On the Kentucky Frontier Part 19

"It was understood between Major Clarke and myself that I might be at liberty to turn back whenever Captain Bowman should state he no longer required my services, and I reckon, lads, that the time has come. Wait you here until I learn what he has to say regardin' the matter."

Within an hour it was decided that we three were to carry Captain Bowman's report to Major Clarke, and when I lay down to sleep that night it was with the knowledge that at the first light of dawn we would begin the sixty-mile journey, counting on making it within four-and-twenty hours with but little labor, since from this point we could proceed in a canoe, aided by the swiftly running current.

We set out as had been decided upon, one of the settlers in Cahokia willingly lending us a dugout, with the understanding that we should leave it at Kaskaskia to be returned whenever opportunity offered, and before midnight Simon Kenton was giving to Major Clarke the account of our successes.

We remained three days longer at this post; but all that happened which concerned us three may be told in few words.

It was decided that all save those who chose to remain to man the garrisons might return whenever it pleased them, and, knowing that fifty or more who had left relatives on Corn Island were counting on going back soon, we three waited for them in order that our force might be so large as to deter the savages who were possibly lurking about the banks of the Ohio River, from making an attack.

When three days had pa.s.sed, however, we found that none of the men were disposed to begin quite so soon what would doubtless prove an arduous undertaking, and Simon Kenton laid the matter before us by saying:

"Lads, I am eager to get back into Fauquier County. If it so be you have no stomach for layin' around here eatin' the bread of idleness suppose we start to-morrow mornin'? There is nothin' to keep us, and much to incline our hearts toward the journey."

Unless I have utterly failed in making it appear here that I had a great affection for my mother, it can readily be understood how we answered the scout, and without delay we set about the few necessary preparations for the voyage, determined to leave Kaskaskia before daylight next morning.

And now at this point let me copy what I read many years later regarding Vincennes:

"The stronger and more important post of Vincennes, situate on the east bank of the Wabash River, one hundred miles above its entrance into the Ohio, was yet unsubdued, and Major Clarke felt that the object of his mission would be but half accomplished if he did not gain possession of that place. It was necessary to garrison Kaskaskia and Cahokia in order to retain them, and to do this would so weaken his little army that he could, scarcely hope for victory in an attack upon Vincennes, unless he should be as successful in effecting a surprise as he had in capturing the posts already in his possession. While thus perplexed and doubting which course to pursue, he communicated his desires to Father Gabault, a French priest, who agreed to bring those inhabitants of Vincennes over whom he had pastoral charge, to the support of the American cause. The influence of the priest was successful; the inhabitants arose in the night and cast off their allegiance to the British, expelled the garrison from the fort, and pulled down the English standard. The American flag floated in triumph over the ramparts in the morning."

All this was done before we three were come again to Corn Island, and I question if the British king ever lost more territory at a less cost in blood, either on the part of those who made the capture or the hirelings who should have held the garrisons, than in this expedition of Major Clarke's into the valley of Mississippi.

I am now come to be an old man, and yet since that time have heard but little spoken concerning the achievements of Major Clarke and his force of four hundred, when the most fertile portion of the Mississippi River was taken from the Britishers and made a portion of the American colonies.

We had done our work well, as it seemed to me then and does now, although in the telling of it there is none of that clash of arms and cheers of triumph which have accompanied far smaller achievements.

And here would my story properly end but for the fact that we three must make the journey down the Mississippi to the Ohio, following the course of this last n.o.ble river on foot, because we could not well stem the current in a canoe, through a country infested by savage enemies, who would use every effort to take our lives.

CHAPTER XI.

HOMEWARD BOUND.

We spent no time in leave-taking after once having made ready for the journey. It was as if we three formed a separate command, and had no comrades among the main body of the volunteers, therefore it was not necessary we should say good-by.

Simon Kenton was to carry up the Ohio certain papers with which Major Clarke had entrusted him, and once these were in his possession there was nothing to detain us at Kaskaskia.

We took our departure from the post a full half hour before daybreak, when none save the sentinels were there to see us push off from the sh.o.r.e, and allowed the canoe to drift down the river until we were come to the Ohio.

It would be more laborious to paddle the dugout against the swift current than to walk, and we had already decided to make our way through the wilderness on foot, ever keeping within a short distance of the river, where we might expect to get the earliest information if the savages were moving about bent on mischief.

We came to a halt at a point where we waited for the flat-boats on the journey down, and here a day was spent in procuring and cooking meat, for Simon Kenton had decided that once the long tramp was really begun we would push forward at the best possible pace. It was reasonable to believe that in a short time we would have arrived at that portion of the country where it might not be well to discharge a rifle simply for the purpose of killing game.

We did not expect to make the journey without some danger of coming across small parties of the painted brutes who thirsted for the blood of white people; but it was not in our thoughts that we should encounter any serious dangers. The worst of the tramp, so we believed, might be the labor of pushing on through the underbrush until the many miles which lay between us and Corn Island had been traversed.

Simon Kenton was in particularly good humor on that morning when, all our preparations completed, we left the camping place with our faces turned toward the north, and I was exceedingly happy, for at the end of the journey my mother was waiting to greet me.

During two full days we pressed steadily onward, seeing nothing to cause alarm, and making reasonably good progress, and then came that which threatened a fatal ending to what had been a most successful journey.

We encamped on the second night in a small thicket of scrub where the foliage was so dense that the chill night wind was shut out as completely as if we had been within four walls of stout logs, and felt so secure that Simon Kenton himself had proposed we build a light blaze to cook a turkey we had just killed.

The meat was roasted, and we ate such a supper as can be enjoyed only by those who have performed a full day's labor, and after the meal was come to an end Paul and I fell asleep even as we sat before the fire.

How long we were thus unconscious I am unable to say; but it seemed to me as if I had no more than crossed the borders of dreamland before I was awakened by the pressure of a heavy hand over my mouth.

In the forest one becomes accustomed to awakening quickly, and without starting up.

When the eyes are open the first thought is as to the reason for thus being aroused, and due heed is given to all the surroundings before any movement is made.

Therefore it was I understood at once that Simon Kenton's hand was covering my mouth, and that he was hurriedly burying the light embers with ashes.

Pressing his arm to let him know I was thoroughly aroused, I rose to a sitting posture.

No sound brake the stillness of the night, for, sheltered as we were by the scrub, even the moaning of the wind failed to reach our ears.

Kenton was awakening Paul, and he, brave lad, made as little disturbance on thus being aroused as if all his life had been spent on the frontier.

It was to my mind a certainty that the scout had heard or seen savages, and I drew up my rifle to a.s.sure myself it was in proper working order.

It is by no means soothing to the nerves to be thus aroused and forced to remain on the alert in ignorance of what threatens. I know of no situation more trying, and while I inwardly trembled with apprehension, my eyes sought out Paul in the gloom to learn how he was bearing up under what many old, experienced hunters have told me was, in their opinion, the most trying of all border warfare.

The lad sat silent and motionless, his rifle in hand, and though it was impossible to distinguish his features, I knew full well he was as calm and placid as when we remained concealed in the thicket just beyond the stockade at Kaskaskia, when I believed a desperate battle was before us.

During perhaps half an hour we three remained in the same position as when first having been awakened, and then Simon Kenton began to creep cautiously out through the underbrush, having first motioned for us to remain quiet.

He was bent on learning what had alarmed him, and but for advertising myself as a coward, I would have insisted, as well as I might by gestures, upon his remaining with us, for to me, almost anything was preferable to separation.

I checked the impulse, however, but moved closer to Paul, and he, dear lad, pressed my hand as if to give me courage.

That he, whom I had at the outset considered the weakest of the party, should be the one to encourage, shamed me, and I threw off his hand as if in anger, when in reality it was nothing save nervous fear which prompted the movement.

As nearly as I could judge, Simon Kenton had been absent ten minutes before we heard anything whatsoever, and then the report of a musket, followed by a scream of pain, caused the blood to bound in my veins.

Instinctively I leaped to my feet when I should have remained motionless, and Paul laid hold of the skirt of my hunting-shirt as if fearing I might be counting on rushing out.

One, two, three minutes pa.s.sed, during which time the most absolute silence reigned, and then a slight rustling of the branches told that the scout was returning.

I breathed more freely, knowing he was not the one who had given vent to that cry of pain, and stepped forward to learn how serious was the danger which threatened.

"We have run across thirty or more reptiles--most likely the same that were met while coming down the river," he whispered in my ear as I bent forward eager for information.

"Why did you fire?" I asked, believing for the moment that by such act he had told them where we lay concealed.

"They had learned where we were, and now completely surround us. It's a case of fightin' our way out, lad, if we count on gainin' Corn Island.

It is better to make a move at once, than wait till they are ready to close in on us."