DOWN THE OHIO.
Paul's question as to whether we would ever come back caused me to be
attacked by timorousness, the first sensation of the kind I had
experienced since the venture was proposed.
Now the matter had been brought home to me in such an innocent way, I
began to realize all that this journey might mean. I had not spent my
life on the frontier without having heard of Major Clarke, and knew full
well he would not turn his back because of danger; in fact, should he
chance to lead his men into a place where their lives were imperiled,
the major's first thought would be as to how he might get the best of
the foe--not as to how he and his following could escape.
In addition to this, only a single glance was needed to show that the
work would be hot, once the force had come within striking distance of
the enemy. Major Clarke had enlisted none save old frontiersmen, each
one of whom had battled for his life against the painted wolves a dozen
times over, and I question if there was a man in the forest who had not
some private wrongs to avenge upon both savages and Britishers.
Knowing all this, one need be a simple who did not understand how sharp
would be the efforts to strike a telling blow once the company was in
the vicinity of the enemy, whether that enemy was a red-coated soldier,
or a half-naked, feather-bedecked brute such as had lived a life of
murdering and plundering since the first day the white men came into
that section of the country.
And Paul and I were to act, as best we might, the part of scouts in
advance of such a force as was this which followed Major Clarke! We
who, because of our ignorance, should have remained in the rear, would
lead the way, taking perforce the hottest of the fights because of being
the first to encounter the foe.
It is little wonder that I was overwhelmed with timorousness on
realizing for the first time what I had taken upon myself; but Paul, who
never dreamed of all we might seek out, remained calm and placid as if
ours was to be the most innocent of pleasure excursions.
The lad was surprised at finding me silent when he had done no more than
repeat what I had said to him a dozen times over, and asked solicitously
if I was ill.
It would have been little more than the truth had I told him I was sick
with fear; but such words would have shamed me, and I held my peace,
allowing him to believe that I who had never known a day's sickness, had
suddenly been overcome in some womanish fashion.
It was Simon Kenton who broke in upon our not overly pleasant
conversation, by saying gleefully, as one might who had just come into
some good fortune.
"If you lads have settled all your business, we'll be off 'twixt now an'
sunset, for I'm countin' on gettin' a good view of the river before we
make a halt."
"Are the men ready to move?" I asked in surprise.
"They will follow twenty-four hours later, provided we learn of nothin'
to prevent the movement. It's our task to spy out the land, an' we're
bound to keep well in advance."
I glanced quickly at Paul in order to see how the news affected him; but
not so much as a tremor of the eyelids followed this information.
Perhaps if he had known all the danger as well as did I, he might have
presented a different appearance.
It would have been shameful had I shown fear when this lad who knew
nothing of life on the frontier remained unmoved, and I stiffened my
lip as best I might, resolved that neither he nor Simon Kenton should
guess of that which was in my heart.
Not only did the scout intend to set forth on this day; but I understood
from his movements that he was eager to begin the work as soon as
possible, despite the fact of his having spoken as if an hour earlier or
later could make no difference to him, and I said with so much of
calmness as might be forced into my voice:
"If it so be you are minded to go at once, I can make ready within five
minutes."
"It would please me to be rid of this place. A crowd of people is not to
my likin' an' by settin' out now there will be no call for any great
haste, whereas the same cannot be said in case we are but a few hours
ahead of the volunteers."
"I wish only to have a word with my mother, and then we cannot leave the
island too soon to please me," I replied, and added on observing in
Paul's face what I fancied was a wistful look, as if he was saying to
himself that it would be a consolation to have some one bid him God
speed, "will you come with me, lad? I dare venture to say she will treat
us both alike."
He sprang forward eagerly, with the moisture of a coming tear in his
eyes, and we went toward that portion of the encampment where were the
women, all of whom found ample occupation in cooking for the volunteers.
Perhaps it is as well if I set down nothing regarding the parting with
my mother; it was painful to me, and cannot deeply interest any who
reads these lines, if peradventure they really have a reader.
It is enough if I say that both us lads, for she gave Paul the same show
of affection as was bestowed upon me, promised to be as careful of our
lives as one could who had set about such work as ours might prove, and
in less than half an hour from the moment Simon Kenton announced his
intention of leaving the island, we were standing by the water's edge
awaiting his commands.
The young scout did not delay once we were ready. A canoe such as is
known by the name of "dugout," was moored to a tree, and in her had been
loaded our scanty outfit.
A supply of ammunition, pepper, salt, a few potatoes and three loaves of
corn bread made up the list of our belongings such as we could not carry
in the pockets of our hunting shirts. As a matter of course each had a
knife and a rifle, which last would serve to provide us with more food,
and we really needed nothing else.
Paul had made an attempt to speak with his father before leaving; but
Mr. Sampson was so deeply engaged in laying plans for the future village
which was to spring up on the banks of the Ohio, that he had no time to
spend on his son.
Major Clarke was the only member of all that company who knew we were to
set out at this time, and he remained in close conversation with Simon
Kenton a good half hour after Paul and I had taken our places in the
dugout. Then, seeing that the scout was eager to be off, he stepped
back, saying to us lads:
"See to it that you follow closely the instructions given by Kenton;
your lives may depend upon obedience, for the work you have undertaken
is in the highest degree dangerous."
He might have spared himself that much breath, so far as I was
concerned, for there was in my mind a very good idea of the perils we
would be called upon to face, and I had little relish for such a
reminder, because my courage at this moment was none of the best.
"So long as we remain in advance you may count on it that there is
nothin' to fear," Kenton said as he unmoored the boat and sent her
moving out into the current with a single stroke of the paddle. "We
shall give you fair warnin' if we come across anything worth knowin',
unless----"
He did not finish the sentence; but I knew full well how to conclude it.
"Unless we are taken by surprise and all killed," is what he would have
said but for the fear of alarming Paul and me.
Before we were half a mile from the island I came to realize that I was
playing the part of a fool by allowing my mind to dwell upon the
possibilities of the future, and, forcing thought into a different
channel, I began to speak of the village which it was proposed to build
on the bank of the river, little dreaming that it would one day be a
great city known as Louisville, as if named for me.
During ten minutes or more, not a word was spoken, and then as if
talking to himself, Kenton said:
"The volunteers will set out sometime to-morrow, an' should move along
as fast as we can."
"Are all the men coming down the river?" Paul said:
"Some will be left behind to look after the women and children; but the
remainder are to set off in the flat boats that were moored at the other
side of the island."
"If they are to come in boats, I do not understand why we push on
ahead," I said stupidly, whereupon Kenton replied:
"It's our business to know if the painted snakes are nearabout the river
in any great force."
"And how may we learn that, unless we tramp along the shore?"
"The chances are that the snakes would fire at us, not countin' on the
main force bein' so near."
"In which case we should gain the information by being shot--perhaps
killed."
"I reckon one of us would come out alive, an' he could get back to give
the news," Kenton said quietly, as if the possibility of our losing our
lives was as nothing so long as the volunteers were warned. "But there's
a good chance we'd all slip through without a scratch, even though the
reptiles had gathered in full force, for they're not the best marksmen
to be found hereabout, an' by keepin' well in the middle of the stream
it should be safe sailin'. Now I'm thinkin' we'd better keep our tongues
quiet, and set our eyes at work, else there's a show of slippin' by what
we've been sent to find. If you see the least auspicious looking thing,
sing out, and we'll know what it means before goin' any further."
Paul listened to these words as if they had no especial concern for him,
and I was near to being vexed with the lad because of his seeming
indifference when life was in danger; but checked myself with the
thought that he would put on a different look if he fully understood the
situation.
By this time Simon Kenton was keeping his eyes at work as he labored at
the paddle, refusing my proffer of assistance, and I question if a
single bent twig or broken bough escaped his notice. It was as if he
saw both sides of the river at the same instant, listening as eagerly as
he gazed, and it can be fancied that I did not dare attempt anything in
the way of conversation.
It is needless for me to explain at length in what fashion we rounded
this point, or skirted that cove half hidden by the overhanging foliage,
for all know full well how voyagers on the Ohio in the days of the
revolution guarded against ambush or sudden attack.
To my mind we might as well have remained with the volunteers during
this portion of the journey, for in case we came upon any considerable
body of savages there was little chance either of us would succeed in
carrying back the news to those who virtually placed their lives in our
keeping.
[Illustration: Within five seconds I had fired, using the curl of
vapor for a target.--Page 108. _On The Kentucky Frontier._]
We had been sailing three hours or more; the sun was low in the heavens,
and the shadows were already so dense on the western bank that a hundred
painted brutes might have been concealed beneath the low hanging
branches without our being any the wiser.
To me it seemed foolish to continue on any further, if our only purpose
was to scan both sides of the river carefully, and I was on the point of
saying as much to Kenton when a tiny puff of smoke darted out from amid
the foliage to the right of us, hardly more than fifty yards away; a
sharp report like unto the crack of a whip could be heard, while the
splinters flew from the paddle in the scout's hand.
It goes without saying that I was startled; but not to such an extent as
to deprive me of my wits.
I knew full well none but a savage would have fired at us, and the
knowledge that the villainous enemy was so near served to make me forget
the fear which had beset me a short time previous.
Within five seconds from the instant the tiny puff of smoke darted out
like the tongue of a snake, I had fired, using the curl of vapor for a
target, and Simon Kenton said approvingly, but with no trace of
excitement in his tone:
"That was well done! A lad who is so quick with a shot should not be
taken at a disadvantage, whatever turns up."
He had forced the bow of the dugout from the shore even before I fired,
and, bending low, was paddling with all his strength as if the one idea
of escape was all that occupied his mind.
Paul had neither spoken nor moved; at the moment his back was toward me,
a fact which I regretted because I could not see his face to learn if he
changed color.
We were no more than in mid-stream before a second shot was heard, this
time coming from a point lower down the river; but the bullet flew
harmlessly over our heads.
I made no effort to return the shot, for the very good reason that there
was no chance I could do any execution at such a distance, even though
he who had fired remained motionless, which was hardly to be expected.
Kenton pulled around the next bend, hugging the eastern shore closely,
and when we were come to a small creek he forced the canoe up the tiny
water course until it was completely hidden by the foliage.
"We might have gone on without fear," I said in a whisper, surprised by
this manoeuver, "We were traveling faster than the savages could walk,
and might easily have outstripped them."
"Which is exactly what we don't count on doin'," he said quietly,
speaking in an ordinary tone, and thus showing he had no thought of
danger while we remained on this side the river.
"Why not?" Paul asked mildly.
"Because it's our business to know how many of the reptiles are on
yonder bank."
"But how will you find out?"
"Go back there, an' have a look at 'em. In less than an hour we can do
the trick in fine style."
Paul and I looked at each other in mingled fear and amazement while one
might have counted ten, and then I turned my eyes away, understanding by
this time that to gather such information was the only reason why we had
come down the river ahead of the volunteers.
Kenton sat like a statue in the center of the canoe, we lads being at
either end, and it seemed to me as if a full hour passed before a word
was spoken.
Then the night was so near upon us that, save directly in the middle of
the river, it was impossible to distinguish objects twenty paces
distant.
"I reckon we may as well get to work," and Kenton cautiously forced the
canoe out from amid the tangle of foliage until the current carried her
down stream.
He did not use the paddle save to keep her from running afoul of dry
brush or logs on the bank, and we had drifted two miles, perhaps, when
he suddenly bent to his work, sending the light craft across the river
at a speed I had never before seen equaled, even by my father.
I fully expected to hear the report of a rifle, or feel the sting of a
bullet when we were in the middle of the stream where a sharp-eyed
savage might see us; but nothing occurred to check our progress, and in
a marvelously short space of time we were once more screened from view;
but now on the same side of the river where we knew the painted snakes
lurked.
"You are to stay in the dugout," Simon Kenton whispered to me as he
raised his rifle. "If it so chances that I'm not back here by sunrise,
you must work your way up stream to warn Major Clarke."
Had he given me the opportunity I should have urged that he take us with
him, or wait till near morning before undertaking so dangerous a
venture; but the words had no more than been spoken when he was gone.
At one instant he was speaking with me, and at the next he had vanished
as completely and silently as if the waters had covered him. No Indian
who ever lived could have equaled him in swiftness and noiselessness.
Paul was mystified when he turned and failed to see Kenton, and I felt
forced to explain in whispers what had happened, else I believe of a
verity the lad would have cried out in his bewilderment.
It is not possible for those who have always lived in large settlements
or towns to realize the desolateness of such a position as was ours
while we waited for the return of the scout.
He had ventured into the forest where we knew to a certainty were
bloodthirsty enemies, and that he realized all the possibilities had
been shown by the order for us to work our way up-stream to warn the
on-coming boats, in case he failed to return by sunrise.
My heart was almost in my mouth as I sat there holding Paul's hand,
starting at the lightest sound, and hearing even in the rippling of the
water some token of the savages. My tongue was parched; I could not
have uttered a single word had it been necessary to speak, and only with
the greatest difficulty did I prevent my hand from trembling, thus
exposing to my companion that I was wofully afraid.
When perhaps an hour had passed it seemed to me as if we had been there
a full night, and then came that sound which I had at the same time been
expecting and fearing to hear.
From the distance, half a mile away, I guessed, came the crack of a
rifle; then another and another, and after that the same deathly silence
as before.
"Think you any harm has come to him?" Paul whispered tremulously, and I
replied as I believed truly:
"Not unless he met with an accident before that first shot was fired. If
there had been a large number of savages nearabout, he would have used
every effort to return without loss of time, that we might go to warn
the volunteers. There may have been only a few, with, perhaps, a
captive, and he has attempted a rescue."
I was heartened by my own words, which sounded plausible, and remained
on the alert ten minutes or more, expecting each instant to see Kenton
appear as silently as he had vanished.
When that length of time had elapsed, however, and he yet remained
absent, fear crept over me, and I imagined the worst.
After half an hour went by, and I kept note of time by counting, there
was no longer any hope in my heart.
After firing a shot Kenton would, had he been able, come back to us at
once; for even though he had not learned all which seemed necessary, he
must have understood that he would no longer be able to spy upon the
foe.
I tried to decide what should be done; but my brain was in a whirl. I
could hardly have defended myself if one of the painted brutes had shown
himself close at hand.
It was Paul who aroused me from what was little less than the
stupefaction of despair, by whispering in my ear:
"He did not say that we should go up the river until sunrise. Why may it
not be possible for us to help him?"
I shook my head, believing it was too late for us to effect anything in
his behalf; but the suggestion, coming from a lad who was ignorant of
all this wretched business, awakened me to a realization of my own
folly.
"I am the one to go," I said decidedly "You shall stay here, in case he
comes back."
"By so doing I could be of no assistance. We will go together."
Even now I fail to understand why my wits had so completely deserted me.
I had no thought of what might be the result if we two made off into the
forest in the darkness; but before we met Simon Kenton again I realized
my folly most keenly.
Without trying to persuade him to remain, as I should have done even in
my foolishness, I whispered:
"You must move softly and keep close behind me, lest we be separated in
the thicket where it might mean death to cry out. Follow my every
motion, for I shall take the lead."
He grasped his rifle in a manner which told he at least was no coward,
and clutched my hunting shirt to make certain of obeying the command I
had given.
I stepped over the side of the canoe into the water; but not as silently
as Simon Kenton had done, and we two waded ashore with no heed as to
where this rash move was likely to lead us.
Ashamed though I am to confess it, I took no heed as to the location of
the boat we were leaving--made no attempt to seek out what would serve
as a guide when we returned, if in deed we ever did; but had only in
mind the idea of proceeding up-stream toward where the reports of the
weapons had come from.
And into the blackness of the forest we plunged,
I claiming to be better versed, in woodcraft than my companion, yet
doing that which the most ignorant townsman would never have dreamed of
attempting.
It was the act of a fool, and I was to receive the punishment due my
folly.