THE ATTACK ON THE TRADING-POST
Following the disappearance of Black Ear, those in the trading-post
redoubled their vigilance. Each person was armed to the fullest
possible extent, and each kept on the alert for a first view of the red
enemy.
"They'll not wait another day," said one of the frontiersmen. "They
will be too much afraid of the others coming back to aid us."
Presently came a noise from the direction of the brook and the river,
and James Morris ran to that portion of the inclosure. In the uncertain
light he saw seven or eight dark objects moving forward. Some were
Indians and some were branches over which the red men had thrown
blankets. The branches they carried at arm's length, so that in the
semi-darkness it looked as if one Indian was moving by the side of
another.
"They are coming!" shouted the trader, and taking aim at one of the
objects, he fired.
A yell rent the air, followed by a war-whoop from the little band
under Black Ear, and they lost no time in seeking the shelter of some
brushwood bordering the brook. One had been hit in the shoulder, but
the wound was of small consequence.
"Wait up--I don't reckon they're all coming that way!" sang out Tony
Jadwin. "They wouldn't be so foolish."
"You're right," answered Henry, who was close at hand, and who
understood Indians pretty well since those first fights so many years
before.
"Tony, you and Henry can stay at the front of the post," called out
James Morris. "I'll see if they mean business, or if it is only a ruse."
There was no time to say more, and a second later Henry and the old
hunter found themselves alone, the youth close to the stockade gates,
and the old frontiersman at a corner, where two loopholes covered an
angle of the palisades.
"I see somebody!" called out the youth, a minute later. "He is sneaking
by the big hemlocks."
"Nail him," answered Jadwin, laconically, and a second later his own
rifle rang out, and a red man who had shown himself for a moment
tottered and fell face downward in the snow. Then Henry fired and a
second Indian staggered for a moment and then limped back whence he had
come.
The killing of one follower and the wounding of another was not what
Rain Cloud had anticipated this early in the attack, and he and the
others came to a temporary halt about fifty yards from the stockade
gates.
"Wait until Black Ear has drawn them away," he said.
The Indians down by the brook were now raising all the din possible.
But the shot from James Morris's rifle made them chary about showing
themselves, and although Black Ear urged them forward not one would go.
"Let Rain Cloud open the gates," they said. "We have drawn the white
men to this corner, that is enough."
The din went on for fully quarter of an hour, and the Indies hoisted
their dummy figures into view several times. But James Morris and the
others were too wise to fire.
"Save your ammunition until you are certain it is a redskin," he said.
Presently Henry gave a low whistle, to signify that the Indians were
making toward the gates. At once his uncle came running up, leaving two
frontiersmen to watch the movements of the warriors under Black Ear.
"Have you seen them, Henry?"
"Yes, just spotted four of 'em," was the low answer.
"I see three," put in Tony Jadwin. "Let us wait till they come out into
plain view."
"Right you are," came from the trader. "I rather thought they'd try for
the gates."
After this there was utter silence for several minutes. Then, just as
the din down by the brook started up again, a dozen Indians came out of
the forest with a rush, straight for the gates.
"Now then, give it to 'em!" shouted James Morris.
Three rifles spoke up almost as one piece, and down went three of the
red warriors, and two others stumbled over them. For a second the
remainder wavered, and the voice of Rain Cloud was heard, urging them
forward.
"They are coming again!" cried Henry. He had been reloading his rifle.
Now he grabbed up another weapon, cocked and primed for use.
"Give it to 'em!" shouted Tony Jadwin. "Sail right in!" And crack! went
one of his guns and another Indian went down. Then Henry and his uncle
fired. In the meantime came several shots from the vicinity of the
brook. A few of the Indians discharged their guns, but the palisades
kept the whites from harm.
[Illustration: Crack went one of his guns and another Indian went down.]
Dismayed by the accuracy of the whites' aim, the Indians under Rain
Cloud fell back. Those down by the brook waited for a victorious
signal from the vicinity of the gates, but as it did not come, they,
too, ran back into the forest, and for the time being the attack came
to an end.
"They didn't gain much that trip," observed Jadwin, dryly, as he
reloaded his guns, and the others did the same. "A few more like it and
they'll begin to think they've struck a hornet's nest."
"It's lucky we didn't all go down to the brook," said Henry. "These
rascals in front would have been over the gates in no time and had 'em
wide open."
"Never trust a redskin to do what you think he's going to do," said
Jadwin. "It ain't in his nature to do a thing straight-like. He'll
trick you if he possibly can."
Satisfied that the attack was over for the time being, James Morris ran
down to where the two frontiersmen were guarding the brook and river
side of the post. They reported that the Indians had withdrawn, taking
their wounded or dead comrades with them.
"I hit one of 'em in the side," said one of the guards. "I think he got
it putty bad, too."
"Keep on the watch," said the trader. "They may come back when we least
expect it."
"We're going to keep on the watch, seeing as how we don't want to be
sculped," said the second frontiersman.
After that there was little to do but to wait until morning. More hot
coffee was made, and Henry ran around serving each man with a big bowl
of it. The clouds were drifting away again, leaving the sky as bright
as it had been early in the evening.
"I hope those redskins don't try to ambush those who are on the hunt,"
observed James Morris, as the first streak of dawn began to show in the
east.
"If you think you can spare me, I'll go out and do what I can to warn
'em," came from Tony Jadwin.
"Do you think you can make it, Tony? I don't want you to get shot down."
"I can make it, don't worry about that," answered the old frontiersman,
confidently.
The matter was talked over, and it was decided that Jadwin should leave
at once, before it became too light. He departed by way of a small
tunnel which had been dug under the palisade and which came out of the
ground in a hollow tree on the edge of the forest. This tunnel was
something new, having been dug at James Morris's direction immediately
after the traders return to the post during the previous summer.
"The Indians may be in camp near that tree," said the trader. "If so,
you'll have your hands full keeping out of their sight."
As it happened some of the red men were close to the hollow tree when
Jadwin reached the outer end of the tunnel. But he outwitted them by
climbing up inside the tree and then swinging from that tree to the
next, from which he dropped behind some brushwood and sneaked away
without the Indians suspecting his movements.
The coming of morning was hailed with relief by those inside the
trading-post. The vigil of the night had been an exacting one and all
were more or less worn out. But sleep was as yet out of the question.
"We must keep awake until we hear from Jadwin," said James Morris. "I
trust he returns by the middle of the afternoon."
Asked by his uncle to do so, Henry prepared a hasty breakfast for all
hands, of which they partook freely. It was scarcely finished when one
of the frontiersmen, stationed near the gates, announced that an Indian
was showing himself, bearing a branch and a white flag.
"What do you want?" called out James Morris, as he showed himself at
the gates.
"Want to talk to white brother," answered the red man.
"Go ahead and talk, but don't come any closer."
"White brother heap brave man," went on the Indian. "Rain Cloud love a
brave man."
"Never mind about my bravery. What do you want?"
"Rain Cloud has forty warriors under him, and forty more will soon
arrive. Rain Cloud would save his white brother from being killed and
scalped. Let the white trader and his friends go away from the post in
peace, taking food with them, and the red men shall not touch them. Our
white brothers can go to Fort Pitt."
"So you want me to surrender the post, with all that is in it, eh?"
"Our white brother can take food, and his guns."
"Supposing I don't care to surrender?"
"Rain Cloud would be sorry. How can three men hold out against so many
Indians? My white brother had better think deeply ere he refuses to go."
"What makes Rain Cloud think that we have but three men here?"
"Rain Cloud has counted them and he knows."
"There were but a few men here yesterday morning. But we have more now,
and Rain Cloud knows full well that they can shoot."
"Then my white brother refuses to surrender?" asked the Indian, angrily.
"I have not said that, Rain Cloud. I must talk it over first with my
men. Come back later for my answer."
"Be it so. Rain Cloud will wait, but not for long," replied the Indian,
and walked back into the wilderness once more.
"What do you think of his proposition?" asked James Morris, after he
had told the others of what the Indian chief had said.
"It would be all well enough if you could trust the Indians," said one
of the frontiersmen. "But they ain't to be trusted nohow."
"That's just it," came from Henry. "They'd let us march out and then
shoot us down in cold blood. I'd never trust that band to let us march
to Fort Pitt in peace."
"I do not believe in surrendering the post--at least, not just yet,"
said James Morris. "If Jadwin manages to get back with the others, we
can drive these rascals away, and perhaps give them a lesson which they
will never forget."
"Why not put the Indians off as long as possible, Uncle Jim? Tell Rain
Cloud we can't make up our minds what to do."
This was agreed to, and when the Indian chief came for his answer James
Morris told him the force at the post was divided on the question.
"You must surrender at once," said Rain Cloud. "If this is not done my
warriors will renew the attack. The forty other Indians have arrived."
"We'll not surrender," said the trader and made a sign that the
interview was over. As he did this a rifle shot rang out, and he fell
back into Henry's arms, limp and unconscious.