As the Shawanoes had invariably come from and returned to the Kentucky
side of the river, Waring concluded that the entire war party was upon
that shore, and it was therefore determined in leaving the island that
they should cross over to the same bank.
"It will bother us somewhat to manage our rifles," said he, "and as
we may need them the instant we touch land, we must keep them and our
ammunition out of the water."
"Rip off a piece of this old hulk, and float them over on that."
"A good idea."
The suggestion of Hezekiah was adopted at once. A portion of the cabin
was loosened and placed in the water, and upon it was laid their two
rifles and powder horns. The raft thus formed was so buoyant as to
afford them material assistance in swimming.
The night was of inky darkness; the most favorable that the two
adventurers could have wished. Yet, fearing that the savages might
suspect some such stratagem as this, they allowed themselves to drift
downward with the raft until they had passed the lowermost portion of
the island, when they shoved out into deep water, and commenced working
their way cautiously over toward the Dark and Bloody Ground.
"Be careful and keep your limbs under water," admonished Waring; "a
single splash may betray us."
"Yes, I understand," whispered Hezekiah, kicking around like a frantic
frog. "It appears to me that we're going down stream faster than across
it."
Such was the case, as Waring found that his efforts alone tended
to carry them across, Hezekiah's being as much in one direction as
another, amounted to nothing.
"Drat it," muttered the latter, "it's something like that canoe I got
into the other night. Never mind, we'll come out somewhere."
A few minutes later the two touched bottom, and pushing their craft
carefully before them, came out in the woods, where the blackness was
of Egyptian intensity. Hezekiah bumped his head several limes before
he dare rise to a perfectly upright position, and then he could only
discern the shadowy form of his companion beside him.
"Whatever happens, or whatever you see," whispered Waring, "don't speak
or start."
"I know better than to do that--drat that limb! it has nearly sawed my
neck off!"
Knowing that the current must have carried them a considerable distance
down the river, Waring used the bank as his guide, and ascended a
considerable distance before he began to look about him for the
savages. After having progressed somewhat over a quarter of a mile, he
caught the glimmer of a light through the trees, and touched Hezekiah
upon the arm, as a caution for him to be on his guard.
Making their way carefully through the tangled undergrowth, through
hollows and over fallen trees, across brooks and miry patches of earth,
they at length stood within a hundred yards of the Shawanoe camp-fire.
Waring's heart sank within him, for he understood at once that the
Shawanoe war party had divided, and that neither of the captives was
before him. When had the separation taken place? What direction had the
other taken? How could its trail be gained?
These were questions which instantly presented themselves to the young
adventurer's mind, and which for a long time he was unable to answer.
Amid the profound darkness which held reign, it was very obvious
that nothing could be done. Even the full, bright moon was unable to
penetrate with its light the solemn labyrinths of the Dark and Bloody
Ground. Nothing could be done until morning.
As neither Waring nor Hezekiah had enjoyed any sleep for many hours
they both felt fatigued, despite the exciting situation in which they
were placed. Withdrawing a considerable distance further into the
forest, they both lay down beside an uprooted tree, and were almost
immediately locked in slumber.
The sleep of Waring was deep and dreamless. It was not until the sun
had been up several hours that he opened his eyes. As soon as he
recovered from his temporary bewilderment he arose, chagrined that he
had lost so much valuable time. To his surprise, upon looking around,
nothing was seen of Hezekiah Smith. Thinking, however, he could not be
far away, Waring seated himself upon the tree and waited for his return.
An hour passed away, and still no sign of his missing companion. The
young man had whistled, and gave utterance to all the signals at his
command, but had elicited no response. He was now alarmed, and greatly
vexed; alarmed at the singular disappearance of his friend, and vexed
that now, when every minute was of the utmost value to him, he was thus
compelled to remain, and accomplish nothing. At length his patience
became insupportable.
"There is no use of remaining behind," he muttered. "The Shawanoes have
gone, and every minute places them further from me. I will follow them
alone, relying upon my own arm and the kindness of Heaven for success."
Throwing his rifle over his shoulder, he moved resolutely off, resolved
never to turn his back upon his enemies until he had learned something
of the fair captive they held. It was a desperate proceeding, indeed,
for a single man thus to pit himself against a whole party of redskins,
but our hero felt no hesitation in doing it.
It was now, too, that Waring began to experience the pangs of hunger.
He had fasted a long time, and was so famished that he determined to
secure some food at all hazards. At the period of which we write,
game was very abundant in this portion of the West, and the decision
had scarcely entered his mind when several wild turkeys, their wings
outspread and their feet scarcely touching the earth, sped along within
a stone's throw of him. As quick as thought the foremost was shot and
in his hands.
The instant that Waring had secured his game, he regretted having
discharged his piece, for he felt certain he had exposed himself to
danger. Some of the Indians must certainly be within hearing, and would
be attracted thither by a suspicion of the true state of the case.
To guard against capture Waring made all haste through the woods in
the direction of the camp-fire which had been deserted by the savages,
in the belief that this would be the last place where his enemies
would seek for him. Upon reaching it he was gratified to find a large
quantity of live coals, and, without hesitation, he plucked and dressed
the turkey, and proceeded to cook it.
The bird afforded him a most needed and nourishing meal, besides
furnishing enough for future use; and now that his immediate wants
were attended to, Waring set to work in earnest upon the all important
object that had brought him thither.
In the first place, it was necessary to discover the trails of the two
war parties, and in trying this he failed completely. Although gifted
with more than ordinary intelligence, shrewdness, and cunning, he had
not yet learned enough of the woods to follow the faint footsteps of
the wild Indians through its labyrinths, when the traces left were so
faint that the human eye, unless trained by an experience of years,
could not detect the least signs of the passage of any one.
Had the Shawanoes proceeded with their usual caution, it would have
been absolutely impossible for Waring to have followed them a hundred
yards through the wilderness. But, fully conscious that no enemy that
need cause them the least uneasiness, was in their vicinity, they
straggled forward as carelessly as a party of schoolboys. This only was
the reason why our hero was enabled to follow them.
Waring, under the belief that they had penetrated further into
Kentucky, for a long time examined the ground only upon that side of
the fire. His efforts meeting with no success, he resorted to the
opposite side, where the trail was discovered at once.
It being impossible to find any further signs of the passage of the
Shawanoes in any other direction, he concluded that both parties must
have gone this way, which, somewhat to his surprise, led toward the
river. Keeping along on the trail, he found, as he had feared, that
they had embarked in their canoes, and gone either up, down, or across
the stream.
"And how am I to tell which way?" he muttered. "I must run the risk of
getting the wrong choice out of these three." Waring, under ordinary
circumstances, would have been discouraged at the formidable obstacles
which now rose before him; but one of his temperament could never
rest while the object of his choice was a captive in the hands of the
savages, and he, therefore, did not once think of turning back.
"They cannot have gone _up_ the river," he reflected, "because they
have come from that direction. And yet what reason is that why they
should not have done so? Yet it strikes me that they have not taken
that course. They could have gone much more rapidly overland. If their
destination is in Kentucky, it surely is not on the banks of the Ohio;
it must be a good distance back from the river, so that they would
only have lengthened their journey by taking to the water. From all
that I have ever heard or read of the Shawanoes Indians--to whom this
war party surely belongs--I have been led to suppose that although
they range at will on both sides of the river, still their towns and
villages, and their home, in fact, is in southern Ohio. And what more
natural, now that they have secured their prisoner, than that they
should return to their home as rapidly as possible? Such, it seems
reasonable to believe, is the true state of the case, and I must cross
the river again."
Waring was on the point of venturing into the river, when his attention
was arrested by a loud splash in the direction of the flat-boat, and to
his surprise he descried several Indians upon it. Finding that he was
not observed, he drew back and watched their actions.
A glance convinced him that they belonged to the same war party of
Shawanoes, and were searching the craft for plunder. They had thrown
over a sort of bench, which was fastened, bottom upward, to the stern
of a canoe. They were some half dozen savages, who, a moment later,
shoved off and paddled down stream.
Their light craft shot rapidly forward, inclining neither to one shore
nor the other. From this, Waring's belief that the main body had
crossed the river was changed into the conviction that they had all
gone down the stream in their canoes; and that all that remained for
him to do was to keep these redskins in sight.
This was a difficult task, indeed. Under the skilful guidance of the
sinewy Indian, their canoe skimmed like a swallow over the water, and
it required the most strenuous efforts of Waring to keep it in sight.
Fortunately, indeed, the wood, a few yards from the shore, was open,
and his footsteps were not much impeded.
Hurrying thus forward, now and then darting to the river bank, he kept
up the pursuit for five or six miles, the canoe all the time gaining
upon him, until finally he lost sight of it behind a bend in the river.
Waring was panting and perspiring, and in no pleasant mood, that, after
all his efforts, he was compelled to fall behind, and he relaxed into a
sullen walk.
"It seems as though everything is conspiring against me," he muttered.
"I have done everything in my power, and here I am at last, left
entirely alone, without knowing whither a single one of my friends has
gone. It matters little what becomes of me. A curse upon the infernal
Indians that have persecuted me thus!"
He walked moodily forward for an hour or so, by which time he had
passed the bend in the river, around which the canoe had disappeared.
The river at this point took a due southwest direction, running so
nearly straight that a view of several miles was afforded. Nothing of
the canoe, however, had been seen. It had gone, Waring knew not where.
Wearied and dispirited, he threw himself upon the ground, and
endeavored to sleep. But he was too excited and nervous to rest; and
devouring what he could of the remaining portion of the turkey, he
threw the rest from him, and leaned his head on his hand to reflect
upon the best course for him to pursue.
He had lost all traces of the Indians and their captives. How he
should ever meet Virginia again it was impossible for him to imagine.
In the impenetrable depths of the great wilderness which surrounded
him, where the merciless red men wandered for miles, how could he, a
single, unaided white man, follow them? How----?
The explosion of a rifle broke the stillness of the woods, and
springing to his feet, Waring hurried madly forward, scarcely conscious
of what he was doing. After running a short distance he paused, and
parting the bushes, gazed upon a scene that thrilled his very being
with the wildest of thoughts.