WEST RIVER
The Water-snake caught an Adirondack just before ten o'clock, and was
holding him on the trail as I came up, followed by Luysnes and Thiohero.
The Indian was a poor, starved-looking creature in ragged buckskins and
long hair, from which a few wild-turkey quills fell to his scrawny neck.
He wore no paint, had been armed with a trade-rifle, the hammer of which
was badly loosened and mended with copper wire, and otherwise he carried
arrows in a quiver and a greasy bow.
Like a fierce, lean forest thing, made abject by fear, the Adirondack's
sloe-black eyes now flickered at me, now avoided my gaze. I looked down
at the rags which served him for a blanket, and on which lay his
wretched arms, including knife and hatchet.
"Let him loose," said I to the Water-snake; "here is no Mengwe but a
poor brother, who sees us armed and in our paint and is afraid."
And I went to the man and offered my hand. Which he touched as though I
were a rattlesnake.
"Brother," said I, "we white men and Oneidas have no quarrel with any
Saguenay that I know about. Our quarrel is with the Canienga, and that
is the reason we wear paint on this trail. And we have stopped our
Saguenay brother in the forest on his lawful journey, to say to him, and
to all Saguenays, that we mean them no harm."
There was an absolute silence; Luysnes and Thiohero drew closer around
the Tree-eater; the Water-snake gazed at his captive in slight disgust,
yet, I noticed, held his rifle in a position for instant use.
The Saguenay's slitted eyes travelled from one to another, then he
looked at me.
"Brother," I said, "how many Maquas are there camped near the Big
Eddy?"
His low, thick voice answered in a dialect or language I did not
comprehend.
"Can you speak Iroquois?" I demanded.
He muttered something in his jargon. Thiohero touched my arm:
"The Saguenay says he understands the Iroquois tongue, but can speak it
only with difficulty. He says that he is a hunter and not a warrior."
"Ask him to answer me concerning the Maqua."
A burst of volubility spurted from the prisoner.
Again the girl translated the guttural reply:
"He says he saw painted Mohawks fishing in the Big Eddy, and others
watching the trail. He does not know how many, because he can not count
above five numbers. He says the Mohawks stoned him and mocked him,
calling him Tree-eater and Woodpecker; and they drove him away from the
Big Eddy, saying that no Saguenay was at liberty to fish in Canienga
territory until permitted by the Canienga; and that unless he started
back to Canada, where he belonged, the Iroquois women would catch him
and beat him with nettles."
As Thiohero uttered the dread name, Canienga, I could see our captive
shrink with the deep fear that the name inspired. And I think any
Iroquois terrified him, for it seemed as though he dared not sustain the
half-contemptuous, half-indifferent glances of my Oneidas, but his eyes
shifted to mine in dumb appeal for refuge.
"What is my brother's name?" I asked.
"Yellow Leaf," translated the girl.
"His clan?"
"The Hawk," she said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Nevertheless," said I, very quietly, "my Saguenay brother is a man, and
not an animal to be mocked by the Maqua!"
And I stooped and picked up his blanket and weapons, and gave them to
him.
"The Saguenays are free people," said I. "The Yellow Leaf is free as is
his clan ensign, the Hawk. Brother, go in peace!"
And I motioned my people forward.
Our flankers, who, keeping stations, had waited, now started on again,
the Water-snake running swiftly to his post on the extreme right flank.
After ten minutes' silent and swift advance, Thiohero came lightly to my
side on the trail.
"Brother," she whispered, "was it well considered to let loose that
Tree-eating rover in our rear?"
"Would the Oneida take such a wretched trophy as that poor hunter's
tangled scalp?"
"_Neah._ Yet, I ask again, was it wisdom to let him loose, who, for a
mouthful of parched corn, might betray us to the Mengwe?"
"Poor devil, he means no harm to anybody."
"_Then why does he skulk after us?_"
Startled, I turned and caught a glimpse of something slinking on the
ridge between our flankers; but was instantly reassured because no
living thing could dog us without discovery from the rear. And presently
I did see the Screech-owl run forward and hurl a clod of moss into the
thicket; and the Saguenay broke cover like a scared dog, running perdue
so that he came close to Hanatoh, who flung a stick at him.
That was too much for me; and, as the Tree-eater bolted past me, I
seized him.
"Come," said I, dragging him along, "what the devil do you want of us?
Did I not bid you go in peace?"
Thiohero caught him by the other arm, and he panted some jargon at her.
"Koue!" she exclaimed, and her long, sweet whistle of the Canada sparrow
instantly halted us in our tracks, flankers, rearguard, and all.
Thiohero, still holding the Saguenay by his lean, muscular arm, spoke
sharply to him in his jargon; then, at his reply, looked up at me with
the flaming eyes of a lynx.
"Brother," said she, "this Montagnais hunter has given an account that
the Maquas have prepared an ambuscade, knowing we are on the Great
Trail."
I said, coolly: "What reason does the Saguenay give for returning to us
with such a tale?"
"He says," she replied, "that we only, of all Iroquois or white men he
has ever encountered, have treated him like a man and not as an unclean
beast.
"He says that my white brother has told him he is a man, and that if
this is true he will act as real men act.
"He says he desires to be painted upon the breast with a little red
foot, and wishes to go into battle with us. And," she added naively, "to
an Oneida this seems very strange that a Saguenay can be a real man!"
"Paint him," said I, smiling at the Saguenay.
But no Oneida would touch him. So, while he stripped to the clout and
began to oil himself from the flask of gun-oil I offered, I got from
him, through Thiohero, all he had noticed of the ambuscade prepared for
us, and into which he himself had run headlong in his flight from the
stones and insults of the Mohawks at the Big Eddy.
While he was thus oiling himself, Luysnes shaved his head with his
hunting blade, leaving a lock to be braided. Then, very quickly, I took
blue paint from Thiohero and made on the fellow's chest a hawk. And,
with red paint, under this I made a little red foot, then painted his
fierce, thin features as the girl directed, moving a dainty finger
hither and thither but never touching the Saguenay.
To me she said disdainfully, in English: "My brother John, this is a
wild wolf you take hunting with you, and not a hound. The Saguenays are
real wolves and not to be tamed by white men or Iroquois. And like a
lone wolf he will run away in battle. You shall see, brother John."
"I hope not, little sister."
"You shall see," she repeated, her pretty lip curling as Luysnes began
to braid the man's scalp-lock. "You think him a warrior, now, because he
is oiled and wears war paint and lock. But I tell you he is only a wild
Montagnais hunter. Warriors are not made with a word."
"Sometimes men are," said I pleasantly.
The girl came closer to me, looked up into my face with unfeigned
curiosity.
"What manner of white man are you, John?" she asked. "For you speak like
a preacher, yet you wear no skirt and cross, as do the priests of the
Praying Indians."
"Little sister," said I, taking both her hands, "I am only a young man
going into battle for the first time; and I have yet to fire my first
shot in anger. If my white and red brothers--and if you, little
sister--do full duty this day, then we shall be happy, living or dead.
For only those who do their best can look the Holder of Heaven in the
face."
She gave me a strange glance; our hands parted. I gave the
Canada-sparrow call in the minor key--as often the bird whistles--and,
at the signal, all my scouts came creeping in.
"We cross West River here," said I, "and go by the left bank in the same
order of march, crossing the shoulder of the mountain by the Big Eddy,
then fording the river once more, so as to take their ambuscade from the
north and in the rear."
They seemed to understand. The Montagnais, in his new paint, came around
behind me like some savage dog that trusts only his owner. And I saw my
Oneidas eyeing him as though of two minds whether to ignore him or sink
a hatchet into his narrow skull.
"Who first sights a Mohawk," said I, "shall not fire or try to take a
scalp to satisfy his own vanity and his desire for glory. No. He shall
return to me and report what he sees. For it is my business to order the
conduct of this battle.... March!"
* * * * *
We had forded West River, crept over the mountain's shoulder, recrossed
the river roaring between its rounded and giant bowlders, and now were
creeping southward toward the Big Eddy.
Already I saw ahead of me the brook that dashes into that great
crystal-green pool, where, in happier days, I have angled for those huge
trout that always lurk there.
And now I caught a glimpse of the pool itself, spreading out between
forested shores. But the place was still as death; not a living thing
nor any sign of one was to be seen there--not a trace of a fire, nor of
any camp filth, nor a canoe, nor even a broken fern.
Moment after moment, I studied the place, shore and slope and hollow.
Tahioni, flat on his belly in the Great Trail, lay listening and looking
up the slope, where our Saguenay had warned us Death lay waiting.
The Water-snake slowly shook his head and cast a glance of fierce
suspicion at the Montagnais, who lay beside me, grasping his sorry
trade-rifle, his slitted gaze of a snake fixed on the forest depths
ahead.
Suddenly, Nick caught my arm in a nervous grasp, and "My God!" says he,
"what is that in the tree--in the great hemlock yonder?"
And now we began to see their sharpshooters as we crawled forward,
standing upright on limbs amid the foliage of great evergreens, to scan
the trail ahead and the forest aisles below--these Mohawk panthers that
would slay from above.
Under them, hidden close to the ground, lay their comrades on either
side of the little ravine, through which the trail ran. We could not see
them, but we never doubted they were there.
Four of their tree-cat scouts were visible: I made the sign; our rifles
crashed out. And, thump! slap! thud! crash! down came their dead
a-sprawling and bouncing on the dead leaves. And up rose their astounded
comrades from every hollow, bush and windfall, only to drop flat at our
rifles' crack, and no knowing if we had hit any among them.
A veil of smoke lay low among the ferns in front of us. There was a
terrible silence in the forest, then screech on screech rent the air, as
the panther slogan rang out from our unseen foes; and, like a dreadful
echo, my Oneidas hurled their war cry back at them; and we all sprang to
our feet and moved swiftly forward, crouching low in our own rifle
smoke.
There came a shot, and a cloud spread among the boughs of a tall
hemlock; but the fellow left his tree and slid down on t'other side,
like a squirrel, and my wild Saguenay was after him in a flash.
I saw the Oneidas looking on as though stupefied; saw the Saguenay,
shoulder deep in witch-hopple, seize something, heard the mad struggle,
and ran forward with Tahioni, only to hear the yelping scalp-cry of the
Montagnais, and see him in the tangle of witch-hopple, both knees on his
victim's shoulders, ripping off the scalp, his arms and body spattered
with blood.
The stupefaction of the Oneidas lasted but a second, then their battle
yell burst out in jealous fury indescribable.
I saw Tahioni chasing a strange Indian through a little hollow full of
ferns; saw Godfrey Shew raise his rifle and kill the fugitive as coolly
as though he were a running buck.
Nick, his shoulder against a beech tree, stood firing with great
deliberation at something I could not see.
The three Frenchmen, de Golyer, Luysnes, and Johnny, had gone around, as
though deer driving, and were converging upon a little wooded knoll,
from which a hard-wood hogback ran east.
Over this distant ridge, like shadows, I could see somebody's light feet
running, checkered against the sunshine beyond, and I fired, judging a
man's height, if stooping. And saw something dark fall and roll down
into a gully full o' last year's damp and rotting leaves.
Re-charging my rifle, I strove to realize that I had slain, but could
not, so fierce the flame in me was burning at the thought of the
children's scalps these Iroquois had taken.
"Is he down, Johnny Silver?" I bawled.
"Fairly paunched!" shouted Luysnes. "Tell your Oneidas they can take his
hair, for I shan't touch it."
But Johnny Silver, in no wise averse, did that office very cheerfully.
"Nom de Dieu!" he panted, tugging at the oiled lock and wrenching free
the scalp; "I have one veree fine jou-jou, sacre garce! I take two; mek
for me one fine wallet!"
Down by the river the rifles were cracking fast and a smoke mist filled
the woods. Ranging widely eastward we had turned their left flank--now
their right--and were forcing them to a choice between the Sacandaga
trail southward or the bee-line back to Canada by the left bank of West
River.
How many there were of them I never have truly learned; but that
scarcely matters to the bravest Indian, when ambuscaded and taken so
completely by surprise from the rear.
No Indians can stand that, and but few white men are able to rally under
such circumstances.
The Screech-owl, locked in a death struggle with a young Mohawk, broke
his arm, stabbed him, and took his scalp before I could run to his aid.
And there on the ground lay four other scalps, two of white children,
with the Little Red Foot painted on all.
I looked down at the dead murderer. He was a handsome boy, not twenty,
and wore a white mask of war paint and two bars of scarlet on his chin,
I thought--then realized that they were two thick streaks of running
blood.
"May his clan bewail him!" shouted the burly Screech-owl. "Let the
Mohawk women mourn their dead who died this day at West River! The
Oneida mock them! Koue!" And his terrific scalp-yell pierced the racket
of the rifles.
I heard a gruffling sound and thick breathing from behind a pine, where
the Water-snake was scalping one of the tree-cat scouts--grunting and
panting as he tugged at the tough and shaven skin, which he had grasped
in his teeth, plying his knife at the same time because the circular
incision had not been continuous.
Suddenly I felt sick, and leaned against a tree, fighting nausea and a
great dizziness. And was aware of an arm around my shoulder.
Whereupon I straightened up and saw the little maid of Askalege beside
me, looking at me very strangely.
At the same instant I heard a great roaring and cursing and a crash
among the river-side willows, and was horrified to see Nick down on his
back a-clawing and tearing and cuffing a Mohawk warrior, who was
clinging to him and striving to use his hatchet.
We made but a dozen leaps of it, Thiohero and I, and were in a wasp-nest
of Mohawks ere we knew it.
I heard Nick roar again with pain and fury, but had my hands too full to
succor him, for a wild beast painted yellow was choking me and wrestling
me off my feet, and little Thiohero was fighting like a demon with her
knife, on the water's edge.
The naked warrior I clutched was so vilely oiled that my fingers slipped
over him as though it were an eel I plucked at, and his foul and
stinking breath in my face was like a full fed bear's.
Then, as he strangled me, out of darkening eyes I saw his arm
lifted--glimpsed the hatchet's sparkle--saw an arm seize his, saw a
broad knife pass into his belly as though it had been butter--pass
thrice, slowly, ripping upward so that he stood there, already
gralloched, yet still breathing horribly and no bowels in him.... His
falling hatchet clinked among the stones. Then he sank like a stricken
bull, bellowed, and died.
And, as he fell, I heard my Saguenay gabbling, "Brother! brother!" in my
ears, and felt his hand timidly seeking mine.
Breath came back, and eyesight, too, in time to see Nick and his Mohawk
enemy on their feet again, and the Indian strike my comrade with clubbed
rifle, turn, and dart into the willows.
My God, what a crack! And down went Nick, like a felled pine in the
thicket.
But now in my ears rang a distressful crying, like a gentle wild thing
wounded to the death; and I saw two Mohawks had got the little maid of
Askalege between them, and were drowning her in the Big Eddy.
I ran out into the water, but Tahioni, her brother, came in a flying
leap from the bank above me, and all four went down under water as I
reached them.
They came up blinded, staggering, one by one, and I got Thiohero by the
hair, where she lay in shallow water, and dragged her ashore behind me.
Then I saw her brother clear his eyes of water and swing his hatchet
like swift lightning, and heard the smashing skull stroke.
The other Mohawk dived like an otter between us, and I strove to spear
him with my knife, but only slashed him and saw the long, thin string of
blood follow where he swam under water.
My powder-pan was wet and flashed when I tried to shoot him, where I
stood shoulder deep in the Big Eddy.
Then came a thrashing, splashing roar like a deer herd crossing a marshy
creek, and, below us, I saw a dozen Mohawks leap into the water and
thrash their way over. And not a rifle among us that was dry enough to
take a toll of our enemies crossing the West River plain in sight!
Lord, what a day! And not fought as I had pictured battles. No! For it
was blind combat, and neither managed as planned nor in any kind of
order or discipline. Nor did we ever, as I have said, discover how many
enemies were opposed to us. And I am certain they believed that a full
regiment had struck their rear; otherwise, I think it had proven a very
bloody business for me and my people. Because the Mohawks are brave
warriors, and only the volley at their backs and the stupefying
down-crash of their tree-scouts demoralized them and left them capable
only of fighting like cornered wild things in a maddened effort to get
away.
Lord, Lord! What a battle! For all were filthy with blood, and there
were brains and hair and guts sticking to knives and hatchets, and
bodies and limbs all smeared. Good God! Was this war? And the green
flies already whirling around us in the sunshine, and settling on the
faces of the dead!--
* * * * *
The little maid of Askalege, leaning on her brother's shoulder, was
coughing up water she had swallowed.
Nick, with a bloody sconce, but no worse damage, sat upon a rock and
washed out his clotted hair.
"Hell!" quoth he, when he beheld me. "Here be I with a broken poll, and
yonder goes the Indian who gave it me."
"Sit still, idiot!" said I, and set the ranger's whistle to my lips.
White and red, my men came running from their ferocious hunting. Not a
man was missing, which was another lesson in war to me, for I thought
always that death dealt hard with both sides, and I could not understand
how so many guns could be fired with no corpse to mourn among us.
We had taken ten scalps; and, as only Johnny Silver among my white
people fancied such trophies, my Oneidas skinned the noddles of our
quarry, and, like all Indians, counted any scalp a glory, no matter
whose knife or bullet dropped the game.
We all bore scratches, and some among us were stiff, so that the scratch
might, perhaps, be called a wound. A bullet had barked de Golyer,
another had burned Tahioni; Silver proudly wore a knife wound; the
Screech-owl had been beaten and somewhat badly bitten. As for Nick, his
head was cracked, and the little maid of Askalege still spewed water.
As for me, my throat was so swollen and bruised I could scarce speak or
swallow.
However, there was work still to be done, so I took Godfrey and Luysnes,
the Screech-owl, and the Water-snake; motioned Yellow Leaf, the
Montagnais to follow, and set off across West River, determined to drive
our enemies so deep into the wilderness that they would never forget the
Big Eddy as long as they survived on earth.