A RUN OF GOOD FORTUNE.
We have now reached a point in our narrative where it once more becomes
necessary to follow the fortunes of Jethro Juggens, whom we were obliged
to leave in anything but a pleasant situation.
After a rather stirring experience in the cabin of Mr. Ashbridge,
whither he had gone in total disregard of the instructions of Simon
Kenton, he awoke to the fact that it would not do for him to tarry
longer so far from his friends and exposed to so much personal danger.
He must leave without further delay.
The proof received of the presence of one or more Shawanoes on the
outside was too alarming for him to feel any of his old-time assurance
in venturing across the clearing to the shelter of the surrounding
forest. It will be remembered that he suddenly formed the decision to
incase himself in armor, so to speak, by using one of the several boxes
that had been brought down the river on the flatboat.
Filled with the scheme, he made ready for the extraordinary experiment.
His plan was to invert one of the boxes over his head, and thus
protected, stride across the open space to the woods; but second thought
and considerable experimenting revealed difficulties which speedily
became mountainous in their nature.
"Dat will be all right," he muttered, after he had emptied the box which
had contained the food and some other articles; "but it's gwine to be a
mighty bother to take dis ting and my gun too. Den as long as I keep it
ober my head I won't be able to see where I'm gwine; I may keep walkin'
round in a circle for two, free days, and fotch up ag'in de doah ob dis
house ebery time. I'll hab to make a peep-hole in front."
To do this required work, but the pine wood was soft and his knife was
sharp. Vigorous use of the implement soon opened a hole two or three
inches in diameter, through which he could obtain a good view of his
immediate surroundings.
"Dat will work," he muttered, with some satisfaction, as he felt of the
opening, and found he could pass his hand through it; "it's a little
bigger dan I meant to make it, but if I see one ob de heathen p'intin'
his gun toward me I can slip my head to one side. I'll try it."
He lifted the receptacle over his head and shoulders, and found it
fitted to a nicety. It could not have answered better had it been
constructed for the express purpose of serving him as a shield.
He cautiously peeped through the windows, and discovering nothing to
cause misgiving, drew back the door sufficiently to allow him to pass
through with his turtle-like protection. Then he stepped forth upon the
partially moonlit clearing, and, with considerable labor, inched along
until perhaps a dozen feet distant from the building. His next act was
to turn abruptly about and hasten back through the open door with such
precipitation that he stumbled headlong into the room.
"Gorrynation! I's a big fool!" was his exclamation, and which, it is
safe to say, none of his acquaintances would have disputed.
To his dismay he made several disquieting discoveries. In the first
place, when he attempted to look through the peep-hole it was not there.
Inadvertently he had put on the box in a reversed position, so that the
opening was behind him. He attempted to shift the box about, but it
would not work well. At the same moment he became aware that he had
forgotten to bring his gun with him, and, worst of all, a sudden
conviction flashed upon him that the soft pine in which he was enveloped
was not strong enough to stop the course of a bullet. Therefore the wood
was no protection at all.
These causes combined to throw the dusky youth into a panic, which sent
him and the box crashing through the door before his novel experiment
was subjected to a real test.
"It won't work," was his decision; "I hab to show my feet, 'cause dey's
de biggest part ob me, and if de heathens shoot dem off dey'll hab me
dead suah."
The only comfort he derived from the partial experiment was that nothing
was seen or heard of the red men. It seemed to him that they would have
made some demonstration had they observed him, and he was strongly
tempted to make a dash for the wood, without encumbering himself with
anything more than his gun.
Sufficient uncertainty, however, remained to hold him in check for a
time, when, like an inspiration, a new suggestion forced itself into his
brain.
Among the goods left behind in the cabin by the pioneers in their flight
toward the block-house was considerable bedding, mostly in the shape of
sheets, quilts and blankets. Why not swathe himself in these instead of
using the awkward and cumbersome box?
The more he thought of the plan, the more he was pleased. He could wrap
the tough linen sheets about his figure until the thickness would be
doubly as effective as the wood. He could gather them round his head so
that they would project above and protect it, and let them descend so
low that his feet would be well armored and still leave opportunity to
use them. He could readily carry his gun and leave a space in front of
his eyes through which to make observations.
What was to prevent the complete success of the plan?
"Nuffin," he muttered, answering his own question. "I'll put so many ob
dem sheets 'round me dat dey can bang away all night widout hurtin'
nobody. Den, I've been told dat Injins am mighty skeery, and dey may
take me for a hobblegoblin or ghost."
Absurd as the scheme of Jethro Juggens may seem, it was not wholly
lacking in merit. At any rate, he took but a brief while to turn it over
in his mind, when he set to work to put it to a practical test.
The toughness of the sheets made them preferable to the softer and more
yielding blankets, and the youth decided to use them exclusively. Each,
of course, had been put together by deft hands and spinning-wheel, and
was of firm, strong texture. Jethro was so familiar with where these
were stowed, through his work of loading and unloading, that he found no
trouble when compelled to labor in total darkness.
One by one the sheets were drawn forth, until six of them were tumbled
upon the floor at his feet. He opened wide the door, that the faint
moonlight should give help in arraying himself in his novel costume.
Then, making sure that the rifle was not forgotten this time, he wrapped
himself round and round, again and again, until he resembled an enormous
pillow stood on one end.
He made sure that the folds projected above his hat, and would shut out
all bullets that might hurtle against the unique helmet. At the same
time the covering descended so low about his ankles that it trailed upon
the ground, and portended disaster in case of haste upon his part.
Now that the essay was to be pushed to a conclusion, Jethro was wise in
taking every possible precaution.
Peering through the door, he scanned the clearing to the river, as it
was revealed by the moon, which just then was obstructed by passing
clouds. Then he looked searchingly to the eastward, where, so far as he
could tell, nothing threatened, and the same result followed a survey of
the clearing in the opposite direction. Lastly, he peered through the
rear window where had been displayed the flag of truce which he
dextrously appropriated to his personal use.
This was the course he was inclined to take, and because of that he
subjected it to the closest possible study.
Was it imagination, or did he really see the figures of one or two
Indians standing motionless on the edge of the wood, as if waiting for
him to come forth and place himself within their reach? Jethro stood
intently watching them for some minutes, until in the obscured moonlight
they vanished from sight.
"Guess dar ain't nobody dar," was his conclusion, as his spirits revived
again; "anyway, I won't try to rout 'em out if dar is."
The uncertainty caused him to change his intention and decide to advance
toward the wood near where Kenton had withdrawn the canoe from under the
nose of the sleeping Shawanoe. A vague feeling of security hung around
the flatboat. The youth was accustomed to that, having spent so much
time on it, and if he were driven to it as a refuge, was confident of
making a good defence with the aid of his rifle.
With that peculiar sensitiveness to little things which a man often
displays in moments of danger, Jethro paused after reaching the outside,
and, making sure that the latch-string was drawn inward, carefully
closed the door behind him. Thus it was securely locked, and he
reflected with a start that he had now burned his bridge behind him. If
any enemies at that moment should charge upon him, he could not make use
of the cabin, even though he stood near enough to it to reach it with
his outstretched hand.
So far as he saw, no danger confronted him, and he resolutely struck off
in the direction he had in mind, instantly discovering that the pains he
had taken to protect his feet and ankles seriously interfered with his
locomotion. He could take only very short steps, and naturally became
impatient with his slow progress.
The figure that he cut was certainly grotesque to the last degree. His
ample proportions were made much more ample by the many thicknesses of
spotless linen in which they were arrayed. The folds, extended above his
head, naturally added to his height, so that he suggested a ghostly
giant mincing across the clearing to the river.
The strangely good fortune which had accompanied the dusky youth did not
desert him now when entering upon the most remarkable experience of his
career. We have shown how he entered the cabin unchallenged, when, had
he made the attempt a little earlier or later, assuredly he could not
have escaped the bullet of one of the two Indians in the vicinity.
From what was afterward learned, the theory of Kenton and Boone was
probably reasonably correct, though it did not fully explain all that
took place.
When Kenton returned to the clearing toward the close of that day, there
were two Shawanoes lurking in the vicinity. It may have been that The
Panther, arranging the ambuscade further away at Rattlesnake Gulch, held
a suspicion that the pioneers might turn back on their own trail and
make a stand in the cabin, and he instructed these two warriors to
remain and signal the fact to him, probably by some peculiar discharge
of their rifles.
While one of them was moving through the woods, the other remained near
the canoe and fell into a doze. It was at this juncture that Jethro
Juggens entered the cabin unobserved. Soon after, the second Indian
returned to the neighborhood of the other, who had awakened, and noted
with amazement the loss of the boat.
One of these warriors set out to recover it, with what result has
already been made known. The other remained in the vicinity of the
clearing to watch things until his return. Discovering the presence of
one of the party in the building, but, without any means of knowing his
identity, he set out to dislodge him.
The voices which Jethro insisted he heard outside the door could very
well have been the voice of a single warrior, such subterfuges being
among the most common with the American race. After the man[oe]uvring
back and forth between this Shawanoe and the youth, the former must have
grown uneasy over the prolonged absence of his companion who had set out
to recover the canoe. Abandoning the cabin with one or more occupants,
he hurried along the river bank. This enterprise was more successful
than the other, for he recovered the boat without the slightest injury
to himself.
Thus it came about that when Jethro Juggens emerged from the cabin,
bandaged and swathed from above the crown of his head to the soles of
his feet, the extraordinary precaution was useless, and he might have
walked forth with the assurance of one who was master of the situation.
But had he done so that which we have now to make known could never have
taken place.