TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.
—Table of Contents and List of Illustration were not in the original
work; they have been produced and added by Transcriber.
THE
PRAIRIE–BIRD.
[Illustration: MONSIEUR PERROT IS SCALPED P. 276]
THE
PRAIRIE–BIRD
BY THE
HON. CHARLES AUGUSTUS MURRAY.
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. B. ZWECKER._
LONDON:
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS,
THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE;
NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET.
PREFACE.
“I hate a Preface!” Such will probably be the reader’s exclamation
on opening this volume. I will, however, pursue the subject a little
further in the form of a dialogue.
_Author._—“I entirely agree in your dislike of a Preface; for a good
book needs none, and a dull book cannot be mended by it.”
_Reader._—“If then you coincide in my opinion, why write a preface?
Judging from appearances, your book is long enough without one!”
_A._—“Do not be too severe; it is precisely because the road which
we propose to travel together is of considerable extent, that I wish
to warn you at the outset of the nature of the scenery, and the
entertainment you are likely to meet with, in order that you may, if
these afford you no attraction, turn aside and seek better amusement
and occupation elsewhere.”
_R._—“That seems plausible enough; yet, how can I be assured that the
result will fulfil your promise? I once travelled in a stage coach,
wherein was suspended, for the benefit of passengers, a coloured print
of the watering–place which was our destination; it represented a
magnificent hotel, with extensive gardens and shrubberies, through
the shady walks of which, gaily attired parties were promenading on
horseback and on foot. When we arrived, I found myself at a large,
square, unsightly inn by the sea–side, where neither flower, shrub,
nor tree was to be seen: and on inquiry, I was informed that the print
represented the hotel as the proprietor _intended it to be_! Suppose I
were to meet with a similar disappointment in my journey with you?”
_A._—“I can at least offer you this comfort; that whereas you could
not have got out of the stage half–way on the road without much
inconvenience, you can easily lay down the book whenever you find it
becoming tedious: if you seek for amusement only, you probably will
be disappointed, because one of my chief aims has been to afford you
correct information respecting the habits, condition, and character of
the North American Indians and those bordering on their territory. I
have introduced also several incidents founded on actual occurrences;
and some of them, as well as of the characters, are sketched from
personal observation.”
_R._—“Indeed! you are then the individual who resided with the
Pawnees, and published, a few years since, your Travels in North
America. I suppose we may expect in these volumes a sort of
_pot–pourri_, composed of all the notes, anecdotes, and observations
which you could not conveniently squeeze into your former book?”
_A._ (_looking rather foolish._)—“Although the terms in which you have
worded your conjecture are not the most flattering, I own that it is
not altogether without foundation; nevertheless, Gentle Reader——“
_R._—“Spare your epithets of endearment, or at least reserve them
until I have satisfied myself that I can reply in a similar strain.”
_A._—“Nay, it is too churlish to censure a harmless courtesy that has
been adopted even by the greatest dramatists and novelists from the
time of Shakspeare to the present day.”
_R._—“It may be so; permit me, however, to request, in the words of
one of those dramatists to whom you refer, that you will be so obliging
as to
‘Forbear the prologue,
And let me know the substance of thy tale!’”
_The Orphan._
CONTENTS
FIRST VOLUME
CHAPTER PAGE
I. IN WHICH THE READER WILL FIND A SKETCH OF A VILLAGE IN
THE WEST, AND WILL BE INTRODUCED TO SOME OF THE DRAMATIS
PERSONÆ. 1
II. CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE MARRIAGE OF COLONEL
BRANDON, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 8
III. CONTAINING SOME FURTHER ACCOUNT OF COLONEL AND MRS.
BRANDON, AND OF THE EDUCATION OF THEIR SON REGINALD. 15
IV. CONTAINING SUNDRY ADVENTURES OF REGINALD BRANDON AND
HIS FRIEND ETHELSTON ON THE CONTINENT; ALSO SOME FURTHER
PROCEEDINGS AT SQUIRE SHIRLEY’S; AND THE RETURN OF
REGINALD BRANDON TO HIS HOME.—IN THIS CHAPTER THE
SPORTING READER WILL FIND AN EXAMPLE OF AN UNMADE RIDER
ON A MADE HUNTER. 20
V. AN ADVENTURE IN THE WOODS.—REGINALD BRANDON MAKES THE
ACQUAINTANCE OF AN INDIAN CHIEF. 31
VI. REGINALD AND BAPTISTE PAY A VISIT TO WAR–EAGLE.—AN
ATTEMPT AT TREACHERY MEETS WITH SUMMARY PUNISHMENT. 39
VII. CONTAINING SOME PARTICULARS OF THE HISTORY OF THE TWO
DELAWARES AND OF BAPTISTE. THE LATTER RETURNS WITH
REGINALD TO MOOSHANNE, THE RESIDENCE OF COLONEL BRANDON. 50
VIII. CONTAINING A SKETCH OF MOOSHANNE.—REGINALD INTRODUCES
HIS SISTER TO THE TWO DELAWARES. 59
IX. HOW REGINALD BRANDON RETURNED TO MOOSHANNE WITH HIS
SISTER, ACCOMPANIED BY WINGENUND; AND WHAT BEFELL THEM
ON THE ROAD. 71
X. IN WHICH THE READER IS UNCEREMONIOUSLY TRANSPORTED TO
ANOTHER ELEMENT IN COMPANY WITH ETHELSTON; THE LATTER
IS LEFT IN A DISAGREEABLE PREDICAMENT. 79
XI. ETHELSTON’S FURTHER ADVENTURES AT SEA, AND HOW HE BECAME
CAPTOR AND CAPTIVE IN A VERY SHORT SPACE OF TIME. 87
XII. VISIT OF WINGENUND TO MOOSHANNE.—HE REJOINS WAR–EAGLE,
AND THEY RETURN TO THEIR BAND IN THE FAR WEST.—M.
PERROT MAKES AN UNSUCCESSFUL ATTACK ON THE HEART OF A
YOUNG LADY. 97
XIII. IN WHICH THE READER WILL FIND THAT THE COUCH OF AN
INVALID HAS PERILS NOT LESS FORMIDABLE THAN THOSE WHICH
ARE TO BE ENCOUNTERED AT SEA. 107
XIV. NARRATING THE TRIALS AND DANGERS THAT BESET ETHELSTON;
AND HOW HE ESCAPED FROM THEM, AND FROM THE ISLAND OF
GUADALOUPE. 117
XV. WHAT TOOK PLACE AT MOOSHANNE DURING THE STAY OF ETHELSTON
IN GUADALOUPE.—DEPARTURE OF REGINALD FOR THE FAR–WEST. 128
XVI. THE ESCAPE OF ETHELSTON FROM GUADALOUPE, AND THE
CONSEQUENCES WHICH ENSUED FROM THAT EXPEDITION. 136
XVII. EXCURSION ON THE PRAIRIE.—THE PARTY FALL IN WITH A
VETERAN HUNTER. 148
XVIII. REGINALD AND HIS PARTY REACH THE INDIAN ENCAMPMENT. 156
SECOND VOLUME
I. REGINALD AND HIS PARTY AT THE INDIAN ENCAMPMENT. 165
II. REGINALD HOLDS A CONVERSATION WITH THE MISSIONARY. 173
III. AN ARRIVAL AT MOOSHANNE.—A CALM ASHORE AFTER A STORM
AT SEA. 181
IV. AN ELK–HUNT.—REGINALD MAKES HIS FIRST ESSAY IN
SURGERY.—THE READER IS ADMITTED INTO PRAIRIE–BIRD’S TENT. 193
V. SYMPTOMS OF A RUPTURE BETWEEN THE DELAWARES AND
OSAGES.—MAHÉGA COMES FORWARD IN THE CHARACTER OF A
LOVER.—HIS COURTSHIP RECEIVES AN UNEXPECTED INTERRUPTION. 212
VI. ETHELSTON PREPARES TO LEAVE MOOSHANNE.—MAHÉGA APPEARS AS
AN ORATOR, IN WHICH CHARACTER HE SUCCEEDS BETTER THAN IN
THAT OF A LOVER.—A STORM SUCCEEDED BY A CALM. 222
VII. IN WHICH THE READER WILL FIND A MORAL DISQUISITION
SOMEWHAT TEDIOUS, A TRUE STORY SOMEWHAT INCREDIBLE, A
CONFERENCE THAT ENDS IN PEACE, AND A COUNCIL THAT
BETOKENS WAR. 239
VIII. WAR–EAGLE AND REGINALD, WITH THEIR PARTY, PURSUE THE
DAHCOTAHS. 257
IX. A DESERTED VILLAGE IN THE WEST.—MAHÉGA CARRIES OFF
PRAIRIE–BIRD, AND ENDEAVOURS TO BAFFLE PURSUIT. 264
X. AN AMBUSCADE.—REGINALD BRANDON FINDS HIS HORSE, AND M.
PERROT NEARLY LOSES HIS HEAD.—WHILE INDIAN PHILOSOPHY
IS DISPLAYED IN ONE QUARTER, INDIAN CREDULITY IS
EXHIBITED IN ANOTHER. 273
XI. ETHELSTON VISITS ST. LOUIS, WHERE HE UNEXPECTEDLY MEETS
AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE, AND UNDERTAKES A LONGER JOURNEY THAN
HE HAD CONTEMPLATED. 290
XII. THE OSAGES ENCAMP NEAR THE BASE OF THE ROCKY
MOUNTAINS.—AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR ARRIVES. 297
XIII. WAR–EAGLE’S PARTY FOLLOW THE TRAIL.—A SKIRMISH AND ITS
RESULTS.—THE CHIEF UNDERTAKES A PERILOUS JOURNEY ALONE,
AND HIS COMPANIONS FIND SUFFICIENT OCCUPATION DURING HIS
ABSENCE. 307
XIV. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.—REGINALD PREPARES TO FOLLOW THE
TRAIL. 328
XV. SHOWING HOW WINGENUND FARED IN THE OSAGE CAMP, AND THE
ISSUE OF THE DILEMMA IN WHICH PRAIRIE–BIRD WAS PLACED BY
MAHÉGA. 337
XVI. MAHÉGA FINDS THE BODIES OF HIS TWO FOLLOWERS SLAIN BY
WAR–EAGLE.—SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE INDIAN
CHARACTER.—WAR–EAGLE RETURNS TO HIS FRIENDS, AND THE
OSAGE CHIEF PUSHES HIS WAY FURTHER INTO THE MOUNTAINS. 347
THIRD VOLUME
I. WAR–EAGLE AND HIS PARTY REACH THE DESERTED CAMP OF THE
OSAGES.—THE LATTER FALL IN WITH A STRANGE BAND OF
INDIANS, AND MAHÉGA APPEARS IN THE CHARACTER OF A
DIPLOMATIST. 367
II. CONTAINING VARIOUS INCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED TO THE PARTY
FOLLOWING THE TRAIL.—PLOTS AND COUNTERPLOTS, AND A
DISCUSSION UPON ORATORY, WHICH IS VERY MUCH OUT OF PLACE,
AND, FORTUNATELY FOR THE READER, IS NOT VERY LONG. 385
III. A SCENE IN THE TENT OF PRAIRIE–BIRD, WHO GIVES SOME GOOD
ADVICE, AND RECEIVES IN A SHORT SPACE OF TIME MORE THAN
ONE UNEXPECTED VISITOR.—THE CROWS LED BY MAHÉGA ATTACK
THE DELAWARE CAMP BY NIGHT.—THE DEFEATED PARTY ACHIEVE A
KIND OF TRIUMPH, AND THE VICTORS MEET WITH AN UNEXPECTED
LOSS. 403
IV. THE NEGOTIATION SET ON FOOT BY REGINALD FOR THE RELEASE
OF HIS FRIENDS.—BESHA BECOMES AN IMPORTANT PERSONAGE. 422
V. DAVID MUIR AND HIS DAUGHTER PAY A VISIT TO COLONEL
BRANDON.—THE MERCHANT BECOMES AMBITIOUS; HE ENTERTAINS
PROJECTS FOR JESSIE’S FUTURE WELFARE, WHICH DO NOT
COINCIDE WITH THAT YOUNG LADY’S WISHES. 430
VI. BESHA PURSUES HIS CAREER AS A DIPLOMATIST.—AN AGREEABLE
TETE–A–TETE DISAGREEABLY INTERRUPTED.—THE STEPS THAT
MAHÉGA TOOK TO SUPPORT HIS DECLINING INTERESTS AMONG THE
CROWS. 440
VII. WINGENUND DEVISES A PLAN FOR THE LIBERATION OF HIS
FRIENDS, AND SEEKS TO OBTAIN BY MEANS EQUALLY UNUSUAL AND
EFFECTIVE THE CO–OPERATION OF THE ONE–EYED
HORSE–DEALER.—A FURTHER MARCH INTO THE
MOUNTAINS.—WINGENUND PAYS A VISIT TO HIS FRIENDS, AND THE
LATTER MAKE ACQUAINTANCE WITH A STRANGE CHARACTER. 460
VIII. THE ROOT–DIGGER MAKES FRIENDS WITH THE PARTY.—AN
ADVENTURE WITH A GRISLY BEAR.—THE CONDUCT OF WAR–EAGLE. 478
IX. MAHÉGA IS FOUND IN STRANGE COMPANY, AND WINGENUND DEFERS,
ON ACCOUNT OF MORE IMPORTANT CONCERNS, HIS PLAN FOR THE
LIBERATION OF HIS FRIENDS.—A COUNCIL, A COMBAT, AND A
SKIRMISH, IN WHICH LAST THE CROWS RECEIVE ASSISTANCE FROM
A QUARTER WHENCE THEY LEAST EXPECTED IT. 487
X. WINGENUND AND HIS FRIENDS RETURN TOWARDS THEIR CAMP.—A
SERIOUS ADVENTURE AND A SERIOUS ARGUMENT OCCUR BY THE
WAY.—SHOWING, ALSO, HOW THE EXTREMES OF GRIEF, SURPRISE,
AND JOY MAY BE CROWDED INTO THE SPACE OF A FEW MINUTES. 507
XI. CONTAINING A TREATY BETWEEN THE CROWS AND DELAWARES, AND
THE DEATH OF AN INDIAN CHIEF. 527
XII. WAR–EAGLE’S FUNERAL.—THE PARTY COMMENCE THEIR HOMEWARD
JOURNEY.—BESHA EXERTS HIS DIPLOMATIC TALENTS FOR THE LAST
TIME, AND RECEIVES SEVERAL REWARDS, WITH SOME OF WHICH HE
WOULD WILLINGLY HAVE DISPENSED. 540
XIII. THE SCENE IS SHIFTED TO THE BANKS OF THE MUSKINGUM, AND
PRAIRIE–BIRD RETURNS TO THE HOME OF HER CHILDHOOD. 553
SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 557
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
MONSIEUR PERROT IS SCALPED FACING PAGE i
WINGENUND AND LUCY ” ” 70
PRAIRIE–BIRD AND MAHÉGA ” ” 218
REGINALD AND THE CROW CHIEF ” ” 313
MAHÉGA SPYING THE CAMP OF THE DELAWARES ” ” 398
WAR–EAGLE AND THE GRIZZLY BEAR ” ” 482
THE
PRAIRIE–BIRD.
CHAPTER I.
IN WHICH THE READER WILL FIND A SKETCH OF A VILLAGE IN THE WEST, AND
WILL BE INTRODUCED TO SOME OF THE DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
There is, perhaps, no country in the world more favoured, in respect
to natural advantages, than the state of Ohio in North America: the
soil is of inexhaustible fertility; the climate temperate; the rivers,
flowing into Lake Erie to the north, and through the Ohio into the
Mississippi to the south–west, are navigable for many hundreds of
miles; the forests abound with the finest timber, and even the bowels
of the earth pay, in various kinds of mineral, abundant contribution
to the general wealth: the southern frontier of the state is bounded
by the noble river from which she derives her name, and which obtained
from the early French traders and missionaries the well–deserved
appellation of “La Belle Rivière.”
Towns and cities are now multiplying upon its banks; the axe has laid
low vast tracts of its forest; the plough has passed over many thousand
acres of the prairies which it fertilised; and crowds of steam–boats,
laden with goods, manufactures, and passengers, from every part of the
world, urge their busy way through its waters.
Far different was the appearance and condition of that region at the
period when the events detailed in the following narrative occurred.
The reader must bear in mind that, at the close of the last century,
the vast tracts of forest and prairie now forming the states of Ohio,
Indiana, and Illinois, were all included in what was then called
the North–west Territory; it was still inhabited by numerous bands
of Indian tribes, of which the most powerful were the Lenapé, or
Delawares, the Shawanons, the Miamies, and the Wyandotes, or Hurons.
Here and there, at favourable positions on the navigable rivers,
were trading–posts, defended by small forts, to which the Indians
brought their skins of bear, deer, bison, and beaver; receiving in
exchange powder, rifles, paint, hatchets, knives, blankets, and other
articles, which, although unknown to their forefathers, had become to
them, through their intercourse with the whites, numbered among the
necessaries of life. But the above–mentioned animals, especially the
two last, were already scarce in this region; and the more enterprising
of the hunters, Indian as well as white men, made annual excursions to
the wild and boundless hunting–ground, westward of the Mississippi.
At the close of the eighteenth century, the villages and settlements
on the north bank of the Ohio, being scarce and far apart, were built
rather for the purpose of trading with the Indians than for agriculture
or civilised industry; and their inhabitants were as bold and hardy,
sometimes as wild and lawless, as the red men, with whom they were
beginning to dispute the soil.
Numerous quarrels arose between these western settlers and their Indian
neighbours; blood was frequently shed, and fierce retaliation ensued,
which ended in open hostility. The half–disciplined militia, aided
sometimes by regular troops, invaded and burnt the Indian villages;
while the red men, seldom able to cope with their enemy in the open
field, cut off detached parties, massacred unprotected families; and
so swift and indiscriminate was their revenge, that settlements, at
some distance from the scene of war, were often aroused at midnight by
the unexpected alarm of the war–whoop and the fire–brand. There were
occasions, however, when the Indians boldly attacked and defeated the
troops sent against them; but General Wayne, having taken the command
of the western forces (about four years before the commencement of our
tale), routed them at the battle of the Miamies with great slaughter;
after which many of them went off to the Missain plains, and those who
remained no more ventured to appear in the field against the United
States.
One of the earliest trading ports established in that region was
Marietta, a pretty village situated at the mouth of the Muskimgum
river, where it falls into the Ohio. Even so far back as the year 1799
it boasted a church; several taverns; a strong block–house, serving as
a protection against an attack from the Indians; stores for the sale of
grocery; and, in short, such a collection of buildings as has, in more
than one instance in the western states of America, grown into a city
with unexampled rapidity.
This busy and flourishing village had taken the lead, of all
others within a hundred miles, in the construction of vessels for
the navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi; nay, some of the more
enterprising merchants there settled, had actually built, launched,
and freighted brigs and schooners of sufficient burthen to brave the
seas of the Mexican gulf; and had opened, in their little inland port,
a direct trade with the West Indian islands, to which they exported
flour, pork, maize, and other articles, their vessels returning laden
with fruit, coffee, sugar, and rum.
The largest store in the village, situated in the centre of a row
of houses fronting the river, was built of brick, and divided into
several compartments, wherein were to be found all the necessaries
of life,—all such at least as were called for by the inhabitants of
Marietta and its neighbourhood; one of these compartments was crowded
with skins and furs from the north–west, and with clothes, cottons,
and woollen stuffs from England; the second with earthenware, cutlery,
mirrors, rifles, stoves, grates, &c.; while in the third, which was
certainly the most frequented, were sold flour, tea, sugar, rum,
whiskey, gunpowder, spices, cured pork, &c.; in a deep corner or recess
of the latter was a trap–door, not very often opened, but which led
to a cellar, wherein was stored a reasonable quantity of Madeira and
claret, the quality of which would not have disgraced the best hotel in
Philadelphia.
Over this multifarious property on sale presided David Muir, a bony,
long–armed man, of about forty–five years of age, whose red bristly
hair, prominent cheek bones, and sharp, sunken grey eyes, would,
without the confirming evidence of his broad Scottish accent, have
indicated to an experienced observer the country to which he owed his
birth. In the duties of his employment, David was well seconded by his
helpmate, a tall, powerful woman, whose features, though strong and
masculine, retained the marks of early beauty, and whose voice, when
raised in wrath, reached the ears of every individual, even in the
furthest compartment of the extensive store above described.
David was a shrewd, enterprising fellow, trustworthy in matters of
business, and peaceable enough in temper; though in more than one
affray, which had arisen in consequence of some of his customers,
white men and Indians, having taken on the spot too much of his
“fire–water,” he had shown that he was not to be affronted with
impunity; nevertheless, in the presence of Mrs. Christie (so was his
spouse called) he was gentle and subdued, never attempting to rebel
against an authority which an experience of twenty years had proved
to be irresistible. One only child, aged now about eighteen, was the
fruit of their marriage; and Jessie Muir was certainly more pleasing
in her manners and in her appearance than might have been expected
from her parentage; she assisted her mother in cooking, baking, and
other domestic duties; and, when not thus engaged, read or worked in
a corner of the cotton and silk compartment, over which she presided.
Two lads, engaged at a salary of four dollars a–week, to assist in the
sale, care, and package of the goods, completed David’s establishment,
which was perhaps the largest and the best provided that could be found
westward of the Alleghany mountains.
It must not be supposed, however, that all this property was his own:
it belonged for the most part to Colonel Brandon, a gentleman who
resided on his farm, seven or eight miles from the village, and who
entrusted David Muir with the entire charge of the stores in Marietta;
the accounts of the business were regularly audited by the colonel once
every year, and a fair share of the profits as regularly made over to
David, whose accuracy and integrity had given much satisfaction to his
principal.
Three of the largest trading vessels from the port of Marietta were
owned and freighted by Colonel Brandon; the command and management of
them being entrusted by him to Edward Ethelston, a young man who, being
now in his twenty–eighth year, discharged the duties of captain and
supercargo with the greatest steadiness, ability, and success.
As young Ethelston and his family will occupy a considerable place in
our narrative, it may be as well to detail briefly the circumstances
which led to his enjoying so large a share of the Colonel’s affection
and confidence.
About eleven years before the date mentioned as being that of the
commencement of our tale, Colonel Brandon, having sold his property in
Virginia, had moved to the north–west territory, with his wife and his
two children, Reginald and Lucy. He had persuaded, at the same time,
a Virginian friend, Digby Ethelston, who, like himself, was descended
from an ancient royalist family in the mother country, to accompany him
in this migration. The feelings, associations, and prejudices of both
the friends had been frequently wounded during the war which terminated
in the independence of the United States; for not only were both
attached by those feelings and associations to the old country, but
they had also near connections resident there, with whom they kept up a
friendly intercourse.
It was not, therefore, difficult for Colonel Brandon to persuade his
friend to join him in his proposed emigration. The latter, who was
a widower, and who, like the colonel, had only two children, was
fortunate in having under his roof a sister, who, being now past the
prime of life, devoted herself entirely to the charge of her brother’s
household. Aunt Mary (for she was known by no other name) expressed
neither aversion nor alarm at the prospect of settling permanently in
so remote a region; and the two families moved accordingly, with goods
and chattels, to the banks of the Ohio.
The Colonel and his friend were both possessed of considerable
property, a portion of which they invested in the fur companies, which
at that time carried on extensive traffic in the north–west territory;
they also acquired from the United States government large tracts of
land at no great distance from Marietta, upon which each selected an
agreeable site for his farm or country residence.
Their houses were not far apart, and though rudely built at first, they
gradually assumed a more comfortable appearance; wings were added,
stables enlarged, the gardens and peach–orchards were well fenced, and
the adjoining farm–offices amply stocked with horses and cattle.
For two years all went on prosperously: the boys, Edward Ethelston
and Reginald Brandon, were as fond of each other as their fathers
could desire: the former, being three years the senior, and possessed
of excellent qualities of head and heart, controlled the ardent
and somewhat romantic temper of Reginald: both were at school near
Philadelphia: when on a beautiful day in June, Mr. Ethelston and
Aunt Mary walked over to pay a visit to Mrs. Brandon, leaving little
Evelyn (who was then about eight years old) with her nurse at home:
they remained at Colonel Brandon’s to dine, and were on the point of
returning in the afternoon, when a farm–servant of Mr. Ethelston’s
rushed into the room where the two gentlemen were sitting alone; he was
pale, breathless, and so agitated that he could not utter a syllable:
“For heaven’s sake speak! What has happened?” exclaimed Colonel Brandon.
A dreadful pause ensued: at length, he rather gasped than _said_, “The
Indians!” and buried his face in his hands, as if to shut out some
horrid spectacle!
Poor Ethelston’s tongue clove to his mouth; the prescient agony of a
father overcame him.
“_What_ of the Indians, man?” said Colonel Brandon, angrily; “‘sblood,
we have seen Indians enough hereabout before now;—what the devil have
they been at?”
A groan and a shudder was the only reply.
The Colonel now lost all patience, and exclaimed, “By heavens, the
sight of a red–skin seems to have frightened the fellow out of his
senses! I did not know, Ethelston, that you trusted your farm–stock to
such a chicken–heart as this!”
Incensed by this taunt, the rough lad replied, “Colonel for all as you
be so bold, and have seen, as they say, a bloody field or two, you’d a’
been skeared if you’d a’ seen _this_ job; but as for my being afeared
of Ingians in an up and down fight, or in a tree skrimmage—I don’t
care who says it—t’aint a fact.”
“I believe it, my good fellow,” said the Colonel; “but keep us no
longer in suspense—say what has happened?”
“Why, you see, Colonel, about an hour ago, Jem and Eliab was at work in
the ‘baccy–field behind the house, and nurse was out in the big meadow
a walkin’ with Miss Evelyn, when I heard a cry as if all the devils
had broke loose; in a moment, six or eight painted Ingians with rifles
and tomahawks dashed out of the laurel thicket, and murdered poor Jem
and Eliab before they could get at their rifles which stood by the
_worm_ fence[1]; two of them then went after the nurse and child in the
meadow, while the rest broke into the house, which they ransacked and
set o’ fire!”
“But my child?” cried the agonised father.
“I fear it’s gone too,” said the messenger of this dreadful news. “I
saw one devil kill and scalp the nurse, and t’other,”—here he paused,
awe–struck by the speechless agony of poor Ethelston, who stood with
clasped hands and bloodless lips, unable to ask for the few more words
which were to complete his despair.
“Speak on, man, let us know the worst;” said the Colonel, at the same
time supporting the trembling form of his unhappy friend.
“I seed the tomahawk raised over the sweet child, and I tried to rush
out o’ my hidin’ place to save it, when the flames and the smoke broke
out, and I tumbled into the big ditch below the garden, over head in
water; by the time I got out and reached the place, the red devils were
all gone, and the house, and straw, and barns all in a blaze!”
Poor Ethelston had only heard the first few words—they were
enough—his head sunk upon his breast, his whole frame shuddered
convulsively; and a rapid succession of inarticulate sounds came from
his lips, among which nothing could be distinguished beyond “child,”
“tomahawk,” “Evelyn.”
It is needless to relate in detail all that followed this painful
scene; the bodies of the unfortunate labourers and of the nurse were
found; all had been scalped; that of the child was not found; and
though Colonel Brandon himself led a band of the most experienced
hunters in pursuit, the trail of the savages could not be followed:
with their usual wily foresight they had struck off through the forest
in different directions, and succeeded in baffling all attempts at
discovering either their route or their tribe. Messengers were sent to
the trading–posts at Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and even to Genevieve, and
St. Louis, and all returned dispirited by a laborious and fruitless
search.
Mr. Ethelston never recovered this calamitous blow: several fits of
paralysis, following each other in rapid succession, carried him off
within a few months. By his will he appointed a liberal annuity to Aunt
Mary, and left the remainder of his property to his son Edward, but
entirely under the control and guardianship of Colonel Brandon.
The latter had prevailed upon Aunt Mary and her young nephew to become
inmates of his house; where, after the soothing effect of time had
softened the bitterness of their grief, they found the comforts, the
occupations, the endearments, the social blessings embodied in the word
“home.” Edward became more fondly attached than ever to his younger
companion Reginald; and Aunt Mary, besides aiding Mrs. Brandon in the
education of her daughter, found time to knit, to hem, to cook, to
draw, to plant vegetables, to rear flowers, to read, to give medicine
to any sick in the neighbourhood, and to comfort all who, like herself,
had suffered under the chastising hand of Providence.
Such were the circumstances which (eleven years before the commencement
of this narrative) had led to the affectionate and paternal interest
which the Colonel felt for the son of his friend, and which was
increased by the high and estimable qualities gradually developed
in Edward’s character. Before proceeding further in our tale, it is
necessary to give the reader some insight into the early history of
Colonel Brandon himself, and into those occurrences in the life of his
son Reginald which throw light upon the events hereafter to be related.