QUICKEYE AND THE "ZEBRA"
The flotilla under command of Lieutenant Cuyler consisted of twenty
bateaux, nineteen of which were heavily laden with recruits and
supplies of ammunition, provisions, and goods for Fort Detroit. The
other boat, which generally headed the fleet, was of lighter and more
graceful construction than the others, and was reserved for the
commander of the expedition. In it also travelled the two ladies, who
were thus undertaking an adventurous journey into the far western
wilderness. This much information concerning his sister's present
surroundings Donald Hester gained at Fort Schlosser, from which place
the flotilla had departed six days before his own arrival.
Six days! It was a long lead to overcome, and everything he dreaded
might happen in that time. Still, he did not anticipate that the
convoy would run into danger before it neared Detroit, which place it
was not expected to reach in less than two weeks. If, therefore, he
could overtake it within one week, or before it entered the Detroit
river, all might yet be well. Having reached this conclusion, the
young officer bustled about with such energy, that he had the
satisfaction of getting his own party started from Fort Schlosser late
that same afternoon, instead of waiting until the following morning, as
had been at first planned.
Once under way, the active young fellow seized a paddle, and so aided
the progress of the big canoe by his own efforts that ere darkness set
in the river had been stemmed to its source, and the broad expanse of
Lake Erie lay before them, still glimmering in the western glow. Not
until they were well beyond the influence of the strong current setting
toward the river, would he permit a landing to be made.
Donald had been perplexed from the start to find that there were five
Indians in the canoe, instead of the four promised by Major Wilkins.
He was also amazed to discover that none of them could speak English,
for they all shook their heads with expressionless faces when he
addressed them in that tongue. By using signs and the few Iroquois
words that he could remember, he managed to make known his wishes; but,
although these were obeyed, he imagined there was some mystery in the
air, and became keenly watchful for its development.
From the very first he was suspicious of the fifth, or extra member, of
the crew, who occupied the extreme stern of the canoe and acted as
steersman. None of the Indians were very pleasant to look upon; but
the face of this individual was so thickly covered with paint of many
colors that its personality was concealed, as though by a mask. This
paint being laid on in narrow stripes, Mr. Bullen was moved to call him
the "Zebra," a name that seemed to please the fellow, and to which he
readily answered.
That night the white men slept beneath the canoe, which was turned half
over, with its upper gunwale resting on a couple of short, but stout,
forked sticks; and, acting upon Donald's insistent advice, they kept
watch by turn, two hours at a time, during the night. Even "Tummas"
was so thoroughly impressed with a sense of responsibility, that his
two hours of watchfulness were passed in a nervous tremble and with
hardly a blink of his wide-open eyes. Donald stood the last watch, and
at its conclusion he woke the Indians and ordered them to prepare
breakfast.
Day was just breaking, and while two of the Indians attended to the
fire the other three scattered through the woods in hopes of picking up
some unwary bit of game. While they were thus engaged, Donald took a
long refreshing swim in the cool waters of the lake. He did not arouse
the paymaster until the hunters had returned, bringing a wild turkey
and a few brace of pigeons, by which time breakfast was ready. Then,
to his dismay, the little man insisted on having a bath in his tub,
which proved a very tedious operation, on being shaved, and on
performing so elaborate a toilet, that the sun was more than an hour
high, and Donald was fuming with impatience, before they were ready to
start.
All this time the Indians, who had swallowed their breakfast in
silence, as well as with despatch, smoked their pipes and gazed with
delighted wonder at the novel operations of "Tummas" and his master.
As the several compartments of the tub yielded up their mysterious
contents, the dusky spectators gave vent to ejaculations of amazement,
and several times he of the striped face stepped forward for a closer
inspection of the marvellous receptacle.
"I say, Bullen, this sort of thing will never do!" began Donald, when
the paymaster was at length resplendent in his completed toilet, and
they were once more under way. "We ought to have been off three hours
ago. If we continue to waste time at this rate, there is no possible
chance of overtaking Cuyler, and you know as well as I what that may
mean to me."
"Yes, my dear fellow, I understand; but how can I help it? You can't,
of course, expect a gentleman to go without his daily tub, and I assure
you that in my desire to expedite our journey I haven't occupied more
than half my usual time this morning."
Donald groaned. Then, with a happy thought, he inquired: "How would it
do to take your bath in the evening, as soon as we make a landing, and
while supper is being prepared?"
"It would be entirely contrary to custom," replied the other. "Still,
it might be done for a short time, and for the sake of being
accommodating I am willing to try it. I don't think you need fear,
though, that we shall not pursue this journey with even more than
ordinary speed, for I mean to appear before these rascals in my rôle of
Fire King this very evening, and thereafter I fancy they will be only
too anxious to push ahead, in order to be rid of me as quickly as
possible."
"All right," replied Donald, "and I wish you success in it." Then he
bent with redoubled energy over his paddle. In spite of his efforts,
he was not satisfied with the progress made by the canoe. She appeared
to drag. It did not seem as though the Indians were doing good work,
and he spoke sharply to them several times in the course of the
morning. He had a suspicion that the steersman often turned the flat
of his paddle against the course of the canoe; but, as his back was
turned, he could not be certain of this. What he did know for a surety
was that, as they ran in toward the beach for a short midday halt, the
Zebra, with unpardonable carelessness, allowed the frail craft to run
against a sharp rock that cut a jagged gash in her birchen side. The
next moment she was on the beach, so that no one got even a wetting;
but a long delay ensued while a patch of bark was stitched over the
rent and payed with pitch.
When at length all was again in readiness for a start, Donald calmly
assumed the position of steersman in the stern, at the same time
motioning the Zebra to take his place among the paddlers. The man
hesitated a moment, seemed about to refuse, and then, with a second
glance at the young officer's determined face, slowly obeyed the order.
During the remainder of that afternoon the Indians labored at their
paddles in silence, and with scowling brows. It was evident to Donald
that a crisis of some kind was at hand. Even the paymaster noticed
that an uncomfortable feeling prevailed in the boat, but he had
implicit faith that his performance of that evening would set
everything to rights.
"These fellows will be my abject slaves before I am done with them," he
remarked cheerfully, and relying on their ignorance of English he
explained fully what he proposed to do. Not only would he repeat the
tricks that had already proved so successful, but he planned to
complete the subjugation of these particular savages by causing certain
green and blue flames to dance above their camp-fire. The whole was to
conclude with a slight explosion, that should leave the scene in
darkness, save for a weird phosphorescent light emanating from a face
that would appear suspended in mid-air. This last effort, as the
paymaster explained to Donald, he would produce by painting the face on
a bit of bark that should be attached to a fish-line. One end of this
should be tossed over the limb of a tree, and the affair should be
jerked into position at the proper moment.
The projector of this entertainment was enthusiastic and confident.
"Tummas," who was an interested listener to all that was said, chuckled
audibly, as he reflected upon the dismay of the savages, and even
Donald looked forward to the experiment with interest.
Alas! that such well-laid plans should be doomed to failure; but such
was the lamentable fact. When, soon after landing, the paymaster
called for boiling water, the Indians watched him swallow his
effervescing mixture with unmoved faces. When he hurled a ball of
clay, charged with fulminating powder, at a tree, missed his mark, and
caused the missile to fall harmlessly in the water, they gazed at him
pityingly. When, an hour later, he strolled over to their camp-fire
and carelessly tossed what appeared to be a stone into it, they drew
back a few paces, watched the play of colored flames that followed,
with interest, and were not at all disturbed by the small explosion
that took place a minute afterwards. To crown all, when their
attention was attracted to a flaming face swinging in the darkness
above their heads, the Zebra deliberately raised his gun and blew the
bit of bark to atoms, with the point-blank discharge of a load of
buckshot. Then the Indians calmly resumed their positions and their
pipes, while the crestfallen author of this signal failure, unable to
find words to express his feelings, sullenly retired to the canoe and
rolled himself in a blanket.
The next morning, as Donald emerged from his plunge in the lake, he
detected one of the Indians crouching beside the canoe, and evidently
tampering with its bark covering. Naked as he was, the young fellow
bounded to the spot and, ere the Indian was aware of his presence,
knocked him sprawling with a single blow. Like a panther the savage
sprang to his feet, and, knife in hand, rushed at his assailant.
Suddenly he paused, his outstretched arm fell to his side, and he stood
like one petrified, with his eyes fixed on Donald. Then, in excellent
English, he said slowly:--
"Why did not Quickeye tell his red brother that he was of the Totem of
the Bear and of the magic circle of the Metai?"
As he spoke, the Indian pointed to the rude device that, tattooed in
blue lines, had ornamented Donald Hester's left arm, just below the
shoulder, ever since he was an infant.
Instead of answering this question, the young man replied scornfully:--
"So you can speak English, can you, you red scoundrel? And you call me
'Quickeye' because I caught you peering from the bushes at the Devil's
Hole, do you? Yes, I am quick-eyed enough to read every thought in
your black heart. Do I not know that you came in the canoe with the
white medicine man from Oswego? Do I not know that you listened
outside the open window of the mess-room at Fort Niagara, while the
white chiefs talked at night? Do I not know that you painted your
face, with the thought that the white man was a fool and would no
longer recognize you? Then you came in this canoe that you might make
it go slow, like a swan whose wing is broken by the hunter. Do not I
know all this as well as all the things you have done, and thought of
doing? You are a fool! The Metai know everything. Bah! If I had not
use for you, I would strike you dead. But I need your strength, and so
long as you serve me truly you shall live. Go, and be ready to start
ere the sun rises from yonder water."
With this the young man turned on his heel, while the humbled savage
slunk away, cringing as though he had felt the lashing of whips. From
that moment there was no further trouble, and the canoe of the white
men was sped on its journey at a pace to satisfy even their impatience.