“While from its margin, terrible to tell,
Three sailors with their gallant boatswain fell.”
--Falconer.
While the fishermen were employed in making the preparations for an
equitable division of the spoil, Elizabeth and her friend strolled
a short distance from the group, along the shore of the lake. After
reaching a point to which even the brightest of the occasional gleams
of the fire did not extend, they turned, and paused a moment, in
contemplation of the busy and lively party they had left, and of the
obscurity which, like the gloom of oblivion, seemed to envelop the rest
of the creation.
“This is indeed a subject for the pencil!” exclaimed Elizabeth. “Observe
the countenance of that woodchopper, while he exults in presenting a
larger fish than common to my cousin sheriff; and see, Louisa, how hand
some and considerate my dear father looks, by the light of that fire,
where he stands viewing the havoc of the game. He seems melancholy, as
if he actually thought that a day of retribution was to follow this hour
of abundance and prodigality! Would they not make a picture, Louisa?”
“You know that I am ignorant of all such accomplishments, Miss Temple.”
“Call me by my Christian name,” interrupted Elizabeth; “this is not a
place, neither is this a scene, for forms.”
“Well, then, if I may venture an opinion,” said Louisa timidly, “I
should think it might indeed make a picture. The selfish earnestness of
that Kirby over his fish would contrast finely with the--the--expression
of Mr. Edwards' face. I hardly know what to call it; but it
is--a--is--you know what I would say, dear Elizabeth.”
“You do me too much credit, Miss Grant,” said the heiress; “I am no
diviner of thoughts, or interpreter of expressions.”
There was certainly nothing harsh or even cold in the manner of the
speaker, but still it repressed the conversation, and they continued
to stroll still farther from the party, retaining each other's arm,
but observing a profound silence. Elizabeth, perhaps conscious of the
improper phraseology of her last speech, or perhaps excited by the new
object that met her gaze, was the first to break the awkward cessation
in the discourse, by exclaiming:
“Look, Louisa! we are not alone; there are fishermen lighting a fire on
the other side of the lake, immediately opposite to us; it must be in
front of the cabin of Leather-Stocking!”
Through the obscurity, which prevailed most immediately under the
eastern mountain, a small and uncertain light was plainly to be seen,
though, as it was occasionally lost to the eye, it seemed struggling
for existence. They observed it to move, and sensibly to lower, as it
carried down the descent of the bank to the shore. Here, in a very short
time, its flame gradually expanded, and grew brighter, until it became
of the size of a man's head, when it continued to shine a steady ball of
fire. Such an object, lighted as it were by magic, under the brow of
the mountain, and in that retired and unfrequented place, gave double
interest to the beauty and singularity of its appearance. It did not at
all resemble the large and unsteady light of their own fire, being much
more clear and bright, and retaining its size and shape with perfect
uniformity.
There are moments when the best-regulated minds are more or less
subjected to the injurious impressions which few have escaped in
infancy; and Elizabeth smiled at her own weakness, while she remembered
the idle tales which were circulated through the village, at the expense
of the Leather-Stocking. The same ideas seized her companion, and at the
same instant, for Louisa pressed nearer to her friend, as she said in
a low voice, stealing a timid glance toward the bushes and trees that
overhung the bank near them:
“Did you ever hear the singular ways of this Natty spoken of, Miss
Temple? They say that, in his youth, he was an Indian warrior; or,
what is the same thing, a white man leagued with the savages; and it
is thought he has been concerned in many of their inroads, in the old
wars.”
“The thing is not at all improbable,” returned Elizabeth; “he is not
alone in that particular.”
“No, surely; but is it not strange that he is so cautious with his hut?
He never leaves it, without fastening it in a remarkable manner; and in
several instances, when the children, or even the men of the village,
have wished to seek a shelter there from the storms, he has been known
to drive them from his door with rudeness and threats. That surely is
singular to this country!”
“It is certainly not very hospitable; but we must remember his aversion
to the customs of civilized life. You heard my father say, a few days
since, how kindly he was treated by him on his first visit to his
place.” Elizabeth paused, and smiled, with an expression of peculiar
archness, though the darkness hid its meaning from her companion, as
she continued: “Besides, he certainly admits the visits of Mr. Edwards,
whom we both know to be far from a savage.”
To this speech Louisa made no reply, but continued gazing on the object
which had elicited her remarks. In addition to the bright and circular
flame, was now to be seen a fainter, though a vivid light, of an equal
diameter to the other at the upper end, but which, after extending
downward for many feet, gradually tapered to a point at its lower
extremity. A dark space was plainly visible between the two, and the
new illumination was placed beneath the other, the whole forming an
appearance not unlike an inverted note of admiration. It was soon
evident that the latter was nothing but the reflection, from the water,
of the former, and that the object, whatever it might be, was advancing
across, or rather over the lake, for it seemed to be several feet above
its surface, in a direct line with themselves. Its motion was amazingly
rapid, the ladies having hardly discovered that it was moving at all,
before the waving light of a flame was discerned, losing its regular
shape, while it increased in size, as it approached.
“It appears to be supernatural!” whispered Louisa, beginning to retrace
her steps toward the party.
“It is beautiful!” exclaimed Elizabeth,
A brilliant though waving flame was now plainly visible, gracefully
gliding over the lake, and throwing its light on the water in such a
manner as to tinge it slightly though in the air, so strong was the
contrast, the darkness seemed to have the distinctness of material
substances, as if the fire were imbedded in a setting of ebony. This
appearance, however, gradually wore off, and the rays from the torch
struck out, and enlightened the atmosphere in front of it, leaving the
background in a darkness that was more impenetrable than ever.
“Ho! Natty, is that you?” shouted the sheriff. “Paddle in, old boy, and
I'll give you a mess of fish that is fit to place before the governor.”
The light suddenly changed its direction, and a long and slightly
built boat hove up out of the gloom, while the red glare fell on the
weather-beaten features of the Leather-Stocking, whose tall person
was seen erect in the frail vessel, wielding, with the grace of an
experienced boatman, a long fishing-spear, which he held by its centre,
first dropping one end and then the other into the water, to aid in
propelling the little canoe of bark, we will not say through, but over,
the water. At the farther end of the vessel a form was faintly seen,
guiding its motions, and using a paddle with the ease of one who felt
there was no necessity for exertion. The Leather-Stocking struck his
spear lightly against the short staff which up held, on a rude grating
framed of old hoops of iron, the knots of pine that composed the fuel,
and the light, which glared high, for an instant fell on the swarthy
features and dark, glancing eyes of Mohegan.
The boat glided along the shore until it arrived opposite the
fishing-ground, when it again changed its direction and moved on to the
land, with a motion so graceful, and yet so rapid, that it seemed to
possess the power of regulating its own progress. The water in front of
the canoe was hardly ruffled by its passage and no sound betrayed the
collision, when the light fabric shot on the gravelly beach for nearly
half its length, Natty receding a step or two from its bow, in order to
facilitate the landing.
“Approach, Mohegan,” said Marmaduke; “approach, Leather-Stocking, and
load your canoe with bass. It would be a shame to assail the animals
with the spear, when such multitudes of victims lie here, that will be
lost as food for the want of mouths to consume them.”
“No, no, Judge,” returned Natty, his tall figure stalking over the narrow
beach, and ascending to the little grassy bottom where the fish were
laid in piles; “I eat of no man's wasty ways. I strike my spear into the
eels or the trout, when I crave the creatur'; but I wouldn't be helping
to such a sinful kind of fishing for the best rifle that was ever
brought out from the old countries. If they had fur, like the beaver, or
you could tan their hides, like a buck, something might be said in favor
of taking them by the thousand with your nets; but as God made them for
man's food, and for no other disarnable reason, I call it sinful and
wasty to catch more than can be eat.”
“Your reasoning is mine; for once, old hunter, we agree in opinion; and
I heartily wish we could make a convert of the sheriff. A net of half
the size of this would supply the whole village with fish for a week at
one haul.”
The Leather-Stocking did not relish this alliance in sentiment; and he
shook his head doubtingly as he answered;
“No, no; we are not much of one mind, Judge, or you'd never turn good
hunting-grounds into stumpy pastures. And you fish and hunt out of rule;
but, to me, the flesh is sweeter where the creatur' has some chance for
its life; for that reason, I always use a single ball, even if it be at
a bird or a squirrel. Besides, it saves lead; for, when a body knows
how to shoot, one piece of lead is enough for all, except hard-lived
animals.”
The sheriff heard these opinions with great indignation; and when he
completed the last arrangement for the division, by carrying with his
own hands a trout of a large size, and placing it on four different
piles in succession, as his vacillating ideas of justice required, gave
vent to his spleen.
“A very pretty confederacy, indeed! Judge Temple, the landlord and owner
of a township, with Nathaniel Bumppo a lawless squatter, and professed
deer-killer, in order to preserve the game of the county! But, 'Duke,
when I fish I fish; so, away, boys, for another haul, and we'll send out
wagons and carts in the morning to bring in our prizes.”
Marmaduke appeared to understand that all opposition to the will of the
sheriff would be useless, and he strolled from the fire to the place
where the canoe of the hunters lay, whither the ladies and Oliver
Edwards had already preceded him.
Curiosity induced the females to approach this spot; but it was a
different motive that led the youth thither. Elizabeth examined the
light ashen timbers and thin bark covering of the canoe, in admiration
of its neat but simple execution, and with wonder that any human being
could be so daring as to trust his life in so frail a vessel. But the
youth explained to her the buoyant properties of the boat, and its
perfect safety when under proper management; adding, in such glowing
terms, a description of the manner in which the fish were struck with
the spear, that she changed suddenly, from an apprehension of the danger
of the excursion, to a desire to participate in its pleasures. She even
ventured a proposition to that effect to her father, laughing at the
same time at her own wish, and accusing herself of acting under a
woman's caprice.
“Say not so, Bess,” returned the Judge; “I would have you above the
idle fears of a silly girl. These canoes are the safest kind of boats to
those who have skill and steady nerves. I have crossed the broadest part
of the Oneida in one much smaller than this.”
“And I the Ontary,” interrupted the Leather-Stocking; “and that with
squaws in the canoe, too. But the Delaware women are used to the paddle,
and are good hands in a boat of this natur', If the young lady would
like to see an old man strike a trout for his breakfast, she is welcome
to a seat. John will say the same, seeing that he built the canoe, which
was only launched yesterday; for I'm not over-curious at such small work
as brooms, and basket-making, and other like Indian trades.”
Natty gave Elizabeth one of his significant laughs, with a kind nod of
the head, when he concluded his invitation but Mohegan, with the native
grace of an Indian, approached, and taking her soft white hand into his
own swarthy and wrinkled palm, said:
“Come, granddaughter of Miquon, and John will be glad. Trust the Indian;
his head is old, though his hand is not steady. The Young Eagle will go,
and see that no harm hurts his sister.”
“Mr. Edwards,” said Elizabeth, blushing slightly, “your friend Mohegan
has given a promise for you. Do you redeem the pledge?”
“With my life, if necessary, Miss Temple,” cried the youth, with fervor.
“The sight is worth some little apprehension; for of real danger
there is none, I will go with you and Miss Grand, however, to save
appearances.”
“With me!” exclaimed Louisa. “No, not with me, Mr. Edwards; nor, surely,
do you mean to trust yourself in that slight canoe.”
“But I shall; for I have no apprehensions any longer,” said Elizabeth,
stepping into the boat, and taking a seat where the Indian directed.
“Mr. Edwards, you may remain, as three do seem to be enough for such an
egg shell.”
“It shall hold a fourth,” cried the young man, springing to her side,
with a violence that nearly shook the weak fabric of the vessel asunder.
“Pardon me, Miss Temple, that I do not permit these venerable Charons to
take you to the shades unattended by your genius.”
“Is it a good or evil spirit?” asked Elizabeth.
“Good to you.”
“And mine,” added the maiden, with an air that strangely blended pique
with satisfaction. But the motion of the canoe gave rise to new ideas,
and fortunately afforded a good excuse to the young man to change the
discourse.
It appeared to Elizabeth that they glided over the water by magic, so
easy and graceful was the manner in which Mohegan guided his little
bark. A slight gesture with his spear indicated the way in which
Leather-Stocking wished to go, and a profound silence was preserved by
the whole party, as the precaution necessary to the success of their
fishery. At that point of the lake the water shoaled regularly
differing in this particular altogether from those parts where the
mountains rose nearly in perpendicular precipices from the beach. There
the largest vessels could have lain, with their yards interlocked with
the pines; while here a scanty growth of rushes lifted their tops above
the lake, gently curling the waters, as their bending heads waved with
the passing breath of the night air. It was at the shallow points only
that the bass could be found, or the net cast with success.
Elizabeth saw thousands of these fish swimming in shoals along the
shallow and warm waters of the shore; for the flaring light of their
torch laid bare the mysteries of the lake, as plainly as if the limpid
sheet of the Otsego was but another atmosphere. Every instant she
expected to see the impending spear of Leather-Stocking darting into the
thronging hosts that were rushing beneath her, where it would seem that
a blow could not go amiss; and where, as her father had already said,
the prize that would be obtained was worthy any epicure. But Natty had
his peculiar habits, and, it would seem, his peculiar tastes also.
His tall stature, and his erect posture, enabled him to see much farther
than those who were seated in the bottom of the canoe; and he turned his
head warily in every direction, frequently bending his body forward,
and straining his vision, as if desirous of penetrating the water that
surrounded their boundary of light. At length his anxious scrutiny was
rewarded with success, and, waving his spear from the shore, he said in
a cautious tone:
“Send her outside the bass, John; I see a laker there, that has run out
of the school. It's seldom one finds such a creatur' in shallow water,
where a spear can touch it.”
Mohegan gave a wave of assent with his hand, and in the next instant the
canoe was without the “run of the bass,” and in water nearly twenty feet
in depth. A few additional knots were laid on the grating, and the light
penetrated to the bottom, Elizabeth then saw a fish of unusual size
floating above small pieces of logs and sticks. The animal was only
distinguishable, at that distance, by a slight but almost imperceptible
motion of its fins and tail. The curiosity excited by this unusual
exposure of the secrets of the lake seemed to be mutual between
the heiress of the land and the lord of these waters, for the
“salmon-trout” soon announced his interest by raising his head and body
for a few degrees above a horizontal line, and then dropping them again
into a horizontal position.
“Whist! whist!” said Natty, in a low voice, on hearing a slight sound
made by Elizabeth in bending over the side of the canoe in curiosity;
“'tis a skeary animal, and it's a far stroke for a spear. My handle is
but fourteen foot, and the creator' lies a good eighteen from the top of
the water: but I'll try him, for he's a ten--pounder.”
While speaking, the Leather-Stocking was poising and directing his
weapon. Elizabeth saw the bright, polished tines, as they slowly and
silently entered the water, where the refraction pointed them many
degrees from the true direction of the fish; and she thought that the
intended victim saw them also, as he seemed to increase the play of his
tail and fins, though without moving his station. At the next instant
the tall body of Natty bent to the water's edge, and the handle of his
spear disappeared in the lake. The long, dark streak of the gliding
weapon, and the little bubbling vortex which followed its rapid flight,
were easily to be seen: but it was not until the handle snot again into
the air by its own reaction, and its master catching it in his hand,
threw its tines uppermost, that Elizabeth was acquainted with the
success of the blow. A fish of great size was transfixed by the barbed
steel, and was very soon shaken from its impaled situation into the
bottom of the canoe.
“That will do, John,” said Natty, raising his prize by one of his
fingers, and exhibiting it before the torch; “I shall not strike another
blow to-night.”
The Indian again waved his hand, and replied with the simple and
energetic monosyllable of:
“Good.”
Elizabeth was awakened from the trance created by this scene, and by
gazing in that unusual manner at the bot tom of the lake, be the hoarse
sounds of Benjamin's voice, and the dashing of oars, as the heavier boat
of the seine-drawers approached the spot where the canoe lay, dragging
after it the folds of the net.
“Haul off, haul off, Master Bumppo,” cried Benjamin, “your top-light
frightens the fish, who see the net and sheer off soundings. A fish
knows as much as a horse, or, for that matter, more, seeing that it's
brought up on the water. Haul oil, Master Bumppo, haul off, I say, and
give a wide berth to the seine.”
Mohegan guided their little canoe to a point where the movements of the
fishermen could be observed, without interruption to the business, and
then suffered it to lie quietly on the water, looking like an imaginary
vessel floating in air. There appeared to be much ill-humor among the
party in the batteau, for the directions of Benjamin were not only
frequent, but issued in a voice that partook largely of dissatisfaction.
“Pull larboard oar, will ye, Master Kirby?” cried the old seaman; “pull
larboard best. It would puzzle the oldest admiral in their British
fleet to cast this here net fair, with a wake like a corkscrew. Full
starboard, boy, pull starboard oar, with a will.”
“Harkee, Mister Pump,” said Kirby, ceasing to row, and speaking with
sonic spirit; “I'm a man that likes civil language and decent treatment,
such as is right 'twixt man and man. If you want us to go hoy, say so,
and hoy I'll go, for the benefit of the company; but I'm not used to
being ordered about like dumb cattle.”
“Who's dumb cattle?” echoed Benjamin, fiercely, turning his forbidding
face to the glare of light from the canoe, and exhibiting every feature
teeming with the expression of disgust. “If you want to come aft and con
the boat round, come and be damned, and pretty steerage you'll make of
it. There's but another heave of the net in the stern-sheets, and we're
clear of the thing. Give way, will ye? and shoot her ahead for a fathom
or two, and if you catch me afloat again with such a horse-marine as
yourself, why, rate me a ship's jackass, that's all.”
Probably encouraged by the prospect of a speedy termination to his
labor, the wood-chopper resumed his oar, and, under strong excitement,
gave a stroke that not only cleared the boat of the net but of the
steward at the same instant. Benjamin had stood on the little platform
that held the seine, in the stern of the boat, and the violent whirl
occasioned by the vigor of the wood-chopper's arm completely destroyed
his balance. The position of the lights rendered objects in the batteau
distinguishable, both from the canoe and the shore; and the heavy fall
on the water drew all eyes to the steward, as he lay struggling, for a
moment, in sight.
A loud burst of merriment, to which the lungs of Kirby contributed
no small part, broke out like a chorus of laughter, and ran along the
eastern mountain, in echoes, until it died away in distant, mocking
mirth, among the rocks and woods. The body of the steward was seen
slowly to disappear, as was expected; but when the light waves, which
had been raised by his fall, began to sink in calmness, and the water
finally closed over his head, unbroken and still, a very different
feeling pervaded the spectators.
“How fare you, Benjamin?” shouted Richard from the shore.
“The dumb devil can't swim a stroke!” exclaimed Kirby, rising, and
beginning to throw aside his clothes.
“Paddle up, Mohegan,” cried young Edwards, “the light will show us where
he lies, and I will dive for the body.”
“Oh! save him! for God's sake, save him!” exclaimed Elizabeth, bowing
her head on the side of the canoe in horror.
A powerful and dexterous sweep of Mohegan's paddle sent the canoe
directly over the spot where the steward had fallen, and a loud shout
from the Leather-Stocking announced that he saw the body.
“Steady the boat while I dive,” again cried Edwards.
“Gently, lad, gently,” said Natty; “I'll spear the creatur' up in half
the time, and no risk to anybody.”
The form of Benjamin was lying about half-way to the bottom, grasping
with both hands some broken rushes. The blood of Elizabeth curdled to
her heart, as she saw the figure of a fellow-creature thus extended
under an immense sheet of water, apparently in motion by the undulations
of the dying waves, with its face and hands, viewed by that light, and
through the medium of the fluid, already colored with hues like death.
At the same instant, she saw the shining tines of Natty's spear
approaching the head of the sufferer, and entwinning themselves, rapidly
and dexterously, in the hairs of his cue and the cape of his coat. The
body was now raised slowly, looking ghastly and grim as its features
turned upward to the light and approached the surface. The arrival of
the nostrils of Benjamin into their own atmosphere was announced by a
breathing that would have done credit to a porpoise. For a moment, Natty
held the steward suspended, with his head just above the water, while
his eyes slowly opened and stared about him, as if he thought that he
had reached a new and unexplored country.
As all the parties acted and spoke together, much less time was consumed
in the occurrence of these events than in their narration. To bring the
batteau to the end of the spear, and to raise the form of Benjamin into
the boat, and for the whole party to regain the shore, required but a
minute. Kirby, aided by Richard, whose anxiety induced him to run into
the water to meet his favorite assistant, carried the motionless steward
up the bank, and seated him before the fire, while the sheriff proceeded
to order the most approved measures then in use for the resuscitation of
the drowned.
“Run, Billy,” he cried, “to the village, and bring up the rum-hogshead
that lies before the door, in which I am making vinegar, and be quick,
boy, don't stay to empty the vinegar, and stop at Mr. Le Quoi's, and buy
a paper of tobacco and half a dozen pipes; and ask Remarkable for some
salt, and one of her flannel petticoats; and ask Dr. Todd to send his
lancet, and to come himself; and--ha! 'Duke, what are you about? would
you strangle a man who is full of water, by giving him rum? Help me to
open his hand, that I may pat it.”
All this time Benjamin sat, with his muscles fixed, his mouth shut, and
his hands clinching the rushes which he had seized in the confusion of
the moment and which, as he held fast, like a true seaman, had been the
means of preventing his body from rising again to the surface. His eyes,
however, were open, and stared wildly on the group about the fire, while
his lungs were playing like a blacksmith's bellows, as if to compensate
themselves for the minute of inaction to which they had been subjected.
As he kept his lips compressed, with a most inveterate determination,
the air was compelled to pass through his nostrils, and he rather
snorted than breathed, and in such a manner that nothing but the
excessive agitation of the sheriff could at all justify his precipitous
orders.
The bottle, applied to the steward's lips by Marmaduke, acted like a
charm. His mouth opened instinctively; his hands dropped the rushes,
and seized the glass; his eyes raised from their horizontal stare to the
heavens; and the whole man was lost, for a moment, in a new sensation.
Unhappily for the propensity of the steward, breath was as necessary
after one of these draughts as after his submersion, and the time at
length arrived when he was compelled to let go the bottle.
“Why, Benjamin!” roared the sheriff; “you amaze me! for a man of your
experience in drownings to act so foolishly! Just now, you were half
full of water, and now you are--”
“Full of grog,” interrupted the steward, his features settling down,
with amazing flexibility, into their natural economy. “But, d'yesee,
squire, I kept my hatches chose, and it's but little water that ever
gets into my scuttle-butt. Harkee, Master Kirby! I've followed the
salt-water for the better part of a man's life, and have seen some
navigation on the fresh; but this here matter I will say in your favor,
and that is, that you're the awk'ardest green 'un that ever straddled a
boat's thwart. Them that likes you for a shipmate, may sail with you and
no thanks; but dam'me if I even walk on the lake shore in your company.
For why? you'd as lief drown a man as one of them there fish; not to
throw a Christian creature so much as a rope's end when he was adrift,
and no life-buoy in sight! Natty Bumppo, give us your fist. There's them
that says you're an Indian, and a scalper, but you've served me a good
turn, and you may set me down for a friend; thof it would have been more
ship shape like to lower the bight of a rope or running bowline below
me, than to seize an old seaman by his head-lanyard; but I suppose you
are used to taking men by the hair, and seeing you did me good instead
of harm thereby, why, it's the same thing, d'ye see?”
Marmaduke prevented any reply, and assuming the action of matters with
a dignity and discretion that at once silenced all opposition from his
cousin, Benjamin was dispatched to the village by land, and the net
was hauled to shore in such a manner that the fish for once escaped its
meshes with impunity.
The division of the spoils was made in the ordinary manner, by placing
one of the party with his hack to the game, who named the owner of each
pile. Bill Kirby stretched his large frame on the grass by the side
of the fire, as sentinel until morning, over net and fish; and the
remainder of the party embarked in the batteau, to return to the
village.
The wood-chopper was seen broiling his supper on the coals as they lost
sight of the fire, and when the boat approached the shore, the torch
of Mohegan's canoe was shining again under the gloom of the eastern
mountain. Its motion ceased suddenly; a scattering of brands was in the
air, and then all remained dark as the conjunction of night, forest, and
mountain could render the scene.
The thoughts of Elizabeth wandered from the youth, who was holding a
canopy of shawls over herself and Louisa, to the hunter and the Indian
warrior; and she felt an awakening curiosity to visit a hut where men of
such different habits and temperament were drawn together as by common
impulse.