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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/24417-8.txt b/24417-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6068d20 --- /dev/null +++ b/24417-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2802 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forest King, by Hervey Keyes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Forest King + Wild Hunter of the Adaca + +Author: Hervey Keyes + +Release Date: January 24, 2008 [EBook #24417] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOREST KING *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins + + + + +[Illustration: The Forest King] + + +THE FOREST KING; + +OR, + +THE WILD HUNTER OF THE ADACA. + +A Tale of the Seventeen Century + + + + +NEW YORK: +WHEAT & CORNETT, PRINTERS, NO. 8 SPRUCE ST. +1878. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by +HERVEY KEYES, +in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. + + + + +PREFACE. + +To Mayall the Valley of the Mohawk was a land where flowers bloomed, +where one fair girl flitted about through green glades and virgin +forests, and lifted his mind to the supernatural, and he seemed to +listen to the voice of seraphs. Then sweet memory brought him again to +the morning of life, and he stood by his mother's knee, and leaned upon +the cradle where he was rocked to soothe his infant mind. Again he rose +to manhood. The power of the music of the groves, and the sweet voice of +Nelly Gordon, was the angel of the moment, that unlocked the harmony of +the universe. Her eyes appeared as pure as the first rays of morning, as +it danced on the heaven-kissed hills of Paradise. Her heart expanded +with thankfulness, as she thought how rich she was in everything that +made life desirable to Mayall, her lover. She longed to give out the +stores of her own happiness, and Mayall seemed to think this lovely girl +had a special claim on him for life, which he seemed proud to admit and +willing to accept, as the richest gift that Heaven could bestow upon man +was Nelly Gordon. + + * * * * * + +In writing this short history of Mayall and his family, the hunter and +trapper of the Valley of the Adaca, I have gathered the main facts from +the first settlers in my youthful days, who found him in this then wild +but beautiful valley, a place of bloom and shade, dimpled on the face of +creation with a smile that renders life pleasing in solitude. The song +of birds, and the music of the rills that came rushing down the ravines, +to water the flowers and swell the rapid current of the Adaca, under the +arching of the woodland forest that hung out its green plumes to wave in +every breath of summer, formed an earthly Paradise, in Mayall's +estimation. + +The bounty and grandeur of Eastern cities faded into insignificance, +when compared with his surroundings; for here he reigned lord of the +valley's long and wide domain, that abounded in deer, game and furred +animals, whilst its streams swarmed with fish. He was truly one of +Nature's noblemen--kind and affectionate to his beautiful and lovely +wife and children, charitable and humane to all. He was ready at all +times to hazard his own life to assist a friend. When attacked by his +enemies, he seemed to anticipate all their designs at a glance, and +destroyed them without remedy. After the storm of the Revolution had +passed away, and the muttering of its thunder was no longer to be heard, +adventurers from the East, who were searching for new homes in the +productive valleys of Tryon County, found this Friend, as he styled +himself, and settled on the same stream, charmed by the beautiful +forests, the crystal streams, and the fertility of the soil. + +The history of this remarkable hunter is wrapped in mystery. His daring +adventures, his wonderful escapes from danger, his presence of mind in +the most trying scenes of danger, all combine to render his life +wonderful. With his chosen companion to rear a family amid the wild +scenes of Nature, far from the civilized world, surrounded by the wild +beasts of the forest, he worshiped at the shrine of Nature's God, and +gloried in the wild scenes of beauty. The romantic courtship and +marriage of Esock Mayall with the adopted daughter of a famous Indian +chief, her grace of manners, her remarkable beauty, and courage in time +of danger, her journey to her new forest home and return to the land of +her birth, seem to be one of the great events of Providence, together +with her journey to Niagara Falls with the Indian chief, her father, to +witness the sacrifice of a young Indian maiden of high rank to the Great +Spirit of the Falls. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +In the romantic days of the frontier settlers of Tryon County, there +lived in the valley of the Mohawk River a young man by the name of +Mayall. He was by nature strong, courageous and active, always foremost +in pursuit of the Indians that lurked about the advanced settlements of +the whites. Mayall was young and handsome, and would have been +considered a prize for a young lady of merit, who was not looking for a +companion that possessed lands and money. He seemed to be a favorite +among the young ladies of the Mohawk Valley who dressed in +linsey-woolsey--I mean that class + + "Who slept on down their early rising bought, + And wore the garments their own hands had spun"-- + +but was looked upon with suspicion by some of the more aristocratic and +wealthy, who possessed broad farms and extensive grants of land, and +wished to trace the pedigree of their relatives to some old ancestral +pile, surrounded with wide-spread manors. + +Mayall was a hero by nature, and had all the quickness of perception to +carry it out successfully; and yet he had cultivated the most refined +manners of that wild, romantic age. He was fond of hunting, as the +abundance of game and furred animals gave the hunter a rich reward. +Mayall had reached his majority, and had become enamored of a beautiful +young lady of a wealthy family, the only daughter and heir to a rich +inheritance, by the name of Nelly G., who returned his advances in the +same warmth of love and fidelity. As soon as the parents of the young +lady became aware of Mayall's intentions and their daughter's attachment +to young Mayall, they commenced a furious and determined opposition, and +refused to allow Mayall to visit their daughter or even enter their +house. Mayall took the matter calmly, and was no longer seen at the +house of the farmer, but found many opportunities to meet the lady of +his choice at evening parties and places of amusement. Their love was +mutual, and every reasonable means was used to overcome the objections +of the lady's parents--but all seemed in vain. They had promised the +heart and hand of their daughter to the son of a wealthy farmer (a +distant relative), who was void of merit, and one who was despised by +the young lady, on account of his awkward manner of behavior, and his +ignorance of what constituted a well-bred gentleman. Nelly G. informed +her father and mother that she chose a companion and protector without +money, in preference to money and lands without a companion and +protector. + +One sunny morning, in summer's golden days, when the Valley of the +Mohawk appeared like an Eden outstretched in loveliness, and bowed in +summer's rosy bloom, the father of Mayall's intended wife saw Mayall +coming with hurried steps towards his house, dressed in a green +hunting-frock and cap with a green plume shading his forehead, a +double-barreled carbine in his hand, with a tomahawk and hunting-knife +sheathed in his belt, which was the favorite dress of a hunter when +rambling through the green, overgrown forests of the Valley of the +Mohawk, to prevent being noticed by wild game or Indians. + +Fearing he might have some message for his daughter, whom he did not +intend he should see, he started hastily towards him, to intercept him +and turn him back before he reached his house. He met Mayall some +distance from his house, and forbid his nearer approach. + +"I have a message for you and your daughter, which will freeze her young +blood and wring her heart with pain, and make your eyes start like stars +from their spheres, whilst each hair upon your head will stand erect +like the quills of the affrighted porcupine." + +The farmer's courage failed, and his knees began to tremble and smite +each other like Belshazzar's; for he had heard of the undaunted courage +and manly bearing of young Mayall in times of danger. + +"Look yonder," said Mayall, as he pointed his carbine up the Valley of +the Mohawk. "Do you see the smoke and flames that light up the concave +of the skies? That is the funeral pile of your friend and neighbor. +Around that fire stands the savage band that have come to plunder and +burn your houses and barns, lay waste your fields, and murder and scalp +your wife and daughter, Nelly G.; and now where can I find her?" + +"She is at the house," said the farmer, "and her horse is in the +stable." + +"Then come with me," said Mayall; "there is not a moment to lose; flee +for your life, and the life of your wife and daughter. I will guard and +defend your property." + +Mayall ran to the stable, and in a few moments appeared before the +farmer's house with Nelly's horse, saddled and bridled, and called for +Nelly, who quickly appeared at the door in a plain homespun dress. + +"Mount this horse," said Mayall, "and flee for your life to the fort, a +place of safety." + +"Wait a moment," said Nelly, "until I change my dress." + +"No," said Mayall, "your retreat may be intercepted; there is death in +delay. The Indians are near, your father and mother will soon follow you +to the fort. Tell the commander to fire the alarm-gun, for the valley is +swarming with Indians." + +Mayall kissed Nelly's hand and said, "My prayer is that Heaven may +protect you. There is no time to lose in useless words." + +Nelly leaped upon the saddle, and the spirited animal took the nearest +road for the fort, and in a few moments was lost from sight by the thick +grove through which she had to pass. Mayall's eyes followed her lovely +form until it vanished in the sylvan shade, and then hastened to get her +father and mother on the way to a place of safety. + +Mayall, fearing that he might have been discovered by the Indians, made +a hasty retreat to the nearest woods in the direction of the fort, until +he disappeared among the shrubbery. Then, returning by a circuitous +route, hid in a thicket from which he could have a view of the road +leading to the farmer's house. He had scarcely reached his hiding-place +before he heard the booming of the alarm-gun at the fort, which thrilled +through his bosom with a joyful sound and gave a fresh impulse to all +his energies, as it echoed from mountain-top to mountain and glen, on +all the forest hills that bordered the then wild Valley of the Mohawk, +and seemed to say, "Nolly is safe." + +Mayall had but a few minutes to reflect on what had been accomplished, +before he espied from his hiding-place five Indians coming up the road +leading to the house. Mayall fired both barrels of his carbine, bringing +down the two foremost Indians, and without loss of time had his gun in +readiness for two more. Then, looking out from his hiding-place, he saw +the three remaining Indians retreating in great haste, leaving young +Mayall master of the farm and buildings. The inhabitants of the valley +rushed for the fort at the sound of the alarm-gun; but several were +overtaken by the Indians, and scalped and murdered in the most inhuman +manner. But Mayall kept guard over the farm and buildings. The Indians +made quick work in plundering and burning dwellings, and murdering all +the helpless women and children that fell in their way, and then made a +quick retreat towards Canada. After the Indians had left, and the +terror-stricken inhabitants had returned to their farms and once-loved +homes, only to find many of them a heap of ashes, the old farmer +returned with his wife and daughter, and found Mayall walking about +keeping guard over his farm and dwelling. He had buried the two Indians +and was enjoying a season of rest. Mayall greeted them all with the +warmest friendship, and felt happy when he saw them once more safe in +their own house, which he had saved from the Indians' torch. But the +ungrateful farmer and his wife treated Mayall with cold neglect, if not +contempt. The old farmer had seen his intended son-in-law and spent a +few days with him at the fort, and renewed his promise to give him his +daughter in marriage without her consent, and in spite of her most +earnest protest. + +And now, reader, put yourself in her place, and meditate awhile, and see +if you would have done as she did. + +Nelly was a wild, lovely girl by nature, and had added to her store of +knowledge many of the accomplishments of education. She had pledged her +hand and heart to Mayall, and said she would go with him to some deep, +unknown valley of the wilderness, before she would live with a man she +hated and could not love, and informed Mayall that her father was +determined to have the wedding take place the next Wednesday. She said +she once knew a lady who was separated from her lover, and yielded to +her parents' choice, who lived in perpetual torment, surrounded by a +profusion of wealth. In a few years she pined away, and died +broken-hearted, entered Charon's boat with her first love, and sailed +over the River of Death together, to join their friends on the Elysian +Fields of Paradise, and left her parents and the man of their choice +digging in the mud and dust for gold. But that lady was not Nelly +Gordon. She would sooner seek the wild wood's shade; for, "Better is a +dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." +"I would yield all due respect to my parents, remain single, and cheer +them in the winter of their declining years; make downy pillows for +their aching heads, and ring their funeral knell; but, oh, misery! when +they attempt to force me to take a partner for life, not worthy the name +of a man, for his property, I shudder at the thought, and my better +judgment compels me to rebel against parental authority. They have gone +thus far without my consent--have even invited the guests; and I assure +you the groom may come, but the bride will be absent." + +Mayall's mind was made up at a glance, for he had long known Nelly's +love and fidelity to him, which, he had returned with the kindest +respect, and said to Nelly: "If you dare trust yourself in my care, meet +me at the large gate that leads to the highway as soon as your father +and mother retire to rest, with such articles of clothing as you may +need on your journey, and we will fly to some green valley of the West. +I will see that your horse is in readiness. I have a friend that will +accompany us to Cherry Valley, and return with the horses before the +morning star rises, which will prevent our place of retreat being +discovered." + +As soon as Nelly's father and mother were lost in dreamless slumbers, +Nelly passed out of her chamber with noiseless steps, carrying her +wearing apparel in a bundle, closely packed, and found Mayall and his +friend in readiness, with three horses saddled and equipped for the +journey. The company were quickly mounted on three spirited horses, and +reached Cherry Valley at eleven o'clock P. M.--a place Nelly had never +seen before. No cottage window showed the light of a taper; but the +light of the full moon fell in tranquil loveliness upon the rounded +hill-tops, and the glittering stars added their beauty to the heavens, +while the green forest and flowering shrubbery clothed the earth with +beauty, and the sweet-scented clover perfumed the surrounding air. The +company dismounted under a broad, spreading forest tree at the south end +of the village, near which ran a little rivulet, that meandered in +graceful curves southward. Here Mayall and Nelly G. gave the hand of +their friend a hearty shake, and an affectionate farewell, enjoining on +him the strictest secrecy as he started on his return journey to the +Valley of the Mohawk, which he reached just in time to return Nolly's +horse to her father's stable and his own to the pasture, before the +morning sun dashed her light on all the western hills, and painted the +surrounding groves in all the glory of summer. + +The father of Nelly awoke with the morning light, and called for his +lovely daughter to rise and behold the beauties of the morning. No voice +gave back the welcome response. He called again. The voice that used to +cheer him with her morning song was far away with her lover. Her +bedchamber was as silent as the house of death. He rushed wildly about +his outbuildings, calling for his Nelly. No answer came, as usual, +floating on the morning breeze, to greet his listening ear. He returned +to the house. His wife had searched in vain for her daughter; but found +her most valuable wearing apparel was missing, which told a sad tale, +whilst no traces could be found of her place of retreat. Next the stable +was examined, and Nelly's horse was found as he had left him the night +previous. He rode to every place where he thought she would be likely to +go, but no trace could be found. He inquired for Mayall, and was told +that he was seen the evening before equipped for a hunting excursion. He +returned home in grief and loneliness. His house no longer echoed to the +musical voice of his lovely daughter. His wife, who had been the most +anxious for her daughter to marry a farm instead of a man of worth, now +began to murmur and find fault with her husband for his unkindness to +Mayall, who had saved their lives and the life of their daughter, and +protected their property. She could then see how nobly he had acted, and +shielded them from the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the Indians; and +now their only daughter had flown to his arms for protection, and to +reward him for his noble deeds of humanity--flown from a man she was +determined never to marry. + +"Has she not frequently told you she had rather have a brave and noble +youth without money, than to have a coward she hated with his land and +money--that, should his money be lost by misfortune, she would only have +the wreck of a man left? And now she is gone, perhaps we shall never see +her face again; and, what is worse than all, we have been the cause of +our own misfortunes by our own folly and blindness. Had we heeded her +warnings we might have enjoyed a pleasant life, with our daughter to +cheer us in our declining years; and the brave young man to defend us." + + From cloudy turrets evening crept + To watch the day's retreating light, + Then o'er the heavenly pavement swept + The trailing garments of the night, + By God's own hand was quick unfurled; + Then came the mighty roll-call of the skies, + And Nelly, at her father's gate, + Quickly answered, "Here am I!" + +On the appointed day the man possessed of land and money came to receive +his lovely bride--but, oh, what grief! the bird had flown to the +wilderness--there to dwell in some green valley, there to build her nest +and rear her young, far from the haunts of men, and cook the hunter's +savory fare, and wear the beaver's richest furs, when sullen winter +there may frown. + +The day was turned into a day of sadness and mourning, and at evening +the guests returned home gloomy and disappointed. A month of grief and +loneliness passed away, and Nelly's father learned, from one of the +early settlers of Cherry Valley, that, on the day following the evening +that Nelly left her father's home, she was married at Cherry Valley, by +a clergyman of that place, to a young man by the name of Mayall, and had +not been seen or heard from since. A search was made to discover +Mayall's place of residence; but it all proved useless, as no trace of +his place of retreat could be found. The father and mother of Nelly G. +lived and died without seeing again the face of their lovely daughter. +Soon after Nelly G. changed her name to Nelly Mayall her father and +mother met with many reverses of fortune, their property vanished away +like dew before the morning sun. The Revolutionary war broke out, a +party of Tories and Indians visited the Valley of the Mohawk for +plunder, their buildings were burned, their property taken, and they +fell a sacrifice to the tomahawk and scalping-knife. After the war had +ended, and one adventurer after another came to the Valley of the Adaca +to select homes, Nelly Mayall learned of the sad fate of her parents. +She dressed her hat with the dark plumes of the birds of the forest, and +for a time mourned their sad fate. Time passed on--the changing beauties +of the forest scenery, the kind attention of her devoted husband and the +prattling of her children, once more revived her drooping spirits, and +she was again Nelly Mayall, with all her youthful charms. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + "Fresh from the fountains of the wood + A rivulet to the valley came, + And glided on for many a rood, + Flushed with the morning's ruddy flame; + The air was fresh and soft and sweet, + The slopes in spring's new verdure lay, + And, wet with dewdrops, at my feet + Bloomed the young violets of May. + No sound of busy life was heard + Amid those forests lone and still, + Save the faint chirp of early bird, + Or bleat of deer along the hill. + I traced the rivulet's winding way, + New scenes of beauty opened round. + Where woody shades of brightest green + And lovely blossoms tinged the ground. + 'Ah, happy valley stream,' I said, + 'Calm glides thy waters 'mid the flowers, + Whose fragrance round my path is shed + Through all the joyous summer hours.'" + +After the storm of the Revolution had passed away, and the Angel of +Peace once more brooded over the forest, there was a daring hunter with +his family found living in the Valley of the Adaca, now called Otego +Creek, by the name of Mayall, who had become perfectly familiar with +every hill, mountain, valley and glen for many miles around his humble +cottage. He led a wild and romantic life, living and lodging wherever +night overtook him, when the distance was so great that he could not +reach his home, where the smoke of his cottage fire curled in blue +wreaths over the forest trees, whilst its walls furnished a safe abode +for his wife and children from the wild beasts of the forest. His cabin +was strongly built of logs, with small windows, which looked more like +port-holes to a fort than windows. A deep hole was dug beneath his +cottage floor, from which there was a secret passage leading under the +foundation outside, that one might make his escape, if necessary. A bed +of straw was thrown down into this hole, and here his children slept, +descending by means of a trap-door, which was closed in time of danger, +and made a safe retreat against the wild beasts of the forest in his +absence. There was abundance of game scattered over the forest, and the +multitude of furred animals that inhabited the valleys and congregated +along the streams, living on the swarms of fish that then abounded in +every mountain rill, made it an easy matter to support his table with +fresh and dried venison, choice fowls and speckled trout, whilst the +furred animals, that were abundant, would furnish him with clothing to +protect him from the frosts of winter. + +About the year 1774 this wild forester was found cultivating a small +spot of ground near a little crystal rill that flowed from a deep gorge +in the hill. Eastward of his cabin was a high bluff of rocks, crowned +with lofty pines, that overlooked the valley, which stretched away +towards the Susquehanna. From this rocky promontory the forest appeared +unbroken, excepting the small spot cleared by his own hands, and seemed +to lie beneath this rocky throne in tranquil loveliness. Here at his +cottage, when at home, his wife cooked his frugal but delicious repast. +The Oneida tribe of Indians made their main path to the Susquehanna +Valley through the Valley of the Otego Creek, for the purpose of +procuring their yearly supply of lead, which they used to carry away in +abundance. The first settlers of this valley used to say that they would +leave Laurens Village, and, after an absence of two or three hours, +return loaded with their yearly supply; yet, with all the search that +has been made by the white race, this mine remains a secret, known only +to the red man to this day, and probably will remain so until the end of +time, unless found by accident. This state of affairs moved on quietly +until the breaking out of the Revolution. Great Britain, with her +warlike bands, invaded the eastern and southern coast, whilst the Indian +tribes westward, aided by the Canadians and Tories, swarmed through all +the western forests. + +Mayall began to shun them as much as convenient. They appeared very +different from the Oneidas, and seemed now to be hunting for men and +plunder, instead of wild game. They cleared away and made their +war-paths more plain along the broad-armed Susquehanna and her +tributaries. They came, painted and plumed for the fray, with their +scalp-locks waving in the air; and the frightful war-whoop echoed +through the valley and died away upon the mountain top, frightening the +wild beasts to their lair, as they marched towards the nearest +settlements, to kindle the terror-awakening fire, and massacre and +plunder the inhabitants. The war-whoop awoke the child from the +cradle--the infant was torn from its mother's arms, the aged fell by the +tomahawk and scalping-knife, and the earth fattened with their blood. +Such was the state of affairs when autumn arrived, and hung out her flag +of many colors from the forest trees over hill and vale, as the sun, +with fiery crest, gilded every forest tree with the glory of the season, +whilst the bold hunter gathered in the ripening fruit to increase his +scanty winter store. The furred animals had now put on their winter +robes, which nature so wisely prepares for their comfort during the +frosts of winter. + +Mayall, who styled himself one of that religious sect called Friends, in +order to soothe the fears of his enemies, always hailed them, wherever +he met them, as friends. + +Autumn, with him, was the season for rambling and hunting to lay in his +winter store of furs and provisions, and he prepared for a hunting +excursion up the Cherry Valley Creek. The next morning, when the first +rays of light appeared in the east, he was seen to emerge from his cabin +with a knapsack of provisions on his back, a bundle of traps thrown over +his shoulder, powder-horn and bullet-pouch by his side, and his trusty +gun in his hand. Thus equipped, he took an eastward course for the +Cherry Valley Creek. At the head of that creek was the nearest +settlement, where he sometimes went to dispose of his furs and purchase +stores and ammunition, distant from his home about twenty-seven miles. +As soon as he reached the mouth of the stream, which is a tributary of +the Susquehanna, he began to reconnoitre the stream, and set his traps +wherever signs appeared of beaver, animated with the prospect of a rich +harvest of furs and venison. He had not proceeded far before he saw a +fine buck, which had come to the creek to drink. He instantly raised his +trusty gun to his face. A flash and report, and the noble animal fell +dead upon the bank of the stream. The day had now far advanced, and he +drew his knife from its sheath and dressed his venison with dispatch. He +then hung up three of the quarters upon the trees, cutting off a limb to +form a hook on which it would hang safely from the wolves that were +nightly prowling along the stream. He then took the remaining quarter +and wrapped it up in the skin of the buck, retired into a thick, dark +swamp that lay near the stream, until he reached a large, spreading +hemlock, that afforded a convenient resting-place at its root. Here, in +this dense thicket, he built a small fire, examined his trusty gun, and +laid down to rest. He afterward said he used every caution, for he had +three enemies upon his track--the panther, the wolf and the red man. The +night seemed to pass away quietly, excepting the howling of a wolf +occasionally upon a distant hill, which gave him no uneasiness. Rosy +morn soon appeared, and he could see the sun send his blush upon the +highest hills, from his camping-ground in the swamp. He then prepared +his breakfast, and feasted on the loin of the buck that he had killed +the day previous. Emerging from the swamp, he intended to examine his +traps, and then take the skin of the buck and the choicest part of the +venison to his family. In this calculation he was sadly disappointed; +for, as he proceeded along a path near the stream, suddenly three Indian +warriors appeared in the path before him. He walked directly up to the +party and said, "Good morning, brothers." They returned the compliment +by saying, "Good morning, brother." One of the party said, "Let me see +your gun." He handed it out. The Indian took from his pocket a knife and +turned back the screws that held the lock, and then took the lock and +put it in his pocket, handing the gun back to Mayall, informing him that +he must go with them. Mayall bit his lips in silence, to think a hunter +who had faced his enemies in every form could be so easily frustrated in +his plans. They then informed him that they were on the war-path and he +must consider himself their prisoner, to which he made no reply. + +They immediately commenced their march in the following order: the +stoutest Indian led the march, next came Mayall, the prisoner, followed +by two Indian warriors. In this manner they marched down the creek, and +then down the Susquehanna, to a place near where the Schenevus mingles +with and loses its name in the waters of the Susquehanna. Here they +encamped for the night, and after starting their camp-fire in a thicket +of hemlocks, they all four eat their supper from the venison cooked by +Mayall in the morning. Then, binding their prisoner's hands behind him, +and tying his feet firmly together, they laid down to sleep, with an +Indian on each side and the remaining one to keep guard. As soon as the +blaze of the fire died away, Mayall tried to disengage his hands, which +began to pain him cruelly, but all in vain. If he could once free +himself, he could reach his home before the sun could rise again, and +once more see his wife and children; but six miles of forest parted them +at this time, on a straight line. Oh, the misery of being dragged from +home! And who could foretell his fate? Was he to wear the bearskin +moccasin, and be tied to the fatal stake and burned for Indians' sport, +and his poor family left to starve and perish amid the frosts of a long, +dreary winter? He dreamed of the red war-post, the terrific dance of the +red man round his burning victim, and all the refined torture of the +savage. Morning broke his dreams; the sun again kissed the mountain-top. +Mayall was unbound--his mind became calm, his resolution was formed. It +was the last night that he was to endure the horrors of being bound. +Little did the Indians know the danger of driving to desperation so +terrible a foe, who was perfectly acquainted with the forest many +leagues around them. The Indian warriors soon resumed their march in the +same order of the previous day, but with greater haste. They moved +forward rapidly, as if they feared an enemy in the rear. Mayall scanned +every movement with the eye of the vulture, for a chance to deal the +deadly blow upon his captors. The day seemed to wear away without an +opportunity for the deadly combat, until they halted at a ford above +where the village of Unadilla now stands. Here they held a parley, as +the stream was swollen and rapid. Mayall looked on in sullen silence, as +he began to feel the demon rise. He said he soon felt the courage of a +lion, and the strength of a Samson before he had trifled with Delilah. + +They hesitated for a short time over the danger. The foremost warrior +finally ventured into the stream with his rifle and it was with great +difficulty he kept his footing. He struggled against the rushing waters, +and finally reached the opposite bank; the second one now stepped into +the stream and ordered Mayall to follow. Mayall made every appearance of +preparing to follow, until the Indian reached the rapid current; then, +turning suddenly upon the Indian on the shore, at one blow with the +stock of his gun he laid him dead at his feet. As quick as thought, +before his body had fairly reached the ground, Mayall seized his rifle +and shot the Indian in the stream. Then tearing the Indian's belt from +his body (for it was hurrying times), he jumped behind the trunk of the +nearest tree that would shelter him, as a ball from the Indian's rifle +on the opposite bank whistled by his head, which he had anticipated, and +moved as quickly as possible, to avoid his deadly aim. They now stood on +opposite banks, each behind the trunk of a tree, with an empty rifle in +their hands. The rifles were quickly loaded and prepared for the deadly +combat, and the life of one at least must be sacrificed. After Mayall's +gun was in readiness he cautiously peered out; but seeing the Indian's +rifle aimed directly at him he dodged suddenly back, just in time to +save his life; for the very instant Mayall dodged back his head, a ball +from the Indian's rifle grazed the bark of the tree, and whistled away +among the forest trees. Mayall now thought of taking the advantage of +the Indian by aiming his rifle directly at his hiding-place and firing +at the first appearance of the Indian's head, but in this he was +disappointed; for the Indian, seeing Mayall's rifle aimed at his head, +drew it back so quickly that the ball cut a channel in the bark where +the Indian's eye appeared. Mayall loaded again as hastily as possible, +and stood for a moment, hesitating what course to pursue, satisfied that +the Indian warrior was his equal in aim and courage. He cast his eye +back into the forest, and readily saw the trees stood thick, and by +drawing the Indian's fire he could make a quick and safe retreat. But +that would not answer--he would be hunted down and surprised, and his +life would never be safe. Mayall quickly resolved that the Indian or +himself must fall on that ground, and the only means now left him was +stratagem. He drew his ramrod from his rifle, and putting his hat on the +end, pushed it out carefully, to prevent the Indian from discovering the +deception. It had the desired effect; for scarcely had the hat shown its +full size outside the trunk of the tree, before the Indian sent a ball +from his rifle through the hat, which Mayall lowered quickly to the +ground, and then listened with breathless anxiety the result. In this +condition he waited a long time. + +All was silent as the tomb, excepting now and then the scream of a +fish-hawk or the singing of a hermit-thrush that had approached the bank +of the river after the firing had ceased, and seemed singing the funeral +dirge of the red warriors who had already fallen. All of a sudden the +thrush flew past Mayall into the forest, and the practiced ear of Mayall +heard a rippling in the stream, like running water dashing against some +slight obstruction. Anticipating the approach of the Indian warrior, he +stepped suddenly from behind the tree, whilst the Indian was struggling +with the current, and sent a ball from his rifle through the warrior's +heart. He then floated down the rapid current, and sunk in the deep +water below the rift. + +Mayall then took his gunlock from the pocket of the Indian on the shore, +who had stayed behind to engineer and direct the crossing, placed it +upon his own gun, dragged the Indian into the current of the river, and +he, too, floated down, and sunk with the first two in the deep, dark +waters of the Susquehanna. He then washed out all traces of the bloody +strife, and bent his course homeward. He hurried on, avoiding the +trodden path of the red man, until he reached the mouth of the Otego +Creek, when night's sable curtain began to darken the landscape around +him. He then ascended a high peak of the mountain, that not only +overlooked the Valley of the Susquehanna, but also overlooked the lovely +Valley of the Otego Creek. Here, after finding a suitable spot, and +examining his rifle, and seeing that all was right, he laid down, weary +and exhausted, to rest, without kindling a fire. + +The experience of the last two days had taught him a lesson long to be +remembered. As the night grew dark and chilly, he could see the fire +from his own cottage window gleam warm and bright from his lofty +mountain bed, distant twelve miles. The night seemed long and wild, and +still wilder round his lonely bed. The war was now raging between the +United States and Canada. The inhabitants of Cherry Valley had been +massacred, and he had come near losing his own life and liberty, and +time would only tell what would become of himself and family. The +Oneidas knew his home and place of rest, but at present they were his +friends; but how should he escape these western savage tribes, that +delighted in kindling the terror-awakening fire, and causing the +midnight to glitter with the blaze of some solitary dwelling, whilst +they stood at the door with the scalping-knife and tomahawk, to deal the +death-blow to the inmates, and triumph with savage glee over their +untimely death? Such were the reflections of Mayall, solitary and alone +in his mountain bed, when the wild beasts of the forest were in motion, +and no human being within twelve miles of his mountain camp. At length +the morning dawned; the sun arose in all his glory, throwing a rosy +blush, as it touched one peak and then another along the Catskill +mountains, which he could see clothed in all their autumnal glory above +the intervening hills. Long lines of clouds lay along the highest peaks +of these mountains, painted with all the hues of vermilion and gold, but +soon faded to a leaden hue, as they began to veil the sun. + +Mayall was now aware of the approaching storm, which he considered a +stroke of good luck. He took the Indian's rifle, which he had brought +thus far with him, and secreted it in a hollow log, lest it might be a +tell-tale of what had happened. He then took a general survey with his +practiced eye, to see if there was any smoke rising from the valleys. He +could see none but his own in the distance. He then hurried down from +the mountain, and took the nearest path to his home with rapid and +hurried steps, in order to get as near home as possible, that the rain +might wash out all traces behind, and took special care to avoid soft +ground, as he well knew the shrewdness of the Indians on the track if +they should miss their tribesmen. He reached home before the rain began +to descend, and had hardly closed the door before the wind began to blow +and the rain fell in torrents. + +His family were surprised to see him return, after three days' absence, +with nothing but his gun and ammunition, and appearing careworn, weary +and hungry. He walked to the door and looked out, and said, "Nature +weeps for me!" + +Mayall was a bold, daring man, and none was found more brave; but when +he looked upon his little prattling children and lovely wife, he thought +of the three Indian warriors lying at the bottom of the dark, deep +stream, and he wept, thinking they might have wives and fatherless +children, who would look out evening and morning for their fathers and +husbands, who would never return again to their homes. + +His wife and children hailed him with joy, but nothing they could say +seemed worth his notice; he seemed to be wrapped in deep meditation--not +a smile was seen to light up his sunburnt countenance. No one could read +the secret of his meditation. + +Autumn quietly wore away, and Mayall confined his hunting excursions to +his own quiet valley, where game appeared quite plenty, until the snows +of winter began to whiten the hills. He then remained most of the time +at home, excepting now and then, when the weather was favorable, he made +an excursion up or down the valley in quest of deer, to supply his +family with fresh venison. The deep snows had drifted over the war-path +of the red man, and Mayall had enjoyed a quiet season, spending most of +his time by a warm winter fire. + +At length winter began to resign his sway, and took up his march for his +northern icy throne. The rays of the sun began to dissolve the deep +snow, the southern breeze began to whisper among the dumb branches of +the forest trees, the warm rains pattered down, the little mountain +streams were swollen, and noisily hurrying down to pour their tribute +into the Otego, which overflowed its banks and inundated the lowlands +along the streams, and Spring began to put on her glorious robes of +beauty. The violet opened its young leaves with all its youthful blush, +the honeysuckle displayed its glistening cups of gold, and the forest +trees were again clothed with living green, while every tree that bore +the fruits of Autumn was dressed with Nature's fairest wreaths, which +art can scarcely imitate. The feathered choir had fluttered up the +valley, borne on the southern breeze, to cheer the woodland with their +song. + +Such was the earthly Paradise of Mayall. Not all the halls of state, +with their artificial splendor; not all the retinue of kings, with +golden crowns, surrounded with warriors glittering with burnished gold +and ornamented with diamonds--all these faded into insignificance, when +compared with his green forest home. + +"What city," said Mayall, "with all its towers and domes, can compare +with these sylvan shades and waving arches, the music of these +waterfalls, and that of the tall pine's quaking cone standing on its +high and lofty throne? And what music can compare with the notes of +these feathered songsters, that morning and evening hymn the praise of +Nature's God, where He sits enthroned with all his glory?" Such were the +reflections of Mayall, as he sat beneath a clustering vine that his +lovely companion had trained, in his absence, to form an arch over his +cottage door, and shelter him from the burning sun. + +The flowers of May soon began to drop their leaves, the streams had +become confined within their banks, the red men from the Western lakes +and Canada were again upon the war-path, and it required all the skill +of a forest life to elude their pursuit. Mayall knew every sound of the +night; his eye and ear had long sought in the dark; not a beast that +walked the forest by night, or prowled around his cabin or camp-fire, +but he could name readily by the sound of his footsteps. Mayall had +remained most of the summer at his forest home, cultivating a small +field that surrounded it, and capturing such game as frequented his own +valley, and the streams that meandered through it abounded with fish of +the finest quality for his table. + +Summer had quietly passed away, and the golden sun of September began to +change the bright green of summer to all the varied hues of autumn. +Mayall once more began to feel a desire to roam over the hills, which +had long been his favorite employment; he finally resolved on visiting +his more distant hunting-ground in quest of deer, which had become +scarce near his home. He accordingly rose with the sun and prepared for +a journey over the distant hills and valleys, which had only appeared to +him in his dreams since his capture by the three Indian warriors. He +took an eastern course, crossed the highlands between the Otego Creek +and Susquehanna Valley, crossed the Indian war-path that passed up the +Susquehanna, and thence up Cherry Valley Creek at right angles, and soon +began to climb the steep ascent of the Crumhorn mountain, in the +direction of a small lake situated on the top of the mountain. As he +began to ascend the mountain the sun had passed the meridian, and poured +its heated rays against the western slope of the mountain. Mayall, +coming to a noisy little rill that spun its silver thread down the +mountain side, to mingle with the water in the valley below, slaked his +thirst at the stream, and, walking up to a little mound near the stream, +scraped together some leaves that had fallen in wild profusion around, +to carpet the mountain-side with all their varied hues, and seated +himself for his noonday meal. After satisfying his hunger and again +quenching his thirst at the stream, he sat down to rest; a stupor came +over him, as the gentle breeze fanned the mountain-side and whispered +among the lofty branches of the forest trees, like the Æolian harp of +passing time. + +Mayall soon became unconscious of the fearful dangers that were hovering +around him; time, to him, passed unheeded; the sun was fast sinking +towards the western hills, and the wild beasts of the forest were again +in motion. Mayall slowly awoke to consciousness, and, to his surprise +and horror, he heard the tread of a panther walking about him, and +covering him with leaves. Being perfectly acquainted with the habits of +this animal, he knew that to move a hand or foot would cause his instant +death, as the old panther was then preparing a feast for her young ones, +as he had seen them prepare a deer that she had found in the same +manner, and then go and bring her young ones. He lay in fearful suspense +until the panther had finished her covering of leaves. He heard her +footsteps begin to recede, until the sound was lost in distance; then, +creeping out from his covering of leaves, he discovered near him an old +decayed log about the length of a man. This he moved to the spot where +he had lain, and covered it with leaves, then, casting his eyes around, +he saw a tree that he could easily climb, and, slinging his gun over his +shoulder, fastened by a strap to his belt, he lost no time in ascending +the tree to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet, where he found a +convenient branch to rest upon, above the height of the panther's +ground-leap. He waited quietly for the return of the panther and her +family, not knowing how many guests would be invited to the feast. + +Whilst sitting on this lofty perch, in painful suspense, he carefully +examined his trusty gun and hunting knife, which he sheathed in his boot +in readiness for the combat, should the panthers attempt to attack him +by ascending the tree. After resting on one of the branches of his +chosen tree for a short time he heard the rustling of the leaves in the +distance, and could plainly see through the branches of the trees that +the old panther was advancing towards his bed of leaves, accompanied by +three large cubs. He now felt thankful there was but one old one in the +company, and waited in silence to see the exploits of the old panther, +which advanced steadily towards the bunch of leaves with cautious steps, +as if she feared to wake her prey until she came within leaping +distance; then, settling down on the ground, waited until her young ones +came to her side; then springing forward with one tremendous bound, she +struck upon the log covered with leaves. The rotten wood-bark and leaves +flew fearfully around for a moment. The panther seeing her mistake, +dropped her tail and ears like a shamed cur, and taking a careful survey +with her eyes of the surrounding forest, stood at fault for a few +moments. Then raising her head and ears, she seemed to resume all her +native fierceness, and seemed maddened with rage at her disappointment, +and, seeming to have caught the scout of the victim of her rage, she +raised her eyes and fixed them on Mayall in the tree, and advanced +directly towards him, her young panthers following, which were about the +size of a large wild cat. + +Mayall awaited her approach, with his gun in readiness, until the +panther came in full view, and as she settled towards the ground to make +a bound up the tree he sent the contents of his gun through her head. +For a few moments there was a fearful struggle among the small brush and +saplings, and then she dropped lifeless and exhausted upon the ground. +Mayall lost no time in loading his gun, but the young panthers, seeing +their protector and provider fall, were quickly out of reach of the +fearless hunter. Mayall descended to the ground just as the sun was +casting his last crimson blush on the Crumhorn hills, and kindled his +camp-fire on the leaves that the panther had scraped together for his +funeral pile. After he had kindled his fire and made preparations for +the night he then laid down near his camp-fire, where he could get a +fair view of his surroundings. The shades of evening soon gathered +around him. The stars shot forth in beauty one by one, and the evening +dew fell in silence. Thinking the young panthers might return for their +dam, he had placed her in a sleeping position in a conspicuous place, to +draw them to her side if they came within sight. Mayall waited in +sleepless anxiety, thinking that when the embers of his fire died away +the young panthers might approach. In the midst of his watchfulness the +moon arose and showed her maiden face, and walked among the stars, +reflecting her borrowed light among the branches of the forest trees. + +Mayall was delighted with the grandeur of the scenery around him, which +drew out his mind in pure devotion to Nature and Nature's God. The night +seemed to pass like a pleasant dream, and the day-star began to twinkle +in the east. Mayall kindled again his fire to prepare his morning +repast, that he might retrace his steps to the Valley of the Otego, +knowing that the hunter finds no deer in forests inhabited by panthers. +The day-king soon arose and dispelled the darkness of night. Mayall went +forward and circumnavigated the little lake in pursuit of the young +panthers. Not finding their hiding place, he sat down on a log for a few +moments to view that beautiful sheet of water, reflecting on its bosom +the surrounding forest. Eolus was slumbering. Not a breath of air played +over its surface, but lay like the mirror bright and fair. Mayall in his +excitement viewed it as one of the lovely dimples on the face of +creation, which held him for a time like a charm, until his thoughts +roamed over the forest hills to his loved ones at home. He then arose +and retraced his steps to the Valley of the Otego, considering the past +day and night one of the most charming incidents of his past life. + +The war of the Revolution had now ended, and new adventurers began to +visit the Valley of the Otego. Charmed with the beauty of its forests +and crystal streams, they would return and soon appear with their +families. + + And behold the green hills in distance laid, + Where the wild hunter often strayed, + Where through the forest swift as light + The wild deer shunned the bullets' flight. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Summer had resigned her sway to Autumn in the green valleys of the +Susquehanna and her tributaries, which spread out among the hills like +the branches of some mighty forest tree, over whose curving and playful +waters the green plumes of the forest trees had waved during the summer, +now changed with the season; and Summer, the queen of flowers and +ripening fruit, had wrapped herself in a mantle of green, and laid down +to die as the sun gradually declined to southern skies and the Autumn +Queen put on her gorgeous robes of many colors. The squirrel was seen to +play on nimble feet through oak and chestnut groves gathering in his +winter store. The deer, with her fawn, wandered through the grove +unmolested, excepting at such times as Mayall needed venison for his own +table. + +One day, while seated beneath the vine-clad porch of his cabin, where +the vines had been trained by his wife to tie in leafy coil over the +door, he saw a woman in homespun dress advancing with hurried steps, +weeping and mourning as she advanced towards him, and fell exhausted at +his feet. Mayall raised her from the ground and inquired the cause of +her grief. She soon recovered sufficiently to inform him that a party of +nine Indian hunters had been prowling about her cabin for a couple of +days, and that morning they had stolen her little daughter Nelly, but +four years old, and bore her away in triumph without any regard to her +screams or the lamentations of her mother for her only child. + +Mayall listened with pity and grief to the poor woman's tale of woe, and +impatiently said, "Why did not your husband follow the black thieves and +bring back your child?" + +"Oh dear," cried the poor woman, "what could he do with so many +Indians?" + +Mayall replied, "Follow them, and when a good opportunity offered, kill +them, shoot the thieves and bring back your child. Better die like a man +than live a coward here in this forest land, dreaming of robber band +that bore away his only child to be a slave in some proud savage's smoky +hut." + +At this reply the woman became frantic with despair and cried out, "Oh, +Mayall, for mercy save my child. You are the only man now living that +can do it, and I will give you all I possess on earth and be your slave +in the bargain." + +Mayall was not deaf to sympathy. The fire of revenge began to kindle in +his bosom; but how should he withstand the power and vengeance of nine +brave men skilled in battle and the chase? He sat silent for a few +moments. The flames of revenge began to burn in his iron will, which, +when aroused, was terrible. He inquired the direction the Indians had +gone with the child, and where their trail could be found, then told the +woman to go home and take a good night's rest; he said the Indians had +gone, and of course would not return unless they came to bring her Nelly +back, and further she could do nothing to recover the child herself. He +thought the child would be returned in the morning. + +These words seemed to pacify her, and she returned home. As soon as his +only neighbor, Miss Murphrey, was out of sight, Mayall examined his +trusty gun and prepared cartridges equal to twice the number of Indians, +placed his tomahawk and hunting-knife in his belt, then turned to his +wife and said, "You must not look for me until I return. I will be back +as soon as my mission is accomplished." + +His mind then became calm and he sallied forth from his cottage as +cheerful as a hunter in quest of game, and soon disappeared in the +forest that surrounded his dwelling. The sun was descending towards the +western hills in all her flaming glory as Mayall reached the summit of +the dividing ridge between the Otego Creek and the Susquehanna Valley. +Cautiously and slowly he descended the hill, keeping on the Indian +trail. + +As the shades of night hovered over the forest, Mayall left the trail +and took his post on a small hill not far from the river, where he could +hear the Indians preparing wood for their evening fire, and occasionally +he could hear the child, Nelly Murphrey, crying for its mother. Mayall +cautiously advanced through the thick forest, guided by the sound of the +child's voice weeping and often calling for its mother, who lay wrapped +in wakeful dreams several miles away. The voice of this weeping child +nerved the old hunter's arm with the strength of a Samson, and filled +his heart with a vengeance not his own. The hours seemed to linger into +days as he lay crouched in the dark. At last the camp-fire of the +Indians blazed up and illuminated the forest. Mayall lay secreted in a +little thicket behind a knoll, where he could hear every word that was +said, and he well understood the Indian dialect. + +One Indian, who seemed to be their leader, said there would be no danger +unless they got the old hunter on the trail, and to avoid him they must +be up and away as soon as the day-star appeared. + +The Indians partook of their evening meal and laid down to slumber and +rest, not dreaming that the bold hunter, like the panther, was crouching +near with sharpened tomahawk and knife, panting for an opportunity to +avenge a woman's wrongs. + +As the night wore away all became silent, excepting an occasional +outbreak from little Nelly Murphrey, calling for her mother. The +camp-fire no longer blazed, but the dying coals were yet red, and gave +sufficient light to see the nine dark forms stretched on the forest +floor. Mayall now began to move forward with cautious steps. He soon +discovered by the flickering of the embers that the Indian on the watch +had fallen asleep, with the stolen child nestling between him and the +Indian warrior beside him. + +Mayall took a cautious look. No Indian in his blanket stirred. All was +silent, excepting the low murmuring of the Susquehanna rolling by. He +noiselessly rested his gun behind a tree, and leaped like a tiger upon +his prey, with his tomahawk in one hand, which he swung as fast as death +could deal a blow, and his long knife gleaming by the light of the fire +in the other. The last Indian in the circle, wakened by the screams of +the child, leaped from his leafy bed and fled into the forest with the +speed of a panther. Mayall, seeing his retreating form, sprang to the +Indian's guns and fired three in quick succession after him, to speed +his flight, and then, gathering up the remaining guns as quickly as +possible, threw them upon the coals with the muzzles in the direction +the Indian had gone, in order to keep up the firing until he could get +out of hearing with the affrighted child before the Indian returned. He +then took up Nelly, who was half dead with fright, and hurried off in +the opposite direction as fast as possible. The sharp report of one gun +after another broke the stillness of night until Mayall had got more +than two miles from the bloody conflict with his prize, and had soothed +the child's fears by softly whispering in her ear that he was carrying +her home to her mamma. + +Mayall now diverged from the trail and reached the place of his +destination by a circuitous route, at times traveling in the channel of +small brooks, in order to deceive the Indians, should they undertake to +follow on the trail, to avenge the blood of his tribesmen. Mayall +hurried on with his prize. The stars had faded from his view, and the +morning sun had lighted up the concave of the skies, before he could +reach the weeping mother with her little Nelly. Her mother had passed a +sleepless night, and her wakeful eye had been turned in every direction +to see if she could catch a glimpse or a sound from her little Nelly. +None but a mother could realize her pain and anguish at the loss of her +lovely child. As she stood looking she fancied she heard the faint sound +of her prattling voice. A moment later she saw Mayall come in full view +with little Nelly in his arms. The fond mother, now as frantic with joy +as she had been the previous day with grief, rushed to meet Mayall. She +met him some distance from her cabin, and little Nelly leaped with joy +into her mother's arms as she fell at the feet of Mayall, to thank him +for restoring to her loved embrace her only child. Mayall raised her to +her feet and said, "I have done no more than my duty, and I have no time +to waste. Swear to me before the God of Heaven that all that pertains to +the loss and return of this child shall be kept a secret whilst I live." + +After receiving her sacred promise not to reveal the secret, he +disappeared again in the forest, and there was no human being left at +liberty to tell the frightful story of the Indians' fate, excepting the +Indian that made good his retreat. + +The seasons rolled around, Autumn had again hung out her flag of many +colors, and Nelly Murphrey, under the fond care of her mother, had grown +to be a beautiful little girl, with her auburn hair drooping fondly in +ringlets upon her shoulders, and appeared in all the beauty of +innocence. + +Whilst the mother was seated at her door, playing with little Nelly, she +raised her eyes and saw a tall, stately Indian standing before her at a +respectful distance. As soon as her eyes rested upon the Indian, she +recognized him as being one of the band that stole her child. As Nelly +saw him she screamed and flew back into the house. The sudden scream +seemed to freeze her mother's blood, and she sat as immovable as a +statue. The Indian stood perfectly quiet, without coming nearer. When +she had recovered, he said he would not harm her nor her child; but she +must tell him who brought back her child. She told him she found the +child in the edge of the woods the next morning, and supposed that he +had returned it. He then told her he had not, and she must find out who +it was and let him know when he came around again. The mother watched +the Indian until he disappeared in the forest, and then stealing away +slyly in the opposite direction, and by taking a circuitous route, soon +reached Mayall's cottage, and told Mayall that one of the same Indians +that had stolen her Nelly had been at her house, trying to find out who +brought her back. "I told him where I found her, and thought he had got +tired of her and brought her back." Mayall then told her to go into his +cottage and remain there with his wife and children until he returned. +Taking good care to keep the doors securely bolted, and the axe in the +house to use if they were molested, Mayall then took down his gun, +prepared some cartridges, put on his belt, with his tomahawk and knife +depending from it, and hanging by his side, and left the cottage. + +Night came, but the hunter did not return. There was no moon, but the +stars shone forth in tranquil loveliness as the night wore away. About +midnight they heard a noise outside and near the cottage, and they crept +cautiously to the window, which was nearly as high as one's head, but +not of sufficient size to admit a common sized man, and looked +cautiously out, and Mayall's cow was in his garden. Mrs. Mayall then +told her that the Indian was near, and she must not show her head at the +window, or she might be taken for her husband. The minutes now seemed to +drag into hours, when that hungry cow was walking over the choice melons +and devouring them, and in a few moments more she was eating and +stamping down the corn which they had cultivated with care for their own +domestic use. But time wore away, and all was still, excepting the cow +in the garden. The sharp report of a gun was heard, and loud groans +followed, which seemed to shake everything within like a clap of +midnight thunder, and my brain seemed to reel, for deeds were going on I +dare not look upon. + +Soon after, some one, whom I took to be Mayall, for I could see by the +light of the stars he had a gun in his hand, came and drove his cow out +of the garden. Mrs. Mayall then told me her husband would be back in the +course of an hour, and they would then be out of all danger; that her +husband was then near the house. Our fears seemed to vanish, and we +commenced talking and anticipating what had happened. Mrs. Mayall said +the report was from her husband's gun; that she knew the sound from all +other guns, and that, when in the hands of her husband, was sure death +against prowlers of the night, whether they walked on two feet or four. + +She then said she knew their game. The Indian had let the cow into the +garden, expecting that her husband would come out, whilst he lay +secreted to kill him. She said Mayall never slept in his house when he +knew there were Indians watching for him, but always kept near enough to +protect his house and family. Whilst we were anticipating what had been +done in the dark, Mayall suddenly knocked three times on the door, then +paused and struck one. Mrs. Mayall, without farther hesitation, sprang +to the door and opened it. I said, "How dare you open that door?" She +replied that his knock was different from all other men; she said she +could tell by the day of the week, and no one knew the secret but +herself. + +Mayall entered the house without saying a word, bolted the door after +him, laid down his gun, knife and tomahawk, and after telling me that I +could go home in the morning if I chose, there would be no danger, he +then laid down on his bed of straw, and was sound asleep in less than +five minutes; and when I left his cottage in the morning he was still +asleep. I took my little Nelly and returned to my cabin. Many strange +thoughts passed through my troubled brain. Occasionally I seemed to hear +the sharp report of a rifle; and then how came the blood on that +tomahawk? The Indian never appeared again, nor could there be any trace +of him found. + + Roam on the high mountain's crest, fearless ranger, + The Indian no more shall dye his coarse blanket + In citizens' gore; he has left, aye, forever, the vales + Where you met him, and fought for my Nelly, + So gifted, so fair and so young. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The Oneida Indians came annually from the Valley of the Mohawk and the +Oneida reservation to the Valley of the Susquehanna, by their path down +the Valley of Adaca, to lay in their store of dried venison for the long +and dreary winters of this latitude, accompanied by their wives and +daughters, who prepared the meat taken in the hunt, dried and smoked it, +and put it in deerskin sacks ready to be conveyed to their winter +quarters. They always encamped at their place of rest at the outlet of +the Adaca Creek into the Susquehanna River, where they had planted an +orchard to supply them with apples during the fall hunt. + +Mayall lived near their path where they usually stopped to make +inquiries and gain such information as was necessary to guide them where +deer were most numerous. They usually gave Mayall an invitation to join +the fall hunt, which was his favorite amusement at that season of the +year, being an expert in the game of hunting. The Indians gave Mayall +his full share of the venison and furs taken. They ranged the hills and +valleys in every direction from their camp at the place of rest, and +returned at night with their venison and furs, which they handed over to +their squaws to be dressed and dried, excepting such parts as would not +bear transportation, which were taken to supply the daily food of the +camp. A number of large gray wolves had been heard nightly from their +camp howling on the mountain south of the Susquehanna, which caused the +deer to leave the South Mountain and cross over to the hills on the +north side. + +On the morning following one of their howling frolics, one of the +hunters shot and wounded a deer on the south side of the river. In their +endeavors to capture it they drove it up the mountain side. There were a +number of hunters joined in the chase, but as the hill grow steep and +rocky they all fell back and returned to camp but Mayall and two +Indians, who had now reached the high range of hills, where they made a +temporary halt to view the ample plains and beauteous tracts below. On +the one hand they surveyed the famous Susquehanna, rolling in silent +dignity and marking its course with inconceivable grandeur, while in the +distance the hills lifted their venerable brows. + +Here they had paused a few moments to view the beauties of Nature as it +came fresh from the hand of Omnipotence. The sunlight was streaming from +the western skies, kissing each mountain top, clad with crimson and +gold, like the morning light that dances on the heaven-kissed hills of +Paradise. Mayall viewed the scene with unspeakable delight, as he +thought how rich he was in everything that made life desirable to him. +From this lofty eminence over the valley forest he could mark the smoke +curling from his quiet home, where his lovely companion rested. Youth, +beauty, wealth, love, all seemed to be his. All his past life seemed to +pass in grand review. The sun sank in silence toward the horizon, and +called to his mind that the chase was leading them too far from camp to +return before dark. + +Before they had time to decide which course to pursue they heard the +deer returning with a gang of wolves close in pursuit, made ravenous by +the scent of the warm blood gushing from the deer's sides at every +bound, in consequence of his wonderful springs to escape the wolves, +which were so near that one miss-jump would have been fatal, as a dozen +wolves were ready to tear his flesh from his bones. + +It now became hurrying times. Mayall looked round to find a safe +retreat. The two Indians that had ascended the hill with him were wild +with affright, and beat a hasty retreat. The deer became exhausted in +its exertions to escape, and fell to the ground within two rods of the +place where Mayall stood, and three of the wolves rushed upon him with +open jaws, to devour him. Mayall was just the man for that place; for as +quick as a flash of electricity all his presence of mind returned. The +contents of his gun, with his deadly aim, brought down the first or +foremost to the ground. He dropped his gun and met the second with his +tomahawk, which he dispatched at a blow. The third had then reached him. +He aimed a blow at his head, his weapon glanced, and the wolfs mouth +came in contact with his body and fastened his teeth in his +hunting-frock. At that instant Mayall gave him a thrust with his long +hunting-knife, which he had drawn from his belt with his left hand. The +knife entered between the wolf's ribs and split his heart, and the wolf +fell back and expired with a mournful howl. Mayall was now clear from +the wolves. The remainder of the drove was devouring the deer with such +haste, he saw there would be no escape unless it was effected without +delay. He instantly placed his tomahawk in his belt and sheathed his +knife, then fastening his gun to his belt by means of a spring, +commenced climbing the first favorable tree he reached. + +He had barely time to climb ten feet from the ground before the wolves +made a rush for the tree, and commenced jumping at him, mingled with a +howl of rage and disappointment. Mayall continued to climb until he +reached a safe and convenient place for loading his gun. He soon loaded +and brought down the fourth wolf, and then gave a shout of triumph to +inform the Indians that he had reached a place of safety. The Indians +shouted back from the tree-tops far down the mountain, with joy that +echoed through every glen and ascended above the mountain-top; for +hearing the howling and growling of the wolves after Mayall's first +fire, they supposed the wolves were devouring Mayall and would soon be +upon their track, and had taken the precaution to reach a place of +safety in time. Mayall now continued to load his gun and fire upon the +wolves with success, until the thinned band made their retreat up the +mountain. He then descended from his lofty perch, made his retreat in +the same direction the Indians had, down the mountain. + +Mayall soon reached the place where the Indians had fled for safety, and +found them perched in a tree like two owls on their nightly roost. As +soon as the Indians saw Mayall they quickly descended, and the three +took up their line of march for their camp with the double-quick. The +curtains of night were fondly drooping upon the hill-tops, and the stars +were shooting forth in glory one by one from Heaven's blue concave as +the three hunters reached the Indian encampment. + +The Indians shouted with joy at their return, after hearing the firing +of guns and the fierce howling of wolves. They had been much alarmed for +their safety. The squaws and Indians flocked round Mayall to hear the +Indians relate the story of their adventure and act over the frightful +scene with gun, tomahawk and knife, to show the amount of skill used by +Mayall in handling the deadly weapons of war. Their war-chief, being +present, addressed his Indians in the following manner: "Your pale-faced +chief, whom I shall this night adopt by the name of Wolf-hunter, must +ever be revered by our tribesmen for his deeds of skill and daring. He +has driven our enemies from our hunting-ground. Yon skulking thieves +that destroyed our game, and tore the white squaw's papoose from her +arms, and bore it over the high hills to where the Susquehanna winds her +course among the alder groves, there the pale chief left them in their +leafy bed of gore, and returned the white papoose to the embrace of her +mother. The Indians who returned to avenge their fallen tribesmen have +been slain by him, and their bones will ever rest on our hunting-ground, +unmolested either by sire or son. He has met this day in deadly combat +the gray wolves of the forest that destroyed our venison. They spared +neither the deer nor its fawn; and to-night they sleep in death, high on +the bleak mountain-side. The God of battle helps him in every strife, +and no arm has yet been found able to cope with his. And we should be +proud of such a friend to lead the hunt and move the whirlwind of the +battle on." + +Mayall related the story of his adventure with the wolves to Mr. Powel, +one of the first settlers of the Adaca Valley, and at the same time +informed him that Molly Brant, then an Indian maiden of beautiful form +and suavity of manners, was with the Indians at their camp, and was +after that the wife of Sir William Johnson. He said her manners were as +gentle as the south wind that rocked the tree-tops in autumn. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The place of rest where the red man unstrung his bow and slept two +hundred years ago, beneath the shades of an overgrown forest, where the +grandsires of that much-abused race planted their orchard, which bore +the gems of bright abundance in autumn's golden days to regale their +taste and satisfy their appetites, whilst they rested from the chase, +this Garden of Eden so much famed in Indian story, the red man's +resting-place, where he gathered in his stock of furs for his winter +clothing and dried his venison to sustain his own life and the life of +his family during the cold stormy winters of this latitude, around whose +fertile plain the towering hills stand as sentinels to guard the plain +below from furious winds and drifting storms, was highly esteemed by the +Indian tribes for the abundance of fish that inhabited the waters of the +Susquehanna and its tributaries. + +There has long been a story of revolutionary days connected with this +renowned place. Sir William Johnson, a Major-General in the British +army, came to Johnstown and took up his residence in that place. Whilst +there he had some business to transact with the Indians, who frequently +came to that place to trade. He there became acquainted with a young +squaw, Holly Brant, the daughter of the famous war-chief of the Mohawk +Indians, and was so much enamored with her virtue, wit and beauty, that +he asked the chief's consent to give him the hand of his daughter in +marriage. After some hesitation the chief consented, and his daughter, +the Forest Queen, was sent for. She came dressed in simple Indian +costume, ornamented with wampum, wearing fawn-skin moccasins embroidered +with the quills of the porcupine; her long flowing dress was decked with +roses. Sir William had been a guest at the Royal Court of England, where +fair women flashed with diamonds and brave men whirled in the giddy +dance, but none seemed to him to possess that beauty and grace which +appeared in this young Forest Queen. In short, he admired her more than +he did all the fair daughters of Eastern climes. + +Sir William was so much enamored with her artless grace that they were +soon united in marriage, and he took her to his mansion to grace its +stately halls as she had the cabin of the Indian chief, her father, who +was considered by the Indians equal in rank to Sir William Johnson. + + Beauty's spell flowed from her eyes, + A radiant splendor wreathed her hair, + And fondly sweet perfection lingered there, + From which all human virtues gently flow. + +In due time the chief came to visit Sir William and his daughter, and +was invited by them to tarry with them for a time. The invitation was +accepted by the chief. After viewing the stately halls hung with maps, +pictures and mirrors, he retired to rest. Not being accustomed to sleep +on beds of down, fenced in with lofty ceiling, his sleep was disturbed +with dreams. He dreamed of palaces beyond the sea, with high towering +domes and gilded halls, and warriors with golden epaulettes and flashing +sabres, and plumes that nodded as they marched to battle. All these +grand views formed within his breast a desire for military glory. + +Finally he awoke with the first rays of the morning, with a pleasing +dream impressed upon his memory, and when he arose he related the dream +to Sir William and his wife. He said he had dreamed that Sir William +gave him his uniform, covered with gold lace of costly texture, with his +sword, epaulettes, pistols, and hat covered with plumes. Sir William, +not being unacquainted with the Indian custom, seemed at a loss what +answer to give the chief. His wife, seeing his embarrassment, took him +by the hand and led him to the hall and informed him that he had better +fulfill the dream of her father by giving him his war equipage, which +would give him an opportunity to dream in return. + +"What can I dream," said the Major-General, "to compensate me for that +splendid war equipage?" + +His wife, with a sly look, replied, "Leave that to me;[1] but give him +the uniform and other equipage." + +[Footnote 1: The author of the History of Schoharie County and Border +Wars of New York, states that the lands dreamed for by Sir William +Johnson, with the famous Indian chief Hendrix, of the Mohawk tribe, were +situated in the Valley of the Mohawk, which statement is denied by the +first settlers of the Indian's place of rest in the Valley of the +Susquehanna, which lands were purchased of the heirs of Sir William +Johnson, who used to relate the story of the dream as they learned it of +their mother, whose maiden name was Molly Brant, and had been at the +Indian place of rest with the Indians in their fall hunt when an Indian +maiden.] + +The Major-General then brought forward his beautiful uniform and +equipments, that had been manufactured with care in England to adorn men +of rank and high renown in the British service, and worn with honors. +The Indian chief looked with pride upon the dazzling prize, so easily +won from a British officer. He then took off his Indian dress and put on +the General's uniform, which he said was a very good fit for a chief to +wear in time of peace, but not well calculated for the battle fray. He +wore his uniform through the day while a guest at the house of Sir +William Johnson. When night came he took off his uniform and folded it +carefully and packed it in a suitable form to transport it to his own +village, situated many miles away in the forest. After the chief had +retired to rest for the night Mrs. Johnson informed the General he must +dream that the chief, her father, gave him one thousand acres of land +situated on each side of the Susquehanna, at their place of rest, where +they could remove after the war had ended and live in tranquil +loveliness upon the banks of the gently flowing Susquehanna. + + There on the runway long and low, + Coursed the buck, the fawn and doe; + The finny tribes in lengthened shoals + Swarm through all the crystal stream; + There in the summer sunshine blaze + Will rise green rows of twinkling maze, + Where the sweet waters of the mountain rill + Will ever turn your grinding mill. + +The glowing account of so lovely a valley, given by Sir William's wife, +caused him to dream that the Indian chief gave him one thousand acres of +land at the Indian's place of rest. The next morning when the Indian +chief and Sir William met, he related his dream. The Indian chief sat in +silent meditation for a few moments, and then replied that if he had +actually dreamed the dream that he had related he must have the one +thousand acres of land, but one thing was certain, he would never dream +with him again whilst he had that young fox at his elbow. + +The one thousand acres of land were deeded to Sir William, according to +the tenor of his dream, and the land was sold to actual settlers by the +heirs and descendants of Sir William Johnson, years after the storm of +the Revolution had passed away, and the grant was confirmed in the +settlement of peace with the government of Great Britain. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +After the storm of the Revolution had subsided, the Indian's bow was +unstrung, the tomahawk and scalping-knife were laid idly by, and the +Angel of Peace had spread her guardian wing over the waters of the +Susquehanna and her tributaries. The hardy sons of New England came +flocking to this section of country, and many of them found a home for +their families in the lovely Valley of the Otego. Here they purchased +lauds and commenced cutting down and clearing away the forest along the +valley, and erecting rude houses to shelter their wives and children, +and mills to grind their grain. + +In a few short years the smoke from their morning fires curled above the +forest trees for more than twenty miles along the winding banks of the +crystal waters of the Otego, and began to present a scene of activity. +School-houses were erected by the industry of the settlers along the +valley at the most convenient places, and these served a double +purpose--for schools through the week and meeting on the Sabbath. + +Orchards soon began to blossom in spring, and fields of grain to wave in +summer, both yielding the gems of bright abundance in autumn. Then the +reapers, robust and ruddy with health, thrust in the willing sickle, +whilst the young maidens with glowing cheeks gathered up the gavels and +bound them in sheaves and raked the new-mown hay. Health, beauty and +prosperity spread their glory over the lovely scene. The axeman's blows, +that lowered the forest and frightened away the game, were displeasing +to Mayall, and all his thoughts were now turned on finding a new home. +The thought of living in a country where the primeval forest was fast +disappearing, the thick boughs that had sheltered him from the storms +and the green plumes that had waved over his head in summer to protect +him from the scorching rays of the sun in his daily rambles, for so many +years, where the wild game had lived and fattened for his table--all +seemed like departing friends. + +Mayall could endure the scene no longer, and started in quest of a new +home. He traversed the country to the north in every direction, with his +gun in his hand and his hunting-knife and tomahawk in his belt. + +Thus equipped he wandered over a vast section of country, winding around +lakes and crossing streams, at times climbing the highest hills, there +from some lofty tree-top taking a view of the surrounding country, to +see if the smoke from the cottage of some adventurous settler or that of +the Indian wigwam dimmed the air. He was seeking a lone retreat where +human footsteps seldom fall. At length he learned from an Indian of the +Oneida tribe that he would find that secluded and happy retreat he was +searching for on the head-waters of East Canada Creek, where the +sparkling waters swarmed with speckled trout, where the buck and the +doe, with her fawn, coursed on their runway undisturbed, where beautiful +little lakes nestled among the hills, and abounded with fish and water +fowls, where the green forest in summer reflected its image upon the +waters so smooth and fair, and stamped upon its bosom creation's image, +the sun and clouds reflected in their waters by day and the moon and +stars by night, with the beautiful arch of heaven's high concave. + +Whilst conversing with the Indian, his daughter came from his cabin near +by and informed her father that his morning meal was ready, and invited +Mayall to come with her father to breakfast. Mayall was struck with the +youthful simplicity and beauty of the Indian maiden. After they had +enjoyed their delicious meal of venison together, and smoked the long +pipe of peace, Mayall informed the Indian that he had a son equal in +height, years, activity and beauty with the Indian chief's daughter, and +if the chief had no objection he would take them both with him to the +beautiful and romantic country he had so graphically described, after +their marriage, and the Indian chief could come to visit her every fall +and enjoy the Indian summer in hunting deer and procuring furs for +winter. + +The Indian replied that if his daughter was pleased with Wolf-hunter's +son, and he was as good a hunter as his father, he would consent. The +Indians had adopted Mayall into the tribe, by the name of Wolf-hunter, +which made Mayall's son equal in rank with the daughter of the Indian +chief. + +Mayall now parted with the chief and his family in friendship, and left +the proposed marriage to abide future events. Mayall directed his steps +towards East Canada Creek, where he arrived in safety, and commenced his +journey up the valley which had been scooped out by the stream since the +morning of creation. He soon passed beyond the noisy bustle of +civilization in the Valley of the Mohawk River, and launched into a +solitude which appeared to him as a divine retreat, and was better +fitted for a wild hunter than a civilized man. + +Mayall carefully examined the forest along the banks of the stream and +its branches, from its outlet into the Mohawk to its source far away +among the forest hills. He found many traces of beaver and other furred +animals, and plenty of deer. + +Mayall said it so nearly resembled the Otego Creek in its wild state, +shaded with the primeval forest, that it made him think of home in +gone-by days. The speckled trout swarmed in the creek and its small +tributaries, the feathered songsters sung their evening and morning +hymn, unmolested by man. + +Mayall selected the most beautiful place he could find, on an elevated +spot of ground, near a small rill fed by springs, where the creek formed +a half circle like a new moon, on one side of his cottage. This fertile +spot, lying in the bend, he intended to clear and cultivate. + + Breeze of the woodland and breath of the prairie, + Sweet with the fragrance of flower and vine, + Proclaim o'er the hill-tops and deep-shaded glens + That the sweet songsters of spring have returned, + And the little birds chirp, flutter and sing, + And make the groves again with melody ring. + + Their music charms me like the voice of love, + And chains me to this wild, uncultivated grove, + Where spring flowers vary their beauty and bloom, + And spread their morning and evening perfume. + How beautiful the hills and forest land, + Where Nature spreads her loam and fertile sand; + + Where seeds long-buried in the drifting snow + Spring forth in beauty when the south winds blow. + The sun, with golden beams and brighter rays, + Shines forth to warm the earth and lengthen out the days. + +He there built his camp-fire, and reared a rude cabin to shelter his +family, until he could build a more permanent residence. + +Here Mayall rested for a few days, charmed with the music of the woods, +and the water-fowls that had stopped along the stream to lay their eggs +and rear their young. Mayall then pursued his journey up the stream +until he reached its utmost spring among the distant hills, and then +bent his course eastward among the highlands of that region, where he +found the beautiful little lakes so graphically described by the Indian, +stored with fish, and covered with water-fowls during the summer season. +All the wilds of the forest appeared more beautiful than he had +anticipated. + +After exploring the hills and valleys for a few days, during which time +he never saw a human being, Mayall resolved to return once more to his +wife and children. As he passed down the valley he stopped at the rude +cabin he had erected, and passed the night in quiet sleep. Mayall +declared that in his chosen bower Nature appeared fresh from the hand of +Omnipotence. He described one of the lakes he had seen as the most +beautiful sheet of water that human eye ever saw, surrounded with a belt +of white sand, where the buck, the doe, and the spotted fawn came and +slaked their thirst from the crystal waters of the lake, unmolested by +man, and fed tamely upon its grassy shores; where the wild rose, queen +of bowers, shed her perfume, and the lily displayed her spots of beauty, +as second in rank among the flowers; the third in magnitude and adorning +was the wild honeysuckle, with all her tints of beauty. These encircled +the snow-white sands upon its beautiful shores, whilst the low undertone +of its waves kept time to the music of the grove. + +Mayall was enchanted with the beauties of Nature around him, and made +his bed at night under a low branching tree, covered with a wild +grape-vine, so nicely tied and coiled by Nature that it served every +purpose of a tent. Mayall made his evening meal on trout he took from +the lake, and laid down to sleep upon the wild, enchanted shores of an +earthly paradise. His sleep was quiet and undisturbed. He awoke with the +first rays of rosy morn, and listened to the lovely song of Nature's +harmonists, the songsters of the grove. + +After Mayall left his cabin on Canada Creek he bent his course for home, +where he arrived after three tedious days' journey along an Indian path, +fording streams, and crossing hills and ravines, and was once more in +the bosom of his family. All were glad to see him, and listened with +rapture to the glowing account he gave of a country so wild and +beautiful, until Mayall reached the story of the proposed marriage of +his young son with the daughter of an Indian chief. The young man was of +the Caucasian race, young and sprightly. He declared that he would not +marry a squaw--he would live solitary and alone before he would marry +the daughter of a race he had always learned to hate, if she was allied +to the royal family of chiefs. Mayall heard his resolves with a twinkle +in his eye, and here the matter rested, whilst every preparation was +making for their now home. + +Mayall was truly one of Nature's noble philosophers. When he had +resolved to leave the Valley of the Otego Creek, where he had enjoyed so +many scenes of strife and pleasure, his friends, both old and young, +gathered at his cabin for a farewell visit. In the course of the evening +the question was put to Mayall, who was the most advanced in years of +any of the company, what season of life he had found most happy. In +reply he inquired of the company if they had noticed the forest trees +that once shaded the valley. They all replied they had. He then said, +"When spring comes and the soft south wind blows up the valley, the buds +on the trees open and they are sweet with blossoms, I say how beautiful +is Spring, representing the morning of life. + + The light winds are her laughter, + The murmuring brooks her song; + +and when Summer comes and clothes the trees with foliage and shields me +from the rays of the flaming noonday sun, cools the wind that sighs +among the branches filled with singing birds that charm me to the grove, +I say how glorious is Summer, the noonday of life. + + The sunbeams are her lovely smiles, + The rose and lily are her footsteps light; + +and Autumn, in her turn, comes with golden fruit, and the leaves bear +the gorgeous frost-tints so variegated with all the glory of colors, +with the full ear, and Ceres has bound his golden sheaf, I say how +beautiful is Autumn, crowned with fruit that perfumes the surrounding +air, representing the fruits of maturer years. + + The branches bend with riper fruit, + The grapes in royal purple shine + When Autumn yields the glory of the year; + +and when Winter comes, and there is neither opening buds, green foliage, +or ripening fruit, nor gorgeous frost-tints upon the leaves, I look +through the bare branches of the trees better than I could in spring, +summer and autumn, and lo, how beautiful are the stars that spangle the +heavens and twinkle in the pale light of the moon, with maiden face +sweeping through the heavens, veiled with fleecy clouds, like the +bridesmaid of heaven, to direct our thoughts to the celestial city to +meet the great Author of our creation. For the spirit came from God, and +to God it must return, it being that part of Divinity that dwells with +man during the journey of life. + + And we shall hail with joy + The glorious sunset of life." + +And the company recorded his wise sayings and poetical phrases for the +benefit of future generations that should inhabit the Valley of the +Otego. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Their household goods were few, and those of the plainest kind. They +loaded all their goods, with their children and Mrs. Mayall, into the +wagon, and Mayall and his son Esock performed the journey on foot, each +one carrying his gun in readiness for any emergency, with Mayall in +advance to pilot them through the forest. In their journey they had to +ford streams and climb with difficulty the hills. + +Not meeting with anything of importance, the fourth day they encamped +within five miles of the Indian chief's wigwam. After feasting on some +ducks they had killed along their road, they all laid down to rest from +the toils of their journey, and all but Esock slept soundly. He was +meditating on what course to pursue, and what excuse he should make on +arriving at the Indian chief's wigwam, to excuse himself in so grave a +matter. Mayall, his father, had gone thus far in match-making without +his consent, and now he wished the whole affair could be passed by +without seeing the Indian chief or his daughter. + +In the morning Esock Mayall resolved to take a different route from his +father and the rest of the family, and pass the Indian chief's wigwam +without being seen, and informed his father of his resolution. Mayall +then told Esock that he was ashamed of having a coward in his family; +said he must go boldly to the chief's wigwam, where they would all stay +over night, and if he was not pleased with the chief's daughter he would +excuse the matter. Esock finally resolved to go forward and brave the +consequences, as his father always had some way to get out of a bad +affair. Their tent was soon taken down, and Mayall and his family +pursued their journey toward the Indian chief's wigwam. + +The sun had risen fair, but as they proceeded along their journey dark +clouds began to curtain the heavens. The wind roared among the forest +trees, the lightning flashed from the storm-cloud, the thunders rolled +through the forest with deafening roar, splitting and shivering the +forest trees, whilst the rain at intervals seemed to descend in +torrents. Just as Mayall and his family emerged from the thick woodlands +into a small clearing, where the Indian chief's wigwam stood, he saw the +chief and his daughter stand looking out of the door, for Mayall's +approach had been heralded by an Indian runner the previous day, and +they were prepared to receive him. As they came into the clearing there +was a lull in the storm for a few moments, and the chief's daughter +rushed forward to welcome Mayall to their home. The words had scarcely +dropped from her lips before the lightning began to crash among the +trees and the storm beat down fearfully, and she glided back to the +wigwam with speed that seemed like the flight of a bird. + +As she approached Mayall, Esock Mayall was standing in a position that +brought her in full view from her head to her feet. He was struck with a +strange, mysterious spell. Her neck was as pure as the alabaster, her +bosom as white as ivory, her soft blue eyes like liquid orbs adorning +the face of beauty, whilst her fair hair flowed in graceful ringlets +upon her neck and shoulders. Her form was simply perfect; her breath was +like the eglantine, and her cheek wore the morning blush of the +moss-rose. She was a perfect Cleopatra, all but the royal crown, and +that was supplied with plumes--the royal crown of the Indian Queen of +the Poorest. + +Esock Mayall stood as one amazed as he viewed the beautiful figure +before him, dressed in a neat flowing dress that came down to her feet, +covered with wampum and such beautiful moccasins, embroidered with the +quills of the porcupine, with a border of the same around the bottom of +her flowing dress. Had he seen one of the fairies of olden times, a +fabled goddess of the sylvan shade, or had he seen a human being in this +image of beauty that appeared before his father and welcomed him to her +home and then glided away to her father, the Indian chief? + +Esock Mayall no longer seemed to notice the flashes of lightning, the +roaring of the thunder, nor the pelting of the storm, but kept his eye +upon the departing form of that beautiful angel amid the rushing of the +tempest. Could this be the chief's daughter, her face as white as a pond +lily with the rose's blush upon her cheek and her eyes as blue as the +violets of May, with her flaxen hair flowing in unbound ringlets upon +her shoulders? No, never. No Indian blood ever flowed in the veins of a +being so white and fair. It must be a phantom of his bewildered +imagination. He was sure that when he reached the wigwam he should see +the chief's daughter with her red skin, long, straight black hair and +snaky eyes, just as he had pictured her in his imagination ever since +his father first mentioned her name. + +A few moments more and they were unloading from their canvas-covered +wagon before the Indian chief's wigwam, with the same fair being he had +seen retire so hastily to the wigwam amid the fury of the storm, flying +about, leading the children into the wigwam and kindly assisting them in +drying their wet garments; for the fury of the storm had passed by. +After Mayall and his son had taken care of their team they walked to the +wigwam, Mayall leading the way, whilst his son, Esock, walked timidly +behind, straining every nerve lest he should lose his presence of mind +when the chief's daughter appeared before him. He entered the wigwam. +Curiosity stood on tiptoe. + +The Indian chief welcomed Mayall and his son to his most ample +hospitality, and then, turning to the fairy queen that stood near him, +he said he was pleased with having an opportunity of making Esock +Mayall, the son of his old friend, acquainted with his adopted daughter. +The maiden stopped gently forward and took young Mayall by the hand. The +secret was out. The vision of beauty constantly appeared before him, by +night and by day. + +The Indian chief had taken this young squaw, as he called her, a +prisoner in one of his excursions into Canada during the war of the +Revolution, and adopted her into his family on account of her comeliness +and natural graces. + +Their clothes were soon dried by a warm fire, and they all sat down to a +sumptuous dinner of venison and wild fowls, which was a favorite dish +with the Mayalls, and pleased them more than the most sumptuous feast +that could be set upon the President's table at the White House. After +dinner the long pipe was handed round, each taking a few puffs, whilst +the blue smoke curled from the emblem of peace, + + Whilst the forms of love are round us + And our hearts with pleasure glow. + +The eyes of the lovely Blanche rested on the form of Esock Mayall, when +his first glance met hers, which was often and still oftener as the rose +bloomed brighter on her cheek, her breath grew quicker, her smile more +radiant, and the first blue flower of love bloomed into fondness for the +young hunter, as he gazed upon her rounded waist, her snowy neck, +ornamented with a shower of curls that fell loosely upon her shoulders. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +The landscape around the chief's wigwam was sublime. First his little +field of corn clustering with golden ears; beyond, the beautiful tall +forest trees formed arches overhead and locked their boughs in social +harmony. A winding path led from the wigwam to the grove, bordered with +wild roses, which must have appeared beautiful and gay in summer, but +now began to droop and fade like the leaves of the surrounding forest. +Esock Mayall wandered along this path of faded flowers to the edge of +the dark overgrown forest, and stood for a time viewing the large, +massive branches that had been torn from their parent trees by the fury +of the wind and rain the previous day. The splinters of every form lay +scattered where the currents of electricity in their fearful descent had +rent in fragments some giant of the forest, torn out its oaken heart and +scattered its ribs and limbs upon the forest floor. + +After viewing the wonders of Nature, Esock Mayall was returning to the +wigwam along the path of flowers, when that wood-nymph, the chief's +daughter, appeared before him, gentle as the ring-dove. + + And the glory of youth clung around her, + I felt her ambrosial breath on my cheek + Like the scent and perfume of wild roses. + +She seemed to appear in all the beauty of innocence. Esock Mayall asked +her who planted those roses. + +"I planted them," said the maiden, "to perfume my path and wanton in the +summer air around me whilst I walked to yonder grove in summer days, for +twelve long years, to hear the evening and morning song of birds which +charmed me to the grove; and then again I love the solitary woods, the +sylvan shade. I learned, when but a child, to wander in yon shady grove +to hear the squirrels chirp and bark." + +Esock Mayall wished her to inform him how and when she first came to +live in this overgrown forest. She said, "I could not tell, but when I +was a child I lived in a cottage on a lake shore, where one could sit in +its vine-clad porch and look out upon the windings of its beautiful +shore and hear the fury of the waves amid the fearful storm. The Indians +came one sunny day, when I was sitting under the arbor over the door, +and killed my mother, robbed the house, and bore me away in their arms. +The next morning one of the Indians took me on his back, and in three or +four days they reached this place, and I was adopted into the chief's +family. My mother used me kindly whilst she lived. After ten years she +sickened and died. Since that time I have lived with the chief, my +father. I have planted these flowers in rows to imitate the shores of +the lake where I was born. That long half-moon curve you see was a wide, +open bay, and that short turn yonder was a bluff of rocks." + +Esock Mayall listened with admiration to her story, and then replied, +"Would you go with me and walk the shores of that lake once more?" + +That question seemed a spell that chained her tongue, whilst the crimson +flush faded from her cheek. In a few moments her young blood began to +course freely in her veins, and the flush of roses warmed her lovely +cheeks. She raised her eyes and looked Esock Mayall full in the face, +and appeared as lovely as a dream. + +"Do you know where that lake is situated? My captors have always refused +to inform me. If you do, I will go with you cheerfully, and walk once +more upon its lovely shores. Twelve long years, in the dreams of +midnight, I have wandered on its shores, and its coves and bays have +appeared to me with the white swan with snowy sail and air of pride +floating upon its mirror waves; but there is a bitter mingled with the +sweet; in those dreams I see my mother pale in death, slain by my +captor's hands, and oh, my father, who was absent from his home, where +is he? When rosy morn blushed on the concave of the skies I always found +myself within the wigwam's prison-walls." + +Esock Mayall told her frankly that he neither knew the name or locality +of the lake she described, but added, "If you would consent to be my +wife and go with me to my forest home, I will endeavor to learn from +your captors the name and locality, and take you back to the home of +your childhood, once more to ramble on the beautiful shores where you +had roamed in childhood's sunny days." + +The maiden then replied that she would consult with her father and +answer his request to-morrow. + +To-morrow came. The chief appeared gloomy and thoughtful. He well knew +the undaunted courage, the sure and steady aim of the Mayalls to guide +the bullet in its airy track, the power of their strong arms in wielding +the tomahawk in battle strife. He had no reason to fear the protection +of his daughter, but the thought of parting with the sunny face of one +he had ever idolized, whom he had carried for more than a hundred miles +on his back through the wilderness when she was a child, because he +loved her snowy face and flowing hair--this thought pained him. Long +years he had dressed her in robes of beaver during the winter, and made +her bed of down; the fawn had yielded her skin to clothe her naked feet, +and the brightest wampum had encircled her waist, the most costly jewels +had ever sparkled in her ears, and he had employed the most skillful of +his race to teach her to border her flowing dress in summer with the +quills of the porcupine. He had hunted weeks to capture the swan to deck +her hat with snowy plumes to wave in open air and clothe her queenly +neck. + +"I have acted the part of a kind father," thought he, "and if I give her +hand to young Mayall, who would cheer my wigwam in sickness, and smooth +the winter of my declining years? Who would ring my funeral knell, and +plant the wild rose upon my lonely grave?" No tears flowed to soothe his +troubled brain; there was no wanton moisture in his eye. "And then, +again, if I should deny my daughter's request I fear the consequences. +Mayall had the shrewdness and courage to take her from me, and then, +again, I have taken her from her parents and her home, and she might be +left unprotected when I am dead and gone." + +The chief passed a sleepless night, but rose bright and cheerful in the +morning, and informed his daughter, if she chose to leave his wigwam for +that of her lover, she might go, with his blessings upon her youthful +head; but one thing he must insist upon, in order to preserve harmony, +that the tribe that lived in the surrounding forest should be invited to +the wedding, and the whole tribe should join in the marriage dance, +according to the ancient customs of the Indian tribes. + +Young Mayall was informed of the Indian chief's decision. He walked +boldly up to the chief, who was seated in his wigwam, and took his +daughter by the hand, and said, "When I have received from you the hand +of your daughter, and have conformed to the usages of your tribe in all +things, we want you to go with us to our forest home, and we will +provide for you in old age in the same kind manner you have provided for +your daughter. You shall have your choice in the dainty pieces of +venison and wild fowls, and find protection under the roof of our +cottage home. + + 'There I'll sit by my bride, where the rushes are green, + While the sun weaveth gold o'er the robes of my queen.'" + +In answer to some questions with regard to the home of her childhood, by +Esock Mayall, she related the following story of her journey to the +great Falls of Niagara, which the chief said would enable me to keep my +course through dark forests from the Oneida Lake to the great lakes and +rivers towards the setting sun: + +"I started on a journey to the great Falls of Niagara, with my father +and mother, to witness the voluntary sacrifice of a young Indian maiden +to the great Spirit of the Falls, or Naiad God of the Water. We pursued +our journey through beautiful forests, over wood-crowned hills, fording +the valley streams without interruption, until the second day, near +sunset, we came in sight of a beautiful lake, whose surface + + 'Seemed so placid, smooth and fair, + That Naiad might look on to plait her hair.' + +"We traced the shores a short distance, coming to a little crystal +stream, the waters of which were cool and refreshing. We concluded to +encamp near this stream, that spun its silver thread to the lake from a +dark ravine over which the branching tree-tops leaned. We followed the +stream a short distance, and built our camp-fire under shelter of a +large branching tree that stood on the bank of the ravine. Near this +tree a cool fountain gushed from a large rock, and made music for us as +it dashed over its stony bed to join the stream below. Taking into +consideration all the surroundings, it was a grand place for a lover of +scenery and solitude. There we ate our evening meal, and, after slaking +our thirst at the cooling fountain that flowed from the rock, laid down +to rest our weary limbs by our camp-fire, that blazed up and illuminated +the forest for several rods around, making the forest look grand, with +its branches interlocked in social harmony, fanned by the gentle breeze +from the lake that whispered through the tree-tops, and sung of passing +time, like the Æolian harp that hung upon the willows along the streams +of Babylon. + +"All nature seemed to invite us to repose, and the waters of Lethe swept +over us. As the Angel of Dreams threw his mantle over me, through this +gauzy mantle I seemed to trace the Queen of the Falls from earth, with +her guardian angels, to the fields of Paradise, which appeared in my +dream as described by the Jesuit that used to come and preach to the +tribe I lived with, and give me books, teach me to read them, and teach +me etiquette, such as used by the English and French. All of a sudden I +thought the bolts of hell had burst asunder, and the devil incarnate +walked again over earth and sea--that Gabriel had sounded his trumpet +for all to assemble at the judgment hall on the borders of two worlds. + +"Slowly awaking to consciousness, I cast my eyes towards the big rock. I +felt the rain pattering down in my face from the tree-tops, and, lo! +there I saw two eyes that looked to me like two orbs swimming in liquid +fire, which frightened me to such a degree that I attempted to scream +for mercy. + +"I seemed to be paralyzed. In this awful moment of fear, the Great +Spirit sent an arrow of electric fire from the darkest pavilion of the +storm-cloud, selected from the quiver of the Eternal Jehovah, down into +the top of a mighty oak that leaned over the dark ravine a few rods +above our camping ground, which tore off the top and splintered its +massive trunk to the ground. The awful crash frightened me nearly out of +my wits. I screamed with all the power of voice I possessed, for I +thought the ebon paw of Satan was upon me. The panther then set up the +most unearthly scream I had ever heard leaped from the rook, and seemed +to make the forest jar at every scream, until he was far away on the +lake shore. The clap of thunder awoke my father and mother. The chief, +hearing the screams of the panther, seized his weapons of war and tried +in vain to penetrate the surrounding gloom, for the blackness of the +storm-cloud made the forest a dungeon, occasionally illuminated by +flashes of electric fire from the arching clouds over our heads, which +could not be penetrated by mortal eye. The chief again gathered up the +few burning brands that remained, and piled high his fuel. This only +served to light a few rods from the fire, whilst all beyond seemed black +as the regions of darkness. There was no more sleep during the night. + +"Morning dawned. The storm-cloud passed away, and we resumed our journey +with cautious and timid steps toward the place of our destination, +arriving late in the afternoon at the Upper Falls, on the Genesee, where +the waters dashed from rock to rock, until it reached the valley below +the Falls. We traced the river bank three or four miles, to Gardow, a +village on the west bank of the Genesee River, where the roar of the +Upper Falls could be distinctly heard, where we were received with great +cordiality, and conducted to comfortable lodgings, and furnished with +all that nature required for comfort. After one day's rest we again +started for the great Falls of Niagara, with a part of the Genesee tribe +of Indians that resided at Gardow. We took the most direct Indian path +that led to Niagara, which led us over hills crowned with forests, and +through dark wooded valleys, reaching the Falls about sunset the second +day, and encamped on the banks of that mighty rushing river, with the +numerous throng that had reached their place of destination before us. + +"We all encamped like a family of friends, upon the banks of a river +that was destined to divide a kingdom from a republic. Early the next +morning preparations were made for offering a human being as a sacrifice +to the Great Spirit that created the earth and the heavens, and all +things contained therein. The most beautiful and gifted young Indian +maiden, just blooming into womanhood, was chosen by the priests and +prophets of that ancient tribe, to appease the anger of the gods, and +bear a message from that tribe to their friends that had gone over the +River of Death before them, to the land of the olive and the vine in the +clear Southwest, known only to the brave and just, where the wild doe +and her fawn feed on flowers, where the flowers wear their everlasting +bloom, and the grass is greener and more luxuriant than was ever seen, +and softer than the Persian silk. In that beautiful land mortals put on +the garments of immortality. When the young maiden was informed that she +was chosen for the sacrifice, she came forward with a smile upon her +countenance, adorned in all the glory of the Indian costume, as a bride +adorned for her husband, and entered the arena. The Indian priest then +stepped forward and poured upon her head the oil of venison, and placed +a crown of roses, intermixed with swans-down, to give it a snowy-white +appearance, and crowned her, in the name of the tribe, Queen of Niagara. + +"A more beautiful or graceful being could not be found to offer up her +life for her friends. The whole tribe then sang and shouted the glories +of their youthful queen, each one handing her some little token of +remembrance to their friends in the spirit world, and kissed her hand. +After a short time had been allowed her to receive the homage due an +earthly queen, two young Indian warriors came forward, one taking her by +the right hand and the other by the left, and led her to the shore of +the river, followed by twelve young Indian girls. + +"Moored on the sandy shore above the Falls was a little white tiny boat, +just large enough for one person, loaded with ripe fruits and +fresh-blown roses. In this beautiful boat, surrounded by the odor of +ripe fruit and perfume of roses that wantoned in the surrounding air, +the young warrior placed her, put a paddle in their young queen's hand +just as the sun reached the meridian, and darted his rays from his +eternal quiver upon the waters of Niagara, and the young warriors cried +over the river, at the same time pushing the boat from the shore, when +the young queen applied the paddle with all her might and main, until +she reached the middle of the river above the Falls, every Indian, young +and old, shouting and singing the glories of their brave queen. + +"The moment she reached the middle of the river she turned the bow of +her little boat towards the Falls, then applying the paddle with force +the boat shot down the rapid current with the speed of an arrow, whilst +two rainbows faintly spanned the boiling flood. Down, down among the +caverned rocks and foaming waters went the beautiful form, whilst her +guardian angels received her spirit and soared above the rainbow's arch, +up through the concave of the skies to life eternal. + +"We tarried until the chariots of the sun rolled down the western sky. +The full moon in her diamond car rose, and threw her pale light over the +foaming waters of Niagara. The whole tribe then assembled on the high +rooks below the Falls, and the Indians declared by the Eternal that they +could see troops of fairies waltzing around their departed queen on the +glassy waters of the Falls, clothed in all the splendors of the rainbow, +chanting the glories of their queen. And here upon the rocky altar they +built their night-fires to light the spirit of their queen and her +guardian angels to the Elysian Fields of Paradise on the shores of life +eternal. And here we join the American poets in their majestic song of +time: + + 'Flow on forever, in thy glorious robe + Of terror and of beauty! God hath set + His rainbow on thy forehead, and the cloud + Mantles around thy feet, And He doth give + The voice of thunder power to speak of Him + Eternally, bidding the lip of man + Keep silence, and upon the rocky altar pour + Incense of awe-stricken praise.' + +"The next morning we started for our home near the shores of Oneida +Lake, which we reached without being molested in our journey. We traced +the flowery banks of babbling brooks, walked beneath the grand arches of +beautiful forests made melodious by the songsters of the grove, but I +could not forget the terrible scenes I had witnessed at Niagara." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The day was set for Esock Mayall and the chief's adopted daughter to be +joined in Hymen's silken bands, according to the custom of the tribe, +commanded by their war-chief. A young Indian maiden was sent for, and +arrived one day in advance, to arrange the bride's dress and ornaments +in true Indian style, and dress her hat with flowing plumes so much +admired by the native hunters of the forest. The bride's hair was +trimmed to flow gracefully upon her shoulder, and ornamented with +brilliants that sparkled like diamonds among her flowing hair. Her dress +was covered with wampum, and her moccasins ornamented with bead-work +stars that reflected their dazzling light. Her arms were encircled above +the elbows and around her wrists with silver bands, and jewels of gold +hung from her ears and nose. + +Esock Mayall was dressed with blue pants, a light hunting-frock of the +same color, and embroidered moccasins. The day had arrived, the morning +had dawned with a clear sky, and heaven's concave shone in unclouded +blue. The October sun rose and threw a golden blush over hill and vale, +and bathed the groves in light, reflecting all the varied hues of the +falling leaves as they fluttered from the tall forest trees to form a +carpet for the children of the forest, who now began to arrive, dressed +and plumed for the wedding-dance, with their bouquet of flowers in their +hands, dressed similar to the bride, but with less expense. The young +Indian warriors were dressed with tight leggings or pants, and +smoke-tanned hunting-frocks. The hour having arrived for the ceremony, +the young Indians formed in a ring on the green, in front of the chief's +tent, each with his partner to his left, with an open space toward the +tent, whilst the spectators or older Indians formed an outer circle at a +respectful distance. + +Esock Mayall, son of the adopted white chief, now advanced from the +chief's tent, with his bride leaning on his left arm, arrayed in all the +glory of Indian simplicity, followed by the Indian chief and the adopted +chief, Wolf-hunter, young Mayall's father. As the young couple advanced +to the centre of the ring the two chiefs closed up the space. The +marriage ceremony was brief and simple, and amounted to little more than +the mutual promise made by the bride and groom to live together in love +and harmony. + +The two chiefs now retired from the space they occupied, the ring closed +up, each Indian maiden throwing her bouquet on the ground, forming a +circle around the young couple. A signal was given, the music sounded +they then chased each other around the circle with measured tread, all +keeping time with the music for a few moments, when the music stopped +and each couple faced inward and picked up their bouquets, when the +music again started its hollow, rattling sound. Then the bride and groom +joined the circle, and the ring danced round and round for the space of +an hour or more, stopping at intervals and facing inward, until the +music ceased and the ring was seated on the ground and partook of a +supper of wild fowls, venison and corn-bread, after which they all shook +hands with the newly married pair, wishing them peace and prosperity in +their forest home to which they were about to remove. The guests then +returned to their homes, and no time was lost in preparing for their +journey to their new home. + +The following morning all things were in readiness. Their team was +hitched up and the wagon was loaded with a few cooking utensils. Esock +Mayall's mother, three children, himself and young bride, started early +for their home in the wilderness, whilst the Indian chief who was to +accompany them to their new home and enjoy the Indian summer in the +forest, and spend the hunting season with them, traveled on foot with +the elder Mayall, and piloted out the best route for the wagon, removing +such obstructions as they found in the path. Mayall said he would take +the axe and the Indian chief the gun, and one would clear the path of +logs and the other of game. + +In this manner they proceeded for three days, arriving near sunset on +the bank of the East Canada Creek, at a place now called Russia, +opposite the cottage built by Mayall when he passed up the creek on his +summer excursion. Not finding a suitable place to cross with their team, +the creek being somewhat swollen by rains on the head-waters of that +stream, they concluded to cut some grass on a small island and leave +their team on a little elevated spot near the river, with the elder Mrs. +Mayall and the children to sleep in the wagon and the rest would take +off their clothes and ford the stream, carrying with them some blankets. + +The young bride, like the Naiad of the stream, stripped off her +beautiful robes, and advancing to a deep, still place, tied them up in a +handkerchief, fastened them on the top of her head, rushed into the +stream, swimming with her head out of the water to her breast, and was +soon on the opposite shore, and dressed before the rest were half ready +to cross. Whilst the rest were packing up their blankets and skins in a +suitable manner to cross over, the young nymph of the forest came +running back and called on the party to bring over their knives, +tomahawks and guns. She said that a company of bears lived in that +cottage, and had only gone out to hunt and would soon return; she +requested them to take her rifle, load it and leave it with her new +mother to defend herself, and bring over the remaining four guns. These +tidings put the camp in a fluster. Young Mayall proceeded to pattern +after his wife, stripped, and commenced carrying blankets, guns, +ammunition, tomahawks and knives. In a short time all that was needed +was over, each one armed, and proceeded to the cottage. + +Wolf-hunter carefully examined the room and said there was one she-bear +of tremendous size and two large cubs that had taken up their quarters +in that cottage, and every one must examine his gun and see that it was +well primed and sure fire, for they were liable to be attacked any +moment. The Indian chief, Wolf-hunter and Esock Mayall each examined +their guns, put on their belts with a large tomahawk and hunting-knife +by their side, and Wolf-hunter stationed himself about twenty rods up in +the direction the bears had gone, behind a large tree; the Indian chief +about ten rods nearer the tent, and Esock Mayall about the same distance +from the tent, but nearer the creek, whilst young Mayall's wife was +clearing out of the cottage the leaves that the bears had carried in. +There had risen a dark cloud where the sun went down, and muffled sound +of distant thunder could be heard, whilst night was dropping her sable +curtain around the horizon. But no hunter on his nightly post was heard +to stir. + +Wolf-hunter was now in his glory, nerving his muscular frame for battle. +All of a sudden this mammoth bear and her two cubs were heard by +Wolf-hunter advancing rapidly for the cottage. The moments seemed to fly +more rapidly. The instant the bear appeared in sight Wolf-hunter raised +his gun. The bear, as quick as thought, raised on her hind legs and +struck at his gun, which, firing at the same instant that the bear's paw +struck it, had a tendency to lower the gun and carry away a part of the +bear's under-jaw. Wolf-hunter's gun became useless from the nearness of +the bear and quickness of her motion. He seized his tomahawk, but the +strength and power of the bear was such that it seemed of no avail. + +Becoming heated with the strife, the God of Battle nerved his arm to +grapple with the monster of the woods in deadly strife. He dropped his +tomahawk and drew his long knife, keenly sharpened for such game. As the +hunter raised his left hand, and darted his knife with tremendous force +for the bear, it struck the loose skin on his neck, rolled the blow one +side, and passed the bear's neck, whilst the hot breath of the monster +came full in his face. It now became hurrying times. He raised his knife +once more, and made a thrust with all his power, and ripped the bear +open from his flank to his brisket, and sprang back with all his power, +and fell on the ground about ten feet from the bear. Whilst lying there +he heard the heavy report of two guns, which he took to be those of the +Indian chief and Esock Mayall, as the cubs passed them for the cottage. + +The Indian chief had slightly wounded the young bear that passed him, +and, quickly loading his rifle, started to assist Wolf-hunter, where +there had been the constant growling and snarling of the old she-bear +after the first report of Wolf-hunter's rifle. The Indian chief soon +arrived on the spot, and found the bear sitting up on her hind legs, +with her life-blood ebbing away, and put an end to her misery by +shooting a ball through her head, and then asked Wolf-hunter why he lay +there in that condition, with that long bloody knife in his hand? +Wolf-hunter replied that he had but one hand he could use, and he laid +still, knowing that the bear would not touch him as long as he appeared +to be dead, and he further knew that the monster's life-blood was fast +ebbing away, and that she would soon be too weak to move. The Indian +chief had all this time been loading his gun as fast as possible, and +had just driven down the ball, when screams were heard from the cottage, +coming from the young bride. + +These brought Wolf-hunter to his feet, and, not feeling the pain of his +wounded hand, he went through the forest for the cottage with the speed +of the panther, with the long bloody weapon in his right hand, closely +pursued by the Indian chief. Esock Mayall came with all possible speed +from the creek, where he had killed the young bear that passed him, to +rescue his young wife, the three arriving at the same time. + +When within about twenty feet of the cottage they saw the flash and +heard the loud report of a gun, and all was hushed to silence. And there +stood Esock Mayall's young wife, who had fired the last gun and killed +the last bear, proud of her success. The young bear which passed the +Indian chief and received his fire was only slightly wounded, and fled +to the cottage for safety, and plunged into the door, and finding the +young bride in possession, cleaning out the leaves, attacked her with +great fury. Not being able to get her rifle, she defended herself with a +club that had been cut for a fire poker. At length giving the bear a +lucky blow, she seized her rifle and leaped out the cottage door, and +only had time to bring it to her face before the young bear leaped out +after her. Her rifle was quickly brought to bear upon him. A flash and a +report, and the young bear lay dead at her feet, with three brave men +coming to her assistance, but too late to be of use. The battle of the +bears, so well begun with Wolf-hunter, had ended by a maiden's hand. +Three prowling monsters of the wood lay cold in death amid their native +wilds, and the party, proud of their success, concluded to dress the +young bear killed at the cottage and have a feast of roasted meat. A +large fire was built before the cottage, that illuminated the forest for +some distance around, which made a wild and beautiful appearance, with +the high leafy arches over their head, and the yellow and crimson leaves +of autumn carpeting the forest as far as the eye could penetrate the +surrounding darkness. + +The young bear was hastily dressed, and a part of it roasted, from which +they made a sumptuous feast with corn bread. After the feast was over, +the Indian chief, Esock Mayall, and his wife, remained at the cottage, +whilst Wolf-hunter took a part of the roasted meat and corn bread and +recrossed the stream, to feed his wife and children, and guard them from +danger through the darkness of the night. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The three that remained at the cottage retired to rest. As the blaze of +the fire in front of the cottage died away, young Mayall discovered that +the Indian chief became restless and uneasy, and would suddenly awake +from sleep and grasp his rifle and then peer out into the dark +surrounding forest, as if some monster of the wood was about to make a +deadly leap towards him. After straining his eyes for naught he would +again resume his rustic bed. + +As soon as sleep began to steal over his troubled brain he would spring +from his bed and grasp his weapons of war. The night gradually wore +away, and the great luminary of the world began to light up the East. +Esock Mayall and the Indian chief rose from their restless beds and +finished dressing their bears, and got the wagon and goods, with his +father, mother and the three children that wore on the opposite side of +the creek, over to the cottage, whilst the young bride was preparing +their breakfast. + +Breakfast being over, the Indian chief said he must be up and away +before the sun licked up the morning dew. He had lodged in that cottage +the first and last night; that thrice in his sleep he had dreamed of +death and a dishonored tomb, when no phantom of the night was near, not +even the sound of waters or the whisper of the breeze was heard among +the lonely trees; and yet the dream was thrice repeated. Esock Mayall +told him he must wait a short time, and his wife would prepare him some +provisions, and he would let him have a horse to ride as far as the +Mohawk River, and that would carry him beyond danger. The chief +consented to wait a short time for the horse and provisions, but said +there was danger in delay. + +Whilst the young bride was preparing her father's provision, Wolf-hunter +cast his keen eye up the creek in the direction of the bear fight, and +saw three strange Indian hunters approaching with their silver-mounted +rifles, armed with tomahawks and hunting-knives. They came rapidly +forward until they reached the place where they killed the mammoth bear, +then halted, viewed the meat that hung on the branches of some trees, +and then came directly towards the cottage. The Indian chief began to +retreat, when Wolf-hunter cried out: + +"No danger. Face the music." + +This Esock Mayall understood to mean, "Never fear, but be ready," and +sat his gun down by his side, and Wolf-hunter did the same. The three +Indians came near the fire, when Wolf-hunter addressed them in the +Oneida tongue: + +"Good-morning, brothers." + +They replied: "Good-morning, brother. We have followed the trail of +three bears, and we find you have killed them, and we want some of the +meat." + +Wolf-hunter told them to be seated near the fire and they would bring +them some; the three Indians sat down their rifles and came near the +fire. As the young bride came out of the cottage with a large piece of +bear's meat in a long handled pan, and placed it over the fire, the +three Indians stared at her in amazement, and then turned and looked at +each other. One of the Indians said: "She looks just as her mother did +before she was murdered. She is a Wan-nut-ha."[2] + +[Footnote 2: A beauty.] + +They paused a while, and one of the Indians called her Dora, to which +she made no reply. He then called her Dora in a louder tone. To which +the maiden replied: + +"My name is Blanche." + +"Well," said the Indian, "your name was Dora. Twelve years have passed +away since I saw your sunny face, and looked upon your silky flaxen +hair; you have changed to a graceful young lady squaw, and when I now +look upon you-- + + "Your sparkling eyes and glossy flaxen hair + Seem the same your mother used to wear + When the lake lay calm with silver breast + Beneath pale Luna's beams at rest. + And when the lurid morn arose, + And flashed her light on land and sea, + The silvery foam beat on the lonely shore + Where Dora and her mother used to roam. + Death had hushed the voice of her fond mother, + The Indian's war-axe parted her fair locks, + The bloody tide ran down her snowy neck, + Her ivory bosom dyed with crimson gore, + Then fled with Dora to the forest wild. + There a captive in the chieftain's tent, + Whilst twelve successive years went by; + But now a hunter's young and lovely bride, + And cooks the savory venison, night and morn, + Upon the streamlet's flow'ry banks, + Where the woodland choir with melody of song + Chant the praise of God that watch'd o'er all, + And saw the sparrow in his lonely fall. + When spring, with balmy air, bids vegetation rise, + And all the flowers put on their bloom; + The emerald reeds, along the sandy bay + Washed by the blue waves, beat upon the shore, + Then Dora, with her loving mate, + Will walk in summer's golden days, + By Cynthia's evening silver light, + And call to mind those infant days + When her fond mother led her by the hand, + And her little feet made impress on the sand; + And plant a flower beside the monumental stone + In yonder church-yard, o'er her mother's tomb, + Then ramble o'er the green and flow'ry lawn, + Leaning fondly on her lover's buoyant arm, + The valiant, happy man, who Fate ordained + To write his name, in love, upon her heart + And fondly claim her for his own." + +Dora was delighted with her new name, believing it to be the name given +her by her parents, whom she had so often seen in her dreams, whilst +sleeping in the Indian's tent. And then it seemed so familiar to her--it +seemed like the voice of her mother floating in music-tones upon the +morning air. And the Indians seemed to her sent by the Great Spirit to +inform her of the place of her birth, of the Eden of her childhood, and +the path that would conduct her to her once-loved home, which now came +up in grand review before her youthful mind, as the Indians related the +sad story of the death of her mother, the capture of her lovely child, +and the curling flames that consumed their earthly home. + +The picture set forth by the Indians was forcibly impressed upon the +mind of Dora, and she persuaded her husband to accompany her on foot +through a dense forest, for more than a hundred miles, following a blind +Indian war-path which she had been trained to follow through other +forests by her tutors, in other days. This war-path led them to the lake +shore, where they obtained a boat, with a skillful oarsman, to land them +on the shore of that lovely bay which Dora had so often seen in her +dreams, whilst sleeping in the Indian chief's wigwam. When they arrived +at the birthplace and youthful home of Dora, she could only find the +place by the remains of part of the burnt and cracked walls of the +foundation, and a few trees that had escaped the fury of the flames. + +Here Dora called to mind the scene that occurred when the Indian's +war-axe parted the fair forehead of her mother. She seemed to see the +crimson tide run down her neck, her ivory bosom stained, as her parental +life-blood ebbed away. She wept long and loud for her fond mother. She +lingered round the fatal spot until the sinking sun began to cast her +last rays in lengthened shade over the waters of the lake below. She +then hurried to the nearest house with her husband, where her neighbor +recognized her and called her Dora. Like the Indian, he said he knew her +by the hair her mother used to wear, and her being the exact likeness of +her mother. + +Here she first learned of the death of her father, who, feeling the +heavy loss of his wife and the unknown fate of his darling child, +grieved so immoderately over their loss that Disease laid her fatal +hands upon him, and in one short year they laid him down gently to sleep +by her mother, until Gabriel's trump shall awake them again at the +resurrection morn. Here they tarried for the night--but the night +appeared long and sleepless to Dora--and in the early morn was +accompanied by their friend and neighbor to the church-yard where lay +the remains of her father and mother, unmarked, except by a rude stone, +to guide them to the place where their kind neighbors had gently laid +them down to rest from the turmoil of life's uneven ways. The summer +months were spent among strangers and the scenes of her early childhood, +and visiting the burial-place of her parents weekly, to water the +moss-rose and the eglantine she had planted on their graves, and scatter +the most beautiful flowers that bloomed in that region upon their graves +at the hour of falling dews, to wanton and perfume the surrounding air. + +As summer wore away Dora and her husband became tired of fashionable +life, and longed to return to the shades of forest life, for which they +had a fondness--to feast again on the rich and savory dishes of venison, +wild fowls and fish, and rest in tranquillity at their own cottage home, +surrounded by shady bowers. Dora had paid the last debt of gratitude to +her deceased parents at the earliest opportunity, and then started with +her husband by the same route they came for their forest home, again to +retrace their steps, guided by a blind Indian war-path, long since +abandoned by the Indians. + +After a weary march of several days they arrived at their forest home, +and were warmly greeted by the elder Mayall and his learned and +accomplished wife, who received them more warmly on account of some good +books Esock Mayall had purchased for his mother, to repay her for his +early education, which she had superintended in her own cottage, when +her husband was absent on the chase. When they arrived at their forest +home, Autumn, with all her charms, with yellow and crimson loaf and +falling fruit, charmed the young hunter and his faithful and devoted +wife, as they looked with pride upon their forest home, surrounded with +all the charms which Nature has so wisely lavished upon the untarnished +works of his adorable hand. They came to the conclusion that Contentment +and Modesty were two beautiful flowers that flourished only in secret +and retired places, where the God of Nature reigned. + + "Dora again, in her wild forest home, + Where, in wavy masses fondly flowing + Droops the graceful mountain vine, + And the yellow sunbeams, glowing + Cross the shadows line on line; + Where the zephyrs, softly sighing, + Woo the gently pearling rills; + Where the feathered songsters, vieing, + Each a different measure trills; + Where the echoes, now replying, + Die amid the distant hills; + Where the skies are ever changing; + Where the slanting moonbeams quiver + On the noisy mountain streams: + Where the placid flowing river + Like a thread of silver gleams. + Oh, my heart is ever yearning + For the sweet, remembered ones, + Where magic roses blossom + In the evening golden light, + And tender, enchanting songs + Float on the balmy breeze at night." + + + + +THE END. + + +[Transcriber's Note: The original edition of this book did not contain a +Table of Contents. A Table of Contents has been created for this +electronic edition.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forest King, by Hervey Keyes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOREST KING *** + +***** This file should be named 24417-8.txt or 24417-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/4/1/24417/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Forest King + Wild Hunter of the Adaca + +Author: Hervey Keyes + +Release Date: January 24, 2008 [EBook #24417] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOREST KING *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 344px;"> +<img src="images/cover.png" width="344" height="580" alt="The Forest King" title="" /> +</div> + + +<h1>THE FOREST KING;</h1> + +<p class="center">OR,</p> + +<h2>THE WILD HUNTER OF THE ADACA.</h2> + +<h3>A Tale of the Seventeen Century</h3> + +<p class="center">NEW YORK:<br /> +WHEAT & CORNETT, PRINTERS, NO. 8 SPRUCE ST.<br /> +1878.</p> + +<p class="center">Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by<br /> +HERVEY KEYES,<br /> +in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-variant: small-caps;">Table of Contents</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">PREFACE.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#PREFACE">3</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">CHAPTER I.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">5</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">CHAPTER II.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">12</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">CHAPTER III.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">24</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">CHAPTER IV.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">30</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">CHAPTER V.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">34</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">CHAPTER VI.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">37</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">CHAPTER VII.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">43</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">CHAPTER VIII.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">46</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">CHAPTER IX.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">54</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">CHAPTER X.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">59</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>To Mayall the Valley of the Mohawk was a land where flowers bloomed, +where one fair girl flitted about through green glades and virgin +forests, and lifted his mind to the supernatural, and he seemed to +listen to the voice of seraphs. Then sweet memory brought him again to +the morning of life, and he stood by his mother's knee, and leaned upon +the cradle where he was rocked to soothe his infant mind. Again he rose +to manhood. The power of the music of the groves, and the sweet voice of +Nelly Gordon, was the angel of the moment, that unlocked the harmony of +the universe. Her eyes appeared as pure as the first rays of morning, as +it danced on the heaven-kissed hills of Paradise. Her heart expanded +with thankfulness, as she thought how rich she was in everything that +made life desirable to Mayall, her lover. She longed to give out the +stores of her own happiness, and Mayall seemed to think this lovely girl +had a special claim on him for life, which he seemed proud to admit and +willing to accept, as the richest gift that Heaven could bestow upon man +was Nelly Gordon.</p> + +<hr style='width: 30%;' /> + +<p>In writing this short history of Mayall and his family, the hunter and +trapper of the Valley of the Adaca, I have gathered the main facts from +the first settlers in my youthful days, who found him in this then wild +but beautiful valley, a place of bloom and shade, dimpled on the face of +creation with a smile that renders life pleasing in solitude. The song +of birds, and the music of the rills that came rushing down the ravines, +to water the flowers and swell the rapid current of the Adaca, under the +arching of the woodland forest that hung out its green plumes to wave in +every breath of summer, formed an earthly Paradise, in Mayall's +estimation.</p> + +<p>The bounty and grandeur of Eastern cities faded into insignificance, +when compared with his surroundings; for here he reigned lord of the +valley's long and wide domain, that abounded in deer, game and furred +animals, whilst its streams swarmed with fish. He was truly one of +Nature's noblemen—kind and affectionate to his beautiful and lovely +wife and children, charitable and humane to all. He was ready at all +times to hazard his own life to assist a friend. When attacked by his +enemies, he seemed to anticipate all their designs at a glance, and +destroyed them without remedy. After the storm of the Revolution had +passed away, and the muttering of its thunder was no longer to be heard, +adventurers from the East, who were searching for new homes in the +productive valleys of Tryon County, found this Friend, as he styled +himself, and settled on the same stream, charmed by the beautiful +forests, the crystal streams, and the fertility of the soil.</p> + +<p>The history of this remarkable hunter is wrapped in mystery. His daring +adventures, his wonderful escapes from danger, his presence of mind in +the most trying scenes of danger, all combine to render his life +wonderful. With his chosen companion to rear a family amid the wild +scenes of Nature, far from the civilized world, surrounded by the wild +beasts of the forest, he worshiped at the shrine of Nature's God, and +gloried in the wild scenes of beauty. The romantic courtship and +marriage of Esock Mayall with the adopted daughter of a famous Indian +chief, her grace of manners, her remarkable beauty, and courage in time +of danger, her journey to her new forest home and return to the land of +her birth, seem to be one of the great events of Providence, together +with her journey to Niagara Falls with the Indian chief, her father, to +witness the sacrifice of a young Indian maiden of high rank to the Great +Spirit of the Falls.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + + +<p>In the romantic days of the frontier settlers of Tryon County, there +lived in the valley of the Mohawk River a young man by the name of +Mayall. He was by nature strong, courageous and active, always foremost +in pursuit of the Indians that lurked about the advanced settlements of +the whites. Mayall was young and handsome, and would have been +considered a prize for a young lady of merit, who was not looking for a +companion that possessed lands and money. He seemed to be a favorite +among the young ladies of the Mohawk Valley who dressed in +linsey-woolsey—I mean that class</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Who slept on down their early rising bought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And wore the garments their own hands had spun"—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>but was looked upon with suspicion by some of the more aristocratic and +wealthy, who possessed broad farms and extensive grants of land, and +wished to trace the pedigree of their relatives to some old ancestral +pile, surrounded with wide-spread manors.</p> + +<p>Mayall was a hero by nature, and had all the quickness of perception to +carry it out successfully; and yet he had cultivated the most refined +manners of that wild, romantic age. He was fond of hunting, as the +abundance of game and furred animals gave the hunter a rich reward. +Mayall had reached his majority, and had become enamored of a beautiful +young lady of a wealthy family, the only daughter and heir to a rich +inheritance, by the name of Nelly G., who returned his advances in the +same warmth of love and fidelity. As soon as the parents of the young +lady became aware of Mayall's intentions and their daughter's attachment +to young Mayall, they commenced a furious and determined opposition, and +refused to allow Mayall to visit their daughter or even enter their +house. Mayall took the matter calmly, and was no longer seen at the +house of the farmer, but found many opportunities to meet the lady of +his choice at evening parties and places of amusement. Their love was +mutual, and every reasonable means was used to overcome the objections +of the lady's parents—but all seemed in vain. They had promised the +heart and hand of their daughter to the son of a wealthy farmer (a +distant relative), who was void of merit, and one who was despised by +the young lady, on account of his awkward manner of behavior, and his +ignorance of what constituted a well-bred gentleman. Nelly G. informed +her father and mother that she chose a companion and protector without +money, in preference to money and lands without a companion and +protector.</p> + +<p>One sunny morning, in summer's golden days, when the Valley of the +Mohawk appeared like an Eden outstretched in loveliness, and bowed in +summer's rosy bloom, the father of Mayall's intended wife saw Mayall +coming with hurried steps towards his house, dressed in a green +hunting-frock and cap with a green plume shading his forehead, a +double-barreled carbine in his hand, with a tomahawk and hunting-knife +sheathed in his belt, which was the favorite dress of a hunter when +rambling through the green, overgrown forests of the Valley of the +Mohawk, to prevent being noticed by wild game or Indians.</p> + +<p>Fearing he might have some message for his daughter, whom he did not +intend he should see, he started hastily towards him, to intercept him +and turn him back before he reached his house. He met Mayall some +distance from his house, and forbid his nearer approach.</p> + +<p>"I have a message for you and your daughter, which will freeze her young +blood and wring her heart with pain, and make your eyes start like stars +from their spheres, whilst each hair upon your head will stand erect +like the quills of the affrighted porcupine."</p> + +<p>The farmer's courage failed, and his knees began to tremble and smite +each other like Belshazzar's; for he had heard of the undaunted courage +and manly bearing of young Mayall in times of danger.</p> + +<p>"Look yonder," said Mayall, as he pointed his carbine up the Valley of +the Mohawk. "Do you see the smoke and flames that light up the concave +of the skies? That is the funeral pile of your friend and neighbor. +Around that fire stands the savage band that have come to plunder and +burn your houses and barns, lay waste your fields, and murder and scalp +your wife and daughter, Nelly G.; and now where can I find her?"</p> + +<p>"She is at the house," said the farmer, "and her horse is in the +stable."</p> + +<p>"Then come with me," said Mayall; "there is not a moment to lose; flee +for your life, and the life of your wife and daughter. I will guard and +defend your property."</p> + +<p>Mayall ran to the stable, and in a few moments appeared before the +farmer's house with Nelly's horse, saddled and bridled, and called for +Nelly, who quickly appeared at the door in a plain homespun dress.</p> + +<p>"Mount this horse," said Mayall, "and flee for your life to the fort, a +place of safety."</p> + +<p>"Wait a moment," said Nelly, "until I change my dress."</p> + +<p>"No," said Mayall, "your retreat may be intercepted; there is death in +delay. The Indians are near, your father and mother will soon follow you +to the fort. Tell the commander to fire the alarm-gun, for the valley is +swarming with Indians."</p> + +<p>Mayall kissed Nelly's hand and said, "My prayer is that Heaven may +protect you. There is no time to lose in useless words."</p> + +<p>Nelly leaped upon the saddle, and the spirited animal took the nearest +road for the fort, and in a few moments was lost from sight by the thick +grove through which she had to pass. Mayall's eyes followed her lovely +form until it vanished in the sylvan shade, and then hastened to get her +father and mother on the way to a place of safety.</p> + +<p>Mayall, fearing that he might have been discovered by the Indians, made +a hasty retreat to the nearest woods in the direction of the fort, until +he disappeared among the shrubbery. Then, returning by a circuitous +route, hid in a thicket from which he could have a view of the road +leading to the farmer's house. He had scarcely reached his hiding-place +before he heard the booming of the alarm-gun at the fort, which thrilled +through his bosom with a joyful sound and gave a fresh impulse to all +his energies, as it echoed from mountain-top to mountain and glen, on +all the forest hills that bordered the then wild Valley of the Mohawk, +and seemed to say, "Nolly is safe."</p> + +<p>Mayall had but a few minutes to reflect on what had been accomplished, +before he espied from his hiding-place five Indians coming up the road +leading to the house. Mayall fired both barrels of his carbine, bringing +down the two foremost Indians, and without loss of time had his gun in +readiness for two more. Then, looking out from his hiding-place, he saw +the three remaining Indians retreating in great haste, leaving young +Mayall master of the farm and buildings. The inhabitants of the valley +rushed for the fort at the sound of the alarm-gun; but several were +overtaken by the Indians, and scalped and murdered in the most inhuman +manner. But Mayall kept guard over the farm and buildings. The Indians +made quick work in plundering and burning dwellings, and murdering all +the helpless women and children that fell in their way, and then made a +quick retreat towards Canada. After the Indians had left, and the +terror-stricken inhabitants had returned to their farms and once-loved +homes, only to find many of them a heap of ashes, the old farmer +returned with his wife and daughter, and found Mayall walking about +keeping guard over his farm and dwelling. He had buried the two Indians +and was enjoying a season of rest. Mayall greeted them all with the +warmest friendship, and felt happy when he saw them once more safe in +their own house, which he had saved from the Indians' torch. But the +ungrateful farmer and his wife treated Mayall with cold neglect, if not +contempt. The old farmer had seen his intended son-in-law and spent a +few days with him at the fort, and renewed his promise to give him his +daughter in marriage without her consent, and in spite of her most +earnest protest.</p> + +<p>And now, reader, put yourself in her place, and meditate awhile, and see +if you would have done as she did.</p> + +<p>Nelly was a wild, lovely girl by nature, and had added to her store of +knowledge many of the accomplishments of education. She had pledged her +hand and heart to Mayall, and said she would go with him to some deep, +unknown valley of the wilderness, before she would live with a man she +hated and could not love, and informed Mayall that her father was +determined to have the wedding take place the next Wednesday. She said +she once knew a lady who was separated from her lover, and yielded to +her parents' choice, who lived in perpetual torment, surrounded by a +profusion of wealth. In a few years she pined away, and died +broken-hearted, entered Charon's boat with her first love, and sailed +over the River of Death together, to join their friends on the Elysian +Fields of Paradise, and left her parents and the man of their choice +digging in the mud and dust for gold. But that lady was not Nelly +Gordon. She would sooner seek the wild wood's shade; for, "Better is a +dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." +"I would yield all due respect to my parents, remain single, and cheer +them in the winter of their declining years; make downy pillows for +their aching heads, and ring their funeral knell; but, oh, misery! when +they attempt to force me to take a partner for life, not worthy the name +of a man, for his property, I shudder at the thought, and my better +judgment compels me to rebel against parental authority. They have gone +thus far without my consent—have even invited the guests; and I assure +you the groom may come, but the bride will be absent."</p> + +<p>Mayall's mind was made up at a glance, for he had long known Nelly's +love and fidelity to him, which, he had returned with the kindest +respect, and said to Nelly: "If you dare trust yourself in my care, meet +me at the large gate that leads to the highway as soon as your father +and mother retire to rest, with such articles of clothing as you may +need on your journey, and we will fly to some green valley of the West. +I will see that your horse is in readiness. I have a friend that will +accompany us to Cherry Valley, and return with the horses before the +morning star rises, which will prevent our place of retreat being +discovered."</p> + +<p>As soon as Nelly's father and mother were lost in dreamless slumbers, +Nelly passed out of her chamber with noiseless steps, carrying her +wearing apparel in a bundle, closely packed, and found Mayall and his +friend in readiness, with three horses saddled and equipped for the +journey. The company were quickly mounted on three spirited horses, and +reached Cherry Valley at eleven o'clock P. M.—a place Nelly had never +seen before. No cottage window showed the light of a taper; but the +light of the full moon fell in tranquil loveliness upon the rounded +hill-tops, and the glittering stars added their beauty to the heavens, +while the green forest and flowering shrubbery clothed the earth with +beauty, and the sweet-scented clover perfumed the surrounding air. The +company dismounted under a broad, spreading forest tree at the south end +of the village, near which ran a little rivulet, that meandered in +graceful curves southward. Here Mayall and Nelly G. gave the hand of +their friend a hearty shake, and an affectionate farewell, enjoining on +him the strictest secrecy as he started on his return journey to the +Valley of the Mohawk, which he reached just in time to return Nolly's +horse to her father's stable and his own to the pasture, before the +morning sun dashed her light on all the western hills, and painted the +surrounding groves in all the glory of summer.</p> + +<p>The father of Nelly awoke with the morning light, and called for his +lovely daughter to rise and behold the beauties of the morning. No voice +gave back the welcome response. He called again. The voice that used to +cheer him with her morning song was far away with her lover. Her +bedchamber was as silent as the house of death. He rushed wildly about +his outbuildings, calling for his Nelly. No answer came, as usual, +floating on the morning breeze, to greet his listening ear. He returned +to the house. His wife had searched in vain for her daughter; but found +her most valuable wearing apparel was missing, which told a sad tale, +whilst no traces could be found of her place of retreat. Next the stable +was examined, and Nelly's horse was found as he had left him the night +previous. He rode to every place where he thought she would be likely to +go, but no trace could be found. He inquired for Mayall, and was told +that he was seen the evening before equipped for a hunting excursion. He +returned home in grief and loneliness. His house no longer echoed to the +musical voice of his lovely daughter. His wife, who had been the most +anxious for her daughter to marry a farm instead of a man of worth, now +began to murmur and find fault with her husband for his unkindness to +Mayall, who had saved their lives and the life of their daughter, and +protected their property. She could then see how nobly he had acted, and +shielded them from the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the Indians; and +now their only daughter had flown to his arms for protection, and to +reward him for his noble deeds of humanity—flown from a man she was +determined never to marry.</p> + +<p>"Has she not frequently told you she had rather have a brave and noble +youth without money, than to have a coward she hated with his land and +money—that, should his money be lost by misfortune, she would only have +the wreck of a man left? And now she is gone, perhaps we shall never see +her face again; and, what is worse than all, we have been the cause of +our own misfortunes by our own folly and blindness. Had we heeded her +warnings we might have enjoyed a pleasant life, with our daughter to +cheer us in our declining years; and the brave young man to defend us."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">From cloudy turrets evening crept<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To watch the day's retreating light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then o'er the heavenly pavement swept<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The trailing garments of the night,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By God's own hand was quick unfurled;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Then came the mighty roll-call of the skies,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And Nelly, at her father's gate,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Quickly answered, "Here am I!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>On the appointed day the man possessed of land and money came to receive +his lovely bride—but, oh, what grief! the bird had flown to the +wilderness—there to dwell in some green valley, there to build her nest +and rear her young, far from the haunts of men, and cook the hunter's +savory fare, and wear the beaver's richest furs, when sullen winter +there may frown.</p> + +<p>The day was turned into a day of sadness and mourning, and at evening +the guests returned home gloomy and disappointed. A month of grief and +loneliness passed away, and Nelly's father learned, from one of the +early settlers of Cherry Valley, that, on the day following the evening +that Nelly left her father's home, she was married at Cherry Valley, by +a clergyman of that place, to a young man by the name of Mayall, and had +not been seen or heard from since. A search was made to discover +Mayall's place of residence; but it all proved useless, as no trace of +his place of retreat could be found. The father and mother of Nelly G. +lived and died without seeing again the face of their lovely daughter. +Soon after Nelly G. changed her name to Nelly Mayall her father and +mother met with many reverses of fortune, their property vanished away +like dew before the morning sun. The Revolutionary war broke out, a +party of Tories and Indians visited the Valley of the Mohawk for +plunder, their buildings were burned, their property taken, and they +fell a sacrifice to the tomahawk and scalping-knife. After the war had +ended, and one adventurer after another came to the Valley of the Adaca +to select homes, Nelly Mayall learned of the sad fate of her parents. +She dressed her hat with the dark plumes of the birds of the forest, and +for a time mourned their sad fate. Time passed on—the changing beauties +of the forest scenery, the kind attention of her devoted husband and the +prattling of her children, once more revived her drooping spirits, and +she was again Nelly Mayall, with all her youthful charms.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Fresh from the fountains of the wood<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A rivulet to the valley came,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And glided on for many a rood,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Flushed with the morning's ruddy flame;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The air was fresh and soft and sweet,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The slopes in spring's new verdure lay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, wet with dewdrops, at my feet<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Bloomed the young violets of May.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No sound of busy life was heard<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Amid those forests lone and still,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Save the faint chirp of early bird,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or bleat of deer along the hill.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I traced the rivulet's winding way,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">New scenes of beauty opened round.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where woody shades of brightest green<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And lovely blossoms tinged the ground.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Ah, happy valley stream,' I said,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">'Calm glides thy waters 'mid the flowers,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whose fragrance round my path is shed<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Through all the joyous summer hours.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>After the storm of the Revolution had passed away, and the Angel of +Peace once more brooded over the forest, there was a daring hunter with +his family found living in the Valley of the Adaca, now called Otego +Creek, by the name of Mayall, who had become perfectly familiar with +every hill, mountain, valley and glen for many miles around his humble +cottage. He led a wild and romantic life, living and lodging wherever +night overtook him, when the distance was so great that he could not +reach his home, where the smoke of his cottage fire curled in blue +wreaths over the forest trees, whilst its walls furnished a safe abode +for his wife and children from the wild beasts of the forest. His cabin +was strongly built of logs, with small windows, which looked more like +port-holes to a fort than windows. A deep hole was dug beneath his +cottage floor, from which there was a secret passage leading under the +foundation outside, that one might make his escape, if necessary. A bed +of straw was thrown down into this hole, and here his children slept, +descending by means of a trap-door, which was closed in time of danger, +and made a safe retreat against the wild beasts of the forest in his +absence. There was abundance of game scattered over the forest, and the +multitude of furred animals that inhabited the valleys and congregated +along the streams, living on the swarms of fish that then abounded in +every mountain rill, made it an easy matter to support his table with +fresh and dried venison, choice fowls and speckled trout, whilst the +furred animals, that were abundant, would furnish him with clothing to +protect him from the frosts of winter.</p> + +<p>About the year 1774 this wild forester was found cultivating a small +spot of ground near a little crystal rill that flowed from a deep gorge +in the hill. Eastward of his cabin was a high bluff of rocks, crowned +with lofty pines, that overlooked the valley, which stretched away +towards the Susquehanna. From this rocky promontory the forest appeared +unbroken, excepting the small spot cleared by his own hands, and seemed +to lie beneath this rocky throne in tranquil loveliness. Here at his +cottage, when at home, his wife cooked his frugal but delicious repast. +The Oneida tribe of Indians made their main path to the Susquehanna +Valley through the Valley of the Otego Creek, for the purpose of +procuring their yearly supply of lead, which they used to carry away in +abundance. The first settlers of this valley used to say that they would +leave Laurens Village, and, after an absence of two or three hours, +return loaded with their yearly supply; yet, with all the search that +has been made by the white race, this mine remains a secret, known only +to the red man to this day, and probably will remain so until the end of +time, unless found by accident. This state of affairs moved on quietly +until the breaking out of the Revolution. Great Britain, with her +warlike bands, invaded the eastern and southern coast, whilst the Indian +tribes westward, aided by the Canadians and Tories, swarmed through all +the western forests.</p> + +<p>Mayall began to shun them as much as convenient. They appeared very +different from the Oneidas, and seemed now to be hunting for men and +plunder, instead of wild game. They cleared away and made their +war-paths more plain along the broad-armed Susquehanna and her +tributaries. They came, painted and plumed for the fray, with their +scalp-locks waving in the air; and the frightful war-whoop echoed +through the valley and died away upon the mountain top, frightening the +wild beasts to their lair, as they marched towards the nearest +settlements, to kindle the terror-awakening fire, and massacre and +plunder the inhabitants. The war-whoop awoke the child from the +cradle—the infant was torn from its mother's arms, the aged fell by the +tomahawk and scalping-knife, and the earth fattened with their blood. +Such was the state of affairs when autumn arrived, and hung out her flag +of many colors from the forest trees over hill and vale, as the sun, +with fiery crest, gilded every forest tree with the glory of the season, +whilst the bold hunter gathered in the ripening fruit to increase his +scanty winter store. The furred animals had now put on their winter +robes, which nature so wisely prepares for their comfort during the +frosts of winter.</p> + +<p>Mayall, who styled himself one of that religious sect called Friends, in +order to soothe the fears of his enemies, always hailed them, wherever +he met them, as friends.</p> + +<p>Autumn, with him, was the season for rambling and hunting to lay in his +winter store of furs and provisions, and he prepared for a hunting +excursion up the Cherry Valley Creek. The next morning, when the first +rays of light appeared in the east, he was seen to emerge from his cabin +with a knapsack of provisions on his back, a bundle of traps thrown over +his shoulder, powder-horn and bullet-pouch by his side, and his trusty +gun in his hand. Thus equipped, he took an eastward course for the +Cherry Valley Creek. At the head of that creek was the nearest +settlement, where he sometimes went to dispose of his furs and purchase +stores and ammunition, distant from his home about twenty-seven miles. +As soon as he reached the mouth of the stream, which is a tributary of +the Susquehanna, he began to reconnoitre the stream, and set his traps +wherever signs appeared of beaver, animated with the prospect of a rich +harvest of furs and venison. He had not proceeded far before he saw a +fine buck, which had come to the creek to drink. He instantly raised his +trusty gun to his face. A flash and report, and the noble animal fell +dead upon the bank of the stream. The day had now far advanced, and he +drew his knife from its sheath and dressed his venison with dispatch. He +then hung up three of the quarters upon the trees, cutting off a limb to +form a hook on which it would hang safely from the wolves that were +nightly prowling along the stream. He then took the remaining quarter +and wrapped it up in the skin of the buck, retired into a thick, dark +swamp that lay near the stream, until he reached a large, spreading +hemlock, that afforded a convenient resting-place at its root. Here, in +this dense thicket, he built a small fire, examined his trusty gun, and +laid down to rest. He afterward said he used every caution, for he had +three enemies upon his track—the panther, the wolf and the red man. The +night seemed to pass away quietly, excepting the howling of a wolf +occasionally upon a distant hill, which gave him no uneasiness. Rosy +morn soon appeared, and he could see the sun send his blush upon the +highest hills, from his camping-ground in the swamp. He then prepared +his breakfast, and feasted on the loin of the buck that he had killed +the day previous. Emerging from the swamp, he intended to examine his +traps, and then take the skin of the buck and the choicest part of the +venison to his family. In this calculation he was sadly disappointed; +for, as he proceeded along a path near the stream, suddenly three Indian +warriors appeared in the path before him. He walked directly up to the +party and said, "Good morning, brothers." They returned the compliment +by saying, "Good morning, brother." One of the party said, "Let me see +your gun." He handed it out. The Indian took from his pocket a knife and +turned back the screws that held the lock, and then took the lock and +put it in his pocket, handing the gun back to Mayall, informing him that +he must go with them. Mayall bit his lips in silence, to think a hunter +who had faced his enemies in every form could be so easily frustrated in +his plans. They then informed him that they were on the war-path and he +must consider himself their prisoner, to which he made no reply.</p> + +<p>They immediately commenced their march in the following order: the +stoutest Indian led the march, next came Mayall, the prisoner, followed +by two Indian warriors. In this manner they marched down the creek, and +then down the Susquehanna, to a place near where the Schenevus mingles +with and loses its name in the waters of the Susquehanna. Here they +encamped for the night, and after starting their camp-fire in a thicket +of hemlocks, they all four eat their supper from the venison cooked by +Mayall in the morning. Then, binding their prisoner's hands behind him, +and tying his feet firmly together, they laid down to sleep, with an +Indian on each side and the remaining one to keep guard. As soon as the +blaze of the fire died away, Mayall tried to disengage his hands, which +began to pain him cruelly, but all in vain. If he could once free +himself, he could reach his home before the sun could rise again, and +once more see his wife and children; but six miles of forest parted them +at this time, on a straight line. Oh, the misery of being dragged from +home! And who could foretell his fate? Was he to wear the bearskin +moccasin, and be tied to the fatal stake and burned for Indians' sport, +and his poor family left to starve and perish amid the frosts of a long, +dreary winter? He dreamed of the red war-post, the terrific dance of the +red man round his burning victim, and all the refined torture of the +savage. Morning broke his dreams; the sun again kissed the mountain-top. +Mayall was unbound—his mind became calm, his resolution was formed. It +was the last night that he was to endure the horrors of being bound. +Little did the Indians know the danger of driving to desperation so +terrible a foe, who was perfectly acquainted with the forest many +leagues around them. The Indian warriors soon resumed their march in the +same order of the previous day, but with greater haste. They moved +forward rapidly, as if they feared an enemy in the rear. Mayall scanned +every movement with the eye of the vulture, for a chance to deal the +deadly blow upon his captors. The day seemed to wear away without an +opportunity for the deadly combat, until they halted at a ford above +where the village of Unadilla now stands. Here they held a parley, as +the stream was swollen and rapid. Mayall looked on in sullen silence, as +he began to feel the demon rise. He said he soon felt the courage of a +lion, and the strength of a Samson before he had trifled with Delilah.</p> + +<p>They hesitated for a short time over the danger. The foremost warrior +finally ventured into the stream with his rifle and it was with great +difficulty he kept his footing. He struggled against the rushing waters, +and finally reached the opposite bank; the second one now stepped into +the stream and ordered Mayall to follow. Mayall made every appearance of +preparing to follow, until the Indian reached the rapid current; then, +turning suddenly upon the Indian on the shore, at one blow with the +stock of his gun he laid him dead at his feet. As quick as thought, +before his body had fairly reached the ground, Mayall seized his rifle +and shot the Indian in the stream. Then tearing the Indian's belt from +his body (for it was hurrying times), he jumped behind the trunk of the +nearest tree that would shelter him, as a ball from the Indian's rifle +on the opposite bank whistled by his head, which he had anticipated, and +moved as quickly as possible, to avoid his deadly aim. They now stood on +opposite banks, each behind the trunk of a tree, with an empty rifle in +their hands. The rifles were quickly loaded and prepared for the deadly +combat, and the life of one at least must be sacrificed. After Mayall's +gun was in readiness he cautiously peered out; but seeing the Indian's +rifle aimed directly at him he dodged suddenly back, just in time to +save his life; for the very instant Mayall dodged back his head, a ball +from the Indian's rifle grazed the bark of the tree, and whistled away +among the forest trees. Mayall now thought of taking the advantage of +the Indian by aiming his rifle directly at his hiding-place and firing +at the first appearance of the Indian's head, but in this he was +disappointed; for the Indian, seeing Mayall's rifle aimed at his head, +drew it back so quickly that the ball cut a channel in the bark where +the Indian's eye appeared. Mayall loaded again as hastily as possible, +and stood for a moment, hesitating what course to pursue, satisfied that +the Indian warrior was his equal in aim and courage. He cast his eye +back into the forest, and readily saw the trees stood thick, and by +drawing the Indian's fire he could make a quick and safe retreat. But +that would not answer—he would be hunted down and surprised, and his +life would never be safe. Mayall quickly resolved that the Indian or +himself must fall on that ground, and the only means now left him was +stratagem. He drew his ramrod from his rifle, and putting his hat on the +end, pushed it out carefully, to prevent the Indian from discovering the +deception. It had the desired effect; for scarcely had the hat shown its +full size outside the trunk of the tree, before the Indian sent a ball +from his rifle through the hat, which Mayall lowered quickly to the +ground, and then listened with breathless anxiety the result. In this +condition he waited a long time.</p> + +<p>All was silent as the tomb, excepting now and then the scream of a +fish-hawk or the singing of a hermit-thrush that had approached the bank +of the river after the firing had ceased, and seemed singing the funeral +dirge of the red warriors who had already fallen. All of a sudden the +thrush flew past Mayall into the forest, and the practiced ear of Mayall +heard a rippling in the stream, like running water dashing against some +slight obstruction. Anticipating the approach of the Indian warrior, he +stepped suddenly from behind the tree, whilst the Indian was struggling +with the current, and sent a ball from his rifle through the warrior's +heart. He then floated down the rapid current, and sunk in the deep +water below the rift.</p> + +<p>Mayall then took his gunlock from the pocket of the Indian on the shore, +who had stayed behind to engineer and direct the crossing, placed it +upon his own gun, dragged the Indian into the current of the river, and +he, too, floated down, and sunk with the first two in the deep, dark +waters of the Susquehanna. He then washed out all traces of the bloody +strife, and bent his course homeward. He hurried on, avoiding the +trodden path of the red man, until he reached the mouth of the Otego +Creek, when night's sable curtain began to darken the landscape around +him. He then ascended a high peak of the mountain, that not only +overlooked the Valley of the Susquehanna, but also overlooked the lovely +Valley of the Otego Creek. Here, after finding a suitable spot, and +examining his rifle, and seeing that all was right, he laid down, weary +and exhausted, to rest, without kindling a fire.</p> + +<p>The experience of the last two days had taught him a lesson long to be +remembered. As the night grew dark and chilly, he could see the fire +from his own cottage window gleam warm and bright from his lofty +mountain bed, distant twelve miles. The night seemed long and wild, and +still wilder round his lonely bed. The war was now raging between the +United States and Canada. The inhabitants of Cherry Valley had been +massacred, and he had come near losing his own life and liberty, and +time would only tell what would become of himself and family. The +Oneidas knew his home and place of rest, but at present they were his +friends; but how should he escape these western savage tribes, that +delighted in kindling the terror-awakening fire, and causing the +midnight to glitter with the blaze of some solitary dwelling, whilst +they stood at the door with the scalping-knife and tomahawk, to deal the +death-blow to the inmates, and triumph with savage glee over their +untimely death? Such were the reflections of Mayall, solitary and alone +in his mountain bed, when the wild beasts of the forest were in motion, +and no human being within twelve miles of his mountain camp. At length +the morning dawned; the sun arose in all his glory, throwing a rosy +blush, as it touched one peak and then another along the Catskill +mountains, which he could see clothed in all their autumnal glory above +the intervening hills. Long lines of clouds lay along the highest peaks +of these mountains, painted with all the hues of vermilion and gold, but +soon faded to a leaden hue, as they began to veil the sun.</p> + +<p>Mayall was now aware of the approaching storm, which he considered a +stroke of good luck. He took the Indian's rifle, which he had brought +thus far with him, and secreted it in a hollow log, lest it might be a +tell-tale of what had happened. He then took a general survey with his +practiced eye, to see if there was any smoke rising from the valleys. He +could see none but his own in the distance. He then hurried down from +the mountain, and took the nearest path to his home with rapid and +hurried steps, in order to get as near home as possible, that the rain +might wash out all traces behind, and took special care to avoid soft +ground, as he well knew the shrewdness of the Indians on the track if +they should miss their tribesmen. He reached home before the rain began +to descend, and had hardly closed the door before the wind began to blow +and the rain fell in torrents.</p> + +<p>His family were surprised to see him return, after three days' absence, +with nothing but his gun and ammunition, and appearing careworn, weary +and hungry. He walked to the door and looked out, and said, "Nature +weeps for me!"</p> + +<p>Mayall was a bold, daring man, and none was found more brave; but when +he looked upon his little prattling children and lovely wife, he thought +of the three Indian warriors lying at the bottom of the dark, deep +stream, and he wept, thinking they might have wives and fatherless +children, who would look out evening and morning for their fathers and +husbands, who would never return again to their homes.</p> + +<p>His wife and children hailed him with joy, but nothing they could say +seemed worth his notice; he seemed to be wrapped in deep meditation—not +a smile was seen to light up his sunburnt countenance. No one could read +the secret of his meditation.</p> + +<p>Autumn quietly wore away, and Mayall confined his hunting excursions to +his own quiet valley, where game appeared quite plenty, until the snows +of winter began to whiten the hills. He then remained most of the time +at home, excepting now and then, when the weather was favorable, he made +an excursion up or down the valley in quest of deer, to supply his +family with fresh venison. The deep snows had drifted over the war-path +of the red man, and Mayall had enjoyed a quiet season, spending most of +his time by a warm winter fire.</p> + +<p>At length winter began to resign his sway, and took up his march for his +northern icy throne. The rays of the sun began to dissolve the deep +snow, the southern breeze began to whisper among the dumb branches of +the forest trees, the warm rains pattered down, the little mountain +streams were swollen, and noisily hurrying down to pour their tribute +into the Otego, which overflowed its banks and inundated the lowlands +along the streams, and Spring began to put on her glorious robes of +beauty. The violet opened its young leaves with all its youthful blush, +the honeysuckle displayed its glistening cups of gold, and the forest +trees were again clothed with living green, while every tree that bore +the fruits of Autumn was dressed with Nature's fairest wreaths, which +art can scarcely imitate. The feathered choir had fluttered up the +valley, borne on the southern breeze, to cheer the woodland with their +song.</p> + +<p>Such was the earthly Paradise of Mayall. Not all the halls of state, +with their artificial splendor; not all the retinue of kings, with +golden crowns, surrounded with warriors glittering with burnished gold +and ornamented with diamonds—all these faded into insignificance, when +compared with his green forest home.</p> + +<p>"What city," said Mayall, "with all its towers and domes, can compare +with these sylvan shades and waving arches, the music of these +waterfalls, and that of the tall pine's quaking cone standing on its +high and lofty throne? And what music can compare with the notes of +these feathered songsters, that morning and evening hymn the praise of +Nature's God, where He sits enthroned with all his glory?" Such were the +reflections of Mayall, as he sat beneath a clustering vine that his +lovely companion had trained, in his absence, to form an arch over his +cottage door, and shelter him from the burning sun.</p> + +<p>The flowers of May soon began to drop their leaves, the streams had +become confined within their banks, the red men from the Western lakes +and Canada were again upon the war-path, and it required all the skill +of a forest life to elude their pursuit. Mayall knew every sound of the +night; his eye and ear had long sought in the dark; not a beast that +walked the forest by night, or prowled around his cabin or camp-fire, +but he could name readily by the sound of his footsteps. Mayall had +remained most of the summer at his forest home, cultivating a small +field that surrounded it, and capturing such game as frequented his own +valley, and the streams that meandered through it abounded with fish of +the finest quality for his table.</p> + +<p>Summer had quietly passed away, and the golden sun of September began to +change the bright green of summer to all the varied hues of autumn. +Mayall once more began to feel a desire to roam over the hills, which +had long been his favorite employment; he finally resolved on visiting +his more distant hunting-ground in quest of deer, which had become +scarce near his home. He accordingly rose with the sun and prepared for +a journey over the distant hills and valleys, which had only appeared to +him in his dreams since his capture by the three Indian warriors. He +took an eastern course, crossed the highlands between the Otego Creek +and Susquehanna Valley, crossed the Indian war-path that passed up the +Susquehanna, and thence up Cherry Valley Creek at right angles, and soon +began to climb the steep ascent of the Crumhorn mountain, in the +direction of a small lake situated on the top of the mountain. As he +began to ascend the mountain the sun had passed the meridian, and poured +its heated rays against the western slope of the mountain. Mayall, +coming to a noisy little rill that spun its silver thread down the +mountain side, to mingle with the water in the valley below, slaked his +thirst at the stream, and, walking up to a little mound near the stream, +scraped together some leaves that had fallen in wild profusion around, +to carpet the mountain-side with all their varied hues, and seated +himself for his noonday meal. After satisfying his hunger and again +quenching his thirst at the stream, he sat down to rest; a stupor came +over him, as the gentle breeze fanned the mountain-side and whispered +among the lofty branches of the forest trees, like the Æolian harp of +passing time.</p> + +<p>Mayall soon became unconscious of the fearful dangers that were hovering +around him; time, to him, passed unheeded; the sun was fast sinking +towards the western hills, and the wild beasts of the forest were again +in motion. Mayall slowly awoke to consciousness, and, to his surprise +and horror, he heard the tread of a panther walking about him, and +covering him with leaves. Being perfectly acquainted with the habits of +this animal, he knew that to move a hand or foot would cause his instant +death, as the old panther was then preparing a feast for her young ones, +as he had seen them prepare a deer that she had found in the same +manner, and then go and bring her young ones. He lay in fearful suspense +until the panther had finished her covering of leaves. He heard her +footsteps begin to recede, until the sound was lost in distance; then, +creeping out from his covering of leaves, he discovered near him an old +decayed log about the length of a man. This he moved to the spot where +he had lain, and covered it with leaves, then, casting his eyes around, +he saw a tree that he could easily climb, and, slinging his gun over his +shoulder, fastened by a strap to his belt, he lost no time in ascending +the tree to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet, where he found a +convenient branch to rest upon, above the height of the panther's +ground-leap. He waited quietly for the return of the panther and her +family, not knowing how many guests would be invited to the feast.</p> + +<p>Whilst sitting on this lofty perch, in painful suspense, he carefully +examined his trusty gun and hunting knife, which he sheathed in his boot +in readiness for the combat, should the panthers attempt to attack him +by ascending the tree. After resting on one of the branches of his +chosen tree for a short time he heard the rustling of the leaves in the +distance, and could plainly see through the branches of the trees that +the old panther was advancing towards his bed of leaves, accompanied by +three large cubs. He now felt thankful there was but one old one in the +company, and waited in silence to see the exploits of the old panther, +which advanced steadily towards the bunch of leaves with cautious steps, +as if she feared to wake her prey until she came within leaping +distance; then, settling down on the ground, waited until her young ones +came to her side; then springing forward with one tremendous bound, she +struck upon the log covered with leaves. The rotten wood-bark and leaves +flew fearfully around for a moment. The panther seeing her mistake, +dropped her tail and ears like a shamed cur, and taking a careful survey +with her eyes of the surrounding forest, stood at fault for a few +moments. Then raising her head and ears, she seemed to resume all her +native fierceness, and seemed maddened with rage at her disappointment, +and, seeming to have caught the scout of the victim of her rage, she +raised her eyes and fixed them on Mayall in the tree, and advanced +directly towards him, her young panthers following, which were about the +size of a large wild cat.</p> + +<p>Mayall awaited her approach, with his gun in readiness, until the +panther came in full view, and as she settled towards the ground to make +a bound up the tree he sent the contents of his gun through her head. +For a few moments there was a fearful struggle among the small brush and +saplings, and then she dropped lifeless and exhausted upon the ground. +Mayall lost no time in loading his gun, but the young panthers, seeing +their protector and provider fall, were quickly out of reach of the +fearless hunter. Mayall descended to the ground just as the sun was +casting his last crimson blush on the Crumhorn hills, and kindled his +camp-fire on the leaves that the panther had scraped together for his +funeral pile. After he had kindled his fire and made preparations for +the night he then laid down near his camp-fire, where he could get a +fair view of his surroundings. The shades of evening soon gathered +around him. The stars shot forth in beauty one by one, and the evening +dew fell in silence. Thinking the young panthers might return for their +dam, he had placed her in a sleeping position in a conspicuous place, to +draw them to her side if they came within sight. Mayall waited in +sleepless anxiety, thinking that when the embers of his fire died away +the young panthers might approach. In the midst of his watchfulness the +moon arose and showed her maiden face, and walked among the stars, +reflecting her borrowed light among the branches of the forest trees.</p> + +<p>Mayall was delighted with the grandeur of the scenery around him, which +drew out his mind in pure devotion to Nature and Nature's God. The night +seemed to pass like a pleasant dream, and the day-star began to twinkle +in the east. Mayall kindled again his fire to prepare his morning +repast, that he might retrace his steps to the Valley of the Otego, +knowing that the hunter finds no deer in forests inhabited by panthers. +The day-king soon arose and dispelled the darkness of night. Mayall went +forward and circumnavigated the little lake in pursuit of the young +panthers. Not finding their hiding place, he sat down on a log for a few +moments to view that beautiful sheet of water, reflecting on its bosom +the surrounding forest. Eolus was slumbering. Not a breath of air played +over its surface, but lay like the mirror bright and fair. Mayall in his +excitement viewed it as one of the lovely dimples on the face of +creation, which held him for a time like a charm, until his thoughts +roamed over the forest hills to his loved ones at home. He then arose +and retraced his steps to the Valley of the Otego, considering the past +day and night one of the most charming incidents of his past life.</p> + +<p>The war of the Revolution had now ended, and new adventurers began to +visit the Valley of the Otego. Charmed with the beauty of its forests +and crystal streams, they would return and soon appear with their +families.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And behold the green hills in distance laid,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where the wild hunter often strayed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where through the forest swift as light<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The wild deer shunned the bullets' flight.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + + +<p>Summer had resigned her sway to Autumn in the green valleys of the +Susquehanna and her tributaries, which spread out among the hills like +the branches of some mighty forest tree, over whose curving and playful +waters the green plumes of the forest trees had waved during the summer, +now changed with the season; and Summer, the queen of flowers and +ripening fruit, had wrapped herself in a mantle of green, and laid down +to die as the sun gradually declined to southern skies and the Autumn +Queen put on her gorgeous robes of many colors. The squirrel was seen to +play on nimble feet through oak and chestnut groves gathering in his +winter store. The deer, with her fawn, wandered through the grove +unmolested, excepting at such times as Mayall needed venison for his own +table.</p> + +<p>One day, while seated beneath the vine-clad porch of his cabin, where +the vines had been trained by his wife to tie in leafy coil over the +door, he saw a woman in homespun dress advancing with hurried steps, +weeping and mourning as she advanced towards him, and fell exhausted at +his feet. Mayall raised her from the ground and inquired the cause of +her grief. She soon recovered sufficiently to inform him that a party of +nine Indian hunters had been prowling about her cabin for a couple of +days, and that morning they had stolen her little daughter Nelly, but +four years old, and bore her away in triumph without any regard to her +screams or the lamentations of her mother for her only child.</p> + +<p>Mayall listened with pity and grief to the poor woman's tale of woe, and +impatiently said, "Why did not your husband follow the black thieves and +bring back your child?"</p> + +<p>"Oh dear," cried the poor woman, "what could he do with so many +Indians?"</p> + +<p>Mayall replied, "Follow them, and when a good opportunity offered, kill +them, shoot the thieves and bring back your child. Better die like a man +than live a coward here in this forest land, dreaming of robber band +that bore away his only child to be a slave in some proud savage's smoky +hut."</p> + +<p>At this reply the woman became frantic with despair and cried out, "Oh, +Mayall, for mercy save my child. You are the only man now living that +can do it, and I will give you all I possess on earth and be your slave +in the bargain."</p> + +<p>Mayall was not deaf to sympathy. The fire of revenge began to kindle in +his bosom; but how should he withstand the power and vengeance of nine +brave men skilled in battle and the chase? He sat silent for a few +moments. The flames of revenge began to burn in his iron will, which, +when aroused, was terrible. He inquired the direction the Indians had +gone with the child, and where their trail could be found, then told the +woman to go home and take a good night's rest; he said the Indians had +gone, and of course would not return unless they came to bring her Nelly +back, and further she could do nothing to recover the child herself. He +thought the child would be returned in the morning.</p> + +<p>These words seemed to pacify her, and she returned home. As soon as his +only neighbor, Miss Murphrey, was out of sight, Mayall examined his +trusty gun and prepared cartridges equal to twice the number of Indians, +placed his tomahawk and hunting-knife in his belt, then turned to his +wife and said, "You must not look for me until I return. I will be back +as soon as my mission is accomplished."</p> + +<p>His mind then became calm and he sallied forth from his cottage as +cheerful as a hunter in quest of game, and soon disappeared in the +forest that surrounded his dwelling. The sun was descending towards the +western hills in all her flaming glory as Mayall reached the summit of +the dividing ridge between the Otego Creek and the Susquehanna Valley. +Cautiously and slowly he descended the hill, keeping on the Indian +trail.</p> + +<p>As the shades of night hovered over the forest, Mayall left the trail +and took his post on a small hill not far from the river, where he could +hear the Indians preparing wood for their evening fire, and occasionally +he could hear the child, Nelly Murphrey, crying for its mother. Mayall +cautiously advanced through the thick forest, guided by the sound of the +child's voice weeping and often calling for its mother, who lay wrapped +in wakeful dreams several miles away. The voice of this weeping child +nerved the old hunter's arm with the strength of a Samson, and filled +his heart with a vengeance not his own. The hours seemed to linger into +days as he lay crouched in the dark. At last the camp-fire of the +Indians blazed up and illuminated the forest. Mayall lay secreted in a +little thicket behind a knoll, where he could hear every word that was +said, and he well understood the Indian dialect.</p> + +<p>One Indian, who seemed to be their leader, said there would be no danger +unless they got the old hunter on the trail, and to avoid him they must +be up and away as soon as the day-star appeared.</p> + +<p>The Indians partook of their evening meal and laid down to slumber and +rest, not dreaming that the bold hunter, like the panther, was crouching +near with sharpened tomahawk and knife, panting for an opportunity to +avenge a woman's wrongs.</p> + +<p>As the night wore away all became silent, excepting an occasional +outbreak from little Nelly Murphrey, calling for her mother. The +camp-fire no longer blazed, but the dying coals were yet red, and gave +sufficient light to see the nine dark forms stretched on the forest +floor. Mayall now began to move forward with cautious steps. He soon +discovered by the flickering of the embers that the Indian on the watch +had fallen asleep, with the stolen child nestling between him and the +Indian warrior beside him.</p> + +<p>Mayall took a cautious look. No Indian in his blanket stirred. All was +silent, excepting the low murmuring of the Susquehanna rolling by. He +noiselessly rested his gun behind a tree, and leaped like a tiger upon +his prey, with his tomahawk in one hand, which he swung as fast as death +could deal a blow, and his long knife gleaming by the light of the fire +in the other. The last Indian in the circle, wakened by the screams of +the child, leaped from his leafy bed and fled into the forest with the +speed of a panther. Mayall, seeing his retreating form, sprang to the +Indian's guns and fired three in quick succession after him, to speed +his flight, and then, gathering up the remaining guns as quickly as +possible, threw them upon the coals with the muzzles in the direction +the Indian had gone, in order to keep up the firing until he could get +out of hearing with the affrighted child before the Indian returned. He +then took up Nelly, who was half dead with fright, and hurried off in +the opposite direction as fast as possible. The sharp report of one gun +after another broke the stillness of night until Mayall had got more +than two miles from the bloody conflict with his prize, and had soothed +the child's fears by softly whispering in her ear that he was carrying +her home to her mamma.</p> + +<p>Mayall now diverged from the trail and reached the place of his +destination by a circuitous route, at times traveling in the channel of +small brooks, in order to deceive the Indians, should they undertake to +follow on the trail, to avenge the blood of his tribesmen. Mayall +hurried on with his prize. The stars had faded from his view, and the +morning sun had lighted up the concave of the skies, before he could +reach the weeping mother with her little Nelly. Her mother had passed a +sleepless night, and her wakeful eye had been turned in every direction +to see if she could catch a glimpse or a sound from her little Nelly. +None but a mother could realize her pain and anguish at the loss of her +lovely child. As she stood looking she fancied she heard the faint sound +of her prattling voice. A moment later she saw Mayall come in full view +with little Nelly in his arms. The fond mother, now as frantic with joy +as she had been the previous day with grief, rushed to meet Mayall. She +met him some distance from her cabin, and little Nelly leaped with joy +into her mother's arms as she fell at the feet of Mayall, to thank him +for restoring to her loved embrace her only child. Mayall raised her to +her feet and said, "I have done no more than my duty, and I have no time +to waste. Swear to me before the God of Heaven that all that pertains to +the loss and return of this child shall be kept a secret whilst I live."</p> + +<p>After receiving her sacred promise not to reveal the secret, he +disappeared again in the forest, and there was no human being left at +liberty to tell the frightful story of the Indians' fate, excepting the +Indian that made good his retreat.</p> + +<p>The seasons rolled around, Autumn had again hung out her flag of many +colors, and Nelly Murphrey, under the fond care of her mother, had grown +to be a beautiful little girl, with her auburn hair drooping fondly in +ringlets upon her shoulders, and appeared in all the beauty of +innocence.</p> + +<p>Whilst the mother was seated at her door, playing with little Nelly, she +raised her eyes and saw a tall, stately Indian standing before her at a +respectful distance. As soon as her eyes rested upon the Indian, she +recognized him as being one of the band that stole her child. As Nelly +saw him she screamed and flew back into the house. The sudden scream +seemed to freeze her mother's blood, and she sat as immovable as a +statue. The Indian stood perfectly quiet, without coming nearer. When +she had recovered, he said he would not harm her nor her child; but she +must tell him who brought back her child. She told him she found the +child in the edge of the woods the next morning, and supposed that he +had returned it. He then told her he had not, and she must find out who +it was and let him know when he came around again. The mother watched +the Indian until he disappeared in the forest, and then stealing away +slyly in the opposite direction, and by taking a circuitous route, soon +reached Mayall's cottage, and told Mayall that one of the same Indians +that had stolen her Nelly had been at her house, trying to find out who +brought her back. "I told him where I found her, and thought he had got +tired of her and brought her back." Mayall then told her to go into his +cottage and remain there with his wife and children until he returned. +Taking good care to keep the doors securely bolted, and the axe in the +house to use if they were molested, Mayall then took down his gun, +prepared some cartridges, put on his belt, with his tomahawk and knife +depending from it, and hanging by his side, and left the cottage.</p> + +<p>Night came, but the hunter did not return. There was no moon, but the +stars shone forth in tranquil loveliness as the night wore away. About +midnight they heard a noise outside and near the cottage, and they crept +cautiously to the window, which was nearly as high as one's head, but +not of sufficient size to admit a common sized man, and looked +cautiously out, and Mayall's cow was in his garden. Mrs. Mayall then +told her that the Indian was near, and she must not show her head at the +window, or she might be taken for her husband. The minutes now seemed to +drag into hours, when that hungry cow was walking over the choice melons +and devouring them, and in a few moments more she was eating and +stamping down the corn which they had cultivated with care for their own +domestic use. But time wore away, and all was still, excepting the cow +in the garden. The sharp report of a gun was heard, and loud groans +followed, which seemed to shake everything within like a clap of +midnight thunder, and my brain seemed to reel, for deeds were going on I +dare not look upon.</p> + +<p>Soon after, some one, whom I took to be Mayall, for I could see by the +light of the stars he had a gun in his hand, came and drove his cow out +of the garden. Mrs. Mayall then told me her husband would be back in the +course of an hour, and they would then be out of all danger; that her +husband was then near the house. Our fears seemed to vanish, and we +commenced talking and anticipating what had happened. Mrs. Mayall said +the report was from her husband's gun; that she knew the sound from all +other guns, and that, when in the hands of her husband, was sure death +against prowlers of the night, whether they walked on two feet or four.</p> + +<p>She then said she knew their game. The Indian had let the cow into the +garden, expecting that her husband would come out, whilst he lay +secreted to kill him. She said Mayall never slept in his house when he +knew there were Indians watching for him, but always kept near enough to +protect his house and family. Whilst we were anticipating what had been +done in the dark, Mayall suddenly knocked three times on the door, then +paused and struck one. Mrs. Mayall, without farther hesitation, sprang +to the door and opened it. I said, "How dare you open that door?" She +replied that his knock was different from all other men; she said she +could tell by the day of the week, and no one knew the secret but +herself.</p> + +<p>Mayall entered the house without saying a word, bolted the door after +him, laid down his gun, knife and tomahawk, and after telling me that I +could go home in the morning if I chose, there would be no danger, he +then laid down on his bed of straw, and was sound asleep in less than +five minutes; and when I left his cottage in the morning he was still +asleep. I took my little Nelly and returned to my cabin. Many strange +thoughts passed through my troubled brain. Occasionally I seemed to hear +the sharp report of a rifle; and then how came the blood on that +tomahawk? The Indian never appeared again, nor could there be any trace +of him found.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Roam on the high mountain's crest, fearless ranger,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Indian no more shall dye his coarse blanket<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In citizens' gore; he has left, aye, forever, the vales<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where you met him, and fought for my Nelly,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So gifted, so fair and so young.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + + +<p>The Oneida Indians came annually from the Valley of the Mohawk and the +Oneida reservation to the Valley of the Susquehanna, by their path down +the Valley of Adaca, to lay in their store of dried venison for the long +and dreary winters of this latitude, accompanied by their wives and +daughters, who prepared the meat taken in the hunt, dried and smoked it, +and put it in deerskin sacks ready to be conveyed to their winter +quarters. They always encamped at their place of rest at the outlet of +the Adaca Creek into the Susquehanna River, where they had planted an +orchard to supply them with apples during the fall hunt.</p> + +<p>Mayall lived near their path where they usually stopped to make +inquiries and gain such information as was necessary to guide them where +deer were most numerous. They usually gave Mayall an invitation to join +the fall hunt, which was his favorite amusement at that season of the +year, being an expert in the game of hunting. The Indians gave Mayall +his full share of the venison and furs taken. They ranged the hills and +valleys in every direction from their camp at the place of rest, and +returned at night with their venison and furs, which they handed over to +their squaws to be dressed and dried, excepting such parts as would not +bear transportation, which were taken to supply the daily food of the +camp. A number of large gray wolves had been heard nightly from their +camp howling on the mountain south of the Susquehanna, which caused the +deer to leave the South Mountain and cross over to the hills on the +north side.</p> + +<p>On the morning following one of their howling frolics, one of the +hunters shot and wounded a deer on the south side of the river. In their +endeavors to capture it they drove it up the mountain side. There were a +number of hunters joined in the chase, but as the hill grow steep and +rocky they all fell back and returned to camp but Mayall and two +Indians, who had now reached the high range of hills, where they made a +temporary halt to view the ample plains and beauteous tracts below. On +the one hand they surveyed the famous Susquehanna, rolling in silent +dignity and marking its course with inconceivable grandeur, while in the +distance the hills lifted their venerable brows.</p> + +<p>Here they had paused a few moments to view the beauties of Nature as it +came fresh from the hand of Omnipotence. The sunlight was streaming from +the western skies, kissing each mountain top, clad with crimson and +gold, like the morning light that dances on the heaven-kissed hills of +Paradise. Mayall viewed the scene with unspeakable delight, as he +thought how rich he was in everything that made life desirable to him. +From this lofty eminence over the valley forest he could mark the smoke +curling from his quiet home, where his lovely companion rested. Youth, +beauty, wealth, love, all seemed to be his. All his past life seemed to +pass in grand review. The sun sank in silence toward the horizon, and +called to his mind that the chase was leading them too far from camp to +return before dark.</p> + +<p>Before they had time to decide which course to pursue they heard the +deer returning with a gang of wolves close in pursuit, made ravenous by +the scent of the warm blood gushing from the deer's sides at every +bound, in consequence of his wonderful springs to escape the wolves, +which were so near that one miss-jump would have been fatal, as a dozen +wolves were ready to tear his flesh from his bones.</p> + +<p>It now became hurrying times. Mayall looked round to find a safe +retreat. The two Indians that had ascended the hill with him were wild +with affright, and beat a hasty retreat. The deer became exhausted in +its exertions to escape, and fell to the ground within two rods of the +place where Mayall stood, and three of the wolves rushed upon him with +open jaws, to devour him. Mayall was just the man for that place; for as +quick as a flash of electricity all his presence of mind returned. The +contents of his gun, with his deadly aim, brought down the first or +foremost to the ground. He dropped his gun and met the second with his +tomahawk, which he dispatched at a blow. The third had then reached him. +He aimed a blow at his head, his weapon glanced, and the wolfs mouth +came in contact with his body and fastened his teeth in his +hunting-frock. At that instant Mayall gave him a thrust with his long +hunting-knife, which he had drawn from his belt with his left hand. The +knife entered between the wolf's ribs and split his heart, and the wolf +fell back and expired with a mournful howl. Mayall was now clear from +the wolves. The remainder of the drove was devouring the deer with such +haste, he saw there would be no escape unless it was effected without +delay. He instantly placed his tomahawk in his belt and sheathed his +knife, then fastening his gun to his belt by means of a spring, +commenced climbing the first favorable tree he reached.</p> + +<p>He had barely time to climb ten feet from the ground before the wolves +made a rush for the tree, and commenced jumping at him, mingled with a +howl of rage and disappointment. Mayall continued to climb until he +reached a safe and convenient place for loading his gun. He soon loaded +and brought down the fourth wolf, and then gave a shout of triumph to +inform the Indians that he had reached a place of safety. The Indians +shouted back from the tree-tops far down the mountain, with joy that +echoed through every glen and ascended above the mountain-top; for +hearing the howling and growling of the wolves after Mayall's first +fire, they supposed the wolves were devouring Mayall and would soon be +upon their track, and had taken the precaution to reach a place of +safety in time. Mayall now continued to load his gun and fire upon the +wolves with success, until the thinned band made their retreat up the +mountain. He then descended from his lofty perch, made his retreat in +the same direction the Indians had, down the mountain.</p> + +<p>Mayall soon reached the place where the Indians had fled for safety, and +found them perched in a tree like two owls on their nightly roost. As +soon as the Indians saw Mayall they quickly descended, and the three +took up their line of march for their camp with the double-quick. The +curtains of night were fondly drooping upon the hill-tops, and the stars +were shooting forth in glory one by one from Heaven's blue concave as +the three hunters reached the Indian encampment.</p> + +<p>The Indians shouted with joy at their return, after hearing the firing +of guns and the fierce howling of wolves. They had been much alarmed for +their safety. The squaws and Indians flocked round Mayall to hear the +Indians relate the story of their adventure and act over the frightful +scene with gun, tomahawk and knife, to show the amount of skill used by +Mayall in handling the deadly weapons of war. Their war-chief, being +present, addressed his Indians in the following manner: "Your pale-faced +chief, whom I shall this night adopt by the name of Wolf-hunter, must +ever be revered by our tribesmen for his deeds of skill and daring. He +has driven our enemies from our hunting-ground. Yon skulking thieves +that destroyed our game, and tore the white squaw's papoose from her +arms, and bore it over the high hills to where the Susquehanna winds her +course among the alder groves, there the pale chief left them in their +leafy bed of gore, and returned the white papoose to the embrace of her +mother. The Indians who returned to avenge their fallen tribesmen have +been slain by him, and their bones will ever rest on our hunting-ground, +unmolested either by sire or son. He has met this day in deadly combat +the gray wolves of the forest that destroyed our venison. They spared +neither the deer nor its fawn; and to-night they sleep in death, high on +the bleak mountain-side. The God of battle helps him in every strife, +and no arm has yet been found able to cope with his. And we should be +proud of such a friend to lead the hunt and move the whirlwind of the +battle on."</p> + +<p>Mayall related the story of his adventure with the wolves to Mr. Powel, +one of the first settlers of the Adaca Valley, and at the same time +informed him that Molly Brant, then an Indian maiden of beautiful form +and suavity of manners, was with the Indians at their camp, and was +after that the wife of Sir William Johnson. He said her manners were as +gentle as the south wind that rocked the tree-tops in autumn.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + + +<p>The place of rest where the red man unstrung his bow and slept two +hundred years ago, beneath the shades of an overgrown forest, where the +grandsires of that much-abused race planted their orchard, which bore +the gems of bright abundance in autumn's golden days to regale their +taste and satisfy their appetites, whilst they rested from the chase, +this Garden of Eden so much famed in Indian story, the red man's +resting-place, where he gathered in his stock of furs for his winter +clothing and dried his venison to sustain his own life and the life of +his family during the cold stormy winters of this latitude, around whose +fertile plain the towering hills stand as sentinels to guard the plain +below from furious winds and drifting storms, was highly esteemed by the +Indian tribes for the abundance of fish that inhabited the waters of the +Susquehanna and its tributaries.</p> + +<p>There has long been a story of revolutionary days connected with this +renowned place. Sir William Johnson, a Major-General in the British +army, came to Johnstown and took up his residence in that place. Whilst +there he had some business to transact with the Indians, who frequently +came to that place to trade. He there became acquainted with a young +squaw, Holly Brant, the daughter of the famous war-chief of the Mohawk +Indians, and was so much enamored with her virtue, wit and beauty, that +he asked the chief's consent to give him the hand of his daughter in +marriage. After some hesitation the chief consented, and his daughter, +the Forest Queen, was sent for. She came dressed in simple Indian +costume, ornamented with wampum, wearing fawn-skin moccasins embroidered +with the quills of the porcupine; her long flowing dress was decked with +roses. Sir William had been a guest at the Royal Court of England, where +fair women flashed with diamonds and brave men whirled in the giddy +dance, but none seemed to him to possess that beauty and grace which +appeared in this young Forest Queen. In short, he admired her more than +he did all the fair daughters of Eastern climes.</p> + +<p>Sir William was so much enamored with her artless grace that they were +soon united in marriage, and he took her to his mansion to grace its +stately halls as she had the cabin of the Indian chief, her father, who +was considered by the Indians equal in rank to Sir William Johnson.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Beauty's spell flowed from her eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A radiant splendor wreathed her hair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And fondly sweet perfection lingered there,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From which all human virtues gently flow.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In due time the chief came to visit Sir William and his daughter, and +was invited by them to tarry with them for a time. The invitation was +accepted by the chief. After viewing the stately halls hung with maps, +pictures and mirrors, he retired to rest. Not being accustomed to sleep +on beds of down, fenced in with lofty ceiling, his sleep was disturbed +with dreams. He dreamed of palaces beyond the sea, with high towering +domes and gilded halls, and warriors with golden epaulettes and flashing +sabres, and plumes that nodded as they marched to battle. All these +grand views formed within his breast a desire for military glory.</p> + +<p>Finally he awoke with the first rays of the morning, with a pleasing +dream impressed upon his memory, and when he arose he related the dream +to Sir William and his wife. He said he had dreamed that Sir William +gave him his uniform, covered with gold lace of costly texture, with his +sword, epaulettes, pistols, and hat covered with plumes. Sir William, +not being unacquainted with the Indian custom, seemed at a loss what +answer to give the chief. His wife, seeing his embarrassment, took him +by the hand and led him to the hall and informed him that he had better +fulfill the dream of her father by giving him his war equipage, which +would give him an opportunity to dream in return.</p> + +<p>"What can I dream," said the Major-General, "to compensate me for that +splendid war equipage?"</p> + +<p>His wife, with a sly look, replied, "Leave that to me;<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> but give him +the uniform and other equipage."</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> The author of the History of Schoharie County and Border +Wars of New York, states that the lands dreamed for by Sir William +Johnson, with the famous Indian chief Hendrix, of the Mohawk tribe, were +situated in the Valley of the Mohawk, which statement is denied by the +first settlers of the Indian's place of rest in the Valley of the +Susquehanna, which lands were purchased of the heirs of Sir William +Johnson, who used to relate the story of the dream as they learned it of +their mother, whose maiden name was Molly Brant, and had been at the +Indian place of rest with the Indians in their fall hunt when an Indian +maiden.</p></div> + +<p>The Major-General then brought forward his beautiful uniform and +equipments, that had been manufactured with care in England to adorn men +of rank and high renown in the British service, and worn with honors. +The Indian chief looked with pride upon the dazzling prize, so easily +won from a British officer. He then took off his Indian dress and put on +the General's uniform, which he said was a very good fit for a chief to +wear in time of peace, but not well calculated for the battle fray. He +wore his uniform through the day while a guest at the house of Sir +William Johnson. When night came he took off his uniform and folded it +carefully and packed it in a suitable form to transport it to his own +village, situated many miles away in the forest. After the chief had +retired to rest for the night Mrs. Johnson informed the General he must +dream that the chief, her father, gave him one thousand acres of land +situated on each side of the Susquehanna, at their place of rest, where +they could remove after the war had ended and live in tranquil +loveliness upon the banks of the gently flowing Susquehanna.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There on the runway long and low,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Coursed the buck, the fawn and doe;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The finny tribes in lengthened shoals<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Swarm through all the crystal stream;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There in the summer sunshine blaze<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Will rise green rows of twinkling maze,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where the sweet waters of the mountain rill<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Will ever turn your grinding mill.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The glowing account of so lovely a valley, given by Sir William's wife, +caused him to dream that the Indian chief gave him one thousand acres of +land at the Indian's place of rest. The next morning when the Indian +chief and Sir William met, he related his dream. The Indian chief sat in +silent meditation for a few moments, and then replied that if he had +actually dreamed the dream that he had related he must have the one +thousand acres of land, but one thing was certain, he would never dream +with him again whilst he had that young fox at his elbow.</p> + +<p>The one thousand acres of land were deeded to Sir William, according to +the tenor of his dream, and the land was sold to actual settlers by the +heirs and descendants of Sir William Johnson, years after the storm of +the Revolution had passed away, and the grant was confirmed in the +settlement of peace with the government of Great Britain.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + + +<p>After the storm of the Revolution had subsided, the Indian's bow was +unstrung, the tomahawk and scalping-knife were laid idly by, and the +Angel of Peace had spread her guardian wing over the waters of the +Susquehanna and her tributaries. The hardy sons of New England came +flocking to this section of country, and many of them found a home for +their families in the lovely Valley of the Otego. Here they purchased +lauds and commenced cutting down and clearing away the forest along the +valley, and erecting rude houses to shelter their wives and children, +and mills to grind their grain.</p> + +<p>In a few short years the smoke from their morning fires curled above the +forest trees for more than twenty miles along the winding banks of the +crystal waters of the Otego, and began to present a scene of activity. +School-houses were erected by the industry of the settlers along the +valley at the most convenient places, and these served a double +purpose—for schools through the week and meeting on the Sabbath.</p> + +<p>Orchards soon began to blossom in spring, and fields of grain to wave in +summer, both yielding the gems of bright abundance in autumn. Then the +reapers, robust and ruddy with health, thrust in the willing sickle, +whilst the young maidens with glowing cheeks gathered up the gavels and +bound them in sheaves and raked the new-mown hay. Health, beauty and +prosperity spread their glory over the lovely scene. The axeman's blows, +that lowered the forest and frightened away the game, were displeasing +to Mayall, and all his thoughts were now turned on finding a new home. +The thought of living in a country where the primeval forest was fast +disappearing, the thick boughs that had sheltered him from the storms +and the green plumes that had waved over his head in summer to protect +him from the scorching rays of the sun in his daily rambles, for so many +years, where the wild game had lived and fattened for his table—all +seemed like departing friends.</p> + +<p>Mayall could endure the scene no longer, and started in quest of a new +home. He traversed the country to the north in every direction, with his +gun in his hand and his hunting-knife and tomahawk in his belt.</p> + +<p>Thus equipped he wandered over a vast section of country, winding around +lakes and crossing streams, at times climbing the highest hills, there +from some lofty tree-top taking a view of the surrounding country, to +see if the smoke from the cottage of some adventurous settler or that of +the Indian wigwam dimmed the air. He was seeking a lone retreat where +human footsteps seldom fall. At length he learned from an Indian of the +Oneida tribe that he would find that secluded and happy retreat he was +searching for on the head-waters of East Canada Creek, where the +sparkling waters swarmed with speckled trout, where the buck and the +doe, with her fawn, coursed on their runway undisturbed, where beautiful +little lakes nestled among the hills, and abounded with fish and water +fowls, where the green forest in summer reflected its image upon the +waters so smooth and fair, and stamped upon its bosom creation's image, +the sun and clouds reflected in their waters by day and the moon and +stars by night, with the beautiful arch of heaven's high concave.</p> + +<p>Whilst conversing with the Indian, his daughter came from his cabin near +by and informed her father that his morning meal was ready, and invited +Mayall to come with her father to breakfast. Mayall was struck with the +youthful simplicity and beauty of the Indian maiden. After they had +enjoyed their delicious meal of venison together, and smoked the long +pipe of peace, Mayall informed the Indian that he had a son equal in +height, years, activity and beauty with the Indian chief's daughter, and +if the chief had no objection he would take them both with him to the +beautiful and romantic country he had so graphically described, after +their marriage, and the Indian chief could come to visit her every fall +and enjoy the Indian summer in hunting deer and procuring furs for +winter.</p> + +<p>The Indian replied that if his daughter was pleased with Wolf-hunter's +son, and he was as good a hunter as his father, he would consent. The +Indians had adopted Mayall into the tribe, by the name of Wolf-hunter, +which made Mayall's son equal in rank with the daughter of the Indian +chief.</p> + +<p>Mayall now parted with the chief and his family in friendship, and left +the proposed marriage to abide future events. Mayall directed his steps +towards East Canada Creek, where he arrived in safety, and commenced his +journey up the valley which had been scooped out by the stream since the +morning of creation. He soon passed beyond the noisy bustle of +civilization in the Valley of the Mohawk River, and launched into a +solitude which appeared to him as a divine retreat, and was better +fitted for a wild hunter than a civilized man.</p> + +<p>Mayall carefully examined the forest along the banks of the stream and +its branches, from its outlet into the Mohawk to its source far away +among the forest hills. He found many traces of beaver and other furred +animals, and plenty of deer.</p> + +<p>Mayall said it so nearly resembled the Otego Creek in its wild state, +shaded with the primeval forest, that it made him think of home in +gone-by days. The speckled trout swarmed in the creek and its small +tributaries, the feathered songsters sung their evening and morning +hymn, unmolested by man.</p> + +<p>Mayall selected the most beautiful place he could find, on an elevated +spot of ground, near a small rill fed by springs, where the creek formed +a half circle like a new moon, on one side of his cottage. This fertile +spot, lying in the bend, he intended to clear and cultivate.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Breeze of the woodland and breath of the prairie,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sweet with the fragrance of flower and vine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Proclaim o'er the hill-tops and deep-shaded glens<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That the sweet songsters of spring have returned,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the little birds chirp, flutter and sing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And make the groves again with melody ring.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Their music charms me like the voice of love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And chains me to this wild, uncultivated grove,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where spring flowers vary their beauty and bloom,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And spread their morning and evening perfume.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How beautiful the hills and forest land,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where Nature spreads her loam and fertile sand;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Where seeds long-buried in the drifting snow<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Spring forth in beauty when the south winds blow.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The sun, with golden beams and brighter rays,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shines forth to warm the earth and lengthen out the days.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He there built his camp-fire, and reared a rude cabin to shelter his +family, until he could build a more permanent residence.</p> + +<p>Here Mayall rested for a few days, charmed with the music of the woods, +and the water-fowls that had stopped along the stream to lay their eggs +and rear their young. Mayall then pursued his journey up the stream +until he reached its utmost spring among the distant hills, and then +bent his course eastward among the highlands of that region, where he +found the beautiful little lakes so graphically described by the Indian, +stored with fish, and covered with water-fowls during the summer season. +All the wilds of the forest appeared more beautiful than he had +anticipated.</p> + +<p>After exploring the hills and valleys for a few days, during which time +he never saw a human being, Mayall resolved to return once more to his +wife and children. As he passed down the valley he stopped at the rude +cabin he had erected, and passed the night in quiet sleep. Mayall +declared that in his chosen bower Nature appeared fresh from the hand of +Omnipotence. He described one of the lakes he had seen as the most +beautiful sheet of water that human eye ever saw, surrounded with a belt +of white sand, where the buck, the doe, and the spotted fawn came and +slaked their thirst from the crystal waters of the lake, unmolested by +man, and fed tamely upon its grassy shores; where the wild rose, queen +of bowers, shed her perfume, and the lily displayed her spots of beauty, +as second in rank among the flowers; the third in magnitude and adorning +was the wild honeysuckle, with all her tints of beauty. These encircled +the snow-white sands upon its beautiful shores, whilst the low undertone +of its waves kept time to the music of the grove.</p> + +<p>Mayall was enchanted with the beauties of Nature around him, and made +his bed at night under a low branching tree, covered with a wild +grape-vine, so nicely tied and coiled by Nature that it served every +purpose of a tent. Mayall made his evening meal on trout he took from +the lake, and laid down to sleep upon the wild, enchanted shores of an +earthly paradise. His sleep was quiet and undisturbed. He awoke with the +first rays of rosy morn, and listened to the lovely song of Nature's +harmonists, the songsters of the grove.</p> + +<p>After Mayall left his cabin on Canada Creek he bent his course for home, +where he arrived after three tedious days' journey along an Indian path, +fording streams, and crossing hills and ravines, and was once more in +the bosom of his family. All were glad to see him, and listened with +rapture to the glowing account he gave of a country so wild and +beautiful, until Mayall reached the story of the proposed marriage of +his young son with the daughter of an Indian chief. The young man was of +the Caucasian race, young and sprightly. He declared that he would not +marry a squaw—he would live solitary and alone before he would marry +the daughter of a race he had always learned to hate, if she was allied +to the royal family of chiefs. Mayall heard his resolves with a twinkle +in his eye, and here the matter rested, whilst every preparation was +making for their now home.</p> + +<p>Mayall was truly one of Nature's noble philosophers. When he had +resolved to leave the Valley of the Otego Creek, where he had enjoyed so +many scenes of strife and pleasure, his friends, both old and young, +gathered at his cabin for a farewell visit. In the course of the evening +the question was put to Mayall, who was the most advanced in years of +any of the company, what season of life he had found most happy. In +reply he inquired of the company if they had noticed the forest trees +that once shaded the valley. They all replied they had. He then said, +"When spring comes and the soft south wind blows up the valley, the buds +on the trees open and they are sweet with blossoms, I say how beautiful +is Spring, representing the morning of life.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The light winds are her laughter,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The murmuring brooks her song;<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and when Summer comes and clothes the trees with foliage and shields me +from the rays of the flaming noonday sun, cools the wind that sighs +among the branches filled with singing birds that charm me to the grove, +I say how glorious is Summer, the noonday of life.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The sunbeams are her lovely smiles,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The rose and lily are her footsteps light;<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and Autumn, in her turn, comes with golden fruit, and the leaves bear +the gorgeous frost-tints so variegated with all the glory of colors, +with the full ear, and Ceres has bound his golden sheaf, I say how +beautiful is Autumn, crowned with fruit that perfumes the surrounding +air, representing the fruits of maturer years.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The branches bend with riper fruit,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The grapes in royal purple shine<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When Autumn yields the glory of the year;<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and when Winter comes, and there is neither opening buds, green foliage, +or ripening fruit, nor gorgeous frost-tints upon the leaves, I look +through the bare branches of the trees better than I could in spring, +summer and autumn, and lo, how beautiful are the stars that spangle the +heavens and twinkle in the pale light of the moon, with maiden face +sweeping through the heavens, veiled with fleecy clouds, like the +bridesmaid of heaven, to direct our thoughts to the celestial city to +meet the great Author of our creation. For the spirit came from God, and +to God it must return, it being that part of Divinity that dwells with +man during the journey of life.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And we shall hail with joy<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The glorious sunset of life."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And the company recorded his wise sayings and poetical phrases for the +benefit of future generations that should inhabit the Valley of the +Otego.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + + +<p>Their household goods were few, and those of the plainest kind. They +loaded all their goods, with their children and Mrs. Mayall, into the +wagon, and Mayall and his son Esock performed the journey on foot, each +one carrying his gun in readiness for any emergency, with Mayall in +advance to pilot them through the forest. In their journey they had to +ford streams and climb with difficulty the hills.</p> + +<p>Not meeting with anything of importance, the fourth day they encamped +within five miles of the Indian chief's wigwam. After feasting on some +ducks they had killed along their road, they all laid down to rest from +the toils of their journey, and all but Esock slept soundly. He was +meditating on what course to pursue, and what excuse he should make on +arriving at the Indian chief's wigwam, to excuse himself in so grave a +matter. Mayall, his father, had gone thus far in match-making without +his consent, and now he wished the whole affair could be passed by +without seeing the Indian chief or his daughter.</p> + +<p>In the morning Esock Mayall resolved to take a different route from his +father and the rest of the family, and pass the Indian chief's wigwam +without being seen, and informed his father of his resolution. Mayall +then told Esock that he was ashamed of having a coward in his family; +said he must go boldly to the chief's wigwam, where they would all stay +over night, and if he was not pleased with the chief's daughter he would +excuse the matter. Esock finally resolved to go forward and brave the +consequences, as his father always had some way to get out of a bad +affair. Their tent was soon taken down, and Mayall and his family +pursued their journey toward the Indian chief's wigwam.</p> + +<p>The sun had risen fair, but as they proceeded along their journey dark +clouds began to curtain the heavens. The wind roared among the forest +trees, the lightning flashed from the storm-cloud, the thunders rolled +through the forest with deafening roar, splitting and shivering the +forest trees, whilst the rain at intervals seemed to descend in +torrents. Just as Mayall and his family emerged from the thick woodlands +into a small clearing, where the Indian chief's wigwam stood, he saw the +chief and his daughter stand looking out of the door, for Mayall's +approach had been heralded by an Indian runner the previous day, and +they were prepared to receive him. As they came into the clearing there +was a lull in the storm for a few moments, and the chief's daughter +rushed forward to welcome Mayall to their home. The words had scarcely +dropped from her lips before the lightning began to crash among the +trees and the storm beat down fearfully, and she glided back to the +wigwam with speed that seemed like the flight of a bird.</p> + +<p>As she approached Mayall, Esock Mayall was standing in a position that +brought her in full view from her head to her feet. He was struck with a +strange, mysterious spell. Her neck was as pure as the alabaster, her +bosom as white as ivory, her soft blue eyes like liquid orbs adorning +the face of beauty, whilst her fair hair flowed in graceful ringlets +upon her neck and shoulders. Her form was simply perfect; her breath was +like the eglantine, and her cheek wore the morning blush of the +moss-rose. She was a perfect Cleopatra, all but the royal crown, and +that was supplied with plumes—the royal crown of the Indian Queen of +the Poorest.</p> + +<p>Esock Mayall stood as one amazed as he viewed the beautiful figure +before him, dressed in a neat flowing dress that came down to her feet, +covered with wampum and such beautiful moccasins, embroidered with the +quills of the porcupine, with a border of the same around the bottom of +her flowing dress. Had he seen one of the fairies of olden times, a +fabled goddess of the sylvan shade, or had he seen a human being in this +image of beauty that appeared before his father and welcomed him to her +home and then glided away to her father, the Indian chief?</p> + +<p>Esock Mayall no longer seemed to notice the flashes of lightning, the +roaring of the thunder, nor the pelting of the storm, but kept his eye +upon the departing form of that beautiful angel amid the rushing of the +tempest. Could this be the chief's daughter, her face as white as a pond +lily with the rose's blush upon her cheek and her eyes as blue as the +violets of May, with her flaxen hair flowing in unbound ringlets upon +her shoulders? No, never. No Indian blood ever flowed in the veins of a +being so white and fair. It must be a phantom of his bewildered +imagination. He was sure that when he reached the wigwam he should see +the chief's daughter with her red skin, long, straight black hair and +snaky eyes, just as he had pictured her in his imagination ever since +his father first mentioned her name.</p> + +<p>A few moments more and they were unloading from their canvas-covered +wagon before the Indian chief's wigwam, with the same fair being he had +seen retire so hastily to the wigwam amid the fury of the storm, flying +about, leading the children into the wigwam and kindly assisting them in +drying their wet garments; for the fury of the storm had passed by. +After Mayall and his son had taken care of their team they walked to the +wigwam, Mayall leading the way, whilst his son, Esock, walked timidly +behind, straining every nerve lest he should lose his presence of mind +when the chief's daughter appeared before him. He entered the wigwam. +Curiosity stood on tiptoe.</p> + +<p>The Indian chief welcomed Mayall and his son to his most ample +hospitality, and then, turning to the fairy queen that stood near him, +he said he was pleased with having an opportunity of making Esock +Mayall, the son of his old friend, acquainted with his adopted daughter. +The maiden stopped gently forward and took young Mayall by the hand. The +secret was out. The vision of beauty constantly appeared before him, by +night and by day.</p> + +<p>The Indian chief had taken this young squaw, as he called her, a +prisoner in one of his excursions into Canada during the war of the +Revolution, and adopted her into his family on account of her comeliness +and natural graces.</p> + +<p>Their clothes were soon dried by a warm fire, and they all sat down to a +sumptuous dinner of venison and wild fowls, which was a favorite dish +with the Mayalls, and pleased them more than the most sumptuous feast +that could be set upon the President's table at the White House. After +dinner the long pipe was handed round, each taking a few puffs, whilst +the blue smoke curled from the emblem of peace,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Whilst the forms of love are round us<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And our hearts with pleasure glow.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The eyes of the lovely Blanche rested on the form of Esock Mayall, when +his first glance met hers, which was often and still oftener as the rose +bloomed brighter on her cheek, her breath grew quicker, her smile more +radiant, and the first blue flower of love bloomed into fondness for the +young hunter, as he gazed upon her rounded waist, her snowy neck, +ornamented with a shower of curls that fell loosely upon her shoulders.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + + +<p>The landscape around the chief's wigwam was sublime. First his little +field of corn clustering with golden ears; beyond, the beautiful tall +forest trees formed arches overhead and locked their boughs in social +harmony. A winding path led from the wigwam to the grove, bordered with +wild roses, which must have appeared beautiful and gay in summer, but +now began to droop and fade like the leaves of the surrounding forest. +Esock Mayall wandered along this path of faded flowers to the edge of +the dark overgrown forest, and stood for a time viewing the large, +massive branches that had been torn from their parent trees by the fury +of the wind and rain the previous day. The splinters of every form lay +scattered where the currents of electricity in their fearful descent had +rent in fragments some giant of the forest, torn out its oaken heart and +scattered its ribs and limbs upon the forest floor.</p> + +<p>After viewing the wonders of Nature, Esock Mayall was returning to the +wigwam along the path of flowers, when that wood-nymph, the chief's +daughter, appeared before him, gentle as the ring-dove.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And the glory of youth clung around her,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I felt her ambrosial breath on my cheek<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like the scent and perfume of wild roses.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>She seemed to appear in all the beauty of innocence. Esock Mayall asked +her who planted those roses.</p> + +<p>"I planted them," said the maiden, "to perfume my path and wanton in the +summer air around me whilst I walked to yonder grove in summer days, for +twelve long years, to hear the evening and morning song of birds which +charmed me to the grove; and then again I love the solitary woods, the +sylvan shade. I learned, when but a child, to wander in yon shady grove +to hear the squirrels chirp and bark."</p> + +<p>Esock Mayall wished her to inform him how and when she first came to +live in this overgrown forest. She said, "I could not tell, but when I +was a child I lived in a cottage on a lake shore, where one could sit in +its vine-clad porch and look out upon the windings of its beautiful +shore and hear the fury of the waves amid the fearful storm. The Indians +came one sunny day, when I was sitting under the arbor over the door, +and killed my mother, robbed the house, and bore me away in their arms. +The next morning one of the Indians took me on his back, and in three or +four days they reached this place, and I was adopted into the chief's +family. My mother used me kindly whilst she lived. After ten years she +sickened and died. Since that time I have lived with the chief, my +father. I have planted these flowers in rows to imitate the shores of +the lake where I was born. That long half-moon curve you see was a wide, +open bay, and that short turn yonder was a bluff of rocks."</p> + +<p>Esock Mayall listened with admiration to her story, and then replied, +"Would you go with me and walk the shores of that lake once more?"</p> + +<p>That question seemed a spell that chained her tongue, whilst the crimson +flush faded from her cheek. In a few moments her young blood began to +course freely in her veins, and the flush of roses warmed her lovely +cheeks. She raised her eyes and looked Esock Mayall full in the face, +and appeared as lovely as a dream.</p> + +<p>"Do you know where that lake is situated? My captors have always refused +to inform me. If you do, I will go with you cheerfully, and walk once +more upon its lovely shores. Twelve long years, in the dreams of +midnight, I have wandered on its shores, and its coves and bays have +appeared to me with the white swan with snowy sail and air of pride +floating upon its mirror waves; but there is a bitter mingled with the +sweet; in those dreams I see my mother pale in death, slain by my +captor's hands, and oh, my father, who was absent from his home, where +is he? When rosy morn blushed on the concave of the skies I always found +myself within the wigwam's prison-walls."</p> + +<p>Esock Mayall told her frankly that he neither knew the name or locality +of the lake she described, but added, "If you would consent to be my +wife and go with me to my forest home, I will endeavor to learn from +your captors the name and locality, and take you back to the home of +your childhood, once more to ramble on the beautiful shores where you +had roamed in childhood's sunny days."</p> + +<p>The maiden then replied that she would consult with her father and +answer his request to-morrow.</p> + +<p>To-morrow came. The chief appeared gloomy and thoughtful. He well knew +the undaunted courage, the sure and steady aim of the Mayalls to guide +the bullet in its airy track, the power of their strong arms in wielding +the tomahawk in battle strife. He had no reason to fear the protection +of his daughter, but the thought of parting with the sunny face of one +he had ever idolized, whom he had carried for more than a hundred miles +on his back through the wilderness when she was a child, because he +loved her snowy face and flowing hair—this thought pained him. Long +years he had dressed her in robes of beaver during the winter, and made +her bed of down; the fawn had yielded her skin to clothe her naked feet, +and the brightest wampum had encircled her waist, the most costly jewels +had ever sparkled in her ears, and he had employed the most skillful of +his race to teach her to border her flowing dress in summer with the +quills of the porcupine. He had hunted weeks to capture the swan to deck +her hat with snowy plumes to wave in open air and clothe her queenly +neck.</p> + +<p>"I have acted the part of a kind father," thought he, "and if I give her +hand to young Mayall, who would cheer my wigwam in sickness, and smooth +the winter of my declining years? Who would ring my funeral knell, and +plant the wild rose upon my lonely grave?" No tears flowed to soothe his +troubled brain; there was no wanton moisture in his eye. "And then, +again, if I should deny my daughter's request I fear the consequences. +Mayall had the shrewdness and courage to take her from me, and then, +again, I have taken her from her parents and her home, and she might be +left unprotected when I am dead and gone."</p> + +<p>The chief passed a sleepless night, but rose bright and cheerful in the +morning, and informed his daughter, if she chose to leave his wigwam for +that of her lover, she might go, with his blessings upon her youthful +head; but one thing he must insist upon, in order to preserve harmony, +that the tribe that lived in the surrounding forest should be invited to +the wedding, and the whole tribe should join in the marriage dance, +according to the ancient customs of the Indian tribes.</p> + +<p>Young Mayall was informed of the Indian chief's decision. He walked +boldly up to the chief, who was seated in his wigwam, and took his +daughter by the hand, and said, "When I have received from you the hand +of your daughter, and have conformed to the usages of your tribe in all +things, we want you to go with us to our forest home, and we will +provide for you in old age in the same kind manner you have provided for +your daughter. You shall have your choice in the dainty pieces of +venison and wild fowls, and find protection under the roof of our +cottage home.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'There I'll sit by my bride, where the rushes are green,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While the sun weaveth gold o'er the robes of my queen.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In answer to some questions with regard to the home of her childhood, by +Esock Mayall, she related the following story of her journey to the +great Falls of Niagara, which the chief said would enable me to keep my +course through dark forests from the Oneida Lake to the great lakes and +rivers towards the setting sun:</p> + +<p>"I started on a journey to the great Falls of Niagara, with my father +and mother, to witness the voluntary sacrifice of a young Indian maiden +to the great Spirit of the Falls, or Naiad God of the Water. We pursued +our journey through beautiful forests, over wood-crowned hills, fording +the valley streams without interruption, until the second day, near +sunset, we came in sight of a beautiful lake, whose surface</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Seemed so placid, smooth and fair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That Naiad might look on to plait her hair.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"We traced the shores a short distance, coming to a little crystal +stream, the waters of which were cool and refreshing. We concluded to +encamp near this stream, that spun its silver thread to the lake from a +dark ravine over which the branching tree-tops leaned. We followed the +stream a short distance, and built our camp-fire under shelter of a +large branching tree that stood on the bank of the ravine. Near this +tree a cool fountain gushed from a large rock, and made music for us as +it dashed over its stony bed to join the stream below. Taking into +consideration all the surroundings, it was a grand place for a lover of +scenery and solitude. There we ate our evening meal, and, after slaking +our thirst at the cooling fountain that flowed from the rock, laid down +to rest our weary limbs by our camp-fire, that blazed up and illuminated +the forest for several rods around, making the forest look grand, with +its branches interlocked in social harmony, fanned by the gentle breeze +from the lake that whispered through the tree-tops, and sung of passing +time, like the Æolian harp that hung upon the willows along the streams +of Babylon.</p> + +<p>"All nature seemed to invite us to repose, and the waters of Lethe swept +over us. As the Angel of Dreams threw his mantle over me, through this +gauzy mantle I seemed to trace the Queen of the Falls from earth, with +her guardian angels, to the fields of Paradise, which appeared in my +dream as described by the Jesuit that used to come and preach to the +tribe I lived with, and give me books, teach me to read them, and teach +me etiquette, such as used by the English and French. All of a sudden I +thought the bolts of hell had burst asunder, and the devil incarnate +walked again over earth and sea—that Gabriel had sounded his trumpet +for all to assemble at the judgment hall on the borders of two worlds.</p> + +<p>"Slowly awaking to consciousness, I cast my eyes towards the big rock. I +felt the rain pattering down in my face from the tree-tops, and, lo! +there I saw two eyes that looked to me like two orbs swimming in liquid +fire, which frightened me to such a degree that I attempted to scream +for mercy.</p> + +<p>"I seemed to be paralyzed. In this awful moment of fear, the Great +Spirit sent an arrow of electric fire from the darkest pavilion of the +storm-cloud, selected from the quiver of the Eternal Jehovah, down into +the top of a mighty oak that leaned over the dark ravine a few rods +above our camping ground, which tore off the top and splintered its +massive trunk to the ground. The awful crash frightened me nearly out of +my wits. I screamed with all the power of voice I possessed, for I +thought the ebon paw of Satan was upon me. The panther then set up the +most unearthly scream I had ever heard leaped from the rook, and seemed +to make the forest jar at every scream, until he was far away on the +lake shore. The clap of thunder awoke my father and mother. The chief, +hearing the screams of the panther, seized his weapons of war and tried +in vain to penetrate the surrounding gloom, for the blackness of the +storm-cloud made the forest a dungeon, occasionally illuminated by +flashes of electric fire from the arching clouds over our heads, which +could not be penetrated by mortal eye. The chief again gathered up the +few burning brands that remained, and piled high his fuel. This only +served to light a few rods from the fire, whilst all beyond seemed black +as the regions of darkness. There was no more sleep during the night.</p> + +<p>"Morning dawned. The storm-cloud passed away, and we resumed our journey +with cautious and timid steps toward the place of our destination, +arriving late in the afternoon at the Upper Falls, on the Genesee, where +the waters dashed from rock to rock, until it reached the valley below +the Falls. We traced the river bank three or four miles, to Gardow, a +village on the west bank of the Genesee River, where the roar of the +Upper Falls could be distinctly heard, where we were received with great +cordiality, and conducted to comfortable lodgings, and furnished with +all that nature required for comfort. After one day's rest we again +started for the great Falls of Niagara, with a part of the Genesee tribe +of Indians that resided at Gardow. We took the most direct Indian path +that led to Niagara, which led us over hills crowned with forests, and +through dark wooded valleys, reaching the Falls about sunset the second +day, and encamped on the banks of that mighty rushing river, with the +numerous throng that had reached their place of destination before us.</p> + +<p>"We all encamped like a family of friends, upon the banks of a river +that was destined to divide a kingdom from a republic. Early the next +morning preparations were made for offering a human being as a sacrifice +to the Great Spirit that created the earth and the heavens, and all +things contained therein. The most beautiful and gifted young Indian +maiden, just blooming into womanhood, was chosen by the priests and +prophets of that ancient tribe, to appease the anger of the gods, and +bear a message from that tribe to their friends that had gone over the +River of Death before them, to the land of the olive and the vine in the +clear Southwest, known only to the brave and just, where the wild doe +and her fawn feed on flowers, where the flowers wear their everlasting +bloom, and the grass is greener and more luxuriant than was ever seen, +and softer than the Persian silk. In that beautiful land mortals put on +the garments of immortality. When the young maiden was informed that she +was chosen for the sacrifice, she came forward with a smile upon her +countenance, adorned in all the glory of the Indian costume, as a bride +adorned for her husband, and entered the arena. The Indian priest then +stepped forward and poured upon her head the oil of venison, and placed +a crown of roses, intermixed with swans-down, to give it a snowy-white +appearance, and crowned her, in the name of the tribe, Queen of Niagara.</p> + +<p>"A more beautiful or graceful being could not be found to offer up her +life for her friends. The whole tribe then sang and shouted the glories +of their youthful queen, each one handing her some little token of +remembrance to their friends in the spirit world, and kissed her hand. +After a short time had been allowed her to receive the homage due an +earthly queen, two young Indian warriors came forward, one taking her by +the right hand and the other by the left, and led her to the shore of +the river, followed by twelve young Indian girls.</p> + +<p>"Moored on the sandy shore above the Falls was a little white tiny boat, +just large enough for one person, loaded with ripe fruits and +fresh-blown roses. In this beautiful boat, surrounded by the odor of +ripe fruit and perfume of roses that wantoned in the surrounding air, +the young warrior placed her, put a paddle in their young queen's hand +just as the sun reached the meridian, and darted his rays from his +eternal quiver upon the waters of Niagara, and the young warriors cried +over the river, at the same time pushing the boat from the shore, when +the young queen applied the paddle with all her might and main, until +she reached the middle of the river above the Falls, every Indian, young +and old, shouting and singing the glories of their brave queen.</p> + +<p>"The moment she reached the middle of the river she turned the bow of +her little boat towards the Falls, then applying the paddle with force +the boat shot down the rapid current with the speed of an arrow, whilst +two rainbows faintly spanned the boiling flood. Down, down among the +caverned rocks and foaming waters went the beautiful form, whilst her +guardian angels received her spirit and soared above the rainbow's arch, +up through the concave of the skies to life eternal.</p> + +<p>"We tarried until the chariots of the sun rolled down the western sky. +The full moon in her diamond car rose, and threw her pale light over the +foaming waters of Niagara. The whole tribe then assembled on the high +rooks below the Falls, and the Indians declared by the Eternal that they +could see troops of fairies waltzing around their departed queen on the +glassy waters of the Falls, clothed in all the splendors of the rainbow, +chanting the glories of their queen. And here upon the rocky altar they +built their night-fires to light the spirit of their queen and her +guardian angels to the Elysian Fields of Paradise on the shores of life +eternal. And here we join the American poets in their majestic song of +time:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Flow on forever, in thy glorious robe<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of terror and of beauty! God hath set<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His rainbow on thy forehead, and the cloud<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mantles around thy feet, And He doth give<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The voice of thunder power to speak of Him<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Eternally, bidding the lip of man<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Keep silence, and upon the rocky altar pour<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Incense of awe-stricken praise.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"The next morning we started for our home near the shores of Oneida +Lake, which we reached without being molested in our journey. We traced +the flowery banks of babbling brooks, walked beneath the grand arches of +beautiful forests made melodious by the songsters of the grove, but I +could not forget the terrible scenes I had witnessed at Niagara."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + + +<p>The day was set for Esock Mayall and the chief's adopted daughter to be +joined in Hymen's silken bands, according to the custom of the tribe, +commanded by their war-chief. A young Indian maiden was sent for, and +arrived one day in advance, to arrange the bride's dress and ornaments +in true Indian style, and dress her hat with flowing plumes so much +admired by the native hunters of the forest. The bride's hair was +trimmed to flow gracefully upon her shoulder, and ornamented with +brilliants that sparkled like diamonds among her flowing hair. Her dress +was covered with wampum, and her moccasins ornamented with bead-work +stars that reflected their dazzling light. Her arms were encircled above +the elbows and around her wrists with silver bands, and jewels of gold +hung from her ears and nose.</p> + +<p>Esock Mayall was dressed with blue pants, a light hunting-frock of the +same color, and embroidered moccasins. The day had arrived, the morning +had dawned with a clear sky, and heaven's concave shone in unclouded +blue. The October sun rose and threw a golden blush over hill and vale, +and bathed the groves in light, reflecting all the varied hues of the +falling leaves as they fluttered from the tall forest trees to form a +carpet for the children of the forest, who now began to arrive, dressed +and plumed for the wedding-dance, with their bouquet of flowers in their +hands, dressed similar to the bride, but with less expense. The young +Indian warriors were dressed with tight leggings or pants, and +smoke-tanned hunting-frocks. The hour having arrived for the ceremony, +the young Indians formed in a ring on the green, in front of the chief's +tent, each with his partner to his left, with an open space toward the +tent, whilst the spectators or older Indians formed an outer circle at a +respectful distance.</p> + +<p>Esock Mayall, son of the adopted white chief, now advanced from the +chief's tent, with his bride leaning on his left arm, arrayed in all the +glory of Indian simplicity, followed by the Indian chief and the adopted +chief, Wolf-hunter, young Mayall's father. As the young couple advanced +to the centre of the ring the two chiefs closed up the space. The +marriage ceremony was brief and simple, and amounted to little more than +the mutual promise made by the bride and groom to live together in love +and harmony.</p> + +<p>The two chiefs now retired from the space they occupied, the ring closed +up, each Indian maiden throwing her bouquet on the ground, forming a +circle around the young couple. A signal was given, the music sounded +they then chased each other around the circle with measured tread, all +keeping time with the music for a few moments, when the music stopped +and each couple faced inward and picked up their bouquets, when the +music again started its hollow, rattling sound. Then the bride and groom +joined the circle, and the ring danced round and round for the space of +an hour or more, stopping at intervals and facing inward, until the +music ceased and the ring was seated on the ground and partook of a +supper of wild fowls, venison and corn-bread, after which they all shook +hands with the newly married pair, wishing them peace and prosperity in +their forest home to which they were about to remove. The guests then +returned to their homes, and no time was lost in preparing for their +journey to their new home.</p> + +<p>The following morning all things were in readiness. Their team was +hitched up and the wagon was loaded with a few cooking utensils. Esock +Mayall's mother, three children, himself and young bride, started early +for their home in the wilderness, whilst the Indian chief who was to +accompany them to their new home and enjoy the Indian summer in the +forest, and spend the hunting season with them, traveled on foot with +the elder Mayall, and piloted out the best route for the wagon, removing +such obstructions as they found in the path. Mayall said he would take +the axe and the Indian chief the gun, and one would clear the path of +logs and the other of game.</p> + +<p>In this manner they proceeded for three days, arriving near sunset on +the bank of the East Canada Creek, at a place now called Russia, +opposite the cottage built by Mayall when he passed up the creek on his +summer excursion. Not finding a suitable place to cross with their team, +the creek being somewhat swollen by rains on the head-waters of that +stream, they concluded to cut some grass on a small island and leave +their team on a little elevated spot near the river, with the elder Mrs. +Mayall and the children to sleep in the wagon and the rest would take +off their clothes and ford the stream, carrying with them some blankets.</p> + +<p>The young bride, like the Naiad of the stream, stripped off her +beautiful robes, and advancing to a deep, still place, tied them up in a +handkerchief, fastened them on the top of her head, rushed into the +stream, swimming with her head out of the water to her breast, and was +soon on the opposite shore, and dressed before the rest were half ready +to cross. Whilst the rest were packing up their blankets and skins in a +suitable manner to cross over, the young nymph of the forest came +running back and called on the party to bring over their knives, +tomahawks and guns. She said that a company of bears lived in that +cottage, and had only gone out to hunt and would soon return; she +requested them to take her rifle, load it and leave it with her new +mother to defend herself, and bring over the remaining four guns. These +tidings put the camp in a fluster. Young Mayall proceeded to pattern +after his wife, stripped, and commenced carrying blankets, guns, +ammunition, tomahawks and knives. In a short time all that was needed +was over, each one armed, and proceeded to the cottage.</p> + +<p>Wolf-hunter carefully examined the room and said there was one she-bear +of tremendous size and two large cubs that had taken up their quarters +in that cottage, and every one must examine his gun and see that it was +well primed and sure fire, for they were liable to be attacked any +moment. The Indian chief, Wolf-hunter and Esock Mayall each examined +their guns, put on their belts with a large tomahawk and hunting-knife +by their side, and Wolf-hunter stationed himself about twenty rods up in +the direction the bears had gone, behind a large tree; the Indian chief +about ten rods nearer the tent, and Esock Mayall about the same distance +from the tent, but nearer the creek, whilst young Mayall's wife was +clearing out of the cottage the leaves that the bears had carried in. +There had risen a dark cloud where the sun went down, and muffled sound +of distant thunder could be heard, whilst night was dropping her sable +curtain around the horizon. But no hunter on his nightly post was heard +to stir.</p> + +<p>Wolf-hunter was now in his glory, nerving his muscular frame for battle. +All of a sudden this mammoth bear and her two cubs were heard by +Wolf-hunter advancing rapidly for the cottage. The moments seemed to fly +more rapidly. The instant the bear appeared in sight Wolf-hunter raised +his gun. The bear, as quick as thought, raised on her hind legs and +struck at his gun, which, firing at the same instant that the bear's paw +struck it, had a tendency to lower the gun and carry away a part of the +bear's under-jaw. Wolf-hunter's gun became useless from the nearness of +the bear and quickness of her motion. He seized his tomahawk, but the +strength and power of the bear was such that it seemed of no avail.</p> + +<p>Becoming heated with the strife, the God of Battle nerved his arm to +grapple with the monster of the woods in deadly strife. He dropped his +tomahawk and drew his long knife, keenly sharpened for such game. As the +hunter raised his left hand, and darted his knife with tremendous force +for the bear, it struck the loose skin on his neck, rolled the blow one +side, and passed the bear's neck, whilst the hot breath of the monster +came full in his face. It now became hurrying times. He raised his knife +once more, and made a thrust with all his power, and ripped the bear +open from his flank to his brisket, and sprang back with all his power, +and fell on the ground about ten feet from the bear. Whilst lying there +he heard the heavy report of two guns, which he took to be those of the +Indian chief and Esock Mayall, as the cubs passed them for the cottage.</p> + +<p>The Indian chief had slightly wounded the young bear that passed him, +and, quickly loading his rifle, started to assist Wolf-hunter, where +there had been the constant growling and snarling of the old she-bear +after the first report of Wolf-hunter's rifle. The Indian chief soon +arrived on the spot, and found the bear sitting up on her hind legs, +with her life-blood ebbing away, and put an end to her misery by +shooting a ball through her head, and then asked Wolf-hunter why he lay +there in that condition, with that long bloody knife in his hand? +Wolf-hunter replied that he had but one hand he could use, and he laid +still, knowing that the bear would not touch him as long as he appeared +to be dead, and he further knew that the monster's life-blood was fast +ebbing away, and that she would soon be too weak to move. The Indian +chief had all this time been loading his gun as fast as possible, and +had just driven down the ball, when screams were heard from the cottage, +coming from the young bride.</p> + +<p>These brought Wolf-hunter to his feet, and, not feeling the pain of his +wounded hand, he went through the forest for the cottage with the speed +of the panther, with the long bloody weapon in his right hand, closely +pursued by the Indian chief. Esock Mayall came with all possible speed +from the creek, where he had killed the young bear that passed him, to +rescue his young wife, the three arriving at the same time.</p> + +<p>When within about twenty feet of the cottage they saw the flash and +heard the loud report of a gun, and all was hushed to silence. And there +stood Esock Mayall's young wife, who had fired the last gun and killed +the last bear, proud of her success. The young bear which passed the +Indian chief and received his fire was only slightly wounded, and fled +to the cottage for safety, and plunged into the door, and finding the +young bride in possession, cleaning out the leaves, attacked her with +great fury. Not being able to get her rifle, she defended herself with a +club that had been cut for a fire poker. At length giving the bear a +lucky blow, she seized her rifle and leaped out the cottage door, and +only had time to bring it to her face before the young bear leaped out +after her. Her rifle was quickly brought to bear upon him. A flash and a +report, and the young bear lay dead at her feet, with three brave men +coming to her assistance, but too late to be of use. The battle of the +bears, so well begun with Wolf-hunter, had ended by a maiden's hand. +Three prowling monsters of the wood lay cold in death amid their native +wilds, and the party, proud of their success, concluded to dress the +young bear killed at the cottage and have a feast of roasted meat. A +large fire was built before the cottage, that illuminated the forest for +some distance around, which made a wild and beautiful appearance, with +the high leafy arches over their head, and the yellow and crimson leaves +of autumn carpeting the forest as far as the eye could penetrate the +surrounding darkness.</p> + +<p>The young bear was hastily dressed, and a part of it roasted, from which +they made a sumptuous feast with corn bread. After the feast was over, +the Indian chief, Esock Mayall, and his wife, remained at the cottage, +whilst Wolf-hunter took a part of the roasted meat and corn bread and +recrossed the stream, to feed his wife and children, and guard them from +danger through the darkness of the night.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + + +<p>The three that remained at the cottage retired to rest. As the blaze of +the fire in front of the cottage died away, young Mayall discovered that +the Indian chief became restless and uneasy, and would suddenly awake +from sleep and grasp his rifle and then peer out into the dark +surrounding forest, as if some monster of the wood was about to make a +deadly leap towards him. After straining his eyes for naught he would +again resume his rustic bed.</p> + +<p>As soon as sleep began to steal over his troubled brain he would spring +from his bed and grasp his weapons of war. The night gradually wore +away, and the great luminary of the world began to light up the East. +Esock Mayall and the Indian chief rose from their restless beds and +finished dressing their bears, and got the wagon and goods, with his +father, mother and the three children that wore on the opposite side of +the creek, over to the cottage, whilst the young bride was preparing +their breakfast.</p> + +<p>Breakfast being over, the Indian chief said he must be up and away +before the sun licked up the morning dew. He had lodged in that cottage +the first and last night; that thrice in his sleep he had dreamed of +death and a dishonored tomb, when no phantom of the night was near, not +even the sound of waters or the whisper of the breeze was heard among +the lonely trees; and yet the dream was thrice repeated. Esock Mayall +told him he must wait a short time, and his wife would prepare him some +provisions, and he would let him have a horse to ride as far as the +Mohawk River, and that would carry him beyond danger. The chief +consented to wait a short time for the horse and provisions, but said +there was danger in delay.</p> + +<p>Whilst the young bride was preparing her father's provision, Wolf-hunter +cast his keen eye up the creek in the direction of the bear fight, and +saw three strange Indian hunters approaching with their silver-mounted +rifles, armed with tomahawks and hunting-knives. They came rapidly +forward until they reached the place where they killed the mammoth bear, +then halted, viewed the meat that hung on the branches of some trees, +and then came directly towards the cottage. The Indian chief began to +retreat, when Wolf-hunter cried out:</p> + +<p>"No danger. Face the music."</p> + +<p>This Esock Mayall understood to mean, "Never fear, but be ready," and +sat his gun down by his side, and Wolf-hunter did the same. The three +Indians came near the fire, when Wolf-hunter addressed them in the +Oneida tongue:</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, brothers."</p> + +<p>They replied: "Good-morning, brother. We have followed the trail of +three bears, and we find you have killed them, and we want some of the +meat."</p> + +<p>Wolf-hunter told them to be seated near the fire and they would bring +them some; the three Indians sat down their rifles and came near the +fire. As the young bride came out of the cottage with a large piece of +bear's meat in a long handled pan, and placed it over the fire, the +three Indians stared at her in amazement, and then turned and looked at +each other. One of the Indians said: "She looks just as her mother did +before she was murdered. She is a Wan-nut-ha."<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">2</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> A beauty.</p></div> + +<p>They paused a while, and one of the Indians called her Dora, to which +she made no reply. He then called her Dora in a louder tone. To which +the maiden replied:</p> + +<p>"My name is Blanche."</p> + +<p>"Well," said the Indian, "your name was Dora. Twelve years have passed +away since I saw your sunny face, and looked upon your silky flaxen +hair; you have changed to a graceful young lady squaw, and when I now +look upon you—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Your sparkling eyes and glossy flaxen hair<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seem the same your mother used to wear<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When the lake lay calm with silver breast<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beneath pale Luna's beams at rest.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And when the lurid morn arose,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And flashed her light on land and sea,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The silvery foam beat on the lonely shore<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where Dora and her mother used to roam.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Death had hushed the voice of her fond mother,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Indian's war-axe parted her fair locks,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The bloody tide ran down her snowy neck,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Her ivory bosom dyed with crimson gore,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then fled with Dora to the forest wild.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There a captive in the chieftain's tent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whilst twelve successive years went by;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But now a hunter's young and lovely bride,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And cooks the savory venison, night and morn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Upon the streamlet's flow'ry banks,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where the woodland choir with melody of song<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Chant the praise of God that watch'd o'er all,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And saw the sparrow in his lonely fall.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When spring, with balmy air, bids vegetation rise,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And all the flowers put on their bloom;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The emerald reeds, along the sandy bay<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Washed by the blue waves, beat upon the shore,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then Dora, with her loving mate,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Will walk in summer's golden days,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By Cynthia's evening silver light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And call to mind those infant days<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When her fond mother led her by the hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And her little feet made impress on the sand;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And plant a flower beside the monumental stone<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In yonder church-yard, o'er her mother's tomb,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then ramble o'er the green and flow'ry lawn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Leaning fondly on her lover's buoyant arm,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The valiant, happy man, who Fate ordained<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To write his name, in love, upon her heart<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And fondly claim her for his own."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Dora was delighted with her new name, believing it to be the name given +her by her parents, whom she had so often seen in her dreams, whilst +sleeping in the Indian's tent. And then it seemed so familiar to her—it +seemed like the voice of her mother floating in music-tones upon the +morning air. And the Indians seemed to her sent by the Great Spirit to +inform her of the place of her birth, of the Eden of her childhood, and +the path that would conduct her to her once-loved home, which now came +up in grand review before her youthful mind, as the Indians related the +sad story of the death of her mother, the capture of her lovely child, +and the curling flames that consumed their earthly home.</p> + +<p>The picture set forth by the Indians was forcibly impressed upon the +mind of Dora, and she persuaded her husband to accompany her on foot +through a dense forest, for more than a hundred miles, following a blind +Indian war-path which she had been trained to follow through other +forests by her tutors, in other days. This war-path led them to the lake +shore, where they obtained a boat, with a skillful oarsman, to land them +on the shore of that lovely bay which Dora had so often seen in her +dreams, whilst sleeping in the Indian chief's wigwam. When they arrived +at the birthplace and youthful home of Dora, she could only find the +place by the remains of part of the burnt and cracked walls of the +foundation, and a few trees that had escaped the fury of the flames.</p> + +<p>Here Dora called to mind the scene that occurred when the Indian's +war-axe parted the fair forehead of her mother. She seemed to see the +crimson tide run down her neck, her ivory bosom stained, as her parental +life-blood ebbed away. She wept long and loud for her fond mother. She +lingered round the fatal spot until the sinking sun began to cast her +last rays in lengthened shade over the waters of the lake below. She +then hurried to the nearest house with her husband, where her neighbor +recognized her and called her Dora. Like the Indian, he said he knew her +by the hair her mother used to wear, and her being the exact likeness of +her mother.</p> + +<p>Here she first learned of the death of her father, who, feeling the +heavy loss of his wife and the unknown fate of his darling child, +grieved so immoderately over their loss that Disease laid her fatal +hands upon him, and in one short year they laid him down gently to sleep +by her mother, until Gabriel's trump shall awake them again at the +resurrection morn. Here they tarried for the night—but the night +appeared long and sleepless to Dora—and in the early morn was +accompanied by their friend and neighbor to the church-yard where lay +the remains of her father and mother, unmarked, except by a rude stone, +to guide them to the place where their kind neighbors had gently laid +them down to rest from the turmoil of life's uneven ways. The summer +months were spent among strangers and the scenes of her early childhood, +and visiting the burial-place of her parents weekly, to water the +moss-rose and the eglantine she had planted on their graves, and scatter +the most beautiful flowers that bloomed in that region upon their graves +at the hour of falling dews, to wanton and perfume the surrounding air.</p> + +<p>As summer wore away Dora and her husband became tired of fashionable +life, and longed to return to the shades of forest life, for which they +had a fondness—to feast again on the rich and savory dishes of venison, +wild fowls and fish, and rest in tranquillity at their own cottage home, +surrounded by shady bowers. Dora had paid the last debt of gratitude to +her deceased parents at the earliest opportunity, and then started with +her husband by the same route they came for their forest home, again to +retrace their steps, guided by a blind Indian war-path, long since +abandoned by the Indians.</p> + +<p>After a weary march of several days they arrived at their forest home, +and were warmly greeted by the elder Mayall and his learned and +accomplished wife, who received them more warmly on account of some good +books Esock Mayall had purchased for his mother, to repay her for his +early education, which she had superintended in her own cottage, when +her husband was absent on the chase. When they arrived at their forest +home, Autumn, with all her charms, with yellow and crimson loaf and +falling fruit, charmed the young hunter and his faithful and devoted +wife, as they looked with pride upon their forest home, surrounded with +all the charms which Nature has so wisely lavished upon the untarnished +works of his adorable hand. They came to the conclusion that Contentment +and Modesty were two beautiful flowers that flourished only in secret +and retired places, where the God of Nature reigned.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Dora again, in her wild forest home,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Where, in wavy masses fondly flowing<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Droops the graceful mountain vine,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the yellow sunbeams, glowing<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cross the shadows line on line;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Where the zephyrs, softly sighing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Woo the gently pearling rills;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Where the feathered songsters, vieing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Each a different measure trills;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Where the echoes, now replying,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Die amid the distant hills;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Where the skies are ever changing;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where the slanting moonbeams quiver<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On the noisy mountain streams:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where the placid flowing river<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Like a thread of silver gleams.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh, my heart is ever yearning<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For the sweet, remembered ones,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where magic roses blossom<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In the evening golden light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And tender, enchanting songs<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Float on the balmy breeze at night."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p style="text-align: center; font-size: 125%; margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em;">THE END.</p> + +<blockquote><p><b>[Transcriber's Note: The original edition of this book +did not contain a Table of Contents. A Table of Contents has been created +for this electronic edition.]</b></p></blockquote> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forest King, by Hervey Keyes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOREST KING *** + +***** This file should be named 24417-h.htm or 24417-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/4/1/24417/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Forest King + Wild Hunter of the Adaca + +Author: Hervey Keyes + +Release Date: January 24, 2008 [EBook #24417] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOREST KING *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins + + + + +[Illustration: The Forest King] + + +THE FOREST KING; + +OR, + +THE WILD HUNTER OF THE ADACA. + +A Tale of the Seventeen Century + + + + +NEW YORK: +WHEAT & CORNETT, PRINTERS, NO. 8 SPRUCE ST. +1878. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by +HERVEY KEYES, +in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. + + + + +PREFACE. + +To Mayall the Valley of the Mohawk was a land where flowers bloomed, +where one fair girl flitted about through green glades and virgin +forests, and lifted his mind to the supernatural, and he seemed to +listen to the voice of seraphs. Then sweet memory brought him again to +the morning of life, and he stood by his mother's knee, and leaned upon +the cradle where he was rocked to soothe his infant mind. Again he rose +to manhood. The power of the music of the groves, and the sweet voice of +Nelly Gordon, was the angel of the moment, that unlocked the harmony of +the universe. Her eyes appeared as pure as the first rays of morning, as +it danced on the heaven-kissed hills of Paradise. Her heart expanded +with thankfulness, as she thought how rich she was in everything that +made life desirable to Mayall, her lover. She longed to give out the +stores of her own happiness, and Mayall seemed to think this lovely girl +had a special claim on him for life, which he seemed proud to admit and +willing to accept, as the richest gift that Heaven could bestow upon man +was Nelly Gordon. + + * * * * * + +In writing this short history of Mayall and his family, the hunter and +trapper of the Valley of the Adaca, I have gathered the main facts from +the first settlers in my youthful days, who found him in this then wild +but beautiful valley, a place of bloom and shade, dimpled on the face of +creation with a smile that renders life pleasing in solitude. The song +of birds, and the music of the rills that came rushing down the ravines, +to water the flowers and swell the rapid current of the Adaca, under the +arching of the woodland forest that hung out its green plumes to wave in +every breath of summer, formed an earthly Paradise, in Mayall's +estimation. + +The bounty and grandeur of Eastern cities faded into insignificance, +when compared with his surroundings; for here he reigned lord of the +valley's long and wide domain, that abounded in deer, game and furred +animals, whilst its streams swarmed with fish. He was truly one of +Nature's noblemen--kind and affectionate to his beautiful and lovely +wife and children, charitable and humane to all. He was ready at all +times to hazard his own life to assist a friend. When attacked by his +enemies, he seemed to anticipate all their designs at a glance, and +destroyed them without remedy. After the storm of the Revolution had +passed away, and the muttering of its thunder was no longer to be heard, +adventurers from the East, who were searching for new homes in the +productive valleys of Tryon County, found this Friend, as he styled +himself, and settled on the same stream, charmed by the beautiful +forests, the crystal streams, and the fertility of the soil. + +The history of this remarkable hunter is wrapped in mystery. His daring +adventures, his wonderful escapes from danger, his presence of mind in +the most trying scenes of danger, all combine to render his life +wonderful. With his chosen companion to rear a family amid the wild +scenes of Nature, far from the civilized world, surrounded by the wild +beasts of the forest, he worshiped at the shrine of Nature's God, and +gloried in the wild scenes of beauty. The romantic courtship and +marriage of Esock Mayall with the adopted daughter of a famous Indian +chief, her grace of manners, her remarkable beauty, and courage in time +of danger, her journey to her new forest home and return to the land of +her birth, seem to be one of the great events of Providence, together +with her journey to Niagara Falls with the Indian chief, her father, to +witness the sacrifice of a young Indian maiden of high rank to the Great +Spirit of the Falls. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +In the romantic days of the frontier settlers of Tryon County, there +lived in the valley of the Mohawk River a young man by the name of +Mayall. He was by nature strong, courageous and active, always foremost +in pursuit of the Indians that lurked about the advanced settlements of +the whites. Mayall was young and handsome, and would have been +considered a prize for a young lady of merit, who was not looking for a +companion that possessed lands and money. He seemed to be a favorite +among the young ladies of the Mohawk Valley who dressed in +linsey-woolsey--I mean that class + + "Who slept on down their early rising bought, + And wore the garments their own hands had spun"-- + +but was looked upon with suspicion by some of the more aristocratic and +wealthy, who possessed broad farms and extensive grants of land, and +wished to trace the pedigree of their relatives to some old ancestral +pile, surrounded with wide-spread manors. + +Mayall was a hero by nature, and had all the quickness of perception to +carry it out successfully; and yet he had cultivated the most refined +manners of that wild, romantic age. He was fond of hunting, as the +abundance of game and furred animals gave the hunter a rich reward. +Mayall had reached his majority, and had become enamored of a beautiful +young lady of a wealthy family, the only daughter and heir to a rich +inheritance, by the name of Nelly G., who returned his advances in the +same warmth of love and fidelity. As soon as the parents of the young +lady became aware of Mayall's intentions and their daughter's attachment +to young Mayall, they commenced a furious and determined opposition, and +refused to allow Mayall to visit their daughter or even enter their +house. Mayall took the matter calmly, and was no longer seen at the +house of the farmer, but found many opportunities to meet the lady of +his choice at evening parties and places of amusement. Their love was +mutual, and every reasonable means was used to overcome the objections +of the lady's parents--but all seemed in vain. They had promised the +heart and hand of their daughter to the son of a wealthy farmer (a +distant relative), who was void of merit, and one who was despised by +the young lady, on account of his awkward manner of behavior, and his +ignorance of what constituted a well-bred gentleman. Nelly G. informed +her father and mother that she chose a companion and protector without +money, in preference to money and lands without a companion and +protector. + +One sunny morning, in summer's golden days, when the Valley of the +Mohawk appeared like an Eden outstretched in loveliness, and bowed in +summer's rosy bloom, the father of Mayall's intended wife saw Mayall +coming with hurried steps towards his house, dressed in a green +hunting-frock and cap with a green plume shading his forehead, a +double-barreled carbine in his hand, with a tomahawk and hunting-knife +sheathed in his belt, which was the favorite dress of a hunter when +rambling through the green, overgrown forests of the Valley of the +Mohawk, to prevent being noticed by wild game or Indians. + +Fearing he might have some message for his daughter, whom he did not +intend he should see, he started hastily towards him, to intercept him +and turn him back before he reached his house. He met Mayall some +distance from his house, and forbid his nearer approach. + +"I have a message for you and your daughter, which will freeze her young +blood and wring her heart with pain, and make your eyes start like stars +from their spheres, whilst each hair upon your head will stand erect +like the quills of the affrighted porcupine." + +The farmer's courage failed, and his knees began to tremble and smite +each other like Belshazzar's; for he had heard of the undaunted courage +and manly bearing of young Mayall in times of danger. + +"Look yonder," said Mayall, as he pointed his carbine up the Valley of +the Mohawk. "Do you see the smoke and flames that light up the concave +of the skies? That is the funeral pile of your friend and neighbor. +Around that fire stands the savage band that have come to plunder and +burn your houses and barns, lay waste your fields, and murder and scalp +your wife and daughter, Nelly G.; and now where can I find her?" + +"She is at the house," said the farmer, "and her horse is in the +stable." + +"Then come with me," said Mayall; "there is not a moment to lose; flee +for your life, and the life of your wife and daughter. I will guard and +defend your property." + +Mayall ran to the stable, and in a few moments appeared before the +farmer's house with Nelly's horse, saddled and bridled, and called for +Nelly, who quickly appeared at the door in a plain homespun dress. + +"Mount this horse," said Mayall, "and flee for your life to the fort, a +place of safety." + +"Wait a moment," said Nelly, "until I change my dress." + +"No," said Mayall, "your retreat may be intercepted; there is death in +delay. The Indians are near, your father and mother will soon follow you +to the fort. Tell the commander to fire the alarm-gun, for the valley is +swarming with Indians." + +Mayall kissed Nelly's hand and said, "My prayer is that Heaven may +protect you. There is no time to lose in useless words." + +Nelly leaped upon the saddle, and the spirited animal took the nearest +road for the fort, and in a few moments was lost from sight by the thick +grove through which she had to pass. Mayall's eyes followed her lovely +form until it vanished in the sylvan shade, and then hastened to get her +father and mother on the way to a place of safety. + +Mayall, fearing that he might have been discovered by the Indians, made +a hasty retreat to the nearest woods in the direction of the fort, until +he disappeared among the shrubbery. Then, returning by a circuitous +route, hid in a thicket from which he could have a view of the road +leading to the farmer's house. He had scarcely reached his hiding-place +before he heard the booming of the alarm-gun at the fort, which thrilled +through his bosom with a joyful sound and gave a fresh impulse to all +his energies, as it echoed from mountain-top to mountain and glen, on +all the forest hills that bordered the then wild Valley of the Mohawk, +and seemed to say, "Nolly is safe." + +Mayall had but a few minutes to reflect on what had been accomplished, +before he espied from his hiding-place five Indians coming up the road +leading to the house. Mayall fired both barrels of his carbine, bringing +down the two foremost Indians, and without loss of time had his gun in +readiness for two more. Then, looking out from his hiding-place, he saw +the three remaining Indians retreating in great haste, leaving young +Mayall master of the farm and buildings. The inhabitants of the valley +rushed for the fort at the sound of the alarm-gun; but several were +overtaken by the Indians, and scalped and murdered in the most inhuman +manner. But Mayall kept guard over the farm and buildings. The Indians +made quick work in plundering and burning dwellings, and murdering all +the helpless women and children that fell in their way, and then made a +quick retreat towards Canada. After the Indians had left, and the +terror-stricken inhabitants had returned to their farms and once-loved +homes, only to find many of them a heap of ashes, the old farmer +returned with his wife and daughter, and found Mayall walking about +keeping guard over his farm and dwelling. He had buried the two Indians +and was enjoying a season of rest. Mayall greeted them all with the +warmest friendship, and felt happy when he saw them once more safe in +their own house, which he had saved from the Indians' torch. But the +ungrateful farmer and his wife treated Mayall with cold neglect, if not +contempt. The old farmer had seen his intended son-in-law and spent a +few days with him at the fort, and renewed his promise to give him his +daughter in marriage without her consent, and in spite of her most +earnest protest. + +And now, reader, put yourself in her place, and meditate awhile, and see +if you would have done as she did. + +Nelly was a wild, lovely girl by nature, and had added to her store of +knowledge many of the accomplishments of education. She had pledged her +hand and heart to Mayall, and said she would go with him to some deep, +unknown valley of the wilderness, before she would live with a man she +hated and could not love, and informed Mayall that her father was +determined to have the wedding take place the next Wednesday. She said +she once knew a lady who was separated from her lover, and yielded to +her parents' choice, who lived in perpetual torment, surrounded by a +profusion of wealth. In a few years she pined away, and died +broken-hearted, entered Charon's boat with her first love, and sailed +over the River of Death together, to join their friends on the Elysian +Fields of Paradise, and left her parents and the man of their choice +digging in the mud and dust for gold. But that lady was not Nelly +Gordon. She would sooner seek the wild wood's shade; for, "Better is a +dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." +"I would yield all due respect to my parents, remain single, and cheer +them in the winter of their declining years; make downy pillows for +their aching heads, and ring their funeral knell; but, oh, misery! when +they attempt to force me to take a partner for life, not worthy the name +of a man, for his property, I shudder at the thought, and my better +judgment compels me to rebel against parental authority. They have gone +thus far without my consent--have even invited the guests; and I assure +you the groom may come, but the bride will be absent." + +Mayall's mind was made up at a glance, for he had long known Nelly's +love and fidelity to him, which, he had returned with the kindest +respect, and said to Nelly: "If you dare trust yourself in my care, meet +me at the large gate that leads to the highway as soon as your father +and mother retire to rest, with such articles of clothing as you may +need on your journey, and we will fly to some green valley of the West. +I will see that your horse is in readiness. I have a friend that will +accompany us to Cherry Valley, and return with the horses before the +morning star rises, which will prevent our place of retreat being +discovered." + +As soon as Nelly's father and mother were lost in dreamless slumbers, +Nelly passed out of her chamber with noiseless steps, carrying her +wearing apparel in a bundle, closely packed, and found Mayall and his +friend in readiness, with three horses saddled and equipped for the +journey. The company were quickly mounted on three spirited horses, and +reached Cherry Valley at eleven o'clock P. M.--a place Nelly had never +seen before. No cottage window showed the light of a taper; but the +light of the full moon fell in tranquil loveliness upon the rounded +hill-tops, and the glittering stars added their beauty to the heavens, +while the green forest and flowering shrubbery clothed the earth with +beauty, and the sweet-scented clover perfumed the surrounding air. The +company dismounted under a broad, spreading forest tree at the south end +of the village, near which ran a little rivulet, that meandered in +graceful curves southward. Here Mayall and Nelly G. gave the hand of +their friend a hearty shake, and an affectionate farewell, enjoining on +him the strictest secrecy as he started on his return journey to the +Valley of the Mohawk, which he reached just in time to return Nolly's +horse to her father's stable and his own to the pasture, before the +morning sun dashed her light on all the western hills, and painted the +surrounding groves in all the glory of summer. + +The father of Nelly awoke with the morning light, and called for his +lovely daughter to rise and behold the beauties of the morning. No voice +gave back the welcome response. He called again. The voice that used to +cheer him with her morning song was far away with her lover. Her +bedchamber was as silent as the house of death. He rushed wildly about +his outbuildings, calling for his Nelly. No answer came, as usual, +floating on the morning breeze, to greet his listening ear. He returned +to the house. His wife had searched in vain for her daughter; but found +her most valuable wearing apparel was missing, which told a sad tale, +whilst no traces could be found of her place of retreat. Next the stable +was examined, and Nelly's horse was found as he had left him the night +previous. He rode to every place where he thought she would be likely to +go, but no trace could be found. He inquired for Mayall, and was told +that he was seen the evening before equipped for a hunting excursion. He +returned home in grief and loneliness. His house no longer echoed to the +musical voice of his lovely daughter. His wife, who had been the most +anxious for her daughter to marry a farm instead of a man of worth, now +began to murmur and find fault with her husband for his unkindness to +Mayall, who had saved their lives and the life of their daughter, and +protected their property. She could then see how nobly he had acted, and +shielded them from the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the Indians; and +now their only daughter had flown to his arms for protection, and to +reward him for his noble deeds of humanity--flown from a man she was +determined never to marry. + +"Has she not frequently told you she had rather have a brave and noble +youth without money, than to have a coward she hated with his land and +money--that, should his money be lost by misfortune, she would only have +the wreck of a man left? And now she is gone, perhaps we shall never see +her face again; and, what is worse than all, we have been the cause of +our own misfortunes by our own folly and blindness. Had we heeded her +warnings we might have enjoyed a pleasant life, with our daughter to +cheer us in our declining years; and the brave young man to defend us." + + From cloudy turrets evening crept + To watch the day's retreating light, + Then o'er the heavenly pavement swept + The trailing garments of the night, + By God's own hand was quick unfurled; + Then came the mighty roll-call of the skies, + And Nelly, at her father's gate, + Quickly answered, "Here am I!" + +On the appointed day the man possessed of land and money came to receive +his lovely bride--but, oh, what grief! the bird had flown to the +wilderness--there to dwell in some green valley, there to build her nest +and rear her young, far from the haunts of men, and cook the hunter's +savory fare, and wear the beaver's richest furs, when sullen winter +there may frown. + +The day was turned into a day of sadness and mourning, and at evening +the guests returned home gloomy and disappointed. A month of grief and +loneliness passed away, and Nelly's father learned, from one of the +early settlers of Cherry Valley, that, on the day following the evening +that Nelly left her father's home, she was married at Cherry Valley, by +a clergyman of that place, to a young man by the name of Mayall, and had +not been seen or heard from since. A search was made to discover +Mayall's place of residence; but it all proved useless, as no trace of +his place of retreat could be found. The father and mother of Nelly G. +lived and died without seeing again the face of their lovely daughter. +Soon after Nelly G. changed her name to Nelly Mayall her father and +mother met with many reverses of fortune, their property vanished away +like dew before the morning sun. The Revolutionary war broke out, a +party of Tories and Indians visited the Valley of the Mohawk for +plunder, their buildings were burned, their property taken, and they +fell a sacrifice to the tomahawk and scalping-knife. After the war had +ended, and one adventurer after another came to the Valley of the Adaca +to select homes, Nelly Mayall learned of the sad fate of her parents. +She dressed her hat with the dark plumes of the birds of the forest, and +for a time mourned their sad fate. Time passed on--the changing beauties +of the forest scenery, the kind attention of her devoted husband and the +prattling of her children, once more revived her drooping spirits, and +she was again Nelly Mayall, with all her youthful charms. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + "Fresh from the fountains of the wood + A rivulet to the valley came, + And glided on for many a rood, + Flushed with the morning's ruddy flame; + The air was fresh and soft and sweet, + The slopes in spring's new verdure lay, + And, wet with dewdrops, at my feet + Bloomed the young violets of May. + No sound of busy life was heard + Amid those forests lone and still, + Save the faint chirp of early bird, + Or bleat of deer along the hill. + I traced the rivulet's winding way, + New scenes of beauty opened round. + Where woody shades of brightest green + And lovely blossoms tinged the ground. + 'Ah, happy valley stream,' I said, + 'Calm glides thy waters 'mid the flowers, + Whose fragrance round my path is shed + Through all the joyous summer hours.'" + +After the storm of the Revolution had passed away, and the Angel of +Peace once more brooded over the forest, there was a daring hunter with +his family found living in the Valley of the Adaca, now called Otego +Creek, by the name of Mayall, who had become perfectly familiar with +every hill, mountain, valley and glen for many miles around his humble +cottage. He led a wild and romantic life, living and lodging wherever +night overtook him, when the distance was so great that he could not +reach his home, where the smoke of his cottage fire curled in blue +wreaths over the forest trees, whilst its walls furnished a safe abode +for his wife and children from the wild beasts of the forest. His cabin +was strongly built of logs, with small windows, which looked more like +port-holes to a fort than windows. A deep hole was dug beneath his +cottage floor, from which there was a secret passage leading under the +foundation outside, that one might make his escape, if necessary. A bed +of straw was thrown down into this hole, and here his children slept, +descending by means of a trap-door, which was closed in time of danger, +and made a safe retreat against the wild beasts of the forest in his +absence. There was abundance of game scattered over the forest, and the +multitude of furred animals that inhabited the valleys and congregated +along the streams, living on the swarms of fish that then abounded in +every mountain rill, made it an easy matter to support his table with +fresh and dried venison, choice fowls and speckled trout, whilst the +furred animals, that were abundant, would furnish him with clothing to +protect him from the frosts of winter. + +About the year 1774 this wild forester was found cultivating a small +spot of ground near a little crystal rill that flowed from a deep gorge +in the hill. Eastward of his cabin was a high bluff of rocks, crowned +with lofty pines, that overlooked the valley, which stretched away +towards the Susquehanna. From this rocky promontory the forest appeared +unbroken, excepting the small spot cleared by his own hands, and seemed +to lie beneath this rocky throne in tranquil loveliness. Here at his +cottage, when at home, his wife cooked his frugal but delicious repast. +The Oneida tribe of Indians made their main path to the Susquehanna +Valley through the Valley of the Otego Creek, for the purpose of +procuring their yearly supply of lead, which they used to carry away in +abundance. The first settlers of this valley used to say that they would +leave Laurens Village, and, after an absence of two or three hours, +return loaded with their yearly supply; yet, with all the search that +has been made by the white race, this mine remains a secret, known only +to the red man to this day, and probably will remain so until the end of +time, unless found by accident. This state of affairs moved on quietly +until the breaking out of the Revolution. Great Britain, with her +warlike bands, invaded the eastern and southern coast, whilst the Indian +tribes westward, aided by the Canadians and Tories, swarmed through all +the western forests. + +Mayall began to shun them as much as convenient. They appeared very +different from the Oneidas, and seemed now to be hunting for men and +plunder, instead of wild game. They cleared away and made their +war-paths more plain along the broad-armed Susquehanna and her +tributaries. They came, painted and plumed for the fray, with their +scalp-locks waving in the air; and the frightful war-whoop echoed +through the valley and died away upon the mountain top, frightening the +wild beasts to their lair, as they marched towards the nearest +settlements, to kindle the terror-awakening fire, and massacre and +plunder the inhabitants. The war-whoop awoke the child from the +cradle--the infant was torn from its mother's arms, the aged fell by the +tomahawk and scalping-knife, and the earth fattened with their blood. +Such was the state of affairs when autumn arrived, and hung out her flag +of many colors from the forest trees over hill and vale, as the sun, +with fiery crest, gilded every forest tree with the glory of the season, +whilst the bold hunter gathered in the ripening fruit to increase his +scanty winter store. The furred animals had now put on their winter +robes, which nature so wisely prepares for their comfort during the +frosts of winter. + +Mayall, who styled himself one of that religious sect called Friends, in +order to soothe the fears of his enemies, always hailed them, wherever +he met them, as friends. + +Autumn, with him, was the season for rambling and hunting to lay in his +winter store of furs and provisions, and he prepared for a hunting +excursion up the Cherry Valley Creek. The next morning, when the first +rays of light appeared in the east, he was seen to emerge from his cabin +with a knapsack of provisions on his back, a bundle of traps thrown over +his shoulder, powder-horn and bullet-pouch by his side, and his trusty +gun in his hand. Thus equipped, he took an eastward course for the +Cherry Valley Creek. At the head of that creek was the nearest +settlement, where he sometimes went to dispose of his furs and purchase +stores and ammunition, distant from his home about twenty-seven miles. +As soon as he reached the mouth of the stream, which is a tributary of +the Susquehanna, he began to reconnoitre the stream, and set his traps +wherever signs appeared of beaver, animated with the prospect of a rich +harvest of furs and venison. He had not proceeded far before he saw a +fine buck, which had come to the creek to drink. He instantly raised his +trusty gun to his face. A flash and report, and the noble animal fell +dead upon the bank of the stream. The day had now far advanced, and he +drew his knife from its sheath and dressed his venison with dispatch. He +then hung up three of the quarters upon the trees, cutting off a limb to +form a hook on which it would hang safely from the wolves that were +nightly prowling along the stream. He then took the remaining quarter +and wrapped it up in the skin of the buck, retired into a thick, dark +swamp that lay near the stream, until he reached a large, spreading +hemlock, that afforded a convenient resting-place at its root. Here, in +this dense thicket, he built a small fire, examined his trusty gun, and +laid down to rest. He afterward said he used every caution, for he had +three enemies upon his track--the panther, the wolf and the red man. The +night seemed to pass away quietly, excepting the howling of a wolf +occasionally upon a distant hill, which gave him no uneasiness. Rosy +morn soon appeared, and he could see the sun send his blush upon the +highest hills, from his camping-ground in the swamp. He then prepared +his breakfast, and feasted on the loin of the buck that he had killed +the day previous. Emerging from the swamp, he intended to examine his +traps, and then take the skin of the buck and the choicest part of the +venison to his family. In this calculation he was sadly disappointed; +for, as he proceeded along a path near the stream, suddenly three Indian +warriors appeared in the path before him. He walked directly up to the +party and said, "Good morning, brothers." They returned the compliment +by saying, "Good morning, brother." One of the party said, "Let me see +your gun." He handed it out. The Indian took from his pocket a knife and +turned back the screws that held the lock, and then took the lock and +put it in his pocket, handing the gun back to Mayall, informing him that +he must go with them. Mayall bit his lips in silence, to think a hunter +who had faced his enemies in every form could be so easily frustrated in +his plans. They then informed him that they were on the war-path and he +must consider himself their prisoner, to which he made no reply. + +They immediately commenced their march in the following order: the +stoutest Indian led the march, next came Mayall, the prisoner, followed +by two Indian warriors. In this manner they marched down the creek, and +then down the Susquehanna, to a place near where the Schenevus mingles +with and loses its name in the waters of the Susquehanna. Here they +encamped for the night, and after starting their camp-fire in a thicket +of hemlocks, they all four eat their supper from the venison cooked by +Mayall in the morning. Then, binding their prisoner's hands behind him, +and tying his feet firmly together, they laid down to sleep, with an +Indian on each side and the remaining one to keep guard. As soon as the +blaze of the fire died away, Mayall tried to disengage his hands, which +began to pain him cruelly, but all in vain. If he could once free +himself, he could reach his home before the sun could rise again, and +once more see his wife and children; but six miles of forest parted them +at this time, on a straight line. Oh, the misery of being dragged from +home! And who could foretell his fate? Was he to wear the bearskin +moccasin, and be tied to the fatal stake and burned for Indians' sport, +and his poor family left to starve and perish amid the frosts of a long, +dreary winter? He dreamed of the red war-post, the terrific dance of the +red man round his burning victim, and all the refined torture of the +savage. Morning broke his dreams; the sun again kissed the mountain-top. +Mayall was unbound--his mind became calm, his resolution was formed. It +was the last night that he was to endure the horrors of being bound. +Little did the Indians know the danger of driving to desperation so +terrible a foe, who was perfectly acquainted with the forest many +leagues around them. The Indian warriors soon resumed their march in the +same order of the previous day, but with greater haste. They moved +forward rapidly, as if they feared an enemy in the rear. Mayall scanned +every movement with the eye of the vulture, for a chance to deal the +deadly blow upon his captors. The day seemed to wear away without an +opportunity for the deadly combat, until they halted at a ford above +where the village of Unadilla now stands. Here they held a parley, as +the stream was swollen and rapid. Mayall looked on in sullen silence, as +he began to feel the demon rise. He said he soon felt the courage of a +lion, and the strength of a Samson before he had trifled with Delilah. + +They hesitated for a short time over the danger. The foremost warrior +finally ventured into the stream with his rifle and it was with great +difficulty he kept his footing. He struggled against the rushing waters, +and finally reached the opposite bank; the second one now stepped into +the stream and ordered Mayall to follow. Mayall made every appearance of +preparing to follow, until the Indian reached the rapid current; then, +turning suddenly upon the Indian on the shore, at one blow with the +stock of his gun he laid him dead at his feet. As quick as thought, +before his body had fairly reached the ground, Mayall seized his rifle +and shot the Indian in the stream. Then tearing the Indian's belt from +his body (for it was hurrying times), he jumped behind the trunk of the +nearest tree that would shelter him, as a ball from the Indian's rifle +on the opposite bank whistled by his head, which he had anticipated, and +moved as quickly as possible, to avoid his deadly aim. They now stood on +opposite banks, each behind the trunk of a tree, with an empty rifle in +their hands. The rifles were quickly loaded and prepared for the deadly +combat, and the life of one at least must be sacrificed. After Mayall's +gun was in readiness he cautiously peered out; but seeing the Indian's +rifle aimed directly at him he dodged suddenly back, just in time to +save his life; for the very instant Mayall dodged back his head, a ball +from the Indian's rifle grazed the bark of the tree, and whistled away +among the forest trees. Mayall now thought of taking the advantage of +the Indian by aiming his rifle directly at his hiding-place and firing +at the first appearance of the Indian's head, but in this he was +disappointed; for the Indian, seeing Mayall's rifle aimed at his head, +drew it back so quickly that the ball cut a channel in the bark where +the Indian's eye appeared. Mayall loaded again as hastily as possible, +and stood for a moment, hesitating what course to pursue, satisfied that +the Indian warrior was his equal in aim and courage. He cast his eye +back into the forest, and readily saw the trees stood thick, and by +drawing the Indian's fire he could make a quick and safe retreat. But +that would not answer--he would be hunted down and surprised, and his +life would never be safe. Mayall quickly resolved that the Indian or +himself must fall on that ground, and the only means now left him was +stratagem. He drew his ramrod from his rifle, and putting his hat on the +end, pushed it out carefully, to prevent the Indian from discovering the +deception. It had the desired effect; for scarcely had the hat shown its +full size outside the trunk of the tree, before the Indian sent a ball +from his rifle through the hat, which Mayall lowered quickly to the +ground, and then listened with breathless anxiety the result. In this +condition he waited a long time. + +All was silent as the tomb, excepting now and then the scream of a +fish-hawk or the singing of a hermit-thrush that had approached the bank +of the river after the firing had ceased, and seemed singing the funeral +dirge of the red warriors who had already fallen. All of a sudden the +thrush flew past Mayall into the forest, and the practiced ear of Mayall +heard a rippling in the stream, like running water dashing against some +slight obstruction. Anticipating the approach of the Indian warrior, he +stepped suddenly from behind the tree, whilst the Indian was struggling +with the current, and sent a ball from his rifle through the warrior's +heart. He then floated down the rapid current, and sunk in the deep +water below the rift. + +Mayall then took his gunlock from the pocket of the Indian on the shore, +who had stayed behind to engineer and direct the crossing, placed it +upon his own gun, dragged the Indian into the current of the river, and +he, too, floated down, and sunk with the first two in the deep, dark +waters of the Susquehanna. He then washed out all traces of the bloody +strife, and bent his course homeward. He hurried on, avoiding the +trodden path of the red man, until he reached the mouth of the Otego +Creek, when night's sable curtain began to darken the landscape around +him. He then ascended a high peak of the mountain, that not only +overlooked the Valley of the Susquehanna, but also overlooked the lovely +Valley of the Otego Creek. Here, after finding a suitable spot, and +examining his rifle, and seeing that all was right, he laid down, weary +and exhausted, to rest, without kindling a fire. + +The experience of the last two days had taught him a lesson long to be +remembered. As the night grew dark and chilly, he could see the fire +from his own cottage window gleam warm and bright from his lofty +mountain bed, distant twelve miles. The night seemed long and wild, and +still wilder round his lonely bed. The war was now raging between the +United States and Canada. The inhabitants of Cherry Valley had been +massacred, and he had come near losing his own life and liberty, and +time would only tell what would become of himself and family. The +Oneidas knew his home and place of rest, but at present they were his +friends; but how should he escape these western savage tribes, that +delighted in kindling the terror-awakening fire, and causing the +midnight to glitter with the blaze of some solitary dwelling, whilst +they stood at the door with the scalping-knife and tomahawk, to deal the +death-blow to the inmates, and triumph with savage glee over their +untimely death? Such were the reflections of Mayall, solitary and alone +in his mountain bed, when the wild beasts of the forest were in motion, +and no human being within twelve miles of his mountain camp. At length +the morning dawned; the sun arose in all his glory, throwing a rosy +blush, as it touched one peak and then another along the Catskill +mountains, which he could see clothed in all their autumnal glory above +the intervening hills. Long lines of clouds lay along the highest peaks +of these mountains, painted with all the hues of vermilion and gold, but +soon faded to a leaden hue, as they began to veil the sun. + +Mayall was now aware of the approaching storm, which he considered a +stroke of good luck. He took the Indian's rifle, which he had brought +thus far with him, and secreted it in a hollow log, lest it might be a +tell-tale of what had happened. He then took a general survey with his +practiced eye, to see if there was any smoke rising from the valleys. He +could see none but his own in the distance. He then hurried down from +the mountain, and took the nearest path to his home with rapid and +hurried steps, in order to get as near home as possible, that the rain +might wash out all traces behind, and took special care to avoid soft +ground, as he well knew the shrewdness of the Indians on the track if +they should miss their tribesmen. He reached home before the rain began +to descend, and had hardly closed the door before the wind began to blow +and the rain fell in torrents. + +His family were surprised to see him return, after three days' absence, +with nothing but his gun and ammunition, and appearing careworn, weary +and hungry. He walked to the door and looked out, and said, "Nature +weeps for me!" + +Mayall was a bold, daring man, and none was found more brave; but when +he looked upon his little prattling children and lovely wife, he thought +of the three Indian warriors lying at the bottom of the dark, deep +stream, and he wept, thinking they might have wives and fatherless +children, who would look out evening and morning for their fathers and +husbands, who would never return again to their homes. + +His wife and children hailed him with joy, but nothing they could say +seemed worth his notice; he seemed to be wrapped in deep meditation--not +a smile was seen to light up his sunburnt countenance. No one could read +the secret of his meditation. + +Autumn quietly wore away, and Mayall confined his hunting excursions to +his own quiet valley, where game appeared quite plenty, until the snows +of winter began to whiten the hills. He then remained most of the time +at home, excepting now and then, when the weather was favorable, he made +an excursion up or down the valley in quest of deer, to supply his +family with fresh venison. The deep snows had drifted over the war-path +of the red man, and Mayall had enjoyed a quiet season, spending most of +his time by a warm winter fire. + +At length winter began to resign his sway, and took up his march for his +northern icy throne. The rays of the sun began to dissolve the deep +snow, the southern breeze began to whisper among the dumb branches of +the forest trees, the warm rains pattered down, the little mountain +streams were swollen, and noisily hurrying down to pour their tribute +into the Otego, which overflowed its banks and inundated the lowlands +along the streams, and Spring began to put on her glorious robes of +beauty. The violet opened its young leaves with all its youthful blush, +the honeysuckle displayed its glistening cups of gold, and the forest +trees were again clothed with living green, while every tree that bore +the fruits of Autumn was dressed with Nature's fairest wreaths, which +art can scarcely imitate. The feathered choir had fluttered up the +valley, borne on the southern breeze, to cheer the woodland with their +song. + +Such was the earthly Paradise of Mayall. Not all the halls of state, +with their artificial splendor; not all the retinue of kings, with +golden crowns, surrounded with warriors glittering with burnished gold +and ornamented with diamonds--all these faded into insignificance, when +compared with his green forest home. + +"What city," said Mayall, "with all its towers and domes, can compare +with these sylvan shades and waving arches, the music of these +waterfalls, and that of the tall pine's quaking cone standing on its +high and lofty throne? And what music can compare with the notes of +these feathered songsters, that morning and evening hymn the praise of +Nature's God, where He sits enthroned with all his glory?" Such were the +reflections of Mayall, as he sat beneath a clustering vine that his +lovely companion had trained, in his absence, to form an arch over his +cottage door, and shelter him from the burning sun. + +The flowers of May soon began to drop their leaves, the streams had +become confined within their banks, the red men from the Western lakes +and Canada were again upon the war-path, and it required all the skill +of a forest life to elude their pursuit. Mayall knew every sound of the +night; his eye and ear had long sought in the dark; not a beast that +walked the forest by night, or prowled around his cabin or camp-fire, +but he could name readily by the sound of his footsteps. Mayall had +remained most of the summer at his forest home, cultivating a small +field that surrounded it, and capturing such game as frequented his own +valley, and the streams that meandered through it abounded with fish of +the finest quality for his table. + +Summer had quietly passed away, and the golden sun of September began to +change the bright green of summer to all the varied hues of autumn. +Mayall once more began to feel a desire to roam over the hills, which +had long been his favorite employment; he finally resolved on visiting +his more distant hunting-ground in quest of deer, which had become +scarce near his home. He accordingly rose with the sun and prepared for +a journey over the distant hills and valleys, which had only appeared to +him in his dreams since his capture by the three Indian warriors. He +took an eastern course, crossed the highlands between the Otego Creek +and Susquehanna Valley, crossed the Indian war-path that passed up the +Susquehanna, and thence up Cherry Valley Creek at right angles, and soon +began to climb the steep ascent of the Crumhorn mountain, in the +direction of a small lake situated on the top of the mountain. As he +began to ascend the mountain the sun had passed the meridian, and poured +its heated rays against the western slope of the mountain. Mayall, +coming to a noisy little rill that spun its silver thread down the +mountain side, to mingle with the water in the valley below, slaked his +thirst at the stream, and, walking up to a little mound near the stream, +scraped together some leaves that had fallen in wild profusion around, +to carpet the mountain-side with all their varied hues, and seated +himself for his noonday meal. After satisfying his hunger and again +quenching his thirst at the stream, he sat down to rest; a stupor came +over him, as the gentle breeze fanned the mountain-side and whispered +among the lofty branches of the forest trees, like the AEolian harp of +passing time. + +Mayall soon became unconscious of the fearful dangers that were hovering +around him; time, to him, passed unheeded; the sun was fast sinking +towards the western hills, and the wild beasts of the forest were again +in motion. Mayall slowly awoke to consciousness, and, to his surprise +and horror, he heard the tread of a panther walking about him, and +covering him with leaves. Being perfectly acquainted with the habits of +this animal, he knew that to move a hand or foot would cause his instant +death, as the old panther was then preparing a feast for her young ones, +as he had seen them prepare a deer that she had found in the same +manner, and then go and bring her young ones. He lay in fearful suspense +until the panther had finished her covering of leaves. He heard her +footsteps begin to recede, until the sound was lost in distance; then, +creeping out from his covering of leaves, he discovered near him an old +decayed log about the length of a man. This he moved to the spot where +he had lain, and covered it with leaves, then, casting his eyes around, +he saw a tree that he could easily climb, and, slinging his gun over his +shoulder, fastened by a strap to his belt, he lost no time in ascending +the tree to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet, where he found a +convenient branch to rest upon, above the height of the panther's +ground-leap. He waited quietly for the return of the panther and her +family, not knowing how many guests would be invited to the feast. + +Whilst sitting on this lofty perch, in painful suspense, he carefully +examined his trusty gun and hunting knife, which he sheathed in his boot +in readiness for the combat, should the panthers attempt to attack him +by ascending the tree. After resting on one of the branches of his +chosen tree for a short time he heard the rustling of the leaves in the +distance, and could plainly see through the branches of the trees that +the old panther was advancing towards his bed of leaves, accompanied by +three large cubs. He now felt thankful there was but one old one in the +company, and waited in silence to see the exploits of the old panther, +which advanced steadily towards the bunch of leaves with cautious steps, +as if she feared to wake her prey until she came within leaping +distance; then, settling down on the ground, waited until her young ones +came to her side; then springing forward with one tremendous bound, she +struck upon the log covered with leaves. The rotten wood-bark and leaves +flew fearfully around for a moment. The panther seeing her mistake, +dropped her tail and ears like a shamed cur, and taking a careful survey +with her eyes of the surrounding forest, stood at fault for a few +moments. Then raising her head and ears, she seemed to resume all her +native fierceness, and seemed maddened with rage at her disappointment, +and, seeming to have caught the scout of the victim of her rage, she +raised her eyes and fixed them on Mayall in the tree, and advanced +directly towards him, her young panthers following, which were about the +size of a large wild cat. + +Mayall awaited her approach, with his gun in readiness, until the +panther came in full view, and as she settled towards the ground to make +a bound up the tree he sent the contents of his gun through her head. +For a few moments there was a fearful struggle among the small brush and +saplings, and then she dropped lifeless and exhausted upon the ground. +Mayall lost no time in loading his gun, but the young panthers, seeing +their protector and provider fall, were quickly out of reach of the +fearless hunter. Mayall descended to the ground just as the sun was +casting his last crimson blush on the Crumhorn hills, and kindled his +camp-fire on the leaves that the panther had scraped together for his +funeral pile. After he had kindled his fire and made preparations for +the night he then laid down near his camp-fire, where he could get a +fair view of his surroundings. The shades of evening soon gathered +around him. The stars shot forth in beauty one by one, and the evening +dew fell in silence. Thinking the young panthers might return for their +dam, he had placed her in a sleeping position in a conspicuous place, to +draw them to her side if they came within sight. Mayall waited in +sleepless anxiety, thinking that when the embers of his fire died away +the young panthers might approach. In the midst of his watchfulness the +moon arose and showed her maiden face, and walked among the stars, +reflecting her borrowed light among the branches of the forest trees. + +Mayall was delighted with the grandeur of the scenery around him, which +drew out his mind in pure devotion to Nature and Nature's God. The night +seemed to pass like a pleasant dream, and the day-star began to twinkle +in the east. Mayall kindled again his fire to prepare his morning +repast, that he might retrace his steps to the Valley of the Otego, +knowing that the hunter finds no deer in forests inhabited by panthers. +The day-king soon arose and dispelled the darkness of night. Mayall went +forward and circumnavigated the little lake in pursuit of the young +panthers. Not finding their hiding place, he sat down on a log for a few +moments to view that beautiful sheet of water, reflecting on its bosom +the surrounding forest. Eolus was slumbering. Not a breath of air played +over its surface, but lay like the mirror bright and fair. Mayall in his +excitement viewed it as one of the lovely dimples on the face of +creation, which held him for a time like a charm, until his thoughts +roamed over the forest hills to his loved ones at home. He then arose +and retraced his steps to the Valley of the Otego, considering the past +day and night one of the most charming incidents of his past life. + +The war of the Revolution had now ended, and new adventurers began to +visit the Valley of the Otego. Charmed with the beauty of its forests +and crystal streams, they would return and soon appear with their +families. + + And behold the green hills in distance laid, + Where the wild hunter often strayed, + Where through the forest swift as light + The wild deer shunned the bullets' flight. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Summer had resigned her sway to Autumn in the green valleys of the +Susquehanna and her tributaries, which spread out among the hills like +the branches of some mighty forest tree, over whose curving and playful +waters the green plumes of the forest trees had waved during the summer, +now changed with the season; and Summer, the queen of flowers and +ripening fruit, had wrapped herself in a mantle of green, and laid down +to die as the sun gradually declined to southern skies and the Autumn +Queen put on her gorgeous robes of many colors. The squirrel was seen to +play on nimble feet through oak and chestnut groves gathering in his +winter store. The deer, with her fawn, wandered through the grove +unmolested, excepting at such times as Mayall needed venison for his own +table. + +One day, while seated beneath the vine-clad porch of his cabin, where +the vines had been trained by his wife to tie in leafy coil over the +door, he saw a woman in homespun dress advancing with hurried steps, +weeping and mourning as she advanced towards him, and fell exhausted at +his feet. Mayall raised her from the ground and inquired the cause of +her grief. She soon recovered sufficiently to inform him that a party of +nine Indian hunters had been prowling about her cabin for a couple of +days, and that morning they had stolen her little daughter Nelly, but +four years old, and bore her away in triumph without any regard to her +screams or the lamentations of her mother for her only child. + +Mayall listened with pity and grief to the poor woman's tale of woe, and +impatiently said, "Why did not your husband follow the black thieves and +bring back your child?" + +"Oh dear," cried the poor woman, "what could he do with so many +Indians?" + +Mayall replied, "Follow them, and when a good opportunity offered, kill +them, shoot the thieves and bring back your child. Better die like a man +than live a coward here in this forest land, dreaming of robber band +that bore away his only child to be a slave in some proud savage's smoky +hut." + +At this reply the woman became frantic with despair and cried out, "Oh, +Mayall, for mercy save my child. You are the only man now living that +can do it, and I will give you all I possess on earth and be your slave +in the bargain." + +Mayall was not deaf to sympathy. The fire of revenge began to kindle in +his bosom; but how should he withstand the power and vengeance of nine +brave men skilled in battle and the chase? He sat silent for a few +moments. The flames of revenge began to burn in his iron will, which, +when aroused, was terrible. He inquired the direction the Indians had +gone with the child, and where their trail could be found, then told the +woman to go home and take a good night's rest; he said the Indians had +gone, and of course would not return unless they came to bring her Nelly +back, and further she could do nothing to recover the child herself. He +thought the child would be returned in the morning. + +These words seemed to pacify her, and she returned home. As soon as his +only neighbor, Miss Murphrey, was out of sight, Mayall examined his +trusty gun and prepared cartridges equal to twice the number of Indians, +placed his tomahawk and hunting-knife in his belt, then turned to his +wife and said, "You must not look for me until I return. I will be back +as soon as my mission is accomplished." + +His mind then became calm and he sallied forth from his cottage as +cheerful as a hunter in quest of game, and soon disappeared in the +forest that surrounded his dwelling. The sun was descending towards the +western hills in all her flaming glory as Mayall reached the summit of +the dividing ridge between the Otego Creek and the Susquehanna Valley. +Cautiously and slowly he descended the hill, keeping on the Indian +trail. + +As the shades of night hovered over the forest, Mayall left the trail +and took his post on a small hill not far from the river, where he could +hear the Indians preparing wood for their evening fire, and occasionally +he could hear the child, Nelly Murphrey, crying for its mother. Mayall +cautiously advanced through the thick forest, guided by the sound of the +child's voice weeping and often calling for its mother, who lay wrapped +in wakeful dreams several miles away. The voice of this weeping child +nerved the old hunter's arm with the strength of a Samson, and filled +his heart with a vengeance not his own. The hours seemed to linger into +days as he lay crouched in the dark. At last the camp-fire of the +Indians blazed up and illuminated the forest. Mayall lay secreted in a +little thicket behind a knoll, where he could hear every word that was +said, and he well understood the Indian dialect. + +One Indian, who seemed to be their leader, said there would be no danger +unless they got the old hunter on the trail, and to avoid him they must +be up and away as soon as the day-star appeared. + +The Indians partook of their evening meal and laid down to slumber and +rest, not dreaming that the bold hunter, like the panther, was crouching +near with sharpened tomahawk and knife, panting for an opportunity to +avenge a woman's wrongs. + +As the night wore away all became silent, excepting an occasional +outbreak from little Nelly Murphrey, calling for her mother. The +camp-fire no longer blazed, but the dying coals were yet red, and gave +sufficient light to see the nine dark forms stretched on the forest +floor. Mayall now began to move forward with cautious steps. He soon +discovered by the flickering of the embers that the Indian on the watch +had fallen asleep, with the stolen child nestling between him and the +Indian warrior beside him. + +Mayall took a cautious look. No Indian in his blanket stirred. All was +silent, excepting the low murmuring of the Susquehanna rolling by. He +noiselessly rested his gun behind a tree, and leaped like a tiger upon +his prey, with his tomahawk in one hand, which he swung as fast as death +could deal a blow, and his long knife gleaming by the light of the fire +in the other. The last Indian in the circle, wakened by the screams of +the child, leaped from his leafy bed and fled into the forest with the +speed of a panther. Mayall, seeing his retreating form, sprang to the +Indian's guns and fired three in quick succession after him, to speed +his flight, and then, gathering up the remaining guns as quickly as +possible, threw them upon the coals with the muzzles in the direction +the Indian had gone, in order to keep up the firing until he could get +out of hearing with the affrighted child before the Indian returned. He +then took up Nelly, who was half dead with fright, and hurried off in +the opposite direction as fast as possible. The sharp report of one gun +after another broke the stillness of night until Mayall had got more +than two miles from the bloody conflict with his prize, and had soothed +the child's fears by softly whispering in her ear that he was carrying +her home to her mamma. + +Mayall now diverged from the trail and reached the place of his +destination by a circuitous route, at times traveling in the channel of +small brooks, in order to deceive the Indians, should they undertake to +follow on the trail, to avenge the blood of his tribesmen. Mayall +hurried on with his prize. The stars had faded from his view, and the +morning sun had lighted up the concave of the skies, before he could +reach the weeping mother with her little Nelly. Her mother had passed a +sleepless night, and her wakeful eye had been turned in every direction +to see if she could catch a glimpse or a sound from her little Nelly. +None but a mother could realize her pain and anguish at the loss of her +lovely child. As she stood looking she fancied she heard the faint sound +of her prattling voice. A moment later she saw Mayall come in full view +with little Nelly in his arms. The fond mother, now as frantic with joy +as she had been the previous day with grief, rushed to meet Mayall. She +met him some distance from her cabin, and little Nelly leaped with joy +into her mother's arms as she fell at the feet of Mayall, to thank him +for restoring to her loved embrace her only child. Mayall raised her to +her feet and said, "I have done no more than my duty, and I have no time +to waste. Swear to me before the God of Heaven that all that pertains to +the loss and return of this child shall be kept a secret whilst I live." + +After receiving her sacred promise not to reveal the secret, he +disappeared again in the forest, and there was no human being left at +liberty to tell the frightful story of the Indians' fate, excepting the +Indian that made good his retreat. + +The seasons rolled around, Autumn had again hung out her flag of many +colors, and Nelly Murphrey, under the fond care of her mother, had grown +to be a beautiful little girl, with her auburn hair drooping fondly in +ringlets upon her shoulders, and appeared in all the beauty of +innocence. + +Whilst the mother was seated at her door, playing with little Nelly, she +raised her eyes and saw a tall, stately Indian standing before her at a +respectful distance. As soon as her eyes rested upon the Indian, she +recognized him as being one of the band that stole her child. As Nelly +saw him she screamed and flew back into the house. The sudden scream +seemed to freeze her mother's blood, and she sat as immovable as a +statue. The Indian stood perfectly quiet, without coming nearer. When +she had recovered, he said he would not harm her nor her child; but she +must tell him who brought back her child. She told him she found the +child in the edge of the woods the next morning, and supposed that he +had returned it. He then told her he had not, and she must find out who +it was and let him know when he came around again. The mother watched +the Indian until he disappeared in the forest, and then stealing away +slyly in the opposite direction, and by taking a circuitous route, soon +reached Mayall's cottage, and told Mayall that one of the same Indians +that had stolen her Nelly had been at her house, trying to find out who +brought her back. "I told him where I found her, and thought he had got +tired of her and brought her back." Mayall then told her to go into his +cottage and remain there with his wife and children until he returned. +Taking good care to keep the doors securely bolted, and the axe in the +house to use if they were molested, Mayall then took down his gun, +prepared some cartridges, put on his belt, with his tomahawk and knife +depending from it, and hanging by his side, and left the cottage. + +Night came, but the hunter did not return. There was no moon, but the +stars shone forth in tranquil loveliness as the night wore away. About +midnight they heard a noise outside and near the cottage, and they crept +cautiously to the window, which was nearly as high as one's head, but +not of sufficient size to admit a common sized man, and looked +cautiously out, and Mayall's cow was in his garden. Mrs. Mayall then +told her that the Indian was near, and she must not show her head at the +window, or she might be taken for her husband. The minutes now seemed to +drag into hours, when that hungry cow was walking over the choice melons +and devouring them, and in a few moments more she was eating and +stamping down the corn which they had cultivated with care for their own +domestic use. But time wore away, and all was still, excepting the cow +in the garden. The sharp report of a gun was heard, and loud groans +followed, which seemed to shake everything within like a clap of +midnight thunder, and my brain seemed to reel, for deeds were going on I +dare not look upon. + +Soon after, some one, whom I took to be Mayall, for I could see by the +light of the stars he had a gun in his hand, came and drove his cow out +of the garden. Mrs. Mayall then told me her husband would be back in the +course of an hour, and they would then be out of all danger; that her +husband was then near the house. Our fears seemed to vanish, and we +commenced talking and anticipating what had happened. Mrs. Mayall said +the report was from her husband's gun; that she knew the sound from all +other guns, and that, when in the hands of her husband, was sure death +against prowlers of the night, whether they walked on two feet or four. + +She then said she knew their game. The Indian had let the cow into the +garden, expecting that her husband would come out, whilst he lay +secreted to kill him. She said Mayall never slept in his house when he +knew there were Indians watching for him, but always kept near enough to +protect his house and family. Whilst we were anticipating what had been +done in the dark, Mayall suddenly knocked three times on the door, then +paused and struck one. Mrs. Mayall, without farther hesitation, sprang +to the door and opened it. I said, "How dare you open that door?" She +replied that his knock was different from all other men; she said she +could tell by the day of the week, and no one knew the secret but +herself. + +Mayall entered the house without saying a word, bolted the door after +him, laid down his gun, knife and tomahawk, and after telling me that I +could go home in the morning if I chose, there would be no danger, he +then laid down on his bed of straw, and was sound asleep in less than +five minutes; and when I left his cottage in the morning he was still +asleep. I took my little Nelly and returned to my cabin. Many strange +thoughts passed through my troubled brain. Occasionally I seemed to hear +the sharp report of a rifle; and then how came the blood on that +tomahawk? The Indian never appeared again, nor could there be any trace +of him found. + + Roam on the high mountain's crest, fearless ranger, + The Indian no more shall dye his coarse blanket + In citizens' gore; he has left, aye, forever, the vales + Where you met him, and fought for my Nelly, + So gifted, so fair and so young. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The Oneida Indians came annually from the Valley of the Mohawk and the +Oneida reservation to the Valley of the Susquehanna, by their path down +the Valley of Adaca, to lay in their store of dried venison for the long +and dreary winters of this latitude, accompanied by their wives and +daughters, who prepared the meat taken in the hunt, dried and smoked it, +and put it in deerskin sacks ready to be conveyed to their winter +quarters. They always encamped at their place of rest at the outlet of +the Adaca Creek into the Susquehanna River, where they had planted an +orchard to supply them with apples during the fall hunt. + +Mayall lived near their path where they usually stopped to make +inquiries and gain such information as was necessary to guide them where +deer were most numerous. They usually gave Mayall an invitation to join +the fall hunt, which was his favorite amusement at that season of the +year, being an expert in the game of hunting. The Indians gave Mayall +his full share of the venison and furs taken. They ranged the hills and +valleys in every direction from their camp at the place of rest, and +returned at night with their venison and furs, which they handed over to +their squaws to be dressed and dried, excepting such parts as would not +bear transportation, which were taken to supply the daily food of the +camp. A number of large gray wolves had been heard nightly from their +camp howling on the mountain south of the Susquehanna, which caused the +deer to leave the South Mountain and cross over to the hills on the +north side. + +On the morning following one of their howling frolics, one of the +hunters shot and wounded a deer on the south side of the river. In their +endeavors to capture it they drove it up the mountain side. There were a +number of hunters joined in the chase, but as the hill grow steep and +rocky they all fell back and returned to camp but Mayall and two +Indians, who had now reached the high range of hills, where they made a +temporary halt to view the ample plains and beauteous tracts below. On +the one hand they surveyed the famous Susquehanna, rolling in silent +dignity and marking its course with inconceivable grandeur, while in the +distance the hills lifted their venerable brows. + +Here they had paused a few moments to view the beauties of Nature as it +came fresh from the hand of Omnipotence. The sunlight was streaming from +the western skies, kissing each mountain top, clad with crimson and +gold, like the morning light that dances on the heaven-kissed hills of +Paradise. Mayall viewed the scene with unspeakable delight, as he +thought how rich he was in everything that made life desirable to him. +From this lofty eminence over the valley forest he could mark the smoke +curling from his quiet home, where his lovely companion rested. Youth, +beauty, wealth, love, all seemed to be his. All his past life seemed to +pass in grand review. The sun sank in silence toward the horizon, and +called to his mind that the chase was leading them too far from camp to +return before dark. + +Before they had time to decide which course to pursue they heard the +deer returning with a gang of wolves close in pursuit, made ravenous by +the scent of the warm blood gushing from the deer's sides at every +bound, in consequence of his wonderful springs to escape the wolves, +which were so near that one miss-jump would have been fatal, as a dozen +wolves were ready to tear his flesh from his bones. + +It now became hurrying times. Mayall looked round to find a safe +retreat. The two Indians that had ascended the hill with him were wild +with affright, and beat a hasty retreat. The deer became exhausted in +its exertions to escape, and fell to the ground within two rods of the +place where Mayall stood, and three of the wolves rushed upon him with +open jaws, to devour him. Mayall was just the man for that place; for as +quick as a flash of electricity all his presence of mind returned. The +contents of his gun, with his deadly aim, brought down the first or +foremost to the ground. He dropped his gun and met the second with his +tomahawk, which he dispatched at a blow. The third had then reached him. +He aimed a blow at his head, his weapon glanced, and the wolfs mouth +came in contact with his body and fastened his teeth in his +hunting-frock. At that instant Mayall gave him a thrust with his long +hunting-knife, which he had drawn from his belt with his left hand. The +knife entered between the wolf's ribs and split his heart, and the wolf +fell back and expired with a mournful howl. Mayall was now clear from +the wolves. The remainder of the drove was devouring the deer with such +haste, he saw there would be no escape unless it was effected without +delay. He instantly placed his tomahawk in his belt and sheathed his +knife, then fastening his gun to his belt by means of a spring, +commenced climbing the first favorable tree he reached. + +He had barely time to climb ten feet from the ground before the wolves +made a rush for the tree, and commenced jumping at him, mingled with a +howl of rage and disappointment. Mayall continued to climb until he +reached a safe and convenient place for loading his gun. He soon loaded +and brought down the fourth wolf, and then gave a shout of triumph to +inform the Indians that he had reached a place of safety. The Indians +shouted back from the tree-tops far down the mountain, with joy that +echoed through every glen and ascended above the mountain-top; for +hearing the howling and growling of the wolves after Mayall's first +fire, they supposed the wolves were devouring Mayall and would soon be +upon their track, and had taken the precaution to reach a place of +safety in time. Mayall now continued to load his gun and fire upon the +wolves with success, until the thinned band made their retreat up the +mountain. He then descended from his lofty perch, made his retreat in +the same direction the Indians had, down the mountain. + +Mayall soon reached the place where the Indians had fled for safety, and +found them perched in a tree like two owls on their nightly roost. As +soon as the Indians saw Mayall they quickly descended, and the three +took up their line of march for their camp with the double-quick. The +curtains of night were fondly drooping upon the hill-tops, and the stars +were shooting forth in glory one by one from Heaven's blue concave as +the three hunters reached the Indian encampment. + +The Indians shouted with joy at their return, after hearing the firing +of guns and the fierce howling of wolves. They had been much alarmed for +their safety. The squaws and Indians flocked round Mayall to hear the +Indians relate the story of their adventure and act over the frightful +scene with gun, tomahawk and knife, to show the amount of skill used by +Mayall in handling the deadly weapons of war. Their war-chief, being +present, addressed his Indians in the following manner: "Your pale-faced +chief, whom I shall this night adopt by the name of Wolf-hunter, must +ever be revered by our tribesmen for his deeds of skill and daring. He +has driven our enemies from our hunting-ground. Yon skulking thieves +that destroyed our game, and tore the white squaw's papoose from her +arms, and bore it over the high hills to where the Susquehanna winds her +course among the alder groves, there the pale chief left them in their +leafy bed of gore, and returned the white papoose to the embrace of her +mother. The Indians who returned to avenge their fallen tribesmen have +been slain by him, and their bones will ever rest on our hunting-ground, +unmolested either by sire or son. He has met this day in deadly combat +the gray wolves of the forest that destroyed our venison. They spared +neither the deer nor its fawn; and to-night they sleep in death, high on +the bleak mountain-side. The God of battle helps him in every strife, +and no arm has yet been found able to cope with his. And we should be +proud of such a friend to lead the hunt and move the whirlwind of the +battle on." + +Mayall related the story of his adventure with the wolves to Mr. Powel, +one of the first settlers of the Adaca Valley, and at the same time +informed him that Molly Brant, then an Indian maiden of beautiful form +and suavity of manners, was with the Indians at their camp, and was +after that the wife of Sir William Johnson. He said her manners were as +gentle as the south wind that rocked the tree-tops in autumn. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The place of rest where the red man unstrung his bow and slept two +hundred years ago, beneath the shades of an overgrown forest, where the +grandsires of that much-abused race planted their orchard, which bore +the gems of bright abundance in autumn's golden days to regale their +taste and satisfy their appetites, whilst they rested from the chase, +this Garden of Eden so much famed in Indian story, the red man's +resting-place, where he gathered in his stock of furs for his winter +clothing and dried his venison to sustain his own life and the life of +his family during the cold stormy winters of this latitude, around whose +fertile plain the towering hills stand as sentinels to guard the plain +below from furious winds and drifting storms, was highly esteemed by the +Indian tribes for the abundance of fish that inhabited the waters of the +Susquehanna and its tributaries. + +There has long been a story of revolutionary days connected with this +renowned place. Sir William Johnson, a Major-General in the British +army, came to Johnstown and took up his residence in that place. Whilst +there he had some business to transact with the Indians, who frequently +came to that place to trade. He there became acquainted with a young +squaw, Holly Brant, the daughter of the famous war-chief of the Mohawk +Indians, and was so much enamored with her virtue, wit and beauty, that +he asked the chief's consent to give him the hand of his daughter in +marriage. After some hesitation the chief consented, and his daughter, +the Forest Queen, was sent for. She came dressed in simple Indian +costume, ornamented with wampum, wearing fawn-skin moccasins embroidered +with the quills of the porcupine; her long flowing dress was decked with +roses. Sir William had been a guest at the Royal Court of England, where +fair women flashed with diamonds and brave men whirled in the giddy +dance, but none seemed to him to possess that beauty and grace which +appeared in this young Forest Queen. In short, he admired her more than +he did all the fair daughters of Eastern climes. + +Sir William was so much enamored with her artless grace that they were +soon united in marriage, and he took her to his mansion to grace its +stately halls as she had the cabin of the Indian chief, her father, who +was considered by the Indians equal in rank to Sir William Johnson. + + Beauty's spell flowed from her eyes, + A radiant splendor wreathed her hair, + And fondly sweet perfection lingered there, + From which all human virtues gently flow. + +In due time the chief came to visit Sir William and his daughter, and +was invited by them to tarry with them for a time. The invitation was +accepted by the chief. After viewing the stately halls hung with maps, +pictures and mirrors, he retired to rest. Not being accustomed to sleep +on beds of down, fenced in with lofty ceiling, his sleep was disturbed +with dreams. He dreamed of palaces beyond the sea, with high towering +domes and gilded halls, and warriors with golden epaulettes and flashing +sabres, and plumes that nodded as they marched to battle. All these +grand views formed within his breast a desire for military glory. + +Finally he awoke with the first rays of the morning, with a pleasing +dream impressed upon his memory, and when he arose he related the dream +to Sir William and his wife. He said he had dreamed that Sir William +gave him his uniform, covered with gold lace of costly texture, with his +sword, epaulettes, pistols, and hat covered with plumes. Sir William, +not being unacquainted with the Indian custom, seemed at a loss what +answer to give the chief. His wife, seeing his embarrassment, took him +by the hand and led him to the hall and informed him that he had better +fulfill the dream of her father by giving him his war equipage, which +would give him an opportunity to dream in return. + +"What can I dream," said the Major-General, "to compensate me for that +splendid war equipage?" + +His wife, with a sly look, replied, "Leave that to me;[1] but give him +the uniform and other equipage." + +[Footnote 1: The author of the History of Schoharie County and Border +Wars of New York, states that the lands dreamed for by Sir William +Johnson, with the famous Indian chief Hendrix, of the Mohawk tribe, were +situated in the Valley of the Mohawk, which statement is denied by the +first settlers of the Indian's place of rest in the Valley of the +Susquehanna, which lands were purchased of the heirs of Sir William +Johnson, who used to relate the story of the dream as they learned it of +their mother, whose maiden name was Molly Brant, and had been at the +Indian place of rest with the Indians in their fall hunt when an Indian +maiden.] + +The Major-General then brought forward his beautiful uniform and +equipments, that had been manufactured with care in England to adorn men +of rank and high renown in the British service, and worn with honors. +The Indian chief looked with pride upon the dazzling prize, so easily +won from a British officer. He then took off his Indian dress and put on +the General's uniform, which he said was a very good fit for a chief to +wear in time of peace, but not well calculated for the battle fray. He +wore his uniform through the day while a guest at the house of Sir +William Johnson. When night came he took off his uniform and folded it +carefully and packed it in a suitable form to transport it to his own +village, situated many miles away in the forest. After the chief had +retired to rest for the night Mrs. Johnson informed the General he must +dream that the chief, her father, gave him one thousand acres of land +situated on each side of the Susquehanna, at their place of rest, where +they could remove after the war had ended and live in tranquil +loveliness upon the banks of the gently flowing Susquehanna. + + There on the runway long and low, + Coursed the buck, the fawn and doe; + The finny tribes in lengthened shoals + Swarm through all the crystal stream; + There in the summer sunshine blaze + Will rise green rows of twinkling maze, + Where the sweet waters of the mountain rill + Will ever turn your grinding mill. + +The glowing account of so lovely a valley, given by Sir William's wife, +caused him to dream that the Indian chief gave him one thousand acres of +land at the Indian's place of rest. The next morning when the Indian +chief and Sir William met, he related his dream. The Indian chief sat in +silent meditation for a few moments, and then replied that if he had +actually dreamed the dream that he had related he must have the one +thousand acres of land, but one thing was certain, he would never dream +with him again whilst he had that young fox at his elbow. + +The one thousand acres of land were deeded to Sir William, according to +the tenor of his dream, and the land was sold to actual settlers by the +heirs and descendants of Sir William Johnson, years after the storm of +the Revolution had passed away, and the grant was confirmed in the +settlement of peace with the government of Great Britain. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +After the storm of the Revolution had subsided, the Indian's bow was +unstrung, the tomahawk and scalping-knife were laid idly by, and the +Angel of Peace had spread her guardian wing over the waters of the +Susquehanna and her tributaries. The hardy sons of New England came +flocking to this section of country, and many of them found a home for +their families in the lovely Valley of the Otego. Here they purchased +lauds and commenced cutting down and clearing away the forest along the +valley, and erecting rude houses to shelter their wives and children, +and mills to grind their grain. + +In a few short years the smoke from their morning fires curled above the +forest trees for more than twenty miles along the winding banks of the +crystal waters of the Otego, and began to present a scene of activity. +School-houses were erected by the industry of the settlers along the +valley at the most convenient places, and these served a double +purpose--for schools through the week and meeting on the Sabbath. + +Orchards soon began to blossom in spring, and fields of grain to wave in +summer, both yielding the gems of bright abundance in autumn. Then the +reapers, robust and ruddy with health, thrust in the willing sickle, +whilst the young maidens with glowing cheeks gathered up the gavels and +bound them in sheaves and raked the new-mown hay. Health, beauty and +prosperity spread their glory over the lovely scene. The axeman's blows, +that lowered the forest and frightened away the game, were displeasing +to Mayall, and all his thoughts were now turned on finding a new home. +The thought of living in a country where the primeval forest was fast +disappearing, the thick boughs that had sheltered him from the storms +and the green plumes that had waved over his head in summer to protect +him from the scorching rays of the sun in his daily rambles, for so many +years, where the wild game had lived and fattened for his table--all +seemed like departing friends. + +Mayall could endure the scene no longer, and started in quest of a new +home. He traversed the country to the north in every direction, with his +gun in his hand and his hunting-knife and tomahawk in his belt. + +Thus equipped he wandered over a vast section of country, winding around +lakes and crossing streams, at times climbing the highest hills, there +from some lofty tree-top taking a view of the surrounding country, to +see if the smoke from the cottage of some adventurous settler or that of +the Indian wigwam dimmed the air. He was seeking a lone retreat where +human footsteps seldom fall. At length he learned from an Indian of the +Oneida tribe that he would find that secluded and happy retreat he was +searching for on the head-waters of East Canada Creek, where the +sparkling waters swarmed with speckled trout, where the buck and the +doe, with her fawn, coursed on their runway undisturbed, where beautiful +little lakes nestled among the hills, and abounded with fish and water +fowls, where the green forest in summer reflected its image upon the +waters so smooth and fair, and stamped upon its bosom creation's image, +the sun and clouds reflected in their waters by day and the moon and +stars by night, with the beautiful arch of heaven's high concave. + +Whilst conversing with the Indian, his daughter came from his cabin near +by and informed her father that his morning meal was ready, and invited +Mayall to come with her father to breakfast. Mayall was struck with the +youthful simplicity and beauty of the Indian maiden. After they had +enjoyed their delicious meal of venison together, and smoked the long +pipe of peace, Mayall informed the Indian that he had a son equal in +height, years, activity and beauty with the Indian chief's daughter, and +if the chief had no objection he would take them both with him to the +beautiful and romantic country he had so graphically described, after +their marriage, and the Indian chief could come to visit her every fall +and enjoy the Indian summer in hunting deer and procuring furs for +winter. + +The Indian replied that if his daughter was pleased with Wolf-hunter's +son, and he was as good a hunter as his father, he would consent. The +Indians had adopted Mayall into the tribe, by the name of Wolf-hunter, +which made Mayall's son equal in rank with the daughter of the Indian +chief. + +Mayall now parted with the chief and his family in friendship, and left +the proposed marriage to abide future events. Mayall directed his steps +towards East Canada Creek, where he arrived in safety, and commenced his +journey up the valley which had been scooped out by the stream since the +morning of creation. He soon passed beyond the noisy bustle of +civilization in the Valley of the Mohawk River, and launched into a +solitude which appeared to him as a divine retreat, and was better +fitted for a wild hunter than a civilized man. + +Mayall carefully examined the forest along the banks of the stream and +its branches, from its outlet into the Mohawk to its source far away +among the forest hills. He found many traces of beaver and other furred +animals, and plenty of deer. + +Mayall said it so nearly resembled the Otego Creek in its wild state, +shaded with the primeval forest, that it made him think of home in +gone-by days. The speckled trout swarmed in the creek and its small +tributaries, the feathered songsters sung their evening and morning +hymn, unmolested by man. + +Mayall selected the most beautiful place he could find, on an elevated +spot of ground, near a small rill fed by springs, where the creek formed +a half circle like a new moon, on one side of his cottage. This fertile +spot, lying in the bend, he intended to clear and cultivate. + + Breeze of the woodland and breath of the prairie, + Sweet with the fragrance of flower and vine, + Proclaim o'er the hill-tops and deep-shaded glens + That the sweet songsters of spring have returned, + And the little birds chirp, flutter and sing, + And make the groves again with melody ring. + + Their music charms me like the voice of love, + And chains me to this wild, uncultivated grove, + Where spring flowers vary their beauty and bloom, + And spread their morning and evening perfume. + How beautiful the hills and forest land, + Where Nature spreads her loam and fertile sand; + + Where seeds long-buried in the drifting snow + Spring forth in beauty when the south winds blow. + The sun, with golden beams and brighter rays, + Shines forth to warm the earth and lengthen out the days. + +He there built his camp-fire, and reared a rude cabin to shelter his +family, until he could build a more permanent residence. + +Here Mayall rested for a few days, charmed with the music of the woods, +and the water-fowls that had stopped along the stream to lay their eggs +and rear their young. Mayall then pursued his journey up the stream +until he reached its utmost spring among the distant hills, and then +bent his course eastward among the highlands of that region, where he +found the beautiful little lakes so graphically described by the Indian, +stored with fish, and covered with water-fowls during the summer season. +All the wilds of the forest appeared more beautiful than he had +anticipated. + +After exploring the hills and valleys for a few days, during which time +he never saw a human being, Mayall resolved to return once more to his +wife and children. As he passed down the valley he stopped at the rude +cabin he had erected, and passed the night in quiet sleep. Mayall +declared that in his chosen bower Nature appeared fresh from the hand of +Omnipotence. He described one of the lakes he had seen as the most +beautiful sheet of water that human eye ever saw, surrounded with a belt +of white sand, where the buck, the doe, and the spotted fawn came and +slaked their thirst from the crystal waters of the lake, unmolested by +man, and fed tamely upon its grassy shores; where the wild rose, queen +of bowers, shed her perfume, and the lily displayed her spots of beauty, +as second in rank among the flowers; the third in magnitude and adorning +was the wild honeysuckle, with all her tints of beauty. These encircled +the snow-white sands upon its beautiful shores, whilst the low undertone +of its waves kept time to the music of the grove. + +Mayall was enchanted with the beauties of Nature around him, and made +his bed at night under a low branching tree, covered with a wild +grape-vine, so nicely tied and coiled by Nature that it served every +purpose of a tent. Mayall made his evening meal on trout he took from +the lake, and laid down to sleep upon the wild, enchanted shores of an +earthly paradise. His sleep was quiet and undisturbed. He awoke with the +first rays of rosy morn, and listened to the lovely song of Nature's +harmonists, the songsters of the grove. + +After Mayall left his cabin on Canada Creek he bent his course for home, +where he arrived after three tedious days' journey along an Indian path, +fording streams, and crossing hills and ravines, and was once more in +the bosom of his family. All were glad to see him, and listened with +rapture to the glowing account he gave of a country so wild and +beautiful, until Mayall reached the story of the proposed marriage of +his young son with the daughter of an Indian chief. The young man was of +the Caucasian race, young and sprightly. He declared that he would not +marry a squaw--he would live solitary and alone before he would marry +the daughter of a race he had always learned to hate, if she was allied +to the royal family of chiefs. Mayall heard his resolves with a twinkle +in his eye, and here the matter rested, whilst every preparation was +making for their now home. + +Mayall was truly one of Nature's noble philosophers. When he had +resolved to leave the Valley of the Otego Creek, where he had enjoyed so +many scenes of strife and pleasure, his friends, both old and young, +gathered at his cabin for a farewell visit. In the course of the evening +the question was put to Mayall, who was the most advanced in years of +any of the company, what season of life he had found most happy. In +reply he inquired of the company if they had noticed the forest trees +that once shaded the valley. They all replied they had. He then said, +"When spring comes and the soft south wind blows up the valley, the buds +on the trees open and they are sweet with blossoms, I say how beautiful +is Spring, representing the morning of life. + + The light winds are her laughter, + The murmuring brooks her song; + +and when Summer comes and clothes the trees with foliage and shields me +from the rays of the flaming noonday sun, cools the wind that sighs +among the branches filled with singing birds that charm me to the grove, +I say how glorious is Summer, the noonday of life. + + The sunbeams are her lovely smiles, + The rose and lily are her footsteps light; + +and Autumn, in her turn, comes with golden fruit, and the leaves bear +the gorgeous frost-tints so variegated with all the glory of colors, +with the full ear, and Ceres has bound his golden sheaf, I say how +beautiful is Autumn, crowned with fruit that perfumes the surrounding +air, representing the fruits of maturer years. + + The branches bend with riper fruit, + The grapes in royal purple shine + When Autumn yields the glory of the year; + +and when Winter comes, and there is neither opening buds, green foliage, +or ripening fruit, nor gorgeous frost-tints upon the leaves, I look +through the bare branches of the trees better than I could in spring, +summer and autumn, and lo, how beautiful are the stars that spangle the +heavens and twinkle in the pale light of the moon, with maiden face +sweeping through the heavens, veiled with fleecy clouds, like the +bridesmaid of heaven, to direct our thoughts to the celestial city to +meet the great Author of our creation. For the spirit came from God, and +to God it must return, it being that part of Divinity that dwells with +man during the journey of life. + + And we shall hail with joy + The glorious sunset of life." + +And the company recorded his wise sayings and poetical phrases for the +benefit of future generations that should inhabit the Valley of the +Otego. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Their household goods were few, and those of the plainest kind. They +loaded all their goods, with their children and Mrs. Mayall, into the +wagon, and Mayall and his son Esock performed the journey on foot, each +one carrying his gun in readiness for any emergency, with Mayall in +advance to pilot them through the forest. In their journey they had to +ford streams and climb with difficulty the hills. + +Not meeting with anything of importance, the fourth day they encamped +within five miles of the Indian chief's wigwam. After feasting on some +ducks they had killed along their road, they all laid down to rest from +the toils of their journey, and all but Esock slept soundly. He was +meditating on what course to pursue, and what excuse he should make on +arriving at the Indian chief's wigwam, to excuse himself in so grave a +matter. Mayall, his father, had gone thus far in match-making without +his consent, and now he wished the whole affair could be passed by +without seeing the Indian chief or his daughter. + +In the morning Esock Mayall resolved to take a different route from his +father and the rest of the family, and pass the Indian chief's wigwam +without being seen, and informed his father of his resolution. Mayall +then told Esock that he was ashamed of having a coward in his family; +said he must go boldly to the chief's wigwam, where they would all stay +over night, and if he was not pleased with the chief's daughter he would +excuse the matter. Esock finally resolved to go forward and brave the +consequences, as his father always had some way to get out of a bad +affair. Their tent was soon taken down, and Mayall and his family +pursued their journey toward the Indian chief's wigwam. + +The sun had risen fair, but as they proceeded along their journey dark +clouds began to curtain the heavens. The wind roared among the forest +trees, the lightning flashed from the storm-cloud, the thunders rolled +through the forest with deafening roar, splitting and shivering the +forest trees, whilst the rain at intervals seemed to descend in +torrents. Just as Mayall and his family emerged from the thick woodlands +into a small clearing, where the Indian chief's wigwam stood, he saw the +chief and his daughter stand looking out of the door, for Mayall's +approach had been heralded by an Indian runner the previous day, and +they were prepared to receive him. As they came into the clearing there +was a lull in the storm for a few moments, and the chief's daughter +rushed forward to welcome Mayall to their home. The words had scarcely +dropped from her lips before the lightning began to crash among the +trees and the storm beat down fearfully, and she glided back to the +wigwam with speed that seemed like the flight of a bird. + +As she approached Mayall, Esock Mayall was standing in a position that +brought her in full view from her head to her feet. He was struck with a +strange, mysterious spell. Her neck was as pure as the alabaster, her +bosom as white as ivory, her soft blue eyes like liquid orbs adorning +the face of beauty, whilst her fair hair flowed in graceful ringlets +upon her neck and shoulders. Her form was simply perfect; her breath was +like the eglantine, and her cheek wore the morning blush of the +moss-rose. She was a perfect Cleopatra, all but the royal crown, and +that was supplied with plumes--the royal crown of the Indian Queen of +the Poorest. + +Esock Mayall stood as one amazed as he viewed the beautiful figure +before him, dressed in a neat flowing dress that came down to her feet, +covered with wampum and such beautiful moccasins, embroidered with the +quills of the porcupine, with a border of the same around the bottom of +her flowing dress. Had he seen one of the fairies of olden times, a +fabled goddess of the sylvan shade, or had he seen a human being in this +image of beauty that appeared before his father and welcomed him to her +home and then glided away to her father, the Indian chief? + +Esock Mayall no longer seemed to notice the flashes of lightning, the +roaring of the thunder, nor the pelting of the storm, but kept his eye +upon the departing form of that beautiful angel amid the rushing of the +tempest. Could this be the chief's daughter, her face as white as a pond +lily with the rose's blush upon her cheek and her eyes as blue as the +violets of May, with her flaxen hair flowing in unbound ringlets upon +her shoulders? No, never. No Indian blood ever flowed in the veins of a +being so white and fair. It must be a phantom of his bewildered +imagination. He was sure that when he reached the wigwam he should see +the chief's daughter with her red skin, long, straight black hair and +snaky eyes, just as he had pictured her in his imagination ever since +his father first mentioned her name. + +A few moments more and they were unloading from their canvas-covered +wagon before the Indian chief's wigwam, with the same fair being he had +seen retire so hastily to the wigwam amid the fury of the storm, flying +about, leading the children into the wigwam and kindly assisting them in +drying their wet garments; for the fury of the storm had passed by. +After Mayall and his son had taken care of their team they walked to the +wigwam, Mayall leading the way, whilst his son, Esock, walked timidly +behind, straining every nerve lest he should lose his presence of mind +when the chief's daughter appeared before him. He entered the wigwam. +Curiosity stood on tiptoe. + +The Indian chief welcomed Mayall and his son to his most ample +hospitality, and then, turning to the fairy queen that stood near him, +he said he was pleased with having an opportunity of making Esock +Mayall, the son of his old friend, acquainted with his adopted daughter. +The maiden stopped gently forward and took young Mayall by the hand. The +secret was out. The vision of beauty constantly appeared before him, by +night and by day. + +The Indian chief had taken this young squaw, as he called her, a +prisoner in one of his excursions into Canada during the war of the +Revolution, and adopted her into his family on account of her comeliness +and natural graces. + +Their clothes were soon dried by a warm fire, and they all sat down to a +sumptuous dinner of venison and wild fowls, which was a favorite dish +with the Mayalls, and pleased them more than the most sumptuous feast +that could be set upon the President's table at the White House. After +dinner the long pipe was handed round, each taking a few puffs, whilst +the blue smoke curled from the emblem of peace, + + Whilst the forms of love are round us + And our hearts with pleasure glow. + +The eyes of the lovely Blanche rested on the form of Esock Mayall, when +his first glance met hers, which was often and still oftener as the rose +bloomed brighter on her cheek, her breath grew quicker, her smile more +radiant, and the first blue flower of love bloomed into fondness for the +young hunter, as he gazed upon her rounded waist, her snowy neck, +ornamented with a shower of curls that fell loosely upon her shoulders. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +The landscape around the chief's wigwam was sublime. First his little +field of corn clustering with golden ears; beyond, the beautiful tall +forest trees formed arches overhead and locked their boughs in social +harmony. A winding path led from the wigwam to the grove, bordered with +wild roses, which must have appeared beautiful and gay in summer, but +now began to droop and fade like the leaves of the surrounding forest. +Esock Mayall wandered along this path of faded flowers to the edge of +the dark overgrown forest, and stood for a time viewing the large, +massive branches that had been torn from their parent trees by the fury +of the wind and rain the previous day. The splinters of every form lay +scattered where the currents of electricity in their fearful descent had +rent in fragments some giant of the forest, torn out its oaken heart and +scattered its ribs and limbs upon the forest floor. + +After viewing the wonders of Nature, Esock Mayall was returning to the +wigwam along the path of flowers, when that wood-nymph, the chief's +daughter, appeared before him, gentle as the ring-dove. + + And the glory of youth clung around her, + I felt her ambrosial breath on my cheek + Like the scent and perfume of wild roses. + +She seemed to appear in all the beauty of innocence. Esock Mayall asked +her who planted those roses. + +"I planted them," said the maiden, "to perfume my path and wanton in the +summer air around me whilst I walked to yonder grove in summer days, for +twelve long years, to hear the evening and morning song of birds which +charmed me to the grove; and then again I love the solitary woods, the +sylvan shade. I learned, when but a child, to wander in yon shady grove +to hear the squirrels chirp and bark." + +Esock Mayall wished her to inform him how and when she first came to +live in this overgrown forest. She said, "I could not tell, but when I +was a child I lived in a cottage on a lake shore, where one could sit in +its vine-clad porch and look out upon the windings of its beautiful +shore and hear the fury of the waves amid the fearful storm. The Indians +came one sunny day, when I was sitting under the arbor over the door, +and killed my mother, robbed the house, and bore me away in their arms. +The next morning one of the Indians took me on his back, and in three or +four days they reached this place, and I was adopted into the chief's +family. My mother used me kindly whilst she lived. After ten years she +sickened and died. Since that time I have lived with the chief, my +father. I have planted these flowers in rows to imitate the shores of +the lake where I was born. That long half-moon curve you see was a wide, +open bay, and that short turn yonder was a bluff of rocks." + +Esock Mayall listened with admiration to her story, and then replied, +"Would you go with me and walk the shores of that lake once more?" + +That question seemed a spell that chained her tongue, whilst the crimson +flush faded from her cheek. In a few moments her young blood began to +course freely in her veins, and the flush of roses warmed her lovely +cheeks. She raised her eyes and looked Esock Mayall full in the face, +and appeared as lovely as a dream. + +"Do you know where that lake is situated? My captors have always refused +to inform me. If you do, I will go with you cheerfully, and walk once +more upon its lovely shores. Twelve long years, in the dreams of +midnight, I have wandered on its shores, and its coves and bays have +appeared to me with the white swan with snowy sail and air of pride +floating upon its mirror waves; but there is a bitter mingled with the +sweet; in those dreams I see my mother pale in death, slain by my +captor's hands, and oh, my father, who was absent from his home, where +is he? When rosy morn blushed on the concave of the skies I always found +myself within the wigwam's prison-walls." + +Esock Mayall told her frankly that he neither knew the name or locality +of the lake she described, but added, "If you would consent to be my +wife and go with me to my forest home, I will endeavor to learn from +your captors the name and locality, and take you back to the home of +your childhood, once more to ramble on the beautiful shores where you +had roamed in childhood's sunny days." + +The maiden then replied that she would consult with her father and +answer his request to-morrow. + +To-morrow came. The chief appeared gloomy and thoughtful. He well knew +the undaunted courage, the sure and steady aim of the Mayalls to guide +the bullet in its airy track, the power of their strong arms in wielding +the tomahawk in battle strife. He had no reason to fear the protection +of his daughter, but the thought of parting with the sunny face of one +he had ever idolized, whom he had carried for more than a hundred miles +on his back through the wilderness when she was a child, because he +loved her snowy face and flowing hair--this thought pained him. Long +years he had dressed her in robes of beaver during the winter, and made +her bed of down; the fawn had yielded her skin to clothe her naked feet, +and the brightest wampum had encircled her waist, the most costly jewels +had ever sparkled in her ears, and he had employed the most skillful of +his race to teach her to border her flowing dress in summer with the +quills of the porcupine. He had hunted weeks to capture the swan to deck +her hat with snowy plumes to wave in open air and clothe her queenly +neck. + +"I have acted the part of a kind father," thought he, "and if I give her +hand to young Mayall, who would cheer my wigwam in sickness, and smooth +the winter of my declining years? Who would ring my funeral knell, and +plant the wild rose upon my lonely grave?" No tears flowed to soothe his +troubled brain; there was no wanton moisture in his eye. "And then, +again, if I should deny my daughter's request I fear the consequences. +Mayall had the shrewdness and courage to take her from me, and then, +again, I have taken her from her parents and her home, and she might be +left unprotected when I am dead and gone." + +The chief passed a sleepless night, but rose bright and cheerful in the +morning, and informed his daughter, if she chose to leave his wigwam for +that of her lover, she might go, with his blessings upon her youthful +head; but one thing he must insist upon, in order to preserve harmony, +that the tribe that lived in the surrounding forest should be invited to +the wedding, and the whole tribe should join in the marriage dance, +according to the ancient customs of the Indian tribes. + +Young Mayall was informed of the Indian chief's decision. He walked +boldly up to the chief, who was seated in his wigwam, and took his +daughter by the hand, and said, "When I have received from you the hand +of your daughter, and have conformed to the usages of your tribe in all +things, we want you to go with us to our forest home, and we will +provide for you in old age in the same kind manner you have provided for +your daughter. You shall have your choice in the dainty pieces of +venison and wild fowls, and find protection under the roof of our +cottage home. + + 'There I'll sit by my bride, where the rushes are green, + While the sun weaveth gold o'er the robes of my queen.'" + +In answer to some questions with regard to the home of her childhood, by +Esock Mayall, she related the following story of her journey to the +great Falls of Niagara, which the chief said would enable me to keep my +course through dark forests from the Oneida Lake to the great lakes and +rivers towards the setting sun: + +"I started on a journey to the great Falls of Niagara, with my father +and mother, to witness the voluntary sacrifice of a young Indian maiden +to the great Spirit of the Falls, or Naiad God of the Water. We pursued +our journey through beautiful forests, over wood-crowned hills, fording +the valley streams without interruption, until the second day, near +sunset, we came in sight of a beautiful lake, whose surface + + 'Seemed so placid, smooth and fair, + That Naiad might look on to plait her hair.' + +"We traced the shores a short distance, coming to a little crystal +stream, the waters of which were cool and refreshing. We concluded to +encamp near this stream, that spun its silver thread to the lake from a +dark ravine over which the branching tree-tops leaned. We followed the +stream a short distance, and built our camp-fire under shelter of a +large branching tree that stood on the bank of the ravine. Near this +tree a cool fountain gushed from a large rock, and made music for us as +it dashed over its stony bed to join the stream below. Taking into +consideration all the surroundings, it was a grand place for a lover of +scenery and solitude. There we ate our evening meal, and, after slaking +our thirst at the cooling fountain that flowed from the rock, laid down +to rest our weary limbs by our camp-fire, that blazed up and illuminated +the forest for several rods around, making the forest look grand, with +its branches interlocked in social harmony, fanned by the gentle breeze +from the lake that whispered through the tree-tops, and sung of passing +time, like the AEolian harp that hung upon the willows along the streams +of Babylon. + +"All nature seemed to invite us to repose, and the waters of Lethe swept +over us. As the Angel of Dreams threw his mantle over me, through this +gauzy mantle I seemed to trace the Queen of the Falls from earth, with +her guardian angels, to the fields of Paradise, which appeared in my +dream as described by the Jesuit that used to come and preach to the +tribe I lived with, and give me books, teach me to read them, and teach +me etiquette, such as used by the English and French. All of a sudden I +thought the bolts of hell had burst asunder, and the devil incarnate +walked again over earth and sea--that Gabriel had sounded his trumpet +for all to assemble at the judgment hall on the borders of two worlds. + +"Slowly awaking to consciousness, I cast my eyes towards the big rock. I +felt the rain pattering down in my face from the tree-tops, and, lo! +there I saw two eyes that looked to me like two orbs swimming in liquid +fire, which frightened me to such a degree that I attempted to scream +for mercy. + +"I seemed to be paralyzed. In this awful moment of fear, the Great +Spirit sent an arrow of electric fire from the darkest pavilion of the +storm-cloud, selected from the quiver of the Eternal Jehovah, down into +the top of a mighty oak that leaned over the dark ravine a few rods +above our camping ground, which tore off the top and splintered its +massive trunk to the ground. The awful crash frightened me nearly out of +my wits. I screamed with all the power of voice I possessed, for I +thought the ebon paw of Satan was upon me. The panther then set up the +most unearthly scream I had ever heard leaped from the rook, and seemed +to make the forest jar at every scream, until he was far away on the +lake shore. The clap of thunder awoke my father and mother. The chief, +hearing the screams of the panther, seized his weapons of war and tried +in vain to penetrate the surrounding gloom, for the blackness of the +storm-cloud made the forest a dungeon, occasionally illuminated by +flashes of electric fire from the arching clouds over our heads, which +could not be penetrated by mortal eye. The chief again gathered up the +few burning brands that remained, and piled high his fuel. This only +served to light a few rods from the fire, whilst all beyond seemed black +as the regions of darkness. There was no more sleep during the night. + +"Morning dawned. The storm-cloud passed away, and we resumed our journey +with cautious and timid steps toward the place of our destination, +arriving late in the afternoon at the Upper Falls, on the Genesee, where +the waters dashed from rock to rock, until it reached the valley below +the Falls. We traced the river bank three or four miles, to Gardow, a +village on the west bank of the Genesee River, where the roar of the +Upper Falls could be distinctly heard, where we were received with great +cordiality, and conducted to comfortable lodgings, and furnished with +all that nature required for comfort. After one day's rest we again +started for the great Falls of Niagara, with a part of the Genesee tribe +of Indians that resided at Gardow. We took the most direct Indian path +that led to Niagara, which led us over hills crowned with forests, and +through dark wooded valleys, reaching the Falls about sunset the second +day, and encamped on the banks of that mighty rushing river, with the +numerous throng that had reached their place of destination before us. + +"We all encamped like a family of friends, upon the banks of a river +that was destined to divide a kingdom from a republic. Early the next +morning preparations were made for offering a human being as a sacrifice +to the Great Spirit that created the earth and the heavens, and all +things contained therein. The most beautiful and gifted young Indian +maiden, just blooming into womanhood, was chosen by the priests and +prophets of that ancient tribe, to appease the anger of the gods, and +bear a message from that tribe to their friends that had gone over the +River of Death before them, to the land of the olive and the vine in the +clear Southwest, known only to the brave and just, where the wild doe +and her fawn feed on flowers, where the flowers wear their everlasting +bloom, and the grass is greener and more luxuriant than was ever seen, +and softer than the Persian silk. In that beautiful land mortals put on +the garments of immortality. When the young maiden was informed that she +was chosen for the sacrifice, she came forward with a smile upon her +countenance, adorned in all the glory of the Indian costume, as a bride +adorned for her husband, and entered the arena. The Indian priest then +stepped forward and poured upon her head the oil of venison, and placed +a crown of roses, intermixed with swans-down, to give it a snowy-white +appearance, and crowned her, in the name of the tribe, Queen of Niagara. + +"A more beautiful or graceful being could not be found to offer up her +life for her friends. The whole tribe then sang and shouted the glories +of their youthful queen, each one handing her some little token of +remembrance to their friends in the spirit world, and kissed her hand. +After a short time had been allowed her to receive the homage due an +earthly queen, two young Indian warriors came forward, one taking her by +the right hand and the other by the left, and led her to the shore of +the river, followed by twelve young Indian girls. + +"Moored on the sandy shore above the Falls was a little white tiny boat, +just large enough for one person, loaded with ripe fruits and +fresh-blown roses. In this beautiful boat, surrounded by the odor of +ripe fruit and perfume of roses that wantoned in the surrounding air, +the young warrior placed her, put a paddle in their young queen's hand +just as the sun reached the meridian, and darted his rays from his +eternal quiver upon the waters of Niagara, and the young warriors cried +over the river, at the same time pushing the boat from the shore, when +the young queen applied the paddle with all her might and main, until +she reached the middle of the river above the Falls, every Indian, young +and old, shouting and singing the glories of their brave queen. + +"The moment she reached the middle of the river she turned the bow of +her little boat towards the Falls, then applying the paddle with force +the boat shot down the rapid current with the speed of an arrow, whilst +two rainbows faintly spanned the boiling flood. Down, down among the +caverned rocks and foaming waters went the beautiful form, whilst her +guardian angels received her spirit and soared above the rainbow's arch, +up through the concave of the skies to life eternal. + +"We tarried until the chariots of the sun rolled down the western sky. +The full moon in her diamond car rose, and threw her pale light over the +foaming waters of Niagara. The whole tribe then assembled on the high +rooks below the Falls, and the Indians declared by the Eternal that they +could see troops of fairies waltzing around their departed queen on the +glassy waters of the Falls, clothed in all the splendors of the rainbow, +chanting the glories of their queen. And here upon the rocky altar they +built their night-fires to light the spirit of their queen and her +guardian angels to the Elysian Fields of Paradise on the shores of life +eternal. And here we join the American poets in their majestic song of +time: + + 'Flow on forever, in thy glorious robe + Of terror and of beauty! God hath set + His rainbow on thy forehead, and the cloud + Mantles around thy feet, And He doth give + The voice of thunder power to speak of Him + Eternally, bidding the lip of man + Keep silence, and upon the rocky altar pour + Incense of awe-stricken praise.' + +"The next morning we started for our home near the shores of Oneida +Lake, which we reached without being molested in our journey. We traced +the flowery banks of babbling brooks, walked beneath the grand arches of +beautiful forests made melodious by the songsters of the grove, but I +could not forget the terrible scenes I had witnessed at Niagara." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The day was set for Esock Mayall and the chief's adopted daughter to be +joined in Hymen's silken bands, according to the custom of the tribe, +commanded by their war-chief. A young Indian maiden was sent for, and +arrived one day in advance, to arrange the bride's dress and ornaments +in true Indian style, and dress her hat with flowing plumes so much +admired by the native hunters of the forest. The bride's hair was +trimmed to flow gracefully upon her shoulder, and ornamented with +brilliants that sparkled like diamonds among her flowing hair. Her dress +was covered with wampum, and her moccasins ornamented with bead-work +stars that reflected their dazzling light. Her arms were encircled above +the elbows and around her wrists with silver bands, and jewels of gold +hung from her ears and nose. + +Esock Mayall was dressed with blue pants, a light hunting-frock of the +same color, and embroidered moccasins. The day had arrived, the morning +had dawned with a clear sky, and heaven's concave shone in unclouded +blue. The October sun rose and threw a golden blush over hill and vale, +and bathed the groves in light, reflecting all the varied hues of the +falling leaves as they fluttered from the tall forest trees to form a +carpet for the children of the forest, who now began to arrive, dressed +and plumed for the wedding-dance, with their bouquet of flowers in their +hands, dressed similar to the bride, but with less expense. The young +Indian warriors were dressed with tight leggings or pants, and +smoke-tanned hunting-frocks. The hour having arrived for the ceremony, +the young Indians formed in a ring on the green, in front of the chief's +tent, each with his partner to his left, with an open space toward the +tent, whilst the spectators or older Indians formed an outer circle at a +respectful distance. + +Esock Mayall, son of the adopted white chief, now advanced from the +chief's tent, with his bride leaning on his left arm, arrayed in all the +glory of Indian simplicity, followed by the Indian chief and the adopted +chief, Wolf-hunter, young Mayall's father. As the young couple advanced +to the centre of the ring the two chiefs closed up the space. The +marriage ceremony was brief and simple, and amounted to little more than +the mutual promise made by the bride and groom to live together in love +and harmony. + +The two chiefs now retired from the space they occupied, the ring closed +up, each Indian maiden throwing her bouquet on the ground, forming a +circle around the young couple. A signal was given, the music sounded +they then chased each other around the circle with measured tread, all +keeping time with the music for a few moments, when the music stopped +and each couple faced inward and picked up their bouquets, when the +music again started its hollow, rattling sound. Then the bride and groom +joined the circle, and the ring danced round and round for the space of +an hour or more, stopping at intervals and facing inward, until the +music ceased and the ring was seated on the ground and partook of a +supper of wild fowls, venison and corn-bread, after which they all shook +hands with the newly married pair, wishing them peace and prosperity in +their forest home to which they were about to remove. The guests then +returned to their homes, and no time was lost in preparing for their +journey to their new home. + +The following morning all things were in readiness. Their team was +hitched up and the wagon was loaded with a few cooking utensils. Esock +Mayall's mother, three children, himself and young bride, started early +for their home in the wilderness, whilst the Indian chief who was to +accompany them to their new home and enjoy the Indian summer in the +forest, and spend the hunting season with them, traveled on foot with +the elder Mayall, and piloted out the best route for the wagon, removing +such obstructions as they found in the path. Mayall said he would take +the axe and the Indian chief the gun, and one would clear the path of +logs and the other of game. + +In this manner they proceeded for three days, arriving near sunset on +the bank of the East Canada Creek, at a place now called Russia, +opposite the cottage built by Mayall when he passed up the creek on his +summer excursion. Not finding a suitable place to cross with their team, +the creek being somewhat swollen by rains on the head-waters of that +stream, they concluded to cut some grass on a small island and leave +their team on a little elevated spot near the river, with the elder Mrs. +Mayall and the children to sleep in the wagon and the rest would take +off their clothes and ford the stream, carrying with them some blankets. + +The young bride, like the Naiad of the stream, stripped off her +beautiful robes, and advancing to a deep, still place, tied them up in a +handkerchief, fastened them on the top of her head, rushed into the +stream, swimming with her head out of the water to her breast, and was +soon on the opposite shore, and dressed before the rest were half ready +to cross. Whilst the rest were packing up their blankets and skins in a +suitable manner to cross over, the young nymph of the forest came +running back and called on the party to bring over their knives, +tomahawks and guns. She said that a company of bears lived in that +cottage, and had only gone out to hunt and would soon return; she +requested them to take her rifle, load it and leave it with her new +mother to defend herself, and bring over the remaining four guns. These +tidings put the camp in a fluster. Young Mayall proceeded to pattern +after his wife, stripped, and commenced carrying blankets, guns, +ammunition, tomahawks and knives. In a short time all that was needed +was over, each one armed, and proceeded to the cottage. + +Wolf-hunter carefully examined the room and said there was one she-bear +of tremendous size and two large cubs that had taken up their quarters +in that cottage, and every one must examine his gun and see that it was +well primed and sure fire, for they were liable to be attacked any +moment. The Indian chief, Wolf-hunter and Esock Mayall each examined +their guns, put on their belts with a large tomahawk and hunting-knife +by their side, and Wolf-hunter stationed himself about twenty rods up in +the direction the bears had gone, behind a large tree; the Indian chief +about ten rods nearer the tent, and Esock Mayall about the same distance +from the tent, but nearer the creek, whilst young Mayall's wife was +clearing out of the cottage the leaves that the bears had carried in. +There had risen a dark cloud where the sun went down, and muffled sound +of distant thunder could be heard, whilst night was dropping her sable +curtain around the horizon. But no hunter on his nightly post was heard +to stir. + +Wolf-hunter was now in his glory, nerving his muscular frame for battle. +All of a sudden this mammoth bear and her two cubs were heard by +Wolf-hunter advancing rapidly for the cottage. The moments seemed to fly +more rapidly. The instant the bear appeared in sight Wolf-hunter raised +his gun. The bear, as quick as thought, raised on her hind legs and +struck at his gun, which, firing at the same instant that the bear's paw +struck it, had a tendency to lower the gun and carry away a part of the +bear's under-jaw. Wolf-hunter's gun became useless from the nearness of +the bear and quickness of her motion. He seized his tomahawk, but the +strength and power of the bear was such that it seemed of no avail. + +Becoming heated with the strife, the God of Battle nerved his arm to +grapple with the monster of the woods in deadly strife. He dropped his +tomahawk and drew his long knife, keenly sharpened for such game. As the +hunter raised his left hand, and darted his knife with tremendous force +for the bear, it struck the loose skin on his neck, rolled the blow one +side, and passed the bear's neck, whilst the hot breath of the monster +came full in his face. It now became hurrying times. He raised his knife +once more, and made a thrust with all his power, and ripped the bear +open from his flank to his brisket, and sprang back with all his power, +and fell on the ground about ten feet from the bear. Whilst lying there +he heard the heavy report of two guns, which he took to be those of the +Indian chief and Esock Mayall, as the cubs passed them for the cottage. + +The Indian chief had slightly wounded the young bear that passed him, +and, quickly loading his rifle, started to assist Wolf-hunter, where +there had been the constant growling and snarling of the old she-bear +after the first report of Wolf-hunter's rifle. The Indian chief soon +arrived on the spot, and found the bear sitting up on her hind legs, +with her life-blood ebbing away, and put an end to her misery by +shooting a ball through her head, and then asked Wolf-hunter why he lay +there in that condition, with that long bloody knife in his hand? +Wolf-hunter replied that he had but one hand he could use, and he laid +still, knowing that the bear would not touch him as long as he appeared +to be dead, and he further knew that the monster's life-blood was fast +ebbing away, and that she would soon be too weak to move. The Indian +chief had all this time been loading his gun as fast as possible, and +had just driven down the ball, when screams were heard from the cottage, +coming from the young bride. + +These brought Wolf-hunter to his feet, and, not feeling the pain of his +wounded hand, he went through the forest for the cottage with the speed +of the panther, with the long bloody weapon in his right hand, closely +pursued by the Indian chief. Esock Mayall came with all possible speed +from the creek, where he had killed the young bear that passed him, to +rescue his young wife, the three arriving at the same time. + +When within about twenty feet of the cottage they saw the flash and +heard the loud report of a gun, and all was hushed to silence. And there +stood Esock Mayall's young wife, who had fired the last gun and killed +the last bear, proud of her success. The young bear which passed the +Indian chief and received his fire was only slightly wounded, and fled +to the cottage for safety, and plunged into the door, and finding the +young bride in possession, cleaning out the leaves, attacked her with +great fury. Not being able to get her rifle, she defended herself with a +club that had been cut for a fire poker. At length giving the bear a +lucky blow, she seized her rifle and leaped out the cottage door, and +only had time to bring it to her face before the young bear leaped out +after her. Her rifle was quickly brought to bear upon him. A flash and a +report, and the young bear lay dead at her feet, with three brave men +coming to her assistance, but too late to be of use. The battle of the +bears, so well begun with Wolf-hunter, had ended by a maiden's hand. +Three prowling monsters of the wood lay cold in death amid their native +wilds, and the party, proud of their success, concluded to dress the +young bear killed at the cottage and have a feast of roasted meat. A +large fire was built before the cottage, that illuminated the forest for +some distance around, which made a wild and beautiful appearance, with +the high leafy arches over their head, and the yellow and crimson leaves +of autumn carpeting the forest as far as the eye could penetrate the +surrounding darkness. + +The young bear was hastily dressed, and a part of it roasted, from which +they made a sumptuous feast with corn bread. After the feast was over, +the Indian chief, Esock Mayall, and his wife, remained at the cottage, +whilst Wolf-hunter took a part of the roasted meat and corn bread and +recrossed the stream, to feed his wife and children, and guard them from +danger through the darkness of the night. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The three that remained at the cottage retired to rest. As the blaze of +the fire in front of the cottage died away, young Mayall discovered that +the Indian chief became restless and uneasy, and would suddenly awake +from sleep and grasp his rifle and then peer out into the dark +surrounding forest, as if some monster of the wood was about to make a +deadly leap towards him. After straining his eyes for naught he would +again resume his rustic bed. + +As soon as sleep began to steal over his troubled brain he would spring +from his bed and grasp his weapons of war. The night gradually wore +away, and the great luminary of the world began to light up the East. +Esock Mayall and the Indian chief rose from their restless beds and +finished dressing their bears, and got the wagon and goods, with his +father, mother and the three children that wore on the opposite side of +the creek, over to the cottage, whilst the young bride was preparing +their breakfast. + +Breakfast being over, the Indian chief said he must be up and away +before the sun licked up the morning dew. He had lodged in that cottage +the first and last night; that thrice in his sleep he had dreamed of +death and a dishonored tomb, when no phantom of the night was near, not +even the sound of waters or the whisper of the breeze was heard among +the lonely trees; and yet the dream was thrice repeated. Esock Mayall +told him he must wait a short time, and his wife would prepare him some +provisions, and he would let him have a horse to ride as far as the +Mohawk River, and that would carry him beyond danger. The chief +consented to wait a short time for the horse and provisions, but said +there was danger in delay. + +Whilst the young bride was preparing her father's provision, Wolf-hunter +cast his keen eye up the creek in the direction of the bear fight, and +saw three strange Indian hunters approaching with their silver-mounted +rifles, armed with tomahawks and hunting-knives. They came rapidly +forward until they reached the place where they killed the mammoth bear, +then halted, viewed the meat that hung on the branches of some trees, +and then came directly towards the cottage. The Indian chief began to +retreat, when Wolf-hunter cried out: + +"No danger. Face the music." + +This Esock Mayall understood to mean, "Never fear, but be ready," and +sat his gun down by his side, and Wolf-hunter did the same. The three +Indians came near the fire, when Wolf-hunter addressed them in the +Oneida tongue: + +"Good-morning, brothers." + +They replied: "Good-morning, brother. We have followed the trail of +three bears, and we find you have killed them, and we want some of the +meat." + +Wolf-hunter told them to be seated near the fire and they would bring +them some; the three Indians sat down their rifles and came near the +fire. As the young bride came out of the cottage with a large piece of +bear's meat in a long handled pan, and placed it over the fire, the +three Indians stared at her in amazement, and then turned and looked at +each other. One of the Indians said: "She looks just as her mother did +before she was murdered. She is a Wan-nut-ha."[2] + +[Footnote 2: A beauty.] + +They paused a while, and one of the Indians called her Dora, to which +she made no reply. He then called her Dora in a louder tone. To which +the maiden replied: + +"My name is Blanche." + +"Well," said the Indian, "your name was Dora. Twelve years have passed +away since I saw your sunny face, and looked upon your silky flaxen +hair; you have changed to a graceful young lady squaw, and when I now +look upon you-- + + "Your sparkling eyes and glossy flaxen hair + Seem the same your mother used to wear + When the lake lay calm with silver breast + Beneath pale Luna's beams at rest. + And when the lurid morn arose, + And flashed her light on land and sea, + The silvery foam beat on the lonely shore + Where Dora and her mother used to roam. + Death had hushed the voice of her fond mother, + The Indian's war-axe parted her fair locks, + The bloody tide ran down her snowy neck, + Her ivory bosom dyed with crimson gore, + Then fled with Dora to the forest wild. + There a captive in the chieftain's tent, + Whilst twelve successive years went by; + But now a hunter's young and lovely bride, + And cooks the savory venison, night and morn, + Upon the streamlet's flow'ry banks, + Where the woodland choir with melody of song + Chant the praise of God that watch'd o'er all, + And saw the sparrow in his lonely fall. + When spring, with balmy air, bids vegetation rise, + And all the flowers put on their bloom; + The emerald reeds, along the sandy bay + Washed by the blue waves, beat upon the shore, + Then Dora, with her loving mate, + Will walk in summer's golden days, + By Cynthia's evening silver light, + And call to mind those infant days + When her fond mother led her by the hand, + And her little feet made impress on the sand; + And plant a flower beside the monumental stone + In yonder church-yard, o'er her mother's tomb, + Then ramble o'er the green and flow'ry lawn, + Leaning fondly on her lover's buoyant arm, + The valiant, happy man, who Fate ordained + To write his name, in love, upon her heart + And fondly claim her for his own." + +Dora was delighted with her new name, believing it to be the name given +her by her parents, whom she had so often seen in her dreams, whilst +sleeping in the Indian's tent. And then it seemed so familiar to her--it +seemed like the voice of her mother floating in music-tones upon the +morning air. And the Indians seemed to her sent by the Great Spirit to +inform her of the place of her birth, of the Eden of her childhood, and +the path that would conduct her to her once-loved home, which now came +up in grand review before her youthful mind, as the Indians related the +sad story of the death of her mother, the capture of her lovely child, +and the curling flames that consumed their earthly home. + +The picture set forth by the Indians was forcibly impressed upon the +mind of Dora, and she persuaded her husband to accompany her on foot +through a dense forest, for more than a hundred miles, following a blind +Indian war-path which she had been trained to follow through other +forests by her tutors, in other days. This war-path led them to the lake +shore, where they obtained a boat, with a skillful oarsman, to land them +on the shore of that lovely bay which Dora had so often seen in her +dreams, whilst sleeping in the Indian chief's wigwam. When they arrived +at the birthplace and youthful home of Dora, she could only find the +place by the remains of part of the burnt and cracked walls of the +foundation, and a few trees that had escaped the fury of the flames. + +Here Dora called to mind the scene that occurred when the Indian's +war-axe parted the fair forehead of her mother. She seemed to see the +crimson tide run down her neck, her ivory bosom stained, as her parental +life-blood ebbed away. She wept long and loud for her fond mother. She +lingered round the fatal spot until the sinking sun began to cast her +last rays in lengthened shade over the waters of the lake below. She +then hurried to the nearest house with her husband, where her neighbor +recognized her and called her Dora. Like the Indian, he said he knew her +by the hair her mother used to wear, and her being the exact likeness of +her mother. + +Here she first learned of the death of her father, who, feeling the +heavy loss of his wife and the unknown fate of his darling child, +grieved so immoderately over their loss that Disease laid her fatal +hands upon him, and in one short year they laid him down gently to sleep +by her mother, until Gabriel's trump shall awake them again at the +resurrection morn. Here they tarried for the night--but the night +appeared long and sleepless to Dora--and in the early morn was +accompanied by their friend and neighbor to the church-yard where lay +the remains of her father and mother, unmarked, except by a rude stone, +to guide them to the place where their kind neighbors had gently laid +them down to rest from the turmoil of life's uneven ways. The summer +months were spent among strangers and the scenes of her early childhood, +and visiting the burial-place of her parents weekly, to water the +moss-rose and the eglantine she had planted on their graves, and scatter +the most beautiful flowers that bloomed in that region upon their graves +at the hour of falling dews, to wanton and perfume the surrounding air. + +As summer wore away Dora and her husband became tired of fashionable +life, and longed to return to the shades of forest life, for which they +had a fondness--to feast again on the rich and savory dishes of venison, +wild fowls and fish, and rest in tranquillity at their own cottage home, +surrounded by shady bowers. Dora had paid the last debt of gratitude to +her deceased parents at the earliest opportunity, and then started with +her husband by the same route they came for their forest home, again to +retrace their steps, guided by a blind Indian war-path, long since +abandoned by the Indians. + +After a weary march of several days they arrived at their forest home, +and were warmly greeted by the elder Mayall and his learned and +accomplished wife, who received them more warmly on account of some good +books Esock Mayall had purchased for his mother, to repay her for his +early education, which she had superintended in her own cottage, when +her husband was absent on the chase. When they arrived at their forest +home, Autumn, with all her charms, with yellow and crimson loaf and +falling fruit, charmed the young hunter and his faithful and devoted +wife, as they looked with pride upon their forest home, surrounded with +all the charms which Nature has so wisely lavished upon the untarnished +works of his adorable hand. They came to the conclusion that Contentment +and Modesty were two beautiful flowers that flourished only in secret +and retired places, where the God of Nature reigned. + + "Dora again, in her wild forest home, + Where, in wavy masses fondly flowing + Droops the graceful mountain vine, + And the yellow sunbeams, glowing + Cross the shadows line on line; + Where the zephyrs, softly sighing, + Woo the gently pearling rills; + Where the feathered songsters, vieing, + Each a different measure trills; + Where the echoes, now replying, + Die amid the distant hills; + Where the skies are ever changing; + Where the slanting moonbeams quiver + On the noisy mountain streams: + Where the placid flowing river + Like a thread of silver gleams. + Oh, my heart is ever yearning + For the sweet, remembered ones, + Where magic roses blossom + In the evening golden light, + And tender, enchanting songs + Float on the balmy breeze at night." + + + + +THE END. + + +[Transcriber's Note: The original edition of this book did not contain a +Table of Contents. A Table of Contents has been created for this +electronic edition.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forest King, by Hervey Keyes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOREST KING *** + +***** This file should be named 24417.txt or 24417.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/4/1/24417/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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