Uttering a feeble shriek, Mrs. Heywood fell insensible within the threshold of the summer-house, while her daughter, less overwhelmed, but with feelings impossible to describe, stooped and chafed her mother's temples, and notwithstanding a horrid thought, which, despite her own will, shot through her mind, that the man to whom she had given every affection of her heart, was in some degree connected with this horrid spectacle, she called vehemently to him for a.s.sistance.

The situation of the perplexed officer was scarcely less painful. On the one hand, feeling all the necessity of retaining his grasp of Loup Garou, as the only means of preventing him from further uncovering of the body--on the other, urged by the summons of her, whom he knew, from her very manner, to be in possession of this fearful secret, his mind become a perfect chaos, and large drops of perspiration streamed from his brow. In this irritating dilemma, a sudden transport of rage took possession of his heart, and seizing Loup Garou with both his hands, he so compressed them around his throat, that the dog, already exhausted with his exertions, was half-strangled before being raised with a frantic effort, and dashed with violence upon the body he had so unhappily been instrumental in discovering.

Scarcely had this been done--a low moaning from Loup Garou, as if reproaching him for the act, alone denoting that he breathed, when the ensign flew up the steps of the summer-house, and regardless of the involuntary half-shudder of his betrothed, as he approached, caught the insensible invalid in his arms, and so carrying her, that her eyes, if she should open them, could not encounter the horrid spectacle below, again rapidly descended, and hurried towards the house. Maria Heywood, on pa.s.sing the rose-tree so recently prized, but now so abhorrent to her sight, could not resist a strong impulse to look upon the mysteries so strangely unveiled, but although the twilight had not yet pa.s.sed away, nothing could be seen but the displaced earth, and stretched over the excavation he himself had made, the motionless body of the dog.

Sick at heart, and with wild and unconnected images floating through her heated brain, she followed almost mechanically to the cottage.

This was no time for ceremony. When answering the loud ring, Catherine appeared hurriedly at the door, Ronayne bore his inanimate charge into her bedroom, and in silence and deep grief, sought, by every means in his power, to restore her. But all his efforts proving vain, he, in a state of mind difficult to describe, tore a leaf from his pocket-book, wrote a few hurried lines to Elmsley, requesting him to allow his wife to come over immediately with Von Vottenberg, and when they had departed, to call upon Captain Headley and explain the cause of his absence. This note he gave to Catherine, with instructions to cross in the boat which was waiting for himself, and to return with Mrs. Elmsley, or if she did not come, with the doctor.

When left together, beside the insensible body of Mrs. Heywood, the lovers experienced for the first time, a feeling of restraint, for in the hearts of both, were pa.s.sing thoughts which neither seemed desirous of imparting. But, Maria Heywood, gentle as she was, was not of a character long to endure the state of uncertainty under which she labored. The strange wild apprehensions which had arisen, she knew not how or why, had so preyed upon her quiet, that suspense became intolerable, and at length, addressing her lover in a voice, never more melancholy or touching than at that moment, and looking at him with an expression of deep sadness, while the large tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Ronayne, you know--you must have known--your whole conduct throughout this affair, proves you must have known of my poor father's death, and of his rude--almost insulting burial in that fatal spot. How he came hither, you best can tell. Oh! Harry, it is very cruel thus to have reposed the confidence of the entire soul, and then to have been disappointed. This cruel discovery will be the means of destroying my peace forever, unless you give the explanation which alone can restore our confidence in each other--yet how can I, with these glaring truths before my eyes, expect that you will?"

"Insulting burial! oh, Maria, I feel that I never loved you more than now when you would break my heart with this unkindness." He bent his head upon the same pillow, upon which reclined the unconscious head of the mother of the woman whom he so ardently loved, and wept tears of bitterness and sorrow.

"I cannot stand this, Ronayne, dear Ronayne, whatever you be--whatever you may have done, I love you with all the ardor of the most devoted soul! But," she continued, more composedly, "forgive me, if my feelings and my judgment are at issue. One question I must ask, cost what it may, for I cannot longer endure this agony of suspense--no, for your sake I cannot endure it. How is it that you have always made a secret--a mystery even to me, of the motive of your absence on that fatal night succeeding the ma.s.sacre at the firm."

"Dear Maria. I can well forgive the question in the excitement which must have been produced in you by the startling events of this evening."

"Ronayne," she mournfully interrupted--"your sudden interference with the dog--your struggle with him--nay, your very manner of speaking now, convince me that you knew my father lay buried beneath that rose-tree.

In candor, answer me. Yes or no."

"And, admitting I had had that knowledge, Maria--can you imagine no good reason for my forbearing all allusion to the subject?"

"Yet, why conceal the fact from one who had supposed you could have no concealment from her--and then again, how am I to reconcile the circ.u.mstance of my poor father having been reported to be a prisoner--a report which, sanctioned by yourself, left me not utterly hopeless--and the fact of his burial here--evidently with your knowledge."

"Maria," returned Ronayne, impressively, and with an expression of much pain at the remark, "as I have already said, I can make every allowance, in recollection of the painful scene of which I have, in some degree, been the cause, but is it generous--is it quite appreciating my character and my feelings towards yourself, to doubt that I had intended from the first, and at a fitting moment, to explain every thing to you?"

Again was the confidence of the generous girl established, and with almost pa.s.sionate warmth, she exclaimed. "Oh! Ronayne, forgive--forgive me, but this melancholy--this harrowing occurrence has made me so far not myself--that I almost hate myself. Tell me, dear Ronayne, do you forgive me?"

"Yes, from the bottom of my soul, do I forgive you, and yet, dearest, there is nothing to forgive, for how could it be otherwise, than that your poor and sorely tried heart should be subjected to wild imaginings inexplicable to yourself. The ordeal to which you have been submitted, is a severe one, but I am sure your oppressed heart will be greatly lightened when you shall have been in possession of the truth connected with this most melancholy affair--your regard for me, will if possible, be even greater than before. Pardon this seeming vanity. I make the a.s.sertion because I know it will not a little console you, under this terrible infliction."

It was a strange sight, that of these lovers, hitherto so devoted and now only temporarily half-doubting, talking of the fate of one parent while leaning over the apparent death-bed of the other.

"Ronayne, dear Ronayne, I am satisfied--fully, wholly satisfied, and as you observe, the a.s.surance which you have now given me, will form my chief support under this double affliction," and she pointed, weeping, to her mother, whose scarcely perceptible breathing alone attested that she lived.

"Maria," he said tenderly and gravely, as he took her hand in his, over the invalid--"the hour of your promise is come--the fate of your father is known--would that it had been less abruptly revealed--and were other inducement to keep it wanting, is it not to be found here? But at this moment I will ask nothing which you may feel reluctance in granting.

To-morrow we will speak of this again--to-morrow you shall know how much I have sought--how much I have risked--to soften the pang which I knew would, soon or late be inflicted on her whom I so love."

"Generous--kind--considerate Ronayne, I can fully understand you, yet, ah! what must you think of me, who could for a moment doubt your power to explain every act of your life, however ambiguous in appearance. But what is that paper you have taken from your pocket-book?"

"One that I have long designed for your perusal. It was written a few days after the events at the farm, and I have since then frequently determined to place it in your hands in order that, in the sacredness of solitude, you might indulge in the bitter tears its few pages will wring from you; but too selfish--yes, selfish, and severely am I punished for it--to suffer the joy of the hour to be broken in upon by sadness, I have hitherto delayed putting you in possession of that which, if only communicated a day earlier, would have spared us this painful scene. But I hear footsteps approaching. They must be those of Mrs. Elmsley and the doctor, with Catherine. Be not surprised, dearest, if I leave you soon after they enter, for I have something to do this evening which will require my presence in the Fort. Early in the morning, however, I shall be here."

"I understand well what demands your presence elsewhere," she returned with a look of deep grat.i.tude and love. "Oh! Ronayne, whatever may happen," and the tears streamed down her pale face, as she pointed to her mother--"hear me declare that whatever you may ask of me one month hence, I shall not consider myself justified in refusing."

Scarcely had he time to impress upon her lips his deep but chastened sense of happiness, when the party expected, entered the room--Von Vottenberg immediately applying himself to an examination of the patient, whose condition, it was evident from his unusually grave look, he conceived to be highly critical.

Dreading to hear his opinion p.r.o.nounced in the presence of his betrothed, and the more so, because he had in some degree been its cause, the young officer, after having warmly shaken hands with Mrs.

Elmsley, whom he thanked for her prompt attention, urged her to do all in her power to soothe Maria, to whom, at parting, he also offered his hand, while his eye was eloquent with the feelings he could not well openly express.

He first directed his course towards the rose-bush, and approached it with a feeling almost similar to what would have been experienced by him, had he been the actual murderer of Mr. Heywood. Loup Garou was sitting crouched near the head and was so far recovered as to growl rather fiercely at him, as he approached. On hearing the voice of his master, not in anger but in conciliation, he arose, slightly wagged his tail, and came forward slowly and crouching, as if in dread of further punishment, his lip uncurled, showing all his upper teeth, and with a short, quick sneeze, peculiar to his half-wolf-blooded race.

Calling gently to the animal, he preceded him to the gate, desiring him to wait there until he returned--an injunction evidently understood by the dog, which, crouching down in his accustomed posture, ventured not to move. With the small spud, already alluded to, and then near the rose-tree, he put back in small quant.i.ties the displaced earth, until the ghastly face, indistinctly seen in the star-light, was again wholly hidden from view. This done, he approached the bank of the river, followed by the dog, and gave a shrill whistle, which, without being answered, speedily brought over the boat in which he now embarked for the opposite sh.o.r.e.

His first care was to seek Elmsley, who, as officer of the guard, was up accoutred for duty, and was now looking over an old "Washington Intelligencer," that had been read at least a dozen times before, while he smoked his pipe and sipped from a bowl of whisky punch, which Von Vottenberg had just finished brewing, when so suddenly summoned to the cottage.

After Ronayne had detailed to his friend the occurrences of the evening, and communicated his views, they both issued forth to the guard-room, where Sergeant Nixon happened to be upon duty. With the latter, a brief conversation was held by Ronayne, ending with an injunction for him to come to Lieutenant Elmsley's quarters and announce to him (the former), when certain arrangements which had been agreed upon, were completed.

Returned to the abode of the latter, the young officer required no very great pressing to induce him to join his superior in the beverage, to which anxiety of mind not less than fatigue of body had so much disposed him, yet of which both partook moderately. While so employed, and awaiting the appearance of the sergeant, Ronayne, who had now no motive for further mystery or concealment, detailed at the request of his friend, but in much more succinct terms than he had done in the paper he had handed to Maria Heywood, the circ.u.mstances connected with his absence from the Fort, on the night of the attack upon the farm, and the means taken by him to attain the object in which he had been thwarted by Captain Headley.

CHAPTER XII.

"You dam Yankee, stop Injin when him go wigwam," commenced Ronayne, rising at the same time and imitating the action of one unsteady from intoxication. "'Spose tell him gubbernor?"

"Ah! you horrid wretch--I see it all now, yet could I have been so imposed upon? You then were the pretended drunken Indian I let out that night? Upon my word, Master Ronayne. I never will forgive you for that trick."

"Yes you will, old fellow. It was the only way to save you from a sc.r.a.pe, but I confess I have often since laughed in my sleeve at the recollection of the manner in which I deceived you."

"Hang me if you didn't play your part to admiration, but the best of the jest is, that on reporting the circ.u.mstance to Headley, on the following morning, he said I had acted perfectly right; so had you known this when you had that scene on the parade, you might have pleaded his sanction.

However, all that is over. Now then for your adventure."

"The tale is soon told," began Ronayne. "On the evening when you and Von Vottenberg were so busy, the one in concocting his whisky-punch--the other in cutting up the Virginia, I was sacking my brain for a means to accomplish my desire to reach the farm, where I had a strong presentiment, from the lateness of the hour, without bringing any tidings of them, the fishing-party were, with Mr. Heywood and his people, in a state of siege, and I at length decided on what seemed to me to be the only available plan. I was not sorry to see you leave after taking your second gla.s.s, for I knew that I should have little difficulty in sewing up the doctor, whose tumbler I repeatedly filled, and made him drink off after sundry toasts, while he did not perceive--or was by no means sorry if he did--that I merely sipped from my own. When I thought he had swallowed enough to prevent him from interfering with my project, I bade him good night and left him, knowing well that in less than ten minutes he would be asleep. Instead, however, of going to bed, I hastened at once to preliminaries, having first got rid of my servant whom I did not wish to implicate, by making him acquainted with my intended absence. But tell me, did you examine my room at all the next day?"

"I did."

"And found nothing missing?"

"Nothing. I scouted everywhere, and found only yourself wanting--the bed unrumpled, and everything in perfect bachelor order."

"And that leather dress, my dear fellow, in which I once paid a visit to the camp of Winnebeg, from whose squaw, indeed, I had bought it. You know it generally hangs against the wall at the foot of my bed."

"Ah! now I recollect, that was not there certainly, although I did not notice its absence then--so then, that was the dress you went out in, and I such a goose as not to remark it."

"Because you know that I had had the precaution to throw a blanket over it in the most approved Pottawattamie style, while my features were colored with gambouge and Indian ink."

"Well, say no more about that--I am ashamed to have been so taken in by a Johnny Raw. We will now suppose you kicked out of the Fort. Did I not kick you out," he added humorously, "and say, begone, you drunken dog, and never show your ugly face here again!"

"On the contrary," returned his junior in the same mocking strain, "you were but too glad to be civil when I threatened you with the 'gubbernor!'"

"Once out of the Fort," he gravely continued, "my course was plain. I immediately went to the wigwam of Winnebeg, whom I found seated, with his toes almost in the embers of an expiring fire, and smoking his last pipe previous to wrapping himself up for the night in his blanket.

You may imagine his surprise, when, after some little difficulty, he recognized in that garb, and at that hour, particularly after the events of the day, with which he had been made acquainted by Mr. Frazer, before the latter, with his family, took refuge in the Fort. Still, true to the dignified reserve of his race, he concealed as much as possible what was pa.s.sing in his mind, and made me sit by his side, near which, I have omitted to say, was an extremely handsome young Indian, whom he presented to me as his son, and then bade me tell him the object of my visit.

"Of course I knew enough of Indian etiquette to be satisfied that I should gain by not attempting to hurry matters, and I accordingly suppressed my own impatience while taking a few whiffs from the pipe he courteously offered to me. Winnebeg then received it back, and while he sat with his eyes fixed intently on the fire, puffed away in an att.i.tude of profound attention which encouraged me to proceed.

"When he had heard all I had to say in regard to the fears I entertained for the absent party--for I did not confine my profession of interest to ONE--my vain application to the commandant, and my strong reliance upon him to send a party of his young men with me to the farm, his eye suddenly kindled--his countenance a.s.sumed a more animated expression, and removing the pipe from his lips, and puffing forth a more than usual volume of smoke, he cordially shook my hands, saying something in Indian to his son, who immediately sprang to his feet, and disappeared from the tent.