BACK TO THE BLUE WALL
We reached the Ohio and I soon found a canoe. The trip down the Scioto had
its danger thrills, and twice we narrowly escaped meeting bands of
warriors on the main trace. I stuck to the path because of its advantages.
None below us knew we had left the upper town, and would not be looking
for us. In the beaten path there was much less chance of leaving signs for
some scout to pick up and follow. I knew warriors would be scouring the
country in all directions once the news of our escape was carried to
Chillicothe, but the Scioto path was the last one they would expect us to
take.
I had remembered Lost Sister's warning and planned to follow the Big Sandy
until its head waters interlocked with those of the Clinch and Holston. It
was nerve-wearing work, that crossing of the Ohio. With each dip of the
paddle I expected rifles to crack behind me and canoes to poke their noses
through the overhanging foliage and make after us. I could not see that
the girl breathed during the crossing, and I kept her in front of me as
her face was a mirror to reflect instantly any danger on the Indian
shore.
We landed at the mouth of Four-Mile Creek without any disturbing
incidents. I told her we were four miles above the mouth of the Scioto and
she was for placing more distance between us and that river at once. But
it was impossible to travel all the time. Now we were foot-free, and as I
had my rifle the Shawnees would pay high before catching up with us, I
assured her. I had been at Four-Mile Creek the year before to survey five
hundred acres of good bottom-land for Patrick Henry, and was of course
familiar with the locality.
Five hundred yards back from the Ohio was an old fort. I took the girl
there to rest while I patched our moccasins. The Indians said this
structure was so ancient that no one knew who built it. As a matter of
fact it was the remains of George Croghan's stone trading-house. Traces of
an Indian town, antedating the fort, were also to be observed. Very
possibly it was occupied by the Shawnees before they built their first
town at the mouth of the Scioto on the west bank. It was from this Scioto
town that Mary Ingles escaped in 1755, and the history of her daring and
hardships rather belittled my feat in bringing Patricia from the upper
town.
The poor girl continued extremely nervous and I feared she would collapse.
Now that she had tasted freedom she feared the Indians were hot on our
trail. Her gaze was constantly roving to the Ohio. She was fearing to
behold the Shawnees paddling across to recapture us. The moccasins had to
be mended, however, as the night travel down the Scioto path had sadly
damaged them.
As I sewed the whangs through the rips and hastily patched the holes I
could see her worriment was increasing. That period of delay was more
trying to her fortitude than when we were making the détour around
Chillicothe and our very lives hung on luck, or the mercy of her manito.
"There is something in the river," she whispered, her slight figure
growing rigid.
"Only a log," I told her.
"Look! Isn't there something moving in the bushes?" And she clutched my
arm.
"Only the wind ruffling the tops," I soothed.
She was silent for a few minutes and then confessed:
"I dread and hate the river, Basdel. I wish we could get out of sight of
it."
"It's a short trip in the canoe to the Big Sandy."
"And with the possibility of an Indian hiding behind every stump and log
along the shore!"
"Then we will hide the canoe and strike across the bend. A few creeks to
cross, and inside of two days we should reach the Big Sandy. It's about
thirty-five miles and there is the blaze left by the surveyors. Do you
wish that? It will be harder for your feet than riding in the canoe. It
may be easier on your nerves."
"Anything, Basdel, to get away from the river! And can't we start now? I
know we shall see the Indians coming across to catch us if we stay here
much longer."
I tossed her her moccasins and quickly mended mine and put them on.
Leaving her to wait until I could draw up the canoe and hide it, I
proceeded to conceal all traces of our landing as best I could, and then
told her I was ready.
The bottoms on this side of the river are narrower than on the Indian
shore, and the old surveyors' blaze proved to be a wet path. The small
creeks were bordered with cane and when we encountered them it was hard on
the girl. But she minded hardships none, and once we were out of sight of
the river she regained some of her spirits. But a glimpse of the blue
river brought back her old fears as though the Ohio were some monster able
to reach out and seize her.
Before night I proved the river could be good to us. Against her will I
had swung down to the shore and was leading her along a narrow beach in
order to escape a bad tangle of briers when I had the good fortune to
discover a bateau lodged against the bank. The girl begged me not to go
near it although it was obviously empty. I insisted and was rewarded with
a bag containing a bushel of corn. Now we could have cooked it in our
kettle had we been provided with that indispensable article. As it was
there was life in munching the corn.
The undergrowth was a nuisance, being composed of pea-vines, clover,
nettles, cane and briery berry bushes. I would not stop to camp until I
could reach a tract free from the stuff. As a result it was nearly sunset
by the time we halted in a mixed growth of hickory, ironwood and ash on
the banks of a tiny creek. Here we could pick a path that left no signs.
We rested a bit and then followed the creek toward its outlet for half a
mile and came to a log cabin.
The girl dropped to the ground, glaring as if we were beholding the
painted head of a Shawnee. I assured her it was a white man's cabin and
probably empty. Leaving her behind an elm, I scouted the place and
satisfied myself there had been no recent visitors there. I called to her
to join me and proudly displayed an iron kettle I had found by the door.
But when I would have left her to make the kettle boil while I looked for
a turkey, she refused to stay and insisted on accompanying me.
Fortunately I perched a turkey within two hundred feet of the cabin. I
hung the kettle in the fireplace and built a good fire under it and then
dressed the turkey. For some reason the girl preferred the open to the
cabin and remained outside the door. As I finished my task she called to
me excitedly. Grabbing my rifle, I ran out. She was pointing dramatically
at a big blaze on a mulberry-tree. The scar was fresh, and on it some one
had written with a charred stick:
Found some people killed here. We are gone down this way. Douglass.
"What does it mean?" she whispered, her eyes very big as she stared at the
dusky forest wall.
"That would be James Douglass," I mused. "He came down here with Floyd's
surveying-party last spring. I wonder who was killed."
"Enough to know the Indians have been here," she said, drawing closer to
me. "Can't we go the way they did and be safe?"
"We might make it. But 'gone down this way' means they started for New
Orleans. A long, roundabout journey to Williamsburg."
"Oh, never that! I didn't understand," she cried. "I will be braver. But
if the nearest way home was by the Ohio I would go by land. Anything but
the river! Remember your promise that we are not to be taken alive. Now
let's push on."
"And leave this excellent shelter?" I protested.
"Men have been killed here. I can't abide it. A few miles more--please."
Of course she had her own way, but I made her wait until we had cooked
some corn to a mush and I had broiled the turkey. I could have told her it
would be difficult for us to select any spot along the river which had not
been the scene of a killing. So we took the kettle and left a stout, snug
cabin and pushed on through the darkness to the top of a low ridge, where
I insisted we must camp. We made no fire.
I estimated the day's travel to have been twelve miles at the least, which
was a good stint for a man, let alone a girl unused to the forest. Nor had
the work wearied her unduly. At least she had gained something from her
captivity--a strength to endure physical hardships which she had never
known before. With good luck and half-way decent footing I believed
another sunset would find us at the Big Sandy. That night was cold and I
sorely regretted our lack of blankets.
Before sunrise I had a fire burning and the kettle of mush slung on a
green sapling for further cooking. Patricia was curled up like a kitten,
and I recovered my hunting-shirt and slipped it on without her knowing I
had loaned it to her for a covering. She opened her eyes and watched me a
few moments without comprehending where she was. With a little cry she
jumped to her feet and roundly unbraided me for not calling her to help in
the work.
I pointed out a spring, and by the time she was ready to eat the hot mush
and cold turkey, the fire was out and we were ready to march. Our lack of
salt was all that prevented the meal from being very appetizing. We were
not inclined to quarrel with our good fortune, however, but ate enough to
last us the day. As the first rays touched the tops of the trees we
resumed the journey.
We covered a good ten miles when we had our first serious mishap since
leaving the Indian village. Patricia had insisted she be allowed to take
the lead where the blazed trees made the trace easy to follow. I humored
her, for she kept within a rod of me. We struck into a bottom and had to
pick our way through a stretch of cane.
Afraid she might stumble on to a bear and be sadly frightened, I called on
her to wait for me. But she discovered a blaze on a sycamore beyond the
cane and hurried forward. Half-way through the cane she slipped on a wet
root and fell on her side. Ordinarily the accident would not have been
serious, but the moment I saw the expression of pain driving her face
white I knew she was hurt. I dropped the kettle and picked her up. She
winced and groaned and said it was her arm. I carried her to the high
ground and made her sit while I examined her hurt. I expected to find the
bone broken. I was happily disappointed, and yet she was hurt grievously
enough. A section of cane had penetrated the upper arm near the shoulder,
making a nasty wound. As the cane had broken off in the flesh it was
necessary for me to play the surgeon. Using a pair of bullet-molds I
managed to secure a grip on the ugly splinter and pull it out. She gave a
little yelp, but did not move.
"The worst is over," I told her. "Now we must dress it."
Returning and securing the kettle, I dipped water from a spring and
lighted a fire and hung the kettle to boil. Then I hunted for Indian
medicine. I soon found it, the bark of a linn or bee-tree root. This I
pounded and bruised with the butt of my rifle and threw it into the kettle
to boil. Patricia remained very patient and quiet, her eyes following my
every move.
"You're as useful as a housewife, Basdel," she remarked. "More useful than
most women could be."
"Only a trick learned from the environment," I lightly replied. "Does it
hurt much?" This was rhetorical, for I knew a stab wound from the cane
smarted and ached most disagreeably.
"Not much," she bravely replied. "I'm sorry to bother you, though."
"You'll soon be as fit as a fiddle," I assured her. "Border men are
continually helping each other in this fashion."
As soon as the kettle boiled I washed the wound in the liquid and made
sure all of the cane had been removed. This additional probing caused her
pain but she showed no signs not even by flinching. The application at
once had a soothing effect. We waited until the medicine had cooked down
to a jelly-like consistency, when I applied it as a salve, working it into
and thoroughly covering the wound. Then I tied it up with a strip torn
from her skirt. Rather rough surgery, but I knew it would be effective.
She bitterly lamented over the time we were losing, and blamed herself so
severely that I finally consented to go on, providing she would keep
behind me. Had the hurt been in her foot we would have been forced to camp
for several days.
Toward night the country grew more broken and much rougher, and I knew we
were nearing the Sandy. I feared she might trip over some obstacle, and we
camped before the light deserted us. I told her we were within a few miles
of the river and that we ought to strike it at the mouth of Savage Creek,
some four or five miles from the Ohio. After starting a fire, she
volunteered to remain and feed it while I looked for game. This in the way
of doing penance, perhaps. I had the good luck to shoot a deer and we
dined on venison.
After we had eaten she sat close by the fire and was silent for many
minutes. That she was meditating deeply was shown by her indifference to
the night sounds which usually perturbed her. The howling of the wolves,
and the scream of a panther, leaping to make a kill, passed unheard.
Suddenly she declared:
"You were right, Basdel."
"About what, Patsy?"
"About my not fitting in west of the mountains."
"That was said before you were tried. No woman, even border-born, could be
more brave than you have been."
"And I was so woefully wrong when I made fun of your long rifle. I want
you to forgive me."
"Patsy, don't. You are wonderful."
"Still being good to me, Basdel. But I know the truth now. Back over the
mountains I was wicked enough to feel a little superior to frontier folks.
No. Don't wave your hands at me. I must say it. I even felt a little bit
of contempt for those brave women who went barefooted. God forgive me! I
was a cat, Basdel. A vicious cat!"
"Good heavens, Patsy! Say it all and have done with it. Call yourself a
pirate."
She would not respond to my banter, but fell to staring into the handful
of coals. Then the tears began streaming down her face, and at last she
sobbed:
"Poor girl! Poor girl! She was a wonderful friend to me. She never had any
chance, and you can never know how hard she tried to keep my spirits up;
how ready she was to stand between me and harm--me, who has had every
chance! And to end like that! And yet it was far worse to live like that.
It's best as it is, but God must be very good to her to make up for what
she lost. Tell me, Basdel, did she suffer much when she died?"
She could be talking only of Cousin's sister. I declared:
"She suffered none. It's best for her as it is."
She fell asleep with her back against a black walnut, and I spread my
hunting-shirt over her, for the air was shrewdly cool. In the dying coals
I saw pictures, wherein Kirst, Dale, and Lost Sister paraded in turn; the
fate of each the result of race-hatred, and a race-avidity to possess the
land. And a great fear came over me that the girl leaning against the
walnut, the mass of blue-black hair seeming to bow down the proud head,
was destined to be added to the purchase-price the frontier was ever
paying.
It was her talk and tears that induced this mood, for I knew the Shawnees
would have overtaken us by this time had they found our trail on the
Kentucky shore. Common sense told me that for the remainder of our journey
we would, at worst, be compelled to avoid small scouting-parties that had
no intimation of our presence on the Big Sandy.
But so many gruesome pranks had been played by Fate that I was growing
superstitious. And I feared lest the girl should be snatched from me at
the last moment, just as safety was almost within sight. I slept poorly
that night and what little rest I did obtain was along toward morning.
The girl awoke me; and I felt my face burning as I beheld her standing
there, staring down accusingly, the hunting-shirt spread across my chest.
I sprang to my feet and slipped into the shirt, which was made like a
coat, and waited for her to speak.
"So you've been sleeping cold," she said.
"Nay. Very warm," I replied, becoming busy with my moccasins.
"After this I will keep awake nights."
"I did not need it. I always take it off at night It makes me too warm."
"You lie most beautifully, Basdel."
"How is the arm this morning?"
"Much better. But you must be more honest with me. You must not lie any
more."
"You're making a mountain out of a hunting-shirt. It is too warm to wear
at night in this mild weather."
"You're hopeless. Of course it is not too warm in the warm sunshine."
I was glad to let it go at that. And there was no warm sunshine this
morning. The heavens were overcast with gray cold clouds that rode high
and brought wind rather than rain. We missed the sun. Town-dwellers can
never know the degree of dependence the forest wanderer places on the
sunlight for his comfort and good cheer. Despair becomes gaiety under the
genial rays. It is not surprising the sun should be the greatest of all
mysteries to the Indians, and therefore their greatest medicine or god.
We ate of the venison and mush and started for the river. The distance was
not great, but the way was very rough, and there were no more blazed trees
to guide us, the surveyors' trace passing below us and closer to the
shore. But I was familiar with the lay of the land and it was impossible
for me to go far wrong as long as all streams flowed into the Ohio and we
crossed at right angles with their general course.
I carried the kettle slung on my rifle and with my right hand gave the
girl aid when the path became unusually difficult. A wrenched ankle would
leave us as helpless as a broken leg. It required three hours of painful
effort to bring us to the Sandy.
I found a fording and carried her across to the east shore and soon
located a trader's trace. She never dreamed that her father often had
traveled along this faint path in his visits to the Ohio Indians. Now that
the footing was easier she had time to gaze about, and the aspect
depressed her.
The immense hills of sandrock were worn into deep and gloomy ravines by
the streams. In the walls of the ravines black holes gaped, for caves were
almost as numerous as springs. To encourage a lighter mood I explained
that these very caves made the country an ideal place for hiding from the
Indians.
She broke into my talk by moaning:
"May the good God help us! See that!"
She was pointing to a dark opening across the river. This framed the face
of the devil. For a moment I was sadly startled, then laughed hysterically
in relief.
"It's a bear, with a white or gray marking on his face," I explained. "He
is harmless. See! He's finished looking us over and goes back into his
den."
But the effect of the shock to her nerves did not wear off for some time.
To prepare her against more glimpses of bruin I told her how the broken
nature of the country made it a favorite region for bears, and that it had
been long known along the border as a famous hunting-ground for the big
creatures.
"I feel just as if it was the guardian spirit of an evil place, that it is
spying on us and plotting to harm us," she confessed.
Whenever the trace permitted I swung aside from the river and took to the
ridges. The tops of these were covered with chestnuts and their sides with
oaks. More than once on such détours I sighted furtive furry forms
slipping away from their feast on the fallen nuts, but Patricia's gaze was
not sufficiently trained to detect them; and she wandered through the
groves without knowing we were literally surrounded by bears.
While a wild country, it was relieved by many beautiful touches. Such were
the tulip-trees, or yellow poplar. Many of them towered a hundred feet
with scarcely a limb to mar the wand-like symmetry of the six-foot boles.
Scarcely less inspiring were the cucumber-trees, or mountain magnolias,
which here reached the perfection of growth.
Scattered among these tall ones were white and yellow oaks; and they would
be considered giants if standing alone. These were the serene gods of the
forest, and they had a quieting influence on my companion. It was with
regret that I led her back along the rough shore of the river.
I shot a young bear, but Patricia displayed a foolish repugnance and would
eat none of it. Later in the day I killed a deer with such a minute charge
of powder as emphatically to establish my excellence as a marksman for
that one shot at least. We were nearly three days in making the Tug Fork
of the Sandy.
The girl bore the hardships well. The wound on her arm healed rapidly, and
whatever she actually suffered was mental rather than physical. Our kettle
proved second only to my rifle in importance, and if the fare lacked the
savor of salt our appetites made up for the deficit. When we reached the
Tug we were in the region celebrated for Colonel Andrew Lewis' "Sandy
Creek Voyage of Fifty-six," as it was styled with grim facetiousness.
It was one instance when Colonel Lewis failed of carrying out an
enterprise against the Indians. It was a retaliatory raid against the
Shawnees and his force was composed of whites and Cherokees; and his lack
of success was due largely to the inefficiency of the guides who undertook
to pilot him to the mouth of the Sandy. I told the girl of the expedition
as it was lacking in horrible details, and with other carefully selected
narratives tried to keep her from brooding.
She seldom mentioned her father, and when she did it was usually connected
with some phase of life over the mountains. I believe that she was so
thankful to know he escaped the torture that his death lost much of
poignancy. Only once did she revert to his taking off, and then to ask:
"Was there a single chance for him to escape?"
And I emphatically declared he never had the ghost of a chance from the
moment he fell into Black Hoof's hands.
Another ruse to keep her mind engaged was to trace out our course with a
stick on a patch of bare earth. I showed how we should travel to the north
fork of the Sandy and then strike to the head of Bluestone, and follow it
nearly to the mouth before leaving it to cross New River; then a short
journey to the Greenbriar and Howard's Creek.
Had I had any choice I should have preferred to take her over the
mountains to Salem, but my time was not my own and it was imperative that
I leave her at the first place of safety and be about Governor Dunmore's
business. My decision to make Howard's Creek was strengthened by an
adventure which befell us near the end of our first day on the Tug. We
were casting about for a place to camp when we came upon five Indians,
three squaws and two hunters.
Patricia was greatly frightened on beholding them, and it was some time
before I could make her understand that they were friendly Delawares,
accompanied by their women, and not painted nor equipped for war. After
calming her I addressed them and learned they were from White Eye's
village. They were afraid to go near the settlements.
Many "Long Knives," as they called the Virginia militia, were flocking to
the Great Levels of the Greenbriar, and a forward movement of a whole army
was shortly to be expected. As the presence of a large force of our
riflemen so near Howard's Creek would insure the safety of that settlement
I knew it to be the proper ending of our journey.
I induced Patricia to remain in camp with the Indians while I went out and
shot a bear. The bear was very fat and I gave all the meat to the natives,
for which they were grateful. One of them had a smoothbore, but no powder.
I could spare him none.
Patricia was now convinced the Indians would not harm us, but she would
not consent to making camp near them. We walked several more miles before
she was willing to stop and cook the kettle.
My tally-stick gave the thirteenth of September as the date of our arrival
at Howard's Creek. The settlers informed me I had lost a day somewhere on
the long journey and that it was the fourteenth. Nearly all the young and
unmarried men were off to fight in Colonel Lewis' army, and many of the
heads of families, including Davis and Moulton.
Those who were left behind gave us a royal welcome. Uncle Dick, the aged
one, fell to sharpening his long knife with renewed vigor. Patricia and I
had been counted as dead. Dale's death had been reported by young Cousin,
and it caused no great amount of sorrow. The girl was never allowed to
suspect this indifference. In reply to my eager inquiries I was told that
Shelby Cousin was at the Great Levels, serving as a scout.
For once Howard's Creek felt safe. With nothing to worry about the men and
women became garrulous as crows. The children played "Lewis' Army" from
sunrise to sunset. The Widow McCabe swore she would put on a hunting-shirt
and breeches and go to war. The passing of men between the levels and the
creek resulted in some news and many rumors. The meeting-place at the
levels was called Camp Union. Colonel Lewis, pursuant to orders from
Governor Dunmore, had commenced assembling the Augusta, Botetourt and
Fincastle County troops at the levels on August twenty-seven. Cornstalk's
spies had served him well!
His Lordship was to lead an army, raised from the northwest counties and
from the vicinity of Fort Pitt, down the Ohio and unite with Colonel Lewis
at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. Colonel Charles Lewis, with some
Augusta and Botetourt troops, had left Camp Union on September sixth to
drive the cattle and four hundred pack-animals to the mouth of the Elk,
where he was to make canoes for transporting provisions to the Ohio.
The main army had marched from Camp Union on the twelfth, although Colonel
Lewis had received a letter from Dunmore, urging that the rendezvous be
changed to the mouth of the Little Kanawha. Colonel Lewis had replied it
was impossible to alter his line of march.
From a fellow sent out to round up stray bullocks I learned the army would
avoid the deep gorge and falls in the river by marching ten miles inland
and parallel to the east bank, joining Colonel Charles Lewis at the Elk.
By another man I was told how the militia men were given to shooting away
their precious ammunition, and how the colonel had warned that unless the
practise ceased no more powder would be given out. That the Indians were
active and not afraid of the troops was evidenced by an attack on
Stewart's Fort, only four miles from Camp Union. And this, before the
troops marched.
Colonel William Christian was in command of the rear-guard, and his men
were much disgruntled at the thought of not being in the forefront of the
fighting. What was most significant to me, although only an incident in
the estimation of the men left at Howard's Creek, was the attack made by
two Indians on two of Lewis' scouts, Clay and Coward by name.
The scouts had separated and one of the Indians fired on and killed Clay.
Thinking him to be alone, the Indians ran to get his scalp, and Coward at
a distance of a hundred yards shot him dead. Coward then ran back toward
the line of march and the surviving Indian fled down the Great Kanawha to
inform the Shawnee towns that the Long Knives were coming.
I lost no time in securing a horse and a supply of powder and in hurrying
to say good-by to Patricia. She was very sober when I told her I was off
to overtake the army. Placing both hands on my shoulders, she said:
"Basdel, I know you've forgiven all the disagreeable things I've said to
you. I will wait here until I hear from you. I will pray that you have an
equal chance with the other brave men."
"I will come back and take you over the mountains."
"If you will only come back you may take me where you will, dear lad, even
if it be deeper into the wilderness," she softly promised.
And Mrs. Davis bustled out of the cabin and energetically shooed the
curious youngsters away.
And now I was riding away to battle, riding right joyously over the
chestnut ridges and through the thick laurel, through stretches of pawpaw,
beech and flowering poplar, with the pea-vine and buffalo grass soft
underfoot. And my heart was as blithe as the mocking-bird's and there was
no shadow of tomahawk or scalping-knife across my path.
I knew the destiny of the border was soon to be settled, that it hinged on
the lean, leather-faced riflemen ahead, but there was nothing but sunshine
and glory for me in that September day as I hastened to overtake the
grim-faced man who believed His Lordship, John Murray, fourth Earl of
Dunmore, Viscount Fincastle, Baron of Blair, Monlin and of Tillimet, was
Virginia's last royal governor.