The distance at which Roland with his party followed the guides, and the
gloom of the woods, prevented his making any close observations upon
their motions, unless when some swelling ridge, nearly destitute of
trees, brought them nearer to the light of the upper air. At other times
he could do little more than follow with his eye the tall figure of
Nathan, plunging from shadow to shadow, and knoll to knoll, with a pace
both free and rapid, and little resembling the shambling, hesitating step
with which he moved among the haunts of his contemners and oppressors. As
for the dog, little Peter, he was only with difficulty seen when
ascending some such illuminated knoll as has been mentioned, when he
might be traced creeping along with unabated vigilance and caution.
It was while ascending one of these low, and almost bare swells of
ground, that the little animal gave the first proof of that sagacity or
wisdom, as Nathan called it, on which the latter seemed to rely for
safety so much more than on his own experience and address. He had no
sooner reached the summit of the knoll than he abruptly came to a stand,
and by and by cowered to the earth, as if to escape the observation of
enemies in front, whose presence he indicated in no other way, unless by
a few twitches and flourishes of his tail, which, a moment after, became
as rigid and motionless as if, with his body, it had been suddenly
converted into stone. The whole action, as far as Roland could notice it
was similar to that of a well-trained spaniel marking game, and such was
the interpretation the soldier put upon it, until Nathan, suddenly
stopping, waved his hand as a signal to the party to halt, which was
immediately obeyed. The next moment Nathan was seen creeping up the hill,
to investigate the cause of alarm, which he proceeded to do with great
caution, as if well persuaded there was danger at hand. Indeed, he had
not yet reached the brow of the eminence, when Roland beheld him suddenly
drop upon his face, thereby giving the best evidence of the existence of
peril of an extreme and urgent character.
The young Virginian remembered the instructions of his guide, to seek
shelter for his party the moment this signal was given; and, accordingly,
he led his followers without delay into a little tangled brake hard by,
where he charged them to remain in quiet until the cause of the
interruption should be ascertained and removed. From the edge of the
brake he could see the guide, still maintaining his position on his face,
yet dragging himself upward like a snake, until he had reached the top of
the hill and looked over into the maze of forest beyond. In this
situation he lay for several moments, apparently deeply engaged with the
scene before him; when Forrester, impatient of his silence and delay,
anxiously interested in every turn of events, and perhaps unwilling, at a
season of difficulty, to rely altogether on Nathan's unaided
observations, gave his horse in charge of Emperor, and ascended the
eminence himself; taking care, however, to do as Nathan had done, and
throw himself upon the ground, when near its summit. In this way, he
succeeded in creeping to Nathan's side, when the cause of alarm was soon
made manifest.
The forest beyond the ridge was, for a considerable distance, open and
free from undergrowth, the trees standing wide apart, and thus admitting
a broad extent of vision, though now contracted by the increasing dusk of
evening. Through this expanse, and in its darkest corner, flitting dimly
along, Roland's eyes fell upon certain shadows, at first vague and
indistinct, but which soon assumed the human form, marching one after the
other in a line, and apparently approaching the very ridge on which he
lay, each with the stealthy yet rapid pace of a wild cat. They were but
five in number; but the order of their march, the appearance of their
bodies seemingly half naked, and the busy intentness with which they
pursued the trail left so broad and open by the inexperienced wanderers,
would have convinced Roland of their savage character, had he possessed
no other evidence than that of his own senses.
"They are Indians;" he muttered in Nathan's ear.
"Shawnee creatures," said the latter, with edifying coolness;--"and
will think no more of taking the scalps of thee two poor women than of
digging off thee own."
"There are but five of them, and--" The young man paused, and the gloom
that a spirit so long harassed by fears, though fears for another, had
spread over his countenance, was exchanged for a look of fierce decision
that better became his features. "Harkee, man," he abruptly resumed, "we
cannot pass the ridge without being seen by them; our horses are
exhausted, and we cannot hope to escape them by open flight."
"Verily," said Nathan, "thee speaks the truth."
"Nor can we leave the path we are now pursuing, without fear of falling
into the hands of a party more numerous and powerful. Our only path of
escape, you said, was over this ridge, and towards yonder Lower Ford?"
"Truly," said Nathan, with a lugubrious look of assent,--"what thee says
is true: but how we are to fly these evil-minded creatures, with poor
frightened women hanging to our legs--"
"We will not fly them!" said Roland, the frown of battle gathering
on his brows. "Yonder crawling reptiles,--reptiles in spirit as in
movement,--have been dogging our steps for hours, waiting for the
moment when to strike with advantage at my defenceless followers; and
they will dog us still, if permitted, until there is no escape from their
knives and hatchets for either man or woman. There is a way of stopping
them,--there is a way of requiting them!"
"Truly," said Nathan, "there is no such way; unless we were wicked men of
the world and fighting men, and would wage battle with them!"
"Why not meet the villains in their own way? There are but five of
them,--and footmen too! By heavens, man, we will charge them,--cut them
to pieces, and so rid the wood of them! Four strong men like us,
fighting, too, in defence of women,"
"_Four!_" echoed Nathan, looking wonder and alarm together: "does thee
think to have _me_ do the wicked thing of shedding blood? Thee should
remember, friend, that I am a follower of peaceful doctrines, a man of
peace and amity."
"What!" said Roland, warmly, "would you not defend your life from the
villains? Would you suffer yourself to be tomahawked, unresisting, when a
touch of the trigger under your finger, a blow of the knife at your belt,
would preserve the existence nature and heaven alike call on you to
protect? Would you lie still, like a fettered ox, to be butchered?"
"Truly," said Nathan, "I would take myself away; or, if that might
not be, why then, friend,--verily, friend, if I could do nothing
else,--truly, I must then give myself up to be murdered,"
"Spiritless, mad, or hypocritical!" cried Roland, with mingled wonder
and contempt. Then grasping his strange companion by the arm, he cried,
"Harkee, man, if you would not strike a blow for yourself,--would you
not strike it for another? What if you had a wife, a parent, a child,
lying beneath the uplifted hatchet, and you with these arms in your
hands,--what! do you tell me you would stand by and see them murdered?--I
say, a wife or child!--the wife of your bosom,--the child of your heart?
would you see _them_ murdered?"
At this stirring appeal, uttered with indescribable energy and passion,
though only in a whisper, Nathan's countenance changed from dark to pale,
and his arm trembled in the soldier's grasp. He turned upon him also a
look of extraordinary wildness, and muttered betwixt his teeth an answer
that betokened as much confusion of mind as agitation of spirits:
"Friend," he said, "whoever thee is, it matters nothing to thee what
might happen, or has happened, in such case made and provided. I am a
man, thee is another; thee has thee conscience, and I have mine. If thee
will fight, fight; settle it with thee conscience. If thee don't like to
see thee kinswoman murdered, and thee thinks thee has a call to battle,
do thee best with sword and pistol, gun and tomahawk; kill and slay to
thee liking: if thee conscience finds no fault with thee, neither will I.
But as for me, let the old Adam of the flesh stir me as it may, I have no
one to fight for,--wife or child, parent or kinsman, I have none: if thee
will hunt the world over, thee will not find one in it that is my kinsman
or relative."
"But I ask you," said Roland, somewhat surprised at the turn of Nathan's
answer, "I ask you, if you _had_ a wife or child--"
"But I have _not_," cried Nathan, interrupting him vehemently; "and
therefore, friend, why should thee speak of them? Them that are dead, let
them rest: they can never cry to me more.--Think of thee own blood, and
do what seems best to thee for the good thereof."
"Assuredly I would," said Roland, who, however much his curiosity was
roused by the unexpected agitation of his guide, had little time to think
of any affairs but his own,--"Assuredly I would, could I only count upon
your hearty assistance. I tell you, man, my blood boils to look at yonder
crawling serpents, and to think of the ferocious object with which they
are dogging at my heels; and I would give a year of my life,--ay, if the
whole number of years were but ten,--one whole year of all,--for the
privilege of paying them for their villany beforehand."
"Thee has thee two men to back thee," said Nathan, who had now recovered
his composure; "and with these two men, if thee is warlike enough, thee
might do as much mischief as thee conscience calls for. But, truly, it
becomes not a man of peace like me to speak of strife and bloodshed--Yet,
truly," he added, hastily, "I think there must mischief come of this
meeting; for, verily, the evil creatures are leaving thee tracks, and
coming towards us!"
"They stop!" said Forrester, eagerly,--"they look about them,--they have
lost the track,--they are coming this way! You will not fight, yet you
may counsel.--What shall I do? Shall I attack them? What _can_ I do?"
"Friend," replied Nathan, briskly, "I can't tell what thee can do; but I
can tell thee what a man of Kentucky, a wicked fighter of Injuns, would
do in such a case made and provided. He would betake him to the thicket
where he had hidden his women and horses, and he would lie down with his
fighting men behind a log; and truly, if these ill-disposed Injun-men
were foolish enough to approach, he would fire upon them with his three
guns, taking them by surprise, and perhaps, wicked man, killing the
better half of them on the spot: and then--"
"And then," interrupted Roland taking fire at the idea, "he would spring
on his horse, and make sure of the rest with sword and pistol?"
"Truly," said Nathan, "he would do no such thing, seeing that, the moment
he lifted up his head above the log, he would be liker to have an Injun
bullet through it than to see the wicked creature that shot it. Verily,
a man of Kentucky would be wiser. He would take the pistols thee speaks
of, supposing it were his good luck to have them, and let fly at the
evil-minded creatures with them also; not hoping, indeed, to do any
execution with such small ware, but to make the Injuns believe there were
as many enemies as fire-arms: and, truly, if they did not take to their
heels after such a second volley, they would be foolisher Injuns than
were ever before heard of in Kentucky."
"By Heaven," said Forrester, "it is good advice: and I will take it!"
"Advice, friend! I don't advise thee," said Nathan, hastily: "truly, I
advise to nothing but peace and amity. I only tell thee what a wicked
Kentucky fighting-man would do,--a man that might think it, as many of
them do, as lawful to shoot a prowling Injun as a skulking bear."
"And I would to Heaven," said Roland, "I had but two,--nay, but one of
them with me this instant. A man like Bruce were worth the lives of a
dozen such scum.--I must do my best."
"Truly, friend," said Nathan, who had listened to the warlike outpourings
of the young soldier with a degree of complacency and admiration one
would have scarce looked for in a man of his peaceful character, "thee
has a conscience of thee own, and if thee will fight these Injun-men from
an ambush, truly, I will not censure nor exhort thee to the contrary.
If thee can rely upon thee two men, the coloured person and the other,
thee may hold the evil creatures exceeding uneasy."
"Alas," said Roland, the fire departing from his eyes, "you remind me of
my weakness. My men will _not_ fight, unless from sheer desperation.
Emperor I know to be a coward, and Dodge, I fear, is no braver."
"Verily," said Nathan, bluffly, "it was foolish of thee to come into
the woods in such company, foolisher still to think of fighting five
Injun-men with such followers to back thee; and truly," he added, "it was
foolishest of all to put the safe-keeping of such helpless creatures into
the hands of one who can neither fight for them nor for himself.
Nevertheless, thee is as a babe and suckling in the woods, and Peter and
I will do the best we can for thee. It is lucky for thee, that as thee
cannot fight, thee has the power to fly; and, truly, for the poor women's
sake, it is better thee should leave the woods in peace."
With that, Nathan directed the young man's attention to the pursuing
foes, who, having by some mischance, lost the trail, had scattered about
in search of it, and at last recovered it; though not before two of them
had approached so nigh the ridge on which the observers lay as to give
just occasion for fear lest they should cross it immediately in front of
the party of travellers. The deadly purpose with which the barbarians
were pursuing him Roland could infer from the cautious silence preserved
while they were searching for the lost tracks; and even when these were
regained, the discovery was communicated from one to another merely by
signs, not a man uttering so much as a word. In a few moments, they were
seen again, formed in a single file, stealing through the woods with a
noiseless but rapid pace, and, fortunately, bending their steps towards a
distant part of the ridge, where Roland and his companions had so lately
crossed it.
"Get thee down to thee people," said Nathan; "lead them behind the
thicket, and when thee sees me beckon thee, carry them boldly over the
hill. Thee must pass it, while the Shawnee-men are behind yonder clump of
trees, which is so luckily for thee on the very comb of the swell. Be
quick in obeying, friend, or the evil creatures may catch sight of thee:
thee has no time to lose."
The ardour of battle once driven from his mind, Roland was able to
perceive the folly of risking a needless contest betwixt a superior body
of wild Indian warriors and his own followers. But had his warlike spirit
been at its height, it must have been quelled in a moment by the
appearance of his party, left in the thicket, during his brief absence on
the hill, to feed their imaginations with terrors of every appalling
character; in which occupation, as he judged at a glance, the gallant
Dodge and Emperor had been even more industrious than the females, the
negro looking the very personification of mute horror, and bending low on
his saddle as if expecting every instant a shower of Indian bullets to be
let fly into the thicket; while Pardon expressed the state of his
feelings by trying aloud, as soon as Rowland appeared, "I say, Capting,
if you seed 'em, a'nt there no dodging of 'em no how?"
"We can escape, Roland!" exclaimed Edith, anticipating the soldier's news
from his countenance; "the good man can save us?"
"I hope, I trust so," replied the kinsman: "we are in no immediate
danger. Be composed, and for your lives, all now preserve silence."
A few words served to explain the posture of affairs, and a few seconds
to transfer the party from its ignoble hiding-place to the open wood
behind it; when Roland, casting his eyes to where Nathan lay motionless
on the hill, awaited impatiently the expected signal. Fortunately, it was
soon given; and, in a few moments more, the party, moving briskly but
stealthily over the eminence, had plunged into the dark forest beyond,
leaving the baffled pursuers to follow afterwards as they might.
"Now," said Nathan, taking post at Roland's side, and boldly directing
his course across the track of the enemy, "we have the evil creatures
behind us, and, truly, there we will keep them. And now, friend soldier,
since such thee is, thee must make thee horses do duty, tired or not; for
if we reach not the Old Ford before darkness closes on us, we may find
but ill fortune crossing the waters. Hark, friend! does thee hear?" he
exclaimed, coming to a pause, as a sudden and frightful yell suddenly
rose in the forest beyond the ridge, obviously proceeding from the five
foes, and expressing at once surprise, horror, and lamentation: "Did thee
not say thee found a dead Injun in the wood?"
"We did," replied the soldier, "the body of an Indian horribly mangled;
and, if I am to believe the strange story I have heard of the
Jibbenainosay, it was some of his bloody work."
"It is good for thee, then, and the maidens that is with thee," said
Nathan; "for, truly, the evil creatures have found that same dead man,
being doubtless one of their own scouting companions; and, truly, they
say the Injuns, in such cases made and provided, give over their evil
designs in terror and despair; in which case, as I said, it will be good
for thee and thee companions. But follow, friends, and tarry not to ask
questions. Thee poor women shall come to no harm, if Nathan Slaughter or
little Dog Peter can help them."
With these words of encouragement, Nathan, bounding along with an
activity that kept him ever in advance of the mounted wanderers, led the
way from the open forest into a labyrinth of brakes and bogs, through
paths traced rather by wolves and bears than any nobler animals, so wild,
so difficult, and sometimes, in appearance, so impracticable to be
pursued, that Roland, bewildered from the first, looked every moment to
find himself plunged into difficulties from which neither the zeal of
Nathan nor the sagacity of the unpretending Peter could extricate his
weary followers. The night was coming fast, and coming with clouds and
distant peals of thunder, the harbingers of new tempests; and how the
journey was to be continued, when darkness should at last invest them,
through the wild mazes of vine and brake in which they now wandered, was
a question which he scarce durst answer. But night came, and still Nathan
led the way with unabated confidence and activity, professing a very
hearty contempt for all perils and difficulties of the woods, except such
as proceeded from "evil-minded Shawnee creatures;" and, indeed, averring
that there was scarce a nook in the forest, for miles around, with which
he was not as well acquainted as with the patches of his own leathern
garments. "Truly," said he, "when I first came to this land, I did make
me a little cabin in a place hard by; but the Injuns burned the same;
and, verily, had it not been for little Peter, who gave me a hint of
their coming, I should have been burned with it. Be of good heart,
friend: if thee will keep the ill-meaning Injun-men out of my way, I
will adventure to lead thee anywhere thee will, within twenty miles of
this place, on the darkest night, and that through the thickest cane, or
deepest swamp, thee can lay eyes on,--that is, if I have but little dog
Peter to help me. Courage, friend; thee is now coming fast to the river;
and, if we have but good luck in crossing it, thee shall, peradventure,
find theeself nearer thee friends than thee thinks for."
This agreeable assurance was a cordial to the spirits of all, and the
travellers now finding themselves, though still in profound darkness,
moving through the open woodlands again, instead of the maze of copses
that had so long confined them, Roland took advantage of the change to
place himself at Nathan's side, and endeavour to draw from him some
account of his history, and the causes that had brought him into a
position and way of life so ill suited to his faith and peaceful habits.
To his questions, however, Nathan seemed little disposed to return
satisfactory answers, except in so far as they related to his adventures
since the period of his coming to the frontier; of which he spoke very
freely, though succinctly. He had built him cabins, like other lonely
settlers, and planted cornfields, from which he had been driven, time
after time, by the evil Shawnees, incurring frequent perils and
hardships; which, with the persecutions he endured from his more warlike
and intolerant neighbours, gradually drove him into the forest to seek a
precarious subsistence from the spoils of the chase. As to his past life,
and the causes that had made him a dweller of the wilderness, he betrayed
so little inclination to satisfy the young man's curiosity, that Roland
dropped the subject entirely, not however without suspecting, that the
imputations Bruce had cast upon his character might have had some
foundation in truth.
But while conning these things over in his mind, on a sudden the soldier
stepped from the dark forest into a broad opening, canopied only by the
sky, sweeping like a road through the wood, in which it was lost behind
him; while, in front, it sank abruptly into a deep hollow or gulf, in
which was heard the sullen rush of an impetuous river.