THE WHITE SHAWNEE AGAIN
Again turning to his left, Peleg, still followed by his friend, ran
swiftly toward the border of the cornfield.
The cries and whoops in a measure had died away, and from what he could
hear Peleg concluded that some of his friends had escaped from the field
and were being pursued in their flight toward the fort.
When Peleg and Israel found they were near the road, on the opposite
side of which stood the forest where the Indians had made their
ambuscade, they peered cautiously in all directions, but were unable to
see any of their enemies. That another band of warriors had followed in
pursuit of the men who had escaped from the first attack and from the
fight in the cornfield was most likely, they concluded.
Peleg whispered: "The safest place for us is where the Indians were
hidden. They have gone from there and will not come back to look for any
of us."
Israel nodded his head in assent, and, firmly grasping their rifles,
the boys darted across the road and gained the shelter of the trees.
When the two young scouts were convinced that their immediate presence
had not been discovered, Peleg said to Israel: "Are you sure you can
find your way if we again separate?"
"Yes," answered Israel. "But the Indians are between us and the fort. Do
you think we can ever get through?"
"We must," said Peleg. "The folk at Bryant's Station are in such danger
that not one of us must fail them now."
The words hardly had been spoken when there was a sharp report of a
rifle, and a bullet passed so near them that both boys heard it singing
on its way.
Moved by a common impulse, they turned and dashed into the forest.
Whether or no any of their enemies were hiding behind the trees toward
which they were running neither knew.
They were chiefly intent upon speed now, and ran on for several minutes,
well knowing that their lives depended upon the success of their
efforts.
At last, breathless, both halted for a rest, and Peleg said to his
companion, "I am sure it will be better for us to separate now. You know
the way, and can look out for yourself. I shall come, too, and if we
succeed In getting through, it had better be before night."
"Yes," assented Israel. "If we wait until dark and then creep up to the
fort, the guards will be likely to fire upon us, mistaking us for
Indians."
With these words Israel departed. Peleg watched his friend as long as he
remained within sight, and then began with caution to retrace the way
over which they had come. Keeping a firm grip upon Singing Susan, Peleg
darted from tree to tree and did not venture from each refuge until he
was convinced that no one was near him.
His attempt to proceed was interrupted, however, by the report of a
rifle, and again a bullet whistled uncomfortably close to his head,
tearing some splinters from the tree at his elbow. The young scout at
his utmost speed darted into the wood at his right.
He was aware that a swift flight could not long be maintained because of
his recent exertions. Where a refuge might be found he did not know. But
just then he noticed the trunk of what appeared to be a huge hollow tree
leaning over a shallow brook, across which he must leap if he continued
his flight.
He entered the stream, ran swiftly a few steps with the current, and
then retraced his way to the tree. It was but the work of a moment for
him to climb to the broken top, and great was his relief when he saw
that the tree indeed was hollow. Without thought of where he might fall
he dropped into the welcome opening.
He fell several feet before the decayed wood provided a foothold strong
enough to enable him to stand. Fortunately the hollow of the tree was
larger than his body, and although he was cramped and almost blinded by
the decayed mass, he nevertheless managed to reach his hunting-knife,
and, making a small opening through the soft wood, peeped out to see if
his enemies were within sight. As he did so his fears were aroused that
the tree itself might fall. It was a mere shell and so decayed that he
was surprised that his descent had not torn it asunder.
At that moment a wild cry, plainly from the road, came to his ears. Then
shouts were followed by the reports of guns and answering whoops from
the Indians.
Anxious for his friend Israel, Peleg turned once more to ascertain if
any of his enemies were near his hiding-place. He was hopeful that his
trail could not be followed farther than the bank of the little brook,
although he was sufficiently familiar with Indian ways to know that the
red men, if they really were pursuing him, would run in either direction
along the banks until they found the place where he had left the water.
He smiled as he recalled how he had been standing in the stream when he
had thrown his arms around the trunk of the bending tree. Singing Susan
was still held, but it would be impossible for him in his cramped
position to make use of her musical voice.
Suddenly Peleg was startled to behold an Indian step forth from the
forest and stand for a moment on the bank of the stream almost directly
beneath him. His surprise increased when he recognized the warrior as
Henry. He had believed that the white Shawnee, as Henry had loved to
call himself, had been killed in the attack on Boonesborough. His brave
deed in extinguishing the fire that had been kindled by the burning
arrow had been followed, as Peleg and others had believed, by his death.
At least every one had seen him fall from the roof and roll to the
ground. It is true, his body had not been recovered, but there were
other bodies which had similarly disappeared.
When his first feeling of astonishment had passed and Peleg was
convinced that it indeed was Henry who was beneath him, a feeling of
intense anger swept over the young settler. Henry was white, and yet had
renounced his allegiance to his own people and gone back to the
Shawnees, and with them he was now making war upon his own nation! There
was little in his present appearance to distinguish him from other
braves of the tribe. He wore the scalp-lock and was clad in the Indian
garb.
Peleg's problem in part was solved when at that moment the rotten wood
gave way beneath him, and the tree, unable longer to support the weight
of the young scout, fell with a crash to the ground. As it struck the
bank the tree was rent asunder, and to the white Shawnee's astonishment
Peleg scrambled to his feet from out of the wreckage.
Before he could brush the dust from his eyes and bring Singing Susan to
his shoulder Henry leaped forward and placed both hands upon the barrel
of the rifle, saying, "No shoot broder."
"You are no brother of mine!" said Peleg. "You are a Shawnee and not a
white Shawnee, either! You are fighting us!"
"No fight broder," repeated Henry. "Broder show way to fort."
For some strange reason which Peleg was unable to explain even to
himself, he said abruptly: "Lead the way, then! If you can take me
safely through the line of these savages, I shall never forget you."
The young scout was eager to inquire of his companion what had befallen
him and why he had returned to the Shawnees. His present peril, however,
was so great that he restrained his impulse, and in silence followed
Henry as he led the way toward Bryant's Station.
Occasionally a halt was made when from some nearby place shots were
heard indicating that the scattered settlers were being pursued either
in small detachments or individually, for the terrified men had
scattered when first the ambuscade had been discovered.
When Henry, who apparently was aware of the location of the besieging
braves, drew near the fort he stopped and said: "Now go."
Peleg looked about him, and, unable to discover any of his enemies
nearby, followed the advice which had been given him, and, placing his
hat on the end of the barrel of Singing Susan as a token of his peaceful
intentions, approached the gate.
He was at once admitted, and his relief was great when the first to
greet him was Israel Boone.
"How many are here?" asked Peleg.
"I do not know," answered Israel. "I have heard that only six of our men
were killed or wounded. When we all started toward Lexington they might
have chased us all the way and taken the fort there, because there was
nobody left to fight for it."
"How many Indians were in that ambuscade?" asked Peleg.
"I hear there were three hundred."
"How did you get to the fort?"
"I ran straight ahead for an hour," replied Israel with a smile. "How
did you come?"
"Henry got me through the lines."
"Henry!" demanded Israel in surprise. "Henry! I thought he was dead."
"So did I, but he is very much alive. I had no time to ask him how he
came to be here. I was thinking mostly of getting inside the fort."
"It is a comfort to know that at least Girty will not lead any more----"
Israel stopped speaking as a lusty shout was heard from a stump that
stood near one of the bastions, and the two young defenders to their
amazement beheld Simon Girty himself standing erect upon the stump and
waving a cloth which at some time in its history may have been white.
In response to this hail every man ran to hear what the renegade leader
of the Indians had to say.
They were soon to know the purpose for which Girty, on his hands and
knees, had crept to the place where he now was standing.
"What do you want?" shouted one of the defenders.
"I have come," replied Girty in a loud voice, "to save your lives. We
have more than six hundred warriors here, and by to-morrow we shall have
more. Some of our friends will bring cannon, and when we have them we
can blow every cabin in Bryant's Station into flinders. If we storm your
fort, as we sure can do when we get our cannon, I will not promise that
one life will be spared. You know the redskins well enough to understand
how I shall not be able to hold them back. If you surrender now, I give
you my word of honour that not a hair of the head of any one of you
shall be hurt. I am Simon Girty, and you know you can rely upon every
word I speak."
A derisive cry from several of the defenders greeted this assertion, but
when Peleg and Israel looked about them they were aware that many of the
men had been strongly moved by Girty's appeal.