CHAPTER XIII
AT THE FORT
The cry of the warriors in the woods was answered by a single cry fromthe log houses. It was that of the women and children, but it was notrepeated. They had learned the frontier patience and courage and theysettled themselves down to helping--the women and all the children thatwere large enough--and to waiting. The men at the palisade replied tothe Indian volley, some shooting from the crest, while others sent theirbullets through loopholes.
Major Braithwaite was standing erect near Henry. After the volley andreply, followed by silence, he took one look about to see that thepalisade was well-manned. Then it seemed to Henry that his figurestiffened and grew taller. His nostrils distended and a spark appearedin his eyes. The old soldier smelt the fire and smoke of battle oncemore, and the odor was not wholly ungrateful to him.
"Young sir," he said, turning to Henry, "we owe you a great debt. Yougot here just in time to save us from surprise."
"I'm glad," replied Henry, "that one of us was lucky enough to getthrough."
"One of you? What did you mean? Did others start?"
Henry flushed. He had not meant to say anything about the circumstancesof his coming. It was a slip, but he could not take it back.
"There were five of us when we started," he said. "We were sure that atleast one of us would get here."
"Good God! You do not mean to tell me that the others have all beenkilled?"
"No," replied Henry confidently. "They were wounded or broke down. I'llfind 'em or they'll find me. We've been ahead of a fleet that iscarrying arms, ammunition, and other things for our people in the east.That fleet ought to reach here in a few days."
The Major's face showed a little relief.
"Pray God it will come in time," he said earnestly. "We need it here,and so do our brethren in the east. What do you think is likely tohappen here? My experience with the Indians on the Canada frontier tellsme that I can never know what to expect of them. But you've probably hadmore experience in that way."
The boy, before answering, looked up at the sky. It had grown darker. Itwas a very timid moon, and nearly every star had withdrawn.
"They'll try to rush us soon," he replied. "The night helps them. Howmany men have you got?"
"About eighty, but counting the half-grown boys and several women whocan shoot we are able to put a hundred rifles into the defense."
"Then we can hold 'em back for a long time," said Henry. "Tell the mento watch well at the palisade, and I'll take a look around."
He glided naturally into his position of wilderness leader, and MajorBraithwaite, a cultivated man with a commission, a man who was oldenough to be his father, yielded to him without pique or the thought ofit. The wild youth of great stature and confident bearing inspired himwith a deep sense of relief at such a crisis.
Henry went swiftly among the log houses, which were arranged in rowsmuch after the fashion of Wareville, with a central blockhouse, from theupper story of which riflemen could fire upon enemies who sought to rushacross the clearing against the palisade. In a little hollow just beyondthe group of houses a cool, clear spring bubbled up, trickled away,passed under the palisade, and flowed into the Ohio. It was aninvaluable spring inside the walls and Henry thought its presence,together with the beauty and healthfulness of the site, had determinedthe location of Fort Prescott.
On the side of the river, the bank dropped down rather steeply to theOhio, which was not more than a hundred yards away, and which wascontracted here to less than half its usual width. Cannon planted onthis height could easily sweep the river from shore to shore, and Henrydrew a sudden sharp breath. He believed that he had half defined theplan of Timmendiquas, Girty, and their confederates--to seize FortPrescott, command the river, and shut off the fleet. But how? He couldnot yet see where they would obtain the means.
The river was dusky, but Henry's eyes, used to the darkness, couldsearch its surface. He saw a number of moving black dots, three near thecenter of the stream and others at the farther shore. He could notdiscern the outlines because of the distance, but he was sure that theywere Indian canoes, always watching.
He went back to Major Braithwaite and he was conscious, on the way, thatmany eyes were gazing at him with curiosity from the open doors of thelog houses. It was quickly known to all that a stranger, a most unusualstranger, had come with a warning so quickly justified, and when theysaw him they found that the report was true. But Henry took no apparentnotice. He found Major Braithwaite standing near the southern side ofthe palisade.
"Well, what do you think of us?" asked the Major, smiling rather wanly.
"It's a good fort," replied Henry, "and that spring will be a greatthing for you. We came near being taken once in our own fort ofWareville because the wells failed and we had no spring. Have you putany men in the top of the blockhouse?"
"Eight of our best riflemen are there."
"Tell them never to stop watching for a second and tell the men at thepalisades to do the same. In their fights with us the warriors alwaysrely on their belief that they have more patience than we have, andusually they have."
The Major breathed hard.
"I would that this thing were well over," he said. "I have a wife andtwo little children in one of those houses. Speaking for myself and allthe rest of us, too, I cannot thank you too much, young sir, for comingto the fort with this warning."
"It is what we always owe to one another in the woods," said Henry. "Ithink it likely that they will attack about three or four o'clock in themorning. If I were you, sir, I'd have coffee served to the riflemen,that is, if you have coffee."
"We have it," said the Major, and soon the women were preparing thecoffee. Everybody drank, and then the riflemen resumed their watch uponthe forest. Some were men of experience and some were not. Those whowere not believed, as the weary hours passed, that it was a false alarmand wished to go to sleep, leaving perhaps a half dozen sentinels tokeep guard. But Major Braithwaite would not allow it. Not an expert inthe forest himself, he believed that he knew an expert when he saw one,and he already had implicit faith in Henry Ware. The two were togethermost of the time, passing continually around the enclosure. Henry lookedup at the sky, where no ray of moonlight now appeared, and where rollingclouds increased in the darkness. The forest was merely a black shadow,and the clearing between it and the palisade lay in heavy gloom. Thewise forethought of Major Braithwaite had caused a narrow platform, orrather ledge, to be run around the inside of the palisade at such aheight that a man could stand upon it and fire over the top of thestakes.
Henry and the Major stepped upon the ledge and looked at the clearing.The Major saw nothing--merely the black background of earth, forest andsky. Nor did Henry see anything, but he believed that he heardsomething, a faint, sliding sound, perhaps like that of a great serpentwhen it trails its long length over the grass and leaves. It was such anoise as this that he was expecting, and he sought with attentive earand eye to locate it.
Ear guided eye, and he became sure that the sound came from a pointfifteen or twenty yards in front of them, but approaching. Then eyediscerned a darker blot against the dark face of the earth, andpresently turned this blot into the shape of a creeping warrior. Therewere other creeping forms to right and left, but Henry, raising hisrifle, fired at the first that he had seen.
All the warriors, dozens of them, sprang to their feet, uttering theircry, and rushed upon the wall, firing their rifles as they came. Thedefenders replied from the top of the palisade through the loopholes andfrom the upper story of the blockhouse. The Indians kept up their warcries, terrifying in their nature and intended for that purpose, whilethe white men shouted encouragement to one another. The sharp, cracklingfire of the rifles was incessant, and mingled with it was the sighingsound of bullets as they struck deep into the wood of the palisade.
It was a confused struggle, all the more grim because of the darkness.Many of the Indians reached the palisade. Some were shot down as theyattempted to climb ov
er. Others knelt under the wall and fired throughthe very loopholes. One warrior leaped over the palisade, escaping allthe bullets aimed at him, and, tomahawk in hand, ran toward a woman whostood by one of the houses with the intention of striking her down. Hewas wild with the rage of battle, but a lucky shot from the window ofthe blockhouse slew him. He fell almost at the feet of the horrifiedwoman, and it was seen the next morning that he belonged to the fearlessWyandot nation.
Henry stood for a time on the ledge, firing whenever he saw a chance,wasting no bullets, but after a while he sprang down and ran along theline, believing that he could be of more service by watching as well asfighting. He knew that the brunt of the Indian attack would be likely toveer at any moment, and presently it shifted to the eastern side.Luckily he was there, and at his call the Major came with more men. Thewarriors were repelled at this point, also. At the end of a half hourthe attack sank, and then ceased on all sides. The defenders werevictorious for the time, and there was great rejoicing among those whodid not know all the ways of the forest.
"It is merely a withdrawal for another and better opportunity, is itnot?" said Major Braithwaite to Henry.
"Of course," replied the boy. "They do not give up as easy as that. Itwas so dark that I don't think much damage was done to either side.Besides, a lot of them are there yet, hiding against the palisade, andif they get a chance they will pick off some of your men."
As Henry spoke, a bullet whizzed through a loophole, and a defender wasstruck in the shoulder. The others quickly moved out of range. MajorBraithwaite was very grave.
"Those savages are a great danger," he said. "How are we to get atthem."
"If we lean over the wall to shoot down at 'em," said Henry, "they canshoot up at us, and they can see us better. It's a big question. Ah, Iknow what to do. Those stakes are green wood, are they not?"
"Yes. Why?"
"They won't burn unless the fire is nursed?"
"I shouldn't think so."
"Then we'll have our red friends out without much danger to ourselves."
Henry quickly told his plan, and the Major was all approval. Pots andkettles were filled with coals from the smouldering fires in thehouses--in every Kentucky pioneer cabin the fire was kept over night inthis manner ready for fresh wood in the morning--and then they werecarried to the wooden barrier, the bearers taking care to keep out ofrange of the loopholes. A line of men stood along the ledge, and at awhispered word from Henry twenty heaps of red hot coals were droppedover the palisade, falling down at its foot. A series of howls, wildwith pain, arose, and a dozen figures, leaping up, darted toward theforest. Two were shot by the riflemen in the blockhouse, but the restmade good the wood. More coals and boiling water, also, were emptiedalong the whole line of the stockade, but only three more warriors wereroused up, and these escaped in the darkness. All were gone now.
Henry laughed quietly, and Major Braithwaite joined in the laugh.
"It was a good plan," he said, "and it worked well. Now, I think, youngsir, you ought to get a little sleep. I don't think they can surpriseus, and it will not be long before day."
Henry lay down on a bed of furs in one of the houses, with the firstrifle that he had taken by his side--the other he had already given tothe defenders--and soon he slept soundly. He was troubled somewhat bydreams, however; in these dreams he saw the faces of his four lostcomrades. He awoke once while it was yet dark, and his mind was heavy."I must go back for them at the very first chance," he said to himself,and then he was asleep again.
He awoke of his own accord two hours after sunrise, and after he hadeaten a breakfast that one of the women brought him, he went forth.
A splendid sun was ascending the heavens, lending to the greenwilderness a faint but fine touch of gold. The forest, save for thespace about the fort and a tiny cutting here and there, was an enclosingwall of limitless depth. It seemed very peaceful now. There was no signof a foe in its depths, and Henry could hear distantly the song ofbirds.
But the boy, although sure that the warriors were yet in the forest,looked with the most interest and attention toward the river. Themorning sunshine turned its yellow to pure gold, and the far hillsrising abruptly were a green border for the gold. But Henry was notseeking either beauty or grandeur. He was looking for the black dotsthat he had seen the night before. They were not on the surface of theriver, but he believed that he could detect them against the bank,hidden partly in the foliage. Yet he was not sure.
"Good morning, my young friend, I trust that you slept well and arerefreshed," said a cheery voice behind him.
It was Major Braithwaite, dressed now in the buff and blue of a colonialofficer, who saluted him, his fine, tall figure upright and military,and his face expressing confidence. He noticed Henry's eyes on his buffand blue and he said:
"I brought with me the new uniform of our army and I put it on. It isthe first time that I have ever worn in battle the uniform of what Itrust will prove to be a new nation. I serve in the deep wilderness, butstill I serve."
Henry might have smiled at such precision of speech and a certainformality of manner, but he knew it to be the result of a militarytraining, and it did not decrease his liking for the Major.
"I've slept well and I'm rested," he replied. "What damage did they doto us last night?"
"Two of our men were slain--brave fellows--and we have already buriedthem. Five more were wounded, but none severely. Do you think, Mr. Ware,that having had a taste of our mettle, they have withdrawn?"
"No," replied Henry emphatically. "They wouldn't think of leaving. They,too, must have suffered little loss. You see, sir, the darknessprotected both sides, and they are in the woods there now, trying tothink of the easiest way to take Fort Prescott."
But Henry, as he spoke, turned his eyes from the woods toward the river,and Major Braithwaite, impressed even more in the daylight than in thenight by his manner and appearance, noticed it. The Major, although nota skilled forest fighter, despite his experience in the great French andIndian war, was a shrewd observer and judge of mankind.
"Why do you look so often and with so much anxiety toward the Ohio?" heasked. "What do you expect there?"
"I believe it's our greatest source of danger."
"In what way?"
"I don't know, I may be mistaken," replied Henry, not wishing to causean alarm that might prove groundless. "We must pay attention to theforest just now. Something is moving there."
He was looking again toward the green wall, upon which a white spotsuddenly appeared.
"It's a white cloth of some kind," said Major Braithwaite. "That means aflag of truce. Now what in the name of Neptune can they want?"
"We'll soon see," said Henry, as he and the Major advanced to thepalisade and stepped upon the ledge. Many others did the same, and not afew among them were women and children. The Major did not send themaway, as a bullet from the forest could not reach them there.
A man came from among the trees, waving a white rag on a stick, butstopped out of rifle shot. The man was tanned almost as brown as anIndian, and he was dressed in Indian style, but his features wereundoubtedly Caucasian.
"Do you know who he is?" asked the Major.
"Yes," replied Henry, "it is the worst scoundrel in all the west, theleader of the men who fight against their own people, the king of therenegades, Simon Girty."
"Girty coming to us under a white flag!" exclaimed the Major. "What canhe want?"
"We'll soon see," said Henry. "Look, there are the chiefs."
A dozen stately figures issued from the green gloom and stood besideGirty, silent and impressive, their hands folded upon the muzzles oftheir rifles, which rested upon the ground, their figures upright,figure and face alike motionless, an eagle feather waving defiantly inevery scalp lock. There was something grand and formidable in theirappearance, and all those who looked from the palisade felt it.
"Do you know any of them?" asked Major Braithwaite.
"Yes," replied Henry. "I see Yellow Pant
her, head chief of the Miamis;Red Eagle, head chief of the Shawnees, and Captain Pipe and CaptainWhite Eyes, Delaware chiefs, but I do not see Timmendiquas, the WhiteLightning of the Wyandots, the bravest and greatest of them all. Thereare two more renegades behind the chiefs. They are Blackstaffe andBraxton Wyatt."
"Girty is coming forward. He is going to speak," said the Major.
The renegade advanced another dozen feet, still holding the white flagabove him, and hailed them in a loud voice.
"Ho, you within the fort!" he cried. "I wish to speak with your leader,if you have one."
Major Braithwaite stepped upon the highest point of the ledge. He showedabove the palisade from the waist up, and the morning sunshine touchedhis cocked hat and buff and blue with an added glory. It was a strangefigure in the forest, but the face under the cocked hat was brave andtrue.
"I am the commander here," said Major Braithwaite in a clear andpenetrating voice. "What does Simon Girty want with us?"
"I see you know me," said the renegade laughing. "Then you ought toknow, too, that it's worth while to listen to what I have to say."
Henry stood on a lower part of the ledge. Only his head appeared abovethe palisade, and Girty and Wyatt had not yet noticed him. But MajorBraithwaite, almost unconsciously, looked down to him for advice.
"Draw him out as much as you can," said Henry.
"I am listening," said the Major. "Proceed."
"I want to tell you," called Girty, "that this place is surrounded byhundreds of warriors. We've got the biggest force that was ever gatheredin the west, and it ain't possible for you to escape us."
A groan came from the palisade. It was some of the women who uttered it.But the Major waved his hand in reproof, and no one cried out again.
"You have yet to prove what you say," he replied. "We beat you off lastnight."
"That was only a little skirmish," said Girty. "We were just feeling ofyou. See, here are a dozen great chiefs beside me, Shawnee, Miami,Delaware, and others, which shows that we can send against you athousand warriors, two thousand, if we wish. But we mean to be merciful.I'm a white man and the chiefs will listen to me. But if you don't do asI say, nothing will be left of this place two days from now but ashesand coals. All the men will be dead, and the women and children will becarried away, the women to be squaws of our warriors, the children togrow up as Indians, and never to know that they were white."
Faces along the barrier blanched. Major Braithwaite himself shuddered,but he replied in a strong voice:
"And what is the alternative that you offer us?"
"We admit that we would lose lives in taking your fort, lives that wewish to save. So we promise you that if you surrender, your women andyoung children shall go safely up the Ohio on boats to Pittsburgh, themen to be held for ransom."
"Don't think of accepting, Major!" exclaimed Henry. "Don't think of it,even if they had ten thousand warriors! If you put your people in hispower, Girty would never dream of keeping his promise, and I doubt ifthe chiefs understand what he is saying while he is speaking English!"
"Never fear that I shall do such a thing, my boy," said MajorBraithwaite. "Meekly surrender a place like this to a scoundrel likeGirty!"
Then he called out loudly:
"It may be that you can take us in two days as you say, but that youwill have to prove, and we are waiting for you to prove it."
"You mean, then," said Girty, "that we're to have your scalps?"
"Major," said Henry earnestly, "let me speak to them. I've lived amongthe Indians, as I told you before, and I know their ways and customs.What I say may do us a little good!"
"I believe in you, my boy," said Major Braithwaite with confidence."Speak as you please, and as long as you please."
He stepped from the high point of the ledge, and Henry promptly took hisplace. Braxton Wyatt uttered a cry of surprise and anger as the figureof the great youth rose above the palisade, and it was repeated by SimonGirty. The two knew instinctively who had put Fort Prescott on guard,and their hearts were filled with black rage.
"Simon Girty," called Henry in the language of the Shawnees, which hespoke well, "do you know me?"
He had deliberately chosen the Shawnee tongue because he was sure thatall the chiefs understood it, and he wished them to hear what he wouldhave to say.
"Yes, I know you," said Girty angrily, "and I know why you are here."
Henry suddenly put on the manner of an Indian orator. He had learnedwell from them when he was a captive in the Northwestern tribe, and forthe moment the half-taunting, half-boastful spirit which he wished toshow really entered into his being.
"Simon Girty," he called loudly, "I came here to save these people andto defeat you, and I have succeeded. You cannot take this fort and youcannot frighten its men to surrender it. Renegade, murderer of yourkind, wretch, liar, I know and these people know that if they were tosurrender you would not keep your word if you could. How can any onebelieve a traitor? How can your Indian allies believe that the man whomurders his own people would not murder them when the time came?"
Girty's face flamed with furious red, but Henry went on rapidly:
"If Manitou told me that I should fall in fair fight with a Wyandot or aShawnee or a Miami I should not feel disgraced, but if I were to bekilled by the dirty hand of you, Girty, or the equally dirty hand ofBraxton Wyatt, who stands behind you, I should feel myself dishonored aslong as the world lasts."
Girty, choking with rage, drew his tomahawk from his belt and shook itat Henry, who was more than a hundred yards away. The chiefs remainedmotionless, silent and majestic as before.
"And you great chiefs," continued Henry, "listen to me. You will failhere as you have failed before. Help, great help, is coming for thesepeople. I brought them the warning. I aroused them from sleep, and Iknow that many men are coming. Pay heed to me, Yellow Panther, headchief of the Miamis, and Red Eagle, head chief of the Shawnees, that youmay know who I am, and that my words are worth hearing. I am that bearerof belts, Big Fox, who came with Brown Bear and The Bat into the councillodge of the Miamis and sent the warriors of the Shawnees and the Miamisastray. I was white and my comrades were white, but you did not know me,cunning as you are."
Now Yellow Panther and Red Eagle stirred. These were true things that hetold, and curiosity and anger stirred in them.
"Who is this that taunts us?" they asked of Girty.
"It's a young fiend," replied the renegade. "Wyatt has told me all abouthim. Boy as he is, he's worth a whole band of warriors to the peoplebehind those walls."
"There is more that you should remember, Red Eagle and Yellow Panther,"continued Henry, wishing to impress them. "It was I and my comrades whocarried the message to the wagon train that you fought at the ford,where you were beaten, where you lost many warriors. I see that youremember. Tell your warriors that Manitou favors my friends and me, thatwe have never yet failed. We were present when the Indians of the southand many renegades like Girty and Wyatt here, men with black hearts whotold lies to their red friends, were beaten in a great battle. As theyfailed in the south, so will you fail here. A mighty fleet is coming,and it will scatter you as the winter wind scatters the dead leaves."
Henry paused. He had calculated his effects carefully. He wished tocreate feeling between red man and renegade, and he wished to plant inthe red mind the belief that he was really protected by Manitou. Thetribes, at least, might hesitate and delay, and meanwhile the fleet wascoming.
"I'll see that you're burned at the stake when we take this place,"shouted Girty, "and I'll see that it's the slowest fire a man ever diedover."
"I've said what I had to say," called back the youth.
He stepped down from the wall. The renegades and the chiefs retired tothe woods.
"What were you saying to them?" asked Major Braithwaite.
"I was telling them of their former failures," replied Henry. "I wastrying to discourage them and to make them hate the renegades."