The Wild Huntress: Love in the Wilderness

Almost as soon as we heard the voices, we saw those who were giving utterance to them. A horseman appeared issuing from the jaws of the chasm--another, and another--until eight...

I faced round on hearing the voice. The tone and patois had already admonished me that the speaker was neither white nor Indian, but of that third typical race that mingles in t...

Passing outward from the door, the two young girls pause in their steps: an object has attracted their attention. A large dog is seen running out from the shed--a gaunt fierce-l...

Some words passed between us as we went. For my companion, I had news that would make him supremely happy. Our conversation turned not on that. "Soon enough," thought I, "when t...

Glance into the forest-glade! It is an opening in the woods--a _clearing_, not made by the labour of human hands, but a work of Nature herself: a spot of earth where the great t...

At sight of this charming equestrian, all thoughts of leaping the log were driven out of my mind; and I rode quietly forward, with the intention of going round it. It might be t...

I kept the telescope to my eye not half so long as I have taken in telling of it. Quick as I saw that the men stirring around the waggon were Indians, I thought only of screenin...

The young hunter hesitated: he was not aware that I was already in possession of his secret; but he knew that I had been witness of his emotions, and to declare the name would b...

Our absence was of short duration--a turn to the tents and back again. While there, I had spoken a word to Wingrove and Sure-shot. Archilete was still absent. I had warned my co...

The white-headed eagle, soaring above the spray of a Tennessean forest, looks down upon the clearing of the squatter. To the eye of the bird it is alone visible; and though but...

Beyond doubt, the dark form was that of a woman--a young one too, as evinced by her erect bearing, and a light agile movement, made at the moment of our first beholding her. Her...

For fashion's sake, I was about to utter the usual formula, "Mr Holt, I presume?" but the opportunity was not allowed me. No sooner had the squatter appeared in his doorway, tha...

Under any circumstances, a return to Swampville would have been necessary: certain pecuniary requirements called me back to that interesting village. A journey, even across the...

We now proceeded along the route with more confidence; though still acknowledging the necessity of caution, and always reconnoitring the ground in advance. Although the four of...

The white cloud--a puff of powder-smoke--had scarcely scattered in the air, when a dark mass appeared upon the plain, emerging from the sulphureous vapour. It was a troop of hor...

Towards the interior of the hut, hallowed by such lovely presence, I continued to direct my glances--with an occasional side-look, noting the movements of the two men. Whatever...

For half a mile beyond the glade, the trace continued wide enough to admit of our riding abreast; but, notwithstanding this advantage, no word passed between us. My guide had re...

We again rode through the upper canon of the Huerfano, keeping along the bank of the stream. Farther on we came to the forking of two trails-- the more southern one leading up t...

We come to the closing act of our drama. To understand it fully, it is necessary that the setting of the stage--the _mise-en-scene_--be described with a certain degree of minute...

"You may ask, _senor_, how I came to be witness of all these outrages. Was I not speared like my companions? Was I not, like them, killed upon the spot! I answer, no. I was stil...

The plain that stretched before us was the grand _valle_ of San Luis; but presenting none of those characteristics which we usually associate with the word "valley." On the cont...

The morning needed no fire, but there were embers upon the clay-hearth-- some smouldering ends of faggots--over which the breakfast had been cooked. On one side of the fireplace...

As if to favour our design, the night descended dusk as the wing of a vulture. The summits of San Juan were no longer visible--their outlines becoming blended with the dark back...

The apparition--for it had something of the character of one--restored my equanimity. Holt was with the Mormon train; and of course Lilian also. It may seem strange that this kn...

With inquiring eye and anxious heart, I turned towards the spot where I had left my companion. To my joy, he was still upon his feet, and coming towards me. I could see blood dr...

Our deliberations occupied but a brief time. I had already considered the subject in all its bearings; and arrived at the conviction that there was only one course to be followe...

The ride was rough and rapid. Notwithstanding the superiority of my steed, it was as much as I could do to keep pace with my new allies-- whose horses, used to all sorts of grou...

We rode direct for Robideau's Pass. The night still continued dark, but we had no difficulty in finding our way. Even in the obscurity, the deep trace of the heavy emigrant trai...

As soon as our quality was known, the Saints came crowding around us. The corral poured forth its contents--until nine-tenths of the whole caravan, men, women and children, stoo...

"_Hijo de Dios_!" exclaimed he, as his eyes fell upon the cross, "_la crucifixion_! What a conception for savages! _Mira_!" he continued, as another white cloud puffed out from...

Yes--to hold a shooting-match was undoubtedly the design of my captors; and equally clear was it that my breast was to be their mark. This explained my position upon the summit...

I joined not in the merriment of my companions. I took no share in their mirth. The trapper's story had intensified the anguish of my thoughts; and now, that I found time to dwe...

The landscape over which we were looking was one that has long been celebrated, in the legends of trapper and _cibolero_, and certainly no lovelier is to be met with in the midl...

After indulging for some time in a sort of dreamy contemplation I once more gave the bridle to my horse, and rode onward. I was prepared for a tortuous path: my host had forewar...

Into my saddle--off out of the clearing--away through the dripping forest--on through the sweltering swamp, I hurried. Up the creek was my route--my destination, the dwelling of...

For some seconds the two worthies observed a mutual silence--broken only by a formidable rattle of teeth, as large "chunks" of buffalo-meat were put through their respective mas...

As we passed up the street, I was conscious of being the subject of Swampville speculation. Staring faces at the windows, and gaping groups around the doors, proved by their loo...

While I was speaking, I saw a change pass over the countenance of my gigantic antagonist--as if some new resolve was forming in his mind, that affected the programme he had alre...

A shudder passed through the herculean frame of the hunter--though it was scarcely perceptible, from the effort he made to conceal it. It was noticed for all that; and the emoti...

"Gone! and whither gone?" Half aloud, I soliloquised the interrogatory. There was an echo from the empty walls, but no reply. Even conjecture failed to furnish an answer. The af...

The ensanguined skull was the first object that caught my eye. The dead man was easily identified. The body--short, plump, and rotund--could be no other than that of the unfortu...

Look forth on the forest ere autumn wind scatters Its frondage of scarlet, and purple, and gold: That forest, through which the great "Father of Waters" For thousands of years h...

Slender as appeared the prospect of my being freed from my fastenings, by the method proposed, I was not without some faith in Sure-shot being able to cut the thong. His skill i...

No longer was it from fear that I held back; but a hesitancy springing from surprise mingled with admiration. The sight of so much beauty-- grand as unexpected--was enough to un...

Not long did I remain under the mental paralysis. There was no time for idle repining. The intelligence, derived from the torn leaf, had given me a cue for action; and my spirit...

For some time the savage horsemen continued their circling gallop around the butte--one occasionally swooping nearer; but covered by the body of his horse in such a way that it...

The log on which the young hunter had seated himself is some paces distant from the path. He has a slight knowledge of this Indian family, and simply nods to them as they pass....

The presence of the wheelbarrow explained a point that had been puzzling us for some days. We had fallen upon its track more than once, and supposed it to have been made by the...

We made an attempt to open the interrupted parley. In vain. Whatever amicable design the Red-Hand might have conceived was now changed to a feeling of the most deadly hostility....

"Then you know something of our Mexican frontier life--how for the last half century we have been harassed by the _Indios bravos_--our _ranchos_ given to the flames--our grand _...

Our patience was not put to a severe test. O'Tigg was not the man to keep his tongue in tranquillity for any extended time. Neither was Sure-shot an admirer of the silent system...

"_Puez senor_! what I am about to tell you happened full ten years ago, though it's as fresh in my mind as if it was yesterday. You may have heard of the village of Valverde? It...

Return we to the squatter's cabin--this time to enter it. Inside, there is not much to be seen or described. The interior consists of a single room--of which the log-walls are t...

We had not ridden far from our halting-place, when we arrived at the end of the great cotton-wood forest. Beyond that, the trace led over open ground--here and there dotted by g...

For a full hour was the pitiless pastime continued--during which at least fifty shots had been fired at my person. The truculent chieftain had threatened me with a hundred death...

I might, without blame, have envied them those sweet throbbings of the heart, so different from my own. Widely different, since mine beat with the most painful pulsations. The c...

Am I dead? Surely it _was_ death, or an oblivion that equalled it? But no--I live! I am conscious that I live. Light is falling upon my eyes--thought is returning to my soul! Am...

I found that I had arrived in the very "nick of time:" for just as I returned from the stable, and was entering the verandah of the hotel, I heard the bell calling its guests to...

The rein dropped from her fingers--the rifle fell upon the neck of her horse, and she sat gazing at me in speechless surprise. At length, in a low murmur, and as if mechanically...

On returning to the house of my friend, I informed him of my purchase; and was pleased to find that he approved of it. "You can't be taken in," said he, "by land upon the Obion....

Without knowing why, I hailed the arrival of this stranger as opportune. Perhaps his presence, added to the entreaties of that fair young creature--still urgent in my behalf--mi...

Prostrated in spirit, I sunk down among the rocks, covering my face with my hands. So occupied was I with wild imaginings, that I saw not the Utah women as they passed down the...

Is other days, and under other circumstances, the touch of that round arm, softly encircling my waist, might have caused the current of my veins to flow fast and fevered. Not so...

I must have fallen upon my back, or else turned upon it after falling. On opening my eyes, the sky was the first object that my glance encountered. I saw only a strip of it, of...

Full five minutes passed, and not one of the vultures showed signs of stirring--five minutes of prolonged and terrible suspense. It was odd that the birds had not at once swoope...

I walked out towards the stream. The lovers met me halfway. As I looked in their eyes, illumined and sparkling with the pure light of love, I hesitated in my intent. "After all,...

I am not surprised at being addressed in this language by a prairie Indian. Many of them speak Spanish, or its North Mexican _patois_. They have opportunities of learning it fro...

"The huntress has returned soon?" said the chief, interrogatively, as the girl glided up to him. "She brings strange game!" added he, with a smile. "Who is the young warrior wit...

I hastened to inform Marian of what had passed--having returned to the tents, without giving any sign of the excitement that was stirring within my breast. Why not to-night? Why...

The incident referred to occurred high up the Arkansas, at the celebrated grove known as the "Big Timbers." We had started about two hours before sundown, and were riding in a d...

The finding of the flowers, or rather the reflections to which they gave rise, rendered me more anxious than ever to come up with, the caravan. The little incident had made me a...

Not a sound came from the forest to disturb my sweet musings. Silent was the sky of the Indian summer--soft and balm-laden its breeze. The trees stirred not; the branches seemed...

The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalogo was followed by an extensive _debandement_, which sent many thousands of sabres ringing back into their scabbards--some of them soon after to sp...

An opening of about two acres in extent, of irregular semi-circular shape, with the creek for its chord, and a worm-fence zig-zagging around its arc--scarcely a clearing: since...

The incident referred to was the arrival of a scout, who, after the conflict, had followed upon the trail of the Arapahoes. This man brought the intelligence that the scattered...

As soon as I had swallowed supper, I hastened to place myself _en rapport_ with the landlord of the hostelry--whose name I had ascertained to be "Kipp," or "_Colonel_ Kipp," as...

It was not by any conjuncture that I arrived at this conclusion. I was quite confident that the footsteps were not those of a _squaw_--all inexplicable as was the contrary hypot...

Heading my horse to the path, I rode out of the glade; but with very different feelings from those I had on entering it. The words of this ill-starred maiden--attainted with tha...

Yes, it was the wheelbarrow; and the "U.S. Ordnance" branded upon its side, and visible under the light of the blazing pile, told whence it had come. Either Fort Gibson or Fort...

In truth was it a fearful moment--one to shake the steadiest nerves, or thrill the stoutest heart. To me, it was an ordeal far more terrible than that of an ordinary duel; for t...

We rode on to Memphis as rapidly as our horses could travel--far too slow for our desires. Thence a steam-boat carried us to Little Rock, and another to Van Buren. Many days had...

This second purchase and payment rendered necessary a communication with my Nashville friend. Fortunately, Swampville had a mail; and, to avail myself of it, I rode direct for t...

Between Nashville and Swampville extends a distance of more than a hundred miles--just three days' travel on horseback. For the first ten miles--to Harpeth River--I found an exc...

As we rode in counter-directions, I met the chief almost on the instant. I was slightly surprised that he passed, without taking notice of me! He could not fail to guess whither...

It cost us a fatiguing ride of nearly twelve hours' duration--most of it along by-roads and bridle-paths--at intervals passing through tracts of swampy soil, where our horses sa...

The whooping and screaming are for a while suspended. Those in the rear have ridden up; and the straggling cavalcade becomes massed upon the plain, at less than two hundred yard...

With the prospect of such fatal issue--so proximate as to seem already present--no wonder that our hearts were dismayed at sight of the waggon moving towards us. As the inhabita...

The horsemen who had forged ahead, for a while, hindered me from seeing the enemy. The Utahs had halted, and were discharging their guns. The smoke from their shots shrouded bot...

The lodges were aligned in double row, with a wide avenue between them. At its head stood one of superior dimensions--the wigwam of the chief. They were all of conical shape; a...

We were in perfect accord as to our course of action, as in our thoughts. If our motives were not similar, our enemy was the same. Only was there a difference in our prospective...

"Aha, stranger!" said she, as I approached the tent, "he has altered your appearance wonderfully. Oh! you are not so frightful now. Come in! Here is _pinole_, and a little broil...

Vain vigil it proved. I shall not tire the reader with details. Suffice it to say, that we kept watch till morning's dawn; and then, profiting by the daylight, sought out a more...

Yes, I had seen that foot before; or one so very like it, that the resemblance was cheating me. This could hardly be. With the exception of its fellow, the foot of which I was t...

The blue dawn of morning was glinting among the rocks when I awoke. On the crest of the cliff was a streak of amber-coloured light, that betokened the rising of the sun and warn...

For a time, our hearts throbbed more lightly; the pressure of apprehension was removed. We fancied the savages had either not yet become fully aware of the advantage of storming...

We had ridden around the butte, and were in sight of the crowd of wailing women, when one on horseback was seen emerging from their midst, and turning head towards us. The habil...

Our fire began to burn low, before the lovers returned into its light. During their moonlit ramble, no doubt, many sweet memories were renewed. No wonder they should wish to pro...

The war-cry "How-ow-owgh-aloo-oo!" uttered loudly from a hundred throats, comes pealing down the valley. Its fiendish notes, coupled with the demon-like forms that give utteranc...

Our conjectures as to the mode of their departure were at an end. On this point, we had arrived at a definite knowledge. It was clear they had gone off in the canoe; and with th...

I made direct for the canon whence issued the stream. Its gap grew wider as I approached it--though still appearing only a dark cleft between the rocks, like the entrance to som...

The Indians came crowding around the corpse--both warriors and women. Their exclamations betokened no sympathy. Even the squaws looked on with unpitying aspect--though the victi...

Slowly and reluctantly, I turned back from the stream, and once more entered amid the wreck of the hurricane. Along the sunny path, the flowers appeared to sparkle with a freshe...

Having passed Bent's Fort--of wide celebrity in trapper lore--whilom the scene of many a wild revel of the "mountain-men," but now abandoned and in ruins--we arrived at the conf...

In an exulting tone, the savage chief broke silence. "_Bueno_!" cried he, as soon as he saw that my eyes were upon him--"_bueno, bueno_! The pale-face still lives! the heart of...

I was not without suspicion as to the motive of her _complaisance_: in fact, I understood it. Despite the declamatory denial she had given to its truth, my defence of Wingrove,...