Wyoming
Page 19
Eva and Maggie bore it like the heroines they were, and but for theirpale faces and swollen eyes no one would have suspected the depth oftheir anguish. They said nothing to show it, but were as busy andthoughtful for the others as though all were their brothers and sisters.
Aunt Peggy was silent most of the time, but now and then her hardfeatures quivered with emotion, and she uttered anathemas against thosewho had wrought all this mischief and sorrow.
Gravity Gimp was the most demonstrative of the company, his sobbing andlamentations more than once bringing tears to the eyes of the others.
When Habakkuk McEwen made known that he had ended the career of JakeGolcher there was not one who would believe him; but, fortunately forthe New Englander's reputation, his declaration was confirmed in anunexpected manner.
One of Dick Durkee's men was late in joining the party that started awaythat morning, but when he came he said that he, too, was stealing alongthe river bank, though a considerable distance above where Golcherentered it. As soon as he identified the Tory he raised his gun toshoot, but when he pulled the trigger he discovered that there was nocharge in the weapon.
With an expression of impatience he proceeded to correct his mistake,and was in the act of pouring powder in the pan when the crack of someone's else gun sounded just below him.
The woodman could not see who fired it, but he saw the Tory throw up hisarms and disappear, so that a second shot was unnecessary. He tarried,however, some time longer, and observed three Indians who swam out intothe river in search of the body, showing that they, too, knew who itwas.
This settled the question; and henceforth Habakkuk McEwen became a sortof hero among his comrades, who shook him by the hand and congratulatedhim on the service done his friends.
The vanity of the fellow was flattered, and when he attempted to explainhis previous conduct it was accepted good-naturedly; so that, before theday was over, he came to the conclusion that he was in point of fact thebravest and most dashing member of the company, and the one who ought tobe the leader.
The mountains were passed in safety, and it was not without somemisgivings that the party entered that desolate stretch of wildernessseveral times referred to as the "Shades of Death."
What was dreaded more than anything else was the want of provisions,which was sure to cause suffering.
Habakkuk McEwen was the only one in the company who had a particle offood, and when that came to be distributed among eight or ten womenthat had been gathered about them, it was scarcely more than anaggravation of hunger.
Our own friends, it will be remembered, had eaten a substantial meal ofyoung pig the previous evening, and were in much better form than manywho had fled from Wyoming, and had partaken of no food during theprevious twenty-four hours.
The sufferings of the fugitives from Wyoming in passing through the"Shades of Death" were dreadful, as is always the case where such largebodies flee in a panic.
Many children were born, and perished in the wilderness. Strong men laydown and died, and the bones of the victims marked every mile of theway.
But there were many who survived, and one bright summer morning all ourfriends reached the hamlet of Stroudsburg, so far removed from the sceneof massacre that every cause for alarm had passed.
There were fugitives before them, and the hospitality of the villagerswas taxed to the utmost, but they gladly met every demand.
The weather was so mild that much suffering had been saved the settlers,whose trouble rose mainly from the lack of food.
In Stroudsburg were old friends and relatives of the Brainerds, who dideverything in their power for them. It was arranged that Maggie, Eva,and Aunt Peggy should stay with them indefinitely until there could beno risk in going back.
The anxiety of the brother and sisters was that the body of their fathershould be laid away in proper form, and Fred Godfrey and Gravity Gimpwent back to Wyoming for that purpose.
When the sad duty was finished they once more made their way toStroudsburg, where the young patriot bade his friends a tender adieu,after which he started to join the Continental army under Washington.
Habakkuk McEwen went with him, and, despite a manifestation of hisnatural timidity now and then, made a good record. Both he and Fred, whohad become a captain, were present at the surrender of Yorktown, whichended the struggle of the colonies, and established the independence ofthe United States of America.
When they returned to Wyoming the settlements had recovered, to a greatextent, from the visitation of the Tories and Indians three yearsbefore.
The Brainerd homestead, which was partly burned, was restored to asubstantial condition, and Gravity Gimp was as big and strong anddevoted as ever.
The rich soil needed but to be "tickled with a plow" to "laugh aharvest," and it yielded bountifully. There had been several incursionsby Indians, during one of which the little girl, Frances Slocum, wastaken off by a party of Delawares. Her wonderful history is part of thatof Wyoming.
But the Brainerd family suffered nothing further. Eva had grown into ablooming girl when Captain Fred Godfrey came back and joined them at theold homestead. All in due time, he took for his bride one of theblue-eyed lassies of Wyoming, and Maggie and Eva were equally fortunatein securing the best of partners for life.
Peace folded her gentle wings over the scene of the stirring events thattook place more than a century ago, and the thunders of war have neverawakened the echoes along that part of the Susquehanna since.
May it ever be thus throughout our fair land, to the end of time.
THE END.
THE NEXT VOLUME OF THE "WYOMING SERIES" WILL BE "STORM MOUNTAIN."