Plymouth Banner, Volume 3, Number 6, Plymouth, Marshall County, 13 April 1854 — Page 1

a M 1 .I1I Ü Ü 1 11

if A Family Newspaper Devoted to Education, Agriculture, Commerce, Markets, General Intelligence, Foreign and Domestic News. PLYMOUTH,. INDIANA, THURSDAY, APRIL -13, 1854. WHOLE NO. 110. VOL.. 3. NO. G.

Frj:n the Cincinnati Cuinmcrcial. HOLIcOW-TKEE HOME: A ROMANCE OF THE WCST

BT M. HAITEAD. CHAPTER VII. On the recond night after their capture. Patsy Milton and Miry . Grey, as they sit upon some sticks at a little distance from the camp-fire, around which f.r -..,... - -ir 1c ih annvv iv-is r.J ii4(l ve.d . ...-.1- .ti'A r....n ci,tr insn which they were thrown, by th utter dreariness an 1 horror of their situation, by a voice which was low and soft, and word in th language of home. , te you badly tired?' asked the voice, which was strange for such a spot and t V. yes.' was the reply. i Will you try to sleep if I will pr.rare ki r ,. ,..? a otil ior TOu lVil8 ' t The young warrior was gone for some time, and a hacking and tearing among the underbrush was heard. When this ceased, he bore near the fire several arm- ; fulls of fine brush, which he arranged in the form of a bed. - and trampled into shane where the kn its and sharp crooks of tha limbs were obstinate to his hands,

Finallr he spreaia blanket upon the pile. . wr j . and the girls laid down upon it, with server, that there was no perceptible their feet to the fire. A blanket was tinge of Indian b.ood in his veins. Iii thrown over them, and though their del- i cheeks were smooth and not marked by icate limbs were uneasy in their contact monumental bones, his hair fins and inrJth ihm lnih.hf.l. thev soon fell nsleen. clined to curl, his eye brou-3 wers t.ark

The party had now crossed the Ohio, and arched, his mouth of moderate dimenand was safe for the time being from the sions with round, red lips, his nose avengers who might follow. The grim straight, and his eye black, with muchwarriors were bitterly disappointed with1 more of Shaksperean "speculation than;

their expedition. Several braves hd , ose oi so young an inuian wou.u nave been su llenly summoned to the happy : been likely to possess or suggest for huntin- grounds. True, they had dis- young Indian warriors (though some ilpatched a number of pale faces in the , lustrum pens have written otherwise) same direction, if no, to the same elysi-; "ere individuals remarkable for senurn, and had taken two handsome prison- i timent or romance were more dirty than ers but there was not much glory in ta- j dandyish, and less inclined to melancholy kin- girls in that way. and ther had lost j and pining in unhappy love, than ro stumore than they had killed; on nearing the i -pidity. and most unromaniic indulgences, village there would be more mournful I Near the bear-skin door, was a pile of yells, signifying death, than scal hal- j skins, some of which were fine furs, allocs. The expedition had been . nlyj together forming a tolerable substitute mnn;fil, and the warriors were r dy. ! for a sofa, on which reclined two young They might have done baiter thin t . lay ! white females in half savage garments, in wait in a thicket, and pounce upon ! Their heads were protected only by natuand carry off a couple of white squaws, j ral hair. This, of one was dark, of the and then after fixing an ambuscade for other, flaxen; both full uf light, shade and the Long Knives, to uff-r themselves to j beauty, and making a rich contrast. be drawn into one, and shot down half a About their shoulders and bosoms, after doz.Mi at a tima. " the manner of capes, were exquisitely The next day the girls were glad to j ?oft and spotted fawn skins, their sleeves hive their friend, who had been so soli - I and jackets were of cloth, which perhaps

ci'.ous tht they inifcht rest well, walk, most of the time near them. His features were gloomy in express ion beyon l thus of any other of the par j ty. He- uttered but few-words during th j day. and they were cold and in every way contrasted' vrith his manner of speech the night before. Yet Patsy and Mary remembered that he had been kind, and thought that they saw a soft sympatheticray occasionally glimmering deep in his black eye. In places where the walking w3 difficult he assisted them, and several limes contrived ingeniously to alleviate some of the thousand discomforts un ler which they were suffering. None of the party were disposed to talk or hallo, and as the snow mufded their foot steps, thir march was silent as that of a company of ghos!3, or thieves. The only disturbance made, was by the occasional crackling of a bush beneath the hurrying Utt. Once, during the heavy mnrch through the snow-sepulchered woods. Patsy turned to Mary and said of their friend. 'He is whiter than the other Indians, and it seems to me he look like your brother William.' Miry looked closely at him oa the next opportunity, but said nothing. That night he conslructed another bed for the fair captives, which was pleasant! even soft to their exhausted frames. ! When they awoke in the morning, they saw by the light of the fire and of the blusl: of coming day, a woman of wild appearance bending over them, and gazing into their fdces with startling inteatness. Her eyes were large and black, and glistened like those of a wild beast, and her dark hair spread ovsr her person in tnglel mi3je3. Her drass was of skins, and her face brown, but her neck white as snow. The girls were alarmed by the vivid glare of her eyes, and feared to look upon h-r. A new thought wa3 evidently posesM.ig her. She writhed and her flesh quivered with an inward struggle. Presently her eyes ceased to emit a ferocious gleam, and gave vent to a shower of tears, and with convulsive sob3 and moans, she embraced the captives, and wept over them. ' CHAPTER VIII. In th little Indian town in the horseshoe bend of th Stillwater, was a structure which looked more like a cabin than a wigwam. It had about it some torches thdt certainly were decidedly ahead of regular aboriginal architecture. For instance, its smoke-vent was very much like a chimneynd in three places light wj admitted through its walls by means of greased paper. At least, if it would not pasi far a cabin, it was a tolerably respectable hut. Before it stood a large elrn tree, whose trunk was smooth and naked, but not by nature, for the first forty feet above ground. Then the branches shot out copiously, and formed a luxuriant top a splendid place for the summer bids; and between the birds and the winds, thrre was nearly always music in it. In the soft airs of spring and sum-' mer, the birds made happy home music there as if they had had kingly listen ers, and to the sharp, winter blasts the

Inn- slender brunches were harp string, that gave out str-nge sweet music;strange an. I sweet but always disconsolate, ami sometimes bitterly so. j Some three months after the events set .down in the preceding chapters, we are ! called upon to vsit the hut.over which the old elm made music in the village in the horse-shoe bend of the Stillwater. The tiny blossoms of the o!d elm glistened alonsit3 drooping branches, which

were dallying tenderly with fach oiher, inspired by a souih wind. like, dust of sold; birJs were helping the wind to brittle harmony. "Inch 11 ilute. The bear-skin which serve, for a door to the hut, was drawn aside, and (vithin was a lingular group. In the shadows of a corner was f. male figure m a s.tting posture, dumb and motionless as a lS- -" whidl ?ualJ h"vilf abü,ut r"ü was unagitated- but by the wind which fluttered about the dim place, ... ...... . . fitfully as if it did not know whether it had ntered by the door or chimney, or which way it should retire In another comer, whe,fc there wis a litt.e fire on some large, flat stones, was a young man Atting on a block moulding bullets. face was fluked by the fire, and his j hands were red from various exposure; but from many indications, it must in-1 some British trader had given for furs, and their shirts were of deer skins tan tied until fair as musdin, and skillfully sown by thongs. Their feet were cased in moccasins gaudily ornamented, and their whole appearance, though a little wild and rude, was not in the least forlorn or wretched. Not in the least wretched we fay. meaning that they were not miserable by physical discomfort, but their faces wrrc full of mournfulness. Their eyes, though bright, had a seeming of too often washing with teals, nd their lips had an expression which had nothing to d-j with smiles a smile would have b;en a discord on their sad faces. There was ' a hop in the eyes, resignation on the lips, while placit beauty alone held tender dominion over the dimpled cheeks. Their captivity and savage home was like a drearn of amazing pertinacity a sp-ll obstinately refusing to be dissolved. The. woods waved round them as in Kentucky, solemn and stately, and the winds in their wanderings whispered thi same stories of the buds, and wooed with the j same fervor ihe blossoms, and tossed the song birds on the long limbs to the same f old tunes. And the wolves howled as they had heard them in Kentucky, distant and desolate; and the great owls, particularly when there were cloud-rings abou. the moon, hooted in the same dismal style, making the arches of the forest roar, lha river was noL bo Droau or swift as that in Kentucky, but had the same glitter in the sun, and the same sound on the sands. But there was a difference in their surroundings. The scowling, half naked warriors, and their rough guttural voices and ludicrous (or awful) solemnity, were contrasted with the pleasant facs, kind words, and welcome 3mi!es of fun and affection of the rangers their guardians at the homeStation, from whose care they ro heedlessly strayed. The squaws too, were like beasts of burden, stupid. gross, and in al! things wanting neatness; and the children were like very imps, agile as cats, mischievous csdevils, and passionate as wild hogs. Happily the Woods Hag. over whom had fallen a change som glimpse of light had struggled up through the mists of a score of years, dimly, and revealing little. Emotions long strange had thrilled over the shattered cords of her bosom, and to a feverish, fierce impulse to be moving constantly, succeeded a deep thoughtfulness it was much as if the mind had gone to work to let the body rest. Happily this creature exerted the at jjpower which her supposed supernatural gms gaTe ner over ine mutans, to taue the fair captiesunder her care, and that of the 'White Panther. her Richard, their friend on the journey of captivity. Some Indian families would have adoptea the white girls, and some of the brave would have been satisfied to have permitted lhm to share their wigwams and blankets, but the Hag, with the vehement ferocity of a pantheress guarding her young, took them and watched over them in her house, and none dared interfere, lest they should vex her into a towertng rage, and then she might launch x come tremendous thunderbolt of a spell upon the offenders, annihilating them for

ever. She might use some of thofe dread secrets of nature which she had gathered in the lonely woods on dark and stormy nights, which she had passed, unaccompanied but by beings of substance other than flesh. Now, her influence was on the wane. She wandered about uo more, and the Indians begnn to suspect that some a'rehwitch had put a sp;ll upon her. They regarded her curiously and with some old remains of veneration too, but . the old braves and soma of the young ones also (the human rascals) complained that she kept the pretty white squaws shut up, and would not let them raise corn and pappooses which according to their political (or social) economy, was wasteful ami otfensive to public propriety and private good taste. This evening they ;eclined in a sisterly embrace on the ottoman of skins by the door, and the soft south wind breathed over them balmily and more than honied sweetness exhaled from the rich hearts of swelling buds came to them on its voluptuous wings. Tlu sun went down, and the whipporwill's quaint, monotonous, plaintive song was heard at the edge of the wood. The sky was clear as a pure woman's eye; it had that day been washed by showers of tears in which a squadron of glittering clou 13 had wept themselves utterly away, and the night bird had not sung long iu the gloom, before the moon that world where, if its calm face shines truth, young love is blest forever appeared, and looking down with pity, perhaps, upon thai vast and majestic woods which she had so often so long, illuminated with her glory, and which she saw was so soon to be hewn down and burned from her sight. The multitude of uog3 about the village howled a doleful bat powerful chou3 to the whipporwill, and tried vigorously to stare the huntress of the night oat of countenance; but as U3ual she moved on her course showering lavishly the arrows of silver from her inexhaustible quiver. I But why a moon at all? Of what particular use is the moon in this case? Let me have no mor j of moons until they become a necessity says the hackneyed critic, (such things do dip into newspapers) whose ears prick up and lay back

slightly at the sight of old Luna, lie is j specially savage on the moons of youngerly writers, slashing them up in all their full-orbed beauty, as a thirsty plow-boy opens and devours a yellow-bellied watermelon both individuals throwing away the rinds und spitting out the seed? using only the sweet water. Why havea'moon. Sir? Bight here is a chance for some pyrotechnic rhetoric about the moonlight of the soul, etc., which would be sure to overcome you. but you are unworthy even a Chinese warlike demonstration on paper, and may pass that; but there tffla a moon. That identical pale luminary shone sixty years ago as now, occasionally, and thtre has been a vast deal of courting and coon hunting done by it In the meantime, and the probability is that it will shine with its old fashioned variations for sixty years longer, and we trust that it may, for it remembers all the secrets worth keeping that are whispered on the night airthat it brightens, and the world would be better, and quiie as wise, if it remembered that. So Iloll on silver moon.'j Patsy and Mary talked oftenest and longest of their fathers and mothers, and their old homes in Pennsylvania and Virginia. The fragment of their existence passed in Kentucky seemrea a part of the same ghastly fever-vision that oppressed in their savage tenement. All was unreal, but their old homes. They lived over again their lives in them, and wondered why God had not had them born in the Same house, that they might have played together in infancy, and remained all their lives companions. It wasstfinge that they would not have met, if their fathers had not moved to the backwoods. Could they have lived without knowing each other? They told each othr all their young joys and tribulations, and revealed minutely the interior life of their respective families. Patsy had little to tell of her family, but happiness. Death had taken a brother and sister, but time was soothing, and she knew that they had a brighter home iua better country. Mary had much to say of sorrow, of lingering and .broken hopes. Her great loss was that of her sister Sallie. She had other sisters, and brothers beside William, but had never been familiar with them, as they were married and gone from the home circle before her intellect grew large. Many things mournful thing9, were suggested to Mary, when she looked long at her queer host and hostess. There v.-as an indefinable something, she strove often to find what, in their faces which she had seen elsewhere which had been familiar with her young life. There were associations linked with them, certainly. Thoughts or very vivid dreams had been of them before. The girls were talking to themselves of the young man in the corner the veritable white panther, and a rather handsome and amiable panther they thought him too, (especially so thought the fair haired Patsy) not at all inclined to be ferocious rather kind and tender in his acts and words, teeth sharp and glistening, but not in tha style of fangs, and covered lips that looked as if they would tremble oftener with grief than of anger, and wert fonder of fresh kisses than fresh blood. Said Patsy 'Mary, it has sometimes appeared to me that he looked a little in the face like your brother William a little so. Haven't you ever thought SO?' Yes, I believe I have. I never thought

so much or strongly, though. But there is a little something like William. And there is one thing on my mind I will mention. Does:i't she look a little like my mother a very little, but a little. ; Two or three times I thought she did, and I have both tried to think and not to think so. She has some likeness to your mother. Igaess, but it is very slight. The forehead has most resemblance. But this thing of likeness is mostly nonsense, any how that is of likeness among strangers. See Mary, the moon is up. It is touching the top of the old elm by the door. How very black the shady side of the tree is.' Yes, all the dogs are barking at the moon. The owls think it is going to rain and say so to each oilier; end the foolish whipporwills keep up their lament about nothing.' About nothing, Mary how do we know but they are scattered from their friends as we are, and sing to keep their hearts from breaking.' But they don't sing. They merely hallo, hallo all the time.' 'Richard is done moulding bullets, and U thinking about the fire from the way

he looks into it. And I cuess that shit is asleep. But may be not. Who'd a thought there were such people in the world if we had not seen them?' And what would have become of us if i it had not been for them? What could we do alone with the Injuns? Its queer too, that we are here a '.hole family of white folks living in an Injun town together. What if thev -would murder us all, burn us up some night?' What if the hunters from Kentucky would come and burn the Injuns and us our own folks helping to kill us?' That is too dreadful. God would not let them do that I don't believe.' At this there was a pause. Presently the White Panther came from tha corner and stood erect outside the door. The. moon was then giving a bright side to every thing even to the world, half of which glistened in the soft splendor. He walked twice round the hut, and then standing near thegirh, asked abruptly Would you like to go home?' There was no spoken answer. There was a tremulous gasp, by each listener, and upturned faces with eyes strained solicitously upon the questioner; replied. lie then told them in hasty words that the Indians were dissatisfied with the state of affairs regarding them, and being no longer in fear of Sallie, whose wildness had lapsed suddenly into stupidity, il had been determined to hold a grand council soon, an I decide whether they should be married, and if so. to whom, or be sent to Canada for ran?om; and there was an alternative which he did not U3me it would have terrified them. He proposed not to wait for the action of the council, but attempt an escape the next dark night. If they could walk as far in a day homeward, as they had when dragged from the station, and going the other way, he had no doubt he could save them. He had a desire to live with the long-knives himself, and would stay with them whereupon Patsy blushed a very little, which he did .not observe, and would not have appreciated if he had. He thought that Sallie would go along, and if she wouldn't--he tlid not know what then. The White Hag lifted her head, and her great eyes shone with a new light as she listened. CHAPTER IX.. The fight of her young sister had stirred the long, almost dormant reason of poor Sallie Grey. As a person at night, or when partially blind, can seethe form of a window, but not that which is beyond; for a time she saw that Mary was her sister. But her shattered mind could not compass the score of years she had passed in the woods in a half-waking state, and the new circumstances which surrounded her. Yet she became conscious of shame. Her desire to rove about the woods of nights, and to make long mysterious journeys, was no more. Her wild courage and giddy prophetic bearing were gone. To the Indians the spell of weird power was broken. Her son deemed her sick. She had, through the years of his childhood, whenever alone with him, talked much in the language of her youth; and much knowledge, broken and dim though it was, he had gathed from her words, but now she was silent. And all the while the light at the darkened windows of the ruined temple of her intellect, was brightening. That which she had told Richard of cities, of palaces, of ships and towers, and cultivated fields, and the wonders of civilization, had given him a vague desire to know more of them. She had told him too, of beautiful women in robes of brightness; such that he might not imagine their fineness and beauty, and of music bewitchingly sweet, that stole away the hours and senses, bathing the soul in rapture. But Ehe told him also of darkners and deceit, of treachery more villainous than the Redman's, and infamy whose blackness he could not conceive; and she called the world of the woods her home and consolation. Her crazed eloqunce at times, was awful in its pathos and earnestness; and he believed in her, as she told him to believe in the Heaven, which she pointed toward, as pillared above the stars. The beautiful captives, of whom he had the care, we to him the representative of the grand ladies who floated in music and beauty, in the proud cities, of which he had been told by his strange mother when they were alone, oftentimes. And his heart's bestaspirations followed them home, and nestled there. He thought of them" sleeping and waking, when hunting

and at home. No hunter was so vigilant and constant as he, and his energy was met with success su-h that several families of warriors that had fall?n in battle, feasted off' his protSigal bounty. The idea of flying from the village did not.originate iu a day, but came on gradually, ami almost before he was aware of having' though: of a matter of so much moment, he was plotting for its consummation; and his action was hastened by the determination to hold a council, the decision of which would inevitably be at war with his wishes, & destruction to hopes which were dear, though but fledging. His preposition to leave the village, made in a hasty moment to the girls, and not intended for Sallie. startled and still farther enlarged and awakenpd her. I will go with you she said: 'I will guide you beyond pursuit, and we will live, will live again.' and a gleam of the old wild fire flashed iu her eye, and she arose again in the ecstacy of physical energy, which had carried her so often through such hardships and distances. The Indians looked with distrust upon the family of whites in their midst. Trie thought was kindled ainomrst them that there was danger to them in that household of whites kept so strictly apart; and the idea was foster d, and growing, bred misgiving and something like jealousy, and hate of the White Panther and those around him. Though Richard was a good hunter, and was the companion of their braves in war and in sport, and had in no way specially offended, he fell into discredit, and was treated with shyness. Tho propitious dark iiight waited for cruise, and it was tho Inst but cne before the hated and dreaded council was to bo held. Tho sky was full of clouds, so that no stars wero visible. And tho moon was hidden, but in spilo of tho prevailing vapors, it shed a ghastly, dim light that seemed but to make moro shadows and gloin. A few fine drops of rain were sifted like spray by tho brifk wind, which hurried eastward tho cloudy hosts. Richard and Sallie, Patsy and Mary, left tho hut, and moving noiselessly through tho town, passed tho wall by means of an Indian ladder, and without any token of alarm, reached tho woods. The ins.mo strength and ardor of Sallie revived, and she led tho way. Tho direction taken was not toward tho whito settlements exactly, but oblique to that c:urso, and led dee; into the western woods. The woods hag knew preciscdy how to movo, and without losing a step by doublings and turnings, or hesitant zig zngs.kept straight on. Where they fled was just then n secondary matter to getting away. Distance between them und tho village by the Stillwater, was tha object tho currency was miles. Their hegira commenced some hours beforo midnight, and by that limo they had made several milos, an 1 the rain began to fall fast and tho wind to freshen. Tho girls grew weary, but were animated to great efforts by the hope of seeing friends onco moro, and kept on valiantly. When n steep placo was to bo ascended, Richard, or Saliie,. or both, helped them, and they kept unwaveringly on. Sometimes but slow progress tould bo made owing to tho darkness and tho underbrush, and thickly planted trees, but they kept constantly pushiug ahead, and were Raining all the timo. If tho rain had fallen on purpose to aid them, it would not have been more felicitous. It) obliiertted at oncecvery trace of their progress. When their departure would be discovered, thero would be nothing to guide a pursuit, and their chances of easy success were greatly augmented. Morning dawned, but to bring thern no rest. Patsy and Mary wero supported by hope, and when tho fiist feeling of weariness was over thoy seemed insensiblo to fatigue, and displayed by thoir persevering movements amazing powers of endurance. Their course was st far nnd continuously wido of tho lino of flight which was certainly to bo expected they would lake, that on the second day out, they began to feel ßomo sense of present security. The girls, in spilo of their fortitude and bei efforts to bo heroines, were nearly incapable of further exertion. They had been liurried along almost without food or rest for two days and nights, and now w hen

they moved, they were as persona walking in sleep. Sallie, too. by slow degrocs, was rolapsing into that stupor which had sometime previous fallen upon her. and tho necessity of immediate rest and refreshment at whatever cost, was imperative. Tho White Hag romembercd, beyond a river and little further nlong, an enormous hollaw tree that stood in a shell liko valley, vrhoro they might rest until sufficient strength was regained to carry them to their hoped for destination. Tho river was reached. A raft was constructed by bindingthreo logs together with the skin of n Luck which was brought down by the riflo of Richard, and upon this frail, uncertain, tottoring structure tho broad glassy stream was passed in safety, and n little alter dark tho tree was found, and on the dry leaves that had accumulated in theshelior and been preserved through winter, the worn fugitives gave their barrassed limbs repose. Tho treo was n gigantic specimen of Elm. Its height wus not specially conspicuous, as many as tall or nearly so towered around; nor was its top immense, but about the roots it was spacious. Some fifteen feet from tho root it began to expand, and at tho lovol t f the ground was moro than a rod in diameter. Its proportions suggested the idea of a large bark tent, of irregular outline, tapering to a point from which grow a tree. The shell of tho tree at tho hollow was moro than a foot in thickness, gi cen and solid, while tho hollow was ahapod like the interior of n funnol,and was romarkably smooth and had two cntrancos. A more securo tent

could not have been formed. Richard walked round and round tho tree all night 1 niisernbiy wearv as ho wa?. It would : not do for all to sleep, for tha woods was

full of ferociou? animals, and the great s

' hollow tree, it was reasonable to suppose, , passed from my brain; and though it setwas a haunt fur some of them. The storm j ties upon me yet, some times, it is not so ' which had favored his flight was over j bleak as it was, and when I go to think hours ngone. Tho rain had beaten down ! that fire docs not burn. My old home, i the leaves, so that his footsteps were noise- j our old home, for I saw you when a babe, i less. Tim mrinn was rnntpnrtir r with ! Marv. does not seem so awfully distant

! shattered cloud-fleets for tho mastery of ....... - - - - - - - o .-I the j-kie?, and when its full splendor was poured over tho forest, tho young leaves I wero visible shining timidly m tho soil I light. j Nothing occurred during tho nigh! to startle him or that called tor warlike nc ' tion. In tho morning, ho built a large I fire and cooked venison for breakfast. Patsy was the first to wake, and rising from her rude couch, camo to him, whero j he was attending to the culinary b.Jsines and with a smile that was fair as the morning, asked if ho had rested well. He had an answei ing smile for her, and knew enough to say that he rested excellently ; in seeing that her slumbers were not . dis -j turbed. Sho could not comprehend at ! first that he had not slept, " but prcscidly ' understood it, and her thanks and sympa- ! thy were sweet and grateful; as the enrcss- ! cs from-arms pined for, but that aro nevj cr to surround us, which com3 in dreams. Tho fat venison was roasting hv the fire j and its savory steam and tho smoke of the rich, dripping gravy, which trickled like tho tears of despairing love into the r'.shcs, blended, nnt altogether iuharmoniousiy, with the odor of buds and the balm from the dew on now leaves. With his tomahawk Richer! midi a nico plate from bark which ho tore off a hickory tree; and from wood of th& nme kind speedily, with the aid of his hunting knife, he manufactured a passible and unJ der the circumstances convenient substi tute for a fork. Taking then a liberal slico of the stake, now done to a turn, he prcsonted it to Sallie on the bark plate, together with his hunting knife and the hickory fork, lie was too hungry himself to observe closely the progress made by Patsy in attending to the venison, and taking a liberal chunk between his finsrers, uevoureu a engeriy, and was not much alarmed or chagrined at the fact that, in his haste, a small quantity of the aromatic gravy escaped ut each corner of his mouth. While thus cngcgeJ, in better businew perhaps than admiring the beauties of nature, for tho time, tho others of tho party awoke, and assisted in their appropriate and righteous occupation of masticating venison tho meat of meats. Having dispatched his genorous repast, Richard sought that rest he so much neeu ed. Leaning i ins rifle insido tho trae whero it would bo within reach and ready for instant sorvice, nnd directing his companions to remain near and bo watchful, he laid down and was soon asleep. The valley in which the groat hollow elm stood, contained about two pqnare miles of levol land, and was shut in on three sidea by sturdy hills crowned with oaks. It was open to the south, and the small stream which carried off its superfluous waters had but a short journey beforo it fell into a line river which rollet) away to tho south west, a broad tilvcry tido that after some thirty miles winding, was swollowfsd in tho broader Ohio. This valley was shaded by a heavy growth of walnut, burr oak, hickory, and mnplo trees, whose aspiring tops and portly trunks gave evidence of tho richness of the soil in which they wero rooted. Around tho edge of the hill at short intervals, bright springs gushed lorth and joining their tiny tributes of overflowing waters, mado a gladsome glittering stream whoso course was marked by tho white limbs of tall lair sycamores. Tho hollow elm stood near the oastern e-3ge of tho valley, and but a fow rods from its roots a spring threw its crystal treasures sparkling into tho light from beneath the brow of a moss spangled rock. As Pntsy and Mary strolled about during the day, "they found in many spots clusters of wild spring flowers, whoso pensive and delicate beauty, seemed remarkable from their rough surroundings. Tho woods were full of life. The frolicsomo squirrels were chattering from tho long lopling limbs where they sought buds to exercise their sharp teeth, and were indulging in various antic prank, such as were warrantable only to their springy muscles and4giddy dispositions. Tho birds wero merry, ond their happy little bosoms overflowed with song, while the y fluted about the green branches busy and bright as butterflies. As tho sun shone straight down through tho tree tops, Sallio was seated with Mary on a failen trunk, while Patsy, was a few paces aside, and enquired, as moved by a quick, uncontrollable impulse, VDo you know me?' Mary did not. or pretended not to understand the allusion, and replied simply yes.' Aye said Sallie, 'you know what I am now, but do you know what I have been?' Mary had often hnd a glimmering thought that tha White ling of tho woods could bo none other than her long lost sister, but was silent at this question and turned upon the inquirer troubled anxious look, You have heard of one who was missing from your family one who brought trouble, and it may be Tuin, upen her home one who deserted her father and mother, and her Oed I am she! Mary put her arm around tho neck cf her strange sister, and theij tears felljto-i gbther. 1 know you Mary,' continued Sallie, on tho night when I found you n prisoner.

I saw the eyes of my own youth, it seemed, look up at me in alatm, and a black mist, with fire inside that gave no light though it burned always how lone I do

j hot know, for I have forgotten the years, GS -J as once, it appeared to oeiong to nnoincr world, and mountains of fire and oceans of blood wero lifted and rolling between it and myself. I can think of it now without a flame before my eyes. These tears have washed my sight, and I can see the three oak trees, ond all the fields and fences, the woods and waters yes and the barn yard fowls and tho cattlo nnd horses. 1 had friends that loved me and that I loved, among the poor brutes. 1 never will see thctn again I know. When I did not remember my childhood's home, I had not forgotten the City. I.s churches and towers, and its streets which I best knew were with me always a hateful, splendid Eight. Yet I rememher some of it3 richncs, and tho luxuries of tho home I had there. I loft them an i found myself in tho wilderness, with otdy tho recollection of passing home, to fill tho void of time and space -between. From listening to you and Patsy, I learned that my father and mother wero yet alive and far from our olJ home. I have a longing to see them, and then I want to die, and I will. They need not know me. I will not go to tho house with you. Leavp mo in the woods. I will go at night nt-d look through tho window at them s they sit by the fire look at them all night as thev sit thero and then go.' But then Mary told her r tho great hungering of her parents to see her, and the joy with which she would be welcomed. And Sallie, rising to her feet, surveyed her person with n melancholy stare looked at her bny hands ani savage garments, and taking up some locks of her long hair, regarded that and ran her fingers through its tangled wealth. Then she hurried to the rivulet which ran from the near spring, and finding a little pool, flung herself upon the ground and scrutinized her features as reflected there, with somber earnestness. The contrast between her sunken eye , withered lips and cheeks, and bony brow, overshadowed by shaggy, black hair, and tho old recollection of her face, as seen in another mirror, was dreadful; and that Hack mountain of mist, with interior burnings, which had oppressed reason in a horrible celipro so long, eeemed on the point ot rolling back to usurp forever its ancient domain. Her agony was keen, tut though bordering upon that intensity which Li'mgs delirium, was conquerable, rnd she triumphed the desire ot her heart to see her parents gavo the victory. Sho knew well that her life was wasted, nnd that her limbs would be retreshed aiid her brain cooled, but in the dampness cf the grave. Yet fortunately for her, thf sharpest sting of misfortune was blunted in that sho had lived so long in comparative loneliness, where her thoughts though broken, vague and wanderjmj, were, with her affections, unrestrained, and sho had been allowed to love her son without hearing tho hisses of the world, and bearing its contumely that sho was not olive to the scathing remorso and burning bitterness of self-condemnation, which had made her a maniac and savago. The siroc of passion had spent its fury on her head, and like a lightning blasted tree, stricken to tho heart by the bolt of heaven, nnd stripped of its leaves and twigs by l hi storm, sho stood desolate but invulnerable, and uticcnccrncd as to tho coming of the final shock whether the winds were taken with balm or poison, with tho fragrance of flowers of sulphurous smoke, was indifferent. On a huge root of the elm in the hollow of which thev had made their tempo i . i - . i rary home, as tho afternoon un was pouring its golden, glorious light thraugh the olden wood?, sat Patsy and Mary, talking in that whispered tonegirls love so well. 4Ä7iismy lost sister, of whom you havo heard me speak so often,' said Mary. It is as strange as nny story of theso woods tho hunters tell. And she is my sister!' And he is your cousin!' Y'es. 0. if wo get back, father ond mother will be happy so happy, if they live. 0, my dear father and mother, how do they doV How dreadful it must have been for them to know wo were taken bv the Indians! It was almost as sorrowful to them as if we had died. If they had buried us. thev could have visited our graves, but now they can't tell where on the earth wo are. O, wo must hurry bark to them; and how close wo will stay by them we never will go out of the station if wo get into it once more.' Richard slept until almost dark. When he emerged from the tree, rubbod open his eyes and stretched his limbs, the sunlight was fading even from the tops of tho tallest trees, and only the oaks on the hill met fully tho softened fire of the daygod's glance. It was necessary to find game for food and surprisod and a littlo vexed that he had slept so long, Richard took his riflo and looked about to biing down some animal in whose death he might find the means of life. Game was abundant, and befor dark, he-had killed a turkey and buck, and listened after each shot, not without some misgivings, to the proVinpod echoes that wero bandied about the circling ridgts.--The earliest hour of the - night, saw party in picturesque attitudes about a crack, ling fire, roasting the choice bits of deer and lurkoy for supper. ' ' ' . r. ' . f (COSCLUDLD NEXT WEf-K.)