TRUMAN FLAGG'S STORY
Truman Flagg was a son of one of those hardy New England families
which, ever pushing into the wilderness in the extreme van of
civilization, were the greatest sufferers from the forays of French and
Indians, who every now and then swept down from Canada, like packs of
fierce Northern wolves. In one of these raids his parents were killed,
and the lad was borne away to be adopted among the Caughnawagas, who
dwelt on the St. Lawrence, not far from Montreal. With these Indians
he lived for several years, and having a natural taste for languages,
acquired, during this time, a fair knowledge of the tongues of most of
the Northern tribes, as well as a smattering of French. He also became
well versed in woodcraft, and so thoroughly Indian in appearance and
habit that when he was again captured by a marauding party of Maquas,
or Mohawks, it was not detected that he was of white blood until he was
stripped for the ordeal of the gantlet, in an Iroquois village. His
identity being thus discovered, his latest captors washed from him his
Caughnawaga paint, repainted and reclad him in Mohawk fashion, and
treated him in all respects like a son of the tribe. Having thus
exchanged one form of Indian life for another, Truman Flagg remained
among the Iroquois long enough to master their languages, and receive
the name of Honosagetha, or the man of much talk. Finally, he
attracted the attention of Sir William Johnson, and became one of the
general's interpreters, as well as a counsellor in Indian affairs.
After awhile the forest ranger so fretted against the restraints of
civilization and town life, as he termed that of the frontier
settlement clustered about Johnson Hall on the lower Mohawk, that when
Major Hester, searching for an experienced guide and hunter, offered
him the position, he gladly accepted it. Since then, save when his
services were required as a messenger between Tawtry House and the
river settlements, he had been free to come and go as he pleased,
provided he kept his employer fairly well provided with all varieties
of game in its season. Thus he was able to spend much of his time in
roaming the forest, passing from one Indian village to another, keeping
himself posted on all subjects of interest to these wilderness
communities, and ever watching, with eagle eye, over the safety of the
Tawtry House inmates. He was a simple-hearted fellow, of sterling
honesty, and a keen intelligence, that enabled him to absorb
information on all subjects that came within his range, as a sponge
absorbs water. Although of slender build, his muscles were of iron,
his eyesight was that of a hawk, and as a rifle-shot he had no superior
among all the denizens of the forest, white or red. During three years
of mutual helpfulness, a strong friendship had sprung up between this
son of the forest and the soldier, whose skilled valor on old-world
battle-fields had won the approbation of a king. Now, therefore, the
latter awaited with impatience the coming of the hunter, whose advice
he deemed essential before deciding upon any plan of action in the
present crisis.
When Truman Flagg appeared, and reported his patient to be sleeping
soundly after having eaten a hearty supper, the major asked what he
knew concerning the young Ottawa, and was answered as follows:--
"As fur as I kin make out, major, Mahng, the fellow you laid out so
neatly awhile ago, is a Jibway, while Songa is an Ottaway, and son of
the head chief, or medicine man, of the Metai, a magic circle of great
influence among the lake tribes. Not long ago both Songa and Mahng
courted a young Jibway squaw, who was said to be the handsomest gal of
her tribe. They had some hot fights over her; but from the first she
favored Songa, and so, of course, the other fellow had no show.
Finally, Songa married her and carried her away to the Ottaway
villages. On this, Mahng swore to be revenged on both of 'em, and as
the Jibways and Ottaways is good friends, he come and jined the Senecas
on purpose to get a chance at Songa. Here, seeing as he belongs to the
totem of the wolf, which is strong among the Senecas, and as he isn't
in noways a coward nor lacking in good fighting sense, he soon made a
name for himself as a warrior, and could raise a party agin the
Ottaways any time he chose. Most of the fighting that's been going on
since you came here has been stirred up by Mahng, and ef the whites
gets drawed into it, it'll be his doings. With all his smartness he
never met up with Songa, or leastways never got the best of him, till
this last time, when, fur as I kin make out, they caught him and his
squaw and their young one travelling from one Ottaway village to
another. They say Songa made the prettiest fight ever was seen, killed
half a dozen of Mahnga party, and held 'em all off till his squaw had
made good her escape with the child. Then he give up, and they brought
him in. They waited till he got well of his hurts, and then they set
out to kill him by as mean and devilish a lot of tortures as ever I
see."
"You don't mean to say," interrupted the other, "that you were one of
the spectators at a scene of torture, and did nothing to prevent it?"
"Sartain I do, major. It's part of my business to see such things.
It's also part of my business to keep the peace, so fur as I kin,
betwixt Injuns and whites, which it would have been broke very sudden
ef I had interfered with an Injun execution of an Injun captive. They
was only acting 'cording to their light, and I acted 'cording to mine."
"I suppose you are right," assented the major, "but I am glad I was not
in your place, and sorry that the savages should have had the
encouragement of your presence at one of their devilish orgies."
"They've had that many a time, major, when I couldn't help myself,"
replied the hunter, soberly. "They didn't get any encouraging from me
this day, though, for they didn't see me. I was too snugly hid for
that. But to make a short story, they tormented that poor chap in one
way and another until I thought he must be done for, and all the time
he never uttered a sound except to jeer at 'em, nor quivered an
eyelash. Once, when they saw he was nearly dead with thirst, they
loosed his hands and gave him a bowl of cool spring water; but as he
lifted it to his lips, they dashed it to the ground. After that they
held another bowl of water close to his face, but he never gratified
'em by making a move to try and drink it.
"Finally, they made a circle of dry wood around him and set fire to it.
Then I thought it was all up with the poor fellow, and his torment
would soon be over. I was just saying this to myself when something
swift and still as a shadder brushed past the place where I was hid. I
had just time to see that it was a woman, when she cleared the woods
like a flash, ran to the stake, never minding the flames more'n ef
they'd been a shower of rain, and cut Songa free.
"He gave a great leap, like a deer, out of the ring of fire that was
slowly roasting him, knocked down two or three warriors that stood in
his path, and gained the woods, with her close beside him, almost
before any one knew what had happened. A score of rifle balls whizzed
after them, but they wasn't hit, and they had a clear start of a
hundred yards afore the crowd took after 'em. Mahng was the only one
who could keep 'em in sight, and when they separated at the foot of the
lake, he taking up one side, and she the other, Mahng trailed the one
he hated most, which was Songa."
"How did you happen to see all this?" inquired the major. "They must
have passed from view of your hiding-place very quickly."
"Oh, I jined in the hunt, too," replied Truman Flagg. "I thought some
one might find it handy to have me 'round. Besides, I was feeling
cramped and in need of a bit of exercise."
"Well, it was handy to have you around," said the major, heartily, "and
it will be long ere I forget the gratitude with which I saw you at that
critical moment. I am thankful, too, that the poor fellow escaped and
sought the refuge he did, though what I am to do with him is more than
I can imagine. I wish with all my heart that he were well on his way
toward the Ottawa villages. But who was the woman who rescued him so
splendidly, and what do you suppose became of her?"
"He claims her as his squaw," replied the hunter, "and ef she's where I
left her, she's setting watching him at this moment."
"You don't mean it! How can she be?" cried the major, jumping to his
feet.
"I do mean it; and she can be beside him because I let her in myself,
not half an hour ago, and locked the door after me when I come out."
"Then come with me at once, for I must go and see them," exclaimed the
proprietor, starting toward the door.
"Hold a bit, major. Don' you think that maybe Songa has earned a few
hours of uninterrupted rest?" asked the hunter.
"Yes, you are right, he certainly has," replied the major, as he again
sank into his chair.