THE CAPTURED CANOE
As the five advanced they read the trail with unfailing eye. Henry saw
more than once the traces of footsteps with the toes turned out, that is
those of Braxton Wyatt, and he noticed that they were wavering, not
leading in a straight line like those of the Indians.
"Braxton must have had a nice crack of some kind or other on the head,"
he said, "and he still feels the effects of it, as now and then he
reels."
"'Twould hev been a good thing," said Shif'less Sol, "ef the crack,
whatever it may hev been, hed been a lot harder, hard enough to finish
him. I ain't bloodthirsty, but it would help a lot if Braxton Wyatt wuz
laid away. Paul, you're eddicated, an' you hev done a heap o' thinkin',
enough, I guess, to last a feller like Long Jim fur a half dozen o'
lives, now what makes a man turn renegade an' fight with strangers an'
savages ag'inst his own people?"
"I think," replied Paul, "that it's disappointment, and fancied
grievances. Some people want to be first, and when they can't win the
place they're apt to say the world is against 'em, in a conspiracy, so
to speak, to defraud 'em of what they consider their rights. Then their
whole system gets poisoned through and through, and they're no longer
reasoning human beings. I look upon Braxton Wyatt as in a way a madman,
one poisoned permanently."
"I hev noticed them things, too," said Shif'less Sol. "Thar are diff'unt
kinds o' naturs, the good an' the bad, an' the bad can't bear for other
people to lead 'em. Then they jest natchelly hate an' hate. All through
the day they hate, an' ef they ain't got nothin' to do, even ef the
weather is fine 'nuff to make an old man laugh, they jest spend that
time hatin'. An' ef they happen to wake up at night, do they lay thar
an' think what a fine world it is an' what nice people thar are in it?
No, sir, they jest spend all the time between naps hatin', an' they fall
asleep ag'in, with a hate on thar lips an in' thar hearts."
"You're talkin' re'l po'try an' truth at the same time, Sol," said Long
Jim. "It's cur'ous how people hate them that kin do things better than
theirselves. Now, I've noticed when I'm cookin' buffler steaks an' deer
meat an' wild turkey an' nice, juicy fish, an' cookin' mebbe better than
anybody else in all Ameriky kin, how you, Shif'less Sol Hyde, turn plum'
green with envy an' begin makin' disrespeckful remarks 'bout me, Jim
Hart, who hez too lofty an' noble a natur ever to try to pull you down,
poor an' ornery scrub that you be."
Shif'less Sol drew himself up with haughty dignity.
"Jim Hart," he said, "I'm wrapped 'bout with the mantle o' my own merit
so well from head to foot that them invig'ous remarks o' yours bounce
right off me like hail off solid granite. To tell you the truth, Jim
Hart, I feel like a big stone mountain, three miles high, with you
throwin' harmless leetle pebbles at me."
"And yet," said Paul, "while you two are always pretending to quarrel,
each would be eager to risk death for the other if need be."
"It's only my sense o' duty, an' o' what you call proportion," said
Shif'less Sol. "Long Jim, ez you know, is six feet an' a half tall. Ef
the Injuns wuz to take him an' burn him at the stake he'd burn a heap
longer than the av'rage man. What a torch Jim would make! Knowin' that
an' always b'arin' it in mind, I'm jest boun' to save Jim from sech a
fate. It ain't Jim speshully that I'm thinkin' on, but I'd hate to know
that a man six an' a half feet long wuz burnin' 'long his whole len'th."
"Another band has joined Wyatt," said Henry. "See, here comes the
trail!"
The new force had arrived from the east, and it contained apparently
twenty warriors, raising Braxton Wyatt's little army to about sixty men.
"But they still run," said Shif'less Sol. "The new ones hev ketched all
the terror an' superstition that the old ones feel, an' the whole crowd
is off fur the Ohio. Look how the trail widens!"
"And Braxton Wyatt is beginning to feel better," said Henry. "His own
particular trail does not waver so much now. Ah, they've stopped here
for a council. Braxton probably stood on that old fallen log and
addressed them, because the traces of his footsteps lead directly to it.
Yes, the bark here is rubbed a little, where he stood. They gathered in
a half circle before him, as their footprints show very plainly, and
they listened to him respectfully. He, being white, was recovering from
the superstitious terror, but the Shawnees were still under its spell.
After hearing him they continued their flight. Here goes their trail,
all in a bunch, straight toward the north!"
"An' thar won't be no stop 'til they strike the Ohio," said Shif'less
Sol with conviction.
"I agree with you," said Henry.
"And so do all of us," said Paul.
"And of course we follow on," said Henry, "right to the water's edge!"
"We do," said the others all together.
"The Ohio isn't very far now," said Henry.
"Ten or fifteen miles, p'raps," said Shif'less Sol.
"And it's likely that we'll find a big force gathered there."
"Looks that way to me, Henry. Mebbe the band o' Blackstaffe will be
waitin' to join that o' Wyatt. Then, feelin' mighty strong, they'll come
back after us."
"'Less we fill 'em full o' fear whar they stan'. Mebbe they'll stop at
the river a day or two, an' then we kin git to work. Water which hides
will help us."
They passed on through the forest, noting that the trail was growing
wide and leisurely. At one point the Indians had stopped some time, and
had eaten heavily of game brought in by the hunters. The bones of
buffalo, deer and wild turkey were scattered all about.
"They're feeling better," said Henry. "I don't think now they'll cross
the Ohio, but we must do so and attack from the other side. They're not
looking for any enemy in the north, and we may be able to terrify 'em
again."
It was not long before they came to the great yellow stream of the Ohio,
and in an open space, not far from the shore, they saw the fires of the
Indian encampment.
"I think we'll have work to do here," said Henry, "and we'll keep well
into the deep woods until long after dark."
They did not light any fire, but lying close in the thicket, ate their
supper of cold food. Three or four hours after sunset Henry, telling the
others to await his return, crept near the Indian camp. As he had
surmised, two formidable forces had joined, and nearly two hundred
warriors sat around the fires. The new army, composed partly of Miamis
and partly of Shawnees, with a small sprinkling of Wyandots, was led by
Blackstaffe, who was now with Wyatt, the two talking together earnestly
and looking now and then toward the south.
Henry had no doubt that the five were the subject of their conversation.
Wyatt must have recovered by this time all his faculties and was
telling Blackstaffe that their enemies were only mortal and could be
taken, if the steel ring about them was recast promptly. Henry had no
doubt that an attempt to forge it anew would speedily be made by the
increased force, but his heart leaped at the thought that his comrades
and he would be able to break it again.
As he crept a little nearer he saw to his surprise a fire blazing on the
opposite shore, and he was able to discover the forms of warriors
between him and the blaze. With the Indians bestride the stream the task
of the five was complicated somewhat, but Henry was of the kind that
meet fresh obstacles with fresh energy.
He returned to his comrades and reported what he had seen, but all
agreed with him that they should cross the river, despite the encampment
on the far shore, and make the attack from the north.
"We'll do like that old Roman, Hannybul," said Long Jim, "hit the enemy
at his weakest part, an' jest when he ain't expectin' us."
"Hannibal was not a Roman, Jim," said Paul.
"Well, then, he was a Rooshian or a Prooshian."
"Nor was he either of those."
"Well, it don't make no diff'unce, nohow. He wuz a furriner, that's
shore, an' he's dead, both uv which things is ag'inst him. It looks
strange to me, Paul, that a furriner with the outlandish ways that
furriners always hev should hev been sech a good gen'ral."
"He was probably the best the world has produced, Jim. He was able with
small forces to defeat larger ones, and we must imitate his example."
"And to do that," said Henry, "we shall cross the Ohio tonight. I think
we'd better drop down a mile or two, beyond their fires and their
sentinels, and then make for the northern shore."
"The river must be 'bout a mile wide here," objected Shif'less Sol.
"That's a big swim with all our weepuns, an' ef some o' the warriors in
canoes should ketch us in the water then we'd be goners, shore."
"You're right, there, Sol," said Henry. "It would be foolish in us to
attempt to swim the river, when the warriors are looking for us, as they
probably are by now, since Blackstaffe and Wyatt have got them back to
realities."
"Then ef we don't swim how do you expect us to git across, Henry? Ez fur
me, I can't wade across a river a mile wide an' twenty feet deep."
"That's true, Sol. Even Long Jim isn't long enough for that. I'm
planning for us to cross in state, untouched by water and entirely
comfortable; in fact, in a large, strong canoe."
"Nice good plan, Henry, 'cept in one thing; we ain't got no canoe."
"I intend to borrow one from the Indians. You and I will slip along up
the bank and take it from under their noses. You're a marvel at such
deeds, Sol."
"It's 'cause he's stealin' somethin' from somebody," said Long Jim.
"Shut up, Jim," said Henry. "It's lawful to steal from an enemy to save
your own life, and these Indians mean to hunt us down if they have to
employ three thousand warriors and three months to do it. Suppose we go
now."
The five turned toward the south and west, making a deep curve away from
the camp, a precaution taken wisely, as they soon had evidence, hearing
shots here and there, which they were quite sure were those of red
hunters seeking game, wild turkeys on the bough, or deer drinking at the
small streams. They were compelled to go very slowly, in order to avoid
them, but the night, luckily, was dark enough to hide their trail from
all eyes, save those that might be looking especially for it.
They spoke only in whispers, but the young leader himself said scarcely
anything, his mind being occupied with deep and intense thought. He knew
that the venture in search of an Indian canoe would be accompanied by
most imminent risks, the vigilance and skill of Shif'less Sol and
himself would be tested to the last degree, but a canoe they must have,
and they would dare every peril to get it.
They had gone about a mile when Henry suddenly raised his hand, and the
five sank silently in the bush. A dozen warriors, treading without
noise, passed within twenty feet of them and their course led toward the
south. They flitted by so swiftly that it seemed almost as if shadows
had passed, but Henry, who saw their faces, knew that they were not mere
hunters. These men were on the warpath. Perhaps they had seen the trail
of the five somewhere, and were going south to close up the broken
segment of the circle there.
"They've probably had a hint from Blackstaffe," said Henry. "Next to
Simon Girty he's the shrewdest and most cunning of all the renegades. He
has reasoning power, and knowing that we'll take the bolder method, he's
probably concluded that we've followed Wyatt's band."
"An' so he hez sent that other band south to shut us in," said Shif'less
Sol.
"An' we might hev fled south ourselves from the fust," said Long Jim,
"but I cal'late we ain't that kind uv people."
"No," said Henry. "We can't lead 'em in this chase back on the
settlements. So long as they're trying to spread a net around us we'll
draw 'em in the other direction. Now, boys, fall in behind me, and the
first one that causes a blade of grass to rustle will have to make a
present of his rifle to the others."
Following the great curve which they were traveling it was a full five
miles to the point on the river they wished to reach. The forest, they
knew, was full of warriors, some hunting, perhaps, but many thrown out
on the great encircling movement intended to enclose the five. Now, the
trailers, with deadly peril all about them, gave a superb exhibition of
skill. There was no danger of any one losing his rifle, because no blade
of grass rustled, nor did any leaf give back the sound of a brushing
body. They were endowed peculiarly by birth and long habit to the life
they lived and the dangers they faced. Their hearts beat high, but not
with fear. Their muscles were steady, and eye and ear were attuned to
the utmost for any strange presence in the forest.
Henry led, Paul followed, Long Jim came next, then Silent Tom, and
Shif'less Sol defended the rear. This was usually their order, the
greatest trailer at the head of the line, and the next greatest at the
end of it. They invariably fell into place with the quickness and
precision of trained soldiers.
A panther, not as large and fierce as the one that Henry had driven in
fright down the ravine, saw them, looking upon human beings for the
first time. It was his first impulse to make off through the woods, but
they were soundless and in flight, and curiosity began to get the better
of fear. He followed swiftly, somewhat to one side, but where he could
see, and the silent line went so fast that the panther himself was
compelled to extend his muscles. He saw them come to a brook. The
foremost leaped it, the others in turn did the same, landing exactly in
his footsteps, and they went on without losing speed. Then the panther
turned back, satisfied that he could not solve the problem his curiosity
had raised.
Henry caught a yellow gleam through the leaves, and he knew that it was
the Ohio. In two or three minutes, they were at the low shore, although
the opposite bank was high. Both were wooded densely. The stream itself
was here a full mile in width, a vast mass of water flowing slowly in
silent majesty. They thought they saw far up the channel a faint
reflection of the Indian fires, but they were not sure. Where they stood
the river was as lone and desolate as it had been before man had come.
The moonlight was not good, and their view of the farther shore was dim,
leaving them only the certainty that it was lofty and thick with forest.
"Paul, you and Jim and Tom lie here, where this little spit of land runs
out into the water," said Henry. "There's good cover for you to wait in,
and Sol and I will come down the river in our new canoe, or we won't."
"At any rate come," said Paul.
"You can trust us," replied Henry, and he and the shiftless one started
at once along the edge of the river toward the northeast, where the
Indian camp lay. Henry reckoned that it was about three miles away, but
it would have to be approached with great care. As they advanced they
kept a watch on the farther shore also, and rounding a curve in the
river they caught their first sight of its reflection.
"It's fur up the stream," said Shif'less Sol, "an' I cal'late it's 'bout
opposite the big camp. Thar must be some warriors passin' back an' forth
from band to band, an' that, I reckon, will give us our chance fur a
canoe."
"Yes, if we can make off with it without being seen," said Henry. "A
pursuit would spoil everything. We'd have to abandon the canoe and
retreat back from the southern shore."
"'Spose we go a leetle further up," said Shif'less Sol. "The bank's low
here, but it's high enough to hide us, an' the bushes are mighty thick.
The nearer we come to the Indian camp the greater the danger is, but the
greater is our chance, too, to git a canoe."
"That's right, Sol. We'll try it."
They edged along yard by yard and soon could see through the intervening
trees and bushes the light of the great camp, from which came a
monotonous hum.
"A lot of 'em are dancin' the scalp dance," said the shiftless one.
"Will you 'scuse me, Henry, while I laugh a leetle to myself?"
"Of course, Sol, but why do you want to laugh?"
"'Cause they're dancin' the scalp dance when they ain't goin' to take no
scalps. It's ourn they're thinkin' of, but I kin tell you right now,
Henry, that a year from today they'll be growin' squa'rly on top o' our
heads, right whar they are this minute."
"I hope and believe you're right, Sol. Isn't that a canoe putting out
from the far shore?"
"Yes, a big one, with four warriors in it, an' they're comin' straight
across to the main camp, paddlin' like the strong men they are."
"Yes, I can see them clearly now, as they come nearer the middle of the
stream. That would be a good canoe for us, Sol. It looks big enough."
"But I'm afraid we ain't goin' to hev it, Henry. It's comin' straight on
to the main camp, an' it'll be tied to the bank right in the glow o'
thar fires. Hevin' wanted that canoe, ez we both do, we'd better quit
wantin' it an' want suthin' else."
[Illustration: "'A lot of 'em are dancin' the scalp dance'"]
Henry laughed softly.
"You're a true philosopher, Sol," he said.
"You hev to be in the woods, Henry. Here we learn to take what we can,
an' let alone what we can't. I guess the wilderness jerks all the
foolishness out o' a man, an' brings him plum' down to his level. Ain't
I right 'bout thar comin' straight to the main camp?"
"Yes, Sol, and they'll land in a few more minutes. Those are big
warriors, Miamis as their paint and dress show. Well, they're out of our
reckoning, so we'd better move a little farther up."
"We'll be shore to find canoes tied to the bank, an' thar will be our
chance. Ef our luck's good we'll git it, an' I find that luck is
gen'ally with the bold."
The situation into which they had entered was one of extreme danger, but
their surprising skill as trailers helped them greatly. The bank at this
point was about eight feet high, with rather a sharp slope, covered with
a dense growth of bushes, in which their figures were well hidden, but
they were so near now to the main camp that its luminous glow passed
over their heads, and lay in a broad band of light on the yellow surface
of the river. A canoe put out from the southern shore, and was paddled
by two warriors to the northern bank. Evidently there was constant
communication between the two forces.
From the bank above them came the steady drone of the scalp song, and
they heard the measured beat of the dance. Voices, too, came to them as
they advanced a little farther, and once Henry distinguished that of
Blackstaffe, although he was not able to understand the words. The light
from the great fire was steadily growing stronger on the river and it
would be a peril, disclosing their movements, if they took a canoe. From
the southern forest came the cries of wolves and owls which were the
signals of the Indians to one another, and Henry felt sure they were
talking of the five. He was thoroughly convinced now that their trail
had been discovered, and that the warriors, sure they were in the ring,
were seeking to draw in the steel girdle enclosing them. And unless the
canoe was secured quickly it was likely they would succeed. The two
paused, their minds in a state of painful indecision.
"What do you think, Henry?" whispered the shiftless one.
"Nothing that amounts to anything."
"When you don't know what to do the best thing to do is to do nothin'.
'Spose we jest wait a while. We're well kivered here, an' they'd never
think o' lookin' so close by fur us, anyway. Besides, hev you noticed,
Henry, that it's growin' a lot darker? 'Tain't goin' to rain, but the
moon an' all the stars are goin' away, fur a rest, I s'pose, so they kin
shine all the brighter tomorrow night."
"It's so, Sol, and a good heavy blanket of darkness will help us a
lot."
They lay perfectly still and waited with all the patience of those who
know they must be patient to live. A full hour passed, and the welcome
darkness increased, the heavens turning into a solid canopy, black and
vast. The light from the great campfire sank, and its luminous glow no
longer appeared on the river. The stream itself showed but faintly
yellow under the darkness. Henry's heart began to beat high. Nature, as
it so often did, was coming to their help. The droning song of the scalp
dance had ceased and with it the voices of the warriors talking. No
sound came from the river, save the soft swish of the flowing waters,
and now and then a gurgle and a splash, when some huge catfish raised
part of his body above the surface, and then let it fall back again.
Another canoe came presently from the northern shore. Henry and
Shif'less Sol, although they could not see it at first, knew it had
started, because their keen ears caught the plash of the paddles.
"It's a big one, Henry," whispered Shif'less Sol. "How many paddles do
you make out by the sound?"
"Six. Is that your count, too?"
"Yes. Now I kin see it. One, two, three, four, five, six. We wuz right
in the number an' it's a big fine canoe, jest the canoe we want, Henry,
an' it'll land 'bout twenty yards 'bove us. Somethin' tells me our
chance is comin'!"
"I hope the something telling you is telling you right. In any case
you're correct about their landing. It will be almost exactly twenty
yards away."
The great canoe emerged from the darkness, six powerful Miamis swinging
the paddles, and it came in a straight line for the bank, leaving a
trailing yellow wake. Henry admired their strength and dexterity. They
were splendid canoemen, and he never felt any hatred of the Indians. He
knew that they acted according to such guidance as they had, and it was
merely circumstances that placed him and his kind in opposition to them
and their kind.
The light but strong craft touched the bank gently, and the six canoemen
stepped out, a figure that appeared among the bushes confronting them.
Henry, with a thrill, recognized Blackstaffe, and the canoe must have
arrived on an errand of importance or the renegade would not have been
there to meet the six warriors.
"You will come into the camp and hear the reports of the scouts," said
Blackstaffe, speaking in Miami, which both Henry and the shiftless one
understood perfectly. "It will take some time to do this, because not
all of them have returned yet. Then two of you had better go back with
the canoe, while the others stay here to help us. I think we have these
five rovers trapped at last, and we'll make an end of 'em. They've
certainly caused us enough trouble, and I'm bound to say they're masters
of forest war."
One of the warriors tied the canoe to a bush with a willow withe, and
then all six following Blackstaffe disappeared among the trees, going
toward the campfire.
"At least Blackstaffe compliments us before sending us to the next
world," whispered Henry.
"Ez fur me," Shif'less Sol whispered back, "I ain't goin' to no next
world, jest to oblige a villyun renegade. Besides, I like this
wilderness o' ours too much to leave it fur anybody. They think they're
mighty smart an' that they're plannin' somethin' big right now, but all
the same they're givin' us our chance."
"What do you mean, Sol?"
"Didn't you hear the villyun say that two o' the warriors wuz to go back
with the boat?"
"Well, what of it?"
"Then two warriors is goin' to be me an' you, Henry."
"Of course. I ought to have thought of it, too."
"Thar must be sent'nels on the bank, but waitin' 'bout ten minutes we'll
git into the canoe an' paddle off. The sent'nels will know that two
warriors are to go back in it, an' they'll think we're them. This
darkness which has come up, heavy an' black, on purpose to help us, will
keep 'em from seein' that we ain't warriors. When we git into the middle
o' the river, whar thar eyes can't even make out the canoe, we'll go
down stream like a flash o' lightnin', pick up the boys and then be off
ag'in like another flash o' lightnin'."
"A good plan, Sol, and we'll try it. As you say, luck is always on the
side of the bold, and I don't see why we can't succeed."
But to wait the necessary fifteen minutes was one of the hardest tasks
they ever undertook. It would not do to take the canoe at once, as
suspicion would certainly be aroused. They must conform to Blackstaffe's
own plan. It seemed to them that they must actually hold themselves with
their own hands to keep from creeping forward to the canoe, yet they did
it, though the minutes doubled and redoubled in length, and then
tripled; but, after a time that both judged sufficient, they slid
forward, and Henry's knife cut the willow withe. Then they lifted
themselves gently into the canoe, took up two of the paddles and were
away.
Henry's back was to the southern bank, and despite all his experience
and courage shivers ran through his body at the thought that a bullet
from the forest might strike him any moment. Yet he did not wish to seem
in a hurry, and restrained his eagerness to paddle with all his might.
"Softly, Sol, softly," he said. "We must not be in too much haste."
"Don't I know it, Henry? Don't I know that we must 'pear to be the two
warriors whose business it is to take back the canoe? Ain't I jest
strainin' an' achin' to make the biggest sweep with my paddle I ever
swep', an' ain't my mind pullin' ag'inst my hands all the time, tryin'
to keep 'em at the proper gait? Are you shore you ain't felt no bullet
in your back yet, Henry?"
"No, Sol. What makes you ask such a question?"
"'Cause I reckon I wuz so much afeared o' one that I imagined the place
whar it's track would be in me, ef it had been really fired. My fancy
is pow'ful lively at sech a time."
"There has been no alarm, at least not yet, and we're near the middle of
the river. The canoe must be invisible, although I can see the fires on
either shore. Now, Sol, we'll turn down stream and paddle with all our
might, showing what canoemen we really are!"
It was with actual physical as well as mental joy that they turned the
prow of the canoe toward the southeast, that is, with the current, and
began to do their best with the paddles. They no longer had that
horrible fear of a bullet in the back, and muscles seemed to leap
together with the spirit into greater strength and elasticity.
"Come on you, Henry," said Shif'less Sol exultantly. "Keep up your side!
Prove that you're jest ez good a man with the paddle ez me! We ain't
makin' more'n a mile a minute, an' fur sech ez we are that's nothin' but
standin' still!"
The two bent their powerful backs a little and their great arms swept
the paddles through the water at an amazing rate. The soul of Shif'less
Sol surged up to the heights. He became dithyrambic and he spoke in a
tone not loud, but full of concentrated fire and feeling.
"Fine, you Henry, you!" he said. "But we kin do better! The canoe is
goin' fast, but one or two canoes in the hist'ry o' the world hez gone
ez fast! We must go faster by ten or fifteen miles an hour an' set the
record that will stan'! It's so dark in here I can't see either bank,
but I wish sometimes I could, warriors or no warriors! Then I could see
'em whizzin' by, jest streaks, with all the trees and bushes meltin'
into one another like a green ribbon! Now, that's the way to do it,
Henry! Our speed is jumpin'! I ain't shore whether the canoe is touchin'
the water or not! I think mebbe it's jest our paddles that dip in, an'
that the canoe is flyin' through the air! An' not a soun' from 'em yet!
They haven't discovered that the wrong warriors hev took thar boat, but
they will soon! Now we'll turn her in toward the southern bank, Henry,
'cause in the battin' o' an eye or two we'll be whar the rest o' the
boys are a-lyin' hid in the bushes! Now, slow an' slower! I kin see the
trees an' bushes separatin' tharselves, an' thar's the bank, an' now I
see the face o' Long Jim, 'bout seven feet above the groun'! He's an
onery, ugly cuss, never givin' me all the respeck that's due me, but
somehow I like him, an' he never looked better nor more welcome than he
does now, God bless the long-armed, long-legged, fightin', gen'rous,
kind-hearted cuss! An' thar's Paul, too, lookin' fur all the world like
a scholar, crammed full o' book l'arnin', 'stead o' the ring-tailed
forest runner, half hoss, half alligator, that he is, though he's got
the book l'arnin' an' is one o' the greatest scholars the world ever
seed! An' that's Tom Ross, with his mouth openin' ez ef he wuz 'bout to
speak a word, though he'll conclude, likely, that he oughtn't, an' all
three o' 'em are pow'ful glad to see us comin' in our triumphal Roman
gallus that we hev captured from the enemy."
"Galley, Sol, galley! Not gallus!"
"It's all the same, galley or gallus. We hev got it, an' we are in it,
an' it's a fine big canoe with six paddles, one for ev'ry one o' us an'
one to spare! Now here we are ag'in the bank, an' thar they are ready to
jump in!"
There was no time for hesitation, as a long and tremendous war whoop
from a point up the stream seemed to surcharge the whole night with rage
and ferocity. It was evident that the warriors had discovered that the
wrong men had taken the canoe, as they were bound to do soon, and the
chase would be on at once, conducted with all the power and tenacity of
those who devoted their lives to such deeds.
"They'll know, of course, that we've come down the stream, not daring to
go against the current," said Henry, "and they'll follow with every
canoe they have."
"An' more will run along either bank hopin' fur a shot," said the
shiftless one, "an' so while we turn our canoe into a shootin' star
ag'in we'll hev to remember to keep in the middle o' the stream. A lot
o' the dark that helped us to git the canoe is fadin' away, leavin' us
to make our race fur our lives mostly in the open."
The great war whoop came again, filling the forest with its fierce
echoes, and then followed silence, a silence which every one of the five
knew would be broken later by the plash of paddles. The valley Indians
had great canoes, sometimes carrying as many as twenty paddles, and when
twenty strong backs were bent into one of them it could come at greater
speed than any five in the world could command.
But this five, calm and ready to face any danger, put their rifles where
they could reach them in an instant, and then their canoe shot down the
stream.