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diff --git a/59617-0.txt b/59617-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..56cd59f --- /dev/null +++ b/59617-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9974 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59617 *** + + + + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber Note + +Text emphasis denoted by _Italics_. + + + + + +WHEN WILDERNESS WAS KING + + +[Illustration: "'Toinette!' I whispered, 'I would call you by a dearer +name than that!'" [Page 386]] + + + [Illustration] + + + + + WHEN WILDERNESS WAS KING + + A Tale of the Illinois Country + + + By RANDALL PARRISH + + + _With six pictures in full color and other decorations by Troy and + Margaret West Kinney_ + + + [Illustration] + + Third Edition + + + Chicago + + A. C. McClurg & Co. + + 1904 + + [Illustration] + + +Copyright + +By A. C. McClurg & Co. + +1904 + + Published March 36, 1904 + Second Edition, April 20, 1904 + Third Edition, July 2, 1904 + + +Entered at Stationers' Hall, London All Rights Reserved + + + +University Press John Wilson and Son Cambridge. U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. A Message from the West 1 + + II. The Call of Duty 9 + + III. A New Acquaintance 19 + + IV. Captain Wells of Fort Wayne 33 + + V. Through the Heart of the Forest 41 + + VI. From: the Jaws of Death 54 + + VII. A Circle in the Sand 66 + + VIII. Two Men and a Maid 77 + + IX. In Sight of the Flag 86 + + X. A Lane of Peril 95 + + XI. Old Fort Dearborn 105 + + XII. The Heart of a Woman 119 + + XIII. A Wager of Fools 133 + + XIV. Darkness and Surprise 141 + + XV. An Adventure Underground 150 + + XVI. "France wins, Monsieur!" 161 + + XVII. A Contest of Wits 171 + + XVIII. Glimpses of Danger 182 + + XIX. A Conference and a Resolve 191 + + XX. In the Indian Camp 201 + + XXI. A Council of Chiefs 212 + + XXII. The Last Night at Dearborn 224 + + XXIII. The Death-Shadow of the Miamis 236 + + XXIV. The Day of Doom 248 + + XXV. In the Jaws of the Tiger 261 + + XXVI. The Field of the Dead 269 + + XXVII. A Ghostly Vision 278 + + XXVIII. An Angel in the Wilderness 292 + + XXIX. A Soldier of France 306 + + XXX. The Rescue at the Stake 314 + + XXXI. A Search, and its Reward 325 + + XXXII. The Pledge of a Wyandot 337 + + XXXIII. An Intervention of Fate 347 + + XXXIV. A Stumble in the Dark 358 + + XXXV. The Battle on the Shore 368 + + XXXVI. In the New Gray Dawn 378 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + "'Toinette!' I whispered, 'I would call you by a + dearer name than that!'" Frontispiece + + "The obsequious darkey was deliberately combing + out his long hair" Facing page 56 + + "There was a rustle of paper, and Heald read + slowly: 'Evacuate the post if practicable'" 192 + + "She had reined her horse back against a wheel + of the halted wagon" 268 + + "'You shall not torture this man--he is a soldier + of France!'" 313 + + "'Don't, John! The savage has a gun hidden + beneath his robe'" 338 + + + "I saw a dot upon the map, and a housefly's filmy wing-- + They said 'twas Dearborn's picket-flag, when Wilderness was King. + + * * * * * + + I heard the block-house gates unbar, the column's solemn tread, + I saw the Tree of a single leaf its splendid foliage shed + To wave awhile that August morn above the column's head; + I heard the moan of muffled drum, the woman's wail of fife, + The Dead March played for Dearborn's men just marching out of life; + The swooping of the savage cloud that burst upon the rank + And struck it with its thunderbolt in forehead and in flank, + The spatter of the musket-shot, the rifles' whistling rain,-- + The sandhills drift round hope forlorn that never marched again." + + --_Benjamin F. Taylor._ + + + + +When Wilderness Was King + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A MESSAGE FROM THE WEST + + +Surely it was no longer ago than yesterday. I had left the scythe +lying at the edge of the long grass, and gone up through the rows of +nodding Indian corn to the house, seeking a draught of cool water from +the spring. It was hot in the July sunshine; the thick forest on every +side intercepted the breeze, and I had been at work for some hours. How +pleasant and inviting the little river looked in the shade of the great +trees, while, as I paused a moment bending over the high bank, I could +see a lazy pike nosing about among the twisted roots below. + +My mother, her sleeves rolled high over her round white arms, was +in the dark interior of the milk-house as I passed, and spoke to +me laughingly; and I could perceive my father sitting in his great +splint-bottomed chair just within the front doorway, and I marked how +the slight current of air toyed with his long gray beard. The old Bible +lay wide open upon his knee; yet his eyes were resting upon the dark +green of the woods that skirted our clearing. I wondered, as I quaffed +the cool sweet water at the spring, if he was dreaming again of those +old days when he had been a man among men. How distinct in each detail +the memory of it remains! The blue sky held but one fleecy white cloud +in all its wide arch; it seemed as if the curling film of smoke rising +from our chimney had but gathered there and hung suspended to render +the azure more pronounced. A robin peeked impudently at me from an oak +limb, and a roguish gray squirrel chattered along the low ridge-pole, +with seeming willingness to make friends, until Rover, suddenly spying +me, sprang hastily around the corner of the house to lick my hand, +with glad barkings and a frantic effort to wave the stub of his poor +old tail. It was such a homely, quiet scene, there in the heart of the +backwoods, one I had known unchanged so long, that I little dreamed it +was soon to witness the turning over of a page of destiny in my life, +that almost from that hour I was to sever every relation of the past, +and be sent forth to buffet with the rough world alone. + +There were no roads, in those days, along that valley of the upper +Maumee,--merely faint bridle-paths, following ancient Indian trails +through dense woods or across narrow strips of prairie-land; yet as I +hung the gourd back on its wooden peg, and lifted my eyes carelessly to +the northward, I saw a horseman riding slowly toward the house along +the river bank. There were flying rumors of coming Indian outbreaks +along the fringe of border settlements; but my young eyes were keen, +and after the first quick thrill of suspicion I knew the approaching +stranger to be of white blood, although his apparel was scarcely less +uncivilized than that of the savage. Yet so unusual were visitors, that +I grasped a gun from its pegs in the kitchen, and called warningly to +my mother as I passed on to meet the new-comer. + +He was a very large and powerful man, with a matted black beard and an +extremely prominent nose. A long rifle was slung at his back, and the +heavy bay horse he bestrode bore unmistakable signs of hard travelling. +As he approached, Rover, spying him, sprang out savagely; but I caught +and held him with firm grip, for to strangers he was ever a surly brute. + +"Is this yere Major Wayland's place?" the man questioned, in a deep, +gruff voice, reining in his tired horse, and carelessly flinging one +booted foot across the animal's neck as he faced me. + +"Yes," I responded with caution, for we were somewhat suspicious +of stray travellers in those days, and the man's features were not +pleasing. "The Major lives here, and I am his son." + +He looked at me intently, some curiosity apparent in his eyes, as he +deliberately drew a folded paper from his belt. + +"No? Be ye the lad what downed Bud Eberly at the meetin' over on the +Cow-skin las' spring?" he questioned, with faintly aroused interest. + +I blushed like a school-girl, for this unexpected reference was not +wholly to my liking, though the man's intentions were evidently most +kind. + +"He bullied me until I could take no more," I answered, doubtfully; +"yet I hurt him more seriously than I meant." + +He laughed at the trace of apology in my words. + +"Lord!" he ejaculated, "don't ever let that worry ye, boy. The hull +settlement is mighty glad 'twas done. Old Hawkins bin on the p'int o' +doin' it himself a dozen o' times. Told me so. Ye're quite a lad, ain't +ye? Weigh all o' hundred an' seventy, I'll bet; an' strong as an ox. +How old be ye, anyhow?" + +"Twenty," I answered, not a little mollified by his manner. "You must +live near here, then?" + +"Wal, no, but been sorter neighbor o' yourn fer a month er so back; +stoppin' up at Hawkins's shebang, at the ford, on the Military Road, +visitin'; but guess I never met up with none o' your folks afore. My +name's Burns, Ol' Tom Burns, late o' Connecticut. A sojer from out West +left this yere letter fer yer father at Hawkins's place more nor a week +ago. Said as how it was mighty important; but blamed if this wasn't the +fust chance he's hed to git it over yere sence. I told him I'd fetch +it, as it wasn't more nor a dozen miles er so outer my way." + +He held out a square paper packet; and while I turned it over curiously +in my hand,--the first letter I had ever seen,--he took some loose +tobacco from an outside pocket and proceeded leisurely to fill his pipe. + +My mother rolled my father's chair forward into the open doorway, and +stood close behind him, as was her custom, one arm resting lightly upon +the quaintly carved chair-back. + +"What is it, John?" she questioned gently. Instantly aroused by her +voice, I crossed quickly over and placed the packet in my father's thin +hands. He turned it over twice before he opened it, looking at the odd +seal, and reading the superscription carefully aloud, as if fearful +there might be some mistake: + + "Major David Wayland, + Along the Upper Maumee. + Leave at Hawkins Ford + "Important. on Military Road." + +I can see him yet as he read it, slowly feeling his way through the +rude, uneven writing, with my mother leaning over his shoulder and +helping him, her rosy cheeks and dark tresses making strange contrast +beside his pain-racked features and iron-gray hair. + +"Read it aloud, Mary," he said at last. "I shall understand it better. +'Tis from Roger Matherson, of whom you have heard me speak." + +My mother was a good scholar, and she read clearly, only hesitating now +and then over some ill-written or misspelled word. + + At Fort Dearborn, near the head of the + Great Lake. Twelfth June, 1812. + + My Dear Old Friend: + + I have come to the end of life; they tell me it will be all over by + the morrow, and there remains but one thing that greatly troubles + me--my little girl, my Elsa. You know I have never much feared death, + nor do I in this hour when I face it once more; for I have ever tried + to honor God and do my duty as both man and soldier. David, I can + scarcely write, for my mind wanders strangely, and my fingers will + but barely grasp the pen. 'Tis not the grip of the old sword-hand + you knew so well, for I am already very weak, and dying. But do you + yet remember the day I drew you out of the rout at Saratoga, and + bore you away safely, though the Hessians shot me twice? God knows, + old friend, I never thought to remind you of the act,--'twas no more + than any comrade would have done,--yet I am here among strangers, and + there is no one else living to whom I may turn in my need. David, in + memory of it, will you not give my little orphan child a home? Your + old comrade, upon his death-bed, begs this of you with his final + breath. She is all alone here, save for me, and there is no blood kin + in all the world to whom I may appeal. I shall leave some property, + but not much. As you love your own, I pray you be merciful in this + hour to my little girl. + + Your old comrade, + + Roger Matherson. + +This had been endorsed by another and bolder hand: + + Captain Roger Matherson, late of the Massachusetts Continental Line, + died at this fort, of fever, fourteenth June, 1812. His daughter is + being cared for by the ladies of the garrison. + + Nathan Heald, + Capt. First Regt. Inf., Commanding. + +The tears were clinging to my mother's long lashes as she finished the +reading; she was ever tender of heart and sympathetic with sorrow. My +father sat in silence, looking far off at the green woods. Presently +he took the paper again into his hands, folded it carefully in the old +creases, and placed it safely away between the Bible leaves. I saw my +mother's fingers steal along the arm of the chair until they closed +softly over his. + +"The poor little lamb!" she said gently. + +My father's old sword hung over the fireplace, and I saw his glance +wander toward it, as something seemed to rise choking in his throat. He +was always a man who felt deeply, yet said but little; and we both knew +he was thinking about the old days and the strong ties of comradeship. + +The stranger struck flint and steel to light his pipe; the act +instantly recalled my father to the demands of hospitality. + +"Friend," he said, speaking firmly, "hitch to the stump yonder, and +come in. You have brought me sad news enough, yet are no less welcome, +and must break bread at our board. John," and he turned toward me, "see +to friend Burns's horse, and help your mother to prepare the dinner." + +Out in the rude shed, which answered as a kitchen during summer +weather, I ventured to ask: + +"Mother, do you suppose he will take the little girl?" + +"I hope so, John," she answered, soberly; "but your father must decide +himself. He will not tell us until he has thought it all out alone." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE CALL OF DUTY + + +It was upon my mind all through that long afternoon, as I swung the +scythe in the meadow grass. I saw Burns ride away up the river trail +soon after I returned to work, and wondered if he bore with him any +message from my father. It was like a romance to me, to whom so few +important things had ever happened. In some way, the coming of this +letter out of the great unknown had lifted me above the narrow life +of the clearing. My world had always been so small, such a petty and +restricted circle, that this new interest coming within its horizon had +widened it wonderfully. + +I had grown up on the border, isolated from what men term civilization; +and I could justly claim to know chiefly those secrets which the +frontier teaches its children. My only remembrance of a different +mode of life centred about the ragged streets of a small New England +village, where I had lived in earlier childhood. Ever since, we had +been in the depths of the backwoods; and after my father's accident +I became the one upon whom the heavier part of the work fell. I had +truly thrived upon it. In my hunting-trips, during the dull seasons, +I learned many a trick of the forest, and had already borne rifle +twice when the widely scattered settlements were called to arms by +Indian forays. There were no schools in that country; indeed, our +nearest neighbor was ten miles distant as the crow flies. But my mother +had taught me, with much love and patience, from her old treasured +school-books; and this, with other lore from the few choice volumes +my father clung to through his wanderings, gave me much to ponder +over. I still remember the evenings when he read to us gravely out of +his old Shakespeare, dwelling tenderly upon passages he loved. And he +instructed me in other things,--in honor and manliness, in woodcraft, +and many a pretty thing at arms, until no lad in the settlements +around could outdo me in rough border sport. I loved to hear him, of a +boisterous winter night,--he spoke of such matters but seldom,--tell +about his army life, the men he had fought beside and loved, the daring +deeds born of his younger blood. In that way he had sometimes mentioned +this Roger Matherson; and it was like a blow to me now to hear of his +death. I wondered what the little girl would be like; and my heart +went out to her in her loneliness. Scarcely realizing it, I was lonely +also. + +"Has he spoken yet?" I questioned anxiously of my mother, as I came up +to the open kitchen door when the evening chores were done. + +"No, John," she answered, "he has been sitting there silently looking +out at the woods ever since the man left. He is thinking, dear, and we +must not worry him." + +The supper-table had been cleared away, and Seth, the hired man, had +crept up the creaking ladder to his bed under the eaves, before my +father spoke. We were all three together in the room, and I had drawn +his chair forward, as was my custom, where the candle-light flickered +upon his face. I knew by the look of calm resolve in his gray eyes that +a decision had been reached. + +"Mary," he began gravely, "and you, John, we must talk together of this +new duty which has just come to us. I hardly know what to decide, for +we are so poor and I am now so helpless; yet I have prayed earnestly +for guidance, and can but think it must be God's will that we care for +this poor orphan child of my old friend." + +My mother crossed the room to him, and bent down until her soft cheek +touched his lips. + +"I knew you would, David," she whispered, in the tender way she had, +her hand pressing back his short gray hair. "She shall ever be unto us +as our own little girl,--the one we lost come back to us again." + +My father bent his head wearily upon one hand, his eyes upon the candle +flame, his other hand patting her fingers. + +"It must be all of ten years," he said slowly, "since last I had word +of Roger Matherson. He was in Canada then, yet has never since been +long out of my mind. He saved my life, not once alone, as he would +seem to remember, but three separate times in battle. We were children +together in the blue Berkshire hills, and during all our younger +manhood were more than brothers. His little one shall henceforth be as +my own child. God hath given her unto us, Mary, as truly as if she had +been born of our love. I knew that Roger had married, yet heard nothing +of the birth of the child or the loss of his wife. However, from this +hour the orphan is to be our own; and we must now decide upon some safe +means of bringing her here without delay." + +He paused. No one of us spoke. His glance slowly wandered from the +candle flame, until it settled gravely upon my face as I sat resting on +a rude bench fitted into the chimney corner. He looked so intently at +me that my mother seemed instantly to interpret his thought. + +"Oh, surely not that, David?" she exclaimed, pleadingly. "Not John?" + +"I know of no other fit messenger, little woman," he answered soberly. +"It has indeed troubled me far more than all the rest, to decide on +this; yet there is no one else whom I think equal to the task. John is +a good boy, mother, and has sufficient experience in woodcraft to make +the journey." + +"But the savages!" she insisted. "'Tis said we are upon the verge of +a fresh outbreak, stirred up by this new war with England, that may +involve the settlements at any time. You know Burns told you just +now,--and he is an old scout, familiar with the West,--that British +agents were active along the whole border, and there was great +uneasiness among the Indian tribes." + +"There is serious promise of danger, 'tis true," he admitted, a flash +of the old fire in his eyes. "Yet that is scarce likely to halt David +Wayland's son. Indeed, it is the greater reason why this helpless +orphan child should be early brought to our protection. Think of the +defenceless little girl exposed alone to such danger! Nor have we means +of judging, Mary, of the real seriousness of the situation to the north +and west. War between the nations may very likely arouse the spirit +of the savages, yet rumors of Indian outbreak are always on the lips +of the settlers. Burns himself was upon his return westward, and did +not seem greatly troubled lest he fail to get through. He claimed to +live at Chicagou Portage, wherever that may be. I only know it is the +extreme frontier." + +My mother did not answer; and now I spoke, my cheeks aflame with +eagerness. + +"Do you truly mean, sir, that I am to go in search of the little girl?" +I asked, barely trusting my own ears. + +"Yes, John," my father replied gravely, motioning me to draw closer to +his chair. "This is a duty which has fallen to you as well as to your +mother and me. We can, indeed, but poorly spare you from the work at +this season; yet Seth will be able to look after the more urgent needs +of the farm while you are absent, while he would prove quite useless +on such a mission as this. Do not worry, Mary. Friend Burns is well +acquainted with all that western country, and he tells me there is +scarcely a week that parties of soldiers, or friendly Indians, do not +pass along the trail, and that by waiting at Hawkins's place for a few +days John will be sure to find some one with whom he may companion on +the long journey westward. He would himself have accompanied him, but +must first bear a message to friends at Vincennes. It is now some weeks +since Roger Matherson died, and we shall prove unworthy of our trust if +we delay longer in sending for his daughter." + +Though my mother was a western woman, patient and long habituated to +sacrifice and peril, still her eyes, fixed upon my face, were filled +with tears, and the color had deserted her cheeks. + +"I know not why it should be so, David," she urged softly; "but in my +heart I greatly fear this trip for John. Yet you have ever found me +ready to yield wherever it seemed best, and I doubt not you are right +in your decision." + +At any other time I should have gone to her with words of comfort +and good cheer; but now my ambition was so aroused by this impending +adventure as to permit me to think of nothing else. + +"Is it so very far, father, to where I must go?" I questioned, eagerly. +"Where is this Fort Dearborn, and how am I to journey in reaching +there? 'Tis no garrison of which I have ever heard." + +"Bring me the map your mother made of this country, and the regions to +the westward," he said. "I am not over clear in regard to the matter +myself, although friend Burns, who claims to know all that country, +gave me some brief description; but I found him most chary of speech." + +I got the map out of the great square cupboard in the corner, and +spread the paper flat upon the table, placing knives at each corner +to hold it open. I rolled his chair up before it, and the three of us +bent our heads over the map together, our faces glowing in the candle +flame. It was a copy made by a quill from a great government map my +mother had seen somewhere in her journeying westward; and, though only +a rude design, it was not badly done, and was sufficiently accurate +for our purpose. Much of it was still blank; yet the main open trails +had been traced with care, the principal fords over the larger streams +were marked, and the various government posts and trading settlements +distinctly located and named. Searching for the head of the Great +Lake, we were not long in discovering the position of the fort called +Dearborn, which seemingly was posted upon the western shore, nearly +opposite another garrison point at the mouth of the St. Joseph river. +We were able to trace with clearness the military road that had been +constructed northward from Fort Wayne, our nearest government post; but +the map failed to exhibit evidence of any beaten track, or used trail, +leading westward and around the head of the lake. There were numerous +irregular lines which denoted unnamed streams, but by far the larger +portion of the territory extending to the west beyond Fort Wayne had +been simply designated as "forest land" and "unexplored." "Friend Burns +tells me there is a trail used by both troops and savages, which he +has traversed several times," my father explained, as he lifted his +eyes from the map; "but it is not over plain, nor easily followed, +as communication with the Fort is mostly maintained by means of the +waterways to the northward. The overland journey, however, will prove +speedier, besides being less liable to disaster for one unaccustomed to +boats. How soon can John be ready, mother?" + +Her voice trembled, and I felt the pressure of her hand upon my sleeve. + +"It will take all of the morrow, David, to prepare his clothing +properly," she replied, with the patient resignation of the frontier. +"There is much that will need seeing after." + +"Then John will start the next dawn. You had best ride the brown colt, +my son; he is of good breed, and speedy. Seth shall accompany you +until you find suitable companionship at Hawkins's. He will bring back +word of how you started, and that knowledge will greatly comfort your +mother." + +He paused, and held out his thin hands. + +"You go upon this strange journey willingly, my son?" + +"Yes, father." + +"You will be both kind and thoughtful with Roger Matherson's little +girl?" + +"She shall be to me as my own sister." + +I felt the confiding clasp of his fingers, and realized how much to him +would be a successful termination of my journey. + +"Kiss your mother, John," he said, a trustful look coming into his +kindly eyes. "We must all be astir early on the morrow." + +Beneath the rived shingles of my little room, under the sloping roof, +how I turned and tossed through those long night hours! What visions, +both asleep and awake, came to me, thronging fast upon my heated +brain, each more marvellous than its fellow, and all alike pointing +toward that strange country which I was now destined by fate to travel! +Vague tales of wonder and mystery had come floating to me out of that +unknown West, and now I was to behold it all with my own eyes. But +marvellous as were my dreams, the reality was to be even more amazing +than these pictures of boyish imagination. Had I known the truth that +night, I doubt greatly whether I should have had the courage to face it. + +At last the gray dawn came, stealing in at the only window, and found +me eager for the trial. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A NEW ACQUAINTANCE + + +I drew rein upon the upper river bank, before we finally plunged into +the dark woods beyond, and glanced back. I had to brush the gathering +tears from my eyes before I could see clearly; and when I finally rode +away, the picture of that dear old home was fixed in my memory forever. +Our house stood near the centre of an oak opening,--a little patch of +native prairie-land, with a narrow stream skirting it on one side, and +a dense fringe of forest all about. The small story-and-a-half cabin +of hewn logs, with its lean-to of rough hand-riven planks, fronted to +the southward; and the northern expanse of roof was green with moss. My +father sat in the open doorway, his uplifted hand shading his eyes as +he gazed after us; while my mother stood by his side, one arm resting +upon the back of his chair, the other extended, waving a white cloth +in farewell. Rover was without, where I had bidden him remain, eagerly +watching for some signal of relenting upon my part. Beyond stood the +rude out-buildings, silhouetted against the deep green. It was a +homely, simple scene,--yet till now it had been all the world to me. + +With a final wave of the hand, I moved forward, until the intervening +trees, like the falling of a curtain, hid it all from view. Seth was +astride the old mare, riding bareback, his white goat-like beard +hanging down his breast until it mingled with her mane, while his long +thin legs were drawn up in the awkward way he had. He was a strange, +silent, gloomy man, as austere as his native hills; and we rode on with +no exchange of speech. Indeed, my thoughts were of a nature that I had +no wish to share with another; so it was some time before the depth of +loneliness which oppressed my spirits enabled me to feel even passing +interest in the things at hand. + +"I'd hate like thunder ter be a-goin' on your trip, Maester John," +volunteered Seth at last, solemnly turning on the mare's broad back to +face me. + +"And why?" I asked, wonderingly; for the man's rare gift of silence +had won him a certain reputation for deep, occult knowledge which I +could not wholly ignore. "It will bring me the sight of some wonderful +country, no doubt." + +His shrewd gimlet eyes seemed fairly to pierce me, as he deliberately +helped himself to tobacco from a pouch at his waist. + +"Wal, that may all be, Maester John; but I've heerd tell ther is +some most awful things goes on out yonder," and he swung his long +arm meaningly toward the west. "Animyles sich as don't prowl raound +yere, man-yeatin' snakes as big as thet tree, an' the blood-thirstiest +salvages as ever was. An' arter a while ther ain't no more trees grows, +ther Ian' is thet poor, by gosh! jist a plumb dead levil er' short +grass, an' no show ter hide ner nuthin'." + +"Were you ever there, Seth?" I questioned with growing anxiety, for I +had heard some such vague rumors as these before. + +"Me? Not by a dinged sight!" he replied, emphatically. "This yere is a +long way further west thin I keer 'bout bein'. Ol' Vermont is plenty +good 'nough fer this chicken, an' many's ther day I wish I was back +ther. But I hed a cousin onct who tuk ter sojerin' 'long with Gineral +Clarke, an' went 'cross them ther prairies ter git Vincennes frum the +British. Lor'! it must a' bin more ner thirty year ago! He tol' me +thet they jist hed ter wade up ter ther neck in water fer days an' +days. I ain't so durn fond o' water as all thet. An' he said as how +rattlesnakes was everywhere; an' ther Injuns was mos' twice es big es +they be yere." + +"But Clarke, and nearly all of his men, got back safely," I protested. + +"Oh, I guess some on 'em got back, 'cause they was an awful lot in thet +army, mighty nigh two thousand on 'em, Ephriam said; but, I tell ye, +they hed a most terrible tough time afore they did git hum. I seed my +cousin whin he kim back, an' he was jist a mere shadder; though he was +bigger ner you whin he went 'way." + +"But Fort Dearborn is much farther to the north. Perhaps it will be +better up there." + +"Wuss," he insisted, with a most mournful shake of the head, "a dinged +sight wuss. Ephriam said es how the further north ye wint, the tougher +it got. He saw an Injun from up near the big lake--a Pottamottamie, or +somethin' like thet--what was nine fut high, an' he told him es how the +rivers in his kintry was all full o' man-eatin' critters like snakes, +an' some on 'em hed a hundred legs ter crawl with, an' cud travel a +dinged sight faster ner a hoss. By gosh! but you bet I don't want +none on it. Your father must 'a' been plum crazy fer ter sind ye way +out ther all 'lone,--jist a green boy like you. What ye a-goin' fer, +enyhow?" + +I explained to him the occasion and necessity for my trip, but he shook +his head dubiously, his long face so exceedingly mournful that I could +not remain unaffected by it. + +"Wal," he said at length, carefully weighing his words, "maybe it's all +right 'nough, but I've got my doubts jist the same. I'll bet thet ther +gal is jist one o' them will-o'-the-wisps we hear on, an' you never +will find her. You'll jist wander 'round, huntin' an' huntin' her, till +ye git old, or them monsters git ye. An' I'll be blamed if ever I heerd +tell o' no sich fort as thet, nohow." + +Seth was certainly proving a Job's comforter; and I was already +sufficiently troubled about the final outcome of my adventure. Hence +my only hope of retaining any measure of courage was to discountenance +further conversation, and we continued to jog along in silence, +although I caught him looking at me several times in a manner that +expressed volumes. + +We camped that night in the dense heart of some oak woods, beside a +pleasant stream of clear, cool water. Late the following evening, +just as the sun was disappearing behind the trees, our wearied horses +emerged suddenly upon the bank of a broad river, and we could discern +the dim outlines of Hawkins's buildings amid the deepening shadows of +the opposite shore. + +Upon one thing I was now fully determined. Seth should start back +with the first streak of the next dawn. His long face and dismal +croakings kept me constantly upon nettles, and I felt that I should +face the uncertain future with far stouter heart if he were out of my +sight. Firm in this resolve, I urged my horse to splash his reluctant +way through the shallows of the ford; and as our animals rose on the +steep bank of the western shore, we found ourselves at once in the +midst of a group of scattered buildings. It seemed quite a settlement +in that dim light, although the structures were all low and built of +logs. The largest and most centrally located of these was evidently +the homestead, as it had a rudely constructed porch in front, and a +thin cloud of smoke was drifting from its chimney. As I drew nearer, I +could perceive the reflection of a light streaming out through the open +doorway. + +No one appeared in answer to our shouting,--not even a stray dog; and, +in despair of thus arousing the inhabitants, I flung my rein to Seth, +and, mounting the doorstep, peered within. As I did so, a shiny, round, +black face, with whitened eyes and huge red lips, seemed to float +directly toward me through the inner darkness. It was so startling +an apparition that I sprang back in such haste as nearly to topple +over backward from the steps. Heaven alone knows what I fancied it +might be; indeed, I had little enough time in which to guess, for I +had barely touched the ground,--my mind still filled with memories of +Seth's grotesque horrors,--when the whole figure emerged into view, +and I knew him instantly for a negro, though I had never before seen +one of his race. He was a dandified-looking fellow, wearing a stiff +white waistcoat fastened by gilded buttons, with a pair of short curly +mustaches, waxed straight out at the ends; and he stood there grinning +at me in a manner that showed all his gleaming teeth. Before I could +recover my wits enough to address him, I heard a voice from within the +house,--a soft, drawling voice, with a marked foreign accent clinging +to it. + +"Sam," it called, "have you found either of the scoundrelly rascals?" + +The darkey started as if shot, and glanced nervously back over his +shoulder. + +"No, sah," he replied with vigor, "dat Mistah Hawkins am not yere, sah. +An' dat Mistah Burns has gone 'way fer gud, sah. But dar am a gemman +yere, sah,--" + +"What!" came a surprised ejaculation that caused the negro to jump, and +I heard a chair overturned within. "A gentleman? Sam, don't deceive +me! For the love of Heaven, let me see him. May I be bastinadoed if it +hasn't been three months since my eyes beheld the last specimen! Sam, +where was it I saw the last one?" + +"Montreal, sah." + +"By Saint Guise! 'tis gospel truth," and the speaker strode forward, +candle in hand. "Here, now, you ace of spades," he cried impatiently, +"hold the flame until I bid this paragon of the wilderness fit welcome +in the name of Hawkins, who strangely seems to have vanished from the +sylvan scene. Alas, poor Hawkins! two gentlemen at one time, I greatly +fear, will be the death of him. Would that his good friend Burns might +be with him on this festive occasion. Ye gods, what a time it would be!" + +As the black hastily reached out for the candle-stick, his erratic +master as quickly changed his mind. + +"No," he muttered thoughtfully, drawing back within the hall; "'tis +far more fit that such formal greeting should occur within, where +the essentials may be found with which to do full courtesy. I will +instead retire. Sam, bid the gentleman meet me in the banquet hall, +and then, mark you, thou archfiend of blackness, seek out at once that +man Hawkins in his hidden lair, and bid him have ample repast spread +instantly, on pain of my displeasure. By all the saints! if it be not +at once forthcoming I will toast the scoundrel over his own slow fire." + +"Seth," I said to my staring companion, as soon as I could recover from +my own surprise, "find a place for the horses somewhere in the stables, +and come in." + +"Where is your master to be found?" I questioned of the black, whose +air of self-importance had been resumed the moment he was left alone. + +"Second door to de right, sah," he answered, gazing curiously at my +deer-skin hunting-shirt as I pressed by. + +I had little difficulty in finding it, for all that the way was totally +dark, as the fellow within was lustily carolling a French love-song. I +hung back for a moment, striving vainly to distinguish the words. + +Without pausing to make my presence known, I opened the door quietly, +and stepped within. The room was not a large one, though it occupied +the full width of the house; and the two lighted candles that illumined +it, one sitting upon a table otherwise bare, the other occupying the +rude dresser in the far corner, revealed clearly the entire interior. + +The sole occupant of the room sat upon a corner of the table, one +foot resting on the floor, the other dangling carelessly. Hardly more +than a year my elder, he bore in his face the indelible marks of a +life vastly different. His features were clear-cut, and undeniably +handsome, with a curl of rare good-humor to his lips and an audacious +sparkle within his dark eyes. His hat, cocked and ornamented in foreign +fashion, lay beside him; and I could not help noting his long hair, +carefully powdered and arranged with a nicety almost conspicuous, while +his clothing was rich in both texture and coloring, and exhibited many +traces of vanity in ribbon and ornament. Within his belt, fastened by a +large metal clasp, he wore a pearl-handled pistol with long barrel; and +a rapier, with richly jewelled hilt, dangled at his side. Altogether he +made a fine figure of a man, and one of a sort I had never met before. + +If he interested me, doubtless I was no less a study to him. I could +see the astonishment in his eyes, after my first entrance, change to +amusement as he gazed. Then he brought a white hand down, with a smart +slap, upon the board beside him. + +"By all the saints!" he exclaimed, "but I believe the black was right. +'Tis the face of a gentle, or I know naught of the breed, though the +attire might fool the very elect. Yet, _parbleu!_ if memory serves, +'tis scarcely worse than what I wore in Spain." + +He swung down upon his feet and faced me, extending one hand with all +cordiality, while lips and eyes smiled pleasantly. + +"Monsieur," he said, bowing low, and with a grace of movement quite +new to me, "I bid you hearty welcome to whatsoever of good cheer this +desert may have to offer, and present to you the companionship of +Villiers de Croix. It may not seem much, yet I pledge you that kings +have valued it ere now." + +It was a form of introduction most unfamiliar to me, and seemed +bristling with audacity and conceit; but I recognized the heartiness of +his purpose, and hastened to make fit response. + +"I meet you with much pleasure," I answered, accepting the proffered +hand. "I am John Wayland." + +The graceful recklessness of the fellow, so conspicuous in each word +and action, strongly attracted me. I confess I liked him from his first +utterance, although mentally, and perhaps morally as well, no two men +of our age could possibly be more unlike. + +"Wayland?" he mused, with a shrug, as if the sound of the word was +unpleasant. "Wayland?--'tis a harsh name to my ears, yet I have heard +it mentioned before in England as that of a great family. You are +English, then?" + +I shook my head emphatically; for the old wounds of controversy and +battle were then being opened afresh, and the feeling of antagonism ran +especially high along the border. + +"I am of this country," I protested with earnestness, "and we call +ourselves Americans." + +He laughed easily, evidently no little amused at my retort, twisting +his small mustache through his slender fingers as he eyed me. + +"Ah! but that is all one to me; it is ever the blood and not the name +that counts, my friend. Now I am French by many a generation, Gascon +by birth, and bearing commission in the Guard of the Emperor; yet +sooth, 'tis the single accursed drop of Irish blood within my veins +that brings me across the great seas and maroons me in this howling +wilderness. But sit down, Monsieur. There will be both food and wine +served presently, and I would speak with you more at ease." + +As he spoke he flung himself upon a low settee, carelessly motioning me +toward another. + +"On my word," he said, eying me closely as I crossed over to the bench, +"but you are a big fellow for your years, and 'tis strength, not flabby +flesh, or I know not how to judge. You would make a fine figure of a +soldier, John Wayland. Napoleon perchance might offer you a marshal's +baton, just to see you in the uniform. _Parbleu!_ I have seen stranger +things happen." + +"You are now connected with the French army?" I questioned, wondering +what could have brought him to this remote spot. + +"Ay, a Captain of the Guard, yet an exile, banished from the court on +account of my sins. _Sacre!_ but there are others, Monsieur. I have +but one fault, my friend,--grave enough, I admit, yet but one, upon my +honor, and even that is largely caused by that drop of Irish blood. I +love the ladies over-well, I sometimes fear; and once I dared to look +too high for favor." + +"And have you stopped here long?" + +"Here--at Hawkins's, mean you? Ten days, as I live; would you believe +I could ever have survived so grievous a siege?" and he looked +appealingly about upon the bare apartment. "Ten days of Hawkins and +of Sam, Monsieur; ay! and of Ol' Burns; of sky, and woods, and river, +with never so much as a real white man even to drink liquor with. By +Saint Louis! but I shall be happy enough to face you across the board +to-night. Yet surely it is not your purpose to halt here long?" + +"Only until I succeed in joining some party travelling westward to the +Illinois country." + +"No! is that your aim? 'Tis my trip also, if Fate be ever kind enough +to bring hither a guide. _Sacre!_ there was one here but now, as odd a +devil as ever bore rifle, and he hath taken the western trail alone, +for he hated me from the start. That was Ol' Burns. Know you him?" + +"'Twas he who brought the message that sent me here; yet he said little +of his own journey. But you mention not where you are bound?" + +"I seek Fort Dearborn, on the Great Lake." + +"That likewise is to be the end of my journey. You go to explore?" + +"Explore? Faith, no," and he patted his hand upon the bench most +merrily. "There are but two reasons to my mind important enough to lure +a French gentleman into such a hole as this, and send him wandering +through your backwoods,--either war or love, Monsieur; and I know of no +war that calleth me." + +Love, as he thus spoke of it, was almost an unknown term to me then; +and, in truth, I scarcely grasped the full significance of his meaning. + +"You seek some lady, then, at Fort Dearborn?" I asked, for his tone +seemed to invite the inquiry. + +"Ay!" with quickened enthusiasm; "'tis there Toinette has hidden +herself for this year or more,--Toinette, on my word as a French +soldier, the fairest maid of Montreal. I have just discovered her +whereabouts, yet I shall win her ere I traverse these trails again, or +I am not Villiers de Croix." + +"I travel thither to bring back a little orphan child with me," I +explained simply, in response to his look, "and will most gladly aid +you where I can." + +Before he could answer, Hawkins, a gaunt, silent frontiersman, together +with Sam, entered the room, bearing between them our evening meal. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CAPTAIN WELLS OF FORT WAYNE + + +We tarried at the table a considerable time,--not because of any +tempting variety in the repast, as the food furnished was of the +coarsest, but for the sake of companionship, and because we discovered +much of passing interest to converse about. De Croix had travelled +widely, and had seen a great variety of life both in camp and court. He +proved a vivacious fellow, full of amusing anecdote,--a bottle of rich +wine drawn from his own private stock so stimulating his imagination +that I had little to do but sit and listen. Yet he contrived to learn +from me,--how, I hardly know, the simple story of my life, and, indeed, +assumed a certain air of patronizing superiority, boasting unduly of +his wider experience and achievements in a way that somewhat nettled +me at last, as I began to comprehend that he was merely showing off +his genteel graces the better to exhibit his contempt for my provincial +narrowness. I did not permit this really to anger me, for our views +upon such matters were totally different, and I could not help feel +admiration for the brilliant and audacious fellow. + +The black waited upon us while we ate and drank, moving noiselessly +across the rough floor, so keenly observant of his master's slightest +wish as to convince me the latter possessed a temper which upon +occasion burst its bounds. Yet now he was surely in the best of humors; +and with the coming of our second bottle, after the remains of the +repast had been removed, he sang several love-songs in his native +tongue, the meaning of which I could only guess at. + +"Saint Guise!" he exclaimed at last, flinging one booted foot over +the table corner. "You are a very sphinx of a fellow. You deny being +English, yet you have all the silence of that nation. I am hungry, +Monsieur, for the sweet sound of the French tongue." + +"'Tis a language of which I know little," I answered, striving to +speak pleasantly, although his manner was becoming less and less to my +liking. "I have met with your _coureurs de bois_ in plenty, and picked +up sufficient of their common phrases to enable me to converse on +ordinary themes with them; yet I confess I find it difficult to follow +your speech." + +_"Canaille,"_ he returned, in tone of undisguised contempt, "Canadian +half-breeds, the very offscourings of our people. _Sacre!_ but you +should know us at home, Monsieur,--we are the conquerors of the world!" + +I wish I could picture to you how he said this. Simple as it now reads, +he made it vital with meaning. The insolent boast was uttered with such +a swagger that my face instantly flushed, and he noted it. + +"Is it not true, Monsieur?" he asked quickly, his own blood heated +by the wine. "I tell you, the whole of Europe has trembled, and will +again, at the nod of our Napoleon. Why, even over here we had to come +with our legions to help you repel the red-coats. Saint Guise! but it +was the Frenchmen who made you a nation." + +"Ay! but only that they might revenge themselves upon England," I +retorted blindly, "and the force sent merely hurried a result already +inevitable; yet we gave you a slight touch of our own quality in '98 +that stung a bit, I warrant." + +"Bah! a ship or two. 'Twas well for you that our army was so closely +engaged elsewhere, or the story would have a different ending." + +We were both of us upon our feet by this time, glaring at each other +across the board, our faces hot with the ill-restrained passion of +youth. A word more from either would surely have precipitated matters; +but before it could be spoken the door leading into the hallway was +hurriedly flung aside, and, without apology for the intrusion, two men +strode forward into the glare of light. + +"Serve supper here, Hawkins," commanded the first, his back still +turned toward us. "Anything you may chance to have in the house,--only +let there be little delay." + +He was a tall, dark-featured man, smoothly shaven, as swarthy as an +Indian, with stern dark eyes, thick coarse hair, and an abrupt manner +born of long command. His companion, of lighter build and younger face, +was attired in a travel-stained uniform of blue and buff; but he who +was evidently the leader was so completely wrapped within the folds of +a riding-cloak as to reveal nothing of rank other than his unmistakable +military presence and bearing. Turning from the door, he swept a +penetrating glance over us, loosening the clasp of his cloak as he did +so. + +"I regret having thoughtlessly interrupted your quarrel, gentlemen," +he said brusquely, "but this appears to be the sole excuse for a +public-room in the place. However, my services are at your command if +they be desired in any way." + +De Croix laughed, perfectly at his ease in a moment. + +"'Tis scarce so serious," he explained lightly. "A mere interchange of +compliments over the respective merits of our nations in war." + +The stranger looked at him intently, and with some manifest disapproval. + +"And yours, no doubt, was France," he said shortly. + +De Croix bowed, his hand upon his heart. + +"I have worn her uniform, Monsieur." + +"I thought as much, and fear my sympathies may be altogether with your +antagonist in the controversy. Yet what's the use of wasting life like +that? Surely there is fighting enough in this world of ours for such +young blades, without inventing cause for quarrel. Come, sit down once +more, and join with us in whatsoever cheer our landlord may provide." + +As he spoke, he flung aside his cloak, revealing beneath merely the +well-worn dress of a frontiersman, with an army sword-belt buckled +about the waist. + +"Come, Walter," he called to his companion, who remained standing, +"there is to be no touch of ceremony here to-night. Gentlemen, I am +Captain Wells, formerly of the army, now Indian agent at Fort Wayne; +and this is Sergeant Jordan." + +The Frenchman bowed gracefully, and extended a card across the table. +The other glanced at it carelessly. + +"Ah! De Croix; pleased to meet you. Think I heard some of our officers +speak of seeing you a month ago at Detroit,--McBain or Ramsey, I have +forgotten which." + +"I recall a game of cards with a Lieutenant Ramsey, a rather choleric +Scotchman, with a magnificent capacity for strong whiskey." + +The Captain turned inquiringly toward me, and I hastened to name myself. + +"Wayland, did you say?" he asked, with deepened interest. "'Tis not a +common appellation, yet I once knew a Major by that name in Wayne's +command." + +"My father, sir," I asserted proudly. + +With quick impulsiveness he extended his hand. + +"As noble a soldier as I have ever known," he exclaimed heartily. "I +served with him in two campaigns. But what are you two young fellows +doing here? for it would be hard to conceive of a more disheartening +place of residence. Surely, De Croix, you are not permanently located +in this delightful spot?" + +"The saints forbid!" ejaculated the other, with an expression of horror +that caused the younger officer to smile. "Yet I have already survived +ten days of it. We seek to join some party bound westward, either to +Fort Dearborn or beyond." + +The elder officer smiled gravely, as his stern eyes wandered +thoughtfully over our faces in the candle-light. + +"You will scarcely find those who go beyond," he said, at last, slowly. +"That is our extreme frontier; and even this post, I hear it rumored, +is to be abandoned shortly. Indeed, I am now proceeding thither, hoping +to escort a niece safely eastward because of that very probability. I +can offer you naught save companionship and guidance upon the journey; +yet if you needs must go, you may ride with us and welcome. But 'tis my +first duty to advise you strongly against it." + +"You look for trouble?" I asked, for his words and manner were grave. + +"I am not one easily alarmed," he answered, scanning our faces as we +fronted him; "but I have lived long among the Indians, and know them +well. This new war with England will not pass without atrocities along +the border, and in my judgment we are now on the eve of a general +uprising of the savages. It will surely come with the first news of +British success, and 'tis the fear of reverses at Dearborn that has +hurried me westward. You, sir," and he turned toward me, "are young, +but it is evident you have been bred to the frontier, so you will +realize what it may mean to us if we be caught in the Illinois country +by such an uprising." + +I bowed, deeply impressed by his earnestness. + +"I have, indeed, seen something of savage warfare, and know much of its +horror," I replied stoutly. "Yet what you say of the possible future +only makes more urgent my duty to press on." + +"And you?" he asked De Croix. + +"Faith, Captain," was the instant reply, "it is the gentle hand of love +which leads me westward, and never yet did a true Frenchman hesitate in +such a quest because danger lurked between." + +Wells smiled grimly. + +"Then my conscience is left clear," he exclaimed heartily; "and if you +ride with me to death, 'tis of your own choosing. However, glad enough +we have cause to be thus to gain two more fighting men. I have a party +of Miamis travelling with me, and I doubt not there will be ample work +for all before we return. Here comes supper; let us eat, drink, and +be merry, even though to-morrow it be our fate to die. 'Tis the best +border philosophy." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THROUGH THE HEART OF THE FOREST + + +We lingered long over the wine,--for that which De Croix had furnished +proved excellent, and greatly stimulated our discourse. Yet, I must +confess, it was drunk chiefly by the Frenchman and Jordan; for Wells +barely touched his glass, while I had never acquired a taste for such +liquor. De Croix waxed somewhat boastful, toward the last; but we paid +small heed to him, for I was deeply interested in Captain Wells's +earlier experiences among the savages, which he related gravely and +with much detail. Jordan proved himself a reckless, roistering young +fellow, full of high spirits when in liquor; yet I formed an impression +that he stood well in his commander's favor, for the latter warned him +kindly to be more abstemious. + +However late it may have been when we finally sought rest, we were +early astir the next morning. I despatched Seth upon his return +journey to the farm, bearing under his girdle as cheerful a note of +farewell as I could frame; and then, though it was scarce later than +sun-up, the rest of us were fairly upon the westward trail. There were +in the party thirty Miami Indians, strong, lusty-looking warriors, +most of them. The larger portion of them travelled in our advance, +under command of one of their chiefs; a smaller detachment acting in +similar manner as a rear-guard. The white men, as well as the negro, +who controlled a pack animal heavily laden with his master's baggage, +were on horseback; and it pleased me greatly,--for I was young and +easily flattered,--to have Captain Wells rein in his horse at my side +as soon as we were safely across the ford, leaving the Frenchman either +to companion with Jordan or ride alone. + +I looked at De Croix curiously, as he moved forward with slow +carelessness in our front, for he had kept the entire company waiting +outside the house for half an hour in the gray dawn while he curled and +powdered his hair. Doubtless this was what so disgusted Wells, whose +long black locks were worn in a simple queue, tied somewhat negligently +with a dark cord. I almost smiled at the scowl upon his swarthy face, +as he contemplated the fashionably attired dandy, whose bright-colored +raiment was conspicuous against the dark forest-leaves that walled us +round. + +"I have heard it claimed these gay French beaux fight well when need +arises," he commented at last, thoughtfully; "but 'tis surely a poor +place here for flaunting ribbons and curling locks. Possibly my fine +gentleman yonder may have occasion to test his mettle before we ride +back again. Sure it is that if that time ever comes he will not look so +sweet." + +"You make me feel that we go forward into real peril," I said, +wondering that he should seem so fearful of the outcome, "Have you +special reason?" + +"The Miamis have already been approached by Indian runners, and their +young men are restless. It was only because I am the adopted son of +Big Turtle, and a recognized warrior of their tribe, that these have +consented to accompany me; and I fear they may desert at the first +sign of a hostile meeting," he answered gravely. "There is an Indian +conspiracy forming, and a most dangerous one, involving, so far as I +can learn, every tribe north of the Ohio. Now that war with England has +actually been declared, there can no longer be doubt that the chiefs +will take sides with the British. They have everything to gain and +little to lose by such action. The rumor was at Fort Wayne, even before +we left, that Mackinac had already fallen; and if that prove true, +every post west of the Alleghanies is in danger. I fear that death +and flame will sweep the whole frontier; and I frankly acknowledge, +Wayland, my only hope in this expedition is that, by hard travel, we +may be able to reach Chicagou and return again before the outbreak +comes. Tom Burns, an old scout of Wayne's, and a settler in that +country, was at Fort Wayne a month since with an urgent message from +the commandant at Dearborn. I tell you frankly, it will be touch and go +with us." + +"Chicagou?" I questioned, for the word was one I had heard but once +before and was of an odd sound. + +"Ay! old Au Sable called it the Chicagou portage long before the fort +named Dearborn was ever established there. 'Tis the name the French +applied to a small river entering the Great Lake from the west at that +point." + +"Have you journeyed there before?" + +"Once, in 1803. I held Indian council on the spot, and helped lay out +the government reservation. 'Tis a strange flat country, with much +broken land extending to the northward." + +Little by little our conversation lapsed into silence; for the narrow +trail we followed was a most difficult one, and at times taxed our +ingenuity to the utmost. It led through dense dark woods, fortunately +free from underbrush, skirted the uncertain edges of numerous marshes +in the soft ooze of which the hoofs of our horses sank dangerously, +and for several miles followed the sinuous course of a small but rapid +stream, the name of which I have forgotten. There were few openings in +the thick forest-growth, and the matted branches overhead, interlaced +with luxuriant wild vines, so completely shut out all vestige of the +sun that we toiled onward, hour after hour, in continuous twilight. + +What mysterious signs our guides followed, I was not sufficiently +expert in woodcraft to determine. To my eyes,--and I sought to observe +with care,--there was nowhere visible the slightest sign that others +had ever preceded us; it was all unbroken, virgin wilderness, marked +only by slow centuries of growth. The accumulation of moss on the +tree-trunks, as well as the shading of the leaves, told me that we +continued to journey almost directly westward; and there was no +perceptible hesitancy in our steady progress, save as we deviated from +it here and there because of natural obstacles too formidable to be +directly surmounted. + +We skirted immense trees, veritable monarchs of the ages, hoary with +time, grim guardians of such forest solitudes; climbed long hills +roughened by innumerable boulders with sharp edges hidden beneath the +fallen leaves, that lamed our horses; or descended into dark and gloomy +ravines, dank with decaying vegetation, finally halting for a brief +meal upon the southern edge of a small lake, the water of which was as +clear and blue as the cloudless August sky that arched it. The sand of +the shore where we rested was white as snow, yet De Croix had his man +spread a cloak upon it before he ventured to sit down, and with care +tucked a lace handkerchief about his throat to prevent stray crumbs +from soiling the delicate yellow of his waistcoat. + +"One might fancy this was to be your wedding day, Monsieur," observed +Wells, sarcastically, as he marked these dainty preparations, and noted +with disgust the attentive negro hovering near. "We are not perfumed +courtiers dancing at the court of Versailles." + +De Croix glanced about him carelessly. + +"_Mon Dieu_, no," he said, tapping the lid of a richly chased silver +snuff-box with his slender fingers. "Yet, my dear friend, a French +gentleman cannot wholly forget all that belongs to the refinements of +society, even in the heart of the wilderness. Sam, by any foul chance +did you overlook the lavender water?" + +"No, sah; it am safe in de saddle-bags." + +"And the powder-puff, the small hand-mirror, and the curling-iron?" + +"I saw to ebery one ob dem, sah." + +De Croix gave a deep sigh of relief, and rested back upon the cloak, +negligently crossing his legs. + +"Captain," he remarked slowly and thoughtfully, "you've no idea the +trouble that negro is to me. Would you believe it? he actually left my +nail-brush behind at Detroit, and not another to be had for love or +money this side of Montreal! And only last night he mislaid a box of +rouge, and, by Saint Denis! I hardly dare hope there is so much as an +ounce of it in the whole party." + +"I rather suspect not," was the somewhat crusty reply; "yet if a bit of +bear's grease could be made to serve your turn, we might possibly find +some among us." + +"I know not its virtue," admitted the Frenchman gravely; "yet if it +reddens the lips it might be useful. But that which I had came from the +shop of Jessold in Paris, and is beyond all price." + +We were ten days upon this forest journey, from the time of our +crossing the Maumee; and they were hard days, even to those of us long +habituated to the hardships of border travel. Indeed, I know few forms +of exertion that so thoroughly test the mettle of men as journeying +across the wilderness. There are no artificial surroundings, either +to inspire or restrain; and insensibly humanity returns to natural +conditions, permitting the underlying savage to gain ascendency. I +have seen more than one seemingly polished gentleman, resplendent with +all the graces of the social code, degenerate into a surly brute with +only a few hours of such isolation and the ceaseless irritation of the +trail. Yet I must acknowledge that De Croix accepted it all without a +murmur, and as became a man. His entire plaint was over the luxuries he +must forego, and he made far more ado about a bit of dust soiling his +white linen than about any real hardship of the march. 'Tis my memory +that he rather grew upon us; for his natural spirits were so high that +he sang where others swore, and found cause for amusement and laughter +in much that tested sorely even the Indian-like patience of Wells. He +was like a boy, this gayly perfumed dandy of the French court; but +beneath his laces and ribbons, his affectations and conceits, there hid +a stout heart that bade him smile where other men would lie down and +die. He companioned mostly with Jordan as we journeyed, for Wells never +could become reconciled to his mincing ways; yet I confess now that I +began to value him greatly, and longed more than once to join with the +two who rode in our advance, cheering their wearisome way with quips +of fancy and snatches of song. He knew it too, the tantalizing rascal, +and would frequently send back a biting squib over his shoulder, hoping +thus to draw me away from the silent grim-faced soldier beside whom I +held place. + +It was truly a rough and wild journey, full enough of hardship, and +without adventure to give zest to the ceaseless toil. I know now +that we made a wide detour to the southward, trusting thus to avoid +any possible contact with prowling bands of either Pottawattomies or +Wyandots, whom our friendly Miamis seemed greatly to dread. This took +us far from the regular trail, rough and ill-defined as that was, and +plunged us into an untrodden wilderness; so that there were times when +we fairly had to cut our way through the twisted forest branches and +tangled brakes of cane with tomahawks and hunting-knives. We skirted +rocky bluffs, toiled painfully over fallen timber, or waded ankle +deep in softened clay, in the black gloomy shadows of dense woods +which seemed interminable, meeting with nothing human, yet constantly +startling wild game from the hidden coverts, and feeling more and more, +as we advanced, the loneliness and danger of our situation,--realizing +that each league we travelled only added to the length and peril of our +retreat if ever disaster came or Fort Dearborn were found deserted. + +Captain Wells, naturally grave and silent from his long training among +savages, grew more and more reticent and watchful as we progressed, +riding often at my side for hours without uttering a word, his +keen eyes warily searching the dark openings upon every hand as if +suspecting that each spot of gloom might prove the chosen place for +an ambuscade. Our Indian allies moved like shadows, gliding over the +ground noiselessly; and the occasional outbursts of merriment from De +Croix and his equally reckless companion grew gradually less frequent, +and appeared more forced. The constant and never-ending toil of our +progress, the depressing gloom of the sombre primeval forest on every +side of us, the knowledge of possible peril lurking in each league of +this haunted silence, weighed upon us all, and at last closed the lips +of even the most jovial of our number. + +It was the tenth day, as I remember,--though it may have been later, +for I have no writing to guide me concerning dates,--when we emerged +into a broad valley, treeless save for a thin fringe of dwarfed growth +skirting the bank of a shallow stream which ran almost directly +westward. I cannot describe how sweet, after our gloomy journey, the +sunlight appeared, as we first marked it play in golden waves over the +long grass; or the relief we felt at being able to gaze ahead once +more and see something of the country that we were traversing. 'Twas +like a sudden release from prison. Our jaded horses felt with us the +exhilaration of the change, and moved with greater sprightliness than +they had shown for days. As the sun began its circle downward, vast +rolling hills of white and yellow sand arose upon the right of our line +of march, huge mounds, many of them, glistening in the sunshine, some +jagged at the summit, others rounded as if by art, so unusual in form +and presence that I ventured to address our leader regarding them, as +he rode with his head bent low and a far-off look in his eyes. + +"The sand?" he questioned, glancing up as if startled at the sound of +my voice. "Why, it has been cast there by the stormy waves of the Great +Lake, my lad, and beaten into those strange and fantastic shapes by +the action of the wind. Doubtless 'tis the work of centuries of storms." + +"Are we, then, so close to the lake?" I asked eagerly,--for I had +never yet seen so large a body of water, and his description fired my +imagination. + +"'Tis but just beyond those dunes yonder, and will be still nearer when +we come to camp. Possibly you might reach the shore before dark if +you exercise care,--for there is danger of becoming lost in that sand +desert. Those hills seem all alike when once you are among them." + +"What is it that so greatly disturbs your Miamis?" I ventured to ask, +for I had been noticing for some time that they were restless and +travelling poorly. "They have been counselling now for two hours." + +He glanced aside at me in apparent surprise. + +"Why, boy, I thought you were bred to the border; and can you ask me +such a question? Do you observe nothing, like that fine gentleman +yonder? What have we been following since first we entered this valley?" + +"An old Indian trail." + +"True," he exclaimed, "and one that has been traversed by a large +war-party, bound west, within twelve hours." + +"How know you this?" + +"By a hundred signs far plainer than print will ever be to my eyes. In +faith, I thought those fellows out yonder would have summoned me to +council long ere this, instead of threshing it out among themselves. +They are bolder warriors than I deemed, though they will doubtless +revolt in earnest when we camp. We shall have to guard them well +to-night." + +As he paused, his eyes fixed anxiously upon our Indian allies, De Croix +began to hum a popular tune of the day, riding meanwhile, hat in hand, +with one foot out of the stirrup to beat the time. Then Jordan caught +up the refrain, and sang a verse. I saw one or two of the older Indians +glance around at him in grave displeasure. + +"The young fools!" muttered Wells, uneasily. "I shall enjoy seeing if +that French popinjay keeps all of his fine airs when the hour for stern +work comes." + +He lifted his voice. + +"Jordan!" + +The young soldier instantly ceased his song, and turned in his saddle +to glance back. + +"The time has come when I must insist on less noise, and more decorum +upon the march," Wells said sternly. "This is not Fort Wayne, nor is +our road devoid of danger. Captain de Croix, I shall have to request +you also to cease your singing for the present." + +There was that in his voice and manner which forbade remark, and we +rode on silently. I asked: + +"But you have not explained to me how you learned all this of which you +spoke?" + +"By the use of my eyes, of course. It is all simple; there are marks +beside the beaten trail, as well as in its track, which prove clearly +the party ahead of us to be moving westward, that it travelled rapidly, +and was certainly not less than a hundred strong, with ponies and +lodge-poles. Not more than a league back we passed the evidences of a +camp that had not been deserted longer than twelve hours; and when we +crossed the river, a feather from a war-bonnet was lying in the grass. +These are small details, yet they tell the story. That feather, for +instance, was dropped from a Pottawattomie head-dress, and no doubt +there are warriors among those Indians yonder who could name the chief +who wore it. It simply means, my lad, that the savages are gathering in +toward Dearborn, and we may reach there all too late." + +"Is the way yet long?" and my eyes sought the horizon, where the sun +hung like a red ball of fire. + +"We should be there by the morrow," he answered, "for we are now +rounding the head of the Great Lake. I wish to God I might see what +fate awaits us there." + +Young and thoughtless as I was in those days, I could not fail to +realize the depth of feeling which swayed this stern, experienced man; +and I rode on beside him, questioning no more. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH + + +I think it must be in the blood of all of New England birth to love the +sea. They may never have seen it, nor even heard its wild, stern music; +yet the fascination of great waters is part of their heritage. The +thought of that vast inland ocean, of the magnitude and sublimity of +which I had only the vaguest conception, haunted me all that afternoon; +and I scarcely removed my eyes from those oddly constructed mounds of +drifted sand, striving vainly to gain, through some depression between +them, a fleeting glimpse of the restless waters that had helped to +shape them into such fantastic forms. + +As the sun sank, angry red in our faces, presaging a storm, the course +of the little stream we had been following drew in closer toward these +grotesque piles, and the trail we followed became narrower, with the +sluggish current pressing upon one side and that odd bank of gleaming +sand upon the other. In a little open space, where quite a carpet of +coarse yellowish grass had found lodgment, beneath the protecting +shadow of a knot of cottonwoods, we finally made camp, and proceeded +to prepare our evening meal. Determined to strike north through those +guarding sand-dunes, and reach the shore of the lake if possible before +final darkness fell, I hastily crowded my pockets with food, and looked +eagerly around for some congenial companion. Captain Wells, whom I +should have preferred to be with me, was deep in conference with one +of the Miami chiefs, and not to be disturbed; Jordan had seemingly +been detailed to the command of the night-guard; so, as a last resort, +I turned aside and sought De Croix. I found him seated cross-legged +on a blanket beneath one of the cottonwoods, a silver-backed mirror +propped against a tree-butt in his front, while the obsequious darkey +was deliberately combing out his long hair and fashioning it anew. The +Frenchman glanced up at me with a welcoming smile of rare good-humor. + +"Ah, sober-face! and have you at last mustered courage to break away +from the commander of this most notable company?" he cried mockingly. +"'Tis passing strange he does not chain you to his saddle! By Saint +Guise! 'twould indeed be the only way in which so dull a cavalier would +ever hold me loyal to his whims. Friend Wayland, I scarce thought you +would ever thus honor me again; and yet, 'tis true, I have had an +ambition within my heart ever since we first met. 'Tis to cause you +to fling aside those rough habiliments of the wilderness, and attire +yourself in garments more becoming civilized man. Would that I might +induce you, even now, to permit Sam to rearrange those heavy blond +locks _à la Pompadour_. Bless me! but it would make a new man of you." + +"Such is not at all my desire, Monsieur," I answered, civilly. "I came +now merely to learn if you would walk with me through these dunes of +sand before the daylight fades." + +He looked out, idly enough, across that dreary expanse of desolation, +and shrugged his shoulders. + +"Use the other powder, Sam, the lighter colored," he murmured +languidly, as if the sight had wearied him; "and mind you drop not so +much as a pinch upon the waistcoat." + +Then he lifted his eyes inquiringly to mine. + +"For what?" he asked. + +"To look forth upon the Great Lake. Captain Wells tells me 'tis but a +brief and safe walk from here to the shore-line." + +"The lake?--water?" and the expression upon his face made me smile. +"_Mon Dieu_, man! have you become crazed by the hard march? What have I +ever said in our brief intercourse that could cause you to conceive I +care greatly for that? If it were only wine, now!" + +[Illustration: "The obsequious darkey was deliberately combing out his +long hair."] + +"You have no desire to go with me, then?" + +"Lay out the red tie, Sam; no, the one with the white spots in it, and +the small curling-iron. No, Monsieur; what you ask is impossible. I +travel to the west for higher purpose than to gaze upon a heaving waste +of water. _Sacre!_ did I not have a full hundred days of such pleasure +when first I left France? My poor stomach has not fairly settled yet +from its fierce churning. Know ye not, Master Wayland, that we hope to +be at this Fort Dearborn upon the morrow, and 'tis there I meet again +the fair Toinette? Saints! but I must look my best at such a time, not +worn and haggard from tramping through the sand. She was ever a most +critical maid in such matters, and has not likely changed. 'Tis curled +too high upon the right brow, you black imp! and, as I live, there is +one hair you have missed entirely." + +Realizing the uselessness of waiting longer, I turned my back upon +his vanity, and strode off alone. It is not my nature to swerve from +a purpose merely because others differ in desires; and I was now +determined to carry out my plan. I took one of the narrow depressions +between two mounds of sand and plunged resolutely forward, endeavoring +to shape my course as directly northward as the peculiarities of the +path would admit. To my mind, there was little to fear from the +hostile Indians, as every sign proved them to be hastening westward +in advance of us; while I was too long accustomed to adventure to be +easily confused, even in the midst of that lonely desolation. + +I soon found the walking difficult; for I sank to the ankles with each +step, while the soft sliding sand rolled beneath me so as to yield no +solid foothold. The irregularity of the mounds continually blocked my +passage, and caused me to deviate in direction, so that I grew somewhat +bewildered, the entire surface bearing such uniformity of outline as +to afford little guide. Yet I held to my original course fairly well, +for I could pilot somewhat by the dim north star; and it was not long +before my alert ears caught the pounding of surf along the shore-line. +Much encouraged, I pressed forward with greater rapidity, ignoring the +lanes between the dunes, and clambering over the mounds themselves in +my eagerness to reach the lake before the complete closing down of +night. + +At last I topped a particularly high ridge that felt solid to the feet; +and as I did so the wind came, hard and biting, against my face. There, +just below me, not fifty feet away, were rolling the great waves, +white-capped and roaring, pounding like vast sledges upon the anvil +of the sand. My entire being thrilled at the majestic sight, and for +the moment I forgot everything as I gazed away across those restless, +heaving waters, seemingly without limit, stretching forth into the +dim northward as far as the eye could reach, until water and sky +imperceptibly met and blended. Each advancing wave, racing toward the +beach, was a white-lipped messenger of mystery; and the vast tumultuous +sea, rolling in toward me out of that dark unknown, with its deep voice +of thunder and high-bursting spray, breathed the sublimest lessons of +the Infinite to my soul. It awed, impressed, silenced with the sense of +its solemn power. No dream of ocean grandeur had ever approached the +reality now outspread before me, as this vast inland sea tossed and +quivered to the lashing of the storm-wind that swept its surface into +fury. + +To the left and right of where I stood motionless, curved the +shore-line, a seemingly endless succession of white shining sand-hills, +with the sloping shingle up which the huge breakers tossed and rolled +in continuous thunder and foam, rising, breaking, receding, chasing +each other in gigantic play. How savagely strong it all looked! +what uncontrollable majesty lived in every line of the scene! The +very suggestion of tremendous power in it was, to my imagination, +immeasurably increased by its unutterable loneliness, its seemingly +total absence of life; for not a fin rose above the surface, not a wing +brushed the air overhead. The sun, sinking slowly behind the rim of +sand, shot one golden-red ray far out into that tumbling waste, forming +a slender bridge of ever-changing light that seemed to rest suspended +upon the breaking crests of the waves it spanned. Then, gradually, +stealthily, silently, the denser curtain of the twilight drew closer +and closer, and my vista narrowed, as the shadows swept toward me like +black-robed ghosts. + +I turned about reluctantly, to retrace my steps while the dim light yet +lingered. Some unseen angel of mercy it must have been that bade me +pause, and led me gently down the steep bank to the water's edge, where +the sharp spray lashed my cheeks. If this be not the cause, then I know +not why I went; or why, once being there, I should have turned to the +right, and rounded the edge of the little bay. Yet all of this I did; +and God knows that many a time since I have thanked Him for it upon my +knees. + +I saw first the thing bobbing up and down behind a bare wave-washed +rock that lifted a hoary crown close beside the water's edge. A branch +from off some tree, I thought, until I had taken a half-dozen curious +steps nearer, and felt my heart bound as I knew it to be a boat. My +first thought, of course, was of hostile Indians; and I swept the +sand-hills anxiously for any other sign of human presence. The world +about me was soundless except for the ceaseless roaring of the waves, +and there was not even a leaf within my sight to flutter. I crept +forward cautiously, seeing no footprints on the smooth sand, until my +searching eyes rested upon a white hand, dangling, as if lifeless, +over the boat's gunwale. Forgetting everything else in the excitement +of this discovery, I sprang hastily forward and peered within the boat. + +It was an awkward and rudely-formed water-craft, with neither mast nor +oars, yet of fair size, broad-beamed and seaworthy. In the forward part +lay the body of a woman; curled up and resting upon the boat's bottom, +the head buried upon the broad seat so that no face was visible, with +one hand hidden beneath, the other outstretched above the rail. So +huddled was her posture that I could distinguish few details in the +fading light; yet I noted that she wore a white upper garment, and that +her thick hair flowed in a dense black mass about her shoulders. + +For a moment I stood there helpless, believing I gazed upon death. She +either moved slightly, or the waves rocked the boat so as to somewhat +disturb her posture. That semblance of life sent my blood leaping once +more within my veins, and I leaned over and touched her cautiously. + +"Oh, go away! Please go away!" she cried, not loudly, but with a stress +of utterance that caused me to start back half in terror. "I am not +afraid of you, but either take my soul or go away and leave me." + +"For whom do you mistake me?" I asked, my hand closing now over hers. + +"For another devil come out of the black night to torture me afresh!" +she answered, never once moving even to my touch. "Ah, what legions +there must be to send forth so many after the soul of one poor girl! +'Tis not that I shrink from the end. Death! why, have I not died a +hundred deaths already? Yet do I trust the Christ and Mother Mary. But +why does the angel of their mercy hold back from me so long?" + +Was she crazed, driven mad by some extremity of suffering at which +I could only guess? That oarless boat, beached amid the desolation +of sand and the waste of water, alone told a story to make the heart +sick. I hesitated, not knowing what I had best say. She lifted her head +slowly, and gazed at me. I caught one glimpse of a pale young face +framed in masses of black dishevelled hair, and saw large dark eyes +that seemed to glow with a strange fire. + +"You,--you cannot be a devil also," she said, stammeringly. "You do not +look like those others,--are you a man?" + +I bowed in silence, astounded by her words and appearance. + +"Yet you are not of the garrison,--not of Dearborn. I have never seen +your face before. Yet you are surely a man, and white. Holy Mother! can +it indeed be that you have come to save me?" + +"I am here to serve you by every means in my power," I answered +soberly, for the wildness of her speech almost frightened me. "God, I +truly think, must have led me to you." + +Her wonderful eyes, questioning, anxious, doubtful, never once left my +face. + +"Who are you? How came you here?" + +"I am named John Wayland," I replied, striving to speak as simply as +might be, so that she would comprehend, "and form one of a small party +travelling overland from the east toward the Fort. We are encamped +yonder at the edge of the sand. I left the camp an hour ago, and +wandered hither that I might look out upon the waters of the Great +Lake; and here, through the strange providence of God, I have found +you." + +She glanced apprehensively backward over her shoulder across the +darkened waters, and her slight form shook. + +"Oh, please, take me away from it!" she cried, a note of undisguised +terror in her voice, and her hands held out toward me in a pitiful +gesture of appeal. "Oh, that horrible, cruel water! I have loved it +in the past, but now I hate it; how horribly it has tortured me! Take +me away, I beg,--anywhere, so that I can neither see nor hear it any +more. It has neither heart nor soul." And she hid her face behind the +streaming hair. + +"You will trust me, then?" I asked, for I had little knowledge of +women. "You will go with me?" + +She flung the clinging locks back from her eyes, with an odd, imperious +gesture which I thought most becoming, holding them in place with one +hand, while extending the other frankly toward me. + +"Go with you? Yes," she replied, unhesitatingly. "I have known many men +such as you are, men of the border, and have always felt free to trust +them; they are far more true to helpless womanhood than many a perfumed +cavalier. You have a face that speaks of honor and manliness. Yes, I +will go with you gladly." + +I was deeply impressed by her sudden calmness, her rapid repression of +that strange wildness of demeanor that had at first so marked her words +and manner. As I partially lifted her from the boat to the sand, she +staggered heavily, and would have fallen had I not instantly caught her +to me. For a single moment her dark eyes looked up confidingly into +mine, as she rested panting against my shoulder, and I could feel her +slender form tremble within my arms. + +"You are ill--faint?" I questioned anxiously. + +She drew back from me with all gentleness, and did not venture again to +attempt standing entirely without support. + +"I am ashamed so to exhibit my weakness," she murmured. "I fear I am +greatly in need of food. What day is this?" + +"The twelfth of August." + +"And it was the night of the tenth when I drifted out of the mouth of +the river. Ever since then I have been drifting, the sport of the winds +and waves." + +"Sit you down here, then," I commanded, now fully awakened to her +immediate need. "The sand is yet warm from the sun, and I have food +with me in my pockets." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A CIRCLE IN THE SAND + + +I have since thought it almost providential that my food supply was +so limited; for, after first asking me if I had eaten all I required, +she fell upon it like a famished thing, and did not desist until all +was gone. A threatening bank of dark cloud was creeping slowly up +the northern sky as we were resting, but directly overhead the stars +were shining brilliantly, yielding me sufficient light for the study +of her face. She was certainly less than my own age by two or three +years, a girl barely rounding into the slender beauty of her earliest +womanhood, with hints of both in face and form. She was simply dressed, +as, indeed, might naturally be expected in a wilderness far removed +from marts of trade; but her clothing was of excellent texture, and +became her well in spite of its recent exposure, while a bit of rather +expensive lace at the throat and a flutter of gay ribbons about the +wrists told plainly that she did not disdain the usual adornments +of her sex. And this was quickly shown in another way. She had not +yet completed her frugal meal when her mind reverted to her personal +appearance, and she paused, with heightened color, to draw back her +loosened hair and fasten it in place with a knot of scarlet cord. It +was surely a winsome face that smiled up at me then. + +"I feel almost guilty of robbery," she said, "in taking all this food, +which was no doubt intended for your own supper." + +"Merely what chanced to be left of it," I answered heartily. "Had +I so much as dreamed this stretch of sand was to yield me such +companionship, I should have stinted myself more." + +An expression of bewildered surprise crept into her eyes as I spoke. + +"Surely you are not a mere _coureur de bois_, as I supposed from +your dress," she exclaimed. "Your expression is that of an educated +gentleman." + +I smiled; for I was young enough to feel the force of her unconscious +flattery. + +"I believe I can prove descent from an old and honorable race," I said; +"but it has been my fortune to be reared in the backwoods, and whatever +education has come to me I owe to the love and skill of my mother." + +My frankness pleased her, and she made no attempt to disguise her +interest. + +"I am so glad you told me," she said simply. "My mother died when I +was only ten, yet her memory has always been an inspiration. Are you a +Protestant?" + +This unexpected question took me by surprise; yet I answered +unhesitatingly, "Yes." + +"I was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Montreal. It was my mother's +dearest wish that I should take the vows of that order, but I fear I am +far too frivolous for so serious a life. I love happy things too well, +and the beautiful outside world of men and women. I ran away from the +Sisters, and then my father and I voyaged to this country, where we +might lead a freer life together." + +"Here?" and I glanced questioningly about me into those darkening +shadows which were momentarily hemming us in more closely. + +"To Fort Dearborn," she explained. "We came by boat through the +straits at the north; and 'twas a trip to remember. My father brought +out goods from Canada, and traded with the Indians. I have been in +their villages. Once I was a week alone with a tribe of Sacs near +Green Bay, and they called me the White Queen. I have met many famous +warriors of the Wyandots and Pottawattomies, and have seen them dance +at their council. Once I journeyed as far west as the Great River, +across leagues and leagues of prairie," and her face lighted up at the +remembrance. "Father said he thought I must be the first white woman +who had ever travelled so far inland. We have been at Dearborn for +nearly a year." + +She rose to her feet, and swept her eyes, with some anxiety, around +upon dim mounds of sand that appeared more fantastic than ever in the +darkness. + +"Had we not better be going?" she asked. "There is surely a storm +gathering yonder." + +"Yes," I answered, for I had not been indifferent to the clouds +steadily banking up in the north. "Yet you have not told me your name, +and I should be most glad to know it." + +The girl courtesied mockingly, as though half inclined to laugh at my +insistence. + +"What is a name?" she exclaimed. "'Tis not that for which we greatly +care. Now I--I am simply Mademoiselle Antoinette,--at least, so most +of those I care for call me; and from now on, the very good friend of +Master John Wayland." + +I was deeply conscious that I blushed at her words and manner; but with +it there arose an instant query in my mind: could this be the fair +Toinette whom De Croix sought so ardently? I greatly feared it; yet I +resolved I would not mention his name to her. + +"It has a decided French sound," I stammered. + +She laughed at my tone, with a quick shrug of her shoulders. + +"And pray, why not, Monsieur? Have you such a prejudice against that +great people that you need speak of them with so glum a voice? Ah, but +if I must, then I shall endeavor to teach you a higher regard for us." + +"That may not prove so hard a task," I hastened to assure her; "though +I was surprised,--you speak English with so pure an accent that I had +not dreamed you other than of my own race." + +"My father was of English blood," she answered more gravely; "but I +fear you will find me quite of my mother's people, if ever we come +to know each other well. But hark! that was surely thunder! We have +loitered too long; the storm is about to break." + +It was indeed upon us almost before she ceased speaking. A sudden rush +of wind sent my hat flying into the darkness, and whipped her long +black hair loose from its restraining knot. I had barely time to wrap +my hunting-jacket closely around her shoulders, when the rain came +dashing against our faces. + +I drew her unresistingly around the edge of the nearest sand-pile; but +this supplied poor protection against the storm, the wind lashing the +fine grit into our faces, stinging us like bits of fire. I tried to +excavate some sort of cave that might afford us at least a partial +shelter; but the sand slid down almost as rapidly as I could dig it out +with my hands. + +"Oh, let us press on!" she urged, laying her hand upon my arm in +entreaty. "We shall become no wetter moving, and your camp, you said, +was only a short distance away." + +"But are you strong enough to walk?" And as I leaned forward toward +her, a quick flash of vivid lightning, directly overhead, lit both our +faces. I marked she did not shrink, and no look of fear came into her +eyes. + +"I am quite myself once more," she answered confidently. "It was +despair and loneliness that so disheartened me. I have never been timid +physically, and your presence has brought back the courage I needed." + +There was a natural frankness, a peculiar confidence, about this girl, +that robbed me of my usual diffidence; and as we struggled forward +through the dampening sand, her dress clinging about her and retarding +progress, I dared to slip one arm about her waist to help in bearing +her along. She accepted this timely aid in the spirit with which it was +offered, without so much as a word of protest; and the wind, battering +at our backs, pushed us forward. + +"Oh, that troublesome hair!" she exclaimed, as the long tresses whipped +in front of our faces, blinding us both. "I have never before felt so +much like sacrificing it." + +"I beg that you will not consider such an act now," I protested, aiding +her to reclaim the truants, "for as I saw it before the darkness fell, +your hair was surely worthy of preservation." + +"You laugh at me; I know I must have been a far from pretty sight." + +"Do you wish me to say with frankness what I thought of your appearance +under such disadvantages?" + +She glanced at me almost archly, in the flash of lightning that rent +the sky. + +"I am really afraid to answer yes,--yet perhaps I am brave enough to +venture it." + +"I have never been at court, Mademoiselle, and so you may not consider +my judgment in such matters of much moment; but I thought you rarely +beautiful." + +For a moment she did not attempt to speak, but I could distinctly feel +the heaving of her bosom as I held her hard against the assault of the +wind, and bent low hoping to catch an answer. + +"You are sincere and honest," she said at last, slowly, and I felt that +the faint trace of mockery had utterly vanished from her soft voice. +"'Tis manifest in your face and words. You speak not lightly, nor with +mere empty compliment, as would some gilded courtiers I have known; +and for that reason I do value your opinion." + +"You are not angry at my presumption?" + +"Angry?--I?" and she stopped and faced me, holding back her hair as she +did so. "I am a woman, Monsieur; and all women, even those of us hidden +here in the wilderness, like best those who admire them. I do not know +that I am as beautiful as you say, yet other men have often said the +same without being pressed for their opinion. No, I am not angry,--I am +even glad to know you think so." + +"And you surely do know?" I insisted, with a courage strange to me. + +"Yes," she answered, but her eyes fell before my eagerness; "you are +not one who has yet learned to lie, even to women. 'Tis a relief to +know there are such men still in the world." + +We had come to a full halt by this time. + +"Do you have any idea where we may be?" she asked, peering anxiously +about, and perhaps glad to change the tone of our conversation. "I +cannot note a landmark of any kind. These sand-hills seem all alike." + +"I believe we have kept to the southward, for we have merely drifted +with the storm; but I confess my sole guidance has been the direction +of the wind, as these sand-lanes are most confusing. If there were the +slightest shelter at hand, I should insist upon your waiting until the +rain was over." + +"No, it is better to go on. I am now wet to the skin, and shall be +warmer moving than resting on this damp sand." + +We must have been moving for an hour, scarcely speaking a word, for the +severe exertion required all our breath. The rain had ceased, and stars +began to glimmer amid the cloud-rifts overhead; but I knew now that we +were lost. She stopped suddenly, and sank down upon the sand. + +"I am exhausted," she admitted, "and believe we are merely moving about +in a circle." + +"Yes," I said, reluctantly; "we are wasting our strength to no purpose. +'T will be better to wait for daylight here." + +It was a gloomy place, and the silence of those vast expanses of +desolate sand was overwhelming. It oppressed me strangely. + +"Let me feel the touch of your hand," she said once. "It is so +desperately lonely. I have been on the wide prairie, at night and +alone; yet there is always some sound there upon which the mind may +rest. Here the stillness is like a weight." + +Possibly I felt this depressing influence the more because of my long +forest training, where at least the moaning of limbs, fluttering of +leaves, or flitting of birds brings relief to the expectant senses; +while here all was absolute solitude, so profound that our breathing +itself was startling. The air above appeared empty and void; the +earth beneath, lifeless and dead. Although neither of us was cowardly +of heart, yet we instinctively drew closer together, and our eyes +strained anxiously over the black sand-ridges, now barely discernible +through the dense gloom. We tried to talk, but even that soon grew to +be a struggle, so heavily did the suspense rest upon our spirits, so +oppressed were we by imaginings of evil. I remember telling her my +simple story, gaining in return brief glimpses of her experiences in +Canada and the farther West. She even informed me that orders had been +received, the day before she became lost upon the lake, to abandon Fort +Dearborn; that an Indian runner--whom she named Winnemeg had arrived +from General Hull at Detroit, bringing also news that Mackinac had +fallen. + +"Doubtless your absence has greatly worried them also," I said. + +"Oh, no; none of them knew my plight. Possibly some may miss me, but +they will naturally suppose I have been at Mr. Kinzie's house all +this time. I have been there often for weeks together, and they have +frequently urged me to take shelter with them. You see it is far safer +there than at the Fort, for even the most hostile Indians remain on +friendly terms with Mr. Kinzie and his family. He has been there so +many years, and is so just a man in his dealings with them. 'Tis +really strange to see how he leaves his house unguarded, while the +garrison at the Fort is almost in a state of siege. It makes it hard to +realize how imminent is the danger. Yet they are terribly alarmed at +the Fort, and I fear with cause. Even Mr. Kinzie feels the situation +to be critical. There were fully three hundred Pottawattomie warriors +encamped without the Fort two days ago; and they were becoming bold and +impudent,--one chief even firing his gun in Captain Heald's office, +thinking to frighten him into furnishing them with liquor." + +"But the Fort is strong?" I asked. "It is capable of resisting an +attack?" + +"I should suppose so," she answered, hesitatingly; "but that is not a +matter upon which a girl may judge. I fear, however, all is not harmony +among its defenders. I know that Captain Heald and Ensign Ronan do not +agree, and I have heard bitter words spoken by other officers of the +garrison." + +I thought she did not care to speak more about this matter, and we +drifted off upon other topics, until I felt her head sink slowly down +upon my shoulder, and knew she slept. I sat there still, pillowing her +tenderly upon my arm, when the gray light of the dawn stole slowly +toward us across the ridges of sand and revealed the upturned face. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +TWO MEN AND A MAID + + +The emotion I felt was new and strange to me; for though I had known +little of young women, yet as I looked upon her in that dim light of +dawn I found myself wondering if I already loved this strange girl. +Fair as her face certainly was, its beauty rendered even more striking +by the pallor of her late exposure and the blackness of her dishevelled +hair, it was her frankness and confidence which most appealed to me. +She had held all my thoughts through the long hours of watchfulness +as I sat there quietly, feeling the rise and fall of her regular +breathing, and thrilled by the unconscious caress of stray tresses as +they were blown against my cheek. How she trusted me, stranger though +I was! Yet it was through no lack of knowledge of the great world of +men, for this young girl had known court gallants and rough soldiery, +soft-spoken courtiers and boastful men-at-arms. So the night through +I dreamed of what might be; and when the light finally came slowly +reddening the eastern sky, I feasted my eyes unchecked upon that sweet +upturned face, and made a rash vow that I would win her heart. + +I was still mirroring her image in my memory, forgetful of all +else,--the broad white brow, the long dark lashes resting in such +delicate tracery against the smooth velvet of the cheek now slightly +flushed, the witching pink of the ear, the softly parted lips between +which gleamed the small and regular teeth of ivory, the round white +throat swelling ever so slightly to her breathing, when a sudden shout +of surprised recognition aroused me from my reverie, and I looked up to +see Jordan topping the sand-bank in our front, and waving his hand to +some one beneath him and out of sight. + +"See here, De Croix!" he cried, excitedly, "the prodigal has had good +cause to lag behind. He has found the lost fairy of this wilderness." + +Before I could relieve myself of my burden,--for the mockery of his +words angered me,--the French man appeared at his side, and glanced +down where his companion's finger pointed. For a moment he gazed; then +he murmured a sharp French oath, and strode heavily down the sand-bank. +There was a look in his face that caused me to lay the girl's head back +upon the sand and rise hastily. The sudden movement awoke her, and her +dark eyes looked up in startled confusion. By this time I had taken a +quick step forward, and faced De Croix. + +"This lady is under my protection," I said, a bit hotly, not relishing +the manner of his approach, "and any disrespect from either of you will +be unwarranted." + +He paused, evidently surprised at my bold front, and his lip curled +contemptuously. + +"Ah, my young game-cock!" he ejaculated, surveying me curiously. "So +you have spurs, and think you can use them? Well, I have no quarrel +with you, but perchance I may have more reason to be the protector of +this young lady than you suppose. Stand aside, Monsieur." + +She had risen from the sand, and now stood erect beside me. I saw +Jordan grinning in great enjoyment of the scene, and that De Croix's +eyes were full of anger; but I would not stir. In my heart I felt a +dull pain at his words, a fear that they might prove too true; but +I remained where I was, determined to take no step aside until she +herself should judge between us. + +"Will you stand back, Monsieur?" he said, haughtily, dropping his hand +upon the hilt of his rapier, "or shall I show you how a gentleman of +France deals with such impertinence?" + +If he thought to affright me with his bravado, he reckoned ill of my +nature, for I have ever driven badly; my blood seems slow to heat, +though it was warm enough now. + +"If the lady wishes it, you may pass," I answered shortly, my eyes +never leaving his face. "Otherwise, if you take so much as another step +I will crush every bone in your body." + +He saw I meant it, but there was no cowardice in him; and the steel +had already flashed in the sunlight to make good his threat, when she +touched me gently upon the shoulder. + +"I beg you do not fight," she urged. "I am not worthy, and 'tis all +unneeded. Captain de Croix," and she swept him a curtsey which had the +grace of a drawing-room in it, "'tis indeed most strange that we should +meet again in such a spot as this. No contrast could be greater than +the memory of our last parting. Yet is there any cause for quarrel +because this young gentleman has preserved my life?" + +De Croix hesitated, standing half-poised for attack, even his glib +tongue and ready wit failing as she thus calmly questioned him. Indeed, +as I later learned, there was that of witchery about this young girl +which held him at bay more effectually than if she had been a princess +of the royal blood,--a something that laughed his studied art to scorn. +She noted now his hesitancy, and smiled slightly at the evidence of her +power. + +"Well, Monsieur, 'tis not often that your lips fail of words," she +continued, archly. "Why is it I am made the subject of your quarrel?" + +The slight sarcastic sting in her voice aroused him. + +"By all the saints, Toinette!" he exclaimed, striving to appear at his +ease, "this seems a poor greeting for one who has followed you through +leagues of forest and across oceans of sand, hopeful at the least to +gain a smile of welcome from your lips. Know you not I am here, at the +very end of the world, for you?" + +"I think it not altogether unlikely," she replied with calmness. "You +have ever been of a nature to do strange things, yet it has always been +of your own sweet will. Surely, Monsieur, I did never bid you come, or +promise you a greeting." + +"No," he admitted regretfully, "'tis, alas, true"; and his eyes seemed +to regain something of their old audacity. "But there was that about +our parting,--you recall it, Toinette, in the shadow of the castle +wall?--which did afford me hope. No one so fair as you can be without +heart." + +She laughed softly, as though his words recalled memories of other +days, pressing back her hair within its ribbon. + +"Such art of compliment seems more in place at Montreal than here. This +is a land of deeds, not words, Monsieur. Yet, even though I confess +your conclusion partially true, what cause does it yield why you +should seek a quarrel with my good friend, John Wayland?" + +"You know him, then?" he asked, in quick astonishment. + +"Know him! Do you think I should be here otherwise? Fie, Captain de +Croix, that you, the very flower of the French court, should express so +poor a thought of one you profess to respect so highly!" + +He looked from one to the other of us, scarce knowing whether she were +laughing at him or not. + +_"Sacre!"_ he exclaimed at last. "I believe it not, Mademoiselle. The +boy would have boasted of such an acquaintance long before this. You +know him, you say, for how long?" + +"Since yester even, if you must know. But he has a face, Monsieur, a +face frank and honest, not like that of a man long trained at courts to +deceive. 'Tis for that I trust him, and have called him friend." + +"You may rue the day." + +"No, Captain de Croix," she exclaimed, proudly. "I know the +frontiersmen of my father's blood. They are brave men, and true of +heart. This John Wayland is of that race." And she rested one hand +lightly upon my arm. + +The motion, simple as it was, angered him. + +"You ask why I sought quarrel," he said sternly. "'Twas because I +suspected this uncouth hunter had wronged you. Now I understand +'twas of your own choice. I wish you joy, Mademoiselle, of your new +conquest." + +I felt the girl's slight form straighten, and saw his bold eyes sink +beneath the flame of her look. + +"Captain de Croix," and every sentence stung like the lash of a whip, +"those are cowardly words, unworthy a French gentleman and soldier. +Did you leave all your courtesy behind in Montreal, or dream that in +this wilderness I should cringe to any words you might speak? You wish +the truth; you shall have it. Three days ago, through an accident, +I drifted, in an oarless boat, out from the river-mouth at Fort +Dearborn to the open lake. None knew of my predicament. A storm blew +me helpless to the southward, and after hours of exposure to danger, +and great mental anguish, I was driven ashore amid the desolation of +this sand. This comrade of yours found me scarce alive, ministered to +my sore need, protected me through the hours of the night, stood but +now between me and your ribaldry, counting his life but little beside +the reputation of a woman. He may not wear the latest Paris fashions, +Monsieur, but he has proved himself a man." + +"I meant not all I said, Toinette," he hastened to explain. "You will +forgive, I know, for I was sorely hurt to find that some one else had +done the duty that was plainly mine. Surely no rude backwoodsman is to +come between us now?" + +She glanced from the one to the other, with true French coquetry. + +"Faith, I cannot tell, Monsieur," she said, gayly; "stranger things +have happened, and 'tis not altogether fine clothes that win the hearts +of maidens on this far frontier. We learn soon to love strength, and +the manly traits of the border. On my word, Monsieur, this John Wayland +seems to have rare powers of body; I imagine he might even have crushed +you, as he said." + +"Think you so?" he asked, eying me curiously. "Yet 'tis not always as +it looks, Mademoiselle." + +It came so quickly as to startle me. I was wondering at the smile +that curled his lips, when he sprang upon me, casting his arms around +my waist, and twining one leg about mine. The shock of this sudden +and unexpected onset took me completely by surprise, and I gave back +sharply, scarce realizing his purpose, till he had the under-hold, and +sought to lift me for a throw. 'Twas my weight alone that saved me, +together with the rare good fortune that I had been leaning upon my gun. + +As the breath came back to me, we locked grimly in a fierce struggle +for the mastery. I had felt the straining grip of strong arms before, +but De Croix surprised me, he was like steel, quick of motion as a +wild-cat, with many a cunning French wrestling trick that tried me +sorely. I heard a quick exclamation of surprise from the girl, a shout +of delighted approval from Jordan, and then there was no sound but the +harsh trampling of our feet and the heavy breathing. De Croix's effort +was to lift me to his hip for a throw; mine, to press him backward by +bodily strength. Both of us were sadly hindered by the sliding sand on +which we strove. Twice I thought I had him, when my footing failed; and +once he held me fairly uplifted from the ground, yet could not make the +toss. 'Twas a wild grapple, for when we had exhausted all the tricks +we knew, it came to be a sheer test of physical endurance. Then, for +the first time, I felt myself the master,--though he was a man, that +gay French dandy, and never did my ribs crack under the pressure of a +stronger hand. But I slowly pressed him back, inch by inch, struggling +like a demon to the last, until I forced his shoulders to the sand. + +For a moment he lay there, panting heavily; then the old frank and easy +smile came upon his lips. + +"Your hand, monsieur," he said; "that is, if it yet retains sufficient +strength to lift me." + +Upon his feet he brushed the sand from out his long hair, and bowed +gallantly. + +"I have done my very best, Mademoiselle, 'Tis defeat, but not disgrace, +for I have made your giant puff to win. May I not hope it has won me +restoration to your good graces?" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +IN SIGHT OF THE FLAG + + +It would have been impossible not to respond to his sparkling humor +and good nature, even had the girl been desirous of doing otherwise. +From the first I felt that she liked this reckless courtier, whose +easy words and actions made me realize more deeply than ever my own +heaviness of thought and wit. + +As he stood there now, bowing low before her, his clothing awry and +his long hair in disorder from our fierce contest, she smiled upon him +graciously, and extended a hand that he was prompt enough to accept and +hold. + +"Surely," she said mockingly, "no maid, even in the glorious days of +chivalry, had ever more heroic figures to do battle for her honor. I +accept the _amende_, Monsieur, and henceforth enroll you as knight +at my court. Upon my word," and she looked about at the desolate +sand-heaps surrounding us, "'tis not much to boast of here; nor, in +truth, is Dearborn greatly better." + +She paused, drawing her hand gently from his grasp, and holding it out +toward me. + +"Yet, Captain," she continued, glancing at him archly over her +shoulder, "I have likewise another knight, this wood ranger, who hath +also won my deep regard and gratitude." + +De Croix scowled, and twisted his short mustache nervously. + +"You put a thorn beside every rose," he muttered. "'Twas your way in +Montreal." + +"A few hundred miles of travel do not greatly change one's nature. +Either at Dearborn or Montreal, I am still Toinette. But, Messieurs, +I have been told of a camp quite close at hand,--and yet you leave me +here in the sand to famish while you quarrel." + +The tone of her voice, while still full of coquetry, was urgent, and +I think we both noted for the first time how white of face she was, +and how wearily her eyes shone. The Frenchman, ever ready in such +courtesies, was the first to respond by word and act. + +"You are faint, Toinette," he cried, instantly forgetful of everything +else, and springing forward to give her the aid of his arm. "I beg you +lean upon me. I have been blind not to note your weakness before. 'Tis +indeed not a long walk to our camp from here,--yet, on my life, I know +nothing of where it lies. Jordan," he added, speaking as if he were in +command, "lead back along the path we came. _Sacre!_ the old bear was +gruff enough over the delay of our search; he will be savage now." + +I know not how Jordan ever found his way back, for the sliding sand +had already obliterated all evidences of former travel; but I walked +sullenly beside him, leaving De Croix to minister to the needs of the +girl as best he might. I felt so dull beside his ready tongue that, in +spite of my real liking for the fellow, his presence angered me. 'Tis +strange we should ever envy in others what we do not ourselves possess, +ignoring those traits of character we have which they no less desire. +So to me then it seemed altogether useless to contend for the heart of +a woman,--such a woman, at least, as this laughing Toinette,--against +the practised wiles of so gay and debonair a cavalier. I steeled my +ears to the light badinage they continued to indulge in, and ploughed +on through the heavy sand at Jordan's heels, in no mood for converse +with any one. + +We came upon the camp suddenly, and discovered Captain Wells pacing +back and forth, his stern face dark with annoyance. At sight of me, his +passion burst all restraint. + +"By God, sir!" he ejaculated, "if you were a soldier of mine, I would +teach you what it meant to put us to such a wait as this! Know you +not, Master Wayland, that the lives of helpless women and children +may depend upon our haste? And you hold us here in idleness while you +wander along the lake-shore like a moonstruck boy!" + +Before I could answer these harsh words, the girl stepped lightly to my +side, and standing there, her hand upon my arm, smiled back into his +angry eyes. I do not think he had even perceived her presence until +that moment; for he stopped perplexed. + +"And am I not worth the saving, Monsieur le Capitaine," she questioned, +pouting her lips, "that you should blame him so harshly for having +stopped to rescue me?" + +His harsh glance of angry resentment softened as he gazed upon her. + +"Ah! was that it, then?" he asked, in gentler tones. "But who are you? +Surely you are not unattended in this wilderness?" + +"I am from Fort Dearborn," she answered, "and though only a girl, +Monsieur, I have penetrated to the great West even farther than has +Captain Wells." + +"How know you my name?" + +"Mrs. Heald told me she believed you would surely come when you learned +of our plight at the Fort, it was for that she despatched the man Burns +with the message,--and she described you so perfectly that I knew at +once who you must be. There are not so many white men travelling toward +Dearborn now as to make mistake easy." + +"And the Fort?" he asked, anxiously. "Is it still garrisoned, or have +we come too late?" + +"It was safely held two days ago," she answered, "although hundreds of +savages in war-paint were then encamped without, and holding powwow +before the gate. No attack had then been made, yet the officers talked +among themselves of evacuating." + +For a moment the stern soldier seemed to have forgotten her, his eyes +fastened upon the western horizon. + +"The fools!" he muttered to himself, seemingly unconscious that he +spoke aloud; "yet if I can but reach there in time, my knowledge of +Indian nature may accomplish much." + +He turned quickly, with a sharp glance over his military force. + +"We delay no longer. Jordan, do you give this lady your horse for +to-day's journey, and go you forward on foot with the Miamis. Watch +them closely, and mark well everything in your front as you move." + +"But, Captain Wells," she insisted, as he turned away, "I am +exceedingly hungry, and doubt not this youth would also be much the +better for a bit of food." + +"It will have to be eaten as you travel, then," he answered, not +unkindly, but with all his thought now fixed on other things, "for our +duty is to reach Dearborn at the first moment, and save those prisoned +there from death, and worse." + +I shall always remember each detail of that day's march, though I saw +but little of Toinette save in stolen glances backward, Wells keeping +me close at his side, while De Croix, as debonair as ever, was her +constant shadow, ministering assiduously to her wants and cheering +her journey with agreeable discourse. I heard much of their chatter, +earnestly as I sought to remain deaf to it. To this end Wells aided me +but little, for he rode forward in stern silence, completely absorbed +in his own thoughts. + +During the first few hours we passed through a dull desolation of +desert sand, the queerly shaped hills on either side scarcely breaking +the dead monotony, although they often hid from our sight our advance +scouts, and made us feel isolated and alone. Once or twice I imagined I +heard the deepening roar of waves bursting upon the shore-line to our +right, but could gain no glimpse of blue water through those obscuring +dunes. We were following a well-worn Indian trail, beaten hard by +many a moccasined foot; and at last it ran from out the coarser sand +and skirted along the western beach, almost at the edge of the waves. +'Twas a most delightful change from the cramped and narrowed vision +that had been ours so long. Our faces were now set almost directly +northward; but I could not withdraw my eyes from the noble expanse of +water heaving and tumbling in the dazzling sunlight. Indeed, there was +little else about our course to attract attention; the shore in front +lay clear and unbroken, bearing a sameness of outline that wearied the +vision; each breaking wave was but the type of others that had gone +before, and each jutting point of land was the picture of the next to +follow. To our left, there extended, parallel to our course of march, a +narrow ridge of white and firmly beaten sand, as regular in appearance +as the ramparts of a fort. Here and there a break occurred where in +some spring flood a sudden rush of water had burst through. Glancing +curiously down these narrow aisles, as we rode steadily onward, I +caught fleeting glimpses of level prairie-land, green with waving +grasses, apparently stretching to the western horizon bare of tree or +shrub. At first, I took this to be water also; until I realized that I +looked out upon the great plains of the Illinois. + +The Captain was always chary of speech; now he rode onward with so +stern a face, that presently I spoke in inquiry. + +"You are silent, Captain Wells," I said. "One would expect some +rejoicing, as we draw so close to the end of our long journey." + +He glanced aside at me. + +"Wayland," he said slowly, "I have been upon the frontier all my +life, and have, as you know, lived in Indian camps and shared in many +a savage campaign. I am too old a man, too tried a soldier, ever to +hesitate to acknowledge fear; but I tell you now, I believe we are +riding northward to our deaths." + +I had known, since first leaving the Maumee, that danger haunted the +expedition; yet these solemn words came as a surprise. + +"Why think you thus?" I asked, with newly aroused anxiety, my thoughts +more with the girl behind than with myself. "Mademoiselle Toinette +tells me the Fort is strong and capable of defence, and surely we are +already nearly there." + +"The young girl yonder with De Croix? It may be so, if it also be well +provisioned for a long siege, as it is scarce likely any rescue party +will be despatched so far westward. If I mistake not, Hull will have +no men to spare. Yet I like not the action of the savages about us. +'Tis not in Indian nature to hold off, as these are doing, and permit +reinforcements to go by, when they might be halted so easily. 'Twould +ease my mind not a little were we attacked." + +"Attacked? by whom?" + +He faced me with undisguised surprise, a sarcastic smile curling his +grim mouth. His hand swept along the western sky-line. + +"By those red spies hiding behind that ridge of sand," he answered +shortly. "Boy, where are your eyes not to have seen that every step we +have taken this day has been but by sufferance of the Pottawattomies? +Not for an hour since leaving camp have we marched out of shot from +their guns; it means treachery, yet I can scarce tell where or how. If +they have spared us this long, there is some good Indian reason for it." + +I glanced along that apparently desolate sand-bank, barely a hundred +feet away, feeling a thrill of uneasiness sweep over me at the +revelation of his words. My eyes saw nothing strange nor suspicious; +but I could not doubt his well-trained instinct. + +"It makes my flesh creep," I admitted; "yet surely the others do not +know. Hear how the Frenchman chatters in our rear!" + +"The young fool!" he muttered, as the sound of a light laugh reached +us; "it will prove no jest, ere we are out of this again. Yet, +Wayland," and his voice grew stronger, "the red devils must indeed mean +to pass us free,--for there is Fort Dearborn, and, unless my sight +deceive me, the flag is up." + +I lifted my eyes eagerly, and gazed northward where his finger pointed. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A LANE OF PERIL + + +We passed a group of young cottonwoods, the only trees I had noted +along the shore; and a few hundred feet ahead of us, the ridge of sand, +which had obscured our westward view so long, gradually fell away, +permitting the eye to sweep across the wide expanse of level plain +until halted by a distant row of stunted trees that seemed to line a +stream of some importance. As Captain Wells spoke, my glance, which +had been fixed upon these natural objects, was instantly attracted by +a strange scene of human activity that unfolded to the north and west. +The land before us lay flat and low, with the golden sun of the early +afternoon resting hot upon it, revealing each detail in an animated +panorama wherein barbarism and civilization each bore a conspicuous +part. The Fort was fully a mile and a half distant, and I could +distinguish little of its outward appearance, save that it seemed low +and solidly built, like a stockade of logs set upon end in the ground. +It appeared gloomy, grim, inhospitable, with its gates tightly closed, +and no sign of life anywhere along its dull walls; yet my heart was +thrilled at catching the bright colors of the garrison flag as the +western breeze rippled its folds against the blue background of the sky. + +But it was outside those log barriers that our eyes encountered scenes +of the greatest interest,--a mingling of tawdry decoration and wild +savagery, where fierce denizens of forest and plain made their barbaric +show. + +No finer stage for such a spectacle could well be conceived. Upon one +side stretched the great waste of waters; on the other, level plains, +composed of yellow sand quickly merging into the green and brown of the +prairie, while, scattered over its surface, from the near lake-shore +to the distant river, were figures constantly moving, decked in gay +feathers and daubed with war-paint. Westward from the Fort, toward the +point where a branch of the main river appeared to emerge from the +southward, stood a large village of tepees, the sun shining yellow and +white on their deer-skin coverings and making an odd glow in the smoke +that curled above the lodge-poles. From where we rode it looked to be a +big encampment, alive with figures of Indians. My companion and I both +noted, and spoke together of the fact, that they all seemed braves; +squaws there may have been, but of children there were none visible. + +Populous as this camp appeared, the plain stretching between it and us +was literally swarming with savages. A few were mounted upon horses, +riding here and there with upraised spears, their hair flying wildly +behind them, their war-bonnets gorgeous in the sunshine. By far the +greater number, however, were idling about on foot, stalwart, swarthy +fellows, with long black locks, and half-naked painted forms. One +group was listening to the words of a chief; others were playing at la +crosse; but most of them were merely moving restlessly here and there, +not unlike caged wild animals, eager to be free. + +I heard Captain Wells draw in his breath sharply. + +"As I live!" he ejaculated, "there can be scarce less than a thousand +warriors in that band,--and no trading-party either, if I know aught of +Indian signs." + +Before I could answer him, even had I any word to say, a chief broke +away from the gathering mass in our immediate front, and rode headlong +down upon us, bringing his horse to its haunches barely a yard away. + +He was a large, sinewy man, his face rendered hideous by streaks of +yellow and red, wearing a high crown of eagle feathers, with a scalp +of long light-colored hair, still bloody, dangling at his belt. For +a moment he and Captain Wells looked sternly into each other's eyes +without speaking. Then the savage broke silence. + +"Wau-mee-nuk great brave," he said, sullenly, in broken English, using +Wells's Indian name, "but him big fool come here now. Why not stay with +Big Turtle? He tell him Pottawattomie not want him here." + +"Big Turtle did tell me," was the quiet answer, "that the +Pottawattomies had made bad medicine and were dancing the war-dance +in their villages; but I have met Pottawattomies before, and am not +afraid. They have been my friends, and I have done them no wrong." + +He looked intently at the disguised face before him, seeking to trace +the features. "You are Topenebe," he said at last. + +"True," returned the chief, with proud gravity. "You serve me well +once; for that I come now, and tell you go back,--there is trouble +here." + +Wells's face darkened. + +"Have I ever been a coward," he asked indignantly, "that I should +turn and run for a threat? Think you, Topenebe, that I fear to sing +the death-song? I have lived in the woods, and gone forth with your +war-parties; am I less a warrior, now that I fight with the people of +my own race? Go take your warning to some squaw; we ride straight on +to Dearborn, even though we have to fight our way." + +The Indian glanced, as Wells pointed, toward the Fort, and sneered. + +"All old women in there," he exclaimed derisively. "Say this to-day, +and that to-morrow. They shut the gates now to keep Indian on outside. +No trade, no rum, no powder,--just lies. But they no keep back our +young men much longer." His face grew dark, and his eyes angry. + +"Why you bring them?" he asked hotly, designating our escort of Miamis, +already shrinking from the taunts of the gathering braves. "They dog +Indians, bad medicine; they run fast when Pottawattomie come." + +"Don't be so certain about that, Topenebe," retorted Wells, shortly. +"But we cannot stop longer here; make way, that we may pass along. +Jordan, push on with your advance through that rabble there." + +The Indian chief drew his horse back beside the trail, and we moved +slowly forward, our Indian guides slightly in advance, and exhibiting +in every action the disinclination they felt to proceed, and their +constantly increasing fear of the wild horde that now resorted to +every means in their power, short of actual violence, to retard their +progress. As they closed in more closely around us, taunting the Miamis +unmercifully, even shaking tomahawks in their faces, with fierce +eyes full of hatred and murder, I drew back my horse until I ranged +up beside Mademoiselle Antoinette, and thus we rode steadily onward +through that frenzied, howling mass, the girl between De Croix and me, +who thus protected her on either side. + +It was truly a weary ride, full of insult, and perchance of grave peril +had we faced that naked mob less resolutely. Doubtless the chiefs +restrained their young men somewhat, but more than once we came within +a hair's-breadth of serious conflict. They hemmed us in so tightly +that we could only walk our horses; and twice they pressed upon Jordan +so hard as to halt him altogether, bunching his cowardly Miamis, and +even striking them contemptuously with their blackened sticks. The +second time this occurred, Captain Wells rode forward to force a path, +driving the spurs into his horse so quickly that the startled animal +fairly cut a lane through the crowded savages before they could draw +back. Naught restrained them from open violence but their knowledge of +that stern-faced swarthy soldier who fronted them with such dauntless +courage. Hundreds in that swarm had seen him before, when, as the +adopted son of a great war-chief of the Miamis he had been at their +side in many a wild foray along the border. + +"Wau-mee-nuk, the white chief," passed from lip to lip; and sullenly, +slowly, reluctantly, the frenzied red circle fell back, as he pressed +his rearing horse full against them. + +How hideous their painted faces looked, as we slowly pushed past +them, their lips shrieking insult, their sinewy hands gripping at our +stirrups, their brandished weapons shaken in our faces. With firm-set +lips and watchful eyes I rode, bent well forward, so as best to protect +the girl, my rifle held across my saddle pommel. Twice some vengeful +arm struck me a savage blow, and once a young devil with long matted +hair hanging over his fierce eyes thrust a sharpened stake viciously +at the girl's face. I struck with quick-clinched hand, and he reeled +back into the mass with a sharp cry of pain. My eyes caught the sudden +dazzle, as De Croix whipped out his rapier. + +"Not that, Monsieur!" I cried hastily, across her horse's neck. "Use +the hilt, not the blade, unless you wish to die." + +He heard me above the clamor, and with a quick turn of the weapon +struck fiercely at a scowling brave who grasped at his horse's rein. +He smiled pleasantly across at me, his fingers twisting his small +mustache. "'Tis doubtless good advice, friend Wayland," he said, +carelessly, "but these copper-colored devils are indeed most annoying +upon this side, and I may lose my temper ere we reach the gate." + +"For the sake of her who rides between us, I beg that you hold in hard, +Monsieur," I answered. + +"'T would be over-much to pay, I imagine, for a hot brain." + +I glanced at her as I spoke, scarcely conscious even then that I had +removed my eyes from the threatening mob that pressed me, though I know +I must have done so, for I retain the picture of her yet. She rode +facing me, although her saddle was of the old army type with merely a +folded blanket to soften its sharp contours, and her foot could barely +find firm support within the narrow strap above the wooden stirrup. She +sat erect and easily, swaying gently to the slow step of the horse. Her +face was pale, but there was no evidence of timidity in her dark eyes, +and she smiled at me as our glances met. + +"You are surely a brave girl, Mademoiselle!" I exclaimed, unable to +restrain my admiration. "'Tis a scene to try any nerves." + +"Yet almost worth the danger," she returned softly, "to realize what +men can be in such stress of need. You are the real--Beware of that +half-breed, Monsieur!" + +Her last words were a quick warning, yet my eyes were already upon the +fellow, and as he dodged down, knife in hand, to aim a vicious lunge at +the forward leg of her horse, I brought the stock of my rifle crunching +against his shoulder. The next instant we had passed over his naked +body as he lay gasping in the trail. + +"See!" she cried, with eagerness. "The gates are opened!" + +We were possibly a hundred yards from the southern front of the +stockade, when I glanced forward and saw the level ground between a +seething mass of savage forms, so densely wedged together as to block +further progress. I could see hundreds of brown sinewy arms uplifted +from a sea of faces to brandish weapons of every description, and +marked how the Miamis cowered like whipped curs behind the protection +of Wells's horse, while close beside him stood Jordan, erect and silent +as if on parade, a rifle grasped in his hands, his head bare, a great +welt showing redly across his white forehead. + +A little party, hardly more than twenty infantrymen, marched steadily +out from the open gateway of the Fort. The first file bore bayonets +fixed upon their guns, and the naked savages fell slowly back before +the polished steel. It was smartly done, and it thrilled my blood to +note with what silent determination that small band of disciplined +men pressed their way onward, passing through the threatening mass of +redskins as indifferently as if they had been forest trees. A young, +smooth-faced fellow, wearing a new officer's uniform, led them, sword +in hand, a smile of light contempt upon his lips. + +"Clear the space wider, Campbell!" he said sternly, to the big corporal +at his side. "Swing your files to left and right, and push the rabble +out of the way." + +They did it with the butts of their guns, laughing at the brandished +knives and tomahawks and the fierce painted faces that scowled at them, +paying no apparent heed to the taunts and insults showered from every +side. There were some stones thrown, a few blows were struck, but no +rifle-shot broke the brief struggle. The young officer strode forward +down the open space, and fronted our advance. + +"I presume this is Captain Wells, from Fort Wayne?" he said, lifting +his cap as he spoke. + +"It is," was the reply, "and I am very glad to find that you still hold +Fort Dearborn." + +The other's frank and boyish face darkened slightly, as if at an +unpleasant memory. + +"'Tis no fault of some," he muttered hastily; then he checked himself. +"We are glad to greet you, Captain Wells," he added, in a more formal +tone, glancing about upon us, "and your party. I am Ensign Ronan, of +the garrison; and if you will kindly pass between my guard lines, you +will find Captain Heald awaiting you within." + +Thus we rode freely forward, with the guarding soldiery on either side +of us, their faces to the howling savages; we passed in at the great +southern gate, and halted amid the buildings of old Fort Dearborn. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +OLD FORT DEARBORN + + +It makes my old head dizzy to recall the events of that hour across the +years that have intervened. Possibly I, as I write these words, am the +only person living who has looked upon that old stockade and taken part +in its tragic history. What a marvellous change has less than a century +witnessed! Once the outermost guard of our western frontier, it is now +the site of one of the great cities of two continents. To me, who have +seen these events and changes, it possesses more than the wonderment of +a dream. + +That day, as I rode forward, I saw but little of the Fort's formation, +for my eyes and thoughts were so filled with those frenzied savages +that hemmed us about, and the cool deployment of the few troops +that guarded our passage-way, that everything else made but a dim +impression. Yet the glimpse I obtained, even at that exciting moment, +together with the sub sequent experiences that came to me, have +indelibly impressed each detail of the rude Fort upon my memory. + +It stands before me now, clear-cut and prominent, its outlines distinct +against the background of blue water or green plains. In that early +day the Fort was a fairly typical outpost of the border, like scores +of others scattered at wide and irregular intervals from the Carolina +mountains upon the south to the joining of the great lakes at the +north, forming one link in the thin chain of frontier fortifications +against Indian treachery and outbreak. It bore the distinction, among +the others, of being the most advanced and exposed of all, and its +small garrison was utterly isolated and alone, a forlorn hope in the +heart of the great wilderness. + +The Fort had been erected nine years before our arrival, upon the +southern bank of a dull and sluggish stream, emptying into the Great +Lake from the west, and known to the earlier French explorers as the +river Chicagou. The spot selected was nearly that where an old-time +French trading-post had stood, although the latter had been deserted +for so long that no remnant of it yet lingered when the Americans first +took possession, and its site remained only as a vague tradition of +those Indian tribes whose representatives often visited these waters. + +The earliest force despatched by the government to this frontier post +erected here a simple stockade of logs. These were placed standing on +end, firmly planted in the ground and extending upward some fifteen +feet, their tops sharpened as an additional protection against savage +assailants. This log stockade was built quite solid, save for one main +entrance, facing to the south and secured by a heavy, iron-studded +gate, with a subterranean or sunken passage leading out beneath the +north wall to the river, protected by a door which could be raised +only from within. The enclosure thus formed was sufficiently large to +contain a somewhat restricted parade-ground, about which were grouped +the necessary buildings of the garrison, the quarters for the officers, +the soldiers' barracks, the commandant's office, the guard-house, and +the magazine. These rude structures were built in frontier style, +of cleaved logs, and with one exception were but a single story in +height, so that their roofs of rived shingles were well below the +protection of the palisade of logs. Besides these interior buildings, +two block-houses were built, each constructed so that the second +story overhung the first, one of them standing at the southeast and +one at the northwest corner of the palisaded walls. A narrow wooden +support, or walk, accessible only from one or the other of these +block-houses, enabled its defenders to stand within the enclosure and +look out over the row of sharpened logs. At the time of our arrival +the protective armament of this primitive Fort, besides the small-arms +of the garrison, consisted of three pieces of light artillery, brass +six-pounders of antique pattern, relics of the Revolution. Outside +the Fort enclosure, only a few yards to the west along the river +bank, stood the agency building, or, as it was often termed, "goods +factory," built for purposes of trading with the Indians, so that it +would not be necessary to open the Fort to them. This agency building +was a rather large two-story log house, not erected for any purposes of +defence. Along the southern side of the stream, in both directions, the +soldiers had excavated numerous root-houses, or cellars, in which to +store the products of their summer gardens,--these excavations fairly +honeycombing the bank. + +Such was Fort Dearborn in August of the fatal year 1812. It stood +ugly, rude, isolated, afar from any help in time of need. Its nearest +military neighbor lay directly across the waters of the Great Lake, +where a small detachment of troops, scarcely less isolated than itself, +garrisoned a similar stockade near the mouth of the river Saint +Joseph. To the westward, the vast plains, as yet scarce pressed by +the adventurous feet of white explorers, faded away into a mysterious +unknown country, roamed over by countless tribes of savages; to the +northward lay an unbroken wilderness for hundreds of leagues, save +for a few scattered traders at Green Bay, until the military outpost +at Mackinac was reached; to the eastward rolled the waters of the +Great Lake, storm-swept and unvexed by keel of ship, an almost +unsurpassable barrier, along whose shore adventurous voyagers crept +in log and bark canoes; while to the southward alternating prairie +and timber-land stretched away for unnumbered leagues the Indian +hunting-grounds,--broken only by a few scattered settlements of French +half-breeds. + +From the walls of the Fort the eye ranged over a dull and monotonous +landscape, nowhere broken by signs of advancing civilization or even +of human presence. A few hundred yards to the east the waves of Lake +Michigan broke upon the wide, sandy beach, whence the tossing waters +stretched away in tumultuous loneliness to their blending with the +distant sky. Southward, along the shore of the lake, the nearly level +plain, brown and sun-parched, soon merged into rounded heaps of +wind-drifted sand, barely diversified by a few straggling groups of +cottonwoods. To the westward extended the boundless prairie, flat and +bare as a floor, except where the southern fork of the little river +cut its way through the soft loam, and gave rise to a scrubby growth +of cottonwood and willow; while northward, across the main body of the +river, the land appeared more rugged and broken, and somewhat heavily +wooded with oak and other forest trees, but equally devoid of evidences +of habitation. + +In all this wide survey from the little knoll on which the Fort stood, +five houses only were visible. These were built roughly of logs in the +most primitive style of the frontier, and, with a single exception, +were now deserted by their occupants, who had retreated for safety to +the stockade of the Fort. The single exception was the larger and more +ambitious dwelling standing on the north bank of the river, occupied by +John Kinzie and his family, himself an old-time Indian trader, whose +honesty and long dealing with the savages had made him confident of +their friendship and fidelity. At one time, however, so threatening had +become the strange bands that flocked in toward Dearborn, as crows to a +feast, he also deserted his home, and, with those dependent upon him, +sought refuge within the Fort walls; but, influenced by the pledge of +the Pottawattomies, and believing that safety lay in trusting to their +friendship, they had returned to their own house. The other cabins were +scattered to the westward of the stockade, close to the river bank. +These dwellings had been occupied by the families of Ouilmette, Burns, +and Lee, respectively; while the last named owned a second cabin, built +some distance up the south branch of the river, and occupied by a +tenant named Liberty White. + +The prospect was in truth depressing to one accustomed to other and +more civilized surroundings. A spirit of loneliness, of fearful +isolation, seemed to hover over the restless waters upon the one hand, +and those vast silent plains on the other; sea and sky, sky and sand, +met the wearied eye wherever it wandered. The scene was unspeakably +solemn in its immensity and loneliness; while irresistibly the thought +would wander over those fateful leagues of prairie and forest that +stretched unbrokenly between this far frontier and the few scattered +and remote settlements that were its nearest neighbors. + +It was not until some time later that these sombre reflections pressed +upon me with all their force. After the excitement of our first +boisterous greeting was over, and I found opportunity to lean across +the top of the guarded stockade and gaze alone over the desolate +spectacle I have endeavored to describe, I could feel more acutely the +hopelessness of our situation and the danger threatening us from every +side. But at the moment of our entrance, all my interest and attention +had been centred upon the scenes and persons immediately about me. +It was my first experience within the stockaded walls of an armed +government post. The scene was new to my young senses, and, in spite of +the excitement that still heated my blood, I looked upon it with such +absorbing interest as to be forgetful for the moment even of the fair +girl who rode in at my side. + +The dull clang of the heavy iron-bound gate behind us was a welcome +sound after the fierce buffetings of our perilous passage; yet it only +partially shut off the savage howlings, while above the hideous uproar +came the sharp reports of several guns. But the instant bustle and +confusion within scarcely allowed opportunity to notice this disorder; +moreover, there had come to us a sense of safety and security,--we were +at last within the barriers we had struggled so long to gain. However +the savage hordes might rage without, we were now beyond their reach, +and might take breath again. + +Our little party, closely bunched together, with Wells and the timorous +Miamis at its head, surged quickly through between the bars, and +came to a halt in an open space, evidently the parade-ground of the +garrison, the bare earth worn smooth and hard by the trampling of many +feet. A tall flag-pole rose near the centre, and the wavering shadow of +the banner at its top extended to the eastern edge of the enclosure. +Out from the log-houses which bordered this enclosure there came a +group of people to welcome us,--officers and soldiers, women neatly +dressed and with bright intelligent faces, women of rougher mould +attired in calico or deer-skin, hardy-looking men in rude hunter's +garb, picturesque French voyageurs wiry of limb and dark of skin, an +Indian or two, silent, grave, emotionless, a single negro, and trailing +behind them a number of dirty, delighted children, and dogs of every +breed and degree. It was a motley gathering, and appeared almost like a +multitude as it hurried forth into the open parade-ground, and surged +joyfully about us, all eager to welcome us to Dearborn, and hopeful +that we brought them encouragement and relief. We were of their own +race, a link between them and the far-distant East; and our coming told +them they were not forgotten. + +The odd commingling of tongues, the constant crowding and scraps of +conversation, the volley of questioning from every side, was confusing +and unintelligible. I could gain only glimpses here and there of what +was going on; nor was I able to judge with any accuracy of the number +of those present. I looked down upon their appealing, anxious faces, +with a sad heart. In some way the sight of them brought back thoughts +of the savage, howling mob without, clamoring for blood, through which +we had won our passage by sheer good-fortune; of those leagues of +untracked forest amid whose glooms we had ploughed our way. I thought +of these things as I gazed upon the helpless women and children +thronging about me, and my heart sank as I realized how great indeed +was the burden resting upon us all, how frail the hope of safety. +Death, savage, relentless, inhuman death in its most frightful guise +with torture and agony unspeakable, lurked along every mile of our +possible retreat; nor could I conceive how its grim coming might long +be delayed by that palisade of logs. We were hopeless of rescue. We +were alone, deserted, the merest handful amid the unnumbered hordes of +the vast West. Swift and terrible as this conception was when it swept +upon me, it grew deeper as I learned more fully the details of our +situation. + +Just in front of where I lingered in my saddle, the crush slightly +parted, and I noticed a tall man step forward, a fair man, having a +light beard slightly tinged with gray, and wearing the undress uniform +of a captain of infantry. A lady, several years his junior, stood at +his side, her eyes bright with expectancy. At sight of them, Captain +Wells instantly sprang from his horse and hastened forward, his dark +face lighted by one of his rare smiles. + +"Captain," he exclaimed, clasping the officer's hand warmly, and +extending his other hand in greeting to the lady, "I am glad indeed +to have reached you in time to be of service; and you, my own dear +niece,--may we yet be permitted to bring you safely back to God's +country." + +I was unable to catch the reply of either; but I noted that the lady +flung her arms about the speaker's neck and kissed his swarthy cheek. + +Then Captain Wells spoke more loudly, so that his words reached my ears. + +"But, Heald," he said, "what means all this litter of garrison +equipment lying scattered about? Surely you have no present intention +to leave the Fort, in face of that savage mob out yonder?" + +"'Tis the orders of General Hull," was the low and somewhat hesitating +response, "and the Pottawattomie chiefs have pledged us escort around +the head of the lake. But this is no place to discuss the matter. As +soon as possible I would speak with you more fully in my office." + +The look of undisguised amazement upon Wells's face startled me; and +as I glanced about me, wondering whom I might take counsel with, I was +astonished to note the horse that Toinette had ridden standing with +empty saddle. De Croix, negligently curling his mustache between his +slender fingers, gazed at me with a blank stare. + +"Where is Mademoiselle?" I questioned anxiously, as he remained silent. +"Surely she was with us as we came in!" + +"Pish! of course," he returned carelessly; "if she chooses to dismount +and rejoin her friends, what has that to do with John Wayland? Cannot +the girl so much as move without your permission, Monsieur?" + +The words were insolent, not less than the manner that accompanied +them. Instantly there flashed upon me the thought that this Frenchman +sought a quarrel with me; but I could conceive no reason there for, and +was not greatly disposed to accommodate him. + +"'Twas no more than curiosity that urged my question," I answered, +assuming not to notice his bravado. "I was so deeply interested in +other things as to have forgotten her presence." + +"Something no lady is ever likely to forgive," he interjected. "But +what think you they propose doing with us here?" + +As if in direct answer to his question, the young officer who had met +us without now elbowed his way through the throng, until he stood at +our horses' heads. + +"Gentlemen," he said, with a quick glance into our faces, "dismount and +come within. There is but little to offer you here at Dearborn, we have +been cut off from civilization so long; but such as we possess will be +shared with you most gladly." + +De Croix chatted with him in his easy, familiar manner, as we slowly +crossed the parade; while I followed them in silence, my thoughts +upon the disappearance of Toinette and the Frenchman's sudden show +of animosity. My glance fell upon the groups of children scattered +along our path, and I wondered which among them might prove to be +Roger Matherson's little one. At the entrance of one of the log-houses +fronting the parade, a rather ambitious building of two stories, if I +remember rightly, with a narrow porch along its front, an officer was +standing upon the step, talking with a sweet-faced woman who appeared +scarce older than seventeen. + +"Lieutenant Helm," said Ronan, politely, "this is Captain de Croix, of +the French army." + +He presented De Croix to Mrs. Helm, and then turned inquiringly toward +me. + +"I believe I have failed to learn your name?" + +"I am simply John Wayland," I answered, and, with a glance at my face, +Lieutenant Helm cordially extended his hand. + +"We are greatly pleased to welcome you both," he said earnestly, but +with a grave side-glance at his young wife, "though I fear we have +little to offer you except privation and danger." + +"How many have you in the garrison?" I questioned, my eyes upon the +moving figures about us. "It looks a crowd, in that narrow space." + +"They are all there who are able to crawl," he said, with a grave +smile. "But in this case our numbers are a weakness. In the +garrison proper we have four commissioned officers, with fifty-four +non-commissioned officers and privates. To these may be added twelve +settlers acting as militiamen, making a total defensive force of +seventy men. But fully twenty-five of these are upon the sick-list, and +totally unfit for active duty; while we are further burdened by having +under our protection twelve women and twenty children. It almost crazes +one to think of what their fate may be." + +"Your defences look strong enough to keep off savages," broke in De +Croix, "and I am told there is a sufficiency of provisions. Saint +Guise! I have seen places where I had rather reside in my old age; yet +with plenty of wine, some good fellows, and as lovely women as have +already greeted me here, 'twill not prove so bad for a few weeks." + +Helm glanced at him curiously; then his gaze, always gravely +thoughtful, wandered back to me. + +"We are to evacuate the Fort," he said quietly. + +"Evacuate?" echoed the Frenchman, as if the word were displeasing. +"'Tis a strange military act, in my judgment, and one filled with grave +peril. Does such decision come from a council?" + +"There has been no council," broke in Ronan, hastily. "The commander +has not honored his officers by calling one. Such were the orders as +published on parade this morning." + +He would have added more, but Helm warned him by a sudden look of +disapproval. + +"I understand," he explained quietly, "that the instructions received +from General Hull at Detroit were imperative, and that Captain Heald +was left no discretion in the matter." + +"I have not yet discovered the man who has seen the orders," exclaimed +the Ensign hotly, "and we all know it means death." + +Helm faced him sternly. + +"A soldier's first duty is obedience," he said shortly, "and we are +soldiers. Gentlemen, will you not come in?" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE HEART OF A WOMAN + + +As I sat in the officers' quarters, listening to the conversation +regarding existing conditions at the Fort and the unrest among the +Indians of the border, my thoughts kept veering from the sudden and +ungracious disappearance of Mademoiselle to the early seeking after +that hapless orphan child for whose sake I had already travelled so far +and entered into such danger. Evidently, if I was to aid her my quest +must be no longer interrupted. + +With characteristic gallantry, De Croix had at once been attracted +toward Lieutenant Helm's young and pretty bride, and they two had +already forgotten all sense of existing peril in a most animated +discussion of the latest fashionable modes in Montreal. I was not a +little amused by the interest manifest in her soft blue eyes as she +spoke with all the art of a woman versed in such mysteries, and at +the languid air of elegance with which he bore himself. Meanwhile, I +answered as best I might the flood of questions addressed to me by the +two officers, who, having been shut out from the world so long, were +naturally eager for military news from Fort Wayne and from the seat of +government. As these partially ceased, I asked: + +"Has a date been set for the abandonment of the Fort?" + +"We march out upon the fifteenth," was Helm's reply, "the day after +to-morrow, unless something occurs meanwhile to change Captain Heald's +plans. I confess I dread its coming, much as I imagine a condemned man +might dread the date of his execution," and his grave eyes wandered +toward his young wife, as if fearful his words might be overheard by +her. "There are other lives than mine endangered, and their peril makes +duty doubly hard." + +"Lieutenant," I said, recalled to my own mission by these words, "I +myself am seeking to be of service to one here,--the young daughter of +one Roger Matherson, an old soldier who died at this post last month. +He was long my father's faithful comrade in arms, and with his dying +breath begged our care for his orphan child. It has come to us as a +sacred trust, and I was despatched upon this errand. Can you tell me +where this girl is to be found?" + +Before he could frame a reply, for he was somewhat slow of speech, his +wife, who had turned from De Croix, and was listening with interest to +my story, spoke impulsively. + +"Why, we have been wondering, Mr. Wayland, where she could have +gone. Not that we have worried, for she is a girl well able to care +for herself, and of a most independent spirit. She disappeared very +suddenly from the Fort several days ago; we supposed she must have gone +with my mother when Mr. Kinzie took his family back to their home." + +"With Mr. Kinzie?" I questioned, for at that moment I could not recall +hearing the name. "May I ask where that home is?" + +"He is the very good step-father of my wife, and one she loves as +truly as if he were her own father," answered Helm, warmly; "a man +among a thousand. Mr. Kinzie is an Indian trader, and has been here +for several years, if indeed he be not the first white settler, for +old Pointe Au Sable was a West Indian mulatto. His relations with +these savages who dwell near the Great Lake, and especially those of +the Pottawattomie and Wyandot tribes, are so friendly that he has felt +safe to remain with his family unguarded in his own home. They have +always called him Shaw-nee-aw-kee, the Silver-man, and trust him as +much as he trusts them. He is, besides, a great friend of Sau-ga-nash, +the half-breed Wyandot; and that friendship is a great protection. His +house is across the river, a little to the east of the Fort; it can +easily be seen from the summit of the stockade. But we have had no +direct communication for several days; the orders have been very strict +since the gates were closed. It is not safe for our soldiers to venture +outside except in force, and neither Kinzie nor any of his family have +lately visited us. Doubtless they feel that to do so might arouse the +suspicion of their Indian friends." + +"But are you sure they are there, and safe? And do you believe the one +I seek will be found with them?" + +"Smoke rises from the chimney, as usual, and there was a light burning +there last evening. We do not know certainly that your friend is there, +but think such is the case, as she was extremely friendly with a young +French girl in their employ named Josette La Framboise." + +I sat in silence for some time, thinking, and neglectful of the +conversation being carried on around me by the others, until we were +called to supper by the soldier who officiated as steward for the +officers' mess. I remember many details of the situation, as they were +frankly discussed in my presence while we lingered at the table; yet my +own reflections were elsewhere, as I was endeavoring to determine my +duty regarding the safety of her whom I had come so far to aid. Surely, +my first object now must be to ascertain where she was, in order to be +at her service when the hour for departure came. Nor had I any time to +spare, if we were to march out on the fifteenth. I cannot describe, +at this late day, how strangely my allegiance wavered, in that hour, +between the unknown, unseen girl, and the fair, vivacious Toinette. My +heart drew me toward the one, my clear duty to the other; and I could +see no way out of the dilemma except to find Elsa Matherson without +delay, in order that the two should be close together where, as need +arose, I could stand between them and whatever of evil impended. + +I fear I was an indifferent guest, for I was never nimble of tongue, +and that night I was more silent than usual. However, De Croix most +effectually hid my retirement by his rare good-humor and the sparkling +badinage with which he concentrated all attention upon himself, and was +consequently soon in the happiest of moods. I know not how the fellow +succeeded in working the miracle, but he sat at the board, upon Mrs. +Helm's left hand, powdered and curled as if he were gracing a banquet +at the Tuileries. His ruffled shirt, glittering buckles, and bright +blue waistcoat, were startling amid such homely surroundings; while +his neatly folded handkerchief of lace exhaled a delicate perfume. +Deeply as I was immersed in my own thoughts and plans, I could not help +admiring his easy grace, and more than once forgot myself in listening +to his marvellous tales and witty anecdotes. + +He was detailing a recent scandal of the French court, passing +delicately over its more objectionable features, when I grasped the +opportunity to slip unobserved from the room into the open of the +parade-ground. It proved a dark night without, but the numerous lights +in the surrounding buildings, whose doors and windows were open, +sufficiently illumined the place, so that I found my way about with +little difficulty. A group of soldiers lounged at the open door of the +guard-house, and I paused a moment to speak with one, a curly-headed +lad, who sat smoking, his back resting easily against the logs. + +"Are the outer gates ever opened at night?" I asked. + +He glanced up at me in surprise, shading his eyes to be assured of my +identity before speaking. + +"Scarcely either day or night now, sir," he replied, respectfully, "but +between sunset and sunrise they are specially barred, and a double +guard is set. No one can pass except on the order of Captain Heald." + +"In which direction is the Kinzie house?" + +He pointed toward the northeast corner of the stockade. + +"It is just over there, sir, across the river. You might see the light +from the platform; beyond the shed yonder is the ladder that leads up +into the block-house." + +Thanking him, I moved forward as directed, found the ladder, and pushed +my way up through the narrow opening in the floor of the second story. +The small square room, feebly lighted by a single sputtering candle +stuck in the shank of a bayonet, contained half a dozen men, most of +them idling, although two were standing where they could readily peer +out through the narrow slits between the logs. All of them were heavily +armed, and equipped for service. They looked at me curiously as I first +appeared, but the one who asked my business wore the insignia of a +corporal, and was evidently in command. + +"I wish to look out over the stockade, if there is no objection. I came +in with Captain Wells's party this afternoon," I said, not knowing what +their orders might be, or if I would be recognized. + +"I remember you, sir," was the prompt response, "and you are at +liberty to go out there if you desire. That is the door leading to the +platform." + +"The Indians appear to be very quiet to-night." + +"The more reason to believe them plotting some fresh deviltry," he +answered, rising to his feet, and facing me. "We never have much to +disturb us upon this side, as it overhangs the river and is not easy +of approach; but the guard on the south wall is kept pretty busy these +last few nights, and has to patrol the stockade. The Indians have been +holding some sort of a powwow out at their camp ever since dark, and +that's apt to mean trouble sooner or later." + +"Then you keep no sentry posted on the platform?" I asked, a thought +suddenly occurring to me. + +"Not regularly, sir; only when something suspicious happens along the +river. There's nobody out there now excepting the French girl,--she +seems to be fond of being out there all alone." + +The French girl? Could it be possible that he meant Toinette? I was +conscious of a strange fluttering of the heart, as I stepped forth upon +the narrow foot-way and peered along it, searching for her. I could +distinguish nothing, however; and as I slowly felt my way forward, +testing the squared log beneath me with careful foot and keeping hold +with one hand upon the sharpened palisades, I began to believe the +corporal had been mistaken. The door, closing behind, shut off the last +gleam of light, and I was left alone in utter darkness and silence, +save for the low rumble of voices within the Fort enclosure, and the +soft plashing below where the river current kissed the bank at the foot +of the stockade. + +I had gone almost the full length of that side, before I came where she +was leaning against the logs, her chin resting upon one hand, her gaze +turned north ward. Indeed, so silent was she, so intent upon her own +thought, I might have touched her unnoticed in the gloom, had not the +stars broken through a rift in the cloud above us, and sent a sudden +gleam of silver across her face. + +"Mademoiselle," I said, striving to address her with something of the +ease I thought De Croix would exercise at such a moment, "I meant not +to intrude upon your privacy, yet I am most glad to meet with you once +more." + +She started slightly, as though aroused from reverie, and glanced +inquiringly toward me. + +"I supposed my visitor to be one of the guard," she said pleasantly; +"and even now I am unable to distinguish your face, yet the sound of +the voice re minds me of John Wayland." + +"I am proud to know that it has not already been forgotten. You +deserted me so suddenly this afternoon, I almost doubted my being +welcome now." + +She laughed lightly, tapping the ends of the logs with her finger-tips. + +"Have you, then, never learned that a woman is full of whims, +Monsieur?" she questioned. "Why, this afternoon your eyes were so big +with wonder that they had forgotten to look at me. Truly, I spoke to +you twice to aid me from the saddle; but you heard nothing, and in my +desperation I was obliged to turn to the courtesy of Captain de Croix. +Ah, there is a soldier, my friend, who is never so preoccupied as to +neglect his duty to a lady." + +"It was indeed most ungallant of me," I stammered, scarce knowing +whether she laughed at me or not. "Yet my surroundings were all new, +and I have not the training of DC Croix in such matters." + +"Pah! 'tis just as well. I am inclined to like you as you are, +my friend, and we shall not quarrel; yet, with all his love for +lesser things, your comrade has always shown himself a truly gallant +gentleman." + +I made no answer to these flattering words, for I felt them to be true; +yet no less this open praise of him, falling from her lips, racked me +sorely, and I lacked the art to make light of it. + +"The soldiers in the block-house tell me you come here often," I +ventured at last, for the dead silence weighed upon me. "You have never +seemed to me like one who would seek such loneliness." + +"I am one whom very few wholly comprehend, I fear, and surely not upon +first acquaintance," she answered thoughtfully, "for I am full of +strange moods, and perhaps dream more than other girls. This may have +been born of my early convent training, and the mystic tales of the +nuns; nor has it been lessened by the loneliness of the frontier. So, +if I differ from other young women, you may know 'tis my training, as +well as my nature, that may account for it. I have led a strange life, +Monsieur, and one that has known much of sadness. There are times when +I seek my own thoughts, and find liking for no other company. Then I +come here, and in some way the loneliness of water and plain soothe me +as human speech cannot. I used to love to stand yonder by the eastern +wall and gaze out over the Great Lake, watching the green surges chase +each other until they burst in spray along the beach. But since I went +adrift in the little boat, and felt the cruelty of the water, I have +shrunk from looking out upon it. Monsieur, have you never known how +restful it sometimes is to be alone?" + +"My life has mostly been a solitary one," I answered, responding +unconsciously to her mood, and, in doing so, forgetting my +embarrassment. "It is the birthright of all children of the frontier. +Indeed, I have seen so little of the great world and so much of the +woods, that I scarcely realize what companionship means, especially +that of my own age. I have made many a solitary camp leagues from +the nearest settlement, and have tracked the forest alone for days +together, so content with my own thought that possibly I understand +your meaning better than if my life had been passed among crowds." + +"Ah! but I like the crowds," she exclaimed hastily, "and the glow and +excitement of that brighter, fuller life, where people really live. It +is so dull here,--the same commonplace faces, the tiresome routine of +drill, the same blue sky, gray water, and green plains, to look upon +day after day. Oh, but it is all so wearisome, and you cannot conceive +how I have longed again for Montreal and the many little gaieties +that brighten a woman's world. There are those here who have never +known these happier things; their whole horizon of experience has been +bounded by garrison palisades; but 'tis not so with me,--I tasted of +the sweet wine once, when I was a girl, and the memory never leaves me." + +"Yet you are often happy?" + +"'Tis my nature, Monsieur, a legacy of my mother's people; but I am not +always gay of heart when my lips smile." + +"And the coming of the French gallant has doubtless freshened your +remembrance of the past?" I said, a trifle bitterly. + +"It has indeed," was her frank admission. "He represents a life we +know so little about here on the far frontier. To you, with your code +of border manliness, he may appear all affectation, mere shallow in +sincerity; but to me, Captain de Croix represents his class, stands +for the refinements of social order to which women can never be +indifferent. Those were the happiest days of my life, Monsieur; and at +Montreal he was only one among many." + +She was gazing out into the black void as she spoke, and the slowly +clearing skies permitted the star-light to gleam in her dark eyes and +reveal the soft contour of her cheek. + +"You do not understand that?" she questioned finally, as I failed to +break the silence. + +"I have no such pleasant memory to look back upon," I answered; "yet I +can feel, though possibly in a different way, your longing after better +things." + +"You realize this sense of loneliness? this absence of all that makes +life beautiful and worth the living?" + +"Perhaps not that,--for life, even here, is well worth living, and +to my eyes the great sea yonder, and the dark forests, are of more +interest than city streets. But in one sense I may enter into your +meaning; my thought also is away from here,--it is with a home, +scarcely less humble than are our present surroundings, yet it contains +the one blessing worth striving after--love." + +"Love!" she echoed the unexpected word almost scornfully. "'Tis a +phrase so lightly spoken that I scarce know what it may signify to you. +You love some one then, Monsieur?" and she looked up at me curiously. + +"My mother, Mademoiselle." + +I saw the expression upon her face change instantly. "Your pardon," +she exclaimed, hastily. "'Twas not the meaning I had thought. I know +something of such love as that, and honor you for thus expressing it." + +"I have often wondered, since first we met, at your being here, +seemingly alone, at this outermost post of the frontier. It seems a +strange home for one of your refinement and evident delight in social +life." + +"'Tis not from choice, Monsieur. My mother died when I was but a child, +as I have already told you. I scarce have memory of her, yet I bear +her name, and, I am told, inherit many of her peculiarities. She was +the daughter of a great merchant at Montreal, and the blood of a noble +family of France flowed in her veins. She gave up all else to become my +father's wife; nor did she ever live to regret it." + +Her voice was so low and plaintive that I hesitated to speak; yet +finally, as she ceased, and silence fell between us, I asked another +question: + +"And 'twas then you voyaged into this wilderness with your father?" + +"I have never since left him while he lived," she answered softly, her +head resting upon her hand. "But he also has gone now, and I merely +wait opportunity to journey eastward." + +"He was a trader, you told me once?" + +"A soldier first, Monsieur; a true and gallant soldier, but later he +traded with the Indians for furs." + +I felt that she was weeping softly, although I could see but little, +and I leaned in silence against the rough logs, gazing out into the +black night, hesitating to break in upon her grief. Then a voice spoke +rapidly at the farther end of the stockade, and a sudden glow of light +shot like an arrow along the platform. I turned quickly, and there in +the open doorway, clearly outlined against the candle flame, stood De +Croix. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A WAGER OF FOOLS + + +"It looks a narrow walk, my friend," he said rather doubtfully, peering +forward with shaded eyes, "and 'tis dark as Erebus; yet gladly will I +make the venture for hope of the reward." + +The door closed behind him, shutting off the last vestige of light; and +we, with our eyes accustomed to the gloom, could mark his dim outline +as he advanced toward us. His actions belied his words, for he moved +with all his accustomed jauntiness along the uncertain foot-way, barely +touching the top of the palisades with one hand to guide his progress. +He was almost upon the girl before he perceived either of us; and then +his earliest words surprised me into silence. + +"Ah, Toinette!" he cried eagerly, "I fear I must have kept you waiting +over-long; yet I was with Mrs. Helm,--a most fair and charming +bride,--and scarce noted the rapid passage of time." + +"I naturally supposed it was a woman," she answered, with what I +interpreted as a strained assumption of indifference, "as that has ever +been your sufficient reason for breaking faith with me." + +"Do not interpret it so, I beg," he hastened to implore. "Surely, my +being a few moments in arrears is not a matter sufficiently serious +to be called a breakage of faith. I do assure you, Toinette, you were +never once absent from my thought." + +"Indeed?" she exclaimed incredulously, and with an echo of suppressed +laughter in her voice. "Then truly you are far more to be commiserated +on this occasion than I, for in truth, Monsieur de Croix, I have not +missed you over-much. I have enjoyed most excellent company." + +"The mysterious spirits of the starry night?" he questioned, looking +out into the darkness, "or the dim figures of your own imagination?" + +"Very far from either," she retorted, with a laugh; "a most substantial +reality, as you are bound to confess. Master Wayland, is it not time +for you fitly to greet Captain de Croix? He may deem you lax in +cordiality." + +I can perceive now how dearly the laughing witch loved to play us +one against the other, hiding whatever depth of feeling she may have +had beneath the surface of careless innocence, and keeping us both +in an uncertainty as aggravating as it was sweet. I could not read +the expression upon De Croix's face in the gloom, yet I saw him +start visibly at her almost mocking words, and there was a trace of +ill-suppressed irritation in his voice. + +"Saint Guise! 'Twas for that, then, he left us so mysteriously," he +exclaimed, unconsciously uttering his first thought aloud. "But how +knew he you were to be here?" + +Before she could answer, I spoke, anxious to relieve her of +embarrassment; for 'twas ever my nature to yield much without complaint. + +"As it chances, Captain de Croix, she did not know," I said, standing +back from the palisades where he could see me more clearly. "I left +the table below with no thought of meeting Mademoiselle, and came out +on this platform for a different purpose. As you know, I am visiting +Dearborn upon a special mission." + +"Ah, true," and I could feel the trace of relief in his voice as +he instantly recalled my story. "You also sought a girl in this +wilderness,--may I ask, have you yet found trace of her?" + +I heard Mademoiselle move quickly. + +"A girl?" she asked in surprise. "Here, at Dearborn?" + +"She was at Dearborn until very lately, but they tell me now I must +seek for her at the Kinzie house, It was for the purpose of marking +its position from the Fort that I came up here." + +For a moment no one of our voices broke the strained silence. I was +troubled by this knowledge of a pre-arranged meeting between these +two, yet felt it was nothing with which I had a right to interfere. +This careless French girl, whom I had known for scarcely two days, was +not one to be easily guided, even had I either reason or excuse for +attempting it. + +"'Tis strange," she said, musingly, "that she has never so much as +spoken to me about it; yet she was always shy of speech in such +matters." + +"Of whom do you speak, Toinette?" questioned De Croix. + +"Of Master Wayland's young friend with the Kinzies," she answered, +the old sprightliness again in her voice. "I know her very well, +Monsieur,--a dear, sweet girl,--and shall be only too glad to speed you +on to her. Yet 'tis not so easy of accomplishment, hemmed in as we are +here now. Yonder is the light, Master Wayland; but much of peril may +lurk between. 'Tis not far, were the way clear; indeed, in the old days +of peace a rope ferry connected Fort and house, but now to reach there +safely will require a wide detour and no little woodcraft. There were +patrols of savages along the river bank at dusk, and it is doubtful if +all have been withdrawn." + +I looked as she pointed, and easily distinguished the one glittering +spark that pierced the darkness to the north and east. I wondered +at her earlier words; yet they might all be true enough, for I knew +nothing of this Elsa Matherson. Before I could question further, De +Croix had interfered, eager, no doubt, to be rid of me. + +"Upon my soul!" he exclaimed recklessly, "if I could voyage here from +Montreal to win but a smile, it should prove a small venture for our +backwoods friend to cover yonder small distance. _Sacre!_ I would do +the deed myself for one kiss from rosy lips." + +I have wondered since what there was about those words to anger me. +It must have been their boastful tone, the sarcasm that underlay the +velvet utterance, which stung like salt in a fresh wound. I felt that +from the summit of his own success he durst laugh at me; and my blood +boiled instantly. + +"You are wondrous bold, Monsieur," I retorted, "when the matter is +wholly one of words. I regret I cannot pledge you such reward, so that +I might learn how you would bear yourself in the attempt." + +He stared at me haughtily across the shoulder of the girl, as if +doubting he heard aright. + +"You question my courage to venture it?" + +"It has been my experience that the cock that crows the loudest fights +the least." + +"Oh, hush, Messieurs!" broke in Mademoiselle, her voice showing +suppressed amusement. "This platform is far too narrow to quarrel +upon; and, besides, the condition of the wager is most easily +met,--that is, if my lips be deemed of sufficiently rosy hue." + +I know I stood with opened mouth, so astounded by these mocking words +as to be stricken dumb; but not so De Croix. The audacity of his nature +made eager response to the bold challenge. + +"Do you mean what you say, Toinette?" he asked, striving to gain a view +of her face in the darkness. + +"Do I? And pray, why not?" she questioned lightly. "One kiss is not so +very much to give, and I shall never miss it. 'Tis duller here than at +Montreal, and no doubt 'twill greatly interest me to witness the race. +Surely it will prove a better way to end your foolish quarrel than to +shoot each other. But come, Messieurs, why do you hesitate so long? is +not the prize enough?" + +He bowed gallantly, and took her hand. + +"'Twould be the ransom of a king," he answered; "though first I wish to +know the terms of this contest more clearly." + +She looked out into that silent and lonely night, her eyes upon the +distant gleam, and instinctively our glances followed hers. It was +a dull desolation, with no sound, no movement, in all the black +void. The stars gleamed dull on the water of the river beneath us, +and we could dimly see the denser shadow of the opposite shore; +beyond this, nothing was apparent save that distant candle flame. +What lay between,--what strange obstruction of land, what ambushed +foes,--neither of us had means of knowing. We could simply plunge into +the mystery of it blindfolded by the fates. Yet to draw back now would +brand either of us forever with the contempt of her who had challenged +us so lightly. + +"'Tis all simple enough," she said at last, her eyes glowing with quick +excitement. "The goal is yonder where that light glows so clearly, +though I warn you the longest way round may prove the surest in the +end. To the one of you who reaches there first and returns here, I +am to give one kiss as a measure of reward. I care not how it may be +accomplished,--such minor matters rest with your own wits." + +"But the young girl we seek," he insisted; "must she also be brought +here upon the return?" + +"Pish! what care I what may be done with the girl? Besides, she is far +safer from the savages there than she would be here." + +I saw De Croix lean far out over the sharpened palisades and peer +downward. The movement gave me instantly a thought of his purpose, +and, unnoticed, I loosened the pistol-belt about my waist and silently +dropped it upon the platform. Whatever desperate chance he might choose +to take, I was determined now to equal. + +"Doth the water of the river come to the very foot of these logs?" he +asked, unable to determine in the darkness. + +"No, Monsieur, the earth slopes downward for some feet, yet the current +is at this bank, and gives much depth of water at the shore." + +"But of what width is the strip of earth between?" + +"Perhaps the length of a tall man." + +"Saint Guise! 'tis well I thought to ask!" he explained jauntily. "And +now, Mademoiselle, if you will but kindly hold this coat and sword, I +shall strive to show you how highly I value the prize offered, and what +a French gentleman can do for love." + +I fully grasped his purpose now, and even as he turned toward her, +holding out the valuables he hesitated to lose, I scaled the low +barrier in my front, planted my feet firmly between the pointed stakes, +and sprang boldly into the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +DARKNESS AND SURPRISE + + +It was a greater distance to the water than I had supposed, but I +struck at last fairly enough, and went down until I thought I should +never come up again. As I rose to the surface and shook the moisture +from my face and ears, a light laugh rang out high above me, and +Mademoiselle's clear voice cried mockingly: + +"The backwoodsman has taken the first trick, Monsieur." + +I saw De Croix's body dart, like a black arrow, far out into the air, +and come sweeping down. He struck to my left, and a trifle behind me; +but I waited not to learn just how. With lusty strokes I struck out for +the north shore. It was a hard swim, for my deerskins held the water +like so many bags, and the current, though not rapid, was sufficiently +strong to make me fight valiantly for every foot of way. I came out, +panting heavily, upon a low bank of soft mud, and crept cautiously up +under the black shadow of some low bushes growing there. I took time, +as I rested, to glance back, hoping thus to learn more of the direction +I should follow; for the Kinzie light was no longer visible, and my +struggle with the current had somewhat bewildered me. I neither saw +nor heard anything of De Croix; but the flame of the candle gleaming +through the narrow slits of the block-house told me clearly where it +stood, while a wild yelling farther to the southward convinced me that +our Indian besiegers were yet astir and concocting some fresh deviltry +at their camp. With a half-uttered prayer that they might all be there, +I hastily pressed the water from my soggy clothes and plunged forward +into the unknown darkness. A big cottonwood, as from its shape I judged +it to be, rose against the stars in my front,--a dim outline swaying +slightly in the westerly wind, and I took it as my first guide-mark, +moving over the rough unknown ground as rapidly and silently as +possible. + +The soft moccasins I wore aided me greatly, nor were there many trees +along the way to drop twigs in the path to crackle under foot; yet I +found the ground uneven and deceptive, rifted with small gullies, and +more or less bestrewn with stones, against which I stumbled in the +darkness. I was too thoroughly trained in the stern and careful school +of the frontier not to be cautious at such a time, for I knew that +silence and seeming desolation were no proof of savage desertion; nor +did I believe that Indian strategy would leave the north of the Fort +wholly unguarded. Any rock, any black ravine, any clump of trees or +bushes, might well be the lurking-place of hostiles, who would only too +gladly wreak their vengeance upon any hapless straggler falling into +their hands. I was unarmed, save for the long hunting-knife I carried +in the bosom of my shirt; but my thought was not of fighting,--it was +to get through without discovery. + +To De Croix I gave small consideration, save that the memory of the +wager was a spur to urge me forward at greater speed. The place was +strangely, painfully still; even the savage yelling of the distant +Indians seemed to die away as I advanced, and nothing broke the +oppressive silence but an occasional flutter of leaves, or my own deep +breathing. I had gone, I take it, half or three-quarters of a mile, +not directly north, but circling ever to the eastward, seeking thus +to reach the house from the rear, when I came to a sharp break in the +surface of the land, somewhat deeper and more abrupt than those before +encountered. It seemed like a cut or ravine made by some rush of water +lakeward; and, as I hesitated upon the edge of it, peering across and +wondering if I had better risk the plunge, my eyes caught the blaze of +the Kinzie light scarce a hundred yards from the opposite bank of the +ravine. + +Assured that I was headed right, I stepped off with a new confidence +that, for the moment, conquered my usual prudence,--for the steep +bank gave way instantly beneath my weight. I grasped vainly at the +edge, fell heavily sidewise, and rolled like a great log, bruised +and half-stunned, into the black gorge below. I remember gripping +at a slender bush that yielded to my touch; but all the rest was no +more than a breathless tumble, until I struck something soft at the +bottom,--something that squirmed and gripped my long hair savagely, and +pushed my head back with a grasp on the throat that nearly throttled me. + +It was all so sudden, so unexpected, that for the moment I was helpless +as a child, struggling merely from the natural instinct of preservation +to break free. I could perceive nothing, the darkness was so intense; +yet as I gradually succeeded in getting my hands loose, I wound them in +long coarse hair, pressed them against bare flesh, heard deep labored +breathing close to my face, and believed I was struggling with a savage. + +It was a question of mere brute strength, and neither of us had had the +advantage of surprise. I could feel the sharp prick of my own knife as +he hugged me to him, but I dare not reach for it, and I held his arms +so tightly that he lay panting and struggling as if in a vise. It was +an odd fight, as we turned and tossed, writhed and twisted among those +sharp pointed rocks like two infuriated wild-cats in the dark, neither +venturing to break hold for a blow, nor having breath enough in our +bodies for so much as a curse. My adversary struck me once with his +head under the chin, so hard a blow that everything turned red before +me; and then I got my knee up into the pit of his stomach and caused +him to quiver from the agony of it; yet the fellow clung to me like a +bull-terrier, and never so much as whined. + +It was never my nature to yield easily, and I felt now this struggle +was to cost his life or mine; so I clinched my teeth, and sought my +best to push back the other's head until the neck should crack. But if +I was a powerful man, this other was no less so, and he fought with a +fierce and silent desperation that foiled me. We dug and tore, gouged +and struck, digging our heels into the soft earth in a vain endeavor to +gain some advantage of position. My cheek, I knew, was bleeding from +contact with a jagged stone, and I was fast growing faint from the +awful tension, when I felt his arms slip. + +"My God!" he panted. "The devil has me!" + +So startled was I by these English words, that I loosed my grip, +staring breathlessly through the darkness. + +"Are you white?" I gasped, so weakened I could scarce articulate. + +For a moment he did not answer, but I could hear his breath coming in +gasps and sobs. Then he spoke slowly, his voice hoarse from exertion. + +"By the memory of Moses! I was once,--but that squeeze must have turned +me black, I'm thinkin'. An' ye're no Injun?" + +"Not so much as a feather of one," I retorted. "But that is what I took +you to be." + +We were both sitting up by this time, he with his back against the +bank, both of us panting as if we could never regain our breath, and +eagerly seeking to see each other's features in the gloom. Any attempt +at conversation was painful, but I managed at last to stammer: + +"You must be a whalebone man, or I'd have broken every rib in your +body." + +"An' I'm not a bit sure ye didn't," was the response, uttered between +puffs. "'Twas the worst grip ever Ol' Tom Burns had squeeze him,--an' +I've felt o' bars mor' nor oncet. Who may ye be, anyhow, stranger? an' +for what cause did ye jump down yere on me?" + +There was a trace of growing anger in his tone, as remembrance of the +outrage returned to his mind, which caused me to smile, now that I +could breatheless painfully. It seemed such a ludicrous affair,--that +dark struggle, each mistaking the purpose and color of the other. + +"My name is Wayland," I made haste to explain, "and I left the Fort +but now, hoping by this roundabout route to reach the Kinzie place +and return under cover of darkness. I slipped on the edge of the bank +up yonder, and the next thing I knew we were at it. I can assure you, +friend, I supposed myself in the arms of a savage. You say your name is +Burns?" + +"Ol' Tom Burns." + +"What? It is not possible you are the same who brought a message to +Major Wayland on the Maumee?" + +"I reckon I am," he said, deliberately. "An' be you the boy I met?" + +"Yes," I said, still doubtful. "But how came you here?" + +"Wal, here's whar I belong. I've bin a sorter huntin' an' trappin' +yer'bouts fer goin' on nine year or so, an' I built a shanty to live +in up yonder by the forks. I hedn't much more nor got home frum down +east, when the Injuns burnt thet down; an' sence then I ain't bin much +o' nowhar, but I reckon'd I'd go inter ther Fort to-morrow and git some +grub." + +He spoke with a slow, deliberate drawl, as if not much accustomed +to converse; and I pictured him to myself as one of those silent +plainsmen, so habituated to solitude as almost to shun companionship, +though he had already let drop a word or two that made me deem him one +not devoid of humor. Suddenly I thought of De Croix. + +"Has any one passed here lately?" I asked, rising to my feet, the old +emulation throbbing in my veins. "A white man, I mean, going north." + +"Wal," he answered slowly, and as he also stood up I could make out, +what I had not noted in our previous meeting, that he was as tall as +I, but spare of build; "I ain't seen nuthin', but some sort o' critter +went ploughin' down inter the gulch up yonder, maybe ten minutes 'fore +ye lit down yere on me. Dern if I know whether it were a human er a +bar!" + +"Will you show me the nearest way to the Kinzie house?" + +"I reckon I'll show ye all right, but ye bet ye don't git me nigher ner +a hundred foot o' the door," he returned seriously. "John Kinzie's a +mighty good man, stranger, but he an' Ol' Tom Burns ain't never hitched +worth a cent." + +We climbed silently, and came out together upon the top. A slight +beam of light crept along through the open door of the log house just +in front of us, and for the first time I caught a fair view of my +companion. He was a tall, gaunt, wiry fellow, typical in dress and +manner of his class, the backwoodsmen of the Southwest, but with a +peculiarly solemn face, seamed with wrinkles, and much of it concealed +beneath a bushy, iron-gray beard. We eyed each other curiously. + +"Dern if ever I expected ter meet up with ye agin in no sich way as +this," he said shortly. "But thet's the house. Be ye goin' ter stay +thar long?" + +"No," I answered, feeling anxious to have his guidance back to the +Fort, "not over five minutes. Will you wait?" + +"Reckon I may as well," and he seated himself on a stump. + +No one greeted me at the house, not even a dog; though I could see +figures moving within. Either the occupants felt that an assumption of +confidence was their best security, or experienced no fear of Indian +treachery, for I rapped twice before there was any response. A young +girl, with a face of rare beauty and a pair of roguish black eyes, +peered out curiously. At sight of a stranger she drew back slightly, +yet paused to ask: + +"Did you wish to see some one here?" + +"I am seeking for a young girl," I answered, wondering if this could +possibly be she, "and they told me at the Fort I should probably find +her here. May I ask if you are Elsa Matherson?" + +For a moment she looked out at me, as if I might be an escaped lunatic. +Then she turned her face over her shoulder toward those within. + +"Mr. Kinzie," said she, "here's another man looking for Elsa +Matherson." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +AN ADVENTURE UNDERGROUND + + +A heavily-built man in shirt-sleeves, with a strong, good-humored face, +and a shock of gray hair, appeared beside the girl in the doorway. + +"'Tis not the same scamp I that kissed you, Josette," he exclaimed, +after examining me intently in the dim light, "but I doubt not he may +prove of similar breed, and it behooves you to be careful where you +stand." + +"Has De Croix been here?" I questioned, scarcely deeming it possible he +could have outstripped me in our race through the night. + +"I know not the rascal's name," was the reply, in the man's deep voice, +"but certain I am there was one here scarce ten minutes agone asking +after this same Matherson girl. Saint James! but she must have made +some sweet acquaintances, judging from the looks of her callers! +Josette has been rubbing the fellow's kiss off her lips ever since he +caught her unawares." + +"He was a dandified young fellow?" I urged, impatient to be off, yet +eager to be sure. + +The girl laughed lightly, her roguish eyes ablaze with merriment. + +"He might be sometime, Monsieur," she cried, evidently glad to talk, +"but to-night he reminded me of those scare-crows the farmers near +Quebec keep in their fields; a little chap, with a bit of turned-up +mustache, and a bright eye, but rags,--gracious, such rags as he wore!" + +'Twas De Croix, there could be no doubt of it,--De Croix, torn and +dishevelled by his mad rush through the darkness, but with no shred +of his reckless audacity gone. There was naught left, me now but to +race back upon his trail, hopeful for some chance that might yet allow +me to come in first on the return journey. In my throat I swore one +thing,--the graceless villain should never collect his reward at both +ends of his journey. He had already stolen the sweets from Josette's +red lips, but he should never claim those of Mademoiselle. I lingered +for but a single question more. + +"But this Elsa Matherson,--she is not here, then?" + +"No," returned Mr. Kinzie, somewhat gruffly, "and has not been since +the closing of the gates of the Fort. I think you are a parcel of mad +fools, to be chasing around on such an errand; yet humanity leads me to +bid you come in. There is not a safe foot of ground to-night for any +strange white man within three hundred miles of Dearborn." + +I glanced about me into the black shadows, startled at his solemn words +of warning. Away to the southward a faint glimmer told of the location +of the Fort; farther to the west, a sudden blaze swept up into the sky, +reflected in ruddy radiance on the clouds, and the thought came to +me that the savages had put torch to the deserted cabin on the south +branch of the river. + +"No doubt 'tis true," I answered hastily; "yet, whatever the danger may +be, I must regain the stockade before dawn." + +I saw him step forward, as if he would halt me in my purpose; but, +wishing to be detained no longer, my thoughts being all with De Croix +and Mademoiselle, I turned away quickly and plunged back into the +darkness. + +"You young fool!" he called after me, "come back, or your life will be +the forfeit!" + +Without so much as answering, I ran silently in my moccasins to the +spot where I had left Ol' Tom Burns. He sat upon his stump, motionless, +apparently without the slightest interest in anything going on about +him. + +"Ol' Kinzie was gol-dern polite ter ye, sonny," he commented. "Reckon +if an Injun was a scalpin' me right on his front doorstep he'd never +hev asked me ter walk inside like that! He an' me sorter drew on each +other 'bout a year ago, down at Lee's shebang; an' he don't 'pear ter +fergit 'bout it." + +"Show me the nearest safe passage to the Fort," I said, interrupting +him, almost rudely. + +He got up slowly, and cast his eyes with deliberation southward. + +"Oh, thar ain't no sich special hurry, I reckon," he answered with an +exasperating drawl. "We'll be thar long afore daylight,--perviding +allers we don't hit no Injuns meantime,--an' the slower we travel the +less chance thar is o' thet." + +"But, friend Burns," I urged, "it is a racing matter. I must reach +there in advance of another man, who has already been here ahead of me." + +"Sol sorter reckoned from what I heerd; but ye needn't rip the shirt +off ye on thet account. The feller can't git in thar till after +daylight, nohow. Them sojers is too blame skeered ter open the gates in +the dark, an' all the critter'll git if he tries it will be a volley o' +lead; so ye might just as well take it easylike." + +The old man's philosophy seemed sound. De Croix would certainly not +gain admittance until he could make himself known to the guard, and, +carefully as the stockade was now patrolled, it was hardly probable he +would be permitted to approach close enough for identification during +the night. De Croix was no frontiersman, and was reckless to a degree; +yet his long training as a soldier would certainly teach him a measure +of caution in approaching a guarded fort at such a time. + +"Tis doubtless true," I admitted, "yet I shall feel safer if we push on +at once." + +"Ye called the feller De Croix, didn't ye?" he asked. "Is it the French +dandy as was at Hawkins's?" + +"Yes," I answered, "and I guess you don't care much to help _him_." + +Burns wasted no breath in reply, but moved forward with noiseless +step. Glancing back, I could clearly perceive Kinzie framed in the +light of his open door. The vivacious French lass stood beside him, +peering curiously out across his broad shoulders. Then we sank into the +blackness of the ravine, and everything was blotted from our sight. + +Burns evidently knew the intricacies of the path leading to the Fort +gate, for I soon felt my feet upon a beaten track, and stumbled no +more over the various obstacles that rendered my former progress so +uncertain. My guide moved with excessive caution, as it seemed to +me, frequently pausing to peer forward into the almost impenetrable +darkness, and sniffing the night-air suspiciously as if hoping thus +to locate any lurking foes when his keen eyes failed in the attempt. +So dark was it that I had almost to tread upon his heels in order +to follow him, as not the slightest sound came from his stealthy +advance. As he surmounted the steeper inclines of land, I was able to +perceive him dimly, usually leaning well forward and moving with the +utmost caution, his long rifle held ready for instant use. As we drew +nearer the river,--or where I supposed the river must be, for I could +distinguish but little of our position,--he swerved from the footpath +we were following, and the way instantly grew rougher to our feet. + +"Reckon we'd better hit the crick a bit below the Fort," he muttered, +over his shoulder; "less likely ter find Injuns waitin' fer us thar." + +"You think there are savages on this shore?" + +He turned partially, and peered at me through the darkness. + +"I never heerd tell as Injuns was fools," he answered briefly. "In +course thar's some yere, an' we're almighty likely ter find 'em." + +On the bank of the river, which I could see dimly by the faint light +of a star or two that had broken through the cloud-rifts, he paused +suddenly, sniffing the air like a pointer dog. + +"The gol-dern fools!" he muttered, striking his rifle-butt on the +ground with an expression of disgust. "They've gone and done it now!" + +"Done what?" I questioned, almost guessing his meaning as a pungent +odor assailed my nostrils. "That smells like rum!" + +"'Tis rum. Dern if ever I see whar the A'mighty finds so many blame +idjits ter make sojers of! Them ar' fellers in the Fort wern't in tight +'nough pickle, with a thousand savages howlin' 'bout 'em, so they've +went an' poured all their liquor inter the river! If I know Injun +nature, it jist means the craziest lot o' redskins, whin they find it +out, ever was on these yere plains. I bet they make thet fool garrison +pay mighty big fer this job!" + +"You mean the destruction of the liquor will anger them?" + +"Anger? It'll drive 'em plum crazy,--they'll be ravin' maniacs! It's +the hope o' spoils thet's held 'em back so long. They've wanted the +Fort to be 'vacuated, so as they could plunder it,--thet's been the +song o' the chiefs to hold their young men from raisin' ha'r. But come, +sonny, thar's nothin' gained a-stayin' here, an' dern me if I want ter +meet any Injun with thet thar smell in the air. I don't swim no river +smellin' like thet one does. We'll hev ter go further up, I reckon, an' +cross over by the ol' agency buildin'." + +We crept up the edge of the stream, keeping well in under the north +bank, and moving with the utmost caution, for the chances were strong +that this portion of the river would be closely watched by the +redskins. We met with no obstacle, however, nor were we apparently +even observed from the stockade, as we slowly passed its overhanging +shadow. I could distinguish clearly its dark outlines, even making out +a head or two moving above the palisades; but no hail of any kind rang +out across the intervening water, and we were soon beyond the upper +block-house, where a faint light yet shone. We could see the dim shape +of the two-story factory building, looking gloomy and deserted on the +south shore. Burns lay flat at the water's edge, studying the building +intently; and his extreme caution made me a bit nervous, although +I could scarcely determine why, for I had thus far marked not the +slightest sign of danger. + +"I reckon we'll hev ter risk it," he said at length, as he bound his +powder-horn upon his head with a dark cloth. "Come right 'long arter +me, and don't make no splashin'." + +He slipped off so silently that I scarcely knew he was gone, until I +missed the dark outline of his figure at my side. With all possible +caution, I followed him. The current was not strong, but I partially +faced it, and struck out with a long, steady stroke, so that my +progress, as nearly as I could judge, was almost directly across +the stream. Burns had been completely lost to my sight, although as +I looked along the slightly glistening water I could see for some +distance ahead. I remember a black log bearing silently down upon me, +and how I shrank from contact with it, fearful lest it might conceal +some human thing. Soon after it had swirled by, my feet touched the +shelving bank, and I crept cautiously up into the overhanging shadow. +Burns was there, and had already reconnoitred our position; for my +first knowledge of his presence came when he slowly lowered himself +down the bank until he lay close beside me. + +"They're thar," he said, soberly. "Thought most likely they wud be." + +"Indians?" I asked, doubtfully,--for I had an impression the factory +might be garrisoned by some of our own people. + +"Sure; I heerd as how the sojers hed been drawed in, an' naturally +reckoned the Injuns wouldn't be over-long findin' it out. 'Nother fool +thing fer the sojers ter dew." + +He paused, listening intently. In the silence, above the slight sound +of the running water, I felt sure I could distinguish voices speaking +not far distant. + +"It's no place yere ter stay," he whispered, his lips close at my +ear. "Reckon best thing we kin dew now is to find one o' the sojers' +root-caves somewhar along the bank, an' crawl in thar till daylight. +The Injuns ain't so likely to bother us when the guards kin see 'em +from the Fort. They don't want no out-'n'-out fuss, to my notion, till +they kin git inter the stockade for good. Creep 'long yere with me, +sonny, an' 't won't be far till I find a hole somewhar thet'll hide us +fer awhile anyhow." + +We crawled slowly along, snake-fashion, at the edge of the river, for +perhaps thirty feet, our movements hidden by the high and slightly +overhanging bank at our left. The night was so dark that Burns relied +more upon feeling than sight to guide him. At last he stopped suddenly. + +"Here's one o' 'em," he said. "Crawl along in, sonny; thar's lots o' +room after ye go a foot er two." + +It was the merest hole dug into the bank, roughly lined with irregular +bits of rock, which opened out into quite a cellar about a yard from +the surface. The air within felt somewhat chill and damp, as I put my +head cautiously down the narrow opening; but there seemed no cause for +fear, and I crept nimbly forward, feeling my way as I advanced along +the rude mud walls. I could hear Burns behind me on his hands and +knees, puffing slightly as he squeezed through the small aperture that +led into the larger chamber. + +I had advanced perhaps two yards without reaching the end of this odd +underground apartment, when suddenly, and directly in my front, there +sounded a deep, hollow, unearthly groan. The sound was so terrifying +that I stopped with chilled blood and beating heart, gripping my +knife-hilt and peering forward into the dark as frightened as ever I +was in my life. I heard Burns gasp and half turn; then, before I could +move, even had I dared venture such a thing, an instantaneous flash lit +up the black interior. I caught one confused glimpse of a huge object, +topped with a head of tumbled hair, of two flapping wings stretching +out upon either side, and then the impenetrable curtain of the dark hid +everything once more. Sweat bathed me in cold drops; nor could I have +moved a limb to save my life. Behind me Burns was muttering what might +have been a prayer; when the thing groaned again, a hollow, awful moan, +thrilling with agony, that sent me grovelling upon my face as nearly +dead as one could well be and yet breathe and know. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"FRANCE WINS, MONSIEUR!" + + +For the moment, every muscle of my body seemed paralyzed. I distinctly +heard the creature moving in my direction, and I backed away violently, +actuated only by the thought of instant escape into the open air. But +Burns blocked the solitary passage. + +"Back out of here, for God's sake!" I managed to exclaim through +parched lips. "That devil-thing is coming this way!" + +He struggled desperately in the darkness, tugging madly at some +obstacle, an oath smothered on his lips. I waited and listened, every +nerve on edge. + +"Dern it all, but I can't!" he groaned at last. "My blame ol' gun hes +got wedged, and won't give an inch." + +Then a half-smothered laugh rippled out of the gloom just in front of +me. + +"Heaven protect me, but it's Wayland!" came a voice, and the laughter +broke into a roar of merriment. + +"Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! This will be the death of me!" + +The voice, choked and muffled as it was, sounded strangely hollow in +that dark cave; yet it had a familiar tone. So surprising was the +situation, that I could only stare into the black void, speechless. It +was Burns who realized the need of action. + +"Whoever the dern fool is," he growled, his voice hoarse with anger, +"choke the wind out of him, or his blame howling will bring every Injun +on the river yere!" + +"De Croix!" I exclaimed quickly, aroused to recollection by the +seriousness of the situation, "stop that infernal racket, or the two of +us will throttle you!" + +He puffed and gurgled, striving his best to smother the sense of +ludicrousness that mastered him. To me there was small cause for +merriment; the supreme terror of those moments merged into hot anger +at the deception, and I crept forward eager to plant my hand upon the +rascal's throat. + +"What French mockery is this?" I exclaimed, my hand hard upon his arm. +"Think you, Captain de Croix, that you can play such tricks in this +wilderness, and not be made to pay for them?" + +I felt him tremble under my fierce grasp; yet it was not from fear, +for my words only served to loosen his laughter once more. Burns now +broke in, shoving the barrel of his long rifle forward over my shoulder +till he struck the Frenchman a blow that effectually silenced him. + +"You chattering ape!" he said, growling like an angry bear, "another +yawp like that, and I'll blow a hole clean through you! Now, you French +ninny, tell us what this means, an' be quick about it if ye want ter +save yer hide!" + +De Croix did not answer, but he ceased to laugh, and panted as if the +breath had been knocked out of him. Another impatient movement by Burns +led me to speak up hastily in his defence. + +"Wait," I said, laying my grasp upon his gun, "he has no breath left +with which to make reply. 'Tis the French gallant who raced with me, +the same whom you met at Hawkins's Ford; and no doubt he felt good +reason to play the ghost here in this dark pit." + +"Ay," panted De Croix painfully, "I truly thought the savages were +upon me, and sought to frighten them by the only means I could devise. +Sacre! but you hit me a sore blow in the ribs! If I have frightened +you, 'twas no worse than the terror that took me at your entrance here." + +For a time none spoke, and no sound, save De Croix's labored breathing, +broke the silence. Burns had turned slightly, and I knew was listening +intently for any sound without. Apparently satisfied that the noise +made by us had not been overheard, he asked in his old deliberate drawl: + +"How in thunder, Mister Parly-voo, did ye git up thet thar combination, +anyhow?" + +I heard the Frenchman chuckle, and pinched him as a warning to be +careful. He answered, in his reckless, easy way: + +"'Twas all simple enough behind the scenes, Messieurs. I but took some +old sacking discovered here, and used it as a robe, standing my hair +well on end; and a flash of powder made the scene most realistic. The +thing indeed worked well. I would I had a picture of Master Wayland's +face to show Toinette!" + +This chance mention of her name recalled me to myself. The undecided +wager was yet to be won, and the night was now nearly spent. There came +to me a sudden determination to risk a rush through the darkness to the +Fort gates, rather than chance any further defeat at the hands of this +rash gallant. Yet prudence bade me question somewhat further before I +ventured upon so mad a deed. + +"No doubt 'twas most happy from your point of view, Monsieur. From +ours, it was less so; and instead of laughing, you might better be +thanking your lucky stars that you did not pay more dearly for such +folly. But what brought you here? Why have you failed to reach the +stockade?" + +_"Sacre!"_ he muttered carelessly, "but I had a fierce enough run for +it as it was. Why did I not reach the stockade? Because, my friend, I +am no real ghost to be invisible in the night, nor am I a bird to fly. +'Twas in the shadow of that big building yonder that I ran into a nest +of those copper-colored fiends, and 'twas nip and tuck which of us won, +had I not, by pure good luck, chanced to stumble into this hole, and so +escape them. Perchance they also thought me a ghost, who knows? But, be +that as it may, they were beating the river bank for me in the flesh, +when you came creeping here." + +We lay flat on the floor, the three of us, our eyes fastened upon the +faint light that began to stream in through the entrance. I could hear +Burns muttering to himself, as is often the way with men who lead lives +of solitude; and every now and then De Croix would shake silently at +the recollection of what had just occurred. I minded neither of them, +but chiefly planned how best I might outwit De Croix and win the prize +offered by Mademoiselle. The promise of dawning day was in the outer +air, too dim as yet to render our faces visible. Suddenly the slight +draft of air veered, and swept a tiny breath of smoke into my nostrils. +It came so quickly that I scarcely realized its significance until +Burns scrambled to his knees with a growl. + +"God! the devils have run us to cover!" he cried, sullenly. "They have +started a fire to smoke us out!" + +It hardly needed a moment to prove this true; the thin smoke grew more +and more dense, filling the narrow entrance until we lay gasping for +breath. De Croix, ever the most impulsive, was the first to act. + +_"Parbleu!"_ he gasped, pulling himself forward with his hands. "Better +Indians than this foul air! If I die, it shall at least be in the open." + +To remain longer cooped in that foul hole was indeed madness; and +as soon as I could I followed him, rolling out of the entrance to +the water's edge, fairly sick with the pressure upon my lungs, and +caring so little what the end might be, provided I might first attain +one breath of pure air, that before I gained strength to resist I +was prisoner to as ill-looking a crew of savages as ever my eyes +encountered. The villains triced us firmly with thongs of skin, and +sat us up against the bank like so many puppets, dancing about before +us, snapping their dirty fingers in our faces, and treating us to all +manner of taunts and insults. 'Twas done so quickly as to seem a dream, +had I not smarted so sorely from the blows dealt me, and my limbs +chafed where the tight cords were drawn. + +I recall glancing aside at Burns; but his seamed and puckered face +remained emotionless, as the red devils rolled him over till he stared +straight up at the sky, now gray with coming dawn. The sight of De +Croix almost set me laughing, which won for me a kick from the brute +who had me in special charge. The Frenchman was surely no court dandy +now; his fancy clothing clung to him in rags, while the powder-flash +within the cellar had blackened his face and made sad havoc with his +gay mustache. He endeavored to smile at me as our eyes met, but the +effort produced only what seemed like a demoniac grin. + +"'Tis a hard life, Monsieur," I could not forbear remarking, "and will +hardly remind you of Versailles." + +His form stiffened in its bonds, as if the words spurred his memory of +other days. + +"A French soldier smiles at fate, wherever it overtakes him," he +answered, a touch of pride in his voice. "Besides, the game is not +played out,--I may yet prove the first one in. But see! if I mistake +not, here comes the chief of all these devils." + +The new-comer strode down the high bank alone, and was greeted noisily +by our captors. It was the same Indian that had halted Captain Wells +the day previous; and he looked us over with a contemptuous sneer that +curled his lips and transformed the whole expression of his hideously +painted face. I noted that he paid but small heed to either De Croix +or myself, contenting his vengeance with sharp kicks at our prostrate +bodies; but as he came to Burns, he paused, bending down till he could +peer into the old borderer's upturned face. + +"Bah! I know you," he said, brokenly. "You Ol' Burns. Stake down in +village for you." + +The old man neither moved his head nor gave the slightest sign that he +had heard. + +"Squaw eat heart," went on the Indian, prodding him with his stick; +"feed bones to dog. All white men go that way now,--Ol' Burns first." + +"Topenebe," was the quiet reply, as the victim rolled over until he +half-sat against the bank, "I had the pleasure o' kickin' ye once down +on the Kankakee, an' should be mighty glad ter do it agin. I reckon as +how ye don't feel over friendly ter me, but ye're simply wastin' yer +breath tauntin' me. Any time yer derned old fire is hot, I'm ready to +dance." + +These calm words angered the warrior, and he spat at him; then he +turned and grunted an order in his own language. With blows of their +sticks the Indians got us on our feet; but when they sought to drive +us up the steep bank to the prairie, Ol' Burns balked and absolutely +refused to move. + +"Not one dern step, Topenebe," he swore grimly, "with these yere +things on my legs. I'm no pony ter be hobbled, an' blame if I'll jump +'long fer any red skin. Ye kin carry me, if ye ain't too lazy; but, by +thunder! thar'll be no walkin' till ye cut them bonds." + +Blows, curses, and threats failed alike to budge the old man. He simply +sat down and smiled grimly at them; and we followed his example, +dimly perceiving there must be a purpose in it. Sheer obstinacy wins +many a battle, and when we went up the bank our lower limbs were +free, although to my mind we were as hopelessly bound as ever. Not so +with Burns. I chanced to press close to him, as we came out upon the +prairie, and he muttered a quick word into my ear. + +"See how they herd us in the shade of the Agency! They are not yet +ready to let the sojers know whut they're re'lly up to. Not an Injun +will go beyond thet line long enough to be seen. Be ready to run fer it +as soon as I say 'Go,' an' tell the Frenchman." + +I succeeded in making De Croix understand, by means of the mongrel +French at my command, which seemed not to be intelligible to the +savages; and we moved forward at as slow a gait as our vigilant guards +permitted, with every muscle tense for the coming strain. We were +bunched together, with no pretence of order on the part of our captors; +indeed, they seemed to be of various minds over what was to be done +with us, though Topenebe exercised sufficient control over his mongrel +followers to compel at least partial obedience to his orders. We +tramped along to the west of the factory, the walls of which shut off +all view of the Fort, a half-dozen of the savages about us, while the +chief stalked on a few feet in advance. + +We had almost reached the southwestern corner of the big Agency +building, and Topenebe had already taken a step to the right, carefully +keeping the log-walls as a protection between our movements and the +eyes of the garrison, when Burns, shaking off the Indians nearest him, +bounded suddenly forward and struck Topenebe with his head, hurling the +fellow by his side over backward as he passed. + +"Run for the gate!" he yelled. + +Like an arrow from the bow, I shot around the Agency corner, and raced +for the stockade, De Croix, running like a deer, barely a foot behind +me. I never dreamed, in that moment of intense action, that Burns was +not also coming,--that he had deliberately sacrificed himself in order +to hold back the savages and give us the better chance for life. Behind +arose the sound of struggle, but there was no indication of pursuit, +and as I rounded the end of the stockade the lower gate swung open +just before me and I glanced back, half pausing as I realized the old +borderer had not followed us; then some one tripped me, and I fell +headlong. With a sudden rush, De Croix swept by. + +"France wins, Monsieur!" he cried back in mocking triumph, as I +staggered to my knees. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A CONTEST OF WITS + + +Though I was never of hasty or violent temper, it was quite as well +that I failed to gain a sight of De Croix as I passed the posts and +the sentry clanged the gate behind me. The Frenchman's scurvy trick +would have heated cooler blood than mine; nor was my spirit soothed by +the harsh fall I suffered. But De Croix had not waited; nowhere along +the bare sunlit parade was he visible. I saw nothing but a squad of +grinning soldiers lounging beside the barracks, until Captain Wells, +issuing from the guard-house door, caught sight of me and came forward. + +"Back, are you, Master Wayland?" he said gruffly, and 'twas easy to see +he did not approve of my escapade. "I scarcely thought to see you here +again with so full a head of hair, after I learned of your mad wager. +Providence must indeed take special care of fools. Have the redskins +captured our French friend?" + +"He entered a step in my advance." + +A gleam of amusement played over his swarthy face. + +"Ah, and so you let him win!" he exclaimed; "he, a mere voyager from +the courts, unused to forest play! Such remissness deserves the +guard-house, at the very least. Come, how happened it that this gay +sprig outfooted you?" + +"'Twas but a trick," I retorted, aroused by these contemptuous words, +"and one I shall make him pay well for. But I pray you cut these bands +and set me free." + +I think he had not noticed them before; but now, as he quickly drew his +knife across the deer-skin thongs, his whole expression changed. + +"'Tis Indian tying," he said earnestly; "you have been in the hands of +the savages?" + +"Ay!" and the memory of it instantly brought back the recollection of +the sacrifice that had won us our freedom. "There were three of us +taken at daylight on the river bank, beyond the factory building. De +Croix and I escaped through the efforts of one who is still a prisoner, +and marked for torture." + +Many were gathering about us by this time, anxious to learn whatever +news I brought from without; but it was Captain Heald himself who now +pushed his way through the throng until he fronted me. + +"Who was it?" he asked, sharply. "We have lost no men!" + +"His name is Burns, sir. I ran across him just back of the Kinzie +house." + +"Burns? Ol' Tom Burns?" + +"Yes, sir." + +Heald laughed, a look of evident relief on his haggard features. + +"We shall not have to worry much as to his fate," he said, turning +toward Wells. "You remember the fellow, William? He was one of Mad +Anthony's scouts, and came west with you in 1803 when you first held +council here." + +The other nodded, a twinkle of pleasant recollection in his eyes. +"Remember him?" he repeated. "I am not likely ever to forget him. +He it was who brought me your message at Fort Wayne a month ago. My +sympathies in this case are entirely with the Indians. There are likely +to be things happening when Ol' Tom is around, unless he has lost +his versatility and nerve in recent years. Come, my lad, give us the +details of the story, for it must be worth the hearing if Ol' Burns +played a leading part. He is as full of tricks as a dog of fleas." + +I repeated the story briefly, for I was now eager to be away before +De Croix could dress and claim his wager. I knew well the conceited +coxcomb would never seek the presence of Mademoiselle until he had shed +the rags he wore on entering the Fort. I remember yet that throng of +faces, anxious yet amused, peering over each other's shoulders to get +a better view of me as I talked, and constantly augmented as the word +passed quickly about the garrison that we had safely returned from our +midnight adventures. + +"You will send aid to him?" I questioned, as I concluded, my eyes fixed +appealingly upon Captain Heald. + +"Not I," was the prompt and decisive rejoinder. "No soldier of +this command shall leave the stockade until the hour for our final +departure. The fellow had a chance to come in here with the others +before the gates were closed, but was obstinate as a mule, and must now +take the consequences. But you need not worry about Ol' Tom, my boy; +he'll circumvent those red devils in some way, you may rest assured, +nor would he even thank us for interference. I have no force with which +to control the horde of savages that surround us here. A clash of arms +would be their excuse for immediate attack, and might mean death and +torture to the whole garrison. Our only hope lies in being permitted +to pass out without armed collision; and to do this requires that we +ignore such hidden deeds. 'Twas a mad prank of yours last night, and +might have involved us all in common ruin. Go this time free, except +for these words of censure; for you are not directly under my orders. +Another such attempt, subversive of all discipline, and the gates of +Dearborn will be closed against you." + +These harsh expressions stung me, but I felt them in a measure merited, +and made no reply. + +"'Twas but the act of a boy, Heald," interposed Wells kindly, resting +his hand upon my shoulder, "and you will find the lad well worth having +when time of trial comes." + +I slipped away through an opening in the curious throng, and hastened +across the open parade toward the mess-room. I felt dust-covered and +bruised from my rough experiences, and hoped to discover opportunities +for a bath. The building called the mess-room was long, running nearly +half the length of the stockade, built like the others of logs, two +stories in height, and containing a number of rooms. The single flight +of stairs, opening just within the porch, was exceedingly rude, and +built without any protecting rail. I hesitated a moment when fairly +within the entrance, scarce knowing which way to turn in search of what +I sought; but as I waited there, a light step sounded upon the bare +floor above, and glancing up, with quickened beat of the heart, my eyes +caught the soft drapery of a woman as she stepped on the upper stair. + +I could scarcely have retreated had I wished to do so, though I +realized instantly who it was, and drew back against the wall, so that +she came down, singing lightly to herself, without noticing my presence +until we were face to face. It was a picture to touch the heart of +any man, and abide forever in the memory. I saw the sunlight as it +streamed through an upper window along the rough log wall and flecked +her white dress with ever-changing spots of quivering gold, and, as she +drew nearer to my standing-place, played softly amid the masses of her +dark-brown hair, giving it a tinge of glory. How daintily fair she was! +how archly sweet looked the clear girlish face under the coquettish +sweep of the broad hat! and with what unconscious grace she moved down +the rude stairway, one white hand steadying her against the brown logs, +the other gathering her draperies so close that I could not be blind to +the daintily slippered foot that shyly peeped below the petticoat of +ruffled silk. I may not have loved her then as I learned to do in later +days, but my heart throbbed riotously at her presence, and I stood +forgetful of all else. + +As she turned aside at the foot of the stairs, she saw me, and the +color deserted her face, only to return instantly in deeper volume, +while her tell-tale eyes hid themselves behind long lashes. + +"And are you indeed returned, Master Wayland?" she asked quickly, +conquering her first emotion with a proud uplifting of her head. "You +surprised me greatly. I think I first mistook you for a ghost come +back to haunt me for having despatched you on so perilous a quest. You +cannot know how I have been scolded for doing such a thing; yet surely +you would have gone, even if I had failed to encourage it." + +"Perhaps so, Mademoiselle," I answered, hoping I might lead her to +speak with greater seriousness; "but it was the hope of the reward that +spurred me forward." + +"Ah, of course," she said deliberately ignoring her own offer, and with +a reckless toss of her head, "you sought a fair girl for whose sake +you have travelled far. Pray tell me, Monsieur,--I am so curious to +know,--do you truly think Josette fairer than I?" + +She spoke so lightly, smiling softly into my eyes, that I hardly +detected the faint tinge of regretful sarcasm in her low voice. + +"Josette, you ask me? Why, Josette is indeed a most charming girl, +Mademoiselle; but to my mind there can be no comparison between her and +you, for you are the fairest woman I have ever known." + +Her dark eyes were full upon me, and I saw her parted lips move as if +she would speak. But no words came, and we stood there silent except +for the nervous tapping of her foot against the floor. Her look of +seriousness changed into a smile. + +"By my faith, but you pay compliments with so grave a countenance, +Monsieur, that I hardly know how to receive them. Most men whisper such +things with a light laugh, or a twinkle of the eye, and I know their +words to be empty as bubbles of air. But you, why, you almost make me +feel you are in earnest." + +"And I am," I interrupted, longing to seize her hand as I knew De +Croix would have done, and pour forth the words that burnt upon my +lips. "I have not been privileged to see much of the great outside +world, Mademoiselle,--the world of courts and cities,--nor do I know +how lovely its women may be; but no ideal formed in dreams satisfies +me as you do. I know naught of idle compliments, nor the graces of a +courtier; but my words are from the heart." + +"I do truly believe and trust you, John Wayland," and she gave me +her hand. "But let us talk of this no longer. My vanity is already +more than satisfied by your frank and honest speech. And so you found +Josette?" + +"Yes," I answered, scarce noting what it was I said, so puzzled was I +by her quick retreat. + +"And that meeting, perchance, was so pleasant that it has taken your +thought from all else? It must indeed be so, or why is it that Master +Wayland doth not claim of me the stake of the wager?" + +"Because," I stammered, greatly embarrassed by her roguish questioning +eyes, "I fear it has not been fairly won." + +"Not fairly won?" she echoed, puzzled by my tone and manner. "Surely +you have made the trip, and the terms were plain. Really, Monsieur, you +do not think I would withhold so small a reward from the winner?" + +"But there was another,--the prize was destined for him who came back +first." + +"And has Captain de Croix returned also?" + +"We arrived together, Mademoiselle, but it was his good fortune to be +earliest through the gate." + +'Twas good to see how her face lit up with the amusement this reply +afforded her. + +"Pish! but you are in truth the most marvellous man I ever knew. 'Tis +good to meet with such open honesty; and when did maid ever have before +so unselfish a cavalier to do her honor? Monsieur, I greatly doubt if +Captain de Croix will prove so thoughtful when his hour comes." + +"You are right, Toinette," broke in a voice at my back. "I know not +what Master Wayland may be yielding up so easily, but, like the Shylock +of your William Shakespeare, I am here to claim my pound of flesh." + +I wheeled and faced him, standing firmly between his approach and the +girl, my blood instantly boiling at the familiar sound of that drawling +voice. + +"I have refused to accept from Mademoiselle what I had not fairly +earned," I said, with quiet emphasis, "and so, no doubt, will you." + +There was that about my words and action that astonished him, and for +the moment his old audacity was gone as he swept a puzzled glance +over our faces. I have often reflected upon the contrast we must have +presented to her sight as we stood there,--for De Croix had donned his +best attire, and was once again resplendent in frills and ribbons, with +heavily powdered hair. + +"Oh, most certainly, what I have not earned," he said at length, "but +the kiss promised is surely mine by every right, as I was the first in." + +"'Twas done by a most scurvy trick." + +"Poof! what of that? 'Tis the same whether the goal be won by wit and +strategy, or mere fleetness of foot. Toinette will make no such fine +distinction, I warrant you." + +"Mademoiselle," and I turned toward the smiling girl, who seemingly +enjoyed our interchange of compliments, "what may have been your +understanding of this wager?" + +"Why," she answered slowly, endeavoring to recall the details to mind, +"Captain de Croix declared he would willingly make the trip for a touch +of rosy lips, and In a spirit of venture I promised that whichever of +you two first completed the journey and returned here should obtain +such reward." + +"There, 'tis plain enough," he cried, stroking his mustache +complacently, "and I have won." + +"Most surely you have," I retorted, "and the reward has already been +given you." + +"Been given?" she questioned, "and by whom?" + +"The girl Josette." + +She looked from the one to the other of us, puzzled for a brief moment +at the odd situation. Then, as her eyes settled upon De Croix's flushed +and angry face, she laughed gaily, even as she daintily drew aside her +skirts to pass us by. + +"Pish, Monsieur!" she cried, shaking her finger at him, "I doubt it +not. No, you need not deny it, for 'tis but one of your old-time +tricks, as I knew them well at Montreal. 'Twould be no more than +right were I even now to reward Master Wayland, for he hath truly won +it,--yet for that I will delay awhile." + +And with a flash of her dark eyes that held us speechless, she was +gone. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +GLIMPSES OF DANGER + + +If any trace of anger held place in my heart, it utterly vanished +as I noted the bewildered surprise with which De Croix gazed after +Mademoiselle's departing figure. + +_"Sacre!"_ he exclaimed presently, turning toward I me, his face +flushed, and forgetful of all his well-practised graces. "'Twas an +unworthy trick, Master Wayland, and one I am not likely to forget." + +"'Twas a moment ago," I answered, in great good-humor at his +discomfiture, "that you claimed wit was as important a factor as +fleetness of foot in the winning of a race. I did no more than +illustrate your theory, Monsieur." + +The humor of it failed to touch him, and there was a direct menace in +his manner which caused me to fall back a step in the narrow passage +and front him warily. + +"No boor of the woods shall laugh at me!" he exclaimed, his eyes aflame +with passion, "be the cause love or war. What mean all these sly tricks +of speech and action?--this hurried message to the ear of Mademoiselle? +By my faith, you did not even pause to wash the dust from off your face +before you sought her company. 'Tis strange such intimacy could spring +up between you in so short a time! But mark you this, Master Wayland, +once and for all; I have not voyaged here from Montreal to be balked +in my plans by the interference of an uncouth adventurer. I give you +now fair warning that if you ever step again between Toinette and me, +naught but the decision of steel shall end our quarrel." + +That he was indeed in deadly earnest, and indulged in no vain threat, +I well knew; his passion was too strongly painted on his face. My own +temper rose in turn. + +"I hear your words, Monsieur," I returned coldly, "and care no more +for them than for a child's idle boasting. There is naught between +Mademoiselle and me that the whole world might not know. We are good +friends enough, but if by any chance love should be born from that +friendship, no French gallant, though he sport a dozen swords, shall +come between us. Win her if you can by reckless audacity and lavishness +of perfume, but dream not to frighten me away from her presence by the +mutterings of bravado. I am the son of a soldier, Monsieur, and have +myself borne arms in battle." + +"You will fight, then?" + +"With pleasure, whenever the occasion arises," I replied slowly, +struggling hard to keep back more bitter words. "But I see none at +present, and, if I mistake not, all our skill at arms will soon be +needed to save this girl, as well as ourselves, from savage hands." + +I know not how we would have parted, for 'twas evidently his wish to +goad me on to fight; and there are times when passion overwhelms us +all. But at that moment I heard the soft rustle of a dress, and wheeled +to face the fair young wife of Lieutenant Helm. It was plain she had +been weeping; but De Croix, ever quicker than I in such matters, was +first to accost her in words of courtesy. A pretty face to him was +instant inspiration. + +"We bow to you, Madame," he exclaimed with excessive gallantry, doffing +his hat till it swept the stairs; "your corning makes the very sunshine +a brighter gold." + +"I trust it may bring peace as well," she answered, striving to smile +back at him, although trouble yet shadowed her sweet face; "surely my +ears caught the sound of harsh words." + +"A slight misunderstanding, which will hardly grow to any serious end," +he protested. + +"I trust not, gentlemen, for the time is come when we women at +Dearborn surely need you all to protect us. Our case already appears +desperate." + +"Has something new occurred," I questioned anxiously, "that makes you +more alarmed?" + +Her eyes, grown strangely serious once more, swept our faces. + +"You may neither of you comprehend this in its full meaning as clearly +as I do," she returned gravely, "for I am frontier-bred, and have known +the Indian character from childhood. We have long been acquainted, in +my father's family, with many of the chiefs and warriors now encamped +around us. We have traded in their villages, lived with them in their +smoke-stained tepees on the great plains, and trusted them as they +showed faith in us. You, I learn," and she looked at me more intently, +"were at my father's house no later than last night. In spite of rumors +of war and tightly guarded Fort gates, you found his door wide open +to whosoever might approach, with never a dog to bark at an intruder, +be he white or red. This is because the Silver-man has always dealt +fairly with the Indian, and won his respect and gratitude in return. +Now, in time of peril this trader dares to believe in their good faith +toward him and his. 'Tis because of this I know so well all that is +going on without, and have been able to inform Captain Heald of much +his scouts were unable to discover. From the first there have been +two factions among the savages gathered yonder; and whether we live +or die may depend upon which counsel prevails among them that of +peace or that of war. Until within an hour I have hoped it might be +peace,--that the older chiefs would hold their young men in control, +and the red wampum be not seen at Dearborn. Twenty minutes ago one of +the noblest advocates of peace,--a Pottawattomie warrior named Black +Partridge,--sought interview with Captain Heald, and his words have +shown me how desperate indeed has our situation become." + +"He threatened?" broke in De Croix, his hand upon his sword-hilt. + +"Nay, Monsieur, 'tis not the way of an Indian, nor is Black Partridge +one to indulge in vain words. I have known him long; in childhood I +sat upon his knee, and believe him so friendly to the whites that +naught but a sense of duty could move him otherwise. Yet, as I say, +he came just now to the commandant of this garrison, and returned a +medal once given him by the government. It was done sadly, and with +deep regret,--for I overheard his speech. He said: 'Father, I come to +deliver up to you the medal I wear. It was given me by the Americans, +and I have long worn it in token of our mutual friendship. Our young +men are resolved to imbue their hands in the blood of the whites. I +cannot restrain them, and I will not wear a token of peace while I am +compelled to act as an enemy.'" + +She stopped, her agitated face buried in her hands, and neither of us +spoke. The solemnity of her words and manner were most impressive. + +"You feel, then, that the die is cast?" asked De Croix, all lightness +vanished from his voice. + +"I believe we march forth from these walls to our death to-morrow." + +"But why," I protested, "should you, at least, take part in such +hazard? Your father's family, you tell us, will be safe from attack. +Surely, that home might also prove your refuge?" + +The little woman, with the face of a girl, looked up at me indignantly +through her tears. + +"Lieutenant Helm marches with the troops," she answered quietly, "and I +am his wife." + +I retain no memory, at this late day, of what conversation followed. I +know that De Croix in his easy carelessness about the future, sought +to laugh at her fears and restore a feeling of hopefulness; but all +my thoughts were elsewhere, upon the grave dilemma in which we found +ourselves, and my duty to these helpless ones upon every side. + +I must have left the two standing there and conversing, though just +how I moved, and why, is dim to me. I recall crossing the bare parade, +and noting the company that formed the little garrison drawn up in the +shadow of the south stockade. At any other time I should have paused in +interest, for military evolutions always attracted my attention; but +then I had no sense other than that of mental and physical exhaustion +from the hours of toil and lack of rest. Owing to my absence the night +before, no quarters had been assigned me; but finding the barracks of +the troops unoccupied, and yielding to imperative need, I flung myself, +without undressing, upon a vacant bunk, and lay there tossing with the +burden of intense fatigue. + +And then how the thoughts I sought to banish thronged upon me! No +effort of my will could shut them out. I went over again and again the +quarrel with De Croix, the incidents of the night, the solemn words +of Mrs. Helm. Little by little, each detail clear and absolute, there +unrolled before my mind's view the picture of our situation. I saw +it as a frontiersman must, in all its grim probabilities. The little +isolated Fort was cut off from all communication, held by a weakened +garrison. Hope of rescue there was none. Without were already gathered +hundreds of warriors attracted by rumors of war and promise of pillage; +and these were growing in number and increasing in ferocity each day. +I had ridden through them once, when their mood was only to annoy, and +realized with a shudder of horror what it would mean to face them in +our retreat, with all restraint of their chiefs removed. I thought of +those long leagues of tangled forest-land stretching between us and the +nearest border settlements, of ambuscades, of constant and harassing +attack on the ever-thinning column as we fought for each foot of the +way. Once my mind dwelt for an instant upon the quiet home I had left +on the banks of the Maumee; as my eyes filled at the memory I drove +it from me, for the present necessity was all too stern to permit +indulgence in such weakness. + +'Twas of the women and children I thought most, and their probable +fate if we failed to win a passage. The half-framed thought of such a +possibility made my heart throb with dread apprehension, as I set my +lips together in firm resolve. What had become of Roger Matherson's +orphan child? 'Twas indeed strange that I could gain no trace of +the little girl. At the Fort they said she was with the Kinzies, +at Kinzies' they told me she was at the Fort. It was, as Seth had +prophesied, like seeking after a will-o'-the-wisp; yet surely she must +be in the flesh somewhere. My plain duty was to find her at once; and +I resolved to take up the task anew that day, and question every one +I met till some trace yielded to my persistency. However, I needed +first to sleep; but as I resolutely closed my eyes, there came gliding +into my memory another face,--an arch, happy face, with softly rounded +cheeks and dark laughing eyes, a face that mirrored a hundred moods, +and back of them all a sweet womanly tenderness to make every mood +a new and rare delight. Toinette! never before was woman's name so +pleasant to my lips. Ignorant as I was in mysteries of the heart, +I knew not clearly whether I loved her, though this I knew beyond +cavil,--no savage hand should ever touch her while I lived; and if I +had to fight each step of the path from that accursed spot to Wayne, I +swore within my heart she should come safe through. Her gentle memory +was with me when all the rest yielded to the drowsy god, and in sheer +exhaustion I slept--to dream. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + + +A CONFERENCE AND A RESOLVE + + +"To my mind, the risk would be extreme; and I greatly doubt the wisdom +of the step." + +"But, William, what other alternative offers us any hope?" + +"I confess I know not, for your last mistake has greatly aggravated the +situation." + +I sat up hastily, for seemingly these words were spoken at the very +side of the bunk on which I lay. As I glanced about me I saw the room +was vacant; so I knew the conference thus accidentally overheard must +be taking place in an adjoining apartment. I was thoroughly awake when +Captain Heald's voice spoke again. + +"You say a mistake,--what mistake?" he questioned, as though aggrieved. +"I have done no more than simply obey the orders of my superior +officer." + +"That may be true," broke in the gentler tones of Lieutenant Helm, "but +of that we are unable to judge, for not one of your officers has been +privileged to see those orders." + +"You shall see them now. If I have been remiss in taking you into my +confidence in these grave matters, it has been because of certain +malcontents in the garrison with whom I hesitated to confer." + +There was a rustle of paper, and Heald read slowly. I failed to +distinguish the opening words, but as he reached the more important +portion of the document his utterance grew deeper, and I heard +distinctly this sentence: + + "Evacuate the post if practicable, and in that event distribute the + property belonging to the United States in the Fort, and in the + factory or agency, to the Indians in the neighborhood." + +There was a pause as he concluded. Captain Wells spoke first. + +"To my mind, these orders are not positive, and leave much to your +discretion. Who brought the message, and when?" + +"A Wyandot named Winnemeg. He reached here on the ninth." + +"I have heard the name, and believe him worthy of confidence. Did you +advise with him?" + +[Illustration: "There was a rustle of paper, and Heald read slowly: +'Evacuate the post if practicable.'"] + +"Ay! Though he had no oral message from General Hull, he counselled +immediate evacuation. I also felt such action to be wise; but things +were in such condition within the Fort,--so large a number of helpless +women and children to be provided for, and so heavy a proportion of +the garrison on the sick-list,--that I found it impossible to act +promptly. The Indians gathered so rapidly without, and assumed so +hostile a manner, that I thought it suicidal to attempt a march through +the wilderness, encumbered as we should be, without some positive +understanding with their chiefs." + +"I can easily comprehend all this, and that you have sought to act for +the best," was Wells's comment; "but I fail to realize how you hoped to +appease those same Indians by the wanton destruction last night of the +liquor thrown into the river. It was done in direct opposition to the +orders you have just read, and is bound to increase the hatred of the +savages. You may be sure they are not ignorant of the contents of your +despatch, and must resent the destruction of property they consider +their own." + +"'Twas done upon the advice of two of their leading chiefs." + +"Indeed! Which two?" + +"Topenebe and Little Sauk." + +"The two biggest devils in that whole Pottawattomie camp, and the head +and front of their war-party! Their purpose is clear enough to my mind, +and seamed with treachery. Well, Heald, from my knowledge of Indian +nature I must say that whoever goes forth now to confer with yonder +redskins has a desperate mission; but if you are still determined upon +such a conference, I will take my chances with you. 'Tis given unto man +but once to die." + +"No, William," replied Captain Heald, with more firmness. "It is your +part to remain here in protection of your niece, my wife; and if my own +officers refuse to volunteer in this service, I shall go forth alone to +meet the chiefs. It is my duty as commandant." + +"Two of your officers are here," said Wells, "and they can probably +answer for themselves. Ensign Ronan is not present." + +"He is acting as officer of the day," returned Heald, somewhat stiffly, +"and is therefore not eligible for such service. Perhaps one of the +officers here present possesses courage enough for the venture?" + +Apparently neither cared to express himself, after such an insinuation. +At last one, whose voice I recognized as that of Surgeon Van Voorhis, +gave utterance to his refusal. + +"As the only medical officer of the garrison, I feel justified in +declining to go upon so desperate an expedition," he said gravely. "It +would expose not only my own life to unnecessary peril, but the lives +of many others as well." + +"And what say you, Lieutenant Helm? Have you also personal scruples?" + +I could detect a tremor in the younger officer's voice, as he answered +promptly. + +"Captain Heald has before this seen me in time of danger," he said +quietly, "and can have no reason for ascribing cowardice to me. But +I will frankly say this, sir, and with all respect to my commanding +officer, I believe such conference as now proposed with the hostile +Indians yonder, at this late day, to be perfectly useless, and that +every hour's delay since the receipt of orders to evacuate the post has +only tended to increase our danger and lessen our hope of escape. I +feel now that our only chance of safety lies in defending this stockade +against attack until a rescue party from the East can reach us. I have +a young wife among the women of this garrison; to her I owe allegiance, +as well as to the flag I serve. Feeling as I do, Captain Heald, as a +soldier I will obey any command you give, and will go forth upon this +mission if ordered to do so, either in your company or alone; but I +cannot volunteer for such service. I believe it to be foolhardy, and +that whoever undertakes it goes forth to almost certain death." + +"Then I shall go alone," said Heald, sternly; "nor do I look forward to +any such disastrous ending to so open a mission of peace." + +"Wait," broke in Wells, impulsively. "I have a final suggestion to +make, if you are resolved to go. There rode in my party hither a +rattle-brained gallant, bearing a French commission, who ought to +prove sufficiently reckless to lend you his companionship. Faith! but +I think it may well suit the fellow. Be sides, if he wore his French +uniform it might have weight with the reds." + +"Who is he?" asked Heald, doubtfully. "I seem not to have memory of +him." + +"He calls himself Captain Villiers de Croix, and holds commission in +the Emperor's Guard." + +Scarcely were the words spoken when I was on my feet, all vestige of +sleep gone from my eyes. De Croix was hardly a friend of mine, since +late developments, but he had been my comrade for many a league of hard +forest travel, and I was unwilling to have him carelessly sacrificed +in a venture regarding the danger of which he knew nothing. Besides, +I counted on his sword to aid in the defence of Mademoiselle. I +understood thoroughly the desperate chances of Indian treachery that +lay before such a commission as was now proposed. It was rash in the +extreme; and only the terrors of our position could sanction such an +experiment. The savages that hemmed us in were already in an ugly +mood, and fully conscious of their power. To go forth to them, unarmed +and uninvited, as Captain Heald coolly proposed doing, was to walk +open-eyed into a trap which treachery might snap shut at any time. It +was not my purpose to halt De Croix, nor to stand between him and any +adventure he might choose to undertake; but I could at least warn him, +in a friendly spirit, of the imminent danger such a thing involved. + +With this thought in mind, I ran hastily across the open parade into +the officers' mess-hall, hoping I might find him loitering there. To my +hasty glance, the place appeared deserted; and I drew back, wondering +where to turn next in search. As I hesitated on the threshold, the low +voice of Mademoiselle fell upon my ear; and at that moment she emerged +from behind the curtain which divided the officers' quarters. + +"May I hope you are seeking me?" she asked, graciously; "for it has +been most lonely here all day, even Captain de Croix seems to have +forgotten my existence." + +"It was De Croix I sought," I answered, somewhat nettled by her prompt +reference to him; "and doubtless you are well able to give me trace of +him." + +She studied me keenly, marking an angry note in my voice that I sought +vainly to disguise. + +"Forever a quarrel?" she said, regretfully. "Do you know, Master +Wayland, I had thought better of you. Surely it is not your nature to +be a brawler, and always seeking opportunity to show the strong hand! +What has Captain de Croix done now to make you seek him so vengefully?" + +"'Tis not in quarrel," I explained,--I fear with ill grace, for her +words in his defence were little inclined to mollify me. "You may +indeed have so poor conception of me as to misinterpret my coming; yet +in truth I seek De Croix in friendship, hoping that I may by a chance +word serve him." + +"Indeed! what danger threatens, that he needs to be warned against?" + +I hesitated; for, now that my blood had somewhat cooled, my mission +seemed a bit foolish. + +"I insist upon knowing," she continued haughtily, her eyes full upon +mine, "or I shall believe you sought him for hostile purpose, and would +deceive me by fair words." + +"Mademoiselle," I answered gravely, "you do me wrong. Only a few +moments ago I chanced to overhear a discussion, by the officers of +this Fort, regarding a commission to go forth and hold council with +the Indians. Captain Heald is determined upon such a course; but none +will volunteer to accompany him, because of the grave danger of savage +treachery. The Frenchman's name was mentioned as one reckless enough +to join with such a party; and I sought to warn him ere he accepted +blindly. He is hardly a friend of mine,--yet it seems no more than fair +that he should know the full measure of his peril before saying 'yes.'" + +She came impulsively forward, with quickly extended hand, her face +aglow. + +"You are indeed a true heart, John Wayland, and have shamed me +rightly. I know well the deceit and treachery of Indian nature, and can +understand the peril such a party would run. Promise me that you will +prevent Captain de Croix from becoming one of them." + +"I?" I exclaimed in perplexed surprise; "I can do no more than warn +him." + +"But you must do more!" she cried imperatively. "He will surely go if +asked. A warning such as you propose would only stir his blood. I beg +you to use your wits a little, so that he may know nothing of it." + +I looked at her, deeply hurt by the interest so openly displayed. + +"You are wondrously aroused for the Frenchman's safety, Mademoiselle!" + +"Yes, though not as you may fancy. Captain de Croix came here for my +sake, even though no word of mine gave him reason for doing so. For +this reason I could never forgive myself if harm befell him on such a +journey. 'Twould be as if I had lured him to his death. So 'tis for my +sake, not his, that I ask the favor." + +I leaned against the log wall and thought quickly, her anxious eyes +never leaving my face. There came into my mind a conviction that the +girl really loved him; and this made the struggle harder for me to +serve him. Nor did I see clearly how it could well be done, save +through a sacrifice of myself, such as I had never intended. + +"Surely," she urged, "your wits will conceive some way in which it may +be done?" + +"Yes," I answered, eager now to hide my own feeling from her; "'tis not +hopeless. You desire that he be kept within the Fort, ignorant of this +commission?" + +"I do; 'tis the only way." + +"Very well, it shall be done, Mademoiselle. No, I need no thanks from +you. Only do this simple thing, which, I am sure, you will find no +hardship,--keep Captain de Croix from any possible contact with others +for an hour. Your eyes will prove sufficient, no doubt, to enchain him +that long; if not, use other measures." + +"But what will you do?" + +"That does not count. 'Tis the result, not the means, that must content +you. I have my plan, and it will work; but I cannot stay here longer to +discuss it. Only do your part well, and I pledge you the safety of De +Croix." + +I left her standing there, the light of questioning still in her eyes; +but I wished mainly to be safely away, where I might hide my own sudden +heart-ache in the energy of action. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +IN THE INDIAN CAMP + + +It cut me deeply to think that this girl would willingly sacrifice me +to save the French gallant from injury, and an anxiety to escape her +presence before I should speak words I might always regret caused me +to leave with scant ceremony. Yet I was none too soon; for scarce had +I stepped without the door when I met Lieutenant Helm ascending the +steps. "Ah, Wayland!" he said, catching sight of me, "do you happen to +know where I am most likely to find Captain de Croix?" + +"He is scarcely to be disturbed at present, unless the matter be +truly urgent," I replied, my plan hastily sketched in mind. "Have you +arranged a banquet in honor of the Frenchman?" + +"No such good fortune," was the grave response. "Captain Heald desires +his company upon an immediate mission to the Pottawattomie camp." + +"Oh, is that all? Well, Captain de Croix will hardly be found +sufficiently recovered from his late adventure to enter upon another +one so early. 'Tis in my thought he either sleeps or is prinking +himself for more pleasant conquests. But why worry him? In my judgment, +no poorer choice could be made for so serious a task as you propose. +He is a mere French courtier,--brave enough, and rash, I grant, yet +without knowledge of Indian ways and treachery. Might not I answer +better as his substitute?" + +"You?" + +"Ay! and why not? I am frontier-bred, long trained in woodcraft and +savage ways, and surely far better fitted for such a task than is this +petted darling of the courts. Were it a flirtation, now, the post might +be truly his." + +"'Tis true, you would be my choice; but do you realize the peril +involved?" + +"Fully, my friend, yet scarce think it so desperate as you imagine. It +is my judgment the savages yonder are seeking bigger game than so small +a party would afford, and will therefore allow us to go free. However, +if it should prove otherwise," and I spoke the words with a sore heart +as I recalled what had just occurred, "I am a lone man in the world, +and to such an one death is not so terrible, even at Indian hands. +Come, I will go with you to confer with Captain Heald, and offer him my +services. He can do no more than refuse." + +Helm offered no further objection, doubtless feeling it useless in my +venturesome mood; and we crossed the parade together without speaking. + +Captain Wells was the first to see me as we entered, and some instinct +told him instantly of my purpose. + +"Ah, Wayland, my boy! I have been troubled lest you might chance to +hear of our plight, and jump in. Come now, lad! 'twas not you we sent +after, nor can we use you in so grave a matter." + +"And pray, why not?" I questioned, a little touched by this evidence of +kindness, yet firmly determined to keep my pledge to Mademoiselle. "I +am a better man for such deeds than the Frenchman, and am eager to go." + +"So this is not your Captain de Croix?" said Captain Heald, eying me +curiously. "Saint George! but he is a big fellow,--the same who made +the race last night, or I mistake greatly. And what is this man's name?" + +"It is John Wayland," I answered, anxious to impress him favorably; "a +frontiersman of the Maumee country, and fairly skilled in Indian ways. +I have come to volunteer my services to go with you." + +"You are anxious to die? have the spirit of a Jesuit, perchance, and +are ambitious of martyrdom?" + +"Not unusually so, sir, but I think the danger overrated by these +gentlemen. At least, I am ready and willing to go." + +"And so you shall, lad!" cried the old soldier, striking a hand upon +his knee. "You are of the race of the long rifles; I know your kind +well. Not another word, William! here is a man worth any twenty of your +French beaux strutting with a sword. Now we start at once, and shall +have this matter settled speedily." + +The earliest haze of the fast-descending twilight was hovering over the +level plain as we two went forth. In the west, the red tinge of the +sun, which had just disappeared below the horizon, lingered well up in +the sky. Against it we could see, clearly outlined in inky blackness, +the distant Indian wigwams; while to the eastward the crimson light was +reflected in fantastic glow upon the heaving surface of the lake. For +a moment we paused, standing upon the slope of the mound on which the +Fort was built, and gazed about us. There was little movement to arrest +the eye. The dull, dreary level of shore and prairie was deserted; +what the more distant mounds of sand or the overhanging river banks +might hide of savage watchers, we could only conjecture. Seemingly the +mass of Indian life, which only the day before had overflowed that +vacant space, had vanished as if by some sorcerer's magic. To me, this +unexpected silence and dreary barrenness were astounding; I gazed about +me fairly bewildered, almost dreaming for the moment that our foes had +lifted the long siege and departed while I slept. Heald no doubt read +the thought in my eyes, for he laid a kindly hand upon my sleeve and +pointed westward. + +"They are all yonder, lad, at the camp,--in council, like enough. Mark +you, Wayland, how much farther to the south the limit of their camp +extends than when the sun sank last night? Saint George! they must have +added all of fifty wigwams to their village! They gather like crows +about a dead body. It has an ugly look." + +"Yet 'tis strange they leave the Fort unguarded, so that the garrison +may come and go unhindered. 'Tis not the usual practice of Indian +warfare." + +"Unguarded? Faith! the hundreds of miles of wilderness between us and +our nearest neighbor are sufficient guard. But dream not, my lad, that +we are unobserved; doubtless fifty pair of skulking eyes are even now +upon us, marking every move. I venture we travel no more than a hundred +yards from the gate before our way is barred. Note how peaceful the +stockade appears! But for the closed gates, one would never dream it +the centre of hostile attack. Upon my word, even love-making has not +deserted its log-walls!" + +I lifted my eyes where he pointed, and even at that distance, and +through the gathering gloom, I knew it was De Croix and Mademoiselle +who overhung those eastern palisades in proximity so close. The sight +was as fire to my blood, and with teeth clinched to keep back the mad +utterance of a curse, I strode beside Captain Heald silently down the +declivity to the deserted plain below. + +It is my nature to be somewhat chary of speech, and to feel deeply and +long; but if I doubted it before, I knew now, in this moment of keen +and bitter disappointment, that my heart was with that careless girl +up yonder, who had sent me forth into grave peril apparently without +thought, and who cared so little even now that she never lifted her +eyes from the sparkling water to trace our onward progress. Anger, +disappointment, disgust at her duplicity, her cruel abuse of power, +swept over and mastered me at the moment when I realized more deeply +than ever my own love for her, and my utter helplessness to oppose her +slightest whim. No Indian thongs could bind me half so tightly as the +false smiles of Toinette. + +Plunged into this whirlpool of thought, I moved steadily forward at +Captain Heald's shoulder, unconscious of what might be taking place +about us, and for the moment indifferent to the result of our venture. +But this feeling was not for long. Scarcely had our progress taken +us across the front of the deserted agency building, and beyond the +ken of the sentinels in the Fort, when a single warrior rose before +us as from the ground, and blocked the path. He was a short, sturdy +savage, bare to the waist save for a chain of teeth which dangled with +sinister gleam about his brawny throat, and, from the wide sweep of his +shoulders, evidently possessed of prodigious strength. He held a gun +extended in front of him, and made a gesture of warning impossible to +misapprehend. + +"What seeks the White Chief?" he questioned bluntly. "Does he come for +peace or war?" + +The query came with such grave abruptness that Heald hesitated in reply. + +"Never since I have been at Dearborn have I sought war," he replied +at last. "Little Sauk knows this well. We travel now that we may have +council of peace with the chiefs of the Pottawattomies. See!" and +he held up both empty hands before the Indian's eyes, "we are both +unarmed, because of our trust in the good faith of your people." + +Little Sauk uttered a low grunt of disapproval, and made no motion to +lower his threatening rifle. + +"Ugh! You talk strong! Did any Pottawattomie send to White Chief to +come to council?" + +"No," admitted Heald. "We come because it is the wish of the Great +Father of the white men down by the sea that we talk together of the +wrongs of the red men, and make proposals of peace between us. There is +no cause for these rumors of war, and the Great Father has heard that +the Pottawattomies are dissatisfied, and it has made him sad." + +The Indian looked from one to the other of us in the growing darkness, +and made a gesture of contempt. + +"The real Great White Father wears a red coat, and is friend to the +Pottawattomie," he said with dignity. "He no lie, no shut Indian out of +Fort, no steal furs, no throw rum in river. Who this man, White Chief? +He no soldier,--he long-knife." + +"Yes, he is a frontiersman, and came to the Fort yesterday with +Wau-me-nuk, bringing word of greeting from the Great Father to the +Pottawattomies. He goes now with me to council. May we pass on to your +camp?" + +For a moment Little Sauk did not answer, stepping closer in order +that he might better scan my features. Apparently satisfied by the +keen scrutiny, he turned his broad back upon us and strode off with +contemptuous dignity. + +"Come," he said shortly; and without further word we followed across +that dim plain and through the thickening darkness. + +The Indian's step was noiseless, and his figure cast the merest shadow; +but as we moved onward others constantly joined us, stalking out of the +black night like so many phantoms, gliding silently in their noiseless +moccasins across the soft grass, until fully a dozen spectral forms +hedged our pathway and kept step to every movement. It was a weird +procession, through the shifting night-shadows; and although I could +catch but fleeting glimpses of those savage faces and half-naked forms, +the knowledge of their presence, and our own helplessness if they +proved treacherous, caused my heart to throb till I could hear it in +the painful silence like the beat of a drum. Now and then a guttural +voice challenged from the darkness, to be instantly answered by those +in advance, and another savage glided within our narrowed vision, +scanned us with cruel and curious eyes, and fell in with the same +silent, tiger-like tread of his fellows. + +It was not long that we were compelled to march thus, the gathering +warriors pressing us closer at each step; and it was well it proved +so soon ended, for the grim mockery set my nerves on edge. Yet the +change was hardly for the better. Just before reaching the spot where +the river forked sharply to the southward, we came to the upper edge +of the wigwams, and into a bit of light from their scattered fires. +There rushed out upon us a wild horde of excited savages, warriors +and squaws, who pushed us about in sheer delirium, and even struck +viciously at us across the shoulders of our indifferent guard, so +that it was only by setting my teeth that I held back from grappling +with the demons. But Heald, older in years and of cooler blood, laid +restraining hands upon my arm. + +"'Tis but the riff-raff," he muttered warningly. "The chiefs will hold +them back from doing us serious harm." + +As he spoke, Little Sauk uttered a gruff order, and the grim warriors +on our flank drove back the jeering, scowling crowd, with fierce Indian +cursing and blows of their guns, until the way had been cleared for +our advance. We moved on for two hundred yards or more, the maddened +and vengeful mob menacing us just beyond reach of the strong arms, and +howling in their anger until I doubted not their voices reached the +distant Fort. + +We came to a great wigwam of deer-skin, much larger than any I had +ever seen, with many grotesque figures of animals sketched in red and +yellow paint upon the outside, and clearly revealed by the blazing fire +without. A medicine-man of the tribe, hideous with pigment and high +upstanding hair, sat beating a wooden drum before the entrance, and +chanting wildly to a ferocious-looking horde of naked savages, many +bleeding from self-inflicted wounds, who danced around the blaze, the +leaping figures in the red glare making the scene truly demoniacal. +Little Sauk strode through the midst of them, unheeding the uproar, and +flung aside the flap of the tent. + +"White Chief and Long Knife wait here," he said sternly. "Come back +pretty soon." + +There was nothing to be seen within, excepting some skins flung +carelessly upon the short trodden grass. We sat down silently upon +these, gazing out through the narrow opening at the blazing fire and +the numerous moving figures constantly crowding closer about the +entrance, both of us too deeply immersed in thought to care for speech. + +The black shadows upon the tepee cover told me that guards had been +posted to keep back the rabble from intrusion, and once I saw signs of +a brief struggle in front when the swarm had grown too inquisitive and +were forced back with scant ceremony. The weird dance and incantation +continued; and although I knew but little of the customs of the +Pottawattomies, there was a cruel savagery and ferocity about it which +I felt held but little promise of peace. + +"'Tis the war-dance," whispered Heald in my ear, "and bodes ill for our +purpose. See! the red wampum is in the fellow's hand." + +As I bent forward to catch the gleam of it in the flames, a new figure +suddenly flitted past our narrow vista, between us and the wild circle +of dancers. It was a woman, attired in fanciful Indian dress; but +surely no Pottawattomie squaw ever possessed so graceful a carriage, or +bore so clear a face. + +"Captain!" I ejaculated eagerly. "Did you see that white woman there, +with the long skirt and red hair?" + +"Ay!" he answered as though he scarce had faith in his own eyes. "I +marked not the color of her hair, but I saw the lass, and, by Saint +George! she looked to me like old Roger Matherson's daughter." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A COUNCIL OF CHIEFS + + +I was on my feet in an instant, forgetful of everything excepting my +duty to this girl whom I had come so far to find, and who now was +plainly a prisoner in Indian hands. At the entrance of the tepee, a +scowling warrior pushed me roughly back, pretending not to understand +my eager words of expostulation, and, by significant gesture, +threatening to brain me with his gun-stock if I persisted. A slight +return of reason alone kept me from striking the fellow down and +striding over his prostrate body. While I stood struggling with this +temptation, Captain Heald grasped me firmly. + +"Are you mad, Wayland?" he muttered, dragging me back into the dark +interior of the tepee. "For God's sake, don't anger these fellows! +Think of all the helpless lives depending on the success of our errand +here! What is the girl to you?" + +"I will wait," I answered, calmed by his earnestness, and ashamed of +my boyish impetuosity; "but I am here at Dearborn seeking this young +woman, whom I had supposed rather to be a young child. Her father was +my father's dearest friend, and wrote us from his death-bed asking our +protection for her." + +"You are Major Wayland's son,--I remember the circumstances now, and +that I endorsed such a letter. 'Tis most strange. This girl disappeared +from Dearborn some days ago. Mrs. Heald heard the matter discussed +among the ladies of the garrison, and then all supposed her to be at +John Kinzie's in company with Josette La Framboise; yet I would almost +have sworn I saw her again, and not two hours ago, within the Fort. +By Saint George! the glimpse I got just now makes me doubt my own +eyesight. She was ever an odd creature,--but what can bring her here, +walking so freely about in this camp of vengeful savages?" + +I could not answer him; the mystery was beyond my clearing. Only, if +this was the Elsa Matherson for whom I had sought so long, surely God +had in some way led me on to find her; nor should any peril turn my +quest aside. + +I had hardly time for this resolve, ere the flap of the tepee was +held back by a dark hand, and in grimly impressive silence warrior +after warrior, plumed, painted, and gaudily bedecked with savage +ornaments, stalked solemnly within, circled about us without sign of +greeting, and seated themselves cross-legged upon the bare ground. The +uplifted door-skin permitted the red flames from without to play freely +over their stern, impassive faces, and shone back upon us from their +glittering eyes. It was an impressive scene, their stoical demeanor +breathing the deep solemnity of the vast woods and plains amid which +their savage lives were passed; nor could one fail to feel the deep +gravity with which they gathered in this council of life or death. To +them it was evident that the meeting was of most serious portent. + +I saw only two faces that I recognized in that red ring,--Topenebe and +Little Sauk. I knew, however, it was probable there were some great +chiefs among that company; and I marked especially two, one with long +white hair, and a tall, slender, rather young fellow, having two wide +streaks of yellow down either cheek. + +The Indians sat motionless, gazing intently at us; and I swept the +entire dark circle of scowling faces, vainly endeavoring to find one +hopeful glance, one friendly eye. Open hatred, undisguised distrust, +implacable enmity, were stamped on every feature. Whatever our plea +might be, I felt convinced that the chiefs were here only to carry out +their own purposes and make mock of every offering of peace. + +After several moments of this painful silence, the chief with the +long white hair deliberately lighted a large pipe drawn from his belt. +It was curiously and grotesquely fashioned, the huge bowl carved to +resemble the head of a bear. He drew from the stem a single thick +volume of smoke, breathed it out into the air, and solemnly passed the +pipe to the warrior seated upon his right. With slow deliberation, the +symbol moved around the impassive and emotionless circle, passing from +one red hand to another, until it finally came back to him who had +first lighted it. Without so much as a word being uttered, he gravely +offered it to Captain Heald. I heard, and understood, the quick sigh +of relief with which my companion grasped it; he drew a breath of the +tobacco, and I followed his example, handing back the smoking pipe to +the white-haired chief without rising, amid the same impressive silence. + +The Indian leader spoke for the first time, his voice deep and guttural. + +"The Pottawattomies have met in council with the White Chief and the +Long Knife," he said soberly, "and have smoked together the peace-pipe. +For what have the white men come to disturb Gomo and his warriors?" + +I gazed at him with new interest. No name of savage chief was wider +known along the border in those days, none more justly feared by the +settlers. He was a tall, spare, austere man, his long coarse hair +whitened by years, but with no stoop in his figure. His eyes, small and +keen, blazed with a strange ferocity, as I have seen those of wild-cats +in the dark; while his flesh was drawn so closely against his prominent +cheek-bones as to leave an impression of ghastliness, as of a corpse +suddenly returned by some miracle to life. With dabs of paint across +the forehead, and thin lips drawn in a narrow line of cruelty, his face +formed a picture to be long remembered with a shudder. + +It was easy enough to see that Captain Heald felt uncertain how far to +venture in his proposals, though he spoke up boldly, and with no tremor +in his voice. His long frontier experience had taught him the danger +that lay in exhibiting timidity in the face of Indian scorn. + +"Gomo," he said firmly, "and you other Chiefs of the Pottawattomies, +there has never been war between us. We have traded together for many +seasons; you have eaten at my table, and I have rested by your fires. +We have been as brothers, and more than once have I judged between you +and those who would wrong you. I have remembered all this, and have now +come into your camp through the night, without fear and unarmed, that I +might talk with you as friends. Am I not right to do this? In all the +time I have been the White Chief at Dearborn, have I ever done wrong to +a Pottawattomie?" + +He paused; but no warrior made reply. A low guttural murmur ran around +the line of listeners, but the bead-like eyes never left his face. He +went on: + +"Why should I fear to meet the Pottawattomies, even though word had +come to me that their young men talk war, and seek alliance with our +enemy the red-coats? The Chiefs have seen war, and are not crazed for +the blood of their friends. They will restrain such wild mutterings. +They know that the White Father to the east is strong, and will drive +the red-coats back into the sea as he did when they fought before. They +will ally themselves with the strong one, and make their foolish young +man take up arms for their friends." + +Still no one spoke, no impassive bronze face exhibited the faintest +interest. It was as if he appealed to stone. + +"Is this not so?" + +"The White Chief has spoken," was the cold reply. "His words are +full of eloquence, but Gomo hears nothing that calls for answer. The +White Chief says not why he has come and demanded council of the +Pottawattomies." + +A low murmur, expressive of approval, swept down the observant line; +but no man among them stirred a muscle. + +"I came for this, Gomo," said Heald, speaking now rapidly, and with +an evident determination to trust all in a sentence and have it over +with, for it was clear the savages were in no mood for diplomatic +evasion: "to ask your guidance and protection on our march eastward on +the morrow. I come to the Pottawattomies as friends; for I fear we may +meet with trouble on the way, from roving bands of Wyandots and Miamis, +and we are greatly burdened by our women and children. It is to ask +this that I and the Long Knife are here." + +"You say the White Father is strong, and will drive the red-coats into +the sea: did he at Mackinac?" + +"There was treachery there." + +"Ugh! Why, if White Father so strong, you leave Fort and go way off?" + +"Because just now I can serve him better elsewhere; but we shall come +again." + +"My young men have rumor that Detroit go like Mackinac." + +"It is untrue; your young men bring false news." + +Gomo turned and looked about him upon the expectant warriors; and, as +if the glance was an invitation to free speech, one sitting half-way +across the circle asked gruffly: + +"Why you pour out rum, if you love Pottawattomie?" + +"Because I am only the White Chief at Dearborn," returned Heald, facing +the questioner, "and, like Peesotum who asks, have higher chiefs +elsewhere whom I must obey. What they tell me I have to do." + +"White Chief lies!" was the short, stern answer. "Winnemeg brought no +such word." + +So furious were the many dark, glowering faces, that I braced myself, +thinking the next moment would be one of struggle for life or death; +but Gomo held them motionless with a wave of his hand. He rose slowly +to his feet, and faced us with grave dignity. + +"It is true, as Peesotum says," he said impressively. "The White Chief +has used a double tongue to the Red man; yet we will deal fairly with +him, for he has come to us in peace. White Chief, there is to be war +between us; 'tis the will of our young men, and the red wampum has +passed among our lodges and the lodges of our brothers the Wyandots. +Yet when you unlock the gates we will go forth with you and your +people, around the sweep of the water. Such is the will of the Great +Spirit, and the decision of the Pottawattomie in council of chiefs." + +Heald looked about upon the scowling circle with disbelief so clearly +expressed in his eyes, that Gomo, reading it, turned to his warriors +and called upon them one by one to say if he spoke the truth. I heard +him speak thus to Little Sauk, Black Bird, Topenebe, Mankia, Pipe Bird, +Peesotum, and Ignance; and each answered with the low grunt of assent. +He fixed his eyes upon the younger Indian who had already attracted my +attention by the manliness of his face as well as the yellow stripes +that disfigured him. + +"And you, Black Partridge?" + +"I have already spoken to the White Chief in his own wigwam, and given +back the medal of the Americans," was the grave response. "I have no +more to say." + +I confess these words chilled me, as I recalled their meaning; and +Heald half rose to his feet as though he would protest, but not a +stolid face among the warriors changed in expression. Gomo drew his +robes more closely about his gaunt figure in simple but impressive +dignity. + +"Doth Shaw-nee-aw-kee go east also with the white men?" he asked. + +"I have not of late conferred with the Silver-man. He has been at his +own lodge, and doubtless you may know his purpose better than I." + +"We wish him to stay. He good man; Pottawattomie's friend." + +The Indian stood motionless, his eyes watching keenly the expression of +each face. He added slowly: + +"The White Chief hears the promise of the Pottawattomies. It is enough. +He can go forth in peace upon the morrow, with all his warriors, +squaws, and pappooses, and the people of my nation will walk with them +as guards. It is our pledge; we will counsel no longer." + +At a simple commanding gesture of his long arms, the circle melted away +through the narrow opening as silently as it had gathered, the dark +figure of each warrior silhouetted for an instant against the red glare +of the fire, before it suddenly disappeared in the darkness beyond. At +last Little Sauk alone stood between us and the blaze. + +"Come," he commanded gruffly, "White Chief go back to his people." + +Enclosed by that same phantom guard of savages, we passed out through +the limits of the camp; but now the rabble paid not the slightest heed +to our presence. Our mission known, and no longer a mystery, they +treated us with the stolid indifference of Indian contempt. I walked +with eyes alert upon either side of our path for another glimpse of +that girlish figure that I had seen before so dimly; but we traversed +nearly the full length of the tepee rows before I saw any one that at +all resembled her. Even then, I was far from certain, until the sudden +leaping up of a dying fire reflected on her crown of auburn hair, and +set my heart to throbbing. + +"Little Sauk!" I cried, in my excitement clutching his naked arm, "who +is that white girl yonder, and how comes she here?" + +The startled Indian sprang aside, flinging me from him with a violence +that showed his giant strength. + +"No white girl," he protested, vehemently. "Pottawattomie." + +"No Pottawattomie has hair like the sunset," I retorted. "Come, I would +speak with the girl." + +For an instant I saw the bead-like eyes of the savage glittering in the +darkness and wandering where I pointed. He faced me doggedly. + +"Long Knife leave Indian maid alone," he said grimly. "Long Knife go +Fort; no talk." + +I was in a mood to resist the fellow's dictation, and reckless enough +of consequences at that moment to take the chance; but Heald interfered. + +"You can serve her far better, lad, in that way," he muttered hastily. +"We shall not always be two to twelve." + +With teeth gritted to keep back the fierce anger that shook me, I +strolled sullenly on, not even venturing to glance back lest I should +give way. It was thus we reached the Fort gate, and entered, leaving +our dusky escort to slink back into the night. An anxious crowd met us. +It was Wells who questioned first. + +"So those devils have let you go unharmed? What answer made the +savages?" + +"They pledge us safe convoy around the head of the lake." + +"They do? Who spoke the words of the pledge?" + +"Old Gomo himself, and it was ratified by each of the chiefs in turn." + +"They are lying dogs,--all but one of them. What answered Black +Partridge?" + +Heald made no response; and Wells wheeled impetuously to me. + +"Come, lad, the truth,--what reply did Black Partridge make to this +Indian mummery?" + +"He said, 'I have already spoken to the White Chief in his own wigwam, +and given back the medal of the Americans, and have nothing more to +say.'" + +For a moment the old Indian soldier stared at me, his stern face fairly +black with the cloud in his eyes. He brought his clinched hand down +hard against the log wall. + +"By God! it is treachery!" he exclaimed fiercely, and turned and walked +away. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE LAST NIGHT AT DEARBORN + + +It was evident that preparations were even then well under way for +retreat the following morning. Trunks and boxes, together with various +military stores and arms, strewed the sides of the parade-ground; +farther back, a number of wagons, partially filled, stood waiting the +remainder of their loads. Men and women were hastening back and forth, +and children were darting through the shadows, their little arms piled +high with bundles, and making play, as children ever will, of what was +to prove an awful tragedy. A large fire, burning brightly before the +deserted guard-house, cast its ruddy glow over the animated scene, +checkering the rude walls with every passing shadow. + +I noticed, as I slowly pushed my way along, that the soldiers worked +seriously, with few jests on their lips, as if they realized the peril +that menaced them; while many among the women, especially those of +the humbler sort, were rejoicing over the early release from garrison +monotony, and careless of what the morrow might bring of danger and +suffering. + +A few steps from the gate, I paused for a moment that I might watch +their flitting figures, the incessant bustle being a positive relief +after the dull and ghostly silence without. My mind,--though I strove +to cast the thought aside,--was still occupied with the mystery of +Elsa Matherson; but the more I dwelt upon it, the less I was able to +penetrate the secret of her strange presence in the Indian camp, or +devise any scheme for reaching her. The ache in my heart made me dread +to meet again with Mademoiselle Toinette, lest I should utter words of +reproach which she did not deserve; for, sad as such a confession was, +I had to acknowledge that she had a perfect right to protect the man +she loved, even at my cost. + +Nor did I greatly desire to run upon De Croix. I knew his temper +fairly well, and doubtless by this time he had learned the story of my +interference, and would be in fit mood for a quarrel. Still, as seems +often to be the case at such a time, before I had taken a dozen steps +away from the gate, I met him face to face. It was a jaunty picture he +made in the glare of the fire, the fine gentleman sauntering lazily +about with hat of bleached straw pushed rakishly upon his powdered +hair, and a light cane dangling at his wrist, as fashionably attired +as if he were loitering upon the boulevards of an August evening, his +negro man a yard behind, bearing a silken fan which flashed golden in +the radiance. At sight of him, I stopped instantly, ready enough to +resent attack if that had been his purpose, though anxious to avoid +violence for the sake of Mademoiselle. But he merely laughed as he +surveyed me critically, swinging his bamboo stick as if it were a +whip-lash. + +"_Parbleu_, Master Wayland!" he said, seeming in rare good-humor, "I +this moment learned of your safe return. 'Twould have been an excellent +joke had the savage found excuse to retain you out yonder, to form a +part of one of their delightful entertainments! Fit revenge, indeed, +for the foul deceit you played upon me!" + +"Think you so, Monsieur?" for his easy words relieved me greatly. "It +would have been one less arm for our defence." + +"With safe convoy guaranteed by the Indian chiefs, that loss would make +small odds," he replied carelessly. "But, truly, that was a most scurvy +trick you played to gain the wager which was offered me. But for the +happy ending, I should be sorely tempted to break this cane across your +shoulders in payment therefor." + +"Indeed!" I said; "the act might not be as easily accomplished as you +imagine. But what mean you by happy ending? Had the savages roasted +me over a slow fire, I should hardly be here for the pleasure of your +chastisement." + +He laughed lightly, his eyes wandering carelessly over the throng of +figures in front of us. + +"Saint Guise! I thought not about your predicament, but rather of the +happiness which came to me in the society of Mademoiselle. In faith, +she was most gracious with her favor. 'Tis thus you did me a great +kindness, friend, and have won my gratitude." + +The words were as stinging as he meant them to be, for I marked his +quick glance into my face. So I held my resentment well in check, and +smiled back at him, apparently unconcerned. + +"Then we are again even, Monsieur," I returned quietly, "and can start +anew upon our score. But why should I remain here to discuss matters of +such small import, with all this work unfinished which fronts strong +men to-night? I will break my long fast, and turn to beside these +others." + +He seemed to have further words to say; but I minded him not, and +pushed past, leaving him to saunter where he willed, accompanied by his +black satellite. If I could not win Mademoiselle, as I now felt assured +from his boastful speech I could not, I might at least work for her +greater safety and comfort; and there was much I could do to help in +burying my own disappointment. + +For all that, it was a night to live long in the memory,--that last +night we spent at Dearborn. It remains a rare jumble in my mind,--its +varied incidents crowding so fast upon each other as to leave small +room for thought regarding any one of them. Without, the dim black +plain stretched away in unbroken solemnity and silence; nor did the +sentinels posted along the walls catch glimpse of so much as a skulking +Indian form amid the grass and sand. A half-moon was in the sky, with +patches of cloud now and then shadowing it, and in the intervals +casting its faint silver over the lonely expanse and tipping the crest +of the waves as they crept in upon the beach. The great Indian village +to the westward was fairly ablaze with fires; while the unending +procession of black dots that flitted past them, together with the echo +of constant uproar, showed that the savages were likewise astir in +eager preparation for the morrow. We could hear the pounding of wooden +drums, mingled with shrill yells that split the night-air like so many +war-missiles. Only those above, upon the platform, could mind these +things; for the bustle within the enclosure below continued unabated +until long after midnight. + +The report of our mission spread rapidly, and the pledge of protection +given by the chiefs greatly heartened the men, so that they worked now +with many a peal of laughter and careless jest. The women and children, +ever quick to feel the influence of the soldiers, responded at once to +this new feeling of confidence, which was encouraged by the officers, +however they may have secretly doubted the good-faith of the savages. +So the children tumbled about in the red glare of the flames, the +soldiers swung their traps into the waiting wagons with good-natured +badinage, their brawny breasts bare and glistening with sweat in +the hot night; while, as the hour grew late and discipline sensibly +relaxed, the women danced in the open and sang songs of home. + +It was hard enough to realize what it all meant,--what hardship and +suffering and death lay just before these rejoicing people; what depths +of cruel treachery and murder lurked for them so few hours away. We did +not suspect it then; not even those among us who had long learned the +deceit of Indian nature could unroll the shadowing veil of that morrow +and reveal the forthcoming tragedy of those silent plains. I remember +that, doubtful as I felt about the future, I could look on with +interest at the busy scene, and that more than once a smile lay upon my +lips. What an odd variety of figures that congested place disclosed! +what strange life-histories were having their culmination there! I saw +Ensign Ronan, young, slender, smooth of face, appearing scarce more +than a boy, his short fatigue-jacket buttoned to the throat in spite +of the heat, hurrying here and there in his enthusiasm, ever upon his +lips some happy phrase to take the sting from his word of command. +Lieutenant Helm, calm but observant of every detail, moved in and out +among the busy throng, every now and then stealing aside to speak a +word of encouragement to his young wife, who stood watching by the +mess-room door. There was quite a bevy gathered there, officers' wives +for the most part, gazing in mingled interest and apprehension upon the +scene. I marked among them Josette, who had come in that evening with +the Kinzies; and as I drew yet nearer the group, a sudden blazing up +of the fire yielded me a glimpse of Mademoiselle, and I turned hastily +away, unwilling still to greet or be greeted by her. + +Gaunt frontiersmen stalked about, having little to save and nothing +to do, with the inevitable long rifle held in the hollow of the arm; +Captain Wells's Miamis skulked uneasily in dark corners, or hung over +the embers to cook some ration yet unused, their dark skins and long +coarse hair a reminder to us of the hostiles who watched without. +Captain Heald, in company with Captain Wells and John Kinzie, the +latter conspicuous by his white beard, stood long in deep converse near +the barracks, leaning against the black logs. I felt the two latter +were urging some change of plan; but in the end Wells left in vexation, +almost in anger, striding across the parade-ground to the northern +block-house. + +In the shadow of the south stockade, some one was softly playing upon +a violin, the sweet notes stealing up through the wild hubbub in +strains of silvery sound. Close upon one side of the fire, forgetful +of the heat in their deep interest, two young soldiers were engrossed +in a game of cards, while a group of comrades commented freely on +the fortunes of the play. Scarcely a yard distant, a grizzled old +sergeant,--a veteran of the great war, no doubt,--bent above a book +held open upon his knee, the shape of which bespoke a Bible; while +on the other side a bevy of children were romping with their dogs or +playing with sharp knives in the hard ground. A woman over by the gate +lifted a sweet contralto voice in an old-time love-song, and had hardly +lilted the opening line before others joined her, making the night +resound to the tender melody. I saw the soldiers pause in their work +to beat time, and marked the dark forms of the sentries above on the +palisades as they leaned over to listen, every heart set throbbing with +the memory of days gone by. + +"Man is indeed a strange animal," said a voice beside me, and I turned +to greet Ensign Ronan. "He can sing, laugh, and jest, in death's very +teeth." + +"'Tis better, surely, than to cry," I commented. "But these do not so +much as dream of death; the pledge of the Pottawattomies has brought +renewed hope." + +"Yes, I know; though I confess I have little faith in it. And there +will be plenty of danger about us before we see Fort Wayne, even if +they pass us in safety around the lake. There will be leagues of travel +through hostile territory. That," he added, "is, to my mind, the only +sensible way of preparation for the morrow." + +He pointed to the old sergeant seated beside the fire with his Bible; +and I glanced into his boyish face with no little surprise. + +"Some remark Surgeon Van Voorhis made caused me to deem you indifferent +in such matters." + +"No doubt," he said, dryly. "If one does not subscribe to the creeds, +he is written down a heretic. I have laughed at folly, and so have won +the reputation of being an unbeliever. Yet, Wayland, if we ride forth +to a savage death to-morrow, no one will meet it with more faith in +Christ than I. The years indeed have not left me spotless, but I have +never wavered from the great truths my mother taught me. I know not the +future, lad, but I believe there is ever mercy for the penitent." + +In an instant my own thought spanned the leagues of forest to my +distant home; and I choked back a sob within my throat. + +"It is our mothers' love that makes us all better men," I said +gravely. "And whatever may befall us upon the morrow, that God of whom +they taught us will be true." + +"The words are spoken in the right spirit," he returned, soberly, "and +have the soldier ring I like best to hear. If it chance that we both +come forth from this venture in life, I should be most glad to know you +better." + +I was deeply touched by his open, manly spirit, and especially +impressed with his frank adherence to the Christian faith, something +too uncommon in that day along the border. + +"'Tis rather my wish to begin friendship before that time of trial," I +said eagerly, and with extended hand. "We shall fight the better for it +when the hour for fighting comes; and if it be God's will to guide us +safely through the wilderness, a friendship thus cemented in peril will +have the strength of comradeship." + +The young man's strong and thoughtful face lighted up; but his eyes +were resting upon the form of the sentry above us, and he did not speak. + +"Ronan," I questioned, somewhat doubtfully, "I have long wished to ask +you the cause of the friction that apparently exists between Captain +Heald and the officers of this garrison; but have felt it none of my +business. I cannot but realize you are not in his good graces, although +he appears to me to be a brave and capable man." + +"He is both," was the instant and manly reply; "for all that, he has +constantly turned for counsel in military matters to others than his +own officers,--why, I know not, unless he considered us unworthy of his +confidence. Instead of confiding his orders to us, and asking judgment +upon his plans, he has been swayed from the beginning by Indian advice; +and it is only natural for us to resent such unjust and discourteous +treatment. Moreover, each move thus far made has proved to be a +mistake, and we must suffer from them in silence and without remedy." + +"He does indeed seem strangely headstrong," I admitted reluctantly, +recalling to mind the words uttered in the room beyond my bed; "but +surely his conference with the chiefs has resulted well, and is proof +of his good judgment." + +The young officer turned quickly and faced me, his eyes full of +emotion. "That remains to be decided," he exclaimed. "Such old +frontiersmen as Captain Wells and John Kinzie say that pledge only +hides black treachery. They urged him most earnestly, for an hour +to-night, to reconsider his decision, and give up the immediate +evacuation of the post. But he fully believes he can put faith in those +lying, murderous hounds out yonder. So certain is Kinzie of trouble, +that he has sworn to march forth with us, sending his family away by +boat, in hope that his influence may hold back the savages from open +attack; while Wells declares that he will ride forth with blackened +face, as becomes a Miami who goes to certain death in battle. These men +are no fools, no strangers to savage warfare and Indian deceit,--yet +in spite of their warning, Captain Heald persists in driving us forth +into the very fangs of the wolves. Brave! ay, he is indeed brave to the +point of rashness; but this bids fair to be a fatal bravery to all of +us who must obey his orders." + +The intense bitterness of these words shocked me and held me +dumb,--the more so, as I could not be insensible to their truth. As +I lifted my eyes, I beheld, crossing the parade through the mass of +equipment scattered here and there, De Croix and Mademoiselle. With a +half-muttered excuse, I drew hastily back into the protecting shadow of +the stockade; and as they slowly passed, I heard him jesting lightly, +and saw her laughing, with a side-glance up at his face. + +With these words of warning from Ronan's lips yet ringing in my ears, +such reckless thoughtlessness of the danger encircling us astounded me; +and I drew farther back, less willing than ever to make one of them. +Deep in my heart, I knew this was no time for careless laughter or +happy jest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE DEATH-SHADOW OF THE MIAMIS + + +It was after midnight when I finally ceased my labors, feeling I had +performed my fair share of the hard work of preparation. By this time +everything was comparatively quiet within the stockade enclosure; the +wagons were piled with all that could be loaded before morning, and +many of the wearied soldiers had flung themselves upon the ground to +snatch what rest they might before the early call to march. The women +and children had disappeared, to seek such comfort as was possible amid +the ruins of their former quarters; and only the sentries remained +alert, pacing their solemn rounds on the narrow walk overlooking the +palisades and the silent plain without. + +Physically wearied as I was, my mind remained intensely active, and I +felt no desire for sleep. I do not recall that I gave much thought +to the perils of our situation. One grows careless and indifferent +to danger,--and in truth I looked forward to no serious trouble with +the Indians upon the morrow's march through the sand-dunes; not that +I greatly trusted to those reluctant pledges wrung from the chiefs, +but because I felt that if properly handled in that open country our +force was of sufficient fighting strength to repel any ordinary attack +from ill-armed savages, my long border experience rendering me a bit +disdainful of Indian courage and resourcefulness. So it was that my +restless mind dwelt rather upon other matters more directly personal. +I could not put away the thought of the half-seen girl flitting about +amid the dusk of the Pottawattomie camp, especially as Captain Heald +had declared her to be Elsa Matherson. I was surprised to discover +that she I sought, instead of being a mere child, was a woman grown; +for in this we were all deceived by the words of her father. What did +she there, passing with such apparent freedom from restraint among +those fierce warriors? and how was I ever to reach her with any hope +of rescue, even if she desired it? There was evidently a mystery here +which I could never solve through idle musing; and yet I could but +ask myself where lay my graver duty,--beside this single woman, who +seemingly needed no defender, or with the many helpless ones who must +march forth on the morrow on that long and dangerous passage through +the wilderness? Indeed, what hope could I cherish of aiding the young +girl, if I now deserted these others, and endeavored alone to penetrate +that Indian camp in search of her? + +Then came another thought. It was of Mademoiselle. + +It was this that effectually halted me. To whomsoever else she might +have given her heart, she was still the one for whom I was most glad +either to live or die; and in spite of De Croix, I would ride at her +side on the morrow, within striking distance of any prowling hostile. +Let the Matherson girl wait; my arm belonged first of all to the +defence of Mademoiselle. + +Busied with these thoughts, and endeavoring to adjust this decision +with my conscience, I passed out upon the platform, that I might +look forth once more upon the moonlit waters of the lake. There were +a few dim figures to be seen, leaning over the logs; but I supposed +them to be members of the night-guard, and, feeling no desire for +companionship, I halted in a lonely spot at the northeastern corner of +the stockade. How desolate, how solemnly impressive, was the scene! +To the north all was black in the dense night, the shadows of the +scattering trees obscuring the faint glow of the moon and yielding +little of detail to the searching eye. Even the single ray of light +which the evening previous had blazed forth as a friendly beacon from +the Kinzie home, was now absent. I could vaguely distinguish the dim +outlines of the deserted house in the distance, and noticed a large +boat moored close to the bank beneath the Fort stockade, doubtless the +one in which the fugitives expected to venture out upon the lake on the +morrow. + +It was the wide stretch of water, gleaming like silver, that fascinated +me, as it always did in its numberless changing moods. What unutterable +loneliness spoke to the soul in those unknown leagues of tossing sea! +how far the eye wandered unchecked, searching vainly for aught to rest +upon other than glistening surge or darkling hollow! The mystery of +the ages lay unexpressed in those tossing billows, sweeping in out of +the black east, making low moan to the unsympathetic and unheeding +sky. Deeper and deeper the spirit of unrest, of doubt, of brooding +discontent, weighed down upon me as I gazed; life seemed as aimless as +that constant turmoil yonder, a mere silver-tinted heaving, destined +to burst in useless power on a shore of rock, and then roll back again +into the mighty deep. + +I leaned over the palisades, sunk deep in revery of home, recalling one +by one the strange incidents of the last month that had so curiously +conspired to cause a total upheaval of my life; and for the moment +I grew oblivious of my surroundings. A mere lad, knowing little of +himself and less of life, had ridden westward from the Maumee; a man, +in thought and character, leaned now over that beleaguered stockade of +Dearborn. + +I was recalled to actualities by a light touch on the sleeve of my +shirt, and a half-laughing, half-petulant voice at my elbow. + +"Well, Master Laggard! do I not show you great honor in thus seeking +you out, after your avoidance of me all these hours?" + +I glanced aside into the fair face and questioning eyes, noting at the +same time that De Croix stood only a step beyond her in the shadows. + +"I have been very busy, Mademoiselle," I tried to explain; "it has been +a time when every strong hand was needed." + +"Fudge!" was the indignant rejoinder. "Did I not perceive you loitering +more than once to-night,--though each time I drew near, hopeful of +a word of greeting, it was to behold you disappear as if by magic? +Do I flatter you by thus showing my interest? Yet 'twas only that I +might have explanation, that I sought you thus. Come, confess that you +feared my just resentment for going forth on so perilous a trip without +telling me of your plans." + +"'Twas not altogether that," I answered, for dissembling was never an +easy task for me, "as I only did what I believed would most please you. +Nor have I anything to regret in my action, now that we have thus +gained the pledge of the Pottawattomies for protection upon the march." + +She watched me closely as I spoke, and I wondered if she realized ever +so dimly the impulse of loving service that had inspired my deed. +Whether 'twas so or not, her whole mood quickly changed. + +"I must admit you are a constant puzzle to me, John Wayland, yet +rather an interesting one withal. For instance, here is Josette, who +did assure me but an hour ago that your very name was unknown to her, +although, if memory serves, you asserted only yesterday that you were +seeking her from the Maumee country. Perhaps, sir, you can explain the +contradiction?" + +"It was not altogether as you have stated it, Mademoiselle," I +stammered, confused by the directness of her attack. "I said nothing +of knowing this Josette, and you have deceived yourself in the matter. +I came here seeking a young girl, 'tis true, but found no trace of her +until a few hours ago, most curiously, in the heart of that Indian camp +yonder." + +"You found her there? How strange!" + +"Most strange indeed, Mademoiselle, especially as she appeared to enjoy +perfect liberty among the savages." + +"You spoke with her?" + +"Not a word; it was only a glimpse I caught of her in the firelight, +and when I sought to go to her the warriors interfered and forced me +back. But Captain Heald, who saw her at the same time, assured me 'twas +the one I sought." + +"'Tis small wonder, then, you could stand here at my very side so long, +and yet see me not, or remain indifferent to my presence," she said, +drawing slightly back. "Come, Captain de Croix, let us walk to the +other corner of the stockade, and leave Master Wayland to dream of his +mysterious beauty undisturbed." + +"You misapprehend me," I cried, awakened by her words, but more by De +Croix's smile. "She has no such hold upon my memory as that, for until +to-night I had supposed her a mere child. I knew not you were upon the +platform, believing the forms I saw in the gloom to be those of the +night-guard. What dark figure is that, even now leaning over the logs +yonder?" + +It was De Croix's deeper voice that made answer. + +"'Tis Captain Wells; and we found him in no mood for conversation. +Seemingly he hath small faith in the pledges of the chiefs." + +"My own hope rests far more upon our skill at arms, Monsieur," I +answered directly; "for I have known Indian treachery all my life. They +may keep faith with us to-morrow, for John Kinzie has great influence +with them for good; nevertheless, I shall oil my gun carefully before +riding forth." + +It was in his eyes to make reply; but before it could come the girl +between us uttered a cry so piercing that it set us gazing where her +finger pointed out across the lake. + +"Look there, Messieurs! Did ever mortal behold so grewsome a sight +before? What means the portent?" + +It is before me now, in each grim, uncanny detail,--though I know +well that my pen will fail to give it fit description, or convey even +feebly a sense of the overwhelming dread of what we saw. Nature has +power to paint what human hand may never hope to copy; and though, as +I now know well, it was no more than a strange commingling of cloud +and moon in atmospheric illusion, still the effect was awe-inspiring +to a degree difficult of realization within the environments of peace +and safety. To us, it appeared as a dreadful warning,--a mysterious +manifestation of supernatural power, chilling our blood with terror +and striking agony into our souls. Up from the far east had rolled an +immense black cloud, rifted here and there by bars of vivid yellow as +electric bolts tore it asunder. Moonlight tipped its heavy edges with a +pale spectral gleam; and as it swiftly rose higher and higher into the +sky, blotting out the stars, it seemed to dominate the entire expanse, +hovering over us menacingly, and assuming the shape of some gigantic +monster, with leering face and cruel mouth, bending forward as if to +smite us with huge uplifted hand. Perchance our tensioned nerves may +have exaggerated the resemblance, but nothing more horribly real have +my eyes ever beheld. + +For a moment I cowered, like a nerveless craven, behind the logs, +gazing up at that awful apparition, that mocking devil's-face, as a man +fronts death in some terrible and unexpected form. It seemed as if the +breath of the creature must be pestilence, and that it would smite us +gasping to earth, or draw us helplessly struggling within its merciless +clutch. A prayer trembled on my lips, but remained unuttered, for I +could only stare upward at the mighty, crawling thing now overshadowing +us, my arms uplifted in impotent effort to avert the crushing blow. + +I could hear the girl sob where she had sunk upon the platform, and +caught one glimpse of De Croix, his face yellow in the weird glare as +he stared in speechless terror out over the water, his hands clutching +the palisades. It was Captain Wells, who had been standing near us, who +first found voice. + +"Tis the Death-Shadow of the Miamis!" he cried, in choked accents, +striding toward us along the narrow plank, and pointing eastward. "I +knew it must come, for our doom is sealed." + +What centuries of Indian superstition rested behind the fateful +utterance, I know not; but facing that horrible spectre as we did, his +words held me in speechless awe. In the blood of us all such terrors +linger to unman the bravest; and for the moment such fright and panic +swept me as I have never known before or since. I, who have laughed at +death even in the hour of torture, sank in deadly agony before that +mystery of light and shadow, as if it indeed foreshadowed the wrath of +the Great Spirit. + +The sobs of Mademoiselle recalled me somewhat to myself, and led me to +forget my own terror that I might help to relieve hers. + +"I beg you, fear not," I urged, though my voice trembled and my lips +were dry. "Come, Mademoiselle," and I found her hand and clasped it, +feeling the touch a positive relief to my unstrung nerves, "look up and +see! the cloud is even now breaking asunder, and has already lost much +of its form of terror. Mind not the words of Captain Wells; he has been +raised among the Indians, and drunk in their superstitions. De Croix, +arouse yourself, and help me to bring courage to this girl." + +He drew back from his grip on the palisades, as if, by sheer power of +will, he forced his fascinated eyes from the cloud-bank, shivering like +a man with an ague fit. + +"_Sacre!_ did ever human eyes behold so foul a thing!" he cried, his +voice shaking, his hand shading his face. "'Twill haunt me till the +hour I die." + +"Bah! 'Twill all be forgotten with return of daylight," I was quick to +reply; for had found relief in action, and could perceive already that +the clouds were becoming shapeless and drifting rapidly southward in a +great billowy mass. "Do not stand there moping like a day-blind owl, +but aid me to make Mademoiselle see the foolishness of her fears." + +The sting of these words moved him more than a blow would have done; +but as he knelt beside her, I noted there was little of the old +reckless ring in his voice. + +"'Tis indeed true, Toinette,--'twas but a cloud, and has already +greatly changed in aspect. 'Twill be no more than cause for laughter +when the sun gilds the plain, and will form a rare tale to tell to the +gallants at Montreal. Yet, Saint Guise! 'twas grewsome enough, and my +knees quake still from the terror of the thing." + +Mademoiselle was as brave and cool-headed a girl as ever I knew; but +so thoroughly had she been unnerved by this dreadful happening, that +it was only after the most persistent urging on our part that she +consented to be led below. There, at the foot of the ladder, I stepped +aside to permit De Croix to walk with her across the parade; but she +would not go without a word of parting. + +"Do not think me weak and silly," she implored, her face, still white +from the terror, upturned to me in the moonlight. "It was so spectral +and ghastly that I gave way to sudden fear." + +"You need no excuse," I hastened to assure her. "When the thing +frightened De Croix and me, and even set so old a soldier as Captain +Wells to raving, it was no wonder it unnerved a girl, however brave +she might prove in the presence of real danger. But you can sleep now, +convinced it was naught but a floating cloud." + +She smiled at me over her shoulder, and I watched the pair with jealous +eyes until they disappeared. I noticed Captain Wells standing beside me. + +"You thought I raved up yonder," he said gravely; "to-morrow will prove +that my interpretation of the vision was correct." + +"You believe it a prophecy of evil?" + +"It was the warning of the Great Spirit--the Death-Shadow of the +Miamis. Never has it appeared to men of our tribe except on the eve of +great disaster, the forerunner of grave tragedy. We ride forth from +these gates to death." + +It was plain that no amount of reasoning could change his Indian +superstition; and with a word more of expostulation I left him standing +there, and sought a place where I might lie down. Already the numbing +sensation of supernatural fear had left me, for in the breaking up +of that odd-formed cloud I realized its cause; and now the physical +fatigue I felt overmastered all else. I found a quiet corner, and, with +a saddle for a pillow, was soon fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE DAY OF DOOM + +Fifteenth August, 1812. My hand trembles and my pen halts as I write +the words; for the memory of those tragic hours, far distant as they +are now, over masters me, and I see once again the faces of the dead, +the mutilated forms, the disfigured features of the hapless victims of +savage treachery. Were I writing romance merely, I might hide much of +detail behind the veil of silence; but I am penning history, and, black +as the record is, I can only give it with strict adherence to truth. I +dread the effort to recall once more the sad incidents of that scene +of carnage, lest I fail to picture it aright; but I can tell, and that +poorly, only of what I saw within the narrowed vista of my personal +experience, where the fate of the day found me. Out of the vortex of so +fierce and sudden a struggle, the individual, battling madly for his +own life, catches but hasty and confused glimpses of what others may do +about him or in other portions of the field; and there has been much +recorded in what men call the history of that day's battle, about which +I know nothing. Nor shall I attempt to tell much more than the simple +story of what befell me and those who faced the danger close at my side. + +In spite of the early bustle around me, incident to the preparations +for departure, I slept late, stupefied by intense fatigue. The sun +was already high, painting with gold the interior of the western wall +of the stockade, when some unusual disturbance aroused me, so that I +sat up and looked about, scarce realizing for the moment where I was. +The parade was alive with moving figures; and I instantly marked the +cheery look on the faces of those nearest me, as if the entire garrison +rejoiced that the hour for departure had at last arrived. The northern +half of the little open space was filled with loaded wagons of every +description, to which horses, mules, and even oxen, were being rapidly +hitched; while women and children were clambering in over the wheels, +perching themselves upon the heaps of camp accoutrements, and rolling +up the canvas coverings in order that they might the better see out and +feel the soft refreshment of the morning air. + +The officers of the post were moving here and there among the throng +of workers, grave of face, yet making no effort to curb the unusual +gaiety of the enlisted men. For the time, all reins of discipline +seemed relaxed. The few settlers and plainsmen who had gathered within +the Fort for protection looked on stolidly, either lying in the shade +of the log wall or lounging beside their horses already equipped for +the trail; while the Miamis were gathered restlessly about their +breakfast fires, their faces unexpressive of emotion, as usual, +although many among them had blackened their cheeks in expectation of +disaster. + +Evidently the hour fixed upon for our final desertion of Fort Dearborn +was close at hand; and I hastened to seek opportunity for a bath and +breakfast. I do not recall now, looking back after all these years upon +the events of that day, any dreading of the future, or serious thought +of the coming ordeal. The bustle of excitement about me, the high +spirits of the men, were like a tonic; and I remembered only that we +were east-bound once more, and my chief concern was to be ready to ride +out promptly with the column. + +It could not have been far from nine o'clock when every preparation +was completed, and the echoing bugle called the laggards from their +quarters into the open parade. The officers, already mounted, rode +about quietly, assigning each driver and wagon to position in the +marching column, and carefully mustering the troops. The many sick of +the garrison were brought forth from the barracks in their blankets, +and gently lifted to places beside the women and children in the +loaded wagons; while the men fit for active duty fell in promptly along +the southern wall, the right of their slender column resting opposite +the barred entrance. I was assigned to ride with the rear-guard beside +the wagons, in company with the few settlers and fifteen of the Miamis +under command of Sergeant Jordan. Captains Heald and Wells, the latter +with face blackened so that at first glance I scarcely recognized him, +took position at the head of the waiting column in front of the closed +gates, and they sat there on their horses, facing us, and watching +anxiously our rather slow formation. + +John Kinzie joined them, his features grave and careworn, a long rifle +in his hands; while the ladies of the garrison, plainly dressed for the +long and hard journey, came forth from their several quarters and were +assisted to mount the horses reserved for them. De Croix accompanied +Mademoiselle, attired as for a gay pleasure-ride in the park, and +gave her his gloved hand to step from into the saddle, with all the +gallantry he might have shown a queen. I knew this was no boy's play +before us now; and, crushing back my natural diffidence, I spurred my +horse boldly forward until we ranged up beside her, even venturing to +uncover in polite salute. + +Never did I see her look fairer than beneath the shade of the +wide-brimmed hat she had donned to keep the hot sun from her clear +cheeks; nor was there the slightest vestige of last night's terror +lurking in the laughing eyes that flashed me greeting. + +"I surely know of one sad heart amid this gay company," she exclaimed, +"for while we rejoice at being once more bound for civilization, Master +Wayland looks most truly mournful; doubtless his thought is with her +who has turned Indian for a time." + +Her careless bantering tone nettled me; but I was quick enough to +answer, having no wish to awaken her fears as to the safety of our +journey. + +"'Tis true, Mademoiselle. I dislike greatly to leave in peril one +I have journeyed so far to seek; nor can I banish from my mind the +thought that perhaps I am failing in my duty toward her. Yet surely you +have small cause for complaint, as I have, instead, deliberately chosen +to ride here at your side, in order that I may be near to defend you +should occasion arise,--provided always that my presence shall meet +your wishes and approval." + +She bowed as best she could in her high-peaked saddle, shooting a +mischievous glance from me to the unconcerned and self-satisfied face +of the Frenchman. + +"I am indeed most gratified and happy, Monsieur, thus to feel myself +the object of such devotion; but I greatly fear you will prove but a +poor companion on the journey if you wear so glum a look. Captain +de Croix is full of wit and good-humor this morning, and has already +cheered me greatly with reminiscences of happier days." + +"Indeed?" I said, looking at the fellow curiously. "He has quickly +forgotten the baleful portent of last night. I thought the daylight +would yield him new heart." + +"And why not? 'Twas but a cloud, as all of us know now,--though I +confess it terrified me greatly at the time. You yourself seem not even +yet to have wholly shaken off its terror." + +"'Tis not the supernatural that so troubles me," I rejoined. "As you +may perceive yonder, Captain Wells rides forth with blackened face to +what he deems to be certain death. I acknowledge, Mademoiselle, that +I look forward to a serious clash of arms before we are rid of the +redskins, in spite of their pledges; and shall therefore keep close +beside you, hopeful that my arm may show you better service than my +tongue before nightfall." + +Her eyes had grown grave as she listened; for I spoke with soberness, +and there crept into them a look that thrilled me. Before either could +speak again, Ensign Ronan rode up beside me. + +"Wayland," he questioned anxiously, "what is this I hear about a +strange portent in the eastern sky last night? Saw you anything +terrifying there?" + +"'Twas no more serious than a cloud which chanced to assume the form +of a monster, and its aspect was most terrifying until we understood +the nature of its formation. Then it became merely an odd memory to +weave a tale about. Mademoiselle here saw it, and remains in most +excellent spirits nevertheless." + +He lifted his hat to her, and stared hard at De Croix, who barely +nodded to his greeting. + +"By Heavens!" he exclaimed, as if much relieved, "it seemed to me as if +Nature had conspired with those red demons yonder to sap our courage, +when first I heard the rumor. I am so convinced that there is trouble +afoot, that my nerves are all a-tingle at such mystery." + +"Are the savages gathering without?" + +"Ay! they are in mass of hundreds, awaiting us at the foot of the +mound, and have been since daybreak. See! the sentries are being called +down, and the men are at the gate levers. I must be back at my post." + +He held out his hand, and I clasped it warmly, feeling my heart go out +instantly to the brave, impetuous lad. + +"You ride this day with the rear-guard," he said, lingering as if +loath to go, "and my duty lies with the van. We may not chance to meet +again, but the God we spoke about together last night will strengthen +our hearts to meet their duty. It matters not where men die, but how. +Good-bye, Mademoiselle! Captain de Croix, I wish you a most pleasant +journey." + +With doffed hat, he struck spurs into his nettle-some horse, and was +gone; while the ringing notes of the bugle called the waiting column to +attention. + +I watched with deepening interest all that was taking place before +me. The heavy log-gates were unbarred, swung slowly inward, and left +unguarded. Captain Heald uttered a single stern word of command, and +Captain Wells, with a squad of his Miamis pressing hard at his horse's +heels, rode slowly through the opening out into the flood of sunshine. +Captain Heald and Mr. Kinzie, side by side, with Mrs. Heald mounted +upon a spirited bay horse a yard in their rear, followed close; and +then to Lieutenant Helm's grave order the sturdy column of infantrymen, +heavily equipped and marching in column of fours, swept in solemn curve +about the post of the gate, and filed out through the narrow entrance. +The regular tramp-tramp, the evident discipline, and the confident look +of the men, impressed me. While I was watching them, the small garrison +band began suddenly to play, and the smiling soldier faces clouded as +they glanced around in questioning surprise. + +"Saint Guise!" ejaculated De Croix, uneasily; "it is the Dead March!" + +I marked the sudden look of terrified astonishment in Mademoiselle's +eyes, and dropped my hand upon hers where it rested against the +saddle-pommel. Ensign Ronan spurred swiftly back down the column, with +an angry face, and hushed the ill sound by a sharp order. + +"Another tune, you fool, or none at all!" he said, peremptorily. "The +foul fiend himself must have assumed charge of our march to-day." + +As the column marched away, the groaning wagons one by one fell into +line behind it, until at last our own turn came, and De Croix and I, +each with a hand upon the bridle-rein of Mademoiselle's spirited horse, +rode between the gate-posts out to where we had full view of that +stirring scene below. + +It was a fair, bright morning, with hardly so much as a fleecy white +cloud in all the expanse of sky; glorious sunlight was flashing its +prismatic colors over a lake surface barely ruffled by the faintest +breeze. Never did Nature smile more brightly back into my eyes than +then, as I gazed out over the broad plain where the glow of the +summer reflected back in shimmering waves from the tawny prairie and +glittering sand. With all its desolation, it was a picture to be +treasured long; nor has a single detail of it ever left my memory. + +How vast the distances appeared through that clear, sun-illumined +atmosphere, and how pronounced and distinctive were the varied colors +spread to the full vista of the eye, contrasts of shine and shadow +no human brush, however daring, would venture to depict on canvas. A +primitive land this, idealized by distance, vast in its wide, sweeping +plains, its boundless sea, its leagues of glistening sand, and, bending +over all, the deepest, darkest arch of blue that ever mirrored so fair +a picture of the wilderness. + +Scattered groups of cottonwood trees, the irregular mounds and ridges +of sand, the silvery ribbon of river, merely emphasized the whole, +and gave new meaning to what might else have been but sheer desert +waste. I knew little then of what other years had seen within these +solitudes and within the circle of my view; yet scraps of border legend +came floating back into memory, until I recalled the name of many an +old-time adventurer,--La Salle, Joliet, Marquette the Jesuit,--who must +have camped beside that very stream out yonder. + +The column had halted as our last laggards cleared the gate; and for +a moment we rested in silence upon the side of the slope, while the +long line was being re-arranged for travel. The Indians, in seemingly +disorganized masses, were already enveloping the head of the column +with noisy clamor, and Wells was having difficulty in holding his +Miami scouts to their proper position. A few scattered and skulking +savages,--chiefly squaws, I thought at the time,--were stealthily +edging their way up the slope of the slight rise, eager to begin the +spoliation of the Fort as soon as we had deserted it. + +Wild and turbulent as was the scene, I perceived no alarming symptoms +of hostility, and turned toward Mademoiselle with lighter heart. Her +dark eyes were full of suppressed merriment as they encountered mine. + +"I thought you would sit there and dream all day," she said pleasantly; +"and I hardly have the heart to blame you. 'Tis indeed a fair scene, +and one I almost regret leaving, now that the time to do so has come. +Never before has its rare beauty so strongly appealed to me." + +"'Tis the great distance outspread yonder which renders all so soft to +the eye," I answered, glad to reflect her mood; "yet Captain de Croix +and I know well 'tis far less pleasant travelling over than to look at +here. We think of the swamps, the forests, the leagues of sand and the +swift rivers which will hinder our progress." + +"I hardly imagine," she murmured softly, "that Captain de Croix is +guilty of wasting precious time in reflection upon aught so trivial +this morning. He has been conversing with me upon the proper cut of his +waistcoat, and I am sure he is too deeply engrossed in that subject to +give heed to other things." + +I glanced at him and smiled as my heart glowed to her gentle sarcasm, +for surely never did a more incongruous figure take saddle on a western +trail. By what code of fashion he may have dressed, I know not; but +from his slender-pointed bronze shoes to his beribboned hat he was +still the dandy of the boulevards, his dark mustaches curled upward +till their tips nearly touched his ears, and a delicately carved +riding-whip swinging idly at his wrist. He seemed to have already +exhausted his powers of conversation, for he remained oblivious of our +presence, fumbling with one yellow-gloved hand in the recesses of a +saddle-bag. + +"By Saint Denis, Sam!" he exclaimed, angrily, to his black satellite, +"I can find nothing of the powder-puff, or the bag of essence! +_Parbleu!_ if they have been left behind you will go back after them, +though every Indian in this Illinois country stand between. Come, you +imp of darkness, know you aught of these?" + +"Dey am wid de pack-hoss, Massa de Croix," was the oily answer. "I done +s'posed you wouldn't need 'em till we got thar." + +"Need them! Little you know the requirements of a gentleman! Saint +Guise! Why, I shall want them both this very day! Ride you forward +there, and see if they cannot be picked out from among the other +things." + +"See, Monsieur!" cried Mademoiselle suddenly, one hand pressing my arm, +while she pointed eagerly with the other, "there goes the boat with +Mistress Kinzie and her children! That must be Josette in the bow, +with the gay streamer about her hat. She did wish so to ride with us, +but Mr. Kinzie would not permit it." + +The boat had but just cleared the river-mouth, and was working +off-shore, with half a dozen Indians laboring at the oars. + +"Yet Josette has by far the easiest passage, as we shall learn before +night," said I, watching their progress curiously. "I imagine you will +soon be wishing you were with them." + +"Never, Master Wayland!" she cried, with a little shudder, and quick +uplifting of hands to her face as if to shut out the sight. "Memory +of the hours when I was last on the lake is still too vivid. I have +grown to dread the water as if it were an evil spirit. See! the column +resumes its march, and the savages are moving beside us as might a +guard of honor." + +It was as she had said. The long, hard journey had begun; and slowly, +like some great snake torpid with a winter's sleep, the crawling column +drew forward. We at the rear rode down the incline and out upon the +level plain, every step an unconscious advance toward battle and death. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +IN THE JAWS OF THE TIGER + + +We chatted carelessly about many things, as we rode slowly onward, our +unguided horses following those in advance along the well-marked trail +close beside the water along the sandy beach. Mademoiselle was full of +life and bubbling over with good-humor; while De Croix, having found +the essentials of his toilet safe, grew witty and light of speech, +even interesting me now and then in the idle words that floated to my +ears,--for he managed to monopolize the attention of the young girl so +thoroughly that after a little time I sat silent in my saddle, scarce +adding a word to their gay tilt, my eyes and thought upon the changing +scene ahead. + +I know not why, as I reflect calmly upon the incidents of that morning, +I should have grown so confident that the savages meant us fair; yet +this feeling steadily took possession of me, and I even began to +regret that I had not stayed behind in quest of her for whom I had +come so far. Surely it was hopeless for me to dangle longer beside +Mademoiselle, for De Croix knew so well the little ins and outs of +social intercourse that I was like a child for his play. Moreover, it +was clear enough that the girl liked him, or he would never presume +so to monopolize her attention. That she saw through much of his vain +pretence, was indeed probable; her words had conveyed this to me. +Nevertheless, it was plain she found him entertaining; he was like a +glittering jewel in that rough wilderness, and I was too dull of brain +and narrow of experience to hope for success against him in a struggle +for the favor of a girl so fair and gay as this Toinette. + +I thought the matter all out as I rode on through the sunlight, my +eyes upon the painted savages who trooped along upon our right in such +stolid silence and seeming indifference, my ears open to the light +badinage and idle compliments of my two companions. Yes, it would be +better so. When the Indians left the column at the head of the lake, I +would invent some excuse that might allow me to accompany them on their +return, and I would remain in the neighborhood of the Fort until Elsa +Matherson had been found. + +Just in front of us, a large army wain struggled along through the +yielding sand, drawn by a yoke of lumbering oxen. The heavy canvas +cover had been pushed high up in front, and I could see a number of +women and children seated upon the bedding piled within, and looking +with curious interest at the stream of Indians plodding moodily beside +the wheels. Some of the little tots' faces captivated me with their +expression of wide-eyed wonder, and I rode forward to speak with them; +for love of children is always in my heart. + +As I turned my horse to draw back beside Mademoiselle, my eyes rested +upon the stockade of the old Fort, now some little distance in our +rear; and to my surprise it already swarmed with savages. Not less than +five hundred Indians,--warriors, all of them, and well armed,--tramped +as guards beside our long and scattered column, yet hundreds of others +were even now overrunning the mound and pouring in at the Fort gates, +eager for plunder. I could hear their shouting, their fierce yells +of exultation, while the grim and silent fellows who accompanied us +never so much as glanced around, although I caught here and there the +glint of a cruel, crafty eye. The sight made me wonder; and I swung my +long rifle out from the straps at my back down across the pommel of my +saddle, more ready to my hand. + +The trail we had been following now swerved nearer the lake, deflected +somewhat by a long high ridge of beaten sand, separating the shore from +the prairie. Here the two advancing lines of white and red diverged, +the Indians moving around to the western side of the sand-ridge, +while Captain Wells and his Miami scouts continued their march along +the beach. There was nothing about this movement to awaken suspicion +of treachery, for the beach at this point had narrowed too much for +so great a number moving abreast, and it was therefore only natural +that our allies should seek a wider space for their marching, knowing +they could easily reunite with us a mile or so below, where the beach +broadened again. Their passing thus from our sight was a positive +relief; and so quiet did everything become, except for groaning wheels +and the heavy tread of horses, that Mademoiselle glanced up in surprise. + +"Why, what has become of the Indians?" she questioned. "Have they +already left us?" + +I pointed to the intervening sand-ridge. + +"They move parallel with us, but prefer to walk upon the prairie-grass +rather than these beach pebbles. For my part, I would willingly +dispense with their guard altogether; for in my judgment we are of +sufficient strength to defend ourselves." + +"Ay, strong enough against savages," interposed De Croix, his eyes +upon the straggling line ahead; "yet if by any chance treachery was +intended, surely I never saw military formation less adapted for +repelling sudden attack. Mark how those fellows march out yonder!--all +in a bunch, and with not so much as a corporal's guard to protect the +wagons!" + +I was no soldier then, and knew little of military formation; but his +criticism seemed just, and I ventured not upon answering it. Indeed, at +that very moment some confusion far in front, where Captain Wells led +his scouts, attracted my attention. We must have been a mile and a half +from the Fort by this time, and I recalled to memory the little group +of trees standing beside the trail where we had halted on our journey +westward to enjoy our earliest glimpse of Dearborn. At first I could +make out little of what was taking place ahead; then suddenly I saw the +squad of Miamis break hastily, like a cloud swept by a whirling wind, +and the next instant could clearly distinguish Captain Wells riding +swiftly back toward the column of infantry, his head bare, and one arm +gesticulating wildly. In a moment the whole line came to a startled and +wondering pause. + +"What is it?" questioned Mademoiselle anxiously, shading her eyes. +"Have the Indians attacked us?" + +"God knows!" I exclaimed, clinching my rifle firmly. "But it must +be,--look there!" + +Wheeling rapidly into line, as if at command, although we could hear +no sound of the order, the soldiers poured one quick volley into the +sand-ridge on their right, and then, with a cheer which floated +faintly back to us, made a wild rush for the summit. This was all I +saw of the struggle in front,--for, with a cry of dismay, the Miamis +composing the rear-guard broke from their posts beside the wagons and +came running back past us in a panic of wild terror. I saw Sergeant +Jordan throw himself across their line of flight, striking fiercely +with his gun, and cursing them for a pack of cowardly hounds; but he +was thrown helplessly aside in their blind rush for safety. + +"Wayland! De Croix!" he shouted, staggering to his knees, "help me stop +these curs, if you would save our lives!" + +It was a fool thing, yet in the excitement I did it, and De Croix +was beside me. Two or three of the settlers on foot rallied with us, +and together we struck so hard against those cowering renegades that +for the moment we held them, though their fear gave them desperation +difficult to withstand. I recall noticing De Croix, as he pressed +his rearing horse into the huddled mass, lashing at the faces of the +fellows mercilessly with his riding-whip, as if thinking Mademoiselle +would admire his reckless gallantry. + +A wild yell, with the mad thrill of the war-whoop in it, suddenly +assailed our ears; the Miamis broke to the left like a flock of +frightened birds, and my startled glance revealed a horde of naked +Indians, howling like maniacs, and with madly brandished weapons, +pouring over the sand-ridge not thirty feet away from us. With a shout +of warning, which was half a curse at my own mad folly, I drove the +spurs deep into my horse's side in a vain endeavor to fling myself +between them and the girl. Hardly had the startled animal made one +quick plunge, when we were locked in that human avalanche as if gripped +by a vise of steel. A dozen dark hands grasped my bridle or clutched at +me, their swarthy faces fierce with blood-lust, the eyes that fronted +me cruel with passion and inflamed by hate. I heard shots not far away; +but we were all too closely jammed to do more than fight in a desperate +hand-to-hand struggle with club and knife. + +The saddle is a poor place from which to swing a rifle, yet I stood +high in my wooden stirrups and struck madly at every Indian head I +saw, battering their faces till from the very horror of it they gave +slowly back. I won a yard--two yards--three,--my horse biting viciously +at their naked flesh, and lashing out with both fore-feet like a +fiend, while I swept my gun-stock in a widening circle of death. For +the moment, I dreamed we might drive them back; but then those devils +blocked me, clinging to my horse's legs in their death agony, and +laughing back into my face as I struck them down. + +Once I heard De Croix swearing in French beside me, and glanced around +through the mad turmoil to see him cutting and hacking with broken +blade, pushing into the midst of the _mêlée_ as if he had real joy in +the encounter. While I thus had him in view, a knife whistled through +the air, there was a quick dazzle in the sunlight, and he reeled +backward off his horse and disappeared in the ruck below. + +Never in a life of fighting have I battled as I did then, feeling that +I alone might hope to reach her side and beat back these foul fiends +till help should come to us. The stock of my rifle shattered like +glass; but I swung the iron barrel with what seemed to me the strength +of twenty men, striking, thrusting, stabbing, my teeth set, my eyes +blurring with a mist of blood, caring for nothing except to hit and +kill. I know not now whether I advanced at all in that last effort, +though my horse trod on dead bodies. Only once in those awful seconds +did I gain a glimpse of Mademoiselle through the mist of struggle, the +maze of uplifted arms and striking steel. She had reined her horse back +against a wheel of the halted wagon, and with white face and burning +eyes was lashing desperately with the loaded butt of her riding-whip at +the red hands which sought to drag her from the saddle. + +The sight maddened me, and again my spurs were driven into my horse's +flanks. As he plunged forward, some one from behind struck me a +crushing blow across the back of the head, and I reeled from my saddle, +a red mist over my eyes, and went hurling face downward upon the mass +of reeling, tangled bodies. + +[Illustration: "She had reined her horse back against a wheel of the +halted wagon."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE FIELD OF THE DEAD + + +The fierce plunging of my horse in his death agony, and his final +pitching forward across my prostrate body, were doubtless all that +saved my life. Yielding to their mad desire for plunder, the savages +scattered when I fell, and left me lying there for dead. I do not think +I quite lost consciousness in those first moments, although everything +became blurred to my sight, and I was imprisoned by the weight above me +so that the slightest effort to move proved painful; indeed, I breathed +only with the greatest difficulty. + +But I both heard and saw, and my mind was intensely occupied with the +rush of thought, the horror of all that was going on about me. How I +wish I might blot it out,--forget forever the hellish deeds of those +dancing devils who made mock of human agony and laughed at tears +and prayers! It was plain, as the wild cries of rejoicing rose on +every side, that the Indians had swept the field. The distant sound +of firing ceased, and I could hear the pitiful cries of women, the +frightened shrieks of children, the shrill note of intense agony wrung +from tortured lips. Close beside me lay a dead warrior, his hideously +painted face, with its wide, glaring, dead eyes, so fronting me that I +had left only a narrow space through which to peer. Within that small +opening I saw murder done until I closed my eyes in shuddering horror, +crazed by my own sense of helplessness, and feeling the awful fate +that must already have befallen her I loved. God knows I had then no +faintest wish to live; nor did I dream that I should see the sun go +down that day. Death was upon every side of me, in its most dreadful +forms; and every cry that reached my ears, every sight that met my +eyes, only added to the frightful reality of my own helplessness. The +inert weight of the horse stifled me so that I drew my short breath +almost in sobs; nor did I dare venture upon the slightest attempt at +release, hemmed about as I was by merciless fiends now hideously drunk +with slaughter. Once I heard a man plead for mercy, shrieking the words +forth as if his intensity of agony had robbed him of all manliness; I +saw a young woman fall headlong, the haft of a tomahawk cleaving open +her head, as a brawny red arm gripped her by the throat; a child, with +long yellow hair, and face distorted by terror, ran past my narrow +outlook, a naked savage grasping after her scarcely a foot behind. I +heard her wild scream of despair and his shout of triumph as he struck +her down. Then I lost consciousness, overwhelmed by the multiplying +horrors of that field of blood. + +It is hard to tell how long I lay there, or by what miracle of God's +great mercy I had escaped death and mutilation. It was still day, the +sun was high in the heaven, and the heat almost intolerable, beating +down upon the dry and glittering sand. I could distinguish no sound +near at hand, not even a moan of any kind. The human forms about me +were stiffening in death; nor did any skulking Indian figures appear in +sight. + +From away to the northward I could hear the echo of distant yelling; +and as I lay there, every faculty alert, I became more and more +convinced that the savages who had attacked us had withdrawn, and that +I alone of all that fated company was preserved, through some strange +dispensation of Providence, for what might prove a more terrible fate +than any on that stricken field. With this thought there was suddenly +born within me a fresh desire for life, a mad thirsting after revenge +on those red demons whose merciless work I had been compelled to see. +Yet if I hoped to preserve my life, I must have water and air; a +single hour longer in my present situation could only result in death. +Fortunately, such relief, now that I felt free to exert myself and +seek it, was not so difficult as it had seemed. The heavy horse rested +upon other bodies as well as my own, so that, little by little, I +succeeded in dragging myself out from beneath his weight, until I was +finally able to lift my head and glance cautiously about me. + +I pause now as I sit writing, my face buried in my hands, at the memory +of that dreadful field of death. I cannot picture it, nor have I wish +to try. I took one swift glimpse at the riven skulls, the mangled +limbs, the mutilated bodies, the upturned pleading faces white and +ghastly in the sunlight, the women and children huddled in heaps of +slain, the seemingly endless line of disfigured, half-stripped bodies +stretching far down the white beach; then I fell upon my face in the +sand, sobbing like a baby. O God, how could such deeds be done? How +could creatures shaped like men prove themselves such fiends, such +hideous devils of malignity? It sickened me with horror, and I shrank +from those dead bodies as if each had been a grim and threatening ghost. + +Necessity presently overcame the dread possessing me; and slowly, +seeking to see no more than I must of the awful scenes about me, I +struggled to my knees, and peered around cautiously for signs of +skulking Indians. Not a living creature was near enough to observe +me. To the northward the savages were swarming about the Fort, and +it was evident that they had left everything to search for plunder. +My uncovered head throbbed under the hot sun, and my hair was thick +with clotted blood; scarce a hundred feet away was the blue lake, and +on my hands and knees I crawled across the beach to it, forgetful of +everything else in my desire to roll in the cool sweet water. + +I realized that it would be far safer for me to remain there until +darkness shrouded my movements; but I felt so revived by the touch of +the water that the old desire for action overcame considerations of +personal safety. Before night came I must somehow gain possession of +a rifle, with powder and ball; and I must discover, if possible, the +fate of Mademoiselle. I cannot describe how, like a frightened child, +I shrank from going again amid those mutilated corpses. I started +twice, only to crawl back into the water, nerveless and shaking like +the leaf of a cottonwood. I knew it must be done, and that the sooner I +attempted it the safer would be the trial; so at last, with set teeth +and almost superhuman effort, I crept up the beach among the silent, +disfigured dead once more. + +With little trouble I found the wagon against which I had seen +Mademoiselle draw back her horse in that last desperate defence. It was +overturned, scorched with flame, its contents widely scattered; while +about it lay the bodies of men, women, and children. A single hasty +glance at most of these was sufficient; but a few were so huddled and +hidden that I was compelled to move them before I thoroughly convinced +myself that Mademoiselle was not there. I finally found her horse, +several rods away, lying against the sand-ridge; but she whose body I +sought with such fond persistency was not among those mangled forms. +Faint and sick from the awful scene, with head throbbing painfully, I +sank down upon a slope of sand where I was able to command a clear view +in either direction, and thought rapidly. I was alone with the dead. Of +all those lying silent before me, none would stir again. Not a savage +roamed the stricken field,--though doubtless they would again swarm +down upon it as soon as the sacking of the Fort had been completed. I +must plan, and plan quickly, if I would preserve my own life and be of +service to others. And life was worth preserving now, for there was +a possibility,--faint, to be sure, yet a possibility,--that Toinette +still lived. How the mere hope thrilled and animated me! how like a +trumpet-sound it called to action! She had told me once of friendships +between her and these blood-stained warriors; of weeks passed in +Indian camps on the great plains, both with her father and alone; of +being called the White Queen in the lodges of Sacs, Wyandots, and +Pottawattomies. Perchance some such friendship may have intervened +to save her, even in that fierce _mêlée_, that carnival of lust and +murder. Some chief, with sufficient power to dare the deed, may have +snatched her from out the jaws of death, actuated by motives of +mercy,--or, more likely still, have saved her from the stroke of the +tomahawk for a far more terrible fate. + +This was the thought that brought me again to my feet with burning face +and tightly clinched teeth. If she lived, a helpless prisoner in those +black lodges yonder, there was work to be done,--stern, desperate work, +that would require all my courage and resourcefulness. Firm in manly +resolve, and rendered reckless now of contact with the dead, I crept +back among the bodies in eager search for gun and ammunition. For a +long time I sought vainly; the field had been stripped by many a vandal +hand. At last, however, I turned over a painted giant of a savage whose +head had been crushed with a blow, and beneath him discovered a long +rifle with powder-horn half filled. As I drew it forth, uttering a cry +of delight at my precious find, my eyes fell upon a pair of bronze +boots, with long narrow toes, protruding from beneath a tangled mass of +the slain. It was no doubt the tomb of De Croix; and without so much as +a thought that he could be alive, I drew the bodies off him and dragged +his form forth into the sunlight. + +Merciful Heaven! his heart still beat,--so faintly, indeed, that +I could barely note it with my ear at his chest. But life was +surely there, and with a hasty glance about to assure me that I +was unobserved, I ran to the lake shore. I returned with hat full +of water, with which I thoroughly drenched him, rubbing his numbed +hands fiercely, and thumping his chest until at last the closed eyes +partially opened, and he looked up into my anxious face, gasping +painfully for breath. His lips moved as I lifted his head in my arms; +and I bent lower, not certain but he was dying and had some last +message he would whisper in my ear. + +"Wayland," he faltered feebly, "is this you? Lord, how my head aches! +Send Sam to me with the hand-mirror and the perfumed soap." + +"Hush!" I answered, almost angry at his flippant utterance. "Sam is no +doubt dead, and you and I alone are spared of all the company. Do you +suffer greatly? Think you it would be possible to walk?" + +"I have much pain here in the side," he said slowly, "and am yet weak +from loss of blood. All dead, you say? Is Toinette dead?" + +"I know not, but I have not found her body among the others, and +believe her to be a prisoner to the savages. But, come, De Croix," I +urged, anxiously, "we run great risk loitering here; there is but one +safe spot for us until after dark,--yonder, crouched in the waters of +the lake. The Indians may return at any moment to complete their foul +work; and for us to be found alive means torture,--most likely the +stake, and will remove the last hope for Mademoiselle. Think you it can +be made if you lean hard on me?" + +_"Sacre!_ 'twill not be because I do not try, Master Wayland," he +answered, his voice stronger now that he could breathe more freely, and +with much of his old audacity returned. "Help me to make the start, +friend, for every joint in my body seems rusty." + +His face was white and drawn from agony, and he pressed one hand upon +his side, while perspiration stood in beads upon his forehead. But no +moan came from his set lips; and when he rested a moment on his knees, +looking about him upon the dead, a look of grim approval swept into his +eyes. + +"Saint Guise, Wayland," he said soberly, "'twas a master fight, and the +savages had it not all their own way!" + +It made me sick to hear such boasting amidst the horror that yet +overwhelmed me, and I drew the fellow up to his feet with but little +tenderness. + +"God knows 'tis sad enough!" I answered, shortly. "Come, there are +parties of Indians already straying this way from the Fort yonder, and +it behooves us to get in hiding." + +He made the distance between us and the water with far less difficulty +than I had expected, and with a better use of his limbs at each step. +In spite of vigorous protest on his part, I forced him out from the +shore until the water entirely covered us, save only our faces; and +there we waited for the merciful coming of the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +A GHOSTLY VISION + + +The touch of the water brought renewed life to De Croix. This was shown +by the brighter color stealing into his cheeks, as well as by the more +careless tone that crept into his voice. The lake proved shallow for +some considerable distance off shore, and I compelled the Frenchman to +wade with me southward, and as far out as we dared venture, until we +must have reached the extreme limit of the field of massacre. Indeed, +I fully believed we had passed beyond the point where the attack had +first burst upon Captain Wells's Miamis; for I could perceive no sign +of any bodies lying opposite us against the white background of sand. +As the night drew on, squads of savages wandered over the scene of +slaughter, despoiling the stiffening corpses, and taking from the +wagons whatever might suit their fancy. Yet we were now so far removed +that we could distinguish little of their deeds, although the sound of +their voices echoed plainly enough across the water to our ears. + +As time passed, the numbness that had paralyzed my brain, either from +the cruel blow that felled me or the terrible shock my nerves had +experienced, gradually passed away, and our situation became more vivid +to my mind. I thought again of all who had gone forth that morning +filled with hope and life. I had, it is true, known none of them long, +but there were many in that ill-fated company who had already grown +dear to me, and one was among them who I now knew beyond all question +was to remain in my heart forever. + +I recalled the faces one by one, with some tender memory for each in +turn. I thought of the brave Captain Wells, with his swarthy face, +and Indian training, who had proved himself so truly my friend for +my father's sake; of Captain Heald, the typical bluff soldier of the +border, ready to sacrifice everything to what he deemed his duty; of +Lieutenant Helm, grave of face and calm of speech, always so thoughtful +of his sweet girl bride; and of young Ronan, loyal of heart and +impetuous of deed, whose frank manliness had so drawn me to him. And +now all these brave, true comrades were dead! Only five or six hours +ago I had spoken with them, had ridden by their side; now they lay +motionless yonder, stricken down by the basest treachery, their poor +bodies hacked and mutilated almost beyond recognition. I could scarcely +realize the awful truth; it rested upon me like some horrible dream, +from which I knew I must soon awaken. + +But it was Mademoiselle,--Toinette, with the laughing eyes and roguish +face, which yet could be so tender,--whose memory held me vibrating +between constant dread and hope. Living or dead, I must know the truth +concerning her, before I felt the slightest consideration for my own +preservation. If I lived, it should be for her sake, not mine. Plan +after plan came to me as I stood there, my face barely raised above +the water level, praying for the westering sun to sink beneath the +horizon. Yet all my plans were so vague, so visionary, so filled with +difficulties and uncertainties, that at last I had nothing practical +outlined beyond a firm determination in some way to reach the Indian +camp and there learn what I could of its black secrets. I wondered +whether this rash hare-brained Frenchman would aid or hinder such a +purpose; and I glanced aside at him, curious to test the working of his +mind in such a time of trial. + +"Saint Guise!" he exclaimed, marking my look, but misinterpreting it; +"the sun has gone down at last, and there seems a chill in the air +where it strikes my wet skin. It is in my thought to wade ashore, +Master Wayland, and seek food for our journey, as I can perceive no +savages near at hand." + +"It will be safer if we wait here another half-hour," I answered, +almost inclined to smile at the queer figure he cut, with his long, wet +hair hanging down his shoulders. Then I added, "What journey do you +contemplate?" + +He gazed at me, his face full of undisguised amazement. + +"What journey? Why, Mon Dieu! to the eastward, of course! Surely you +have no wish to linger in this pleasant spot?" + +"And is that the way of a French soldier?" I asked, almost angrily. "I +thought you made the journey westward, Monsieur, for the sake of one +you professed greatly to admire; and now you confess yourself willing +to leave her here to the mercy of these red wolves. Is this the way of +it?" + +I spoke the words coolly, and they cut him to the quick. His face +flushed and his eyes flashed with anger; yet I faced him quietly, +though I doubt not I should have felt his hand upon me had we been +better circumstanced for struggle. + +"How know you she lives?" he asked sullenly, eying the rifle I still +held across my shoulder. + +"I do not know, Monsieur, except that her body is not upon the field +yonder; but I will know before I leave, or give my life in the search. +And if you really loved her as you professed to do, you would dream of +nothing less." + +"Love her?" he echoed, his gaze upon the sand, now partially obscured +in the descending twilight. _"Sacre!_ I truly thought I did, for +the girl certainly has beauty and wit, and wove a spell about me in +Montreal. But she has become as a wild bird out here, and is a most +perplexing vixen, laughing at my protestations, so that indeed I hardly +know whether it would be worth the risk to stay." + +Hateful and selfish as these words sounded, and much as I longed to +strike the lips that uttered them so coolly, yet their utterance +brought a comfort to my heart, and I stared at the fellow, biting my +tongue to keep back the words of disgust I felt. + +"So this is the measure of your French gallantry, Monsieur! I am +sincerely glad my race holds a different conception of the term. Then +you will leave me here?" + +"Leave you? _Sacre!_ how could I ever hope to find my way alone through +the wilderness? 'Twould be impossible. Yet why should we stay here? +What can you and I hope to accomplish in so mad a search amid all these +savages? You speak harsh words,--words that under other conditions I +should make you answer for with the sword; but what is the good of it +all? You know I am no coward; I can fight if there be need; yet to my +mind no help can reach Toinette through us, while to remain here longer +is no less than suicide." + +I saw he was in earnest, and I felt there was much truth in his words, +however little they affected my own determination. + +"As you please, Monsieur," I answered coldly, turning from him and +slowly wading ashore. "With me 'tis not matter for argument. I seek +Mademoiselle. You are at perfect liberty either to accompany me or to +hunt for safety elsewhere, as you wish." + +I never so much as glanced behind, as I went up the beach, now shrouded +in the swift-descending night; but I was aware that he kept but a step +behind me. Once I heard him swear; but there was no more speaking +between us, until, in the darkness, I stumbled and partially fell over +a dead body outstretched upon the sand. + +"A Miami, judging from the fringe of his leggings," I said briefly, +from my knees. "One of the advance guard, no doubt, brought down in +flight. 'Tis good luck, though, De Croix, for the fellow has retained +his rifle. Perchance if you be well armed also, it may yield you fresh +courage." + +_"Parbleu!_ 'tis not courage I lack," he returned, with something of +his old-time spirit, "but I hate greatly to yield up a chance for life +on so mad an errand. More, Master Wayland, had this firearm been in my +hands when you flouted me in the water yonder, your words should not +have been so easily passed over." + +The stars gave me a dim view of him, and there was a look in his face +that caused me to feel it would be best to have our trouble settled +fully, and without delay. + +"Monsieur," I said sternly, laying my hand upon his shoulder, and +compelling him to front me fairly, "I for one am going into danger +where I shall require every resource in order to preserve my life +and be of service to others. I have already told you that I care not +whether you accompany me or no. But this I say: we part here, or else +you journey with me willingly, and with no more veiled threats or side +looks of treachery." + +"I meant no harm." + +"Then act the part of a man, Monsieur, and cease your grumbling. The +very life of Mademoiselle may hang upon our venture; and if you ever +interfere or obstruct my purpose, I will kill you as I would a dog. You +understand that, Monsieur de Croix; now, will you go or stay?" + +He looked about him into the lonely, desolate shadows, and I could see +him shrug his shoulders. + +"I go with you, of course. _Sacre!_ but I have small choice in the +matter; 'twould be certain death otherwise, for I know not east from +west in this blind waste of sand." + +I turned abruptly from him, and strode forward across the sand-ridge +out into the short prairie-grass beyond, shaping my course westward +by the stars. However revengeful the Frenchman might feel at my plain +speaking, I felt no hesitancy in trusting him to follow, as his life +depended upon my guidance through the wilderness. + +My mind by this time was fairly settled upon our first movement. The +only spot that gave promise of a safe survey of the Indian camp, where +doubtless such prisoners as there were would be held, I felt sure would +be found amid the shadows of the west bank of that southerly stream +along which the lodges were set up. From that vantage point, if from +any, I should be able to judge how best to proceed on the perilous +mission of rescue. + +While we were feeling our way forward through the darkness, a great +burst of flame soared high into the northern sky, the red light +radiating far abroad over the prairie, until even our creeping figures +cast faint shadows on the level plain. + +"Saint Guise! They have set fire to the Fort!" exclaimed De Croix, +halting and gazing anxiously northward. + +"Ay, either to that or to the agency building," I answered. "It was +not there I expected to find the prisoners, but rather hidden among +those black lodges yonder whence all the shouting comes. 'Tis torture, +De Croix, which has so aroused those devils; and it will soon enough +prove our turn to entertain them, if we linger long within this glare." + +"You have a plan, then?" + +"Only a partial one at present,--'tis to put the safeguard of the river +between us and those yelling fiends. Beyond that it will all be the +guidance of God." + +The stream proved to be a narrow one, and the current was not swift. +We crossed it easily enough, without wetting our stock of powder, +and found the western bank somewhat darkened by the numerous groups +of small stunted trees that lined it. I moved with extreme caution +now, for each step brought us in closer proximity to those infuriated +tribesmen who were holding mad carnival in the midst of their lodges. +I felt sure that our pathway along the western shore was clear, for +the most astute chief among them would hardly look for the approach of +enemies from that quarter; but I was enough of a frontiersman not to +neglect any ordinary precautions, and so we crept like snakes along at +the water's edge, under the shadow of the bank, until much of the wild +scene in the village opposite was revealed to our searching eyes. + +It was a mad saturnalia, half light, half shadow, amid which the fierce +figures of the painted warriors passed and repassed in drunken frenzy, +making night hideous with savage clamor and frenzied gesticulations. I +would have crept on farther, seeking a place for crossing unobserved, +had not De Croix suddenly grasped me by the leg. As I turned, the play +of the flames from across the water struck upon his white face, and I +could read thereon a terror that held him motionless. + +"For Christ's sake, let us go!" he urged, in an agonized whisper. "See +what those demons are about to do! I fear not battle, Wayland, as you +know; but the scene yonder unmans me." + +It is hard for me to describe now what then I saw. The entire centre +of the great encampment was brightly lit by a huge blazing fire, +around which hundreds of Indians were gathered, leaping and shouting +in their frenzy, while above the noise of their discordant voices we +could distinguish the flat notes of the wooden drum, the dull pounding +of which reminded me of the solemn tolling of a funeral bell. What +atrocities had been going on, I know not; but as we gazed across at +them in shuddering horror, forth from the entrance of a lodge a dozen +painted warriors drove a white man, stripped to the waist, his hands +bound behind him. As he stumbled forward, a bevy of squaws lashed him +with corded whips. I caught one glimpse of his face in the light of +the flames; it was that of a young soldier I recalled having seen the +evening before within the Fort, playing a violin. He was a brave lad, +and although his face was pale and drawn by suffering, he fronted the +crazed mob that buffeted him with no sign of fear, his eyes roving +about as if still seeking some possible avenue of escape. Once he +sprang suddenly aside, tripping a giant brave who grasped him, and +disappeared amid the lodges, only to be dragged forth a moment later +and pushed forward, horribly beaten with clubs at every step. + +On a sudden, that shrieking, undulating crowd fell away, and we could +see the young man standing alone, bound to a stake, his body leaning +forward as if held to its erect posture merely by the bonds. The limp +drooping of his head made me think him already unconscious, possibly +dead from some chance fatal blow; but as the flames burst out in a +roar at his feet, and shot up, red and glaring, to his waist, he gave +utterance to one terrible cry of agony, and it seemed to me I gazed +fairly into his tortured eyes and could read their pitiful appeal. +Twice I raised my rifle, the sight upon his heart,--but durst not +fire. No consideration of my own peril held back the pressure of the +trigger,--'twas the remembrance of Mademoiselle. It was beyond my +strength of will to withstand such strain long. + +"Come," I groaned to De Croix, my hands pressed tightly over my eyes +to shut out the sight, "it will craze us both to stay here longer, nor +dare we aid the poor fellow even by a shot." + +He lay face downward on the soft mud of the bank, and I had to shake +him before he so much as moved. We crept on together, until we came +out through the thick bushes into the open prairie, and faced each +other, our lips white and our bodies shaking with the horror of what we +had just seen. + +"Mon Dieu!" he faltered, "'twill forever haunt me." + +"It has greatly undone me," I answered, striving to control my voice, +for I felt the necessity of coolness if I hoped to command him; "but if +we would save her from meeting a like fate, we must remain men." + +"Then, for God's sake, find some spot where I may rest for an hour," he +urged. "My brain seems reeling, and I fear it will give way if I remain +in sight or sound of such horrors." + +In spite of all I had seen, it was still my desire to creep in among +the deserted lodges while darkness shrouded the outermost of them; +but I felt that some safe hiding-place must first be found for my +companion. To attempt to take him with me while in such a nervous state +would be only to invite disaster. + +"De Croix," I asked, "know you if the Indians have destroyed the house +that stood by the fork of the north river, where the settler Ouilmette +lived?" + +"I marked it through Lieutenant Helm's field-glass yesterday. 'Tis +partially burned, yet the walls still stand." + +"Then 't will serve us most excellently to hide in, for there will be +naught left within likely to attract marauders. Think you that you +could find it through the night?" + +He looked at me, and it was easy to see his nerves were on edge. + +"Alone?" he gasped brokenly. "My God, no!" + +There was seemingly no way out of it, for it would have been little +short of murder to leave him alone on that black prairie, nor would +harsh words have greatly mended matters. We were fully an hour at it, +creeping cautiously along behind the scattered bushes until we passed +the forks and swam the river's northerly branch. The action did him +good, and greatly helped to steady my own nerves, as the uproar of the +savages died steadily away behind us. + +At last we came out upon a slight knoll, and found ourselves close +beside the low charred walls of what remained of Ouilmette's log-cabin. +'Twas a most gloomy and desolate spot, but quiet enough, with never the +rustle of a leaf to awake the night, or startle us. + +"Have you got back your nerve, Monsieur?" I asked, as we paused before +the dark outline, "or must I also help you to explore within?" + +"'Tis not shadows that terrify me," he answered, no doubt thoroughly +ashamed of his weakness, and eager to make amends; "nor is it likely +that anything to affright me greatly is behind these walls." + +I lay prone in the grass at the corner of the cabin, my eyes fixed +upon the distant Indian village, where I could yet plainly distinguish +numberless black figures dodging about between me and the flames; while +further to the east, the greater blaze of the Fort buildings lighted +up, in a wide arc, the deserted prairie. I gave little consideration to +De Croix's exploit,--indeed, I had almost forgotten it, when suddenly +the fellow sprang backward out of the open door, a cry of wild terror +upon his lips, and his hands outstretched as if to ward off some +unearthly vision. + +"Mon Dieu!" he sobbed hoarsely, falling upon his knees. "'Twas the face +of Marie!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +AN ANGEL IN THE WILDERNESS + + +He acted so like a crazed man, grovelling face downward in the grass, +that I had to hold him, fearful lest his noise might attract attention +from our enemies. + +"Be quiet, De Croix!" I commanded sternly, my hand hard upon him, my +eyes peering through the darkness to determine if possible the cause +for his mysterious fright. "What is it that has so driven you out of +your senses?" + +He half rose, staring back at the black shadow of the dim doorway, his +face white as chalk in the star-light and faint glare of the distant +fires. + +"'Twas the face of a dead woman," he gasped, pointing forward, "there, +just within the door! I saw her buried three years ago, I swear; yet, +God be merciful! she awaited me yonder in the gloom." + +"Pish!" I exclaimed, thoroughly disgusted at his weakness, and rising +to my feet. "Your nerves are unstrung by what we have been through, and +you dream of the dead." + +"It is not so!" he protested, his voice faltering pitifully; "I saw +her, Monsieur,--nor was she once this day in my thought until that +moment." + +"Well, I shall soon know if there is a ghost within," I answered +shortly, determined to make quick end of it. "Remain here, while I go +into the house and see what I can find." + +For a moment he clung to me like a frightened child; but I shook off +his hands a bit roughly, and stepped boldly across the threshold. That +was an age when faith in ghostly visitations yet lingered to harass +the souls of men. I confess my heart beat more rapidly than usual, as +I paused an instant to peer through the shadowy gloom within. It was a +small, low room, with a litter of broken furniture strewing the earthen +floor; but the log-walls were quite bare. The flicker of the still +blazing Fort illuminated the interior sufficiently to enable me to make +out these simple details, and to see that the place was without living +occupant. + +There was only one other apartment in the building, and I walked back +until I came upon the door which separated the two, and flung it open. +As I did so I thought I saw a shadow, the dim flitting of a woman's +form between me and the farther wall; but as I sprang hastily forward, +grasping after the spectral vision, I touched nothing save the rough +logs. Twice I made the circuit of that restricted space, so confident +was I of my own eye-witness; but I found nothing, and could only pause +perplexed, staring about in wonder. + +It occurred to me that my own overtaxed nerves were at fault, and that +if I was to accomplish anything before daylight I must say nothing +likely to alarm De Croix further. + +"Come, Monsieur!" I said, as I came out and shook him into attention, +"there is naught within more dangerous than shadows, or perchance a +rat. Nor have I any time longer to dally over such boyishness. I had +supposed you a soldier and a brave man, not a nerveless girl to be +frightened in the dark. Come, there is ample hiding-space behind the +walls, and I purpose leaving you here to regain some measure of your +lost courage while I try a new venture of my own." + +"Where go you?" + +"To learn if I may gain entrance to the Indian camp unobserved. There +can be no better time than while they are occupied yonder." + +He looked uneasily about him into the dark corners, shuddering. + +"I would rather go with you," he protested, weakly. "I have not the +heart to remain here alone." + +"Nevertheless, here you stay," I retorted shortly, thoroughly +exasperated by his continued childishness; "you are in no spirit to +meet the perils yonder. Conquer your foolishness, Monsieur, for I know +well 'tis not part of your nature so to exhibit fear." + +"'Tis naught alive that I so shrink from; never have I been affrighted +of living man." + +"True; nor have I ever found the dead able greatly to harm. But now I +go forth to a plain duty, and you must wait me here." + +I did not glance back at him, although I knew he had sunk dejected +on a bench beside the door; but with careful look at the priming of +my rifle, I stepped forth into the open, and started down the slight +slope leading to the river. A fringe of low, straggling trees hid my +movements from observation by possible watchers along the southern +bank; nor could I perceive with any definiteness what was going on +there. The fires had died down somewhat, and I thought the savage +yelling and clamor were considerably lessened. + +I confess I went forward hesitatingly, and was doubtful enough about +the outcome; but I saw no other means by which I might hope to locate +Mademoiselle definitely, and I valued my own life now only as it +concerned hers. The selfish cowardice of De Croix if cowardice it truly +was served merely to stir me to greater recklessness and daring, and +I felt ready to venture all if I might thereby only pluck her from +the grasp of those red fiends. As I crept through the fringe of bushes +which lined the bank, my eyes were on the darkened upper extremity of +the Indian camp, and all my thoughts were concentrated upon a plan +of entrance to it. I may have been somewhat careless, for I had no +conception of any serious peril until after I had crossed the stream, +and it certainly startled me to hear a voice at my very elbow,--a +strange voice, beautifully soft and low. + +"You have the movement of an Indian; yet I think you are white. What +seek you here?" + +I turned quickly and faced the speaker, my rifle flung forward ready +for action. The light was poor enough there amid the shadows, yet the +single glimpse I had told me instantly I faced the mysterious woman of +the Indian camp. For a moment I made no response, held speechless by +surprise; and she questioned again, almost imperatively. + +"I asked, why are you here?" + +"I am one, by the grace of God, spared from the massacre," I answered +blindly. "But you?--I saw you within the Indian camp only last night. +Surely you are not a savage?" + +"That I know not. I sometimes fear the savage is part of all our +natures, and that I am far removed from the divine image of my Master. +But I am not an Indian, if that is what you mean. If to be white is a +grace in your sight, I am of that race, though there are times when I +would have been prouder to wear the darker skin. The red men kill, but +they do not lie, nor deceive women. I remember you now,--you were with +the White Chief from Dearborn, and tried to approach me when Little +Sauk interfered. Why did you do that?" + +Her manner and words were puzzling, but I knew no better way than to +answer frankly. + +"I sought Elsa Matherson,--are you she?" + +The girl--for she could certainly have been little more--started +perceptibly at the name, and bent eagerly forward, peering with new +interest into my face. + +"Elsa Matherson?" she questioned, dwelling upon the words as though +they awoke memories. "It is indeed long since I have heard the name. +Where knew you her?" + +"I have never known her; but her father was my father's friend, and I +sought her because of that friendship." + +"Here?" + +"At Fort Dearborn, where she was left an orphan." + +"How strange! how very strange indeed! 'Tis a small world. Elsa +Matherson! and at Dearborn?" + +Was it acting, for some purpose unknown to me,--or what might be the +secret of these strange expressions? + +"Then you are not the one I seek?" + +She hesitated, looking keenly toward me through the dim light. + +"I have not said who I may be," she answered evasively. "Whatever +name I may once have borne was long ago forgotten, and to the simple +children about me I am only Sister Celeste. 'Tis enough to live by in +this wilderness, and the recording angel of God knows whether even that +is worthy. But I have been waiting to learn why you are here, creeping +through the bushes like a savage! Nor do I believe you to be altogether +alone. Was there not one with you yonder at the house? Why did he cry +out so loudly, and fall?" + +"He imagined he saw a ghost within. He claimed to have recognized the +face of a dead woman he once knew." + +"A dead woman? What is the man's name? Who is he?" + +"Captain de Croix, an officer of the French army." + +She sighed quickly, as if relieved, one hand pressed against her +forehead, and sat thinking. + +"I know not the name, but it seems strange that the chance sight of my +face should work such havoc with his nerves. Spoke he not even the name +of the woman?" + +"I think he cried some name as he fell, but I recall it not." + +"And you? You are only seeking a way of escape from the savages?" + +For a moment I hesitated; but surely, I thought, this strange young +woman was of white blood, and seemingly an enthusiast in the religion I +also professed, and I might safely trust her with my purpose. + +"I am seeking entrance within the encampment, hoping thus to rescue a +maiden whom I believe to be prisoner in the hands of the Indians." + +"A maiden,--Elsa Matherson?" + +"Nay, another; one I have learned to love so well that I now willingly +risk even torture for her sake. You are a woman, and have a woman's +heart; you exercise some strange power among these savages. I beg you +to aid me." + +She sat with clasped hands, her eyes lowered upon the grass. + +"Whatsoever power I have comes from God," she said solemnly; "and there +be times, such as now, when it seems as if He held me unworthy of His +trust." + +"But you will aid me in whatever way you can?" + +"You are sure you love this maiden?" + +"Would I be here, think you, otherwise?" + +She did not answer immediately, but crept across the little space +separating us until she could look more closely into my face, scanning +it earnestly with her dark eyes. + +"You have the appearance of a true man," she said finally. "Does the +maid love you?" + +"I know not," I stammered honestly, confused by so direct a question. +"I fear not; yet I would save her even then." + +I felt her hand touch mine as if in sudden sympathy. + +"Monsieur," she spoke gravely, "love has never been kind to me, and I +have learned to put small trust in the word as it finds easy utterance +upon men's lips. A man swore once, even at the altar, that he loved me; +and when he had won my heart he left me for another. If I believed you +were such a man I would rather leave this girl to her fate among the +savages yonder." + +"I am not of that school," I protested earnestly. "I am of a race that +love once and forever. But you, who are you? Why are you here in the +midst of these savages? You bear a strange likeness to her I would +save, but for the lighter shade of your hair." + +She drew back slightly, removing her hand from mine, but with +gentleness. + +"It would do you little good to know my story," she said firmly. "I am +no longer of the world, and my life is dedicated to a service you might +deem sacrifice. Moreover, we waste time in such idle converse; and if +it be my privilege to aid you at all, I must learn more, so as to plan +safely." + +"You have the freedom of the camp yonder?" + +"I hardly know," she responded sadly. "God has placed in my poor +hands, Monsieur, a portion of His work amid those benighted, +sin-stained creatures there. Times come, as now, when the wild wolf +breaks loose, and my life hardly is safe among them. I fled the camp +to-night,--not from fear, Christ knows, but because I am a woman, and +too weak physically to bear the sight of suffering that I am helpless +to relieve. It is indeed Christ's mercy that so few of your company +were spared to be thus tortured; but there was naught left for me but +prayer." + +She stooped forward, her hands pressed over her eyes as though she +would shut out the horror. + +"Yet know you who among the whites have thus far preserved their +lives?" I urged, in an agony of suspense. "Were any of the women +brought alive to the camp?" + +"It was my fortune to see but one; nor was I permitted to approach +her,--a sweet-faced girl, yet she could not be the one you seek, for +she wore a wedding-ring. She was saved through the friendship of Black +Partridge, and I heard that she is a daughter of the Silver-man." + +"Ay! Mrs. Helm! Thank God! But was she the only one?" + +"Truly, I know not; for I was forced away from sight of much that went +on. Little Sauk has a white maiden hidden in his lodge, who was brought +from the battle. I have not seen the girl, but know this through +others who were angry at his good-fortune." + +"Could we reach there, think you, unobserved?" + +She rose, and gazed anxiously across the stream, her face showing clear +and fair in the faint light of those distant fires, while I caught the +glimmer of a pearl rosary about her white throat and marked a silver +crucifix resting against her breast. + +"It will be life itself you venture in such an attempt," she said +softly, "even its loss through torture; yet 'tis a deed that might be +done, for the Indians are fairly crazed with blood and liquor, and will +pay small heed to aught save their heathen orgies." + +"Then let us venture it." + +She turned slightly and looked at me intently, her dark eyes filled +with serious thought. + +"Yes, we will go," she responded at last, slowly. "If through God's +grace we may thus preserve a life, it will be well worthy the +sacrifice, and must be His desire." + +For another moment we waited there silently, standing side by side, +gazing anxiously across the dark water, and listening intently to the +varied discordant sounds borne to us on the night air. I know not what +may have been in her thought; but upon my lips there was a silent +prayer that we might be safely guided in our desperate mission. I +wondered still who this strange young woman could be, so surrounded +by mystery, a companion of savages, and still gentle and refined in +word and manner. I dare not ask again, nor urge her confidence; for +there was that of reserve about her which held me speechless. I glanced +aside, marking again the clear pure contour of her face, and my look +seemed instantly to arouse her from her reverie. + +"I expect little trouble until we near the centre of the camp," she +said, thoughtfully. "'Tis dark amid the northern lodges, and we shall +meet with no warriors there unless they be so far gone in intoxication +as to be no longer a source of danger. But come, friend, the longer we +tarry the less bright grows the hope of success." + +A slender bark canoe rested close beneath the bank, and she motioned +me into it, grasping the paddle without a word, and sending the narrow +craft with swift, silent strokes across the stream. The other shore was +unprotected; so, hesitating only long enough to listen for a moment, +much as some wild animal might, she crept forward cautiously into the +black lodge-shadows, while I instantly followed, imitating as best I +could her slightest movement. We met no obstacle to our advance,--not +even the snarls and barkings of the innumerable curs, usually the +sleepless guardians of such encampments of savages. I soon saw that as +we crept around lodge after lodge in our progress, the light of the +blazing fires in our front grew constantly brighter and the savage +turbulence more pronounced. + +At last the girl came to a sudden pause, peering cautiously forward +from beneath the shadow of the lodge that hid us; and as I glanced over +her shoulder, the wild scene was revealed in each detail of savagery. + +"'Tis as far as you will dare venture," she whispered, her lips at +my ear. "I know not the exact limit of our progress, but the lodge +of Little Sauk lies beyond the fire, and I must make the rest of the +distance alone." + +"But dare you?" I questioned uneasily. "Will they permit even you to +pass unharmed?" + +She smiled almost sadly. + +"I have many friends among them, blood-stained as they are, and little +as I have accomplished for the salvation of their souls. I have been +with them much, and my father long held their confidence ere he died. +I have even been adopted into the tribe of the Pottawattomies. None +are my enemies among that nation save the medicine-men, and they will +scarce venture to molest me even in this hour of their power and crime. +Too well they know me to be under protection of their chiefs; nor +are they insensible to the sanctity of my faith. Ay, and even their +superstition has proved my safeguard." + +The expression of curiosity in my eyes appealed to her, and as if in +answer she rested one hand upon her uncovered head, the hair of which +shone like dull red gold in the firelight. + +"You mean that?" I asked, dimly recalling something I had once heard. + +She shook the heavy coiled mass loose from its bondage, until it +rippled in gleaming waves of color over her shoulders, and smiled back +at me, yet not without traces of deep sadness in her eyes. + +"'Tis an Indian thought," she explained softly, "that such hair as mine +is a special gift of the Great Spirit, and renders its wearer sacred. +What was often spoken most lightly about in other days has in this +dread wilderness proved my strongest defence. God uses strange means, +Monsieur, to accomplish His purpose with the heathen." + +She paused, listening intently to a sudden noise behind us. + +"Creep in here, Monsieur," she whispered, quickly lifting an edge of +the skin-covering of the lodge. "A party is returning from the Fort, +perchance with more prisoners. Lie quiet there until I return; it will +not be long." + +I crawled through the slight opening into that black interior, turning +to hold open the flap sufficiently to peer forth once more. I knew not +where she vanished, as she faded away like a shadow; but I had hardly +secured refuge, when a dozen painted warriors trooped by, shouting +their fierce greeting. In the midst of them, half-stripped, and +bleeding as if from freshly inflicted wounds, staggered a white man; +and as the firelight fell full upon his haggard face, I recognized De +Croix. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +A SOLDIER OF FRANCE + + +What followed was so extraordinary and incredible that I hesitate to +record it, lest there be those who, judging in their own conceit, and +knowing little of savage Indian nature, may question the truth of my +narration. Yet I am now too old a man to permit unjust criticism to +swerve me from the task I have assumed. + +The extreme of misery that overwhelmed me at the moment when I beheld +my comrade driven forward like a trapped beast to a death by torture, +found expression in a sudden moan, which, fortunately for me, was +unnoted amid the shouts of greeting that arose around the fire when +those gathered there caught sight of the new-comers. Instantly all was +confusion and uproar; a scene of savage debauchery, unrelieved by a +redeeming feature or a sign of mercy. It was as if poor De Croix had +been hurled, bound and gagged, into a den of infuriated wolves, whose +jaws already dripped with the blood of slaughter. Gleaming weapons, +glaring and lustful eyes, writhing naked bodies, pressed upon him on +every side, hurling him back and forth in brute play, every tongue +mocking him, in every uplifted hand a weapon for a blow. + +The fierce animal nature within these red fiends was now uppermost, +fanned into hot flame by hours of diabolical torture of previous +victims, in which they had exhausted every expedient of cruelty to add +to the dying agony of their prey. To this, fiery liquor had yielded its +portion; while the weird incantations of their priests had transformed +the most sober among them into demons of malignity. If ever, earlier +in the night, their chiefs had exercised any control over them, that +time was long since past; and now the inflamed warriors, bursting all +restraint, answered only to the war-drum or made murderous response to +the superstition of their medicine-men. + +The entire centre of the encampment was a scene of drunken orgy, a +phantasmagoria of savage figures, satanic in their relentless cruelty +and black barbarity. Painted hundreds, bedecked with tinkling beads +and waving feathers, howled and leaped in paroxysms of fury about the +central fire, hacking at the helpless bodies of the dead victims of +earlier atrocities, tearing their own flesh, beating each other with +whips like wire, their madly brandished weapons flashing angrily in +the flame-lit air. + +Squaws, dirty of person and foul of mouth, often more ferocious +in appearance and cruel in action than their masters, were +everywhere, dodging amid the writhing bodies, screaming shrilly from +excitement, their long coarse hair whipping in the wind. Nor were +they all Pottawattomies: others had flocked into this carnival of +blood,--Wyandots and Sacs, even Miamis, until now it had become a +contest for supremacy in savagery. 'Twas as if hell itself had opened, +to vomit forth upon the prairie that blood-stained crew of dancing +demons and shock the night with crime. + +A dead white man,--the poor lad whose early torture we had +witnessed,--his half-burnt body still hanging suspended at the stake, +was in the midst of them, a red glare of embers beneath him, the +curling smoke creeping upward into the black sky from about his head +like devil's incense. In front of this hideous spectacle, regardless of +the mutilated body, sat the ferocious old demon I had seen the evening +previous, his head crowned with a bison's horns, his naked breast +daubed with red and yellow figures to resemble crawling snakes, his +face the hideous representation of a grinning skull. Above all other +sounds rang out his yells, inciting his fellows to further atrocities, +and accompanied by the dull booming of his wooden drum. + +It was into this pack of ravening beasts that poor De Croix staggered +from the surrounding shadows; and they surged about him, clamoring for +place, greeting their new-found victim with jeers and blows and hoots +of bitter hatred, viciously slashing at him with their knives, so that +the very sight of it turned me sick, and made me sink my head upon my +arms in helplessness and horror. A sudden cessation in the infernal +uproar led me to peer forth once more. They had dragged the charred and +blackened trunk of the dead soldier down from the post where it had +hung suspended, and were fastening De Croix in its place, binding his +hands behind the support, and kicking aside the still glowing embers of +the former fire to give him space to stand. It was brutally, fiendishly +done, with thongs wound about his body so tightly as to lift the flesh +in great welts, and those who labored at it striking cruel blows at +his naked, quivering form, spitting viciously into his face, with +taunting words, seeking through every form of ferocious ingenuity to +wring from their helpless victim some sign of suffering, some shrieking +plea for mercy. Once I marked a red devil stick a sharpened sliver of +wood into the Frenchman's bare shoulder, touched it with fire, and then +stand back laughing as the bound victim sought vainly to dislodge the +torturing brand. + +Whatever of shrinking fear De Croix may have exhibited an hour before, +however he may have trembled from ghostly haunting and been made coward +by contact with the dead, he was a man now, a soldier worthy of his +uniform and of his manhood. Merciful God! but it made my heart swell to +see the lad, as he faced those dancing devils and looked coolly into +the eyes of death. His face was indeed ghastly white in the fire-glow, +save where the red stains of blood disfigured it; but there was no +wavering in the bold black eyes, no cowardly shrinking from his fate, +no moan of weakness from between his tightly pressed lips. Scarce +could I think of him then as being the same gentle exquisite that rode +on the westward trail in powdered hair and gaudy waistcoat, worrying +lest a pinch of dust might soil his faultless linen,--this begrimed, +blood-stained, torn figure, naked to the waist, his small-clothes +clinging in rags from his thighs, his head bare and with long black +locks streaming to his shoulders. Yet it was now, not then, he won my +respect and honor. + +Once I saw him strain desperately at the cords in a mad endeavor to +break free, his flashing eyes on the demons who were torturing him +beyond endurance. Well I knew how he longed to lay hand on any weapon, +and thus die, battling to the end; had he succeeded, I doubt not I +should have been at his side, forgetful of all else in the struggle. +The deer-skin thongs, as unyielding as iron, held him fast. I ground my +teeth and dug my nails into the earth to hold me from leaping forward +in hopeless attempt at rescue, as a huge brute struck him savagely +with clinched hand across the lips. + +Suddenly, as if in response to some low spoken order, the jostling +horde fell aside from before him, leaving a narrow space unoccupied. +I had no time to wonder at this movement before a tomahawk, whirling +rapidly and flashing like a ruby in the red glare, went hurling +forward, and buried its shining blade deep in the post an inch from the +prisoner's head, the handle quivering with the force of impact. Again +and again, amid yells of derision and encouragement, they threw, twice +bringing token of blood from the grazed cheek and once cleaving the ear +nearest me as if by a knife-blow. In spite of all, De Croix sneered at +them, mocked their efforts, taunted them with their lack of skill, no +doubt seeking to infuriate them and cause the striking of a merciful +death-blow. + +I trembled as I gazed, held there by a fascination I could not +overcome, shading my eyes when I saw an arm uplifted to make a cast, +and opening them in dread unspeakable as I heard the dull impact of the +blow. Never in my life have I seen such marvellous nerve as this French +gallant displayed in those awful moments; standing there motionless, +with never a tremor, no twitching of a muscle, his scornful eyes +following the deadly steel, his lips jeering at the throwers, as he +coolly played the game whose stake was death. At last some savage cast +from farther back amid the mass of howling contestants; I failed to +see the upraised hand that grasped the weapon, but caught its sudden +gleam as it sped onward, and De Croix was pinned helpless, the steel +blade wedging his long hair deep into the wood. + +A dozen screaming squaws now hustled forward the materials for a fire; +I saw branches, roots, and leaves, piled high about his knees, and +marked with a shudder the film of blue smoke as it soared upward ere +the flame caught the green wood. Then suddenly some one kicked the pile +over, hurling it into the faces of those who stooped beside it; and the +fierce clamor ceased as if by magic. + +I staggered to my knees, wondering what it could mean,--this strange +silence after all the uproar. Then I saw. Out from the shadows, as if +she herself were one, the strange girl who had been my companion glided +forward into the red radius of the flame, and faced them, her back to +De Croix. + +Never shall I fail to recall her as she then appeared,--a veritable +goddess of light fronting the fiends of darkness. With cheeks so white +as to seem touched with death, her dark eyes glowed in consciousness +of power, while her long, sweeping tresses rippled below her waist, +gleaming in a wild red beauty almost supernatural. How womanly she was, +how fair to look upon, and how unconscious of aught save her mission! +One hand she held before her in imperious gesture of command; with the +other she uplifted the crucifix, until the silver Christ sparkled in +the light. + +"Back!" she said clearly. "Back! You shall not torture this man! I know +him. He is a soldier of France!" + +[Illustration: "You shall not torture this man he is a soldier of +France!'"] + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE RESCUE AT THE STAKE + + +The word uttered by the strange woman was one to conjure with even then +in the Illinois country. Many a year had passed since the French flag +ruled those prairies, yet not a warrior there but knew how the men of +that race avenged an injury,--how swift their stroke, how keen their +steel. + +I watched the startled throng press closely backward, as if awed by her +mysterious presence, influenced insensibly by her terse sentence of +command, each dusky face a reflex of its owner's perplexity. Drunken +as most of them were, crazed with savage blood-lust and hours of +remorseless torture of their victims, for the moment that sweet vision +of womanly purity held them motionless, as if indeed the figure of the +Christ she uplifted before their faces had taught them abhorrence of +their crimes. + +But it was not for long. To hundreds of those present she was merely +an unknown white woman; while even to those who knew her best, the +Pottawattomies, she appeared only as one who came to balk them of their +revenge. They may have held her person inviolate amid their lodges, +and even have countenanced her strange teaching; but now she had +ventured too far in attempting thus to stand between them and their +victim. They held back a single moment, halted by her fearlessness, +rendered cowardly by vague superstitions regarding her religious +power; but after the first breathless pause of dumb astonishment and +irresolution, voice after voice arose in hoarse cries of rage and +shouts of disapproval. There was a surging forward of the straining +red line, while in their front howled and gesticulated the hideous old +medicine-man, his painted face distorted by passion, eager to grasp +this auspicious moment to cast down forever one who had sought to end +his superstitious rule among the tribe. I marked how she drew back as +they advanced, retreating step by step,--not, in deed, as if she feared +them, but rather as if some definite purpose led her movement. Her +eyes never wavered, her hand still uplifted the gleaming cross, as she +retreated slowly, until she stood directly before De Croix, where he +hung helplessly staring at her with an expression of fear in his face +strangely at variance with his late show of desperate courage. + +"Back!" she cried again, but now in a deeper and fuller voice that +sounded like a clear-toned bell above the uproar. "I tell you I will +kill this man with my own hand before I permit you to put further +torture upon him!" + +An instant only did this threat halt the gathering rush. Some one +voiced an Indian insult, and there came a fierce surging forward, +although no warrior among them seemed eager to lead in the attack. I +saw the woman lift her hand, and caught the glimmer of a steel blade; +and even as I sprang erect, partially flinging aside the obstructing +flap of the lodge, an Indian, stalking silently forth from the shadows, +faced the mob, standing motionless within a foot of the desperate girl, +and with his back toward her. One glance at that tall thin figure, the +stern face, the long white hair, told me it was the great war-chief of +the Pottawattomies, Gomo; and I sank back trembling from the reaction +of that moment's strain. + +His words were calm, deliberate, commanding; but the angry roar with +which they were greeted made me fear the horde he faced so resolutely +was now beyond control. He smiled, his thin lips curling in derision as +he gazed with contempt into the threatening faces pressing closer upon +every side. + +"Fear not," he murmured aside to the watchful woman, and resting one +hand upon her arm. "Cut loose the prisoner!" + +She turned instantly to her task, while he spoke briefly the names +of his chiefs; and as each was called in turn, a warrior came from +among the mass and silently stood beside him. A dozen came forth thus, +stalwart, grim-faced braves, many with fresh scalps dangling at their +belts. + +Gomo now spoke again, using the French tongue, that all present might +better grasp his meaning. + +"Brothers," he said gravely, "this squaw is Pottawattomie. She was +adopted by our people and lives in our lodges. Pottawattomies are +friends to Frenchmen; there is no war between us. Why should Wyandots +and Sacs wish to burn a Frenchman?" + +For a moment no one ventured to reply; the mob stood halted now, robbed +of its leaders and its courage, even the noisy medicine-man silenced +before this stern array of protecting chiefs. Loose as was Indian +discipline and tribal authority, even in drunkenness those desperate +warriors dared not openly disregard such a display of power. + +"Have the Pottawattomies spoken well?" questioned the old chief, +sternly, "or have our words wronged our brothers?" + +A giant of a fellow, whose broad face and huge head seemed +disproportionate even to his big body, his long coarse hair profusely +ornamented with shells and beads flashing gaudily in the firelight, +pushed his way out from among the silent mass. + +"Gomo, the great war-chief of the Pottawattomies, has spoken well," he +said in a deep voice that rolled like distant thunder. "The Wyandots +did not know; they war not with Frenchmen, nor harm the women of the +Pottawattomies. The Great Spirit hath made us brothers, and we have +smoked together the pipe of peace." + +Gomo moved forward with Indian dignity, and exchanged solemn greeting +with the new-comer. + +"It makes the hearts of the Pottawattomies light to hear the words of +Sau-ga-nash," he said gravely. Then he turned and waved his hand to his +clustered warriors. "Release the Frenchman, and place him for safety in +the council lodge. Pass the woman free. It is the will of our chiefs." + +The council lodge! I glanced about me apprehensively; surely this must +be the same tepee in which Captain Heald and I had met the chiefs! +There were no signs of ordinary Indian occupancy, and now as I looked +about me the firelight from without revealed clearly the shading of +those grotesque figures I recalled as having been sketched upon the +outer covering. So it was here that De Croix was to be confined! I +crept back hastily, dropping into place the loosened flap through which +I had been peering. A skin or two were lying on the grassy floor; and +I grasped the larger of these, drawing it over me while I rolled as +closely as possible against the farther wall, hoping desperately that +no Indian guards would be posted within. + +The uproar outside continued, as if there were still opposition to +the commands of the chiefs; but presently, as I peeped through a hole +in the skin held over me, I perceived a sudden flash of light as the +flap covering the entrance was drawn aside. I saw a number of dark +hands thrust within, a savage face or two peering for a moment about +the darkened interior; but to my inexpressible relief only one body +was thrust inside, with such violence, however, as to cause the man to +fall face downward at full length. The next instant the lodge was again +wrapped in utter darkness. By God's mercy I remained undiscovered, and +was alone with De Croix. + +For a short time, assured as I was of this fact, I did not venture to +creep from my place of concealment, or make my presence known to my +companion. What ears might be listening, I knew not; nor dared I trust +too much to the Frenchman's already overtaxed nerves. He did not move +from the position where he fell; but I could hear him groan and sob, +with now and then a broken ejaculation. Without, the yelling and uproar +grew perceptibly less, although an occasional outburst gave evidence +that the carousal was not wholly ended. Finally I pushed back the robe +that covered me, now grown uncomfortably warm, and crept cautiously +toward the place where I knew him to be lying. It was intensely dark, +and I was still fearful lest he might cry out if I startled him. + +"De Croix," I whispered, "make no alarm; I am Wayland." + +"Wayland!" I could mark the amazement in his tone, as he instantly sat +upright, peering through the gloom in the direction whence my voice +came. _"Mon Dieu!_ You are here? You saw all of it?" + +"Ay," I answered, reaching out and groping in the darkness until I +grasped his hand. "You have had a hard time, my lad; but the worst is +over, and hope remains for us both." + +He shuddered so violently I could feel the spasm shake his body. + +"'Twas not the dying," he protested; "but did you see her, Wayland? +Merciful God! was it really a living woman who stood there, or a ghost +returned from the other world to haunt me and make living worse than +death?" + +"You mean the sister who interposed to save you?" I asked. "' She was +as truly alive as either of us. Think you she is not a stranger?" + +He groaned, as if the confession was wrung from him by the terror of +eternal torment. + +_"Mon Dieu!_ She is my wife!" + +"Your wife?" + +"Ay, my wife,--Marie Faneuf, of Montreal." + +"But how comes she here, Monsieur, living in the Pottawattomie camp? +And how comes it that you sought another in this wilderness, if you +were already long wedded?" + +"Saint Guise! but I cannot tell you," and his voice shook with the +emotion that swept him. "'Tis like a black dream, from which I +must yet awaken. She died, I swear she died; the sisters told me +so at the convent of the Ursulines, whither she fled to escape my +unkindness,--for I did her wrong; and I stood by the grave as the +body they called hers was lowered into the ground. For all these +years have I thought it true; yet the girl yonder was Marie. But you, +Wayland,--know you aught of her?" + +"Only that she guided me hither in search of Mademoiselle. On the way +we conversed, and she let me know that she had dedicated her life to +the service of these Indians, seeking to save their souls." + +"'Tis like enough; she was ever half a nun, and most religious. Yet +made she no mention of me, and of my crying out at the house?--for I +must indeed have seen her there!" + +"She asked me your name, Monsieur, and when I told her she said she +recalled it not. Knew she you by some other?" + +He did not answer, though I could mark his heavy breathing, as if he +strove with himself for mastery. Nor did I speak again, eager as I now +was to arrange some plan for the future; for this man was certainly in +no condition to counsel with. + +I know not how long I may have rested there in silence, seeking vainly +in my own mind for some opening of escape, or means whereby I might +communicate with Mademoiselle. Would the strange woman forget me now, +or would she venture upon a return with her message? If not, I must +grope forward without her, hampered as I should be by this unnerved and +helpless Frenchman. Outside, the noise had almost wholly ceased,--at +least, close to where we were,--and I could perceive that a slight +tinge of returning day was already in the air, faintly revealing the +interior of the lodge. + +As I sat thus, drifting through inaction into a more despairing mood, +the rear covering of the tepee moved almost imperceptibly, and I turned +hastily to seek the cause, my heart in my throat lest it prove an +enemy, perhaps some stealthy savage still seeking the life of De Croix. +It was far from being light as yet, but there was sufficient to show +me the faint outline of a woman's figure. The Frenchman had seemingly +heard nothing; and I rose quickly and faced her eagerly. + +"You have found her?" I questioned anxiously. "I beg you tell me that +she yet lives!" + +"Hush! you speak too loud," was the low reply. "The one you seek is, I +think, confined within the lodge of Little Sauk, and thus far remains +unharmed. I have not been able to reach her, but she has been described +to me as young, with dark hair and eyes, and as having been dragged +from a horse near the rear of the column. Think you she is the one you +seek?" + +"I do indeed!" I cried, in a rapture of relief. "Where is this lodge in +which they hold her?" + +She hesitated to answer, as if she somewhat doubted my discretion. + +"It is the third from the fire, in the row west of this," she said at +last. "But it is already daylight, and you must lie hidden amid these +skins until another night, when I will strive to aid you. You will be +safe here, if you only keep hidden; and I have brought with me food for +you both." + +I had quite forgotten De Croix, in my eagerness to learn news of +Mademoiselle; but now I realized he had risen to his knees, and was +gazing at our visitor through the dim shadows as if half fearful even +yet that she was but a spectre. In that gray dawn his face was ghastly +in its whiteness,--the dark lines under his eyes, his matted hair, +and the traces of blood upon his cheek, yielding a haggardness almost +appalling. + +"Marie!" he sobbed, catching his breath between the words as if they +choked him, "Marie, in God's name, speak one word to me!" + +I saw the girl start, looking around at him with eyes widely opened, +yet with an expression in them I could not fathom; it was neither +hatred nor love, though it might easily have been sorrow. + +"Marie," he urged, rendered despairing by her silence, "I have done you +wrong, great wrong; but I thought you dead. They told me so,--they told +me it was your body they buried. Will you not speak a word of mercy +now?" + +Dim as the light was, I saw her eyes were moist as she gazed down upon +him; but there was no faltering in her voice. + +"You were right, Monsieur le Marquis," she said slowly, "Marie Faneuf +is dead. It is only Sister Celeste who has aided in the preservation of +your life in the name of the Master. Make your acknowledgment to the +Mother of Christ, not to me, for such mercy." + +I knew not when she passed out, or how; but we were alone once more, +and De Croix was lying with his face buried in the short grass. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +A SEARCH, AND ITS REWARD + + +I slept at last, soundly, for several hours, lying well hidden behind +the skins at the back of the lodge. There seemed nothing else to do; +for poor De Croix had no thought other than that of the woman who had +just left us, and I was exhausted by hours of excitement and toil. He +was asleep when I awoke, lying just as I had left him, his face still +buried in the short trodden grass that carpeted the floor. + +It was so quiet without that I listened in vain for a sound to indicate +the presence of Indians. Silence so profound was in strange contrast +with the hideous uproar of the preceding night, and curiosity led me +finally to project my head from beneath the lodge covering and gain +a cautious glimpse of the camp with out. The yellow sunshine of the +calm summer afternoon rested hot and glaring on the draped skins of +the tepees, and on the brown prairie-grass, trampled by hundreds of +passing feet. I could perceive a few squaws working lazily in the shade +of the trees near the bank of the river; but no other moving figures +were visible. Several recumbent forms were within my sight, their faces +toward the sun, evidently sleeping off the heavy potations of the +night. Otherwise the great encampment appeared completely deserted; +there were no spirals of smoke rising above the lodge-poles, no +gossiping groups anywhere about. + +It was plain enough to me. Those of the warriors capable of further +action were elsewhere engaged upon some fresh foray, while the +majority, overcome by drinking, were asleep within their darkened +lodges. Surely, daylight though it was, no safer moment could be +expected in which to establish communication with Toinette. With night +the camp would be again astir; and even if I succeeded in reaching her +at some later hour it would leave small margin of darkness for our +escape. Every moment of delay now added to our grave peril, and there +was much planning to be done after we met. Possibly I should have +waited, as I had been told to do; but it was ever in my blood to act +rather than reason, and I am sure that in this case no cause remains +for regret. + +I must confess that my heart beat somewhat faster, as I crept slowly +forth and peered cautiously around the bulging side of the big lodge +I had just left, to assure myself no savages were stirring. It was not +that I greatly feared the venture, nor that a sense of danger excited +my nerves; but rather the one thought in my mind was that now my way +lay toward Mademoiselle. How would she greet me? Should I learn my fate +from her tell-tale eyes, or by a sudden gleam of surprise in her lovely +face? These were the reflections that inspired me, for a new hope had +been born within me through the forced confession of De Croix. + +There was little danger of exposure while I advanced through the +shelter of the lodges, for I was always under partial cover. But +I waited and watched long before daring to pass across the wide +open space in the centre of which the fire had been kindled. The +torture-post yet stood there, black and charred, while the ground +beneath was littered with dead ashes. The bodies of three white men, +two of them naked and marked by fire, lay close at hand, just as they +had been carelessly flung aside to make room for new victims; yet I +dared not stop to learn who they might have been in life. The sight of +their foul disfigurement only rendered me the more eager to reach the +living with a message of hope. + +I moved like a snake, dragging my body an inch at a time by firmly +grasping with extended hands the tough grass-roots, and writhing +forward as noiselessly as if I were stalking some prey. There were +times when I advanced so slowly it would have puzzled a watcher to +determine whether mine was not also the body of the dead. At length, +even at that snail's rate of progress, I gained the protection of the +tepees upon the other side of the camp, and skulked in among them. The +lodge just before me, blackened by paint and weather, must be the one +I sought. I rested close within its shadow, striving to assure myself +there was no possibility of mistake. As my eyes lifted, I could trace +in dim outline the totem of the chief faintly sketched on the taut +skin: it was the same I had noted on the brawny breast of Little Sauk. + +Never did I move with greater woodland skill, for I felt that all +depended upon my remaining undiscovered; a single false move now would +defeat all hope. Who might be within, concealed by that black covering, +was a mystery to be solved only by extremest caution. + +Inch by inch I worked the skin-covering of the tepee entrance up from +the ground, screwing my eye to the aperture in an effort to penetrate +the shrouded interior. But the glare of the sun was so reflected into +my eyeballs, that it left me almost blind in the semi-gloom beneath +that dark roof, and I could distinguish no object with certainty. +Surely, nothing moved within; and I drew myself slowly forward, until +half my body lay extended upon the beaten dirt-floor. It was then that +I caught a glimpse of a face peering at me from out the shadows,--the +face of Toinette; and, alas for my eager hopes of surprising her heart +and solving its secrets! the witch was actually laughing in silence at +my predicament. The sight made my face flush in sudden indignation; but +before I could find speech, she had hastily accosted me. + +"Good faith, Master Wayland! but I greet you gladly!" she said, and +her soft hand was warm upon mine; "yet it truly caused me to smile to +observe the marvellous caution with which you came hither." + +"It must have been indeed amusing," I answered, losing all my vain +aspirations in a moment under her raillery; "though it is not every +prisoner in an Indian camp who could find like cause for merriment." + +Her eyes grew sober enough as they rested inquiringly on my face, for +all that they still held an irritatingly roguish twinkle in their +depths. + +"It was the expression upon your face which so amused me," she +explained. "I am not indifferent to all that your coming means, nor +to the horrors this camp has witnessed. More than that, you appear to +me like one risen from the dead. I have truly mourned for you, John +Wayland. I lost all power, all desire for resistance, when I saw you +stricken from your horse, and often since my eyes have been moist in +thoughts of you. No doubt 'twas but the sudden reaction from seeing you +again alive that made me so forgetful of these dread surroundings as +to smile. I beg you to forgive me; it was not heartlessness, but merely +the way of a thoughtless girl, Monsieur." + +It had been impossible for me to resist her cajolery from the +beginning; and now I read in her eyes the truth of all she spoke. + +"There is naught for you to forgive, Mademoiselle," I answered, drawing +myself wholly within the tepee and resting on my knees. "But are you +quite alone here, and without guards?" + +"For the present, yes. Little Sauk has been gone from the camp for +some hours. They watch me with some care at night, yet of what use can +their guarding be? If I should get without the lodge, escape would be +hopeless for a girl like me. But now tell me about yourself. Are you +also prisoner to the Indians? Surely I saw you struck down in that mad +_mêlée_. 'Twas then I lost heart, and gave up every hope of rescue." + +"No, I am not a prisoner, Mademoiselle. I fell, stunned by a blow dealt +me from behind, but was saved from capture by the falling of my horse +across my body. I am here now of my own will, and for no other purpose +than to save you." + +"To save me! Oh, Monsieur! it would make me blush really to think I +ranked so high in your esteem. Was it not rather that other girl you +came to seek,--the one you sought so far through the wilderness, only +to find hidden in this encampment of savages? Tell me, Monsieur, was +she by any chance of fate the heroine who last night plucked Captain de +Croix from the flames of torture?" + +"You know, then, of his danger and deliverance?" I said, not feeling +eager to answer her query. "'Twas a most brave and womanly act." + +"A strange exercise of power, indeed, Monsieur," and she looked +directly into my eyes; "and the savages tell me she claimed to have +knowledge of him." + +Surely I had a right to relate the whole story of De Croix's +confession; yet somehow I did not deem it the manly thing to do. +Rather, I would let her learn the truth in God's own time, and from +other lips than mine. Perchance she would respect me more in the end +for keeping silence now. But in this decision I failed to consider that +hasty words of explanation might naturally lead her to believe the +existing friendship mine instead of his. + +"We met her across the river in the darkness last night," I answered. +"At my request, she acted as my guide into the Indian camp." + +The expression in her eyes puzzled me; nor could I interpret the sudden +flush that lent color to her cheeks. + +"You are frank, Monsieur," she said quietly, "and doubtless 'tis better +so. But the strange situation of this young woman has much of romance +about it, and interests me greatly. How chances she to be here? Surely +she cannot be of Indian blood?" + +"She holds connection with some sisterhood of the Church, as I +understand, and has lived for some time amid the Pottawattomies, +seeking to win the heathen to Christ." + +"A Catholic?" she asked, her eyes brightening with deeper interest. + +"Such is my understanding, though in truth she never said as much to +me. Indeed, we spoke little, Mademoiselle, for our path was in the +midst of peril, even before the capture of poor De Croix upset all our +plans." + +"Doubtless," she answered with a slight trace of sarcasm in the soft +voice. "But Captain de Croix,--he was not seriously injured, I trust? +Where have the savages confined him? And know you what they in tend as +to his future?" + +"He will forever bear some scars, I fear," I answered, wondering dully +at the calmness of her inquiry. "I have just left him sleeping quietly +in the council tent. Know you anything of what fate has befallen other +of our friends of the garrison?" + +Her eyes grew sad. "Only what little I have learned through the +taunting of my own captor," she answered, her voice trembling. +"Captain Wells is dead, together with Ensign Ronan and Surgeon Van +Voorhees. Both Captain Heald and his wife were sorely wounded, and +they, with Lieutenant Helm, are prisoners somewhere in the camp; but +the Lieutenant's wife is safe with the Silver-man's family across +the river. The Indians hold these in hope of ransom, and wreak their +vengeance upon the common soldiers who were so unfortunate as to fall +into their hands alive. Yet few, I think, survived the massacre." + +"You have doubtless guessed aright. I noted with what fearful spirit of +revenge the savages dealt with some of their captives, while sparing +others. Surely you, for instance, have met with but little hardship +thus far at the hands of Little Sauk?" + +She glanced up at me, with a touch of the old coquettishness in her +dark eyes and a quick toss of her head, while one white hand smoothed +her soft hair. + +"Think you then, Monsieur, I do not look so ill?" + +In spite of every effort at control, my heart swept into my eyes; she +must have read the swift message, for her own drooped instantly, with a +quick flutter of long lashes against her cheeks. + +"I have already told you how greatly I admire you," I faltered, "and +you make no less fair a picture now." + +"Then I shall not tempt you to add to your compliment," she hastily +responded, rising to her feet, "for I like loyalty in a man better than +mere gallantry of speech. You ask me about Little Sauk. He holds me for +ransom, although Heaven knows 'twill prove but waste of time, for I am +aware of no one in all the East who would invest so much as a dollar +to redeem me from Indian hands. Yet such is his purpose, as told to me +this morning." + +"Perchance, then," I urged, doubtfully, "you may prefer remaining +quietly here rather than risk the peril of trying to escape?" + +She looked at me keenly, as if in wonder at my words; and I could see +that her eyes were moistening with the sudden rush of feeling. + +"You are either dull of comprehension, John Wayland," she said, a bit +pertly, "or else you understand me less than any man I ever knew. If +I seem brave and light of heart amidst all this horror, 'tis merely +that I may not utterly break down, and become an object of contempt. I +feel, Monsieur, I am not devoid of heart nor of the finer qualities of +womanhood. Prefer to remain here? Holy Mother of Christ! It would be +my choice to die out yonder on the prairie, rather than stay here in +these Indian lodges. There is no peril I would not face joyfully, in an +effort to escape from this place of torture and barbarity. I confess +that an hour ago I cared not greatly what my end might be; I had lost +heart and hope. But now your coming, as of one risen from the dead, has +brought back my courage." + +"You will go, then, whenever and wherever I say?" + +She stepped forward with her old frank confidence, resting both hands +in mine, her eyes upon my face. + +"Out yonder in the night, and amid the sand, John Wayland," she said +earnestly, "I remember saying I would travel with you whithersoever you +wished. I know you far better now than I did then, and I hesitate not +at taking upon myself the same vow." + +What power then sealed my lips, I know not. Doubtless there is a fate +in such matters, yet 'tis strange the light of invitation in her eyes +did not draw me to lay bare my heart. In naught else had I a drop of +coward blood within my veins; while here I hesitated, fearful lest her +pleading face might change to sudden roguishness, and she laugh lightly +at the love that held my heart in thrall. Truly, the witch had puzzled +me so sorely with her caprices, her quick change of mood, her odd +mixture of girlish frankness and womanly reserve, that I knew not which +might prove the real Toinette,--the one to trust, or the one to doubt. +So I stood there, clasping her soft hands in mine, my heart throbbing, +yet my tongue hesitating to perform its office. But at last the halting +words came in a sudden, irrepressible rush. + +"Toinette!" I cried, "Toinette! I could forget all else,--our danger +here, the horrors of the night just passed, the many dead out +yonder,--all else but you." + +She gave a sudden startled cry, her affrighted eyes gazing across my +shoulder. I wheeled, with quick intuition of danger; and there, just +within the entrance of the tepee, the flap of which he had let fall +behind him, in grave silence stood an Indian. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE PLEDGE OF A WYANDOT + + +A single glance told me who our unwelcome visitor must be. That giant +body, surmounted by the huge broad face, could belong to none other +than the Wyandot, Sau-ga-nash,--him who had spoken for the warriors +of his tribe before the torture-stake. He stood erect and rigid, his +stern, questioning eyes upon us, his lips a thin line of repression. +With a quick movement, I thrust the girl behind me, and faced him, +motionless, but with every muscle strained for action. The Indian spoke +slowly, and used perfect English. + +"Ugh!" he said. "Who are you? A prisoner? Surely you cannot be that +same Frenchman we helped entertain last night?" + +"I am not the Frenchman," I answered deliberately, vainly hoping his +watchful eyes might wander about the lodge long enough to yield me +chance for a spring at his throat, "though I was one of his party. I +only came here to bring comfort to this poor girl." + +"No doubt she needs it," he replied drily, "and your way is surely +a good one. Yet I doubt if Little Sauk would approve it, and as his +friend, I must speak for him in the matter. Do you say you are also a +prisoner? To what chief?" + +"To none," I answered shortly, resolved now to venture all in a trial +of strength. He read this decision in my eyes, and stepped back warily. +At the same instant Toinette flung her arms restrainingly about my neck. + +"Don't, John!" she urged, using my name thus for the first time; "the +savage has a gun hidden beneath his robe!" + +I saw the weapon as she spoke, and saw too the angry glint in the +fellow's eye as he thrust the muzzle menacingly forward. As we stood +thus, glaring at each other, a sudden remembrance made me pause. +"Sau-ga-nash"?--surely it was neither more nor less than a Wyandot +expression signifying "Englishman." That broad face was not wholly +Indian; could this be the half-breed chief of whom I had so often +heard? 'Twas worth the chance to learn. + +"You are Sau-ga-nash?" I asked, slowly, Toinette still clinging to me, +her face over her shoulder to front the silent savage. "A chief of the +Wyandots?" + +[Illustration: "Don't John! The savage has a gun hidden beneath his +robe!"] + +He moved his head slightly, with a mutter of acquiescence, his eyes +expressing wonder at the question. + +"The same whom the Americans name Billy Caldwell?" + +"'Tis the word used by the whites." + +I drew a quick breath of relief, which caused Mademoiselle to release +her grasp a little, as her anxious eyes sought my face for explanation. + +"Recall you a day twelve years ago on the River Raisin?" I asked +clearly, feeling confident now that my words were no longer idle. "An +Indian was captured in his canoe by a party of frontiersmen who were +out to revenge a bloody raid along the valley of the Maumee. That +Indian was a Wyandot and a chief. He was bound to a tree beside the +river bank and condemned to torture; when the leader of the rangers, +a man with a gray beard, stood before him rifle in hand, and swore to +kill the first white man who put flint and steel to the wood. Recall +you this, Sau-ga-nash?" + +The stolid face of the listening savage changed, the expression of +revengeful hostility merging into one of undisguised amazement. + +"That which you picture has not left my memory," he answered gravely. + +"Nor the pledge you gave to that white captain when he brought you +safely to Detroit?" I queried, eagerly. + +"Nor the pledge. But what has all this to do here?" + +"Only, Sau-ga-nash, that I am Major David Wayland's son." + +The Indian sprang forward, his eyes burning fiercely; and thinking his +movement to be hostile, I thrust the girl aside that I might be free to +repel his attack. But he did not touch me, merely peering eagerly into +my face with a keen questioning look that read my every feature. + +"You have the nose and forehead," he reflected aloud; "yes, and the +eyes. Before the Great Spirit, I will redeem my pledge; a chief of the +Wyandots cannot lie." + +He paused, and I could mark the varied emotions that swayed him, so +deeply was he moved by this strange discovery. Unconsciously my hand +clasped Mademoiselle's, for now I felt that our fate hung on his +decision. + +"'Tis a hard task, Master Wayland," he admitted at length, almost +wearily, "but for your father's sake it shall be done. I see only one +way for it, and that by water. Know you anything about the management +of boats?" + +"Only as I have paddled upon the Maumee," I answered, doubtfully, +"although I handled a small sail when a mere boy in the far East." + +"'Twill suffice if the fair weather hold, as is likely at this season. +At least it may be risked. The land trails are crowded by Indians from +far-off tribes, hastening hither in hope of fight and spoils. More than +a hundred came in to-day, painted for war, and angry because too late. +You could not escape encountering such parties, were you to flee by +trail eastward; nor would they show mercy to any white. The Silver-man +has returned to his home north of the river; but 'tis all that we who +are friendly to him can do to keep these warriors from attacking even +there. 'Tis the Indians from far away that make the trouble; and these +grow more numerous and powerful each day. We keep a guard at the house +to save the Silver-man and his family; and were more whites to seek +refuge there, we should lose all control. There is still safety at +the mouth of the Saint Joseph River, and 'tis there you must go. The +venture must be made to-night, and by water. Is it known to any Indian +that you are alive and within this camp?" + +"To none." + +"That is well; we can work best alone. Now listen. At midnight, Master +Wayland, a boat, pre pared for the trip, will await you, hidden under +the ruins of the Agency building. The river flows under the flooring +deep enough for the purpose, and I will place the boat there with my +own hand. Beyond that, all must rest upon your own skill and good +fortune. You will wait here," and he glanced about anxiously for some +means of concealment, "lying behind those robes yonder, until the hour." + +"Here?" I questioned, thinking instantly of my duty to De Croix. +"But I would first have speech with the Frenchman. He is my friend, +Sau-ga-nash. Besides, I have left my rifle in the council lodge." + +The face of the savage darkened, and his eyes gleamed ominously as they +roamed questioningly from my face to Toinette's. + +"I said you were to stay hidden here," he answered shortly, his tone +showing anger, and his hand pointing at the robes. "Many of the +sleeping Pottawattomies are again astir without, and you could not hope +to gain the council lodge undiscovered. What care I for this Frenchman, +that I should risk my life to save him? I pledge myself only to Major +Wayland's son; and even if I aid you, it is on condition that you go +alone." + +"Alone, say you?" and I rested my hand on Mademoiselle's shoulder. "I +would die here, Sau-ga-nash, and by torture, before I would consent to +go one step without this girl." + +The half-breed scowled at me, drawing his robe about him in haughty +indifference. + +"Then be it so," he said mockingly. "'Tis your own choice. I have +offered redemption of my pledge." + +I started to utter some harsh words in answer; but before I could +speak, Toinette pressed her soft palm upon my lips in protest. + +"Refuse him not," she murmured hastily. "'Tis the only chance; for my +sake, do not anger him." + +What plan her quick wit may have engendered, I did not know; but I +yielded to the entreaty in her pleading eyes, and sullenly muttered the +first conscious lie of my life. + +"I accept your terms, Sau-ga-nash, harsh as they are." + +He looked from one to the other of us, his face dark with distrust and +doubt. + +"You are not mine to dispose of," he said sternly to the trembling +girl, who visibly shrank from his approach, and clung once more to me. +"You are prisoner to Little Sauk; nor will I release one thus held by +the Pottawattomies. They and the Wyandots are brothers. But I trust +you, and not the word of this white man. Pledge me not to go with him, +and I will believe you." + +She glanced first at me, then back into the swarthy, merciless face. +Her cheeks were white and her lips trembled, yet her eyes remained +clear and calm. + +"I give you my word, Sau-ga-nash," she said quietly. "While I am held +as prisoner by Little Sauk, I will not go away with John Wayland." + +Little as I believed these words to be true at the time, the sound +of them so dulled me with apprehension that I could only stare at +her in speechless amazement. It seemed to me then as if the power +of reason had deserted me, as if my brain had been so burdened as to +refuse its office. I recall that Toinette almost compelled me to lie +down against the farther side of the lodge, placing a pile of skins in +front of me and assuming a position herself where she could occasion +ally reach across the barrier and touch me with her soft hand. No +doubt she realized the struggle in my mind, for she spoke little after +the departure of the half-breed, as if anxious to permit me to figure +out the future for myself. Little by little I faced it, and came to +an irrevocable decision. It was to be Toinette or nothing. While it +might be true that she was in no immediate danger, and possibly could +be safely ransomed if I once escaped to civilization, yet the risk of +such venture and delay was too great; nor would my love abide so vast +a sacrifice on her part. I thought to say this to her; but there was +a look of firm decision in her sweet face, as her dark eyes met mine, +that somehow held me silent. I felt that in her own heart she must +already know what action I would choose, and the final moment would +prove sufficient test for her evident determination. Reassured here, +my thoughts turned to De Croix; but that was useless. I could send no +message to him; he was no longer in especial peril, and perhaps would +not willingly desert his newly found wife even to escape the savages. +Nay, it was to be Toinette and I, now and forever. + +I do not clearly remember at this day what it was we spoke about in the +brief whispering that passed between us while we waited there. Neither +of us felt like voicing our real thoughts, and so we but dissembled, +making commonplaces fill the gaps between our silences. The night +found us undisturbed, and it shut down so darkly within the narrow +confines of the lodge that I lost all trace of her presence, but for an +occasional movement or the sound of her low voice. Without, the rapidly +increasing noise indicated a return of many savages to the camp, until +at last a fire was kindled in the open space, its red flame sending +some slight illumination where we were, but not enough to reveal the +interior of the lodge. An Indian brought the girl some food, entering +and leaving without uttering a sound; and we two ate together, striving +to speak lightly in order to make the coarse meal more palatable. + +Suddenly I became aware of a faint scratching upon the skin of the +lodge, at my back. At first I supposed it to be some wild animal, or +possibly a stray dog; but the regularity of it showed a purpose of +some kind. Could it be De Croix? Or was it the half-breed with some +secret message he dared not deliver openly? I lifted the lodge covering +slightly, and placed my lips to the aperture. + +"Is some one there?" I whispered cautiously "Who is it?" + +"I am Sister Celeste," came the immediate low reply. "Are you the white +man I guided?" + +"Ay," I answered, rejoicing at this rare good for tune, "and I beg you +to listen to what I say. There will be a boat awaiting us beneath the +old Agency building at midnight. You must be there with De Croix." + +"De Croix?" + +"Yes; I know not if that be his name to you, but I mean the Frenchman +whose life you saved. Will you take him thither at midnight, together +with the rifle I left in the council lodge?" + +For a moment she did not answer. Doubtless it was a bitter struggle for +her thus to agree even to meet the man again. At last she made reply, +although I could plainly mark the faltering of her voice. + +"The man of whom you speak shall be there," she said, "unless some +accident make it impossible." + +As I drew back my head, and sat upright, Mademoiselle spoke +questioningly. + +"With whom were you conversing just now, Monsieur?" + +"The young woman of whom we have spoken so often," I answered +thoughtlessly. "She has pledged herself to bring De Croix to the +meeting-place." + +"Indeed!" she exclaimed, with accent so peculiar I knew not how to +interpret it. "It almost makes me desire to form one of your party." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +AN INTERVENTION OF FATE + + +"Form one of our party?" I echoed, believing I must have misunderstood +her words. "Surely, Mademoiselle, you cannot mean that you take your +promise to the half-breed so seriously as voluntarily to remain in +captivity?" + +"Yes, but I do, Monsieur!" and the tone in which she said it was firm +with decision. "The Indian asked my pledge in all solemnity, and has +gone away trusting to it. My conscience could never again be clear did +I prove false in such a matter. You also made a pledge, even before +mine was given; was it not your purpose to abide by it?" + +"No," I answered, a bit shortly. "I merely agreed to his proposition +at your expressed desire that I should, and because I believed you +had framed some plan of escape. Have you such small respect for me, +Mademoiselle, as to think I could consent to leave you here alone and +at the mercy of these red fiends? Have I risked my life in coming here +for no other end than this?" + +I felt her reach her arm across the pile of skins lying between us, and +grasp my hand within her own. + +"But, dear friend, you must!" she said, pleadingly, her softly +modulated voice dwelling upon the words as if they came hard. "Truly +you must, John Wayland, and for my sake as well as your own. I am +comparatively safe here,--safe at least from actual physical harm, so +long as the savages dream that the sparing of my life will yield them +profit. You have no right to remain in such peril as surrounds you +here, when by so doing you benefit no one. You have father and mother +awaiting in prayer your safe return to them yonder on the Maumee; +while I,--I have no one even to ask how sad my fate may be. Think you +that because I am a girl I must therefore be all selfishness? or that +I would ever permit you thus to sacrifice yourself unnecessarily for +me? No, no, Monsieur! I will remain prisoner to Little Sauk, for my +sacred word has been pledged; and you must go, because there are others +to whom your life is of value. Nor need you go empty-handed, for the +one you have sought so far and long seems now ready enough to travel +eastward with you." + +Scarcely had her voice ceased, leaving me struggling to find fit words +to change her mad decision, when a rough hand flung back the entrance +flap, and the naked body of an Indian, framed for a single instant +against the light, lurched heavily through the opening. Even that brief +glimpse told me the man had been drinking to excess; while for the +moment, as I huddled down closer behind my robes, I was unable to make +out his identity. + +"Where white woman?" he ejaculated gruffly, as he paused, blinded by +the darkness. "Why she not come help me?" + +His quick ear evidently caught the slight rustle of the girl's skirt +as she rose hastily to her feet, for with a muttered Indian oath the +savage lurched forward. I could scarcely make out the dimmest shadow of +them in the dense gloom, yet I seemed to know that he had grasped her +roughly, though not the slightest sound of fear or pain came from her +lips. + +"Ugh! better come!" he muttered, a veiled savage threat growling in his +tone. "You my squaw; cook in my lodge; get meal now." + +"But where? and how?" she asked, her voice trembling perceptibly, yet +striving to placate him by a seeming willingness to obey. "I have +nothing here to cook, nor have I fire." + +"Indian squaw no talk back!" he retorted angrily. "This way I show +white squaw to mind chief!" + +I heard plainly the brutal blow he struck her, though even as she +reeled back she managed to stifle the scream upon her lips, so that it +was barely audible. With one bound I was over the barrier of robes and +clutching with tingling fingers for the brute. I touched his feathered +head-dress at last, and he must have supposed me his helpless victim, +for with a grunt of satisfaction he struck once again, the blow meeting +my shoulder, where he judged in the dark her face would be. + +"White squaw mind now--" + +I had him gripped by the throat before he ended, and we went down +together for a death-struggle in the darkness, from which each realized +in an instant both could never rise again. My furious grip sobered him, +and he made desperate efforts to break free, struggling vainly to utter +some cry for rescue. Once I felt him groping at his waist for a knife; +but I got first clasp upon its hilt, though I twisted helplessly for +some minutes before I could loosen his hold at my wrist so as to strike +him with the blade. His teeth closed upon my hand, biting deep into +the flesh like a wild-cat, and the sharp sting of it yielded me the +desperate strength I needed to wrench my hand free, and with one quick +blow the knife I clutched cut deep into his side, so that I could feel +the hot blood spurt forth over my hand. I held him in a death grip, for +I knew a single cry meant ruin to all our plans, until the last breath +sped, and I knew I lay prostrate above a corpse. It had been so swift +and fierce a contest that I staggered half-dazed to my feet, peering +about me as if expecting another attack. I was steadied somewhat by the +sound of a low sob from the darkness. + +"'Tis well over with, Toinette," I murmured hastily, my voice trembling +from the strain that still shook me. + +"Oh, John! John Wayland! And you are truly unhurt of the struggle?" It +was scarcely her voice speaking, so agitated was it. "Have you killed +him?" + +"Yes," I answered, finding my way cautiously toward her, and speaking +in whispers. "I had no other choice. It was either his life or yours +and mine. Knew you the savage?" + +"It was Little Sauk," she replied, clinging to me, and growing somewhat +calmer from my presence. "Oh, what can we do now?" + +"There remains but one thing, and that is to accept the chance that +Providence has given us. There remains no longer a shadow of excuse +for your staying here, even by your own reasoning. You are no longer +prisoner to Little Sauk. Your pledge has been dissolved by Fate, +and it must be God's will that you go forth with me. What say you, +Mademoiselle?" And I crushed her hands in mine. + +I could feel her slight form tremble as I waited her reply, and +believed she peered across my shoulder through the darkness, imagining +she saw the dead Indian's form lying there. + +"Do you truly wish it?" she questioned at last, as though warring with +herself. "Think you she would greatly care?" + +'Tis a strangely perverse thing, the human mind. As there dimly dawned +upon me a conception of her meaning,--a knowledge that this seemingly +heart-free girl cared enough for me to exhibit such jealousy of +another,--I would not undeceive her by a word of explanation. + +"I certainly do wish it," was my grave answer, "nor does it greatly +matter what the desire of any other may be. This is not an invitation +to a ball, Mademoiselle. I beg you answer me; will you go?" + +She looked toward me, wondering at my words. + +"Yes," she said simply. "Has the time come?" + +"I have no certain means of knowing; but it cannot be far from the +hour, and we shall be much safer without." + +I took the Indian's knife with me, wiping the long blade upon the pile +of skins, and placing it convenient to my hand within the bosom of my +hunting-shirt. It was dark enough back of the lodge away from the glare +of the fires, and we rested there well within the shadow, for some +time, while I scanned the surroundings and planned as best I might our +future movements. + +"Was it from dread of venturing once more upon the water that you held +back so long?" I asked her, seeking rudely to delve into the secret of +her reserve. + +"Have you ever found me of cowardly heart, Monsieur?" she questioned in +return, parrying with quick skill, "that you should think any bodily +terror could hold me back? If I had reasons other than those already +given, they were worthy ones." + +"You are not afraid of the perils before us?" + +"No," she answered; "my heart beats fast, but 'tis not from fear." + +Only a few scattered lodges had been raised to the eastward of where +we were, nor did these show any signs of life. We crept forward with +painful slowness, partially hiding our movements by following a +shallow, curving gully, until we had gained the extreme limits of the +encampment, where we crawled out into the gloom of the surrounding +prairie. Not until then did either of us venture to stand erect, or +advance with any degree of freedom. + +Directly ahead of us there was nothing by which I could safely guide +our course. The flat sameness of the plain offered no landmarks, while +the night sky was so thickly overcast as to leave no stars visible. +Nor was there light of any kind, save that of the fires in the camp we +had just left. I hesitated to risk the open prairie thus unaided, lest +we should wander astray and lose much valuable time; so, although it +measurably increased our peril of encountering parties of savages, +I turned sharply northward, keeping the bright Indian fires upon our +left, and groping forward through the gloom toward where I knew the +main branch of the river must lie. It was neither the time nor place +for speech. I held her hand closely while we moved onward silently, +carefully guarding each step lest by mischance it should bring +betrayal. Once, after we had reached the river and were moving eastward +again, a party of Indians passed us, coming so silently out of the +black void, in their soft moccasins, that I had barely time to hold her +motionless before they were fairly upon us. I counted nine of them, +moving rapidly in single file, like so many black ghosts. We waited +with wildly throbbing hearts, listening for fear others might follow in +their trail. + +We were almost beside the walls of the factory building before +either of us was aware of its proximity. Even then, as I lay prone +on the earth and studied its dim outlines, they possessed nothing +of familiarity, for the high-pitched roof had fallen in and carried +with it the greater portion of the upper walls, leaving a mere shell, +shapeless and empty. I rested there, gazing at it, and wondering how +best we might proceed to find our way beneath where the boat was to +be moored, when I felt Mademoiselle's fingers press my arm warningly. +Scarcely a yard away, on a ridge of higher ground, two dim figures came +to a sudden pause. + +"I perceive naught of the presence of your friends as yet, Monsieur," +spoke a soft voice, "but I will remain until certain of the outcome." + +"Then your decision is unchanged?" asked the other, in deeper accent, +full of earnest pleading. "All is to be over between us from this hour? +And you deliberately choose to devote your life to the redemption of +these savages?" + +"We have discussed all this at length, Monsieur le Marquis, as we came +along, and, as you fully know, my choice is made beyond recall. I am +here to serve you to-night, because it seems to be a duty given unto +me by some strange Providence; and I have relied upon your courtesy +to make it as little unpleasant as possible. I pray you, beseech me +no more. The girl I once was lives no longer; the woman I now am has +been given a special mission by God, too sacred to be cast aside for +aught that earth has to offer her of happiness. We part in kindness, +Monsieur,--in friendship even; but that which was once between us may +never be again." + +There was no answer; even the reckless audacity of a courtier was +silenced by that calm final dismissal. It was Mademoiselle who spoke in +swift whisper, her lips at my ear. + +"Speak! who is she?" + +"The woman of whom you have heard so often,--the missionary in the +Indian camp." + +"Yes, I know," impatiently; "but I mean her name?" + +"She calls herself Sister Celeste; I have indeed heard mention of +another, but it abides not in my memory." + +"You deceive me, Monsieur; yet I know, and will speak with her," was +the quick decision. "Mother of God! 'tis a voice too dear ever to be +forgotten." + +She was beside them with a step, seeming no doubt a most fair vision to +be born so instantly of the night-shadows. + +"Marie Faneuf!" she exclaimed, eagerly. "I know not by what strange +fortune I meet you here, but surely you will not refuse greeting to an +old friend?" + +The girl drew hastily back a step, as if her first thought was flight; +but ere such end could be accomplished, Mademoiselle had clasped her +arm impetuously. + +"Marie!" she pleaded, "can it be possible you would flee from me?" + +"Nay," returned the other, her voice trembling painfully, as she +struggled to restrain herself. "It is not that. Dear, dear friend! I +knew you were among the few saved from Dearborn. The American hunter +told me, and ever since have I tried to avoid you in the camp. 'Twas +not for lack of the old love, yet I feared to meet you. Much has +occurred of late to make the keeping of my vow most difficult. I have +been weak, and grievously tempted; and I felt scarce strong enough, +even though protected by prayers, to withstand also my deep love for +you." + +Their voices insensibly merged into French, each speaking so rapidly +and low that I could get little meaning of it. Then I noted De Croix, +half lying upon the ground, his head hidden within his hands. With +sudden remembrance of the work before us, I touched his shoulder. + +"Come below, Monsieur, and help me search for the boat," I said, +kindly, for I was truly touched by his grief. "It will help clear your +mind to have some labor to accomplish." + +"I dare not, Wayland!" he answered hoarsely, and the face he uplifted +toward me was strangely white and drawn. "I must stay with her; I dare +not leave her again alone, lest she escape me once more. She is mine, +truly mine by every law of the Church,--my wife, I tell you, and I +would die here in the wilderness rather than permit her longer to doom +herself to such a fate as this." + +His words and manner were so wild they startled me. Surely, in his +present frame of mind he would prove useless on such a mission as that +before us. + +"Then remain here, Monsieur!" I said, "and do your best to win her +consent to accompany us. No doubt Mademoiselle will aid you all that is +in her power." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +A STUMBLE IN THE DARK + + +Gloomy as the hole was, there was no help for it. I could perceive +nothing below, not even my hand when held within a foot of my eyes; nor +had I the slightest previous knowledge of the place to guide me, even +had not the fire ruins above effectually blocked every passage-way with +fallen debris. Listening however intently, my ears could distinguish +only the faint lapping of the river as it crept about the log piling on +which the house had been built; but beyond this dim guidance, I had to +feel my way forward with extended hands and groping feet. Swinging to +my back the rifle that De Croix had brought, and casting an inquiring +glance backward at the little group huddled upon the bank, almost +invisible even at that short distance, I grasped the piling nearest me +and slid down into the unknown darkness. + +My feet found solid earth, although as I reached out toward the left +my moccasin came in contact with water, which told me at once that +only a narrow path divided the steep bank of the excavation from the +encroaching river. The floor above was originally low, so that I could +easily touch the heavy supporting beams; and I had felt my way scarcely +a yard before coming in contact with a serious obstruction, where the +weakened floor had sagged so as almost to close the narrow passage. +This caused me to wade farther out into the water, testing each step +carefully as I followed the sharp curving of the shore-line. I had no +fear of meeting any living enemy within that silent cave, my sole doubt +being as to whether the half-breed chief had fulfilled his promise and +brought the boat, my gravest anxiety to discover it early and get my +party safely away before the Indian encampment learned the truth. + +I must have reached the apex of the little cove, moving so cautiously +that not a ripple of the water revealed my progress, and feeling for +each inch of way like a blind man along city streets, when my knee +suddenly struck some obstacle, and seeking to learn what it might be, I +muttered a silent prayer of thanksgiving as I touched the unmistakable +sides of a boat. It was a lumping, awkward craft, rudely fashioned, +yet of a seeming length of keel and breadth of beam that set my heart +beating with new joy, as I wondered if it was not the same craft in +which the Kinzie family put forth upon the lake the morning of the +massacre. This seemed very likely, for there could hardly be two such +boats at hand, where the Indian water-craft were slender, fragile +canoes, poorly fitted for serious battle with lake waves. Doubtless +this was the only vessel Sau-ga-nash could find suitable for the +venture, or he would never have chosen it for the use of a single man, +as it was of a size to require the services of several paddles. Yet the +thought meant much; for this very lack of water-craft was likely to +render pursuit by the baffled savages impossible, if only once we got +fairly away from the shore. + +With these reflections driving swiftly through my brain, I ran one hand +hastily along the thwarts of the boat, seeking to discover if paddles +had been provided, or even a sail of any kind. I touched a coil of +rope, a rude oar-blade so broad as to seem unwieldy, a tightly rolled +cloth,--and then my groping fingers rested on the oddest-feeling thing +that ever a startled man touched in the dark. It was God's mercy I did +not cry out from the sudden nervous fit that seized me. The thing I +touched had a round, smooth, creepy feeling of flesh about it, so that +I believed I fingered a corpse; until it began to turn slowly under my +hand like a huge ball, the loose skin of it twitching yet revealing no +human features to my touch. Saint Andrew! but it frightened me! I knew +not what species of strange animal it might prove to be, nor whence +its grip or sting might come. Yet the odd feeling of it was strangely +fascinating,--I could not let it go; the damp flesh-like skin seemed +to cling to my fingers in a horrible sort of magnetism that bound me +prisoner, the cold perspiration of terror bursting from every pore, +even as my other hand, trembling and unnerved, sought in my shirt for +the knife of Little Sauk. + +As I gripped the weapon, the thing began to straighten out, coming up +in the quick odd jerks with which some snakes uncoil their joints after +the torpidity of winter. My hand, finding naught to grasp, slipped from +the smooth round ball, and as it fell touched what seemed an ear, and +then a human nose. + +"Merciful God! 'tis a man!" I gasped, in astonishment and yet relief, +as I closed upon his throat, madly determined to shut off his wind +before he could give alarm. + +"Cuss the luck!" he gasped hoarsely, and I let go of him, scarcely able +to ejaculate in my intense surprise at that familiar voice. + +"Burns? For Heaven's sake, Burns! can this indeed be you?" + +For an instant he did not speak, doubtless as greatly perplexed as I at +the strange situation. + +"If ye're Injun," he ventured at last gravely, "then I'm a bloody +ghost; but if by any chance ye're the lad, Wayland, which yer voice +sounds like, then it's Ol' Tom Burns as ye're a-maulin' 'round, which +seems ter be yer specialty, a-jumpin' on unoffensive settlers in the +dark, an' a-chokin' the life outer them." + +The growling tone of his voice was growing querulous, and it was +evident that his temper, never quite childlike, had not been greatly +improved by his late experiences as an Indian captive. + +"But Burns, old friend!" I persisted heartily, my courage returned once +more, "it was surely enough to stir any man to violence to encounter +such a thing in the dark! What in Heaven's name has happened to leave +you with such a poll? What has become of your hair and beard? Is their +loss a part of Indian torture?" + +There was a low chuckle in the darkness, as if the old rascal were +laughing to himself. + +"Injun nuthin!" he returned with vehemence. "Thet's jist my way of +sarcumventin' the bloody varmints. I shaved the hull blame thing soon +as ever they let me loose, an' then played loony, till thar ain't no +Injun 'long the shore as 'd tech me fer all the wampum in the Illini +country. 'Tain't the fust time I saved my scalp by some sech dern +trick. I tell ye, it's easy 'nough ter beat Injuns if ye only know how. +By snakes! I'm sacred, I am,--specially teched by the Great Spirit. +I tell ye, ter be real loony is dern nigh as good in an Injun camp +as ter hev red hair like thet thar little Sister Celeste with the +Pottawattomies. She knows her business, you bet; an' so does Ol' Burns +know him!" + +His mention of her name instantly recalled me to the little group +waiting above us, and doubtless already worried at my prolonged absence. + +"Burns," I interrupted, "this is no time for reminiscences. I am here +seeking some means of escape out of this place of horror. What were you +doing down here?" + +"Sorter contemplatin' a sea v'yage," he said, dryly. "'Twas rec'mended +by my doctor fer the growth o' my har. So, snoopin' 'round yere in the +dark, an' not over fond o' Injun com'any, I found this yere boat. Jest +got in ter see how 'twas fixed, when ye jumped down yonder. Reckon I'd +kinder like ter wet 'er up an' see wot she's like." + +"Good! so would I. This boat was placed here for that very purpose. +Now listen. The young woman you just mentioned, that Indian missionary +with the auburn hair, is above yonder, together with another young +white girl rescued from the massacre, and the Frenchman, De Croix. We +have come here, on pledge of a half-breed chief that this boat would +be ready for our escape. And we have no time to waste, for we may be +followed at any moment." + +"They ain't seen ye stealin' outer the camp?" + +"No, but in doing it I was compelled to kill Little Sauk, and the +others may find his body at any time." + +For a moment the sly old borderer made no response, and I knew he +was quietly turning over the complicated situation in his own mind +preparatory to intelligent action. I heard him step from the boat into +the shallow water. + +"All right, lad! I understand," he said heartily, his former +indifference vanished. "Derned if I wouldn't jist as soon leave that +Parley-Voo behind; but I'm with ye, an' I reckon Ol' Burns'll give them +thar redskins another dern good jolt. Take hold here, boy, an' we'll +run this yere man-o-war outside, where we kin ship the rest o' her +crew." + +The back-water rippling among the old piling was shallow, but the boat +had little aboard and floated free, so that we worked it forward with +little difficulty until we succeeded in rounding the slight promontory +and held its bulging sides close against the mud wall. Leaving Burns to +keep it in place, I crept silently up the bank. + +"Come!" I whispered, making my way to the side of Mademoiselle more by +instinct than sight. "The boat we sought is here and ready! I have even +found a boatman to aid us, in the form of Ol' Burns, who, you remember, +aided De Croix and me at the time of our famous race. Let us waste no +more of the night here, but do the rest of your talking in greater +safety on the water." + +They came with me down to the edge of the stream without a word +of protest. I had taken Mademoiselle in my arms and lifted her +slight form into the boat, when she turned suddenly, as if by an +unrestrainable impulse, and held out her hands toward the dim figure of +the silent girl who yet remained motionless several feet away. + +"Marie!" she said, anxiously, "it may be wrong of me to urge it, but +I beg you to think again in this grave matter. Surely such horrible +massacre as you have witnessed must absolve you from your vow, and +yield you freedom to return eastward with those you love." + +The other did not respond to this passionate appeal, but stood facing +us silent as a statue. + +"What mean you, Mademoiselle?" I asked. "Will not this Sister Celeste +consent to leave the Indians?" + +"Nay, she has made a sacred vow of religion which binds her to this +sacrifice. I implore you, John Wayland, urge her to go with us! 'Tis +but waste of her life here. She is an old schoolmate of mine, and +'t will be hard to leave her alone in this wilderness. Captain de +Croix, she was far from being a stranger to you in those other days at +Montreal,--will you not add your entreaties to ours?" + +I saw him step forward toward that quiet bowed figure, and she +straightened perceptibly, even in the darkness, as he drew near. His +words were in French, and spoken so low I missed their meaning; yet we +all heard plainly her calm answer, while marking the faltering accents +of her lips. + +"Dear, dear friend!" and I felt her eyes, blinded by tears, were +seeking out Mademoiselle through the gloom, "it breaks my heart to +answer you nay in this hour of sore trial to us both. Yet my vow to God +is more sacred than any earthly friendship; nor could peace ever again +abide in my heart were I to break the vow so lightly. My duty is here, +be it for life or death; and here I must abide until the Master sets me +free." + +Then, addressing De Croix, she continued sadly, "No, Monsieur, the +sense of duty that presses upon me and yields me such strength is +beyond your comprehension. I bid you go back to that world of light and +gaiety you have always loved so fondly, and think no more of me. To you +I am, even as you have supposed, a dead woman, yet happier far in this +sad exile than I ever was in that gilded social cage where men laugh +while they break the hearts that trust them. My Indians are indeed +cruel, but there is a deeper cruelty than that of bloodshed, and I +prefer the open savagery of the woods and plains to things I have known +in city life. So it must be good-bye, Monsieur!" + +I was looking directly at her when she uttered these last words of +dismissal, yet as she ended she vanished into the black night beyond, +I knew not how. A moment before, two figures had been standing there, +De Croix's and hers; and although my eyes never once wavered, suddenly +there remained but one, that of De Croix, peering forward with bent +body as if he also knew not how or when the girl had vanished from his +side. I was staring yet, half believing it was but a trick of my eyes, +when suddenly, like phantoms from the mist, a half-dozen naked figures +topped the high bank before me. It was the work almost of a second. I +caught Burns's low cry of warning from where he sat watching within the +boat. + +"Run!" I shouted to De Croix. "To the boat, quick! The savages are upon +us!" + +He made no motion, and I grasped him. Rarely have I laid so heavy a +hand on one in friendship; but I lifted him from off his feet and flung +him bodily into the boat's bottom, scarce waiting till he struck before +I had my shoulder against the stern to send the craft free from shore. +I know not what mischance caused it, whether I slipped upon a stone +or tripped over a hidden root; but as I shoved the boat far out into +the dark current of the river, instead of springing after it, as I had +meant to do, I toppled and plunged headlong down at the edge of the +stream. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE BATTLE ON THE SHORE + + +What followed was long a famous story on the border, and I have even +read it written out most carefully in books purporting to tell the +history of those troublous times. None of them have it as I recall the +details of the incident, although it all occurred so rapidly that I +myself can hardly tell just how 'twas done. + +I know that I scrambled again to my knees, resting half in the water, +my purpose being to fling myself into the river in an effort to regain +the boat. But it was already out of sight in the dense gloom, while +not the slightest sound reached me for guidance. Beyond this, I had no +time for much save action. Above me, upon the high bank not three yards +away, I saw several Indian forms peering over; and then others, three +or four, I am uncertain which, sprang lightly down within a yard of +where I crouched in waiting. + +My father gave me a frontier maxim once, which ran, "If you must +fight, strike first, and strike hard." The words flashed in my memory, +and I put them to the test straightway. These prowling savages were +apparently unaware of my predicament; their sole thought was with the +boat floating away lakeward down the stream. At all cost, they must +be blocked in any purpose of pursuit. These were the thoughts that +darted through my brain like fire through stubble. How many opposed +me, how desperate would be the struggle, were matters of which I did +not stop to think. I could at least busy them until the fugitives were +safe; after that, it was God's affair, and theirs. My rifle was wet +and useless from my recent tumble; but before the group at the water's +edge even saw me I was fairly upon them, striking fiercely with my +gun-stock, and two savages went down, shrieking from pain and surprise, +before so much as a return blow reached me. + +It was not a noisy battle; from the outset it was too fierce and rapid +for any waste of breath. Never did I need my strength of body more, nor +did the long training of my father come in better play. I made that +long rifle-barrel both club and sword, knife and axe in one, striking, +thrusting, clubbing, in the mad fury with which desperation bids a man +battle for his life. I had no thought to live, but was determined that +if I went down to earth many a painted savage should lie there with +me. The enshrouding darkness proved a friendly help; for as I backed in +closer against the bank, I gained a fair view of my opponents, while +keeping myself more hidden. Again and again they charged upon me, +joined now by the others from above; but the circling iron I swung with +tireless arms formed a dead-line no leaping Indian burst through alive. + +Once a hurtling tomahawk half buried itself in my shoulder; a +long-knife, thrown by a practised hand, pierced the muscles of my +thigh, and stuck there quivering, till I struck it loose; and twice +they fired at me, the second shot tearing the flesh of my side, searing +it like fire. Yet I scarcely realized I was touched, so fiercely was +the battle-blood now coursing through my veins, so intense the joy with +which I crushed them back. I grew delirious, feeling the rage to slay +sweep over me as never before, giving me the crazed strength of a dozen +men, until I lost all sense of defensive action, and sprang forth into +their midst as might an avenging thunderbolt from the black sky. Never +had I swung flail in peaceful border contest as I did that murderous +iron bar in the dark of the river-shore, driving them back foot by foot +against the high bank which held them helpless victims of my wrath. I +struck again and again, my teeth set together in bulldog tenacity, my +breath coming in gasps, the streaming blood from a deep cut over my +eyes half blinding me, yet guided by fierce instinct to find and smite +my foes. I trod on limp bodies, on writhing forms, and felt my weapon +clash against iron rifle barrels and clang upon uplifted steel; but +nothing stopped me, no cry of terror, no plea for mercy, no clutching +hand, no deadly numbing blow. + +God knows the story of that fight,--how long it lasted, by what miracle +'twas won. To me it is--and was--little more than a dim haze of strange +leaping figures, of fierce dark faces, of maddened cries of hate, +of uplifted hands, of dull-clashing weapons. I seemed to see it all +through a red fog whence the blood dripped, and I lost consciousness of +everything save my unswerving duty to strike hard until I fell. At last +out from the maelstrom of that wild _mêlée_ but a single warrior seemed +to face me; and some instinct of the fight caused me to draw back a +pace and wipe the obscuring blood away, that I might see him better. +It came to me that this was to be the end, the final duel which was to +decide that midnight battle. He and I were there alone; and the stars +bursting through the clouds gave me faint view of him, and of those +dark, silent forms that lined the shore where they had fallen. + +A chief, a Pottawattomie, this much I knew even in that hasty shrouded +glance. Writers of history affirm my opponent was Peesotum, the same +fierce warrior whose cruel hand slew the brave Captain Wells and +wrenched his still beating heart from out the mutilated body. All I +realized then were his broad sinewy shoulders, his naked brawny body, +his eyes ablaze with malignant hate. He was the first to close, his +wild cry for vengeance piercing the still night; and before I knew it, +the maddened savage was within the guard of my rifle-barrel, and we +were locked in the stern grapple of death. + +It was knife to knife, our blades gleaming dull in the dim light of the +stars, each man gripping the uplifted wrist of the other, putting forth +each last reserve of strength, each cunning trick of fence, to break +free and strike the ending blow. Back and forth we strove, straining +like two wild animals, our moccasined feet slipping on the wet earth, +our muscles strained, and sinews cracking with intensity of effort, +our breath coming in labored gasps, our bodies tense as bowstrings. +Such merciless strain could not endure forever, and, strong as I was +in those young days, the savage was far stronger and less exhausted by +the struggle, so that inch by inch he pressed me backward, battling +like a demon, until I could see the cruel gleam of his eyes as I gave +slowly down. It was God who saved me, for as I fell I struck the sharp +shelving of the bank, and the quick stoppage swung the savage to one +side and below me, so that, even as he gave vent to an exulting yell of +triumph, wrenching his hand loose from my weakening clasp to strike the +death-blow, I whirled and forced him downward, his face buried in the +stream. + +Those who write history say the rescuing warriors discovered him alive. +I know not; but this I swear,--I held him there until every struggle +ceased, until answering yells from the westward told me others were +already close at hand, and then, breathless and trembling from the +struggle, blinded by blood and faint from wounds, I sprang forward into +the night-shadows, dimly conscious that my sole hope for escape lay +lakeward. I ran but feebly at first, skirting the partially destroyed +stockade of the old Fort, with its litter of debris, and stumbling +constantly in the darkness over the obstructions that lined the river +bank. As my breath returned, and I somewhat cleared my eyes of blood, I +saw better; and at last ran from the darker soil on to the white sand +of the beach. + +There were now many stars in the sky, with the moon struggling feebly +to break through the haze; but to my anxious glance nothing was visible +upon the water. Surely the boat must have floated to the river-mouth +by this time,--surely the force of the current would have accomplished +that; nor was it likely that Ol' Burns would draw far away from shore +until assured of my fate. The wild shouting told me that savages from +the camp had already found their dead. A moment more would place them +on my trail, hot for revenge; and there was no course left me but to +take the water, before their keen eyes found me out. I waded out, +seeking thus to get far enough from shore to baffle their search, when +suddenly a quick spark of light winked from the blackness in front of +me. Surely it could be nothing less than a signal, the swift stroke of +flint on steel,--no doubt in the faint hope it would prove a beacon to +me in my need. + +Desperate as the chance was, it was still a chance, and to my mind the +only one. I glanced behind; a dim figure or two dotted the white sand, +and my heart lifted a silent prayer to God for guidance. A second later +I was beyond my depth, breasting the unknown waters, swimming steadily +toward the place where that mysterious spark had glimmered. Once again +it flashed, the barest glimpse of light through the intense gloom; and +I pressed on with new vigor, certain now it was a real beacon. But I +was so weakened by wounds and spent from exertion, and such desperate +work is swimming fully clad, that my progress proved slow; and twice I +was compelled to pause, paddling slowly on my back, in the buffeting of +the waves, in order to gain strength to renew the struggle. I almost +lost heart in the black loneliness, as the swirling water swept me back +and confused me with its ever-tossing motion. Once I went down from +sheer weakness, choking in a cloud of spray that swept my face; and +doubtless I should have let the struggle end in despair even then, had +not the spark leaped up once more through the deep haze; and this time +so close was it that my ears caught the clashing of the flint and steel. + +With the new hope of life thus given me, I pushed grimly forward, using +the silent Indian stroke that never tires, my eyes at the surface level +where the light of the moon glimmered feebly. At last I saw it,--the +black lumpy shadow of the boat. I must have splashed a little in my +weakness and excitement, for I plainly perceived the figure of a man +hastily leap to his feet, with an oar-blade uplifted threateningly +above his head. + +"Don't strike, Burns!" I managed to cry aloud. "It's Wayland." + +The next moment, with scarce so much as a breath remaining in my +battered body, I laid hand upon the boat's side, and clung there +panting and well-nigh spent. I felt his hands pressed under my arms, +and then, with the exercise of his great strength, he drew me steadily +up, inch by inch, until I topped the rail, and fell forward into the +bottom of the boat. An instant I rested thus, with tightly closed eyes, +my head reeling, my breath coming in sobs of pain, every muscle of my +strained body throbbing in misery. Scarcely conscious of what was being +done about me, I could still realize that arms touched my neck, that +my head was gently lifted to a softer resting-place, and that a hand, +strangely tender, brushed back from my forehead the wet tangled hair. +The touch was thrilling; and I unclosed my wearied eyes, looking up +into the sympathetic face of Mademoiselle. The faint moonlight rested +upon it gently, touching her crown of hair with silver; and within the +dark depths of her eyes I read clearly the message I had waited for so +long. + +"Toinette!" I murmured, half conscious. + +She bowed her head above me, and I felt a sudden plash of tears that +could not be restrained. + +"Do not try to speak now, John!" she whispered softly, her finger at my +lips. "I can only thank the good God who has brought you back to me." + +I made no effort to say more; I could only lie in silence and gaze up +at her, pressing the hands resting so frankly within my own. Indeed, we +needed no words in that hour; our hearts had spoken, and thenceforward +we were one. + +Suddenly the heavy boat lurched beneath us, to some quick impetus that +sent a shudder through every inch of it; and I heard a heavy splash +alongside, which instantly brought me upright, anxiously grasping the +rail. + +"May Heaven help him!" cried Burns excitedly, and pointing out at the +black waters. "The Frenchman has gone overboard!" + +"Overboard?" I echoed, striving to regain my feet. "Did he fall?" + +"Fall? No; it was a dive off the back seat here. Save me! but he went +into it like a gull." + +We sought for him long and vainly, peering over those dark swirling +waters, calling his name aloud, and striking flint on steel in hope to +guide him by the spark. Nothing appeared along the rolling surface, no +answering cry came from the black void; De Croix had disappeared into +the depths, as desperate men go down to death. Suddenly, as I leaned +over, sick at heart, peering into the dimness, Toinette drew near and +touched me softly. + +"Let us not mourn," she said, in strange quietness. "No doubt 'tis +better so." + +"How?" I questioned, shocked at her seemingly heartless words. "Surely +you cannot rejoice at such a loss?" + +"'Tis not a loss," she answered firmly, and the soft moon-rays were +white upon her face. "He has only gone back to her we left behind; it +was the beckoning hand of love that called him through the waters. Now +it is only ours to pray that he may find her." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +IN THE NEW GRAY DAWN + + +My anxious glance wandered from the face I so dearly loved, out where +those dark restless waters merged into the brooding mystery of the +black night. How unspeakably dreary, lonely, hopeless it all was! Into +what tragic unknown fate had this earliest comrade of my manhood been +remorselessly swept? Was all indeed well with him? or had the Nemesis +of a wrong once done dealt its fatal stroke at last? The voices of the +night were silent; the chambers of the great tossing sea hid their +secret well. Had this gallant and reckless young soldier of France, +this petted courtier of the gayest court in Europe, whose very name +and rank I knew not, succeeded in his desperate deed? Had he reached +yonder blood-stained shore, lined with infuriated savages, and found +safe passage through them to the side of the woman he had once called +wife, and then forgotten? Or had he found, instead, the solemn peace +of death amid the swirling waters of this vast inland sea, so many +leagues to the westward of that sunny land he loved? These were the +thoughts that shook me, as I leaned out above the rail, her dear hand +always on my shoulder. Never have the circling years found voice, nor +the redeemed wilderness made answer. + +"Possibly it might be done," I admitted slowly. "'Tis scarce farther +than I swam just now, and he is neither weary nor wounded." + +We all realized it was a useless peril to remain there longer, and I +sat at the helm and watched, while Burns, who developed considerable +knowledge in such matters, fitted the heavy sail in place. With the +North Star over the water for our guidance, I headed the blunt nose of +the boat due eastward into the untracked waters. + +I confess that my memory was still lingering upon De Croix, and my eyes +turned often enough along our foam-flecked wake in vague wonderment at +his fate. It was Mademoiselle who laid hand softly on my knee at last, +and aroused my attention to her. + +"Why did you tell Sister Celeste that you came to Dearborn seeking Elsa +Matherson?" she questioned, her clear eyes intently reading my face. + +"I had even forgotten that I mentioned it," I answered, surprised +at this query at such a time. "But it is strictly true. While upon +his death-bed Elsa Matherson's father wrote to mine,--they were old +comrades in the great war,--and I was sent hither to bring the orphan +girl eastward. I sought her as a brother might seek a sister he had +never seen, Mademoiselle; yet have failed most miserably in my mission." + +"How failed?" + +"In that I have found no trace of the girl, and beyond doubt she +perished in the massacre. I know not how, but I have been strangely +baffled and misled from the first in my search for her, and it was all +to no purpose." + +For the first time since I had fallen dripping into the boat, a slight +smile was visible in the dark eyes fronting me. + +"Why hid you from me with such care the object of your search?" + +"I hid nothing, Mademoiselle. We spoke together about it often." + +"Ay, indeed you told me you sought a young girl, and your words led +me to think at first it must be Josette, and later still the Indian +missionary. But not once did you breathe the name of the girl in my +ears. The dwellers at Dearborn were neither so many nor so strange to +me that I could not have aided you in your search." + +"You knew this Elsa Matherson?" + +"I am not so sure of that, Master Wayland," she returned gravely, +her eyes wandering into the night. "Once I thought I did, but she has +changed so greatly in the last few days that I am hardly sure. A young +girl's life is often filled with mystery, and there are happenings that +turn girlhood to womanhood in a single hour. Love has power to change +the nature as by magic, and sorrow also has a like rare gift. Do you +still greatly wish to find this Elsa Matherson?" + +"To find her?" and I gazed about me incredulously into those flitting +shadows where the waves raced by. "Ay, for I have dreamed of her as of +a lost sister, and it will sadly grieve those at home to have me return +thus empty-handed. Yet the thought is foolishness, Mademoiselle, and I +understand not why you should mock me so." + +She drew closer, in the gentle caressing way she had, and found my +disengaged hand, her sweet face held upward so that I could mark every +changing expression. + +"Never in my useless life was I farther removed from any spirit of +mockery," she insisted, soberly; "for never before have I seen the +presence of God so clearly manifest in His mysterious guidance of men. +You, who sought after poor Elsa Matherson in this wilderness, looking +perchance for a helpless orphan child, have been led to pluck me in +safety out from savage hands, and yet never once dreamed that in doing +so you only fulfilled your earlier mission." I stared at her, grasping +with difficulty the full significance of her speech. + +"Your words puzzle me." + +"Nay, they need not," and I caught the sudden glitter of tears on her +lashes; "for I am Elsa Matherson." + +"You? you?" and I crushed her soft hand within my fingers, as I +peered forward at the quickly lowered face. "Why, you are French, +Mademoiselle, and of a different name!" + +She glanced up now into my puzzled face, a bit shyly, yet with some of +the old roguishness visible in her eyes. + +"My mother was indeed French, but my father was an American soldier," +she said rapidly, as if eager to have the explanation ended. "You never +asked my name, save that one night when we first met amid the sand, +and then I gave you only that by which I have been most widely known. +None except my father ever called me Elsa; to all others I was always +Toinette. But I am Roger Matherson's only child." + +It was clear enough now, and the deception had been entirely my own, +rendered possible by strange chances of omission, by rare negligence +of speech--aided by my earlier impression that she whom I sought was a +mere child. + +"And 'twas Sister Celeste who told you whom I sought?" I asked, for +lack of courage to say more. + +"Yes, to-night, while we waited for you beside the ruins of the old +factory. Oh, how far away it all seems now!" and she pointed backward +across the waters. "Poor, poor girl! Poor Captain de Croix! Oh, it +is all so sad, so unutterably sad to me! I knew them both so well, +Monsieur," and she rested her bowed head upon one hand, staring out +into the night, and speaking almost as if to herself alone; "yet I +never dreamed that he was a nobleman of France, or that he had married +Marie Faneuf. She was so sweet a girl then,--and now to be buried alive +in that wilderness! Think you that he truly loved her?" + +"I almost have faith that he did, Mademoiselle," I answered gravely. +"He was greatly changed from his first sight of her face, though he +was a difficult man to gauge in such matters. There was a time when I +believed him in love with you." + +She tossed her head. + +"Nay," she answered, "he merely thought he was, because he found me +hard to understand and difficult of conquest; but 'twas little more +than his own vanity that drew him hither. I trust it may be the deeper +feeling that has taken him back now in face of death to Marie." + +"You have indeed proved hard to understand by more than one," I +ventured, for in spite of her graciousness the old wound rankled. "It +has puzzled me much to understand how you so gaily sent me forth to a +mission that might mean death, to save this Captain de Croix." + +It was a foolish speech, and she met it bravely, with heightened color +and a flash of dark eyes. + +"'Twas no more than the sudden whim of a girl," she answered quickly, +"and regretted before you were out of sight. Nor did I dream you would +meet my conditions by such a sacrifice." + +"You showed small interest as you stood on the stockade when we went +forth!" + +"You mean when Captain de Croix and I leaned above the eastern +palisades?" + +"Ay, not once did your eyes wander to mark our progress." + +Her eyes were smiling now, and her face archly uplifted. + +"Indeed, Master Wayland, little you know of the struggles of my heart +during that hour. Nor will I tell you; for the secrets of a girl must +be her own. But I marked each step you took onward toward the Indian +camp, until the night hid you,--the night, or else the gathering tears +in my eyes." + +The sudden yawing of the boat before a gust of wind drew my thought +elsewhere, and kept back the words ready upon my tongue. When once more +I had my bearings and had turned back the plunging bow, she sat silent, +deep in thought that I hesitated to disturb. Soon I noted her head +droop slightly to the increased movement of the boat. + +"You are worn out!" I said tenderly. "Lean here against me, and sleep." + +"Indeed, I feel most weary," was her drowsy reply. "Yes, I will rest +for a few moments." + +How clear remains the memory of those hours, while I sat watchful of +the helm, her head resting peacefully on my lap, and all about us those +lonely tossing waters! What a mere chip was our boat in the midst of +that desolate sea; how dark and dreary the changeless night-shadows! +Over and over again I pictured the details of each scene I have here +set forth so poorly, to dream at the end of a final home coming which +should not be alone. It was with heart thankful to God, that I watched +the slow stealing upward of the gray dawn as the early rays of light +crept toward us across the heaving of the waters. It was typical of all +I had hoped,--this, and the black shadows fleeing away into the west. +Brighter and brighter grew the crimsoning sky over the boat's bow, +where Burns lay sleeping, until my eyes could distinguish a far-off +shore-line heavily crowned with trees. I thought to rouse her to the +glorious sight; but even as I glanced downward into the fair young +face, her dark eyes opened in instant smile of greeting. + +"'Tis the morning," she said gladly, "and that dark, dark night has +passed away." + +"For ever, Mademoiselle; and there is even a land of promise to be seen +out yonder!" + +She sat up quickly, shading her eyes with her hand as she gazed with +eagerness toward where I pointed. + +"Think you we shall find shelter and friends there?" + +"The half-breed chief said there were yet white settlers upon the Saint +Joseph, Mademoiselle; and the mouth of that river should be easily +found." + +She turned toward me, a slight frown darkening her face. + +"I wish you would not call me Mademoiselle," she said slowly. "It is as +if we were still mere strangers; and you said Elsa Matherson was to be +as your sister." + +I bent over her suddenly, all my repressed love glowing in my face. + +"Toinette!" I whispered passionately, "I would call you by a dearer +name than that,--by the dearest of all dear names if I might, for you +have won my heart in the wilderness." + +For a single instant she glanced shyly up into my face, her own crimson +at my sudden ardor. Her eyes drooped and hid themselves behind their +long lashes. + +"Those who sent you forth seeking a sister might not thus wish to +welcome Elsa Matherson," she said softly. + +"'Tis a venture I most gladly make," I insisted, "and would seal it +with a kiss." + +Her eyes flashed up at me, full of sudden merriment. + +"The unpaid wager leaves me helpless to resist, Monsieur." + +The soft haze of Indian summer rested over the valley of the Maumee. We +rode slowly along the narrow winding trail that hugged the river bank; +for our journey had been a long one, and the horses were wearied. Burns +was riding just in advance of Toinette and me, his cap pulled low over +his eyes, his new growth of hair standing out stiff and black beneath +its covering. Once he twisted his seamed face about in time to catch us +smiling at his odd figure, and growled to himself as he kicked at his +horse's flanks. + +It was thus we rounded the bend and saw before us the little clearing +with the cabin in the centre of its green heart. At sight of it my eyes +grew moist and I rested my fingers gently upon the white hand that lay +against her saddle-pommel. + +"Fear not, dear heart!" I whispered tenderly. "It is home for both +alike, and the welcome of love awaits you as well as me." + +She glanced up at me, half shyly as in the old way, and there was a +mist of tears clinging to the long lashes. + +"Those who love you, John, I will love," she said solemnly. + +It was Rover who saw us first, and came charging forth with savage +growl and ruffled fur, until he scented me, and changed his fierceness +into barks of frantic welcome. Then it was I saw them, even as when I +last rode forth, my father seated in his great splint chair, my mother +with her arm along the carved back, one hand shading her eyes as she +watched our coming. + +This is not a memory to be written about for stranger eyes to read, but +as I turned from them after that first greeting, their glances were +upon her who stood waiting beside me, so sweet and pure in her young +womanhood. + +"And this, my son?" questioned my father kindly. "We would bid her +welcome also; yet surely she cannot be that little child for whose sake +we sent you forth?" + +I took her by the hand as we faced them. + +"You sent me in search of one whom you would receive even as your own +child," I answered simply. "This is Roger Matherson's daughter, and the +dear wife of your son." + +What need have I to dwell upon the love that bade her welcome? And so +it was that out of all the suffering and danger, forth from the valley +of the shadow of death, Toinette and I came home. + +THE END + + + ==================================================== + + _Uniform with "When Wilderness Was King"_ + + Each with six full-page pictures in color and + other decorations by the Kinneys, $1.50 + + The striking appearance of these volumes is due to the + appropriate character of the type, initials, end-papers, etc., + and to the wonderful pictures in color. + + ---------------------------------------------------- + + By OTTILIE A. LILJENCRANTZ + + + The Ward of King Canute + + _A Romance of the Danish Conquest_ + +A stalwart and beautiful tale a fine, big thing, full of men's +strength and courage and a girl's devotion, the atmosphere of great +days and primitive human passions.--_Philadelphia. Ledger._ + + THIRD EDITION + + + The Thrall of Leif the Lucky + + _A Story of Viking Days_ + +A tale which moves among stalwart men, and in the palaces of +leaders.--_New York Mail and Express._ + +One of the best constructed historical romances that has appeared +in America in some years.--_Brooklyn Eagle_. + +The atmosphere of the old days of fighting and adventure glows in +the book.--_Springfield Republican._ + + SIXTH EDITION + + ---------------------------------------------------- + A. C. McCLURG & CO., Publishers + ==================================================== + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber Notes + + +All illustrations were positioned so as to not split paragraphs. Minor +typos corrected. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's When Wilderness was King, by Randall Parrish + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59617 *** |