CHAPTER XVII.
I RETRACE MY STEPS.
Next morning we passed through the foothills into an open meadowcountry. As I lifted up my eyes I saw for the first time the mountainsnear at hand. There they lay, not more than ten miles distant, woodyalmost to the summit, but with here and there a bold finger of rockpointing skywards. They looked infinitely high and rugged, far higherthan any hills I had ever seen before, for my own Tinto or Cairntablewould to these have been no more than a footstool. I made out a clearbreach in the range, which I took to be old Studd's Clearwater Gap. Thewhole sight intoxicated me. I might dream of horrors in the low coastforests among their swampy creeks, but in that clear high world of thehills I believed lay safety. I could have gazed at them for hours, butShalah would permit of no delay. He hurried us across the open meadows,and would not relax his pace till we were on a low wooded ridge withthe young waters of the Rapidan running in a shallow vale beneath.
Here we halted in a thick clump of cedars, while he and Ringan wentforward to spy out the land. In that green darkness, save by folktravelling along the ridge, we could not be detected, and I knewenough of Indian ways to believe that any large party would keep thestream sides. We lit a fire without fear, for the smoke was hid in thecedar branches, and some of us roasted corn-cakes. Our food in thesaddle-bags would not last long, and I foresaw a ticklish business whenit came to hunting for the pot. A gunshot in these narrow glens wouldreverberate like a cannon.
We dozed peacefully in the green shade, and smoked our pipes, waitingfor the return of our envoys. They came towards sundown, slipping amongus like ghosts.
Ringan signalled to me, and we put our coats over the horses' heads toprevent their whinnying. He stamped out the last few ashes of the fire,and Shalah motioned us all flat on our faces. Then I crawled to theedge of the ridge, and looked down through a tangle of vines on thelittle valley.
Our precautions had been none too soon, for a host was passing below,as stealthily as if it had been an army of the sheeted dead. Most weremounted, and it was marvellous to see the way in which they managedtheir horses, so that the beasts seemed part of the riders, and partookof their vigilance. Some were on foot, and moved with the long, loping,in-toed Indian stride. I guessed their number at three hundred, butwhat awed me was their array. This was no ordinary raid, but aninvading army. My sight, as I think I have said, is as keen as ahawk's, and I could see that most of them carried muskets as well asknives and tomahawks. The war-paint glistened on each breast andforehead, and in the oiled hair stood the crested feathers, dyedscarlet for battle. My spirits sank as I reflected that now we were cutoff from the Tidewater.
When the last man had gone we crawled back to the clump, now gloomywith the dusk of evening. I saw that Ringan was very weary, but Shalah,after stretching his long limbs, seemed fresh as ever.
"Will you come with me, brother?" he said. "We must warn theRappahannock."
"Who are they?" I asked.
"Cherokees. More follow them. The assault is dearly by the line of theRappahannock. If we hasten we may yet be in time."
I knew what Shalah's hastening meant. I suppose I was the one of usbest fitted for a hot-foot march, and that that was the reason why theIndian chose me. All the same my heart misgave me. He ate a littlefood, while I stripped off the garments I did not need, carrying onlythe one pistol. I bade the others travel slowly towards the mountains,scouting carefully ahead, and promised that we should join them beforethe next sundown. Then Shalah beckoned me, and I plunged after him intothe forest.
On our first visit to Ringan at the land-locked Carolina harbour I hadthought Shalah's pace killing, but that was but a saunter to what henow showed me. We seemed to be moving at right angles to the Indianmarch. Once out of the woods of the ridge, we crossed the meadows,mostly on our bellies, taking advantage of every howe and crinkle. Ifollowed him as obediently as a child. When he ran so did I; when hecrawled my forehead was next his heel. After the grass-lands camebroken hillocks with little streams in the bottoms. Through these wetwisted, moving with less care, and presently we had left the hills andwere looking over a wide, shadowy plain.
The moon was three-quarters full, and was just beginning to climb thesky. Shalah sniffed the wind, which blew from the south-west, and setoff at a sharp angle towards the north. We were now among the woodsagain, and the tangled undergrowth tried me sore. We had been going forabout three hours, and, though I was hard and spare from much travel inthe sun, my legs were not used to this furious foot marching. My feetgrew leaden, and, to make matters worse, we dipped presently into a bigswamp, where we mired to the knees and often to the middle. It wouldhave been no light labour at any time to cross such a place, pullingoneself by the tangled shrubs on to the rare patches of solid ground.But now, when I was pretty weary, the toil was about the limit of mystrength. When we emerged on hard land I was sobbing like a strickendeer. But Shalah had no mercy. He took me through the dark cedars atthe same tireless pace, and in the gloom I could see him flittingahead of me, his shoulders squared, and his limbs as supple as arace-horse's. I remember I said over in my head all the songs and versesI knew, to keep my mind from my condition. I had long ago got and lostmy second wind and whatever other winds there be, and was moving less bybodily strength than by sheer doggedness of spirit. Weak tears wererunning down my cheeks, my breath rasped in my throat, but I was in theframe of mind that if death had found me next moment my legs wouldstill have twitched in an effort to run.
At an open bit of the forest Shalah stopped and looked at the sky. Iblundered into him, and then from sheer weakness rolled on the ground.He grunted and turned to me. I felt his cool hand passing over my browand cheek, and his fingers kneading the muscles of my forlorn legs.'Twas some Indian device, doubtless, but its power was miraculous.Under his hands my body seemed to be rested and revived. New strengthstole into my sinews, new vigour into my blood. The thing took maybefive minutes--not more; but I scrambled to my feet a man again. IndeedI was a better man than when I started, for this Indian wizardry hadgiven me an odd lightness of head and heart. When we took up therunning, my body, instead of a leaden clog, seemed to be a thing of airand feathers.
It was now hard on midnight, and the moon was high in the heavens. Webore somewhat to the right, and I judged that our circuit wascompleted, and that the time had come to steal in front of the Indianroute. The forest thinned, and we traversed a marshy piece, of countrywith many single great trees. Often Shalah would halt for a second,strain his ears, and sniff the light wind like a dog. He seemed to findguidance, but I got none, only the hoot of an owl or the rooty smell ofthe woodland.
At last we struck a little stream, and followed its course between highbanks of pine. Suddenly Shalah's movements became stealthy. Crouchingin every patch of shade, and crossing open spaces on our bellies, weturned from the stream, surmounted a knoll, and came down on a woodedvalley. Shalah looked westwards, held up his hand, and stood poised fora minute like a graven image. Then he grunted and spoke. "We are safe,"he said. "They are behind us, and are camped for the night," How heknew that I cannot tell; but I seemed to catch on the breeze a whiff ofthe rancid odour of Indian war-paint.
For another mile we continued our precautions, and then moved morefreely in the open. Now that the chief peril was past, my fatigue cameback to me worse than ever. I think I was growing leg-weary, as I hadseen happen to horses, and from that ailment there is no relief. Myhead buzzed like a beehive, and when the moon set I had no power topick my steps, and stumbled and sprawled in the darkness. I had to askShalah for help, though it was a sore hurt to my pride, and, leaning onhis arm, I made the rest of the journey.
I found myself splashing in a strong river. We crossed by a ford, so wehad no need to swim, which was well for me, for I must have drowned.The chill of the water revived me somewhat, and I had the strength toclimb the other bank. And then suddenly before me I saw a light, and achallenge rang out into the night.
The voice was a white man's, and brought me to
my bearings. Weak as Iwas, I had the fierce satisfaction that our errand had not been idle. Ireplied with the password, and a big fellow strode out from a stockade.
"Mr. Garvald!" he said, staring. "What brings you here? Where are therest of you?" He looked at Shalah and then at me, and finally took myarm and drew me inside.
There were a score in the place--Rappahannock farmers, a lean, watchfulbreed, each man with his musket. One of them, I mind, wore a rustycuirass of chain armour, which must have been one of those sent out bythe King in the first days of the dominion. They gave me a drink of rumand water, and in a little I had got over my worst weariness and couldspeak.
"The Cherokees are on us," I said, and I told them of the army we hadfollowed.
"How many?" they asked.
"Three hundred for a vanguard, but more follow."
One man laughed, as if well pleased. "I'm in the humour for Cherokeesjust now. There's a score of scalps hanging outside, if you could seethem, Mr. Garvald."
"What scalps?" I asked, dumbfoundered.
"The Rapidan murderers. We got word of them in the woods yesterday, andsix of us went hunting. It was pretty shooting. Two got away with somelead in them, the rest are in the Tewawha pools, all but theirtopknots. I've very little notion of Cherokees."
Somehow the news gave me intense joy. I thought nothing of thebarbarity of it, or that white men should demean themselves to theIndian level. I remembered only the meadow by the Rapidan, and thelittle lonely water-wheel. Our vow was needless, for others had doneour work.
"Would I had been with you!" was all I said. "But now you have morethan a gang of Meebaw raiders to deal with. There's an invasion comingdown from the hills, and this is the first wave of it, I want word sentto Governor Nicholson at James Town. I was to tell him where thetrouble was to be feared, and in a week you'll have a regiment at yourbacks. Who has the best horse? Simpson? Well, let Simpson carry theword down the valley. If my plans are working well, the news should beat James Town by dawn to-morrow."
The man called Simpson got up, saddled his beast, and waited mybidding. "This is the word to send," said I. "Say that the Cherokeesare attacking by the line of the Rappahannock. Say that I am going intothe hills to find if my fears are justified. Never mind what thatmeans. Just pass on the words. They will understand them at James Town.So much for the Governor. Now I want word sent to Frew's homestead onthe South Fork. Who is to carry it?"
One old fellow, who chewed tobacco without intermission, spat out theleaf, and asked me what news I wanted to send.
"Just that we are attacked," I said.
"That's a simple job," he said cheerfully. "All down the Border postswe have a signal. Only yesterday we got word of it from the place youspeak of. A mile from here is a hillock within hearing of the stockadeat Robertson's Ford. One shot fired there will tell them what you wantthem to know. Robertson's will fire twice for Appleby's to hear, andAppleby's will send on the message to Dopple's. There are six postsbetween here and the South Fork, so when the folk at Frew's hear sevenshots they will know that the war is on the Rappahannock."
I recognized old Lawrence's hand in this. It was just the kind ofdevice that he would contrive. I hoped it would not miscarry, for Iwould have preferred a messenger; but after all the Border line was hisconcern.
Then I spoke aside to Shalah. In his view the Cherokees would notattack at dawn. They were more likely to wait till their supportsovertook them, and then, to make a dash for the Rappahannock farms.Plunder was more in the line of these gentry than honest fighting. Ispoke to the leader of the post, and he was for falling upon them inthe narrows of the Rapidan. Their victory over the Meebaws had firedthe blood of the Borderers, and made them contemptuous of the enemy.Still, in such a predicament, when we had to hold a frontier with ahandful, the boldest course was likely to be the safest. I could onlypray that Nicholson's levies would turn up in time to protect thevalley.
"Time passes, brother," said Shalah. "We came by swiftness, but wereturn by guile. In three hours it will be dawn. Sleep till then, forthere is much toil before thee."
I saw the wisdom of his words, and went promptly to bed in a corner ofthe stockade. As I was lying down a man spoke to me, one Rycroft, atwhose cabin I had once sojourned for a day.
"What brings the parson hereaways in these times?" he asked.
"What parson?" I asked.
"The man they call Doctor Blair."
"Great God!" I cried, "what about him?"
"He was in Stafford county when I left, hunting for schoolmasters. Ay,and he had a girl with him."
I sat upright with a start. "Where is he now?" I asked.
"I saw him last at Middleton's Ford. I think he was going down theriver. I warned him this was no place for parsons and women, but hejust laughed at me. It's time he was back in the Tidewater."
So long as they were homeward-bound I did not care; but it gave me aqueer fluttering of the heart to think that Elspeth but yesterdayshould have been near this perilous Border. I soon fell asleep, for Iwas mighty tired, but I dreamed evilly. I seemed to see Doctor Blairhunted by Cherokees, with his coat-tails flying and his wig blown away,and what vexed me was that I could not find Elspeth anywhere in thelandscape.