CHAPTER XIX--AN INTERVIEW WITH "MAD ANTHONY"
The satisfaction and pleasure Kingdom felt in finding that Fishing Bird,though a prisoner, was still unharmed, was mixed with much distress bythe knowledge that nothing had been seen of John Jerome at Wayne's camp.True, it might be that John had gone directly to Fort Pitt; but even indoing so he would pass in the immediate vicinity of the militaryencampment and it would be strange if he did not stop.
Not the least light could any of the scouts or others with whom Reetalked throw upon the mystery of the missing boy. They agreed with hisfriend that he should have arrived at the Ohio several days ago, atleast. Their views of the whole matter were most discouraging. Kingdomdid not realize, they insisted, that the woods were full of hostileIndian bands; that all up and down the Ohio and for many miles in alldirections, there was burning, pillaging and murder almost every day,and no man was safe when alone.
Neither did Kingdom receive the least encouragement when he suggestedthat a rescue party be formed to search for his missing chum. Gen. Waynewould not think of it, the men said. It was no unusual thing for a manto be taken prisoner, no unusual thing for a lone hunter to be scalped.If the army were to undertake the rescue of every captive, or thepunishment of every party of Indian marauders, there would be time fornothing else.
"Still, I must see Gen. Wayne himself," Kingdom insisted. "Even if I cando nothing else for John Jerome, perhaps I can obtain freedom forFishing Bird, and he and I can do something."
Still the party of petty officers, scouts, and soldiers with whomKingdom talked shook their heads, and it was only after considerableurging that one of the men said he would try to arrange matters for Reeto see the commander.
Kingdom had reached the encampment of Wayne's "Legion" at about mid-day.It was late in the afternoon when his new-found friend, a sergeant namedQuayle, consented to see if Ree could not have a talk with Gen. Waynehimself. The delay seemed past all understanding to Kingdom, littleacquainted with army customs and discipline. And when the sergeantreturned, bringing a superior officer with him, who, after talking withthe anxious lad, told him that the general would see him in the morning,Kingdom's patience was sorely tried indeed. He did, however, obtain anassurance from the officer that Fishing Bird would be well treated andinjured no further until he could present his petition for the Indian'srelease, and with this he endeavored to be content.
Unwilling to tell his whole story to anyone but "Mad Anthony" himself,Kingdom was unable to give the men with whom he mingled a great deal ofinformation. They plied him with countless questions concerning themovements and general attitude of the Indians of the interior, and hisexperiences with them, but the heart-sick boy felt little disposed totalk and gave them no more than civil answers. In vain he tried to getpermission to visit Fishing Bird in the guard-house. Serg. Quayle toldhim it would be of no use, but not until one higher in authority hadkindly but very definitely refused did Ree give up.
Every hope Kingdom ventured to entertain now centered in Gen. Wayne, andtime and again he went over in his mind all that he meant to say to thecommander when the time came.
He saw to it that Phoebe was given a place among the horses in the campand properly fed and cared for, then accepted an invitation extended byhis friend, the sergeant, to have supper and spend the night with him.
Had his thoughts been less occupied with the strange disappearance ofJohn, and with his anxiety concerning the outcome of his interview withGen. Wayne, Ree would have spent a jolly evening among the care-freespirits,--woodsmen, adventurers, regular soldiers and raw recruits whomade up the bulk of the "Legion."
There was romance in the life of nearly every man about him. There werestories untold, but to some extent readable, in the faces and figuresand ways of all the scouts, the hardened Indian fighters, and theseasoned soldiers. There was much of interest, too, among the greatvariety of fellows who were plainly not long from the east. Some wereoutcasts and downright criminals undoubtedly; some were sons of highlyrespected fathers, banished from home, perhaps, or here only in searchof adventure and excitement. Their stories, their songs, their speechand their dress all told of the strangely different walks of life fromwhich they had come; and gathered together here on the border of thegreat wilderness, while the campfires brightly burned, they made a trulyromantic picture.
It was a picture which would live in history, too, as time in due coursetold; for in the end it proved that no more efficient force ever invadedhostile Indian territory than Wayne led to final victory over thesavages who had vowed to make the Ohio river the boundary betweenthemselves and civilization for all time.
The-men with whom Ree came in contact were, in their rough way, verykind to the young man from the depths of the woods. They urged him tojoin them and go down the Ohio and thence march into the woods withthem, and they assured him that he would never find a better chief than"Old Mad Anthony." To all these proposals Kingdom answered that he couldthink of nothing of the kind until John Jerome was found, living ordead, for which sentiment Sergeant Quayle heartily commended him.
For the most part the men of Wayne's command slept in the open air, butSergeant Quayle and his intimate associates had erected a shelter ofbark laid up against a pole placed across two forked sticks. Althoughone side of this crude structure was entirely open to the weather, thecampfire made the fact scarcely unpleasant, and Kingdom found thesoldiers' quarters quite comfortable. The lad was astir by the time thefirst early risers of the army were moving about, however, andimpatiently waited the coming of the aide who was to lake him to Gen.Wayne's quarters.
At last came the lieutenant whom Ree had seen the day before. Withscarcely a word he signaled with a nod to the lad to accompany him, andsilently conducted the young frontiersman to a substantial log house.With a word to a sentry near, the officer opened the door and motionedto Kingdom to enter.
"Mad Anthony" sat at breakfast alone. He looked up with sharp but notunkind scrutiny of his visitor as, cap in hand, the boy softly closedthe door and stood awaiting his notice.
"Sit down there and tell me your story," said the commander ratherbrusquely, indicating a three-legged stool near his table. Although hespoke in a quick, decisive way his voice was the kind which inspiresconfidence and the young visitor, though somewhat nervous, at no timewas disconcerted by the business-like manner of the great soldier.
"Gladly, sir," said Kingdom, seating himself, but for a momenthesitating just where to begin.
"Well, well, proceed then!" the general urged with a smile, and withoutfurther loss of time the boy told briefly who he was and what hadbrought him to the soldiers' camp. He mentioned John Jerome's connectionwith his story and John's disappearance, alluding only briefly, for thetime, to the murder at the salt springs, and to the charge of witchcraftthat had been the beginning of the trouble. Of the lead mine he did notspeak.
"I see no reason why we cannot give this Indian you are interested inhis liberty," said the general, when Ree had concluded. "But I am muchafraid we can do nothing for your friend. Very likely he will turn upsafe and sound before long. I am bound to say, though, that my advice toyou would be that you do not go back to your cabin until these troubloustimes are over. How would you like to come with my men--be one of myscouts and interpreters? Come, now?"
Poor Ree, sadly disheartened, could only reply that if circumstanceswere different he would very much like to do so; but as it was, well, hesimply couldn't do anything until John Jerome was found. Then he toldmore fully of the trouble with Lone-Elk and how it had happened toresult in the discovery of the two murdered men at the big "lick."
Made more confident by Gen. Wayne's interest, he told of the strangecamp in the gully and his reason for believing that the salt springsmurderer or murderers were there.
"You may be right," said the commander, "and you may be wrong. That twomen,--apparently men not fully accustomed to the woods,--should havebeen killed and their bodies concealed in the brush, is, in these times,not surprising. And the fact be
ing that these men are to us unknown,while it does not make the murder less distressing or less a crime, doespresent a reason for our not being duty bound to unravel the mystery andattempt to punish the perpetrators of the deed. In short, if we begin tofollow up singly each red-handed outrage committed along the border, weshall not have men for anything else. We can only bide our time andstrike the savages collectively--strike a blow that will bring both themand their British supporters to their senses--a blow with something ofsuddenness about it."
Kingdom's hopes had dwindled to nothing. He wanted help, help to findJohn Jerome, help to carry out his plan to capture the salt springscriminals, and while he was about it, help to show Lone-Elk that he hadpowerful friends at his back who might make very costly to the Senecaany injury which was done the two young settlers on the land for whichthe Delawares had received a fair price.
Of course Gen. Wayne saw the whole trend of Kingdom's thoughts. There isa power possessed, as a rule, by great generals in every walk of life,by which they see at a glance the workings of the minds of the lessmature or less able men about them. Kingdom, however, was bright enoughto understand all this perfectly, even while "Mad Anthony" talked withhim. He felt that an injustice was done him. He knew that his motiveswere not by any means as selfish as they seemed. But how could he makehimself better understood? He hesitated to try, and in his extremity, heplayed his last card--the lead mine.
Who can blame Return Kingdom if, when he told Gen. Wayne of the Seneca'ssecret, he went just a little beyond actual facts in his representationof the certainty of the mine's existence! That he had never seen themine, he was forced, as the commander questioned him, to admit. Yes, itwas true, he acknowledged, that he had never heard of the lead minebefore Lone-Elk came among the Delawares. Neither had he seen any leadfrom the mine, nor could he tell positively of any Indian who had seenany. The story Fishing Bird had told was the whole basis of hisassertion that there was a lead mine somewhere along the Cuyahoga, andpresumably it was not far from the mysterious camp in the ravine.
"Now have I all the information you can give me on this subject?" askedGen. Wayne, with something of a twinkle in his eye.
"Yes, sir," Kingdom answered, the twinkle somehow making him feel morecomfortable than he did before.
"All right, then," and the general stepped to the door. "Have thatIndian, Fishing Bird, brought to headquarters," he said to the manoutside.
"Mad Anthony" paced thoughtfully up and down the earthen floor of thesingle room of the cabin while he waited. Wondering, and more hopefulnow, Kingdom tried to determine what the commander meant to do byglancing often at his knitted brow.
In five minutes the Delaware, with a sullen air of pride, stepped intothe cabin. In an instant, however, his manner changed. A look ofpleasure came to his eyes and he held out his hand to Kingdom.
The greeting between the young woodsman and the Indian was pleasant tosee. As soon as they had silently shaken hands, however, Gen. Waynesaid:
"Now, Fishing Bird, what can you tell me of a lead mine near yourCuyahoga river!"
"The lead mine is the secret of Lone-Elk--Lone-Elk, the Seneca," theDelaware made answer.
"Well, if I give you your liberty, will you go with this young man, yourfriend here, and some men I shall send with you, and see if you can findthis mine? And will you help my young friend, whom you seem to knowrather better than I do, find the boy who is accused of witchcraft?"
"Anything White Fox asks will Fishing Bird do," the Indian replied, withquiet dignity.