IN SIGHT OF THE FLAG
It would have been impossible not to respond to his sparkling humor
and good nature, even had the girl been desirous of doing otherwise.
From the first I felt that she liked this reckless courtier, whose
easy words and actions made me realize more deeply than ever my own
heaviness of thought and wit.
As he stood there now, bowing low before her, his clothing awry and
his long hair in disorder from our fierce contest, she smiled upon him
graciously, and extended a hand that he was prompt enough to accept and
hold.
"Surely," she said mockingly, "no maid, even in the glorious days of
chivalry, had ever more heroic figures to do battle for her honor. I
accept the _amende_, Monsieur, and henceforth enroll you as knight
at my court. Upon my word," and she looked about at the desolate
sand-heaps surrounding us, "'tis not much to boast of here; nor, in
truth, is Dearborn greatly better."
She paused, drawing her hand gently from his grasp, and holding it out
toward me.
"Yet, Captain," she continued, glancing at him archly over her
shoulder, "I have likewise another knight, this wood ranger, who hath
also won my deep regard and gratitude."
De Croix scowled, and twisted his short mustache nervously.
"You put a thorn beside every rose," he muttered. "'Twas your way in
Montreal."
"A few hundred miles of travel do not greatly change one's nature.
Either at Dearborn or Montreal, I am still Toinette. But, Messieurs,
I have been told of a camp quite close at hand,--and yet you leave me
here in the sand to famish while you quarrel."
The tone of her voice, while still full of coquetry, was urgent, and
I think we both noted for the first time how white of face she was,
and how wearily her eyes shone. The Frenchman, ever ready in such
courtesies, was the first to respond by word and act.
"You are faint, Toinette," he cried, instantly forgetful of everything
else, and springing forward to give her the aid of his arm. "I beg you
lean upon me. I have been blind not to note your weakness before. 'Tis
indeed not a long walk to our camp from here,--yet, on my life, I know
nothing of where it lies. Jordan," he added, speaking as if he were in
command, "lead back along the path we came. _Sacre!_ the old bear was
gruff enough over the delay of our search; he will be savage now."
I know not how Jordan ever found his way back, for the sliding sand
had already obliterated all evidences of former travel; but I walked
sullenly beside him, leaving De Croix to minister to the needs of the
girl as best he might. I felt so dull beside his ready tongue that, in
spite of my real liking for the fellow, his presence angered me. 'Tis
strange we should ever envy in others what we do not ourselves possess,
ignoring those traits of character we have which they no less desire.
So to me then it seemed altogether useless to contend for the heart of
a woman,--such a woman, at least, as this laughing Toinette,--against
the practised wiles of so gay and debonair a cavalier. I steeled my
ears to the light badinage they continued to indulge in, and ploughed
on through the heavy sand at Jordan's heels, in no mood for converse
with any one.
We came upon the camp suddenly, and discovered Captain Wells pacing
back and forth, his stern face dark with annoyance. At sight of me, his
passion burst all restraint.
"By God, sir!" he ejaculated, "if you were a soldier of mine, I would
teach you what it meant to put us to such a wait as this! Know you
not, Master Wayland, that the lives of helpless women and children
may depend upon our haste? And you hold us here in idleness while you
wander along the lake-shore like a moonstruck boy!"
Before I could answer these harsh words, the girl stepped lightly to my
side, and standing there, her hand upon my arm, smiled back into his
angry eyes. I do not think he had even perceived her presence until
that moment; for he stopped perplexed.
"And am I not worth the saving, Monsieur le Capitaine," she questioned,
pouting her lips, "that you should blame him so harshly for having
stopped to rescue me?"
His harsh glance of angry resentment softened as he gazed upon her.
"Ah! was that it, then?" he asked, in gentler tones. "But who are you?
Surely you are not unattended in this wilderness?"
"I am from Fort Dearborn," she answered, "and though only a girl,
Monsieur, I have penetrated to the great West even farther than has
Captain Wells."
"How know you my name?"
"Mrs. Heald told me she believed you would surely come when you learned
of our plight at the Fort, it was for that she despatched the man Burns
with the message,--and she described you so perfectly that I knew at
once who you must be. There are not so many white men travelling toward
Dearborn now as to make mistake easy."
"And the Fort?" he asked, anxiously. "Is it still garrisoned, or have
we come too late?"
"It was safely held two days ago," she answered, "although hundreds of
savages in war-paint were then encamped without, and holding powwow
before the gate. No attack had then been made, yet the officers talked
among themselves of evacuating."
For a moment the stern soldier seemed to have forgotten her, his eyes
fastened upon the western horizon.
"The fools!" he muttered to himself, seemingly unconscious that he
spoke aloud; "yet if I can but reach there in time, my knowledge of
Indian nature may accomplish much."
He turned quickly, with a sharp glance over his military force.
"We delay no longer. Jordan, do you give this lady your horse for
to-day's journey, and go you forward on foot with the Miamis. Watch
them closely, and mark well everything in your front as you move."
"But, Captain Wells," she insisted, as he turned away, "I am
exceedingly hungry, and doubt not this youth would also be much the
better for a bit of food."
"It will have to be eaten as you travel, then," he answered, not
unkindly, but with all his thought now fixed on other things, "for our
duty is to reach Dearborn at the first moment, and save those prisoned
there from death, and worse."
I shall always remember each detail of that day's march, though I saw
but little of Toinette save in stolen glances backward, Wells keeping
me close at his side, while De Croix, as debonair as ever, was her
constant shadow, ministering assiduously to her wants and cheering
her journey with agreeable discourse. I heard much of their chatter,
earnestly as I sought to remain deaf to it. To this end Wells aided me
but little, for he rode forward in stern silence, completely absorbed
in his own thoughts.
During the first few hours we passed through a dull desolation of
desert sand, the queerly shaped hills on either side scarcely breaking
the dead monotony, although they often hid from our sight our advance
scouts, and made us feel isolated and alone. Once or twice I imagined I
heard the deepening roar of waves bursting upon the shore-line to our
right, but could gain no glimpse of blue water through those obscuring
dunes. We were following a well-worn Indian trail, beaten hard by
many a moccasined foot; and at last it ran from out the coarser sand
and skirted along the western beach, almost at the edge of the waves.
'Twas a most delightful change from the cramped and narrowed vision
that had been ours so long. Our faces were now set almost directly
northward; but I could not withdraw my eyes from the noble expanse of
water heaving and tumbling in the dazzling sunlight. Indeed, there was
little else about our course to attract attention; the shore in front
lay clear and unbroken, bearing a sameness of outline that wearied the
vision; each breaking wave was but the type of others that had gone
before, and each jutting point of land was the picture of the next to
follow. To our left, there extended, parallel to our course of march, a
narrow ridge of white and firmly beaten sand, as regular in appearance
as the ramparts of a fort. Here and there a break occurred where in
some spring flood a sudden rush of water had burst through. Glancing
curiously down these narrow aisles, as we rode steadily onward, I
caught fleeting glimpses of level prairie-land, green with waving
grasses, apparently stretching to the western horizon bare of tree or
shrub. At first, I took this to be water also; until I realized that I
looked out upon the great plains of the Illinois.
The Captain was always chary of speech; now he rode onward with so
stern a face, that presently I spoke in inquiry.
"You are silent, Captain Wells," I said. "One would expect some
rejoicing, as we draw so close to the end of our long journey."
He glanced aside at me.
"Wayland," he said slowly, "I have been upon the frontier all my
life, and have, as you know, lived in Indian camps and shared in many
a savage campaign. I am too old a man, too tried a soldier, ever to
hesitate to acknowledge fear; but I tell you now, I believe we are
riding northward to our deaths."
I had known, since first leaving the Maumee, that danger haunted the
expedition; yet these solemn words came as a surprise.
"Why think you thus?" I asked, with newly aroused anxiety, my thoughts
more with the girl behind than with myself. "Mademoiselle Toinette
tells me the Fort is strong and capable of defence, and surely we are
already nearly there."
"The young girl yonder with De Croix? It may be so, if it also be well
provisioned for a long siege, as it is scarce likely any rescue party
will be despatched so far westward. If I mistake not, Hull will have
no men to spare. Yet I like not the action of the savages about us.
'Tis not in Indian nature to hold off, as these are doing, and permit
reinforcements to go by, when they might be halted so easily. 'Twould
ease my mind not a little were we attacked."
"Attacked? by whom?"
He faced me with undisguised surprise, a sarcastic smile curling his
grim mouth. His hand swept along the western sky-line.
"By those red spies hiding behind that ridge of sand," he answered
shortly. "Boy, where are your eyes not to have seen that every step we
have taken this day has been but by sufferance of the Pottawattomies?
Not for an hour since leaving camp have we marched out of shot from
their guns; it means treachery, yet I can scarce tell where or how. If
they have spared us this long, there is some good Indian reason for it."
I glanced along that apparently desolate sand-bank, barely a hundred
feet away, feeling a thrill of uneasiness sweep over me at the
revelation of his words. My eyes saw nothing strange nor suspicious;
but I could not doubt his well-trained instinct.
"It makes my flesh creep," I admitted; "yet surely the others do not
know. Hear how the Frenchman chatters in our rear!"
"The young fool!" he muttered, as the sound of a light laugh reached
us; "it will prove no jest, ere we are out of this again. Yet,
Wayland," and his voice grew stronger, "the red devils must indeed mean
to pass us free,--for there is Fort Dearborn, and, unless my sight
deceive me, the flag is up."
I lifted my eyes eagerly, and gazed northward where his finger pointed.