CHAPTER VI. THE ESCORT TO THE FORT.
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The effect on the besieged party of the melancholy occurrence
which has just been narrated was dispiriting in
the extreme. They could not but feel that the lot of their
comrade might soon be their own, and perhaps with circumstances
of aggravated suffering. But Dudley was not without
the strongest hopes that the severe repulse which the
enemy had now met with would induce them entirely to
withdraw, the more especially as they were not supposed
to know the fatal result of their last discharge of fire-arms.
The war-whoop with which they had accompanied that assault
gradually died away, and the most perfect silence
again prevailed without. Dudley continued to order occasional
shots from the window, but they elicited no response.
The utmost vigilance was used, and every possible preventive
measure employed, not omitting so serviceable an agent
against a scaling foe as boiling water, a department of defence
under the especial superintendence of Nando. But
these precautions fortunately proved superfluous, and the
night passed without further alarm. Baffled and mortified,
the savages had retired, bearing with them the bodies of
six of their fallen warriors, a loss which seemed to them of
almost inappreciable magnitude. Thus the gallant defence
of “Fort Lee the less,” as it was subsequently termed,
proved not only the security of its inmates, with one lamentable
exception, but, for the time at least, of the whole surrounding
settlement.
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Mutual congratulations on their escape, and devotional
thanksgivings for so signal a protection of Providence, were
among the earliest employments of the little party on the
ensuing morning. But the panic which had spread through
the neighborhood did not readily subside. Some, indeed,
returned immediately to their homes, relying in part upon
their private means of defence, but chiefly confident, from
their knowledge of Indian character, that the enemy would
not soon renew an enterprise which had proved so disastrous.
A more vigilant police was organized, and a portion
of the citizens nightly acted as sentinels at all the prominent
posts of observation.
To Ellen Welles, the events which have been recorded
had been doubly terrifying for a cause which has as yet
been scarcely apparent. Waldon had in reality been a rejected
claimant for her hand. His pretensions had been
favored by her father, who, wrapped in his selfish and personal
schemes, was as far from appreciating the worth of
his daughter as he was from penetrating the villainous character
of her suitor. To his charge, during his temporary
absence from home, Captain Welles had especially confided
his household, enjoining Ellen, in case of danger, to appeal
at once to his protection. And more recently still, Waldon
had been the bearer of a message to Ellen from her
father, informing her that he was engaged in raising a
company of volunteers, with which he should immediately
proceed to join Col. St. Leger under the walls of Fort
Stanwix. He further informed her that he had made suitable
provision for her safety during the perilous times that
were like to ensue, and directed her to accept of Waldon's
escort to the place where he was then sojourning.
Dreading his designs in relation to her detested suitor,
yet fearing to disobey a parent who, though harsh, was her
only protector, she hesitated in most painful incertitude as
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to her proper course of action. But when the messenger
proceeded to hint that he was empowered to enforce the
commands of his principal, her terror knew no bounds.
If she had before doubted, she was now decided, and she
resolved to brave every other peril sooner than to trust herself
in the power of her suitor. But she did not make
known her resolution, and he, supposing her only to hesitate,
specified an hour on the next day when he would call
for her decision, and courteously withdrew. It was on that
evening that her flight to Lee's, impelled by a double fear,
had occurred. But Waldon had not, in reality, been a
participant in the affair of the preceding night, and Ellen's
suspicions on that point had doubtless been caused in part
by her extreme dread of falling into his hands. It will be
seen, therefore, that her alarm, although abated, was still
far from being dispelled, nor could she conceal her anxiety
from Dudley. To express her gratitude to her defender
with becoming warmth, and yet with maidenly reserve, was
no difficult task for a sensible and ingenuous girl; but it
was tremblingly, painfully, and by slow degrees alone, that
she was able to disclose, in answers to his earnest but respectful
inquiries, the other particulars of her unfortunate
position. Beautiful exceedingly did the timid girl appear
as she related her griefs, and Dudley longed for nothing so
much as to throw himself at her feet and offer her a lifelong
protection. But with quick discernment he appreciated
the unfitness of the occasion for any declaration of his
feelings. It should be, he thought, proudly, under other
circumstances, when he was better entitled to ask, and she
more free to refuse, that he would seek the hand and heart
of one so peerless and so pure. At present, it became his
duty rather to make provision for her safety, and on this
subject he hastened to speak. He knew that small volunteer
companies, in response to the earnest appeal of Col.
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Gansevoort, were daily flocking to the relief of Fort Stanwix,
and had learned, on inquiry, that one of these, en
route for that military post, was hourly expected in the
neighborhood. He at once proposed to her to take advantage
of such an escort to fly to the fort, where she would
find numbers of her own sex, who had sought the same refuge,
and whence, if she should so desire, she could at any
moment be transferred to her father in the British camp.
She could be attended, he said, by her maid, and he himself,
if she would permit, would accompany her and fulfil
an intention that he had long entertained of seeking service
in the American army. The proposition was startling,
but Ellen did not hesitate. A favorite pony, which she
was accustomed to ride, afforded her a convenient mode of
travel, and means were readily found for the transportation
of her domestic and their necessary baggage. Happier
and prouder than a monarch, Dudley rode at the beauteous
Ellen's side, encouraging her by his confident and
cheerful mien, and building for himself many a gorgeous
air-castle, whose filmy foundations seemed firmer than the
rock. The same evening beheld the whole party, including
Rogers, who had enlisted as a private, safely within the
walls of the fort.
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Myers, P. Hamilton (Peter Hamilton), 1812-1878 [1854], The miser's heir, or, The young millionaire; and, Ellen Welles, or, The siege of Fort Stanwix. (T. B. Peterson, Philadelphia) [word count] [eaf657T].
