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Page 63
Probably from the whole vocabulary of the Indian tongue, a phrase more
expressive of contempt, and one that would have been more severely felt
by the savage warrior, who abhors any thing of a womanly nature, could
not have been selected; and this Girty, who understood well to whom he
was speaking, knew, and was prepared to see the hellish design of his
heart meet with a ready second from Oshasqua. For a moment after he
spoke, the latter looked upon the renegade with flashing eyes; and then
seizing Rosetta roughly, he raised her aloft, as if with the intention
of dashing her brains out at his feet. She doubtless understood from
his fierce movement the murderous intent in his breast, and uttered a
heart-rending cry of anguish. In an instant the grim features of the
Indian softened; and lowering her again to her former position in his
arms, he turned coldly to Girty, and smiting his breast with his hand,
said, with dignity:
"Oshasqua a warrior above suspicion. He can save and defend with his
life whom he loves!"
Girty bit his lips, and uttering a deep malediction in English, turned
away to consult with Wild-cat on the matter; but finding the chief would
not join him in interfering with the rights of the other, he growled out
another dreadful oath, and let the subject drop.
Late at night the party encamped within something like a mile of Piqua;
and by daylight a warrior was despatched to convey intelligence of their
approach, their prisoners, and the sad disaster they had experienced on
their journey. In the course of an hour the messenger returned, bringing
with him a vast number of savages of both sexes and all ages, who
immediately set up the most horrid yells, danced around Younker and
Algernon like madmen, not unfrequently beating and kicking them
unmercifully. They then departed for the town, taking the prisoners with
them, where their fate was to be decided by the council.[12] But ere
sentence should be pronounced, it was the unanimous decision of the
savages, that they should have some amusement, by forcing the prisoners
to run the gauntlet. This, to the women and children, as well as the
warriors themselves, was a most delightful sport, and they at once made
the welkin ring with yells of joy.
"It's a hard task we've got to undergo now, Algernon," said Younker, in
a low voice; "and God send it may be my last; for I'd much rayther die
this way, nor at the stake. I don't at all calculate on escaping--but
something tells me you will--and ef you do--"
Here the old man was interrupted by Girty, who forced himself between
the two and separated them. Younker being the first selected to run the
gauntlet, was immediately unbound, and stripped to the skin,[13]
preparatory to the race. The assemblage now formed themselves into two
lines, facing each other, only a few feet apart, and extending the
distance of a hundred yards, terminating near the council-house, which
stood in the center of the village. Through these lines, the old man was
informed by Girty, he must run; while the savages on either side, armed
with clubs, were at liberty to inflict as many blows upon him as they
could in passing; and therefore it would stand him in hand to reach the
other extremity as soon as possible.
"I'm an old man, Simon Girty," said Younker, in reply, "and can't run as
I once could--so you needn't reckon on my gitting through alive."
"But, by ----! you must get through alive, or else not at all; for we
can't spare you quite so soon, as we want you to try the pleasures of
the stake," answered the renegade, with a laugh.
"God's will be done--not yourn nor mine!" rejoined Younker, solemnly.
"But tell me, Simon Girty, as the only favor I'll ever ask o' ye--war my
wife and Ella rescued?"
"Why," said Girty, "if it will do you any good to know it, I will tell
you they were; but I will add, for your particular benefit, that they
will again be in my power; for I will excite every tribe of the Six
Nations to the war path; and then, woe to the pioneers of Kentucky!--for
desolation, rapine and blood shall mark our trail, until the race become
extinct. I have sworn, and will fulfill it. But come--all is ready."
"For the first o' your information, I thank you," returned Younker; "for
the last on't, I'll only say, thar's a power above ye. I'm ready--lead
on!"
Girty now conducted the old man to the lines; and having cautioned the
savages, in a loud voice, to beware of taking his life, gave the signal
for him to start. Instantly Younker darted forward, and with such speed,
that the nearest Indians neglected to strike until he had passed them,
by which means he gained some six or eight paces without receiving a
blow; but now they fell hard and fast upon him, accompanied with screams
and yells of the most diabolical nature; and ere he had gone thirty
yards, he began to stagger, when a heavy stroke on the head laid him
senseless on the earth. In a moment the renegade, who had kept him
company outside, burst through the lines, just in time to ward off the
blow of a powerful warrior, aimed at the skull of Younker, which,
without doubt, would have been fatal.
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