Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 183 — page 11: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

-~ Gilbert, the Guide. 5 11 but I bad no time, and Darromed watched me so closely. If I had gone away, he would have sent spies upon the traek, and she would have been taken. I saw the burning of the tree, but hoped she had escaped until Gilbert said that he had buried her remains. Can you blame me if | weep?” ‘No, Morena,” said the Guide. ‘* Weep, as one sister may weep for another. You can do another thing, which I, as a sinful man, have not the power to do: you can pray for that poor child, that God will pardon her if she ever sinned, though I cannot think she did, and take her to His rest.” ‘*Morena will pray for the repose of her soul!” was the Indian girl’s reply. ‘ The priests have taught even a poor child like me the bet- ter way, and I have tried to do good among the Wyandots.” ‘We wanted to ask & if you have ever seen the face of the lady who taught you to read and write—Madame Lagrange?’ ‘‘Seen it? Yes. And it is the face of an angel. Do not ask me about it, for she trusted me when she would trust no other, and I can- not break my word, even to you.” ‘‘Nor will I ask you,” said Gandelion. ‘Monsieur Gilbert, I release you from your parole, and if, during the night, you can study out any way of escape, without incurring the danger of a shot from the —. 1 shall be giad of it, although I would be pleased to take you with me as a comrade and friend.” ‘* Will you tie me?” “No; I am not in the mood. There is a blanket which is at your service.” The Guide took it, chose a place close to the perpendicular wall which lined the circle, wrapped the blanket about him and lay down to rest. When morning dawned, they looked for him, but he had escaped, though how it was done they could not tell. CHAPTER X. A PERPENDICULAR PATH. How was it done? Gilbert, the Guide, slept or seemed to sleep until nearly four o’clock in the morning, at the time when the senses of sleepers y are most fully wrapped in unconsciousness. Then he stirred a little and finally rolled over on one side, so as to face the camp. The fires had gone down and the men were lying about in various positions, all wage complete ob- livion to all outside things. Though seeming to be asleep, had any of the drowsy guards taken the trouble to watch closely, they would have seen a pair of bright eyes steadfastly re- garding them. At length he rose to a sittin ee with his back against the wall, sti eeping bis eyes fixed upon the two men lean- ing upon their rifles at the mouth of the pass which led into the camp, who were looking the other way and conversing in low tones, specu- lating upon the probability of any attack upon their position, and almost wishing there might be to rouse their more fortunate comrades from their a trance to the dangers of a soldier’s life. Gilbert saw that they were pay- ing no attention to him, and, as the leader bad not apprised them of the fact that he had with- drawn the parole, they did not think it neces- sary to watch the prisoner. As he sat there, in a listening attitude, there came upon the still air of the morning a cry from one of those strange, amphibious birds, the loon, ringing out with startling distinct- ness, It came twice, then a pause, and the hoot of the horne1 owl followed. ‘*Ha!” thought the Guide. ‘‘ Are you there, my trusty friend? I thought I h your sig- nal, once before.” Close to the side of the rocky wall grew a tall pine, so close indeed that there were places where its body nearly touched the wall. Gil- bert rose carefully, and disappeared behind the tree, placing it between himself and the guards. Then he began to climb with one knee pressed st the tree and the other against the rocky wall, clinging by every protuberance, and taking advantage of every crevice in which be could set his foot, rising slowly and carefully toward the summit of the cliff. He kept on in this way until his hand touched the lower branches of the tree, when he drew him- self carefully up and sat upon the branch, looking down upon the sleeping camp. The guards had not stirred, but still stood side by side looking down the pass. He now began to climb slowly toward the top, while, as he proceeded, the little pine bent and swayed from the weight of his body, and rested against the face of the cliff, He had still some ten feet to go, and five feet more was all he dared trust the light tree-top, which al- reney began to show signs of weakness, and a breaking branch might betray him. He went up to this limit and stopped, looking at the verge of the cliff just beyond his reach with a longing eye. , erock was limestone, and not a place with- in his reach upon which @ man dare trust his foot. A bird could scarcely have clung with safety to that wall, and he began to fear that all his labor must go for nothing, as he had no desire for a sheer fall of one hundred and sev- enty feet to the hard rock below, when he beard the loon call again, this time from the 4-4 above him. Dare he give the answer now He determined to risk it, and the hoot of the owl, delivered with extraordinary accuracy, answered the call from above, and a moment after a head appeared at the edge of the cliff, upon which he could see the feathers which proclaimed the chief. His quick eye caught sight of the dark re clinging to the tree- top, and he unders his friend’s predica- ment. ‘*Wait!” he whispered. The head disappeared, and the Guide re- mained quietly in the tree-top for some mo- ments, eagerly waiting for his friend. He did not come, but something which looked like a rope dropped over the cliff and struck against him. He grasped it in both hands and released his hold upon the tree, going up the rope, hand over band. Where had the chief ob- tained such a thing in that wild region? LEasil enough, for the rope was made from the bar of the slippery elm tree, which be had torn off and twisted quickly into the required shape, making a strong cord which the weight of no man could break. This he had thrown over the precipice after tying the end to a stout shrub which grew upon the brow of the cliff. When the Guide came within reach, a strong hand was laid upon the shoulder of his hunting-shirt, and he was dragged over the verge, and lay panting on the sod, free. “Good!” said Owasco, nig = atm ** White men take you away from Wyandot; Owasco take you away from white man; all good.” ‘* Thank you!” said the Guide, in a low tone, “You did that well. I never could have got up the cliff if you had not come.” “‘Owasco was on the watch,” said the brave Onondaga. ‘‘He was ready when the Wyan- dots tied you to the stake, and if the young white man and Morena had not come, the blood of an Onondaga would have been shed for his white friend. But the Great Spirit heard the cry of his child and sent the young white brave to help you, better than a poor In- dian could have done.” The Guide rose and the two began to cross the rocky platform silently, realizing that it was not safe to converse so close to the camp of Gandelion, for Gilbert knew that voung man well enough to understand that while he would not be very much grieved at his escape, he would take every means to recapture him, if he was forced to do it, sooner than have his men think he had connived at the escape. Af- ter going half a mile over a difficult and dan- gerous way, they sat down to rest. ‘‘All safe here,” said Owasco. ‘‘ Let us talk, for the heart of Owasco is glad to see the face of his friend again. Many a time have we gone out tothe battle together; many a time have we come back to the Onondaga lodges, bringing truphies to hang upon the pole, that the hearts of the old men and women might ah joy. Owasco feared that Gilbert would walk the woods with him no more, and now we are together again, and all is well.” ‘*Man cannot die until his work is done, my brave Owasco,” replied Gilbert. ‘‘ When the Master of Life calls me, I must go, and so must you; but the time is not yet.” ‘‘Let us away to the army and see if the es war-chief has come in, and make his eart glad, for he weeps for the pale-face girl who died in the burning tree.” ‘That is the best plan, Owasco. But do you know that at times a feeling comes over me, and I feel that the tears we have shed for her have been all in vain, and that we shall see her yet? I bad a strange dream to-night, and thought I beard her call for help.” sé agh hd “She came to me in my dreams and cried: ‘Help me; I am in danger.’ Then I looked and thought I saw the chief Darromed bear- ing her across the river in his arms, while I stood upon the shore, and could give her no help. “Listen to the spirit of dreams!” cried the chief, ‘‘ for the spirit speaks true. I, too, had a dream while I wai for you to-night, and I saw her, just as she was when [I left her in the tree. tus go there, then, and prove for ourselves whether it was her bones we buried, or those of another.” ‘That is the best way,” answered the Guide, uickly. ‘“‘L am not a general believer in ya bnt this was so vivid that I cannot help thinking it is real. Come.” They sprung up together and held their course as the bird flies across the country to- ward the place where they bad buried the bones they su to be those of the prom- ised bride of Clinton Waterman. These experi- enced woodmen knew all the trails and foot- paths, and an hour’s rapid walking brought them near the spot. Desolation reigned around, for the fire had crossed the little glade, sweep- ing away everything before it in its onward course, leaving only blackened ashes. Not a blade of grass or leaf was to be seen, and it was only by the mark they had put upon the tree | that they were able to discover if, While the Indian listened for the sound of aay bog that they might not again be sur- prised by the savages, the Guide removed the grave he had made near the head, so that the skull was expcsed. A single glance was suffi- cient to sat:sfy him that the hasty opinion they had formed the night before was erroneous, and this skeleton, so far from being that of Helen, was that of an Indian. He hastily covered the skull and whispered to the savage to come away. The expression of delight upon bis face convinced Owasco that they were not wrong in their surmise, but that Helen had escaped from the tree. The question was,where had she gone? ‘* We must find her,” said the Guide, “if she is yet above the earth. I do not believe the W yandots have seen her since yesterday after- noon. ‘No, for Darromed was angry because she had escaped and did not know where to look for her. Come, we must find the trail,and whocan do that better than you and I?” They separated and made the circuit of the glade just outside the burned line, carefully in- es every inch of ground passed over. The rst time they found no trace and passed each other without a word, widening the circle by a few feet. Twice yA — about the eircle without results, but f-way round the third time, just behind the blackened stump of the burned sycamore, the Guide paused and looked intently at the earth. Here was some sort of a track certainly, but filled by light white ashes, The Guide kneeled beside it end blew the ashes out of the track, and revealed the mark of a delicate shoe, such as only a woman or child could haveworn. It was not an Indian woman, for she would have worn moccasins; not a white woman of low station, for she would not have been the essor of a shoe of that make. The low ejaculation on the part of the Guide brought the Indian to his side, and they looked at the track together, and satisfied themselves that it.could only have been made by the foot of Helen Carlyon. ‘*So far, good!” said the Guide. ‘She es- caped, but where did she go? We have this trail to guide us, and let us see where it will lead us.” They began to follow it with bent heads, care- fully watching every trace left behind by the flying girl, and saw that she had not thought of anything but escaping as quickly as she could, and that, bewildered by pain and fear, she had not given a thought to the direction she took. Doubtless she was wandering through the path- less woods, and having lost her guide, the river, knew not which way to turn or what to do. ‘* Poor child!” murmured the Guide. ‘I pray God she may not have fallen in with a bear ora panther in her desperate flight. There are the tracks again, Owasco, plainer than ever. It needs no scout to follow the trail she leaves in her terror.” Still stooping, still inspecting the earth, they followed the trail away from the river. Now and then they would come to a place where she had stopped, undecided as to what course to take, and turned offin anew direction. Every- thing in the trail told that she was utterly st fault and had merely stumbled blindly on in the darkness, seeking only to get out of reach of the I dians. At last they came toa place where a ile of leaves had been scraped together, and ere she had epee A slept, after fruitless en- deavors to find something to guide her. Gilbert pictured in his mind this innocent girl sleepin in the deep forest,in danger from bear, wolf or ther, but wearied out and unable to fly further. ‘‘ Poor darling,” he thought. ‘* How she has suffered this terrible night! But we shall soon find her and take her safe to the army, and to her lover, who is doubtless griev- ing for her now, and swearing vengeance on ber murderers.” The trail freshened fast after they left the po where she had the night, and they new that she could not be far away. They burried on in — haste, close together, intent upon the trail. It ended suddenly and abruptly upon the brink of a deep chasm which re had reft in the limestone, which was so ueep that the bottom seemed shrouded in darkness. With a low cry of grief, Gilbert flung himself down at the edge and looked into the chasm, where he could distinctly make out the flutter of cloth. Without giving himself time for thought, be began the descent, clinging to bush and rock upon the almost perpendicular face of the cliff, and keeping band and eye ready to as- sist him. The chief remained upon the top. He saw the Guide reach the bottom and dart under the projecting rock. The next moment he sprung out agnin, wildly excited. “Find an elm and make a rope about twenty feet long, Owasco; be spry!” Owasco burried away and found an elm from which he quickly stripped bark enough for his rope and twisted it into shape, and was back again directly, and threw the end down to his companion. ‘ Gilbert busied himself for a moment below, and then swung his weight upon the rope above to test it, and found that it stood the strain, ‘* Haul away!” he cried, “ but be very careful; you’ve got a precious burden.” GOMIIGENOOCKS GEO