Malaeska, the Indian wife of the white hunter

Front matter

128 Pages.]

Books fop the Million!

[Complete.

I

w t

« 1

r i •

: •’ 5 '

'i

•'4 t

^ iS •

A

* v5y

‘rnkjm

*

"V

*

f t

k « g ^

••

.

t . r

«' VO

ft

'I

,7 . •'

4 ;

*4

. .4-

• ft

V -

"■ 7'4 '

Jr 'j

' .*7 .

I ,

* •

J;v .

ft.

ftW'

, ft

> 1 • ^ •

.

I « ft

'/ft> S

-•7* '7 t /

^ Vi

THE

I ]sr D I A. N' 'WIFE

OF THE

BY MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS.

iN-EW YORK;

IRWIN P. BEADLE AND COMPANY, 141 William St., coiiner of Fultox.

/fU

PUBLISHERS’ NOTICE.

We take pleasure in introducing the read^ to the following romance by Mrs. Ann S. Stephens. It is one of the most

I

interesting and fascinating works of this eminent author. It is chosen as the initial volume of the Deme Novel series, from the chaste character of its delineations, from the interest which attaches to its fine pictures of border life and Indian adventure, and from the real romance of its incidents. It is Anierimn in all its features, pure in its tone, elevating in its sentiments ; and may be referred to as a work representative of the series that is to follow — every volume of which will be of the highest order of merit, from the pens of authors whose inter ectual and moral excellencies liave already given the writers an enviable name, in this country and in Europe. By the publication of the series contemplated, it is hoped to reacli all classes, old and young, male and female, in a manner at once to captivate and to enliven — to answer to the populai* demand for works of romance, but also to instil a pure and elevating sentiment in the hearts and minds of the people.

New York, June ^ 1860.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1860, by IRWIN P. BEADLE & CO., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

Chapter I

The brake hung low on the rifted rock With sweet and holy dread ;

The wild-flowers trembled to the shock Of the red man’s stealthy tread ;

And all around fell a fitful gleam

Through the light and quivering spray,

While the noise of a restless mountain-stream Rush’d out on the stilly day.

The traveler wlio has stopped at Catskill, on his way up the Hudson, will remember that a creek of no insignificant breadth washes one side of the village, and that a heavy stone dw^elling stands a little up from the water on a point of verdant meadotv-land, which forms a lip of the stream, where it empties into the more majestic river. This farm-house is the only object that breaks the green and luxuriant beauty of the point, on that side, and its quiet and entire loneliness contrasts pleasantly with the bustling and crowded little village on the opposite body of land. There is much to attract attention to that dwelling. Besides occupying one of the most lovely sites on the river, it is remarkable for an appearance of old-fashioned comfort at variance with the pillared houses and rustic cottages which meet the eye everywhere on the banks of the Hudson. There are no flowers to fling fragrance about it, and but little of embellishment is manifest in its grounds ; but it is surrounded by an abundance of thrifty fruit-trees ; an extensive orchard sheds its rich foliage to the sunshine on the bank, and the sward is thick and heavy which slopes greenly from the front door down to the river’s brink.

The interior of the house retains an air of substantial comfort which answers well to the promise conveyed without. The heavy furniture has grown old with its occupants ; rich it has been in its time, and now it possesses the rare quality of

MALAESKA.

fitness, and of being in harmony with si'.rro’.mding things. Every thing abont tliat house is in perfect k<. eplng with the, character and appearance of its owner. The occupant himself, is a fine stately farmer of the old class — shrewd, penetrating, and intelligent — one of those men who contrive to keep the heart green when the frost of age is chilling the blood and whitening upon the brow. He has already numbered more than the threescore years and ten allotted to man. His habits and the fashion of his attire are those of fifty years ago. He still clings to huge wood-fires, apples, and cider in the winter season, and allows a bevy of fine cows to pasture on The rich grass in front of his dwelling in the summer. All the hospitable feeling of former years remains warn\ at his heart. He is indeed a fine specimen of the staunch old republican farmer of the last century, occupying the house which his father erected, and enjoying a fresh old age lieneath the roof tree which shadowed his infancy.

During a sojourn in this vicinity last season, it was one of our greatest pleasures to spend an evening with the old gentleman, listening to legends of the Indians, reminiscences of the Hevolution, and pithy remarks on the present age, with which he loved to entertain us, while we occasionally interrupted him by comparing knitting-work with the kind old lady, his wife, or b}^ the praises of a sweet little grandchild, who would cling about his knees and play with the silver buckles on his shoes as he- talked. That tall, stately old man, and the sweet child made a beautiful picture of “ age at play with infancy,” when the fire-light flickered over them, to the ancient family pictures, painted in Holland, hanging on the wall behind us, in the old-fashioned oval frames, which, with the heavy Dutch Bible, which lay on the stand, secured with hasps and brass hinges, ponderous as the fastenings of a prison-door, were family relics precious to the old gentleman from antiquity and association. Yes, the picture was pleasant to look upon ; but there was pleasure in listening to his legends and stories. If the one here related is not exactly as he told it, he will not fail to recognize the beautiful young Indian girl, whom he described to us, in the character of Malaeska.

At the time of our story, the beautiful expanse of country which stretches from the foot of the Catskill mountains to the

THE iiu>:teii3.

Hudson was one dense wilderness. The noble stream glided on in the solemn stillness of nature, shadowed with trees that had battled with storms for centuries, its surface as yet unbroken, save by the light prow of the Indian’s canoe. The lofty rampart of mountains frowned against the sky as they do now, but rendered more gloomy by the thick growth of timber which clothed them at the base ; they loomed up from the dense sea of foliage like the outposts of a darker world. Of all the cultivated acres which at the present day sustain thousands with their products, one little clearing alone smiled up from the heart of the wilderness. A few hundred acres had been cleared by a hardy band of settlers, and a cluster of log-houses was erected in the heart of the little valley which . now contains Catskill village. Although in the neighborhood of a savage Indian tribe, the little band of pioneers remained unmolested in their humble occupations, gradually clearing the land around their settlement, and sustaining their families on the game which was found in abundance in the mountains. They held little intercourse with the Indians, but hitherto no act of hostility on either side had aroused discontent between the settlers and the savages.

It was early in May, about a year after the first settlement of the whites, when some six or eight of the stoutest men started for the woods in search of game. A bear had been seen on the brink of tlie clearing at break of day, and while the greater number struck off in search of more humble game, three of the most resolute followed his trail, Avhich led to the mountains.

The foremost of the three hunters, was an Englishman of about forty, habited in a threadbare suit of blue broadcloth, with drab gaiters buttoned up to his knees, and a hat sadly shorn of its original nap. His hunting ai)paratus bespoke the peculiar care which all of his country so abundantly bestow on their implements of sport. The other two were much younger, and dressed in home-made cloth, over which were loose frocks manufactured from the refuse flax or swingled tow. Both were handsome, but different in the cast of their features. The character of the first might be read in his gay air and sinlngy step, ns ho followed close to the Englishm;m, dashing away the brushwood with the muzzle of his gun, and

MALAESKA.

detecting- with a quick eye the broken twigs or disturbed leaves which betrayed the coui-se of the hunted bear. There was also something cliaracteristic in the wearing of his dress, in the fox-skin cap thrown carelessly on one side of his superb head, exposing a mass of short brown curls around the left ear and temple, and in the bosom of his coarse frock, thrown open so as to give free motion to a neck Apollo might liave coveted. He was a hunter, wlio had occasionally visited the settlement of late, but spent whole weeks in the woods, professedly in collecting furs by his own efforts, or by purchase from the tribe of Indians encamped at the foot of the mountains.

The last was more sedate in his looks, and less buoyant in his air. There was an intellectual expression in his high, thought* ful brow, embrowned though it was by exposure. A depth of thought in his serious eye, and a graceful dignity in his carriage, bespoke him as one of those who hide deep feeling under an appearance of coldness and apathy. He had been a schoolmaster in the Bay State, from whence he had been drawn by the bright eyes and merry laugh of one Martha Fellows, a maiden of seventeen, whose father had moved to the settlement at Catskill the preceding summer, and to whom, report said, he was to be married whenever a minister, authorized to perform the ceremony, should find his way to the settlement.

The three hunters bent their way in a southwestern direction from the settlement, till the forest suddenly opened into a beautiful and secluded piece of meadow-land, known to this day by its Dutch title of “ the Straka,” wdiich means, our aged friend informed us, a strip of land. The Straka lay before them of an oblong form, some eight or ten acres in expanse, with all its luxuriance of trees, grass, and flowers, bathed in the dew and sunshine of a warm summer’s morning. It presented a lovely contrast to the dense wilderness from which the hunters emerged, and they halted for a moment beneath the boughs of a tall hickory to enjoy its delicious freshness. The surface of the inclosure was not exactly level, but down the whole length it curved gently up from the middle, on either side, to the magnificent trees that hedged it in with a beautiful and leafy rampart. The margin was irregular ; here

“the stkak^v.”

and there a clump of trees shot down into the inclosure, and the clearing* occasionally run up into the forest in tiny glades and little grassy nooks, in which the sunlight slumbered like smiles on the face of a dreaming infant. On every side the trunks of huge trees shot up along the margin beneath their magnificent canopy of leaves, like the ivied columns of a ruin, or fell back in the misty perspective of the forest, scarcely dis- ' cerniblc in its gloom of shadow. The heavy piles of foliage, which fell amid the boughs like a wealth of drapery flung in masses to the summer wind, was thrifty and ripe with the warm breath of August. Ko spirit of decay had as yet shed a gorgeous breath over its deep, rich green, hut all was wet with dew, and kindled up by the sunlight to a thousand varying tints of the same color. A bright spring gushed from a rvvell of ground in the upper part of the inclosure, and the whole surface of the beautiful spot v/as covered nnth a vigorous growth of tall meadow-grass, which rose thicker and brighter and of a more delicate green down the middle, where the spring curved onward in a graceful rivulet, musical as the iaugh of a child. As if called to life by the chime of a little brook, a host of white wild flowers unfolded their starry blossoms along the margin, and clumps of swamp-lilies shed an azure hue along the grass.

Until that day, our hunters had ever found “ the Straka” silent and untenanted, save by singing-birds, and wild deer which came down from the mountains to feed on its rich verdure ; but now a dozen wreaths of smoke curled up from the trees at the northern extremity, and a camp of newly-erected wigwams might be seen through a vista in the wood. One or two were built even on the edge of the clearing ; the grass was much trampled around them, and three or four half-naked Indian children lay rolling upon it, laughing, shouting, and ringing up their limbs in the pleasant morning air. One foung Indian woman was also frolicking among them, tossing in infiint in her arms, caroling and playing with it. Hc^r iaugh was musical as a bird song, and as she darted to and fro, now into the forest and then out into the sunshine, her long hair glowed like the wing of a raven, and her motion was graceful as an untamed gazelle. They could see that the child, too, was very beautiful, e^/m from the distraice at wliich

MALAESKA.

they stood, and occasionally, as the wind swept toward them, ^ his shout came ringing upon it like the gush of waters leaping from their fount.

“ This is a little too bad,” muttered the Englishman, fingering his gun-lock. “ Can they find no spot to burrow in but ‘ the Straka ?’ St. George ! but I have a mind to shoot the squaw and wring the neck of every red imp among them.”

“ Do it !” exclaimed Danforth, turning furiously upon him ; “ touch but a hair of her head, and by the Lord that made me, I will bespatter that tree vdth your brains !”

The Englishman dropped the stock of his musket hard to the ground, and a spot of fiery red flashed into his cheek at this savage burst of auger so uncalled for and so insolent. He gazed a moment on the frowning face of the young hunter, and then lifting his gun, turned carelessly away.

“ Tut, man, have done with this,” he said ; “ I did but jest. Come, we have lost the trail, and shall miss the game, too, if we tarry longer ; come.”

The Englishman shouldered his musket, as he spoke, and turned into the woods. Jones followed, but Danforth lingered behind.

“ I must see what this means,” he muttered, glancing after his companions, and then at the group of young Indians ; “ what can have brought them so near the settlement ?”

He gave another quick glance toward the hunters, and then hurried across “ the Straka” toward the wigwams. Jones and the Englishman had reached the little lake or pond, which lies about a mile south of “ the Straka,” when thej^ were again joined by Danforth. His brow was unclouded, and he seemed anxious to do away the effect of his late violence by more than ordinary cheerfulness. Harmony was restored, and they again struck into the trail of the bear, and pursued tow'ard the mountains.

Hoon found our hunters deep in the ravines which cut into the ridge of the Catskill on which the Mountain House now stands. Occupied by the wild scenery which surrounded him, Jones became separated from his companions, and long before he was aware of it, they had proceeded far beyond the reach of his voice. When lie became sensible of his situation, he found himself in a deep ravine sunk into the very

TITE WATERFALL.

heart of the mountains. A small stream crept along the rocky bottom, untouched by a single sun’s ray, though it was now high noon. Every thing about him was wild and fearfull}^ sublime, but the shadows were refreshing and cool, and the stream, rippling along its rocky bed, sent up a pleasant murmur as he passed. Gradually a soft, flowing sound, like the rush of a current of air through a labyrinth of leaves and blossoms, came gently to his ear. As he proceeded, it became more musical and liquid, swelled upon the ear gradually and with a richer burden of sound, till he knew that it was the rush and leap of waters at no great distance. The ravine had sunk deeper and deeper, and fragments of rock lay thickly in the bed of the stream. Arthur Jones paused, and looked about him bewildered, and j^et with a lofty, poetical feeling at his heart, aroused by a sense of the glorious handiwork of the Almighty encompassing him. lie stood within the heart of the mountain, and it seemed to heave and tremble beneath liis feet with some unknown influence as he gazed. Precipices, and rocks piled on rocks were heaped to the sky on either side. Large forest-trees stood rooted in the wide clefts, and waved their heavy boughs abroad like torn banners streaming upon the air. A strip of the blue heavens arched gently over the whole, and that was beautiful. It smiled softly, and like a promise of love over that sunless ravine. Another step, and the waterfall was before him. It was sublime, but beautiful — oh, A^ery beautiful — that little body of water, curling and foaming downward like a wreath of snoAV sifted from the clouds, breaking in a shower of spray over the shelf of rocks Avhicli stayed its progress, then leaping a second foaming mass, down, down, like a deluge of flowing light, another hundred feet to the shadowy depths of the ravine. A shoAver of sunlight played amid the foliage far overhead, and upon the top of tlie curving precipice where the Avaters made their first leap. As the hunter became more calm, he remarked Iioav harmoniously the beautiful and sublime Avere blended in the scene. The precipices Avere rugged and froAvning, but soft, rich mosses and patches of delicate Avhite Avild-floAvers clung about them. So profusely Avere those gentle floAvers lavished upon the rocks, that it seemed as if tlic very spray drops Averc breaking into blossoms as they fell. The hunter’s heart SAvellcd Avilh n

MALAESKA.

pleasure as he drank in the extreme beauty of the scene. He rested his gun against a fragment of rock, and sat down with his eyes fixed on the waterfall. As he gazed, it seemed as if the precipices were moving upward — upward to the very sky. He was pondering on this strange optical delusion, which has puzzled many a dizzy brain since, "when the click of a gun-lock struck sharply on his ear. He sprang to his feet. A bullet whistled by his head, cutting through the dark locks which curled in heavy masses above his temples, and as a sense of giddiness cleared from his brain, he saw a half-naked savage crouching upon the ledge of rocks which ran along the foot of the fall. The spray fell upon his bronzed shoulders and sprinkled the stock of his musket as he lifted it to discharge the other barrel. With the quickness of thought, Jones drew his musket to his eye and fired. The savage sent forth a fierce, wild yell of agony, and springing up with the bound of a wild animal, fell headlong from the shelf. Trembling with excitement, yet firm and courageous, the hunter reloaded his gun, and stood ready to sell his life as dearly as possible, for he believed that the ravine was full of concealed savages, who would fall upon him like a pack of wolves. But every thing remained quiet, and when he found that he was alone, a terrible consciousness of bloodshed came upon him. His knees trembled, his cheek burned, and, with an impulse of fierce excitement, he leaped over the intervening rocks and stood by the slain savage. He was lying with his face to the earth, quite dead ; Jones drew forth his knife, and lifting the long, black hair, cut it away from the crown. With the trophy in his hand, he sprang across the ravine. The fearless spirit of a madness seemed upon him, for he rushed up the steep ascent, and plunged into the forest, apparently careless what direction he took. The sound of a musket stopped his aimless career. He listened, and bent his steps more calmly toward the eminence on which the Mountain House now stands. Here he found the Englishman with the carcass of a huge bear stretched at his feet, gazing on the glorious expanse of country, spread out like a map, hundreds of fathoms beneath him. His face was flushed, and the perspiration rolled freely from liis forehead. Danforth stood beside him, also bearing traces of recent conflict.

THE SCALPED INDIAN.

m

“ So you have come to claim a shnre of the meat,” said the old hunter, as Jones approached. “ It is brave to leave your skulking-place in the bushes, when the danger is over. Bless me, lad ! what have you there ?” he exclaimed, starting up and pointing to the scalp.

Jones related his encounter with the savage. The Englishman shook his head forebodingly.

“ We shall have hot work for this job before the week is over,” he said. “ It was a foolish shot ; but keep a good heart, my lad, for, hang me. If I should not have done the same thing if the red devil had sent a bullet so near my head. Come, we will go and bury the fellow the best way we can.”

Jones led the way to the fall, but they found only a few scattered locks of black hair, and a pool of blood half washed from the rock by the spray. The body of the savage and his rifle had disappeared — how, it was in vain to conjecture.

One of the largest log-houses in the settlement had been appropriated as a kind of tavern, or place of meeting for the settlers when they returned from their hunting excursions. Here a store of spirits was kept, under the care of John Fellows and pretty Martha Fellows, his daughter, the maiden before-mentioned. As the sun went down, the men who had gone to the woods in the morning, began to collect with their game. Two stags, raccoons and meaner game in abundance, were lying before the door, when the three hunters came in with the slain bear. Tliey were greeted with a boisterous shout, and the hunters crowded eagerly forward to examine the prize ; but when Jones cast the Indian’s scalp on the pile, they looked in each other’s faces with ominous silence, wliile the young hunter stood pale and collected before them. It was the first time that Indian life had been taken by any of their number, and they felt that in the shedding of red blood, the barriers of their protection were broken dowm.

“ It is a bad business,” said one of the elder settlers, waving his head and breaking the general silence. “ There’ll be no clear hunting in the woods after this ; but how did it all come about, Jones ? Let us know how you came by that scalp— did the varmint fire at you, or how was it?’’ _

The hunters gathered around Jones, whq was. about to account f#r liie possession of th.e scalp, when the door of th«

JIALAESKA.

house was opened, and he happened to look into the little room thus exposed. It was scantily furnished with a few benches and stools; a bed was in one corner, and Martha Fellows, his promised wife, stood by a rough deal tabic, on which were two o^ three drinking-cups, a couple of half-empty bottles, with a pitcher of water, backed by a broken mug, tilled to the fractured top with maple molasses. Nothing of the kind could have been more beautiful than pretty Martha as she bent forward, listening with wrapt attention to the animated wdiisper of William Danfortli, who stood by her, divested of his coarse frock, his cap lying on the table betore him, and his athletic figure displayed to the best advantage b}^ the roundabout buttoned closely over his b<3som. A red silk handkerchief, tied like a scarf round his Avaist, gave a picturesque gracefulness to his costume, altogether in harmony with his fine proportions, and Avith the bold cast of his head, Avhich certainly was a model of muscular beauty.

A flash of anger shot athwart Arthur Jones’ forehead, and a strange jealous feeling came to his heart. He began a confused account of his adventure, but the Englishman interrupted him, and took it ui)oii himself to gratify the clamorous curiosity of the hunters, leaving .Jones at liberty to scrutinize each look and motion of his lady-love. Ile'Avatched with a jealous feeling the blush as it deepened and gloAved on her embrowned cheek ; he saAV the sparlding pleasure of her hazel eyes, and the pretty dimples gathering about her red lips, like spots of sunlight flickering through the leaves of a red rose, and his heart sickened Avith distrust. But Avhen the handsome hunter laid his hand on hers nnd bent his head, till the short curls on his temples almost mingled with her glossy ringlets, the lover could bear the sight no more. Breaking from the little band of hunters, he stalked majestically into tlic house, and approaching the object of his uneasiness, exclaimed, “Martha Fellows,” in a voice which caused the pretty culprit to snatch her hand from under the hunter’s, and to overturn tAvo empty tin cups in her fright.

“ Sir,” said Martha, recovering herself, and casting a mischievous glance at Danforth, Avhich was reciprocated with interest. ■ 'i '

Mr. Arthur Jones felt tliat he Avas making himself ridiculous,

JEALOUSY.

and suppressing liis wratli, lie finished his magnificent commencement; “Will you give me a drink of water?” At which Martha pointed with her little embrowned hand to the pitcher, saying:

“ There it is then, turning her hack to her lover, she cast another arch glance at Danforth, and taldng his cap from the table, began to blow upon the yellow fur, and put it to hei cheek, as if it had been a pet kitten she was caressing, arid all for the laudalfie purpose of tormenting the man who loved her, and whom she loved better than any thing in existence. Jones turned on her a bitter contemptuous look, and raising the pitcher to his lips, left the room. In a few minutes the other hunters entered, and Jason Fellows, father to Martha, announced it as decided by the hunters, who had been holding a kind of council withoirt, that Arthur Jones and lYilliam Danforth, as the two youngest members of the community, should be dispatched to the nearest settlement to request aid to protect them from the Indians, v/hosc immediate attack they had good reason to fear.

Martha, on hearing the names of the emissaries mentioned, dropped the cup she had been filling.

“ Ob, not him — not them, I mean — they will be overtaken and tomahawked by the way !” she exclaimed, turning to her father with a look of aflright.

“ Let Mr. Danforth remain,” said Jones, advancing to the table ; “ I will undertake the mission alone.” ' •

Tears came into Martha’s eyes, and she turned them reproachfully to her lover; but, full of his h.eroic resolution to be tomahawked and comfortably scalped on his ovvii responslbility, he turned majestically, without deigning to meet the tearful glance which was well calculated to mitigate his jealous u rath.

Daifibrth, on being applied to, requested permission to defer his answer till the morning, and the hunters left the house to divide the game, which had been forgotten in the general excitement.

Danforth, who had lingered to the last, took up his cap, and whispering good-night to Martha, left the house. The j)oor girl scarcely heeded his departure, Her eyes filled with t{‘ars, a.nd seating herself on a wliirJi pn along one end.

MALAESICA.

of the room, she folded her arms on a board which served as a back, and burying her face upon them, wept violently.

As she remained in this position, she heard a familiar step on the door. Her heart beat quick, fluttered a moment, and then settled to its regular pulsations again, for her lover had seated himself beside her. Martha wiped the tears from her eyes and remained quiet, for she knew that he had returned, and with that knowledge, the spirit of coquetry had revived ; and when Jones, softened by her apparent sorrow — for he had seen her parting with Danforth — put his hand softly under her forehead and raised her face, the creature was laughing — laughing at his folly, as he thought.

“ Martha, you are doing wrong — wrong to yourself and to me,” said the disappointed lover, rising indignantly and taking his hat, with which he advanced to the door.