A dark plot

Front matter

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, j

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Chapter I. The Young Huntee And His Adventuees

The year 1700 dawned upon Virginia, and found that colony in a prosperous and thriving condition. After passing through many and various troubles, some arising from the unjust government of England, and some from the hostility of the Indians, her people had at length arrived at that period of quiet, and under its genial influence they began to thrive in their commerce and in the cultivation of their rich plantations. The only fear they now entertained of the red men was founded upon the fact that small parties of them sometimes ventured down the river on petty thieving expeditions ; but the planters paid little attention to their small losses, save to catch and punish the offenders when they could. Wealth was pouring into the colony ; comparatively healthy laws had been enacted, and the people were contented for the present.

It was a bright and beautiful day in the laughing month of May. On the northern bank of James river, some thirty-five miles above the settlement of Jamestown, stood a young man beneath the quiet shade of a huge pine, and at whose feet lay two noble hounds. He could not have seen over twenty summers ; but even that time had been sufficient to develop in his frame and features the strong stamp of manhood. In stature he was of fair height and well proportioned, showing an abundance of physical strength and nerve, and an easy carriage. But the most striking part of the picture which would first attract the beholder’s attention — was the young man’s' face. From much exposure it was considerably darke‘ned by the rays of the sun and the beatings of the storm ; but yet its fair surface was like a mirror, from which was reflected the soul that gave it animation ever varying, as thought after thought came and went.

The young man was habited in a hunter’s garb, consisting of a light blue shirt of stout linen stuff, which was secured about the Avaist by a leathern belt giving support to a brace of pistols and a hunting knife. A pair of deerskin leggins, laced at the sides, a pair of mocassins, and a light fur cap completed his attire. As we find him now he is leaning upon his rifle, while his eyes are turned toward the deep river that flows by at his feet. Such is a picture of Orlando Chester.

While yet the young hunter rested upon his faithful rifle, his quick ear caught the sound of oars at some distance above where he stood, and, calling his dogs after him, he took up his position behind a clump of tangled vines and shrubbery.

Ere many minutes had elapsed, the youth caught sight of a small boat pulled by four 'stout negroes, and in the stern of which was seated a young girl and her black female attendant. The negroes were pulling their oars with all the strength they could command, while the girl, with frantic gestures, was urging them to increase their speed if possible. The boat was in the middle of the river, and three minutes more would bring it opposite to where the young hunter stood ; and just as he was beginning to wonder that the enemy had not come in sight, the sharp crack of a rifle struck upon his ears, and on the next instant one of the negroes dropped his oar and fell forward at the feet of his mistress. On the next moment another report, almost an echo of the first, rang through the air, and a second negro dropped his oar. Quickly throwing his rifle across his arm, the hunter sprang down the river’s bank, and on casting his eyes up the stream he saw, not more than forty rods distant, a large canoe containing four Indians, which had come down under cover of the bank, in order to avoid the current which the boat had buffeted.

The young hunter saw that he had not been detected by those in the canoe, but a glance at the boat told him that the girl had seen him. Not twenty seconds had elapsed after he sprang down the bank before he was back in his place, and with his cap in his hand he beckoned earnestly for the girl to have the boat turned toward the shore. The hunter could see that she understood his signal, and also that she trusted him, for he saw that she was urging the terror-stricken negroes to

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pull for the bank where he stood. The canoe had turned its head toward the middle of the river, now that the boat was brought so near, and Chester could see the heads of the Indians ; two of them were paddling, while the other two stood up with their rifles in their hands. The hunter raised his rifle, and was upon the point of firing it at one of the red men, when a sudden idea flashed through his mind, and loosening his finger from the trigger, he waited with his weapon still against his shoulder. The canoe had just begun to turn its head in shore again, as the boat changed its course, and, if it rounded-to enough, the two standing Indians would be brought within range of his rifle ! Anxiously the hunter awaited the result. Slowly came the canoe about in her angle, and gradually the line of space between the two Indians grew less. At length the moment came — the line of the hunter’s never failing aim passed through the neck of the nearest, and struck upon the head of the furthest Indian. With a steady hand he pulled the trigger and while yet the sharp report was ringing through the forest the two red men fell.

The two remaining negroes heard the report, and each believing himself to be the object of its deadly intent, they both dx'opped their oars ; but the girl who had comprehended the whole, and who had seen tw^ o of her enemies fall, soon managed to convince the poor creatures of their safety, and once more they took up their oars and pulled for the shore, while the two surviving Indians, completely terror-struck at this unexpected catastrophe, had sprung to their feet and were gazing earnestly at the spot where the smoke of the hunter’s rifle was curling up above the bushes. With

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that sagacity which ever characterizes the red man, they seemed at once to understand that there could be but one man on the shore, for had there been more, there would certainly have been another shot; and instantly springing forward, one of them seized the only remaining loaded rifle — one having fallen into the river when its owner fell — and turned its muzzle toward the spot where his eagle eye had caught the outline of the hunter's form through the shrubbery. But the Indian was too late. Nearly a minute had elapsed since Chester had fired, and his rifle was again loaded. The white man caught his enemy’s movement just as he picked up his fallen weapon, and quick as thought his own trusty rifle was on the arm ; again it uttered its death-notes ; and another Indian fell to rise no more !

The single surviving savage saw his companion drop, and on the instant he seized a paddle and quickly bending himself to the task he shot the pliable canoe up the river. The tide was in his favor, and as he shaped his course obliquely toward the opposite bank, he was out of danger ere his dreaded foe could reload his rifle.

The bows of the boat touched upon the shore, and as the hunter hastened down to meet it, the girl fell upon her knees at his feet.

“ O kind sir, whoever you be,” she uttered, as she clasped her hands in gratitude, ‘‘ how shall I repay you for this? Life, hope, happiness — all you have saved ! ”

A moment the young man gazed in a sort of rapt wonder upon the fair features that were turned toward him, then taking her by the hand he raised her to her feet, saying as he did so :

‘‘ Lady, you can repay me for what I have done. I

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have but performed the duty I owe to the world ; go you and do the same. When you can assist a fellowmortal, do it and I shall be amply repaid.”

The fair girl gazed up into the face of him who still held her hand, and a trembling blush gradually suffused her features, mounting higher, and still higher, till it melted away in the liquid light of her soft blue eyes. She had expected to have seen a rough hunter, and to have heard the harsh tones of a voice that not only answered the howl of a wild beast and the yell of the savage ; but, instead, she saw a countenance of rare beauty and youth, and the voice struck upon her ear in tones of rich melting cadence. A light smile flitted across the face ,of the young hunter as he noted the maiden’s passing emotions, and letting go the soft hand, which he seemed to have forgotten he was holding, he continued :

“ I know your thoughts, lady. You wonder that a poor hunter should have asked no boon in return for his services, but should rather have given only a piece of seeming advice.”

“No, no, sir,” quickly returned the girl; “I was not thinking of that. To hear your words and see your countenance, would remove all cause of wonder that you were noble and kind. As for your advice, as you please to term it, I take it most kindly, though the being does not live who can, say that assistance within her power was ever asked of Ada Wimple, and she refused it.”

“ Ada Wimple ! ” uttered the hunter.

“ That is my name, sir.”

“ Then you are the daughter of Sir Oliver, whose plantation is below here,”

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‘‘ I am, sir.”

A moment young Chester seemed puzzled by the manner of the being he had rescued ; for he had not the assurance to think that anything in his own form or features had so moved her ; and yet her words were not without a turn to that effect; nor could he fail to see that in her eyes there shone a light which must have emanated from some other cause than that of mere wonder. Her father, Sir Oliver Wimple, he had seen often, and he knew him to be one of the most wealthy and influential men in the colony. It may be that the hunter experienced a momentary regret that the maiden was not poor like himself ; but, be that as it may, he soon banished all thoughts to that effect, and resuming his wonted composure, he said :

“ You were venturesome to go so far up the river, lad3^”

But I thought not that Indians were so near us, sir.”

“ O yes, the redskins venture even below here ; and if I mistake not, they have lately paid your father’s plantation a visit.”

‘‘Yes, sir, they have; and he had some of them, whom he caught, severely whipped, and I think that those who chased my boat were the ones.”

“No doubt of it, lady. The red man has keen eyes, and if he has once seen your father’s boat he will never forget it. If they had cause of enmity against Sir Oliver, they would venture far to be revenged ; and had they overtaken you, you would doubtless have been a corpse ere this. Be more careful in future.”

A cold shudder ran through Ada Wimple’s frame, as the thought of that dreadful fate from which the lO

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hunter had rescued her presented itself to her mind, and while a tear stole down her cheek, she said ;

“ I realize the debt of gratitude I am under, sir, and if I am able to repay you by some work of mine, I pray that God may ever bless you for your noble kindness.”

God already blesses me,” returned the young hunter, “for my heart is glad. But come, you should be on your way homeward, for the sun has already sunk far from its noontide height, and your parents may be anxious.”

“And will you not accompany me, kind sir, and receive the thanks of my father ? ” asked the fair girl.

“ Lady,” the hunter said, “ I cannot go. There is no danger for you on the river below here, arid your two remaining negroes can easily row you down. There is one not far from here whom I must protect and comfort; but I trust this will not be our last meeting. Something tells me we will meet again.”

“ If we both live we shall,” uttered Ada, with more earnestness than she was aware of. “ But before I go I would know the name of him who saved me.”

“Orlando Chester is the name I bear; but few know it, however.”

“ There is one that holds it now, and who will ever hold it in grateful remembrance,” said the fair girl, and as she spoke she extended her hand. Orlando took it and raised it to his lips, and the next moment he assisted Ada into her boat.

II Chapter 11

THE MANIAC MOTHER.

Until the departed boat was lost to his sight did the young hunter stand upon the river’s bank and gaze upon the form of its fair occupant. His eyes were moistened with a new and strange emotion as the frail bark disappeared, and after gazing a moment upon the vacant spot where, last he had seen it, he threw his trusty rifle across his shoulder, and whistling to his dogs, he turned away and struck into a narrow path that led off to the deep forest. His steps were slow, and even the faithful hounds seemed to wonder that their master watched not the game coverts about him. At length, however, a sharp growl from one of the hounds brought Chester to his senses, and instinctively he brought his rifle to its guard and followed quickly after the keen-scented hounds. He had not far to go^ for in less than a minute a noble deer sprang up before him, and darted off toward the river; but the animal had not run a rod ere a bullet from the hunter’s deadly rifle brought him down, and in a moment more the hunter’s knife flnished the work. With a despatch that plainly evinced his use to the work, young Chester removed the skin, and rolling up in it such parts of^ the flesh as he could carry, he started once more onward.

The hunter’s way lay toward the Chickahominy branch,, and at the end of nearly a mile and a half he

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came to a small clearing, in the centre of which stood a well built log cabin. A single oaken door, formed of heavy planks securely pinned together, with a small square window on each side, ornamented the front of the humble dwelling, while the narrow walk which led to the entrance was flanked on either side by several flower beds.

The young hunter went to a small shed that extended from the back of the house, and having deposited his load and cut off several slices of venison for the dogs, he turned toward the door.

“ I have returned, my mother, and brought with me some venison,” said Orlando, entering the dwelling.

“ So you are a good boy, Orlando ; but I shall have no need of meat to-day. See ! I have been busy since you were gone. I have plucked fresh flowers, and to-day I shall live upon their fragrance. Alas ! that flowers should die ! — that the only faithful thing that God has made should be so frail ! ”

“And am I ‘not faithful, my mother?” asked the youth in a tender musical tone.

“You? — you? Yes, my are faithful; and

though you are your father’s child, and though that father was my husband, yet I love you. But he ! Ah! why did he desert me ? I loved him, Orlando, with all the madness of my nature, and yet he left me I When he went away he told me that I should see him again ; but years have rolled by since then, and still he comes not. O, how cruel for him to desert me thus ! But you will not leave me, my dear boy? ”

“Never,” uttered the youth; and as he spoke, he threw his arms about his mother’s neck and kissed her.

The woman drew her dear son to her bosom, and after returning his kiss, she said :

“ There, Orlando, go now and bid Elpsey prepare you some food, for you cannot live upon flowers as I can.”

Morgiana Chester was, the reader must have already supposed — a maniac! Yet the very mania that had shut the portals of her human understanding seemed almost to have opened a ray of heavenly light to her soul — for never did she rave, never did the spark of passion kindle a flame in her bosom, buf with a meek despondency, a high-toned melancholy, did she travel over life’s dreary way. She could not have seen forty years, and though there was no bloom upon her cheek, yet there was a transcendent beaut}" in her features — a tone of soul and of heart that seemed to have formed them for its lovely mirror.

Orlando could remember nothing back of his mother’s strange mania ; and the first thing plainly fixed in his memory was of having lived somewhere in Massachusetts colony,' and having come from there to Virginia in a vessel, accompanied by his mother and a negro woman named Elpsey. Yet he knew that this woman was grown to womanhood before she left England, though he could not ascertain from her whether he was born there or in Massachusetts. From old Elpsey he could only learn that his mother had once found her in the streets of Boston in a suffering condition, and had taken her to her own dwelling, where she was carefully nursed. After she recovered, she offered her services to Mrs. Chester, and they were accepted. The old negress said her lady had much money when she first lived with her ; but as it had been long since gone, Orlando supposed that the amount could not have been very considerable, though it might have appeared so to the eyes of Elpsey. In fact, the only thing that Orlando could gain with definiteness from his mother was that his father had deserted her ; and he reasonably supposed that that circumstance caused her mental derangement ; and yet Morgiana never breathed a word against her husband in anger — she only mourned his faithlessness, and sometimes wept over her loneliness.

The young man had finished his repast, and already the sun had sunk behind the treetops as he arose from the table. As he turned toward his mother he was somewhat surprised to find her in seeming meditation. The vacant look that usually rested upon her features when she assumed a musing attitude was not there, but the same strange sparkling light that shone upon her more active movements was still in her eyes, though its beams were more steady and intense.

“ Ye^, yes, I put it there,” she murmured, as she rose from her seat a moment after her son had commenced watching her. Yes, Twas yesterday I put it there, for I remember it well. How could I have forgotten it?”

As she spoke sh,e went to a large oaken chest that stood in one corner, and commenced taking out the contents and placing them on the floor. Orlando gazed a moment upon his mother’s movements, and then a bright tear drop stole down his cheek. A thousand times had he seen the poor woman do this, and he knew that she suffered extremely whenever the strange delusion came over her. Slowly and carefully Morgiana Chester took article after article from the chest ; each one she

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IS

Would unfold and examine, then lay it aside for the next. And so she went on till every article in the chest had been examined, after which she diligently searched every nook and corner of the inside. The chest was perfectly plain, with not even a till to break the sameness of its interior, and after a moment’s examination she turned to her son and asked :

“ Orlando, have you been here since yesterday ? ’’ No, mother, I have not.”

“ Some one has been here and stolen my money. O, how could they be so cruel ! I put it here yesterday, I am sure.”

“ Was it money that you put there, mother ? ”

“Yes, ’twas money. ’Twas money to me, ’twas money to you; for ’twas my life that I put there. ’Twas a simple thing ; yet I would not wish to lose it, and so I put it here and locked it up, and the key I have worn about my neck. O cruel, cruel ! Why, why should they have stolen that? ”

“ Perhaps you may find it yet, my dear mother,” urged the youth in as hopeful a tone as he could command. “ Surely no one could have taken it, and besides, perhaps, you have mislaid it.”

“No, no,” returned his mother, while the big tears began to gather in her eyes. “ I shall never find it again. Yesterday I placed it there, and now it is gone! Was it not wicked, Orlando, for them to steal my only treasure ? My husband gave it to me the night he went away.”

The poor woman covered her face with her hands and sobbed aloud. Slowly the tears began to trickle through her thin white fingers, and as they fell upon her heaving bosom the young man arose from his seat.

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and stood by her side. Gently he pressed his lips upon her pale brow, and urged her to be comforted. Then as he stood once more erect, he gazed into the now empty chest, and wondered what was the nature of the secret that hung around it. Ever since he could remember he had seen his mother go through with the same operation she had now performed, and always with the same result. Sometimes a whole month would pass away without her bestowing a thought upon it, and often she would make the search every week; and when she did so she invariably labored under the impression that it was only a short time previous that she had placed her treasure there. The nature of that treasure, and the secret of its concealment, he believed, were locked up in the mind of the maniac ; and to that shattered mind God alone held the keys.

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Chapter III. The Mysterious Friehd

A WEEK has passed away since the events recorded in the last chapter, and during that time Orlando Chester had made several expeditions in quest of game, and he had got a goodly number of skins and furs laid by for sale. For years past while alone in his forest wanderings, there had been but one sweet image pictured upon his heart — that of his mother; but now another had stolen in upon his memory, as he had dwelt upon the scene on the river. The lovly features, the soft blue eyes, and the grateful smile of the fair Ada haunted him in his solitude.

“We shall meet again ?” answered the youth, as he inhaled the fragrant morning. “ Yes, sweet girl, we shall meet again, and as rises yonder morning sun over the waving treetops, gliding its way in a flood of golden light, so thine image rises in my mind and throws its softening beams over my soul. But wherefore should I see thee again ? — wherefore cherish so dearly thine image upon the tablet of mjne heart? We shall meet again ! for even thou, sweet Ada, said’st it. Therefore I’ll ask not wherefore only to see thee once more.”

Suddenly, while the young hunter murmured to himself, the sound of an approaching footstep fell upon his ear, and on raising his eyes he beheld a strange looking figure approaching him from the woods that lay toward 2 i8 the river. It was a white man, but yet with a face so browned that the features alone betrayed their owner’s English descent. In height the stranger was over six feet, and his frame was as massive in its proportions as he was tall ; but yet there was nothing in his looks calculated to excite fear, for his countenance was open and bold, though it must be confessed that there was something hi the twinkle of his small grey eyes, and in the peculiar compression of his thin lips that evinced a trait of character that only experience could solve. The gigantic form of the stranger was clothed in a rough hunter’s garb, and the skins of which it was formed plainly told that he must have procured them far north of Virginia. A long heavy rifle, ponderous but comely in its proportions, a hunting-knife, shotpouch and horn, completed the new-comer’s outward attire, and take him all in all, he w^s one whom few would dare to excite to anger.

‘‘ Good -morning, stranger,” said Orlando, as the man came up, at the same time advancing to offer his hand.

The new-comer started at the tones of the young man’s voice, and ere he spoke he gazed for a moment into young Chester’s face. A shade of some strong emotion passed quickly over his bronzed features ; but it was gone on the instant, and taking the proffered hand he said in a voice of much power, but yet far from unpleasant :

A pleasant morning to you, fair sir. I’ faith, but you have a paradise of a spot here in the wilderness.”

“ It’s a pleasant spot, sir stranger,” returned Orlando, seeming grateful for the encomium thus passed upon his home.

’Tis-such a one as I could almost fancy,” the stranger said, as he cast his eyes around upon the blooming flowers ; “ but I fear these pretty things would soon run to ruin under my care. ’Tis a woman’s hand, though, that tends them now. Your wife, I suppose.”

‘‘No, sir,” replied Orlando, while a shade of sadness swept across his fine features, “ ’tis the hand of my mother.”

The stranger cast a searching look into the eyes of the youth, and once more swept his glance over the garden. Then he said :

“ She’s a strange being ! ” Then he continued, suddenly changing his tone and manner, “ Are you not fearful of danger in so remote a place ? ”

“ And wherefore ? ”

“ The Indians sometimes venture here, do they not?”

“Yes; but I harm them not, and they harm not me.” ^

“ How was it on the river a week ago ? ”

“ Ha ! how learned you of that ?

“ How could such a deed remain unknown ? ”

“ But why think you it was me ? ”

The stranger gazed into the young man’s face for a moment, and while a peculiar meaning played over his face, he answered :

“ Could you have heard Ada Wimple describe the fair youth who saved her — even to the tones of his voice, the sparkle of his eyes, the color of his hair, and the kind feelings of his soul, you would not ask me such a question.”

The rich blood mounted to the brow of the young hunter, and his eyes fell in a downcast turn, for the

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stranger’s words had sent a strange thrill to his soul, but soon recovering his composure, he said :

In that case I did my duty, and I think the Indians will not trouble me ; but even if they should, I fear them not.”

‘‘ I fear, young sir, that those light arms of yours would be insufficient in case of an attack from the redskins.”

They never failed me yet,” said Orlando, ‘‘ though I like not deeds of strife, yet I fear not danger.”

“ To deal with such an enemy, you should be able to wield a weapon like that, ” said the stranger, as he put forth the muzzle of his ponderous weapon, the butt of which rested upon the ground.

At that moment Orlando’s eyes caught the outlines of a hawk that was sailing high in the air above the treetops beyond the cot. He turned toward his strange visitor and took the massive rifle in his hand. Its owner smiled and resigned it to the youth, and stepping back a pace or two he remarked ;

‘‘ She’ll prove a little too heavy for that hand of yours, and ’twill be a steady hand and a quick eye that takes a wing at that distance.”

The young hunter seemed not to notice the words of his companion, but raising the rifle to his side he drew back the hammer, and then placed the butt against his shoulder. The single tick of a watch could hardly have passed between the resting of the rifle and the pulling of the trigger. The sharp clear crack rang through the forest, and on the next instant the hawk uttered a shrill scream — trembled a moment on its outspread pinions — and then, with a last effort to maintain its position, it shot obliquely through the air, and fell