True to the Old Flag: A Tale of the American War of Independence Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  AN INDIAN RAID.

  That day and the next passed quietly. The first night the man who wason watch up to midnight remarked to Mr. Welch, when he relieved him,that it seemed to him that there were noises in the air.

  "What sort of noises, Jackson--calls of night-birds or animals? Ifso, the Indians are probably around us."

  "No," the man said; "all is still round here, but I seem to feel thenoise rather than hear it. I should say that it was firing, very manymiles off."

  "The night is perfectly still, and the sound of a gun would be hearda long way."

  "I cannot say that I have heard a gun; it is rather a tremble in theair than a sound."

  When the man they had relieved had gone down and all was still again,Mr. Welch and Harold stood listening intently.

  "Jackson was right," the farmer said; "there is something in the air.I can feel it rather than hear it. It is a sort of murmur no louderthan a whisper. Do you hear it, Harold?"

  "I seem to hear something," Harold said. "It might be the sound ofthe sea a very long way off, just as one can hear it many miles fromthe coast, on a still night at home. What do you think it is?"

  "If it is not fancy," Mr. Welch replied, "and I do not think that weshould all be deceived, it is an attack upon Gloucester."

  "But Gloucester is thirty-five miles away," Harold answered.

  "It is," Mr. Welch replied; "but on so still a night as this soundscan be heard from an immense distance. If it is not this, I cannotsay what it is."

  Upon the following night, just as Mr. Welch's watch was at an end, alow whistle was heard near the gate.

  "Who is there?" Mr. Welch at once challenged.

  "Jack Pearson, and the sooner you open the gate the better. There'sno saying where these red devils may be lying round."

  Harold and the farmer instantly ran down and opened the gate.

  "I should advise you to stop down here," the hunter said as theyreplaced the bars. "If you did not hear me you certainly would nothear the redskins, and they'd all be over the palisade before you hadtime to fire a shot. I'm glad to see you safe, for I was badlyskeared lest I should find nothing but a heap of ashes here."

  The next two men now turned out, and Mr. Welch led his visitor intothe house and struck a light.

  "Halloo, Pearson! you must have been in a skirmish," he said, seeingthat the hunter's head was bound up with a bloodstained bandage.

  "It was all that," Pearson said, "and wuss. I went down to Gloucesterand told 'em what I had heard, but the darned fools tuk it as quietas if all King George's troops with fixed bayonets had been campedround 'em. The council got together and palavered for an hour, andconcluded that there was no chance whatever of the Iroquois venturingto attack such a powerful place as Gloucester. I told 'em that theredskins would go over their stockade at a squirrel's jump, and thatas War Eagle alone had at least 150 braves, while there warn't morethan 50 able-bodied men in Gloucester and all the farms around it,things would go bad with 'em if they didn't mind. But bless yer, theyknew more than I did about it. Most of 'em had moved from the Eastand had never seen an Injun in his war-paint. Gloucester had neverbeen attacked since it was founded nigh ten years ago, and theydidn't see no reason why it should be attacked now. There was a fewold frontiersmen like myself among 'em who did their best to stir 'emup, but it was no manner of good. When the council was over we putour heads together, and just went through the township a-talking tothe women, and we hadn't much difficulty in getting up such a skearamong 'em that before nightfall every one of 'em in the farms aroundmade their husbands move into the stockade of the village.

  "When the night passed off quietly most of the men were just assavage with us as if it had been a false alarm altogether. I p'intedout that it was not because War Eagle had left 'em alone that nightthat he was bound to do so the next night or any night after. But inspite of the women they would have started out to their farms thefust thing in the morning, if a man hadn't come in with the news thatCarter's farm had been burned and the whole of the people killed andscalped. As Carter's farm lay only about fifteen miles off this gave'em a skear, and they were as ready now to believe in the Injuns as Ihad tried to make 'em the night before. Then they asked us old handsto take the lead and promised to do what we told 'em, but when itcame to it their promises were not worth the breath they had spentupon 'em. There were eight or ten houses outside the stockade, and incourse we wanted these pulled down; but they wouldn't hear of it.Howsomever, we got 'em to work to strengthen the stockades, to makeloop-holes in the houses near 'em, to put up barricades from house tohouse, and to prepare generally for a fight. We divided into threewatches.

  "Well, just as I expected, about eleven o'clock at night the Injunsattacked. Our watch might just as well have been asleep for any goodthey did, for it was not till the redskins had crept up to thestockade all round and opened fire between the timbers on 'em thatthey knew that they were near. I'll do 'em justice to say that theyfought stiff enough then, and for four hours they held the line ofhouses; every redskin who climbed the stockade fell dead inside it.Four fires had been lighted directly they attacked to enable us tokeep 'em from scaling the stockade, but they showed us to the enemy,of course.

  "The redskins took possession of the houses which we had wanted topull down, and precious hot they made it for us. Then they shot suchshowers of burning arrows into the village that half of the houseswere soon alight. We tried to get our men to sally out and to holdthe line of stockade, when we might have beaten 'em off if all thevillage had been burned down; but it were no manner of good; each manwanted to stick to his wife and family till the last. As the flameswent up every man who showed himself was shot down, and when at lastmore than half our number had gone under the redskins brought upfagots, piled 'em against the stockade outside, and then the hulltribe came bounding over. Our rifles were emptied, for we couldn'tget the men to hold their fire, but some of us chaps as knew what wascoming gave the redskins a volley as they poured in.

  "I don't know much as happened after that. Jack Robins and BillShuter, who were old pals of mine, and me made up our minds what todo, and we made a rush for a small gate that there was in thestockade, just opposite where the Injuns came in. We got through safeenough, but they had left men all round. Jack Robins he was shotdead. Bill and I kept straight on. We had a grapple with some of theredskins; two or three on 'em went down, and Bill and I got throughand had a race for it till we got fairly into the forest. Bill had aball in the shoulder, and I had a clip across the head with atomahawk. We had a council, and Bill went off to warn some of theother settlements and I concluded to take to the water and paddleback to you, not knowing whether I should find that the redskins hadbeen before me. I thought anyway that I might stop your going down toGloucester, and that if there was a fight you would be none the worsefor an extra rifle."

  Mr. Welch told the hunter of the visit of the two Indian spies twonights before.

  "Waal," the hunter said, "I reckon for the present you are not likelyto be disturbed. The Injuns have taken a pile of booty and somethinglike two hundred scalps, counting the women and children, and theymoved off at daybreak this morning in the direction of Tottenham,which I reckon they'll attack tonight. Howsomever, Bill has gone onthere to warn 'em, and after the sack of Gloucester the people ofTottenham won't be caught napping, and there are two or three oldfrontiersmen who have settled down there, and War Eagle will get ahot reception if he tries it. As far as his band is concerned, you'resafe for some days. The only fear is that some others of the tribe,hurrying up at hearing of his success, may take this place as they gopast. And now I guess I'll take a few hours' sleep. I haven't closedan eye for the last two nights."

  A week passed quietly. Pearson, after remaining two days, again wentdown the lake to gather news, and returned a day later with theintelligence that almost all the settlements had been deserted bytheir inhabitants. The Indians were out in great strength and hadattacked the settlers at many points alon
g the frontier, committingfrightful devastations.

  Still another week passed, and Mr. Welch began to hope that hislittle clearing had been overlooked and forgotten by the Indians. Thehands now went about their work as usual, but always carried armswith them, while one was constantly stationed on the watch-tower.Harold resumed his fishing; never, however, going out of sight of thehouse. Sometimes he took with him little Nelly Welch; it beingconsidered that she was as safe in the canoe as she was in the house,especially as the boat was always in sight, and the way up from thelanding to the house was under cover of the rifles of the defenders;so that, even in case of an attack, they would probably be able tomake their way back.

  One afternoon they had been out together for two or three hours;everything looked as quiet and peaceable as usual; the hands were inthe fields near the house, a few of the cows grazing close to thegate. Harold had been successful in his fishing and had obtained asmany fish as he could carry. He stepped out from the canoe, helpedNelly to land, slung his rifle across his back, and picked up thefish, which were strung on a withe passed through their gills.

  He had made but a few steps when a yell arose, so loud and terriblethat for a moment his heart seemed to stop beating. Then from thecornfields leaped up a hundred dark figures; then came the sharpcrack of rifles, and two of the hands dashed down at full speedtoward the house. One had fallen. The fourth man was in thewatch-tower. The surprise had been complete. The Indians had madetheir way like snakes through the long corn, whose waving had beenunperceived by the sentinel, who was dozing at his post, half-asleepin the heat of the sun. Harold saw in a moment that it was too latefor him to regain the house; the redskins were already nearer to itthan he was.

  "Now, Nelly! into the boat again--quick!" he said. "We must keep outof the way till it's all over."

  Nelly was about twelve years old, and her life in the woods had givenher a courage and quickness beyond her years. Without wasting amoment on cries or lamentations, she sprang back into the canoe.Harold took his place beside her, and the light craft darted rapidlyout into the lake. Not until he was some three or four hundred yardsfrom the shore did Harold pause to look round. Then, when he felt hewas out of gunshot distance, he ceased paddling. The fight was ragingnow around the house; from loop-holes and turret the white puffs ofsmoke darted angrily out. The fire had not been ineffectual, forseveral dark forms could be seen lying round the stockade, and thebulk of the Indians, foiled in their attempt to carry the place at arush, had taken shelter in the corn and kept up a scattering fireround the house, broken only on the side facing the lake, where therewas no growing crop to afford them shelter.

  "They are all right now," Harold said cheerfully.

  "Do not be anxious, Nelly; they will beat them off, Pearson is a hostin himself. I expect he must have been lying down when the attack wasmade. I know he was scouting round the house all night. If he hadbeen on the watch, those fellows would never have succeeded increeping up so close unobserved."

  "I wish we were inside," Nelly said, speaking for the first time. "IfI were only with them, I should not mind."

  "I am sure I wish we were," Harold agreed. "It is too hard beinguseless out here when such a splendid fight is going on. Ah! theyhave their eyes on us!" he exclaimed as a puff of smoke burst outfrom some bushes near the shore and a ball came skipping along on thesurface of the water, sinking, however, before it reached it.

  "Those Indian muskets are no good," Harold said contemptuously, "andthe trade powder the Indians get is very poor stuff; but I think thatthey are well within range of my rifle."

  The weapon which Harold carried was an English rifle of very perfectmake and finish, which his father had given him on parting.

  "Now," he said, "do you paddle the canoe a few strokes nearer theshore, Nelly. We shall still be beyond the range of that fellow. Hewill fire again and I shall see exactly where he is lying."

  Nelly, who was efficient in the management of a canoe, took thepaddle, and dipping it in the water the boat moved slowly toward theshore. Harold sat with his rifle across his knees, looking intentlyover the bows of the boat toward the bush from which the shot hadcome.

  "That's near enough, Nelly," he said.

  The girl stopped paddling, and the hidden foe, seeing that they didnot mean to come nearer the shore, again fired. Harold's rifle was inan instant against his shoulder; he sat immovable for a moment andthen fired.

  Instantly a dark figure sprang from the bush, staggereda few steps up the slope, and then fell headlong.

  "That was a pretty good shot," Harold said. "Your father told me,when I saw a stag's horns above a bush, to fire about two feet behindthem and eighteen inches lower. I fired a foot below the flash, and Iexpect I hit him through the body. I had the sight at three hundredyards and fired a little above it. Now, Nelly, paddle out again.See!" he said, "there is a shawl waving from the top of the tower.Put your hat on the paddle and wave it."

  "What are you thinking of doing, Harold?" the girl asked presently.

  "That is just what I have been asking myself for the last tenminutes," Harold replied. "It is quite clear that as long as thesiege is kept up we cannot get back again, and there is no saying howlong it may last. The first thing is, what chance is there of theirpursuing us? Are there any other canoes on the lake within a shortdistance?"

  "They have one at Braithwaite's," the girl said, "four miles off; butlook, there is Pearson's canoe lying by the shore."

  "So there is!" Harold exclaimed. "I never thought of that. I expectthe Indians have not noticed it. The bank is rather high where it islying. They are sure to find it, sooner or later. I think, Nelly, thebest plan would be to paddle back again so as to be within the rangeof my rifle while still beyond the reach of theirs. I think I cankeep them from using the boat until it is dark."

  "But after it is dark, Harold?"

  "Well, then, we must paddle out into the lake so as to be well out ofsight. When it gets quite dark we can paddle in again and sleepsafely anywhere a mile or two from the house."

  An hour passed without change. Then Nelly said: "There is a movementin the bushes near the canoe." Presently an arm was extended andproceeded to haul the canoe toward the shore by its head-rope. As ittouched the bank an Indian rose from the bushes and was about to stepin, while a number of puffs of smoke burst out along the shore andthe bullets skipped over the water toward the canoe, one of themstriking it with sufficient force to penetrate the thin bark a fewinches above the water's edge. Harold had not moved, but as thesavage stepped into the canoe he fired, and the Indian fell heavilyinto the water, upsetting the canoe as he did so.

  A yell of rage broke from his comrades.

  "I don't think they will try that game again as long as it isdaylight," Harold said. "Paddle a little further out again, Nelly. Ifthat bullet had hit you it would have given you a nasty blow, thoughI don't think it would have penetrated; still we may as well avoidaccidents."

  After another hour passed the fire round the house ceased.

  "Do you think the Indians have gone away?" Nelly asked.

  "I am afraid there is no chance of that," Harold said. "I expect theyare going to wait till night and then try again. They are not fond oflosing men, and Pearson and your father are not likely to missanything that comes within their range as long as daylight lasts."

  "But after dark, Harold?"

  "Oh, they will try all sorts of tricks; but Pearson is up to themall. Don't you worry about them, dear."

  The hours passed slowly away until at last the sun sank and thedarkness came on rapidly. So long as he could see the canoe, whichjust floated above the water's edge, Harold maintained his position;then taking one paddle, while Nelly handled the other, he sent theboat flying away from the shore out into the lake. For a quarter ofan hour they paddled straight out. By this time the outline of theshore could be but dimly perceived. Harold doubted whether it wouldbe possible to see the boat from shore, but in order to throw theIndians off the scent, should this be the case
, he turned the boat'shead to the south and paddled swiftly until it was perfectly dark.

  "I expect they saw us turn south," he said to Nelly. "The redskinshave wonderful eyes; so, if they pursue at all, they will do it inthat direction. No human being, unless he borrowed the eyes of anowl, could see us now, so we will turn and paddle the other way."

  For two hours they rowed in this direction.

  "We can go in to shore now," Harold said at last. "We must be sevenor eight miles beyond the house."

  The distance to the shore was longer than they expected, for they hadonly the light of the stars to guide them and neither had anyexperience in night traveling. They had made much further out intothe lake than they had intended. At length the dark line of treesrose in front of them, and in a few minutes the canoe lay alongsidethe bank and its late occupants were stretched on a soft layer ofmoss and fallen leaves.

  "What are we going to do to-morrow about eating?" Nelly asked.

  "There are four or five good-sized fish in the bottom of the canoe,"Harold replied. "Fortunately we caught more than I could carry, and Iintended to make a second trip from the house for these. I am afraidwe shall not be able to cook them, for the Indians can see smoke anydistance. If the worst comes to the worst we must eat them raw, butwe are sure to find some berries in the wood to-morrow. Now, dear,you had better go to sleep as fast as you can; but first let us kneeldown and pray God to protect us and your father and mother."

  The boy and girl knelt in the darkness and said their simpleprayers. Then they lay down, and Harold was pleased to hear in a fewminutes the steady breathing which told him that his cousin wasasleep. It was a long time before he followed her example. During theday he had kept up a brave front and had endeavored to make the bestof their position, but now that he was alone he felt the full weightof the responsibility of guiding his companion through the extremedanger which threatened them both. He felt sure that the Indianswould prolong the siege for some time, as they would be sure that nore-enforcements could possibly arrive in aid of the garrison.Moreover, he by no means felt so sure as he had pretended to hiscompanion of the power of the defenders of the house to maintain asuccessful resistance to so large a number of their savage foes. Inthe daylight he felt certain they could beat them off, but darknessneutralizes the effect both of superior arms and better marksmanship.It was nearly midnight before he lay down with the determination tosleep, but scarcely had he done so when he was aroused by an outburstof distant firing. Although six or seven miles from the scene of theencounter, the sound of each discharge came distinct to the ear alongthe smooth surface of the lake, and he could even hear, mingled withthe musketry fire, the faint yells of the Indians. For hours, as itseemed to him, he sat listening to the distant contest, and then he,unconsciously to himself, dozed off to sleep, and awoke with a start,to find Nelly sitting up beside him and the sun streaming downthrough the boughs. He started to his feet.

  "Bless me!" he exclaimed, "I did not know that I had been asleep. Itseems but an instant ago that I was listening"--and here he checkedhimself--"that is, that I was wide awake, and here we are in broaddaylight."

  Harold's first care was to examine the position of the canoe, and hefound that fortunately it had touched the shore at a spot where theboughs of the trees overhead drooped into the water beyond it, sothat it could not be seen by anyone passing along the lake. This wasthe more fortunate as he saw, some three miles away, a canoe withthree figures on board. For a long distance on either side the boughsof the trees drooped into the water, with only an opening here andthere such as that through which the boat had passed the nightbefore.

  "We must be moving, Nelly. Here are the marks where we scrambled upthe bank last night. If the Indians take it into their heads tosearch the shore both ways, as likely enough they may do, they willbe sure to see them. In the first place let us gather a stock ofberries, and then we will get into the boat again and paddle alongunder this arcade of boughs till we get to some place where we canland without leaving marks of our feet. If the Indians find the placewhere we landed here, they will suppose that we went off again beforedaylight."

  For some time they rambled in the woods and succeeded in gathering astore of berries and wild fruit. Upon these Nelly made her breakfast,but Harold's appetite was sufficiently ravenous to enable him to fallto upon the fish, which, he declared, were not so bad, after all.Then they took their places in the canoe again and paddled on fornearly a mile.

  "See, Harold!" Nelly exclaimed as she got a glimpse through theboughs into the lake, "there is another canoe. They must have got theBraithwaite boat. We passed their place coming here, you know. Iwonder what has happened there."

  "What do you think is best to do, Nelly?" Harold asked. "Your opinionis just as good as mine about it. Shall we leave our canoe behind,land, and take to the woods, or shall we stop quietly in the canoe inshelter here, or shall we take to the lake and trust to our speed toget away? in which case, you know, if they should come up I couldpick them off with my gun before they got within reach.

  "I don't think that would do," the girl said, shaking her head. "Youshoot very well, but it is not an easy thing to hit a moving objectif you are not accustomed to it, and they paddle so fast that if youmiss them once they would be close alongside--at any rate we shouldbe within reach of their guns--before you could load again. Theywould be sure to catch us, for although we might paddle nearly asfast for a time, they would certainly tire us out. Then, as towaiting here in the canoe, if they came along on foot looking for uswe should be in their power. It is dreadful to think of taking to thewoods with Indians all about, but I really think that would be oursafest plan."

  "I think so too, Nelly, if we can manage to do it without leaving atrack. We must not go much further, for the trees are getting thinnerahead and we should be seen by the canoes."

  Fifty yards further Harold stopped paddling.

  "Here is just the place, Nelly."

  At this point a little stream of three or four feet wide emerged intothe lake; Harold directed the boat's head toward it. The water in thestream was but a few inches deep.

  "Now, Nelly," he said, "we must step out into the water and walk upit as far as we can go--it will puzzle even the sharpest redskin tofind our track then."

  They stepped into the water, Harold taking the head-rope of the canoeand towing the light boat--which, when empty, did not draw more thantwo inches of water--behind him. He directed Nelly to be most carefulas she walked not to touch any of the bushes, which at times nearlymet across the stream.

  "A broken twig or withered leaf would be quite enough to tell theIndians that we came along this way," he said. "Where the bushes arethick you must manage to crawl under them. Never mind about gettingwet--you will soon dry again."

  Slowly and cautiously they made their way up the stream for nearly amile. It had for some distance been narrowing rapidly, being only fedby little rills from the surrounding swamp land. Harold had so farlooked in vain for some spot where they could land without leavingmarks of their feet. Presently they came to a place where a greattree had fallen across the stream.

  "This will do, Nelly," Harold said. "Now, above all things you mustbe careful not to break off any of the moss or bark. You had bettertake your shoes off; then I will lift you on to the trunk and you canwalk along it without leaving a mark."

  It was hard work for Nelly to take off her drenched boots, but shemanaged at last. Harold lifted her on to the trunk and said:

  "Walk along as far as you can and get down as lightly as possible onto a firm piece of ground. It rises rapidly here and is, I expect, adry soil where the upper end of the tree lies."

  "How are you going to get out, Harold?"

  "I can swing myself up by that projecting root."

  Before proceeding to do so Harold raised one end of the canoe andplaced it on the trunk of the tree; then, having previously taken offhis shoes, he swung himself on to the trunk; hauling up the lightbark canoe and taking especial pains that it did
not grate upon thetrunk, he placed it on his head and followed Nelly along the tree. Hefound, as he had expected, that the ground upon which the upper endlay was firm and dry. He stepped down with great care, and waspleased to see, as he walked forward, that no trace of a footmark wasleft.

  "Be careful, Nelly," he exclaimed when he joined her, "not to treadon a stick or disturb a fallen leaf with your feet, and above all toavoid breaking the smallest twig as you pass. Choose the most openground, as that is the hardest."

  In about a hundred yards they came upon a large clump of bushes.

  "Now, Nelly, raise those lower boughs as gently and as carefully asyou can. I will push the canoe under. I don't think the sharpestIndian will be able to take up our track now."

  Very carefully the canoe was stowed away, and when the boughs wereallowed to fall in their natural position it was completely hiddenfrom sight to every passer-by. Harold took up the fish, Nelly hadfilled her apron with the berries, and carrying their shoes--for theyagreed that it would be safer not to put them on--they started ontheir journey through the deep forest.