CHAPTER VI--"THE WITCH IS HIDDEN HERE."
That part of Lone-Elk's band which had been appointed to hide along theriver bank throughout the day and paddle up and down in the densestshadows of the shores when night had come, did not keep up their searchas long as John had hoped they would, when he silently chuckled over thethought of their waste of time and effort.
When they passed so close to the lad they sought, not more than one ofthem suspecting how very near he was, the Delawares were closing in onthe cabin, together with others on shore. Lone-Elk had given the signal,by passing the word quietly along the irregular line his braves madearound the clearing, after waiting all day long. He hoped to find the"witch" in hiding in the little cabin. Even if he did not, he wouldimpress the Delawares with the seeming truth of the charge he had madeagainst the young white man by showing that he was away from home,engaged, presumably, in some of his dreadful witch's work. The Senecahad, moreover, a plan in mind which made a visit to the home of theyoung Palefaces desirable from his point of view, whether the one theysought should be discovered or not, and now would be as good a time asany for the carrying out of his purpose.
While the Indians were yet at a distance, Kingdom, watching andlistening in the cabin, heard their approach. He had kept his rifleclose at hand all day, and now he casually picked the weapon up and witha show of idle carelessness polished its glossy stock with a bit ofbuckskin.
The savages came silently on, apparently without effort to keep frombeing heard. Kingdom was aware that they kept their line spread out soas to form a semicircle which, together with the river, would whollyenclose the little log house. His sharp ears assured him that this wasdone, but it was with well acted surprise that he sprang lightly up andstepped toward the door when Lone-Elk and one other Indian showedthemselves at last within the dim ray of light shining from thefireplace.
"Come in! It's wet and bad outside! Bring them all in!" he calledpleasantly, meeting the Seneca at the threshold and glancing out as ifhe plainly saw the whole line of Indians outside, which in fact he didnot see at all.
"White Fox speaks kindly," answered Lone-Elk, calling Ree by the namethe Delawares had long ago given him.
Only the Seneca and the one other Indian drew near the lighted spaceabout the door, however, and these two now entered as if they were quiteby themselves.
"Why should I not?" Ree answered to the Seneca's remark, noticing as hedid so, how searchingly both the savages were looking about the cabin'ssingle room. "We,--my white brother and myself--have had the friendshipof the Delawares always."
"It is as the white brother says," said the second Indian, a powerfulfellow whom Kingdom now recognized as a brave from the Delaware town onthe Muskingum, and whom he had seen a number of times before. As hespoke, this Indian looked at Lone-Elk inquiringly. Perhaps the Senecaconsidered his words a challenge. At any rate he said sharply:
"Where is the other white brother! Does the White Fox wish to hide himthen, if he is the friend of the Delawares? Will the White Fox hide thewitch that breathed poison breath upon Big Buffalo, the witch that witha hatchet killed a Delaware warrior, yet left no mark?"
"What's this you say? What wild talk is this, Lone-Elk? Has Lone-Elkdrunk of the firewater that he comes speaking so absurdly?"
Kingdom spoke with a show of temper and in a manner distinctlycreditable to the part he was bound to act.
"It is the law that witches must be put to death," the Seneca returnedvigorously. "Lone-Elk has said that Little Paleface with a witch'shatchet killed a Delaware warrior--killed Big Buffalo. Now must thewitch be given up to the friends of him that was killed."
"Well, I can only tell you that the one you call Little Paleface is nothere. He is far away and may not come back for some days," Kingdomanswered quietly. "Now if Lone-Elk will believe this, and it is thetruth, he will return to the town of the Delawares and I will myself gothere tomorrow to have a talk. Is it a friendly thing for Delawarebraves to remain hidden all about the lodge of their Paleface brothersas they are doing now? Let them all come into the light. Let them seethat my brother who is accused so falsely--so unfairly and sounjustly--let them see, I say, that he is not here, and we will plan tohave a talk tomorrow."
Lone-Elk gave a short, fierce whoop. Instantly fifteen or more Indiansrushed into the cabin, crowding-the little room quite uncomfortably.
"The witch is hidden," said Lone-Elk, loudly. "If the Little Paleface ishere let him show himself."
As Kingdom looked quickly from one to another of the Indians he observedwith sorrow that Fishing Bird was among them. Had this good fellowturned against his white friends, too? But no, that quick friendly lookas their eyes met was proof of his friendship still.
There being no answer to the Seneca's invitation to Little Paleface toshow himself, except the grunted "Ughs!" of some of the Delawares,Lone-Elk sprang quickly up the ladder of poles and peered into the loft.Others followed his example, climbing up on stools or by the aid of theroughness of the wall. Some looked up the chimney. Some searched here,some there. One party of five or six, lighting hickory bark torches atthe fire, went into the barn. In five minutes the whole cabin was turnedtopsy-turvy.
"You see it is just as I told you in the beginning," said Kingdom in afriendly tone, but somewhat impatiently. "Now will you not consent to atalk! Let it be in the Council House of the Delawares--let it be anyplace you choose. I think I can prove to you that this charge ofwitchcraft is placed against one who is as true and honest as ever mancould be."
Ree was sorry to see that the Delawares looked to Lone-Elk to answer. Hehad more fear of this one Indian, under the circumstances, than of anyother half dozen warriors in Captain Pipe's town.
"Let it be as the White Fox says," the Seneca answered. "Yet will myPaleface brother not deceive himself by thinking he deceives Lone-Elk.The Paleface witch but hides. If it is not so, let the witch come to thetalk."
Not for a second did Kingdom allow this challenge to be unanswered. Likea flash every eye had turned to him; but instantly he said:
"Will the Seneca go to Fort Pitt and there put Little Paleface on trialbefore those whose customs are the customs of the Palefaces? No, ofcourse he will not. And just so would it not be fair for Lone-Elk todemand more than he would be willing himself to give."
HE KEPT HIS EYES ON THE SENECA UNCEASINGLY.]
The justice of Kingdom's position was clear to the majority of theIndians and he could not help but notice it; still Lone-Elk's reply incurt, surly tones was far from pleasing.
"Yet the White Fox asks for a talk! Like squaws that tell one another ofthe worms that harmed the corn does the Paleface want the Delawares tomeet together with him and speak idle words! Words! Words, that meannothing and come to nothing."
With a move of his hand to his companions to follow, the Seneca left thecabin. Rapidly the other Indians marched off in single file after him.Fishing Bird, somehow, was the last to leave. As he went out of thedoor, he cast a glance of friendliness, which was also a look ofwarning, to Ree and the peace of mind of that young gentleman was notincreased thereby.
By no means certain that the Indians would not return, Kingdom sat for along time on the edge of his bunk, listening and thinking. He had greatsatisfaction in knowing that John was comparatively safe for the time,at least, and thankful, indeed, that his chum's departure had been sotimely. He longed for another and more satisfactory talk with FishingBird. He must have such a talk, he resolved, if it could by any chancebe arranged, before he undertook to show the Delawares that Big Buffalohad not been killed by witchcraft. Perhaps that friendly fellow would beable to give him the right clue to the whole situation. Might it not behe would frankly declare that it was by the hand of Lone-Elk, himself,that the warrior's life had been snuffed out!
In his own mind Ree had little doubt concerning the true cause of BigBuffalo's death; but by what means the Seneca had put out of his way theone member of Captain Pipe's community who openly resented hisleadership there would most proba
bly be a difficult question to answer.
So the lonely lad sat pondering a long time; how long he did not know orcare. The rain was still falling, the wind still sighing dolefully whenhe arose at last, closed and barred the door, also barred the openingwhich served as a window, and removing only his moccasins lay down torest. Repeatedly did he picture to his mind's eye John Jerome trampingslowly, silently through the wet leaves, among the dripping underbrushand trees, stopping often to get his bearings from the wind, and somaking his weary and most lonesome way to the protection they had agreedupon.
Repeatedly his thoughts returned to the "big talk" which he must attendtomorrow; but sound sleep came to him at last, even while a crouchingfigure moved swiftly and stealthily into the clearing and paused as ifin hiding behind a shock of corn--the very one on which the crow hadperched in the afternoon--then stole on again and disappeared.
Even as the first object appeared, another approached the cabin andmoved to the protection of the darker shadows of the stable. For aminute or two the figure stood quiet in the denser darkness beside thebuilding, then moved cautiously toward the little cornfield as ifattracted by a faint rustle of corn leaves which seemed to come fromthat vicinity.
The rain still fell in a quiet, unbroken drizzle, but the wind hadabated and there was no reason to suppose that it caused the movement ofthe corn, which attracted the attention of the crouching creature. Stilllistening with utmost care, the crouching figure moved nearer to thespot from which the noise ensued.
To discern any object that was without motion, at a distance of even afew feet in the pitch darkness, was an impossibility; but as therustling of the corn ceased, the one who had been attracted by the soundmade out a stealthy movement in the vicinity and instantly stood still.When the darker shadow had passed beyond his vision he dropped to theground and listened with his ear against the wet grass and earth. Aftera time he rose and ran forward ever so lightly, pausing at the edge ofthe woods.
Hour after hour passed. A dull gray light appeared on the clouds to theeast. Rising then, and stretching himself, the silent watcher withfrequent looks toward every point went directly to the barn built upagainst the white boys' cabin, opened the door and leaving it slightlyajar, sat down upon the floor in such a way that he could command a viewof the greater part of the clearing.
The opening of the door of the barn made Return Kingdom move, soundasleep though he was, and directly he awoke, conscious of having heardsome disturbing sound. What it was he did not know. For a time helistened, but finding that drowsiness was overcoming him, he rousedhimself with a sudden determination to investigate.
Springing up quietly, Kingdom put on his moccasins and opening aloophole, peeped out. Though still very dark inside the cabin, he couldmake out principal objects in the clearing, and noted nothing in theleast unusual. Suppressing a most sleepy yawn, he decided to creep intohis bunk and forget his troubles in restful unconsciousness until broaddaylight came.
Very likely the noise which had wakened him was made by one of thehorses, the lad thought. He peeped into the stable through a chink inthe wall. Discovering immediately that the door of the lean-to was open,and remembering that he had closed it as usual, he was alarmed at once.He seized his rifle, unbarred the cabin door and rushed out.
As he swung wide the door of the stable, to learn the cause of it notbeing properly closed, a hand was held out to him and its mate wasraised in a sign of silence.
Startled, Kingdom stepped back a pace, but before the other could speakhe had recovered himself.
"Fishing Bird!" he exclaimed. "What in the world are you doing here atsuch a time as this, Fishing Bird?"