By this time the short July night was drawing to a close, and there were
signs of the coming dawn in the east. All through the solemn darkness
the massacre had continued, and scenes were enacted on both sides of the
Susquehanna which the pen has never placed on paper, and which to-day
come down to us only in the shuddering legends of those who looked upon
and survived to tell of them.
Among the miscreants none was more inhuman than Jake Golcher, the Tory.
But for his strong admiration of the pretty Maggie Brainerd not one of
the little party of fugitives would have survived capture for fifteen
minutes.
He was not the first, as he shall not be the last, bad man who has been
restrained from evil by the sweet beauty of some maiden who,
unconsciously to herself, has woven her subtle web around him.
Had she walked up to him and promised to be his wife on condition that
every one of her friends should be released, he would have complied,
though he might have resorted to treachery afterward to gratify the
demand for revenge on the part of his Indian allies.
But the father of Maggie had repudiated his claim, and the point at last
was reached when he was forced to see that every one of the fugitives,
including Maggie herself, looked upon him with unspeakable loathing, and
they would die before humbling themselves to him.
"What's the sense of my fooling longer?" he growled, standing sullenly
apart and glowering upon them; "they hate me worse than Satan himself,
and if Maggie should pledge me her hand, that old father or the brother
of her'n wouldn't let her keep her promise. The Injins have got so mad
at my soft-heartedness that they begin to 'spect me, and they've gone
over to t' other side the river to have their fun there, 'cause there
ain't much prospect of gettin' it here."
The renegade spoke a significant truth, and, looking around, he was able
to count precisely six Senecas who remained with him. Some of the others
who were out hunting in the wood might return, but the chances were
against it, and more than likely they had gone off to join in the orgies
of which we only dare hint.
Striding across the brief space, Jake Golcher paused in front of Maggie
Brainerd and said:
"You have had more mercy to-night than you had a right to expect, and
more than you'll get any longer."
"Why do you talk to me thus?" asked the scared maiden, who could not
fail to understand what he meant; "why do you feel such hatred of us who
have never showed aught but kindness to you?"
"Bah!" interrupted the Tory, angrily; "why do you get over that stuff to
me? I want no more of it. The time for begging mercy has gone by. If you
had treated me right a while ago it would have been well--"
"Oh, Jake, how can you?"
The agonized girl was about to rush forward and throw herself on her
knees before the man, when her father, with flashing eye, interposed.
"Maggie, I forbid you to speak a word to such a scoundrel as he. Sit
down and keep silence."
The obedient girl complied, as she would have done had she known that
death was to be the penalty.
She placed herself beside Eva, and the two, wrapping their arms about
each other, wept in silence.
Aunt Peggy, as if conscious the crisis had come, ceased her cooking and
softly seated herself beside them, without a word.
Mr. Brainerd, proud and defiant as ever, sat bolt upright on the fallen
tree, with arms folded, looking as keenly as an eagle in the face of the
being whom he execrated above any of his kind.
The Senecas watched them all, and it was easy to detect the signs of
impatience among them, for they had been baffled too long of their prey.
As Jake Golcher retreated a step or two the Indians uttered a short
exclamation of surprise, as well they might, for two figures strode
for-toward out of the gloom in the light of the camp-fire.
One of them was Habakkuk McEwen, who led by the arm Lieutenant Fred
Godfrey, the latter stepping briskly, while a strange half-smile hovered
about his handsome mouth.
Mr. Brainerd and the rest of the fugitives were thunderstruck, and
totally at a loss to understand the meaning of the spectacle.
Fortunately, they were not kept long in suspense.
The face of Habakkuk was wreathed in an all-embracing smile, though
there was a certain delicacy in his position that prevented his smile
becoming contagious.
"Well, Jake, I've brought you your man!" called out Habakkuk, in a voice
tremulous with triumph and fear.
"You have done well," replied Golcher, as soon as he could recover his
breath; "you have done better than I expected."
"It's all right now, then, ain't it--that is, with me?"
"Certainly; you've earned your freedom and can go. These Injins won't
hurt you."
Golcher made a wave of his hand to the warriors grouped around and
uttered an exclamation that insured immunity to the eccentric New
Englander.
The latter wheeled about and walked straight toward the woods where his
friends were awaiting him.
One of the most difficult things for a brave man to do is to stride
deliberately off, without decreasing or augmenting his gait, when he has
every reason to believe that someone is taking careful aim at him, and
that if he doesn't get beyond range in a brief while he is certain to be
punctured.
The expectation of receiving a bullet from the rear will make the chills
creep over the most courageous person, and give an impetus to his gait
like the actual prick of a bayonet.
Habakkuk McEwen walked only a dozen steps when he was so impressed by
the situation, that he forgot his identity. With a howl he sprang
several feet from the ground and dashed off at the top of his speed
into the woods, muttering:
"I'll be hanged if I can stand it; I believe every Injin squattin' there
was taking aim at me."
Fred Godfrey and Jake Golcher at last stood face to face, and by the
light of the camp-fire looked steadily in the eyes of each other.
"I'm here," said the lieutenant, in his ordinary voice, though he
carefully measured his words: "Habakkuk McEwen has kept his pledge, and
now I'd like to know what you are going to do about it."
"You would like to know, eh? Wal, I can soon tell you. I'm going to turn
you over to these Senecas you see around you; one of them is throwing
wood on the fire now; that's for you. More than one rebel has been
roasted, and you are none too good to be served the same way."
"So you intend to burn me to death, Jacob, do you?"
"Intend to! I'm going to do so, sartin sure--that is, I'm going to boss
the job, but I've promised to let the redskins have the fun of the
thing."
"That's the idea, is it? And after I'm disposed of, what then? That is,
what is to be done with my friends there?"
"I've no 'bjection to saying," replied the Tory, speaking loud enough
for all to hear, "that the old fellow there and that she panther, Aunt
Peggy, will be served the same way. The two girls will be taken back to
York State with us, and sort of adopted by the Senecas."
All the individuals referred to heard these words, but no one moved or
stirred. It may truthfully be said that they were so overcome for the
moment that they were speechless.
"That's an imposing programme, Jacob, but, somehow or other, I think
there will be a hitch in carrying it out."
"You think so, eh? Wal, you'll see mighty soon that there ain't no
mistake about it. The fire is burning and about ready--"
"Jacob," said Fred Godfrey in a low voice, but with such significance
that the Tory was transfixed, "I hoped that you would say and do
something that would give me excuse for believing you less a miscreant
than you are, but you have persisted in shutting out all merciful
thoughts--"
"Wh-wh-what d-d-do you m-mean?" stammered Golcher, beginning to feel a
giving away in his knees.
"Do you suppose I was such a fool as to allow Habakkuk McEwen, one of my
best friends, to bring me back a prisoner to you? You showed your idiocy
in sending him out for me; but it is scarcely credible that you could
really think he would ever show himself again. But he has, and here I
am--
"And now, Jacob, I have the pleasure of informing you that you are at
_my_ mercy, and I have only to raise my hand--so--to have you riddled
with bullets."