"Now just-one more!"
"Oh, look a'here! that's what you've been saying for a half hour or
more! You see where the sun is, don't you!"
"All right, then, I don't care; but there's-a regular whale almost on my
hook and it's too bad to-disappoint him," the first speaker returned.
Even as he answered, however, he drew in the long, heavy fishing pole he
held and followed his companion's example in winding his line on a
broad, flat stick notched at both ends.
It was time, indeed, that the day's sport be ended. The autumn sun was
scarcely visible through the branches of the trees to the west. The air,
so soft and warm at mid-day, was growing cold, and six miles or more lay
between the young fishermen and the homely but snug log cabin which was
their home, and whose pleasant fire and comforts the nipping wind now
made doubly attractive.
Those of you who have read "Far Past the Frontier" or "Connecticut Boys
in the Western Reserve" will have recognized in the two fisher lads thus
introduced Return Kingdom and John Jerome, once more in the Ohio
wilderness to complete their home-making after the trying times of the
preceding spring and winter, ending, as you know, with the recovery of
the hidden fortune which cost so many lives and for which so many
searched in vain.
Of course it was John,--slight of figure but strong, tough and wiry as a
wolf, and full of fun as a lively young fellow of eighteen or so could
be, who had shown such reluctance to put away his line and yield no
longer to the temptation to try for "just one more."
Of course it was Ree Kingdom, tall and broad shouldered, who pointed out
the fast-setting sun and recognized the necessity of starting homeward
before darkness hid the way. Somehow it always was left to Ree to guide
and direct. His quiet manner, energy, resourcefulness and thoughtfulness
made him naturally the leader. He was very little older than his
lifelong friend, Jerome, but the latter was always willing that Ree
should be the captain in all their various enterprises. And yet it may
well be said that John was a very agreeable and helpful private in all
undertakings, whether in matters of work, matters of sport and
recreation, or matters involving their common safety in this wild
country of Ohio where they had set about to establish their home and at
the same time carry on a profitable trade with the Indians.
"We might have crossed over and had a look at the Delawares' Harvest
Festival," said John, stretching himself preparatory to beginning the
homeward journey.
"Still, the art of minding your own business is often worth cultivating.
It's a pretty good idea, sometimes," Kingdom answered with a smile, and
picked up a paddle to shove the canoe off into deeper water. Just as he
did so a piece of dried mud, such as would weigh an ounce or two,
dropped into the little craft directly in front of him.
"Hello, here! Hello, Fishing Bird!" exclaimed John who, as he was facing
the reed-lined shore, was the first to see whence the bit of dried earth
came, and recognized at once an old friend from the Indian town.
"How now, Fishing Bird? We thought you were busy with the Harvest
Festival that Lone-Elk planned so grandly. How come--"
Kingdom's greeting, rapidly following John's, was interrupted by the
Indian placing a finger to his lips and shaking his head most earnestly.
"Paleface brothers listen, Paleface brothers not make any noise at all.
Hear all Fishing Bird will say," the Delaware began in a subdued
undertone, keeping himself almost wholly concealed by the tall grass and
reeds at the water's edge.
"No! look other way!" he urged, speaking rapidly but low, as both the
white lads turned toward him. "Maybe Lone-Elk watching. Lone-Elk says
Little Paleface is a witch and must be killed. Big Buffalo is
dead--found dead by Little Wolf in the bushes by the water--and now
Lone-Elk says a cloud that was Little Paleface bewitched touched Big
Buffalo with a tomahawk and so he died. So must Little Paleface go
away--go far, heap far away. Go soon--right now! Lone-Elk come quick.
Bye."
A slight rustling of the grass was followed by silence. For a second the
young white men waited, their faces turned away from the shore as the
Indian had asked. When they no longer heard him, however, they quickly
looked about, but only to find themselves alone. As quietly as he had
come and as suddenly, had the Delaware disappeared.
Considerably perplexed and more than a little astonished, the boys
looked at each other inquiringly.
"Real nice," said John. "It appears that I'm a witch and that I touched
Big Buffalo with a tomahawk and killed him! What d'ye think of that,
now!"
A smile which was more brave than merry was on John's face, but Ree's
brow was wrinkled by deep thought.
"There's a chance that Fishing Bird has stretched this thing--that it's
not half as bad as he makes out," Kingdom returned at last. "But the
worst of it is, we don't know. Hang it all, why did he have to rush off
so after telling just enough to make us want to know more? Yet we've got
to give him credit for what he has done, and the only safe thing is to
take full account of all he said,--take full account of all of-it till
we find out just what it's worth, at least."
"What d'ye say to going across to their town and finding out just what
that Seneca's up to, Ree? Pretend, of course, that we haven't heard a
thing unusual; just dropped in to look at the Festival and say 'howdy.'"
But Kingdom shook his head to this proposal at once.
"If there's going to be trouble it will catch us soon enough without our
setting out to hunt it," he said. "Fishing Bird was in dead earnest and
afraid lest he be caught or suspected of giving warning. That's the
reason he left so quickly. No, John, the thing for us to do is to make
tracks in good order toward the little log house and keep our eyes open
every minute."
"And I killed Big Buffalo--just to think that I killed that ugly,
prowling, malicious old rascal! Faith, 'twould make me laugh if--if--"
John's musing exclamation was unfinished. With a swift stroke of the
paddle Kingdom sent the canoe sweeping through the water with sudden
liveliness and the lad who, under the name of "Little Paleface," must
answer to the charge of witchcraft, could only seize a paddle, also, to
use as a rudder and likewise assist in hurrying the light bark craft
onward.
Heading into a long arm of the lake extending northward, the boys
touched shore at last at a little point of high ground which projected
through the mass of rank grass, reeds and bushes bordering the water at
this point, and continued on foot among trees and underbrush. Kingdom
shouldered the canoe while John carried their rifle, paddles and goodly
string of fish.
There was not much opportunity to talk and each lad was busy with his
own thoughts. However, when after a long walk overland they reached a
considerable' stream, by the aid of which they could complete their
journey in the more comfortable manner the canoe afforded them, John was
not long in breaking the silence.
"Ree," he said, with rather more earnestness and show of temper than was
usual with him, "I shouldn't be surprised if they come for me tonight.
Confound the ignorant beasts!"
"I've been thinking so," was the answer, "and I'm afraid they will."
"The cabin ain't in as good shape as it used to be; the logs dry and the
roof drier! And honest to goodness, Ree, I don't see what we're going to
do about it; I can't help but feel but that I'm to blame for the mess,
somehow, though what I ever did to get Lone-Elk down on me I don't know,
blamed if I do!"
"Why, you're nothing of the kind, John! Get all such foolishness out of
your head. And what we're going to do about it is to be ready for them!
I guess we can take care of ourselves now that we know what's likely to
happen. Actually, the thing that bothers me most is just the thought of
where we'd have landed but for Fishing Bird letting us know. If ever
there was an all white heart in a red skin, it's his, and there's no
doubt about it."
"And tomorrow we will find out from some one from the village or other
Indians that happen to pass, just how the land lays--that is, if--if we
don't find out sooner," John replied with a grim smile. "And Big
Buffalo's dead! I can hardly believe it, by thunder! I guess it was the
Seneca that killed him, if anybody did. Don't you s'pose Lone-Elk killed
him, Ree?"
"Can't tell. Off-hand I'd say it couldn't have been any one else. It's
been common talk this long while that Lone-Elk and Big Buffalo didn't
hitch up worth a hill o' beans, but--and hang it all, it's this that
makes the whole thing so bad a mess--we simply don't know."
This phase of the curious situation in which they found themselves--this
air of mystery and uncertainty connected with the report and warning
which had reached them, afforded a more fertile subject for discussion
by the two boys than did the question of their own personal safety. The
latter was a matter which must await developments, and neither boy yet
realized how serious the situation was. Their quickly made agreement to
hold the fort and face the trouble bravely had, for the time, disposed
of that question.
But the death of the Delaware who had always been so hostile to them,
and the mysterious trick of fate by which, though dead, he was still the
direct cause of trouble coming just when all their plans were going
forward so smoothly, and just when they were in every way getting along
so comfortably, gave occasion for much speculation and exchange of
ideas.
"It's not so hard to understand why Lone-Elk should want to get rid of
us and to make trouble for us," said Kingdom reflectively, "because all
summer he has been talking war and stirring things up generally."
"And even hinting that we were sending word of what all the Delawares
were doing straight to Mad Anthony at Fort Pitt," John broke in warmly.
"Fishing Bird it was that told us that, too."
"Still I'd like to know just what took Big Buffalo off his pins," was
Ree's reply, and so the conversation continued with no conclusion being
reached excepting only that there was going to be trouble and it must be
met and faced just as it had been confronted and finally overcome so
many times before.
It may have been, indeed, most likely was, the very fact that always in
the past they had come out of the most perilous difficulties without
permanent injury, which made the two boys slow to appreciate the gravity
of their present position--a position of the greatest danger; far from
all human assistance and with all the Indians who hitherto had been
their friends now turned against them.
The little house of logs perched on the eastern bluff directly above the
river would no doubt have seemed a very lonesome spot and insecure
enough to other eyes, as the boys approached it in the autumn twilight,
but not so to them. With its surroundings of small but well cultivated
fields in the valley below, its big, comfortable looking woodpile at the
edge of the woods and the cheerful welcome of Neb and Phoebe, their two
horses, whinnying their greeting from the rude log stable, it was a
pleasure to them to be safely there once more.
It was home. The stout log walls would soon shut out the darkness and,
they believed, the danger, holding them snug and warm with the firelight
and the pleasant smell of their cooking supper within.
John looked after the horses at the barn while Kingdom built up the fire
in the cabin and soon had the fish deliciously frying and several
extremely generous slices of coarse corn bread toasting on the hearth. A
pot of maple tea--(maple sugar boiled in water--an Indian drink)
simmered from its hook above the blaze, and a bark tray of nuts, cracked
and ready for dessert, was in waiting on the table.
"Better have everything shut tight," suggested Ree as John came in.
"That's what I've done," was the answer, "not a knot-hole open.
But--well, now that we are home and so jolly comfortable, does it not
seem to you just as if Fishing Bird's coming and all that he said was
just some nasty dream and not really so at all? Does to me. I don't
forget it for more than a minute at a time, but I feel as if I'd wake up
pretty soon and find I'd just been sleeping on my back."
"Well, it's too bad," was the answer.
"We've got too much else to do to be bothered this way," John returned.
"I've been thinking," Ree went on, "that Captain Pipe may give that
Seneca to understand a thing or two and prove to be our friend again,
just when we most need him, as he has done more than once before. Still
we've got to look alive every minute till the trouble's over, and so you
put the supper on the table, John, and I'll just take a little look
around the house and cast my eyes about the clearing for a minute."