CHAPTER IV
When Brooks had left them, half an hour was spent in one of thosepleasant after-breakfast dreams, when the mind seems to take amoment's hesitating pause before grappling with the active business ofthe day. But little was said; each gazed forth from window or fromdoor; each thought perhaps of the other, and each drank in sweetsensations from the scene before the eyes.
Each thought of the other, I have said; and when such is the case, howinfinite are the varieties into which thought moulds itself. Walterpaused and pondered upon the stranger's state and objects--askedhimself who he was, what could be his errand--how--why he camethither? Major Kielmansegge he knew him not to be. A chance word hadshown him not only his rank and station, but shown also that there wasa secret to be kept--a secret to which perhaps his imagination lentmore importance than it deserved. He was an English peer, the youngman knew, one of a rank with which in former years he had beenaccustomed to mingle, and for which, notwithstanding all that hadpassed, and lapse of time and varied circumstances, he retained anhabitual veneration. But what could have led a British peer to thatsecluded spot? What could be the circumstances which, having led himthither, had suddenly changed his purpose of proceeding onward, andinduced him to remain a guest in his father's cottage in a state ofhalf-concealment? Could it be Lord Loudon, he asked himself, thecommander-in-chief of the royal forces, whose conduct had been soseverely censured in his own ears by the man just gone?
It was not by accident that Lord H---- and Edith Prevost met there. Itwas for the working out of their mutual destiny under the hand of God;for if there be a God, there is a special providence.
"This is very lovely, Miss Prevost," said the young soldier, when thelong meditative lapse was drawing to a close, "but I should think thescene would become somewhat monotonous. Hemmed in by these woods, thecountry round, though beautiful in itself, must pall upon the taste."
"Oh, no!" cried Edith, eagerly. "It is full of variety. Each dayaffords something new, and every morning walk displays a thousandfresh beauties. Let us go and take a ramble, if you have nothingbetter to do; and I will show you there is no monotony. Come, Walter,take your rifle, and go with us. Father, this is not your hour. Canyou never come before the sun has passed his height and see theshadows fall the other way?"
"Mine is the evening hour, my child," answered Mr. Prevost, somewhatsadly, "but go, Edith, and show our noble friend the scenes you somuch delight in. He will need something to make his stay in this dullplace somewhat less heavy."
The stranger made no complimentary reply, for his thoughts were busywith Edith; and he was at that moment comparing her frank,unconscious, undesigning offer to lead him through love-like woods andglades, with the wily hesitation of a court coquette.
"Perhaps you are not disposed to walk," said Edith, marking hisreverie, and startling him from it.
"I shall be delighted," he said, eagerly, and truly, too. "You mustforgive me for being somewhat absent, Miss Prevost. Your father knowsI have much to think of, though indeed thought at present is vain; andyou will confer a boon by banishing that idle but importunatecompanion."
"Oh, then, you shall not think at all when you are with me," saidEdith, smiling, and away she ran to cover her head with one of thoseblack wimples very generally worn by the women of that day.
Beyond the cultivated ground, as you descended the gentle hill, laythe deep forest at the distance of some three hundred yards, and atits edge Edith paused and made her companion turn to see how beautifulthe cottage looked upon its eminence, shaded by gorgeous maple treesin their gold and crimson garb of autumn, with a tall rock or two ofgray and mossy stone rising up amidst them.
Lord H---- gazed at the house and saw that it was picturesque andbeautiful--very different indeed from any other dwelling he had seenon the western side of the Atlantic; but there was absentthoughtfulness in his eyes, and Edith thought he did not admire ithalf enough.
"How strange are men's prejudices and prepossessions," said LordH----, as they paused to gaze at a spot where a large extent of lowwoodland lay open to the eye below them. "We are incredulous ofeverything we have not seen, or to the conception of which we have notbeen led by very near approaches. Had anyone shown me, ere I reachedthese shores, a picture of an autumn scene in America, though it hadbeen perfect as a portrait, hue for hue, or even inferior, in itsstriking coloring, to the reality, I should have laughed at it as amost extravagant exaggeration. Did not the first autumn you passedhere make you think yourself in fairyland?"
"No; I was prepared for it," replied Edith. "My father had describedthe autumn scenery to me often before we came."
"Then was he ever in America before he came to settle?" asked hercompanion.
"Yes, once," answered Edith. She spoke in a very grave tone, and thenceased suddenly.
But her brother took the subject up with a boy's frankness, saying:"Did you never hear that my grandfather and my father's sister died inVirginia? He was in command there, and my father came over just beforemy birth."
"It is a long story and a sad one, my lord," said Edith, with a sigh;"but look now as we mount the hill, and see how the scene changes.Every step upon the hillside gives us a different sort of tree, andthe brush disappears from amidst the trunks. This grove is my favoriteevening seat, where I can read and think under the broad, shadyboughs, with nothing but beautiful sights around me."
"Truly, this is an enchanting scene. It wants, methinks, but thefigure of an Indian in the foreground; and there comes one, I fancy,to fill up the picture--stay! stay! We shall want no rifles! It is buta woman coming through the trees."
"It is Otaitsa--it is the Blossom!" cried Edith and Walter in abreath, as they looked forward to a spot where across the yellowsunshine as it streamed through the trees, a female figure, clad inthe gaily embroidered and bright-colored _gakaah_, or petticoat, ofthe Indian women, was seen advancing with a rapid yet somewhatdoubtful step. Edith, without pause or hesitation, sprang forward tomeet the newcomer, and in a moment after the beautiful arms of theIndian girl who had sat with Walter in the morning were round the fairform of his sister, and her lips pressed on hers. There was a warmthand eagerness in their meeting unusual on the part of the red race;but while the young Oneida almost lay upon the bosom of her whitefriend, her beautiful dark eyes were turned toward her lover, as witha mixture of the bashful feelings of youth and the consciousness ofhaving something to conceal, Walter, with a glowing cheek, lingered astep or two behind his sister.
"Art thou coming to our lodge, dear Blossom?" asked Edith; and thenadded, "Where is thy father?"
"We both come," answered the girl, in pure English, with no more ofthe Indian accent than served to give a peculiar softness to hertones. "I wait the Black Eagle here since dawn of day. He has gonetoward the morning with our father the White Heron; for we heard ofHurons by the side of Corlear, and some thought the hatchet would beunburied. So he journeyed to hear more from our friends by Horicon,and bade me stay and tell you and your brother Walter to forbear thatroad if I saw you turn your eyes toward the east wind. He and theWhite Heron will be by your father's council fire with the firststar."
A good deal of this speech was unintelligible to Lord H----, who hadnow approached, and on whom Blossom's eyes were turned with a sort oftimid and inquiring look. But Walter hastened to interpret, saying:"She means that her father and the missionary, Mr. Gore, have heardthat there are hostile Indians on the shores of Lake Champlain, andhave gone down toward Lake George to inquire; for Black Eagle--that isher father--is much our friend, and he always fancies that my fatherhas chosen a dangerous situation here, just at the verge of theterritory of the Five Nations, or their Long House, as they call it."
"Well, come to the lodge with us, dear Blossom," said Edith, while herbrother was giving this explanation. "You know my father loves youwell, and will be glad to have the Blossom with us. Here, too, is anEnglish chief dwelling with us, who knows not what sweet blossoms growon Indian trees."
But the girl s
hook her head, saying: "Nay; I must do the father'swill. It was with much praying that he let me come hither with him;and he bade me stay here from the white rock to the stream. So must Iobey."
"But it may be dangerous," replied Edith, "if there be Hurons so near;and it is sadly solitary, dear sister."
"Then stay with me for a while," said the girl, who would not affectto deny that her lonely watch was somewhat gloomy.
"I will stay with her and protect her," cried Walter, eagerly; "but,dearest Blossom, if we should see danger, you must fly to the lodge."
"Yes, stay with her, Walter--oh, yes, stay with her," said theunconscious Edith; and so it was settled, for Otaitsa made noopposition, though with a cheek in which something glowed through thebrown, and with a lip that curled gently with a meaning smile, sheasked: "Perhaps my brother Walter would be elsewhere? He may find along watch wearisome on the hill and in the wood."
"Let us stay a while ourselves," said Lord H----, seating himself onthe grass and gazing forth with a look of interest over the prospect."Methinks this is a place where one may well dream away an hourwithout the busiest mind reproaching itself for inactivity."
For two hours the four sat there on the hillside, beneath the tall,shady trees, with the wind breathing softly upon them, the lakeglittering before their eyes, the murmur of the waterfall sendingmusic through the air. But to the young Englishman these were butaccessories. The fair face of Edith was before his eyes, the melody ofher voice in his ears.
At length, however, they rose to go, promising to send one of theslaves from the house with food for Walter and Otaitsa at the hour ofnoon; and Lord H---- and his fair companion took their way back towardthe house. The distance was not very far, but they were somewhat longupon the way. They walked slowly back, and by a different path fromthat by which they went; and often they stopped to admire somepleasant scene; and often Lord H---- had to assist his fair companionover some rock, and her soft hand rested in his. He gathered for herflowers--the fringed gentian and other late blossoms, and they pausedto examine them closely and comment on their loveliness; and once hemade her sit down beside him on a bank and tell him the names of allthe different trees; and from trees his conversation went on intostrange, dreamy, indefinite talk of human beings and human hearts.Thus noon was not far distant when they reached the house, and bothEdith and her companion were very thoughtful.
Edith was meditative through the rest of the day. Was it of herselfshe thought? Was it of him who had been her companion through thegreater part of the morning?
There had been no word spoken; there had been no sign given; there hadbeen no intimation to make the seal tremble on the fountain, but themaster of its destiny was near. She had had a pleasant ramble with onesuch as she seldom saw--and that was all.
There had been something that day in the manner of her brother Walter,a hesitation, and yet an eagerness, a timidity unnatural, with awarmth that spoke of passion, which had not escaped her eye. In thesweet Indian girl, too, she had seen signs not equivocal: thefluttering blush, the look full of soul and feeling; the glancesuddenly raised to the boy's face and suddenly withdrawn; the eyesfull of liquid light, now beaming brightly under sudden emotion, nowshaded beneath the long fringe like the moon beneath a passing cloud.
For the first time it seemed to her that a dark, impenetrable curtainwas falling between herself and all the ancient things of history;that all indeed was to be new, and strange, and different; and yet sheloved Otaitsa well, and had in the last two years seen many a traitwhich had won esteem as well as love. The old Black Eagle, as herfather was called, had ever been a fast and faithful ally of theEnglish; but to Mr. Prevost he had attached himself in a particularmanner. An accidental journey on the part of the old sachem had firstbrought them acquainted, and from that day forward the distance of theOneida settlement was no impediment to their meeting. Whenever theBlack Eagle left his lodge he was sure, in his own figurativelanguage, to wing his flight sooner or later toward the nest of hiswhite brother; and in despite of Indian habits, he almost invariablybrought his daughter with him. When any distance or perilousenterprise was on hand, Otaitsa was left at the lodge of the Englishfamily, and many a week had she passed there at a time, loved by andloving all its inmates. It was not there, however, that she hadacquired her perfect knowledge of the English language, or the othercharacteristics which distinguished her from the ordinary Indianwomen. When she first appeared there she spoke the language of thesettlers as perfectly as they did, and it was soon discovered thatfrom infancy she had been under the care and instruction of one of theEnglish missionaries--at that time, alas! few--who had sacrificed allthat civilized life could bestow for the purpose of bringing theIndian savages into the fold of Christ.
Mr. Prevost judged it quite right that Walter should stay withOtaitsa, and he even sent out the old slave Agrippa, who somehow wasfamous as a marksman, with a rifle on his shoulder, to act as a sortof scout upon the hillside, and watch anything bearing a hostileaspect.
After dinner, too, he walked out himself, and sat for an hour with hisson and the Indian girl, speaking words of affection to her that sunkdeep into her heart, and more than once brought drops into her brighteyes. No father's tenderness could exceed that he showed her, andOtaitsa felt as if he were almost welcoming her as a daughter.
Evening had not lost its light when a shout from Walter's voiceannounced that he was drawing nigh the house, and in a moment after hewas coming across the cleared land with his bright young companion andtwo other persons. One was a tall redman, upward of six feet inheight, dressed completely in the Indian garb, but without paint. Hecould not have been less than sixty years of age, but his strongmuscles seemed to have set at defiance the bending power of time. Hewas as upright as a pine, and he bore his heavy rifle in his righthand as lightly as if it had been a reed. In his left he carried along pipe, showing that his errand was one of peace, though in hisbelt were a tomahawk and a scalping knife; and he wore the sort offeather crown, or _gostoweh_, distinguishing the chief. The other manmight be of the same age, or a little older. He, too, seemed activeand strong for his years, but he wanted the erect and powerful bearingof the other, and his gait and carriage, as much as his features andcomplexion, distinguished him from the Indian. His dress was a strangemixture of ordinary European costume and that of the half-savagerangers of the forest. He wore a black coat, or one that had once beenblack, but the rest of his garments were composed of skins, sometanned into red leather, after the Indian fashion, some with the hairstill on and turned outward. He bore no arms whatever, unless a verylong, sharp-pointed knife could be considered a weapon, though in hishands it only served the unusual service of dividing his food orcarving willow whistles for the children of the sachem's tribe.
Running with a light foot by the side of the chief, as he strodealong, came Otaitsa; but all the others followed the Indian fashion,coming after him in single file, while old Agrippa, with his rifle onhis arm, brought up the rear, appearing from the wood somewhat behindthe rest.
"It is seldom I have so many parties of guests in two short days,"said Mr. Prevost, moving toward the door. "Generally I have either awhole tribe at once, or none at all. But this is one of my bestfriends, my lord, and I must go to welcome him."
"He is a noble-looking man," said the young officer, following. "Thisis the Black Eagle, I suppose, whom the pretty maiden talked of?"
Mr. Prevost made no reply, for by this time the chief's long strideshad brought him almost to the door, and his hand was already extendedto grasp that of his white friend.
"Welcome, Black Eagle!" said Mr. Prevost.
"Thou art my brother," said the chief in English, but of a much lesspure character than that of his daughter.
"What news from Corlear?" asked Mr. Prevost.
But the Indian answered not; and the man who followed him replied inso peculiar a style that we must give his words, although theyimported very little as far as the events to be related are concerned.
"All
is still on the banks of Champlain Lake," he said; "but Hurontracks are still upon the shore. The friendly Mohawks watched themcome and go, and tell us that the Frenchman, too, was there, paintedand feathered like the Indian chiefs; but finding England strongerthan they thought, upon the side of Horicon, they sailed back to FortCarrillon on Monday last."
For an instant Lord H---- was completely puzzled to discover what itwas that gave such peculiarity to the missionary's language; for thewords and accent were those of an ordinary Englishman of no verysuperior education; and it was not until Mr. Gore had uttered one ortwo sentences more that he perceived that what he said often arrangeditself into a sort of blank verse, not very poetical, not verymusical, even, but scanable easily enough.
In the meanwhile the Black Eagle and his host had entered the houseand proceeded straight to the great eating-hall, where the whole partyseated themselves in silence, Otaitsa taking her place close to theside of Edith, while Walter stationed himself where he could watch thebright girl's eyes without being remarked himself.
For a moment or two no one spoke, in deference to the Indian habits,and then Mr. Prevost broke silence, saying: "Well, Black Eagle, howfares it with my brother?"
"As with the tamarac in the autumn," answered the warrior, "the coldwind sighs through the branches and the fine leaves wither and fall,but the branch stands firm, as yet, and decay has not reached theheart."
"This is a chief from the land of my white fathers," said Mr. Prevost,waving his hand gracefully toward Lord H----. "He has but latelycrossed the great water."
"He is welcome to what was once the redman's land," said Black Eagle,and bending his eyes upon the ground, but without any sign of emotionat the thoughts which seemed to be beneath his words, he lapsed intosilence for a minute or two. Then raising his head again, he asked:"Is he a great chief? Is he a warrior, or a man of council, or amedicine man?"
"He is a great chief and a warrior," answered Mr. Prevost. "He is,moreover, skilled in council, and his words are clear as the waters ofHoricon."
"He is welcome," repeated the chief. "He is our brother. He shall becalled the Cataract, because he shall be powerful, and many shallrejoice at the sound of a calm voice. But, my brother----"
"Speak on," said Mr. Prevost, seeing that he paused. "They arefriendly ears that listen."
"Thou art too near the Catarqui, thou art too near to Corlear," saidthe warrior, meaning the river St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain. "Thereis danger for our brother, and the wings of the Black Eagle droop whenhe is in his solitary place afar midst the children of the Stone, tothink that thou art not farther within the walls of the Long House."
"What does he mean by the walls of the Long House?" asked LordH---- in a whisper, addressing Edith.
"Merely the territory of the Five Nations, or Iroquois, as the Frenchcall them," answered his fair companion.
"I fear not, brother," replied Mr. Prevost. "The fire and the ironhave not met to make the tomahawk which shall reach my head."
"But for the maiden's sake," said Black Eagle. "Is she not unto us asa daughter? Is she not the sister of Otaitsa? I pray thee, White PineTree, let her go with the Eagle and the Blossom into the land of thechildren of the Stone but for a few moons, till thy people havetriumphed over their enemies, and till the Five Nations have heweddown the trees of the Huron and the Algonquin; till the war hatchet isburied and the pipe of peace is smoked."
"'Twere better, truly, my good friend Prevost," said Mr. Gore. "Wehave seen sights to-day would make the blood of the most bold andhardy man on earth turn cold and icy, to behold, and know he had adaughter near such scenes of death."
"What were they, my good friend?" asked Mr. Prevost "I have heard ofnothing very new or near. The last was the capture of Fort WilliamHenry, some six weeks since; but as yet we have not heard the wholeparticulars, and surely, if we are far enough away for the tidings notto reach us in six weeks, it is not likely that hostile armies wouldapproach us very soon."
"Thou art deceived, my brother," answered Black Eagle. "One shortday's journey lies betwixt thee and the battlefield. This morning wecrossed when the sun wanted half an hour of noon, and we are herebefore he has gone down behind the forest. What we saw chilled theblood of my brother here, for he has not seen such things before. Thechildren of Stone slay not women and children when the battle isover."
"Speak! speak! my good friend, Mr. Gore!" said the master of thehouse. "You know our habits better, and can tell us more of what hashappened. Things which are common to his eye must be strange toyours."
"We passed the ground between the one fort and the other," answeredthe missionary. "The distance is but seven or eight miles; and in thatshort space lay well nigh a thousand human bodies, slain by every darkand terrible means of death. There were young and old: the gray-headedofficer, the blooming youth, fresh from his mother's side; women andboys and girls, and little infants snatched from the mother's breast,to die by the hatchet or the war club. We heard the tiger Montcalm, inviolation of his given word, in defiance of humanity, Christianity,and the spirit of a gentleman, stood by and saw his own conventionbroken, and gallant enemies massacred by his savage allies. But whatthe chief says is very true, my friend. You are far too near thisscene; and although, perhaps, no regular army could reach this placeere you received timely warning, yet the Indian forerunners may beupon you at any moment, your house in flames, and you and yourchildren massacred ere anyone could come to give you aid. The troopsof our country are far away, and no force is between you and Horiconbut a small body of our Mohawk brethren, who are not as well pleasedwith England as they have been."
Mr. Prevost turned his eyes toward Lord H----, and the youngEnglishman replied to Mr. Gore at once, saying, with a quietinclination of the head: "On one point you are mistaken, sir. LordLondon has returned, and there is now a strong force at Albany. Ipassed through that city lately, and I think that by the facts whichmust have come to his knowledge, General Montcalm will be deterredfrom pushing his brutal incursions further this year, at least. Beforeanother shines upon him he may receive some punishment for hisfaithless cruelty."
"If not here, hereafter," said the missionary. "There is justice inheaven, sir, and often it visits the evil-doer upon earth. That man'send cannot be happy. But I fear you will not give us aid in persuadingour friend here to abandon for a time his very dangerous position."
"I know too little of Mr. Prevost's affairs," replied Lord H----, "toadvise either for or against. I know still less of the state of thecountry between this and the French line. Perhaps in a day or two Imay know more; and then, as a military man myself, I can better tellhim what are the real dangers of his situation. At all events, Ishould like to think over the matter till to-morrow morning before Ioffer an opinion. From what was said just now, I infer that the Huronsand the French having gone back, there can be no immediate peril."
Mr. Gore shook his head, and the Indian chief remained in profound andsomewhat dull silence, seeming not very well pleased with the resultof the discussion. A few minutes after the evening meal was broughtin, and to it, at least, the Black Eagle did ample justice, eatinglike a European, with a knife and fork, and displaying no trace of thesavage in his demeanor at the table. He remained profoundly silent,however, till the party rose, and then, taking Mr. Prevost's hand, hesaid: "Take counsel of thine own heart, my brother. Think of theflower that grows up by thy side; ask if thou wouldst have it troddendown by the redman's moccasin, and listen not to the Cataract, for itis cold."
Thus saying, he unrolled one of the large skins which lay at the sideof the room, and stretched himself upon it to take repose.
Edith took Otaitsa by the hand, saying, "Come, Blossom, you shall bemy companion as before;" and Walter retiring the moment after, leftLord H---- and his host to consult together with Mr. Gore.