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Page 3
Scarcely had the stranger advanced twenty paces, when he was startled by
a fierce yell, accompanied by the report of a rifle, the ball of which
whizzed past him, within an inch of his head. Ere he could recover from
his surprise, a sharp pain in the side, followed by another report,
caused him to reel like one intoxicated, and finally sink to the earth.
As the young man fell, two Indians sprung from behind a cluster of
bushes, which skirted the clearing some seventy-five yards to the right,
and, with a whoop of triumph, tomahawk in hand, rushed toward him.
Believing that his life now depended upon his own speedy exertions, the
young hunter, by a great effort, succeeded in raising himself on his
knees; and drawing up his rifle with a hasty aim, he fired; but with no
other success than that of causing one of the savages to jerk his head
suddenly aside without slackening his speed. There was still a chance
left him; and setting his teeth hard, the wounded man drew his pistols
from his belt, and awaited the approach of his enemies; who, when within
thirty paces, discovering the weapons of death, suddenly came to a halt,
and commenced loading their rifles with great rapidity.
The young hunter now perceived, with painful regret, that only an
interposition of Providence could save him, for his life was hanging on
a thread that might snap at any moment. It was an awful moment of
suspense, as there, on his knees, far, far away from the land of his
birth, in a strange country, he, in the prime of life, without a friend
near, wounded and weak, was waiting to die, like a wild beast, by the
hands of savages, with his scalp to be borne hence as a trophy, his
flesh to be devoured by wolves, and his bones left to bleach in the open
air. It was an awful moment of suspense! and a thousand thoughts came
rushing through his mind; and he felt he would have given worlds, were
they his, for the existence of even half an hour, with a friend by, to
receive his dying requests. To add to his despair, he felt himself fast
growing weaker and weaker; and with an unsteady vision, as his last
hope, he turned his eye in the direction of the cottage, to note if any
assistance were at hand; but he saw none; and nature failing to support
him longer in his position, he sunk back upon the ground, believing the
last sands of his existence were run.
Meantime, the Indians had loaded their rifles; and one of them, stepping
a pace in front of his companion, was already in the act of aiming,
when, perceiving the young man falter and sink back, he lowered the
muzzle of his gun, and, grasping his tomahawk, darted forward to
despatch him without further loss of ammunition. Already had he reached
within five or six paces of his victim, who, now unable to exert himself
in his own defence, could only look upon his savage enemy and the weapon
uplifted for his destruction, when, crack went another rifle, in an
opposite direction whence the Indians approached, and, bounding into the
air, with a terrific yell, the foremost fell dead by the young man's
side. On seeing his companion fall, the other Indian, who was only a few
paces behind, stopped suddenly, and, with a yell of fear and
disappointment, turned and fled.
Those only who have been placed in peril sufficient to extinguish the
last gleam of hope, and have suddenly been relieved by a mysterious
interposition of Providence, can fully realize the feelings with which
the wounded hunter saw himself rescued from an ignominious death. True,
he was weak and faint from a wound which was, perhaps, mortal; still it
was a great consolation to feel that he should die among those who would
bury him, and perhaps bear a message to friends in a far-off land. With
such thoughts uppermost in his mind, the young man, by great exertion,
raised himself upon his elbow, and turned his head in the direction
whence his deliverer might be expected; but, to his surprise and
disappointment, no one appeared; and after vainly attempting to regain
his feet, he sunk back, completely exhausted. The wound in his side had
now grown very painful, and was bleeding freely; while he became
conscious, that unless the hemorrhage could be stanched immediately, the
only good service a friend could render him, would be to inter his
remains. In this helpless state, something like a minute elapsed, when
he felt a strange sensation about his heart--his head grew dizzy--his
thoughts seemed confused--the sky appeared suddenly to grow dark, and he
believed the icy grasp of death was already settling upon him. At this
moment a form--but whether of friend or foe he could not tell--flitted
before his uncertain vision; and then all became darkness and nonentity.
He had swooned.
When the young stranger recovered his senses, after a lapse of some ten
minutes, his glance rested on the form of a white hunter, of noble
aspect, who was bending over him with a compassionate look; and who,
meantime, had opened his dress to the wound and stanched the blood, by
covering it with a few pieces of coarse linen, which he had torn into
shreds for the purpose, and secured there by means of his belt.
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