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  o   16 Axu ST x.


 



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THE



FO RE S T



R O S E



    A TALE OF THE FRONTIER.





         BY EMERSON BENNETT,
IVMOR O0 " TUX PRAIRIE FLOWER," " LENI LEOTI," " THE BANDIrECF TH OSACK,'
"RATE CLARENDON, "THE TRAITOR, OR THE FALL OF AMBITION; EKC, XTC.





             NEW EDITION.



R E V I BE D



BY THE AUTHq0R.



      CINCINNAT1:
PUBLISHED BY U. P. JAMES,
     No. 167 WALUT STREET.

 





























Entered according to act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-two,
                       By J. A.  U. P. JAMES,
  in tLe Clerk's Office of the United States District Court, for the State of Ohio

 













         PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION.





  A DISTINGUISHED American author, in a preface to one of his
works, remarks, in effect, that in his view a writer of fiction is
entitled to all that is possible; and though in the main we agree
with him, yet at the same time we think that the NovExSr
should always endeavor to confine himself to the probable; for
when he goes beyond probability, he destroys that charm of
naturalness which every author should study to produce, and
puts himself in danger of being set down by his readers as a
kind of modern Munchau.sen.
  The chief beauty of fiction, in our humble opinion, consists in
its representation of scenes and incidents so like to nature and
facts, that the reader can feel, as it were, that they are realities;
and whether or no he believes the narrative to be a true record,
taken from real life, Rnotters little, so long as there is nothing
set forth by which hr, can prove the contrary. We all know
that events do really happen, of so strange, mysterious, and
miraculous a nature, that, without the most positive and reliable
evidence, we would hardly believe them  possible, setting proba-
bility altogether a'ide; and, therefore, to suppose that an author
can, by any ingenuity, place his characters in any entanglement,
Hiom which he can plausibly deliver them, and in doing so go
beyond reality itself, is to suppose him  capable of inventing
what the whole human race, together with all circumstances
cohrixe, hqve never been able to produce.

 


PRE FACE.



  We know that, with the twenty-six letters of the alphabet,
we can spell any word in the English language-and that in this
language we can express any thought or idea that may enter
our minds-all that is required being different arrangements and
combinations of the same primitive letters; and so an author
may extend fiction to all that is possible, and yet not transgress
the limits of reality; for all, that he can so imagine within the
bounds prescribed, has sometime or another happened; and the
only difference between his narration and facts, is, that he has
taken a little here and a little there, and put these parts togeth-
er-making, not any thing wholly new, but only a new combi-
nation of the old. We have been led into these remarks from
the fact, that, in the pages which follow, there are scenes set
forth of so mysterious and miraculous a character, that the
reader, if he does not declare them downright impossibilities,
will not hesitate to assert that the author has gone far beyond
probability, and let his inventive faculties run away with his
judgment. Now we will candidly admit that we have gone be-
yond probability-that the contest between the two Indian scouts,
or spies, and a whole tribe of Hurons, numbering over five hun-
dred well-trained warriors, at MIount Pleasant, or Standing Stone,
and the final escape of the two hunters, is an improbability; and
as such we would never have laid it before the public-note
withstanding our legitimate right to do so, if we chose-had it
simply been an invention of our own; but, gentle reader, all the
improbabilities you may meet in "FOREST RosE," are facts-facts
handed down by tradition, and now recorded in the historical
collections of the time and places referred to. In truth, we have
never written a story, in which our inventive faculties have been
so little exercised as in the present instance; for, with the ex-
ception of altering the names of the principal actors, to suit our
own convenience, we have followed tradition to the very letter,
and introduced nothing but what really took place in the locali-
ties and during the period occupied with our narration.
  In closing these prefatory remarks, we would return our grate-
ful acknowledgment to the public for the very liberal patronage
bestowed upon our humble labors, not only in this instance, but
in nearly every other. It is not two years since "FOREST RosBw

 


                            PREFACE.

first appeared as a candidate for public favor, at which time an
unusually large edition was printed, which is now exhausted, with
unfilled orders in the publishers' possession from various portions
of the Union. When an author finds his humble endeavors to
please thus appreciated, it is rather a pleasure than a task to
send forth from his solitude the brain-children of his creation. In
this respect, we feel that we have been very fortunate, and ac-
knowledge it with gratitude.
  PHILADELPHIA, September lot,

 This page in the original text is blank.


 








THE



            FOREST ROSE.




                           CHAPTER I.

                                THE SETTLER.

  NEAR the south-eastern angle of what fortune sufficient to give him an easy inde-
a now Belmont county, in the State of pendence.
Ohio, a largre creek loses itself in that  On the breaking out of the war of the
beautiful stream from which the state just Revolution, Maywood had two children,
mentioned takes its name. Thii creek is both sons, of the ages seven and four,
called the Captina, and its bead-waters and Forester one, a sprigltly little daugh-
are to be found some thirty or forty miles ter of three years. Both were patriotic
back smon'l the hills. But it has tributa- men; and feeling that their country stood
ries not far distant from the Ohio river; in need of their aid. both volunteered their
and one of these flows through a pleasant services in her defense. Forester received
valley, and near a litt'e knoll, which rises the appointment of colonel, and Maywood
in the form of a cone, and resembles the that of captain, and both served with dis-
ancient mounds, of which there are so tinction in the same regiment. Govern.
many to be found in this region of country. ment being embarrassed for funds to pay
Whether this knoll is a natural or an arti- the soldiers, or even to supply them wikh
ficial one, we do not pretend to say; but the necessary clothing and provisions,
it is enough for our purpose to state that these two noble patriots mortgaged their
on its summit a rude log cabln was erected plantations, and put the amount received
as early as the year 1789.           into the quarter-master's hands, to be
  The family vho occupied this solitary used for the benefit of the regiment.
cabin, consisted of six persoins-a father,  But, to be brief with what will be of
mother, two sons, ard two daughters- but little interest to the reader. At the
but one of the last named relationship on- battle of the Cowpens, fought in 1781,
ly by adoption. The surn mes of five of Colonel Forester fell mortally wounded.
these were Maywood-the adopted still Only a month hefore, lie had heard of the
retaining her own appellation, which was death of his v. ife ; and now he was about
Rose Forester-or, as she was more fre- i to die and leave his only daughter an or-
quently termed, in the way of familiar! phan, and penniless; for he well knew
endearment, "1 FOREST RosE.'         that his estate would go to pay his debts.
  The elder Maywood was a native of It so chanced that Captain Maywood was
Virginia, and had been, at one period of! near him when he was shot from his
his life, quite a wealthy planter. The L horse ; and regardless of any thing but
father of Rose and himself had been bo- i the life of his friend, the gallant captain
som companions. Quite intimate in youth, alone raised him in his arms, and bore
they had grown up friends in the true ac- him thirouli a terrible tire to the quarters
ceptation of the term. They had mar.  of the surgeon, who, on examining his
red at nearly the same period, and had wounds, shook his head gravely, and said
settled down, side by side, each with a ! that he lhad not many minutes to live.
                                                                      7

 



THE FOREST ROSE



On this, Captain Maywood burst into
tears, and wrung his hands in grief; but
the dying man was more composed, and
bade his friend to remember that he was
a soldier, and that such was the fate of
war.
  "' For the sale of my child," continued
the dying colonel, " and more than all,
for the sake of my country, which needs
the aid of all her sons, I would wish to
live.  But God has willed it otherwise,
and I will strive to be resigned. In a few
minutes more I shall be with my angel-
wife in another world, and there will be
none but you, my friend, to act the part
of a father to my sweet little Rose. In
your charge I leave her, knowing you will
care tenderly for her, for the sake of him
who for the last time now addresses you.
Farewell, my friend! and may God pre-
serve you, to behold the day, when the
stars and stripes shall wave in triumph
over a land of freemen! "
  These were the last words of Colonel
Forester. Five minutes after he had pro-
nounced them, he was a corpse; and his
friend stood beside him, weeping at the
loss of a noble commander, and a bosom
companion.
  At the close of the war, Captain May-
wood returned to his family, of which lit-
tle Rose was already a member. He
found his own affairs in a rather embar-
rassed condition, and that the estate of his
friend, which had just been settled, bare-
ly left Rose a few hundred dollars.  He
immediately effected a sale of his own
property; and on taking up the mortgage,
and settling some other debts he had con-
tracted, he found himself possessed of two
thousand five hundred dollars, besides
three slaves, family servants, whom he
had reserved. He now Femoved to Rich-
mond, both for the purpose of giving his
children a good education, and to engage
in some mercantile pursuit-hoping there-
Sy to retrieve his lost fortune. But he
was not calculated for the business he had
attempted  and in the course of a few
vears he sold off his stock of goods, paid
Lis debts, and found himself worth
nothingr.
  His affairs being now represented to the
general government, Congress made him
a grant of one thousand acres of land, lo-
cated in the section of country to which



we have called the reader's attention in
tie opening of this chapter; and which,
at that period, was known as Washinlgton
county, being the first established in the
North-western Territory, by proclamation
of Governor St. Clair.
  Thither Captain Maywood removed
with his family, in the fall of 1789, and
at once proceeded to erect a cabin on the
little knol. already mentioned.
  At this time there were very few set-
tiers in this section of the country, and
none between Captain Maywood's and the
Ohio river; but as a treaty had been
made the January previous, at Fort Har-
mar, between Governor St. Clair and the
sachems and warriors of the Wyandotte,
Chippewa, Potawatomie, and Sac nations,
in which the treaty at Fort McIntosh was
renewed and confirmed, little trouble was
apprehended from the savages, and in
consequence very little pains were taken
to guard against them by the bold pio-
neers who chanced, at this precise peri-
od, to venture into the wilderness.
  At all events, Captain Maywood made
no provisions against a surprise-not even
raising a block-house for defense. He
was a bold, fearless, energetic man-a
true patriot-but rather self-willed, self-
confident, and short-sighted in regard to
certain things. lie had somehow imbibed
the idea-or else he promulgated it for
the sake of argumen t-that the Indians
were a very magnanimous, and, conse-
quently, much-abused race of beings,
who always acted on the defensive only;
and that, unless molested by the whites,
they would ever remain peaceably dis-
posed toward their white neighbors. To
prove his sophism, he would cite William
IPenn and his followers as examples; and
always concluded by saying that any per-
son might venture into the wilderness, and
pass a long life in quietude, provided he
did not become the aggressor.
  In vain his eldest son, Albert-an in-
telligent youth of twenty-tried to reason
him out of his foolish theory, on the
ground that the Indians, having been long
at war with the whites, and never having
received a just compensation for their
lands, would look upon all the latter race
as a(ggressors, and treat them accordingly.
As to William Penn and his followers, he
admitted they had succeeded in settling in



8

 



                           THE    FOREST       ROSE.                          e
 an Indian country without shedding blood. might be supposed to furnish but few at-
 But how had they done so  In the first tractions. Yet there was no complaint.
 place, every circumstance had been in All strove to accommodate themselves to
 their favor. They had appeared among their circumstances, and view their change
 the Indians as a peaceable body of men- of fortune with that philosophy necessary
 the first white men which manv of the to render life agreeable. As for Albert,
 savages had ever seen. They had come he rather liked it than otherwise, as it
 loaded with presents to the Indian;, whom  gave him  ample opportunity to hunt
 they called together in council, and then through the surrounding woods-an oc-
 purchased the lands of them at a :;tipulat- cupation of which he was extremely, we
 ed price, which price they had promptly might say passionately, fond.
 paid. Besides all this, they were a pe-  During the winter succeeding his settle-
 euliar people, in dress and manners, and ment in this section of country, Captain
 the Indians had come to regard them as Maywood employed much of his time in
 a distinct race of beings-all of which felling the trees around his dwelling; and
 was very different from a single white set- being a strong, athletic man, he made
 tIer, of the period in question, coming considerable progress; so that on the
 amongc infuriated savages, who would opening of the spring of 1790, several
 draw no distinction between him and those acres had been cleared and burned over,
 who had preceded him.                    ready for tilling.
   The argument of Albert, as we have    Meantime, settlers from different parts
said, produced no effect upon the mind of of the country began to locate themselves
his father, unless it were to render him in the vicinity. At first it was thought
more obstinate than ever. Whether he that the treaty of Ilarmar would render
had any faith in his sophism or not, cer- them safe from the encroachments of the
tain it is he took every means of putting savages; but the report of some Indian
i; to the test, by leaving himself and fam- murders on the Muskingum undeceived
ily totally defenseless. He not only re- them, and they immediately proceeded to
fused to erect a block-house, but forbade construct block-houses for protection.-
his son the privilege of doing it also.  Nearly opposite the mouth of Captina
  The cabin built by Captain Nl.w-.wood creek, on the Virginia shore, a fort was
was in the ordinary style of the early set- built, which was named Baker's Fort, in
tlers-being composed of logs, with a honor of its founder.
puncheon floor, and clapboard roof. It  Maywood, however, true to his theory,
contained very little furniture besides such contended that such precautions were not
as was manufactured in the forest. On only useless, but detrimental-as the sav-
the outside, at one end, was the chimney, ages would regard them as so many to-
built also of logs, with the hearth and kens of defiance, and would in conse-
jambs of stone. At the opposite end quence assail them  at the first favorable
stood a couple of beds, supported above opportunity. He laughed at the fears of
the ground by cross-bars, one end of the settlers, and they regarded him as lit-
which latter rested on the logs, and the tie better than one insane.
other on crotches driven firmly into the  Time wore on, a year passed away, and
earth between the puncheons.   A  few still Captain Maywood and his family re-
pots and kettles, with some pewter dishes, mained undisturbed-although it was well
a puncheon table, several three-legged known the Indians had again dug up the
stools. a couple of rifles, and a small mir- war-ax, and were committing depredations
ror, formed the principal part of the house- in almost every section of the country.
bold stock.                                To such a degree were the settlers, of
  To people accustomed to refinement, as what was then termed the North-wester
the Maywoods had been to a great de- Territory, annoyed and alarmed by the in-
gree, a home like this, in the wilderness, creasing hostility of the savages, that
                                         General St. Clair now received orders to
 Pullehefns were planks made by splitting form a strong military body, and march
logs to about two an  a half or three inches io ht Washinet on    a   match
thickDess, and hewinO them on one or both sides from  For  n   (cmnnaiu
with a broad-ax.                        I toward the lakes, and establish forts some


 



THE FOREST ROSE.



thirty or forty miles apart along the whole
route, in order to overawe the Indians,
and render the country secure against a
continued repetition of bloody depreda-
tions.
   Acting under his instructions, St. Clair
 proceeded to organize an army; and in
 the spring of 1791, he left Fort Pitt
 (Pittsburgh), and arrived at Fort Wash-
 ington on the 15th of May; from whence,
 owingr to several hindrances, he did not
 depart on his expedition till the beginning
 of the autumn following.
   Advancing his troops by slow marches,
he established Fort Hamilton and Fort
Jefferson on his route, and on the 3d of
November encamped on a branch of the
Wabash, in the present limits of Darke
county. His army at this time was more
than two thousand strong, exclusive of
some six hundred militia. But notwith-
standingr this, he was assailed on the fol-
lowin, morning by an overwhelming body
of Indians-the griand combination of sev-
eral nations-led on by their most celebra-
ted chiefs-among whom was Tecumseh,
Black Hoof, Little Turtle, Captain Pipe,
Simon Girty, and others-and after a des-
perate resistance of several hours, was
defeated, with a loss of more than six
hundred men, including a great number
of the best and bravest officers the coun-
try has ever produced.
  This signal defeat of a grand army of
the whites, was a glorious triumph to the
Indians, who in consequence became more
bold and bloodthirsty than ever; and
even carried their outrages into the very
heart of some of the strongest settlements,
causing the greatest consternation among
the citizens throughout all sections of
the country.
  The spring succeeding St. Clair's de-
feat, is the period that the action of our
humble narrative really begins.

            CHAPTER II.
  TIlE LOVERS AND THE PRESENTIMENT.
  ALBERT MAYWOOD was now a young
man of twenty-two, with a large, vigorous
frame, peculiarly adapted to forest life.
in personal appearance he was rather pre-
possessing. His countenance was open,
frank, and cheerful ; and his clear blue
eye bad a peculiar fascination for such as  



could call him friend-by which we mean
to say, that its expression varied with his
feelings; and to those who disliked him,
or whom he disliked, it gleamed with a
sullen sternness calculated to awe, and ex-
cite in them a secret dread of the owner.
He was of an ardent temperament-quick
to anger, and quick to forgive-provided
a suitable apology for an offense was of-
fered-and in case he fancied himself in
the wrong, he was ever ready and wifiiLg
to confess his fault. He was intelligrent,
and had received an education far beyond
what was usual with young men of that
period, even when passing their lives in
the old settlements.
  But Albert cared little for book-learn-
ing after his arrival in the wilderness.
Two things now seemed to absorb his
whole thoughts; and these, strangely dis-
similar as they may appear, were his rifle
and Rose Forester. Hunting with him
had become a passion, equaled only by
the passion he felt for the poor orphan.
To range the woods all day, his rifle his
only companion, and return at night, to
sit and talk with Rose, was to him the
very acme of delight-the soul of enjoy-
ment. In vain his father had sought to
force him to manual labor-to make him
a farmer-to get his aid in clearing and
tillinr the land. No ! he would hunt, and
supply the family with meat; but, like
the Indian, he disdained to touch a hus-
bandry implement.  At length the cap.
tain gave up the point in despair, and Al-
bert was allowed to have his own way.
  Whether Albert's passion for hunting
was a judicious one or not, certain it is
that his passion for Forest Rose, as he
loved to term her, was any thing but un-
wise, or in bad taste ; for not all the set-
tlements on the frontier, at that period,
could match her in prettiness, intelligence.
sprightliness, and sweetness of temper.
She was small in stature-being scarcely
five feet high-with one of those open,
ingenuous, playful countenances, that ever
seem to send a ray of sunshine to the
heart of the beholder. Her features were
fine and regular, with a clear complexioi,
and dark, sparkling eyes; and there was
such an air of cheerfulness in her whole
countenance, that even the most morose
could not but experience a sweet pleasure
in looking upon her.  If Albert loved



so

 



THE FOREST ROS E.



Rose, Rose loved Albert, and both loved
from opposite principles-the former, be-
cause the object of his affections was
physically weak, and needed a strong
arm-and the latter, because she could
iook up to the being of her choice and
feel in him a protector.
   And this love of opposites, by the way,
not only physically but mentally, is the
strongest and most enduring of all earthly
passion, let who will argue to the contra-
ry; for where two persous come together
of equal physical or mental capacities,
there is a certain feeling of equality and
independence, on both sides, that tends to
destroy the peculiar harmony that must
otherwise prevail where one finds in the
other the attraction that she or he has
not. By a righteous law of nature, man
loves what he can foster and protect; wo-
man, what can cherish and protect her.
  It was toward evening of a warm,
pleasant day in May, that Albert returned
as usual from his hunt; for seldom was
he away more than a day at a time-as
his enjoyment consisted as much in re-
hearsing to little Rose the adventures he
had met with since seeing her, as in going
througtrh the adventures themselves.-
Rteachinlgf the brow of a bill which over-
looked the knoll on which his father's
cabin stood, as also the valley of the Ohio
and the distant station, he cast himself
down upon the trunk of a fallen tree.
  The sun was about half an hour above
the horizon; and although his rays could
not penetrate to where our hero was sit-
ting, owing to the thick foliage of the
trees over his head, yet this did not pre-
vent him from enjoying the beautiesof
the liglht as it softly fell upon the land-
scape toward which his gaze was now di-
rected. Before him, down the valley, a
distance of some two hundred yards, the
hill on which he had paused was cleared
of trees and brush, and his father and
brother were now engaged with two heavy
yoke of cattle in turning it up for fall sow-
ing. At the bottom of this hill, rising up
out of the valley like an artificial mound,
was the little knoll alreadv mentioned, on
which the cabin stood; and the land be-
ing cleared all around it-so that the
creek could be seen gliding by on the
other side, and burying itself in a thicket
about a hundred yards further down-it



had a very pleasing and picturesque ef-
fect. Nor was this effect less pleasant, fromn
beholding a light blue smoke curl slowly
upward from the rude chimney of the
cabin, and spread itself out in the rays of
the dying sun, which poured a golden
flood of light into the opening, and made
the little creek glisten like a belt of silver.
The hill on the opposite side of the val-
ley had been partially cleared, and a large
corn and potato patch was in sight, with
the tops of these vegetables just peeping
above the rich soil, and giving it a green-
ish cast. Beyond and around, on every
side, like the frame-work to a picture, the
dark green forest-with its noble trees of
oak and ash, beech and maple, elm and
sycamore-shut in the scene, and gave to
it that sylvan beauty which the medita-
tive poet so loves to contemplate.
  And Albert was a poet in feeling, though
he had never penned his thoughts; and
as he sat and gazed upon the landscape
before him, he gradually became lost in
a dreamy reverie, of which little Forest
Rose formed no unimportant part.
  While thus lost in contemplation, he
felt a hand lightly touch his shoulder. It
was a period when it behooved every one
to be on his guard against lurking sav-
aoes; and with a bound that would have
done no discredit to a practiced vaulter,
our young hunter sprang some several
feet from the log, and, wheeling, brought
his rifle (which, while sitting, had rested
on his knees) to his shoulder, ready to
fire upon the intruder, in the event of its
proving to be a foe.
  A light, merry laugh was the response
to this warlike demonstration of the hunt-
er; and instantly bringing the breech of
his rifle to the ground, the young man
sprang forward, exclaiming
  "Why, my little Forest Rose, how you
startled me ! How came you here '-
  " By the simplest method in the world,
Albert," replied the other gaily. " My
little feet brought me here."
  "I understand all that, my little rogue;
but what I want to know is, why your feet
brought you here  "
  " Simply because I willed them to do
so."
    Pshaw-"
    There, there, Albert- don't frown
now, and 1'll answer youi question, not



I I

 



THE FOREST ROSE.



as you put it, but as you meant it, I came
here expressly to surprise you."
   "But how did you know I was here "
   "How     Ha, ha, ha !  Come, you
get wiser in your interrogations every
minute. How should I know you were
here  '
   -II mean, how came you to see me
for I saw nothing of you."
    Why, I had just been up to speak a
word with father, about some seeds for
our garden, and thought I might as well
run up to the top of the hill, seeing I was
more than half way, and take a view of
this pretty landscape-when, just as I had
got here, who should pop out of the woods
but Master Albert, large as life. I hid
behind a tree, and waited till you seemed
pretty well absorbed in contemplation, and
th