Little Oskaloo; or, The White WhirlwindHarbaugh, T. C. (Thomas Chalmers)
General
Little Oskaloo; or, The White Whirlwind
Harbaugh, T. C. (Thomas Chalmers)
Indians of North America -- Juvenile fiction
Quick to the speaker's shoulder leaped the deadly rifle, and his cheek
dropped upon the stock for aim.
Harvey Catlett watched the renegade, unconscious of his swiftly
approaching doom.
All at once James Girty bounded into the air, and with a death cry that
sounded above the roar of battle, fell on his face, and stretched his
brawny arms in the agony of death.
Wolf Cap lowered his rifle and wheeled upon the spy.
"Did you shoot?" he cried.
"No."
"Then who did? Some one has cheated me of my revenge!"
As he spoke, he glanced to the right and saw a young Indian reloading
his rifle.
"It is Parquatoc!" said Harvey Catlett.
With a maddened cry the tall hunter sprang forward; but the Seneca youth
eluded him, and disappeared in the twinkling of an eye.
"Come! The battle rolls towards the British fort!" the young spy said,
rousing Wolf Cap, who had relapsed into one of his singular reveries.
"Yes, yes; we will go. But let us see whether he is dead."
The twain hurried to the spot where James Girty had fallen. Wolf Cap
turned him over, and saw the eyes start at sight of him.
"The butcherer still lives!" the trailer said, as his hand grasped the
handle of his tomahawk. "Harvey, I can yet revenge the murdered ones."
But the youth's hand fell restrainingly on Wolf Cap's arm.
"No. He is dying, Abner. Let us keep our hands in this hour. Get down
and hear what he says."
The two knelt beside the dreaded scourge of the Northwest, powerless now
to harm a babe. Words were falling from his lips, and his eyes remained
fixed upon Abner Stark.
"They did it!" he said. "It was a redskin's bullet, and Parquatoc's. No
more battles for Jim Girty. Listen, Abner Stark, for I know you. You
have hunted me a long time, to find me dying. Where is the girl?"
Wolf Cap started, and glanced at the spy.
"He talks about some girl, Harvey."
"Is the girl here?" asked the outlaw in a louder voice. "No? Must I die
without seeing her? Well, let it be so. Abner Stark, when she comes,
take her in your arms and call her your child, for such she is. I saved
her from Indian fury that night, and I have tried to be good to her, bad
as I am. I thought I would never tell you this."
"This is all true, Girty?" cried Stark, scarcely able to credit the
revelation.
"On the word of the dying, Abner Stark. Why should I lie now?"
Then Wolf Cap raised his eyes towards heaven, and poured out the
gratitude of a father's soul.
When he looked again at the prostrate outlaw, it was to say:
"I am glad I did not shoot you."
Girty smiled, and tried to speak; but the effort proved a failure, and
the head fell back.
It was all over. The White Whirlwind was dead, and the flowers which his
restless feet had pressed to earth, lifted their heads and smiled.
"Come, Abner!" said Catlett.
The hunter obeyed, but, as he rose, he caught sight of a rapidly
approaching figure, and stood still.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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