 CHAPTER XX Now all is done that man can do, and all is done in vain. My love, my native land adieu, for I must cross the main, my dear, for I must cross the main. The last chapter we left the combatants breathing in their narrow lists, accustomed to the rude sports of wrestling and jumping, then so in America, more especially on the frontiers, hurry possessed an advantage in addition to his prodigious strength that had rendered the struggle less unequal that it might otherwise appear to be. This alone had enabled him to hold out so long against so many enemies, for the Indian is by no means remarkable for his skill or force in athletic exercises. As yet no one had been seriously hurt, though several of the savages had received severe falls, and he, in particular, who had been thrown bodily upon the platform, might be said to be temporarily or to combat. Some of the rest were limping, and March himself had not entirely escaped from bruises, though want of breath was the principal loss that both sides wished to repair. Under circumstances like those in which the parties were placed, a truce let it come from what cause it might could not well be of long continuance. The arena was too confined, and the distrust of treachery too great to admit of this. Contrary to what might be expected in his situation, hurry was the first to recommend hostilities. Whether this proceeded from policy, an idea that he might gain some advantage by making a sudden and unexpected assault, or was the fruit of irritation and his undying hatred of an Indian, it is impossible to say. His onset was furious, however, and at first it carried all before it. He seized the nearest Huron by the waist, raised him entirely from the platform, and hurled him into the water as if he had been a child. In half a minute two more were at his side, one of whom received a grave injury by the friend who had just preceded him. But four enemies remained, and in a hand-to-hand conflict, in which no arms were used but those which nature had furnished, hurry believed himself fully able to cope with that number of redskins. Hurrah, old Tom! He shouted. The rascals are taking to the lake, and I'll soon have them all swimming. As these words were uttered, a violent kick in the face sent back the injured Indian, who had caught at the edge of the platform and was endeavoring to raise himself to its level, helplessly and hopelessly into the water. When the affray was over, his dark body was seen through the limpid element of the glimmer-glass, lying without stretched arms, extended on the bottom of the shoal on which the castle stood, clinging to the sands and weeds as if life were to be retained by this frenzied grasp of death. A blow sent into the pit of another stomach doubled him up like a worm that had been trodden on, and but two able-bodied foes remained to be dealt with. Of these, however, was not only the largest and strongest of the Hurrahs, but he was also the most experienced of their warriors present, and that one whose sinus were the best strung in fights and by marches on the warpath. This man fully appreciated the gigantic strength of his opponent and had carefully husbanded his own. He was also equipped in the best manner for such a conflict, standing in nothing but his breechcloth, the model of a naked and beautiful statue of agility and strength. To grasp him required additional dexterity and unusual force. Still hurry did not hesitate, but the kick that had actually destroyed one fellow creature was no sooner given than he closed him with this formidable antagonist, endeavoring to force him into the water also. The struggle that succeeded was truly frightful. So fierce did it immediately become, and so quick and changeful were the evolutions of the athletes, that the remaining savage had no chance for interfering had he possessed the desire, but wonder and apprehension held him spellbound. He was an inexperienced youth and his blood curdled as he witnessed the fell strife of human passions exhibited, too, in an unaccustomed form. Hurry first attempted to throw his antagonist. With this view he seized him by the throat and an arm, and tripped with the quickness and force of an American borderer. The effect was frustrated by the agile movements of the Huron, who had closed to grasp by, and whose feet avoided the attempt with a nimbleness equal to that with which it was made. Then followed a sort of melee, if such a term can be applied to a struggle between two in which no efforts were strictly visible, the limbs and bodies of the combatants, assuming so many attitudes and contortions as to defeat observation. This confused but fierce rally lasted less than a minute, however. When hurry, furious at having his strength baffled by the agility and nakedness of his foe, made a desperate effort, which sent the Huron from him, hurling his body violently against the logs of the hut. The concussion was so great as momentarily to confuse the latter's faculties. The pain, too, extorted a deep groan, an unusual concession to agony to escape a red man in the heat of battle. Still he rushed forward again to meet his enemy, conscious that his safety rested on its resolution. Hurry now seized the other by the waist, raised him bodily from the platform, and fell with his own great weight on the form beneath. This additional shock so stunned the sufferer that his gigantic white opponent now had him completely at his mercy. Passing his hands around the throat of his victim, he compressed them with the strength of a vice, fairly doubling the head of the Huron over the edge of the platform, until the chin was uppermost with the infernal strength he expended. An instant suffice to show the consequences. The eyes of the sufferer seemed to start forward, his tongue protruded, and his nostrils dilated nearly to splitting. At this instant a rope of bark, having an eye, was passed dexterously within the two arms of hurry. The end threaded the eye, forming a noose, and his elbows were drawn together behind his back with a power that all his gigantic strength could not resist. Reluctantly, even under such circumstances, did the exasperated borderer see his hands drawn from their deadly grasp, for all the evil passions were then in the ascendant. Almost at the same instant a similar fastening secured his ankles, and his body was rolled to the center of the platform as helplessly and as cavalierly as if it were a log of wood. His rescued antagonist, however, did not rise, for while he began again to breathe his head still hung helplessly over the edge of the logs, and it was thought at first that his neck was dislocated. He recovered gradually only, and it was hours before he could walk, some fancy that neither his body nor his mind ever totally recovered from this near approach to death. They owed his defeat and capture to the intensity with which he had concentrated all his powers on his fallen foe. While thus occupied the two Indians he had hurled into the water mounted to the heads of the piles, along which they passed, and joined their companion on the platform. The latter had so far rallied his faculties as to have gotten the ropes which were in readiness for use as the others appeared, and they were applied in the manner related, as hurrily pressing his enemy down with his whole weight, intent only on the horrible office of strangling him. Thus were the tables turned in a single moment, he who had been so near achieving a victory that would have been renowned for ages by means of traditions throughout all that region, lying helpless, bound and captive. So fearful had been the efforts of the pale face and so prodigious the strength he exhibited that even as he lay tethered like a sheep before them they regarded him with respect and not without dread. The helpless body of their stoutest warrior was still stretched on the platform, and as they cast their eyes towards the lake in quest of the comrade that had been hurled into it so unceremoniously, and of whom they had lost sight in the confusion of the fray they perceived his lifeless form clinging to the grass on the bottom as already described. These several circumstances contributed to render the victory of the Hurons almost as astounding to themselves as a defeat. Chingoch Kuk and his betrothed witnessed the whole of the struggle from the Ark, when the three Hurons were about to pass the cords around the arms of the prostrate hurry the Delaware sought his rifle, but before he could use it the white man was bound and the mischief was done. He might still bring down an enemy, but to obtain the scalp was impossible, and the young chief who would so freely risk his own life to obtain such a trophy hesitated about taking that of a foe without such an object in view. A glance at hisst, and the recollection of what might follow, checked any transient wish for revenge. The reader has been told that Chingoch Kuk could scarcely be said to know how to manage the oars of the Ark at all, however expert he might be in the use of the paddle. Perhaps there is no manual labor at which men are so bumbling and awkward as in their first attempts to pull oar. In the experienced mariner, or boatman, breaking down in his efforts to figure with the celebrated relic of the gondolier. In short it is temporarily an impracticable thing for a new beginner to succeed with a single oar, but in this case it was necessary to handle two at the same time, and those of great size. Sweeps, or large oars, however, are soon rendered of use by the raw hand than lighter implements, and this was the reason that the Delaware had succeeded in moving the Ark as well as he did in a first trial. That trial notwithstanding sufficed to produce distrust, and he was fully aware of the critical situation in which hisst and himself were now placed, should the Hurons take to the canoe that was still lying beneath the trap, and come against them. At the moment he thought of putting hisst into the canoe in his own possession, and of taking to the eastern mountain in the hope of reaching the Delaware villages by direct flight. But many considerations suggested themselves to put a stop to this indiscreet step. It was almost certain that scouts watched the lake on both sides, and no canoe could possibly approach shore without being seen from the hills. Then a trail could not be concealed from Indian eyes, and the strength of hisst was unequal to a flight sufficiently sustained to outstrip the pursuit of trained warriors. This was a part of America in which the Indians did not know the use of horses, and everything would depend on the physical energies of the fugitives. Last, but far from being least, were the thoughts connected with the situation of Deer Slayer, a friend who was not to be deserted in his extremity. Hisst in some particulars reasoned, and even felt differently though she arrived at the same conclusions. Her own anger disturbed her less than her concern for the two sisters, on whose behalf her womanly sympathies were now strongly enlisted. The canoe of the girls, by the time the struggle on the platform had ceased, was within three hundred yards of the castle, and here Judith ceased paddling. The evidences of strife first becoming apparent to the eyes. She and Hetty were standing erect, anxiously endeavoring to ascertain what had occurred, but unable to satisfy their doubts from the circumstance that the building, in a great measure, concealed the scene of action. The parties in the ark and in the canoe were indebted to the ferocity of hurry's attack for their momentary security. In any ordinary case the girls would have been immediately captured, a measure easy of execution, now the savages had a canoe. Were it not for the rude check the audacity of the Hurons had received in the recent struggle, it required some little time to recover from the effects of this violent scene. And this so much the more, because the principal man of the community, in the way of personal prowess at least, had been so great a sufferer. Still it was of the last importance that Judith and her sister should seek immediate refuge in the ark, where the defenses offered a temporary shelter at least, and the first step was to devise the means of inducing them to do so. Hist showed herself in the stern of the scow, and made many gestures and signs in vain, in order to induce the girls to make a circuit to avoid the castle, and to approach the ark from the eastward. But these signs were distrusted or misunderstood. It is probable Judith was not yet sufficiently aware of the real state of things, to put full confidence in either party. Instead of doing as desired, she rather kept more aloof, paddling slowly back to the north, or into the broadest part of the lake, where she could command the widest view, and had the fairest field for flight before her. At this instant the sun appeared above the pines of the eastern range of mountains, and a light, southerly breeze arose, as was usual enough at that season and hour. Chingichuk lost no time in hoisting the sail. Whenever might be in reserve for him there could be no question that it was every way desirable to get the ark at such a distance from the castle, as to reduce his enemies to the necessity of approaching the former in the canoe, which the chances of war had so inopportunely for his wishes and security thrown into their hands. The appearance of the opening duck seemed at first to arouse the Hurons from their apathy, and by the time the head of the scow had fallen off before the wind, which it did unfortunately in the wrong direction bringing it within a few yards of the platform, haste found it necessary to warn her lover of the importance of covering his person against the rifles of his foes. This was a danger to be avoided under all circumstances, and so much the more because the Delaware found that haste would not take to the cover herself so long as he remained exposed. Accordingly Chingichuk abandoned the scow to its own movements, forced hisst into the cabin, the doors of which he immediately secured, and then he looked about him for the rifles. The situation of the parties was now so singular as to merit a particular description. The ark was within sixty yards of the castle, a little to the southward, or to the windward of it, with its sail full and the steering ore abandoned. The latter fortunately was loose, so that it produced no great influence on the crab-like movements of the unwieldy craft. The sail being as sailors term it flying, or having no braces, the air forced the yard forward, though both sheets were fast. The effect was threefold on a boat with a bottom that was perfectly flat, in which drew merely some three or four inches water. It pressed the head slowly round to leeward. It forced the whole fabric bodily in the same direction at the same time, and the water that unavoidably gathered under the lee gave the scow also a forward movement. All these changes were exceedingly slow, however, for the wind was not only light, but it was baffling as usual, and twice or thrice the sail shook, once it was absolutely taken aback. Had there been any keel to the ark it would inevitably have run foul of the platform, bows on. When it is probable nothing could have prevented the Hurons from carrying it. More particularly as the sail would have enabled them to approach under cover. As it was the scow wore slowly round, barely clearing that part of the building. The piles projecting several feet they were not cleared, but the head of the slow-moving craft caught between two of them, by one of its square corners, and hung. At this moment the Delaware was vigilantly watching through a hoop for an opportunity to fire, while the Hurons kept within the building similarly occupied. The exhausted warrior reclined against the hut, there having been no time to remove him, and hurry lay, almost as helpless as a log, tethered like a sheep on its way to the slaughter, near the middle of the platform. Chingochuk could have slain the first, at any moment, but his scalp would have been safe, and the young chief disdained to strike a blow that could lead to neither honor nor advantage. Run out one of the poles, Sarpent, if Sarpent you be, said hurry, amid the groans that the tightness of the ligatures was beginning to extort from him. Run out one of the poles and shove the head of the scow off, and you'll drift clear of us, and, when you've done that good turn for yourself, just finish this gagging blaggard for me. The appeal of hurry, however, had no other effect than to draw the attention of his to his situation. This quick-witted creature comprehended at a glance. His ankles were bound with several turns of stout bark rope, and his arms above the elbows were similarly secured behind his back, barely leaving him a little play of the hands and wrists. Putting her mouth near a loop, she said in a low but distinct voice, Why you don't roll here, and fall in scow, Chingochuk, shoot hereon if he chase. By the Lord, Gal, that's a judgmentical thought, and it shall be tried. If the start of your scow will come a little nearer, put a bed at the bottom for me to fall on. This was said at a happy moment, for tired of waiting, all the Indians made a rapid discharge of their rifles, almost simultaneously injuring no one. Though several bullets passed through the loops. Hisst had heard part of hurry's words, but most of what he said was lost in the sharp reports of the firearms. She undid the bar of the door that led to the stern of the scow, but did not dare to expose her person. All this time the head of the ark hung, but by a gradually decreasing hold as the other end swung slowly round, nearer and nearer to the platform. Hurry, who now lay with his face towards the ark, occasionally writhing, and turning over like one in pain, evolutions he had performed ever since he was secured, watched every change, and at last he saw that the whole vessel was free, and was beginning to grate slowly along the sides of the piles. The attempt was desperate, but it seemed to be the only chance for escaping torture and death, and it suited the reckless daring of the man's character. Waiting to the last moment in order that the stern of the scow might fairly rub against the platform, he began to writhe again, as if in intolerable suffering, execrating all Indians in general and the Hurons in particular. And then he suddenly and rapidly rolled over and over taking the direction of the stern of the scow. Unfortunately, Hurry's shoulders required more space to revolve in than his feet, and by the time he reached the edge of the platform his direction had so far changed as to carry him clear of the ark altogether, and the rapidity of his revolutions and the emergency admitting of no delay he fell into the water. At this instant, Chingachgook, by an understanding with his betrothed, drew the fire of the Hurons again, not a man of whom saw the manner in which one whom they knew to be effectually tethered had disappeared. But Hist's feelings were strongly interested in the success of so bold a scheme, and she watched the movements of Hurry as the cat watches the mouse. The moment he was in motion she foresaw the consequences, and this the more readily as the scow was now beginning to move with some steadiness, and she bethought her of the means of saving him. With a sort of instinctive readiness she opened the door at the very moment the rifles were ringing in her ears and protected by the intervening cabin she stepped into the stern of the scow in time to witness the fall of Hurry into the lake. Her foot was unconsciously placed at the end of one of the sheets of the sail, which was fastened aft, and catching up all the spare rope with the awkwardness but also with the generous resolution of a woman, she threw it in the direction of the helpless Hurry. The line fell on the head and body of the sinking man, and he not only succeeded in grasping separate parts of it with his hands, but he actually got a portion of it between his teeth. Hurry was an expert swimmer, and tethered as he was he resorted to the very expedient that philosophy and reflection would have suggested. He had fallen on his back, and instead of floundering and drowning himself by desperate efforts to walk on the water he permitted his body to sink as low as possible, and was already submerged, with the exception of his face, when the line reached him. In this situation he might possibly have remained until rescued by the Hurons, using his hands as fishes used their fins, had he received no other sucker, but the movement of the ark soon tightened the rope, and of course he was dragged gently ahead, holding even pace with the scow. The motion aided in keeping his face above the surface of the water, and it would have been possible, for one accustomed to endurance, to have been towed a mile in this singular but simple manner. It has been said that the Hurons did not observe the sudden disappearance of hurry. In his present situation he was not only hid from view by the platform, but as the ark drew slowly ahead, impelled by a sail that was now filled, he received the same friendly service from the piles. The Hurons, indeed, were too intent on endeavoring to slay their Delaware foe, by sending a bullet through some one of the loops or crevices of the cabin, to bethink them at all of whom they fancied so thoroughly tied. Their great concern was the manner in which the ark rubbed past the piles, although its motion was lessened at least one half by the friction, and they passed into the northern end of the castle in order to catch opportunities of firing through the loops of that part of the building. Chingichuk was similarly occupied, and remained as ignorant as his enemies of the situation of hurry, as the ark raided along the rifles sent their little clouds of smoke from one cover to the other, but the eyes and movements of the opposing parties were too quick to permit any injury to be done. At length one side had the mortification and the other the pleasure of seeing the skull swing clear of the piles altogether, when it immediately moved away with a materially accelerated motion towards the north. Chingichuk now first learned from HIST the critical condition of hurry. To have exposed either of their persons in the stern of the skull would have been certain death, but fortunately the sheet to which the man-clung led forward to the foot of the sail. The Delaware found means to unloosen it from the cleat aft, and HIST, who was already forward for that purpose, immediately began to pull upon the line. At this moment hurry was towing fifty or sixty feet a stern with nothing but his face above water. As he was dragged out clear of the castle and the piles, he was first perceived by the Hurons, who raised a hideous yell and commenced a fire on what may very well be termed the floating mass. It was at the same instant that HIST began to pull upon the line forward, a circumstance that probably saved hurry's life, aided by his own self-possession and border readiness. The first bullet struck the water directly on the spot where the broad chest of the young giant was visible through the pure element, and might have pierced his heart had the angle at which it was fired been less acute. Instead of penetrating the lake, however, it glanced from its smooth surface, rose, and buried itself in the logs of the cabin near the spot at which Chingoch Cook had shown himself the minute before, while clearing the line from the cleat. A second and a third and a fourth bullet followed, all meeting with the same resistance of the water, though hurry sensibly felt the violence of the blows they struck upon the lake so immediately above and so near his breast. Discovering their mistake the Hurons now changed their plan, and aimed at the uncovered face, but by this time HIST was pulling on the line, the target advanced, and the deadly missile still fell upon the water. In another moment the body was dragged past the end of the scow and became concealed. As for the Delaware and HIST, they worked perfectly covered by the cabin, and in less time than it requires to tell it they had hauled the huge frame of hairy to the place they occupied. Chingoch Cook stood in readiness with his keen knife, and bending over the side of the scow he soon severed the bark that bound the limbs of the borderer. To raise him high enough to reach the edge of the boat and to aid him in entering were less easy as Hurri's arms were still nearly useless, but both were done in time, when the liberated man staggered forward and fell exhausted and helpless into the bottom of the scow. Here we shall leave him to recover his strength and the due circulation of his blood while we proceed with the narrative of events that crowd upon us too fast to admit of any postponement. The moment the Hurons lost sight of the body of Hurri they gave a common yell of disappointment, and three of the most active of their number ran to the trap and entered the canoe. It required some little delay, however, to embark with their weapons, to find the paddles, and, if we may use a phrase so purely technical, to get out of dock. By this time Hurri was in the scow, and the Delaware had his rifles again in readiness. As the ark necessarily sailed before the wind, it had got by this time quite two hundred yards from the castle, and was sliding away each instant farther and farther, though with the motion so easy as scarcely to stir the water. The canoe of the girls was quite a quarter of a mile distant from the ark, obviously keeping aloof, in ignorance of what had occurred, and in apprehension of the consequences of venturing too near. They had taken the direction of the eastern shore, endeavoring at the same time to get to windward of the ark, and in a manner between the two parties, as if distrusting which was to be considered a friend, and which an enemy. The girls from long habit used the paddles with great dexterity, and Judith in particular had often sportively gained races in trials of speed with the youths that occasionally visited the lake. When the three Hurons emerged from behind the Palisades, and found themselves on the open lake and under the necessity of advancing unprotected on the ark, if they persevered in the original design their ardor sensibly cooled. In a bark canoe they were totally without cover, and Indian discretion was entirely opposed to such a sacrifice of life as would most probably follow any attempt to assault an enemy entrenched as effectually as the Delaware. Instead of following the ark, therefore, these three warriors inclined towards the eastern shore, keeping at a safe distance from the rifles of Chingichuk, but this maneuver rendered the position of the girls exceedingly critical. It threatened what they conceived to be dangers, and instead of permitting the Hurons to enclose her in what she fancied a sort of net, Judith immediately commenced her retreat in a southern direction at no very great distance from the shore. She did not dare to land. If such an expedient were to be resorted to at all, she would only venture on it in the last extremity. At first the Indians paid little or no attention to the other canoe. For fully apprised of its contents, they deemed its capture of comparatively little moment, while the ark with its imaginary treasures, the persons of the Delaware's and of Hury, and its means of movement on a large scale, was before them. But this ark had its dangers as well as its temptations, and after wasting near an hour in vacillating evolutions always at a safe distance from the rifle, the Hurons seemed suddenly to take their resolution, and began to display it by giving eager chase to the girls. When this last design was adopted, the circumstances of all parties, as connected with their relative positions, were materially changed. The ark had sailed and drifted quite half a mile, and was nearly that distance due north of the castle. As soon as the Delaware perceived that the girls avoided him, unable to manage his unwieldy craft, and knowing that flight from a bark canoe in the event of pursuit would be a useless expedient if attempted, he had lowered his sail in the hope that it might induce the sisters to change their plan and to seek refuge in the scow. This demonstration produced no other effect than to keep the ark nearer to the scene of action, and to enable those in her to become witnesses of the chase. The canoe of Judith was about a quarter of a mile south of that of the Hurons, a little nearer to the east shore, and about the same distance to the southward of the castle as it was from the hostile canoe. A circumstance which necessarily put the last nearly abreast of Hodger's Fortress. With the several parties thus situated, the chase commenced. At the moment when the Hurons so suddenly changed their mode of attack, their canoe was not in the best possible racing trim. There were but two paddles, and the third man so much extra and useless cargo. Then the difference in weight between the sisters and the other two men, more especially in vessels so extremely light, neutralized any difference that might proceed from the greater strength of the Hurons, and rendered the trail of speed far from being as unequal as it might seem. Judith did not commence her exertions until the near approach of the other canoe rendered the object of the movement certain, and then she exhorted, heady, to aid her with her utmost skill and strength. Why should we run, Judith? asked the simple-minded girl. The Hurons have never harmed me, nor do I think they ever will. That may be true as to you, heady, but it will prove very different with me. Kneel down and say your prayer, and then rise and do your utmost to help escape. Think of me, dear girl, too, as you pray. Judith gave these directions from a mixed feeling, first because she knew that her sister ever sought the support of her great ally in trouble, and the next because a sensation of feebleness and dependence suddenly came over her own proud spirit, in that moment of apparent desertion and trial. The prayer was quickly said, however, and the canoe was soon in rapid motion. Still neither party resorted to their greatest exertions from the outset, both knowing that the chase was likely to be arduous and long. Like two vessels of war that are preparing for an encounter, they seemed desirous of first ascertaining their respective rates of speed in order that they might know how to graduate their exertions previously to the great effort. A few minutes suffice to show the Hurons that the girls were expert and that it would require all their skill and energies to overtake them. Judith had inclined towards the eastern shore at the commencement of the chase with a vague determination of landing and flying to the woods as a last resort, but as she approached the land, the certainty that Scouts must be watching her movements made her reluctance to adopt such an expedient, unconquerable. Then she was still fresh, and had sanguine hopes of being able to tire out her pursuers. With such feelings she gave a sweep of her paddle and sheared off from the fringe of dark hemlocks beneath the shades of which she was so near entering, and held her way again more towards the center of the lake. This seemed the instant favorable for the Hurons to make their push, as it gave them the entire breadth of their sheet to do it in. This too in the widest part as soon as they had got between the fugitives and the land. The canoes now flew, Judith making up for what she wanted in strength by her great dexterity and self-command. For half a mile the Indians gained no material advantage, but the continuance of so great exertions for so many minutes sensibly affected all concerned, here the Indians resorted to an expedient that enabled them to give one of their party time to breathe by shifting their paddles from hand to hand, and this too without sensibly relaxing their efforts. Judith occasionally looked behind her and she saw this expedient practiced. It caused her immediately to distrust the result, since her powers of endurance were not likely to hold out against those of men who had the means of relieving each other. Thus she persevered, allowing no very visible consequences immediately to follow the change. As yet the Indians had not been able to get nearer to the girls than two hundred yards, though they were what semen would term in their wake, or in a direct line behind them, passing over the same track of water. This made the pursuit that is technically called a stern chase, which is proverbially a long chase, the meaning of which is that, in consequence of the relative positions of the parties, no change becomes apparent except that which is a direct gain in the nearest possible approach. Long as this species of chases admitted to be, however, Judith was unable to perceive that the Hurons were sensibly drawing nearer and nearer before she had gained the center of the lake. She was not a girl to despair, but there was an instant when she thought of yielding, with the wish of being carried to the camp where she knew the deer slayer to be a captive. But the considerations connected with the means she hoped to be able to employ in order to procure his release immediately interposed, in order to stimulate her to renewed exertions. Had there been anyone there to note the progress of the two canoes, he would have seen that of Judith flying swiftly away from its pursuers, as the girl gave it freshly impelled speed, while her mind was thus dwelling on her own ardent and generous schemes. So material indeed was the difference in the rate of going between the two canoes, for the next five minutes, that the Hurons began to be convinced all their powers must be exerted or they would suffer the disgrace of being baffled by women. Making a furious effort under the mortifications of such a conviction, one of the strongest of their party broke his paddle at the very moment when he had taken it from the hand of a comrade to relieve him. This at once decided the matter, a canoe maintaining three men and having lost one paddle, being utterly unable to overtake fugitives like the daughters of Thomas Hutter. There, Judith exclaimed Hattie, who saw the accident, I hope now you will own that praying is useful. The Hurons have broke a paddle and they never can overtake us. I never denied it, poor Hattie, and sometimes wish in bitterness of spirit that I had prayed more myself and thought less of my beauty. As you say, we are now safe and need only go a little south and take breath. This was done. The enemy giving up the pursuit as suddenly as a ship that has lost an important spar. The instant the accident occurred. Instead of following Judith's canoe, which was now lightly skimming over the water towards the south, the Hurons turned their bows towards the castle, where they soon arrived and landed. The girls, fearful that some spare paddles might be found in or about the buildings, continued on, nor did they stop until so distant from their enemies as to give them every chance of escape, should the chase be renewed. It would seem that the savages meditated no such design. But at the end of an hour, their canoe, filled with men, was seen quitting the castle and steering towards the shore. The girls were without food, and they now drew nearer to the buildings and the ark, having finally made up their minds from its maneuvers that the latter contained friends. Notwithstanding the seeming desertion of the castle, Judith approached it with extreme caution. The ark was now quite a mile to the northward, but sweeping up towards the buildings, and this too with a regularity of motion that satisfied Judith a white man was at the oars. When within a hundred yards of the building, the girls began to encircle it, in order to make sure that it was empty. No canoe was nigh, and this emboldened them to draw nearer and nearer until they had gone round the piles and reached the platform. Do you go into the house, Hattie, said Judith, and see that the savages are gone. They will not harm you, and if any of them are still here you can give me the alarm. I do not think they will fire on a poor defenseless girl, and I at least may escape until I shall be ready to go among them of my own accord. Hattie did as desired, Judith retiring a few yards from the platform the instant her sister landed, in readiness for flight. But the last was unnecessary, not a minute elapsing before Hattie returned to communicate that all was safe. I've been in all the rooms, Judith, said the latter earnestly, and they are empty except fathers. He is in his own chamber, sleeping, though not as quietly as we could wish. As anything happened to father demanded Judith as her foot touched the platform, speaking quickly, for her nerves were in a state to be easily alarmed. Hattie seemed concerned, and she looked furtively about her as if unwilling any one but a child should hear what she had to communicate, and even that she should learn it abruptly. You know how it is with father sometimes, Judith, she said, when overtaken with liquor he doesn't always know what he says or does, and he seems to be overtaken with liquor now. That is strange. Would the savages have drunk with him and then leave him behind? But is a grievous sight to a child, Hattie, to witness such a failing and apparent, and we will not go near him till he wakes. Grown from the inner room, however, changed this resolution, and the girls ventured near a parent whom it was no unusual thing for them to find in a condition that lowers a man to the level of brutes. He was seated, reclining in a corner of the narrow room with his shoulders supported by the angle, and his head fallen heavily on his chest. Judith moved forward with a sudden impulse, and removed a canvas cap that was forced so low on his head as to conceal his face and, indeed, all but his shoulders. The instant this obstacle was taken away, the quivering and raw flesh, the bared veins and muscles, and all the other disgusting signs of mortality as they are revealed by tearing away this skin, showed he had been scalped, though still living. CHAPTER XXI Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, and or his cold ashes up-brayed him, but nothing he'll wreck if they'll let him sleep on in the grave where Britain has laid him. CHARLES WOLF THE BARRIAL OF SIR JOHN MORR VI The reader must imagine the horror that daughters would experience at unexpectedly beholding the shocking spectacle that was placed before the eyes of Judith and Esther, as related in the close of the last chapter. We shall pass over the first emotions, the first acts of filial piety, and proceed with the narrative by imagining rather than relating most of the revolting features of the scene. The mutilated and ragged head was bound up, the unseemly blood was wiped from the face of the sufferer, the other appliances required by appearances and care were resorted to, and there was time to inquire into the more serious circumstances of the case. The facts were never known until years later in all their details, simple as they were, but they may as well be related here, as it can be done in a few words. In the struggle with the Hurons, Hatter had been stabbed by the knife of the old warrior who had used the discretion to remove the arms of every one but himself. Being hard-pushed by his sturdy foe, his knife had settled the matter. This occurred just as the door was opened and hurry burst out upon the platform, as has been previously related. This was the secret of neither parties having appeared in the subsequent struggle. Hatter having been literally disabled, and his conqueror being ashamed to be seen with the traces of blood about him, after having used so many injunctions to convince his young warriors of the necessity of taking their prisoners alive. When the three Hurons returned from the chase and it was determined to abandon the castle and join the party on the land, Hatter was simply scalped to secure the usual trophy and was left to die by inches as has been done in a thousand similar instances by the ruthless warriors of this part of the American continent. Had the injury of Hatter been confined to his head, he might have recovered, however, for it was the blow of the knife that proved mortal. There are moments of vivid consciousness when the stern justice of God stands forth in color so prominent as to defy any attempts to veil them from the sight, however unpleasant they may appear, or however anxious we may be to avoid recognizing it. Such was now the fact with Judith and Hetty, who both perceived the decrees of a retributive providence, in the manner of their father's suffering, as a punishment for his own recent attempts on the Iroquois. This was seen and felt by Judith with the keenness of perception and sensibility that were suited to her character, while the impression made on the simpler mind of her sister was perhaps less lively, though it might well have proved more lasting. O Judith, exclaimed the weak-minded girl as soon as their first care had been bestowed on the sufferer, father went for scalps himself, and now where is his own? The Bible might have foretold this dreadful punishment. Hush, Hetty, hush, poor sister! He opens his eyes. He may hear and understand you. Tis as you say and think, but tis too dreadful to speak. Water! ejaculated Hutter, as it might be by a desperate effort that rendered his voice frightfully deep and strong for one as near death as he evidently was. Water! Foolish girls, will you let me die of thirst? Water was brought and administered to the sufferer. The first he had tasted in hours of physical anguish. It had the double effect of clearing his throat and of momentarily reviving his sinking-system. His eyes opened with that anxious, distended glare which has apt to accompany the passage of a soul surprised by death, and he seemed disposed to speak. Father, said Judith, inexpressibly pained by his deplorable situation, and this so much the more from her ignorance of what remedies ought to be applied. Father, can we do anything for you? Can Hetty and I relieve your pain? Father, slowly repeated the old man. No, Judith, no, Hetty. I'm no father. She was your mother, but I'm no father. Look in the chest. Tis all there. Give me more water. The girls complied, and Judith, whose early recollections extended farther back than her sisters, and who on every account had more distinct impressions of the past, felt an uncontrollable impulse of joy as she heard these words. There had never been much sympathy between her reputed father and herself, and suspicions of this very truth had often glanced across her mind. In consequence of dialogues she had overheard between Hutter and her mother. It might be going too far to say she had never loved him, but it is not so to add that she rejoiced it was no longer a duty. With Hetty the feeling was different. Incapable of making all the distinctions of her sister, her very nature was full of affection, and she had loved her reputed parent, though far less tenderly than the real parent, and it grieved her now to hear him declare he was not naturally entitled to that love. She felt a double grief, as if his death and his words together were twice depriving her of parents. According to her feelings the poor girl went aside and wept. The very opposite emotions of the two girls kept both silent for a long time. Judith gave water to the sufferer frequently, but she forebored to urge him with questions in some measure out of consideration for his condition, but if truth must be said quite as much lest something he should add in the way of explanation might disturb her pleasing belief that she was not Thomas Hutter's child. At length Hetty dried her tears, and came and seated herself on a stool by the side of the dying man, who had been placed at his length on the floor with his head supported by some coarse vestiments that had been left in the house. Father, she said, you will let me call you, Father, though you say you are not one, Father, shall I read the Bible to you? Mother always said the Bible was good for people in trouble. She was often in trouble herself, and then she made me read the Bible to her, for Judith wasn't as fond of the Bible as I am. And it always did her good. Many is the time I've known Mother to begin to listen with the tears streaming from her eyes, and end with smiles and gladness. Oh, Father, you don't know how much good the Bible can do, for you've never tried it. Now I'll read a chapter and it will soften your heart as it softened the hearts of the Hurons. While poor Hetty had so much reverence for and faith in the virtues of the Bible, her intellect was too shallow to enable her fully to appreciate its beauties, or to fathom its profound and sometimes mysterious wisdom. That instinctive sense of right which appeared to shield her from the commission of wrong, and even cast a mantle of moral loveliness and truth around her character, could not penetrate obstrucities, or trace the nice affinities between cause and effect. Beyond their more obvious and indisputable connection, though she seldom failed to see all the latter, and to defer to all their just consequences, in a word she was one of those who feel and act correctly without being able to give a logical reason for it, even admitting revelation as her authority. Her selections from the Bible, therefore, were commonly distinguished by the simplicity of her own mind, and were often remarked for containing images of known and palpable things than for any of the higher cast of moral truths, with which the pages of that wonderful book abound, wonderful and unequaled, even without referring to its divine origin, as a work replete with the profoundest philosophy expressed in the noblest language. Her mother, with a connection that will probably strike the reader, had been fond of the Book of Job, and Hetty had, in a great measure, learned to read by the frequent lessons she had received from the different chapters of this venerable and sublime poem, now believed to be the oldest book in the world. On this occasion the poor girl was submissive to her training, and she turned to that well-known part of the sacred volume, with the readiness with which the practised counsel would cite his authorities from the stores of legal wisdom. In selecting the particular chapter she was influenced by the caption, and she chose that which stands in our English version as Job excuseth his desire of death. This she read steadily, from beginning to end, in a sweet, low, and plaintive voice, hoping devoutly that the allegorical and abstruse sentences might convey to the heart of the sufferer the consolation he needed. It is another peculiarity of the comprehensive wisdom of the Bible that scares a chapter, unless it be strictly narration can be turned to, that does not contain some searching truth that is applicable to the condition of every human heart, as well as to the temporal state of its owner, either through the workings of that heart or even in a still more direct form. In this instance the very opening sentence, Is there not an appointed time to man on earth, was startling, and as had he proceeded, hudder applied, or fancied he could apply many aphorisms and figures to his own worldly and mental condition. As life is ebbing fast the mind clings eagerly to hope when it is not absolutely crushed by despair. The solemn words, I have sinned. What shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself, struck hotter more perceptively than the others? Though too obscure for one of his blunted feelings and obtuse mind, either to feel or to comprehend in their fullest extent, they had a directness of application to his own state that caused him to wince under them. Don't you feel better now, Father? asked Hetty, closing the volume. Mother was always better when she had read the Bible. Water! returned hudder. Give me water, Judith! I wonder if my tongue will always be so hot. Hetty! Isn't there something in the Bible about cooling the tongue of a man who was burning in hellfire? Judith turned away shocked, but Hetty eagerly sought the passage which she read aloud to the conscious, stricken victim of his own avaricious longings. That's it, poor Hetty! Yes, that's it. My tongue wants cooling. Now! What will it be hereafter? This appeal silenced even the confiding Hetty, for she had no answer ready for a confession so fraught with despair. Water! So long as it could relieve the sufferer, it was in the power of the sisters to give, and from time to time it was offered to the lips of the sufferer, as he asked for it. Even Judith prayed. As for Hetty, as soon as she found that her efforts to make her father listen to her texts were no longer rewarded with success, she knelt at his side and devoutly repeated the words which the Saviour has left behind him as a model for human petitions. This she continued to do at intervals as long as it seemed to her that the act could benefit the dying man. Hutter, however, lingered longer than the girls had believed possible when they first found him. At times he spoke intelligibly, though his lips often are moved in utterance of sounds that carried no distinct impressions to the mind. Judith listened intently, and she heard the words husband, death, pirate, law, scalps, and several others of similar import, though there was no sentence to tell the precise connection in which they were used. Still they were sufficiently expressive to be understood by one whose ears had not escaped all the rumours that had been circulated to her reputed father's discredit, and whose comprehension was as quick as her faculties were attentive. During the whole of the painful hour that succeeded, neither of the sisters be thought her sufficiently of the Hurons to dread their return. It seemed as if their desolation and grief placed them above the danger of such an interruption, and when the sound of oars was at length heard, even Judith, who alone had any reason to apprehend the enemy, did not start, but at once understood that the Ark was near. She went upon the platform fearlessly, for should it turn out that Hury was not there, and that the Hurons were masters of the Scow also, escape was impossible. Then she had the sort of confidence that is inspired by extreme misery. But there was no cause for any new alarm, Chingichuk, Hist, and Hury, all standing in the open part of the Scow, cautiously examining the building to make certain of the absence of the enemy. They too had seen the departure of the Hurons, as well as the approach of the canoe of the girls to the castle, and presuming on the latter fact March had swept the Scow up to the platform. A word sufficed to explain that there was nothing to be apprehended, and the Ark was soon moored in her old birth. Judith said not a word concerning the condition of her father, but Hury knew her too well not to understand that something was more than usually wrong. He led the way, though with less of his confident bold manner than usual, into the house, and penetrating to the inner room found Hutter lying on his back with Hetty sitting at his side, fanning him with pious care. The events of the morning had sensibly changed the manner of Hury, notwithstanding his skill as a swimmer, and the readiness with which he had adopted the only expedient that could possibly save him. The helplessness of being in the water, bound hand and foot, had produced some such effect on him, as the near approach of punishment is known to produce on most criminals, leaving a vivid impression of the horrors of death upon his mind, and this too in connection with a picture of bodily helplessness. The daring of this man being far more the offspring of vast physical powers than of the energy of the will, or even of natural spirit, such heroes invariably lose a large portion of their courage with the failure of their strength, and though Hury was now unfettered and as vigorous as ever, events were too recent to permit the recollection of his late deplorable condition to be at all weakened. Hetty lived a century, the occurrences of the few momentous minutes during which he was in the lake would have produced a chastening effect on his character, if not always on his manner. Hury was not only shocked when he found his late associate in this desperate situation, but he was greatly surprised. During the struggle in the building, he had been far too much occupied himself to learn what had befallen his comrade. And as no deadly weapon had been used in his particular case, but every effort had been made to capture him without injury, he naturally believed that Hutter had been overcome, while he owed his own escape to his great bodily strength and to a fortunate concurrence of extraordinary circumstances. Death, in the silence and solemnity of a chamber, was a novelty to him. Though accustomed to scenes of violence, he had been unused to sit by the bedside and watch the slow beating of the pulse as it gradually grew weaker and weaker. Notwithstanding the change in his feelings, the manners of a life could not be altogether cast aside in a moment, and the unexpected scene extorted a characteristic speech from the borderer. "'How now, old Tom?' he said. Had the vagabonds got you at an advantage, where you're not only down, but are likely to be kept down? I thought you a captive, it's true, but never supposed you so hard-run as this.' Hutter opened his glassy eyes, and stared wildly at the speaker. A flood of confused recollections rushed on his wavering mind at the sight of his late comrade. It was evident that he struggled with his own images, and knew not the real from the unreal. "'Who are you?' he asked in a husky whisper, his failing strength refusing to aid him in a louder effort of his voice. "'Who are you? You look like the mate of the snow. He was a giant too, and near overcoming us.' "'I'm your mate, floating Tom, and your comrade, but have nothing to do with any snow. It's summer now, and Harry March always quits the hills as soon after the frost's set in, as is convenient. "'I know you. Hurry, scurry. I'll sell you a scalp, a sound one. And if a full-grown man, what'll you give?' "'Poor Tom. That scalp business hasn't turned out at all profitable, and I've pretty much concluded to give it up, and to follow a less bloody calling.' "'Have you got any scalp? Mine's gone. How does it feel to have a scalp?' "'I know how it feels to lose one, fire and flames about the brain, and a wrenching at the heart. No. No. Kill first, Harry, and scalp afterwards.'" What does the old fellow mean, Judith? He talks like one that is getting tired of the business as well as myself. Why have you bound up his head, or have the savages tomahawked him about the brains? They have done that for him which you and he, Harry March, would have so gladly done for them. His skin and hair have been torn from his head to gain money from the Governor of Canada, as you would have torn theirs from the heads of the Hurons to gain money from the Governor of York. Judith spoke with a strong effort to appear composed, but it was neither in her nature nor in the feeling of the moment to speak altogether without bitterness. The strength of her emphasis, indeed, as well as her manner, caused Hetty to look up reproachfully. "'These are high words to come from Thomas Hutter's daughter, as Thomas Hutter lies dying before her eyes,' retorted Harry. "'God be praised for that. Whatever reproach it may bring on my poor mother, I am not Thomas Hutter's daughter.'" "'Not Thomas Hutter's daughter? Don't disown the old fellow in his last moments, Judith, for that's a sin the Lord will never overlook. If you're not Thomas Hutter's daughter, who's daughter be you?' This question rebuked the rebellious spirit of Judith, for in getting rid of a parent whom she felt it was a relief to find she might own she had never loved. She overlooked the important circumstance that no substitute was ready to supply his place. "'I cannot tell you, Harry, who my father was,' she answered more mildly. I hope he was an honest man, at least.' "'Which is more than you think was the case with old Hutter?' "'Well, Judith, I'll not deny that hard stories were in circulation concerning floating Tom. But who is there that doesn't get a scratch when an enemy holds the rake? There's them that say hard things of me, and even you, beauty as you be, don't always escape.'" This was said with a view to set up a species of community of character between the parties, and as the politicians are want to express it with ulterior intentions. What might have been the consequences with one of Judith's known spirit, as well as her assured antipathy to the speaker, it is not easy to say. For just then Hutter gave unequivocal signs that his last moment was nigh. Judith and Hetty had stood by the dying bed of their mother, and neither needed a monitor to warn them of the crisis, and every sign of resentment vanished from the face of the first. Hutter opened his eyes and even tried to feel about him with his hands, a sign that sight was failing. A minute later his breathing grew ghastly, a pause totally without respiration followed, and then succeeded the last, long-drawn sigh, on which the spirit is supposed to quit the body. This sudden termination of the life of one who had hitherto filled so important a place in the narrow scene on which he had been an actor put an end to all discussion. The day passed by without further interruption. The Hurons, though possessed of a canoe appearing so far satisfied with their success, as to have relinquished all immediate designs on the castle. It would not have been a safe undertaking, indeed, to approach it under the rifles of those it was now known to contain, and it is probable that the truce was more owing to this circumstance than any other. In the meanwhile the preparations were made for the interment of Hutter. To bury him on the land was impracticable, and it was Hetti's wish that his body should lie by the side of that of her mother, in the lake. She had it in her power to quote one of his speeches in which he himself had called the lake the family-burying ground, and luckily this was done without the knowledge of her sister, who would have opposed the plan had she known it with unconquerable disgust. But Judith had not meddled with the arrangement, and every necessary disposition was made without her privity or advice. The hour chosen for the rude ceremony was just as the sun was setting, and a moment and a scene more suited to paying the last offices to one of calm and pure spirit could not have been chosen. There are a mystery and a solemn dignity and death that disposed the living to regard the remains of even a malefactor with a certain degree of reverence. All the worldly distinctions have ceased. It is thought that the veil has been removed, and that the character and destiny of the departed are now as much beyond human opinions as they are beyond human can. In nothing is death more truly a leveler than in this, since while it may be impossible absolutely to confound the great with the low, the worthy with the unworthy, the mind feels it to be arrogant to assume a right to judge of those who are believed to be standing at the judgment seat of God. When Judith was told that all was ready she went upon the platform passive to the request of her sister, and then she first took heed of the arrangement. The body was in the scow and velled up in a sheet and quite a hundred weight of stones that had been taken from the fireplace were enclosed with it, in order that it might sink. No other preparation seemed to be thought necessary, though Hetty carried her Bible beneath her arm. When all were on board the ark the singular habitation of the man whose body it now bore to its final abode was set in motion. Hurry was at the oars. In his powerful hands indeed they seemed little more than a pair of skulls, which were wielded without effort, and as he was expert in their use the Delaware remained a passive spectator of the proceedings. The progress of the ark had something of the stately solemnity of a funeral procession, the dip of the oars being measured, and the movement slow and steady, the wash of the water as the blades rose and fell kept time with the efforts of hurry, and might have been likened to the measured tread of mourners. Then the tranquil scene was in beautiful accordance with a right that ever associates with itself the idea of God. At that instant the lake had not even a single ripple on its glassy surface, and the broad panorama of woods seemed to look down on the holy tranquillity of the hour and ceremony in melancholy stillness. Judith was affected to tears and even hurry, though he hardly knew why, was troubled. Hetty observed the outward signs of tranquillity, but her inward grief greatly surpassed that of her sister, since her affectionate heart loved more from habit and long association than from the usual connections of sentiment and taste. She was sustained by religious hope, however, which in her simple mind usually occupied the space that worldly feelings filled in that of Judith, and she was not without an expectation of witnessing some open manifestation of divine power on an occasion so solemn. Still she was neither mystical nor exaggerated, her mental imbecility denying both. Nevertheless her thoughts had generally so much of the purity of a better world about them that it was easy for her to forget earth altogether and to think only of heaven. Hist was serious, attentive, and interested, for she had often seen the interments of the palefaces, though never one that promised to be as peculiar as this, while the Delaware, though grave and also observant, in his demeanor was stoical and calm. Yet he acted as pilot, directing hurry how to proceed, to find that spot in the lake which she was in the habit of terming mother's grave. The reader will remember that the castle stood near the southern extremity of a shoal that extended near half a mile northerly, and it was at the farthest end of this shallow water that Floating Tom had seen fit to deposit the remains of his wife and child. His own were now in the course of being placed at their side. Yet he had marks on the land by which she usually found the spot, although the position of the buildings, the general direction of the shoal, and the beautiful transparency of the water all aided her, the latter even allowing the bottom to be seen. By these means the girl was enabled to note their progress, and at the proper time she approached March, whispering, "'Now, hurry! You can stop rowing. We have passed the stone on the bottom, and mother's grave is near.' March ceased his efforts, immediately dropping the cage and taking the warp in his hand in order to check the scow. The ark turned slowly around under this restraint, and when it was quite stationary, had he was seen at its stern, pointing into the water the tears streaming from her eyes, an ungovernable, natural feeling. Judith had been present at the interment of her mother, but she had never visited the spot since. The neglect proceeded from no indifference to the memory of the deceased, for she had loved her mother, and bitterly had she found occasion to mourn her loss. But she was averse to the contemplation of death. And there had been passages in her own life since the day of that interment which increased this feeling, and rendered her, if possible, still more reluctant to approach the spot that contained the remains of one whose severe lessons of female morality and propriety had been deepened and rendered doubly impressive by remorse for her own failings. With Hetty the case had been very different. To her simple and innocent mind the remembrance of her mother brought no other feeling than one of gentle sorrow. A grief that is often termed luxurious even, because it associates with itself the images of excellence and the purity of a better state of existence. For an entire summer she had been in the habit of repairing to the place after nightfall. And carefully anchoring her canoe so as not to disturb the body, she would sit and hold fancy conversations with the deceased, sing sweet hymns to the evening air, and repeat the orisons that the being who now slumbered below had taught her in infancy. Hetty had passed her happiest hours in this indirect communication with the spirit of her mother. The wildness of Indian traditions and Indian opinions unconsciously to herself, mingling with the Christian lore received in childhood. Once she had even been so far influenced by the former as to have bethought her of performing some of those physical rites at her mother's grave which the red men are known to observe. But the passing feeling had been obscured by the steady though mild light of Christianity which never ceased to burn in her gentle bosom. Now her emotions were merely the natural outpourings of a daughter that wept for a mother whose love was indelibly impressed on the heart, and whose lessons had been too earnestly taught to be easily forgotten by one who had so little temptation to air. There was no other priest than nature at that wild and singular funeral rite. March cast his eyes below, and through the transparent medium of the clear water which was almost as pure as air, he saw what Hetty was accustomed to call mother's grave. It was a low straggling mound of earth fashioned by no spade out of a corner of which gleamed a bit of the white cloth that formed the shroud of the dead. The body had been lowered to the bottom, and Hutter brought forth earth from the shore, and let it fall upon it until all was concealed. In this state the place had remained until the movement of the waters revealed the solitary sign of the uses of the spot that has just been mentioned. Even the most rude and brawling are chastened by the ceremonies of a funeral. March felt no desire to indulge his voice in any of its coarse outbreakings, and was disposed to complete the office he had undertaken in decent sobriety. Perhaps he reflected on the retribution that had elighted on his late comrade, and bethought him of the frightful jeopardy in which his own life had so lately been placed. He signified to Judith that all was ready, received her directions to proceed, and, with no other assistant than his own vast strength, raised the body and bore it to the end of the scow. Two parts of a rope were passed beneath the legs and shoulders, as they are placed beneath coffins, and then the corpse was slowly lowered beneath the surface of the lake. Not there, hurry, March, no, not there, said Judith, shuddering involuntarily. Do not lower it quite so near the spot where mother lies. Why not, Judith, asked Heddie earnestly, they live together in life and should lie together in death. No, no, Harry, March, further off, further off. Poor Heddie, you know not what you say, leave me to order this. I know I am weak-minded, Judith, and that you are clever, but surely a husband should be placed near a wife. Mother always said that this was the way they bury in Christian churchyards. This little controversy was conducted earnestly but in smothered voices as if the speakers feared that the dead might overhear them. Judith could not contend with her sister at such a moment, but a significant gesture induced March to lower the body at a little distance from that of his wife, when he withdrew the cords and the act was performed. There's an end of floating Tom, exclaimed Harry, bending over the scowl and gazing through the water at the body. He was a brave companion on a scout and a notable hand with traps. Don't weep, Judith, don't be overcome, Heddie, for the righteous of us all must die. And when the time comes, lamentations and tears can't bring the dead to life. Your father will be a loss to you, no doubt. Most fathers are a loss, especially to unmarried darters. But there's a way to cure that, Evil, and you're both too young and handsome to live long without finding it out. When it's agreeable to hear what an honest and unpretending man has to say, Judith, I should like to talk a little with you apart. Judith had scarce attended to this rude attempt of hurries at consolation, although she necessarily understood its general drift, and had a tolerably accurate notion of its manner. She was weeping at the recollection of her mother's early tenderness, and painful images of long-forgotten lessons and neglected precepts were crowding her mind. The words of Harry, however, recalled her to the present time, and abrupt and unseasonable as was their import they did not produce those signs of distaste that one might have expected from the girl's character. On the contrary, she appeared to be struck with some sudden idea, gazed intently for a moment at the young man, dried her eyes, and led the way to the other end of the scow signifying her wish for him to follow. Here she took a seat and motion for March to place himself at her side. The decision and earnestness with which all this was done a little intimidated her companion, and Judith found it necessary to open the subject herself. "'You wish to speak of me of marriage, Harry March?' she said. "'And I have come here, over the grave of my parents, as it might be, no, no, over the grave of my poor dear, dear mother, to hear what you have to say.' "'This is uncommon, and you have a skirful way with you this evening, Judith,' answered Harry, more disturbed than he would have cared to own. But truth is truth, and it shall come out, let what will follow. You well know, gal, that I have long thought you the comeliest young woman my eyes ever beheld, and that I have made no secret of that fact, either here on the lake, out among the hunters and trappers, or in the settlements. "'Yes, yes, I have heard this before, and I suppose it to be true,' answered Judith with a sort of feverish impatience. "'When a young man holds such language of any particular young woman, it's reasonable to calculate he's set store by her.' "'True, true, Harry, all this you've told me again and again?' "'Well, if it's agreeable, I shouldn't think a woman couldn't hear it too often. They all tell me this is the way with your sacks, that nothing pleases them more than to repeat over and over, for the hundredth time, how much you like them, unless it be to talk to them of their good looks.' "'No doubt. We like both on most occasions. But this is an uncommon moment, Harry, and vain words should not be too freely used. I would rather hear you speak plainly.' "'You shall have your own way, Judith, and I some suspect you always will. I have often told you that I not only like you better than any other young woman going, or for that matter better than all the young women going, but you must have observed, Judith, that I have never asked you, in up-and-down terms, to marry me. I have observed both,' returned the girl, a smile struggling about her beautiful mouth. In spite of the singular and a grossing intentness which caused her cheeks to flush and lighted her eyes with a brilliancy that was almost dazzling, I have observed both, and have thought the last remarkable for a man of Harry March's decision and fearlessness. "'There's been a reason, Gal, and it's one that troubles me even now. Nay, don't flush up so, and look fiery like, for there are thoughts which will stick long in any man's mind, as there be words that will stick in his throat. But then again there's feelings that will get the better of him all, and to these feelings I find I must submit. "'You've no longer a father or a mother, Judith, and it's morally impossible that you and Hetty could live here alone, allowing it was peace, and the Iroquois was quiet. But as matters stand not only would you starve, but you'd both be prisoners or scalped before a week was out. It's time to think of a change and a husband, and if you'll accept of me all that's passed shall be forgotten, and there's an end on it.' Judith had difficulty in repressing her impatience until this rude declaration and offer were made, which she evidently wished to hear, and which she now listened to with a willingness that might well have excited hope. She hardly allowed the young man to conclude, so eager was she to bring him to the point, and so ready to answer. "'There, hurry, that's enough,' she said, raising a hand as if to stop him. I understand you as well as if you were to talk a month. You prefer me to other girls, and you wish me to become your wife. You put it in better words than I can do, Judith, and I wish you to fancy them, said, just as you most like to hear them. They're plain enough, Harry, and to his fitting they should be so. This is no place to trifle or deceive in. Now listen to my answer, it shall be in every tittle as sincere as your offer. There is a reason, March, why I should never—I suppose I understand you, Judith. But if I'm willing to overlook that reason, it's no one's concern but mine. Now don't brighten up like the sky at sundown, for no offense is meant, and none should be taken. "'I do not brighten up, and will not take offense,' said Judith, struggling to repress her indignation, in a way she had never found it necessary to exert before. There is a reason why I should not—cannot—ever be your wife, Harry, that you seem to overlook, and which it is my duty to tell you, as plainly as you have asked me to consent to become so. I do not, and I am certain that I never shall love you well enough to marry you. No man can wish for a wife who does not prefer him to all other men, and when I tell you this frankly I suppose yourself will thank me for my sincerity." Ah, Judith! Them flaunting, gay, scarlet-coated officers of the garrisons have done all this mischief. Hush, March! Do not calamniate a daughter over her mother's grave. Do not, when I only wish to treat you fairly, give me reason to call for evil on your head and bitterness of heart. Do not forget that I am a woman, and that you are a man, and that I have neither father nor brother to avenge your words. Well there is something in the last, and I'll say no more, take time, Judith, and think better on this. I want no time. My mind has long been made up, and I have only waited for you to speak plainly, to answer plainly. We now understand each other, and there is no use in saying any more. The impetuous earnestness of the girl awed the young man, for never before had he seen her so serious and determined. In most of their previous interviews she had met his advances with evasion or sarcasm, but these hurry had mistaken for female coquetry, and it supposed might easily be converted into consent. The struggle had been with himself about offering, nor had he ever seriously believed it possible that Judith would refuse to become the wife of the handsomest man on all that frontier. Now that refusal came, and that in terms so decided as to put all cabling out of the question. If not absolutely dumbfounded, he was so much mortified and surprised as to feel no wish to attempt to change her resolution. The glimmer glass has now no great call for me, he exclaimed after a minute's silence. Old Tom is gone. The Hurons are as plenty on the shore as pigeons in the woods, and altogether it is getting to be an unsuitable place. Then leave it. You see it is surrounded by dangers, and there is no reason why you should risk your life for others. Nor do I know that you can be of any service to us. Go to-night. We'll never accuse you of having done anything forgetful or unmanly. If I do goat we'll be with a heavy heart on your account, Judith, I would rather take you with me. That is not to be spoken of any longer, March, but I will land you in one of the canoes as soon as it is dark and you can strike a trail for the nearest garrison. When you reach the fort, if you send a party, Judith smothered the words, for she felt it was humiliating to be thus exposing herself to the comments and reflections of one who was not disposed to view her conduct in connection with all in those garrisons, with an eye of favour. Hurry, however, caught the idea, and without perverting it, as the girl dreaded, he answered to the purpose. I understand what you would say, and why you don't say it, he replied. If I get safe to the fort, a party shall start on the trail of these vagabonds, and I'll come with it myself, for I should like to see you and Hetty in a place of safety before we part forever. Ah, Harry, March, had you always spoken thus, felt thus, my feelings towards you might have been different. Is it too late now, Judith? I'm rough and a woodsman, but we all change under different treatment from what we have been used to. It is too late, March. I can never feel towards you, or any other man but one, as you would wish to have me. There, I've said enough, surely, and you will question me no further, as soon as it is dark I or the Delaware will put you on the shore. You will make the best of your way to the Mohawk and the nearest garrison and send all you can to our assistance. And, hurry, we are now friends, and I may trust you, may I not? Even Judith, though our friendship would have been all the warmer, could you look upon me as I look upon you? Judith hesitated, and some powerful emotion was struggling within her. Then, as if determined, to look down all weakness and accomplish her purposes at every hazard, she spoke more plainly. You will find a captain of the name of Warley at the nearest post, she said, pale as death, and even trembling as she spoke. I think it likely he will wish to head the party, but I would greatly prefer it should be another. If Captain Warley can be kept back, it would make me very happy. That's easier said than done, Judith, for these officers do pretty much as they please. The major will order, and the captains and lieutenants and ensigns must obey. I know the officer you mean, a red-faced, gay, obi-joyful sort of a gentleman, who swallows Madeira enough to drown the Mohawk. And yet a pleasant talker, all the gals in the valley admire him, and they say he admires all the gals. I don't wonder he is your dislike, Judith, for he's a very general lover, if he isn't a general officer. Judith did not answer, though her frame shook, and her color changed from pale to crimson, and from crimson back again to the hue of death. Alas, my poor mother, she ejaculated mentally, instead of uttering it aloud, we are over thy grave, but little dust thou know how much thy lessons have been forgotten, thy care neglected, thy love defeated. As this goading of the worm that never dies was felt, she arose and signified to hurry, that she had no more to communicate. CHAPTER XXII OF THE DEER SLAYER. This is a LibriVox recording, all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. THE DEER SLAYER. by James Fenimore Cooper. CHAPTER XXII. That point in misery which makes the oppressed man regardless of his own life makes him too Lord of the oppressors. COLORGE. REMORSE. FIVE. ONE. TWO HUNDRED ONE. THROUGH TWO HUNDRED FOUR. All this time had he had remained seated in the head of the scow, looking sorrowfully into the water which held the body of her mother, as well as that of the man whom she had been taught to consider her father. Hists stood near her in gentle quiet, but had no consolation to offer in words. The habits of her people taught her reserve in this respect, and the habits of her sex induced her to wait patiently for a moment when she might manifest some soothing sympathy by means of acts, rather than of speech. Chingich Kuk held himself a little aloof in the grave reserve, looking like a warrior but feeling like a man. Judith joined her sister with an air of dignity and solemnity it was not her practice to show, and though the gleaning of anguish were still visible on her beautiful face, when she spoke it was firmly and without tremor. At that instant Hist and the Delaware withdrew, moving towards hurry, in the other end of the boat. Sister, said Judith kindly, I have much to say to you. We will get into this canoe and paddle off to a distance from the ark. The secrets of two orphans ought not to be heard by every ear. Certainly Judith, by the ears of their parents, let hurry lift the grapnel and move away with the ark and leave us here near the graves of father and mother to say what we may have to say. Father repeated Judith slowly, the blood for the first time since her parting with March mounting to her cheeks. He was no father of ours hetty. That we have from his own mouth and in his dying moments. Are you glad, Judith, to find you had no father? He took care of us and fed us and clothed us and loved us. A father could have done no more. I don't understand why he wasn't a father. Never mind, dear child. But let us do as you have said. It may be well to remain here and let the ark move a little away. Do you prepare the canoe, and I will tell hurry and the Indians our wishes. This was soon and simply done. The ark moving with measured strokes of the sweeps a hundred yards from the spot, leaving the girls floating seemingly in air above the place of the dead. So buoyant was the light vessel that held them and so limpid the element by which it was sustained. The death of Thomas Hutter, Judith commenced, after a short pause had prepared her sister to receive her communications, has altered all our prospects, hetty. If he was not our father, we are sisters and must feel alike and live together. How do I know, Judith, that you wouldn't be as glad to find I am not your sister as you are in finding that Thomas Hutter, as you call him, was not your father? I am only half-witted, and few people like to have half-witted relations, and then I'm not handsome, at least not as handsome as you, and you may wish a handsomer sister. No, no, hetty, you and only you are my sister, my heart and my love for you tell me that. And mother was my mother, of that too I am glad and proud, for she was a mother to be proud of, but father was not father. Hush, Judith, his spirit may be near, it would grieve it to hear his children talking so, and that too over his very grave. Children should never grieve parents, mother often told me, and especially when they are dead. Poor hetty, they are happily removed beyond all cares on our account. Nothing that I can do or say will cause mother any sorrow now. There was some consolation in that, at least. And nothing you can do or say will make her smile as she used to smile on your good conduct when living. You don't know that, Judith. Spirits can see, and mother may see as well as any spirit. She always told us that God saw all we did, and that we should do nothing to offend him. And now she has left us, I strive to do nothing that can displease her. Think how her spirit would mourn and feel sorrow, Judith. Did it see either of us doing what is not right? And spirits may see, after all, especially the spirits of parents that feel anxious about their children. Hetty, hetty. You know not what you say, murmur, Judith, almost livid with emotion. The dead cannot see, and know nothing of what passes here. But we will not talk of this any longer. The bodies of mother and Thomas Hutter lie together in the lake. And we will hope that the spirits of both are with God. That we, the children of one of them, remain on earth is certain. It is now proper to know what we are to do in future. If we are not Thomas Hutter's children, Judith, no one will dispute our right to his property. We have the castle and the ark and the canoes and the woods and the lakes, the same as when he was living. And what can prevent us from staying here, and passing our lives just as we ever have done? No, no, poor sister, this can no longer be. Two girls would not be safe here, even should these Hurons fail in getting us into their power. Even father had as much as he could sometimes do to keep peace upon the lake, and we should fail altogether. We must quit this spot, hetty, and remove into the settlements. I am sorry you think so, Judith, returned hetty, dropping her head on her bosom, and looking thoughtfully down at the spot where the funeral pile of her mother could just be seen. I am very sorry to hear it. I would rather stay here where, if I wasn't born, I passed my life. I don't like the settlements, they are full of wickedness and heart-burnings. While God dwells unaffended in these hills, I love the trees and the mountains and the lake and the springs, all that his bounty has given us, and it would grieve me sorely, Judith, to be forced to quit them. You are handsome, and not at all half-witted, and one day you will marry, and then you will have a husband, and I, a brother, to take care of us, if women can't really take care of themselves in such a place as this. Ah, if this could be so, hetty, then indeed I could now be a thousand times happier in these woods than in the settlements, once I did not feel thus, but now I do. Yet where is the man to turn this beautiful place into such a garden of Eden for us? Harry March loves you, sister, return, poor hetty, unconsciously picking the bark off the canoe as she spoke. He would be glad to be your husband, I'm sure, and a stouter and a braver youth is not to be met with the whole country round. Harry March and I understand each other, and no more need be said about him. There is one, but no matter. It is all in the hands of Providence, and we must shortly come to some conclusion about our future manner of living. In here, that is, remain here alone, we cannot, and perhaps no occasion will ever offer for remaining in the manner you think of. It is time, too, hetty, we should learn all we can concerning our relations and family. It is not probable we are altogether without relations, and they may be glad to see us. The old chest is now our property, and we have a right to look into it, and learn all we can by what it holds. Mother was so very different from Thomas Hutter that, now I know we are not his children, I burn with the desire to know whose children we can be. There are papers in that chest, I am certain, and those papers may tell us all about our parents and natural friends. Well, Judith, you know best, for you are cleverer than common, mother always said, and I am only half-witted. Now, father and mother are dead, I don't much care for any relation but you, don't think I could love them, I never saw, as well as I ought. If you don't like to marry, hurry, I don't see who you can choose for a husband, and then I fear we shall have to quit the lake after all. What do you think of dear Slayer, hetty, asked Judith, bending forward like her unsophisticated sister, and endeavouring to conceal her embarrassment in a similar manner? Would he not make a brother-in-law to your liking? Dear Slayer, repeated the other, looking up in unthane surprise, why Judith, dear Slayer, isn't in the least comely, and is altogether unfit for one like you. He is not ill-looking, hetty, and beauty in a man is not of much matter. Do you think so, Judith? I know that beauty is of no great matter in man or woman in the eyes of God, for a mother has often told me so, when she thought I might have been sorry I was not as handsome as you, though she needn't have been uneasy on that account, for I never coveted anything that is your sister. But tell me so she did, still, beauty is very pleasant to the eye in both. I think if I were a man I should pine more for good looks than I do as a girl, a handsome man is a more pleasing sight than a handsome woman. Poor child, you scarce know what you say or what you mean. Beauty in our sex is something, but in man it passes for little. You be sure a man ought to be tall, but others are tall as well as hurry, and active, and I think I know those that are more active, and strong, well, he hasn't all the strength in the world, and brave, I am certain I can name a youth who is braver. This is strange, Judith, I didn't think the earth held a handsomer or a stronger or a more active or a braver man than hurry, Harry. I'm sure I never met his equal in either of these things. Well, well, hattie, say no more of this. I dislike to hear you talking in this manner, it is not suitable to your innocence and truth and warmhearted sincerity. Let Harry march go, he quits us to-night, and no regret of mine will follow him, unless it be that he has stayed so long and to so little purpose. Ah, Judith, that is what I've long feared, and I did so hope he might be my brother-in-law. Never mind it now, let us talk of our poor mother, and of Thomas Hutter. Speak kindly, then, sister, for you can't be quite certain that spirits don't both hear and see. If father wasn't father he was good to us, and gave us food and shelter. We can't put any stones over their graves here in the water, to tell people all this, and so we ought to say it with our tongues. They will care little for that girl. It is a great consolation to know, hattie, that if mother ever did commit any heavy fault when young she lived sincerely to repent of it. No doubt her sins were forgiven her. Tisn't right, Judith, for children to talk of their parents' sins. We have better talk of our own. Talk of your sins, hattie. If there ever was a creature on earth without sin it is you. I wish I could say or think the same of myself. But we shall see. No one knows what changes affection for a good husband can make in a woman's heart. I don't think, child, I have even now the same love for a finery I once had. It would be a pity, Judith, if you did think of clothes over your parents' graves. We will never quit this spot if you say so, and we'll let hurry go where he pleases. I am willing enough to consent to the last, but cannot answer for the first, hattie. We must live in future as becomes respectable young women, and cannot remain here to be the talk and jest of all the rude and foul-tongued trappers and hunters that may come upon the lake. Let hurry go by himself, and then I'll find the means to see dear Slayer when the future shall soon be settled. Come, girl, the sun is set, and the ark is drifting away from us. Let us paddle up to the scow and consult with our friends. This night I shall look into the chest, and tomorrow shall determine what we are to do. As for the Hurons, now we can use our stores without fear of Thomas Hutter. They will be easily bought off. Let me get dear Slayer once out of their hands, and a single hour shall bring things to an understanding. Judith spoke with decision, and she spoke with authority, a habit she had long practiced towards her feeble-minded sister. But while thus accustomed to have her way by the aid of Manor and a readyer command of words, hattie occasionally checked her impetuous feelings and hasty acts by the aid of those simple moral truths that were so deeply engrafted in all her own thoughts and feelings, shining through both with a mild and beautiful luster that threw a sort of holy halo around so much of what she both said and did. On the present occasion this healthful ascendancy of the girl of weak intellect over her of a capacity that in other situations might have become brilliant and admired was exhibited in the usual simple and earnest manner. You forget, Judith, what has brought us here, she said reproachfully, this is mother's grave, and we have just laid the body of father by her side. We have done wrong to talk so much of ourselves at such a spot, and ought now to pray to God to forgive us and ask him to teach us where we are to go and what we are to do. Judith involuntarily laid aside her paddle while hattie dropped on her knees, and was soon lost in her devout but simple petitions. Her sister did not pray. This she had long ceased to do directly, though anguish of spirit frequently rung from her mental and hasty appeals to the great source of benevolence for support, if not for a change of spirit. Still she never beheld hattie on her knees that a feeling of tender recollection, as well as a profound regret at the deadness of her own heart, did not come over her. Thus she had herself done in childhood, and even down to the hour of her ill-fated visits to the garrisons, and she would willingly have given worlds at such moments to be able to exchange her present sensations for the confiding faith, those pure aspirations and the gentle hope that shone through every liniment and movement of her otherwise less favoured sister. All she could do, however, was to drop her head to her bosom, and assume in her attitude some of that devotion in which her stubborn spirit refused to unite. When hattie rose from her knees her countenance had a glow and a serenity that rendered a face that was always agreeable, positively handsome. Her mind was at peace, and her conscience acquitted her of a neglect of duty. Now you may go if you want to, Judith, she said, for God has been kind to me, and lifted a burden off my heart. Mother had many such burdens, she used to tell me, and she always took them off in this way. It is the only way, sister, such things can be done. You may raise a stone or a log with your hands, but the heart must be lightened by prayer. I don't think you pray as often as you used to do when younger, Judith. Never mind, never mind, child, answered the other huskily, tis no matter now. Mother is gone, and Thomas Hutter is gone, and the time has come when we must think and act for ourselves. As the canoe moved slowly away from the place under the gentle impulsion of the elder sister's paddle, the younger sat musing as was her want whenever her mind was perplexed by any idea more abstract and difficult of comprehension than common. I don't know what you mean by future, Judith, she at length suddenly observed. Mother used to call heaven the future, but you seem to think it means next week or to-morrow. It means both, dear sister, everything that is yet to come, whether in this world or another. It is a solemn word, Hetty, and most so I fear to them that think the least about it. Mother's future is eternity. Ours may yet mean what will happen while we live in this world. Is not that a canoe just passing behind the castle? Here more in the direction of the point, I mean. It is hid now, but certainly I saw a canoe stealing behind the logs. I've seen it some time, Hetty quietly answered, for the Indians had few terrors for her, but I didn't think it right to talk about such things over Mother's grave. The canoe came from the camp, Judith, and was paddled by a single man. He seemed to be Dearslayer, and no Iroquois. Dearslayer, returned the other, with much of her native impetuosity, that cannot be. Dearslayer is a prisoner, and I have been thinking of the means of setting him free. Why did you fancy a Dearslayer well? You can look for yourself, sister, for there comes the canoe in sight again on this side of the hut. Sure enough, the light boat had passed the building, and was now steadily advancing towards the ark, the persons on board of which were already collecting in the head of the scow to receive their visitor. A single glance sufficed to assure Judith that her sister was right, and that Dearslayer was alone in the canoe. His approach was so calm and leisurely, however, as to fill her with wonder since a man who had affected his escape from enemies by either artifice or violence would not be apt to move with the steadiness and deliberation with which his paddle swept the water. By this time the day was fairly departing, and objects were already seen dimly under the shores. In the broad lake, however, the light still lingered, and around the immediate scene of the present incidents, which was less shaded than most of the sheet, being in its broadest part, it cast a glow that bore some faint resemblance to the warm tints of an Italian or Grecian sunset. The logs of the hut and ark had a sort of purple hue, blended with the growing obscurity, and the bark of the hunter's boat was losing its distinctness in colors richer but more mellowed than those it showed under a bright sun. As the two canoes approached each other, for Judith and her sister had plied their paddles so as to intercept the unexpected visitor air he reached the ark. Even deerslayer's sun-burned countenance wore a brighter aspect than common, under the pleasing tints that seemed to dance in the atmosphere. Judith fancied that delight at meeting her had some share in this unusual and agreeable expression. She was not aware that her own beauty appeared to more advantage than common, from the same natural cause, nor did she understand what it would have given her so much pleasure to know that the young man actually thought her as she drew nearer the loveliest creature of her sex his eyes had ever dwelt on. Welcome, welcome, deerslayer, exclaimed the girl, as the canoes floated at each other's side. We have had a melancholy, a frightful day, but your return is at least one misfortune the less. Have the Hurons become more human and let you go, or have you escape from the wretches by your own courage and skill? Neither Judith, neither one nor tether. The mingles are mingles still, and will live in daimingos. It is not likely their natures will ever undergo much improvement. Well, they've their gifts and we've ourn, Judith, and it doesn't much become either to speak ill of what the Lord has created, though if the truth must be said I find it a sore trial to think kindly or talk kindly of them vagabonds. As for outwitting them, that might have been done, and it was done, too, between the sarpent yonder and me when we were on the trail of hissed. Here the hunter stopped to laugh in his own silent fashion, but it's no easy matter to circumvent the circumvented. Even the thons get to know the tricks of the hunters for a single season is over, and an Indian whose eyes have once been opened by a circumvention never shuts them again in precisely the same spot. I've known whites to do that, but never a red skin. What they learn comes by practice and not by books, and of all school master's experience gives lessons that are the longest remembered. All this is true, dear Slayer, but if you have not escaped from the savages, how came you here? That's a natural question, and charmingly put, you are wonderful handsome this evening, Judith, or wild rose, as the sarpent calls you. And I may as well say it, since I honestly think it, you may well call them mingles savages, too, for savage enough do they feel, and savage enough will they act if you once give them an opportunity. They feel their loss here, in the late scrimmage, to their hearts' cores, and are ready to revenge it on any creature of English blood that may fall in their way, nor for that matter do I much think they would stand at taking their satisfaction out of a Dutchman. They have killed father that ought to satisfy their wicked cravings for blood, observed Hetty reproachfully. I know it, Gal. I know the whole story, partly from what I've seen from the shore since they brought me up from the point, and partly from their threats again myself, and their other discourse. Well, life is uncertain at the best, and we all depend on the breath of our nostrils for it from day to day. If you've lost a staunch friend, as I make no doubt you have, Providence will raise up new ones in his stead, and since our acquaintance has begun in this uncommon manner, I shall take it as a hint that it will be a part of my duty in future, should the occasion offer, to see you don't suffer for want of food in the wigwam. I can't bring the dead to life, but as defeating the living, there's few on all this frontier can outdo me, though I say it in the way of pity and consolation-like, and in no particular in the way of boasting. We understand you, dear Slayer, return, Judith hastily, and take all that falls from your lips, as it is meant in kindness and friendship. Would to heaven all men had tongues as true, and hearts as honest. In that respect men do differ of a certainty, Judith. I've known them that wasn't to be trusted any farther than you can see them, and others again whose messages sent with a small piece of wampum, perhaps, might just as much be depended on as if the whole business was finished before your face. Yes, Judith, you never said true a word than when you said some men might be depended on, and others some might not. You are an unaccountable being, dear Slayer, return the girl, not a little puzzled with the childish simplicity of character that the hunter so often betrayed, a simplicity so striking that it frequently appeared to place him nearly on a level with the fatuity of poor Hattie, though always relieved by the beautiful moral truth that's shown through all that this unfortunate girl both said and did. You are a most unaccountable man, and I often do not know how to understand you. But never mind, just now. You have forgotten to tell us by what means you are here. I—oh, that's not very unaccountable if I am myself, Judith. I'm out on furlough. Furlough. That word has a meaning among the soldiers that I understand, but I cannot tell what it signifies when used by a prisoner. It means just the same. You're right enough. The soldiers do use it, and just in the same way as I use it. A furlough is when a man has left to quit a camp or a garrison for a certain specified time, at the end of which he is to come back and shoulder his musket or submit to his torments, just as he may happen to be a soldier or a captive. Being the last, I must take the chances of a prisoner. Have the Hurons suffered you to quit them in this manner, without watch or guard? Certain. I wouldn't have come in any other manner, unless indeed it had been by a bold rising or a sarconvention. What pledge have they that you will ever return? My word, answered the hunters simply. Yes, I own, I gave them that. And big fools would they have been to let me come without it. Why, in that case, I shouldn't have been obliged to go back and undergo any deviltries their fury may invent, but might have shouldered my rifle and made the best of my way to the Delaware villages. But Lord Judith, they knowed this, just as well as you and I do, and would no more let me come away without a promise to go back than they would let the wolves dig up the bones of their fathers. Is it possible you mean to do this act of extraordinary self-destruction and recklessness? Anon. I ask if it can be possible that you expect to be able to put yourself again in the power of such ruthless enemies by keeping your word. Dear Slayer looked at his fair questioner for a moment with stern displeasure. Then the expression of his honest and guileless face suddenly changed, lighting as by a quick illumination of thought after which he laughed in his ordinary manner. I didn't understand you at first, Judith. No, I didn't. You believe that Chingach Cook and Harry Harry won't suffer it. But you don't know mankind thoroughly yet, I see. The Delaware would be the last man on earth to offer any objections to what he knows is a duty. And as for March he doesn't care enough about any creature but himself to spend many words on such a subject. If he did, it would make no great difference house-ever. But not he, for he thinks more of his gains than of even his own word. As for my promises, or your own Judith, or anybody else's, they give him no concern. Don't be under any uneasiness. Therefore, gal, I shall be allowed to go back according to the furlough, and if difficulties was made, I've not been brought up and educated as one may say in the woods without knowing how to look him down. Judith made no answer for some little time. All her feelings as a woman, and as a woman who for the first time in her life was beginning to submit to that sentiment which has so much influence on the happiness or misery of her sex, revolted at the cruel fate that she fancy dear slayer was drawing down upon himself. While the sense of right which God has implanted in every human breast told her to admire an integrity as indomitable and as unpretending as that which the other so unconsciously displayed. Argument she felt would be useless, nor was she at that moment disposed to lessen the dignity and high principle that were so striking in the intentions of the hunter by any attempt to turn him from his purpose. That something might yet occur to supersede the necessity for this self-immolation she tried to hope. And then she proceeded to ascertain the facts in order that her own conduct might be regulated by her knowledge of circumstances. When is your furlough out, dear slayer, she asked, after both canoes were heading towards the ark, and moving with scarcely a perceptible effort of the paddles through the water? Tomorrow noon, not a minute of four, and you may depend on it, Judith. I shan't quit what I call Christian company to go and give myself up to them vagabonds an instant sooner than is downright necessary. They begin to fear a visit from the garrisons, and wouldn't lengthen the time a moment, and it's pretty well understood a tweenus that, should I fail in my errand, the torments are to take place when the sun begins to fall, that they may strike upon their home trail as soon as it is dark. This was said solemnly, as if the thought of what was believed to be in reserve duly waited on the prisoner's mind, and yet so simply, and without a parade of suffering, as rather to repel than to invite any open manifestations of sympathy. How they bent on revenging their losses, Judith asked faintly, her own high spirit yielding to the influence of the other's quiet but dignified integrity of purpose. Downright, if I can judge of Indian inclinations by the symptoms, they think, however, I don't suspect their designs. I do believe, but one that has lived so long among men of red-skinned gifts is no more likely to be misled and engine-feelings than a true hunter is like to lose his trail or a stanchhound his scent. My own judgment is greatly again my own escape, for I see the women are a good deal enraged on behalf of hissed, though I say it, perhaps, that shouldn't say it, seeing that I had a considerable hand myself in getting the gal off. Then there was a cruel murder in their camp last night, and that shot might just as well have been fired into my breast. However, come what will, the serpent and his wife will be safe, and that is some happiness in any case. Oh, dear slayer, they will think better of this since they have given you until tomorrow noon to make up your mind. I judge not, Judith. Yes, I judge not. An engine is an engine, gal, and it's pretty much hopeless to think of swarming him, when he's got the scent and follows it with his nose in the mirror. The Delaware's now are a half-Christianized tribe, not that I think such sort of Christian's much better than your whole blooded unbelievers. But nevertheless what good half-Christianizing can do to a man some among them have got, and yet revenge clings to their hearts like the wild creepers here to the tree. Then I slew one of the best and boldest of their warriors, they say, and it is too much to expect that they should captivate the man who did this deed in the very same scouting on which it was performed, and they take no account of the matter. Had a month or so gone by their feelings would have been softened down. And we might have met in a more friendly way. But it is as it is. Judith, this is talking of nothing but myself, and my own concerns, when you have trouble enough, and may want to consult a friend a little about your own matters. Is the old man laid in the water where I should think his body would like to rest? It is, dear slayer, answered Judith, almost inaudibly. That duty has just been performed. You are right in thinking that I wish to consult a friend. And that friend is yourself. Hurry, Harry, is about to leave us. When he is gone, and we have got a little over the feelings of this solemn office, I hope you will give me an hour alone, had he and I are at a loss what to do. That's quite natural, coming as things have, suddenly and fearfully. But here's the arc, and we'll say more of this when there is a better opportunity. End of Chapter 22 Recording by Bill Borst