"TALL OAKS FROM LITTLE ACORNS GROW"
Jack Carleton walked across the slight space that separated him from
the arrow, quivering in the log on the opposite side of the
enclosure. He knew that it had come from the bow of the young
Shawanoe, who displayed his extraordinary skill by sending it at
such an elevation that it passed over the heads of his friends.
"It is a message from Deerfoot," repeated the Kentuckian, as he drew
out the missile and unwrapped the paper wound around it. "Let us
see what he has to say."
The paper being unfolded, showed the following words in the small
but graceful hand of the Shawanoe:
"Let my brothers listen! They will hear one gun; they will hear
another, and then will sound a third! Let them listen closer, for
they are meant for their ears! Then will come shouts and the sound
of a gun the fourth time! Let my brothers climb over the logs and
run as fast as they can to the river. Close by the ash that lies
with its limbs in the water, they will find the canoe; they must
make haste to paddle across or it will be too late. They must not
wait for Deerfoot. He will take care of himself. Let my brothers
listen and be not slow."
"There's no trouble to understand what he means," said Jack, after
reading the words aloud.
"What ish it dot he does?" asked Otto, not quite certain as to the
purpose of their dusky ally.
"He means to start a panic. He is going to try to scare the red men
so that they will scatter and give us a chance to get away."
The German lad shook his bead.
"Nix. He can't do dot."
"It looks to me like a wild scheme, but as it is the last hope, we
must be ready to give all the help we can, for I don't know of any
one who ought to be more interested than we. Sh! What was that?"
Just then it was so still that the slightest noise made by a falling
fragment of a stick reached their ears. Looking quickly around they
saw that the bit of wood which had been used to close the orifice
between the logs had fallen or had been pushed out and lay on the
ground. The narrow slit would have shown daylight through it had it
not been closed by altogether a different object or rather series of
objects; for when the astonished boys contemplated the spot they
caught the gleam of two pairs of eyes peering at them.
The Indians had found the opening and were scrutinizing the
interior. The glitter of the four orbs which filled the crevice
caused most peculiar sensations on the part of the boys who saw
them.
"Ain't you not ashamed mit yourselves!" exclaimed Otto, quickly
bringing his gun to his shoulder and firing directly through the
opening.
"I teaches you mit better manners."
But, quick as he was, the warriors were quicker, and the darkened
slit became light with the noiseless speed of a twinkling sunbeam.
The Indians needed no second intimation of what was coming.
The crisis which followed this shot was more imminent than the
defenders supposed. The assailants had become convinced that they
were throwing away valuable time, and they assembled in a group to
consider the best means of forcing matters to an issue.
It was at that moment that the report of the gun was heard from the
direction of the river. Shawanoe and Miami suspended conversation
and, looking inquiringly at each other, listened.
A brief while after, the second shot was heard from another point,
followed by a third from still another direction.
"There are strangers in the woods," remarked one of the warriors, in
a guarded voice.
"Our brothers have come to look for us."
As suddenly as the crash of a thunderbolt, the Shawanoe war-whoop
broke on the air, followed by what seemed to be the shouts of white
men.
Then a voice of mortal terror shouted in the same tongue:
"The white men are coming! The white men are coming!"
The sound of hurrying feet was heard, as though a dozen warriors
were fleeing in hot haste from a dreaded foe. The effect intended
by this diversion of Deerfoot promised the brilliant success he
hoped rather than expected. One of the savages standing close to
the fallen tree, started with an exclamation and dashed off in an
opposite direction from the point whence came the alarming sounds.
The effect was contagious: the others followed pell-mell, every one
plunging forward with the frantic desperation which the bravest man
will show in moments of panic.
It need not be said that Jack Carleton and Otto Relstaub listened to
these favorable sounds with breathless interest. They understood
the stratagem of Deerfoot, and could not feel very hopeful of its
success; but the noise of hastily departing warriors thrilled them
with delight.
"They are running!" exclaimed the young Kentuckian, with beaming
face; "who would have thought it?"
"I dinks it time dot we vasn't doing the same," said Otto, who,
catching the top of the wall with both hands, drew himself upward
and peered over. He was gratified with the sight of the two
hindmost warriors just vanishing from sight. The whole party were
panic-stricken.
Otto turned his head to tell the joyful news to his companion, when
he saw that he had also drawn himself up beside him. The fourth
report of a gun was heard.
"Now is your time," said Jack: "over with you; I'll hand you your
gun."
Otto lost no time in scrambling over, and his feet scarcely touched
the ground when his rifle whizzed end over end after him. It
required all his activity to dodge it, and, while doing so, he
received a sound thump from the gun of his friend, who seemed to be
flinging weapons around with wild recklessness.
One important fact was clear to the boys: the panic of the Indians
was certain to be short-lived. Before fleeing far, they would
suspect the trick played on them, and would return with tenfold more
fierceness than before.
The hearts of the boys throbbed high with hope when they found
themselves outside the enclosure which had served them as a prison,
and they knew the irrevocable step had been taken; they must now go
forward at all hazards.
The Mississippi was near, and thither they made all haste,
remembering the instructions of Deerfoot as conveyed through the
note borne to them on the wings of the arrow. Jack, who was the
fleeter of foot, kept slightly in advance, though he had no purpose
of leaving his friend behind.
"Dot ish one good things as nefer vos," Otto took occasion to say,
while panting close behind him: "dere ish not so many of demi
blagued vines dot cotches me all de times ven I vos--oh mine
gracious!"
As is too often the case, the lad rejoiced too soon, for the words
were yet in his mouth when the very mishap he referred to overtook
him. A running vine became entangled around his ankles, and he went
forward on his hands and knees; but he was not injured, and speedily
rose again.
In spite of their imminent peril, the young Kentuckian could not
repress a smile when he glanced back and saw Otto picking himself
up; but the smile was gone instantly, for the situation was anything
but a mirthful one.
"Here we are!" called out Jack, halting on the bank of the river and
glancing around him. "But where is the canoe?"
"I dinks the first things ish to find the ash tree what ish not
laying up but standing down," suggested Otto, moving along the
stream.
It was manifest that the boat could not be found until after
locating the landmark named by the young Shawanoe; for it was
certain Deerfoot had taken care to hide the canoe where some search
would be necessary to find it.
But in specifying the fallen tree, Deerfoot gave no idea of where it
was to be found. He must have believed it was so conspicuous that
no direction was required.
During the few seconds that the friends stood irresolute, they used
ears as well as eyes. Suddenly the whoop of an Indian was heard a
brief distance away.
"My gracious!" whispered Jack; "they're coming back! They have
discovered the trick."
"Dot ish so; let's jump on to de water and swim to de oder side."
The situation was enough to make the bravest nervous, and the sturdy
German could not repress his impatience. Every second was of
incalculable worth, and yet, knowing they were close to the means
which was to take them to safety, they could not seize it.
"No; that won't do," replied Jack, resolutely; "they will stand on
the bank and pick us off without trouble to themselves; we must find
the boat."
"But how can't we do dot?"
"You move up the bank and I will hurry down it the canoe cannot be
far off; the instant you catch sight of it, whistle, and I'll do the
same if I see it before you."
Otto sprang away with a more anxious expression on his broad, honest
face than it wore when he was crouching behind the logs, and the
young Kentuckian was scarcely less agitated. His feelings were
similar to those which come to us in sleep, when we see some grisly
terror approaching and have no power to flee before it. Somewhere,
almost within reach, was the vehicle to carry them out of peril, and
yet they could not lay their hands on it.
Jack was resolved, in case the canoe was not speedily found, to do
as Otto advised--leap into the Mississippi and swim boldly for the
other shore. If they could gain a fair start, they would have cause
to hope; but such an attempt, desperate as it was, must be
undertaken very soon or not at all.
Again the dreaded whoop reached them from the woods, and the leader
started as though he had caught the click of a gun-lock from behind
a tree.
The cry was not a loud one, and was no doubt meant as a signal to
some one not far off.
"I wonder where Deerfoot can be," muttered Jack, pushing his way
hurriedly through the underbrush, and glancing in every direction
for the fallen tree which was to show them the craft. "He told us
not to wait for him, but it seems to me he ought to have given us
help in finding the boat."
Again, and for the third time, the frightful signal trembled among
the trees close behind him.
"He shan't catch me unprepared, at any rate," muttered the young
Kentuckian, raising the hammer of his gun and looking defiantly
toward the point whence came the cry.
The Indian did not show himself, and conscious that he was throwing
away precious seconds, Jack pushed forward once more, keeping watch
of his flank as well as his front, for a treacherous shot from the
forest would render a canoe altogether useless, so far, at least, as
Master Jack Carleton was concerned.
He was impatient and desperate. There is often a perverseness in
inanimate things which is beyond endurance. He had started with the
highest hopes a few minutes before, confident of finding the Indian
canoe without trouble, and now he was baffled and held back when on
the very threshold of safety.
"It is useless to wait," he finally said, coming to an abrupt halt.
"I will call to Otto and we will swim for it."
But, before he could emit the whistle that had been agreed upon, his
ears were set tingling by the identical signal coming from a point
up the bank.
"Thank heaven!" was his exclamation, as he wheeled about and,
forgetful of the other signal that had told him of peril, dashed
along the bank of the stream with furious haste.
"Otto has been more fortunate than I," he added, as he bounded
forward; "he has found the canoe, and I pray that he has not been
too late for us to use it."