Their surprise gave
way to conjectures that your restless and romantic spirit had tempted
you from your repose, that you had rambled abroad on some fantastic
errand, and would probably return before the dawn. I willingly
acquiesced in this opinion, and, my feelings being too thoroughly
aroused to allow me to sleep, I took possession of your chamber and
patiently awaited your return. "The morning returned, but Huntly made not his appearance. Your uncle
became somewhat uneasy at this unseasonable absence. Much speculation
and inquiry as to the possible reasons of your flight was made. In my
survey of your chamber, I noted that only part of your clothing remained
beside your bed. Coat, hat, stockings and shoes lay upon the spot where
they had probably been thrown when you had disrobed yourself; but the
pantaloons, which, according to Mr. Huntly's report, completed your
dress, were nowhere to be found. That you should go forth on so cold a
night so slenderly apparelled, was almost incredible. Your reason or
your senses had deserted you, before so rash an action could be
meditated. "I now remembered the person I had met in Norwalk. His resemblance to
your figure, his garb, which wanted hat, coat, stockings and shoes, and
your absence from your bed at that hour, were remarkable coincidences:
but why did you disregard my call? Your name, uttered by a voice that
could not be unknown, was surely sufficient to arrest your steps. "Each hour added to the impatience of your friends. To their
recollections and conjectures I listened with a view to extract from
them some solution of this mystery. At length a story was alluded to of
some one who, on the preceding night, had been heard walking in the long
room: to this was added the tale of your anxieties and wonders
occasioned by the loss of certain manuscripts. "While ruminating upon these incidents, and endeavouring to extract from
this intelligence a clue explanatory of your present situation, a single
word, casually dropped by your uncle, instantly illuminated my darkness
and dispelled my doubts.--'After all,' said the old man, 'ten to one but
Edgar himself was the man whom we heard walking, but the lad was asleep,
and knew not what he was about.' "'Surely,' said I, 'this inference is just. His manuscripts could not be
removed by any hands but his own, since the rest of mankind were
unacquainted not only with the place of their concealment, but with
their existence. None but a man insane or asleep would wander forth so
slightly dressed, and none but a sleeper would have disregarded my
calls.' This conclusion was generally adopted; but it gave birth in my
mind to infinite inquietudes. You had roved into Norwalk, a scene of
inequalities, of prominences and pits, among which, thus destitute of
the guidance of your senses, you could scarcely fail to be destroyed,
or, at least, irretrievably bewildered. I painted to myself the dangers
to which you were subjected. Your careless feet would bear you into some
whirlpool or to the edge of some precipice; some internal revolution or
outward shock would recall you to consciousness at some perilous moment. Surprise and fear would disable you from taking seasonable or suitable
precautions, and your destruction be made sure. "The lapse of every new hour, without bringing tidings of your state,
enhanced these fears. At length the propriety of searching for you
occurred; Mr. Huntly and I determined to set out upon this pursuit, as
well as to commission others. A plan was laid by which every accessible
part of Norwalk, the wilderness beyond the flats of Solesbury, and the
valley of Chetasco, should be traversed and explored. "Scarcely had we equipped ourselves for this expedition, when a
messenger arrived, who brought the disastrous news of Indians being seen
within these precincts, and on the last night a farmer was shot in his
fields, a dwelling in Chetasco was burnt to the ground, and its
inhabitants murdered or made captives. Rumour and inquiry had been busy,
and a plausible conjecture had been formed as to the course and number
of the enemies. They were said to be divided into bands, and to amount
in the whole to thirty or forty warriors. This messenger had come to
warn us of danger which might impend, and to summon us to join in the
pursuit and extirpation of these detestable foes. "Your uncle, whose alacrity and vigour age had not abated, eagerly
engaged in this scheme. I was not averse to contribute my efforts to an
end like this. The road which we had previously designed to take, in
search of my fugitive pupil, was the same by which we must trace or
intercept the retreat of the savages. Thus two purposes, equally
momentous, would be answered by the same means. "Mr. Huntly armed himself with your fusil; Inglefield supplied me with a
gun. During our absence the dwelling was closed and locked, and your
sisters placed under the protection of Inglefield, whose age and pacific
sentiments unfitted him for arduous and sanguinary enterprises. A troop
of rustics was collected, half of whom remained to traverse Solesbury,
and the other, whom Mr. Huntly and I accompanied, hastened to Chetasco." Chapter XXV. "It was noonday before we reached the theatre of action. Fear and
revenge combined to make the people of Chetasco diligent and zealous in
their own defence. The havoc already committed had been mournful. To
prevent a repetition of the same calamities, they resolved to hunt out
the hostile footsteps and exact a merciless retribution. "It was likely that the enemy, on the approach of day, had withdrawn
from the valley and concealed themselves in the thickets between the
parallel ridges of the mountain. This space, which, according to the
object with which it is compared, is either a vale or the top of a hill,
was obscure and desolate. It was undoubtedly the avenue by which the
robbers had issued forth, and by which they would escape to the Ohio. Here they might still remain, intending to emerge from their concealment
on the next night and perpetrate new horrors. "A certain distribution was made of our number, so as to move in all
directions at the same time. I will not dwell upon particulars. It will
suffice to say that keen eyes and indefatigable feet brought us at last
to the presence of the largest number of these marauders. Seven of them
were slain by the edge of a brook, where they sat wholly unconscious of
the danger which hung over them. Five escaped, and one of these secured
his retreat by wresting your fusil from your uncle and shooting him
dead. Before our companion could be rescued or revenged, the assassin,
with the remnant of the troop, disappeared, and bore away with him the
fusil as a trophy of his victory. "This disaster was deplored, not only on account of that life which had
thus been sacrificed, but because a sagacious guide and intrepid leader
was lost.