The din of preparation was heard in the great castle of the Oneidas.
With the first light of morning numerous small bands began to pour in,
summoned secretly long before, to hold a war-council, and to march
against the enemy. Before noon, larger bands began to appear, led by
several of the noted warriors of the nation; and one very numerous
body, coming across the lake in a little fleet of canoes, brought with
them a great quantity of baggage, in the shape of tents and
provisions, with women and even children.
The scene which took place when all were assembled, in number more
than a thousand, is perfectly indescribable. Nor shall I attempt to
give a picture of it. A long period of peace seemed only to have given
the western warriors a sort of thirst for war; and their joy at the
unburying of the hatchet and the march against an enemy brought forth
demonstrations which, to any civilized eye, would have appeared
perfectly frantic. Screaming, shouting, singing, dancing, striking the
war-posts with their tomahawks, and shaking their rifles in the air,
they seemed like beings possessed by some evil spirit; the quiet and
grave demeanour was altogether cast aside; and the calmest and most
moderate boasted outrageously of deeds done in the past, and which
ought to be performed in the coming war.
About an hour after noon, however, a sudden and complete change came
over the scene. In an open space before the great lodge, all the
chieftains of the different Totems or tribes assembled; and the usual
circle was formed around the great war-post of the Black Eagle. The
younger warriors gathered in other rows, without the first; and the
youths, the women, and the children, beyond them again.
One exception to the usual order took place. The great chief had, on
either side of him, one of those both of whom he now called his
children. Otaitsa, in her most brilliant apparel, stood upon his left;
and Walter Prevost, armed and dressed like the Oneidas, with the sole
difference that his head was not shaved like theirs, remained standing
throughout the ceremony on his right.
As soon as all movement had ceased, and the stillness of death fell
over the whole multitude, Black Eagle, in a speech of powerful
eloquence, related all that had occurred on the preceding night, and
justified the act of himself and the other chiefs in the eyes of the
people. He said that he, himself, and five of his brethren, had been
prepared to sacrifice the son of Prevost to atone for the blood of the
Snake, and to satisfy the customs of the Oneidas, although each would
rather have slain his own son; but that the Great Spirit had spoken by
the tongue of his sister, and they had forborne.
When he had done, the Old Cedar rose, but uttered only a few words.
"It was the voice of the Great Spirit," he said; and immediately a
murmur of "Koué! Koué!" ran round the assembly in confirmation of the
act.
The chief then explained to his warriors why he had that day called
them around him; for, although the object was already well known to
all, and the news had spread that the English were marching against
the French upon Lake Champlain, the Indians never acted in masses
without solemn deliberation; and a war-speech, as they called it, was
universally expected from their renowned leader. He dwelt at large
upon the alliance between the English and the Five Nations, and upon
the good faith with which the stipulations of their treaties had been
maintained by the British provinces; he referred to "the talk" held
some six months before, at the Castle of Sir William Johnson,
skilfully mingling with his discourse the names of several persons
most popular with the tribes; and he ended by exhorting his hearers to
show their truth and friendship towards their English brethren, and to
pour down their fiercest wrath upon the French, whom he spoke of
contemptuously, as the brethren of the Hurons and the Alonquin.
The same signs of approbation followed; and many another chief added
his voice, raising the passions of the warriors to the highest pitch.
One especially urged them to immediate action, telling them that the
Mohawks had already marched; that they were with the English army; and
that the faces of the children of the Stone would be red with shame if
a Mohawk brought home more scalps than an Oneida.
Some were for setting out on the instant; but this proposal was
overruled, and the following morning was appointed for the march to
begin, as more war-parties were expected from different districts, and
some had not come fully prepared for the long journey and important
enterprise.
The council was succeeded by similar scenes to those with which the
day began; and it must not be concealed that in many instances the
dreadful "fire-water" was employed so far as even to produce beastly
intoxication. Small drums and wild instruments of music, songs of
every character, from the wailing lament or the religious chant, to
the fierce and boastful war-song, rose from every part of the village;
and it was not till the sun had completely set, that anything like
quiet and order was restored.
Paint it in what colours we will, it was a barbarous and terrible,
though exciting, scene; and Walter Prevost was well pleased to hear
the noise gradually die away into low murmurs, and silence begin to
resume its reign.
Then came a very, very happy hour. He sat with Otaitsa alone in the
great lodge while the Black Eagle wandered amongst his people without;
and, for the first time since his deliverance from death, the two had
an opportunity of pouring forth to each other the many feelings which
had accumulated in the last four-and-twenty hours.
"At this time last night," said the youth, "I was preparing to die."
"And at this time last night," returned the girl, gazing fondly upon
his face as he sat with his arm clasped fondly round her, and her head
leaning on his shoulder--"and at this time last night Otaitsa was
ready to die with you. I have since thought it very wrong of me,
Walter; and, fearing what I did was sinful, I have prayed part of the
night to God for forgiveness; and another part I have spent in praise
and thanksgiving. But I believe I was mad, my beloved; for I hardly
know what I did, and followed blindly what they told me to do to
rescue him for whom I would have sacrificed a thousand lives. Besides,
I was surrounded by my countrywomen, and you know they do not think as
we have been taught to think."
"If it was an error, it was a blessed one, my own Blossom," answered
Walter; "for to it I owe my life; and life, when it is brightened by
Otaitsa's love, is but too precious to me. The time will come, dear
one, when we shall look back upon these days but as a painful dream;
and the only bright reality that will last will be the memory of my
Blossom's love, and all that she has done to save and bless me."
She gazed at him believingly; for hers was not a heart to doubt, and
his was not a heart to be doubted; and she then said, with a sigh--
"But you are now going to battle, to risk your life and all our
happiness. Still, though it may be strange, I would not stay you,
though all I have learned from good Mr. Gore should make me look upon
such things with horror; and, though I would fain have you stay away
from danger, I suppose the habits of the people still cling about me,
even though I hold a better faith than theirs."
"Fear not, dearest, fear not," answered Walter, boldly. "No harm will
happen to me, I do trust and believe; and I only leave you for a few
short weeks."
"You will not leave me at all, Walter," she rejoined--"no, never more.
I will go with you, if not to the battle, as near it as I can be. I
have my father's leave; the warriors of my race will defend me, and I
will not part with my recovered treasure any more."
"Go to my father's house," said Walter, joyfully. "It is very near the
spot, and Edith will rejoice to have you with her."
Otaitsa fixed her eyes upon vacancy, and fell into a deep reverie; and
an expression came into her face, which Walter had remarked more than
once before.
"Do you know, my beloved," he said, "that sometimes you strike me as
very like our dear Edith--especially when you look thoughtful, as you
did just now."
"It is very natural," said Otaitsa, nestling closer to him. "You do
not know she is my cousin. My mother was your father's sister. Hush!
not a word, especially in the ears of any of the tribe. My father
knows it--but he will not know it, because, among the elder people of
the nation, it was held contrary to our customs that cousin should
marry cousin. I asked Mr. Gore, long ago, if it were against your law;
but he said 'No,' that it was neither against law nor religion. He
inquired why I asked so earnestly," she added, laughing, "but I would
not tell him. Come with me into my chamber, and I will show you many
things belonging to my mother. Stay, I will light my lamp."
What a beautiful thing is innocence! how free, how untrammelled, how
boundless! and what a sad thing is its loss, to man, and to society!
Surely, that loss implies slavery of the worst kind--slavery to which
we voluntarily submit--bonds that we rivet round our own hands. He who
thinks no evil, because he knows of none, is the only freeman on the
earth's face.
Otaitsa bent down, and lighted her lamp, and guided her lover up to
her little chamber; and there they sat and turned over many a
long-stored treasure, and she showed him the picture of his own
father, and of her mother, and of many of their mutual kin, and
drawings of fair scenes in Europe, some of which he remembered well,
with others of the land in which they then were, but of spots which he
had never seen. There was one, also, which had been left unfinished,
of a young, sweet child; and Walter gazed first upon the infant face,
and then upon the bright, happy countenance beside him, and clasped
his Blossom warmly to his heart. The book, too, with the drop of blood
upon it, told its own tale to both their hearts.
"And where is Mr. Gore?" he asked, at length; "he seems to have left
altogether his little flock; and I am sure I should have seen him
during my captivity."
"He is coming back now," said Otaitsa. "My father would not let him
return before. He was afraid that the breath of the good man would
melt his icy purpose. He had a power over Black Eagle that none other
had. I prayed and besought in vain. But had Mr. Gore been here, he
would have conquered. Black Eagle knew it, and feared; and therefore
he sent him hence, and would not let him return till the day was
past."
"Would that he were here now!" ejaculated Walter, earnestly.
Otaitsa asked him, why; and he answered, with a warm kiss--
"That he might unite us for ever."
A flush came upon her cheek; but the low sound of a step was heard
below, and, looking down the stairs, she said--
"Is that you, my father?"
"I come," replied the chief.
And, slowly mounting the stairs, he entered the chamber where they
were. His eyes roved round the room in a manner which evidently showed
that it was strange to him; and then he fixed them on the pictures
which lay upon the table, lighted but faintly by the lamp. At first,
he seemed not to distinguish what they were; but the moment he saw
them clearly, he drew his mantle over his face, and turned towards the
door. He uttered no word; he shed no tear; but he descended slowly,
and Walter and Otaitsa followed.