Had not the
impulsive Lieutenant thus learned of his beloved's safety from
massacre, had he not received the assurance of an immediate attempt for
her recapture, there is no telling to what imprudent lengths he might
have gone in his blind devotion to the young captive. Oonomoo remained
with him but a short time, when he departed on his mission to the
Shawnee village, and the lover continued on toward the estate of
Captain Prescott.
It was nearly noon when Lieutenant Canfield reached the place--now
nothing but a mass of charred and blackened ruins. Leaving his horse
in the woods, he dismounted and examined the remains of the mansion and
smaller buildings. The ghastly corpses of the negroes still lay upon
the ground, having been undisturbed, and with a feeling of
heart-sickness the young soldier passed them by. In his profession, he
had witnessed many revolting sights, but none that affected him more
than this. He shuddered, as he reflected that the very barbarians who
had wantonly inflicted his woe were the captors of the adored daughter
of Captain Prescott, and that they had inflicted as shocking outrages
even upon such defenseless captives as she.
Walking thus moodily forward, he was suddenly brought to a standstill
by coming in front of an awkward, odd-looking structure, which excited
his wonder in no small degree. The charred remains of the logs of one
of the buildings had been collected together and piled one above the
other, so that they bore some resemblance to a rudely-fashioned oven.
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