Chapter XXIX.
"The ugly bear now minded not the stake, Nor how the cruel mastiffs do him tear, The stag lay still unroused from the brake, The foamy boar feared not the hunter's spear: All thing was still in desert, bush, and briar:"
Thomas Sackville; "The Complaint of Henry Duke of Buckingham," lxxxi.
'Twas one of the common expedients of the savages, on such occasions,to put the nerves of their victims to the severest proofs. On the otherhand, it was a matter of Indian pride to betray no yielding to terror,or pain, but for the prisoner to provoke his enemies to such acts ofviolence as would soonest produce death. Many a warrior had been knownto bring his own sufferings to a more speedy termination, by tauntingreproaches and reviling language, when he found that his physical systemwas giving way under the agony of sufferings produced by a hellishingenuity that might well eclipse all that has been said of the infernaldevices of religious persecution. This happy expedient of taking refugefrom the ferocity of his foes, in their passions, was denied Deerslayerhowever, by his peculiar notions of the duty of a white man, and hehad stoutly made up his mind to endure everything, in preference todisgracing his colour.
No sooner did the young men understand that they were at liberty tocommence, than some of the boldest and most forward among them spranginto the arena, tomahawk in hand. Here they prepared to throw thatdangerous weapon, the object being to strike the tree as near aspossible to the victim's head, without absolutely hitting him. Thiswas so hazardous an experiment that none but those who were known to beexceedingly expert with the weapon were allowed to enter the listsat all, lest an early death might interfere with the expectedentertainment. In the truest hands it was seldom that the captiveescaped injury in these trials, and it often happened that deathfollowed, even when the blow was not premeditated. In the particularcase of our hero, Rivenoak and the older warriors were apprehensive thatthe example of the Panther's fate might prove a motive with some fieryspirit suddenly to sacrifice his conqueror, when the temptation ofeffecting it in precisely the same manner, and possibly with theidentical weapon with which the warrior had fallen, offered. Thiscircumstance of itself rendered the ordeal of the tomahawk doublycritical for the Deerslayer. It would seem, however, that all who nowentered what we shall call the lists, were more disposed to exhibittheir own dexterity, than to resent the deaths of their comrades. Eachprepared himself for the trial with the feelings of rivalry, ratherthan with the desire for vengeance, and, for the first few minutes, theprisoner had little more connection with the result, than grew out ofthe interest that necessarily attached itself to a living target. Theyoung men were eager, instead of being fierce, and Rivenoak thought hestill saw signs of being able to save the life of the captive when thevanity of the young men had been gratified; always admitting that it wasnot sacrificed to the delicate experiments that were about to be made.The first youth who presented himself for the trial was called TheRaven, having as yet had no opportunity of obtaining a more warlikesobriquet. He was remarkable for high pretension, rather than for skillor exploits, and those who knew his character thought the captivein imminent danger when he took his stand, and poised the tomahawk.Nevertheless, the young man was good natured, and no thought wasuppermost in his mind other than the desire to make a better cast thanany of his fellows. Deerslayer got an inkling of this warrior's wantof reputation by the injunctions that he had received from the seniors,who, indeed, would have objected to his appearing in the arena, at all,but for an influence derived from his father; an aged warrior ofgreat merit, who was then in the lodges of the tribe. Still, our heromaintained an appearance of self-possession. He had made up his mindthat his hour was come, and it would have been a mercy, instead of acalamity, to fall by the unsteadiness of the first hand that was raisedagainst him. After a suitable number of flourishes and gesticulationsthat promised much more than he could perform, the Raven let thetomahawk quit his hand. The weapon whirled through the air with theusual evolutions, cut a chip from the sapling to which the prisoner wasbound within a few inches of his cheek, and stuck in a large oak thatgrew several yards behind him. This was decidedly a bad effort, and acommon sneer proclaimed as much, to the great mortification of the youngman. On the other hand, there was a general but suppressed murmur ofadmiration at the steadiness with which the captive stood the trial. Thehead was the only part he could move, and this had been purposely leftfree, that the tormentors might have the amusement, and the tormentedendure the shame, of his dodging, and otherwise attempting to avoid theblows. Deerslayer disappointed these hopes by a command of nerve thatrendered his whole body as immovable as the tree to which he was bound.Nor did he even adopt the natural and usual expedient of shutting hiseyes, the firmest and oldest warrior of the red-men never having moredisdainfully denied himself this advantage under similar circumstances.
The Raven had no sooner made his unsuccessful and puerile effort, thanhe was succeeded by le Daim-Mose, or the Moose; a middle aged warriorwho was particularly skilful in the use of the tomahawk, and from whoseattempt the spectators confidently looked for gratification. This manhad none of the good nature of the Raven, but he would gladly havesacrificed the captive to his hatred of the pale-faces generally,were it not for the greater interest he felt in his own success asone particularly skilled in the use of this weapon. He took his standquietly, but with an air of confidence, poised his little axe buta single instant, advanced a foot with a quick motion, and threw.Deerslayer saw the keen instrument whirling towards him, and believedall was over; still, he was not touched. The tomahawk had actually boundthe head of the captive to the tree, by carrying before it some of hishair, having buried itself deep beneath the soft bark. A general yellexpressed the delight of the spectators, and the Moose felt his heartsoften a little towards the prisoner, whose steadiness of nerve aloneenabled him to give this evidence of his consummate skill.
Le Daim-Mose was succeeded by the Bounding Boy, or le Garcon qui Bondiwho came leaping into the circle, like a hound or a goat at play. Thiswas one of those elastic youths whose muscles seemed always in motion,and who either affected, or who from habit was actually unable, tomove in any other manner than by showing the antics just mentioned.Nevertheless, he was both brave and skilful, and had gained the respectof his people by deeds in war, as well as success in the hunts. Afar nobler name would long since have fallen to his share, had not aFrench-man of rank inadvertently given him this sobriquet, which hereligiously preserved as coming from his Great Father who lived beyondthe Wide Salt Lake. The Bounding Boy skipped about in front of thecaptive, menacing him with his tomahawk, now on one side and now onanother, and then again in front, in the vain hope of being ableto extort some sign of fear by this parade of danger. At lengthDeerslayer's patience became exhausted by all this mummery, and he spokefor the first time since the trial had actually commenced.
"Throw away, Huron," he cried, "or your tomahawk will forget its ar'n'd.Why do you keep loping about like a fa'a'n that's showing its dam howwell it can skip, when you're a warrior grown, yourself, and a warriorgrown defies you and all your silly antiks. Throw, or the Huron galswill laugh in your face."
Although not intended to produce such an effect, the last words arousedthe "Bounding" warrior to fury. The same nervous excitability whichrendered him so active in his person, made it difficult to repress hisfeelings, and the words were scarcely past the lips of the speakerthan the tomahawk left the hand of the Indian. Nor was it cast withoutill-will, and a fierce determination to slay. Had the intention beenless deadly, the danger might have been greater. The aim was uncertain,and the weapon glanced near the cheek of the captive, slightly cuttingthe shoulder in its evolutions. This was the first instance in whichany other object than that of terrifying the prisoner, and of displayingskill had been manifested, and the Bounding Boy was immediately led fromthe arena, and was warmly rebuked for his intemperate haste, which hadcome so near defeating all the hopes of the band. To this irritableperson succeeded several other young warriors,
who not only hurled thetomahawk, but who cast the knife, a far more dangerous experiment, withreckless indifference; yet they always manifested a skill that preventedany injury to the captive. Several times Deerslayer was grazed, but inno instance did he receive what might be termed a wound. The unflinchingfirmness with which he faced his assailants, more especially in the sortof rally with which this trial terminated, excited a profound respect inthe spectators, and when the chiefs announced that the prisoner hadwell withstood the trials of the knife and the tomahawk, there was not asingle individual in the band who really felt any hostility towardshim, with the exception of Sumach and the Bounding Boy. These twodiscontented spirits got together, it is true, feeding each other'sire, but as yet their malignant feelings were confined very much tothemselves, though there existed the danger that the others, ere long,could not fail to be excited by their own efforts into that demoniacalstate which usually accompanied all similar scenes among the red men.
Rivenoak now told his people that the pale-face had proved himself to bea man. He might live with the Delawares, but he had not been made womanwith that tribe. He wished to know whether it was the desire of theHurons to proceed any further. Even the gentlest of the females,however, had received too much satisfaction in the late trials to foregotheir expectations of a gratifying exhibition, and there was but onevoice in the request to proceed. The politic chief, who had some suchdesire to receive so celebrated a hunter into his tribe, as a EuropeanMinister has to devise a new and available means of taxation, soughtevery plausible means of arresting the trial in season, for he wellknew, if permitted to go far enough to arouse the more ferociouspassions of the tormentors, it would be as easy to dam the waters ofthe great lakes of his own region, as to attempt to arrest them in theirbloody career. He therefore called four or five of the best marksmen tohim, and bid them put the captive to the proof of the rifle, whileat the same time he cautioned them touching the necessity of theirmaintaining their own credit, by the closest attention to the manner ofexhibiting their skill.
When Deerslayer saw the chosen warriors step into the circle, with theirarms prepared for service, he felt some such relief as the miserablesufferer, who has long endured the agonies of disease, feels at thecertain approach of death. Any trifling variance in the aim of thisformidable weapon would prove fatal; since, the head being the target,or rather the point it was desired to graze without injuring, an inch ortwo of difference in the line of projection must at once determine thequestion of life or death.
In the torture by the rifle there was none of the latitude permittedthat appeared in the case of even Gessler's apple, a hair's breadthbeing, in fact, the utmost limits that an expert marksman would allowhimself on an occasion like this. Victims were frequently shot throughthe head by too eager or unskilful hands, and it often occurred that,exasperated by the fortitude and taunts of the prisoner, death wasdealt intentionally in a moment of ungovernable irritation. All thisDeerslayer well knew, for it was in relating the traditions of suchscenes, as well as of the battles and victories of their people, thatthe old men beguiled the long winter evenings in their cabins. Henow fully expected the end of his career, and experienced a sort ofmelancholy pleasure in the idea that he was to fall by a weapon as muchbeloved as the rifle. A slight interruption, however, took place beforethe business was allowed to proceed.
Hetty Hutter witnessed all that passed, and the scene at first hadpressed upon her feeble mind in a way to paralyze it entirely; but, bythis time she had rallied, and was growing indignant at the unmeritedsuffering the Indians were inflicting on her friend. Though timid, andshy as the young of the deer on so many occasions, this right-feelinggirl was always intrepid in the cause of humanity; the lessons of hermother, and the impulses of her own heart--perhaps we might say thepromptings of that unseen and pure spirit that seemed ever to watch overand direct her actions--uniting to keep down the apprehensions ofwoman, and to impel her to be bold and resolute. She now appeared in thecircle, gentle, feminine, even bashful in mien, as usual, but earnestin her words and countenance, speaking like one who knew herself to besustained by the high authority of God.
"Why do you torment Deerslayer, redmen?" she asked "What has he donethat you trifle with his life; who has given you the right to be hisjudges? Suppose one of your knives or tomahawks had hit him; what Indianamong you all could cure the wound you would make. Besides, in harmingDeerslayer, you injure your own friend; when father and Hurry Harry cameafter your scalps, he refused to be of the party, and staid in the canoeby himself. You are tormenting a good friend, in tormenting this youngman!"
The Hurons listened with grave attention, and one among them, whounderstood English, translated what had been said into their nativetongue. As soon as Rivenoak was made acquainted with the purport of heraddress he answered it in his own dialect; the interpreter conveying itto the girl in English.
"My daughter is very welcome to speak," said the stern old orator, usinggentle intonations and smiling as kindly as if addressing a child--"TheHurons are glad to hear her voice; they listen to what she says. TheGreat Spirit often speaks to men with such tongues. This time, her eyeshave not been open wide enough to see all that has happened. Deerslayerdid not come for our scalps, that is true; why did he not come? Herethey are on our heads; the war locks are ready to be taken hold of; abold enemy ought to stretch out his hand to seize them. The Iroquoisare too great a nation to punish men that take scalps. What they dothemselves, they like to see others do. Let my daughter look aroundher and count my warriors. Had I as many hands as four warriors, theirfingers would be fewer than my people, when they came into your huntinggrounds. Now, a whole hand is missing. Where are the fingers? Two havebeen cut off by this pale-face; my Hurons wish to see if he did this bymeans of a stout heart, or by treachery. Like a skulking fox, or like aleaping panther."
"You know yourself, Huron, how one of them fell. I saw it, and you allsaw it, too. 'Twas too bloody to look at; but it was not Deerslayer'sfault. Your warrior sought his life, and he defended himself. I don'tknow whether this good book says that it was right, but all men willdo that. Come, if you want to know which of you can shoot best, giveDeerslayer a rifle, and then you will find how much more expert he isthan any of your warriors; yes, than all of them together!"
Could one have looked upon such a scene with indifference, he wouldhave been amused at the gravity with which the savages listened to thetranslation of this unusual request. No taunt, no smile mingled withtheir surprise, for Hetty had a character and a manner too saintly tosubject her infirmity to the mockings of the rude and ferocious. On thecontrary, she was answered with respectful attention.
"My daughter does not always talk like a chief at a Council Fire,"returned Rivenoak, "or she would not have said this. Two of my warriorshave fallen by the blows of our prisoner; their grave is too small tohold a third. The Hurons do not like to crowd their dead. If there isanother spirit about to set out for the far off world, it must notbe the spirit of a Huron; it must be the spirit of a pale-face. Go,daughter, and sit by Sumach, who is in grief; let the Huron warriorsshow how well they can shoot; let the pale-face show how little he caresfor their bullets."
Hetty's mind was unequal to a sustained discussion, and accustomed todefer to the directions of her seniors she did as told, seating herselfpassively on a log by the side of the Sumach, and averting her face fromthe painful scene that was occurring within the circle.
The warriors, as soon as this interruption had ceased, resumed theirplaces, and again prepared to exhibit their skill. As there was a doubleobject in view, that of putting the constancy of the captive to theproof, and that of showing how steady were the hands of the marksmenunder circumstances of excitement, the distance was small, and, in onesense, safe. But in diminishing the distance taken by the tormentors,the trial to the nerves of the captive was essentially increased. Theface of Deerslayer, indeed, was just removed sufficiently from the endsof the guns to escape the effects of the flash, and his steady eyewas enabled to look di
rectly into their muzzles, as it might be, inanticipation of the fatal messenger that was to issue from each. Thecunning Hurons well knew this fact, and scarce one levelled his piecewithout first causing it to point as near as possible at the foreheadof the prisoner, in the hope that his fortitude would fail him, and thatthe band would enjoy the triumph of seeing a victim quail under theiringenious cruelty. Nevertheless each of the competitors was stillcareful not to injure, the disgrace of striking prematurely being secondonly to that of failing altogether in attaining the object. Shotafter shot was made; all the bullets coming in close proximity to theDeerslayer's head, without touching it. Still no one could detect eventhe twitching of a muscle on the part of the captive, or the slightestwinking of an eye. This indomitable resolution, which so much exceededeverything of its kind that any present had before witnessed, mightbe referred to three distinct causes. The first was resignation to hisfate, blended with natural steadiness of deportment; for our hero hadcalmly made up his mind that he must die, and preferred this mode to anyother; the second was his great familiarity with this particular weapon,which deprived it of all the terror that is usually connected with themere form of the danger; and the third was this familiarity carried outin practice, to a degree so nice as to enable the intended victim totell, within an inch, the precise spot where each bullet must strike,for he calculated its range by looking in at the bore of the piece. Soexact was Deerslayer's estimation of the line of fire, that his pride offeeling finally got the better of his resignation, and when five or sixhad discharged their bullets into the tree, he could not refrain fromexpressing his contempt at their want of hand and eye.
"You may call this shooting, Mingos!" he exclaimed, "but we've squawsamong the Delawares, and I have known Dutch gals on the Mohawk, thatcould outdo your greatest indivours. Ondo these arms of mine, put arifle into my hands, and I'll pin the thinnest warlock in your partyto any tree you can show me, and this at a hundred yards--ay, or at twohundred if the objects can be seen, nineteen shots in twenty; or, forthat matter twenty in twenty, if the piece is creditable and trusty!"
A low menacing murmur followed this cool taunt. The ire of the warriorskindled at listening to such a reproach from one who so far disdainedtheir efforts as to refuse even to wink when a rifle was discharged asnear his face as could be done without burning it. Rivenoak perceivedthat the moment was critical, and, still retaining his hope of adoptingso noted a hunter into his tribe, the politic old chief interposed intime, probably to prevent an immediate resort to that portion of thetorture which must necessarily have produced death through extremebodily suffering, if in no other manner. Moving into the centre ofthe irritated group, he addressed them with his usual wily logic andplausible manner, at once suppressing the fierce movement that hadcommenced.
"I see how it is," he said. "We have been like the pale-faces when theyfasten their doors at night, out of fear of the red men. They use somany bars that the fire comes and burns them before they can get out.We have bound the Deerslayer too tight: the thongs keep his limbs fromshaking and his eyes from shutting. Loosen him; let us see what his ownbody is really made of."
It is often the case when we are thwarted in a cherished scheme, thatany expedient, however unlikely to succeed, is gladly resorted to inpreference to a total abandonment of the project. So it was with theHurons. The proposal of the chief found instant favor, and several handswere immediately at work, cutting and tearing the ropes of bark from thebody of our hero. In half a minute Deerslayer stood as free from bondsas when an hour before he had commenced his flight on the side of themountain. Some little time was necessary that he should recover the useof his limbs, the circulation of the blood having been checked by thetightness of the ligatures, and this was accorded to him by the politicRivenoak, under the pretence that his body would be more likely tosubmit to apprehension if its true tone were restored; though reallywith a view to give time to the fierce passions which had been awakenedin the bosoms of his young men to subside. This ruse succeeded, andDeerslayer by rubbing his limbs, stamping his feet, and moving about,soon regained the circulation, recovering all his physical powers aseffectually as if nothing had occurred to disturb them.
It is seldom men think of death in the pride of their health andstrength. So it was with Deerslayer. Having been helplessly bound and,as he had every reason to suppose, so lately on the very verge of theother world, to find himself so unexpectedly liberated, in possession ofhis strength and with a full command of limb, acted on him like a suddenrestoration to life, reanimating hopes that he had once absolutelyabandoned. From that instant all his plans changed. In this, he simplyobeyed a law of nature; for while we have wished to represent our heroas being resigned to his fate, it has been far from our intention torepresent him as anxious to die. From the instant that his buoyancy offeeling revived, his thoughts were keenly bent on the various projectsthat presented themselves as modes of evading the designs of hisenemies, and he again became the quick witted, ingenious and determinedwoodsman, alive to all his own powers and resources. The change was sogreat that his mind resumed its elasticity, and no longer thinking ofsubmission, it dwelt only on the devices of the sort of warfare in whichhe was engaged.
As soon as Deerslayer was released, the band divided itself in a circlearound him, in order to hedge him in, and the desire to break down hisspirit grew in them, precisely as they saw proofs of the difficultythere would be in subduing it. The honor of the band was now involved inthe issue, and even the fair sex lost all its sympathy with suffering inthe desire to save the reputation of the tribe. The voices of the girls,soft and melodious as nature had made them, were heard mingling withthe menaces of the men, and the wrongs of Sumach suddenly assumed thecharacter of injuries inflicted on every Huron female. Yielding to thisrising tumult, the men drew back a little, signifying to the femalesthat they left the captive, for a time, in their hands, it being acommon practice on such occasions for the women to endeavor to throw thevictim into a rage by their taunts and revilings, and then to turn himsuddenly over to the men in a state of mind that was little favorable toresisting the agony of bodily suffering. Nor was this party without theproper instruments for effecting such a purpose. Sumach had a notorietyas a scold, and one or two crones, like the She Bear, had come out withthe party, most probably as the conservators of its decency and moraldiscipline; such things occurring in savage as well as in civilizedlife. It is unnecessary to repeat all that ferocity and ignorance couldinvent for such a purpose, the only difference between this outbreakingof feminine anger, and a similar scene among ourselves, consisting inthe figures of speech and the epithets, the Huron women calling theirprisoner by the names of the lower and least respected animals that wereknown to themselves.
But Deerslayer's mind was too much occupied to permit him to bedisturbed by the abuse of excited hags, and their rage necessarilyincreasing with his indifference, as his indifference increased withtheir rage, the furies soon rendered themselves impotent by theirown excesses. Perceiving that the attempt was a complete failure, thewarriors interfered to put a stop to this scene, and this so much themore because preparations were now seriously making for the commencementof the real tortures, or that which would put the fortitude of thesufferer to the test of severe bodily pain. A sudden and unlooked forannouncement, that proceeded from one of the look-outs, a boy tenor twelve years old, however, put a momentary check to the wholeproceedings. As this interruption has a close connection with thedenouement of our story, it shall be given in a separate chapter.
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