While the reader is left to pause over the rapid succession of
incidents resulting from the mysterious entrance of the warrior of the
Fleur 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 murder of his unfortunate servant.
It will be recollected that the ill-fated Halloway, in the course of
his defence 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. This 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
determination 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 subject of that short,
low, and hurried conference was, indeed, one that well warranted the
singular intrusion; and, in the declaration of Halloway, we have
already seen the importance and anxiety attached by the young officer
to the communication. Without waiting to repeat the motives assigned
for his departure, and the prayers and expostulations to which he had
recourse to overcome the determination and sense of duty of the
unfortunate sentinel, let us pass 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 visitant.
The night, it has elsewhere been observed, was clear and starry, so
that objects upon the common, such as the rude stump that here and
there raised its dark low head above the surface, might be 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, followed 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 booted foot. A corresponding signal showed that
the lightness of the material offered little risk of betrayal.
Donellan, however, was made to doff his heavy ammunition shoes; and,
with this precaution, they all stole hastily along, under the shadows
of the projecting ramparts, until they had gained the extreme rear.
Here the female suddenly raised her tall figure from the stooping
position in which she, as well 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, unperceived by the
sentinels, most of whom, it is probable, had, up to the moment of the
alarm subsequently given, been too much overcome by previous watching
and excitement to have kept the most vigilant look-out.
Arrived at the skirt of the forest, the little party drew up within the
shadow 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 latter to his servant, who, after a momentary but respectful
expostulation, which, however, was utterly lost on him to whom it was
addressed, proceeded to divest himself of his humble apparel, assuming
in exchange the more elegant uniform of his superior. Donellan, who was
also of the grenadiers, was remarkable for the resemblance he bore, in
figure, to Captain de Haldimar; 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 officer at
fault.
"This is well," observed the female, as the young man proceeded to
induct himself in the grey coat of his servant, having previously drawn
the glazed hat close over his waving and redundant hair: "if the
Saganaw is ready, Oucanasta will go."
"Sure, and your honour does not mane to lave me behind!" exclaimed the
anxious soldier, as his captain now recommended him to stand closely
concealed near the ruin until his return. "Who knows what ambuscade the
she-divil may not lade your honour into; 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 which I am going is of
the utmost 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 would 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 with the ugly winch, for her pains!" half muttered the
disappointed soldier to himself. "I wish it may be as your honour says;
but my mind misgives me sadly that evil will come of this. Has your
honour secured the pistols?"
"They are here," returned his captain, placing a hand on either chest.
"And now, Donellan, mark me: I know nothing that can detain me longer
than an hour; at least the woman assures me, and I believe her, that I
may be back then; but it is well to guard against accidents. You must
continue here for the hour, and for the 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
the 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
know either that Halloway suffered me to pass the gate, or that you
accompanied me."
"Lord love us! your honour talks as if you nivir would return, giving
such 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 honour's rigimintals?"
"I tell you, Donellan," impatiently returned the officer, "that I shall
be back; but I only wish to guard against accidents. The instant you
get into the fort, you will take off 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 with the blood of his race,
he will go," interrupted 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 domestic kindly: "should I not return, you must, without
committing Halloway or yourself, cause my father to be apprised 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 that I shall hear it discussed unseen, 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 bomb-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 honour?" 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 guarding your honour from harm? What sort of
protection can that Ingian woman afford, who is of the race of our
bitterest enemies, them cursed Ottawas, and your honour venturing, too,
like a spy into the very heart of the blood-hounds? Ah, Captain de
Haldimar, for the love of God, do not trust yourself alone with her, or
I am sure I shall never see your honour 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 figure against the ruin, where he
continued for a period immovable, as if he had been planted there in
his ordinary character of sentinel, 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 proved the latter to be well acquainted
with its bearings. On quitting the bomb-proof, 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, however,
with the less experienced tread of her companion. 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 any where around, his approach 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
abrupt sides of which were studded with underwood, so completely
interwoven, that all passage appeared impracticable. What, however,
seemed an insurmountable obstacle, proved, in reality, an inestimable
advantage; for it was by clinging to this, in imitation of the example
set him by his companion, the young officer was prevented from rolling
into an abyss, the depth of which was lost in the profound 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
which the activity 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 assisted them in their descent.
On gaining the other summit, which was not done without detaching
several loose stones from their sandy bed, they again, fell into the
path, which had been lost sight of in traversing the ravine. They had
proceeded along this about half a mile, when the female suddenly
stopped, and pointing to a dim and lurid atmosphere that now began to
show itself between the thin foliage, whispered that in the opening
beyond stood the encampment of the Indians. She then seated herself 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
mocassins.
"The foot of the Saganaw must fall like the night dew on the prairie,"
she observed: "the ear of the red skin is quicker than the lightning,
and he will know that a pale face is near, if he hear but his tread
upon a blade of grass."
Gallantry in the civilised man is a sentiment that never wholly
abandons him; and in whatever clime he may be thrown, or under whatever
circumstances he may be placed,--be it called forth by white or by
blackamoor,--it is certain to influence his conduct: it is a
refinement, of that instinctive deference to the weaker sex, which
nature has implanted in him for the wisest of purposes; and which,
while it tends to exalt those to whom its influence is extended, fails
not to reflect a corresponding lustre on himself.
The young officer had, at the first suggestion of his guide, divested
himself of his boots, prepared to perform the remainder of the journey
merely in his stockings, but his companion now threw herself on her
knees before him, and, without further ceremony, proceeded to draw over
his foot one of the mocassins she had just relinquished.
"The feet of the Saganaw are soft as those of a young child," she
remarked, in a voice of commiseration; "but the mocassins of Oucanasta
shall protect them from the thorns of the forest."
This was too un-European,--too much reversing the established order of
things, to be borne patiently. As if he had felt the dignity of his
manhood offended by the proposal, 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.
Oucanasta, however, was not to be outdone in politeness. She calmly
reseated 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 feel 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. Most men love to
render tribute to a delicate and pretty foot. Some, indeed, go so far
as to connect every thing feminine with these qualities, and to believe
that nothing can be feminine without them. For our parts, we confess,
that, although no enemies to a pretty foot, it is by no means a sine
qua non in our estimate of female perfection; being in no way disposed,
where the head and heart are gems, to undervalue these in consideration
of any deficiency in the heels. Captain de Haldimar probably thought
otherwise; for when he had passed his unwilling hand over the foot of
Oucanasta, which, whatever her face might have been, was certainly any
thing but delicate, and encountered numerous ragged excrescences and
raspy callosities that set all symmetry at defiance, a wonderful
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 with
the lurid atmosphere before alluded to; and at length, through the
trees, could be indistinctly 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 circuit 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 proximity, 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
whatever it pressed; whereas, the pliant mocassin, yielding to the
obstacles it encountered, enabled him to pass noiselessly over them.
Still, while exempt from danger on this score, another, scarcely less
perplexing, became at every instant more obvious; for, as they drew
nearer to the point which the female sought to gain, the dim light of
the half-slumbering fires fell so immediately upon their path, that had
a single human eye 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
concluding stage of his adventurous course; but, at a moment when he
considered detection unavoidable, and was arming himself with
resolution to meet the event, the female suddenly halted, placing, in
the act, the trunk of an enormous beech between her companion and the
dusky forms within, whose very breathing could be heard by the anxious
officer. Without uttering a word, she took his hand, and, drawing him
gently forward, disappeared altogether from his view. The young man
followed, and in the next moment found himself 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 formed by the natural decay
of the wood.
The Indian pressed her lips to the ear of her companion, and rather
breathed than said,--"The Saganaw will see and hear every thing from
this in safety; and what he hears let him treasure in his heart.
Oucanasta must 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 satisfied him she must be gone. His first care then was to
survey, through the aperture that lay in a level with his eye, the
character of the scene before him. The small plain, in which lay the
encampment of the Indians, was a sort of oasis of the forest, girt
round 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 was thickly although irregularly studded with tents, some
of which were 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, wrapped in their blankets,
stretched at their lazy length. Others, with their feet placed close to
the dying embers of their fires, diverged like so many radii from their
centre, and lay motionless in sleep, as if life and consciousness were
wholly extinct. Here and there was to be seen a solitary warrior
securing, with admirable neatness, and with delicate ligatures formed
of the sinew of the deer, the guiding feather, or fashioning the bony
barb of his long arrow; while others, with the same warlike spirit in
view, employed themselves in cutting and greasing small patches of
smoked deerskin, which were to secure and give a more certain direction
to the murderous bullet. Among the warriors were interspersed many
women, some of whom might be seen supporting in their laps the heavy
heads of their unconscious helpmates, while they occupied themselves,
by the firelight, in parting the long black matted hair, and
maintaining a destructive warfare against the pigmy inhabitants of that
dark region. These signs of life and activity in the body of the camp
generally were, however, but few and occasional; but, at the spot where
Captain de Haldimar stood concealed, the scene was different. 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. This simple
edifice might be about fifty feet in circumference. In the centre
blazed 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 proud, 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 in arms against his enemies. That chief himself,
ever remarkable for his haughty eye and commanding gesture, was of the
number of those present; and, a little aloof from his inferiors, sat,
with his feet stretched towards the fire, and half reclining on his
side in an attitude of indolence; yet with his mind evidently engrossed
by deep and absorbing thought. From some observations that distinctly
met his ear, Captain de Haldimar gathered, the party were only awaiting
the arrival of an important character, without whose presence the
leading chief was unwilling the conference should begin. The period of
the officer's concealment had just been long enough to enable him to
fix all these particulars in his mind, when suddenly the faint report
of a distant rifle was heard echoing throughout the wood. This was
instantly succeeded by a second, that sounded more sharply on the ear;
and then followed a long and piercing cry, that brought every warrior,
even of those who slept, quickly to his feet.
An anxious interval of some minutes passed away in the fixed and
listening attitudes, which the chiefs especially had assumed, when a
noise resembling that of some animal forcing its way rapidly through
the rustling branches, was faintly heard in the direction in which the
shots had been fired. This gradually increased as it evidently
approached the encampment, and then, distinctly, 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 closely did the intruder press upon the
point in which Captain de Haldimar was concealed, that that officer,
fancying he had been betrayed, turned hastily round, and, grasping one
of the pistols he had secreted in his chest, prepared himself for a
last and 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 encampment from 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 hurry 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 eye fell on the
assembled throng, its self-satisfied and exulting glance seemed to give
them to understand he came not without credentials to recommend him to
their notice. Captain de Haldimar was particularly struck by the air of
bold daring and almost insolent recklessness pervading every movement
of this man; and it was difficult to say whether the haughtiness of
bearing peculiar to Ponteac himself, was not exceeded by that of this
herculean warrior.
By the body of chiefs his appearance had been greeted with a mere
general grunt of approbation; but the countenance of the leader
expressed a more personal interest. All seemed to expect he had
something of moment to communicate; but as it was not consistent with
the dignity of Indian etiquette to enquire, they waited calmly until it
should please their new associate to enter on the history of his
exploits. In pursuance of an invitation from Ponteac, he now took 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 fired, and the sight of the bloody tomahawk of
the recently arrived Indian, gazed earnestly and anxiously on the
swarthy throng.
Glancing once more triumphantly round the circle, who sat smoking their
pipes in calm and deliberative silence, the latter now observed the eye
of a young chief, who sat opposite to him, intently riveted on his left
shoulder. He raised his hand to the part, withdrew it, looked at it,
and found it wet with blood. A slight start of surprise betrayed his
own unconsciousness of the accident; yet, secretly vexed at the
discovery which had been made, and urged probably by one of his wayward
fits, he demanded haughtily and insultingly of the young chief, if that
was the first time he had ever looked on the blood of a warrior.
"Does 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 spilt his blood."
"The weapons of the Saganaw, like those of the smooth face of the
Ottawa, are without sting," angrily retorted the other. "They only
prick the skin like a thorn; but when 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 always big words upon his lips," returned the young
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 deliberately from his bloody
tomahawk, and, thrusting his right hand into his bosom, drew leisurely
forth a reeking scalp, which he tossed insolently across the fire into
the lap of the young chief. A loud and general "ugh!" testified the
approbation of the assembled group, at the unequivocal answer thus
given to the demand of the youth. 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. "Does 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 every part. Then tossing it back
with contemptuous coolness to its owner, he replied,--
"The 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
knows their chiefs have fine hair like women; but this is like the
bristles 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
colour 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 venture, even
at night, within a hundred yards of the fort, he will see a Saganaw
without a scalp; and he will know that Saganaw by his dress--the
dress," he pursued, with a low emphatic laugh, "that Oucanasta, the
sister of the smooth face, 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 separated him from his insulter. The formidable man who had thus
wantonly provoked 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 weapon that served in the double capacity of
pipe and hatchet. A fierce yell escaped the lips of each, as they 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 rest his formidable weapon,
Ponteac himself had thrown his person between them, and in a voice of
thunder commanded the instant abandonment of their purpose. Exasperated
even as they now mutually were, the influence of that authority, for
which the great chief of the Ottawas was well known, was not without
due effect on the combatants. His anger was principally directed
against the assailant, on whom the tones of his reproving voice
produced a change the intimidation of his powerful opponent could never
have effected. 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, and his head bent in
silence over his chest.
"Our brother has done well," said Ponteac, glancing approvingly at him
who had exhibited the reeking trophy, and whom he evidently favoured.
"He is a great chief, and his words are truth. We 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 readers will readily imagine the feelings of Captain de Haldimar
during this short but exciting scene. From the account given by the
warrior, there could be no doubt the murdered man was the unhappy
Donellan; who, probably, neglecting the caution given him, 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 allusion 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 colour to be that of his
servant, formed but too conclusive evidence of the fact; and, bitterly
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 adventure, 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 towards his destroyer; and it
was with feelings strongly excited in favour 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 greater physical
power of his adversary; while the manner in which he wielded his
tomahawk, proved him to be any thing 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 interpose 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
his 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 succeeded to the fierce affray of the
warriors, when Ponteac, in a calm and deliberate 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
the hunting-grounds by their warriors; and their consequent deficiency
in all those articles of European traffic which they were formerly in
the habit of receiving 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, instead 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 baffle, as had hitherto been the case, every open
attempt at their capture; and admitted he had little expectation of
terrifying them into a surrender 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 undistinguishable sounds alone reached the ear of the excited
officer. For a moment he despaired of making himself fully master of
the important secret; but in the course of the deliberation that
ensued, the blanks left unsupplied in the discourse of the leader were
abundantly filled up. It was what the reader has already seen. The
necessities of the Indians were to be urged as a motive for their being
tired of hostilities. A peace was to be solicited; a council held; a
ball-playing among the warriors proposed, as a mark of their own
sincerity and confidence during that council; and when the garrison,
lulled into security, should be thrown entirely off their guard, the
warriors were to seize their guns and tomahawks, with which (the former
cut short, for the better concealment of their purpose) their women
would be provided, rush in, under pretext of regaining their lost ball,
when a universal massacre of men, women, and children was to ensue,
until nothing wearing the garb of a Saganaw should be left.
It would be tedious to follow the chief through all the minor
ramifications of his subtle plan. Suffice it they were of a nature to
throw the most wary off his guard; and so admirably arranged was every
part, so certain did it appear their enemies must give into the snare,
that the oldest chiefs testified their approbation with a vivacity of
manner and expression little wont to characterize the deliberative
meetings of these reserved people. But deepest of all was the approval
of the 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 purpose.
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 perfect 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
emphatically 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 unfathomably
guileful exultation. Captain de Haldimar thought he had never gazed on
any thing wearing the human shape half so atrociously savage.
Long before the council was terminated, the inferior warriors, who had
been so suddenly aroused from their slumbering 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 companion, in the course of
which, the words "chief of the Saganaw--fort--spy--enemy," and two or
three others equally unconnected, were alone audible to the ear of him
who so attentively sought to catch the slightest sound. He then thrust
his hand under his hunting-coat, and, as if in confirmation of what he
had been stating, exhibited a coil of rope and the glossy boot of an
English officer. Ponteac uttered one of his sharp ejaculating "ughs!"
and then rising quickly from his seat, followed by his companion, soon
disappeared in the heart of the encampment.