CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 FROM 
 
 B.P.Kingsbury 
 
„„ Cornell University Library 
 
 PS 3535.1 1593N4 
 
 ^''^ iiiinKifiiiSt Chautauqua Lake- or, Circ 
 
 3 1924 021 668 631 
 
PS 
 
THE JSTEME^IS 
 
 OF 
 
 CHAUTAUQUA LAKE 
 
 OR 
 
 CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE 
 
 By HON. A. B. RICHMOND 
 
 Author of " Leaves from the Diary of an Old Latryer," " Court and Prison," 
 
 "ACalm View from a Lawyer's Standpoint," "A Hawk in an 
 
 Eagle's Nest," "Intemperance and Crime," and 
 
 "A Review of the Seybert Commissioners." 
 
 "Bather than not aceomplUh my revenge, 
 Just or unjust, 1 would the world unhinge," 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 THE PROGRESSIVE THINKER PUBLISHING HOUSE 
 
 190I 
 
 • ■! r.;i;AUY 
 
Copyright 1901 
 
 BY 
 
 A. B. RICHMOND. 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 '"TVlio would with care some happy fiction frame. 
 So mimics truth, it looks the very same." 
 
 — Granville. 
 
 Fiction is often truth colored by the brush or pen of the 
 artist, or moulded by the chisel of the sculptor. 
 
 When I was a child my father lived in the village of 
 Westfield, Chautauqua county, N. Y. He was a physician 
 and surgeon whose practice extended over .the county and 
 portions of the country adjacent thereto. At that time 
 there resided a few miles from Westfield, an Indian doctor 
 named McEntosh or McEntire, I am not certain which. 
 He was a half-breed of the Cattaraugus tribe, very well ed- 
 ucated for the times and his surroundings, and possessed 
 of more than ordinary intelligence. He was a friend of 
 my father, whom he frequently consulted in relation to his 
 patients when their symptoms were beyond his ability to 
 diagnose. 
 
 One summer morning in the year 1833 he called on my 
 father to visit a patient with Mm who was sick in the vil- 
 lage of Mayville. At my earnest solicitation I was per- 
 mitted to accompany them. As we rode along he related 
 an old legend of the country which interested my boyish 
 curiosity very much, and which I have embodied in the 
 following story. In its narration I have preserved the 
 the names of the dramatis personae, and have narrated 
 the incidents of the story as I remember it to have been 
 narrated by the old doctor. 
 
 Sixty years ago I read it as briefly published in one of 
 the newspapers of western New York, and the tradition 
 will probably be remembered by a few of the old settlers 
 of Chautauqua county. I have only taken an author's 
 liberty to elaborate and paint its incidents with the feeble 
 pen of narration, yet they are substantially true as naj 
 rated by the earljr traditions of the countr.y. 
 
2 INTHODUCTION. 
 
 The incidents of the so-called whisky rebellion in West- 
 ern Pennsylvania are true historic events, as narrated in 
 "Western Annals," published by James R. Albach, in 
 1856. The names of the parties who were prominent in 
 exciting the rebellion are correctly given, and the events 
 are quoted from historical record. 
 
 The Indian names of persons and places with their deri- 
 vation are strictly correct and are quoted from the League 
 of the Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee, or Iroquois, published by the 
 Wew York Historical Society in 1851. 
 
 A few years ago while digging for the foundation- of one 
 of the assembly buildings on the Chautauqua Assembly 
 grounds near the lake, a number of skeletons were un- 
 earthed, which attracted the attention and wonder of the 
 workmen and visitors. The place was supposed at the 
 time to have been an ancient Indian burial ground. 
 When I read the account I at once remembered the legend 
 as related by the old Indian doctor, and on investigation 
 I became convinced that they were the remains of the 
 victims of "The Nemesis of Chautauqua Lake." This 
 suggested to me the thought of writing the. story as nar- 
 rated in this book, in which I have given the derivation of 
 the Indian names therein contained correctly from the 
 authority of "The League of the Iroquois," The prin- 
 cipal incidents of my story are true, although they have 
 long been 
 
 "Asleep on lap of Legend Old." 
 
 April 26, 1899. AUTHOR. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 "There is a pleasure in the pathless woods." — Byron. 
 
 "Their way 
 "Lies through the perplexed paths of this drear wood, 
 The nodding horrors of whose shady brows. 
 Threats the forlorn and wandering passenger." 
 
 —Milton. 
 
 It was the afternoon of a beautiful day in October of 
 the year 1792. The late frost had but recently touched 
 the forest foliage, and now the glory of an American au- 
 tumn had fallen on hill and valley gilding them with a 
 wealth of coloring that defies the palette and pencil of 
 the artist. The yellow of the poplar, the scarlet of the 
 maple and the crimson of the oak mingling with the dark 
 green of the pine and hemlock, draped the landscape as 
 with a sheen of variegated embroidery. The early 
 fallen leaves covered the ground with a carpet soft as vel- 
 vet and tinted with colors that rivaled the looms of 
 Gobelin. 
 
 The air, mild as a morning in spring, was filled with the 
 odor of dying leaves peculiar to the northern forests in 
 autumn. The sky was covered by a soft haze incident to 
 the season and the locality of our story. The sun was 
 sinking behind the western tree-tops when the stillness of 
 the forest was broken by the tramp of a horse on the 
 fallen leaves that covered the ground, almost concealing 
 the old Indian trail that ran along the southern shore of 
 Lake Erie from Presque Isle to Fort Bice on Buffalo 
 Creek. The rider of the horse was a man in the morning 
 of manhood. His dress and bearing indicated that he was 
 unaccustomed to frontier life, and was better acquainted 
 with the civilization of the Eastern colonies than the hard- 
 ships and privations of camp and forest. He was un- 
 
4 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 armed, unless a pair of pistols that hung in holsters at his 
 saddle bow could be called arms; but the contempt with 
 which these weapons were looked upon by the hardy 
 frontier men of that day showed that they were very inef- ■ 
 ficient either for offence or defence against Indians and 
 wild beasts, the only enemies to-be feared in the forests of 
 the lake shore. His companion was on foot, and trod the 
 path they were following with the noiseless tread of a pan- 
 ther. His dark copper color, the fantastic ornaments 
 that decorated his naked breast, his leggins of tanned 
 deerskin ornamented with beads and porcupine quills, the 
 tomahawk and knife that hung in easy reach of his hand 
 from a belt of wampum around his waist, the powder- 
 horn and bullet-pouch suspended from his shoulder, the 
 long rifle carried at trail, the scalp-lock and eagle feath- 
 ers it supported, all proclaimed an Indian warrior. The 
 absence of paint on his dark features indicated that his 
 present mission was one of peace, yet his cat-like tread 
 and the quick glance of his dark eye towards the thickets 
 and underbrush that bordered some portions of their 
 pathway, showed the training and caution of an Indian 
 brave accustomed to the dangers of forest warfare, and 
 ever watchful against an ambuscade or a hidden foe. 
 
 For some time the two had traveled along the forest 
 path in silence; the horseman following the steps of his 
 guide, who with the unerring instincts of his race followed 
 the trail almost obliterated by the fallen leaves. At 
 length the path descended into a ravine through the bot- 
 tom of which ran a small stream of clear, cool water. The 
 thirsty horse plunged his head deep in the grateful cur- 
 rent from which he drank for some moments, while the 
 Indian paused upon its brink and leaning upon his rifle 
 stood in an attitude of unconscious grace and dignity that 
 would have delighted the eye of a sculptor. 
 
 "Well, Oneida, where are we now? And what stream 
 is this?" inquired his companion, as he loosened his bridle 
 rein and rested his hand on his saddle-bow. 
 
 "Ga-a-nun-da-ta, Ga-hun-da," [Ga-a-nun-da-ta, a moun- 
 tain leveled down; Ga-hun-da, Silver Creek. — Iroquois] 
 the Indian replied sententiously in the guttural tones of 
 the Iroquois. 
 
 "How far are we from a settlement?" continued his in- 
 terrogator. "It is long past noon, and the air of the 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 5 
 
 woods has given me an appetite I have not had since I 
 was a boy." 
 
 "The rifle of Oneida could throw a bullet into the wig- 
 wams of the pale faces," replied the Indian, as he pointed 
 to the top of the hill that formed the opposite side of the 
 ravine they had entered. 
 
 "Is it so near, Oneida?" Come," continued the rider 
 to his horse as he affectionately patted the neck of the 
 faithful animal, "come, Jet, our day's march is nearly 
 ended, and you shall rest until morning." The wearied 
 horse seemed to understand the promise of his rider, for 
 crossing the creek he followed the guide with a quickened 
 pace until they reached the top of the hillside where a. 
 clearing of fifteen or twenty acres had been made in the 
 forest, in the center of which a group of log cabins had 
 been erected. One among them was more pretentious 
 than the others. It was larger, more imposing in appear- 
 ance, was constructed of logs roughly squared with the 
 axe, the chinks were more closely stopped, and a wide 
 porch extended along its front from which a pole pro- 
 jected, sustaining on its outer end a rude sign, which in- 
 formed those who could decipher its hieroglyphical char- 
 acters, that "Best for Man and Beast" could be there ob- 
 tained. 
 
 When the traveler and his guide had reached the brow 
 of the hill, the horseman paused a moment as he looked 
 with an enquiring eye over the rude hamlet before him. 
 When seeing the invitation of the sign mentioned, he 
 turned to his guide and skid: 
 
 "Oneida, we will go no farther to-day; both "man and 
 beast" need the rest that I see can be had here; but at 
 sunrise we must be on our way. I must reach Du Quesne 
 the day after to-morrow; we will stop at the tavern yonder 
 until morning." 
 
 "No," said the Indian, "Oneida will sleep in the woods; 
 when the morning sun rises out of the waters of the Great 
 Lake he will meet the young chief on its shore." Then 
 carefully examining the priming of his rifle he disap- 
 peared in the bushes that bordered the ravine they had 
 just left. 
 
 As the horseman rode up to the inn, or tavern as it was- 
 called in the vernacular of the frontier, he observed a 
 group of men on "The Common," an open space of four 
 or five acres in extent in front of the rude dwellings that 
 
6 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 stood irregidarly along one side of the street. The street 
 itself was but a wagon track that winding its sinuous 
 course among the stumps and deadened trees, was at last 
 lost in the woods beyond the settlement. The forest 
 blazing in the glory of its autumn foliage, seemed to sur- 
 round the little village with an environment of many- 
 colored flames, unbroken save towards the north where 
 the waters of Lake Erie glimmered through a partial 
 opening in the trees. 
 
 The buildings of this primitive settlement consisted of 
 a score of cabins constructed in the rude style of archi- 
 tecture seen only in the woods and clearings of America 
 in the early days of our EepubUc. The comforts of mod- 
 ern civilization were unknown to the hardy settlers of our 
 frontiers. The necessities of a pioneer life developed an 
 ingenuity in invention that has become a characteristic 
 of the American people, and made them celebrated over 
 the world. 
 
 The cabins were constructed of unhewed logs, and on 
 many of them the bark yet remained on their outside sur- 
 faces. These logs were notched at their corners, and in- 
 terlocked in such a manner as to render them secure 
 against the storms that sometimes prostrated the stand- 
 ing forest trees. The crevices between the logs were 
 "chinked" with puncheons of wood secured in their 
 places by wooden pins and wedges. The chinks were 
 then daubed with clay within and without and the walls 
 were completed. The roofs were covered with bark 
 peeled from the hemlock, or in the better houses with long 
 shingles riven from the oak or elm. These were kept in 
 their places by weight-poles laid length-wise of the roof, 
 and supported in their places by blocks of wQod extend- 
 ing from eaves to ridge-pole. The floors (where there 
 were any) were of puncheons or split logs, and the capa- 
 cious fire-places of stone with chimneys of sticks plastered 
 with clay. The sashless windows were filled with cloth 
 well oiled to make it translucent. The doors of thin 
 slabs of wood were hung on wooden hinges. In the whole 
 number of houses in that little village in the wilderness, 
 there probably was not a single pane of glass or a nail or 
 metal hinge, or lock of any kind. The furniture and 
 cooking utensils were of the rudest and simplest kind; 
 plates and bowls of wood with spoons of the same mate- 
 rial were laid at meal-time on a rude table in the center of 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 7 
 
 the cabins. Drinking-cups of horn, or gourds, were the 
 substitutes for the crystal and china of to-day; and at that 
 time the possession of a single drinking-glass by a woman 
 in the settlement would have subjected her to the envy of 
 all her female associates. Yet rude as these surroundings 
 were, and as primitive as were the culinary utensils and 
 cuisine of the wilderness at that day, no marble slab in a 
 prince's palace was ever laden with more choice viands 
 than those that graced the rude puncheon tables of the 
 cabins of the early settlers of the wilderness. Juicy 
 steaks of venison, or cutlets of bear's meat broiled on the 
 coals; delicious trout -from the cool forest streams; wild 
 fowl from the lake, baked or roasted in rude stone ovens, 
 was the ordinary bill of fare of the poorest families in the 
 frontier settlements. For bread, various ingenious com- 
 pounds of corn formed a wholesome substitute for the 
 dyspeptic loaf of to-day, while a dessert of wild honey and 
 forest berries finished a repast that would have delighted 
 a modern epicure. 
 
 When to such a feast as we have described the partaker 
 brings an appetite begotten of a day's travel in the pure 
 air of the wilderness, there remains nothing to increase 
 the gustatory enjoyment of the occasion — so thought 
 our traveler as he sat down at the plenteous board of the 
 "Best for Man and Beast," and partook of the bill of fare 
 we have given, with an appetite we have but faiiitly de- 
 scribed. 
 
 As there was no register for travelers' names in the of- 
 fice of the clerk of the "Eest for Man and Beast," and in 
 fact as there was no office, and no clerk, we are compelled 
 to introduce our traveler as Judge Frank Hall, recently 
 appointed by the Governor of the State of New York to 
 organize several courts in the western part of -the State for 
 the administration of the law over that portion of the 
 wilderness known as "Western New York." He had been 
 to Buffalo for that purpose, and was now on his way to 
 western Pennsylvania under a secret commission from 
 President Washington to enquire into the cause of the re- 
 sistance to the excise laws in that portion of the State. 
 
 The recent defeat of St. Clair in his expedition against 
 the western tribes of Indians in Ohio, left an unprotected 
 frontier of a thousand miles in extent reaching from the 
 Allegheny to the Mississippi. This was exposed to the 
 attack of the victorious and infuriated savages. The six 
 
8 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 nations that had for a numher of years been friends and 
 aUies of the government were now wavering in their alle- 
 giance, and it was feared that their young warriors, at 
 least, would join the western tribes in open hostilities 
 against the hated pale-faces. The armies of the govern- 
 ment had been unable to protect the frontiers, and the 
 settlers of western Pennsylvania, who were generally of 
 foreign birth, objected to the payment of taxes of any 
 kind to a government that did not protect them from sav- 
 age invasion and butchery. In 1786 an attempt had been 
 made to enforce an excise law, when the officer was seized 
 by a number of the settlers, his hair cut off from one side 
 of his head, his papers taken from him, and he was com- 
 pelled to tear up his commission and trample it under 
 his feet. No effort was made to punish these rioters by 
 the government, and no further attempt was made for a 
 number of years to execute the excise law. 
 
 In 1790 when Congress assembled, the nation was bur- 
 thened with debts, and it was foimd indispensably neces- 
 sary to increase the revenue. On the suggestion of Alex- 
 ander Hamilton a bill was passed imposing certain rates of 
 taxes on distilled spirits. Inspectors were appointed and 
 all distilleries were bound to give the inspector of their 
 district an accurate description of their buildings, the ca- 
 pacity of their stills and to allow their liquor casks to be 
 gauged and branded by the inspector. 
 
 This law met with a general and determined resistance 
 in western Pennsylvania; government inspectors were 
 mobbed and beaten, their buildings burned and many of 
 them were compelled to flee from the country. Public 
 meetings were called, speeches were made, resolutions — 
 that panacea for all American wrongs — were passed 
 without a dissenting voice, and our forefathers resolved 
 that "whisky should be free." 
 
 This much it has been necessary to say, that our readers 
 may better understand the incidents of our story. 
 
 Our traveler, Judge Hall, had been secretly instructed 
 by the government at Washington, to go to Pittsburg and 
 inquire into the nature, cause and extent of the insubordi- 
 nation to the laws. Ostensibly he went to examine into 
 the mihtary condition of the frontiers; to examine the 
 forts, equipments and means of defense, and to report the 
 same as soon as possible. This part of his mission was 
 open and avowed, the other branch of his duty must of 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 9 
 
 necessity be secret, for had the excited settlers suspected 
 that he was connected in any way with the enforcement 
 of the odious excise laws, his life would have been in jeop- 
 ardy from the lawless ruffians who perpetrated the out- 
 rages sanctioned by the resolutions of the public meetings. 
 
 At Fort Reed, near Buffalo, Judge Hall had procured 
 an Indian guide, Oneida, who was an Iroquois warrior 
 past middle age, and but a few years before had been a 
 terror to the frontier, as at the head of a predatory band of 
 Mohawks he ravaged the Lake shore from Niagara to 
 Fort Presque Isle. He was a member of the Oneida tribe 
 of Indians, and for this reason was generally called by the 
 name of his people; but the appellation given him by his 
 M'arriors was Wah-na-tau, signifying the foremost in bat- 
 tle. By this name he had been known along the frontiers 
 where the ashes of burned cabins and the graves of the 
 settlers murdered by his band were seen in every primi- 
 tive settlement. He had been so well known to the front- 
 iersmen for his ferocity on the warpath, that although the 
 Indian tribes of the Six Nations had "buried the toma- 
 hawk" and were at peace with the United Colonies, yet 
 the wary savage feared to trust himself within reach of 
 the deadly rifle of the hunters and backwoodsmen of the 
 new settlements, and therefore when he approached the 
 little hamlet we have described, he left Judge Hall at the 
 edge of the clearing, to bivouac in the woods until morn- 
 ing, when he was to meet him at the rising of the sun on 
 the shore of Lake Erie. 
 
 After our traveler had finished his meal, he strolled out 
 on the Common, where a group of men and boys had 
 collected to witness a trial of skill with the rifle between 
 a number of the most' noted marksmen of the settlement. 
 
 The dress of the men thus assembled was character- 
 istic of the times, the place and the people. Undercloth- 
 ing of the coarsest product of the domestic loom, covered 
 with hunting shirts of coarse cloth or dressed deerskin, 
 with leggins and moccasins of the same material, were 
 common to all. The only difference was seen in the orna- 
 mentation of fringe with wliieh some of the capes of the 
 hunting- shirts were decorated; and it was noticeable that 
 these faint evidences of untutored taste were seen only on 
 the persons of the young men; an embryonic development 
 of that love of personal adornment whose esthetic results 
 are now so marvelous in the arena of modern fashion: 
 
10 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 while peeping from the cabin windows were a number of 
 bright-eyed woodland maidens, who did not fail to rec- 
 ognize in the dress of many of the yonng hunters the 
 work of their own fair fingers, for even to that western 
 frontier the little god of ancient mythology had found his 
 way, and victims for his bow and arrows. — 
 
 When Judge Hall approached the men on the Common 
 he was received with looks of mingled curiosity and re- 
 spect; curiosity to know who he was, where he came from, 
 where he was going, and what was his business? Respect, 
 for his appearance denoted that he was none of the ordi- 
 nary travelers of the wilderness. His tall form, intellect- 
 ual, handsome features and noble bearing would have ar- 
 rested the attention and commanded the respect of all 
 who saw him, even though they were strangers to the 
 fame he had acquired as a soldier, lawyer and statesman. 
 When but a boy of twenty he had been promoted for his 
 bravery in one of the battles with the Indians in Ohio, 
 and a few years later he had distinguished himself in the 
 judicial forum of his native State. He had served a 
 term in the Congress of 1790, and was now selected by 
 President Washington to perform an important mission 
 because of his acknowledged courage and ability. 
 
 For a moment the men who were engaged in a contest 
 for supremacy in marksmanship paused as he approached 
 them, when the Judge pleasantly remarked: "Don't let 
 me interrupt your sports, men; I came to witness your 
 skill with the rifle. I am a solitary traveler, resting after 
 a fatiguing Journey, and only wish to pass away the time 
 pleasantly to myself, and hope you will not think me ob- 
 trusive in coming among you." 
 
 "Sartinly not, stranger; sartinly not," remarked a vet- 
 eran hunter as he leaned upon a rifle of unusual length. 
 "Ye are welcome to come to see us as often as ye like, and 
 stay as long as ye wanter. Go ahead, byes, and when ye'r 
 satisfied ye can't drive the nail, let old Joe show ye and 
 the stranger how it's done. It's not much of a distance 
 to shoot, and it ain't like shootin' a painter on the jump 
 or a redskin on the run, 'specially when the redskin is 
 arter yer scalp with a lot of yellin, painted devils behind 
 him, and ye know if ye miss yer aim once and let them 
 come much nearer, ye'll be dead and scalped in a minnit. 
 I tell ye, stranger, it don't make a feller's narves any 
 steadier to know he is shootin' fur his life, and that if hia 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. H 
 
 flint misses fire or his hand trembles he's a goner; ye see 
 this is kind of byes' play, to larn the youngsters how to 
 handle their irons when the time comes as they must shoot 
 for their own lives or the lives of them they love best on 
 arth." 
 
 "It is the proper training for young men in times like 
 these, my old friend," replied the Judge. "The skill ac- 
 quired in contests of this kind may be of great service to 
 these young men in times of need and danger. Boys 
 should be taught the use of the rifle as soon as they can 
 cast a bullet or pull a trigger." 
 
 At this the contest proceeded. The mark was a white 
 disk of paper the size of a dollar, fastened by a pin in its 
 center, to the charred and blackened side of a stump a 
 hundred steps distant. 
 
 A number of shots were fired, but only one or two 
 touched the paper, when old Joe stepped to the score 
 marked on the ground and slowly raised his rifle. For 
 a few seconds he stood with the unconscious grace of a 
 piece of statuary; then as the sharp report of his rifle ±e- 
 verberated along the line of woods that bounded the 
 "clearing," the paper fluttered in the air and fell to the , 
 ground. 
 
 "That's the way it's done, byes," remarked the old 
 hunter, as with a smile of self-approbation he looked at 
 the Judge. 
 
 "What do ye think of that, stranger? Did ye ever see 
 that done in the settlements whar ye cum from?" in- 
 quired old Joe as he turned to the Judge with evident 
 pride. Thar's only one man kin beat that in this neck of 
 woods, an' that's Bill Munson, and he can't beat it much, 
 he can't." 
 
 "My old friend,"' said the Judge, "will you lend me 
 youir rifle to try a shot?" 
 
 "Sartin, stranger, sartin!" replied old Joe. "Byes put 
 up another mark while I load my iron fur the stranger." 
 
 "My friend," said the Judge, quietly, "will you lend me 
 your powder-horn and bullet-pouch and let me load the 
 rifle myself?" 
 
 "Ya-as — I will, stranger," answered old Joe, hesitat- 
 ingly, "but I misdoubt ye can do as it outer be dun; ye see 
 'Redskin Bxtarminator,' as I call the ole hussy, is a little 
 particular, and don't allers behave as she outer with 
 
12 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 strangers; but ye can see what ye can do with the ole gal 
 if ye like." 
 
 Judge Hall here removed his coat, slung the powder- 
 horn and bullet-pouch over his shoulder, took the rifle 
 from the reluctant hands of the old man, and walked to- 
 wards the stump, where a new mark had been placed. 
 
 As he proceeded, the men looked at him inquiringly. 
 "The mark's all right, stranger," old Joe called after him 
 as he walked toward the stump. "The mark's all right; 
 ye needn't bother to go an' look arter it; an' the stump's 
 thar, too, as ye'll find if ye git a little elusser," the old 
 man continued in a somewhat sarcastic tone. 
 
 By this time the Judge had reached the stump, when 
 turning he started to run toward the group of astonished 
 spectators, loading the gun as he ran, and reaching the 
 score, he turned suddenly and fired apparently without 
 aim. Again the paper fluttered in the air. When it fell, 
 the boy picked it up as he had done the mark hit by old 
 Joe, and brought them both to the old hunter; handing 
 them to him he said: "Uncle Joe, the stranger's is a center 
 shot, while your'n is a leetle one side, tho' it did hit the 
 pin." 
 
 The old man took the marks from the hand of the boy 
 and examined them in astonishment too deep for words. 
 The other marksmen gathered around him and each 
 handled the perforated papers in silent wonder, then look- 
 ing at the smiling Judge, who was replacing his coat, 
 every cap was doffed and a cheer rang on the autumn air 
 from every throat, except that of old Joe, who was too 
 much astonished to speak. At last he picked up his rifle 
 which was leaning against a stump, and caressing it affec- 
 tionately, said: 
 
 "Wall, ole gal, ye never did the like of that afore and. 
 yer nigh onto forty years old, an' I wouldn't a believed it 
 now, ye ole hussy, if I hadn't a seen it with my own eyes." 
 
 "Stranger," he continued, "ye can beat any man I ever 
 seed except Bill Munson, an' I'll bet a beaver sMn ye can 
 beat him. Gin us yer hand! I'm yer friend, stranger, 
 but I didn't think it was in them store clothes to beat old 
 Joe Smiley, with his own gun, lift my ha'r if I did. 
 Stranger, let's go over to the tavern an' liquor?" 
 
 "I thank you, my old friend," replied Judge Hall, as he 
 cordially grasped the extended hand of the old man, "but 
 I never drink; if I did I could not shoot like that." 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 13 
 
 "Never — drink!" ejaculated old Joe with increased as- 
 tonishment. "Never— drink! Well I'll be ! Yer 
 
 a curiosity in these parts, ye are; a man that can shoot like 
 that, and — don't^rink! and wears store clothes — yaas, 
 I'll be !" 
 
 Here the old man was interrupted in his remarks by 
 some one in the group exclaiming, "There comes Bill 
 Munson, now" 
 
 Judge Hall looked in the direction indicated and saw 
 approaching a man of gigantic stature. He appeared to 
 be of middle age, and was dressed in the usual costume of 
 the hunters and frontiersmen of that period. On his 
 shoulder he carried a long, heavy double-barreled rifle. 
 As he approached, the Judge observed that although he 
 seemed to be well acquainted with all the men there as- 
 sembled and was greeted with a cordial welcome yet they 
 did not address him with the familiarity of deport- 
 ment and speech common among themselves. His pres- 
 ence seemed to throw a restraint over the group of hardy 
 foresters, that to the Judge was more noticeable because 
 it was unusual. It was the common custom of the day for 
 the settlers to address each other by some familiar abbre- 
 viation or even a soubriquet characteristic of some pecul- 
 iar trait of character, or the result of some incident in the 
 life of each, which well remembered was perpetuated in a 
 friendly spirit to the person so addressed by an appellation 
 that in time became more familiar than even his actual 
 name. But this freedom was not indulged in towards the 
 man who had so unexpectedly come among them. He 
 was welcomed most cordially, it is true, yet he was called 
 "Munson" by the few who addressed him, and even when 
 so addressed it was in a tone of distant respect. 
 
 When he observed Judge Hall, he looked at him with a 
 keen piercing glance of inquiry from his dark and deep- 
 set eyes. Here, old Joe seeing the look, took upon him- 
 self the office of introductor, and said: 
 
 "Here, Mimson, is^ man who has beat old Joe Smiley 
 a shootin' with his own rifle, an' yet he wears store clothes, 
 an' don't drink; an' I'll bet any man in the settlement a 
 beaver pelt agin a squirrel skin that he can beat any man 
 with a shootin' iron in this neck of woods, except you; an' 
 he'll foller yer trail as cluss as ye ever tracked a redskin, 
 even if he don't come out ahead of ye in the long run. 
 
 "Do you see that burnt stump over yon? Waal, we put 
 
14 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 this bit of paper on that stump and all the byes had a shot 
 at it an' missed. Then I raised ole 'Extarminator' an' 
 struck a leetle one side of the center, as ye can see on this 
 paper; an' I was kind of braggin' on it, when this young- 
 ster borrowed my old iron, powder-horn an' bullet-pouch, 
 an' he walked down to that stump; then he started an' 
 run as if a dozen redskins was arter him, an' he loaded as 
 he run, an' when he got to the scratch he turned an' fired 
 as quick as lightnin' an' here's what he did; he just cen- 
 tered this paper true as a die; now raise my ha'r if ye 
 can beat that yerself, Munson." 
 
 "It was a good shot. Smiley," replied Munson, with a 
 correctness of pronunciation and intonation of voice that 
 was entirely free from the provincialism of the frontier, 
 and which at once attracted th^ attention of Judge Hall. 
 "Yes, Smiley," he continued, "it was a splendid shot, but 
 you remember when we, were out scouting with the army 
 of Gen. St. Clair, the time that six redskins chased us, and 
 I made one of them bite the dust at six hundred yards, 
 then as we ran I loaded, turned, fired and hit four more 
 of them at four successive shots, when the other gave up 
 the chase and wanted to back out of the fight, but you 
 would not let him, Joe; and you remember that while I 
 stopped to scalp the red devils I had killed, you brought 
 the running savage down at long rang'e, and then we went 
 into camp with six muskets we took from the dead In- 
 dians, and six scalps hanging to our belts. That was a 
 glorious day, Joe; you remember it well, don't you?" 
 
 "Yaas — I mind it well, Munson; but I don't mind noth- 
 in' about the glory. I do mind that when we heerd the 
 yell of the infernal devils an' started to run for our lives 
 that I was most infernally skeered, an' that but for you, 
 Bill, ole Mollie Smiley would have bin a widder. But you 
 f ergit. When we went into camp the scalps were hangin' 
 to yer belt, not mine; ye know it s agin my natur to scalp 
 a Injun. I've killed lots of em, I have, but I never 
 scalped one yit. I can lay 'em out in a fight, I can, but I 
 don't keer to mucilate a dead body, I don't. But ye feel 
 different, I know, an' ye have reason to, Munson, God 
 knows ye have." 
 
 During this dialogue, Judge Hall had time to observe 
 more closely the dress and features of Munson, and the 
 longer he looked and listened the greater was bis sur- 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 15 
 
 prise at the very apparent incongruity between the man 
 himself, his dress and his surroundings. 
 
 As he Jifted a rabbit-skin cap from his head to wipe the 
 perspiration from his brow, the Judge observed a broad, 
 square forehead indicative of an intellectual capacity of 
 no common order. His deep-set, piercing black eyes 
 were overshadowed by heavy, bushy eyebrows, dark as 
 midnight. His embrowned cheeks contrasted strongly 
 with this whiteness of that portion of his features that his 
 cap had protected from the sun and wind. A massive 
 lower jaw indicated great firmness of character. His 
 features would have been singularly attractive but for an 
 expression of gloom that overcast his countenance; an in- 
 'describable something like a shadow that darkened it, as a 
 'landscape is overshadowed by a passing cloud. In stature 
 he was almost gigantic, standing nearly seven feet in his 
 moccasins, straight as a forest pine and symmetrically ■ 
 proportioned, with muscles and sinews trained to the ut- 
 most of physical endurance. He was a magnificent speci- 
 men of that class of himters and foresters that then 
 thronged our frontiers, and whose prowess in the battles 
 with the Indians is to-day justly a matter of national 
 pride. To a form indurated by the exposure incident to a 
 life in camp and wilderness, was added a courage that 
 knew no danger. His skill with the rifle was unsurpassed 
 on the frontier, while he was as expert in the use of the 
 scalping-knife and tomahawk as the most renowned of the 
 Indian warriors. 
 
 When old Joe referred to some unexplained reason why 
 Munson was justified in scalping the savages he had slain, 
 the Judge was startled by the expression of his features. 
 His eyes gleamed like flames, his lips were compressed 
 and bloodless, while his fingers clutched the barrels of his 
 rifle with a force that seemed to indent the iron. An ex- 
 pression of ferocity almost demonical distorted his feat- 
 ures, while his frame shook as if in convulsions. 
 
 The hunters of the group observed his emotions and 
 cast significant glances at each other, while the inter- 
 change of nods and winks told the Judge as plainly as 
 words could have done, that there was some secret con- 
 nected with this singular man that they seemed to un- 
 derstand, yet dared not mention. 
 
 A moment only and his agitation passed away, but it 
 seemed to leave him enshrouded in deeper gloom, yet 
 
16 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 turning kindly and extending his hand in a somewhat re- 
 served and even diffident manner to Judge Hall, who 
 grasped it cordiaUy, he said: 
 
 "T. am very glad to meet you, my young friend, and also 
 glad that you have taken some of the conceit out of my 
 old friend Smiley. I have to come around every few 
 months to reduce his self-esteem a little or he would get 
 so conceited about his skill as a marksman that the boys 
 in the settlement could not endure it." 
 
 "Waal, now, Munson, thaf s — so— he did take some of 
 the conceit outer me, that's a fact, but there ain't another 
 man on this trail that can do it besides yerself," said old 
 Joe, good humoredly; "but, my boy," he continued, turn- 
 ing towards the Judge, "did ye ever draw a bead on a red- 
 skin when ye fcnowed if ye missed yer aim or yer flint 
 missed fire, yer scalp would have been lifted in a minnit?" 
 
 "I have seen service, my old friend," replied the Judge; 
 "I was out on the Maumee under Greneral St. Clair; was 
 with him when he was defeated, and I saw some pretty 
 hard fighting; I was wounded and came near losing my 
 scalp in the retreat, but fought as well as I coidd and as 
 long as there was any hope." 
 
 *T)id ye, nowP' exclaimed the delighted old man; "I 
 was thar, too, and so was Munson. Out with the byes the 
 last campaign, was ye? Fought the redskins with old 
 Clair, an' don't liquor when ye git a chance? Boy, yer a 
 curiosity, thaf s a fact, but ye beat old Joe Smiley shootin' 
 with his own iron, an' I'm yer friend. Good-bye stranger, 
 we'll meet agin some day, an' if I can ever do ye a good 
 turn ye can coimt on old Joe." 
 
 With these parting words they separated, Munson and 
 Smiley walking away together towards one of the cabins 
 which stood on the outskirts of the village, while the 
 Judge returned to the "Best for Man and Beast," the ob- 
 served of all observers. The young boys had hurried to 
 their homes after the shooting to carry the news that a 
 stranger who wore store clothes and didn't drink liquor 
 when invited, had beaten old Joe Smiley shooting with 
 his own rifle. Either one of the facts thus concisely 
 stated by old Joe and repeated by the boys would have 
 made the man to whom they were attached a marked man 
 in any settlement on the frontier; but to have them all 
 combined in one individual was a phenomenon never be- 
 fore witnessed in the village; and as the Judge passed 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 17 
 
 along on his way to the "Rest" the door of every cabin he 
 passed was ajar, and wondering eyes of every age looked at 
 him curiously. 
 
 The glory of his achievement had reached every ear in 
 the settlement, and he found himself an object of general 
 interest and public curiosity as he walked to the "Rest for 
 Man and Beast" and disappeared within its hospitable 
 doors. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 "One sole desire, one passion, now remains, 
 To keep life's fever still within his veins, — 
 Vengeance, dire vengeance on the wretch who cast 
 O'er him and all he loved that ruinous blast; 
 For this he still lives on, careless of all 
 The wreaths that glory on his path lets fall; 
 For this alone exists, — ^like lightning fire 
 To speed one bolt of vengeance, and expire." 
 
 — Moore's Lalla Eookh. 
 
 "I am not mad — I would to heaven I were! 
 For then^ 'tis like I should forget myself; 
 0, if I could what grief should I forget!" 
 
 — Shakspeare. 
 
 The morning dawned bright and clear, and ere the glow 
 of sunrise had tinged the sky and forest, Judge Hall was 
 in the saddle. As he passed along the narrow road cut 
 through the woodland towards the lake, the forest seemed 
 full of sound as its numberless tenants, after their manner, 
 welcomed the coming day. The matin song of the birds 
 in the branches over his head, the chirp of the squirrel 
 busily engaged in gathering its winter store, the drum of 
 the pheasant from the depths of the thickets as he noti- 
 fied his mate that he had come to make his morning call, 
 the tap of the wood-pecker on the decaying body of some 
 dead monarch of the woods, all these evidences of awaken- 
 ing forest life greeted his ear. 
 
 The air, cool and bracing, was scented with the fra- 
 grance of fern and hemlock, while the falling leaves were 
 covering the ground as gently as the snow flakes of a win- 
 ter's day. 
 
 As the Judge rode leisurely along enjoying the charms 
 
THE NEMESIS OE CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 19 
 
 of an early autumn morning in the forest, his thoughts 
 reverted to the scenes of the previous day, and he won- 
 dered who the singular hunter was, what was his history, 
 why he was treated with such marked respect by the 
 woodsmen of the settlement, and what was the cause of the 
 gloom that darkened his features and gave an unnatural 
 expression to the glanceof his eye. While he thus mused 
 and wondered he was aroused from his reverie by the- 
 voice of old Joe Smiley. 
 
 "Mornin', stranger! mornin'! Yer an airly riser," said 
 the old man as he emerged from a thicket by the roadside' 
 and grasped the extended hand of Judge Hall with mani- 
 fest pleasure. 
 
 "Good morning, my old friend," replied the Judge. 
 "You are not a sluggard yourself. Where have you been 
 with your rifle so early?" 
 
 "I've bin watchin' a deer lick, stranger," said the old 
 man. "We killed an eight-pronged buck, an' I am jest 
 a-goin' hum to send the byes arter the carcas. I left Mun- 
 son at the lick an' likelier'n not he'll drop another afore 
 the byes git thare. The deers allers.eum to the lick to 
 drink airly in the mornin.' " 
 
 "Smiley," said Judge Hall, earnestly, "who is Munson? 
 He seems to be a remarkable person; he appears to be a 
 man of culture and education. Surely he has no1» lived all 
 of his life in the woods? I feel interested in him; what is 
 his history?" 
 
 "Ya-as, stranger," replied Smiley hesitatingly, "he is 
 edicated an'. a good square man as thare is on the frontier; 
 but he's a leetle off in his mind; and some folks say that 
 sometimes he's a leetle too keerless with his rifle. I dun- 
 no how it is, but he's a square man, he is." 
 
 "A little careless with his rifle!" ejaculated Judge Hall 
 in surprise. "What do you mean? He does not shoot 
 his neighbor's cattle does he ?" 
 
 "No! no! Nothin' of the sort," Smiley replied emphat- 
 ically. "Bill Munson is as free from doin' a mean act as 
 any man livin,' but he'd as soon kill an Injun as a varmint 
 of any kind, an' it don't matter to him whether it's in time 
 of peace or war. But I don't like to talk about my neigh- 
 bors, stranger. Bill's a good Christian man for all he 
 does." 
 
 "My old friend," said Judge Hall earnestly, "I feel in- 
 terested in Munson, and would like to know more about 
 
20 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 him, if you will tell me. It is no idle curiosity on my 
 part, but there is something -so singular in the man, some- 
 thing so apparently at variance with his dress and mode 
 of life that I should like to know more of his history." 
 
 "Wa-al, stranger, if you must have it, it's nothin' hut 
 what everybody knows, anyhow. Ye see it's agin the law 
 to kill an Injun in time of peace; but now an' then one is 
 found dead in the woods with a bullet in him, an' folks 
 think it's Munson's doin's. The settlers don't say much 
 about it, only some think it's time fur Bill to quit and let 
 the peaceable redskins alone." 
 
 "But what makes the folks think it is Munson who kills 
 them?" inquired the Judge with increasing interest. 
 
 "Wa-al, I don't like to say much about it," said Smiley, 
 " 'cause Munson is my friend. We've fit the Injuns side 
 by side many a. time, and he saved my scalp onct. It 
 was up on the Maumee river. Bill an' I was out a scoutin', 
 we got separated in the woods. I was creepin' along 
 what I thought was a fresh trail, when an Injun in am- 
 bush dropped me with a musket bullet. He started to- 
 ward me, dodging from tree to tree, for he was afeard I 
 wasn't dead an' would shoot back; at last I got a sight of 
 him, an' fired. I was lyin' on the ground, an' couldn't get 
 a good aim, an' I missed him. Then he gave a yell, an' 
 jumped fur me; he grabbed my ha'r, an' I felt the point of 
 his knife on my head when I heerd Bill's 'two-shooter,' an' 
 the Injun dropped across me, an' afore I had time to 
 think, Munson stood over me with the redskin's scalp in 
 his hand, an' a dead Injun was layin' by my side. It was a 
 eluss call, stranger, I tell yer, an' Bill Munson has looked 
 as han'some as a picture to me ever since. I couldn't walk 
 an' he carried me on his back three miles to the fort. 
 That's how it is atween me and Bill; I'd risk my hfe for 
 him any minute, an' I don't like to say anything about the 
 dead Injuns found in the woods. 
 
 "But, Smiley, you surely can tell me why the settlers 
 think Munson killed them, without betraying any confi- 
 dence of your old friend," said Judge Hall. 
 
 "Oh, ya-as, stranger, of coiirse I can. I wouldn't tell 
 anything everybody didn't kn6w, an' that won't hurt Bill 
 I spose. Ye see we hunters all have a mark in our bullet 
 molds so we can tell whose ball killed a deer if there's any 
 dispute about it; an' we all know each other's mark. 
 Munson's Is a cross, an' true ae yer born every infernal 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 21 
 
 .dead Injun found in the woods had a ball with Munson's 
 inark on it in their bodies, an' all on 'em was scalped and 
 had a cross cut with a knife on their breast. In course 
 everybody believes it's Bill Munson's mark, but few 
 blame him. If I'd been in his place I'd do as he does sure 
 as yer born. But I must hurry up and send the byes down 
 to the lick fur the deer, or Bill will be so hungry fur his 
 breakfast that he will roast and eat it afore they git thare. 
 Good-bye, stranger, good-bye." 
 
 With this the old man shouldered his rifle and started 
 towards the settlement at a rapid pace as if he wished to 
 avoid further conversation about'his friend. 
 
 Judge Hall rode on towards the lake and soon among 
 the branches of the trees he saw the gleaming of its sil- 
 very waters as the early beams of the morning sun 
 gleamed over its unruffled surface. As he approached its 
 shore he struck the old Indian trail that he had followed 
 the day before. He paused a moment and soon the 
 bushes at his side parted and Oneida greeted him with the 
 grave courtesy of an Indian warrior. 
 
 "The young chief was not on the shore when the sun 
 rose out of the waters of the Great Lake," said the Indian 
 in a reproachful tone. 
 
 "Ko, Oneida," replied the Judge, " I stopped a moment 
 to talk with a friend." 
 
 "What friend?" said the Indian, as he cast a quick and 
 suspicious glance at the Jiidge. "Oneida saw enemy in 
 the woods." 
 
 "Saw an enemy!" ejaculated Judge Hall in tones of sur-' 
 prise. "Where, Oneida? Who was the enemy, and 
 where did you see him?" 
 
 "By Ga-no-wau-ges [6a-no-wau-ges — ^Fetid water. — 
 Iroquois.] where the deer come to drink," said the Indian 
 sententiously. "Oneida saw Ha-ne-go-ate-geh [Ha-ne-go- 
 ate-geh — Evil spirit or devil. — Iroquois.] whose wigwam 
 is covered with the scalps of the Iroquois. Oneida tried 
 to shoot him but the Great Spirit covered him with a 
 cloud, when Wah-na-tau raised his rifle, flint no strike 
 fire." 
 
 "I am very glad of it, Oneida," said the Judge in severe 
 tones; "if your rifle had not missed fire and you had killed 
 him it would have been murder and the law would have 
 punished you." 
 
 **Why law no punish him?" inq^uired the Indian fiercely. 
 
22 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 "Tomahawk buried deep — what for Ha-ne-go-ate-geh 
 dig it up? Law same for pale face — same for redskin." 
 
 "Oneida," replied the Judge, "I do not know anything 
 about this 'evil spirit/ but I do know that the law pro- 
 tects the Indians who are at peace with us as it does our 
 own people; and the Great Father at Washington will 
 care for the safety of his red children the same that he 
 does for his white, and he will punish those who injure 
 them." 
 
 "Why no punish Ha-ne-go then?" asked the Indian. 
 "He take fifty— himdred — many scalps since hatchet 
 buried. He kill many hunters no-on war-path; no law 
 punish him. Bye and bye Indian dig up hatchet, 'gain go 
 on war-path and take scalp, too. No right for law to pun- 
 ish red men and let White Devil go." 
 
 "That is true, Oneida, and when I go to Washington I 
 will tell the Great Father about it, and he will have him 
 punished. Where does this evil spirit live, and how does 
 he look?" 
 
 "He live yonder," said the Indian pointing in a south- 
 easterly direction, "on the shore of Cha-da-qua Te-car- 
 ne-o-di. [Cha-da-qua Te-ear-ne-o-di — Chautauqua Lake, 
 meaning in Iroquois, the place where one was lost] . In- 
 dian no dare go there to fish. Ha-ne-go kill, take scalp. 
 He tall Uke hemlock. He talk with Great Spirit and 
 devil. Evil spirit throw blanket over him. Indian can't 
 kill him. Oneida try five — six times — flint no strike fire. 
 Gun no go off. Oneida 'fraid for his scalp; no try any 
 more. Ha-ne-go no stop; scalp Indian. Indian dig up 
 tomahawk. Law no punish him — no punish Indian." 
 
 Here the colloquy between the Judge and his guide 
 ceased, and for a number of hours they pursued their way 
 through the forest in silence, broken only by their own 
 foot-steps and an occasional inquiry by the Judge in rela- 
 tion to some stream they crossed -or unusual object they 
 passed as they followed the trail. 
 
 Judge Hall pondered long and deeply upon the events 
 of the last few hours; the conversation with old Joe 
 Smiley, and the narration of his Indian guide made him 
 suspect that Munson was the dreaded Ha-ne-go-ate-geh or 
 evil spirit the Iroquois so much dreaded and of whom he 
 had heard many weird tales related around bivouac and 
 camp-fire. 
 
 It was a prevailing belief among the Indians of that day 
 
\ THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 23 
 
 trkat insane persons were under the especial care of the 
 Great Spirit; that it was impossible to injure them with- 
 out incurring the anger of Ha-wen-ne-yu, the Great Kuler, 
 or He-no, the Thunderer. These superstitions were 
 prevalent among all the Indian tribes, and if, when on 
 their marauding expeditions they captured a prisoner who 
 was insane, the captive was safe from torture or the tom- 
 ahawk. 
 
 The sun had passed the meridian several hours when 
 the travelers reached a point where the trail approached 
 the shore of the lake, and suddenly they emerged from a 
 dense forest into an opening of some ten acres in extent. 
 This clearing was evidently the work of man. A number 
 of stumps and girdled trees yet remained, showing that it 
 had once been covered with forest. A portion of the 
 clearing of about three acres in extent was on a high bluff 
 whose base was washed by the waves of the lake. It was 
 entirely free from stumps or bushes and was covered with 
 a luxuriant growth of grass and clover. Several apple- 
 trees, neglected and covered with moss or lichen, stood 
 near a pile of half-burned logs and brands that seemed to 
 be the debris of a cabin that had been destroyed by fire. 
 A portion of a stone chimney yet remained. About two 
 hundred feet from the ruins of the cabin was another pile 
 of brands and half -burned logs that appeared to have been 
 a stable or stock-yard. 
 
 The Judge paused near the edge of the blufE and loosing 
 his bridle rein, permitted his wearied horse to crop the 
 luxuriant grass and clover around him. For some mo- 
 ments he gazed in admiration over the magnificent land- 
 scape of lake, forest and clearing. 
 
 The bluff on which he stood was a hundred feet or 
 more above the lake whose waves he could hear beating 
 against its base. To the North was a wide expanse of 
 water whose distant boundary was lost in the clouds that 
 seemed to drop from the sky to mingle with their kindred 
 element; on the South, a dense forest swept in a crescent 
 whose points touched the lake on either side of the bluff, 
 and whose circle enclosed_the lonely clearing. 
 
 "What a magnificent prospect," involuntarily ex^ 
 claimed Judge Hall as he looked around him; "one to con- 
 found the infidel, for the man who cannot see the power 
 and majesty of the Creator in a scene like this is blind' in- 
 deed. What do you think, Oneida?" continued he to his 
 
24 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 giiide, who stood near >iim leaning on his rifle. "Cannot 
 you see the work of the Great Spirit in this glorious land- 
 scape?" 
 
 "Oneida sees what the Great Spirit has done every- 
 where," replied the guide. "He made the woods for his 
 red children and the open country for the pale faces; and 
 the great waters for both. The pale face take the woods 
 from red man. Why Indian have not same right? Take 
 open country from white man?" 
 
 "But Oneida, the white man's government buys the 
 land from the Indians and pays them for it," said the 
 Judge. 
 
 "When pale face pay for land?" inquired Oneida 
 fiercely. "White man first giye Indian fire-water and 
 then buy land for nothing; give Indian little money, few 
 blankets, much rum and beads. Great Spirit gave wood 
 to red man and his children forever. Chiefs no right to 
 sell what He-no give his people. White man here once," 
 continued Oneida, "cut down trees, build wigwam yon- 
 der. Who he buy Indian's land of? He no buy land — 
 he steal it from the red man." 
 
 "Were you ever here before, Oneida? Do you know 
 who made this clearing?" inquired the Judge. 
 
 The Indian glared fiercely around him a moment, and 
 then pointing to the ruins of the cabin, said: 
 
 "Many moons ago red warrior take scalp yonder. Wah- 
 na-tau was here with with his braves; took silver scalp" 
 and black scalp and prisoner; hatchet dug up then; Iro- 
 quois on war-path." 
 
 Judge Hall looked at his guide in surprise, and was 
 about to interrogate him farther when the sharp report of 
 a rifle rang from a thicket in the border of the woods over 
 a hundred rods distant. The Indian sprang from the 
 ground and fell with a bullet in his breast. Eaising his 
 head with difBculty he gazed around at the surrounding 
 woods a moment. Besting on one hand, he partly raised 
 his body from the ground and attempted to grasp his 
 fallen rifle; failing in that he pointed to the thicket above 
 which a faint cloud of smoke was slowly ascending in the 
 air. Then uttering the war cry of his people, mingled 
 with the dread name of Ha-ne-go-ate-geh, he fell back 
 and died. 
 
 The event was so sudden and unexpected that for a mo- 
 ment Judge Hall was bewildered with surprise and hor- 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 25 
 
 ror; when looking towards the thicket from whence the 
 shot was fired, he saw the bushes open and the form of 
 Munson appeared and approached him with rapid strides. 
 At first he did not appear to notice Judge Hall, but with 
 his rifle in his hand and in a pcsition that it could in- 
 stantly be raised for aim, he walked directly to the fallen 
 Indian. When he reached the body he spurned it with 
 his foot, and seemingly imeonscious of the presence of 
 Judge Hall, said in loud and frenzied tones: 
 
 "There lies another of the cursed crew. It is nearly 
 the last, and then I will willingly die. It is an old debt, 
 but it shall be paid to the last drop; yes, the last one shall 
 die before my time is ended." Then apparently observ- 
 ing Judge Hall for the first time, he approached him, 
 saying: 
 
 "Stranger, you are surprised at this, and perhaps you do 
 not like this summary proceeding, but let me tell you — " 
 
 "Murder! Coward! Miscreant!" exclaimed the Judge, as 
 he drew a pistol from his holster and was about to aim it 
 at Munson, who sprang towards him, seized his hand and 
 wresting the pistol from him threw it on the ground. 
 Judge Hall drew another; instantly Munson seized it and 
 apparently without an effort sent it whirling through the 
 air far out into the lake. 
 
 "Have care, young man! Have care, or it will be the 
 worse for you," said Munson in cool, deliberate tones. "I 
 am not a man to suffer myself to be shot down like a dog 
 by a stripling from the settlements; so be careful what 
 
 ?ou do; forbearance is not one of my virtues, neither am 
 a murderer or a coward. No man ever coupled those 
 epithets with the name of William Munson in my pres- 
 ence before; and I can illy brook it now; but you are 
 young and indescretion is one of the weaknesses of youth. 
 You had better curb your tongue, young man, for my 
 head is not always right, nor my brain as cool and for- 
 giving as at present. The time was, when had you called 
 me a murderer and a coward on this spot I would have 
 sent your body spinning into the lake yonder as I did your 
 childish toy a moment ago." 
 
 "Well, sir," said Judge Hall, "I know you now have me 
 completely in your power. I am disarmed and entirely at 
 your mercy, and I advise you to use that power, for if you 
 permit me to escape, think not that this bloody deed shall 
 go unpuniihed, for I will have you hunted down like a 
 
26 THE NEMESIS Or CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 wild beast; and you shall be brought to justice as surely as 
 there is a God above vis.". 
 
 "Take not His holy name in vain, young man," replied 
 Munson in a solemn tone. "Many years have I lived in 
 the wilderness away from the haunts of men, and never 
 yet did I speak His name save in prayer. Your threats do 
 not affect me in the least. I fear no power save God's, 
 and that I obey. And did you attempt to execute your 
 threats and hunt me down as you sayy remember that 
 with my only friend here (pointing to his rifle), I could 
 reach my pursuers with death long before they could get 
 near enough to harm me. It is over a quarter of a mile 
 to yonder thicket from whence I shot the red devil that 
 lies there, and there is not another gun on this continent 
 that could send a bullet that distance and kill the object 
 at which it was aimed. I know every stream, ravine and 
 hillside between the Hudson and the Ohio, and I defy the 
 attempts of your legal blood-hounds to folldw my trail. 
 'No}. No!! The Lord has me in His holy keeping and I fear 
 not what man can do, for what avails his puny arm against 
 the will of the Most High? I am safe to fill the measure 
 of my days and complete the just vengeance my wrongs 
 demand. 
 
 "Stranger," he continued in tones so solemn and im- 
 pressive as to awe Judge Hall into silence and compel his 
 attention, "listen to my story, and when you have heard 
 it lay your hand upon your heart and condemn me if you 
 will. I have never injured a white man or knowingly 
 wronged a friend. I was born and lived until manhood in 
 sight of the rock on which those who fled from religious 
 intolerance and persecution in England first set their feet 
 when they landed from, the Mayfiower. My father died 
 and left me a large patrimony while I was yet a boy. The 
 law guarded my property during my minority with watch- 
 ful care, but it heeded not the morals of its ward. It is 
 true 1 was compelled by the laws of the Puritans to attend 
 church on Sunday to listen to the teachings of Christian- 
 ity, yet the law permitted me to be tempted to my ruin 
 every other day in the week. 
 
 "I married a beautiful and noble woman, but even her 
 love and influence could not prevail against a depraved 
 appetite, and the temptations found only among those 
 people who call themselves Christians. TJie law guarded 
 my property with one hand and with the otfier biailt hells , 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 27 
 
 ■ of drunkenness to steal it from me as soon as it came un- 
 - der my control. When I became of age the law delivered 
 to a drunkard the property it had protected with jealous 
 care during his minority. At last I spent nearly all I had 
 in drunkenness and dissipation; my wife begged and 
 prayed for me to reform. I tried to do so in vain; wher- 
 ever I t^^ent among a Christian people the tempter was 
 always ^efore me. I could not reform among my fellows 
 and as the only safety against myself and the vices of a 
 Christian community I fled from an enemy more to be 
 dreaded than even the murderous savages. 
 
 "Twenty years ago I came into the wilderness with my 
 wife and mother. I purchased this land where we now 
 stand, of the state. With my own hands alone I made 
 this clearing; yonder I built my cabin, and there two chil- 
 dren were bom to call me father; and here far away from 
 laws and grog shops, out of the reach of my enemy I lived 
 with my wife, my mother, and two little children in peace 
 and happiness. About twelve years ago there was an In- 
 dian outbreak and predatory bands of savages were roam- 
 ing the wilderness and murdering the settlers. I was so 
 far away from the settlements that I hoped to escape; I 
 forgot that I was near the old trail running East and 
 West along the shore of the lakes. One evening late in 
 autumn I -had just finished gathering my little harvest 
 into my barn which stood yonder where you see those 
 charred remains. I was seated by my fireside in my cabin 
 which stood where you see that fallen chimney and the 
 ruins of as happy a home as a husband and father ever en- 
 joyed. We had just finished our evening meal, and I had 
 taken up my Bible for our evening devotions. I had 
 learned to pray in the wilderness, and to thank God that 
 the vices of a Christian people were far away from me. 
 My dog barked. Immediately the dreadful war-whoop of 
 the savages rang out from the woods yonder. I sprang 
 up and bolted my door. I heard the footsteps of the ap- 
 proaching Indians, then a shot and a howl of pain told me 
 that they had killed my faithful dog and that I and mine 
 could expect no mercy. 
 
 "Almost instantly my door was burst open and my 
 cabin filled with yelling savages. I seized my rifle and 
 the foremost fell. I clubbed my gun and cleared the 
 room. I closed the door and again fastened it, but the 
 fiends set fire to the roof over our heads. I seized my ax. 
 
28 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 opened the door and rushed out among them. A number 
 fell beneath my blows, but they overpowered me and 
 bound me and dragged me out by yonder stone. My two 
 children ran out after me. My boy was ten years old and 
 my little girl four. While the savages were dragging me 
 along I heard my little boy cry, Tather! father! where are 
 you?' I struggled fiercely with those that held me and 
 turned around Just as an Indian sunk his tomahawk into 
 the head of my poor boy. The painted devil stopped a 
 moment to tear the scalp from his bleeding head and 
 then followed my little girl, who ran into yonder thicket 
 of bushes on the brow of the bluff, and I thought I heard 
 her dying scream as the fiend struck the murderous blow. 
 
 "Oh! my poor brain! I can hardly tell the tale; b|it my 
 captors bound me hand and foot, and I was compelled to 
 see ray cabin burned to the ground and hear the slffieks 
 of my wife and aged mother as they perished in^the 
 flames. Oh! God, can I ever forget it!" \ 
 
 He paused a moment and covered his face with 'his 
 hands while tears of anguish ran down his furrowed 
 cheeks. A moment passed and he proceeded, although 
 his form shook like an aspen with the agony he endured at 
 the recital. 
 
 "For a number of days after I was taken captive I knew 
 nothing that transpired. 'He who tempers the wind to 
 the shorn lamb,' in His infinite kindness, blotted out my 
 mind and recollections for a time from my frenzied brain, 
 and but for the accomplishment of my great revenge I 
 could wish that I had never recovered my reason and had 
 never been able to recollect my wife and children again. 
 
 "I was deranged for a number of days. I do not know 
 how long. This saved me from the torture for which I 
 was intended and for which my life had been spared when 
 my family was murdered. The Indians have a supersti- 
 tious reverence for those they believe 'the Great Spirit has 
 covered with his blanket,' and for this reason I was but 
 lightly bound, although I was closely watched and 
 guarded. 
 
 "I do not know how long I had been a captive, but it 
 must have been several weeks, for when I recovered my 
 senses my beard had grown long, my clothes were worn 
 and ragged, and I was very much emaciated. Winter, too, 
 had set in. The ground was covered with a deep snow 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 2t» 
 
 and it was bitter cold. We were on the banks of the Mau- 
 mee river when my reason came back again. 
 
 "One night I awoke to a full consciousness of all that 
 had happened me; a party of twenty or more Indians 
 were sleeping around their camp-fire. No sentinel was 
 on watch, and I knew from this that we were a long way 
 from the scenes of their massacre, and that they were near 
 their Tillage and slept in confident security. I moved 
 cautiously and found that my hands and feet were loosely 
 bound with thongs. When I first awoke I could not re- 
 member anything and wondered why I was there and how 
 I came to be a captive. At last the cloud seemed lifted 
 from my mind and I remembered all, although it seemed 
 like a horrible dream. 
 
 "When I became fully conscious of what had happened 
 I knew I must have been insane a number of weeks, and 
 knowing the superstition of the Indians I concluded that 
 I had not been tortured or lolled because they believed 
 that the Great Spirit had me under his especial keeping. 
 I determined then to feign insanity until I could make • 
 my escape; this I did for several days, and God knows it 
 was not a difficult matter, for at times when I thought of 
 my murdered mother, wife and children I was insane; but 
 these spells passed off and I thirsted for revenge. Among 
 the Indian warriors and the chief of the band was Wah- 
 na-tau, who lies there on the grass. I saw the scalp of 
 my little boy hanging to his belt; yes, the silken curls I 
 had stroked so fondly, all stained with blood, were pre- 
 served as a trophy, or for the purpose of sale to the 
 French in Canada, who were then paying for the scalps of 
 murdered settlers. 
 
 "In the day time my hands were tied, but otherwise my 
 limbs were free. One day all of my captors went on a 
 hunting or marauding expedition except two who were 
 left in charge of the camp and prisoner. I waited pa- 
 tiently apd at last loosened the thongs that bound my 
 hands, so that I could easily remove them when an oppor- 
 tune moment arrived. 
 
 "It came at last. My captors leaned their guns against 
 " a tree while they broiled some game by the fire. I gradu- 
 ally approached the guns until they were within my reach ; 
 in a moment the thongs fell from my wrists, and seizing a 
 rifle I shot one of the Indians as he sat by the fire. The 
 other attempted to rise, when with a blow from the breech 
 
so THE NEMESIS OP CHArTATJQUA Li,\.KE. 
 
 of the gun, I crushed his skull. With their o,wn knives I 
 scalped and mutilated them. Then coneealin|; one of the 
 rifles under the leaves, I fled with the other i^nd at last 
 joined the army of Col. Crawford on the frontier. 
 
 "Since then I have lived only to be revengejd on the 
 whole accursed race. I have killed hundreds, an'vd so long 
 as there is strength enough in these old arms to kaise this 
 rifle, so long will I continue to kill the red mani 
 
 "I knew that Wah-na-tau was your guide. I Iheard it 
 at Fort Eeed, and I followed your trail determinedi to kill 
 the murdering d^vil who for so many years has elutded my 
 pursuit. \ 
 
 "Of all that band of fiends that burned my hou^e and 
 murdered my wife and children, only one now remaims 'to 
 tell the story.' Nearly all of them fell by my hand^ and 
 their scalps hang in my cabin on the shore of Lake (.Oha- 
 da-queh. The survivor is a warrior of gigantic ^ize, 
 known among his people as Ga-wa-no-das, meaningVin 
 Iroquois language, 'it thunders.' | _ 
 
 "On the night my family was massacred, I heard %i8 
 war-whoop above the crackling of the flames and the yeSls 
 of his savage companions, and I shall never forget i\t. 
 Often when I haTC been sleeping in the woods alone witM 
 God and my dreams of vengeance, I have been awakene^ 
 by the echo of that terrible war-cry as it reverberate* 
 through my poor half-crazed brain. Sometimes I havei 
 heard it in the din of battle when the army was fighting ' 
 the Canadians and Indians, and I sought for him injodn 
 in the very heart of the battle. 
 
 "He has evaded my pursuit for years. I have'followed 
 his tracks to the Mississippi river, and from there to the 
 northern lakes. He has escaped me so far, but there 
 never yet was human power that could evade God's justice 
 in the end, and I shall not die until I have killed him. I 
 have prayed for this for long, long years, and I know God 
 will answer my prayers. 
 
 "When I was a captive I saw a scalp hanging at his belt; 
 it had long grey locks and I believed it was my mother's. 
 But the hairs of her head are all numbered and I will not 
 die until I have counted a scalp of an Indian for every 
 hair torn from her poor old head. Oh! God," he cried in 
 frenzied tones as he raised his hands towards heaven, "let 
 me live until the full measure of Thy justice and my re- 
 venge are completed. 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 31 
 
 "Stranger," he continued in tones of increasing excite- 
 ment, "I am not always right in my mind; I know it well, 
 but I never harmed a friend, or even an enemy without 
 cause; but the woods are full of strange voices; they whis- 
 per to me in every breeze that moves the leaves of the 
 trees. I hear them in the babbling of every brook where 
 I stoop down to drink. Even the birds and the insects 
 that sing and chirp in the thickets as I pass along, all 
 whisper in my ear the dear names of my murdered wife 
 and children; and when at night I lay myself down by my 
 camp fire alone in the deep woods, often my mother, my 
 wife and my little boy come and sit down by me and talk 
 to me. I see them as plainly as I see you, but I never see 
 my little girl, and I wonder why it is. But stop! My 
 mind wanders, and I forget what I was about to say to 
 -you. 
 
 "Go, stranger, cross that creek; the Indians call it Cha- 
 da-qua Ga-hun-da. On the other bank you will strike a 
 trail that will lead you to a settlement only four miles 
 distant. There you can procure a guide. When you re- 
 turn home perhaps an aged mother will meet you with 
 her blessings; a loving wife and children may greet you 
 with smiles of welcome. If they do, think of the spot 
 where you now stand and what has happened here; and 
 when you have all that is dear to you in life torn from you 
 in one moment and that, too, by the hands of the futhless 
 savages, condemn me then, but not till then. Good-bye, 
 stranger, I must finish my work." 
 
 Then drawing a knife from his belt he sprang upon 
 the body of Oneida, The keen point of the blade circled 
 around the head of the savage, and in an instant the 
 scalp lock was torn from the bleeding skull. Munson 
 turned towards Judge Hall, and while his eyes glared with 
 an expression of insane ferocity, he raised his arm, and 
 shaking the bloody trophy in the air a moment, he uttered 
 a maniacal yell and ran towards the thicket from whence 
 he came. For a few moments after and at short inter- 
 vals the Judge heard the cry repeated again and again, 
 until at last its sound growing fainter and fainter, was 
 lost in the distance and depths of the wilderness. 
 
32 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "To vouch this, is no proof; 
 Without more certain and more overt test. 
 Than these thin habits and poor Hkelihoods 
 Of modern seeming, do prefer against him." 
 
 —Shakespeare's Othello. 
 
 "Justice gives sentence many times 
 On one man for another's crimes." 
 
 — Butler's Hudibras. 
 
 For some moments after Munson had disappeared in 
 the forest. Judge Hall sat thoughtfully looking at the 
 body of Oneida. For some moments he pondered in 
 doubt as to the course he should pursue. Should he 
 make an information for murder against Munson before 
 the first magistrate he found in any settlement that pos- 
 sessed so important a functionary, or should he keep the 
 secret of the crime unrevealed and let the death of his 
 guide remain a mystery? 
 
 His instincts as a lawyer prompted him to the former 
 course; his sympathies as a man to the latter. The terri- 
 ble story he had heard from the lips of Munson appealed 
 to him in behalf of the unfortunate man, while the evi- 
 dent mental aberration caused by his great sorrow was a 
 legal excuse for the act. 
 
 "What shall — what ought I to do?" he inquired of him- 
 self; then he remembered his own grey-haired mother 
 whom he loved so devotedly, and who, when he left his 
 home in the East, laid her loving hand upon his head and 
 blessed him; and he whispered to the accusing spirit, "I 
 have no wife and children, it is true; but if I was com- 
 pelled to see my dear old mother become the victim of the 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 33 
 
 cruel barbarities of the savages as Mimson did his, I 
 would have done as he has. 
 
 "His partial insanity and insatiable feeling of revenge 
 may have led him to indiscriminate slaughter of the in- 
 nocent with the guilty; yet, in the death of Oneida it 
 seems as if he was the proper avenger, and that it was but 
 the justice of Heaven visited upon a brutal murderer. As 
 a man I cannot condemn him, and why should I then as 
 a Judge? In law, it certainly was a 'wilful, deliberate and 
 premeditated murder,' but considering the place, the cause 
 and the mental condition of the man who perpetrated it, 
 I think it was but excusable homicide at the most, and I 
 will hold my peace. 
 
 "But what shall I do with the body of Oneida? ' If I 
 leave it here it will be torn in pieces -and devoured by the 
 wild beasts and birds, and I have not the wherewith to dig 
 a grave. If I go to the settlement and send men to bury 
 it, I shall have to explain all about it; this I cannot do 
 without inculpating that unfortunate and miserable man." 
 
 The Judge thought a moment, then turning his eyes to- 
 wards the lake he said: "Yonder is a fitting grave for a 
 warrior beneath the waters of his beloved Gus-ha-wa-ga 
 Te-car-ne-o-di. [Gus-ha-wa-ga Te-car-ne-o-di, Lake 
 Erie; Mohawk; Gus-ha-wa-ga signifying "on the body"; 
 Te-car-ne-o-di, Lake.] He will sleep as quietly as if he 
 was covered with the leaves of the forest." 
 
 Alighting from his horse he approached the verge of 
 the bluff, and looking into the water at its base, he saw 
 from its color and the size of the waves that it was very 
 deep where it washed the shore. Returning to the body 
 he removed the belt of wampum that encircled it and 
 taking a large stone from the ruined chimney, with the 
 belt he lashed it securely to the feet of the corpse; he then 
 dragged it to the verge of the cliff; pausing a moment he 
 instinctively murmured a prayer and raising it from the 
 ground plunged it into the lake. The sullen waters 
 eddied and whirled a moment, then the waves swept over 
 the grave, leaving naught to mark the last resting place 
 of Wah-na-tau, the renowned chief and warrior of the Six 
 Nations. 
 
 Judge Hall stood looking at the water for some mo- 
 ments after the body of Oneida had sunk beneath its 
 depths, when suddenly a hand was laid rudely on his 
 
34 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 shoulder, and a voice he had never heard before, said in 
 stern and accusing tones: 
 
 "How now, stranger! What is this you have been do- 
 ing? Whose body was that you have just flung into the 
 lake?" 
 
 The Judge turned suddenly and saw the stalwart form 
 of a middle-aged man standing by his side. On the spot 
 where Oneida had fallen stood two other men who ap- 
 peared to be closely examining the ground and clots of 
 blood that stained the grass, as well as the fallen rifle of 
 the Indian and the pistol of Judge Hall, which Munson 
 had wrested from his hand and thrown upon the ground. 
 The men were dressed in the usual costume of the settle- 
 ments of the frontier that we have described in a former 
 chapter, and with moccasined feet had trodden the 
 grassy surface of the clearing so noiselessly that 
 Judge Hall had not heard their approach. Each of 
 the men carried a rifle and the one who stood nearest to 
 the Judge had a surveyor's compass slung by a strap un- 
 der his arm. In addition to their rifles one of the men 
 carried an axe and the other a Jacob staff and sjirveyor's 
 chain. 
 
 For a moment Judge Hall was too much astonished and 
 confused to answer the questions so abruptly propounded 
 to him. His legal mind took in the situation at a glance. 
 He hesitated as to what answer he could make that would 
 not criminate Munson or direct suspicion towards him- 
 self. He knew that he was seen alone in the clearing in 
 the very act of throwing a dead body into the lake. The 
 pools of blood on the grass indicated a death by violence; 
 the loaded rifle of Oneida and his own pistol also loaded 
 by its side, its companion which Munson had thrown in 
 the lake unaccounted for and its holster empty. How 
 could he explain all these circumstances without impli- 
 cating the unfortunate man? And if he did not explain 
 them, how could he escape the suspicion they would natu- 
 rally create against himself? 
 
 The Judge saw it all with the eye of a lawyer; he knew 
 the force of circumstantial evidence, and he knew that 
 these circumstances unexplained would weigh with ter- 
 rible force against him if he should be arraigned for mur- 
 der and tried in the primitive courts of the new country. 
 Not only this, but the delay incident to an arrest, even if 
 be was discharged on a preliminary examination, might 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKH. '35 
 
 be fatal to his mission. The government required an im- 
 mediate investigation of the cause and extent of the 
 opposition in Western Pennsylvania to the collection of 
 the tax on whiskey, and a report of the same; great inter- 
 est was at stake. The country was threatened with civil 
 war, which might be averted by his presence in the West 
 or preciptated by his absence. 
 
 Brave men think rapidly and even logically in times of 
 danger and all these reflections passed through the mind 
 of Judge Hall almost instantaneously when they were in- 
 terrupted by the question being repeated by the man at 
 his side, with increased sternness. There was accusation 
 in the tone in which it was uttered, and condemnation in 
 its woTds. 
 
 "Whose body was that you flung from the cliff into the 
 lake, and what is the meaning of that blood? Why did 
 you kill him?" 
 
 While Judge Hall was being interrogated, the two men 
 who stood on the spot where Onsida had fallen, looked at 
 him suspiciously, while they examined the rifle of the 
 Indian and the pistol of the Judge which they had picked 
 up from the ground. 
 
 "The body you saw me bury in the lake was that of 
 Wah-na-tau, an Iroquois chief, but I did not kill him. 
 He was shot by one who was concealed in the woods yon- 
 der," the Judge replied, with a calmness he did not feel. 
 
 "Shot from yonder woods?" ejaculated the man in a 
 tone of incredulity. "A long shot, stranger. There ia 
 not a rifle in the country that will throw a ball that dis- 
 tance and kiU a man. Did you see the one who fired the 
 shot? We heard the report of a gun when we were in 
 the woods. It sounded as if it was at this place. We 
 came here, and just as we reached the clearing we saw you 
 dragging the body of a man towards the edge of the cliff, 
 and throw it into the lake. We were not near enough to 
 tell whether it was the body of a white man or an Indian; 
 but who shot him? and why was it done? You must 
 know all about it, and your safety demands that you ex- 
 plain the matter fully." 
 
 "What right have you to interrogate me?" replied the 
 Judge somewhat haughtily. 
 
 "The right that God has given every honest man to ar- 
 rest a murderer caught in the very act," said his interro- 
 gator in resolute tones. "Besides complaints have been 
 
36 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 made to the Attorney General at Albany that a number 
 of peaceable Indians in Western New York have been 
 killed in the woods by the settlers without cause, and a 
 part of my business in this portion of the State is to in- 
 quire into the facts and report the same to him. Come, 
 you must go with us to the settlement, and you will find 
 that the arm of the law is strong enough to protect even 
 the peaceable Indians in this wilderness." ,^ 
 
 Judge Hall saw at once the difficulties that surrounded 
 him. If he made himself and his mission known it would 
 defeat its object; besides, as the feeling then was in the 
 border settlements, it was as safe to be accused of murder 
 upon circumstantial evidence as it was to be accused by 
 positive evidence of being an emissary of the Government 
 in enforcing the odious tax on whiskey. On the other 
 hand, if he told the whole truth, it would implicate Muut 
 son, and even then he was not certain that the story would 
 be believed. The waters of the lake were so deep that it 
 was impossible to recover the body of Oneida, when the 
 scalped head and marked bullet of Munson would have 
 confirmed his story. He thought swiftly and came to the 
 conclusion natural to a lawyer, that silence for the present 
 was the safest course. When the time came that ren- 
 dered it necessary to tell all, he could do so, and by that 
 time Munson would be beyond reach of pursuit. 
 
 "Where do you propose to take me?" inquired the 
 Judge. "I am ready to go with you even though you 
 have no warrant or legal process to justify my arrest." 
 
 "You are mistaken, young man," coolly replied the man 
 by his side. "The law does not require a warrant or legal 
 process of any kind to justify the arrest of a person for the 
 commission of a felony, when that person is caught 
 'flagrante delicto.' Every man has a right to arrest an- 
 other when detected in the very act of crime, and even 
 pursue him with 'hue and cry' and capture him if he is at- 
 tempting to escape, and to use sufficient force to secure 
 the criminal. This is a common law right and is as old 
 as civilization." 
 
 "There are the ear-marks of a lawyer in that opinion," 
 whispered the Judge to himself, as he scanned more 
 closely the person of his captor. "I am safe in such 
 hands for a time at least. It is the unthinking, unreason- 
 ing and ignorant mob that is to be feared when innocent 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE, 37 
 
 men are accused of the commission of a crime upon sus- 
 picious circumstances." 
 
 While he thus reasoned with himself he had time to ob- 
 serve the persons of all his captors. Two of them were 
 evidently hunters or backwoodsmen of the frontier, of the 
 ordinary class, but the deference shown by them to the 
 third man, as well as his conversation and appearance 
 plainly indicated that he was not an uneducated frontiers- 
 man. The expression of his features alone showed this; 
 so positively and clearly does education and a cultured in- 
 tercourse with the world stamp their impress on the hu- 
 man countenance that the most unskilled in physiognomy 
 can discern them at a glance. 
 
 "General," said one of the men who had.been examin- 
 ing the ground where Oneida fell, and who had picked up 
 his fallen rifle, "this here .gun is loaded yet, and if ye look 
 inter the muzzle ye'll see it haint bin shot fer some time. 
 Besides the priming on the pan is packed. It's not fresh 
 as ye .can see; this rifle haint bin shot fer a. day or two, 
 that's sartain." 
 
 "It's jest so with this thing. General," said the third 
 man, who had been examining the pistol Munson had 
 wrested from the Judge tod thrown on the ground. 
 "This pistol is loaded and haint bin fired off fer some 
 time. The 'frizen is rusty and haint bin scratched by a 
 flint fer a good while. The man in the lake warn't killed 
 by it, sure as ye'r born." 
 
 The "General" looked surprised and turned an inquir- 
 ing glance on the Judge, who smilingly remarked: 
 
 "There is wood-craft and Judgment to sustain my inno- 
 cence against your law that suspects me. I am certain 
 that the pistol has not been fired for a number of weeks, 
 as my friend there has discovered, and I do not believe 
 that the rifle has been used for several days. No, men, it 
 was neither of those weapons that shot my Indian guide 
 whose body you saw me throw over the cliff into the lake." 
 
 At this the "General" walked to the horse that was feed- 
 ing near by, and lifting the cover of both holsters, said: . 
 
 "Stranger, where is the companion of that pistol? It 
 is not here, and yet the holster is worn with recent use." 
 
 "It is in the lake yonder," answered the Judge. "It 
 was thrown there by the man who shot my guide, and 
 who disarmed me as I was about to shoot him." 
 
 "Who was the man? Where did he go? Why did he 
 
38 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 kill the Indian, and why did you throw the body in the 
 lake?" asked the "General," in peremptory tones. 
 
 "Those questions I cannot answer now," replied Judge 
 Hall, "and I deny your right to interrogate me in the tone 
 and manner you have. I do not feel at liberty to impli- 
 cate others. I submit, therefore, in silence to your com- 
 mon law right to arrest me and demand an immediate 
 hearing before the nearest magistrate, and it must be on 
 a complaint made under oath and in proper form charg- 
 ing me with the crime of mui-der. If you fail in showing 
 a probable cause for my arrest, I will prosecute you for 
 false imprisonment to the extent of the law." 
 
 The "General" looked at Judge Hall a moment, and 
 whispered to himself: "A brother chip — a lawyer, eh? 
 Yes, I see the ax marks of the profession in his appear- 
 ance and speech as plainly as I ever saw a blaze on a tree." 
 
 'TToung man," said he, "I feel it to be my duty to de- 
 tain — not arrest you, and take you to the village at the 
 head of Cha-da-qua Lake, about ten miles distant. 
 There is a magistrate there who will inquire into the mat- 
 ter. Perhaps, however, if you were to make us an expla- 
 nation of this singular and suspicious occurrence, we 
 might not feel it obligatory on us to detain you." 
 
 Judge Hall reflected a few moments and concluded that 
 it was better for him to remain silent. He was at a loss 
 what explanation to make that would screen himself and 
 not implicate Munson, whose terrible wrongs and mental 
 condition had so deeply aroused his sympathy. 
 
 "I will go with you," he replied, ''wherever you desire 
 to take me. I am aware that the circumstances that sur- 
 round me are very suspicious, yet I am wholly innocent, 
 and if you knew me you would not hesitate in believing 
 me, but I am a stranger and must submit." 
 
 The Judge was permitted to mount his horse, although 
 one of the men led it by the bridle rein to prevent liis 
 escape. 
 
 The path . or trail they traveled ran nearly south 
 and seemed to be g, continued ascent for a number of 
 miles. It led through a dense wilderness unbroken until 
 they had reached the summit of the rising ground, when 
 they came to a clearing of some twenty acres in extent, 
 nearly in the center of which stood the log cabin, barn 
 and out-buildings of some thrifty settlers. The well- 
 tilled fields were shorn of their summer vegetation, yet 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 39 
 
 the well-filled barn and cribs indicated the industry of its 
 provident owner. It was a characteristic American 
 home of that day; the primogenitor of future orchards 
 and dairies with unlimited acres of rich pasturage and 
 boundless fields of growing grain. Of such homes as this 
 was there were only a few hundred west of the Allegheny 
 mountains at the date of our story, and many of these 
 were in daily danger of the torch and scalping-knife of 
 the savages. 
 
 The two companions of the "General" did not share his 
 feelings towards Judge Hall. Even if he were guilty of 
 the crime suspected, they looked upon the act as a venial 
 offense. Their estimate of the value of the life of an In- 
 dian was far below that of the Common Law. There was 
 hardly a pioneer on the western frontier but regarded an 
 Indian about the same as they did a panther or any other 
 dangerous wild beast of the wilderness. If, therefore, it 
 was true that the stranger had killed one and thrown his 
 body in the lake, it only made them feel more kindly to- 
 wards him, and more desirous of extending to him the 
 hospitality for which the early settlers of this country 
 were noted. 
 
 The party halted before the door of th€ cabin, and 
 were greeted by a comely looking matron, who was the 
 wife of the man who led the horse of Judge Hall. A half- 
 dozen of flaxen-haired children thronged around the 
 father and welcomed him with childish prattle, while 
 they gazed at Judge Hall with wonder-dilated eyes. 
 
 "Light down, stranger! light down!" said the man to 
 Judge Hall, in hearty tones of welcome. "Ye must be 
 hungry, but my old woman will give ye as good a supper 
 as can be scared up in these woods. Go in, 'General,' go in 
 Sam, and I will look to the prisoner. The sun is an 
 hour and a half high, and it's only two miles to the Inlet; 
 so ye have plenty of time f er supper." The "General" 
 stepped into the cabin, when the man coming closer to 
 the Judge, said in subdued tones: 
 
 "Stranger, I don't believe ye killed the Injun, though 
 it wouldn't bin much matter if ye did,. Sam and I saw 
 two pools of blood on the grass where the body laid afore 
 ye threw it in the lake; one pool was from the bullet-hole 
 in his body; the other where his head lay arter he'd bin 
 scalped." 
 
 Judge Hall looked at him in surprise and was about to 
 
40 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 speak, when the nian, motioning with his head towards 
 the cabin, ejaculated in cautionary tones: 
 
 "Hush! hush! Say nothing, stranger; I think I know 
 who did the job. You never mind. When they take ye 
 to the village at the Inlet, don't say nothin'; they'll put 
 ye in the jail to-night, and about moon-rise you look fer 
 friends; ye jist listen fer the hoot of an owl and come to 
 the winder of yer cell and put yer hand through the bars 
 so we can see where ye are, and we'll have ye out quieker'n 
 lightnin'. Thare are two cells in the jail, both on the 
 ground floor. I don't know which one they'll put ye in, 
 but you run yer hand out to let us know, and yer friends 
 will not be far ofE. Don't say nothin' to the 'General' 
 about Bill Munson, and you shan't be hurt. "When you 
 start arter supper, leave yer boss here with me. I'll take 
 good care of it till ye get it again." 
 
 "Jonas! Jonas!" called the matron from the cabin door, 
 "what makes ye so slow? Come in right away or the sup- 
 per will be cold and not fit to eat. I expected ye home 
 long before this," continued the woman, as her husband 
 and Judge Hall entered the .cabin. "Yer welcome, 
 stranger. Sit down to the table. I know ye must be 
 tired and hungry surveyin' all day through the woods and 
 over the hills. Did ye find the line ye was huntin' arter, 
 Jonas?" 
 
 "Yes, Dolly," replied the husband affectionately; "yes, 
 we found the line and run it down to Munson's clearin', 
 where we found this stranger, and I took the liberty of in- 
 vitin' him home to supper." Here he exchanged a know- 
 ing glance with the prisoner. The "General" looked 
 grave and turned the conversation in another channel by 
 praising the good woman's savory corn bread and deli- 
 cious broiled venison steak. 
 
 Supper over, the "General" remarked: "Come, men, we 
 must be going; it is nearly sunset and it will be dark be- 
 fore we reach the Inlet." 
 
 "I don't s'pose ye need me. General, do ye?" inquired 
 Jonas. "There ain't no one to do the chores but Dolly 
 and the children; you two can take care of one man as far 
 as the Inlet, can't ye?" 
 
 "I pledge my word and honor not to try to escape be- 
 fore I get to the village," said Judge Hall. "I have com- 
 mitted no crime and have nothing to fear from an inves- 
 tigation save the delay that may arise from my detention; 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 41 
 
 great interests are at a stake in my journey, and any 
 delay may work a great public injury." 
 
 "I do not know how that is," replied the "General," 
 "but it is certainly of great interest to the people of New 
 York that the lives of all peaceable citizens are protected, 
 whether they be Indians or whites. It is a part of my 
 mission to see that the peaceful relations between the Six 
 Nations and the government are maintained. It is very 
 important just now when the Western tribes are on the 
 war-path, that we should do nothing to disturb the 
 friendly feeling existing between us and the Iroquois, and 
 what we saw at the cliff to-day must be investigated. It 
 is a part of the duty intrusted to me by the government, 
 and I cannot permit the occurrence at Munson's clearing 
 to pass unnoticed. But, Jonas, I do not think it neces- 
 sary for you to go any farther. Sam and I can take care 
 that our prisoner does not escape, even should he attempt 
 it in violation of his word." 
 
 "My word has never been disputed, or my honor 
 doubted by those who know me," said Judge Hall, 
 haughtily. 
 
 "Perhaps so," replied the "General," "but then, young 
 man, we don't know you; and the incident that led to our 
 acquaintance is not one calculated to beget that confidence 
 in your honesty, that your character may deserve. But 
 let us be moving, or night may overtake us in the woods." 
 
 "Jonas," said the Judge, "I will walk to the Inlet. 
 Will you take good care of my horse during my absence? 
 I do not know how long I may be detained, but I shall 
 want him on my release, for I have a long journey before 
 me." 
 
 "I will take good care of him, stranger, until you want 
 him again, which I hope won't be long." The two ex- 
 changed glances of mutual understanding; then the 
 Judge "accompanied by Sam and the "General" started 
 across the clearing towards the Inlet and soon disappeared 
 in the woods. 
 
 "What does it mean, Jonas Birch?" inquired his good 
 wife, after the men had left the cabin and were crossing 
 the clearing towards the head of the lake. "Who is that 
 stranger, and what has he bin a doin'?" 
 . Jonas hastily related to his wife the circumstances we 
 have narrated, and explained to her the project he had in 
 ' view of liberating Judge Hall. "Tou will have to do up 
 
42 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 the chores, Dolly," he said, "for I must go down to the 
 lake and get Bill to help me. We will take his canoe and 
 row up to the Inlet; we will get there about moon-rise, 
 and we'll have the stranger out if we have to tear the old 
 log shanty down to do it." 
 
 "All right, Jonas," said his wife, encouragingly, "but 
 be keerful and don't do anything unlawful. What if he 
 did kill an Injun! — that's nothing to make a fuss about; 
 if the government had to sleep every night in fear of being 
 scalped and murdered, as the settlers do, they wouldn't be 
 so particular to count every dead Injun that's found in 
 the woods." 
 
 Jonas led the horse of Judge Hall to the stable; pro- 
 vided plentifully for him during the night. Then throw- 
 ing a strong log chain across his shoulders, he crossed the 
 clearing towards the lake, and striking a not very plainly 
 marked trail, was soon lost to the view of his anxious wife 
 in the darkness of the wilderness. 
 
 When the "General" reached the Inlet or village at the 
 head of the lake with his captive, it was quite dark; the 
 street of the little hamlet was deserted; bright fires 
 gleamed from a number of the windows of the cabins as 
 they passed, revealing happy fireside graups where father, 
 mother, sons and daughters were engaged in some of the 
 necessary domestic industries incident to frontier life. 
 These rural homes exist no longer in this country. The 
 Geni steam, with his cohort, electricity, have annihilated 
 time and space. We have frontiers no longer, American 
 enterprise and civilization have swept over the continent 
 from the Atlantic, and only paused to take breath on the 
 shores of the Pacific. Our means of rapid transit have 
 made the prairies of the West, only suburban to our East- 
 ern cities. 
 
 At the request of Judge Hall, his captors conducted 
 him immediately to the place where he was to be securely 
 kept until morning, when he was to have a hearing be- 
 fore a magistrate. The building was a large two-story 
 structure of logs. The lower story being divided into 
 three rooms, one of them extending along the front was 
 used for a school where the flaxen-haired urchins of the 
 settlement were, during the winter months, taught the 
 rudiments of the education necessary to the future legis- 
 lator and congressman. The two rooms running along 
 the side farthest from the street were used as cells or 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 43 
 
 'lock-ups" in which were occasionally confined the re- 
 fractory settlers, who, when becoming unduly exliilarated 
 with the popular beverage of the day, violated some of 
 the proprieties of the settlement; as yet the majesty of 
 the law had not asserted itself through its courts and 
 juries in the wilderness of Northwestern New York. 
 The county of Chautauqua was not organized until nearly 
 twenty years after the date of our story; the first court be- 
 ing held at the Inlet or Mayville, as it was afterwards 
 called, in February, A. D. 1811. 
 
 The cells or "lock-ups" had each an iron-barred win- 
 dow opening from the back of the building. These win- 
 dows were two feet square, and the bars were rods of inch 
 and a half iron inserted into the logs at the top and bot- 
 tom of the windows. This primitive bastile would have 
 made a modern burglar smile, yet it was a terror to all the 
 convivial settlers and evil-doers for miles around. The 
 upper story of the building was used for public worship, 
 and its rude pulpit was frequently occupied by itinerant 
 ministers of the popular creeds of the day. 
 
 The keeper of the jail was also the deputy sheriff of the 
 county, whose extended boundaries then included the In- 
 let and Lake. He was found at his home on the opposite 
 side of the street, seated by his fire-side, engaged in the 
 primitive occupation of making "split brooms'" for home 
 consumption and the Eastern market. He received the 
 prisoner with considerable curiosity, and conducted him 
 to the inner bastile we have described. 
 
 A bed of clean straw was prepared for the Judge, who 
 smiled good-humoredly at the rustic simplicity of his 
 couch. Over this was thrown a blanket and a bear skin 
 and the arrangements were completed; the SherifE placed 
 a huge iron padlock in the staple and hasps that, secured 
 the door, and returning home resumed his pipe and 
 broom with an unbounded confidence in the impregnabil- 
 ity of the public building under his charge. 
 
 The hours of the night passed slowly to Judge Hall. 
 He had no fears of a conviction of murder, but he was 
 annoyed at the probable delay his arrest might cause him. 
 If the magistrate should on hearing, hold him for trial, 
 he would have to be taken to the distant county seat, and 
 it might be weeks or even months before the court would 
 sit, and all this time he would be imprisoned. If he re- 
 lated the facts connected with the death of Oneida it 
 
44 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 might lead to the arrest and conviction of Munson for 
 murder and subsequently to his execution. At this his 
 heart revolted. He determined he would not by his testi- 
 mony send to the gallows the unfortunate man who was 
 made partially insane by his terrible wrongs. He there- 
 fore resolved to escape if possible. When he had com- 
 pleted his mission in AVestern Pennsylvania and returned 
 to Washington, the incident of Oneida's death would be 
 lost in the more stirring events of the times, and would 
 be forgotten, or at least he would be safe from arrest. 
 
 In the meantime he would be secure in the wilderness 
 he must traverse to reach his destination. Then he would 
 be safe from pursuit. The recent disastrous defeat of St. 
 Clair in Ohio had exposed the frontiers of the West to the 
 attacks of predatory bands of hostile savages; and he be- 
 lieved he would be forgotten in the general anxiety and 
 alarm that would soon prevail 'in all the frontier settle- 
 ments. 
 
 Having come to this conclusion. Judge Hall waited 
 impatiently for the rising moon and the signal promised 
 him by Jonas Birch. Was he certain that this man could 
 be' trusted? He was an entire stranger, and why should 
 he feel a sufficient interest in him to justify the danger of 
 a violation of the law by assisting him to escape? Birch 
 had a valuable horse in his, possession, and might not 
 cupidity induce the man to attempt to secure it by leaving 
 him to his fate? He could not believe it; "no man with 
 such a face and such a wife could be a scoundrel," 
 reasoned Judge Hall, "and besides how glad his children 
 were to see him to-day, and how affectionately he caressed 
 them. Xo, no," he continued, "I have confidence in him." 
 
 At this point his logic was interrupted by the beams of 
 the rising moon shining through the branches of the 
 forest trees. He listened intently and in a few moments 
 he distinctly heard the hoot of an owl in the distance; a 
 few moments more and he heard it again, but much 
 nearer than at first. Looking anxiously through the bars 
 of his window he soon saw the forms of two men ap- 
 proaching the Jail from the woods. Fortunately the 
 window of the room in which he was confined was on the 
 side of the jail from the street and towards the forest. 
 He thrust his hand between the bars; it was instantly 
 observed by the men who were now cautiously but swiftly 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 45 
 
 approaching the biiilding; soon they were so near it that 
 they could not be seen from the street. 
 
 "Are ye there, stranger?" inquired Jonas Birch in a 
 whisper. "Is anybody with ye in that room?" 
 
 "No," said the Judge, "I am alone, but how will you 
 remove the bars of my window?" 
 
 "Easy enough, stranger; easy enough," replied Birch as 
 he noiselessly unwound a log chain from his shoulder. 
 Approaching the window he passed the hook of the chain 
 around a bar. "Here, stranger," said he as he handed 
 him the end of a small rope which was attached to the 
 hook through the bars; "you haul taut on this rope "so 
 when the bar comes out the chain won't fall to the ground 
 and wake up the sheriff. Keep the hook up to the middle 
 of the bar; so!" 
 
 Judge Hall did as he was directed. The other ixian 
 now approached with a long stout "hand-spike," and 
 placing one end against the logs at the side of the window 
 he wound the chain around it securely. 
 
 "Give her a short bight, Bill," whispered Jonas, Hand 
 we'll fetch her as if she was made of lead." "Now then," 
 he continued, "put your baby strength on the handspike! 
 Easy, easy, easy, so as not to make any noise; here she 
 comes!!" 
 
 As the men put their strength to the lever, the bar grad- 
 ually bent outward in the center, and as Jonas concluded 
 his remarks the ends of the iron drew out of the logs, and 
 bar and chain would have fallen to the ground but for 
 the rope in the hands of the Judge. 
 
 With this rope he carefully and noiselessly lowered the 
 bar and chain to the ground. The operation was re- 
 peated until three bars were removed leaving an -opening 
 sufficiently large to admit the body of a man. Through 
 this opening Judge Hall with the assistance of Jonas soon 
 made his exit from the jail and stood by the side of his 
 rescuers. As the rays of the rising moon fell upon them, 
 the Judge recognized in the companion of Birch the 
 gigantic form of Munson, who approached him and 
 grasped his extended hand with the force of a vise. 
 
 "Young man," said he, in solemn though subdued 
 tones, "Jonas Birch has told me all that happened at the 
 cliff, after I left you. He told me you refused to mention 
 my name when by so doing you could have entirely ex- 
 culpated yourself from a false accusation of murder; for 
 
46 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAITQUA LAKE. 
 
 murder it was not unless executing the stern decree of the 
 Almighty is a crime. The Great Being has destined you 
 for a nobler purpose than either a prison or a gallows. A 
 man who would not betray an unfortunate stranger to 
 save himself from imprisonment is made of different 
 material from the common potters' clay of mankind. I 
 have told Birch all about the death of your guide, and 
 why I killed the red devil who murdered and scalped my 
 little boy. But we have no time now to say more. Come 
 with us and in an hour's time you will be safe from 
 pursuit. 
 
 For the space of half an hour the men pursued their 
 way in silence, when they emerged from a dense woods 
 and approached the shore of Cha-da-qua Lake. Here 
 Munson drew a canoe from a clump of flags and bushes 
 where it had been concealed. "This will leave no trail 
 behind us," he said. "The eye of the Creator alone can 
 track man's footsteps across the deep. The bloodhounds 
 of the law may hunt for our trail in vain, on the surface 
 of this lake. For years I have lived alone upon its shores, 
 and often have I been beset by my enemies, but He who 
 walked the stormy waves of Galilee and answered the 
 prayer of Peter, 'Lord save me,' presides over this wilder- 
 ness and on these waters. He heard my petition and de- 
 livered mine enemies into my hands.; and so he will con- 
 tinue to do until my measure is filled and my time has 
 come. But let us make haste, stranger, and your safety 
 is assured." 
 
 The three men stepped into the canoe. Munson and 
 Birch plied the paddles cautipusly for a few moments, 
 until the shore had disappeared from view and the moon- 
 light seemed to rest like a silvery dome on a base of placid 
 water around them. Then exerting their strength with 
 less caution and more vigorous strokes the light boat 
 darted over the lake with increased velocity, and in a few 
 moment's time rounded a point on its western shore a 
 league distant from the place whence it started. Here the 
 men landed in a dense thicket of hazel bushes and under- 
 growth that lined the shore of the little bay they had en- 
 tered. Munson concealed the canoe in a bed of flags that 
 grew near the beach and that could only be reached by 
 wading several rods in the shallow water between them 
 and the shore. 
 
 'Tollow us, stranger," he said. "But fe\v know where 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 47 
 
 I make my home in this wilderness, and they are my 
 friends." 
 
 Munson led the way followed by Birch and Judge Hall, 
 and soon the lake was hidden from view by the dense 
 foliage of the forest through which they wended their 
 ■way, following the bed of a small rivulet that obliterated 
 their tracks as they passed 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 "It was a lodge of ample size, 
 
 But strange of structure and device; 
 
 Of such materials, as around 
 
 The workman's hand had readiest found. 
 
 Lopp'd of their boughs, their hoar trunks bared. 
 
 And by the hatchet rudely squared. 
 
 To give the walls their destined height. 
 
 The sturdy oak and ash unite. 
 
 While moss and clay and leaves combined 
 
 To fence each crevice from the wind; 
 
 The lighter pine trees, over-head, 
 
 Their slender length for rafters spread, 
 
 And withered heath and rushes dry 
 
 Supplied a russet canopy." 
 
 —Scott's "Lady of the Lake." 
 
 " 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore 
 And coming events cast their shadows before." 
 
 — Campbell's "Lochiel's Warning." 
 
 A little over a league from the head of Cha-da-qua 
 Lake is a point of land extending out several hundred 
 feet into its placid waters. Below this point is a little 
 bay, or what was in some far distant geological period an 
 estuary of a stream of water that poured out of a deep 
 ravine some seventy rods distant from the present shore 
 of the lake, but the breath of unnumbered centuries had 
 dried up its waters, until at the time of our story it was 
 a small rivulet whose source was a spring that poured its 
 crystal current from a ledge of rocks that formed the 
 
48 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 terminus of the ravine. This ravine extended back into 
 the hill-side several hundred feet. Its precipitous sides 
 were covered with a prolific growth of forest trees and 
 "under-wood." From its mouth the ground gradually 
 descended to the water's edge, where the rocks were piled 
 in picturesque confusion along the shore, as if nature had 
 once attempted to form a fantastic barrier between the 
 two contending forces of lake and forest. 
 
 A dense thicket of witch-hazel mingled with pine and 
 hemlock completely concealed the ravine from view until 
 the observer stood upon its brink or at its mouth. In the 
 angle of its northern bank and the ledge of rocks that 
 formed its terminal, there stood a rude and curiously de- 
 vised structure of logs, stone and earth, so artfully con- 
 cealed by moss, vines, ferns and under-wood that-€ven the 
 eye of an experienced woodsman would have passed it by 
 unnoticed. 
 
 The logs which formed its walls were hewed on three 
 sides and so laid together that their uniform surfaces left 
 no crevices between them, through which a bullet might 
 pass. The inside of the walls was straight and even, 
 forming perpendicular faces of hewed timber nicely ad- 
 justed, and smoothed with ax and adze. The outside of 
 the logs was covered with the bark of the trees, as they 
 stood in the forest. The roof and ceiling combined were 
 constructed of puncheons or logs split through their cen- 
 ter and laid on the walls of the structure with their, bark 
 outward. These were covered with clay and forest mold 
 in which a luxuriant growth of ferns and forest shrubs 
 had taken root, while moss-covered fragments of half- 
 decayed logs were scattered over its surface. 
 
 The roof descended from the bank towards the rivulet, 
 and its artificial structure was so artfully concealed that 
 to an observer from either side of the ravine who looked 
 down upon it, it appeared to be a portion of the bank cov- 
 ered with a dense growth of forest vegetation. 
 
 The sides of this curious structure were so completely 
 covered with woodbine and other climbing vines as to con- 
 ceal the logs of which its walls were constructed. The 
 door was next to the ledge of rocks from which the 
 spring and rivulet were supplied with water, and was con- 
 cealed by a cluster of young pines and hemlocks. The 
 only path which led to the door was the bed of the rivulet 
 along which every person must pass who entered this half 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 49 
 
 cabin and half grotto, and in doing so the stony bed of the 
 little stream, always covered a few inches deep with water, 
 would retain no impress or foot-print. The structure was 
 so ingeniously devised and so cunningly constructed to 
 escape observation, that its presence would be unnoticed 
 and unsuspected by persons within a few feet of its 
 threshold. 
 
 The chimney was a long ditch dug in the side of the 
 bank, walled with stone and covered with earth. It ran 
 along the side of the ravine a number of rods until it 
 opened under a large flat rock that projected from the 
 bank amidst a dense cluster of under-wood; From this 
 chimney the smoke of dry wood or charcoal would pass 
 almost invisible, and could only be seen by a person near 
 the mouth of the ravine. 
 
 There was so little appearance of a human habitation 
 in this lonely glen, that its existence was unsuspected by 
 the settlers at the head of the lake, and was known only * 
 to a favored few, who like Jonas Birch, could call its 
 owner "my friend." 
 
 A few hours after the incidents related in the last chap- 
 ter, Munson, Birch and Judge Hall entered the singular 
 habitation we have described. With flint, steel and 
 tinder Munson soon lighted an iron lamp that was sus- 
 pended by a chain from the center of the roof, and kindled 
 a fire of dry hickory wood in a fire-place cut deep in the 
 ledge of rocks that formed one end of the cabin. The 
 bright blaze soon illuminated the room and' diffused a 
 genial warmth through its farthest recesses. 
 
 Judge Hall looked around him in astonishment. He 
 had been unable to observe closely the outside of the 
 structure, as the moon shed but a feeble light through the 
 dense foliage of the trees of the ravine. In fact he had 
 observed nothing that indicated a human habitation until 
 they reached the very door of the cabin, and he was sur- 
 prised when Munson seemed to unlock and open a portion 
 of the ledge of rocks itself when he opened the door; but 
 he was yet more astonished at what he saw when lamp and 
 fire had lighted the interior of this singular abode. 
 
 Looking around him Judge Hall saw a spacious room 
 some thirty feet in length by eighteen or twenty in width. 
 Towards the bank the ceiling or roof was over twelve feet 
 in height, but descending towards the outer wall where it 
 was considerably lower. The sides of the room presented 
 
50 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 a uniform surface of hewed logs smoothed and adjusted 
 with considerable skill. Over the fire-place was a rude 
 shelf or mantel on which the Judge observed with sur- 
 prise a number of volumes of books, and placed con- 
 spicuously in their center was a large Bible whose well- 
 worn binding indicated its frequent use. Curiosity 
 prompted the Judge to read the titles of a few of the 
 volumes by its side; and he could not suppress a smile ^ 
 when he read the names of a number of the good old pub- 
 lications that even at that time were considered somewhat 
 antiquated on the subjects of which they treated. "The 
 Groans of the Damned," stood lovingly by the side of 
 "The Saints Eest," while "Baxter's Call to the Uncon- 
 verted" and "The Plays of William Shakespeare" leaned 
 affectionately against each other. A number of other 
 works of like character formed the library of the recluse, 
 and the constant perusal of their gloomy pages had served 
 to increase the morbid condition of his mind, diseased and 
 shattered by the terrible ordeal of the woe he had endured. 
 As Judge Hall turned from the contemplation of these 
 cheerful titles the brightly blazing fire illumined every 
 part of the room, and with a shiver of horror he saw that 
 its walls were nearly covered with human* scalps, while 
 festoons of these bloody trophies hung from the ceiling 
 over his head. At intervals along the sides of the cabin 
 towards the rivulet and the mouth of the ravine wei'e port- 
 holes cut in the logs of the wall, of sufficient size to admit 
 the sighting of a rifle or musket through them. These 
 holes were stopped by wedge shaped blocks of wood that 
 could be removed and replaced in a moment's time. 
 Leaning against the racks placed along the sides of the 
 room were several score of rifles and muskets, while 
 bunches of tomahawks, scalping-knives, bullet pouches 
 and powder-horns were suspended from the rafters. The 
 side of the cabin next to the bank was a stone wall 
 through which a door opened into some hidden recess in 
 the hillside. This wall also was pierced with port-holes, 
 and appeared to be an inner fortification behind which 
 the garrison could retreat should the "out-works" be 
 stormed and carried by a savage foe. Several rude chairs 
 and stools were scattered around the room, and two bunks 
 placed one above the other in a corner farthest from the 
 fire, were covered with blankets and bear-skins. The 
 cabin was scrupulously clean, and a few culinary imple- 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAtJQtJA LAKE. 51 
 
 ments of brass and copper that were hanging upon the 
 wall shone in the fire-light as brightly as if they had been 
 Tinder the care of an accomplished house-wife. 
 
 For a moment Judge Hall stood looking in astonish- 
 ment around him, but ever and anon as his eyes rested on 
 the scalps that festooned wall and ceiling, an expression 
 of disgust and horror passed over his features. Munson 
 stood in the center of the room, watching him closely; 
 observing the look, he raised his arm in an imposing man- 
 ner and in deep and solemn tones said: 
 
 " 'Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what 
 judgment ye judge ye shall be judged.' Young man, 
 these are the scalps of mine enemies! There are no locks 
 of innocent childhood or of grey-haired, feeble old age 
 among them. All of them are from the heads of warriors 
 who rejoiced in murdering the helpless and unoffending. 
 As the Lord delivered the hosts of the Amalekites into the 
 hands of his servant David, that they might perish by the 
 sword, so has he delivered the savages into my hands, that 
 his awful decree should be fulfilled. 'Whoso sheddeth 
 man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.' I am but 
 a feeble instrument in His hands to execute His just pun- 
 ishment on those who have cruelly shed the blood of his 
 people. As Moses built his altar on a hill in the name of 
 Jehovah-nissi, so have I built mine on the shore of this 
 lake to offer up sacrifices in the name of the Lord. When 
 God appointed the cities of refuge he said to his chosen 
 people: 'The avenger of blood himself shall slay the mur- 
 derer: when he meeteth him he shall slay him.' 
 
 "Therefore, judge me not with human judgment. Con- 
 demn me not by human laws. I have but obeyed the 
 commands of the Most High. When human laws are of 
 no avail to protect the weak and helpless, then must the 
 strong become the avenger of their wrongs. No law pro- 
 tected those I loved from the murderous hands of the sav- 
 ages, and I, their avenger, am commanded to slay their 
 murderers when I meet them. This have I done, and this 
 shall I continue to do until the mission of my poor life is 
 ended." 
 
 He paused a moment and bowed his head as if in 
 prayer; a moment more and he straightened his tall form 
 to its utmost height; his eyes glared with the Wildness of 
 insanity, and in a voice tremulous with the intensity of hia 
 emotions be continued: 
 
82 THE NEMESIS OF CHAtJTATJQtJA LAKM. 
 
 "Here have I erected my altar! Here have I made my 
 offerings to the Most High! Within these rude walls have 
 I prayed that He would deliver mine enemies into my 
 hands; and He has heard and answered my prayers. The 
 shore of this lake is covered with the graves of those I 
 have sacrificed in accordance with His commands. Be- 
 cause of these sacrifices this ground is made holy. 
 The time shall come in the future when the place where 
 we now are shall be dedicated to the worship of the Savior 
 of mankind; songs and prayers shall stir the leaves of 
 these trees as with the breath of the wind. A vast temple 
 shall be erected here, and hither thousands shall come to 
 listen to the voice of the servants of the Lord, as they 
 shall expound the teachings of His holy word. The 
 temple shall be lighted with the lightnings of Heaven. 
 The bow of God's promise shall span its roof and its foun- 
 dation. Around it will gather the habitations of those 
 who love the Lord and obey its commands. The lake 
 yonder shall be covered with arks like those of the early 
 patriarchs. They shall be driven by fire and move with- 
 out wind or sail. The blessings that shall spread from 
 this place shall be like the dew and the summer showers 
 that water the whole earth. All these things have I seen 
 when communing with my Creator. His voice has 
 whispered it in mine ears, as He did the coming future to 
 the prophets of old, and verily shall all these things come 
 to pass, for thus saith the Lord of Hosts." 
 
 He paused a moment, the strange light faded from his 
 eyes, and sinking upon a chair he covered his face with 
 his hands while his frame shook as with convulsions. 
 Judge Hall and Jonas Birch stood in silence and awe, 
 looking at the strange man who seemed to have uttered 
 his singular prophecy unconscious of their presence or 
 even of the import of his words he had spoken. A few 
 moments he remained thus, when suddenly, and as if 
 awakening from a sleep he started up and looking around 
 with a bewildered gaze said: "I have heard the whispers 
 again. I have heard them often in the dead of night 
 when alone, but never before in human presence. But 
 come, I must banish the phantasies of an overburdened 
 heart and a diseased brain, to care for the welfare of him 
 who has been endangered by my acts. Stranger, who are 
 you? What do you seek? Whither do you go, and bow 
 can I assist you?" 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 53 
 
 The Judge hesitated a moment, then answered: 
 "My name is Frank Hall. I hold an appointment as a 
 Judge of several Courts in Western New York and have 
 been to Buffalo on business connected with my office. I 
 also have a commission from President Washington 
 directing me to go to Pittsburg to inquire into the con- 
 dition of the frontiers in relation to the apprehended out- 
 break of the Indian tribes of Ohio, and other matters for 
 which I have secret orders from the government. The 
 defeat of St. Clair on the Miami river has encouraged the 
 Western Indians, and it is feared that they are combining 
 for a general outbreak, and will make an attack on the 
 frontiers in the Spring if not before. General Anthony 
 Wayne will be appointed to take command of an army to 
 be raised as soon as possible and sent into Ohio to quell 
 the turbulent savages. It is probable that next Summer 
 will find us engaged in a general war with the western 
 tribes. I wish to reach Pittsburg without delay, where I 
 shall remain during the Winter. My duties completed 
 there, in the Spring I shall join the army of Wayne in 
 whatever capacity the government sees proper to 
 appoint me." 
 
 "Judge Hall," said Munson, "there is indeed eminent 
 danger of an Indian outbreak next season. The savages 
 will not make a combined attack of the frontiers this 
 Winter. The cold and snow will prevent that, but as soon 
 as the Spring opens all the western tribes will be on the 
 war-path. The sky will be lurid with the flames of the 
 burning homes of the settlers. The streams will run red 
 with their blood. The air will be filled with the shrieks 
 of the victims of the tomahawk and scalping-knife. 
 Hundreds of husbands and fathers are fated to see what 
 I saw on that terrible night, and suffer what I have suf- 
 fered; but the army of the Most High will prevail as the 
 army of David did against the Philistines. All these 
 things have been whispered in mine ears, and the Lord of 
 Hosts has commanded me to be there in the front of the 
 battle, and I will obey His commands. I will raise a 
 band of riflemen from the settlements on the shore of the 
 great lake. I have arms and equipments here which I 
 have wrested from mine enemies, and in His all powerful 
 name we will assemble and we will smite, the savages from 
 the rising to the setting of the sun. We will slay and 
 spare not; we will execute the vengeance of the Lord oa 
 
64 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 the enemies of His people, as did Moses on the Midianites 
 when God commanded him to slay both young and old 
 with the edge of the sword." 
 
 "Munson," said Birch, 'Tiow can the stranger travel 
 safely? I'm af eared the 'General' will be arter him with 
 a lot of settlers at the head of the lake if he travels on 
 hoss-baek." 
 
 "Who is this man you call 'General?' Where is he from 
 and what is his business here?" inquired Judge Hall. 
 
 "Why, he's a lawyer from Albany," said Birch. "He 
 was a General in the war with the French and Injuns up 
 North somewhere. He bought a large tract of land here- 
 abouts and is afeared the Six Nations will join the western 
 Injuns and make war on us here. He says the Governor 
 at Albany gave him 'thority to inquire about the dead 
 Injuns found in the woods around here, and to 'rest any 
 one suspicioned of Mllin' them. I'm afeard he will try to 
 ketch the stranger here, and if he does he won't let him 
 git away agin so easy; he'll take him to Buffalo sartin as 
 you live." 
 
 "I'm afraid so," said Munson in a thoughtful tone. 
 "We must not let Judge Hall be captured; but it is not 
 safe for him to try to reach Pittsburgh on horseback. 
 Judge, I think you had better sell your horse to me or 
 leave him with Jonas until we can send him to you. I 
 will take you in a canoe down the lake ta the Ga-no-wun- 
 go, and from there down the creek to the 0-hee-yo, and 
 down the river to the settlement at the mouth of the Te- 
 car-nohs, [6a-no-wun-go: Seneca for Conowungo, mean- 
 ing In the Eapids. 0-hee-yo: Seneca for Allegheny, 
 meaning The Beautiful. Te-car-nohs: Seneca for Oil 
 Creek, meaning Dropping Oil.] where you can procure a 
 guide who will take you either by land or river to where 
 you wish to go. You will be safe under my care, and we 
 can defy the blood-hounds of the law, be they either dogs 
 or men. We will start this evening as soon as it is dark. 
 My canoe is safe, and if the wind is favorable I can set a 
 small sail I frequently use on the lake, and by morning 
 we will be beyond the reach of pursuers. We will have a 
 moon before midnight, and I am familiar with every point 
 on the shore of the lake, and know almost every tree that 
 grows on its banks." 
 
 A moment's reflection satisfied Judge Hall that the 
 course proposed by Munson was the safest he could pur- 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAtJTAUQTJA LAKE. 5S 
 
 sue. Making a few preliminary arrangements with Jonas 
 in regard to his horse and valise, and bidding that worthy 
 good-bye, he threw himself on a couch prepared for him 
 by Munson and soon forgot the perplexities and fatigues 
 of .the day in a sleep that lasted a number of hours. 
 
 "Good-bye, Munson," said Birch. "It is nearly day- 
 light. Dolly will be frettin' about me and I must be 
 home before sunrise; for soon as the 'General' finds that 
 his prisoner has 'scaped, he may come to my clearin' to 
 see if the boss is there, and if I know anything about the 
 stranger. . If he does, I'll send him on a wild-goose chase 
 toward I'res-Kile. 
 
 "Bill," continued Jonas in a whisper, as he opened the 
 door of the cabin and stepped out into the darkness, "you 
 must be keerful of the stranger. He's true grit, I tell 
 you, or he'd a told General Baird all about your shootin' 
 the red-skin on the cliff. But he never said a word that 
 would suspicioned you. Sam and I guessdd how it was; 
 w^e only heered one shot and we thought we knew the 
 sound of the gun, and when we saw the two pools of blood 
 on the grass we thought one was made by a bullet in the 
 breast, and the other by a knife where the head lay when 
 he fell. Yes, we guessed the critter had been scalped. 
 But the Judge never said a word about it. If he'd a told 
 the 'General' how it was, he wouldn't arrested him, but 
 he'd had a constable a huntin' you. He said they'd 
 heard about you at Albany, and he was determined to ar- 
 rest you and take you to Buffalo. He said the killin' In- 
 juns in time of peace was murder, and you should be pun- 
 ished for it. So take good care of the stranger. I'll go 
 up to the Inlet to-day and see what is said about it; and 
 this evenin' arter dark I'll come down and bring his traps 
 and tell ye how the land lays; don't start till I come, for 
 fear they may be a huntin' you. 
 
 "Look here. Bill! Don't you think you had better 
 hold up a bit killin' Injuns about here? You've got a 
 purty big private burying ground of your own on this 
 shore now, and ain't it a little risky for you to add any 
 more graves to it fer a while? The settlers are talking 
 about it purty rough, and I'm afeared you'll git into 
 trouble." 
 
 "I am in the keeping of the Lord, Jonas, and am not 
 afraid of what man can do. I am but fulfilling the stern 
 decrees of justice; and man's puny laws shall not stay my 
 
56 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 hand. I will care for the stranger with my life; no on 
 shall harm him while I have the power to strike a blo' 
 in his defense. Let them send the emissaries of the la' 
 after us and they will find that the battle is not always i 
 the strong nor the race to the swift, for when God ha 
 decreed it the arm of the shepherd boy prevailed againi 
 the might of the giant warrior with his coat of mail an 
 his ponderous spear. 
 
 "I thank you, Jonas, for your timely warning; but thei 
 is One above us who holds all our lives in the hollow ( 
 His hand; who allots to each of us the task we are to pe: 
 form in life. Mine has he given me to do, and it shall I 
 done although the powers of earth and hell combii 
 against me. Come to us this evening and tell us all yc 
 shall learn at the Inlet. Don't forget to bring tl 
 Judge's valise or haversack with his clothes and paper 
 you had better put it in a grain bag and sling it over yoi 
 shoulder; then if anyone sees you they will think it is iet 
 or seed grain. Look out that no one follows you her 
 Give the call of a whip-poor-will from the bank above u 
 for it is unsafe to trust the sound of an unknown foo 
 step. We will meet you at the lake, or there we will awa 
 your coming." 
 
 Their hands were grasped in feelings of mutuahregai 
 for a moment, and they separated to meet again in tl 
 darkness of twilight on the shore of the lake. The doi 
 of the cabin was closed and securely barred, and Munsc 
 throwing himseJf on the unoccupied couch slumbered tl 
 troubled sleep of a diseased mind and an over-burden( 
 heart. 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 57 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 The sun was set; the night came on apace. 
 And falling dews bewet around the place; 
 The bat takes airy rounds on leather wings. 
 And the hoarse owl his woeful dirges sings." 
 
 — Gay, "Shepherd's Week. 
 
 "A murmuring' sound 
 Of waters issued from a cave and spread 
 Into a liquid plain; then stood unmoved. 
 Pure as the expanse of heaven." —Milton. 
 
 It was nearly noon when Judge Hall awoke from the 
 deep sleep incident to youth, health and fatigue. For 
 some moments after awakening his senses were confused 
 and memory refused to untangle the complicated skein of 
 the events of the last few hours, and at first he could not 
 remember where he was. The dim light of the cabin, 
 whose only windows were the opened port-holes, at first 
 rendered his surroundings obscure; but soon he remem- 
 bered all. Partially rising from his couch he saw Munson 
 sitting by the open door with his well-worn Bible open be- 
 fore him. A table in the center of the room was covered 
 with a clean white cloth on which was placed a number of 
 rude dishes of wood and metal. The savory odor of a de- 
 licious broiled lake trout filled the room, while a number 
 of brown corn cakes on a board before the fire added their 
 aroma to the contents of the gridiron on the hearth.^ 
 
 "Good morning. Judge Hall," said Munson in court- 
 eous tones; "you have slept well, and if you can only enjoy 
 the plain fare of the wilderness as you appear to have en- 
 joyed your couch of fern and hemlock, I shall be glad." 
 
 "Of that I have not the least doubt," replied the Judge, 
 fits he hastily adjusted bis disordered clothes and th« 
 
58 THE NEMESIS OP CSACTAtQUA LAKE. 
 
 tangled curls of his hair and beard. "I have had a m^ 
 refreshing sleep, and the incense from your hearth-stc 
 is most savory indeed. Yonr woodland fare hath a ( 
 licioiis odor, and I feel assured that I shall enjoy it." 
 
 Munson gave him a wooden bowl of cool, clear wa 
 and a towel, which if not as "white as snow," was cle 
 and scented with the aroma of forest herbs. His ah 
 tions completed he turned towards the table and \ 
 agreeably surprised at the viands it displayed as Muns 
 placed them on the board. A plate of sliced dried ve 
 son was flanked by the broiled trout on one side anc 
 dish of mealy potatoes roasted in the ashes, on the oth 
 A plate of wild honey-comb and a tray of warjn "cc 
 dodgers" stood like partners in a country dance. A 
 what surprised the Judge more than all was a roll 
 sweet fresh butter in a saucer of decorated earthen-wa 
 Munson saw his look of surprise and said: "That is a tr 
 ute to your gentlemanly appearance, or as old Joe Smi' 
 would say, to your 'store clothes.' It was sent you 
 good Mrs. Dolly Birch this morning, by one of her cl 
 dren. She is a model housewife herself, and I suppi 
 she thought my plain corn cakes would need its assistai 
 to be palatable to a gentleman who wore broadcloth a 
 fine linen. My ascetic habits have rendered me indiff 
 ent to such luxuries, and I do not desire them. But coi 
 our meal awaits us. Let us engage in prayer a few n 
 ments to give thanks to the Most High for the gifts I 
 goodness has bestowed upon us." 
 
 Judge Hall was not what is called a "professor of rel 
 ion," yet he had been educated by pious parents and ■v 
 a firm believer, though he did not "profess;" and wh 
 he listened with interest as Munson read Psalm CIX. ii 
 solemn and impressive voice, he thought he had ne" 
 heard the precepts of thfe Bible more forcibly rendered 
 more impressively enunciated. The Psalm ended, i 
 two men knelt by the table side and Munson utteret 
 prayer eloquent in diction, yet tinctured with a w 
 strain of monomania, observable only because of what i 
 Judge had already seen and heard of the recluse. It \ 
 the outpouring of a heart full of thankfulness, ; 
 weighed down with a terrible sorrow. There was i 
 same dependence on a Supreme Being manifested that 
 ready had been so apparent in the conversation of t 
 singular man, while there wag the incongruity of a feeL 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 59 
 
 of thankfulness to the giver of all good gifts that He had 
 delivered his enemies into his hands and had permitted 
 him in safety to wreak his undying vengeance on the race 
 of those who had burned his home, murdered his family, 
 and rendered his life desolate. The evidence of a mind 
 more than ordinarily intellectual was there, yet warped 
 and wrung by most intense mental suffering. The plea 
 was so hiimble when it related to his own dependence on 
 Divine assistance and approval, and so fierce and vindict- 
 ive when it referred to his enemies, Judge Hall thought 
 that all which was sane of his disordered intellect 
 was thoroughly Christian-like, while the diseased portion 
 of his mind was overwhelmed by an unappeasable desire 
 for revenge on the hated race. 
 
 It was a singular mental phenomenon to contemplate. 
 It was like a partially clouded sky, the blue of pure Chris- 
 tian thoughts and impulses was clouded with the dark 
 vapor of insane desires and murderous incentives. The 
 sane man was a prayerful Christian; the insane a vindict- 
 ive murderer, such as the lawyer frequently sees in the 
 criminal docks of our courts. And how feeble are human 
 powers when endeavoring to determine the measure of hu- 
 man responsibility. How frequently is the question of a 
 learned writer on this subject suggested to the mind of the 
 reflective jurist: "Does the cloud that settles over one por- 
 tion of the mental horizon throw no shadow over the rest 
 of it? And how far is the imfortunate whose intellect is 
 so beclouded able to control his acts? And to what ex- 
 tent is he responsible for them? While the sea is smooth 
 and the winds light, reason easily guides the helm which 
 is wrenched from its grasp by the first breeze that ruffles 
 the surface." 
 
 How vain sometimes are our attmpts to measure hu- 
 man responsibilty? How impossible is it to plumb the 
 depths of the human mind or even measure correctly the 
 extent of its surface? Who can tell the effects of hid- 
 den diseases on the mental organism, or who can calculate 
 the power of their unseen influences? Who can estimate 
 the force of temptations or measure the power of resist- 
 ance? Who can decide with errorless precision the 
 moral turptitude of acts prompted by a mind diseased in 
 even the least of its members? None but He who 
 "breathed into the nostrils of the inanimate dust the 
 breath of life, when man became a living soul," 
 
60 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 Who made the heart, 'tis He alone 
 
 Decidedly can try us. 
 He knows each chord, its vaiious tone. 
 
 Each spring, its various bias; 
 Then at the balance let's be mute. 
 
 We never can adjust it; 
 What's done we partly mayi compute. 
 
 But know not what's resisted." 
 
 The prayer ended, Judge Hall arose from his knees 
 feeling as every one must feel who has ever listened to an 
 earnest prayer from a contrite heart — a wish that he was 
 much better than he knew himself to be. But few men 
 when arraigned before the tribunal of their own con- 
 sciences can plead "not guilty" and sustain that plea with 
 evidence that will leave no well-foimded reasonable doubt 
 in the mind of the court that tries them. 
 
 The meal ended, the two men spent an hour or more in 
 conversing on the various topics of interest of that day, 
 and Judge Hall was surprised at the extent of the infor- 
 mation possessed by his singular companion. On all sub- 
 jects, save his right to vindicate his own wrongs, Munson 
 appeared to be not only perfectly rational, but more than 
 ordinarily intelligent. He seemed w'ell acquainted with 
 the political questions and issues that agitated the public 
 mind at the time. The disastrous defeat of St. Clair was 
 spoken of, and it was evident he fully understood the er- 
 rors of a campaign which had encouraged the savages and 
 exposed the western frontiers to their depredations. He 
 spoke in terms of unmeasured censure of the opposition 
 to the collection of the revenue taxes in Western Pennsyl- 
 vania, and denounced the outrages perpetrated on the 
 officers of the government; and in all this there was no 
 trace of mental aberration. Coolly and calmly he dis- 
 cussed the relative rights of the citizen and the state, and 
 asserted in most positive terms the duty of the one to obey 
 the law, and the right of the other to enforce obedience. 
 But when Judge Hall apparently casually remarked, 
 "That while the people owed allegiance to the Govern- 
 ment, yet the obligation was only mutual; and the govern- 
 ment was bound to protect all who lived within its bor- 
 ders, were they white or red or black," Munson's features 
 instantly became flushed; his eyes gleamed with a lurid 
 light, and his utterance changed to wild and excited tonea. 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 61 
 
 "No, sir," he exclaimed in frenzied accents, "it's not 
 true! The laws of God are above all the laws and govern- 
 ments of men; as a man may by his sin and crime forfeit 
 his right to live, so may a nation or a race. For the sins 
 of a race, God destroyed all but Noah and his sons. For 
 the sins of a race, the savage Indians shall all be extermi- 
 nated. The other races of the earth shall in the distant 
 future mingle their blood; but not so with the accursed 
 red-skins; they shall all die to appease the wrath of the 
 Most High." 
 
 "True," said Judge Hall, thinking it best to agree with 
 the insane ideas of his host, "yet don't you think that God 
 will himself execute His vengeance on them as He did 
 on Pharaoh and his host, in his own appointed time? 
 Should men become the destroyers of their fellow-men? 
 Eemember what God says in His holy word, Romans, 
 chapter XII, verse 19: 'Dearly beloved, avenge not your- 
 selves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it, is written, 
 vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord.' " 
 
 "You are mistaken, young man," said/Munson. "The 
 Almighty ruler of the heavens and the earth did not say 
 that. It was the Apostle Paul who said it in his epistle 
 to the Eomans, and Paul was a lawyer. God did say, 
 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' but He often executes 
 His will through human agency, as He did when Samson 
 smote the Philistines and crushed them beneath the ruins 
 of the temple of Dagon. On the roof of the temple were 
 three thousand men and women who came to see Samson 
 scoffed at and made sport of. 
 
 " 'And Samson called unto the Lord and said: Lord 
 God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I 
 pray thee, only this once, God, that I may be at once 
 avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson 
 said: Let me die with the Philistines.' 
 
 " 'And the Lord heard his prayer, for when Samson 
 took hold of the two pillars that bore up the temple, and 
 bowed himself with all his might, the house fell; so the 
 dead which he slew at his death were more than they 
 which he slew in his life.' 
 
 "And when God wished to destroy the Amalekites 
 when they invaded Ziklag and burned it with fire and took 
 away with them the women as captives, He commanded 
 David to pursue them, and he did, and when he overtook 
 them he smote them from twilight until the evening of 
 
62 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 the next day. At another time David at God's command 
 slew two and twenty thousand men of the Syrians; and all 
 this was but the just vengeance of the Lord executed by 
 the hands of His faithful servants. And as Samson 
 prayed to God for vengeance on those who put out 
 his two eyes, and that the Lord would assist him to exe- 
 cute that vengeance, so have I prayed to the Lord and He 
 has answered my prayer as He did Samson's in the temple 
 of Dagon. As David from his youth up was but an in- 
 strument in the hands of the Creator to execute the jus- 
 tice decreed in Heaven, so am I an instrument in His 
 hands to execute His will, and it shall he done with all my 
 feeble power until the end comes. 
 
 "But, stranger, you will pass a sleepless night on the 
 lake, and you had better sleep while you can that your eye- 
 lids be not heavy when our safety will require our con- 
 stant vigilance. Select from these arms which I have 
 captured from my foes a rifle that pleases you, for we 
 may meet the savages in the wilderness through which 
 we must pass ere we reach the end of your journey." 
 
 Judge Hall complied, and selecting a rifle from the 
 rack he examined it with the eye of a connoisseur, opened 
 and closed the pan, snapped the lock, examined the flint 
 and poised it as if in the act of taking quick and certain 
 aim. 
 
 "You are a judge of fire-arms, I see," remarked Mun- 
 son, as he looked with pleased surprise at the manner in 
 which Judge Hall handled the rifle. "I had forgotten 
 that you beat my friend, old Joe Smiley, shooting at a 
 mark with his own gun. I hope your hand will be as 
 steady and your eye as quick in time of danger; but sleep 
 now, young man, while I cast some bullets and pack a few 
 rations, for our march may be a long and weary one. 
 Should we be driven from the creek and river and com- 
 pelled to take to the wilderness, even your young limbs 
 may tire ere we reach the settlement at the mouth of the 
 0-hee-yo or Allegheny river. [0-hee-yo: Meaning the 
 beautiful river; Seneca.] 
 
 Judge Hall threw himcelf upon the couch and slept un- 
 til he was awakened by ilunson, who had prepared their 
 evening meal, and who informed him that the sun had set 
 and that the hour appointed for their meeting Jonas 
 Birch at the lake was near at hand. 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 63 
 
 The deepening twilight had shrouded the forest in the 
 darkness of night when Munson and Judge Hall left the 
 cabin, and stepping into the brook followed its course un- 
 til they reached the lake at the point where they had 
 landed the preceding night. The canoe was drawn from 
 its hiding-place by Munson who "stepped" a light mast 
 in one of its thw^irts. "The wind," he said, "is in the 
 North, and is not likely to shift before sunrise, by which 
 time we will have nearly or quite reached the Go-no-wun- 
 go without lifting an oar. I do not know whether the 
 settlers at the head of the lake will make an active pursuit 
 after us or not. From what I have heard I suspect that 
 General Baird has a warrant from Albany for my arrest. 
 It was whispered in my ear by a power greater than that 
 of human courts. I care not for myself. I do not fear 
 anything that man can do, but I have involved you to 
 some extent in the consequences of my acts, and you 
 would not inform on me to save yourself, although I was a 
 stranger to you. You pitied me for my sorrow, and suf- 
 fered for what I had done when by simply telling ,the 
 truth you would have secured your own liberty and sent 
 the blood-hounds of the law howling in my tracks. 
 Stranger, God will reward you for tha,t act, and I will lay 
 down my life before harm shall come to you." 
 
 Before Judge Hall could answer, the plaintive cry of a 
 whip-poor-will came from the near-by forest. It was im- 
 mediately answered by Munson, who said: 
 
 "It is too late in the season for that lonely bird to re- 
 main at this lake; that is the signal agreed upon between 
 Jonas Birch and myself. It was inartistically done, and 
 showed that the cry came from a human throat." Here 
 he repeated the answering note, and its mournful cadence 
 floated over the water as if the bird was on wing over 
 the lake. A moment more and they heard the cautious 
 tread of a man, when the bushes parted and Birch stood 
 by their side. He greeted them warmly, yet in subdued 
 tones. 
 
 "I'm a leetle afeared they're a watchin fer ye on the 
 lake," said Jonas in a whisper; "the 'General' and three 
 men came to my clearin' this mornin' just at sun-up. 
 They asked me if I bad seen ye and if yer hpsg wag there 
 yit. I told 'em ye hadn't bin to the cligrjn' §\^e% ye went 
 away yesterday. We all went to tbs, stable mi fowd yep 
 
 Jiei? fiU rifhti tJies fet 'QmmV Mt fti tbrt f mm m 
 
64' THE' NEaiBSIS OF^GH AUT AUQU A LAKE. 
 
 in' the kay iki tliebarn te watch fer yer comin' fer t] 
 hoss; and' he went'bkck to the-Inlet to start some' m( 
 dtewii-the lakej some in canoes and some along 'the sho 
 to hunt fer ye. They'll likely go 'as fnr as long pin<i ai 
 watch fer ye there to-night. •■'>'■ s'siiJ > ■ ' -'fl ' :-'!" 
 ""I Went up to the Inlet this afternoon to lafn vf\i 
 was said. I stayed thar till nearly chore time."" T' 
 folks up there are' much exercised about ' the strangei 
 'scape from' the lock-up. They say he was helped'' fro 
 th'd 6mside. I misd'otibt that sonie suspect j'OU, Bi 
 TH4y''s%'*they saw a moccasin track in some soft gro'ui 
 near the winder and j;e kno'ty yer foot's k leetle Mrger thi 
 the common run; hut some said ye went to Btiffalo' s 
 weeks ago, and hadn't got hack yit'.' The 'General' 'as 
 me all about ye, Munson, and I told him allT didti't'thb 
 and Dolly says that's a good sight rhore'n'I do kno-rt^ abo 
 4''inost anythin', so ye see he got a good deal of valuab 
 ihibrmation from me. Ike Beebe told me he guessi 
 General' paird had a paper to take ye',to Albany or Bt 
 Mq^to'looK oijf, men, that ye don't git'ke|;ched. Ther^ 
 De|'no .Sanger" afoi^e ye git to the pint, "Bill. They kn'c 
 il_'y'4',gp by, the Jate ye must pass there, and it's' so narr 
 there if tliey feeep'jvatch fr,om both shores they can ?ee j 
 I'm afeared.,' "*Iry ari,d git past there afpfe moon-rise,' ai 
 then ye 'can gijt'thrpu^h all right; I'll take good care of y 
 lioss^ stranger," tUl ;^e send fer hji.m. There is yer vali 
 all right., GoQ4-%ej''Billj '''^(joodyhye, stranger. ' -6i 
 bless ye! TaKe care of yer'scal'ps! ' There's goin' to 
 lots of hair Hf tin' by the Injuns in the West afore, a ye; 
 I'm, thinl£|in'. ',' Good-bye! I'll see to yer cabin and thin 
 till ye come i)ack, Munson." 
 
 ■(sTlie tn-o.men_ silently pushed the canoe, out into t 
 lake until the wind caught the small sail Munson had si 
 when it flew lover-the water as noiselessly as a bird on ,t 
 
 wing, h -iii JfiV .iir,;/ ui»ij i ■■ ti .i.i- -i,- ,.! , 
 
 Munson sat at the stern and giiided its course with 
 paddle. ^' The canoe was made of bark and' had' be 
 brought from the Ohio river three yeats before by a pre 
 atory band of Indians, six ih number, who paddled Up t 
 streams. Munson now proposed to descend until th 
 reached the Allegheny river. This party was surprised 
 Munson as they were sleeping, around their canlp-fire 
 tlie point -near his caliin; and their scalps now hung frc 
 
TSE .NIMBSIS .•Oi&, CHAiUETAfOQUA LAtK-E. 65 
 
 itsjcejliiig,' while. their bodies wer«- buried on the hillside 
 ftear.tbe lake, .(Nco? the Chautauqua. Assembly grounds.) 
 Ml "If, the;. wind. aontinues,.". said Munson, when they had 
 nearly rjeachediith^ center- of- the lake, "we will. pass the 
 poinfe. before the imooni rises. That passed, we 'are, safe 
 fromi pursuit. This boathaanojkeel and we <?annot tack, 
 but:with sail .-up we.iBustrgQ:befoire.theiwind, and, we may 
 haveio paddle around the, point where the, noise . o|, our 
 paddles may be>heard>fK)m!theshare, if any one is there 
 miting ifoD. us.. W^'-musti keep the icenter :Gf Ihe lakfe, as 
 nearly -as we can,,; but at- the >pointiit bends itoiHrards the 
 West, t The, point, projects! out iatoi theilake.neairly fo'iftjr 
 E^ds.andi reaches- within ia longirifle shotiof the .western 
 store. : A'fteri we pass, tlhe- point, the lake-bendditdward^ 
 the^Ebetiandif or .6ome,' distance we,taE.no.t usei thet sail; but 
 tidfi :canoe!iJ&.iStaunch.;and.,lig.ht,...and trip,V!es swiftly, when 
 propelled by the paddles;in the handsisof'twa strong men.." 
 1 ' - f ■ Wh«rei did' you get . itj. Munson ?-" inquired Judge Hall, 
 f -Ifc seems tD -be of ilndida workmanship.''. ., - .? ' m ' i . . . > t . ,, . 
 
 iiMttn£QJii!«pJiust!d'a moment before he answered: "Thp 
 I«Ord)of Hosts gave it dntomiy! hands, andj:.,the teed devils 
 wlio brought' it- irito -this laihe!: sleep .under the -inees .near 
 yJa^e- lahquje erected my altar. iTh&JLordi gave thiem to 
 ine as;a!saierifice,-aniilin His holy .-haaie! I- offered them-upt 
 Biu.t:let^}xs .not .sprak 'df these- things: to'-nightj. .Some- 
 times I #oiild &rgety evte-mwhen I eanmefc forgive.,'?^! ,. 
 
 , i -"H-OwhfaE isii<t to. tfce point you spoke of, -MurisonPf in- 
 quiTed?iJudge,:Hallj "andlhow-'willi you iknowrl when,'- we 
 
 pdS&:-it?-'-'::!l iSW'- :„'.-.■ ' - -. hi''- f '" 'i.-;--.-^ .nClf. ■ .g -'■'<'. 
 
 "'^iltis' starlight- and;. we can^see itisome rods tefor-e:we 
 r^aebit.! . J thinkwi^hadib^t-teiskeep as near iheicenteir 
 ofiithe bhan&el' aS we caii, about midway between' the 
 shored.. i-H- there is a partj'.on the lake waiting for us'they 
 will probably be divided; a part on the jjoint and a part on 
 the, Western shore. . They niiay have a' canoe or two lyin>g 
 in the ohanhelibetwsgenthfe. shores ^hatl will nlake it diffi-t 
 cult'fop'us to pass.-'. If; "they do, iwe will have to l&nd this 
 side of the point and make a detour through the woods 
 and strike- the laketwofhiiles belowr -I -have a canoe hid* 
 ddfi ihkv&ji'.iSi is notsoi large --as this, ydt it -will carry three 
 pejisdnaWith safety; 'But I km in hopes we 'will pass the 
 pbint unQ,bservted.'' ,;;-■;. -!f;-.>'ir.M, ,' : .-.-(., ',- - -j,;, .,,■; 
 
 '(if-Cofuld-yoU find yburiliidden canoe in the darkness?" 
 i^xquiied' Jiudge ilMllii 
 
66 - THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTATJQUA LAKE. 
 
 "Yes," replied Munson. "I have a number of them con- 
 cealed on the shore of this lake, and can find one of them 
 without much difficulty. I captured these canoes from 
 my enemies. When I cross the lake I am never certain 
 when I will return or what route I may take, so I sink the 
 cailoes in shallow water by placing a few stones in them. 
 I generally do this among the flags or rushes that grow 
 along the shore. The water preserves the bark from rot- 
 ting or cracking in the sun or summer air, and when I 
 wish to embark on the lake from either side I can easily 
 find one in a few miles' travel from any point on the shore. 
 I have one concealed near the point, and one several miles 
 below, and one on the bank of the river. I never ap- 
 proach this part of the lake but I am reminded of an in- 
 cident in which I nearly lost my life. A red-skin shot at 
 me with a fair sight in open day and at a distance of not 
 over one hundred yards, and missed me. 
 
 "It was five years ago, just at the close of the last Indian 
 outbreak in Western New York; it was in the fall. I had 
 just returned from a campaign against the Canadian In- 
 dians, and supposed when I reached this lake I was far 
 away from the scenes of strife and bloodshed. I was 
 hunting on the western shore and nearly opposite long 
 point. I shot a fat buck and was skinning the animal. I 
 was on my knees stooping over the carcass, my gim lean- 
 ing against a tree a few feet from me. While I was re- 
 moving the skin a voice whispered in my ear as distinctly 
 as I now hear my own voice, "Drop your head! Drop- to 
 the ground instantly!" I did as I was commanded and a 
 bullet whistled over me, followed by a report that I knew 
 came from a Canadian musket, such as the French sup- 
 plied to their Indian allies. A yell followed, and raising 
 my head, I saw two savages not a hundred yards distant 
 running towards me. I had dropped to the ground almost 
 simultaneously with the shot, and they thought I had 
 been hit. I seized my-gun and sprang behind a large oak 
 tree that stood nearby. The savages also took to the trees, 
 and in an instant were hidden from my sight. I knew 
 one of their guns was emptied by the shot that had so 
 nearly proven fatal to me, but which tree concealed the 
 Indian with the empty gun I did not know. I also knew 
 that the red devil would immediately load his gun while 
 behind the tree. I listened intently and heard a faint 
 noise ft little to wy left; peerieg eftwtiovig]^ mm^ my- 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 67 
 
 tree I saw the breach and lock of his gun as he set it on 
 the ground to force the bullet down. I fired instantly 
 and the gun flew from his hand, the lock and stock shiv- 
 ered into fragments. At this the other savage, supposing 
 my gun empty, sprang from his hiding-place with a yell 
 and rushed towards me. I do not suppose that he had 
 ever seen or heard of a double-barreled rifle, and when he 
 came in sight and I fired my second barrel, as the bullet 
 entered his breast the look of astonishment on his painted 
 face very nearly overwhelmed the expression of dying ag- 
 ony, as he sank to the earth with a ball through his heart. 
 Judge, I am not much given to mirth. I have seldom 
 smiled since I saw my family murdered, yet sometimes 
 when I have been alone in the woods or in my cabin, and 
 have recollected the look of mingled surprise and agony 
 on the face of the red devil who thought he was shot with 
 an empty gun, I have'laughed as if I had never know-n 
 sorrow. 
 
 "The other Indian, whose gun I had shattered with my 
 first bullet, when he saw his companion fall turned and 
 ran towards the' lake. I followed with yells of rage and 
 laughter combined. The red-skin flew as if the spirit 
 He-no [He-no: Iroquois, meaning thunderer — an evil 
 spirit.] was thundering in his rear. Beaching the shore 
 he plunged into the lake and swam towards the point. 
 When I reached the water-side I could see his scalp;;lock 
 among the waves a hundred yards distant. I knew he 
 thought that if he gained the point he was beyond the 
 reach of my bullet. While he was swimming over I care- 
 fully loaded both barrels of my rifle. I put in a double 
 charge of powder and thoroughly greased the "patching" 
 of the bullets. By the time the savage reached the point 
 I had recovered my breath, almost lost by my running, 
 laughing and yelling, and stood waiting for him to land. 
 In a few moments he crawled upon the sand of the beach 
 and standing erect turned towards me and uttered a de- 
 fiant whoop; it was his last utterance. Taking steady aim 
 and allowing for the distance, I fired. The bullet, guided 
 by the finger of him who has so often protected me in the 
 hour of danger and whose spirit whispered in my ears a 
 few moments before, flew across the water on its mission 
 of death, and the savage fell upon the sand with his de- 
 fiant yell unfinished on his lips. I returned to where I 
 had, shot the deer; scalped the red-skin I had killed and 
 
68' Tftft'N*E&fiJ^lfe'6ii* C&AUTAtrQtJ'A ■'LAKte.' 
 
 carrying' the ven^yan a (Quarter of £t mil'6'xip the 'lake tS iny 
 canoe, r'reiitrned to iny cabin. "^ '*'"' ^' ■ ■i- •-, ■< < 
 "The lake -iitrdB ^8il^h;'ana as it was *iate iii the afternoon 
 I concluded I would wait until the next day before I se- 
 cured the scalp of the warrior who swaiiitbe lake. 'Early 
 the next forenoon I landed on the poifrt!- " I did n-ot See- 
 the, body and thought it had heto carried off by some of- 
 his cotnpani6iis who were probably' prowling around the 
 lake; ■ ' Pasailg through a clump of alders I was startled' by 
 the' siiarli'^^bf a pack of wolves that were quarreling 'over' 
 the remainlla^'They saw me and slunk away m the' woods. 
 Next to a '*d^^&in I hate the wolves, they have sb msfny' 
 trait's of character in common with theacchrBed'SaVages 
 tlia't it but requires a belief in metempsychosis' to "bfe cbii-' 
 vineed that the spirits oiall the red devils "of 'this past live' 
 t6-day in the howling. hoards 'of the wilderness. ■ But wheiS ' 
 I 'gaW'the'bbiiefeo'f the savage!'^" gnawed 'and' picked clean 
 by those I had startled from their disgusting repast, I 'f 61"-' 
 gaVb themi' f 01' stealing thfe" Scalp, ■ a'nd' ■ lowfer'ito^'lriyfifle 
 permitted thetn togO'unh&rmedl "But'loOk'yOndeH'to the 
 left of the' 'bo^t Is ' Hot ihat ' a light- -gleaming' We*; the 
 
 water?"''' " ■'" "-"^ ■■!:]?.-' .. ,; ! ' )(:i(ii.;o, <£)i|-t3,f,;! 
 
 Judge Hall idokefl in the-'direction indicated' t)y Mtn^' 
 sdn,'but cottld'kee-'iiothin'^. ■''•i^I'think' hot," he said. "I^ 
 se'e'no light except the 'glifeiSie'r-'of yonder'sM'^^isit is' 
 reflectecl in the lake."' ' ' "i''^ '•■'''" - ' "="" ' "''•" ■' 
 ■ "I am confident I saw a light,*' said Munson.''''"It"wate'' 
 only for an instant 'and was so low down that it must have' 
 beta a 'burning brand of a camp-fire; our boat has thariged ' 
 its position sihC^ I saw it; some object 'on the shore may' 
 haVe intervened. ''''We' will retrace- our M^y a short dis-' 
 tance. 1 think'it was on the point; we mvast be hear th6re 
 by this' tittle." '','' » ■>'"' .n i... ,. .■ <m i 
 
 MunsoH' instantly and noiselessly lowered the ^il'and' 
 taking a paddle cautionsly propelled' thte canoe a hundred- 
 feet or more back along' its wake ^iVhicli was distinctly 
 marked for some distance on the placid water, they had 
 passed over. "' i> ' ■ <>■: .... ^ _. ' 
 
 •^'There'it- is,"' he: said, as his experienced eye' again' 
 caught the faint gleam of a nearly expiring -fii-eth^t liad' 
 been built on an extreme point of land that 'extended irrfp' 
 thd lake. ' '^^ ''"' ■*^i^ n<>i\: '•■■* qi^. . _iv '>i-i : tif r,.:> i . 
 i "That is Long 'Point, Judge; and there is^ fire on if. 
 The men have Idt it burn d6wb very low, add pTobaBlY- 
 
THE iNiEMBSIS OF OKAU'iCMJQiriA trilKBa 69 
 
 haw covered it up for^feaf. lire =nliglitt see itjiibuta burning, 
 brand has given us timely notice. It is but the' warnisng 
 voice'in another, fOEifi; that has so often, whispered in .my 
 ear> and we mustheeddt. , We will halve ito .pass the point 
 with the paddles, our sail might belseenlrom either shore, 
 although it is only, starlighti" -,■ ' ;<H(i-!y(!-' ■ '•irl+ 'i.j •;'(' 
 
 Silently and cautiously ; the men. proceeded to f oifce thes 
 canoe along with the paddles. The; experienced- strokes 
 of MuoisonifelL-as lightly on the water as a breath of Sum*; 
 mer. .air;, but the less expert strokes' of Judge Hall 
 occasiolially emitted a faint sound. ..i=.,f ',' A-r- ,»g'iff 
 
 As they were nearly past the. p(JiBtiand.w,ere turning the; 
 prftw of thfeir canoe to the east to keep in the center of the 
 channeJ,; a voice hailed them i from.. the western balik of> 
 the lake.,. ■ -.u^ ■ qiV"*' .•■!« ■ - -nft '"U '(o t^iifw ^xd 
 'v.'^He(llo! :>H«llo! Who are in that boat? C^me adhare'!,« 
 Goipe. ashore!." ,(<;'• " ■.,.■. >iii.|>Miii aniys'i,! .Irtrfiint^irii)''* .fH,<ii 
 
 "Now, Judge," said Munson, "put your whole strength 
 to'the paddle. 'Fifty rods farther and' We are 'sa'fe; we* will 
 leave them behind Us aiid'it''is a 'nautical axibiti that'^ia' 
 stern chase is a long chase.' ' If 'Wfe get'-around the bend' 
 ahead'of them they cannot overta;ke uS';'th6ir' '(Canoes' 'sire' 
 'dug outs,' heavy and unwieldy,'and 'they'Win''soo^''^iv^' 
 up. Ihe chase."-' '"• ' ■ ^'" / '"■"■ ^l* ■ .--. 
 
 '""Lo'ok'afthat li|lif a Iittle'->he*ad'of:us^''t'o 'fli^'right,"' 
 said Judge Hall. "See,'it is a,' canoe with; a. lighted torch 
 in the, bow;, it is filled jvith 'iSkn ^n:d tlieyare putting ^out 
 froih'shote.to intercept usi" '' '^"^'f ' '■• , 
 
 m,r. 'ii.l i,j ^ , ,, , I 'i i. Ci , . Pi i, 1!!/. ■/ .'.w 
 
 j,,"ji,^, Ji^dgOj and there, is another puttiiig ofl; f roflj, the 
 P9jmtj,f said Munson; "the canoe on our right has la firfi- 
 j^^k'-sucjh as is used by ^shermen, a, srnall, iron basket filled 
 mitn pine knots and plap,ed upon a short, pole in the bow: 
 o|j tjie b.oat. There, a|re,^f(j)urme]p, in that can^oe; .the one. 
 on bur left has two men; one of them is usi^g the ,Q3rs ajid 
 the othe:^ is holding, a .tp^cji^pf pitch pine. ,,They,are,try- 
 ing tp'head uf off^at th'elDend;that ,they,inust,npt;do. , I 
 will. Just serve a, notice on th^pi to /stay prqceedingp' as 
 ypu lawyers wouljdfii^." , ; „;. ,;^^ ,:,,,',, r„tH,-.., "uU 
 
 ,, Saying this, he flf oily, laid down his paddles, and, picked' 
 
 i^p,his, double barreled rifle which was lying in the bottom- 
 
 of-'fh? CE^noeby his, side,,; ,,, ,, „,„ .,,;,,.. ,,,,,;■ »„ ,„.,■,„ .^,(1 
 
 "For God's sake, Munson/' ejaculated Judge- Hall in 
 
 aiamiji "you musi Bot fire at them; they are settlers' and it 
 
70 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 would be imirder in the first degree shoiald you kill one 
 of them." 
 
 "Don't be alarmed, my boy," replied Munson calmly, 
 "it would certainly be folly in the 'first degree' to permit 
 ourselves to be captured when we can prevent it by blow- 
 ing out their candles. Like Othello at the bedside of 
 Desdemona, I will put out two lights, but neither of them 
 shall be the promethean spark of a human life. Stop 
 paddling for a moment; the fire- jack is a long, shot, and it 
 is difEcult to shoot with certainty through a wall of dark- 
 ness. The torch is held in the hand of a man and I must 
 be careful in my aim for I would not injure him." 
 
 He turned towards the western shore, raised his rifle, 
 poised it a moment and fired. The bullet struck fairly in 
 the center of the fire-jack, scattering its burning knots 
 over the water, where they blazed a few seconds and were 
 then extinguished, leaving the darkness apparently deeper 
 than before. 
 
 "It will take them some time to gather their knots and 
 light their jack again, and still longer to collect their scat- 
 tered senses," said Munson. "And now for the other 
 ca;ioe." He turned towards the point and again, raised 
 his rifle, but this time his aim was more carefully taken 
 than before. A few seconds passed and he fired. The 
 bullet struck. the torch just under the flame, and it flew in 
 shattered fragments from the hand that held it, striking 
 the water a number of feet from the boat. 
 
 "I have snuffed his candle for him without snuffers," 
 said Munson as he coolly proceeded to reload his rifle. 
 "Never lay your gun down empty. Judge, for you do not 
 know how soon you may have occasion to use it again. 
 Now let us ply our paddles. A few rods farther the lake 
 bends towards the sovith where we can set our sail, and 
 leave the bloodhounds of the law to follow an invisible 
 and scentless trail." 
 
 "But will they not intercept us at the bend?" inquired 
 Judge Hall. "They do not need their lights to do that, 
 and I wonder that they lighted them, for they showed us 
 their position while we were concealed in the darkness. 
 Would it not be better for us to row back up the lake a 
 short distance and land, and go around the point through 
 the woods, as you said we might be compelled to do if we 
 could not pass the point in safety?" 
 
 "No! no! young man," replied Munson. "It is too 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 71 
 
 late now; they could as easily intercept us in that direction 
 as this; besides now that they know who fired the shots 
 that put out their lights, they will be careful not to come 
 within the range of 'Nemesis' again, for fear I may not be 
 in one of my pacific moods should they 'drive me to 
 the wall.' " 
 
 "Know who fired the shots?" ejaculated Judge Hall. 
 "How can they know that?" 
 
 "They know it. Judge, as well as you know the voices 
 of your acquaintances. There is not a settler on this fron- 
 tier but knows the report of Nemesis as well as they know 
 the sound of their cow-bells. You may have observed 
 that the gun is of unusual length in the barrels and car- 
 ries unusually heavy lead, and that makes the voice of the 
 goddess very different from the sotind of the conimon 
 rifles carried by the hunters of these forests. If any of 
 my friends are among the pursuers they will not urge the 
 pursuit, and if any of my enemies are among them they 
 will not dare to continue ^t. A few more strokes of the 
 paddle and we are safe." 
 
 For a few moments the two men continued to use the 
 paddles without regard to the noise made by their strokes, 
 and the light canoe seemed to skim over the surface of the 
 water with the velocity of a bird on the wing. They could 
 hear the angry imprecations of their pursuers for some 
 time, but at last their voices were lost in the distance, and 
 when the canoe turned the bend in the lake air was silent 
 save the moaning of the light wind through the pines and 
 hemlocks on the shore, and the wash of the waves upon 
 the beach. 
 
 "We are safe now," said Munson, as he again set the sail 
 and calmly seated himself in the stern of the canoe to 
 guide its course with the paddle. "They will follow us 
 no farther, for they know it would be useless. They have 
 heard the warping voice of the goddess fabled in my- 
 thology, and although not learned in the classics, there Is 
 not a man among them but knows that Nemesis can throw 
 a ball a half a mile and kill. I had the gun constructed 
 by an expert workman in Boston expressly for my own 
 use and for the mission indicated by the name inlaid on 
 its stock, and most faithfully has she vindicated her name. 
 Never once has she failed me. Scores of times have I 
 been so situated that had her flints been even for an in- 
 stant irresponsive to the steel, the delay would have been 
 
1^ THE NEMESIS OF QPAUTAUQiUA-iLAiEBi 
 
 fatal to me, and I should liave died liuaaveijged; but thef 
 innate :^re was always obedient to the touch of my fiaiger, 
 on the trigger, . and death accompanied her voice as cer- 
 tainly as it follows the lightnings.,rOfJieaven."(ii ^.((i nlHl. 
 
 He paused a moment and continitfid: "The namiiig of 
 their rifles is an odd conceit of the frontier-men, and yet 
 their guns are as well and sometimesi even better known 
 than their owners; often, too^ their owners, are. better 
 known by| the soubriqu,et cut upon the stock oribjeeich of 
 their guns, than they are by their own. names, .r I once 
 knew a noted hunter and, scout who was known all over 
 the .frontiers as , 'Deer-glaj'er,', although ^the Erench in 
 Canada called him Tlia Longue Carabine,' or the long rifle. 
 It. was from .that I .got the idea of having a rifl^ con-^ 
 structed witli barrels of unusual length. J first met him 
 on the Schoharie; the lejigth of his.rifle attracted my 
 attention,, and; while, I was examining, it one day, I obr 
 served, the, name, 'Kill Deer/ engraved upoa its stock, ■ \ 
 suppqse it is, froip the,, name on, my rifle^that I am .known 
 among the Indians as 'He-no,' which, means in their 
 accursed language among, their accursed race, 'The Thun- 
 derer, or .Avenger;' and the thunders __of heaven are not 
 more,dreaded by them than is the,voice of Nemesis.^ 100 
 I "On the breech-piece of the rifle you selected from my 
 armory you will see the name, 'Sartin Death,' engraved by 
 soflie .artist more skilled in tlie . mechanism, of his: craft 
 t}i^?f,'in,,qfthography; and 'Certain death' it is to the ob- 
 jsq4it>A?.|3i™e'^ '^'^ ^^ ^ skillful .hand. Next, to Nemesis 
 aftjtr'K.iJi.J^'^pr' it is the most reliable, .weapon I ever 
 sighted. I captured it from a Mohawk chief whose scalp 
 h3.jjgS(in.my cabin ,and whose, body is buried ;at the uwth- 
 ern end of the lal^e, , Hp had probably taken it.from soaae 
 murdered settler.;,! r ..,||,j,; ,t .)f! ■)■«;•<> <) -tbi' -5 
 
 /'But .yonder comes the moon; we are now .safe., , You 
 ar? young and need rest.^, You can, spread, that bear-skin 
 on the bottom pf tlie caijo? and lie down and cover the 
 blanket over you to keep off the night air and dew. „ Then 
 with,thi^ glorious moon-lit, star-gemmed, sky for a canopy 
 and the gentle undulations of this beautiful lake to lull 
 you to rest, you c^n sleep the sleeji incident to youth and 
 "health, and a heart that has known no sorrow. ,", Oh! that 
 that these were Leathean waters around us, that I might 
 drink, and sleep, and forget the horrors of the past for- 
 mer, Most probably the wind will go .down t, towiaji^s 
 
TI^ 5JEMIISJS jOR CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 73 
 
 nip^'Oiiig, w,hen I will anchor the oanoe near the, shore and 
 try tO; s.leep, njyseif for an. hour or two. 
 
 CH'A^TEEVI. 
 
 "Happy he whose toil 1 
 it^ljqj'pj lijgianguidj posverless liijabSj diffused 
 ji^ple^i^ tapsltude; he not in, vain 
 ilpypkfs tlw.geritle deity of .dreams; 
 (Ijia pQW{ei^ , ft?, mpst . y pl^ptuously . dissolve ■ 
 j^ spjff.,'f^poisej,,on.l}iWi,the balmy dews '■■, 
 ,Q|, ^^^pi,^i,th„ 4fll^bU mtriffieiit , descend," 
 
 i-^Dr. / John iArmstrohgt 
 
 "The day begins to break, and night is fled; 
 Whose' fdtGhyinantle orerveiled the earth'; 
 '1Phe''>ga'ay-eyed morn' smiles '^n' the- frownirig night, 
 CheckeTing'the eastern elonds with streaks of light!" 
 
 — Shakespeare. 
 
 Jndge jHall spread^ the bearskin, "911 the.^ottom of .the 
 canoe, and with his |?aiise'as apitfoy^ a warm blanket for-' 
 a'c6y,eringV*a^'tl^e^'jge'4'l;le njlon^ the boat, like' the 
 
 swihgiiig of ^likMrnoelc^'to liil^ hi^, wearied senses, he soon, 
 forgot all aroimd him ah'dsliiinbefe^ until the.p^ipg sim- 
 glimmered through the trees on the easteji^ ^^hi::)^,^. ...When 
 he awoke, Muhsdn was yet' sleeping , in tji^,,gter]^, of the 
 c'a'hbe. /Several hovirs after midnight the windl w^^pt down 
 and in the calm' of early morning he had antj^oi^^d the 
 boat ^: number' of rods from the western shore with a 
 s'tdiie 'tied to a rope and dropped, in the bottom of the 
 lake. Then wrapping his blanket arpund him and placing 
 h'i's^Wfle by' his side h,e lay down to sleep with theeonfi- 
 cf^hce' of one who knew his surroundings and was, a 
 stfahger'tb.fear. ', , ' ' -i n •i 
 
 ",'Por some time Judge Hall sat quietly in the bow of the, 
 c^hdfe ett'oyihg the magnificent landscape of, lake ai;id 
 fo^sttiijat' surrounded him. The sky was cloudless; the 
 atf eool^'erisp and'bracing; the water sraootli as, a roirror, 
 Qf^Warefl6cted4|i'e gorgeous autjmjn foliage of the ^Ijore. 
 
74 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 SO distinctly that the inverted trees in its depths seemed 
 to blend so harmoniously with those upon the bank that 
 the eye could not discern the line between land and water. 
 
 There was no appearance of life along the shore; the 
 forest was unbroken and the lake lay so calm and still in 
 the light of early morning that it seemed as if the solitude 
 and silence of centuries had slept undisturbed on its 
 bosom. Since the morning, of creation no change had 
 come to it, save that brought by the varying seasons and 
 the abrasions of storms and floods. Thus silent and lonely 
 it had slept in the forest, unknown even to the tongue of 
 prophecy, awaiting the time when its hillsides should be 
 covered with temples erected in the name of the Most 
 Eigh, and its shores dedicated to His worship. It is true 
 that the singular recluse who had lived so long by its side, 
 at times thought he heard whisperings of itsjuture from 
 unseen lips, yet his mind was warped and wrung by sorrow 
 and his prophetic voice was unheeded by those who 
 knew him. 
 
 While Judge Hall was yet enjoying the beauty of the 
 early morning as it broke upon the silent landscape, 
 Munson awoke and saluted him with a grave courtesy of 
 manner incident only to those who have associated with 
 men of culture and refinement. 
 
 "Good morning. Judge," he said. "You have not 
 brought the habits of the cities into the wilderness, or you 
 would yet be sleeping regardless of the beauties which the 
 Creator has spread around us, and which I see by your 
 look you appreciate and enjoy." 
 
 "It is indeed a beautiful landscape, Munson, and such 
 as the traveler never sees in his wanderings among the 
 settlements of civilization. The cities of the world that 
 boast of their noble works of hiunan skill and art can pro- 
 duce nothing so beautiful and sublime as this lonely lake 
 and these dense forests that cover its shores." 
 
 "That is true," said Munson. "What are the greatest 
 aehievments of civilization compared with the wonders of 
 the vast wilderness between us and the setting sun? 
 What were the beauties of that famed wonder of the 
 world, 'the hanging gardens of Babylon,' compared with 
 yonder fringe of dark hemlock and scarlet maple that 
 overhang the water on the other shore? What the 
 wonderful mechanism of the statue of Olympian Jupiter, 
 compared with that aged pine that for five centimes has 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 75 
 
 stood like a sentinel on the rampart of yonder ledge of 
 venerable rocks? Long before the pyramids of Egypt 
 were built this lake slept as now in its cradle of. hills; 
 while the noblest works of man crumble into the dust of 
 decay, the beauties of God's handiwork are perpetuated by 
 his unchangeable laws. The trees that grow on these 
 shores now are not the same that grew here when the 
 foundation of the cheops was laid; but the law of re- 
 production is the same, and as one dies, another takes its 
 place; and so He preserves the beauties of His work 
 througl; all the changes of time. "- 
 
 "Even a portion. of the waters of this lake may be th"e 
 same that was pressed by the foot of the Savior on stormy 
 Galilee; brought here by the mist of the clouds and the 
 winter snows or summer showers. But thus it is that the 
 Creator preserves the beauties of His works through all 
 the centuries that fall from his hands, while the proudest 
 achievments of man soon pass away and are forgotten. 
 In the wilderness we see the glory of the Lord as we be- 
 hold 'His wonders on the deep,' and how insignificant are 
 the doubts of infidelity when confronted with these evi- 
 dences of His greatness and power. Yet how mysterioufe 
 are the ways of the Most High; as He permitted the ser- 
 pent to enter Eden; as He made human nerves sensitive to 
 pain as well as pleasure, and our bodies subject tb disease 
 and death; as He formed the. flower to distill a deadly 
 poison with its beautiful petals, and placed the thorn upon 
 the stem of the rose, so has He for His all-wise purposes 
 permitted sin and sorrow to mar the pleasures of life, and 
 murder and rapine to spring from the hearts of men. 
 Behold the grandeur and beauty of these venerable 
 woods. From here to the waters of the Missouri they ex- 
 tend in an almost unbroken solitude. They look so calm 
 and peaceful and yet they are full of danger and death. 
 
 "Men whose devilish cruelty would shame the fiends of 
 Dante's Inferno throng these woods, while the ashes of 
 burned homes, and the blood of murdered, innocent 
 women and children mark their trails through all the 
 miles of its apparently peaceful limits. But for the sav- 
 ages the wilderness would be a paradise; with them it is a 
 pandemonium and will so continue to be until the whole 
 accursed race is destroyed and swept from the face of the 
 earth forever. Hundreds and thousands of the settlsrg 
 
T6 THE NEMESrS'OP CHA:PTAr<5t)A LlEfi. 
 
 Tny- 'desire to be avenged. It has been ^whispered' in ni 
 ears that before the M-inters*" snows shall thrice again cove 
 the earth, the red. dfeVils' shall be externiinatedoT 'drive 
 irota' the tvoods between Lake Erie' and 'the Ohio' ^mi 
 Tbe whole cqiintr/ shall ''be an altar for ail' offering' t 
 blood to the MosfHighl and I OTl'l' be at the saeriflci 
 Something tells me that that 'will be the end df 'toy mii 
 sion. That itiy labors wili'be ended, and that 'I shfll! r( 
 ceive' the plaudit: 'Well done^ good 'an'd falthfiil'servant 
 and that I shall rneet iny murdered' motlifer, wife^and chi 
 dren on the Unknown shore.' > I loitg'fol'th'e'time to eomi 
 btit until 'it doei come the voice oif' Nemesis shall be hear 
 in every place' where the savages are to be found, proclaiK 
 ing my wrongs and vindicating my vengeance!" ' ■ ■ ' 
 
 While 'Munsoii had been~thus speaking he stood in th 
 center of' the canoe, one hand' grasping the barrels of h: 
 rifle,' while the other moved' in a 'gralcef ttl' sweep 'as "he ri 
 f erred to the lake land forest. There was aii imposing di^ 
 nityboth in his manner and tone of voice togethel""Wit 
 ac unstudied eloqiiehee in hds words that created a' feelin 
 akin to awe in the mind of Judge Hail ai he listened. A 
 firstihe appeared calm and uriimpassioned'in 'his descri] 
 tionafithe lake and its surroundings, but as he'^Jtotiyed'* 
 'and spoke of the savages and their- cruelties he beca-ir 
 moreianil more fervent and excited, until he reached h 
 final denunciation, wheif the loud aiid^ften'zied'tolies ( 
 his voiceWer^ echoed Backirom shore to shore. ' His'ey< 
 gleamed with the lurtd lightiof insanity; while his featuri 
 assumed an eKprefesion' of such" malignant malice an 
 ferocity that? for a moment Judgfe Hall looked atT'Mi 
 with -bated breaith' and a throbbing hekrt. ; i' ' 
 
 The paroxys'M lasted onljr a few moments, when aft( 
 ai Severe mental- effort ' he seemed to conquer his feelinj 
 and' eveSn to subdue 'his monomania. Thfen turning to tl 
 Judge, he said' calmly' and without the least appearajice ( 
 mental excitement or' aberratioii of miiid: ' ' ''■''■ ■'•■■'-' 
 ' ^'Judge Hall, there iare two Toutes to the- settlement c 
 the O'-hee-yo, > Where you can' procure- a guide' for yoi 
 journey; one'i&by the lake and Ga-no-wun-go cr«ek'to'tl 
 river; the Other is by amuch'^horter route' through tl 
 forest ;'iWhich shall we take? -While you were sleeping 
 occurred to me. that if our i enemies iwere persistent ar 
 deiJermined to ptocure our arreSt, when the moon a?oi 
 they might have sent rujmers down the lake by a tjail tit 
 
THE NEMESIS OF GHATITAIUQUA. tJS-E. 17 
 
 run^aloag the eastern skor^' to a settl^meii't at the Outlet. 
 If we keep the canoe we will 'have'to^p^sfthis fefettldmeiit 
 and they might 'try to apprehend us, which might IfeiacJ to 
 blbotdshedy for I Will not' be arrested by the puny arm of 
 man for obeying the commands of "God. Unfottunately, 
 I have iilvolved ydu in my trfelibles; and my a&Xiety' i^ oh 
 your account, not my own. If! we go through the; wilder- 
 ness, on: what ito-nie' is a fariniliar traily wfe" will reach: the 
 0-hee-yo toi-morrow forenoon. There I have a cadoe'con- 
 fcealed in the water, and from* there t6' the settlemefit'dt 
 the niouth «f 'the Te^car-nohs'i^'biiti t^vd days' pleasant 
 feaildiownithe watersbf'The heBtWitiful river ■' 'as fhe Indian 
 name signifies. Should we go by the lake and ©a-no- 
 wun-g6. .csreek-to the river it'wiil take-atlfeast'threedays 
 ahd' nights -to I reach 0-hee-yo. Can you 'undergo the 
 fatigue of eighteen hours' traveL through the wilderness? 
 If not^ wemusfl! fcakeoui) changes' by-thewaier 'route. "It 
 was for your dedsionthat 'Ii anchored here laist night when 
 the wind wentdownr- The trail runs alon^-beyoiid'that 
 clump of young hemlocks and/leaves the lakeM'thisjJoint. 
 What say you? ■ I can tiarry our blankets and rations if "^^ 
 "Munson!''' said JuQgfe'Hall, "say no more. - ■ IhaVe had 
 some 'experience as a'soldier and do not f6arthefatigu6'of 
 afmarchj .parrying' my town blanket and ratibhs; so 'let- 'us 
 take :to;tlie woods by all means. There must be no blocdi- 
 shed in defiance of ihe law -on my account." It i^ import- 
 ant that i reach Pittsburg-before the 25th of tMs-monthl 
 A;pubiic meeting of 'the settlersihas' been Hailed by a'iew 
 demagogues and turbulent spirits who'a:^etrying to- dis- 
 obey and jdefy-- the laW'.!iI mufet reach there ' before that 
 time if poseible, and I: prefer the'trail through the"'f6r#st 
 to th^ longer route by the Cohewan'gol" ' ,,.-i-... 
 
 , : ' It required but a few thomerits to ' unloa.d the eauoe and 
 sink itneari the ishore! by means of stones picked up fiom 
 the bank. A' hpisty mteal was made' "of' corn- bread and 
 dried! venison. The M'ankets and' bearskins rolled in a 
 edtopact formweof© strapped to' the' shoulders of the ttav- 
 elef s; the priming of theiT rifieS'i'eneWed, ■andstriking;' the 
 trail. beyond the henilocks<Mhn'son had pointed out, the 
 two men entered 'the forest and followed the well defifaM, 
 path for some moments in sileneei '' •' 
 
 ' ifiWe are noW safe' from pursuit, either by land or 
 waterf'-saidMuiison. "The lake' is two miles -behind'us 
 btid'\i*e no! longer 'Ueed fear thcsbund of ouri'Voices/iand 
 
78 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 may lighten the fatigues of travel with conversation. 
 What is the object and purpose of the meeting you spoke 
 of, and why are you so anxious to attend it?" 
 
 Judge Hall hesitated to answer. The success of his 
 mission depended to a great extent on the secrecy with 
 which it was conducted. He regretted that he had men- 
 tioned it and was provoked at his own indiscretion. While 
 he yet hesitated, Munson smiled significantly and said: 
 
 "You need not fear me, my young friend. I know your 
 secret, and it is safe with me. Your mission is attended 
 with danger, but I will be near you when that danger 
 comes. I will accompany and guide you to the end of 
 your journey." 
 
 "You know the secret of my mission," ejaculated Judge 
 Hall. "You are mistaken, sir. The secret is known only 
 to myself. What do you know of its danger, and how can 
 you render me any assistance.' I need none, and only ask 
 that you conduct me to some place where I can procure a 
 guide through the wilderness without unnecessary delay." 
 
 "Yes, Judge, I do know your mission. It was not told 
 to me by human lips; but I know that you are sent to in- 
 quire into the cause and extent of the resistance in West- 
 ern Pennsylvania to the excise laws, placing a tax on 
 whiskey. The accursed beverage that is manufactured to 
 the injury of mankind is to be taxed for the pubUe good. 
 The collection of this tax has been resisted in the West; 
 the officers of the government have been most out- 
 rageously maltreated; they have been stripped of their 
 clothing, tarred and feathered and turned out into the 
 wilderness in the cold and storm. Those citizens who 
 have dared to obey the law and pay their taxes have been 
 ostracized; their buildings burned, their cattle killed in 
 their pastures; they have been libeled in the newspapers, 
 and the laws of a Christian civilized country has failed to 
 protect them, or punish those who perpetrated the out- 
 rages. All this has been done that intoxicating liquor 
 with its legion of inseparable evils should be as free to the 
 people as the water from the springs on the hillsides. Yes, 
 yes, as incredible as this will appear to the future readers 
 of history, yet it is true; and a Christian people are ready 
 to rise in rebellion against a government that places a 
 few cents tax per gallon on the accursed 'beverage of hell.' 
 Your raisBion is a noble one, Judge Hall, yet it it full of 
 4»nger, «tpd x^MixQi » briiv@ mn to execute it, g^oul^ 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 79 
 
 your tusiness be known to the people where you are going, 
 your life would be endangered; such a hold has the hellish 
 brew got on the depraved appetites of the people, that 
 they are ready to commit murder in its behalf. You have 
 the courage, young man, to execute your trust, if you have 
 the zeal to make you faithful." 
 
 For some moments Judge Hall was so astonished and 
 bewildered at the extent of the knowledge his singular 
 companion seemed to possess of a secret that he supposed 
 was known only to the officials at Washington and to him- 
 self, that he hesitated to reply. He had no faith in the 
 prophetic powers claimed by Munson. The whispers he 
 so often spoke of. Judge Hall believed to be the vagaries 
 of a diseased brain; he looked upon the recluse to be a 
 monomaniac; rational on all subjects not connected in 
 any way with the murder of his family, or what he claimed 
 to be his mission of vengeance. That he had been a man 
 of culture and extended reading was evident from his con- 
 versation at all times, that his "mind was warped and 
 wrung," was equally apparent; but how he had learned the 
 secret of his mission Judge Hall could not even surmise, 
 and he determined to be cautious in his reply. 
 
 "I do not know, Mr. Munson, how you acquired your 
 pretended information in relation to my business West, 
 but I do know that it concerns no one but myself; and I 
 need no assistance but that which the law will afford me." 
 
 "You are mistaken, young man," said Munson earnest- 
 ly. "Where you are going the people have set the law at 
 defiance, and your mission or business is to enquire into 
 the cause and extent of that lawlessness and report the 
 facts to those who sent you. Your confidence in the 
 power of the law to protect you is the weak spot in your 
 armor. It is much safer for you to distrust that power 
 whenever it is opposed to the influence of whiskey, or the 
 interest of those who manufacture or sell it. Your con- 
 fidence in the supremacy of the law comes from your ex- 
 perience as a lawyer and a Judge, and your ignorance of 
 the people you are about to visit. You have been directed 
 to see a man in Pittsburg by the name of Daniel Bradford. 
 I would not advise it; it will defeat the accomplishment 
 of your purpose." 
 
 Judge Hall was more surprised than before; a part of 
 his instructions were to see this very man and confer with 
 him in relation to the opposition to the excise laws, and to 
 
80 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 consult him as to the hest method of enforcing ohedience 
 to their very moderate demands; and when Munson men- 
 tioned his name, accompanied with the warning advice, 
 the Judge paused, dropped the breech of his rifle on the 
 ground and looked at him with an expression of uncon- 
 cealed astonishment. 
 
 "Gome on, Judge," said Munson, good humoredly, 
 "does your surprise add to the weight of your pack? or are 
 you already so fatigued that you must needs stop to rest? 
 We have a long and weary march before us and must not 
 loiter on the trail. What a poor gambler you would make; 
 your countenance would tell your opponent how many 
 trumps you held. You must learn to conceal your emo- 
 tions, to dissemble, or you will never gamble successfully 
 against the world, either at law or at cards. Do not be 
 offended my young -friend at my freedom of speech. I 
 mean kindly towards you; and remember we are not in the 
 refined social circles of the eastern cities, but in the woods 
 of the western frontiers." 
 
 "I do remember it, Munson, and it is necessary that I 
 do so to preserve my self-respect. By what means you 
 have learned a portion of my secrets I do not know; but 
 whatever the duties are that I am commissioned to per- 
 form, they do not concern you in the least, and" — 
 
 "Stop! Stop! young man," said Munson earnestly, 
 "they do concern me, and they concern all good citizens 
 who would see all just and proper laws obeyed. They 
 concern every Christian man who has the welfare of his 
 fellows at heart, and who would wish to abolish the great- 
 est curse that ever afflicted our race. Every obstacle 
 placed in the way of a free use of whiskey among the peo- 
 ple is a blessing to mankind, and the time is surely coming 
 when the Christian enlightenment of the world will de- 
 mand that its use as a beverage shall be prohibited by the 
 strong arm of the law among all the races of men. 
 
 "Even the savages would not have been as cruel and 
 bloodthirsty as they are, but for the accursed 'fire-water' 
 of civilization. The missionaries went among them in the 
 very depths of the wilderness. They were armed only 
 with God's Holy Word; panoplied only with religious zeal 
 and the courage of Christian martyrs; aiter them came the 
 traders with whiskey and rum. These infernal brews 
 aroused all the devilish passions in the savage nature of 
 the Indians. They led to the violation of their treaties 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 81 
 
 with the government and dug up the tomahawk and scalp- 
 ing knife that had been buried again and again. Within 
 all the boundaries of civilization and savagery, the spirit 
 of alcohol has been the greatest evil inflicted upon fallen 
 man. Ever since Noah cursed his son because he felt no 
 shame for his father's drunkenness, its history has been 
 marked with crime and murder. It never had a single 
 redeeming quality; but the cup that contained it was 
 always full of human sorrow and woe; and as civilization 
 advances with the coming centuries, mankind will become 
 more and more convinced of its evils; embargo after em- 
 bargo will be laid upon its manufacture and use, until in 
 the fulness of time it will be abolished forever." 
 
 "I agree with you, Munson, in your denunciation of in- 
 toxicating liquor, and your estimate of the misery and 
 crime it has brought on the world; and I am satisfied that 
 it has been the cause of many of the Indian outbreaks on 
 our frontiers; but as we brought it into this wilderness, 
 and as our government has permitted its sale among the 
 Indians, do you not find in this fact some little palliation 
 or excuse for the sins of the savages?" 
 . "Not the least," replied Munson fiercely, and his eyes 
 instantly gleamed with the ferocity of unyielding hatred 
 and malice. "Through the lips of his prophet Ezekiel, 
 God said: 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die.' And the 
 "Savior said unto his disciples when he taught- them: 
 'Woe unto the world because of offences; for it must needs 
 be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the 
 offence cometh.' 
 
 "But," he continued more calmly, "I would speak to 
 you farther of your mission and give you some advice as 
 to its execution. You need not frown, young man, nor 
 permit your pride to take offence. I wish you well and 
 hope you will succeed in accomplishing the object of your 
 journey; but you had better heed my advice; if you do not, 
 your liberty and perhaps your life will be in danger." 
 
 "I will listen to what you have to say, Munson, without 
 reply or comment, and will judge for myself how far it 
 shall affect my future actions. I neither seek nor refuse 
 to hear what you have to say." 
 
 Munson smiled good humoredly as he replied: 
 
 "There is the wisdom of the sage; the non-committal of 
 the lawyer; the shrewdness of the politician, and the over- 
 weening confidence of youth and inexperience in that re- 
 
62 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 mark. I would not force my advice on unwilling ears, 
 Judge Hall; yet I will give it, and then come what may 
 my conscience will stand acquitted. Fi?St let me warn 
 you to be careful what you say to Daniel Bradford; he is 
 a smooth-tongued, crafty lawyer, who always seemed to 
 me to think and talk as if the English language was only 
 to be used to conceal the speaker's intentions, actual opin- 
 ions and honest convictions. I said 'honest convictions;' 
 it was a misnomer when applied to him. He never has 
 had an honest conviction in his life and never will have, 
 until he is indicted and tried for some offence involving 
 superlative dishonesty and deceit, and is found guilty by 
 a jury of his countrymen. He is a demagogue that would 
 defy the government, if to do so was popular among his 
 constituency, while he would lick the dust from their 
 shoes to secure their votes. Beware of him. If you aro 
 compelled to have an interview with him let your con- 
 versation be after his own model. But there is a man you 
 had better see; he is the exact antipodes of Bradford; he 
 can be trusted; he is as true to the government as the 
 'blade is to the hilt.' General John Neville is a patriot 
 and a Christian gentleman; he is a man of wealth and high 
 social position, the owner of valuable mills on the river 
 about two miles above Pittsburg. See him as soon as you 
 can after your arrival. Tell him to remember the wrongs 
 of poor Wilson [In October, 1791, a man named Wilson, 
 disordered in mind imagined himself a collector of the tax 
 on stills and whiskey, was most cruelly treated by a mob; 
 was stripped of his clothing and burned with hot irons, 
 and turned into the wilderness after being tarred and 
 feathered. See Western Annals, page 689.] and that I 
 have sent you to him, and that I will see him before snow 
 fall. Young man, my advice is ended, and you will do 
 well to heed it." 
 
 For some time after the conversation narrated, the two 
 men pursued their way in silence. The solitude of the 
 forest was occasionally broken by the voice of some deni- 
 zen of its recesses,"but there were no signs or evidence that 
 a human being had ever penetrated its depths save 
 the well worn trail they were following. The day 
 passed on without an incident worthy of the veracious pen 
 of the historian; occasionally the weary march was en- 
 livened by conversation on various subjects incident to 
 the times and locality; and for hours Judge Hall failed to 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAtTTAtJQtA LAKE. 83 
 
 observe anything in the acts or language of his companion 
 that indicated an abnormal mental condition. He was 
 uniformly courteous and always grave and dignified. 
 Possessed of wonderful conversational powers, his well- 
 turned periods occasionally assumed a wild and florid 
 style of eloquence that almost verged upon the realms of 
 mental alienation, yet never quite crossed its boundaries. 
 His memory was full of incidents of frontier life, of the 
 hardships and privations that settlers had endured; of 
 their 'conflicts with wild beasts and savages. And he re- 
 lated many thrilling events of danger and rescue so in- 
 teresting to his auditor that the weary miles of the trail 
 were almost forgotten, and Judge Hall was surprised when 
 he observed from a little hilltop that overlooked a broad 
 expanse of forest, that the sun had passed over two-thirds 
 of its daily journey. 
 
 The travelers paused a moment on the brow of the hill 
 and looked around them; on every side was an apparently 
 boundless sea of Autumn foliage; not an -opening or 
 clearing within the range of their vision. Occasionally a 
 cluster of pine and hemlocks mingled their dark boughs 
 among the bright colored branches of the deciduous trees, 
 looking like islands amid a sea of moving waters and 
 gilded waves, while the moaningof the wind among their 
 swaying tops sounded like a distant surf beating against 
 their lonely shores. 
 
 " 'The fool hath said in his heart there is no God,' " 
 said Munson in solemn tones, as he pointed over the valley 
 beneath them. 
 
 "I never so fully appreciated the declaration of the 
 Psalmist as I did when I first stood upon this rock and 
 looked over the scene below us; and I cannot understand 
 how a rational thinking being can behold such scenes as 
 this and doubt the creative power that must have pre- 
 ceded them. Think of the infinite number of natural 
 laws whose operations have made this landscape what it 
 is; that every year paints the leaves of each variety of 
 trees, its own peculiar color, and gives to each its charac- 
 teristic shape. That from the same soil rears the sturdy 
 oak, the supple ash and the pliant poplar. That covers 
 the. ground with its multitude of species of vegetation 
 and peoples all with the life, either insect or animal, that 
 is best adapted to it, and that could live in no other home. 
 Think of all the -Bfonders that exist within the narrow 
 
84 THE NEMESIS OF caAUTAUQtA LAKE. 
 
 limits of our vision from this rock — ^from which we can 
 only see a speck or mote upon the surface of the earth, 
 and then will the words of Israel's inspired King strike us 
 with greater force; for if these woods and this valley so 
 strongly proclaim their truth, what shall be the utterance 
 of the whole earth, and the confirmation of the heavens 
 that surround it?" 
 
 "It is indeed a sight to confound the infldel," said 
 Judge Hall, "and I do not wonder that you are enamored 
 with the beauties of these vast solitudes and a life in the 
 wilderness. There is here a freedom from the vices of 
 the settlements and an absence of temptation that can- 
 not help but elevate human thoughts and desires and 
 bring man nearer to his creator, and increase his rever- 
 ence for the being who planted these trees and painted 
 this beautiful landscape; yet do you not see that the les- 
 sons taught by this silent forest are those of peace and 
 harmony, not rapine, revenge and bloodshed?" 
 
 "No! N"o!! I do not so read the page before us," re- 
 plied Munson, while his eyes suddenly gleamed with an 
 unnatural light. "These woods as silent and as peaceful 
 as they now. seem to be are filled with God's creatures 
 moulded and fashioned according to His will, with 
 impulses and instincts derived from Him alone, 
 yet they are at perpetual war with each other. The 
 strong rend and devour the weak. From the tiniest in- 
 sect to the prowling beast of prey, all defend their young 
 and destroy those that assail their nest or lair, if their 
 power is equal to execute the instincts that God has 
 given them. It is the natural impulse of all animated be- 
 ings to fight for their young and destroy those that would 
 injure them, and I but follow this inevitable law. It 
 is true that these woods with their pure rivulets have been 
 to me like the fountain of Arcadia near the City of Cli-tor 
 as described by Ovid, that destroyed the love of wine in 
 those who drank of its healing waters; yet I find no lesson 
 here that teaches me to forget the murder of my wife and 
 children, but rather to visit the vengeance of the sword 
 of justice on the accursed race that burned my home and 
 destroyed all I had to love on earth. I have seen these 
 peaceful forests torn and uprooted by the breath of God 
 in the tornado; its sturdiest oaks and tallest pines and 
 hemlocks shivered by the lightnings of his glance, all be- 
 ■' cause man, the original, disobeyed His commands. He 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 85 
 
 does not use the elements alone to vindicate His wrath, 
 but the frogs and lice of Egypt were His instruments to 
 avenge the wrongs of His people as well as the angel of 
 death that slew the first-horn in all the land of Pharaoh. 
 No! No!! my young friend I am but an instrument in His 
 hands. I can no more change the feelings in my heart 
 than the leopard can change his spots or the Ethiopian 
 his skin. 
 
 " 'There is a divinity that shapes our ends, 
 Rough hew them how we will.' 
 
 "I but obey the commands of that divinity to slay and 
 spare not; the blood of my mother, wife and children cry 
 to Heaven for vengeance, and I Hve but to avenge them. 
 When my mission is done I shall die, but not before; when 
 I have killed Ga-wa-no-das, it is ended; whispers from the 
 unseen lips of my dead tell me so. But until that eon- 
 summation of God's justice is accomplished, I must bear 
 the weary burden of life with one desire and one purpose. 
 Oh! that I had a thousand lives to live! One is too poor, 
 too weak, for the accomplishment of my just revenge. 
 For my acts I am responsible to God alone and no human 
 laws shall restrain or punish me. I do not expect that all 
 men will either approve of or defend my conduct; it is 
 only those who have suffered as I have that can appreci- 
 ate my motive and approve my acts. But it is so with 
 all men; they are judged by their fellows from their deeds 
 alone, while only the Most High can hear the silent whis- 
 perings of the human heart before the tongue hath ut- 
 tered them, and can know the motives that prompt hu- 
 man action. Often the wind that whispers over our 
 graves is our most eloquent and only defender. 
 
 "But, come. Judge, we loiter on our road while the sun 
 pauses not on his endless journey. A few miles from 
 here is a rude hut constructed by the hunters who hunt 
 the deer during the winter months, and if we reach that it 
 will afford us shelter from the chill of an Autumn night as 
 well as safety from prowling wolves that infest these 
 ■woods, and often endanger travelers, who Uke ourselves, 
 are seeking to avoid the wolves of law and civilization. 
 This hut is only a few miles from the river where I have 
 a canoe hidden among the flags, with which we can pro- 
 ceed on our journey, without danger or fatigue." 
 
 The sun had set and darkness enveloped the forest, ren- 
 
86 THE XEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 dering it diflBcult for even the experienced eye of JIunson 
 to follow the trail when they reached the hut spoken of. 
 It was erected of logs against a ledge of rock, and if its 
 entrance was guarded by a camp-fire, our travelers were 
 safe from wolves or panthers, while their more dreaded 
 foes the emissaries of the law were left behind them on 
 the shores of Lake Chautauqua, A portion of the floor of 
 the hut was covered with hemlock boughs, on which our 
 travelers spread their blankets, making a couch as soft to 
 their weary limbs as the down of civilization. 
 
 Before lying down to sleep Munson knelt and offered a 
 heart-felt prayer to Him who had been his stay and com- 
 forter during all the trials of his wearisome life. In the 
 prayer he mingled fragments of the CIX. Psalm with 
 original maledictions on his enemies, and appeals to 
 Heaven to assist him on his mission of destruction against 
 the murderers of his family. Then the two travelers lay 
 down on their rude couch and slept until early dawn. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 "Night wanes — the vapors round the mountains curl'd 
 Melt into morn, and light awakes the world." 
 
 B}Ton. 
 
 "The gaudy, babbling and remorseful day 
 Is crept into the bosom of the sea; 
 And now loud howling wolves arouse the jades 
 That drag the tragic melancholy night." 
 
 Shakspeare's Macbeth. 
 
 The early twilight had just tinged the Eastern sky with 
 the faint rays of coming day, when Munson and Judge 
 Hall were again on the trail or path that led to the head 
 waters of the Allegheny river, and after two hours travel 
 they reached its bank where Munson had a canoe con- 
 cealed in a cluster of flags in a little bay formed by a bend 
 in the stream. In a few moments it was raised from its 
 watery bed, cleansed and ready to receive our travelers. 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 87 
 
 It was constructed of bark, and was unmistakably of In- 
 dian workmanship. 
 
 "Where did you get this canoe?" enquired Judge Hall. 
 
 "Three warriors brought it up from the river below. I 
 was hunting deer in the woods we have just passed 
 through, when I heard them singing one of their rude 
 war songs. I followed them up the river until two of 
 them were in a range, when Nemesis spoke in avenging 
 toneS;, and the voice of two of the accursed devils was si- 
 lenced forever. The third plunged into the water and 
 swam to the shore; this gave me time to load one barrel of 
 my rifle. When he reached the opposite bank he rah to- 
 wards yonder thicket of hazel bushes, but he could hot 
 outrun the 'decree of the Most High' to 'kill and spare 
 not,' and he fell in the agonies of death by yonder rock. 
 I swam the river and secured the canoe in which were the 
 bodies of the two I had first shot; and the scalps of all 
 three now hang in my altar at Lake Chautauqua. Those 
 stains in the bottom of the eanoe are of-the blood of my 
 offering, and remember that the apostle Paul in his epistle 
 to the Hebrews said that; 'Without shedding of blood is no 
 remission,' and as long as I live there will be no remission 
 on my part. The dying shrieks of my mother, wife and 
 little children are constantly ringing in my ears. Justice 
 demands that their murder shall be avenged, and who so 
 fit to be the avenger as the son, husband and father?" 
 
 Judge Hall remained silent a few moments until Mun- 
 son became calm, and said: "Step into the canoe. Judge; 
 we have a long journey before us, and although it is not 
 probable that we are followed by the emissaries of the law, 
 yet it is not certain that they have given up the pursuit. 
 If they follow us it will most likely be in canoes down the 
 Conewango, which empties into the river a few miles 
 above us. They could have traveled all night with the 
 aid of fire-jacks, while we were sleeping, and may have 
 passed the point where we embarked; if so we will see 
 them below as sOon as they do us, and then we must land 
 and take to the woods where I defy them. But it will be 
 a wearisome journey for you; while, in this canoe, it will 
 only be a pleasure trip. In our voyage down the Alle- 
 gheny we will pass some of the most beautiful scenery on 
 this continent, where mountain, valley and river combine 
 to proclaim the power of the Creator, and the wisdom and 
 magnitude of His design when from a formless yqid and 
 
88 THE XEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 darkness He created the earth and illummed it with- the 
 light of yonder rising sun. 
 
 "Judge, in the vague imaginings of my disordered 
 brain, I sometimes see strange visions of the future of this 
 river and its banks. I have seen on these hill-sides cu- 
 rious constructions and devices of human mechanism, 
 moved by both steam and water. They seemed to be 
 drawing something from the earth to give light and heat 
 to the cities, towns and villages, that will in time spring 
 up along the banks of this river. We will soon pass the 
 mouth of a creek, called in the Seneca dialect Te-car-nohs 
 Ga-hun-da meaning dropping oil. Its surface is often 
 covered with an oil that is very inflammable and is used by 
 the settlers as a medicine. Human ingenuity will in 
 time utilize ^t, and wealth will flow from these hillsides 
 and ravines like gold from the mines of Ophir. This have 
 I seen in my visions; and when that time comes there will 
 be no savages here; churches dedicated to the worship of 
 the Savior of mankind will be erected in every valley, and 
 the warwhoop of the Indian murderers will be heard no 
 more; peace and plenty, will prevail; but it will be be- 
 cause the vengeance of f&b lEost High will blot the devil- 
 ish race out of existence, and such men as I am will then 
 be remembered with gratitude, and will not be hunted like 
 the wild beasts by men professing to be Christians. 
 
 "If we are unmolested, I hope to reach a beautiful little 
 island some thirty miles down the river before dark where 
 we can bivouac for the night.'' 
 
 The day passed without any unusual occurrence. The 
 officials of the law at Chautauqua had evidently aban- 
 doned the pursuit of the fugitive. Munson was respected 
 by the settlers for his honest, upright conduct among his 
 acquaintances, and admired for his bravery while he was 
 pitied for his misfortune. Except for his relentless kill- 
 ing of the Indians his character was without reproach, 
 while his word was inviolable. 
 
 Among his friends on the lake, who recognized the 
 voice of Nemesis when their lights were extinguished, 
 there was not one but hoped he would escape, and they 
 easily persuaded the "General" that farther pursuit would, 
 be unavailing. 
 
 During the day, in the conversation between Munson 
 and Judge Hall, the latter purposely avoided all reference 
 to the great sorrow of the former, and directed his atten- 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 89 
 
 tion to the general condition of the country and the oppo- 
 sition of the citizens of Western Pennsylvania to the tax 
 on stills and their products. Here Munson manifested a 
 firm adherence to the government, and an earnest con- 
 demnation of the insubordinate acts of those who opposed 
 the enforcement of the tax law passed by Congress in 
 1790. 
 
 "Judge Hall," said Munson, "as I have said, you must 
 be careful not to let your mission be known in Pittsburgh. 
 A stranger of your appearance coming from the East will 
 be observed; you will be closely watched. Every word 
 you say will be repeated at the headquarters of the re- 
 bellion, and may subject you to mob violence. In all your 
 communications with strangers you meet, let me advise 
 you to be 'as wise as serpents, and as harmless as doves,' 
 or what is better, remember the old German proverb that 
 says: 
 
 " 'Speech is silvern, Silence is golden; speech is human, 
 Silence is divine.' 
 
 "As soon after our arrival at Pittsburgh as possible, you 
 should, as I have told you, see Col. John Neville, who re- 
 sides some two or three miles from Fort Du Quesne. He 
 is a Christian gentleman of wealth and position; I have 
 heard that he has a beautiful daughter. You will be wel- 
 comed by him when he knows your mission, and you can 
 safely trust him with the secrets of your instruction from 
 those who sent you. I shall remain at the Fort, or near 
 there, until next Spring, when I will join the regiment 
 of General Wayne in Ohio, against the combined western 
 tribes of savages who will then be on the war-path. And 
 in every battle with them, while I live, the voice of Ne- 
 mesis will be heard, as it was in the days of ancient myth- 
 'ology when with the Furies called to her assistance the 
 Goddess avenged the murder of a mother by her son." 
 
 "I will heed your advice, Munson," said Judge Hall, 
 "and profit by it. I think as you do, that next Spring the 
 western tribes, encouraged by the British in Canada, will 
 combine in a general attack on all the frontier settlements, 
 and \vhile I do not fear the final result, I do dread the 
 consequences to the settlers along the frontier. I, too, 
 will remain at Pittsburgh until the campaign opens, when 
 I will join the army of General Wayne, and I hope we will 
 teach the Indians a lesson they will not forget, and one 
 
90 THE NEMESIS OP CHATJTATJQtJA LAKE. 
 
 that will secure the future safety of all the country south 
 of the lakes." 
 
 "Not until you exterminate the whole accursed race," 
 said Munson, while his eyes gleamed with the mania he 
 had often manifested in a more violent degree. "They 
 must be exterminated as Jehu destroyed all the worship- 
 ers of Baal out of Israel; as God hath decreed, so it must 
 be, and woe unto the unfaithful servant who shall refuse 
 to obey His commands." 
 
 Judge Hall, observing the incipient frenzy of Munson, 
 and wishing to appease it, remarked: "It shall be done as 
 the Lord has commanded," and immediately changed the 
 subject of their conversation. 
 
 "Munson," said he, "at our camp last night you spoke 
 of the wolves that infested these forests, and that our 
 camp-fires would protect us from their attacks. Are there 
 many of them in these woods along the river?" 
 
 "At certain seasons of the year," said Munson, "the for- 
 ests from the Allegheny mountains to the Missouri river 
 are filled with them; and in the Winter months when 
 driven by hunger they are very destructive of the flocks 
 and cattle of the settlers, and at times are very dangerous 
 to the settlers themselves. They hunt in large packs, and 
 when they have seized their prey and satiated their hun- 
 ger, they separate and scatter through the woods like sen- 
 tinels around a camp. Then when one of them discovers 
 a deer in the forest or a traveler passing on its lonely roads 
 or trails, he gives a warning howl or call to his compan- 
 ions who immediately answer, and from all directions the 
 hungry, ravenous cohorts hasten to the rendezvous which 
 they seetti to know as certainly as did the ancient High- 
 landers in answer to the fiery cross sent by their chieftains 
 to call the clans together for battle. 
 
 "Judge Hall, when we camp to-night remind me and I 
 will tell you a story of a 'night of terror' among the wolves 
 of Southern Indiana, that will account for the hatred of 
 the frontier settlers for the 'grey devils,' as they are 
 called; second only to that of their detestation of the 'red 
 devils' that are more to be dreaded than the wolves; for 
 the one race kills for food and to appease the demands of 
 hunger, the othej from a love of murder and rapine." 
 
 It was now late in the afternoon. The sun had dropped 
 behind the western hills, and the twilight was fast shroud- 
 ing the rj\er banks in dim uncertain outlines, when Mtin- 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 91 
 
 Bon pointed down the river to an island two or three miles 
 distant and said: "There, Judge, is our camping-place for 
 the night. It is a beautiful spot above high water mark 
 and is covered with a thick growth of pine and hemlock; 
 it is only about an acre in extent and is fully three hun- 
 dred feet from either shore. On it with our camp-fire we 
 will be safe from the wolves that prowl along these shores, 
 for they dislike to enter a running stream, and will not do 
 so unless their hunger is great and their prey in sight." 
 Just then a long, dismal howl came from a distance in 
 the woods. 
 
 "Hark!" said Mimson, "did you hear that? It is a sen- 
 tinel call. The devils have scented or seen us. Now, 
 listen, and soon you will hear it answered. There it is!" 
 he said, as another howl came faintly from a distant hill- 
 side, and yet another, until by the time they reached the 
 island there seemed to be a large pack collecting on the 
 nearest shore. 
 
 "There they are," said Munson, and he pointed to an 
 open spacs on the shore where a small mountain stream, 
 in time of a freshet emptied its waters into the river. It 
 was now dry and its white sandy bed could be distinctly 
 seen among the bushes on either side. Soon after, they 
 observed a number of wolves collecting on the sand of the 
 dry bed of the stream, andvas they reached the beach of 
 the island, Judge Hall picked up "Sartin deth" and 
 ■stepped upon the land.' 
 
 "Munson," said he, "I have not yet tried this rifle, and 
 I will do so now to see if the inscription on its breech is 
 an idle boast or a probable certainty." He raised the 
 rifle, and without a distinct aim, fired; a yell of pain told 
 him the effect of his shot, when a combination of snarling 
 howls informed him that the companions of the wounded 
 wolf, incited by its blood, were rending it in pieces, and 
 engaged in a fierce conflict over its body, for which with 
 savage instinct, and impelled by hunger, they fought and 
 struggled for a share of their cannibal feast. 
 
 "Judge," said Munson, as he smiled grimly at the 
 sound of th6 conflict on the shore, "how much the wolves 
 resemble men in their instinct and acts, or how much do 
 men resemble wolves in their baser passions and feelings. 
 Addison said that 'the dog had been the companion of 
 man for thousands of years, during which time he had 
 learned all of his virtues and only one of his vices; that 
 
92 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTATJQUA LAKE. 
 
 was to abuse a fellow in distress.' How true this is. You 
 know that the dog is a descendant of the race that are 
 feeding on the body of their dead companion on the shore 
 yonder. Only think of all the wars that have cursed hu- 
 manity from the dawn of early history. Think of the 
 butchery that attended the senseless crusades, and the 
 civil wars of Europe. I'p until the beginning of the six- 
 teenth century the whole education of young men was to 
 teach them skill in the use of arms that they might mur- 
 der each other in battle; and remember that this was not 
 done because God's eternal justice demanded it, as in our 
 warfare with the savages, but to attain the glory of prow- 
 ess in murderous conflicts. The bauble honor was to be 
 obtained with the lance and battle-axe. Kingly power 
 achieved by burning towns and cities, and devastating a 
 country deluged with the blood of its inhabitants. Dur- 
 ing the reign of that English monster, Henry VIII., his- 
 tory tells us that twenty-eight hundred persons were 
 burned at the stake or executed on the gallows or guillo- 
 tine, because they would not recognize the religious insti- 
 tutions established by the King as the only right and 
 trtie one. (See Leti Vol. 1, page 84.) And yet the great 
 Master said to his disciples, 'Love one another, as I have 
 loved you.' Judge Hall, when I think of these things as 
 I am alone in the woods, I almost loathe my fellow-men 
 and wish to see them no more. I know this is wrong, but 
 who can control the vagaries of the human mind, or the 
 emotions of our own hearts; verily did it require the aton- 
 ing blood of the great sacrifice to wash away the sins of 
 men. But come. Judge, wliile I am engaged in polemical 
 discourse, we forget the necessities of the hour. We must 
 build a camp-fire to frighten our fellow mortals yonder 
 from seeking a more intimate acquaintance with us while 
 we sleep." 
 
 This was soon done. With a small axe Munson always 
 carried at his belt, a large heap of pine boughs and brush 
 wood was soon collected and fired with flint and steel, 
 when it blazed with the bright flame of pitch pine and 
 hemlock, sustained by a few pieces of flood-wood from the 
 shore of the island. 
 
 After our travelers had partaken of their frugal repast 
 of dried venison and corn cakes, and had renewed their fire 
 before lying down on their blankets and bear-skins, Judge 
 Hall said: "Munson, you wished me to remind you of a 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 93 
 
 story of a night of terror among the wolves; will you now 
 relate it?" 
 
 "Yes," said Munson, "I will tell the tale as it was told 
 to me by one who was well acquainted with the circum- 
 stances, and it is true in every particular": 
 
 A NIGHT OF TEEKOR AMONG THE WOLVES. 
 
 "The occurrence I am about to relate," said Munson, 
 "happened in Southern Indiana five years ago. I had 
 been on a scouting expedition and returned to the set- 
 tlement near where the event occurred only a few days 
 after its occurrence. There had been a wedding at the 
 house of a settler about two miles distant, and a number 
 of young people of both sexes had attended it. The wed- 
 ding festivities continued until after midnight, when six 
 couples started on their way home. The newly con- 
 structed road they were to travel led through a dense for- 
 est of some two miles in extent. Before the young people 
 left the house, they were warned by an old hunter to go 
 as quietly as possible, for the late severe snow storm had 
 driven the wolves from the North down into the warmer 
 regions near the Ohio river. But the heedlessness of 
 youth disregarded the warning, and as they proceeded 
 homeward, song, jest and merry laughter resounded 
 through the woods. They had just finished a refrain of 
 an old camp-meeting hymn in which all had joined, when 
 from the depths of the forest was heard the prolonged 
 howl of a wolf. In a moment it was answered by another 
 from an opposite direction, then another and yet another 
 until the woods seemed to send calls and answers from 
 every point of the compass around them except from the 
 direction of the settlement. 
 
 "Now fully aroused to the danger of their situation 
 they fled along the road with rapid steps. The village was 
 only a mile ahead of them, and they hoped to reach its 
 adjacent clearings before they were overtaken, when the 
 wolves would probably leave them. But they were mis- 
 taken, for behind them they were collecting in numbers 
 on their track, their fearful howls sounding nearer and 
 nearer with each passing moment. One of the young 
 men looked back along a half-mile of straight road which 
 gleamed beneath the bright moonlight, and at a distance 
 he saw a dark line extending across the road. The wolves 
 seeing their victims for the first time broke into a simul- 
 
94 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 taneous howl that carried dismay to the hearts of those 
 they were pursuing. 
 
 "A short distance ahead of them was a cluster of 
 cedar trees whose branches came near to the ground. 
 Could they reach them there was some hope that the girls 
 could be assisted to gain a place of safety among their 
 thick boughs, while the yoimg men would have no diffi- 
 culty in climbing to a point beyond the reach of the rav- 
 enous pack whose footfalls could now be heard distinctly 
 pattering on the frozen ground in the fast diminishing 
 distance. 
 
 " 'Courage, girls,' shouted Eudolph Monroe, who was 
 by the side of his affianced bride, assisting her in her 
 ffight. "Ten rods more, and we are safe; we can climb 
 the cedars out of the reach of the grey devils.' 
 
 "With the yells of the ravenous pack behind them, and 
 possible safety a few rods before them, the young people 
 flew along the snow-crusted highway with a speed inspired 
 by the terror of the awful death that threatened them. 
 
 'A moment more of the agony of fear and uncertainty, and 
 they reached the cedars. With the assistance of the young 
 men, the girls were soon placed among the branches of 
 the trees, and climbing above the reach of the wolves 
 were followed by their companions who had barely time 
 to reach a position where they were beyond the immediate 
 danger of being torn in pieces by the ravenous pack which 
 now surrounded the trees in which they had taken refuge. 
 Eudolph was the last to climb the cedar in which Mary 
 with two others, had taken refuge, and had scarcely drawn 
 himself among thelower limbs of the tree when several of 
 the wolves sprang after him, seizing one of his moccasins 
 and tearing it from his foot. 
 
 "It is true that they were safe for a time, but the night 
 was bitter cold, and it would be several hours before the 
 early light of the coming day would drive the wolves back 
 into the forest. Disappointed at the escape of their vic- 
 tims, some of the larger and more fierce of their number 
 tried in vain to spring into the tops of the cedars, and 
 eVen seized the lower limbs in their attempts to reach the 
 terror-stricken objects of their pursuit. Failing in this, 
 they tried to gnaw the trunks of the trees, and while the 
 bark gave way to their sharp fangs, the hard wood of the 
 white cedar resisted their attacks. At least fifty wolves 
 
 I bad gathered in the pursuit, and maddened by hunger 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 95 
 
 they seemed determined that their victims should not es- 
 cape. For over an hour the terror-stricken young people 
 clung to the branches with hands benumbed with cold, 
 when one of the young girls shrieked, 'Oh! God! I am fall- 
 ing!' It was the young bridesmaid, Mary, the affianced 
 of Eudolph Monroe, who seized her garments with his al- 
 most paralyzed hands, but the frail cloth gave way and 
 she fell among the wolves, who leaped into the air and 
 seized her body before it reached the ground. A few 
 agonizing shrieks from the poor girl mingled with snarl- 
 ing howls of the wolves as they fought over the body of 
 their victim, and all was over. She was literally torn in 
 pieces by the ravenous animals, apparently even before 
 life was extinct. 
 
 "The companions of Eudolph had great difficulty in re- 
 straining him and preventing him from leaping down 
 among the wolves in a fruitless efEort to save her life 
 when, he, too, would have shared her fate. The body of 
 the unfortunate girl would afford only a morsel to each of 
 the stronger of the pack who fought over the remains, 
 while their unappeased hunger, and the scent of blood o£ 
 the weaker who were driven from the dainty repast, only 
 increased their ferocity. 
 
 "Two more weary hours passed, and the light of the 
 coming day drove the wolves into the depths of the forest. 
 A faint halloa was heard in the distance, and a number of 
 settlers with guns and dogs were seen approaching. They 
 assisted the benumbed and almost frozen young people 
 from the tree tops. The father of the unfortunate girl 
 was among their number, and when he inquired in fren- 
 zied tones for his daughter, none had the courage to tell 
 him of her awful fate. Eudolph pointed to the blood- 
 stained snow and the scattered locks of hair, which with 
 a few gnawed and clean picked bones, were all that re- 
 mained of the beautiful girl that the evening before had 
 stood beside the bride as her favored friend and com- ' 
 panion. 
 
 "The horrible fate of Mary so afEeeted the mind of Evi- 
 dolph that he became almost a lunatic. A few weeks 
 after her death he disappeared from the settlement. No 
 one knew whither he had gone. Over a year had elapsed 
 when some hunters who were belated in the wilderness, 
 Baw a light glimmering through the trees on the bill side. 
 Approaching witli cautious steps, they came to ft sawll 
 
96 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 cabin covered with bark, when peering through the cracks 
 between the logs, they saw Eudolph seated on a stool by a 
 fire kindled in a rude fire place constructed of stone. In 
 his hand he held a long tress of silken hair, which he had 
 pulled from the snow where Mary was killed. Fondly he 
 stroked it with loving caress, then he pressed it to liis lips. 
 "The hunters knocked at his door, which was imme- 
 diately opened by Eudolph, who did not at first recognize 
 his visitors. They tried in vain to persuade him to re- 
 turn to the settlement, but he refused. He said his mis- 
 sion in life now was to destroy the whole race of 'grey dev- 
 ils' from the face of the earth. His weapons were a 
 double-barreled gun, and a light ax with a long helve or 
 handle. He said he had killed many, and as long as he 
 had life he would devote it to the destruction of the fiends 
 that had killed Mary. He hved' several years thereafter a 
 solitary recluse, and it was known that he killed hundreds 
 of grey wolves, with whose skins he thatched the roof, 
 and lined the walls of his cabin, while the bounty of their 
 scalps provided him with food and clothing. At last he 
 disappeared and was seen no more. Whether he left the 
 wilderness on a partial return of reason, or what is more 
 probable became himself a victim of the hated wolves, 
 was never known." 
 
 "Well, Munson," said ,Tudge Hall, as the former had 
 ended his narration, "your terrible story, so well told, rec- 
 onciles me to the fate of the wolf I shot last evening." 
 
 "Why so?" said Munson calmly. "It is not likely that 
 that wolf was among the pack that killed the young girl 
 in Southern Indiana five years ago. That wolf never in- 
 jured you; you were in no danger from him. By what 
 right, then, did you kill it?" 
 
 "Why, Munson," said Judge Hall, "wolves are raven- 
 ous, and dangerous animals; they endanger the lives of 
 the settlers, and it is not only right, but the duty of every 
 one who can to kill them." 
 
 "But, Judge," said Munson, "the ravenous wolves are 
 as they were created by the Infinite power of the uni- 
 verse; they know no better; they have but one end and 
 aim in life. That is to eat and live. All their ferocious 
 instincts are given them by their Creator that they may 
 live and rear their young; they do not kill for gain or to 
 gratify a murderous passion, but simply to obey a neces- 
 sary law of their being. They could not exist otherwise; 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 97 
 
 they kill and devour from necessity alone. They do not 
 count the scalps of their victims, and boast of their mur- 
 derous deeds, in vain glory among their fellow wolves. 
 Judge, suppose they were Indians who killed from mo- 
 tives of revenge or gain, that they might sell the scalps of 
 women and children in Canada for the 'fire water' of the 
 whites, or that they united ia predatory bands to murder 
 the unoffending settlers and burn their homes without 
 cause or justification, would it not only be right, but the 
 duty of every one who could to kill them?" - 
 
 "Well, butj Munson," said Judge Hall, "thfe Indians are 
 human beings, not animals governed by instinct only." 
 
 "So much the worse for them. Judge," said Munson, 
 in a cool, argumentative tone. "If the Indians are hu- 
 man beings, which I sometimes doubt, they are much 
 more accountable for their acts than the wolves, for they 
 can reason and reflect and they know what they do; and if 
 the wolves are to be condemned for their acts, doubly 
 more so should the Indians be. For 'where much is 
 given mucTi is required in return,' but 'where little is 
 given but little can be expected.' I have often seen 
 from your acts and the expression of your countenance 
 that you blame me for my acts, while you cannot logically 
 defend your murder of the poor wolf who in this life, in 
 a moral sense, knew not what he did. Judge, remember 
 the prayer from the cross: 'Father, forgive them, for they 
 know not what they do!' But my young friend, you must 
 excuse my abrupt remarks. I like you and would if I 
 could have your good opinion, but slay the human wolves 
 as long as I live I will; and that, too, with as little com- 
 punction of conscience as you have for your murder of 
 the wolf lest evening. But come. Judge, let us to our 
 bear-skins and blankets under this clump of pines for 
 when the moon rises an hour or two after midnight, we 
 must be on our way to Fort Du Quesne." 
 
 The two fugitives from human law, if not justice, lay 
 down side by side until the moonlight streamed through 
 the trees, when IMunson awoke his companion, and they 
 again embarked in their canoe and swiftly floated down 
 "the beautiful river" of the Senecas. But long after- 
 wards the logic of Munson was food for thought by Judge 
 Hall, and although his legal mind convicted him of the 
 crime of murder, yet he could not blame him. 
 
 The moon shone brightly on the river, and in silent 
 
98 THE XEJIESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 contemplation of the beauty of the night. Judge Hall sat 
 in deep reflection. The unusual events of the past three 
 days, the strangeness of his present situation, his singular 
 companion, with the uncertainties of the success of his 
 present mission, and the dangers that attended it, all com- 
 bined to cause him to sit in silent reverie for some time, 
 when he was aroused by ]Munson, who said: "Judge Hall, 
 do you believe that the spirits of the dead can return to 
 earth and communicate with the friends they once loved?" 
 
 "Well," replied the Judge, "I do not know that I have 
 any settled opinion on the subject; yet I am inclined to 
 doubt it. I have no evidence that such things actually 
 occur." 
 
 "N^ evidence," said Munson; "you a lawyer and say 
 that you have no evidence! You may with propriety say 
 that you have no proof, but surely you cannot say that 
 you have no evidence. You know that the three great 
 pioneers of the reformation have testified to the fact; 
 Luther, Calvin and John Wesley assert in the most posi- 
 tive terms that they have held communication with spir- 
 its of the other world. Do you not consider their state- 
 ments evidence?" 
 
 "Well," said the Judge, "I have always thought that 
 their narrations were the vagaries of an over-excited im- 
 agination. I know that they all three assert the fact that 
 they had seen apparitions, yet I have believed that what 
 they thought they saw were optical illusions and did not 
 exist in fact, as they thought they did." 
 
 "Judge, do you believe in the narrations of the Old and 
 Xew Testaments? Are all the incidents therein recorded 
 the vagaries of diseased minds? Let me ask you a few 
 questions and request your candid answers. Did Moses 
 talk with a spirit in the burning bush? Did three spirits 
 appear to Abraham when he sat at the door of his tent in 
 the plains of Mamre? Did two spirits visit Lot as he sat 
 at the gate of Sodom? Did a spirit hand write on the 
 walls at the feast of Belshazzar? Did Saul converse with 
 the spirit of his old friend Samuel in the presence of the 
 woman of Endor? Was there any significance in the vis- 
 ion of Jacob, who saw a ladder reaching from earth to 
 Heaven and spirits ascending and descending thereon? 
 When the three Hebrew children were in the fiery fur- 
 nace, was there a fourth person, a spirit, seen with them 
 m the 6xe, that protected them? Are all these stories of 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 99 
 
 the Bible true, and if they are, can you say that you have 
 no evidence of spirit visitation to earth?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, Munson, I know that all these narrations are 
 recorded in the sacred pages, but that was over three 
 thousand years ago, and there are many changes since 
 then." 
 
 "Not one single change in Nature's laws since time be- 
 gan," said Munson earnestly. "Every crystal of rock is 
 formed the same shape by force of the same law that laid 
 down the granite of these hills in the morning of creation. 
 Every drop of water now is composed of the same ingredi- 
 ents as those that deluged the earth in the time of Noah. 
 Even the mist that rises from this river in the night to em- 
 brace the morning sunbeam is the same that- enshrouded 
 the earth when it was without form, and void, and dark- 
 ness was upon the face of the deep. There has been no 
 change in the laws of an immutable creator since time 
 began, and besides, does not Ecclesiastes in the 11th chap- 
 ter say: 
 
 " 'I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for- 
 ever; nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from 
 it; and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. 
 
 " 'That which hath been is now; and that which is to be 
 hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.' 
 
 "And in the New Testament are there not many in- 
 stances of recorded spirit visitations to both the Savior 
 and His disciples, and yet. Judge, as a lawyer you say you 
 have no evidence that our dead may and do return to us 
 through the agency of God's immutable laws. There is 
 only one thing. Judge, that sometimes makes me doubt 
 these phenomena. Often when I am alone in the woods, 
 seated by my camp-fire, it seems to me that I hear the 
 voices of my mother, wife and little boy, and I have seen 
 their forms in the dim light of the immediately surround- 
 ing forest. Yes, yes, unless it is the vagaries of my poor 
 diseased brain, I have both seen the persons and heard 
 the voices of my murdered family, yet I never see nor hear 
 my little daughter, who was killed either by Wa-nau-tau 
 or his Iroquois companion, Ga-wa-no-das. I saw the lat- 
 ter chasing her into the bushes with his tomahawk raised 
 to strike the murderous blow. I heard her dying scream. 
 She was the pet lamb of my little flocks Oh I God, can I 
 ever forget it?" With a strong effort Munson seemed to 
 
100 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 control his feelings, just bordering on frenzy, and con- 
 tinued: 
 
 "But, Judge, I must try to curb my emotions; yet I 
 wonder if spirits can return to earth, why my little angel 
 does not come to me with her mother and brother, in the 
 silent hours of the night. But inscrutable are the ways 
 of the Most High, and we must bow in submission to His 
 decrees. 
 
 "Judge Hall," he continued, "with an industrious use 
 of our paddles, we may reach Pittsburg this evening, and 
 I advise j'ou to go to Col. Neville's iminediately after our 
 arrival. You will learn from him the best way to accom- 
 plish the object of your mission." 
 
 Nothing unusual happened to our travelers during the 
 day, arid about 9 o'clock in the evening they reached the 
 landing at Pittsburg and parted for the time, with ex- 
 pressions of gratitude on the part of the Judge, and assur- 
 ances of friendship by Munson, who promised to do all 
 he could to assist him and protect him should his person 
 be endangered by the lawlessness of those who opposed 
 the collection of the tax on the stills and their product. 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 101 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 "As when in tumults rise the ignohle crowd; 
 Mad are their motions, and their tongues are loud." 
 
 — Dryden. 
 
 "That talking knave 
 Consumes his time in speeches to the rabble 
 And sows sedition up and down the city." 
 
 — Otway — Caius Marius. 
 
 "While words of learned length and thund'ring sound 
 Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around; 
 And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew 
 That one small head should carry all he knew." 
 
 — Goldsmith. 
 
 The reader of to-day can hardly realize the fact that 
 the events narrated in this chapter could have happened 
 in the staid old Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The 
 change in public sentiment during the last half century 
 is such that it seems incredible that the levying of a tax 
 of a few cents per gallon on whisky by the government for 
 revenue purposes could have almost involved the country 
 in a civil war and that mob violence should for a time 
 have bid defiance to the law; that judges, lawyers] clergy- 
 men and members of the legislature would have encour- 
 aged lawlessness, riot and arson among the people, yet so 
 it was during the years 1793 and 1794 the western portion 
 of the State of Pennsylvania was in open revolt against 
 the government. The people refused to pay the tax on 
 whiskey; the officers who were appointed to collect the tax 
 were maltreated by the people, and whoever gave theni 
 "aid or comfort" \Yere immediately ostracised by the com- 
 munity in which they lived. All social intercourse with 
 
102 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 them or their families was prohihited hy the ban of pub- 
 lic opinion. Their property was given to the torch of the 
 incendiary ,and their lives threatened by an infuriated 
 mob, who were encouraged in the outrages they perpe- 
 trated by public speeches and resolutions passed in public 
 meetings. Even the sermons and prayers of many of the 
 ministers of the gospel were of a character intended to in- 
 crease the feeling against the government, and encourage 
 resistance to the laws; and let it be remembered that all 
 this was because Congress had passed a law levying a 
 small tax on whiskey. The "Chancellor" of Boston and 
 other- "Sir Oracles" of to-day who "calmly" assert that the 
 temperance movements of the last fifty years have only 
 confirmed men in drunkenness, "and that the use of in- 
 toxicating liquors is increased thereby; that more liquor 
 is drank to-day than in former times," would do well to 
 read the history of the country during the years men- 
 tioned, and then remember thdt to-day whiskey is a con- 
 trabrand article, its sale restricted by law, and only en- 
 trusted by license to the keeping of men of good moral 
 character (?) and temperate habits (?). Then as to-day 
 the victims of the licensed curse were among the great and 
 good as well as the vile and vicious. Like the destroying 
 spirit of a pestilence, or the savagery of war, it has cov- 
 ered the land with the dead it has murdered, or its maimed 
 and living victims. Not one truthful word can be said in 
 its behalf, not an excuse given for permitting it to exist; 
 not a single reason avowed for not legislating it by law 
 from the every civilized country where it is now licensed 
 or tolerated. 
 
 If an edict could forever banish the "pestilence that 
 walketh in darkness," would not our law-makers hasten 
 to enact it, and yet to-day the victims of this poison, the 
 sale of which is licensed by law, fa^, far exceed annually 
 those of war, pestilence or famine. 
 
 In the month of November 1792, a public meeting was 
 held in Pittsburgh for the piirpose of denouncing the 
 odious excise law, and advising the people to resist the 
 collection of the taxes it imposed. The meeting was 
 largely atteflded by the members of the Legislature, law- 
 yers, judges, clergymen and prominent business men. 
 When the house was called to order, Daniel Bradford was 
 nominated to fill the "speaker's chair," which by the by 
 was a rude bench made of slabs. A number of vice-pres- 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 103 
 
 idents were appointed from among the prominent business 
 men and church dignitaries of the town; a committee was 
 elected to draw up a set of resolutions expressive of the 
 "sense of the meeting." The committee adjourned to the 
 nearby tavern where the unusual conveniences of pen, ink, 
 and paper could be procured and where their mental la- 
 bors could be lightened by frequent libations from the 
 public font. 
 
 The resolutions were drawn in the usual chaste and ele- 
 gant phraseology indulged in by the American people on 
 every occasion where they have an opportunity to "re- 
 solve." One great cause of complaint as set forth in res- 
 olutions was that "the tax was particularly burdensome on 
 the poor, as it was placed on one of the necessaries of life, 
 and could be illy borne by those who must have whiskey, 
 and were too poor to pay the tax." But the object of the 
 meeting and the grievances complained of were better set 
 forth in the speeches that were made, while the commit- 
 tee were performing their grave and important duty. 
 
 Thfe Hon. Judge was called upon to address the 
 
 meeting. He arose calm and dignified. Metaphorically 
 speaking, the unsullied ermine of Justice fell from his 
 shoulders, and enveloped his judicial form in graceful , 
 folds. The judge was a man of imposing appearance. 
 His face was florid, and so was his style of oratory; his 
 weight after dinner was something over two hundred 
 pounds, yet some of his sentences and figures of speech 
 weighed so much more than that; it was an unsolved phil- 
 osophical paradox among his friends how it could be, and 
 that after one of his speeches, how anything could remain 
 of the Judge. It seemed to contradict the mathematical 
 axiom, and prove that a greater quantity could be sub- 
 tracted from a lesser and yet leave a remainder. 
 
 "Fellow citizens!" remarked the Judge in tones whose 
 ponderous volume reverberated among the shingles and 
 rafter overhead like an Alpine echo among the mountain 
 tops, "never! never!! in the whole course of my existence 
 has there been a time so pregnant with great — with re- 
 markable events as the present. Never a time when the 
 liberties of a people were more endangered or their rights 
 trampled deeper in the mire of public oppression than 
 now. Never a time more calculated to try men's souls 
 and nerve their arms to deeds of superhuman valor than 
 the present. It is observed in the glorious Declaration of 
 
104 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 Independence that 'taxation without representation is 
 tyranny!' Yet, fellow citizens, it is not more true than 
 that a tax upon whiskey is oppression worse than British 
 despotism." (This sentiment was greeted with applause.) 
 
 "I see before me this evening many who have shed 
 their blood and laid down their Hves on the battlefields of 
 their country to resist English oppression, that would 
 have placed a tax on tea, the beverage of the rich and 
 great, and who I believe are equally ready to bleed and 
 die to prevent a tax being levied on the common beverage 
 of the poor and lowly. Whiskey is not like tea, but one 
 of the necessaries of life; without which existence would 
 be a dreary waste, a desert without an oasis, a garden with- 
 out a flower, or a woodland grove without a bird to sing 
 its mellifluous music among its green branches." 
 
 Obeserving that the last figure of speech was a little ob- 
 scure to the minds of his hearers, the Judge stepped down 
 several rungs on the ladder of his oratorical elevation and 
 continued: 
 
 "Yes, fellow citizens, I believe I speak the sentiments of 
 every individual in this vast and intelligent audience 
 when I say that liberty is dearer, more priceless than 
 death, and that without it life would be but as a sounding 
 brass or a tinkling cymbal." 
 
 Observing that he was yet on an eminence somewhat 
 above the intellectual plane of his audience, he stepped 
 down another rung andtcontinued: 
 
 "No man has a right in this world, no man can acquire 
 a right to prevent me from eating and drinking what my 
 appetite craves or my taste hankers after. No govern- 
 ment of a people has a right to compel me to go athirst 
 because I may be too poor to pay a tax. Poverty, gentle- 
 men, is not a condition to be despised, nor are its subjects 
 to be made victims of the greed of a government estab- 
 lished by the people for tjieir own comfort and benefit." 
 
 Here he was greeted with a round of applause. He 
 paused a moment, expecting it would be repeated, but 
 there was a profound silence and he continued: 
 
 "Fellow Citizens! The single little lamb of Uriah was 
 more dear to him than were all the beauties of the harem 
 to the King of Israel and when David robbed the poor 
 man's fold of the one object of his affection, God through 
 the lips of Nathan, the prophet, rebuked him." 
 
 The Judge paused. All was silent for a moment, when 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 105 
 
 a voice from the audience shouted: "Fever mind the kings 
 and the prophets of Israel, Judge; talk to us about 
 the tax on whiskey." The Judge stepped down several 
 rungs more and continued: 
 
 "I but spoke figuratively, fellow citizens. By the lamb 
 of the poor man I meant whiskey, and I but compared the 
 oppression of this government to the tyranny of King 
 David who robbed Uriah of his lamb when he had plenty 
 of old sheep in his own fold, and who then had him killed 
 in the front of the battle, as the President of the United 
 States now proposes to deprive you of whiskey "by taxa- 
 tion, and then send an army of soldiers to shoot you down 
 if you dare to fight for your God-given rights. I know 
 not how others may feel at this time, the most momentous 
 in the history of this country, but as for me, give me 
 whiskey -untaxed, and as free as the crystal water in our 
 mountain rivulets and trout streams, or give me death. 
 (Great applause.) Let no tyrant hand dare to write the 
 word taxation on the cup that contains my matin inspira- 
 tion, the solace of my mid-day labors, or the soothing in- 
 fluence of my vesper meditations. For though that cup 
 may be rude and fashioned without artistic skill from the 
 wood of the forest, or though it may even have grown 
 amid the verdure of leaves and flowers on the vine whose 
 ancestors shaded the prophets of old beneath the walls of 
 Minerva, yet while I live and breathe the free air of these 
 fragrant forests and lovely valleys, it shall be free from 
 the coils of the hydra-headed monster Taxation!" 
 
 The Judge sat down amid deafening applause. The 
 audience did not fully comprehend the allusions in his 
 concluding paragraph, yet the words sounded well; the 
 sentences were sonorous, and the Judge a man whose 
 known habits were calculated to beget confidence in his 
 hearers; there could be no doubt of his fidelity to their 
 cause, and they were satisfied although they thought the 
 Judge a little obscure in his remarks. 
 
 After a few moments' silence there was a call for the 
 Eev. Moses Higinbottom. The call was repeated until it 
 became uproarous and the Eev. Moses stepped upon the 
 platform. He was tall, lean, lank and saturnine. To 
 look at him no one acquainted with even the rudiments of 
 astrology would have doubted the fact that Saturn was in 
 the ascendent when he first opened his eyes on this world 
 of sin and woe. He was a man of curious and varied con- 
 
106 THE NEAIESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 struction; somewhat like the Elizabethian style of archi- 
 tecture, full of incomprehensible projections, and appar- 
 ent attempts at impossibilities. He seemed to have been 
 constructed at different and remote epochs of time, and 
 his various members the product of different periods of 
 esthetic taste or necessity. While in the aggregate the 
 Eev. Moses was over six feet in altitude when standing, 
 yet when in a sitting position where his lower extremities 
 were concealed from view, he appeared to be a dwarf in 
 stature. His body seemed to be a compromise of opposite 
 constructive forces, for what it lacked in longitude was 
 abundantly compensated for in the breadth and rotundity 
 of the equatorial regions. His long arms were appar- 
 ently attached to what nature facetiously intended for 
 shoulders, by leather thongs, and when he walked they 
 dangled about in utter contempt of all laws of anatomy. 
 But the crowning effort of creative power was manifested 
 in the formation of the head of the Rev. Moses. On this 
 organ incongruity seemed to have run mad, or to have 
 constructed it as an hilarious joke. The face long, lean 
 and cadaveric, was surmantled by heavy shaggy brows 
 from which a tapering forehead receded as if declining ail 
 intercourse with its ludicrous companions. Eyes of light 
 grey protruded from their sockets, apparently with the in- 
 tent of securing a visual angle simultaneously from all 
 points of the compass. Internally they were constructed 
 somewhat like a water faucet, for as they opened and shut 
 copious floods of tears were turned on or off as the occa- 
 sion required. The nose seemed to be a fungus growth 
 indigenous to the surrounding country, on which it 
 seemed to have been thrown from a distance, in a plastic 
 state, as paper wads are thrown by mischievous boys on 
 the ceiling of a country school house; and although it 
 lacked the beauty of form which characterized the works 
 of the Grecian sculptors, yet its color gave a "spiritual" 
 east to features that, without it, would have been monot- 
 onous and uninteresting. But the marvel of marvels was 
 the mouth, which, wide, deep and cavernous, seemed to 
 sever all connections between the pyramidal skull and the 
 rest of the body. 
 
 The Rev. Moses looked over the audience a moment, 
 then commenced to address them in a voice so harsh and 
 shrill that it grated on the ear like a file drawn over the 
 quivering bla^e of a steel saw. 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. lOT 
 
 "Brethren," he said, "liquor is one of the good gifts of 
 a kind and benevolent providence, like all the other bless- 
 ings he has scattered over the earth with a generous hand. 
 'Drink no longer water, but wine for thy stomach's sake,' 
 said Paul to Timothy, and when the Savior created wine 
 out of water at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee, he 
 set an example to those who manufacture liquor to-day; 
 and he thereby blessed it with his approval. Doth not 
 the proverb say, 'Give strong drink to. him that is ready to 
 perish, and wine to those that be of heavy hearts?' 
 
 - "The government has no .more right to tax whiskey 
 than it has the air we breathe, the water we drink or the 
 fruits of the earth that we eat. As well might Congress 
 claim a right to tax the sap that runs from the trees and 
 that is distilled into sugar, as to tax whiskey which is but 
 the essence or life-giving principle of the grain that grows 
 in the field of the husbandman. If the govej:nment has 
 a right to tax the whiskey made from our rye, then why 
 not the rye before it is distilled? which would be the tax- 
 ing of the very bread that goes into our children's 
 months. Why not tax the clothes we wear, the venison 
 we eat, and the furs the trapper gathers from our forests 
 and streams? 
 
 "Brethren, resistance to tyranny is obedience to God, 
 and we are in duty bound as Christian men to resist the 
 tyranny that would compel us to pay a tax on one of the 
 necessaries of life, the comfort of the poor man's home, 
 and the principal solac*e of his hours of toil. Let us then, 
 resist this tax by a combined effort, and a God of Justice 
 will help tis to fight our battles. Let us arm in defense of 
 our rights, of our homes, and our firesides, and resolve 
 that in this land of liberty, whiskey — forever— shall — be 
 -.free!!" 
 
 The Eev. Moses took his seat amid a round of applause 
 that shook the building to its foundation. The voice of 
 the clergy then, as to-ddy, was potent to uphold the right 
 and put down the wrong; and when the rude, unlearned 
 population of the frontiers was thus encouraged, we do, 
 not wonder that the ^ "Whiskey Insurrection" assumed 
 such formidable proportions, and which called forth the 
 whole strength of the government to quell. 
 
 My reader will not look upon the foregoing as an ideal 
 tale of fiction, and the speeches as caricatures, for they 
 Bre not, Such a meeting as we bave described was actu- 
 
108 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 ally held in Pittsburg at the time we have mentioned. 
 The speeches of the Judge and the Hev. Moses are but 
 abbreviations of those that were there made; and we call 
 the especial attention of those who believe that the various 
 temperance movements have produced no change in pub- 
 lie sentiment, to the historical facts we have related. 
 
 After the applause that followed the fervid appeal to 
 arms of the Eev. Moses had somewhat subsided, there was 
 an unusual stir in the audience near the entrance to the 
 hall, and presently a man of gigantic proportions was seen 
 approaching the platform. He wore a hunting shirt and 
 leggins of buckskin; from his shoulder was hung a powder 
 horn and a bullet pouch; a small ax and a large knife were 
 suspended from a belt around' his waist. In his hand he 
 carried a long, heavy, double barreled rifle of the largest 
 caliber. His face was bronzed by exposure, and brown aS 
 the fallen leaf of Autumn; his deep set, piercing eyes 
 gleamed from under his shaggy brows like flashes of light- 
 ning from the edge of a storm cloud. 
 
 As he approached the speaker's stand with noiseless 
 tread, his tall form towering above those that surrounded 
 him, there was a hum in the crowded room, and the 
 mingling of many whispering voices like the sound of a 
 wind among the branches of a forest in Winter. He 
 seemed a specter of the woods, an embodiment of the 
 dread spirits with which the superstitions of the day had 
 peopled its silent depths. 
 
 Pushing the crowd aside with no gentle hand as he 
 passed along, he reached the speaker's stand, and stepping 
 upon the platform turned slowly around towards the au- 
 dience and placing the breech of his rifle on the floor by 
 his side he rested his left hand upon its muzzle, which was 
 on a level with his shoulder. For a moment he looked 
 over the astonished audience with a look so wild and 
 piercing that in an instant all was hushed by the mag- 
 netism of his glance, while a chill like that of a cold wind 
 fell upon those who saw him, and the silence" of the grave 
 is not more profound than that which ensued for a mo- 
 ment as he looked over the crowded room. At last raising 
 his hand with an imposing gesture he stretched it towards 
 the audience and in a voice that sounded like the rum- 
 bling of distant thunder, said: 
 
 " '0! generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee 
 from the wrath to come!' 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 109 
 
 "Would ye defy the Lord of Hosts when through the 
 lips of one in whom was the wisdom of God He said: 
 
 " 'Look not upon the wine when it is red in the cup, for 
 at last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder.' 
 
 " 'Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and who- 
 soever is deceived thereby is not wise.' 
 
 "'Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? They that tarry 
 long at the wine.' 
 
 "Woe unto ye hypocrites who blaspheme the name of 
 the Lord. Woe unto ye wolves in sheep's clothing who 
 deceive the people. Woe unto ye false teachers, for saith 
 Isaiah the prophet of the Most High: 
 
 " 'The leaders of this people cause them to err; and they 
 that are led by them are destroyed.' 
 
 " 'The sword of the Lord is in the hand of his arch- 
 angel who commands the hosts of Heaven, and shall fall 
 upon this people, and their land shall be soaked in blood. 
 The streams shall be turned into pitch and the dust 
 thereof into brimstone.' " 
 
 Then turning to the Eev. Moses, and pointing at him 
 with an outstretched arm that quivered like an aspen with 
 the frenzy of his emotions, he continued: 
 
 "Oh! thou false shepherd that would deliver to the 
 wolves the lambs thy master hath given thee to keep. 
 You pretend to be a leader in Israel, and behold you are 
 leading your flock down to destruction. Your lips are 
 full of lies, and your heart with corruption. The poison 
 of the asp is on your tongue, while you pretend to be a 
 steward of the Lord. But verily, the time shall come 
 when you shall render an account of your stewardship, 
 when the graves of the drunkards shall open and their in- 
 mates come forth and be thy accusers and testify against 
 thee! Then shall you say to the mountains and the rocks: 
 Fall on me and hide me from the face of Him that sitteth 
 on the throne and from the wrath of God forever!' 
 
 "Once I had a wife I loved. Dear little children played 
 around my knee. I had plenty, and might have been 
 happy in my home in the East by the ocean shore; but I 
 learned to love drink from just such examples and teach- 
 ings as you are setting before this people. At last it be- 
 came my master and robbed me of nearly all my property. 
 Strong drink is the only enemy I ever had that I was 
 afraid of, and could not resist. I fled to the wilderness 
 for safety. I tried to escape from the fiend — a depraved 
 
110 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 appetite — and could only do so when I was far away from 
 the brews of Hell, sold by the avarice of men. In the 
 woods where I was safe from my great enemy, I built me 
 a home. There I lived with my family in peace and 
 plenty, but the accursed savages murdered my wife and 
 children, jind now I am a wanderer with no one to love 
 or to welcome me. The foxes have holes, the birds of the 
 air have nests, but I have not where to lay my head. I 
 was made an outcast by that curse of a Christian land, 
 whiskey! It drove me from the settlements to the woods 
 where the Indians murdered every one dear to me, and 
 while I live I will fight the demon strong drink, and 
 wreak my vengeance on the accursed race. This is now 
 my only mission, the only object for which I endure life 
 and the burden of recollections of what I once was — what 
 I might have been, and what I am now. And, oh, God!' 
 he cried in frenzied tones as he raised his hand and 
 turned his face upward, 'Let me not die until my mission 
 is fulfilled, and the vengeance Thou hast ordained me to 
 execute is complete.' " 
 
 He paused a moment, and then turning to the people, 
 he said: "I am commissioned by God and the President of 
 the United States to help execute the laws. I have been 
 through the woods counting the stills, and shall report 
 them at Washington, and if you dare to disobey the law 
 and take up arms against the Government, you shall be 
 driven from the country like a pack of howling wolves as 
 ye are; and the Lord of Hosts will destroy you as He did 
 the army of Sennacherib." 
 
 Here he was interrupted by a cry from the audience: 
 "A spy! a spy! Give him a coat of tar and feathers!" 
 The incensed people rushed towards the platform and 
 would have seized him and executed their threat, but 
 clubbing his rifle and swinging it around his head he 
 shouted in maniacal tones: "The vengeance of the Most 
 High is hanging like the sword of Damocles over the 
 heads of this wicked people. When the Spring comes 
 the Indian tribes will be on the war-path; the smoke of 
 burning houses of the settlers will darken the heavens; 
 their blood will stain the streams of the land as the waters 
 of Egypt were turned to blood when Aaron stretched 
 forth his rod as God commanded him. You have 
 aroused the barbarous passions of the savages by supply- 
 ing them with the poison of your stills, an^ tli? heliisji 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. HI 
 
 brews you have made therefrom. Verily have ye sown 
 the wind and ye shall reap the whirlwind. And when 
 the Spring shall come with the horrors of savage barbar- 
 ities, I will be with the army of Wayne in your defense, 
 while the craven leaders of this unlawful insurrection 
 will hide their cowardly faces in shame and confusion. 
 And you dare to threaten me because I will sustain the 
 government in the collection of this tax? You fools; I 
 care not for your threats. 'Look out for the sword of the 
 Lord and of Gideon. Against my power you are as chafE 
 before the wind.' " 
 
 The people paused in terror before him for a moment; 
 then encouraged by the shout of "A spy! a spy! Down 
 with him!" they pressed him on every side, but swinging 
 his rifle around his head they fell back beyond the reach 
 of his arm, as step by step he passed through them until 
 he reached the door and disappeared in the darkness with- 
 out. But for some moments his defiant yell was heard as 
 he shouted: "Woe unto ye hypocrites; woe unto ye blind 
 guides who are leading this people to their destruction;" 
 and then he was heard no more. 
 
 The next day after Judge Hall reached Pittsburgh he 
 visited General John Neville, who received him with cor- 
 diality. He "had been informed by letter fronf Washing- 
 ton that the Judge would visit him and also the mission 
 on which he came. The general insisted that Judge Hall 
 should make his house his home as long as his business 
 detained him at Pittsburgh. He informed him that it 
 would be much safer for him to do so as he would thereby 
 escape the observation of persons who might suspect him 
 of being a government agent to assist in enforcing the 
 odious tax law. The General introduced him to his 
 wife and daughter, the latter a beautiful girl of seventeen 
 years of age. She was above the medium height, beauti- 
 fully formed, with a face that indicated intelligence as 
 well as an affectionate nature. As Walter Scott says of 
 the daughter of the Earl of Douglass: 
 
 "Her kindness and her worth to spy 
 You need but gaze in Ellen's eye." 
 
 The Judge was charmed with both the General and 
 his wife, while the armor of his bachelorhood was pierced 
 by the glances from the bright dark eyes of the daughter; 
 and he was easily persuaded to accept the invitation of the 
 
112 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 father, reinforced as it was by the earnest cordiality of 
 the mother, and the approving glance of the daughter. 
 
 Judge Hall informed General Neville fully of his mis- 
 sion and what was expected of him by the government at 
 Washington. He found the advice of the General inval- 
 uable to him in the investigations he was to make and re- 
 port from time to time; and in a few days he became a 
 favorite of Mrs. Neville, while Nellie received him with 
 the innocent confidence of an old acquaintance. 
 
 "Verily," whispered the Judge to himself one evening 
 as he returned from a stroll with Nellie along the banks 
 of the "beautiful river," "verily this is likely to be a very 
 pleasant campaign, if I only escape without a wound; a 
 fact I seriously doubt. But I am a soldier, and I will 
 take the chances of the battlefield, and if I can only inflict 
 wound for wound on mine adversary, I will never retreat 
 until I have won a victory, and then 'to the victor belongs 
 the spoils of battle.' I never appreciated the good old 
 axiom as fully as I do at present. But then, as Ahab, 
 King of Israel, said to the King of Syria: 'Let not him 
 that girdeth on his harness boast himself, as he that put- 
 teth it off.' Perchance I may be defeated, and if I am 
 I will carry the scars of the battle to the end of Ufe; but 
 if I win I will wear the myrtle wreath of victory with 
 pride and a thankfulness." 
 
 "I think," continued the Judge in soliloquy, "that I 
 ■will remain here through the Winter, and join the army 
 of Gen. Wayne in the Spring; by that time I am in hopes 
 that this lawless insurrection will be obscured in the con- 
 flict with the western tribes, and those I love may need 
 the assistance of my feeble arm to protect them. I will 
 stay here until fate decides my future for weal or woe." 
 
 Judge Hall had attended the public meeting described, 
 as an indifferent spectator, and when he saw that Daniel 
 Bradford was called to preside as chairman, he felt thank- 
 ful to Munson for his timely advice and warning; and as 
 week after week passed he became more and more im- 
 pressed with the magnitude of the danger to the govern- 
 ment from both the insubordination of the citizens, and 
 the certainty of an Indian outbreak. He had not seen 
 Munson since his defiant departure from the meeting, and 
 he continued to wonder how he became aware of his secret 
 mission, as well as the treachery of Bradford. "Munson 
 is a noble ruin," said he to himself, "and I hardly know 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 113 
 
 whether I respect or pity him most. His fealty to the 
 government . shows the integrity of his heart, while his 
 hravery in time of danger proves him to be a hero. While 
 my legal instincts condemn him, my pity acquits him. I 
 cannot but acknowledge that if Nellie Neville should be 
 murdered by the Indians, that the allotted period of hu- 
 man life would seem to me to be too short to fill the meas- 
 ure of my desire to avenge her death. But why attempt 
 to smoothe it over with words of softening import? Why 
 not acknowledge at once and be honest to myself? Why 
 not call it revenge in its broadest and most unchristian 
 sense? Yes, I would feel like Munson, that I could de- 
 vote my whole life to the one purpose of revenging her 
 death. And yet I wonder if I am really in love? It 
 looks like it. If I am capable of making a diagnosis of 
 my own case I have all the symptoms of the disease that 
 first manifested itself in the beautiful garden before man 
 had sinned. In my heart I do not,. I cannot blame the 
 "Nemesis of Chautauqua Lake." And let my verdict be 
 60 recorded. His killing the Indians laid to his charge 
 is "excusable homicide." 
 
114 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 CHAPTEB IX. 
 
 "The death shot hissing from afar. 
 The shocls, the shout, the groan of war, 
 Eeverberates along that vale, 
 More suited to the shepherd's tale; 
 Though few in numbers, theirs the strife, 
 That neither spares nor speaks of life." 
 
 — Byron's Giaour. 
 
 "Oh! how this spring of love resembleth 
 The uncertain glory of an April day; 
 Which now shows all the beauty of the sun, 
 And by and by a cloud takes all away." 
 
 Shakspeare's Two Gentleman of Verona. 
 
 The spring of 1793, as Munson predicted, found 
 all the western tribes of Indians on the war path. Sev- 
 eral ineffectual efforts to establish peace with them had 
 been made with only temporary results. The Wyan- 
 dottes, Delawares, Shawnees, Miamese, Mingoes, Potta- 
 wattamies, Ottawas and other tribes, under the influence 
 of the English in Canada were combined in a general on- 
 slaught on the settlers of our frontiers. A final treaty of 
 peace was not consummated until the 22d of December, 
 1795. General Anthony Wayne was in command of the 
 United States forces, and in 1793 was with his army in 
 Western Ohio. The whole country west of the Allegheny 
 mountains was in a state of constant alarm, although the 
 principal fighting between the Indians and Wayne's army 
 occurred on the banks of the Maumee river. To add to 
 this dangerous condition of affairs at the North, Spain 
 had long been fearful and jealous of the western colonists 
 and now attempted to sow discord between the South- 
 ern Indians and the Americans; and yet amid all this 
 complication of dangers to our government, the whiskey 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 115 
 
 insurrectionists of Western Pennsylvania continued 
 their nefarious attempts to resist the tax law, and per- 
 sisted in their rebellious and lawless conduct until Sep- 
 tember, 1794, when President Washington called out the 
 militia of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Vir- 
 ginia into the field under the command of General Ham- 
 ilton. In the meantime Bradford and a few others who 
 had been prominent in the insurrection fled to the Span- 
 ish country on the Southern Mississippi, while others 
 equally guilty but less notorious secured their safety in 
 the more sequestered settlements of the "far west," and 
 when our army marched to Pittsburgh — to use the words 
 of an old historian — "Not a dog wagged his tongue 
 against the army, which marched to Pittsburgh and took 
 up their quarters there." — [Wilkenson's Eecollections. 
 Western Annals 701.] 
 
 .And thus ended the nefarious whiskey insurrection, 
 but not until it had cost the government $669,993.34 
 [Western Annals, page 701], an amount that at that'time 
 with the sparse taxable inhabitants of the country would 
 be equivalent to three times that amount to-day. 
 
 Although the above statement is not a part of our 
 story, yet it is connected with the times and incidents 
 thereof; and here I ask my reader to pause and think of 
 the difference in public sentiment then and now, when as 
 I have said intoxicating liquor is a contraband article; 
 its sale controlled by our courts, and licenses to sell it only 
 granted to a favored few who have some political influ- 
 ence, and possess an iinblemished good moral character, 
 and are of undoubted temperate habits. (?) Only think 
 how Christian civilization has advanced since the days of 
 the Eev. Moses Higinbottom. 
 
 It is not necessary (to the completion of our story that 
 we relate the incidents of the battles of the Army of Gen. 
 Wayne with the Indians in Western Ohio. They are fa- 
 miliar to the students of the history of this country, and 
 consist in narrations of terrible scenes of murder and 
 outrage perpetrated by the savages on the frontier settle- 
 ments, as well as of the unyielding courage of the soldiers 
 and backwoodsmen of the army of the States. Judge 
 Hall joined the forces of Wayne in the spring of 1793, 
 holding a Major's commission on the stail of the General. 
 He was in a number of battles, and acquitted himself with 
 ft bravery that received the coramendation of his com- 
 
116 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQTJA LAKE. 
 
 mander in his reports to Washington. In the month of 
 July there was a very severe engagement between the 
 combined forces of the' allied tribes and the army of Gen. 
 Wayne, in which the Indians were driven from the field 
 after great slaughter. 
 
 In this battle Judge Hall had his left arm shattered 
 with a musket ball, and was ordered to the rear by Wayne 
 himself. Judge Hall hesitated to obey, when Gen. Wayne 
 said in a peremptory tone: 
 
 "Maj. Hall, I order you to the rear to receive the atten- 
 tion of the surgeon; no hesitation, my young friend; obey 
 my order or I will put you under arrest for disobedience. 
 Your life is too valuable to those who sent you here, to be 
 risked, wounded as you are. Now go, and take with you 
 my sincere regard for your bravery on the battle-field. I 
 will remember you in my reports to the War Depart- 
 ment." Then with a fervent grasp of his hand he left 
 Maj. Hall and joined the men in front, who were pursu- 
 ing the Indians now in full retreat, towards the Maumee 
 river. 
 
 As Judge Hall passed over the recent field of battle he 
 saw the ground thickly strewn with the bodies oi both 
 Indians and soldiers who had been killed or wounded in 
 the forenoon of that day. 
 
 As he was passing through a clump of underwood, he 
 was shocked to see the body of old Joe Smiley who had re- 
 ceived a musket ball in his head. He stooped down and 
 took the lifeless hand of the old hixnter in his own to see 
 if life was extinct. It was cold and rigid in death.. 
 While he stood by the side of the body of his old contest- 
 ant of the shooting match, he saw his familiar old ac- 
 quaintance, "Red-skin Extarminator," lying by the side of 
 the dead body of its owner. Its barrel was empty and its 
 stock broken at the breech, showing that the old man had 
 been killed in a desperate conflict with some of the In- 
 dians who lay dead around him. 
 
 Judge Hall passed on a few steps when he heard a groan 
 of pain. Turning towards the sound he was still more 
 shocked when he saw the form of Munson, who had re- 
 ceived a mortal wound, but was yet fully conscious of all 
 that had occurred. A few feet from him lay the body of 
 a giant warrior who had been shot and scalped. As the 
 Judge sprang towards Munson, he exclaimed; "My Godj 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 117 
 
 my poor friend, are you badly wounded?" and he stooped 
 to raise him from the ground. 
 
 Munson opened his dying eyes and recognizing Judge 
 Hall, said, "Let me lie where I am. My wound is fatal, 
 and I feel the approach of death; but see. Judge, my mis- 
 sion is ended," and with dying energy he raised his left 
 hand in which he grasped a reeking bloody scalp. 
 "Yonder," he continued, "lies the body of 6a-wa-no-das, 
 and this is his scalp. I shot him as he was running to- 
 wards the body of old Joe Smiley whom he had just killed 
 and was about to scalp. While I was scalping him I re- 
 ceived a bullet from yonder bunch of bushes. It is my 
 death warrant. Judge, but I am willing to die, for the last 
 of the marauding band who murdered my family has 
 died by my hands. The promise the Most High has so 
 often made to me in my lonely wanderings in the silent 
 woods has been fulfilled. This scalp is the last trophy of 
 my undying hatred of the accursed race. Judge, please 
 raise my head a little. I have something to say to you if 
 my strength does not fail." 
 
 The Judge knelt by his side, and raising his head from 
 the -ground, laid it in his lap, and placing his canteen, to 
 the lips of his dying friend, told him to drink, but in 
 vain. The movement of Munson seemed to cause an in- 
 ternal hemorrhage, and he closed his eyes as if in the last 
 extremity, while the pallor of death spread over his face. 
 He lay for some time thus supported by Judge Hall, when 
 suddenly opening his eyes he gazed upward with a look of 
 ecstasy, and in a voice more distinctly audible than be- 
 fore, he said: 
 
 "Judge Hall, I know the spirits of the dead do some- 
 times return to earth. See! See! There is my mother, 
 and my wife, and my little boy Harry. It is no illusion. 
 Judge; I see them as plainly as I ever did in my life. 
 Don't you see them, too? They smile^at me and seem to 
 beckon me to come to them. But I don't see Helen, my 
 little pet; she must be in the angel world. Why, oh! 
 why, don't she come with mother and Mary and Harry to 
 accompany me to my spirit home?" 
 
 His voice here sank to a whisper, as he said: "Yes, yes, 
 darlings, I am coming; I'm com — ing," and his eyes closed 
 never to open again on earthly scenes. His heart beat 
 once more, and then was still forever. He had solved the 
 great mystery, and_the cloud over bis disordered brain 
 
118 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 vanished before the sunlight of God's infinite justice and 
 inercy." 
 
 "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white 
 as snow." 
 
 The Judge hastened to the surgeon's tent, where after 
 having his shattered arm put in splints and bandages, ac- 
 companied by two of the attendant soldiers, he returned 
 to the place where he had seen the bodies of old Joe 
 Smiley and Munson. Tender the outspreading branches 
 of a venerable oak he had a grave dug wide and deep; 
 then laying the bodies of the two old comrades side by 
 side, and covering them with laurel boughs, the grave 
 was filled, and its place marked by a large granite boulder. 
 The broken rifle of Smiley had been placed in the arms 
 of the old hunter, when his body was laid in its last rest- 
 ing-place. And thus dust was returned to dust, to sleep 
 until that day when the Great Commander above shall 
 call the roll of those who will enjoy His presence forever. 
 
 A few days after the battle, and burial of the two old 
 comrades in arms, Judge Hall, with the aid of a "forest 
 guide," returned to the home of Gen. Neville. The Gen- 
 eral had not yet returned from the campaign in the West, 
 but it is needless to say that a most cordial welcome was 
 extended to the Judge. When Nellie saw his arm in a 
 sling, her beautiful eyes were' moistened with an emotion 
 she tried to conceal, but could not. How truly said the 
 sage who was well acquainted with the springs of human 
 conduct: "It is hard to feign love where it is not, but still 
 harded to conceal it where it is." Poor Nellie tried to 
 conceal her joy at the return of Judge Hall, and her grief 
 that he had been severely wounded, and had suffered in 
 the forest with no one to nurse him with tender care; but 
 all in vain; nature would not be controlled by woman's 
 feeble will, and bursting into tears, she hastily left the 
 room to conceal her mortification at her want of control 
 of her emotions. 
 
 "Silly fool!" she ejaculated to herself after she had 
 closed the door behind her. "What will he think of me? 
 But I will show him that I am no maudlin school-girl 
 whose sickly sentimentality makes her the sport of her 
 companions and the vanity of men." Then hastily bath- 
 ing her eyes, she caroled forth a verse of an old hymn, 
 her sweet tones reaching the listening ear of Judge Hall, 
 who, accustomed to see and hear witnesses in court try to 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 119 
 
 conceal their interest in the issue heing tried, smiled a 
 grave judicial smile at the utter failure of the witness in 
 the present case to manifest her indifference to the cause 
 then being argued in the hearts of both. 
 
 While cynics and pseudo philosophers are wont to sneer 
 at what in common parlance is called the "tender pas- 
 sion," and while it may be true as Ealph Waldo Emerson 
 says, that "All mankind loves a lover," yet are there many 
 wiseacres in this world who profess to think that love is p, 
 silly sentimentality belonging especially to the callow 
 period of youth and inexperience. But it is not so; the 
 feeling of love between the sexes has received a judicial 
 recognition in the courts of Pennsylvania, and a decision 
 that it actually exists, and is in accordance with a law of 
 nature and must be acknowledged and respected by man- 
 kind. In the case the Commonwealth vs. Staufler, re- 
 ported in the 10th Barr. 353 State Eeports of Pennsyl- 
 vania, Lewis, P. J., in speaking of love says: "It is a fund- 
 amental law of existence. It is the blessing which tem- 
 pered with mercy the justice of expulsion from Paradise, 
 it was impressed upon the human creation by a beneficent 
 Providence. Not man alone but the whole animal and 
 vegetable kingdom are under an imperious necessity to 
 obey its mandates. From the lord of the forest to the 
 monster of the deep; from the subtlety of the serpent to 
 the innocence of the dove; from the elastic embrace of 
 the mountain kalmia to the descending fructification of 
 the lily of the plain, all nature bows submissively to this 
 primeval law. Even the flowers which perfume the air 
 with their fragrance, and decorate the forest and fields 
 with their hues are but curtains to the nuptial bed." 
 
 Now, Judge Hall was a lawyer, and was of course ac- 
 quainted with the principles enunciated in the opinion of 
 Judge Lewis, although that decision was not made for 
 over fifty years after the incidents narrated; yet the prin- 
 ciple is as old as humanity, and has been recognized dur- 
 ing all historic period. Judge Hall was not inclined to 
 atteinpt to reverse one of nature's laws, so he bowed in 
 obedience to its mandates, and loved Nellie Neville with 
 all the strength of his ardent nature, and he determined 
 to transplant this forest flower to the cultivated gardens 
 of his eastern home. 
 
 '. "But time is as necessary to conduct a campaign of love 
 to a'siiccessful issue as it is that of war with the savages," 
 
120 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 said Judge Hall to that patient listener, himself, "and I 
 must have time. But what excuse can I have for remain- 
 ing here long enough to be successful? I think I will 
 consult that good old surgeon. Dr. Eich, as to the danger 
 to my shattered arm, of a long journey on horseback 
 through this new country, a portion of which is only trav- 
 ersed by Indian trails, with many unbridged streams to 
 be crossed. I don't think it would be safe for me to un- 
 dertake the journey for several months, or until my arm 
 is completely healed, and besides, that infernal whiskey 
 insurrection is not settled yet, and I may be needed here 
 until it is ended." 
 
 Immediately on the arrival of Judge Hall, Dr. Eich, an 
 old and experienced surgeon had been sent for to redress 
 his wounded arm, and the Judge had hardly finished his 
 cogitations on the subject of his probable detention at 
 Pittsburgh until he was completely convalescent, when 
 the doctor was announced. He had become acquainted 
 with the Judge when he first came to Pittsburgh, and had 
 frequently seen him strolling along the banks of the Alle- 
 gheny river in company with Miss Neville, at which time 
 he was wont to smile significantly and observe to himself: 
 
 "It is not very difficult to diagnose that case, or prog- 
 nose its final result. They will convalesce before long, 
 and then, like many of my patients, wonder that they 
 were ever sick." 
 
 The old doctor examined the shattered arm, shook his 
 head, and after splinting and dressing it in a most scien- 
 tific manner, he said: "It is a compound comminuted frac- 
 ture. Judge, and requires the most careful treatment, or 
 it may result in necessary amputation. It will be weeks 
 or months before it will be completely well." 
 
 A smile of satisfaction gleamed over the face of Judge 
 Hall when he said: "You know. Doctor, that it is a long 
 road to my home in the East. A portion of the road I 
 must travel on horseback is rough and dangerous; much 
 of the way only an Indian trail through the wilderness, 
 with unbridged streams to ford and often no competent 
 medical attendance to be secured, should my wound need 
 it. Now, do you think it safe for me to venture to travel 
 for several months yet?" 
 
 "No! no! my young friend, you must not think of 
 starting on your road home until late in the Autumn, or 
 perhaps not. evea before Spring. You must be cout«ntecl 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 121 
 
 with your present quarters until you are able to travel 
 without danger to your wounded arm. I will speak to 
 Mrs. Neville and to the General on his return from this 
 campaign, which will be in a few days, and. will represent 
 to him the. danger of traveling too soon in your case, and 
 he will cordially agree with me, and insist upon your re- 
 maining here where you can be properly nursed and 
 cared for." 
 
 "I thank you. Doctor; and now your fee, how much is 
 it? I am willing to be generous, for your skill and atten- 
 tion deserve it." The Doctor named the usual fee in 
 such cases at that time, when Judge Hall remarked: "It is 
 not enough, Doctor," and he laid double the amount on 
 the table. The Doctor shoved one-half of it back, and 
 smiling significantly, said: "Judge, never try to bribe the 
 medical profession; they are above it, you know, and I am 
 really sincere when I say that you will be detained here 
 for weeks, or perhaps months, before you will be able to 
 travel with safety to yourself. But I am very glad you 
 seem so willing to be detained, it will hasten your recov- 
 ery. Usually patients are very restive and anxious to be 
 able to resume their occupation as soon as possible, but 
 you seem so resigned to the circumstances that surround 
 you that I prognosticate a speedy recovery. Good-bye, 
 Judge, I will call again in two or three days;" 
 
 When the doctor left the room the Judge remarked to 
 himself: "Poor Munson told me once that I would make a 
 poor gambler, as I manifested my feelings too plainly. I 
 must be careful in the future." 
 
 The doctor found Mrs. Neville and Nellie on the porch 
 awaiting his report of the condition of his patient. Mrs. 
 Neville looked very anxious as the doctor narrated the na- 
 ture of the wound and his positive injunction on the pa- 
 tient to reinain quiet and not to think of attempting to 
 start on his journey East for a number of weeks, while 
 Nellie looked so stolidly indifferent that her expression 
 would have put to shame the stony features of the Egyp- 
 tian sphinx; yet away down in the depths of her beautiful 
 eyes he saw a gleam of satisfaction that she vainly iihought 
 was concealed from all human observation. She deter- 
 mined to atone for her impulsive emotion when the Judge 
 returned with his wounded arm and pallid face; and the 
 poor girl thought she had succeeded. But could she have 
 beard the doctor's eilent remark to himself when he 
 
122 THE NEMESIS OF CHAtTTAUOTJA LAKE. 
 
 mounted his gig and drove away she would have doubted 
 her powers of dissimulation. 
 
 "Well, well," whispered the doctor to himself, "it is as 
 I suspected. I scent the presence of a very large rodent; 
 but God bless their young love. It never comes to man 
 and woman but once in a lifetime; all other attacks are 
 but as varioloid compared with the first and original dis- 
 ease. But what a gambler poor Nellie would make; no 
 one could tell by the expression of her face whether she 
 held a 'royal straight or a curtailed flush;' but it reminds 
 me of my early manhood, of a grave under the trees of our 
 village cemetery, and my long, weary, solitary years. 
 Nellie and the Judge are just suited to each other and if 
 time is needed to consummate their mutual desires I'll 
 keep him here for the next five years before I will let him 
 travel with his wounded arm." 
 
 Two weeks had passed before Gen. Neville returned 
 from the campaign of Western Ohio. He was pleased to 
 meet at his home, Judge Hall, who, had really been an in- 
 valid and suffered severely from the pain of his shattered 
 arm. His impetuous nature would have illy brooked his 
 detention from the active duties of his mission, but for 
 the care and frequent presence of his beautiful nurse, and 
 the sympathy of her mother. It was evident to both the 
 Judge and Nellie that their love for each other was be- 
 coming deeper and yet more unsatisfactory day by day, for 
 each knew their own hearts, but could only guess the f eel'- 
 ings of the other. Poor Nellie was so mortified with her 
 manifestation of her emotion on the return of the Judge, 
 that she assumed a studied coldness of demeanor when in 
 his presence that she did not feel. 
 
 "Why don't he speak?" she inquired of herself in a 
 petulant tone; "he need not think that my tears were on 
 his account, for they were not/' she repeated with empha- 
 sis. "I would feel just as sorry for any person who was 
 sick and suffering as he was; so don't think, Mr. Judge, 
 that I cried because it was you," she continued to her in- 
 ner self, "for I did not!" 
 
 It is to be hoped that when the aeciising spirit flew up 
 to Heaven's chancery with poor Nellie's falsehood, that 
 he blushed as he gave it in, and that like the oath of Uncle 
 Toby in "Tristam Shandy," "the recording angel when he 
 wrote it down dropped a tear upon the page and blotted 
 it out forever." 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 123 
 
 Judge Hall on his part was waiting for the return of 
 Gen. Neville, to whom he thought it was his duty as a 
 man of honor to first speak of his regard for his daughter, 
 and ask his consent to seek her for his wife. "I ought 
 not to act as if I had taken advantage of their kindness 
 and hospitality to win his daughter's affection without 
 his consent," thought the Judge. This was such an un- ^ 
 American style of courtship that poor Nellie did not un- 
 derstand it, and it only made her more reticent and care- 
 ful when in his presence. But the Judge was a lawyer 
 and fully understood the weight of circumstantial evi- 
 dence. He was satisfied in his own mind that he could 
 win his case in the court before whom it was to be tried as 
 soon as it was fairly submitted to the jury. Therefore he 
 had waited impatiently for the return of Gen. Neville, be- 
 fore he "filed his declaration of record." 
 
 The next day after Gen. Neville's return, he was alone 
 in his study when Judge Hall entered. The General re- 
 ceived him with cordiality and grasped his hand with the 
 warm grasp of friendship. 
 
 "Take a seat, Judge," said' the General. "How is your 
 wounded arm?" he continued. "Dr. Eich tells me that 
 you will not be able to travel with it for a number of weeks 
 yet, and if so, I hope you will remain here; you are more 
 -than welcome." 
 
 "I thank you. General," said Judge Hall, "and for this 
 - reason I wish a candid talk with you in a matter than con- 
 cerns my future happiness and success in life. General 
 Neville, I love your daughter sincerely, and have waited 
 your presence hereto ask your permission to ask her to be 
 my wife." 
 
 An expression of mingled anxiety and regret clouded 
 the genial face of the General as he said: "Judge Hall, I 
 have feared this, and it has caused me much solicitude for 
 the happiness of you both. I have not the least objection 
 to you. Major, and if I had a daughter I would give her to 
 you not only with pleasure but with pride; but Nellie is 
 not my daughter; it is a secret known only to my wife and 
 myself. Sit down and be patient and I will tell you all." 
 Judge Hall took the proffered chair and sat down with a 
 most nonchalant air. He manifested no surprise at the 
 staternent of Gen. Neville, who observed this and was sur- 
 prised at the calmness of the Judge, whom he supposed 
 would be astonished at bis revelation, "But," be cou- 
 
124 THE NEMESTS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 tinued in a Yoice trembling with anxiety, "the dear girl is 
 not my daughter; I sincerely wish she were; both my wife 
 and myself love her as dearly as if she were our own child. 
 Poor girl, she is unaware of the secret I am about to re- 
 late to you: 
 
 "Several years before we came here from Western Ohio, 
 i purchased Nellie from a band of wandering Indians who 
 had been East on a marauding expedition; she was then 
 only a child of four or five years of age; and the long 
 march of her captivity with the cruelty with which she 
 had been treated had left her in an almost dying condi- 
 tion. I gave the drunken Indian, who was a giant in 
 stature, and one of the chiefs of the band, a rifle for 
 her. For some time after I purchased her and took hei 
 to my house, she was sick unto death, but under the kind- 
 ness and careful nursing of my good wife she slowly re- 
 covered, and soon became the pet and life of our home. 
 When she recovered from her long illness she seemed to 
 have lost all recollection of her former life, or how she 
 came among the Indians. I asked what her name was, 
 and after a moment's apparent reflection she answered, 
 "Nellie." I asked her what her other name was; after 
 Bome hesitation she answered: 'Papa's little pet.' She re- 
 membered no more for some time, when she told a dis- 
 connected story of Indians, a burning house and barn, 
 and a little brother, and a father and mother who she 
 said were burned up in the house. We did not wish hei 
 to remember anything more than we told her, which waE 
 that she was our little daughter, and that when she was 
 very sick she had bad dreams, and dreamed what sh« 
 thought she recollected. This appeared to satisfy her fo] 
 a time, but as she grew older her. memory seemed to re^ 
 vive, and my wife and I had great difficulty in trying tc 
 convince her that all her recollections of the past wer( 
 dreams, caused by her illness. May God forgive us foi 
 the deception, but we then thought it was for the best 
 We adopted her in one of the eastern courts, and no on( 
 here knows anything about her early childhood. W( 
 sent her to the best schools and seminaries in Pittsburgh 
 She is well educated and possesses far more than ordinar 
 intellectual capacity. She is an accomplished musician 
 and no father and mother could love their child more thai 
 we do her. She possesses great decision of character, am 
 will not be easily won; but if won, she will be a true, faith 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 125 
 
 ful, loving wife to the end. But, Judge, remember that 
 you do not know her parents; she is probably the child of 
 some frontier settler, of what position in the social world 
 we do not know. I do know, however, that you come of 
 an aristocratic family who deservedly cherish the pride of 
 blood and ancestry, and how would they feel at a mesalli- 
 ance on your part? Nellie is very sensitive, and did she 
 know the facts I have related to you she would be likely 
 to refuse you, no matter how much her aSections were 
 involved in the issue. She is a noble girl, and I willingly 
 give you my consent, if you now insist upon it after 
 kno-wing the facts." 
 
 Judge Hall sat as calm as a. Summer's morning; a know- 
 ing smile swept over his face which was instantly changed 
 to an expression of grave import. "General Neville," he 
 said, "I do-not care who Nellie's parents were or what po- 
 sition they held in social life. In this democratic country 
 where the son of a day laborer may become President, 
 where all oifices are within the gift of the people, where 
 worth alone is the standard of measurement, I have a con- 
 tempt for the aristocracy of blood and lineage alone. I 
 wish Nellie to be my wife, and if you will give me your 
 approval I will win her love if it is in my power. You 
 know that an early sage said: 'Labor omnia vincit,' but I 
 vi^ould paraphrase that axiom to 'Amor omnia vincit,' for 
 I believe that in this world love is a greater power than 
 labor alone. You remember that love prompted Jacob to 
 labor fourteen years for Eebecca, but labor never yet 
 begot love. But, General, will you give me leave to win 
 the prize dearest to me in this world if I can? If I am 
 defeated I will try and bear the pain of the wounds of the 
 conflict although it would darken my whole life." 
 
 "God bless you. Major," said the General, "you are a no- 
 ble fellow; you have acted as I hoped you would, but as I 
 feared you would not. Nellie is in the parlor now; go and 
 see her; I am as anxious as you are to know the result, but 
 I warn you not to let her know the secret I have re- 
 -vealed to you.- The dear child has a mind of her own, and 
 I do not believe that even her own happiness would in- 
 duce her to do anything she thought was not right. If 
 she will accept you, as I sincerely hope she will, it will be 
 time enough to tell her all after you are married. But 
 why tell her at all if she is happy in believing that she is 
 my daughter? There can be no wrong in permitting 
 
126 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 her to continue in that belief as long as she lives. I be- 
 lieve that her father and mother were killed by the In- 
 dians and their home, wherever it was, was burned. A 
 knowledge of that fact would only make her unhappy. 
 Then why tell her at all? 
 
 "I believe you are right, General, and I will not tell her 
 what you have related to me, at least not at this time. I 
 will go and see her and learn my fate." 
 
 Judge Hall was a soldier of undoubted bravery. He 
 had frequently faced death on the battle-field without a 
 tremor, and yet as he came to the parlor door his heart 
 beat with unusual industry. When he entered the room 
 where Nellie sat engaged with her embroidery, she arose 
 and met him with an extended hand, but welcomed him 
 in a cool, calm, tone, as if he were but an ordinary ac- 
 quaintance. 
 
 "Be seated, Judge," she said. "Does your wound pain 
 you? You look as if you were suffering. Shall I re- 
 move the bandages and apply the soothing lotion as Dr. 
 Kich directed me? You 'know," she continued in playful 
 tones, "he said he would hold me responsible for the re- 
 sult of his treatment, as he left me in sole charge of his 
 prescriptions." 
 
 "Nellie," replied the Judge, "my wound does pain me 
 severely this morning, and it certainly is your fault, or 
 at least you alone can soothe it." Nellie looked at him 
 earnestly and with a startled expression; then a faint 
 blush suffused her face while a defiant expression glanced 
 from her eyes. "Yes," continued the Judge, "it is not my 
 wounded arm but my woiinded heart that pains me now, 
 and if you do not afford me relief, I fear the result." 
 
 "Poor Major," said Nellie, without any apparent emo- 
 tion manifested on her features. But the Judge saw an 
 instance of circumstantial evidence away down in the 
 depths of her beautiful eyes. "Poor Major," she con- 
 tinued, "I did not know that you were threatened with a 
 disease of the heart; Dr. Rich never said a word about 
 that! Had you not better send for him? I fear ban- 
 dages and lotions are not the proper treatment for a heart 
 disease. How long have you felt the ailment coming on? 
 It must have had some premonitory symptoms. Have 
 you ever noticed any before this sudden attack this morn- 
 ing?" 
 
 "Yes, Nellie, I have, I felt them a few momentb after 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 127 
 
 I first saw you, and they have been increasing ever since 
 until they are now unbearable. Let us not treat this seri- 
 ous matter with persiflage or indifference. Nellie, I love 
 you sincerely, with my whole heart; will you be my wife? 
 Your father consented this morning. N|ow my case' is 
 tersely stated. I have no other plea to make, and I 
 await your decision. 
 
 Nellie turned pale, and trembling like an aspen leaf as 
 she sank upon a chair. She restrained her emotions for 
 a moment, then said: 
 
 "Judge Hall, before I answer you, I wish to have a can- 
 did talk with you about my early childhood. I some- 
 times think that I am not the daughter of dear Fathei* 
 and Mother Neville; I have either dreamed it, or it is real, 
 of a burning house and an attack by Indians. I seem to 
 remember a little brother who was murdered in my very 
 sight. I think I remember my father and mother, and a 
 long captivity among the Indians, and miles of weary 
 travel through the forest. Then a sickness from which 
 when I recovered I was with Father and Mother Neville. 
 They told me this was all a horrible dream. They have 
 been so kind and affectionate to me that I have thought at 
 times that they had deceived me as they thought for my 
 own happiness. But as I have grown older the recollec- 
 tions of the past seem to become more and more vivid. I 
 don't believe I will ever know who my parents were; they 
 may have been poor and disreputable, and some day you 
 might repent what you had done. How, then, can I an- 
 swer you? I shall ever be proud of your preference for 
 me and grateful for it, but with this uncertainty in my 
 mind I feel that I should hesitate." 
 
 "Dear Nellie," said the Judge, "as we sometimes say to 
 the lawyers in court, you have wandered from the issue; 
 you have not confined yourself to the declaration. This 
 ought not to be allowed in the pleadings in any case; and 
 my judicial education must reject it in the issue now be- 
 ing tried. Nellie, you don't know how important to me 
 is your decision. I love you sincerely and devotedly and 
 my future depends on your verdict. I do not care if all 
 your suspicions are true, except for the grief it may give 
 you to know the loss of parents and brother. Nellie, if 
 you return my love I do not care what your origin may 
 have been. I am satisfied that you are not the child of a 
 low and vulgar parentage, In tbii wqM mm flp BPfe 
 
128 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 gather grapes from thorns nor roses from thistles. . Nel- 
 lie, will you be my wife? Your father is waiting to hear 
 your decision, hoping that it will be favorable. What 
 shall I tell him? I have loved you from the first mo- 
 ment I saw you; it was with me an instance of 'love at 
 first sight.' What do you say, Nellie?'' He arose and 
 extended his hand. Nellie, with a slight hesitation placed 
 her hand in his, and while a blush mantled her cheek, 
 said: 
 
 "Judge, I am afraid it was with me as with you; go and 
 tell father what my decision is, and dear Frank, if the 
 love and devotion of a whole life can compensate you 
 for taking to your arms as a wife a poor, weak girl of un- 
 known parentage, you shall be paid even if you demand 
 what Shylock did of Antonio. But, dear Frank, remem- 
 ber that a long life may be ours; and in the dim vista of 
 the future, clouds may obscure the sunshine of our path- 
 way; regrets may come to your mind when it is too late. 
 I fear it may be so, but my prayer to God will be that I 
 may ever prove worthy of you; and," she continued, with 
 a smile, "that in the barbarous jargon of your profession, 
 'you may never desire or apply to this court to set aside 
 the verdict and have the judgment reversed, for your rule 
 to show cause will be decided against you without argu- 
 ment.'. Now go and tell father." 
 
 "Kings may be blessed but Tarn was glorious, 
 O'er the ills of life victorious." — Burns. 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. VJi) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " 'Life is before you' — and as now ye stand 
 
 Eager to spring upon the promised land, 
 
 Pair smiles the way where yet your feet have trod 
 
 But few light steps upon a flowery sod; 
 
 Round ye are youth's green bowers and to your eyes, 
 
 The horizon's line but joins the earth and skies." 
 
 — Frances Kemble Butie. 
 
 "From that day forth in peace and joyous bliss 
 They lived together long without debate. 
 
 Nor private jars, nor spite of enemies, 
 
 Could shake the safe assurance of their state." 
 
 — Spenser's Fairy Queen. 
 
 "There is nothing half so sweet in life 
 As love's young dream." 
 
 — Moore's "Love's Young Dream." 
 
 General Neville and his good wife were seated in their 
 sitting-room in deep cogitation. They had resolved 
 themselves into a committee of the house. They were 
 discussing the probabilities of an annexation, and the pos- 
 sible result and effect on their domestic relations. 
 
 "I hope she will accept him," said the General, with a 
 sigh that almost denied his assertion; "we shall miss Nel- 
 lie very much." 
 
 "You will not miss her as much as I will, John. You 
 are from home so much; but I will be left alone when you 
 are away. The dear girl has been my companion, if not 
 a daughter, so long that the house will be very dreary to 
 me after she is gone. But Judge Hall is a most excellent 
 young man, and I suppose that it must happen sometime. 
 
130 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 and I am thankful, if he is her choice, that he is worthy 
 of her." 
 
 "He is a noble fellow, my dear, and I believe is every 
 way worthy of her, and that is saying a good deal for him. 
 I told him all about our secret of Nellie's parentage, and 
 apparently it made no more impression on him than if I 
 had given him an inventory of her wardrobe. I could see 
 that he was very indifferent as to whose child she was. It 
 was Nellie "in praescenti" and not "in posse," that seemed 
 to interest him the most. I was somewhat surprised at 
 the Major's indifference when I told him all. I had sup- 
 posed that the secret would overwhelm him with aston- 
 ishment, but he only said, 'General, I don't care who Nel- 
 lie's parents were; I want her for herself, and not for her 
 ancestry.' " 
 
 "God bless the noble fellow," ejaculated Jlrs. Neville. 
 Just then the door opened and the Judge entered looking 
 as pleased as a successful suitor in court always looks after 
 a favorable verdict, until he is presented with a bill for at- 
 torney's fees. 
 
 "Well, Major," said the General, "what was the result? 
 I am almost as anxious as you were an hour ago." 
 
 "Veni, Vidi, Vici," replied Judge Hall, in an exultant 
 tone, "and I am the happiest man on this green earth." 
 
 "Nonsense!" said ilrs. Neville, "that is just what John 
 said long ago when I was over-persuaded to say yes; but of 
 late years I have had reasons to doubt it. But, Major, I 
 am truly glad for both of you young people. It will grieve 
 me very much to part with Nellie, she has been the light 
 of our home so long, and I love her as much as if she were 
 really my daughter. Sit down, Major!" continued the 
 good lady, "and don't be so unspeakably happy. Tell us 
 all about it. Did she say anything about the dreams of 
 her childhood? I have sometimes thought that she 
 doubted, and believed that the incidents she half remem- 
 bered were not dreams, but reality." 
 
 Here Judge Hall narrated what was said by Nellie and 
 himself as well as he could remember, and then related 
 the most of what occurred at their interview; some little 
 items of personal interest of course were omitted, yet 
 with the General and his wife, who recalled their own 
 early affection, the incidents omitted were like some parts 
 of speech— understood — and did not lessen their interest 
 in his narrative. 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 131 
 
 "But," said the Judge, "we had better keep the secret 
 of Nellie's childhood from her. When the time comes 
 that I shall be her legal comforter as well as adviser, I 
 will tell her all. But General, Nellie made one remark 
 that amused me; she said that 'if her verdict was favorable 
 l.need never in the future make a motion to set it aside, 
 for she would not even hear my argument on a rule to 
 show cause.' Where in the world did the dear girl ac- 
 quire a knowledge of so much of our legal phraseology?" 
 
 The General and his wife laughed heartily at this. 
 "Well," said the General, "perhaps you did not know that 
 I was a lawyer before I came here, and for three years was 
 Associate Judge of this county, and frequently the attor- 
 neys would come here to make their motions and argue 
 . them. At such times Nellie, although a little girl, would 
 listen intently to what was said; and I do believe that 
 since then she has read for amusement Blackstone's Com- 
 mentaries and some works on Pennsylvania practice. 
 You will be surprised. Judge, at her knowledge of the 
 law, but don't say anything to her about it; she seems to 
 be ashamed of her legal acquirements, but she is a won- 
 derful reader and student, and a good Latin scholar — a 
 regular 'blue stocking,' " and his eye twinkled with his in- 
 nate humor as he locked affectionately at his wife. 
 
 "She is no such thing, John," ejaculated Mrs. Neville, 
 "don't you believe him. Major. It is only one of his wit- 
 less jokes. Nellie is one of the most womanly, affection- 
 ate girls living, and I believe that the more you become 
 acquainted with her the more you will love her. John 
 only made that remark to annoy you." 
 
 "I don't doubt it, mother," said Judge Hall; "you will 
 permit me to call you mother, for I have no other. My 
 mother died since I left home; I received the notice of her 
 death while in Pittsburgh last Winter. My father died in 
 my childhood, and I have neither brother nor sister. I 
 am alone in the world, and if I should lose Nellie it would 
 be a lonely world to me indeed." 
 
 Tears moistened the eyes of Mrs. Neville as she replied: 
 "God bless you, my son. I believe you deserve our daugh- 
 ter, and that thought very much ameliorates the pain of 
 parting with her." 
 
 "But now to business," said the General, who could not 
 conceal his emotions at the conversation between the Ma- 
 jor and his wife. "When is it to come off? You had 
 
132 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 better remain with us until Spring; it will be so late in 
 the season before your arm will be well enough for you to 
 travel, and the times as yet are so unsettled; your mission 
 will not be accomplishffd before the meeting of Congress, 
 when I hope this unnatural and uncalled for whiskey in- 
 surrection will be settled. The Indian campaign will 
 soon be ended, then you can travel with safety." 
 
 The prediction of General Xeville that the whiskey in- 
 surrection would soon be settled was not verified by the 
 facts, for one year thereafter his buildings were burned by 
 a mob of insurrectionists. Tliis outrage was reported to 
 Congress and was really the cattse of calling out the mi- 
 litia, by which means the insurrection was finally sub- 
 dued. [See Western Annals, pages 695-696.] 
 
 This event has no particular connection with our story, 
 and is only mentioned to show that our "Dramatis Per- 
 sonae" are actual persons, and not wholly the creation of 
 the licensed imagination of the novelist; for fiction is 
 often but truth in painted raiments. 
 
 The next morning after the incident of the interview 
 between Judge Hall and General Neville and his wife, 
 Nelhe met them in the breakfast room. Her face was ra- 
 diant with blushes and smiles of pleasure; while the 
 Judge looked as if he had never known a sorrow. For 
 several weeks thereafter the intercourse between the lov- 
 ers was unconstrained and confidential. They told each 
 other their sorrows of the past, and their hopes of the fu- 
 ture. It was the "old, old story" so often delineated in 
 the radiant tints of love's prismatic colors; and yet, alas, 
 so often clouded with the sombre hues of unexpected 
 griefs and disappointments. 
 
 "Frank," said Nellie, one afternoon, as they, were stroll- 
 ing along the banks of the river, "yesterday as I was filling 
 the vase in your room with flowers, I observed a long, 
 double barreled rifle standing in the corner, lly atten- 
 tion was attracted to the word "Nemesis," inlaid upon its 
 stock. Where did you get it?" 
 
 "I picked it up on the battle-field where I was wounded. 
 Wliy do you ask the question, Nellie?" 
 
 "Oh, Frank, I don't know, but it seems to revive some 
 of the recollections of the fearful dreams of my childhood. 
 It seems to me I have seen it before. If not, I certainly 
 have dreamed of it; that mystic word 'Nemesis' seems to 
 be familiar to me. Once when I dreamed of my un- 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 133 
 
 known father, I thought I saw that rifle in his hands, and 
 that he explained to me the meaning of the word. Surely 
 I had never read anything about Grecian mythology, and 
 yet I have always known that it was the name of an 
 avenging Goddess in the age of ancient fable. Now, where 
 did I get this knowledge? Could I have dreamed it, 
 Frank?" 
 
 "Another case of circumstantial evidence," whispered 
 Judge Hall to himself before he answered. "Why, Nellie, 
 there is no accounting for the vagaries of our dreams; a 
 learned savant has said that, 'in complete sleep there is 
 probably an entire absence of consciousness of external 
 things.' Usually, however, there is a certain amount of 
 mental activity of which we are more or less conscious at 
 the time, and of which we have more or less subsequent re- 
 membrance; as to the coincidences that sometimes happen 
 between events that actually do occur and the countless 
 fancies that are passing through our minds, while asleep, 
 it is only wonderful that they are not ten times more nu- 
 merous than they are." 
 
 " 'Obscurum per obscurius,' dear Frank," said Nellie, 
 with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "as we used to say 
 at school when a teacher had explained a problem so 
 clearly and learnedly that the class could not understand 
 him; and we used to think that he did not always under- 
 stand himself. Frank, do you really understand your own 
 explanation? If you do, please explain it to me. Did 
 you never read in the BilDle of God answering in dreams 
 the desires of those who loved him?. Did you never read 
 of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary in a dream? 
 When Saul visited the Woman of Endor, was it not be- 
 cause the Lord had refused to answer him by dreams as he 
 was wont to do to those who served him? And does he 
 not say through his prophet Joel that, 'The old men shall 
 dream dreams, and the young men see visions?' 
 
 "Nellie, darling," said the Judge, as he drew her slight- 
 ly resisting form to him and extinguished her mischievous 
 smile with a kiss. "Yes, yes, and young men do sometimes 
 see visions, as I do now one of rare beauty and mental at- 
 tractions." 
 
 "Now stop, Frank; you cannot confute the logic of my 
 facts with flattery or a kiss," said Nellie with emphasis, 
 yet she looked as if she did not dislike the course of his ar- 
 gument. "Now, dear Frank, be candid; do you not be- 
 
134 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 lieve that dreams are sometimes angel whispers from' the 
 spirit world?" 
 
 "I do not know, Nellie, hut if it is so, do you think that 
 an angel whispered to you about that rifle you saw in my 
 room?" 
 
 "No, Frank, I do not; 'I beheve it is my memories of the 
 past. I believe I have seen that rifle in my father's hands. 
 I am afraid dear Father and Mother Neville have con- 
 cealed the facts of my childhood from me, but if they 
 have, it was because of their affections and they think it 
 would pain me to know the truth. But stop, Frank, you 
 must not do that;_you know Dr. Eich said the very last 
 time he was here, that although your arm was apparently 
 well, that even a slight strain might separate the frag- 
 ments of the comminuted bones and break it all over 
 again." 
 
 "I'll take the risk, Nellie dear," said Frank. "You 
 know that we are to be married next month and then we 
 must start for home immediately. I cannot wait until 
 Spring as General Neville suggested, for I have business 
 in Washington that must be attended to. We will go 
 North until we reach Lake Erie; I must visit Chautauqua 
 Lake. I want to see Jonas Birch with whom I left a val- 
 uable horse on my way here, and I have some other busi- 
 ness to be attended to. I am looking up some circum- 
 stantial evidence in a case I have on hand. Now, Nel- 
 lie, just one more — I will be very careful of my invalid 
 arm." 
 
 What Judge Hall meant by his last remark I do not 
 know with certainty; its significance is as obscure to me 
 as to my reader. It is the duty of an author to record 
 observable facts as they appear to him, and he is not ex- 
 pected to solve all the mysteries of the human mind that 
 prompt human action. My reader probably knows as 
 well as I do what the Judge did mean and what probably 
 happened immediately after the remark. 
 
 That evening after Judge Hall had retired to his room, 
 he sat for some time engaged in deep and sagacious mus- 
 ings. "How much she is like her father," he whispered 
 to himself. "I sometimes think I can see his look in her 
 beautiful eyes, \\'hile her logic is certainly his very own. 
 She is as good and noble as she is beautiful, and I shall 
 never regret the death of Wa-na-tau nor this wounded 
 arm. What creatures of circumstances we all are. 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 135 
 
 How true it is that 'Man proposes, but God disposes/ and 
 how truly wrote the bard of Avon, that: 
 
 'There's a divinity that shapes our ends. 
 Rough hew them how we will.' 
 
 "How strange it seems. Two years ago I did not know 
 that there was such a person in existence, and yet I was 
 happy; full of the ambitions of life, and visions of the fu- 
 ture. Now if I should lose Nellie, this same bright 
 world would be a gloomy waste and I would be glad when 
 my journey of life was over." 
 
 It is not my intention to delineate all the occurrences 
 in the daily life of Judge Hall and Nellie, until the ar- 
 rival of the eventful day. As the skilled physician in his 
 clinical examination of a patient prognosticates the ulti- 
 mate, and expresses in brief terms "probable life — possi- 
 ble death," so do we hasten to the supposed climax of 
 earthly happiness. 
 
 In the early part of October Judge Hall and Nellie 
 were married. They had taken those solemn vows that 
 mean so much or so little in the history of mankind, that 
 result in infinite happiness or infinite misery. It was 
 said by some unsophisticated observer of human life that 
 "marriages are made in Heaven," but to an old lawyer 
 who has been engaged-in nearly one hundred divorce 
 cases, tbe connubial tie looks like a very frail a;nd sub- 
 lunary affair. Emerson in his "Eepresentative Men" pro- 
 pounds the following interrogatory : 
 
 "Is not marriage an open question when it is alleged 
 from the beginning of the world that such as are in the 
 institution wish to get out, and such as are out wish to get 
 in?" I leave my readers to answer this from their expe- 
 riences. And while Dean Swift said, "The reason why so 
 few marriages are happy is because young ladies spend 
 their time in making nets, not in making cages." I do 
 not fully agree with him. There may be some truth in 
 his remark, but my experience as an old lawyer leads me 
 to believe that there are twenty improvident, worthless 
 and drunken husbands to one reprehensible or guilty 
 wife. 
 
 A few days after their marriage the Judge and his beau- 
 tiful wife started on their journey East, and after under- 
 going the usual fatigues and vicissihtdes of travel through 
 a sparsely settled country, in a week's time they arrived at 
 
136 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 Mayville at the head of Chautauqua Lake. From thereto 
 the home of Jonas Birch the road was familiar to J^dge 
 Hall. 
 
 "There is the house, Nellie," said the Jud^ 6ne beau- 
 tiful morning in October, "and there is the good Dolly 
 herself, attending to her domestic duties of assisting 
 Jonas in doing the chores. Nellie, you must captivate 
 her as you do all with whom you eolne in contact." 
 
 As the Judge and his wife rode up to the gate and 
 stopped, Dolly, after smootbifig her hair, with true female 
 instinct, and hastily adjusting her apron and dress as well 
 as the circiunstances would permit, came forward to meet 
 them, and after answering the greeting of the Judge with 
 an old-style courtesy, she invited them to "light down" 
 and come in and rest. 
 
 "Mrs. Birch," said Judge Hall, "have you forgotten 
 me?" She looked at him a moment, when a smile of rec- 
 ognition illumined her pleasant countenance, and she ex- 
 claimed: 
 
 "Bless my soul! if it ain't the gentleman who helped 
 Munson kill the Injun, and who my Jonas helped to break 
 out of jail at Mayville. Oh! but Jonas will be glad to see 
 you. Billy," she said to a young lad who was looking in 
 open-eyed astonishment at the strange lady and gentle- 
 man, "run and tell your daddy to come home right off. 
 There is some one here he will be glad to see." The boy 
 disappeared in a nearby field, while the Judge and Nellie 
 entered the house of Dolly. I say of Dolly — for it was 
 particularly her kingdom, and no one dared to dispute her 
 decrees within its hospitable walls. 
 
 Jonas came in and greeted the Judge, who introduced 
 him to his wife. It was evident that Jonas was as well 
 pleased as his wife at the visit of his old acquaintance of 
 the jail and canoe. 
 
 "Your boss is all right, Judge, only a leetle older than 
 when you left him here. The constables from the Inlet 
 watched my stables for two weeks arter you had gone, as 
 clus as a cat watches a rat hole." Here the two men left 
 the house and went to the stable to look at the Judge's 
 horse, when Jonas continued his narration: 
 
 "General Baird came here the next day arter you had 
 put out their lights on the lake, and he cross-questioned 
 DoHy and I about you. Now Judge, Dolly is a good 
 Christian woman if there ever was one. She is a full- 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. ia7 
 
 blown Methodis', but. Judge, you oughter heerd her 
 stretch the truth 'till she almost broke it. She told the 
 General that she heerd you say you was going East to get 
 goods to trade with the Injuns, and she looked so honest 
 that the General believed her~and give up follerin you 
 down the river. If they had overtook you there would 
 have bin bloody work, fer Bill Munson is a terror I tell 
 yovi, and fears nothing but the Lord he worships, and 
 who, he thinks, commands him to spend the balance of 
 his life in killing the red skins. I do wonder where Bill 
 and old Joe Smiley is now? They jined the army of old 
 'Mad Anthony,' and I haven't heerd from them since." 
 
 "Jonas," said the Judge, "I'll tell you all about them 
 to-morrow. I saw them both in the last battle with the 
 Indians on the Maumee. Now I wish to hire you for all 
 day to-morrow. I desire to take my wife down to the 
 bluff on the lake shore at Munson's clearing. I wish to 
 show her the place where Wa-na-tau was killed, but don't 
 say a word about it until we get there." 
 
 "You can't hire me. Judge; but I will be glad to go 
 with you and pilot you through the woods. We'll start 
 airly, Judge, as it may take the best part of the day to go, 
 and back." 
 
 That night when the Judge and his wife retired to the 
 "spare room" that was the particular pride and care of 
 I)olly, Nellie turned to her husband, with a serious face 
 and said: 
 
 "Dear Frank, what did Mrs. Birch mean when she said 
 you were the person who helped some one to kill an In- 
 dian, and whom her Jonas helped to break out of jail? 
 I cannot get it out of my mind. What did she mean, 
 Frank?" 
 
 "Nellie, you did not know that I was a 'jail bird,' once 
 accused of a crime^ and that I made my escape with the 
 assistance of Jonas Birch and another man who released 
 me from prison. Did I never tell you the story, darling?" 
 
 "Oh, Frank! Frank! don't torture me, I beg of you. I 
 do not believe that you ever were guilty of a crime; but I 
 love you so dearly, so devotedly, that her words almost 
 caused my heart to cease its beating. What is it, my dear 
 husband, that you are keeping secret from me?" 
 
 "It's nothing, Nellie, but what you will surely apptove 
 of when I tell you the ston? as I will to-morrow. You 
 know I once told you that I had a case of circumstantial 
 
138 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 evidence that I was investigating; so, darling, rest easy 
 until to-morrow and you shall know all. I wish to take 
 you down to the lake shore and will show you the most 
 magnificent lake and land view you ever beheld, one that 
 I am confident will interest you more than anything that 
 has ever happened in you^ innocent life; so, Nellie, dear, 
 rest easy, and lose no sleep because of the idle words of 
 good Dolly Birch." 
 
 Nellie was forced to be content, yet her loving heart 
 did not beat as calmly as did her husband's by her side.- 
 She had a vague presentiment that something unusual 
 was to happen the next day, and some of her early fearful 
 dreairis disturbed her wonted repose. 
 
 The next morning Judge Hall and Nellie on horse- 
 back, accompanied by Jonas Birch on foot, started to- 
 wards Munson's clearing. They reached the open field 
 where Wa-na-tau was shot, before noon. It was a beauti- 
 ful morning, and the lake gleamed before them like a 
 mirror of glass. When they reached the open clearing 
 where the cabin of ilunson had stood. Judge Hall 
 watched intensely and expectantly the features of his wife. 
 As the broad expanse of lake and forest met her eye she 
 paused, looked bewildered for a moment, pressed her hand 
 to her forehead, looked again with a keen, thoughtful 
 expression, then she exclaimed in excited tones: 
 
 "My dreams! My dreams! My horrible dreams! They 
 come back to me like vivid reaUties." Then trembling 
 like an aspen, she eontinu&d: 
 
 "Oh, Frank! Frank! what does this mean? Have I 
 ever been here before, or have I seen this place in my 
 dreams? This high cliff and broad expanse of water and 
 yonder beach of sand with this wide circle of forest. I 
 never saw a lake before! and yet this spot seems to be fa- 
 miliar to me. Can it possibly be a dream? No, no, it is 
 no dream, it is a reality. I have been here before. Yes! 
 yes! I remember it all! Here was the home of my child- 
 hood; It comes as clear to my memory now as a land- 
 scape would from under a passing cloud of morning mist. 
 
 "Yonder where you see that pile of half-decayed brands 
 stood our house — my early home. I remember it in , 
 flames; I can see the band of cruel savages that surrounded 
 it. I can almost hear their fearful war cry. Here they 
 murdered my father, mother, grandmother and my dear 
 little brother Harry. Yonder where you see that pile of 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 139 
 
 half-burned logs overgrown with weeds, stood our barn. 
 And there, Frank, by that big rock, my brother and I used 
 to play. Yes, there I saw him murdered by a savage war- 
 rior. I remember, I ran into yonder clump of bushes 
 where a giant Indian caught me and led me into captivity, 
 that Father and Mother Neville told me was all a dream. 
 
 "But it was no dream. It is as real as this lake and 
 landscape. Dear Frank, on the other side of that big 
 rock, is a cavity, and I remember that the Spring before 
 our home was burned two little birds built- a nest there 
 and laid five little white eggs in it. Yes, and now I re- 
 member that after the dear little birds that were hatched 
 there, had left their nest, my brother and I went down to 
 the lake shore yonder at the end of the cliff, where you 
 see that beach of sand, and Harry found five little white 
 stones shaped like bird's eggs, and we put them in the va- 
 cant nest." Then springing from her horse she ran be- 
 hind the stone, followed by her husband. "There it is 
 now, Frank! There is the hole in the rock where the 
 nest was. It is now partly filled with sand, and a bunch 
 of grass has taken root there; pull out the grass and see 
 what is there." 
 
 Judge Hall hastily did as she requested, and putting his 
 hand into the hole withdrew it with five white pebbles, 
 and the fragments of a bird's nest made of bristles and 
 hair which had resisted decay. 
 
 "Here they are, Nellie," he said in exultant tones; "I 
 have found my circumstantial evidence which no court or 
 jury could disbelieve. None but yourself and the 'Infi- 
 nite mind' could have known of these five white pebbles 
 and that decayed bird's nest being in the crevice of that 
 rock. The testimony of ten thousand witnesses could not 
 be more conclusive. I have long suspected this — come 
 and sit down on this rock, darling, and I will tell you all.", 
 
 Nellie seized the five pebbles with an eager grasp, .and 
 pressing them to her lips burst into a flood of tears, while 
 the eyes of brave and honest Jonas Birch were overflow- 
 ing with the evidence of his sympathy and astonishment. 
 
 Nellie and her husband seated themselves on the rock, 
 while Jonas stood by an eager listener; he would have re- 
 tired out of hearing, but Judge Hall requested him to 
 stay. 
 
 "Dear Nellie," said the Judge, "it is as I have long sus- 
 pected, and I only waited the present mopent, with ita 
 
140 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 siirroimdings, for the denouement to come. I knew your 
 father well, so did Jonas Birch. T traveled with him as 
 my guide to Pittsburgh. He was a noble man, well edu- 
 cated and a true Christian. He died in my arms on the 
 last battle-field on the banks of the Maumee river. After 
 the murder of his family by the Indians, his mind at times 
 became 'warped and wrung;' he was not always himself, 
 but he devoted his whole life to his insatiable revenge. 
 He followed the murderous band that had destroyed his 
 home; they all or nearly all fell by his hand. Yonder 
 where you see that apple tree covered with moss and 
 lichen, Wa-na-tau, the Indian who murdered your brother, 
 fell, shot by your father from yonder woods. 
 
 "Here he related to me his tale of woe and suffering, 
 then he disappeared in the forest. I threw the body of 
 the Indian over the cliff yonder into the lake; Just then 
 Jonas Birch and another man came up with the surveyor. 
 General Baird, and arrested me for the killing of the In- 
 dian in time of peace. I was taken to Mayville and put, in 
 a log jail, when your father and Jonas, my friend here, 
 came at night and released me. Your father took me 
 down Lake Chautauqua in a canoe, and, as I said, guided 
 me to Pittsburgh, from whence my guardian spirit directed 
 me to General John Neville's where I met you, my dar- 
 ling, and consummated the happiness of my life. The 
 double-barreled rifle you saw in my room was your fath- 
 er's; he named it 'Nemesis' after the avenging Goddess of 
 mythology. Such in brief, my dear wife, is the story I 
 promised to tell you and explain the remark of Mrs. 
 Birch. In the future I will go more into the details. 
 Nellie, your father was a noble man, but unfortunate cir- 
 cumstances somewhat unsettled his mind, and he is not to 
 be blamed for his undying hatred of the Indians and his 
 killing many in time of peace." 
 
 "My dear husband," said Nellie, who had listened with 
 breathless attention to the narration, '"I do not blame my 
 father for what he did, nor would I have censured him if 
 he had obliterated the whole race of savages from off the 
 face of the earth. If I were a man under similar circum- 
 stances, I would have done as he did." 
 
 "Nellie," said the Judge, "I always thought you were a 
 'chip from the old block,' or more properly speaking, 'a 
 rose from the parent stem.' As I told you, your father 
 died in my arms; I buried him by the side of his tried and 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 141 
 
 trusted friend, old Joe Smiley, in a soldier's grave under 
 a beautiful oak, on the battle-field where he fell. I placed 
 a large bowlder at the head of their grave, and sometime 
 in the future, my dear wife, we will make a pilgrimage to 
 the spot and see that a proper monument is erected there. 
 A few moments before he died he imagined or thought he 
 saw the spirit forms of his mother, your mother and little 
 Harry hovering over him, and he wondered why he did 
 not see you. He said you must be in the angel world, 
 and wondered that you did not come to him with them. 
 His last words were: 'Yes, darlings, I am coming to you', 
 and his lips were silent forever." 
 
 "My darling husband," said Nellie amid her tears, 
 "don't you believe that he saw their spirits? You say he 
 'imagined or thought' he did. But what made him think 
 so unless he actually saw them? Poor, dear father be- 
 lieved I, too, was dead; then why did he not think he saw 
 me, if it was only imagination? It must have been be- 
 cause I was not there, and grandmother and mother and 
 brother were. Frank, I know you are more learned and 
 wiser than I, but tell me, is it impossible for the spirits of 
 our friends to return to us sometimes, or is the future 
 world so far off that they cannot come? Surely, if all 
 human affections survive death, is it not probable that our 
 loving Father above, who is in himself the very persona- 
 tion of infinite love — ^if His omniscient power could reach 
 so far — would and does permit our loved ones to return to 
 us in times of our greatest suffering and need? You 
 know, Frank, that the Apostle said: 'There is a natural 
 body and a spiritual body,' and why may not our spiritual 
 body come from, as well as go to, our Heavenly home, if 
 our Lord will pennit it ? -Surely He returned to His dis- 
 ciples after His death. Then it cannot be impossible for 
 spirits to return, and don't you believe that they can and 
 do? My dear Frank, if I were to die I could not be happy 
 in Heaven one day if I knew I could not sometimes re- 
 turn to you on this earth to comfort you." 
 
 "Poor, dear Nellie," said the Judge, but he looked more 
 like a child than a judge, as he answered with tearful emo- 
 tions, "you are as near an angel now as you ever can be. 
 You have made me cry like a child, darling, at the logic 
 and conclusion of your argument and " 
 
 "No, no, Frank, do not say that you cried like a child, 
 but rather, that you wept like a man. There is a great 
 
142 THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 difference in the emotions of childhood and maturity. 
 The one may be'childish, the other the evidence of true 
 manhood. Don't you think so, darling? Frank, do you 
 think that our Divine Master, who said to his disciples, 
 'Love one another as I have loved you,' would in the fu- 
 ture world separate two souls who loved each other in this 
 world, just because one of them had broken one of God'rf 
 commandments that the other had kept? I don't be- 
 lieve it. Will father and mother be separated in the spirit 
 land because he in the frenzy of his great grief and love 
 broke the commandment that says, 'Thou shalt hot kill?' 
 Dear Frank, how has the world kept all of God's com- 
 mandments?" 
 
 "Why, Nellie, darling," said Franks his eyes yet wet 
 with the tears he could not restrain, "you are a theologian 
 as well as a lawyer; you argue your cause with admirable 
 ability; but " 
 
 "Oh, my dear husband," said Nellie without waiting to 
 hear the result of the disjunctive conjunction, "do not 
 jest on so solemn an occasion, and in this place, but hear 
 me. If you and I were to die to-day and in the spirit 
 world we were to be separated, I would not take eternal 
 life as a gift. Heaven would not be Heaven if you were 
 not with me." 
 
 "Dear wife," said Frank, "we are commanded not to 
 worship idols in this world; but if you do not stop I shall 
 break that injunction into comminuted fragments," and 
 regardless of the presence of honest Jonas, who had alter- 
 nately smiled and blubbered at the scene, he clasped her in 
 his arms while the unrestrained flood of an overflowing 
 heart poured forth in thankfulness to the giver of all good 
 for the prize he held in his loving embrace. 
 
 "Judge," said Jonas, in hesitating tones, "we had bet- 
 ter be staitin' for hum purty soon. You know it is a long, 
 rough road, and I am afraid Dolly will be uneasy if we 
 don't get there by sun-down." 
 
 "You are right, Jonas," said the Judge, "\\e were for- 
 getting the passage of time in this, the most eventful day 
 of my life, and I forgot that you had a sympathising and 
 affectionate wife, as well as myself." 
 
 The Judge and his wife mounted their horses and in 
 sadness turned from the spot and entered the road. Nel- 
 lie paused a moment and looked with tearful eyes on the 
 ecene of her childhood fpr the last time; then with h§p 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 143 
 
 husband passed in a thoughtful mood along the trail or 
 path they had that morning followed on their way to 
 Munson's clearing. , 
 
 What a change does the events of a few fleeting hours 
 often make in the fears, hopes, aspirations and loves of 
 the travelers on life's wearisome highway. But yesterday 
 we did not know the existence of a person who from to- 
 day will exercise a governing influence over our lives. We 
 did not know of a past event that will henceforth mold 
 and control our future destiny for weal or woe. How 
 slight may be the object or incident whose effect will be 
 felt not only while we live, but through all the generations 
 of the future. 
 
 "The pebble in the streamlet, scant 
 Has changed the course of many a river, 
 
 A dew-drop on a baby plant 
 
 Has warped the giant oak forever." 
 
 Our party of excursionists reach the hospitable home 
 of Jonas Birch Just as the sunlight had faded into twi- 
 light. They were met by Dolly, who welcomed their re- 
 turn with genuine pleasure. After they had partaken of 
 a supper, that their hunger and Dolly's skill made most 
 enjoyable; and after Jonas had done his chores, and all 
 were seated around a clean hearth and a bright fire, 
 which the cool Autumn evening rendered very accept- 
 able, Judge Hall proceeded to relate to the astonished 
 Dolly the events of the day. and all the incidents we have 
 related to our readers. It was near midnight when the 
 story was completed, and much of it was as new to Jonas 
 and Nellie as it was to Dolly, who, with dilated tearful 
 eyes, listened with absorbing interest to every detail. 
 When it was finished, the impulsive Dolly went to Nellie 
 and throwing her arms around her neck, kissed her fer- 
 vently, then going into the "spare room," she returned 
 with a large family Bible, and placing it in Nellie's lap, 
 asked her to read the CXLVIII Psalm, which Nellie did 
 with feeling and fervor. Then she and Frank Joined 
 their educated voices in singing an old, time-honored 
 hymn. This completed the magnetic effect on Dolly, who 
 said: 
 
 "Judge, I do feel as if I must pray to God for His good- 
 ness. Let' us kneel in humble gratitude to Him who 
 
144 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 guards us all in the time of danger, and who has said that 
 even a sparro\7 does not fall without His knowing it." 
 
 All knelt and Dolly uttered a prayer, which for simple 
 unadorned eloquence and fervor would put to shame many 
 a studied orison delivered from the sacred desk, or read 
 from a gilded prayer-book not for the Divine ear alone, 
 but for the approving criticism of a congregation. 
 
 Then all retired for the night; Jonas and Dolly "with 
 wonder full and strange astonishment" at what they had 
 heard, and Frank and Nellie in heartfelt thankfulness at 
 the events of the day. 
 
 In the morning while all- were seated at the breakfast 
 table, Judge Hall said: "Jonas, I wish you and Dolly 
 would go with my wife and I to Mayville; I wish to trans- 
 act some business that may require your presence." 
 Jonas and Dolly looked surprised, but readily consented. 
 
 "You know, Jonas," said the Judge, "that it is a clearly 
 established fact that my wife is the only heir-at-law of 
 William Munson, and of course she is now the sole owner 
 of all the land here formerly owned by her father. Nellie 
 and I have talked the matter over and she wishes to pre- 
 sent this traet of land to your wife, Dolly, to repay her 
 for her kindness to us both, and more particularly to pay 
 Jier for the saucer of fresh butter she sent down to the re- 
 treat of her father the morning after you and he had 
 broken the law in releasing a suspected murderer from the 
 jail at Mayville. And we will go there to-day and execute 
 a deed to her for the land; and Jonas, if you will accom- 
 modate me by taking your wife with us, I will give you 
 my horse that you have cared for so faithfully during my 
 absence." 
 
 "Judge Hall," said Jonas, who could hardly speak for 
 his emotions, "I don't want nothing to pay me for what I 
 have done; but if you wish to give Dolly a farm I'll be 
 goll durned if I ain't wilhn,' fer she deserves all she can 
 git in this world." 
 
 "Jonas! Jonas!" said Dolly in a reproving tone, "don't 
 swear, or the land will come to no good to me." 
 
 "I beg pardin. Judge," said Jonas in a repentant tone, 
 "but a fellow can't always govern his tongue when he's ex- 
 cited — now, can he?" 
 
 "No, no, Jonas," replied the smiling Judge, "we learn 
 that in our courts, where even the lawyers in the excite- 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. H5 
 
 ment of debate do not always control their tongues as 
 they should." 
 
 "I don't wonder at that, Judge," said Jonas; "I 'tended 
 a court onc't as a witness, and I only wondered that the 
 lawyers controlled their fists — I couldn't a done it; for 
 when the court was out and I met the lawyer that cross- 
 questioned me I had hard work to keep my fists in my 
 pockets." 
 
 "For shame, Jonas," said Dolly; "ain't you ashamed to 
 talk that way to a Judge?" 
 
 "No, Dolly," replied Jonas, "I aint ashamed to tell the 
 truth at all times, even if I had to tell a constable that the 
 man he was a huntin' arter had gone East to buy goods to 
 trade with the Indians, when I knew that him and Bill 
 Munson was goin' down the river to Pittsburgh." 
 
 This shot told with tremendous effect. Dolly colored 
 to the roots of her hair, while the Judge and his wife 
 laughed heartily at her discomfiture. 
 
 "Mrs. Hall," said Dolly gravely, "don't you ever love 
 and pet your husband too much, or you will make him as 
 provokin' as Jonas there." 
 
 "I'll be careful, Dolly; I'll take warning by your expe- 
 rience. Eemember, Frank, the lesson Mrs. Birch has 
 taught me." 
 
 Here Jonas and Judge Hall went out to the stable to 
 see that the horses were made ready for their excursion to 
 Mayville, and from there East, as the Judge and his wife 
 proposed to continue their journey immediately on the ex- 
 ecution of the Deed to Dolly. 
 
 "Judge," said Jonas, as soon as they were out of hearing 
 of the inmates of the house, "what shall I do with Mun- 
 son's things down at his cabin? He made me promise 
 that if he was killed in a fight with the Injuns, I would 
 take all them scalps and bury them by that stone on the 
 cliff where his little boy was tomahawked, and I am 
 bound to do it; but what about the rest of his things?" 
 
 "They are all yours except his Bible and books; take 
 care of them Jonas until sometime in the future I can 
 send for them." 
 
 Two hours afterward found Frank and Nellie and Jonas 
 and Dolly at the ofiBce of a magistrate in Mayville. The 
 deed was executed and a bill of sale for all the personal ef- 
 fects of Munson delivered to Jonas. Judge Hall and his 
 
146 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA. LAKE. 
 
 wife parted with their humble but true friends with un- 
 feigned regret and even tears, by Dolly and NelHe. 
 
 Without any incidents worthy of record. Judge Hall 
 and his wife reached Washington in- November, and set- 
 tled down in their permanent home. The Judge was soon 
 appointed to an important office in the administration of 
 the government, which he filled with honor for a number 
 of years, while his beautiful wife reigned as star of the 
 first magnitude in the society of the Capitol. 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 "All the world's a stage. 
 And all men and women merely players; 
 They have their exits and their entrances; 
 And one man in his time plays many parts." 
 
 Shakspeare's "As You Like It." 
 
 "That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, 
 And then is heard no more." 
 
 Shakspeare's^ "Macbeth." 
 
 . The pen of the novelist, Hke the "wishing cap of Fortu- 
 natus," can annihilate time and space. It also possesses 
 his inexhaustible purse of gold, with which wealth and its 
 attendants, fame and happiness, can be most generously 
 bestowed on the favored few of the "dramatis personae" 
 of its creation. Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton has truly 
 said that "The pen is mightier than the sword." Alike 
 the weapon of history, philosophy, science, religion and 
 art, it guides and controls the destinies of nations as well 
 as individuals. Under its sway how silent is the mai'ch 
 of the army of thought. It is not accompanied by the 
 panoply of war. It needs not the armor of ancient 
 knighthood to protect it from assault. "It's tread is as 
 noiseless as an infant's breath; its force is like that of the 
 warrior panoplied in steel." 
 
 Ten years have passed since the incidents narrated in 
 our last chapter. Judge Hall and Nellie have but re- 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 147 
 
 cently returned from a tour of the Eastern continent, 
 where the Judge held an important position in a foreign 
 mission. They were now seated in the sitting-room of 
 their palatial residence in Washington City. The ma- 
 ture beauty of Nellie is even more striking than was that 
 of her jyoung maidenhood. The Judge was occupied with 
 his evening paper, while Nellie sat in silent reverie. Her 
 thoughts wandered back to her childhood; and in the 
 phantasmagoria of memory she saw her early home on the 
 shore of Do-sho-wah Te-car-ne-o-di [Do-sho-wah Te-car- 
 ne-o-di: Lake Erie; Seneca]. Even the soft flow of the 
 Indian dialect had come back to her reviving recollection, 
 as she had heard it from the lips of her father. As time 
 had elapsed, one after another of the incidents of her 
 early life became more and more vivid. She distinctly 
 saw in memory her burning home; she heard the Indian 
 war-whoop and the shrieks of her mother, and grand- 
 mother amid the flames. She saw her little brother 
 struck down by the tomahawk of Wa-na-tau, and the 
 stalwart form of her father as with his axe he fought, with 
 desperation the murderous savages that surrounded him. 
 She saw all the horrors of that awful night as clearly as if 
 they were passing before her on the shifting scenes of a 
 painted panorama. Tears dimmed her beautiful eyes as 
 she pressed a bracelet, on her wrist, to her quivering lips. 
 The jewel was of unique construction, the work of a Flor- 
 entine artist. It appeared to be formed of five white 
 pebbles, beautifully polished and set in a filigree of gold, 
 alternating with rubies and emeralds. It had frequently 
 attracted the attention of the fashionable ladies of Wash- 
 ington society, who wondered at its curious form, and the 
 unknown jewels that composed its settings. 
 
 While Nellie and her husband sat in that silent, happy 
 communion with each other, so common to a decade of 
 connubial felicity, they were interrupted by a servant who 
 placed the evening mail on the table before them. Nellie 
 picked up the letters one by one to distribute them be- 
 tween herself and her husband, who was so busily engaged 
 with his paper that he seemed indifferent to the letters 
 from constituents, that Nellie placed in a formidable pile 
 before him. She found only one directed to herself. 
 The superscription was somewhat rude and the postmark 
 was Mayville, N. Y. Nellie looked at the rude missive for 
 'ft -moment in surprise; then a Smile of glad expectancy il- 
 
148 THE NEMESIS OF OHAUTAtlQUA LAKE. 
 
 luminated her features, and breaking the seal, she ex- 
 claimed: 
 
 "Oh, Frank, here is a letter to me from dear Dolly 
 Birch." 
 
 "Eead it to me, Nellie," said the Judge, immediately 
 losing all interest in the speech of a noted member of Con- 
 gress he had been reading. "Eead it to me, dear; we have 
 not heard from our old friends since we returned from 
 Europe, and I am anxious to hear from them." 
 
 "Dear old Dolly," said Nellie, as she pressed the letter to 
 her lips, before she commenced the somewhat difficult 
 task of deciphering the cliirography of her old friend. 
 Then she read to her attentive husband as follows: 
 
 "Mayville New York state sept. 3d 1803, 
 
 "Dear Misses Hall — ^i take my pen in hand to inform 
 you that i and Jonas are well and hope these few lines will 
 find you enjoyin the same Blessins. i and Jonas often 
 think and talk about you and the Judge and we sometimes 
 hear from you. last week Jonas went to Mayville to tend 
 a political Meetin. our Congress man was thare. Jonas 
 — the innocent soul — says the Congress man was overbe- 
 joyed to see him, and i guess he were for it was just afore 
 Lection and Jonas can vote you know, well Jonas axed 
 him about you and your husband and he said he new 
 judge Hall well that he was a great man in Washington 
 and that you was the beautifulest lady in the city, we was 
 right glad to hear from you. 
 
 "Jonas sold his Old farm and built a nice house on the 
 bluff right whar your Old house stood, he has cleared the 
 old fields of Bushes and cleared a good bit of Woodland 
 and now we have the nicest farm in these parts. Jonas 
 built a Summer house over the big rock where the birds- 
 nest was and every Spring I plant morning glories there. 
 I do wish you could see it. and qvery year too dear 
 little birds cum and build their Nest thare in the hole in 
 the rock; we call one of them Frank and the other Nellie. 
 They are so lovin and kind to each other, when Nellie is 
 sittin' on the Nest Frank will bring her worms and feed 
 Her. Jonas scraped the moss off the old Apple trees and 
 had them grafted, and i just wish i could send you some 
 of the great big nice Apples that grow on them now — 
 
 "Our Congress man said if he went to Washington next 
 Winter he would take your fathers Books to you, if we'd 
 pack them ia a trunk and we will. Joaas will Vote for 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 14a 
 
 m for that if nothin' more. Anyhow Jonas says it dent 
 t^e much difference who goes to Congress — ^that they 
 dont do the Country much good, and cant do much harm 
 any%— 
 
 "no\ Nellie how do you and Frank git along together 
 anyhow? i am afraid you have spiled him jesi as i have 
 Jonas hylovin' and pettin him too much, you know the 
 men all think they no more than us wimmin and are het- 
 ter managerkthan we are, But that is jist hecause they can 
 drink whiskW^ and chaw tobaccer — and Vote — and 
 wimmin cant; But i am afraid ive most spiled Jonas by 
 humorin him anSlettin' him have his own Way some- 
 times, but we are ^ery happy together; you see Jonas 
 thinks he has his own way all the time, i read in a Book 
 oncet that somebody said — I disremember who: 'Whare 
 ignorence is bliss its folly to be Wise — ' and so i jest let 
 Jonas enjoy hisself all he can. 
 
 "0! i most forgot to tell you that Jonas has got Eeligion 
 and jined the meetin' since you was here and he dont 
 sware no more, and when we have family worship i have 
 to do as Aron did to Moses; but you aught to hear Jonas 
 cum in with the Amen, when I pray for you and your 
 husband as i allers does; sometimes you would think it 
 was a injun warhoop if you only herd it. 
 
 "Now Nellie may God bless you and your husband with 
 helth anS happiness and a long life, i wish you would 
 write me how you git along in this world of sufferin and 
 wo; and i do wish you and the judge could make us a visit 
 some day. your lovin friend, Jonas and Dolly Birch." 
 
 When Nellie had finished this characteristic letter, the 
 Judge wiped his tear-dimmed eyes, while Nellie smiled 
 and sobbed alternately from an overflowing heart. "Dear 
 good Dolly," she ejaculated, as she again pressed the let- 
 ter to her lips. I think Jonas has come as near spoiling 
 Dolly, as Dolly has Jonas, don't you, Frank?" 
 
 "They are a most worthy couple, Nellie; would you not 
 like to make them a visit sometime in the near future?" 
 
 "No! no! Frank," said Nellie, "I do wish they could 
 come here to visit us; but I never want to see the place of 
 my early home again. It would only revive the recollec- 
 tions of that awful night which I wish I could forget for- 
 ever. But I am so glad we gave the worthy couple the 
 farm. I would like to visit my poor father's grave some- 
 time aod have a proper memorial erected there, for I he- 
 
150 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 lieve he deserved it; no matter what the people think of 
 his conduct after his family was murdered. I know nxany 
 would blame him, who never saw an Indian massacre, and 
 never had all they loved in this world torn from tiiem in 
 one night by the hands of the ruthless savages." 
 
 "Dear Nellie," said Prank, "as I have often told you, 
 your father was a noble man, a conscientious Christian, 
 and none can blame him who know all the incidents that 
 surrounded him during his eventful life. We are all of 
 us, more or less, the creatures of circumstances over which 
 we have no control. The last court I held, I was com- 
 pelled to sentence a man to prison for a number of years 
 for a crime committed while intoxicated. He had been a 
 man of irreproachable character before circumstances 
 made him a victim of the greatest curse that ever afflicted 
 the human race, the curse of strong drink. Is it not 
 strange, Nellie, that the Christian world to-day can be so 
 indifferent to the terribte consequences of the use of in- 
 toxicating liquor? If the cholera or yellow fever should 
 make their appearance in any civilized country, how justly 
 alarmed the people would be. Sanitary committees 
 would be appointed in every city in the land to see that 
 every source of infection was removed; and yet while they 
 were investigating the streets and alleys to discover the 
 cess-pools of filth and corruption, they would pass scores 
 of drinking saloons unobserved. And from these unno- 
 ticed centers of crime and disease there spreads over the 
 country an infection far more terrible in its effects thap 
 the poison of plague or pestilence. Even in our National 
 Capitol buildings, there are open bars where liquor is sold 
 not only to members of Congress, but also to visitors; and 
 through their influence many public men are acquiring 
 the loathsome habit of inebriety. This is a disgrace to 
 our boasted civilization and Christian enlightenment. 
 We expend millions of money yearly to sustain foreign 
 missions in spreading the gospel among the heathen na- 
 tions of the world, and seem to be entirely indifferent to 
 the heathens of our own national household. 
 
 "I once knew an old lawyer who told me that he had 
 been engaged in one hundred and eight homicide cases, 
 and that eighty-seven of them had been caused directly 
 by the influence of strong drink; and that it was the pri- 
 mordial cause of three-fourths of all the other crimes com- 
 mitted in the country." [This is the actual experience 6"f 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 151 
 
 the author of this little book, in over fifty years' practice 
 in the courts of the country. — Author.] 
 
 "Yes, dear Frank," said Nellie, "I believe this was the 
 cause of my poor father's misfortunes. Oh, why is it that 
 you- men who vote and make laws for us, do not see the 
 great evil and legislate it out of existence ? If the women 
 could only vote, every liquor saloon in the country would 
 soon be abolished, and the places that knciw them now 
 would know them no more." 
 
 A few days after the receipt of the letter of Dolly Birch, 
 Judge Hall was in his office in one of the government 
 buildings, when a visitor was announced by the usher, 
 who was introduced by a member of Congress as "General 
 Baird, of Albany," who had some important business with 
 the department of which Judge Hall was the chief. 
 
 The Judge started at the announcement, and looking 
 earnestly at his visitor immediately recognized his old ac- 
 quaintance and accuser of the Munson clearing. Politely 
 inviting Gen. Baird to be seated, he listened to a brief out- 
 line of the business the General presented to h'im. On in- 
 quiry he ascertained that Gen. Baird and his wife were on 
 a visit to the Capital, of business and pleasure combined; 
 the General on business, the wife, for pleasure. 
 
 "General Baird," said Judge Hall, "I am very much en- 
 gaged to-day; but if you and your wife will call on my 
 wife and myself to-morrow afternoon and spend the even- 
 ing with us, I will then give your matter every attention. 
 My wife would be delighted, and after supper we can in 
 the privacy of my library go over all the details of your 
 business with my department without interruption." 
 Observing that the General hesitated. Judge Hall con- 
 tinued: "My invitation is not through mere politeness. 
 General Baird, but I earnestly wish you and your wife to 
 accept my hospitality while you remain in the city." 
 
 General Baird consented and agreed to call on the 
 Judge the next afternoon, accompanied by his wife, and 
 he could not help but feel flattered by the urgent invita- 
 tion of so proininent a man as Judge Hall, whom he be- 
 lieved he had never seen before. 
 
 That evening the Judge explained to his wife who their 
 expected visitors were, and why he was anxious to have' a 
 lengthy interview with General Baird, in his library, 
 where he intended to explain all the circumstances of their 
 ■first- raeetiDg on the bluff by Lake Erie. 
 
152 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 The next day General Baird and his accomplished wife 
 called on Judge Hall and Nellie, who received their dis- 
 tinguished visitors with a cordiaUty that surprised them; 
 they wondered why it was. The General suspected that 
 Judge Hall had some political scheme of deep financial 
 importance, and that he wished to secure his influence in 
 furthering his design. 
 
 This world is so deceptive in human action as manifest- 
 ing human motive, that like the "undertow" of the waters 
 of lake or ocean on an iron-bound shore, the surface does 
 not indicate the fierce current below. AH politicians un- 
 derstand this, and therefore the friendly smile and hand- 
 shaking before an election, are understood to be but a 
 counterfeit of the circulating medium of truth and sin- 
 cerity. General Bai^ d was a politician, and he suspected 
 that the under-current would manifest itself during the 
 evening; and when Judge Hall invited him to accompany 
 him into his library, he smiled a cynical smile, very like 
 the one with which he received the refusal of Judge Hall 
 to explain the occurrence at the death of Wa-na-tau on the 
 bluff at Lake Erie. 
 
 The astute New York lawyer suspected something, a 
 common phenomenon in the minds of the legal fraternity, 
 when anything happens a little out of the routine of the 
 common occurrences of intercourse among their fellow- 
 men. 
 
 "General take this easy chair and a cigar," said Judge 
 Hall, with the unfeigned urbanity of a true gentleman, 
 "and now I will listen to your details of the business you 
 desired to see me about. We will leave our wives to dis- 
 cuss the facts, follies and fashions of societyj while we 
 will be undisturbed, at least until an inexhaustible subject 
 is exhausted." 
 
 General Baird went through an elaborate detail of the 
 business he had in charge, when Judge Hall said: 
 
 "General, I will give your matter careful attention, and 
 will report the result to you as soon as possible." Then 
 he artfully led the conversation to "our relations" with 
 the Indian tribes. He tried to ascertain if the General 
 remembered the occurrence at "Munson's clearing;" at 
 length he succeeded. 
 
 "General Baird, did you ever see much of our western 
 country?" inquired Judge Hall. 
 
 "No, Judge, I never was farther west than western 
 
THE NEMESIS OP CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 153 
 
 New York. I was sent there once by our State Depart- 
 ment on a very peculiar mission, and I had an unusual and 
 singular experience on the frontier." 
 
 "Ah!" replied Judge Hall, "what was it? I am always 
 interested in the incidents of the frontier life of the early 
 pioneers of our country." 
 
 The General lighted a fresh cigar as he remarked: "I 
 will relate it to you briefly. Some twelve years ago I was 
 sent to Chautauqua County, New York, ostensibly to sur- 
 vey a tract of government land and ascertain the -locality 
 of a disputed line; but my real object was more that of a 
 detective. You see it had been reported to the Depart- 
 ment, that there had been a number of Indians murdered 
 in the woods around Chautauqua Lake, and along the 
 shores of Lake Erie. We were then at peace with most of 
 the tribes of the Six Nations, which as you are aware was 
 an Indian confederacy composed of Mohawks, Oneidas, 
 Cayugas, On ndagas, Senecas and Tuscaroras, who in- 
 habited the central and western portion of New York. 
 As I have said, it had been repeatedly reported to the 
 State authorities at Albany that a number of bodies of 
 murdered Indians had been found by the settlers in the 
 forests of that region; and what was singular^ they all had 
 been scalped, and- on the breast of every one was a mark of 
 a cross, made with a knife. It was believed that they had 
 all been killed by one man, a half -crazy recluse who lived 
 somewhere on the shores of Chautauqua Lake. He was 
 said to be a man of great stature and strength. He usu- 
 ally carried a long double-barreled rifle, with which his 
 aim was unerring. A reward had been offered by the 
 State for the arrest and conviction of anyone who had 
 been engaged in the commission of the murders of the 
 peaceable Indians, whose bodies had been found as I have 
 narrated. 
 
 "One beautiful morning in October, accompanied by 
 my two chain-bearers, I was running a line through the 
 woods near Lake Erie, when we heard the report of a 
 rifle. I paused to listen, when I heard one of my chain- 
 bearers remark sotto voice, 'There goes old two-shooter.' 
 I inquired what they meant, but they gave an evasive an- 
 swer. We were near a clearing on the lake shore, called 
 by the settlers, 'Munson's clearing.' With hasty but 
 noiseless steps we entered the clearing, when I saw a man 
 dragging the dead body of an Indian to the edge of the 
 
154 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 tluff, and throw it into the lake.. He was so intently en- 
 gaged in concealing the evidence of his crime that' he did 
 not hear our approach until I laid my hand upon him 
 aild asked him whose body it was he had thrown into the 
 lake. 
 
 "Caiaght as he was, 'flagrante delicto/ he appeared very 
 much confused— hesitated in his answer — and finally said 
 the Indian was shot from a woods fully a quarter of a 
 mile distant, but he refused to tell us who it was that shot 
 the Indian, and we arrested him and took him to May- 
 ville, where he was lodged in a rude log jail. 
 
 "He must have been assisted in his escape by some per- 
 sons from the outside, for we found the bars of the win- 
 dow of his cell lying on the ground by the side of a rude 
 lever or hand-spike that had been used to remove them; 
 wp also saw a large moccasin track near the window. I 
 have forgotten to state that just before we einerged from 
 the woods into the clearing, we heard several maniacal 
 yells from the woods on the opposite side of the opening, 
 but they were distant and we gave them no heed; yet I 
 thought I did observe my chain-bearers exchange knowing 
 and significant looks with each other, which after-thought 
 led me to believe that they knew something that I did not 
 understand. 
 
 "I was at a loss to determine in which direction my 
 fugitive had fled when he escaped from the jail. Mrs-. 
 Eirch, wife of one of my chain-bearers told me she, heard 
 the prisoner tell her husband, just before we started' for 
 Mayville, that he was an Indian trader and was going 
 East to buy a stock of goods for the Indian market. When 
 I questioned her husband about it he said he did not re- 
 member any such talk with the prisoner, but that if Dolly 
 said so, I could bet my life it was so. I think the good 
 woman was mistaken, but I do not believe that she in- 
 tended to deceive me; all the settlers said she was a good 
 Christian woman, a member of the 'Methodist meeting,' 
 and would not tell a lie any more than George Washing- 
 ton would. 
 
 "But she was evidently mistaken, yet the man who 
 killed the Indian did not look like an Indian trader. He 
 was well dressed, had the bearing of a gentleman, his lan- 
 guage indicated that he was educated, and I thought that 
 in his conversation Ijietected the ear-marks of a lawyer. 
 But the wildernesses of the West were at that time 'cities 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 155 
 
 of refuge' to go many criminals and lawless adventurers, 
 that it was difficult to determine either the social or moral 
 status of strangers you met on the frontier. 
 
 "At first I thought our fugitive had gone South, perhaps 
 with a guide, and that he had taken the lake as a pathway 
 that would lea:ve no trail that could be followed. If I had 
 known that he had gone South on the river I would have 
 followed him to Pittsburgh, but I would have captured 
 him. it would have been a feather in my cap could I 
 have delivered him to the State authorities at Albany. 
 
 "I had a number of men and two canoes stationed at a 
 narrow portion of the lake to watch and intercept any 
 canoe that might pass during the nijht. I was not there, 
 but from what I heard the next day, a canoe with the old 
 recluse did pass, and with his rifle he extinguished the 
 torches and jack-light of the men who were watching for 
 him. I do not think his pursuers were very anxious to ar- 
 rest him, for every one seemed to respect him and all 
 pitied him, for his family had been murdered by the In- 
 dians ten years before. But he escaped, me, and I have 
 never heard from him since." 
 
 Here the: General paused and looking around the. li- 
 brary, accidentally his attention was attracted to a long 
 double-barreled rifle suspended on brackets of deer, antlers 
 over the-fire-place, on which was also suspended a powder- 
 horn and a scalping-knife. 
 
 "That is a singular rifle," remarked the General, "the 
 length of its barrels is very unusual. What is that word 
 inlaid in its breech? N-e-m-e-s-i-s," he continued as he 
 slowly spelled the name. "What is the significance of the 
 word, and if you will excuse my curiosity, Judge, where 
 did you get it?" 
 
 "Well, General," answered Judge Hall, his eyes twink- 
 ling with innate humor, "that is the rifle with which the 
 Indian was shot, whose body you saw me throw over the 
 cliff into the lake at Munson's clearing twelve years ago. 
 Don't you remember the circumstance, General? It is 
 very like the one you have just narrated." 
 
 "The rifle with which the Indian was shot, whose body_ 
 you threw into the lake!" exclaimed General Baird in al- 
 most breathless astonishment. "Good Heavens! what 
 does it mean, Judge?" 
 
 Judge Hall laughed heaitily at the expression of aston- 
 
156 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 isliment and confusion on the face of the General, and 
 said: 
 
 "Listen, General, while I a tale unfold, that if it does 
 not 
 
 "Harrow up thy soul and freeze thy young blood," 
 
 will at least explain the circumstances you have narrated, 
 and when I am done, if you want me to go to Albany, I 
 will not put you to the trouble of getting a requisition 
 from the Governor. 
 
 "That formidable-looking rifle belonged to my wife's 
 father, William Munson. He was known on the frontier 
 as the 'Nemesis of Chautauqua Lake.' The liistory of his 
 life is a strange and eventful one. He was a noble man 
 and a true Christian. He was a man of education, a grad- 
 uate of a New England college. All of his family except 
 my wife were murdered by a band of marauding Indians. 
 His little boy, Harry, was tomahawked and scalped in his 
 very presence by Wa-na-tau, the savage whose body you 
 saw me throw over the cliff. After the murder of his 
 family he became a recluse in the woods of Western New 
 York. He built himself a cabin of unique construction 
 on the shore of Chautauqua Lake. At times he was par- 
 tially insane, and if you could have heard the story of his 
 wrongs as he related it to me, as he stood by the side of the 
 dead savage that he had shot from the woods, as I told you 
 at the time, you could not have blamed him. I would not 
 tell you, when under arrest, who it was that killed Wa-na- 
 tau, for the reason that his terrible story aroused my sym- 
 pathy, and I wished him to escape. Jonas Birch and the 
 other chain-bearer, who were ivith you at the time, recog- 
 nized the sound of his rifle, and knew that it was Mun- 
 Eon's. 
 
 "All the men who were with you on the lake, when you 
 were pursuing us, also believed it was Munson who killed 
 the savage, and they all purposely misled you in the pur- 
 suit, for they wished him to escape. Even good Dolly 
 Birch, a devout Christian woman, took a 'Jesuitical' view 
 of the occurrence — 'that the end justified the means,' and 
 she toldyou a fictitious story, that I was an Indian trader 
 on my way East to purchase goods for the Indian market. 
 And General, permit me to congratulate you on the fact 
 that you did not overtake us in your pursuit, for if you 
 had you could never have captured Munson. The settlers 
 
THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 157 
 
 would not have assisted you, and you would have been as 
 a child in his hands, for he was a giant in both size and 
 strength, and never knew what the emotion of fear was." 
 
 Here the Judge went into details of all that occurred to 
 himself and Munson on their flight down the Allegheny 
 river, as well as the death and burial of Munson and Joe 
 Smiley, on the banks of the Maumee river. 
 
 It is useless to attempt to describe the astonishment of 
 General Baird at the narration of Judge Hall. "Well!" 
 said he, after an eloquent pause as the narration ended, 
 how truly said Lord Byron in Don Juan: 
 
 " ' 'Tis strange — but true; for truth is always strange; 
 Stranger than fiction.' 
 
 "But Judge, while as lawyers we may not be able to 
 justify the acts of William Munson, yet as men we can 
 well excuse them. I do not blame him in the least. In 
 fact I admire and respect his memory; and on reflection I 
 will not trouble you to go to Albany at present. But, 
 Judge, our wives have 'exhausted the inexhaustible' by 
 this time, and are probably wondering at the length of the 
 details of my business mission to you. Perhaps we had 
 better join them." 
 
 When Judge Hall and the General entered the parlor 
 they found their wives conversing with the unrestrained 
 confidence of old friends. It was evident a mutua,l esteem 
 had been established between them, a sincere friendly re- 
 gard which continued inany years, increasing as time 
 elapsed, until they became warm personal friends. 
 
 "Nellie," said the Judge, "please unclasp your bracelet 
 and let General Baird look at it. I have related to him its 
 history, and he is curious to examine it more closely." 
 
 "I have just shown it to your wife, General," said Nel- 
 lie, "and told her its story and why I prize it above all my 
 possessions." The General looked at it admiringly, when 
 Nellie continued, "These white settings which my hus- 
 band calls his 'circumstantial evidence,' are five little bird 
 eggs, laid in a nest in a crevice in a rock on the shore of 
 Lake Erie, by, the dearest little bird that ever caroled its 
 notes of joy in springtime, my poor little brother Harry; 
 and General, I saw a savage sink his tomahawk into his 
 head and strip his scalp from it before life or even sensa- 
 tion was extinguished. But my noble father has avenged 
 
158 THE NEMESIS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
 
 his death in a just, yet fearful manner. Now that you 
 know all, General, can you blame him?" 
 
 ''No, my deaf madam!" replied the General, "I do not 
 censure him in the least, and I shall always respect his 
 memory. He did naught but what a brave and noble 
 man might well have done. It seems as if the Being he 
 worshiped so faithfully had indeed decreed that he should 
 be a Nemesis to execute His avenging justice." 
 
 The General and his wife, and Judge Hall and Nellie 
 parted with the "Au revoir'^ of affected fashionable social 
 life. But they did meet again and for a number of years 
 their mutual esteem and friendship increased while the 
 story of the recluse was often referred to with filial affec- 
 tion by Nellie, and reverence and respect by her friends. 
 
 Our story is ended. Some of the incidents therein re- 
 lated are remembered by those yet living, as the traditions 
 of the past often related by the early settlers of western 
 New York. The prophecy of Munsbn has been fulfilled. 
 
 "Chautauqua Assembly" grounds is one of the most 
 beautifiil Summer resorts on this continent. A temple 
 dedicated to the worship of the Most High now stands on 
 the spot where he erected his altar for the sacrifice he be- 
 lieved was demanded by the silent voices of those he 
 thought he saw in spirit form around him in his sbhtary 
 night's in the wilderness. Other temples of learning now 
 stand where once was naught but a pathless forest. They 
 are illuminated as he predicted by the lightnings of 
 Heaven. The lake is traversed by arks driven by fire. 
 Songs of praise and prayei's to the Being he worshiped 
 sincerely are heard from temple and fireside on every 
 hand, and the infiuence radiated from this beautiful shore 
 is felt far and wide over the land. 
 
 A few years ago in excavating for the foundation of a 
 building on the Chautauqua Assembly grounds, a number 
 of human skeletons were exliumed; many who saw them 
 wondered whose they were. Some supposed the place was 
 an Indian burying ground, but others who had heard the 
 traditions of the past, truly believed that they were the 
 relics of the victims of the insatiable revenge of 
 
 "The Nemesis of Chautauqua Lake."