"Thus died she; never more on her
Shall sorrow light, or shame. She was not made
Through years or moons the inner weight to bear,
Which colder hearts endure till they are laid
By age in earth; her days and pleasure were
Brief but delightful - such as had not stayed
Long with her destiny; but she sleeps well
By the sea-shore whereon she loved to dwell."Byron. Don Juan, IV, lxxi.
The young men who had been sent out to reconnoitre, on the sudden
appearance of Hetty, soon returned to report their want of success
in making any discovery. One of them had even been along the
beach as far as the spot opposite to the ark, but the darkness
had completely concealed that vessel from his notice. Others had
examined in different directions, and everywhere the stillness of
night was added to the silence and solitude of the woods.
It was consequently believed that the girl had come alone, as on
her former visit, and on some similar errand. The Iroquois were
ignorant that the ark had left the castle, and there were movements
projected, if not in the course of actual execution, by this time,
which also greatly added to the sense of security. A watch was
set, therefore, and all but the sentinels disposed themselves to
sleep. Sufficient care was had to the safe keeping of the captive,
without inflicting on him any unnecessary suffering; and, as for
Hetty, she was permitted to find a place among the Indian girls in
the best manner she could. She did not find the friendly offices
of Hist, though her character not only bestowed impunity from
pain and captivity, but it procured for her a consideration and
an attention that placed her, on the score of comfort, quite on a
level with the wild but gentle beings around her. She was supplied
with a skin, and made her own bed on a pile of boughs a little
apart from the huts. Here she was soon in a profound sleep, like
all around her.
There were now thirteen men in the party, and three kept watch at
a time. One remained in shadow, not far from the fire, however.
His duty was to guard the captive, to take care that the fire
neither blazed up so as to illuminate the spot, nor yet became
wholly extinguished, and to keep an eye generally on the state of
the camp. Another passed from one beach to the other, crossing
the base of the point, while the third kept moving slowly around
the strand on its outer extremity, to prevent a repetition of the
surprise that had already taken place that night. This arrangement
was far from being usual among savages, who ordinarily rely more on
the secrecy of their movements, than or vigilance of this nature;
but it had been called for by the peculiarity of the circumstances
in which the Hurons were now placed. Their position was known to
their foes, and it could not easily be changed at an hour which
demanded rest. Perhaps, too, they placed most of their confidence
on the knowledge of what they believed to be passing higher up
the lake, and which, it was thought, would fully occupy the whole
of the pale-faces who were at liberty, with their solitary Indian
ally. It was also probable Rivenoak was aware that, in holding
his captive, he had in his own hands the most dangerous of all his
enemies.
The precision with which those accustomed to watchfulness, or
lives of disturbed rest, sleep, is not the least of the phenomena
of our mysterious being. The head is no sooner on the pillow
than consciousness is lost; and yet, at a necessary hour, the mind
appears to arouse the body, as promptly as if it had stood sentinel
the while over it. There can be no doubt that they who are thus
roused awake by the influence of thought over matter, though the
mode in which this influence is exercised must remain hidden from
our curiosity until it shall be explained, should that hour ever
arrive, by the entire enlightenment of the soul on the subject of
all human mysteries. Thus it was with Hetty Hutter. Feeble as
the immaterial portion of her existence was thought to be, it was
sufficiently active to cause her to open her eyes at midnight. At
that hour she awoke, and leaving her bed of skin and boughs she
walked innocently and openly to the embers of the fire, stirring the
latter, as the coolness of the night and the woods, in connection
with an exceedingly unsophisticated bed, had a little chilled her.
As the flame shot up, it lighted the swarthy countenance of the
Huron on watch, whose dark eyes glistened under its light like
the balls of the panther that is pursued to his den with burning
brands. But Hetty felt no fear, and she approached the spot where
the Indian stood. Her movements were so natural, and so perfectly
devoid of any of the stealthiness of cunning or deception, that he
imagined she had merely arisen on account of the coolness of the
night, a common occurrence in a bivouac, and the one of all others,
perhaps, the least likely to excite suspicion. Hetty spoke to him,
but he understood no English. She then gazed near a minute at the
sleeping captive, and moved slowly away in a sad and melancholy
manner. The girl took no pains to conceal her movements. Any
ingenious expedient of this nature quite likely exceeded her
powers; still her step was habitually light, and scarcely audible.
As she took the direction of the extremity of the point, or the
place where she had landed in the first adventure, and where Hist
had embarked, the sentinel saw her light form gradually disappear
in the gloom without uneasiness or changing his own position. He
knew that others were on the look-out, and he did not believe that
one who had twice come into the camp voluntarily, and had already
left it openly, would take refuge in flight. In short, the conduct
of the girl excited no more attention that that of any person of
feeble intellect would excite in civilized society, while her person
met with more consideration and respect.
Hetty certainly had no very distinct notions of the localities,
but she found her way to the beach, which she reached on the same
side of the point as that on which the camp had been made. By
following the margin of the water, taking a northern direction,
she soon encountered the Indian who paced the strand as sentinel.
This was a young warrior, and when he heard her light tread coming
along the gravel he approached swiftly, though with anything but
menace in his manner. The darkness was so intense that it was not
easy to discover forms within the shadows of the woods at the distance
of twenty feet, and quite impossible to distinguish persons until
near enough to touch them. The young Huron manifested disappointment
when he found whom he had met; for, truth to say, he was expecting
his favourite, who had promised to relieve the ennui of a midnight
watch with her presence. This man was also ignorant of English,
but he was at no loss to understand why the girl should be up at
that hour. Such things were usual in an Indian village and camp,
where sleep is as irregular as the meals. Then poor Hetty's known
imbecility, as in most things connected with the savages, stood
her friend on this occasion. Vexed at his disappointment, and
impatient of the presence of one he thought an intruder, the young
warrior signed for the girl to move forward, holding the direction
of the beach. Hetty complied; but as she walked away she spoke
aloud in English in her usual soft tones, which the stillness of
the night made audible at some little distance.
"If you took me for a Huron girl, warrior," she said, "I don't
wonder you are so little pleased. I am Hetty Hutter, Thomas Hutter's
daughter, and have never met any man at night, for mother always
said it was wrong, and modest young women should never do it; modest
young women of the pale-faces, I mean; for customs are different
in different parts of the world, I know. No, no; I'm Hetty Hutter,
and wouldn't meet even Hurry Harry, though he should fall down on
his knees and ask me! Mother said it was wrong."
By the time Hetty had said this, she reached the place where the
canoes had come ashore, and, owing to the curvature of the land and
the bushes, would have been completely hid from the sight of the
sentinel, had it been broad day. But another footstep had caught
the lover's ear, and he was already nearly beyond the sound of the
girl's silvery voice. Still Hetty, bent only on her own thoughts
and purposes, continued to speak, though the gentleness of her tones
prevented the sounds from penetrating far into the woods. On the
water they were more widely diffused.
"Here I am, Judith," she added, "and there is no one near me. The
Huron on watch has gone to meet his sweetheart, who is an Indian
girl you know, and never had a Christian mother to tell her how
wrong it is to meet a man at night."
Hetty's voice was hushed by a "Hist!" that came from the water,
and then she caught a dim view of the canoe, which approached
noiselessly, and soon grated on the shingle with its bow. The
moment the weight of Hetty was felt in the light craft the canoe
withdrew, stern foremost, as if possessed of life and volition,
until it was a hundred yards from the shore. Then it turned and,
making a wide sweep, as much to prolong the passage as to get
beyond the sound of voices, it held its way towards the ark. For
several minutes nothing was uttered; but, believing herself to be
in a favourable position to confer with her sister, Judith, who
alone sat in the stern, managing the canoe with a skill little short
of that of a man, began a discourse which she had been burning to
commence ever since they had quitted the point.
"Here we are safe, Hetty," she said, "and may talk without the
fear of being overheard. You must speak low, however, for sounds
are heard far on the water in a still night. I was so close to
the point some of the time while you were on it, that I have heard
the voices of the warriors, and I heard your shoes on the gravel
of the beach, even before you spoke."
"I don't believe, Judith, the Hurons know I have left them."
"Quite likely they do not, for a lover makes a poor sentry, unless
it be to watch for his sweetheart! But tell me, Hetty, did you
see and speak with Deerslayer?"
"Oh, yes - there he was seated near the fire, with his legs tied,
though they left his arms free, to move them as he pleased."
"Well, what did he tell you, child? Speak quick; I am dying to
know what message he sent me."
"What did he tell me? why, what do you think, Judith; he told me
that he couldn't read! Only think of that! a white man, and not
know how to read his Bible even! He never could have had a mother,
sister!"
"Never mind that, Hetty. All men can't read; though mother knew so
much and taught us so much, father knows very little about books,
and he can barely read the Bible you know."
"Oh! I never thought fathers could read much, but mothers ought
all to read, else how can they teach their children? Depend on
it, Judith, Deerslayer could never have had a mother, else he would
know how to read."
"Did you tell him I sent you ashore, Hetty, and how much concern
I feel for his misfortune?" asked the other, impatiently.
"I believe I did, Judith; but you know I am feeble-minded, and
I may have forgotten. I did tell him you brought me ashore. And
he told me a great deal that I was to say to you, which I remember
well, for it made my blood run cold to hear him. He told me to
say that his friends - I suppose you are one of them, sister?"
"How can you torment me thus, Hetty! Certainly, I am one of the
truest friends he has on earth."
"Torment you! yes, now I remember all about it. I am glad you
used that word, Judith, for it brings it all back to my mind. Well,
he said he might be tormented by the savages, but he would try to
bear it as becomes a Christian white man, and that no one need be
afeard - why does Deerslayer call it afeard, when mother always
taught us to say afraid?"
"Never mind, dear Hetty, never mind that, now," cried the other,
almost gasping for breath. "Did Deerslayer really tell you that he
thought the savages would put him to the torture? Recollect now,
well, Hetty, for this is a most awful and serious thing."
"Yes he did; and I remember it by your speaking about my tormenting
you. Oh! I felt very sorry for him, and Deerslayer took all so
quietly and without noise! Deerslayer is not as handsome as Hurry
Harry, Judith, but he is more quiet."
"He's worth a million Hurrys! yes, he's worth all the young men
who ever came upon the lake put together," said Judith, with an
energy and positiveness that caused her sister to wonder. "He is
true. There is no lie about Deerslayer. You, Hetty, may not know
what a merit it is in a man to have truth, but when you get - no
- I hope you will never know it. Why should one like you be ever
made to learn the hard lesson to distrust and hate!"
Judith bowed her face, dark as it was, and unseen as she must have
been by any eye but that of Omniscience, between her hands, and
groaned. This sudden paroxysm of feeling, however, lasted but for
a moment, and she continued more calmly, still speaking frankly to
her sister, whose intelligence, and whose discretion in any thing
that related to herself, she did not in the least distrust. Her
voice, however, was low and husky, instead of having its former
clearness and animation.
"It is a hard thing to fear truth, Hetty," she said, "and yet do I
more dread Deerslayer's truth, than any enemy! One cannot tamper
with such truth - so much honesty - such obstinate uprightness!
But we are not altogether unequal, sister - Deerslayer and I? He
is not altogether my superior?"
It was not usual for Judith so far to demean herself as to appeal
to Hetty's judgment. Nor did she often address her by the title of
sister, a distinction that is commonly given by the junior to the
senior, even where there is perfect equality in all other respects.
As trifling departures from habitual deportment oftener strike
the imagination than more important changes, Hetty perceived the
circumstances, and wondered at them in her own simple way. Her
ambition was a little quickened, and the answer was as much out of
the usual course of things as the question; the poor girl attempting
to refine beyond her strength.
"Superior, Judith!" she repeated with pride. "In what can Deerslayer
be your superior? Are you not mother's child - and does he know
how to read - and wasn't mother before any woman in all this part
of the world? I should think, so far from supposing himself your
superior, he would hardly believe himself mine. You are handsome,
and he is ugly -"
"No, not ugly, Hetty," interrupted Judith. "Only plain. But his
honest face has a look in it that is far better than beauty. In
my eyes, Deerslayer is handsomer than Hurry Harry."
"Judith Hutter! you frighten me. Hurry is the handsomest mortal
in the world - even handsomer than you are yourself; because a
man's good looks, you know, are always better than a woman's good
looks."
This little innocent touch of natural taste did not please the
elder sister at the moment, and she did not scruple to betray it.
"Hetty, you now speak foolishly, and had better say no more on
this subject," she answered. "Hurry is not the handsomest mortal
in the world, by many; and there are officers in the garrisons - "
Judith stammered at the words - "there are officers in the garrisons,
near us, far comelier than he. But why do you think me the equal
of Deerslayer - speak of that, for I do not like to hear you show
so much admiration of a man like Hurry Harry, who has neither
feelings, manners, nor conscience. You are too good for him, and
he ought to be told it, at once."
"I! Judith, how you forget! Why I am not beautiful, and am
feeble-minded."
"You are good, Hetty, and that is more than can be said of Harry
March. He may have a face, and a body, but he has no heart. But
enough of this, for the present. Tell me what raises me to an
equality with Deerslayer."
"To think of you asking me this, Judith! He can't read, and you
can. He don't know how to talk, but speaks worse than Hurry even;
- for, sister, Harry doesn't always pronounce his words right! Did
you ever notice that?"
"Certainly, he is as coarse in speech as in everything else. But
I fear you flatter me, Hetty, when you think I can be justly called
the equal of a man like Deerslayer. It is true, I have been better
taught; in one sense am more comely; and perhaps might look higher;
but then his truth - his truth -makes a fearful difference between
us! Well, I will talk no more of this; and we will bethink us of
the means of getting him out of the hands of the Hurons. We have
father's chest in the ark, Hetty, and might try the temptation of
more elephants; though I fear such baubles will not buy the liberty
of a man like Deerslayer. I am afraid father and Hurry will not be
as willing to ransom Deerslayer, as Deerslayer was to ransom them!"
"Why not, Judith? Hurry and Deerslayer are friends, and friends
should always help one another."
"Alas! poor Hetty, you little know mankind! Seeming friends are
often more to be dreaded than open enemies; particularly by females.
But you'll have to land in the morning, and try again what can be
done for Deerslayer. Tortured he shall not be, while Judith Hutter
lives, and can find means to prevent it."
The conversation now grew desultory, and was drawn out, until the
elder sister had extracted from the younger every fact that the
feeble faculties of the latter permitted her to retain, and to
communicate. When Judith was satisfied - though she could never
be said to be satisfied, whose feelings seemed to be so interwoven
with all that related to the subject, as to have excited a nearly
inappeasable curiosity - but, when Judith could think of no more
questions to ask, without resorting to repetition, the canoe was
paddled towards the scow. The intense darkness of the night, and
the deep shadows which the hills and forest cast upon the water,
rendered it difficult to find the vessel, anchored, as it had
been, as close to the shore as a regard to safety rendered prudent.
Judith was expert in the management of a bark canoe, the lightness
of which demanded skill rather than strength; and she forced her
own little vessel swiftly over the water, the moment she had ended
her conference with Hetty, and had come to the determination to
return. Still no ark was seen. Several times the sisters fancied
they saw it, looming up in the obscurity, like a low black rock;
but on each occasion it was found to be either an optical illusion,
or some swell of the foliage on the shore. After a search that lasted
half an hour, the girls were forced to the unwelcome conviction
that the ark had departed. Most young women would have felt
the awkwardness of their situation, in a physical sense, under
the circumstances in which the sisters were left, more than any
apprehensions of a different nature. Not so with Judith, however;
and even Hetty felt more concern about the motives that might have
influenced her father and Hurry, than any fears for her own safety.
"It cannot be, Hetty," said Judith, when a thorough search had
satisfied them both that no ark was to be found; "it cannot be that
the Indians have rafted, or swum off and surprised our friends as
they slept?"
"I don't believe that Hist and Chingachgook would sleep until they
had told each other all they had to say after so long a separation
- do you, sister?"
"Perhaps not, child. There was much to keep them awake, but one
Indian may have been surprised even when not asleep, especially as
his thoughts may have been on other things. Still we should have
heard a noise; for in a night like this, an oath of Hurry Harry's
would have echoed in the eastern hills like a clap of thunder."
"Hurry is sinful and thoughtless about his words, Judith," Hetty
meekly and sorrowfully answered.
"No - no; 'tis impossible the ark could be taken and I not hear
the noise. It is not an hour since I left it, and the whole time
I have been attentive to the smallest sound. And yet, it is not
easy to believe a father would willingly abandon his children!"
"Perhaps father has thought us in our cabin asleep, Judith, and
has moved away to go home. You know we often move the ark in the
night."
"This is true, Hetty, and it must be as you suppose. There is a
little more southern air than there was, and they have gone up the
lake -" Judith stopped, for, as the last word was on her tongue,
the scene was suddenly lighted, though only for a single instant,
by a flash. The crack of a rifle succeeded, and then followed the
roll of the echo along the eastern mountains. Almost at the same
moment a piercing female cry rose in the air in a prolonged shriek.
The awful stillness that succeeded was, if possible, more appalling
than the fierce and sudden interruption of the deep silence of
midnight. Resolute as she was both by nature and habit, Judith
scarce breathed, while poor Hetty hid her face and trembled.
"That was a woman's cry, Hetty," said the former solemnly, 'and it
was a cry of anguish! If the ark has moved from this spot it can
only have gone north with this air, and the gun and shriek came
from the point. Can any thing have befallen Hist?"
"Let us go and see, Judith; she may want our assistance - for,
besides herself, there are none but men in the ark."
It was not a moment for hesitation, and ere Judith had ceased
speaking her paddle was in the water. The distance to the point,
in a direct line, was not great, and the impulses under which the
girls worked were too exciting to allow them to waste the precious
moments in useless precautions. They paddled incautiously for them,
but the same excitement kept others from noting their movements.
Presently a glare of light caught the eye of Judith through
an opening in the bushes, and steering by it, she so directed the
canoe as to keep it visible, while she got as near the land as was
either prudent or necessary.
The scene that was now presented to the observation of the
girls was within the woods, on the side of the declivity so often
mentioned, and in plain view from the boat. Here all in the camp
were collected, some six or eight carrying torches of fat-pine,
which cast a strong but funereal light on all beneath the arches of
the forest. With her back supported against a tree, and sustained
on one side by the young sentinel whose remissness had suffered
Hetty to escape, sat the female whose expected visit had produced
his delinquency. By the glare of the torch that was held near her
face, it was evident that she was in the agonies of death, while
the blood that trickled from her bared bosom betrayed the nature
of the injury she had received. The pungent, peculiar smell
of gunpowder, too, was still quite perceptible in the heavy, damp
night air. There could be no question that she had been shot.
Judith understood it all at a glance. The streak of light had
appeared on the water a short distance from the point, and either the
rifle had been discharged from a canoe hovering near the land, or
it had been fired from the ark in passing. An incautious exclamation,
or laugh, may have produced the assault, for it was barely possible
that the aim had been assisted by any other agent than sound. As
to the effect, that was soon still more apparent, the head of
the victim dropping, and the body sinking in death. Then all the
torches but one were extinguished - a measure of prudence; and
the melancholy train that bore the body to the camp was just to be
distinguished by the glimmering light that remained. Judith sighed
heavily and shuddered, as her paddle again dipped, and the canoe
moved cautiously around the point. A sight had afflicted her senses,
and now haunted her imagination, that was still harder to be borne,
than even the untimely fate and passing agony of the deceased girl.
She had seen, under the strong glare of all the torches, the erect
form of Deerslayer, standing with commiseration, and as she thought,
with shame depicted on his countenance, near the dying female. He
betrayed neither fear nor backwardness himself; but it was apparent
by the glances cast at him by the warriors, that fierce passions
were struggling in their bosoms. All this seemed to be unheeded
by the captive, but it remained impressed on the memory of Judith
throughout the night. No canoe was met hovering near the point.
A stillness and darkness, as complete as if the silence of the
forest had never been disturbed, or the sun had never shone on that
retired region, now reigned on the point, and on the gloomy water,
the slumbering woods, and even the murky sky. No more could be
done, therefore, than to seek a place of safety; and this was only
to be found in the centre of the lake. Paddling in silence to that
spot, the canoe was suffered to drift northerly, while the girls
sought such repose as their situation and feelings would permit.