nearly noon
It was not until the next morning that he encountered Oonomoo , the Huron , who related the particulars of the attack of the Shawnee party upon the house of Captain Prescott and the capture of his daughter . 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 .