THE COMING OF BLACKFISH
"Peleg," said Daniel Boone after the appearance of the enemy in front of
the fort, "I understand now why it was that I was so long a prisoner of
the Shawnees."
Peleg expressed his question without replying in words and the hunter
continued: "If I had not been a captive I never should have known how
strong they are nor what their plans might be. And I think, too, that I
never should have known what the relation is between the Shawnees and
the French."
"Do you think we can hold this place?" inquired Peleg anxiously.
"We shall do our best, lad, and the result is not altogether in our
hands. I have sent messengers all through the settlements asking for
reinforcements."
The conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a messenger from
the attacking army--a white man. Before he arrived at the stockade he
was hailed by Daniel Boone, who, with Peleg, was standing on one of the
bastions.
After a few preliminary words the man said: "I am instructed by Captain
Duquesne to state to you that he has received orders from Governor
Hamilton at Detroit to take this fort, but to save the lives of the
people, if it is possible so to do."
Boone gazed down into the face of the speaker, but did not reply.
"I am further instructed by Captain Duquesne," resumed the messenger,
"to ask you to send nine men from the fort to arrange for a treaty. You
can meet the men from our army wherever you desire."
"I shall report to you as soon as I have consulted my friends," said
Daniel Boone as he and his companion retired to the fort.
When the defenders were assembled Sam Oliver declared hotly: "I should
never send nine men out to meet the redskins! It is one of their tricks,
and not one of the nine will ever come back."
"I do not feel that way about it," said Boone. "I suspect that it may be
a trick, as you suggest, but it may help us to put off the beginning of
the fight until some of the other settlers for whom we have sent can
come to our aid. I favour sending a delegation of nine men to meet a
delegation from the Indians, but the place must be within fire from the
fort. I do not know how you feel, but for myself I am willing to say
that we shall never surrender this place while there is one man left
alive to defend it."
"That's the way we all feel," said Sam Oliver, who still opposed the
proposed meeting.
Daniel Boone returned to the bastions and announced to the messenger
that nine men would meet a party from the Indians in accordance with the
proposition which had been made for the conference.
Selecting eight of his followers, the scout led the way to the appointed
place of meeting, which was sixty yards from the fort. There the little
band met Captain Duquesne and eighteen or twenty Indians. The red
warriors were silent, but their flashing eyes impressed the scout more
than any words could have done.
"What we propose," began Captain Duquesne, "is that every man in the
fort shall swear allegiance to King George the Third and submit to our
rule. If this can be done we can assure you that you may live in peace
and retain all your property."
Boone, who was the spokesman of the settlers, arose to reply. He knew
little of the great struggle which at that time was going on for the
independence of the colonies. His life on the border was too remote from
the battlefields of the north and east, and only occasional rumours of
the long contest came to the pioneers.
Boone's speech, conditionally agreeing to Duquesne's proposal, was
followed by one from Blackfish. The old chief, looking only once upon
his adopted son, and by the gleam in his eyes expressing his hatred,
asserted that when two great armies entered into a treaty it was
customary for the men to shake hands, and in doing so for two Indians to
shake the hands of each white man. There were smiles among the men from
the fort as they heard the smooth words of the crafty old chief, but as
all the warriors and white men were unarmed they were not unduly
alarmed.
At that moment a gun was fired as a signal from the forest, and the
Indian members of the council, advancing with open hands, grasped the
hands of the white men. Instantly the warriors endeavoured to drag their
white enemies toward the woods where many of the Shawnees were
concealed. A desperate conflict followed, and the Indians from the main
body begun to rush quickly toward the spot.
At the same time the watching men at the fort began to pour a fire upon
the approaching enemy, and in a few minutes, under stress of the
excitement, the scout and his friends tore themselves from the grasp of
the Indians and fled back to the fort. The heavy gate was closed and
bolted as soon as they were behind the defences. Fortunately only one
man had been wounded by the fire of the savages.
Captain Duquesne and Blackfish now ordered an attack upon the fort. As
the place was almost surrounded by woods except on the side toward the
river, the attacking party was well protected. The advance was made from
three sides at once.
Amid the wild yells of the Indians a volley of bullets was poured into
the fort, and as soon as the guns were discharged they were again loaded
and a steady fire maintained.
The defenders of the fort, however, were not wasting their scanty
ammunition. Every man from his porthole, or the place which he was
occupying on the bastions, was selecting his own special mark and every
shot was telling in the work of death. The fight continued throughout
the day, and when night fell, contrary to their custom, the Indians
still maintained their attack.
Another day and another night followed, without any break in the
struggle. Daniel Boone was aware that the Indians were now being guided
by Captain Duquesne and were not following their usual custom of
abandoning an attack when darkness fell. Meanwhile Boone was moving from
place to place encouraging his men and making sure that all things were
well.
Jemima Boone, by the direction of her father, was firing through one of
the portholes. In the second day of the fight a negro, who had fled from
the fort, climbed into a tree near by, fired at the girl and wounded
her.
Daniel Boone, who at the moment was standing near his daughter,
instantly peered through the porthole, discovered the deserter, and the
report of his rifle was followed by the fall of the man from the tree in
which he had hidden.
Day followed day and still the attack was maintained. The Indians were
unable to force an entrance into the place, but they were unwilling to
abandon the attack.
One afternoon Peleg came to Daniel Boone and, greatly excited, said:
"Come with me!"
Leading the way to the side of the fort which faced the river, he called
the attention of the scout to the colour of the water.
"What does that mean?" inquired Peleg.
"It means that the varmints are trying to dig a trench from the bank of
the river to the fort," said Boone. "The earth they have thrown out has
coloured the water. If they once get inside the fort they may compel us
to surrender."
"What can we do?" inquired Peleg. "We must do something!"
"Come, I will show you," replied Boone quietly.
Selecting several men to aid Peleg in his task, he soon arranged for a
counter trench to be dug which would cross that which the Indians were
digging. Nor was it long before the discovery of the work of the
defenders caused the red men to abandon their scheme.
More furiously than before, the siege was continued. A new device was
tried by the Indians on the fifth day.
Arrows with burning brands attached to them were shot in such a manner
that they struck the roofs of the houses within the fort. It was
impossible for any one to prevent this work.
At last a cry was raised that the fort itself was on fire. The cry,
terrifying as it was, instantly brought Henry to the front, who said
calmly: "I put out flame."
For a moment every gun and voice within the fort was silent while the
anxious inmates watched Henry as he made his way to the roof where the
fire already was kindled. A wild yell from the Indians greeted the
appearance of the young man and a shower of bullets fell all about him.
Undismayed by his peril, Henry succeeded in making his way to the
blazing arrow, flung it to the ground, and succeeded in putting out the
fire. As he turned to make his way back to his friends another shower of
bullets fell about him, and a groan escaped the watching defenders when
they saw the young hero suddenly lose his grasp upon the roof, and
after a brief struggle roll to the ground outside the walls.
The numbers of those who had fallen within the fort had not been great,
protected as they were by its wall and also by their own continued
vigilance. The ranks of the assailants, however, steadily had been
thinned, and on the ninth day, without any warning to the defenders, the
attacking Shawnees withdrew from the place.
Peleg was engaged in his duties in the fort on the morning following the
siege when the scout approached him and, in response to the enthusiastic
words of the boy, smiled as he said: "Well, we did pretty well, lad. We
lost only two and had only four wounded."
"And Henry was one of the killed," suggested Peleg.
"I do not know. He has not been found," replied Boone. "If one had to
die I think Henry was the best one to go." In response to a look of
inquiry from the boy, the scout continued: "He had no family; his white
blood prevented him from being entirely at home among the Indians, while
his Indian bringing-up would have prevented him forever from feeling
that he was one of us. There were times when I was afraid for the life
of Sam Oliver, so bitter was Henry's hatred of him."
"Do you know how many of the Indians were killed?"
"It is reported that thirty-seven were killed and a great many wounded.
It is difficult to say just what the losses were, because the Indians
always carry away their dead and wounded."
"Do you think they will come back again?"
The scout shook his head as he said: "The country hereabouts is
increasing so rapidly in its population, and there are so many other
stations now between Boonesborough and the Ohio, that I hardly think
they will attack us again. Certainly not in the near future."
"How is Jemima this morning?" asked Peleg.
"She will be all right in a few days," replied Boone. "It was only a
flesh wound in the shoulder that she received."
"What are you planning to do next?"
"If you agree," replied Daniel Boone, "I shall leave you in charge of my
farm and start as soon as I can for North Carolina, to bring back my
family."
It was not long before the scout set forth alone on his journey to the
Yadkin, whither his wife had gone with all her children except Jemima,
to find a refuge in her father's house, after she had become convinced
that Daniel Boone had been killed by the Indians.
The journey was successfully made and the coming of Boone was to his
wife almost like the return of one from the dead. There were some
matters on the Yadkin, however, which prevented their immediate
departure, and it was not until several weeks had elapsed that the scout
with his family returned to Boonesborough.
Meanwhile Peleg had looked carefully after the farm which his friend
owned, and he received warm words of praise for his efforts when Boone
came back.
As soon as the scout saw that his family once more was established in
the settlement, and the attacks of the Indians, for a time at least, had
ceased, with his brother, who also now had joined the settlers, he once
more started for Blue Licks to make salt, of which the settlers and
their cattle were greatly in need.
"Are you not afraid to go to the Blue Licks?" inquired his brother when
Boone was ready to set forth on his expedition.
"Why should I be?" inquired Boone.
"It was there that you were taken by the Indians."
[Illustration: "The scout, with his family, returned to Boonesborough"]
"They say," replied the scout with a smile, "that lightning never
strikes twice in the same place. I am not afraid. I think the Shawnees
have been taught a good lesson. Colonel Bowman and his one hundred and
sixty men, though he was not very successful in his attack upon old
Chillicothe, nevertheless showed the Indians that we were not unmindful
of their plans. And Colonel Harrod at all events, when he made his
attack with the horsemen, certainly scattered the Indians on every side.
I think they will remember both men, although I wish that we might have
inflicted greater damage upon their village. The report is that only two
scalps were taken, but that may mean very little. The attacks which
Colonel Bird, with his five hundred Indians and Canadians, made upon
Riddle's Station and the little station upon the Licking River, seem to
me to show that the Indians are not ready to give up yet."
Boone's assurance overcame the objections of his brother and persuaded
him that there was no special danger attending their labours at Blue
Licks.
The confidence of the scout seemed warranted when several days had
passed, the necessary salt had been made, and the two men were preparing
to return to the fort. Not an Indian had been seen, nor had there been
any signs of their presence.
Hardly had the two men, however, set forth on their return when, without
warning, they were attacked by a band of Indians. Boone's brother was
killed and scalped. But the scout instantly darted into the thickest
part of the forest. Owing to his superior knowledge of the country he
was not overtaken at once; and running steadily and as swiftly as he was
able, he at last sought refuge in a ravine, followed by a dog which the
Indians were using to trail him. Boone waited quietly until the savage
animal approached and then calmly shot it. Aware that the report of his
rifle would reveal his presence to his enemies, the intrepid man, as the
woods about him were dense and darkness was approaching, resolutely made
his way into the forest again and resumed his flight toward
Boonesborough.