第34章

Henry and Shif'less Sol shuddered.They had looked upon terrible human figures, but nothing so frightful as this, a woman with the strength of a man and twice his rage and cruelty.There was something weird and awful in the look of that set, savage face, and the tone of that Indian chant.Brave as they were, Henry and the shiftless one felt fear, as perhaps they had never felt it before in their lives.Well they might! They were destined to behold this woman again, under conditions the most awful of which the human mind can conceive, and to witness savagery almost unbelievable in either man or woman.The two did not yet know it, but they were looking upon Catharine Montour, daughter of a French Governor General of Canada and an Indian woman, a chieftainess of the Iroquois, and of a memory infamous forever on the border, where she was known as "Queen Esther."Shif'less Sol shuddered again, and whispered to Henry:

"I didn't think such women ever lived, even among the Indians."A dozen warriors followed Queen Esther, stepping in single file, and their manner showed that they acknowledged her their leader in every sense.She was truly an extraordinary woman.Not even the great Thayendanegea himself wielded a stronger influence among the Iroquois.In her youth she had been treated as a white woman, educated and dressed as a white woman, and she had played a part in colonial society at Albany, New York, and Philadelphia.

But of her own accord she had turned toward the savage half of herself, had become wholly a savage, had married a savage chief, bad been the mother of savage children, and here she was, at midnight, striding into an Iroquois camp in the wilderness, her head aflame with visions of blood, death, and scalps.

The procession passed with the terrifying female figure still leading, still singing her chant, and the curiosity of Henry and Shif'less Sol was so intense that, taking all risks, they slipped along in the rear to see her entry.

Queen Esther strode into the lighted area of the camp, ceased her chant, and looked around, as if a queen had truly come and was waiting to be welcomed by her subjects.Thayendanegea, who evidently expected her, stepped forward and gave her the Indian salute.It may be that he received her with mild enthusiasm.

Timmendiquas, a Wyandot and a guest, though an ally, would not dispute with him his place as real head of the Six Nations, but this terrible woman was his match ' and could inflame the Iroquois to almost anything that she wished.

After the arrival of Queen Esther the lights in the Iroquois village died down.It was evident to both Henry and the shiftless one that they had been kept burning solely in the expectation of the coming of this formidable woman and her escort.It was obvious that nothing more was to be seen that night, and they withdrew swiftly through the forest toward their islet.They stopped once in an oak opening, and Shif'less Sol shivered slightly.

"Henry," he said, "I feel all through me that somethin' terrible is comin'.That woman back thar has clean give me the shivers.

I'm more afraid of her than I am of Timmendiquas or Thayendanegea.Do you think she is a witch?""There are no such things as witches, but she was uncanny.I'm afraid, Sol, that your feeling about something terrible going to happen is right."It was about two o'clock in the morning when they reached the islet.Tom Ross was awake, but the other two slumbered peacefully on.They told Tom what they had seen, and he told them the identity of the terrible woman.

"I heard about her at Pittsburgh, an' I've heard tell, too, about her afore I went to Kentucky to live.She's got a tre-men-jeous power over the Iroquois.They think she ken throw spells, an'

all that sort of thing-an' mebbe she kin."Two nights later it was Henry and Tom who lay in the thickets, and then they saw other formidable arrivals in the Indian camp.

Now they were white men, an entire company in green uniforms, Sir John Johnson's Royal Greens, as Henry afterward learned; and with them was the infamous John Butler, or " Indian" Butler, as he was generally known on the New York and Pennsylvania frontier, middle-aged, short and fat, and insignificant of appearance, but energetic, savage and cruel in nature.He was a descendant of the Duke of Ormond, and had commanded the Indians at the terrible battle of the Oriskany, preceding Burgoyne's capture the year before.

Henry and Tom were distant spectators at an extraordinary council around one of the fires.In this group were Timmendiquas, Thayendanegea, Queen Esther, high chiefs of the distant nations, and the white men, John Butler, Moses Blackstaffe, and the boy, Braxton Wyatt.It seemed to Henry that Timmendiquas, King of the Wyandots, was superior to all the other chiefs present, even to Thayendanegea.His expression was nobler than that of the great Mohawk, and it had less of the Indian cruelty.

Henry and Tom could not hear 'anything that was said, but they felt sure the Iroquois were about to break up their village and march on the great campaign they had planned.The two and their comrades could render no greater service than to watch their march, and then warn those upon whom the blow was to fall.

The five left their hut on the islet early the next morning, well equipped with provisions, and that day they saw the Iroquois dismantle their village, all except the Long House and two or three other of the more solid structures, and begin the march.

Henry and his comrades went parallel with them, watching their movements as closely as possible.