The Pioneers; Or, The Sources of the Susquehanna

by James Fenimore Cooper

  CHAPTER XXXVIII.

  "Even from the land of shadows, now My father's awful ghost appears." --Gertrude Of Wyoming.

  For an hour after Louisa Grant was left by Miss Temple, in the situationalready mentioned, she continued in feverish anxiety, awaiting thereturn of her friend. But as the time passed by without the reappearanceof Elizabeth, the terror of Louisa gradually increased, until heralarmed fancy had conjured every species of danger that appertained tothe woods, excepting the one that really existed. The heavens had becomeobscured by degrees, and vast volumes of smoke were pouring over thevalley; but the thoughts of Louisa were still recurring to beasts,without dreaming of the real cause for apprehension. She was stationedin the edge of the low pines and chestnuts that succeed the first orlarge growth of the forest, and directly above the angle where thehighway turned from the straight course to the village, and ascended themountain laterally. Consequently, she commanded a view, not only of thevalley, but of the road beneath her. The few travellers that passed, sheobserved, were engaged in earnest conversation, and frequently raisedtheir eyes to the hill, and at length she saw the people leaving thecourt house, and gazing upward also. While under the influence ofthe alarm excited by such unusual movements, reluctant to go, andyet fearful to remain, Louisa was startled by the low, cracking, butcautious treads of some one approaching through the bushes. She was onthe eve of flight, when Natty emerged from the cover, and stood at herside. The old man laughed as he shook her kindly by a hand that waspassive with fear.

  "I am glad to meet you here, child," he said; "for the back of themountain is a-fire, and it would be dangerous to go up it now, till ithas been burnt over once, and the dead wood is gone. There's a foolishman, the comrade of that varmint who has given me all this trouble,digging for ore on the east side. I told him that the kearless fellows,who thought to catch a practysed hunter in the woods after dark, hadthrown the lighted pine-knots in the brush, and that 'twould kindle liketow, and warned him to leave the hill. But he was set upon his business,and nothing short of Providence could move him, if he isn't burnt andburied in a grave of his own digging, he's made of salamanders. Why,what ails the child? You look as skeary as if you'd seed more painters.I wish there were more to be found! they'd count up faster than thebeaver. But where's the good child with a bad father? Did she forget herpromise to the old man?"

  "The hill! the hill!" shrieked Louisa; "she seeks you on the hill withthe powder!"

  Natty recoiled several feet at this unexpected intelligence.

  "The Lord of Heaven have mercy on her! She's on the Vision, and that'sa sheet of fire agin' this. Child, if ye love the dear one, and hope tofind a friend when ye need it most, to the village, and give the alarm.The men are used to fighting fire, and there may be a chance left, Fly!I bid ye fly! nor stop even for breath."

  The Leather-Stocking had no sooner uttered this injunction, than hedisappeared in the bushes, and, when last seen by Louisa, was rushingup the mountain, with a speed that none but those who were accustomed tothe toil could attain.

  "Have I found ye!" the old man exclaimed, when he burst out of thesmoke; "God be praised that I have found ye; but follow--there's no timefor talking."

  "My dress!" said Elizabeth; "it would be fatal to trust myself nearer tothe flames in it."

  "I bethought me of your flimsy things," cried Natty, throwing loose thefolds of a covering buckskin that he carried on his arm, and wrappingher form in it, in such a manner as to envelop her whole person; "nowfollow, for it's a matter of life and death to us all."

  "But John! what will become of John?" cried Edwards; "can we leave theold warrior here to perish?"

  The eyes of Natty followed the direction of Edwards' finger, where hebeheld the Indian still seated as before, with the very earth under hisfeet consuming with fire. Without delay the hunter approached the spot,and spoke in Delaware:

  "Up and away, Chingachgook! will ye stay here to burn, like a Mingoat the stake? The Moravians have teached ye better, I hope; the Lordpreserve me if the powder hasn't flashed atween his legs, and the skinof his back is roasting. Will ye come, I say; will ye follow me?"

  "Why should Mohegan go?" returned the Indian, gloomily. "He has seen thedays of an eagle, and his eye grows dim He looks on the valley; he lookson the water; he looks in the hunting-grounds--but he sees no Delawares.Every one has a white skin. My fathers say, from the far-off land, Come.My women, my young warriors, my tribe, say, Come. The Great Spirit says,Come. Let Mohegan die."

  "But you forget your friend," cried Edwards,

  "'Tis useless to talk to an Indian with the death-fit on him, lad,"interrupted Natty, who seized the strips of the blanket, and withwonderful dexterity strapped the passive chieftain to his own back; whenhe turned, and with a strength that seemed to bid defiance, not only tohis years, but to his load, he led the way to the point whence he hadissued. As they crossed the little terrace of rock, one of the deadtrees, that had been tottering for several minutes, fell on the spotwhere they had stood, and filled the air with its cinders.

  Such an event quickened the steps of the party, who followed theLeather-Stocking with the urgency required by the occasion.

  "Tread on the soft ground," he cried, when they were in a gloom wheresight availed them but little, "and keep in the white smoke; keep theskin close on her, lad; she's a precious one--another will be hard to befound."

  Obedient to the hunter's directions, they followed his steps and adviceimplicitly; and, although the narrow pas sage along the winding of thespring led amid burning logs and falling branches, they happily achievedit in safety. No one but a man long accustomed to the woods could havetraced his route through the smoke, in which respiration was difficult,and sight nearly useless; but the experience of Natty conducted them toan opening through the rocks, where, with a little difficulty, they soondescended to another terrace, and emerged at once into a tolerably clearatmosphere.

  The feelings of Edwards and Elizabeth at reaching this spot may beimagined, though not easily described. No one seemed to exult more thantheir guide, who turned, with Mohegan still lashed to his back, and,laughing in his own manner, said:

  "I knowed 'twa the Frenchman's powder, gal; it went so all together;your coarse grain will squib for a minute. The Iroquois had none of thebest powder when I went agin' the Canada tribes, under Sir William. DidI ever tell you the story, lad, consarning the scrimmage with--"

  "For God's sake, tell me nothing now, Natty, until we are entirely safe.Where shall we go next?"

  "Why, on the platform of rock over the cave, to be sure; you will besafe enough there, or we'll go Into It, if you be so minded." The youngman started, and appeared agitated; but, Looking around him with ananxious eye, said quickly:

  "Shalt we be safe on the rock? cannot the fire reach us there, too?"

  "Can't the boy see?" said Natty, with the coolness of one accustomed tothe kind of danger he had just encountered. "Had ye stayed in the placeabove ten minutes longer, you would both have been in ashes, but hereyou may stay forever, and no fire can touch you, until they burn therocks as well as the woods."

  With this assurance, which was obviously true, they proceeded to thespot, and Natty deposited his load, placing the Indian on the groundwith his back against a fragment of the rocks. Elizabeth sank on theground, and buried her face in her hands, while her heart was swellingwith a variety of conflicting emotions.

  "Let me urge you to take a restorative, Miss Temple," said Edwardsrespectfully; "your frame will sink else."

  "Leave me, leave me," she said, raising her beaming eyes for a momentto his; "I feel too much for words! I am grateful, Oliver, for thismiraculous escape; and next to my God to you."

  Edwards withdrew to the edge of the rock, and shouted:

  "Benjamin! where are you, Benjamin?"

  A hoarse voice replied, as if from the bowels of the earth:

  "Hereaway, master; stowed in this here bit of a hole, which is all thetime as hot as the cook's coppers. I'm t
ired of my berth, d'ye see, andif-so-be that Leather Stocking has got much overhauling to do before hesails after them said beaver I'll go into dock again, and ride out myquarantine, till I can get prottick from the law, and so hold on uponthe rest of my 'spaniolas."

  "Bring up a glass of water from the spring," continued Edwards, "andthrow a little wine in it; hasten, I entreat you!"

  "I knows but little of your small drink, Master Oliver," returned thesteward, his voice issuing out of the cave into the open air, "andthe Jamaikey held out no longer than to take a parting kiss with BillyKirby, when he anchored me alongside the highway last night, where yourun me down in the chase. But here's summat of a red color that may suita weak stomach, mayhap. That Master Kirby is no first-rate in a boat;but he'll tack a cart among the stumps, all the same as a Lon'on pilotwill back and fill, through the colliers in the Pool."

  As the steward ascended while talking, by the time he had ended hisspeech he appeared on the rock with the desired restoratives, exhibitingthe worn-out and bloated features of a man who had run deep in adebauch, and that lately.

  Elizabeth took from the hands of Edwards the liquor which he offered andthen motioned to be left again to herself.

  The youth turned at her bidding, and observed Natty kindly assiduousaround the person of Mohegan. When their eyes met, the hunter saidsorrowfully:

  "His time has come, lad; see it in his eyes--when an Indian fixes hiseye, he means to go but to one place; and what the wilful creatures puttheir minds on, they're sure to do."

  A quick tread prevented the reply, and in a few moments, to theamazement of the whole party, Mr. Grant was seen clinging to the side ofthe mountain, and striving to reach the place where they stood. Oliversprang to his assistance, and by their united efforts the worthy divinewas soon placed safely among them.

  "How came you added to our number?" cried Edwards. "Is the hill alivewith people at a time like this?"

  The hasty but pious thanksgivings of the clergyman were soon ejaculated,and, when he succeeded in collecting his bewildered senses, he replied:

  "I heard that my child was seen coming to the mountain; and, when thefire broke over its summit, my uneasiness drew me up the road, where Ifound Louisa, in terror for Miss Temple. It was to seek her that I cameinto this dangerous place; and I think, but for God's mercy, through thedogs of Natty, I should have perished in the flames myself."

  "Ay! follow the hounds, and if there's an opening they'll scent it out,"said Natty; "their noses be given them the same as man's reason."

  "I did so, and they led me to this place; but, praise be to God that Isee you all safe and well."

  "No, no," returned the hunter; "safe we be, but as for well, John can'tbe called in a good way, unless you'll say that for a man that's takinghis last look at 'arth."

  "He speaks the truth!" said the divine, with the holy awe with which heever approached the dying; "I have been by too many death-beds, not tosee that the hand of the tyrant is laid on this old warrior. Oh! howconsoling it is to know that he has not rejected the offered mercy inthe hour of his strength and of worldly temptations! The offspring ofa race of heathens, he has in truth been 'as a brand plucked from theburning.'"

  "No, no," returned Natty, who alone stood with him by the side ofthe dying warrior; "it is no burning that ails him, though his Indianfeelings made him scorn to move, unless it be the burning of man'swicked thoughts for near fourscore years; but it's natur' giving out ina chasm that's run too long.--Down with ye, Hector! down, I say! FleshIsn't iron, that a man can live forever, and see his kith and kin drivento a far country, and he left to mourn, with none to keep him company."

  "John," said the divine, tenderly, "do you hear me? do you wish theprayers appointed by the church, at this trying moment?"

  The Indian turned his ghastly face toward the speaker, and fastened hisdark eyes on him, steadily, but vacantly.

  No sign of recognition was made: and in a moment he moved his head againslowly toward the vale, and began to sing, using his own language, inthose low, guttural tones, that have been so often mentioned, his notesrising with his theme, till they swelled so loud as to be distinct.

  "I will come! I will come! to the land of the just I will come! TheMaquas I have slain! I have slain the Maquas! and the Great Spirit callsto his son. I will come! I will come to the land of the just! I willcome!"

  "What says he, Leather-Stocking?" Inquired the priest, with tenderinterest; "sings he the Redeemer's praise?"

  "No, no--'tis his own praise that he speaks now," said Natty, turning ina melancholy manner from the sight of his dying friend; "and a goodright he has to say it all, for I know every word to be true."

  "May heaven avert such self-righteousness from his heart! Humilityand penitence are the seals of Christianity; and, without feeling themdeeply seated in the soul, all hope is delusive, and leads to vainexpectations. Praise himself when his whole soul and body should uniteto praise his Maker! John! you have enjoyed the blessings of a gospelministry, and have been called from out a multitude of sinners andpagans, and, I trust, for a wise and gracious purpose. Do you now feelwhat it is to be justified by our Saviour's death, and reject all weakand idle dependence on good works, that spring from man's pride andvainglory?"

  The Indian did not regard his interrogator, but he raised his headagain, and said in a low, distinct voice:

  "Who can say that the Maqous know the back of the Mohegan? What enemythat trusted in him did not see the morning? What Mingo that he chasedever sang the song of triumph? Did Mohegan ever he? No; the truth livedin him, and none else could come out of him. In his youth he was awarrior, and his moccasins left the stain of blood. In his age he waswise; his words at the council fire did not blow away with the winds."

  "Ah! he has abandoned that vain relic of paganism, his songs," cried thedivine; "what says he now? is he sensible of his lost state?"

  "Lord!! man," said Natty, "he knows his end is at hand as well as youor I; but, so far from thinking it a loss, he believes it to be a greatgain. He is old and stiff, and you have made the game so scarce andshy, that better shots than him find it hard to get a livelihood. Nowhe thinks he shall travel where it will always be good hunting; Where nowicked or unjust Indians can go; and where he shall meet all his tribetogether agin. There's not much loss in that, to a man whose hands arehardly fit for basket-making Loss! if there be any loss, 'twill be tome. I'm sure after he's gone, there will be but little left for me butto follow."

  "His example and end, which, I humbly trust, shall yet be madeglorious," returned Mr. Grant, "should lead your mind to dwell on thethings of another life. But I feel it to be my duty to smooth the wayfor the parting spirit. This is the moment, John, when the reflectionthat you did not reject the mediation of the Redeemer, will bring balmto your soul. Trust not to any act of former days, but lay the burdenof your sins at his feet, and you have his own blessed assurance that hewill not desert you."

  "Though all you say be true, and you have scriptur' gospels for it,too," said Natty, "you will make nothing of the Indian. He hasn't seena Moravian p sin' the war; and it's hard to keep them from going hack totheir native ways. I should think 'twould be as well to let the old manpass in peace. He's happy now; I know it by his eye; and that's morethan I would say for the chief, sin' the time the Delawares broke upfrom the head waters of their river and went west. Ah's me! 'tis agrevious long time that, and many dark days have we seen together sin'it."

  "Hawk-eye!" said Mohegan, rousing with the last glimmering of life."Hawk-eye! listen to the words of your brother."

  "Yes, John," said the hunter, in English, strongly affected by theappeal, and drawing to his side, "we have been brothers; and more sothan it means in the Indian tongue. What would ye have with me,Chingachgook?"

  "Hawk-eye! my fathers call me to the happy hunting grounds. The pathis clear, and the eyes of Mohegan grow young. I look--but I see nowhite-skins; there are none to be seen but just and brave Indians.Farewell, Hawk-eye--you shall go with the Fire
-eater and the Young Eagleto the white man's heaven; but I go after my fathers. Let the bow, andtomahawk, and pipe, and the wampum of Mohegan he laid in his grave; forwhen he starts 'twil be in the night, like a warrior on a war-party, andhe can not stop to seek them."

  "What says he, Nathaniel?" cried Mr. Grant, earnestly, and with obviousanxiety; "does he recall the promises of the mediation? and trust hissalvation to the Rock of Ages?"

  Although the faith of the hunter was by no means clear, yet the fruitsof early instruction had not entirely fallen in the wilderness. Hebelieved in one Cod, and one heaven; and when the strong feeling excitedby the leave-taking of his old companion, which was exhibited by thepowerful working of every muscle in his weather-beaten face, sufferedhim to speak, he replied:

  "No--no--he trusts only to the Great Spirit of the savages, and to hisown good deeds. He thinks, like all his people, that he is to be youngagin, and to hunt, and be happy to the end of etarnity, its pretty muchthe same with all colors, parson. I could never bring myself to thinkthat I shall meet with these hounds, or my piece, in another world;though the thought of leaving them forever sometimes brings hardfeelings over me, and makes me cling to life with a greater craving thanbeseems three-Score-and-ten."

  "The Lord in his mercy avert such a death from one who has been sealedwith the sign of the cross!" cried the minister, in holy fervor. "John--"

  He paused for the elements. During the period occupied by the eventswhich we have related, the dark clouds in the horizon had continuedto increase in numbers and multitude; and the awful stillness that nowpervaded the air, announced a crisis in the state of the atmosphere. Theflames, which yet continued to rage along the sides of the mountain,no longer whirled in uncertain currents of their own eddies, but blazedhigh and steadily toward the heavens. There was even a quietude in theravages of the destructive element, as if it foresaw that a hand greatertitan even its own desolating power, was about to stay its progress.The piles of smoke which lay above the valley began to rise, and weredispelling rapidly; and streaks of livid lightning were dancing throughthe masses of clouds that impended over the western hills. While Mr.Grant was speaking, a flash, which sent its quivering light through thegloom, laying bare the whole opposite horizon, was followed by a loudcrash of thunder, that rolled away among the hills, seeming to shake thefoundations of the earth to their centre. Mohegan raised him self, as ifin obedience to a signal for his departure, and stretched his wasted armtoward the west. His dark face lighted with a look of joy; which, withall other expressions, gradually disappeared; the muscles stiffeningas they retreated to a state of rest; a slight convulsion played, for asingle instant, about his lips; and his arm slowly dropped by his side,leaving the frame of the dead warrior reposing against the rock withits glassy eyes open, and fixed on the distant hills, as if the desertedshell were tracing the flight of the spirit to its new abode.

  All this Mr. Grant witnessed in silent awe; but when the last echoes ofthe thunder died away he clasped his bands together, with pious energy,and repeated, in the full, rich tones of assured faith;

  "Lord! how unsearchable are Thy judgments; and Thy ways past findingout! 'I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at thelatter day upon the earth; and though after my skin, worms destroy thisbody, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for my self, andmine eyes shall behold, and not another."

  As the divine closed this burst of devotion, he bowed his head meekly tohis bosom, and looked all the dependence and humility that the inspiredlanguage expressed.

  When Mr. Grant retired from the body, the hunter approached, and takingthe rigid hand of his friend, looked him wistfully in the face for sometime without speaking, when he gave vent to his feelings by saying, inthe mournful voice of one who felt deeply:

  "Red skin or white, it's all over now! he's to be judged by a righteousJudge, and by no laws that's made to suit times, and new ways. Well,there's only one more death, and the world will be left to me and thehounds, Ah's me! a man must wait the time of God's pleasure, but I beginto weary of life. There is scarcely a tree standing that I know, andit's hard to find a face that I was ac-quainted with in my youngerdays."

  Large drops of rain now began to fall, and diffuse them selves overthe dry rock, while the approach of the thunder shower was rapid andcertain. The body of the Indian was hastily removed into the cavebeneath, followed by the whining hounds, who missed and moaned for thelook of intelligence that had always met their salutations to the chief.

  Edwards made some hasty and confused excuse for not taking Elizabethinto the same place, which was now completely closed in front withlogs and bark, saying some-thing that she hardly understood about itsdarkness, and the unpleasantness of being with the dead body. MissTemple, however, found a sufficient shelter against the torrent of rainthat fell, under the projection of a rock which overhung them, But longbefore the shower was over, the sounds of voices were heard below themcrying aloud for Elizabeth, and men soon appeared beating the dyingembers of the bushes, as they worked their way cautiously among theunextinguished brands.

  At the first short cessation in the rain, Oliver conducted Elizabeth tothe road, where he left her. Before parting, however, he found timeto say, in a fervent manner that his companion was now at no loss tointerpret.

  "The moment of concealment is over, Miss Temple. By this time to-morrow,I shall remove a veil that perhaps it has been weakness to keep aroundme and my allaus so long. But I have had romantic and foolish wishesand weakness; and who has not, that is young and torn by conflictingpassions? God bless you! I hear your father's voice; he is coming upthe road, and I would not, just now, subject myself to detention. ThankHeaven, you are safe again; that alone removes the weight of a worldfrom my spirit!"

  He waited for no answer, but sprang into the woods. Elizabeth,notwithstanding she heard the cries of her father as he called upon hername, paused until he was concealed among the smoking trees, when sheturned, and in a moment rushed into the arms of her half-distractedParent.

  A carriage had been provided, into which Miss Temple hastily entered;when the cry was passed along the hill, that the lost one was found, andthe people returned to the village wet and dirty, but elated with thethought that the daughter of their landlord had escaped from so horridand untimely an end.*

  * The probability of a fire in the woods similar to that here described has been questioned. The writer can only say that he once witnessed a fire in another part of New York that compelled a man to desert his wagon and horses in the highway, and in which the latter were destroyed. In order to estimate the probability of such an event, it is necessary to remember the effects of a long drought in that climate and the abundance of dead wood which is found in a forest like that described, The fires in the American forests frequently rage to such an extent as to produce a sensible effect on the atmosphere at a distance of fifty miles. Houses, barns, and fences are quite commonly swept away in their course.