CHAPTER XXIV
THE DECISIVE BATTLE
The white army was soon hidden in the forest. It was, beyond a fact, thelargest force of its kind that had yet assembled in this region, but itdisappeared as completely as if it had ceased to be at all. A mile fromthe river it stopped, and the two commanders held a short conferencewith Boone and Kenton. The manner and great reputation of Boone inspiredthe utmost confidence, and they were very anxious not only to hear whathe said, but also to do what he suggested. The council was short, and itwas held in the darkness with the soldiers all about.
"Send Henry Ware and his comrades forward to see if the way is open,"said Boone, "an' if it is, we should rush their camp with all our might.A night attack is usually risky, but it won't be long until day now, an'if we can get a start on 'em it will be worth a heap to us."
Adam Colfax and Major Braithwaite agreed with him, and Henry and hiscomrades set forth again ahead of the army. Simon Kenton went with them.
The six stole forward. They were quite sure that Timmendiquas would haveout sentinels, but neither he, the other chiefs, nor the renegades wouldanticipate so swift a counter stroke.
The country was rough, but they made good progress, flitting forward ina silent file. Cry of wolf and hoot of owl came now and then to theirears, but they did not believe that they meant anything save theannouncement from warrior to warrior that all was well.
They managed to come without detection, within several hundred yards ofthe camp, where they ascended a little hill and could see the low flareof light from the fires.
"I don't think we should try to get any closer," said Kenton. "We mightrun into a nest of 'em an' never get back. We've seen enough to knowthat the army can get up pretty close, an' at least attack before thesavages are wholly ready. S'pose we start back."
Paul rose in obedience to the suggestion, but Henry at once pulled himdown again.
"Somebody's coming," he whispered, and the six lay still in the bushes.
They heard light footsteps, and three men, or rather two men and a boy,emerged from the shadows. The three were seeking the easiest path, andthey marked where the trees and bushes were scarcest. It was with ashivering feeling of repugnance and anger that Henry recognized them,and the same feeling animated his comrades. They were Simon Girty,Blackstaffe, and Braxton Wyatt, and the three were talking, not loudly,but in tones that the hidden six could hear distinctly.
"The attack will be begun again to-morrow night," Girty was saying, "an'it's going to be a success. Whatever you may say about him, Timmendiquasis a general, and I never before saw the Indians worked up to such apitch. They were singing and dancing for hours to-day, an' I believethey'd now go through a lake of fire an' brimstone to get at thatfleet."
"We'll let the Wyandots lead the way," said Blackstaffe.
"We certainly will," said Girty.
Then the two older men looked at each other and laughed, a low horriblelaugh that made the flesh of Henry and Paul creep.
"Yes," said Girty, "we'll let the Wyandots lead, and then the Shawneesand Miamis and the others. We'll take our part, but I think some ofthese warriors can be spared more readily than we can."
Braxton Wyatt laughed, too, when he understood.
"That's good policy it seems to me," he said. "We plan, while thewarriors do most of the fighting."
"Stick to that, an' you'll be a great man," said Girty.
The king of the renegades stood in a little opening, and the moonlightfell full upon his face. They could see it distorted into a maliciousgrin of cruelty and self-satisfaction. Slowly the rifle barrel ofShif'less Sol, in the bushes, was raised to a level, and it was pointedstraight at a spot between the cruel, grinning eyes. An infallible eyelooked down the sight, and a steady finger approached the trigger.
Never, until his last day came, in very truth, was Simon Girty, therenegade, nearer death. But Henry put out his hand, and softly presseddown the rifle barrel.
"I don't blame you, Sol," he whispered. "It would be getting rid of amonster and saving many good lives, but you can't do it now. It wouldbreak up our whole plan of attack."
It was one of the greatest griefs in the life of Solomon Hyde, calledthe shiftless one, that he was compelled to yield to Henry's advice. Hehad held Simon Girty, the arch criminal, under his rifle, and he hadpicked out the spot where he knew he could make his bullet hit, and thenhe must put down his rifle and pass over the opportunity just as if ithad never been.
"You're right," he whispered back in reluctant words, and lowered hisrifle. The three renegades continued to talk of the projected attack,but they passed on, and soon their words could be heard no longer. Thentheir figures became indistinct and were lost to sight. Shif'less Soluttered a low cry, so full of bitterness that Henry was forced to laugh,knowing as he did its cause.
"I never had sech a chance afore," said Shif'less Sol, "an' I'll neverhev it ag'in."
"Henry was right," said Simon Kenton. "'Twould never have done to havegiven an alarm now. We must hurry back, bring up the army, and strikebefore the dawn."
There could be no difference of opinion on such a subject, and theyrapidly retraced their footsteps. In three-quarters of an hour theyrejoined the army, and told that the way was clear. The leaders heardthe report with great satisfaction and promptly arranged the plan ofbattle. The chief thing that they sought to guard against was theconfusion so often arising from darkness, when friend might fire intofriend.
"They mustn't get too much excited, and they must look before theyshoot," said Boone. "It will be only two hours to daylight, an' if wecan hold together till then we can beat 'em."
The army, although kept in a body, was numbered in detachments. AdamColfax took the lead of one, Major Braithwaite another, Boone another,while Drouillard, Thrale, and all the other prominent men also hadcommands. The five, Kenton, and the scouts led the advance.
Once more they took up their progress through the woods, and pressedswiftly on toward the Indian camp. It was one of those darkest hoursbefore the dawn, and so many men marching at a rapid pace, could notkeep from making considerable noise. Bushes rustled, arms rattled, anddry sticks broke with a snap beneath heavy feet.
"On, men! on!" cried Adam Colfax. "We can't be slow now!"
A dog howled, and then another. An Indian sentinel fired his rifle, andthen a second and a third did the same. The white vanguard replied, andthen with a great shout the army rushed toward the Indian force.
But Timmendiquas was not wholly surprised. His men, posted in a circlearound the camp, gave the alarm as they fell back, firing their rifles,and uttering the long Indian yell. Hundreds of throats took it up, andthe savages, seizing their weapons, sprang forth to the conflict. In amoment, the woods were filled with sparkling flames, and the bulletswhistled in showers. There were shouts and cries and a rain of twigs cutoff by the bullets in the darkness.
The five and Kenton fell back upon the main body and then rushed on withthem, keeping in the front line.
"Let's keep together! Whatever happens, let's keep together!" criedShif'less Sol, and the others in reply shouted their assent. They werecompelled to shout now, because hundreds of rifles were cracking, andthe roar was swelling fast. Innumerable flashes lit up the forest, and acloud of fine gray powder rose, stinging the nostrils of the combatants,and, like an exciting narcotic, urging them on to action.
The first rush of the white army bore all before it. The Indiansentinels and the others who constituted the fringe of their band wererapidly driven in on the main body, and many of the soldiers and huntersbegan to shout in triumph as they reached the edge of the prairie andsaw their foe, huddled in dark masses beyond. But as they came into theopen they met a strong core of resistance that soon hardened and spread.
The great chief, Timmendiquas, although partly surprised by the swiftattack of the whites, did not lose either his presence of mind or hiscourage. He showed on that morning all the qualities of a great general.He rallied the warriors and posted them in bands
here and there.Hundreds threw themselves upon the ground, and from that less exposedposition sent their bullets into the charging force. Timmendiquashimself stood near the center with the veterans, Red Eagle and YellowPanther, on either side of him. He scorned to seek cover, but remained,at his full height, where all could see him, shouting his orders anddirecting the battle. Behind him were the renegades firing their rifles,but protecting themselves, with the caution upon which they hadresolved.
Henry and his comrades kept their place in the front of the charge, and,according to their plan, close together. The darkness was now lighted upso much by the incessant firing that the boy could see very well notonly the long line of his friends, but the black masses of the enemy aswell. He felt the resistance harden as they came into the prairie, andhe knew that the Indians had been rallied. He thought he heard the voiceof Timmendiquas calling to them, and then he believed that it was onlyhis fancy. Because he knew that Timmendiquas would do it, his activebrain made a picture of him doing it.
He was suddenly seized and pulled down by the strong arms of Tom Ross.All his comrades were already stretched flat upon the earth. The nextinstant a great volley was fired by the Indians. The bullets fromhundreds of rifles swept over their heads, and many struck true behindthem. Some men fell, and others staggered back, wounded. There werecries and groans.
The Indian yell, poured from many throats, arose. It was long,high-pitched, and it seemed to Henry that it had in it a triumphantnote. They had stopped the white advance, and they were exulting. Butthe little army, rising up, rushed forward again, and then threw itselfflat upon its face once more to escape the withering fire of theIndians. From their own recumbent position the white men replied,sending in the bullets fast.
It was a confused and terrible scene in the intermittent light anddarkness, white men and red men shouting together in their deadlystruggle. The front of the conflict lengthened, and the clouds of smokedrifted all through the forest. It entered the throats and lungs of thecombatants, and they coughed without knowing it.
Henry lay long on the ground, pushing forward a few feet at a time,loading and firing his rifle until it grew hot to his hands. He was notconscious of the passage of time. His brain burned as if with a fever.He felt now and then a great throb of exultation, because the white armywas always advancing, only a little, it was true, but still it was anadvance, and never a retreat. But the throb of exultation presentlybecame a throb of rage. The advance of a sudden ceased entirely. TheIndians were gathered in such heavy masses in front that they could notbe driven back. Their front was one continuous blaze of fire, and thewhistling of the bullets was like the steady flowing of a stream.Timmendiquas, despite his disadvantage, had marshaled his forces well,and Henry knew it.
The boy began to have a great fear that they would be driven back, thatthey would be defeated. Was so much blood to be shed, so much sufferingto be endured for nothing? His thoughts went back a moment to FortPrescott and the women and the children there. Theirs would be the worstfate. He put one hand to his face and felt that it was wet. He wasseized with a furious desire to rise up and rush directly into the flameand smoke before him. He longed for the power to win the victory withhis single arm.
A lull of a few moments in the firing came presently, and the darknessinstantly closed in again. A long, triumphant yell came from theIndians, and the white men replied with a shout, also triumphant. Henrywas conscious then that his eyes were smarting from the smoke, and hecoughed once or twice. He half rose to a sitting position, and a handfell upon his shoulder.
"Come, my boy," said a voice in his ear. "We want you and your comradesfor a new movement. We've got to take 'em in the flank."
Henry looked up and saw the mild face of Boone, mild even now in themidst of the battle. He sprang to his feet, and, with a sort of wonder,he saw his four comrades rise around him, unhurt, save for scratches. Itdid not seem possible to him that they could have come so well throughall that fire. He did not think of himself.
"Come," said Boone, and the five went back a little space, until theycame to a clump of trees beneath which Adam Colfax, Major Braithwaite,Drouillard, Simon Kenton, and few others were talking.
"I hate to risk so many good men," said Adam Colfax.
"It must be done," said Major Braithwaite. "It's our only chance, and wemust take it while the darkness lasts. The day will break in a halfhour."
"You're right," said Adam Colfax, flinging away his last fear. "Take twohundred of our best men, and may God go with you!"
In five minutes the two hundred were on their way with MajorBraithwaite, the five, Boone, and Kenton at their head. It was theirobject to curve about in the woods and then fall suddenly upon theIndian flank, relying upon weight and surprise. They trod lightly andsoon passed beyond the area of smoke. Behind them the firing was renewedwith great violence and energy. Adam Colfax was pressing the attackafresh. "Good!" Henry heard Major Braithwaite murmur. "They won'tsuspect that we are coming."
Fifteen minutes of marching, and they were at another segment in thecircle of the prairie. The crackle of the firing was now further away,but when they came to the edge of the open they saw the flash of therifles and heard again the repeated whoops of the Indians.
"Now!" exclaimed Daniel Boone. "This is their exposed side, and we mustrush upon them!"
"Come!" exclaimed Major Braithwaite, raising his cocked hat upon thepoint of his sword and running into the open prairie. The two hundredand fifty followed him with a wild shout, and they hurled themselvesupon the Indian flank. At the same time Adam Colfax and his whole forcerushed forward anew.
The two divisions closed down like the clamps of a vise. The charge ofthe flanking force was made with such immense courage and vigor thatnothing could withstand it. Major Braithwaite continually shouted andcontinually waved his sword. The cocked hat fell off, and was trampledout of shape by the men behind him, but he did not know it, and he neverregretted it. Henry was conscious, in that wild rush, of the friendlyfaces about him, and of the red horde before him, but he felt littleelse, save an immense desire to strike quickly and hard.
The red men fight best from ambush and by means of craft and surprise.Struck so suddenly and with such energy on the flank, they gave way.Superstition increased their fears. The face of Manitou was turned fromthem, and many of them ran for the forest.
Timmendiquas raged back and forth. Now and then he struck fleeingwarriors with the flat of his tomahawk and shouted to them to stay, butall of his efforts were without avail. The jaws of the vise were comingcloser and closer together. The renegades, considering the battle lost,were already seeking the refuge of the woods. Yet Timmendiquas would notgo. With the Wyandots and the bravest of the Shawnees and Miamis hestill held the ground where a group of tepees stood, and many men felldead or wounded before them.
Adam Colfax and Major Braithwaite met in the prairie, and in theirexcitement and joy wrung each other's hands.
"A glorious triumph!" exclaimed the Major.
"Yes, but we must push it home!" said the stern Puritan, his face a redglow, as he pointed toward the tepee where Timmendiquas and the flowerof the warriors still fought.
Henry was near them and heard them. He saw, also, a gray light shootingdown, and he knew the dawn was at hand.
The Major raised his sword once more. Adam Colfax took his hat in hishand and waved it. Then the whole white force, uttering a simultaneousshout, rushed upon the group around Timmendiquas. Henry and hiscomrades, shouting with them, were in the front of the attack.
The Indian band was swept away, and, with the battle smoke in hisnostrils, Henry followed the survivors into the forest. The day wascoming, but it was still dark within the shadow of the trees. Henrymarked the dusky form of a tall warrior, and he followed him with everyounce of energy that he could command.
The warrior ran rapidly and soon the prairie was left behind. The noiseand confusion of the dying battle sank away, but Henry did not noticeit. The fury of the conflict was still in his veins,
and he thought ofnothing but to overtake the fleeing warrior, who was not far before him.
The gloom in the forest deepened. Thickets grew all about them, and thelast light from the firing was shut out. Then the tall warrior turnedabruptly and fired at his pursuer. The bullet whistled by Henry's ear,and he would have fired in return, but it was too late. The warrior wasrushing upon him, and his own impetus carried him forward to meet theIndian. They were locked the next instant in a desperate grasp, as theywrithed and struggled over the leaves and grass, each putting forth hisutmost strength.
It was too dark in the forest for Henry to see his opponent, but he knewthat he had never before been seized by anyone so powerful. He was onlya boy in years himself, but boys, in his time in the west, developedfast under a strenuous life, and few men were as tall and strong as he.Moreover, he knew some of the tricks of wrestling, and the Indians arenot wrestlers. He used all his knowledge now, trying the shoulder holdand the waist hold and to trip, but every attempt failed. The immensestrength and agility of the Indian always enabled him to recoverhimself, and then the struggle was begun anew.
The beads of sweat stood out on Henry's forehead, and he believed thathe could hear his sinews and those of his opponent crack as they putforth prodigious efforts. Both fell to the ground and rolled over andover. Then they were back on their feet again, without ever releasingtheir hold. Henry tried to reach the knife in his belt, and the Indiansought his, too. Both failed, and then, Henry, crouching a little,suddenly put his shoulder against his antagonist's chest, and pushedwith all his might. At the same time he hooked his right foot around theIndian's ankle and pulled with a mighty jerk.
It was a trick, the device of a wrestler, and the great Indian, losinghis balance, went down heavily upon his back. Henry fell with his fullweight upon him. The Indian uttered a gasp, and his grasp relaxed. Henryin an instant sprang to his feet. He snatched up his rifle that he haddropped in the bushes, and when the fallen man rose the muzzle of aloaded rifle, held by steady hands, confronted him.
Henry looked down the sights straight into the face of the Indian, andbeheld Timmendiquas, the great White Lightning of the Wyandots.Timmendiquas saw the flash of recognition on the boy's face and smiledfaintly.
"Shoot," he said. "You have won the chance."
Conflicting emotions filled the soul of Henry Ware. If he sparedTimmendiquas it would cost the border many lives. The Wyandot chiefcould never be anything but the implacable foe of those who wereinvading the red man's hunting grounds. But Henry remembered that thisman had saved his life. He had spared him when he was compelled to runthe gantlet. The boy could not shoot.
"Go!" he said, lowering his rifle. "You gave me my life, and I give youyours."
A sudden light glowed in the eyes of the young chief. There wassomething akin in the souls of these two, and perhaps Timmendiquas aloneknew it. He raised one hand, gave a salute in the white man's fashion,and said four words.
"I shall not forget."
Then he was gone in the forest, and Henry went back to the battle field,where the firing had now wholly ceased. The white victory was complete.Many Indians had fallen. Their losses here and at the river had been sogreat that it would be long before they could be brought into actionagain. But the renegades had made good their escape. They did not findthe body of a single one of them, and it was certain that they wereliving to do more mischief.
Henry sought his friends at once, and his joy was very great when hediscovered them to be without wounds save those of the slightest nature.The leaders, too, had escaped with their lives, and they were exultantbecause they had captured a thousand rounds of ammunition for the twocannon and four hundred good muskets from the Canadian posts, whichwould be taken with the other supplies to Pittsburgh.
"It was worth stopping and fighting for these," said Adam Colfax.
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A week later the five sat in a little glade about a mile south of theOhio, but far beyond the mouth of the Licking. They had left the fleetthat morning as it was moving peacefully up the "Beautiful River," andthey meant to pass the present night in the woods.
Twilight was already coming. A beautiful golden sun had just set, andthere were bars of red in the west to mark where it had gone.
Jim Hart was cooking by a small fire. Paul lay at ease on the grass,dreaming with eyes wide open. Tom Ross was cleaning his rifle, and hewas wholly immersed in his task. Henry and Shif'less Sol sat togethernear the edge of the glade.
"Henry," said the shiftless one, "when that battle wuz about over Ithought I saw you runnin' into the woods after a big warrior who lookedlike a chief."
"You really saw me," said Henry, "and the Indian was a chief, a greatone. It was Timmendiquas, although I did not know it then."
"Did you overtake him?"
"I did, and we had a fight in the dark. Luck was with me, and at the endof the struggle I held him at the muzzle of my rifle."
"Did you shoot?"
"No, I could not. He had saved my life, and I had to pay the debt."
The shiftless one reached out his hand and touched Henry's lightly.
"I'm glad you didn't shoot," he said. "I'd have done the same that youdid."
An hour later they were all asleep but Tom Ross, who watched at the edgeof the glade, and Henry, who lay on his back in the grass, gazing at thestars that flashed and danced in the blue sky.
Sleep came to the boy slowly, but his eyelids drooped at last, and awonderful peace came over him. The wind rose, and out of the forestfloated a song, soothing and peaceful. It told him that success, thereward of the brave, had come, and, as his eyelids drooped lower, heslept without dreams.
THE END
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