the_wolf_queen_or_the_giant_hermit_of_the_scioto
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| + | WOLF QUEEN,< | ||
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| + | In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.</ | ||
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| + | < | ||
| + | at the close of an autumn day, in the year 1804, when a solitary | ||
| + | canoe descended the Scioto, then vastly swollen by recent | ||
| + | rains.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and twenty summers, clad in buck-skin. His beardless face | ||
| + | gave him an extremely womanish expression. Its smooth | ||
| + | surface was yet untanned by the rays of the sun, which fairness | ||
| + | of skin proclaimed him a novice in backwoods life.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He plied the oars deftly and noiselessly, | ||
| + | middle of the stream. Ever and anon he glanced upward at | ||
| + | the ragged cliffs that hung over the murky and turbulent waters | ||
| + | like the hand of doom. But, at last, he passed beyond | ||
| + | the precipitous banks, and gained the mouth of the Scioto’s | ||
| + | nosiest tributary.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | mental debate, then ran his canoe up the new stream, toward | ||
| + | the left bank of which he presently steered.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | tone, not before glancing furtively around. “Simon Kenton | ||
| + | may be a great hunter; but he is a sorry prophet. What! | ||
| + | did he think I would wait until he returned from the hazardous | ||
| + | expedition he is about to undertake, and leave Eudora the | ||
| + | while in Jim Girty’s hands? And when, in the ebullition of | ||
| + | anger, as I will admit& | ||
| + | that I would rescue the girl without the aid of his potent< | ||
| + | arm, he said, with a sneer I shall never forget: ‘Go, rash | ||
| + | boy, and meet the reward for spurning the counsels of your | ||
| + | elders. Go to the death prepared for you by the Wolf-Queen.’”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sneer for the prophecy of the king of backwoodsmen. “If | ||
| + | such a creature exists, I want to meet her; and I have no | ||
| + | reason for doubting her existence, for Simon Kenton says he | ||
| + | once trembled in her presence. And Simon Kenton never | ||
| + | lies. I will pit my strength against the Amazon, and her | ||
| + | wolfish guard. Though rash and young in the ways of the | ||
| + | woods, Mayne Fairfax is not a coward, else why came he | ||
| + | from cultivated Virginia to the dark death-paths of Ohio? | ||
| + | No; I& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | that suddenly burst upon the young hunter’s vision.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shot from the bush-fringed bank, and bore down upon the | ||
| + | young Virginian.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In the center of the bark stood the very person he had | ||
| + | lately expressed a desire to meet& | ||
| + | alike by Indians and whites.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | seemed built of iron. She wore a frock of tanned doe-skin, | ||
| + | the fringes of which touched her knees. The leggins which | ||
| + | fitted her nether limbs to a fault, were composed of panther | ||
| + | skins, secured to the moccasins by painted strips of deer-hide. | ||
| + | Over all these garments she wore a long, dark robe whose | ||
| + | ample folds disappeared in the canoe, and lent a royal aspect | ||
| + | to its strange wearer. Her head was surrounded by a dress, | ||
| + | composed of white heron-feathers, | ||
| + | locks, which streamed over her shoulders, and covered her | ||
| + | beaded bosom, were curiously, but not distastily, woven the | ||
| + | gaudy feathers of the North American oriole.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | suddenly encountered on the swollen stream, commanded the | ||
| + | hunter’s attention.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Here and there a wrinkle was to be seen, and a sadly strange | ||
| + | beauty pervaded her countenance. But the eyes& | ||
| + | indexes of the human heart& | ||
| + | white woman& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | baleful orbs, and told the single beholder that she was a perfect | ||
| + | demon, when the paroxysm of lunacy swayed her.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>On either side of her stood a huge black wolf, while at her | ||
| + | feet sat a monster gray one. A collar of deer-skin, elaborately | ||
| + | beaded, encircled the necks of the fierce brutes, and from | ||
| + | their shaggy backs the muddy water dripped.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Mayne Fairfax could not repress a shriek of terror. It bubbled | ||
| + | to his lips unsummoned.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He now had ocular proof that the dreadful Wolf-Queen | ||
| + | was not a myth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | received from the swift waters. No oars were needed | ||
| + | to keep it in the center of the stream& | ||
| + | service for the Wolf-Queen, who stood erect in the bark, | ||
| + | clutching a drawn bow.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | griped his rifle, but ere it struck his shoulder the twang of a | ||
| + | bow-string smote his ears, and a barbed shaft buried itself in | ||
| + | his right breast. Instantaneously a faintness stole over him, | ||
| + | but the courageous hunter repressed it, as the canoe of the | ||
| + | Amazon grated against his.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He would not die without a struggle, and therefore seized | ||
| + | his rifle for the second time, for the purpose of braining his | ||
| + | antagonist.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At that moment the gray wolf left his post.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his fangs in the hunter’s throat, and the brave fellow staggered | ||
| + | back, trying to tear the mad animal from his breast.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In that terrible moment Simon Kenton’s last words burst | ||
| + | doomfully and prophetically upon his mind!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the sharp report of a rifle rent the air; the wolf relinquished | ||
| + | his hold with a groan, and fell at Mayne Fairfax’s feet& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | coonskin cap surmounting a clump of prickly pears. Instantly | ||
| + | a cry, but half earthly, escaped her lips, and a minute later | ||
| + | she was flying down the stream, vainly trying to stanch the | ||
| + | crimson tide that flowed from the gray wolf’s heart; while at | ||
| + | her feet crouched the black monsters, drinking the warm | ||
| + | blood of their lifeless companion.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and upon its gory bottom, as motionless as a corpse, lay Mayne | ||
| + | Fairfax.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | bearing a long but deadly-looking rifle sprung into the stream, | ||
| + | and intercepted the drifting canoe.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He looked over the side, and shook his head doubtingly.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | indications of sorrow. “I’m afraid he’s going to cross the | ||
| + | river.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he stanched the blood that poured from the lacerated throat, | ||
| + | which he bound with the soft linings of his grotesque cap.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | will do until I reach home. This young chap must not die. | ||
| + | He’s too brave to perish in the springtime of his life. I wonder | ||
| + | what brought him alone to these parts!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | towed the boat ashore, moored it to a clump of alder bushes, | ||
| + | and raising the unconscious youth in his arms, darted away | ||
| + | into the great forest, where strange fortunes and adventures | ||
| + | awaited him and the human burden he bore.</ | ||
| + | |||
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| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Virginian, as the giant rapidly bore him through the wood, | ||
| + | throughout the recesses of which the somber shades of night | ||
| + | were gathering.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At length the surface of the ground grew hilly, and the | ||
| + | giant approached so near the Scioto that the swash of the | ||
| + | waters against its new banks could be distinctly heard. He | ||
| + | followed the course of the stream for some distance, when he | ||
| + | turned aside, and darted into a small ravine once the bed of | ||
| + | a tributary of the Scioto. In the banks of the ravine were | ||
| + | just discernible several gloomy apertures, into one of which | ||
| + | the backwoodsman disappeared.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | door, seemingly imbedded in the limestone rock, and a short | ||
| + | fumbling in the gloom above his head threw wide the portal.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | threshold; but a joyful bark greeted the giant’s ears, and a | ||
| + | dog sprung forward to greet him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “And I’ve brought you a friend& | ||
| + | should judge, as you get them, for, with an arrow sticking | ||
| + | near through one, and the awfulest torn throat you ever saw, | ||
| + | things must look dangerous.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | tenderly placed Mayne Fairfax upon a couch, deep with soft | ||
| + | dressed skins. Then he ignited a tiny pile of bark films, | ||
| + | which soon communicated a warmth to a heap of sticks, which | ||
| + | blazed and crackled with some fury.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | giant, turning to his charge. “I’m the doctor in this case, | ||
| + | and I’m about to see what can be done. May be he isn’t so | ||
| + | badly hurt as I opine. That arrow,” he continued, after a | ||
| + | long silence, during which he had critically examined the | ||
| + | hunter’s wounds, “that arrow must be pulled through. I’m | ||
| + | not much of a surgeon, but I reckon as how I have managed | ||
| + | some pretty dangerous cases. Here goes! If that arrow | ||
| + | ain’t taken out, a certain young man will never shoulder a | ||
| + | rifle again.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A protuberance on the young hunter’s back told the giant | ||
| + | that the arrow had nearly gone through the body, and delicately, | ||
| + | yet firmly, the rude surgeon set to work. His keen | ||
| + | hunting-knife first severed the shaft; then made the incision, | ||
| + | and the remainder of the shaft was withdrawn. Then some< | ||
| + | astringent liniment was rubbed on and into the wounds, which | ||
| + | were covered with strong adhesive plasters.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As this operation was completed, Mayne Fairfax groaned | ||
| + | and opened his eyes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “and he has just pulled the arrow of that madwoman from | ||
| + | your body. Luckily, as I have discovered, it struck no vital | ||
| + | part. The deviation of an inch, either to the right or the | ||
| + | left, would have rendered my surgical operations unnecessary. | ||
| + | So you may begin to believe in special providences.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | torn by the jaws of the gray wolf, baffled him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “and then I opine you can chatter away like a parrot.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | by the dressing of his throat.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | after completing the operation. “Exertion of body may | ||
| + | irritate your breast wound, and end in something disagreeable. | ||
| + | I’ll stay with you all the time, for I don’t go visiting much in | ||
| + | these parts, nor these times. Now just lay still, but talk to | ||
| + | me while I get supper for two; tell me all about yourself, | ||
| + | and what brought you alone away down here. Boy, you look | ||
| + | like a Virginian.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | backwoods culinary operations. “My name is Fairfax.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the speaker. “What Fairfax? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with your story, eh?” cried Hewitt, with a strange smile. | ||
| + | “Well, I’ll tell you; but you must go on with < | ||
| + | perhaps I’ll tell you mine, some day. < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | years ago.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | young Fairfax, whose countenance told that he would have< | ||
| + | questioned his preserver further; “and were it not for the | ||
| + | existence of that accursed renegade, Jim Girty, I would be | ||
| + | there this night.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | curses could kill.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | closed in silent anger. “Near Rockbridge county the family | ||
| + | of Nicholas Morriston rather rashly dwelt alone in the wilderness. | ||
| + | The father was a hotheaded man, who lived in | ||
| + | fancied security, while Indian raids were being made all | ||
| + | around him. One night, poor fellow, he paid dearly for his | ||
| + | rashness, for often had I entreated him to remove his family | ||
| + | to a place of safety. One night, I say, when too late to fly, | ||
| + | he paid the penalty attached to stubbornness. But not only | ||
| + | did he suffer, but every member of his family, save < | ||
| + | beneath the swoop of the white hawk.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | whose evil passions had been inflamed by the beauty, the innocence | ||
| + | and grace of Eudora Morriston.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | interrupted the giant hermit. “Eudora Morriston is | ||
| + | now Jim Girty’s prisoner, and it is she whom you seek in the | ||
| + | land of the dread Wolf-Queen and her tribe.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | might have secured the assistance of the renowned Simon | ||
| + | Kenton; but the thought of Eudora’s situation& | ||
| + | more precarious every day& | ||
| + | offer, and, alone, I swore to rescue her or perish in the | ||
| + | attempt.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “I had a little boy once& | ||
| + | hair, and the prettiest eyes you ever saw. But where he | ||
| + | is now, God knows. You love Eudora Morriston? | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A flush suffused Mayne Fairfax’s temples.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | her of my passion.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | workings of his countenance, | ||
| + | mysterious unseen.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his gaze upon the reclining hunter. “But I don’t think | ||
| + | I love anybody now, save my boy& | ||
| + | here,” and he stroked the mastiff’s shaggy hide. “These | ||
| + | hands,” he quickly continued, stretching forth his broad palms, | ||
| + | “are red with the gore of a fellow-creature, | ||
| + | as fair as yours, my boy. With the brand of Cain upon my | ||
| + | brow, I fled Virginia& | ||
| + | a cave-hermit, | ||
| + | unracked by disease; but with hair and beard almost as | ||
| + | white as driven snow.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | put a question, “it is a terrible thing to kill a fellow-creature | ||
| + | in the first heat of passion; but I will not tell you aught further | ||
| + | of that dark night, now. Boy, from that day to this I | ||
| + | have not taken a human life& | ||
| + | life of an Indian. I will assist you to recover the sweet creature | ||
| + | you seek& | ||
| + | the fangs of the white wolf& | ||
| + | precarious situations we may fall, remember, boy, that these | ||
| + | hands shed no human blood. These fists are enough for a | ||
| + | score of red-skins. They have proved themselves thus in | ||
| + | times gone by. But here, our supper is ready. I’ll prop | ||
| + | you up with these skins, and you can make out to eat, I | ||
| + | hope.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | not a word passed between the twain until it had ended, and | ||
| + | the still smoking remains thrown to Wolf.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Hewitt?” suddenly questioned the giant.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the hermit, in a semi-audible tone. “But, perhaps, he would | ||
| + | have his heirs remain ignorant of that dark night, as well he | ||
| + | might. But, my boy, I’d give my right arm, nay, my very | ||
| + | life, to know what became of him& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | young man’s hands.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | was that? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his feet and hastened to the mouth of the cave.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A minute later Fairfax heard the massive oaken door | ||
| + | open and close, and a confused murmur of voices approaching | ||
| + | him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | young Indian into the mellow light of the fire, “here is the | ||
| + | only visitor I have. The Bible says that it is not good for | ||
| + | man to be alone always, so I picked up a companion. This | ||
| + | is Oonalooska, the bravest young warrior of his tribe.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | brave pressed it with no small degree of feeling.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | half interrogatively, | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | throat.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “because one of her wolves is dead. Oonalooska fears | ||
| + | for the Pale Flower in the Shawnee village.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of the White Wolf, and unless he guards her well, Alaska | ||
| + | will tear her from him, and put her to the torture.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | enough to go and rescue her.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | for the young hunter’s futile effort to rise. “We will send | ||
| + | Oonalooska back to the village, and he shall report affairs for | ||
| + | us. It will be a terrible conflict if affairs reach such a climax | ||
| + | between Girty and Alaska, the Wolf-Queen; but Girty | ||
| + | may still possess the strange influence he has held over her in | ||
| + | days gone by. I am certain that a crisis will not be reached | ||
| + | in the Shawnee village for some time.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “and tell him to tell Eudora that a friend seeks her rescue.< | ||
| + | And, Shawnee,” here he addressed Oonalooska, “if you can | ||
| + | save the Pale Flower at once, do so, and convey her hither.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the White Wolf and Alaska he must have the cunning | ||
| + | of his white friends.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said Hewitt. “But that will not be long. Then we will | ||
| + | baffle Jim Girty, and you, who hate him, can send him to | ||
| + | Watchemenetoc.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a minute later Oonalooska was gone.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the notorious Simon belonged. He became the prisoner of | ||
| + | the Indians early in Braddock’s ill-fated campaign, when he | ||
| + | was in his fourteenth year, and was adopted by the Shawnees. | ||
| + | Growing to manhood, he loved the life and customs of the | ||
| + | red rovers of the trackless forests, and hated all whom they | ||
| + | hated. His passions were as fiery as Simon’s, but for some | ||
| + | unaccountable reasons, he has not figured as conspicuously on | ||
| + | the page of history.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a few good qualities; but James possessed not one. | ||
| + | Simon often pleaded for the life of a prisoner, James never; | ||
| + | and his countenance was the incarnation of all that is repulsive.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At the opening of our romance he had attained his sixty-ninth | ||
| + | year, notwithstanding which he still possessed a giant’s | ||
| + | frame and a giant’s strength.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>So well did he bear the burden of his years, that he looked | ||
| + | beneath fifty, and scarce a gray hair was visible upon his head. | ||
| + | His eyes still flashed the fire of manhood’s prime, from beneath | ||
| + | long, midnight lashes, and not a crow’s foot furrowed< | ||
| + | his forehead. His face was covered by splotches of red hair, | ||
| + | through which cutaneous eruptions, caused by his dissolute | ||
| + | habits, were constantly making their appearance. When not | ||
| + | influenced by wine, he was not quarrelsome; | ||
| + | years he had drawn scarce a single sober breath. He was an | ||
| + | unerring marksman, and his influence over the Indians was | ||
| + | unbounded.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | whose beauty fanned the fires of his evil nature; and, as | ||
| + | Mayne Fairfax has already related, he swooped down upon | ||
| + | the happy home, at the head of a band of Shawnees, massacred | ||
| + | every one of its inmates, save the beautiful girl, whom | ||
| + | he bore to the Indian village, and placed under the guardianship | ||
| + | of two of the most pliant of his red tools.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | broke the morn that followed the transaction of the | ||
| + | events related in the foregoing chapters.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | have slumbered late, had he not been startled from his sleep | ||
| + | by the grip of a human hand upon his arm. He opened his | ||
| + | baleful eyes, and beheld a middle-aged savage bending over | ||
| + | him. The first streaks of morning but illy dispersed the | ||
| + | gloom of his lodge, and the renegade sprung to his feet, with | ||
| + | the oath, never absent from his lips.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Girty’s side, and throwing aside the curtain of skins that | ||
| + | served for a door. “See! she goes to the lodge of the Pale | ||
| + | Flower. Her wolves will kill the guards, and tear to pieces | ||
| + | the White Wolf’s prisoner. Last night the Lone Man shot | ||
| + | Alaska’s gray wolf, and she will now have the blood of the | ||
| + | white captive for it.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gaze& | ||
| + | and followed by near a hundred Indians, advancing toward | ||
| + | the lodge where dwelt his prisoner, guarded by but ten braves& | ||
| + | Girty jerked his rifle from its pins over his couch, | ||
| + | and bounded to the scene.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He seemed to fly over the ground, and threw himself between | ||
| + | Eudora’s guards, as the foremost wolves were preparing | ||
| + | for the combat.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | does Alaska seek the life of my prisoner? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “’Tis for the White Wolf to question, but for Alaska to answer. | ||
| + | Last night Alaska met a young pale-faced hunter on | ||
| + | the little stream. She pierced him with her shaft, but he was | ||
| + | brave. He would use his rifle as a club. Alaska’s gray wolf& | ||
| + | only snow wolf of Alaska’s band& | ||
| + | throat, when the Lone Man, concealed by many bushes, shot | ||
| + | Lupino. Now lies he cold and dead in Alaska’s wigwam. | ||
| + | She must have blood for his, and that blood must flow from | ||
| + | the Pale Flower’s heart.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | on the long-bladed knife that glittered in the first beams | ||
| + | of the sun.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He did not dare shoot the Wolf-Queen, for she knew not | ||
| + | the value of life, and her death at his hands would soon be | ||
| + | followed by his, by the claws and fangs of her wolves.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He directed his weapon at the head of her favorite wolf& | ||
| + | monster black fellow, around whose neck was a wide beaded | ||
| + | collar, and over the shaggy back dropped a rich mantle.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Wolf will have Leperto’s blood!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to the threatened wolf. Indecision ruled her form, and Girty | ||
| + | was on the eve of triumph, when an old Indian, bent with | ||
| + | more than three-score years and ten, stepped to Alaska’s | ||
| + | side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | when his gaze fell upon the renegade.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the madwoman. “Old Miantomah will give her another. | ||
| + | Let the Pale Flower die for the act of the Lone Man, and if | ||
| + | the White Wolf resists, let Alaska’s wolves, his brothers, tear | ||
| + | him to pieces.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and, inspired by his words, she spoke to her wolves.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | forward.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was a critical moment.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his forked tongue?” cried Girty, appealing to the crowd of | ||
| + | warriors. “Let the White Wolf’s brothers gather around | ||
| + | him. He has led them to victory, and will they now desert | ||
| + | him for a crack-headed squaw? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | springing to Girty’s side. “Oonalooska is not a squaw. | ||
| + | Warriors, follow him!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | save a dozen, surrounded Girty, and displayed a hollow square | ||
| + | glistening with knives, to the Wolf-Queen.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Girty, in triumph.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He repeated the command.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | blood,” she at length replied. “Her braves are on the war-path, | ||
| + | and at their head, marches the great Tecumseh, against | ||
| + | whom the White Wolf dare not stand. They will return ere | ||
| + | yon ball of fire again rises over the hills. Then, let the | ||
| + | White Wolf fear, then will Alaska have the Pale Flower’s | ||
| + | heart. Here she will remain until Tecumseh comes,” and | ||
| + | she seated herself upon the ground, in the midst of her | ||
| + | wolves.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At the mention of Tecumseh’s name, Girty’s guard exchanged | ||
| + | looks of fear. The great chief was on ill terms with | ||
| + | the renegade, and, fearing to incur the anger of Tecumseh, | ||
| + | several braves deserted Girty, and went over to the mad-woman.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “They who stand by me shall be rewarded, and Tecumseh | ||
| + | will act justly when he comes.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | for the night.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and, with a determined resolve in his heart, he stepped | ||
| + | into the lodge, where knelt a trembling girl, praying | ||
| + | to her God for deliverance.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He touched her arm.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | brave. “Tecumseh will not return till midnight, and ere he | ||
| + | comes Oonalooska will save the White Wolf’s captive. The | ||
| + | young hunter lives in the lodge of the great Lone Man.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Eudora bestowed upon him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | away, and the shades of evening seemed a century in making | ||
| + | their appearance.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his band; but Alaska dispatched several warriors to her own | ||
| + | wigwam, the capacious larder of which was soon empty for | ||
| + | the benefit of herself and wolves.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | whose distasteful form blocked the doorway of Eudora’s | ||
| + | lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | prisoner, who sat listlessly upon her couch of skins. “The | ||
| + | wolves shan’t eat you. I have great influence over Tecumseh, | ||
| + | and the chief will quickly drive the crazy woman to her wigwam.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A better dissembler than “Jim” Girty never trod the woods | ||
| + | of Ohio. He knew that the great Shawnee chieftain lived in | ||
| + | superstitious awe of the Wolf-Queen, and that, upon his return, | ||
| + | his prisoner would be given over to the fangs of the | ||
| + | wolves. And while he spoke to Eudora he was plotting to | ||
| + | get her beyond the village before Tecumseh returned.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | set to work to arrange the disheveled locks which hung | ||
| + | over her shoulders.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | faultless in the minutest particular, large, black eyes, lustrous | ||
| + | beneath raven lashes, and a wealth of raven hair, which enhanced | ||
| + | her transcendent loveliness. She wore the coronet of | ||
| + | her seventeenth year, though weeping for the fate of her parents | ||
| + | and golden-haired sisters, mercilessly butchered in her | ||
| + | sight, caused her to look beyond her years.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | her heart, and caused that guiltless organ to beat for joy. | ||
| + | “The young hunter lives,” he had said; but what “young | ||
| + | hunter” did he mean? Quite a number of “young hunters” | ||
| + | had been enraptured by her beauty, though none had she | ||
| + | ever bade hope for the dimpled hand that could send an arrow | ||
| + | unerringly to the target, and direct the bullet with an accuracy | ||
| + | unequaled by many well-known frontiersmen of those | ||
| + | “dark and bloody days.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | her home, now a heap of ashes, and she had evinced a partiality | ||
| + | for his companionship, | ||
| + | from the field.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | village?</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Oonalooska to his side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to hear the renegade make the following proposition:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said Girty, in a low tone, that it might not reach the ears of | ||
| + | Alaska, who was within common earshot. “The chief hates | ||
| + | me, but he also fears me. Without a second thought he | ||
| + | would deliver the white-faced girl to Alaska. To-morrow he | ||
| + | will decide otherwise. Not far from this lodge dwell the | ||
| + | exiled Mingoes, on whose grounds no hostile warrior dares to | ||
| + | tread. To-night, then, will not Oonalooska guide the Pale | ||
| + | Flower thither, and guard her until the White Wolf commands | ||
| + | their return? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the plans for the escape were quickly formed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | dark clouds were creeping from the west, and soon the | ||
| + | whole sky was overcast& | ||
| + | a rift in the opaque masses, the dying rays of the sun fell | ||
| + | upon the Shawnee village, and when night prevailed Girty | ||
| + | threw a cordon of braves around Eudora’s lodge. Alaska | ||
| + | witnessed the precautionary movement, but instead of encircling | ||
| + | the cordon with her braves, she moved nearer the aperture | ||
| + | of the wigwam, which she made discernible by torches, | ||
| + | thrust into the yielding earth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he intended for her; but told Oonalooska to say that | ||
| + | he would conduct her to a place of safety, beyond the reach | ||
| + | of < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | moment brought Tecumseh and his braves nearer the village. | ||
| + | The chief had promised to return upon that particular night, | ||
| + | and he had never broken his word. In the rear of the wigwam | ||
| + | Girty had placed several braves upon whom he could | ||
| + | rely, and, as the first peal of thunder reverberated through the | ||
| + | forest, and far down the Scioto, Oonalooska’s keen knife gashed | ||
| + | the thin bark in the rear of Eudora’s couch.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A peal of thunder in autumn always startled the Shawnees, | ||
| + | and, believing it the harbinger of Tecumseh’s approach, the | ||
| + | most timid glided over to the Wolf-Queen.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | that Alaska would not move till the arrival of the giant chief.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the perforated bark to the maiden, whose eyes had witnessed | ||
| + | the operation.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Tecumseh’s arrival doom me to the teeth of the mad-woman’s | ||
| + | wolves.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and glided through the slit, and past the posted guards in the | ||
| + | rear of the wigwam. Once beyond the confines of the village, | ||
| + | he walked rapidly, experiencing no difficulty in picking | ||
| + | his way rightly in the cimmerian gloom.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hill between himself and the village, he paused, and drew a | ||
| + | torch from beneath his wolf-skin robe.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with a smile, as he ignited a wisp of bark films with the flints. | ||
| + | “The wood is dark, and unless fire guides Oonalooska, he may | ||
| + | wander to the Mingoes, whither the White Wolf has sent | ||
| + | him.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | asked Eudora, who feared the worst.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | into the lodges. Oonalooska must have fire. It will keep | ||
| + | the wolves away.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Eudora’s heart. From the jaws of the ravenous animals she | ||
| + | had first been snatched by the chivalrous red-man, who was | ||
| + | once more bearing her through the labyrinthine recesses of | ||
| + | the Scioto forest.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Bill,” Hewitt, was about fourteen miles from the Shawnee | ||
| + | village, and Oonalooska rapidly traversed the dreary miles. | ||
| + | The crisp leaves gave forth a weird sound, as the Indian’s | ||
| + | moccasined feet touched them, and the great drops of rain | ||
| + | that pattered down through the giant, leafless trees, added to | ||
| + | the ghostliness of the moment. Sure enough, the wolves | ||
| + | struck the trail, and, at last, Oonalooska saw many a pair of | ||
| + | fiery eyes far in his rear.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He felt Eudora shudder as a chorus of yells smote her ear; | ||
| + | but he assured her that they would reach the hermit’s cave | ||
| + | in safety, when he knew that the issue was doubtful.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At length the warrior uttered a light cry, as he gained the | ||
| + | summit of a knoll, from which he indistinctly heard the roar | ||
| + | of a little cataract that poured its waters into the Scioto.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Shawnee, and he dashed down the knoll, the foot of which | ||
| + | he reached as the foremost wolf poked his head over the | ||
| + | summit.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with his torch, and, at last, almost exhausted, he dashed into | ||
| + | the limestone corridor of Hewitt’s home.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He had not time to give the signal& | ||
| + | in the darkness overhead& | ||
| + | at his lovely burden, and while his lips uttered a peculiar | ||
| + | whoop, he turned and sent one giant fellow to the | ||
| + | ground with his torch. The weapon struck the animal in the | ||
| + | mouth, and, the great tusk closing on it, it was jerked from | ||
| + | his hand.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He shrieked again as his right hand throttled the leader of | ||
| + | the lupine band, and hurled him senseless among his companions. | ||
| + | The dying torch lent a terribly tragic view to the | ||
| + | scene. Pale as death, Eudora reclined upon the left arm of | ||
| + | the Indian, as single-handed he fought the bloodthirsty gang, | ||
| + | and her lips parted with a joyful cry, as the strong door was | ||
| + | burst open, and she found herself borne into a warm apartment.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wolves, and before him they divided and scattered like sheep. | ||
| + | They had encountered the invincible before.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to find Eudora kneeling before the couch of her wounded lover.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He had thrown one arm around her neck, and his lips | ||
| + | were whispering something in her ears& | ||
| + | of tender passion.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said Hewitt, when Eudora had related her trials while in the | ||
| + | hands of Girty. “And ere morn Tecumseh will be at our | ||
| + | door. The wolves of Alaska will track Eudora hither, and | ||
| + | then for the conflict. It must be near dawn now.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As he finished he drew aside a skin, that hung against the | ||
| + | wall, and disappeared in a dark passage.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Eudora conversed in low whispers.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | cave.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wood, and sparks of fire seemed to dart from his dark orbs. | ||
| + | But his voice was as calm as a midsummer day.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | headed by Tecumseh and Alaska, who is surrounded by her | ||
| + | accursed wolves. Jim Girty is not with them.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | threw a look at her wounded lover, but her lips uttered nothing. | ||
| + | Her dark eyes shot a mingled look of determination | ||
| + | and defiance toward the door.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | terrible yell followed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was the war-whoop of Tecumseh!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | great chief and the Wolf-Queen to the hermit’s cave.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | tenantless. On the contrary, he told his band to increase | ||
| + | their vigilance, and remained immobile in the doorway | ||
| + | of the lodge. He knew when Oonalooska disappeared with | ||
| + | his prisoner, and he breathed freer than he had done for long | ||
| + | hours. A run of three hours would bring the young brave | ||
| + | to the homes of the exiled Mingoes, across the threshold of | ||
| + | which, even Tecumseh, with all his greatness, dared not step, | ||
| + | upon other than a friendly mission.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He felt that he could conciliate Tecumseh, and that, when | ||
| + | the spasm of frenzy, that now ruled Alaska’s heart, passed | ||
| + | away, he could command Oonalooska to return with the captive.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to the village, and midnight brought Tecumseh.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and presently the mighty Shawnee, with angry countenance, | ||
| + | faced the white-faced renegade.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the ghostly glare of the torches, he read thereon an unsuccessful | ||
| + | expedition. Tecumseh was in a fit mood to wreak | ||
| + | vengeance on any man who owned a white skin.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shouted, as his eyes drank in the whole scene:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shooting the mad-woman a singular look. “Let Tecumseh | ||
| + | enter the lodge, and lead the captive to the Wolf-Queen.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As he finished, he stepped aside, and Tecumseh sprung into | ||
| + | the lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the untenanted couch, and a moment later his brawny hand | ||
| + | closed on Girty’s throat.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | tell Tecumseh where the Pale Flower is, or die!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “She has been stolen while we watched.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | bound, and a guard placed over him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wolves upon the prostrate renegade.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A brief examination revealed the gash in the bark, and instantly | ||
| + | the braves were called. One was missing& | ||
| + | the son of Okalona, the aged Medicine of the Shawnees. < | ||
| + | was the traitor, and, if captured, his doom would be a terrible | ||
| + | one, and speedy.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | passions were stirred to their depths. All fatigue incurred by | ||
| + | the recent war-expedition, | ||
| + | around him a band of picked warriors. Alaska panted to | ||
| + | pursue the traitor, and his companion, and throwing herself | ||
| + | at the head of the party, she placed her wolves upon Oonalooska’s | ||
| + | trail, and away they went, through the forest, toward | ||
| + | the hermit’s cave.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | party; instead, he found himself under the vigilant eyes | ||
| + | of five braves, who bore him to his lodge, and threw themselves | ||
| + | around it.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He knew that his captivity would not last beyond the return | ||
| + | of Tecumseh, over whom, when calm, he held some | ||
| + | influence.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | that ushered in the clear, frosty autumn morning, was | ||
| + | answered by a savage growl from the hermit’s canine companion, | ||
| + | who yearned to encounter the mad-woman’s wolves.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>No human answer following the blow delivered by Tecumseh’s | ||
| + | tomahawk, the chief bestowed a second upon the door, | ||
| + | and shouted:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | person of Oonalooska, the red traitor, and the Pale Flower. | ||
| + | Let the Lone Man speak!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of the Pale Flower, snatched from her home by the lying | ||
| + | White Wolf? If he is not, let him return to his lodge, the | ||
| + | greatest chief of the Shawnee nation.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wants the traitor Oonalooska, | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at which a second war-cry smote the air, and the Shawnee | ||
| + | drew back from the portals.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shall burn the Lone Man of the woods.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Lupino. < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | commanded his warriors to heap fagots against the door of | ||
| + | the cave.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and several of his favorite chiefs drew back to witness the | ||
| + | work of burning out the besieged whites. Near him stood | ||
| + | the Wolf-Queen, amid her wolfish guard, and the terrible | ||
| + | light of anticipated vengeance danced in her eyes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | during which period the golden god of day lazily scaled the | ||
| + | oriental horizon, and threw his warm beams upon the swarthy | ||
| + | band.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | that flitted through the woods, and the stalwart chief, whose | ||
| + | shoulder touched Tecumseh, staggered back with a bloody, | ||
| + | crushed temple.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the stricken chief. Whence came the deadly missile? An | ||
| + | examination showed that the ball had been fired from an | ||
| + | elevated position, and the leafless top of every tree was scanned | ||
| + | with vengeful eyes. But the mysterious slayer remained | ||
| + | undiscovered.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the warriors returned to the cave. “Haste with the | ||
| + | work! Tecumseh yearns to see the traitor, and the Lone | ||
| + | Man die.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At length the last gathered bough was thrust into the | ||
| + | mouth of the cave, and Tecumseh turned to Nethoto, a chief | ||
| + | not below his august self in prowess, when a second rifle report | ||
| + | smote his ears; and Nethoto staggered back& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of death, and for the first time in all his life displayed a | ||
| + | frightened face to his braves.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He felt that his turn would come next, and instantly, as if | ||
| + | in confirmation of that mental conclusion, a voice rung | ||
| + | throughout the forest.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | upon another war-trail!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | their ears, and then looked at their chief, who seemed to have | ||
| + | grown into a statue& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wolves, and threw him upon the dead body of Nethoto. | ||
| + | “The Great Spirit slays Nethoto, who once struck Alaska | ||
| + | with a whip. Let Tecumseh return to the village; but | ||
| + | Alaska and her wolves will stay. They will enter the Lone | ||
| + | Man’s cave and devour him. The Great Spirit loves Alaska | ||
| + | and her wolves. Ha! ha! ha!” and she clapped her hands | ||
| + | with glee to see the wolves tear Nethoto to pieces.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | in awe of whom his warriors stood, and at his bidding | ||
| + | they would remain. If he stayed, death would soon enter his | ||
| + | heart.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | delight she was throwing wolf after wolf upon the dead | ||
| + | chief.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A third shot echoed throughout the wood, and Leperto, the | ||
| + | king of the wolves, sprung back from the corpse& | ||
| + | himself.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A heart-chilling shriek welled from Alaska’s throat, as she | ||
| + | sprung forward and pressed the dead wolf to her bosom. A | ||
| + | moment she gazed wildly around, as if searching for the mysterious | ||
| + | slayer, and then, with an indescribable horror of countenance, | ||
| + | she darted from the tragic spot, followed by her | ||
| + | wolves, Tecumseh and his braves.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was the first time that Tecumseh ever turned his back | ||
| + | upon the foe.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | She tried to stanch his crimson tide with her long tresses, but | ||
| + | it seemed to flow the faster, and her trail was one of gore.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hissed the great chief to a plumed Indian, at whose side he | ||
| + | ran. “He will return, and hunger shall drive the pale ones, | ||
| + | with the red traitor, from the hole in the ground, and the | ||
| + | blood of Sagasto and Nethoto shall be poured upon their | ||
| + | heads.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | but very soon other and more terrible thoughts would rule her | ||
| + | shattered brain.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | but two persons occupied the cave. These were Mayne Fairfax | ||
| + | and the beautiful Eudora Morriston.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | beside him, holding one of his hands in hers.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his deep eyes, that never grew weary of gazing into her face.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | that the end is not far distant. The capitulation of the hermit’s | ||
| + | fort, in my mind, is but a question of time. If Tecumseh | ||
| + | can not burn the door, he can starve us out. But hark, | ||
| + | girl! That sounded like a rifle shot.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | has fallen beneath the Lone Man’s rifle. Perhaps it was Tecumseh? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the blood of no fellow-man. If an Indian fell, it was beneath | ||
| + | Oonalooska’s aim. Listen! That was the voice of Tecumseh.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the lovers heard the second shot, that sent Nethoto to the | ||
| + | earth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | from, Mayne? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Yon subterranean passage ends beneath the trunk of a | ||
| + | great, hollow tree. Inside, steps lead to the top of the giant, | ||
| + | from whence Oonalooska is smiting the red men.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the faint tones of the Wolf-Queen& | ||
| + | from the wood. “He is a mystery to the savages. | ||
| + | Girty hates, but fears him, and, to Tecumseh, he is an enigma. | ||
| + | I& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the giant hermit stepped into the cave.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the lovers. “Beneath Oonalooska’s rifle fell two chiefs and | ||
| + | Leperto.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | poor woman will be inconsolable now.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | flint with my hand in time to save her life. I could not witness | ||
| + | the killing of that poor mad-woman, though if we ever | ||
| + | fall into her hands we will receive no mercy.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | chief, who stood beside the hermit, and he added, in an undertone. | ||
| + | “Some day when Lone Man is abroad, Oonalooska’s | ||
| + | flint will not be covered by a pale hand.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Virginian, looking into the hermit’s face.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | vicinity, and, ere long, the chief will return with a large | ||
| + | force, which can not be successfully resisted. I know Tecumseh | ||
| + | as few men know him. I have watched him grow to | ||
| + | manhood, unforgiving and vindictive.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | questioned Fairfax, with eagerness.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | which I believe will not be guarded to-night. From this | ||
| + | cave leads a passage which terminates not a great ways from | ||
| + | the river. That passage I have never had occasion to use, | ||
| + | having never, until this day, been besieged. Above the termination | ||
| + | of that passage, the crust has not been broken. We | ||
| + | will use that to-night, and near dawn, no accidents intervening, | ||
| + | we will be beyond danger. My boy, can you crawl to | ||
| + | the opening of the passage? Thence we will assist you to | ||
| + | the boat.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a thousand painful arrows throughout his frame, “I feel strong | ||
| + | again& | ||
| + | me a giant.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sense of giddiness forced the young hunter upon the couch | ||
| + | again.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hermit, after a brief silence, “and while they besiege the cave, | ||
| + | we will be flying up the river to Chillicothe& | ||
| + | means safety.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the victuals were discussed with a relish, and conversation in | ||
| + | which they tried to forget their perilous situation.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | mastiff, who lay at the brush-burdened door, told the hunted | ||
| + | that an Indian was near.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | already used during the progress of our romance; but presently< | ||
| + | returned with the information that several spies were in | ||
| + | the wood, at the mouth of the cave.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said the hermit, taking a mournful survey of the cave, whose | ||
| + | walls were lined with the skins of all animals, “and you may | ||
| + | think that it goes hard with me to leave it. But if I stay here | ||
| + | now, Alaska’s wolves will drink Hewitt blood. I want to | ||
| + | live till I can see my boy again, and& | ||
| + | and muttered in an undertone: “Yes, I’d like to see her, too. | ||
| + | I could forgive her now; but, oh, God! will I ever meet my | ||
| + | wife on earth more? | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A great tear dewed his tawny cheek, and a tremor crossed | ||
| + | his giant frame, as he turned to the trio.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | girl, take the extra rifle. I’ve heard tell as how you can use | ||
| + | it.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | took the proffered firearm.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a gloomy passage, by throwing aside a wolf-skin that | ||
| + | concealed it.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and I’ll bring up the rear.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | passage; and the dog bounded in, in advance of his master.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at the apartment. “Mebbe I’ll come back again, and mebbe | ||
| + | I won’t, that’s all.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | last, Oonalooska paused. The end was reached.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was the noiseless work of a few moments to admit an | ||
| + | invigorating current of night-air into the gloomy way, and the | ||
| + | Shawnee emerged upon <i lang=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | in advance of the party.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | in the blue overhead.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | upon the arm of Oonalooska.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At length they stood upon the right bank of the Scioto. | ||
| + | It was lined with thick clumps of weeping willows, the leaves | ||
| + | of which touched the dark water, causing many faint ripples, | ||
| + | that fell ominously upon the ears of the hunted quartette.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | absence, returned with the startling information that his boat | ||
| + | was gone!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hand, and in his ear were breathed these words:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | dog startled every one.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the imperiled ones, and a circle of Indians seemed to rise | ||
| + | from the earth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | forward, at the head of the main band.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He met the man he feared& | ||
| + | arms he was but a child.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | far out into the Scioto. Oonalooska fought nobly, and would | ||
| + | have escaped had he not stumbled over a prostrate Indian, | ||
| + | and been seized before he could rise. Mayne Fairfax, | ||
| + | weak from his wounds, did not resist, and he and Eudora, | ||
| + | who fought valiantly with clubbed rifle, were made prisoners.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It cost the Shawnees a Herculean struggle to secure the | ||
| + | hermit and it was not until the entire band rushed upon him | ||
| + | <i lang=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At the conclusion of the victory, a chief sent a shrill whoop | ||
| + | through the forest.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | nonchalance which, under the circumstances was truly wonderful.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | great chief and Alaska are at the Lone Man’s hole in the | ||
| + | ground.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hearts, and no wonder.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | had marched from the cave to doom.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of torches, and the rushing sound of many feet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | closely guarded. The swarthy Shawnee stood proudly erect, | ||
| + | with his hands tied upon his back, and his nether limbs bound | ||
| + | by tried deer-thongs. He looked defiance at his captors, in | ||
| + | whose faces he read the terrible doom. Tecumseh would speak | ||
| + | for him when he arrived.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shout of triumph parted his red lips as his eyes fell upon | ||
| + | Oonalooska. The captive calmly returned that vengeful | ||
| + | look, and something like a sarcastic smile, played with his | ||
| + | lips.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A step behind Tecumseh towered Alaska, the Wolf-Queen, | ||
| + | and a wild cry rose from her throat, as she discovered Eudora, | ||
| + | standing beside the hermit, who seemed her mighty protector.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | caught up one of her mad black wolves. Her eyes flashed | ||
| + | their fire upon the maiden, as she executed a forward step, | ||
| + | with the snarling animal poised above her head. Her mad | ||
| + | intention could not be mistaken. She had long been in the | ||
| + | habit of hurling her animals upon the objects of her vengeance, | ||
| + | and the white, glistening teeth were instantly buried | ||
| + | in that with which they came in contact.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and before the maid could shrink, the wolf went hissing | ||
| + | through the air. A shriek parted the girl’s pale lips, as<span class=" | ||
| + | the giant hermit threw himself before her, and his great hand | ||
| + | shot forward, to close on the animal’s throat.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | displayed by the hermit, whose teeth were gritted, and | ||
| + | whose eyes glared at the Wolf-Queen, as he throttled her pet | ||
| + | at arm’s length.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fleeting breath made by the dying wolf. Even Alaska stared | ||
| + | aghast, unable to move, and the remainder of her wolfish | ||
| + | guard crouched at her feet, and quietly watched the death of | ||
| + | their companion.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At length a shudder passed over the animal’s frame, and the | ||
| + | hermit tossed him at Alaska’s feet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | when Tecumseh threw himself between her and the hermit.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gazing straight into her eyes. “If she would save the rest, let | ||
| + | her give him over to Tecumseh, and he shall die in the great | ||
| + | lodge.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A change suddenly became visible in the mad-woman’s | ||
| + | eyes, and she dropped the wolf she had raised.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | torn to pieces by Alaska’s children in the great lodge, and the | ||
| + | Pale Flower and her lover shall die there, too. But, ho! ho! | ||
| + | who have we here? The White Wolf, ha! ha! ha!” and her | ||
| + | eyes fell upon the renegade, who had just emerged, dripping, | ||
| + | from the river.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the white ones, and the red traitor,” and he added in a tone | ||
| + | unheard by Alaska, “Tecumseh will keep his promise.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A moment later the whites were bound, and Tecumseh ordered | ||
| + | the return to the village. As the band started forward | ||
| + | the hermit called the chief to his side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Mayne Fairfax, who tottered along like a drunken man. “He | ||
| + | fell beneath Alaska’s wolf and arrow. The Lone Man would | ||
| + | support the young hunter.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the hands of the hermit to be made free.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said, returning to the head of his band, and Mayne Fairfax | ||
| + | acknowledged the Indian’s kindness in audible tones, as he | ||
| + | stepped to Hewitt’s side, and leaned upon his strong arm.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with the fate in store for him. He maintained a taciturnity | ||
| + | for a long time, when a remark from Tecumseh drew | ||
| + | forth the words that bubbled to his lips.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | against the father of Oonalooska, Tecumseh had long borne | ||
| + | a silent hatred.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he never gave a poor Pale Flower a head as empty as the hollow | ||
| + | of his hand& | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A flash of rage overspread Tecumseh’s face, and he wheeled | ||
| + | with uplifted tomahawk.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Oonalooska is ready to enter the great lodge | ||
| + | among the stars. Yes, yes, Tecumseh’s father struck a squaw, | ||
| + | and made her a& | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He suddenly paused, for the eyes of Alaska fell upon him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | suddenly lowering the hatchet, and becoming wonderfully | ||
| + | calm. “He will see him die in the village& | ||
| + | no, not by fire, for Tecumseh never burns an enemy.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at the head of the band.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>By degrees Oonalooska approached the hermit, and at | ||
| + | length walked at his side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | struck Tecumseh’s father a white-face? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | white with feathers that fell from great birds in the clouds,” | ||
| + | was the figurative answer, as softly uttered as the question | ||
| + | had been.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | speaker bestowed a look upon Alaska, whose tranquil, almost | ||
| + | thoughtful countenance breathed not of insanity.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | revealed by the glare of the torch borne by the brave in | ||
| + | advance of her.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | busy, and, as he turned his eyes from the lunatic, his lips | ||
| + | parted.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | it be?& | ||
| + | lips& | ||
| + | suddenly interrupted himself, and a moment later he groaned. | ||
| + | “But my boy& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he answered.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | was happy once. Oona? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the vanguard. “The Shawnees are near their lodges.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A moment later, the prisoners gained the summit of a | ||
| + | high knoll, and, in the center of the valley that turned away | ||
| + | from its foot, nestled the Indian village, upon which the day | ||
| + | was breaking.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Yonder the Lone Man and his friends will feel the fangs of | ||
| + | Alaska’s children.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | so near the mad-woman, and as her eyes fell upon him he | ||
| + | started back, exclaiming:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | once beloved by me, she grows!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | whose import she did not comprehend.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hermit, as the band marched toward the village, and once or | ||
| + | twice his fingers clutched his tomahawk, whose keen edge he | ||
| + | would fain have buried in the giant’s brain. But he dared not | ||
| + | strike, for Hewitt was Tecumseh’s prisoner, and he bided his | ||
| + | time for vengeance.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | mysterious shots, Girty effected a reconciliation with him, | ||
| + | and was released. The renegade at once entered into the | ||
| + | plans of the chief for the recapture of the whites, and led a | ||
| + | band of braves to the banks of the Scioto to cut off their escape | ||
| + | in that direction. For he knew that the hermit would | ||
| + | never inhabit a cave without more than one avenue of escape, | ||
| + | and his belief was verified, as the reader has witnessed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | an oath to the effect that Eudora, if recaptured, should | ||
| + | not be delivered over to the Wolf-Queen; but, on the contrary, | ||
| + | should remain his prisoner, as before.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>On the confines of the Indian “town” great numbers of | ||
| + | women and children greeted the triumphant band, but Tecumseh | ||
| + | would not permit a single birch to be applied to the persons | ||
| + | of his prisoners.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and an imperative wave of the hand summoned the warriors | ||
| + | to their accustomed positions.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fixed her eyes upon Tecumseh.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | once,” said the chief, striding to the center of the structure. | ||
| + | “The Pale Flower is White Chief’s prisoner. Now let Tecumseh’s | ||
| + | chiefs speak.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | strode from his position.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | stood bound, near the center post of the council-house, | ||
| + | and his words sounded like icy drops falling upon red-hot | ||
| + | iron.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at the stake! The pale-faces and the red-skinned traitor have | ||
| + | slain two of Tecumseh’s bravest chiefs. Shall they long escape | ||
| + | the doom they merit? I will claim my prisoner, | ||
| + | he strode toward Eudora. “Ha! girl!” he hissed, in her | ||
| + | ear, as his great hand closed on her delicate arm, “you never | ||
| + | dreamed that I am in league with powers not of earth. All | ||
| + | the powers of heaven and hell can not baffle Jim Girty. You | ||
| + | are mine& | ||
| + | wildwood honey.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | smothering his rage, and stepping towards Eudora. “If | ||
| + | God permits devils to triumph, then we never meet again. | ||
| + | Eudora& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | step nearer her, Girty’s arm shot from his shoulder, and the | ||
| + | young hunter went to the earth like a stricken statue.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | upon his fallen foe. “I’ll teach you how to interfere in | ||
| + | other people’s business. Lay still there, or I’ll kick you to | ||
| + | pieces.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the further end of the council-house.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | had his hands then been free, the renegade would have paid | ||
| + | dearly for the insult. Even mad Alaska did not witness the | ||
| + | scene without emotion, for she suddenly stooped and raised | ||
| + | one of her wolves above her head. But a look from Tecumseh, | ||
| + | to whom she looked as though for authority, subdued her | ||
| + | passion, and the animal was returned to his companions.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | drew himself to his feet, by the aid of Hewitt’s garments.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | walk across this council-house and choke that devil to death< | ||
| + | But his time is coming. Hark! a new arrival!” and the hermit | ||
| + | listened to the shouts nearing them from beyond the collection | ||
| + | of lodges.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the new-comers burst upon the sight of all.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | famous brother, the Prophet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the Indian mind to no common degree, and, sooner than disobey | ||
| + | his commands, the Shawnees would have plucked their | ||
| + | eyes from their sockets, or severed their most useful members.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | told that he would rather that Laulewasikaw were at | ||
| + | that time in his lodge at Greenville.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | greeted the warriors assembled, then strode to Tecumseh, with | ||
| + | whom he conversed for a short time in low tones. It was | ||
| + | plainly manifest that the conversation was not agreeable to | ||
| + | Tecumseh, for Laulewasikaw suddenly turned from him and | ||
| + | sought Jim Girty.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | if possible, to prevent a conversation between his brother and | ||
| + | the renegade. “The pale-faces must die, and the braves | ||
| + | know that Tecumseh burns no prisoners at the tree. What, | ||
| + | then, shall be their doom? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | declared for < | ||
| + | favor in the eyes of Tecumseh.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | renegade. “He will talk with the Manitou.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of his brother, the red sorcerer.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | ground. His single eye threw fierce glances at the three | ||
| + | prisoners, calmly awaiting their doom, and he knew that they | ||
| + | were in his power. His sorcery could doom them to any | ||
| + | death desirable.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He drew a small bundle of sticks, tied with deer-thongs, | ||
| + | beneath his long robe, and spread them upon the ground,< | ||
| + | each the distance of several inches from its neighbors. Then | ||
| + | after mumbling some gibberish with upturned face, and hands | ||
| + | crossed upon his breast, he applied fire to the first stick. It | ||
| + | burned freely, and was soon consumed. Another and another | ||
| + | followed it to an ashy state, until every stick, save one, was | ||
| + | consumed, and the last stubbornly refused to burn!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | specimen of his sorcery, and around the lips of Tecumseh | ||
| + | played a smile of contempt.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In the great Shawnee’s mind there always existed a disbelief | ||
| + | in sorcery, and at times he was outspoken against the | ||
| + | black arts his brother practiced. But, in a convocation of his | ||
| + | chiefs and warriors, he never dared to declaim against Laulewasikaw.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | save the prisoners& | ||
| + | Prophet rose to his feet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of the pale lips, and their brother, the red traitor. The Manitou | ||
| + | speaks through Laulewasikaw: | ||
| + | from their bodies, when the Manitou’s lights appear, and then | ||
| + | they must burn!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | roof of the council-house, | ||
| + | bloodless lips.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | might that sentence, which even Tecumseh could not affect, | ||
| + | drive the color from the bravest face. “Flayed alive, and then | ||
| + | burned!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | brief conversation with the renegade.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | against its brutality, but all to no effect. He reminded | ||
| + | his braves that since he became a chief no prisoner had | ||
| + | died at the stake, and to sustain his honour, he hoped that | ||
| + | their votes would sustain him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Spirit? If so, let them abide the consequences, | ||
| + | prove swift and terrible.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his brother, and commanded the voting to proceed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | devices intelligible only to the savage mind, was handed to the | ||
| + | nearest warrior. Around the circle it swiftly passed. Those | ||
| + | who decided for death by crawling the gantlet, struck the | ||
| + | earth once with the club; those who decided for the dreadful | ||
| + | doom pronounced by the sorcerer, bestowed two blows upon | ||
| + | <i lang=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | doomful circle, and ere it returned to him who first handed | ||
| + | it, they read the decision.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | honor; but the others, slaves to the prophet’s cunning, | ||
| + | decided the vote.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of squaws assembled beyond the circle of warriors.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | vainly trying to bridle his rage. “Great Spirit, know | ||
| + | that Tecumseh does not sanction the work of Watchemenetoc.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | was the renegade, who did not attempt to conceal his | ||
| + | triumph.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the giant hermit. “I’ll blunt the keen edge of my knife, | ||
| + | and it will < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | passed over his frame. It was the tremor attesting the gathering | ||
| + | of his Samsonian strength. The next moment, his bonds | ||
| + | burst with a sharp noise, and his fingers griped Jim Girty’s | ||
| + | throat!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | stared wildly at his foe, his tongue protruded from his throat, | ||
| + | and his color changed to a sickly hue.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | but she and her wolves stood not among the throng of | ||
| + | women.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | when, with sudden impulse, they sprung at the giant. | ||
| + | A score of hands grasped his arm, and, unresisting, | ||
| + | Girty slide from his grip to the earth, where he lay blackened | ||
| + | and motionless.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | prison-lodge, | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to the weak young hunter, whom he supported at his side. | ||
| + | “But I guess, too, that we’re in for it to-night, unless something | ||
| + | mighty uncommon turns up. I thought that mad-woman | ||
| + | would do something for us; but I reckon that she sees | ||
| + | revenge in the fate proclaimed for us by the man she hates. | ||
| + | Oh! I’d like to know who she is; but I guess that I will | ||
| + | never know now.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A few minutes later, the door of the strong hut closed behind | ||
| + | them.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | three hunters, Alaska silently left the spot, and sought her | ||
| + | wigwam. Her countenance bore but few traces of insanity. | ||
| + | The wild fire of lunacy had grown dim in her eyes, and a | ||
| + | casual observer would have believed her possessed of sanity.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | portion of the floor of her lodge, she drew some large pieces | ||
| + | of illy-cooked venison which she fed to her wolves that | ||
| + | crowded around, eager for their daily repast.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | dropped into the red mouths; “the White Chief would | ||
| + | cheat you out of the meat of the pale-faces, and Oonalooska, | ||
| + | the red traitor. Shall he do it? The giant slew Lupino, | ||
| + | your brother, and now he is among our lodges. Hist!” and | ||
| + | springing to her feet, she bounded to the door of the wigwam.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | pale men to the strong lodge. But, ha! ha! ha! why leans | ||
| + | the White Chief on the shoulder of Laulewasikaw? | ||
| + | as though he were drunk with the fire-water of the pale-faces | ||
| + | in Chillicothe. And the White Lily walks beside Kalaska, to | ||
| + | the White Chief’s lodge. Why is all this? Alaska’s ears | ||
| + | must hear it!” and from the lodge she bounded toward the | ||
| + | party who were just leaving the council-house.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of the Prophet, when her eye& | ||
| + | insanity& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his throat, which still bore the marks of Hewitt’s fingers, “I’ll | ||
| + | file teeth in my knife, and by Heaven! I’ll saw his skin off | ||
| + | by inches! Then I’ll throw him to Alaska’s wolves.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | children, his flesh would be cold,” she said. “They shall not | ||
| + | touch him after the White Chief’s knife has robbed him of | ||
| + | his skin. They shall tear his throat, and the throats, too, of | ||
| + | the young hunter and Oonalooska.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Prophet to resume his march.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | her lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Laulewasikaw, | ||
| + | prisoners, and his knife will not touch their flesh.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “When night comes, I will throw a guard around her wigwam, | ||
| + | and she shall be my prisoner until the bones of the | ||
| + | hated three become ashes beneath the stake.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wolves?” asked the Prophet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “but the Great Prophet of the Shawnees can cut the sinews. | ||
| + | In his paint-bag he carries the juice of a leaf that kills.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fire, and he bade the Prophet keep silent until some future | ||
| + | time.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | traversed in silence, and again Eudora found herself beneath | ||
| + | Jim Girty’s roof.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | giant villain; his hand seemed a mighty vice moved by some | ||
| + | infernal machinery, and I saw every star that ever glittered | ||
| + | in the sky since the creation. Now let Laulewasikaw speak | ||
| + | of the leaf that kills.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | in a lodge, belonging, by the right of erection, to the | ||
| + | Prophet. Several guards had been stationed by Eudora’s | ||
| + | prison, rendering her escape impossible.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | leaves from his medicine-pouch, | ||
| + | two small, flat stones. A greenish liquid exuded from the | ||
| + | leaves, and into this the Indian dipped his finger.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said the Prophet, looking up at Girty, who had watched his | ||
| + | movements with feverish impatience. “Now let the White | ||
| + | Chief and a trusty brave go to Alaska’s lodge, and let him | ||
| + | throw to her wolves venison drunk with the juice of Watchemenetoc’s | ||
| + | plant. Without her wolves, Alaska can do nothing.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wolves.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | afraid to enter Alaska’s lodge? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Alaska’s lodge. Her wolves wag their tails when he approaches.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | goes down he must go to the queen’s lodge, and awhile after | ||
| + | he has sat down in the midst of her children, we will take | ||
| + | the prisoners to the forest.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to his feet. “My hour of triumph over all I hate is at | ||
| + | hand, and once more Jim Girty will be enemyless!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | after the renegade’s departure, a young brave entered the | ||
| + | structure.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was Newaska, the young warrior deputed to poison | ||
| + | Alaska’s wolves.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | favorite of the Wolf-Queen’s; | ||
| + | lodge, and caressed the lupine gang whose fangs were harmless | ||
| + | playthings to him. But, by and by Jim Girty drew him | ||
| + | into his band of merciless braves, and Newaska became the | ||
| + | renegade’s most pliant tool.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>To the Prophet, by the poisoner, the White Chief sent | ||
| + | several pieces of venison, into which the sorcerer infused a | ||
| + | quantity of the juice of the deadly nightshade.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Alaska’s children, and step from her lodge.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the young brave, thrusting the meat into a pouch beneath his | ||
| + | robe.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his nation,” was the reply. “He must get Alaska beyond | ||
| + | his sight before he feeds her children.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | glided from the Prophet’s lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the strong lodge. They saw no hope with cheering lay ahead.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | scenes through which he had passed within the last twenty-four | ||
| + | hours, and his wounds irritated by fatigue, Mayne Fairfax | ||
| + | slumbered.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he would walk to the heavy oaken door, shaped and hung by | ||
| + | Girty’s hands, whence he would shower defiant words upon | ||
| + | his guards.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | death? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | White Chief is in the Prophet’s lodge.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | chief. I want another chance at him to-night, and I hope | ||
| + | and pray that I may get it.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | guard. “The great light of the Manitou nears the hills, and | ||
| + | when the lesser lights come forth, we will lead the three to | ||
| + | the trees.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | great Prophet, and the Manitou is angry with him. He | ||
| + | can not save the enemies of the Shawnees from being skinned | ||
| + | and burned.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In silence another hour passed, and through the crevices | ||
| + | our three friends saw the light fade, and the stars come | ||
| + | forth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | door was thrown open. A band of four-score warriors, | ||
| + | headed by Jim Girty, greeted the eyes of the trio, and soon | ||
| + | they were marching to the already blackened trees, at | ||
| + | which more than one brave life had gone out amid flames.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | which he had converted into a saw. “Didn’t I say that I | ||
| + | would < | ||
| + | more than that! You shall eat that weakling’s heart;” and | ||
| + | the brute’s hand pointed at Mayne Fairfax.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | renegade returned to the head of the band. “If they just | ||
| + | free my hands a moment, I’ll rid the world of a devil. I’ll | ||
| + | make sure work of him, this time.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | thought that I must leave Eudora in the hands of that demon. | ||
| + | Oh, it is terrible!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As the band hurried through the village Hewitt noticed | ||
| + | the absence of the women and children, who always showed | ||
| + | themselves on such occasions.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | walked at his side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | too, stand all the warriors, waiting to see the captives die.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | yelp of a wolf, quickly followed by a human voice, half-shriek& | ||
| + | fell distinctly upon the ears of all.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hunter, and in the darkness Oonalooska’s finger pressed the | ||
| + | giant’s shoulder.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the Prophet exchanged fearful glances.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A moment later the captives were hurried forward on a | ||
| + | run!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | queen smiled as she led the young sub-chief to a couch of | ||
| + | skins. “A moon has faded since he darkened Alaska’s door | ||
| + | and her children have looked a long time for him in vain. | ||
| + | See how glad they are to meet him!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gathered around, manifesting signs of joy at his return, and | ||
| + | the Wolf-Queen looked admiringly on.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “The White Chief has promised to tell Alaska when the | ||
| + | hour comes.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “If he could, he would deceive Alaska, but she will triumph | ||
| + | over him at last. Newaska, whence came the giant hunter? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | was the reply.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the earth? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a long time was silent, while the light of reason illumined her | ||
| + | countenance.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It surprised Newaska.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | insanity in her feeble way. “A long time& | ||
| + | she saw eyes as black as the big hermit’s. Alaska had a little | ||
| + | boy once. But see! dark shadows flit apast Alaska’s door.” | ||
| + | Thus suddenly interrupting herself, she drew aside the curtain | ||
| + | of skins that served for a door, and beheld a gang of women | ||
| + | and children hurrying toward the northern confines of the | ||
| + | village.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | she asked, turning suddenly upon Newaska. “Do they | ||
| + | seek the stakes? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | boughs for their fires. Did Alaska not notice that each squaw, | ||
| + | and even the young Shawnees, bore a knife? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | not satisfied& | ||
| + | answer. “Alaska will go abroad& | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | trees.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to his feet and grasping the mad queen’s arm. “If Alaska | ||
| + | will retire to her sleeping room, Newaska will go and discover | ||
| + | when they lead the prisoners forth. The White Chief | ||
| + | would be angry, were our queen to seek him ere he put on his | ||
| + | torture dress. Will Alaska obey Newaska? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | went out.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | He can take her wolves with him if he chooses. They | ||
| + | will follow Newaska.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | disappeared beyond the skin partition that divided the two | ||
| + | apartments. “But first he will put a collar on Letheto.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | confidence, and, under pretext of collaring Letheto, he prepared | ||
| + | for his work.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He first stepped to the door and heard the tramp of the | ||
| + | band that bore the doomed captives to the fatal trees that | ||
| + | crowned the hills above the “town.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | White Chief passes the wigwam he will join him.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He drew the meat from his pouch, and threw it before the | ||
| + | mad queen’s wolves. With one accord, the lupine band | ||
| + | dashed for it, and one of the largest secured it. The effect | ||
| + | began immediately, | ||
| + | room and laid down. Another piece of meat quickly followed | ||
| + | the first, and a second wolf slunk from the gang, never | ||
| + | to rejoin it again.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | had retired, and the prisoner congratulated himself on his | ||
| + | success.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | extending a hunk of the poisoned venison to the monster | ||
| + | creature. “Newaska& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | mistress appeared!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gazing upon the savage’s fearful face, revealed by the light | ||
| + | thrown out from the dying fire in the center of the lodge. | ||
| + | “Ha! he fears Alaska’s wolves. Does he not know that no | ||
| + | hand save Alaska’s shall give them meat? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the mad queen’s distended eyes, and her bony hand closed on | ||
| + | the prisoner’s throat.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A cry, half-shriek, | ||
| + | as the fingers tightened on his throat, and he felt himself | ||
| + | hurled back.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he felt dreadful fangs pulling at his throat; then sense left | ||
| + | him; he gasped once or twice, a tremor crept over his frame, | ||
| + | and life was ended for Newaska.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Letheto’s sharp teeth had severed his jugulars, for it | ||
| + | seemed that not until then did she recognize his danger.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | but still warm body, “he killed two of Alaska’s children! | ||
| + | He killed them with his meat! Oh, why did the Great Spirit | ||
| + | permit this? Alaska never harmed Newaska! When he | ||
| + | became one of White Chief’s braves, she did not say no. | ||
| + | White Chief! Oh, he did this& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As she finished, she caught the two dead wolves in her | ||
| + | arms, and darted from the lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to dart toward the renegade’s lodge, when voices came to her | ||
| + | ears from the hills to her right.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shall not strip the captives’ skins off. Alaska’s head is hot | ||
| + | now, and her wolves must drink of the white man’s blood.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | village, followed by the nine remaining wolves of her once | ||
| + | invincible band.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with hellish anticipation, | ||
| + | hills crowned by a large concourse of women and children, | ||
| + | whose whetted knives and repulsive faces told how eager they | ||
| + | were to dye their hands in the captives’ blood.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>To the waists our three friends were hurriedly stripped, and | ||
| + | bound to as many trees.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | coloring that is indescribable to the nocturnal scene, and | ||
| + | it was with great difficulty on the part of Girty and the Prophet, | ||
| + | that they could be restrained from rushing upon the | ||
| + | prisoners in a body and hacking them to pieces. But the | ||
| + | renegade threw a line of warriors between them and the trees, | ||
| + | and impatiently awaited the completion of the stripping process.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at last with the saw-blade flashing above his head, “I will | ||
| + | skin the Giant devil, and then the Shawnees can torture the | ||
| + | red traitor, and the weakling!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | forward, hissing his triumph from between clenched teeth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | inch of your accursed hide.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | breast, and was red with his blood, when a shout greeted the | ||
| + | renegade’s ears.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A frightful oath, that would have shamed devils, shot from< | ||
| + | Jim Girty’s lips, and, as he turned with crimsoned blade, he | ||
| + | saw the crowd making way for the mad queen, clothed in a | ||
| + | passion born in Pandemonium.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He turned to the Prophet with a mute appeal for aid, but | ||
| + | Laulewasikaw shrunk from the crazy woman, and hid himself | ||
| + | behind a tree.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and, with shrieks, they fled from her, as though she were living | ||
| + | contagion.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the forest resounded with flying footsteps.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | riveted him to the spot, and his knees smote one another, | ||
| + | even as Belshazzar’s smote at his doom on the palace | ||
| + | walls.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and fastened her gaze upon his icy face, where cold sweatdrops | ||
| + | were forming.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Alaska’s lodge!” she hissed. “There lies Newaska’s work! | ||
| + | The red snake lies in Alaska’s wigwam, with great holes in | ||
| + | his throat.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As she spoke, she neared Girty, holding a writhing wolf | ||
| + | above her head.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | throat!” she continued, and the wolf was lowered.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | volition, awaited his doom.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | jaws flew open to close on his throat, Tecumseh sprung to | ||
| + | Alaska’s side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | calmly meeting the fiery gaze she shot at him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of the Scioto.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | proof of the influence Tecumseh possessed over poor, | ||
| + | mad Alaska.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and her eyes fell upon the trio at the trees.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | nothing.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Wolf-Queen. “Let them return to the strong lodge, and | ||
| + | when Alaska has mourned for her two children, killed by | ||
| + | Newaska, she will deal with them.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the three prisoners were taken from the stakes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | light in Tecumseh’s eyes, as he turned toward the village.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of tried braves had glided into the forest, for the purpose, if | ||
| + | it were possible, to save the captives from the terrible death, | ||
| + | so against his feelings.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | as he walked along. “But so long as that Jim Girty | ||
| + | lives our lives hang on threads. I wish he’d let Tecumseh’s | ||
| + | little greaser drown, and then Alaska would have killed | ||
| + | him. Did the devils tear your linen off when they stripped | ||
| + | me? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Our escape drives my hurts from my mind. I am saved | ||
| + | for Eudora yet.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He pointed to our hero’s wound.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | blanket over Mayne’s shoulders, for the night-air was chilling.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | springing to Mayne’s side. “She will cure him, and make | ||
| + | him fat for her wolves.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A shiver crept to the young man’s heart.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of it. Go with the poor creature, and mebbe she’ll | ||
| + | change her mind, and make you her boy. Crazy people | ||
| + | take strange notions sometimes.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sight met Mayne Fairfax’s gaze.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Newaska, a terrible example of the vengeance of the wolf. | ||
| + | His eyes, pregnant with the stare of death, were wide extended, | ||
| + | and the lifeless balls seemed bursting from their sockets.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | ghastly corpse. “Newaska was loved by Alaska: but he | ||
| + | worked for the White Chief, and her children tore the great | ||
| + | veins in his throat.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at the horrible sight, Alaska covered the corpse with | ||
| + | several robes, and threw more boughs on the fire.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was now near the silent midnight hour, and not a sound | ||
| + | telling of the recent turmoil, came to the Wolf-Queen’s lodge, | ||
| + | which, while she replenished the fire, the young man took occasion | ||
| + | to notice. It was large and commodious, that is, in | ||
| + | the eye of the Indian. The birchen walls were covered with | ||
| + | gaudy skins, fantastically arranged, and the natural floor was | ||
| + | hidden by thick mats, formed by Alaska’s hands. In one | ||
| + | corner of the first apartment lay the stiff form of Leperto, | ||
| + | slain by the mysterious shot from Hewitt’s cave, and over it | ||
| + | stood a wolf as sentry. The guard showed his teeth as Fairfax | ||
| + | entered the lodge, and each one of Alaska’s children& | ||
| + | progeny for a mad-woman!& | ||
| + | their fangs in the young hunter’s flesh.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he knew not how soon the spasm of lunacy would take possession | ||
| + | of her injured brain, and the consequences of that | ||
| + | spasm he knew would be dreadful, for he was completely in | ||
| + | her power.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fire, when all at once she turned, and, grasping Fairfax’s arm | ||
| + | hurried him into the inner apartment.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Alaska, pointing to a couch, deep with finely tanned skins, and | ||
| + | as soft as down. “Let him rest his limbs until Alaska brings | ||
| + | him the meat of the deer, and puts good herbs on his wounds.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | from the chamber.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | about, now and then speaking a command to the wolves, that | ||
| + | seemed inclined to be obstreperous.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At length she returned, and placed some smoking venison | ||
| + | before the hunter upon a strip of bark. In a wooden vessel | ||
| + | she bore some steaming gruel, which seemed to infuse strength | ||
| + | in the hunter’s frame. Mayne Fairfax sat up on the edge of | ||
| + | the couch as he discussed the repast, and from him the eyes | ||
| + | of the queen were never drawn.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wooden bowl, “Alaska will dress the white-face’s wounds.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | they pained him exceedingly, | ||
| + | he motioned to the queen to proceed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | bearing a cup, containing many kinds of bruised herbs. | ||
| + | Kneeling over the hunter she drew aside his hunting-shirt, | ||
| + | and displayed the bandages the hermit had placed over the | ||
| + | wound made by her barbed shaft.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | deep! and the young hunter was very near Kajai Manitou, | ||
| + | when the Lone Man shot Lupino.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As she spoke she continued to display the white flesh of | ||
| + | the hunter, and suddenly, as the hunting garments crept over | ||
| + | his right shoulder, she sprung to her feet with a guttural cry, | ||
| + | and stared at the member just exposed to view.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he could not fathom her strange action and emotion& | ||
| + | frame quivered like an aspen’s leaf& | ||
| + | which she stared.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hunter’s shoulder!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | darted from the lodge, leaving Fairfax at the mercy of her | ||
| + | wolves!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | she found the mighty Shawnee partaking of some venison.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He started upon the sudden entrance of the queen, and, almost | ||
| + | frightened at her wild look, sprung to his feet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | toward her lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Tecumseh’s mental ejaculation; | ||
| + | and white twain were flying toward Alaska’s lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a meditated attack upon the wounded hunter, and, drawing | ||
| + | Tecumseh into the inner room, Alaska pointed to the three | ||
| + | moles on the shoulder.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with an inquiring look.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the mad queen. “Oh, it was long, long ago; how long | ||
| + | Alaska don’t know. Oh, what hurts poor Alaska’s head?” | ||
| + | and she covered her temples with her bony, bloodless hands.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | by reason, it seemed of little account.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fastening her dark eyes on the three spots. “Alaska had a | ||
| + | little boy once, and he had three marks on his shoulder, just | ||
| + | like these,” and her finger touched the birth marks. “Oh, | ||
| + | it was many, many moons ago, when Alaska had no wolves. | ||
| + | But the Great Spirit has given Alaska her little boy again, | ||
| + | and he shall become a Shawnee& | ||
| + | be King of the Wolves!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his own.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “for Puekeshinwa, | ||
| + | snows ago. Then he will not die.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he spoke.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He knew well his parentage& | ||
| + | Ronald Fairfax. His first recollections were of Fairfax | ||
| + | manor, and he, of course, believed himself to be a Fairfax. | ||
| + | The moles on his shoulder he believed to be mere accidental | ||
| + | counterparts of those on the person of a child loved by | ||
| + | Alaska before her days of lunacy& | ||
| + | gainsay the mad queen, for the moles might prove the means | ||
| + | of saving his life, and perhaps instrumental in the rescue of | ||
| + | Eudora, and the prisoners of the strong lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at the oddity of his own words, “and he will be King | ||
| + | of the Wolves. Let Alaska haste to make him well, and he | ||
| + | will tame all the wolves in the great forests, and become | ||
| + | their White King.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | asked, with great eagerness.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “God knows my heart spoke then.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | calling him her “little boy,” she applied bruised and | ||
| + | emollient herbs to his wounds, and the young Virginian, assured | ||
| + | of his safety, so far as the mad queen’s protection went, | ||
| + | received new strength. With such a potent protector as she, | ||
| + | white nor Indian would not dare seek his life.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | on the couch, and was soon enjoying the sweetest sleep he | ||
| + | had known for many hours.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | down upon his, upon which a stray moonbeam fell, bathing | ||
| + | its paleness in indescribable beauty.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Hago, the King of the Wolves, is Alaska’s little boy, and he | ||
| + | who touches a hair of his head shall go to Watchemenetoc | ||
| + | from the jaws of her wolves. How good the Great Spirit | ||
| + | was to send Alaska her boy! For many moons poor Alaska | ||
| + | thought that Newaska was her son, but now she knows that | ||
| + | her pappoose had a skin as white as the water-flowers, | ||
| + | little brown spots on his arm. Guard him well, Letheto,” | ||
| + | she said, bestowing a look upon the gaunt brute that lay at | ||
| + | the entrance of the apartment, where the young hunter< | ||
| + | slept. “He is your king, now& | ||
| + | children of Watchemenetoc walk over you to his heart& | ||
| + | sleep at his door& | ||
| + | and they shall devour your heart.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | her, and resumed his vigil.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A kind spirit was ruling Alaska now, and, for once in | ||
| + | many hours, Mayne Fairfax slumbered without fear of molestation, | ||
| + | though in the jaws of death.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and the hermit, the former thrust something into the | ||
| + | latter’s hands.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a long-bladed knife!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | low tone, which, to the listening guards beyond the wall, was | ||
| + | a confused murmur.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Okolona’s hand thrust the knife into his son’s fingers. Ah! | ||
| + | big hunter, the old Medicine loves his boy!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Hewitt. “With this knife we can cut the thick bark above | ||
| + | our heads, and the caged birds will be free again. Oonalooska, | ||
| + | we must first get beyond the Shawnees’ lodge, before | ||
| + | we can help the young hunter and the girl.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | we will return and rescue our friends. Alaska will not harm | ||
| + | that chap till his wounds have healed, and they will not heal | ||
| + | for two moons to come.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | lodge until another darkness, | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | around this lodge, and when another darkness comes they will | ||
| + | not guard so well. Oonalooska knows this, for he has been | ||
| + | a guard himself.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Shawnee’s words, and, hiding the knife, they threw themselves | ||
| + | upon the ground and went to sleep.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>To say that Jim Girty was chagrined over the unexpected | ||
| + | drift of affairs, would not express the state of his mind.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He was furious& | ||
| + | Tecumseh’s interference, | ||
| + | he knew that the chief had canceled the debt he owed him. | ||
| + | Now Tecumseh owed him nothing, and <i lang=" | ||
| + | thrown again upon his own resources, he did not despair of | ||
| + | ultimate success. In all his life his plots had never entirely | ||
| + | failed, and whenever his feet touched the sands of the gulf of | ||
| + | adversity, he always hoped for, plotted for, a brighter finale.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>To the renegade every cloud had a silver lining, which | ||
| + | sometimes his short-sightedness would not permit him to | ||
| + | see.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He was angry at Laulewasikaw for the loss of Newaska, | ||
| + | his trustiest brave, his keenest spy, and when the Prophet | ||
| + | would enter his tent that night, after the scene in the wood, | ||
| + | he waved him back.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said. “The White Chief is inconsolable for the loss of Newaska, | ||
| + | who would still have lived, had the Prophet not | ||
| + | come.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | steeped in gall, and when he had finished, the Prophet, whose | ||
| + | sensibilities ofttimes a single word could wound, drew back | ||
| + | from Girty, and fastened his dark orbs upon his face, pale | ||
| + | with rage, in the soft starlight.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said slowly, uttering every syllable distinctly. “He will serve | ||
| + | him no longer. Henceforth let the White Chief shut his | ||
| + | mouth to the great Prophet. Laulewasikaw could tell the | ||
| + | Shawnees that the Great Spirit demanded the White Chief’s | ||
| + | heart, and they would take it. But the Prophet turns not<span class=" | ||
| + | upon the adder that he has warmed in his bosom. If it can | ||
| + | be guilty of ingratitude, | ||
| + | another word, he turned away, and sought Greenville.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | know you took me to your lodge when you found me drunk | ||
| + | and freezing to death, thirty odd years ago, but I’ve paid | ||
| + | you, old devil, for that. I gave you a barrel of whisky which | ||
| + | more than canceled < | ||
| + | square.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | lodge where, for a moment, he listened to the regular breathings | ||
| + | of a slumbering person, beyond a partition of skins.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | couch, and stepped toward the curtains. “No,” and he paused | ||
| + | as abruptly as he had risen, “if I can’t eucher all my enemies, | ||
| + | both red and white, then I’ll have recourse to the | ||
| + | knife. I might kill her now, and beat them to-morrow. | ||
| + | Then I’d be in a pretty fix, wouldn’t I? I’ve always | ||
| + | come out best in the end,” and with this he resought his | ||
| + | couch.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | day that followed the night of thrilling scenes. Jim Girty | ||
| + | moved about among the lodges as though nothing unusual | ||
| + | had occurred; but Tecumseh’s warriors noticed that he kept | ||
| + | quite a distance from the Wolf-Queen’s wigwam. He feared | ||
| + | that the sight of his repulsive form would throw the mad-woman | ||
| + | into a frenzy, which might result fatally to him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | whom he dared not approach& | ||
| + | hearts of the prisoners, if he sought them at all, by proxy. | ||
| + | He tried to fathom Tecumseh’s feelings toward him, but, | ||
| + | while the chief spoke friendly, Girty noticed something lurking | ||
| + | behind his manner& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the chief’s heart, he returned to his lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wigwam, much to the surprise of the guards. “I will make | ||
| + | mad the hearts of Nethoto and Sagasto’s squaws, and by heaven! | ||
| + | they will tear the captives from Alaska. Tecumseh< | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | prompter, he hurried toward the lodges of the widowed | ||
| + | squaws.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>To the hermit and Oonalooska the night seemed a long | ||
| + | while coming.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the rise and fall of the god of day. True to the Shawnee’s | ||
| + | words, the savages relaxed their vigilance, and long ere | ||
| + | the shades of night fell, a portion of the guard were withdrawn, | ||
| + | which action left but three on duty.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gloom till his hand touched the savage, who was listening to | ||
| + | the conversation of the guards without the hut. “The Indians | ||
| + | are recounting their brave deeds, eh? Well, they’ll get | ||
| + | to fighting over them after a while; but we’ll not stay to | ||
| + | hear the thumps.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | standing upon the giant hermit’s shoulders, he was cutting a | ||
| + | hole in the bark above their heads.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>To the noisy guard the knife made no noise, and at length | ||
| + | Oonalooska sprung to the ground.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | roof, “I’ll go first, and you may follow.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and the twain moved off in the brilliant starlight.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “but he could never be rescued from that mad-woman and | ||
| + | her wolves. By and by we’ll come back, Oona, and catch the | ||
| + | boy out o’ her fingers somewhere. I tell you ’twould be impossible | ||
| + | to take him from the animal’s jaws.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | in the low tone that characterized the hermit’s words, | ||
| + | “and they know how to use them. When the Lone Man | ||
| + | and Oonalooska return, Okalona will get the boy to the edge | ||
| + | of the Shawnees’ town.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to crawl on all-fours, and at length found themselves near the | ||
| + | confines of the village.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | cramped me, and my legs feel as heavy as stones.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his feet. “Free at last!” he uttered, in an audible tone, for | ||
| + | they were fully thirty feet from the nearest lodge, and in | ||
| + | the shade.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | him to the earth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the sentence he was framing.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In the starlight just upon the edge of the shade, as though | ||
| + | they had suddenly risen from the earth, stood Alaska and a | ||
| + | gigantic wolf.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | time and place, startled the hermit, and he grasped the Indian’s | ||
| + | hand, mutely appealing for a solution of the mystery.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | are full of plants. They are for the hunter’s wounds. She | ||
| + | never gathers plants when the sun is in the sky. The sun | ||
| + | dries their sap, and beneath the stars it runs like water.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the Indian. “Oonalooska saw Letheto prick up his | ||
| + | long ears. She sees us now!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a boy, his father taught him to throw the knife. He has not | ||
| + | forgotten those lessons. He will throw the knife into Alaska’s | ||
| + | heart; then we can frighten Letheto away.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of the dagger-like blade, and drew back for the death-blow.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | her eyes fixed upon their forms. But she could not note | ||
| + | their actions, for the shade in which they crouched was too | ||
| + | gloomy to be minutely penetrated by the naked eye.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | upon Alaska, and listened to Oonalooska’s plan for their escape. | ||
| + | One blow would insure their freedom, and rid them< | ||
| + | of the greatest foe they possessed; but Hewitt vowed that | ||
| + | that blow should not be given.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | speeding the knife to Alaska’s heart, Hewitt’s hand closed | ||
| + | around his wrist.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | throwing a strange look into the giant’s eyes. “Is his head | ||
| + | cracked? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | loved a woman who looked like poor Alaska; but she has | ||
| + | long been absent from him. Oonalooska shall not throw the | ||
| + | knife. If he would escape, let him glide away. I will become | ||
| + | her prisoner. Perhaps& | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He said no more, for the Wolf Queen was approaching them.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | will remain with him, though his path leads from freedom to | ||
| + | the stake.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sprung forward.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “the Great Spirit has guided Oonalooska and the Lone Man | ||
| + | to Alaska. The Great Spirit is good to poor Alaska; he | ||
| + | guided her little boy to her lodge, and she is happy once | ||
| + | more. She will take the pale-face and red-skin back to | ||
| + | the strong lodge.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At her bidding, our friends turned toward their prison | ||
| + | again.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As they walked through the rays of the morn that had just | ||
| + | clambered over the eastern hills, Hewitt studied the face of | ||
| + | the Wolf-Queen. The scrutiny took him back to the days of | ||
| + | his youth, and, in vision, he saw the face that he had kissed | ||
| + | at the altar.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the scene, and Alaska harshly upbraided them for their negligence. | ||
| + | And when the twain found themselves once more | ||
| + | beyond the threshold of the hut, an Indian looked down upon | ||
| + | them from the hole in the roof!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of her work.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | from the shadow of a lodge not far from the prison structure. | ||
| + | “Oh, if I had known that Alaska was abroad& | ||
| + | all her wolves were not with her! Curse her tricks! I | ||
| + | wish they were dead! But I’ve arranged things for your digestion, | ||
| + | my beaten chappies!” and his eyes fell upon the prison | ||
| + | lodge. “I’ve inflamed the vengeful passions of the widowed | ||
| + | squaws, and at any hour they may take you from your | ||
| + | prison and tear your hearts out. I’ll begin on you, and finish | ||
| + | on Alaska and the weakling. Oh, I’m a devil, I am!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sneaked toward his own lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | when he left the lodge of the widowed squaws.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He had succeeded in inflaming their revengeful passions | ||
| + | and their fingers itched to clutch the captives’ throats.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | bind his braves, take the captives into the dark woods, and | ||
| + | burn them with fire,” cried the stalwart Amasqua, one of the | ||
| + | stricken chief’s squaws. “We will do more.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and burn him with the other captives.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Alaska’s children bite.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | white lout’s heart.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | friends concocted, and it is not to be wondered that the renegade | ||
| + | returned to his lodge with heart elate.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and dawn, he slept but little, and when the first streak of day | ||
| + | penetrated the village he sprung from his couch.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | still asleep, he set to work cleaning his rifle.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | above all times it should be cleaned. Tecumseh says | ||
| + | that weak lout is Alaska’s child. Who’d have thought | ||
| + | that crazy hag would take such an outlandish notion? Her | ||
| + | boy! So am I, then, and I know that I am old enough to | ||
| + | be her father. Curse the weakling! If he hadn’t come into | ||
| + | these parts, I’d ’a’ been enjoying myself with the girl& | ||
| + | the Indian fashion she would have been my wife. And | ||
| + | then that crazy hag would not be against me. Oh! curse | ||
| + | that boy!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As he uttered the imprecation, | ||
| + | Alaska’s lodge, plainly visible from his own.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Girty, “ay, and none could tell whence the shot came, for | ||
| + | all save my guards still sleep. Why don’t he take an airing? | ||
| + | I wish& | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As if intent upon the gratification of the renegade’s desires, | ||
| + | Mayne Fairfax parted the curtains of Alaska’s lodge, and | ||
| + | stepped beyond the threshold, where he paused to enjoy the | ||
| + | beauties of the morning.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | throwing the different parts of his rifle into their proper | ||
| + | places, while the fiendish light of revenge lit up his countenance | ||
| + | with a lividness as horrible as unnatural. “I’ll forestall | ||
| + | the mad squaws in a portion of their work!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | victim, Girty rammed a bullet home, and again returned | ||
| + | to the curtain.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Alaska’s lodge. His keen eyes seemed to be employed in surveying | ||
| + | the village, no doubt for future action.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shoulder, and his eye glanced along the freshly-polished | ||
| + | barrel.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he asked, self-communingly. “I want to make a dead shot& | ||
| + | want to keep up my reputation as such, and if I fire at his | ||
| + | heart I might fail. I can see his forehead; his accursed | ||
| + | heart is hidden.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | all his energies into the drawing of the “bead” upon Fairfax’s | ||
| + | forehead.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | pressed the trigger.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sprung past him, and the rifle was knocked from his grasp.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | clutching the swan-like throat of the girl who fearlessly confronted | ||
| + | him. “You’re a she-wolf, and, curse you, I’ve a | ||
| + | mind to throttle you!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | over the brute.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At length he released her, and, shorn of her strength by | ||
| + | his vice-like grip, Eudora fell to the ground.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | into the lodge. “Warriors never desert their posts. I will | ||
| + | attend to the girl. Back! I say.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | away, and Girty, still crimson with rage, lifted Eudora | ||
| + | from the earth, and rudely tossed her back into her chamber.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hissed. “If I have choked you to death, I’m sure that I | ||
| + | don’t care; but I guess you’ll worry it through, for a woman | ||
| + | is as hard to kill as a cat.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He continued to gaze awhile upon Eudora, who lay motionless | ||
| + | upon her couch, admirably counterfeiting death. | ||
| + | Then he strode from the lodge, pausing a moment to say to | ||
| + | one of the guards:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | beyond the village, and throw her body to the fishes in the | ||
| + | swift stream.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | door, as the renegade walked away.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>No sound came to their ears.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Eudora still lay motionless, without a sign of returning life. | ||
| + | Had the renegade’s grip proved fatal?</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Mayne Fairfax sought her lodge, after Girty’s shot.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | my cheek.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Alaska, springing to his side. “Whence came the ball? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the renegade’s bullet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | she said, “but why did he not hit him? White Chief never | ||
| + | misses. He has the eye of an eagle.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his words.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | understand him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | back into the lodge. “A long time ago, when Alaska’s head | ||
| + | and heart were not sore, she sung songs to the Great Spirit, | ||
| + | beside a little stream where the birds warbled their happy | ||
| + | hymns.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fathom the story of her life, before insanity swayed her | ||
| + | mind.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A smile illumined her face at the word “mother, | ||
| + | imprinted a kiss on the Virginian’s forehead.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the great tree, split by the Great Spirit’s fiery ax.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | my home, where once a cabin stood, stands a great lightning-riven | ||
| + | oak. Can it be that this poor mad-woman once lived | ||
| + | so near Fairfax manor? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with himself.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | did my mother come to the Shawnees? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | her boy,” said the woman. “Some day the Great Spirit will | ||
| + | chase the pain from this head, as the Shawnees chase the | ||
| + | deer from their coverts.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | days of sanity, had dwelt near his own home; but her chaotic | ||
| + | mind refused her the recollection he coveted.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at last gave up in despair.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He hoped that the “some day” to which she referred with | ||
| + | prophetic mien, would soon arrive, and he prayed that he | ||
| + | might witness its arrival.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He felt deeply interested in that insane woman!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of Alaska’s wolves. At first the animals were inclined | ||
| + | to shyness and war; but their queen drew them to Mayne | ||
| + | Fairfax’s side, and at last they acknowledged their king& | ||
| + | at his beck and call.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | night were gently falling around the village, “Co Hago will be | ||
| + | proclaimed King of the Wolves, in the presence of the entire | ||
| + | Shawnee nation. Then he can come and go when and | ||
| + | where he pleases, and none& | ||
| + | cross his path.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | snatch my friends from their perilous situations, upon my | ||
| + | life.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He retired early to the inner apartment, and an hour later | ||
| + | a hand roused him from slumber.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He started to his feet and confronted Alaska.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A chorus of yells penetrated the lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | seizing Mayne’s arm, and darting from the wigwam. “Alaska | ||
| + | will let them burn the prisoners, for the blood of Nethoto | ||
| + | and Sagasto cry aloud from the forest.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As she uttered the last words she sprung forward in the direction | ||
| + | from whence floated the hell of mad cries.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | have experienced great difficulty in keeping beside her.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | they found a response from the wolves that trotted at Alaska’s | ||
| + | heels.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | immediate neighborhood of the exciting scene that was being | ||
| + | enacted.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>On the southern side of the village square, and before the | ||
| + | door of the prison lodge, surged a crowd of women with disheveled | ||
| + | tresses, and hands full of clubs, hatchets, and knives.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | eyes and drawn tomahawk; and confronting the chief were | ||
| + | two gaunt hags& | ||
| + | the surrender to them and their supporters, of the two | ||
| + | prisoners.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A short distance from the sachem stood Jim Girty, smiling | ||
| + | upon the vengeful work of his hands.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a close observer might have noticed sighs of trepidation, | ||
| + | his piercing eye took in the scene.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of the chiefs Sagasto and Nethoto, slain by Oonalooska at the | ||
| + | hermit’s cave. The mad women could not bide the time set | ||
| + | apart by Tecumseh for the execution of the prisoners. Their | ||
| + | hideous cries for blood, roused the village from slumber, and at | ||
| + | the head of a motley crowd, composed of warriors, women, | ||
| + | and children, they started to the prison-house. But Tecumseh, | ||
| + | having been awakened, met them at the door, and refused | ||
| + | them admittance.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He had recourse to many arguments to induce the rioters to | ||
| + | return to their respective lodges, and wait till the coming day | ||
| + | for the death of their prisoners; but they fell upon deaf ears.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Nethoto’s wife. “They would not harm a hair of his head;< | ||
| + | but, unless he gives the pale-face and the red traitor to them, | ||
| + | there may be no Tecumseh& | ||
| + | to-morrow.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | threatening words. Everywhere knives glittered, and he realized | ||
| + | that he had bloodthirsty < | ||
| + | men.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | side. “They will have the prisoners, though they walk | ||
| + | over Tecumseh. Why bid them wait till day, and die? Let | ||
| + | Tecumseh glide to his beaded lodge, if he would not see the | ||
| + | prisoners die.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | witness the work of the mad women. White Wolf, do not | ||
| + | let them burn the prisoners. Tecumseh will have no such | ||
| + | work within sound of his lodge. If they < | ||
| + | be carried to the wood.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | glided through the crowd to his lodge. As he left the throng, | ||
| + | Jim Girty threw himself before the door of the hut, and his | ||
| + | strong voice rent the air:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “The pale-face and red traitor must not die in the village. | ||
| + | Let them be borne to the wood.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | renegade tore Tecumseh’s wampum from the door of the hut. | ||
| + | Throwing himself against the barrier, he forced himself into | ||
| + | the structure, and a minute later the hermit and his red companion | ||
| + | found themselves in the hands of the most furious | ||
| + | band of humans that ever surrounded a prisoner.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | chorus of vengeful yells that floated heavenward, and away | ||
| + | toward the gloomy tarn the twain were hurried.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Many a lowering glance was thrown at the young hunter, and | ||
| + | had it not been for the presence of his strong protector and | ||
| + | her guard of brutes, he would soon have stood at the prisoners’ | ||
| + | side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hermit. He did not wish them to know that he was a forced< | ||
| + | witness to their doom, and a refusal to accompany his mad | ||
| + | mother might have proved his death-warrant.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | for the death-stakes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and his stentorian voice rung loud and clear above the yells | ||
| + | of the red-skins.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He insulted Hewitt in every way that suggested itself to | ||
| + | his devilish mind. He struck him with his open hand, spit | ||
| + | in his face, and plucked out a handful of his beautiful beard! | ||
| + | Hewitt stood his indignities without a murmur, but a sarcastic | ||
| + | smile lurked around his lips. Failing to draw a groan from | ||
| + | the hermit, the renegade turned to Oonalooska, but was obliged | ||
| + | to desist with the same result.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | were momentarily unbound, that they might be fastened | ||
| + | to the saplings.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As the hermit felt his hands spring from the thongs, he | ||
| + | darted a look at Oonalooska, and his lips parted to utter a | ||
| + | single word, which drew a spark of fire from the young brave’s | ||
| + | eyes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | mob could recover from its surprise, Oonalooska had snatched | ||
| + | the tomahawk from Amasqua, and Jim Girty staggered to the | ||
| + | earth beneath Hewitt’s clenched hand. Then, having driven the | ||
| + | Indians back a goodly space, by their unexpected movements, | ||
| + | the twain turned, and darted through the forest with the speed | ||
| + | of the deer.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>To pursue by sight was utterly useless, for the captives had | ||
| + | disappeared in an instant, and Jim Girty, who was the first | ||
| + | to recover his senses, darted to Alaska’s side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wolves have escaped,” he cried, pointing in the direction of | ||
| + | the trail of the twain. “Let Alaska throw her children upon | ||
| + | the trail, that her enemies may die.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Alaska’s arm, before she had a chance to reply to the renegade. | ||
| + | “If the Lone Man and Oonalooska die, Alaska’s child | ||
| + | will not become King of the Wolves.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | her& | ||
| + | that he held an unbounded influence over that mad-woman.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | addressing him, and then she turned to Girty, and the mad, | ||
| + | clamoring clique that surrounded him. “The captives may | ||
| + | fly,” she said, with teeth firm-set, as her dark eyes fell upon | ||
| + | the renegade, thence wandering to the bloodthirsty band. | ||
| + | “Alaska hears the words of her son, and the wolves strike | ||
| + | not a pale-face trail to-night. If the White Wolf and Amasqua | ||
| + | would catch the lost birds, they must find them without | ||
| + | Alaska’s children. Alaska and her white son, who soon will | ||
| + | be a Shawnee and King of the Wolves, will return to her | ||
| + | lodge.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the band.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | white-livered dog?” he hissed, pointing to young Fairfax. | ||
| + | “The weakling rules Alaska, and he is turning her against | ||
| + | her people. Shall the Shawnees tamely submit to this? If | ||
| + | so, let them not touch the white-faced dog!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and, with glittering blade, Amasqua, Nethoto’s vengeful wife, | ||
| + | stepped forward.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | catching up one of her wolves, and raising him on high.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Alaska retrograded toward the village, her eyes shooting defiance | ||
| + | at the mob. Close to her side moved the young Virginian, | ||
| + | inwardly rejoicing at the double escape, but not forgetful | ||
| + | of his own imminent danger.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | afraid to raise a hand.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | would have shot the mad queen of the wolves; but the hermit | ||
| + | had snatched his rifle from his grip, and not a savage had | ||
| + | borne his from the village. He dared not raise his hand to | ||
| + | hurl a hatchet at the lunatic, for such a movement would | ||
| + | bring the wolf to his throat; and the renegade feared the | ||
| + | queen’s wolves as he feared unnatural death.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | blood, and he now saw that that hour had not arrived.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the passioned queen, and dark were the plots against her | ||
| + | and her “son” that then found birth in their bosoms.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | covering her track, and, as she and the hunter glided into the | ||
| + | double lodge, a chorus of baffled cries smote the air of night, | ||
| + | and fell faintly upon listening ears far up the moonlit Scioto.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the river, whose banks they were not long reaching; | ||
| + | and, at last, somewhat fatigued, they ensconced themselves under | ||
| + | a shelving ledge, secure from the observation of foes on | ||
| + | land and water.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | men knew, and as they lay there waiting, Hewitt told the Indian | ||
| + | the story of his past& | ||
| + | savage was entitled to hear, that the white might be | ||
| + | justified in his eyes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to the expectant look in his companion’s eyes, as an | ||
| + | expression of pain flitted across his face. He brushed something, | ||
| + | very much like a translucent pearl, from his bronzed | ||
| + | cheek, and began:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Sepe, in the great State, called by the whites Virginia. He | ||
| + | was young then; though white his hair now, he is not old. | ||
| + | When he grew to manhood he took a beautiful white maiden | ||
| + | to his heart, and, in time, she gave the Lone Man a laughing | ||
| + | little boy.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his face was buried in his great hands.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Often the Lone Man left his wife and little one, and journeyed | ||
| + | to the great city of Richmond. He never thought that | ||
| + | a snake was creeping into his wigwam.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | two shadows beyond the window. A great storm passed over | ||
| + | his heart, his head burned with a strong fire, and he crept | ||
| + | forward. From behind a giant oak that spread its branches | ||
| + | over his cabin, the Lone Man saw another seated beside his | ||
| + | wife, who rocked the cradle where slept his little boy. The | ||
| + | strange white man was a hunter, and one arm he had thrown | ||
| + | around the neck of Agnes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the hunter’s lips& | ||
| + | beautiful boy& | ||
| + | flew to his shoulder, and the young hunter fell across the | ||
| + | cradle, with a bullet in his brain.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | He darted into the forest with her shriek ringing | ||
| + | in his ears, and he swore, until death, to dwell alone in | ||
| + | the great wood. He crossed the Kiskepila Sepe, and found | ||
| + | the cave near the Scioto, where he has since dwelt alone. | ||
| + | Since that dark night the Lone Man’s hand has never drunk | ||
| + | the blood of man, and until death it never drinks it. Oonalooska, | ||
| + | the Lone Man’s heart bleeds to meet his boy; but he | ||
| + | will never cross the eagle river again. Among the woods of | ||
| + | the Ohio he will die. But when the young hunter goes back | ||
| + | to Virginia, he will hunt for the hermit’s child and wife, and | ||
| + | tell him what become of them.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | forests of Ohio.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | squaw and pappoose, | ||
| + | that they are not in the lodge of the Great Spirit.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | curse the impulse that led me to shoot the young hunter without | ||
| + | giving him a chance for his life. Perhaps Agnes was not | ||
| + | to blame. Oh, to think that a moment of calm inquiry might | ||
| + | have prevented my being a murderer, | ||
| + | burst from the hermit’s heart, as he buried his face in his | ||
| + | palms.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | asked the cave man when he, at length, raised his head to the | ||
| + | chief.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | head,” was the reply.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Twenty-one years ago my hands were dyed with human | ||
| + | blood, and twenty-one years ago Alaska came to the Shawnees! | ||
| + | Oh, the resemblance she bears to Agnes! Heaven, | ||
| + | solve the terrible enigma!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He questioned the Shawnee no further regarding the Wolf-Queen; | ||
| + | but both lapsed into silence as they awaited the passing | ||
| + | of the day. Their work was to be done by night alone.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | their ears. Oonalooska glided from the hermit’s side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | canoes, loaded to the water with painted braves, flitted past | ||
| + | the Shawnee’s line of vision.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In the prow of the foremost canoe stood Tecumseh.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to the hermit. “The White Wolf is not with him. The | ||
| + | Lone Man and Oonalooska must tear the pale-faces from his | ||
| + | people before the great chief returns.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | promptly acknowledged it. Tecumseh had never been outwitted | ||
| + | by a white man.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At length night came, and the twain left the ledge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | from the cave, and reëntered the deserted home. It | ||
| + | had been pillaged by the savages; but the couple discovered | ||
| + | some jerked meat that satisfied their hunger, and from a secret | ||
| + | cache Hewitt drew two rifles and a quantity of ammunition.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | from one of the subterranean passages an animal bounded. | ||
| + | It was the hermit’s dog.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the animal’s shaggy back. “You shall go with us. Mebbe | ||
| + | we’ll need your nose and teeth.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and ensconced themselves in a thicket that commanded a tolerable | ||
| + | view of Tecumseh’s home.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | times repeated; then all was still as the night.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | town, and, unattended by human escort, a form emerged from | ||
| + | Alaska’s lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | an Indian. A great blanket covered the body, the nether | ||
| + | limbs were inclosed in close-fitting leggins, and a circlet of | ||
| + | feathers surrounded the head. At the person’s feet trotted a | ||
| + | large wolf, which ever and anon ran before its master, and | ||
| + | gazed up into his face with a puzzled expression.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | King of the Wolves!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He had left Alaska’s lodge, with her knowledge and consent, | ||
| + | for a stroll& | ||
| + | He had declined Tecumseh’s invitation to tread with | ||
| + | him the war-trail, on the pretense that his wounds unfitted | ||
| + | him for service, when his wounds had ceased from troubling.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He had cause for remaining in the Shawnee town.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | lodge, and his footsteps tended toward that portion of the | ||
| + | “town” wherein was situated Eudora’s prison.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and Fairfax kept in the darkest spots as he approached | ||
| + | the place well marked by him the preceding day. When quite< | ||
| + | near the lodge, he dropped upon all fours, and glided forward | ||
| + | in that manner.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At last the wigwam loomed up between him and the golden | ||
| + | worlds that almost dazzled his eyes when he looked aloft. | ||
| + | Instead of two figures before Eudora’s lodge, three greeted his | ||
| + | vision. The third figure was gigantic in its proportions, | ||
| + | easily recognized as the renegade, Jim Girty!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to the guard of the prison lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>An expression of dismay enthroned itself upon the young | ||
| + | Virginian’s face, as his eyes fell upon Girty, and he gazed | ||
| + | at the man a long time, before he gave utterance to his | ||
| + | thoughts.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fears me, and guards his prisoner the closer. I must bide my | ||
| + | time. He will relax his vigilance some time, his guards will | ||
| + | sleep some night, when I shall tear Eudora from them. Can | ||
| + | I wait until they sleep? No, no, I will not wait, for the | ||
| + | renegade nightly changes his sentries. I must seek subtle assistance; | ||
| + | but where shall I look for that? I am a Shawnee | ||
| + | now; will not a brother aid me? Shall a mean, white dog | ||
| + | baffle the King of the Wolves?” and a smile played with the | ||
| + | young man’s lips, as he mentioned his title. “No, I swear | ||
| + | he shall not. I wonder if Hewitt and Oonalooska will return | ||
| + | to assist me? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | steps, attended by his solitary guard.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was near midnight, for the beautiful constellation of | ||
| + | Cygnus had gained the meridian, and, in all its magnificence, | ||
| + | was slowly sinking toward the western horizon.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | distinct from the densely-wooded knoll to the right | ||
| + | of the village.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | long, ashen ears.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | echo died away in the recesses of the forest, Fairfax wheeled | ||
| + | and walked rapidly toward the spot.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | watchers upon the knoll, when the hermit suddenly laid his | ||
| + | cold hand on Oonalooska’s bare arm.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gaze to the right of the spot they occupied.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | eastern horizon, and against her disk, in striking bas-relief, | ||
| + | appeared the form of a man. He stood in a listening attitude, | ||
| + | but not alone, for beside him stood a huge animal, | ||
| + | resembling in the mellow light, a wolf. The twain were | ||
| + | scarce twenty feet from the white man and his red companion!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the man before them, “for he came at Oonalooska’s | ||
| + | owl hoot.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A second note rose from Oonalooska’s throat and he whispered:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | King of the Wolves fell upon the Shawnee.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | slowly advancing upon Oonalooska, who awaited him, with a | ||
| + | ready knife.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Let the chief lead him to the Lone Man.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | before the hermit.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the young man’s hand. “Have you turned Shawnee, too? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at his feet. “I am the son of Alaska, a Shawnee, and the | ||
| + | King of the Wolves.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the Shawnee village, since his capture, and when he had finished | ||
| + | the hermit spoke.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | as her son by the mole on your shoulder, | ||
| + | we must not talk of that now. You must be in her lodge | ||
| + | before dawn, and day is not far distant. We must talk fast. | ||
| + | In the shape of Okalona, the Medicine-man of the Shawnees, | ||
| + | you will find a valuable assistant. He hates Tecumseh and | ||
| + | Girty, and they hate him. Go to him to-morrow. Tell | ||
| + | him that you were sent to his lodge by his son, and all will | ||
| + | be well. He deals in drugs that put men to sleep.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said Oonalooska, as he drew his necklace of bear-claws over | ||
| + | his head. “Take this to Okalona,” the chief continued, extending | ||
| + | the necklace to the young man, “and say that Oonalooska | ||
| + | says: ‘Help the pale-face, for Oonalooska’s heart.’”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | again meet us here. If your plans promise success, Oonalooska | ||
| + | and I will enter the town, and, all together, we will do | ||
| + | a work that will never be forgotten by the Shawnee nation.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | village, nothing prevents success.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to go, when the hermit wrung the young man’s hands, and | ||
| + | watched him disappear beyond the brow of the knoll. He | ||
| + | walked through the silent street of the Shawnee town, and | ||
| + | into the double lodge, untouched by Alaska’s wolves. Already | ||
| + | the animals knew their “< | ||
| + | Alaska fast asleep, and Fairfax gained the inner | ||
| + | apartment without disturbing her.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | lodge for the purpose of assassinating Mayne Fairfax; but | ||
| + | the absence of the young man had, for the present, thwarted | ||
| + | his diabolical plans.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to his own lodge, and threw himself upon an uncleanly | ||
| + | couch of skins, and fell into a deep slumber.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | over the eastern hills, when he was waked by Alaska. The | ||
| + | queen seemed in the possession of all her senses, and talked | ||
| + | reasonably, while Mayne discussed the repast she had prepared. | ||
| + | It was one of her lucid intervals, if her moments of | ||
| + | calmness can be termed thus.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “the Wolf-King would seek the lodge of Okolona, but he | ||
| + | knows not which way to look for it.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | covered with skins of different hues, fantastically arranged.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | lodge, and a wolf followed, and trotted at his heels.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | lodge of the old Medicine, in whose presence he soon found | ||
| + | himself.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his hair was long and rivaled the snow in spotless beauty; | ||
| + | but his face could not boast of a single wrinkle. Notwithstanding | ||
| + | his physical condition, his limbs owned prodigious | ||
| + | strength, and in his eyes the vestiges of golden manhood still | ||
| + | remained& | ||
| + | the Shawnee nation was a child.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As we have said, the Medicine had incurred the hatred of | ||
| + | Tecumseh and Jim Girty; but the twain dared not to lift< | ||
| + | their hands against the old man, because he dealt in strange | ||
| + | poisons, and was terrible revengeful.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As Mayne entered the lodge, the interior of which was ornamented | ||
| + | with ghastly, grinning skulls, a smile played with | ||
| + | Okolona’s lips, and when the young man threw his son’s bear-claw | ||
| + | necklace into his hands, he embraced him, and his old | ||
| + | lips murmured:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | ‘Help the pale prisoner, | ||
| + | man’s eyes flashed with strange fire.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “He would tear the pale Flower from the White | ||
| + | Wolf? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | great Medicine’s words.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | but before the red lips parted, a loud whoop penetrated the | ||
| + | lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In an instant Okolona was on his feet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He approached the opening, seemed to take a quick survey | ||
| + | of the village, and returned.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | man’s face.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “He has been many moons from the Shawnees’ lodges. Okolona | ||
| + | had hoped that he was with Watchemenetoc.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | monster, the terror of defenseless homes; but his eyes had | ||
| + | never beheld him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his entire form to gratify his sight. A band of Indians | ||
| + | were filing through the village, toward the council-house. | ||
| + | At its head strode a gigantic man, hideously painted | ||
| + | and plumed. His forehead was bound by a cloth, through< | ||
| + | which blood oozed, and he trailed a long rifle at his side. | ||
| + | His eagle eye took in every thing at a glance, and he seemed | ||
| + | to be hunting a victim, to appease the anger that sat enthroned | ||
| + | upon his countenance.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Girty; and he involuntarily shrunk from his line of vision.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Girty fell upon him, and, with a loud yell, he left the van of | ||
| + | the band, and darted toward the lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | over Mayne’s shoulder, threw himself in the door of skins, for | ||
| + | the purpose of protecting his guest.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | him, with clubbed rifle. “Co Hago is a Shawnee. He is | ||
| + | the son of Alaska.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Stand aside, old man, or I’ll send you hellwards.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sprung to his brother’s side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | butt of the rifle descended with crushing force.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | but the member could not resist the stroke, and he sunk to | ||
| + | the earth a limp lump of senseless and bleeding humanity.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | darted forward to complete the work his brother had begun, | ||
| + | when a blow, administered by Mayne, with a hatchet | ||
| + | hastily snatched from a corner of the lodge, sent him to <i lang=" | ||
| + | firma</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | if sell it he must, “another step will bring my wolf’s teeth in | ||
| + | contact with your throat. I am a Shawnee now; as such acknowledged | ||
| + | by Tecumseh, who is able to punish the bravest | ||
| + | man who harms one of his people.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shrinking from the flashing eyes of the upreared wolf. | ||
| + | “But I must have a white victim. The whites have torn my | ||
| + | head open, and I must have white blood.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He turned and took in the village at a glance, as his brother | ||
| + | scrambled to his feet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At that moment Miantomah, a deposed chief, and a bitter | ||
| + | enemy of Jim Girty, stepped to his side, and pointed to the | ||
| + | prison lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Let the White Chief have her blood.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Eudora’s lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | mad brother. “Simon, that girl is mine! Touch her upon | ||
| + | your peril!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Simon threw his brother from him, and continued his | ||
| + | vengeful bounds toward the prison lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | snatch a rifle from the nearest brave, and level it at his | ||
| + | brother!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the glistening barrel.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shriek, Simon Girty dropped his rifle, and fell forward to the | ||
| + | earth, where he lay motionless.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | deed. With folded arms he gazed calmly, almost triumphantly, | ||
| + | upon his fallen brother, whom he believed dead& | ||
| + | through the head by his ball.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | length hissed, in the silence that reigned after the commission | ||
| + | of the dark crime. “You are my brother, but I care not for | ||
| + | that, though I know that for this act I must fly the Shawnee | ||
| + | nation before Tecumseh comes back. Ha! by heavens! did | ||
| + | he move? | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He thought he detected a movement indicative of returning | ||
| + | life in his brother Simon, and, throwing his rifle above his | ||
| + | head, he strode forward with the intention of completing the | ||
| + | deed of blood.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | been noticed by the savages, and several sprung to his | ||
| + | side far in advance of his impetuous brother.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | jerked the renegade to his feet, and the eyelids parted, to display | ||
| + | eyes wandering, like lost comets, in their gory sockets.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to the earth by an Indian, and a moment later he found himself | ||
| + | being swiftly borne to the prison lodge, his limbs bound | ||
| + | with deer-sinews.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He knew that Simon’s heart, like his own, possessed no | ||
| + | brotherly feeling, and that when the painted renegade came | ||
| + | to his senses, he would wreak his vengeance upon his own | ||
| + | lovely captive and himself.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>On the damp floor of the prison-house Jim Girty found | ||
| + | bitter food for reflection, and, with fate against him, he plotted | ||
| + | not only his own escape, but the freedom of Eudora Morriston. | ||
| + | He possessed many friends in the Shawnee nation; | ||
| + | but not so numerous an array as his brother boasted of. For | ||
| + | a long time the brothers had vacillated between friendship | ||
| + | and strife, and James possessed secret friends who seemed to | ||
| + | be active partisans of Simon. His brother was never beyond | ||
| + | the vision of his red spies; and what James lacked in strength | ||
| + | he gained in cunning.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | himself to the door, and applied his lips to the crevice between | ||
| + | the portal and sill.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | nothing till to-morrow.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | escape,” he said.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Pale Flower, and fly to the neutral Mingoes.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | stars come out, he will glide to the Pale Flower’s lodge, and | ||
| + | kill her guards. Then he will bear her to the White Wolf, | ||
| + | and we will fly to the neutral tribe. There the White Shawnee | ||
| + | and Tecumseh dare not enter to harm us.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shall become the White Wolf’s squaw, and woe unto the | ||
| + | White Shawnee< | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In his lodge Simon Girty raved like a maniac. The ball | ||
| + | fired from his brother’s rifle, had plowed a furrow along his | ||
| + | temple, and deprived him of reason. Yet his return to a | ||
| + | rational state was but a question of time, two days at the | ||
| + | furthest; and then he would rise to vengeance against his | ||
| + | brother, and his white prisoner.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | him unconscious. Mayne Fairfax dragged him into the | ||
| + | interior of the medicine lodge, and soon restored him to reason.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Indian, examining the injured member; “but the old Medicine | ||
| + | is far from the lodge of the Manitou. He will help the | ||
| + | King of the Wolves baffle the White Wolf and his brother. | ||
| + | Let Co Hago speak, while he binds Okalona’s arm.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | proceeded to dress the arm according to the instructions of | ||
| + | its owner.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In time, the young man told the old Medicine that he desired | ||
| + | the liberation of Eudora, and Okalona said that the coming | ||
| + | night should witness her freedom.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and the Lone Man to Okalona’s lodge,” said the Medicine, | ||
| + | in conclusion, having been reticent regarding the course | ||
| + | of liberation he intended to adopt.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>No more opportune time than the coming night suggested | ||
| + | itself to the young hunter, and the sudden change of affairs | ||
| + | caused the fates to appear propitious. With Jim Girty a doomed | ||
| + | man in the strong prison-house, | ||
| + | Tecumseh absent, and Alaska, the mad queen, calm and | ||
| + | unsuspecting, | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | from the door of which, Alaska had witnessed the startling | ||
| + | scenes just narrated.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | throwing her arms around Mayne’s neck. “Alaska saw him | ||
| + | face the White Shawnee; but she did not go to his side with | ||
| + | her children, for she saw that he would fight nobly, and conquer | ||
| + | the bad white brothers.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | recollecting the emotion and singular words of the hermit | ||
| + | when he parted with him on the knoll, the preceding night.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “she can see him, but her arms are too short.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was evident to him, at least, that Alaska had known | ||
| + | Hewitt in times when insanity was a stranger to her poor | ||
| + | brain; but now, memory served her not& | ||
| + | her with reason; but at intervals, as the reader has seen in | ||
| + | the course of our romance, memory revisited her; but these | ||
| + | visits were as fleeting as a sunbeam.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and her replies served to strengthen his belief, as given | ||
| + | above. Perhaps she was the hermit’s wife, at least he thought | ||
| + | that Hewitt half believed and feared thus, and an inward | ||
| + | monitor told him that the coming night would behold the | ||
| + | lifting of mystery’s curtain.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | that mystery.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He remained in the double wigwam until the dawn of twilight, | ||
| + | when he left it unquestioned by Alaska.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and the hermit awaited, with mingled anxiety and impatience, | ||
| + | his appearance, he sauntered toward Eudora’s prison. | ||
| + | Before the door sat the two guards, indulging one of their | ||
| + | passions by gambling with little pebbles, after the sportive | ||
| + | manner of American children, in the game called “Hull-gull | ||
| + | handful.” The Indians were oblivious to all surrounding objects, | ||
| + | and therefore the young man glided to the rear of the | ||
| + | lodge unnoticed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In a few words he acquainted Eudora with the plans, so | ||
| + | far as he knew them, of rescue, and the maiden clasped her | ||
| + | hands and prayed for the success of the attempt.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It made Mayne Fairfax happy to fill her heart with hope, | ||
| + | and, elate with anticipated triumph, he left her, and hurried | ||
| + | toward the knoll.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A few minutes later he stood before the twain, and without | ||
| + | accident the trio gained the old Medicine’s lodge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sat in her lodge waiting for the coming of her rescuers.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | in vain for her lover’s step. The two guards, tired of | ||
| + | gambling, stood like statues before the birchen portals of the | ||
| + | strong wigwam, their ears catching every sound, and their vigilant | ||
| + | eyes noting every dark form that crossed their line of | ||
| + | vision.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At last a footfall greeted her ear but it was not her lover’s.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and, wondering who approached she moved to the door, and | ||
| + | peered through a crevice upon the scenes beneath the stars.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to stealth, for he walked erect, and when near the lodge, one of the | ||
| + | guards demanded his mission.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | much pomposity. “I have a message for the ear of Chabaro.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | him back.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his right hand hidden from sight, in an unsuspicious manner.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | was Mayne’s red friend sent by him to deliver her.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | listening ear. Then, with the unexampled rapidity of thought, | ||
| + | his hand flew from beneath his blanket, and a knife glided | ||
| + | noiselessly into the guard’s side. Not a groan, not a gasp, escaped | ||
| + | the lips of the stricken Shawnee, and while he was sliding | ||
| + | from Giangomah’s grip, the second sentinel felt a hand upon | ||
| + | his throat. Useless, on the sentry’s part, was the brief struggle | ||
| + | that followed, for Giangomah’s gory knife cleft his heart, | ||
| + | and he sunk to the earth& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | beyond the threshold.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his composure. He stood the dead savage against the | ||
| + | lodge, and, taking Eudora’s hand, hurried from the scene.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | girl did not speak, as she was being hurried through the village, | ||
| + | and suddenly Giangomah paused before the prison hut.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | strange place, was about to question the chief, when a figure | ||
| + | crept from the shade of the building. It was habited in Indian | ||
| + | costume, and she was about to whisper her lover’s name, | ||
| + | when the figure revealed itself. < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | stifled it with his hand, ere it grew into life.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “When my brother comes to his senses he will kill you and | ||
| + | me, too. We must fly to the Mingoes.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | my parents, I will not fly with you, even though it be to a | ||
| + | place of safety. Help!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and an instant later the tramp of feet was heard.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and caught Eudora’s arm as the weapon was raised above his | ||
| + | head.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he grated his fiendish intention through clenched teeth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | up between him and the gray lodges. “My brother’s captive | ||
| + | you become& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | when a dark, limp object left the hands of the foremost of | ||
| + | the advancing band, and the renegade was hurled back by | ||
| + | the stroke.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | drawing her to his heart.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was Mayne Fairfax!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | arm. “The river! the river! Her cry has roused some | ||
| + | braves!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to the right, to behold a dozen forms sweeping down upon | ||
| + | them.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “They dare not harm me, and your second attempt at | ||
| + | rescue will prove successful.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | while he drew a hatchet from his belt. “We can not escape | ||
| + | if we would. If captured, instant and disgraceful death | ||
| + | await us. We will fight!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Medicine’s rifle cracked, and the foremost savage sunk to the | ||
| + | earth, where he writhed in the agonies of death. Okolona’s | ||
| + | shot was answered by Oonalooska’s rifle, and a second Shawnee’s | ||
| + | life went out in death. Then the band closed around | ||
| + | the little party, who drew nearer Eudora, for the purpose of | ||
| + | shielding her from the blows that fell on every side like | ||
| + | rain.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | conflict. If he could drive his hatchet to Eudora’s brain he<span class=" | ||
| + | could seek safety in flight, and thus avoid his brother’s vengeance.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at arm’s length, for the Indians fought with tomahawks and | ||
| + | knives, which now and then were hurled at the brave defenders.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the extermination of the defenders was but a question of time, | ||
| + | in their eyes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and a dark object came whirling through the atmosphere, | ||
| + | and fell upon the breast of a stalwart Shawnee.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was a wolf!</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | cheek, as it whizzed past his head, to fall upon a brave, | ||
| + | in his rear.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | A glance proved Fairfax’s couch empty, and with her | ||
| + | wolfish guard yelling at her heels, for already they scented | ||
| + | Indian blood, she bounded toward the startling scene.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | form, and her wolves were sent into the midst of her enemies.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | claws, and, with an oath, he darted upon Alaska, whose eye | ||
| + | caught his action.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you baffle me!” and, as she sent the fourth wolf from her | ||
| + | hands, his hatchet went whizzing through the air.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wolf’s teeth sunk into his own throat, and he fell to the earth | ||
| + | insensible, with the mad animal drinking his blood.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | ended, when a loud whoop broke from the forest that crowned | ||
| + | the hills that bounded the village on the north, and down | ||
| + | among the lodges swarmed a large band of savages, with Tecumseh | ||
| + | at their head.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | among the combatants, and his voice was distinctly heard | ||
| + | above the din of conflict:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | “Back, warriors! Tecumseh speaks!” and his tomahawk | ||
| + | towered threateningly above his head.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | instantly obeyed; and he threw himself between the brave | ||
| + | little band and the battled red-skins.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he said, addressing the Indians. “A pale-face saved Tecumseh’s | ||
| + | life when a mad white squaw sought it, and Tecumseh | ||
| + | swore to free every white prisoner in the Shawnee village. | ||
| + | If the red-men want blood, let them take Tecumseh’s.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A loud shout greeted the conclusion of the chief’s speech, | ||
| + | and he turned to the hermit:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | is not forked.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | then he glided to the side of the Wolf-Queen.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | knelt over the mad one.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A convulsion passed over the woman’s frame, and her lids | ||
| + | unclosed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | her eyes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | her eyes fell upon him. “I shall know all now!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <h2 class=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | was no longer the “mad queen of the Shawnees.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | face, before her lips parted to utter his name:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He started, and bent nearer her face.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | even as a blow had hurled that peerless queen from her | ||
| + | throne.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | eyes fell upon her wolves, a shudder crept over her frame, | ||
| + | and she motioned for the animals to be removed from her | ||
| + | sight.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | continued. “He did not die& | ||
| + | man shot through the window of our cabin.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | murmured:</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | murderer!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | around, as though they were searching for a particular object.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At length they fell upon Mayne.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to me.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hands, and looking up at Hewitt. “Long I waited for your | ||
| + | return, William; but you came not. At last I resolved to go | ||
| + | to Richmond, where I thought you were detained. I took | ||
| + | our boy& | ||
| + | keep him till I should return. Then, all alone, I plunged | ||
| + | into the wilderness, but soon the Shawnees circled around me,<span class=" | ||
| + | and I was a prisoner. While they were conducting me to | ||
| + | the village I tried to escape, but a chief struck me with his | ||
| + | tomahawk, and then all was dark. Oh, William, how long | ||
| + | have I been in darkness? You are so old now, and our Edgar | ||
| + | a man!”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Shawnees, reft of reason,” whispered Hewitt.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A shudder crept to the woman’s heart.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | William, speak not to me of that time. I would forget it. | ||
| + | Let us leave this horrid place.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the hermit conduct her to his beaded lodge, while the chief | ||
| + | chivalrously occupied a meaner one near by.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and beyond earshot a band of warriors encircled the beaded | ||
| + | wigwam.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | struck at his heart; but the intervention of a white prisoner, | ||
| + | whom he liberated, saved his life.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the chief’s lodge, they returned to the bloody spot for the | ||
| + | purpose of attending to the wounded and the dead.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of Tecumseh’s band, one of his spies had borne his insensible | ||
| + | form to the river, where they entered a boat, and the | ||
| + | spy rowed away. After much suffering the renegade recovered, | ||
| + | and remained from the sight of his brother Simon | ||
| + | the remainder of his life.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | rose from a dark form on the earth. It grew into a death-song.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | was from spirit land! Now let Oonalooska die, for he has | ||
| + | seen the Lone Man find his long-lost squaw and pappoose. | ||
| + | Oonalooska is not afraid to die. Tecumseh can not torture | ||
| + | him now, ha! ha! ha!” and thus, stoically& | ||
| + | cheated his enemies, the soul of the bravest chief of the Shawnee | ||
| + | tribe stepped upon the “trail of death.”</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | farewell, and a band of trusty warriors escorted them to Chillicothe.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Fairfax no longer& | ||
| + | who had been a father and mother to him from childhood to | ||
| + | manly years.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A month after the happy reunion in the wood, Edgar wedded | ||
| + | the beautiful girl who had led him to a father and a | ||
| + | mother in the wilderness, and not far from Fairfax Manor | ||
| + | arose a stately mansion, where the quartette peacefully and | ||
| + | pleasantly passed the remaining days of life.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>To this day eleven miles south of Chillicothe on the Portsmouth | ||
| + | road is still to be seen the cave occupied by the hermit | ||
| + | for many years, and over it stands a monument, erected to his | ||
| + | memory by the people of Ross county, Ohio.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Prophet, are too well known to be rehearsed here. Often, in | ||
| + | disguise, the great chief visited the home of the Hewitts, whose | ||
| + | salt he ate with welcome; but suddenly his visits ceased& | ||
| + | lay dead before Colonel Johnson.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A few years subsequent to the incidents related in the foregoing | ||
| + | pages, Simon Girty met the doom he richly deserved. | ||
| + | In Proctor’s defeat he was literally ground to atoms by Johnson’s | ||
| + | mounted men. James, too, fell beneath the arm of | ||
| + | white avengers; while Giangomah, his tool, fell beside his | ||
| + | chief at the battle of the Thames.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | neutral Mingoes, where he died a natural death. It was upon | ||
| + | his ears, that Eudora’s shriek first fell, while he and the rescuing | ||
| + | party stood, horror-stricken, | ||
| + | its murdered guards.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of wicked men result in good, and the triumph of right, in a | ||
| + | startling drama of the forest, we lay aside the pen, hoping | ||
| + | soon to renew it for the record of other scenes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | <p class=" | ||
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| + | <p class=" | ||
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| + | <p class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of American Romance. Each issue a complete novel, with illuminated cover, | ||
| + | rivaling in effect the popular chromo,</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | <p class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | reading, ever presented to the popular reading public.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | this new series will quickly take the lead in public favor, and be regarded | ||
| + | as the Paragon Novels!</ | ||
| + | |||
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| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | post-paid, to any address: single numbers, ten cents; six months (13 Nos.) $1.25; one year (26 Nos.) $2.50.< | ||
| + | Address,</ | ||
| + | |||
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the_wolf_queen_or_the_giant_hermit_of_the_scioto.txt · Last modified: 2021/09/23 00:25 by briancarnell