for a single minute mr. brainerd was on the point of following in the footsteps of fred, and making a break for freedom: that was at the height of the general confusion, when the majority of the indians started in pursuit.
possibly such a prompt course might have succeeded, but he allowed the critical moment to pass, through fear that some additional cruelty would be visited on the heads of those whom he left behind.
when aunt peggy resumed her culinary operations, the patriots sat down again on the log, excited and fearful that the events of the last few minutes would precipitate the crisis they had been dreading for hours.
habakkuk mcewen was alarmed, but he could do nothing more than give expressions to his sympathy for the victim of the old lady's wrath, while he regretted, with an anguish which cannot be described, his failure to get away with fred godfrey, who, as it seemed to the new englander, was the born favorite of fortune.
"thank god!" was the fervent exclamation of mr. brainerd, as he compressed his lips, "fred is beyond their reach."
"are you sure of that?" asked maggie.
"sure of it!" repeated her parent, turning his gaze on her, while he smiled grimly. "of course i am. when he escaped the clutches of queen esther to-day he had no darkness to help him, and the rascals were at his heels. yet he got away safely, and he never would have fallen into their hands again but for his anxiety to help us. now he is out there somewhere in the woods, where it is as dark as egypt, and do you suppose he is the fool to allow them to take him again? not by a long shot."
maggie was immeasurably relieved to hear these words of her parent, which, it may be said, removed every fear for her brother from her thoughts.
"but, father," she added, "what can he do, with his arms bound?"
"faugh! what's that? we are tied with green withes or vines that hurt like the mischief, but it will take only a few minutes to rub them against the corner of a stone or rock and separate them. have no fears about fred," continued her father, "these red skins can whoop and yell, and howl and crack their heels together, but they'll never have another such a chance to scalp fred godfrey as they had a little while ago."
relieved of this dread, maggie's anxieties were centered upon her friends.
her heart bled for her father, who sat as proudly upright and defiant as though at the head of a brigade of men; but she could only pray and utter brave words, in the hope of cheering him.
poor eva was so terrified that she cried continually. she clung to her beloved parent, and, fortunately, as yet none of her captors made any objection. she was determined to stay by him to the last.
the american indian admires bravery as much as does his civilized enemy, and it needed no student of human nature to see that the few who remained were as much disgusted as amused with the sorry figure cut by their tory leader in his affray with aunt peggy carey.
this was proven by their refusal to interfere, and by the grins that appeared among them when the comedy was going on. but they were under the leadership of the same tory, and, when he came stumbling back from his fall over the log, and the lady resumed culinary operations, the senecas became as owlishly glum as seems to be their nature.
they were helped in this feeling by the flight of lieutenant godfrey, the prisoner most prized. as it was, the entire party came near starting for the young man, but, unfortunately, they checked themselves in time to prevent a stampede on the part of the rest of the captives.
jake golcher, as we have said, came back dazed and pretty well subdued. a great deal of his straggling hair had been removed by aunt peggy, and his countenance gridironed by her vigorous finger-nails.
he dropped down in a collapsed condition at one end of the log, removed from the captives, who, like the indians, looked at him askance, half disposed to laugh outright, despite the alarming danger.
in the mean time, aunt peggy was broiling the slices of tender pig with such care that she had a couple finished.
"there," she exclaimed, as she tossed the two in the direction of the senecas, "i like to see hog eat hog, and you might as well begin."
the facetious red men scrambled, like a lot of school-boys after a handful of marbles, and had they been so many wolves, the food could hardly have disappeared with greater celerity.
paying no attention to the tory, who sat on the fallen tree with his head drooping forward and his eyes fixed on nothing, the warriors started a curious scene.
approaching quite close to aunt peggy, they crowded and pushed each other, eagerly waiting when she should be ready to fling them the prize for which their stomachs yearned.
all were on their feet, and their black eyes, and quick, fidgeting movements, showed that their souls were in the business, or fun, as it might be termed.
there can be little question that, incredible as it may seem, the action of aunt peggy had rendered her somewhat of a favorite with the indians. it is just such people who admire the vim and bravery of any one—especially when not expected.
there can be no means of knowing, and yet it is safe to suspect, that the most reverential of these senecas was the warrior who had received such a ringing slap in the face when he dared to touch his painted lips to the virgin cheek of aunt peggy.
such is human nature the world over. the red men laughed and tumbled about, as they scrambled for the bits of meat, while even aunt peggy's features relaxed into a grim smile, when she looked upon the amusing performance.
it was no more than natural that as she had gone up in the estimation of these dusky warriors, the one who had been vanquished sank correspondingly low.
strange complications might result from this condition of affairs.
perhaps a dozen or more slices of the pig were broiled and tossed among the struggling red men, by which time their appetites were so well attended to that they lost a great deal of the vigor with which in the first place they scrambled for the food.
but during this same time, which was only a few minutes, jake golcher was rapidly regaining a correct idea of the situation, and it was not long before he raised his head and surveyed the scene with interest.
he straightened up and watched them a brief while, when the stinging scratches on his face reminded him of the episode in which he had cut such a sorry figure.
"she beats ten thousand wildcats," he muttered, glaring at aunt peggy, who just then was smiling at the efforts of the indians to seize the slice of young pork she tossed toward them.
"i don't understand how it was she knocked the spots out of me in that style; it must have been her awful temper, and because she come at me afore i knowed anything about it."
very probably the causes named had much to do with the result.
"why didn't some of them senecas pull her off? it's just like 'em to be pleased with it, and i'm sure the rebels busted themselves with laughter to see me catch it."
jake golcher seemed to be quite correct in gauging the feelings of those around him.
sitting on the fallen tree, he muttered:
"these warriors have all been put under me, and they've got to do what i tell 'em to do; we've played the fool too long in sparing 'em. they ought to have been put out of the way before this. let me see—i'll fix it this way."
he first looked at aunt peggy, toward whom he felt a hatred inconceivable to any one not in his situation.
"i'll settle with her for this; it will be just like the senecas to refuse to burn her at a tree, because she is such a she-panther; but i'll give her a touch of the knife myself, that will prevent her ever pulling out half my hair agin.
"i'll keep the two gals there, for they'll stick together, and i'm bound to bring that proud maggie brainerd to terms. if she'll do the right thing by me i'll let up on her father that i hate worse than p'ison. as for that long-legged habakkuk, i don't know what to think of him; it may be he's one of us, though i have my doubts. i'll wait and see; but won't i level things up with that 'ere fred godfrey? wal, i should rather guess so. i'll make sure he's out of the way. i s'pose he's sittin' over there wondering when his turn is comin'. he won't be kept wondering long."
wishing to gratify his nature, he leaned forward and peered around mr. brainerd to see how fred godfrey was taking it.
but he failed to discover the young man.
making sure he was not on the log, golcher rose to his feet and stared here and there in a hurried search for the youth.
he was invisible, and, with a vague fear, the tory strode to mr. brainerd.
"where's that son of yours?"
"well, sir," was the response, "i judge that by this time he's about half a mile away in the woods, and safely beyond the reach of all the warriors and tories that ever had their hair yanked out by an elderly lady not in the enjoyment of very rugged health!"
