CHAPTER XVIII
THE HALTING OF THE FLEET
Adam Colfax had been making slow progress up the Ohio, far slower thanhe had hoped, and his brave soul was worn by hardships and troubled byapprehensions. A great hurricane had caused him serious alarm for hissmaller boats. They had been saved from sinking with the greatestdifficulty, and the precious stores had to be kept well and guardedwell.
He was grieved and troubled, too, over the disappearance of the five,the valiant five who had continually been doing him such great servicefrom the very moment of the start at New Orleans. He liked them all, andhe mourned them for their own sakes as well. He also realized quicklythat he had lost more than the five themselves. His fleet seemed to havecome into a very nest of dangers. Men who went ashore to hunt neverreturned. At narrow points in the river they were fired upon from thedense forest on the bank, and if they sent a strong force ashore, theyfound nothing. If they camped at night, bullets drew blood or scatteredthe coals at their feet.
Invisible but none the less terrible foes hung upon them continually,and weakened their spirits. The men in the fleet were willing and eagerto fight a foe whom they could see, but to be stung to death byinvisible hornets was the worst of fates.
Adam Colfax missed the "eyes of the fleet" more and more every day. IfHenry Ware and Shif'less Sol and their comrades had been there, theycould have discovered these unseen foes, and they could have told himwhat to do. At night he often saw signal fires, blazing on either sideof the Ohio and, although he did not know what they meant, he felt surethat they were lighted by his enemies, who were talking to one another.
Two or three of his men who had been originally woodsmen of the greatvalley told him that the allied tribes had come to destroy him. They hadseen certain signs in the forest that could not be mistaken. The woodswere full of warriors. They had heard, too, that further on was a forton the river bank which the Indians had probably taken by this time, andwhich they would certainly use against the fleet. Adam Colfax wishedonce more for the five, who were more familiar than anybody else withthe country, and who were such magnificent scouts. Never had he felttheir absence more.
He came at last to the narrowest place in the river that he had yetseen, enclosed on either bank by jutting hills. As the fleet approachedthis watery pass a tremendous fire was opened upon it from either shore.The bullets not only came from the level of the water, but from the topsof the hills, and the sides of the boat offered no protection againstthe latter. The men of the fleet returned the fire, but their lead wassent into the forest and the undergrowth, and they did not know whetherit hit anything except inoffensive wood and earth.
Adam Colfax drew back. He felt that he might have forced the pass, butthe loss in men and stores would be too great. It was not his chiefobject to fight battles even if every battle should prove a victory.
When he withdrew, the forest relapsed into silence, but when heattempted the passage again the next day he was attacked by a similar,though greater, fire. He was now in a terrible quandary. He did not wishanother such desperate battle as that which he had been forced to fighton the Lower Mississippi. He might win it, but there would be a greatexpenditure of men and ammunition, and at this vast distance from NewOrleans neither could be replaced.
He drew back to a wider part of the river and decided to wait a day ortwo, that is, to take counsel of delay.
Adam Colfax was proud of his fleet and the great amount of preciousstores that it carried. The reinforcements after the Battle of the Bayouhad raised it to more than its original strength and value. All the menhad recovered from their wounds, and everybody was in splendid health.He had made up his mind that fleet and cargo should be delivered intactat Pittsburgh, otherwise he could never consider his voyage wholly asuccess.
The night after he fell back from the watery pass he held a council ofhis captains and guides on his own flat boat, which had been named the_Independence_. He had with him Adolphe Drouillard, a brave and devotedFrench Creole from New Orleans; James Tilden, a Virginian; HenryEckford, a south Carolinian; Charles Turner, a New Yorker, and WilliamTruesdale, and Eben Barber, New Englanders, and besides these, NatThrale and Ned Lyon, the best of the scouts and guides since thedisappearance of the five, were present.
The fleet was anchored in the middle of the river, out of rifle shot forthe present, but Adam Colfax knew very well that the enemy was in thedense wood lining either bank. He had sent skirmishers ashore in theafternoon, and they did not go many yards from the stream before theywere compelled to exchange shots with the foe. Thrale and Lyon, who wereon the southern bank, reported that the Indians were still thick in theforest.
"They see us here on the river," said Thrale, "an' ef we don't keep wellin the middle uv it they kin reach us with thar bullets. But we won't beable to see the least speck or sign uv them."
Adam Colfax had sighed when he heard these words, and now, as his littlecouncil gathered, it seemed that all predictions of evil were about tobe fulfilled. A smoky red sun had set behind the hills, and the night,true to the promise of the sun, had come on dark and cloudy. It was notexactly the cloudiness of rain; it was rather that of heat andoppressiveness, and it had in it a certain boding quality that weighedheavily upon the spirits of Adam Colfax.
The boats were anchored in a double row in the exact center of thestream, swaying just a little with the gentle current. All thosecarrying sails had taken them down. Adam Colfax's boat was outside thetwo lines, slightly nearer to the southern shore, but still beyond rifleshot.
While the leader sat in the stern of his boat waiting for the two scoutswho were last to come, he surveyed the fleet with the anxious eyes ofone who carries a great responsibility. In the darkness the boats werenot much more than dark lines on the darker river. Now and then theywere lighted up by flares of heat lightning, but the eyes of Adam Colfaxturned away from them to the banks, those high banks thick with forestand undergrowth, which contained so many dangers, real dangers, notthose of the imaginary kind, as he had ample proof. Now and then a shot,apparently as a taunt, was fired from either shore, and two or threetimes he heard the long, whining yell which is the most ominous of humancries. This, too, he knew, was a taunt, but in every case, cunning,ferocity and power lay behind the taunt, which was another truth that heknew.
They were all soon gathered on the deck of the little _Independence_,and the faces of the two scouts who came last were very grave.
"What do you think of it, Lyon?" said Adam Colfax.
Lyon gave his head one brief shake.
"We're right in the middle of the biggest hornet's nest the country eversaw," he replied. "Looks ez ef we couldn't git past without anotherterrible fight."
"And you, Drouillard?" Adam Colfax asked of the Creole.
"Eet ees hard to go on," replied Drouillard in his broken English, "butwe cannot go back at all. So eet ees true that we must go on. Eet ees isthe only thing we can do."
"But how?" said Adam Colfax. "We cannot use up all the ammunition thatwe have in these battles. If we were to reach Pittsburgh in thatcondition we'd be a burden instead of a help."
"But as Mr. Drouillard says, we can't go back," said Truesdale.
They sat dumbly a minute or two, no one knowing what to propose, and alllooking toward the southern bank, where they believed the chief dangerto lie. The dark green forest made a high black line there in the night,a solid black until it was broken by a pink dot, which they knew to bethe flash of a rifle.
"They are jeering at us again," said Adam Colfax.
"'Tain't no jeer, either," said Thrale, as five or six pink dotsappeared where the one had been, and faint sounds came to their ears.
Lyon confirmed the opinion of his brother scout.
"So many wouldn't let off their guns at once jest fur fun," he said. "Iwonder what in tarnation it means!"
The spray of pink dots did not reappear, and they turned their mindsonce more to their great problem, which seemed as insoluble as ever. Theflowing of the current, ge
ntle but deep and strong, swung the_Independence_ a little further from the two lines of boats, but thoseon board, in their absorption, did not notice it. Three or four minutespassed, and there was the report of a rifle shot from the southern bank,followed an instant later by another. Two bullets splashed in the waternear the _Independence_.
"We'd better pull back a leetle," said Drouillard. "We are driftingwithin range of ze warriors."
"So we are," said Lyon, laying his hand on a sweep. "Now, what under themoon is that?"
He pointed to a dark object, a mere black dot on the dusky surface ofthe river. But it was not a stationary dot, and in its movement it cametoward the _Independence_.
"Shorely they don't mean to come swimmin' to attack us," said the otherguide, Thrale. "That's a human head on top uv the water an' thar's abody belongin' to it under the water. An' see, thar's another headbehind it, an' behind that another, an' likely thar's more."
"Eet ees certainlee the warriors trying to reach us on the water," saidAdolphe Drouillard, and, raising his rifle, he took aim at the firstswimming head.
"Hold a little," said Adam Colfax, pushing down the barrel of theweapon. "Look, as they come closer now, you can see a fourth and a fifthhead and then no more. Five swimming heads on the water must meansomething, I hope; yet I'm afraid I hope too much."
The foremost of the swimming figures raised a hand out of the water, andheld it high in token of amity. Instantly the four behind did the samething.
"Most amazing," said Adolphe Drouillard. "Ees eet possible that they arefriends?"
"I think it not only possible, but probable," said Adam Colfax with arising tone of joy in his voice. "They are near now, and that first headlooks familiar to me. I devoutly hope that I'm not mistaken."
The leader's head, propelled by the powerful strokes of the arms below,came within a yard or two of the _Independence_, and some stray rays ofthe moon, falling upon it, brought it from dusk into light. It was theface of a young river god, strong features cut cleanly, a massiveprojecting chin, and long yellow hair from which the water flowed instreams.
The head was raised from the water, the hands grasped the edge of theboat, and the figure sprang lightly on board, standing perfectly erectfor a moment, while the water ran from his fringed hunting shirt, hismoccasins, the knife and tomahawk at his belt, and flowed away over theboards.
"Henry Ware alive!" exclaimed Adam Colfax, springing forward and seizingthe hand which dripped water from the tip of every finger.
"An' don't furgit me," said Shif'less Sol, as he leaped aboard and stoodbeside Henry, a tiny cataract pouring from every seam of his clothing.
"Nor me," said Tom Ross briefly, taking his place with his comrades.
"An' I'm here, too," said Jim Hart, uprearing his thin six feet four.
"So am I," said Paul, as he drew himself over the rail of the_Independence_.
"All of you alive and well!" exclaimed Adam Colfax, departing for oncefrom his New Hampshire calm. "All returned from the dead together! Ifeel as if an army had come to our relief!"
"We ain't been dead," said Shif'less Sol. "An' we ain't been havin' secha hard time, either. It's true three o' us hev been troubled by Injunbullets, but Jim Hart thar spent his time inventin' a new way o' cookin'rabbits, which will keep him happy for the next five years."
"And he could not spend his spare time in a better way," said AdolpheDrouillard. "Ze man who invents a new wholesome dish ees a blessing tohees country."
"Shake, friend," said Long Jim, holding out a huge hand still drippingwith portions of the Ohio, and Adolphe Drouillard, without hesitation,shook.
"Them two shots that hit in the water close to us wuz fired at you,wuzn't they?" asked Thrale.
"Yes, they were aimed at us," replied Henry, "and so was the littlevolley on the bank, which you must have heard. As you probably know,there's a fort and settlement not many miles on called Fort Prescott.We've warned it, and the garrison has also beaten off all attacks. Butall the allied tribes of the north are here, and they expect to catchyou, the fort, and everything else, in their net. They are led by alltheir great chiefs, but Timmendiquas, the White Lightning of theWyandots, is the soul of the attack. We have seen his vigilance in oureffort to reach the river. We were discovered, fired upon by a party,although their bullets missed us in the dark, and then we had to swimfor it."
"You must have dry clothing at once," said Adam Colfax.
"We won't mind changin'," said Shif'less Sol, "an' we'd like to dry ourrifles an' have 'em reloaded ez soon ez you kin."
"We'll have that done for you," said Adam Colfax, looking at them withadmiration.
They resigned their weapons to his men, although they had succeeded inkeeping their powder dry in tightly closed horns. Adam Colfax then ledthe way to his cabin, where dry clothing was brought them, and food anddrink were given. Then Henry told to the little, but deeply interested,company the tale of their wanderings and adventures.
"It certainly seems as if Providence were watching over you," said thedevout New Englander.
"We have sometimes thought so ourselves," said Paul with the utmostsincerity.
"This Timmendiquas, as you describe him, is a most formidable chief,"said Adam Colfax, pondering, "and the renegade, Girty, too, is a verydangerous man. As I see that we shall have to fight them, I would sparethis fleet further loss if I could."
"We will have to fight," said Drouillard, "eef not to-night, thento-morrow, and eef not to-morrow, then next week."
"I think he tells a fact, sir," said Henry to Adam Colfax. "But we canrely upon the fort making a powerful defense. Major Braithwaite is abrave and active man, and we must not forget, sir, that Daniel Boone andSimon Kenton are somewhere near in the woods. If they have gatheredtheir forces, we can gather ours, too."
"That is so," said Adam Colfax, as the council and the five returned tothe deck of the _Independence_. The council might have been depressed,but the five were not. Warm food and warm clothing restored themphysically, and here they were with the fleet once more, meanwhilehaving done many things well.
"Ain't it fine fur a lazy man like me to be back on a boat," saidShif'less Sol in a low voice to Paul. "Nuthin' to do but set still an'talk, nuthin' to do but eat an' drink what's brought to you, nuthin' todo but sleep when you're sleepy, no Injuns shootin' at you, no havin' torun on your legs 'till you drop. Everything done fur you. It's a lifefur me, but I don't git much av it."
Paul laughed at Shif'less Sol's tone of deep satisfaction.
"Yes, it's good, Sol," he rejoined, "but it won't last. We won't havemore than a day of it."
The face of the shiftless one took on a look of deep disgust. "Nuthin'good never lasts more'n a day," he said, "an' ef it does last more'n aday you gen'ally git tired o' it."
Adam Colfax resumed his watch of the shores. Like Major Braithwaite, hehad a pair of powerful glasses, and he sought with their aid to detachsomething from the black wall of the southern shore.
"I can make out nothing," he said in disappointing tones, after a longlook, "except a bright spot which must be a fire a little distance backin the woods. You have keen eyes, Henry, my boy, see what you can see."
Henry also saw the "bright spot," and he was quite sure that it was afire. Then he took a look at the heavens, now a solid expanse of cloudbehind which the stars twinkled unseen. A slight wind was blowing up theriver, and its touch was damp on his face. When the lightning flared, asit still did now and then, he saw that it was not mere heat lightningbut the token of something graver.
"I have a suggestion to make to you, sir," he said to Adam Colfax."Unless I am mistaken, a storm is coming. Is it not so, Tom, and you,Sol?"
"It is," they replied together. "All the signs are sayin' so out loud."
"In an hour it will be here," resumed Henry. "The wind is blowing upriver, and I don't think it will change. That favors us. In the darknessand tumult of the storm we ought to force the pass. It is our bestchance, sir."
He spoke very earnestl
y, and the rest of the five nodded their assent.Adam Colfax was impressed, but he wished to have the endorsement of hislieutenants.
"What do you say, gentlemen?" he asked, turning to them.
"We make zee passage, and we make eet queek to-night, as zee boy says,"replied the brave and impulsive Drouillard.
Adam Colfax turned to the Virginian and the Northerners. All nodded inaffirmation. Then he turned to the two scouts, Thrale and Lyon.
"It's now or never," they said, looking up at the dark skies.
"Then it shall be done," said Adam Colfax firmly. "We can't afford todelay here any longer, nor can we permit this fort to fall. Our need tohold Kentucky is scarcely less great than our need to help ourhard-pressed brethren in the east."
Then he turned to the five, in whose valor, skill and fidelity he hadthe utmost confidence.
"Do you wish to remain on the _Independence_," he said, "or would youprefer another place in the fleet?"
Shif'less Sol, the talkative and resourceful, looked at Henry. Tom Ross,the man of few words but resourceful, also looked at Henry. The gaze ofLong Jim was turned in the same direction, and that of Paul followed. Itwas an unconscious revelation of the fact that all always looked uponHenry Ware as their leader, despite his youth.
"If you don't mind, sir," said Henry Ware to Adam Colfax, "give us aboat to ourselves, a small one that we can row, and we will advancesomewhere near the head of the fleet."
"The boat will be ready for you in five minutes," said Adam Colfax."Whatever you ask we will always give to you, if we can. Meanwhile, Iwill get the fleet ready, for I see that the time cometh fast."
He spoke in almost Biblical words. In fact, there was much in AdamColfax that made for his resemblance to the heroes of the Old Testament,his rigid piety, his absolute integrity, his willingness to fight inwhat he thought a just cause, his stern joy when the battle was joined,and his belief--perhaps not avowed--in the doctrine of an eye for an eyeand a tooth for a tooth.
He quickly summoned a small boat, and the five, refreshed and armed,dropped into it. Then he sent the word throughout the fleet, the_Independence_ moved up near the head of the column, and they preparedto force the watery pass.