Stealthily gliding through the fresh and thinly foliaged wood, that
skirted the opposite shore, yet almost concealed from view, Corporal
Nixon now beheld the crouching forms of several armed Indians, nearly
naked, and evidently in war costume. They were following the serpentine
course necessitated by the interposing trees, and seeking cautiously to
establish themselves behind cover on the very verge of the bank.
“Back men for your lives, there's nothing friendly there,” exclaimed the
Virginian the moment that his glance had taken in the scene, “out
with the arms, and divide the dry ammunition. Collins, you are a smart
fellow, do you and Green set to work and light a fire, but out of sight,
and dry the muskets as fast as you can. There are twelve pounds in
each of the five remaining cartouch boxes, these will do for a spell.
Jackson, Philips, tree yourselves, while Cass lies flat in the stern,
and keeps a good look out on the devils, without exposing himself. Now,
my lads, do all this very quietly, and as if you didn't think there was
danger at hand. If they see any signs of fear, they will pitch it into
you directly. As it is, they are only waiting to settle themselves, and
do it at their leisure.”
“Pity they don't make a general of you, corporal,” remarked Collins, as
he proceeded quietly with Green to the execution of the duty assigned to
them. “I guess Washington himself couldn't better command a little army.
Is your battle order finished, general?”
“None of your nonsense, master Collins, this is no time for jesting.
Go and dry these arms, and when you have them so that they can send
a bullet from their throats, join Jackson and Philips in covering the
boat. Weston and I will take up our first station.”
And in less time than we have taken to describe the cause of the alarm,
and the instructions given in consequence, the men had hastened to
execute the several duties assigned to them on shore, while Cass
remained, not only with a view of showing the Indians that the boat
was not wholly unguarded, but to be enabled to inform his comrades, who
could distinctly hear him without rendering any particular elevation
of the voice necessary, of any important movement on the part of the
former. This quietude of arrangement on the part of Corporal Nixon had,
seemingly, been not without effect. It was evident that the Indians
had no suspicion that they had been seen, and even when the men coolly
quitted the boat, they showed no impatience indicative of an impression
that the party were seeking to shield themselves from an impending
danger.
“This silence is strange enough,” said the corporal to his companion,
after they had been some minutes secreted in the cavity from which the
departure of the Indian with the boat had been arrested. “I almost wish
they would fire a shot, for that would at once tell us how to act, and
what we are to expect, whether they are friendly Indians or not.”
But no shot was fired, and from the moment when the men quitted the
boat, and took up their positions, everything had continued silent as
the grave on the opposite shore, and not the vestige of an Indian could
be seen.
“But for that scalp,” again remarked the corporal, “I should take
the party to have been friendly Indians, perhaps just returned from a
buffalo hunt, and come down to the water to drink. They are surely gone
again.”
“Look there,” said Weston, in a subdued tone, while he placed his
hand on the shoulder of his superior, as both lay crouched in their
hiding-place, “look there, corporal,” and he pointed with his finger to
the opposite bank. “Do you see that large, blackish log lying near the
hickory, and with its end towards us?”
“I do--what of it?”
“Well, don't you see something crouching like between the log and the
tree--something close up to both. See! it moves now a little.”
Corporal Nixon strained his gaze in the direction indicated, but was
obliged to admit that, although he distinctly enough saw the log and the
tree, he could not discern any between thing them.
“NOW, do you see it?” again eagerly inquired Weston, as, at that moment,
the same animal was seen to turn itself within the very limited space
which had been indicated.
“Yes, I see it now,” replied the Virginian, “but it's as likely to be a
hog as a man, for anything I can make of that shape; a hog that has been
filling his skin with hickory nuts, and is but now waking out of his
sleep. Still, as the Injins were there just now, it may be that if
they're gone, they've left a spy behind them. We'll soon know how
matters stand, for it won't do to remain here all night. Cass,”
addressing the man in the boat who was seated low in the stern, only
occasionally taking a sly peep, and immediately withdrawing his head,
“place your cap on the rudder, and lie flat in the bottom. If they are
there, and mean to fire at all, they will try their hands at THAT.”
“I hope they are good marksmen, corporal,” replied the man, as raising
his right arm, he removed his forage cap and placed it so that the upper
half only could be seen. “I've no great fancy for those rifle bullets,
and give them a wide berth when I can.”
“Now are you convinced?” asked Weston, addressing the corporal, as both
distinctly saw the object upon which their attention had been anxiously
fixed, raise his head and shoulders, while he deliberately rested his
rifle against the log on his right.
“Close down, Cass--don't move,” enjoined the Virginian; “the bait has
taken, and we shall have a shot presently.”
Two almost imperceptible jets of spiral smoke, and crack, crack, went
two rifles, while simultaneously with the report, fell back into the
boat, the perforated forage cap. Both balls had passed through it,
and lodged in the heart of the tree to which the skiff was moored, and
behind which Jackson and Philips had taken their stand.
Evidently believing that they had killed a man, the whole of the band,
hitherto concealed behind logs and trees, now rose to their feet, and
uttered a fierce and triumphant yell.
“Devilish good firin', that,” remarked Green, whose face had been
touched by a splinter of bark torn from the tree by one of the balls.
“Don't uncover yourselves, my lads,” hastily commanded the corporal;
“all the fellows want now is to see us exposed, that they may have a
crack at us.”
“We've dried the muskets after a fashion,” said Collins, as he now
approached Jackson and Philips. “Give us a cartridge, and let's see if
we can't match the varmint at that sort of work.” Then, having loaded,
he, without asking the corporal's permission, leaned his musket against
the tree, and taking a steady aim at the man who had fired from the
point first noticed by Weston, drew the trigger.
The shot had evidently taken effect, for two other Indians were now
seen going to the assistance of their comrade, whom they raised from the
ground (where all had secreted themselves after the yell), and hurried
to the rear.
A loud cheer burst from the lips of Collins, which was answered
immediately by the whole of the savages, who, from various contiguous
points, sprang again to their feet, and vociferating the war-whoop,
dashed into the river nearly up to their necks, seemingly thirsting to
overcome the only obstacle which prevented them from getting at their
desired victims.
But, at the very moment, when several of them were holding their rifles
aloft with their right hand, securing their powder-horns between their
teeth, while Corporal Nixon issued to his men injunctions, not to
pull another trigger until the savages should begin to swim, to the
astonishment of all, came the sullen and unusual booming of the cannon
from the Fort.
For a moment, the men, taking their eyes off the sights of their
muskets, listened attentively for a repetition of the shot, but no
second report reached their ears.
“That,” said Green, “was a warnin' for us.”
“It was,” observed the corporal. “Had the danger been THERE, they would
have fired again. Depend upon it, my lads, there's more going on about
here than we think. So don't throw away your ammunition. Every bullet
you send must tell!”
“Well, we can but sell our scalps as dearly as possible,” interposed
Collins, who had again loaded, and was now in the act of raising and
supporting his, musket against the tree. “But look--see how the fellows
are stealing off?”
“Don't fire, then, don't fire,” hastily enjoined the corporal. “If they
will go quietly, let them. We must not lose our time dallying here, but
make our way back to the Fort. That gun was meant to recall us, as well
as to warn us, and luckily it has frightened the Indians, so they won't
care to attack us again.”
Meanwhile the band of Winnebagoes, obeying, as it seemed, the command of
their leader, whom Collins swore he could identify from his figure, even
at that distance, to be the man who had attempted to carry off the boat,
quitted the river for the cover of the woods, and, after an earnest
consultation, retreated slowly in the direction of the prairie, without
clamor of any description.
“Well rid of them, if they are gone,” exclaimed the corporal, not a
little relieved by their departure. “We must keep a sharp look out
though, and see if they return.”
“How many of them are there?” asked Jackson; “can you give a guess,
Collins?”
“About a dozen I should say--indeed I counted as many as they passed
through the small patch of clearing made by Eph. Giles's axe.”
“Can they have started for the farm?” observed the corporal musingly;
“if so, my lads, we had better get away as soon as possible, for there
they will find canoes to cross.”
“Why, sure they can swim across well enough. The river is not so wide as
to prevent them from doing it on a pinch,” remarked Philips.
“Of course they can,” answered Collins, “but not without having their
rifles as well soaked as our muskets were a little while ago. I say,
corporal, I understand now the trick of that cunning chief. He jumped
upon the arms purposely to overturn them into the river, when he found
he couldn't get the boat, and all our firelocks over with him.”
“Yes, that WAS a trick,” remarked Jackson, “but, corporal, you havn't
told us how the dickens that fellow came there, instead of the bear you
went to spear.”
“There is no time to talk about it, seriously rejoined the Virginian.
Some night when we are on guard, I will tell you what little I know.
At present let us see to getting back to our post. Collins, you are the
crack shot of the party, are you loaded?”
“I am, corporal,” returned the man somewhat self-sufficiently, “have you
got another Injin for me to sink. If so, just point him out, and if this
good barrel of Uncle Sam's don't do his job in no time, I'll give up all
claim to having hit the first fellow.”
“Not just yet,” answered his superior, “but hear my orders. You'll
follow the path along the bank, and move along carefully, until you
reach Heywood's stacks. Conceal yourself behind one of them, until we
come down with the boat, and keep a sharp lookout on all that you see
passing in and round the farm. Now remember, Collins, not a shot, unless
it be to save your life, or else you will get us all into a scrape.”
“Never fear me, General Nixon, and he touched his cap with all the
respect he would have accorded to an officer of that rank. I brought
one of the imps down, and that, I reckon, is nearly as good work for one
day, as filling the old boat with fish, or having a slap at them ducks,
as I wanted this morning. But now I'm off, if I see anything shall I
halloo out, and let you know there's danger?”
“Not by a long chalk,” returned the corporal. “All I want you to do is
to keep your tongue in your head and your eyes open. If you see anything
to alarm you, come back quietly and let us know. We shall be moving down
close to the bank of the river; and now start.”
Collins threw his musket to the trail, and advanced cautiously, though
fearlessly, along the scarcely perceptible pathway--interrupted, at
every third or fourth step by creeping vines that protruded from the
earth, and rendered it necessary, in order to prevent his tripping,
that he should raise his feet somewhat in the manner of a horse with the
string-halt.
He had not proceeded half a mile, when, at an angle of the ill-defined
path, formed by a point where the river was the narrowest, he was
started at the sight of a human body lying across his course, evidently
on its face, though the head was concealed from view by the trunk of a
large tree that bordered upon the road. His first impulse was to turn
back and acquaint the corporal with what he had discovered; but a few
minutes of reflection satisfying him of the ridicule he should incur in
reporting, without being able to state with accuracy on WHAT, he boldly
advanced. On approaching it, he found that the body was lifeless, while
from the red and scalpless head, previously hidden from his view, were
exuding gouts of thick blood that trickled slowly over the pale features
of a youth of tender age, the expression of which had been worked up
into an intensity of terror, and there remained. At a few paces from the
head, and close upon the edge of the bank, lay a dressed bear skin which
had evidently been saturated with water, but was now fast drying in the
air and what little sunlight was occasionally thrown upon it, through
the dense branches of the forest.
There are situations in which the mind is moved to do that from which in
cooler moments it would shrink with disgust. It chanced that Collins had
retained the scalp so singularly found at the bottom of the river, by
Corporal Nixon, and this circumstance at once determined him.
Instead of hastening by an object so appalling, Collins rested his
musket against a tree, and taking the scalp from between the ramrod and
the stock, where he had introduced it, knelt by the body, and spreading
out the humid skin to its fullest extent, applied it to the bleeding
excavation. As he had suspected, they corresponded exactly, making all
due allowance for the time they had been separated, and he had no longer
a doubt that the mutilated boy was Mr. Heywood's help, Wilton. A much
more important discovery than this, however, resulted from his vain
endeavor to recognise the boy from his features, they were so contracted
by terror, as has already been said, and so covered with blood as to
be indistinguishable. But on turning him upon his back, and passing his
hands over his face, Collins was surprised to find that there was not
that icy chill which he had expected, but on the contrary the faint
warmth that indicates suspended, animation; and deeper yet was the
gratification of the rude soldier, when, on opening the shirt and
placing his hand on the heart of the boy, he felt an occasional
spasmodic pulsation, denoting that life was not utterly extinct.
With an eagerness to preserve life, strongly in contrast with his recent
exultation in destroying it, his anxiety for the recovery of the boy was
almost paternal. Fortunately the latter part of the day had been free
from the chilliness of the morning, so that, although the naked skull
must have been some hours exposed, the comparatively bland state of the
atmosphere gave fair earnest that the brain itself, even if affected,
had not sustained a mortal injury. Spreading wide the scalp in his open
palm, Collins now breathed heavily upon it, until it attained what he
conceived to be the necessary warmth, when gently applying it to the
denuded crown, to which he fitted it as well as he could, he passed his
handkerchief, which he had removed from his throat, over it, and under
the chin of the boy in such a manner as to prevent the chill of the
approaching night from affecting the injured part. This done, he poured
through his closed lips a few drops of whisky from the canteen, and
then raising him gently on his left shoulder, he rose from his stooping
posture, and seizing in his right hand his musket, which he continued at
the trail, pursued his route to the haystacks as directed.
In the meantime, Corporal Nixon, with the remainder of the fishing
party, was slowly descending the river, hugging the eastern shore as
closely as possible, in order that, if attacked suddenly, they might, on
the instant, leap into the river, and covering themselves by the boat,
fight their enemies at less disadvantage. The corporal himself and
Weston kept a vigilant look out, the one at the bow, the other at the
stern, while the four remaining men, Jackson, Philips, Green, and Cass
pulled so noiselessly that the dip of their oars, and their unavoidable
jar in the row-locks, could not be heard at a distance of more than ten
yards. At this slow rate much time was necessarily consumed, so that it
was quite dark when they reached the traverse opposite the farm, where
Ephraim Giles had crossed some hours before, and whither Collins had
been dispatched to make observations.
The patience of the latter had been much tried, for it seemed an age
had elapsed before his comrades made their appearance. The sun was just
setting as he reached the innermost haystack, and his anxiety for his
charge had become intense. Seeing the canoe drawn up on the beach, and
the paddles in it, he had a strong inclination to cross and procure some
efficient relief for the insensible boy, but the silence that reigned
around the dwelling awed him, and he checked the natural impulse. Not
a soul was to be seen, not a voice to be heard, not even the barking of
Loup Garou, the bleating of a sheep, or the lowing of an ox. What could
this mean? and was the fate of the boy connected with that of the other
inmates of the farm? If so, where were they?
Another consideration induced Collins to suppress his first impulse, and
that was the apprehension that his strange charge would be detained
by Mr. Heywood, when his only chance of recovery lay in the speedy
examination, and dressing his injuries by the surgeon of the garrison.
There was no alternative then, but to wait patiently for the arrival
of the boat into which the boy could be placed; and so conveyed to the
fort. Meanwhile, as the night air was becoming chill, and a slight
fog rising from the water, the considerate soldier did all he could to
shield his protege from their pernicious effect. Strewing on the ground
a few armfuls of hay, taken from the nearest of the stacks, around which
the hungry cattle now gathered, eager for their food, he extended on
it the yet inanimate form of the youth, embracing the body in order to
impart to it the benefit of animal heat and in this position, his
head being slightly raised, eagerly endeavored to discern through the
darkness not only what might be seen on the opposite shore, but the
approach of the party in the boat.
The sun had now been down some time, and so dark was it that, in that
narrow space, obscured by the blending shadows of the tall forests on
either shore, it was difficult, at five yards distance, to make out
anything on the water, unaccompanied by light or sound. This silence
was anything but agreeable to Collins, whose imagination, excited by the
later occurrences of the day, was filled with, strange misgivings, as he
looked in vain for the customary lights in the farm-house. The fishing
party had never been out so late, and yet, at the first fall of
darkness, they had been accustomed to see the place exhibiting at least
one light; and the absence of this now caused Collins heartily to wish
himself in the boat, and safely moored under cover of the fort. Not that
the soldier was influenced by the apprehension of personal danger, but
because the deep gloom, the solitude and silence of the scene, coupled
with his newly-awakened interest in the almost corpse that lay in close
contact with his person, impressed him with a sort of superstitious
feeling, not at all lessened by the knowledge that his only companion,
at that moment, belonged rather to the grave than to the upper earth.
At length his anxiety was relieved. The sound of the oars, cautiously
pulled, faintly met his ear, and then the boat could be indistinctly
seen approaching the canoe. To this succeeded a low call uttered by the
corporal. Collins replied in a similar tone, and then bearing the body
of the boy, still enveloped in the bear skin, he in less than a minute,
rejoined his party.
The astonishment of the latter may be conceived on beholding so
unexpected a sight, nor was their feeling of awe diminished when their
comrade had briefly related what had occurred since he left them.
“Strange enough, this,” remarked the corporal musingly; “stranger still,
there's no light in the house. It's neither too early nor too late for
that. I'll tell you what, my lads, if any thing has happened we must
know the worst--it will never do to go back to the Fort, without being
able to give some notion of what took place under our very noses.”
“What would Mr. Ronayne say, if we did?” added Jackson.
“Yes! and what would that sweet young lady, Miss Heywood, think of us,
if we returned without giving some good news of her father. Why she
never would look upon us kindly again.”
“Right, Philips,” said Weston, “and I'm sure I'd rather offend the
captain himself, any day, than do anything to displease her. God grant
we bring her no bad news.”
“Amen,” said the corporal, gravely, for he, like Collins, had some
strong misgivings, arising naturally from the utter darkness and silence
that continued to prevail in and around the farm-house. “Are you all
loaded? Look to your primings, but make no noise. Somebody must take
charge of the beat though. Who volunteers to remain, while the rest
follow me to the house?”
“I do--I'll remain,” said Collins, “one of you can take my musket.”
“What, Collins, do you shirk the thing,” sneered the man with the long
nose and the peaked chin; “have you had enough to-day, or do you fear
the ghost of the fellow you knocked over?”
“I fear neither man or ghost, as you well know, Nutcrackers,” warmly
rejoined Collins, “but I take it, there's no great courage in making a
fuss about going where there's no enemy to be found. If there has been
danger in that quarter, I take it, it's passed, and as somebody must
stop in the boat, why 'not me as well as another?”
“Just so,” said the corporal. “Cass, this is no time to run your rigs.
You see well enough that Collins wishes to stop behind, on account of
the boy he hopes to bring to life. Little chance of that, I fear, but
if he thinks so, it would be unchristian to disappoint him. And now push
off, but make no noise.”
The order was obeyed. In a few minutes the bow of the boat touched
the landing-place, when all but Collins, who was at the helm, slipped
noiselessly ashore. The corporal repeated his instructions--how to act
under emergency and if separated--and moved along the path leading to
the house. Meanwhile Collins pulled back into the stream, and remained
stationary in the centre.