"There need no ghost, my lord, come from the grave
To tell us this."
Hamlet
Although the minds of most, if not of all the inmates of the
Wish-Ton-Wish, had been so powerfully exercised that night with a belief
that the powers of the invisible world were about to be let loose upon
them, the danger had now presented itself in a shape too palpable to admit
of further doubt. The cry of 'the heathen' had been raised from every lip;
even the daughter and eleve of Ruth repeated it, as they fled wailing
through the buildings; and, for a moment, terror and surprise appeared to
involve the assailed in inextricable confusion. But the promptitude of the
young men in rushing to the rescue, with the steadiness of Content, soon
restored order. Even the females assumed at least the semblance of
composure, the family having been too long trained to meet the exigencies
of such an emergency, to be thrown entirely off its guard, for more than
the first and the most appalling moments of the alarm.
The effect of the sudden repulse was such as all experience had taught
the Colonists to expect, in their Indian warfare. The uproar of the onset
ceased as abruptly as it had commenced, and a calmness so tranquil, and a
stillness so profound, succeeded, that one who had for the first time
witnessed such a scene, might readily have fancied it the effects of some
wild and fearful illusion.
During these moments of general and deep silence, the two adventurers,
whose retreat had probably hastened the assault by offering the temptation
of an easy passage within the works, left the cover of the piles of wood,
and ascended the hill to the place where Dudley knew Content was to be
posted, in the event of a summons to the defences.
"Unless much inquiry hath deceived me in the nature of the heathen's
craftiness," said the stranger, "we shall have breathing-time ere the
onset be renewed. The experience of a soldier bids me say, that prudence
now urges us to look into the number and position of our foes, that we may
order our resistance with better understanding of their force."
"In what manner of way may this be done? Thou seest nought about us but
the quiet and the darkness of night. Speak of the number of our enemies we
cannot, and sally forth we may not, without certain destruction to all who
quit the palisadoes."
"Thou forgottest that we have a hostage in the boy; he may be turned to
some advantage, if our power over his person be used with discretion."
"I doubt that we deceive ourselves with a hope that is vain," returned
Content, leading the way as he spoke, however, towards the court which
communicated with the principal dwelling. "I have closely studied the eye
of that lad, since his unaccountable entrance within the works, and little
do I find there that should teach us to expect confidence. It will be
happy if some secret understanding with those without, has not aided him
in passing the palisadoes, and that he prove not a dangerous spy on our
force and movements."
"In regard to that he hath entered the dwelling without sound of conch or
aid of postern, be no disturbed," returned the stranger with composure.
"Were it fitting, this mystery might be of easy explanation; but it may
truly need all our sagacity to discover whether he hath connection with
our foes! The mind of a native does not give up its secrets like the
surface of a vanity-feeding mirror."
The stranger, spoke like a man who wrapped a portion of his thoughts in
reserve, and his companion listened as one who comprehended more than it
might be seemly or discreet to betray. With this secret and yet equivocal
understanding of each other's meaning, they entered the dwelling, and soon
found themselves in the presence of those they sought.
The constant danger of their situation had compelled the family to
bring themselves within the habits of a methodical and severely-regulated
order of defense. Duties were assigned, in the event of alarm, to the
feeblest bodies and the faintest hearts; and during the moments which
preceded the visit of her husband, Ruth had been endeavoring to commit
to her female subordinates the several necessary charges that usage, and
more particularly the emergency of the hour, appeared so imperiously to
require.
"Hasten, Charity, to the block," she said; "and look into the condition of
the buckets and the ladders, that should the heathen drive us to its
shelter, provision of water, and means of retreat, be not wanting in our
extremity; and hie thee, Faith, into the upper apartments, to see that no
lights may direct their murderous aim at any in the chambers. Thoughts
come tardily, when the arrow or the bullet hath already taken its flight!
And now, that the first assault is over, Mark, and we may hope to meet the
wiles of the enemy by some prudence of our own, thou mayst go forth to thy
father. It would have been tempting Providence too rashly, hadst thou
rushed, unbidden and uninformed, into the first hurry of the danger. Come
hither, child, and receive the blessing and prayers of thy mother: after
which thou shalt, with better trust in Providence, place thy young person
among the combatants, in the hope of victory. Remember that thou art now
of an age to do justice to thy name and origin, and yet art thou of years
too tender to be foremost in speech, and far less in action, on such a
night as this."
A momentary flush, that only served to render the succeeding paleness more
obvious, passed across the brow of the mother. She stooped, and imprinted
a kiss on the forehead of the impatient boy, who scarcely waited to
receive this act of tenderness, ere he hurried to place himself in the
ranks of her defenders.
"And now," said Ruth, slowly turning her eye from the door by which the
lad had disappeared, and speaking with a sort of unnatural composure, "and
now will we look to the safety of those who can be of but little service,
except as sentinels to sound the alarm. When thou art certain, Faith, that
no neglected light is in the rooms above, take the children to the secret
chamber; thence they may look upon the fields, without danger from any
chance direction of the savages' aim. Thou knowest, Faith, my frequent
teaching in this matter; let no sounds of alarm, nor frightful whoopings
of the people without, cause thee to quit the spot; since thou wilt there
be safer even than in the block, against which many missiles will
doubtless be driven on account of its seeming air of strength. Timely
notice shall be given of the change, should we seek its security. Thou
wilt descend, only, shouldst thou see enemies scaling the palisadoes on
the side which overhangs the stream; since there have we the fewest eyes
to watch their movements. Remember that on the side of the out-buildings
and of the fields, our force is chiefly posted; there can be less reason
therefore that thou shouldst expose thy lives by endeavoring to look, too
curiously, into that which passeth in the fields. Go, my children; and a
heavenly Providence prove thy guardian!"
Ruth stooped to kiss the cheek that her daughter offered to the salute.
The embrace was then given to the other child, who was in truth scarcely
less near her heart, being the orphan daughter of one who had been as a
sister in her affections. But, unlike the kiss she had impressed on the
forehead of Mark, the present embraces were hasty, and evidently awakened
less intense emotion. She had committed the boy to a known and positive
danger, but, under the semblance of some usefulness, she sent the others
to a place believed to be even less exposed, so long as the enemy could be
kept without the works, than the citadel itself. Still, a feeling of deep
and maternal tenderness came over her mind, as her daughter retired; and,
yielding to its sudden impulse, she recalled the girl to her side.
"Thou wilt repeat the prayer for especial protection against the dangers
of the wilderness," she solemnly continued. "In thy asking, fail not to
remember him to whom thou owest being, and who now exposeth life, that we
may be safe. Thou knowest the Christian's rock; place thy faith on its
foundation."
"And they who seek to kill us," demanded the well-instructed child; "are
they too of the number of those for whom he died?"
"It may not be doubted, though the manner of the dispensation be so
mysterious! Barbarians in their habits, and ruthless in their enmities,
they are creatures of our nature, and equally objects of his care."
Flaxen locks, that half-covered a forehead and face across which ran the
most delicate tracery of veins, added lustre to a skin as spotlessly fair
as if the warm breezes of that latitude had never fanned the countenance
of the girl. Through this maze of ringlets, the child turned her full,
clear, blue eyes, bending her looks, in wonder and in fear, on the dark
visage of the captive Indian youth, who at that moment was to her a
subject of secret horror. Unconscious of the interest he excited, the lad
stood calm, haughty, and seemingly unobservant, cautious to let no sign of
weakness or of concern escape him, in this scene of womanly emotion.
"Mother," whispered the still wondering child; "may we not let him go into
the forest? I do not love to--"
"This is no time for speech. Go to thy hiding-place, my child, and
remember both thy askings and the cautions I have named. Go, and heavenly
care protect thy innocent head!"
Ruth again stooped, and bowing her face until the features were lost in
the rich tresses of her daughter, a moment passed during which there was
an eloquent silence. When she arose, a tear glistened on the cheek of the
child. The latter had received the embrace more in apathy than in concern;
and now, when led towards the upper rooms, she moved from the presence of
her mother, it was with an eye that never bent its riveted gaze from the
features of the young Indian, until the intervening walls hid him entirely
from her sight.
"Thou hast been thoughtful and like thyself, my good Ruth," said Content,
who at that moment entered, and who rewarded the self-command of his wife
by a look of the kindest approbation. "The youths have not been more
prompt in meeting the foe at the stockades, than thy maidens in looking to
their less hardy duties. All is again quiet, without; and we come, now,
rather for consultation, than for any purposes of strife."
"Then must we summon our father from his post at the artillery, in
the block."
"It is not needful," interrupted the stranger. "Time presses, for this
calm may be too shortly succeeded by a tempest that all our power shall
not quell. Bring forth the captive."
Content signed to the boy to approach, and when he was in reach of his
hand, he placed him full before the stranger.
"I know not thy name, nor yet even that of thy people," commenced the
latter, after a long pause in which he seemed to study deeply the
countenance of the lad; "but certain am I, though a more wicked spirit may
still be struggling for the mastery in thy wild mind, that nobleness of
feeling is no stranger to thy bosom. Speak; hast thou aught to impart
concerning the danger that besets this family? I have learned much this
night from thy manner, but to be clearly understood, it is now time that
thou shouldst speak in words."
The youth kept his eye fastened on that of the speaker, until the other
had ended, and then he bent it slowly, but with searching observation, on
the anxious countenance of Ruth. It seemed as if he balanced between his
pride and his sympathies. The latter prevailed; for, conquering the deep
reluctance of an Indian, he spoke openly, and for the first time, since
his captivity, in the language of the hated race.
"I hear the whoops of warriors," was his calm answer. "Have the ears of
the pale men been shut?"
"Thou hast spoken with the young men of thy tribe in the forest, and thou
hadst knowledge of this onset?"
The youth made no reply, though the keen look of his interrogator was met
steadily, and without fear. Perceiving that he had demanded more than
would be answered, the stranger changed his mode of investigation, masking
his inquiries with a little more of artifice.
"It may not be that a great tribe is on the bloody path!" he said;
"warriors would have walked over the timbers of the palisadoes, like
bending reeds! 'Tis a Pequot who hath broken faith with a Christian, and
who is now abroad, prowling as a wolf in the night."
A sudden and wild expression gleamed over the swarthy features of the
boy. His lips moved, and the words that issued from between them were
uttered in the tones of biting scorn. Still he rather muttered than
pronounced aloud--
"The Pequot is a dog!"
"It is as I had thought; the knaves are out of their villages, that the
Yengeese may feed their squaws. But a Narragansett, or a Wampanoag, is a
man; he scorns to lurk in the darkness. When he comes, the sun will light
his path. The Pequot steals in silence, for he fears that the warriors
will hear his tread."
It was not easy to detect any evidence that the captive listened, either
to the commendation or the censure, with answering sympathy; for marble is
not colder that were the muscles of his unmoved countenance.
The stranger studied the expression of his features in vain, and drawing
so near as to lay his hand on the naked shoulder of the lad, he
added--"Boy, thou hast heard much moving matter concerning the nature of
our Christian faith, and thou hast been the subject of many a fervent
asking; it may not be that so much good seed hath been altogether
scattered by the way-side! Speak; may I again trust thee?"
"Let my father look on the snow. The print of the moccasin goes and
comes."
"It is true. Thus far hast thou proved honest; but when the war-whoop
shall be thrilling through thy young blood, the temptation to join the
warriors may be too strong. Hast any gage, any pledge, in which we may
find warranty for letting thee depart?"
The boy regarded his interrogator with a look that plainly denoted
ignorance of his meaning.
"I would know what thou canst leave with me, to show that our eyes shall
again look upon thy face, when we have opened the gate for thy passage
into the fields."
Still the gaze of the other was wondering and confused.
"When the white man goes upon the war-path and would put trust in his foe,
he takes surety for his faith, by holding the life of one dear as a
warranty of its truth. What canst offer, that I may know thou wilt return
from the errand on which I would fain send thee?"
"The path is open."
"Open, but not certain to be used. Fear may cause thee to forget the way
it leads."
The captive now understood the meaning of the other's doubts, but, as
if disdaining to reply, he bent his eyes aside, and stood in one of
those immovable attitudes which so often gave him the air of a piece of
dark statuary.
Content and his wife had listened to this short dialogue, in a manner to
prove that they possessed some secret knowledge, which lessened the wonder
they might otherwise have felt, at witnessing so obvious proofs of a
secret acquaintance between the speakers. Both however manifested
unequivocal signs of astonishment, when they first heard English sounds
issuing from the lips of the boy. There was, at least, the semblance of
hope in the mediation of one who had received, and who had appeared to
acknowledge, so much kindness from herself; and Ruth clung to the cheering
expectation with the quickness of maternal care.
"Let the boy depart," she said. "I will be his hostage; and should he
prove false, there can be less to fear in his absence than in his
presence."
The obvious truth of the latter assertion probably weighed more with the
stranger than the unmeaning pledge of the woman.
"There is reason in this," he resumed. "Go, then, into the fields, and say
to thy people that they have mistaken the path; that, they are on, hath
led them to the dwelling of a friend--Here are no Pequots, nor any of the
men of the Manhattoes; but Christian Yengeese, who have long dealt with
the Indian as one just man dealeth with another. Go, and when thy signal
shall be heard at the gate, it shall be open to thee, for readmission."
Thus saying, the stranger motioned to the boy to follow, taking care, as
they left the room together, to instruct him in all such minor matters as
might assist in effecting the pacific object of the mission on which he
was employed.
A few minutes of doubt and of fearful suspense succeeded this experiment.
The stranger, after seeing that egress was permitted to his messenger, had
returned to the dwelling, and rejoined his companions. He passed the
moments in pacing the apartment, with the strides of one in whom powerful
concern was strongly at work. At times, the sound of his heavy footstep
ceased, and then all listened intently, in order to catch any sound that
might instruct them in the nature of the scene that was passing without.
In the midst of one of these pauses, a yell like that of savage delight
arose in the fields. It was succeeded by the death-like and portentous
calm, which had rendered the time since the momentary attack even more
alarming than when the danger had a positive and known character. But all
the attention the most intense anxiety could now lend, furnished no
additional clue to the movement of their foes. For many minutes, the quiet
of midnight reigned both within and without the defences. In the midst of
this suspense, the latch of the door was lifted, and their messenger
appeared with that noiseless tread and collected mien which distinguish
the people of his race.
"Thou hast met the warriors of thy tribe?" hastily demanded the stranger.
"The noise did not cheat the Yengeese. It was not a girl, laughing in
the woods."
"And thou hast said to thy people, 'we are friends'?"
"The words of my father were spoken."
"And heard--Were they loud enough to enter the ears of the young men?"
The boy was silent.
"Speak," continued the stranger, elevating his form, proudly, like one
ready to breast a more severe shock. "Thou hast men for thy listeners. Is
the pipe of the savage filled? Will he smoke in peace, or holdeth he the
tomahawk in a clenched hand?"
The countenance the boy worked with a feeling that it was not usual for an
Indian to betray. He bent his look, with concern, on the mild eyes of the
anxious Ruth; then drawing a hand slowly from beneath the light robe that
partly covered his body, he cast at the feet of the stranger a bundle of
arrows, wrapped in the glossy and striped skin of the rattlesnake.
"This is warning we may not misconceive!" said Content, raising the
well-known emblem of ruthless hostility to the light, and exhibiting it
before the eyes of his less-instructed companion. "Boy, what have the
people of my race done, that thy warriors should seek their blood, to this
extremity?"
When the boy had discharged his duty, he moved aside, and appeared
unwilling to observe the effect which his message might produce on his
companions. But thus questioned, all gentle feelings were near being
forgotten, in the sudden force of passion. A hasty glance at Ruth quelled
the emotion, and he continued calm as ever, and silent.
"Boy," repeated Content, "I ask thee why thy people seek our blood?"
The passage of the electric spark is not more subtle, nor is it
scarcely more brilliant, than was the gleam that shot into the dark eye
of the Indian. The organ seemed to emit rays coruscant as the glance of
the serpent. His form appeared to swell with the inward strivings of
the spirit, and for a moment there was every appearance of a fierce and
uncontrollable burst of ferocious passion. The conquest of feeling was,
however, but momentary. He regained his self-command by a surprising
effort of the will, and advancing so near to him who had asked this
bold question, as to lay a finger on his breast, the young savage
haughtily said--
"See! this world is very wide. There is room on it for the panther and the
deer. Why have the Yengeese and the red-men met?"
"We waste the precious moments in probing the stern nature of a heathen,"
said the stranger. "The object of his people is certain, and, with the aid
of the Christian's staff, will we beat back their power. Prudence
requireth at our hands, that the lad be secured; after which, will we
repair to the stockades and prove ourselves men."
Against this proposal no reasonable objection could be raised. Content
was about to secure the person of his captive in a cellar, when a
suggestion of his wife caused him to change his purpose. Notwithstanding
the sudden and fierce mien of the youth, there had been such an
intelligence created between them by looks of kindness and interest, that
the mother was reluctant to abandon all hope of his aid.
"Miantonimoh!" she said, "though others distrust thy purpose, I will
have confidence. Come, then, with me; and while I give thee promise of
safety in thine own person, I ask at thy hands the office of a protector
for my babes."
The boy made no reply; but as he passively followed his conductress to the
chambers, Ruth fancied she read assurance of his faith, in the expression
of his eloquent eye. At the same moment, her husband and Submission left
the house, to take their stations at the palisadoes.