CHAPTER XXV
THE PERIL OF KATE
"WHAT have we here, Henri?" exclaimed the man Kate had seen. She wasstruggling in the rude grasp of the other fellow, but was like a babyin the clutch of his powerful hands.
"I am surprised, Jacques, at what I have here," was the reply, inFrench. "This girl, she surely must be the same we know lives in thecabin, up on the Ohio, belonging to our enemy, Armstrong. Yes, I am notmistaken. But what brings her down in this country of the Mississippi?"
Evidently both French trappers were astounded to see Kate there. Manyhundreds of miles stood between the little settlement far up the Ohioand this region; and in those primitive days this represented an almostinsurmountable obstacle.
"Look again and make sure, Henri," said the other fellow, himselfstriding forward to leer into the face of the terrified girl, who bynow understood that these men were the rascals who had given them somuch trouble, trying to injure both Sandy and Bob, and finally robbingtheir cabin home when it was in the grip of the flood.
Why, one of them was even then wearing the wonderful wampum beltwhich Pontiac himself had bestowed upon the boys as an emblem of hisfriendship, and as a protection to their home against the savage furyof any Indians who belonged to the great confederation of which he wasthe leader.
"Well, what do you say now, Jacques?" demanded the first trapper, witha chuckle.
"_Sacre!_ it is as you say; hard to believe as it is, she must be thesame girl. Ha! I have an idea! It may explain the sound of the axeswhich we heard such long time on the trail now, as we come back oncemore to our old campground. See, there is the little boat she paddledown the river in. I begin to scent the truth now, Henri."
"Then supposing you inform me as to the same, since I am groping in thedark," demanded the other Frenchman.
"It may be that, if we but come closer to the old camp, we shall findit occupied by some of the hateful English settlers. I would not putit past them to descend the Ohio in a flatboat, till they come here.They have the nerve to face all the French along the Mississippi. And,Henri, among the rest is our old enemy, Armstrong. So you see now howthe girl comes to be here."
They stared at each other as though hardly able to believe the factsthus presented by the shrewd statement made by Jacques Larue.
Meanwhile Kate had almost ceased her struggles, because she could onlywith difficulty breathe, having that broad palm thrust over her mouth,and gripped, as she was, in the strong arm of the trapper.
Oh! how she wished that her brave brothers would only appear just then,and take these two ruffians to task for all they had done. How likesavages they looked, in her eyes, with their brutal faces. And HenriLacroix was not a bit careful as he held her, so that she might notscream, and thus give the alarm. What would they do with her? The verythought brought a cold chill to the poor girl.
Once Kate had been taken prisoner by a young Indian chief belonging tothe Iroquois nation, and carried far away to the country of the GreatLakes. Eventually she had been rescued by her two brothers, assistedby others, and brought back safely home. But she would never forgetwhat she had suffered in mind during the time of her captivity.
And yet she really feared these two rough men more than she had theIndians. As she looked into their snapping black eyes, she seemed tosee lurking there passions that would stop at nothing, even murder,in order to carry out any mad scheme to which they had turned theirattention. Even the girl could realize how Henri Lacroix longed toavenge the death of his brother, Armand, at the hands of Simon Kenton,the friend of the Armstrong family.
If she could only manage to give one loud cry, surely some one wouldhear; and at any rate these cowardly French trappers, becoming alarmedfor their safety, would drop her, and take to their heels, fearing lestthe settlers shoot them down like wolves. But Henri Lacroix evidentlydid not mean to give her the slightest chance to make any outcry,judging from the way in which he kept his hand over her mouth.
"This is no place for us, Jacques," he was saying now, nodding his headin the direction whence came the steady plod of the axes.
"But I hate to go away, and leave them no token of our good wishes,"remarked the second trapper, with a wide grin that somehow made poorKate tremble again.
If only they would let her speak, how gladly would she have promisednot to whisper a single word about their having been near by, untilhours had elapsed, and they had a chance to get clear away; but HenriLacroix would not give her that chance, in fear lest she bring vengefulfoes down about their ears.
"Ve haf a long bill to settle wif zem boys," remarked Lacroix, in hisbroken English.
"It took us some time to strike von blow, when we lay hold upon zisbelt; and when we come away to ze country of ze Mississippi we do notexpect evaire to set eyes again on zem. But, _parbleu_! ze fools followus here; zey even dare build zere hateful Eenglish cabins on zis riverzat belongs to ze French alone. Zat is too much for us to stand. For zelilies of France we must strike a blow zat vill tell zem zey nevairecan remain here."
"I am of ze same opinion," declared the other Frenchman, gritting hisstrong white teeth in a way that renewed all the fears of the captivegirl.
Were these men even more savage than the redskins, and would theyactually kill her, as she had heard of others being treated by whiteswho had joined forces with the Indians in the cruel wars that werealways in progress?
"It is plain, when we leave here, we cannot be trouble with the girl,"observed Jacques Larue, in French. Then, as he seemed to allow hisroving eyes to glance toward the river, just seen through openings inthe trees, a grim smile broke over his swarthy face, while he wenton speaking: "Ha! I have deescovered a plan that promises well. Itwill not only get rid of the _ma'm'selle_ in a fine way, but at thesame time strike a blow at our old enemy, Armstrong. The boys perhapsmay not feel so proud because they once get the better of your deadbrother, Armand Lacroix, and Jacques Larue."
"Tell me your plan, then; and, since we are now in a place of muchdanger, the quicker we put it into operation the better, it may be,"said Henri.
"Listen," the other went on, quickly. "Let us bind this girl so shecannot run away. Also we will fasten over her mouth a bandage, and thatwill prevent any outcry and call for help."
"Yes, and then?" asked Henri Lacroix.
"We can lay her in the boat she has down here," continued Jacques."Then, after we have tucked her in, _pouf_! the little boat sails fromthe shore, and is carried down the current of the mighty Mississippi!Day and night it floats on, the sport of wind and waves. And theArmstrongs will never know what became of the girl!"
Even the cruel Henri seemed to be a little disturbed at the inhumanityexhibited in this plan of revenge; but, as he remembered the fate ofhis brother, he crushed any objections he might have advanced, andnodded his head, as though agreeing with his mate.
"You are right, it is a beautiful idea," he declared. "The only thingthat I like not is the fact that we cannot ourselves see how they feelwhen they not be able to find the daughter. Ah! it is a noble scheme!Let us then begin the good work by fastening the hands of our captive."
He took out some stout buckskin thongs, of which every borderer carrieda supply, as they were useful in many ways. Kate tried the best sheknew how to interfere with his brutal designs, but in the power ofthose two men she was as weak as a babe, and before three minutes hadpassed her hands had been tightly lashed together behind her back.
After that the trapper proceeded to secure her ankles in the same way,so that she felt herself absolutely helpless.
"Now for the beautiful gag," said Jacques, when this part of theundertaking had been completed.
He took out of the pack he carried a piece of cloth, which he managedto fasten across the mouth of the girl in such a fashion that, whileshe could still breathe with some effort, speech was impossible.
At any rate, they apparently did not mean to bring about her immediatedeath. Perhaps they feared lest, in such a case, some of those hardyEnglish rangers might set
out on their trail, with the determinationnever to leave it until they had avenged the fate of Armstrong'sdaughter.
"How will that do, Henri, _mon cher_?" asked Jacques, gaily, steppingback to admire his own handwork, with the air of an expert.
"Capital! I congratulate you, Jacques, on being such a good hand atsuch work," the other answered. "Perhaps Armstrong will follow the boatdown the river, and rescue the girl; but it will put them to greattrouble, and perhaps they will regret raising a hand to injure JacquesLarue and Henri Lacroix."
"You carry her to the boat, while I go ahead to make sure nobody maysee us do the work," and, speaking in this strain, the burly trapperled off, with Henri coming along in the rear, bearing the form of Kateas easily as though she were a sack of feathers intended for a pillow.
It was found that a little bend of the shore intervened above, so thatthe spot where the settlers must have landed could not be seen. Theycaught a glimpse of the extreme outer edge of the tied-up flatboat,which fact told the trappers they had guessed truly as to the meanstaken by the Ohio settlers in descending to the region of theMississippi.
Henri deposited the helpless form of the girl in the bottom of thedugout. Then, with a heartlessness that seemed to be a part of theirhalf-savage natures, the two French trappers shoved the boat away fromthe shore.
It was immediately caught by the current that flowed more swiftly atthis point than above, and began to drift down-stream. The Frenchmendared not wait, lest, in exposing themselves they be discovered byhostile eyes; but, with more or less laughter that, reaching the earsof the alarmed girl, must have added to her tortures, they turned andplunged again into the woods.
And the little boat, passing on into swifter waters, was soon swirlingand dancing gaily on the bosom of the broad Mississippi, bearing KateArmstrong further and further away from all those she held dear.