CHAPTER XXI
THE STRONGHOLD OF THE NATCHEZ
We were hopelessly prisoners. On my part further struggle had becomeimpossible, nor elsewhere did any effort last long, although Cairneshad to be knocked insensible before the heathen finally mastered him.I believed the obstinate fellow dead, so ghastly white appeared hisusually florid face as the victorious savages dragged him roughly pastwhere I lay, flinging his heavy body down like carrion upon the rocks.De Noyan appeared badly cut, his gallant clothing clinging to him influttering rags, silent witnesses to the manliness of his struggle.Yet the Chevalier was far from done.
"Let me sit up, you villains!" he cried, vigorously kicking at apassing shin. "'T is not my custom to lie with head so low. Ah,Benteen," he smiled pleasantly across at me, his eyes kindling at therecollection, "that was the noblest fighting that ever came my way, yet'tis likely we shall pay well for our fun. _Sacre_! 't is no pleasantface, that of their grim war-chief, nor one to inspire a man with hopeas he makes plea for mercy."
"Marry, no," I replied, determined on exhibiting no greater outwardconcern than he. "Nor will the ugly clip on his shoulder leave hishumor happier."
The Chevalier's eyes danced at the recollection.
"'T was our preacher friend who sheared him. I hold it amaster-stroke; but for a spear-butt on the way it would have cleft thefellow into two equal parts. Have you seen aught of Eloise since thefight?"
"She lies yonder against the wall at my left, and remains unhurt, Ithink. I will make effort to turn over, and have speech with her."
So securely had I been bound with coarse grass rope, I found it nosmall task to change the position of my body sufficiently to peer aboutthe corner of intervening rock, and clearly perceive my lady. She wasreclining in a half sitting posture well within the darker shadow,bound as were the rest of us.
"You remain uninjured, I trust, Madame?" I asked gently, and itheartened me to observe the smile with which she instantly glanced upat sound of my voice.
"No blow has touched me," was her immediate response, "yet I suffernoticing the stains of blood disfiguring both you and my husband. Arethe wounds serious ones?"
"Nay, mere scratches of the flesh, to heal in a week. Why did youwaste your last shot on that savage who would have struck me? It wasnot the will of De Noyan that it be expended thus."
"You must have formed a poor conception of me, Geoffrey Benteen," sheanswered, as if my words pained her, "if you suppose I value my lifemore highly than your own. But for my solicitation you would neverhave been in such stress, and, whatever else may be true, Eloise deNoyan is not one accustomed to deserting her friends."
"Yet there are fates possible to a woman more to be dreaded than death."
"Ay, and frontier bred, I know it well, yet none so bad as would havebeen the knowledge that I was guilty of ingratitude. My life, myhonor, are in the care of God, Geoffrey, and if I remain grateful foraught this day, it is that my shot proved timely, saving you from thatblow. Tell me, was it not a woman at whose command the combat ceased?"
"It was; a white woman at that, unless my eyes deceived me. She stoodon yonder point of rock, appearing a veritable queen in the sunshine."
"So I thought, a fair face enough, yet not devoid of savage cruelty.Her presence brings me some rays of hope, making me feel I may haveless to fear in the future than you. If a woman, however debased andbarbarous, rules these savages, she will not be altogether withoutheart to the supplications of a woman."
I felt less assured of this, yet it was better she be buoyed up by allpossible hope, so ventured upon no answer. There was that in theQueen's face as she gazed down upon us that made me doubt herwomanliness; doubt if behind that countenance of wild beauty there didnot lurk a soul as savage and untamed as any among her barbarousfollowers. What but a spirit of insatiate cruelty could animate andcontrol such fierce warriors in their battle rage? Thinking of this,my eyes on Madame, a movement occurred among our captors quicklychallenging my attention. Fresh shouts and cries evidenced newarrivals. These came swarming down the ravine, and in another momentbegan crawling noisily about us, chattering with our surly captors, orscowling into our faces with savage eyes boding no good. It would beunjust were I to write that these fellows were a brutal lot, as suchwords would be void of that truth I seek to convey. I lived to learnthat many among them had the stuff of which true men are made; yet,nevertheless, they were savages, scarcely touched by the virtues orvices of civilization, a people nursing within their memory a greatwrong, and inflamed by the fierce passions of battle. Gazing about onthe stiffening forms of their stricken warriors, all alike exhibited ineyes and gestures how eagerly they longed for the hour of vengeance,when implacable hate might have full vent in the unutterable agony oftheir victims. I gazed up into their scowling, distorted faces,imagining a final moment of reckoning was at hand; yet some authority,either of chief or tribal custom, restrained their pitiless hatred,reserving us for longer, more intense suffering.
But the wild thirst for blood was mirrored in those fierce eyes glaringdown into mine, and echoed in the shrill cries with which they markedus yet alive for their barbaric ingenuity to practise upon at leisure.Even as I observed this, realizing from my knowledge of Indian naturethat our ultimate fate would be infinitely worse than merciful death inbattle, I could not remain blind to the wide difference between thesenaked warriors and those other savages with whom my wandering borderlife had made me familiar. My awakened memory dwelt upon the peculiartribal characteristics of the Mingoes north of the Ohio, the Kaskaskiasin the Illinois country, the Shawnees, the Cherokees, even the Creeks,in whose villages I had dwelt as a friend, and beside whose young men Ihad hunted as a brother. Yet here was surely a distinct race, one lessclearly marked with those features peculiarly Indian,--the cheek-bonesnot prominent, the form of nose more varied, the skin decidedlylighter, the heads better shapen, and the figures more thoroughlydeveloped. More, their language had little of the guttural souniversal among Eastern tribes, but had a peculiar, sharp, hissingsound; so, although the faces peering into mine were wild and ferociousenough to leave no doubt as to their barbarous nature, or our probablefate, yet these peculiarities, with the total absence of paint, such asdisfigures and renders grotesquely hideous other Indians upon thewar-path, were sufficient to stamp these savages as members of adistinct race.
"Natchez?" I ventured to inquire of the burly brute who stood over megrasping spear and war-club.
"_Sa_," he grinned savagely. "_Francais, Francais_."
I shook my head and tried him again, but soon desisted on discoveringthat these two words marked the full extent of our common language, andso was obliged to be content with silently contemplating the crowds ofcurious, naked heathen swarming on the hill.
Fortunately, it was not long we were doomed to wait, uncomfortablytrussed with our ropes of plaited grass. The old chief who had led theassault gave his order, and, in immediate obedience, we were roughlydragged forth, the bonds about our lower limbs severed, and, underzealous guards, despatched up the canyon, the entire party promptlyfalling in at the rear, bearing with them their wounded and dead. DeNoyan and I, thus released from our cramped, painful position on therocks, were jerked rudely upon our feet, and, in obedience tothreatening gestures, driven rapidly forward like dumb beasts; butMadame and the Puritan, the latter not yet having regainedconsciousness, were swung aloft in hammocks of coarsely woven cloth,and thus borne upon the shoulders of four stout carriers. In this waywe advanced northward, not moving as slowly as I desired, for I wassore and aching from head to foot, besides being weakened by loss ofblood. Yet there was no hope of escape, no evidence of mercy. If weventured to lag, the vigilant guard promptly quickened our movements bythe vigorous application of spear-points, so we soon learned thenecessity of keeping fully abreast of our assigned position in thecolumn.
Coming nearer to that great cataract which had effectually dammed ourprogress up the valley, the leaders swerved toward the left,
passing soclosely beside the leaping, foaming flood as to be enveloped in thespray as if in a cloud of mist. Almost beneath the fall, the watercrashing on the rocks within reach of an outstretched hand, wecommenced a toilsome climb, along a deep, rocky gully completelyshrouded by overhanging bushes, as if we traversed a tunnel dug by thehands of men. Indeed, I have little doubt that this peculiarpassageway had been constructed by artificial means. Every now andthen, when a faint light from without straggled through the interlacedboughs overhead, I caught a glimpse of the evidences of human labor.This odd passage, crooked and intricate, at times so steep as torequire the chiselling of steps in the solid rock, wound in and outalong the side of the cliff, then ran back into the very face of theprecipice, for more than a hundred and fifty yards. Suddenly weemerged, fifty yards back from the crest, in the heart of a greatcircular hole resembling the crater of a burned-out volcano, havinggreat ragged points of rock, blackened as if incased with lava, juttingup upon every side, and forming as desolate and barren a picture asever eyes looked upon.
I was completely fagged by this time, the climb being a heavy one, andI noticed De Noyan was ghastly of face, his body trembling like that ofa palsied man. But our relentless drivers permitted no halting torecruit strength. The Chevalier was evidently in greater distress thanI, so from pity I bade him lean on my shoulder; but as he sought todraw near, the merciless brute on guard struck him savagely, and therewas such shaking of spears and fierce uproar on the part of our escort,we could do naught else than set our teeth to it, and go staggering on.The slight path, if it might be named a path, led in and out among theblack lava cones in such labyrinthine fashion that no man could hope toretain memory of its course, while the floor being of irregular stone,the passing feet left no trail for future guidance. We travelledblindly, and reckless through suffering and exhaustion, some distance,until, perhaps a mile above the spot where we had surmounted the cliff,a sudden twist was made to the right, our company creeping on all foursthrough a narrow opening, having a great tree-trunk on one side and ahuge black bowlder on the other. We came forth high in air above theswift, deep water, footing the insecure bark of a rude tree-bridgespanning the current. Once safe on the other bank, our path merely anarrow shelf of stone, we wormed around a sharp projection of thecliff, rising to even greater height than in the gorge below. A densemass of interlaced and overshadowing cedars was partially pressedaside, partially crawled under, and from this we finally emerged intoan open space, containing, I imagine, not far from five hundred acresof land, having vast towering precipices of black frowning rock onevery side, with no outlet apparent, save to one blessed with wings.Saint Andrew! 'twas an awesome place, yet oddly beautiful, so soft andgreen below, with those massive walls completely shutting out all therest of the world, and shadowing the little valley with impregnablegrandeur.
I had but a moment in which to view the impressive scene. Scarcely hadthe head of our column entered this natural prison when it was greetedwith wild shouts of triumph, immediately succeeded by shrieks ofdistress, while there streamed forward to meet us a tumultuous band ofsavages, a large proportion of whom were women and children. Thechildren were absolutely nude and peculiarly white of skin, while theformer wore rude skirts of coarsely woven cloth fastened about thewaist, their long hair in many instances trailing upon the ground,yielding them a wildness of aspect beyond description; yet withal theywere not uncomely of features. These newcomers thronged about us withscowling faces, and, when sternly forced back by the lowered weapons ofthe guard, either joined the procession, or else trooped alongside,yelling and jeering.
Pressed forward, although by now so utterly spent I could barelystagger rapidly enough to escape those pitiless thrusts, I mechanicallynoted enough of our surroundings to understand that we traversed groundwhich had been cultivated; that low fences, here and there encountered,divided the land into small sections, even as in more civilized regionsfarmers protect their fields. What their crops may have been I couldnot determine, the season of harvest being already past, yet Idistinguished what I supposed must be evidences of garden culture,observing also a considerable ditch, certainly four feet in width,filled with clear running water, which seemed to encircle the entirebasin, the deeper green of vegetation marking its course close upagainst the farther rock wall.
The view directly in advance was at first obscured by the leapingfigures of the exultant savages leading the way, whooping withexcitement, and wildly brandishing their war-clubs. These at lengthfell back along either side, our guards hurrying us across the ditch,spanned by the great trunk of a tree, and thus on into the village.This town resembled no other encampment of savages on which my eyes hadever looked. I saw a wide open space, a blackened stake set in themiddle of it, the ground bare of vegetation, and tramped hard as if bycountless feet. Beyond, circling this plaza upon two sides, wereseveral rows of houses, all facing the same direction. It reminded meof pictures I had seen of Hebrew camps in my father's great Bible, onlythe houses were built of sun-dried clay, such as peons use in the farSouthwest on the Brazos, square in shape, of but a single story, havingdome-shaped roofs, heavily thatched with cane. They were windowless,with one narrow opening for a door, protected by a heavy matting ofgrass. Behind these, perhaps a hundred yards or more, and within ashort distance of the steep cliffs bounding the upper extremity of thevalley, there arose from the surface of the plain two immense roundedmounds of earth, each fully a hundred paces wide at its base, slopingsharply upward. Considerable vacant space lay between the two, whileon the apex of each stood buildings of sun-baked clay, resembling inform those below, yet much larger, and, because of their elevation,appearing spacious and imposing. Above one were posed three rudelycarven figures bearing a slight resemblance to giant eagles, theirwings outspread as if for flight. The other was surmounted by ahideous, grotesque figure, blackened as by fire, with distorted facedaubed a glaring yellow, and long hair glittering from red pigment.Here the grass curtain had been drawn aside, while before the entrance,their faces striped with disfiguring black lines, their dull vestmentstrailing to the ground and gaudily trimmed with fanciful trappings,their coarse hair so trained as to stand almost erect, were two agedmen, who, with wild gesticulations, and solemn chanting, wereapparently paying adoration to the setting sun, the last beamsstreaming over them through a rift in the western wall.
Directly past these priests we were driven like cattle, findingourselves plunged into a vast square gloomy apartment, having anearthen floor, but utterly devoid of either furnishings or ornament.There was another mat-draped opening at the farther side, and in thecentre a huge log smouldered, resting upon what bore the appearance ofa rudely chipped altar of rock. About this were ranged numerousfancifully painted statues of wood, grotesque and hideous, while athird figure, attired as were the aged priests without, lay prone uponthe earth moaning as if in agony. The walls were hung thickly withundressed skins of wild animals, and at the back stood a slightlyupraised platform of logs, cut in halves by a narrow passageway leadingtoward the second curtained door. It was in the midst of this wehalted, still under strict surveillance of our brutal guards. These,however, permitted us to sink down exhausted on the hard floor.