The Dare Boys with General Greene
George Bird Grinnell
Produced by Roger Frank and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book wasproduced from images made available by the HathiTrustDigital Library.)
Dick was taken by surprise.]
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The Dare Boys with General Greene
BY STEPHEN ANGUS COX
Illustrations by Rudolf Mencl
NEW YORK A. L. CHATTERTON CO. PUBLISHERS
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THE DARE BOYS
Stephen Angus Cox, the author of the Dare Boys Series is specially equipped through long study and research to write upon the life and adventures of these two daring sons of the revolutionary period. Every item of historical reference is absolutely correct. The trials and inherent bravery of the sturdy warriors of this epoch are always subjects worth while, but here the dash and bravery of the two Dare boys adds immeasurably to the interest.
THE DARE BOYS OF 1776 THE DARE BOYS ON THE HUDSON THE DARE BOYS IN TRENTON THE DARE BOYS ON THE BRANDYWINE THE DARE BOYS IN THE RED CITY THE DARE BOYS AFTER BENEDICT ARNOLD THE DARE BOYS IN VIRGINIA THE DARE BOYS WITH GENERAL GREENE THE DARE BOYS WITH LAFAYETTE THE DARE BOYS AND THE "SWAMP FOX"
Illustrated, Cloth 12mo. Price per volume 50 cents.
Copyright, 1910 BY The A. L. Chatterton Co.
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CONTENTS
I. The Dare Boys and the Indians 9 II. Peaceful Valley 18 III. Riding the Flood 26 IV. Dick and the Indians 34 V. Gabe Gurley 42 VI. In the Cabin 50 VII. Tom Tries Woodcraft 57 VIII. A Battle with a Wolf 63 IX. In Search of Tom 70 X. At Fort Ninety-Six 78 XI. At the Stake 84 XII. Fritz and the Indians 90 XIII. Tom and the Redcoats 96 XIV. Friends in Need 105 XV. Preparing for Trouble 111 XVI. The Search for Dick 121 XVII. Ben Reconnoiters 129 XVIII. Dick and the Panther 137 XIX. The Settlers' Retreat 143 XX. Dick Appears 151 XXI. In the Fort 157 XXII. Tom Makes a Discovery 164 XXIII. The Siege 175 XXIV. Lively Work 182
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THE DARE BOYS WITH GENERAL GREENE
CHAPTER I
The Dare Boys and the Indians
Three youths of perhaps twenty years of age were making their waythrough the forest. The locality was about fifty miles from Ninety-Six,in South Carolina, and Ninety-Six was so called because it wasapproximately that number of miles from Fort Price George. This was thenearest fort of any size.
The three youths were no others than Dick and Tom Dare, and theircomrade, Ben Foster, who had been members of the patriot army of Americafor a considerable period--for it was now May of the year 1781.
These youths, who had done brave fighting, were also famous for havingdone much good work as scouts, messengers and spies, and they were nowon a scouting and spying expedition, ordered by General Greene, theircompany having been sent down from Virginia into South Carolina to helpGeneral Greene. The objective point was Ninety-Six, but there had beenlots of fighting to do with parties of British and Tories, and theadvance southward had been slow. Hearing that the Cherokee Indians wereon the warpath, having been incited thereto by the British, and thatthey were committing a good many depredations and killing patriotsettlers, were burning and pillaging, General Greene had sent the youthsto learn the actual facts, for, if the Indians were committing as greata havoc as had been stated, he would push on down into that region asquickly as he could move his forces, and try to put a stop to theirdepredations.
So here the youths were, and they were moving slowly and cautiously;indeed a settler that they had met a few miles back had told them thatthe Cherokees were in this vicinity, and had advised the youths to bevery careful or they would be interfered with.
They came to the top of a knoll, and pausing, looked ahead with keen andsearching gaze. At first they saw nothing noteworthy, but presently,Dick uttered a low exclamation indicating interest and indicating withhis extended arm, said: "I believe I saw an Indian over there!"
"Where?" asked Tom, eagerly.
Dick pointed in the direction in which he thought he had seen theIndian, and the three youths all gazed eagerly. For a few moments theydid not make out any sign of a living being, but suddenly out frombehind a tree about a hundred yards distant appeared a bronzed face. Thehead was covered with thick, straight hair, and topped, it was seen,with eagle feathers.
"There he is!" exclaimed Tom, excitedly, but in a low voice.
"Sh," cautioned Dick. They stood perfectly still, and hoped that becauseof the fact that they were pretty well hidden behind the underbrush uponthe top of the knoll, they would not be observed. They did not know howkeen-eyed a Cherokee Indian was, however, for suddenly a loud, thrillingwar-whoop escaped the lips of the redskin, and then from severaldifferent directions the whoop was answered.
"He's calling his companions!" exclaimed Ben. "We are in danger ofcapture, Dick!"
"Yes, I guess we had better get away from here." In a moment he added,"Follow me, boys."
Then Dick turned and started swiftly down the slope, Tom and Ben keepingclose at his heels, and from behind them came the wild, thrillingwar-whoops of the redskins.
"They're surely after us!" exclaimed Tom.
"Yes. We'll have to make good time if we get away from them," said Dick."They may be spread out, I should judge so from their calls, and it maytake them some time to get together."
The patriot youths ran rapidly and glancing back over his shoulder, Dicksaw that at least one of the redskins was coming after them as fast ashe could travel. The brave patriot youth realized that they were goingto have a much harder time shaking these Indians off their trail thanthey usually had with the redcoats. The British soldiers were ratherclumsy and slow, but these redskins were lithe as panthers, and asspeedy, almost, and could continue running for hours.
"Do your best, boys," he told his companions. "For I believe that theyare gaining on us."
"Run as fast as you can, Dick," panted Tom; "we'll keep up with you."
"We'll try, at any rate," said Ben.
On they dashed, and after them, whooping in a manner that would havefilled the hearts of less brave youths with terror, came the Indians.Doubtless the red fiends thought they would easily surround thefugitives, and make escape impossible. Presently Dick and his party cameto a deep gulch or ravine. The wall
on their side was nearlyperpendicular, and they could not descend it. Here was a predicamentindeed. They paused, irresolute, and looked to the right and to theleft, only to see that the wall of the gulch was as steep everywherewithin sight. They could see for quite a distance too in eitherdirection, as the point where they were standing rather projected outtoward the other side.
The yelling of redskins determined the fact that they were within a fewhundred yards and swiftly cutting down the distance. And, too, they werespreading out, fan-shape, with the evident intention of hemming theyouths in and preventing them from going up or down the edge of thegulch. Of course they knew full well the contour of the land and thoughtthey had their intended prey, as it were, in a trap.
"There doesn't seem to be any escape for us, Dick," said Ben.
"Gracious," cried Tom. "Look at that black cloud to the north." It hadnot attracted their attention before, but now they saw that a terriblestorm was impending.
Dick looked eagerly around, and suddenly he pointed to a very tall,slender tree, of some growth he did not recognize, that stood close tothe edge of the precipice. The rains had washed out the earth from aboutthe roots and the tree was inclined at an angle well out over theravine.
"Quick!" he cried. "Let's climb that tree and swing over the precipice.It will bend and will let us down I think to within twelve or fifteenfeet of the bottom of the gulch."
"That's an idea worth trying," cried Tom, and he was first to tackle thetask and was quickly followed by Dick and Ben.
The three occasionally assisting one another made rapid progress andDick meantime further explained his project. Their united weight wouldbend down the long slender trunk and at his command all were to drop atonce into the depth beneath. Where would they land? There was not timeto think.
While the Indians were yet at some distance, the youths found that theirweight was effectively bending down the tree into the ravine. The changewas gradual at first, and then the more slender wood gave quickerresponse to the strain, so that finally it bent so low into the depthsbelow that the boys instead of climbing up were sliding down toward thetree top. Before the Indians reached a point where they could observethe boys they had disappeared below the level of the ground which markedthe margin of the declivity.
Down, farther and farther went the patriot youths, and as the redskinscame upon the scene they saw their intended victims slipping out oftheir hands in a most peculiar manner. They gave expression to theirchagrin in yells of rage, brandished their tomahawks, and threatened todischarge arrows, but did neither. It seemed evident, from this, thatthey wished to capture the youths alive. Doubtless they knew the threewere newcomers in that region, and wished to find out why they werethere. Possibly they were working in co-operation with the British andhad been instructed to capture any strangers seen and bring them to theofficer in command.
Anyhow, they did not discharge any arrows or throw any tomahawks, whichprobably saved the youths' lives, for the Indians, being expert in theuse of those weapons, could hardly have missed at so short a range.
Down lower and lower swung the three youths, and presently they came toa point beyond which Dick deemed it not prudent to test the strength ofthe wood. They were now within perhaps nine or ten feet of the bottom ofthe gulch. "When I count three, let go and drop, boys," ordered Dick."The fall won't hurt us," he added encouragingly.
One.
Two.
Three.
The boys let go at the same moment and down they dropped, striking onthe rocks of the gulch-bottom with considerable force, and dropping totheir hands and knees, but they were not injured, excepting that theywere jarred somewhat.
Then the Indians repeated their wild yells, and two of them beganclimbing the same tree, it having sprung back to its original, morenearly perpendicular, position. It was evidently the intention of theredskins to duplicate the feat of the youths.
"Quick, let's run down the gulch, till we come to a place where we canclimb the wall," ordered Dick.
"Look!" suddenly yelled Tom, pointing up the gulch in the direction theyhad before noticed the cloud denoting an impending storm.
Dick and Ben looked, and saw a wondrous sight, a wall of foaming watercoming rushing down the gulch toward them at terrible speed.
"There has been a cloud-burst up the gulch!" exclaimed Dick in dismay."We will be swept away in that torrent!"
There was no time to say much, let alone do anything, for the torrentwas sweeping toward them with the speed of the wind, and as it advanced,it roared like thunder. The youths now saw that there were logs in theadvancing waters, swirling and pounding, and grinding against oneanother.
The Indians that had started to climb the tree had slid back down to theearth, and all stood at the edge of the precipice, staring down upon theyouths, whom they doubtless believed to be doomed.
And there was reason for their thinking thus, for there was terribleforce in the volume of water sweeping irresistibly upon them.
