Aunt Peggy Carey "builded better than she knew."
In her fierce attack on the Tory she administered well-merited
punishment, leaving him in a demoralized condition, so thoroughly
whipped, indeed, that for several minutes he was dazed and not himself.
Her friends trembled to think of the vengeance he would visit upon her
for the act, but the good lady herself seemed to have no apprehensions,
and, turning about, she carefully arranged her hair and bonnet, and
resumed cooking slices from the carcass of the pig, intending now to
wait upon the Senecas, who had been kind enough not to interfere while
she attended to the other important duty.
What the next step would have been was hard to guess, but for the sudden
discovery which we have made known.
One of the captives was found to be missing, and he was the most
important of all, being no less a personage than Lieutenant Fred
Godfrey.
The instant Aunt Peggy assailed Golcher the youth saw that the
opportunity for which he was waiting had come, and he took advantage of
it.
The uproar for the moment was great. The captives on the log sprang to
their feet, and the Senecas fixed their attention on the couple, seeing
which, Mr. Brainerd said to his son:
"_Now's your time, Fred!_"
He turned as he spoke, and saw the lieutenant vanishing like a shot in
the gloom. When the warriors noted his absence, he was at a safe
distance in the wood.
Fully a half-dozen Senecas sprang off in the darkness, using every
effort to recapture the prisoner, who could be at no great distance, no
matter how fast he had traveled.
Had Fred given away to the excitement of the occasion, and lost that
coolness that had stood him so well more than once on that dreadful
afternoon and evening, he hardly would have escaped recapture before he
went a hundred yards; for the Iroquois were so accustomed to the ways
of the woods, they would have seized such advantage and come upon him
while he was in the immediate neighborhood.
They believed he would continue running and stumbling in the darkness,
and thus betray his whereabouts.
And that is precisely what Fred Godfrey did not do.
He ran with all speed through the woods, tripping and picking himself
up, and struggling forward, until he was far beyond the reach of the
light of the camp-fire, when all at once he caught the signal whoops of
the Indians, and he knew they were after him.
Then, instead of keeping on in his flight, he straightened up and
stepped along with extreme caution, literally feeling every foot of the
way.
Thus it was he avoided betraying his situation to the cunning warriors,
who, in their apparently aimless pursuit, used their ears, and indeed
every sense at their command.
It was because Fred himself did the same that he eluded those on his
track. Listening, he heard the approach of one of the Iroquois. Instead
of hurrying away he stopped, and backing against a tree, stood as
motionless as the trunk itself.
The dense summer vegetation overhead prevented a single beam of
moonlight reaching him, so that he was secure from observation, so long
as he retained his self-possession and made no blunder.
His nerves were under a fearful strain within the next three minutes,
for, as if guided by fate, not one but two of the Senecas dashed through
the wood, and instead of going by, halted not more than six feet from
where he stood.
Why they should have stopped thus was more than he could conjecture,
unless they really knew where he was and were sure they could place
their hands on him when they wished.
It was hard to understand how this could be, and Fred refused to believe
it, though the actions of the Indians were certainly remarkable.
What more trying situation could there be? It was like some nightmare in
which the victim sees the foe swiftly approaching and is without the
power to move so much as a finger.
But Fred did not lose heart. If they had learned where he was, he meant
to use his feet and not to yield so long as he could resist.
He tugged at his bonds, but they were fastened so securely that he could
not start them. To loosen them so as to free his hands must necessarily
be the work of some time, and he knew how it could be done, when he
should be free of his enemies.
But the bonds, when two of the Senecas were at his elbow, were torture,
and but for his strength of will he could not have avoided an outcry.
Fortunately, the suspense lasted but a few minutes. The Indians stood
silent as if listening, and during that ordeal Fred scarcely drew his
breath.
Then they exchanged some words in the gruff, exclamatory style peculiar
to the red men, and again they paused and listened.
The other pursuers could be heard at different points, for most of them
uttered several cautions but well-understood signals, some of which were
answered by the two at Fred's elbow.
"Why should they stop here," thought he, "when they have every reason to
think I am threshing through the wood and getting farther away each
minute?"
Just then they began moving off, and immediately after, he caught the
dim outlines of their figures as they crossed an open space and vanished
in the woods beyond.
Fred Godfrey did not stir for several minutes, but at the end of that
time he became satisfied that his whereabouts were unknown to the
Senecas ranging through the wilderness in search of him, and he ventured
to leave the tree.