University of Virginia Library

18. CHAPTER XVIII.
ADVENTURES ON THE ROUTE.

After a somewhat rainy and stormy night, the morning broke brightly and
beautifully clear. The air was fresh and invigorating, and a long and sound
sleep after the fatigues of the day's march, left the luxurious young cavaliers
with elastic and buoyant spirits. The brilliant songsters of the feathered
tribes were startled from their first essay by the reveille from the martial
instruments. The leaves of the trees were glittering with rain drops, and
the autumnal forest flowers bursting into life and beauty with the heat of the
morning sun. All nature looked calm and bright and beautiful, and mere existence
seemed a pleasure, but it was a pleasure inviting to repose and contemplation.

The officer of the guard had some half hour gone upon his rounds to
march the pickets in, when all at once the repose of the scene was disturbed
by the idlers and followers of the camp running in a particular direction, as if
something unusual had occurred there during the night. Frank Lee, and
Dandridge, and Hall, mounted their horses and galloped to the scene. The
officer of the guard had halted his men and was just about to despatch a messenger
to the Governor, when his aids were discovered approaching. When
the three young cavaliers rode up, they discovered the sentry who had been
stationed there during the last relief, sitting against a tree, and most cruelly
tomahawked. Joe Jarvis was stooping over him, examining the wound most
critically; he looked up when he saw the officers approaching and laying his
finger upon the wound, said to Frank, “Did'nt I tell the Governor that the
varmints were not far off; he's warm yit, its been done since the rain;” and
away he started through the woods to examine the trail.

When the three returned to make their report to the old chief, they found
him breakfasting upon some of Joe's venison steaks. He was startled by the
daring atrocity of the act, but pronounced at once that the man must have
slept upon his post. Jarvis was sent for, and soon made his appearance,
scratching his red mop as he entered. He had the same cunning squint of the
eye, and waggish leer as when before presented in the same presence.

“Well, Joe, I understand, you say that this thing was done since the rain;
you have, doubtless, then, been able to fall upon the trial, and can tell us how
many of them ventured into the camp, and what they came for.”

“It is true enough, your honor, I did say so, and I stick to it, but as to the
trail and all that, it would bother an older scout nor me. The critters are a
growin' cunninger Sir, every day of their lives. There's not the print of so
much as a man's hand round the premises, much less of a moccasined foot.”

“You don't mean to insinuate, scout, that this man has been murdered by
one of our own men?”

“Not I, Sir, no such thing, he was tomahawked from behind the tree by an Ingin.”

“And yet there are no footsteps in the soft mud behind that tree, and leading
to it? Why how have they contrived to obliterate them?”

“That's just it, you've struck the nail right on the head; how did they
contrive it? I'll tell you how they did it. They borrowed the legs of other
varmints.”

“What! they did not approach on horseback.”

“No, Sir, but they come whole-hog fashion. If your honor will jist condescend
to ride down there, I will shew you that there is not the print of a living
creter's foot 'scept an old sows, any where about.”

The Governor and Lee followed Joe to the spot and there, sure
enough, were the distinct prints of a hog's feet, on a straight line to the tree,

leading from a small stream, on the banks of which, many of the horses and
mules were yet tied.

“Now, sir,” said Joe triumphantly, “did you ever see a dumb brute walk a
straight line like that?”

“True enough, Joe, swine do not gather mast thus, but how in the name
of Heaven did they manage it?”

“Nothing easier, sir; they jist take a hog's shanks into their hands, and makes
erutches on 'em. You see 'em here, Sir, to the water's edge, and then they
mounted and rode off. But, Sir, this was'nt all for nothin', it was'nt all unmeaning
deviltry; there's a meaning in it. They're not College-larned for
nothin', depend upon it.”

The Governor did not like this thurst, and wheeled his horse and rode away,
first leaving orders to have the man decently interred.

Joe sat about investigating the cause of the strange visit, and he first observed
that the sentinel's arms had been stolen, next that a sumpter mule had
been led through the water some distance up the stream, for he followed it upon
his poney until he discovered the place where they had emerged. He then
came back and had the Commissary summoned, and requested him to have
the mules counted; and sure enough one of them was missing. Still Joe
persevered—he said he was determined to find out what else they had stolen.
At first, it could not be ascertained that any thing more was missing. The
provisions were all safe, and the arms were out of their reach, or rather too near
the grasp of those who were full ready and willing to use them. Joe continued
to rummage among the wagons and mules, until at length he lit upon the
ammunition, when it was found they had carried off several canisters. Joe
went straightway to the Governor's marquee, and there meeting the Aids-de-camp,
he related to them his discovery.

“Did you ever see sich cunning brutes? how in the name of old scartch they
found out where the things lay, beats me all to flinders; but this convinces
me, Squire, that what I told you before is true, that these varmints mean to
keep us from the mountains if they kin. Howsomdever, they didn't know
that Red Jarvis was to be of the party. The Interpreter is laughing in his
sleeve now, to think how you're all bamboozled with them hog-tracks, and he
thinks moreover, that the powder will never be missed—that you'll all be so
taken up with the onaccountable death of yon poor fellow—and that ain't all,
they mean to try it agin, or they would'ent a taken so much pains to cover up
their deviltry.”

“Well Joe,” said Lee “what do you aim at by the pains which you are
taking to ferret out their cunning.”

“Why, you see Squire, they're not comin' back to-night, but to-morrow
night they'll think we're sound enough asleep. I guess there'll be one wide
enough awake for 'em. Do you jist give the Commissary his orders that I'm
to sleep in that there ammunition wagon—that's all.”

The troops were again in motion, and in an hour after their departure, all
traces of the gloom and melancholy of the funeral had disappeared even from
the mess of the buried soldier. Such is miliary life. The soldier seems to
take pride in marching from his comrade's grave to a lively air and with buoyant
step, and we suppose it will always be so, while men organize themselves
to slay each other.

The route up to this time had been nearly in a straight line to the mountains,
for the river along the banks of which they mainly marched, lay fortunately
in that direction; but it became necessary now to diverge to the east,
in order to take Germana in their way. It was fully a day's march, or more,
out of their route, but such were the Governor's orders, and all obeyed with
alacrity.

This day they began to exchange the monotonous pine barrens for forests
more genial to the eye. The country, although nearly in a state of nature,

was rich in all that pleases the eye, and enlivens the heart. For the first time,
regular parties were detailed to precede the main body of the troops, and
skirt their flanks on each side, for the purpose of hunting. One of them accompanied
the scout immediately in front, and it was the Governor's orders
that each, in succession, should be under the direction of the veteran woodsman.
As Joe predicted, however, they had but poor luck, a single herd of
deer was encountered, and they, after a hot pursuit, only lost two of their number.
Jarvis told the Governor's aids, at night, that “them everlasting trumpets
would have to be spiked, else they would all starve when the provisions
gave out.”

That night they encamped among the head waters of the Mattapony river,
having left the beautiful banks of the Pamunky far in their rear, and accomplished,
during the day, even a better journey than on the previous one. All
were now in fine spirits, notwithstanding the fortune of the hunting parties,
upon which in a short time, not only the fate of the enterprise, but their very
lives were to depend. As yet, however, provisions were abundant, without
even trenching upon the stores of jerked beef, and hard bread and parched
corn laid up in their wagons, and on the backs of their mules. With the
young, and the gay, and the thoughtless, sufficient for the day were the evils
thereof.

The camp fires were enlivened with many a song and story, and to tell the
truth, the sparkling wine cup was not wanting to enliven the festivities of
the gay young cavaliers. The novelty of the scene around them had not yet
worn off, and bright hope painted to their mental vision more enrapturing
beauties and brighter landscapes beyond. The Governor failed not to encourage
their glowing anticipations, from his own store of imaginary pictures.
It is true, he had ceased to quote Chunoluskee as authority, but nevertheless
he retailed many of his stories under new titles and editions. In fact he believed
them himself, and far more than had ever been told. He was a very
imaginative man, but regulated by a sound judgment, and great military experience.
He had, however, so long suffered his fancy to well upon the El
Dorado beyond the mountains, that he had come to look upon those imaginary
scenes almost as certainties, which were in fact very far from the truth. Not
that he overrated the country, to which he was bound, but that he had erroneous
conceptions of it, and still more erroneous views of the difficulties to
be encountered to get to it. The poor scout, ignorant as he was, had a far
truer conception of both, but the time had not yet come, to consult such counsels
on any material point. Though Joe was required to blaze the route, the
Governor was himself on foot, a greater part of the time, compass in hand,
with young Dandridge by his side, taking notes of his observations. As they
crossed the river they came to an Indian village, on an island, one of the loveliest
spots in nature. The young gentry were in raptures with the beauty of
the site. Not so with their old chief. He was pained to observe that the Indians
even here had been induced to desert their homes and were retreating
before the march of his little army. Every indication, thus far, tended to confirm
the suspicion that his enterprise was looked upon with fear and distrust
by the Indians. He knew, full well, from what source all this came, but how
they had all been moved, by one accord in so incredibly short a time, confounded
all his calculations. He could only settle the difficulty by supposing his
late hostages and beneficiaries treacherous; far antecedent to the time of their
desertion. He was loth to believe all this, for he was a true friend to the race
and as genuine a philanthropist as ever lived. But here was one of the locations
of his primary schools, and every inhabitant of the village was gone,
with all their stores and plunder, and the schoolmaster was perhaps murdered.
Of that, however, they had no evidence. He might have been carried off a
prisoner, beyond the mountains.

Poor Hall! for hours he detained his friend Lee, wandering among the

deserted wigwams, long after the sound of the trumpets and the tramp of the
horses had ceased. He had looked forward with eagerness to their arrival at
this spot, he had expected here to see some of that race in whose possession was
all that he prized on this earth—he had expected to be re-assured of her safety,
and had even hoped to procure a runner to send on after his lost Eugenia to
assure her of his speedy approach. To him the deserted wigwams looked
like her funeral pile. His heart sank within him as he beheld this new evidence
of the old hostility still subsisting between the races. The fires of the
ancient feud had only been smothered for a time. During the three years of
Governor Spotswood's stewardship he had succeeded in making them believe
that he was their true friend, because he had never committed any aggressions
upon them, but now he was about to outstrip all his predecessors in the
daring strides of his adventurous spirit. Hall would have lingered on among
the tenantless wigwams of the deserted village, but his friend Lee almost forced
him upon his horse.

That night. although encamped in a beautiful country, and general joy and
hiliarity pervaded the camp, he sat in one corner of his tent, and leaned his
head upon his hands in the most listless attitude imaginable. He took no notice
of the entrance and departure of any one, and really performed the routine
of his military duties in such a dead and alive manner, that Frank had
to apply to the Governor to have him invalided. So deeply absorbed was he
with his brooding sorrow that he scarcely noticed this change. Though cards
and wine and songs and revelry resounded all around him, and made the old
woods merry again with the dissipation and the wild mirth of the mad young
cavaliers, it passed all unheeded by poor Hall.

The same night Frank Lee, Nat. Dandridge, Hall and Moore, being invited
to the Governor's marquee, Jarvis asked permission of the former to write a letter
in his tent, and to furnish him with the materials.

“What! can you write, Joe?” inquired Lee, with surprise.

“No, not much Squire, but I can turn the pot-hooks and hangers into some
sort of signs that the man'll understand I'm goin' to write too.'

“And who may that be, pray?”

“An old croney o'mine, Squire, and as his readin' aint no better nor my
writin' it'll be a dead match.”

“The worse you write Joe, the better he should read.”

“Oh, that's his business, so here goes”

Frank stood for a few moments on the eve of his departure, and laughed immoderately
at the awful faces which Joe made, as he turned his pen in its travail.
`That's harder work than fighting Indians, Joe!”

“Aye, Squire, you may say that—I reckon I could make a round O on one
of 'em in a leetle shorter time than I can fetch up one of these, but do you go
Squire, you put me out a lookin' at me.” Frank departed accordingly, dragging
poor Hall with him, and leaving Joe already bathed in a profuse perspiration.

The Governor had kindly invited his young friends in hopes to cheer up the
stranger whose unfortunate story he had hitherto been prevented from listening
to with that attention which he desired, on account of his engrossingengagements.
He felt a deep interest in this young man, partly because of his connexion
with Frank's strange adventures, and the mystery which he had hitherto
thrown around his name, and partly on account of his known engagement
to his unfortunate young kinswoman. Indeed the interest felt on account
of the latter, extended to many of the young gentry, who had heard Frank's
description of the ill fated but charming girl. In that day such a captivity was
not at all uncommon with the wives and daughters of the humbler farmers,
and we have seen individuals of the gentler sex in ours, who had spent years
in captivity among the aborigines; but seldom within the knowledge of the
young men had one so beautiful, so highly connected and so gently nurtured,
been carried off. Her misfortunes excited a profound interest among all such,

and not a little added to their eager desire to come up with their enemies—for
enemies they were now acknowledged to be even by the Governor.

But we will leave Hall to drag out his weary game of whist among his kindly
disposed friends, while we take a glance at Joe's epistle to his friend.

Camp Nigger-foot.