The Frontiersmen Part 24

Both Barton and Ruth, notwithstanding their thankfulness at this escape, surveyed the destruction of the cottage with feelings of melancholy. To Barton, it was the home of his old age--where he had planted his household G.o.ds, with the hope that they would survive him. The cottage had been erected, and had gradually been made a comfortable dwelling, by his labor; while around it, he had rescued fair fields from the wilderness, from which he had hoped to derive the means of prosperity.

To Ruth, it was endeared by other a.s.sociations; and they both saw that all the hopes and dreams which they had cherished, were ended, and that this place must again--even if they ultimately succeeded in escaping from their enemies--pa.s.s from their possession, if not from their remembrance. Barton continued, in answer to Singing-Bird:

"And my power to repay him, is gone. I am now an old man, deprived of everything but my daughter and my life. But I cannot complain. The Lord's will be done."

"Let us not think about our loss," said Ruth earnestly, "since we have saved so much. We truly have need to be thankful to a kind Providence, that we and all our friends have escaped with our lives."

At this moment, a rifle was heard, at a few rods distance apparently on the western sh.o.r.e; and at the same instant, there was a sound as of a heavy body falling into the water. The idea occurred to each in the boat, that this might be the Tuscarora, and the boat was instantly moved in that direction. As they approached the sh.o.r.e, they heard some of the enemy talking, and evidently laboring under a great excitement; and it was easy to believe that it was owing to the escape of Eagle's-Wing.

They had reached, in perfect silence, within eight or ten rods of the sh.o.r.e, when Ichabod discovered an Indian swimming towards the boat. It was the Tuscarora, and he was lifted in, panting with fatigue.

"Long run had this time," said he, "They almost catch me--they shoot me a little; but better have arm shot, than lose scalp though."

It was found, on examination, that the ball had merely penetrated the fleshy part of his arm, without having done any very serious injury. It was immediately bandaged by Ralph, with as much care as their means would permit; while Ichabod and the negro paddled the boat towards the northern sh.o.r.e.

It has been mentioned before, in the brief description which we gave of the pond, that on the north was a low marshy flat, and that the edge of the pond was thickly bordered with willows and other bushes; but back a short distance from the sh.o.r.e, the bushes were few and stinted in growth, while the marsh was so soft, that it was impa.s.sable to one unacquainted with it, even by the aid of day-light. Ichabod and the Tuscarora were both confident that the Senecas had no canoes upon the pond; and that there was only one upon the river in the possession of the Senecas, and that this one was only capable of carrying three or four persons. There were no materials at hand with which a raft could be constructed; and it was with a feeling of security that the boat was made fast among the willows for the night.

The fire about the cottage, for a time, had been gradually diminishing; and thicker and thicker fell the darkness upon forest and water.

Gradually the shrieks and cries of the Indians subsided, and silence at length fell upon the scene.

CHAPTER XX.

"Hence, strangers, to your native sh.o.r.e!

Far from our Indian shades retire."

Freneau.

When the morning light had rendered objects sufficiently visible, the party in the boat endeavored to get a view of their precise situation.

The place where the cottage had stood, could be distinctly seen; but instead of the dwelling, there appeared nothing but a ma.s.s of black and smoking ruins. But not an Indian was to be seen. The party partook of a very frugal breakfast; for previous to their flight, they had secured a few articles of food--sufficient, if sparingly used, to last them for three or four days.

"The question now seems to be," said Ichabod, "what we're going to do next. Here we are--the cottage is burnt down--that factory project is blowed up, for a while, at least; and providing--I say, _providing_, we _can_ get away from these villainous reptiles, I'm for steering for the settlements."

"I think that will be the course that we must adopt," said Ralph. "It will be a tedious undertaking, in the face of all our difficulties, as we shall be obliged to walk the whole distance the horses will undoubtedly either be destroyed or captured by the Indians. Could they be saved, so that Miss Barton and Singing-Bird could ride, it would not be so difficult."

Barton a.s.sented with a melancholy look. "There's no use," he said, "in my attempting to rebuild the cottage, even if the Senecas abandon the country. I am getting old, and cannot labor as I once could. Yes--we shall have to go to the settlements."

Ruth a.s.sured them that she could walk the distance necessary with perfect ease. As for Singing-Bird, she laughed at the idea of riding.

As all a.s.sented to this proposal, the next thing was to find the means of escape from their present difficulties. It would not be safe to leave their cover in the willows, so long as the Senecas remained; and it was hoped, that not discovering them upon the pond, they would, after searching for them in the woods, for a day or two, finally abandon the hope of capturing them, and either set out on their return to their own country, or remove farther down the valley.

A feeling of joyful excitement pervaded the party. The extreme danger of their situation on the previous night, their fortunate flight, and the hope of an early escape, served to awaken this feeling, which, even Barton and Ruth, who were so much the greatest sufferers by recent events, shared with the others.

"I suppose," said Barton, "that Jenkins will most seriously feel the consequences of our removal to the settlements. First, he loses a fortune by the failure of that city-lot and factory speculation; and next, he runs the risk of escape from the Senecas, to be captured and imprisoned by his pale-faced friends."

"Now, that's rather too hard, Squire," said Ichabod. "That factory business will keep for some years, at least: and as for that other matter, I hope that fellow Parsons will discover from the fate of his two officers, who took up the business on speculation, that there's a special Providence agin his collecting it. But if he don't see reason, we'll try and manage it."

The Tuscarora, who had taken no part in the conversation but who had simply exchanged a few words, at intervals, with Singing-Bird, which seemed to cloud her face with anxiety, now arose, and stretching his arm towards the south, merely uttered the common Indian e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n of surprise.

"Ugh!"

The others immediately arose, and after a few moments, their eyes became fastened upon a sight, which attracted their attention. On the opposite sh.o.r.e of the pond, some half-a-dozen Indians were seen, busily at work, partially hidden behind bushes that grew to the water's edge. It was evident that they were engaged in the construction of a raft, with which they probably intended to search the northern sh.o.r.e. Though this afforded some cause for alarm, yet, as a raft large enough to convey a sufficiently numerous party to attack them with any chance of success, would be too unwieldy to be moved through the water, except with the greatest labor--they had no fear but that, if their landing-place should be discovered, they would be able, by the greater ease with which their boat could be managed, to escape from its pursuit. So long as they could remain near the northern sh.o.r.e, they would be comparatively safe, as they had no fear of any attack in that quarter, by land. No force sufficiently large could penetrate in that direction, to give them any uneasiness; but should they be driven by the raft from their present position, they might be compelled, in escaping from it, to pa.s.s between it and the sh.o.r.e, at some point where they might be exposed to an attack from either. But for the present, they maintained their position, and awaited the movements of the enemy.

It was probable that their precise position was unknown, although the sagacity of the Indians would convince them that the fugitives must be concealed somewhere on the northern sh.o.r.e. The woods had been thoroughly searched, and no traces of the fugitives had been found, while the disappearance of the boat, together with the fact that they could not observe it upon the pond, was sufficient to induce them to believe that the fugitives were yet in their power, had they any means to reach them.

They could not, without days of labor, construct canoes by which they would be able to compete in speed with the boat in the possession of the fugitives; but by building a large raft, which could be accomplished in two or three hours, they might man it with sufficient numbers to move it readily from place to place, as well as to capture the fugitives, should they overtake them.

An hour or two had elapsed since Eagle's-Wing discovered the employment of the Senecas, when they saw a large number of Indians collected together at the place where the raft was being constructed. Soon they saw the unwieldy structure moved into the pond; when about fifteen of the Senecas, some with poles for urging the raft along the sh.o.r.e, and others with paddles for use in the deeper water, got upon it, and forced it into the pond. At first, they kept close to the sh.o.r.e, but soon struck out into the deeper water. Their progress was extremely slow; but it was sufficiently rapid to keep pace with the anxiety of the fugitives.

The point was earnestly debated between Ichabod and his companions, whether they should trust to the cover in which they now were, or whether, on the near approach of the Indians, they should push out into the pond. But it was finally agreed, as the safest course, to trust to the water; as, were they to remain where they now were, and should they be discovered, they would be compelled to fight at great odds; and besides, there would be no means of flight; while, should they adopt the other course, they might keep out of reach of the rifles of the Indians; or if not, they could, at least, be in a condition to maintain the fight at less odds and with greater chance of escape.

The raft had been urged to some distance from the sh.o.r.e into the deep water; it was moved towards the north-east sh.o.r.e, with the intention, evidently, of carrying it thence, along the whole southern side of the pond. It finally reached the sh.o.r.e, at which point, it was from thirty to forty rods from the spot where the boat was concealed. As the Indians began to move along the sh.o.r.e, partly by the use of poles, and partly by pulling upon the willows, the boat shot out from its cove into the pond.

The Indians witnessed it with loud yells of joy both from the raft and the sh.o.r.e; and three or four rifles from the raft were discharged, but the bullets struck in the water, their force being spent before reaching the boat. The fugitives moved leisurely towards the centre of the pond, while the Indians who manned the raft, resumed the use of their paddles, and endeavored to follow them. The boat kept its distance from the raft, moving towards the south-west sh.o.r.e, until it had reached a position just out of range of the fire of the Senecas from the land. As the Indians upon the raft came up almost near enough to use their rifles effectively, the boat, urged by five paddles, pa.s.sed between it and the south sh.o.r.e. It took no little time and labor to check the motion of the raft, and when that had been accomplished, the boat was again approaching the northern sh.o.r.e, and had nearly reached the point from which it started. It was evident to the Indians upon the raft, that they might thus be evaded during the whole day and they now ceased their attempt to follow the fugitives.

It was now nearly noon; and both the raft and boat lay motionless upon the water.

"There's deviltry in this business, somewhere," said Ichabod.

"Injins done what they should have done this morning," said Eagle's-Wing. "They gone after canoe."

"That's it, Eagle's-Wing; and I reckon that when they've got it launched, we shall have our hands full."

"I am not certain," said Ralph, "but that we may hold out until night; and then, perhaps, we should take to the sh.o.r.e, and run our chance in the woods."

"I'm of your opinion, Captin," said Ichabod, "provided we _can_ hold out until night. But I reckon--and I ain't use to giving up a speculation, while there's a chance of making anything out of it--that if we stay _here_, we shall lose our scalps, and if we go _there_ it will be just about the same thing. I'm blamed if I see my way out of it."

"You must not despair, Ichabod," said Ruth--"if _you_ do that; we shall lose heart altogether."

"Lord bless you, girl, I shouldn't _despair_ till them villainous reptiles have got my scalp beyond the hope of redemption; and when that thing happens, I shall _have_ to give it up. But what do _you_ say, Eagle's-Wing?"

"Guess we lose our scalps. That's what I say," sententiously replied the Tuscarora.

"But not without a fight for 'em, though," said Ichabod.

"Has any one ever explored this swamp?" suddenly asked Ralph. "Is it not possible that we may find some tolerably safe cover in it?"

"I do not know that it has ever been thoroughly explored," answered Barton; "but any place where we can go, those Senecas can follow."

"I am not so certain about that," replied Ralph. "If you will put me ash.o.r.e, I will reconnoiter it."

The boat again entered the cover, and Ralph stepped out upon the turf, and instantly sank to his knees in the mud. But, clinging to the willows, he extricated himself, and, a.s.sisted by the roots, which furnished a sure footing, he pa.s.sed some twenty rods from the sh.o.r.e, when he discovered a little island of hard soil, not more than twenty feet across in either direction, and which could only be reached, as he ascertained on examination, by one path, part of which was formed by the trunk of a fallen tree, some forty or fifty feet in length. He returned with a heart relieved of half its load, to the boat; and he had but just reached it, when the Indians upon the raft set up a loud yell of joy.

The cause was soon ascertained; for immediately afterwards, four Senecas were seen approaching with a canoe, which they had brought from the river. No time was to be lost, as the canoe and raft together would, undoubtedly, be able to outmatch the boat, and either compel them to a fight against great odds, or drive them to the sh.o.r.e.

Ralph hastily communicated the result of his reconnoisance, and their resolution was instantly formed. The party immediately left the boat; and in a few minutes, although with great difficulty, they reached the little island which had been discovered by Ralph. As soon as it was reached, they saw its capabilities as a place of defence. It was surrounded upon all sides by the swamp, and was approachable from no point, except from that at which they reached it. Upon the island were two large trees, behind which Ruth and Singing-Bird could remain in safety, in case of an attempt to dislodge them from the only practicable point. There were also thick clumps of willows around it, behind which they could remain concealed, except upon a near approach of the enemy, against which they thought themselves able to guard. Ichabod was highly delighted with this new place of defence.

"We're safe here, Captin. I'll risk all the Injins this side of the infarnal legions, as long as our ammunition holds out. I'd like to see them red devils poking their heads over them bushes, yonder."

"You'll see them soon enough," answered Ralph; "but I think we shall escape captivity to-night, at least."