THE BOY PIONEER--DEERFOOT, THE SHAWANOE.
Before proceeding further it is proper to give the information the
reader needs in order to understand the incidents that follow.
Macaiah Preston and his wife were among the original settlers of Wild
Oaks, a small town on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, during the latter
portion of the last century, their only child being Ned, who has
already been introduced to the reader. Beside him they had the bound
boy Wildblossom Brown, a heavy-set, good-natured and sturdy negro lad,
whom they took with them at the time they removed from Western
Pennsylvania. He was faithful and devoted, and he received the best of
treatment from his master and mistress.
Ned was taller and more graceful than the African, and the instruction
from his father had endowed him with more book learning than generally
falls to the lot of boys placed in his circumstances. Besides this,
Mr. Preston was one of the most noted hunters and marksmen in the
settlement, and he gave Ned thorough training in the art which is
always such a delight for a boy to acquire.
When Ned was thirteen years old he fired one day at a squirrel on the
topmost branch of a mountain ash, and brought it down, with its body
shattered by the bullet of his rifle. The father quietly contemplated
the work for a minute or so, and then, without a word, cut a hickory
stick, and proceeded to trim it. While he was thus employed Ned was
looking sideways at him, gouging his eyes with his knuckles and
muttering,
"You might excuse me this time--I didn't think."
When the hickory was properly trimmed, the father deliberately took
his son by his coat collar with one hand and applied the stick with
the other, during which the lad danced and shouted like a wild Miami
Indian. The trouncing completed, the only remark made by the father
was--
"After this I reckon when you shoot a squirrel you will hit him in the
_head_."
"I reckon I will," sniffled Ned, who was certain never to forget the
instructions of his parent on _that_ point.
Such was the training of Ned Preston; and at the age of sixteen, when
we introduce him to the reader, there were none of his years who was
his superior in backwoods "lore" and woodcraft.
In those times a hunter differed in his make-up from those of to-day.
The gun which he carried was a long, single-barreled rifle, heavy,
costly of manufacture, and scarcely less unerring in the hands of a
veteran than is the modern weapon. It was a flint-lock, and of course
a muzzle-loader. The owner carried his powder-horn, bullet-pouch, and
sometimes an extra flint. Lucifer matches were unknown for nearly a
half century later, the flint and tinder answering for them.
Ned Preston wore a warm cap made of coonskin; thick, homespun
trowsers, coat and vest; strong cowhide shoes, and woollen stockings,
knit by the same deft hands that had made the linen for his shirt. The
coat was rather short, and it was buttoned from top to bottom with the
old style horn button, over the short waistcoat beneath. The string of
the powder-horn passed over one shoulder, and that of the game-bag
over the other. Neither Ned nor Blossom carried a hunting-bag, for
they had not started out for game, and the majority shot in Kentucky
or Ohio in those days were altogether too bulky for a single hunter to
take home on his back.
Some thirty miles in the interior from the settlement stood Fort
Bridgman, a block-house on the eastern bank of the Licking River. It
was erected six years before the time of which we are speaking, and
was intended as a protection to a settlement begun at the same period;
but, just as the fortification was finished, and before the settlers
had all their dwellings in good form, the Shawanoes and Wyandots
swooped down on them, and left nothing but the block-house and the
smoking ruins of the log dwellings.
This effectually checked the settlers for the time; but one or two
courageous pioneers, who liked the locality, began erecting other
cabins close to the massive block-house, which had resisted the fierce
attack of the red men. The man who had charge of the fortification was
Colonel Hugh Preston, a brother of Macaiah, and of course the uncle of
Ned, the hero of this story. He maintained his foothold, with several
others as daring as he, and his wife and two daughters kept him
company.
There was a warm affection between the brothers, and they
occasionally exchanged visits. When this was inconvenient, Ned Preston
acted as messenger. He often carried papers sent down the Ohio to his
father for the uncle, together with the letters forwarded to the
settlement from their friends in the East.
On the day of which we are speaking he had, in the inner pocket of his
coat, a letter for his uncle, one for his aunt, and one each for two
of the garrison; so that his visit to the post was sure to be a most
welcome one.
Between the settlement on the Ohio and the block-house on the Licking
lay the thirty miles of unbroken forest. Ned and Blossom had made this
journey in one day in the month of June, but their custom was to
encamp one night on the way so as to give themselves abundance of
time; and the trip was generally a most enjoyable one to them.
It must not be supposed they forgot the danger most to be dreaded was
from the Indians who roamed over the Dark and Bloody Ground, and who
held almost undisputed possession of hundreds of square miles of
Kentucky at the opening of the present century.
There were scouts and runners threading their way through the
trackless forests north and south of the Ohio, or coursing up and down
the rivers, or spying out the actions of the war parties when they
gathered near their villages and threw the tomahawk, daubed their
faces with paint, and danced the war dance. These intrepid runners
kept the frontier well informed of any formidable movements
contemplated by the red men, so that no effective demonstration
against the whites was feared.
Weeks and months passed, during which Ned Preston was not permitted to
cross the intervening space between the block-house and the
settlement, for the runners who came in reported great danger in doing
so. Then again it looked almost as if the dawn of peace had come, and
men were not afraid to move to and fro many furlongs distant from
their homes.
Nearly twenty years had passed since the great pioneer, Daniel Boone,
had explored a portion of the wonderful territory, and the numerous
scenes of violence that had taken place on its soil made the name of
the Dark and Bloody Ground characteristic and well-merited.
The several military expeditions which the Government had sent into
the West had either been overwhelmingly defeated by the combined
forces of Indians, or had accomplished nothing toward subduing the red
men. The decisive campaign was yet to come.
But without dwelling on this portion of our story, we may say that in
the autumn of 1788 comparative peace reigned over the portion of
Kentucky of which we are speaking. When, therefore, the letters came
down the Ohio in a flat-boat for Colonel Hugh Preston and several of
those with him, and Ned asked permission to take them to his uncle,
there was scarcely any hesitation in giving consent.
With this explanation the reader will understand how it came about
that Ned and Blossom were in the depths of the Kentucky forest when
the autumn day was closing, and while fully a dozen miles remained to
pass before they could reach the block-house.
They had made a later start than usual from home, and rather
singularly, although they had passed over the route so many times,
they went astray, and lost several hours from that cause.
Soon after their departure from the settlement a friendly Shawanoe
visited the place and warned the pioneers that trouble was coming, and
it was wise to take more than usual precautions against surprise. When
this Indian runner added that he was quite sure an assault was
intended on the block-house, it can be understood that the parents of
Ned were extremely alarmed for the safety of himself and Blossom.
If they should get through the stretch of forest to the block-house,
their danger would not be removed; for an attack on that post was
contemplated, and knowing its precise defensive power, as the Indians
did, they would be likely to render the battle decisive.
"I hope the boys will reach the Colonel," said the father of Ned to
his wife, "for they will have a chance to make a good fight for
themselves."
"But the Colonel may know nothing of the attack intended, and he and
the rest will be taken by surprise."
This doubt so disturbed the husband that he hurriedly sought the
Shawanoe, who was still in the settlement, and asked him whether
Colonel Preston had been apprised of the danger which threatened him.
When informed that he had not, Mr. Preston insisted that Deerfoot, as
the young Shawanoe was called, should make his way to the block-house
without delay. The Indian, known to be one of the fleetest of
warriors, said that he was on the eve of starting on that errand, and
he left at once.
Before going, he was told that the two boys were threading their way
through the forest toward the station, and the anxious father asked
him to bring the lads back, if he deemed it the safer course. Ned was
a great favorite with the Shawanoe youth, and the latter promised to
use every effort to befriend him.
The question left to Deerfoot was whether it was his duty to hasten
forward and apprise Colonel Preston of the peril impending over the
garrison, or whether it would be safe to let him wait until the lads
were conducted back to Wild Oaks. Deerfoot was disposed to hurry to
the Licking; but when a few miles from the settlement he struck the
trail of the lads, which he followed with as much ease as the
bloodhound would have displayed under similar circumstances.
As both parties had started in the same direction, the prospect was
that a junction would speedily take place, and the three could make
the rest of the journey together; but before long Deerfoot was
surprised to discover that Ned and Blossom had strayed from the true
course. He could not understand why this happened, and his misgiving
for Ned, whom he liked so well, led him to resolve to follow up the
boy, and find out the cause.
Deerfoot was pushing forward on his loping trot, which he was able to
maintain hour after hour without fatigue, when his wonderful instinct
or reason told him he was in the vicinity of a large war party of
Wyandots, the natural allies of his own tribe in their wars upon the
settlements.
His belief was that the boys had been captured by them, in which event
little hope remained; but it required no special maneuvering on his
part to learn that his fears were baseless. The trail of the lads made
an abrupt turn, showing that Ned Preston had suddenly "located"
himself, and had returned to the right course. Although the footprints
of the Wyandots actually approached within a hundred yards of those of
the boys, yet singularly enough they came no nearer, and diverged from
that point; so that, in all probability, the war party never
suspected how close they were to the prize that would have been so
welcome to them.
Accustomed as Deerfoot was to all species of danger in the woods, his
dusky face flushed when he looked to the ground and saw how narrowly
the boys had missed a frightful fate.
Such being the case, it became the duty of the Shawanoe to acquaint
himself with the purpose of the Wyandot party. He therefore went
directly among them to make his inquiries. This was a delicate and
dangerous proceeding, for although the subtle Indian had done his
utmost to keep secret from his own people his friendship and services
for the whites (inasmuch as such a knowledge on the part of his race
would have ended his usefulness and life), he knew well enough that
his double-dealing must become known sooner or later to the Indians,
and for a year or more he had never appeared among his people without
misgiving as to the result.
All the wonderful cunning of his nature was brought into play when he
advanced to meet the Wyandots, who were in their war-paint. He saw
there were twenty-three, and that they numbered the bravest and most
daring of their tribe. The leader was the chief Waughtauk, a fierce
foe of the whites, whose tomahawk and scalping-knife had been reddened
with innocent blood many a time.
Deerfoot was received with every appearance of cordiality by the chief
and his men, for all knew what a splendid warrior the young Shawanoe
was, and some of them had witnessed the extraordinary speed which had
saved his life more than once.
It is as easy for the American to play a part as for the Caucasian,
and Deerfoot was not entirely satisfied. He kept his wits about him,
and used extreme care in not placing himself at any disadvantage which
it was possible to avoid; but all the friendship seemed genuine, and
when Waughtauk told him it was his intention to attack the exposed
cabins of the settlers, Deerfoot believed him. When he added that he
meant also to take a survey of the settlements along the Ohio, with
the object of seeing which offered the most favorable opening for a
sudden assault by a large war party, the Shawanoe was quite certain he
spoke the truth.
Deerfoot then asked why they did not assail the block-house on the
Licking, whose exposed situation seemed to invite such attack.
Waughtauk answered that Colonel Preston had proved a good friend to
the Indians who visited him, and it was decided to spare him.
This answer excited the suspicion of the youthful Shawanoe that the
Wyandot chieftain had been deceiving him from the first; but Deerfoot
was too cunning to reveal anything of his thoughts. When he bade his
friends good-by, they at least were misled into the belief that he
held no suspicion of the "double tongue" with which they had spoken.
It was no difficult matter for Deerfoot, when fairly away from the
Wyandots, to shadow them until he learned whether they had falsified
or not.
They kept to the northward several miles, until they had every reason
to believe a long distance separated them from the Shawanoe, when they
changed to the left, turning again a short distance further on, until
their faces were directly toward Fort Bridgman, the block-house on the
Licking.
That settled the question beyond dispute; they had told untruths to
Deerfoot, and their purpose was to descend upon the station defended
by Colonel Preston and only three able-bodied men.
After this discovery, the Shawanoe stood a moment leaning thoughtfully
on his bow; an important truth impressed him:
"They suspect that Deerfoot is a friend of the white man, and
therefore an enemy of his own race," was the thought of the Indian,
who realized the fearful meaning to him of such a suspicion.