AT THE FORD
When at length from the forest's edge we saw star-beams splintering
over broken water, cutting the flat, translucent darkness of the river
with necklaces of light, we halted; for this was the ford foaming there
in obscurity with its silvery, mellow voice, unheeded in the
wilderness, yet calling ever as that far voice called through the
shadows of ages dead.
Now, from where we stood the faint line of sparkles seemed to run a
little way into the darkness and vanish. But the indications were
sufficient to mark the spot where we should enter the water; and,
stepping with infinite precaution, we descended to the gravel. Here we
stripped to the clout and laid our rifles on our moccasins, covering
the pans with our hunting shirts. Then we strapped on our war-belts,
loosening knife and hatchet, pulled over our feet our spare
ankle-moccasins of oiled moose-hide soled with the coarse hair of the
great, blundering beast himself.
I led, setting foot in the icy water, and moving out into the shadow
with no more noise than a chub's swirl or a minnow's spatter-leap when
a great chain-pike snaps at him.
Feeling my way over bed stones and bottom gravel with my feet, striving
in vain to pierce the dense obscurity, I moved forward with infinite
caution, balancing as best I might against the current. Ankle-deep,
shin-deep, knee-deep we waded out. Presently the icy current chilled my
thighs, rising to my waistline. But it grew no deeper.
Yet, here so swift was the current that I scarcely dared move, and was
peering around to find the Sagamore, when a shape loomed up on my left.
And I reached out and rested my hand on the shadowy shoulder, and stood
so, swaying against the stream.
Suddenly a voice said, in the Seneca dialect:
"Is it thou, Butler?"
And every drop of blood froze in my body.
God knows how I found voice to answer "Yes," and how I found courage to
let my hand remain upon my enemy's shoulder.
"It is I, Hiokatoo," said the low voice.
"Move forward," I said; and dropped my hand from his shoulder.
Somehow, although I could see nothing, all around me in the water I
felt the presence of living creatures. At the same moment somebody came
close to me from behind, and the Sagamore breathed his name in my ear.
I managed to retain my presence of mind, and, laying my mouth against
his ear in the darkness, I whispered:
"The Seneca Hiokatoo and his warriors--all around us in the water. He
mistakes me for Walter Butler, They have been reconnoitring our camp."
I felt the body of the Mohican stiffen under my grasp, Then he said
quietly:
"Stand still till all have passed us."
"Yes; but let no Seneca hear your Algonquin speech. If any speak I will
answer for you."
"It is well," said the Sagamore quietly. And I heard him cautiously
loosening his hatchet.
Presently a dark form took shape in the gloom and passed us without
speaking; then another, and another, and another, all wading forward
with scarce a ripple sounding against their painted bodies. Then one
came up who spoke also in Seneca dialect, saying to the Mohican that
the canoe was to be sent up stream on observation, and asking the
whereabouts of McDonald.
So they were all there, the bloody crew! But once more I found voice to
order the Seneca across, saying that I would attend to the canoe when
the time came to employ it.
This Indian seemed to understand very little English, and he hesitated;
but I laid my hand flat on his naked back, and gave him a slight shove
toward the farther shore. And he went on, muttering.
Two more passed. We waited in nervous silence for the next, not knowing
how many had been sent to prowl around our camp. And as no more came, I
whispered to the Sagamore:
"Let us go back. If more are to come, and if there be among them Butler
or McDonald or any white man, he will never mistake me for any of his
fellows after he hears me speak."
The Sagamore turned, the water swirling to his waist. I followed. We
encountered nobody until the water began to shoal. Then, in mid-stream,
a dark figure loomed out of the night, confronting us, and I heard him
say in the Seneca language:
"Halt and turn. You travel the wrong way!"
"Go forward and mind your business!" I said in English.
The shadowy figure seemed astounded, remaining motionless there in the
ford. Suddenly he bent forward as though to see my features, and at the
same instant the Sagamore seized him and jerked his head under water.
But he could not hold him, for the fellow was oiled, and floundered up
in the same instant. No doubt the water he had swallowed kept the yell
safe in his throat, but his hatchet was out and high-swung as the
Sagamore grasped his wrist, holding his arm in the air. Then, holding
him so, the Mohican passed his knife through the man's heart, striking
with swiftness incredible again and again; and as his victim collapsed,
he eased him down into the water, turned him over, and took his
shoulders between his knees.
"God!" I whispered. "Don't wait for that!"
But the Siwanois warrior was not to be denied; and in a second or two
the wet scalp flapped at his belt.
Rolling over and over with the current, the limp body slipped down
stream and disappeared into deeper shadows. We waded swiftly toward our
own shore, crawled across the gravel, drew on our clothing, and stole
up into the woods above.
"They'll know it by sunrise," I said. "How many did you count?"
"Thirteen in that war-party, Loskiel. And if Butler and McDonald be
with them, that makes fifteen--and doubtless other renegades besides."
"Then we had best pull foot," said I. And I drew my knife and blazed
the ford; and, as well as I might without seeing, wrote the depth of
water on the scar.
I heard the Mohican's low laughter.
"The Senecas will see it and destroy it. But it will drive them
frantic," he said.
"Whatever they do to this tree will but mark the ford more plainly,"
said I.
And the Mohican laughed and laughed and patted my shoulder, as we moved
fast on our back trail. I think he was excited, veteran though he was,
at his taking of a Seneca warrior's scalp. "Had you not jerked him
under water when he leaned forward over your shoulder to see what
manner of man was speaking English," said I, "doubtless he had awakened
the forest with his warning yell in another moment."
"Let him yell at the fishes, now," said the Mohican, laughing. "No
doubt the eels will understand him; they are no more slippery than he."
Save for the vague forms of the trees dimly discerned against the
water, the darkness was impenetrable; and except for these guides, even
an Indian could scarcely have moved at all. We followed the bank,
keeping just within the shadows; and I was ever scanning the spots of
starlit water for that same canoe which I had learned was to go
upstream to watch us.
Presently the Siwanois checked me and whispered:
"Yonder squats your Wyandotte sentinel."
"Where? I can not see him."
"On that flat rock by the deep water, seeming a part of it."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes, Loskiel."
"You saw him move?"
"No. But a Siwanois of the Magic Clan makes nothing of darkness. He
sees where he chooses to see.
"Mayaro," said I, "what do you make of this Wyandotte?"
"He has quitted his post without orders for a spot by the deep water. A
canoe could come there, and he could speak to those within it."
"That might damn a white soldier, but an Indian is different."
"He is a Wyandotte--or says he is."
"Yes, but he came with credentials from Fortress Pitt."
"Once," said the Sagamore, "he wore his hair in a ridge."
"If the Eries learned that from the Nez Perces, why might not the
Wyandottes also learn it?"
"He wears the Hawk."
"Yes, I know it."
"He saw the moccasin tracks in the sand at the other ford, Loskiel, and
remained silent."
"I know it."
"And I believe, also, that he saw the canoe."
"Then," said I, "you mean that this Wyandotte is a traitor."
"If he be a Wyandotte at all."
"What?"
"He may be Huron; he may be a Seneca-Huron. But we Indians think
differently, Loskiel."
"What do you think?"
"We do not know for certain. But"--and the Mohican's voice became
quietly ferocious--"if a war-arrow ever struck this Wyandotte between
the shoulders I think every tree-cat in the Long House would squall at
the condoling council."
"You think this Wyandotte an Erie in disguise?" I asked incredulously.
"We Indians of different nations are asking that question of each
other, Loskiel."
"What is the mind of the Grey-Feather concerning this?" I asked,
horrified.
"Oneida and Stockbridge begin to believe as I believe."
"That this creature is a spy engaged to lead us to our deaths? Do they
believe that this self-styled Wyandotte is an infamous Erie?"
"We so believe, Loskiel. We are not yet certain."
"But you who have taken Erie scalps should know----"
"We know an Erie by his paint and lock; by his arms and moccasins. But
when an Erie wears none of these it is not easy to determine exactly
what he might be. There is, in the Western nation, much impure blood,
much mixing of captive and adopted prisoners with the Seneca
conquerors. If an Erie wear cats' claws at the root of his scalp-lock,
even a blind Quaker might know him. If one of their vile priests wear
his hair in a ridge, then, unless he be a Nez Perce, there need be no
doubt. But this man dresses and paints and conducts like no Erie I have
ever seen. And yet I believe him one, and a Sachem at that!"
"Then, by God!" said I in a cold fury. "I will go down to the stream
and put him under arrest until such time as his true colours may be
properly determined!"
"Loskiel, if yonder Indian once saw in your eye that you meant to take
him, he would slip between your hands like a spotted trout and be off
down stream to his comrades. Go not toward him angry, or with anything
in your manner and voice that he might distrust."
"I never learned to smile in the face of a traitor!"
"Learn now, then. Brother, you are young; and war is long. And of many
aspects are they who take arms in their hands to slay. Strength is
good; quickness and a true eye to the rifle-sight are good. But best of
all in war are the calmness and patience of wisdom. A Sagamore has
spoken."
"What would you have me do?"
"Nothing, yet."
"But we must make a night march of it, and I could not endure that
infamous creature's company, even if it were safe for us to take him
with us."
"My brother may remain tranquil. The Grey-Feather and I are watching
him. The praying Indian and Tahoontowhee understand also. When we once
are certain, the Erie dies."
"When you are certain," said I in a fury, "I will have him properly
tried by military court and hung as high as Amherst hung two of his
fellow devils. I wish to God he had executed the entire nation while he
was about it. For once Sir William Johnson was wrong to interfere."
The Sagamore laughed and laid one hand on my shoulder:
"Is it a custom for an Ensign to pass judgment on a Major-General, O
Loskiel, my dear but much younger brother?"
I blushed hot with annoyance and shame. Of all things on earth,
self-control was the most necessary quality to any officer commanding
Indians.
"The Sagamore is right," I said in a mortified voice.
"The Sagamore has lived longer than his younger brother," he rejoined
gently.
"And is far wiser," said I.
"A little wiser in some few things concerning human life, Loskiel....
Does my brother desire that Mayaro shall bring in the Wyandotte?"
"Bring him," I said; and walked forward toward our camp.
Tahoontowhee stopped me with his challenge, then sprang forward at the
sound of my voice.
"Men in the woods," he whispered, "creeping up from the South. They saw
no fire and prowled no nearer than panthers prowl when they know a camp
is awake."
"Senecas," I said briefly. "We make a night march of it. Remain on
guard here. The Grey-Feather will bring your pack to you when we pick
you up."
As I ascended the rocky pulpit, both the Grey-Feather and the
Stockbridge were standing erect and wide awake, packs strapped and
slung, rifles in hand.
"Senecas," I said. "Too many for us."
"Are we not to strike?" asked the Oneida wistfully, as the Mohican came
swiftly up the rock followed by the Wyandotte, who seemed inclined to
lag.
"Why did you quit your post?" I asked him bluntly.
"There was a better post and more to see on the rock," he said simply.
"You made a mistake. Your business is to obey your commanding officer.
Do you understand?"
"The Black-Snake understands."
"Did you discover nothing from your rock?"
"Nothing. Deer moved in the woods."
"Red deer," I said coolly.
"A July deer is in the red coat always."
"The deer you heard are red the whole year round."
"Eho! The Black-Snake understands."
"Very well. Tie your pack, sling it, and shoulder your rifle. We march
immediately."
He seemed to be willing enough, and tied his points with alacrity. Nor
could I, watching him as well I might in so dark a spot, see anything
suspicious in any movement he made.
"The Sagamore leads," I said; "the Black-Snake follows; I follow him;
after me the Mole; and the Oneidas close the rear.... Attention!...
Trail arms! File!"
And as we climbed out of our pulpit and descended over the moss to the
soundless carpet of moist leaves:
"Silence," I said. "A sound may mean the death of us all. Cover your
rifle-pans with your blankets. No matter what happens, no man is to
fire without orders----"
I stopped abruptly and laid my hand on the Black-Snake's
hatchet-sheath, feeling it all over with my finger-tips in the dark.
"Damnation!" I said. "There are tin points on the fringe! You might
better wear a cow-bell! Where did you get it?"
"It was in my pack."
"You have not worn it before. Why do you wear it now?"
"It is looser in time of need."
"Very well. Stand still." I whipped out my knife and, bunching the
faintly tinkling thrums in my fingers, severed the tin points and
tossed them into the darkness.
"I can understand," said I, "a horse-riding Indian of the plains
galloping into battle all over cow-bells, but never before have I heard
of any forest Indian wearing such a fringe in time of war."
The rebuke seemed to stun the Wyandotte. He kept his face averted while
I spoke, then at my brief word stepped forward into his place between
myself and the Mohican.
"March!" I said in a low voice.
The Sagamore led us in a wide arc north, then west; and there was no
hope of concealing or covering our trail, for in the darkness no man
could see exactly where the man in front of him set foot, nor hope to
avoid the wet sand of rivulets or the soft moss which took the imprint
of every moccasin as warm wax yields to the seal.
That there was in the primeval woods no underbrush, save along streams
or where the windfall had crashed earthward, made travelling in silence
possible.
The forest giants branched high; no limbs threatened us; or, if there
were any, the Sagamore truly had the sight of all night-creatures, for
not once did a crested head brush the frailest twig; not once did a
moccasined foot crash softly through dead and fallen wood.
The slope toward the river valley became steeper; we travelled along a
heavily-wooded hillside at an angle that steadily increased. After an
hour of this, we began to feel rock under foot, and our moccasins
crushed patches of reindeer moss, dry as powder.
It was in such a place as this, or by wading through running water,
that there could be any hope of hiding our trail; and as we began to
traverse a vast, flat shoulder of naked rock, I saw that the Mohican
meant to check and perplex any pursuit next morning.
What was my disgust, then, to observe that the Wyandotte's moccasins
were soaking wet, and that he left at every step his mark for the
morning sun to dry at leisure.
Stooping stealthily, I laid my hand flat in his wet tracks, and felt
the grit of sand. Accidentally or otherwise, he had stepped into some
spring brook which we had crossed in the darkness. Clearly the man was
a fool, or something else.
And I was obliged to halt the file and wait until the Wyandotte had
changed to spare moccasins; which I am bound to say he seemed to do
willingly enough. And my belief in his crass stupidity grew, relieving
me of fiercer sentiments which I had begun to harbour as I thought of
all we knew or suspected concerning this man.
So it was forward once more across the naked, star-lit rock, where
blueberry bushes grew from crevices, and here and there some tall
evergreen, the roots of which were slowly sundering the rock into soil.
Rattlesnakes were unpleasantly numerous here--this country being
notorious for them, especially where rocks abound. But so that they
sprung their goblin rattles in the dark to warn us, we had less fear of
them than of that slyer and no less deadly cousin of theirs, which
moved abroad at night as they did, but was often too lazy or too
vicious to warn us.
The Mohican sprang aside for one, and ere I could prevent him, the
Wyandotte had crushed it. And how to rebuke him I scarcely knew, for
what he had done seemed natural enough. Yet, though the Mohican seized
the twisting thing and flung it far into the blueberry scrub, the marks
of a bloody heel were now somewhere on the rocks for the rising sun to
dry but not to obliterate. God alone knew whether such repeated
evidence of stupidity meant anything worse. But now I was resolved to
have done with this Indian at the first opportunity, and risk the
chance of clearing myself of any charge concerning disobedience of
orders as soon as I could report to General Sullivan with my command.
The travelling now, save for the dread of snakes, was pleasant and
open. We had been gradually ascending during the last two hours, and
now we found ourselves traversing the lengthening crest of a rocky and
treeless ridge, with valleys on either side of us, choked with
motionless lakes of mist, which seemed like vast snow fields under the
splendour of the stars.
I think we all were weary enough to drop in our tracks and sleep as we
fell. But I gave no order to halt, nor did I dream of interfering with
the Sagamore, or even ask him a single question. It was promising to
give me a ruder schooling than my regiment could offer me--this
travelling with men who could outrun and outmarch the vast majority of
white men.
Yet, I had been trained under Major Parr, and with such men in my
command as Elerson, Mount, and Murphy; and I had run with Oneidas
before and scouted far and wide with the best of them.
It was the rock-running that tired us, and I for one was grateful when
we left the starlit obscurity of the ridge and began to swing downward,
first through berry scrub and ground-hemlock, then through a thin belt
of birches into the dense blackness of the towering forest.
Down, ever down we moved on a wide-slanting and easy circle, such as
the high hawk swings when he is but a speck in the midsummer sky.
Presently the ground under our feet became level. A low, murmuring
sound stole out of the darkness, pleasantly filling our ears as we
advanced. A moment later, the Mohican halted; and we caught a faint
gleam in the darkness.
"Sisquehanne," he said.
If, was the Susquehanna. Tired as I was I could not forbear a smile
when this Mohican saluted the noble river by its Algonquin name in the
presence of those haughty Iroquois who owned it. And it seemed to me as
though I could hear the feathered crests stiffen on the two Oneida
heads; for this was Oneida country, and they had been maliciously
reminded that the Lenape had once named for them their river under
circumstances in which no Iroquois took any pride. Little evidences of
the subtle but ever-living friction between my Mohican and the two
Oneidas were plenty, but never more maliciously playful than this. And
presently I heard the Sagamore politely mention the Ouleout by its
Iroquois name, Aulyoulet, which means "a voice that continues"; and
while I sent the Night-Hawk down to the water to try for a crossing,
Mohican and Oneida conversed very amiably, the topic being our enemies,
and how it was that on the Ouleout and in Pennsylvania they had so
often spared the people of that state and had directed their full fury
toward New York.
The Oneida said it was because the Iroquois had no quarrel with Penn's
people, who themselves disliked the intruding Yankee and New Yorker;
but they were infuriated against us because we had driven the Iroquois
from their New York lands and had punished them so dreadfully at
Oriskany. And he further said that Cherry Valley would not have been
made such a shambles except that Colonel Clyde and Colonel Campbell
lived there, who had done them so much injury at Oriskany.
I myself thought that this was the truth, for no Iroquois ever forgave
us Oriskany; and what we were now about to do to them must forever
leave an implacable and unquenchable hatred between the Long House and
the people of New York.
For on this river which we now followed, and between us and Tioga,
where our main army lay, were the pretty Iroquois towns, Ingaren,
Owaga, Chenang, and Owega, with their well-built and well-cellared
houses, their tanneries, mills, fields of corn and potatoes, orchards,
and pleasant gardens full of watermelons, muskmelons, peas, beans,
squashes--in fact, everything growing that might ornament the estate of
a proud man of my own colour. Thus had the Mohican described these
towns to me. And now, as I sat weary, thinking, I knew that even before
our army at Otsego joined the Tioga army, it would utterly destroy
these towns on its way down; ruin the fields, and burn and girdle the
orchards.
And this was not even the beginning of our destined march of
destruction and death from one end of the Long House to the other!
Now our Oneida crept back to us, saying that the river was so low we
could cross up to our arm-pits; and stood there naked, a slender and
perfect statue, all adrip, and balancing pack and rifle on his head.
Wearily we picked our way down to the willows, stripped, hoisted rifles
and packs, and went into the icy water. It seemed almost impossible for
me to find courage and energy to dress, even after that chilling and
invigorating plunge; but at last I was into my moccasins and shirt
again. The Sagamore strode lightly to the lead; the Wyandotte started
for the rear, but I shoved him next to the Mohican and in front of me,
hating him suddenly, so abrupt and profound was my conviction that his
stupidity was a studied treachery and not the consequences of a loutish
mind.
"That is your place," I said sharply.
"You gave no orders."
"Nor did I rescind my last order, which was that you march behind the
Sagamore."
"Is that to be the order of march?" he asked.
"What do you mean by questioning your officer?" I demanded.
"I am no soldier, but an Indian!" he said sullenly.
"You are employed and paid as a guide by General Sullivan, are you not?
Very well. Then obey my orders to the letter, or I'll put you under
arrest!"
That was not the way to talk to any Indian; but such a great loathing
and contempt far this Wyandotte had seized me, so certain in my mind
was I that he was disloyal and that every stupid act of his had been
done a-purpose, that I could scarce control my desire to take him by
that thick, bull-throat of his and kick him into the river.
For every stupid act or omission of his--or any single one of
them--might yet send us all to our deaths. And their aggregate now
incensed me; for I could not see how we were entirely to escape their
consequences.
Again and again I was on the point of ordering a halt and having the
fellow tried; but I dreaded the effect of such summary proceedings on
the Oneidas and the Stockbridge, whose sense of justice was keen, and
who might view with alarm such punishment meted out to mere stupidity.
It was very evident that neither they nor my Mohican had come to any
definite conclusion concerning the Wyandotte. And until they did so,
and until I had the unerring authority of my Indians' opinions, I did
not care to go on record as either a brutal or a hasty officer. Indians
entertain profound contempt for the man who arrives hastily and lightly
at conclusions, without permitting himself leisure for deep and
dignified reflection.
And I was well aware that with these Indians the success of any
enterprise depended entirely upon their opinion of me, upon my personal
influence with them.
Dawn was breaking before the Sagamore turned his head toward me. I gave
the signal to halt.
"The Ouleout," whispered Tahoontowhee in my ear. "Here is its
confluence with the Susquehanna."
The Mohican nodded, saying that we now stood on a peninsula.
I tried to make out the character of the hillock where we stood, but it
was not yet light enough to see whether the place was capable of
defence, although it would seem to be, having two streams to flank it.
"Sagamore," said I, "you and I will stand guard for the first two
hours. Sleep, you others."
One after another unrolled his blanket and dropped where he stood. The
Mohican came quietly toward me and sat down to watch the Susquehanna,
his rifle across his knees. As for me, I dared not sit, much less lie
flat, for fear sleep would overpower me. So I leaned against a rock,
resting heavily on my rifle, and strained my sleepy eyes toward the
invisible Ouleout. A level stream of mist, slowly whitening, marked its
course; and "The Voice that Continues" sounded dreamily among the trees
that bordered its shallow flood of crystal.
Toward sunrise I caught the first glimmer of water; in fact, so near
was I that I could hear the feeding trout splashing along the reaches,
and the deer, one by one, retreating from the shore.
Birds that haunt woodland edges were singing, spite of their moulting
fever; and I heard the Scarlet Tanager, the sweet call of the Crimson
Cardinal, the peeping of the Recollet chasing gnats above the water,
the lovely, linked notes of the White-throat trailing to a minor
infinitely prolonged.
Greyer, greyer grew the woods; louder sang the birds; suddenly a
dazzling shaft of pink struck the forest; the first shred of mist
curled, detached itself, and floated slowly upward. The sun had risen.
Against the blinding glory, looming gigantic in the mist, I saw the
Sagamore, an awful apparition in his paint, turn to salute the rising
sun. Then, the mysterious office of his priesthood done, he lifted his
rifle, tossed the heavy piece lightly to his shoulder, and strode
toward me.
I shook the sleeping Oneidas, and, as they sprang to their feet, I
pointed out their posts to them, laid my rifle on my sack, and dropped
where I stood like a lump of lead.
I was aroused toward nine by the Mohican, and sat up as wide awake as a
disturbed tree-cat, instantly ready for trouble.
"An Oneida on the Ouleout," he said.
"Where?"
"Yonder--just across."
"Friendly?"
"He has made the sign."
"An ambassador?"
"A runner, not a belt-bearer."
"Bring him to me."
Strung along the banks of the Ouleout, each behind a tree, I saw my
Indians crouching, rifles ready. Then, on the farther bank, at the
water's shallow edge, I saw the strange Indian--a tall, spare young
fellow, absolutely naked except clout, ankle moccasins, hatchet-girdle,
and pouch; and wearing no paint except a white disc on his forehead the
size of a shilling. A single ragged frond hung from his scalp lock.
Answering the signal of the Mohican, he sprang lightly into the stream
and crossed the shallow water. My Oneidas seemed to know him, for they
accosted him smilingly, and Tahoontowhee turned and accompanied him
back toward the spot where I was standing, naively exhibiting to the
stranger his first scalp. Which seemed to please the dusty and
brier-torn runner, for he was all smiles and animation until he caught
sight of me. Then instantly the mask of blankness smoothed his
features, so that when I confronted him he was utterly without
expression.
I held out my hand, saying quietly:
"Welcome, brother."
"I thank my brother for his welcome," he said, taking my offered hand.
"My brother is hungry," I said. "He shall eat. He is weary because he
has came a long distance. He shall rest unquestioned." I seated myself
and motioned him to follow my example.
The tall, lank fellow looked earnestly at me; Tahoontowhee lighted a
pipe, drew a deep, full inhalation from it, passed it to me. I drew
twice, passed it to the runner. Then Tahoontowhee laid a square of bark
on the stranger's knees; I poured on it from my sack a little parched
corn, well salted, and laid beside it a bit of dry and twisted meat.
Tahoontowhee did the same. Then, very gravely and in silence we ate our
morning meal with this stranger, as though he had been a friend of many
years.
"The birds sing sweetly," observed Tahoontowhee politely.
"The weather is fine," said I urbanely.
"The Master of Life pities the world He fashioned. All should give
thanks to Him at sunrise," said the runner quietly.
The brief meal ended, Tahoontowhee laid his sack for a pillow; the
strange Oneida stretched out on the ground, laid his dusty head on it,
and closed his eyes. The next moment he opened them and rose to his
feet. The ceremony and hospitality devolving upon me had been formally
and perfectly accomplished.
As I rose, free now to question him without losing dignity in his eyes,
he slipped the pouch he wore around in front, where his heavy knife and
hatchet hung, and drew from it some letters.
Holding these unopened in my hand, I asked him who he was and from whom
and whence he came.
"I am Red Wings, a Thaowethon Oneida of Ironderoga, runner for General
Clinton--and my credentials are this wampum string, so that you shall
know that I speak the truth!" And he whipped a string of red and black
wampum from his pouch and handed it to me.
Holding the shining coil in my hands, I looked at him searchingly.
"By what path did you come?"
"By no path. I left Otsego as you left, crossed the river where you had
crossed, recrossed where you did not recross, but where a canoe had
landed."
"And then?"
"I saw the Mengwe," he said politely, as the Sagamore came up beside
him.
Mayaro smiled his appreciation of the Algonquin term, then he spat,
saying:
"The Mengwe were Sinako and Mowawak. One has joined the Eel Clan."
"The Red Wings saw him. The Cat-People of the Sinako sat in a circle
around that scalpless thing and sang like catamounts over their dead!"
It is impossible to convey the scorn, contempt, insult, and loathing
expressed by the Mohican and the Oneida, unless one truly understand
the subtlety of the words they used in speaking of their common enemies.
"The Red Wings came by the Charlotte River?" I asked.
"By the Cherry, Quenevas, and Charlotte to the Ouleout. The Mengwe
fired on me as I stood on a high cliff and mocked them."
"Did they follow you?"
"Can my brother Loskiel trail feathered wings through the high air
paths? A little way I let them follow, then took wing, leaving them to
whine and squall on the Susquehanna."
"And Butler and McDonald?" I demanded, smiling.
"I do not know. I saw white men's tracks on the Charlotte, not two
hours old. They pointed toward the Delaware. The Minisink lies there."
I nodded. "Now let the Red Wings fold his feathers and go to rest," I
said, "until I have read my letters and considered them."
The Oneida immediately threw himself on the ground and drew his pouch
under his head. Before I could open my first letter, he was asleep and
breathing quietly as a child. And, on his naked shoulder, I saw a smear
of balsam plastered over with a hazel leaf, where a bullet had left its
furrow. He had not even mentioned that he had been hit.
The first letter was from my General Clinton:
"Have a care," he wrote, "that your Indians prove faithful. The
Wyandotte I assigned to your command made a poor impression among our
Oneida guides. This I hear from Major Parr, who came to tell me so
after you had left. Remember, too, that you and your Mohican are most
necessary to General Sullivan. Interpreters trained by Guy Johnson are
anything but plenty; and another Mohican who knows the truest route to
Catharines-town is not to be had for whistling."
This letter decided me to rid myself of the Wyandotte. Here was
sufficient authority; time enough had elapsed since he had joined us
for me to come to a decision. Even my Indians could not consider my
judgment hasty now.
I cast a cold glance at him, where he stood in the distance leaning
against a huge walnut tree and apparently keeping watch across the
Ouleout. The Grey-Feather was watching there, too, and I had no doubt
that his wary eyes were fixed as often on the Wyandotte as on the
wooded shore across the stream.
A second letter was from Major Parr, and said:
"An Oneida girl called Drooping Wings, of whom you bought some trumpery
or other, came to the fort after you had left, and told me that among
the party in their camp was an adopted Seneca who had seen and
recognized your Wyandotte as a Seneca and not as a Huron.
"Not that this information necessarily means that the Indian called
Black-Snake is a traitor. He brought proper credentials from the
officer commanding at Pitt. But it is best that you know of this, and
that you feel free to use your judgment accordingly."
"Yes," said I to myself, "I'll use it."
I took another long look at the suspect, then opened my third and last
letter. It was from Lois; and my heart beat the "general" so violently
that for a moment it stopped my breath:
"Euan Loskiel, my comrade, and my dear friend: Since you have gone,
news has come that our General Wayne, with twelve hundred light
infantry, stormed and took Stony Point on the Hudson on the 15th of
this past month. All the stores, arms, ammunition, and guns are ours,
with more than five hundred prisoners. The joy at this post is
wonderful to behold; our soldiers are mad with delight and cheer all
day long.
"Lieutenant Beatty tells me that we have taken fourteen pieces of good
ordnance, seven hundred stand of arms, tents, rum, cheese, wine, and a
number of other articles most agreeable to recount.
"On Wednesday morning last a sad affair; at Troop Beating three men
were brought out to be shot, all found guilty of desertion, one from
the 4th Pennsylvania, one from the 6th Massachusetts, and one from the
3rd New York. The troops were drawn up on the grand parade. Two of the
men were reprieved by the General; the third was shot.... It meant more
to me, kneeling in my room with both hands over my ears to shut out the
volley, than it meant to those who witnessed the awful scene. Marching
back, the fifes and drums played 'Soldiers' Joy.' I had forgotten to
stop my ears, and heard them.
"On Tuesday rain fell. News came at noon that Indians had surprised and
killed thirty-six haymakers near Fort Schuyler; and that other Indians
had taken fifteen or seventeen of our men who were gathering
blueberries at Sabbath Day Point. Whereupon Colonel Gansevoort
immediately marched for Canajoharie with his regiment, which had but
just arrived; and in consequence Betty Bleecker and Angelina are
desolate.
"As you see from this letter, we have left Croghan's new house, and are
living at Otsego in a fine Bush House, and near to the place where
Croghan's old house stood before it was destroyed.
"Sunday, after an all night rain, clear skies; and all the officers
were being schooled in saluting with the sword, the General looking on.
In the afternoon the Chaplain, 'Parson' Gano, as the soldiers call him,
gave us a sermon. I went with Betty and Angelina. Miss Helmer went on
the lake in a batteau with Mr. Boyd. The Rifles tried their guns on the
lake, shooting at marks. Murphy and Elerson made no misses.
"On Monday the officers had a punch, most respectable and gay. We
ladies went with Major Parr, Lieutenant Boyd, and the Ensign you so
detest, to view the hilarity, but not to join, it being a sociable
occasion for officers only, the kegs of rum being offered by General
Clinton--a gentleman not famed for his generosity in such matters.
"This, Euan, is all the general news I have to offer, save that the
army expects its marching orders at any moment now.
"Euan, I am troubled in my heart. First, I must acquaint you that Lana
Helmer and I have become friends. The night you left I was sitting in
my room, thinking; and Lana came in and drew my head on her shoulder.
We said nothing to each other all that night, but slept together in my
room. And since then we have come to know each other very well in the
way women understand each other. I love her dearly.
"Euan, she will not admit it, but she is mad about Lieutenant Boyd--and
it is as though she had never before loved and knows not how to
conduct. Which is strange, as she has been so courted and is deeply
versed in experience, and has lived more free of restraint than most
women I ever heard of. Yet, it has taken her like a pernicious fever;
and I do neither like nor trust that man, for all his good looks, and
his wit and manners, and the exceedingly great courage and military
sagacity which none denies him.
"Yesterday Lana came to my little room in our Bush House, where I sleep
on a bed of balsam, and we sat there, the others being out, and she
told me about Clarissa, and wept in the telling. What folly will not a
woman commit for love! And Sir John riding the wilderness with his
murdering crew! May the Lord protect and aid all women from such birds
o' passage and of prey! And I thought I had seen the pin-feathers of
some such plumage on this man Boyd. But he may moult to a prettier
colour. I hope so--but in my heart I dare not believe it. For he is of
that tribe of men who would have their will of every pretty petticoat
they notice. Some are less unscrupulous than others, that is the only
difference. And he seems still to harbour a few scruples, judging from
what I see of him and her, and what I know of her.
"Yet, if a man bear not his good intention plainly written on his face,
and yet protests he dies unless you love him, what scruples he may
entertain will wither to ashes in the fiercer flame. And how after all
does he really differ from the others?
"Euan, I am sick of dread and worry, what with you out in the West with
your painted scouts, and Mr. Boyd telling me that he has his doubts
concerning the reliability of one o' them! And what with Lana so white
and unhappy, and coming into my bed to cry against my breast at
night----"
Here the letter ended abruptly, and underneath in hurried writing:
"Major Parr calls to say that an Oneida runner is ordered to try to
find you with despatches from headquarters. I had expected to send this
letter by some one in your own regiment when it marched. But now I
shall intrust it to the runner.
"I know not how to close my letter--how to say farewell--how to let you
know how truly my heart is yours. And becomes more so every hour. Nor
can you understand how humbly I thank God for you--that you are what
you are--and not like Sir John and--other men.
"Women are of a multitude of kinds--until they love. Then they are of
but two kinds. Of one of these kinds shall I be when I love. Not that I
doubt myself, yet, who can say what I shall be? Only three, Euan--God,
the man who loves me, and myself."
"I sit here waiting for a rifleman to take my letter to the General who
has promised to commit it to the runner.
"A regiment is trying its muskets at the lake. I hear the firing.
"I have a tallow dip and wax and sand, ready to close my letter
instantly. No one comes."
"Lana comes, very tired and pale. Her eyes frighten me, they seem so
tragic. I learn that the army marches on the 9th. Yet, you went
earlier, and I do not think my eyes resembled hers."
"Soldiers passing, drums beating. A Pennsylvania regiment. Lana lies on
my bed, her face to the wall, scarce breathing at all, as far as I can
see. Conch-horns blowing--the strange and melancholy music of your
regiment. It seems to fill my heart with dread unutterable."
"The runner is here! Euan--Euan! Come back to me!
"Lois de Contrecoeur."
My eyes fell from the letter to the sleeping runner stretched out at my
feet, then shifted vaguely toward the river.
After a while I drew my tablets, quill, and ink-horn from my pouch, and
setting it on my knees wrote to her with a heart on fire, yet perfectly
controlled.
And after I had ended, I sealed the sheet with balsam, pricking the
globule from the tree behind me, and setting over it a leaf of
partridge-berry. Also I wrote letters to General Clinton and to Major
Parr, sealed them as I had sealed the other, and set a tiny, shining
leaf on each.
Then, very gently I bent forward and aroused the Oneida runner. He sat
up, rubbed his eyes, then got to his feet smiling. And I consigned to
him my letters.
The Mohican, on guard by the Susquehanna, was watching me; and as soon
as the Red Wings had started on his return, and was well across the
Ouleout, I signalled the Sagamore to come to me, leaving the Mole and
Tahoontowhee by the Susquehanna.
"Blood-brother of mine," I said as he came up, "I ask counsel of a
wiser head and a broader experience than my own. What is to be done
with this Wyandotte?"
"Must that be decided now, Loskiel?"
"Now. Because the Unadilla lies below not far away, and beyond that the
Tioga. And I am charged to get myself thither in company with you as
soon us may be. Now, what is a Sagamore's opinion of this Wyandotte?"
"Erie," he said quietly.
"You believe it?"
"I know it, Loskiel."
"And the others--the Oneidas and the Stockbridge?"
"They are as certain as I am."
"Good God! Then why have you not told me this before, Mayaro?"
"Is there haste?"
"Haste? Have I not said that we march immediately? And you would have
let me give my order and include that villain in it!"
"Why not? It is an easier and safer way to take a prisoner to Tioga
Point than to drag him thither tied."
"But he may escape----"
The Sagamore gave me an ironic glance.
"Is it likely," he said softly, "when we are watching?"
"But he may manage to do us a harm. You saw how cunningly he has kept
up communication with our enemies, to leave a trail for them to follow."
"He has done us what harm he is able," said the Sagamore coolly.
I hesitated, then asked him what he meant.
"Why," he said, "their scouts have followed us. There are two of them
now across the Susquehanna."
Thunderstruck, I stared at the river, where its sunlit surface
glittered level through the trees.
"Do the others know this?" I asked.
"Surely, Loskiel."
I looked at my Indians where they lay flat behind their trees, rifles
poised, eyes intent on the territory in front of them.
"If my brother does not desire to bring the Wyandotte to General
Sullivan, I will go to him now and kill him," said the Mohican
carelessly.
"He ought to hang," I said between my teeth.
"Yes. It is the most dreadful death a Seneca can die. He would prefer
the stake and two days' torture. Loskiel is right. The Erie has been a
priest of Amochol. Let him die by the rope he dreads more than the
stake. For all Indians fear the rope, Loskiel, which chokes them so
that they can not sing their death-song. There is not one of us who has
not courage to sing his death-song at the stake; but who can sing when
he is being choked to death by a rope?"
I nodded, looking uneasily toward the river where the two Seneca spies
lurked unseen as yet by me.
"Let the men sling their packs," I said.
"They have done so, Loskiel."
"Very well. Our order of march will be the same as yesterday. We keep
the Wyandotte between us."
"That is wisdom."
"Is it to be a running fight, Mayaro?"
"Perhaps, if their main body comes up."
"Then we had best start across the Ouleout, unless you mean to ford the
Susquehanna."
The Sagamore shook his head with a grimace, saying that it would be
easier to swim the Susquehanna at Tioga than to ford it here.
Very quietly we drew in or picked up our pickets, including the
ruffianly Wyandotte, or Erie, as he was now judged to be, and, filing
as we had filed the night before we crossed the Ouleout and entered the
forest.
Two hours later the Oneida in the rear, Tahoontowhee, reported that the
Seneca scouts were on our heels, and asked permission to try for a
scalp.
By noon he had taken his second scalp, and had received his first
wound, a mere scratch from a half-ounce ball, below the knee. But he
wore it and the scalp with a dignity unequalled by any monarch loaded
with jewelled orders.
"Some day," said the Sagamore in my ear, "Tahoontowhee will accept the
antlers and the quiver."
"He would be greater yet if he accepted Christ," said the Stockbridge
quietly.
We had halted to breathe, and were resting on our rifles as the Mohican
said this; and I was looking at the Stockbridge who so quietly had
confessed his Master, when of a sudden the Wyandotte, who had been
leaning against a tree, straightened up, turned his head over his
shoulder, stared intently at something which we could not see, and then
pointed in silence.
So naturally was it done that we all turned also. Then, like a
thunder-bolt, his hatchet flew, shearing the raccoon's tail from my
cap, and struck the Stockbridge Indian full between the eyes, dashing
his soul into eternity.