CHAPTER XVI
LANA HELMER
Our Sunday morning gun had scarce been fired when from up the rivercame the answering thunder of artillery. Thirteen times did the distantcannon bellow their salute, announcing Clinton's advance, our campswarmed like an excited hive, mounted officers galloping, foot officersrunning, troops tumbling out as the drums rattled the "general" inevery regimental bivouac.
Colonel Proctor's artillery band marched out toward the landing placeas I entered No. 2 Block-House and ran up the ladder, and I heard theford-guard hurrahing and the garrison troops on the unfinished parapetsanswering them with cheer after cheer.
At my loud rapping on the flooring, Lois opened the trap for me, herlovely, youthful features flushed with excitement; Lana, behind her,beckoned me; and I sprang up into the loft and paid my duty to themboth.
"What a noble earthquake of artillery up the river!" said Lois. "Butlerhas no cannon, has he?"
"Not even a grasshopper!" said I gaily. "Those cannon shot areClinton's how d'ye do!"
"Poor's guns, were they not?" asked Lana, striving to smile. "And thatmeans you march away and leave us with 'The World Turned Upside Down!'"And she shrugged her shoulders and whistled a bar of the old-timeBritish air.
"Come to the parapet!" said Lois impatiently. "For the last few minutesthere has been a sound in the woods--very far away, Euan--yet, if onecould hear so far I would swear that I heard the conch-horn of yourrifles!"
"Did I not tell you she knew it well?" said Lana with her pallid smile,as we opened the massive guard-door, squeezed through the covered way,and came out along the rifle-platform among our noisy soldiers.
"Listen!" murmured Lois, close at my elbow. "There! It comes again! Doyou not hear it, Euan! That low, long, sustained and heart-thrillingundertone droning in the air through all this tumult!"
And presently I heard the sound--the wondrous melancholy, yet seductivemusic of our conch-horn. Its magic call set my every pulse a-throbbing.All the alluring mystery and solitude, all the sorrow of the wildernesswere in those long-drawn blasts; all the enchantment of the woodland,too, calling, calling to the sons of the forest, riflemen, hunter,Coureur-de-Bois.
For its elfin monotone was the very voice of the forest itself--thedeep, sweet whisper of virgin wilds, sacred, impenetrable, undefiled,tempting forever the sons of men.
And now, across the misty river, there was a great tumult of shoutingas the first Otsego batteaux came into view; louder boomed our jollycohorn, leaping high in its sulphurous powder-cloud; and the artilleryband at the landing began to play "Iunadilla," which so deeplypleasured me that I forgot and caught Lois's hands between my own andpressed them there while her shoulder trembled against mine, and herbreath came faster as the music swung into "The Huron" with a barbaricclash of cymbals.
It was a wondrous spectacle to see the navy of our Right Wing comingon, the waves slapping on bow and quarter--two hundred and ten loadedbatteaux in line falling grandly down with the smooth and sunlitcurrent, three men to every boat. Then, opposite, a wild flurry ofbugle-horns announced our light infantry; and on they came, our merryGeneral Hand riding ahead. And we saw him dismount, fling his bridle toan orderly, and lifting his sword and belt above his head, wadestraight into the ford. And Asa Chapman and Justus Gaylord guided him.
After these came the light troops in their cocked hats, guided byFrederick Eveland; then a dun-coloured and dusty column emerged fromthe brilliant green of the woods, a mass of tossing fringes and ringedcoon-tails and flashing rifle-barrels.
"The Rifles! hurrah for Morgan's men! Ha-i! The Eleventh Virginia!"roared the soldiery all about us, while Lois tightened her arm aroundmine and almost crushed my fingers with her own.
"There is Major Parr--and Captain Simpson--oh, and yonder minces mymacaroni Ensign!" cried Lois, as the brown column swung straight intothe ford, every rifle lifted, powder-horn and cartouche-box highswinging and glittering in the sun.
I turned to look for Lana; and first caught sight of the handsomewench, Dolly Glenn. And, following her restless gaze, I saw that Boydhad come up to the rifle-platform to join Lana, and that they stoodtogether at a little distance from us. Also, I noticed that Lana's handwas resting on his arm. In sharp contrast to the excited, cheeringsoldiery thronging the platform, the attitude of these two seemed dulland spiritless; and Boyd looked more frequently at her than on thestirring pageant below; and once, under cover of the movement andtumult, I saw her pale cheek press for a moment against his greenfringed shoulder cape--lightly--only for one brief moment. Yonder wasno coquetry, no caprice of audacity. There was a heart there as heavyas the cheek was pale. It was love and nothing less--the pitifuldevotion of a lass in love whose lover marches on the morrow.Lord--Lord! Had we but known!
As I stood beside Lois, I could not refrain from glancing toward themat moments, not meaning to spy, yet somehow held fascinated andtroubled by what I had seen; for it seemed plain to me that if therewas love there, little of happiness flavored it. Also, whenever Ilooked at them always I saw Dolly Glenn watching Boyd out of her darklybeautiful and hostile eyes.
And afterward, when our big riflemen marched on to the parade below,and we all hastened down, and the whole fort was a hubbub of cries andcheers and the jolly voices of friends greeting friends--even then Icould scarce keep my eyes from these two and from the Glenn girl. And Iwas glad when a large, fat dame came a-waddling, who proved to be Mrs.Sabin; and she had a cold and baleful eye for Boyd, which his gayspirits and airy blandishments neither softened nor abated.
Lois made me known to her very innocently and discreetly, and I madeher my best manners; but to my mortification, the disdain in her gazeincreased, as did her stiffness with Boyd and her chilling hauteur.Lord! Here was no friend to men--at least, no friend to young men! ThatI comprehended in a trice; and my chagrin was nothing mended as Icaught a sly glance from the merry and slightly malicious eyes of Boyd.
"Her husband is a fussy fat-head and she's a basalisk," he whispered."I thought she'd bite my head of when the ladies came on under myprotection."
She was more square and heavily solid than fat, like a squatblock-house; and as I stole another glance at her I wondered how shewas to mount the ladder and get her through the trap above. And byheaven! When the moment came to try it, she could not. She attempted itthrice; and the third effort hung her there, wedged in, squeaking likea fat doe-rabbit--and Boyd and I, stifling with laughter, now pushing,now tugging at her fat ankles. And finally got her out upon the ladderplatform, crimson and speechless in her fury; and we lingered not, butfled together, not daring to face the lady at whose pudgy and netherlimbs we had pulled so heartily.
"Lord!" said Boyd. "If she complains of us to her Commissary husband,there'll be a new issue not included in his department!"
And it doubled us with laughter to think on't, so that for lack o'breath I sat down upon a log to hold my aching sides.
"Now, she'll be ever on their heels," muttered Boyd, "hen-like,malevolent, and unaccountable. No man dare face and flout that lady,whose husband also is utterly subjected. It was Betty Bleecker who sether on me. Well, so no more of yonder ladies save in her bristlingpresence."
Yet, as it happened, one thing barred Mistress Sabin from a perpetualdomination and sleepless supervision of her charges, and that was thetrap-door. Through it she could not force herself, nor could she comearound by the guard-door, for the covered way would not admit her ampleproportions. She could but mount her guard at the ladder's foot. Andthere were two exits to that garret room.
That day I would have messed with my own people, Major Parr invitingme, but that our General had all the Otsego officers to dine with himat headquarters, and a huge punch afterward, from which I begged to beexcused, as it was best that I look to my Indians when any rum wasserved in camp.
Boyd came later to the bush-hut, overflushed with punch, saying that hehad drawn sixty pair of shoes for his men, to spite old Sabin, andmeant to distribute them with music playing; and that afte
rward I wasto join him at the fort as he had orders for himself and for me fromthe General, and desired to confer with me concerning them.
Later came word from him that he had a headache and would confer withme on the morrow. Neither did I see Lois again that evening, a gill ofrum having been issued to every man, and I sticking close as awood-tick to my red comrades--indeed, I had them out after sunset towatch the cattle-guard, who were in a sorry pickle, sixty head havingstrayed and two soldiers missing. And the manoeuvres of that same guarddid ever sicken me.
It proved another bloody story, too, for first we found an ox withthroat cut; and, it being good meat, we ordered it taken in. And then,in the bushes ahead, a soldier begins a-bawling that the devil is inhis horses, and that they have run back into the woods.
I heard him chasing them, and shouted for him to wait, but the poorfool pays no heed, but runs on after his three horses; and soon hescreams out:
"God a'mighty!" And, "Christ have mercy!"
With that I blow my ranger's whistle, and my Indians pass me likephantoms in the dusk, and I hot-foot after them; but it was too late tosave young Elliott, who lay there dead and already scalped, doubled upin the bed of a little brook, his clenched hand across his eyes and aSeneca knife in his smooth, boyish throat.
Late that night the Sagamore started, chased, and quickly corneredsomething in a clump of laurel close to the river bank; and my Indiansgathered around like fiercely-whining hounds. It was starlight, but toodark to see, except what was shadowed against the river; so we all layflat, waiting, listening for whatever it was, deer or bear or man.
Then the Night Hawk, who stood guard at the river, uttered the shrillOneida view-halloo; and into the thicket we all sprang crashing, andstrove to catch the creature alive; but the Sagamore had to strike tosave his own skull; and out of the bushes we dragged one of Amochol'sgreasy-skinned assassins, still writhing, twisting, and clawing as weflung him heavily and like a scotched snake upon the river sand, wherethe Mohican struck him lifeless and ripped the scalp from his oiled andshaven head.
The Erie's lifeless fist still clutched the painted casse-tete withwhich he had aimed a silently murderous blow at the Sagamore.Grey-Feather drew the death-maul from the dead warrior's grasp, andhanded it to the Siwanois.
Then Tahoontowhee, straightening his slim, naked figure to its full andgraceful height, raised himself on tiptoe and, placing his hollowedhands to his cheeks, raised the shuddering echoes with the mostterrific note an Indian can utter.
As the forest rang with the fierce Oneida scalp-yell, very far awayalong the low-browed mountain flank we could hear the far tinkle ofhoof and pebble, where the stolen horses moved; and out of the intenseblackness of the hills came faintly the answering defiance of theSenecas, and the hideous miauling of the Eries, quavering, shuddering,dying into the tremendous stillness of the Dark Empire which we hadinsulted, challenged, and which we were now about to brave.
Once more Tahoontowhee's piercing defiance split the quivering silence;once more the whining panther cry of the Cat-People floated backthrough the far darkness.
Then we turned away toward our pickets; and, as we filed into ourlines, I could smell the paint and oil on the scalp that the Siwanoishad taken. And it smelled rank enough, God wot!
About nine on Monday morning the entire camp was alarmed by irregularand heavy firing along the river; but it proved to be my riflemenclearing their pieces; which did mortify General Clinton, and was thesubject of a blunt order from headquarters, and a blunter rebuke fromMajor Parr to Boyd, who, I am inclined to think, did do this out ofsheer deviltry. For that schoolboy delight of mischief which never,while he lived, was entirely quenched, was ever sparkling in thosehandsome and roving eyes of his. For which our riflemen adored him,being by every instinct reckless and irresponsible themselves, and onlyheld to discipline by their worship of Daniel Morgan, and the uprightcharacter and the iron rigour of Major Parr.
Not that the 11th Virginia ever shrank from duty. No regiment in theContinental army had a prouder record. But the men of that corps weredrawn mostly from those free-limbed, free-thinking, powerful, headlong,and sometimes ruthless backwoodsmen who carried law into regions wherenone but Nature's had ever before existed. And the law they carried wastheir own.
It was a reproach to us that we scalped our red enemies. No officer inthe corps could prevent these men from answering an Indian's insultwith another of the same kind. And there remained always men in thatcommand who took their scalps as carelessly as they clipped a catamountof ears and pads.
As for my special detail, I understood perfectly that I could no moreprevent my Indians from scalping enemies of their own race than I couldwhistle a wolf-pack up wind. But I could stop their lifting the hairfrom a dead man of my own race, and had made them understand veryplainly that any such attempt would be instantly punished as a personalinsult to myself. Which every warrior understood. And I have oftenwondered why other officers commanding Indians, and who were evercomplaining that they could not prevent scalping of white enemies, didnot employ this argument, and enforce it, too. For had one of my men,no matter which one, disobeyed, I would have had him triced up in atwinkling and given a hundred lashes.
Which meant, also, that I would have had to kill him sooner or later.
There was a stink of rum in camp that morning and it is a quaffingbeverage which while I like to drink it in punch, the smell of itabhors me. And ever and anon my Indians lifted their noses, snifflingthe tainted air; so that I was glad when a note was handed me from Boydsaying that we were to take a forest stroll with my Indians around theherd-guard, during which time he would unfold to me his plans.
So I started for the fort, my little party carrying rifles and sidearmsbut no packs; and there waited across the ditch in the sunshine myIndians, cross-legged in a row on the grass, and gravely cracking andmunching the sweet, green hazelnuts with which these woods abound.
On the parade inside the fort, and out o' the tail of my eye, I sawMistress Sabin knitting on a rustic settle at the base of Block-houseNo. 2, and Captain Sabin beside her writing fussily in a large,leather-bound book.
She did not know that the dovecote overhead was now empty, and that thepigeons had flown; nor did I myself suspect such a business, even whenfrom the woods behind me came the low sound of a ranger's whistle blownvery softly. I turned my head and saw Boyd beckoning; and arose andwent thither, my Indians trotting at my heels.
Then, as I came up and stood to offer the officer's salute, Loisstepped from behind a tree, laughing and laying her finger across herlips, but extending her other hand to me.
And there was Lana, too, paler it seemed to me than ever, yet sweet andsimple in her greeting.
"The ladies desire to see our cattle," said Boyd, "The herd-guard isdoubled, our pickets trebled, and the rounds pass every half hour. Soit is safe enough, I think."
"Yet, scarce the country for a picnic," I said, looking uneasily atLois.
"Oh, Broad-brim, Broad-brim!" quoth she. "Is there any spice in life tocompare to a little dash o' danger?"
Whereat I smiled at her heartily, and said to Boyd:
"We pass not outside our lines, of course."
"Oh, no!" he answered carelessly. Which left me still reluctant andunconvinced. But he walked forward with Lana through the open forest,and I followed beside Lois; and, without any signal from me my Indiansquietly glided out ahead, silently extending as flankers on either side.
"Do you notice what they are about?" said I sourly. "Even here withinwhisper of the fort?"
"Are you not happy to see me, Euan?" she cooed close to my ear.
"Not here; inside that log curtain yonder."
"But there is a dragon yonder," she whispered, with mischief adorablein her sparkling eyes; then slipped hastily beyond my reach, saying:"Oh, Euan! Forget not our vows, but let our conduct remain seemlystill, else I return."
I had no choice, for we were now passing our inner pickets, where aline of bush-huts, widely set, circled
the main camp. There were somefew people wandering along this line--officers, servants, boatmen,soldiers off duty, one or two women.
Just within the lines there was a group of people from which a fiddlesounded; and I saw Boyd and Lana turn thither; and we followed them.
Coming up to see who was making such scare-crow music, Lana said in alow voice to us:
"It's an old, old man--more than a hundred years old, he tells us--whohas lived on the Ouleout undisturbed among the Indians until yesterday,when we burnt the village. And now he has come to us for food andprotection. Is it not pitiful?"
I had a hard dollar in my pouch, and went to him and offered it. Boydhad Continental money, and gave him a handful.
He was not very feeble, this ancient creature, yet, except amongIndians who live sometimes for more than a hundred years, I think Inever before saw such an aged visage, all cracked into a thousandwrinkles, and his little, bluish eyes peering out at us through a sortof film.
To smile, he displayed his shrivelled gums, then picked up his fiddlewith an agility somewhat surprising, and drew the bow harshly, sayingin his cracked voice that he would, to oblige us, sing for us a balladmade in 1690; and that he himself had ridden in the company of horsetherein described, being at that time thirteen years of age.
And Lord! But it was a doleful ballad, yet our soldiers listened,fascinated, to his squeaking voice and fiddle; and I saw the tearsstanding in Lois's eyes, and Lana's lips a-quiver. As for Boyd, heyawned, and I most devoutly wished us all elsewhere, yet lost no wordof his distressing tale:
"God prosper long our King and Queen, Our lives and safeties all; A sad misfortune once there did Schenectady befall.
"From forth the woods of Canady The Frenchmen tooke their way, The people of Schenectady To captivate and slay.
"They march for two and twenty daies, All thro' ye deepest snow; And on a dismal winter night They strucke ye cruel blow.
"The lightsome sunne that rules the day Had gone down in the West; And eke the drowsie villagers Had sought and found their reste.
"They thought they were in safetie all, Nor dreamt not of the foe; But att midnight they all swoke In wonderment and woe.
"For they were in their pleasant beddes, And soundlie sleeping, when Each door was sudden open broke By six or seven menne!
"The menne and women, younge and olde, And eke the girls and boys, All started up in great affright Att the alarming noise.
"They then were murthered in their beddes Without shame or remorse; And soon the floors and streets were strew'd With many a bleeding corse.
"The village soon began to blaze, Which shew'd the horrid sight; But, O, I scarce can beare to tell The mis'ries of that night.
"They threw the infants in the fire, The menne they did not spare; But killed all which they could find, Tho' aged or tho' fair.
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
"But some run off to Albany And told the doleful tale; Yett, tho' we gave our chearful aid, It did not much avail.
"And we were horribly afraid, And shook with terror, when They gave account the Frenchmen were More than a thousand menne.
"The news came on a Sabbath morn, Just att ye break o' day; And with my companie of horse I galloped away.
"Our soldiers fell upon their reare, And killed twenty-five; Our young menne were so much enrag'd They took scarce one alive.
"D'Aillebout them did command, Which were but thievish rogues, Else why did they consent to goe With bloodye Indian dogges?
"And here I end my long ballad, The which you just heard said; And wish that it may stay on earth Long after I be dead."
The old man bowed his palsied head over his fiddle, struck with hiswrinkled thumb a string or two; and I saw tears falling from his almostsightless eyes.
Around him, under the giant trees, his homely audience stood silent andspellbound. Many of his hearers had seen with their own eyes horrorsthat compared with the infamous butchery at Schenectady almost ahundred years ago. Doubtless that was what fascinated us all.
But Boyd, on whom nothing doleful made anything except an irritableimpression, drew us away, saying that it was tiresome enough to fightbattles without being forced to listen to the account of 'em afterward;at which, it being true enough, I laughed. And Lois looked up winkingaway her tears with a quick smile. As for Lana, her face was tragic andcolourless as death itself. Seeing which, Boyd said cheerfully:
"What is there in all the world to sigh about, Lanette? Death is faraway and the woods are green."
"The woods are green," repeated Lana under her breath, "yet, there aremany within call who shall not live to see one leaf fall."
"Why, what a very dirge you sing this sunny morning!" he protested,still laughing; and I, too, was surprised and disturbed, for never hadI heard Lana Helmer speak in such a manner.
"'Twas that dreary old fiddler," he added with a shrug. "Now, God saveus all, from croaking birds of every plumage, and give us to live forthe golden moment."
"And for the future," said Lois.
"The devil take the future," said Boyd, his quick, careless laughringing out again. "Today I am lieutenant, and Loskiel, here, isensign. Tomorrow we may be captains or corpses. But is that a reasonfor pulling a long face and confessing every sin?"
"Have you, then, aught to confess?" asked Lois, in pretense of surprise.
"I? Not a peccadillo, my pretty maid--not a single one. What I do, Ido; and ask no leniency for the doing. Therefore, I have nothing toconfess."
Lana stopped, bent low over a forest blossom, and touched her face toit. Her cheeks were burning. All about us these frail, snowy blossomsgrew, and Lois gathered one here and yonder while Boyd and I threwourselves down on a vast, deep bed of moss, under which a thread of icywater trickled.
Ahead of us, in plain view, stood one of our outer picket guards, andbelow in a wide and bowl-shaped hollow, running south to the river, wecould see cattle moving amid the trees, and the rifle-barrel of a herdguard shining here and there.
My Indians on either flank advanced to the picket line, and squattedthere, paying no heed to the challenge of the sentinels, until Boyd wasobliged to go forward and satisfy the sullen Pennsylvania soldiery onduty there.
He came back in his graceful, swinging stride, chewing a twig ofblack-birch, his thumbs hooked in his belt, damning all Pennsylvaniansfor surly dogs.
I pointed out that many of them were as loyal as any man among us; andhe said he meant the Quakers only, and cursed them for rascals, everyone. Again I reminded him that Alsop Hunt was a Quaker; and he saidthat he meant not the Westchester folk, but John Penn's people, Tories,every one, who would have hired ruffians to do to the Connecticutpeople in Forty Fort what later was done to them by Indians and Toryrangers.
Lana protested in behalf of the Shippens in Philadelphia, but Boyd saidthey were all tarred with the same brush, and all were selfish andmurderous, lacking only the courage to bite--yes, every Quaker inPenn's Proprietary--the Shippens, Griscoms, Pembertons, Norrises,Whartons, Baileys, Barkers, Storys--"'Every damned one o' them!" hesaid, "devised that scheme for the wanton and cruel massacre of theWyoming settlers, and meant to turn it to their own pecuniary profit!"
He was more than partly right; yet, knowing many of these to be friendsand kinsmen to Lana Helmer, he might have more gracefully remainedsilent. But Boyd had not that instinctive dread of hurting others withill-considered facts; he blurted out all truths, whether timely oruntimely, wherever and whenever it suited him.
For the Tory Quakers he mentioned I had no more respect than had he,they being neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, but a smooth, sanctimoniousand treacherous lot, more calculated to work us mischief because oftheir superior education and financial means. Indeed, they generallyremained undisturbed by the ferocious Iroquois allies of our late andgentle King; secure in their property and lives whil
e all around themmen, women, and little children fell under the dripping hatchets.
"Had I my say," remarked Boyd loudly, "I'd take a regiment and scour meout these rattlesnakes from the Proprietary, and pack 'em off toprison, bag and baggage!"
Lana had knelt, making a cup of her hand, and was drinking from thesilvery thread of water at our feet. Now, as Boyd spoke, shestraightened up and cast a shower of sparkling drops in his face,saying calmly that she prayed God he might have the like done for himwhen next he needed a cooling off.
"Lanette," said he, disconcerted but laughing, "do you mean in hell orat the Iroquois stake?"
Whereupon Lana flushed and said somewhat violently that he should notmake a jest of either hell or stake; and that she for one marvelled athis ill-timed pleasantries and unbecoming jests.
So here was a pretty quarrel already sur le tapis; but neither I norLois interposed, and Lana, pink and angry, seated herself on the mossand gazed steadily at our watchful Indians. But in her fixed gaze I sawthe faint glimmer of tears.
After a moment Boyd got up, went down to her, and asked her pardon. Shemade no answer; they remained looking at each other for another second,then both smiled, and Boyd lay down at her feet, resting his elbow onthe moss and his cheek on his hand, so that he could converse with meacross her shoulder.
And first he cautioned both Lana and Lois to keep secret whatever wasto be said between us two, then, nodding gaily at me:
"You were quite right, Loskiel, in speaking to the General about theproper trap for this Wizard-Sachem Amochol, who is inflaming the entireSeneca nation to such a fury."
"I know no other way to take and destroy him," said I.
"There is no other way. It must be done secretly, and by a small partymanoeuvring ahead and independently of our main force."
"Are you to command?" I asked.
"I am to have that honour," he said eagerly, "and I take you, yoursavages, and twenty riflemen----"
"What is this?" said Lana sharply; but he lifted an impatient hand andwent on in his quick, interested manner, to detail to me the plan hehad conceived for striking Amochol at Catharines-town, in the verymidst of the Onon-hou-aroria.
"Last night," he said, "I sent out Hanierri and Iaowania, theheadquarters scouts; and I'm sorry I did, for they came in this morningwith their tails between their legs, saying the forest swarmed with theSeneca scouts, and it was death to stir.
"And I was that disgusted--what with their cowardice and the aftermathof that headquarters punch--that I bade them go paint and sing theirdeath-songs----"
"Oh, Lord! You should not lose your temper with an Indian!" I said,vexed at his indiscretion.
"I know it. I'll not interfere with your tame wolves, Loskiel. ButHanierri madded me; and now he's told Dominie Kirkland's prayingIndians, and not one o' them will stir from Tioga--the chicken-heartedknaves! What do you think of that, Loskiel?"
"I am sorry. But we really need no other Indians than my Sagamore, thetwo Oneidas, and the Stockbridge, Yellow Moth, to do Amochol's businessfor him, if you and your twenty riflemen are going."
"I think as you do; and so I told the General, who wanted Major Parr tocommand and the entire battalion to march. 'Oh, Lord!' says I. 'Bestbring Colonel Proctor's artillery band, also!' And was frightenedafterward at what I said, with so little reflection and respect; butthe General, who had turned red as a pippin, burst out laughing andsays he: 'You are a damnably disrespectful young man, sir, but you andyour friend Loskiel may suit yourselves concerning the taking of thissame Amochol. Only have a care to take or destroy him, for if you donot, by God, you shall be detailed to the batteaux and cool your heelsin Fort Sullivan until we return!'"
We both laughed heartily, and Boyd added:
"He said it to fright me for my impudence. Trust that man to know a manwhen he sees one!"
"Meaning yourself?" said I, convulsed.
"And you, too, Loskiel," he said so naively that Lois, too, laughed,exclaiming:
"What modest opinions of themselves have these two boys! Do you hearthem, Lana, dubbing each other men?"
"I hear," said Lana listlessly.
Boyd plucked a long, feathery stalk, and with its tip caressed Lana'scheeks.
"Spiders!" said he. "Spinning a goblin veil for you!"
"I wish the veil of Fate were as transparent," said she.
"Would you see behind it if you could?"
She said under her breath:
"I sometimes dream I see behind it now."
"What do you see?" he asked.
She shook her head; but we all begged her to disclose her dreams,saying laughingly that as dreams were the most important things in thelives of all Indians, our close association with them had rendered uscredulous.
"Come, Lanette," urged Boyd, "tell us what it is you see in dreamsbehind the veil."
She hesitated, shuddered:
"Flames--always flames. And a man in black with leaden buttons, whoseface is always hidden in his cloak. But, oh! I know--I seem to knowthat he has no face at all, but is like a skull under his black cloak."
"A merry dream," said Boyd, laughing.
"Is there more to it?" asked Lois seriously.
"Yes.... Lieutenant Boyd is there, and he makes a sign--like this----"
"What!" exclaimed Boyd, sitting up, astounded. "Where did you learnthat sign?"
"In my dream. What does it mean?"
"Make it no more, Lana," he said, in a curiously disturbed voice. "Forwherever you have learned it--if truly from a dream, or from somecareless fellow--of my own----" He hesitated, glanced at me. "You arenot a Mason, Loskiel. And Lana has just given the Masonic signal ofdistress--having seen me give it in a dream. It is odd." He sat verysilent for a moment, then lay down again at Lana's feet; and for alittle while they conversed in whispers, as though forgetting that wewere there at all, his handsome head resting against her knees, and herhand touching the hair on his forehead lightly at intervals.
After a few moments I rose and, with Lois, walked forward toward ourpicket line, from where we could see very plainly the great cattle herdamong the trees along the river.
She said in a low and troubled voice:
"It has come so far, then, that Lana makes no longer a disguise of hersentiments before you and me. It seems as though they had bewitchedeach other--and find scant happiness in the mutual infatuation."
I said nothing.
"Is he not free to marry her?" asked Lois.
"Why, yes--I suppose he is--if she will have him," I said, startled bythe direct question. "Why not?"
"I don't know. Once, at Otsego Camp I overheard bitter words betweenthem--not from him, for he only laughed at what she said. It was in thedusk, close to our tent; and either they were careless or thought Islept.... And I heard her say that he was neither free nor fit to speakof marriage. And he laughed and vowed that he was as free and fit aswas any man. 'No,' says she, 'there are other men like Euan Loskiel inthe world.' 'Exceptions prove the case,' says he, laughing; and therewas a great sob in her voice as she answered that such men as he wereborn to damn women. And he retorted coolly that it was such women asshe who ever furnished the provocation, but that only women could losetheir own souls, and that it was the same with men; but neither of 'emcould or ever had contributed one iota toward the destruction of anysoul except their own.... Then Lana came into our tent and stoodlooking down at me where I lay; and dimly through my lashes I couldperceive the shadow of Boyd behind her on the tent wall, wavering,gigantic, towering to the ridge-pole as he set the camp-torch in itssocket on the flooring." She passed her slim hand across her eyes. "Itwas like an unreal scene--a fevered vision of two phantoms in thesmoky, lurid lustre of the torch. Boyd stood there dark against thelight, edged with flickering flame as with a mantle, figure and visagescintilant with Lucifer's own beauty--and Lana, her proud headdrooping, and her sad, young eyes fixed on me--Oh, Euan!" She stoodpressing down both eyelids with her fingers, motionless; then, with aquick-drawn breath and a brusqu
e gesture, flung her arms wide and letthem drop to her sides. "How can men follow what they call their'fortune,' headlong, unheeding, ranging through the world as ahot-jowled hound ranges for rabbits? Are they never satiated? Are theynever done with the ruthless madness? Does the endless chase with itsintervals of killing never pall?"
"Hounds are hounds," I said slowly. "And the hound will chase histhousandth hare with all the unslaked eagerness that thrilled him whenhis first quarry fled before him."
"Why?"
But I shook my head in silence.
"Are you that way?"
"I have not been."
"The instinct then is not within you?"
"Yes, the instinct is.... But some hounds are trained to range only asfar as their mistress, Old Dame Reason, permits. Others slip leash andtake to the runways to range uncontrolled and mastered only by a darkand second self, urging them ever forward.... There are but two kindsof men, Lois--the self-disciplined, and the unbroken. But the rawnature of the two differed nothing at their birth."
She stood looking down at the distant cattle along the river for awhile without speaking; then her hand, which hung beside her, soughtmine and softly rested within my clasp.
"It is wonderful," she murmured, "that it has been God's pleasure Ishould come to you unblemished--after all that I have lived to learnand see. But more wonderful and blessed still it is to me to find youwhat you are amid this restless, lawless, ruthless world ofsoldiery--upright and pure in heart.... It seems almost, with us, asthough our mothers had truly made of us two Hidden Children, white andmysterious within the enchanted husks, which only our own hands maystrip from us, and reveal ourselves unsullied as God made us, each tothe other--on our wedding morn."
I lifted her little hand and laid my lips to it, touching the ring.Then she bent timidly and kissed the rough gold circlet where my lipshad rested. Somehow, a shaft of sunlight had penetrated the green roofabove, and slanted across her hair, so that the lovely contour of herhead was delicately edged with light.
* "Nene-nea-wen-ne, Lois!" I whispered passionately.
[* "This thing shall happen, Lois!"]
* "Nen-ya-wen-ne, O Loskiel! Teni-non-wes."
[* "It shall happen, O Loskiel! We love, thou and I."]
We stood yet a while together there, and I saw her lift her eyes andgaze straight ahead of us beyond our picket line, and remain so, gazingas though her regard could penetrate those dim and silent forest aislesto the red altar far beyond in unseen Catharines-town.
"When must you go?" she asked under her breath.
"The army is making ready today."
"To march into the Indian country?"
I nodded.
"When does it march?"
"On Friday. But that is not to be known at present."
"I understand. By what route do you go?"
"By Chemung."
"And then?"
"At Chemung we leave the army, Boyd and I. You heard."
"Yes, Euan."
I said, forcing myself to speak lightly:
"You are not to be afraid for us, Little Rosy Pigeon of the Forest.Follow me with your swift-winged thoughts and no harm shall come to me."
"Must you go?"
I laughed: * "Ka-teri-oseres, Lois."
[* "I am going to this war, Lois."]
* "Wa-ka-ton-te-tsihon," she said calmly. "Wa-ka-ta-tiats-kon."
[* "I understand perfectly. I am resigned."]
Then I gave way to my increasing surprise:
"Wonder-child!" I exclaimed. "When and where have you learned tounderstand and answer me in the tongue of the Long House?"
* "Kio-ten-se," she said with a faint smile.
[* "I am working for somebody."]
"For whom?"
"For my mother, Euan. Did you suppose I could neglect anything thatmight be useful in my life's quest? Who knows when I might need thetongue I am slowly learning to speak?... Oh, and I know so little, yet.Something of Algonquin the Mohican taught me; and with it a little ofthe Huron tongue. And now for nearly a month every day I have learned alittle from the Oneidas at Otsego--from the Oneida girl whose bridaldress you bought to give to me. Do you remember her? The maid calledDrooping Wings?"
"Yes--but--I do not understand. To what end is all this? When and whereis your knowledge of the Iroquois tongue likely to aid you?"
She gave me a curious, veiled look--then turned her face away.
"You do not dream of following our army, do you?" I demanded. "Not onewoman would be permitted to go. It is utterly useless for you to expectit, folly to dream of such a thing.... You and Lana are to go to Eastonas soon as the heavier artillery is sent down the river, which will bethe day we start--Friday. This frontier gypsying is ended--all thiscoquetting with danger is over now. The fort here is no place for youand Lana. Your visit, brief as it has been, is rash and unwarranted.And I tell you very plainly, Lois, that I shall never rest until youare at Easton, which is a stone town and within the borders ofcivilization. The artillery will be sent down by boat, and all thewomen and children are to go also. Neither Boyd nor I have told this toyou and Lana, but----" I glanced over my shoulder. "I think he istelling her now."
Lois slowly turned and looked toward them. Evidently they no longercared what others saw or thought, for Lana's cheek lay pressed againsthis shoulder, and his arm encircled her body.
We walked back, all together, to the fort, and left Lois and Lana atthe postern; then Boyd and I continued on to my bush-hut, the Indiansfollowing.
Muffled drums of a regiment were passing, and an escort with reversedarms, to bury poor Kimball, Captain in Colonel Cilly's command, shotthis morning through the heart by the accidental discharge of a musketin the careless hands of one of his own men.
We stood at salute while the slow cortege passed.
Said Boyd thoughtfully:
"Well, Kimball's done with all earthly worries. There are those whomight envy him."
"You are not one," I said bluntly.
"I? No. I have not yet played hard enough in the jolly blind man'sbuff--which others call the game of life. I wear the bandage still, andstill my hands clutch at the empty air, and in my ears the world'ssweet laughter rings----" He smiled, then shrugged. "The charm ofFortune's bag is not what you pull from it, but what remains within."
"Boyd," I said abruptly. "Who is that handsome wench that followed usfrom Otsego?"
"Dolly Glenn?"
"That is her name."
"Lord, how she pesters me!" he said fretfully. "I chanced upon her atthe Middle Fort one evening--down by the river. And what are ourwenches coming to," he exclaimed impatiently, "that a kiss on asummer's night should mean to them more than a kiss on a night insummer!"
"She is a laundress, is she not?"
"How do I know? A tailoress, too, I believe, for she has patched andmended for me; and she madded me because she would take no pay. Thereare times," he added, "when sentiment is inconvenient----"
"Poor thing," I said.
"My God, why? When I slipped my arm around her she put up her face tobe kissed. It was give and take, and no harm done--and the moona-laughing at us both. And why the devil she should look at mereproachfully is more than I can comprehend."
"It seems a cruel business," said I.
"Cruel!"
"Aye--to awake a heart and pass your way a-whistling."
"Now, Loskiel," he began, plainly vexed, "I am not cruel by nature, andyou know it well enough. Men kiss and go their way----"
"But women linger still."
"Not those I've known."
"Yet, here is one----"
"A silly fancy that will pass with her. Lord! Do you think a gentlemanaccountable to every pretty chit of a girl he notices on his waythrough life?"
"Some dare believe so."
He stared at me, then laughed.
"You are different to other men, of course," he said gaily. "We allunderstand that. So let it go----"
"One moment, Boyd. There is a matter I
must speak of--becausefriendship and loyalty to a childhood friend both warrant it. Can youtell me why Lana Helmer is unhappy?"
A dark red flush surged up to the roots of his hair, and the muscles inhis jaw tightened. He remained a moment mute and motionless, staring atme. But if my question, for the first moment, had enraged him, thatquickly died out; and into his eyes there came a haggard look such as Ihad never seen there.
He said slowly:
"Were you not the man you are, Loskiel, I had answered in a manner youmight scarcely relish. Now, I answer you that if Lana is unhappy I ammore so. And that our unhappiness is totally unnecessary--if she wouldbut listen to what I say to her."
"And what is it that you say to her?" I inquired as coolly as thoughhis answer might not very easily be a slap with his fringed sleeveacross my face.
"I have asked her to marry me," he said. "Do you understand why I tellyou this?"
I shook my head.
"To avoid killing you at twenty paces across the river.... I had rathertell you than do that."
"So that you have told me," said I, "the reason for your tellingmatters nothing. And my business with you ends with your answer....Only--she is my friend, Boyd--a playmate of pleasant days. And if youcan efface that wretchedness from her face--brighten the quenchedsparkle of her eyes, paint her cheeks with rose again--do it, in God'sname, and make of me a friend for life."
"Shall I tell you what has gone amiss--from the very first there atOtsego?"
"No--that concerns not me----"
"Yes, I shall tell you! It's that she knew about--the wench here--DollyGlenn."
"Is that why she refuses you and elects to remain unhappy?" I saidincredulously.
"Yes--I can say no more.... You are right, Loskiel, and such men as Iare wrong--utterly and wretchedly wrong. Sooner or later comes the boltof lightning. Hell! To think that wench should hurl it!"
"But what bolt had she to hurl?" said I, astonished.
He reddened, bit his lip savagely, made as though to speak, then, witha violent gesture, turned away.
A few moments later a cannon shot sounded. It was the signal forstriking tents and packing up; and in every regiment hurry andconfusion reigned and the whole camp swarmed with busy soldiery.
But toward evening orders came to unpack and pitch tents again; andwhether it had been an exercise to test the quickness of our army formarching, or whether some accident postponed the advance, I do not know.
All that evening, being on duty with my Indians to watch thecattle-guard, I did not see Lois.
The next day I was ordered to take the Indians a mile or two towardChemung and lie there till relieved; so we went very early and remainednear the creek on observation, seeing nothing, until evening, when therelief came with Hanierri and three Stockbridges. These gave us anaccount that another soldier had been shot in camp by the accidentaldischarge of a musket, and that the Light Troops had marched out oftheir old encampment and had pitched tents one hundred rods in advance.
Also, they informed us that the flying hospital and stores had beenremoved to the fort, and that Colonel Shreve had taken over the commandof that place.
By reason of the darkness, we were late in getting into camp, so againthat day I saw nothing of Lois.
On Wednesday it rained heavily about eleven o'clock, and the troopsmade no movement. Some Oneidas came in and went to headquarters. MyIndians did not seem to know them.
I was on duty all day at headquarters, translating into Iroquois forthe General a speech which he meant to deliver to the Tuscaroras on hisreturn through Easton. The rain ceased late in the afternoon. Later, anexpress came through from Fort Pitt; and before evening orders had goneout that the entire army was to march at eight o'clock in the morning.
Morning came with a booming of cannon. We did not stir.
Toward eleven, however, the army began to march out as though departingin earnest; but as Major Parr remained with the Rifles, I knewsomething had gone amiss.
Yet, the other regiments, including my own, marched away gaily enough,with music sounding and colours displayed; and the garrison, boatmen,artillerymen, and all the civil servants and women and children wavedthem adieu from the parapets of the fort.
But high water at Tioga ford, a mile or two above, soon checked them,and there they remained that night. As I was again on duty withHanierri and the Dominie, I saw not Lois that day.
Friday was fair and sunny, and the ground dried out. And all themorning I was with Dominie Kirkland and Hanierri, translating,transcribing, and writing out the various speeches and addresses leftfor me by General Sullivan.
Runners came in toward noon with news that our main forces had encampedat the pass before Chemung, and were there awaiting us.
Murphy, the rifleman, came saying that our detail was packing up at thefort, that Major Parr had sent word for Lieutenant Boyd to strike tentsand pull foot, and that the boats were now making ready to drop downthe river with the non-combatants.
My pack, and those of my Indians, had been prepared for days, and therewas little for me to do to make ready. Some batt-men carried mymilitary chest to the fort, where it was bestowed with the officers'baggage until we returned.
Then I hastened away to the fort and discovered our twenty riflemenparaded there, and Boyd inspecting them and their packs. His faceseemed very haggard under its dark coat of sunburn, but he returned mysalute with a smile, and presently came over to where I stood, sayingcoolly enough:
"I have made my adieux to the ladies. They are at the landing placeexpecting you. Best not linger. We should reach Chemung by dusk."
"My Indians are ready," said I.
"Very well," he said absently, and returned to his men, continuing hiscareful inspection.
As I passed the log bridge, I saw Dolly Glenn standing there with afrightened look on her face, but she paid no heed to me, and I went onstill haunted by the girl's expression.
A throng of people--civilians and soldiers--were at the landing. Theredoubtable Mrs. Sabin was bustling about a batteau, terrorizing itscrew and bullying the servants, who were stowing away her property.Looking about me, I finally discovered Lois and Lana standing on theshore a little way down stream, and hastened to them.
Lana was as white as a ghost, but to my surprise Lois seemed cheerfuland in gayest spirits, and laughed when I saluted her hand. And itrelieved me greatly to find her so animated and full of confidence thatall would be well with us, and the parting but a brief one.
"I know in my heart it will be brief," she said smilingly, andpermitting both her hands to remain in mine. "Soon, very soon, we shallbe again together, Euan, and this interrupted fairy tale, so prettilybegun by you and me, shall be once more resumed."
"To no fairy finish," I said, "but in sober reality."
She looked at Lana, laughing:
"What a lad is this, dear! How can a fairy tale be ever real? Yet, heis a magician like Okwencha, this tall young Ensign of mine, and I makeno doubt that his wizardry can change fancy to fact in the twinkling ofan eye. Indeed, I think I, too, am something of a witch. Shall I makemagic for you, Euan? What most of anything on earth would you care tosee tonight?"
"You, Lois."
"Hai-e! That is easy. I will some night send to you my spirit, and itshall be so like me and so vivid nay, so warm and breathing--that youshall think to even touch it.... Shall I do this with a spell?"
"I only have to close my eyes and see you. Make it that I can alsotouch you."
"It shall be done."
We both were smiling, and I for one was forcing my gay spirits, for nowthat the moment had arrived, I knew that chance might well make of ourgay adieux an endless separation.
Lana had wandered a little way apart; I glanced at Lois, then turnedand joined her. She laid her hand on my arm, as though her knees couldscarcely prop her, and turned to me a deathly face.
"Euan," she breathed, "I have said adieu to him. Somehow, I know thathe and I shall never meet again.... Tell him I pray for him--fo
r hissoul.... And mine.... And that before he goes he shall do the thing Ibid him do.... And if he will not--tell him I ask God's mercy onhim.... Tell him that, Euan."
"Yes," I said, awed.
She stood resting her arm on mine to support her, closed her eyes for amoment, then opened them and looked at me. And in her eyes I saw herheart was breaking as she stood there.
"Lana! Lanette! Little comrade! What is this dreadful thing thatcrushes you? Could you not tell me?" I whispered.
"Ask him, Euan."
"Lana, why will you not marry him, if you love him so?"
She shuddered and closed her eyes.
Neither of us spoke again. Lois, watching us, came slowly toward us,and linked her arm in Lana's.
"Our batteau is waiting," she said quietly.
I continued to preserve my spirits as we walked together down to theshore where Mrs. Sabin stood glaring at me, then turned her broad backand waddled across the planks.
Lana followed; Lois clung a second to my hands, smiling still; then Ireleased her and she sprang lightly aboard.
And now batteau after batteau swung out into the stream, and all inline dropped slowly down the river, pole and paddle flashing, kerchiefsfluttering.
For a long way I could see the boat that carried Lois gliding in thechannel close along shore, and the escort following along the bankabove, with the sunshine glancing on their slanting rifles. Then a bendin the river hid them; and I turned away and walked slowly toward thefort.
By the gate my Indians were waiting. The Sagamore had my pack and riflefor me. On the rifle-platform above, the soldiers of the garrison stoodlooking down at us.
And now I heard the short, ringing word of command, and out of the gatemarched our twenty riflemen, Boyd striding lightly ahead.
Then, as he set foot on the log bridge, I saw Dolly Glenn standingthere, confronting him, blocking his way, her arms extended and hereyes fixed on him.
"Are you mad?" he said curtly.
"If you go," she retorted unsteadily, "leaving me behind youhere--unwedded--God will punish you."
The column had came to a halt. There was a dead silence on parapet andparade while three hundred pair of eyes watched those two there on thebridge of logs.
"Dolly, you are mad!" he said, with the angry colour flashing in hisface and staining throat and brow.
"Will you do me justice before you go?"
"Will you stand aside?" he said between his teeth.
"Yes--I will stand aside.... And may you remember me when you burn atthe last reckoning with God!"
"'Tention! Trail arms! By the left flank--march!" he cried, his voicetrembling with rage.
The shuffling velvet tread of his riflemen fell on the bridge; and theypassed, rifles at a trail, and fringes blowing in the freshening breeze.
Without a word I fell in behind. After me loped my Indians in perfectsilence.