Wau-nan-gee or the Massacre at Chicago Part 9

"Silence, sir! How dare you presume to speak in the ranks! Corporal Collins, from this day you lose your stripes,--a fit example, truly, for a non-commissioned officer to set to the men. Mr. Elmsley, you will see to this."

The lieutenant gravely touched his hat, but replied not.

"It is not for this purpose that I have a.s.sembled you," resumed Captain Headley. "Much as is to be deplored the unfortunate occurrence of yesterday, matters of deeper importance must engage our attention now."

Many of the men shrugged their shoulders, and looked their discontent.

They could not imagine what he meant, or what could be of more importance to them than the recovery of the lost lady.

The parade was once more called to attention, when Captain Headley proceeded to read to them the doc.u.ment that has been so often before the reader.

"You see, gentlemen and men," he continued, when he had finished the perusal, "how intricate is our position, and how little choice there is left to us to decide in the matter. It must be but mere form to ask your opinions on the subject, for the directions of the General are so positive that our duty is implicitly to follow them. Mr. Elmsley, as the oldest officer, what is your opinion?"

All had heard with the greatest surprise the unexpected communication, but there were few who were of the opinion of their commander, that their safety would be best insured by a retreat. The men, of course, were not expected to have a voice in the consultation, but it was desirable that they should hear what their respective officers had to say, and therefore the subject had been opened to the latter in their presence.

"My opinion, Captain Headley," returned his lieutenant, "can be of little weight in a matter which you appear to have decided already; however, as it is asked in presence of the whole garrison, in presence of the whole garrison will I give it. On no account should we retire from this post. Our force, it is true, is small, but we have stout hearts and willing hands, and, with four good bastions to protect our flanks of defence, we may make a better resistance than it appears they have done at Mackinaw, should the British deem it worth their while to come so far out of their way to attack us.

My own impression is that they will not, for there is nothing to be gained by the conquest of a post which commands no channel of communication, and therefore offers no advantage to compensate for the sacrifice of life necessary to take it. Certainly, nothing will be attempted unless Detroit itself should fall. The British forces will have too much to occupy them there to think of weakening by dividing the troops they have in that quarter. On the other hand, should we undertake a protracted march to Fort Wayne, enc.u.mbered as we are with women, and children, and invalids, there is but too great reason to infer that parties of British Indians, apprised of our march, will hasten to the attack, and then our position in the heart of the woods will be hopeless indeed. These, sir, are my views on the subject nor can I conceive how a man of common discernment can entertain any other."

"Mr. Elmsley, I merely asked you, in courtesy, to p.r.o.nounce your own opinion, not indirectly to pa.s.s censure on those of your superiors. I have stated not only my opinion, but my decision. Even were I desirous to remain I could not, for our provisions are nearly consumed."

"Why, captain," said Phillips, speaking from his place in the ranks, "I know that we have cattle enough to last the troops six months."

"Who speaks? Who dares to question my a.s.sertion?" thundered Capt.

Headley. "We may have cattle enough," he added, in a milder tone, feeling that some explanation was due to the men generally, "but we are deficient in salt to cure the meat when killed."

"A sheer pretence!" muttered another voice not far from Phillips; "where there is a will, there is a way."

"Who spoke?" demanded Captain Headley, angrily.

"I did, sir," answered Collins; "you have taken the stripes from me, you can do no more."

"Drummers, into the square!" ordered the captain. "Gentlemen, before we proceed further in this matter, this man must be tried for insubordination--a drum head court martial immediately. Sergeant Nixon, go to the orderly's room and bring the articles of war."

"Nay, Captain Headley," interposed the sergeant, "poor Collins!"

"What, sir! do you, too, disobey?"

"No, sir," returned the non-commissioned officer, respectfully, "but I thought when brave men would so soon be wanted for the defence of those colors, your honor could not be serious in your threat to score their backs; and a braver and a better soldier than Corporal Collins is nowhere to be found in the American ranks. He is excited, sir, by the loss of Mrs.--"

"Stay, Nixon," interrupted Ensign Ronayne, "not another word.

Captain Headley," he resumed, sternly, turning round to his commandant, "if Corporal Collins is punished, you will have to punish me also, for I swear that be but a hand laid upon him, and I will incur such guilt of insubordination as must compel you to place me under arrest. This severity, sir, at such a moment, is misplaced, and not to be borne."

"Mr. Ronayne, depend upon it, this conduct on your part shall not pa.s.s unnoticed. When the proper time arrives, expect to be put upon your trial for this most unofficer-like interference with my authority. At present, I can ill afford to spare your services, and placing you in arrest now would only be to affect the interests of my command. When we reach Fort Wayne, you may rely upon a proper representation of your behavior. Private Collins, retire to your place in the ranks."

"Reach Fort Wayne!" returned the Virginian, emphatically. "Mark me, sir, we shall never reach Fort Wayne. Captain Headley," he continued, more calmly, "look at those colors; do you not think we shall find more spirit to defend them while floating there (and he pointed to them), calling upon us, as it were, to remember the day when first they were unfurled before the British Lion, than when carrying them off encased and strapped with the old kettles and pans of the company upon some raw-boned old pack-horse, as if ashamed to show themselves to an enemy."

"And those colors especially," ventured Sergeant Nixon, emboldened by the warm language in his defence used by the high-spirited young officer. "They are the same worked by the hands of Mrs. Ronayne, and run up there on the day of her own marriage, on the fourth of July. I hoisted them with my own hands this morning, because I believed we were going out to the rescue of that dear lady, and, in my mind, I can only say that it would be much easier to send out half the force for her, with a few Indians for scouts to point out where the red devils are, and then, when we have got her safe, to return here and defend the place, or perish under the ruins."

"G.o.d bless her!" exclaimed nearly half the men, turning their eyes towards the rustling flag, which a slight and rising breeze now displayed in all its graceful beauty of color and proportion. "Sure enough she worked it, and we are ready to die under the same, if she only be here to see us."

"G.o.d bless her!" repeated the women in the distance. "If our prayers could be of any use, our husbands should run all risk from the Indians, so that we might see her sweet face again. Oh, let them go, captain!"

Despite all the determination he had formed, Ronayne could not stand this new feature in the scene unmoved. He drew his handkerchief hastily from the bosom of his uniform, and carried it to his eyes.

The recollection of the fourth of July, so recently pa.s.sed, came with irresistible force upon his memory, and even while his own heart was made more desolate, this universal manifestation of the regard in which his wife was held affected him deeply.

"Nay, Mr. Ronayne, rather than exhibit this emotion before the men, had you not better retire?" remarked Captain Headley, in a low tone; "their excitement, too, will the sooner subside when you are gone."

"Sir, if you a.s.sume a weakness in me," returned the officer, haughtily, as he removed the handkerchief from his eyes, "you are wrong. I came here not to advert to the past, but to do my duty.

I confess I am touched by the honest and n.o.ble feeling of my comrades, but nothing more. No entreaty of mine will be urged in support of their prayer. I am prepared to sink my individual loss in consideration of the general danger."

All the men were taken by surprise. They had wondered from the first at seeing Ronayne come upon parade, with a manner so different from that which he had shown on the preceding evening; but they had taken it for granted that he knew of an intended sortie, and, relying on its successful issue, was only waiting for the order from Captain Headley.

A loud shout was now heard from the common, and presently one of the two sentinels that had been stationed at the gate walked quickly up with his firelock at the recover, and reported to Captain Headley that the Indians were mustering strongly about their encampment, and seemingly more painted than usual.

"This is as it should be," replied the commanding officer. "The day of council should be a gala day, whatever the occasion, and doubtless they are making preparations accordingly. It is well, however, that I have changed the hour of our consultation from twelve to eight. We have now more leisure for our own preparations."

"And these are, Captain Headley, permit me to ask?" remarked Mr.

McKenzie, who had stood at some distance from the parade, without interfering with the preceding discussion.

"To distribute, sir, as directed, the stores belonging to the United States then dismantle the fort, and depart at once for Fort Wayne. Those n.o.ble and faithful Pottowatomies, who are now a.s.sembling for the council, will bear us bravely through."

One or two shots were now heard from the gate. The men were startled; still more so when they heard a loud mocking laugh succeed to the report. Several of them turned their heads and looked around. They saw that the flag, then wheeling and tossing, as if indignant at the outrage, had been cut by the bullets. The Indians had never before attempted this.

"That, sir, is the work of your friendly Pottowatomies," remarked Ronayne, With a sneer; "their friendship is truly very remarkable at this particular moment. They show their regard for us by insulting the American flag in a way in which they never did before."

"March off your guard immediately, Mr. Elmsley; let the sentries be posted, and all remain armed until further orders; yet mark, both officers and men, no distrust must be openly shown. Do not let it appear that the inconsiderate act of one or two young men has raised your unfounded and ungenerous suspicions of a whole tribe. It is not that I have any doubt as to their truth, but my policy has ever been to show them we are never unprepared for an emergency. Corporal Collins, you will resume your Stripes."

In obedience to his order, the guard was relieved at the gate, and the whole of the men made to linger about the parade, preparatory to the hour of council.

CHAPTER XIII.

While Lieutenant Elmsley was occupied as acting adjutant--a duty which he was called upon to perform, as well as that of regimental subaltern--Ronayne sauntered mechanically towards the gate.

Notwithstanding the seeming indifference he had at first manifested in regard to the absence of his wife, there were few among the men who, whatever their surprise at his language, were not afterwards made sensible that he was profoundly affected; and as he somewhat sternly pa.s.sed each soldier on his way, they silently and with unusual deference--a deference that indicated their own strong sympathy--touched their caps to him. Arrived at the gate, he looked long and anxiously, almost incessantly, even as one without an object, towards Hardscrabble, the forest road to which was dotted, here and there, with occasional openings, enabling the eye to distinguish the serpentine course of the silver river. All around and before him were the lounging Indians to whom allusion has just been made. There appeared to be unusual excitement in their manner, and groups of the younger warriors particularly were to be seen in animated conversation. He was about to retire from the gate and join Lieutenant Elmsley, who had now nearly finished distributing his guard, but anxious to take one last look of the neighborhood of Hardscrabble, his eyes suddenly fell upon the outline of a horse just emerging from a wooded part of the road upon the plain, and partially concealed by the figure of an Indian that stood at the side of the horse. He looked again--the distance was too great to enable him to judge distinctly, but he felt convinced the rider was a woman. There was A telescope kept in the bastion near the flagstaff, for the use princ.i.p.ally of the officer of the guard. He walked rapidly to this, and drew the instrument to its proper focus, but when he looked in the direction in which he had before gazed nothing was to be seen. Vexed and annoyed beyond all measure, he descended again rapidly to the gate, but with no better success.

He could not doubt that it was his wife whom he had seen, yet unwilling to breathe the knowledge even to himself, his heart was a prey to the most contradictory feelings. In a few moments, however, the horse he had before remarked again appeared emerging from the same point of road, but this time he no longer carried a woman but a warrior, so that all means of identifying the former were denied to him. But still there was evidence sufficient. The horse was evidently Maria's, though with its tail twisted and plaited as for disguise; and as Ronayne with the gla.s.s brought fully to bear upon him, saw the rider throw over his shoulders and fasten round his neck, a blanket, and place on his head a colored calico turban, such as was in common use among the Pottowatomies, he felt satisfied that it was the same youth who, in the disguise of a Miami, had pressed him so closely in the chase of the preceding day.

Strange to say, he entertained no feeling of enmity towards the youth, even when he turned away with feelings of mingled bitterness and mortification, and silently ascended the bastion to replace the gla.s.s. Never was his mind more unsettled--never had he entertained so perfect a sentiment of indifference for everything around him.

It was very well to talk of pride, and scorn, and fort.i.tude, but existence to him had become a dull weight, a rayless future, and nothing would have pleased him better at that moment, than the sudden announcement of a British force being at hand. In the stirring excitement of action only could he hope to find distraction, and the ball aimed at his heart, the sword pointed to his throat, he would have scarcely deemed it worth his while to seek to turn aside.

The roar of artillery and of musquetry would, he felt, be music to his ears, provided it shut out from memory the recollection of what had been. But the idea of a long and monotonous march to Fort Wayne, even provided it should be effected without interruption, bringing with it at each moment recollections of the past was a horror not to be endured; and he determined, by every means in his power, to oppose the resolution of the commanding officer to the uttermost.

He was already under the ban of one threatened court-martial, and it mattered little to him what steps Captain Headley might adopt in regard to him for the future.

He had pa.s.sed some moments in these reflections--fitful, varied, and broken as those of a disconnected dream--when turning his eyes again towards the gate where the sentinels had been posted, he saw one of them bring his musket to the charge as if to prevent the ingress of some one seeking admittance. Struck by the circ.u.mstance, Ronayne hastened below, and as he advanced he saw the same sentinel pick up a piece of paper, the superscription of which he was endeavoring to examine. Before he had time to do this, however, the officer had come up, and the sentinel promptly handed it to him.

"Good G.o.d! what does this mean?" It was the handwriting of his wife. Ronayne looked forward upon the common, and saw at about a hundred yards before him, and retiring rapidly, the horseman whom he had just before remarked. There was no necessity for asking any questions. The whole thing explained itself.

"What can she have to say to me?" he mused to himself, as he broke the bark string with which the note was tied; his compet.i.tor of yesterday, too, the bearer! Hastily he unfolded it. It contained these few words, hastily written in pencil on a leaf torn from her memorandum book--"Go not to the council!" He examined the paper closely--he could find no more.

The feelings of Ronayne, on reading these few words, traced by his wife's well-remembered hand, may be comprehended. All the stubbornness of his indifference was shaken; and sinking every consideration of self he found a strange, wild pleasure in the knowledge that she was free from personal restraint, and had power to command the services of those whom she willed to do her bidding. What the meaning of the caution was, in regard to the council, he could not divine, neither wherefore it had been couched in such laconic terms; but it was evident that, as the new wife of Wau-nan-gee, she had obtained information of some danger of which they in the garrison knew not, and that the recollection of those she had left behind was not so weakened as to prevent her from imparting to those most interested what she had learned.