There was a roaring in the wind all night;
The rain came heavily, and fell in floods;
But now the sun is rising calm and bright;
The birds are singing in the distant woods.
WORDSWORTH.
As the light returned, Pathfinder and Cap ascended again to the roof,
with a view to reconnoitre the state of things once more on the island.
This part of the blockhouse had a low battlement around it, which
afforded a considerable protection to those who stood in its centre; the
intention having been to enable marksmen to lie behind it and to
fire over its top. By making proper use, therefore, of these slight
defences,--slight as to height, though abundantly ample as far as they
went,--the two look-outs commanded a pretty good view of the island, its
covers excepted, and of most of the channels that led to the spot.
The gale was still blowing very fresh at south; and there were places in
the river where its surface looked green and angry, though the wind
had hardly sweep enough to raise the water into foam. The shape of the
little island was nearly oval, and its greater length was from east to
west. By keeping in the channels that washed it, in consequence of their
several courses and of the direction of the gale, it would have
been possible for a vessel to range past the island on either of its
principal sides, and always to keep the wind very nearly abeam. These
were the facts first noticed by Cap, and explained to his companion; for
the hopes of both now rested on the chances of relief sent from Oswego.
At this instant, while they stood gazing anxiously about them, Cap cried
out, in his lusty, hearty manner,
“Sail, ho!”
Pathfinder turned quickly in the direction of his companion's face;
and there, sure enough, was just visible the object of the old sailor's
exclamation. The elevation enabled the two to overlook the low land of
several of the adjacent islands; and the canvas of a vessel was seen
through the bushes that fringed the shore of one that lay to the
southward and westward. The stranger was under what seamen call low
sail; but so great was the power of the wind, that her white outlines
were seen flying past the openings of the verdure with the velocity of a
fast-travelling horse--resembling a cloud driving in the heavens.
“That cannot be Jasper,” said Pathfinder in disappointment; for he did
not recognize the cutter of his friend in the swift-passing object.
“No, no, the lad is behind the hour; and that is some craft which the
Frenchers have sent to aid their friends, the accursed Mingos.”
“This time you are out in your reckoning, friend Pathfinder, if you
never were before,” returned Cap in a manner that had lost none of
its dogmatism by the critical circumstances in which they were placed.
“Fresh water or salt, that is the head of the _Scud's_ mainsail, for it
is cut with a smaller gore than common; and then you can see that the
gaff has been fished--quite neatly done, I admit, but fished.”
“I can see none of this, I confess,” answered Pathfinder, to whom even
the terms of his companion were Greek.
“No! Well, I own that surprises me, for I thought your eyes could see
anything! Now to me nothing is plainer than that gore and that fish; and
I must say, my honest friend, that in your place I should apprehend that
my sight was beginning to fail.”
“If Jasper is truly coming, I shall apprehend but little. We can make
good the block against the whole Mingo nation for the next eight or
ten hours; and with Eau-douce to cover the retreat, I shall despair of
nothing. God send that the lad may not run alongside of the bank, and
fall into an ambushment, as befell the Sergeant!”
“Ay, there's the danger. There ought to have been signals concerted,
and an anchorage-ground buoyed out, and even a quarantine station or
a lazaretto would have been useful, could we have made these Minks-ho
respect the laws. If the lad fetches up, as you say, anywhere in the
neighborhood of this island, we may look upon the cutter as lost. And,
after all, Master Pathfinder, ought we not to set down this same Jasper
as a secret ally of the French, rather than as a friend of our own? I
know the Sergeant views the matter in that light; and I must say this
whole affair looks like treason.”
“We shall soon know, we shall soon know, Master Cap; for there, indeed,
comes the cutter clear of the other island, and five minutes must settle
the matter. It would be no more than fair, however, if we could give the
boy some sign in the way of warning. It is not right that he should fall
into the trap without a notice that it has been laid.”
Anxiety and suspense, notwithstanding, prevented either from attempting
to make any signal. It was not easy, truly, to see how it could be done;
for the _Scud_ came foaming through the channel, on the weather side of
the island, at a rate that scarcely admitted of the necessary time. Nor
was any one visible on her deck to make signs to; even her helm seemed
deserted, though her course was as steady as her progress was rapid.
Cap stood in silent admiration of a spectacle so unusual. But, as the
_Scud_ drew nearer, his practised eye detected the helm in play by means
of tiller-ropes, though the person who steered was concealed. As
the cutter had weatherboards of some little height, the mystery was
explained, no doubt remaining that her people lay behind the latter, in
order to be protected from the rifles of the enemy. As this fact
showed that no force beyond that of the small crew could be on board,
Pathfinder received his companion's explanation with an ominous shake of
the head.
“This proves that the Sarpent has not reached Oswego,” said he, “and
that we are not to expect succor from the garrison. I hope Lundie has
not taken it into his head to displace the lad, for Jasper Western would
be a host of himself in such a strait. We three, Master Cap, ought to
make a manful warfare: you, as a seaman, to keep up the intercourse with
the cutter; Jasper, as a laker who knows all that is necessary to be
done on the water; and I, with gifts that are as good as any among the
Mingos, let me be what I may in other particulars. I say we ought to
make a manful fight in Mabel's behalf.”
“That we ought, and that we will,” answered Cap heartily; for he began
to have more confidence in the security of his scalp now that he saw the
sun again. “I set down the arrival of the _Scud_ as one circumstance,
and the chances of Oh-deuce's honesty as another. This Jasper is a
young man of prudence, you find; for he keeps a good offing, and seems
determined to know how matters stand on the island before he ventures to
bring up.”
“I have it! I have it!” exclaimed Pathfinder, with exultation. “There
lies the canoe of the Sarpent on the cutter's deck; and the chief has
got on board, and no doubt has given a true account of our condition;
for, unlike a Mingo, a Delaware is sartain to get a story right, or to
hold his tongue.”
“That canoe may not belong to the cutter,” said the captious seaman.
“Oh-deuce had one on board when he sailed.”
“Very true, friend Cap; but if you know your sails and masts by your
gores and fishes, I know my canoes and my paths by frontier knowledge.
If you can see new cloth in a sail, I can see new bark in a canoe. That
is the boat of the Sarpent, and the noble fellow has struck off for the
garrison as soon as he found the block besieged, has fallen in with the
_Scud_, and, after telling his story, has brought the cutter down here
to see what can be done. The Lord grant that Jasper Western be still on
board her!”
“Yes, yes; it might not be amiss; for, traitor or loyal, the lad has a
handy way with him in a gale, it must be owned.”
“And in coming over waterfalls!” said Pathfinder, nudging the ribs
of his companion with an elbow, and laughing in his silent but hearty
manner. “We will give the boy his due, though he scalps us all with his
own hand.”
The _Scud_ was now so near, that Cap made no reply. The scene, just at
that instant, was so peculiar, that it merits a particular description,
which may also aid the reader in forming a more accurate nature of the
picture we wish to draw.
The gale was still blowing violently. Many of the smaller trees bowed
their tops, as if ready to descend to the earth, while the rushing
of the wind through the branches of the groves resembled the roar of
distant chariots.
The air was filled with leaves, which, at that late season, were readily
driven from their stems, and flew from island to island like flights of
birds. With this exception, the spot seemed silent as the grave. That
the savages still remained, was to be inferred from the fact that their
canoes, together with the boats of the 55th, lay in a group in the
little cove that had been selected as a harbor. Otherwise, not a sign of
their presence was to be detected. Though taken entirely by surprise by
the cutter, the sudden return of which was altogether unlooked-for, so
uniform and inbred were their habits of caution while on the war-path,
that the instant an alarm was given every man had taken to his cover
with the instinct and cunning of a fox seeking his hole. The same
stillness reigned in the blockhouse; for though Pathfinder and Cap could
command a view of the channel, they took the precaution necessary to lie
concealed. The unusual absence of anything like animal life on board
the _Scud_, too, was still more remarkable. As the Indians witnessed her
apparently undirected movements, a feeling of awe gained a footing among
them, and some of the boldest of their party began to distrust the issue
of an expedition that had commenced so prosperously. Even Arrowhead,
accustomed as he was to intercourse with the whites on both sides of
the lakes, fancied there was something ominous in the appearance of this
unmanned vessel, and he would gladly at that moment have been landed
again on the main.
In the meantime the progress of the cutter was steady and rapid. She
held her way mid-channel, now inclining to the gusts, and now rising
again, like the philosopher that bends to the calamities of life to
resume his erect attitude as they pass away, but always piling the water
beneath her bows in foam. Although she was under so very short canvas,
her velocity was great, and there could not have elapsed ten minutes
between the time when her sails were first seen glancing past the trees
and bushes in the distance and the moment when she was abreast of
the blockhouse. Cap and Pathfinder leaned forward, as the cutter came
beneath their eyrie, eager to get a better view of her deck, when, to
the delight of both, Jasper Eau-douce sprang upon his feet and gave
three hearty cheers. Regardless of all risk, Cap leaped upon the rampart
of logs and returned the greeting, cheer for cheer. Happily, the policy
of the enemy saved the latter; for they still lay quiet, not a rifle
being discharged. On the other hand, Pathfinder kept in view the useful,
utterly disregarding the mere dramatic part of warfare. The moment he
beheld his friend Jasper, he called out to him with stentorian lungs,--
“Stand by us, lad, and the day's our own! Give 'em a grist in yonder
bushes, and you'll put 'em up like partridges.”
Part of this reached Jasper's ears, but most was borne off to leeward on
the wings of the wind. By the time this was said, the _Scud_ had driven
past, and in the next moment she was hid from view by the grove in which
the blockhouse was partially concealed.
Two anxious minutes succeeded; but, at the expiration of that brief
space, the sails were again gleaming through the trees, Jasper having
wore, jibed, and hauled up under the lee of the island on the other
tack. The wind was free enough, as has been already explained, to admit
of this manoeuvre; and the cutter, catching the current under her lee
bow, was breasted up to her course in a way that showed she would come
out to windward of the island again without any difficulty. This
whole evolution was made with the greatest facility, not a sheet being
touched, the sails trimming themselves, the rudder alone controlling
the admirable machine. The object appeared to be a reconnoissance. When,
however, the _Scud_ had made the circuit of the entire island, and had
again got her weatherly position in the channel by which she had first
approached, her helm was put down, and she tacked. The noise of the
mainsail flapping when it filled, loose-reefed as it was, sounded like
the report of a gun, and Cap trembled lest the seams should open.
“His Majesty gives good canvas, it must be owned,” muttered the old
seaman; “and it must be owned, too, that boy handles his boat as if he
were thoroughly bred! D---me, Master Pathfinder, if I believe, after all
that has been reported in the matter, that this Mister Oh-deuce got his
trade on this bit of fresh water.”
“He did; yes, he did. He never saw the ocean, and has come by his
calling altogether up here on Ontario. I have often thought he has a
nat'ral gift in the way of schooners and sloops, and have respected him
accordingly. As for treason and lying and black-hearted vices, friend
Cap, Jasper Western is as free as the most virtuousest of the Delaware
warriors; and if you crave to see a truly honest man, you must go among
that tribe to discover him.”
“There he comes round!” exclaimed the delighted Cap, the _Scud_ at this
moment filling on her original tack; “and now we shall see what the boy
would be at; he cannot mean to keep running up and down these passages,
like a girl footing it through a country-dance.”
The _Scud_ now kept so much away, that for a moment the two observers on
the blockhouse feared Jasper meant to come-to; and the savages, in
their lairs, gleamed out upon her with the sort of exultation that
the crouching tiger may be supposed to feel as he sees his unconscious
victim approach his bed. But Jasper had no such intention: familiar with
the shore, and acquainted with the depth of water on every part of the
island, he well knew that the _Scud_ might be run against the bank with
impunity, and he ventured fearlessly so near, that, as he passed through
the little cove, he swept the two boats of the soldiers from their
fastenings and forced them out into the channel, towing them with the
cutter. As all the canoes were fastened to the two Dunham boats, by this
bold and successful attempt the savages were at once deprived of the
means of quitting the island, unless by swimming, and they appeared to
be instantly aware of the very important fact. Rising in a body, they
filled the air with yells, and poured in a harmless fire. While up in
this unguarded manner, two rifles were discharged by their adversaries.
One came from the summit of the block, and an Iroquois fell dead in his
tracks, shot through the brain. The other came from the _Scud_. The last
was the piece of the Delaware, but, less true than that of his friend,
it only maimed an enemy for life. The people of the _Scud_ shouted, and
the savages sank again, to a man, as if it might be into the earth.
“That was the Sarpent's voice,” said Pathfinder, as soon as the second
piece was discharged. “I know the crack of his rifle as well as I do
that of Killdeer. 'Tis a good barrel, though not sartain death. Well,
well, with Chingachgook and Jasper on the water, and you and I in the
block, friend Cap, it will be hard if we don't teach these Mingo scamps
the rationality of a fight.”
All this time the _Scud_ was in motion. As soon as he had reached the
end of the island, Jasper sent his prizes adrift; and they went down
before the wind until they stranded on a point half a mile to leeward.
He then wore, and came stemming the current again, through the other
passage. Those on the summit of the block could now perceive that
something was in agitation on the deck of the _Scud_; and, to their
great delight, just as the cutter came abreast of the principal cove,
on the spot where most of the enemy lay, the howitzer which composed her
sole armament was unmasked, and a shower of case-shot was sent hissing
into the bushes. A bevy of quail would not have risen quicker than this
unexpected discharge of iron hail put up the Iroquois; when a second
savage fell by a messenger sent from Killdeer, and another went
limping away by a visit from the rifle of Chingachgook. New covers were
immediately found, however; and each party seemed to prepare for the
renewal of the strife in another form. But the appearance of June,
bearing a white flag, and accompanied by the French officer and Muir,
stayed the hands of all, and was the forerunner of another parley. The
negotiation that followed was held beneath the blockhouse; and so near
it as at once to put those who were uncovered completely at the mercy
of Pathfinder's unerring aim. Jasper anchored directly abeam; and
the howitzer, too, was kept trained upon the negotiators: so that the
besieged and their friends, with the exception of the man who held the
match, had no hesitation about exposing their persons. Chingachgook
alone lay in ambush; more, however, from habit than distrust.
“You've triumphed, Pathfinder,” called out the Quartermaster, “and
Captain Sanglier has come himself to offer terms. You'll no' be denying
a brave enemy honorable retreat, when he has fought ye fairly, and done
all the credit he could to king and country. Ye are too loyal a subject
yourself to visit loyalty and fidelity with a heavy judgment. I am
authorized to offer, on the part of the enemy, an evacuation of the
island, a mutual exchange of prisoners, and a restoration of scalps. In
the absence of baggage and artillery, little more can be done.”
As the conversation was necessarily carried on in a high key, both on
account of the wind and of the distance, all that was said was heard
equally by those in the block and those in the cutter.
“What do you say to that, Jasper?” called out Pathfinder. “You hear the
proposal. Shall we let the vagabonds go? Or shall we mark them, as they
mark their sheep in the settlements, that we may know them again?”
“What has befallen Mabel Dunham?” demanded the young man, with a frown
on his handsome face, that was visible even to those on the block. “If
a hair of her head has been touched, it will go hard with the whole
Iroquois tribe.”
“Nay, nay, she is safe below, nursing a dying parent, as becomes her
sex. We owe no grudge on account of the Sergeant's hurt, which comes of
lawful warfare; and as for Mabel--”
“She is here!” exclaimed the girl herself, who had mounted to the roof
the moment she found the direction things were taking,--“she is here!
And, in the name of our holy religion, and of that God whom we profess
to worship in common, let there be no more bloodshed! Enough has been
spilt already; and if these men will go away, Pathfinder--if they will
depart peaceably, Jasper--oh, do not detain one of them! My poor father
is approaching his end, and it were better that he should draw his last
breath in peace with the world. Go, go, Frenchmen and Indians! We are no
longer your enemies, and will harm none of you.”
“Tut, tut, Magnet!” put in Cap; “this sounds religious, perhaps, or like
a book of poetry; but it does not sound like common sense. The enemy
is just ready to strike; Jasper is anchored with his broadside to bear,
and, no doubt, with springs on his cables; Pathfinder's eye and hand
are as true as the needle; and we shall get prize-money, head-money, and
honor in the bargain, if you will not interfere for the next half-hour.”
“Well,” said Pathfinder, “I incline to Mabel's way of thinking. There
_has_ been enough blood shed to answer our purpose and to sarve the
king; and as for honor, in that meaning, it will do better for young
ensigns and recruits than for cool-headed, obsarvant Christian men.
There is honor in doing what's right, and unhonor in doing what's wrong;
and I think it wrong to take the life even of a Mingo, without a useful
end in view, I do; and right to hear reason at all times. So, Lieutenant
Muir, let us know what your friends the Frenchers and Indians have to
say for themselves.”
“My friends!” said Muir, starting; “you'll no' be calling the king's
enemies my friends, Pathfinder, because the fortune of war has thrown
me into their hands? Some of the greatest warriors, both of ancient and
modern times, have been prisoners of war; and yon is Master Cap, who can
testify whether we did not do all that men could devise to escape the
calamity.”
“Ay, ay,” drily answered Cap; “escape is the proper word. We ran below
and hid ourselves, and so discreetly, that we might have remained in the
hole to this hour, had it not been for the necessity of re-stowing the
bread lockers. You burrowed on that occasion, Quartermaster, as handily
as a fox; and how the d---l you knew so well where to find the spot is a
matter of wonder to me. A regular skulk on board ship does not trail aft
more readily when the jib is to be stowed, than you went into that same
hole.”
“And did ye no' follow? There are moments in a man's life when reason
ascends to instinct--”
“And men descend into holes,” interrupted Cap, laughing in his
boisterous way, while Pathfinder chimed in, in his peculiar manner.
Even Jasper, though still filled with concern for Mabel, was obliged
to smile. “They say the d---l wouldn't make a sailor if he didn't look
aloft; and now it seems he'll not make a soldier if he doesn't look
below!”
This burst of merriment, though it was anything but agreeable to Muir,
contributed largely towards keeping the peace. Cap fancied he had said
a thing much better than common; and that disposed him to yield his own
opinion on the main point, so long as he got the good opinion of his
companions on his novel claim to be a wit. After a short discussion, all
the savages on the island were collected in a body, without arms, at
the distance of a hundred yards from the block, and under the gun of
the _Scud_; while Pathfinder descended to the door of the blockhouse and
settled the terms on which the island was to be finally evacuated by the
enemy. Considering all the circumstances, the conditions were not very
discreditable to either party. The Indians were compelled to give up
all their arms, even to their knives and tomahawks, as a measure of
precaution, their force being still quadruple that of their foes. The
French officer, Monsieur Sanglier, as he was usually styled, and chose
to call himself, remonstrated against this act as one likely to reflect
more discredit on his command than any other part of the affair; but
Pathfinder, who had witnessed one or two Indian massacres, and knew
how valueless pledges became when put in opposition to interest where a
savage was concerned, was obdurate. The second stipulation was of nearly
the same importance. It compelled Captain Sanglier to give up all his
prisoners, who had been kept well guarded in the very hole or cave in
which Cap and Muir had taken refuge. When these men were produced, four
of them were found to be unhurt; they had fallen merely to save
their lives, a common artifice in that species of warfare; and of the
remainder, two were so slightly injured as not to be unfit for service.
As they brought their muskets with them, this addition to his force
immediately put Pathfinder at his ease; for, having collected all the
arms of the enemy in the blockhouse, he directed these men to take
possession of the building, stationing a regular sentinel at the door.
The remainder of the soldiers were dead, the badly wounded having been
instantly despatched in order to obtain the much-coveted scalps.
As soon as Jasper was made acquainted with the terms, and the
preliminaries had been so far observed as to render it safe for him to
be absent, he got the _Scud_ under weigh; and, running down to the point
where the boats had stranded, he took them in tow again, and, making
a few stretches, brought them into the leeward passage. Here all the
savages instantly embarked, when Jasper took the boats in tow a third
time, and, running off before the wind, he soon set them adrift full
a mile to leeward of the island. The Indians were furnished with but
a single oar in each boat to steer with, the young sailor well knowing
that by keeping before the wind they would land on the shores of Canada
in the course of the morning.
Captain Sanglier, Arrowhead, and June alone remained, when this
disposition had been made of the rest of the party: the former having
certain papers to draw up and sign with Lieutenant Muir, who in his eyes
possessed the virtues which are attached to a commission; and the latter
preferring, for reasons of his own, not to depart in company with his
late friends, the Iroquois. Canoes were detained for the departure of
these three, when the proper moment should arrive.
In the meantime, or while the _Scud_ was running down with the boats in
tow, Pathfinder and Cap, aided by proper assistants, busied themselves
with preparing a breakfast; most of the party not having eaten for
four-and-twenty hours. The brief space that passed in this manner before
the _Scud_ came-to again was little interrupted by discourse, though
Pathfinder found leisure to pay a visit to the Sergeant, to say a few
friendly words to Mabel, and to give such directions as he thought might
smooth the passage of the dying man. As for Mabel herself, he insisted
on her taking some light refreshment; and, there no longer existing any
motive for keeping it there, he had the guard removed from the block,
in order that the daughter might have no impediment to her attentions
to her father. These little arrangements completed, our hero returned
to the fire, around which he found all the remainder of the party
assembled, including Jasper.