The return of Lord H---- without his guide and companion, Captain
Brooks, caused some surprise in Mr. Prevost and his daughter, who had
not expected to see any of the party before a late hour of the
following evening. Not choosing to explain, in the presence of Edith,
the cause of his parting so suddenly from the hunter, the young
nobleman merely said that circumstances had led him to conclude it
would be advisable to send Woodchuck in the boat with Walter, to
Albany, and his words were uttered in so natural and easy a tone that
Edith, unconscious that her presence put any restraint upon his
communication with her father, remained seated in their pleasant
little parlor till the hour for the evening meal.
"Well, my lord," said Mr. Prevost, after the few first words of
explanation had passed, "did you meet with any fresh specimens of the
Indian in your short expedition?"
The question might have been a somewhat puzzling one for a man who did
not want to enter into any particulars, but Lord H---- replied with
easy readiness:
"Only one. Him we saw only for a moment, and he did not speak with
us."
"They are a very curious race," said Mr. Prevost, "and albeit not very
much given to ethnological studies, I have often puzzled myself as to
whence they sprang, and how they made their way over to this
continent."
Lord H---- smiled. "I fear I cannot help you," he said. "Mine is a
coarse and unstudious profession, you know, my dear sir, and leads one
much more to look at things as they are than to inquire how they came
about. It strikes me at once, however, that in mere corporeal
characteristics the Indian is very different from any race I ever
beheld, if I may judge by the few individuals I have seen."
"Bating the grace and dignity," said Edith, gayly, "I do think that
what my father would call the finest specimens of the human animal are
to be found among the Indians. Look at our dear little Otaitsa, for
instance. Can anything be more beautiful, more graceful, more perfect
than her whole face and form?"
Lord H---- smiled and slightly bowed his head, saying: "Now many a
fair lady, Miss Prevost, would naturally expect a very gallant reply,
and I might make one without a compliment, in good cool blood, and
upon calm, mature consideration. I am very poorly versed, however, in
civil speeches, and therefore I will only say that I think I have seen
white ladies as beautiful, as graceful, and as perfect as your fair
young friend, together with the advantage of a better complexion. But
at the same time I will admit that she is exceedingly beautiful, and
not only that but very charming, and very interesting, too. Hers is
not exactly the style of beauty I admire the most, but certainly hers
is perfect in its kind, and my young friend Walter seems to think so,
too."
A slight flush passed over Edith's cheek, and her eyes instantly
turned toward her father. But Mr. Prevost only laughed, saying: "If
they were not so young, I should be afraid that my son would marry the
sachem's daughter, and perhaps in the end take to the tomahawk and the
scalping knife. But joking apart, Otaitsa is a very singular little
creature. I never can bring myself to feel that she is an Indian--a
savage, in short, when I hear her low, melodious voice, with its
peculiar song-like sort of intonation, and see the grace and dignity
with which she moves, and the ease and propriety with which she
adapts herself to every European custom. I have to look at her
bead-embroidered petticoat and her leggings and moccasins before I can
bring it home to my mind that she is not some very high-bred lady of
the court of France or England. Then she is so fair, too; but that is
probably from care, and the lack of that exposure to the sun which may
at first have given and then perpetuated the Indian tint. To use an
old homely expression, she is the apple of her father's eye, and he is
as careful of her as of a jewel, after his own particular fashion."
"She is a dear creature," said Edith, warmly, "all soul, and heart,
and feeling. Thank God, too, she is a Christian, and you cannot fancy,
my lord, what marvellous stores of information the little creature
has. She knows that England is an island in the midst of the salt sea,
and she can write and read our tongue nearly as well as she speaks it.
She has a holy hatred of the French, however, and would not speak a
word of their language for the world, for all her information and a
good share of her ideas come from our good friend Mr. Gore, who has
carried John Bull completely into the heart of the wilderness and kept
him there perfect in a sort of crystallized state. Had we but a few
more men such as himself amongst the Indian tribes, there would be no
fear of any wavering in the friendship of the Five Nations. There goes
an Indian now past the window. We shall have him in here in a moment,
for they stand upon no ceremony--no, he is speaking to Antony, the
negro boy. How curiously he peeps about him--he must be looking for
somebody he does not find."
Lord H---- rose and went to the window, and in a minute or two after
the Indian stalked quietly away and disappeared in the forest.
"What could he want?" said Edith. "It is strange he did not come in. I
will ask Antony what he sought here," and going to the door she called
the gardener boy up and questioned him.
"He want Captain Woodchuck, Missa," replied the lad. "He ask if he not
lodge here last night. I tell him yes, but Woodchuck go away early
this morning, and not come back since. He 'quire very much about him,
and who went with him. I tell him Massa Walter and de strange
gentleman, but both leave him soon. Massa Walter go straight to
Albany, strange gentleman come back here."
"Did he speak English?" asked Edith.
"Few words," replied the negro. "I speak few words Indian. So patch
'em together make many, missy;" and he laughed with that peculiar,
unmeaning laugh with which his race are accustomed to distinguish
anything they consider witty.
The whole conversation was heard by the two gentlemen within. On Mr.
Prevost it had no effect but to call a cynical smile upon his lips,
but the case was different with Lord H----. He saw that the deed which
had been done in the forest was known to the Indians; that its doer
had been recognized, and that the hunt was up; and he rejoiced to
think that poor Woodchuck was already far beyond pursuit. Anxious,
however, to gain a fuller insight into the character and habits of a
people of whom, as yet, he had obtained but a glimpse, he continued to
converse with Mr. Prevost in regard to the aboriginal races, and
learned several facts which by no means tended to decrease the
uneasiness which the events of the morning had produced.
"The Indians," said his host, in answer to a leading question, "are,
as you say, a very revengeful people, but not more so than many other
barbarous nations. Indeed, in many of their feelings and habits they
greatly resemble a people I have heard of in central Asia, called
Alghanns. Both, in common with almost all barbarians, look upon
revenge as a duty imperative upon every family and every tribe. They
modify their ideas, indeed, in case of war, although it is very
difficult to bring about peace after war has commenced; but if any
individual of a tribe is killed by another person in time of peace,
nothing but the blood of the murderer can satisfy the family or the
tribe, if he can be caught. They will pursue him for weeks and months,
and employ every stratagem which their fertile brains can suggest to
entrap him, till they feel quite certain that he is beyond their
reach. This perseverance proceeds from a religious feeling, for they
believe that the spirit of their dead relation can never enter the
happy hunting grounds till his blood has been atoned for by that of
the slayer."
"But if they cannot catch the slayer," asked Lord H----, "what do they
do then?"
"I used a wrong expression," replied Mr. Prevost. "I should have said
the blood of some other victim. It is their duty, according to their
ideas, to sacrifice the slayer. If satisfied that he is perfectly
beyond their power, they strive to get hold of his nearest relation.
If they cannot do that, they take a man of his tribe or nation and
sacrifice him. It is all done very formally, and with all sorts of
consideration and consultation, for in these bloody rites they are the
most deliberate people in the world, and the most persevering, also."
A few days before, Lord H---- might have plainly and openly told all
the occurrences of the morning in the ears of Edith Prevost, but
sensations had been springing up in his breast which made him more
tender of her feelings, more careful of creating alarm and anxiety,
and he kept his painful secret well till after the evening meal was
over, and she had retired to her chamber. Then, however, he stopped
Mr. Prevost just as that gentleman was raising a light to hand to his
guest, and said: "I am afraid, my good friend, we cannot go to bed
just yet. I have something to tell you which, from all I have heard
since it occurred, appears to me of much greater importance than at
first. Whether anything can be done to avert the evil consequences, or
not, I cannot tell; but at all events, it is as well that you and I
should talk the matter over."
He then related to Mr. Prevost all the events of the morning, and was
sorry to perceive that gentleman's face assuming a deeper and deeper
gloom as he proceeded.
"This is most unfortunate, indeed," said Mr. Prevost, at length. "I
quite acquit our poor friend Brooks of any evil intent, but to slay an
Indian at all, so near our house, and especially an Oneida, was most
unlucky. That tribe or nation, as they call themselves, from the
strong personal regard, I suppose, which has grown up accidentally
between their chief and myself, has always shown the greatest kindness
and friendship toward myself and my family. Before this event I should
have felt myself in any of their villages as much at home as by my own
fireside, and I am sure that each man felt himself as secure on any
part of the lands granted to me as if he were in his own lodge. But
now, as they will call it, their blood has stained my very mat, and
the consequences no one can foresee. Woodchuck has himself escaped. He
has no relations or friends on whom they can wreak their vengeance."
"Surely," exclaimed Lord H----, "they will never visit his offence on
you or yours?"
"I trust not," replied Mr. Prevost, after a moment's thought, "but yet
I cannot feel exactly sure. They will take a white man for their
victim--an Englishman--one of the same nation as the offender.
Probably it may not matter much to them who it is, and the
affectionate regard which they entertain toward us may turn the evil
aside. But yet these Indians have a sort of fanaticism in their
religion, as well as we have in ours--the station and the dignity of
the victim which they offer up enters into their consideration--they
like to make a worthy and an honorable sacrifice, as they consider it;
and just as this spirit moves them or not, they may think that anyone
will do for their purpose, or that they are required by their god of
vengeance to immolate someone dear to themselves, in order to dignify
the sacrifice."
"This is indeed a very sad view of the affair which had never struck
me," replied Lord H----, "and it may be well to consider, my dear sir,
what is the best and the safest course. I must now tell you one of the
objects which made me engage your son to carry my dispatches to
Albany. It seemed to me, from all I have heard during my short
residence with you, especially during my conference with Sir William
Johnson, that the unprotected state of this part of the country left
Albany itself and the settlements around it unpleasantly exposed. We
know that on a late occasion it was Dieskau's intention, if he had
succeeded in defeating Sir William and capturing Fort George, to make
a dash at the capital of the province. He was defeated, but there is
reason to believe that Montcalm, a man much his superior both in
energy and skill, entertained the same views, although I know not what
induced him to retreat so hastily after his black and bloody triumph
at Fort William Henry. He may seize some other opportunity, and I can
perceive nothing whatsoever to impede his progress or delay him for an
hour, if he can make himself master of the few scattered forts which
lie between Albany and Carrillon or Ticonderoga. In the circumstances,
I have strongly urged that a small force should be thrown forward to a
commanding point on the river Hudson, not many miles from this place,
which I examined as I came hither, with an advanced post or two still
nearer to your house. My own regiment I have pointed out as better
fitted for the service than any other, and I think that if my
suggestions are attended to, as I doubt not they will be, we can give
you efficient protection. But I think," continued the young nobleman,
speaking more slowly and emphatically, "that with two young people so
justly dear to you--with a daughter so beautiful and in every way so
charming, and so gallant and noble a lad as Walter, whose high spirit
and adventurous character will expose him continually to any snares
that may be set for him, it will be much better for you to retire with
them both to Albany, at least till such time as you know that the
spirit of Indian vengeance has been satisfied, and that the real peril
has passed."
Mr. Prevost mused for several minutes, and then replied: "The motives
you suggest are certainly very strong, my lord, but I have strange
ways of viewing such subjects, and I must have time to consider
whether it is fair and right to my fellow countrymen scattered over
this district to withdraw from my share of the peril which all who
remain would have to encounter. Do not argue with me upon the subject
to-night--I will think over it well, and doubt not that I shall view
the plan you have suggested with all the favor that paternal love can
afford. I will also keep my mind free to receive any further reasons
you may have to produce. But I must first consider quietly and alone.
There is no need of immediate decision, for these people, according to
their own code, are bound to make themselves perfectly sure that they
cannot get possession of the actual slayer before they choose another
victim. It is clear from what the Indian said to the negro boy, that
they know the hand that did the deed, and they must search for poor
Brooks first, and practice every device to allure him back before they
immolate another. Let us both think over the matter well and confer
to-morrow."
Thus saying, he shook hands with Lord H----, and they retired to their
several chambers with very gloomy and apprehensive thoughts.
Next morning Mr. Prevost was aroused by a distant knocking at the huts
where the outdoor servants slept, and then by a repetition of the
sound at the door of the house itself. Rising hastily, he got down in
time to see the door opened by old Agrippa, and found a man on
horseback bearing a large official-looking letter addressed to
Major-General Lord H----.
It proved to be a dispatch from Sir William Johnson, requesting both
Lord H---- and himself to attend a meeting of some of the chiefs of
the Five Nations, which was to be held at Johnson Castle, on the
Mohawk, in the course of the following day. The distance was not very
great, but still the difficulty of traveling required the two
gentlemen to set out at once in order to reach the place of rendezvous
before night, and neither liked to neglect what they considered a
duty.
"I will mount my horse as soon as it can be got ready," said Lord
H----, when he had read the letter and shown it to Mr. Prevost. "I
suppose, in existing circumstances, you will not think it advisable to
accompany me?"
"Most certainly I will go with you, my lord," replied his host. "As I
said last night, the danger, though very certain, is not immediate.
Weeks, months may pass before these Indians feel assured that they
cannot obtain possession of the actual slayer of their red brother;
and as many of the Oneidas will probably be present at this talk, as
they call it, I may perhaps (though it is very doubtful) gain some
insight into their thoughts and intentions. I will take my daughter
with me, however, for I should not like to leave her here altogether
alone. Her preparations may delay us for half an hour, but still we
have ample time, and the horse of the messenger, who will act as our
guide, must have some little time to take rest and food."
A very brief time was spent at breakfast, and then the whole party set
out on horseback, followed by a negro leading a pack-horse, and
preceded by the messenger of Sir William Johnson. Mr. Prevost, the
messenger, and the negro, were all armed; but Lord H----, who had
hitherto worn nothing but the common riding suit in which he had first
presented himself, except in his unfortunate expedition with Captain
Brooks, had now donned the splendid uniform of a major-general in the
British service, and was merely armed with his sword and pistols in
the holsters of his saddle.
The journey passed without incident. Not a human being was seen for
seventeen or eighteen miles, though here and there a small log hut,
apparently deserted, testified to the efforts of a new race to wrest
their hunting grounds from an earlier people--efforts too soon, too
sadly, and too cruelly to be consummated. The softer light of early
morning died away, and then succeeded a warmer period of the day, when
the heat became very oppressive; for in the midst of those deep
forests, with no wind stirring, the change from summer to winter is
not felt so rapidly as in more open lands. About an hour after noon
they proposed to stop, rest the horses, and take some refreshment, and
a spot was selected where some fine oaks spread their large limbs over
a beautifully clear little lake or pond, the view across which
presented peeps of a distant country, with some blue hills of no very
great elevation appearing above the tops of the trees.
At the end of an hour the party again mounted and pursued their way,
still on through forests and valleys, across streams and by the sides
of lakes, till at length, just as the evening sun was reaching the
horizon, a visible change took place in the aspect of the country:
spots were seen which had been cultivated, where harvests had grown
and been reaped, and then a house gleamed here and there through the
forest, and blue wreaths of smoke might be seen rising up. Tracks of
cart wheels channeled the forest path; a cart or wagon was drawn up
near the roadside; high piles of firewood showed preparation against
the bitter winter; and everything indicated that the travelers were
approaching some new but prosperous settlement.
Soon all traces of the primeval woods, except those which the little
party left behind them, disappeared, and a broad tract of well
cultivated country spread out before them, with a fine river bounding
it at the distance of more than a mile. The road, too, was
comparatively good and broad, and half way between the forest and the
river that road divided into two, one branch going straight on, and
another leading up the course of the stream.
"Is Sir William at the Hall or at his Castle?" asked Mr. Prevost,
raising his voice to reach the ears of his guide, who kept a little in
front.
"He said, sir, to take you on to the Hall if you should come on, sir,"
replied the messenger. "There is a great number of Indians up at the
Castle already, and he thought you might perhaps not like to be with
them altogether."
"Probably not," replied Mr. Prevost, drily; and they rode on upon the
direct road till, passing two or three smaller houses, they came in
sight of a very large and handsome edifice, built of wood indeed, but
somewhat in the style of a European house of the reign of George the
First. As they approached the gates, Sir William Johnson himself, now
in the full costume of an officer of the British army, came down the
steps to meet and welcome them; and little less ceremonious politeness
did he display in the midst of the wild woods of America than if he
had been at the moment in the halls of St. James's. With stately grace
he lifted Edith from her horse, greeted Lord H---- with a deferential
bow, shook Mr. Prevost by the hand, and then led them himself to rooms
which seemed to have been prepared for them.
"Where is my friend Walter?" he said, as he was about to leave Mr.
Prevost to some short repose. "What has induced him to deny his old
acquaintance the pleasure of his society? Ha, Mr. Prevost, does he
think to find metal more attractive at your lonely dwelling? Perhaps
he may be mistaken, for let me tell you the beautiful Otaitsa is
here--here in this very house; for our good friend Gore has so
completely Anglified her, that what between her Christianity, her
beauty, and her delicacy, I believe she is afraid to trust herself
with four or five hundred red warriors at the Castle."
He spoke in a gay and jesting tone, and everyone knows the blessed
facility which parents have of shutting their eyes to the love affairs
of their children. Mr. Prevost did not in the least perceive anything
in the worthy general's speech but a good-humored joke at the boyish
fondness of his son for a pretty Indian girl, and he hastened to
excuse Walter's absence by telling Sir William that he had been sent
to Albany on business by Lord H----. He then inquired, somewhat
anxiously: "Is our friend the Black Eagle here with his daughter?"
"He is here on the ground," replied Sir William, "but not in the
house. His Indian habits are of too old standing to be rooted out like
Otaitsa's, and he prefers a bearskin and his own blue blanket to the
best bed and quilt in the house. I offered him such accommodation as
it afforded, but he declined, with the dignity of a prince refusing
the hospitality of a cottage."
"Does he seem in a good humor to-day?" asked Mr. Prevost, hesitating
whether he should tell Sir William at a moment when they were likely
to be soon interrupted, the event which had caused so much
apprehension in his own mind. "You know he is somewhat variable in his
mood."
"I never remarked it," replied the other. "I think he is the most
civilized savage I ever saw, far more than King Hendrick, though the
one, since his father's death, wears a blue coat and the other does
not. He did seem a little grave indeed, but the shadows of Indian
mirth and gravity are so faint, it is difficult to distinguish them."
While these few words were passing Mr. Prevost had decided upon his
course, and he merely replied: "Well, Sir William, pray let Otaitsa
know that Edith is here; they will soon be in each other's arms, for
the two girls love like sisters."
A few words sprung to Sir William Johnson's lips, which, had they been
uttered, might perhaps have opened Mr. Prevost's eyes, at least to the
suspicions of his friend. He was on the eve of answering, "And some
day they may be sisters," but he checked himself, and nothing but the
smile which should have accompanied the words made any reply.
When left alone, the thoughts of Mr. Prevost reverted at once to more
pressing considerations. "The old chief knows the event," he said to
himself; "he has heard of it--heard the whole, probably--it is
wonderful how rapidly intelligence is circulated amongst this people
from mouth to mouth."
He was well nigh led away into speculations regarding the strange
celerity with which news can be carried orally, and was beginning to
calculate how much distance to travel would be saved in a given space,
by one man shouting the tidings to another at a distance, when he
forced back his mind into the track it had left, and came to the full
conclusion from his knowledge of the character of the parties, and
from all that he had heard, that certainly the Black Eagle was
cognizant of the death of one of his tribe by the hand of Captain
Brooks, and probably--though not certainly--had communicated the
facts, but not his views and purposes, to his daughter, whose keen
eyes were likely to discover much of that which he intended to
conceal.