The frontiersmen

by Gustave Aimard

Panther arose, and the assembly immediately became silent.

"Brothers," said he, "you have heard the words which have been spoken to you. It is for you to say which are wise, and which are foolish. Bearsclaw, Snake-tongue and Deersfoot have all told you what they think. The pale-faces, too, have spoken to you. You have heard their words. I think with Deersfoot, that we must have the scalps of the pale-faces at the cottage, and the scalp of Canendesha. There is no warrior here that does not say so. We have thought so from the first. It was not a new thing with Deersfoot; you have all thought so. That is not the matter we have come here to talk about. We should be ashamed to talk about it. We know what we will do.

"I say let these pale-faces die. They do not deserve to live. They are bad men—they are bad even among the pale-faces, and the pale-faces hate them. They are like snakes, and have forked tongues; they do not tell what they think. They lie in the grass, and bite at the foot of the unwary. Even the pale-faces hate them; but they are worse to the Injins than they are to the pale-faces; for they steal away our hunting-grounds. Why should we let them loose to lie like snakes in the grass and bite at us? Bearsclaw says that they came to us, and that we did not take them on the war-path. That is true; but they came to us with forked tongues, to get away our prisoner; and I do not know but that they did get him away. They came, and he is gone.

"If we keep them prisoners, we shall have to set some of the warriors to watch them. That we ought not to do; for we shall want all of our warriors to-night. I have said more than I meant to say. They are not worth talking about; they are not braves that will laugh at the torture, and please our ears with harsh words. They are cowards that will cry and faint. Such men are not fit to live. Let the pale-faces die."

This conclusion was received by the Senecas with shouts of savage exultation. The unfortunate prisoners quailed beneath the fiery glances of their enemies. The attorney endeavored to speak, but his utterance failed—fear deprived him of the power of speech. The bailiff, however, as the danger actually approached, grew firm and brave, and looked at them with that peculiar gaze with which the officer looks into the eyes of the thief.

The Senecas approached them for the purpose of preparing them for the torture.

"Stand back, you rascals!" cried the bailiff. "You are now in my bailiwick. Look me in the eyes, if you dare, and see if you can stand the gaze of the law."

But notwithstanding this effort at overawing them, the Indians rudely tore apart the thongs that bound the attorney and the bailiff together, and dragged them into the woods south of the little clearing in which they were.

We shall not attempt to narrate the disgusting and horrible scene; but on that day, the bar of Tryon county lost a distinguished member, and that bailiwick a faithful officer.

While these scenes of savage cruelty are being enacted, let us return to the cottage. The presence of the Indians in their neighborhood, was known to the inmates of the cottage; for, occasionally, during the council, the ferocious yells which had cheered the "hit" of some favorite orator, had been heard with distinctness. Neither Ichabod, Eagle's-Wing, nor any one who was acquainted with the customs and habits of the Indians, could doubt as to the nature of the proceedings, of which they heard frequent indications. It was rendered certain, by the fact that the Indians were about to take the lives of the prisoners, that the cottage would be again attacked.