As usual with him, in camp or on the march, Lord H---- dined with his soldiers, and shared their simple fare; but he passed the evening with Mr. Prevost, who had found quarters in the fort. Both were grave, but the deeper gravity was with Lord H----; for though, through the mind of the elder man continually flitted painful fancies--thoughts, images, or whatever they may be called--of the fate of Brooks, and his lips murmured twice, almost involuntarily, the words "Poor Woodchuck!" yet the certainty which he felt of the safety of his son, however great the sacrifice which purchased it, was a comfort, a great, a mighty consolation, although he almost reproached himself for the sensation of rejoicing which he could not help experiencing.
Lord H----, on the contrary, felt no such certainty. Ever since his conversation with Proctor, if conversation it can be called, a gloomy feeling of apprehension had rested on him. He did not doubt poor Woodchuck in the least; he was sure that he would hold fast to his resolution. Neither had he any fears that the execution of his purpose would be delayed or prevented by any such accident as that which had in reality occurred. But he asked himself: "Might he not come too late?" They had been told the time allowed by the Oneida chief to provide a substitute for Walter, and had taken it at the European calculation of months; but since he heard that a rumor of the young man's death was prevalent amongst the Indians, he doubted whether there had not been a mistake. The very rumor showed that some of the natives, at least, imagined the time had expired, and implied that their calculation was different. The effect upon the mind of Edith, he knew, would be terrible, when she found that her brother might have been saved, but that his life had been lost by such a mistake.
From Mr. Prevost he strove to hide his apprehensions as far as possible, knowing well that previous anxiety never diminishes an inevitable evil; and soon after nightfall he left him to seek thought in his own tent.
The sky was clear and cloudless; the stars shining out with a largeness and a luster such as European skies can never give. A light breeze stirred the waters of the lake and made them musical along the shore, and one of the voyageurs was singing a tranquil song of home in a clear, mellow voice, as he sat in his bark. The air was mild and gentle as a morning dream, and yet the whole had that solemn calmness which is always allied to melancholy.
He sat there long; no inclination to sleep interrupted his reveries, notwithstanding the fatigue of the day; and at length the moon rose over the high eastern hills, showing an unrivaled scene of solemn beauty.
The young nobleman rose, and after gazing round him for a few moments, drinking in, as it were, the solemn loveliness, he then walked on slowly toward the blackened remains of Fort William Henry. There was little to be seen there. Montcalm had not left his work half done; for all had been destroyed, and little beyond some irregularities in the ground, and some large detached fragments of masonry, showed where so many gallant men had fought in their country's cause, only to be slaughtered after surrender by a treacherous enemy. By report he knew the ground well, and after pausing for a minute or two amongst the ruins, he turned down the dark and fearful dell where the horrible massacre was perpetrated. Every rock around had echoed to the yell of the Indians, the groan of the dying soldiers, or the shrieks of defenceless women and children. Every tree had seen beneath its boughs some of the deeds of horror and of blood which went to make up that great crime. The bones of hundreds were lying still unburied; and when the moonlight fell on the western side of the gorge, some portion of a woman's garment, caught upon a bush, was seen fluttering in the breeze.
The immediate path along which Lord H---- went was still in profound shadow; but suddenly, across the moonlit side a little in advance of him, he saw gliding along, with noiseless steps, a troop of eight or ten shadowy forms, looking like ghosts in the pale moonlight. So much was their color the same as the rocks around, that you might almost fancy you saw through them, and that they were but the shadows from some other objects, cast upon the broken crags as they passed. Lord H---- stood and gazed, when suddenly the band stopped; and, comprehending that he had been perceived, he challenged them in English, judging at once that they must be a troop of friendly Indians. A deep voice replied in the same language, but with a strong Indian accent: "We are friends, children of the Stone. Can you tell us where to find Prevost?"
As he spoke, the leader of the Indians had advanced nearer, down the sloping ground at the foot of the rocks, and there seemed something in his tall, powerful form, and majesty of carriage, familiar to the eyes of the young nobleman, who exclaimed: "Is that the Black Eagle?"
"It is," answered the other, whose limited knowledge of English did not suffer him to indulge in his usual figurative language. "Art thou the Falling Cataract?"
"I am he to whom you gave that name," answered Lord H----; "but what want you with Mr. Prevost? Where is his son?"