The Dutch dominie of the Catskills, or The times of the "Bloody Brandt"

Front matter

Si

3 1924 074 559 588

Cornell University Library

Book II

THE BURNING OF SOPUS AND THE IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCES THEREOF. ^ CUAPTEIl I.

The Antediluvian Debate continued, .• 207

CHAPTER II.

Love Stronger than Death, 213

CHAPTER III.

The Sport of a Fool, casting Firebrands, Arrows and Death, . . 22t

CHAPTER IV.

More Dangers than a Battle 233

CHAPTER V.

Darkness, Death and Deliverance, 263

OONTiiHTS. XI

PAQD

CHAPTER VI.

The rieasurcs of Suspense, 269

CHAPTER VII.

A Piiiither or a Catamount 270

CHAPTER VIII.

Fun, Frolic and Folly, finished Soberly 278

CHAPTER IX.

A riutch Dominie at Home, ........ 284

Book I. Giving An Account Of The

BLOODY BRANDT'S DESCENT UPON THE KAATSKILL YLAAT8,

OOTOBBH, 1778, WItU OTHER MATTERS, KNOWN ONLY TO TUB A0TIIOR.

INTKODUOTION.

To read this book with profit to the reader, and with justice to the author, it would be to the advantage of both, were a survey to be taken of the region where the scene lies, on which such great events have transpired. The place for this will be that gorge in the mountain that lies half way between Elmira, Caatsban, and old Kaatskill. There is, when it is reached, a paved floor of stone. Through the crevices therein grows up innumerable small pines, whei-e the bear and the deer find refuge, and the hunter lodges all night for his prey. Go forward to the brink of the precipice, and look out, where all New England stretches before you ; then look northward and southward, where the Knickerbockers dwell.

On that spot where you stand the Indian and the Tory met to hold their bloody conclaves. The mountain range was the dividing line. The road froni the settlements below, to Fort Niagara, runs over the hills beneath you up to this point, going through Unadilla and Scenedawa, by Queen Catharine's County, near Lake Ca-nun-da-saga.

From these crags the savage descended upon the peaceabie Boermen of the vlatts like a hungry cormorant, or a wolf on

XVI INTEODTJCTION.

the fold, sweeping the Whigs away to death or bondage. Should the time ever arrive when these mountains will he trod by civilized men, let them not forget that the privilege of looking out from them in peace has been bought with the blood of the patriot. ^

THE DUTCH DOimiE.

Chapter I

imCERTAINTT.

" The great high an' low have but two prominent virtues — patience and courage."

Bn&RLOOK.

It was on an evening of October, 1118, that old Martin Schuyler, with his wife, the good Angelica, were sitting musing in silence, interrupted only by the ticking of the old clock in the corner, that had told the course of time to generations before Martin himself had looked up on the sun, moon or stars. So well had its present possessor become acquainted with the solemn regular tick, tack, that his pulse and his thoughts went in unison with the venerable timepiece. Slow or fast, he had come to regard the mysterious machinery of his soul and body as parts of the same creature Avltliui the mahogany case, so that whenever anything went wrong with the one, the other was sure to be out of order. The Dominie, who was the only doctor in his parish, knew this fact so well, that when he came on a spiritual or a bodUy visitation he was sure first to administer to the toul, then leave some medicine for the stomach, and he as invariably set about putting all right within the old clock-case.

This essential regulator of the venerable mansion had given warning through the day of a hectic pulse, which brought on midnight before the natural time, making the old man give an unusual start as the hammer struck twelve. He had just finished his second pipe, and was pushing his finger and

IT thumb into his bladder bag for a new supply when he found_ time to say :

" Anshela, vat's dat de Dominee said bout te spy m te camp, an sarch out te men in te city ?"

" Awee," was the quiet answer of the vrow, for she perceived that her good man's mind was excited or disturbed, and she wished to allay his troubles rather than increase them; "te Dominee meant te king of the Jews finding te men dat ver 'gainst him."

"Ha! te Dominee, Sohuneman, is a very cunning man, and meant to give Jake Overpagh a hit Avid his gad ; for I saw dat he looked straight in te rascal's face, dat made him bring down his impudent head like a shot duck."

Old Martin chuckled at his own jest, and wailed to hear what his vrow would say to his conjecture.

But Angelica, with true woman's wit, knew that she was on dangerous ground when her companion's peace had been disturbed before, and she merely said: "Te Dominie drew his bow at a venture, and it might pierce Jake betAveen te joints of te harness."

" I wish to te Lord," said the husband, with more haste than usual, " dat I could speak to te skitimylink through old Peg dere, and a hole would be made big enough tq let te light in dat would make him spy from te toder world rayther than round Whig doors."

"Whish! whish!" said the anxious vrow, "stone walls have ears ; better, Martin, to have a close mout' than an open skull."

All this time, while this unusually long conversation was going on, the one was preparing his pipe, and the other knitting quietly at the other side of the-long chimney, in .which smoldered the remains of what had been a proportionably large fire, now left to sink into red coals. All was quiet in the other parts of the capacious dwelling; cattle and negroes had alike been cared for, and the hour for that worthy pair to retire had nearly come. ^Conversation between the two was rather a luxury than a common indulgence. Like the two buckets of their oAvn deep well, when the one was up, it was always left full- on the curb ready for use, and the other was sunk into the profundity beneath, and though it took some time to bring it up, it was fresh for household service : it was always there when the traveller came, and welcome for. his horse or himself. The bucket never came- up empty.

TTNCERTAINTT. 19

The old Boerman gave a 'sudden start, as if something had struck him. -Angehca saw that he was alarmed through some cause Avithout doors. She was well acquainted with the habits of her husband, and knew all the circumstances of the country sufficiently well to enter immediately into the feeling of the occasion. He was not a man to be frightened at a shadow, nor was she unprepared for the exigencies of the period. When Martin, after cautiously looking up to the window, rose slowly on his feet, and stepped to the stair that went up to the chamber, lifting old Peg, as he passed, from her resting-place on the wooden hooks fixed in the joists 6ver head, the careful vrow ceased even to breathe, sitting as still on her stool as if she was stone ; then, with an equally cautious step, followed her husband up the steps, both that she might aid him and obtain information, or give counsel. The house was one oi those heavy stone structures, that seemed built more as towers of defence than as places for comfort ; the walls three feet thick, with small windows, like ancient shot-holes, covered with heavy shutters, which, in the windy seasons, slamued like the gates of a sepulchre, and as dolefully loud.

Close by one of these in the dark, Martin stood peering out, when Angelica joined her sight to his ; and thinking herself the first to perceive the cause of alarm, she whispered too loud, " Vat's dat dere, noo ?"

Martin had seen it, but durst not breathe of it lest the ear of some one would catch the sound ; and, turning around, he gave his good vrow a pinch on the arm, which was neither love nor hate. Pointing with his finger, he directed Angelica's eye to some living thing moving between them and a grey rock that stood but a short distance from the house; !ind nearer to them another of the same kind of shadows. Their blood ran quicker as that last object assured them both that it was a human form. Danger was abroad! AH their negroes were asleep; no friendly • person would be prowling around a house at such an hour. Massacres had been common ; the Indians were on the hills, and the Tories had marked old Martin for their prey. His very name, ScHUYLEK, was enough to render him obnoxious to the whole race. He loved his country, and had ventured to take thd side he felt was right ; but he was a man, a husband, and a father.

" The teeken vuur is blazing on the Kekute," whispered the trembling wife, as she came from looking towards the east.

Martin's courage rose as he saw the acknowledged signal. His friends ■were aware of danger being abroad ; but here was something which came under his immediate inspection. Spies were around his house. Cool by nature, and rendered cautious through long experience in the woods and on the hills, neither animal nor Indian could double him, when once upon the alert. His own cunning was his greatest danger. He had fallen occasionally into his own ti'ap ; and trusted more to the judgment of his family than he was Avilling to confess.

"Where's Elsie ?" he whispered to the wife. She was their only child, and had, in the lack of sons, become the chief stay of her parents in their declining years. Vigorous, prudent, and prompt in all her actions, she was equal to any young man in a case of emergency. It was therefore with some mortification and sinking of the heart, that he heard the mother say :

"Elsie, O the Lamashee has gone to the husking at the Bught. Take Oajsar wit thee ; he is strong, and faithful ; I'll go and waken him."

" Stay I stay ! do not ruin us ; dese blacks are sich cowardly critters, I would as soon take one of the ox steers wid me in the dark, I must go myself." •

After he had said this, they came and sat down on the same place where we found him beside the fire, and composedly smoked the pipe he had began to fill when he was first disturbed. This was his manner when his brain was foggy -, he saw his way best when the smoke whirled thickest around him ; and as lie feared it might be some time before he obtained more of this necessary of life, his first resolution was to puff a supply. By the time he was through, his mind was made up. Angelica had been anticipating the whole result ; and while the smoke became slow and regular, she had gathered up some olecakes and rusk, thrusting them into his ample pockets ; filling his horn Avith dry powder; counting^ out twenty bullets, and some buck-shot, which she deposited in the same place ; brought a worsted cap of her own working, which she drew upon his head well over his ears ; which he pushed up in an instant ; and doing all this without a word, she sat down, bending her head forward on her hands, seeming to be in the act of silent prayer : which was evidently understood by the musing Dutchman; for he ceased to puff except in the most silent stream, that rose more as incense than as indulgence. Not a word had been

TJNCERTAINTT, 21

uttered by them since they came from the chamber above, and the house had been made long since proof against all peering eyes ; so that Martin only waited the proper time to go out ; but that could not be till he was sure that the marauders liad gone from the dwelling.

The house, as we have hinted, was large and solid as all the mansions are, except whei'e the New England leaiven has changed the taste oif" some rebellious youth, who was determined to ignore his Dutch origin. Martin Schuyler was not of that tribe. His father had built one side of the house, with the evident forethought, that his posterity to the fourth and fifth generation should continue to add to it ; and our friend had done his share by raising wings larger than the original body, which was distinguished from the rest by being a few feet lower than the new sides. So that the house resembled some old men we have seen, whose head had sunk considerably beneath their shoulders, while their larger rear, required all the room that could be spared to" them. It was literally so of Martin's dwelling built on a side hill, and so strong itself, it was hard to say whether the hill or the house was the most crowded. No matter, the high ground behind served a good purpose in these times of public tumult, when life and property were in such danger. A cave had been originally dug in the hill, to serve as a root-house: this suggested the idea of a hiding-place, Avhioh had been carried still further into the interior. Indeed so far, that a passage-way had been made sufficiently wide for a person to worm his way to an opening on the south side of the house. Into that receptacle, long since all the silver plate of Holland manufacture, all the railledoleors which Martin had saved, the China intended for Elsie, a castle of quilted work, indeed everything tliat could be dispensed with out of the house ; 60 that surprise, was not to be so great if it did come at all, upon «uch cautious and cool heads. If there was aught neglected, it was more through too much care than too little. As in the case of the house being burned or surrounded, and they forced to flee, ready money was essential, so a roimd hole had been dug in the meadow below, out of which a piece of turf was carefully taken, the earth removed, and a pot of silver coin put in, all so well doi\e, that Martin declared at the end of his life, he could " never find out the place himself to this day."

A few pantomime signs were only passed between the two, Angelica was piflparing for retreat if necessary, and Martin for defence, when a slight noise was distinctly heard, as if some one had missed a footing, and had put out a hand to recover himself. Neither of the two moved a muscle, but their senses were now fully awakened to danger. " O, if Elsie were only here," was the internal wish of the anxious man. So rising slowly and quietly from his seat, he stepped into the back part of the house, through a panel which served as a door that opened at his touch. Angelica following to receive ajid give counsel.

" Where is Elsiu said you, Ansliela ?"

" Down in the Bught at a husking bee," was the quiet and subdued reply; for the good wife and mother saw plainly that her husband was troubled. " Let me go out with you ; four eyes are Ijetter than two ; and you know that I have .both caution and courage to meet any danger, when you are beside me."

"You speak like one of the foolish women, Anshela. I am only going to watch, not to fight — if I can help it. I shall go to the top of the hill, and return in an hour, but if not, send Elsie to meet me on the Sout Mountain."

" On the.Sout Mountain 1" the careful wife exclaimed ; " why not rather light the teeken vuur and gather- our friends ?"

" Vrow ! Vrow !" whispered Martin with great vehemence, before any friends could be here, our scalps would be reeking in that savage Kiskataam's fingers, our grey hairs twisted together. No, I must Avatch the redskin and see what deviltry he is up to, and trap him in his den. Elsie is the only one that can help me at this hour. You stay here quietly. There are only two of them. They are waiting till we sleep, and then they will go to the flat rock and light their warning fire. Hal ha! cunning dogs. Martin is before you ! Catch a squirrel sleeping. Thanks to Peet, for all that I know." The iarmer and the hunter chuckled at the thought of outwitting Kiskataam, the Wild-cat, upon his own ground, the Kaatskills.

There was no more difiiculty in bringing Angelica to agree to the plan. She was well aware that her careful husband possessed means of information which he kept to himself. So with a few more olecakes, and some quiet blessings, and prayers on his' safety, she saw him crawl on his hands and knees- through the narrow passage leaving her to close all up as quietly, and as closely as possible, without calling up any of the negro men, who were all asleen in the lower part of the house, in what is called the cellar kitchen.

UNCERTAINTY. 23,

Martin emerged from his underground journey like a rabbit that has found itself in the wide world, ready to return to its burrow quickly should danger be near. He lay still for at least five minutes, listening till he became familiarized with the silence and the darkness around hitn ; when he gradually rose upright, standing so still tliat he seemed but-one of the stumps of the field. Taking a wide circuit from his own house, he sought a patch of wood through which there was a cow path, guessing that the spies around him ' would take that on their way to their accustomed rendezvous. Nor was he mistaken, for, after waiting patiently a full hour, he heard footsteps distinctly, coming behind him. He would have been at a loss to tell whether it was man or animal, had he not also heard a human voice, which became more audible, but to him moi'e mysterious, the nearer as it approached. Now it was the low guttural tones of an Indian ; and again it seemed something else ; but neither Indian nor Dutch. Here was something of which he had not dreamed. His secret informant of yesterday had not hinted of any one but Indian. Till now, he had been comparatively calm, for his experience had taught him that it was easier to circumvent ten Indians, than one true and determined white man of experience. But, judge of the still greater snrpiise of ouiwatcher, when he heard distinctly, the tones of the English tongue ; and that of a young woman. ^le started to his feet with an alertness the reverse of his previous sluggishness. Martin's acquaintance with the world of Albany, and of Manhattan Island had been frequent, among his own near relatives, who were of the first quality in the colony ; enabling him to judge at once of these tones, and of the distinct words uttered ; assuring him that this was a woman of polished life and language. Why brought hither to these wild regions ? He lay down again, waiting for- the persons to pass by ; but so near that he might obtain a perfect view of their forms, and, if possible, guess into the mystery. As the Indian Kiskataam passed, carrying in his arms a young female, who was beseeching him to teU her why he was taking her through these woods. The heart of the honest Dutchman leaped to his throat, as he drew forward old Peg, with her muzzle almost touching the mean catifi" that passed liim; and but for the one he shielded himself behind, an ounce of lead would have decided his fate. But he was allowed to pass, while the name, " Mother I oh, my dear mother 1" and another name, which Martin could not hear distinctly, rung in his ear, calling upon him for help.

" And help you shall have, my strange lamishee," said the tender father. " My own Elshie may be the ^ext, and how could I come back to Anshela, if I saw our own daughter dragged off in that way. The murderous savage that he is, I have long determined to give him the contents of Peg ; and now is my time. No ; now is his time ; I will follow him and watch my chance. The dear lady, though she be of the English blood, must bo set free, though the blood of Kiskataam flows for it."

The really excited Boerman was just about to rise, when there passed by on the same path, but in far quieter motion, another of the same race leading a dog by a bark string. At the sight of the man and beast, Martin ground his teeth with inward rage.

" Dunder and blitzen, were the Dominie here himself he would zweert, I will say — duivil. There is that duivil Shandaagan carrying off Rover, and here I must lie still and see all." -

They who knew all would have pardoned the good Dutchman ; even his swearing, when they reflected on the mean character of this second Indian, and the provocation he had given to Martin before and now. He was one of those offscourings of the race^Avho proved false to all he pretended to serve. At this very time, he was pretending to be on the side of the Whigs. It was but the day before that he had been to the Iloogenhuisen, and seemed to be on the iflost friendly terms with all ; yet, he had not said a word of this coming adventure, of which he was surely aware ; and this decoying of the dog Rover away, was proof positive of treachery.

"Ah," said the mortified Martin to himself, ." ever since that time Elsie caused contempt on his chieftainship, I have seen his secret revenge working ; and now he thinks he has made himself sure, as the Dominie says, ' de Heeve wil en wij leven zullen zoo zullen wij dit of dat doen.' "

For these aggravating mortifications he had this to make amends, that Rover did not scent him out, when as he passed the place his master lay hidden ; but went, seemino-ly as if aware, that both should bide their time. It was an augury to him for good ; and as he was now sure of their destination, and had come upon their trail suflSciently, he was

UNCEETAINIT. 26

in no haste to pursue, but made up his mind to go slowly on and watch theu' motions ; waiting for Elsie, who he was certain would meet him at the apjjointed place in time for the execution of any plan he .could devise, which would set the feeble captive at liberty, and rid the world, if possible, of these two fiends, now bent on the destruction of the inhabitants of the region.

" They have gone to the pine orchard to prepare for that hellish congregation that's coming. Bloody wolves; they have tasted blood at Wyoming, and now we are, to expect no better fate. That hell-hound, Shandaagan, has known all as well as myself, and his hunting around has been that he might lay his traps all the more secret and sure. The Hoegenhuisen will be among the first. They did not try it to-night. Tliey have got other fish to fry. Maybe that is only ' bait they are carrying;" and the hunter grinned a grim smUe at his own wit; .

Taldng a winding direction westward, Martin proceeded with perfect confidence of finding the skulking place of the party. Measuring his speed according to his knowledge of the length of road he had to travel, he was in no hurry, as any step he took was on ground as familiar to his foot, as the turnings of his own yard. His care was to keep sufBciently Iftr out of the way not to be heard by the Indians on the one hand, and on the other to cautiously look around him, lest he might stumble on some stragglers of the party. The mystery of the English lady made him timorous. He had a certain intuitive perception that tronble was to arise out of that occurrence, to others, if not to himself. Crossing the Kaaterskill stream a mile above the opening of the clove, he left his own lionse to the south of him, and proceeded up .the side of the hill which lies to the south; when, after an hour's ascending travel, he reached Puddingstone Unll, and sat down n2)on a slanting rock, that seems to have been placed there by some ancient Druid : for none but the beings who raised Stonehenge on their nice balance, could now put that stone on its sloping position. Martin had frequently, from his boyhood, sat on the same stone at all hours of the day, and of the night, and wondered how it came there ; and how it hung there, and how long it had lain so ; but now he had other thoughts tg occupy his mind ; for just as truly as he had conjectured, there were the very persons who had passed him by, now on the flat rock. The Indians were sitting before a bright burning fire ; and near it was raised one of those wigwams, which all who live in the woods know how to raise in a twinkling of time. Still there was something about the whole scene here, Avhich made the careful hunter feel insecure. That bower was more tastefully raised than the red man ever did such Avork ; and the building of tlie lire was not after the fashion of that thoughtless race, but carefully made of dried wood, not found in the immediate neighborhood. The experienced eye of the unseen observer could discern other evidences of a superintendence which amazed and stultified his senses.

"God in de hemelin vorlichte mijne oogenl" Man-tin prayed in. his own tongue for light to his eyes ; .then almost out of breath in his anxiety, he said : " Oh, if Elshie were but here now, she could explain the meaning of these things." .

In the meantime, he was too wise a man, and had been in too many different places, to let any chance pass, without informing himself concerning the actual state of things. Being on a height which overlooked all that was doing on the rock below, it was easy to see all that was moving ; and lest there might be some prying eyes around, he lay flat upon the face of that leaning rock, with old Peg by his side, watching the chainces which might come up. After he had satisfied himself that no being was in his own immediate neighborhood, he took a different position in hope that new background might discover some wandering shadow ; but there were still the same Indian faces ; and that of the young pale-face, which he could see plainly in the flickering glow of the fire as it rose and fell. Never was a man more puzzled to account for all these things. Here was a captive, and she could not be a Whig's daughter, judging from her EngUsh accent and foreign style of speech ; and yet Kiskataam was in the pay of the king. Had he since thought of turning to the other side, making this the price of his double treachery ?

^' He shall not surcceed," said the excited Martin, with a vehemence which nearly cost him his life ; for standing as he did po near to the verge of the crag, he pushed with his feet so hard that a loose rock gave way, falling to the bottom of the precipice, over which, in the dark, he might have been hurled to his destruction. The noise reverberating through those wild hills in the night, roused up the beasts below from their lairs, and the party above were evidently much alarmed ; for when Martin recovered himself, he saw that the two Indians were standing both upright like sentinels, ready for an attack. However, soon discovering the seeming cause of tli©

DEEP DOtTBT. " 27

interrupted silence, they sank back to their usual somnolence.

Our white sentinel on the hill had made up his mind to a plan, just as soon as he could obtain his expected help, which he thought must be near at hand ; and with that in view, he toolc the most prominent point of Puddingstone Hall, wlicre ho stood like one of tlie black stumps of a tree, which even an Indian could not distinguish him from in the dark.

Chapter II. Deep Doubt

" Experience will show that as want of appetite supposes, and proceeds from some bodily disease, so the apathy the stoics talk of as much supposes, or is accompanied with somewbab amiss in the moral character, in that which is the healtli of the mind.^' — ^BisuOP. Butler.

Mabtin, though almost in agony for his daughter, ilever took liis eyes off the wigwam. A fluttering leaf or the movement of an animal might arrest his mind unconsciously, still he never turned his thoughts on anything fixedly, so as to be moved aside from the object before him. He was certain now that the two Indians were only the instruments and outside actors in this drama, and his desire was increasing with every beating of his pulse to see the hand behind the scenes ; so eager did he become, that he forgdt that Elsie might arrive and not find him in the appointed place. He was drawing nearer and nearer .all the tinie, fearful lest anything might escape his notice, lie hoard voices, but could not discern, at the distance lie stood away, wh.at was said. Tliis induced liim to step onward, till he found himself so near that he could distinctly perceive on one occasion the captive sitting vtp, while the ruddy glow of the fire showed him ?'x£- ficient of her countenance to satisfy him that she was none of the maidens of the colony around, but one of those that ho had seen riding out on the roads round Albany, who were birds of passage,, gay in pluniage .and full of life, never intending to make this land their home. " Ruddy, and of a fair countenance," as the Dominie would say, though Martin inwardly thought " she has been stolen by tliis sinner, at the