Thus saying, he shook hands with Lord H----, and they retired to their several chambers with very gloomy and apprehensive thoughts.
Next morning Mr. Prevost was aroused by a distant knocking at the huts where the outdoor servants slept, and then by a repetition of the sound at the door of the house itself. Rising hastily, he got down in time to see the door opened by old Agrippa, and found a man on horseback bearing a large official-looking letter addressed to Major-General Lord H----.
It proved to be a dispatch from Sir William Johnson, requesting both Lord H---- and himself to attend a meeting of some of the chiefs of the Five Nations, which was to be held at Johnson Castle, on the Mohawk, in the course of the following day. The distance was not very great, but still the difficulty of traveling required the two gentlemen to set out at once in order to reach the place of rendezvous before night, and neither liked to neglect what they considered a duty.
"I will mount my horse as soon as it can be got ready," said Lord H----, when he had read the letter and shown it to Mr. Prevost. "I suppose, in existing circumstances, you will not think it advisable to accompany me?"
"Most certainly I will go with you, my lord," replied his host. "As I said last night, the danger, though very certain, is not immediate. Weeks, months may pass before these Indians feel assured that they cannot obtain possession of the actual slayer of their red brother; and as many of the Oneidas will probably be present at this talk, as they call it, I may perhaps (though it is very doubtful) gain some insight into their thoughts and intentions. I will take my daughter with me, however, for I should not like to leave her here altogether alone. Her preparations may delay us for half an hour, but still we have ample time, and the horse of the messenger, who will act as our guide, must have some little time to take rest and food."
A very brief time was spent at breakfast, and then the whole party set out on horseback, followed by a negro leading a pack-horse, and preceded by the messenger of Sir William Johnson. Mr. Prevost, the messenger, and the negro, were all armed; but Lord H----, who had hitherto worn nothing but the common riding suit in which he had first presented himself, except in his unfortunate expedition with Captain Brooks, had now donned the splendid uniform of a major-general in the British service, and was merely armed with his sword and pistols in the holsters of his saddle.
The journey passed without incident. Not a human being was seen for seventeen or eighteen miles, though here and there a small log hut, apparently deserted, testified to the efforts of a new race to wrest their hunting grounds from an earlier people--efforts too soon, too sadly, and too cruelly to be consummated. The softer light of early morning died away, and then succeeded a warmer period of the day, when the heat became very oppressive; for in the midst of those deep forests, with no wind stirring, the change from summer to winter is not felt so rapidly as in more open lands. About an hour after noon they proposed to stop, rest the horses, and take some refreshment, and a spot was selected where some fine oaks spread their large limbs over a beautifully clear little lake or pond, the view across which presented peeps of a distant country, with some blue hills of no very great elevation appearing above the tops of the trees.
At the end of an hour the party again mounted and pursued their way, still on through forests and valleys, across streams and by the sides of lakes, till at length, just as the evening sun was reaching the horizon, a visible change took place in the aspect of the country: spots were seen which had been cultivated, where harvests had grown and been reaped, and then a house gleamed here and there through the forest, and blue wreaths of smoke might be seen rising up. Tracks of cart wheels channeled the forest path; a cart or wagon was drawn up near the roadside; high piles of firewood showed preparation against the bitter winter; and everything indicated that the travelers were approaching some new but prosperous settlement.
Soon all traces of the primeval woods, except those which the little party left behind them, disappeared, and a broad tract of well cultivated country spread out before them, with a fine river bounding it at the distance of more than a mile. The road, too, was comparatively good and broad, and half way between the forest and the river that road divided into two, one branch going straight on, and another leading up the course of the stream.
"Is Sir William at the Hall or at his Castle?" asked Mr. Prevost, raising his voice to reach the ears of his guide, who kept a little in front.