The Scouts of the Valley Part 18

Paul revived in a few minutes. They were still lying in the bushes, and when he was able to stand up again, they moved at an angle several hundred yards before they stopped. One pistol was thrust into Paul's hand and another into that of Shif'less Sol.

"Keep those until we can get rifles for you," said Henry. "You may need 'em to-night."

They crouched down in the thicket and looked back toward the Indian camp. The warriors whom they had repulsed were not returning with help, and, for the moment, they seemed to have no enemy to fear, yet they could still see through the woods the faint lights of the Indian camps, and to Paul, at least, came the echoes of distant cries that told of things not to be written.

"We saw you captured, and we heard Sol's warning cry," said Henry.

"There was nothing to do but run. Then we hid and waited a chance for rescue."

"It would never have come if it had not been for Timmendiquas," said Paul.

"Timmendiquas!" exclaimed Henry.

"Yes, Timmendiquas," said Paul, and then he told the story of "The b.l.o.o.d.y Rock," and how, in the turmoil and excitement attending the flight of the last four, Timmendiquas had cut the bonds of Shif'less Sol and himself.

"I think the mind o' White Lightnin', Injun ez he is," said Shif'less Sol, "jest naterally turned aginst so much slaughter an' torture o'

prisoners."

"I'm sure you're right," said Henry.

"'Pears strange to me," said Long Jim Hart, "that Timmendiquas was made an Injun. He's jest the kind uv man who ought to be white, an' he'd be pow'ful useful, too. I don't jest eggzactly understan' it."

"He has certainly saved the lives of at least three of us," said Henry.

"I hope we will get a chance to pay him back in full."

"But he's the only one," said Shif'less Sol, thinking of all that he had seen that night. "The Iroquois an' the white men that's allied with 'em won't ever get any mercy from me, ef any uv 'em happen to come under my thumb. I don't think the like o' this day an' night wuz ever done on this continent afore. I'm for revenge, I am, like that place where the Bible says, 'an eye for an eye, an' a tooth for a tooth,' an' I'm goin'

to stay in this part o' the country till we git it!"

It was seldom that Shif'less Sol spoke with so much pa.s.sion and energy.

"We're all going to stay with you, Sol," said Henry. "We're needed here.

I think we ought to circle about the fort, slip in if we can, and fight with the defense."

"Yes, we'll do that," said Shif'less Sol, "but the Wyoming fort can't ever hold out. Thar ain't a hundred men left in it fit to fight, an'

thar are more than than a thousand howlin' devils outside ready to attack it. Thar may be worse to come than anything we've yet seen."

"Still, we'll go in an' help," said Henry. "Sol, when you an' Paul have rested a little longer we'll make a big loop around in the woods, and come up to the fort on the other side."

They were in full accord, and after an hour in the bushes, where they lay completely hidden, recovering their vitality and energy, they undertook to reach the fort and cabins inclosed by the palisades.

Paul was still weak from shock, but Shif'less Sol had fully recovered.

Neither bad weapons, but they were sure that the want could be supplied soon. They curved around toward the west, intending to approach the fort from the other side, but they did not wholly lose sight of the fires, and they heard now and then the triumphant war whoop. The victors were still engaged in the pleasant task of burning the prisoners to death.

Little did the five, seeing and feeling only their part of it there in the dark woods, dream that the deeds of this day and night would soon shock the whole civilized world, and remain, for generations, a crowning act of infamy. But they certainly felt it deeply enough, and in each heart burned a fierce desire for revenge upon the Iroquois.

It was almost midnight when they secured entrance into the fort, which was filled with grief and wailing. That afternoon more than one hundred and fifty women within those walls had been made widows, and six hundred children had been made orphans. But few men fit to bear arms were left for its defense, and it was certain that the allied British and Indian army would easily take it on the morrow. A demand for its surrender in the name of King George III of England had already been made, and, sitting at a little rough table in the cabin of Thomas Bennett, the room lighted only by a single tallow wick, Colonel Butler and Colonel Dennison were writing an agreement that the fort be surrendered the next day, with what it should contain. But Colonel Butler put his wife on a horse and escaped with her over the mountains.

Stragglers, evading the tomahawk in the darkness, were coming in, only to be surrendered the next day; others were pouring forth in a stream, seeking the shelter of the mountains and the forest, preferring any dangers that might be found there to the mercies of the victors.

When Shif'less Sol learned that the fort was to be given up, he said:

"It looks ez ef we had escaped from the Iroquois jest in time to beg 'em to take us back."

"I reckon I ain't goin' to stay 'roun' here while things are bein'

surrendered," said Long Jim Hart.

"I'll do my surrenderin' to Iroquois when they've got my hands an' feet tied, an' six or seven uv 'em are settin' on my back," said Tom Ross.

"We'll leave as soon as we can get arms for Sol and Paul," said Henry.

"Of course it would be foolish of us to stay here and be captured again.

Besides, we'll be needed badly enough by the women and children that are going."

Good weapons were easily obtained in the fort. It was far better to let Sol and Paul have them than to leave them for the Indians. They were able to select two fine rifles of the Kentucky pattern, long and slender barreled, a tomahawk and knife for each, and also excellent double-barreled pistols. The other three now had double-barreled pistols, too. In addition they resupplied themselves with as much ammunition as scouts and hunters could conveniently carry, and toward morning left the fort.

Sunrise found them some distance from the palisades, and upon the flank of a frightened crowd of fugitives. It was composed of one hundred women and children and a single man, James Carpenter, who was doing his best to guide and protect them. They were intending to flee through the wilderness to the Delaware and Lehigh settlements, chiefly Fort Penn, built by Jacob Stroud, where Stroudsburg now is.

When the five, darkened by weather and looking almost like Indians themselves, approached, Carpenter stepped forward and raised his rifle.

A cry of dismay rose from the melancholy line, a cry so intensely bitter that it cut Henry to the very heart. He threw up his hand, and exclaimed in a loud voice:

"We are friends, not Indians or Tories! We fought with you yesterday, and we are ready to fight for you now!"

Carpenter dropped the muzzle of the rifle. He had fought in the battle, too, and he recognized the great youth and his comrades who had been there with him.

"What do you want of us?" asked he.

"Nothing," replied Henry, "except to help you."

Carpenter looked at them with a kind of sad pathos.

"You don't belong here in Wyoming," he said, "and there's nothing to make you stick to us. What are you meaning to do?"

"We will go with you wherever you intend to go," replied Henry; "do fighting for you if you need it, and hunt game for you, which you are certain to need."

The weather-beaten face of the farmer worked.

"I thought G.o.d had clean deserted us," he said, "but I'm ready to take it back. I reckon that he has sent you five to help me with all these women and little ones."

It occurred to Henry that perhaps G.o.d, indeed, had sent them for this very purpose, but he replied simply:

"You lead on, and we'll stay in the rear and on the sides to watch for the Indians. Draw into the woods, where we'll be hidden."

Carpenter, obscure hero, shouldered his rifle again, and led on toward the woods. The long line of women and children followed. Some of the women carried in their arms children too small to walk. Yet they were more hopeful now when they saw that the five were friends. These lithe, active frontiersmen, so quick, so skillful, and so helpful, raised their courage. Yet it was a most doleful flight. Most of these women had been made widows the day before, some of them had been made widows and childless at the same time, and wondered why they should seek to live longer. But the very mental stupor of many of them was an aid. They ceased to cry out, and some even ceased to be afraid.

Henry, Shif'less Sol, and Tom dropped to the rear. Paul and Long Jim were on either flank, while Carpenter led slowly on toward the mountains.

"'Pears to me," said Tom, "that the thing fur us to do is to hurry 'em up ez much ez possible."

"So the Indians won't see 'em crossing the plain," said Henry. "We couldn't defend them against a large force, and it would merely be a ma.s.sacre. We must persuade them to walk faster."

Shif'less Sol was invaluable in this crisis. He could talk forever in his-placid way, and, with his gentle encouragement, mild sarcasm, and anecdotes of great feminine walkers that he had known, he soon had them moving faster.