AGAINST THE CURRENT
Had I been in funds, I should have preferred a horse for the up-river
trip. As it was, I was glad of the opportunity to make the passage by
boat with my friend the captain, and in so doing, to earn a pocketful of
wages. It is not, however, a proceeding I should advise to be undertaken
by one who lacks the strength and experience necessary for poling and
cordelling.
At times, to be sure, we were able to relieve our labors by an
occasional resort to the sails, when the wind chanced to be fair. But in
the very nature of the case, this aid could never be more than
temporary, since the windings of the river were bound, sooner or later,
to make a headwind of what had been a fair breeze.
So, for the most part, our voyage all the way from Natchez to St. Louis
meant one continuous round, from morning till night, of setting our
poles at the boat's prow, each in his turn, and tramping to the stern
along the side gangways, or walking-boards,--there to raise our poles
and return to the prow, to repeat the laborious proceeding. I can say
that keelboat poling is a splendid method of developing the muscles of
the back and lower limbs, provided the man who attempts it begins with a
sufficient stock of strength and endurance to carry him over the first
week.
This does not mean that I enjoyed the trip. Softened by my Winter in
Washington, the first few days out of Natchez were as trying to me as to
the regular members of the crew after their carousals and excesses in
New Orleans and Natchez. Our boat, which had come down with a cargo of
lead from the mines about St. Louis, was returning with a consignment of
the cheap calicos and the coarse broadcloth called strouding, which form
the basis of the Indian barter in the fur trade; and cloth in bolts,
closely stowed, is not the lightest of cargoes.
But, once we had worked ourselves into condition, we shoved our craft
upstream from daylight till nightfall at an average speed of over three
miles an hour. Whenever the bank and channel permitted, we eased our
labor at the poles by passing a towline ashore and cordelling the boat,
while our captain, one of the best on the river, was ever alert to hoist
sail with every favorable breeze.
If I did not enjoy the voyage, I nevertheless had cause to feel thankful
for the hard work which held my melancholy thoughts in check and sent me
to my bunk at night so outspent that I slept as soundly as any man
aboard. A man treading the walking-boards, bowed over his pole, may
brood on his troubles for a week or two, but none could do so longer
unless his system were full of malaria. For the constant, vigorous
exercise in the open air is bound to send the good red blood coursing
through every vein of the body, until even the most clouded brain must
throw off its vapors.
Once free from the melancholy which had oppressed me the first few days,
I gave most of my thought to the problem of how I should fulfil my vow
to cross the barrier that was so soon to lie between my lady and myself.
My main hope lay in the possibility of obtaining Lieutenant Pike's
permission to join his expedition as a volunteer. But he was so strict
in his adherence to the most rigid requirements of his position as an
officer, that there was grave reason to doubt whether he would accept my
services without an order from the General.
There were other plans to be considered, one of which was that I should
throw in my fortunes with Senor Liza and his creole fellows. The idea
was distasteful, yet, reflecting on what little I had learned of the
plans of Colonel Burr and his friends, I was not so sure but that Liza's
party were quite as loyal. At the least, I could see no harm in aiding
Liza to carry a trading expedition into Santa Fe. So far as my own plans
were concerned, the venture would promise more at the other end than if
I joined Pike's party. If I reached that other end, I should be going
among the people of New Spain in company with persons of their own
blood.
There remained the most desperate plan of all. I could set out alone,
and trust to my unaided craft and single rifle to carry me safe across
the hundreds of miles of desert and the snowy mountains of which
Alisanda had spoken. I had travelled the wilderness traces and the
trackless forests too often alone to have any fear of wild beasts. But
there was the uncertainty of being able to kill enough meat to keep from
starving in the Western wilds, and on the other hand the certainty of
encountering bands of the little-known Pawnees and Ietans.
Rather than not go at all, I was resolved to attempt this desperate
venture. But my plan was to seek first to attach myself to my friend's
party, and, failing that, to open negotiations with Liza.
After a brief stop at Kaskaskia, that century-old trading post of the
French, we undertook the last run to St. Louis with much spirit. The
greater part of the crew were eager to reach St. Louis in time for the
celebration of Independence Day. In this we were disappointed, being so
set back by headwinds that we did not tie up to the home wharf until the
evening of the sixth of July.
My first inquiries relieved me of my fear that Lieutenant Pike had
already started. He was waiting with his party, fourteen or fifteen
miles upstream, at the Cantonment Belle Fontaine, established the
previous year by General Wilkinson. I had already learned at Kaskaskia
that the General had passed us in his barge far down the river, and had
arrived in St. Louis several days before us. To this was now added the
news that he had gone on up to Belle Fontaine.
Such an opportunity to meet the General and my friend together was not
to be lost. I made my plans over-night in St. Louis, stored my chest,
provided myself with a new hunter's suit, and obtained letters of
recommendation to the General from two gentlemen of influence.
Dawn found me at the convenient river front which gives St. Louis such
an advantage over the other up-river settlements of twice its size and
age. The rock bank not only prevents the incutting of the current, but,
owing to its lowness, gives easy access to and from the water, unlike
the high bluffs upon which most of the settlements have been located.
Looking about for an up-river party, I was so fortunate as to fall in
with Mr. Daniel Boone, who with his son-in-law, Flanders Calloway, had
come down from La Charette with a bateau-load of furs. Seeing me in
hunting dress, the old gentleman showed the keenest interest in my
intentions, and upon learning that my immediate purpose was to reach
Belle Fontaine, invited me aboard their bateau.
On the way upstream he made me sit beside him in the stern-sheets, and
his look betrayed such an eagerness over my plans that I could not
resist confiding them to him. It was sad to see the youthful fire flash
and sparkle in his bright old eyes, only to dull and fade to the
grayness of forced resignation.
"My days are past, John," he said, in his quiet, almost gentle voice.
"You have heard me tell of the trip I took with your father through the
Choctaw nation; but I'm now past my threescore years and ten, lad. Take
off the ten, and I'd be with you on this traceless quest to the Spanish
country. It's hard to be tied down to a scant fifty miles or so of free
range. But my old bones stiffen and call for rest after their
wanderings. I reckon, though, I've done a man's share in my time. Not
that I make any boast of it; only I feel that I was an instrument in
God's providence to open the wilderness to our people. I feel it none
the less that there were all those others before me. Captain Morgan
founded New Madrid in sixty-six--"
"But that was under Spanish rule," I exclaimed. "Yours was the first of
the advanced American settlements in Kentucky. If only I may have a
share in a like tracing of our great Western plains!"
He gave me a shrewd glance. "You fear they won't let you go with the
expedition. Why not follow their trace, and join their party in the
Pawnee country? This young lieutenant is your friend, you say. He will
be sure to take you into camp."
Simple as was this stratagem, it had not occurred to me in all my
scheming. Yet it was so practicable that I at once assured Mr. Boone I
would, if need were, carry out the suggestion. A few minutes later he
landed me at Belle Fontaine, and we parted with a warm handshake. Though
deprived by litigation of the bulk of his Spanish grant on the Femme
Osage, as he had been in the early nineties of his Kentucky lands, Mr.
Boone remains one of the most even-tempered and kindliest men I know.
Upon reaching the cantonment, my first intention had been to seek out
General Wilkinson. But within a few paces I caught sight of a company of
the Second Infantry on parade, and one glance was enough to tell me that
the officer in command was my friend Lieutenant Pike. Though I could see
only his trim back, there was no mistaking the odd manner in which he
stood with his head so bent to the right that the tip of his chapeau
touched his shoulder.
Before many minutes he dismissed the company, and turning about, saw me
waiting within a dozen paces. In another moment he was grasping my hand,
his blue eyes beaming and his fair cheeks flushing like a girl's beneath
their sunburn.
"Good fortune, John!" he cried. "I feared you had gone on down to settle
in New Orleans. The General spoke of meeting you in Natchez."
"Did he tell you the cause of that meeting--and the outcome?"
"Surely you cannot blame him!"
"No, no, Montgomery!--since it was you who had forestalled me!"
"Yet you must have had your heart set upon leading the expedition."
"It was to obtain the leadership that I went on to Washington."
"No!"
"A wild goose chase, as you see. But, worst of all, I am now more than
ever anxious to go."
"Yet--even if the General should remove me--"
"He would not give the place to me. Nor could I ask your removal. Yet I
_must_ go with you, Montgomery!"
"You are not in the Service."
"I will offer myself as a volunteer."
"Nothing could give me greater pleasure! And we need a surgeon. Still--"
"I am aware that the General does not regard me with favor. Yet if you
should second my application--"
"By all means! Have you met the General's son, Lieutenant James
Wilkinson?" I shook my head. "Here he comes. I will introduce you. He is
my second in this expedition. Stop and talk with him, while I see the
General. I will have you on with us if it can be done."
I turned and saw approaching a tall young lieutenant whose sallow but
pleasant face was altogether unlike that of his father. Owing to this
and to his cordial greeting when we were introduced, I was able to enter
into a lively conversation with him, while my friend hastened away. A
few remarks brought us to the subject of the expedition, and I found the
Lieutenant so agreeable when I intimated my desire to volunteer that I
ventured to ask his good services in the affair. To this he very readily
assented, and upon the return of my friend, held a conference with him,
the decision of which was that I should wait over a day, in view of the
fact that the General had received Pike's intervention in my behalf with
disfavor.
It was an irksome wait, little as was the time given me to brood. Young
Wilkinson put me up in his own quarters, but Mrs. Pike insisted that I
should take all my meals with the family. I repaid this hospitality as
best I could by detailed descriptions of all that I had seen during my
visit in Washington, which proved no less interesting to the Lieutenant
than to Mrs. Pike. Also I was able to cure the children of a slight
seasonable indisposition.
Of his own affairs my friend had little to say. His modesty and reserve
prevented him from giving any other than the most meagre information as
to his recent trip, while my first inquiry regarding the present
expedition was met by the prompt statement that he was under orders not
to discuss it. The most I learned was that, with few exceptions, his
party was made up of the men who had proved themselves so brave and
enduring on his Mississippi trip.
On my part, I contrived to say nothing about my dealings with Colonel
Burr, and so little with regard to Alisanda that not even Mrs. Pike
divined my romance. This was not that I shrank from confiding in them.
My idea was to keep the information as a last resort, in the event that
I should be compelled to undertake the stratagem suggested by Mr. Boone.
The confession of my love-quest would then add strength to my appeal to
be taken into camp.
Shortly after noon of the following day Pike brought me the welcome news
that young Wilkinson advised an immediate call upon his father. I
hastened over to headquarters, and, upon sending in my name, was shown
into the presence of the General. He was still seated at table, and with
the same gesture that dismissed his waiter, waved me to a seat across
from him.
"So," he puffed, eying me curiously, "I understand that you have
reconsidered the position you took at Natchez."
"I confess, Your Excellency, I have become so infatuated with the idea
of this adventurous expedition that I wish to join it, even though in a
subordinate position."
"Your reasons?" he demanded, with unconcealed suspicion.
"There is the love of adventure for its own sake, Your Excellency. I was
born on the frontier. For another thing, I should perhaps gain some
little standing by reporting on the mineralogical and other scientific
features encountered by the expedition."
"You would be willing to give your services as surgeon?"
"Certainly, sir!"
He pushed across a glass and his whiskey bottle, and I thought it
discreet to accept the invitation. As I sipped my toddy, he drew a
sealed document from his pocket, and fixed me with what was meant for a
penetrating stare.
"You are willing to do all within your power to further the success of
the expedition?"
Though certain that this covered something more than my medical
services, I answered without hesitancy: "Anything within my power, sir!"
"Good," he replied, and he nodded. "Here is a question to test
that--Supposing the expedition, in exploring our unknown boundaries,
should chance to find itself in the vicinity of the Spanish
settlements--"
I started, and leaned toward him, eager-eyed. "Yes!" I cried. "You
mean--?"
"By ----!" he muttered. "What do _you_ mean? You're like a hound
on a blood trace!"
"Who is not eager to get at the secrets of El Dorado?" I parried.
"So?" he said. "I fear that Colonel Burr has been plying you with his
harebrained schemes."
"He spoke to me of the Mexican mines."
"You are not the first of his dupes."
"Dupe, sir! I thought that you were yourself one of his friends."
"Friend?--to him!" The General swelled with what seemed to me over-acted
indignation. "But I forgive you your ignorance, sir. Let us return to
the point under discussion. The question is, would you, under the
supposition I have stated, be willing to risk yourself among the
Spaniards?"
"You mean, sir, as a spy?"
"It is a question of patriotism, sir, patriotism!" he puffed. "Though
war now seems averted for the time being, hostilities may occur even
before this expedition can return. In the event of war, I need hardly
mention to you that information bearing upon the situation of the
Spanish in their northern provinces would be of inestimable value to our
country."
"Your Excellency," I said, "I bear the Spanish authorities no love, and
my country much. I will undertake what you have mentioned, so far as
lies within my power."
"Lieutenant Pike has assured me as to your abilities. You speak French
and some Spanish?"
"Some French, sir; very little Spanish."
"Enough to serve." He took up the document, with its beribboned seal.
"Here is a paper for your consideration. It is a claim upon the Spanish
authorities, prepared according to the treaties between the United
States and Spain. Two years ago Mr. William Morrison of Kaskaskia
intrusted one Baptiste Le Lande with a large stock of trade goods for
barter among the Western tribes. According to reports which have lately
come to Mr. Morrison through the Indians, Le Lande has reached Santa Fe
and there settled, without intention of accounting for the property
intrusted to him."
"I understand, Your Excellency," said I. "This claim is to serve as a
cloak for my spying."
"No need to use so harsh a term," he mumbled.
"It is the term the Spanish authorities will use if they detect me," I
answered.
"We are at peace with Spain. I reached a good understanding with General
Herrera before coming up the river. There will be no hostilities for
some months, at the least. The Spaniards will not dare to resort to
extremes against you."
"Their authorities bear us no love," I rejoined. "Those in so remote a
province as Nuevo Mexico may well argue that it will be quite safe to
hang a spy, war or no war."
He took up the document, with a frown. "Then you do not care to venture
it?"
"Your Excellency mistakes me. I wish merely to point out the risk. In my
opinion, the danger could be no greater if hostilities had already
begun."
"And if I admit the risk?" he demanded.
"It is, in a sense, a military service. Supposing it successful, is it
not Your Excellency's opinion that a recommendation to a commission
might be in order?"
He studied me for some moments. Then: "A commission as a
subaltern--possibly."
"Sir, I could obtain that by means of a little political begging. I had
in mind a captaincy."
"Captaincy!" he repeated, taken aback by my audacity. "Captaincy! That
is beyond all reason."
"Yet if I succeed beyond reason--?"
"In such event--But let that wait until your return."
"If ever I do return," I added.
"True; but you can thank yourself that you are thrusting your head into
the noose, with your eyes open."
"Then Your Excellency gives me leave to join as a volunteer?"
"We shall see--we shall see."
"But, Your Excellency, a man likes time for preparations."
"That is your own affair, sir,--though I may say that, at present, I
feel disposed to grant you the favor. I shall let you know in good
time."
With this I was forced to be content. The General rose to enter his
office, with a pompous gesture of dismissal.
But upon my return to my friend's quarters, he and Mrs. Pike and
Lieutenant Wilkinson joined in assuring me that, since the General had
not refused me point blank, I had every reason to expect a favorable
decision.