"SHUT OUT."
Deerfoot informed his friends that they were now within seven miles of
the block-house. Although the night was far advanced, he expected to
reach their destination long before morning. At that season the days
were short, and as the Shawanoe was familiar with the woods, and could
travel with as much certainty in the darkness as the light, there was
no delay counted upon, unless they should approach the vicinity of
some of the Wyandots.
The order of march was taken up precisely as before, Deerfoot warning
the others to walk with the least noise possible, he setting the
example by advancing absolutely without any sound that could betray
his footsteps.
Ned Preston felt the touch of a few wandering snowflakes against his
cheek, but there were not enough to show themselves on the leaves. The
exercise of walking and their thick garments kept them sufficiently
warm, though it would have been different had they been in camp. In
the latter case, as they had no encumbering blankets, it would have
gone ill without a roaring camp-fire.
The journey now became monotonous, even to young Preston, who found it
tiresome to walk so continuously without the least noise or occurrence
to awaken alarm. They must have gone at least four miles in this
manner, Blossom plodding along with a certain dogged resolution which
kept him close on the heels of his young master.
The latter often felt like protesting, but nothing could have
persuaded him to do so. It would have offended Deerfoot, who was the
guide of the party, and who was directing affairs in accordance with
his own theory of strategy. He knew that that scout is sure to meet
disaster, sooner or later, who allows his impatience to influence his
judgment, and who fails to use the most extreme caution whenever and
wherever there is the shadow of danger.
When Preston began to believe they were in the vicinity of the
Licking, Deerfoot came to an abrupt and noiseless halt. This time he
spoke the single word--
"_Listen!_"
The two did as requested, but were unable to detect anything beside
the hollow moaning of the wind through the trees, and the faint,
almost inaudible murmur of the distant Licking. Several minutes
passed, and then the guide asked--
"Do my brothers hear anything?"
They answered that they could distinguish nothing more than was always
to be heard at such times.
"We are close to the camp of the Wyandots," was the alarming
information.
"How do you know that?" inquired his friend.
"Deerfoot heard them," was the explanation, in such a guarded
undertone that his companions barely caught his words.
No one thought of doubting the assertion of the Indian, incredible as
it sounded, and the truth of his declaration was soon manifest.
Certain as he was that they were close to a party of his own race, the
advance was made with greater care than before.
He picked his way with such patience and slowness that Blossom found
plenty of time in which to lift his feet as high as he knew how,
setting them down as though afraid of waking a slumbering baby near
at hand.
Within two rods of the spot where they halted they suddenly caught the
starlike twinkle of a point of fire directly ahead. Instantly all
stopped, and no one spoke; they knew that it was the camp-fire of the
party whose presence the Shawanoe learned a few minutes before.
Nothing more than the glimmer of the light could be seen, because
there were so many trees and so much vegetation intervening.
"Let my brothers wait till I return," said Deerfoot, turning his head
so as not to speak too loud.
"It shall be done," replied Ned Preston, who was on the point of
asking a question, when he became aware that he and Blossom were
alone: Deerfoot had vanished with the silence of a shadow.
"If we've to wait yar a long time," said Blossom in a husky whisper,
"we might as well sot down."
Preston made no objection to this on the part of his servant, but he
remained standing himself, leaning against a tree, while Blossom
supported his head in the same way.
"I don't care if Deerfoot doesn't come back for a week," remarked the
negro lad, with a sigh of contentment that at last he was permitted to
rest his limbs.
"He will not stay long," said Ned; "and the best thing we can do while
he is away is to do nothing."
"Dat's just what I'm doin' as hard as I can."
"I wouldn't even speak, Blossom, for some of the Indians may be near
us."
"Dat suits me jes' as well," assented the other, who thereafter held
his peace.
Meanwhile, Deerfoot the Shawanoe approached the camp-fire of the
Indians with all the care and skill he could command. Possibly he
would have incurred no great risk by stalking boldly forward, for he
was already known among the tribe, which was an ally of the Shawanoes.
But the incident of the afternoon had taught him a lesson, and he knew
such a course would deepen the suspicion which some of the Wyandots
already held against him.
They had given him to understand they were on their way to reconnoiter
Wild Oaks and some of the settlements along the Ohio. If they should
find he was dogging them, what other proof could they ask that he was
playing the part of spy and enemy?
For this reason the Shawanoe determined to avoid observation, and to
make his reconnoissance precisely as though he were an avowed foe of
those of his own race.
He had not gone far when he gained a full view of the camp. That which
immediately caught his attention and increased his misgiving was the
fact that this was a new party altogether. Waughtauk did not lead
these warriors, none of whom was with the company whom the young scout
encountered during the afternoon.
But several other important facts were significant: these were also
Wyandots; they numbered thirteen, and they were in their war-paint.
They had probably left their towns north of the Ohio at the same time
with Waughtauk, and they had separated, the better to carry out some
project the chief had in view.
Shrewd and sagacious beyond his years as was the Shawanoe, he was in a
situation in which he was compelled to do no little guessing. He was
satisfied that the chief and his warriors intended to compass the
destruction of the block-house, sometimes known as Fort Bridgman, and
to massacre every one within it.
The Wyandots, like the Shawanoes, were brave fighters, and why they
had not assailed the post was hard to tell, when it would seem they
numbered enough to overwhelm the garrison. It looked as if Colonel
Preston had discovered his danger, though it was not an uncommon thing
for a war party to delay their attack on a station a long time after
it seemed doomed beyond all hope.
The Wyandots had disposed themselves in a fashion that looked as
though they meant to stay where they were through the night. They had
evidently finished a meal on something, and were now smoking their
pipes, lolling on their blankets, sharpening their knives with
peculiar whetstones, cleaning their guns, now and then exchanging a
few guttural words, the meaning of which not even the sharp-eared
Shawanoe could catch.
"They mean to attack the block-house," was the conclusion of Deerfoot,
who tarried only a few minutes, when he began a cautious return to his
two friends, who were found as he had left them, except that Blossom
Brown was on the verge of slumber.
Deerfoot quickly explained what he had learned, and added that the
difficulty of entering the block-house was increased; but he believed,
by acting promptly, it could be done with safety. Ned Preston was
inclined to ask wherein the use lay of all three going thither, when
one would do as well, and the obstacles were much greater than in the
case of a single person.
But the course of the guide convinced Preston that he had some plan
which he had not yet revealed, and which necessitated the entrance of
the young pioneer at least into the block-house.
"Have you any knowledge when the Wyandots will attack Colonel
Preston?"
"The break of day is a favorite hour with Deerfoot's people, but they
often take other seasons."
"Why are they not closer to the station?"
"They are already close; we are within three hundred yards of the
fort; Deerfoot will lead the way, and if the warriors' eyes are not
like those of the owl, we may pass through the gate before the first
sign of light in the east."
There was no necessity of telling Ned and Blossom that their caution
must not be relaxed a single moment: no one could know better than
they that the briefest forgetfulness was likely to prove fatal, for
the Wyandots were all around them. The detection of either lad would
seal his fate.
The purpose of Deerfoot was to steal nigh enough to the block-house to
apprise the inmates that they were on the outside, and awaiting an
opportunity to enter. Could they succeed in letting Colonel Preston
know the truth, all three could be admitted in the darkness, with
little danger to themselves or to the garrison.
What the Shawanoe feared was that the Wyandots had established a
cordon, as it might be termed, around the block-house. It was more
than probable that Colonel Preston had discovered the approach of the
hostiles in time to make quite thorough preparations.
While this might not avert the attack of the red men, it was certain
to delay it. The next most natural proceeding for the commandant would
be to dispatch a messenger to Wild Oaks, to inform the settlers of his
peril, and to bring back help. The assailing Indians would anticipate
such a movement by surrounding the block-house so closely that the
most skillful ranger would find it impossible to make his way through
the lines.
If such were the case, it followed as a corollary that no friend of
the garrison would be able to steal through the cordon and secure
entrance into the building: the gauntlet, in the latter case, would be
more difficult than in the former, inasmuch as it would be necessary
first to open communication with Colonel Preston, and to establish a
perfect understanding before the task could be attempted.
Deerfoot turned to the right, so as to pass around the camp-fire, but
his advance was with a caution which can hardly be pictured. Ned
Preston could not hear the slightest sound, and where the darkness was
so deep it was hard work to keep informed of his movements.
When the Shawanoe stopped, he merely reached his hand back and touched
Ned, who did the same to Blossom; when the start was made again, a
slight sibilant sound, which a listening Indian twenty feet distant
would not have noticed, told the fact. No one ventured to speak, even
in the most guarded whisper.
Had Deerfoot been alone, he would have advanced much faster; but he
gave his companions time to raise their feet and put them down again
with such slowness and care that not a leaf was overturned.
Blossom Brown did much better than Preston anticipated. The lad
understood the need of this elaborate caution, and as he had the two
in front of him, there was no excuse for his making a false step. Once
he began a sentence in a husky whisper, but before it was half
finished his young master gripped him by the shoulder, as if with an
iron vise, and the attempt was not repeated.
After a time, which seemed almost interminable, the camp-fire was
flanked, though still in sight. The situation of the three, as a
consequence, became more delicate and perilous than before; for, to
effect a safe withdrawal from the neighborhood, they would have to
pass through the lines again, while there could be no doubt "the woods
were full" of other warriors.
Suddenly the serpent-like hiss of the Shawanoe sounded, and all three
came to a stand-still. This was scarcely done when Deerfoot, for the
first time since the reconnoissance proper began, broke silence by
exclaiming, in a voice just audible,
"_Stoop down!_"
His order was obeyed (for his companions knew the danger was imminent)
without a word or a second's hesitation.
Their senses were on the alert, but for a minute or two they neither
heard nor saw anything to explain the cause of the alarm of their
guide. At the end of the brief spell, a faint rustling was noticed
near them, and the listeners held their very breath.
This disturbance of the leaves must have been caused by the feet of
Wyandot warriors, who were altogether closer than was comfortable for
the lads crouching on the ground. In the gloom, deepened by the shadow
of the wood, it was impossible to see a half dozen feet; but while Ned
Preston was peering through the darkness in the direction whence came
the noise, a figure suddenly passed across the field of vision between
him and the camp-fire.
Looking in the latter direction, he could see something moving before
the light. That which arrested the attention of Ned was the head and
shoulders of an Indian warrior, who was gliding with a silence which
led the spectator to suspect at first he was deceived. But the contour
of the scalp-lock, shoulders and chest was unmistakable.
The first had scarcely vanished, when a second and a third followed in
precisely the same fashion; but though the eye strained itself to
catch sight of more, none appeared. The three were all who came so
near detecting the boys.
Ned Preston and Blossom Brown felt that the perfect caution displayed
by the Shawanoe was more than repaid; for had it been less, the
hostiles would have learned their presence before they themselves were
detected.
All at once young Preston became aware that Deerfoot was gone; he had
quietly departed, as was his custom, and would return when he saw fit.
Ned crept far enough backward to allow him to whisper the fact to
Blossom, without any risk of being heard by other ears no matter how
near them.
A full half hour passed, when the Shawanoe returned as silently as he
had departed.
As Preston suspected, he had been off on a reconnoissance, where he
wanted no companions. He announced the result in the alarming words--
"Wyandots are everywhere; we cannot enter the fort."