Read Ebook: Hawk's Nest; or The Last of the Cahoonshees. A Tale of the Delaware Valley and Historical Romance of 1690. by Allerton James M James Martin

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Ebook has 2066 lines and 75149 words, and 42 pages

It was on one of these occasions that your father found me and brought me to your house, and you know the rest.

Did the Indians make that black spot on your breast? asked Tom.

I don't know, replied Drake. It has always been there. The Indians called it big canoe. Look, Tom, and see what it looks like, said Drake, at the same time baring his bosom.

Why Drake, that is an anchor! said Tom; and sure enough, there is a big canoe; yes, and there are letters on it, like the ones in mother's old bible. There is C. D. on the top, and E. N. on the bottom. That wan't made by the Indians, Drake, maybe your father put that there. It don't look like Indian work; they paint themselves, but that rubs off, but this don't rub off. Water won't wash it out.

No, replied Drake, the more I wash it, the plainer it gets. It seems to be under the skin.

What did they call you when you were among the Indians? asked Tom.

"Swift Foot," replied Drake.

And why did father name you Drake, when he brought you to our house?

He said that, or something like that was my name; that it was painted on my breast.

I see, replied Tom. "C. D.," that means Charles Drake.

The sun was now down. The wind whistled and the rain fell in torrents. The hawks had hid themselves within the caverns of the rocks. The beasts of prey had sought refuge from the storm, and the boys concluded to remain under the rock until morning.

Thus, they slept in unconscious bliss, when suddenly they were aroused by an unearthly noise that pierced them to their hearts. Such shrieks were calculated to arouse the slumbering dead. Tom caught his rifle, and Drake his bow and arrows. The storm had cleared; the rain had ceased, and the sun was just rising over the Shawangunk Mountains. The shrieks continued.

What does this mean? cried Drake, are the Indians upon us? and is this their war-whoop?

No, replied Tom, it is the hawks. They are out in full force.

I should think so, replied Drake. They are so thick that they darken the sun. See them dive down. They think that they see the carcass of a deer in the river, and want to pick its bones for breakfast, but something scares them back.

Tom, by this time, was at the top of the pinnacle where he could see miles up and down the river. The banks were full and the whole river was strewn with logs, trees and drift-wood. The hawks continued to dive down towards the water, then suddenly rising and screaming.

I see! I see! cried Tom. See there, Drake; there is a raft just going through the Cellar Hole! Yes, by Jove! there it goes, and there is something on it!

That is so, rejoined Drake. It is a bear.

Yes, it is a bear, but what is that it is standing over? It is a woman. I see her dress.

It must be a tame bear, rejoined Drake. See it lick the woman's hand.

Stop! said Tom, I see two women there, a big and little one, and the little one lays across the big one. There is something else there--a cat or rabbit; yes, and the bear is a dog.

These, said Drake, are some of the up-the-river-folks, that have been washed away, and got on the raft for safety. I guess they are all dead but the dog. But we must try and save them. If there is any life in them, it will be drowned out in going through the rift below the Island.

Then they sprang down the rocks like two antelopes. Reaching the river, Tom was about to plunge in.

Stop! cried his companion. Nothing but a duck or its mate can live in that water; I am the mate of the duck; I am the Drake that will venture!

And suiting the action to the word, plunged in. For a moment he disappeared in the surging foam, and then rose to the surface. The river was so thick with drift-wood that it was with difficulty he could stem the current.

At last he reaches the raft.

The cat mews--the dog whines, but the women remain as silent as the grave.

Are they dead? exclaimed a rough, stentorian voice that could be heard above the slash of the water, emanating from a person now for the first time introduced to our readers.

I guess so father, they don't move, replied Tom.

The old man jumped into the canoe and bent his head over the prostrate form of the child. After listening for a moment, he snatched her in his arms and said:

Her heart beats; as long as that beats, there is life, and as long as there is life, there is hope. Take her to the house, Drake, and tell Betsy to put her to bed and cover her with bear skins.

Drake caught her in his arms and waded across the Bennykill, and gently laid her in bed and covered her with skins.

The old man now made an examination of the mother, during which time Rolla kept whining. He would jump up to her and bark--as much as to say "Look up Mary, you are in the hands of friends." But no signs of life appeared. Tapping the dog on the head, the old man said:

Faithful animal, more faithful than some that claim to have souls; not only to death, but faithful after. Yes, dog, you may bark--you have a right to bark, but you can't bark her back, she has gone to the Indians' fair Hunting Ground. But we must respect the dead. Here, Tom, help place her in the canoe, we will take her ashore and give her Christian burial.

Tom raised her up, and as he did so, large quantities of water came from her mouth. The dog barked and sprang towards her.

That is a good sign, said the old man, the dog has discovered life. Brute, as he is, yet instinct tells him more than the wisest men know.

Look! cried Tom excitedly. Her eyes quiver and her lips move. Bend yourself to the paddle, Tom! Pull for your life! Pull! We may save her yet!

The shore was soon reached, and the lifeless body of the mother was laid by the side of her child.

The Bear and Panther.

We left Walter Wallace asleep on the banks of the Callicoon. How long he would have slept, we cannot say, had it not been for an unlooked-for event. The day was just dawning. The silver streak of morning had lit up the eastern sky, when Walter, in a half-waking, and half-dozing condition, thought he felt Rolla by his side. He placed his paw on him and partially turned him over. Then he run his nose along and smelled his body. Then came a fierce growl. This brought Walter to his feet. A sight met his eye calculated to strike terror to the heart of an old hunter.

At his feet stood two young cubs, while at a distance of about twenty feet, perched on the limb of a large tree, was a large sized panther, and at the root of the tree, stood a large black bear, the mother of the cubs at his feet, looking intently at the panther. As Walter raised, the bear turned one quick glance at him, but instantly turned her eye on the panther. Walter did not know what to do. It was the panther that he was afraid of. He had been told that a bear would not molest a person unless they attempted to injure her cubs. It was evident that the bear was watching the actions of the panther, and caring but little for him. He therefore concluded to make friends with the bear by patting her cubs. Gently stooping down, he fondled the cubs. They seemed to have no fear of him, and played about him like two kittens. Now and then, the bear would cast a wistful eye at him, as much as to say "protect my young." Just then the panther gave a spring and landed on the limb of the tree under which Walter and the cubs lay. The bear instantly jumped to the spot, but paid little or no attention to him.

It now occurred to Walter that he had his father's gun with him.

Casting his eye to the ground he saw it. He immediately raised it to his shoulder, and taking steady aim across a small sapling, aiming directly between the panther's eyes, fired. The panther fell. No sooner had it touched the ground, than the bear grasped it, and in an instant, its bowels were torn from its body.

During the encounter between the panther and the bear, the bear kept up a continual growl. But as soon as the panther was dead, the bear was as cool as if nothing had happened. Walking quietly up to her cubs, she took one of them in her mouth, and carried it to the panther, then she returned and got the other. Young as the cubs were, they seemed to understand what their mother meant, and immediately commenced to lap the panther's blood. The old bear then approached Walter, and smelled him all over, and then returned to her cubs, and in a few minutes walked off, and was seen no more by Walter. Still, he was at a loss what to do or where to go, and for the first time realized that he was hungry.

The sun was now far up in the eastern sky, and he concluded that he would take that direction as that would take him to Peenpack. Reloading his gun, he threw it across his shoulder and started for higher ground in an easterly direction.

He had proceeded but a short distance, when he heard a voice say in plain English:

"North! North! A little further north!"

This both pleased and frightened him, and jumping upon a large log, and looking in the direction from which the sounds proceeded, to his astonishment, he saw a man standing behind something that had three legs, waving his hands. Looking in the direction that the hand indicated, he saw another man holding a flag. On the top of these legs was something that glittered in the sun like gold. The man that stood behind it would look down at it, and then at the flag. In looking a little further back, he saw ten or twelve men, some of them on horses, some with axes and some drawing a long, light chain. He was amazed at the sight, not knowing whether to hide or run. He heard a slight noise behind him, and turning around, stood face to face to some kind of a being. He knew not what it was. It looked just like a man, only it was jet black, curly hair and pearly-white teeth. He thought it must be the devil that his mother had told him about, but he failed to see the forked tail. In his fright he sprang from the log and ran towards the white man.

Indian! Indian! cried the devil behind him.

Instantly the whole party was in commotion, and the men on the horses raised their guns.

Who? Where? What is it? cried the man at the three legged object.

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