UNCLE JOE.
I do not think that I ever met so extraordinary a man as Uncle Joe inall my life. We children were all very fond of him, because he had aninexhaustible supply of stories, and those, too, of a kind which areespecially popular with children. He had exciting stories of almostevery sort: of thrilling adventures by land and sea, of captures bypirates, hair-breadth escapes from Red Indians; fearful conflicts withrobbers; terrible struggles with wild animals; and strange encounterswith sea-serpents or similarly wonderful creatures. Then he knew animmense deal about giants and dwarfs, witches and wizards, ogres andvampires, and he also possessed no little insight into all thatconcerned fairies and fairy-land. He could tell of the little sea fairythat rode on the crest of the wave, basking pleasantly when the sunshone down on a calm still ocean, and shrieking madly with frenzieddelight when the winds lashed the waves into fury, and carried herforward on the great flakes of snow-like foam; of the fairy who lookedafter some particular house or family, and always appeared to warn themof danger just at the right moment, or to disclose a buried treasure,exactly in time to save them from ruin; and of the happy littlewoodland fairies, who are to be found in the deep glades and darkravines of the wild forest, and about whom such innumerable legendshave from time to time been written by some of those fortunate mortalswho have visited and been aided by them in time of sickness or danger,and who have in gratitude chronicled their power.
Nothing delighted Uncle Joe so much as to tell one of his charmingstories to us, eager listeners as we always were. He liked to get onechild on each knee, and to have the others clustering round as near aspossible, and then he would start off and go on just for all the worldas if he was only reading from a book.
Looking back now, with the calmer judgment of riper years, I hardlyknow which was most wonderful, the unlimited power of invention ofUncle Joe, or the boundless credulity of us children. Because no mancould by any possibility have gone through half the wonderfuladventures of which he pretended to have been the hero, if he had livedto twice the ordinary age of man, and kept on searching for adventuresall the time. Besides, it would have been five hundred to one againsthis escaping every time, as Uncle Joe always did, "by the skin o' histeeth."
Once he was tied to the stake, and just going to be scalped by theIndians, when some miraculous thing (I forget what at this moment)occurred to save him; once he was in the very coils of an enormoussnake, and was yet preserved; and at another time, he was actuallyswallowed by a crocodile, (I am sure I don't know how he got down itsthroat without a disabling nip from some of those teeth which I havenoticed in the mouths of stuffed crocodiles in museums,) and escaped bymeans of employing his penknife in a manner too disagreeable todescribe. In short, there never was a man who, according to his ownaccount, had gone through such a series of remarkable adventures asUncle Joe, and I am therefore quite justified in pronouncing him tohave been a most extraordinary man.
I have never discovered what really was Uncle Joe's profession oroccupation. For anything I know, he may have been a soldier, a sailor,or a horse-marine; though, for the matter of that, I have so littleconception of what may be the duties of persons engaged in the latterprofession, that I should dispute the claims of nobody who averred thathe had belonged to it. All I know is, that he wore a blue coat withbrass buttons, had a hooked nose and a bright eye, and only possessedone arm; the other I solemnly declare I have heard him state, ondifferent occasions, to have been shot off in battle, lost in savinglife from a shipwreck, when it got jammed between two planks of thesinking ship, and bitten off by a tiger, under circumstances thedetails of which I do not happen to remember--it was gone, however,anyhow, was that left-arm of Uncle Joe's, and its loss must have hadthis great consolation, that it furnished a foundation upon which hebuilt many a romance, pleasing to himself, and interesting to hislisteners.
He had been a mighty traveller, had Uncle Joe. From Canada to thefarthest extremity of South America, from Constantinople to Hong-Kong,from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Cape, all was familiar to him;whilst, as to continental Europe, there seemed to be no hole or cornerwhich he had not explored. England was like his own house to him; thatis to say, he knew every county and town in one as well as he knewevery room in the other. In fact, to hear him talk on these subjects,you never would for a moment have guessed that which was the realtruth, namely, that he had never been further from England than Paris,and had been so particularly ill in crossing the channel that nothingbut the fear of the laughter of his friends, coupled with his total andentire ignorance of the French language, prevented his settling inFrance for the rest of his life, sooner than again undergo the ordealof that terrible passage.
Happily for us children, (for this occurred before we were at the ageof story-hearing, or indeed at any age at all,) he _did_ face thechannel once more, and never sought to tempt it again. But all this Ionly learned many years after, and during the whole of the earlyportion of my life, I (in common, I am sure, with the great majority ofhis acquaintance) set Uncle Joe down as a man who had seen more of theworld than most living men, and knew more of the geography of foreignlands, as well as of the customs and manners of their inhabitants, thananyone whom I ordinarily met.
With all this sin, if sin it be, of exaggeration, (one wishes to use amild word in speaking of a relative,) Uncle Joe's virtues greatlypredominated over any defects which he may have possessed. He wasgood-natured to a fault--forgiving beyond most men--tender-hearted--afaithful friend--and full of sympathy for the woes and sorrows ofothers. I believe he lost a large sum of money in early life bybecoming surety for some one whom he thought to be a friend, and whoturned out to be an arrant scoundrel. Anyhow, he was far from rich, andwas not one of those uncles who have always got a sovereign ready for anephew going to school, or for spending at the confectioner's, if hecomes to see a young relative during school-time. Still, Uncle Joe wasthe most popular of all our relations so far as the public opinion ofthe school-room was concerned, and every juvenile heart rejoiced whenwe were told that he was coming to spend Christmas at our home.
Upon one occasion he was expected to arrive upon the day beforeChristmas Eve, and we were all greatly delighted at the prospect. Fannyand Kitty, my two eldest sisters, were looking forward with muchpleasure to the visits to the school-room which Uncle Joe always paidabout tea-time, not only on account of the stories we were sure tohear, but because it was so very amusing to see the violent effortswhich Miss Crinkles, the governess, used to make in order to avoidgoing into fits of laughter at some of our uncle's jokes, and theentire--though only temporary--loss of dignity which followed herinevitable failure to keep her countenance. Tom and Gerald and I (Harryis my name, and I was about twelve at the time of this story) wereequally interested, and little Lucy and Mary were employed for severaldays beforehand in putting on their dolls' best dresses, that theymight be in a fit state to receive this honoured relation.
Well, the day before Christmas Eve came--as it always comes every year,if you only look out for it--and our hearts beat high with expectationof Uncle Joe. But no Uncle Joe appeared at luncheon time (he oftenturned up about that time) and when tea-time had arrived, the hoped-forvisit was not paid. Presently the dressing-bell rang, half-an-hourbefore dinner, and still no Uncle Joe. Even my father began to fidgetnow, and to wonder where the expected guest could be, and my motherbecame positively uneasy. If there was one thing rather than anotherabout which our uncle was particular, it was the important point ofbeing in time for dinner. The reason he always gave for thisparticularity was his sense of the unfairness to the cook which wasoccasioned by unpunctuality. No cook, he said, could contend againstit, and you had no right to expect a good dinner unless you were readyto eat it at the hour for which it had been ordered.
The knowledge of this opinion on the part of Uncle Joe, and of thefirmness--not to say obstinacy--with which he always maintainedit--increased the uneasiness of my parents as the dinner hour grewnearer and nearer without his appearance, and when half-past sevenar
rived, and still no Uncle Joe, matters were held to be so seriousthat messengers were despatched in several directions to make inquirieswhether anything had been heard or seen of the expected visitor. It wasfortunate that this step was taken, because otherwise there exists aviolent probability that this story might never have been told, and wechildren should have had to mourn over the loss of our favouriterelative.
Uncle Joe was found lying by the roadside, barely a mile from our gate,at a spot where a path ran parallel with the road, but some twelve feetabove it. His head was bruised and his left-arm broken, and, whenfound, he was insensible. There was snow on the ground: it had frozenduring the day, and, about seven o'clock, light flakes of snow hadbegun to fall again, so that if my poor uncle had lain where he wasmuch longer, he would either have been covered with snow, or frozen,and could in no case have come well out of the business. His story was,that, finding that he was at the station, some five miles off, in goodtime, he thought he would walk over to our house and have hisportmanteau sent for from thence.
Some two miles from home there stood (and still stands) a convenientpublic-house by the road-side, bearing the respectable sign of "TheDuke's Head," a staring picture of the head and shoulders of a man,displaying the prominent nose and distinctive features of the greatDuke of Wellington, swinging gaily in front of the said inn. I believeit is a very old inn, and was originally named after the great Duke ofMarlborough, and if England ever has another "great" Duke, I do notdoubt that _his_ picture will replace the present one, and the signwill do equally well for _him_.
At this hostelry, said Uncle Joe, he had pulled up to have a glass ofhot brandy-and-water to cheer him on his way, and remembered to haveobserved several rough-looking characters hanging about the place atthe time. He journeyed on, and at the spot at which he was found hadbeen attacked by three foot-pads, whom he declared that he had resistedstoutly, but a blow with a short stick delivered by one of them hadfelled him to the earth with a broken arm, while he had been renderedinsensible by a similar blow upon the head. The robbers seemed to havehad some object other than that of mere plunder, for although Uncle Joedeclared that they had taken all his money but half-a-crown, which wasfound in his waistcoat-pocket, yet it was so seldom that he had muchmore cash about him, that no one imagined that the robbers' booty couldhave been great, whilst they had left his big silver watch and chainuntouched, and also the large old-fashioned silver pencil-case, whichhe always carried about with him. This he attributed to thestubbornness of his resistance, which had made the thieves glad to getaway from the neighbourhood of so desperate a fellow as quickly aspossible.
They were never traced, and as the snow soon afterwards came on moreheavily, their footsteps could have been scarcely seen after the spaceof a very short time, and no one could tell in which direction they hadfled. There were some people, indeed, who winked their eyes wickedly,and laid their fore-finger waggishly against the side of their noseswhenever allusion was made to the attack upon Uncle Joe. They wereunkind enough to declare that our good relative's story was true enoughup to the time of his stopping at the "Duke's Head," but that at thatpoint he had quitted the limits of strict veracity. They pretended tohave the authority of the landlord of that highly respectable inn forthe fact, that Uncle Joe, soon after six o'clock, came in and had, notone glass, but three good "stiff" tumblers of brandy-and-water beforeresuming his journey. They further maintained that he had gone onmerrily for a while after this, but that it had had sufficient effectupon him to have rendered it very desirable that he should have kept inthe road instead of following the pathway above it. Choosing thelatter, however, he had lost his equilibrium at the spot near which hewas found, tumbled down the steep bank into the road, and in thismanner received the injuries to head and arm which he had undoubtedlysustained. The landlord, moreover, said these unbelievers, indignantlydenied that any "rough-looking characters" had been near his house uponthat day, and declared that the only people there at or about the timeof Uncle Joe's visit were some Christmas ringers and singers preparingfor, or proceeding with, their visits to the neighbouring villages,with the view of exchanging carols and hymns for pence and half-pencewherever they found Christian people ready for such a transaction.
These reports and doubts, however, about Uncle Joe's misfortune neverreached us children at the time, and, if they had, we should not for amoment have attached the smallest weight to them. In our eyes thematter was one which placed our esteemed relative still higher in therank of heroes to which our childish thoughts had long since raisedhim. Nor were we frightened at the idea of foot-pads or highwaymenhaving suddenly made their unwonted appearance in our happy andtranquil neighbourhood. It seemed to us only natural that curious andunusual things should attend Uncle Joe wherever he went, and it waswith him and his life, and not with our home and its surroundings, thatwe connected the circumstance of this new feature in the locality.
However, the truth or falsehood of the story mattered little to us, solong as we had got our uncle safe and sound after all. There he was,and there he continued for several weeks; for a broken head and armrequired attention, and he was nowhere so likely to receive it as atour house. During this long visit we saw more of Uncle Joe than we hadever done before, and it soon became an established practice that,after our tea and before dressing-time, he should narrate to us some ofthose wonderful stories of which I have spoken.
One of these I will relate, as nearly as possible in the words of myrevered uncle, in order that my readers may be able to imagine the kindof way in which all his stories were told. But the other tales which Ipropose to chronicle I will tell after a different fashion, relatingthe substance of Uncle Joe's narrative, but leaving out the personalallusions to his own prowess with which it was embellished. Those whoread have only to imagine that in the chief personage in every storythey discern Uncle Joe, and they will easily discover the littlealterations which I have thought it well to make in order to vary theform of each tale. The one which I am now going to tell was a favouriteone with us boys, but the girls did not like so much killing, andrather thought Uncle Joe must have been a more cruel man in the dayswhen these adventures happened to him than at the time he recountedthem. Since then I have read a great many books from the pen of Cooper,Captain Mayne Reid, and Gustave Aimard, all dealing with the doings ofRed Indians, their subtlety, their treachery, their implacable revenge,and other pleasing characteristics, and I have often thought that UncleJoe must have intended a parody upon some of their most stirringrecitals of Indian adventure in the following story. But, mostcertainly, he told it as having happened to himself, and threw so muchvehemence into his manner of telling it, that we children never for amoment doubted that such was the case.
I remember quite well the day he first told it to us; and how intenselyinterested in it we all were. He began it at tea-time: I think he likedto tell his most extraordinary and unlikely stories at tea-time for thebenefit of Miss Crinkles, and I sometimes wonder that the questions sheoccasionally asked him did not create a suspicion in our minds thatthere was some doubt as to the truth of some of his facts. But no suchsuspicion, as far as I can recollect, ever dawned upon our childishimaginations, and the only result of Miss Crinkles' questions was toimbue us with increased awe and respect for our uncle, whom even ourgoverness could not readily understand without asking for furtherinformation. It was, I say, at tea-time that this story was begun, and,I think, finished. One of us boys had expressed a great desire to hearof some Indian adventures, and Uncle Joe, ever ready to oblige, at oncecommenced the following narrative, perhaps one of the least likely ofthe many marvellous tales with which he ever favoured us.
"It was during the time which I passed in America that some of thestrangest and wildest adventures of my life happened. Perhaps none ofthese was more remarkable than that which I am about to relate to you,and indeed I question whether many people exist who have everencountered an adventure so extraordinary. I had roamed some waythrough the dense forest, far from any human habitation, accom
paniedonly by my faithful dog "Jumbo," a magnificent Cuban bloodhound, whonever left my side, and was the cleverest as well as the bravest animalI ever possessed. I had with me my trusty double-barrelled rifle, arevolver, and a hunting-knife, and had for many days depended for mysupply of food upon my skill as a marksman. I remember that it was alovely day, and as the dense foliage of the woods protected me from theheat of the sun, I rambled on and on in pleasant and listless securityfor many a mile. At length it happened that I approached a large tree,standing rather apart from its forest companions, and conspicuous notonly by the size of its trunk, but by the magnificent limbs which itthrew out on every side. I was already within a few yards of this treewhen I observed something which caused me to stand still and gaze uponit before I advanced further. One large branch hung across my line ofmarch, and in a few seconds I should have passed immediately beneathit; but it was something in connection with this very branch whicharrested my footsteps. The day was perfectly calm and still; not abreath of wind was to be perceived, and yet I fancied that I saw theleaves with which this branch was thickly covered, tremble and rustlejust as if a breeze was blowing through them. As I stood wondering whatcould be the cause of this strange occurrence, and doubtful whether ornot to proceed, my doubts were cleared away in a manner more alarmingthan agreeable. Suddenly I perceived, rearing itself among the leaves,the hideous head of a gigantic snake. In another instant, whether tore-arrange its position or for what other reason I know not, thereptile dropped down from the branch to the length of some three orfour feet, and swing for a moment or two like the pendulum of a clock,from the branch around which its tail and part of its body remainedcurled. I could not tell how long or large it might be, but I saw quitesufficient to assure me that it was a snake of very great size, and Ishuddered to think of my possible fate had I passed beneath the branchin ignorance of its terrible tenant.
"I hastily retraced my steps for a few yards, and passing the tree atsome little distance, determined to quit the neighbourhood of sodangerous a creature. The tree upon which it had taken up its positionwas upon the side of a somewhat steep hill, and it so happened that Ihad walked some way along the said hill very much lower down, and wasnow working my way back in a line parallel to my previous passage.
"I had not gone many yards beyond the snake's tree, before the mannerof my dog attracted my attention. He threw up his head, sniffed the airuneasily, and then gave vent to a low whine which, from previousexperience, I knew full well to betoken the presence of danger. At thesame moment, listening with eager attention, and with an acuteness ofhearing which those only possess who live such a life of wild,dangerous activity as mine was at that time, I fancied that I heard thecracking of a stick under the foot of man. It seemed to be at somedistance off, and apparently far below where I was standing. The treeswere too thick to enable me to see far, but creeping forward a little,and standing on the trunk of a fallen tree, I endeavoured to look downthe hill as much as the fall of the ground permitted. It so happenedthat there was a space of ground somewhat less thickly surrounded bytrees than the rest of the forest, over which I had passed in myprevious journey, and it was upon this space that I looked, being manyfeet above it. You may imagine my feelings when I caught sight of anIndian, fully armed and decked in his war-paint, just crossing thisspace, and evidently examining the ground before him with the greatestcare. I should have thought but little of this, indeed, but for thatwhich followed. He crossed the space, and immediately after him camenine of his companions, horrible-looking creatures, travelling insingle file and closely following in their leader's footsteps. Horrorof horrors! they were upon my track. I knew it but too well! there wasI, alone in the wild forest, with no less than ten deadly foes afterme, whose object undoubtedly was to take my life, and not improbablywith some of those tortures with which Indians delight to amusethemselves at the expense of their captives.
"Now I happened to have a decided preference for living, if I could,and, if I _must_ die, for dying in a respectable manner. The ideaof having my scalp torn from my head, and hung up in the wigwam of awild savage, was extremely repugnant to me, and I determined at once toavoid such an unpleasant catastrophe if I possibly could. The questionwas, however, as to the best way in which this could be accomplished.If I pushed on through the forest, it could not be long before theseenemies, hardy and used to the woods, and animated with their savagedesire for my life, would overtake me, when, perhaps, I might be toofatigued to offer any real resistance. If I stood firm where I was,what could I hope to do against ten men? If, on the other hand, Iassumed a friendly air and advanced to meet them, I knew theirtreacherous nature too well to harbour for an instant the thought thatthey would treat me otherwise than as a captive taken in war. Indeed,should it be otherwise, my best fate would probably be to be obliged tojoin their tribe, very likely to marry several very unpleasant squaws,and to drag out my weary existence far away from scenes into whichchristianity or civilisation had penetrated. My aim, then, must be toescape from the clutches of these savages by some method or another,and I was indeed puzzled what to do. I had not much time to deliberate,and after a moment's thought, I decided to lie down flat behind thetrunk of the tree on which I had been standing, and calmly await theevent. I looked carefully to my rifle and revolver, both of which Iascertained to be loaded and ready for action, I bid my brave Jumbo liedown at my feet, which the intelligent animal immediately did,crouching quite close to the fallen tree, and then, having so disposedmy body that I could see under one of the branches of the tree, andwatch the approach of my enemies, I remained still and hoped for thebest. It seemed to me hours before they came near. In reality it couldnot have been much more than half an hour, for the spot at which I hadseen them could have been barely three miles, even by the zig-zag linewhich I had followed, and as I, having had no suspicion of the presenceof a foe, had taken no precaution to conceal my track, they were notdelayed in their pursuit by any trouble in discovering my footsteps. Onthey came, steadily and silently, and I saw them from my hiding-placerapidly approaching me. The foremost Indian had already arrived at thespot from which I had gazed at the overhanging branch and its fearfuloccupant, and stopped for an instant at the place where my footstepsended, evidently puzzled as to what I had done, and where I had gonefrom that point.
"Not long, however, did he hesitate, but, casting a glance right andleft, moved rapidly forward towards the tree, to discover whether anytraces were to be found in that direction. Three or four of his rapid,noiseless strides brought him beneath the fatal branch: enemy as hewas, I longed to warn him, despite the danger to myself, but it wasmore than I dared venture to do, and in another instant it was toolate. With sudden and awful rapidity the snake darted downwards fromthe branch and struck the unfortunate wretch--a piercing yell rangthrough the woods, but the victim cried in vain. Encircled by the coilsof the mighty reptile, his doom was sealed beyond hope, and I turned myhead from the horrible sight of the last struggles of my miserable foe.His companions rushed hastily back as they saw their leader's fate, andI earnestly hoped that this misfortune would have induced them todesist from their pursuit. It was not so, however, but after the lapseof a few moments only, I saw them making casts like hounds directed bya huntsman, and presently they discovered the place where I had turnedaside, and came eagerly forward on my track. There was no time to belost: they were little more than twenty yards from my tree, and I had afull view of them. Nine more savage-looking rascals you never saw.Their war-paint made them appear even more ugly than nature had madethem, although that was somewhat difficult. Only three of them carriedrifles, the rest being armed, as far as I could see, only withtomahawks and hunting-knives. They were evidently "braves," orwarriors, all of them, and by their appearance and the expression upontheir faces, I felt very sure that they were in that excited state thatmy chance of mercy would be but small if I should be so unfortunate asto fall into their hands. I determined, therefore, to act with vigourand decision, and, if the worst came to the worst, to sell my lifedea
rly at all events. When, therefore, my enemies were barely fifteenyards from me, I suddenly sprang to my feet, uttering at the same timethe loudest and most outlandish howl I could command, by way of awar-cry, which Jumbo echoed by a bark more like the roar of a lion thanthe sound made by an ordinary dog. As I had expected, this suddenmovement on my part took the Indians entirely by surprise, and causedthem to come to a halt on the instant. Whilst they were thus stationaryI fired both barrels of my rifle as quickly as possible, selecting astheir object two of those who had firearms in their hands. The foremostman threw up his arms and dropped like a log, whilst the bullet of thesecond barrel, fired somewhat hastily, only struck an Indian in theshoulder. Scarcely waiting, however, to see the result, I had no soonerfired than I bounded down the hill, reloading as fast as I could, andclosely followed by the faithful Jumbo. The Indians, disconcerted bythe suddenness of my appearance and attack, stood still for a momentwithout any effort to pursue me. Not long, however, was this the case,for a wild yell of anger and revenge rang through the air, and I knewthat my relentless foes were again upon my track. I did not run far,for being expert at loading, my rifle was soon ready, and I well knewthat all depended upon my speedy and effective use of the trustyweapon. Not fifty yards from the spot whence I had fired my first shot,I reached an open space, across which I bounded like a deer, and placedmyself behind a large tree upon the further side. A few seconds after,and the enemy rushed into the space, and at a glance I perceived thatthere were only seven. My shots, then, had both told! Inspirited bythis good fortune, I felt my nerves grow steadier on the instant, andas the foremost savage bounded towards me, I fired upon him with deadlyeffect. He fell; and his six comrades immediately sought shelter in thebushes, but not before the shot from my second barrel reduced theirnumber to five. Without an instant's delay, I darted down the hillagain, at the base of which flowed a stream which I desired to reach,hoping to find some place on the opposite bank where I might make astand. But my pursuers, grown wise by experience, no longer followed metogether, but, spreading out right and left ran silently yet swiftlytowards me. Full well did I know that they would do so, and that I mustuse every stratagem within my power if I desired to escape with mylife.
"Accordingly, after I had gone a short distance, I seized the branchof a tree, and swung myself up as quietly and quickly as I could,motioning to Jumbo with my hand to continue his course, which theclever animal did for some little way, and then stopped. It fell out asI had hoped. Presently a light footstep came nearer and nearer to thetree upon which I sat, and an Indian, creeping softly forward, stoleactually within three yards of the spot. He passed me and went silentlyforward for a few steps, when again the report of my rifle rang throughthe woods, and I had but four foemen to contend with. But I knew onlytoo well the risk I had run in order thus to diminish their number._I was no longer certain that all my enemies were behind me._ All I_did_ know was, that four active, unwounded, ferocious men weresomewhere near at hand, thirsting for my blood, and that I had but myrifle and my trusty hound to depend on to save me from their clutches.
"I remained perfectly still, not venturing even to reload my rifle, andlistened with an eagerness which became agony. Not a sound could I hearof any sort or description. The Indians had evidently become alive totheir danger, and were employing all the cunning of their race in orderto avoid their own destruction and compass mine. Jumbo also wascertainly aware that he had a part to play, and was in all probabilitylying still until I should summon him to my side. The suspense wasawful, and all the more so as I knew perfectly well that a falsemove--or perhaps any move at all--might be fatal to my hopes of escape.
"How long this state of things endured I can hardly tell you, for mynerves were strung to that tension that I could take no account oftime. It might have been, for aught I knew, five minutes or five hours,but probably the former is more nearly correct. As soon as I had shotthe last Indian, I had drawn myself back to the thickest part of thebranch on which I sat, and believed that I was invisible to the eyes ofanyone below. I soon discovered my mistake, however, and that in amanner which very nearly put an end to me and my adventure together. AsI waited anxiously for the next scene in this exciting drama, Isuddenly felt my hunting cap struck from my head, whilst the sound of arifle-shot rang unpleasantly near to my ears: a bullet had passedthrough my cap within an inch of my head!
"One of the Indians had certainly caught sight of me, and, aiming fromsome hiding-place hard by, had fired the shot which had so nearlyproved fatal.
"Of course it would have been sheer madness to remain where I was forone moment longer, for another shot might, and probably would, provemore successful. Quick as lightning the thought flashed through mybrain, that my only chance was to deceive my enemy into the belief thathe had accomplished his purpose. Accordingly, in an instant I droppedheavily to the ground. Fortunately I had no great distance to fall, andas I did so, I kept my rifle clasped closely to my breast. It happenedas I had anticipated, and even better than I had ventured to hope, forthe next moment all four of my foes came rushing through the wood fromdifferent points, the man who had fired brandishing his rifle over hishead as he approached. He was within three or four yards of me when Isprang suddenly to my feet, and fired directly into his breast, withthe natural result of checking his career for ever. No sooner had Ifired than I rushed again down the hill at full speed, calling to myhound as I ran.
"The three remaining Indians did not stop with their slain friend foran instant, but, incensed beyond measure at his death and the successof my stratagem, followed me at best speed, much too closely to bepleasant. I determined, however, to reach and cross the stream ifpossible, and made every effort to do so. There was a small spacenearly clear of trees and bushes between the edge of the wood and thestream, beyond which the wood again stretched away far and wide. Ireached this space, and was within a couple of yards of the stream whenmy foes were upon me. Fearing that they might take me at disadvantage,I turned and suddenly confronted them--three horrid looking ruffiansthey were--their eyes gleaming with fury, and their appearancealtogether enough to frighten any civilised person out of his wits.
"When I turned they were four or five yards from me--most fortunatelynone of them had firearms, not having stayed their pursuit to pick upthe rifles of their deceased companions--each of them, however, had histomahawk, and each hurled it at my head as I turned to face them.Dropping suddenly on one knee, I was fortunate enough to escape theseweapons, which all whizzed harmlessly over my head: the three men were,however, close at hand, and I had no time to escape them. At thismoment, however, I recollected an old trick of which I had readsomewhere or other, and which I instantly resolved to put in practice.Rising from my knee, I rushed to meet one of the Indians, and as hefuriously came upon me, I suddenly stooped quite low, evaded the blowwhich he struck over me, and seizing him by both ankles, lifted him bysheer muscular strength over myself, so that he fell with greatviolence upon his head several yards behind me, carried forward by theforce of his own weight and impetus. The other two were so confused atthis occurrence, that they lost the single moment in which they mighthave struck me a deadly blow without the possibility of my warding itoff. The next moment Jumbo sprang upon one of them, whilst I confrontedthe other.
"My first object was to seize the wrist of the hand which held hishunting knife. I had no time to draw my own, and my only hope was todeprive my enemy of his weapon. In an instant we closed and grappledfuriously. I kept firm hold of his wrist, however, well knowing thatthis was my safety. After a short struggle we rolled on the groundtogether, and the Indian's hand coming in contact with something hard,he dropped the fatal knife. We were now upon more equal terms, butstill there were many chances against me. My foe was a tall, brawny,muscular man, a hardy son of the woods, and, like myself, now fightingfor his life. Never shall I forget that moment. In the midst of thatterrible struggle, when I was putting forth all my strength andconcentrating every effort in order to gain the mastery, the pleasantmeadows of dear
old England came up in a vision, as it were, before myeyes, and familiar home scenes flashed like lightning across my sight.I redoubled my efforts, but the savage had succeeded in grasping mythroat with one of his hands, and it was with the greatest difficulty Icould draw my breath. My eyes seemed to grow dull and heavy, there wasthe roar of ten thousand surges in my ears, my temples throbbed as ifthey would burst, and I felt creeping over me a terrible sensation ofdespair, which I shall never forget whilst I have power to rememberanything.
"All at once there came upon my hearing the sound as of a short, sharproar of fury--the Indian's grasp was loosened--my sight came back tome, again I heard, I recovered consciousness just sufficiently to seemy faithful Jumbo with his mighty teeth fixed in the throat of my dyingenemy, and then I sank back in a dead faint.
"How long I remained in this state it is impossible for me to say. Iwas awakened by a soft, cooling sensation on my forehead, and openingmy eyes, regained sufficient consciousness to be aware that an Indianmaiden was bathing my feverish brow with cold water from theneighbouring stream, whilst my dog, usually so ferocious, was couchednear, regarding her with friendly eyes, and evidently quite aware thatshe was performing a kindly office, and was not to be interrupted. Istrove to speak; but my benefactress forbade me with an expressivegesture, placing her finger lightly upon my lips.
"'White broder no speak,' she said, in the low guttural accents of herrace; 'no open him lips. Silence berry good. Talkee hurt.'
"I was too confused and, I hope, too grateful to disobey, and remainedperfectly quiet whilst the maiden continued her interesting occupationfor several minutes, during which time I had an opportunity ofattentively observing her. She was certainly one of the loveliest--nay,_the_ loveliest of Indian maidens. Although she had not quite asmany clothes on as an European damsel would consider necessary, theirabsence only served to disclose the perfect symmetry of her form, thegraceful rounding of her limbs, and the natural dignity of her everymovement. Her eyes, large and soft as those of the gazelle, werefringed with the most magnificent eye-lashes you can imagine, and whenshe cast them down, she presented an ideal of female modesty andrefinement, which could not be surpassed by the most fashionable younglady that ever graced a London drawing-room. When she smiled, her facelighted up like that of a lovely child when, just awakened, it sees theloving face of its mother bending over it, and, in a word, purity,innocence, and natural beauty seemed all concentrated in the form,features, and expression of this child of the woods. Such at least wasthe thought which occupied my breast as I lay still and gazed upon thegentle being who was ministering to my wants in so agreeable a manner,and I think I could have stayed in the same position some time longerwithout any great desire to move. But, after a little while, the maidenceased to bathe my brow, and addressing me in the same tones as before,said, 'White broder sit up now. Him better. Him no die dis time.' Imechanically obeyed, sat up, and felt much better already. In fact,there was no reason why I should not be so, for, save and except theexertion and excitement which I had undergone, and the near approach tostrangulation from which Jumbo had providentially saved me, I hadreally received no bodily injury. It really seems a strange thing tolook back upon, but here had been ten men against one poor wayfarer,and yet the ten had perished, and he was left alive. I did not think,however, of looking back at that moment; my thoughts were fixed upon mynew friend: who or what was she,--where did she come from,--could shepossibly be one of the tribe who had been upon my trail? If so, whydid she not kill and scalp me whilst I lay senseless on the ground?Horrible thought! my head seemed to feel the knife, and I could fancythe awful wrench with which one's scalp would go; but I had no need forsuch thoughts. My scalp was safe and sound, and the maiden evidentlycould not belong to my enemies. The only way to find out the truthabout her was to ask, so, adopting my style to her own, I began withoutloss of time.
"'My sister very good;--kind to poor white broder. Where my sister comefrom? How she happen to be in woods? Is she far from her home? And whatmy sister's name?'
"The girl laughed, and looked down upon the ground as she replied atonce:
"'White broder ask many questions. Pale-face always much talkee.Moon-eye not tell eberything. No good too much talkee.'
"I doubted what to say next. I had gained one piece of informationcertainly, since the damsel evidently referred to herself as 'Moon-eye,'which was undoubtedly an appropriate name for her, and had been givenby someone who was no bad judge of eyes in general, and hers inparticular. But I wanted to know a great deal more, whilst at the sametime I was anxious not to appear rude or inquisitive. So I remainedsilent for a little while, when presently she rose to her feet andaddressed me in the following words:
"'Pale-face broder come now. "Moon-eye" show way.'
"I obeyed without hesitation, and prepared to go wherever she led, forin fact I had no alternative. It was very unlikely that the girl wasalone in the forest, and if not, the eyes and ears of her friends mighteven at this moment be within sight and hearing, in which case mypolicy, as well as my inclination, would be to appear to be upon thebest possible terms with her, and to approach them in her company andunder her guidance. I felt somewhat weak when I attempted to walk, butas it was only weakness, I knew it would soon pass away, and so saidnothing, but quietly followed my guide. She walked down to the littlestream before mentioned, then turned along its bank and proceeded forseveral hundred yards until she came to a place where the water was soshallow as to enable us easily to wade over, which we did, and plungedinto the woods on the other side. By this time, I thought I might aswell try to get a little more conversation out of my friend, andtherefore accosted her with some ordinary question, but she immediatelyturned round and, placing her finger on her lips, said, in a voice solow as to be little more than a whisper:
"'No talkee--enemy in woods. Moon-eye prisoner once. No want catcheeagain.'
"For the first time the truth now dawned upon me, and I understood thereason of the exceeding kindness bestowed upon me by the Indian damsel,which I had previously attributed either to her own natural humanity,or to admiration for my noble and prepossessing appearance. But, as Iafterwards discovered,'Moon-eye' had been carried off from her tribe bya party of thieving Indians, who, in order to elude pursuit, haddivided in their journey, ten of them being entrusted with the captivemaiden. While passing through this part of the woods, they had struckmy trail, and, seeing it to be recent, had left the prisoner bound, andhastily followed, intending to finish me off before they continuedtheir journey. Fortunately for me it had turned out otherwise, but itmight not have been fortunate for 'Moon-eye' had she not succeeded infreeing herself from the bonds in which she had been left. They musthave been less carefully tied than most Indian fastenings that I haveseen; but I fancy the girl had rather deceived her captors bypretending to go with them more willingly than was really the case, andperchance a desire to avoid injuring her in any way had induced theIndians to fasten her less tightly and securely than they mightotherwise have done. Anyhow, she contrived to get loose, and also tofind her way to the spot where I lay senseless, and where, as we haveseen, she treated me with a care and tenderness which I little expectedto encounter in the depth of the forest.
"Being admonished to silence I said no more, and we tramped on insilence, followed by the brave Jumbo. We had gone thus above a mile,when we heard a yell which proceeded from the direction of the place wehad quitted. My companion stopped short, and turning to me, said, in alow voice:
"'More bad Indian. Him hear shot. Him come back and find him brodershot. Him follow soon now. If catchee Moon-eye and pale-face broder,him killee for sartain.'
"This being very much my own opinion, I asked the girl how far off herfriends were, and as she now saw that something more than merecuriosity dictated the question, she replied at once:
"'Two--tree--twenty mile. Bad Indian catchee before get to camp.'
"On further inquiry I found that she thought there must have been fullfifty of the robbers who had atta
cked the camp of her people when mostof the warriors were absent--that they had captured several otherprisoners besides herself--that they had divided into three parties,doubtless for the sake of greater safety in their flight, and that oneof these parties had sundry horses laden with plunder, whilst the otherparty had the remaining captives. In all probability the shots firedduring my combat with the ten Indians, who had been in charge of her,had been heard by one or both of these parties, and the cries we nowheard proceeded from them. They would certainly follow upon our trail,and our chances of escape depended as much upon the numbers of ourpursuers as upon any skill or strength of ours. For if thirty or fortywarriors were behind us, not only would resistance be vain, but weshould probably be surrounded before we had travelled far, whereas ifonly a few of the savages had returned, and made the discovery of thedeath of their friends, there was greater hope that we might eludethem. Our only chance was to push on, and, having more than a milestart, we must make the best of it. Accordingly,'Moon-eye' advancedrapidly and cautiously, and I followed her, through the forest, and wemust have gone quite another mile before we exchanged a word. By thistime we had arrived at a sort of hill, upon which the trees grew lessthickly than at other parts of the forest. At the foot of this hill theground broke away to the right, the trees became still more scanty, anda wide chasm yawned at the distance of some twenty yards from where westood, the descent into which was down a precipice many feet in height,whilst on the other side of the chasm the forest rose again, and grewon in unbroken continuity. To the left the trees were somewhat thicker,and some forty or fifty yards before us, as we bore to that side inascending the hill, we perceived a building of some sort, towards whichmy companion directed her way. Making me a sign to remain where I wasfor a moment, she crept forward to reconnoitre, and presentlyreturning, motioned me to follow her, whilst she made her way directlyto the right, in the direction of the precipice, to the very edge ofwhich she advanced. Thence we looked down into a frightful abyss, downwhich, if one had tumbled, one would have had no chance of escape. Bitsof jagged rock projected here and there; vegetation seemed suspendedfor some distance down, and then the eye rested upon thick and tangledbushes jutting out from the sides of the rock, and completelyconcealing the bottom of the chasm, if, indeed, it had any bottom atall, for it might be endless as far as one could see from the top.Leaning carefully forward, my companion tore a branch or two from thebushes growing near the edge of the precipice, and gave the place theappearance of having been disturbed by the passage of some heavy body.She then took from my neck a handkerchief, which I had on by way of aneck-cloth, and which I did not in the least want to part with, but, ofcourse, gave it up readily at her request; then she calmly dropped itover the side of the precipice, so that it hung upon one of the fewbushes which grew a little way down the chasm. She then turned to meand said, in a low voice:
"'Bad Indian tink him fall down cliff--no follow any more;' and withthese words noiselessly retraced her way, treading so carefully in herformer footsteps as to make it appear as if there was only one trail,and that pointing _towards_ the precipice.
"When we had arrived at the spot from which she had previously gone toreconnoitre, we slowly ascended by the same way she had travelledbefore, carefully covering up and hiding all trace of our footstepsuntil we had reached the building to which I have already alluded.
"It was apparently composed entirely of logs, and seemed as if it hadbeen built for the lodge, or more likely a place of refuge, for somehunting party. The logs were roughly hewn, but skilfully laid together,forming a strong building, with only one entrance, and that by means ofa door which had long since been broken down and destroyed. There were,however, two stories to the building, and as soon as we had entered thedoorway, we found ourselves in a large room, some ten feet high atleast, with a strong flooring of logs overhead. 'Moon-eye' rapidly madeher way to one corner of this place, where stood some rude woodensteps, above which was an opening in the flooring above. These sheascended, motioning me to follow, and we presently crept through theopening into the upper room. This was lighted by two windows, one ateach side, and had a stout roof overhead. There was no furniturewhatever in it, but only a number of dried leaves, which seemed to haveblown in at the windows from time to time, since the place had beendeserted. 'Moon-eye' trod gently across the floor towards one of thosewindows, and on following her I found that it commanded a view in thedirection from which we had come, but a view limited of course by thetrees which grew within a short distance of the building. Turning tome, the girl now whispered in her own guttural accents:
"'Bad Indian no come here, 'fraid of wicked spirit--kill much hunterhere one day--times ago.'
"I gathered from this remark that the place in which we were, had beenthe scene of some cruel massacre by the Indians in days past, and thatthe savages probably avoided it from superstitious fear. This gave me adouble pleasure, for whilst it increased my hopes of safety for themaiden as well as for myself, it showed me, that she was one of thoseIndians whom superior intelligence, and perhaps a better education thanis common among the females of her race, had raised above their commonprejudices. Her plan was easily to be perceived. Could the pursuers beled to believe that we had fallen down the precipice, perhaps havingturned aside from our path with a natural desire to avoid the hauntedbuilding, they would perhaps abandon further pursuit, and continuetheir journey. The place in which we now were, might have been easilydefended by a few men against a much larger number of enemies; and, asI had my rifle with me, I might have made a stand even where I was, butit was absolutely necessary to leave the door and the aperture into theupper room open, inasmuch as the sight of any defence, however slight,would at once disclose our hiding-place to those who sought us. Nor,indeed, was there much time for consideration as to the best plan toadopt. In going to and returning from the edge of the precipice, andsubsequently in concealing our trail, we had occupied some little time;and scarcely had we reached the upper story, than a yell arose from theforest which betokened the immediate advance of the foe. There was buta moment for reflection; through the chinks of the logs near one of thewindows, we could see without being seen, and here we took our station,watching and waiting in breathless suspense. We had not long to wait.For some little time all was silence, and the forest looked so peacefuland lovely, that it was difficult to believe it full of savage enemiesthirsting for our blood.
"Meanwhile, I have forgotten to tell you of that which was at onemoment our great difficulty, namely, my old friend Jumbo. Invaluable ashe was in a fight, when the question became one of concealing a trail,he was very much the reverse. His trail was easy enough to discover,and we were rather puzzled what to do about it. The dog, however, wasso intelligent that I felt sure he would understand the necessity ofour separation for a time. So when we turned from our first track inorder to approach the building, I pointed into the woods in thecontrary direction, and bade him in the most impressive manner to goand wait for me there. The clever animal looked at me for a moment asif to fully take in what I had said, and then quietly turned round andentered the forest in obedience to my command. We were, therefore,unincumbered by his presence whilst we awaited the coming of ourenemies in breathless anxiety in the upper story of the building.
"The savages were doubtless following up our trail all this time,silently, slowly, but surely. The yells we had heard at first, were ofcourse caused by their discovery of the bodies of their friends: whythere had been a second yell, I have never discovered to this day,unless it was that they had lost our trail for a moment, and that ithad been found again by some young warrior who had not sufficientexperience or self-restraint to prevent his announcing the welcome factby a shout. However this may be, they yelled no more, and after we hadwaited for some ten minutes or less, the party arrived at the spotwhence we had ascended the hill, that is to say, within some fiftyyards of the place where we lay.
"As I have already said, the trees were thinner here than elsewhere,and we could from this cause see suf
ficiently well to discern objectsmoving about at that distance.
"It was late in the afternoon now, but the light was still good, and'Moon-eye' looked with keen and anxious eyes through the chinks of thelogs in the direction of the savages. Though we could not count them,we soon saw that there were certainly more than twenty of the rascals.
"The truth was, that _both_ the other two parties had heard the firingwhich occurred during my fight with the ten who had attacked me, butneither party liked to retrace their steps with their captives, andeach had therefore again divided, and sent back a portion of theirnumber to follow up the matter. These two divisions had met, and theirmeeting and explanations had probably caused just that delay which hadenabled us to take shelter in our present place of refuge.
"All was silence for a few moments longer, whilst we saw the duskyforms of the savages flitting, like evil spirits, through the trees atthe foot of the hill, and moving in the direction in which we had gone.Then presently came a tremendous yell of mingled surprise anddisappointment. They had evidently arrived at the spot where we wishedthem to believe we had fallen over the precipice. There was no moresilence now, but on the contrary a Babel of tongues arose, and thesavages chattered one to another like a number of old women over theirwashing-tubs, if I may make such an irreverent comparison.
"My companion turned her head to me and smiled pleasantly, whilst hereyes laughed with joy:
"'Sioux fool,' she whispered (from which remark I first learned thetribe to which our foes belonged). 'Pawnee girl cheat him well. Nocheat Pawnee warrior so!'
"I said nothing, for I did not like the silence that suddenly ensued.Whether some wiser chief had spoken, or what was the reason, I knewnot, but the clamour and confusion ceased all at once, and the Indiansbegan to return from the edge of the precipice, and spread themselvesaround the foot of the hill as if in search of some new trail, or tomake sure that they had made no mistake. Still we lay quite quiet,convinced that this was our best chance of safety, and hoping that thesuperstitious fears of the savages would keep them from entering ourhiding-place.
"As they took no particular pains to conceal their movements, we couldplainly hear the leaves rustle, and the dried sticks crash as theytramped through the surrounding woods; but for some time no oneapproached the building. Then, all of a sudden, we heard a footstepclose below us. How we wished that it was a couple of hours later, whenwe might have hidden more securely in one of the dark corners of theroom. This, however, was impossible, and we could only lie still wherewe were, still trusting that even if an Indian were found bold enoughto enter the place in which we were, he would be content withinspecting the lower apartment. Presently the step entered thebuilding, stealthily as that of a wolf creeping after his prey. Amoment of intense anxiety followed, to be succeeded by one of asintense disgust. The steps creaked beneath the weight of a man, and thehead and shoulders of a powerful savage appeared above the opening. Forone instant he gazed round, his eyes being as yet unaccustomed to theimperfect light.
"Had I been alone, I should probably have closed the aforesaid eyeswith a bullet then and there, but my companion restrained me with agesture, and in another second it was too late. The Indian naturallysaid 'Hugh,' in a deep guttural tone. I never knew or read of an Indianwho did _not_ say 'Hugh' in a similar emergency, and the next moment hedisappeared. Then arose a shout which summoned his comrades, and withina couple of minutes, my companion and I were standing outside theunlucky building, with five-and-twenty of the most unpleasant lookingsavages howling around us, in a manner doubtless most delightful tothemselves, but to us the very reverse.
"The gentleman who had discovered us was evidently the chief of theparty. He had got my rifle, confound him, and stood regarding us withsuch a complacent, self-satisfied air that I would have paid downhalf-a-crown cheerfully to have had one drive at his nose with myclenched fist. This, however, was out of the question, partly becauseit would have been a very rash and foolish proceeding under existingcircumstances, and partly because it would have been somewhatdifficult, seeing that my arms were securely fastened behind my backwith ropes of bark. Poor 'Moon-eye' was also bound, and did not seemmuch to approve of the arrangement.
"The chief now approached us, and looked me steadfastly in the face,whilst I, having nothing better to do, looked back at him. Presently hegave a deep kind of cough or clearing of the throat, and after utteringthe usual 'Hugh,' remarked that he was 'Pig-face,' and a very greatchief. To this I responded, in plain English, that I didn't think muchof the name for beauty, but had no doubt but that he was a tremendous'swell' in his own country, to which remark he gravely bowed assent,evidently not understanding a word of it. He then came close to me,and, lightly touching me on the shoulder, exclaimed in a somewhatexcited tone, 'Pale-face tief--no good--kill Pig-face young man--carryoff Pig-face squaw--must die.'
"Before I could by any possibility reply, 'Moon-eye' had interposedwith a torrent of invective of which I had scarcely supposed hercapable. She was terribly disgusted, I think (and no wonder at it) atbeing called Pig-face's squaw by that illustrious chief, and shecertainly told him so in pretty plain terms, if her language (which Idid not understand) at all corresponded to her voice and manner. Thisscene, however, could not last long. Although the Indian chief hadkindly informed me of my doom, it was not his intention that it shouldbe immediately fulfilled. He and his party had travelled many milesthat day, and felt inclined for a rest before going further; added towhich I imagine that they thought it would be more congenial to theirfeelings to kill me in their own village. Accordingly, they very kindlypostponed that operation for the present, and leading us to a spot notmore than half a mile distant from our late refuge, prepared to encampfor the night. Each of us captives, lady as well as gentleman, wasbound to a tree, which is by no means the easiest position in which topass the night, especially when vigilant eyes are upon you the wholetime, which was the case in this instance, as the Indians relieved eachother every two hours, so that we were closely watched through thewhole night, and had no opportunity of communicating with each other.Early in the morning the party again set out, and poor 'Moon-eye' andI, but little rested, were forced to accompany them, much against ourinclination. I will do the savages the justice to observe that theyloosened the girl's arms during the morning, but as they neglected toperform the same kindness in my case, I felt remarkably uncomfortable.We journeyed along for some distance, until we came to an open grassyspace, upon which we halted, and our captors, producing some venisonmeat, sat down to make a meal, unbinding my arms for a while, andpressed both me and my companion to share their food. I had carefullycounted their number during our march, and found that there weretwenty-four men, besides the excellent chief Pig-face, so that even ifI had been free and armed, I could neither have resisted nor escapedfrom so great a number. I therefore determined to forbear from any suchattempt, which, besides being useless, might increase the severity ofour treatment.
"As we sat, the chief again approached us and indulged in some moreconversation. He spoke after the usual fashion of Indians, praisinghimself and his people a good deal, abusing me and all white peoplegenerally, and assuring me that my scalp should hang at his belt beforemany days were past. I bethought me of all the wise things which I hadread of as having been said by 'Hawk-eye,' in Fennimore Cooper'simmortal books, and could have prated for half an hour about 'Whiteman's gifts,' and 'Red man's gifts,' if I had been so disposed. As,however, the only 'gift' which I desired at that moment was one whichwould have enabled me to set my companion and myself free, I did notcare to indulge in those sage moral reflections which always seemed tome as I read them singularly out of place and extremely unlikely tohave formed part of the conversation of a backwoodsman. I thereforemerely thanked the savage, and informed him at the same time that myscalp was exceedingly comfortable where it was, and that I had nodesire for its removal, a remark which he received with much composure,and probably imagined to be a reply entirely to the purpose. Then hebegan to tell my beautiful
Moon-eye that she was foolish to have runaway, that no one could withstand Pig-face, and that she shouldundoubtedly share his wigwam before long.
"The maiden heard him this time in dignified silence, and after a whilehe left off talking, and directed his people to prepare to continuetheir journey.
"We walked for a considerable distance, and having re-crossed thestream near which my first encounter had taken place, travelled forseveral miles without the occurrence of any incident worthy of noteuntil the second evening arrived. Whether the savages felt more secureon account of being nearer their village, or from any other cause, Icannot say, but certain it is that they now so far relaxed theirvigilance as to suffer my arms to be unbound for a time, and neither Inor Moon-eye were apparently so closely watched during the supper hour.Still, we knew but too well that keen eyes were upon us, and thatflight was out of the question.
"When the Indians had finished their meal, my companion and I were bothtied again, but not so fast as before, or at least not in soobjectionable a manner. We were suffered to lie down, our hands werefastened before us, and a rope round one ankle secured each of us to atree. So darkness crept over the forest, and the savages were soonburied in sleep.
"Presently a low whine attracted my attention, and I perceived myfaithful Jumbo, who had evidently followed us all the journey, too waryto expose himself to view before he saw an opportunity of being of use.Creeping gently up to me now, the affectionate brute first licked myhands and face, though the latter was an attention with which I confessI could have dispensed. Then he began gently to gnaw the bark ropeswhich bound my wrists, and in a very short time succeeded in freeing myhands. At that instant one of the Indians started up. Jumbo slunk awayin the shadow of the trees, whilst I kept my position, and endeavouredto appear as if I was fast asleep. The savage was soon satisfied, andlay down again, but I did not move for some minutes. Then I put out myhand and reached a knife which one of the party had carelessly leftwithin my reach; with this I severed the fastening which held me to thetree, and crawling a few yards, performed the same office for mycompanion.
"Still we were not much better off, for if we ventured to fly, we werecertain to be speedily pursued and brought back. Therefore we looked ateach other with a mutually disconsolate air, and hesitated what to donext. At this moment the hoot of an owl broke upon our ears. The eyesof the Indian maiden opened to their fullest extent: her nostrilsseemed to tremble with excitement as she listened, and her featuresworked with a convulsive movement. The cry was repeated.
"'Pawnee near--that him cry,' whispered the girl, and sat upright tolisten again.
"At that moment Pig-face suddenly sprang to his feet, as if he too hadheard and recognized the sound. But before he had time to utter a wordor cry, a furious yell broke the stillness of the night, and thewell-known war-cry of the Pawnees rang through the air. A band of thesebrave people had started in pursuit of their enemies as soon as theyhad discovered the theft of the latter, and the carrying off ofMoon-eye, upon their return to the camp. The Sioux would probably havegot clear off if, in the first place, the party of ten had not been sodesirous of getting my scalp, and if, in the second place, theirfriends had not thought it necessary to attempt to revenge their death.The time which they had lost in following and capturing us had enabledthe Pawnees to overtake them, and their surprise was complete. I mustsay for the fellows that they lost no time in flying, and that too withamazing dexterity, for they disappeared like magic on all sides,Pig-face included. Fortunately for them, the anxiety of the Pawnees torecover the lost maiden was much in favour of their escape, for itappeared that the warriors had reasoned, wisely enough, that if theysurrounded the camp, the position of the captives might be dangerous,whereas if they attacked on one side only the enemy would, in allprobability, be principally occupied in securing his own safety.
So, indeed, it turned out, and out of the twenty-five savages who hadcaptured us, I believe that nearly one-half escaped unhurt. More mighthave done so if the gallant Jumbo had not thought it necessary to takean active part in the combat, which he did by pursuing and pulling downseveral of the Sioux, who thus became easy victims to their pursuers.
"Pig-face and four of his men were taken unhurt, and when our friendsre-assembled, and congratulations had passed between them and Moon-eye,the latter, having introduced me to her tribe, told them of the fatewhich the Sioux chief had intended for each of us.
"The leader of the Pawnees, who rejoiced in the name of 'theRattle-snake,' and was painted to represent that interesting animal,approached the unhappy Pig-face after this, and gave him a piece of hismind upon the subject. I did not understand what he said, of course,being, as I told you before, somewhat ignorant of their language; but Iknew by the manner of the two that they were going on after the usualIndian fashion, the one telling the other that he should soon be tiedto the stake, and what jolly fun it would be to torture him till hehowled again, and the other replying that he was a great chief, thatthe other belonged to a nation of women, and that if he tortured him ashe said, he would see that a chief knew how to die.
"When they had satisfied themselves with this little interchange ofcompliments, 'the Rattle-snake' came up to me and spoke in his ownlanguage, saying, I have no doubt, several things which I should havevery much liked to understand. I suppose, however, that my countenanceshowed him that he might as well have been talking to one of the trees,for he presently turned to Moon-eye and beckoned her to approach, whichshe accordingly did. Then he spoke to her in the same tongue, and sheinterpreted what he said to me in her pretty broken English.
"'Chief say he tank pale-face broder for kill bad Indian. Pawnee himfriend,--white skin, Pawnee heart.'
"When I understood what the girl said, I replied at once that I wasvery much obliged for his good opinion, but that as a matter of fact mykilling the bad Indians was not on account of any particular friendshipfor his tribe, but because if I had not done so, the beggars wouldcertainly have killed _me_. 'The Rattle-snake' listened to thisexplanation with great attention, and answered through the interpreterthat this was doubtless very true, inasmuch as these thieving Indianswould kill any fellow they found in the woods if it suited theirpurpose; but that, nevertheless, a warrior who had assisted indisposing of so many Sioux _must_ be a friend to the Pawnees, even ifhe had never heard of them before.
"There was no arguing against such a reason as this, and I therefore atonce professed myself as a decided friend to the Pawnees, then and forever. To tell the truth, I was not disinclined to become so, sinceMoon-eye had made such a deep impression upon me, that I felt a naturalliking towards her people. The thought had several times crossed mymind during the last few days, whether I should not be much happier ifI gave up the roving life which I had followed so long, and settleddown comfortably in some quiet nook of the world, exchanging continualrestlessness for domestic tranquillity. Coupled with this thought cameanother, namely, that I had become so unused to the polished manners ofcivilized people, that an Indian home and an Indian bride mightpossibly bring me more happiness than a return to my native land. So Iresolved to accept the offer of the Pawnees to return with them totheir own village, and bethought me at the same time that if I couldbut win the heart of the lovely Moon-eye, I might settle down among herpeople and become a regular Pawnee.
"Perhaps, my dear children, this might have been the case, and yourdear uncle might now have been walking about with his head shaved forthe most part, with an eagle's feather behind his ear, moccasins on hisfeet, and in every respect a perfect Indian. One little circumstancealone prevented me, and this was the painful fact that Moon-eye herselftook a different view of the case. I soon discovered that her youngaffections had long been fixed upon a young chief of her tribe, whoenjoyed the appellation of 'the Rising Sun,' and as he seemed to returnthe young lady's feelings, I thought I should only get into hot waterif I acted upon my first idea. So I forthwith made up my mind that itwould be a shocking thing for a white man of my education and positionto marry an igno
rant Indian girl, and that it was evidently my duty tothink no more of it.
"I went to the Pawnee's village with them and stayed for a few weeksvery happily. You will perhaps be glad to hear that Pig-face and hisyoung men were not tortured after all. They were exchanged forprisoners whom the Sioux had taken in their last raid, and I neverheard any more about them. Moon-eye was very gracious to me whilst Iwas with her people, but it annoyed me to see that fellow 'Rising Sun'always following her about, and I therefore shortened my stay.
"Jumbo and I took our departure early one morning, and were accompaniedby a number of the tribe for some distance on our way. We had many morecurious adventures together in the woods, my trusty companion and I,and very lucky we were to have come so well out of them all. But onlooking back to my forest and wilderness life, I never remember to havehad a more stirring adventure than that of which I have just told you.It sometimes comes back to me now, as I lie awake at nights: I fancy Isee those ten vagabonds tramping after me through the woods,--thencomes the horrid scene with the snake--the battle--the slaughter--thewaking--the flight with Moon-eye--the capture--the rescue,--all comesflitting like a vision before my eyes, and I drop to sleep at last,wondering how I have been preserved through so much trouble and so manydangers, and thinking how lucky it is for you young ones to have arespectable old uncle with so many experiences to relate, and suchinteresting and curious tales with which to instruct and amuse youryoung minds."
Uncle Joe's Stories Page 4
