|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 43
"Kitchokema[7] plans all, and gives his red brother all the danger; but
Peshewa is brave, and fears not."
"And do you think it's through fear?" asked Girty, angrily.
"Peshewa makes no charges against his brother," answered Wild-cat,
quietly.
"Perhaps it is as well he don't," rejoined Girty, in an under tone,
knitting his brows; and then quickly added: "Come, Peshewa, let us move;
for while we tarry, we are giving time to our white foes."
Thus ended the conference; and in a few minutes after the whole party
was in motion. Following the course of the waters down to the base of
the hills, they came to a sloping hollow of some considerable extent,
where the stream ran shallow over a smooth, beautiful bed. Into this
latter the whole company now entered, for the purpose of breaking the
trail, as previously arranged by Girty; and here they divided, according
to his former plan also.
If the unhappy prisoners regretted meeting one another in distress,
their parting regrets were an hundred fold more poignant; for to them
it seemed evidently the last time they would ever behold on earth each
others faces; and this thought alone was enough to dim the eyes of Ella
and her adopted mother with burning tears, and shake their frames with
heart-rending sobs of anguish; while the old man and Algernon, though
both strove to be stoical, could not look on unmoved to a similar show
of grief. Since their meeting, the captives had managed to converse
together sufficiently to learn the manner of each others capture, and
give each other some hope of being successfully followed and released
by their friends; but now, when they saw the caution displayed by their
enemies in breaking the trail, they began to fear for the result. Just
before entering the stream, they passed through a cluster of bushes
that skirted the river's bank; and Ella, the only prisoner whose hands
were unbound, by a quick and sly movement succeeded in detaching a
portion of her dress, which she there left as a sign to those who might
follow, that she was still alive, and so encourage them to proceed, in
case they were about to falter and turn back.
The separation being now speedily effected, the two parties were quickly
lost to each other--Girty and his band going down the bed of the stream
some two hundred yards before touching the bank; and the others, headed
by Wild-cat, going up about half that distance.
Leaving each to their journey, let us now return to the band already in
pursuit.
[Footnote 5: Some historians have stated that the Indians here alluded
to were Mingoes, and _not_ Senecas; and that they were a remnant of the
celebrated Logan's tribe.]
[Footnote 6: Sometimes Big Knife--first applied to the Virginians by the
Indians.]
[Footnote 7: Great Chief--a term sometimes given to Girty by the
Indians.]
CHAPTER IX.
THE PURSUERS.
About a hundred yards from where Boone and his young companions set
forth, the dog, which was running along before them, paused, and with
his nose to the ground, set up a fierce bark. When arrived at the spot,
the party halted, and perceived the body of an Indian, slightly covered
with earth, leaves, and a few dry bushes. Hastily throwing off the
covering from his head, they discovered hideous features, wildly
distorted by the last throe of death, and bloody from a wound in his
forehead made by a ball. His scalp had been taken off also, by those who
buried him--from fear, probably, that he would be found by enemies, and
this secured as a trophy--a matter of disgrace which the savage, under
all circumstances, ever seeks to avoid, both for himself and friends.
"Well done, Master Reynolds!" observed Boone, musingly, spurning the
body with his foot, turning away, and resuming his journey: "You're a
brave young man; and I'll bet my life to a bar-skin, did your best under
the sarcumstances; and ef it's possible, we'll do somewhat for you in
return."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|