The satisfaction and pleasure Kingdom felt in finding that Fishing Bird,
though a prisoner, was still unharmed, was mixed with much distress by
the knowledge that nothing had been seen of John Jerome at Wayne's camp.
True, it might be that John had gone directly to Fort Pitt; but even in
doing so he would pass in the immediate vicinity of the military
encampment and it would be strange if he did not stop.
Not the least light could any of the scouts or others with whom Ree
talked throw upon the mystery of the missing boy. They agreed with his
friend that he should have arrived at the Ohio several days ago, at
least. Their views of the whole matter were most discouraging. Kingdom
did not realize, they insisted, that the woods were full of hostile
Indian bands; that all up and down the Ohio and for many miles in all
directions, there was burning, pillaging and murder almost every day,
and no man was safe when alone.
Neither did Kingdom receive the least encouragement when he suggested
that a rescue party be formed to search for his missing chum. Gen. Wayne
would not think of it, the men said. It was no unusual thing for a man
to be taken prisoner, no unusual thing for a lone hunter to be scalped.
If the army were to undertake the rescue of every captive, or the
punishment of every party of Indian marauders, there would be time for
nothing else.
"Still, I must see Gen. Wayne himself," Kingdom insisted. "Even if I can
do nothing else for John Jerome, perhaps I can obtain freedom for
Fishing Bird, and he and I can do something."
Still the party of petty officers, scouts, and soldiers with whom
Kingdom talked shook their heads, and it was only after considerable
urging that one of the men said he would try to arrange matters for Ree
to see the commander.
Kingdom had reached the encampment of Wayne's "Legion" at about mid-day.
It was late in the afternoon when his new-found friend, a sergeant named
Quayle, consented to see if Ree could not have a talk with Gen. Wayne
himself. The delay seemed past all understanding to Kingdom, little
acquainted with army customs and discipline. And when the sergeant
returned, bringing a superior officer with him, who, after talking with
the anxious lad, told him that the general would see him in the morning,
Kingdom's patience was sorely tried indeed. He did, however, obtain an
assurance from the officer that Fishing Bird would be well treated and
injured no further until he could present his petition for the Indian's
release, and with this he endeavored to be content.
Unwilling to tell his whole story to anyone but "Mad Anthony" himself,
Kingdom was unable to give the men with whom he mingled a great deal of
information. They plied him with countless questions concerning the
movements and general attitude of the Indians of the interior, and his
experiences with them, but the heart-sick boy felt little disposed to
talk and gave them no more than civil answers. In vain he tried to get
permission to visit Fishing Bird in the guard-house. Serg. Quayle told
him it would be of no use, but not until one higher in authority had
kindly but very definitely refused did Ree give up.
Every hope Kingdom ventured to entertain now centered in Gen. Wayne, and
time and again he went over in his mind all that he meant to say to the
commander when the time came.
He saw to it that Phoebe was given a place among the horses in the camp
and properly fed and cared for, then accepted an invitation extended by
his friend, the sergeant, to have supper and spend the night with him.
Had his thoughts been less occupied with the strange disappearance of
John, and with his anxiety concerning the outcome of his interview with
Gen. Wayne, Ree would have spent a jolly evening among the care-free
spirits,--woodsmen, adventurers, regular soldiers and raw recruits who
made up the bulk of the "Legion."
There was romance in the life of nearly every man about him. There were
stories untold, but to some extent readable, in the faces and figures
and ways of all the scouts, the hardened Indian fighters, and the
seasoned soldiers. There was much of interest, too, among the great
variety of fellows who were plainly not long from the east. Some were
outcasts and downright criminals undoubtedly; some were sons of highly
respected fathers, banished from home, perhaps, or here only in search
of adventure and excitement. Their stories, their songs, their speech
and their dress all told of the strangely different walks of life from
which they had come; and gathered together here on the border of the
great wilderness, while the campfires brightly burned, they made a truly
romantic picture.
It was a picture which would live in history, too, as time in due course
told; for in the end it proved that no more efficient force ever invaded
hostile Indian territory than Wayne led to final victory over the
savages who had vowed to make the Ohio river the boundary between
themselves and civilization for all time.
The-men with whom Ree came in contact were, in their rough way, very
kind to the young man from the depths of the woods. They urged him to
join them and go down the Ohio and thence march into the woods with
them, and they assured him that he would never find a better chief than
"Old Mad Anthony." To all these proposals Kingdom answered that he could
think of nothing of the kind until John Jerome was found, living or
dead, for which sentiment Sergeant Quayle heartily commended him.
For the most part the men of Wayne's command slept in the open air, but
Sergeant Quayle and his intimate associates had erected a shelter of
bark laid up against a pole placed across two forked sticks. Although
one side of this crude structure was entirely open to the weather, the
campfire made the fact scarcely unpleasant, and Kingdom found the
soldiers' quarters quite comfortable. The lad was astir by the time the
first early risers of the army were moving about, however, and
impatiently waited the coming of the aide who was to lake him to Gen.
Wayne's quarters.
At last came the lieutenant whom Ree had seen the day before. With
scarcely a word he signaled with a nod to the lad to accompany him, and
silently conducted the young frontiersman to a substantial log house.
With a word to a sentry near, the officer opened the door and motioned
to Kingdom to enter.
"Mad Anthony" sat at breakfast alone. He looked up with sharp but not
unkind scrutiny of his visitor as, cap in hand, the boy softly closed
the door and stood awaiting his notice.
"Sit down there and tell me your story," said the commander rather
brusquely, indicating a three-legged stool near his table. Although he
spoke in a quick, decisive way his voice was the kind which inspires
confidence and the young visitor, though somewhat nervous, at no time
was disconcerted by the business-like manner of the great soldier.
"Gladly, sir," said Kingdom, seating himself, but for a moment
hesitating just where to begin.
"Well, well, proceed then!" the general urged with a smile, and without
further loss of time the boy told briefly who he was and what had
brought him to the soldiers' camp. He mentioned John Jerome's connection
with his story and John's disappearance, alluding only briefly, for the
time, to the murder at the salt springs, and to the charge of witchcraft
that had been the beginning of the trouble. Of the lead mine he did not
speak.
"I see no reason why we cannot give this Indian you are interested in
his liberty," said the general, when Ree had concluded. "But I am much
afraid we can do nothing for your friend. Very likely he will turn up
safe and sound before long. I am bound to say, though, that my advice to
you would be that you do not go back to your cabin until these troublous
times are over. How would you like to come with my men--be one of my
scouts and interpreters? Come, now?"
Poor Ree, sadly disheartened, could only reply that if circumstances
were different he would very much like to do so; but as it was, well, he
simply couldn't do anything until John Jerome was found. Then he told
more fully of the trouble with Lone-Elk and how it had happened to
result in the discovery of the two murdered men at the big "lick."
Made more confident by Gen. Wayne's interest, he told of the strange
camp in the gully and his reason for believing that the salt springs
murderer or murderers were there.
"You may be right," said the commander, "and you may be wrong. That two
men,--apparently men not fully accustomed to the woods,--should have
been killed and their bodies concealed in the brush, is, in these times,
not surprising. And the fact being that these men are to us unknown,
while it does not make the murder less distressing or less a crime, does
present a reason for our not being duty bound to unravel the mystery and
attempt to punish the perpetrators of the deed. In short, if we begin to
follow up singly each red-handed outrage committed along the border, we
shall not have men for anything else. We can only bide our time and
strike the savages collectively--strike a blow that will bring both them
and their British supporters to their senses--a blow with something of
suddenness about it."
Kingdom's hopes had dwindled to nothing. He wanted help, help to find
John Jerome, help to carry out his plan to capture the salt springs
criminals, and while he was about it, help to show Lone-Elk that he had
powerful friends at his back who might make very costly to the Seneca
any injury which was done the two young settlers on the land for which
the Delawares had received a fair price.
Of course Gen. Wayne saw the whole trend of Kingdom's thoughts. There is
a power possessed, as a rule, by great generals in every walk of life,
by which they see at a glance the workings of the minds of the less
mature or less able men about them. Kingdom, however, was bright enough
to understand all this perfectly, even while "Mad Anthony" talked with
him. He felt that an injustice was done him. He knew that his motives
were not by any means as selfish as they seemed. But how could he make
himself better understood? He hesitated to try, and in his extremity, he
played his last card--the lead mine.
Who can blame Return Kingdom if, when he told Gen. Wayne of the Seneca's
secret, he went just a little beyond actual facts in his representation
of the certainty of the mine's existence! That he had never seen the
mine, he was forced, as the commander questioned him, to admit. Yes, it
was true, he acknowledged, that he had never heard of the lead mine
before Lone-Elk came among the Delawares. Neither had he seen any lead
from the mine, nor could he tell positively of any Indian who had seen
any. The story Fishing Bird had told was the whole basis of his
assertion that there was a lead mine somewhere along the Cuyahoga, and
presumably it was not far from the mysterious camp in the ravine.
"Now have I all the information you can give me on this subject?" asked
Gen. Wayne, with something of a twinkle in his eye.
"Yes, sir," Kingdom answered, the twinkle somehow making him feel more
comfortable than he did before.
"All right, then," and the general stepped to the door. "Have that
Indian, Fishing Bird, brought to headquarters," he said to the man
outside.
"Mad Anthony" paced thoughtfully up and down the earthen floor of the
single room of the cabin while he waited. Wondering, and more hopeful
now, Kingdom tried to determine what the commander meant to do by
glancing often at his knitted brow.
In five minutes the Delaware, with a sullen air of pride, stepped into
the cabin. In an instant, however, his manner changed. A look of
pleasure came to his eyes and he held out his hand to Kingdom.
The greeting between the young woodsman and the Indian was pleasant to
see. As soon as they had silently shaken hands, however, Gen. Wayne
said:
"Now, Fishing Bird, what can you tell me of a lead mine near your
Cuyahoga river!"
"The lead mine is the secret of Lone-Elk--Lone-Elk, the Seneca," the
Delaware made answer.
"Well, if I give you your liberty, will you go with this young man, your
friend here, and some men I shall send with you, and see if you can find
this mine? And will you help my young friend, whom you seem to know
rather better than I do, find the boy who is accused of witchcraft?"
"Anything White Fox asks will Fishing Bird do," the Indian replied, with
quiet dignity.