Show A candle in the wilderness w T CHAPTER VIII continued 17 ne ile accepted the challenge to fight is nother another turk they crashed together end ii nd splintered their lances they drew pistols and fired A bullet rang on smiths breastplate and glanced oft off emit smiths h a but bullet I 1 et tore into t the h e left arm 0 the turk who could no longer control his horse soon he felt fell faint and stunned smith cut oil off his lend head the turks demanded another fight it C came me the next day when smith fought a giant with battle axes our captain lost his bli ax and was nearly outdone out done ills his horsemanship saved him until with ills his fal falchion chlon he ran the turk through when we were defeated in battle he be was bounded and lay a night with the slaughtered dead ile he recovered was taken to and put on the auction block ile he were kicked and handled and felt over like a horse and sold to the highest bidder lie ile went to a bashaw in Nal brits when the bashaw had else to do lie tied I 1 d kick smith it was his bis only amusement lie ile kicked once too often they was alone in a barn where smith was th thresh ln with a flail smith broke the ba shaws neck and ran away theres a man for ye credit to the blood in his veins I 1 ile he had a rough hand in war but in pence peace he were gentle as a dove lie ile never nored his lungs ile he got back to london where we met and shipped together for the new world dont worry boy yere born under a lucky star be a man like john smith theres the quirk that wins from that time on the young man was in better heart old was as strong and tireless with his paddle ns as the younger men there were long carries where the slanting water was rough as the sea in a storm clouds came out of the west and as night was falling failing on a long carry black clouds came over split with fiery flashes and roaring with thunder the party halted and began to prepare for rain the great biedl exclaimed ci pointing upward in a curious dialect he asked the white men it if they would some time get him M a little thunder bird ile he would be afraid of a big one but he thought that a little one would be a better friend than a dog the red men were busy girdling great spruces spruced and with sharpened pole ends stripping off cylinders of bark about five feet long soon every man had bad a waterproof water proof arch of bark to cover him for the night being on high ground under thick foliage 0 one ne needed only a blanket to be fairly well protected from the weather next evening they reached the big ca camp mp on the island just off the canadian shore in the midst of it a great fire was burning and the red men were dancing around it their bodies bent their leads heads lowered like the lead head of a charging bull their arms moving as if 11 they were kneading dough while hoarse grunts and weird cries came from their lips took them to the tent of father cauvet who was talking with a chief of the tribe ile he read roberts letter in the firelight ue ile shook their hands bands saying 1 I could welcome you with a better heart if satan were not in possession of the camp some warriors came in today with an iroquois captive and we are in the midst of a witches sabbath the girls and women have been torturing the poor creature with their teeth and presently he will be burned till he Is dead and boiled in a kettle and d eaten we would better go to tile the far end of the island for the night than stay here and listen to his death song rod and the yelling of his tor mentors it would be like looking into hell they gathered up their blankets Ach awat you came with us the lc father commanded as they went away in the darkness of the greenwood to the west shore of the island followed by the indian even there the horrors and the deviltry came faintly to their ears the high treble of the death song the shouting and the wild laughter the young man groaned as he heard beard it boy it Is a message good for the soul out of you said the priest do you riot not realize how bar hard lias has been the struggle of our fathers in ages gone to put satan down and how great la Is the blessing of industry and government these wild folk are like the wolves the lynxes and the cata mounts of the forest always seeking prey then even eat rats and mice ns as do the cat family but they are moro more cruel than the beasts because satan Is in them they slept little and arom soon after daylight had left them in the night and gone cone back to his people ile he could not keep away said the rather father we shall find him lying with the others their bodies full of flesh tn a drunken stupor 1 I should think these swine unworthy of the sacrifice that you are making robert remarked the father answered they anre swine and yet they are men their fortitude Is heroic their patience Is sublime they are hospitable to all save pave an enemy they havo have keon keen intellects ts and sometimes on an eloquence that Is moving they ask it if god made heaven and earth where was god before heaven and earth were created they ask many questions which we cannot answer they returned to the camp it was silent client the fire hud hod burned low was lying with the others under a rude ruda bark covered shed shea along f A tale of the beginning of new england by IRVING BACHELLER service copyright by irvcng bacheller side the smoldering embers it was waa a strange mingle of dogs and bare bar bodies the girls and women and young ones who always get out of the way when a feast Is on as the father explained had returned to camp and were eating together before a ore fire some ten yards aside their favorite dogs were with them As they ate they wiped the grease from their hands on the hair of the dogs they made the white men welcome who sat down among them and ate dried fish and moose and blueberries their heaven beai en Is paved with blueberries tile the father explained as they began eating the meat was well cured but was filled with surprises for a quantity of 0 hair dirt and twigs had been beaten into it in the tour four days that the englishmen spent with these nomads of the waste they saw a life so strange and revolting that only a small part of it may be here record recorded ed ch children lid ren three years old still nursing at their mothers breasts women giving birth to children without help or the slightest outcry and the same day going on with their work of building cabins for the winter while the men were asleep by the fire the girls could not be distinguished from the alie young men save have for their double girdles at the middle and below the breasts and their beads and earrings A band of scouts from the forests south of the river came into camp one evening and reported that they could find no iroquois south of the great river the englishmen were told that their journey would begin at daylight in the morning A band of the friendly durons arrived that evening the sorcerers began their work the devil killer borrowed roberts Ko berts sword and began howling and hissing all and d slashing the air so furiously that the sweat poured down from his brow to his feet with wild ald yells he be redoubled his efforts and at last pretended to see and exterminate the accursed one some of the warriors had a sweat under a low arch of poles covered with blankets and heated with hot stones athes they were like a dozen fighting cats in a barrel howling hissin hissing and kicking as the sweat pro ceedee A huron sorcerer halted hailed as boscou ta undertook to cure a sick man by taking a small red hot stone from the lire and putting it in his mouth and I 1 t with wild yells he redoubled hla his efforts effort and at last pretended to see sea and exterminate the accursed one hissing and growling in the face ace of the invalid as an he blew out his breath later lie showed his mouth to the white men who could see no evidence of burning father cauvet explained that the savages have a mysterious art in evading the effect of heat beat he had seen a woman walk through red fire apparently unscathed lie he told them that the sick man would be left to die alone it if lie he were unable to walk when the camp moved robert and amos set out with a band of twenty braves in the morning the indians otter skins skills were stored in a big waterproof water proof sack of moose hide they reached the outlet of the great lake but the dutch trader had not yet arrived the braves began to make a rude shelter when they heard a tapping in the near forest like that of a alape it frightened them they ceased their work one of them tapped on a tree it was part of a system of mystic signals known to these children of the forest in a moment an algonquin scout hurried into their presence with whispered explanations it was like shouting at it u herd of deer what a scurry of greased bodies I 1 what a splashing as the braves sprang for their canoes the scout among in a few seconds the whole fleet was out in deep water and speeding away their expertness pertness cs in boarding their moving water steeds astonished the white men it was doubtless the result of much training in the art of getting away there was no choosing cro osing of purposes no confusion every man I 1 knew his place and went to it they cnn ann move quicker than a cat before a bulldog yo ye git one 0 them lazy pups an he can travel for gods sake amos whispered 1 I dont blame em its poor tun fun to be burned alive and cooked theres therea a big band a 0 iroquois near us you can bet on that aiella kettles 1 A flight of arrows arrow hissed out of the edge of ta the I 1 e forest near them and fell in and around the lost last canoes of the fleet one struck the arm of a brave and clung there waving as he bent to ills his task another was im bedded in the bare back of the stern in the last canoe while robert looked he saw a red line stream down below the arrow still the wounded men held their pace with no apparent lessening of their energy and courage in a moment ten canoes filled with iroquois warriors had taken water and in pursuit of the fleeing north men now by the hazard 0 the spotted die I 1 I 1 reckon we got to go to some other place about as rapid as our nags can carry us said amos in their haste the Algon quins had left their sock of skins find end a much sms smaller her one cue halt half filled with dried meat anjos amos hauled out an armful of fur and stuffed it into the meat sack lie ile slung the burden over hla his shoulder wow now goodby mother dearl ton for im a coln away he quoted a as g he beckoned to his comrade they waded and climbed over dead timber at the edge of the small mall river f for 0 r some twenty rods where the they y went 1 ashore 1 s hore and hurried southward keeping 1 n g their pace until darkness tell fell upon them at a noisy brook they drank and ate and lay down for the night my godl amos exclaimed with a laugh them went as quick as a ghost at cockcrow 1 I never saw a scared cat move quicker robert hobert answered we made a monstrous quick move ourselves said amos my nags Is iii tired so are mine they were up at daybreak and continued their journey browsing on fish and flesh as they walked they bore southeastward and after a tedious an and uneventful journey came to a well trod path going due west this Is an indian path amos w whispered 1 I reckon the lake Is near they proceeded with great caution soon amos said theres been no ma man n travel on this path tor for days A moose and two deer went over it last night well spur our nags wid aad push along faster coming coining to the top of a hill they ca could uld see the broad sunlit wat waters s b below eer tb them em TI there ere amos climbed a tree and satis satisfied fled himself that the coast was clear A mile or so out he saw a shallop with a full sail heading beading southward there was no other sign of life on the water mater or along the shore the sun was about two hours high in the east amos descended and they hurried on to a sheltered cove and a sloping sand beach on a flat rock near the water were the dying remnants of a campfire campf lre there were tracks in the sand some fine lady has been here this moraln said amos look at that little shoe print I 1 reckon they camped here last night I 1 seen their shallop headin south its a place where the savages when they are in these parts come down to trade with the dutch in a moment robert hobert saw raw a white handkerchief hanging over the water on a dead branch ile he pulled the branch toward him released the handkerchief and examined it blood he exclaimed this Is peggy welds handkerchief the odor of roseal roses 1 I 1 always observed that when I 1 was near her and here are the embroidered initials ap P W 1 11 jerusalem the golden I 1 amos answered swe reil we missed lem em by less than sixty minutes never mind boy amos Is happy well tag along after em with a shallop of our own afore midday what do you mean kobert disked with a look of distress in his bis animated face 1 I swear by the dew claws 0 the devil were in luck said amos lie ile pointed at a great hemlock which leaning from the lakes edge had bad lately fallen into the water it was hollow at the butt A spread of its green branches protruded from the lake surface as high as a haystack hay in your mind stobert asked A contrI contrivance vancel 1 I 1 reckon it will save our legs and keep us out a 0 the pot a day or two tills this la Is a highway ol 01 0 satan an englishman with ills his white carcass has got to be careful of it in these parts ye shin up a tree and keep watch if IE ye see or hear bear anybody rap thrice like a alape the time has come when I 1 must take a chance ns as the lady said when she got married TO BE BB CONTINUED |