Page:Edgar Huntly, or The Sleep Walker.djvu/185

 heart, and I wished that his better fortune had cast this evil from him upon me.

Thus I have told thee a bloody and disastrous tale: when thou reflectest on the mildness of my habits, my antipathy to scenes of violence and bloodshed, my unacquaintance with the use of fire-arms, and the motives of a soldier, thou wilt scarcely allow credit to my story: that one rushing into these dangers, unfurnished with stratagems or weapons, disheartened and enfeebled by hardships and pain, should subdue four antagonists, trained from their infancy to the artifices and exertions of Indian warfare, will seem the vision of fancy, rather than the lesson of truth.

I lifted my head from the ground, and pondered upon the scene: the magnitude of this exploit made me question its reality. By attending to my own sensations, I discovered that I had received no wound, or at least none of which there was reason to complain: the blood flowed plentifully from my cheek, but the injury was superficial. It was otherwise with my antagonists: the last that had fallen now ceased to groan: their huge limbs, inured to combat and war-worn, were useless to their own defence, and to the injury of others.

The destruction that I witnessed was vast—Three beings, full of energy and heroism, endowed with minds strenuous and lofty, poured out their lives before me: I was the instrument of their destruction—this scene of carnage and blood was laid by me; to this havoc and horror was I led by such rapid footsteps!

My anguish was mingled with astonishment: in spite of the force and uniformity with which my senses were impressed by external objects, the transition I had undergone was so wild and inexplicable—all that I had performed, all that I had witnessed since my egress from the pit, were so contradictory to precedent events, that I still clung to the belief that my thoughts were confused by delirium. From these reveries l was at length recalled by the groans of the girl, who lay near me on the ground.

I went to her, and endeavoured to console her. I found that while lying in the bed she had received a blow upon the side, which was still productive of acute pain: she was