The Frontiersmen Part 22

CHAPTER XVIII.

"And long shall timorous Fancy see The painted chief and pointed spear; And Reason's self shall bow the knee To shadows and delusions here."

FRENEAU.

Deersfoot and Snake-tongue, with the two prisoners, after a short distance, met the main body of the Senecas. Beyond the grove was a small strip of partially cleared land, which was covered with a thick green-sward. Here the Indians halted, and immediately held a council, in which to deliberate upon the fate of their prisoners, and upon their future proceedings with reference to the cottage. When the failure of the negotiation was announced, the whole wrath of the Indians was concentrated upon the unfortunate attorney and his companion. In their eyes, the latter were answerable for all the wrongs which they fancied they had suffered from the pale-faces and their Tuscarora ally at the cottage.

Bagsley and the bailiff were placed in the centre of a circle of warriors. Rogers maintained a sullen silence, and surveyed the hostile countenances of the Senecas with a look of seeming indifference; but the attorney, from the moment that the unexpected refusal of Barton and Ralph to exchange him for the Tuscarora had shown him his imminent danger, remained seemingly stupefied with fear. But, as he beheld around him the a.s.semblage of warriors, and a certain appearance of deliberation, he began to recover the use of his faculties. Perhaps, he thought that the act of deliberation implied a doubt of their actual intention; or, perhaps, seeing that he might have an opportunity to plead for his life, he placed some reliance upon his oratorical powers.

But, whatever was the cause, it is certain that, in his appearance, he resumed a portion of his professional dignity of demeanor.

The warriors and their chiefs were a.s.sembled in council. Panther, as princ.i.p.al chief, occupied the most prominent situation; beside him sat Deersfoot and Snake-tongue, and two or three others, who were recognized as superior to the great ma.s.s of the Indians. When the a.s.sembly had finally a.s.sumed an appearance of order, the younger chief, whose name was Bearsclaw, arose to speak. He had never yet gained a reputation for oratory, and he a.s.sumed a modesty and humiliation that were proper to his station.

"Brothers," said he, "you know my name--it is Bearsclaw; it is a name which was given to me because I was thought to be strong in struggling with my enemy. I did not deserve it: I should have had a smaller name. I have not the tongue to speak; but I can tell what I think--I think these pale-faces should live. I think that we should keep them prisoners a little while, and then let them go. Shall I tell you why? They came to us freely; we did not take them! they have not wronged us. Perhaps I do not think right; I do not know but a little; but what I think I will speak. I see that you do not like my words, and I am sorry that you do not. If we kill them, we shall get into trouble. The pale-faces from the settlements will come out on the war-path, and will ravage our hunting grounds. I am not a coward--you have seen me in fight. My name is Bearsclaw. I cannot speak much; but I can tell what I think. I have spoken."

This speech was received in silence--a silence, perhaps, that implied dissatisfaction. But Bagsley argued from it a favorable result; for he thought a matter could not be predetermined, about which a chief had spoken, as if there was doubt as to the propriety of the course that had been threatened. When Bearsclaw sat down, Snake-tongue, as the chief next highest in rank arose and said:

"Brothers, you have heard the counsel of Bearsclaw: he has a large name.

It is a great pity that a warrior with so brave a name, cannot be brave in speech. I do not think as he does. I am an Iroquois--of the nation of the Senecas. I have always been taught not to be afraid. Bearsclaw has said that the pale-faces from the settlements will follow us on the war-path. Let them come! We want to see them in the woods and fields. We do not want to see them skulking behind walls and log houses. Let them follow us into the woods: there is where I want to see them.

"I say that these pale-faces should die. They have been the cause of all our troubles. If it had not been for their fire-water to-day we should have tortured the brave that we tortured yesterday. He was a brave warrior, and it would have done us good to have tortured him. But he escaped; and how? The fire-water of these pale-faces made our young warriors careless, and we lost him; and we lost the pale-face squaw, and the squaw of Canendesha. We have lost, too, our pale-face friend; he has gone, and no one knows where. He was lost at the same time with the others. They have taken him and killed him. Should we let the pale-faces, who have done all this, go and laugh at us? No--let them die! They are not as brave as the warrior we had yesterday; but they will make sport for our young warriors. We shall be sorry if we do not take their scalps. We shall always think of it, and wish we had done it, when we think of our young men who have been killed in these forests. I have spoken."

He sat down amidst loud cheers. He was evidently on the popular side; and the countenances of Bagsley and Rogers grew pale, as they saw the effect of this speech. But there was some hope yet; only two of the warriors had spoken, and, so far, the council was equally divided in opinion. It was with the utmost anxiety that they waited for Deersfoot to arise.

After the noise had subsided, and silence was restored, the latter arose to speak. He stood next to Panther in the estimation of the Senecas; and some there were, who preferred him to that chief, as a braver and more cunning warrior.

"Brothers," he said in a tranquil tone, "we have come here to decide upon two things. We are to say whether these pale-faces shall die, and we are to say what we shall do about the pale-faces at the cottage. I have no secrets; my heart is as open as my face. Snake-tongue has said that these pale-faces are the cause of all of our troubles. May be this is so; but I do not see it as he does. Our young men should not love the fire-water of the pale-faces. If they had not loved it, then the pale-faces could not have done us any harm. I do not know that they are to be blamed. I want to think about it a little while.

"But the other thing I _have_ thought about. I do not want to think any more about it. The pale-faces at the cottage have killed our young men.

They have made us ashamed, that so few pale-faces can escape from so many Injins. I am so ashamed that my heart is sad; and it will not be happy any more until we have taken their scalps. I wish to fight them again. I wish to see if we cannot burn down the cottage, and take them all prisoners. I am sure that we can do it. If we cannot, I shall be much more ashamed: and I shall think that the Senecas, like the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, are squaws. I, for one will never leave the valley of the Pleasant River, until I take with me, the scalp of one of those pale-faces. The scalps of these pale-faces will not do me any good; for they have not killed our young men. I want to wear in my belt the scalp of the enemy who has taken the scalp of a Seneca. Until that is done, I shall always be ashamed.

"Let these pale-faces live until we have attacked the cottage. If we take the scalps of our enemies there, we shall have taken enough; and we shall not want any more. If we do not get them, then we will think about these pale-faces. I have spoken."

This speech, which had touched the hearts of the Senecas with shame, and kindled in them a wild hope of revenge, was received with shrieks of delight. In the direction which it had given to the thoughts of the Senecas, the prisoners were, for the moment, forgotten; and the counsel of Deersfoot would doubtless have been acquiesced in, had it not been for the fact that Panther did not share the general enthusiasm. When this was noticed, his more particular adherents at once become silent, and waited to take their cue from him. He was about to arise, when Bagsley, who had also become much excited by this appeal of Deersfoot, in his favor, and who was unable any longer to maintain silence, deeming this the favorable moment to make a finish of the "case," exclaimed, a.s.suming as much of a forensic position and demeanor, as his connection with Rogers would allow:

"If the Court please, gentlemen of the--Council; for I may denominate this respectable body, a Court, while it is actually sitting in _banco_, according to the peculiar laws by which it is governed--I have listened thus far, to this summary trial--a trial which, I may say, is unrecognized by any statute of which I am cognizant--with a high opinion of the ability and learning with which it has been conducted. But, as a prisoner on trial for his life, I respectfully submit, whether I have not the right to ask that this trial shall be conducted according to some recognized form. I have as yet seen no bill of indictment; I have not been called upon to plead; in other words, I have not had the privilege of alleging my innocence upon the record I have not been confronted with witnesses--therefore, in a legal point of view, I may consider this whole proceeding as _coram non judice_ and void, and of no binding force whatever. According to the law of the land, as generally understood, I am ent.i.tled to all of these rights. I, therefore, upon these grounds, to say nothing about many other points which I consider equally conclusive, wish to raise the question of jurisdiction. I could, doubtless, make a motion in arrest of judgment, _non obstante veredicto_; but a question of jurisdiction can be interposed at any time. I therefore respectfully submit, whether, according to the advice of my friend, Deersfoot, a _nolle prosequi_ should not be entered."

"Bearsclaw has presented the case upon somewhat different grounds, but he arrives at the same conclusions. He alleges that we are guilty of no offence. He is correct, not only in fact, but as matter of law. It is a principle of the law, originating in a benevolent idea of mercy, that a prisoner is to be presumed innocent until he is proved guilty. I rely upon this principle, and I hope the court will make a note of it. On examination, it will be found to be a principle admirably adapted to Indian jurisprudence. Upon all of these grounds, I insist that Mr.

Rogers and myself should be discharged."

At the conclusion of this speech, Rogers, who had listened with great pleasure, and who had a high idea of his friend's eloquence exclaimed with a gesture that lifted the attorney at least a foot from the ground, "Them's my sentiments, and they are good law anywhere."

The Indians had listened to this voluble speech of the attorney with mingled feelings of amazement and disgust. They could comprehend scarcely a word of the discourse, but its general tenor they understood; and that was, that he was begging for his life. If there is anything in the conduct of a prisoner which removes from an Indian all idea of mercy, it is an exhibition of cowardice, or a desire to escape torture, except by force or stratagem. The current which had set in their favor, on the conclusion of Deersfoot's speech, was effectually checked; and all that was now wanting, was Panther's approval, to decide them in favor of putting the prisoners to immediate torture.

Panther arose, and the a.s.sembly immediately became silent.

"Brothers," said he, "you have heard the words which have been spoken to you. It is for you to say which are wise, and which are foolish.

Bearsclaw, Snake-tongue and Deersfoot have all told you what they think.

The pale-faces, too, have spoken to you. You have heard their words. I think with Deersfoot, that we must have the scalps of the pale-faces at the cottage, and the scalp of Canendesha. There is no warrior here that does not say so. We have thought so from the first. It was not a new thing with Deersfoot; you have all thought so. That is not the matter we have come here to talk about. We should be ashamed to talk about it. We know what we will do.

"I say let these pale-faces die. They do not deserve to live. They are bad men--they are bad even among the pale-faces, and the pale-faces hate them. They are like snakes, and have forked tongues; they do not tell what they think. They lie in the gra.s.s, and bite at the foot of the unwary. Even the pale-faces hate them; but they are worse to the Injins than they are to the pale-faces; for they steal away our hunting-grounds. Why should we let them loose to lie like snakes in the gra.s.s and bite at us? Bearsclaw says that they came to us, and that we did not take them on the war-path. That is true; but they came to us with forked tongues, to get away our prisoner; and I do not know but that they did get him away. They came, and he is gone.

"If we keep them prisoners, we shall have to set some of the warriors to watch them. That we ought not to do; for we shall want all of our warriors to-night. I have said more than I meant to say. They are not worth talking about; they are not braves that will laugh at the torture, and please our ears with harsh words. They are cowards that will cry and faint. Such men are not fit to live. Let the pale-faces die."

This conclusion was received by the Senecas with shouts of savage exultation. The unfortunate prisoners quailed beneath the fiery glances of their enemies. The attorney endeavored to speak, but his utterance failed--fear deprived him of the power of speech. The bailiff, however, as the danger actually approached, grew firm and brave, and looked at them with that peculiar gaze with which the officer looks into the eyes of the thief.

The Senecas approached them for the purpose of preparing them for the torture.

"Stand back, you rascals!" cried the bailiff. "You are now in my bailiwick. Look me in the eyes, if you dare, and see if you can stand the gaze of the law."

But notwithstanding this effort at overawing them, the Indians rudely tore apart the thongs that bound the attorney and the bailiff together, and dragged them into the woods south of the little clearing in which they were.

We shall not attempt to narrate the disgusting and horrible scene; but on that day, the bar of Tryon county lost a distinguished member, and that bailiwick a faithful officer.

While these scenes of savage cruelty are being enacted, let us return to the cottage. The presence of the Indians in their neighborhood, was known to the inmates of the cottage; for, occasionally, during the council, the ferocious yells which had cheered the "hit" of some favorite orator, had been heard with distinctness. Neither Ichabod, Eagle's-Wing, nor any one who was acquainted with the customs and habits of the Indians, could doubt as to the nature of the proceedings, of which they heard frequent indications. It was rendered certain, by the fact that the Indians were about to take the lives of the prisoners, that the cottage would be again attacked.

"With us five inside here," said Ichabod, "I'd risk all the Injins this side of Tophet--provided they didn't set down in reg'lar siege, or set the buildings afire. I reckon that last remark of mine will be found to be a pretty good guess, as to the worst danger we shall run in this attack."

"Other time, Seneca want prisoner," said the Tuscarora. "Didn't want pale-face scalp, half so bad as now. They take 'em to-night, if they can."

"I think," said Ralph, "we can guard against danger by fire; but, nevertheless, we should not be so certain of it as to neglect any proper precautions. The wooden portions of the building are very dry and if the Indians can get fire upon the roof, we shall, indeed, run a serious danger, for we could not show ourselves upon the outside, without presenting fair marks for every Indian rifle."

"The house is well provided with water," said Barton. "We have a large cistern, which is supplied by an unfailing stream that comes down from the west."

"Yes, but the question is," said Ichabod, "how we're going to get the water upon the roof, in case of necessity? The difficulty, in that business, has been stated by the Captin. Now, I've got an idea about managing the matter, if it comes to the worst; and that is, to leave the cottage, and take to the water."

This idea took the whole party by surprise; and Barton, with a look of incredulity, asked Ichabod how he supposed they should be able to leave the burning building without being exposed to the watchful eyes of the Indians.

"That's the p'int, Squire, that I've been thinking about; and Eagle's-Wing and I have been talking it over, and you'll see we'll manage it, in case of necessity. It's rayther risky, sartin; but I calculate it ain't any more so than it would be to stay here, and be burnt up. The best calculations will fail sometimes, in war, as well as in business matters: but if them Injins should drive us to it, they'll have to show more cunning than the sarpints have yet shown, to keep our plan from working."

The manner of the escape--should it be necessary--with as many of the details as could be antic.i.p.ated, were agreed upon and arranged. Any such antic.i.p.ation was sufficiently melancholy, as, if they were driven from the cottage, they would be much more exposed to the danger of capture than they had yet been. On the conclusion of these arrangements, Ralph found himself by the side of Ruth, who seemed to be suffering a great depression of spirits, from the saddening forebodings which she had overheard. She had become attached to her quiet home--she had acquired a fondness for the objects by which she was surrounded; and she could not think of their destruction, without a feeling of exquisite sorrow.

"If such be the will of Heaven," she said to Ralph, "we must submit."

"It is but an antic.i.p.ation. Ruth, against which we must guard. We may succeed in repelling this attack, as easily as we did the former. But it is not to be disguised, that while on the previous attack, the great object of the enmity of the Indians was the Tuscarora; now, _we_ as well as _he_ are the objects; and they will resort to the method we have antic.i.p.ated, if possible."

"Would it not be better to escape at once? We could leave the cottage, now, without danger; but during the attack, it seems to me it will be impossible to do so."

"We should then certainly abandon the cottage to destruction, and encounter dangers that now are only possible and not certain. No, I am willing to trust to the plan suggested by Ichabod and Eagle's-Wing.

Although they have not given us the full details of it, I think I understand it. We have, thus far, been signally successful, and let us rely upon our good fortune a little farther."

"Say, rather, Ralph, upon G.o.d. It is His power, only, that supports and protects us."

Ralph at once admitted the propriety of the correction. "In affairs of the world, we use worldly terms. We speak of the protection we receive from our good fortune, without intending to imply any doubt of the protection which we receive from Heaven."

"Would it not be better, Ralph, at all times to acknowledge, by a proper use of words, our dependence upon Him from whom good or bad fortune proceeds, than only to acknowledge the results of circ.u.mstances?"

"I do not doubt it. Let us rely upon His a.s.sistance, then," said Ralph.