Ned in the Block-House: A Tale of Early Days in the West, Page 2

  CHAPTER II.

  THE BOY PIONEER--DEERFOOT, THE SHAWANOE.

  Before proceeding further it is proper to give the information thereader needs in order to understand the incidents that follow.

  Macaiah Preston and his wife were among the original settlers of WildOaks, a small town on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, during the latterportion of the last century, their only child being Ned, who hasalready been introduced to the reader. Beside him they had the boundboy Wildblossom Brown, a heavy-set, good-natured and sturdy negro lad,whom they took with them at the time they removed from WesternPennsylvania. He was faithful and devoted, and he received the best oftreatment from his master and mistress.

  Ned was taller and more graceful than the African, and the instructionfrom his father had endowed him with more book learning than generallyfalls to the lot of boys placed in his circumstances. Besides this,Mr. Preston was one of the most noted hunters and marksmen in thesettlement, and he gave Ned thorough training in the art which isalways such a delight for a boy to acquire.

  When Ned was thirteen years old he fired one day at a squirrel on thetopmost branch of a mountain ash, and brought it down, with its bodyshattered by the bullet of his rifle. The father quietly contemplatedthe work for a minute or so, and then, without a word, cut a hickorystick, and proceeded to trim it. While he was thus employed Ned waslooking sideways at him, gouging his eyes with his knuckles andmuttering,

  "You might excuse me this time--I didn't think."

  When the hickory was properly trimmed, the father deliberately tookhis son by his coat collar with one hand and applied the stick withthe other, during which the lad danced and shouted like a wild MiamiIndian. The trouncing completed, the only remark made by the fatherwas--

  "After this I reckon when you shoot a squirrel you will hit him in the_head_."

  "I reckon I will," sniffled Ned, who was certain never to forget theinstructions of his parent on _that_ point.

  Such was the training of Ned Preston; and at the age of sixteen, whenwe introduce him to the reader, there were none of his years who washis superior in backwoods "lore" and woodcraft.

  In those times a hunter differed in his make-up from those of to-day.The gun which he carried was a long, single-barreled rifle, heavy,costly of manufacture, and scarcely less unerring in the hands of aveteran than is the modern weapon. It was a flint-lock, and of coursea muzzle-loader. The owner carried his powder-horn, bullet-pouch, andsometimes an extra flint. Lucifer matches were unknown for nearly ahalf century later, the flint and tinder answering for them.

  Ned Preston wore a warm cap made of coonskin; thick, homespuntrowsers, coat and vest; strong cowhide shoes, and woollen stockings,knit by the same deft hands that had made the linen for his shirt. Thecoat was rather short, and it was buttoned from top to bottom with theold style horn button, over the short waistcoat beneath. The string ofthe powder-horn passed over one shoulder, and that of the game-bagover the other. Neither Ned nor Blossom carried a hunting-bag, forthey had not started out for game, and the majority shot in Kentuckyor Ohio in those days were altogether too bulky for a single hunter totake home on his back.

  Some thirty miles in the interior from the settlement stood FortBridgman, a block-house on the eastern bank of the Licking River. Itwas erected six years before the time of which we are speaking, andwas intended as a protection to a settlement begun at the same period;but, just as the fortification was finished, and before the settlershad all their dwellings in good form, the Shawanoes and Wyandotsswooped down on them, and left nothing but the block-house and thesmoking ruins of the log dwellings.

  This effectually checked the settlers for the time; but one or twocourageous pioneers, who liked the locality, began erecting othercabins close to the massive block-house, which had resisted the fierceattack of the red men. The man who had charge of the fortification wasColonel Hugh Preston, a brother of Macaiah, and of course the uncle ofNed, the hero of this story. He maintained his foothold, with severalothers as daring as he, and his wife and two daughters kept himcompany.

  There was a warm affection between the brothers, and theyoccasionally exchanged visits. When this was inconvenient, Ned Prestonacted as messenger. He often carried papers sent down the Ohio to hisfather for the uncle, together with the letters forwarded to thesettlement from their friends in the East.

  On the day of which we are speaking he had, in the inner pocket of hiscoat, a letter for his uncle, one for his aunt, and one each for twoof the garrison; so that his visit to the post was sure to be a mostwelcome one.

  Between the settlement on the Ohio and the block-house on the Lickinglay the thirty miles of unbroken forest. Ned and Blossom had made thisjourney in one day in the month of June, but their custom was toencamp one night on the way so as to give themselves abundance oftime; and the trip was generally a most enjoyable one to them.

  It must not be supposed they forgot the danger most to be dreaded wasfrom the Indians who roamed over the Dark and Bloody Ground, and whoheld almost undisputed possession of hundreds of square miles ofKentucky at the opening of the present century.

  There were scouts and runners threading their way through thetrackless forests north and south of the Ohio, or coursing up and downthe rivers, or spying out the actions of the war parties when theygathered near their villages and threw the tomahawk, daubed theirfaces with paint, and danced the war dance. These intrepid runnerskept the frontier well informed of any formidable movementscontemplated by the red men, so that no effective demonstrationagainst the whites was feared.

  Weeks and months passed, during which Ned Preston was not permitted tocross the intervening space between the block-house and thesettlement, for the runners who came in reported great danger in doingso. Then again it looked almost as if the dawn of peace had come, andmen were not afraid to move to and fro many furlongs distant fromtheir homes.

  Nearly twenty years had passed since the great pioneer, Daniel Boone,had explored a portion of the wonderful territory, and the numerousscenes of violence that had taken place on its soil made the name ofthe Dark and Bloody Ground characteristic and well-merited.

  The several military expeditions which the Government had sent intothe West had either been overwhelmingly defeated by the combinedforces of Indians, or had accomplished nothing toward subduing the redmen. The decisive campaign was yet to come.

  But without dwelling on this portion of our story, we may say that inthe autumn of 1788 comparative peace reigned over the portion ofKentucky of which we are speaking. When, therefore, the letters camedown the Ohio in a flat-boat for Colonel Hugh Preston and several ofthose with him, and Ned asked permission to take them to his uncle,there was scarcely any hesitation in giving consent.

  With this explanation the reader will understand how it came aboutthat Ned and Blossom were in the depths of the Kentucky forest whenthe autumn day was closing, and while fully a dozen miles remained topass before they could reach the block-house.

  They had made a later start than usual from home, and rathersingularly, although they had passed over the route so many times,they went astray, and lost several hours from that cause.

  Soon after their departure from the settlement a friendly Shawanoevisited the place and warned the pioneers that trouble was coming, andit was wise to take more than usual precautions against surprise. Whenthis Indian runner added that he was quite sure an assault wasintended on the block-house, it can be understood that the parents ofNed were extremely alarmed for the safety of himself and Blossom.

  If they should get through the stretch of forest to the block-house,their danger would not be removed; for an attack on that post wascontemplated, and knowing its precise defensive power, as the Indiansdid, they would be likely to render the battle decisive.

  "I hope the boys will reach the Colonel," said the father of Ned tohis wife, "for they will have a chance to make a good fight forthemselves."

  "But the Colonel may know nothing of the attack intended, and he andthe rest will be tak
en by surprise."

  This doubt so disturbed the husband that he hurriedly sought theShawanoe, who was still in the settlement, and asked him whetherColonel Preston had been apprised of the danger which threatened him.When informed that he had not, Mr. Preston insisted that Deerfoot, asthe young Shawanoe was called, should make his way to the block-housewithout delay. The Indian, known to be one of the fleetest ofwarriors, said that he was on the eve of starting on that errand, andhe left at once.

  Before going, he was told that the two boys were threading their waythrough the forest toward the station, and the anxious father askedhim to bring the lads back, if he deemed it the safer course. Ned wasa great favorite with the Shawanoe youth, and the latter promised touse every effort to befriend him.

  The question left to Deerfoot was whether it was his duty to hastenforward and apprise Colonel Preston of the peril impending over thegarrison, or whether it would be safe to let him wait until the ladswere conducted back to Wild Oaks. Deerfoot was disposed to hurry tothe Licking; but when a few miles from the settlement he struck thetrail of the lads, which he followed with as much ease as thebloodhound would have displayed under similar circumstances.

  As both parties had started in the same direction, the prospect wasthat a junction would speedily take place, and the three could makethe rest of the journey together; but before long Deerfoot wassurprised to discover that Ned and Blossom had strayed from the truecourse. He could not understand why this happened, and his misgivingfor Ned, whom he liked so well, led him to resolve to follow up theboy, and find out the cause.

  Deerfoot was pushing forward on his loping trot, which he was able tomaintain hour after hour without fatigue, when his wonderful instinctor reason told him he was in the vicinity of a large war party ofWyandots, the natural allies of his own tribe in their wars upon thesettlements.

  His belief was that the boys had been captured by them, in which eventlittle hope remained; but it required no special maneuvering on hispart to learn that his fears were baseless. The trail of the lads madean abrupt turn, showing that Ned Preston had suddenly "located"himself, and had returned to the right course. Although the footprintsof the Wyandots actually approached within a hundred yards of those ofthe boys, yet singularly enough they came no nearer, and diverged fromthat point; so that, in all probability, the war party neversuspected how close they were to the prize that would have been sowelcome to them.

  Accustomed as Deerfoot was to all species of danger in the woods, hisdusky face flushed when he looked to the ground and saw how narrowlythe boys had missed a frightful fate.

  Such being the case, it became the duty of the Shawanoe to acquainthimself with the purpose of the Wyandot party. He therefore wentdirectly among them to make his inquiries. This was a delicate anddangerous proceeding, for although the subtle Indian had done hisutmost to keep secret from his own people his friendship and servicesfor the whites (inasmuch as such a knowledge on the part of his racewould have ended his usefulness and life), he knew well enough thathis double-dealing must become known sooner or later to the Indians,and for a year or more he had never appeared among his people withoutmisgiving as to the result.

  All the wonderful cunning of his nature was brought into play when headvanced to meet the Wyandots, who were in their war-paint. He sawthere were twenty-three, and that they numbered the bravest and mostdaring of their tribe. The leader was the chief Waughtauk, a fiercefoe of the whites, whose tomahawk and scalping-knife had been reddenedwith innocent blood many a time.

  Deerfoot was received with every appearance of cordiality by the chiefand his men, for all knew what a splendid warrior the young Shawanoewas, and some of them had witnessed the extraordinary speed which hadsaved his life more than once.

  It is as easy for the American to play a part as for the Caucasian,and Deerfoot was not entirely satisfied. He kept his wits about him,and used extreme care in not placing himself at any disadvantage whichit was possible to avoid; but all the friendship seemed genuine, andwhen Waughtauk told him it was his intention to attack the exposedcabins of the settlers, Deerfoot believed him. When he added that hemeant also to take a survey of the settlements along the Ohio, withthe object of seeing which offered the most favorable opening for asudden assault by a large war party, the Shawanoe was quite certain hespoke the truth.

  Deerfoot then asked why they did not assail the block-house on theLicking, whose exposed situation seemed to invite such attack.Waughtauk answered that Colonel Preston had proved a good friend tothe Indians who visited him, and it was decided to spare him.

  This answer excited the suspicion of the youthful Shawanoe that theWyandot chieftain had been deceiving him from the first; but Deerfootwas too cunning to reveal anything of his thoughts. When he bade hisfriends good-by, they at least were misled into the belief that heheld no suspicion of the "double tongue" with which they had spoken.

  It was no difficult matter for Deerfoot, when fairly away from theWyandots, to shadow them until he learned whether they had falsifiedor not.

  They kept to the northward several miles, until they had every reasonto believe a long distance separated them from the Shawanoe, when theychanged to the left, turning again a short distance further on, untiltheir faces were directly toward Fort Bridgman, the block-house on theLicking.

  That settled the question beyond dispute; they had told untruths toDeerfoot, and their purpose was to descend upon the station defendedby Colonel Preston and only three able-bodied men.

  After this discovery, the Shawanoe stood a moment leaning thoughtfullyon his bow; an important truth impressed him:

  "They suspect that Deerfoot is a friend of the white man, andtherefore an enemy of his own race," was the thought of the Indian,who realized the fearful meaning to him of such a suspicion.