University of Virginia Library

9. CHAPTER IX.
The Pursuit.

We will now return to Ayane, whom, it will be remembered, Scarlet
Feather had left in his lodge on the banks of the Kennebis, with directions
to await the arrival of the seven warriors he was to send to join him for the
purpose of pursuing Sabatis and Sharp Knife.

The young brave, after the departure of Natanis, remained for sometime
seated upon the river side in front of the lodge dressing the shafts of a quiver
of arrows with the wing feathers of a hawk. While he was thus engaged
he would from time to time, with habitual watchfulness, raise his eyes and
take a keen, rapid survey about him, both of the river and the opposite
shores; for he knew he was very near foes. He whiled the time by singing,
or rather chanting in a low, musical tone of voice a song of passion.

While the lover was repeating the last two lines of his simple song in a
tone low and melodious, his quick ear detected a sound in the water, and,
looking round in the direction in which he heard it, he saw a canoe stealing
along the bank, and within a few yards of him. He saw that it contained
three Indians, who were standing up in the boat, one of them paddling it
along, dipping his thin-bladed paddle into the water with noiseless celerity.
A glance told Ayane that they were foes and Nerijewecs, for the moonlight
enabled him to see them with perfect distinctness. They were armed, and
watchful in their manner as they approached.

He was satisfied that he had not been seen, for a tree stood between him
and them; yet he was not sure that he had not been overheard. Ayane,
though young, was brave and cautions, as became a warrior of the Abanaquis
race. He saw that the least movement would betray him, and it was
apparent to him that their object was to surprise the occupant of the lodge,
whoever he might be. He felt happy, then, at the reflection that his chief
was out of the danger which menaced him. He closely observed them,
while he planned for his own safety. He knew it would be yet six hours,
or near dawn before the braves Natanis was to despatch, could reach him;
he, therefore, had only his own arm and courage to depend upon. The
three Nerijewecs were stout warriors, and he felt that tact was more called

for now than valor. Grasping his spear firmly, he lay perfectly still in the
shadow of the huge trunk of the tree. The canoe came up within a bow's
length of the tree, and then touching the bank, the three warriors suddenly
leaped to the land, and, with a wild war-shout sprang towards the lodge,
their battle-axes elevated One of them rushed into it, and the others placed
themselves before the door.

`No one is here! It is an Abanaquis lodge and here are the skins of the
game he has killed,' said the chief warrior of the party Canassa had despatched
to seize the daring Abanaquis, who had the boldness to fix his habitation
in sight of his own smokes.

Ayane did not wait to hear any more that was said, for no sooner had they
bounded towards the lodge, than he leaped into their canoe, and giving it a
strong impetus towards the middle of the stream, he let it take the current,
casting himself at full length in the bottom of the boat so as not to be seen
by them. This was all the act of an instant of time. The floating canoe
caught the eye of one of the Indians, and with a cry that their boat had got
adrift, he ran towards the bank. He was followed by another one of them,
and both at the same moment plunged into the river to swim towards it to
recover it.

When Ayane, who still continued to lay quietly in the bottom of the canoe,
was aware of their approach by their blowing and splashing in the water,
he loosened his war-hatchet in his belt, and grasped it firmly, and awaited
the appearance of the first dark hand upon the side of the little bark.—
He now saw that he could effectually escape them, and also destroy them.
By taking to the canoe, he had only hoped to be carried safely by the current
far out of sight before they discovered the absence of their boat.

Suddenly an arm was thrown above the water, and the hand seized the
side of the canoe. Ayane instantly elenched it firmly in his, and rising up,
struck the warrior a heavy blow in the temples! He sunk like a stone beneath
the surface, and the sharp edge of the tomahawk the next moment
descended upon the hand of his companion, who, with a fierce cry had taken
hold of the canoe to upset it. The bleeding limb fell into the boat,
while the Indian, diving deep, avoided the fatal stroke that was descending
upon his head. As he rose to the surface, he directed his course towards
the opposite shore, leaving a dark red track behind as he swam.

`Two of you I am at least free from,' said the young victor; `now for
the third! He is but one, and an Abanaquis is not to fly from a single warrior,
and he a Nerijewec.'

With this haughty expression Ayane directed the head of the canoe towards
the bank on which the remaining brave was standing, watching his
approach. As he came near, the tomahawk of the Nerijewec came flying
through the whizzing air, and passed harmlessly above his head as he stooped
to avoid it. The next moment, the two antagonists were engaged hand
to hand in the water mid-waist deep, Ayane having leaped from the canoe
to attack him! Their only weapons were their hunting-knives, for Ayane
had sent his war-batchet at his foe, in answer to the message of his own.—
The struggle was fierce, and very equal, but at length Ayane obtained the
victory over his more powerful antagonist, and his body sinking beneath the
waves, was borne away by the swift tide.

The young brave now found that he was slightly wounded in the shoulder
and he entered the lodge to dress it. On the floor he found a Nerijewec
spear, quiver and bow, and on the outside, a bear's-skin, a coronet of feathers,
and other costume which the two warriors had thrown aside, before
springing into the river. These he carefully gathered and bound up as trophies
of his victory.

It was just dawn of day when Ayane, rising from the ground upon which

he had cast himself late the night before, went out from the lodge, The
gray light of morning was just streaking the East. He turned from it to
penetrate with his eyes the forests south of the lodge, from whence he expected
the party Natanis was to send.

If they come not by sunrise I shall pursue these spies, and arrest them
prisoners alone,' he said with resolution. `Each moment lessens the chance
of overtaking them. They have full ten hours start! Ah! there are my
braves!' he exclaimed with joy as he saw, one after another, seven Abanaquies
warriors in their scarlet belts, and bows and quivers of the same bright
hue, issue from the wood in single file, one after the other, and, at a swift,
running trot, advance towards him. He met them half way, and, after interchanging
a few words with each, he placed himself at their head, and
leaving the lodge to the right, struck a trail above it near the river bank, and
with his party, was soon lost to sight in the shadows of the forest glades.

He had been departed but a few minutes, when a canoe left the opposite
shore, and as it emerged from the obscurity of the shadows which the gray
morning still enveloped the river, it was seen to contain two persons. As
they came nearer, they proved to be Neona and Willewa, the latter in the
male attire, with which two evenings afterwards we have seen her appear
before General Arnold. They now landed in front of the lodge and after
vigilant circumspection of its vicinity, Willewa timidly advanced towards it
and entered it.

`Now, Neonah, hasten with the speed of the deer with thy message,' said
the maiden. To night, you will find me awaiting your return at the Rock
of the silver spring. Thou knowest it is two of the Bostonee leagues below.
From thence we will together proceed on our mission to the great
Sachem chief of the Pale faces. Fly! Say to Natanis if he loves Willewa
never to approach again her lodge, nor enter the hunting-grounds of Canassa.
Say to her that I will send him word by thee when we can safely
meet. Tell him that Canassa with his warriors is on his march to intercept
the Bostonees at the rapids of the Teton, filling the forests with eyes to await
the issue of the warlike movements of Canassa. But, 'she added with
emphasis, `see that Natanis gives thee for me his promise as a warrior and
a chief that he will no more seek Willewa in the lodges of her people.'

Neonah then departed from her with the speed of a grey-hound, and disappeared
in the direction by which the warriors of Natanis less than half
an hour before had come to join Ayane.

`Only in this way can Natanis avert my fathers' anger. Were he to
come, at last, rather would Willewa perish by the fire, or by the war-hatchet
than to betray him. No, Natanis, noble and brave! Thou hast the heart
and love of a true maiden, who, rather than harm should come to thee would
forget that the blood of the Nerijewec's flowed in her veins, and join herself
to the Abanaquis, heart and hand. Yet in loving Natanis so much as
I do, I love not my father less! He is still my father, and as such commands
my love and duty. Yet to these I cannot sacrifice Natanis! Oh!
that I could love both, without doing the other a wrong! Ah! here is upon
the ground a silver ring! It was worn by Ayane! Can he have been here
since Natanis left? Some one has been in the lodge! If it had been those
warriors my father sent, they would have destroyed it by fire. They at least
have not been here. Ah! what do you here, Ustaloga?' she asked, surprised
at seeing a Nerijewec warrior approach her. Her right arm was folded
beneath his hunting shirt of skins, and he looked pale and suffering. It
was the Indian whose hand Ayane had severed, and who, having from the
other shore seen his departure with the dawn, had now crossed the river by
swimming, on seeing Willewa approach the lodge. In a few indignant
words he told her all that had transpired. Willewa was not a little surprised

at the narration; and wondered whither Ayane could have gone; for
she yet knew nothing of the two spies.

`Will Ustaloga go back to the lodges of his tribe?' asked Willewa, who
trembled lest he might inform Canassa of her presence there at the lodge of
the Abanaquis. `Will he not rather fear the wrath of his chief, that he has
let a youth thus overcome him and two braves?' Let the warrior-with-one
hand seek the tribes of the Keewods, for they are women.'

`Ustaloga will no more see the face of Canassa! Ustaloga is now a child,
a woman—and no brave. The hand of his war-hatchet is in the dark waves
of the Kennebis! The blood of his war-heart hath flowed out, and his
spirit is dead! Ustaloga no more can dart the hunting-spear, or bend the
bow at his foe! No more will he whirl the war-hatchet at his enemy, or
join in the buttle cry with his braves! Ustaloga is no more than a woman
in the lodges of his people! Ustaloga will die and go to the Huntinggrounds
of his father! In the land of the Great Spirit will he become a
warrior!'

As the mained warrior thus gloomily, and in a solemn tone sung his
death-song, he approached the banks of the river, and slowly walked out
into its current. As his footsteps descended deeper and deeper upon the
bottom, he continued thus chanting his lament:

`The dark waters flow on! and as they flow, they open their bosom that
Ustaloga may lie down in their embrace! Deep, deep rush the waves of
Kennebis! Cold, cold are the waves of Kennebis! But deeper are the
wounds in the spirit of the warrior! Colder the war-fire in his veins! Dark,
dark sweep the waters of the Kennebis; but darker rush the thoughts of
Ustaloga over his soul. The Hunting grounds of my tribe will soon disappear
from my eyes, but they will open upon the green woods of the Spirit-land!
Thus ends the death-song of Ustaloga! Thus dies the unhappy
brave that no longer may live with warriors and men! Once more will I
shout the war-cry of my tribe, and amid its echoes fly to the hunting
grounds of the sun!'

The unhappy warrior then raised his voice in the shrill battle-cry of his
war-like tribe, and while it was reverberating through the forests on either
bank plunged beneath the surface!

Long, long did Willewa, awed by the sad scene she had witaessed, gaze
upon the black waters. But the warrior rose no more to the surface; and
she turned away and wept his fate; for Ustaloga was a brave and faithful
warrior, and one whom she had known as Canassa's trusty friend and counsellor
since she was a child.

In a little while afterwards she left the lodge, after taking with her a small
scarlet feather as a memento of her lover, and which had probably fallen
from his head. Entering her boat, she descended the river to the place
appointed, to meet Neonah. Here she remained during the day. Just before
sun-set the youth appeared, and reported that he had seen Natanis, and
delivered her messages, and that Natanis had promised faithfully to be governed
by her wishes. Neonah informed her that he saw Willewa at the
head of his assembled warriors, and that as he left him, he was on the eve
of his departure to throw himself between Canassa and the Bostonee
army.

The same night, as soon as the light of the moon rendered it safe, Willewa
embarked with her youthful cousin in the canoe, and continued down
the river till day-light. They secreted themselves and their little vessel during
the day, for they knew the shores were traversed by war-parties, and
again embarked at evening. We have seen how, after sailing on this second
evening two hours, they reached the Cushnoc rapids, and landed at the camp
of the American General.

We will now return to Ayane and his brave band of seven young braves.
He steadily pursued his couse along the shores of the river scarcely pausing
to rest, until the sun began to descend in the bosom of the western hills.
They had closely examined every nook that might conceal a canoe as they
passed up, and when the day closed, Ayane was satisfied that those whom
they sought, were still in advance of them. It was twilight when he came
in sight of a carrying-place; a spot where the framing water rendered it
necessary that every ascending boat should be borne around it, on the land.
On reaching this place, Ayane carefully examined the shore, and at length
discovered the print of footsteps. He followed them, and saw that two
persons had walked around the rapids, and he knew by the depth of the
pressure in the soil that they must have borne a boat upon their shoulders'

Filled with joy at this discovery, be followed the trail, and discovered
where it again was lost in the water above the rocks. From its appearance
he was assured that it could not have been an hour since they had passed
along.

He now took his way up the shore at a swift pace, carefully watching the
river; and as the shades of night fell over it, enveloping the banks in gloom,
he made use of his ears instead of his eyes, stopping at frequent intervals
to listen to catch the sound of a paddle. He traveled at the head of his
young warriors in this way about two hours, confident of being able soon
to overtake those he was pursuing, knowing he had moved much faster than
they could in a canoe, when he heard, from a small island just above him, a
rushing noise, followed by a plunge into the water. Then came a deer
swimming towards them, but was borne by the current swiftly past, ere he
reached the bank.

`That deer has flown from the presence of man,' said Ayane. `Now, my
braves, our prize is certain. Those we seek cannot be far above the island.
They have disturbed this deer in passing; or else have landed upon it. Now
be guided by me in all your movements. The least impetuosity will prevent
their capture.'

Ayane then kept on until they came opposite the island. He then stopped
to listen. A sound reached his ear like the clicking of a flint struck
upon steel. His keen eye at the same moment detected amid the dark foliage
of the island, sparks flying, and then he saw a deep glow like a glow-worm,
emitting beams of light.

Instantly he arrested the advance of his warriors, and said, in a low
tone,

`They are there upon the island! They have landed, and are smoking their
pipes. They must be the spies. See, there are but two pipe fires visible.
There are but two men! But we must be as cautious as if there were ten;
for we must surprise them. It is the command of Natanis that no harm
be done them.'

Ayane then chose three of his party by name to accompany him, leaving
the others to watch the river, lest, possibly, taking alarm, the spies might
escape by water. He then entered the forest, and keeping along under its
covert till he had got some distance above the island, he threw aside his
robe of deer skins, and noiselessly dropped from a branch into the stream.
He was followed by the other three, and in silence they began to swim towards
the head of the island. They soon reached it, landing under the
protection of an overhanging oak. With the tread of the velvet-footed pard
when he creeps upon his prey, they then moved towards the spot where he
saw the pipe-fires glowing up at every whiff of the smokers. At length,
guarded by trees, they came so near them that Ayane could clearly see by
the glare of the light given by their pipes upon their features, that one of

them was a white-hunter, and the other, the Sagamore Sabatis. The face
of Sharp Knife he had never seen before, but that of the Chief he recognized.

The two spies were talking together, and Sharp Knife was congratulating
his companion upon the rapid progress they had made. In the meanwhile,
Ayane having addressed a few words of direction to his braves, crept
with them round so as to get behind their backs. The four then laid down
and drew themselves along the ground like caterpillars until within ten feet
of them. Then Ayane sprang to his feet, shouted the war-cry of the Abanaquis,
and with one of his braves, leaped upon Sabatis as he sat upon the
ground. Sharp Knife was at the same moment in the grasp of the two others,
each with a knife elevated above his heart.

Both of the spies struggled fierecely to throw off their captors, in vain.—
Ayane and his friends had the advantage in the outset, and after a few moments,
succeeded in subduing them, and binding them with cords of deer's
hide. They were then conveyed into the canoe, and taken to the shore
where the other warriors were left, and the whole party began to move
down the river, part on the shore, and Ayane and one warrior in the canoe
with his two sullen and ferocious prisoners; for the knowledge that they
had been seized by the command of Scarlet Feather, was not calculated to
lessen the chagrin with which they contemplated this unexpected termination
of their mission.