"This is my glove--by this hand I will take thee a box on the ear."
--_Henry V._
The following morning was as bright and glorious as an August sun
could render it, but its very brilliancy seemed a mockery to the
gloom and despair that filled the hearts of the little garrison.
Still, notwithstanding the treachery few were ignorant the Indians
intended, there was a bearing among all, from the commanding officer
down, that, while attesting determination and confidence in
themselves, left no ground for a suspicion that the designs of
their treacherous allies had been revealed.
The guard was mounted, as usual, and the customary formalities of
the military service complied with, and arrangements were made,
soon after the men had eaten their breakfasts, for the conveyance
of the stores to the glacis.
At twelve o'clock all was ready, and the mass of Indian warriors,
painted and armed, moved in loose and disorganized bodies across
the plain, and grouped around their chiefs, who, seated on the
ground, received for the young men the presents which had been set
apart in divisions for every ten. The cloths, blankets, trinkets,
and provisions, were first handed over, but when on coming to the
ammunition and liquor only one cask of each was, found, the
indignation of the whole band, the chiefs excepted, was, as had
been expected, excessive.
"My Father promised us plenty of powder and plenty of liquor,"
exclaimed Pee-to-tum, stamping with his feet and gesticulating
violently; "Where is it?"
"This is all that is left of the stores," exclaimed Capt. Headley.
"When we reach Fort Wayne you shall have more."
"My Father lies," returned the Chippewa. "Pee-to-tum did not sleep
like a lazy hound in his tent last night; he crawled near the
fort; he heard the powder barrels knocked in with axes; he heard
the rum poured into the river like water. Even to-day," and he
pointed with his clenched tomahawk, "the river is red with liquor
till it is 'strong grog.' What should prevent us from avenging
ourselves for this cheat, by mixing the blood of our father with
the same water till it looks like strong rum also?" A terrific yell
burst from the surrounding warriors, who all brandished their
tomahawks in a menacing manner.
"What should prevent you?" said Capt. Headley, suddenly carried
out of his usual prudence by the insolence of the ruffian--"what
should and will prevent you!" and he pointed to the bastion, which
had been manned as on the former occasion, while the burning matches
seemed only to await his signal. "Each of those guns contains a
bag of fifty bullets, and each bullet can kill its enemy. Now then,
have but the courage to lay a hand upon me and you will see the
result. See, I am alone--only Mr. McKenzie to witness the act."
There was a pause of a few moments, during which low murmurs broke
from the younger Indians, and the dark and subtle eye of Pee-to-tum
quailed before the bold look of the commanding officer, who continued:
"As for you, vile Chippewa, you are the sole cause of all these
troubles, all this excitement in the young men of the Pottowatomie
Nation. You are of that dark and malignant race, as far below the
Pottowatomie in everything that is noble and generous and good as
the Evil Spirit is below the Good Spirit. There is nothing but
falsehood and treachery in their selfish and avaricious nature.
They are deceitful, and so given to love rum that when an Indian
is seen wallowing like a hog in the gutter, and with the foam
disgorging from his blue and lizard-like lips, stabbing right and
left indiscriminately, as if hatred and the sight of blood were
essential to his very existence, you may at once know him to be a
Chippewa. How then can such a man, and of such a race, disgrace
and dishonor the councils of the war path of the nobler Pottowatomies?
How, I ask, can Black Partridge, Winnebeg, Waubansee, To-kee-nee-bee,
and Kee-po-tah consent to allow such a mongrel chief to exercise
an influence among their warriors hostile to the Americans, who
have ever treated them with kindness, even when they themselves do
not seem to second him in his views?"
The scorn Captain Headley threw into his voice and manner as he
uttered these words, which they perfectly understood, was such that
Pee-to-tum, whose fingers played tremulously with the handle of
his tomahawk, could not, without difficulty, refrain from using
it; but when he glanced upwards and saw Lieutenant Elmsley attentively
watching all that passed with his glass, his rage was stifled, but
inwardly he vowed to be revenged. The young men evinced great
excitement also; and from that moment, on this occasion particularly,
it was evident to Captain Headley that they were entirely under
the influence of the Chippewa.
"Father," said Black Partridge, rising and solemnly replying to
the appeal just made by Captain Headley, "this medal I have worn
for many years upon my breast. It was given me by the Great Father
of the Americans as a token of a friendship I never have broken;
but since everything tells me that my young men, who I grieve to
say will no longer obey the voice of their grey-headed chiefs, have
determined to wash their hands in American blood, it would
not be right in me to keep this token of peace any longer. Father,"
he concluded, removing the ribbon by which it was suspended over
his chest, "I deliver the medal back to you, and may you live to
see and tell our Great Father that Black Partridge was ever faithful
to the United States, and washes his hands of all that may now
happen."
The same disclaimer was made by "Winnebeg and the other friendly
chiefs; lastly, Pee-to-tum rose:
"Dog!" he said, insolently, as he tore his medal from his chest
and held it up for a moment, dangling in his hands, "tell him you
serve, if you live to see him, that Pee-to-tum, the dark Chippewa,
is for ever his enemy--that wherever he can do so he will spill
the blood of the Yankee, till it runs like the rum your warriors
spilt last night; tell him that Pee-to-tum spits upon his face
thus!" Then, throwing it contemptuously on the ground and stamping
upon it with his moccasined feet, he burst forth into a laugh
intended to be as insulting as the act itself.
This profanation was too much for Captain Headley. He rose from
his chair, and exclaiming in his fury, "take that, damned Chippewa,
in return!" first spat in his face and then hurled at him his heavy
military glove, which happening to strike the pupil of his eye
while in full glare of indignation at the first insult, it was
deprived of sight for ever.
Great was the tumult that now ensued. Incapable of acting himself
from the intensity of agony he suffered, Pee-to-tum could only
utter fierce howlings and threats of vengeance, but several of the
warriors advanced furiously upon the commanding officer with the
most startling yells and threatening manner. The latter, hopeless
of escape, but determined to sell his life dearly, drew his sword
while he presented a pistol with his other hand.
"McKenzie," he said quickly, "get out of the way! remember me to
Ellen!" and then elevating his voice to such a pitch as he knew
would be heard in the fort, he distinctly uttered the command
"fire!"
But the order had been anticipated. Even as the word fell from his
lips the curling smoke from a gun was seen, and loud cheers succeeding
to the report burst from every man upon the ramparts, while a second
and smaller American flag was waved triumphantly by the hand of
Ronayne above the piece which had just been discharged.
Astonished at this unexpected scene, the Indians, who had been
greatly startled not only at the command which had been so coolly
given by the commanding officer, but by the discharge they had
incorrectly deemed aimed at themselves, suddenly ceased their
clamor, and following the course to which the attention of those
within the garrison appeared to be directed, beheld, to their
surprise, five-and-twenty tall and well--mounted horsemen dressed
in the costume of warriors, and headed by a man of great size,
pushing rapidly along the road leading from Hardscrabble for the
fort. The nearer they approached the louder became the shouts of
the soldiers, until finally the latter all left the ramparts,
evidently to open the gates and welcome the new-comers, who soon
disappeared through the opening.
The arrival of these strangers, small as their number was, had
evidently an effect upon the Pottowatomies, who for a moment looked
grave, and attempted no longer to molest Captain Headley. Mr.
McKenzie, who was still present and knew how to take advantage of
the occasion, profited by the surprise, and suggested to the
commanding officer, that as the conference was now over and
the presents all delivered, they should return to the fort to know
who the new-comers were. The friendly chiefs were, moreover, invited
to accompany them; and thus they returned leisurely, without further
interruption, into the stockade. Pee-to-tum, suffering severely,
had been led to his tent; and the threat bulk of the warriors,
freed from the excitement of his presence, busied themselves with
collecting together their individual shares of the presents they
had received. During the whole of the afternoon they were to be
seen wending their way leisurely, and in small and detached
groups--sometimes in single file--from the glacis to their own
encampment.
"Headley, my dear fellow," exclaimed the leader of the party--a
tall, powerful, sunburnt man, dressed like his companions, who now
stood dismounted, holding the bridle of his jaded horse and conversing
with the Doctor, for the other officers were still at their posts.
"Is what I hear then true--and have I only arrived in time to be
too late? Is all your ammunition then destroyed--all, all, all--none
left?" These questions were anxiously put as the stranger held the
hand of the commanding officer grasped in his own.
"It is even so," returned Captain Headley, impressed with deep
regret for the act, for in a moment he saw that this addition to
his little force would have enabled him to maintain his post until
the arrival of the British at least--"all that remains are twenty
rounds of cartridges for the pouches of the men, and a single keg
for use if necessary on the march--not six rounds of ammunition
remain for the guns."
"By G--, how unfortunate!" returned the stranger, striking his brow
with his palm; "had I been but eighteen hours sooner you were all
saved, for here are five-and-twenty as gallant and willing hearts
as ever wielded tomahawk or rifle. Hearing of your extremity I had
hastily collected them to afford you succor. Oh, I could eat my
heart up with disappointment!" he continued, "to think that all my
exertions, my speed, have been in vain. Headley, what could have
induced you to destroy the ammunition--your only hope of salvation?"
"What has been done," replied the commanding officer, with unfeigned
sorrow at his heart as he reflected on the subject, "cannot be
undone; but, ray dear Wells, it was impossible that we could divine
the generous interest which was sending you to our rescue; and had
not the powder and other ammunition been destroyed it must have
fallen into the hands of those who I grieve to say are but too
ready to use it against us. Moreover, purposing as I did, and do,
to march to-morrow morning, at all risks and under whatever
circumstance, I had given up this day all provisions not necessary
for our subsistence on the march. If then even the ammunition had
remained, we must have suffered from want of food."
"What, with those five-and-twenty horses, Headley?" returned the
other, pointing to the group that stood in the centre of the barrack
square. "Not so. They would have been sufficient when killed and
dried to have yielded us food for a month. No man knows better how
to make pimmecan than myself. Still," he continued, with greater
vivacity, "there is a hope. I have shown the manner in which the
provisions can be replaced, and I know you have a well within the
sally-port into which can be received the waters of Lake
Michigan--let search be made and instantly, and no doubt out of all
that you have thrown away, sufficient serviceable powder may be
found to enable us to defend the fort for ten days longer, when
something will assuredly turn up to better our condition."
"Would that it could be so," returned Captain Headley, with a
solemnity rendered more profound from the very smallness of the
contingency on which the safety of so much depended, "but there is
no hope. Anticipating that the Indians would attempt the very course
you now suggest--that of saving what powder might be uninjured by
the slimy bed into which it was thrown, all has been so mixed up
with rum and other liquids as to be rendered utterly useless.
Everything seems to be against us."
"Then, since all hope is over," returned the stranger with marked
disappointment, "we will not indulge in vain regrets for the past,
but make the best preparation for to-morrow. It is only to die in
harness after all. But, alas! I pity the poor women. How is my dear
Ellen--how does she support this severe affliction?"
"Bravely--nobly, like herself," returned the commanding officer
with emotion. "She will be delighted, yet grieved to behold
you--delighted at the generous devotion that has brought you so
far, and at the head of so small a force to our assistance; grieved
because she will know that you have only come in time to share our
fate. But dispose of your party and come in. Serjeant Nixon," he
called to that official, whom he saw passing from the rampart to
the guard-house.
The non-commissioned officer was soon at his side, and the captain
having given him directions to quarter the Indians for the night
in the officers' mess-room, liberally supplying them and their
horses with whatever they might require, and the stranger having
himself addressed some remarks to his people in the Miami tongue,
they both repaired with heavy hearts to the quarters of the former.
The meeting between Captain Wells and Mrs. Headley--the uncle and
niece, both of whom entertained a strong natural affection, founded
as much on similarity of character as on mere blood connexion--was
a very affecting one. They had long been separated, and year after
year a visit of a few weeks had been promised by the former to
Chicago; but the multiplicity of his public duties, for he was an
active agent in the Indian Department, had always prevented him
from carrying his intention into execution. But now when he heard
of the danger to which the garrison was exposed, and his beloved
niece in particular, he lost not a moment in appointing a deputy
to perform his duties during his absence, and collecting
five-and-twenty warriors whom he knew to be not only devoted to
him but the most resolute of the Miami race, he hurried off with
the object of forming a sort of body-guard to the ladies of the
detachment which he had been informed had received the instructions
of General Hull to proceed forthwith to Fort Wayne. Had he had
reason to doubt the faith of the Pottowatomies intended to form
the escort of the detachment generally, he might and would have
brought with him a much larger force; but it was not until after
he had traversed almost the whole of the one hundred and eighty
miles which he and his party had ridden without rest, that he
obtained information of the Indian disaffection. Alarmed lest he
should be too late, he and his party urged their harassed steeds
to greater speed, and having made a signal to the garrison, which
was seen by Ronayne through the telescope he kept constantly
to his eye, the gun was fired, the flag waved, and the shouts pealed
forth that, in all probability, in drowning his words of command
saved the life of his friend and relative.
"Well, Ellen, my love," proposed Capt. Headley, after a good deal
of conversation on the subject of their position had taken place,
"as this is to be the last of the many days which, until within a
week, we have passed so happily in Chicago, what say you to our
all dining here together? With many of us it will, doubtless, be
for the last time. We have still a few bottles of claret left in
which to drink your uncle's health, mixed up only with a regret
that his visit to us had not occurred at a happier period."
"Most willingly, Headley, I approve your suggestion, and shall
cause the dinner to be prepared. All I ask is the assistance of
Mrs. Elmsley and Ronayne's servants. With their aid my own servants
can even contrive to manage something for a dinner."
"_Dum vivimus, vivamus!_" exclaimed the herculean and resolute
captain. "I can see no reason why, because we are to be shot down
and perhaps eaten to-morrow, we should not enjoy the pleasure of
a little social eating and drinking ourselves to-day! I am not one
to lament fruitlessly over that which cannot be avoided. Sufficient
for the day, as scripture has it, is the evil thereof. I certainly
go in for the dinner and a glass of claret. It will help to wash
down half the dust I have swallowed within the last forty-eight
hours."
"Well, gentlemen," said Mrs. Headley, with a playfulness extraordinary
for the occasion, but which was induced solely by a design to set
the minds of her friends at ease, by impressing them with a belief
that her unconcern was greater, than it really was, "while I prepare
the feast, go you out into what highways and byways are left to us
and invite our friends. Uncle, you have not seen Mrs. Elmsley since
she was a young, clashing, and unmarried belle. She will be delighted
to meet with you. Tell her I will take no denial--both herself and
husband must attend. We shall dine at five, becoming fashionable
as we stand on the brink of the grave; and by the way, Headley,
all these troubles have made me quite forget it, but this is the
anniversary not only of my birth but wedding day."
"God bless you!" said her husband, tenderly embracing her, "and
grant of his great mercy that you may see many returns of the day
under far brighter and more auspicious circumstances!"