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"We're on the way to get news," I said, and I told him of my wager that
evening.
"Man, Andrew!" he cried, "it's providential. There's nothing to hinder
you and me and a few others to ride clear into the hills, with the
Tidewater thinking it no more than a play of daft young men. You must
see Nicholson, and get him to ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"All the same there'll be a use for Mr. Grey. When will you join us?"
"I've a bit of business to do hereaways, but I'll catch you up. Look
for me at Aird's store on Thursday morning."
CHAPTER XV.
I GATHER THE CLANS.
I was at the Governor's house next day before he had breakfasted. He
greeted me laughingly.
"Has the c... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
He started. "I have heard nothing of it."
Then I told him the horrid tale. He got to his feet and strode up and
down the room, with his dark face working.
"God's mercy, what a calamity! I knew the folk. They came here with
letters from his Grace of Shrewsbury. Are you certain your news is
true?"
"Alas! there is no dou... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"It looks not unlike it," he said grimly. "Now let's hear what you
propose."
"I can have my men at their posts by the week end. We will string them
out along the frontier, and hold especially the river valleys. If
invasion comes, then at any rate the Tidewater will get early news of
it. Meantime I and my friends, look... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The odd thing was that at that moment I did not fear for myself. I had
lived so long with my scheme that I had come to look upon it almost
like a trading venture, in which one calculates risks and gains on
paper, and thinks no more of it. I had none of the black fright which I
had suffered before my meeting with Grey.... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
* * * * *
I had scarcely left him when I met a servant of the Blairs, who handed
me a letter. 'Twas from Elspeth--the first she had ever written me. I
tore it open, and found a very disquieting epistle. Clearly she had
written it in a white heat of feeling. "_You spoke finely of
reverenc... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then I told him the whole tale. "The stake is the safety of this land,
of which you are a notable citizen. I ask you, because I know you are a
brave man. Will you leave your comfort and your games for a season, and
play for higher stakes at a more desperate hazard?"
I told him everything, even down to my talk with the... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Grey had met me with a certain shyness; but as the sun rose and the
land grew bright he, too, lost his constraint, and fell into the same
happy mood. Soon we were smiling at each other in the frankest
comradeship, we two who but the other day had carried ourselves like
game-cocks. He had forgotten his fine manners and... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Presently, when we had ridden into the chestnut forests of the
Mattaponey, he began to forget his part. Grey, it appeared, was a
student of campaigns, and he and Ringan were deep in a discussion of
Conde's battles, in which both showed surprising knowledge. But the
glory of the weather and of the woodlands, new as the... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Next day on the Rappahannock we found Shalah, who had gone on to warn
the two men I proposed to enlist. One of them, Donaldson, was a big,
slow-spoken, middle-aged farmer, the same who had been with Bacon in
the fight at Occaneechee Island. He just cried to his wife to expect
him back when she saw him, slung on his ba... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
It was late in the afternoon that we reached a broad meadow hemmed in
by noble cedars. I knew without telling that we were come to the scene
of the tragedy, and with one accord we fell silent. The place had been
well looked after, for a road had been made through the woods, and had
been carried over marshy places on a... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then suddenly our mood changed. Nothing that we could do could help the
poor souls whose bones lay among the ashes. But we could bring their
murderers to book, and save others from a like fate.
We moved away from the shattered place to the ford in the river where
the road ran north. There we looked back. A kind of fur... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Yea," said Shalah, "though they took wings and flew over the seas I
should find them."
Then we hastened away from that glade, none speaking to the other. We
camped an hour's ride up the river, in a place secure against surprises
in a crook of the stream with a great rock at our back. We were outside
the pale now, and... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
We dozed peacefully in the green shade, and smoked our pipes, waiting
for the return of our envoys. They came towards sundown, slipping among
us like ghosts.
Ringan signalled to me, and we put our coats over the horses' heads to
prevent their whinnying. He stamped out the last few ashes of the fire,
and Shalah motione... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
On our first visit to Ringan at the land-locked Carolina harbour I had
thought Shalah's pace killing, but that was but a saunter to what he
now showed me. We seemed to be moving at right angles to the Indian
march. Once out of the woods of the ridge, we crossed the meadows,
mostly on our bellies, taking advantage of e... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
At an open bit of the forest Shalah stopped and looked at the sky. I
blundered into him, and then from sheer weakness rolled on the ground.
He grunted and turned to me. I felt his cool hand passing over my brow
and cheek, and his fingers kneading the muscles of my forlorn legs.
'Twas some Indian device, doubtless, but... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I found myself splashing in a strong river. We crossed by a ford, so we
had no need to swim, which was well for me, for I must have drowned.
The chill of the water revived me somewhat, and I had the strength to
climb the other bank. And then suddenly before me I saw a light, and a
challenge rang out into the night.
Th... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The man called Simpson got up, saddled his beast, and waited my
bidding. "This is the word to send," said I. "Say that the Cherokees
are attacking by the line of the Rappahannock. Say that I am going into
the hills to find if my fears are justified. Never mind what that
means. Just pass on the words. They will underst... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Time passes, brother," said Shalah. "We came by swiftness, but we
return by guile. In three hours it will be dawn. Sleep till then, for
there is much toil before thee."
I saw the wisdom of his words, and went promptly to bed in a corner of
the stockade. As I was lying down a man spoke to me, one Rycroft, at
whose cab... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
For the first hour we went up a northern fork of the Rappahannock, then
crossed the water at a ford, and struck into a thick pine forest. I was
feeling wonderfully rested, and found no discomfort in Shalah's long
strides. My mind was very busy on the defence of the Borders, and I
kept wondering how long the Governor's... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
A party of Indians were passing. They were young men with the fantastic
markings of young braves. All were mounted on the little Indian horses.
They moved at leisure, scanning the distance with hands shading eyes.
We wormed our way back to the darkness of the covert. "The advance
guard of the second party," Shalah whi... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
For Shalah at that moment dropped to earth and wriggled into a covert
overlooking the vale. I had the sense to catch the girl and pull her
after him. He stopped dead, and we two lay also like mice. My heart was
going pretty fast, and I could feel the heaving of her bosom.
The shallow glen was full of folk, most of the... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Those were nightmare minutes. The girl was very quiet, in a stupor of
fatigue and fear. Shalah was a graven image, and I was too tensely
strung to have any of the itches and fervours which used to vex me in
hunting the deer when stillness was needful. Through the fretted
greenery, I saw the dim shadows of men passing ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"I was lost," she cried. "I did not mean to go far, but the night came
down and I could not find the way back. Oh, it has been a hideous
nightmare! I have been almost mad in the dark woods."
"But how did you get here?" I asked, still hopelessly puzzled.
"I was with Uncle James on the Rappahannock. He heard something t... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"It is too late," he said. "If you seek certain death, go towards the
Rappahannock. She must come with us to the mountains. The only safety
is in the hill-tops."
This seemed a mad saying. To be safe from Indians we were to go into
the heart of Indian country. But Shalah expounded it. The tribes, he
said, dwelt only in... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
But I do not think she heard me. She had checked her tears, but her
wits were far away, grieving for her uncle's pain, and envisaging the
desperate future. At the first water we reached she bathed her face and
eyes, and using the pool as a mirror, adjusted her hair. Then she
smiled bravely, "I will try to be a true co... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
That night we made her a bower of green branches, and as we ate our
supper round our modest fire she sat like a queen among us. It was odd
to see the way in which her presence affected each of us. With her Grey
was the courtly cavalier, ready with a neat phrase and a line from the
poets. Donaldson and Shalah were unmo... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Part of my discomfort was due to my bodily health. I had proudly
thought myself seasoned by those hot Virginian summers, in which I had
escaped all common ailments. But I had forgotten what old hunters had
told me, that the hills will bring out a fever which is dormant in the
plains. Anyhow, I now found that my head w... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
After midday the glen seemed to grow darker, and I saw that the blue
sky, which I had thought changeless, was becoming overcast. As I looked
upwards I saw the high ridge blotted out and a white mist creeping
down. I had noticed for some time that Shalah was growing uneasy. He
would halt us often, while he went a littl... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"The men?" I gasped. "Cherokees?"
"Nay," he said, "not Cherokees. I think they are those you seek from
beyond the mountains."
The next half-hour is a mad recollection, wild and confused, and
distraught with anxiety. The thought of Elspeth among savages maddened
me, the more so as she had just spoken of Medwyn Glen, an... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Will they follow?" I asked Shalah.
"I do not think so. They are not hill-men, and fear the high places
where the gods smoke. Further-more, there is no need."
"We have escaped, then?" I asked, with a great relief in my voice.
"Say rather we have been shepherded by them into a fold. They will find
us when they desire u... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
From the vales below I had marked the lie of the land on each side of
the gap. The highest ground was to the right, so we turned up the
ridge, which was easier than the glen and better travelling. Presently
we were among pines again, and got a shelter from the driving rain. My
plan was to find some hollow far up the m... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Presently it ceased, and with labouring breath we walked a step or two
in flat ground. Ringan, who was in front, stumbled over a little heap
of stones about a foot high.
"Studd had a poor notion of a cairn," he said, as he kicked them down.
There was nothing beneath but bare soil.
But the hunter had spoken the truth. ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"There, mistress," he says, "there's the key of your new estate."
CHAPTER XX.
THE STOCKADE AMONG THE PINES.
It took us a heavy day's work to get the stockade finished. There were
only the two axes in the party, besides Shalah's tomahawk, and no one
can know the labour of felling and trimming trees tin he has tried it... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The worst trouble, as I soon saw, was to be the matter of food. The
supplies we had carried were all but finished by what we ate after the
stockade was completed. After that there remained only a single bag of
flour, another bag of Indian meal, and a pound or two of boucanned
beef, besides three flasks of eau-de-vie, ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Early in the day I met a bear--the second I had seen in my life. I did
not want him, and he disregarded me and shuffled grumpily down the
hill-side. I had to be very careful, I remember, to mark my path, so
that I could retrace it, and I followed the Border device of making a
chip here and there in the bark of trees, ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The weather cleared in the evening, as it often does in a hill country.
From the stockade we had no prospect save the reddening western sky,
but I liked to think that in a little walk I could see old Studd's
Promised Land. That was a joy I reserved for myself on the morrow, I
look back on that late afternoon with deli... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"And ye shall wear no silken gown,
No maid shall bind your hair;
The yellow broom shall be your gem,
Your braid the heather rare.
"Athwart the moor, adown the hill,
Across the world away!
The path is long for happy hearts
That sing to greet the day,
... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then Shalah spoke:--
"There was once a man of my own people who, when he came to man's
strength, journeyed westward with a wife. He travelled all his days,
and when his eyes were dim with age he saw a great water. His spirit
left him on its shore, but on his road he had begotten a son, and that
son journeyed back towa... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
* * * * *
Next day dawned cloudless, and Shalah and I spent it in a long
journey along the range. We kept to the highest parts, and at every
vantage-ground we scanned the glens for human traces. By this time I
had found my hill legs, and could keep pace even with the Indian's
swift strid... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"The Shenandoah," Shalah said, and I never stopped to ask how he knew
the name. He was gazing at the sight with hungry eyes, he whose gaze
was, for usual, so passionless.
That prospect gave me a happy feeling of comfort; why, I cannot tell,
except that the place looked so bright and habitable. Here was no sour
wildern... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
My recollection of that day is one of heavy fatigue and a pressing
hopelessness. Shalah behaved oddly, for he was as restive as a
frightened stag. No covert was unsuspected by him, and if I ventured to
raise my head on any exposed ground a long brown arm pulled me down. He
would make no answer to my questions except a... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Shalah slipped noiselessly backward, and I followed him down the scree
slope, across the ravine, and then with infinite caution through the
sparse woods till we had put a wide shoulder of hill between us and the
enemy. After that we started running, such a pace as made the rush back
to the Rappahannock seem an easy sa... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Presently in the lowering silence came the scream of a hawk.
An uncommon sound, half croak, half cry, which only hill dwellers know,
but 'tis an eery noise in the wilderness. It came again, less near, and
a third time from a great distance. I thought it queer, for a hawk does
not scream twice in the same hour. I looke... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Open the gate," I cried, and I got my musket in the loophole.
The fugitive was all but spent. He ran, bowed almost to the ground,
with a wild back glance ever and again over his shoulder. His pursuer
gained on him with great strides, and in his hand he carried a bare
knife. I dared not shoot, for Grey was between me ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
That overwhelming storm lasted for maybe a quarter of an hour, and then
it stopped as suddenly as it came. Inside the palisade the ground swam
like a loch, and from the hill-side came the rumour of a thousand
swollen streams. That, with the heavy drip of laden branches, made
sound enough, but after the thunder and the... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Yet the firebrand had done its work, for it had showed the savages
where the horses stood picketed. Another followed, lighting in their
very midst, and setting them plunging at their ropes.
I heard Ringan curse deeply, for we had not thought of this stratagem.
And the next second I became aware that there was some one... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Her ankle had caught in a picket rope, which in another second would
have wrenched it cruelly, had I not slashed it free with my knife. This
sent the horse belonging to it in wild career across the corral, and I
think 'twas that interruption which saved our lives. It held back the
savages for an instant of time, and p... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
It was a sorry party that looked at each other in the first light of
dawn.
Our eyes were hollow with suspense, and all but Shalah had the hunted
look of men caught in a trap. Not till the sun had got above the
tree-tops did we venture to leave our posts and think of food. It was
now that Elspeth's spirit showed suprem... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I had been sent to scout. Was I to be false to the word I had given,
and let any risk to myself or others deter me from taking back the
news? The Indian army tarried; why, I did not know--perhaps some mad
whim of their soothsayers, perhaps the device of a wise general; but at
any rate they tarried. If a war party coul... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Morn showed a grey world, strewn with the havoc of the storm. The
eagles were already busy among the dead horses, and our first job was
to bury the poor beasts. Just outside the stockade we dug as best we
could a shallow trench, while the muskets of the others kept watch over
us. There we laid also the body of the man... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"What good would a warning do?" said Ringan. "Even if you got through
to Lawrence--which is not very likely--d'you think a wheen Borderers in
a fort will stay such an army? It would only mean that you lost your
life on the South Fork instead of in the hills, and there's little
comfort in that."
"It's not like you to g... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"And leave the stockade defenceless," I cried. "It's because he stays
behind that I dare to go. Without him we are all bairns in the dark."
"That's true, anyway," said Ringan, and fell to whittling a stick.
"For three days," I continued, "you have food enough, and if by the end
of it you are not attacked you may safel... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
But that was no hour to think of love, I took every man apart and swore
him, though there was little need, to stand by the girl at all costs.
To Grey I opened my inmost thoughts.
"You and I serve one mistress," I said, "and now I confide her to your
care. All that I would have done I am assured you will do. My heart i... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
By midday we had mounted to the crest of a long scarp which fell away
in a narrow and broken promontory towards the plains. So far we had
seen nothing to give us pause, and the only risk lay in some Indian
finding and following our trail. We lay close in a scrubby wood, and
rested for a little, while we ate some food.... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Ay, Ringan, but that was only the risk of your own neck. I think I
could endure that. But was there ever another you liked far better than
yourself, that you had to see in deadly peril?"
"No. I'll be honest with you, there never was. I grant you that's the
hardest thing to thole. But you'll keep a stiff lip even to t... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Lower and lower we went, till the end of the ridge was before us, a
slope which melted into the river plains. A single shaft of bright
sunshine broke from the clouds behind us, and showed the tumbled
country of low downs and shallow vales which stretched to the Tidewater
border. I had a momentary gleam of hope, as sud... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Had we kept our heads and crossed as prudently as we had made the
morning's journey, all might have been well. But a madcap haste seemed
to possess us. We tore through the herbage as if we had been running a
race in the yard of a peaceful manor. The stream stayed us a little,
for it could not be forded without a wetti... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The mind in a close watch falls under a spell, so that while the senses
are alert the thoughts are apt to wander. As I have said before, I have
the sharpest sight, and as I watched a point of rock it seemed to move
ever so slightly. I rubbed my eyes and thought it fancy, and a sudden
noise above made me turn my head. ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I made a desperate effort, and swung round so that I got my left
shoulder on his knife arm. That brought my right shoulder close to his
mouth, and he bit me to the bone. The wound did me good, for it
maddened me, and I got a knee loose, and forced it into his loins. For
a moment I dreamed of victory, but I had not cou... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I brought him water in my hat, and for a moment he breathed freely. He
motioned me to put my ear close.
"You'll send word to the folk in Breadalbane.... Just say that I came
by an honest end.... Cheer up, lad. You'll live to see happy days
yet.... But keep mind of me, Andrew.... Man, I liked you well, and
would have b... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
As I went I remember that always a little ahead I seemed to hear the
merry lilt of Ringan's whistling.
CHAPTER XXIV.
I SUFFER THE HEATHEN'S RAGE
As I stumbled through the moonlit forest I heard Ringan's tunes ever
crooning among the trees. First it was the old mad march of "Bundle and
go," which the pipers play when ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
They trussed me with ropes, binding my hands cruelly behind my back,
and swathing my legs till not a muscle could move. My pistols hung
idle, and the ropes drove the hafts into my flesh. This is the end,
thought I, and I did not even grieve at my impotence. My courage now
was of the passive kind, not to act but to end... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I told him I was a hunter who had strayed in the hills. He asked where
the other was.
"He is dead," I said, "dead of your knives. But five of your braves
atoned for him."
"You speak truth," he said gravely. "But the Children of the West Wind
do not suffer the death of, their sons to go unrewarded. For each one
of the ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"My brother speaks bold words," he said. "The spirits of his fathers
cry out for the companionship of such a hero. When the wrongs of our
race have been avenged, I wish him good hunting in the Kingdom of the
Sunset."
They took me and stripped me mother naked. Has any man who reads this
tale ever faced an enemy in his ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I had grace given me to keep a stout face, mainly because I was
relieved that this was to be my fate. He put the knife back in his
girdle, and others laid hold on me.
They smeared my lower limbs with some kind of grease which smelt of
resin. One savage who had picked up a brand from one of the little
fires dropped som... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"_Nevermore the deep fern_," it ran, "_or the bell of the dun deer, far
my castle is wind-blown sands, and my homelands are a stranger's."_
And the air brought back in a flash my own little house on the grey
hill-sides of Douglasdale, the cluck of hens about the doors on a hot
summer morn, the crying of plovers in the... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I could not believe my own voice. But I rejoice to say that my reply
was to consign every Indian in America to the devil.
I shook with fear when I had spoken. I looked to see them bring dry
fuel and light the pile again. But I had played a wiser part than I
knew. The chief gave an order, the faggots were cleared, my b... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I felt my body over, and made out that I had taken no very desperate
hurt. My joints were swollen with the bonds, and every sinew seemed as
stiff as wire. The skin had been scorched on my shins and feet, and was
peeling off in patches, but the ointment which had been rubbed on it
had taken the worst ache out of the wo... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"You see my condition," I said. "I am somewhat broken with travel and
wounds, but, such as I am, I am willing to meet your warriors. Send
them one at a time or in battalions, and I am ready for them."
It was childish brag, but I think I must have delivered it with some
spirit, for I saw approbation in his eye.
"When w... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Onotawah pointed to the wood. "Hearken, brother, to the customs of our
race in such combats. In that thicket the twain of you fight. Mayoga
will enter at one end and you at the other, and once among the trees it
is his business to slay you as he pleases and as he can."
"What, are the weapons?" I asked.
"What you pleas... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
My first plan--if the instinct of blind terror can be called a plan--
was to lie hid in some thick place and trust to getting the first shot
at my enemy when he found me. But I realized that I could not do this.
My broken nerves would not suffer me to lie hidden. Better the torture
of movement than such terrible patie... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
At the sight for the first time the zest of the pursuit filled me, and
I forgot my pain. Had I outwitted my wily foe, and by some miracle
stolen a march on him? I dared not believe it; but yet, as I rubbed my
eyes, I could not doubt it. I had got my chance, and had taken him
unawares. The face still peered intently do... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
That sudden shock cleared my wits. I was at his mercy, and he knew it.
I could see every detail of him twenty yards off across the water. He
stood there as calm and light as if he had just arisen from rest, his
polished limbs shining in the glow of the sun, the muscles on his right
arm rippling as he moved his bow. Ma... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
He toppled forward and plunged into the pool. The grease from his body
floated up, and made a scum on the surface.
Then I broke off the arrow and pulled it out of my arm, putting the
pieces in my pocket. The water cleared, and I could see him lying in
the cool blue depths, his eyes staring, his mouth open, and a littl... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then he spoke to the chief, and translated for me.
"He says that you have endured the ordeal of the stake, and have slain
your enemy in fight, and that now you will go before the great Sachem
for his judgment. That is the custom of our people."
He turned to Onotawah again, and his tone was high and scornful. He
spoke ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The news was a mighty consolation, but I was still deeply mystified.
"You speak of your tribe. But these men were no Senecas."
He smiled gravely. "Listen, brother," he said. "The white men of the
Tidewater called me Seneca, and I suffered the name. But I am of a
greater and princelier house than the Sons of the Cat. S... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"The Cherokees?" I asked.
"Even so. I speak of a hundred moons back, when I was yet a stripling,
with little experience in war. I saw the peril, but I could not think
that such a race could vie with the Children of the Sun. But one black
night, in the Moon of Wildfowl, the raiders descended in a torrent and
took us un... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
These words of Shalah did not make me proud, for things were too
serious for vanity. But they served to confirm in me my strange
exaltation. I felt as one dedicated to a mighty task.
"Tell me, what is the invasion which threatens the Tidewater?"
"The whole truth is not known to me; but from the speech of my
tribesmen,... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Do you know their plans?" I asked.
"The Cherokees have served their purpose," he said. "Your forecast was
right, brother. They have drawn the fire of the Border, and been driven
in a rabble far south to the Roanoke and the Carolina mountains. That
is as the prophet planned. And now, while the white men hang up their
... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The shelf was lit with fires, and there was a flare of torches in the
centre. I saw an immense multitude of lean, dark faces--how many I
cannot tell, but ten thousand at the least. It took all my faith to
withstand the awe of the sight. For these men were not the common
Indian breed, but a race nurtured and armed for ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Presently the hush grew deeper, and from the tent a man came. I could
not see him clearly, but the flickering light told me that he was very
tall, and that, like the Indians, he was naked to the middle. He stood
behind the altar, and began some incantation.
It was in the Indian tongue which I could not understand. The... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then from behind the fire the voice began again. But this time I
understood it. The words were English. I was amazed, for I had
forgotten that I knew the wizard to be a white man.
"_Thus saith the Lord God_," it cried, "_Woe to the bloody city! I will
make the pile great for fire. Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consum... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
But in a second all thought of mirth was gone, and a deep solemnity
fell upon me. God had assuredly directed my path, for He had brought
the two of us together over the widest spaces of earth. I had no fear
of the issue. I should master Muckle John as I had mastered him before.
My awe was all for God's mysterious deal... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
A hand was laid on my arm and Onotawah stood by me. He motioned me to
follow him, and led me past the smoking altar to a row of painted white
stones around the great wigwam. This he did not cross, but pointed to
the tent door, I pushed aside the flap and entered.
An Indian lamp--a wick floating in oil--stood on a roug... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I had determined on my part, and played it calmly.
"And what will you do with your Indian braves?" I asked.
"Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place to
lie down in, for my people that have sought me," he answered.
"A bonny spectacle," I said. "Man, if you dare to cross the Border you
will be ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then I threw him--quite easily, for his limbs were going limp in the
extremity of his horror. He lay gasping and foaming, his eyes turning
back in his head, while I bound his arms to his sides with my belt. I
found some cords in the tent, and tied his legs together. He moaned
miserably for a little, and then was silen... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"I think her name was Alison Steel."
"What ken ye of Alison Steel?" he asked fiercely. "Quick, man, what
word have ye frae Alison?"
"You sent me with a letter to her. D'you not mind your last days in
Edinburgh, before they shipped you to the Plantations?"
"It comes back to me," he cried. "Ay, it comes back. To think I... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"And are your Indians not idolaters? Are you no idolater, with your
burnt offerings and heathen gibberish? You worship a Baal and a Moloch
worse than any Midianite, for you adore the devils of your own rotten
heart."
The big man, with all the madness out of him, put his towsy head in his
hands, and a sob shook his gre... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
He lifted his great head, and the marks of the sacrifice were still on
his brow.
"D'ye think that would be the Lord's will?" he asked innocently.
"I declare it unto you," said I. "I have been sent by God to save your
soul. I give you your marching orders, for though you are half a madman
you are whiles a man. There's ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Thy magic is as the magic of Heaven," he said reverently. "My heart
all night has been like water, for I know no charm which hath prevailed
against the mystery of the Panther."
"'Twas no magic of mine," said I. "God spoke to him through my lips in
the night watches."
We took our way unchallenged through the sleeping ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Shalah nudged my shoulder, and pointed to the south, where a glen
debouched from the hills. A stream of mounted figures was pouring out
of it, heading for the upper waters of the river where the valley
broadened again. For all my sickness my eyes were sharp enough to
perceive what manner of procession it was. All were... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
With shame I set down my boyish folly. It did not last, long, for to my
dizzy brain there came the air which Elspeth had sung, that song of
Montrose's which had been, as it were, the star of all my wanderings.
"For, if Confusion have a part,
Which virtuous souls abhor--"
Surely it was confusion that had now... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"I know not. I am still a prince among them, and will sway their
councils. It may be fated that I slay yonder magician and reign in his
stead."
He got to his feet and looked proudly westward.
"In a little I shall overtake them. But I would my brother had been of
my company."
Slowly we travelled north along the crests,... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Grey came to me on the third morning to say good-bye. He was going back
to the Tidewater with some of the Borderers, for to stay longer with us
had become a torture to him. There was no ill feeling in his proud
soul, and he bore defeat as a gentleman should.
"You have fairly won, Mr. Garvald," he said. "Three nights a... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Elspeth," I said hoarsely, "once I told you what was in my heart."
Her face grew grave. "And have you not seen what is in mine?" she
asked.
"I have seen and rejoiced, and yet I doubt."
"But why?" she asked again. "My life is yours, for you have preserved
it. I would be graceless indeed if I did not give my best to yo... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Years have flown since that day on the hills, and much has befallen;
but the prologue is the kernel of my play, and the curtain which rose
after that hour revealed things less worthy of chronicle. Why should I
tell of how my trade prospered mightily, and of the great house we
built at Middle Plantation; of my quarrels... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Steve Schulze and PG Distributed Proofreaders
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| CONANT'S |
| |
| ... | Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 29, October 15, 1870 | Various | ['en'] | 7 | {'American wit and humor -- Periodicals'} | PG10047 | |||
VOL II., NO. 29
PUNCHINELLO
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1870.
PUBLISHED BY THE
PUNCHINELLO PUBLISHING COMPANY,
83 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK.
* * * * *
MYSTERY OF MR. E. DROOD,
By ORPHEUS C. KERR.
Continued in this Number.
See 15th Page for Extra Premiums.
+-------------------------------... | Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 29, October 15, 1870 | Various | ['en'] | 7 | {'American wit and humor -- Periodicals'} | PG10047 | |||
THE MYSTERY OF MR. E. DROOD.
AN ADAPTATION.
BY ORPHEUS C. KERR.
CHAPTER XXII.--(Continued.)
When Miss POTTS and Mr. SIMPSON rejoined Mr. DIBBLE, in the office of
the latter, across the street, it was decided that the flighty young
girl should be made less expensive to her friends by temporary
accommodation in an econ... | Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 29, October 15, 1870 | Various | ['en'] | 7 | {'American wit and humor -- Periodicals'} | PG10047 |
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