Chapter XXXIX.

by James Fenimore Cooper

　　"Selictar! unsheathe then our chiefs scimetar; Tambourgi! thy 'larumgives promise of war; Ye mountains! that see us descend to the shore,Shall view us as victors, or view us no more."-Byron.

　　The heavy showers that prevailed during the remainder of the daycompletely stopped the progress of the flames; though glimmering fireswere observed during the night, on different parts of the hill,wherever there was a collection of fuel to feed the element. The nextday the woods for many miles were black and smoking, and werestripped of every vestige of brush and dead wood; but the pines andhemlocks still reared their heads proudly among the hills, and eventhe smaller trees of the forest retained a feeble appearance of lifeand vegetation.

　　The many tongues of rumor were busy in exaggerating the miraculousescape of Elizabeth; and a report was generally credited, that Moheganhad actually perished in the flames. This belief became confirmed,and was indeed rendered probable, when the direful intelligencereached the village that Jotham Riddel, the miner, was found in hishole, nearly dead with suffocation, and burnt to such a degree that nohopes were entertained of his life.

　　The public attention became much alive to the events of the last fewdays ; and, just at this crisis, the convicted counterfeiters took thehint from Natty, and, on the night succeeding the fire, found means tocut through their log prison also, and to escape unpunished. Whenthis news began to circulate through the village, blended with thefate of Jotham, and the exaggerated and tortured reports of the eventson the hill, the popular opinion was freely expressed, as to thepropriety of seizing such of the fugitives as remained within reach.Men talked of the cave as a secret receptacle of guilt; and, as therumor of ores and metals found its way into the confused medley ofconjectures, counterfeiting, and everything else that was wicked anddangerous to the peace of society, suggested themselves to the busyfancies of the populace.

　　While the public mind was in this feverish state, it was hinted thatthe wood had been set on fire by Edwards and the Leather--Stocking, andthat, consequently, they alone were responsible for the damages. Thisopinion soon gained ground, being most circulated by those who, bytheir own heedlessness, had caused the evil; and there was oneirresistible burst of the common sentiment that an attempt should hemade to punish the offenders. Richard was by no means deaf to thisappeal, and by noon he set about in earnest to see the laws executed.

　　Several stout young men were selected, and taken apart with anappearance of secrecy, where they received some important charge fromthe sheriff, immediately under the eyes, but far removed from theears, of all in the village. Possessed of a knowledge of their duty,these youths hurried into the hills, with a bustling manner, as if thefate of the world depended on their diligence, and, at the same time,with an air of mystery as great as if they were engaged on secretmatters of the state.

　　At twelve precisely a drum beat the "long roll ' before the" BoldDragoon," and Richard appeared, accompanied by Captain Hollister, whowas clad in Investments as commander of the "Templeton LightInfantry," when the former demanded of the latter the aid of the possecomitatus in enforcing the laws of the country. We have not room torecord the speeches of the two gentlemen on this occasion, but theyare preserved in the columns of the little blue newspaper, which isyet to be found on the file, and are said to be highly creditable tothe legal formula of one of the parties, and to the military precisionof the other. Everything had been previously arranged, and, as thered-coated drummer continued to roll out his clattering notes, somefive-and-twenty privates appeared in the ranks, and arrangedthemselves in the order of battle.

　　As this corps was composed of volunteers, and was commanded by a manwho had passed the first five-and-thirty years of his life in campsand garrisons, it was the non-parallel of military science in thatcountry, and was confidently pronounced by the judicious part of theTempleton community, to be equal in skill and appearance to any troopsin the known world; in physical endowments they were, certainly, muchsuperior! To this assertion there were but three dissenting voices,and one dissenting opinion. The opinion belonged to Marmaduke, who,however, saw no necessity for its promulgation. Of the voices, one,and that a pretty loud one, came from the spouse of the commanderhimself, who frequently reproached her husband for condescending tolead such an irregular band of warriors, after he had filled thehonorable station of sergeant-major to a dashing corps of Virginiacavalry through much of the recent war.

　　Another of these skeptical sentiments was invariably expressed by Mr.Pump, whenever the company paraded generally in some such terms asthese, which were uttered with that sort of meekness that a native ofthe island of our forefathers is apt to assume when he condescends topraise the customs or character of her truant progeny:

　　"Its mayhap that they knows summat about loading and firing, d'yesee, but as for working ship? why, a corporals guard of theBoadishey's marines would back and fill on their quarters in such amanner as to surround and captivate them all in half a glass." Asthere was no one to deny this assertion, the marines of the Boadiceawere held in a corresponding degree of estimation.

　　The third unbeliever was Monsieur Le Quoi, who merely whispered to thesheriff, that the corps was one of the finest he had ever seen secondonly to the Mousquetaires of Le Boa Louis! However, as Mrs. Hollisterthought there was something like actual service in the presentappearances, and was, in consequence, too busily engaged with certainpreparations of her own, to make her comments; as Benjamin was absent,and Monsieur Le Quoi too happy to find fault with anything, the corpsescaped criticism and comparison altogether on this momentous day,when they certainly had greater need of self-confidence than on anyother previous occasion. Marmaduke was said to be again closeted withMr. Van der School and no interruption was offered to the movements ofthe troops. At two oclock precisely the corps shouldered arms,beginning on the right wing, next to the veteran, and carrying themotion through to the left with great regularity. When eachmusket was quietly fixed in its proper situation, the order was givento wheel to the left, and march. As this was bringing raw troops, atonce, to face their enemy, it is not to be supposed that the manoeuverwas executed with their usual accuracy; but as the music struck up theinspiring air of Yankee-doodle, and Richard, accompanied by Mr.Doolittle preceded the troops boldly down the street, CaptainHollister led on, with his head elevated to forty-five degrees, with alittle, low cocked hat perched on his crown, carrying a tremendousdragoon sabre at a poise, and trailing at his heels a huge steelscabbard, that had war in its very clattering. There was a good dealof difficulty in getting all the platoons (there were six) to look thesame way; but, by the time they reached the defile of the bridge, thetroops were in sufficiently compact order. In this manner theymarched up the hill to the summit of the mountain, no other alterationtaking place in the disposition of the forces, excepting that a mutualcomplaint was made, by the sheriff and the magistrate, of a failure inwind, which gradually brought these gentlemen to the rear. It willbe unnecessary to detail the minute movements that succeeded. Weshall briefly say, that the scouts came in and reported, that, so farfrom retreating, as had been anticipated, the fugitives had evidentlygained a knowledge of the attack, and were fortifying for a desperateresistance. This intelligence certainly made a material change, notonly in the plans of the leaders, but in the countenances of thesoldiery also. The men looked at one another with serious faces, andHiram and Richard began to consult together, apart.

　　At this conjuncture, they were joined by Billy Kirby, who came alongthe highway, with his axe under his arm, as much in advance of histeam as Captain Hollister had been of his troops in the ascent. Thewood-chopper was amazed at the military array, but the sheriff eagerlyavailed himself of this powerful reinforcement, and commanded hisassistance in putting the laws in force. Billy held Mr. Jones in toomuch deference to object; and it was finally arranged that he shouldbe the bearer of a summons to the garrison to surrender before theyproceeded to extremities. The troops now divided, one party being ledby the captain, over the Vision, and were brought in on the left ofthe cave, while the remainder advanced upon its right, under theorders of the lieutenant. Mr. Jones and Dr. Todd--for the surgeon wasin attendance also--appeared on the platform of rock, immediately overthe heads of the garrison, though out of their sight. Hiram thoughtthis approaching too near, and he therefore accompanied Kirby alongthe side of the hill to within a safe distance of the fortifications,where he took shelter behind a tree. Most of the men discovered greataccuracy of eye in bringing some object in range between them andtheir enemy, and the only two of the besiegers, who were left in plainsight of the besieged, were Captain Hollister on one side, and thewood-chopper on the other. The veteran stood up boldly to the front,supporting his heavy sword in one undeviating position, with his eyefixed firmly on his enemy, while the huge form of Billy was placed inthat kind of quiet repose, with either hand thrust into his bosom,bearing his axe under his right arm, which permitted him, like his ownoxen, to rest standing. So far, not a word had been exchanged betweenthe belligerents. The besieged had drawn together a pile of blacklogs and branches of trees, which they had formed into a chevaux-de-frise, making a little circular abatis in front of the entrance to thecave. As the ground was steep and slippery in every direction aroundthe place, and Benjamin appeared behind the works on one side, andNatty on the other, the arrangement was by no means contemptible,especially as the front was sufficiently guarded by the difficulty ofthe approach. By this time, Kirby had received his orders, and headvanced coolly along the mountain, picking his way with the sameindifference as if he were pursuing his ordinary business. When hewas within a hundred feet of the works, the long and much-dreadedrifle of the Leather-Stocking was seen issuing from the parapet, andhis voice cried aloud:

　　"Keep off! Billy Kirby, keep off! I wish ye no harm; but if a man ofye all comes a step nigher, therell be blood spilt atwixt us. Godforgive the one that draws it first, but so it must be."

　　"Come, old chap," said Billy, good-naturedly, "dont be crabbd, buthear what a man has got to say Ive no consarn in the business, onlyto see right twixt man and man; and I dont kear the valie of abeetle-ring which gets the better; but theres Squire Doolittle,yonder be hind the beech sapling, he has invited me to come in and askyou to give up to the law--thats all."

　　"I see the varmint! I see his clothes!" cried the indignant Natty:"and if hell only show so much flesh as will bury a rifle bullet,thirty to the pound, Ill make him feel me. Go away, Billy, I bid ye;you know my aim, and I bear you no malice."

　　"You over-calculate your aim, Natty," said the other, as he steppedbehind a pine that stood near him, "if you think to shoot a manthrough a tree with a three-foot butt. I can lay this tree rightacross you in ten minutes by any man's watch, and in less time, too;so be civil--I want no more than whats right."

　　There was a simple seriousness in the countenance of Natty, thatshowed he was much in earnest; but it was also evident that he wasreluctant to shed human blood. He answered the taunt of the wood-chopper, by saying:

　　"I know you drop a tree where you will, Billy Kirby; but if you show ahand, or an arm, in doing it, therell be bones to be set, and bloodto staunch. If its only to get into the cave that ye want, wait tilla two hours sun, and you may enter it in welcome; but come in now youshall not. Theres one dead body already, lying on the cold rocks,and theres another in which the life can hardly be said to stay. Ifyou will come in, therell be dead with out as well as within."

　　The wood-chopper stepped out fearlessly from his cover, and cried:

　　"Thats fair; and whats fair is right. He wants you to stop tillits two hours to sundown; and I see reason in the thing. A man cangive up when hes wrong, if you dont crowd him too hard; but youcrowd a man, and he gets to be like a stubborn ox--the more you beat,the worse he kicks."

　　The sturdy notions of independence maintained by Billy neither suitedthe emergency nor the impatience of Mr. Jones, who was burning with adesire to examine the hid den mysteries of the cave. He thereforeinterrupted this amicable dialogue with his own voice;

　　"I command you Nathaniel Bumppo, by my authority, to surrender yourperson to the law," he cried. "And I command you, gentlemen, to aidme in performing my duty. Benjamin Penguillan I arrest you, and orderyou to follow me to the jail of the county, by virtue of thiswarrant."

　　"Id follow ye, Squire Dickens," said Benjamin, removing the pipe fromhis month (for during the whole scene the ex-major-domo had been verycomposedly smoking); ay! Id sail in your wake, to the end of theworld, if-so-- be that there was such a place, where there isnt,seeing that its round. Now mayhap, Master Hollister, having livedall your life on shore, you isnt acquainted that the world, dye see"

　　"Surrender!" interrupted the veteran, in a voice that startled hishearers, and which actually caused his own forces to recoil severalpaces; surrender, Benjamin Pengullan, or expect no quarter."

　　"Damn your quarter!" said Benjamin, rising from the log on which hewas seated, and taking a squint along the barrel of the swivel, whichhad been brought on the hill during the night, and now formed themeans of defence on his side of the works. " Look you, master orcaptain, thof I questions if ye know the name of a rope, except theone thats to hang ye, theres no need of singing out, as if ye washailing a deaf man on a topgallant yard. May-hap you think youve gotmy true name in your sheep skin; but what British sailor finds itworth while to sail in these seas, without a sham on his stern, incase of need, dye see. If you call me Penguillan, you calls me bythe name of the man on whose hand, dye see, I hove into daylight; andhe was a gentleman ; and thats more than my worst enemy will say ofany of the family of Benjamin Stubbs."

　　"Send the warrant round to me, and Ill put in an alias," cried Hiram,from behind his cover.

　　"Put in a jackass, and youll put in yourself, Mister Doo-but-little,"shouted Benjamin, who kept squinting along his little iron tube, withgreat steadiness.

　　"I give you but one moment to yield," cried Richard. "Benjamin!Benjamin! this is not the gratitude I expected from you."

　　"I tell you, Richard Jones," said Natty, who dreaded the sheriffsinfluence over his comrade; " though the canister the gal brought belost, theres powder enough in the cave to lift the rock you stand on.Ill take off my roof if you dont hold your peace."

　　"I think it beneath the dignity of my office to parley further withthe prisoners," the sheriff observer to his companion, while they bothretired with a precipitancy that Captain Hollister mistook for thesignal to advance.

　　"Charge baggonet!" shouted the veteran; " march!"

　　Although this signal was certainly expected, it took the assailed alittle by surprise, and the veteran approached the works, crying, "Courage, my brave lads! give them no quarter unless they surrender;"and struck a furious blow upward with his sabre, that would havedivided the steward into moieties by subjecting him to the process ofdecapitation, but for the fortunate interference of the muzzle of theswivel. As it was, the gun was dismounted at the critical moment thatBenjamin was applying his pipe to the priming, and in consequence somefive or six dozen of rifle bullets were projected into the air, innearly a perpendicular line. Philosophy teaches us that the atmos-phere will not retain lead; and two pounds of the metal, moulded intobullets of thirty to the pound, after describing an ellipsis in theirjourney, returned to the earth rattling among the branches of thetrees directly over the heads of the troops stationed in the rear oftheir captain. Much of the success of an attack, made by irregularsoldiers, depends on the direction in which they are first got inmotion. In the present instance it was retrograde, and in less than aminute after the bellowing report of the swivel among the rocks andcaverns, the whole weight of the attack from the left rested on theprowess of the single arm of the veteran. Benjamin received a severecontusion from the recoil of his gun, which produced a short stupor,during which period the ex-steward was prostrate on the ground.Captain Hollister availed himself of this circumstance to scrambleever the breastwork and obtain a footing in the bastion--for such wasthe nature of the fortress, as connected with the cave. The momentthe veteran found himself within the works of his enemy, he rushed tothe edge of the fortification, and, waving his sabre over his head,shouted:

　　"Victory! come on, my brave boys, the works our own!"

　　All this was perfectly military, and was such an example as a gallantofficer was in some measure bound to exhibit to his men but the outcrywas the unlucky cause of turning the tide of success. Natty, who hadbeen keeping a vigalent eye on the wood-chopper, and the enemyimmediately before him, wheeled at this alarm, and was appalled atbeholding his comrade on the ground, and the veteran standing on hisown bulwark, giving forth the cry of victory! The muzzle of the longrifle was turned instantly toward the captain. There was a momentwhen the life of the old soldier was in great jeopardy but the objectto shoot at was both too large and too near for the Leather-Stocking,who, instead of pulling his trigger, applied the gun to the rear ofhis enemy, and by a powerful shove sent him outside of the works withmuch greater rapidity than he had entered them. The spot on whichCaptain Hollister alighted was directly in front, where, as his feettouched the ground, so steep and slippery was the side of themountain, it seemed to recede from under them. His motion was swift,and so irregular as utterly to confuse the faculties of the oldsoldier. During its continuance, he supposed himself to be mounted,and charging through the ranks of his enemy. At every tree he made ablow, of course, as at a foot-soldier; and just as he was making thecut "St. George" at a half burnt sapling he landed in the highway,and, to his utter amazement, at the feet of his own spouse. When Mrs.Hollister, who was toiling up the hill, followed by at least twentycurious boys, leaning with one hand on the staff with which sheordinarily walked, and bearing in the other an empty bag, witnessedthis exploit of her husband, indignation immediately got the better,not only of her religion, but of her philosophy.

　　"Why, sargeant! is it flying ye are?" she cried--" that I should liveto see a husband of mine turn his hack to an inimy! and such a one!Here I have been telling the bys, as we come along, all about thesaige of Yorrektown, and how ye was hurted; and how yed be acting thesame agin the day; and I mate ye retraiting jist as the first gun isfired. Och! I may trow away the bag! for if theres plunder, twillnot be the wife of sich as yerself that will be privileged to begetting the same. They do say, too, there is a power of goold andsilver in the place--the Lord forgive me for setting my heart onwoorldly things; but what falls in the battle, theres scriptur forbelieving, is the just property of the victor,"

　　"Retreating!" exclaimed the amazed veteran; "wheres my horse? he hasbeen shot under me--I----"

　　"Is the man mad?" interrupted his wife--" devil the horse do ye own,sargeant, and yere nothing but a shabby captain of malaishy. Oh! ifthe raal captain was here, tis the other way yed be riding, dear, oryou would not follow your laider!"

　　While this worthy couple were thus discussing events, the battle beganto rage more violently than ever above them. When Leather-Stockingsaw his enemy fairly under headway, as Benjamin would express it, hegave his attention to the right wing of the assailants. It would havebeen easy for Kirby, with his powerful frame, to have seized themoment to scale the bastion, and, with his great strength, to havesent both of its defenders in pursuit of the veteran; but hostilityappeared to he the passion that the wood-chopper indulged the least inat that moment, for, in a voice that was heard by the retreating leftwing, he shouted:

　　"Hurrah well done, captain! keep it up! how he handles his bush-hook!he makes nothing of a sapling!" and such other encouragingexclamations to the flying veteran, until, overcome by mirth, thegood-natured fellow seated himself on the ground, kicking the earthwith delight, and giving vent to peal after peal of laughter.

　　Natty stood all this time in a menacing attitude, with his riflepointed over the breastwork, watching with a quick and cautions eyethe least movement of the assail ants. The outcry unfortunatelytempted the ungovernable curiosity of Hiram to take a peep from behindhis cover at the state of the battle. Though this evolution wasperformed with great caution, in protecting his front, he left, likemany a better commander, his rear exposed to the attacks of his enemy.Mr. Doolittle belonged physically to a class of his countrymen, towhom Nature has denied, in their formation, the use of curved lines.Every thing about him was either straight or angular. But his tailorwas a woman who worked, like a regimental contractor, by a set ofrules that gave the same configuration to the whole human species.Consequently, when Mr. Doolittle leaned forward in the mannerdescribed, a loose drapery appeared behind the tree, at which therifle of Natty was pointed with the quickness of lightning. A lessexperienced man would have aimed at the flowing robe, which hung likea festoon half-way to the earth ; but the Leather-Stocking knew boththe man and his female tailor better; and when the smart report of therifle was heard, Kirby, who watched the whole manoeuvre in breath lessexpectation. saw the bark fly from the beech and the cloth, at somedistance above the loose folds, wave at the same instant. No batterywas ever unmasked with more promptitiude than Hiram advanced frombehind the tree at this summons.

　　He made two or three steps, with great precision, to the front and,placing one hand on the afflicted part, stretched forth the other witha menacing air toward Natty, and cried aloud:

　　"Gawl darn ye: this shant he settled so easy; Ill follow it up fromthe common pleas to the court of errors."

　　Such a shocking imprecation, from the mouth of so orderly a man asSquire Doolittle, with the fearless manner in which he exposedhimself, together with, perhaps, the knowledge that Nattys rifle wasunloaded, encouraged the troops in the rear, who gave a loud shout,and fired a volley into the tree-tops, after the contents of theswivel. Animated by their own noise, the men now rushed on inearnest; and Billy Kirby, who thought the joke, good as it was, hadgone far enough, was in the act of scaling the works, when JudgeTemple appeared on the opposite side, exclaiming:

　　"Silence and peace! why do I see murder and blood shed attempted? Isnot the law sufficient to protect itself, that armed bands must begathered, as in rebellion and war, to see justice performed?"

　　"Tis the posse comitatus," shouted the sheriff, from a distant rock,"who-"

　　"Say rather a posse of demons. I command the peace." "Hold shied notblood!" cried a voice from the top of the Vision. " Hold, for thesake of Heaven, fire no more! all shall be yielded! you shall enterthe cave!"

　　Amazement produced the desired effect. Natty, who had reloaded hispiece, quietly seated himself on the logs, and rested his head on hishands, while the " Light Infantry" ceased their military movements,and waited the issue in suspense.

　　In less than a minute Edwards came rushing down the hill, followed byMajor Hartman, with a velocity that was surprising for his years.They reached the terrace in an instant, from which the youth led theway, by the hollow in the rock, to the mouth of the cave, into whichthey both entered, leaving all without silent, and gazing after themwith astonishment.