CAPTURE AND ESCAPE

How long Matthew slept, he could not tell, but suddenly he was awake, and some one was holding his hand over his mouth.

In the darkness the form seemed large and grotesque, and his first impulse was to cast aside the hand and to cry out.

But then he heard a soft voice spoken almost in a whisper, and he recognized Fred.

“Matthew,” Fred whispered, “come to yourself; awake, and sit up. I have something to tell you. Where is Agnes?”

“She went away to look for you,” Matthew replied; “she left a long, long time ago.”

Fred could not suppress a painful cry.

“And she didn’t come back?” he asked excitedly.

“No,” Matthew muttered.

“Then she, too, was captured,” Fred explained sorrowfully, “and she is in the hands of the Indians.”

“Oh! Oh!” Matthew cried bursting into tears. “What have I done?”

“Be silent now,” Fred warned him. “The Indians are following me. Let me briefly tell you how it all came about. I crept up to the place where the boat was hidden, but found it one. There was no noise, and so I thought I was safe. The boat might have slipped down into the stream. I stood up and looked, when suddenly the Indians seized me, tied me, muzzled me, and carried me off up the bank.”

Matthew looked at him with dread written all over his face.

“Fred,” he said, “you were captured?”

“Yes,” the other replied, “I was, and those cowards at once took me into the woods, where quite a large band of Pequots were assembled.”

“I thought there were only a few,” Matthew interrupted him; “just a mere scouting party.”

“There was originally,” Fred continued, “but It seems as if they were joined by another scouting party, and there were even women with them. The Indians are shrewd and clever, much more than we white people think. While the main troop is going west, scouting parties are all over the woods, watching the movements of the whites, and killing off individuals or families as they find them. They are mopping up the woods, ridding them of the white foes. They are doing thorough work.”

“But how did you escape?” Matthew asked.

“That wasn’t hard,” Fred answered; “as soon as they had taken me into the woods, I became very angry, and as well as I could I commanded them to remove the gag from my mouth. I spoke to them in the Pequot language, and this made an impression on them.”

“How fortunate that we know that tongue!” Matthew exclaimed. “If I am caught, I know what to do.”

“You never will be caught,” Fred said emphatically; “I won’t let you. If I hadn’t been dreaming and forgetting the danger I was in, they never would have got me. But I learned a lesson.”

“But tell me your story to the end,” Matthew begged. “It is so interesting.”

“Well,” Fred started, “when they had removed the gag, I first fumed and scolded, much to their delight, for they kept on laughing as I rebuked them.”

“I called them cowards who could do nothing else but seize little boys, and them unarmed. This amused them very much, and finally one after another stole away to the fire where the women were broiling large pieces of meat. Seeing that, I demanded food also, and at last an old squaw had pity on me and brought me a rich supply. Here is some of it; We may need it on our way. Lucky, that we have at least one musket! Mine the Indians took.”

“But what then?” Matthew asked inquisitively. “How did you get away?”

“When the darkness fell over the camp,” Fred related, “they simply lay down to sleep, after they had tied me to a tree. The Indian who attended to the work, must have liked me, for he took pains that the sinews were not strung too tightly. So what could I do? While they were sleeping, I cleared my hands, cut the bands, and slipped away from them. And look what I took along?”

He held up a large scalping knife.

“Where did you get that?” Matthew exclaimed in astonishment. “That knife will be very valuable to us.”

“The scout was sleeping,” Fred said, “though he was supposed to watch, and I crept up to him and removed it for safety’s sake.”

“You are quite a hero,” Matthew praised him; “I could never be so brave as that.”

“There was little bravery,” Fred said contemptuously; “the Indians are not careful; they just began the war; later they will take more care of their prisoners. Now they still despise the whites.”

“But what shall we do now?” Matthew asked. “We cannot stay here all night.”

“That is true,” Fred answered; “we must be going; but first let us thank the Lord for His goodness. Without Him we can do nothing. It is He who hitherto has helped us, and may He bring Agnes back to us.”

After a brief pause in which both thanked the Lord, they departed, Fred carrying the musket, while Matthew held on to the knife.

Silently they crept up the high bank of the river through the deep brushwood, until they could see the Indian camp. But though they looked hard, the Indians were gone.

“What is the matter?” Matthew asked, as he looked at Fred with deep concern in his eyes. “I see no Indians.”

“Lie low,” Fred admonished him, “and follow me.”

The boys crept on, but the Indians were gone, not a trace could be found of them.

“Perhaps it is a trap,” Matthew commented; “we must be careful.” Deeper and deeper they pierced the woods. Dawn came, and day light, and the boys were still walking, but not a trace of the Indians could be seen. They had disappeared completely.

“Well, if they don’t bother us,” Fred remarked, “we shall not bother them. We are angels of peace, and don’t want war. So if they leave us alone, we are satisfied.”

“I should say so,” Matthew assented. “No war for me, if I can help it.”

“Suppose we lie down here,” Fred said after a while; “I am dead tired, and so are you. My head is spinning, and I cannot think clearly. ’He giveth His beloved sleep,’ says the holy Word.”

“You are right,” Matthew responded; “nothing could be more welcome to me than a good bed at this time, though I am still hungry.”

“If you are,” Fred said, “have some more Indian meat; it is very good, although it is rather rare. But the Indians like it that way.”

Matthew ate ravenously despite of the fact that the meat was only half done. But hunger is the best cook, as the proverb says, and he was not very fastidious. Anything would have tasted good to him just then.

“But don’t eat it all,” Fred admonished him; “we may need of it for dinner, though I hope that by that time we may have something better.”

“I will mind your admonition,” Matthew said smiling, as he plunged his teeth into the juicy bear meat.

Then they lay down and slept, as if they were at home and not in the Indian infested woods.

Yet they were safe, for the good Lord to whom they commended themselves before falling asleep, watched over them, better than they knew.