New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-02-13

five or six miles, the sun was sinkirg so nv
tree,horizen slight blue haze bathed he Io M
reaches OF the river with fneffabie aofY.sss srS
beauty. We voyaged on a liquid field al r1oxI, :,
gold. But ever and again. arring NV iuteas = ~
ception Of is loneliness, came The ghastlv .fsn
tap, tsp Of the woodpecker. could not rssist !
chilly sensation Of horror as listened to the me-
4 sured cadence, echoing through the solitude,
i sounded like coffinmaker hsmmeriug at hi al
NAL task. A relief suggested itself. Some Of M,
/ companions were French Canadians, and the even
Il ing before had cheered our biyouac with some ga
i refrains OF sunny France. j asked them for
1 staye; but / said nothing about the woodpeckei
| whose note / wished them 70 drowns a siren
chorus soon yanguished the bird Of III omen, an
i rang up the vaulted river. recofIect the strai
/ well; Il was favorite rOydgesa's dftty, sung 3
| the dash of the oar, and began.
Ramer Irarez, rnraeze.
| Suddenly the song duIied, and again shuddere,
as heard the everlasting tap, tap Of my ominou
bird aoft on a spectral fir. Ny companion hat
ceased rowing, too, and called my attention to
canoe which was floating down the river fen
| yards ahead Of us. They thought It was break
loose, and stood by to strike boat-hook into il
with the prospect of a reward from the owner vi
at the village. It soon dropped down to us, ant
came, like the note Of that ghostly wood pecker
tapping against our skif There was a stfiied cry
of horror from the settler at the bow and as W.
crowded forward to see what was the matter an
other cried out the awful tale of blood !" Here
young fellow, see your brother stalked BY Oler
as sure's there's death in a rife balIeti' 4
It was an awful end NY poor brother lay bent
over his idle paddle in the canoe weItering in his
hearts blood. An avenging bullet had passed
through his heart. Stalked by Olier Ffendish
Indian, that was thy work, and my brothers blood
rests on thy head shall now detail the aeoHies
OF that Indian summer Through all my grief ran
the thought of an DISCRIMINATING vengeance. Ven.
geanG,s s nay, sc ca, Justice sought what has
It was vain, in those early times Of judicial
system In Canada, to seek for a rigcr0ua pursrit
rom the dispensers Of legal justice; the criminal
executive might be willing, but their arm was
weak. Retribution, in the trackless wild Of wood
and water where Idwelt, could proceed only from
my own steady purpose and solitary endeavor.
could depend for but small aid ON the settlers.
Some of them, indeed, cursed the foul murder in
no stinted speech; but Others again. imputed little
crime to the blood-ssained redskin, and even went
SO far as to Justify his sneaking code of vengeance
oher had left the district, but certain Instinct
told me he would ere long come back again. Likely
enough, he would suppose eonld not long remain
in place to which such hateful memories chung.
and that he might then safely venture back.
waited my time. Safe he was In the tangled
thicket; but, to the end, knew that no covert nm
der heaven would preserve him harmless from my
wrath. AL IA ID ,7s q
Winter set in hard, and white, and cold. The
river Seugog was level road of ice; the trees
were choked up with snow, and on each side Of
the bounded river the forests lowered like mas
sive cliffs of chalky rock No path could now be
forced into the recesses Of the forest below our
undisturbed reign, than / heard whisperinps that
the villain half-breed was again lowering on the
outskirts of the settlement It was told me that
ne was living in kind Of wigwam above the vii
the very dwellings Of the settlers by night to visit
his friends and obtain various articles for his camp
knew it would be vain to attempt to track him to
his wlgwam, or. at all events, to surprise him his
wood craft was much too deep to admit of such
possibility. But strange, wild joy trembIed
through my being, when heard he came by night
to the village. A terrible scheme Of vengeance
swept across my soul and felt, no matter how
endlsh the spirit that the doom OF the half breed
was fixed and that was to be his unrelentng ex-
ecutioner.
have said that the river below our settlement
was bordered by an impenetrable forest, without
symptom of clearing or the abode of man The
drlfted snow, lying in deep masses on each side of
the river, up even to the tops of the trees, rem
dered this impenetrabity still more appalling and
stubborn. The forest which lined the ice- bound
Scugog supported solid wall of frozen snow,
For twenty miles the river with its wooded banks
was nothing more or less than a funnel of ice and
snow. 81
Night after night lay concealed at the bluff.
awaiting the murderer; / was armed with pistols
and wore skates. Skating was an amusement
which had excelled in when d shool-boy and fa-
ciity in the art was of the last Importance to my
scheme of retribution. At length he came; it was
an exquisite night; the bright expanse around
sparkled in the sheen of Canadian moon, which
sailed canly through cloudless sky. l could
have shot the villain as he skated by me within,
fifty yards, but could not risk the chance and
beside, my vengeance called for a more stern and
fearful fate than death by the pistol. No sooner
was he past my hiding place, than, with shout of
exultation, started on his track. oer sweryed
moment, to see who his pursuer was, then, quick
as lightning, tried to double up the river again.
But had anticipated this, and, with cooked pis-
tol in either hand, barred his passage. With a
curse, ne turned, and sped swiftly down the ice.
And now the race for life began. Mile after
mile we swept along in silence. An awful porten-
tons silence it was, through which nothing broke
save the hollow boom of the swift Steel cutting its
me nobly to my vengeance. He could not escape
me, for found, with savage glee that / was
match for the swiftfooted Indian. Oer soon be-
came aware of this, too; for now and again he
would skate close to the woods, looking in vain for
an aperture. But no, there was but one outlet
falls!
Faster and faster yet we skated toward the cata.
raet, 1t could not be far off. pictured to myself
what Oilers thoughts might be- Did he know
WHITTIER he was Fastening? or had that awful
light to fash upon his guilty mind? The halfbreed
made answer to my thought. saw him in the pale
simmer start convulsiFely, and throw his arms in
the air, but he dared not stop, and on he darted
again with yell of despair, which echoed weird
like up the frozen channel. Another sound came
to my ear, and knew what had caused that cry Of
agony to burst from Olier 1t the duh thunder
OF the falls! We were nearing them fast. Still
the walls of snow shut in my victim, and every
moment lessened his frail hopes of escape. One
chance was left him-to distance me and hide |
id the snow from my scrutiny. Vain |
hope, the wings Of the bird could scarce have
saved him
Hoarser and louder grew the noise of the waters |
Il thanked the Almighty in frantic prayer that |
the murderer was delivered into my hand, / hum
bly, trust that it is forgiven me now. From the |
time first started on Oilers track, we had main.
Eained exactly the same distance between us--per-
haps about hundred or hundred and fifty yards |
still grasped my loaded pistol, ready for any |
stratagem on the part of the murderer.
And now the crash of the falls came loud and |
ominous on the ear. Another five minutes would |
decide the hunt. Suddenly, Oler turned and stood
At bay. He was not armed had felt certain Of |
that all along, for otherwise would have meas,
lred strength with me before. Without batting my |
pace, skated down upon him, holding a leyeled |
pistol in each hand Still my purpose was as fixed
Is only to shoot the villain last resource
When was within twenty yards Of him, the cow
ard faltered, and again turned swiftly down the
'iyer With yelling laugh pursued him. press.
ng still more holly on his track.
Deafening was the roar of the cataract; high
INTO the pale sky assembled the mist of its spray,
through which the splintered lines of the moon,
light darted in rainbow-tinte beauty. could see
lirectly in front the jagged line of the ice where
t was broken by the rapids Immediately above the
cataract, and beyond could trace the dark volume
IF the Scugog, as it emerged from its prison of
snow and ice. For an instant the half breed turned
MS face toward me, as pressed with concentrated
hatred on his footsteps; never shall forget the
lorrbe despair that distorted the Villains features
{ was mercy that the sullen roar of the falls