 
 on the approach of winter, ahd throw themselves into the fort before them, 
 there to await and share the destiny of its gallant defenders. 
 
 With the generous enthusiasm of their profession, the noble fellows had 
 determined on the latter course. With their officer they fully coincided in 
 opinion, that their ultimate hopes of fife depended on the safe passage of the 
 Sinclair ; for it was but too obvious, that soon or late, unless some very ex- 
 traordinary revolution should be effected in the intentions of the Indians, .the 
 fortress must be starved into submission. Still, as it was tolerably well sup- 
 plied with provisions, this gloomy prospect was remote, and they were willing 
 to run all chances with their friends on shore, rather than desert them in their 
 extremity. The determination expressed by them, therefore, was that when 
 they could no longer keep the lake in safety, they would, if the officer per- 
 mitted it, scuttle the vessel, and attempt" an entrance into the fort, where they 
 would share the fate of the troops, whatever it might chance to be. 
 
 No sooner was this resolution made known, than their young commander 
 sought an opportunity of communicating with the garrison. This, however, 
 was no very easy task ; for, so closely was the fort hemmed in by the savages, 
 it was impossible to introduce a messenger within its walls ; and so sudden 
 had been the cutting off of all communication between the vessel and the 
 shore, that the thought had not even occurred to either commander to estab- 
 lish the most ordinary intelligence by signal. In this dilemma, recourse was 
 had to an ingenious expedient. The despatches of the officer were enclosed 
 in one of the long tin tubes in which were generally deposited the maps and 
 charts of the schooner, and to this, after having been carefully soldered, was 
 attached an inch rope of several hundred fathoms in length : the case was 
 then put into one of the ship's guns, so j):accd as to give it the elevation of a 
 
124 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 mortar ; thus prepared, advantage was taken of a temporary absence of the 
 Indians to bring the vessel within half a mile of the shore, and when the at- 
 tention of the garrison, naturall}^ attracted by this unusual movement, was 
 sufficiently awakened, that opportunity was chosen for the discharge of the 
 gun ; and as the quantity of powder had been proportionably reduced for the 
 limited range, the tube was soon safel}' deposited within the rampart. The 
 same means were adopted in replying ; and one end of the rope remaining 
 attached to the schooner, all that was necessary was to solder up the tube as 
 before, and throw it over the ramparts upon the sands, whence it was imme- 
 aiately pulled over her side by the watohful mariners. 
 
 As the despatch conveyed to the garrison, among other siibjects of interest, 
 bore the unwelcome intelligence that the supplies of the crew were nearly ex- 
 pended, an arrangement was proposed by which, at stated intervals, a more 
 immediate communication with the former might be effected. Whenever, 
 therefore, the wind permitted, the vessel was kept hovering in sight during the 
 day, beneath the eyes of the savages, and on tlie approach of evening an un- 
 shotted gun was discharged, with a view of drawing their attention more im- 
 mediately to her movements ; every sail was then set, and under a cloud of 
 canvass the course of the schooner was directed towards the source of the Sin- 
 clair, as if an. attempt to accomplish that passage was to be made during the 
 night. No sooner, however had the darkness fairly set in, than the vessel was 
 put about, and, beating against the wind, generally contrived to reach the off- 
 ing at a stated hour, when a boat, provided with muffied oars, was sent off to 
 the shore. This ruse had several times deceived the Indians, and it was on 
 these occasions that the small gate to which we have alluded was opened, for 
 the purpos'e of conveying the necessary supplies. 
 
 The buildings of the fort consisted chieHy of block-houses, the internal ac- 
 commodations of which were fully in keeping with their rude exterior, being 
 but indifferently provided with the most ordinary articles of comfort, and fit- 
 ted up as the limited resources of that wild and remote district could supply. 
 The best and most agreeably situated of these, if a choice could be made, was 
 that of the commanding officer. This building rose considerably above the 
 others, and overhanging that part of the rampart wliich skirted the shores of 
 the Huron, commanded a full view of the lake, even to its extremity of frown- 
 ing and belting forest. 
 
 To this block-house there were two staircases ; the principal leading to the 
 front entrance from the barrack-square, the other opening in the rear, close 
 under the rampart, and communicating by a few rude steps with the small 
 gate that led upon the sands. In the lower part of this building, appropriated 
 by the commanding officer to that exclusive purpose, the official duties of his 
 situation were usually performed ; and on the ground-fioor a large room, that 
 extended from front to rear of the block-house on one side of the passage, had 
 formerly been used as a hall of council with the Indian chiefs. The floor above 
 this comprised both his own private apartments and those set apart for the 
 general use of the family ; but, above all, and preferable from their cheerful 
 view over the lake, were others, which had been reserved for the exclusive ac- 
 commodation of Miss de Haldimar. The upper floor consisted of two sleeping 
 apartments, with a sitting-room, the latter extending the whole length of the 
 block-house, and opening immediately upon tlie lake from the only two win- 
 dows with which that side of the building was provided. The principal stair- 
 case led into one of the bed-rooms, and both of the latter communicated imme- 
 diately with the sitting room, which again, in its turn, opened, at the opposite 
 extremity on the narrow staircase that led to the rear of the block-house. 
 
 The furniture of the apartment, which might be taken as a fair sample of 
 the best the country could afford, was wild, yet .simple, in the extreme. Neat 
 rush mats, of an oblong square, and fintastically put together, so as to exhibit 
 in the weaving of the several colored reeds both fig-ures that were known to 
 exist in the creation, and those which could have no being save in the imagi- 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 135 
 
 nation of tlioir fraracvs, served as excellent substitutes for carpets, while rush 
 bottomed ehjurs, the product of Indian ingenuity also, occupied those intervals 
 around the room tliat w^erc unsuppHed hy the matting;. Upon the walls were 
 hung numerous specimens both of the dress and of the equipments of the 
 savages, and mingled with these were many natural curiosities, the gifts of In- 
 dian chiefs to the commandant at various times before the war. 
 
 Nothing could bo more unlike the embelHshments of a modern European 
 boudoir than those of tliis ajjartment, which liad, in some degree, been made the 
 sanctum of its present occupants. Here was to be seen the sc^ily carcase of 
 some huge serpent, extending its now harmless length from the ceiling to the 
 floor — there an alligator, stuHed after the same fashion ; and in various direc- 
 tions the skins of the beaver, the marten, the otter, and an infinitude of others 
 of that genus, filled up spaces that were left unsupplied by the more ingenious 
 specimens of Indian art. Head dresses tastefully wrought in the shape of the 
 crowning bays of the ancients, and composed of the gorgeous leathers of the 
 most splendid of the forest bird's— bows and quivers, handsomely and even 
 elegantly ornamented with that most tastefid of Indian decorations, the stained 
 quill of "the porcupine ; war clulxs of massive iron wood, their handles covered 
 with stained horse-hair and feathers, curiously mingled together — machecotis, 
 hunting coats, mocassins, and leggings, all worked in porcupine quill, and fan- 
 cifully arranged, — these, with many others, had been called into requisition to 
 bedeck and relieve the otherwise rude and naked walls of the apartment. 
 
 Nor did the walls alone reflect back the picture of savage ingenuity, for on 
 the various tables, the rude polish of which was hid from view by the simple 
 covering of green baize, which moreover constituted the garniture of the win- 
 dows, were to be .seen other products of their art. Here stood upon an ele- 
 vated stand a model of a bark canoe, filled with its complement of paddlers 
 carved in wood and dressed in full costume ; the latter executed with such 
 singular fidelity of feature, that although the speaking figures sprung not from 
 the experienced and classic chisel of the sculptor, but from the rude scalping 
 knife of the savage, the very tribe to which they belonged could be discovered 
 at a glance by the European who was conversant with the features of each : 
 then there were handsomely ornamented vessels made of the birch bark, and 
 filled with the delicate sugars which the natives extract from the maple tree 
 in early spring ; these of all sizes, even to the most tiny that could well be 
 imagined, were valuable rather as exquisite specimens of the neatnesB with 
 which those slight vessels could be put together, sewn as they were merely 
 with strips of the same bark, than from any intrinsic value they possessed. 
 Coverecl, over with fantastic figures, done either in paint, or in quill work art- 
 fully interwoven into the fibres of the bark, they presented, in their smooth 
 and polished surface, strong evidence of the address of the savages in their pre- 
 paration of this most useful and abundant produce of the country. Inter- 
 spersed with fliese, too, were numerous stands filled with stufted birds, some 
 of which combined in themselves every variety and shade of dazzling plumage ; 
 and numerous rude cases contained the rarest specimens of the American but- 
 terfly, most of which were of sizes and tints that are no where equalled in 
 Europe. One solitary table alone was appropriated to whatever wore a trans- 
 atlantic character in this wild and museum-like apartment. On this lay a 
 Spanish guitar, a few pieces of old music, a collection of English and French 
 books, a couple of writing desks, and scattered over the whole, several articles 
 of unfinished needle-work. 
 
 Such was the apartment in which Madeline and Clara de Haldimar were 
 met at the moment we have selected for their introduction to our readers. It 
 was the morning of thai <lay on which the second council of the chiefs, the 
 result of which has already been seen, was held at Detroit. The sun had 
 risen bright and gorgeously above the adjacent forest, tJirowing his golden 
 beams upon the calm glassy waters of the lake ; and now, approaching ra- 
 pidly toward.^ the meridian, gradually diminished the tall bold shadows of 
 
126 wacousta; or, the prophecy, 
 
 the block-houses u{X)n the shore. At the distance of about a mile lay the 
 armed. vessel so often alluded to;. her light low hull dimly seen in the hazy 
 atmosphere that danced upon the -waters, and her attenuated masts and slop- 
 ino- jards, with their slight tracery cordage, recalling rather the complex and 
 delicate ramifications of the spidei''s web, than the elastic yet solid machinery 
 to which the lives of those witliin had so often been committed in sea and 
 temi>est. Upon the strand, and close opposite to the small gate which now- 
 stood ajar, lay one of her boats, the crew of which had abandoned her with 
 the exception only of a single individual, apparently her cockswain, who, with 
 the tiller under his arm, lay half extended in the stern sheets, his naked chest 
 exposed, and his tarpaulin hat shielding his eyes from the sun while he indulg- 
 ed in profound repose. These were the only objects that told of human life. 
 Every where beyond the eye rested on the faint outline of forest, that appear- 
 ed like the softened tracing of a pencil at the distant junction of the wat^s 
 with the horizon. 
 
 The windows that commanded this prospect were now open ; and through 
 that whicli was nearest to the gate, half reclined the elegant, slight form of a 
 female, who, with an open letter in her hand, glanced her eye alternately, and 
 wdth an expression of joyousness, towards the vessel that lay beyond and the 
 point in wliich the source of the SincUvlr was known to lie. It was Clara de 
 Haldimar. 
 
 Presently the vacant space at the same window was filled by another f9rm, 
 but of less girlish appearance — one that embraced all the full rich contour of 
 the Mcdicean Venus, and a lazy languor in its movements that harmonised with 
 the speaking outlines of the form, and without which the beauty of the whole 
 would have been at variance and imperfect. The general expression more- 
 over, of a countenance which, closely analysed, could not not be termed beau- 
 ful, marked a mind at once ardent in its conceptions, and steady and resolute 
 in its silent accomplishments of purpose. She was of the middle height. 
 
 Such was the person of Madeline de Haldimar ; but attractive, or rather 
 winning, as were her womanly attributes, her principal power lay in her voice, 
 — the beauty, nay voluptuousness of which nothing could surpass. It was 
 impossible to listen to tlie slow, full, rich, deep, and melodious tones that fell 
 trembling from her lips upon the ear, and not feel, aye shudder, under all 
 their ftiscination on the soul. In such a voice might the Madonna of Raphael 
 have been supposed to offer up her supplications from the gloomy precincts of 
 the cloister. No wonder that Frederick de Haldimar loved her, and loved 
 her with all the intense devotedness of his own glowing heart. His cousin 
 was to him a divinity whom he worshipped in the innermost recesges of his 
 being ; and his. in return, ivas the only ear in which the accents of that al- 
 most sujxirhuman voice had breathed the thrilling confession of an attach- 
 ment, which its very tones announced would be deep and imperishable as the 
 soul in Avhich it had taken root. Often in the hours that preceded the period 
 when they were to have been united, heart and mind and thought, in one 
 common destiny, would he start from her side, his brain whirling with very 
 intoxication, and then obeying another wild impulse, rush once more into her 
 embrace ; and clasping his beloved Madeline to his heart, entreat her again to 
 pour forth aU the melody of that confession in his enraptured ear. Artless 
 and unafl'ected as she was generous and impassioned, the fond and noble girl 
 never hesitated to gratify him whom alo!ie she loved ; and deep and fervent 
 was the joy of the soldier, when he found that each passionate entreaty, far 
 from being met with caprice, only drew from the lips of his cousin warmer 
 and more affectionate expressions of her attachment. Such expressions, com- 
 ing from any woman, must have been rapturous and soothing in the extreme ; 
 but, when they flowed from a voice whose very sound was melody, they acted 
 cm the heart of Captain de Haldimar with a potency that was as irresistible 
 as the love itself which she inspired. 
 
 Such was the position of things just before the commencement of the In- 
 
wacousta; or, thk prophecy. 127 
 
 diaji war. Madeline do Haldiraar had bueu for some time on a visit to De- 
 troit, and her niJirriage \vith her cousin was to have taken place witliin a few- 
 days. The unexpected arrival of intelliG;cnc3 from Michillimaokinac that her 
 father was danj^orously ill, however, retarded the ceremony ; and, up to the 
 present period, their intercourse had been (,'oinplctely .suspended. If Made- 
 line de Haldimar was capable of strong attachment to her lover, the power- 
 ful ties of nature were no less deeply rooted in her heart, and commiseration 
 and anxiety for her father now engrossed every faculty of her mind. She 
 entreated her cousin to defer the soIemnLsation of their nuptials until her 
 parent shouli be pronounced out of danger, and, having obtained his consent 
 to delay, instantly set oS" for Michiliimackinac. accompanied by her cousin 
 Clara, whom she had prevailed on the governor to part -vj-ith until her own 
 return. Hostilities were commenced very shortly afterwards, and, although 
 Major de Haldinnir speedily recovered from liis illness, the fair cousins were 
 compelled to shara the common imprisonment of the garrison. 
 
 "\Vhen Miss de Haldimar joined her more youtliful cousin at the window, 
 through which the latter was gazing thoughtfully on the scene before her, she 
 flung her arm around her waist with the protecting manner of a mother. 
 The mild blue eyes of Clara met those that were fastened in tenderness upon 
 her, and a corresiwnding movement on her part brought the more matronly 
 form of her cousin into close and affectionate contact with her own. 
 
 '• Oh, Madeline, what a day is this !" she exclaimed ; " and how of\en on 
 my bended knees have I prayed to heaven that it might arrive ! Dm- trials 
 are ended at last, and happiness and joy are once more before us. There is 
 the boat that is to conduct us to the vessel, which, in its tm-n. is to bear me 
 to the arms of my dear father, and you to those of the lover who adores you. 
 How beautiful does that fabric appear to me now ! Never did I feel half the 
 pleasure in sm-veying it I do at this moment." 
 
 " Dear, dear girl !" exclaimed Miss de Haldimar, and she pressed her closer 
 and in silence to her heart ; then, after a slight pause, during which the mant- 
 ling glow uj)Ou her brow told how deeply she desired the reunion alluded to 
 by her cousin — '' that, indeed, will be an hour of happiness to us both, Clara ; 
 for irrevocabl)' a.s our affections have been pledged, it would be silly in the 
 extreme to deny that. I long most ardently to be restored to him who is 
 already my husband. But, tell me," .she concluded, with an archness of ex- 
 pression that caused the long-lashed eyes of her companion to sink beneath 
 her own, " are you quite sincere in your own case ? I know how deeply you 
 love your father and your brothers, but do the.s,e alone occupy your attention ? 
 Is there not a cerUiin friend of Charles whom you have some little curiosity 
 to see also ?" 
 
 " How silly, Madehne !" and the cheek of the young girl became suffused 
 with a deeper glow ; " you know I have never seen this friend of my brother. 
 how then can I possibly feel more than the mo.st ordinary interest in him ? 
 I am disposed to Uke him, certainly, fcjr the mere reason that Charles does ; 
 but this is all." 
 
 •' Well, Clara, I will not pretend to decide; but certain it is, this is the last 
 letter you received from Charles, and that it contains the strongest recommen- 
 dations of his friend to your notice. Equally certain is it. that scarcely a 
 day has passed, since we have been shut up here, that you have not perused 
 and re-perused it half a dozen times. Now, as I am confessedly one who 
 should know something of these matters, I must be suffered to pronounce 
 these are strong symptoms, to say the very least. Ah ! Clara, that blush de- 
 clares you guilty. But who have we here? Middleton and Baynton." 
 
 The eyes of the cousins now fell upon the ramparts immetUately under the 
 window. Two ofBcers, one apparently on duty for the day, were passing at 
 the moment ; and. as they heard their names pronounced, stopped, looked up, 
 and saluted the young ladies with that easy freedom of manner, which, un- 
 mixed with either disrespect or effrontery, so usually characterises the address 
 of military men. 
 
128 wacousta; or, the prophecy, 
 
 " What a contrast, by heaven !" exclaimed he who wore the badge of duty 
 suspended over his chest, throwing himself playfully into a theatrical attitude, 
 expressive at once of admiration and surprise, while his eye glanced intelli- 
 gently over the fair but dissimilar forms of the cousins. " Venus and Psyche 
 in the land of the Pottowatamies, by all that is magnificent ! Come, Middle- 
 ton, quick, out with that eternal pencil of yours, and perform your promise." 
 
 " And what may that promise be ?" asked Clara, laughingly, and without 
 adverting to the hyperbolical compliment of the dark-eyed officer who had 
 just spoken. 
 
 " You shall hear," pursued the lively captain of the guard. " While mak- 
 ing the tour of the ramparts just now, to visit my sentries, I ^w Middleton 
 leaning most sentimentally against one of the boxes in front, his note book in 
 one hand and his pencil in the other. Curious to discover the subject of his 
 abstraction, I stole ca,utiously behind him, and saw that he was sketching the 
 head of a tall and rather handsome squaw, who, in the midst of a hundred 
 others, was standing close to the gateway watching the preparations of the 
 Indian ball players. I at once taxed him with having lost his heart ; and 
 rallying him on his bad taste in devoting his pencil to any thing that had 
 a red skin, never combed its hair, and turned its toes in while walking, pro- 
 nounced his sketch to be an absolute fright. Well, will you believe what I 
 have to add ? The man absolutely flew into, a tremendous passion with me, 
 and swore that she was a Venus, a Juno, a Minerva, a beauty of the first 
 water in short ; and finished by promising, that when t could point out any 
 woman A\'ho was superior to her in personal attractions, he would on the in- 
 stant write no less than a dozen consecutive sonnets in her praise. I now call 
 upon hira to fulfil his promise, or maintain the superiority of his Indian 
 beauty." 
 
 Before the laughing Middleton could find time to reply to the light and 
 nnmeaniug rattle of his friend, the quick low roll of a drum was heard from 
 the front. The signal was understood by both officers, and they prepared to 
 depart. 
 
 " This is the hour appointed for the council," said Captain Baynton, look- 
 ing at his watch, '" and I must be with my guard, to receive the chiefs with 
 becoming honor. How I pity you, Middleton, who will have the infliction of 
 One of their gre^it big talks, as Murphy would call it, dinned into yom- ear 
 for the next two hours at least ! Thank heaven, my tour of duty exempts 
 me from that ; and by way of killing an hour, I think I shall go and carry 
 on a flirtation with your Indian Minerva, alias Venus, alias Juno, while you 
 are discussing the affairs of the nation with closed doors. But hark ! there 
 is the assembly drum again. We must be oft'. Come, Middleton, come. 
 Adieu !" waving his hand to the cousins, " we shall meet at dinner." 
 
 " What an incessant talker Baynton is !" observed Miss de Haldimar, as 
 the young men now disappeared round an angle of the rampart ; " but he 
 has reminded me of what I had nearly forgotten, and that is to give orders 
 for dinner. My father has invited all the officers to dine with him to-day, in 
 commemoration of the peace which is being concluded. It will be the first 
 time we shall have all met together since the commencement of this cruel 
 war, and we must endeavor, Clara, to do honor to the feast." 
 
 " I hope," timidly observed her cousin, shuddering as she spoke, ''that none 
 of those horrid chiefs will be present, Madeline ; for, without any affectation 
 of fear whatever, I feel that I could not so far overcome my disgTist as to sit 
 at the same table with them. There was a time, it is true, when I thought 
 nothing of these things ; but, since the war I have witnessed and heard so 
 much of their horrid deeds, that I shall never be able to endure the sight of 
 an Indian face again. Ah !" she concluded, turning her eyes upon the lake, 
 while she clung more closely to the embrace of her companion ; '• would to 
 heaven, Madeline, that we were both at this moment gliding in yonder vessel, 
 aottd in sight of my father's fort !" 
 
wacousta; dk, thk prophecy. 129 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 
 The eyes of Miss do Ilaldimar followed those of her cousin, and rested on 
 the dark hull of the schooner, with which so many recollections of the past 
 and anticipations of the future were associated in their minds. AVhcn they 
 had last looked upon it, all appearance of human life had vanished from its 
 decks ; but now there was strong evidence of unusual bustle and activity. 
 Numerous persons could be seen moving hastily to and fro, their heads just 
 peering above the bulwarks ; and presently they beheld a small boat move 
 from the ship's side, and shoot rapidly ahead, in a direct line with the well- 
 known bearings of the Sinclair's course. While thej^ continued to gaze on 
 this point, following the course of the light vessel, and forming a variety of 
 conjectures as to the cause of a movement, especially remarkable from the 
 circumstance of the commander being at that moment in the fort, whither he 
 had been summoned to attend the council, another and scarcely perceptible 
 object was dimly seen, at the distance of about half a mile in front of the 
 boat. With the aid of a telescope, which had formed one of the principal re- 
 sources of the cousins during their long imprisonment, Miss de Haldimar now 
 perceived a dark and shapeless mass moving somewhat heavily along the lake, 
 and in a hue with the schooner and the boat. This was evidently approach- 
 ing ; for each moment it loomed larger upon the hazy water, increasing in 
 biilk in the same proportion that the departing skiff became less distinct : 
 still, it was impossible to discover, at that distance, in what manner it was 
 propelled. Wind there was none, not as much as would have changed the 
 course of a feather dropping through space; and, except where the dividing 
 oars of the boatmen had agitated the waters, the whole surface of the lake 
 was like a sea of pale and liquid gold. 
 
 At length the two dark bodies jnet. and the men in the boat were seen to 
 lie upon their oars, while one in the stern seemed to be in the act of attaching 
 a rope to the formless matter. For a few moments there was a cessation of 
 all movement ; and then again the active and sturdy rowing of the boatmen 
 was renewed, and with an exertion of strengtli even more vigorous than that 
 they had previously exhibited. Their course was now directed towards the 
 vessel : and as it gradually neared that fabric, the rope by which the strange 
 looking object was secured, could be distinctly though faintly seen with the 
 telescope. It was impossible to say whether the latter, whatever it might be, 
 was ui-ged by somo invisible means, or mereh' floated in the wake of the 
 boat ; for, although the waters thi'ough which it passed ran rippling and 
 foaming from their course, this effect might have been produced by the boat 
 which preceded it. As it now approached the vessel, it presented the appear- 
 ance of a dense wood of evergreens, the overlianging branches of which de- 
 scended close to the water's edge, and baffled every attempt of the cousins to 
 discover its true character, the boat had now arrived within a hundred 
 yards of the schooner, when a man was seen to rise from its bows, and put- 
 ting both his hands to his mouth, after the manner of sailoi's in hailing, to 
 continue in that position for some moments, apparently conversing with those 
 who were grouped along the nearest gangway. Then were observed rapid 
 movements on the decks; and men were seen hastening aloft, and standing 
 out upon the foremost yards. This, however, had offered no intenuption to 
 the exertions of the boatmen, who still kept plying with a vigor that set even 
 the sailless vessel in motion, as the foaming water, thrown from their bending 
 oar-blades, dashed angrily against her prow. Soon afterwards. UAh the boat 
 and her prize disappeared on the opposite side of the schooner, which now 
 lying with her broadside immediately on a line with the shore, completely 
 hid them from the further view of the cousins. 
 
 " Look ! — Look !" said Clara, chnging sensitivelv and with alarm to the al- 
 9 
 
130 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 most maternal bosom against which she reposed, while she pointed with her 
 finger to another dark mass that was moving through the lake in a circular 
 sweep from the point of wood terminating the clearing on the right of the 
 fort. 
 
 Miss de Haldimar threw the glass on the object to which her attention was 
 now directed. It was evidently some furred animal, and presented all the ap- 
 pearance either of a large water-rat or a beaver, the latter of which it was 
 pronounced to be as a nearer approach rendered its shape more distinct. 
 Ever and anon, too, it disappeared altogether under the water ; and when it 
 again came in sight, it was always several yards nearer. Its course, at first 
 circuitous, at length took a direct line with the stern of the boat, where the 
 sailor who was in charge still lay extended at his drowsy length, his tarpaulin 
 hat shading his eyes, and his arms folded over his uncovered chest, while he 
 continued to sleep as profoundly as if he had been comfortably berthed in his 
 hammock in the middle of the Atlantic. 
 
 " What a large bold animal it is," remarked Clara, in the tone of one who 
 wishes to be confirmed in an impression but indifferently entertained. " See 
 how close it approaches the boat ! Had that lazy sailor but his wits about 
 Mm, he might easily knock it on the head with his oar. It is — it is a beaver, 
 Madeline ; I can disting-uish its head even with the naked eye." 
 
 " Heaven grant it may be a beaver," answered Miss de Haldimar, in a voice 
 so deep and full of meaning, that it made her cousin start and turn paler 
 even than before. " Nay, Clara, dearest, command yourself, nor give way to 
 what may, after all, prove a groundless cause of alarm. Yet I know not how 
 it is, my heart misgives me sadly ; for I like not the motions of this rnimal, 
 which are strangely and unusually bold. But this is not all : a beaver or a 
 rat might ruffle the mere surface of the water, j^et this leaves behind it a deep 
 and gurgling furrow, as if the element had been ploughed to its very bottom. 
 Observe how the lake is agitated and discolored wherever it has passed. 
 Moreover, I dislike this sudden biistle on board the schooner, knowing, as I 
 do, there is not an officer present to order the movements now visibly going 
 forward. The men are evidently getting up the anchor ; and see how her 
 sails are loosened, apparently courting the breeze, as if she would fly to avoid 
 some threatened danger. Would to heaven this council scene were over ; for 
 I do, as much as yourself, dearest Clara, distrust these cruel Indians." 
 
 A significant gesture from her trembling cousin again drew her attention 
 from the vessel to the boat. The animal, which now exhibited the delicate 
 and glossy fur of the beaver, had gained the stern, and remained stationary 
 within a foot of her quarter. Presently the sailor made a sluggish move- 
 ment, turning himself heavily on his side, and with his face towards his curi- 
 ous and daring visitant. In the act the tarpaulin had fallen from his eyes, 
 but still he awoke not. Scarcely had he settled himself in his new position, 
 when, to the infinite horror of the excited cousins, a naked human hand was 
 raised from beneath the siu-ftice of the lake, and placed upon the gunwale of 
 the boat. Then rose slowly, and still covered with its ingenious disguise, first 
 the neck, then the shoulders, and finally the form, even to the midwaist, of a 
 dark and swarthy Indian, who, stooping low and cautiously over the sailor, 
 now reposed the liand that had quitted the gunwale upon his form, wliile the 
 other was thrust searchingly into the belt encircling his waist. 
 
 Miss de Haldimar would have called out, to apprise the unhappy man of 
 his danger ; but lier voice refused its office, and her cousin was even less capa- 
 ble of exertion than herself. The deep tiirobbings of their hearts were now 
 audible to each ; for the dreadful interest they took in the scene, had excited 
 their feelings to the most intense stretch of agony. At the veiy moment, 
 however, when, with almost suspended animation, they expected to see the 
 knife of' the savage driven into the chest of the sleeping and unsuspecting 
 sailor, the latter suddenly started up, and instinct with the full sense of the 
 danger hj which he was menaced, in less time than we take to describe it. 
 
vvacousta; or, the prophecy. 131 
 
 seized the tiller of his rudder, the only available inslrument witliin his reach, 
 and directinn- a powerful blow at the head of his amphibious enemy, laid him, 
 without apparent life or motion, across the boat. 
 
 " Almi!j,hty (iod ! what can this mean ?" exdaimed Miss de ITaldimar, as 
 soon as slic could recover her presence of mind. "There is some fearful 
 treachery in aji,itation ; and a cloud now hangs over all that will soon burst 
 with irresistible fury on our devoted heads. Clara, my love," and she con- 
 ducted the almost fainting girl to a seat, '" wait here imtil I return. The mo- 
 ment is critical, and my father must be apprised of what we have seen. Un- 
 less the gates of the fort are instantly closed, we are lost." 
 
 " Oh, Madeline, leav« me not alone," entreated the sinking Clara. " We 
 will go together. Perhaps I may be of service to you below." 
 
 " The thought is good ; but have you strength and courage to face the 
 daxk chiefs in the council-room. If so, hasten there, and put my father on 
 Ms guard, while I fly across the parade, and warn Captain Baynton of the 
 danger." 
 
 With these words she drew the arm of her agitated cousin within her own, 
 and, rapidly traversing the apartment, gained the bed-room which opened 
 close upon the head of the principal staircase. Already were they descending^ 
 the first steps, when a loud cry, that sent a thrill of terror through their 
 blood, was heard from without the fort. For a moment Miss de Haldlmar 
 continued irresolute ; and leaning against the rude balustrade for support, 
 passed her hand rapidly across her brow, as if to collect her scattered energies. 
 The necessity for prompt and immediate action was, however, evident ; and 
 she alone was capable of exertion. Speechless with alarm, and trembling in 
 every joint, the unhappy Clara had now lost all command of her limbs ; and, 
 clinging close to the side of her cousin, by her wild looks alone betrayed 
 consciousness had not wholly deserted her. The energy of dtjspair lent more 
 than woman's strength to Miss de Haldimar. She caught the fainting girl in 
 her arms, retraced her way to the chamber, and depositing her burden on the 
 bed, emphatically enjoined her on no account to move until her return. She 
 then quitted the room, and rapidly descended tlie staircase. 
 
 For some moments all was still and hushed as the waveless air ; and then 
 again a loud chorus of shouts was heard from iht' rani]),irts of the fort. The 
 choked breathing of the young girl became more Ir •■, ;;!id tlie Mo-hI rushed 
 once more from her oppressed heart to the cxtreinilies. Never did tones of 
 the human voice fall more gratefully on t\K; e;n- of uuu-iner cast on some desert' 
 island, than did those on that of the highly excitL'd Clara. It was the loud 
 laugh of the soldiery, who, collected along the line of rampart in front, were 
 watching the progress of the ball-players. Cheered by the welcome sounds, 
 she raised herself from the bed to satisfy Ler eye her ear had not deceived 
 her. The windows of both bed-chambers looked iinincdiately on the barrack 
 square, and commanded a full view of the priiiciital entrame. I'rom that at 
 which she now stood, the revived but still anxious girl couhl distinctly see all 
 that was passing in front. The ramparts were covered with soldiers, who, 
 armed merely with their bayonets, stood grouped in careless attitudes — some 
 with tlu'ir wives leaning on their arms — otliers with their children upraised, 
 that the V lui^lil the better observe the enlivening sports without — some lay 
 indolently with thi'ir legs overhanging tlie .'.orlvs— others, assuming pugihstic 
 attitudes, dealt their harmless blows at e:ic'i oiler. — and all were blended 
 together, men, women, and children, with ilial Iieedlessness of thought that 
 told how little of distrust existed within their breasts. The soldiers of the 
 guard, too, exhibited the same air of calm and unsuspecting confidence; some 
 walking to and fro within the square, while the greater portion cither mixed 
 with their comrades above, or, with arms folded, legs carelessly crossed, and 
 pipe in mouth, leant lazily against the gate, and gazed beyond the lowered 
 drawbridge on the Indian games. 
 
 A mountain weight seemed to have been removed from the breast of Clarss- 
 
133 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 at this sight, as she now dropped upon her knees before the window, and 
 raised her hands in pious acknowledgment to heaven. 
 
 " Almighty God, I thank thee," she fervently exclaimed, her eye once more 
 lighting up, and her cheek half suffused with blushes at her late vague and 
 idle fears ; while she embraced, at a single glance, the whole of the gladdening 
 and inspiring scene. • 
 
 While her soul was yet upturned whither her words, had gone before, her 
 ears were again assailed by sounds that curdled her blood, and made her 
 spring to her feet as if stricken by a bullet through the heart, or powerfully 
 touched bj' some electric fluid. It was the well-known and devilish war-cry 
 of the savages, ."itartling the very air through which it passed, and falling like 
 a deadly blight upon the spirit. With a mechanical and desperate effort at 
 courage, the unliappy cdrl turned her eyes below, and there met images of 
 death in their most ain^iilling shapes. Hurry and confusion and despair were 
 every where visible ; for a band of Indians were already in the fort, and these, 
 fast succeeded hy others, rushed like a torrent into the square, and commenced 
 their dreadful work of butchery. Many of the terrified soldiers, withoxit 
 thinking of drawing their bayonets, flew down the ramparts in order to gain 
 their respective block-liouses for their muskets : but these every where met 
 death from the crashing tomahawk, .short rifle, or gleaming knife ; — others 
 who had presence of mind sufficient to avail themselves of their only weapons 
 of defence, nislii'il down in the fury of desperation on the yelling fiends, re- 
 solved to sell their lives as dearly as possible ; and for some minutes an obsti- 
 nate contest was maintairiod : but the vast superiority of the Indian numbers 
 triumphed ; and although the men fought with all the fierceness of despair, 
 forcing their way to the block-houses, their mangled corses strewed the area 
 in everv direction. Neither was the horrid butchery confined to these. 
 Women clinging to their husbands for protection, and, in the recklessness of 
 their despair^ impeding the efforts of the latter in their self-defence — children 
 screaming in terror, or supplicating mercy on their bended knees — infants 
 clasped to their parents' breasts, all alike sunk under the unpitying steel of 
 the blood-thirsty-savages. At the guard-hnnse the principal stand had been 
 made; for at the first rush into the' fort. I^.' nun on duty had gained their 
 station, and, having made fast the bai i hm/Ivs, openeil their fire upon the 
 cnemv- ^lixod pele-melc as they were with the Indians, many of the English 
 were sliot by tlieir own comrades, who, m the confusion of the moment, were 
 incapalilo of taking a cool and discriminating aim. These, however, were 
 finally overcome. A band of desperate Indians rushed upon the main door, 
 and with repeated blows from their tomahawks and massive war-clubs, .suc- 
 ceeded in demolishing it, while others diverted the fire of those within. The 
 door once forced, the struggle was soon over. Every man of the guard per- 
 ished, and their scalpless and disfigured forms were thrown out to swell the 
 number of those that already deluged the square with their blood. 
 
 Even amid all the horrors of this terrific scene, the agonised Clara preserved 
 her consciousness. The very imminence of the danger endued her with strength 
 to embrace it under all its "most disheartening aspects ; and she. whose mind 
 had been wrought up to the highest pitch of powerful excitement by t)ic mere 
 preliminary threatenings, was comparativel}' collected under the catastrophe 
 itself Death, certain death, to all, she saw was inevitable ; and while her per- 
 ception at once embraced tlie futility of all attempts at escape from the general 
 doom, she snatched from despair the power to follow its gloomy details with- 
 out being annihilated under their weight. 
 
 The confusion of the garrison had now reached its axjme of horror. The 
 shrieks of women and the shrill cries of children, as they severally and fruit- 
 lessly fled from the death certain to overtake them in the end, — the cursings 
 of the soldiers, the yellings of the Indians, the reports of rifles, and the crash- 
 ings of tomahawks ; — these, with the stamping of human feet in the death 
 struggle maintained in the council-room below between the chiefs and the offl- 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 133 
 
 cers, and which shook the block-house to its very Ibundation, all mixed up in 
 terrible chorus together, might have called up a not inapt image of hell to the 
 bewildered and confounding brain. And yet the sun shone in yellow lustre, 
 and all nature smiled, and wore an air of c;ilm, as if the accursed deed had had, 
 the sanction of heaven, and the spirits of light loved to look upon the frightful 
 atrocities then in perj.ietration. 
 
 In the tirst distraction of her spirit, Clara had utterly lost all recollection of 
 her cousin ; but now that she had with unnatural desperation, brought her 
 mind to bear upon the fiercest points of the grim realty, she tui'ned her eye 
 every whei-e amid the scene of death in search of the form of her beloved Made- 
 line, whom she did not remember to have seen cross the parade in pursuance 
 of the purpose she had named. AVhile slie yvi ;;ri/.' il rciifully from the win- 
 dows, loud bursts of mingled anguisli iind t:i: ■ ■. ih.,il \\--v>' alniost drowned in 
 the iiercer yells with which they were hlcndeil. nscemUd iroiu the ground-floor 
 of the block-house. These had hitherto li-eu suppressed, as if the desperate 
 attack of the chiefs on the officers had l^eeii ;)ia<le with t-!osed doors. Now, 
 however, there was an evident outburst of all jjarties into the passage ; and 
 there the struggle appeared to be desperately and fearfully maintained. In 
 the midst of that cJiaotic scene, the loud and piercing shriek of a female rose 
 far above th» discordant yell even of the savages. I'hcie was an instant of 
 pause, and then the crashing of a skull was heard, am', the confusion was 
 greater than before ; shrieks, and groans, and curses, and supplications rent 
 the air. 
 
 The fii-st smgle shriek came from Madeline de Haldimar, and vibrated 
 through every chord of the heart on which it sank. Scarcely conscious of 
 .what she did, Clara, quitting the window, once more gained the top of the 
 staircase, and at the extremity of her voice called on the name of her cousin in, 
 the most piteous accents. She was answered by a loud shout from the yelling^ 
 band ; and presently bounding feet and screaming voices w vv<: ii' j;u'd ascending the 
 stairs. The terrified girl fancied at the moment she lieaid a door open on the 
 floor immediately below her, and some one dart suddenly up uie tlight commu- 
 nicating mth the spot on which she stood. Without waiting to satisfy herself, 
 she rushed with all the mechanical instinct of self-preservation back into her 
 own apartment. As she passed the bed-room window, she glanced once more 
 hastily into the area below, and there beheld a sight that, tilling her soul with 
 despair, paralysed all further exertion. A tall savage was bearing off the ap- 
 parentl}' lifeless form of her cousin through the combatants in the square, her 
 white dress stained all over with blood, and her beautiful hair loosened and 
 trailing on the ground. She followed with her burning eyes until thej- passed 
 the drawbrige, and finally disai)peared beJiind the intervening rampart, and 
 then flowing her head between her hands, and sinking upon her knees, she 
 reposed her forehead against the sill of the window, and awaited unshrinkingly, 
 yet in a state of inconceivable agony, the consummation of her own unhappy 
 destiny. 
 
 The sounds of ascending feet were now heard in the passage without ; and 
 presently, while the clangor of a thousand demons seemed to ring throughout 
 the upper part of the building, a man rushed fui'iously into the room. The 
 blood of the young girl curdled in her veins. She mechanically grasped the 
 ledge of the window on which her aching head still reposed, and with her eyes 
 firmly closed, to shut out from view the fiend whose sight she dreaded, even 
 more than the death which threatened her, quietly awaited the blow that was 
 to terminate at once her misery and her life. Scarcely, however, had the feet 
 of the intruder pressed the sanctuary of her bedchamber, when the heavy door, 
 strongly studded with nails, was pushed rapidly to, and bolt and lock were 
 heard sliding into their several sockets. Before Clara could raise her head to 
 discover the cause of this movement, she felt herself firmly secured in the 
 grasp of an encircling arm, and borne hastily through the room. An instinc- 
 tive sense of something worse even than death now Hashed across the mind of 
 
134 w AC OUST a; or, the prophecy. 
 
 the uuiiajjjjy girl ; and while slie feared to unclose her eyes, she struggled vio- 
 lently to disengage herself. 
 
 " Clara ! dear Miss de Hakliinar, do you not know me ?" exclaimed her sup- 
 porter, while placing her for a moment on a seat, he proceeded to secure the 
 fastenings of the second door, that led from the bedchamber into the larger 
 apartment. 
 
 Re-assured by the tones of a voice which, even in that dreadful moment of 
 trial and destruction, were familiar to her ear, the trembling girl opened her 
 eyes wildly upon her protector. A slight scream of terror marked her painful 
 sense of recognition. It was Captain Baynton whom she beheld: but how mi- 
 like the officer who a few minutes before had been conversing with her from 
 the ramparts. His fine hair, matted with blood, now hung loosely and dis- 
 figui-ingly over his eyes, and his pallid face and brow were covered with gore 
 spots, the evident spatterings from the wounds of others ; while a stream that 
 issued from one side of his head attested he himself had not escaped unhurt in 
 the cruel melee. A skirt and a lappel had been torn from his uniform, which, 
 together with other portions of his dress. v.-ere now stained in various parts 
 by the blood continually flowing from his wovmd. 
 
 " Oh. Captain Baynton," murmvired the fainting girl, her whole soul sinking 
 within her, as she gazed shudderingly on his person. " is there no hope for us 7 
 must we die ?" 
 
 " No, by heaven, not while I have strength to save you," returned the offi- 
 cer, with energy. '' If the savage have not penetrated to the rear, we may yet 
 escape. I saw the postern open just now, on my passage round the rampart, 
 and the boat of the schooner upon the strand. Ha !" he exclaimed, as he flew 
 to the window, and cast his eye rapidly below, '" we are lost ! The gate is stiU 
 dear, and not an Indian to be seen ; "but the coward sailor is pulling for his' 
 life towards the vessel. But hold ! another boat is now quitting the ship's 
 side. See, how manfully they give themselves to the oars ; in a few minutes 
 they will be here. Come, Clara, let us fly !" and again he caught her up in 
 his arms, and bore her across the room. '• Hark, hear you not the exulting 
 yellings of the monsters ? They are forcing the outer door : mark how they 
 redouble their efforts to break it open ! That passed, but one more barrier 
 remains between us and inevitable and instant death." 
 
 "And my cousin, my imcle !" shrieked the unhappy girl, as the officer now 
 bore her rapidly down the back staircase. 
 
 " Oh, ask me not !" exclaimed Baynton : '• were I to linger again on all I 
 have witnessed, I should go mad. All, all have perished ! but, hark !" 
 
 A tremendous yell now bursting from the passage, announced at once the 
 triumph of the savages in having effected an entrance into the bed-room, and 
 their disappointment at finding their pursuit baulked by a second door. Pre- 
 sently afterwards their heavy weapons were to be heard thundering at this 
 new obstacle, in the most furious manner. This gave new stimulus to the ex- 
 ertions of the generous officer. Each winding of the staircase was familiar to 
 him, and he now descended it with a rapiditj^ which, considering the burden 
 that reposed against his chest, could only have been inspired by his despair. 
 The flight terminated at a door that led' directly upon the rampart, without 
 communicating with any of the passages of the building ; and in this consist- 
 ed the principal facility of escape : for, in order to reach them, the savages 
 must either make the circuit of the block-house, or overtake them in the 
 <»urse they were now following. In this trying emergency, the presence of 
 mind of the young officer, wounded and bleeding as he was, did not desert him. 
 On quitting the larger apartment above, he had secured the outside fastenings 
 of a small door at the top of the stairs, and having now gained the bottom, 
 he took a similar precaution. All that remained was to unclose the bolts of 
 the ponderous door that opened upon their final chance of escape : this was 
 speedily done, but here the feelings of the officer were put to a severe test. A 
 rude partition divided him from the fatal councH-ioora ; and while he undid 
 
W A C U S T A ; O U , T H t PROPHECY. 135 
 
 the tkstoiiings, the foint and dying groans of his butchered brother officers 
 run?- in his cars, even at the moment that he felt his feet dabbling in the 
 blood that oozed through tlie imperfectly closed planks of which the partition 
 was composed. As for Clara, she was insensible to all that was passing. 
 From the moment of the Indian yell, announcing their entry mto the bed- 
 room, she had fainted. 
 
 The huge door came now creaking back upon its hinges, when the sounds 
 of the yet unfinished couilict in front, which had hitherto been deadened in 
 their descent through the remote staircase, rang once more riorcely and start- 
 lingly upon the ear. A single glance satisfied Captain Baynton the moment 
 for exertion was come, and that the way to the lake shore, which, by some 
 strange oversight, both the Indians and the men had overlooked, was pei-fect- 
 ly clear. He clasped his unconscious burden closer to his chest, ami then, 
 setting his life upon the cast, hastened dovv^n the few steps that led to the 
 rampart, and dashed rapidly through the postern ; in the next mmute he 
 stood on the uttermost verge of the sands, unharmed and unfoUowed. He 
 cast his eyes anxiously along the surface of the lake ; but such was the ex- 
 citement and confusion of his mind, produced by the horrid recollection of 
 the past scene, it was not until he had been abruptly hailed from it, he could 
 see a boat, at the distance of about two hundred yards, the crew of which were 
 lying on their oars. It was the long-boat of the schooner, which, prevented 
 from a nearer ap])roach by a sand bar that ran along the lake to a consider- 
 able extent, had taken her station there to receive the fugitives. Two tall 
 young men in the dress, yet having little the mien, of common sailors, were 
 standing up in her stern ; and one of these, with evident anxiety in his manner, 
 called on Baynton by name to make the best of his way to the boat. At that 
 moment a loud and frantic yell came from the block-house the latter had just 
 quitted. In the wild impulse of his excited feelings, he answered with a cheer 
 of defiance, as he turned to discover the precise point whence it proceeded. The 
 windows of the apartment so recently occupied by the unhappy cousins, were 
 darkened with savage forms, who now pealed forth their mingled fury and 
 disappointment in the most terrific manner. 
 
 " Fly, iiy, Baynton, or you are lost !" exclaimed the same voice from the 
 boat ; '• the devils are levelling from the windows." 
 
 While he yet spake, several shots came whizzing along the water.i, and a 
 spent ball even struck the now rapidly fleeing officer in the back ; but the 
 distance was too great for serious injury. The guns of the savages had been 
 cut so short for their desperate enterprise, that they carried little further than 
 a horse pistol. 
 
 Again, in the desperation of liis feelings, and heedless of the danger he was 
 drawing on himself ami (linrinj. the oiticer turned fiercely round and shouted, 
 at his utmost lunus, a peal of triunipli in the ears of his enemies. Scarcel}'-, 
 however, had the sounds escaped his lips, when two hideously painted Indians 
 sprang through the postern, and, silent a,s tlie spectres they resembled, rushed 
 down the sands, and tlience into tlie lake. Loud shouts from the windows 
 above were again pealed forth, and from the consternation visible on the f.'a- 
 turcs of those within the boat, the nearly exhausted Baynton learned all the 
 •risk he incurred. Summoning all his strength, he now made the most des- 
 perate efforts to reach his friends. The lake was little more than knee deep 
 from the .shore to the bar, but, encumbered as he was, the difllculty opposed 
 to his movements was immeasurably against him, and yet he seemed gene- 
 rou.sly resolved rather to perish than relimniisli iiis rliarue. Ahrady were 
 his pursuers, now closely followed by a nnni' rous band, wiUiin twenty yards 
 of him, when the two young men, each armed with a cutlass and pistol, sprang 
 from the boat upon the sand bar : as the Indians came on they fired delibe- 
 rately at them, but both missed their aim. Encouraged by this failure, the 
 fearlcvss devils dashed eagerly on, brandishing their gleaming tomahawks, but 
 
136 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 utterinj? not a sound. Already was the unfortunate Baynton within a few feet 
 of the bar, when he felt that the savages were immediately upon him. 
 
 " Take, take, for God's sake, take her !" he cried as with a desperate effort 
 he threw the light form of the still unconscious girl into the arms of one of 
 the young men. " My strength is quite exhausted, and I can do no more." 
 
 For the first time a yell burst from the lips of the pursuing savages, as 
 they saw him, to whom the guardianship of the wretched Clara was now con- 
 fided, suddenl}- spring from the sand bar into the lake, and in a few rapid 
 strokes gain the side of the boat. Leaving the hapless Baynton to be dispos- 
 ed of by his companion, the foremost darted upon the bank, burning with 
 disappointment, and resolved to immolate another victim. For a moment he 
 balanced his tomahawk, and then with the rapidity of thought, darted it at 
 the covered head of the youth who still hngered on the bar. A well-timed 
 movement of thp latter averted the blow, and the whizzing steel passed harm- 
 lessly on. A guttural " ugh !" marked the disappointment of the Indian, now 
 reduced to his scalping-knife ; but before he could determine whether to ad- 
 vance or to retreat, his opponent had darted upon him, and with a single blow 
 from his cutlass, cleft his skult nearly asunder. The next instantaneous pur- 
 pose of the victor was to advance to the rescue of the exhausted Baynton ; 
 but, when he turned to look for him, he saw the mangled form of what had 
 once been that gallant and handsome officer floating, without life or motion, on 
 the blood-stained surftxce of the Huron, while his tiendisli murderer, calmly 
 awaiting the approach of his companions, held up the reeking scalp, in tri- 
 umph, to the view of the still yelling groups within the block-house. 
 
 " Noble, generous, self-devotcd fellow !" exclaimed the youth, as he fixed 
 his burning tearless eye for a moment on the unfortunate victim ; " even you, 
 then, are not spared to tell the horrid story of this butchery : yet is the fate 
 of the fallen for, far more enviable than that of those who have siu-vived this 
 day." He then committed his cutlass to its sheath : and, leaping into the 
 deep water that lay beyond the bar, was, in a few seconds, once more in the 
 stern of the boat. 
 
 Meanwhile, the numerous band, who followed their two first fierce com- 
 rades into the lake, bounded rapidly forward : and, so active were their move- 
 ments, that, at almost the same moment when the second of the youths had 
 gained his temporary place of refuge, they stood yelling and screaming on the 
 sand bar he had just quitted. Two or three, excited to desperation by the 
 blood they had seen spilt, plunged unhesitatingly into the opposite depths of 
 the lake ; and the foremost of these was the destroyer of the ill-fated Bayn- 
 ton. With his bloody scalping-knife closely clutched between his teeth and 
 his tomahawk in his right hand, this fierce warrior buSeted the waves lustily 
 with one arm, and noiselessly, as in the early part of his pursuit, urged his 
 way towards the boat. In the stern of this a few planks from the schooner 
 had been firmly lashed, to serve as a shield against the weapons of the sava- 
 ges, and was so arranged as to conceal all v>-ithin while retiring from the 
 shore. A small aperture had, however, been bored for the purpose of ob- 
 serving the movements of the enemy without risk. Through this an eye was 
 now directed, while only the blades of the oars were to be seen projecting 
 firom the boat's sides as they reposed in their rowlocks. Encouraged by the 
 seeming apathy and inertness of the crew, the swimming savages paused not 
 to consider of consequences, but continued their daring course as if they 
 apprehended neither risk nor resistance. Presently a desperate splash was 
 heard near the stern of the boat, and the sinuous form of the first savage 
 was raised above the gunwale, his grim face looking devilish in its smeared 
 war-paint, and his fierce eyes gleaming and rolling like fire-balls in their sock- 
 ets. Scarcely was he seen, however, when he had again disappeared. A blow 
 from the cutlass that had destroyed his companion descended like lightning 
 on his naked and hairless head ; and, in the agony of death, he might be seen 
 grinding his teeth against the knife which the instinctive ferocity of his natm-e 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 137 
 
 forbtwlc his relinquishing. A yd\ of fury burst from the savages on the bar, 
 and presently a shower of bullets Hew whistling through the air. Several 
 were heard striking the rude rampart in the stern ; but, although the boat 
 was scarcely out of pistol-shot, the thickness of the wood prevented injury 
 to those within. Another fierce yell followed this volley ; and then nearly a 
 score of warriors, giving their guns in charge to their companions, plunged 
 furiously into the water ; and, with an air of the most infuriated deterrainar- 
 tion, leaped rather than swam along its surface. 
 
 "Now then, my lads, give way," said he at the lookout ; "there arc more 
 than a dozen of the devils in full cry ; and our only chance is in flight ! Ila ! 
 another here !" as. turning to issue these directions, he chanced to see the dark 
 hand of a savage at that moment grasping the gunwale of the boat as if with. 
 a view to retard her movements untQ the arrival of his companions. 
 
 A heavy blow from his cutlass accompanied these words. " The fingers, di- 
 vided at their very roots, rolled to the bottom of the boat, and the carcass of 
 the savage dropped, with a yell of anguish, far in the rear. The heavy oar- 
 blades of the seamen now made play, dashing the lake away in sheets of foam ; 
 and, in less than five minutes, the heads of the swimming savages were seen 
 like so many rats upon the water, as they returned once more in disappoint- 
 ment from their fruitless pursuit. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The sun had gone down, as he had risen, in all the gloriousness of his au- 
 tumnal splendor, and twilight was now fast descending on the waters of the 
 Huron. A slight breeze was just beginning to make itself felt from the land, 
 the gradual rising of which was hailed by many an anxious heart, as the 
 schooner, which had been making vain attempts to quit her anchorage during 
 the day, now urged her light bows through the slightly curling element. A 
 death-like silence, interrupted only by the low, gruft' voice of a veteran sea- 
 man, as he issued, in technical language, the necessary orders for the manage- 
 ment of the vessel, prevailed every where along her decks. The dress and 
 general appearance of this individual announced him for a petty officer of the 
 royal service ; and it was evident, from the tone of authority with which he 
 spoke, he was now in the enjoyment of a temporary command. The crew, 
 consisting of about thirty souls, and chiefly veterans of the same class, were 
 assembled along the gangways, each man wearing a brace of pistols in the 
 belt, which, moreover, secured a naked cutlass around his loins ; and these 
 now lingered near the several guns that were thrown out from their gloomy 
 looking ports, as if ready for some active service. But, although the arming-^ 
 of these men indicated hostile preparation, there was none of that buoyancy 
 of movement and animation of feature to be observed, which so usually char- 
 acterise the indomitable daring of the British sailor. Some stood leaning 
 their heads pensively on their hands against the rigging and hammocks that 
 were stowed away along the bulwarks, after the fashion of war ships in board- 
 ing ; others, with arms tightly folded across their chests, gazed earnestly and 
 despondingly on the burning fort in the distance, amid the rolling volumes of 
 smoke and flame from which, ever and anon, arose the fiendish yell of those 
 who, having already sacked, were now reducing it to ashes. Nor was this 
 the only object of their attention. On the sand bank alluded to in our last 
 chapter were to be dimly seen through the growing dusk, the dark outlines 
 of many of the savages, who, frantic with rage at their inability to devote 
 them to the same doom, were still unwilling to quit a spot which approached 
 them nearest to the last surviving objects of their enmity. Around this point 
 were collected numerous canoes, iilled also with vrarriors ; and, at the mo- 
 
13S wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 ment when the vessel obeying the impnlse given by her flowing sails, glided 
 from the anchorage, these followed, scudding in her w.ike, and made a show 
 of attacking her in the stern. The sudden yawing of the schooner, however, 
 in bringing her tier of bristling ports into view, had checked the ardor of the 
 pursuing fleet ; and the discharge of a single gnm, destro3nng in its coui'se 
 three of their canoes, and carrying death among those who directed them, 
 had driven them back, in the greatest hurry and confusion, to their yelling 
 and disappointed comrades. 
 
 The after-deck of the schooner presented a different, though not less sombre 
 and discouraging scene. On a pile of mattrasses lay the light and almost in- 
 animate form of Clara de Haldimar ; her foir and redundant hair overshadow- 
 ing her pallid brow and cheek, and the dress she had worn at the moment of 
 her escape from the fort still spotted with the blood of her generous but un- 
 fortunate preserver. Close at her side, with her hands clasped in his, while 
 he watched the expression of deep suffering reflected from each set feature, 
 and yet with the air of one pre-occupied with some other subject of painful 
 interest, sat, on an empty shot box, the young man in sailor's attire, whose 
 cutlass had performed the double service of destroying his own immediate 
 opponent, and avenging the death of the devoted Baynton. At the head of 
 the rude couch, and leaning against a portion of the schooner's stern-work, 
 stood his companion, who from delicacy appeared to have turned away his 
 eyes from the group below, merely to cast them vacantly on the dark waters 
 through which the vessel was now beginning to urge her course. 
 
 Such was the immediate position of this little party, when the gun fired at 
 the Indians was heard booming heavily along the lake. The loud report, in 
 exciting new sources of alarm, seemed to have dissipated the spell that had 
 hitherto chained the energies and perception of the still weak, but now highly 
 excited girl. 
 
 " Oh, Captain Baynton, where are we ?" she exclaimed, starting up sud- 
 denly in terror, and tlirowing her arms around him who sat at her side, as if 
 she would have clung to him for protection. '• Is the horrid massacre not 
 finished 3-ct ? Where is Madeline? where is my cousin? Oh, I cannot 
 leave the fort without her." 
 
 " Ha ! where indeed is she ?" exclaimed the youth, as he clasped his trem- 
 bling and scarcely conscious burden to his chevSt, '" Almighty God, where ia 
 she ?" Then, after a short pause, and in a voice of tender but exquisite anguish, 
 " Clara, my beloved sister, do you not know me 1 It is not Baynton but 
 your brother, who now clasps you to his breaking heart." 
 
 A deluge of tears was the only answer of the wretched girl. They were 
 the first she had shed, — the first marks of con.sciousness she had exhibited. 
 Hitherto her heart had been oppressed ; every fibre of her brain racked al- 
 most to bursting, and filled only with ghastly flitting visions of the dreadful 
 horrors she had seen perpetrated, she had continued, since the moment of her 
 fainting in the block-house, as one bereft of ail memory of the past, or appre- 
 hension of the present. But now, the full out-pouring of her grief reheved 
 her overcharged brain and heart, even while the confused images floating be- 
 fore her recollection acquired a more tangible and painful character. She 
 raised herself a moment from the breast on which her burning head reposed, 
 looked steadfastly in the face that hung anxiously over her own, and saw in- 
 deed that it was her brother. She tried to speak, but she could not utter a 
 word, for the memory of all that had occurred that fatal morning rushed with 
 mountain weight upon her fainting spirit, and again she wept, and more bit- 
 terly than before. 
 
 The young man pressed her in silence to his bosom ; nor v^'as it until she 
 had given full vent to her grief, that he ventured to address her on the sub- 
 ject of his oAvn immediate sorrows. At length, when .she appeared somewhat 
 calm, he observed, in a voice broken by emotion, — 
 
 " Clara, dearest what account have you to give me of ^Madeline ? Has she 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 139 
 
 shared the fate of all? or have you reason to suppose her life has been 
 spared?" 
 
 Another burst of tears succeeded to these questions, for coupled with the 
 name of her cousin arose all the horrid associations connected with her loss. 
 As soon, however, as she could compose herself, she brieil}' stated all she had 
 witnessed of the affair, from the moment when the boat of the schooner was 
 6een to meet the strange looking object on the water, to that when she had 
 beheld her ill-fated cousin borne away apparently lifeless in the arms of the 
 tall Indian by whom she had been captured. 
 
 During this recital the heart of Captain de llaldimar, — for it was he, — beat 
 audibly against the cheek that still reposed on his breast ; ))ut when his sister 
 had, in a faint voice, closed her melancholy narrative with the manner of her 
 cousin's disappearance, he gave a sudden start, uttering at the same time an 
 exclamation of joy. 
 
 " Thank God, she still lives !" he cried, pressing his sister once more in fond- 
 ness to his heart ; then turning to his companion, who, although seemingly 
 abstracted, had been a silent and attentive witness of the scene, — " By 
 heaven ! Vallctort, there is yet a hope. She it was indeed whom we .saw borne 
 out of the fort, and subsequently made to walk by the cruel Indian who had 
 charge of her." 
 
 " Valletort, Valletort," murmured Clara unconsciously, her sick heart 
 throbbing with she knew not what. *' How is this, Frederick ? — Where, 
 then, is Captain Baynton ? and how came you here ?" 
 
 " Alas ! Clara, poor B.aynton is no more. Even at the moment when he 
 confided the unconscious burden, preserved at the peril of his own life, to the 
 arms of Sir Evcrard here, he fell beneath the tomahawk of a pursuing savage. 
 Poor, noble, generous ]^>aynLon," he continued, mournfully ; '• to him, indeed, 
 Clara, are you indciited for your life ; yet was it pm-chased at the price of his 
 own." 
 
 Again the pained and affectionate girl wept bitterly, and her brother pro- 
 ceeded : — 
 
 " The strange object you saw on the lake, my love, was nothing moi'e than 
 a canoe disguised with leafy boughs, in which Sir Everard Valletort and my- 
 self, under the guidance of old Fran9ois of the Fleur de Lis, whom you must 
 recollect, have made the dangerous passage of the Sinclair in the garb of duck 
 hunters. — which latter we had only discarded on reaching the schooner, in 
 order to assume another we conceived better suited to our purpose. Alas !" 
 and he struck his hand violently against bis brow, •' had we made directly for 
 the shore without touching the vessel at all, there might have be*n time to 
 save those we came to apprise of their danger. Do you not think there was, 
 Valletort ?'= 
 
 '• Most assuredly not," returned his companion, anxious to remove the im- 
 pression of self-blame that existed in the mind of Captain de Haldimar. 
 '• From the moment of our renching the schooner, which lay immediately in 
 our route, to that when the sliout was raised by the sava.ges as they rushed 
 into the fort, there was scarcely an interval of three minutes ; and it would 
 have required a longer period to have enabled us to gain the shore." 
 
 " Thank, thank you for that !" exclaimed the officer, drawing himself up 
 with the air of one who breathes more freely. " I would not, for the wealth 
 and honors of the united world, that such a cause for self-reproach should 
 linger on my mind. By heaven ! it would break my heart to think we had 
 been in time to save them, and yet had lost the opportmiity throur;a even one 
 moment of neglect." Then turning once more to his sister, — " Now, Clara, 
 that I see you in safety, I have another saci*ed duty to perform. I must leave 
 you, but not alone." 
 
 " ^Vhat mean you, Frederick ?" exclaimed his agitated sister, clinging more 
 closely to his embrace. '' Scarce have we met, and you talk of leaving me. 
 Oh, whither would you go ?" 
 
140 wacousta: or, the prophecy, 
 
 " Surely, my love," and he spoke half reproachfully, although with tender- 
 ness of accent, " my meaning must be obvious. But what do I say '? You 
 know it not. jNIadeline still lives. AYe saw her, as we pulled towards the 
 shore, led across the clearing in the direction of Chabouiga. Hear me, then: 
 the canoe in which we came is still towing from the vessel's stern, and in 
 this do I mean to embark, without further loss of time, in search of her 
 who is dearer to me than existence. I know," he pursued with emotion, 
 " I have but little hope of rescuing, even if I do succeed in finding her : but 
 at least I shall not have to suffer undei- the self-reproach of having neglected 
 the only chance that now lies within my reach. If she be doomed to die, I 
 
 shall then have nothing left to live for except you, Clara," lie continued, 
 
 after a pause, pressing the weeping girl to his heart, as he remarked how 
 much she seemed pained by the declaration. 
 
 Having placed his sister once more on the couch, and covered her with 
 a cloak that had been brought from the cabin of the unfortunate commander, 
 Captain de Haldimar now rose from his humble seat, and grasping the hand 
 of his friend, — 
 
 " Valletort," he said, " I commit this dear girl to j'our keeping. Hitherto 
 we have been equal sharers in an enterprise having for its object the pre- 
 servation of our mutual companions and friends. At present, interests of a 
 more personal nature occupy my attention ; and to these must I devote 
 myself alone. I trust you will reach Detroit in safety ; and when you have 
 delivered my unfortunate sister into the arms of her father, you will say to 
 him from me, I could not survive the loss of that being to whom I had 
 sworn eternal fidelity and affection. Francois must be my only companion 
 on this occasion. Nay," he continued, pointing to his sister, in answer to the 
 rising remonstrance of the baronet, " will you desert the precious charge I 
 have confided to your keeping ? Recollect, Valletort," in a more subdued 
 tone, " that besides yourself, there will be none near her but rude and unedu- 
 cated sailors ; — honest men enough in their way, it is true ; but not the sort 
 of people to Avhom I should like to confide my poor sister." 
 
 The warm and silent pressure by Sir Everard of his hand announced his 
 participation in the sentiment ; and Captain de Haldimar now hastened for- 
 ward to apprise the Canadian of his purpose. He found mine host of the 
 Fleur de Lis seated in the forecastle of the schooner ; and with an air of the 
 most perfect unconcern discussing a substantial meal, consisting of dried un- 
 cooked venison, raw onions, and Indian corn bread, the contents of a large 
 bag or wallet that lay at his feet. No sooner, however, had the impatient 
 officer communicated his design, asking at the same time if he m.ight expect 
 his assistance in the enterprise, than the unfinished meal of the Canadian was 
 discontinued, the wallet refilled, and the large greasy clasp-knife with which 
 the portions had been separated, closed and thrust into a pocket of his blanket 
 coat! 
 
 " I shall go to de devils for you, capitaine, if we must," he said, as he rai.sed 
 his portly form, not without efibrt, from the deck, slapping the shoulder of the 
 oflicer at the same time somewhat rudely with his hand. There was nothing, 
 however, ofi'ensively familiar in this action. It expressed merely the devoted- 
 ness of heart with which the man lent himself to the service to which he had 
 pledged himself, and was rather complimentary than otherwise to him to 
 whom it was directed. Captain de Haldimar took it in the light in which we 
 have just shown it, and he grasped and shook the rough hand of the Canadian 
 with an earnestness highly gratifying to the latter. 
 
 Every thing was now in readiness for their departure. The canoe, still 
 covered with its streaming boughs, was drawn close up to the gangway, and 
 a few hasty necessaries thrown in. While this was passing, the officer, had 
 again assumed his disguise of a duck-hunter ; and he now appeared in the 
 blanket costume in which we introduced Sir Everard and himself in the elev- 
 enth chapter. 
 
wacousta; or, the proi'Hecy. 141 
 
 " If I may be so bold as to put in my oar, your honor," — said the veteran 
 boatsAvain, on whom the command of the schooner had fallen, as he now ad- 
 vanced, rollings his quid in liis mouth, and dropping his hat on his shoulder, 
 while the fingers of the hand which clutched it were busily occupied in 
 scratching his bald head, — "• if I may be so bold, there is another chap here 
 as might better servo your honor's purpose than that 'ere fat Canadian, who 
 seems to think only of stuffing while his betters are fasting." 
 
 " And who is he, my goad Mullins '?" asked Captain de Haldimar. 
 
 '• Why, that 'ere Ingian, your honor, as began the butcher\' in the fort, 
 yonder, b}- trying to kill Jack Fuller while he laid asleep this morning, wait- 
 ing for the captain in the jolly boat. Jack never seed him coming, until he 
 feft his black hands upon his throat, and then he ups with the tiller at his 
 noddle, and sends him floundering across the boat's thwarts like a flat-fish. I 
 thought, your honor, seeing as how I have got the command of the schooner, 
 of tying him up to the mainmast, and giving him two or three round dozen 
 or so. and then sending him to swim among the mascannungy with a twenty- 
 four pound shot in his neckcloth ; but, seeing as how your honor is going 
 among them savages agin, I thought as how some good might be done with 
 him, if your honor could contrive to keep him in tow, and close under your 
 lee quarter, to prevent his escape." 
 
 " At all events," returned the officei-, after a pause of some moments, dur- 
 ing which he appeared to be deliberating on his course of action, '• it may be 
 dangerous to keep him in the vessel ; and yet, if we take him ashore he may 
 •be the means of oirr more immechate destruction ; unless, indeed, as j'ou observe, 
 he can be so secured as to prevent the possibility of escape ; but that I very 
 much doubt indeed. Where is he, Mullins ? I should like to see and ques- 
 tion him." 
 
 " He .shall be up, your honor, in no time," replied the sailor, once more re- 
 simiing his hat, and moving a pace or two forward. Then addressing two or 
 three men in the starboard : — ■' Bear a hand there, my men, and cast off the 
 lashings of that black Ingiau, and send him aft here, to the officer." 
 
 The order was speedily executed. In a few minutes the Indian stood on 
 the quarter-deck, his hands firmly secured behind, -and his head sunk upon 
 his chest in sullen despondency. In the increasing gloom in which objects 
 were now gradually becoming more and more indistinct, it was impossible for 
 Captain de Haldhnar to distinguish his features ; but there was something in 
 the outline of the Indian's form th.at impressed him with the conviction he 
 had seen it before. Advancing a pace or or two forward, he pronounced, in an 
 emphatic and audible whisper, the name of " Oucanasta !" 
 
 The Indian gave an involuntary start. — uttered a deep iuteijectional '• Ugh !" 
 — and, raising his head from his chest, fixed his eye steadily on the officer. 
 
 '• Ilookynastcr ! — Hookynaster !" growled Jack Fuller, who had followed 
 to hear the examination of his immediate captive : '" why, your honor, that 
 jaw-breaking name reminds me as how the chap had a bit of a paper when I 
 chucked him into the jolly-boat, stuck in his girdle. It was covered over 
 ■with pencil-marks, as writing like ; but all was rubbed out agin, except some 
 such sort of a name as that." 
 
 "Where is it? — what have you done with it ?" hastily asked Captain de 
 Haldimar. 
 
 '• Here, in my backy-box, your honor. I kept it safe, thinking as how it 
 might sarve to let us know all about it afterwards." 
 
 The .'^ailor now drew from the receptacle ju.st named a dirty piece of folded 
 paper, deeph' impregnated with the perfume of stale and oft re-chewed quids 
 of course tobacco ; and then, with the air of one conscious of having •■ rcn- 
 derefl the state some service." hitched up his trowsers with one hand, while 
 ■with the other he extended the important document. 
 
 To glance hivS eye hurriedly over the paper by the light of a dark lanthorn 
 tLat had meanwhile been lirought uj)on deck, unclasp his hunting-knife, and 
 
J 42 
 
 wacousta; or, the prophecy 
 
 ilivide the ligatures of the captive, and then warmly press his liberated hands 
 with his own, were, with Captain de Haldimar, but the work of a minute. 
 
 " tlilloa ! which the devil way does the wind blow now ?" muttered Fuller, 
 the leer of self-satisfaction that had hitherto played in his ej-e rapidly giving 
 place to an air of seriousness and surprise ; an expression that was not at all 
 diminished by an observation from his new commander. 
 
 •• I tell you what it is, Jack," said the latter impressively ; " I don't pretend 
 to have more gumption (qu. discernment ?) than my messmates ; but I can 
 see through a millstone as clear as any man as ever heaved a lead in these 
 here lakes ; and maj^ I never pipe boatswain's whistle again, if you arn't, 
 some how or other, in the wrong box. That 'ere Ingian's one of us !" 
 
 The feelings of Captain de Haldimar ma}-- easily be comprehended by our 
 reaxierrf, when, on glancing at the paper, he found himself confirmed in the 
 impression previously made on him by the outline of the captive's form. The 
 writing, nearlj^ obliterated by damp, had been rudely traced by his own pen- 
 cil, on a leaf torn from his pocket-book on the night of liis visit to the Indian 
 encampment, and at the moment when seated on the fatal log, Oucanasta had 
 promised her assi.stance in at least rescuing his betrothed bride. They were 
 addressed to JMajor de Haldimar, and briefly stated that a treacherous plan 
 was in contemplation by the enemy to surprise the fort, which the bearer, 
 Oucanasta (the latter word stronglj^ marked), would fully explain, if she 
 could possibly obtain access within. From the narrative entered into by 
 Clara, who had particularly dwelt on the emotions of fear that had sprung 
 up in her own and cousin's heart by the sudden transformation of a supposed 
 harmless beaver into a fierce and threatening savage, he had no difficulty 
 in solving the enigma. 
 
 The Indian, in whom he had recognised the young chief who had saved him 
 from the fury of Wacousta, had evidently been won upon by his sister to 
 perform a service which offered so much less difficulty to a warrior than to a 
 woman ; and it was clear, that, finding ail other means of communication 
 with tlie fort, undiscovered by liis own people, impracticable, he had availed 
 himself of the opportunity, when he saw the boat on the strand, to assume a 
 disguise so well adapted to insure success. It was no remarkable thing to 
 see both the beaver and the otter moving on the calm surface of the waters 
 in the vicinity of the forts, even at mid-day ; and, occupied as the Indians 
 were, to a man, at that moment with their cruel projects, it was by no means 
 likely that their attention should have been called off from these to so ap- 
 parently unimportant a circumstance. The act that had principally alarmed 
 the cousins, and terminated, as we have seen, in the sudden attack of the 
 sailor, had evidently been misconceived. The hand supposed to be feeling for 
 the heart of the sluggard, had, in all probability, been placed on his chest with 
 a view to arouse him from his slumber ; while that which was believed to 
 have been dropped to the handle of the knife, was, in reality, merely seeking 
 the paper that contained the announcement, which, if then delivered, might 
 have saved the garrison. 
 
 Such was the train of conjecture that now passed through the mind of the 
 officer ; but, although he thus placed the conduct of the Indian in the most 
 favorable light, his impression received no confirmation from the lips of the 
 latter. Sullen and doggedly, notwithstanding the release from his bonds, the 
 Ottawa hung his head upon his chest, with his ej^es riveted on the deck, and 
 obstinately refused to answer every question put to him by his deliverer. This, 
 however, did not the less tend to confirm Captain de Haldimar in his belief. 
 He knew enough of the Indian character to understand the indignant and 
 even revengeful spirit likely to be aroused by the treatment the savage h.ad 
 met with in return for his intended services. He was aware that, without 
 pausing to refiect on the fact that the sailor, ignorant of his actual purpose, 
 could merely have seen in him an enemy in the act of attempting his life, th( 
 chief Avould only consider and inflame himself over the recollection of the 
 
W A C O U S T A ; on, T II K P R P H K C Y . 143 
 
 blow inllk'ted; and tliat, with the true obstinacy of Ins race, he would rather 
 suH'ev captivity or death itself, tlian humble the haughty pride of his nature, 
 by condescending- to an explanation with those b}^ whom he felt himself so 
 dee{)ly injured. Still, even amid all his own personal griefs, — griefs that ren- 
 dered the boon in some degree at present valueless, — Captain dc Ilaldimar 
 could not forget that the youth, no matter by what motive induced, had res- 
 cued him from a dreadful death an a previous occasion. With the generous 
 warmth, therefore, of a grateful mind, he now sought to impress on the In- 
 dian the deep sense of obligation under which he labored ; explaining at the 
 same time the very natural error into which the sailor had fjilien, and con- 
 cluding with a declaration that he was free to quit the vessel in the canoe in 
 which he himself was about to take his departure for the shore, in search of 
 her whom his sister had pledged Jicrself. at all hazards, to save. 
 
 The address of the officer, touchin"- and impressive as language ever is that 
 comes fi'om the heart, was not altogetlicj- without effect on the Indian. Several 
 times he interrnptodhiui with a short, quick, approving "Ugh 1" and when he 
 at length recci\('d Hie assurance that he was no longer a prisoner, he raised 
 his eyes rapidlv. althouoli wiihout moving his head, to the counteniuioe of his 
 deliverer. Alrcailv wn\' his lijis upcning to speak for tlio lirsl tiui'', when the 
 attention of th- groui> around him was arrested by his giving a smlden start 
 of surprise. At the same moment he raised his head, stretched his neck, 
 threw forward his right ear, and, uttering a loud and emphatic "Waugh!" 
 pointed -nith his linger over the bows of the vessel. 
 
 All listened for upwards of a minute in mute suspense ; and then a faint and 
 scarcely distinguishable sound was heard in the direction in which he pointed. 
 Scarcely had it floated on the air, when a shrill, loud, and prolonged cry, of 
 peculiar tendency, burst hurriedly and eagerly from the lips of the captive ,- 
 and, spreading over the broad expanse of water, seemed to be re-echoed back 
 from every point of the sua-rounding shore. 
 
 Great was the confusioa that followed this startling yell on the decks of the 
 schooner. '• Cut the hell-fiend down !" — " Chuck him overboard !" — " We are 
 betrayed !" — " Every man to his gun 1" — " Put the craft about 1" were among the 
 numerous exclamations that now rose simultaneously from at least twenty 
 lips, and almost drowned the loud shriek that burst again from the wretched 
 Clara de Haldimar. 
 
 '■ Stop, Mullins! — Stop, men !" shouted Captain de Haldimar, firmly, as the 
 excited boatswain, with two or three of his companions; now advanced with 
 the intention of laying violent hands on the Indian. " I will answer for his 
 fidehty with my life. If he be false, it will be time enough to punish him 
 afterwards ; but let us calmly await the issue like men. Hear me," he pro- 
 ceeded, as he remarked their incredulous, uncertain, and still threatening air ; 
 '' this Indian saved me from the tomahawks of his tribe not a week ago ; and, 
 even now, he has become our captive in the act of taking a note from me to 
 the garrison to warn them of their danger. But for that slumbering fool," he 
 added, bitterly, pointing to Fuller, who slept when he should have watched, 
 " yon fort would not have been what it is, — a mass of smoking ruins. He has 
 an ocean of blood upon his soul, that all the waters of the Huron can never 
 v/ash out !" 
 
 Struck by the vehement manner of the officer, and the disclosure he had 
 just made, the sailors sunk once more into inaction and silence. The boat- 
 swain alone spoke. 
 
 " I thought, your honor, as how Jack Fuller, who sartainly is a better hand 
 at a snooze than a watch, had got in a bit of a mess ; but, shiver my topsails, 
 if I think it's quite fair to blame him, neither, for clapping a stopper on the 
 Ingian's cable, seeing as how he was expecting a shot between wind and water. 
 Still, as the chap turns out to be an honest chap, and has saved your honor's 
 life above all, I don't much care if I give him a grip. Here, old fellow, tip us 
 your list !" 
 
144 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 Without seeming to understand that his cry had been productive of general 
 and intense alarm throughout the vessel, the Indian had viewed the sudden 
 rushing of the crew towards him as an act of gratuitous hostihty ; and, with- 
 out shrinking from the attack, had once more resumed his original air of dog- 
 ged suUenness. It was evident to him, from the discussion going on that some 
 violence, about to be offered to his person, had only been prevented bj^ the in- 
 terference of the officer. With the natural haughtiness of his savage nature, 
 he therefore rejected the overtures of the sailor, whose hand he had observed 
 among the first that were raised against him. 
 
 Wliile the angry boatswain was yet rolling his quid within his capacious 
 jaws, racking his brain lor the strongest language wherein to give vent to his 
 indignation, his ears were suddenly saluted by a low but clear " Hilloa !" from 
 the l)ows of the schooner. 
 
 " Ay, ay '." was the brief response. 
 
 " There's something approaching us ahead, on the weather fore quarter," 
 continued (he same A-oice, which was that of the man on the look-out. 
 
 The most profound silence now pei-vaded the deck. Every individual, in- 
 cluding Captain de Haldimar and the boatswain, had flown to the gangway of 
 the quarter indicated, which was on the side occupied by the couch of the un- 
 fortunate Clara. Presently a noise like that produced by a single paddle 
 rapidly dividing the water, was heard b}^ every anxious ear. Night had long 
 since throv.'n her mantle over the surrounding waste ; and all that was to be 
 seen reflected from the bosom of the gradually darkenmg river, scarcely ruffled 
 "bj^ the yet incipient breeze, were a few straggling stars, that here and there 
 appeared in the overcast heavens. Hitherto no object could be discovered by 
 those who strained their eyes eagerly and painfully through the gloom, al- 
 though the sovmds became at each moment more distinct. It was evident the 
 party, guided by the noise of the ripplnig Avaves that fell from the bows of the 
 schooner, was enabled to follow up a course, the direct clue to which had been 
 indicated bj' the cry of the captive. Every man stood near his gun on the 
 starboard battery, and the burning matches hanging over their respective 
 buckets ready to be seized at a moment's notice. Still, but little room for ap- 
 prehension existed : for the practised ear of the mariners could easily tell that 
 a solitary bark alone approached ; and of one. or even ten. the}' entertained no 
 fear. Suddenly, as the course of the vessel was now changed a point to Avind- 
 ward, — a movement that brought her bows more off the adjacent shore. — the 
 sound, in vrhich all were more or less interested, was heard not more tlian 
 twenty yards off, and in a line with the gangway at which the principal of the 
 crew were assembled. In the next minute the low hull of a canoe came in 
 sight, and then a tall and solitary human figure was seen in the stern, bend- 
 ing alternately to the right and to the left, as the paddle was rapidly and suc- 
 cessively changed from side to side. 
 
 Another deep and exulting " Ugh !" was now heaved from the chest of the 
 Indian, vvho stood calmly on the spot on which he had at first rested, while 
 Fuller prepared a coil of rope to throw to the active steersman. 
 
 " AA'ast there, Jack !" growled the boatswain, addressing the sailor ; " how 
 can the stranger keep the bow of his cmSt on, and grapple at the same time ? 
 Just pass one end of the coil round jour waist, and swing yourself gently into 
 her." 
 
 The head of the canoe was now near enough for the purpose. The sailor did 
 as he was desired, having previously divested himself of his shoes, and leaping 
 forward, alighted on what appeared to him to be a bundle of blankets stowed 
 away in her bows. No sooner, howcA'er, had he secured his footing, when 
 with anotlier desperate leap, and greatly to the astonishment of all around, he 
 bounded once more to the deck of the schooner, his countenance exhibiting 
 every mark of superstitious alarm. In the act of quitting the canoe he had 
 spurned her several feet from the vessel, which the silent steersman was again 
 making every effort to reach. 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 145 
 
 " Wh_y, what the devil's the maltcr with yoii now?" exclaimed the rough 
 boatswain, who, as well as Captain do llaldimar and the rest of the crew, had 
 quitted the gangway to learn the cause of this extraordinary conduct. " Damn 
 my eyes, if you ar'nt worse scared than when the Ingian stood over you in 
 the jolly boat." 
 
 '■Scared, aj'', to be sure I am ; and so would j'ou be scared too, if you 'd a 
 see'd what I did. May I never touch the point at Portsmouth, if I a'n't seen 
 her ghost." 
 
 '• Where ? — whose ghost ? — what ghost ? — what do you mean, Jack ?" ex- 
 claimed several men in the same breath, while the superstitious dread so com- 
 mon to mariners drew them still closer in the group that encircled their com- 
 panion. 
 
 " Well, then, as I am a miserable sinner," returned the man, impressively, 
 and in a low tone, '" I see'd in the bows of the canoe, — and the hand that 
 steered it was not made of flesh and blood like ours, — what do you think ? — 
 the ghost of " 
 
 Captain de Haldiniar heard no more. At a single bound he had gained the 
 ship's side. He strained his eyes anxiously over the gangway in search of 
 the canoe, but it was gone. A death-like silence throughout the deck follow- 
 ed the communication of the sailor, and in that pause the sound of the reced- 
 ing boat could be heard, not urged, as it had approached, by one paddle, 
 but by two. The heart of the officer thi'obbed almost to suffocation ; and his 
 firmness, hitherto supported by the manly energies of nature, now failed him 
 quite. Heedless of appearances, regardless of being overlooked, he tottered 
 like a drunken man for support against the mainmast. For a moment or two 
 he leant his head upon his hand, with the air of one immersed in the most 
 profound abstraction ; while the crew, at once alarmed and touched by the 
 deep distress into whioli this mysterious cu'cumstance had plunged him, stood 
 silently and respectfully watching his emotion. Suddenly he started from 
 his attitude of painful repose, like one awakening from a dream, and demanded 
 what had become of the Indian. 
 
 Ever}- one looked around, but the captive was no where to be seen. Search 
 was made below, both in the cabin and in the fore decks, and men were sent 
 up aloft to see if he had secreted him,self m the rigging ; but all returned, 
 stating he was no where to be found. He had disappeared from the vessel 
 altogether, yet no one knew how ; for he had not been observed to stir from 
 the spot on which he had first planted himself. It was plain however, he had 
 joined the mysterious party in the canoe, from the fact of the second paddle 
 having been detected ; and all attempt at pursuit, without endangering the 
 vessel on the shallows, whither the course of the fugitives was now directed, 
 was dfcK;lared by the boatswain utterly impracticable. 
 
 The announcement of the Indian's disappearance seemed to put the climax 
 to the despair of the unfortunate officer. '• Then is our every hope lost !" he 
 groaned aloud, as. quitting the centre of the vessel, he slowly traversed the 
 deck, and once more stood at the side of his no less unhappy and excited sis- 
 ter. For a moment or two he remained with his .arms folded across his chest, 
 gazing on the dark outline of her form ; and then, in a wild paroxysm of 
 silent, tearless grief, threw himself suddenly on the edge of the couch, and 
 clasping her in a long close embrace to his audibly beating heart, lay like one 
 bereft of all sense and consciousness of surrounding objects. 
 
 CHAPTER XXri. 
 
 The night passed away without farther event on board the schooner, yet 
 in all the anxiety that might be supposed incident to men so perilously situat- 
 10 
 
146 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 ed. Habits of long since acquired superstition, too. powerful to be easily shak- 
 en off, moreover, conti'ibuted to the dejection of the mariners, among whom 
 there were not wanting those who believed the silent steersman was in reahty 
 what their comrade had represented. — an immaterial being, sent from the 
 world of spirits to warn them of some impending evil. What principally 
 gave weight to this impression wei-e the repeated asseverations of Fuller, 
 during the sleepless night passed by all on deck, that what he had seea 
 was no other, could be no other, than a ghost ! exhibiting in its hueless, 
 fleshless cheeks, the well known lineaments of one who was supposed to be no 
 more ; and, if the story of their comrade had needed confirmation among men 
 in whom faith in, rather than love for. the marvellous was a constitutional in- 
 gredient, the terrible effect that seemed to have been produced on Captain de 
 Haldimar by the same mysterious visitation would have been more than con- 
 clusive. The very appeai-ance of the night, too, iavorcd the delusion. The 
 heavens, comparatively clear at the moment when the canoe approached the 
 vessel, became suddenly enveloped in the deepest gloom at its departure, as if 
 to enshroud the course of those who. having so mysteriously approached, had 
 also so unaccountably disappeared. Nor had this threatening state of the at- 
 mosphere the counterbalancing advantage of storm and tempest to drive them 
 onward through the narrow vraters of the Sinclair, and enable them, by anti- 
 cipa,ting the pursuit of their enemies, to shun the Scylla and Gharbydis that 
 awaited their more leisure advance. The Avind increased not ; and the disap- 
 pointed seamen remarked, with dismaj'-, that theii- craft scarcely made more 
 progress than at that moment when she first quitted her anchorage. 
 
 It was now near the first liom-s of day; and although, perhaps, none slept, 
 there were few who were not apparently at rest, and plunged in the most 
 painful reflections. Still occupying her humble couch, and shielded frem the 
 night air merely b}^ the cloak that covered her own biood-stained garments, 
 lay the unhappy Clara, her deep groans and stifled sobs bm-sting occasionally 
 from hei' pent-up heart, and felling on the ears of the mariners like sounds of 
 fearful import, produced Ijy the mysterious agency that already held such 
 undivided power over their thoughts. On the bare deck, at her side, lay her 
 brother, his face turned upon the planks, as if to shut out all objects from 
 eyes he had not the power to close ; and. with one arm supporting his heavy 
 brow, while the other, cast around the restless form of his beloved sister,, 
 seemed to offer protection and to impart confidence, even while his lips denied 
 the accents of consolation. Seated on an empty hen-coop at their head, was 
 Sir Everard Valletort, his back reposing against the bulwarks of the vessel, 
 hie arms folded across his chest, and his ej^es bent mechanically on the man. 
 at the helm, who stood within a few paces of him, — an attitude of absorption, 
 which he, ever and anon, changed to one of anxious and enquiring interest, 
 whenever the agitation of Clara was manifested in tlie manner already .shown. 
 
 The main deck and forecastle of the vessel presented a similar picture of 
 mingled unquietness and repose. IMany of the seamen might be seen seated 
 on the gun-carriages, with their cheeks pressing the rude metal that served 
 them for a pillow. Others lay along the decks, with their heads resting on 
 the elevated hatches ; while not a few, squatted on their haunches with their 
 knees doubled up to their very chins, supported in that position the aching 
 head that rested between their rough and horny palms. A first glance might 
 have induced the belief that all were buried in the most profound slumber ; 
 but the quick jerking of a limb, — the fitful, sudden shifting of a position, — 
 the utter absence of that deep breathing which indicates the unconsciousness 
 of repose, only required to be noticed, to prove the living silence that reigned 
 throughout was not born either of apathy or sleep. 
 
 At the gangway at which the canoe had approached now stood the individ- 
 ual already introduced to our readers as Jack Fuller. The same superstitious 
 terror that caused his fliglit had once more attracted him to the spot where 
 the subject of his alarm first appeai-ed to him ; and, without seeming to reflect 
 
wacousta; or, the pIjophect. I-fJf 
 
 that the vessel, in her slow but certain progress, had left all vestige of the 
 mysterious visitor behind, he continued gazing over the bulwarks on the dark 
 vratcrs, as if he expected at each niotncnt to find his sight stricken by the- 
 same appalling vision. It was at the moment wlicn he had worked up biS' 
 naturally dull imagination to its highest perception of the supernatural, that 
 he \vas joined by the rugged boatswain, who had passed the greater part of 
 the night m pacing up and down the decks, watching the aspect of the heav- 
 ens, and occasionally tauting a rope or s(iuaring a light yard, unassisted, a& 
 the fluttering of the canvass in tlu^ wind rundcred tlie alteration necessary. 
 
 '• Well, Jack !" bluntly observed tlie latter in a gruff whisper that resem- 
 bled the suppressed growling of a mastiff, '• what are ye thinking of now 1 — 
 Not got over your flunibustitication yet, that ye stand here, loolcing as saco- 
 tified as an old parson !" 
 
 " I'll teU ye what it is, Mr. Mullins," returned the sailor, in the same key : 
 " you may make as much game on me as you like ; but these here strange 
 sort of doings are somehow ([uizzical ; and, thougli I fears nothing in tSe 
 shape of tlosh and blood, still, when it comes to having to do with those as is 
 gone to Davy Jones's locker like, it gives a follow an all-overishness as isn^t 
 quite the thing. You understand m.e ?" 
 
 •' Hang me if I do !" was the brief rejoinder. 
 
 " Well, then," continued Fuller, " if I must out with it, I must. I think 
 that 'ere Ingian must have been the devil, or how could he come so .sudd«u 
 and unbeknownst upon me. with the head of a 'possum : and then agin, hw?r 
 could he get away from the ci-aft without our seeing him ? and how came the 
 ghost on board of {hi- canoe?" 
 
 " Avast there, old t'cllow ; you means not the head of a 'possum, but a 
 beaver: but that 'ere's all nat'ral enough, and easily 'counted for; but jou 
 havn't told us whose ghoj;t it was, after all." 
 
 " No ; the captain made such a spring to the gunwale, as frightened it sdl 
 out of my head : but come closer, Mr. Mullins, and I'll whisper it in yoor 
 ear. Hark! what was that?" , 
 
 "I hears nothing," .said the boatswain, after a pause. 
 
 " It's very odd," continued Fuller ; " but I thought as how I heard it sere- 
 ral times afoi-e j'ou came." 
 
 " There's something wrong. I take it, in your upi^er story, Jaclc Fuller,^' 
 coolly observed his companion ; " that 'ere ghost has quite capsized you." 
 
 " ilark, again !" repeated the sailor. " Didn't you hear it then ? A sors 
 of a gi'oan, like." 
 
 " Where, in what part ?" calmly demanded the boatswain, though in the 
 same suppressed tone in which the dialogue had been cari-ied on. 
 
 " Wh}"-, from the canoe that lies alongside there. I heard it several timei 
 afore." 
 
 " Well, if you arn't tui'ned a real coward at last," politely remarked Mr. 
 Mullins. " Can't the poor fat devil of a Canadian snooze a bit in his ham- 
 mock, without putting you so completely out of your reckoning ?" 
 
 " The Canaxlian — the Canadian !" hurriedly returned Fuller : " why, don't 
 you see him there, leaning with his back to the mainmast, and as fast asleep 
 as if the devil himself coiiddn't wake him ?" 
 
 " Then it was the devil you heard, if you like," quaintly retorted Mullms :- 
 " but bear a hand and tell us all about this here ghost." 
 
 " Hark, again ! what was that ?" once more enquired the excited sailor. 
 
 " Only a gust of wind passing through the dried boughs of the canoe," said 
 the boatswain ; '• bift since we can get nothing out of that crazed noddle of 
 yours, see if you can't do something with ^-our hands. That 'ere canoe run- 
 ning along side, takes half a knot olf the ship's way. Bear a hand then. 
 and cast off the painter, and let her drop astarn. that she may follow in our 
 wake. Hilloa ! what's tlie matter with the man now ?" 
 
 And well might he ask. With his eye-balls staring, his teeth chattering:. 
 
148 w A c o u t^ r A ; or, r ii e p k o p k e c y . 
 
 his hod.j hiilf beul, and hix arms thrown forward, yet pendent as if suddenly 
 arrested in that j ui->ition \\diile in the act of reaching the rope, the terrified 
 .sailor stood gazing on (he stern of the canoe; in which, by the fiint light of 
 ■the dawui;;.'.; (h.\\ \.iv- !■- l.v soon an object weU calculated to fdl the leivst sn- 
 perstlti..: ,; ,:, v> /, ;. .; . , •■ ;m^1 dismay. Throiigh an opening in the fohage 
 peered i- . ■ j ■ of a human being, with its dull eyes bent 
 
 fixedly ;.,.:: n. :,...; i , ^ , i '':■:■ ves>ol. In the centre of the wan forehead 
 was a (!M-k imr. ' ;. o , >■■ h'.;.:] .-i, •:,,]':[]<■: {he superficies of a newly closed 
 wound. Tiic i .,,: 1 ; :,-: :m ' .{.- J : I j,i \y iii)."',osed, so as to display a roM^ of 
 white a.id up|xuviii,l;, !i|)io,-,s n.-ecii ; ;nul (nelbatures were otherwise set and 
 drawn, n.i those of one who is no longer of earth. Around the head was bound 
 a covering so close, as to i;onceal every part save the face ; and once or twice a 
 hand v.-a.s slowly raised, and pressed upon the blood spot that dimned the pass- 
 ing fairness of the brow. Every other portion of the fii>rm vv^as invisible. 
 
 " Lord have mercy upon us !" exclaimed the boatswain, in a voice that, now 
 elevated to more than ils 'natural tone, sounded startlinglj- on the stillness of 
 the scene ; •' sure enough it is, indeed a ghost !" 
 
 " Ila ! do j-ou believe me now V returned Fuller, gaining confidence from 
 the admission of his companion, and in the same elevated key. " It is, as I 
 hope to be saved, tlie ;;'host I see'd afore." 
 
 The v()Ui-.,'.< l! '!. .' . ■!( •:, was now everywhere universal. The sailors started 
 to their i : i.' , ,. ;;.;■, Mr and alarm visibly imprinted on their countenances, 
 j'Ushcd u;i.,';jii, -a ._ ;;,. Lids the dreaded g;ingway. 
 
 "Make way — r..(;.u. fellows!" exclaimed a hurried voice; and presently 
 Captain de Haldim;;;-, v,-;;o had hounded like lightning from the deck, appeared 
 with eager eye ;i;i'i '•: ■ :;; 1 cheek ;>mong them. To leap into the boat and dis- 
 appear un:{i r (1 .■ ,' ■' ■. , v.-;!'.' the work of a single instant. All listened breath- 
 lessly for tlie .■:.I. -■: >);ind; and then every heart throbbed with the most 
 undetinablo euiol khi ,, .i-; jiis hps were heard giving utterance to the deep emo- 
 tion of his ovi-n spirl;. — 
 
 "MadAine, (.h. iiy o-n l')st I\ladcline !" he exclaimed with almost frantic 
 energy of passi'jii: di) 1 t.lien press you once more to my doating heart? 
 Speak, speak, to nii' — for (lod's sake speak, or I shall go mad ! Air, air, — she 
 wants air ordy — she cannot be dead."' 
 
 These last words were succeeded l)y the furious rending asunder of the fast- 
 enings that secured the boughs, and presently the whole went overboard, 
 leaving revealed the tall and pictijresque figure of the officer ; whose left arm 
 encircled while it supported the reclining and powerless form of one who well 
 resembled, indeed, the spectre for which she had been mistaken, while his 
 right hand was busied in detaching the string that secured a portion of the 
 covering round her throat. At length it fell from her shoulders ; and the well 
 known form of i'lladeliuc de Ilaldimar, clad even in the vestments in which 
 they had been wont to see her, met the astonished gaze of the excited seamen. 
 Still there were some who doubted it was the corporeal woman whom they 
 beheld ; and several of the crew who were Catholics even made the sign of the 
 cross as the supposed spirit was now borne up the gangway in the arms of the 
 pained yet gratified De Ilaldimar : nor was it until her feet were seen finally 
 resting on the deck, that Jack Fuller could persuade himself it was indeed 
 Miss de Haldimar, and not her ghost, that lay clasped to the heart of the 
 oJHcer. 
 
 With the keen rush of the morning air upon her brow returned the sus- 
 pended consciousness of the bewildered Madeline. The blood came slowlj'- 
 and imperceptibly to her cheek ; and her eyes, hitherto glazed, fixed, and in- 
 expressive, • looked enquiringly, yet with stupid wonderment, around. She 
 started from the embrace of her lover, gazed alternately at his disguise, at him- 
 self, and at Clara ; and then passing her hand several times rapidly across her 
 brow, uttered an liysteric scream, and threw herself im])etuoUvSly forward on 
 the bosom of the "sobbing girl ; who, with extended arms, parted lips, and 
 
W A C U 5 T A ; OK, T H K PRO 1' 11 E C V . 149 
 
 heaving bosom, sat breathlessly awaitiug the first dawn of the returning reason 
 of her more than sister. 
 
 "We sliould vainly attempt to paint all the heart-rending miser}- of the scene 
 exhibited in the gradual restoration of ^Miss dc Haldimar to her senses. From; 
 a state of torpor, produced by the freezing of every faculty into almost idiotcy, 
 she was suddenly awakened to all the terrors of the past ; and the deep into- 
 nations of her rich voice were heard only in expressions of agony, that entered 
 into the most iron-hearted of the assembled seamen ; while they drew from the 
 bosom of her gentle and sympathising cousin fresh i)ursts of desolating grief. 
 Imuginaiion itself would find difficulty in supplying the harrowing effect upon 
 all, when, with upraised hands, and on her bended knees, her large eyes turned 
 wildly up to heaven, she invoked in deep and :;tartling ;i;:-eents the terrible re- 
 tribution of a just God on the inhuman mmxlerers of litr father, with whose 
 life-blood her c - ■ rrrc profusely saturated; and then, w^th hysteric 
 laughter, denr 'i-j alone had been singled out to survive the bloody 
 
 tragedy. Lovr ,i nn, hitherto the first principles of her existence, then 
 
 found no entrance iiito licr mind. Stricken, broken-hearted, stultified to all 
 feeling save that of her immediate wretchedness, she thought only of the hor- 
 rible scenes through which slie had passed ; and even he, whom at another 
 moment she coiUd have clasped in an agony of fond tenderness to her beating 
 bosom, — he to whom she had pledged her virgin faith, and was bound by the 
 dearest of human tics. — he whom she ha-d so often longed to behold once more, 
 and had thought of, the preceding day, with all the tenderness of her impas- 
 sioned and devoted soid, — even he did not, in the first hours of her terrible 
 consciousness, so much as ^ command a single passing regard. All the affec- 
 tions were for a moment blighted in her bosom. She seemed as one devoted,, 
 without the power of resistance, to a grief which calcined and preyed upon all 
 other feelings of the mind. One stunning and annihilating reflection seemed 
 to engross every principle of her being ; nor was it for hours after she had 
 been restored to life and recollection that a deluge of burning tears, giving re- 
 lief to her heart and a new direction to her feelings, enabled her at length to- 
 separate the past from, and in some degree devote herself to, the present. 
 Then, indeed, for the first time did she perceive and take pleasure in the pre- 
 sence of her lover ; and clasping her beloved and weeping Clara to her heart, 
 thank her God, in all the fervor of true piety, that she at ieast.had been spared 
 to shed a ray of comfort on her distracted spirit. But we will not pain the 
 reader by dwelling on s scene that drew tears even from the rugged and flint- 
 hearted boatswain himself; for. although we should linger on it with minute 
 anatomical detail, no powers of language we possess could convey the trans- 
 cript as it should be. Pass we on, therefore, to the more immediate incidents 
 of our narrative. 
 
 The day now rapidly developing, full opportunity was afforded the mari- 
 ners to survey the strict natm-e of their position. To all appearance they 
 were yet in the middle of the lake, for aroimd them lay the belting sweep of 
 forest that bounded the perspective of the equidistant circle, of which their 
 bark was the focus or immediate centre. The wind was dying gradually 
 awaj-, and when at length the sun rose, in all its splendor, there was scarce 
 air enough in the heavens to keep the sails from flapping against the masts, 
 or to enable the vessel to obey her helm. In vain was the low and pecuhar 
 whistle of the seamen heard, ever and anon, in invocation of the departing 
 breeze. Another da_y, calm and breathless as the preceding, had bc^n char- 
 tered from the world of light ; and their hearts failed them as they foresaw 
 the diiBculty of their position, and the almost certainty of their retreat being 
 cut oil". It was while laboring under the disheartening consciousness of dan- 
 ger, peculiar to all, that the anxious boatswain summoned Captain de Haldi- 
 mar and Sir Everard Valletort, by a significant beck of the finger, to the side 
 of the deck opposite to that on which still lay the suffering and nearly broken- 
 hearted srirls. 
 
450 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 " Well, Mulliiis, what nov,- ?" enquired the former, as he narrowly scanned 
 the expression of the old man's features : "' that clouded brow of yours, I fear 
 me, bodes no agreeable information." 
 
 " Why, your honor, I scarcely knows what to say about it ; but seeing as 
 I'm the only officer in the ship, nov»" our poor captain is killed, God bless him ! 
 I thought I might take the liberty to consult with your honors as to the best 
 way of getting out of the jaws of them sharks of Ingians ; and two heads, as 
 the saying is, is always better than one." 
 
 •' And now you have the advantage of three," observed the officer, with a 
 sickly smile ; '" but I fear, Mullins, that if your own be not sufficient for the 
 purpose, ours will be of little service. You must take counsel from your own 
 experience and knowledge of nautical matters." 
 
 " Why, to be sure, your honor," and the sailor rolled his quid from one 
 cheek to the other, " I think I may say as how I'll venture to steer the craft 
 with any man on the Canada lakes, and bring her safe into port, too ; but 
 seemg as how I'm only a petty officer, and not 3^et recommended by his wor- 
 ship the governor for the full command. I thought it but right to consult with 
 my superiors, not as to the management of the craft, but the best as is to bo 
 done. What does your«honor think of making for the high land over the 
 larboard bow yonder, and waiting for the chance of the night breeze to take 
 us through the Sinclair ?" 
 
 " Do whatever you think best," returned the officer. " For my part. I 
 scarcely can give an opinion. Yet how are we to get there ? There does not 
 appear to be a breath of wind." 
 
 " Oh, that's easily managed ; we have only to brail and furl up a little, to 
 hide our cloth from the Ingians, and then send the boats ahead to tow the 
 craft, while some of us lend a hand at her own sweeps. We shall get close 
 under the lee of the land afore night, and then we must pull up agin along 
 shore, until we get within a mile or so of the liead of the river." 
 
 " But shall we not be seen by our enemies ?" asked Sir Everard ; " and will 
 they not be on the watch for our movements, and intercept our retreat ?" 
 
 " Now that's just the thing, your honor, as they're not likely to do, if so be 
 as we bears away from yon headlands. I know every nook and sounding 
 round the lake ; and odd enough if I didn't, seeing as how the craft circum- 
 navigated it at least a dozen times since we have been cooped up here. Poor 
 Captain Danvers ! (may the devil take his murderers. I say, though it does 
 make a commander of me for once ;) he used always to make for that 
 'ere point, whenever he wished to lie quiet ; for never once did we see so 
 much as a single Ingian on the headland. No, your honor, they keeps all at 
 t'other side of the lake, seeing as how that is the main road from INIackina to 
 Detroit." 
 
 " Then, by all means, do so," eagerly returned Captain de Haldimar. " Oh, 
 Mulhns ! take us but safely through, and if the interest of my father can 
 procure a king's commission, you shall not want it, believe me." 
 
 " And if half my fortune can give additional stimulus to exertion, it shall 
 be shared, with pleasure, between yourself and crew," observed Sir Everard. 
 
 " Thank your honors, — thank your honors," said the boatswain, somewhat 
 electrified by these brilliant oflers. " The lads may take the money, if they 
 like ; all I cares about is the king's commission. Give me but a s^\'ni) on my 
 shoulder, and the money will come fast enough of itself. But still, shiver 
 "my topsails, if I wants any bribery to make me do my duty ; besides, if 
 'twas Only for them poor girls, alone, I would go through fire and water to 
 sarve them. I'm not verj'^ chicken-hearted in my old age, your honors, but I 
 don't recollect the time Avhen I blubbered so much as I did when Miss Made- 
 line come aboard. But I can't bear to think of it ; and now let us see and 
 get all ready for towing." 
 
 Everything now became bustle and activity on board the schooner. The 
 . matches, no longer required for the moment, were extinguished, and the heavy 
 
wacodsta; or, the prophecy. 151 
 
 catlasses and pistols iinbuckled from the loins of the men, and deposited near 
 their respective «;\ins. Li?;ht forms Hew aloft, and standing ont upon the 
 yards, loosely furled the sails that had previously been hauled and clewed up ; 
 but as this was an operation requiring little time in so small a vessel, those 
 who were engaged in it speedily glided to the deck again, ready for a more 
 arduous service." The boats had, meanwhile, been got forward, and into these 
 the sailors sprang with an alacrity that could scarcely have been expected 
 from men who had passed not only the preceding night, but many before it, 
 in utter sleeplessness and despair. But the imminence of the clanger, and 
 the evident necessity existing for exertion, aroused them to new energy ; and 
 the hitherto motionless vessel was now made to obey the imjmlse given by 
 the tow ropes of the boats, in a manner that proved their crews to have en- 
 tered on their toil with the determination of men resolved to devote them- 
 selves in earnest to their tasks. Nor was the spirit of action confined to 
 these. The long sweeps of the schooner had been shipped, and such of the 
 crew as remained on board labored efiectually at them, — a service in Avhich 
 they were essentially aided, not only by mine host of the Fleur de Lis, but 
 by the .young officers themselves. 
 
 At mid-day the headlands were seen looming largely in the distance, while 
 the immediate shores of the ill-fated fortress were momentarily, and in the 
 same proportion, disappearing under the dim line of horizon in the rear. 
 More than half their course, from the spot whence they commenced towing. 
 had been completed, when the harassed men were made to quit their oars, in 
 order to partake of the scanty fare of the vessel, consisting chiefly of dried 
 bear's meat and venison. Spirit of any description they had none ; but, un- 
 like their brethren of the Atlantic, when driven to extremities in food, they 
 knew not what it was to poison the mitritious properties of the latter by sip- 
 ing the putrid dregs of the water-cask, in quantities scarce sufficient to quench 
 the fire of their parched palates. Unslaked thirst was a misery unknown to 
 the mariners of these lakes : it was but to cast their buckets deep into the 
 tempting element, and water, pure, sweet, and grateful as any that ever bub- 
 bled from the moss-clad fountain of sylvan deity, came cool and refreshing 
 to their lips, neutralising, in a measure, the crudities of the coarsest food. It 
 was to tliis inestimable advantage the crev/- of the schooner had been prin- 
 cipally indebted for their health, during the long series of privation, as far as 
 related to fresh provisions and rest, to which they had Ijecn subjected. All 
 appeared as vigorous in frame, and robust in health, as at the moment when 
 thej- had last quitted the waters of the Detroit ; and but for the inward sink- 
 ing of the spirit reflected in many a bronzed and furrowed brow, there was 
 little to show they had been exposed to any very extraordinary trials. 
 
 Their meal having been hastily despatched, and sweetened by a draught 
 from the depths of the Huron, the seamen once more sprang into their boats, 
 and devoted themselves, heart and soul, to the completion of their task, pull- 
 ing with a vigor that operated on each and all with a tendency to encourage- 
 ment and hope. At length the vessel, still impelled by her own sweeps, gra- 
 dually approached the land ; and at rather more than an hour before sunset 
 was so near that the moment was deemed arrived when, without danger of 
 being perceived, she might be run up along the shore to the point alluded to 
 by the boatswain. Little more than another hour was occupied in bringing her 
 to her station ; and the red tints of departing day were visible in the direction 
 of the ill-fated fortress of Michillimackinac, when the sullen rumbling of the 
 cable, following the heavjr splash of the anchor, announced the place Qf mo- 
 mentary concealment had been gamed. 
 
 The anchorage lay between two projecting headlands ; to the outermost 
 extremities of which were to be seen, overhanging the lake, the state- 
 ly birch and pine, connected at their base by impenetrable brushwood, ex- 
 tending to the very shore, and affording the amplest concealment, except from 
 the lake side and the banks under which the schooner was moored. From 
 
152 ^vAcousTA; or, the prophecy. 
 
 the first quarter, however, little clanger was incurred, as any canoes the sav- 
 ages might send in discovery of their course, must unavoidably be seen the 
 moment they appeared over the line of the horizon, while, on the contrary, 
 their own vessel, although much larger, resting on and identified with the 
 land, must be invisible, except on a very near approach. In the opposite di- 
 rection they were equally safe ; for, as Mullins had truly remarked, none, save 
 a few wandering hunters, whom chance occasionally led to the spot, were to 
 be met with in a part of' the country that lay so completely out of the track 
 of communication between the fortress. It was, however, but to double the 
 second headland in their front, and they came within view of the Sinclair, the 
 head of which v.-as situated little more than a league beyond the spot where 
 they now lay. Thus secure for the present, and waiting only for the rising 
 of the breeze, of which the setting sun had given promise, the sailors once 
 more snatched their hasty refreshment, while two of their number were sent 
 aloft to keep a vigilant look-out along the circuit embraced by the enshroud- 
 ed headlands. 
 
 During the whole of the day the cousins had continued on deck clasped in 
 each other's arms, and shedding tears of bitterness, and heaving the most 
 heart-rending sobs at intervals, yet but rarely conversing. The feelings of 
 both were too much oppressed to admit of the utterance of their grief. The 
 vampire of despair had banqueted on their hearts. Often had Sir Everard 
 and De Haldimar paused momentarily from the labor of their oars, to cast an 
 eye of anxious solicitude on the scarcely conscious girls, wishing, rather than 
 expecting, to find the violence of their desolation abated, and that, in the fuU 
 expansion of unreserved ccmmunication, they were relieving their sick hearts 
 from the terrible weight of woe that bore them down. Captain de Haldimar 
 had even once or twice essayed to introduce the subject himself, in the hope 
 that some fresh parox^'sm, following their disclosuj-es, would remove the hor- 
 rible stupefaction of their senses ; but the wild look and excited manner of 
 iladeline, Vi'henevcr he touched on the chord of her affliction, had as often 
 caused him to desist. 
 
 Towards the evening, however, her natural strength of character came in 
 aid of his quiescent efforts to soothe her : arid she appeared not only more 
 composed, but more sensible of tlie impression produced by surrounding ob- 
 jects. As the last rays of the sun were tinging the horizon, she drew up her 
 form in a sitting position against the bulwarks, and, raising her clasped hands to 
 heaven, while her eyes were bent long and fixedly on the distant west, appear- 
 ed some minutes wholly lost in that attitude of absorption. Then she closed 
 > her eyes ; and through the swollen lids came coursing, one by one, over her 
 quivering cheek, large tears, that seemed to scald a furrow where they passed. 
 After this she became more calm — her respiration more free ; and she even 
 consented to taste the humble meal v/hich the young man novr oftered for the 
 third time. Neither Clara nor herself had eaten food since the preceding 
 morning ; and the weakness of their frames contributed not a little to the in- 
 creasing despondency of their spirits ; but, notwithstanding several attempts 
 previously made, they had rejected what was oflcred them, with insurmount- 
 able loathing. When they had now swallowed a few morsels of the sliced 
 vertison ham, prepared with all the delicacy the nearly exhausted resources 
 of the vessel could supply, accompanied by a small portion of the corn-bread 
 of the Canadian, Captain de Haldimar prevailed on them to swallow a few 
 drops of the spirit that still remained in the canteen given them by Erskinc 
 on their departure from Detroit. The genial liquid sent a kindling glow to 
 their chilled hearts, and for a moment deadened the pungency of their anguish ; 
 and then it was that Miss de Haldimar entered briefly on the horrors she had 
 witnessed, while Clara, with her arm encircling her waist, fixed her dim and 
 swollen eyes, from which a tear ever and anon rolled heavily to her lap, ou 
 those of her beloved cousin. 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 163 
 
 CHAPTER XXm. 
 
 Without borrowing the affecting language of the unhappy girl — a language 
 rendered even more touching by the peculiar pathos of her tones, and the 
 searching agony of spirit that burst at intervals through her narrative — we 
 will merely present our readers with a brief summary of what was gleaned 
 from her melancholy disclosure. On bearing her couisin to the bed-room, 
 after the teiTifying yell first heard from without the fort, she had flown down 
 the front stairs of the block-house, in the hope of reaching the guard-room in 
 time to acquint Captain Baynton with what she and Clara had witnessed 
 from the window. Scarcely, however, had she gained the exterior of the 
 binldi)ig, when she saw that ofiicer descending from a point of the rampart 
 immediately on her left, and almost in a line with the block-house. He was 
 running to overtake and return the ball of the Indian players, which had, at 
 that moment, fallen into the centre of the fort, and was now rolling rapidly 
 away from the spot on which jMiss de Haldimar stood. The course of the 
 ball led the pursuing officer out of the reach of her voice ; and it was not 
 until he had overtaken and thrown it again over the rampart, she could suc- 
 ceed in ch^iming his attention. No sooner, however, had he heard her hurried 
 statement, ilian, witliout waiting to take the orders of his commanding officer, 
 he prepared to join his guard, and gave directions for the immediate closing of 
 the gates. But the opportunity was now lost. The delay occasioned by the 
 chase and recovery of the ball had given the Indians time to approach the 
 gates in a body, while the unsuspicious soldiery looked on without so much 
 as dreaming to prevent them ; and Captain Baynton had scarcely moved for- 
 ward in execution of his purpose, v»dien the yelling fiends were seen already 
 possessing themselves of the drawbridge, and exhibiting every appearance of 
 fierce hostility. Wild, maddened at the sight, the almost frantic JMadeline, 
 alive only to her father's danger, rushed back towards the council room, 
 whence the startling 3'ell from without had already been echoed, and where 
 the tramp of feet and the clashing of weapons were distinguishable. 
 
 Cut oft' from his guard, by the rapid inundation of warriors, Captain Bayn- 
 ton had at once seen the futility of all attempts to join the men, and his first 
 impression evidently had been to devote himself to the preservation of the 
 cousins. With this view he turned liastily to Miss de Haldimar, and hurried- 
 ly naming the back staircase of the block-house, urged her to direct her flight 
 to that quarter. But the excited girl had neither consideration nor fear for 
 herself; she thought only of her father : and, even while the fierceness of 
 contest was at its height within, she suddenly burst into the council room. 
 The confusion and horror of the scene that met her eyes no language can 
 render : blood was flowing in every direction, and dying and dead officers, al- 
 ready stripped of their scalps, vrere lying strewed around the room. Still the 
 survivors fought with all the obstinacy of despair, and many of the Indians 
 had shared the fate of their victims. Miss de Haldimar attempted to reach 
 her flither, then vigorously combatting with one of the most desperate of the 
 chiefs ; but, before she could dart through the intervening crowd, a savage 
 seized her by the hair, and brandished a tomahawk rapidly over her neck. 
 At this moment Captain Baynton sent his glittering blade deep into the heart 
 of the Indian, who, relinquishing his grasp, fell dead at the feet of his intend- 
 ed victim. The devoted officer then threw his left arm round her waist, and 
 parrying with his sword-arm the blows of those who sought to intercept his 
 flight, dragged his reluctant burden towards the door. Hotly pressed by the 
 remaining officers, nearly equal in number, the Indians were now compelled 
 to turn and defend thenaselves in front, when Captain Baj^nton took that op- 
 portunity of getting once more into the corridor, not, however, without hav- 
 ing received a severe wound immediately bchiud the right ear, and leaving a 
 
1S4 W A C O U S T A ; OR, T II K PROPHECY. 
 
 skirt and lappel of his uniform in tlic hands of two savaires who had sncces- 
 sively essayed to dctai'i him. At that moment the band without had suc- 
 ceeded in forcing open the door of tlie guard room ; and the ofticer saw at a 
 glance there was little time left- for decision. In hurried and imploring accents 
 he besought ]\Iiss de Haklimar to forget every thing but her own danger, and 
 to summon resolution to tear herself from the scene ; but prayer and entreaty, 
 and even force, wei'e alike employed in vain. Clinging firmly to the rude bal- 
 ustrades, she refused to be led up the staircase, and Avildly resisting all his 
 efforts to detach her hands, declared she would again return to the scene of 
 death, in which her beloved parent was so conspicuous an actor. While he 
 wa.s yet engaged in this fruitless attempt to force her from the spot, the door 
 of the council-room -was suddenly burst open, and a group of bleeding officers, 
 among whom was Major de Ilaldimar, followed by their yelling "enemies, 
 rushed wildly into the passage, and, at the very foot of the .stairs where they 
 yet stood, the combat was renewed. From that moment Miss de Haldimar 
 lost sight of her generous protector; Meanwhile the tumult of execrations, 
 and groans, and yells, was at its height ; and one by one she saw the unhappy 
 officers sink beneath weapons yet reeking with the blood of their comrades, 
 until not more than three or four, including her father and the commander of 
 the schooner, were left. At length Idajor de Haldimar, overcome by exertion 
 and faint from wounds, while his wild eye darted despairingly on his daugh- 
 ter, had his sword-arm desperately wounded, when the blade dropped to the 
 earth, and a dozen weapons glittered above his head. The wild shriek that 
 had startled Clara then burst from the agonised heart of her maddened cou.sin, 
 and she darted forward to cover her father's head with her ai'ms. But her 
 senses failed her in the attempt ; and the last thing she recollected was falling 
 over the weltering form of Middleton, who pressed her, as she lay there, in 
 the convulsive energy of death, to his almost pulseless heart. 
 
 A vague con.sciousness of being raised from the earth, borne rapidly through 
 the air, came over her even in her insensibihty, but without any definite per- 
 ception of the present, or recollection of the past, until she suddenly, when 
 about midway between the fort and the point of wood that led to Chabouiga, 
 opened her eyes, and found herself in the firm grasp of an Indian, whose 
 features, even in the hasty and fearful glance she cast at the countenance, she 
 fancied were not inifamiliar to her. Not another human being was to be seen 
 in the^leanng at that moment ; for all the savages, including even the women 
 assembled outside, were within the fort assisting in the complex horrors of 
 murder, fire, and spoliation. In the wild energy of returning reason and de- 
 spair, the wretched girl straggled viokmtly to free herself; and so far with 
 success, that the Indian, whose strength was evidently fast failing him. was 
 compelled to quit his hold and suffer her to walk. No sooner did Miss de Hal- 
 dimar feel her feet touching the ground, when she again renewed her exertions 
 to free herself and return to the fort ; but the Indian held her firmly secured 
 by a leathern thong he now attached to her waist, and every attempt proved 
 ■abortive. He was evidently much disconcerted at her resistance ; and more 
 than once she expected, and almost hoped, the tomahawk at his side would be 
 made to revenge him for the test to which his patience -was subjected: but 
 Miss de Haldimar looked in vain for the expression of ferocity and impatience 
 that might have been expected from him at such a moment. There was an 
 air of mournfulncss, and even kindness, niingled with severity, on his smooth 
 brow that harmonised ill with the horrible atrocities in M'hich he had, to all 
 appearance, covered as he was with blood, been so recent and prominent an 
 actor. The Indian remarked her surprise ; and then looking hurriedly, but 
 keenly, around, and finding no living being near them, suddenly tore the shirt 
 from his chest, and emphatically pronouncing the names " Oucanasta," '• De 
 Haldimar," disclosed to .the still struggling captive the bosom of a woman. 
 After which, pointing in the direction of the wood, and finally towards Detroit, 
 
wacousta; ou, the prophecy. 155 
 
 she gave Miss de Ilaldiinar to understand that was the course intended to be 
 pursued. 
 
 In a moment the resistance of the hxttcr ceased. She at once recognised the 
 young Indian woman whom her cousin had i-escued from death : and aware, as 
 she was, of the strong attachment that had subsequently bound her to her pre- 
 server, she was at no loss to understand how she niighl have been led to de- 
 vote herself to the rescue of one whom, it was proljable, she knew to be his 
 attianced wife. Unce, indeed, a suspicion of a diU'orcnt nature crossed her 
 mind; for the thought occurred to her she had only Iktu savod from the gen- 
 eral doom to be made the victim of private revenge — that it was only to glut the 
 jealous vengeance of the woman at a more dehberate hour, she had been made 
 a temporary captive. The apprehension, however, was no sooner formed than 
 extinguished. Bitterly, deeply as she had reason to abhor the treachery and 
 cunnnig of the dark race to which her captor belonged, there was an expres- 
 sion of openness and sincerity, and even imploringness, in the countenance of 
 Oucanasta, which, added to her former knowledge of the woman, at once set 
 this fear at rest, inducing her to look upon her rather in the character of a dis- 
 interested savior, than iu that of a cruel and vindictive enemy, goaded on to 
 the indulgence of malignant hate by a spirit of rivalry and revenge. Besides, 
 even were her crudest ll-ars to be realised, what could await her worse than 
 the past 1 If she could even succeed in getting away, it would only be to re- 
 turn upon certain death ; and death only coidd await her. however refined the 
 tortures accompanying its infliction, in the event of her quietly following and 
 yielding herself up to the guidance of one wlio offered this slight consolation, 
 at least, that slie was one of her own sex. But Miss delBvaldimar wa.s willing 
 to attribute more generous motives to the Indian ; and fortified in her iirst 
 impression, she signified by signs, that seemed to be perfectly intelligible to 
 her companion, she appreciated her friendly intentions, and confided wholly 
 in her. 
 
 No longer checked in her efforts, Oucanasta now directed her course towards 
 the wood, still holding the thong that remained attached to Miss de Haldimar's 
 waist, probabl}^ with a view to deceive any individuals from the villages on 
 whom they might chance to fall, into the belief that the English girl was in 
 reality licr prisoner. No sooner, however, had they entered the depths of the 
 forest, when, instead of following the patli that led to Chabouiga, Oucanasta 
 took a direction to the left, and then moving nearly on a parallel hne with the 
 course of the lake, continued her flight as rapidly as the rude nature of the 
 underwood, and the unpractised feet of her companion, would permit. They 
 had travelled in this manner for upwards of four hours, without meeting a 
 breathing thing, or even so much as exchanging a sound between themselves, 
 when, at length, the Indian stopped at the edge of a deep cavern-like excava- 
 tion in the earth, produced by the tearing up, by the wild tempest, of an enor- 
 mous pine. Into this she descended, and presently re-appeared with several 
 blankets, and two light painted paddles. Then unloosing the thong from the 
 waist of the exhausted girl, she proceeded to disguise her in one of the blankets 
 in the manner already shown, securing it over the head, throat, and shoulders 
 witli the badge of captivitj^^ now no longer necessary for her purpose. She 
 then struck off at right angles from the course they had ]irL\:()Usly pursued; 
 and in less than twenty minutes both stood on the lake >h ,11,.-);] )a n-ntly at a great 
 . distance from the point whence the}' had originall}- sit oiii. 1 hf Indian gazed 
 for a moment anxiously before her ; and then, with an exclamation, evidently 
 meant to convey a sense of pleasure and satisfaction, pointed forward upon the 
 lake. Miss de Ilaldimar followed, with eager and aching eyes, the direction 
 of her finger, and beheld the well known schooner evidently urging her flight 
 towards the entrance of the Sinclair. Oh, how her sick heart seemed ready 
 to burst at that moment! From the vessel she turned her eyes away upon the 
 distant shore, v/hich it was fast quitting, and beheld a cokunn of mingled flame 
 and smoke towering far above the hori/'.on, and attesting the universal wreck 
 
156 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 of what had so long been endeared to hev as her home. And slie had wit- 
 nessed all this, and 3^et had strength to survive it ! 
 
 The courage of the unhappy girl had hitherto been sustained by no effort 
 of volition of her own. From the motnent when, discovering a friend in Ou- 
 canasla, she had yielded herself unresistingly to the guidance of that generous 
 creature, her feelings had been characterised by an obtuseness strongly in 
 contrast with the high excitement that liad distinguished her previous man- 
 ner. A dreamy recollection of some past horror, it is true pursued her dur- 
 ing her rapid and speechless flight ; but any analysis of the causes conducing 
 to that horror, her subjugated faculties were unable to enter upon. She had 
 followed her conductor almost without consciousness, and vdth such deep ab- 
 sorption of spirit, that she neither once conjectured whither they were going, 
 nor what was to be the final issue of their flight. But now, when she stood 
 on the lake shore, suddenly awakened, as if bj^ some startling spell, to every 
 harrowing recollection, and with lier attention assisted by objects long en- 
 deared, and rendered familiar to her gaze — when she beheld the vessel that 
 had last borne her across the still bosom of the Huron, fleeing for ever from 
 the fortress where her arrival had been so joyousl}^ hailed — when she saw 
 that fortress itself presenting the hideous spectacle of a blackened mass of 
 ruins fast crumbhng into nothingness, a faintness. as of death, came over her, 
 and she sank without life on the beach. Of what passed afterwards, she had 
 no recollection. She neither knew how slio had got into tlie canoe, nor what 
 means the Indian had taken to secure her approach to the schooner. She had 
 no consciousness of having been removed to the bark of the Canadian, nor 
 did she even remember having risen and gazed through the foliage on the 
 vessel at her side ; but she presumed, the chill air of the morning having 
 partially restored pulsation, she had moved instinctively from her recumbent 
 position to the spot in which her spectre-like countenance had been perceived 
 by Fuller. The first moment of her returning reason was that when, stand- 
 ing on the deck of the schooner, she found herself so unespectedlj^ clasped to 
 the heart of her lover. 
 
 Twilight had entirely passed away when Miss de Haldimar completed her 
 sad narrative ; and already the crew, roused to exertion by the swelling 
 breeze, were once more engaged in weighing the anchor, and setting and 
 trimming the sails of the schooner, which latter soon began to shcot round 
 the concealing headland into the opening of the Sinclair. A deathlike silenc^ 
 prevailed throughout the decks of the little bark, as her bows, dividing the 
 waters of the basin that formed its source, gradually immerged into the cur- 
 rent of that deep but narrow river ; so narrow, indeed, that from its centre 
 the least active of the mariners might have leaped without difficulty to either 
 shore. This was the most critical part of the dangerous navigation. With 
 a wide seaboard, and full command of their helm, they had nothing to fear ; 
 but so limited was the passage of this river, it was with difficulty the yards 
 and masts of the schooner could be kept disengaged from the projecting 
 boughs of the dense forest that lined the adjacent shores to their very junc- 
 tion with the water. The darkness of the night, moreover, while it promised 
 to shield them from the observation of the savages, contributed greatly to 
 perplex their movements ; for such was the abiaiptness with which the river 
 wound itself round in various directions, that it required a man constantly 
 on the alert at the bows to apprise the helmsman of the course he should, 
 steer, to avoid collision with the shores. Canopies of weaving branches met 
 in various directions far above their heads, and through these the schooner 
 glided with a silence that might have called up tlie idea of a Stygian freight. 
 Meanwhile, the men stood to their guns, concealing the matches in their wai- 
 buckets as before ; and while they strained both ear and eye through the 
 surrounding gloom to discover the slightest evidence of danger, grasped the 
 handles of their cutlasses witli a firm hand, ready to unsheathe them at the 
 first intimation of alarm. 
 
W A C U S T A ; O U , T H K P R O 1* H E C Y . 1 ST 
 
 At the suggestion of the boatswain, who hinted at the necessity of having 
 cleared decks, Captain dc Ilaldimar had prevailed on his unfortunate relatives 
 to retire to the small cabin arranged for their reception ; and hero they were 
 attended hy an aged female, who had long followed the fortunes of the crew, 
 and acted in the twofold character of laundress and sempstress. lie himself, 
 with Sir Everard, continued on deck watching the progress of the vessel with 
 an anxiety that became more intense at each succeeding hour. Hitherto their 
 course had been unimpeded, save l)y the obstacles already enumerated ; and 
 they had now, at an liour before dawn, gained a point that promised a speedy 
 termination to tlfeir dMuger and perplexities. Before them lay a reach in 
 the i-iver, enveloped in more than oi'dinarj^ gloom, produced by the continuous 
 weaving of the tops of the overhanging trees ; and in the perspective, a gleam 
 of relieving light, denoting the near vicinity of the lake that lay at the oppo- 
 site extremity of the Sinclair, whose name it also bore. This was the nar- 
 rowest part of the river ; and so approximate were its shores, that the vessel 
 in her course could not fail to come in contact both with the obtruding foliage 
 of the forest and the dense bulrushes skirting the edge of either bank. 
 
 " If we get safe through tliis here place,"' said the boatswain, in a rough 
 whisper to his anxious and attentive auditors, '■ I think as how I'll venture 
 to answer for the craft. I can see daylight dancing upon the lake already. 
 Ten minutes raore and she will be there." Then tm-ning to the man at the 
 helm, — '• Keep her in the centre of the stream, Jim. Don't you see you're 
 bugging the weather shore ?" 
 
 "It would take the devil himself to tell which is the centre," growled the 
 sailor, in the same suppressed tone. '• One might steer with one's eyes shut 
 in such a queer place as this, and never be no worser off than with them open." 
 
 " Stead)' her helm, steady." rejoined Mullins, " it's as dark as pitch, to be 
 sure, but the passage is straight as an arrow, and with a steady helm you 
 can't miss it. Make for the light ahead." 
 
 " Abaft there !" hurriedly and loudly shouted the man on the look-out at 
 the bows, " there's a tree lying across the river, and we're just upon it." 
 
 While he yet spoke, and before the boatswain could give such instructions 
 as the emergency required, the vessel suddenly struck against the obstacle in 
 question ; but the concussion was not of the vioient nature that might have 
 been anticipated. The course of the schooner, at no one period particularly 
 rapid, had been considerably checked since her entrance into the gloomy arch, 
 in the centre of which her present accident had occurred ; so that it was 
 without immediate injmy to her hull and spars she had been thus suddenly 
 brought to. But this was not the most alarming part of the affair. Captain 
 de Haldimar and Sir Everard both recollected, that in making the same pas- 
 sage, not forty-eight hours previously, the)'- had encountered no obstacle of 
 the kind, and a misgiving of danger rose simultaneously to the hearts of each. 
 It was, however, a thing of too common occurrence, where storm and tempest 
 were so prevalent and partial, to create more than a mere temporary alarm ; 
 for it was quite as probable the barrier had been interposed by some fitful 
 outburst of nature, as that it arose from design on the part of their enemies : 
 and when the ves.sel had continued stationary for some minutes, without the 
 prepared and expectant crew discovering the slightest indication of attack, 
 the former impression was preserved by the oflicers — at least avowedly to 
 those around. 
 
 " Bear a hand, my lad.?, and cut away," at length ordered the boatswain, 
 in a low but clear tone ; " half a dozen at each end of the stick, and we shall 
 soon clear a passage for the craft." 
 
 A dozen sailors grasped their axes, and hastened forward to execute the 
 command. They .sprang lightly from the entangled bows of the schooner, and 
 diverging in equal numbers moved to either extremity of the follen tree. 
 
 " This is sailing through the heart of the American forest with a vengeance," 
 muttered Mullins, whose anuoyanco at their detention was strongly manifest- 
 
158 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 ed as he paced up and down the deck. " Shiver my topsails, if it isn't bad 
 enough to clear the Sinclair at any time, much more so when one's running 
 for one's life, and not a whisper's length from one's enemies. Do you know, 
 Captain," abruptly checking his movement, and famiharly placing his hand on 
 the shoulder of De Haldimar, " the last time we sailed through this very 
 reach I couldn't help telling poor Captain Danvers, God rest his soul, what a 
 nice spot it was for an Ingian ambuscade, if thej^ had onljr gumption enough 
 think of it." 
 
 " Hark !" said the officer, whose heart, eye, and ear were painfully oh the 
 alert, " what rustling is that we hear overhead ?" 
 
 " It's Jack Fuller, no doubt, your honor ; I sent him up to clear away the 
 branches from the main topmast rigging." Then raising his head, and ele- 
 vating his voice, " Hilloa ! aloft there !" 
 
 The only answer was a groan, followed by a deeper commotion among the 
 rustling foliage. 
 
 ''Why, what the devil's the matter with you now, Jackl" pursued the 
 boatswain, in a voice of angry vehemence. "Are ye scared at another ghost, 
 that ye keep groaning there after that fashion ?" 
 
 At that moment a heavy dull mass was heard tumbling through the upper 
 rigging of the schooner towards the deck, and presently a human form fell at 
 the verjr feet of the small group, composed of the two officers and the indivi- 
 dual who had last spoken. 
 
 " A light, a light !" shouted the boatswain ; " the foolish chap has lost his 
 hold through fear, and ten to one if he hasn't cracked his skull-piece for his 
 pains. Quick there with a light, and let's see what we can do for him." 
 
 The attention of all had been arrested by the sound of the falling weight, 
 and as one of the sailors now advanced, bearing a dark lantern from below, 
 the whole of the crew, with the exception of those employed on the fallen tree, 
 gathered themselves in a knot round the motionless form of the prostrate man. 
 But no sooner had their e3'es encountered the object of their interest, when 
 each individual started suddenly and involuntarily back, baring his cutlass, 
 and drawing forth his pistol, the whole presenting a group of countenances 
 strongly marked by various shades of consternation and alarm, even while 
 their attitudes were those of men prepared for some fierce and desperate 
 danger. It was indeed Fuller whom they beheld, but not laboring, as the 
 boatswain had imagined, under the mere influence of superstitious fear. He 
 was dead, and the blood flowing from a deep wound, inflicted by a sharp in- 
 strument in his chest, and the scalped head, too plainly told the manner of 
 his death, and the danger that awaited them all. 
 
 A pause ensued, but it was short. Before any one could find words to re- 
 mark on the horrible circumstances, the appalling war-cry of the savages 
 burst loudly from every quarter upon the ears of the devoted crew. In the 
 desperation of the moment, several of the men clutched their cutlasses be- 
 tween their teeth, and seizing the concealed matches, ru.shed to their respec- 
 tive stations at the guns. It was in vain the boatswain called out to them, in 
 a voice of stern authority, to desist, intimating that their only protection lay 
 in the reservation of the fire of their batteries. Goaded and excited, bevond 
 the power of resistance to an impulse that set all subordination at defiance, 
 they applied the matches, and almost at the same instant the terrific dis- 
 charge of both broadsides took place, rocking the vessel to the water's edge, 
 and reverberating, throughout .the confined space in which she lay, like the 
 dea<lly explosion of some deeply excavated mine. 
 
 Scarcely had the guns been fired, when the seamen became sensible of their 
 im})rudence. The echoes were yet struggling to force a passage through the 
 dense forest, when a second yell of the Indians announced the fiercest joy and 
 triumph, unmixed by disaster, at the result; and then the quick leapmg of 
 many forms could be heard, as they divided the crashing' underwood, and 
 rushed forward to close with their prey. It was evident, from the difference 
 
W A C O U S T A ; U , THE PROPHECY. 159 
 
 of sound, their first cry had been pealed forth while lying; prostnitc on the 
 gi-ound, and secure from the bullets, whose harmless discharjre that cry was 
 intended to provoke ; for now the voices seemed to rise progressively from the 
 earth, until they reached the level of each individual hei.2:ht. and were already 
 almost hotly breathing in the cai's of those they were destined to fill vrith il- 
 limitable dismay. 
 
 '■ Shiver my topsails, but this comes of disobey in,"- orders," roared tlie boat- 
 swain, in a voice of mingled auger and vexation. "The Ingians are quite as 
 cunning iis ourselves, aud arn't to be frighted that way. Quick, every cutlass 
 and pistol to his gangwa}'^, and let's do om- best. Pass the word forward for 
 the axemen to return to their quarters." 
 
 Recovered from their first paroxysm of alarm, the men at length became 
 sensible of the presence of a directing power, which, humble as it was, their 
 long habits of discipline had taught tliem to respect, and, headed on the one 
 side by Captain de Ilaldimar, and on the other by Sir Everard Valletort, 
 neither of whom, however, entertained the most remote chance of success, 
 flew, as commanded, to their respective gangwaj's. The yell of the Indians 
 had ceased, aud all was hushed into stillness ; but as the anxious ami quick- 
 sighted officers gazed over the bulwarks, they fancied f - ' - '.oven 
 through the deep gloom that every where prevailed. < ! sting 
 in ciiutious and eager attitudes, on the very verge of i i . -i dis- 
 tance of little more than half pistol shot. Every heart b-it ^\ iUi txpjctancy, 
 — every eye was riveted intently in front, to watch and meet the first move- 
 ments of their foes, but not a sound of approach was audible to the equally 
 attentive ear. In this state of aching suspense thej- might have continued 
 about live minutes, when suddenlj^ their hearts were made to quail by a third 
 ciy, that came, not as previously, from the banks of the ri^' - '■ ■' •'^-^m the 
 very centre of their own decks, and from the topmast : I' the 
 schooner. So suddden and unexpected too was this fresh > ; -olbre 
 the- two partiis ". I ii:i> 1 1 turn, and assume a new posture nl Iscvi-c, seve- 
 ral of them \:::i\ ;': '■■'■ la'len under the butchering blades of their enemies. 
 Then commeiirv i :i (h (..rate but short conflict, mingled with yelhngs, that 
 again were answered irom every point ; and rapidly gliding down the pendant 
 ropes, were to be seen the active aud dusky forms of men, swelling the num- 
 ber of assailants, who had gained the deck in the same noiseless manner, until 
 resistance became almost hopeless. 
 
 " Ha ! I hear the footsteps of our lads at last," exclaimed MuUins exult- 
 ingly to his comrades, as he finislied despatching a third savage with his 
 sturdy weapon. " Quick, men, quick, up with hatchet and cutlass, and take 
 
 them in the rear. If we are to die, let's die " game, he would perhaps 
 
 have added, but death arrested the word on his lips ; and his corpse rolled 
 along the deck until its further progress was stopped by the stiffened body of 
 the unhappy F idler. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fall of their brave leader, and the whoopings of their 
 enemies, the flagging spirits of the men were for a moment excited by the an- 
 nouncement of the return even of the small force of the axemen, and they 
 defended themselves with a courage and determination worthy of a better 
 result ; but when, by the lurid light of the torches, now lying burning about 
 the decks, they turned and beheld not their companions, but a fresh band of 
 Indians, at whose pouch belts dangled the reeking scalps of their murdered 
 fi-iends, they at once relinquished the combat as hopeless, and gave themselves 
 imresitingly to be bound by their captors. 
 
 Meanwhile the cousins experienced a renewal of all those horrors from 
 which their distracted mmds had been temporarily relieved ; and, petrified 
 with alarm, as they lay in the solitary berth that contained them both, en- 
 dured sufferings infinitely more terrible than death itself. The early part of 
 the tumult they had noticed almost without comprehending its cause, and but 
 for the terrific cry of the Indians that had preceded them, would have mista- 
 
160 wacousta; or, the prophecy, 
 
 ken the deafening broadsides for the blowing up of the vessel, so tremendous 
 and violent had been the concussion. Nay, there -was a moment when Miss 
 de Haldimar felt a pang of deep disappointment and regret at the misconcep- 
 tion : for. with the fearful recollection of past events, so strongly impressed on 
 her bleeding heart, she could not but acknowledge, that to be engulfed in one 
 general and disastrous explosion, was mere}- compared with the alternative 
 of falling into the hands of those to whom her loathing spirit had been too 
 fatally taught to deny even the commonest attributes of humanity. As for 
 Clara, she had not the power to think, or to form a conjecture on the subject: 
 she was merely sensible of a repetition of the horrible scenes from which she 
 had so recently been snatched, and with a pale cheek, a fixed eye, and an al- 
 most pulseless heart, lay without motion in the inner side of the berth. The 
 piteous spectacle of her cousin's alarm lent a forced activity to the despair of 
 Miss de Haldimar, in whom apprehension produced that strong energy of 
 excitement that sometimes gives to helplessness the character of true courage. 
 "With the increasing clamor of appalling conflict on deck, this excitement grew 
 at every moment stronger, until it finally became irrepressible, so that at 
 length, when through the cabin windows there suddenly streamed a flood of 
 yellow light, extinguishing that of the lamp that threw its flickering beams 
 around the cabin, she flung herself impetuously from the berth, and, despite 
 of the aged and trembling female who attempted to detain her, burst open 
 the narrow entrance to the cabin, and rusjied up the steps communicating 
 with the deck. 
 
 The picture that there met her eyes was at once graphic and fearful in the 
 extreme. On either side of the river, lines of streaming torches were waved 
 by dusky warriors high above their heads, reflecting the grim countenances, 
 not only of those who bore them, but of dense groups in their rear, whose 
 numbers were alone concealed by the foliage of the forest in which they stood. 
 From the branches that wove themselves across the centre of the river, and 
 the topmast and rigging of the vessel, the same strong yellow light, produced 
 by the bark of the birch tree steeped in gum, streamed down upon the decks 
 below, rendering each line and block of the schooner as distinctly visible as if 
 it had been noon on the sunniest of those far distant lakes. The deck itself 
 was covered with the bodies of slain men — sailors and savages mixed togeth- 
 er ; and amid these were to be seen fierce warriors, reclining triumphantly 
 and indolently on their rifles, while others were occupied in securing the arms 
 of their captives with leathern thongs behind their backs. The silence that 
 now prevailed was strongly in contrast with, and even more fearful than, the 
 horrid shouts by which it had been preceded ; and, but for the ghastly coun- 
 tenances of the captives, and the quick rolhng eyes of the savages, Miss de 
 Haldimar might have imagined herself the sport of some extraordinary and 
 exciting illusion. Her glance over these promment features in the tragedy 
 had been cursory, yet accurate. It now rested on one that had more imme- 
 diate and terrifying interest for herself At a few paces in front of the com- 
 panion ladder, and with their backs turned towards her, stood two individuals, 
 whose attitudes denoted the purpose of men resolved to sell with their lives 
 alone a passage to a tmll fierce-looking savage, whose countenance betrayed 
 every mark of triumphant. and deadly passion, while he apparently hesitated 
 whether his uplifted arm should stay the weapon it wielded. These individ- 
 uals were Captain de Haldimar and Sir Everard Valletort ; and to the former 
 of these the attention of the savage was more immediately and exultingly 
 directed ; so much so, indeed, that Miss de Haldimar thought she could read 
 in the ferocious expression of his features the death-warrant of her cousin. 
 In the wild terror of the moment she gave a piercing scream that was answer- 
 ed by a hundred yelling voices, and rushing between her lover and his enemy 
 threw herself wildly and .supplicatingly at the feet of the latter. Uttering a 
 savage laugh, the monster spurned her from him with his foot, when, quick 
 as thought, a pistol was discharged within a few inches of his face ; but, with 
 
w A c ») i; s T A ; OR, i n v. y k o i' h e c y . 101 
 
 a rapidity equal to thai of his a.s.Siiihuit, lie bent aside his head, and the ball 
 passed harmlessly on. The yell that foUoweil was terrific ; and while it was 
 yet swiUinj;- into fullness, Captain de Ilaldimar felt an iron hand furiously 
 grappling his throat, and, ere the grasp was relinquished, he again stood the 
 bound and passive victim of the warrior of the Fleur de Lis. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The interval that succeeded to the last council scene of the Indians was 
 passed by the officers of Detroit in a state of inexpressible anxiety and doubt. 
 The fears entertained for the fate of their companions, who had set out in the 
 perilous and almost forlorn hope of reaching Michillimackinac, in time to pre- 
 vent the consummation of the threatened treachery, had, in some degree, if 
 not wholly, been allayed by the story narrated by the Ottawa chief. It was 
 evident, from his statement, the party had again met, and been engaged in 
 fearful struggle with the gigantic warrior they had all so much reason to re- 
 collect ; and it was equally apparent, that in that struggle they had been suc- 
 cessful. But still, so many obstacles were likely to be opposed to tlieii* 
 navigation of the several lakes and rivers over which lay their course, it was 
 almost feared, even if they eventuklly escaped unharmed themselves, they 
 could not possibly reach the fort in time to communicate the danger that 
 awaited their friends. It is true, the time gained by Governor de Haldimar 
 on the first occasion had afforded a considerable interval, of which advantage 
 might be taken ; but it was also, on the other hand, uncertain whether Pon- 
 teac had commanded the same delay in the council of the chiefs investing 
 Michillimackinac, to which he had himself assented. Three days were suffi- 
 cient to enable an Indian warrior to perform the journey by land ; and it was 
 chiefly on this vague and uncertain ground they based whatever little of hope 
 was entertained on the subject. 
 
 It had been settled at the departure of the adventurers, that the instant 
 they elfected a communication with the schooner on Lake Huron. Franfois 
 should be immediately sent back, with instructions so to contrive the period 
 of his return, that his canoe should make its appearance soon after daybreak 
 at the nearest extremity of Hog Island, the position of which has been de- 
 scribed ill a previous chapter. From this point a certain signal, that could 
 be easily distinguished with the aid of a telescope, was to be made from 
 the canoe, which, without being of a nature to attract the attention of the 
 savages, was yet to be such as could not well l)e mistaken by the garrison. 
 This was a precaution adopted, not only with the view of giving the earliest 
 intimation of the result of the enterprise, but lest the Canadian should be 
 prevented, by any closer investment on the part of the Indians, from com- 
 municating personally with the fort in the way he had been accustomed. . 
 
 It will easily be comprehended, th(!refore, that as the period ajjproached 
 when they might reasonably look for the return of Francois, if he should re- 
 turn at all, the nervous anxiety of the officers liccame more and more devel- 
 oped. Upwards of a week had elapsed since tlie departure of their friends; 
 and already, for the last day or two, their impatience had led them, at early 
 dawn, and with beating hearts, to that quarter of the rampart which over- 
 looked the eastern extremity of Hog Island. Hitherto, however, their eager 
 watching had been in vain. As far as our recollection of the Canadian tradi- 
 tion of this story serves us, it must have been on the fourth night after the 
 final discomfiture of the plans of Ponteac, and the tenth from the de})arture 
 of the adventurers, that the officers were assembled in the mess-room, partak- 
 ing of the .scanty and frugal supper to which their long conlinoment had re- 
 duced them. The suoject ot rheir conversation, as it was ever of their 
 11 
 
162 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 thoughts, was the probable fate of theii- companions ; and many and various, 
 although all equally melancholy, were the conjectures offered as to the result. 
 There was on the countenance of each, that deep and fixed expression of 
 gloom, which, if it did not indicate any unmanliness of despair, told at least 
 that hope was nearly extinct : but more especially was this remarkable in 
 the young but sadly altered Charles de Ilaldimar, who, with a vacant eye 
 and a pre-occupied manner, seemed wholly abstracted from the scene before 
 him. 
 
 All was silence in the body of the fort. The men off duty had lon^ since 
 retired to rest in their clothes, and only the " All's well !" of the sentinels 
 was heard at intervals of a quarter of an hour, as the cry echoed from mouth 
 to mouth in the line of circuit. Suddenly, however, between two of those 
 intervals, and during a pause in the languid conversation of the officers, the sharp 
 challenge of a sentinel was heard, and then quick steps on the rampart, as of 
 men hastening to the point whence the challenge had been given. The officers, 
 whom this new excitement seemed to arouse into fresh activity, hurriedly 
 quitted the room ; and with as little noise as possible, gained the spot where 
 the voice had been heard. Several men were bending eagerly over the ram- 
 part, and, with their muskets at the recover, riveting their gaze on a dark 
 and motionless object that lay on the verge of the thtch immediately beneath 
 them. 
 
 " What have you here, Mitchell ?" asked Captain Blessington. who was in 
 command of the guard, and who had recognised the gruff voice of the veteran 
 in the challenge just given. 
 
 " An American burnt log, your honor," muttered the soldier, " if one was 
 to judge from its stillness ; but if it is, it must have been rolled there within 
 the last minute ; for I'U take my aflBdavy it wasn't there when I passed last 
 in my beat." 
 
 " An American burnt log. indeed ! it's some rascal of a spy, rather," re- 
 marked Captain Erskine. •' Who knows but it may be our big friend, come 
 to pay us a visit again ? And yet he is not half long enough for him, either. 
 Can't you try and tickle him with the bayonet, any of you feUows, and see 
 whether he is made of flesh and blood ?" 
 
 Although tliis observation was made, almost without object, it being totally 
 impossible for any musket, even with the addition of its bayonet, to reach 
 more than half way across the ditch, the several sentinels threw themselves 
 on their chests, and stretching over the rampart as far as possible, made the 
 attempt to reach the suspicious looking object that lay beyond. No sooner, 
 however, had their arms been extended in such a manner as to be utterly 
 jiowerless, when the dark mass was seen to roll away in an opposite direction, 
 and with such rapidity that, before the men could regain their feet and level 
 their muskets, it had entirely disappeared from their view. 
 
 " Cleverly managed, to give the red skin his due," half laughingly observed 
 Captain Erskine. while his brother officers continued to fix their eyes in 
 astonishment on the spot so recently occupied by the strange object ; " but 
 what the devil could be his motive for lying there so long ? Not playing the 
 eaves-dropper, surely ; and yet, if he meant to have picked off a sentinel, what 
 was to have prevented him from doing it sooner ?" 
 
 " He had evidently no arms," said Ensign 13elmc. 
 
 " No, nor legs either, it would appear," resumed the literal Erskine. " Ciu"se 
 me if I ever saw anything in the shape of a human form bundled together 
 in that manner." 
 
 " I mean he had no fire-arras — no rifle," piu-sued Delme. 
 
 '• And if he had, he certainly would have rifled one of us of a life," con- 
 tinued the captain, laughing at liis own conceit. "' But come, the bird is flown, 
 and we have only to "thank ourselves for having been so egregiously duped. 
 Had Valletort been here, he would have given a different account of him," 
 
 " Hist ! listen !" exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone, calling the attention of 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE P R O P 11 K C Y . 163 
 
 the parly to a peculiar aud low soiiml in the directioi) in which the supposed 
 Indian had departed. 
 
 It was repeated, and in a plaintive tone, indicating a desire to propitiate. 
 Soon atter\Aards a human form was seen advancing slowl}"^, but without show 
 either of concealment or hostility in its movements. It finally remained 
 stationary on the spot where the dark and shapeless mass had been first per- 
 ceived. 
 
 '• Another Oucanasta for De Ilaldimar, no doubt," observed Captain 
 Erskine, after a moment's pause. " These grenadiers carry everything before 
 them as well in love as in war." The error of the good-natured othcer was, 
 however, obvious to all but himself. The figure, which was now distinctly 
 traced in outline for that of a warrior, stood boldly and fearlessly on the brink 
 of the ditch, holding up its left arm, in tlie hand of which dangled something 
 that was visible in the starlight, and pointiiig energetically to this pendant- 
 object with the other. A voice from one of the party now addressed the 
 Indian in two several dialects, but without eliciting a reply. lie either an- 
 derstood not, or would not answer the question proposed, but continued 
 pointing significantly to the indistinct object which he still held m an elevated 
 position. 
 
 " The governor must be apprised of this," observed Captain Blessington to 
 De Haldimar, who was his subaltern of the guard. " Hasten, Charles, to ac- 
 quaint yom- father, and receive his orders." 
 
 The young oflficer wiUingly obeyed the injunction of his superior. A secret 
 and indefinable hope rushed through his mind, that as the Indian came not in, 
 hostility, he might be the bearer of some communication from their friend*; j 
 and he moved rapidly towards that part of the building occupied by his father. 
 The light of a lamp suspended over the piazza leading to the governor's 
 rooms reliecting strongly on his regimentals, he passed unchallenged by the 
 sentinels posted there, and uninterruptedly gained a door that opened on a 
 narrow passage, at the further extremit)- of which was the sitting-room usually 
 occupiecl by his parent. This again was entered from the same passage by a 
 second door, the upper part of w'hich was of common glass, enabling any one 
 on the outside to trace ^vith facility every object within when the place was 
 lighted up. 
 
 A glance was sufficient to satisfy th,e youth his fiither was not in the room ; al- 
 though there was strong evidence he iiad not i-etired for the night. In the middle 
 of the floor stood an oaken table, and on this lay •in oiscn writing desk, with a 
 candle on each side, the wicks of which had bmnl .'d iuii'j; ;!s to throw a partial 
 gloom over the surrounding wainscotting. SciUtcrcri ■,\','n\t the table and desk 
 were a number of letters that had apparently been just looked ,it or read : and m 
 the midst of these an open case of red morocco, containing a miniature. The 
 appearance of these letters, thus left scattered abo'.it by one v/ho was scrtrfai- 
 lously exact in the arrangement of his papers, added to the circumstance of 
 the neglected and burning candles, confirmed the young ofiicer in an impres- 
 sion that his father, overcome by fatigue, had retired into his bed-room, and 
 fallen unconsciously asleep. Imagining, therefore, he could not, without diiii- 
 cult}', succeed in making himself heard, and deeming the urgency of the case 
 required it, he determined to wave the usual ceremony of knocking, and petse- 
 trate to his father's bed-room unannounced. The glass door being withwifc 
 fastening within, easily yielded to his presure of the latch ; but as he passed hy 
 the table, af strong and natural feeling of curiosity induced him to cast his eye 
 upon the miniature. To his infinite surprise, nay, almost terror, he discovered 
 it was that of his mother — the identical portrait which his sister Clara had 
 Avorn in her bosom from iufoncy, and which he had seen clasped round bear 
 neck on the \evy deck of the schooner in which she sailed for i^IichiUimackinac 
 He felt there coxdd be no mistake, for only one miniature of the sort had ever 
 been in x)OSses9ion of the family, and that the one jus-t accounted for. Almost 
 stupified at what he ,saw, and s'v^r'-clv crcditi'V.': the evidence of his senses, the 
 
164 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 young ofBccr glanced his eye hurriedly along one of the open letters that lay 
 around. It was in the well remembered hand-writing of his mother, and com- 
 menced, " Dear, dearest Reginald.''^ After this followed expressions of en- 
 dearment no woman might address except to an affianced lover, or the husband 
 of her choice ; and his heart sickened wliile he read. Scarcely, however, had 
 he scanned half a dozen lines, when it occured to him he was violating some 
 secret of his parents ; and discontinuing the perusal with an eiFort, he prepared 
 to quit himself of his mission. 
 
 On raising his eyes from the paper he was startled by the appearance of his 
 father, who, with a stern brow and a quivering lip, stood a few paces from the 
 table, apparently too much overcome by his indignation to be able to utter a 
 sentence. Charles de Haldimar felt all the awkwardness of his position. 
 Some explanation of his conduct, however, was necessary; and he stammered 
 forth the fact of the portrait having riveted his attention, from its striking re- 
 semblance to that in his sister's possession. 
 
 " And to what do these letters bear resemblance ?" demanded the governor, 
 in a voice that trembled in its attempt to be calm, while he fixed his penetrat- 
 ing eye on that of his son. '• They^ it appears, "were equally objects of attrac- 
 tion with you." 
 
 " The letters ware in the hand- writing of my mother ; and I was irresistibly 
 led to glance at one of them," replied the youth, with the humility of conscious 
 wrong. " The action was involuntary, and no sooner committed than repented 
 of. I am here, my ilither, on a mission of importance, which must account for 
 'my presence." 
 
 " A mission of importance !" repeated the governor, with more of sorrow 
 than of anger in the tone in which he now spoke. " On what mission are you 
 here, if it be not to intrude unwarrantably on a parent's privacy?" 
 
 The young officer's cheek flushed high, as he proudly answered : — " I was 
 sent by Captain Blessington, sir, to take your orders in regard to an Indian 
 who is now without the fort under somewhat extraordinary circumstances, 
 yet evidently without intention of hostility. It is supposed he bears some mes- 
 sage from my brother." 
 
 The tone of candor and otfended pride in which this formal announcement 
 of duty was made seemed to banish all suspicion from the mind of the govcnor ; 
 •and he remarked, in a voice that had more of the kindness that had latterly 
 ■distinguished his address to his son, "Was this, then, Charles', the o;?/;/ motive 
 for your abrupt intrusion at this hour 1 Are you sure no inducement of pri- 
 vate curiosity was mixed up with the discharge of your duty, that you entered 
 thus unannounced 1 You must, admit, at least, I found you employed in a 
 manner different from what the urgency of your mission would seem to justify," 
 
 There was lurking irony in this speech ; yet the softened accents of his 
 father, in some measure, disarmed the youth of the bitterness he would have 
 flung into his observation, — " That no man on earth, his parent excepted, 
 should have dared to insinuate such a doubt with impunity." 
 
 For a moment Colonel de Haldimar seemed to regard his son with a sur- 
 prised but satisfied air, as if he had not expected so much spu'it, in one whom 
 he had been accustomed to undervalue. 
 
 " I believe you, Charles," he at length observed ; '' forgive the justifiable 
 doubt, and think no more of the subject. Yet, one word," as the j'outh was 
 ■preparing to depart; '"you have read that letter" (and he pointed to that 
 which had principally arrested the attention of the officer:) what impression 
 has it given you of your mother ? Answer me sincerely. My name," and his 
 faint smile wore something of the character of triumph, "is not Reginald, ji^ou 
 know." 
 
 The pallid cheek of the young man flushed at this question. His own un- 
 disguised impression was, that liis mother had cherished a guilty love for ano- 
 ther than her husband. He felt the almost impiety of such a beliei', but ho 
 -could not resist the conviction that farced itself on his mind ; the k'ltur in her 
 
W A C U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 165 
 
 handwriting spoke for itself; and thoug;h the idea was full of wrctrhedness, 
 he was unable to conquer it. Whatever liis own inference might be, however, 
 he could not endure the tliought of imparting it to his father: he therefore 
 answered evasively. 
 
 " Doubtless my mother had some dear relative of the name, and to him was 
 this letter addressed ; perhaps a brother, or an uncle. But I never knew," 
 he pursued, with a look of appeal to his father, " that a second portrait of my 
 mother existed. This is the verj^ counterpart of Clara's." 
 
 •■ It may be the same." remarked the governor, but in a tone of indecision, 
 that denied his faith in what he uttered. 
 
 *• Impossible, my father. I accompanied Clara, if you recollect, as far as 
 Lake Sinclair ; and when I quitted the deck of the schooner to return, I par- 
 ticularly remarked my sister wore her mother's portrait, as usual, round her 
 neck." 
 
 Well, no matter about the portrait," hurriedly rejoined the governor; '"yet, 
 whatever your impression, Charles," and he spoke with a warmth 'that was 
 far from habitual to him. •" dare not to sully the memory of your mother by 
 a doubt of her purity. An accident has given this letter to j'our inspection, 
 but breathe not its contents to a human creature ; above all, respect the being 
 who gave you birth. Go. tell Captain Blessington to detain the Indian ; I 
 will join you immediatcl}'." 
 
 Strongl}-, yet confusedly, impressed with the singularity of the scene alto- 
 gether, and more particularly with his father's strange admonition, the young 
 officer quitted the room, and" hastened te rejoin his companions. On reaching 
 the rampart he found that the Indian, during his long absence, had depart- 
 ed ; yet not without depositing, on the outer edg(> of the ditch, the substance 
 to which he had previously directed their attention. At the naoment of De 
 Haldimar's approach, the officers were bounding over the rampart, and, Avith 
 straining eyes, endeavoring to make out what it was, but in vain ; something 
 was just perceptible in the withered turf, but what that S'lniething was no one 
 could succeed in discovering. 
 
 •• Whatever this be, we must possess ourselves of it," said Captain Bles- 
 sington ; '• it is evident, from the energetic manner of him who left it, it is of 
 importance. I think t know who is the best swimmer and chmber of our 
 party." 
 
 Several voices imanimously pronounced the name of '■ Johnstone." 
 '• Anything for a dash of enterprise," said that officer, w^hosc slight wound 
 had been perfectly healed. '• But what do you propose that the swimmer and 
 climber should do, Blessington?" 
 
 ■• Secure yon parcel, without lowering the drawbridge." 
 •' "What ! and be scalped in the act? Who knows if it be not a trick after 
 all, and that the rascal who placed it there is not lying within a few feet, 
 readv to pounce upon me the instance I reach the bank." 
 
 " Never mind." said Erskine, laughingly, " we will revenge your death, my 
 boy." 
 
 " Besides, consider the nunquam nan ■paratus, Johnstone," slily remarked 
 Lieutenant Leslie. 
 
 '" AVhat, again, Leslie ?" energetically responded the young Scot.sman. "Yet 
 think not I hesitate, for I did but jest : make fast a rope round my loins, and 
 I think I will answer for the result." 
 
 Colonel de Haldiraar now made his appearance. Having heard a brief 
 statement of the facts, and approving of the suggestion of Captain Blessing- 
 ton, a rope was procured, and made fast under the shoulders of the young 
 officer, who had previously stripped himself of his uniform and shoes. He 
 then suffered himself to drop gently over the edge of the rampart, his com- 
 panions gradually lowering the rope, until a deep and gasping aspiration, sn«h 
 as is usually wrung from one coming suddenly in contact with cold water, 
 announced he had gained the surface of the ditch. The rope was then sloxik- 
 
1643 v/acousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 '■®ied, to give hiin the unrestrained command of his limbs; and in the next in- 
 stant he was seen clambering up the opposite elevation. 
 
 Although the officers, indulging in a forced levity, in a great degree meant 
 to encourage their companion, had treated his enterprise with indifference, 
 t&ey were far from being mthout serious anxiety for the result. They had 
 laughed at the idea, suggested by him, of being scalped ; whereas, in truth, 
 they entertained the apprehension far more powerfully than he did himself. 
 The artifices resorted to by the savages, to secure an isolated victim, were so 
 many and so various, that suspicion could not but attach to the mysterious 
 occurrence they had just witnessed. Willing even as they were to believe 
 their present visiter, whoever he was, came not in a spirit of enmity, they could 
 aot altogether divest themselves of a fear that it was only a subtle artifice to 
 -decoy one of them within the reach of their traitorous weapons. They, 
 therefoi-e, watched the movements of their companion with quickening pulses ; 
 aad it was ^vith a lively satisfaction they saw him, at length, after a momen- 
 tary search, descend once more into the ditcli, and, with a single powerful im- 
 pulsion of his limbs, urge himself back to the foot of the rampart. Neither 
 feet nor hands were of much sei-vice, in enabling him to scale the smooth and 
 sliinting logs that composed the exterior surface of the works ; but a slight 
 jerk of the well-secured rope, serving as a signal to his friends, he was soon 
 dragged once more to the summit of the rampart, without other injury than 
 a couple of slight bruises. 
 
 " Well, wliat success ?" eagerly asked Leslie and Captain Erskine, in the 
 same breath, as the dripping Johnstone buried himself in the folds of a capa- 
 cious cloak procured during his absence. ' 
 
 " You shall hear," was the reply ; " but first, gentlemen, allow me, if you 
 please, to enjoy, with yourselves, the luxury of dry clothes. I have no par- 
 ticular ambition to contract an American ague fit just now ; yet, unless you 
 take pity on me, and resei've my examination for a future moment, there is 
 ev«ry probabilitj'- I shall not have a tootli left ):)y to-morrow morning." 
 
 No one could deny the justice of the remark, for the teeth of the young 
 jaaan were chattering as he spoke. It was not, therefore, until after he had 
 "Cbajiged his dress, and swallowed a couple of glasses of Captain Erskine's 
 never failing spirit, that they all repaired once more to the mess-room, when 
 Johnstone anticipated all questions, by the production of the mysterious 
 packet. 
 
 After removing several wrappers of bark, each of which was secured by a 
 tbong of deer-skin. Colonel de Haldimar, to whom the successful officer had 
 hiaaded liis prize, at length came to a small oval case of red morocco, precise- 
 ly similar, in size and form, to what which had so lately attracted the notice 
 -t>f his son. For a moment he hesitated, and his cheek was observed to turn 
 fB'Je, and his hand to tremble ; but quickly subduing his hidecision, he hur- 
 riedly unfastened the clasp, and disclosed to the astonished view of the officers 
 th« portrait of a young and lovely woman, habited in the Highland garb. 
 
 Exclamations of various kinds burst from the lips of the group of ofBcers. 
 Several knew it to be the portrait of Mrs. de Haldimar ; others recognized it 
 from the striking likeness it bore to Clara and to Charles : all knew it had 
 never been absent from the possession of the former since her mother's death ; 
 aad feeling satisfied as they did that its extraordinary appearance among 
 them, at the present moment, was an announcement of some dreadful disaster, 
 iifeeir countenances wore an impress of dismay little mferior to that of the 
 "wretched Charles, who, agonised beyond all attempt at description, had thrown 
 Isknself into a seat in the rear of the group, and sat like one bewildered, with 
 liis head buried in his hands. 
 
 '■■ Gentlemen," at length observed Colonel de Haldimar, in a voice that prov- 
 .lad how vainly his natural emotion was sought to be subdued by his pride, 
 '''• this, I fear me. is an unwelcome token. It comes to announce to a father 
 
wacousta; or, the puophecy. 107 
 
 the murder of his child ; to us all. the destruction of our last rcmauiing friends 
 and comrades." 
 
 '■ (iod forbid!" solemnly aspirated ("aptain ]i]e.^sinf>;ton. After a pause of 
 a moment oi- t^vo he pursued: ''1 know not why, sir; but my imprcs.sion is, 
 the appearance of this portrait, which we all recognise for that worn by Miss 
 dc Haldimar, bears another hiterpretation." 
 
 Colonel de Haldimar shook his head. " 1 have but too nmch reason to be- 
 lieve," he observed, smiling iu mournful bitterness, "it has been conveyed to 
 lis not in mercy but in revenge." 
 
 No one ventured to question why ; for notwithstanding all were aware that, 
 in the mysterious ravishcr of the wife of Halloway, Colonel de Haldimar had 
 a fierce and inexorable private enemy, no allusion had ever been made by that 
 officer himself to the suljject. 
 
 '' Will you permit me to examine the portrait and envelopes, colonel ?" re- 
 sumed Captain Blessington: ''1 feel almost confident, although I confess I 
 have no other motive for it than what springs from a recollection of the man- 
 ner of the Indian, that the result will bear me out in my belief tlic bearer 
 came not in hostility but in fi-iendship." 
 
 " By my faith, 1 quite agi'ee with Blessington," said Captain Erskino ; "for, 
 in addition to the manner of the Indian, there is another evidence in favor of 
 his position. Was it merely intended in the light in which you consider it, 
 colonel, the case or the miniature itself might have been returned, liut certain- 
 ly not the metal in which it is set. The savages are fully aware of the value 
 of gold, and would not so easily let it slip through their fingeis." 
 
 Meanwhile, Captain Blessington had turned and examined the miniature in 
 fifty different ways, but without succeeding in discovering any thing that 
 could confirm him in his original impression. Vexed and disappointed, he at 
 length flung it from him on the table, and sinking into a seat al tiie side of 
 the unfortunate Charles, pressed the hand of the youtli in signiticant silence. 
 
 Finding his worst fears now confirmed, Colonel de Haldimar. for the first 
 time, cast a glance towards his son, v/hose drooping head, and sorrowing 
 attitude, spoke vohnnes to bis heart. For a luotu/iit his own dieek blanched, 
 and his eye was .--vui! ti) gli.sten with the !ir,-,L >.<■..)■ eve;- wi'inesscd there by 
 tho-se around hiui. Sul'thiing his emotioii. !'.■:■,■.: -.vr. ho drew iip !iis person 
 to its lordly height, as if that act reminded iiim the commander was not to be 
 lost in the father, and quitting the room with a heavj- brow and step, recom- 
 mended to his officers the re})oso of which they ;i,ppeared to stand so much in 
 need. But not one was there who felt iiiflined iu court the solitude of his 
 pillow. No sooner were the foot.-tvps of Uie governor heard dying away in 
 the distance, when fresh lights were oi-dered, and :-everal logs of wood heaped 
 on the slackening fire. Around cliis t'le diiiceis now grouped, and throwing 
 themselves back in their chairs, assumed t'ne a/itiiiu]es of men seeking to in- 
 dulge rather in private rellection than in ]>erso;ial e'>iiverse. 
 
 The grief of the wretched Charles de lialdiiii.ir. hitherto restrained by the 
 presence of his father, and encouragnil hy the tD'ahin- evidences of interest 
 Aflrordi"'d. him by the ever considerate Blessington, now Ijurst forth audibly. 
 No attempt was made by the latter officer to cWrk the emot'on of his young 
 friend. Knowing his passionate fondness for his sister, he was not v.-ithout 
 fear that the sudden shock produced by the appearance of her miniature 
 might destroy his rea.son, even if it affected not his life ; and as the moment 
 was now come v.'hen tears might be shed without exciting invidious remark in 
 the only individual v.-ho was likely to make it. he sought to promote them ixa 
 much as possible. Too much occupied in their own mournful reflections to 
 bestow more than a passing notice on the weakness of their friend, the group 
 round the fire-place scarcely seemed to have regarded his emotion. 
 
 This violent paroxysm past, De Haldimar breathed more freely ; and, after 
 listening to several earnest observations of Captain Blessington, who still 
 held out the possibihty of something favorable turning up, on a re-exaraiuation 
 
168 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 of the portrait by daylight, he was so far composed as to be able to attend to 
 the summons of the sergeant of the guard, who came to say the relief were 
 ready, and \vaiting to be inspected before they were finally marched off. 
 Clasping the extended hand of his captain between his own, with a pressure 
 indicative of his deep gratitude, De Haldimar now proceeded to the discharge 
 of his duty, and having caught up tlie portrait, which still lay on the table, 
 and thrust it into the breast of his uniform, he repaired hurriedly to rejoin 
 his guard, from which circumstances alone had induced his unusually long 
 absence. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The remainder of that night was passed by the unhappy De Haldimar in a 
 state of indescribable wretchedness. After inspecting the relief, he had thrown 
 himself on his rude guai'd-bed ; and, drawing his cloak over his eyes, gave 
 full rein to the wanderings of his excited imagination. 
 
 Miserable as he felt his position to be, it was not without satisfaction he 
 again heard the voice of his sergeant summoning him to the inspection of 
 another relief This duty performed, and anxious to avoid the paining pre- 
 sence of his servant, he determined, instead of returning to his guard-room, to 
 consume the hour that remained before day in pacing the ramparts. Leaving 
 word with his subordinate, that in the event of his being required, he might 
 be found without difficulty, he ascended to that quarter of the works where 
 the Indian had been first seen who had so mysteriously conveyed the sad token 
 he still retained in his breast. It was on the same side with that particular 
 point whence we have already stated a full view of the bridge with its sur- 
 rounding scenery, together with the waters of the Detroit, where they were 
 intersected by Hog Island, were distinctly commanded. At either of those 
 points was stationed a sentinel, whose duty it was to extend his beat between 
 the boxes used now rather as lines of demarcation than as places of temporary 
 shelter, xmtil each gained that of his next comrade, when they again returned 
 to their own, crossing each other about half way : a system of precaution pur- 
 sued by the whole of the sentinels in the circuit of the rampart. 
 
 The ostensible motive of the officer in ascending the works, was to visit his 
 several posts ; but no sooner had he found himself between the points alluded 
 to, which happened to be the first in his course, than he seemed to be riveted 
 there by a species of fascination. 
 
 Reminded, for the first time, as he was pursuing his measured but aimless 
 walk, by the fatal portrait which he more than once pressed with feverish 
 energy to his lips, of the singular discovery he had made that night in the 
 apartments of his father, he was naturally led, by a chain of consecutive thought, 
 into a review of the extraordinary scene. The fact of the existence of a second 
 likeness of his mother was one that did not now fail to re-awaken all the un- 
 qualified surprise he had experienced at the first discovery. So far from hav- 
 ing ever heard his father make the slightest allusion to this memorial of his 
 departed mother, he porfectly recollected his repeatedly recommending to Clara 
 the safe custody of a treasure, which, if lost, could never be replaced. What 
 could be the motive for this mystery ? — and Avhy had he sought to impress 
 him with the belief it was the identical portrait worn by his sister which had 
 so. unintentionally been exposed to his view? Why, too, had he evinced so 
 much anxiety to remove from his mind all unfavorable impressions in regard 
 to his mother ? Why have been so energetic in his caution not to suffer a 
 taint of impiu-it}^ to attach to her memory ? Why should he have supposed 
 the possil)ility of such impression, unless there had been sufficient cause for 
 it ? In what, moreover, originated his triumphant expression of feature, when. 
 
w A <; o u s T A ; or, the prophecy. 169 
 
 on that occasion, he reminded him that his name was not Rcginakl ? Whs, 
 then, was this lieginald ? Then came the recollection of what had been re- 
 peated to him of the parting scene between Halloway and his wife. In ad- 
 dressing her ill-fated liusband, she had named him Reginald. Could it be pos- 
 sible this \\;as the same being alluded to by his father ? But no ; his youth 
 forbade the supposition, being but two years older than his brother Frederick ; 
 yet might he not, in some way or other, be connected with the Keginald of 
 the letter ? Why, too, had his father shown such unrelenting severity which 
 had induced more than one remark from his officers, that it looked as if he en- 
 tertained some personal feeling of enmity towards a man who had done so 
 much for his iamily, and stood so high in the esteem of all who knew him. 
 
 Then came another thought. At the moment of his execution, Halloway 
 had deposited a packet in the hands of Captain Blessington ; — could these let- 
 ters — could that portrait be the same ? Certain it was, by whatever means 
 obtained, his father could not have had them long in his possession ; for it was 
 improbable letters of so old a date should have occupied his attention now^ 
 when many years had rolled over the memory of his mother. And then, 
 again, what was the meaning of the language used by the implacable enemy 
 of his father, that uncouth and ferocious warrior of the Fleur de Lis, not only 
 on the occasion of the execution of Halloway, but afterwards to his brother, 
 during his short captivity ; and subsequently, when disguised as a black, he 
 penetrated, with the band of Ponteac, into the fort, and aimed his murderous 
 weapon at liis father's head. What had made him the enemy of his family ? 
 and where and how had originated his father's connection with so extraordi- 
 nary and savage a being? Could he, in any way, be implicated with his mother? 
 But no ; there was something revolting, monstrous in the thought : besides, 
 had not his father stood forward the champion of her innocence ? — had he not 
 declared, with an energy carrying conviction with every word, that she was- 
 untainted by guilt ? And would he have done this, had he had reason to be- 
 lieve in the existence of a criminal love for liim who evidently was his mortal 
 foe ■? Impossible. 
 
 Such were the questions and solutions that crowded on and distracted the 
 mind of the unhappy De Haldimar, who after all, could arrive at no satisfac- 
 tory conclusion. It was evident there was a secret, — yet, whatever its nature,, 
 it was one likely to go down with his father to tlie grave ; for, however hu- 
 miliating the reflection to a haughty parent, compelled to vindicate the honor 
 of a mother to her son, and in direct opposition to evidence that scarcely bore 
 a shadow of misinterpretation, it was clear he had motives for consigning the 
 circumstance to oblivion, which far outweighed any necessity he felt of adduc- 
 ing other proofs of her innocence than those which rested on his own simple 
 yet impressive assertion. 
 
 In the midst of these bewildering doubts, De Haldimar heard some one ap- 
 proaching in his rear, whose footsteps he distinguished from the heavy pace of 
 the sentinels. He turned, stopped, and was presently joined by Captain 
 Blessington. 
 
 " Why, dearest Charles," almost querulously asked the kind officer, as he 
 passed his arm through that of his subaltern, — '' why will you jiersist in feed- 
 ing this love of solitude ? What possible result can it pr(*3uce, but an utter 
 prostration of every moral and physical energy ? Come, come, summon a little 
 fortitude ; all may not yet be so hopeless as you apprehend. For my own 
 part, I feel convinced the day will dawn upon some satisfactory solution of the 
 mystery of that packet." 
 
 ■• Blessington, my dear Blessington !" — and De Haldimar spoke with mourn- 
 ful energ}', — " you have known me from my boyhood, and, I believe, have 
 ever loved me ; seek not, therefore, to draw me from the present temper of 
 my mind ; deprive me not of an indulgence which, melancholy as it is, now 
 constitutes the sole satisfaction I take m existence." 
 
170 W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 " By heaven ! diaries, I will not listen to such language, "i'ou absolutely 
 put my patience to the rack." 
 
 " Na}-, then, I will urge no more," pursued the young officer. '• To revert, 
 therefore, to a different subject, answer me one question with sincerity. What 
 were the contents of the packet you received from poor Halloway previous to 
 his .execution ? and in whose possession ai-e they now ?" 
 
 Pleased to find the 'attention of his 3"0ung friend diverted for the moment 
 from his sister. Captain Blessington quickly rejoined, he believed the packet 
 contained letters which Halloway had stated to him were of a nature to 
 throw some light on his family connections. He had, however, transferred it 
 with the seal unbroken, as desired by the unhappy man, to Colonel de Hal- 
 mar." 
 
 An exclamation of surprise burst involuntarily from the lips of the youth. 
 " Has my father ever made any allusion to that packet since ?" he asked. 
 
 "Never," returned Captain Blessington; '• and, I confess, his faihng to do 
 so has often excited my astonishment. But why do you ask ?" 
 
 De Haldimar energetically pressed the arm of his captain, v/hile a heavy 
 sigh burst from his oppressed heart. "This very night, Blessington, on en- 
 tering my father's apartment to apprise him of what was going on here, I 
 saw, — I can scarcely tell you what, but certainly enough to convince me, from 
 what }'ou have now stated, Halloway was, in .some degree or other, connected 
 with our family. Tell me," he anxiously pursued, " was there a portrait en- 
 closed with the letters ?" 
 
 " I cannot state with confidence, Charles," replied his friend ; " but if I 
 might judge from the peculiar form and weight of the packet, I should be in- 
 clined to say not. Have you seen the letters, then ?" 
 
 " I have seen certam letters which I have reason to believe are the same," 
 returned De Haldimar. '• They were addressed to ' Reginald ;' and Hallo- 
 way, I think you have told me, was so called by his unhappy wife." 
 
 " There can be little doubt they are the same," said Captain Blessington ; 
 " but what were their contents, and by whom written, that you deem they 
 prove a connection between the unhappy soldier and your family ?" 
 
 De Haldimar felt the blood rise into his cheek at that natural but unex- 
 pected demand. "I am sure, Blessington," he replied, after a pause, ''you 
 will not think me capable of unworthy mystery towards yourself; but the 
 contents of these letters are sacred, inasmuch as they relate only to cij-cum- 
 stances connected with my father's family." 
 
 They soon both ])repared to quit the rampart. As they passed the sentinel 
 stationed at that point where the Indian had been first seen, their attention 
 was directed by him to a tire that now suddenly rose, apparently at a great 
 distimce, and rapidly increasing in volume. The singularity of this occurrence 
 riveted the officers for a moment in silent observation ; until Captain Bless- 
 ington at length ventured a remark, tliat, judging from the direction and the 
 deceptive nature of tlie element at night, he should incline to tiiink it was the 
 hut of the Cauadian burning. 
 
 " Which is another additional proof, were any such wanting, that every 
 thing is lost," mom-nfully urged the ever apprehensive De Haldimar.^ " Fran- 
 fois has been detected in rendering aid to our friends ; and the Indians, in all 
 probability, after having immolated their victim, are sacrificing his property 
 to their rage." 
 
 During this exchange of opinion, the officers had again moved to the oppo- 
 site point of the limited walk of the younger. Scarcely had they reached it, 
 and before Captain Blessington could find time to reply to the fears of liis 
 friend, when a loud and distant booming like that of a cannon was heard in 
 the direction of the fire. The alarm was given hastily by the sentinels, and 
 sounds of preparation and arming were audible in the course of a minute or 
 two everywhere throughout the fort. Startled by the report, which tliey had 
 half inchned to imagine produced by the discharge of one of then- own gims, 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 171 
 
 «■ 
 
 the half-sluinlwring officers had quitted the cliairs in which thej- had passed 
 the nisrht in the mo.-s-room, and were soon at the side of their more watchful 
 companions, flien anxionslv listening for a repetition of the sound. 
 
 The day was Ju.st beginning to dawn, and as the atmosphere clearest gradu- 
 ally away, it was perceived the fire rose not from the hut of the Canadian, 
 but at a point considerably- beyond it. Unusual as it was to see a large fire 
 of this description, its appearance became an object of minor consideration, 
 since it might be attributed to some caprice or desire on the part of the In- 
 dians to excite apprehension in their enemies. But how was the report which 
 had reached their ears to be accounted for ? It evidently could only have 
 been produced by the discharge of a cannon ; and if so. where could the 
 Indians have procured it ? No such arm had recently been in their pos.ses- 
 sion ; and if it were, they were totally unacquainted witn the manner of serv- 
 ing it. 
 
 As the day became more developed, the mystery was resolved. Every 
 telescope in tlie fort had been called into requisition ; and as they were now 
 levelled in the direction of the lire, .sweeping the line of horizon around, ex- 
 clamations of surprise escaped the lips of several. 
 
 " It is an unusual hour for the Indians' war-dance," observed Captain 
 Blessington. " My experience furnishes mo M'ith no one instance in which it 
 has not been danced previous to their retiring to rest." 
 
 " Unless," said Lieutenant Eoyce, *' they should liave been thus engaged all 
 night ; in wdiich case the singularity may be explained." 
 
 " Look, look," eagerly remarked Lieutenant Johnstone — " see how they are 
 flying to their canoes, bounding and leaping like so many devils broke loose 
 from their chains. The fire is nearly deserted already." 
 
 " The schooner — the schooner !" shouted Captain Erskine. By heaven, 
 our own gallant schooner ! see how beautifully she drives past the island. 
 It was her gun we heard, intended as a signal to prepare us for her appear- 
 ance." 
 
 " A thrill of wild and indescribable emotion passed through every heart. 
 Every eye was turned upon the point- to which attention was now directed. 
 The graceful ve.'^sel, with every stitch of canvass set, was shooting rapidly 
 past the low bushes skirting the sands that still concealed her hull ; and in a 
 moment or two she loomed largely and proudly on the bosom of the Detroit, 
 the surface of which was slightly curled with a north-western breeze. 
 
 •• Safe, by Jupiter !" exclaimed the delighted Erskine, dropping the glass 
 upon the rampart, and rubbmg his hands together with every manifestation 
 ofjoy. 
 
 ■• The Indians are in chase," said Lieutenant Boyce ; " upwards of fifty ca- 
 noes are following the schooner's wake. But Danvers will soon give us an 
 account of their Lilliputian fleet." 
 
 " Let the troops be held in readiness for a sortie, Mr. Lawson," said the 
 governor, who liad joined his officers just as the schooner cleared the island ; 
 " we must cover their landing, or, with this host of savages in pursuit, they 
 will never effect it alive." 
 
 During the whole of this brief but exciting scene, the heart of Charles de 
 Haldimar beat audibly. A thousand hopes and fears rushed confusedly on his 
 mind, and he was as one bewildered by, and scarcely crediting, what he saw. 
 Could Clara, — could his cousin — could his brother — could his friend be on 
 board ? He scarcely dared to ask himself these questions ; still it was with a 
 fluttering heart, in which hope, however, predominated, that he hastened to 
 execute an order of his captain, that bore immediate reference to his duty as 
 subaltern of the guard. 
 
172 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. . . 
 
 Meanwhile the schooner dashed rapidly along, her hull occasionally hid 
 from the view of those assembled on the ramparts by some intervening orchard 
 or cluster of houses, but her tall spars glittering in their cover of white can- 
 vass, and marking the direction of her course. At length she came to. a point 
 in the river that offered no other interruption to the eye than what arose 
 from the presence of almost all the inhabitants of the village, who, urged by 
 curiosity and surprise, were to be seen crowding the intervening bank. Here 
 the schooner was suddenly put about, and the English colors, hitherto con- 
 cealed by the folds of the canvass, were at length discovered proudly floating 
 in the breeze. 
 
 Immediately over the gateway of the fort there was an elevated platform, 
 approached by the rampart of which it formed a part, by some half dozen 
 rude steps on either side ; and on this platform was placed a long eighteen 
 pounder, that commanded the whole extent of road leading from the draw- 
 bridge to the river. Hither the officers had all repaired, while the schooner 
 was in the act of passing the town ; and now that, sudd^ly brouglit up in 
 the wmd's eye, she rode leisurely in the offing, every movSnent on her decks 
 was plainly discernable with the telescope. 
 
 " Where can Danvers have hid all his crew ?" first spoke Captain Erskine ; 
 " I count but half a dozen hands altogether on deck, and these arc barely suf- 
 ficient to work her." 
 
 " Lying concealed, and ready, no doubt, to give the canoes a warm recep- 
 tion," observed Lieutenant Johnstone; "but where can our friends be? 
 Surely, if there, they would show themselves to us." 
 
 There was in truth in this remark ; and each felt discouraged and disap- 
 pointed that they did not appear. 
 
 " There come the whooping hell fiends," said Major Blackwater. '■ By 
 heaven ! the very water is darkened with the shadows of their canoes." 
 
 Scarcely had he spoken, when the vessel was suddenly surrounded by a 
 multitude of savages, whose fierce shouts rent the air, while their dripping 
 paddles, gleaming like sUvcr in the rays of the rising sun, were alternately 
 waved aloft in triumph, and then plunged into the troubled element, which 
 they spurned in fury from their blades. 
 
 " What can Danvers be about? Why does he not either open his fire, or 
 crowd sail and away from them ?" exclaimed several voices. 
 
 '• The detachment is in readiness, sir," said Mr. Lawson, and ascending the 
 platfofm, and addressing Major Blackwater. 
 
 " The deck, the deck !" shouted Erskine. 
 
 Already the eyes of several were bent in the direction alluded to by the 
 last speaker, while those whose attention had been diverted by the approach- 
 ing canoes glanced rapidly to the same point. To the surprise and conster- 
 nation of all, the tall and well-remembered form of the warrior of the Fleur 
 de Lis was seen towering far above the bulwarks of the schooner ; and with 
 an expression in the attitude he had assumed, which no one could mistake 
 for other than that of triumphant defiance. Presently he drew from the 
 bosom of his hunting coat a dark parcel, and springing into the rigging of the 
 mainmast, ascended with incredible activity to the point where the English 
 ensign was faintly floating in the breeze. This he tore furiously away, and 
 rending it into many pieces, cast the fragments into the silver element beneath 
 him, on whose bosom they were seen to float among the canoes of the savages, 
 many of whom possessed themselves, with eagerness, of the gaudy colored 
 trophies. The dark parcel was now unfolded by the active warrior, who, 
 after having waved it several times round his head, commenced attaching it to 
 the lines whence the English ensign had so recently been torn. It was a large 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 173 
 
 black flag, the purport of which was too readily comprehended by the excit- 
 ed officers. 
 
 '• Hang the rufEan ! can we not manage to make that flag serve aa his own 
 winding sheet ?" exclaimed Captan Erskine. " Come, Wentworth. give us a 
 second edition of the sortie firing ; I know no man who understands pointing 
 a gun better than yourself, and this eighteen pounder might do some mis- 
 chief." 
 
 The idea was instantly caught at by the oflicer of artillery, who read his 
 consent in the eye of Colonel de Haldimar. His companions made way on 
 either side ; and several gunners, wlio were already at their stations, having 
 advanced to work the piece at the command of their captain, it was speedily 
 brought to bear upon the schooner. 
 
 •• This will do, 1 think," said Wentworth, as, glancing his experienced eye 
 carefully along the gun, he found it pointed immediately on the gigantic frame 
 of the warrior. '■ If this chain-shot miss him, it will be through no fault of 
 mine." 
 
 Every eye was now riveted on the main mast of the schooner, where the 
 warrior was still engaged in attaching the portentous flag. The gunner, who 
 held the match, obeyed the silent signal of his captain ; and the massive iron 
 was heard rushing past the oflicers, bound on its murderous mission. A mo- 
 ment or two of intense anxiety elapsed ; and when at length the rolling vol- 
 umes of smoke gradually floated away, to the dismay and disappointment of 
 all, the fierce warrior was seen standing apparently unharmed on the same 
 spot in the rigging. The shot had, however, been well aimed, for a large rent 
 in the outstretched canvass, close at his side, and about mid-height of his 
 person, marked the direction it had taken. Again he tore away, and trium- 
 phantly waved the black flag around his head, while from his capacious lungs 
 there burst yells of defiance and scorn, that could be distinguished for his 
 own even at that distance. This done, he again secured the death symbol to 
 its place ; and gliding to the deck by a single rope, appeared to give orders to 
 the few men of the crew who were to be seen ; for every stitch of canvass 
 was again made to fill, and the vessel, bounding forward before the breeze 
 then blowing upon her quarter, shot rapidly behind the town, and was finally 
 seen to cast anchor in the navigable channel that divides Hog Island from the 
 shores of Canada. 
 
 At the discharge of the eighteen pounder, the river had been suddenly 
 cleared, as if by magic, of every canoe ; while, warned by the same danger, 
 the groups of inhabitants, assembled on the bank, had rushed for shelter to 
 their respective homes ; so that, when the schooner disappeared, not a vestige 
 of human fife was to be seen along that vista so recently peopled with human 
 forms. An order from Colonel de Ilaldimar to the adjutant, countermanding 
 the sortie, was the first interruption to the silence that had continued to per- 
 vade the little band of officers ; aud two or three of these having hastened to 
 the western front of the rampart, in order to obtain 1, more distinct view of 
 the movements of the schooner, their example was speedily followed by the 
 remainder, all of whom now quitted the platform, and repaired to the same 
 point. 
 
 Here, with the aid of their telescopes, they again distinctly commanded a 
 view of the vessel, which lay motionless close imder the sandy beach of the 
 island, and exhibiting all the technicalities of skill in the dispasition of sails 
 and yards peculiar to the profession. In vain, liowever, Avas every eye strain- 
 ed to discover, among the multitudes of savages that kept momentarily leaping 
 to her deck, the forms of those in whom they were most interested. A group 
 of some half dozen men. apparently common saflors, and those, in all proba- 
 bility, whose services had been compelled in the working of the vessel, were 
 the only evidences that civilised man formed a portion of that grotesque as- 
 semblage. These, with their arms evidently bound behind their backs, and 
 placed on oric of the gangways, were only visible at intervals, as the band of 
 
174 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 savages that surrounded them, brandishing their tomahawks around their 
 heads, occasionally left an opening in their circle. The formidable warrior of 
 the Fleur de Lis was no longer to be seen, although the flag which he had 
 ■hoisted sti.ll fluttered in the breeze. 
 
 '• All is lost, then," ejaculated the governor, with a mournfulness of voice 
 and manner that caused many of his officers to turn and regard him with 
 surprise. " That black flag announces the triumph of my foe in the too cer- 
 tain destruction of my children. Now, indeed." he concluded in a lower tone. 
 '• for the first time, does the curse of Ellen Halloway sit heavily upon my 
 soul." 
 
 A deep sigh burst from one immediately behind him. The governor turned 
 suddenly round, and beheld his son. Never did human countenance wear a 
 chp.racter of more poignant misery than that of the unhappy Charles at the 
 moment. Attracted by the report of the cannon, he had flown to the ram- 
 part to ascertain the cause, and had reached his companions only to learn the 
 strong hope so recently kindled in his breast was fled for ever. His cheek, 
 over which hung his neglected hair, was now pale as marble, and his lip& 
 bloodless and parted ; yet, notwithstanding this intensity of personal sorrow, 
 a tear had started to his eye, apparently wrung from him by this unusual ex- 
 pression of dismay in his father. 
 
 "Charles — my son — my only now remaining child," murmured the gov- 
 ernor,*with emotion, as he remarked and started at the death-like image of 
 the youth ; " look not thus, or you will utterly unman me." 
 
 A sudden and involuntary impulse caused him to extend his arms. The 
 young ofiicer sprang forward into the proffered embrace, and sank his head 
 upon the cheek of his father. It was the first time he had enjoyed that priv- 
 ilege since his childhood ; and even overwhelmed as he was by his afiliction, 
 he felt it deeply. 
 
 This short but touching scene was witnessed by their companions, without 
 levity in any, and with emotion by several. None felt more gratified at this 
 demonstration of parental affection for the sensitive boy, than Blessington and 
 Erskine. 
 
 " I cannot yet persuade myself," observed the former officer, as the colonel 
 again assumed that dignity of demeanor which had been momentarily lost 
 sight of in the ebullition of his feelings, — '• I cannot yet persuade mj'self 
 things are altogether so bad as they appear. It is true the schooner is in the 
 possession of the enemy, but there is nothing to prove our friends are on 
 board." 
 
 " If you had reason to know him into whose hands she has fallen, as I do, 
 you would think diflerently, Captain Blessington," returned the governor. 
 " That mysterious being," he pursued, after a short pause, " would never 
 have made this parade of his conquest, had it related merel}' to a few lives, 
 which to him are of utter insignificance. The very substitution of yon black 
 flag, in his insolent triirfnph, was the pledge of redemption of a threat breath- 
 ed in my ear within this very fort ; on what occasion I need not state, since 
 the events connected with that unhappy night are still fresh in the recollec- 
 tions of HS all. That he is my personal enemy, gentlemen, it would be in 
 vain to disguise from you ; although who he is, or of what nature his enmity, 
 it imports not now to enter upon. Suffice it, I have little doubt my children 
 are in his power ; but whether the black flag indicates they are no more, or 
 that the tragedy is only in preparation, I confess I am at a loss to understand.* 
 
 Deeply affected by the evident despondency that had dictated these unusual 
 admissions on the part of their chief, the officers were, forward to combat the 
 inferences he had drawn ; several coinciding in the opinion now expressed by 
 Captain Wentworth, that the fact of the schooner having fallen into the hands 
 of the savages by no means implied the capture of the fort whence she came ; 
 since it was not at all unlikely she had been chased during a calm by the nu- 
 
C I) U 6 T A 
 
 THE P R O P JI E C Y . 175 
 
 merous canoes into the Sinclair, where, owing Lo the cxti'ciuc narrowness of 
 the river, she had fnllcn an easy prey. 
 
 '• ^Moreover," observed Captain Tilessington, '■ it is highly improbable the 
 ferocious warrior could have succeeded in capturing any others than the uu- 
 fortimate crew of the schooner ; for liad this been the case, lie would not 
 have lost the opportunity of crowning his triumph by exhibiting his victims 
 to our view in some conspicuous part of the vessel." 
 
 " This, f grant you," rejoined the governor " to be one solitary circum- 
 stance in our favor ; but may it not, after all, merely prove that our worst'ap- 
 prehensions arc already realised?" 
 
 •• He is not one, methinks, since vengeance seems his aim. to exercise it in 
 so summary, and therefore merciful, a manner. l)ei)ind upun i(. ci^icnol, had 
 any one of those in whom Ave are more immediately interevsu d, laliin into his 
 hands, he would not have failed to insult and agonise us by an exhibition of 
 his prisoners." 
 
 ''You are right, Blessington," exclaimed Charles de Haldimar, in a voice 
 that his choking feelings rendered almost sepulchral ; " he is not one to ex- 
 ercise his vengeance in a summary and merciful manner. The deed is yet un- 
 accomphshed, for even now the curse of Ellen Halloway rings again in my 
 ear, and tells me the atoning blood must be spilt on the grave of her luis- 
 band." 
 
 The peculiar tone in which these words were uttered, caused every one pre- 
 sent to turn and regard the speaker, for they recalled the prophetic language 
 of the unhappy woman. There was now a wildness of expression in his hand- 
 some features, raarldng the mind utterly dead to hope, yet struggling to v/ork 
 itself up to passive endurance of the worst. Colonel de Haldimar .sighed 
 painfull}', as he bent his eye half reproachful^ on the dull and attenuated 
 featm-es of his son ; and although he spoke not, his look betrayed the anguish 
 that allusion had called up to ius heart. 
 
 '•Ha! what new movement is that on the part of the savages'?" exclaimed 
 Captain Erskme. who had kept his glass to his eye mechanically, and chiefly 
 with a view of hiding the emotion produced in him by the almost iufimtine 
 despair of the younger de Haldimar : " surely it is — yet, no, it cannot be — 
 yes, see how they are dragging several prisoners from the wood to the beach. 
 I can distinctly see a man in a blanket coat, and two others considerably 
 taller, and apparently sailors. But look, behind them are two females in Eu- 
 ropean dress. Almighty heaven ! there can be no doubt." 
 
 A painful pause ensued. Every other glass and eye was levelled in the same 
 direction ; and, as Ersldne had described it, a party of Indians were seen, by 
 tho.se who had the telescopes, conducting five prisoners towards a canoe that 
 lay in the channel communicating from the island with the main land on the 
 Detroit shore. Into the bottom of these they were presently huddled, so 
 that onlj^ their heads and shoulders were visible above the gunwale of 
 the frail bark. Presently a tall warrior was seen bounchng from the wood 
 towards the beach. The crowd of gesticulating Indians made way, and the 
 warrior was seen to stoop and apply his shoulder to the canoe, one half of 
 which was high and dry upon the sands. The heavily laden vessel obey- 
 ed the impetus with a rapidity that proved the muscular power of him who 
 gave it. Like some wild animal, iastinet with life, it lashed the foaming 
 waters from its bows, and left a deep and gurgling furrow where it pass- 
 ed. As it quitted the shore the warrior sprang lightly in, taking his sta- 
 tion at the stern; and while liis tall and remarkable figure bent nimbly 
 to the movement, he dashed his paddle from right to left alternately in the 
 stream, with a quickness that rendered it almost invisible to the eye. Pre- 
 sently the canoe disappeared round an intervening headland, and the officers 
 lost .sight of it altogether. 
 
 •' The portrait, Charles ; what have you done with the portrait ?" exclaimed 
 Captain Blessington, actuated by a sudden recollection, and with a trepidation 
 
176 .wacousta; ok, the prophecy. 
 
 in his voice and manner that spoke volumes of despair to the younger de Hal- 
 dimar. " This is our only hope of solving the mystery.. Quick, give me the 
 portrait, if you have it." 
 
 The j'oung ofBcer hurriedly tore the miniature from the breast of his uni- 
 form, and pitched it through the interval that separated him from his captain, 
 who stood a few feet off; but with so uncertain and trembling an aim. it 
 missed the hand extended to secure it, and fell upon the very stone the youth 
 had formerly pointed out to Blessington, as marking the particular spot on 
 which he stood during the execution of Halloway. The violence of the fall 
 separated the back of the frame from the pictqre itself, when suddenly a piece 
 of white and crumbled paper, apparently part of the back of a letter, yet cut 
 the size and shape of the miniature, was exhibited to the view of all. 
 
 " Ha !" resumed the gratified Blessington, as he stooped to possess himself 
 of the prize ; " I knew the miniature would be found to contain some intelli- 
 gence from our friends. It is only this moment it occurred to me to take it 
 to pieces, but accident has anticipated my purpose. May the omen prove a 
 good one ! But what have we here ?" 
 
 With some difficulty, the anxious officer now succeeded in making out the 
 characters, which, in default of pen or pencil, had been formed by the prick- 
 ing of a fine pin on the paper. The Ijroken sentences, on which the whole 
 of the group now hung with greedy ear, ran nearly as follows : — '• Al is lost. 
 Michillimackinac is taken. We are prisoners, and doomed to die within eight 
 and forty hours. Alas ! Clara and 2^Iadeliue are of our number. Still there 
 is a hope, if my father deem it prudent to incur the risk. A surprise, well 
 managed, may do much; but it must be to-morrow night ; forty-eight hours 
 more, and it will be of no avail. He who will deliver this is our fi-iend, and 
 the enemy of my fjvther's enemy. He will be in the spot at the same hour to- 
 morrow night, and will conduct the detachment to wherever we may chance 
 to be. If you fail in your enterprise, receive our last prayers for a less disas- 
 trous fate. God bless yovi all !" 
 
 The blood ran coldly through every vein during the perusal of these impor- 
 tant sentences, but not one word of comment was oifered by an individual of 
 the group. No explanation was necessary. The captives in the canoe, the 
 tall warrior in its stern, all sufficiently betrayed the horrible truth. Colonel 
 de Haldiniar at length turned an enquiring look at his two captains, and then 
 addressing the adjutant, asked — '• AVhat companies are off duty to-day, Mr. 
 Lawson V 
 
 " Mine," said Blessington, Avith an energy that denoted how deeply rejoiced 
 he felt at the fact, without giving the adjutant time to reply. 
 
 " And mine," impetuously added Captain Erskine ; " and (with an oath) I 
 will answer for them ; they never embarked on a duty of that sort with greater 
 zeal than they will on this occasion." 
 
 " Gentlemen, 1 thank you," said Colonel de Haldimar, with deep emotion, 
 as he stepped forward and grasped in turn the hands of the generous-hearted 
 officers. " To heaven, and to your exertions, do I commit my children !" 
 
 " Any artillery, colonel V enquired the officer of that corps. 
 
 "No, Wentworth, no artillery. Whatever remains to be done, must be 
 achieved by the bayonet alone, and under favor of the darkness. Gentlemen, 
 again I thank you for this generous interest in my children — this forwardness 
 in an enterprise on which dejiend the lives of so many dear friends. 1 am not 
 given to express warm emotion, but I do, indeed, appreciate this conduct 
 deeply." He then moved away, desiring Mr. Lawson, as he quitted the ram- 
 part, to cause the men for this service to be got in instant readiness. 
 
 Following the example of their colonel, Captain Blessington and Erskine 
 quitted the rampart also, hastening to satisfy themselves by personal inspec- 
 tion of the efficiency in all respects of their several companies 5 and in a few 
 minutes, the only individual to be seen in that quarter of the works was the 
 sentinel, who had been a sdent and pained witness of all that passed among 
 his officers. 
 
wacoitsta; or, the prophecy. 177 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Sufficient has been shown, from the conversations amonf^ his officers, 
 elsewhere transcribed, to account for the governor's condiuit in the case of 
 Halloway. That the recommendations of his son, Captain de Ihddiniar, had not 
 been attended to, arose not from 'any particular ill-will towards the unhappy 
 man. but simply because he had always been in the habit of nialv.iug liis own 
 .selections from the ranks, and tliat the present recommendation had been 
 warmlv urged by one whom he fancied [nctended to a discrimination superior 
 to his own, in pointing out merits tliat had escaped his observation. It might 
 be, too, that there was a latent pride about the manner of Halloway that dis- 
 pleased and dissatisfied one who looked upon his subordinates as things that 
 were amenable to the haughtiness of his glance, — not enough of deference in 
 his demeanor, nor of supplicating obsequiousness in his speech, to entitle him 
 to the promotion prayed for. Whatever the motive, there was nothing of per- 
 sonality to influence him in the rejection of the appeal made in favor of one 
 who had never injured him ; but who. on the contrary, as the whole of the 
 regiment could attest, had saved the life, of his son. 
 
 Rigid discipUnarian as he was, and holding himself responsible for the safety 
 of the garrison, it was but natural, when the discovery had been made of the 
 unaccountable unfastening of the gate of the fort, suspicion of no ordinary kind 
 should attach to the sentinel posted there ; and that he should steadily refuse 
 all credence to a story wearing so much appearance of improbability. Proud, 
 and inliexible, and bigoted to first impressions, his mind was closed against 
 those palliating circumstances, which, adduced by Halloway in his defence, had 
 so mainl}- contributed to stamp the conviction of his moral innocence on the 
 minds of his judges and the attentive auditory ; and could he even have con- 
 quered his pride so far as to have admitted the belief of that innocence, stiU 
 the military crime of Avhich he had been guilty, in infringing a positive order 
 of the garrison, was in itself sufficient to call forth all the unrelenting severity 
 of his nature. Throughout the whole of the proceedings subsequently insti- 
 tuted, he had acted and spoken from a perfect conviction of the treason of the 
 imfortunate soldier, and '\A-ith the fullest impression of the falsehood of all that 
 had been oS'ered in his defence. The considerations that influenced the minds 
 of his officers, found no entrance into his proud breast, which was closed 
 against everything but his own dignified sense of superior judgment. Could he, 
 like them, have given credence to the tale of Halloway, or really have believed 
 that Captain de Haldimar, educated under his own military eye, could have 
 been so wanting in subordination, as not merely to have infringed a positive or- 
 der of the garrison, but to have made a private soldier of that garrison acces- 
 sary to his delinquency, it is more than probable his stern habits of military 
 discipline would have caused him to overlook the offence of the soldier, in 
 deeper indignation at the conduct of the infinitel}^ more culpable officer ; but 
 not one word did he credit of a statement, which he assumed had been got up 
 by the prisoner with the mere view of shielding himself from punishment: and 
 ■when to these .suspicions of his fidelity was attached the fact of the introduc- 
 tion of his alarming visiter, it must be confessed his motives for indulging in 
 this belief were not without foundation. 
 
 The impatience manifested during the trial of Halloway was not a result of 
 any desire of .systematic persecution, but of a sense of wounded dignity. It 
 was a thing unheard of, and unpardonable in his eyes, for a private soldier to 
 a.ssert, in his presence, his honor and his respectabihty in extenuation, even 
 while admitting the justice of a specific charge ; and when he remarked the 
 court listening with that profound attention, which the peculiar history of the 
 prisoner had excited, he couW not repress the manifestation of his anger. In 
 justice to him. however, it must be acknowledged that, in causing the charge, 
 13 
 
1*78 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 to which the unfortunate man pleaded guilty, to be framed, he had only acted 
 from the conviction that, on the two first, there was not sufficient evidence to 
 condemn one whose crime was as clearly established, to his judgment, as if he 
 had been an eye-witness of the treason. It is true, he availed himself of Hal- 
 loway's voluntary confession, to effect his condemnation ; but estimating him 
 as a traitor, he felt little delicacy was necessary to be observed on that score. 
 
 Much of the despotic military character of Colonel de Haldimar had been 
 communicated to his private life; so much. ■indeed, that his sons, — both of 
 whom, it has been seen, were of natures that belied their origin from so stern 
 a stock, — were kept at nearly as great a distance from liim as any other sub- 
 ordinates of his regiment. But although he seldom indulged in manifestations 
 of parental regard towards those whom he looked upon rather as inferiors in 
 military rank, than as beings connected with him b}^ the ties of blood. Colonel 
 de Haldimar was not without that instinctive love for his children, which 
 every animal in the creation feels for its offspring. He, also, valued and took 
 a pride in, because they reflected a certain degree of lustre upon himself, the 
 talents and accomplishments of his eldest sen. who, moreover, was a brave, 
 enterprising officer, and, only wanted, in his father's estimation, that severity 
 of carriage and hauteur of deportment, befitting Ms son, to render him per- 
 fect. As for Charles, — the gentle, bland, winning, universally concihating 
 Charles, — he looked upon him a mere weo.k boy. who could never hope to ar- 
 rive at any post of distinction, if only by reason of the extreme delicacy of his 
 physical organisation ; and to have shown ani/thiug like respect for his char- 
 acter, indulged in any expression of tenderness for one so fer below his esti- 
 mate of what a soldier, a child of his. ought to be. would have been a conces- 
 sion of which his proud nature was incapable. In his daughter Clara, however, 
 the gentleness of sex claimed that warmer affection which was denied to him 
 who resembled her in almost every attribute of mind and person. Colonel de 
 Haldimar doated on his daughter with a tenderness, for which few who were 
 familiar with his harsh and unbending nature, ever gave him credit. She was 
 the image of one on whom all of love that he had ever known had been cen- 
 tered ; and he had continued in Clara an affection, that seemed in itself to 
 form a portion, distinct and apart, of his existence. 
 
 We have already seen, as stated by Charles de Haldimar to the unfortu- 
 nate wife of Halloway, with what little success he had pleaded in the inter- 
 view he had requested of his father for the preserver of his gailant brother's 
 life ; and we have also seen how equally inefficient was the lowly and suppli- 
 cating anguish of that wretched being, when on quitting the apartment of his 
 son. Colonel de Haldimar had so unexpcctedh^ found himself clasped in her 
 despairing embrace. There was little to be expected from an intercession on 
 the part of one claiming so little ascendancy over his father's heart as the 
 universally esteemed young officer ; still less from one who. in her shriek of 
 agon}^, had exposed the haughty chief to the observation both of men and 
 officers, and under circumstances that caused his position to border on the lu- 
 dicrous. But however these considerations might have failed in effect, there 
 was another which, as a soldier, he could not wholly overlook. Although he 
 had offered no comment on the extraordinary recommendation to mercy an- 
 nexed to the sentence of the prisoner, it had a certain weight with him ; and 
 he felt, all absolute even as he was, he could not, without exciting strong dis- 
 satisfaction among his troops, refuse attention to a document so powerfully 
 worded, and bearing the signature and approval of so old and valuable an 
 officer as Captain Blessington. His determination, therefore, had been formed, 
 even before his visit to his son, to act as circumstances might require ; and, 
 in the meanwhile, he commanded every preparation for the execution to be 
 made. 
 
 In causing a strong detachment to be marched to the conspicuous point 
 chosen for his purpose, he had acted from a conviction of the necessity of 
 showing the enemy the treason of the soldier had been detected ; reserving 
 
W A C U S T A ; OR, THE P R O I' II E C Y , llQs' 
 
 to himself the determination of carfjinp; the sentence into- full effect, or par- 
 doning the condemned, as the event might warrant. Not one moment, meait- 
 while, did he doubt the guilt of Halloway, whose description of the person 
 of his enemy was, in itself, to him, confirmatory evidence of his treason. It 
 is doubtful whether he would, in any way. have ))oen influenced by the recoirir- 
 inendation of the court, had the first charges been substantiated ; but as 
 f.here was nothing but conjecture to bear out these, and as the prisoner Iitai 
 been convicted only on the ground of suffering Captain de Haldimar to qmt 
 the fort contrary to orders, he felt he might possibly go too far in carrj^ing 
 the capital punishment into effect, in decided opposition to the general feeling 
 of the garrison, — both of oftlcers and men. . 
 
 When the shot was subsequently fired from the hut of the Canadian, and 
 the daring rifleman recognised as the same fearful individual who had gairtedi 
 access to his apartment the preceding night, conviction of the guilt of Hallo- 
 way came even deeper home to the mind oif the governor. It was tliroTigfe; 
 Francois alone that a communication was kept up secretly be''. ■ - :•■- 
 rison and several of the Canadians without the fort ; and the \ 
 mysterious warrior having been there so recently after his darii i' • >;. 
 bore evidence that whatever treason was in operation, had been carried c/n- 
 tlvrough the instrumentality of mine host of the Fleur de Li:-;. In pmoC 
 moreover, 'there was the hat of Donellan, and the very rope Halloway hiul 
 stated to be that by which the unfortunate officer had etiected his exit. Cole*- 
 nel de Haldimar was not one given to indulge in the mysterious or to behere 
 in the romantic. Everything was plain matter of fact, as it now appeareti 
 before him ; and he thought it evident, as though it had been written in wora? 
 of fire, that if his son and his unfortunate servant ha i qu!i:ieil ih ' f.irt in tlie 
 manner represented, it was no l"-< '•.■:-, i-i) t'l.'y h:;'' ' '-: '■ ■■■ ■ ■ ' .-' "'■■■: a partj^^ 
 at the head of whom was his v';i ''.i-i''\ c ('';vi;;y. ■' ' . ■ ■ 's '!■ ' HM-,;\nce of 
 Halloway. We hnve s'vu.tl)";, -J' .■■■ Or .li-v..-..: ,-v .s ,::i- s_-.\ (il'Lh', supposed 
 drummer-boy wht'ii ii;c riisr-. ■. : ..>\':> i;- ■ i ^.liier, Colonel de Haf- 
 dimar had closely -w;?;.':^,! ;'i; , .\ -, -.v.!) ^i' , ,, ■, > - i-ib ■nances, but failed m 
 discovering anj'thing thatconid t)e traced into evidence of a guilty recognition. 
 Slill he conceived his original impression to have been too forcibly borne oat, 
 even by the events of the last half hour, to allow this to have much weight 
 with him ; and his determination to carry the thing through all its fcax'fui* 
 preliminary stages became more and more confirmed. 
 
 In adopting this resolution in the first instance, he was not without a hope- 
 that Halloway, standing, as he must feel himself to be. on the verge of the 
 grave, might be induced to make confession of his guilt, and communicate 
 whatever particulars might prove essential not only to the safety of the gar- 
 rison generally, but to himself individually, as i'-w ii^ \v..< jiersonrJ enemy %vas 
 concerned. With this view, he had charged Captain IJlessiiigton, in the 
 course of then- march from the hut to the fatal bridge, to pr-omise a fidl par- 
 don, provided he should niake such confession of his crime as would lead to a 
 just appreciation of the evils likely to result from l!;e treason that had iir 
 part been accomplished. Even in making this provi-ion. 1m>',\ ever, wliich was 
 met by the prisoner with solemn yet dignified r<i(' m ion nf Ids innoceiiace. 
 Colonel de Haldimar had not made the refusal of paiclun aj together conehi- 
 sive in his own mind : still, in adopting this plan, there was a chance of ob- 
 taining a confession ; and not until there was no longer a prospect of the un- 
 happy man being led into that confession, did he feel it imperative on him to 
 stay the progress of tho tragedy. 
 
 What the result would have' been, had not Halloway, in the strong excite- 
 ment of liis feelings, sprung to his feet upon the coffin, uttering the exclama- 
 tion of triumph, is scarcely doubtful. Ilov/ever much the governor migM 
 have contemned and slighted a credulity in which he in no way participated 
 himself, he had too iviucn. discrimination not to perceive, that to have ]}er.^e- 
 vered in the capital jjunishraeut woidd have been to liave rendered liimx-eif 
 
180 w AGO u ST a; or, the puophecy. 
 
 personally obnoxious to the comrades of the condemned, vrhose dispirited aii" 
 and sullen mien, he clearlj- saw, denounced the punishment as one of unneces- 
 sary rigoi-. The haughty commander was not a man to be intimidated by 
 manifestations of discontent ; neither was he one to brook a spirit of insubor- 
 dination, however forcibly supported ; but ho had too much experience and 
 military judgment, not to determine that this was not a moment, by foregoing 
 an act of compulsory clemency, to instil divisions in the garrison, when the 
 safety of all so much depended on the cheerfulness and unanimity with which 
 they lent themselves to the arduous duties of defence. 
 
 ^ However originating in policy-, the lenity he might liave been induced to 
 have shown, all idea of the kind was chased from his mind by the unfortunate 
 action of the prisoner. At the moment when the distant heights resounded 
 with the fierce yells of the savages, and leaping forms came bounding dovm 
 the slope, the remarkable warrior of the Flem- de Lis — the fearful enemy who 
 had whispered the most demoniac vengeance in his ears the preceding night, — 
 was the only one that met and rivetecl the gaze of the governor. He paused 
 not to observe or to think who the flying man could be of whom the myste- 
 rious warrior was in pursuit, — neither did it, indeed, occur to him that it was. 
 a pursuit at all. But one idea suggested itself to his mind, and that was an 
 attempt at rescue of the condemned on the part of his accomplice ; and when 
 at length Halloway, who had at once, as if by instinct, recognised his captain 
 in the fugitive, shouted forth his gratitude to heaven that " he at length ap- 
 proached who alone had the power to save him," every shadow of mercj^ was 
 banished from the mmd of the governor, who, laljoring under a natural mis- 
 conception of the causes of his exulting shout, felt that justice imperatively 
 demanded her victim, and no longer hesitated in awarding the doom that 
 became the supposed traitor. It was under this impression that he sternly 
 gave and repeated the order to fire : and by this misjudged and severe, al- 
 though not absolutely cruel act, not only destroyed one of the noblest beings 
 that ever wore a soldier's uniform, but entailed upon himself and family that 
 terrific curse of his maniac wife, which rang like a prophetic warning in the 
 ears of all, and was often heard in the fitful startings of his own ever-after 
 troubled slumbers. 
 
 What his feelings wci-e, when subsequently he discovered, in the wretched 
 fugitive, the son whom he already believed to have been numbered with the 
 dead, and heard from his lips a confirmation of all that had been advanced by 
 the unhappy Hallowaj', we shall leave it to our readers to imagine. Still, 
 even amid his first regret, the rigid disciplinarian was strong within him ; and 
 no sooner had the detachment regained the fort, after performing the last 
 offices of interment over their ill-fated comrade, than Captain de Haldimar 
 received an intimation, through the adjutant, to consider himself under close 
 .arrest for disobedience of orders. Finallj', however, he succeeded in procur- 
 ing an interview with his father ; in the course of which, disclosing the plot 
 of the Indians, and the short period allotted for its being carried into execu- 
 tion, he painted in the most gloomy colors the alarming dangers which threatened 
 them all, and finished by urgently imploring his father to suifer him to make 
 the attempt to reach their unsuspecting friends at Michillimackiuac. Fully 
 impressed with the difficulties attendant on a scheme that offered so few feasi- 
 ble chances of success. Colonel de Haldimar for a period denied his concur- 
 rence ; but when at length the excited young man dwelt on the horrors that 
 would inevitably await his sister and betrothed cousin, were they to fall into 
 the hands of the savages, these considerations were'found to be elFective. An 
 after arrangement included Sir Everard Valletort. who had expressed a strong 
 , desire to share his danger in the enterprise : and the services of the Canadian, 
 who had been brought back a prisoner to the fort, and on whom promises and 
 threats were bestowed in an equally lavish manner, were rendered available. 
 In fact, without the assistance of Francois, there was little chance of their 
 effecting in safety the navigation of the waters through which they were to 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OR, T 11 K PR () 1' II E C Y , 181 
 
 pa>;s to arrive at the fort. Tie it was. who. wlien ■liiuiuione'l to attend a con- 
 forence among; the officers, hearing on the nicins to be adopted, suggested the 
 proprict}- of their disguii^ing themselves as Canadian duck hunters ; in which 
 cliaracter tliey might expect to pass immolcsted, even if encountered by any 
 outlying parties of the savages. With the doubts that had previously been 
 entertained of the fidelity of Francois, there was an air of forlorn hope given 
 to the enterprise ; still, as the man expressed sincere earnestness of desire to 
 repay the clemency accorded him, by a faithful exercise of his services, and 
 as the object sought was one that justified the risk, there was, notwithstand- 
 ing, a latent hope cherished by all parties, that the event would prove success- 
 ful. We have already seen to vvhat extent their anticipations were realized, 
 
 AVhcther it was that he .sccretlj- acknowledged the too excessive stei-nness 
 of his justice in regard to Ilallovray (who still, in the true acceptation of facts, 
 had been guilty of a crime that entailed the penalty he had paid.) or that the 
 apprehension that arose to his heart in regard to her on whom he j'earned 
 with all a lather's Ibndness governed his conduct, certain it is, that, from the 
 hour of the disclosure made by his son Colonel de Haldimar became an alter- 
 ed man. AVithont losing any thing of that dignity of manner, which had 
 hitherto been confounded with the most repellant haughtiness of bearing, liis 
 demeanor towards his officers became more courteous ; and although, as here- 
 tofore, he kept himself entirely aloof, except when occasions of duty brought 
 them together, still, when they did meet, there was more of conciliation in his 
 manner, and less of austerity in his speech. There was. moreover a dqection 
 in his eye, strongly in contrast with his former imperious glance ; and more 
 than one officer remarked, that, if his days were devoted to the customary 
 practical arrangements for defence, his pallid countenance betokened that his 
 nights were nights rather of vigil than repose. 
 
 However natural and deep the alarm entertained for the fate of the sister 
 fort, there could be no apprehension on the mind of Colonel de Haldimar in 
 regard to liis own ; since, furnished with the means of foiling his enemies 
 with their own weapons of cunning and deceit, a few extraordinary precau- 
 tious alone were necessaiy to secure all immunity from danger. Whatever 
 might be the stern peculiarities of his character, — and these had originated 
 chiefly in an education purely military, — Colonel de Haldimar was an officer 
 well calculated to the important trust reposed in him ; for, combining experi- 
 ence with judgment in all matters relating to the diplomacy of war, and being 
 fully conversant with the character and habits of the enemy opposed to him, 
 lie possessed singular aptitude to seize whatever advantages might present 
 themselves. 
 
 The prudence and caution of his policy have already been made manifest in 
 the two several council scenes with the chiefs recorded in oiu- previous pages. 
 It may appear singular, that, with the opportunity thus aflbrded him of re- 
 taining the formidable Ponteac, — the strength and sinew of that long pro- 
 tracted and ferocious war. — in his power, he should have waived his advantage ; 
 but here Colonel de Haldimar gave evidence of the tact which so eminently 
 distinguished liis public conduct throughout. He well knew the noble, fear- 
 less character of the chief; and felt, if any hold was to be secured over him, 
 it was by grappling with his generosity, and not by the exercise of intimida- 
 tion. Even admitting that Ponteac continued his prisoner, and that the troops, 
 pouring their destructive fire upon the mass of enemies so suddenly arrested 
 on the drawbridge, had swept away the whole, still they were but as a mite 
 among the numerous nations that were leagued against the English ; and to 
 these nations, it was evident, thej' must, sooner or later, succumb. 
 
 Colonel de Haldimar knew enough of the proud but generous nature of the 
 Ottawa, to deem that the policy he proposed to pursue in the last council 
 scene would not prove altogether without effect on that warrior. Tt Avas well 
 known to him, much pains had been taken to instil into the minds of the In- 
 dians the belief that the English were it'solved on their final extirpation ; and 
 
162 W A C U S T A ; OK, T H r, 1= R O P H E C Y , 
 
 as certain slights, offered to thorn at various periods, had given a coloring of 
 truth to this assertion, the formidable league which had alread}- accomplished 
 the downfall of so many of the forts had been the consequence of these artful 
 representations. Although well aware that the French had numerous emissa- 
 ries distributed among the fierce tribes, it was not until after the disclosure made 
 by the haughty Ponteac, at the close of the first council scene, that he became 
 apprised of the alarming influence exercised over the mind of that warrior 
 himself by his own terrible and vindictive enemy. The necessity of counter- 
 acting that influence was obvious ; and he felt this was only to be done (if at 
 all) by some marked and extraordinary evidence of the peaceful disposition 
 of the English. Hence his determination to suffer the faithless chiefs and 
 their followers to depart unharmed from the fort, even at the moment when 
 the attitude assumed by the prepared garrison fully proved to the assailants 
 their designs had been penetrated and their schemes rendered abortive. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVni. 
 
 "With the general position of the encampment of the investing Indians, the 
 reader has been made acquainted through the narrative of Captain de Haldi- 
 mar. It was, as has been shown, situate in a sort of oasis close within the 
 verge of the forest, and (girt by an intervening underwood which nature, in 
 her caprice, had fashioned after the manner of a defensive barrier) embraced a 
 space sufficient to contain the tents of the fighting men, together with their 
 women and children. This, however, included the warriors and inferior chiefs. 
 The tents of the leaders were without the belt of underwood, and principally 
 distributed at long intervals on that side of the forest which skirted the open 
 country towards the river ; forming as it M'ere, a chain of external defence, and 
 sweeping in a semicircular direction round the more dense encampment of 
 their followers. At its highest elevation the forest shot out suddenly into a 
 point, naturally enough rendered an object of attraction from whatever part it 
 was commanded. 
 
 Darkness was already beginning to spread her mantle over the intervening 
 space, and the night-fires of the Indians wei-o kindling into brightness, glim- 
 mering occasionally through the wood with that pale and lambent light pecu- 
 liar to the fire-fly, of which they offered a not inapt representation, when sud- 
 denly a lofty tent, the brilliant whiteness of which was thrown into strong re- 
 lief by* the dark field on which it reposed, was seen to rise at a few paces from 
 the abiTipt point in the forest just described, and on the extreme summit of a 
 ridge beyond which lay only the western horizon in golden perspective. 
 
 The opening of this tent looked eastward and towards the fort ; and on its 
 extreme summit floated a dark flag, which at intervals spread itself before the 
 slight evening breeze, but oftener hung drooping and heavily over the glitter- 
 ing canvass. One solitary pine, whose trunk exceeded not the ordinary thick- 
 ness of a man's waist, and standing out as a landmark on the ridge, rose at 
 the distance of a few feet from the spot on which the tent had been erected ; 
 and to this was bound the tall and elegant figure of one dressed in the coarse 
 garb of a sailor. The arms and legs of the individual were perfectly free ; but 
 a strong rope, rendered doubly secure after the manner of what is termed 
 " whipping " among seamen, after having been tightly drawn several times 
 around his waist, and then firmly knotted behind, was again passed round the 
 tree, to which the back of the prisoner was closely lashed ; thus enabling, or 
 rather compelling, him to be a spectator of every object within the tent. 
 
 Layers of bark, over which were spread the dressed skins of the bear and 
 the buffalo, formed the floor and carpet of the latter ; and on these, in various 
 parts, and in characteristic attitudes, reposed the forms of three human beings ; 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 183 
 
 one, the forinidablo wariior of tlie Fleur de Lis. Attired in the garb in which 
 we first introduced him to our readers, and with the same weapons reposing 
 at his side, the haughty savage lay at his lazy length ; his feet reaching be- 
 yond the opening of the tent, and liis head reposing on a rude pillow formed 
 of a closely compressed pack of skins of wild animals, over which was spread 
 a sort of mantle or blanket. One hand was introduced between the pillow and 
 his head, the other grasped the pipe tomahawk he was smoking ; and while 
 the mechanical play of his riglit foot indicated prc-occupation of thought, his 
 quick and meaning eye glanced frequently and alternately upon the furthest 
 of his companions, the prisoner without, and the distant fort. 
 
 Within a few feet of the warrior lay, extended on a buffalo skin, the delicate 
 figure of a female, whose hair, complexion, and hands, denoted her European 
 extraction. Her dress was entirely Indian, however ; consisting of a machecoti 
 with leggings, moccassins, and shirt of printed cotton studded with silver 
 broaches. — all of which were of a quality and texture to mark the wearer a.^ 
 the wife of a cliief ; and her fair hair, done up in a club behind, reposed on a 
 neck of dazzling whiteness. Her eyes were large, blue, but wild and unmean- 
 ing ; her countenance vacant : and her movements altogether mechanical. -A 
 wooden bowl filled with hominy was at her side ; and from this she was now 
 in the act of feeding herself with a spoon of the same material, but with a 
 negligence and slovenliness, that betraj^ed her almost utter unconsciousness 
 of the action. 
 
 At the further side of the tent there was another woman, even more delicat* 
 in appearance than the one last mentioned. She, too, was blue eyed, and of 
 surpassing fairness of skin. ' Her attitude denoted a mind too powerfully ab- 
 sorbed in grief to be heedful of appearances ; for she sat with her knees dra^vn 
 up to her chin, and rocking her body to and fro with an undulating motion 
 that seemed to have its origin in no effort of volition of her own. Her long 
 fair hair hung negligently over her shoulders ; and a blanket drawn over the 
 top of her head like a veil, and extending partly over the person, disclosed here 
 and there portions of an apparel which was strictly European, although rent, 
 and exhibiting in various places stains of blood. A bowl similar to that of her 
 companion, and filled with the same food, was at her side ; but this was un- 
 tasted. 
 
 " Why does the girl refuse to eat ?" asked the warrior of her next him, as 
 he fiercely rolled a volume of smoke from his lips. " Make her eat, for I 
 would speak to her afterwards." 
 
 •• Why does the girl refuse to eat ?" responded the woman in the same tone, 
 dropping her spoon as she spoke, and turning to the object of remark with a 
 vacant look, '• It is good," she pursued, as she rudely shook the arm of the 
 heedless sufferer. '" Come, girl, eat." 
 
 A shriek burst from the lips of the unhappy girl, as, apparently roused from 
 her abstraction, she suffered the blanket to fiill from her head, and staring 
 wildly at her questioner, faintly demanded, — " Who, in the name of mercy, 
 are you. who address me in this horrid place in ray own tongue ? Speak ; 
 who" are you ? Surely I should know that voice for that of Ellen, the wife of 
 Frank Halloway !" 
 
 A maniac laugh was uttered by the wretched woman. This continued of- 
 fensively for a moment ; and she observed, in an infuriated tone and with a 
 searching eye, — '■ No. I am not the wife of Halloway. It is false. I am the 
 wife of Wacousta. This is my hu.sband !" and as .she spoke she .sprang nim- 
 bly to her feet, and was in the'ncxt instant lying prostrate on the form of the 
 warrior ; her arms thrown wildly around him, and her lips imprinting kisses 
 on his cheek. 
 
 But AVacousta was in no mood to suffer her endearments. He for the first 
 time seemed alive to the presence of her who lay beyond, and to whose whole 
 appearance a character of animation had been imparted by the temporary ex- 
 citement of her feelings. He gazed at her a moment, with the air of one en- 
 
184 wacousta; or, the prophecy, 
 
 deavoring to recall the memory of days long gone by ; and as he continued to 
 do so, his eye dilated, his chest heaved, and his countenance alternately flushed 
 and paled. At length he threw the form that reposed upon his own, violently, 
 and even savagely, from him ; sprang eagerly to his feet ; and clearing the 
 space that divided him from the object of his attention at a single step, bore- 
 her from the earth in his arms with as much ease as if she had been an infant, 
 and then returning to his own rude couch, placed his horror-stricken victim at 
 his side. 
 
 '•Nay, nay." he urged sarcastically, as she vainly struggled to free herself; 
 " let the De Haldimar portion of your blood rise up in anger if it will ; but 
 that of Clara Eeverlej^, at least " 
 
 " Grracious Providence ! where am I, that I hear the name of my sainted 
 mother thus familiarly pronounced ?" interrupted the startled girl ; " and who 
 are you, — ," turning her eyes wildly on the swarthy countenance of the war- 
 rior, — " who are you, I ask, who, with the mien and in the garb of a savage 
 of these forests, appear thus acquainted with her name ?" 
 
 The warrior passed his hand across his brow for a moment, as if some 
 painful and intolerable reflection had been called up by the question ; but 
 he speedily recovered his self-possession, and with an expression of feature 
 that almost petrified his auditor, vehemently observed, — 
 
 " You ask v.'ho I am ! One who knew your mother long before the ac- 
 cursed name of Dc Haldimar had ever been whispered in her ear ; and whom 
 love for the one and hatred for the other has rendered the savage you now 
 behold ! But," he continued, while a fierce and hideous smile lighted up 
 every feature, " I overlook my past sufferings in my present happiness. Th& 
 image of Clara Beverley, even such as my soul loved her in its youth, is once- 
 more before me in her child ; that child shall be my wife !" 
 
 " Your wife ! monster ; never !" shrieked the unhappy girl, vainly attempt- 
 ing to disengage herself from the encircling arm of the savage. " But," she 
 pursued, in a tone of supplication, while the tears coursed each other down 
 her cheek, " if you ever loved my mother, as you say you have, restore her 
 children to their home ; and if saints may be permitted to look down from 
 heaven in approval of the acts of men, she whom you have loved will bless 
 you for the deed." 
 
 A deep groan burst from the vast chest of Wacousta ; but, for a moment, 
 he answered not. At length he observed, pointing at the same time with his 
 finger towards the cloudless vault above their heads, — " Do you behold yon 
 bine sky, Clara de Haldimar V 
 
 " I do ; — what mean you ?" demanded the trembling girl, in whom a mo- 
 mentary hope had been excited by the subdued manner of the savage. 
 
 " Nothing," he coolly rejoined ; " only that were your poor mother to 
 appear there at this moment, clad in all the attributes ascribed to angels, her 
 prayer would not alter the destiny that awaits you. Nay, nay ; look not 
 thus sorrowfully," he pursued, as in despite of her efforts to prevent him, he 
 imprinted a burning kiss iipon her lips. " Even thus was I once wont to lin- 
 ger on the lips of your mother ; but hers ever pouted to be pressed by mine ; 
 and not with tears, but with sunniest smiles did she court them." He paused ; 
 bent his head over the face of the shuddering girl ; and gazing fixedly for a 
 few minutes on her countenance, while he pi'essed her struggling form more 
 closely to his own, exultingly pursued, as if to himself, — " Even as her mother 
 was, so is she. Ye powers of hell ! who would have ever thought a time 
 would come when both my vengeance and my love would be gratified to 
 the utmost 1 How strange it never should have occurred to me he had a 
 daughter !" 
 
 " What mean you, fierce, unpitying man ?" exclaimed the terrified Clara, 
 to whom a full sense of the horror of her position had lent unusual energy 
 of character. " Surely you will not detain a poor defenceless woman in your 
 
wacousta; or, the propiiecy. 185 
 
 hands, — the child of her you say you have loved. But it is false ! — you never 
 knew her, or you would not reject my prayer." 
 
 " Never knew her !" fiercely repeated Wacousta. Again ho paused. 
 " Would I had never known her ! and I should not now be the outcast wretch 
 T am," — he added, slowly and impressively. Then once more elevating his 
 voice, — " Clara de Ilaldimar, 1 have loved your mother as man never loved 
 woman ; and I have hated your father (grinding his teeth with fury as he 
 spoke) as man never hated man. That love, that hatred are unqucnched 
 — unquenchable. Before me I see at once the image of her who, even in 
 death, has lived enshrined in my heart, and the child of him who is my bit- 
 terest foe. Clara de Ilaldimar, do you understand me now ?" 
 
 " Almighty Providence ! is there not one to save me ? — can nothing touch 
 your stubborn heart V exclaimed the affrighted girl ; and she turned her 
 swimming eyes on those of the warrior, in appeal ; but his glance caused her 
 o\vn to sinkin confusion. " Ellen Ilalloway," she pursued, after a moment's 
 pause, and in the wild accents of despair, " if you are indeed the wife of this 
 man, as you say you are, oh ! plead for me with him ; and in the name of 
 that kindness which I once extended to yourself, prevail on him to restore me 
 to my father !" 
 
 " Ellen Halloway ! — who calls Ellen Halloway ?" said the wretched woman, 
 who had again resumed her slovenly meal on the rude couch, apparently 
 without consciousness of the scene enacting at her side. " I am not Ellen 
 Ilalloway : they said so ; but it is not true. My husband was Reginald 
 Morton : but he went for a soldier, and was killed ; and I never saw him 
 more." 
 
 " Reginald Morton ! What mean you, woman ? What knoAV you of 
 Reginald Morton V demanded Wacousta, with frightful energy, as, leaning 
 over the shrinking form of Clara, he violently grasped and shook the shoulder 
 of the unhappy maniac. 
 
 " Stop ; do not hurt me, and I will tell you all, sir," she almost screamed, 
 " Oh, sir, Reginald Morton was my husband once ; but he was kinder than 
 you are. He did not look so fiercely at me ; nor did he pinch me so." 
 
 '• What of him ? — who was he ?" furiously repeated Wacousta, as he again 
 impatiently shook the arm of the wretched Ellen. " Where did you know 
 him ? Whence came he V 
 
 " Nay, you must not be jealous of poor Reginald :" and, as she uttered 
 these words in a softening and conciliating tone, her eye was turned tipon 
 those of the warrior with a mingled expression of fear and cunning. " But 
 he was very good and very handsome, and generous ; and we lived hear 
 each other, and we loved each other at first sight. But his family were 
 very proud, and they quarrelled with him because he married me ; and then 
 
 we became very poor, and Reginald went for a soldier, and ; but I forget 
 
 the rest, it is so long ago." She pressed her hand to her brow, and sank her 
 head upon her chest. 
 
 " Ellen, woman, again I ask you where he came from ? this Reginald Mor- 
 ton that you have named. To what country did he belong ?" 
 
 " Oh, we were both Cornish," she answered, with a vivacity singularly in 
 contrast with her recent low and monotonous tone ; " but, as I said before, he 
 was of a great family, and I only a poor clergj'man's daughter." 
 
 '• Cornish ! Cornish, did you say V fiercely repeated the dark Wacousta, 
 
 while an expression of loathing and disgust seemed for a moment to convulse 
 his features ; " then is it as I had feared. One word more. Was the family 
 seat called Jlorton Castle V 
 
 " It was," unhesitatingly returned the poor woman, yet with the air of one 
 wondering to hear a name repeated, long forgotten even by herself " It was 
 a beautiful castle too, on a lovely ridge of hills ; and it commanded such a 
 
 nice view of the sea, close to the little port of ; and the parsonage stood 
 
 in such a sweet valley, close under the castle ; and we were all so happy." She 
 
186 W A C O IT S T A ; OR, THE P P. O P M E C V . 
 
 paused, again put her hand to her brow, and pressed it with force, as if en- 
 deavoring to pursue the chain of connection in her memory, but evidently 
 without success. 
 
 " And your father's name was Clayton ?" said the warrior enquiringly. 
 " Henr}^ Clayton, if I recollect aright 1" 
 
 "Ha! who names my father?" shrieked the wretched woman, "Yes, sir, 
 it was Clayton — Henry Clayton — the kindest, the noblest of human beings. 
 But the affliction of his child, and the persecutions of the Morton family, 
 Ijroke his heart. He is dead, sir, and Reginald is dead too ; and I am a poor 
 lone widow in the world, and have no one to love me." Here the tears cours- 
 ed each other rapidly down her faded cheeks, although her eyes were staring 
 and motionless. 
 
 " It is false !" vociferated the warrior, who, now he had gained all that was 
 essential to the elucidation of his doubts, quitted the shoulder he had con- 
 tinued to press with violence in his nervous hand, and once more extended 
 hmiself at his length ; " in me you behold the uncle of your husband. Yes, 
 Ellen Clayton, you have been the wife of two Pieginald JNIortons. Both," he 
 pursued with unutterable bitterness, while he again started up and shook his 
 tomahawk menacingl}^ in the direction of the fort, — " both have been the vic- 
 tims of yon cold-blooded governor ; but the hour of reckoning is at hand. 
 Ellen," he fiercely added, '^ do you recollect the curse you pronounced on the 
 family of that haughty man, when he slaughtered your Reginald? By 
 Heaven ! it shall be fulfilled ; but first shall the love I have so long borne the 
 mother be transferred to the child." 
 
 Again he sovight to encircle the waist of her whom, in the strong excite- 
 ment of his rage, he had momentarily quitted; but the unutterable disgust 
 and horror produced in the mind of the unhappy Clara lent an almost super- 
 natural activity to her despair. She dexterously eluded his grasp, gained her 
 feet, and with tottering stcjis and outstretched arms darted through the tent, 
 and piteousl}^ exclaiming. '■ Save me ! oh, fur God's sake, save me !" sank ex- 
 hausted, and apparently lifeless, on the chest of the prisoner without. 
 
 To such of our readers as, deceived by the romantic nature of the attax::h- 
 incnt stated to have been originally entertained by Sir Everard Valletort for 
 the unseen sister of his friend, have been led to expect a tale abounding in 
 manifestations of its progress when the parties had actually met. we at once 
 announce disappointment. Ncithci- the lover of amorous adventure, nor the 
 admirer of witty dialo;.;ue, sla)uid dive into these passages. Room for the ex- 
 ercise of the invention miglit, it is true, be found; but ours is a tale of sad re- 
 ality, and our heroes and lieroines figure under circumstances that wculd ren- 
 der wit a satire upon the understanding, and love a reflection upon the heart. 
 Within the bounds of probability have we, therefore, confined ourselves. 
 
 What the feehngs of the youngbaronet must have been, from the first moment 
 when he received fiom the hands of the unfortunate Captain Baynton, (who, 
 although an oflicer of his own corps, was personally a stranger to him.) that 
 cherished sister of his friend, on whose ideal form his excited imagination had 
 so often latterly loved to linger, up to the present hour, v/e should vainly at- 
 tempt to paint. There are emotions of the heart, it would be mockery in the 
 pen to trace. From the instant of his first contributing to preserve her life, 
 on that dreadful day of blood, to that when the schooner fell into the hands 
 of the savages, few words had passed between them, and these had reference 
 merely to the position in which they found themselves, and whenever Sir Eve- 
 rard felt he could, without indelicac_v or intrusion, render himself in the slight- 
 est way serviceable to her. The very circumstances under which they had 
 met, conduced to the suppres.sion, if not utter extinction, of all passion attach- 
 ed to the sentiment with which he had been inspired. A new feeling had 
 quickened in his breast ; and it was with emotions more assimilated to friend- 
 ship than to love that he now regarded the beautiful but sorrow-stricken sis- 
 ter of his bosom friend. Still there was a softness, a purity, a dehcacy and 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 187 
 
 tenderness in this new feeling, in whicli the influence of sex secretly though 
 unacknowledgcdly predominated ; and even while sensible it would liavc been 
 a profanation of everything most sacred and delicate in nature to have admit- 
 ted a thought of love within his breast at such a moment, he also felt he 
 could have entertained a voluptuous joy in making any sacrifice, even to the 
 surrender of life itself, provided the tranquillity of that gentle and suffering 
 being could be by it ensm-ed. 
 
 Clara, in her turn, had been in no condition to admit so exclusive a power 
 as that of love within her soul. She had, it is true, even amid the desolation 
 of her shattered spirit, recognised in the young ofhcer the original of a por- 
 trait so frequently drawn by her brother, and dwelt on by herself. She ac- 
 knowledged, moreover, the 'fidelity of the painting : but however she might 
 have felt and acted under different circumstances, absorbed as was her heart, 
 and paral3'sed her imagination, by the harrowing scenes she had gone through, 
 she, too, had room but for one sentiment in her fainting soul, and that was 
 friendship for the friend of her brother ; on whom, moreover, she bestowed 
 that woman's gi-atitude, which could not fail to be awakened by a recollection 
 of the risks he had encountered, conjointly with Frederick, to save her from 
 destruction. During their passage across the Huron. Sir Kverard had usually 
 taken his seat on the deck, at that respectful distance vvliich he conceived the 
 delicacy of the position of the unfortunate cousins demanded ; but in such a 
 manner that, while he seemed wholly abstracted fi'om them, his eye had more 
 than once been detected by Clara fixed on hers, with an affectionateness of 
 interest she could not avoid repajdng with a glance of recognition and approval. 
 These, however, were the only indications of regard that had passed between 
 them. 
 
 If, however, a momentary and irrepressible flashing of that sentiment, 
 which had, at an earlier period, formed a portion of their imaginings, did oc- 
 casionally steal over their hearts while there was a prospect of reaching their 
 friends in safety, all manifestation of its power was again finally suppressed 
 when the schooner fell into the hands of the savages. Become the immediate 
 prisoners of Wacousta, they had been surrendered to that ferocious chief to 
 be dealt with as he might tliink proper ; and on disembarking from the canoe 
 . in which their transit to the mainland had been descried that morning from 
 the fort, had been separated from their equally unfortunate and suffering 
 companions. Captain de Haldimar, Madeline, and the Canadian, were de- 
 livered over to the custody of several choice warriors of the tribe in which 
 Wacousta was adopted ; and, bound, hand and foot, were at that moment in 
 the walr-tent of the fierce savage, which, as Ponteac had once boasted to the 
 governor, was everj^where hung around with human scalps, both of men, of 
 women, and of children. The object of this mysterious man, in removing 
 Clara to the spot we have described, was one well worthy of his ferocious na- 
 ture. His vengeance had already devoted her to destruction ; and it was 
 within view of the fort, which contained the father whom he loathed, he had 
 resolved his purpose should be accomplished. A refinement of cruelty, such 
 as could scarcely have been supposed to enter the breast even of such a re- 
 morseless savage as himself, had caused him to convey to the same spot, him 
 whom he rather suspected than knew to be the lover of the young girl. It 
 was with the view of harrowing up the .soul of one whom he had recognised 
 as the officer who had disabled him on the night of the rencontre on the bridge, 
 that he had bound Sir Everard to the tree, whence, as we have already stated, 
 he vras a compelled spectator of everything that passed within the tent ; and 
 yet with that free action of hmb which only tended to tantalize him the more 
 amid his unavoidable efforts to rid himself of his bonds. — ^^a fact that proved 
 not only the dire extent to wliich the i-evenge of Wacousta could be carried, 
 but the actu.ll and gratuitous cruelty of his nature. 
 
 One must have been similarly circura.stanced to understand all the agony 
 of the youu;:- man d*ring this odious scone, and particularly at the fierce and 
 
188 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 repeated declarations of the savage that Clara should be his bride. More 
 than once had he essayed to remove the ligatures which confined his waist ; 
 but his unsuccessful attempts only drew an occa'onal smile of derision from 
 his enemy, as he glanced his eye rapidly towards him. Conscious at length 
 of the inutility of efforts, which, without benefiting her for whom they were 
 principally prompted, rendered him in some degree ridiculous even in his own 
 eyes, the wretched Valletort desisted altogether, and with his head simk upon 
 his chest, and his eyes closed, sought at least to shut out a scene which blasted 
 his sight, and harrowed up his very soul. 
 
 But when Clara, uttering her wild cry for protection, and rushing forth from 
 the tent, sank almost unconsciously in his embrace, a thrill of inexplicable 
 joy ran through each awakened fibre of his frame. Bending eagerly for- 
 ward, he had extended his arms to receive her ; and when he felt her light 
 and graceful form pressing upon his own as its last refuge — when he felt her 
 heart beating against his — when he saw her drooping on his shoulder, in the 
 wild recklessness of despair, — even amid that scene of desolation and grief he 
 could not help enfolding her in tumultuous ecstasy to his breast. Every hor- 
 rible danger was for an instant forgotten in the soothing consciousness that 
 he at length encircled the form of her, whom in many an hour of solitude he 
 had thus pictured, although «nder far different circumstances, reposing con- 
 fidingly on him. There was delight mingled with agony in his sensation of the 
 wild throb of her bosom against his own ; and even while his soul fainted 
 within him, as he reflected on the fate that awaited her, he felt as if he could 
 himself now die more happily. 
 
 Momentarj^, however, was the duration of this scene. Furious with anger 
 at the evident disgust of his victim, Wacousta no sooner saw her sink into 
 the arms of her lover, than with that agility for Mdiich he was remarkable, 
 he was again on his feet, and stood in the next instant at her side. Uniting 
 to the generous strength of his manhood all that was wrung from his mingled 
 love and despair, the officer clasped his hand round the waist of the drooping 
 Clara ; and with clenched teeth, and feet firmly set, seemed resolved to defy 
 every effort of the warrior to remove her. Not a word was uttered on either 
 side ; but in the fierce smile that curled the lip of the savage, there spoke a 
 language even more terrible than the words that smile implied. Sir Everard 
 could not suppress an involuntary shudder ; and when at length Wacousta, ' 
 after a short but violent struggle, succeeded in again securing and bearing off 
 his prize, the wretchedness of soul of the former was indescribable. 
 
 " You see 'tis vain to struggle against your destiny, Clara de Haldimar," 
 sneered the warrior " Ours is but a rude nuptial couch, it is true ; but the 
 wife of an Indian chief must not expect the luxuries of Europe in the heart 
 of an American wilderness." 
 
 " Almighty Heaven ! where am I ?" exclaimed the wretched girl, again un- 
 closing her eyes to all the horror of her position ; for again she lay at the 
 side, and within the encircling arm, of her enemy. " Oh, Sir Everard Valle- 
 tort, I thought I was with you, and that j^ou had saved me from this monster. 
 Where is my brother ? — Where are Frederick and Madeline ? — Why have they 
 deserted me ? — Ah ! my heart will break. I cannot endure this longer, and live." 
 
 " Clara, Miss de Haldimar," groaned Sir Everard, in a voice of searching 
 agony ; " could I lay down my life for you, I would ; but you see these 
 bonds. Oh God ! oh God ! have pity on the innocent ; and for once inchne 
 the heart of yon fierce monster to the whisperings of mercy." As he uttered 
 the last sentence, he attempted to sink on his knees in supplication to Him he 
 addressed, but the tension of the cord prevented him ; yet were his hands 
 clasped, and his eyes upraised to heaven, while his countenance beamed with 
 an expression of fervent enthusiasm. 
 
 " Peace, babbler ! or, by Heaven ! that prayer shall be your last," vocife- 
 rated Wacousta. " But no," he pursued to himself, dropping at the same 
 time the point of his tomahawk ; " these are but the uatunil writhings of the 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. isy 
 
 crushed worm ; and tlie longer protracted they are, the more complete will be 
 my vengeance." Then turning to the terrified girl, — " You ask, Clara de Ilal- 
 dimar. where j-ou are ? In the tent of your mother's lover, I reply, — at the 
 side of hiui who once pressed her to his heart, even as I now press you, and 
 with a fondness that was only equalled by her own. " Come, dear Clara," 
 and his voice assumed a tone of tenderness that was even more revolting than 
 his natural ferocity, " let me woo you to the affection she once possessed. It 
 was a heart of fire in wliich her image stood enshrined, — it is a heart of fire 
 still, and well worthy of her child." 
 
 " Never, never !" shrieked the agonised girl. '■'Kill me. murder me, if you 
 will ; but oh ! if you have pity, pollute not my ear with the avowal of your 
 detested love. But again I repeat, it is false that m}' mother ever knew you. 
 She never could have loved so fierce, so vindictive a being as yourself." 
 
 '• Ha! do you doubt me still ?" sternly demanded the savage. Then draw- 
 ing the shuddering girl still closer to his vast chest, — " Come hither, Clara, 
 while to convince j'ou I unfold the sad history of my life, and tell 3-ou more 
 of your parents than you have ever known. When," he pursued solemnly 
 " you have learnt the extent of my love for the one, and my hatred for the 
 other, and the wrongs I have endured from both, you will no longer wonder 
 at the spirit of mingled love and vengeance that dictates my conduct towards 
 yourself Listen, girl," he continued fiercely, " and judge whether mine are 
 injuries to be tamely pardoned, when a whole life has been devoted to the 
 pursuit of the means of avenging them." 
 
 Irresistibly led by a desire to know what possible connection could have 
 existed between her parents and this singular and ferocious man, the wretched 
 girl gave her passive assent. She even hoped that, in the course of his nar- 
 rative, some softening reflections would pass over his mind, the effect of which 
 might be to predispose him to mercy. Wacousta buried his face for a few 
 moments in his large hand, as if endeavoring to collect and concentrate the 
 remembrances of past years. His countenance, meanwhile, had undergone a 
 change ; for there was now a shade of melancholy mixed with the fierceness 
 of expression usually observable there. This, however, was dispelled in the 
 course of his narrative, and as various opposite passions were in turn power- 
 fiilly and severally developed. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 " It is now four and twenty years," commenced Wacousta, " since your father 
 and myself first met as subalterns in the regiment he now commands, when 
 an intimac)- suddenly sprang up between us, which, as it was then to our 
 brother officers, has since been a source of utter astonishment to myself. He, 
 all coldness, prudence, obsequiousness, and forethought. I, all enthusiasm, 
 carelessness, impetuosit}-. and independence. Whether this intimancy sprang 
 from the adventitious circumstance of our being more frequentl}- thrown to- 
 gether as officers of the same companj', — for we were both attached to the 
 grenadiers. — or that my wild spirit was soothed by the bland amenity of his 
 manners, I know not. The latter, however, is not improbable ; for proud and 
 haughtj'- and dignified, as the colonel no\c is, such was not then the character 
 of the ensign ; who seemed thrown out of one of nature's supplest moulds, 
 to fawn, and cringe, and worm his way to flivor b}- tjie wily speciousness of 
 his manners. Oh God !" pursued Wacousta, after a momentary pause, and 
 striking his palm again>t his forehead. " that I ever should have been the dupe 
 of such a cold-blooded hypocrite ! 
 
 " As you have just learnt, Coi'nwall is the country of my birth. I was the 
 eldest of the only two surviving children of a large family ; and, as heir to 
 
190 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 the baronetcy of the proud Mortons, was looked up to hj lord and vassal as 
 the future perpetuator of the family name. My brother had been designed 
 for the army ; but as this was a profession to which I had attached my incli- 
 nations, the point was waived in my favor, and at the age of eighteen I first 
 
 joined the regiment, then quartered in the Highlands of Scotland. 
 
 During my boyhood I had ever accustomed myself to athletic exercises, and 
 loved to excite myself by encountering danger in its most terrific forms. 
 
 " The wild daring by which my boyhood had been marked was powerfully 
 awakened by the bold and romantic scenery of the Scottish Highlands ; and 
 as the regiment was at that time quartered, in a part of those 'mountainous 
 districts, where, from the disturbed nature of the times, society was difficult 
 of attainment, many of the officers were driven from necessity, afe I was from 
 choice, to indulge in the sports of the chase. On one occasion a party of four 
 of us set out early in the morning in pursuit of deer, numbers of which we 
 knew were to be met with in the mountainous tracts of Bute and Argyleshire. 
 The course we happened to take lay through a succession of deep dark glens, 
 and over frowning rocks ; the diificulties of access to which only stirred up 
 my dormant spirit of enterprise the more. We had continued in this course 
 for many hours, overcoming one difficulty only to be encountered by another, 
 and yet without meeting a single deer ; when, at length, the faint blast of a 
 horn was heard far above our heads in the distance, and presently a noble stag 
 was seen to ascend a ledge of rocks immediately in front of us. To raise my 
 gun to my shoulder and fire was the work of a moment, after which we all 
 followed in pm-suit. On reaching the spot where the deer had first been seen, 
 we observed traces of blood, satisfying us he had been wounded ; but the course 
 taken in his flight was one that seemed to defy every human effort to follow 
 in. It was a narrow pointed ledge, ascending boldly towards a huge cliff 
 that projected frowningiy from the extreme summit, and on either side lay a 
 dark, deep, and apparently fathomless ravine ; to look even on which was suf- 
 ficient to appal the stoutest heart, and unnerve the steadiest brain. For me, 
 however, long accustomed to dangers of the sort, it had no terror. I had 
 proceeded about five hundred yards further, when I came to the termination 
 of the ledge, from the equally narrow transverse extremity of which branch- 
 ed out three others ; the whole contributing to form a figure resembling that 
 of a trident. Along the ledge I had quitted I had remarked occasional traces 
 where the stricken deer had passed ; and the same blood-spots now directed 
 me at a point where, but for these, I must have been utterly at fault. The 
 centre of these new ridges, and the narrowest, was that taken by the animal, 
 and on that I once more renewed my pursuit. I continued my course towards 
 the main body of rock that now rose within a hundred yards. How this 
 was to be gained I knew not ; for it shelved out abruptly from the extreme 
 summit, overhanging the abyss, and presenting an appearance which I cannot 
 more properly render than by comparing it to the sounding boards placed 
 over the pulpits of our English churches. Still I was resolved to persevere 
 to the close, and I but too unhappily succeeded. 
 
 " It was evident to me that there must be some opening through which the 
 deer had effected his escape to the precipitous heights above ; and I felt a wild 
 and fearful triumph in following him to his cover, over passes which it was 
 my pleasure to think none of the hardy mountaineers themselves would have 
 dared to venture upon with impunity. I paused not to consider of the difli- 
 culty of bearing away my prize, even if I succeeded in overtaking it. At every 
 step my excitement and determination became stronger, and I felt every fibre 
 of my frame to cjilate, as when, in my more boyish days, I used to brave, in 
 • my gallant skiff, the mingled fury of the warring elements of sea and storm. 
 Suddenly, while my mind was intent only on the dangers I used then to hold 
 in such light estimation, I found my further progress intercepted by a fissure 
 in the craig. It was not the width of this opening that disconcerted me, for 
 it exceeded not ten feet ; but I came upon it so unadvisedly, that, in attempt- 
 
\V A. C O U S T A ; OK, T H K P K O P H K C Y . 191 
 
 ing to check my forwr.rd motion, 1 li:ui iioiirly loril my (.'nuipoi.se, and iUlIen into 
 the abyss that now yawned befoi-c on either side of me. To pause upon the 
 danger, would, 1 folt, be to insure it. Summoning all my dexterity into a sin- 
 gle bound. I cleared the chasm ; and with one buckskined foot (for my hunt- 
 ing costjunc was strictly Highland) clung firmly to the ledge, while I secured 
 my balance witli the other. At this point the rock becanxe gradually broader, 
 so that I now trod the remainder of the rude path in perfect security, until I 
 at length found myself close to the vast mass of which these ledges wore merely 
 ramifications or veins: but still I could discover no outlet by which the 
 wounded deer could have escaped. While I lingered, thoughtfully, for a mo- 
 ment, half in disappointment, half in anger, and with my back leaning against 
 the rock, I fimcied I heard a rustling, as of the leaves and branches of under- 
 wood, on that part which projected lil; a ■::!iopy, far above the ab3-ss. I bent 
 my eyes eagerly and fixedly on tln' p' \ i ■ ■ the sound proceeded, and pre- 
 .sently could disti-.igui-^h the blue six\ ,'!;; ■; r.ng through an aperture, to which 
 was, the iu^t ii'! . d. rw ,ir-,-. niiplit'd wliat I conceived to be a human face. No 
 sooner, li'i-.v w i . \'> .- i -. .n (li;iii withdrawn; and then the rustling of leaves 
 was heard again. lliiiI all was still as belbre. 
 
 "A new direction was now given to my feelings. I felt a pi'cscntiment that 
 my adventure, if prosecuted, would terminate in some exti'aordinary iind char- 
 acteristic manner: and obeying, as I ever did, the first impn^- • -I'v - ' "art, I 
 prepared to grapple once more with the difficulties that v. - i to be 
 
 surmounted. Sn-.hig my gun between some twisted roois i,- iv out of 
 and adhered i<< i M)dy of the rock, I commenced the diliicult assent; 
 
 and, after coi it, found myself at length immediately under the 
 
 aperture. iMy ^ ,. inng the lower superficies of this projection was hke 
 
 that of a crawling lej/iile. My back hung suspended over the chasm, into 
 which one false movement of hand or foot, one yielding of the roots entwined 
 in the i-ock must inevitably have precipitated me ; and. while my toes wormed 
 themselves into the tortuous fibres of the latter, I passed hand over hand be- 
 yond raj head, until T liad arrived within a foot or two of the point I desired 
 to reach. ILr V > :: new difficulty occm-ed. .\ ii' i i ■ tiou of the 
 rock, close t<! impeded my further pro;j. i :'i;;' r hith- 
 
 erto pursued ; :• I I ' ; -s this, I was compelled to • : ^ > . 1m )!(■ weight, 
 suspended by oiie vigorous arm, while, with the otlier, J separated the bushes 
 that concealed the opening. A violent exertion of every muscle now impelled 
 me upward, until at length I had so tar succeeded as to mtroduce my head 
 and shoulders througth the aperture ; after which my final success was no 
 longer doubtful." 
 
 One of those painful pauses with which his narrative was often broken, here 
 occurred ; and, with an energy that terrified her whom he addressed, Wacousta 
 pursued, — •' Clara de Haldimar, it was here — in this garden — this paradise — 
 this oasis of the rocks in which I now found myself, that I first saw and loved 
 your mother. Ha ! you .start: you believe me now. Loved her !" he continued, 
 after another short pause — " oh, what a feeble word is love to express the con- 
 centration of mighty feelings that flowed like burning lava through my veins ! 
 Who shall pretend to give a name to the emotion that ran thrillingly — madly 
 through my excited frame, when first I gazed on her. who, in every attribute 
 of womanly beauty, realised all my fondest fancy ever painted? — Listen to 
 me, Ciara.*' lie pursued, in a fiercer tone, and with a convulsive pressure of the 
 form he still encircled ; — "If. in my younger days, my mind was alive to enter- 
 prise, and loved to contemplate danger in its most appalling forms, this was 
 far fiom being the master passion of ray soul ; nay, it was the strong necessity 
 I felt of pouring into some devoted bosom the overflowing fulness of my heart, 
 that made me court in solitude those positions of danger with which the image 
 of w^oman was ever as.sociatcd. 
 
 " I have already said that, on gaining the summit of the rock, I found my- 
 self in a sort of oasis of the mountains. It was so. Belted iu on every Ixand 
 
192 WACorsTA; or, the prophecy. 
 
 by bold and precipitous crags, that seemed to defy the approach even of the 
 wildest animals, and putting utterly at fault the penetration and curiosity of 
 man, was spread a carpet of verdure, a luxuriance of vegetation, that might 
 have put to shame the fertility of the soft breeze-nourished valleys of Italy and 
 Southern France. 
 
 " At about twenty yards from the aperture, and on a bank, formed of turf, 
 covered with moss, and interspersed with roses and honey-suckles, sat the 
 divinity of the oasis. She, too, was clad in the Highland dress, which gave an 
 air of wildness and elegance to her figure that was in classic harmony with the 
 surrounding scenery. At the moment of mj^ appearance she was in the act of 
 dressing the wounded shoulder of a stag that had recently been shot ; and 
 from the broad tartan riband I perceived attached to its neck, added to the 
 fact of the tameness of the animal, I presumed that this stag, evidently a 
 favorite of its mistress, was the same I had fired at and wounded. The rust- 
 ling I made among the bushes had attracted her attention ; she raised her eyes 
 ■from the deer, and beholding me, started to her feet, uttering a cry of terror 
 and surprise. Fearing to speak, as if the sound of my own voice were sufficient 
 to dispel the illusion that facinated both ej'e and heart into delicious tension 
 ■on her form, I stood for some moments as motionless as the rock out of which 
 I appeared to grow, gazing upon her I was destined to love for ever. 
 
 " It was this utter immobility on my own part, that ensured me a continu- 
 ance of the exquisite happiness I then enjoyed. The first movement of the 
 startled girl had been to fly towards her dwelling, which stood at a short 
 distance, half imbedded in the same clustering roses and honey-suckles that 
 adorned her bank of moss ; but when she remarked my utter stillness, and 
 apparent absence of purpose, she checked the impulse that would have direct- 
 ed her departure, and stopped, half in curiosity, half in fear, to examine me 
 once more. At that moment all my energies appeared to be restored ; I 
 threw myself into an attitude expressive of deep contrition for the intrusion 
 of which I had been xmconsciously guilty, and dropping on one knee, and rais- 
 ing my clasped hands, inclined them towards her in token of mingled depre- 
 >cation of her anger, and respectful homage to herself At first she hesitated, — 
 then gradually and timidly retrod her way to the seat she had " so abruptly 
 quitted in her alarm. Emboldened by this movement, I made a step or two 
 in advance, but no sooner had I done so than she again took to flight. Once 
 more, however, she turned to behold me, and again I had dropped on my 
 knee, and was conjuring her, with the same signs, to remain and bless me 
 ■with her presence. Again she returned to her seat, and again I advanced. 
 Scarcely less timid, however, than the deer, which followed her every moment, 
 she fled a third time, — a third time looked back, and was again induced, by my 
 supplicating manner, to return. Frequently was tbis repeated, before I finally 
 found myself at the feet, and pressing the hand — (oh God ! what torture in 
 the recollection!) — yes, pressing the hand of her for whose smile I would, 
 even at that moment, have sacrificed my soul. Such was your mother, Clara 
 de Haldimar ; yes, even such as I have described her was Clara Beverley." 
 
 Again Wacousta paused, and his pause was longer than usual, as, with his 
 large hand again covering his face, he seemed endeavoring to master the feel- 
 ings which these recollections had called up. Clara scarcely breathed. Un- 
 mindful of her desolate position, her soul was intent only on a history that 
 related so immediately to her beloved mother, of M-hom all that she had 
 hitherto known was, that she was a native of Scotland, and that her father 
 had married her while quartered in that country. The deep emotion of the 
 terrible being before her, so often manifested in the course of what he had 
 already given of his recital, added to her knowledge of the facts just named, 
 scarcely "left a doubt of the truth of his statement on her mind. Her ear was 
 now bent aching towards him, in expectation of a continuance of his history, 
 but he still remained in the same attitude of absorption. An irresistible im- 
 ptilse caused her to extend her hand, and remove his own from his eyes : 
 
W A C U S T A ; OK, T 11 K PRO P H E C Y . 1 93 
 
 they weio tilled with tears ; and even while her mind rapidly embraced the 
 hope that this manifestation of tenderness was but the dawning of mercy to- 
 wards the children of her he had once loved, her kind nature could not avoid 
 Bvmpathising with hnn, whose uncouthness of appearance and sava^encss of 
 nature were, in some measure, lost sight of in the fact of the powerful love ho 
 yet aj)parently acknowledged. 
 
 Hut no sooner did Wacousta feel the soft pressure of her hand, and meet 
 her eyes turned on his with an expression of interest, tlian the most rapid 
 transition was effected in his feelings. He drew the form of the weakly re- 
 sisting girl closer to his heart ; again imprinted a kiss upon her lips ; and 
 then, while every muscle in his iron frame seemed quivering with emotion, 
 exclaimed, — '" By heaven ! that touch, that glance, were Clara Beverley's. Yes, 
 Clara," he proceeded more deliberately, as he scanned her form with an eye 
 that made her shudder, " such as your mother was, so are you ; the same de- 
 licacy of proportion ; the same graceful curvature of limb, only less rounded, 
 less womanly. Bat you must be younger by about two years than she then 
 was." 
 
 There was a cool licence of speech — a startling freedom of manner — in the 
 latter part of his address, that disappointed not less than it pained and of- 
 fended the unhappy Clara. She shuddered ; and sighing bitterly, suflered her 
 tears to force themselves through her closed lids upon her pallid cheek. This 
 change in her appearance seemed to act as a check on the temporary excite- 
 ment'of Wacousta. Again obeying one of those rapid transitions of feeling, 
 for which he was remarkable, he once more assumed an expression of seri- 
 ousness, and thus continued his narrative. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 " It boots not now, Clara, to enter upon all that succeeded to my fir.st in- 
 troduction to your mother. It would take long to relate, not the gradations 
 of our passion, for that was like tlie whirlwind of the desert, sudden and de- 
 vastating from the first ; but the burning vow, the plighted faith, the repos- 
 ing confidence, the unchecked abondonment that flew from the lips, and filled 
 the heart of each, sealed, as they were, with kisses, long, deep, enervating, 
 even such as I had ever pictured that divine pledge of human afiection should 
 be. Ye.s, Clara de Ilaldimar, your mother was the child of nature then. 
 
 " I was not always the ruiiucd Ixinu- 1 now appear. Of suryiassing strength 
 I had ever been, and fleet of ino; ; Ijiit nut then had 1 attained to my present 
 gigantic stature; neither was niy I'diih endoweTl with the same herculean 
 rudeness ; nor did my complexion wear the swarthy hue of the savage ; nor 
 had my features been rendered repulsive, from the perpetual action of those 
 fierce pa.ssions which have since assailed mj' soul. 
 
 " Your mother had been brought up in solitude, and without having seen 
 the face of another man that her fjither. Colonel Beverley, of English name, 
 hut Scottish connections, was an old gentleman of considerable eccentricity of 
 character. He had taken a part in tlie rebellion of 1715 ; but sick and dis- 
 gusted with an issue by which his fortunes had been aftected, and heart- 
 hroken by the loss of a beloved wife, whose death had been accelerated by 
 circumstances connected witli the disturl)ed nature of the times, he had resolv- 
 ed to bury himself and child in some wild, where the face of man, whom he 
 loathed, might no more offend his sigiit. This oasis of tiie mountains was the 
 spot selected for his purpose ; for he had discovered it some 3-ears previously, 
 on an occasion, when, closely pursued by some of the English troops, and se- 
 parated from his followers, he liad only effected hi.", escape by venturing on 
 the ledges of rock 1 have alrcadv described. After minute subsequent search 
 13 
 
194 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 at the opposite extremity of the oblong belt of rocks that shut it in on every 
 hand, he had discovered an opening, through which the transport of such ne- 
 cessaries as were essential to his object might be effected ; and, causing one of 
 his dwelling houses to be pulled down, he had the materials carried across the 
 rocks on the shoulders of the men employed to re-erect them in his chosen 
 solitude. A few months served to complete these arrangements, which in- 
 cluded a garden abounding in eveiy fruit and flov/er that could possibly hve 
 in so elevated a region ; and this, in time, under his own culture, and that of 
 his daughter, became the Eden it first appeared to me. 
 
 •' Previous to their entering on this employment, the workmen had beeu 
 severally sworn to secrecy ; and when all was declared ready for his reception, 
 the colonel summoned them a second time to his presence ; wlien, after mak- 
 ing a handsome present to each, in addition to his hire, he found no difficvilty 
 in prevailing on them to renew their oath that they would preserve the most 
 scrupulous silence in regard to the place of his retreat. He then took advan- 
 tage of a dark and tempestuous night to execute his project ; and, attended 
 only by an old woman and her daughter, faithful dependants of the family, 
 set out in quest of his new above, leaving all his neighbors to discuss and 
 marvel at the singularity of his disappearance. True to his text, however, 
 not even a boy was admitted into liis household : and here thej^ had continued 
 to live, unseeing and unseen by man, except when a solitary and distant 
 mountaineer occasionally flitted among the rocks below in pursuit of his 
 game. Fruits and vegetables composed their diet ; but once a fortnigiit the 
 old woman was despatched through the opening already mentioned, which 
 was at other times so secured by her master that no hand but his own could 
 remove the intricate festenings. This expedition . had for its object the pur- 
 chase of bread and animal food at the nearest market y and every lime she 
 sallied forth an oath was administered to the crone, the purport of which was, 
 not only that she would return, unless prevented by violence or death, but 
 that she would not answer any questions put to her, as to whom slie was, 
 •whence she came, or for whom the fruits of her marketing were intended. 
 
 '' Meanwhile, wrapped up in his books, which were chiefly classic authors, 
 or writers on abstruse sciences, the misanthropical colonel paid little or no at- 
 tention to the cultivation of the intellect of his daughter, whom he had merely, 
 instructed in the elementary branches of education ; in all which, however. 
 she evinced an aptitude and perfectibility that indicated quickness of genius 
 and a capability of far higher attainments. Books he principally withheld 
 from her, because they brought the image of man, whom he hated, and wished 
 she should also hate, too often in flattering colors before her ; and had any 
 work treating of love been found to have crept accidentally into his own col- 
 lection, it would instantly and indig-nantly have been committed to the flames. 
 " Thus left to the action of her own heart — the guidance of her own feel- 
 ings — it was but natural your mother should have sajfered her imagination 
 torepose on an ideal happiness, which, although in some degree destitute of 
 shape and character, was still powerfully felt. What dear acknov/ledgments 
 (alas ! too deceitful) flowed from her guileless lips, even during our first in- 
 terview. 
 
 " Two long and deiicioiis hours." pursued Wacousta, after another painful 
 pause of some moments, "did we pass together, exchanging thought, and 
 speech, and heart, as if the term of our acquaintance had been coeval with the 
 first dawn of our intellectual life ; when suddenly a small .silver-toned bell was 
 heard ft'om the direction of the house, hid from the spot on which we sat by 
 the luxmiant foliage of an intervening laburnum. This sound seemed to dis- 
 sipate the dreamy calm that had wrapped the soul of your mother into for- 
 getfulness. She started suddenly up, and bade me, if I loved her, begone ; as 
 that bell announced her required attendance on her father, who, now ais-aken- 
 ed from the mid-day s]umb(;r in which he ever indulged, was about to take 
 liis ;iccustomed walk around the grounds ; which was little else, in fact, than 
 
w A c o u s T A ; on, t n f, v k o v n k c y . 195 
 
 a close inspection of the walls of his natural ca«tle. 1 rose to obey her : our 
 eyes met, and she threw herself into uiy extended arms. Wc whispered anew 
 our vows of eternal love. She called nie hci- husband, and I pronounced the 
 endearing name of wife. A burning kiss scaled the compact ; and, on her 
 archly observing that the sleep of her fatlier continued about two hours at 
 noon, and th.at the old woman and her daughter M'cre always occupied within 
 doors, I promised to repeat my visit every second day untifshe finally quitted 
 her retreat to be my own for life. 
 
 " One morning I had hastily sketched an outline of your mother's features 
 in pencil, with a view to assist me in the design of a miniature I proposed 
 painting from memory. While occupied the second day in its com})letion, it 
 occurred to me I was in orders for duty on the following, which was that of 
 my promised visit to the oasis ; and 1 despatclicd my servant with my com- 
 pliments to your father, and a request that he w »;;!(] !u' so obliging as to take 
 my guard for me on the to-morrow, and T won'ni jiji'bnii his duty when next 
 his name rij)peared on the roster. Some time afterwards 1 heard the door of the 
 room in wiii('h I sat open, and some one enter. Presuming it to be my ser- 
 vant, (returned from the execution of the message with which he had ju.st 
 been charged,) 1 paid no attention to the circumstance ; but finding, presently, 
 he did not speak, I turned round with a view of demanding what answer he 
 had brought. To my surprise, however, I beheld, not my servant, but your 
 father. He was standing looking over m}^ shoulder at the work on which I 
 was engaged ; and notwithstanding in the instant he resumed the cold, quiet, 
 smirking look that usually distinguished him, I thought I coidd trace the 
 evidence of some deep emotion wliicli my action had suddenly dispelled. He 
 apologised for his intrusion, although we were oti those terms that rendered 
 apology unnecessary, but said he had just received my message, and preferred 
 coming in person to assure me how happy he should feel to take my duty, or 
 to render me any other service in his po-vcr. I fnniight he laid unusual em- 
 phasis on the last sentence; yet 1 thai: mly, stating that the only 
 service I should now exact of him v/c; jny guard, as T \vas com- 
 pelled to be absent nearly the vrlx^'''' < T'l'uing. Re obscrvetl 
 with a smile, he hoped I was no ! i-ikou those danger- 
 ous precipices a second time, aftt ' . '• : lind on the preced- 
 .ingday.; As he spoke, I thougi i : sly yet scrutinising 
 glance; and, not wishing to r; ; - sl'ion, I asked him 
 what he thought of the work wi ; ; . ' iiig to beguile an idle 
 hour. He took it up, and I watched the expix-ssion of iiishandsome counte- 
 nance with the anxiety of a lover who wisl'.es that all should think his mis- 
 tress beautiful as he does himself. It betrayed a very iudefmite sort of admi- 
 ration ; and yet it struck me there was an eagerness in bis dilating eye that 
 contrasted strongly with the calm and uncojiccrn of his other featm-es. At 
 length I asked him laughing!}-, vrJi:iv lie il^nif-!.; of my Cornish cousin. He 
 replied, cautiously enough, that siijce it ■,, !s 'ii.; likeness of a cousin, and he 
 dwelt emphatically on the word, lie cowld not Tail to admire it. Candor, 
 however, compelled him to admit, ti\at had I not declared the original to be 
 one so closely connected with me, he should liavc said the talent of so per- 
 fect an artist might have been better emploj-ed. 
 
 •• The next day saw me again at tlie side of youv mother, Avho received me 
 with the same artless demonstrations of ?ifex)tion. After the first full and 
 unreserved interchange of our souls' best feelings, our conversatioii turned 
 upon lighter topics ; and I took an opportunity^ to produce the fruit of my ap>- 
 plication since we parted. Never siiaJl T forget the surprise and delight that 
 animated her beautiful counteriancc when first she gazed upon the miiyature. 
 She expressed a strong desire to retain it; and to this I readily assented j 
 stipulating only to keep it until my next visit, in order th.at I might take an 
 exact copy for myself. She herself, she said, had not been idle. Although 
 her pencil could not call up my image ia the same m.^nnev. hor pen had better 
 
196 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 repaid ber exertions ; and in return for the portrait she would give me a let- 
 ter she had written to beguile her loneliness on the preceding day. As she 
 spoke she drew a sealed packet from the bosom of her dress, and placing it in 
 my hand, desired me not to read it until I had returned to my home. But 
 there was an expression of sweet confusion in her lovely countenance, and a 
 trepidation in her manner, that, half disclosing the truth, rendered me utterly 
 impatient of the delay imposed ; and eagerly breaking the seal, I devoured 
 rather than read its contents. 
 
 " Accursed madness of recollection !" pursued Wacousta, again striking his 
 brow violently with his hand, — " why is it that I ever feel thus luimanned 
 while recurring to those letters ? Oh ! Clara de Haldimar. never did woman 
 pen to man such declarations of tenderness and attachment as that too dear 
 but faithless letter of your mother contained. All conlidingness, she sank 
 her head upon my chest, which heaved scarcely less wildly than her own. 
 
 " The hour of parting at lengtli arrived, announced, as before, by the small 
 bell of her father, and I again tore myself from her arms." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 " Nearly a month passed away in this manner ; and at each interview our 
 affection seemed to increase. One day, while preparing to set out on my cus- 
 tomary excursion, a report suddenly reached me that the route had arrived 
 for the regiment, who were to march from within three days. This in- 
 telligence I received with inconceivable delight ; for it had been settled by 
 your mother and myself, that this should be the moment chosen for her de- 
 parture, 
 
 " With a glowing cheek and a countenance radiant with happiness, did 
 your mother receive my proposal to prepare for her departure on the follow- 
 ing day. She was sufiiciently aware, even through what I had stated myself, 
 that there were certain ceremonies of the church to be performed, in order to 
 give sanctity to our union, and ensure her own personal respectability in the 
 world; and these, I told her, would be solemnised by the chaplain of the 
 regiment. She implicitly confided in me ; and she was right ; for I loved her 
 too well to make her my mistress, while no barrier existed to her claim to a 
 dearer title. 
 
 " The only difficulty that now occurred was the manner of her flight. I 
 ■ had proposed, as the most feasible and rational plan, that the colonel should 
 be compelled to give us egress through the secret passage, when we might 
 command the services of the old woman to guide us through the passes that 
 led to the town ; but to this your mother most urgently objected, declaring 
 that she would rather encounter any personal peril that might attend her es- 
 cape in a different manner, than appear to be a participator in an act of vio- 
 lence against her parent, whose obstinacy of character she moreover knew too 
 well toleave a hope of his being intimidated into the accomplishment of our 
 object, even by a threat of deatli itself. This plan I was therefore compelled 
 to abandon ; and as neither of us were able to discover the passage Ijy which 
 the deer always effected its entrance, I was obliged to fix upon one. which it 
 was urged should be put in practice on the following day. 
 
 " On my return, I occupied myself with preparations for the reception of 
 her who was so speedily to become my wife. . Unwilling that she should be 
 seen by any of my companions, until the ceremony was finally performed, I 
 engaged apartments in a small retired cottage, distant about half a mile from 
 the furthest extremity of the town, where I purposed she should remain un- 
 •til the regiment finally quitted the station. This point secured, I hastened 
 •to the quarters of the chaplain, to engage his services for the following eve- 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OR, T H K 1' R O P H E C Y . 197 
 
 ning ; but he was from home at the time, and I n']):iire(l to my own rooms, 
 to prepare the means of escape for your mother. These ot'cupied me until a 
 very late liour ; and when at length I retired to rest, it was only to indulge 
 in (he fondest imaginings that ever filled the heart of a devoted lover. Alas 1 
 (and the dark warrior again sighed heavily) the day-dream of my happiness 
 was already fast drawing to a close. 
 
 " 4^ half an hour before noon. 1 was again in the oasis ; your mother was- 
 at the wonted spot ; and although she received me with her sunniest smiles, 
 there were traces of tears upon her cheek. She nnplored me to forgive her 
 weakness; but it was the first time she was to be separated from her parent; 
 and conscious as she was that it ^vas to be for ever, she ould not repress the 
 feeling that rose, despite of herself, to her heart. 8iie had. however, prepared 
 a letter, at my suggestion, to be left on her favorite moss seat, where it was 
 likely she would liist be sought by her father, to assure him of her safety,, 
 and of her prospects of future happiness; and the consciousness that he 
 would labor under no harrowing uncertainty in regard to her fate, seemed at 
 length to soothe and satisfy her heart. 
 
 " I now led her to the aperture, where [ had left the apparatus jjrovided for 
 my purpose : this consisted of a close netting, alMuit fmn- feet in de{ith, with 
 a board for a footstool at the bottom, and furni.-lu'd id intervals with hoops, 
 .so as to keep it full and open. The top of this netting was provided with 
 two handles, to which were attached the ends of a cord many fathoms in 
 length ; the whole of such diu-ability. as to have borne weights equal to those 
 of three ordinary sized men, with which I had proved it prior to my setting 
 out. My first care was to bandage the eyes of your mother, (who willingly 
 and fearlessly submitted to all I proposed,) that she might not see, and be- 
 come faint with seeing the terrible chasm over which she was about to be 
 suspended. I then placed her within the netting, which, fitting closely to her 
 person, and reaching under her arms, completely secured her ; and my next 
 urgent request was, that she should not, on any account, remove the bandage 
 or make the slightest movement, when she found herself stationary below, 
 until I had joined hei'. I then dropped her genth^ through the aperture, low- 
 ering tathom after flithom of the rope, the ends of which I had firml}^ secured 
 round the trunk of a tree, as an additional safeguard, until she finally came 
 on a level with that part of the clift" on which I had reposed when first she 
 beheld me. As she still hung immediately over the ab3^ss, it was necessary 
 to give a gradual impetus to her weight, to enable her to gain the landing- 
 place. I now, therefore, commenced swinging her to and fro. until she at 
 length came so near the point desired, that I clearly saw the principal diflicul- 
 ty was surmounted. The necessary motion having been given to the balance, 
 with one vigorous and final impulsion I dexterously contrived to deposit her 
 several feet from the edge of the lower rock, when, slackening the rope on the 
 instant, I had the inexpressible satisfaction to see that she remained firm and sta- ' 
 tionary. The waving of her scarf immediately afterwards (a signal previously 
 agreed upon), announced she had sustained no injur}^ in this rather rude col- 
 lision with the rock, and I in turn commenced my descent. 
 
 " Fearing to cast away the ends of the rope, lest their weight should by 
 any chance ali'ect the balance of the footing your mother had obtained, I now- 
 secured them around my loins, and accomplishing my descent in the customa- 
 ry manner, speedily found myself once more at the side of my heart's dearest 
 treasure. I j)repared to execute the remainder of m}^ task ; and again applied 
 the bandage to her eyes, saying that, although the principal danger was over, 
 still there was another I could not besff" she should look upon. 
 
 '^ Disengaging the rope from the handles of the netting, I now applied to 
 these a broad leathern belt, and stooping with my back to the cherished bur- 
 den with which 1 was about to charge myself, passed the centre of the belt 
 across my chest, much in the manner in which, as you are aware, Indian 
 women carry their infant children. As an additional precaution, I had secured 
 
198 W A C O I'. S T A ; OR, THE P R P H E C V . 
 
 the 11- ' " ' ;.y vraist by a strong,- lacing- of cord, and then raising my- 
 
 self t ' -it. and satisfyinj^ iay.\;e]f of the perfect freedom of action 
 
 of my ' . ' a long balancing pole I had left suspended against the 
 
 rock at my last %isit. and commenced my descent of the sloping ridge. On 
 approachinc; the horrible chasm, a feeling- of faintness came over me, despite 
 .-.r iJ-c ,T,r. ■!.;;•;■: : v.iih whi'^li i had previousl}' armed myself. This, however, 
 '• that every thing depended on rapidii^v of 
 J. lurse ; but, quickening my pace as I gradu- 
 
 ally <'•:■■. . .V- HI'- iiui-i-ssary impetus to my motion, and cleared the 
 
 gap-svivi ; ' i'i.r exceeding what had distinguished my first passage, and 
 
 which .. . ii ' [\ ['-i of constant practice alone. Here my balance was sus- 
 tained by ihe pole ; and at length I had the inexpressible satisfaction to find 
 myself at the very extremity of the ridge, and immediately at the point where 
 I had left" my companions in my first memorable pursuit. 
 
 " In the deep transports of my joy, 1 once more threw myself on my 
 knees in speechless thanksgivmg to Providence for the complete success of my 
 ■madertaking. Your mother, whom I had previously released from her con- 
 finement, did the same ; and at that moment the union of our hearts seemed 
 to be cemented by a divine influence, manifested in the fullness of gratitude of 
 each. Throv/ing over her shoulders the mantle of a youth, which I had se- 
 creted near the spot, I enjoined her to follow me closely in the path I wais 
 about to pursue. 
 
 " I have not liitlicrto found it necessary to state," continued Wacousta, his 
 brow lowering with fioi-ce and gloom}' thought, '• that more than once, latter- 
 ly, on my return from the oasis, which was usually at a stated hour, I had 
 observed a hunter hovering near the end of the ledge, yet quickly retreating 
 as I advanced. There was something in the figure of this man that recalled 
 to my recollection the form of your father ; but ever, on my retm-n to quar- 
 ters, I found him in uniform, and exhibiting any thing but the appearance of 
 one who had recently been threading his weary way among rocks and fast- 
 nesses. Besides, the improbability of this fact was so great, that it occupied 
 not my attention beyond the passing moment. On the present occasion, 
 however, I saw the same hunter, and was moi-e forcibly than ever struck hy 
 the resemblance to my friend. Prior to my quitting the point where I had 
 liberated your mother from the nt-tting, I had, in addition to the disguise of 
 the cloak, found it necessary to make some alteration in the arrangement of 
 her hair ; the redundancy of which, as it floated gracefully over her polished 
 ■neck, was in itself sufficient to betray iier sex. "With this view I had removed 
 her plumed bonnet. It was the first time I had seen her without it ; and so 
 ileep!}' impressed was I by the angel like character of the extreme feminine 
 beauty she, more than ever, then exhibited, that I knelt in silent adoration for 
 some moments at her feet, my eyes and countenance alone expressing the 
 fei-vent and almost holy emotion of my enraptured soul. 
 
 " Immediately we pursued our course ; and after an hour's rather laborious 
 exertion, at length emerged from the succession of glens and rocks that lay 
 iu our way ; when skirting the valley in which the town was situated, we 
 finally reached the cottage where I had secured my lodging. Previous to en- 
 tering it, I had told your mother, that for the few hours that would intervene 
 before tlie marriage ceremony could be performed, I should, by way of lulling 
 the curiosity of her hostess, introduce her as a near relative of ray own. 
 This I did accordingly ; and, having seen that every tiling was comfortably 
 arranged for her convenience, and recommending her strongly to the care of 
 the old woman, I set off once more in search of the chaplain of the regiment. 
 Before I could reach his residence, however, I was met by a sergeant of my 
 company, who came running towards me, evidently with some intelligence of 
 moment. He stated, that my presence was required witliout delay. The 
 grenadiers, with the senior subaltern, were in orders for detacliraent for an 
 important service ; and considerable displeasure had been manifested by the 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 1 9(> 
 
 colonel at my absence, especially as of late I had greatly neglected my military 
 dutie^s. He had been looking for me every whore, he said, but without s\ic- 
 cess, when Ensign de llaldiniar had pointed out to him in what diroction it 
 was likely I might be found. 
 
 " With a beating heart did 1 assume an '•' ' ' i appeared, at that mo- 
 
 ment, hideous in my eyes ; yet I was not \- 1 might get off this 
 
 ill-timed duty. Before J" had completed m;, < m, your father entered 
 
 my quarters; and when I first glanced my eye uiil upon his, I thought his 
 countenance exhibited evidences of confusion. This immediately remincd me 
 of the unknown hunter, and I asked him if he was not the person T described. 
 His answer was not a positive denial, but a mixture of raiiery and surprise 
 that lulled my doubts, enfeebled as they were by the restored calm of his 
 features. 1 then told him that I had a particular favor to ask of him, which, 
 in consideration of our friendship, I trusted he would not refuse ; and that was, 
 to take my duty in the expedition about to set forth. His manner implied ■ 
 concern ; and he a.sked, with a !> •!> i' t 1 'id much deliberate expres.sion in it, 
 'if I was aware that it was a 'I' I'l blood was exjiected to be .shed? 
 
 He could not -suppose that an3- < i;i iliaiiou would induce mc to vesijvn my 
 duty to another oilicer, when apprised of this fiui.' Ml this v,-,-is s,- i>l ■,\;(b the 
 •air of one really interested in my honor; biii in miv incri'asiiiL' iii;::.!: ■in'", I 
 told him I wanted none of his cant; I .simpi* u.>ktiu aiin .■_ i'.v«);' v.irich he 
 would grant or decline as he thought proper. This wa- ,i !i:i:,-:!i: s of lan- 
 guage 1 had never indulged in; but my mind was sore uniiti- .!;■■ existing 
 causes of my annoyance, and I could not bear to have my motives rciiected on 
 at a moment when my heart was torn with all the agonies attendant on the 
 position in which I found myself placed. His cheek paled and flushe<l more 
 than once, before he rejjlied, ' that in spite of my unicindncss his friendship 
 might induce him to do much for me, even aS he had hitherto done, but th.at 
 on the present occasion it rested not with him. In order to justiry hiiiisi'lfho 
 would no longer disguise the fact from me, that the colonel h:i 1 (' ■ ';m ■;!. in 
 the presence of the wdiole regiment, I should take my duty regrJ :!■;;, is; i sure, 
 and not be sutlered to make a convenience of the service any longer, ti', how- 
 ever, he could do anything for me during my absence, I had but to command 
 him. 
 
 " While I was yet giving vent, in no measured terms, to the inuignation I 
 felt at being made the subject of public censure by the colonel 
 geant came into th'^ roojn, nrnioi'iicino; tlint the compan;>- wi-v 
 for me to march, :iii i :',' 'i . s mi -i .i ii-ed my instniii : 
 agitation of mj^ f: s :.,i ■, i , ^ is.: ■ w w iiat I did, puttsi 
 
 of my regimental equipmeoi on me so Ciiiii'S't' ■," iwri'' , ! i ■ 
 ticed and rectified the errors I had commit i! ; s ; i ; i; s 
 the sergeant, 1 expressed the deepest regivi m si;::: ii'-i s 
 duty that was hateful to thi- In-l !o.;rei'. 
 
 "Torn with agony at tiio Lli'^u' ' t <>i' the imcertainty in which I was com- 
 pelled to leave her whom I so iuiidly iiuored. I had no other alternative than 
 to make a partial confident of your father. I told him that in the cotttige 
 which I pointed out he would find the original of the portrait \\q had seen me 
 painting on a former occasion, — the Cornish cousin, whose beauty he professed 
 to hold .so ch.eaply. More he should know of her on my return ; but at pre- 
 sent I confided tier to his honor, and begged he would prove his friendship for 
 me by rendering her whatever attention she might require in her humble 
 abode. With these hurried injunctions he promised to comply : and it has 
 often occurred to me since, although I did not remark it at the time, that while 
 his voice and manner were calm, there was a burning glow upon his handsome 
 cheek, and a suppressed exultation in his eye, that I had never observed on 
 either before. 1 then quitted the room ; and hestening to my company with 
 a gloom on my brow that indicated the wretchedness of my inward .spirit, was 
 soon afterwards on the march from r." 
 
 the s; 
 
 unc ser- 
 
 oii;v 
 
 vraiting 
 
 
 In the 
 
 
 ;.'/rt:;>ns 
 
 
 : V ;io- 
 
 
 ■ :,\- 
 
 
 sMi a 
 
200 wacousta; or, the prophecy 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 " If, hitherto, Clara de HakliTuar, I have been minute in the detail ef all 
 that attended my connection with your mother, it has been with a view to 
 prove to you how deeply I have been injured ; but I have now arrived at a 
 part of my history, when to linger on the past would goad me into madness, 
 and render me unfit for the purpose to which I have devoted myself. 
 
 •' Will you credit the monstrous truth," he added, in a tierce but composed 
 whisper, while he bent eagei'ly over the form of the trembling yet attentive 
 girl, " when I tell you that, on my return from the fotal expedition, during my 
 continuance on which her image had never once been absent from my mind, I 
 found Clara Beverley the wife of De Haldimar '? To what satanic arts so cal- 
 culating a villain could have recourse to effect his object I know not ; bat it is 
 not the less true, that she, from whom mj^ previous history must have taught 
 you to expect the purity of intention and conduct of an angel, became his 
 wife, — and I, a being accursed among men." Here the agitation of Wacousta 
 became terrific. The laboring of his chest was like that of one convulsed with 
 some racking agonj^ ; and the swollen veins and arteries of his head seemed ta 
 threaten the extinction of life in some fearful paroxysm. At lengh he burst 
 into a violent fit of tears, more appalling, in one of his iron nature, than the 
 fury which had preceded it, — and it was many minutes before he could so far 
 compose himself as to resume. 
 
 " Think not, Clara de Haldimar, I speak without the proof Her o\\ti words 
 confessed, her own lips avowed it, and yet I neither slew her, nor her para- 
 mour, nor myself. On my return to the regiment I had flown to the cottage, 
 on the wings of the most impatient and tender love that ever filled the bosom 
 of man for woman. To my enquiries the landlady replied, that my cousin had 
 been married two days previously, by the military chaplain, to a liandsome 
 young officer, who had visited her soon after my departure, and was constantly 
 with her from that moment ; and that immediately after the ceremony they 
 had left, but she knew not whither. Wild, desperate, almost bereft of reason, 
 and with a heart bounding against my bosom, as if each agonising throb were 
 to be its last, I ran like a maniac back into the town, nor paused till 1 found 
 myself in the presence of 3'our flither. My mind was a volcano, but still I at- 
 tempted to be calm, even while I charged him, in the most outrageous terms, 
 with his villany. Deny it he could not ; but. far from excusing it. he boldly 
 avowed and justified the step he had taken, intimating, with a smile full of 
 meaning, there was nothing in a connection with the family of De Haldimar 
 to reflect disgrace on the cousin of Sir Ileginald IMorton ; and that the highest 
 compliment he could paj^ his friend was to attach himself to one whom that 
 friend had declared to be so near a relative of his own. There was a coldness 
 of taunt in these remarks, that implied his sense of the deception I had prac- 
 tised on him, in regard to the true nature of the relationship ; and for a mo- 
 ment, while my hand firmly grasped the hilt of my sword, I hesitated wliether 
 I should not cut him down at ray feet : I had self-command, however, to ab- 
 stain from the outrage, and I l:^ve often since regretted I had. 31}- own blood 
 could have but been spilt in' aionemcnt for my just revenge; and as for the 
 obloquy attached to tlie memory of the assassin, it could not have been more 
 bitter than that which has followed me through life. 
 
 " For weeks I was insensible to anything but the dreadful shock my soul 
 had sustained. A heavy stupor weighed me down, and for a period it was 
 supposed my reason was overthrown : no such mercy was resen-ed for me. 
 
 The regiment had quitted the Highlands, and were now stationary in . 
 
 whither I had accompanied it in arrest. The restoration of my faculties was 
 the signal for new persecutions. Scarcely had the medical officers reported 
 me fit to sustain the ordeal, when a court-martial was assembled to try me 
 
wacousta; or, the proi'Hecy, 201 
 
 on a variety of charges. Who was my prosecutor ? Tiisten, Clara," and he 
 shook her Violently by the arm. •' He who had robbed me of all that gave 
 value to life and incentive to honor, — he who, under the guise of friendship, 
 had stolen into the Eden of my love, and left it barrenless of affection. In a 
 w^ord, yon detested governor, to whose inhuman cruelty even the son of my 
 brother has, by some strange fatality of coincidence, so receutly fallen a 
 second saoritice. Curses, curses on him," he pursued with frightful vehemence, 
 half rising as ho spoke, and holding forth his right arm in a menacing atti- 
 tude; " bu<" th<i hour of retribution is at hand, and revenge, the exclusive 
 passion of the gods, shall at length be mine. In no other country in the 
 world — under no other circumstances than the present — could I have so se- 
 cured it. 
 
 " What were the charges preferred against me ?" he continued, with a vio- 
 lence that almost petrified the unhappy girl. " Hear them, and judge whether 
 I have not cause for the inextinguishable hate that rankles at my heart. 
 Every trifling disobedience of orders — every partial neglect of duty that could 
 be raked up — was tortured into a specific charge ; and, as I have already ad- 
 mitted, I had latterly transgressed not a little in this respect, these were nu- 
 merous enough. Yet they were but preparatory to others of greater magni- 
 tude. Will you, can you believe anything half so atrocious, as that your 
 father should have called on a petty officer not only to prove some violent and 
 insubordinate language I had used in reference to the commanding ofticer in 
 my own rooms, but also to substantiate a charge of cowardice, grounded on 
 the unwillingness I had expressed to accompany the expedition, and the ex- 
 traordinary trepidation I had evinced while preparing for the duty, manifested, 
 as it was stated to be, by the various errors he had rectified in my equipment 
 with his own hand ? Yes, even this pitiful charge was one of the many pre- 
 ferred ; but the severest was that which he had the unblushing effrontery to 
 make the subject of public investigation, rather than of private redress — the 
 blow I had struck him in his own apartments. And who was his witness in 
 this monstrous charge ? — your mother, Clara. Yea, I stood as a criminal in 
 her presence ; and yet she came forward to tender an evidence that was to 
 consign me to a disgraceful sentence. My vile prosecutor had, moreover, the 
 encouragement and sanction of his colonel throughout, and by him he was 
 upheld in every contemptible charge his ingenuity could devise. Do you not 
 anticipate the result ? — I was found guilty and dismissed the service. 
 
 " What agonies of mind I endured, — what burning tears I nightly shed 
 upon a pillow I was destined to press in freezing loneliness, — what hours of 
 solitude I passed, far from the haunts of my fellow-men, and forming plans 
 of vengeance, — it would take much longer time to relate than I have actually 
 bestowed on my unhappy history. To comprehend their extent and force 
 you must understand the heart of fire in which the deep sense of injury had 
 taken root ; but the night wears away, and briefly told must be the remainder 
 of my tale. The rebellion of Forty-Five saw me in arms in the Scottish ranks; 
 and, in one instance, opposed to the regiment from which I had been so igno- 
 miniously expelled. Never did revenge glow like a living fire in the heart of 
 a man as it did in mine ; for the effect of my long brooding in solitude had 
 been to inspire me with a detestation, not merely for those who had been 
 most rancorous in their enmity, but for everything that wore the uniform, 
 from the commanding officer down to the meanest private. Everj- blow that 
 I dealt, every life that I sacrificed, was an insult washed away from my at- 
 tainted honor ; but him whom 1 most sought in the melee I never could 
 reach. At length the corps to which I had attached myself was repulsed, and 
 I saw, with rage in my heart, that my enemy stiU Uved to triumph in the 
 jfruit of his villany. 
 
 " Although I was grown considerabl}'- in stature at this peiiod, and was 
 otherwise greatly altered in appearance, I had been recognised in the action 
 by numbers of the regiment ; and, indeed, more than once I had, in the in- 
 
202 w A cots T A ; o r. , r h i; p r o p h k c v . 
 
 toxication of my lagc, accompanied the blow that slew or maimed one of my 
 former associates with a declaration of the name of him who inflicted it. The 
 consequence was, I was denounced as a rebel and an outlaw, and a price was 
 put upon my head. Accustomed, however, as I had ever boon, to rocks and 
 fastnesses, I had no difficult}' in eluding the vigilance of those M-ho were sent 
 in pursuit of me ; and thus compelled to live wholly apart from my species. I 
 at length learned to hate them, and to know that man is the only enemy of 
 man upon earth. 
 
 " A change now came over the spirit of my vangeance ; for about this period 
 your mother died. She was the only being I had ever looked upon with 
 fondness ; and deeply even as I had been injured by her, I wept her memory 
 with many a scalding tear. This, however, only increased my hatred for him 
 who had rioted in her beauty and supplanted me in her devotedness. I had 
 the means of learning, occasionally, all that passed m the regiment, and the 
 same account that brought me the news of your mother's death, also gave me 
 the intelligence that three children had been the fruit of her union with De 
 Haldimar. I heard moreover, (and this gave me pleasure,) that their father 
 doated on them ; and from that moment I resolved to turn his cup of jo}^ into 
 bitterness, even as he had turned mine. I no longer sought his hfe ; for the 
 jealousy that had half impelled that thirst existed no longer : but, deeming 
 his cold nature at least accessible through his parental affection, I was resolved 
 that in his children he should suffer a portion of the agonies he had inflicted 
 on me. I waited, however, until they should be grown up to an age when 
 the heart of the parent would be more likely to mourn their loss ; and then I 
 was determined my vengeance should be complete. 
 
 " Circumstances singularly favored m}'- design. Many years afterwards, the 
 regiment formed one of the expeditions against Quebec under General Wolfe. 
 They were commanded by your father, who, in the course of promotion, had 
 obtained the lieutenant-colonelcy ; and I observed by the army list, that a 
 subaltern of the same name, whom I presumed to be his eldest son, was in the 
 corps. Here was a lield for my vengeance beyond any I could have hoped for. 
 I contrived to pass over into Cornwall, the ban of outlawry being still unre- 
 pealed : and having procui-ed from my brother a sum sufficient for my neces- 
 sities, and bade him an eternal farewell, embaiked in a fishing-boat for the 
 coast of France, whence I subsequently took a passage to this country. At 
 Montreal I found the French general, who gladly received my allegiance as a 
 subject of France, and gave me a commission in one of the provincial corps 
 that usually served in concert with our Indian allies. With the general I soon 
 became a favorite ; and, as a mark of his confidence, at the attack on Quebec, 
 he entrusted me with the command of a detached irregular force, consisting 
 partly of Canadians and partly of Indians, intended to harrass the flanks of 
 the British army. This gave me an opportunity of being at whatever point of 
 the field I might think most favorable to my design ; and T was too familiar 
 with the detested uniform of the regiment not to be able to distinguish 
 it from aftxr. In a word, Clara, for I am weary of my own tale, in that 
 engagement I had an opportunity of recognising your brother. lie struck 
 me by his martial appearance as he encouraged his grenadiers to the attack of 
 the French columns ; and as I turned my eye upon him in admiration, I was 
 stung to the soul by his resemblance to his father. Vengeance thrilled 
 throughout every fibre of my frame at that moment. The opportunity I had 
 long sought was at length arrived ; and already, in anticipation, I enjoyed the 
 conquest his fall would occasion to my enemy. I rushed within a few feet of 
 my victmi ; but the bullet aimed at his heart was received in the breast of a 
 faithful soldier, who had flown to intercept it. How I cursed the meddler for 
 his officiousuess !" 
 
 "Oh, that soldier was your nephew," eagerly interrupted Clara, pointing to- 
 wards her companion, who had fallen into a profound slumber, " the husband 
 of this unfortujiate woman. Frank Hallowy (for by that name was he aloue 
 
W A C U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 203 
 
 known in the regiment) loved my brother as though he had been of the Riiino 
 blood. Ilo it was who Hew to receive the ball that was destined for another. 
 But I nursed him on his couch of suflerinp:, and with my own hands prepared 
 his food and dressed his wound. Oh, if pity can touch your heart (and I will 
 not beheve that a heart that once f-lt as you say yours has felt, can be inac- 
 cessible to pity,) let the recollection of your nephew's devotedness to my 
 mother's child disarm you of vengeance, and induce you to restore us !" 
 
 " Never !" thundered VVacousta. — '• never ! The very circumstp.nce you have 
 now named is an addition;*! incentive to my vengeance. M}- iiephcv/ saved the 
 life of your brother at the hazard of his own ; and how has he been rewarded 
 for the' i;euerous deed ? By an igiiuminious death, intiicted, perhaps, for some 
 oltence not more dishonoring than those which have thrown me an outcast 
 upon these vrilds ; and that at the command and in the presence of the father 
 of him whose life he was fooi enough to preserve. Yet, what but ingratitude 
 of the grossest nature could a Jlorton c:<pect at the hands of the fiilso family 
 of De Haidimar ! They were destined to be our bane, and well have they ful- 
 filled the end for which they were created." 
 
 '• Almighty Providence," aspirated the sinking Clara, as she turned her 
 streaming eyes to heaven ; " ran it be that the human heart can undergo such 
 change I Can this be the being who once loved my mother with a purity and 
 tenderness of alfection that angels themselves might hallov*' with approval ; or 
 is all tiiat I have heard but a bewildering dream ?" 
 
 ••No, Clara." calmly and even solemnly returned the warrior; "it is no 
 dream, but a reality — a sad, dreadful, heart-rending reality ; yet if I am that 
 altered being, to whom is the change to be ascribed ? Who turned th.e gene- 
 rous current of my blood into a, river of overflowing gall ? — Your father ! 
 But these are idle words. What I have been, you knovr; what I now am, and 
 through what agency I have been rendered what I am, you know also. Not 
 more lixed is fote than my purpose. Yvrir brother files even on the spot on 
 which my nephew died; and you, Clara., shall Ije my bride; and the first 
 thing your children shall be taught to lisp iniU be ciu'ses on the vile name of 
 De Haidimar !" 
 
 '• Once more, in the name of my sainted mother, I implore you to have 
 merc3V'shriekril *' i-' = ■ ■ ; '' la. "Oh!" she continr,.'! v.-ith v(!iement sup- 
 plication, •■let 1 iriylove be brought 'a :- ^ , i ! r memory, 
 that your heaii ' ; ;ind cut yourself iioi ', nw;!. i;, from your 
 God, by the commi.->;uu uf such dreivdful outrages. Again, 1 conjure you, re- 
 store us to my ftither." 
 
 •' Never !" savagely repeated Wacousta; ■'• I have passed years of torture in 
 the hope of such an hour as this ; and now that fruition is within my grasp, 
 may 1 perish if 1 forego it ! Ha, sir !" turning fi-om the almost fainting Clara 
 to Sir liverard, who had listened with docp attention to the history of this ex- 
 traordinary man ; — -for this," and hi ilnu-i aside the breast of his hunting 
 coat, exhibing the .scar of a long biii Mqii rliriai wound, — for this do you owe 
 me a severe reckoning. I v.ould recommend you, however," — and he spoke in 
 mockery, — ■• v/hen next you drive a weapon" into the chest of an unresisting 
 enemy, to be more certain of yom- aim. Had that been as true as the blow 
 from the butt of yoiu- rifle, i slioidd not have lived to triumph in this hour. I 
 little deemed," he pursued, still addressing the nearly heart-broken officer in 
 the same insolent strain, '• that ni}- intrigue with that dark-eyed daughter of 
 the old Canadian would have been the means of throwing your companion so 
 speedily into ni}' power, after his first narrow escape. Your disguise was well 
 managed, 1 confess ; and but that there is an instinct about me, enabling me 
 to discover a l)e Haidimar, aii a hound does the deer, by scent, you might 
 have succeeded in passing for what you appeared. " But " (and his tone sud- 
 denly changed its iiony for fierceness) '" to the point, sir. That you are the 
 lover of this girl I clearly peioeive, and death were preferable to a life embit- 
 tered by the recollection that she whom we love reposes in the arms of another. 
 
204 wacousta;or, the prophecy 
 
 No such kindness is meant you, however. To-morrow you shall return to the 
 fort ; and, when there, you may tell your colonel, that in exchange for a cer- 
 tain miniature and letters, which in the hurry of departure, I dropped in his 
 apartment, some ten days since, Sir Reginald Morton, the outlaw, has taken 
 his daughter Clara to wife, but without the solemnisation of those tedious 
 forms that bound himself in accursed union with her mother. (3h ! what 
 would I not give," he continued bitterly, " to witness the pang inflicted on his 
 false heart, when first the damning truth arrests his ear. Never did I know 
 the triumph of my power until now ; for what revenge can be half so sweet 
 as that which attains a loathed enemy through the dishonor of his cliild? 
 But, hark ! what mean those sounds ?" 
 
 A loud yelling was now heard at some distance in rear of the tent. Pre- 
 sentl}' the bounding of manj- feet on the turf was distinguishable ; and then, 
 at intervals, the peculiar cry that announces the escape of a prisoner. Wa- 
 cousta started to his feet, and fiercely grasping his tomahawk, advanced to 
 the front of the tent, where he seemed to listen for a moment attentively, as 
 if endeavoring to catch the direction of the pursuit. 
 
 " Ha ! by heaven !" he exclaimed, " there must be treacher}^ in this, or yon 
 slippery captain would not so soon be at his flight again, hound as I had bound 
 him." Then uttering a deafening yell, and rushing past Sir Everard, near 
 whom he paused an instant, as if undecided whether he should not first dis- 
 pose of him, as a precautionary measure, he flew with the speed of an antelope 
 in the direction in which he was guided by the gradually receding sounds. 
 
 " The knife. Miss de Haldimar," exclaimed Sir Everard, after a few mo- 
 ments of breathless and intense anxiety. " See. there is one m the belt that 
 Ellen Ilalloway has girt around her loins. Quick, for heaven's sake, quick ; 
 our only chance is in this." 
 
 With an activity arising from despair, the unhappy Clara sprang from the 
 rude couch on which she had been left bj^ Wacousta, and stooping over the 
 form of the maniac, extended her hand to remove the weapon from her side j 
 but Ellen, who liad been awakened from her long slumber by the yells just 
 uttered, seemed resolute to prevent it. A struggle for its possession now en- 
 sued between these frail and delicate beings ; in wliich Clara, however, had the 
 advantage, not only from the recumbent position of her opponent, but from 
 the greater security of her grasp. At length, with a violent effort, she con- 
 trived to disengage it from the sheath, around which Ellen had closelj- clasped 
 both her hands ; but, with the quickness of thought, the latter were again 
 clenched round the naked blade, and without any other evident motive than 
 what originated in the obstinacy of her madness, the unfortunate woman 
 fiercely attempted to wrest it way. In the act of doing so, her hands were 
 dreadfully cut ; and Clara, shocked at the sight of the blood she had been the 
 means of shedding, lost all the energy she had summoned, and sunk senseless 
 at the feet of maniac, who now began to utter the most piteous cries. 
 
 " Oh, God, we are lost," exclaimed Sir Everard ; " the voice of that wretch- 
 ed woman has alarmed our enemy, and even now I hear him approaching. 
 Quick, Clara, give me the knife. But no, it is now too late ; he is here." 
 
 At that instant, the dark form of a warrior rushed noiselessly to the spot on 
 which he stood. The officer turned his eyes in desperation on his enemy, but 
 a single glance was sufficient to assure him it was not Wacousta. The In- 
 dian paused not in his course, but passing close round the tree to which the 
 baronet was attached, made a circular movement, that brought him in a fine 
 with the chrection that had been taken by his enemy ; and again they were 
 left alone. 
 
 A new fear now oppressed the heart of the unfortunate Vallctort, even to 
 
 agony : Clara still lay senseless, speechless before him ; and his impression 
 
 was, that, in the struggle, Ellen Halloway had murdered her. The latter yet 
 
 continued her cries ; and, as she held up her hands, he could see by the fire- 
 
 j light they were covered with blood. An instinctive impiUsc caused him to 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy 
 
 205 
 
 bound forward to the assistance of the motionless Clara. ; when, to his infinite 
 surprise and joy, he discovered the cord, which had bound him to the tree, to 
 be severed. The Indian who had just passed had evidently been his deliverer; 
 and a sudden Hash of recollection recalled the figure of the warrior that had 
 escaped from the schooner and was supposed to have leaped into the conoc of 
 Oucanasta at the moment when Madeline de Ilaldimar was removed into that 
 of the Canadian. . 
 
 In a transport of conflictins: feclinii-s, Sir Evcrard now raised the insensible 
 Clara from the ground ; and, having satisfied liimself she had sustained no 
 serious injury, prepared for a llight which he fell to be desperate, if not alto- 
 gether hopeless. There was not a moment to be lost, for the cries of the 
 wretched Ellen increased in violence, as she seemed sensible she was about 
 to be left utterly alone ; and ever and anon, although afar off, yet evidently 
 drawing nearer, was to be heard the fierce denouncing yell of Wacousta. 
 The spot on which the ofticer stood, was not far from that whence his unfor- 
 tunate friend had commenced his flight on the first memorable occasion ; and 
 as the moon shone bright!}- in the cloudless heavens, there could be no mis- 
 take in the course he was to pursue. Dashing down the steep, therefore, 
 with all the speed his beloved burden would enable him to attain, he made 
 immediatel}- for the bridge over which his only chance of safety lay. 
 
 It unfortunately happened, however, that, induced either by the malice of 
 her insanity, or really terrified at the loneliness of her position, the wretched 
 Ellen Ilalloway had "likewise quitted the tent, and now followed close in the 
 rear of the fugitives, still uttering the same piercing cries of anguish. The 
 voice of "Wacousta was also again heard in the distance ; and Sir Everard had 
 the inexpressible horror to find that, guided by the shrieks of the maniac 
 woman, he was now shaping his course, not to the tent where he had left his 
 prisoners, but in an oblique direction towards the bridge, where he evidently 
 hoped to intercept them. Aware of the extreme disadvantage under which 
 he labored in a competition of speed with his active enemy, the unhappy offi- 
 cer would have here terminated the struggle, had he not been partially sus- 
 tained by the hope that the detachment prayed for by De Ilaldimar, through 
 the friendly young chief, to whom he owed his own liberation, might be about 
 this time on its way to attempt their rescue. This thought supported his fal- 
 tering resolution, although nearly exhausted with his efforts — compelled, as 
 he was, to sustain the motionless form of the slowly reviving Clara; and he 
 again braced himself to the unequal flight. The moon "still shone beautifully 
 bright, and he could now distinctly see the bridge over which he was to pass ; 
 but notwithstanding he strained his eyes as he advanced, no vestige of a 
 British uniform was to be seen in the open space that lay beyond. Once he 
 turned to regard his pursuers. Ellen was a few yards only in his rear ; and 
 considerably beyond her rose, in tall relief against the heavens, the gigantic 
 form of the warrior. The pursuit of the latter was now conducted with a 
 silence that terrified even more than the yells he had previously uttered ; and 
 he gained so rapidly on his victims, that the tread of his large feet was now 
 distincth' audible. Again the officer, with despair in his heart, made the 
 most incredible exertions to reach the bridge, without seeming to reflect that, 
 even when there, no security was olFered him against his enemy. Once, as he 
 drew nearer, he fancied he saw the dark heads of human beings peering from 
 under the part of the arch which had afforded cover to De Ilaldimar and him- 
 self on the memorable occasion of their departure with the Canadian ; and, 
 convinced that the warriors of Wacousta had been sent there to lie in ambus- 
 cade and intercept his retreat, his hopes were utterly paralysed ; and although 
 he stooped not, his flight was rather mechanical than the fruit of any syste- 
 matic plan of escape. 
 
 He had now gained the extremity of the bridge, with Ellen Halloway and 
 Wacousta close in his rear, when suddenly the heads of many men were once 
 more distinguishable, even in the shadow of the arch that overhung the sands 
 
208 WACO IT ST a; or, the propmecy. 
 
 of the rivpr. Tlirc-e individt'.als detaohed themsc-lrcs from the CTOiip. and leap- 
 ing; upon the farther extremity of the bridge, moved rapidiy to meet him. 
 Meanwhile the baronet had stopped suddenly, as if in doubt whether to ad- 
 vance or recede. His suspense was but momentary. Although the persons 
 of the«e men were disguised iis Indian warriors, the broad moonlight that 
 beamed full on their countenances disclosed the well-remembered features of 
 Bles.sington, Erskine, and Charles de Haldimar. The latter sprang before his 
 companions, and, uttering a cry of joy, sank in speechless agony on the neck 
 of his still unconscious sister. 
 
 " For God's sake, free me, De Haldimar !" exclaimed the excited baronet, 
 disengaging his charge from the embrace of his friend. " This is no moment 
 for gratulation. Erskine, Blessington, see you not who is behind me ? Be 
 upon your guard ; de^fend j'our lives !" And as he spoke, he rushed forward 
 with faint and tottering steps to place his companions between the unhappy 
 girl and the danger that thresitened her. 
 
 The swords of the officers were drawn ; but instead of advancing upon the 
 formidable beins;, who stood as if paralysed at this unexpected rencontre, the 
 two seniors contented themselves with assuming a defensive attitude, — retir- 
 ing slowly and gradually towards tlie other extremity of the bridge. 
 
 Overcome bj'- his emotion. Charles de Haldimar had not noticed this action 
 of his companions, and stood apparently riveted to the spot. The voice of 
 Blessington calling on him by name to retire, seemed to arouse, the dormant 
 consciousness of the unhappy maniac. She uttered a piercing shriek, and 
 springing forward, sank on her knees at his feet, exclaiming, as she forcibly 
 detained him by his dress — 
 
 " Almighty Heaven ! where am I ? stirely that was Captain Blessington's 
 kind voice I heard ; and you — you are Charles de Haldimar. Oh ! save my 
 
 husband ; plead for him with your father ! but no," she continued wildly, 
 
 — " he is dead — he is murdered ! Behold these hands all covered with his 
 blood ! " 
 
 " Ha ! another De Haldimar !" exclaimed Wacousta, recovering his slum- 
 bering energies. " this spot seems indeed fated for our meeting. More than 
 thrice have I been baulked of my just revenge, but now will I secure it. 
 Thus, Ellen, do I avenge your husband's and my nephew's death. My own 
 wrongs demand another sacrifice. But, ha ! where is she ? where is Clara ? 
 where is my bride ?" 
 
 Bounding over the * ill-fated De Haldimar. who lay, even in death, firmly 
 clasped in the embrace of the wi'etched Ellen, the fierce man dashed furiously 
 forward to renew his pursuit of the fugitives. But suddenly the extremity 
 of the bridge was filled with a column of armed men, that kept issuing from 
 the arch beneath. Sensible of his danger, he sought to make good his re- 
 treat ; but when he turned for the purpose, the same formidable array met 
 his view at the opposite extremity ; and both parties now rapidly advanced in 
 double quick time, evidently with a view of closing upon and taking him pri- 
 soner. In this delemma, his only hope was in the assistance that might be 
 rendered him by his warriors, A 3'^ell, so terrific as to be distinctly heard in 
 the fort itself, burst from his vast chest, and rolled in prolonged echoes 
 through the forest. It was faintly answered from the encampment, and met 
 by deep but noiseless curses from the exasperated soldiery, whom the sight of 
 their murdered officer was momentarily working into frenz}-. 
 
 " Kill him not, for your lives ! — I command you, men, kill him not !•' mut- 
 tered Captain Blessington with suppressed passion, as his troops were prepar- 
 ing to immolate him on their clustering bayonets. " Such a death wei-e. in- 
 deed, mercy to such a villain." 
 
 " Ha ! hii !" laughed Wacousta in better scorn ; " who is there of all your 
 accursed regiment" who will dare to take him alive ?" Then firandishing his 
 toraahav/k r.round him, to prevent their finally closing, be dealt his blows 
 with inich a^stonishing velocity, that no unguarded point was Mi about his per- 
 
W A C O TJ S T A ; OR, T HE PROPHECY. '207 
 
 son ; and more than one isoldicr wus brought to the earth in the covirsu of the 
 unequal strugoio. 
 
 a J3y G_ci i" said Captain Erskine, " are the two best companies of the re- 
 giment to be kept at bay by a single desperado ? Shame on ye, felldVs ! If 
 liis hands are too many "for you, lay him by the heels." , 
 
 This ruse wan practised with success. In attempting to defend himself from 
 the attack of those who sought to throw him dowfi, the warrior necessarily left 
 his upptr perj;on exposed ; when advantage was taken to close with him and 
 deprive him of the play of his arms. It was not, however, without consider- 
 able dilnculty. that thej^ succeeded in disarming and binding his hands ; after 
 which a strong cord being fastened round his waist, ho was tightly lashed to a 
 gun, which, contrary to the original iutonaon oi' I'lo ^ovcriiur, had boon sent 
 out with the expedition. The roiro:\i oT ilio detachment then (?onunonced ra- 
 pidly ; but it was not withoi' > pursued by the band of warriors 
 the yell of \Vacousta had su;. inn-suit, that they finally gained the 
 fort; under what feelings of ...;..,. ... llie late of an officer so beloved, we 
 leave it to cm- readers to imagine. 
 
 CIIAPTEH XXXIII. 
 
 The morning of the next day dawned on few who had pressed their custo- 
 mary couches — on none, whose feverish pulse and bloodshot eye failed to 
 attest the utter sleeplessness in which the night had been passed. Numerous 
 groups of men were to Ije seen assembling after the reveille, in various parts 
 of the barrack square— those wlio had borne a part in tlie recent expedition 
 commingling with those who had not, and recounting to the latter, with 
 mournful look and voice, the circumstances connected with the bereavement 
 of their universally lamented officer. As none, liowcver. had scon the blow 
 struck that deprived him of life, although each had hcavl tiic frantic exclama- 
 tions' of a voice that had been recognised for Ellen HaiIo\\-;' y's. iiu\ch of the 
 marvello^fe was necessarily mixed up with truth in their ;sanative. — some 
 positively affiriiii- ^^ . .' " "■ i' ' ' ' "•'' •■^-e quitted lii:-; party, and de- 
 claring that no/, ncy could have transported 
 him unnoticed In i i .I'.vance. they had beheld him 
 murdered. The .singular ap^. JcU^uioo ol' llil.n Halloway also, at that moment, 
 on the very bridge on which she b.ad pronounced her curse on the famdy of 
 De Haldimar, and in company with the terrible and mysterious being who 
 had borne her off in triumpli on that occasion to the forest, and under cir- 
 cumstances calculated to excite the most superstitious impicssions, was not 
 without its weight m determining their rude speculation-^ ; and all concurred 
 in opinion, that the death of the unfortunate young ofuCT was a judgment on 
 their colonel for the little mercy he had extended to the noble-hearted Hal- 
 loway. 
 
 Then followed allusion to their captive, whose gigantic stature and efforts 
 at escape, tremendous even as the latter were, were duly exaggerated by each, 
 with the very laudable view of claiming a proportionate share of credit for 
 his own individual exertions ; and man}- and various were the opinions ex- 
 preiised as to the manner of death he should be made to suffer. Among the 
 most conspicuous of the orators were those with whom our readers have al- 
 ready made slight acquaintance in our account of the sortie by Captain Ers- 
 kine's company for the recovery of the supposed body of Frederick de Haldimar. 
 One was for impaling him alive, and setting him up to rot on the platform 
 above the gate. Another for blowing him from the nm/.xle of a twenty-four 
 pounder, into the centre of the first band of Indians that approached the 
 fort, that thus perceiving they had lost the .strength and sinew of their cun- 
 
208 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 ning war, they might be the more easily induced to propose terms of peace. 
 A third was of opinion he ought to be chained to the top of the flag-stafE", as 
 a target, to be shot at with arrows only, contriving never to touch a mortal 
 part. A fourth would have had him tied naked over the sharp spikes that 
 constituted the chevaux-de-frize garnishing the sides of the drawbridge. 
 Each devised some new death — proposed some new torture ; but all were of 
 opinion, that simply to be shot, or even to be hanged, was too merciful a pun- 
 ishment for the wretch who had so wantonly and inhumanly butchered the 
 kind-hearted, gentle-mannered officer, whom they had almost all known and 
 loved from his very boyhood ; and they looked forward, with mingled anxiety 
 and vengeance, to the moment when, summoned as it was expected he shortly 
 would be, before the assembled garrison, he would be made to expiate the 
 atrocit}' with his blood. 
 
 While the men thus gave indulgence to their indignation and their grief, 
 their officers were even more painfully affected. The body of the ill-fated 
 Charles had been borne to his apartment, where, divested of its disguise, it 
 had again been inducted in such apparel as was deemed suited to the purpose. 
 Extended on the very bed on which he lay at the moment when she, whose 
 maniac raving, and forcible detention, had been the immediate cause of his 
 destruction, had preferred her wild but fruitless supplication for mercJ^ he 
 exhibited, even in death, the same delicate beauty that had characterised him 
 on that occasion ; yet, with a mildness and serenity of expression on his still, 
 pale features, strongly in contrast with the agitation and glow of excitement 
 that then distinguished him. 
 
 Around the bed were grouped nearly all the officers, standing in attitudes 
 indicative of anxiety and interest, and gazing mournfully on the placid fea- 
 tures of their ill-fated friend. All, on entering, moved noiselessly over the 
 rude floor, as though fearful of distm-bing the repose of one who merely slum- 
 bered ; and the same precaution was extended to the brief but heart-felt 
 €xpressions of sorrow that passed from one to tlie other, as they gazed on all 
 that remained of the gentle De Haldimar. 
 
 Gradually tlie officers moved away in the same noiseless manner they had 
 approached, either in pursuance of their several duties, or to make their toilet 
 of the morning. Two only of their number remaining near tiic couch of 
 death. 
 
 " Poor unfortunate De Haldimar !" observed one of these, in a low tone, as 
 if speaking to himself; " too fatally, indeed, have your forebodings been real- 
 ized ; and what I considered as the mere despondency of a mind crushed into 
 feebleness by an accumulation of suffering, was, after all, but the first presen- 
 timent of a death no human power might avert. By heaven ! I would give 
 Tip half my own being to be able to reanimate that form once more — but the 
 wish is vain." 
 
 " Who shall announce the intelligence to his sister ?" sighed his companion. 
 " Never will that already nearly heart-broken girl be able to survive the shock 
 of her brother's death. Blessington, you are alone fitted to such a task ; and, 
 painful as it is, you must undertake it. Is the colonel apprised of the dread- 
 ful truth, do you know ?" 
 
 " He is. It was told him at the moment of our arrival last night ; but 
 from the little outward emotion displayed by him, I should be tempted to 
 infer he had almost anticipated some such catastrophe." 
 
 '• Poor, poor Charles !" bitterly exclaimed Sir Everard Valletort — for it was 
 he. •■ What v/ould I not give to recal the rude manner in wliich I spurned 
 you from me last night. But, alas ! what could I do. laden with such a trust, 
 and pursued, without the power of defence, by such an enemy ? Little, in- 
 deed, did I imagine what was so speedily to be j'our doom ! Blessington," he 
 pursued, with increased emotion. •' it grieves me to wretchedness to think that 
 he, whom I loved as though he had been my twin brother, should have per- 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 209 
 
 ished with his last thoughts, perhaps, lingering on the seeming unkindness 
 with which 1 had greeted him after so anxious an absence." 
 
 " Nay, if there be blame, it must attach to me," sorrowfully observed Cap- 
 tain Blessington. '• Had Erskinc and myself not retired before the savage, as 
 we did, our unfortunate friend would in all ])robability have been alive at this 
 very hour. But in our anxiety to draw the former into the ambuscade we 
 had prepared for him. we utterly overlooked that Charles was not retreating 
 with us." 
 
 " How happened it," demanded Sir Everard, his attention naturally directed 
 to the subject by the preceding remarks, " that you lay thus in ambuscade, 
 when the object of the expedition, as solicited by Frederick de Haldimar, was 
 an attempt to reach us in the encampment of the Indians ?" 
 
 '• It certainly was under that impression we left the fort ; but on coming to 
 the spot where the friendly Indian lay waiting to conduct us, he proposed the 
 plan we subsequently adopted as the most likely, not onlj^ to secure the es- 
 cape of the prisoners, whom he pledged himself to liberate, but to defend our- 
 selves with advantage against Wacousta and the immediate guard set over 
 them, should they follow in pursuit. Erskine approving, as well as myself, 
 of the plan, we halted at the bridge, and disposed of our men under each ex- 
 tremit}- ; so that if attacked by the Indians in front, we might be enabled to 
 throw them into confusion by taking them in rear, as they flung themselves 
 upon the bridge. The event seemed to answer our expectations. The alarm 
 raised in the encampment satisfied us the young Indian had contrived to fulfil 
 his promise ; and we momentarily loolced for the appearance of those whose 
 flight we naturally supposed would l>c directed towards the bridge. To our 
 great surprise, however, we remarked that the sounds of pin-suit, instead of 
 approaching us, seemed to take an opposite direction, apparently towards the 
 point whence we had seen the prisoners disembarked in the morning. At 
 length, when almost tempted to regret we had not pushed boldly on, in con- 
 formity with our first intention, we heard the shrill cries of a woman ; and 
 long afterwards, the sounds of human feet rushing down the slope. What 
 our sensations were, you may imagine ; for we all believed it to be either 
 Clara or I^Iadeline de Haldimar fleeing alone, and pursued by our ferocious 
 enemies. To show ourselves ^\■ouId, we were sensible, be to ensure the death 
 of the pursued, before we could possibly come up ; and although it was with 
 diflBculty we repressed the desire to rush forward to the rescue, our better 
 judgment prevailed. Finally we saw you approach, followed closely by what 
 appeared to be a mere boy of an Indian, and at a considerable distance, by 
 the tall warrior of the Fleur de Lis. We imagined there was time enough 
 for you to gain the bridge ; and finfling your more formidable pursuer was 
 only accompanied by the jouth already alluded to, conceived at that moment 
 the design of making him our prisoner. Still there were half a dozen mus- 
 kets ready to be levelled on him should he approach too near to his fugitives, 
 or manifest any other design than that of simply re-capturing them. How 
 well our plan succeeded you are aware ; but, alas !" and he glanced sorrow- 
 fully at the corpse, '" why was our success to be embittered by so great a sac- 
 rifice V 
 
 " Ah, would to heaven that he at least had been spared," sighed Sir Eve- 
 rard, as he took the wan wliite hand of of his friend in his own ; •' and yet I 
 know not ; he looks so calm, so happy in death, it is almost selfish to repine 
 he has escaped the horrors that still await us in this dreadful warfare. But 
 what of Frederick and ^ludelino de Haldimar ? From the statement you have 
 given, they must have been liberated by the young Ottawa before he came to 
 me; yet, what could have induced them to have taken a course of flight so 
 opposite to that which promised their only chance of safety ?" 
 
 "Heaven only knows," returned Captain Blessington. "I fear they have 
 again been re-captured by the savages ; in which case their doom is scarcely 
 14 
 
210 wacousta; ok, the i'rophecy. 
 
 doubtful ; unless, indeed, our prisoner of last night be given up in exchange 
 for them." 
 
 " Then will their liberty be purchasecj at a terrible price," remarked the 
 baronet. " Will you believe, Blessington, that that man, whose enmity to 
 our colonel seems almost devilish, was once an officer in this very regiment ?" 
 
 " You astonish me. Valletort. Impossible ! and yet it has always been ap- 
 parent to me they were once associates." 
 
 " I heard him relate his historj-^ only last night to Clara, whom he had the 
 audacity to sully with proposals to become his bride," pursued the baronet. 
 " His tale was a most extraordinary one. He narrated it, however, only up to 
 the period when the life of Dc Haldimar was attempted by him at Quebec. 
 But with his subsequent history we are all well acquainted, through the fiirae 
 of his bloody atrocities in all the posts tliathave fallen into the hands of Pon- 
 teac. That man, savage and even ficndisli as he now is, was once possessed 
 of the noblest qualities. I am sorry to sa_v it, but Colonel de Haldimar has 
 brought this present affliction upon himself. At some future period I will 
 tell you all." 
 
 " Alas !" said Captain Elossington, " poor Charles, then, has been made to 
 pay the penalty of his father's errors ; and, certainly, the greatest of these 
 was his dooming the unfortunate Halloway to death in the manner he did." 
 
 " What think you of the tact of Hallovi-ay being the nephew of this ex- 
 traordinary man, and botli of high family ?" demanded Sir Everard. 
 
 " Indeed ! and was the latter, then, aware of tiie connection ?" 
 
 " Not until last nigrit," replied Sir Everard. " Some observations made by 
 the wretched wife of Hailov/ay, in tlie course of v\'h:ch she named his true 
 name, (wdiich was that of the v/arrior also.) first indicated the fact to the 
 latter. But wliat became of that unfortunate creature ? — was she brought 
 in ?" 
 
 '• I understand not," said Captain Blessington. " In the confusion and 
 hurry of securing our prisoner, and the apprehension of immediate attack 
 from his warriors, Ellen was entirely overlooked. Some of my men say 
 they left her lying, insensible, on the spot whence they had raised the body 
 of our unfortunate friend, which they hsul some diiiiculty in releasing from her 
 convulsive embrace. But. hark ! there is the first di-um for parade, and I 
 have not yet exchanged my Indian garb." 
 
 Captain Blessington now quitted the room, and Sir Everard, relieved from 
 the restraining presence of his companioTis, gave free vent to his emotion, 
 throu-ing him.self upon the liody of his fi'iend, and giving utterance to the 
 feelings of anguish that oppressed his heart. 
 
 He had continued some minutes in this position, when he fancied he felt the 
 warm tears of a human being bedewing a hand that reposed on tl;e neck of 
 his unfortunate friend. He looked up, and to his infinite surprise, beheld 
 Clara de Haldimar standing before him at the opposite side of the bed. Her 
 likeness to her brother, at that moment, was so striking, that for a second or 
 two, the irrepressible thought passed through the mind of the officer, it was 
 not a living being he gazed upon, but the innnaterial spirit of his friend. The 
 whole attitude and appearance of the wretched girl, independently of the fact 
 of her noiseless entrance, tended to favor the delusion. Her featuies, of an 
 ashj paleness, seemed fixed, even as these of the corpse beneath him ; and 
 but for the tears that coursed silently down her cheek, there was scarcely an 
 outward evidence of emotion. 
 
 " You are surprised to see me here, mingling my grief with j-ours, Sir Eve- 
 rard," she at length observed, with the same calm mien, and in tones of touch- 
 ing sweetness. " I came here with my father's permission, to take a last fare- 
 well of him whose death has broken my heart. I expected to be alone ; but — 
 nay, do not go," she added, perceiving that the officer was about to depart. 
 *' Had you not been here, I should have sent for you ; for we liave both a 
 sacred duty to perform. May I ask your hand ?" 
 
W A C O U S T A ; OR, T U K PROPHECY. 21 1 
 
 Dismayed at her collected .maimer, (he youiijj:; officer t;azed at her with the 
 deepest sorrow depicted in every line of his own countenance. lie extended 
 his hand, and Clara to his surprise, gi-asped and pressed it iirraly. 
 
 " It was the wish of this poor boy that his Clara should be the wife of his 
 friend, Sir Everavd. Did he ever express sucli to you ?" 
 
 " It was the fondest desire of his hcnrt," returned tVie baronet, unable to re- 
 strain the emotion of joy that mingled despite of himself, with his worst ap- 
 prehensions. 
 
 '• I need not ask how you received his proposal," continued Clara, with the 
 same calmness of manner. '• Last nigb.t." she pursued solemnly, " I was th© 
 bride of the murderer of my brother, of the loT<;r of my mother, — to-morrow 
 night I may be the bride of death ; but to-night I am the bride of my brother's 
 .friend. Yes, here I am come to pledge myself to the fulfilment of his wish. 
 If you deen\ a hoart-brolcen girl not unworthy of you, I am your wife, Sir 
 Everard ; and, recollect, it is a solemn pledge, that which a sister gives ovei 
 the lifeless body of her brother, beloved :i^- ilii ■ !i:! . ''icon." 
 
 "Oh, Clara — dearest Clara," passional !; < ■• I T; ■ d the excited young man,, 
 " if a life devoted to your happiness can rvyxy 3 ou lor this, count upon it as 
 you would upon your eternal salvation. In you will 1 love both my frieatf 
 and the sister he has bequeathed to me. Clara, my betrothed wife, snramdn 
 all the energies of your nature to sustain this cruel shock ; and exert yourseli' 
 for him who will ba to you both a brother and a husband."' 
 
 As he spoke ho drow the nnresisting girl towards; liir;!, ;i.n'^, locking heria. 
 hisembi. 1 : : ; : time, the li;i-, - ■li!>'ii:>d hiat 
 
 the pre;. I by the for. 'ista. Bat 
 
 Clara s!i--.;- I ■-'-■-• . vcd hi;i moni''. ; , ^ [Jev cheek 
 
 wore not the eriiuM->H ol\-; > ':.:v wvw ii.vi- hvj:-. i:i; roiiiinucd. Sba 
 
 seemed as one who me;,-lur:!: ;i' d (o x;]\ri .';!;<.' h:\d no powei; of r©^ 
 
 sistance to oppose; and cv."i ... .,;■.:■ - ''fhcr .■i!ii;L!iced husband, sl^e ex- 
 
 hibited the same death-like iw- . \ ' ■ r.'-.'d him at hc>- first appeara35e«s.. 
 
 Religion could not hallow :< ]■■:<■ r iviii., 'ij.ui that which had impelled tht 
 actiou of the young oliicer. The vory coiis''ionsnc~:s oC Ih" y.rwd pledge hav- 
 ing been exchanged over the corpse of his friend, inipai'tiMl :i jim! nfss of fervor 
 to his mind ; and e"\en while he pressed her, whom he si ri-.-My svv'ore to love: 
 with all the affection of a fond brother and a husband unicecl, he felt that i£ 
 the spirit of him, who slept unconscious of the scene, were suffered to lingeff- 
 near, it would be to hallow it with approval, 
 
 " And now," said Clara at length, yet without attempting to disengage her- 
 self, — '' now that we are united, I would be alone with my brother. My htis- 
 band, leave me." 
 
 Deeply touched at the name of husband. Sir Everard could not refrain from 
 imprinting another kiss on the lips that uttered it. He then gently disengaged 
 himself from his lovely but suffering charge, whom he dejiosited with her head 
 resting on the bed; and making a significant motion of liis liand to the womaii, 
 who, as well as old jMorrison, had been spectators of the whole scene, stole 
 gently from the apartment, under what emotions of joy and grief it would be - 
 difficult to describe. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 7. 
 
 It was the eighth hour of morning, and both oflicers and men, quitting thei? 
 ill-rehshed meal, were to be seen issuing to the parade, where the monotonoiis 
 roll of the assemblee now summoned thcin. Present!}'- the garrison was formed- 
 presenting three equal sides of a square. The vacant space fronted the guam 
 house, near one extremity of which was to bo seen a t'ight of steps communi- 
 cating with the rampiirt, where the flag-staff was erected. Several men waift. 
 
^12 w A c o Tr s T A ; or, the prophecy. 
 
 employed at this stall", passing strong ropes through iron pulleys that were 
 suspended from the extreme top, while in the basement of the staff itself, to a 
 Jieight of about twenty feet, were stuck at intervals strong wooden pegs, serv- 
 ing as step-3 to the artillerymen for greater facility in clearing when foul, the 
 lines to which the colors were attached. The latter had been removed ; and, 
 from the substitution of a cord considerably stronger than that which usually- 
 appeared there, it seemed as if some for heavier weight was about to be ap- 
 pended to it. Gradually the men, having completed their usual preparations, 
 quitted the rampart, and the flag-statf which was of tapering pine, was left 
 totally unguarded. 
 
 The '• Attention !" of Major Blackwater to the troops, who had been hitherto 
 standing in attitudes of expectancy that rendered the injunction almost super- 
 fluous, announced the approach of the governor. Soon afterwards that officer 
 Wintered the area, wearing his characteristic dignity of manner, yet exhibiting 
 every evidence of one who had suffered deeply. Preparation for a drum-head 
 court-martial, as in the case of Ilalloway. had already been made within the 
 square, and the only actor wanting in the drama was he who was to be tried. 
 
 Once Colonel dc Ilaldimar made an effort to command his appearance, but 
 the huskiness of his voice choked his utterance, and he was compelled to pause. 
 After the lapse of a few moments, he again ordered, but in a voice that was 
 remarked to falter, — 
 
 " Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be brought forth." 
 
 The feeling of suspense that ensued between the delivery and execution of 
 .this command was painful throughout the ranks. All were penetrated with 
 curiosity to behold a man who had several times appeared to them under the 
 most appalling circumstances, and against whom the strongest feeling of indig- 
 nation had been excited for his barbarous murder of Charles de Haldimar. It 
 was with mingled awe and anger they now awaited his approach. At length 
 the captive was seen advancing from the cell in which he had been confined, 
 his gigantic form towering far above those of the guard of grenadiers by whom 
 he was surrounded ; and with a haughtiness in his air, and insolence in his 
 manner, that told he came to confront his enemy with a spirit unsubdued by 
 the fate that too probably awaited him. 
 
 Many an eye was turned upon the governor at that moment. He was evi- 
 dently struggling for composure to meet the scene he felt it to be impossible 
 to avoid ; and he turned pale and paler as his enemy drew near. 
 
 At length the prisoner stood nearly on the same spot where his unfortunate 
 nephew had lingered on a former occasion. lie was unchained ; but his hands 
 were firmly secured behind his back. He threw himself into an attitude of 
 carelessness, resting on one foot, and tapping the earth with the othei- ; rivet- 
 ing his eye, at the same time, with an expression of the most daring insolence, 
 on the governor, while his swarthy cheek was moreover lighted up with a 
 smile of the deepest scorn. 
 
 " You are Reginald Morton the outlaw, I believe," at length observed the 
 governor in an uncertain tone, that, however, acquired greater firmness as he 
 proceeded, — " one whose life has already been forfeited through his treasona- 
 ble practices in Europe, and who has, moreover, incurred the penalty of an 
 ignominious death, by acting as a spy of the enemies of Englancl. What say 
 you, Reginald ]\Iorton, that you should not be convicted in the death that 
 awaits the traitor ?" 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! by heaven, such cold, pompous insolence amuses me," vociferated 
 Wacousta. " It reminds me of Ensign de Haldimar of nearly five and twenty 
 years back, who was then as cunning a dissembler as he is now." Suddenly 
 changing his ribald tone to one of scorn and rage : — " You believe me, you sa)--, 
 to be Reginald Morton, the outlaw. Well do you know it. I am that Sir 
 Reginald Jlorton, who became an outlaw, not through his own crimes, but 
 through your villany. Ay, frown as you may, I heed it not. You may award 
 me death, but shall not chain my tongue. To your whole regiment do I pro- 
 
\v A c o u s T A ; o u , r n r. v r o v ii y. c y . 21S 
 
 claim you for a false, remorseless villain." 'I'lien Uiruinic his Hashing eye .ajon^- 
 the ranks : — " I was once an olHccr in this corps, and lon<;' bci'ore any of you 
 wore the accursed uniform. That man, tliiit iiend, affected to bo my friend j 
 and under the cruise of friendship, stoU; into the heart 1 loved better than my 
 own life. Yes," fervently pursued the excited prisoner, stamping; violently 
 with his foot upon the earth, " he robbed me of m}^ aflianced wife ; and for 
 that I resented an outrage that should have banished him to some lone region^ 
 where he might never again pollute human nature with his presence — he 
 caused me to be tried by a court-martial, and dismissed the service. Then, 
 indeed. I became the outlaw he has described, but not until then. Now, 
 Colonel de Ilaldimar, that I have proclaimed your infamj-, poor and inefficient 
 as the triumph be. do your worst — I ask no mercy. Yesterday T thought 
 that years of toilsome pursuit of the means of vengeance were about to be 
 crowned with success ; but fate has turned the tables on me, and 1 yield." 
 
 To all but the baronet and Captain Blessington this declaration was pro- 
 ductive of the utmost surprise. Every eye was turned upon the colonel. He 
 grew impatient under the scrutiny, and demanded if the court, who mean- 
 while had been deliberating, satisfied of the guilt of the prisoner, had come to a 
 decision in regard to his punishment. An affirmative answer was given, and 
 Colonel de Haldimar proceeded. 
 
 " Reginald Morton, with the private misfortunes of your former life we have 
 nothing to do. It is the decision of this court, who are merely met out of 
 form, that j^ou suffer immediate death by hanging, as a just recompense for 
 3'our double treason to your country. There," and he pointed to the flag- 
 staff, •' will you be exhibited to the misguided people whom j'our wicked 
 artifices have stirred up into hostility against us. When they behold your 
 fate, they will take warnmg from your example ; and, finding we have heads 
 and arms not to sufl'er offence with impunity, be more readily brought to 
 obedience,'' 
 
 " I understand your allusion," coolly rejoined Wacousta, glancing earnestly 
 at, and apparently measurmg with his eye, the dimensions of the conspicuous 
 scaffold on which he was to suffer. '" You had ever a calculating head, De 
 Haldimar, where any secret villany, anything to. promote your own selfish 
 ends, was to be gained by it ; but your calculation seems now, methinks, at 
 fault" 
 
 Colonel De Haldimar looked at him enquiringly. 
 
 •' You have still a son left," pursued the prisoner with the same recklessness 
 of manner, and in a tone denoting allusion to him who was no more, that 
 caused an universal shudder throughout the ranks. " He is in the hands of 
 the Ottawa Indians, and I am the friend of their great cliief, inferior only in 
 power among the tribe to himself Think you that he will sec me hanged up 
 like a dog, and fail to avenge my disgraceful death ?" 
 
 '• Ha ! presumptuous i-enegade, is this the deep game you have in view ? 
 Hope you then to stipulate for the presei-vation of a life every way forfeited 
 to the offended justice of your country ? Dare you to cherish the belief, that 
 after the horrible threats so often denounced by you, you will again be let 
 loose upon a career of crime and blood ?" 
 
 " None of your cant, De Haldimar, as I once observed to you before," 
 coolly retorted \Yacousta. with bitter sarcasm. " Consult your own heart, 
 and ask if its catalogue of crime be not far greater than my own : yet I ask 
 not my life. I would but have the manner of my fate altered, and fain 
 would die the death of the soldier I wa^<i before you rendered me the wretch 
 I am. Methinks the baon is not so great, if the restoration of your son be the 
 price." 
 
 " Do you mean, then," eagerly returned the governor, '' that if the mere 
 mode of your death be changed, my son shall be restored ?" 
 
 •• I do," was the calm reply. 
 
 " What pledge have we of the fact ? What faith can we I'cpose in the word 
 
'SM wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 of a fiend, whose brutal Yeiigcanco has already saci'ificed the gentlest life that 
 ever animated human claj?" Here the emotion of the governor almost 
 choked his utterance, and considerable agitation and murmuring were mani- 
 fested in the ranks. 
 
 " Gentle, said you ?" replied the prisoner, musingly ; " then did he resem- 
 ble his mother, whom I lo^-ed, even as his brother resembles you. whom I 
 have so much reason to hate. Had I known the boy to be what you describe, 
 I might have fclt some touch of pity even while I delayed not to strike his 
 death blow ; but the false moonlight deceived me, and the detested name of 
 De Haldimar, pronounced by the lips of my nephew's wife — that wife whom 
 your cold-blooded severity had widowed and driven mad — was in itself suffi- 
 cient to ensure his doom." 
 
 "Inhuman ruffian !" exclaimed the governor, with increasing indignation; 
 " to the point. What pledge have j-ou to offer that my son will he restored ?" 
 
 " Nay, the pledge is easily given, and without nmch risk. You have only 
 to defer my death until your messenger return from his interview with Pon- 
 teac. If Captain de Haldimar accompany him back, shoot me as I have re- 
 quested ; if he come not, then it is but to hang me, after all." 
 
 '• Ha ! I understand you ; this is but a pretext to gain time, a device to en- 
 able your subtle brain to plan some mode of escape." 
 
 " As you will, Colonel' de Haldimar," calmly retorted Wacousta ; and again 
 he .sank into silence, with the air of one utterly indifferent to results. 
 
 " Do you mean," resumed the colonel, " that a request from yourself to the 
 Ottawa chief will obtain the liberation of my son ?" 
 
 ' Unless tlie Indian be false as yourself, I do." 
 
 " And of the lady who is with him ?" continued the colonel, coloring with 
 auger. 
 
 " Of both." 
 
 " How is the message to be conve3red ?" 
 
 " Ha, sir !" returned the prisoner, drawing himself up to his full height, 
 •' now arc j'^ou arrived at a point that is pertinent. My wampum belt will be 
 the passport, and the safeguard of him you send ; then for the communica- 
 tion. There are certain figures, as you are aware, that, traced on bark, an- 
 swer the same purpose among the Indians with the European language of 
 letters. Let my hands be cut loose," he pursued, but in a tone in which 
 agitation and excitement might be detected, " and if bark be brought me. and 
 a burnt stick or co;il, I will give you not only a sample of Indian ingenuity, 
 but a specimen of my own progress in Indian acquirements." 
 
 " What, free your hands, and thus afford you a chance of escape ?" observed 
 the governor, doubtingly. 
 
 Wacousta bent his steadfast gaze on him for a few moments as if he ques- 
 tioned he had heard aright. Then bursting into a wild and scornful laugh, — 
 " By heaven !" he exclaimed, " this is, indeed, a high compliment you pay me 
 at the expense of these fine fellows. What, Colonel de Haldimar afraid to 
 liberate an unarmed prisoner, hemmed in by a forest of bayonets ? This is 
 good ; gentlemen," and he bent himself in sarcastic reverence to the astonished 
 troops, " I beg to offer my very best congratulatiens on the high estimation 
 in which you arc held by your colonel." 
 
 " Peace, sirrah !" exclaimed the governor, enraged beyond measure at the 
 insolence of him who thus held him up to contempt before his men, '' or, by 
 heaven, I will have your tongue cut out ! — j\Ir. Lawson, let what this fellow 
 requires be procured immediately." Then addressing Lieutenant Boj^ce, who 
 commanded the immediate guard over the prisonej-, — " Let his hands be lib- 
 erated, sir, and enjoin your men to bo watchful of the movements of this 
 supple traitor. His activity I know of old to be great, and he seems to have 
 doubled it since he assumed that garb." 
 
 The command was executed, and the prisoner stood, once more free and 
 unfettered in every muscular limb. A deep and unbroken silence ensued ; 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 215 
 
 and tlie return of tho adjutant was momentarily expected. Suddenly a 
 loud scream was heard, and the slip,ht iv^urc of a female, clad in white, came 
 rushinc,- from the piazza in Miiioh the ai)artniont of the deceased De Haldimar 
 was situated. It was Clara. The guard of \\'acousta formed the fourth front 
 of the square ; but they were drawn up somewhat in the distance, so as to 
 leave an open space of several feet at the ans^les. Throuj^h one of these the 
 excited girl now passed into the area, with a wildness in her air and appearance 
 that riveted every e\'e in painful interest upon her. She paused not until she 
 had gained the side of the captive, at whose feet she now sank in an attitude 
 expressive of the most profound despair. 
 
 '• Tiger ! — monster !" she raved, " restore ray brother ! — give rae back the 
 gentle life you have taken, or destroy my own ! See, I am a weak defence- 
 less girl : can j^ou not strike ? — you have no pity for the innocent. But 
 come," she pursued mournfully, regaining her feet and grasping his iron hand, 
 — •' come and see the sweet calm face of him you have slain : — come with me, 
 and behold the image of Clara Beverlej' ; and, if }■ ou ever loved her as you 
 say you did, let your soul be touched with remorse for your crime." 
 
 The excitement and confusion produced by this -- ■- ' i interruption 
 was great. Murmurs of compassion for the unhaj)-) ' of indigna- 
 
 tion against the prisoner, were no longer sought to i.' , : !iy the men ; 
 
 while the officers, quitting their places in the ranks, grcui^d t'lcmsolves indis- 
 criminal vly in the fore-ground. One, more impatient than his companions, 
 sprang forward, and forcibly drew away the delicate hand that still grasped 
 that of the captive. It was Sir Everard Valletort. 
 
 " Clara, my beloved wife !" he exclaimed, to the astonishment of all who 
 heard him, "pollute not your lips by further communion with such a wretch; 
 his heart is as inaccessible to pitj^ as the rugged rocks on which his spring-life 
 was passed. For H;'nvon's sake. — for my .sake, — linger not M'ithin his reach. 
 There is deatli i- ' presence." 
 
 "Yourwif . 'i I ily observed the governor, with irrepn:7;-ible a.s- 
 
 tonishment ani; : -'.i in his voice; " what mean you? — Gentlemen, re- 
 
 sume your places in the ranks. Clara — Miss de Haldimar, I command j^ou to 
 retire instantly to j'our apailment. We will discourse of this later. Sir Eve- 
 rard Valletort. I trust you have not dared to olfer an indignity to ray child." 
 
 While he was yet turned to that officer, who ha;i t:iken his post, as cora- 
 manded, in the inner angle of the square, and with a countenance that denoted 
 the contlicting emotions of his soul, he was suddenly startled by the confused 
 shout and rushing forward of the whole bod}^, both of officers and men. Be- 
 fore he had time to turn, a loud and well-remembered yell burst upon his 
 ear. The next moment, to his infinite surprise and horror, he beheld the 
 bold warrior rapidly ascending the -very staff that had been destined for his 
 scaffold, and with Clara in his arms ! 
 
 Great was the confusion that ensued. To rush forward and surround the 
 flag-staff, was the immediate ,'iction of the troops. Many of the men raised 
 their muskets, and m the excitement of the moment, would have fired, had 
 they not been restrained by tlair oilicers. who pointed out the certain destruc- 
 tion it would entail on the unfortunate Clara. Wiih the r.inidity of thought, 
 Wacousta had snatched up his \ictim, while '' of tlic troops was 
 
 directed to the singular conversation passing : governor and Sir 
 
 Everard Valletort, and darting through one i-i ,., .....a angles already al- 
 luded to, had gained the rampart before they had recovered from the .stupor 
 produced by his daring action. Stepping lightly upon the pegs, he had ra- 
 pidly ascended to the utmost height of the.se, before any one thought of fol- 
 lowing him ; and then grasping in his teeth the cord which was to have served 
 for his execution, and holding Clara firmly against his chest, while he em- 
 braced the smooth stafl" with knees and feet closely compressed around it, ac- 
 complished the difficult ascent with an ease that astonished all who beheld 
 him. Gratiually, as he approached the top, the taj^ering pine waved to and 
 
216 avacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 fro ; and at each moment it was expected, that, yielding to their united weight, 
 it would snap asunder, and precipitate both Clara and himself, upon the ram- 
 part, or into the ditch beyond. 
 
 More than one officer now attempted to follow the fugitive in his adventu- 
 rous course ; but even Lieutenant Johnstone, the most active and experienced 
 in climbing of tlie party, was unable to rise more than a few yards above the 
 pegs that afFoi-ded a footing, and the enterprise was abandoned as an impos- 
 sibility. At length Wacousta was seen to gain the extreme summit. For a 
 moment ho turned his gaze anxiously beyond the town, in the direction of the 
 bridge ; and, after pealing forth one of his terrific yells, exclaimed, exultingly, 
 as he turned his eyes upon his enemy : — 
 
 '' Well, colonel, what think you of this sample of Indian ingenuity ? Did 
 I not tell you," he continued, in mockery, "' that, if my hands were but free, 
 I would give you a specimen of my progress in Indian acquirements?" 
 
 '■ If you would avoid a death even more terrible than that of hanging," 
 shouted the governor, in a voice of mingled rage and terror. " restore m.jr 
 daughter." 
 
 " Ha! ha! ha ! — excellent !" vociferated the savage. ''You threaten largely^ 
 my good governor ; but your thi-eats are harmless as those of a weak besieg- 
 ing army before an impregnable fortress. It is for the strongest, however, to 
 propose his terms. If T restore this girl to life, will you pledge yourself to 
 mine ?" 
 
 •' Never !" thundered Colonel de Haldimar. with unusual energy. '" Men^ 
 procure axes ; cut the flag-staff down, since this is the only means left of se- 
 curing yon insolent traitor ! Quick to your work : and mark, who fii'st seizes 
 him shall have proniotion on the spot." 
 
 Axes were instantly procured, and two of the men now lent themselves 
 vigorously to the task. Wacousta seemed to watch these preparations with 
 evident anxiety ; and to all it appeared as if his courage had been paralysed 
 by this unexpected action. No sooner, however, had the axemen reached the 
 heart of the staff, than, holding Clara forth over the edge of the rampart, he 
 shouted, — 
 
 "One stroke more, and she perishes !" 
 
 Instantaneously the work was discontinued. A silence of a few moments en- 
 sued. Every eye was turned upward. — ever}- heart beat with terror to see 
 the delicate girl, held by a single arm. and apparently about to be precipitated 
 from that dizzying height. Again Wacousta shouted, — 
 
 •' Life for life, De Haldimar ! If I yield her shall I live ?" 
 
 " No terms shall be dictated to me by a rebel, in the heart of my own fort," 
 returned the governor. •• Restore my child, and we will then consider vyhat 
 mercy may be extended to you." 
 
 '• Well do I know what mercy dwells in such a heart as yours," gloomily 
 remarked the prisoner ; '• but I come." 
 
 " Surround the staff, men," ordered the governor, in a low tone. " The in- 
 stant he descends, secure him : lash him in every limb, nor suffer even his 
 insolent tongue to be longer at liberty." 
 
 " Boyce, for God's sake open the gate, and place men in readiness to lower 
 the drtiwbridge," implored Sii- Everard of the officer of the guard, and in a 
 tone of deep emotion that was not meant to be overheard by the governor. 
 " I fear the boldness of this vengeful man may lead him to some desperate 
 means of escape." 
 
 While the officer whom he addressed issued a command, the responsibility 
 of which he fancied he might, under the peculiar circumstances of the moment, 
 take upon himself, Wacousta began his descent, not as before, by adhering to 
 the staff but by the rope which he held in his left hand, while he still sup- 
 ported the apparently senseless Clara against his right breast A\'ith the other. 
 
 " Now, Colonel de Haldimar. I hope your heart is at rest," he shouted, as 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 217 
 
 he rapidly glided by the cord ; " enjoy your triumph as best may suit your 
 pleasure." 
 
 Every eye followed his movement vnth interest ; every heart beat lighter at 
 the certainty of Clara being again restored, and without other injury than 
 the terror she must have experienced in such a scene. Each congi-atulated 
 himself on the favorable tcrnunation of the terrible adventure, yet were all 
 ready to spring upon and secure the desperate author of the wrong. Wacousta 
 had now reached the centre of the flag- staff. Pausing for a moment, he 
 grappled it with his strong and nervous feet, on which he apparently rested, 
 to give a momentary relief to the muscles of his left arm. lie then abruptly 
 abandoned his hold, swinging himself out a few yards from the staff, and re- 
 turning again, dashed his feet against it with a force that caused the weakened 
 mass to vibrate to its very foundation. Impelled by his weight, and the vio- 
 lence of his action, the creaking pine gave way ; its lofty top gradiially bend- 
 ing over the exterior rampart until it finally snapped asunder, and fell with a 
 loud crash across the ditch. 
 
 " Open the gate, down with the drawbridge !" exclaimed the excited gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 " Down with the drawbridge," repeated Sir Everard to the men already 
 stationed there ready to let loose at the first order. The heavy chauis rattled 
 sullenly through the rusty pulleys, and to each the bridge seemed an hour 
 descending. Before it had reached its level, it was covered with the weight 
 of mau}^ armed men rushing confusedly to the front ; and the foremost of 
 these leaped to the earth before it had sunk into its customary bed. Sir 
 Everard Valletort and Lieutenant Johnstone were in the front, both armed 
 with their rifles, which had been brought them before Wacousta commenced 
 his descent. Without order or combination, Erskine, Blessington, and nearly 
 half of their respective companies, followed as they could ; and dispersing as 
 they advanced, sought only which could outstrip his fellows in the pursuit. 
 
 Meanwhile the fugitive, assisted in his fall by the gradual rending asunder 
 of the staff", had obeyed the impulsion first given to his active form, until, 
 suddenly checking himself by the rope, he dropped with his feet downward 
 into the cento-e of the ditch. For a moment he disappeared, then came again 
 uninjured to the surface ; and in the face of more than fifty men, who, lining 
 the rampart with their muskets levelled to take him at advantage the instant 
 he should reappear, seemed to laugh their efforts to scorn. Holdmg Clara 
 before him as a shield, through which the bullets of his enemies must pass 
 before they could attain him, he impelled his gigantic form with a backward 
 movement toward the opposite bank, which he rapidly ascended ; and, still 
 fronting his enemies, commenced his flight in that manner with a speed which 
 (considering the additional weight of the drenched garments of both) was 
 inconceivable. The course taken by him was not through the town, but cir- 
 cuitously across the common until he arrived on that immediate line whence, 
 as we have before stated, the bridge was distinctly visible from the rampart ; 
 on which, nearly the whole of the remaining troops, in defiance of the pres- 
 ence of their austere chief, were now eagerly assembled, watching, with un- 
 speakable interest, the pregress of the chase. 
 
 Desperate as were the exertions of Wacousta, who evidently continued this 
 mode of flight from a conviction that the instant his person was left exposed 
 the fire-arms of his pursuers would be brought to bear upon him, the two 
 officers in front, animated by the most extraordinary exertions, were rapidly 
 gaming upon him. Already was one within fifty yards of him, when a loud 
 yell was heard from the bridge. This was fiercely answered by the fleeing 
 man, and in a manner that implied his glad sense of coming rescue. In the 
 wild exultation of the moment, he raised Clara high above his head, to show 
 her in triumph to the governor, whose person his keen eye could easily dis- 
 tinguish among those crowded upon the rampart. In the gratified vengeance 
 of that hour, he seemed utterly to overlook the actions of those who were so 
 
218 W A C O U S T A ; OR, THE PROPHECY. 
 
 near him. During thi» brief scene, Sir Everard had dropped upon one knee, 
 and supporting his elbow on the other, aimed his riile at the heart of the rav- 
 isher of his wife. An exulting shout burst from the pursuing troops. Wa- 
 cousta bounded a few feet in air, and placing his hand to his side, uttered 
 another yell, more appalling than any that had hitherto escaped him. His 
 flight was now uncertain and Avavering. He staggered as one who had re- 
 ceived a mortal wound ; and discontinuing his unequal mode of retreat, turned 
 his back upon his pursuers, and threw all his remaining energies into a final 
 effort at escape. 
 
 Inspirited by the success of his shot, and expecting momentarily to see 
 him fall weakened with the loss of blood, the excited Valletort redoubled his 
 exertions. To his infinite joy, he found that the efforts of the fugitive became 
 feebler at each moment. Johnstone was about twenty paces behind him, and 
 the pursuing party at about the same distance from Johnstone. The baronet 
 had now reached his enemy, and already was the butt of his rifle raised with 
 murderous intent, when suddenly Wacousta, every feature distorted with rage 
 and pain, turned like a wounded lion at bay, and eluding the blow, deposited 
 the unconscious form of his victim upon the sward. Springing upon his in- 
 finitely weaker pursuer, he grappled him furiously by the throat, exclaiming 
 through his clenched teeth : — 
 
 " Nay then, since j'ou will provoke your fate — be it so. Die like a dog, 
 and be d d, for having balked me of my just revenge !" 
 
 As he spoke, he hurled the grasping officer to the earth with a violence that 
 betraj^ed the dreadful excitement of his soul, and again hastened to assure 
 himself of his prize. 
 
 Meanwhile, Lieutenant Johnstone had come up, and seeing his companion 
 struggling, as he presumed with advantage, with his severely wounded enemy, 
 made it his first care to secure the unhappy girl ; for whose recoveiy the pur- 
 suit had been principally instituted. Quitting his rifle, he now essayed to 
 raise her in his arms. She was without life or consciousness, and the im- 
 pression on his mind was that she was dead. 
 
 While in the act of raising her, the terrible Wacoi:sta stood at his side, his 
 vast chest heaving forth a laugh of mingled rage and contempt. Before the 
 officer could extricate, with a view of defending himself, his arms were pinion- 
 ed as though in a vice ; and ere he could recover from his surprise, he felt 
 himself lifted up and thrown to a considerable distance. When he opened his 
 eyes a moment afterwards, he was lying amid the moving feet of his own men. 
 
 From the instant of the closing of the unfortunate Valletort with his enemy, 
 the Indians, hastening to the assistance of their chief, had come up, and a de- 
 sultory fire had already commenced, diverting, in a great degree, the attention 
 of the troops from the pursued. Emboldened by this new aspect of things, 
 Wacousta now deliberately grasped the rifle that had been abandoned by 
 Johnstone ; and raising it to his soulder, fired among the group collected on 
 the ramparts. For a moment he watched the resiilt of his shot, and then, 
 pealing forth another fierce yell, he hurled the now useless weapon into the 
 very heart of his pursuers ; and again raising Clara in his arms, once more 
 commenced his retreat, which, under cover of the lire of his party, was easily 
 effected. 
 
 " Who has fallen?" demanded the governor of his adjutant, perceiving that 
 some one had been hit at his side, yet without taking his eyes off his terrible 
 enemy. . 
 
 •'Mr. Delme, sir," was the reply. "He has been shot through the heart, 
 and his men are bearing him from the rampart." 
 
 " This must not be," resumed the governor with energy. " Private feelings 
 must no longer be studied at the expense of the public good. The pursuit is 
 hopeless ; and already too many of my officers have fallen. Desire the re- 
 treat to be sounded, Mr. Lawson. Captain Wentworth, let one or two cover- 
 
W A C O II S T A ; OR, T H K PROPHECY. 219 
 
 iogguns be bvought to bear upon the savages. They are gradually increas- 
 ing in numbers ; and if we delay, the party will be wholly cut off." 
 
 In issuing these orders, Colonel de Ilaldimar evinced a composcdnes.s that 
 astonished all who heaj'd him. JJut although his voice was cahn, derpair was 
 upon his brow. Still he continued to gaze fixedly on the refreatin?; form of 
 hLs enemy, until he finally disappeared behind the orchard of the Canadian of 
 the Fleur do Lis. 
 
 Obeying the summons from the fort, the troops without now commenced 
 their retreat, bearini; olF the hollies of their fillen officers an(i several of their 
 comrades who had fallen by the Indian fire. There was a show of harassing 
 them on their return ; but they were too near the fort to apprehend much 
 danger. Two or three well-directed discharges of artillery ettectually checked 
 the onward progress of the savages ; and, in the course of a minute, they had 
 again wholly disappeared. 
 
 In gloomy silence, and with anger and disappointment in their hearts, the 
 detachment now re-entered the fort. Johnstone was only severely bruised ; 
 Sir Evgrard Valletoi-t not dead. Both were conveyed to the same room, 
 where they were instantly attended by the surgeon, who pronounced the situ- 
 ation of the latter hopeless. 
 
 Major Blackwater, Captains Blessington and Erskine, Lieutenants Leslie 
 and Boyce. and Ensigns Fortescue and Summers, were now the only regi- 
 mental officers that remained of thirteen originally comprising the strength of 
 the garrison. The whole of these stood grouped around their colonel, who 
 seemed transfixed to the spot he had first occupied on the rampart, with his 
 arms folded, and his gaze bent in the direction in which he had lost sight of 
 Wacousta and his child. 
 
 Hitherto the morning had been cold and cheerless, and objects in the far 
 distance were but indistinctly seen through a humid atmosphere. At about 
 half an hour before mid-day the air became more rai-ified, and, the murky 
 clouds graduallj- disappearing, left the blue autumnal sky without spot or 
 blemish. Presently, as the bells of the fort struck twelve, a yell of a legion 
 of devils rent the a;r; and, riveting their gaze in that direction, all beheld the 
 bridge, hitherto deserted, suddenl}^ covered with a multitude of savages, 
 among whom were several individuals attired in the European garb, and evi- 
 dently prisoners. Each officer had a telescope raised to his eye, and each 
 prepared himself, shudderingly, for some horrid consummation. Pre.sently 
 the bridge was cleared of all but a double line of what appeared to be women, 
 armed with war-clubs and tomahawks. Along the line were now seen to 
 pass, in slow succession, the prisoners that had previously been observed. 
 At each step they took (and it was evident they had been compelled to run 
 the gauntlet,) a blow was inflicted by some one or other of the line, until the 
 wretched victims were successively despatched. A loud yell from the war- 
 riors, who, although hidden from view by the intervening orchards, were evi- 
 dently merely spectators in the bloody drama, announced each death. These 
 yells were repeated, at inftrvals, to about the number of thirty, when, sud- 
 denly the bridge was again deserted as before. 
 
 After the lapse of a minute, the tall figure of a warrior was seen to ad- 
 vance, holding a female in his arms. No one could mistake, even at that 
 distance, the gigantic proportions of Wacousta, as he stood in the extreme 
 centre of the bridge, in imposing relief against the flood that glittered like a 
 sea of glass beyond. From his chest there now burst a single yell ; but, al- 
 though audible, it was fainter than any remembered ever to have been heard 
 from him by tbe gairison, 11:^ then advanced to the extreme edge of the 
 bridge; anci. lia^Jini;,; the form of the f.-male far above his head with fcis left 
 hand, secmctl to wave her in ven^-eful triiunph. A second wairior vras seen 
 upon the, bridge. ni:d stealing cai.itiously to the .same point. The right hand 
 of tHoifa-st warrior v,';;.s now va;s'.d .ond brandished iii the air; in the next in- 
 stant i:/":I- ■::':■!.'!.' ! ;r.pn 'iic br:fi-; rj ;^o Il?T;ia!:). who fl>n fi-om his arms into 
 
220 wacousta; or, the prophecy. 
 
 the ravine beneath. Yells of triumph from the Indians, and shouts of ex- 
 ecration from the soldiers, mingled faintly together. At that moment the 
 arm of the second warrior was raised, and a blade was seen to glitter in the 
 sunshine. His arm descended, and Wacousta was observed to stagger for- 
 ward and fall heavily into the abyss into which his victim had the instant 
 before been precipitated. Another loud yell, but of disappointment and anger, 
 was heard drowning that of exultation pealed by the triumphant warrior, 
 who, darting to the open extremity of the bridge, directed his flight along the 
 margin of the river, where a light canoe was ready to receive him. Into this 
 he sprang, and, seizing the paddle, sent the waters foaming from its sides ; 
 and, pursuing his way across tlie river, had nearly gained the shores of Canada 
 before a bark was to be seen following in pm-suit. 
 
 How felt — how acted Colonel de Haldimar throughout this brief but terri- 
 ble scene ? He uttered not a word. With his arms still folded across his 
 breast, he gazed upon the murder of his child ; but he heaved not a groan, he 
 shed not a tear. A momentary triumph seemed to irradiate his pallid features, 
 when he saw the blow struck that annihilated his enemy ; but it was again 
 instantly shaded by an expression of the most profound despair. 
 
 " It is done, gentlemen," he at length remarked. " The tragedy is closed, 
 the curse of Ellen Halloway is fulfilled, and I am — childless ! — Blackwater," 
 he pursued, endeavoring to stifle the emotion produced by the last reflection, 
 " pay every attention to the security of the garrison, see that the drawbridge 
 is again properly chained up, and direct that the duties of the troops be prose- 
 cuted in every way as heretofore." 
 
 Leaving his officers to wonder at and pity that apathy of mind that could 
 mingle the mere forms of duty with the most heart-rendering associations, 
 Colonel de Haldimar now quitted the rampart ; and, with a head that was re- 
 marked for the first time to droop over his chest, paced his way musing to liis 
 apartments. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Night had long since drawn her circling mantle over the western hemis- 
 phere ; and deeper, far deeper than the gloom of that night was the despair 
 which filled every bosom of the devoted garrison, whose fortunes it has fallen 
 to our lot to record. A silence, profound as that of death, pervaded the ram- 
 parts and exterior defences of the fortress, interrupted only, at long intervals, 
 by the customary '■ All's well !" of the several sentinels ; which, after the 
 awful events of the day. seemed to many who now heard it as if uttered in 
 mockery of their hopelessness of sorrow. The lights within the barracks of 
 the men had long since extinguished ; and, consigned to a mere repose of 
 limb, in which the eye and heart shared not, the iaferior soldiery pressed their 
 rude couches with spirits worn out by a succession of painful excitements, and 
 frames debilitated by much abstinence and watching. It was an hour at which 
 sleep was wont to afford them the blessing of a temporary forgetfulness of en- 
 durances that weighed the more heavily as they were believed to be endless 
 and without fruit ; but sleep had now apparently been banished from all ; for 
 the low and confused murmur that met the ear from the several block-houses 
 was continuous and general, betraying at times, and in a louder key, words 
 that bore reference to the tragic occurrences of the day. 
 
 The only lights visible in the fort proceeded from the guard-house and a 
 room adjoining that of the ill-fated Charles de Haldimar, Within the latter 
 were collected, with the exception of the governor, and grouped around a bed 
 on which lay one of their companions in a nearly expiring state, the officers of 
 the garrison, reduced nearly one third iu number since we first offered them 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 231 
 
 to the notice of our renders. The dying man was Sir Everard Valletort, who, 
 supported by pillows, was concluding a narrative that had chained the earnest 
 attention of his auditor)', even amid the deep and heartfelt sympathy percep- 
 tible in each for the forlorn and hopeless condition of the narrator. At the 
 side of the unhappy baronet, and enveloped in a dressing gown, as if recently 
 out of bed, sat. reclining in a rude elbow cliair, one whose pallid countenance 
 denoted that, although far less seriously injured, he, too, had suffered severe- 
 ly : — it was Lieutenant Johnstone. 
 
 The narrative was at length closed; and the oflBcer, exhausted by the 
 efifort he had made in his anxiety to communicate every particular to his 
 attentive and surprised companions, had sunk back upon his pillow, when, 
 suddenly, the loud and unusual *' "Who comes there ?" of the sentinel 
 stationed on the rampart above the gateway, arrested every ear. A mo- 
 ment of pause succeeded, when again was heard the " Stand, friend !" evi- 
 dently given in reply to the fiamiliar answer to the original challenge. Then 
 were audible rapid movements in the guard-liouse. as of men aroused from 
 temporary slumber, and hastening to the point whence the voice proceeded. 
 
 Silently yet hurriedly the otYiccrs now quitted the bedside of the dying man, 
 leaving only the surgeon and the invalid Johnstone behind them ; and, flj'ing 
 to the rampart, stood in the next minute confounded with the guard, who 
 were already grouped round the challenging sentinel, bending their gaze eagerly 
 in the direction of the road. 
 
 " What now, man ? — whom have you challenged ?" asked Major Blackwater. 
 
 '• It is I — De Haldimar," hoarsely exclaimed one of four dark figures that, 
 hitherto unnoticed by the offitjers, stood immediately beyond the ditch, with 
 a burden desposited at their feet. " Quick, Blackwater, let us in for God's 
 sake ! Each succeeding minute may bring a scouting party on our track. 
 Lower the drawbridge !" 
 
 '• Impossible !" exclaimed the major: "after all that has passed, it is more 
 than my commission is worth to lower the bridge without permission. Mr. 
 Lawson, quick to the governor, and report that Captain de Haldimar is here : 
 with whom shall we say ?" again addressing the impatient and almost indig- 
 nant officer. 
 
 " With Miss de Haldimar, Francois the Canadian, and one to whom we all 
 owe our lives," hurriedly returned the officer ; '' and you may add," he con- 
 tinued gloomily, ''the corpse of my sister. But while we stand in parley here, 
 we are lost : Lawson fl}' to my father, and tell him we wait for entrance." 
 
 With nearly the speed enjoined the adjutant departed. Scarcely a minute 
 elapsed when he again stood upon the rampart, and advancing closely to the 
 major, whispered a few words in his ear. 
 
 '•Good God! can it be possible '? When? How came this? but we vrill 
 enquire later. Open the gate ; down with the bridge, Leslie," addressing the 
 officer of the guard. 
 
 The command was instantly obeyed. The officers flew to receive the fugi- 
 tives ; and as the latter crossed the drawbridge, the light of a lantern, that had 
 been brought from the guard-room, flashed full upon the harassed counte- 
 nances of Captain and Miss de Haldimar, Francois the Canadian, and the de- 
 voted Oucanasta. 
 
 Silent and melancholy was the gi-eeting that took place between the parties : 
 the voice spoke not ; the hand alone was eloquent ; but it was in the eloquence 
 of sorrow onl_v that it indulged. Pleasure, even in this almost despaired of 
 re-union, could not be expressed ; and even the eye shrank from mutual en- 
 counter, as if its very glance at such a moment were sacrilege. Recalled to a 
 sense of her situation by the preparation of the men to raise the bridge, the 
 Indian woman M-as the first to break the silence. 
 
 " The Saganaw is .<;afe within liis fort, and the girl of the pale faces will lay 
 her head upon his bosom," she remarked solemly. " Oucanasta will go to her 
 solitary wigwam among the red skins." 
 
222 w A c o u s T A ; or, the prophecy. 
 
 The heart of Madeline de Haldimar was oppressed by the Aveight of many 
 griefri ; yet she could not see the generous preserver of her life, and the rescuer 
 of the body of her ill fated cousin depart without emotion. Drawing a ring 
 of some value and great beauty, fi-oni her finger, which she had more than 
 once observed the Indian to admire, she placed it on her hand ; and then 
 throwing herself on the bosom of the faithful creature, embraced her with 
 deep manifestations of affection, but without uttering a word. 
 
 Oucanasta was .'^cnsibly gratified : she raised her large e3^es to heaven as if 
 in thankfulness ; and by the light of the lantern, which fell upon her dark 
 but expressive countenance, tears were to be seen starting unbidden from their 
 source. 
 
 Releiised from the embrace of her whose life she had twice preserved at 
 imminent pei'il to her own, the Indian again prepared to depart ; but there 
 was another, v.'ho, like Madeline, although stricken by many sorrows, could 
 not forego the testimony of his heart's gratitude. Captain de Haldimar, who 
 during this short scene had despatched a messenger to his room for the pur- 
 pose, "now advanced to the poor girl, bearing a short but elegantly mounted 
 daggei-, which he begged her to deliver as a token of friendship to the young 
 chief h:i- hrotiicr. lie then dropped on one knee at her feet, and raising her 
 ham!, '.uxs-cd it fjr\ontly against his heart; an action which, even to the un- 
 tutored mind of the Indian, bore evidence only of the feeling that pi-ompted 
 it. A heavy sigh escaped her laboring chest ; and as the officer now rose and 
 quitted her hand, she turned slowly and with dignity from him, and crossing 
 the drawbridge, was in a few minutes lost in the surrounding gloom. 
 
 Our readers have doubtUss anticipated the communication made to Major 
 Blackwater by Uie Adjutant, Lawson. Bowed down to the dust Ijy the ac- 
 complishment of the curse of Ellen Halloway, the inflexibility of Colonel de 
 Haldimar's pride was not proof against the utter annihilation wrought to liis 
 hopes as a father by the unrelenting hatred of the enemy his early falsehood 
 and treachery had raised up to him. When the adjutant entered his apart- 
 ment, the stony coldness of his cheek attested he had been dead for some 
 hours. 
 
 We pass over the few days of bitter trial that succeeded to the restoration 
 of Captain de Haldimar and his bride to their friends ; days during which were 
 consigned to the same grave the bodies of the governor, his lamented children, 
 and tlie scarcely less regretted Sir Evei'ard Valletort. The funeral service was 
 attempted by Captain Elessingtou ; but the strong atlection of that excellent 
 officer, for three of the defunct parties at least, was not armed against the 
 trial. He had undertaken a task far beyond his strength ; and scarcely had 
 commenced, ere he was compelled to relinquish the performance of the ritual 
 to the adjutant. A large grave had been dug close under the rampart, and 
 neai' the fatal flag-staff" to receive the bodies of their deceased friends ; and, 
 as thejr were lowered successively into their last earthly resting place, tears 
 fell unrestrainedly over the bronzed cheeks of the oldest soldiers, while many 
 a female sob blended with and gave touching solemnity to the scene. 
 
 On the morning of the third day from this quadruple interment, notice was 
 given by one of the sentinels that an Indian was.approaching the fort, making 
 signs as if in demand for a parley. The officers, headed by Major Bhickwater, 
 now become the commandant of the place, inmiediately ascended the rampart, 
 when the stranger was at once recognized by Captain de Haldimar for the 
 young Ottawa, the preserver of his life, and the avenger of the deaths of 
 those they mourned, in whose girdle was thrust, in seeming pride, the richly 
 mounted dagger that officer had caused to be conveyed to him through his 
 uo less generous sister. A long conference ensued, in the language of the 
 Ottawas, between the parties just named, the purport of wliich was of high 
 moment to the garrison, now nearly reduced to the last extremity. The 
 ^'oung chief had come to apprise them, that, won by the noble conduct of the 
 
 Inglish, on a late occasion, when his warriors were wholly m their power. 
 
 £ 
 
wacousta; or, the prophecy. 223 
 
 Ponteac had expressed a generous determination to conclude a peace with the 
 garrison, and henceforth to consider them as his friends. This he had publicly- 
 declared in a large council of the chiefs, h.eld the preceding night ; and the 
 motive of the Ottawa's coming was to assure the English, that, on this occa- 
 sion, their great leader was perfectly sincere in a resolution, at which he had 
 the more readily arrived, now that his terrible coadjutor and vindictive adviser 
 was no more. lie prepared them for the coming of Ponteac and the principal 
 chiefs of the league to demand a council on the morrow ; and, with this final 
 communication, again withdrew. 
 
 The Ottawa was right. Within a week from that period the English were 
 to be seen once more issuing from their fort ; and, although many months 
 elapsed before the wounds of their suffering hearts were healed, still were 
 they grateful to Providence for their final preservation from a doom that had 
 fallen, without exception, on every fortress on the line of frontier in which 
 they lay. 
 
 time rolled on ; and, in the course of years, Oucanasta might be seen asso- 
 ciating with and bearing curious presents, the fruits of Indian ingenuity, to 
 
 the daughters of De Haldimar, now become the colonel of the regiment ; 
 
 while her brother, the chief, instructed his sons in the athletic and active exer- 
 cises peculiar to his race. As for poor Ellen Halloway, search had been made 
 for her, but she never was heard of afterwards. 
 
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