Legends of the Shawangunk2 JR.pdf - Friends of the Sabbath ...

42 Legends of the Shawangunk.
Presently some people on horseback were seen approaching from the direction of the
new village. They were enveloped in a cloud of dust; and were evidently under great
excitement. As they drew nearer the people collected to learn the cause of alarm.
“Indians!” shouted the horsemen. “The Indians have burnt the new village; to arms!
to arms!”
Almost instantly the war-whoop sounded, and it seemed as if Indians rose up in the
fated village of Wildwyck by magic, so rapidly did they pour out of the log cabins and
places of hiding. The work of shooting, tomahawking and scalping began. The screams
of affrighted women and children, the shouts of the men, the groans of the dying, were
soon mingled with the roaring of the flames and the dreadful sounds of carnage.
At the time of the attack Lewis was some miles away. The alarm guns were fired—
the signal for every man to return to the fort. He knew some sudden and appalling danger
was impending over the settlement. Then immediately followed the rattle of musketry.
The fort was attacked. He saw the smoke curling up in the summer sky—the smoke of
burning dwellings, and what if his own house was among those marked for destruction!
Solicitude lent speed to his steps. On every hand settlers were rushing in the direction of
the fort; the deepest anxiety depicted on every countenance, for all, like Lewis, had dear
ones in peril.
As Lewis drew nearer the stockade he could distinguish the exultant yells of the
savages—he knew the guard had been overpowered. The crackling of the flames was
distinctly discernible, and the smoke and embers went up from new points as the houses
were successively fired. Now he heard the piercing shriek of a female and again the wail
of a child. Oh, that he had wings to fly to the rescue!
Ere he came up, breathless, with a score or more of his companions, the strife had
ceased. The Indians had beheld the reinforcement coming; and securing such of the
booty as they could carry away, together with a number of prisoners, they had made good
their retreat. Lewis, pale and anxious, rushed in through the gate of the fort. On every
side he beheld evidences of slaughter and destruction. Dwellings in flames; bodies lying
about the streets, scalped and otherwise mutilated; friends gathered about the corpses of
companions; others running frantically about inquiring for missing relatives, while all
seemed overwhelmed with grief and terror.
With forebodings Lewis ran to the spot where his cabin stood, where he had the last
glimpse of his wife at the homely breakfast table a few hours before, only to find his
home a mass of ruins. He called loudly her name, but no response came. Was she taken
prisoner or had she shared in the fate of many others, who met death by the flames that
devoured their homes? All were too much absorbed in their own grief to heed his eager
inquiries, or could not give him the desired information.
The dead had been collected, such as not been consumed in the burning