FLIGHT
"What do you think, Peleg?" inquired Boone a few days after the return
from Detroit. "Blackfish wishes to adopt me into his family."
"What!" exclaimed Peleg in amazement.
"Yes. One of his sons was killed not long ago and he wishes me to take
his place. I do not know how much older my foster-father will be than I
am. As a rule I think it is wise for a father to be a little older than
his son," added Boone quizzically. "But it won't make any great
difference in this case."
"You are not going to allow it, are you?" repeated Peleg.
"I must. Blackfish seems to be very fond of me, and since we came back
from Detroit, Owaneeyo has spread many reports of my devotion to the
tribe. He little realizes what restraint I have had to put upon myself,
and how there are times when it seems to me that I would almost give my
life for the privilege of looking upon the faces of my family once
more. It will never do for me to refuse."
Peleg said no more, but in spite of the scout's information he was
scarcely prepared for the "adoption" which followed in a short time.
In the presence of the family of Blackfish and of some of the leading
warriors of the tribe, a good deal of hair was pulled from the head of
Boone, leaving his scalp-lock not unlike that of the Indians. His body
then was bathed in several waters, the medicine-men who performed the
act claiming that in this way his white blood was washed away, and he
became essentially a Shawnee in nature as well as in name. A feast
followed the formality of adoption, and then Daniel Boone was given a
name--"The Man with the Long Rifle"--and formally declared to be a son
of the great Chief Blackfish.
There was a slight change in the treatment which Boone and his
companions received after this event. The increasing confidence of the
Indians was manifest, and found its most complete expression when a few
days afterward they sent Boone, together with two or three white men and
a score of warriors, to the springs of the Sciota to make salt.
Upon their return from this expedition Boone was alarmed as well as
astonished by the appearance of the Shawnee braves. Many of them were
daubed in their war paint, and it was apparent on every side that the
warriors were preparing for battle.
It was not difficult for the great scout to learn that the object of the
campaign was to take the little settlement on the Kentucky, where his
home was located.
Familiar as he was with the Indian customs, Boone was aware that more
extensive preparations than he had yet seen would be made before the
warriors started on the warpath. Meanwhile, he was determined to escape
from the Indian village, and return with his warning to his friends on
the Kentucky.
In spite of the freedom he enjoyed, he knew that it would be extremely
difficult for him to escape. At least one hundred and sixty miles of
forest and wilderness intervened between the village and Boonesborough.
To obtain supplies of food, or weapons by which he might defend himself
from beasts and warriors, was well-nigh impossible.
Nevertheless the determined man decided to try to escape from the
Shawnees at the first favourable opportunity. He was fully aware that he
must not do anything to arouse the suspicions of the tribe. Yet the time
of the departure of the warriors could not be far distant.
Meanwhile, he talked over these matters in the occasional interviews he
was permitted to have with Peleg. Almost all the younger scout knew,
however, was that his friend had determined, when the proper time
arrived, to flee from the village and warn the settlers of their peril.
It was also understood that, after the departure of the scout, if Peleg
should see the least opportunity, he, too, would attempt to leave the
Indian village.
When June came the great scout saw that the men were preparing for a
march within a few days. Whatever he was to do must be done quickly. No
opportunity had been granted for a further word with his young friend,
when early one morning Boone fled from Chillicothe.
A small piece of jerked venison was all the food he had been able to
take with him on his long journey. He was without rifle or knife and
before him stretched a pathless forest through which he must flee one
hundred and sixty miles before he again would be among his friends! No
one knew better than Boone himself that it was to be a race for life,
for pursuit on the morrow was as certain as the rising of the sun.
Nevertheless with the same quiet courage which had ever been the great
scout's strong reliance, he struck out for the Ohio River. Through the
deep forests, over the high crags and rocks, across the creeks and
following the courses of the river, by day and by night, he forced his
tireless way.
Success crowned his efforts at last, and he gained the shores of the
Ohio. But when he arrived upon the bank he found the river full and at
least a mile in width.
Unable to swim, for a time the scout was uncertain what his next move
should be. Fortunately, he found, on the bank near the place where he
was standing, an old canoe which had been driven against the shore.
Although the little craft was untrustworthy, one end having been badly
broken, the intrepid man succeeded in paddling his way in it to the
opposite bank.
Four days and four nights the scout had been running with only an
occasional brief respite. Throughout that time he had eaten but one
meal. His strength was failing, but his hope was strong, for Daniel
Boone was aware now that he was near to his home. At last the quaint
fort was seen before him and the end of the journey had been gained.
The return of the scout was almost like that of one who had come back
from the dead. Every man in the little settlement had believed that
Daniel Boone was to be seen no more. No tidings had come from faraway
Chillicothe, and no one in Boonesborough had any means of knowing what
had befallen the party in their labours at Blue Licks.
"Where is my wife? Where are my children?" demanded Boone as soon as he
entered the fort.
"Gone," answered Sam Oliver, who at the time was making one of his
occasional visits at the settlement.
"'Gone!'" repeated Boone in astonishment. "'Gone!' Where?"
"Your wife and all your children except Jemima have gone back to North
Carolina. They all believed you to be dead and your wife felt that she
could no longer remain here. Jemima is the only one that stayed."
It was not long before the scout found his intrepid daughter, who in
spite of the departure of the other members of the family had been
strong in her conviction that either her father would return or some
definite word concerning his fate would be received. For that reason she
had remained in the fort.
Not a moment was to be lost. Weary, indeed almost exhausted by his long
flight, as soon as food and a brief rest had been obtained Boone at once
helped the little garrison to work day and night upon their
fortifications. New gates were made and double bastions were speedily
completed. The horses and cattle were driven in from the fields, and
powder and balls prepared. Before ten days had elapsed the fort was in
readiness for the coming of the enemy.
Early in the morning of the final day, while Daniel Boone was himself
on guard, he discovered a man approaching from the forest. Keenly
watching the indistinct figure and prepared for instant action, although
as yet he had not summoned any of his companions, Boone soon was aware
that the returning man was none other than his friend Peleg.
The young scout was admitted by Boone, and in response to his queries he
was soon describing what had befallen him.
In the midst of the excitement which had followed the escape of Boone,
Peleg found the opportunity for which he himself had been waiting, and
he, too, fled from the little village. In some ways, however, he had
been more successful than his friend, inasmuch as he had been able to
secure both Singing Susan and some ammunition, together with a
hunting-knife.
"Have they followed you, lad?" inquired Boone eagerly.
"I do not know. They were filled with the plan of attacking the fort and
I do not know whether anything has been done to turn them aside from it.
I have had many trials," continued the young scout. "If I had not found
the circles of stones which you left I could not have followed your
trail. I do not know how you crossed the Ohio."
"I found an old canoe," explained Boone.
"That makes everything plain, then," laughed Peleg, "for I used the same
canoe. Some one must have brought it back or it had floated down stream;
at any rate it saved me from getting Singing Susan wet. The first place
I found your stones was about two miles from the river, at the spring
where there is a little waterfall. I can't tell you what it meant to me,
for I was not sure of my way. I tried to think of everything you had
told me about the stars, the course of the streams, and the changes in
the trees, and then every little while I climbed to the top of a hill
when I came near one and got my bearings from there."
"You are here, lad," said Boone. "You were led as I was. That is enough.
Now tell me about the Shawnees. Are they coming?"
"I think so, but the attack will be delayed several weeks."
"Why is that?"
"Because you escaped. They tried their best to overtake you, but when
Owaneeyo and some of the other warriors of the tribe came back and said
they had not found you, then Blackfish declared that you would come to
the fort here to warn the settlers. They then decided, I think, to put
off their march about three weeks."
Boone nodded his head several times as if the explanation Peleg had
given was one that commended itself to his judgment. There was no
alteration, however, in the plans of the scout for strengthening the
defences of the little fort. By this time the alarm had spread
throughout the little settlement and every man was alert.
The delay in the coming of the Shawnees, however, continued so long that
Boone concluded that they might have become discouraged by the report of
their spies concerning the condition of the fort.
Prowling Indians had been seen frequently in the vicinity of
Boonesborough after the arrival of Peleg, and the scout now decided that
it would be a good plan for him to turn the tables and with a party
invade the country of the Shawnees themselves.
Choosing nineteen men from the little garrison, he led them swiftly and
silently as far as Paint Creek on the Sciota. He had come within four
miles of the little Indian village, when unexpectedly the band met a
party of thirty warriors, who were marching to join the expedition
against Boonesborough.
There was no opportunity for retreat or deliberation. Instantly Boone
called upon his companions to follow his example and fired upon the
astonished warriors.
The Shawnees without attempting to respond, and doubtless unaware of
the numbers of their enemies, immediately turned and fled.
The scout now halted his forces and sent two spies to discover what was
taking place in the village. The men returned with the information that
it had been abandoned.
As soon as this information had been received, Boone summoned his
followers and said to them: "I am convinced from the reports of our
friends that a great army of the Indians is now marching against
Boonesborough. Our friends are in almost as great danger as are we.
There is nothing left for us except to return and make the best possible
time in our march."
Every one assented to the suggestion and the return was begun, the men
marching day and night, hoping to elude the Indians, who, the scout now
believed, were between them and Boonesborough.
It was not long before the returning band discovered the trail of the
advancing warriors. Thereupon the leader decided to make a detour and
avoid his enemies. All unknown to the Indians, on the sixth day of the
returning march the intrepid band passed the red men, and on the seventh
arrived safely at Boonesborough.
The following day five hundred hideously painted, thoroughly armed
Indians appeared at the fort.
The alarm of the little garrison would have been still greater had they
known that Duquesne, for whom Fort Pitt was first named, was in command
of the entire band. Even Blackfish for the time had resigned his
position as leader, preferring to have the skilful Frenchman assume the
command in the attack on the fort. Nor was Captain Duquesne alone, for
twelve of his countrymen also were with him to assist in leading the
savages in their attack.