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The night set in with rout and revelry, with
drinking, feasting, dancing, and shouts, that rent
the solitudes of the forest, and silenced the very
howlings of its hungry tenants. On these occasions,
it is usual to appoint persons to guard the
arms of the warriors, and keep themselves sober,
lest, in the mad excesses of drunkenness, the barbarous
bacchanals should get possession of them,
and maim or murder one another. Koningsmarke,
at his particular request, was appointed
to this station, and Lob Dotterel, much against
the wishes of the youth, appointed his assistant.
The latter part of this arrangement embarrassed
Koningsmarke not a little, since the company of
the high constable of Elsingburgh rendered his
secret departure much more difficult, and he

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did not dare to associate him in his plan of
escape, for fear of being betrayed.

As the night waned away, the scene of savage
debauchery became more disgusting and
horrible. Some were howling an unintelligible
jargon, some rolling upon the earth like drunken
swine, and others venting their excited passions
in struggles, in which the madness of rage
was contrasted with the imbecility of beastly intoxication.
By degrees, one after another, they
sunk into a deep sleep, and all remained quiet.
Now was the eventful hour; but the presence
of Lob Dotterel, whom Koningsmarke had
vainly attempted to persuade to retire, and leave
him to watch alone, restrained his departure.
At length his patience became exhausted, and,
desiring that trusty officer to await his return a
few moments, he seized a gun, a tomahawk, and
a knife, having previously provided himself with
ammunition, and hastily departed.

Approaching the appointed spot, his heart
beat with uncontrollable apprehension at not
seeing Christina. He pronounced her name, and
he saw her white figure glide from behind a
tree. “I thought you would never come,” said
the trembling girl, as she panted in his arms.

“To hold thee thus,” whispered

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Koningsmarke, “is a happiness I could wish to last for
ever; but there is not a moment to be lost; let
us away, and God be our guide.”

They struck into the forest, in the direction
marked out by the Long Finne, and had
proceeded about half a mile, when they thought
they heard footsteps behind them.

“We are pursued,” cried Christina—“we
are lost.”

“Hush!” whispered the youth—“perhaps it
is only some wild animal.”

“Heaven grant it may be,” said Christina;
“the wolf or the bear would be more welcome
than man.”

They stopped, and listened in breathless anxiety.
Some one was heard trampling slowly
through the bushes, but whether man or beast
could not be discerned, as the moon had just
gone behind a cloud. Presently it emerged,
and they could see the figure of a man, at a little
distance, watching them.

“He must be quieted,” cried Koningsmarke,
and, grasping his gun, advanced a few steps towards
the figure.

“Oh don't kill him,” cried Christina; “perhaps
it is some friend.”

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“I will know soon,” he replied. “Whoever
you are, speak, or die.”

“A friend,” exclaimed the figure, in the well-known
voice of honest Lob Dotterel. “I watched
you,” said the high constable, coming up, “for
I observed you had something in hand. You
would not trust me—but I will be true as steel.
I mean to go with you, and share your fate, be
it what it may.”

“Thou art right welcome, Lob,” quoth the
Long Finne—“but every moment is a life to
one or all of us. Pass we on.”

Alternately assisting, supporting, and sometimes
carrying Christina, they passed rapidly on
their way, and, by the dawn of the morning,
had proceeded several miles, without meeting
with any interruption, except what nature presented.
Christina complained of fatigue, and
it was agreed to rest a little while, as they supposed
the savages would sleep late that morning,
from the effects of the night's debauchery.
They accordingly sat down, and partook of
some dried venison, with which Koningsmarke
had supplied himself. In a few minutes they
heard the report of a gun, and, an instant after,
a wounded deer bounded past them, and fell dead
within a few yards of where they sat.

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Koningsmarke and the high constable started on
their feet at once, and stood ready for what
might follow. A few moments elapsed in this
state of suspense, when they observed two Indians,
armed with guns, approaching among the
trees. Quick as lightning, on observing the
two white-men, they darted each behind a separate
tree, and, in almost as little time, the
others did the like, Koningsmarke snatching
Christina, and placing her behind him, under
cover of the tree.

Each party now remained, with their guns
cocked, watching till the exposure of some part
of the body of an adversary should give them
an opportunity of firing with effect. It has
been observed as a characteristic of the Indians,
that they never willingly come to a personal
contest with a white-man, or engage, in fact, in
any way, if they can avoid it, till some advantage
presents itself. In this state of awful suspense,
Koningsmarke seized an opportunity to
motion to the high constable to follow his example.
He then took off his hat, and waved
it, as sportsmen do when they wish to decoy a
duck, alternately holding it out from behind the
tree, and snatching it back again. His example
was promptly followed by Lob, with his

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buffalo cap. In the dense obscurity of morning,
in a deep forest, the two Indians were deceived
by this stratagem, and, believing it to be
their antagonists thus peeping from behind their
covert, fired at the same instant. Both hat and
cap fell to the ground, and the two Indians rushed
out, to use the tomahawk and scalping knife
on their fallen foes. As they came on heedlessly,
the two white-men took a deliberate aim, one
at each, and fired. The foremost fell dead; the
other bounded into the woods, uttering the howl
of pain and baffled rage, and disappeared.

Instantly loading their guns, they proceeded
on their journey, with the increased apprehension,
arising from the possibility that the
wounded savage might reach the village, and
alarm the warriors into immediate pursuit. In
passing by the dead body of the savage, Christina,
influenced and impelled by that fascination
which horror exercises over the human mind,
involuntarily turned to look at it, and recognised
the features of Aonetti's brother, who she
now recollected had been out several days on a
hunting expedition. “Poor Aonetti!” she
mentally exclaimed, “I was born to be your
bane”—and Christina at that moment forgot

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her dangers, in thinking on the sufferings of her
kind-hearted sister.

Little occurred during the rest of the day, except
increasing toils and difficulties in the march,
accompanied by increasing weariness. They
made a sort of litter of the branches, and, from
time to time, carried the weary girl upon their
shoulders. But their progress, slow at first,
became more slow as the day wore away, so
that night overtook them before they had completed
twenty miles, according to their best
computation. The apprehension of pursuit, and
the danger of being overtaken, now yielded to
the demands of nature, and they were forced to
take some rest. They formed a rude shelter,
with the bark and branches of trees, for Christina,
while they laid down, one on each side of
the entrance. Weariness soon closed their eyes,
in spite of every motive for wakefulness. They
slept for several hours, and, probably, would
have slept till morning, had they not been
roused by the knell of death. Starting up, the
two white-men found themselves, at the same instant,
seized, and pinioned, with their hands behind
their backs, before they could possibly
make any resistance.

The wretched Christina, whom the sight of

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the savage group, and the sound of their dismal
yell, had struck into a temporary insensibility to
all around her, was seized, and, sometimes dragged,
sometimes carried, forced along with her unfortunate
companions, towards the village from
whence they had attempted to escape. They
passed by the spot where the affray of the morning
took place, and, pointing to the dead body
of the chief, whirled their tomahawks in the air,
over the heads of the two prisoners, giving them
to understand, at the same time, they had not
sacrificed them on the spot, because they meant
to torture them to death. Taking up the dead
body, they then marched in procession to the
village, chanting their death song by the way.

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