University of Virginia Library

15. CHAPTER XV.
THE RENEGADE AND HIS FRIENDS.

In the course of two or three minutes the whole
number of the savages and their white companions
had gathered around the foot of the tree in whose
branches Henry yet remained supporting the still
unconscious Isaline.

“Poor girl!” he sighed, thinking solely of her and
not of himself; “would to Heaven I could deliver
you by the sacrifice of my own poor life! Alas!
alas! alas!”

“So, then, my chivalrous gentleman, we have got
you at last, have we?” said the voice of Hampton,
in a tone of undisguised triumph. “I took a solemn
oath, that sooner or later I would have possession of
you both, and I have not sworn in vain. A pretty
business you have made of it, sneaking round
through the woods with a lady who had a good reputation
before you knew her; but fortunately, as I
view it, unfortunately, as you may, you have had
your sport out, have run the length of your tether,
and will now have to take the consequences! Come,
down with you, and show yourself, and not keep
gentlemen waiting!”

“Yes,” joined in the decoy, with a malignant

laugh, “I once had the pleasure of waiting your
slow motions on the Ohio, but don't much like the
idea of doing so here.”

“Him steal Methoto gun!” said the white savage,
gnashing his teeth with rage.

The Indians gave a few short yells of triumph.

“Come, down with you!” repeated Hampton.

Thus far Henry had not spoken a word, but, with
tender solicitude, had remained in the tree, supporting
the inanimate form of his unconscious companion,
and wishing from the very depths of his heart
she might never unclose her eyes to the dreadful
misery that had come upon her. What his feelings
were in those awful moments—the intensity of his
anguish—may never be revealed; but there was
little of self in his consideration: his whole soul
was centered upon poor Isaline—the innocent lamb
among a pack of ravenous wolves.

“Charles Hampton,” he said at length, in a calm,
firm, dispassionate tone, “I ask nothing for myself,
but everything for one for whom you have professed
regard. Do with me what you will; but, in the
name of that God before whose awful Bar you must
sooner or later appear, I charge you to do no wrong
to this sweet lady, who has never wronged you by
so much as a word! You at least were born in a
Christian land, have mingled with the intelligent
and refined, and have laid claim to the title of a
gentleman; and though you have, for a purpose of
your own, stooped from your high estate to consort

with the barbarians of the wilderness, I cannot think
you so lost to all feelings of honor and humanity as
to have yet become a devil incarnate, and nothing
less would harm this innocent young lady, who now
rests in my arms with the unconsciousness of one
no longer having existence.”

“You need not waste your valuable time in
delivering a very stupid homily!” sneered Hampton.
“I think I still have wit enough left to manage
my own affairs, and whenever I shall really stand in
need of your advice I shall be sure to let you know.
As to the young lady and myself, we will settle our
own affairs in our own way, and hereafter I shall
take care that you do not interfere with my plans.
If I have stooped from my high estate, as you are
pleased to observe, to consort with the savage friends
and allies of my country. I beg you will consider
who drove me to the desperate act by the most
villainous treatment that an honorable gentleman
ever received. But come! the Indians here are
getting impatient at your delay in joining them; and
if you remain up there much longer, you will probably
be invited down by a tomahawk or rifle-bullet.
How is it, Miss Isaline, that I have no
pleasant word from you? Do you disdain a kindly
greeting to an old friend?”

“Have I not told you that she is unconscious?”
said Henry.

“Oh, I did not comprehend you!” returned Hampton.
“She has fainted then?”

“Yes.”

“Then why keep her up there, instead of handing
her down to her friends and having something done
for her?”

“Would to Heaven she might never be restored
to consciousness again!” said Henry.

“Speak to your Indians, Blodget,” said Hampton,
addressing the decoy, “and explain how matters
stand.”

The other said a few words to the savages in
their native tongue; and they, jerking out their
guttural replies, immediately gathered around in a
close group, directly under Henry and Isaline.
Hampton and the man called Blodget also pressed
up into the ring, and the former said:

“Now let her down to us, and we will take care
that she does not fall.”

Painful as it was for Henry thus to deliver into
the possession of his rival, the fair, sweet being he
loved above all others, there was no alternative; and
with many anxious words of caution, he lowered
her unconscious form as gently as he could, and,
with feelings no language may portray, beheld her
first seized by the rude hands of savages and then
clasped in the arms of his deadly foe. It must be
confessed that Hampton handled her with tender
care; and, gently placing her upon the bank of the
river, soon began to sprinkle water in her face, in
order to revive her.

Meantime Henry leaped down among the savages,

and was immediately laid hold of, with whoops of
triumph. As soon as Methoto could reach him, he
seized and jerked his rifle from his hands, and,
springing back some three or four paces, attempted
to shoot him. In fact he would have done so, but
for Blodget, who knocked the piece up just as he
had it levelled and was in the act of pulling the
trigger. It went off, and the ball passed just over
the head of his intended victim.

“Don't be a fool!” exclaimed the decoy, turning
fiercely upon the white savage. “Do you want to
take his life here now, and spoil all our after sport?”

Then bethinking him that Methoto would better
understand the Indian tongue, he addressed him in
the language of the Shawanoese.

“Oogh!” grunted Methoto, seeming to be well
pleased with the idea; and then he said a few words
to his brother savages, at which they all laughed.

While Hampton kept himself busy in trying to
restore Isaline—and there appeared to have been
some arrangement by which she was to be left solely
in his charge—the Indians began to strip and
plunder Henry, one taking his knife and belt, another
his hunting-frock, a third his hat, and so on,
till in the course of five minutes he had nothing left
to him but his breeches and a part of a torn shirt.
Methoto of course claimed his own powder-horn
and bullet-pouch; and though he would gladly have
had a share of the rest of the things, his dusky
brothers appeared to think he had got enough, and

divided all the plunder among themselves, each
putting on some part of the young man's dress and
strutting around, amid general laughter at each
other.

The savages were naked except the breech-cloth,
leggings and moccasins, though each carried a
blanket thrown carelessly over his shoulders. They
were all armed with rifle, tomahawk and scalping-knife,
and were painted for the war-path—or rather
were hideously daubed with immense blotches of
vermilion, and streaked with white, black, and blue,
put on in a way to make them look most ugly and
frightful. Each had his scalp-lock ornamented with
beads and feathers and standing up stiff above his
otherwise bald head, ready for the grasp of whatever
foeman could get near enough to seize it—a sort of
perpetual challenge and silent braggardism.

Blodget, though evidently long among the Indians
as an associate, agent and trader, was not in
any way disfigured, probably because it might have
injured him as a decoy or spy among the whites,
and his dress too was so much like the borderers in
general as to need no special description. He was
of medium size with sandy hair, lead-colored eyes,
a pug nose, a sensual, vicious mouth, and freckled
skin. He was a mean, sneaking, contemptible
wretch, naturally a great coward, and, as a matter
of course, an overbearing, cruel bully. His age
was apparently not far from thirty.

By the time the savages had finished plundering

Henry, poor Isaline had so far revived as to raise
her head, with a wild stare at Hampton, and ask
where she was.

“With the best friend you have in the world, my
dear Isaline!” replied Hampton, in a low, clear,
almost musical tone.

Isaline gazed into his face with that peculiar,
blinking look of wonder which a person sometimes
exhibits when suddenly roused out of a heavy sleep,
and her pallid features expressed some degree of
mental anguish, mingled with a blank look of incomprehension.

“You are not Henry Colburn?” she said, in a
rather doubting way.

“No,” returned the other, with a sneering smile,
“I rather flatter myself I am not. I am a gentleman,
Miss Holcombe, and your particular friend—
Charles Hampton, at your service.”

“Hampton!” she exclaimed, as if suddenly comprehending
the fearful truth, and glancing around
upon the hideous group of savages. “Oh, my God!
my God! then my horrible dream is true! and I am
in the power of these monsters at last! Oh, where
is my friend and protector, Henry Colburn?”

“Here!” cried the young artist, at once springing
forward.

But he was not permitted to reach her side; for
some three or four savage hands at once seized and
hurled him backward with such force that he fell
to the ground.

Isaline uttered a wild scream.

“Take him away!” cried Hampton, in an angry
tone.

Blodget said a few words to the Indians, only one
or two of whom could even imperfectly understand
English, and they at once gathered around Henry
and dragged him back through the bushes up to
the top of the hill.

“Oh, let me go with him!” cried Isaline, staggering
to her feet and attempting to follow.

“Nay, my dear girl, rather remain here with me!”
said Hampton, twining his arm around her slender
waist and detaining her by gentle force.

“Villain!” cried Isaline; “unhand me and let me
go!”

The thin lips of Hampton compressed, his brow
gathered into a frown, and his black, snaky eyes
shot angry gleams, as he said, in a tone that was
stern and cold:

“Villain is a term that very few have ever applied
to me personally, and I believe they have all suffered
for it, or will before I shall have done with
them.”

“Well, you are a villain!” iterated Isaline, her
brave soul rising up strong under the pressure of
her wrongs; “or else you would never have deserted
your own race, like a coward, and linked yourself
with blood-thirsty savages, to pursue and hunt down
a defenceless girl who never did you a wrong.”

“It is seldom I condescend to an explanation of

my acts,” rejoined Hampton; “but in your case,
Miss Holcombe, I will do so, because I see you are
excited and laboring under a serious mistake, and I
really have a desire to stand well in your regard.
I did not quit my own race intentionally, to throw
myself among the savages and hunt you down, as
you have so cruelly asserted; but accident threw me
among a party of Indians who were already on their
way to attack and destroy our whole train; and
thinking solely of you, and that in no other way
could I possibly save you, I dissembled to them,
and pretended that, because of wanting revenge, I
was delighted with their plan, and would go with
them and give them all the aid in my power, stipulating
only that I was to have one prisoner spared
to me, which I scarcely need tell you was your own
sweet self, for what would the world be to me without
the presence of one I so madly love?”

“Stop!” said Isaline, with any angry flush; “such
language is not suited to the time, place and circumstances.”
Then looking at him for a few
moments, with a steady, unquailing eye, she added:
“Was it really for the purpose of saving my life
and restoring me to my friends that you joined the
Indians?”

“I assure you it was, on my honor as a gentleman!”

“And were the Indians in sufficient force to attack
the whole train?”

“Yes, they numbered not less than fifty able warriors.”

“Is that number here present?”

“No, there are only six here, and two white men
besides myself.”

“How comes it then that you and these have
separated from the others?”

“Especially to follow you.”

“In order to save me?”

“Yes, to save you from being lost in the wilderness,
or falling into worse hands.”

“And how did you discover that I had separated
from the train?”

“By accident,” replied Hampton, seeming eager
to enter into a satisfactory explanation. “We were
all pursuing the train, and had almost come up with
it, when we were overtaken by the tempest and laid
by in the wood, fortunately just the other side of the
track of the tornado. While at that place, waiting
for the storm to pass over, a couple of Indians, who
had been out hunting and scouting, came in, and one
of them showed me a small piece of calico, which he
had found hanging to a bramble, and which I at
once recognized as a part of your dress. That you
may be certain I am telling you the truth,” said
Hampton, “I will show it to you, for I have
treasured it as something sacred;” and he at once
produced and held up the article before the astonished
eyes of Isaline.

It was indeed a piece of her dress, about half as

large as the palm of her hand, which had been torn
from near the bottom of her skirt.

“As soon as I saw this,” pursued the artful villain,
“I arranged with a friend of mine and six of the
Indians to follow you, for you were all that concerned
me in this unpleasant affair, most of the
others having treated me in a manner to excite a
spirit of enmity, so that I did not care what became
of them. We hurried to the spot where the piece
of dress had been found, and there discovered, what
the Indian scouts had before mentioned, that the
trail of yourself and companion was connected with
the trail of two horses; but why you were afoot and
the horses preceding you, in such an out-of-the-way
place, I could not understand till I came to the
point where you had stopped and turned off to go
back; and then I conjectured that you had first ridden
away from the train, that the horses had subsequently
got away from you, and that you had
followed them as far as you had thought prudent
and were then endeavoring to make your way back
to your companions on foot. Was I right?”

“Yes,” replied Isaline.

“Well,” pursued Hampton, “we hurried along on
your backward trail, a very clear one in the wet
earth, I being anxious to overtake you before any
harm could come to you, and at length found where
you had retraced your own steps and turned off
into a mass of fallen timbers; and then the Indians
stopped and hallooed, judging from the signs that we

were close upon you. Was such the fact? did you
hear us?”

“Yes,” answered Isaline.

“Well, as you know, we did not overtake you yesterday,
greatly to my disappointment, for I was
much afraid you would suffer last night. We found
where you had broken your trail in the water, which
showed the sagacious experience of your guide; but
night fell upon us before we could discover the new
one, and we were obliged to encamp and give up
the pursuit for the time. At the first streak of day
I roused up all the Indians, and we made an eager
search, and fortunately discovered your new trail
by the time it was fairly light. We followed it
rapidly, but found it zig-zag, winding, twisting, and
turning, as if you had been in great uncertainty
about your proper course. It finally led, as you of
course know, to a miserable hut on the bank of the
Licking, where we found a white man, who had been
brought up among the Indians, and who was in a
terrible rage, because, as he said, he had discovered
and brought you into his dwelling, and given you
hospitable entertainment, and you had this morning
repaid him, or rather your companion had, by getting
possession of his rifle, on pretence of wanting to
shoot a bird, and then had run off, threatening to
shoot him if he followed.”

“That was done in self-defence,” explained Isaline,
“for he was preparing to kill my companion, in order
to get possession of myself.”

“The villain!” exclaimed Hampton, with righteous
indignation; “only let him dare to put a hand on you
now! Do not fear any more, sweet lady! henceforth
you are under my protection!”

Isaline shuddered, for she felt it was the lamb
under the protection of the wolf.

“Well, as I have said,” Hampton went on, “this
fellow was in a terrible rage, and hurriedly told the
Indians his whole story and then declared his intention,
not only of joining in the pursuit, but of joining
them altogether and returning with them to his
old home. We followed you to the spot where you
had again broken your trail, and which I must
admit was so artfully done that we were on the
point of giving up the search, when one of the Indians
discovered that you had been on the little
island, and must of course have left it by jumping
into the river, as your still dripping garments certainly
prove you did. Then I confess I was more
alarmed than ever, fearing you were drowned. We
immediately began a search along down the bank of
the stream, which I am happy to say has resulted in
complete success. I am sorry to find you have been
unnecessarily alarmed, though of course you could
not know that instead of an enemy you were being
followed by your best friend. Even here we might
have failed of our object but for the Providential
discharge of your companion's rifle, which led us
directly to the spot.”

Isaline groaned in spirit at the recollection of that
most imprudent, not to say fatal, act.

“And now?” said Isaline, looking straight into
Hampton's eye, with a kind of trembling eagerness:
“what do you intend to do with me now that you
have me in your power?”

“Protect and treasure you as a gem of which the
world does not produce a counterpart!” returned
the other, with an enthusiastic glow. “Come, now
that you know all, sweet lady, will you not recall that
odious word villain, which you applied to me in the
heat of passionate excitement?”

Isaline was on the point of giving an indignant
and scornful rejoinder, but suddenly bethought her
it could do no good and might do much harm, she
being so completely in his power. Would it not be
policy for her to dissemble a little—to play a part
—and thus as it were use the only weapon she had
for self-defence? Perhaps, by affecting to believe
the villian, and appearing to become in a degree reconciled
to her situation, she might obtain over him
an influence that she could use to her own advantage,
and possibly to the advantage of Henry Colburn,
who might otherwise have no friendly aid. She
pondered for a few moments, rapidly taking all these
matters into consideration, but apparently weighing
only what the other had said, and then replied, as if
with an altered view, though still with a lingering
doubt:

“If all you tell me is true, Mr. Hampton, I will

not maintain that I was justified in using the language
I did.”

“All is true that I have told you, dear lady, on
my honor as a gentleman!” he eagerly returned,
with a glow of satisfaction. “Had I really been the
villain you supposed, should I not have used my
present power to resent the insult, instead of taking
so much pains to convince you of your mistake?”

“Perhaps you would,” she replied in a manner to
convey the idea of regret for her hasty expression.

“You see, Miss Isaline,” he rejoined with what
he intended to be a winning smile, “it is my proudest
ambition to stand high in your regard, and this very
fact unfortunately has been the leading cause of all
my troubles. You must have seen, you must have
known, dear lady, that I have long loved you, even
to idolatrous worship; and when I fancied there was
another a mere adventurer as I may say; coming
between you and me, I became as one insane, and
not only said, but did, some rash and perhaps unjustifiable
things.”

“Among which,” returned Isaline, effectually concealing,
by her determined will, a shudder of disgust,
“was the running away from me and leaving
me to suppose you dead.”

“I was forced into that act, my dear Isaline, by
the rough enemies who surrounded me and a combination
of other circumstances. As probably you
know, I was actually compelled to go out into the
dark wood, on that dark night, ostensibly to fight a

duel with Colburn, but in reality to be murdered;
and but for the fact that we were interrupted in a
most mysterious and fearful manner, I am certain
I should not be living now.”

“I have heard something of it,” said Isaline, “and
was led to fear you had been destroyed. What was
it that followed you? and how did you escape? and
why did you not return to the boat?”

“What it was that followed me,” answered Hampton,
glancing quickly around him, as if he feared it
still, “I do not know; but it was something frightful,
and I confess I was scared, as were all the others
who heard it. I escaped, I suppose, by running
away from it—for after a time I found myself alone
in the depths of the forest. After what had happened,
I did not care to return to the boat, to meet
with new insults, not to say downright brutality;
but I could not if I had wished, for I had got lost
in the wood, and was compelled to wander around
alone, living as best I could, till I finally fell in with
the Indians, who have proved better friends to me
than their white foes.”

In part the whole statement of Hampton was true
and in part false; for, in fact, toward evening of the
next day after the intended duel, he had reached
the Kentucky side of the Ohio river ahead of the
boats, which had happened at the moment to be
coming around the bend above; and he had seated
himself on a log there to wait for them, intending to
hail them, when, to his surprise, he had heard them

hailed from the other shore, and had really been a
witness of the exciting scene described in a former
chapter. This event had then changed his whole
purpose, and had led to his wicked design of joining
the Indians and inciting them to make an incursion
into Kentucky, that he might revenge himself on
the scouts and obtain possession of Isaline, for a
reason yet to be shown. Knowing enough of the
Indian character to believe they would receive a
deserter in a friendly manner, he had gone up to a
point opposite to the place where the decoy had
appeared, and there, by shouting and showing himself,
had attracted the attention of the savages; and
then, in sight of them, had actually plunged into the
water and attempted to swim across the river. As
they were provided with a few canoes, which they
had not attempted to use against the voyagers, they
sent one to meet him. Once among them, with
Blodget acting as interpreter, he had managed to
accomplish his vile purpose of inciting them to follow
the voyagers, by assuring them the latter were
mostly women and children, and that an easy victory,
a terrible revenge, and much valuable booty would
be their reward. At first the Indians had thought
their party too few for the venture; but having been
subsequently joined by some thirty fresh warriors,
eager to distinguish themselves, they had crossed
the Ohio in the night, in canoes, a few at a time, and
had since been aiming to keep back out of sight and
come up with their intended victims in the vicinity
of the Blue Licks.

These facts, it will be seen, agree with the language
used by Hampton while Henry was supporting
the unconscious Isaline; but as she had heard
nothing of that, he felt he could say what he pleased
to her without fear of any contradictory statement
being pointed out.

“Did I understand you to say the Indians were
some fifty in number and intended attacking the
train?” inquired Isaline, with an anxious look.

“Yes,” he replied; “and doubtless ere this the
whole number of whites are either killed or prisoners;
so that you may be thankful, as I am, that you are
not among them.”

At this moment there rung out a fierce cry from
some one of the party who had carried off Henry,
followed by loud, savage laughter; and fearing, she
knew not what, Isaline involuntarily clasped her
hands, turned more deadly pale, shuddered, and
grew sick at heart.