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Page 68
"Fool!" muttered the renegade, with an oath. Then turning to Algernon,
he continued: "You, sirrah, are destined to live a little longer--though
by no design of mine, I can assure you. Don't flatter yourself, though,
that you are going to escape," he added, as he perceived the countenance
of Algernon slightly brighten at his intelligence; "for, by ----! if I
thought there was a probability of such a thing happening, I would brain
you where you sit, if I died for it the next moment. No, young man,
there is no escape for you; you are condemned to be burnt, as well as
Younker, only at another place; and, by ----! I will follow you myself,
to see that the sentence is enforced with all its horrors."
"For all of which you doubtless feel yourself entitled to my thanks,"
returned Algernon, bitterly. "Do your worst, Simon Girty; but understand
me, before you go further, that though life is as dear to me at the
present moment as to another, yet so much do I abhor and loathe the very
sight of you, that, could I have it for the asking, I would not stoop to
beg it of so brutal and cowardly a thing as yourself."
"By ----!" cried Girty, in a transport of rage; "the time will come,
when, if you do not sue for life, you will for death, and at my hands;
and till then will I forego my revenge for your insolence now. And let
me tell you one thing further, that you may muse upon it in my absence.
I will raise an army, ere many months are over, and march upon the
frontiers of Kentucky; and by all the powers of good and evil, I swear
again to get possession of the girl you love, but whom I now hate--hate
as the arch-fiend hates Heaven--and she shall thenceforth be my mistress
and slave; and to make her feel more happy, I will ever and anon whisper
your name in her ear, and tell her how you died, and the part I took in
your death; and in the still hours of night, will I picture to her your
agonies and dying groans, and repeat your prayers for death to release
you. Ha! you may well shudder and grow pale; for again I swear, by all
the elements, and by every thing mortal and immortal, I will accomplish
the deed! Then, and not till then, will I feel my revenge complete."
The countenance of Girty, as he said this, was terrible to behold; for
so enraged was he, that he fairly foamed at the mouth, and his eyes
seemed like two balls of fire. As he concluded, he turned away abruptly;
and muttering something in the Indian tongue, to some of the savages who
were standing around, immediately quitted the council-house.
As Girty departed, the four young warriors who were to have charge of
Algernon, immediately advanced to him; and one of them tapping him on
the shoulder, moved away, motioning him to follow. As he prepared to
obey, Younker grasped him by the hand, and, with eyes full of tears,
in a trembling, pathetic voice, said:
"Good-bye, lad! God bless and be with you. Something tells me we won't
never meet agin. Keep up as stout a heart as you can, and ef you should
escape, tell my (here the old man's voice faltered so that he could
scarcely articulate a syllable)--tell my wife, and--and children--that
I died happy, a thinking o' them, and praying for 'em--to--to the last.
Good-bye! good-bye!" and wringing his hand again, the old man fairly
sobbed aloud; while the rough warriors stood looking on in silence, and
Algernon could only groan forth a farewell.
So they parted--never to meet again on earth.
Algernon was now conducted, by his guards, to a small building on the
outskirts of the village; where, after receiving food and water, and
having his clothes restored to him, he was informed by one of the
Indians--who could speak a smattering of English--that he might be bound
and remain, or accompany them to see the Big Knife tortured. He chose
the former without hesitation; and was immediately secured in a manner
similar to what he had been the night previously, and then left alone to
the anguish of his own thoughts. What the feelings of our hero were, as
thus he lay, suffering from his bruises and wound--his mind recurring to
the dire events taking place in another part of the village, and his own
awful doom--we shall leave to the imagination of the reader: suffice it
to say, however, that when his guards returned, some two hours later, he
was found in a swooning state, with large cold drops of perspiration
standing thickly on his features.
Meantime, Younker was brought forth from the council-house--amid the
hootings, revilings, and personal abuse of the savage mob--and then
painted black,[17] preparatory to undergoing the awful death-sentence.
He was then offered food--probably with the kind intention of
strengthening him, and thus prolonging his life and tortures--but this
he absolutely refused, and was immediately conducted to the place of
execution, which was on the brow of the slope before described as
reaching to the river. Here his wrists were immediately bound behind
him; and then a rope, fastened to the ligature, was secured to a
stake--driven into the earth for the purpose and left sufficiently long
for him sit down, stand up, or walk around a circle of some six or eight
feet in diameter.
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