CHAPTER XXI.
Leaving Edith to pursue her way towards the Oneida territory, and Mr.Prevost, after parting with Lord H---- at the distance of two milesfrom his own house, to ride on to Johnson Castle, let us follow thenobleman to Albany, where he arrived somewhat after nightfall. Hisfirst duty, as he conceived it, led him to the quarters of thecommander-in-chief, where he made a brief but clear report of all thathad occurred in his transactions with the Indians.
"I found," he wrote, "from information communicated by Sir WilliamJohnson, that there was no need of any concealment; but, on thecontrary, that it would be rather advantageous to appear at themeeting with the Five Nations in my proper character. The results werewhat I have told you. There is one other point, however, which I thinkit necessary to mention, and which, if imprudently treated, might leadto serious results."
He then went on to state generally the facts in regard to the death ofthe Indian by the hands of Woodchuck, and the supposed capture ofWalter Prevost by a party of the Oneidas.
It would be uninteresting to the reader to hear the particulars of theconversation which followed. Suffice it to say that the government ofthe colony, in all its departments, was very well disposed toinactivity at that time, and not at all inclined to exert itself forthe protection of individuals, or even of greater interests, unlessstrongly pressed to do so. This Lord H---- was not at all inclined todo, as he was well aware, from all he had heard, that no action on thepart of the government, short of the sudden march of a large body oftroops, could effect the liberation of Walter Prevost, and that toexpect such a movement, which itself might be unsuccessful, was quiteout of the question with the officers who were in command at the time.
His conference with the commander-in-chief being ended, he declined aninvitation to supper, and went out on his search for the small inn,where he had been told he would find the man whose act, howeverjustifiable, had brought so much wretchedness upon Mr. Prevost'sfamily.
The city of Albany in those days (as we have reason to know from verygood authority), though not numbering, by many thousands, as large apopulation as it now contains, occupied a space nearly as large as thepresent city. One long street ran by the bank of the river, to thevery verge of which beautiful and well-cultivated gardens extended;and from the top of the hill down to this lower street ran another,very nearly, if not exactly, of the same position and extent as thepresent State Street. On the summit of the hill was the fort; and,built in the centre of the large descending street, which sweptround them on either side, were two or three churches, a handsomemarket-place, and a guard-house. A few other streets ran down the hillin a parallel line with this principal one; and some small streets,lanes, and alleys, connected them all together.
Nevertheless, the population, as I have said, was, comparatively, verysmall; for, between house and house and street and street, throughoutthe whole town, were large and beautiful gardens, filling up spacesnow occupied by buildings, and thronged with human beings.
A great part of the population was, at that time, Dutch; and all theneatness and cleanliness of true Dutch houses and Dutch streets wereto be seen in Albany in those days--would we could say as much atpresent! No pigs then ran in the streets, to the horror of the eye andthe annoyance of the passenger; no cabbage-leaves or stalks disgracedthe gutter; and the only place in which anything like filth oruncleanliness was to be seen, was at the extremity of the littoralstreet, where naturally the houses of the boatmen and others connectedwith the shipping were placed, for the sake of approximating to thewater. Here certainly some degree of filth existed; and the air wasperfumed with a high savour of tar and tobacco.
It was towards this part of the town that Lord H---- directed hiscourse, inquiring for the inn called "The Three Boatmen." Severaltimes, however, was he frustrated, in his attempt to obtaininformation, by the ignorance of the English language shown by a greatportion of the inhabitants; and the pipe was removed from the mouthonly to reply, in Dutch, "I do not understand."
At length, however, he was directed aright, and found a small andsomewhat mean-looking house, in which an adventurous Englishman, fromthe purlieus of Clare-market, had established a tavern for the benefitof boatmen. It had, in former times, belonged to a Dutch settler, andstill retained many of the characteristic features of its origin. Fourtrees stood in line before the doors, with benches underneath them,for the convenience of those who liked to sit and poison the sweet airof the summer evenings with the fumes of tobacco.
Entering through a swing-door into the narrow, sandy passage, whichdescended one step from the street, Lord H---- encountered a negrotapster with a white apron, of whom he inquired if Captain Brooks werestill there.
"Oh yes, massa officer," said the man, with a grin. "You mean MassaWoodchuck," he continued, showing that the good man's Indian nick-namewas very extensively known. "You find him in dere, in de coffee-room."And he pointed to a door, once white, now yellow and brown with smoke,age, and dirty fingers.
Lord H---- opened the door, and went in amongst as strange andunprepossessing an assemblage of human beings as it had ever been hischance to light upon. The air was rendered obscure by smoke, so thatthe candles looked dim and red, and it was literally difficult todistinguish the objects round. What the odour was, it is impossible tosay, for it was as complicated as the antidote of Mithridates; but thepredominant smells were certainly those of tobacco, beer, rum, andHollands gin. Some ten or twelve little tables of exceedinglyhighly-polished mahogany, but stained here and there by thecontaminating marks of wet glasses, divided the room amongst them,leaving just space between each two to place a couple of chairs backto back.
In this small den, not less than five or six and twenty persons werecongregated, almost all drinking, almost all smoking, some talkingvery loud, some sitting in profound silence, as the quantity of liquorimbibed, or the national characteristics of the individual, mightprompt.
Gazing through the haze upon this scene, which, besides the sturdy andcoarse, but active, Englishman, and the heavy, phlegmatic Dutchman,contained one or two voluble Frenchmen, deserters from the Canadas,and none of them showing themselves in a very favourable light, LordH---- could not help comparing the people before him with the freewild Indians he had lately left, and asking himself "Which are thesavages?"
At length, his eye fell upon a man sitting at a table in the corner ofthe room next to the window. He was quite alone, with his back turnedto the rest of the men in the place, his head leaning on his hand, anda short pipe laid down upon the table beside him. He had no lightbefore him as most of the others had, and he might have seemed asleep,so still was his whole figure, had it not been that the fingers of hisright hand, which rested on the table, beat time to an imaginary tune.
Approaching close to him, Lord H---- drew a seat to the table, andlaid a hand upon his arm. Woodchuck looked round, and a momentaryexpression of pleasure, slight and passing away rapidly, crossed hisrugged features.
The next moment, his face was all cold and stern again.
"Very kind of you to come and see me, my lord," he said, in a dull,sad tone. "What do you want with me? Have you got anything for me todo?"
"I am sorry to see you looking so melancholy, captain," said LordH----, evading his question. "I hope nothing else has gone amiss."
"Haven't I cause enough to be melancholy," said the other, lookinground at the people in the room, "cooped up with a penful of swine?Come out--come out to the door. It's cold enough there; but thecoldest wind that ever blew is better than the filthy air of thesepigs."
As he spoke, he rose; and a little, pert-looking Frenchman, who hadoverheard him, exclaimed, in a bantering tone, "Why you call us pigsmore nor yourself, de great hog?"
"Get out of my way, for fear I break your back," muttered Woodchuck,in a low, stern voice. "If your neck had been broken long ago, itwould have been better for your country and for mine." And taking upthe little Frenchman by the nape of the neck with one arm, he set himupon the table from the side of which
he had just risen.
A roar of laughter burst from a number of the assembled guests; thelittle Frenchman spluttered his wrath, without daring to carry theexpression of his indignation further; and Woodchuck strode quietlyout of the room, followed by his military visitor.
"Here--let us sit down here," he said, placing himself on a benchunder a leafless tree, and leaving room for Lord H---- by his side. "Iam gloomy enough, my lord, and haven't I reason to be so? Here I amfor life. This is to be my condition, with the swine that gather up inthese pigsties of cities--suffocating in such dens as we have justleft. I guess I shall drown myself some day, when I am druv quite mad.I know a man has no right to lay hands upon himself. I larnt my Biblewhen I was young, and know what's God's will; so I shan't do anythingdesperate so long as I am right here." And he laid his finger on hisforehead. "No, no, I'll just take as much care of my life," hecontinued, "as though it were a baby I was nursing; but, unless themIngians catch some other white man, and kill him--which Godforbid--I've got to stop here for life; and even if they do, it's morenor a chance they'd kill me too, if they got me; and when I think ofthem beautiful woods, and the pleasant lakes, with the picture ofeverything round painted so beautiful on 'em, when they are still, andthe streams that go dancing and splashing along over the big blackstones and the little white pebbles, seeming for all the world to singas if for pleasure at their freedom, and the open friendly air of thehill-side, and the clouds skimming along, and the birds glancingthrough the branches, and the squirrels skipping and chattering, as ifthey were mocking everything not so nimble as themselves, I do oftenbelieve I shall go crazed to think I shall never see those thingsagain."
Lord H---- felt for him much; for he had a sufficient portion of lovein his own heart for the wilder things of nature, to sympathize insome degree with one who loved them so earnestly.
"I trust, Woodchuck," he said, "that we shall be able to find someemployment for you with the army--if not with my own corps, with someother, which may give you glimpses, at least, of the scenes you loveso well, and of the unconfined life you have lived so long. But I havecome to consult you upon a subject of much and immediate importance,and we must talk of that the first thing."
"What is it?" asked Brooks, in an indifferent tone, fixing his eyesupon the stones of the street, faintly lighted by the glare fromwithin the house.
Lord H---- began his account of what had happened between the Mohawkand the Hudson, with some circumlocution; for he did not feel at allsure of the effect it would produce upon his companion's mind; and theWoodchuck seemed to fall into one of those deep reveries in which onemay be said to hear without hearing. He took not the slightest noticeof what his noble visitor said regarding the burning of the wood orthe danger of Mr. Prevost and Edith. It seemed to produce no moredistinct effect than would the wind whistling in his ears. He sat calmand silent without an observation; but he grew more attentive, thoughonly in a slight degree, when the narrator came to mention the anxietyof the family at the protracted absence of Walter.
When, at last, Lord H---- described the finding of the knife and theknapsack, and told of the conclusions to which the whole family hadcome, he started up, exclaiming--"What's that--what's that?" Then,after a moment's pause, he sank down upon his seat again, saying, witha groan, "They have got him--they have got him, and they will tomahawkhim--the bloody, barbarous critturs! Couldn't they have chosen somemore worthless thing than that?"
Pressing his hand tightly upon his forehead, as if he fancied theturbulent thoughts within would burst it, he remained for a moment ortwo in silence, till Lord H---- asked if he imagined they wouldexecute their bloody purposes speedily.
"No, no," cried the man; "no fear of that; they'll take time enough,that's the worst of the savages. It's no quick rage, no angry heat,with them; no word and a blow. It's cold, bitter, long-premeditatedhatred. They wouldn't have half the pleasure if they didn't draw outtheir revenge by the week or the month. But what's to be done now?Gracious God! what's to be done now?"
"That is precisely what I came to consult you upon," said LordH----. "But let us talk over the matter calmly, my good friend. Thisis a case where grief, anger, and indignation can do nothing; butwhere deliberate thought, reason, and policy, even cunning such astheir own (for if we could arrive at it, we should be quite justifiedin using it), may, perhaps, do something to save this poor boy."
"How the devil would you have me calm?" exclaimed the man, vehemently;but then, suddenly checking himself, he said, "You're right--you'reright! I am forgetting my old habits in these smoky holes. Thought,cunning, those are the only things to do with an Indian. It'starnation hard to outwit him, but it may be done when one knows histracks well. I can't get my brain to hold steady to-night. Thisstory's upset all my thoughts; and I've got no consideration in me.You must give me a night and a day to think over the matter; and thenI'll see what's to be done. By the Lord, Walter shan't die! Poorfellow! what should _he_ die for?--However, I guess it's no usetalking in that sort of manner. I must think of what's to bedone--that's the business in hand. I'll think as soon as I can, mylord; only you just tell me now all you have done, if you have doneanything. As for Prevost, I don't suppose he's had time to do much;for though he is always right in the end, and no man's opinion isworth more, yet, if you touch his heart and his feelings, as you callthem, his wits get all in a work, just like mine at this moment. Morefool he, and I too!"
"We have done something," said Lord H----, in reply. "Mr. Prevost setout this morning to see Sir William Johnson."
"_He_ is no good," growled Woodchuck, impatiently.
"I came hither to consult with you," continued Lord H----; "and wehave commissioned the boatman whom they call Robert, a tall, stoutman----"
"I know him--I know him," interposed Woodchuck; "passably honest--thebest of them."
"Well, we have commissioned him," resumed the nobleman, "to seek forsome Indian runner, or half-breed, to carry news of this event toOtaitsa, whom Edith believes the tribe will keep in the dark in regardto the capture of Walter."
"Likely--likely," said the Woodchuck. "Miss Prevost understands them;they'll not tell the women anything, for fear they should meddle.They've a poor opinion of squaws. But the girl may do a great deal ofgood, too, if you can get the tidings to her. She's not as cunning asthe rest of them; but she has more heart, and soul, and resolutiontoo, than a whole tribe of Indian women. That comes of her motherbeing a white woman."
"Her mother a white woman!" exclaimed Lord H----.
"Ay, didn't you know that?" interrogated Woodchuck; "just as white asMiss Prevost; and quite a lady, too, she was to look at, or to speakto--though she was not fond of speaking with white men, and would drawback into the lodge whenever she saw one. I did speak to her once,though, when she was in a great fright about Black Eagle, who had goneto battle against the French; and I, happening to come that way, gaveher some news of him. But we are getting astray from what's of morematter than that. The girl will save him, take my word for it, ifthere's strength enough in that little body to do it. But let me see.You talk of Indian runners. Where is one to be found who can betrusted? They're generally a bad set, the scum of the tribes. No realwarrior would take up on such a trade. However, what's to be done? Nowhite person can go; for they'll scalp him to a certainty, and hewould give his life for Walter's, that's all. On my life, it would beas well to give the dangerous errand to some felon, as I have heardsay they do in despotic countries--give criminals some dangerous taskto perform; and then, if they succeed and escape, so much the betterfor them; if they die, so much the better for the community. But I'mgetting wandering again," he continued, rising. "Now, my lord, this isno use. Give me a few hours to think; to-morrow, at noon, if you will;and then I'll come and tell you what my opinion is."
As he spoke, he turned abruptly towards the house, without anyceremonious leave-taking, and only looked round to put one morequestion.
"At the post, I suppose?" he said.
Lord H---- assented; Brooks entere
d the house, and at once sought hisown chamber.