By and by, the African, while kicking, struck bottom with one foot. Withthe leverage thus obtained, he shoved the boat faster than before.
By this time those in the rear had ceased firing, and the interest ofthe occupants of the craft centered on the shore they were approaching.
The water shallowed rapidly, and soon the head and shoulders of GravityGimp rose above the gunwale of the scow. He was now enabled to lookbeyond the boat and scrutinize the point where they were about to land.
He had hardly taken the first glance, when he checked the vessel withsuch suddenness that Maggie nearly lost her balance. Looking inquiringlyat him, she asked, with alarm.
"What's the matter, Gravity?"
"It's no use, Miss Maggie," was the despairing reply; "we may as wellgive up; don't you see we're cotched? The Tories hab got us _dis_ time,suah!"
CHAPTER X.
The scow containing the three fugitives was nearing the eastern shore ofthe Susquehanna, when the negro servant, Gravity Gimp, stopped, checkingthe craft by grasping the stern.
At that moment the water scarcely reached his waist, and was shoaling atevery step, so that the boat was entirely under his control.
He had good cause for his alarm, for, only an instant before, he hadlooked behind him at the group of Tories and Indians on the westernshore, who had stopped firing, and he saw that several had entered theriver with the intention of pushing the pursuit through the desolatewilderness already spoken of as the "Shades of Death."
The distance between the pursuer and pursued was slight, for theSusquehanna is not a very broad river where it meanders through theWyoming Valley, and there remained so much of daylight that the dangerof a collision with their enemies was threatening indeed.
Still the sight increased the efforts to avoid them, and Gravity had notlost his heart by any means, when he looked over the heads of hisfriends to decide where they were to land.
It will be recalled that they had started below where most of thefugitives were pushing for the other bank, and the action of the currenthad carried them still lower, so there was reason for hoping they wereoutside of immediate peril.
But the African had no more than fixed his eye on the point, where therewas much wood and undergrowth, than he noticed an agitation of thebushes, and, to his dismay, a tall figure clad in paint and feathersstepped forth to view.
He had a long rifle in one hand, and was daubed in the hideous fashionof the wild Indian on the war-path.
The fact that he advanced thus openly in front of the fugitives, who hadbeen exchanging shots with their foes behind them, was proof to Gravitythat he was only one of a large party hidden in the bushes, and intowhose hands he and his friends were about to throw themselves.
Thus it was that the little group was caught between two fires.
Worse than all, the two guns in the scow, with which something like afight might have been made, were empty, and it was out of the questionto reload them at this critical moment.
No wonder, therefore, when the faithful negro discovered the trap intowhich they had run, that he straightened up, checked the boat, anduttered the exclamation I have quoted.
The ladies, with blanched faces glanced from one shore to the other,wondering to which party it was best to surrender themselves.
At this time, the warrior in front stood calmly contemplating them, asif sure there was no escape, and nothing could be added to the terror ofthe patriots.
"Let us turn down the river," said the brave-hearted Maggie, thrustingthe pole into the water again; "they have not captured us yet, and itis better we should all be shot than fall into----"
Just then the four were struck dumb by hearing the savage in front callout:
"What have you stopped work for? Don't turn down the river; hurry over,or those consarned Iroquois will overhaul you!"
Unquestionably that was not the voice of an Indian!
And yet the words were spoken by the painted individual who confrontedthem, and whom they held in such terror.
He must have suspected their perplexity, for, noticing that they stillhesitated, his mouth expanded into a broad grin, as he added:
"Don't you know me? I'm Habakkuk McEwen, and I'm ready to do all I canfor you. Hurry up, Gravity; use that pole in the right direction,Maggie; cheer up, Eva, and how are you, Aunt Peggy?"
No words can picture the relief of the little party, on learning that hewhom they mistook for an Indian was a white man and a friend.
Habakkuk McEwen was a neighbor, as he had called himself, and came fromthe same section in Connecticut which furnished the Brainerds and mostof the settlers in the Wyoming Valley.
He had enlisted but a few months before, and, though not very brilliantmentally, yet he was well liked in the settlement.
Excepting two individuals--whose identity the reader knows--it may besafely said there was no one whom the patriots could have been morepleased to see than Habakkuk, for he added so much strength to thecompany that was sorely in need of it, but it may as well be admitted,that the honest fellow, although a volunteer in the defense of hiscountry against the British invaders, was sometimes lacking in thecourage so necessary to the successful soldier. However, there he was,and the words were scarcely out of his mouth when the scow ran plumpagainst the bank, the depth of the water just permitting it, andHabakkuk cordially shook hands with each as he helped them out, windingup with a fervid grip of the African's huge palm.
His tongue was busy while thus engaged.
"You took me for an Injin, did you? Well, I'm pleased to hear that, forit is complimentary to my skill, for that's what I got up this rig for.I knowed what the danger was, and it struck me that if I was going tosarcumvent Injins it was a good idea to start out like one."
"Have you just arrived, Habakkuk?" asked Maggie.
"Not more than half an hour ago--you see--but let's get away from thisspot, for some of them loose bullets may hit us."
This was prudent advice, for their pursuers were at that moment forcingtheir way through the river in pursuit.
"Gravity, you know this neighborhood better than I do--so take thelead," said the disguised patriot: "and move lively, for I begin to feelnervous."
"I kin move lively when dere's need ob it," replied the servant, "and itlooks to me as if there couldn't be a better time for hurryin' dan disidentical one."
Gimp was familiar with the valley and mountains for miles around, and hethrew himself at once in the advance, the rest following with rapidfootsteps.
As they hastened toward the "Shades of Death" (and the name was nevermore appropriate than on that eventful night), Habakkuk McEwen explainedhow it was he arrived as he did.
"We fit the battle of Monmouth on the 28th of June, so you kin see I'vehad to travel fast to git here even as late as I did. But a lot of usheard that trouble was coming for Wyoming, and we've been uneasy for afortnight. Three of us went to Gineral Washington and argufied thematter with him; he seemed to be worried and anxious to do all he could,and he said that Connecticut orter lend a hand, as we were her colony,but he was after the Britishers just then, and he wouldn't 'low us to gotill arter the battle.
"Wal, we had a first-class battle down there at Monmouth in Jersey, andwe and Molly Pitcher made the redcoats dance to the tune of 'YankeeDoodle' as they haven't danced since Saratoga and Trenton. Whew! Butwasn't the day hot, and didn't the dust fly along that road! Well, Ijus' felt when we had 'em on the run, that if the Susquehanna could beturned down my throat, I would stand it for a couple of hours.
"Howsumever, just as soon as the battle was over, and I seen the Gineralhad 'em, even though Gineral Lee tried to betray us, why, I just pulledout and started for Wyoming.
"I didn't wait for the other chaps either, for, somehow or other, I hadthe feeling strong that there wasn't an hour to spare down in theseparts. I traveled hard, and after crossing the upper Delaware, I heardrumors that just made my hair stand on end.
"I knowed that the Tories and Iroquois were on their
way, and when Istopped at the house of a settler only twenty miles off, I found himpacking up and getting ready to move to Stroudsburg.
"I tried to persuade him to go back with me and help the folks, but hecouldn't see why he should desert his own family, even though there wasscarcely any danger to 'em.
"He was the man, howsumever, who suggested to me that I had better fixup as an Injin, and he furnished the paint, feathers, and rig. He helpedme to get inside of 'em, too, and when he was through, and showed me aglass, I acterally thought I was a Seneca warrior for the time, and, ifI'd had a tomahawk, I'd been likely to have tomahawked the settler andhis family.
"As it was, I jumped into the air and give out a ringin' whoop, and feltmighty savage and peart like; then I struck out for Wyoming, and I'vedone some tall traveling, I can tell you. Everybody that saw me took mefor an Injin, and gave me a wide berth. Two men shot at me, and I wasjust beginning to think there might be less fun in playing Injin thanappeared at first.
"Well," added the eccentric individual, "I got here too late to takepart in the battle, but I'm ready to do all I can to help you out ofyour trouble, which looks powerful serious."
And the little band, as may well be imagined, were grateful beyondexpression to find that what was first taken to be a dreaded enemy wasafter all a valuable friend.
CHAPTER XI.
It caused Lieutenant Godfrey the deepest chagrin to reflect that, afterhis remarkable escapes of the day, he had been taken prisoner in thisfashion.
He was in a crouching posture, watching the scene in front, when severalSeneca warriors returning to camp discovered him, and before he couldmake an effective resistance, he was borne to the ground, disarmed, andmade prisoner.
But chagrin was quickly lost in alarm, for there could be no doubt ofthe intentions of Queen Esther respecting all her captives.
It was characteristic of the youth that his first misgiving wasconcerning his father, who was but such a short distance behind him, andhe expected every minute to see the hapless man brought in as hiscompanion.
But as time passed, Fred gained hope for him, and, recalling his pledge,believed he would keep beyond danger.
Katharine Montour bent her gaze upon the youth, as he came in front ofher escorted by several warriors, and then she broke into a chucklinglaugh.
This extraordinary creature was once quite popular with civilizedpeople, and she spoke English as well as the Seneca tongue.
"Ha, ha, ha," she added, "you're another Yankee, ain't you?"
Fred had no wish to deny the charge, but he thought best to hold hispeace. If she were disposed to enter into a fair argument, he couldmaintain his own with her; but the relative situation of the two wasthat of the wolf and lamb in the fable, and, no matter what line hemight take, or how skillfully he might try to conciliate her, she wouldonly work herself into a still more furious passion.
He therefore did wisely in not making any reply, but with his hand athis side, and with a stolid, drooping, half-vacant gaze like that of theother prisoners, he looked mutely at her.
The attractive appearance of the young lieutenant, and his manly bearingwhen first brought before her, may have suggested to Queen Esther thata prisoner of more consideration than usual was at her disposal.
Her exultation, therefore, was the greater, because she would gain thisadditional means of ministering to her thirst for vengeance.
"You Yankee officer?" she asked, peering into his handsome face.
"I am a lieutenant in the Continental army," answered Fred.
"_All_ the captains were killed," was the truthful declaration of thequeen, "and more of you Yankees shall be killed; do you see these here?"she asked, making a sweep with her hand toward the captives. "All ofthem shall die by my hands--yes, by _my_ hands. Do you hear?"
Fred heard, but he did not think it wise to take the negative of thequestion, and he continued to hold his peace.
While the Indians were looking on with that apparent indifference whichthe race can so well assume under the most trying circumstances, QueenEsther suddenly whipped out from the folds of her gaudy dress a scalp,which she flourished in front of the prisoners. Then, with manyexecrations, she began a weird song and dance up and down in front ofthem.
This shocking scene lasted but a few minutes, when other Indians came inwith more prisoners, among whom Fred recognized several acquaintances.They looked sorrowfully at each other, but said nothing.
The lieutenant counted, and saw there were precisely eighteen, besideshimself. It must have been that Queen Esther had stopped in this pieceof woods, and, calling in a number of her Senecas, had sent them out tobring in all the captives they could.
She had now secured enough to satisfy her, and she started up the riverwith them.
The hapless ones walked in a straggling group together, while theIndians were on either hand in front, and the Queen at the rear, as ifshe wished to contemplate and enjoy the treat in prospect.
Whither they were going, Fred could only guess, but he was certain thatit was to some spot where torture would be inflicted on the patriots.
The mixed company had progressed something like an eighth of a mile,when a sudden confusion occurred in the ranks, and those who lookedaround caught sight of a man dashing through the undergrowth with thespeed of a frightened deer.
Queen Esther recognized the figure as that of the young lieutenant, and,with a shriek of rage, hurled her tomahawk, missing him only by a hair'sbreadth.
At the same moment she called upon her warriors to recapture him, andthey dashed off with all speed, not needing the incentive of hercommand.
It may be said that in such daring breaks for life as that of FredGodfrey, everything depends on the start. He made such a tremendousbound that he was several rods distant before his foes really understoodwhat had taken place.
Another piece of extremely good fortune lay in the fact that the woodswhere this was done were quite dense, and in the approaching twilightthe start gained by the fugitive actually placed him beyond theirsight.
This by no means insured his escape, for his pursuers were too close onhis heels, but it gave him an advantage, the importance of which cannotbe overstated.
Fred, as you have been told, was fleet of foot, and he now did hisutmost, but he could not hope to outrun those who were so close.
He had gone a short distance only, when he turned to the right, andthrew himself down beside a fallen tree which lay across his path, andhe was not a moment too soon.
The next instant, two warriors bounded over the log and vanished in thewood. As they were sure to suspect the trick that had been played, Freddid not stay where he was. He knew the Senecas would speedily return,and he could not elude such a search as they would be sure to make.
"The next instant, two warriors bounded over the log."]
Crawling away from the friendly log, he hurried silently off in acrouching posture, and soon reached a point where he felt quite safefrom detection, though he did not throw his caution aside.
As soon as he felt himself master of his movements he made his way backto the point where he had separated from his father; but, although hecautiously signaled to him, he received no response, and he concludedthat he was still in hiding somewhere in the neighborhood, and wasafraid to answer the calls, if, indeed, he heard them; or he had managedto cross the Susquehanna, and was searching for the rest of his family.
In either case it was a great relief to find he had not fallen into thehands of Queen Esther, who was certain to be doubly savage, now that shehad lost the prisoner whom she valued the most.
"If those captives would only made a break," said Fred, to himself,"some would get off; but, as it is, they are like dumb brutes led to theslaughter, and all will perish miserably--Heaven help them!"
CHAPTER XII.
Fred Godfrey was not altogether correct in his dismal prophecy.
Queen Esther, when she found that one of her prisoners was gone, gaveexpressions of fury and resumed the march up
the river, her warriorskeeping closer watch than before to prevent any other escape.
The procession halted near a boulder which rises about eighteen inchesabove the ground, and which may be seen to-day, as it lies directly eastof the battle monument toward the site of burned Fort Wintermoot, on thebrow of the high steep bank, which centuries ago probably marked theshore of the Susquehanna.
The eighteen prisoners were driven forward until this celebrated boulderwas reached, which has been known ever since by the ominous name of"Queen Esther's Rock."
Here the captives were ranged in a circle around the stone, while thequeen, with a death-maul and hatchet, proceeded to wreak vengeance uponher victims for the death of her son, killed by a scouting party, ashort time before the battle.
One after another, the white men were seated upon the rock, and held bytwo strong warriors, while the terrible Katharine Montour chanted a wilddirge, and, raising the death-maul in both hands, dealt the single blowthat was all sufficient.
Occasionally she varied the dreadful ceremony by using a keen-edgedhatchet with her muscular arm, which was as effective as the death-maulwielded by both hands.
The work went on until eleven victims had been sacrificed, when one ofthe men, Lebbeus Hammond, was roused by the sight of his own brother,who was placed upon the rock, and tightly grasped by two warriors.
It was impossible to do anything for him, but Lebbeus whispered toJoseph Elliott:
"_Let's try it!_"
On the instant, they wrenched themselves loose from their captors, andbounded down the river bank.