CHAPTER SIX.
"Better, my boy?"
"Yes. What is it? I felt so sick and strange."
I was lying on my back looking up at my father, who was bending over mebathing my forehead with cold water.
"The sun--a little overdone. There, you are better now."
"Ah, I recollect," I said, "Where are the Indians?"
"Hush! Don't get excited. They are gone now."
"Yes, I know," I said; "gone to Colonel Preston's."
"Hist!" he cried, as I heard steps close by, and Morgan came hurryingup.
"Couldn't get far, sir. I was making haste, and getting close up to thelast man as I thought, when three of the savages jumped up just in mypath, and held up their bows and arrows in a way that said, plain as anytongue could speak, `go back, or we'll send one of these through you.'"
"The chief knows what he is about," said my father, "and we cannotcommunicate. Now then, get inside, and we will barricade the place aswell as we can, in case of their coming back. Can you walk now,George?"
"Yes, father, the giddiness has gone off now," I said; and I sprang up,but reeled and nearly fell again.
"Take my arm, boy," he said, as he helped me toward the window, and Iclimbed in by it, when the first thing my eyes lighted upon was thefigure of our Sarah, down on her knees behind the door with her eyesshut; but a gun was leaning up against the wall; and as she heard us shesprang up, seized it, and faced round.
"Oh! I thought it was the Indians," she said, with a sigh of relief.
"Perhaps we have been frightening ourselves without cause," said myfather, helping Morgan to fix up the strong shutter with which thewindow was provided. "The Indians are gone now."
"Yes," muttered Morgan, so that I could hear, "but they may come backagain. I don't trust 'em a bit."
"Nor I, Morgan," said my father, for he had heard every word; "but abold calm front seems to have kept them from attempting violence. If wehad been shut up here, and had opened fire, not one of us would now havebeen alive."
"Never mind, sir," said Morgan. "If they come back let's risk it, andshow a bold front here behind the shutters, with the muzzles of our gunssticking out, for I couldn't go through another hour like that again. Iwas beginning to turn giddy, like Master George here, and to feel as ifmy head was going to burst."
"Go up into the roof, and keep a good look-out from the little gratings;but keep away, so as not to show your face."
"Then you do think they'll come back, sir?"
"Yes, I feel sure of it. I am even now in doubt as to whether they areall gone. Indians are strangely furtive people, and I fully expect thata couple of them are lying down among the trees to watch us, for fear weshould try to communicate with the others. I am afraid now that I madea mistake in settling down so far from the rest. Ah! Listen! A shot.Yes; there it is again."
"No, sir," said Morgan, "that wasn't a shot: it was--there it goesagain!--and another."
Two distant sounds, exactly like shots, fell again upon our ears.
"Yes," cried my father, excitedly, "the fight has begun."
"Nay, sir, that was only a big 'gator threshing the water up in somecorner to kill the fish," cried Morgan; and he passed up through theceiling into the roof.
As Morgan went out of sight, and took his place in the narrow loftbetween the sloping rafters, my father busied himself loading guns, andplacing them ready by the openings in the shutters which I had alwayssupposed were for nothing else but to admit the light. And as heworked, Sarah stood ready to hand him powder or bullets, or a freshweapon, behaving with such calm seriousness, and taking so much interestin the work, that my father said, gravely--
"Hardly a woman's task this, Sarah."
"Ah, sir," she replied, quietly; "it's a woman's work to help where sheis wanted."
"Quite right," said my father. Then, turning to me, he went on, "I am asoldier, George, and all this is still very horrible to me, but I ammaking all these preparations in what I think is the right and wisestspirit; for if an enemy sees that you are well prepared, he is much lesslikely to attack you and cause bloodshed. We are safe all togetherindoors now, and with plenty of protection, so that if our Indianvisitors come again, we are more upon equal terms."
"Do you really think they will come again, father?" I said.
"I'm afraid so. We have been living in too much fancied security, andready to think there was no danger to apprehend from Indians. Now wehave been rudely awakened from our dream."
"And if they come shall you shoot, father?"
"Not unless it is absolutely necessary to save our lives. I cannot helpfeeling that we ought to be up at the settlement, but I should have beenunwilling to leave our pleasant home to the mercy of these savages; and,of course, now it is impossible to go, so we must make the best defencewe can, if the enemy returns."
All this was very startling, and from time to time little shudders ofdread ran through me, but at the same time there was so much novelty andexcitement, that I don't think I felt very much alarmed. In fact, Ifound myself hoping once that the Indians would come back, so that Icould see how they behaved now that we were shut up tightly in ourhouse, all of which was very reprehensible no doubt; but I am recordinghere, as simply and naturally as I can, everything that I can rememberof my boyish life.
The preparations for attack were at last ended, and after securing andbarricading door and window in every way possible, we sat down to waitfor the first sign of the enemy, and I was wondering how long it wouldbe before we saw the Indians return, when I suddenly awoke to the factthat I was terribly hungry.
I don't suppose I should have thought of it, though, if Sarah had notmade her appearance with bread and meat all ready cut for us, and verywelcome it proved; Morgan, on receiving his share passed up to him inthe loft, giving me a nod and a smile before he went back to continuehis watch.
And this proved to be a long and weary one. The afternoon sun slowlydescended; and as it sank lower, I could see that my father's face grewmore and more stern.
I did not speak to him, but I knew what it meant--that he was thinkingof the coming darkness, and of how terribly difficult our watch wouldbe.
"Yes," he said, suddenly, just as if he had heard my thoughts; "they arenaturally quiet, stealthy people, and the darkness will give themopportunities which would be full of risk by day. I am afraid that theyare waiting in ambush for the night, and that then they will come on."
"I hope not," I thought; but I would not have let my father see howfrightened I was for all the world; and trying to be as cheerful as Icould under the circumstances, I went up and joined Morgan to help himwatch from the latticed openings in the roof, with the garden graduallygrowing more gloomy, and the trees of the forest beyond rapidly becomingblack.
Then darker and darker, and there was no moon that night till quitelate.
Beyond the possibility of there being some reptile about that hadcrawled up from the river, hungry and supper-hunting, there had neverseemed to be anything about home that was alarming, and night afternight I had stolen out to listen to the forest sounds, and scent thecool, damp, perfumed air; but now there was a feeling of danger at hand,lurking perhaps so close that it would not have been safe to open thedoor; and as I watched beside Morgan from between the window-bars, wewere constantly touching each other, and pointing to some tree-stump,tuft, or hillock, asking whether that was an Indian creeping cautiouslytoward the house.
Somehow that seemed to me the darkest night I could remember, and thevarious sounds, all of which were really familiar, seemed strange.
Now there was the plaintive cry of one of the goat-suckers which hawkedfor moths and beetles round the great trees; then, after a silence soprofound that it was painful, came the deep croak of the bullfrog risingand falling and coming from a hundred different directions at once.Then all at once their deep croaking was dominated by a loud barkingbellow; and as I listened with my hands feeling cold and damp, I caughthold of Morgan.
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br /> "What's that?" I whispered, excitedly.
"My arm," he replied, coolly. "Don't pinch, lad."
"No, no; I mean the sound. What noise was that?"
"Oh! Why, you know. That was a 'gator."
"Are you sure? It sounded like a man's voice."
"Not it. Who did you think could be there? Nobody likely to be outthere but Indians, and they wouldn't shout; they'd whisper so that weshouldn't know they were near."
I was silent again, and sat watching and listening as sound after soundstruck my ear, making it seem that the wilds had never been so fullbefore of strange noises, though the fact was that nothing was unusualexcept that I did not realise that I had never been in danger before,and sat up to listen.
All at once I jumped and uttered a cry, for something had touched me.
"Hush! Don't make a noise," said a familiar voice. "I only wanted toknow whether you could make out anything."
"No, father. Only the frogs and alligators are barking and bellowing."
"Can't see any sign of Indians, nor any red light from over toward thesettlement?"
"No, father."
"No, sir. All's quiet," said Morgan.
"It isn't, father," I whispered. "I never heard so much noise from outby the river before. There, hark!"
We all listened in silence as a loud bellowing sound came from adistance.
"There!" I whispered, in awe-stricken tones.
"Only one of the reptiles by the stream," said my father, quietly.
"But don't you think it's because some one is there?"
"No; certainly not. Keep a sharp look-out on both sides, Morgan, andwarn me if you see the slightest movement, for it may be a crawling,lurking Indian."
"We'll keep a good look-out, sir, never fear," said Morgan, and weresumed our watch--if watch it could be called, where we were moredependent upon our ears than upon our eyes.
Morgan was very silent and thoughtful till I spoke to him.
"What did my father mean about the red glare over at the settlement?"
"Hah!" he ejaculated, and he was again silent for a minute or two. Thenin a quick whisper, "I was just thinking about that, Master George, whenyou spoke, and that it was the enemy we had to fear the most."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Fire, my lad, fire. I dare say that with our guns and swords we maykeep them off; but that's how they'll get the better of us."
"By fire?"
"Yes; they'll get something blazing up against the house, and the momentit catches fire it's all over with us."
"What! Set fire to the house?"
"Yes, Master George, that's what your father's afraid of. No; I'm wrongthere. I was at the wars with him, and I never saw him afraid--not evento-day. Takes a bold man to come out of his fort and go up to the enemyas he did--twelve to one--expecting every moment a crack from atomahawk. He hasn't got any fear in him; but he thinks about the fireall the same. Now then, don't talk, but keep a sharp look-out, or theymay steal on to us without our seeing them."
All this was said in a low whisper as we tried to keep a good look-outfrom the little trellised dormers; and the minutes stole on and becamehours, with the darkness seeming to increase till about midnight. Thenall looked darker, when Morgan pressed my arm, and I gave, a violentstart.
"'Sleep, sir?"
"I? Asleep? No! Yes; I'm afraid I must have been," I said, feelingthe colour come burning into my face.
"Look yonder," he whispered.
I looked from the grating and saw that, all at once, as it appeared tome, the tops of the trees were visible out to the east, and it grewplainer and plainer as I watched.
"Moon's getting very old, Master George," whispered Morgan, "but yondershe comes up."
"Then it will soon be light."
"No; but not so dark."
"Then the Indians won't come now?" I said eagerly.
"I don't know much about them, Master George, but from what I've heardsay from those who do, Indians always comes when they're not expected,and if you're to be ready for them you must always be on the watch."
The overpowering sense of sleep which had made me lose consciousness fora few minutes ceased to trouble me now, and I stood watching eagerly forthe time when the moon would rise above the trees, and send its lightacross the clearing in front of the house. I waited anxiously, forthere had been the lurking dread that the Indians might creep up to thegarden through the darkness, unseen, and perhaps strike at my fatherdown below before he could be on his guard.
Once the moon was up, I felt that we should have light till daybreak,and with that light a good deal of the shivering dread caused by thedarkness would pass away.
It was a long, very long while before the moon reached the tops of thetrees, but when it did, the clearing and the gardens seemed to have beentransformed. Long shadows, black as velvet, stretched right away, andtrees were distorted so that I felt as if I was dreaming of seeing agarden upon which I had never set eyes before.
At last, almost imperceptibly, the moon, well on to its last quarter,appeared above the edge of the forest, and I was in the act of drawingmyself back with a feeling of satisfaction that all was safe, when I sawsomething dark lying close to the shadow cast by a tree.
"Would Indians lie down and crawl?" I whispered.
"More likely to than walk, if all I hear's true, Master George."
"Then look there!" I whispered, as I pointed to the dark, shadowyfigure.
"Where, lad? I can't see anything."
"There; just at the edge of that long, stretched-out shadow."
Morgan drew in his breath with a faint hiss.
"It's moving--_he's_ moving," he whispered; "crawling right along to getround to the back, I should say. And look, sir, look!--another of 'em."
I just caught sight of the second figure, and then crept to the roughtrap-door opening.
"Father," I whispered, "come up here. Bring a gun."
He was beneath the opening in a moment.
"Take hold of the gun," he said. "Mind!--be careful"--and he passed theheavy weapon up to me.
The next moment he was up in the rough loft, and I pointed out thefigures of the Indians.
I heard him too draw in his breath with a faint hiss, as he stretchedout his hand for the gun, took it, softly passed the barrel out throughthe open window and took aim, while I stood suffering from a nervousthrill that was painful in the extreme, for I knew that when he fired itmust mean death.
I involuntarily shrank away, waiting for the heavy report which seemedas if it would never come; and at last, unable to bear the suspenselonger, I pressed forward again to look hesitatingly through the window,feeling that I might have to fire a gun myself before long.
All at once, as the suspense had grown unbearable, the barrel of thefirelock made a low scraping noise, for my father was drawing it back.
"A false alarm, George," he said, gently.
"No, no," I whispered; "look--look!" for I could see both figurescrawling along slowly, flat on their breasts.
"Yes, I see them, my boy," he said; "and I was deceived too, for themoment, but we must not waste shot on creatures like these."
"Why, if it arn't a pair o' 'gators," said Morgan, with a suppressedlaugh. "Well, they did look just like Injins, and no mistake."
I felt so vexed at making so absurd a mistake, that I remained silenttill my father passed the gun to me.
"Take hold," he said, gently. "It was a mistake that deceived us all.Better be too particular than not particular enough."
He lowered himself down into the room below, and I passed him the gunbefore going back to where Morgan leaned against the window.
"There they go, Master George," he said, laughing. "You and me musthave a new pair o' spectacles apiece from the old country if we have todo much of this sort of thing."
"I did not think I could have been so stupid," I said, angrily; andgoing away to the other window, so that I should not have to
listen tomy companion's bantering, which I felt pretty sure would come, I stoodgazing at the beautiful scene without, the moon making the dark greenleaves glisten like silver, while the shades grew to be of a velvetyblack. Every here and there patches of light shone on the great trunksof the trees, while their tops ran up like great spires into thesoftly-illumined sky.
The excitement had driven away all desire for sleep, and we watched onlistening to every sound and cry that came from the forest surrounding,wonderfully plain in the silence of the night, which magnified croak,bellow, or faint rustling among the leaves or bushes, as some nocturnalcreature made its way through the trees.
At times the watching seemed to be insufferably dreary and wearisome;then something startling would send the blood thrilling through my veinsagain; and so on and on, till the moon began to grow pale, the light toappear of a pearly grey in the east, golden flecks glistened high allabove the trees, and once more it was new day, with the birds singing,and a feeling of wonder impressing me, it appeared so impossible that Icould have been up and watching all night.