CHAPTER VIII--THE SALT SPRINGS--A STARTLING DISCOVERY
Besides the much traveled path extending south from the river on whichthe cabin of the youthful pioneers was situated, to the main branch ofthe Muskingum, there was another thoroughfare of the Indians in thevicinity. The general direction of its course was east and west. Thistrail was not used a great deal, but it was, for the most part, alongits route that the two boys had first made their way into the Ohio wildstwo years before. At occasional intervals Delawares and others followedthis path in traveling toward Fort Pitt, or in journeying from thatpoint to Sandusky and the country of the Wyandots near the lake, fartherto the west or to the Maumee which lay beyond.
At a distance of two days' journey eastward from the cabin on theCuyahoga, a branch of this trail forked off and led on to a muchfrequented "salt lick" or spring of salty water, near the Mahoningriver. To this "lick" the Indians came from far and near to make salt.Settlers came from great distances, also, especially in later years, toboil the waters of the springs, and Kingdom and Jerome had known of theplace for a long time.
Having first heard of the "big lick" from the Delawares, the boys hadverified the information so obtained by talking with hunters andtraders. Often had they planned to visit the place. During the winter,when work in their clearing was less pressing, they frequently had saidthey would obtain a year's supply of salt for themselves. But that wasbefore trouble had come to them. What they would do now must dependentirely upon future developments.
Kingdom saw no good reason for John's proposed trip to the "lick," butneither did he see a reason for not going; besides, maybe it would bebetter for Jerome to be away from the locality in which such gravedanger threatened him, and the more especially so in view of thetemptation he would have to try to find the secret lead mine of theoutcast Seneca.
Thus the two friends parted. Kingdom had already lost much time. Hefeared being late at the council he was to have with Captain Pipe'sprincipal people and much as he would have liked to go a little way withJohn, he felt that he must hurry directly to the cabin.
No sooner was Ree gone from the hollow whitewood, however, than JohnJerome found interest in the trip to the "lick" suddenly lagging. It wasone thing to talk to his bosom friend about the undertaking, but quiteanother to sit solitary and alone pondering upon its hardships. But hewas in for it now. It most certainly would not do to give up. Kingdomwould not expect to see him for four or five days at least, and he wouldbe alone for that length of time anyway, he reflected. Thus in a measurehe restored his first enthusiasm for the journey he had so impulsivelysuggested, and ten minutes later was on the way.
To have followed the old trail which led toward the salt spring wouldhave been, from John's starting point, considerably out of his way. Itlay much to the south. To travel through the unbroken woods would beharder but it would likewise be safer and the latter was an importantpoint to consider. So through the woods, setting himself to make nearlya bee line to the east, the lonesome young woodsman tramped. Sleep andfood had much refreshed him after the labor and the adventures of thenight, however, and except for the sense of loneliness and something ofworry and anxiety concerning Kingdom's safety, which hung heavily uponhis thoughts, he would have been in fine spirits.
John was quite familiar with that portion of the woods which he was nowtraversing. It was not far from here that he had been held captive inthe cave where dwelt Duff and Dexter. Over to the right a mile or so wasthe spot where the unscrupulous Duff, himself, had been forced tosurrender and beg for his very life. On ahead was the little lake whereCaptain Brady had hidden, a number of years before. John and Ree hadhunted up the place one time, just to see the spot after hearing ofBrady's wonderful leap and exciting adventure from some settlers nearFort Pitt.
The leaves underfoot and all the great forest stretching away for mileson every side were still wet from the drenching rain of the previousnight. Any trail made the day before must needs have been well marked orall traces of it would be now obliterated. John thought of this as inthe course of the day's travel he twice came upon signs which seemed totell of some person or persons having passed through much the sameportion of the wilds as he was traveling, within a few days at most. Onesign of this kind was a freshly cut mark of a hatchet upon a great,smooth-barked beech. Another was the presence of one small stone besidea large one and a small quantity of hickory nut shells.
No thought of danger because of these indications that there were othertravelers in the woods came to Jerome. The mark upon the beech treemight have been made by anyone, white man or red. It merely showed thatsome one had recently been there. Likewise the nut shells may have beenleft by a chance hunter or even by a party of them. Still, having foundthese signs, and feeling quite interested in discovering more of them,some which might reveal more definite facts perhaps, as the ashes of acampfire, for example, John looked keenly in all directions as hetramped on and on. But he saw nothing and the necessity of searching forsomething he deemed more important--a safe and comfortable place tospend the night--caused him to turn his thoughts to other things as theshort fall day drew early to a close.
A tangled mass of wild grapevines hanging over a little gully, andsheltering it alike from wind and rain, seemed to offer a good prospect,but turned out a disappointment. The ground, on being inspected, provedexceedingly wet. So on John went. Once he paused beside the thicklyspreading branches of a maple, which had been uprooted by some summerstorm, and contemplated lying down among the leaves the breezes hadcollected there. But he shook his head and passed by.
"Why the very mischief I ever thought of coming on this wild goose chaseI don't know, I vow!" the young wayfarer grumbled to himself, with agrim frown.
He was thinking of the snug little log house and the warm supper andwarm bed he might have had in prospect. Even the shelter of theprojecting ledge of rock, whose protection he had had the night before,seemed very attractive now. "And the old hollow poplar, that would bequite a lord mayor's mansion, for a fact it would!" he told himself."But there's no use fussing for what you haven't got and can't have," headded, with a philosophy which many an older man has never learned, andwalked on the faster.
Only once or twice before had John spent a night in the open woodswithout Kingdom for company, and though he was not afraid, he dreadedthe hours of darkness and the lonesome, cheerless night now just beforehim more and more as the shadows thickened.
"Howl away, you pesky rascals! Howl away! But you don't know what you'rehowling for!" he burst out almost spitefully as the yelping of wolvesreached his ears. "I'm not going to climb a tree on your account--not ifI don't have to," he added, making the latter saving clause barelyaudible, even to himself.
A strange place for a night's rest it was which John selected at last asa final choice. "But," as he reasoned with his protesting, tired-outbody, "you've got to take what you can get and take it mighty quick atthat, if you are going to see what you're getting."
The resting place thus selected was a chestnut tree which sent out fourbranches a few feet above the ground, each as large as an ordinary tree,and each spreading broadly in a different direction from the others. Theeffect was to form at the place from which the branches projected a seatby no means uncomfortable and having the advantage of being high anddry, at least. Indeed, John found that by sitting astride of one greatlimb and leaning against another, he not only maintained his balanceeasily but rested comparatively well. With his blanket wrapped round himand over his head like a hood, he ate his supper of dried venison,wished he had a drink, decided it was too much trouble to go for one,fell to thinking of the absurdity of Lone-Elk's accusations and driftedoff to sleep.
Before morning John felt severely the effects of being so long in oneposition, but nothing worse disturbed him. He heard wild creatures ofthe forest all about at different times in the night, but even had humaneyes come very close they would hardly have seen in the thick darknessthe solitary figure perched in the chestnut's forks. But it was agenuine luxu
ry to be on the ground and feel the cushions ofleaves-underfoot once more; and so it was, while he strode steadilyforward, facing always the east, that John ate his meager breakfast.
Watchful as he always was to obtain fresh clues to the presence ofothers than himself in any portion of the woods, John still foundnothing to interest him particularly. In the afternoon he came upon arunway of the deer, and confident from its general trend that it ledtoward the salt springs, he followed it. He came upon variousindications that the path had been used by two-footed as well asfour-footed creatures. Once he found the skeleton of a large buck. Nearby was a sapling which had been bent down over the path, and a longwithe made into a noose close at hand, showed how the poor creaturedied.
None of the things he saw, however, conveyed to John any thought butthat he must be nearing the salt "lick" now; and that perhaps he wouldfind some one there, and would do well to be very careful as heapproached, not knowing whom he might find, and being somewhatparticular who might find him.
Even when he picked up a buckskin glove with spatters of blood upon itbeside the runway, John had no presentiment of what was to come. He onlymuttered: "White folks at the spring now, or have been there not longago, at least. Settlers, probably. You don't catch anybody else puttingon mittens before it has even snowed. What a big hand he had!"
The concluding exclamation followed the trying on of the glove. It was,indeed, a large one, and because of its size and not knowing just whereto carry it, John was inclined to throw it down by the path and leaveit; but he reconsidered and tucked the buckskin in his belt. He found itthere, convenient for reference, when a decidedly startling discoverysomewhat later brought the glove very forcibly to his recollection.
The runway of the deer brought the boy at last to a considerable streamwhich he rightly guessed to be the river, known to the Indians then andto everyone now as the Mahoning. The path skirted its banks for somedistance, then turned into the woods again, leading on to the springs ofslightly salty water which lay at no great distance.
Only by hard traveling had John reached the place before nightfall, buthe was thankful for his rare good fortune in doing so. To spend severalhours at least in locating the "lick," after he had come fairly into itsvicinity, was what he had expected, and now to come directly to the spotwas indeed lucky. He had never seen the place before but he could notdoubt the evidence that lay on every hand. Indeed, he was greatlysurprised to find so many indications that the springs were oftenvisited.
They lay in an open space of two or three acres, grown up to low bushesand rank grass, save for the paths where the ground had been trampedbare by the deer and other animals. In several places were the ashes oflong-deserted campfires. Near the border of the clearing were two orthree rough, quickly-erected log cabins. But these also, were deserted,and toppling over from neglect. The spring or springs--for the waterseemed to bubble forth in two or three places--were enclosed by heavyplanks, hewed from whole trees, forming a vat nearly six paces square,as John measured it, and rather more than three feet deep. This vat wassunk in the ground and as the astonished young visitor lay down to drinkfrom it, what was his surprise to discover two large iron kettles at itsbottom, plainly visible in the clear, sparkling water.
With rare interest the young explorer looked upon his discoveries.Another thing which much attracted him were pits that had been dug ashiding places by hunters, wherein they lay in wait for the coming ofdeer to the springs at night. These may have been the work of white menor of Indians, for it was not many miles, John knew, to the old Indianvillage which he had heard called Mahoning Town. He doubted if manyIndians lived there, now, however,--not more than one or two families atmost he thought--for at this distance from the border, the homes of theMingoes, which once had been occupied, were already falling to ruins.The inhabitants of the villages had moved farther into the wilderness orwere scattered and there seldom remained so much as a dog to bark atstrangers.
John was somewhat disappointed to find no white person or persons near,and no sign that any had been there since the rain of the second nightbefore, at least. But it was lucky, on the other hand, that he found nohostile Indians there, and just at that time it would have been prettyhard to tell which redskins were hostile and which were not, unless onepersonally knew them.
So, having satisfied himself that neither friend nor foe was in thevicinity, the interested young discoverer again drank heartily of thespring's very pleasant waters and then calmly sat down at some littledistance to rest and survey the situation more leisurely than he haddone at first.
The salt "lick" or spring was somewhat to one side of a wide, shallowvalley. The extent to which the vicinity had been frequented had causedmany trees and much brush to be cleared away, as in the course of timethey had been burned and chopped down to provide wood for the making ofsalt or the building of huts. The effect was to make the woods quiteopen all about the little clearing. But, notwithstanding, it was a verydesolate, lonely spot. The wind blew in a most melancholy manner and theimpression came to John that the springs were haunted. Surely if ghostsever appeared anywhere in the whole vast wilderness, here was a placewhich seemed the very one at which they would assemble. But it was forthe sake of security from being found by living visitors to the "lick"that the lad decided he would do well to go farther into the forest tospend the night. This he did, and as it was now dusk, he sought a saferesting place with great eagerness.
Knowing that creatures of all sorts would be likely to come to thespring after darkness set in--even buffalos, though they wereexceedingly rare in these parts, John was well aware--the lad had noexcuse to make to his courage in looking for a tree which would offer acomfortable perch. This he failed to find, but high up on the hillsideto the east of the "lick" he found, as he searched further, a rude shackor shelter built up with poles and brush, probably by salt boilers. Atleast there was a considerable bed of ashes in front of the open side ofthe brush wind-shield, and under cover and comparatively dry was a bedof small boughs, leaves and long, wild grass, such as grew in the valleybelow.
The effect of this discovery upon John Jerome was to make him feel quiteat home. The dreary prospect of spending an uncomfortable nightvanished. If others had found it safe to have a campfire and sleep likecivilized mortals, why should not he? A campfire and all the comforts ofthe brush house should be his, he instantly decided, let theconsequences be what they might. So the next half hour was busily spentin gathering firewood.
With dry leaves and powder and the exercise of patience, born of thedays which knew not matches, John kindled his fire. He chose not to riskmore than a small blaze, however, and by starting it very close to thefront of the shack made its ruddy glow scarcely visible from onedirection, at least. The principal advantage of this was in having thefire close to him as he lay on the bed of tender boughs; still he wasglad to think that he was "being prudent," as Return Kingdom would wishhim to be, though he smiled at the thought.
Good, honest fatigue and a clear conscience put John to sleep early,despite the troubled state of his mind whenever he thought of hisenforced absence from the only home he had. If prowlers of any kind, manor beast, were near him while darkness lasted, he did not know it. Heawoke to find the dawn breaking and, knowing that he must soon startback to keep his appointment with Ree, set out at once for anotherinspection of the salt spring and its surroundings.
How he chanced to come upon it or what prompted him to pause before it,there is no necessity of telling, but certain it is that when about toleave the spring, John found at a distance of forty rods to the west ofthe "lick," on a slight rise of ground, a pile of brush in the midst ofa sumac thicket.
"How did it get there and what's the purpose of it?" he asked himself,wondering if it were not a trap for wild turkeys.
With a determination to find an answer to his questions, he pushed inamong the bushes and pulled the low brush pile to one side.
A ghastly sight confronted him. Dead, their skins discolored, theirclothing hanging l
oosely on their gaunt bodies, stiff and cold, theirscalps gone, were two men--two young men--who, it was evident, had comefrom the settlements.