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  “Of me, Captain?” exclaimed Roberts, in a rather excited, and, as some fancied, agitated tone. “And pray, what were you saying of me?” “Why, it is fully believed by some of us that there is a traitor in our party, and your name has already been mentioned as one suspected” “And who dares accuse me, sir?” said the other, in a well-feigned tone of innocent indignation; for well the traitor knew he stood on slippery ground, and that nothing short of the boldest assurance could save him from falling to rise no more. Already he trembled at the thought; But he labored to conceal the secret terror he felt; and so well succeeded, that even his enemies could perceive nothing in his actions but what was natural of one placed under such disagreeable circumstances. Of how much was really known to his confederates in crime, Roberts was ignorant; and he would freely have given ten years of his life to have been assured of his safety; for well he knew, if the charge were proved against him, nothing short of a miraculous interposition of that Providence in which he had but little faith, could save him from a speedy and bloody death; but, as we have before said, he was determined to put on the boldest face he could; and if the whole matter were merely a suspicion, he fancied he could yet escape. The reply of the captain greatly reassured him. “No one really accuses you,” returned Gerolstein, “because, as yet, we have no positive proof of your guilt, and it is to be hoped you can prove yourself innocent.” “I trust I can,” replied Roberts; “at least I can declare myself so, and it is for you to prove me otherwise. Really, gentlemen,” he said—in a tone and with a manner well calculated to reassure his friends and make his enemies somewhat doubtful of his guilt—“I feel hurt, and grieved, that you should find cause to suspect one who has been as true to you, as I have, for the last five years of my life—thus dating from the time when I first became one of you, and bound myself, by the strongest of oaths, to true fidelity” “Can I be permitted a question, Captain?” asked Morford. “Certainly—go on!” replied Gerolstein. “How was it, then, that you should make use of the language you did, on the last night of our meeting at the cave?” inquired Morford, turning to Roberts. “Ha!” said Roberts—“if I am not mistaken, it is Henry Morford who now addresses me; and if so, I can readily perceive who is my would-be accuser. Not satisfied with getting me disgraced, and deprived of the honorable office I held for two years, you must now seek to degrade me still further in the eyes of my worthy comrades—and, if possible, send me out of the world as a traitor. I shall not forget, nor overlook this, Henry Morford.” “As to that, sir,” replied the other, “you can do as you please; but just now I wish you to answer my question, as to why you made use of the language you did on the night in question; and when you have done that, I will, with the captain's permission, interrogate you still further.” “So, then, you are to constitute yourself my inquisitor, eh?” “Remember, Mr. Roberts, you are evading my question; and one that I have a right to ask—for I first obtained permission of our commander.” “Out of respect to Captain Gerolstein, then, and the other gentlemen here present, I will answer the question

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  propounded,” replied Roberts; “though, I protest, I am not answering you individually, with whom I scorn to hold any further conversation. The night alluded to, I was greatly excited, and, in the heat of passion, I might have made use of language, the real meaning of which I did not fully take into consideration, and have now forgotten: this is my answer. If I am to be questioned further, I beg, Captain, that you will be my interrogator; for it is your office by right, and I would rather answer a superior than an inferior.” “By heavens! wretch, do you allude to me as your inferior?” cried Morford, completely thrown off his guard by passion. “Hold!” exclaimed Gerolstein, sternly. “You seem to forget, Henry Morford, that I am present. Henceforth, I will question Roberts myself.” And then turning to the latter. “I wish,” he said, “to know where you went, after leaving the cave, on the night of our last meeting there?” “I will answer you truly, Captain. When we separated at the cave, it was decided that each should go what way he pleased, so that all were at the rendezvous at the time appointed. Well, at first, I thought of going afoot—as I believe most of the party did do—but feeling a good deal fatigued, I altered my mind, and went home for my horse. My wife, hearing me in the act of taking him out, came out to me, and said our little child was sick. I could do no less than go into the house, where I was detained above an hour. I then mounted my horse, and rode to within half a mile of the rendezvous, where I tied him to a sapling, and then set off afoot. This accounts for my being somewhat late; though, you will bear in mind, I was in time to have taken part in the business of the night, had my services been needed.” “Well, so far your story seems straight-forward, and tallies with what we already know,” replied the captain. “But what seems strange to us, and first excited our suspicion of treachery in some one, is the fact that Butterman should be watching his spring, with a loaded rifle, at the very time Thrasher went to poison it.” “It is strange,” replied Roberts, “and I have thought of it much—and, I must confess, not without uneasiness. I have thought that perhaps a message had been conveyed to him, of what that night took place in the cave; and again I have thought that it might, perhaps, all be the result of accident. You know that Butterman, from what we hear, has, for some time, held the belief that we had, and still have, a design upon his life. Well, it is possible (mind I only suggest this as an idea that occurred to me, as a way of accounting for his accidentally being there,) that, having occasion to get some water for his family, he went out, taking his rifle with him as a natural precaution; and that on arriving at the spring, which is concealed in some bushes, he saw a man approaching, and waited quietly to ascertain his intention; and that, furthermore, on seeing him approach, he drew back himself; and that, finally, when the other threw the poison in, mistrusting his design, he fired, and, owing to the darkness, missed his mark. Such has been one way I have had of accounting for the singular circumstance; but since I have been accused myself, another idea has struck me.” “What is it?” demanded the captain. “Why, I have thought that it sometimes happens that the real thief is the first to cry thief.” “And what do you mean by such insinuations as that?” cried Morford. Page 88

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  “Did I insinuate?” queried Roberts, sneeringly. “Yes, you did.” “Does the coat fit?” “By heavens, I—” “Silence!” thundered the captain. “Henry Morford, if you dare to interfere in this matter again, till I am done, I will have you arrested for mutiny! John Roberts, be careful of your language, unless you can made a direct accusation!” “But has he—” “Silence, sirrah! Gods! I shall get in a passion soon, if I do not find my orders obeyed a little more promptly. But to the point. Admitting you to be innocent of treachery night before last, I wish to know where you were last night, that you were not among us as I directed?” This was a rather difficult question to answer satisfactorily; nevertheless, Roberts had resolved on his reply; but fortunately, perhaps, for him, he was not granted an opportunity to make it; for at the moment he was about to speak, the sharp cry of one of the sentinels, “Who goes there?” broke the stillness, followed by the report of a musket, and shouts of vengeance; while from every quarter of the Oaken Grove, dark figures sprang up, as it were, from the earth, and, rushing toward the center, completely surrounded and hemmed in the surprised, alarmed, and discomfitted outlaws. CHAPTER XVI. THE ATTACK, AND HARLEM'S COVER. “Defend yourselves, men! we are attacked!” thundered the clarion voice of Gerolstein. “Discharge your arms at the assailants, and follow me!” Instantly a scattering fire was poured forth in every direction upon the assailants, who as promptly returned it; and then, cheered on by the voice of Langley, the latter bore down upon the outlaws, with the intention of drawing them into a hand to-hand combat. But in this they were disappointed; for believing the most prudent course to be the best, under the present circumstances, Gerolstein was determined on drawing off his men, and making his escape with as little delay as possible. Not that he was by any means a coward; but he foresaw that to remain and fight, would be to cause much blood-shed, and lose a part, if not all, of his men, who would doubtless either be killed or taken prisoners; and he knew, also, that if his own party equaled in numbers the assailants, they would fight at a great disadvantage, from having been so suddenly surprised, and taken so much as it: were off their guard; besides, for all he knew to the contrary, his foes might outnumber him as two to one; and from having seen his forces, and planned their mode of attack, every man would know his place, and exactly what to do; and thus victory, on their part, would be almost a certain consequence. All this Gerolstein took into consideration in a moment, and issued his orders accordingly; and in doing so, he proved himself a wise commander; for under the favorable circumstances in which the party of Langley made the attack, the latter would certainly have been successful. “Follow me, men!” rang out the clear voice of Gerolstein, the moment his party had, according to orders, discharged their pieces at the party approaching; and selecting the weakest part of the surrounding line of foes, he made for it with all speed, followed by every one of his band. In vain Langley sought to throw himself, and some half-a-dozen of his companions, in forward, and so turn the

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  van, or impede the progress of the fugitives, till the others could come up behind; he could not reach the spot in time; and those who stood before Gerolstein, perceiving him coming with such speed, with such a body of men at his heels, drew back and left his path free; and in another moment he had cleared the grove with his shouting followers, and all were rushing and tumbling down one of the steep sides of the mountain. “Halt!” shouted Langley; “it is useless to follow them further; they have escaped us, and it is a bloodless victory.” “Not quite,” said one of the men, who now began to gather around him, some of them grumbling and cursing what they termed their bad luck, “Not quite a bloodless victory,” pursued the one who had spoken, addressing Langley; “for I've got a hole clean through my arm, and the blood runs right smart.” “It must be stanched,” returned Langley; and undoing his neckerchief, he approached and bound it tight around the man's arm. “Are there any more wounded?” he inquired. “I've got the tip of my ear shot off,” laughed one. “And I've got a hole plum through my beaver,” joined in another. “Here's a hole through my coat,” said a third. “Another through my shirt,” chimed in a fourth. “And there was one bullet, as come so near my head, I had to dodge it,” added a fifth. “Curses on the imps of Satan, to get clear from us so easy!” said a harsh, coarse voice, in a very different key from the merry tones of the others. “Yes, and — such a victory as this!” grumbled another. “Ef we could only hev let the heart's blood out of two or three, I'd been better satisfied,” chimed in a third. “Ef ever I git so near'em agin,” said a fourth, “without hurting anybody, I'll jest squat down peaceable, and let any man call me a liar.” “Come, come, men,” interposed Langley—“all this does not mend the matter; they have escaped us, and before we can wreak our vengeance on them, we must find them again. By heavens! and this reminds me what I had forgotten—which is, that Roberts informed me, that if they escaped us here, we had better set off at once for Harlem's Cover; for if we found them not there, we should be likely at least to recover the stolen horses. Besides, he gave me full particulars concerning the place and the way to manage.” “Good! good!” returned several voices—“let us start at once for Harlem's Cover.” “But how are we to find it?” asked one. “Follow me,” said Langley, “and I think, if Roberts directed me right, I can lead you thither.” “Away, then!” said another voice— “we have no time to lose.” “Come on, then, one and all!” cried Langley; and darting across the grove, he rushed down the hill, on the side opposite to that which the outlaws had descended. He was followed by each of the others, and in another minute the grove was cleared of human beings, and the last one disappeared down the sloping side of the mount. Leaving them to find their way to Harlem's Cover, we will now return to the fugitives. Rushing down the hill in the manner we have shown, Gerolstein and his men came to a halt in a thick wood, about a quarter of a mile from the place of attack; and ascertaining they were not pursued,

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  they forthwith held a short consultation, as to what was best to be done. “We are certainly betrayed,” said the captain; “and oh! that I could find the villain that has done it, and punish him for his treachery!” “I think after this, you can no longer suspect me,” returned Roberts, boldly. “I feel we have no right to, certainly,” answered the captain; “for had you betrayed us, it would have been natural for you to have escaped when we fled—or, rather, not to have joined us at all, knowing we were about to be attacked, when you would run the same risk of dying by a chance bullet as the rest of us.” “And I think the same thing,” rejoined Jarvis. “I have known Roberts long, and I do not believe he could be guilty of an act so base as that of which he has been suspected; but were it otherwise—did I really think him guilty—my hand should be the first to plunge a knife to his heart.” “I thank you, gentlemen,” replied Roberts, evidently somewhat touched, and, if truth must be told, feeling not a little remorse for what he had done, though well he knew it was now too late to play the part of other than a villain: “I thank you, gentlemen, for having so promptly and honorably exonerated me when convinced of my innocence.” “And well you may,” grumbled Morford, in a tone too low to reach the ears of the traitor. And then he added aloud: “If I remember rightly, John Roberts has not yet answered the question asked by the captain the moment before we were attacked.” “Well, well,” interposed Gerolstein, in a decisive tone, “we cannot attend to that matter now: another time we will hear Mr. Roberts' explanation. At present we must decide what to do, and that speedily, and then act upon it at once.” “If I might venture a suggestion,” hesitated Roberts. “Go on!” rejoined the captain. “I should say,” pursued the other, concluding the sentence, “that perhaps we had better set out for Harlem's Cover, and secure our horses, lest the villain who has betrayed us, direct our foes thither, and so all be lost.” “Right! right!” cried the captain; “and it is strange I should have overlooked it so long as I have. We will away at once; and if we make all haste, I think we can reach there in an hour. But one thing, gentlemen, I wish to caution you about; and that is, in case we fall in with the enemy, to avoid a conflict if possible; and I will tell you wherefore: If we are not betrayed by any of our own party—and I know no reason, since I come to think of it, why we should be— the men we trade with have doubtless given information; (and that, by-the-by, accounts, too, for their not being present,)—and this being the case, and many of our members being regular settlers, should any get killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, they will be missed from their dwellings, and so their connection with us will become known, to the endangerment of their safety, and that of their families; besides, I would rather not get into a skirmish, till after the regular meeting of our body at the cave—which will take place one week from the last one—so that when all the members in this part of the country shall be assembled together, I can lay the whole matter before them, and act as the wisdom of the majority shall decide. What say you to this, gentlemen?” “I coincide with you,” replied Jarvis. “And I also,” rejoined Roberts. “And I! and I!” cried the majority of the others. “So be it, then!” resumed Gerolstein;

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  “and now let us away;” and taking the lead himself, the whole party soon disappeared after him. It is not our intention to follow them in their windings through the woods, and so we will precede them to Harlem's Cover, long enough to give a brief description of the place. On the north bank of the Great Miami, some five or six miles from Oaken Grove, stood an old log cabin, completely surrounded by woods; while immediately around the house was a dense cluster of bushes, which grew so high as almost to screen it from observation. In fact, so well was it concealed, that, should a stranger chance to pass along a miserable horse-path that wound about through the woods, at the distance of a stone's throw from it, ten to one he would not discover it at all. To all appearance it was uninhabited; but had you chanced to rap on the only door it apparently contained at the time of which we write, it is possible a feeble old man would have opened it, and in a dry. consumptive tone inquired your business; and had you entered the house, doubtless you would have found an old crone sitting near a large, old fireplace, and shivering, even in the summer time, over a few decaying embers—both man and woman looking like the last sad wrecks of perishing mortality. The house, too, you would have found to contain little or no furniture; and had you asked for food, ten to one you would have been answered there was nothing but a single crust of stale corn-bread in the house, and that the occupants had no idea where their next meal was to be procured. Had you chanced to be a philanthropic individual, with any loose change in your possession, doubtless you would have been induced to bestow a part in alms; and then have gone on your way rejoicing, that you were so much better off than that poor, afflicted old couple. And you would have been deceived. For the people in question were not as old as they looked, the man had no consumption but that of food and drink, the old woman was not in reality any colder than yourself, and there was plenty of provision in the house, and that, too, of a kind to have tempted an epicure. In short, this place was neither more nor less than Harlem's Cover; and had any one shown you its mysteries, he would have conducted you to the back wall, and, by an ingenious contrivance, have lowered a part of it in the form of a door; and then, raising a trap door inside of the house—from which, perhaps, he would at first have been obliged to remove a pile of brush, that completely concealed it—he would have shown you a gentle descent, leading to underground stables, where, on certain occasions, you would have found not less than twenty or thirty horses, undergoing the process of coloring, preparatory to being taken hence, at the proper time, for the purpose of being disposed of. Perhaps the whole inventive faculties of ingenious and plotting mankind, could not have contrived a place more likely to deceive each and every one who might see it, than thir same Harlem's Cover—nor one where you would be less disposed to seek information concerning a stolen horse. Suppose, for instance, you were well mounted, and in hot pursuit of the thief that had stolen your horse—that both of you were riding hard, and he only some fifteen rods in advance. Well, you both come in sight of this old structure—if, in fact, you could see it all—and riding into a dense thicket, he should here disappear: would you, in such a case, mistrust he had taken refuge in that old shanty? No, it would be the last place

 

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