Benton led the way through the station, passed the stockade2 and reached the forest beyond. He followed the trail leading up the Kanawha.
On, through the shadows cast by the tree-tops, the two went.
A good half-mile from the stockade, in a little spot of clear ground, where the flickering3 light of the moonbeams danced in fantastic rays, Benton halted.
“There,” he said, as he wheeled abruptly4 round and faced the old soldier, “this will do; just the spot for an interview.”
The General wondered at the words of the stranger; wondered still more at the peculiar5 expression that was on his face.
“Do you remember this spot, General?” asked Benton.
“No,” replied Treveling, after a glance around him.
“And yet you have been here before.”
“That is very likely, but there is nothing in particular that I can remember to fix the spot in my mind,” Treveling said.
“Are you sure of that?” asked the other.
“Quite sure.” The old General could not understand the meaning of these odd questions in relation to a simple opening in the forest.
“I can not remember,” said Treveling, puzzled.
“You were an officer under Lewis when he fought the battle of Point Pleasant and whipped Corn-planter in Dunmore’s time?”
“No, not in the fight, but before it,” said the stranger. “When I call back the memory of that campaign, do you not remember some event that happened in this very glade8?”
“No,” Treveling answered, after a moment’s pause.
“You do not?” Benton said, with astonishment9.
“No,” Treveling again replied.
“Let me call back to your mind a scene or two that happened long years ago.”
There was an icy tone in the voice of the stranger that struck a sudden chill to the heart of the old man. For the first time he felt a feeling of apprehension10 regarding the man who was acting11 so strangely.
“Dunmore is Governor of Virginia,” commenced the stranger, “and General Lewis is marching with all the force that can be raised along the border, against Corn-planter at the head of the Shawnees, the Mingoes and the Wyandots. He has halted here, information having reached the ears of the General that the Indians, in great numbers, are at the[23] junction12 of the Kanawha and the Ohio, ready to give him battle.”
As the stranger spoke, Treveling, with a bewildered air, was gazing around him. Slowly, little by little, the memory of the past came back to him.
The little glade now seemed familiar to his eyes. It had been the camping-ground of his own regiment13.
“I do remember now!” he exclaimed. “Here I encamped the day before the fight. The glade has changed somewhat, though, since that time. Then, instead of this broad trail, there was naught14 but an Indian foot-path here.”
“Yes, it is some years since Lewis’ army eat their hog15 and hominy under the forest boughs16 that shadow in this little glade.”
“Why do you recall Lewis’ campaign?” asked Treveling.
“Wait a little and you shall learn,” said Benton, and an ominous17 light shone in his eyes as he spoke. “Here Lewis’ army halted to prepare for the deadly fight that they expected would come on the morrow. In this little opening your division was encamped. Your men had hardly laid aside their arms and begun to prepare their supper, when a blow was given and received. You, the colonel in command, were struck in the face and felled to the earth by a private soldier to whom you had given the lie.”
“Yes, I remember the circumstance now that you call it to my memory, although I had forgotten it long since,” said Treveling, calmly.
“The man who struck you was a volunteer; a man known far and wide as one of the best scouts18 in all the Ohio valley. He did not think for a moment that you wore the golden marks of a colonel on your shoulders while his were covered only by the buck-skin hunting-shirt of the borderer. You insulted him, and he struck you to his feet as any man would have done.”
“But, on the following morning, he paid dearly for that blow,” said Treveling, quickly.
“You never spoke a truer word,” returned Benton, bitterly. “When the morning came, the same waving boughs that witnessed you give the lie to the scout19, and then saw you kiss the dust, stricken there by his arm, looked down upon the drum-head court-martial. And then beheld21 the lash22 cut long welts of blood on the naked shoulders of the borderer, who had dared to forget that he was a soldier and remember that he was a man. And then, degraded, a whipped slave, he was driven forth23 a dishonored wretch24.”
“All this happened years ago; why do you recall it?” asked Treveling, impatiently.
“I recall the past that I may speak of the present,” replied Benton, a sullen25 frown upon his face and anger flaming in his eyes. “Did you ever learn the fate of the man whose life you ruined?”
“No,” replied Treveling.
“Do you remember what he said to you, after the lash had done its work and they raised the almost helpless man, crimsoned26 with his own blood?”
“No, except that it was a threat of some sort.”
“He said ‘your quarters shall swim in blood for this,’ and he kept his word. The man whose back was torn by your lash, joined the red-men, became a white Indian, a renegade to his country and his kin20. He swore bitter and eternal vengeance27 against you, and he kept his oath. When your cabin by the Ohio was attacked, he headed the Shawnees. You escaped only by a miracle. Then, when you had taken refuge in the station of Point Pleasant, he thought of another plan to be revenged upon you. You had two daughters once.” The stranger paused. There was a fearful meaning in his simple words.
“Can it be possible that this human fiend can have had aught to do with the unaccountable disappearance28 of my eldest29 child, Augusta?” cried Treveling, in breathless anxiety.
“She wandered forth one summer’s day within the woods and never came back?”
“Yes, yes!” exclaimed the anxious father; “can you tell me aught of her fate?”
“I can,” replied Benton, with a look of fearful meaning. “In the wood, like a hawk30 on the watch, was the man who had sworn such deadly vengeance upon your head. His heart leaped for joy when he beheld the prattling31 child enter the shadows of the forest. He seized the little girl, your eldest joy, and carried her from the station. In the gloomy recesses32 of the forest he left her to die.”
“Oh! the heartless fiend!” cried the father, in agony.
“And think you that even this glorious vengeance satisfied him? No! He panted for more. Thirsted for it as the hungry wolf thirsts for blood to satisfy the cravings of its savage33 nature. You still had another daughter left. For years this human bloodhound hung about the station eager to rob you of the sole remaining joy that made your life happy. Time passed on; your daughter grew to womanhood, as fair a flower as ever bloomed on the banks of the Ohio. Patiently your foe34 waited. Chance at last gave the golden opportunity, and your daughter fell into his hands.”
“What?” cried the old man, horror-stricken and hardly able to believe the evidence of his senses.
“Your daughter is now a prisoner in his hands. A captive, helpless, in the Shawnee nation.”
“But is there no way to release her?” cried Treveling, in anguish35. “I will pay any sum possible for me to procure36.”
“If you could turn every drop of your blood into a golden guinea and spill them one by one from your veins37 your foe would laugh at you and bid you remember the hour when in this very glade you scarred his back with a lash,” replied Benton, fiercely.
“You are right, he is a demon,” replied Benton, bitterly. “Can you wonder at it? Is he not an outcast from all that makes life dear, a savage amid savages39?”
“Is there no way to touch this man’s heart?”
“He has no heart; in its place is a lump of red clay; is he not a white Indian? What has such as he to do with hearts?”
“Death is not the most cruel vengeance,” returned Benton, scornfully. “Can bodily pain cause you greater anguish than that you now suffer?”
“No, no,” replied Treveling, slowly.
“He would have you live. Would have you know of the terrible vengeance that he has pulled down upon your head. Can you guess what the fate of your daughter will be?”
“Oh, the thought is terrible!” he moaned.
“A young and pretty white girl in the Shawnee village will not lack for admirers. Your foe will give her to some brawny42 red chief to be his slave. A helpless prisoner, the victim of the savages, she will pine away and die. Her death will be a terrible one, for she will die by inches. You now know the fate of both your children. One has already suffered for your acts long years ago, and the other is now paying the penalty.”
The stranger turned upon his heel as if to depart.
“Stay!” cried Treveling; “who are you that know all these horrible things?”
“Have you not already guessed?” asked Benton, with a smile of terrible meaning. “If my shoulders were bare, you could tell who I am, for the marks of the lash are still there. If you would know my name, a week hence ask the blazing dwellings43 along the Ohio that mark the track of the Shawnees; the glowing embers and hissing44 flames will answer, Simon Girty, the renegade.”
Then, with a bound, Girty disappeared in the forest.
Sick at heart, Treveling returned to the station.
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1
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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2
stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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3
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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5
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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6
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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7
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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8
glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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9
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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11
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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12
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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13
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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14
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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hog
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| n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占 | |
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16
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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18
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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21
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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22
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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23
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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crimsoned
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| 变为深红色（crimson的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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27
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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28
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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30
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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31
prattling
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| v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话( prattle的现在分词 )；发出连续而无意义的声音；闲扯；东拉西扯 | |
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32
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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33
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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34
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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35
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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36
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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37
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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38
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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39
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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40
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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41
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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42
brawny
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| adj.强壮的 | |
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43
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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44
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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