lonely path, and naught
was heard but the mournful hoot of the owl, as she raised her nightly
wail from the withered branch of the venerable oak. At length, a low
rustling among the bushes on the right, caught his ear. He gazed long
toward the spot whence the sound seemed to proceed; but saw nothing,
save the impenetrable gloom of the thick forest which surrounded the
encampment. Then, as he marched onward, he heard the joyful cry of
"all's well," after which he seated himself upon a stump, and fell into
a reverie. While he thus sat, a savage entered the open space behind,
and, after buckling his tunic, with numerous folds, tight around his
body, drew over his head the skin of a wild boar, with the natural
appendages of those animals. Thus accoutred, he walked past the soldier,
who, seeing the object approach, quickly stood upon his guard. But a
well-known grunt eased his fears, and he suffered it to pass, it being
too dark for any one to discover the cheat. The beast, as it appeared to
be, quietly sought the thicket to the left; it was nearly out of sight,
when, through a sudden break in the clouds, the moon shone bright upon
it. The soldier then perceived the ornamented moccasin of an Indian,
and, quick as thought, prepared to fire. But, fearing lest he might be
mistaken, and thus needlessly alarm the camp, and also supposing, if he
were right, the other savages would be near at hand, he refrained, and
having a perfect knowledge of Indian subtlety and craft, quickly took
off his coat and cap, and, after hanging them on the stump where he had
reclined, secured his rifle, and softly groped his way toward the
thicket. He had barely reached it, when the whizzing of an arrow passed
his head, and told him of the danger he had escaped. Turning his eyes
toward a small spot of cleared land within the thicket, he perceived a
dozen of the same _animals_ sitting on their hind legs, instead of
feeding on the acorns, which, at this season, lay plentifully upon the
surface of the leaves; and, listening attentively, he heard them
conversing in the Iroquois tongue. The substance of their conversation
was, that, if the sentinel should not discover them, the next evening,
as soon as the moon should afford them sufficient light for their
operations, they would make an attack upon the American camp. They then
quitted their rendezvous, and soon their tall forms were lost in the
gloom of the forest. The soldier now returned to his post, and f