The Boy Captives: An Incident of the Indian War of 1695Whittier, John Greenleaf
History
The Boy Captives: An Incident of the Indian War of 1695
Whittier, John Greenleaf
Haverhill (Mass.) -- History; Indian captivities
tinder, and a small quantity of dry moose-meat and corn-bread. He
then carefully awakened his companion, who, starting up, forgetful
of the cause of his disturbance, asked aloud, "What do you want?"
The savages began to stir; and Isaac, trembling with fear of
detection, lay down again and pretended to be asleep. After
waiting a while he again rose, satisfied, from the heavy breathing of
the Indians, that they were all sleeping; and fearing to awaken
Joseph a second time, lest he should again hazard all by his
thoughtlessness, he crept softly out of the wigwam. He had
proceeded but a few rods when he heard footsteps behind him; and,
supposing himself pursued, he hurried into the woods, casting a
glance backward. What was his joy to see his young companion
running after him! They hastened on in a southerly direction as
nearly as they could determine, hoping to reach their distant home.
When daylight appeared they found a large hollow log, into which
they crept for concealment, wisely judging that they would be hotly
pursued by their Indian captors.
Their sagacity was by no means at fault. The Indians, missing
their prisoners in the morning, started off in pursuit with their dogs.
As the young boys lay in the log they could hear the whistle of the
Indians and the barking of dogs upon their track. It was a trying
moment; and even the stout heart of the elder boy sank within him
as the dogs came up to the log and set up a loud bark of discovery.
But his presence of mind saved him. He spoke in a low tone to the
dogs, who, recognizing his familiar voice, wagged their tails with
delight, and ceased barking. He then threw to them the morsel of
moose-meat he had taken from the wigwam. While the dogs were thus
diverted, the Indians made their appearance. The boys heard the
light, stealthy sound of their moccasins on the leaves. They passed
close to the log; and the dogs, having devoured their moose-meat,
trotted after their masters. Through a crevice in the log the boys
looked after them, and saw them disappear in the thick woods. They
remained in their covert until night, when they started again on their
long journey, taking a new route to avoid the Indians. At daybreak
they again concealed themselves, but travelled the next night and day
without resting. By this time they had consumed all the bread which
they had taken, and were fainting from hunger and weariness. Just at
the close of the third day they were providentially enabled to kill a
pigeon and a small tortoise, a part of which they ate raw, not daring
to make a fire, which might attract the watchful eyes of savages. On
the sixth day they struck upon an old Indian path, and, following it
until night, came suddenly upon a camp of the enemy. Deep in the
heart of the forest, under the shelter of a ridge of land heavily
timbered, a great fire of logs and brushwood was burning; and around
it the Indians sat, eating their moose-meat and smoking their pipes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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