The men, who so lately
had been moved by the fiercest passions of our nature, were suddenly
restrained if not appeased; and, instead of that exulting indulgence of
vengeance which commonly accompanies an Indian triumph, the warriors
stalked about the buildings and through the adjacent grounds, in a
silence which, though gloomy and sullen, was marked by their
characteristic submission to events.
The principal leaders of the inroad, and all the surviving sufferers by
the defeat, were assembled in the piazza of the dwelling. Ruth, pale,
sorrowing, and mourning for others rather than for herself, stood a little
apart, attended by Martha and the young assistant, whose luckless fortune
it was to be found at her post, on this eventful day. Content, the
stranger, and Mark, were near, subdued and bound, the sole survivors of
all that band they had so recently led into the conflict. The gray hairs
and bodily infirmities of the Puritan spared him the same degradation. The
only other being present, of European origin, was Whittal Ring. The
innocent stalked slowly among the prisoners, sometimes permitting ancient
recollections and sympathies to come over his dull intellect, but oftener
taunting the unfortunate with the injustice of their race, and with the
wrongs of his adopted people.
Pages:
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540