The effect on the minds of the boys of the discovery Kingdom had made
was much the same as if they had seen a ghost. A vague fear of something
unexpressed and unknown took possession of them and they hastened
through the misty, sodden forest as though expecting every minute to be
pursued. Kingdom remarked about their apprehensiveness.
"We act like a couple of thieves," he declared, "the way we are hurrying
to get away! But suppose we were seen hunting around that camp and it
was noticed that I picked up this glove; it wouldn't be exactly healthy
for us, I suppose? Still, it's not that that makes us both nervous and
fidgety as a fox in a trap; but what is it?"
"I don't know about you, but I'm thinking of those two dead men under
the brush pile; just can't help it;" said John. "The man that wore those
gloves knows how the bodies came there, I'll bet a buckskin!"
"Of course," was the answer, "but that's just what I have suspected all
along. The deuce of it now is to know what we're going to do about it."
The darkness was coming on most rapidly. The dark, gray clouds seemed to
settle down to the very ground. In half an hour it would be quite
impossible to find one's way safely through the woods, for not a breath
of wind was stirring; there would be absolutely nothing by which to be
guided.
Seeing the importance of quickly reaching the neighborhood of the
clearing, Kingdom proposed that John seek shelter for the night in the
old whitewood while he continued on to the cabin. They would meet again
soon after daybreak in the morning.
Having had some such plan in mind when setting out from home, the boys
had blankets and provisions with them, and Jerome readily agreed to
Ree's suggestion.
As the hollow poplar was now not far away, they parted company at once.
Kingdom promised to leave the cabin before daylight again, if he could
do so without discovery, and to meet John at the whitewood for another
visit to the camp in the gully.
"And you wait for me, whatever happens," Kingdom said in admonition.
"I'll be worrying all night if I think you're prowling around by
yourself."
"Worry fiddlesticks!" ejaculated the younger lad, with a laugh. "What if
I were to be worried about you?"
So the good-byes were said and ten minutes later John was snugly settled
in the protecting trunk of the big hollow tree, glad enough to rest
after his long tramp.
Kingdom, meanwhile, was hurrying on at increased speed. He aimed to
travel in a sort of semicircle so as to approach the cabin from a
direction which would give no clue to the locality from which he had
come. He had little doubt that Lone-Elk would be watching for him.
Indeed, it was only the great probability that the Seneca would be
prowling about the vicinity of the clearing that had made it seem
necessary that he return home instead of spending the night with John.
The boys wished to keep the Indian in ignorance of the fact that the
"witch" was in the neighborhood at all. If they could succeed in this
for a time, the redskins, Lone-Elk particularly, would conclude at last
that search for the missing boy was useless.
The complete darkness, the thick, cold mist and utter silence which
pervaded the clearing and made it seem certainly the most desolate place
in the world as he entered it, would have depressed and frightened
bolder hearts than Kingdom's. He hurried up the familiar path, and
ascended the slope to the little log house with dread. A whinny came
from the stable. What a welcome sound it was! And when, five minutes
later, the blaze in the big fireplace was dispelling the shadows, it
seemed also to dispel the dreadful feeling of vague fear and
homesickness from Ree's mind. He was himself again.
Worn out with much work and little rest for two days, Kingdom retired
early. He knew that the dispirited condition, which sapped his courage
and destroyed his peace of mind and self-confidence, was due to his
being completely tired out, and that sleep would make all the next day's
problems seem easy by putting him in shape to meet them. And so thinking
he fell asleep.
It was near midnight, Kingdom thought, though really much earlier, when
he was awakened. Some one rapped at the door,--quietly, secretly. Again
he heard it,--thump, thump!--two short, quick taps, sounding as if made
with finger tips.
"John!" was Ree's first thought; and he was out of his bunk in a second.
"Who is it?" he asked in a low tone, before opening the door.
"Fishing Bird has something to tell white brother," came the answer in
tones so guarded, that, filled with wonder and anxiety, Kingdom unbarred
and opened the door in a trice.
Instantly the Indian entered and Ree closed the door again. He felt,
rather than saw, that the redskin was bedraggled, wet, cold and weary.
He drew the visitor to the fireplace and sat him down. Though covered
with ashes, the warm bed of coals gave off a comfortable degree of heat,
and while the Indian leaned over the warm hearth, his host, still
wondering, brought him meat and a dish of hominy.
Fishing Bird ate heartily. As he was doing so, a tiny flame, which for a
second blazed up above the ashes, showed that his condition was even
worse than Ree had pictured it. From the soles of his worn-out moccasins
to the top of the uncombed hair falling in coarse, untidy strings about
his ears and down his back, he was very wet and very dirty.
"What news, Fishing Bird?" Ree asked, when he had dressed and the
visitor had eaten all he wished. "I've been wanting to see you for many
days."
"Ugh! Lone-Elk very bad!" the Indian replied, meditatively. "Fishing
Bird watch him all day, watch him in the night, too. He goes many
places, and don't go nowhere."
Kingdom repressed a smile. He guessed at once that his friend had been
trying to follow the Seneca to the secret lead mine, and had only his
labor to show for it. A moment later the Indian confirmed this
supposition.
"Lone-Elk gone all day long and comes to the Delaware village in the
night," Fishing Bird went on. "Lone-Elk brings no lead. Next
morning--today--Lone-Elk goes again and Fishing Bird follows behind.
Maybe Lone-Elk be going to where lead is; maybe going to watch young
Palefaces. But him walk, walk, walk, all the time going on and on and
never getting anywhere at all. Never looking back; never knowing Fishing
Bird comes on behind, so Lone-Elk went here, went there, all day. Night
came and in the dark Lone-Elk got away and Fishing Bird couldn't watch
him any more."
"Maybe he was hunting for Little Paleface," Kingdom suggested.
"Lone-Elk bad--a mean, bad Seneca Indian!" the weary and disgusted
Delaware made answer. "Now Fishing Bird will tell news he came for.
White Fox knows how Lone-Elk found tomahawk in the corn--how Lone-Elk
told that it was the witch's hatchet--same hatchet that killed Big
Buffalo. So Lone-Elk hangs the tomahawk at the door of his lodge and
says with that hatchet he will kill the witch that killed the Delaware
warrior. One time, two times, three times, did tomahawk fall down when
Lone-Elk had hung it up. One time Lone-Elk a little mad. Two times
Lone-Elk pretty mad. Three times, when hatchet fall down, Lone-Elk heap
much mad.
"Neoliaw tell Lone-Elk not to hang tomahawk up like that any more.
Neoliaw knows much. No Delaware knows all things like Neoliaw; yet
Lone-Elk holds his head high and asks if Neoliaw thinks the Seneca is
but a squaw to be frightened by such talk."
The Indian paused. Much interested, Kingdom waited with impatience for
him to continue, but at length asked:
"And what did the medicine-man of the Delawares say to that? What did
Neohaw say?"
"Neohaw tell Lone-Elk never mind. Some day tomahawk have more blood on
it than now. Maybe it be Seneca blood."
"Do the Delawares still believe all that Lone-Elk tells them about how
Big Buffalo was killed by a witch, and believe that the witch was our
friend, John?" Kingdom inquired.
Fishing Bird nodded. "White brother shall hear more," he said, a moment
later, as if having decided to reveal something he had at first thought
he would not tell. "Listen, White Fox. Lone-Elk knows where lead is.
Lone-Elk is a mighty warrior. Hopocon, that you call Captain Pipe, wants
Lone-Elk in the fighting that will come bime-by, and wants lead for
Delawares, Chippewas, Wyandots,--all the Indians that will be in the
fighting off yonder," waving his hand toward the west and north. "So
Hopocon sends white wampum as presents to the Seneca tribe for squaw of
the warrior Lone-Elk killed. Because Lone-Elk killed a warrior, White
Fox knows, he can go back never to his own people. Only if the presents,
sent by Hopocon, are taken by the squaw of the warrior that was killed,
will Lone-Elk be free to go here, go there, like other Indians. Then
Hopocon will make him a Delaware."
Ree did not know until now the history of the outcast Seneca. He had
known that Lone-Elk was a fugitive, but never before more than suspected
the reason. In a general way he understood the Indian custom that if the
nearest relative of one who was murdered received and accepted from the
murderer or his friends a present in token of regret and sorrow--usually
white wampum--it meant that the crime was forgiven and fully wiped out.
He knew, also, that if such a present was refused by the relatives or
friends of the dead, that it meant but one thing--that at the first
opportunity they would have their revenge by taking the life of the
murderer. The custom had prevailed among the Iroquois and many of the
other Indians for generations. It was implicitly followed.
The refusal of the peace offering usually meant eternal unforgiveness.
It meant the exile of the murderer from his own tribe and the villages
of his fathers forever. It meant death whenever one or more of the
friends of the person killed started out to seek vengeance,--death swift
and certain--unless the murderer succeeded in escaping them; but, once
on the trail, the avengers knew no pause, no rest, no hardship too great
to be undertaken, until their mission was accomplished.
Instantly realizing the great importance of Fishing Bird's information,
Ree asked him to go on and tell more of the Seneca's history.
The friendly Delaware, however, seemed to believe that he had told
enough. Maybe he regretted that he had already been so confidential. He
sought to speak of other things, therefore, until Kingdom asked point
blank:
"Will the friends of the one whom Lone-Elk killed be likely to accept
the presents that have been sent, Fishing Bird?"
The Delaware nodded decidedly in the affirmative at first, then shook
his head. He didn't know and couldn't guess, he stated, what view the
dead man's relatives would take of the matter. It was the usual thing to
receive such presents and grant forgiveness. A great deal depended on
the nature of the crime, and the details of the murder Lone-Elk had
committed, Fishing Bird did not know, or if he did, he pretended
ignorance.
He believed the Seneca had struck another down with a tomahawk, and had
afterward hidden the hatchet near the Delaware town to which he had
originally escaped, and whither he had again come after the battle with
St. Clair's army. At least that was the story the squaws had whispered
to one another. The warriors were too proud to take notice of such
matters, especially since Lone-Elk, by his prowess, by his constant
activity, and afterward by his knowing of the lead mine, had become a
leader among them.
All this information Fishing Bird rather reluctantly imparted. He was
very tired and just a little cross. In response to some further
questioning he said, plainly showing his impatience:
"Fishing Bird has told the white brothers they must not stay here. Still
it has done no good. Fishing Bird is the friend of the two young
Palefaces, yet they must not ask of him what no Delaware can do."
"Come, Fishing Bird," Ree answered kindly, "we are not going to ask you
to endanger yourself or any of your people on our account. We know and
appreciate how much you have helped us, and but for one thing we would
probably go away as you suggest. And now there is only one more question
I want to ask you; then you must lie down and rest till morning. Does
Fishing Bird know of any other Palefaces, besides White Fox and Little
Paleface, who are in the woods here; any who have been getting salt
somewhere?"
The Delaware had lost his spunky feeling entirely when he answered. He
did not, he said, know of any other white persons in the woods anywhere
about. He was quite sure there was none; for the Indians were very
watchful now, lest Paleface spies come among them, and would be quite
sure to discover any white persons who came near.
A little later Ree spread a blanket and some skins upon the floor and
urged Fishing Bird to lie down; but instead, the Indian rose to go, nor
could he be prevailed upon to remain. Thinking that perhaps he wished to
be back to the village before the Seneca returned, Kingdom reluctantly
opened the door for him, and he went forth into the cold and darkness,
and the thick, raw mist swallowed him up immediately.