THE FLINT-TIPPED ARROW ON THE ROOF
AS Bob Armstrong and his brother drew near the well-beloved cabin
which had now been their home for almost an entire year, their hearts
beat high with anticipation of a reunion with their mother, father and
sister.
The door stood partly open, as though, perhaps, Mr. Armstrong had just
entered, to bear the latest news concerning the rising of the river
to his family circle. And, looking through the opening thus formed,
the boys saw the three whom they loved standing by the table, on which
still rested the dishes of the evening meal, as if the fond mother had
not given up all hope that her sons might yet come in, tired and hungry.
They could see her face as she listened to what the good man of the
house was saying. It could not have been cheerful news, either, for the
concern deepened on the countenances of Kate and her mother.
The boys could stand it no longer, but, bursting through the door,
they were quickly in the arms of the mother for whom either of them
would have given his young life any day; nor did either Bob or Sandy
deem it unmanly in the least because tears ran down their cheeks,
induced by their great joy at once more being home.
Then came many questions; and, as the story was told, how those fond
ones hung upon every word! No doubt that brave little mother could see,
just as vividly as though she had been there, her younger boy caught in
his own trap, with that fierce woods tiger creeping closer and closer.
And then, later, when between them the boys had described the accident
out on the river, whereby the breaking of the paddle was responsible
for the collision with the great unwieldy log, and the loss of the
dugout, she realized the peril her sons had been in, even though they
strove to make light of it.
Last of all came the news that Blue Jacket was trying to fetch to
his friends at the time he and Pat had so opportunely come upon the
floating log in the middle of the Ohio.
"Let us hope and pray that it may not be so bad as that," Mrs.
Armstrong said; for, now that her boys had been restored to her,
she felt that she could face almost any calamity with calmness. "The
Indians may have over-estimated the force of the water, and it will not
rise higher than our doorstep, at most."
"It is not very far from that, even now," observed Bob, who had noted
before entering the cabin how terribly near that flowing flood came to
their home, and that already it had covered the patch of ground where
he and his brother were accustomed to work at odd times, when not
hunting, or attending to their string of traps.
"We shall not dare sleep much to-night," declared Mr. Armstrong. "You
see, my boys, we have been busy, and our few possessions are already
done up, ready to be carried to higher ground, if necessary--which we
hope may not be the case."
Then came Pat O'Mara, always a welcome guest at the Armstrong cabin;
for he had always shown himself one of their best friends.
"Sure, there be some av the settlers who make light av the direful news
Blue Jacket brings, becase, ye say, 'tis only an Injun that fetches
the same," the trapper remarked, after he had greeted the rest of the
family, and joined the circle. And then with the boys ate heartily of
the food Mrs. Armstrong had placed before them.
"A strange thing happened since you left home," remarked the owner of
the cabin, as he reached out, and, picking something up, laid it on the
heavy table, scoured snowy white by the hands of the good housewife.
Sandy uttered a cry of astonishment.
"Why, look at that, will you?" he exclaimed. "It must be another of
those strange warnings we have been getting for a long time past,
though we can never understand who sends them, for I can see the same
figures marked here on the birch bark that we settled before meant
those rascally French trappers."
"Yes," said Bob, who was closely examining the little roll of thin
bark, almost as light as a feather; "I am sure you are right about
that, Sandy; and these two creeping figures must be our enemies,
Jacques and Henri, the brother of the dead Armand. But where did you
get this, father?"
"Your mother and myself were talking here late in the afternoon, when
Kate came and told us she had heard a strange sound from the direction
of the roof, just as if some one had thrown a stone. I went out,
expecting to find that those small boys of the new settler, Seth
Smalley, had been pelting each other again; but, when I looked, no one
was in sight. Then, chancing to cast my eyes upward toward the roof,
what was my astonishment to see an arrow sticking there, to which was
attached that little roll of bark. So I climbed up, and possessed
myself of the whole. I do not much doubt but that this unknown friend,
who has several times tried to warn us about those bad men, the French
trappers, is again sending a message which is intended for you two
boys."
"What does he seem to say this time?" asked Sandy, as, with his brother
and the Irish trapper, he bent over the scroll which was being held
open in the extended fingers of Bob.
"Here is a cabin, which must be meant for our own home," commenced Bob;
"because, you see, it has a little flagstaff fastened to the top in
front. Well, two creeping figures are coming toward the cabin. One of
them holds something in his hand, which I can hardly make out, but it
may be a burning brand. Yes, it surely is, for here you can see smoke
curling up from the side of the cabin."
"Well, the whole settlement shall know about it at once," declared
Sandy, angrily; "and it will be a bad thing for Jacques Larue or Henri
Lacroix to be seen creeping up the rise. I do not believe we will ever
know peace until something happens to those bad men. Little they care
for the sacred belt of Pontiac, and even the death of Armand Lacroix
does not seem to have daunted them."
"I think you are wrong there," Bob went on, earnestly. "They have
been afraid to do either of us bodily injury, because they know what
the anger of Pontiac would mean to them. But they think they can find
other ways to annoy us, and those we care for. To burn our cabin to the
ground seems to be a favorite way of satisfying their idea of revenge;
but they will have a hard time doing it, now that we are warned."
"I read the scroll somewhat as you do," said Mr. Armstrong, "and at
once commenced to ask among the neighbors concerning them. One man, who
had been out hunting most of the day, told about seeing the Frenchmen
in the woods. They seemed to be heading this way, and acted as though
they were making sure of their ground as they advanced. As he did not
fancy running into trouble, he simply lay in the bushes until they had
passed on."
"Which proves that they are really around here again, urged on by some
foolish notion that they have suffered wrongs at our hands, and ought
to square the account," remarked Bob, seriously.
"It will be squared, one of these fine days," said Sandy, with a glance
in the direction of the corner where he had stood his musket after
entering, taking it from the hands of Pat, who had been carrying the
heavy piece for him, because of his lame leg.
"Yis," spoke up Pat, "there be but wan way to aven accounts wid such
spalpeens as thim Frinch trappers, who make most av their livin'
stalin' from the traps av honest min; and that is by diskiverin' the
same in some ugly thrick, an' wastin' a precious bit av lead."
"Here comes Blue Jacket to see you, mother," said Bob.
"Oh!" broke in Sandy, "if you could only have seen him when he was
telling that war-loving Little Turtle how much he was in debt to the
Armstrong family, it would have done you good, mother. Of course we
didn't just understand all they said; but Pat could, and he told us
how Blue Jacket was declaring he would lay down his life for any one of
us, if the need arose. He said you attended to his hurt just as if he
were your own son."
It could be easily understood, after that, what a warm welcome greeted
the young Shawanee brave when he strode into their midst. Doubtless
it was pleasant to him to know that they thought so much of him; but
he did not betray this fact even by a smile. An Indian learns from
childhood to repress all outward evidence of feeling springing either
from joy or pain. Anger alone will he allow himself to show, and that
only because it excites his ardor for the battlefield or to follow the
trail of his enemy.
Sandy was waiting to spring something upon the young Shawanee brave. He
had asked his father for the arrow which had been shot so as to drop
directly on the roof of the Armstrong cabin. This he suddenly laid
before Blue Jacket.
"You, who can tell the different arrow-points, and the way of
feathering the shaft, of every tribe along the Ohio, look at this, and
say whose was the hand that drew the bow from which it came," Sandy
went on to say.
Blue Jacket looked gravely at the flint tip that was bound in the
cleft of the straight shaft with strong fibres taken from some plant.
There must have been signs that immediately informed him as to what
tribe the party belonged who had made that arrow. (Note 7.)
"Ugh! Delaware arrow, him," grunted Blue Jacket; and no one dreamed of
disputing his simple assertion; indeed, Pat O'Mara was seen to wag his
head in a satisfied way, as though that declaration exactly coincided
with his own private opinion.
"So, you see," remarked Sandy, with an air of triumph, turning on his
brother, "I always said I believed it was an Indian who sent those
queer messages; but why do you suppose he does it? The Delawares as a
rule are not in love with the white settlers. When a colony is attacked
there are generally Delawares among the reds who creep up to surprise
the poor settlers. Why should a Delaware want to do us a good turn;
tell me that, Bob?"
"Well, now, I am just as much in the dark as you are," returned Bob;
"unless that was a Delaware youth you rescued, Sandy, from that
horrible quicksand late in the autumn on that day you went out hunting
alone."
"It might be," Sandy replied, looking thoughtful; "he never told me
who he was; but held out his hand to me, and then disappeared in the
bushes, from which fact I made up my mind that he must have been on
a very important errand at the time he got trapped in that slough. A
Delaware--well, perhaps he was. Seems to me he looked like the one who
was caught hanging around here early last summer, and who was allowed
to go, with a warning never to come back. But I suppose I never will
know the truth."
"But, it sames to me it's a mighty good thing to have sich a grand
fri'nd always on the watch till warrn yees whin danger draws nigh,"
remarked the trapper. "Now, av I'd had the same, 'tis manny a bad time
I might have been saved from goin' through wid, in me day. And marrk me
worrd, this same party must have a bad falin' towards the Frinchmin;
becase he sames to kape watch over them, so he do; plazed to upset anny
plans they might be after makin'."
Leaving the cabin in the charge of Mrs. Armstrong, Kate, and Sandy, the
last of whom wished to have some of the home-made salve applied to his
swollen ankle, the rest went out to watch the rising of the waters, and
to compare notes with others among the anxious settlers, now in fear
of having the little homes for which they had toiled so hard swept away
with the flood.
One who had been keeping close watch over the situation declared that
for more than half an hour now the river had been at a standstill.
Even such a small thing as this brought some ray of hope in its train;
though Pat warned them not to relax their vigilance one iota, because
the information sent down the Ohio by means of those signal smokes was
usually very accurate, and could be depended on.
It was after a time decided to set a watch, while the rest of the
settlers tried to obtain some sleep, of which they were in much need.
Should the river once more begin to rise, information of the event
would be carried around quietly from cabin to cabin, so as not to
awaken the women and children, and needlessly alarm them, even though
it were deemed the part of wisdom for the men to be abroad.
But, in case the water started to rise swiftly, as would be the case
should the flood predicted by the Indians arrive, then the alarm bell,
used only in cases of great necessity, like a threatened Indian attack,
would be rung.
Should that be heard, every one must immediately start to remove all
of his possessions, scanty as these were at the best, to a place of
security on higher ground.
It was an anxious group that gathered there for a last consultation,
before separating for the night. Bob missed Blue Jacket, and yet the
Indian came and went at will when visiting his white friends, so that
his absence caused no alarm.
Finally Mr. Armstrong took Bob by the sleeve, saying:
"Come, you and Pat, we will return home. We all of us need sleep, and
surely you in particular, my son, after the excitement of the perils
that hung over your head. Perhaps a kindly Providence, that has all
along watched over our fortunes, may see fit to ward off this new and
terrible danger. But, if it is to come, we could not help matters by
remaining awake. Let us then be securing some rest, so as to be ready
to work with a will, in case the worst comes."
Half an hour later perfect quiet seemed to surround the cabin of the
settlers from Virginia; but, nevertheless, Pat slept, as he himself
expressed it, "wid wan eye open." Besides, he kept his long rifle
close to his hand; and Sandy felt positive that, in case there came any
midnight alarm, O'Mara would be out of the cabin like a flash, and woe
to the skulking figure on which his eye rested.
Tired out after the labors of the day, and easily able to throw the
burden off his young mind, Bob Armstrong was not long in going to
sleep, once he had dropped down on his bed, covered with some of the
furs taken by himself and Sandy.
They had been warned not to undress, lest there might be need of sudden
action with the coming of the flood. But such a little thing as that
did not bother either of the Armstrong boys, who were used to roughing
it whenever they went into the woods.
Bob never knew how long he slept; but it must have been for several
hours, because the fire on the hearth had died down when he opened his
eyes again, and it had been looked after at the time he lay down.
But the condition of the fire gave the boy little or no concern at
the time he awoke; for, hardly had he opened his eyes, than he became
conscious of the thrilling fact that it had not been a dream after
all but the alarm bell was wildly pealing out its brazen notes; and
outside he could hear men's hoarse voices shouting:
"Up, every one of you! The flood is coming swiftly, and already the
water has commenced to rise at a fearful rate. Awake! Be up and doing,
if you would save your possessions! The flood! the flood!"