Satanstoe; Or, the Littlepage Manuscripts. A Tale of the Colony

by James Fenimore Cooper

“That's just it; exactly what I mean, as to principle. Have not these Hurons conquered this particular settlement? I say they have. They are in possession of the whull of it, this house excepted; and it appears to me that if we ever get re-possession, it will be by another conquest. Now, what I want to know is this—does not conquest give the conquerors a right to the conquered territory? I have no books here, yet; but I'm dreadful forgetful, or I have read that such is the law.”

I may say that this was the first direct demonstration that Jason ever made on the property of Herman Mordaunt. Since that time he has made many more, some of which I, or he who may be called on to continue this narrative, will probably relate; but I wish to record, here, this as the first in a long series of attempts which Jason Newcome has practised, in order to transfer the fee-simple of the mill-lot at Ravensnest, from the ownership of those in whom it is vested by law, to that of his own humble, but meritorious person.

I had little time to answer this very singular sort of reasoning; for, just then, Herman Mordaunt appeared among us, and gave us serious duty to perform. The explanations with which his orders were preceded, were these. As had been anticipated, the Indians had adopted the only means that could prove effective against such a fortress as the Nest without the aid of artillery. They were making their preparations to set the building on fire, and had been busy all night in collecting a large amount of pine-knots, roots, &c., which they had succeeded in piling against the outer logs, at the point where one wing touched the cliff, and where the formation of the ground enabled them to approach the building without incurring much risk. Their mode of proceeding is worthy of being related. One of the boldest and most skilful of their number had crept to the spot, and posted himself so close to the logs as to be safe from observation, as well as reasonably safe from shot. His associates had then extended to him one end of a long pole, they standing below, some on a shelf of the cliff, and the rest on the ground; all being safe from harm so long as they kept close to their respective covers. Thus disposed, these children of the forest passed hours in patient toil, in forwarding by means of a basket, the knots, and 'other combustibles, up to the warrior, who kept his position close under the building, and who piled them in the way most favourable to his object.

Susquesus had the merit of discovering the projected attempt, the arrangements for which had completely escaped the vigilance of the sentinels. It would seem that the Onondago, aware of the artifices of the red-man, and acquainted in particular with the personal character of Jaap's friend. Muss, did not believe the night would go by without some serious attempt on the house. The side of the cliff was much the weakest point of the fortress, having no other protection than the natural obstacles of the rocks, which were not inaccessible, though somewhat difficult of ascent, and the low picketing, already mentioned. Under such circumstances, the Indian felt certain the assault would be made on that side. Placing himself on watch, therefore, he discovered the first attempts of the Hurons, but did not let them be known to Herman Mordaunt, until they were nearly completed; his reason for the delay being the impatience of the pale-faces, which would not have suffered the enemy to accomplish his object, so far as preparations were concerned; the thing of all others he himself thought to be the most desirable. By allowing the Hurons to waste their time and strength in making arrangements for an assault that was foreseen, and which might be met and defeated, a great advantage was obtained; whereas, by driving them prematurely from an artifice they were known to be engaged in, they would have recourse to another, and the difficulty of discovery would be added to our other disadvantages. So Susquesus reasoned, as was said at the time; and it is certain that so he acted.

But, the time had come to meet these covert preparations Herman Mordaunt now held a consultation, on the subject of our proceedings. The question submitted was, whether we ought to let the Hurons go any further; whether we should shoot the adventurous savage who was known still to be posted under the logs of the house, and scatter his pile of knots, by a sortie; or, whether it were wiser to let the enemy proceed to the extremity of actually lighting his fire, before we unmasked. Something was to be said in favour of each plan. By shooting the savage who had made a lodgment under our walls, and scattering his pile, we should unquestionably defeat the present attempt; but, in all probability, another would be made the succeeding night; whereas, by waiting to the last moment, such an effectual repulse might be given to our foes, as would at once terminate their expedition.

On consultation, and weighing all the points as they offered, it was decided to adopt the latter policy. But one spot commanded a view of the pile at all, and that was a loop, that had been cut only the day before, and which looked directly down on the place, from a projection that existed in the second story, and which ran around the whole building. These projections were common enough, in the architecture of the provinces at that day, being often adopted in exposed positions, purposely to afford the means of protecting the inferior and external portions of the dwellings. The Nest possessed this advantage, though the loops necessary to complete the arrangement, had only quite recently been cut. At this loop, then, I stationed myself, for a short time, watching what was going on below. The night was dark, but there was no difficulty, in distinguishing the pile of knots, which to me seemed several feet high, besides being of some length, or in noting the movements of the Indian who had built it. At the moment I took my stand at the loop, this man was actually engaged in setting fire to his combustibles.

For several minutes Guert and I watched our enemy while he was thus employed, for the Huron was obliged to proceed with the utmost caution, lest a light prematurely shed around should betray him. He cautiously lighted his knots quite within the pile, having left a place for that purpose; and his combustibles were well in flames before the latter began to throw their rays to any distance. We had a quantity of water provided in the room from which we beheld all these movements, and might at any time have extinguished the fire, by pouring a stream through our loop, provided we did not wait too long. But Guert objected to 'spoiling the sport,' as he called it, insisting that the logs of the house would be slow to ignite, and that we might at any moment scatter the knots, by a rapid sortie. His wish was to let the enemy proceed in his designs, as far as would be at all safe, in order to render his defeat more overwhelming.

Owing to our position, directly over his head, we had no chance to see the face of the incendiary while he was thus engaged. At length he cast a glance upward, as if to note the effect of the flames, which were beginning to throw their forked tongues above the pile, when we both recognised Jaap's prisoner, Muss. The sight proved too much for Guert's philosophy, and thrusting the muzzle of his rifle through the loop, he blazed away at him, without much regard to aim. This report was a sort of signal for action, the whole house, and all the outer, world appearing to be in a clamour in an instant. I had no means of seeing Muss, but some of our look-outs, who had him in view most of the time, told me, after all was over, that the fellow seemed much astonished at the suddenness of this assault; that he gazed up at the loop an instant, uttered a loud exclamation, then yelled the war-whoop at the top of his voice, and went bounding off into the darkness, like a buck put up unexpectedly from his lair. The fields all around the Nest seemed to be alive with whooping demons. Herman Mordaunt had done little towards embellishing the place; and stumps were standing in hundreds all about it, many having been left within twenty yards of the buildings. It now seemed as if every one of these stumps had an Indian warrior lodged behind it, while bands of them appeared to be leaping about in the gloom, under the rocks. At one time, I fancied we must be surrounded by hundreds of these ruthless foes, though I now suppose that their numbers were magnified by their activity and their infernal yells. They manifested no intention to attack, nevertheless, but kept screaming around us in all directions, occasionally discharging a rifle, but, as a whole, waiting the moment when the flames should have done their work.

Considering the fearful circumstances in which he was placed, Herman Mordaunt was wonderfully collected. For myself, I felt as if I had fifty lives to lose, Anneke being, uppermost in my thoughts. The females, however, behaved uncommonly well; making no noise, and using all the self-command they could assume, in order not to distract the exertions of their husbands and friends. Some of the wives of the sturdy settlers, indeed, actually exhibited a species of stern courage that would have done credit to soldiers; appearing in the court, armed, and otherwise rendering themselves useful. It often happened that women of this class, by practising on deer, and wolves, and bears, got to be reasonably expert with fire-arms, and did good service in attacks on their dwellings. I remarked, in all the commoner class of females, that night, a sort of fierce hostility to their savage foes, in whom they doubtless saw only the murderers of children, and wretches who made no distinction of sex or age, in pursuing their heartless warfare. Many of them appeared like the dams of the inferior animals when their young were in danger.

An interval of ten or fifteen minutes must have occurred between the moment when Guert discharged his rifle and that in which the battle really began. All this time the fire was gathering head, our tardy attempts to extinguish it proving a complete failure. But little apprehension was felt on this account, however, the flames proving an advantage, by casting their light far into the fields, and even below the rocks, while they did not reach the court at all; thus placing a portion of the enemy, should they venture to attack, under a bright light, while it left us in darkness. The only point, however, at which we could fear a serious assault, was on the side of the rocks, where the court had no other protection than the low, but close and tolerably strong picket. Fortunately, the formation of the ground on that side prevented one who stood on the meadows below from firing into the court from any point within the ordinary range of the rifle. It was this circumstance that had determined the site of the garrison.