CHAPTER XVII
PICKING UP THE STRANDS
Henry sat down in the underbrush, and Shif'less Sol sat down close tohim. Their figures were hidden by the darkness and the bushes.
"Do your best, Henry," said the shiftless one.
Henry opened his mouth and emitted a long, mournful cry, so like that ofthe owl that Shif'less Sol, at a little distance, could not have toldthe difference. After a silence of a few seconds he repeated the cry, toshow that they were two.
"Don't see why you can't let a tired and sick man sleep, 'specially whenhe needs it so bad," said a voice so near them that both started up inastonishment.
It was the voice of Tom Ross, as they knew when the very first wordswere uttered, and they saw him standing erect in a little clump of treesand looking reproachfully at them. It was night, and Tom was fifty yardsaway, but they would have known his figure and attitude anywhere. Theyrushed to him, each seized a hand and shook it.
"Don't shake too hard," said Tom. "Jest gittin' well uv a pow'ful badheadache."
They saw that a rude bandage encircled his head, and was tied tightly.
"Injun bullet hit my skull," said Tom briefly. "Couldn't git in, so itwent 'round an' come out on the other side. Made my head ache most aweek. Been campin' here till you'd come."
"Where have you been camping?" asked Henry.
"Over thar in the bushes," replied Tom, and he led the way to a verythick clump at the side of a huge, up-thrust root of an oak. Shelteredpartly by the bushes and partly by the big root had been the lair ofsome wild animal that Tom had dispossessed. But he had relined it firstwith dry leaves and little boughs, turning it into a man's nest.
"Found it the night I dropped out," said Tom. "Couldn't be particklerthen. Had to lay down somewhar. Remember, after I'd been here an hour ortwo, some big yeller animal with yellerish-green eyes come starin' in atme through the bushes, angry and reproachful-like. Said to me plain asday: 'You've took my house. Git out.' Felt like a robber, I did,slippin' into another man's bed while he wuz away, an' takin' up all theroom. But I jest had to hold on, me feelin' pow'ful bad. I p'inted myrifle at him, looked down the sights and said: 'Git.' He must haveknowed what a rifle meant, 'cause git he did, an' he ain't ever comeback to claim his mansion. Then, jest havin' strength enough left tobind up my head, I fell over into a sleep, an' I reckon I slep' 'boutthree days an' three nights, 'cause I ain't got any idea how much timehez passed sence I left you that night, Henry.
"But I felt better after my long sleep, though still weak an' wobbly.I'd hev made myself some herb tea, but I wuz beginnin' to gittre-men-jeous-ly hungry. Managed to watch at a spring not far from hereuntil a deer came down to drink one night, an' I shot him. Been livin'on deer meat since then, an' waitin' fur my headache to go away.Expected you an' Sol or one uv you would come fur me."
Tom stopped abruptly and took a mighty breath. He did not make so long aspeech more than once a year, and he felt mentally exhausted.
"Well, we've found you, Tom," said Henry joyfully.
"Ef you hadn't come, I'd have started myself in a day or two to find_you_," said Ross.
"I don't wonder that Injun bullet turned aside, when it run ag'in TomRoss' skull," said the shiftless one. "That shorely wuz a smart bullet.It knowed it wuzn't worth while to beat its head ag'in a rock."
"Don't be impydent, Sol," said Tom with a quiet chuckle. "Now that wethree are together ag'in, I s'pose the next thing fur us to do is totrack Jim Hart to his hidin' place."
"That comes next," said Henry.
It did not occur to any of the three that Long Jim might have beenslain. Their belief in their own skill, endurance, and good fortune, wasso great that they did not reckon on anything more than a wound, fever,and exhaustion.
"I believe we'd better stop here to-night," said Shif'less Sol. "Tom canwiden his den, and all three of us kin sleep in it."
Henry and Tom agreed. Silent Tom, although he said little, was greatlyrejoiced over the coming of his comrades, and he brought from the forkof a tree his store of deer meat, of which they ate. Then, in accordwith the shiftless one's suggestion, they widened the den, and the threeslept there, turns being taken at the watch.
Henry had the last turn, and it was about two o'clock in the morningwhen he was awakened for it. Shif'less Sol, who had awakened him,instantly fell asleep, and Henry sat at the edge of the lair, his rifleacross his knees, and his eyes turned up to the great stars, which weretwinkling in a magnificent blue sky.
Henry had imbibed much of the Indian lore and belief. It was inevitablewhere human beings were so few, and the skies and the forest were soimmense, that he should feel the greatness of nature and draw hissymbols from it. He wondered in a vague sort of way on which of thebright stars Manitou dwelt, and if on all of them there were huntinggrounds like those in which he and his comrades roved.
He watched with his ears, that is, he listened for the sound of anythingthat might be moving in the forest, but he kept his eyes on the highheavens. His thoughts were solemn, but not at all sad. He could see muchin the Indian belief of the happy hunting grounds in which strong, bravewarriors would roam forever. It appealed to him as a very wise andwholesome belief, and he asked no better hereafter than to roam suchforests himself through eternity with those who were dear to him.
Some clouds gathered in the southwest, and a faint, far rumble came tohis ears. "Baimwana (thunder)," he murmured, speaking almostunconsciously in Iroquois, a little of which he had learned long ago. Hewas sorry. Rain would not be pleasant, particularly for the two who werenot yet fully recovered from their wounds. But the thunder did not comeagain, the clouds passed, and he knew there would be no rain.
A wind, gentle and musical, began to blow. "Wabun (the East Wind)," hemurmured. He personified the winds, because it was in his nature to doso, and because the Indians with whom he had dwelt did it. It was thisgift of his, based on a powerful imagination, that now made him hear thehuman voice once more in the wind. It was a low voice, but penetrating,thrilling him in every nerve, and its note was hope. He had heard itbefore at crises of his life, and its prophecy had not failed to cometrue. Nor did he believe that it would do so now.
The wind shifted. "Kabibanokka (the North Wind)," he murmured. But thenote was unchanged. It was still a voice that brought courage. Theywould find Jim and Paul, and the fleet and the fort alike would triumph.
He heard, soon, light sounds in the bush, but they were not thefootsteps of enemies. He knew it because he had heard them all before. Atawny beast came down through the grass, but halted at a respectfuldistance. Henry caught a glimpse of one yellow eye, and he felt a sortof amused sorrow for the panther. The rightful owner of this house hadbeen driven out, as Tom Ross confessed, and he was there not far awaylooking reproachfully at the robbers. Well, he should have his houseback on the next night, and perhaps he could then keep it all the restof his life.
The yellow eye disappeared. The sorrowful and reproachful panther hadgone away. The wind shifted, and its odor was fresh with the dawn, whichwould soon be whitening the east. A troop of deer, led by a splendidstag, passed so close that Henry could see their forms in the dusk. Thewind was taking the odor of himself and his comrades away from them, andhe watched the dusky file as it passed. Even had the country been clearof Indians, he would not have taken a shot at them, because he had nodesire to slay merely for the sake of slaying.
The deer passed. Light sprang up in the east. The white turned to red,the red to gold, and the gold at last became blue. An eagle, in an earlysearch for food, sailed far above Henry's head, outlined--wing, beak andtalon--against the blue. The whole world, grass and leaves wet with dew,basked in the morning light, wonderfully fresh and beautiful.
Henry awoke his comrades, who instantly sat up, every trained facultythoroughly alive.
"All been quiet, Henry?" asked Shif'less Sol.
"Nothing happened," replied the boy, "except that the owner of thishouse looked in once, called Tom Ross here an infamous robbe
r, and thenwent away, saying he would have revenge if he had to live a hundredyears to get it."
"Ef he's ez dang'rous ez that," said Shif'less Sol, lightly, "I saylet's move on right now, an' give him back his gor-gee-yous mansion."
The sense of humor and joy of life had fully returned to the shiftlessone. Another night's rest had added wonderfully to his strength, and thecoming of Henry and the finding of Tom contributed so much to the upliftof his spirits that he considered himself as good, physically, as ever.
"I'm ready for anything now, from a fight to a foot-race," he said, "butef choosin' is to be mine, I'd rather hev breakfast. Tom, bring out thatdeer meat o' yourn."
They quickly disposed of their food and resumed the reverse journey inthe path of their former flight. They passed through woods and tinyprairies, crossed little brooks, and kept a sharp watch for landmarks.Henry said at last that they had come to the place where Jim Hart hadbeen forced to turn aside.
"Do you reckon that Jim wuz hit hard?" asked Shif'less Sol.
"I hope not," replied Henry earnestly, "and the chances are all in hisfavor. Stray bullets in the dark don't often kill."
"I figger," said Tom Ross, "that he waded up this little creek thatcomes down here, and turns off to the south. It would be the thing thatany man would naterally do to hide his trail."
"We'll jest go along it," said Shif'less Sol, "rememberin' that Jim ispow'ful long legged an' ef he took a notion would step out o' the wateran' up a cliff ten feet high."
They followed the creek nearly a mile, but did not see any place atwhich a man would be likely to emerge. It was a swift stream coming downfrom a mass of high hills, the blue outline of which they saw three orfour miles ahead of them.
"It's my belief," said Henry, pointing to the blue hills, "that Jim's inthere."
"It's pow'ful likely," said Shif'less Sol. "Injuns tryin' to take a fortan' a fleet ain't likely to bother about a pile o' hills layin' out o'their path. They go fur what they want."
"Best place fur him," said Tom Ross.
They now left the bed of the stream and advanced swiftly toward thehills, which turned from blue to green as they came nearer. They werehigh and stony, but clothed densely in dark forest. The shiftless onehad truly said that Indians on the war path, seeking the greatest prizesthat had ever come within their reach, would not bother about a patch ofsuch isolated and difficult country.
It was a long walk through the forest, but the day was come, and the airmade for briskness and elasticity. They searched occasionally by theside of the brook for a footstep preserved in mud, or any other signthat Long Jim had passed, but they found nothing. Nevertheless, theystill felt sure of their original opinion. Jim would have lain in thebush through the night, and to make for the hills when he saw them inthe morning was the most natural thing to do.
When they came finally to the hills, they found them exceedingly steep,jagged masses, thrown together in the wildest fashion.
"Ef we don't find Long Jim in here," said Shif'less Sol, "then I'm amighty bad guesser."
They sought everywhere for a trail but found none, and at last, crossinga sharp crest of rock, they saw before them a little valley completelyhidden by cliff and forest from any but the closest observer. They beganthe descent of the slope, passing among trees and thick bushes, andHenry, who was in the lead, suddenly stopped and, smiling broadly,pointed straight ahead.
"If that isn't the stamp and seal of Long Jim, then I'm blind," he said.
They saw a small snare for rabbits, made by bending over a stout bush,to which was attached a cord of strong deerskin, cut perhaps from LongJim's clothing. This cord was fastened around a little circle of sticksset in the ground. A little wooden trigger in the center of the circlewas baited with the leaves which rabbits love. When Mr. Foolish Rabbitreached over for his favorite food, he sprang the trigger, the nooseslipped, caught him around the neck, the released bush flew back with ajerk, and he was quickly choked to death.
"That's Long Jim all over," said Shif'less Sol admiringly. "I kin seehim in that buckskin cord, them sticks, an' that noose. Too weak to gohuntin', he sets a trap. Oh, he's smart, he is! An' he's been ketchin'somethin', too. See this bit o' rabbit fur."
"Trust Long Jim to get something to eat," said Henry, "and to cook itthe best way that ever could be found. We must be coming pretty close tohim now."
"Yes, here are signs of his trail," said Tom Ross. "I'd bet my scalpthat he's got a dozen uv these snares scattered around through thevalley, an' that he's livin' on the fat uv the land without ever firin'a shot. Stop, do you smell that?"
They stopped and sniffed the air inquiringly. A faint, delicate aromatickled the nostrils of all three. It was soothing and pleasant, andthey sniffed again.
"Now, that is Long Jim an' no mistake," whispered Shif'less Sol. "It'sshorely his sign."
"Seems to me you're right," Henry whispered back, "but we mustn't makeany mistake."
They crept down the slope, among the bushes, with such care that neithercould hear either of the other two moving. All the while that enchantingaroma grew stronger. Shif'less Sol, despite his caution, was obliged toraise his nose and take another sniff.
"It's Long Jim! It must be Long Jim! It can't be anything else but LongJim at work!" he murmured.
After ten minutes of creeping and crawling down the slope, Henry softlypulled aside a thick bush and pointed with a long forefinger.
In a little dip, almost a pit, a long-legged, long-bodied man sat beforea rude oven built of stones evidently gathered from the surroundingslopes. Within the oven smoldered coals which gave out so little smokethat it was not discernible above the bushes. On the flat top of theoven strips of rabbit steak were broiling, and from them came the aromawhich had been so potent a charm in the nostrils of the three.
The long-legged man sat in Turkish fashion, and his eyes were intentupon his oven and steaks. One hand rested in a rude sling, but the otherheld a stick with which he now and then poked up the coals. It wasobvious that he was interested and absorbed as no other task in theworld could interest and absorb him. The soul of an artist was pouredinto his work. He lingered over every detail, and saw that it was right.
"Now, ain't that old Long Jim through an' through?" whispered Shif'lessSol to Henry. "Did you ever see a feller love cookin' ez he does? It'shis gift. He's done clean furgot all about Injuns, the fort, the fleet,us, an' everything except them thar rabbit steaks. Lemme call him backto the world, that good, old, ornery, long-legged, contrary Jim Hart,the best cook on this here roun' rollin' earth o' ours."
"Go ahead," said Henry.
Shif'less Sol raised his rifle and took a long, deliberate aim at LongJim. Then he called out in a sharp voice:
"Give 'em up!"
Long Jim sprang to his feet in astonishment, and uttered the involuntaryquestion:
"Give up what?"
"Them rabbit steaks," replied the shiftless one, emerging from thebushes, but still covering Long Jim with his rifle. "An' don't you beslow about it, either. What right hev you, Jim Hart, to tickle my nosewith sech smells, an' then refuse to give to me the cause o' it? Thatwould be cruelty to animals, it would."
"Sol Hyde! and Henry Ware! and Tom Ross!" exclaimed Long Jim joyfully."So you hev come at last! But you're late."
They grasped his hand, one by one, and shook his good arm heartily.
"Was that where you caught the bullet?" asked Henry, looking at the badarm.
Long Jim nodded.
"Broke?"
Long Jim shook his head.
"Thought so at first," he replied, "but it ain't. Bruised more'nanything else, but it's been terrible sore. Gittin' better now, though.I'll hev the use uv it back all right in a week."
"It seems that you haven't been faring so badly," said Henry.
Long Jim looked around the little valley and grinned in appreciation.
"I knowed I couldn't do anything about the fort with this bad arm," hesaid. "Weakened ez I wuz, I wuzn't shore I could swim the
river with onearm, an' even ef I ever reached the fort I'd be more likely to be ahindrance than a help. So I found this place, an' here I've stayed,restin' an' recuperatin' an' waitin' fur you fellers to come back. Ididn't want to shoot, 'cause them that I didn't want to hear might hearit, an' 'cause, too, I knowed how to set traps an' snares."
"We saw one of them as we came along," said Henry.
"They've worked bee-yu-tiful," said Long Jim, an ecstatic look comingover his face. "I've caught rabbits an' a 'possum. Then I set to workand built this oven, an' I've learned a new way to broil rabbit steakson the hot stones. It's shorely somethin' wonderful. It keeps all thejuice in 'em, an' they're so tender they jest melt in your mouth, an'they're so light you could eat a hundred without ever knowin' that youhad 'em."
"That's what I'm thinkin'," said Shif'less Sol, reaching for his rifle."Gimme about twenty o' them steaks quicker'n you kin wink an eye, JimHart, or I'll let you hev it."
Long Jim, the soul of an artist still aflame within him, willinglyproduced the steaks, and all ate, finding that they were what he hadclaimed them to be. But he waited eagerly for the verdict, his head bentforward and his eyes expectant.
"Best I ever tasted," said Henry.
Long Jim's eyes flashed.
"Finer than silk," said Shif'less Sol.
Sparks leaped from Long Jim's eyes.
"Could eat 'em forever without stoppin'," said Tom Ross.
Long Jim's eyes blazed.
"I couldn't 'a' stood it ef you fellers hadn't liked my finest'chievement," he said. "Shows you've got more sense than I thought youhad."
"Jim feels like Columbus did that time he discovered Ameriky," saidShif'less Sol. "Knowed it wuz thar all the time, but wanted other peopleto know that he knowed it wuz thar."
"It's a snug place, Jim, this little valley, or rather pit, of yours,"said Henry, "but we must leave it at once and find Paul."
"That's shorely so," said Long Jim, casting a regretful look at hisoven, "but I wish we could come back here an' stay a while after wefound him. That thar oven don't look much, but it works pow'ful. Ib'lieve I could make some more uv them Columbus dis-kiv-er-ies with it."
"I don't think we will be back this way for a long time," said Henry,"but your oven will keep. Sol is compelled to bear a similar sorrow. Hehas the snuggest nest in the side of a cliff that ever you did see, buthe has left it just as it is, and he hopes to see it again some day."
"That bein' the case," said Long Jim, "I think I kin stand it, since Solhere is my brother in sorrow."
They left the deep little valley, although Jim Hart cast more than onelonging glance behind, and began the search for Paul, who had been thefirst to fall by the way. The four were a unit in believing that thiswould be the most difficult task of all. Paul, although he had learnedmuch, was not a natural woodsman in the sense that the others were.Henry had reckoned all the time upon certain laws of the forest whichSol, Tom, and Jim would obey. He was with them like the skilled boxermeeting the skilled opponent, but Paul might at any time strike a blowcontrary to science, and therefore unexpected. Although Paul had notbeen wounded, Henry felt more apprehension about him than he had everfelt about any one of the others, because of this very uncertainty.
They returned upon the back trail, and with four minds and four pairs ofeyes working, they had no great difficulty in locating the point atwhich Paul had left them. Like most of the country it was heavilywooded, and one could easily find a hiding place so long as the darklasted.
They located their own line of flight, not because any visible signs ofit were left, but because they remembered the region through which theyhad run.
"Here is whar Paul turned away an' jumped into the bushes," saidShif'less Sol, "an' he shorely didn't go fur, 'cause he wuz pow'fultired. I reckon Paul wuz tired enough to last him fur a month."
They turned to the eastward, and about a half mile further on, afterlong search, they found a place in the densest bushes that showed signsof crushing. Some twigs were broken, and several of the smaller bushes,bent to one side by a heavy body, had not returned to their normalposition.
"Here is where Paul laid down to rest," said Henry.
"An' he wuz so tired he fell asleep an' slep' all night," said Shif'lessSol.
"He shorely did," said Tom Ross, "'cause these bushes wuz bent so longthey ain't had time to straighten out ag'in."
"An' him with nothin' to eat the next mornin', poor feller," said LongJim sympathetically.
They were able to follow Paul's trail a rod or so by the bent bushes,but then they lost it, and they stood conferring. Henry's eye fell upona mass of wild flowers on a distant hill slope, red, blue, and delicatepink. He admired them at first, and then his eyes brightened with suddencomprehension.
"Paul has always loved beautiful things," he said to his comrades. "Hedoes not forget to see them even in moments of danger, and he wouldnaturally go toward that slope over there covered with wild flowers."
Shif'less Sol slapped his knee in approval.
"You do reason fine, Henry," he said. "Paul would shorely make fur themflowers, jest 'cause he couldn't help it."
They invaded the flower field, and, as all of them confidently expected,they saw signs that Paul had been there. Some of the flowers were brokendown, but not many--Paul would take care not to injure them in such away. But Henry's shrewd eye noticed where several had been cut from thestem. Paul had done this with his hunting knife, and probably he hadthrust one or more of the flowers into his buckskin hunting coat.
When they crossed the flower field the trail was lost again.
"Now," said Long Jim, "how are you goin' to tell what Paul wuz thinkin'when he wuz comin' 'long here?"
Henry and Shif'less Sol wrinkled their brows in thought.
"Paul was not wounded," he replied. "After his night's sleep--andprobably he did not wake up until long after daylight had come--he wasthoroughly rested and as strong as ever. After making sure of hisdirection from the hill top here, he would go toward the river, thinkingit his duty yet to reach the fort if he could."
"An' naterally," said Shif'less Sol, "he'd go whar the walkin' wuzeasiest, but whar thar wuz kiver so he couldn't be seen by warriors. Sohe'd choose the easy slope under them big trees thar, an' go southtoward that valley."
"Reckon you're right," said Long Jim in a convinced tone. "That's justabout what Paul would do."
They descended the slope, an easy one, for a quarter of a mile, and cameto a valley thickset with bushes and blackberry vines containing sharpbriars.
"Paul wouldn't go crashin' into a briar patch," said Long Jim.
"He wouldn't, an' fur that reason he'd take this path," said Tom Ross,pointing to a narrow opening in the bushes and briars.
It was evidently a trail made by animals, trodden in the course of timein order to avoid a long circuit about the thicket, but they followedit, believing that Paul had gone that way. When nearly through, Henrysaw something lying in the path. He stooped and held up the stem of arose with one or two faded petals left upon it.
"It fell out o' his coat, an' he never noticed it," said Shif'less Sol.
"Right, uv course," said Tom Ross.
Not far beyond the thicket was a brook of uncommon beauty, a clearlittle stream bordered by wild flowers.
"Paul would stop here to drink an' look at all these here bee-yu-ti-fulscenes," said Shif'less Sol.
"He would," said Henry, "and, being terribly hungry, he would then climbthat wild plum tree there beyond the oaks."
"Might throw up a stick an' knock 'em down," said Long Jim.
"There is no fallen wood here," said Henry, "and, being so raginglyhungry, Paul would not hunt for a stick. He'd shin up that tree atonce."
"Tree itself will show," said Tom Ross.
"And it certainly does show," said Henry as they looked.
Little pieces of the bark on the trunk were broken off, evidently by aheavy body as it had struggled upward. Shif'less Sol also found two plumskins on the ground
not far from the tree. The shiftless one held themup for the others to see.
"Now, ain't that Paul all over?" Tom Ross said. "Knows all about how theCarthygenians fit the French, an' how the English licked the Persians,but here he goes droppin' plum skins on the groun' fur any wanderin'warrior to see."
"Don't you go to attackin' Paul," said Shif'less Sol, "'cause Paul is ascholar like me. I ain't had the opportunities fur learnin', but I takenaterally to it, 'specially history. So I kin understand why Paul,thinkin' all the time about Hannibal an' Belisarry an' all them greatbattles a long time ago, should throw his plum skins 'roun' loose,knowin' thar ain't no Carthygenians an' Persians about these days to see'em."
"Paul is shorely a good boy," said Tom Ross, "an' ef he wants to throwplum skins, he kin. Now, we've got to figger on what he'll do next."
"Let's go to the top of that hill over there," said Henry, "and take alook at the country."
The survey showed a tangled mass of forest and low hills, which seemedto be monotonously alike in every direction. They could not see the Ohiofrom their summit.
"I think it likely," said Henry, "that Paul has got lost. Maybe he hasbeen wandering about in a circle. I heard my Indians say that one loston the Great Plains often did that."
"Might be a good guess," said Shif'less Sol. "Let's go back to the plumtree and try to take up his trail."
Paul's trail from the plum tree led in a northeasterly direction, andthey were sure now that he was lost, as the river lay to the south. Butthe trail could not be followed more than twenty yards, and then theyheld another council.
"Bein' lost," said Tom Ross, "it ain't likely that he's ever got more'ntwo or three miles from here. Been spendin' his time goin' up an' downan' back an' forth. Ef we'd fire a rifle he might hear it."
Henry shook his head.
"I wouldn't," he said. "We would be just as likely to draw the Indiansupon us, and we can find him, anyhow."
"Guess you're right," said Tom. "S'pose we spread out in a long line an'go huntin' through the thickets, follerin' the general direction thathis little piece of trail showed."
The suggestion was approved, and in ten minutes a whistle from Tom Rossdrew them to a central point.
"Paul killed a wild turkey here," said Tom. "These woods seem to be fulluv 'em, an' he lighted a fire with his flint and steel. Had a hard timedoin' it, too. Knelt down here so long tryin' to knock out a blaze thatthe prints uv his knees haven't gone away yet."
"But he did get it to goin' at last," said Shif'less Sol, "an' he cookedhis turkey an' et it, too. Here's the wishbone, all white an' shinin',jest ez he throwed it down."
"And down here is the spring where he picked the turkey after he heatedit on the fire, and where he washed it," said Henry. "Paul was so hungryhe never thought about hiding the feathers, and a lot of 'em are left,caught in the grass and bushes."
"I don't blame Paul," said Long Jim, his gastronomic soul afire. "Ef Iwuz hungry ez he must have been, I'd hev et it ef all the warriors uvall the tribes on this continent wuz standin' lookin' on."
"Paul felt a pow'ful sight better after eatin'," said Shif'less Sol,"an' he took the rest uv the turkey with him. Seems likely to me thatPaul would follow the brook, thinkin' it would flow into the Ohio."
"That's almost a certainty," said Henry.
They went with the stream, but it was one of those brooks commonthroughout the West--it came out of the ground, and into the ground itwent again, not more than half a mile from the point at which they tookup its course. The stream disappeared under a natural stone arch in theside of the hill.
"Paul was greatly disappointed," said Henry, "and of course he went tothe top of the hill to see if he could get a reckoning."
But the new hill merely revealed the same character of country.
"Seein' that he wuzn't gittin' anywhar, Paul, o' course, changed hisdirection," said Shif'less Sol.
"Naturally," said Henry.
"Now which way do you figger that he would go?" said Tom Ross.
"Down through that big grove there," replied Henry. "Having killed oneturkey, he'd be on the look-out for another, and he knows that theyroost in tall trees."
"Looks to me like a kind o' mind readin'," said Shif'less Sol, "but Ithink it's right. Lead on, Henry. Whar A-killus Ware will go, thedauntless soul o' Hector Hyde ain't afeard to foller."
They searched for some time among the trees, and then Henry pointed to agreat elm. A section of bark nearly a foot square had been cut from it.The bark was lying on the ground, but the inner lining had been clippedfrom it and was gone.
"I jedge that this wuz done about a day ago," said Shif'less Sol. "Now,what in thunder did Paul do it fur?"
"Suppose you ask him," said Henry, who had gone on ahead, but who hadnow turned back and rejoined his comrades.
Astonished, they looked at him.
"He's sitting in a little valley over there, hard at work," said Henry."Come and see, but don't make any noise. It would be a pity to disturbhim."
Henry endeavored to speak lightly, but he felt an immense relief. Theyfollowed him silently and looked cautiously into a pleasant littleglade. There they beheld Paul, alive, and to all appearances strong andwell.
But Paul was absorbed in some great task. He sat upon the ground. Hisrifle lay on the grass beside him. A sheet of white was supported uponhis knees, and his face was bent over it, while he drew lines there withthe point of his hunting knife. So intensely interested was he, and sodeeply concentrated was his mind, that he did not look up at all.
"It's the inner bark of the elm tree, and he's drawing something on it,"said Henry.
Jim Hart stirred. His knee struck a little stick that broke with a snap.Paul heard it, and instantly he threw down the bark, snatched up hisrifle, and began to investigate.
"He'll come up here spyin'," whispered Shif'less Sol. "While he'slookin', let's steal his bark away from him an' see what's on it."
"We'll do it," said Henry, and while Paul, rifle in hand, ascended theslope to see what had caused the noise, they deftly slipped away,descending to the other side of the glade.
When Paul entered the bushes, Shif'less Sol ran out, picked up the rollof bark, and returned silently with it to his comrades, who lay in adense thicket. Filled with curiosity, all looked at it promptly.
"It's a map," whispered Henry, "and he's trying to locate himself inthat way. See, this long line is the Ohio, here is the route of our ownflight, this place is where he thinks he left us, and this line, Isuppose, shows his own course after he dropped out. This deep mark hereindicates where he now is. It's pretty good, but he's got everythingturned around. South is where east ought to be, and north has taken theplace of west."
"But what good is a map ef it don't take you anywhar?" asked Jim Hart.
"That's a plum' foolish question fur you to ask, Jim Hart," saidShif'less Sol disdainfully. "Great scholars like me an' Paul always drawmaps. What does it matter ef you don't git anywhar? Thar's your map,anyhow."
"Sh!" whispered Tom Ross. "He's comin' back, havin' diskivered thatthar's nothin' in the bushes. Now what'll he do?"
Paul, his mind relieved, returned to the glade, put back his rifle onthe grass, and looked for the precious map that was costing him so muchtime and thought. It was not there, and great was the boy's amazement.He had certainly laid it down at that very spot, and he had not beengone a minute. He looked all around, and even up into the air, and thefour in the brush were forced to smile at his puzzled face.
Paul stood staring at the place where his precious map had lain, butwhere it lay no more, and his amazement deepened. They admired Paul andhad a deep affection for him, but they thought that their little jokemight keep him nearer to the earth when he was in a dangerous Indiancountry.
"Mebbe he thinks Alfred the Great an' his Mogul Tartars hev come an'took it away," whispered Shif'less Sol.
Then Paul held up his hand.
"Feelin' o' the wind," said Shif'less Sol. "He hez now come to theconclusion
that the wind took his map away, and so he thinks ef he kinfind out which way it's blowin' he kin find out which way the map hezblowed, too."
Paul concluded that the light wind was blowing toward the east, andgoing in that direction he began to search for his map among the bushesthat enclosed the glade. The moment his figure was hidden Henrywhispered to the others:
"Come on!"
They came silently from the thicket, ran to the center of the glade,where Henry, kneeling down, spread out the map on the ground and beganto examine it with the greatest attention. The others knelt beside him,and they also became absorbed in a study of the map. The four headsalmost touched over the sheet of bark.
Paul, failing to find his map in the bushes, turned back to the glade.Then he stood transfixed with astonishment. He saw four figures, thebacks of two, and the heads and shoulders of two more. Heads, backs, andshoulders were familiar. Could it really be they? He winked his eyesrapidly to clear away any motes. Yes, it was they, the four faithfulcomrades with whom he had roved and hunted and fought so long. Heuttered a shout of joy and rushed toward them.
Paul's hands were shaken so often and so hard that his fingers werenumbed. A little moisture gathered on the eyelids of the sensitive boywhen he saw how glad they were to see him.
"You've found me," he said, "and it's so good to see you again that Ienjoy with you the little trick you've played on me."
"Pow'ful fine map, this o' yours, Paul," said Shif'less Sol, holding upthe sheet of bark. "'Pears to me you kin find everything on it, 'ceptwhar you are."
"That was just the trouble with it, Sol," said Paul frankly. "It lookedfine to me, but I couldn't make it work."
"Well," said Henry, "here we are, together again, all five of us, readyfor anything. Isn't that so, boys, and isn't it fine?"
"Shorely," said Shif'less Sol, speaking for them all.
"Now, Paul," said Henry, "what were you trying to do?"
"I had an idea that I could reach the river," said Paul. "If I did so,then I might be able to swim across it in the night, and take a warningto Fort Prescott, if it wasn't too late."
"Got anything to eat left?" asked Tom Ross.
"I've had wild fruit," replied Paul, "and I shot a turkey, the last ofwhich went this morning, but I was hoping for more luck of that kind."
"Well," said Tom, "we, too, hev about et up all that we had. So we'llhev to take a little hunt together. 'Twon't take long. Country's full uvgame."
They shot a deer within an hour, feasted abundantly and retained enoughmore to last them several days.
"Wish we had Jim Hart's oven here," said Shif'less Sol as they ate."While Jim wuz waitin', Paul, he made more improvements in the art o'cookin'."
Long Jim grinned with appreciation. It was a compliment that he liked.
"Now," said Henry, "the next thing for us to do is to find the fleet.Mr. Boone told me that it was being held up in a narrow part of theriver by the Indian sharpshooters. I suppose that Adam Colfax doesn'twant to lose any more men for fear that he will grow short-handed beforehe reaches Pittsburgh."
"But he's got to get through, an' he's got to help the fort, too," saidShif'less Sol.
"That's so," said Henry, "and we must find him just as soon as we can."
Rising, they sped toward the southwest.