Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1883-10-13
CHAPTER ".

CHAPTER ~.
Well, go thy way thou shalt not from this
grove
Till torment thee for this injury.
Midsummer Nights Dream.
The words were still in the mouth of
the scout, when the leader of the
party whose approaching footsteps
had caught the vigilant ear of the
Indian came openly into view. A
beaten path, such as those made by
the periodical passage of the deer,
wound through a little glen at no
great distance, and struck the river at
the point where the white man and
his red companions had posted them
selves. Along this path the travellers,
who had produced surprise so I'M
usual in the depths of the forest, and
advanced slowly toward the hunter,
who was in front of his associates in
readiness to receive them.
"Who comes ?" demanded the scout,
throwing his rifle carelessly across his
left arm, and keeping the fore-finger
of the right hand on the trigger, though
he avoided all appearance of menace
in the act-"Who comes hither, among
the beasts and dangers of the wilder
ness ?"
Believers in religion, and friends to
the law and to the king" returned he
who rode foremost. "Men who have
journeyed since the rising sun, in the
shades of this forest, without nourish-
ment, and are sadly tired of the way
Earring"
"You are, then, lost" interrupted
the hunter, land have found how
helpless It's not to know whether to
take the right hand or the left ?"
Gwen so; sucking babes are not
more dependent ON those who guide
them than we who are of larger
growth, and who may now be said to
possess the stature without the knowl-
edge of men. Know you the distance
to post of the crown called William
Henry9 ~
"Hoot !" shouted the scout, who did
not spare his open laughter, though,
instantly checking the dangerous
sounds, he INDUCED his morriment at
less risk of being overheard by any
lurking enemies. "You are as much
off the scent as hound would be with
Horican atwixt him and the deer
William Henry, man if you are
friends to the king, and have business
with the army, your better way would
be to follow the river down to Edward,
and lay the matter before Webb, who
tarries there, instead of pushing into
the dedles, and driving this saucy
Frenchman back across Champlain,
into his den again"
Before the stranger could make any
reply to this unexpected proposition,
another horseman dashed the bushes
aside, and leaped his charger into the
pathway, in front Of his companion.
"What then may be our distance
from Fort Edward Z" demanded the
new speaker; ''the place you advise
us to seek we left this morning, and
our destination is the head of the
lake"
''Then You must have lost your eye
sight afore losing your way, for the
road across the portage is cut to a good
two rods, and is as grand path, | cal
culate, as any that runs into London,
or even before the palace of the king
HIMSELF
"We will not dispute concerning the
excellence of the passage" returned
Hayward, smiling for, as the reader
has anticipated, it was he. at is
enough, for the present, that we trust
ed to an Indian guide to take us by
nearer though binder path, and that
we are deceived in his knowledge. In
plain words, we know not where we
are"
San Indian lost in the woods y said
the scout, shaking his head doubtingly,
"when the sun is scorching the tree
tops, and the water courses are full;
when the moss on every beech he
sees, will tell him in which quarter the
north star will shine at night ! The
woods are full of deer paths which run
to the streams and hcks-places well
known to everybody; nor have the
geese done their fight to the Can
ada waters altogether! IT'S strange
that an Indian should be lost atwixt
Horican and the bend in the river. Is
he Mohawk"
ITO be continued