But, alas! if they should prove to be that portion of the band whichwithdrew a short time previous, their presence would settle forever allprospects of a rescue.
"How far off are they?" he asked.
"Only a short distance; foller me."
"Don't forget, Gravity," said the lieutenant, as he started with him,"that we're likely to run afoul of some of the Senecas, who are outhunting for me."
"I understand dat."
A few minutes later the African came to a stop, and said, in a huskyundertone:
"Dis am de spot."
It was hard to imagine how the servant could identify it, for it was inthe shadow of the trees, though a small, natural clearing was in sight,that itself being the guiding landmark.
But nothing was seen or heard that could justify the declaration ofGravity, who stood intently listening.
"I don't hear nuffin'," said he, a moment later. "I guess dey hab goneto sleep, and am snorin'. You ain't skeered, be you, lieutenant?"
"What is there to scare us?" asked Fred.
"I don't know ob nuffin, but I thought mebbe you knowed."
Just then Gimp got down on the ground, and pressed his ear to the earth.Immediately he called out:
"I hear footsteps--plain as day--jes' listen!"
Fred Godfrey knelt, and, Indian-like, touched his ear to the ground. Ashe did so, he caught sounds as if made by the feet of persons movingnear them.
"I believe they are white men--God grant they are! Don't make any noiseand we will soon find out."
Although he had little experience as a woodman, Fred believed, from thepeculiarity of the slight noises that reached his ear, that they werethose of his own race.
As a quick way to settle it, though it was an act of imprudence, hecalled out, in a guarded voice:
"Halloa there, friends!"
"Halloa; are you white?"
"Yes--"
"What's de use ob lyin' so shamefully as dat?" broke in Gimp; "if I'mwhite den you're black."
"I declare, Gravity, I forgot all about it!" laughed the lieutenant, andthen, raising his voice, he said:
"We are one black and one white, fugitives from Wyoming, and hunting forfriends."
"That hits us," was the response; and the next moment, to the surpriseand delight of Godfrey, seven men came to view in the small moonlitclearing, and waited for him to advance and show himself.
He lost no time in doing so, and, as briefly as possible, explained howit was he and the African were there, and how necessary it was that helpshould be immediately sent their friends, in the custody of JakeGolcher, the Tory, and his Senecas.
"Now you're shouting," was the hearty response of the leader of theseven, who announced his name as Dick Durkee; "that's what we're herefor, though we're a little behind time."
"Where did you come from?"
"I live pretty well back in the country toward Stroudsburg, and I heeredtwo days ago that trouble was coming into Wyoming Valley. You see I gotthe matter so straight from a friendly Indian that I knowed there couldbe no mistake. It worried me so that I couldn't sleep, and I told mywife that I was bound to take a hand in it. So I scoured through thecountry and got my six friends, all true and tried, and set out. We gothere only a little while ago, when things looked so squally that Iconcluded to stop and find out something before going furder; that's theway it stands."
"Then you will help our friends out of their trouble?"
"That's just what we come for, and we don't propose to back out now."
"Give me your hand on that!" exclaimed the delighted Fred.
While the two were saluting each other in this effusive fashion, GravityGimp walked out in front of them on the clearing, and solemnly pressingthe crown of his head against the ground, elevated his enormous feet inthe air, and chuckled as he kicked:
"Reckon dere's gwine to be somethin' like a s'prise party for Mr. JacobGolcher!"
CHAPTER XLVIII.
A most unexpected piece of good fortune had befallen our friends, in theappearance of Dick Durkee, with his six sturdy companions, all armed andready for an encounter with the Tories and Iroquois.
Learning that young Fred Godfrey had been a lieutenant in theContinental army, they insisted on putting themselves under him, atleast so long as they were engaged in hostilities.
"Very well," said the youth, "I will accept the responsibility, becauseI know I have brave men to lead; but the work will be short."
As every minute was precious, and there was no saying what form ofcruelty the captors of the fugitives might inflict, the plan wasspeedily arranged.
The camp was so near, that they expected to reach it within ten minutes,after which the question between them and the Senecas would be decidedin one-fifth of that time.
They were on the eve of starting in Indian file, when a furiousthreshing was heard, and a panting form plunged directly among them,stopping abruptly with an exclamation of fear, when he saw the figuresaround him.
"Can any of you gentlemen tell me whether this is Wilkesbarre orStroudsburg?" he asked, recoiling as if uncertain whether he was withfriends or foes.
"Why, Habakkuk," said Godfrey in return; "why, are you in such a hurrythat you can't stop?"
"Well, well, well," muttered the terrified New Englander, recognizinghis friend; "I was on my way to Stroudsburg, and didn't expect to meetyou here, leftenant; what's up?"
"What has caused you to take such a sudden start?"
"I got the chance and I took it; I thought, from the rate I was going,that I ought to be pretty well nigh there by this time."
"The journey is still before you; but, when I left the vicinity of thecamp, you were a prisoner."
Habakkuk was loath to explain the strange cause of his presence in thewoods, but, finding he was among friends, he finally told the story.
His listeners of course were astonished, for it seemed incredible thatJake Golcher should do anything of the kind.
"Since he sent you out to take me back," said Lieutenant Godfrey, "youmust keep your word and produce me before him."
"But, leftenant, such a pledge ain't binding on one, is it?"
"It is when I help you carry it out, and that is precisely what I willdo."
The New Englander was amazed, as well he might be, and Fred, not wishingto trifle with the poor fellow, who had been so buffeted by good and illfortune during the day, explained how the plan could be executed withoutrisk to him.
It cannot be said that Habakkuk took kindly to the project, even then,but in the presence of Durkee and his woodmen, he could not wellrefuse.
He was assured that he would be well taken care of, and, as time wasvaluable, the company started without delay.
Where every one understood the necessity of silence, they moved alonglike so many phantoms.
Gravity Gimp's knowledge was so thorough, that even in the gloom,relieved only now and then by a few beams of moonlight, he recognizedthe landmarks, and gave great help to Godfrey, who more than once was atfault.
After progressing in this labored manner for some distance they cameupon a well-beaten path, where it was much easier to travel than in theunbroken wood.
They had not far to go, and were beginning to slacken their speed, whenall were startled by hearing some one approaching from the front. Eachman noiselessly stepped out of the path, and, with their guns grasped,awaited the issue.
The first supposition was that they were Indians, and, excepting throughfear of complicating matters in camp, the strangers would have beenassailed at once.
But at the very moment the two forms, as they proved to be, wereimmediately opposite, one of them was heard to speak:
"By gracious! Jim, this is the most dangerous latitude I ever was in."
This expression identified them, and Fred spoke in a guarded voice:
"Hold on, friends; don't be alarmed."
Naturally the strangers were frightened, and showed a disposition tobreak into headlong flight, but Durkee and his comrades quickly
steppedinto the path and surrounded them.
By the time this was done, the couple realized they were among friends,and they made themselves known.
They were two men who were in the Wilkesbarre Fort during the battle andmassacre of the afternoon, and they had come up the eastern shore of theriver to learn whether they could be of any help to the numerousfugitives at Wyoming.
They soon found it was too late to do much good, but they lingered inthe vicinity and exchanged shots with several parties of Tories andIndians.
They prowled around after dark, when they saw matters going so ill thatthey concluded there would be no safety in returning to Wilkesbarre,where a panic had probably set in. They were now on their way toStroudsburg, which was a haven of hope to so many fugitives in thatflaming day and the following one.
They gladly agreed to join the rescuers, and, as each had a good rifleand ammunition, they were a most desirable re-enforcement.
CHAPTER XLIX.
By this time the short July night was drawing to a close, and there weresigns of the coming dawn in the east. All through the solemn darknessthe massacre had continued, and scenes were enacted on both sides of theSusquehanna which the pen has never placed on paper, and which to-daycome down to us only in the shuddering legends of those who looked uponand survived to tell of them.
Among the miscreants none was more inhuman than Jake Golcher, the Tory.But for his strong admiration of the pretty Maggie Brainerd not one ofthe little party of fugitives would have survived capture for fifteenminutes.
He was not the first, as he shall not be the last, bad man who has beenrestrained from evil by the sweet beauty of some maiden who,unconsciously to herself, has woven her subtle web around him.
Had she walked up to him and promised to be his wife on condition thatevery one of her friends should be released, he would have complied,though he might have resorted to treachery afterward to gratify thedemand for revenge on the part of his Indian allies.
But the father of Maggie had repudiated his claim, and the point at lastwas reached when he was forced to see that every one of the fugitives,including Maggie herself, looked upon him with unspeakable loathing, andthey would die before humbling themselves to him.
"What's the sense of my fooling longer?" he growled, standing sullenlyapart and glowering upon them; "they hate me worse than Satan himself,and if Maggie should pledge me her hand, that old father or the brotherof her'n wouldn't let her keep her promise. The Injins have got so madat my soft-heartedness that they begin to 'spect me, and they've goneover to t' other side the river to have their fun there, 'cause thereain't much prospect of gettin' it here."
The renegade spoke a significant truth, and, looking around, he was ableto count precisely six Senecas who remained with him. Some of the otherswho were out hunting in the wood might return, but the chances wereagainst it, and more than likely they had gone off to join in the orgiesof which we only dare hint.
Striding across the brief space, Jake Golcher paused in front of MaggieBrainerd and said:
"You have had more mercy to-night than you had a right to expect, andmore than you'll get any longer."
"Why do you talk to me thus?" asked the scared maiden, who could notfail to understand what he meant; "why do you feel such hatred of us whohave never showed aught but kindness to you?"
"Bah!" interrupted the Tory, angrily; "why do you get over that stuff tome? I want no more of it. The time for begging mercy has gone by. If youhad treated me right a while ago it would have been well--"
"Oh, Jake, how can you?"
The agonized girl was about to rush forward and throw herself on herknees before the man, when her father, with flashing eye, interposed.
"Maggie, I forbid you to speak a word to such a scoundrel as he. Sitdown and keep silence."
The obedient girl complied, as she would have done had she known thatdeath was to be the penalty.
She placed herself beside Eva, and the two, wrapping their arms abouteach other, wept in silence.
Aunt Peggy, as if conscious the crisis had come, ceased her cooking andsoftly seated herself beside them, without a word.
Mr. Brainerd, proud and defiant as ever, sat bolt upright on the fallentree, with arms folded, looking as keenly as an eagle in the face of thebeing whom he execrated above any of his kind.
The Senecas watched them all, and it was easy to detect the signs ofimpatience among them, for they had been baffled too long of their prey.
As Jake Golcher retreated a step or two the Indians uttered a shortexclamation of surprise, as well they might, for two figures strodefor-toward out of the gloom in the light of the camp-fire.
One of them was Habakkuk McEwen, who led by the arm Lieutenant FredGodfrey, the latter stepping briskly, while a strange half-smile hoveredabout his handsome mouth.
Mr. Brainerd and the rest of the fugitives were thunderstruck, andtotally at a loss to understand the meaning of the spectacle.
Fortunately, they were not kept long in suspense.
The face of Habakkuk was wreathed in an all-embracing smile, thoughthere was a certain delicacy in his position that prevented his smilebecoming contagious.
"Well, Jake, I've brought you your man!" called out Habakkuk, in a voicetremulous with triumph and fear.
"You have done well," replied Golcher, as soon as he could recover hisbreath; "you have done better than I expected."
"It's all right now, then, ain't it--that is, with me?"
"Certainly; you've earned your freedom and can go. These Injins won'thurt you."
Golcher made a wave of his hand to the warriors grouped around anduttered an exclamation that insured immunity to the eccentric NewEnglander.
The latter wheeled about and walked straight toward the woods where hisfriends were awaiting him.
One of the most difficult things for a brave man to do is to stridedeliberately off, without decreasing or augmenting his gait, when he hasevery reason to believe that someone is taking careful aim at him, andthat if he doesn't get beyond range in a brief while he is certain to bepunctured.
The expectation of receiving a bullet from the rear will make the chillscreep over the most courageous person, and give an impetus to his gaitlike the actual prick of a bayonet.
Habakkuk McEwen walked only a dozen steps when he was so impressed bythe situation, that he forgot his identity. With a howl he sprangseveral feet from the ground and dashed off at the top of his speedinto the woods, muttering:
"I'll be hanged if I can stand it; I believe every Injin squattin' therewas taking aim at me."
Fred Godfrey and Jake Golcher at last stood face to face, and by thelight of the camp-fire looked steadily in the eyes of each other.
"I'm here," said the lieutenant, in his ordinary voice, though hecarefully measured his words: "Habakkuk McEwen has kept his pledge, andnow I'd like to know what you are going to do about it."
"You would like to know, eh? Wal, I can soon tell you. I'm going to turnyou over to these Senecas you see around you; one of them is throwingwood on the fire now; that's for you. More than one rebel has beenroasted, and you are none too good to be served the same way."
"So you intend to burn me to death, Jacob, do you?"
"Intend to! I'm going to do so, sartin sure--that is, I'm going to bossthe job, but I've promised to let the redskins have the fun of thething."
"That's the idea, is it? And after I'm disposed of, what then? That is,what is to be done with my friends there?"
"I've no 'bjection to saying," replied the Tory, speaking loud enoughfor all to hear, "that the old fellow there and that she panther, AuntPeggy, will be served the same way. The two girls will be taken back toYork State with us, and sort of adopted by the Senecas."
All the individuals referred to heard these words, but no one moved orstirred. It may truthfully be said that they were so overcome for themoment that they were speechless.
"That's an imposing programme, Jacob, but, somehow or other, I thinkthere will be a hitch i
n carrying it out."
"You think so, eh? Wal, you'll see mighty soon that there ain't nomistake about it. The fire is burning and about ready--"
"Jacob," said Fred Godfrey in a low voice, but with such significancethat the Tory was transfixed, "I hoped that you would say and dosomething that would give me excuse for believing you less a miscreantthan you are, but you have persisted in shutting out all mercifulthoughts--"
"Wh-wh-what d-d-do you m-mean?" stammered Golcher, beginning to feel agiving away in his knees.
"Do you suppose I was such a fool as to allow Habakkuk McEwen, one of mybest friends, to bring me back a prisoner to you? You showed your idiocyin sending him out for me; but it is scarcely credible that you couldreally think he would ever show himself again. But he has, and here Iam--
"And now, Jacob, I have the pleasure of informing you that you are at_my_ mercy, and I have only to raise my hand--so--to have you riddledwith bullets."
CHAPTER L.
As Lieutenant Fred Godfrey slowly raised his hand, as if it were thesignal for his friends to open fire, Jake Golcher collapsed.
Sinking down on the ground, as limp as a rag, he began begging in themost pitiful tones for his life. Indeed, he groveled so in the dirt thatall the whites who looked upon him found their feelings of hatredturning to disgust and pity.
Fred Godfrey was disappointed, and, stepping back a pace or two, gazedon the miserable craven as he would upon a dog he had caught stealingsheep, and which was then cringing at his feet.