Cardigan

te mystery. Along the stony beds of lost ravines I passed and saw the frosty bowlders lie like silver mounds in the dawn, glimmering through steaming waters. I passed at e

and I followed in his lead, resting when he hung circling in the noonday heavens, following again when he resumed the sky-tr

wn through a million leaves, leaving frail trails of vapour

perch; but let them go, as I had meat to spare. Once, too, at dawn, I heard a bull-moose lipping tree-buds, and lay still in my blanket while the huge beast wandered past, crack! crash! and slop! slop! through the creek, his hide all smeared with clay and a swarm of forest flies whirling over him. Lord,

our forests, though they say the Canadas do s

cheerfully to hand for a crumb of corn. Squirrels were everywhere-that is, everywhere except through the pine belts, and there I had to make out with the bitter flesh of those villain partridges which fe

d that was the print of a white man's moccasin on the edge of a sandy strip near

n who made it had come in a canoe, yet I could find no sign that a canoe had been beached there, nor, indeed, any furt

ear that the man who left that mark was wading the river because he wished to leave no tr

hen one has been living alone in the forest solitude, day after day, perhaps even craving c

nd anger are invariably the primal i

t; I have seen the wolverine snarl hideously as he winded a strange comrade; I have seen the solitary timber

myself priming my rifle and looking behind me with all the horror of a Robi

Province of New York and the Province of Pennsylvania, I had approached, somewhat nearer tha

So I toiled on, the very rifle in my hand heavy as lead, and my eyes nearly blinded with the sweat that poured from my hair and neck, bathing me in a sort of stinging cool

of a mountain that I knew I was safe enough; for the peak in the east belonge

until I came to a thread of water curving through the moss like a sword-blade on

ched my forest roof, too tired even to drink. But the accursed deer-flies drove me to water as th

ove it into my stomach with bits of ash-cake, drinking a mouthful between bites to moisten the dry cheer. I ate ver

on is an instinct. I speak of true woodsmen-those who know the solitary life-not of lo

e that I had been followed; nay, not so sudden, either, for the vague idea had been

y I had already risen, priming my rifle, and for a moment, I stood there, ankle deep in moss. Then, moved by no impulse of my own, I swear, I lifted my pack and passed swiftly along the little brook towards the m

n the thorns of a spray which crossed the broad, hard trail, I left a few strings from my fringed hunting-shirt. Then I began to walk backward till I reached the spot where I had entered the trail from the sandy stream. I backed down this bank,

It was neither a coward's panic nor a cool man's alarm; it was something that drove me to cover my tracks. The white hare do

ift earthward, dead ere spring is fled. Bubble! bubble! dripped the stream, its tiny waterfall full of voices, now clear, now indistinct, but always calling swee

the waterfall, and sometimes she called through laughter, "Michael!" and sometim

ppled tree-trunks of a silvery beechwood, east and west, and through a long v

esire to chide myself for good time lost in groundless watchfulness. One by one the tall trees shed young leaves too early dead; the voices in

trees along the Fort Pitt trail. And, as I watched, I saw a man come out on the s

esh moved, and without a sound I sank down

ings to the hips, and at that distance might have been an Indian. He bore a rifle, and there was a hatchet in his beaded bel

attention for full a minute, then rose gracefully

him, but, though they gesticulated violently and pointed down

ly, held by the setting-pole in midstream. It contained a white man, who leaned on

tart south towards Fort Pitt, while Butler came hasti

ully and working his way to his place. Then the two setting-

What did Captain Butler mean by following me through the forests? The answer came

in: he was Lord Dunmore's emissary as I was the emissary of Sir William; he was bound for Cresap's camp as was I; and he intended to intercept me and kill me if

age lay on my side; for I was seeking no man's life, whereas they must soon find that they had over-run their scent and would spend precious time in ambushes.

d two by the Fort Pitt trail, and this threw me hopeless

urned my nose southward, bearing far enough west t

t now I dared not present myself there, with Walter Butler hot on my trail, armed not only with hatchet and rifle, but also doub

d it was a Virginia garrison that now held it. Thus, should I stop there, I should be under the laws

there in order to establish the claim of our King to the region lately wrested from the French. Fort Pitt commanded the gateway to this wilderness, and the Ohio flowed through it; and for years Virginia and Pennsylvania had dis

Sir William in his stewardship; it angere

their trade. This I learned from Sir William on our evening walks about Quider's hut; and I learned, too, that Fort Pitt was a Virginia fortress on Pennsylvania soil, guarded not only against the savages,

I saw nothing for it but to push on through the gateway of the west, avoiding Butler's men a

a wiry moose-bush snare that enlaced my ankles and sent me sprawling, pack and all; now the tough laurel bound me to the shoulders in slender ropes of blossoms which only my knife could sever. Ti

as I crept through a mat of blueberry bushes and pe

a tiny triangle of cobalt sky. Its surface was a mirror without a flaw, save where a solitary wild-duck float

le world was-quieter for the hushed rumou

aps of palest rose; the wild plum's bloom dusted every velvet mountain flank, the forest

rush of whistling feathers. I watched it drifting away under the clouds into the sunset, with a silly prayer that wings might be fastened to my tired feet, as Minnomonedo, leaning out

ut an Algonquin in superstition, fearing Minnomonedo

arriers to a calm worship of the Most High. But in the woods it was different; every leaf, every blossom represented links i

and stars were comrades with names and histories and purposes, exercising influences on each other and on me, and calling for an individual an

no man can explain-strange beasts move, strange shapes dance by elf-fires, and trees talk aloud, one to another. If this be witchcraft, or if it be but part of a life which our vast black forests hide forever from the sun, I know not. Sir William holds that there are no witches, yet I once heard him curse a Huron hag for drying up his De

to the faintest whisper of danger, I gnawed a strip of dried squirrel's flesh an

But I cared little for that: what occupied my thoughts was how to obtain food when a single shot mi

ater-crack. I looked down at the darkening river, where the wild mallard still circled and darted its neck after

ch of deer-flies from my hunting-shirt? And if I could do it once, I could repeat the trick in a dozen pretty ways of my own knowledge and of Thayendanegea's invention. Still

. Wrapped in my blanket, curled up in a bed of blueberry, I folded my hands over my body like a chipmunk and said a prayer to the God whom I did not fear. After that I reprimed my rifle, covering flint and pan to keep out the dew, settled the stock in a crevice near my head, and lay down again to watch for the full moon, whose yellow lig

oyal entry, I had brushed the dew from cap and blanket, primed

r could I see my wild duck, though at times I heard his drowsy quack somewhere below, and the answer

has been caught by a lean fox or knocked on the head with a paddle. I had no mind to creep down and risk a shot at a shadow on the misty water, not knowing what else that mist might conceal. Howe

the quacking sound, seeing nothing but the blank fog as yet, but meaning to s

sence of live creatures stirring, and soon there began a peevish sound o

ting the water, and with a whistling roar the flock drove past, dashing me with spray till I, smothered and choked, flung up my arm towards a floating tree-trunk. To my horror

n to swim for my life. They came to the surface behind me; I could

ot thither, and I swam swiftly for the foot of my cliff, missing it again and agai

ght gray dawn. The shouting below came clearly to my ears, also the splashing. I judged that the two men had thrown their arms over th

f below. When I was prepared, the sun, pushing up behind the peaks in the east, was already scattering the mist into long, thin clo

nk, cautioning the swimming men to proceed slowly,

knew that Walter Butler would not be long in discovering the tracks of my naked feet in the shore-sands where I had landed while se

meaning to make a circle, and, hiding my tracks, recross the river to take advantage of

, though in the forest one can seldom see but a rod or two, and some

moss which even a Boston schoolmaster might read a-running. But I could trot along the tops of fallen logs like a partridge, and use every watercourse

nd which I had just circled in order to keep cover, I saw a man creeping among the rocks and berry-scrub, doubtless nosing about for my trail.

along the river-bed, plunging through willows and alders till I came to

would be likely to do, but to accomplish it so craftily

-deep in icy water. I had halted exactly opposite to the mouth of a rocky stream, and it was natural that I should ford the rapids here and continue, on the other bank, up that stream to hide my trail. They wo

ver, out to the shallow rapids, and so, knee-deep, hastened s

ing-shirt glued its skirts to my thighs, impeding me at every stride. My drenched moccasins also left wet tracks on the Fort Pitt trail,

down the rapids, paddles flashing in the sun; and I took to the forest again at a lively ga

a brand-new pair of larger size, and soled with ridged bear-hide. I also re

the pile of the velvet moss and so oblite

pack I could have jogged on till night. But my galled shoulders creaked for mercy, and I stru

sins were like one pair I had in my pack, of Albany make; the wearer of the boots toed in. These things I noticed quicker than I could relate them, and instincti

o look about for a vantage spot to rest on, when

ld not see the opposite bank very plainly because the forest rose from the wa

eans of telling. I sniffed at the dusky screen of leaves,

rest again? My shoulders begged me not to, but my senses jogged me to the prudent course. However, at certain times in men's careers,

it of trail, but the hazard had a winy flavour withal, and besides it was such

jump in all my life before, for I had cleared the open like a scared fawn, and now stood g

live creature poking its painted snout out of the lea

. But what astonished and enraged me was that I knew the men, Wraxall the barber, and Toby Tice, perfectly well. They we

the sights for a moment, but there was no fever of the chase i

warning them back; my voice gave them a sta

s work is this? Are you turned Huron then with your knives and hatchets and your Seneca belts

ice sweep au large, and I stepped out to the shore and

wards me once more, but suddenly catching sight of the leaking botto

t of their flimsy bark craft. The canoe stood up like a post, stern in the air, and Wraxall lay floundering, while T

at rifle point warned them across the river to land where they might

e next moment a man leaped up from the shore where he had been crouching, but as I lay on my back I gave him a violent kick in the face and rolled over out of reach. Before I could grasp my rifle, his hatchet

he sight of the man in the mud, crawling about, gasping and blowing bloody b

r, taking steady aim at me, and I seized a tree and checked my course as his bullet sang past my face

est; and I was now close enough to exhaustion to feel for the first time in my life a touch

is true, but they plodded tirelessly, unerringly. Again and again I saw them on the rocks, on the

sh, ever in the lead, rifle trailing. Only one among the others bore a rifle. I had certainly upset their canoe to good advantage. But now I began to repent me that I had not shot them in the water w

low me, and I missed, for my hands were unsteady from my labouring b

cautiously, alert for another ambush. An hour later I gave them a seco

ohnstown yokels really meant to take my life, even if they caught me-this ass of a Toby Tice whom I had tipped for holding my stirrup more than once. And Wraxall, the red-

alter Butler ever sent me fearfully hiding behind the first apron I could snatch at. Year by year my distrust and aversion deepened, until

ld scarce make out to rise again. In vain I whipped and spurred my lagging strength with stinging memories of all the scores I should wipe out with one clean bullet through Butler's head; it was nigh useless; I could barely move, and how was I to shoot with my brier-torn hands shaking so

ow they had been lured off to the river I know not, but it gave me a brief chance for b

ll, I had little inclination to attempt it, the bed of rough bushes was so soothing, and the granite rock invited my heavy head. All over me a sweet numbness tingled; I tried to think, I strove to rouse. In vain I heard a sing-song drowsing i

e down; my head reeled, yet I rose again to my knees, swaying and clutching at the rock which I could barely see. All around a thick night seemed to hem me in; I gro

n moorland. But how far had death gone?-and would he not return by moonlight, stealthily, casti

my horror I found flint missing, charge drawn, pan raised, and ramrod sticking helplessly out of the barrel. The s

ched fists, trembling for a spring; and at the same instant a

," he said; "God

im, but he only leaned quietly on a long

young man," he said. "I sent them south, for som

ut I found speech presently to

e side and contemplate

e you begin bawling for your playthings. In the first place your manners need polish. I

oice before, and under pleasant circumstances, it seemed to me; somewhere I had seen him standing as he wa

het and knife and receive my thanks. Come, my goo

young cock o' the woods. I don't know you yet, but I

atchet?" I asked, shar

atched my rifle from me and stepped

p and take supper with me, or I'll knock y

ess that the great oaf fell a-laughing again, and, with a shrug of good

camp, lad. I mean no harm to you. If I did, there's men

e moonlight encouragingly, then abruptly returne

rt to walk; but my knees had no strength in the

a-trail behind. However, when we reached the plateau, I made out to stumble along wit

ld not see it. Even in the darkest night a fire amid g

een constantly muttering under his breath, and pr

e off, on

e dumpling,

u," I said

song and glance

mean to know you, too, so

d I, scarcely

in a moment we entered a ruddy ring of light, in the centre of whic

sniffing at us as we approached. However, beyond a grunt, he paid me no attention, and presently

ry, red-rimmed eyes; Saul Shemuel!-though I was too weary to bother my head as to how he came there. As I passed him he looked up, but he did not appear to kno

up at me continually; and although I doubted that even S

I do not recollect drinking the broth, but I must have done so, for shortly a delicio