The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1848-12-23

fed mo the woods nj tie shouts Of the saw
.pes--nll but Mary-no one knew wlint la
becOlue other. There were no signs ofbloo
ar murder, and it was evident that she hn
not been consumed in the honee unless Oh
had first been murdered. But, OH! tie ngC
say ofdoulrs aud learsl They lifted up the
voices aud wept. The fires sent .up ihei
bright light upon the surrounding forest, onl
rendering il more intensely dark beyon
Hllelr glare. Iiiey hung around the smoul
sderiRg aslIes, till, after most weary night
tle morning came Then how anxious II
fad ihc trail Of the foe, and TO find who an,
gS7hat they were. Long and anxiously dir
Tthey search and follow the woods; bur S,
cunning bud the Indians been IN concealin,
their retreat, Ivy walking backward oVel
rro! Psuces, wading aud folio wing ,brooks and
The like, that it was utmost impossible to fol.
Cow them. But in the course ofthe second
day, Robert Rnlstou got frly on The trail
and with thrilling joy found the footprints Of
Mury f'arker She was then alive! These
were Inc prints other own little foot! They
were, even and regular, 100, as If she was well
and strong, though undoubtedly sore nj heart.
Without stopping for food, or any thing, save
Ills rifle, Robert followed tho murderers. de-
.Fcrinined to rescue his heroihed or die in the
-u,tcnpt. Ia light bark canoe, he followed
them on the Taicgs, aud carried it over the
l1cUatuims, Till he had found them in
lhs"UJper Sarnnac lake MS before mention
ed. iSo was hnnging on their renr when To-
;sp3 and his two companions came 10 him
Not daring 10 fire his rife, or TO Nuke u fire
in the day time, he had lived on fish caught
nj 6Hybrenl, and cooked in the dead of the
following night.
Once more the little pnrty were at the low
rr end oFthe Surname, while tue enemy, with
their c9piive, was at the upper end, fifteen
miles distant They had come out oIIhe
pond, uHd were camped on II point project
mig into the lake, 10y which the upper end is
t'HeSie into Il bny in lhe shape OF u Il. Softly
they went up the lake near the shore listen
ing to every sounds md watching every ripple
nfthe waters. About midnight they pissed
lhe camp Of the Indians, so silently thai no,
Niog barked They could see that they had
JUST cone in from their night hunting, were
talking and laughing, and apparently delight
cd with their success. The smell ofroastng
venison iillei! the air. Robert tried To pierce
The darkness, 20 catch u glimpse OF Anry,
but in vain, In pursuance Of their plnn,upou
which Robert had been cnulrVng and work
ing all day, and the night previous; some
7Vhcrr about two O'Clock in the morning, one
Of The Mohawks aroused his companions,
md pointed 10 a small bright, steady light Oh
Watch Rock, about mile distant. They
III started up,and set off to gee what it meant.
in niorpent, two more lights were seen,one
east and the other west, deep in the bay -
What could il lie: A. they came near
Swatch Rock, instantly the light was quench-
ed. The others followed, and went out.-
They went round the rock, went 10 the
-shorcs-could hear nothing could see noih-
ing! Agun they went TO their camp TO con
suit when. 10 these lights appeared again
in three different places They listened,
hut al was silence They now began 10 I've
afraid. Ii Hnst be Chepi! (Ghosts) The
Captive maiden, slightly bound, Inns her-cu-
riosity excited. and saw al once that il mus,
he the light Of the cHnde-sure sign that the
white man was near! She thought, too, that
they burned steady and clear, like the candles
,of heeswuX, which she had made for her own
Robert to hun: with She doubted in her
own mind whether they were iatended ms
signals to her,or for stratagem. After much
Eayinr, and douhting,nnd isar, the MohHwks
concluded once more 10 go mt ana sec II II
ceriniuly was Chepi-and if so, to break up
4heir camp, and he away e. quickly rs posi-
he. They took their dogswiIl them TO md
in the search. The lights now seemed to
burn mp directly out Of the winter! Again
Ihey came near, and again, one after another
went ont beforc they reached them. One
of the old dogs stuck his nose over the sjdr
of the canoe, and after snufhnT mom5nt,ut-
rcred n veil They all stopped a.id listened;
but nothing was to be heard Did old HuR-
paret1h, (whitefoor,l see or hear Chepi p
4 gain they turned towards their camp, and
when about half way to il from where the
lights were, they heard u blow, low scfrun
aRl the paddles Off cnnoe Cautiously they
came TO their camp, when they found the
sentinel whom they left with the captive, "
ing dead with blow which had crushed his
skull. The captive, too, was gone, the fires
put ont, or mostly so. Was it Chep P
Thev smoked and talked in low tones, till the
day dawned They then found The footprints
foiher feet besides their own, aud little
pieces of bark floating on the lake with pie
ces of candle on them, so well cut MS to length
MS tn he quenched at the right time. They
were more chagrined still, to find how com
pletely they had been deceived.
The low scream which the Mohawks heard
was that of Joy, when the captive mniden
saw her lover strike one blow al the sentinel,
md catch her in his arms the next moment.
Quick as deer the youth bounded with her
in his arms into the canoe, and long before
the MolIawl1s got back to their camp, they
were far down the lake,
All that night and the next day, the little /
party pushed on. On the second day, on
t'Ths Plains Of Abraham" they met party
of Green Mountain boys in pursuit. Loud
were the cheers, warm the greetings, and TIL |
affected the Joy when Robert showed the IN
scanned, DilSHItln tudlueH hanging OH MS urn. !
But who can tell the tears and sobs when he
delivered her to "the old folks?" They trem-
.bled, and wept, and laughed, and screamed.
The loss of property was forgotten, and all
united in day of special thanksgiving to
God, for his great goodness. The neighbors
all turned in and helped Robert put up new
house, and so he actually won his bride
month sooner than he otherwise would
Old Tomo assured all concerned, that the
II 4 4 p