CHAPTER VI
THE GANTLET
Timmendiquas and Heno left the lodge, but in about ten minutes Henoreturned, bringing with him Hainteroh.
"Well, how's your arm, Raccoon?" said Henry, wishing to be friendly.
Raccoon did not know his English words, but he understood Henry'sglance, and he smiled and touched his arm. Then he said something inWyandot.
"He say arm soon be well," said old Heno. "Now you come out and seecouncil, great talk, me on one side of you, Hainteroh on the other."
"Yes, I know you've got to guard me," said Henry, "but I won't try torun."
They loosed his bonds, and he stepped out with them, once more to seeall the people pouring toward the meadow as they had done at the time ofthe ball game. The crowd was greatly increased in numbers, and Henrysurmised at once that many warriors had come with the chiefs from theother tribes. But he noticed, also, that the utmost concord seemed toexist among them.
When they reached the meadow they stopped at the edge, and Heno andHainteroh stood on either side of him. The people were gathered allabout, four square, and the chiefs stood on the meadow enclosed by thesquare.
"Now they speak to the Wyandot nation and the visiting warriors," saidHeno.
A chief of ripe years but of tall and erect figure arose and stoodgravely regarding the multitude.
"That Kogieschquanohel of the clan of the Minsi of the tribe of theLenni Lenape," said Heno, the herald. "His name long time ago Hopocan,but he change it to Kogieschquanohel, which mean in language of theYengees Maker of Daylight. He man you call Captain Pipe."
"So that is Captain Pipe, is it?" said Henry.
Captain Pipe, as the whites called him, because his later Indian namewas too long to be pronounced, was a Delaware chief, greatly celebratedin his day, and Henry regarded him with interest.
"Who is that by the side of Captain Pipe?" he asked, indicating anotherchief of about the same height and age.
"That Koquethagaaehlon, what you call Captain White Eyes," replied Heno."He great Delaware chief, too, and great friend of Captain Pipe."
Henry's eyes roamed on and he saw two other chiefs whom he knew well.They were Yellow Panther, head chief of the Miamis, and Red Eagle, headchief of the Shawnees. He had no doubt that Braxton Wyatt would tellthem who he was, and he knew that he could expect no mercy of any kindfrom them. Timmendiquas stood not far away, and in a group, as usual,were the renegades.
Captain Pipe stretched forth a long arm, and the multitude becamesilent. Then he spoke with much strong simile drawn from the phenomenaof nature, and Henry, although he knew little of what he said, knew thathe was speaking with eloquence. He learned later that Captain Pipe wasurging with zeal and fire the immediate marching of all the tribesagainst the white people. They must cut off this fleet on the river, andthen go in far greater force than ever against the white settlements inKain-tuck-ee.
He spoke for half an hour with great vigor, and when he sat down he wasapplauded just as a white speaker would be, who had said what thelisteners wished to hear.
His friend, Captain White Eyes, followed, and the gist of his speech,also, Henry learned somewhat later from Heno. He was sorry to differfrom his friend, Captain Pipe. He thought they ought to wait a little,to be more cautious, they had already suffered greatly from twoexpeditions into Kain-tuck-ee, the white men fought well, and the alliedtribes, besides losing many good warriors, might fail, also, unless theychose their time when all the conditions were favorable.
The speech of Captain White Eyes was not received with favor. TheWyandots and nearly all the visiting warriors wanted war. They wereconfident, despite their previous failures, that they could succeed andpreserve their hunting grounds to themselves forever. Other speeches,all in the vein of Captain Pipe, followed, and then Girty, the renegade,spoke. He proclaimed his fealty to the Indians. He said that he was oneof them; their ways were his ways; he had shown it in the council and onthe battle field; the whites would surely hang him if they caught him,and hence no red man could doubt his faith. The tribes should strike nowbefore the enemy grew too strong.
Great applause greeted Girty. Henry saw that he stood high in the esteemof the warriors. He told them what they wished to hear, and he was ofvalue to them. The boy's teeth pressed down hard on his lips. How coulda white man fight thus against his own people, even to using the torchand the stake upon them?
When Girty sat down, Timmendiquas himself stood up. His was the noblestfigure by far that had faced the crowd. Young, tall, splendid, andobviously a born leader, he drew many looks and murmurs of approval andadmiration. He made a speech of great grace and eloquence, full of fireand conviction. He, too, favored an immediate renewal of the war, and heshowed by physical demonstration how the tribes ought to strike.
He spread a great roll of elm bark upon the ground, extending it bymeans of four large stones, one of which he laid upon each corner. Thenwith his scalping knife he drew upon it a complete map of the whitesettlements in Kain-tuck-ee and of the rivers, creeks, hills, andtrails. He did this with great knowledge and skill, and when he held itup it was so complete that Henry, who could see it as well as theothers, was compelled to admire. He recognized Wareville and its riverperfectly, and Marlowe, too.
"We know where they are and we know how to reach them," saidTimmendiquas in the Wyandot tongue, "and we must fall upon them in thenight and slay. We must send at once to Tahtarara (Chillicothe, thegreatest of the Indian towns in the Ohio Valley) for more warriors, andthen we must wait for this fleet. Tuentahahewaghta (the site ofCincinnati, meaning the landing place, where the road leads to theriver) would suit well, or if you do not choose to wait that late wemight strike them where Ohezuhyeandawa (the Ohio) foams into white andruns down the slope (the site of Louisville). This fleet must bedestroyed first and then the settlements, or the buffalo, the deer andthe forest will go. And when the buffalo, the deer, and the forest go,we go, too."
Great applause greeted the speech of Timmendiquas, and the question wasdecided. Captain White Eyes, who had a melancholy gift of foresight, wasin a minority consisting of himself only, and swift runners weredispatched at once to the other tribes, telling the decision. Meanwhile,a great feast was prepared for the visiting chiefs that they mightreceive all honor from the Wyandots.
Escorted by Heno and Hainteroh, Henry went back to his prison lodge, sadand apprehensive. This was, in truth, a formidable league, and it couldhave no more formidable leader than Timmendiquas. He had seen, too, theboastful faces of the renegades, and he was not willing that BraxtonWyatt or any of them should have a chance to exult over their ownpeople.
Timmendiquas came to him the next morning and addressed him withgravity, Henry seeing at once that he had words of great importance toutter.
"I was willing for you to see the council yesterday, Ware," said WhiteLightning, "because I wished you to know how strong we are, and withwhat spirit we will go forth against your people. I have seen, too, thatmany of our ways are your ways. You love the forest and the hunt, andyou would make a great Wyandot."
He paused a moment, as if he would wait for Henry to speak, but the boyremained silent.
"You are also a great warrior for one so young," resumed Timmendiquas."The white youth, Wyatt, says that it is so, and the great chiefs,Yellow Panther of the Miamis, and Red Eagle of the Shawnees, tell ofyour deeds. They are eager to see you die, but the Wyandots admire abrave young warrior, and they would make you an offer."
"What is your offer, Chief?" asked Henry, knowing well that, whateverthe offer might be, Timmendiquas was the head and front of it--anddespite his question he could surmise its nature.
"It is this. You are our prisoner. You are one of our enemies, and wetook you in battle. Your life belongs to us, and by our laws you wouldsurely die in torture. But you are at the beginning of life. Manitou hasbeen good to you. He has given you the eye of the eagle, the courage ofthe Wyandot, and the strength of the panther. You could be a hunter anda warrior more moons than I can cou
nt, until you are older than BlackHoof, who led the Shawnees before you were born, to the salt water andback again.
"Is death sweet to you, just when you are becoming a great warrior?There is one way, and one only to escape it. If a prisoner, strong andbrave like you, wishes to join us, shave his head and be a Wyandot,sometimes we take him. That question was laid before the chiefs lastnight. The white men, Girty, Blackstaffe, Wyatt, and the others, wereagainst it, but I, wishing to save your life and see you my brother inarms, favored it, and there were others who helped me. We have had ourwish, and so I say to you: 'Be a Wyandot and live, refuse and die.'"
It was put plainly, tersely, but Henry had expected it, and his answerwas ready. His resolution had been taken and could not be altered.
"I choose death," he said, adopting the Wyandot's epigrammatic manner.
A shade of sadness appeared for a moment on the face of Timmendiquas.
"You cannot change?" he asked.
"No," replied Henry. "I belong to my own people. I cannot desert themand go against them even to escape death. Such a temptation was placedin my way once before, Timmendiquas, but I had to refuse it."
"I would save your life," said the chief.
"I know it, and I thank you. I tell you, too, that I have no fancy forfire and the stake, but the price that you ask is too much."
"I cannot ask any other."
"I know it, but I have made my choice and I hope, Timmendiquas, that ifI must go to the happy hunting grounds I shall meet you there some day,and that we shall hunt together."
The eyes of the chief gleamed for a moment, and, turning abruptly, heleft the lodge.
There was joy among the renegades when the decision of Henry was madeknown, and now he was guarded more closely than ever. Meanwhile, all theboys about to become warriors were being initiated, and the customs ofthe Ohio Valley Indians in this particular were very different from theways of those who inhabited the Great Plains.
Every boy, when he attained the age of eight, was left alone in theforest for half a day with his face blackened. He was compelled to fastthroughout the time, and he must behave like a brave man, showing nofear of the loneliness and silence. As he grew older these periods ofsolitary fasting were increased in length, and now, at eighteen, severalboys in the Wyandot village had reached the last blackening and fasting.The black paint was spread over the neophyte's face, and he was led byhis father far from the village to a solitary cabin or tent, where hewas left without weapons or food. It was known from his previous fastingabout how long he could stand it, and now the utmost test would beapplied.
The father, in some cases, would not return for three days, and then theexhausted boy was taken back to the village, where his face was washed,his head shaved, excepting the scalp lock, and plentiful food was putbefore him. A small looking-glass, a bag of paint, and the rifle,tomahawk, and knife of a warrior were given to him.
While these ceremonies were going on Henry lay in the prison lodge, andhe could not see the remotest chance of escape. He listened at night forthe friendly voice among the leaves, but he did not hear it.Timmendiquas did not come again, and two old squaws, in place of Heno,brought him his food and drink. He had no hope that the Wyandots wouldspare him after his refusal to leave his own people and become anIndian. He knew that their chivalry made no such demand upon them. Thehardest part of it all was to lie there and wait. He was like a mancondemned, but with no date set for the execution. He did not know whenthey would come for him. But he believed that it would be soon, becausethe Wyandots must leave presently to march on the great foray.
The fourth morning after the visit of Timmendiquas the young chiefreturned. He was accompanied by Heno and Hainteroh, and the threeregarded the youth with great gravity. Henry, keen of intuition and areader of faces, knew that his time had come. What they had prepared forhim he did not know, but it must be something terrible. A shiver thatwas of the spirit, but not of the muscles, ran through him. Torture anddeath were no pleasant prospect to him who was so young and so strong,and who felt so keenly every hour of his life the delight of living, buthe would face them with all the pride of race and wilderness training.
"Well, Timmendiquas," he said, "I suppose that you have come for me!"
"It is true," replied Timmendiquas steadily, "but we would first prepareyou. It shall not be said of the Wyandots that they brought to theordeal a broken prisoner, one whose blood did not flow freely in hisveins."
Henry's bonds were loosened, and he stood up. Although he had been boundsecurely, his thongs had always allowed him a little movement, and hehad sought in the days of his captivity to keep his physical conditionperfect. He would stretch his limbs and tense his muscles for an hour ata time. It was not much, it was not like the freedom of the forest, butpursued by one as tenacious and forethoughtful as he, it kept hismuscles hard, his lungs strong, and his blood sparkling. Now, as hestood up, he had all his strength, and his body was flexible and alert.
But Heno and Hainteroh seized him by each hand and pulled strongly. Heunderstood. They were acting in a wholly friendly manner for the timebeing, and would give him exercise. He tried to guess from it the natureof the first ordeal that awaited him, but he could not. He pulled backand felt his muscles harden and tighten. So strong was he that bothwarriors were dragged to his side of the wigwam.
"Good!" said Timmendiquas. "Prison has not made you soft. You shallprove to all who see you that you are already a great warrior."
Then they rubbed his ankles and wrists with bear's oil that any possiblestiffness from the bonds might be removed, and directed him to walkbriskly on the inside circuit of the lodge for about fifteen minutes. Hedid readily as they suggested. He knew that whatever their motives--andafter all they were Indians with all the traits of Indians--they wishedhim to be as strong as possible for the fate that awaited him outside.The hardier and braver the victim, the better the Indians always likedit. Over a half hour was passed in these preparations, and then WhiteLightning said tersely and without emotion:
"Come!"
He led the way, and Henry, following him, stepped from the lodge intothe sunlight with Hainteroh and Heno close behind. The boy coming fromthe half darkness was dazzled at first by the brilliant rays, but in afew moments his eyes strengthened to meet them, and he saw everything. Agreat crowd was gathered for a third time at the meadow, and a heavymurmur of anticipation and excitement came to his ears.
Henry felt that everybody in the Wyandot village was looking at him. Itgave him a singular feeling to be thus the center of a thousand eyes,and the little mental shiver came again, because the eyes were nowwholly those of savages. He felt a cool breath on his face. The wind wasblowing, and from the forest came the faint rustle of the leaves. Helistened a moment that he might hear that hopeful note, the almost humanvoice that had spoken to him, but it was not there. It was just anordinary wind blowing in the wilderness, and he ceased to listen becausenow his crisis was at hand.
Timmendiquas led toward the meadow, and Heno and Hainteroh came closebehind. Now Henry saw what they had prepared for him as the first stageof his ordeal. He was to run the gantlet.
Two parallel lines had already been formed, running the longest way ofthe meadow and far down into an opening of the forest, and all werearmed with switches or sticks, some of the latter so heavy, that,wielded by a strong hand, they would knock a man senseless. No sympathy,no kindliness showed in the faces of any of these people. The spirit ofthe ball and the dance was gone. The white youth was their enemy, he hadchosen to remain so, and they knew no law but an eye for an eye and atooth for a tooth. Children and women were as eager as men for thesport. It was a part of their teaching and belief.
Henry looked again down the line, and there he saw the renegades, threeon one side and three on the other. It seemed to him that theirs werethe most cruel faces of all. He saw Braxton Wyatt swinging a heavystick, and he resolved that it should never touch him. He could bear ablow from an Indian, but not from Braxton Wyatt.
Then he looked from the cruel face of the renegade to the forest, sogreen, so fresh, and so beautiful. What a glorious place it was and howhe longed to be there. The deep masses of green leaves, solid in thedistance, waved gently in the wind. Over this great green wildernessbent the brilliant blue sky, golden at the dome from the high sun. Itwas but a fleeting glance, and his eyes came back to earth, to theWyandots, and to his fate.
"I was able to make it the gantlet first," Timmendiquas was saying inhis ear. "Others wished to begin at once with the fire."
"Thank you, White Lightning," said Henry.
He looked for the third time at the line, and he saw that no humanbeing, no matter how great his strength and dexterity, could reach theend of it. It was at least a quarter of a mile in length, and longbefore he was half way he would be beaten to the earth, limbs broken.They had not intended that he should have the remotest chance of escape.Nor, look as he would, could he see any.
Hark! What was that? It was a sound from the forest, a low, sweet note,but clear and penetrating, the wind among the leaves, the voice, almosthuman, that told him to be of good faith, that even yet in the face ofimminent death he would escape. It was no longer an ordinary windblowing through the wilderness; it was some voice out of space, speakingto him. White Lightning saw the face of his prisoner suddenly illumined,and he wondered.
Henry looked down the line for the fourth time, and then the way came tohim. He knew what to do, and he drew himself together, a compact mass ofmuscles, and tense like steel wire. Then, while the clear song from theforest still sang in his ear, he glanced up once more at the beneficentheavens, and uttered his wordless prayer:
"O Lord, Thou who art the God of the white man and the Manitou of thered man, give me this day a strength such as I have never known before!Give me an eye quick to see and a hand ready to do! I would live. I lovelife, but it is not for myself alone that I ask the gift! There areothers who need me, and I would go to them! Now, O Lord, abide with me!"
They were his thoughts, not his words, but he was the child of religiousparents, who had given him a religious training, and in the crisis heremembered.
It was the duty of Timmendiquas to give the word, but he waited,fascinated by the singular look on the face of the prisoner. He sawconfidence, exaltation there, and he still wondered. But the crowd wasgrowing impatient for its sport. They were bedecked in their gayest forthis holiday scene, and the size and obvious strength of the captiveindicated that it would be continued longer than common.
Timmendiquas glanced at the prisoner again, and for an instant the eyesof the two met. The chief saw purpose written deep in the mind of theother, and Henry caught the fleeting glimpse of sympathy that he hadnoticed more than once before.
"Are you ready?" asked Timmendiquas in tones so low that no one elsecould hear.
"Ready!" replied Henry as low.
"Go!" called Timmendiquas. His voice was so sharp that it cracked like apistol.
Henry made a mighty leap forward, and shot down between the lines soswiftly that the first blows aimed at him fell after he had passed. Thena switch cut him across the shoulders, a stick grazed his head, anotherglanced off his back as he fled, but he was so quick that the sticks andswitches invariably fell too late. This was what he had hoped for; if hecould keep ahead of the shower of blows for forty or fifty yards allmight go well. It would go well! It must go well! Hope flamed high inhim, and he seemed to grow stronger at every leap. The Indians wereshouting with delight at the sport, but so intent was he upon hispurpose that he did not hear them.
Henry looked up for a moment, and he saw near him the face ofTimmendiquas, who had followed him down the line, seeking, it seemed, togive a blow on his account. Beside him, a warrior held a heavy clubpoised to strike. Henry saw that he could not escape it, and his heartsank, like a plummet in a pool. But the great chief, so sure of foot,stumbled and fell against the warrior with the poised club. The blowwent wide, and Henry was untouched. He ran on, but he understood.
He had marked a spot in the line, fifty yards on, perhaps, where itseemed weakest. With the exception of the leader of the renegades,Girty, it was mostly women and children who stood there. Now he wasnearing them. He saw Girty's cruel, grinning face, and the heavy stickin his hand poised for a blow.
He could not run in a perfectly straight line, because he was compelledto dodge right or left to escape the clubs, and he was not alwayssuccessful. One, a glancing blow, made his head ring, but in a momenthis will threw off the effect, and the sting of it merely incited him togreater effort. Now the face of Girty was just before him, and theshouting of the Indians was so loud that he could not but hear.
He saw Girty raise his club, and, quick as lightning, Henry, turning offat a right angle, hurled himself directly at Girty, passed within thecircle of the falling club, seized the renegade's arm, and wrenched hisweapon from his grasp.
It was done in a second, but the Indian warriors near instantly sprangfor the pair. The impact of Henry's body knocked Girty to his knees and,as he fell, the youth made a sweeping blow at him with the capturedclub. Had Henry been left time to balance himself for the stroke, theevil deeds of Simon Girty would have stopped there, and terriblesuffering would have been spared to the border. But he struck as he ran,and, although Girty was knocked senseless, his skull was not fractured.
Henry darted away at a right angle from the line toward the forest. Hehad done what was achieved a few times by prisoners of uncommon strengthand agility. Instead of continuing between the rows he had broken out atone side, and now was straining every effort to reach the forest, withthe whole Wyandot village yelling at his heels.
Timmendiquas had seen the deed in every detail. He had marked the suddenturn of the fugitive and the extraordinary quickness and strength withwhich he had overthrown Girty, at the same time taking from him hisweapon, and his eyes flashed approval. But he was a Wyandot chief, andhe could not let such a captive escape. After a few moments ofhesitation he joined in the pursuit, and directed it with voice andgesture.
Henry's soul sang a song of triumph to him. He would escape! There wasnobody between him and the forest, and they would not fire just yet forfear of hurting their own people. His strength redoubled. The forestcame nearer. It seemed to reach out great green branches and invite himto its shelter.
An old woman suddenly sprang up from the grass and seized him by theknees. He made a mighty effort, threw her off, and leaped clear of herclawing hands. But he had lost time, and the warriors had gained. Onewas very near, and if he should lay hands upon him Henry knew that hecould not escape. Even if the warrior were able to hold him only a halfminute the others then would be at hand. But he was still keyed up tothe great tension with which he had started down the line. His effort,instead of reaching the zenith, was still increasing, and, turningsideways as he ran, he hurled the stick back into the face of thewarrior who was so near. The Wyandot endeavored to dodge it, but he wasnot quick enough. It struck him on the side of the head and he fell,knocked senseless as Girty, the renegade, had been.
Then the fleeing youth made another supreme effort, and he drew clear ofhis pursuers by some yards. The forest was very much nearer now. Howcool, how green, and how friendly it looked! One could surely find shadeand protection among all those endless rows of mighty trunks! He heard areport behind him and a bullet sang in his ear. The Wyandots, now thathe had become a clear target in front of them, began to fire.
Henry, remembering an old trick in such cases, curved a little from sideto side as he ran. He lost distance by it, but it was necessary in orderto confuse the marksmen. More shots were fired, and the Wyandots,shouting their war cries, began to spread out like a fan in order thatthey might profit by any divergence of the fugitive from a straightline. Henry felt a pain in his shoulder much like the sting of a bee,but he knew that the bullet had merely nipped him as it passed. Anothergrazed his arm, but the God of the white man and the Manitou of the redto whom he had prayed held him in His keeping. The Wyandots cro
wded oneanother, and as they ran at full speed they were compelled to firehastily at a zig-zagging fugitive.
He made one more leap, longer and stronger than all the rest, and gainedthe edge of the forest. At that moment he felt a tap on his side as ifhe had been struck by a pebble, but he knew it to be a bullet that hadgone deeper than the others. It might weaken him later, but not now; itmerely gave a new impulse to his speed, and he darted among the trees,spurning the ground like a racing deer.
The bullets continued to fly, but luck made the forest dense, the greattrees growing close to one another, and now the advantage was his. Onlyat times was his body exposed to their aim, and then he ran so fast thatmere chance directed the shots. None touched him now, and with a deepexulting thrill, so mighty that it made him quiver from head to foot, hefelt that he would make good his flight. Only ten minutes of safety fromthe bullets, and he could leave them all behind.
Henry's joy was intense, penetrating all his being, and it remained.Yes, life here in this green wilderness was beautiful! He had felt thetruth of it with all its force when they brought him forth to die,passing from one torture to another worse, and he felt it with equalpoignancy now that he had turned the impossible into the possible, nowthat the coming gift to him was life, not death. His spirit swelled andcommunicated itself to his body. Fire ran through his veins.
He took a single fleeting look backward, and saw many brown figuresspeeding through the forest. He knew their tactics. The fan woulddevelop into a half curve, and pursue with all the fleetness andtenacity with which the Indian--above all the Wyandot--was capable. Ifhe varied but a single yard from the direct line of his flight some onein the half curve would gain by it. He must not lose the single yard! Heglanced up through the green veil of foliage at the sun, and noticedthat he was running toward the southeast, the way that he wanted to go.Other such glances from time to time would serve to keep him straight,and again he felt the mighty and exultant swell that was in the natureof spiritual exaltation.
The war cries ceased. The Wyandots now pursued in silence, and it wouldbe a pursuit long and tenacious. It was their nature not to give up, andthey were filled with chagrin that so notable a prisoner had slippedfrom them, breaking through their lines and gaining the forest in theface of the impossible. Henry knew all these things, too, and he had nointention of relaxing his speed until he was beyond the range of theirrifles. It was well for him that his muscles and sinews were like wovenwire, and that he had striven so hard to keep himself in physical trimwhile he lay a prisoner in the lodge. His breathing was still long andfree, and his stride did not decline in either length or quickness.
The ground rolled slightly, and was free from undergrowth for the firsthalf mile. Then he came to clumps of bushes, but they did not decreasehis speed, and when he looked back again he saw no Wyandot. The fleetestamong them had not been able to equal him, and before long he heard themcalling signal cries to one another. The chiefs were giving directions,seeking to place the fugitive, who was now lost to sight, but Henry onlyran the faster. He did not delude himself with any such foolish beliefthat they would quit the pursuit because they could no longer see him.