Chapter 15: Through Many Perils.
The course Nat was taking was not parallel to that of the boats outsidehim. He was sheering gradually out into the lake, and, although theboat was travelling somewhat faster than its pursuers, James saw thatits course would carry it across their bows at a dangerously closedistance. The Indians were not long in seeing that the canoe wasoutstripping them, and in each of the boats one of the redskins laidaside his paddle, and began to fire. The balls struck the water nearthe canoe, but no one was hit.
"Let them fire," Jonathan said. "It ain't every man as can shootstraight from a canoe going at racing pace. The more they fires thebetter. They will only fall further behind."
After firing two or three shots each, the Indians appeared to be of thesame opinion, and resumed their paddles; but they had lost so muchground that the canoe they were in chase of shot out into the lakefifty yards ahead of the nearest. Some more shots were fired, and thenthe Indians began hastily to throw the fish, with which their canoeswere laden, into the water. After paddling two or three hundred yardsfarther, Nat laid in his paddle.
"Out with them fish," he said. "You can leave one or two for supper,but the rest must go overboard. Be quick about it, for those canoesfrom the shore are coming up fast."
The work was concluded just as the canoes with the Owl and his warriorscame up with the others, which, having now got rid of their fish, againset out, and, in a close body, the ten canoes started in pursuit.
"Paddle steady," Nat said; "and whatever you do, be keerful of yourblades. If one was to break now it would mean the loss of our scalps.Don't gain on 'em; as long as the redskins on shore think as theirfriends are going to catch us, they won't care to put out and join inthe chase; but if they thought we was getting away, they might launchcanoes ahead of us and cut us off. The nearer we are to them thebetter, as long as we are keeping ahead."
For an hour the chase continued. The Indians, although straining everynerve, did not gain a foot upon the fugitives, who, although paddlinghard, had still some reserve of strength. The sun, by this time, wastouching the tops of the hills.
"Now, cap," Nat said, "it's time to teach 'em as we can bite a bit.They won't be quite so hot over it, if we give them a lesson now. Doyou turn round and pepper them a bit.
"Now, old hoss! You and I must row all we know for a bit."
Turning himself in the canoe, resting his elbow on his knee to steadyhis rifle, James took as careful an aim as the dancing motion of theboat permitted, and fired. A dull sound came back, like an echo, to thecrack of the piece, and a paddle in the leading boat fell into thewater. A yell arose from the Indians, but no answering shout came back.
The Indians were now paddling even harder than before, in hope ofovertaking the canoe, now that it was impelled by but two rowers. Butthe scouts were rowing their hardest, and proved the justice of theirfame, as the best paddlers on the lakes, by maintaining their distancefrom their pursuers.
Again and again James fired, several of his bullets taking effect. Itwas now rapidly becoming dusk.
"That will do, captain. We had best be showing them our heels now, andget as far ahead as we can, by the time it is quite dark."
James laid by his rifle and again took his paddle, and, as all wererowing at the top of their speed, they gradually increased the distancebetween themselves and their pursuers. Rapidly the gap of waterwidened, and when darkness fell on the lake, the fugitives were morethan half a mile ahead of their pursuers. The night was dark, and alight mist rising from the water further aided them. When night had setin, the pursuing canoes could no longer be seen.
For another half hour they paddled on, without intermitting theirefforts, then, to James's surprise, Nat turned the head of the canoe tothe western shore. He asked no question, however, having perfect faithin Nat's sagacity. They were nearly in the middle of the lake when theyaltered their course, and it took them half an hour's hard paddling,before the dark mass of trees loomed up in the darkness ahead of him.Ten minutes before, Nat had passed the word that they should paddlequietly and noiselessly. It was certain that the chase would be eagerlywatched from the shore, and that any Indians there might be in the woodwould be closely watching near the water's edge.
Accordingly, as noiselessly as possible they approached the shore, and,gliding in between the overhanging trees, laid the canoe alongside aclump of bushes. Then, without a word being spoken, they laid in theirpaddles and stretched themselves full length in the canoe.
James was glad of the rest, for, trained and hard as were his muscles,he was exhausted by the long strain of the row for life. He guessedthat Nat would calculate that the Indian canoes would scatter, whenthey lost sight of them, and that they would seek for them more closelyon the eastern shore. At the same time he was surprised that, afteronce getting out of sight of their pursuers, Nat had not immediatelylanded on the opposite shore, and started on foot through the woods.
After recovering his breath, James sat up and listened attentively.Once or twice he thought he heard the sound of a dip of a paddle, outon the lake, but he could not be sure of it; while from time to time heheard the croak of a frog, sometimes near, sometimes at a distancealong the shore. He would have thought little of this, had not a slightpressure of Jonathan's hand, against his foot, told him that these wereIndian signals.
Some hours passed before Nat made a move, then he touched Jonathan, andsat up in the canoe. The signal was passed on to James, the paddleswere noiselessly taken up, and, without a sound that could be detectedby the most closely-listening ear, the canoe stole out again on to thelake. Until some distance from shore they paddled very quietly, thengradually the strokes grew more vigorous, until the canoe was flyingalong at full speed up the lake, her course being laid so as to crossvery gradually towards the eastern side.
It was not until, as James judged, they must have been several milesfrom the point at which they had started, that they approached theeastern shore. They did so with the same precautions which had beenadopted on the other side, and sat, listening intently, before theygave the last few strokes which took them to the shore. Quietly theystepped out, and the two scouts, lifting the canoe on their shoulders,carried it some fifty yards into the forest, and laid it down amongsome bushes. Then they proceeded on their way, Nat walking first, Jamesfollowing him so close that he was able to touch him, for, in the thickdarkness under the trees, he could not perceive even the outlines ofhis figure. Jonathan followed close behind. Their progress was slow,for even the trained woodsmen could, with difficulty, make their waythrough the trees, and Nat's only index, as to the direction to betaken, lay in the feel of the bark of the trunks.
After an hour's progress, he whispered:
"We will stop here till daylight. We can't do any good at the work. Wehaven't made half a mile since we started."
It was a positive relief, to James, to hear the scout's voice, for nota single word had been spoken since they lost sight of their pursuersin the darkness. The fact that he had ventured now to speak showed thathe believed that they were comparatively safe.
"May I speak, Nat?" he asked, after they had seated themselves on theground.
"Ay, you may speak, captain, but don't you raise your voice above awhisper. There is no saying what redskin ears may be near us. I guessthese forests are pretty well alive with them. You may bet there isn'ta redskin, or one of the irregular Canadian bands, but is out arter ustonight. The war whoop and the rifles will have put them all on thelookout.
"They will have seen that we were pretty well holding our own, and willguess that, when night came on, we should give the canoes the slip. Iguess they will have placed a lot of canoes and flatboats across thelake, opposite Crown Point, for they will know that we should eitherhead back, or take to the woods. I guess most of the redskins nearCrown Point will have crossed over at this point, as, in course, wewere more likely to land on this side. I had a mighty good mind to landwhar we was over there, but there are sure to be such a heap ofIndians, making t
heir way up that side from Montreal, that I judge thiswill be the best; but we shall have all we can do to get free of them."
"Why didn't you land at once, Nat, after we lost sight of them, insteadof crossing over?"
"Because that's where they will reckon we shall land, captain. That'swhere they will look for our tracks the first thing in the morning, andthey will know that we can't travel far such a dark night as this, andthey will search every inch of the shore for three or four miles belowwhere they lost sight of us, to find where we landed. They would knowwell enough we couldn't get ashore, without leaving tracks as theywould make out, and they would reckon to pick up our trail fast enough,in the wood, and to overtake us before we had gone many miles.
"Now, you see, we have doubled on them. The varmint in the woods willsearch the edge of the lake in the morning, but it's a good longstretch to go over, and, if we have luck, they mayn't strike on ourlanding place for some hours after daylight. In course, they may hit onit earlier; still, it gives us a chance, anyhow. Another thing is, wehave twenty miles less to travel through the woods than if we had tostart up there, and that makes all the difference when you've gotredskins at your heels. If we don't have the bad luck to come acrosssome of the varmint in the woods, I expect we shall carry our scalpsback to Fort William Henry.
"Now you had best sleep till daybreak. We sha'n't get another chancetill we get into the fort again."
With the first dawn of morning, they were on their way. Strikingstraight back into the woods, they walked fast, but with the greatestcare and caution, occasionally making bends and detours, to prevent theredskins following their traces at a run, which they would have beenable to do, had they walked in a straight line. Whenever the ground wassoft, they walked without trying to conceal their tracks, for Nat knewthat, however carefully they progressed, the Indians would be able tomake out their trail here. When, however, they came to rocky and brokenground, they walked with the greatest caution, avoiding bruising any ofthe plants growing between the rocks. After walking ten miles in thisdirection, they turned to the south.
"We ought to be pretty safe, now," Nat said. "They may be three or fourhours before they hit on our landing place, and find the canoe. I don'tsay as they won't be able to follow our trail--there ain't no sayingwhat redskin eyes can do--but it 'ull take them a long time, anyway.There ain't much risk of running against any of them in the forest,now. I guess that most of them followed the canoe down the lake lastnight.
"Anyway, we are well out from Lake Champlain now. When we have goneanother fifteen mile, we sha'n't be far from the upper arm. There's acanoe been lying hidden there for the last two years, unless sometramping redskin has found it, which ain't likely."
Twenty miles further walking brought them to the shore of the lake.Following this for another hour, they came upon the spot, where alittle stream ran into the lake.
"Here we are," Nat said. "Fifty yards up here we shall find the canoe."
They followed the stream up for a little distance, and then Nat,leaving its edge, made for a clump of bushes a few yards away. Pushingthe thick foliage aside, he made his way into the centre of the clump.
"Here it is," he said, "just as I left it."
The canoe was lifted out and carried down to the lake, and, takingtheir seats, they paddled up Lake Champlain, keeping close under theshore.
"We have had good luck, captain," Nat said. "I hardly thought we shouldhar got out without a scrimmage. I expect as the best part of theredskins didn't trouble themselves very much about it. They expect toget such a lot of scalps and plunder, when they take the fort, that thechance of three extra wasn't enough inducement for 'em to take muchtrouble over it. The redskins in the canoes, who chased us, would behot enough over it, for you picked out two if not more of them; butthose who started from the fort wouldn't have any particular reason totrouble much, especially as they think it likely that those who werechasing us would get the scalps. When a redskin's blood's up thereain't no trouble too great for him, and he will follow for weeks to gethis revenge; but, take 'em all in all, they are lazy varmint, and aslong as there is plenty of deer's meat on hand, they will eat and sleepaway their time for weeks."
By night, they reached the upper end of Lake Champlain, the canoe wascarefully hidden away again, and they struck through the woods in thedirection of Fort William Henry. They were now safe from pursuit, and,after walking two or three miles, halted for the night, made a fire,and cooked some of the dried meat. When they had finished their meal,Nat said:
"Now we will move away a bit, and then stretch ourselves out."
"Why shouldn't we lie down here, Nat?"
"Because it would be a foolish thing to do, captain. There ain't nosaying what redskins may be wandering in the woods in time of war. Athousand nights might pass without one of 'em happening to come uponthat fire, but if they did, and we were lying beside it, all thetrouble we have taken to slip through their hands would be chuckedclean away. No, you cannot be too careful in the woods."
They started early the next morning, and, before noon, arrived at FortWilliam Henry, where James at once reported, to Colonel Monro, what hehad learned of the strength of the French force gathering at CrownPoint.
"Thank you, Captain Walsham," the commandant said. "I am greatlyindebted to you, for having brought us certain news of what is coming.I will write off at once, and ask for reinforcements. This is a seriousexpedition, and the colonies will have to make a great effort, and aspeedy one, if they are going to save the fort, for, from what we hearof Montcalm, he is not likely to let the grass grow under his feet. Ishall report the services you have rendered."
As soon as Colonel Monro received the report James had brought him, hesent to General Webb, who, with two thousand six hundred men, chieflyprovincials, was at Fort Edward, fourteen miles away. On the 25th ofJuly that general visited Fort William Henry, and, after remainingthere four days, returned to Fort Edward, whence he wrote to thegovernor of New York, telling him the French were coming, and urginghim to send forward the militia at once, saying that he was determinedto march himself, with all his troops, to the fort. Instead of doingso, three days later he sent up a detachment of two hundred regularsunder Lieutenant Colonel Young, and eight hundred Massachusetts menunder Colonel Frye. This raised the force at Fort William Henry to twothousand two hundred men, and reduced that of Webb to sixteen hundred.
Had Webb been a brave and determined man, he would have left a fewhundred men, only, to hold Fort Edward, and marched with the rest toassist Monro, when, on the morning of the 3d of August, he received aletter from him, saying that the French were in sight on the lake. But,as he was neither brave nor determined, he remained at Fort Edward,sending off message after message to New York, for help which could notpossibly arrive in time.
Already, the garrison of Fort William Henry had suffered one reverse.Three hundred provincials, chiefly New Jersey men, under ColonelParker, had been sent out to reconnoitre the French outposts. Thescouts, under James Walsham, were of the party. They were to proceed inboats down the lake.
"I don't like this business, no way, captain," Nat said, as the companytook their place in the boats. "This ain't neither one thing or theother. If Monro wants to find out about the enemy, Jonathan and I kindo it. If he wants to fight the enemy, this lot ain't enough; besides,these New Jersey men know no more about the forest than so manychildren. You mark my words, this is going to be a bad business. Why,they can see all these boats halfway down the lake, and, with all theseredskins about, they will ambush us as soon as we try to land.
"Look here, captain; you know that I ain't no coward. I don't think noone can say that of me. I am ready to fight when there is a chance offighting, but I don't see no good in getting myself killed off, whenthere ain't no good in it. So what I says is this: don't you be in ahurry, captain, with these boats of ours."
"But I must obey orders, Nat," James said, smiling.
"Yes, you must obey orders, captain, no doubt. But there's two ways ofobeyi
ng orders. The one is to rush in front, and to do a little morethan you are told. The other is to take things quiet, and just do whatyou are told, and no more. Now, my advice is, on this here expeditionyou go on the last plan. If you are ordered to land first, why landfirst it must be. If you don't get orders to land first, just let themas is in a hurry land afore you. I ain't been teaching all these ladsto know something about the woods, for the last six months, jest to seethem killed off like flies, because a blundering wrong-headed colonelsends them out with two hundred and fifty ploughmen, for the redskinsto see and attack jest when they fancies."
"Very well, Nat, I will take your advice, and, for once, we won't putourselves in the front, unless we are ordered."
Satisfied with this, Nat passed quietly round among the men, as theywere taking their places in the boats, and told them that there was nooccasion for them to row as if they were racing.
"I shall be in the captain's boat," he said. "You keep close to us, anddon't you try to push on ahead. When we are once fairly in the woods,then we will do the scouting for the rest, but there ain't no hurry forus to begin that, till we are on shore."
"Look at us," Nat grumbled in James's ear, as the boats started downthe lake. "There we are, rowing along the middle, instead of sneakingalong close to the shore. Does Parker think that the redskins are asblind as he is, and that, 'cause it's night, a lot of big boats likethese can't be seen out in the middle of the lake? I tell you, captain,if we ain't ambushed as soon as we land, I will grant I know nothing ofredskin ways."
James had, in fact, before starting, suggested to Colonel Parker thatit would be well to keep under the shelter of the bushes; but theofficer had replied stiffly:
"When I want your advice, Captain Walsham, I will ask for it."
After which rebuff, James was more willing than he had hitherto been toact in accordance with the advice of the scout. Accordingly, as theyrowed down the lake, the boats with the Royal Scouts, although keepingup with the others, maintained their position in the rear of thecolumn.
Towards daybreak, the boats' heads were turned to shore, and, when theyneared it, Colonel Parker gave the order for the men to lay in theiroars, while the three boats, which happened to be in advance, were toldto advance at once and land. The boats passed through the thick curtainof trees, which hung down over the water's edge. A minute passed, andthen three others were ordered to follow them.
"Did you hear nothing?" Nat whispered to James.
"No, I didn't hear anything, Nat. Did you?"
"Well, I think I did hear something, captain. It seems to me as I hearda sort of scuffle."
"But they never could surprise some thirty or forty men, without thealarm being given?"
"It depended what sort of men they were," Nat said scornfully. "Theywouldn't surprise men that knew their business; but those chaps wouldjust jump out of their boats, as if they was landed on a quay at NewYork, and would scatter about among the bushes. Why, Lord bless you,the Indians might ambush and tomahawk the lot, before they had time tothink of opening their lips to give a shout."
The second three boats had now disappeared among the trees, and ColonelParker gave the word for the rest to advance in a body.
"Look to your firelocks, lads," James said. "Whatever happens, keepperfectly cool. You at the oars, especially, sit still and be ready toobey orders."
The boats were within fifty yards of the trees when, from beneath thedrooping boughs, a volley of musketry was poured out, and, a momentlater, a swarm of canoes darted out from beneath the branches, and theterrible Indian war whoop rang in the air.
Appalled by the suddenness of the attack, by the deadly fire, and theterrible yells, the greater portion of the men in the boats were seizedwith the wildest panic. Many of them jumped into the water. Othersthrew themselves down in the bottom of the boats. Some tried to row,but were impeded by their comrades.
"Steady, men, steady!" James shouted, at the top of his voice. "Get theboats' heads round, and keep together. We can beat off these canoes,easy enough, if you do but keep your heads."
His orders were obeyed promptly and coolly by the men of his company.The boats were turned with their heads to the lake, as the canoes camedashing up, and the men who were not employed in rowing fired sosteadily and truly that the redskins in several of the leading canoesfell, upsetting their boats.
"Don't hurry," James shouted. "There is no occasion for haste. They cango faster than we can. All we have got to do is to beat them off. Layin all the oars, except the two bow oars, in each boat. All the rest ofthe men stand to their arms, and let the boats follow each other infile, the bow of one close to the stern of that ahead."
The check, which the volley had given to the canoes, gave time to themen in several of the boats, close to those of the scouts, to turn.They were rowing past James's slowly-moving boats, when he shouted tothem:
"Steady, men, your only chance of escape is to show a front to them, aswe are doing. They can overtake you easily, and will row you down oneafter the other. Fall in ahead of our line, and do as we are doing. Youneed not be afraid. We could beat them off, if they were ten times asmany."
Reassured by the calmness with which James issued his orders, the boatstook up the positions assigned to them. James, who was in the last boatin the line, shuddered at the din going on behind him. The yells of theIndians, the screams and cries of the provincials, mingled with thesharp crack of rifles or the duller sound of the musket. The work ofdestruction was soon over. Save his own company and some fifty of theprovincials in the boats ahead, the whole of Colonel Parker's force hadbeen killed, or were prisoners in the hands of the Indians, who, havingfinished their work, set off in pursuit of the boats which had escapedthem.
James at once changed the order. The front boat was halted, and theothers formed in a line beside it, presenting the broad side to theapproaching fleet of canoes. When the latter came within a hundredyards, a stream of fire opened from the boats, the men aiming with thegreatest coolness.
The canoes were checked at once. A score of the paddlers had sunk,killed or wounded, into the bottom, and several of the frail barks wereupset. As fast as the men could load, they continued their fire, and,in two minutes from the first shot, the canoes were turned, and paddledat full speed towards the shore, pursued by a hearty cheer from theEnglish. The oars were then manned again, and the remains of Parker'sflotilla rowed up the lake to Fort William Henry.
Several of the prisoners taken by the Indians were cooked and eaten bythem. A few days afterwards a party of Indians, following the routefrom the head of Lake Champlain, made a sudden attack on the housesround Fort Edward, and killed thirty-two men.
It was an imposing spectacle, as the French expedition made its waydown Lake George. General Levis had marched by the side of the lakewith twenty-five hundred men, Canadians, regulars, and redskins; whilethe main body proceeded, the troops in two hundred and fifty largeboats, the redskins in many hundreds of their canoes.
The boats moved in military order. There were six regiments of Frenchline: La Reine and Languedoc, La Sarre and Guienne, Bearn andRoussillon. The cannons were carried on platforms formed across twoboats. Slowly and regularly the procession of boats made its way downthe lake, till they saw the signal fires of Levis, who, with hiscommand, was encamped near the water at a distance of two miles fromthe fort. Even then, the English were not aware that near eightthousand enemies were gathered close to them. Monro was a bravesoldier, but wholly unfitted for the position he held, knowing nothingof irregular warfare, and despising all but trained soldiers.
At daybreak, all was bustle at Fort Henry. Parties of men went out todrive in the cattle, others to destroy buildings which would interferewith the fire from the fort. The English position was now moredefensible than it had been when it was attacked in the spring. Theforest had been cleared for a considerable distance round, and thebuildings which had served as a screen to the enemy had, for the mostpart, been removed. The fort itself lay close down by the edge of
thewater. One side and the rear were protected by the marsh, so that itcould only be attacked from one side. Beyond the marsh lay the roughground where Johnson had encamped two years before; while, on a flathill behind this was an entrenched camp, beyond which, again, wasanother marsh.
As soon as the sun rose, the column of Levis moved through the foresttowards the fort, followed by Montcalm with the main body, while theartillery boats put out from behind the point which had hid them fromthe sight of the English, and, surrounded by hundreds of Indian canoes,moved slowly forward, opening fire as they went. Soon the sound offiring broke out near the edge of the forest, all round the fort, asthe Indians, with Levis, opened fire upon the soldiers who wereendeavouring to drive in the cattle.
Hitherto James Walsham, with Edwards and his two scouts, was standingquietly, watching the approaching fleet of boats and canoes; Natexpressing, in no measured terms, his utter disgust at the confusionwhich reigned in and around the fort.
"It looks more like a frontier settlement suddenly surprised," he said,"than a place filled with soldiers who have been, for weeks, expectingan attack. Nothing done, nothing ready. The cattle all over the place.The tents on that open ground there still standing. Stores all about inthe open. Of all the pig-headed, obstinate, ignorant old gentlemen Iever see, the colonel beats them all. One might as well have an oldwoman in command. Indeed, I know scores of old women, on the frontier,who would have been a deal better here than him."
But if Monro was obstinate and prejudiced, he was brave, cool, anddetermined, and, now that the danger had come, he felt secure of hisground, and took the proper measures for defence, moving calmly about,and abating the disposition to panic by the calm manner in which hegave his orders. Nat had scarcely finished his grumbling, when thecolonel approached.
"Captain Walsham," he said, "you will take your company at once, andcover the parties driving in the cattle. You will fall back with them,and, when you see all in safety, retire into the intrenched camp."
The company were already under arms, waiting for orders and, at thedouble, James led them up the sloping ground towards the forest, whencethe war whoops of the Indians, and the sharp cracks of the rifles, werenow ringing out on all sides. James made for the spot where a score ofsoldiers were driving a number of cattle before them, some hurrying thebeasts on across the rough ground, others firing at the Indians, who,as their numbers increased, were boldly showing themselves behind thetrees, and advancing in pursuit.
As soon as they neared the spot, James scattered his men in skirmishingorder. Each placed himself behind one of the blackened stumps of theroughly-cleared forest, and opened fire upon the Indians. Several ofthese fell, and the rest bounded back to the forest, whence they openeda heavy fire.
Now the company showed the advantage of the training they had gonethrough, fighting with the greatest steadiness and coolness, andkeeping well in shelter, until, when the soldiers and cattle had gotwell on their way towards the fort, James gave the order to fall back,and the band, crawling among the stumps, and pausing to fire at everyopportunity, made their way back without having lost a man, althoughseveral had received slight wounds.