Oliver Optic

“ Jenny Kent was rapturously happy, dying in a hovel, in the midst of poverty and want, while she was miserable with health and strength, with plenty to eat, drink, and wear. Fanny tried to shake off the strange depression which had so suddenly come over her. She had never been troubled with any such thoughts and feelings before. If she had occasionally been sorry for her wrong acts, it was only a momentary twinge, which hardly damped her spirits. She was weighed down to the earth, and she could not rid herself of the burden that oppressed her. ”

“ Her aunt lay mangled and unburied near the house which had been her happy home. The settlement was doubtless broken up and deserted; for all who had not been killed or captured by the Indians must have fled to the woods and the prairies for safety.
The feeling of loneliness in Fanny gave to her song a touching pathos, which, with the sad sweetness of the melody itself, made the great tears roll down the bronzed checks of Ethan, and touched the heart of even the young savage. Wahena looked long and earnestly at Fanny, when he had finished his breakfast. ”

“ Above the voices of the other savages, the harsh and heavy tones of Lean Bear were prominent. He spoke in the Indian dialect, and of course the anxious fugitives could not understand what he said; but he seemed to be angry and impatient, disappointed and chagrined; and Ethan and Fanny readily inferred that, as he was searching for them, he was the more ferocious because he could not find them. They lay silent and motionless in their hiding-place, hardly daring to breathe, lest a sound should reach the quick ears of their relentless foes. ”

“ Two or three Indians followed her, in one of whom Fanny recognized Lean Bear, the stalwart chief she had endeavored to conciliate. He bent over the prostrate form of the woman, was seen to strike several blows with his tomahawk, and then to use his terrible scalping-knife.
At the sound of the rifle, which seemed to be a signal for the purpose, the savages who had grouped together outside of the house rushed in, yelling and hooting like demons.
"Creation hokee!" gasped Ethan, his face as nearly white as its sun-browned hue would permit. ”

“ Fanny was moved to the depths of her nature—moved as she had never been moved before. She couldn't have believed that such scenes were real. She had read of them in romances, and even in the newspapers; but she had never realized that a man could be so hard as Mr. O'Shane, or that a woman could suffer so much as Mrs. Kent. ”

“ It was pleasant on the lake, but neither Fanny nor Ethan was in a condition to enjoy the sail. Each was thinking of friends in the settlement who had probably been slain by the remorseless savages. Fanny steered the bateau in silence, till she reached the shore of the island, which was about two miles from the point where the party had embarked. It was very small, containing not more than half an acre of land. A single tree grew on the highest part, and all of it was covered with grass, like the ground on the western shores of the lake. ”

“ When I told Jenny that I had been a very wicked girl, I meant so."
"I'm sure that one who has been so kind can't be very bad," added Mrs. Kent, rather bewildered by the confession of her benefactor. "Where did you say you lived, Fanny?"
The wanderer had been obliged to invent a story in the beginning to account for her absence from home, and the poor woman's heart had been too full of gratitude to permit any doubt to enter there.
"I have deceived you, Mrs. Kent," replied Fanny, bursting into tears. "I do not live in the city; my home is twenty-five miles up the river. ”

“ Though Fanny had not been accustomed to work at Woodville, she readily adapted herself to her new station. There were no servants at the settlement; people did their own work; and Fanny, true to the good principles she had chosen, did all she could to assist her aunt.
Let it not be supposed that Fanny had no temptations; that the new life upon which she had entered was free from peril and struggles. She was tempted from within and without; tempted to be unjust, unkind, wilful, and disobedient. ”

“ With his scalping-knife he cut the bonds of Wahena, and taking the boy in his arms, bounded to the shore again.
Ethan's heart sank within him, when he saw that the captive, upon whose presence he had relied for the safety of the party, was wrested from them. Rushing forward with his rifle, he took aim at Wahena, disregarding the earnest remonstrances of Rattleshag.
"No shoot! no shoot!" exclaimed one of the savages—the one who had before acted as Lean Bear's messenger. "No kill, no hurt."
"Don't fire," pleaded Fanny. "If you should kill Wahena, they would butcher us all." ”

“ As he crossed the yard he stopped to look at the horses, and to see what had become of the riders.
"Hokee!" cried he, using his favorite expression when excited.
"What's the matter, Ethan?" asked Fanny.
"As true as you live, one of them hosses is 'Whiteskin,'" replied he, alluding to one of Mr. Grant's animals.
"One of the Indian horses?"
"Yes; as true as you live! I kin see the old scar on his flank."
"Where could the Indians get him?"
"That's what I want to know," continued Ethan, now so much excited that he could not think of his milking. "Creation hokee!" ”

“ Grant, on his return, would send her to her uncle in Minnesota, and she had prepared herself for the worst. Her object, therefore, was to escape present defeat, and she hoped, cornered as she was by the constable, that some means of getting out of the dilemma might be presented to her.
"We are caught," said Kate, as Mr. Long moved down the pier.
"Not yet," replied Fanny, with more confidence than she actually felt.
The consciousness of being the leader in the enterprise led her to put on a bold face in order to inspire her friend with confidence, if for no other purpose. ”

“ At this instant the other three of the escort galloped wildly over the prairie, and before the voyagers could reach the boat the Indians intercepted them. Like those on the other side, they uttered wild yells, and seemed to be as much excited as though they had been actually engaged in battle.
The exiles had not intended to hold any communication with their escort, dreading the treacherous nature of the savages; and when the three Indians approached, Ethan promptly placed himself in a defensive attitude. Though the escort continued to yell, they did not offer to attack the voyagers. ”

“ The sufferer was looking at the rich flowers of the bouquet, which had been placed on a stand at the side of the bed. They were a joy to her, a connecting link between the beautiful of heaven and the beautiful of earth.
"Will you sing me a hymn, Fanny?" asked the sick girl, without removing her gaze from the flowers.
Without any other reply to the question, Fanny immediately sang this verse:—
"If God hath made this world so fair,
Where sin and death abound,
How beautiful, beyond compare,
Will Paradise be found!" ”

“ More agonizing than the thought came the reality, a few moments afterwards, while the wretches outside of the barn were still shouting their hideous yells. A smell of smoke, accompanied by a sharp, crackling sound, assured the waiting, trembling couple in the hay-mow that their worst fears were realized. The Indians had set fire to the barn.
"We are lost!" exclaimed Fanny. "They have set fire to the barn!"
"'Sh! Don't say a word," interposed Ethan.
"We shall be burned to death!" ”

“ Grant frequently impressed upon Fanny the necessity of perseverance, and of remitting no effort to reach her pupil's moral and spiritual nature.
If Miss Fanny did not improve her pupil, she did improve herself, for the more of love and truth we impart to others, the more we have for ourselves; making the very pretty moral paradox, that the more of love and truth we subtract from our store, the more we have left in our own heart.
Fanny Jane was undoubtedly a very naughty girl. ”

“ When about half the water had been dipped out, Fanny trimmed the sails, and headed the boat down the river, to the utter consternation of her timid associate, who was heartily sick of the adventure, and longed to put her feet on the dry land again.
"Now, Kate, you take the pail, and I will use the dipper; I can work and steer the boat at the same time," said Fanny, when the Greyhound was under headway again.
"The boat is going down the river, Fanny!" exclaimed Kate, as she took the pail.
"Of course she is," replied the bold skipper. "Where did you expect her to go?" ”

“ Fanny still resides at Woodville; and having now completed her school course, she assists Mrs. Green in the management of the house. She is still true to her high resolves; still wears the emblematic anchor, and strives to be as pure and good as Jenny was. She occasionally visits the grave of her departed young friend, and always gathers new inspiration and new strength for the battle of life, as she reads on the marble tablet her dying words—Hope and Have. ”

“ Fanny was entirely satisfied with herself now, and was confident that she could manage any boat that ever floated. It was a very easy thing, she thought, and she did not see why folks made such a "fuss" about sailing a boat; anybody could do it, if they only thought they could. But the Greyhound did not move fast enough for her impatient temperament, and, against the remonstrances of her more prudent companion, she insisted upon setting the mainsail.
"Mr. Long may be after us soon, and we must get along as fast as we can," said she, as she took the throat halliard, and gave the peak to Kate. ”

“ Putting a boat about, as Fanny had turned the Greyhound, is nautically termed gybing her. It is a dangerous manœuvre when the wind is fresh, and should never be attempted by young or inexperienced boatmen. By putting the boat about in the opposite direction, hauling in the sheet as the sail flutters, the danger may be wholly avoided. The boat's head should always be turned in the direction from which the wind comes. But a person who does not understand the management of a boat should no more attempt to handle one than an unskilful person should attempt to run a steam engine. ”

“ She was a girl of quick parts; her faculty of imitation was highly developed, and generally what she had seen done she could do herself. She could row cross-handed very well, and she had no difficulty in pulling the skiff out to the Greyhound's moorings. Kate stepped on board of the sail-boat, and Fanny, fastening the painter of the skiff at the stern, began to bustle around with as much confidence as though she had been a skipper ever since she left her cradle. ”

“ With his more devout companion, he felt that God was able to save them, to blunt the edges of the weapons raised to destroy them, or to transform their savage and bitter foes into the warmest and truest of friends.
"I feel better," said Fanny, after a moment of silence at the conclusion of the prayer.
"So do I," replied Ethan, whose altered look and more resolute tones confirmed his words. "I feel like I could fight some o' them Injins."
"We can do nothing by resistance."
"I dunno; if they don't burn the house, I reckon I know whar to find some shootin' fixin's." ”

“ The time had come for Wahena to take leave of the party. He was profoundly affected at the thought of bidding adieu to Fanny; he did not appear to like Ethan or the trapper. He pressed her hand, looked very sad, and made his demonstrative gestures. She kissed him on the cheek, pointed up to the sky, and laid her hands upon his head. If she could have spoken to him, she would have expressed the wish that he would abandon the savage life of his people, and become a true man ”

“ Fanny stepped down into the hole; Ethan followed her, and pulled the mass of hay over so that it fell upon them. They were four or five feet below the surface of the hay.
"I would rather be killed by a bullet than burned to death in the fire," said Fanny, with a shudder, when her companion had adjusted the hay so as to afford them the best possible means of concealment.
"P'rhaps they wouldn't kill you with a bullet. Them redskins is awful creeturs. They might hack you all to pieces with their knives and tomahawks," whispered Ethan. ”

“ On Monday the family returned from Hudson, and Fanny repeated her story to Bertha and her sister. They were moved to tears by her narrative. It had seemed to them that nothing short of a miracle could reform the wayward girl; but the miracle had been wrought, as was fully proved during the remainder of Fanny's stay at Woodville. It did not seem possible that the gentle and obliging girl, who was a blessing to all in the house, had ever been the grief and the sorrow of her friends, a thorn and a torment to all who came in contact with her. ”

“ Ethan brought from the chambers an armful of blankets and bed-quilts, and the wheelbarrow was loaded with all it would contain. A bushel of potatoes, a leg of bacon, a bucket of corn-meal, a small supply of groceries, and a few cooking utensils, constituted the stock upon which they were mainly to depend for sustenance during their banishment from civilized life for they knew not how long a time. But both of the exiles were hopeful, though very sad, when they thought of the death and desolation they were leaving behind them. ”

“ If you will get one of those men to manage the boat, I will go with you; for there isn't any fun in being drowned, or in being run over by a steamboat."
"Very well, I will do that," replied Fanny, her black eyes snapping with renewed vigor.
Ben, the boatman, who usually haunted the pier and the boat-house like a familiar spirit, had added many infirmities to his burden of cares during the eight years which have intervened since we first knew him, and he was now confined to his house by an attack of rheumatism. ”