Far Past the Frontier

by James A. Braden

  CHAPTER VI.

  On Lonely Mountain Roads.

  "What's happened, Ree?"

  The tone in which John asked the question, satisfied Kingdom that hisfriend knew nothing of the shooting. Better than this, however, itsatisfied the Indian who knelt silently nearby, still listening, that theboy he had so nearly shot, knew nothing of the person who had fired fromthe darkness.

  Quietly, but in tones the Indian could hear, Ree related what he knew ofthe mysterious occurrence.

  "Who could it have been, Chief!" John asked, turning to the Redskin andaddressing him with the easy familiarity he used toward every one.

  The Indian shook his head. "Paleface," he grunted at last; "no tried tokill Indian; tried to kill white brother there. Black Eagle thinks longand knows how bullet flew. Man-that-shoots-from-the-dark wishes much tosteal."

  Black Eagle's theory was far from satisfying Ree, but the Indian's mannerpersuaded the boy that the redskin at least knew nothing of the attackhimself. Yet both boys knew the necessity of keeping a sharp eye turnedin all directions. They could not tell positively as yet whether theIndians were friends or foes, nor at what moment an attack might be madeby a hidden enemy.

  "What kept you, John? I was worried," Ree said in an undertone, yettaking care that Black Eagle should hear, lest the savage should suspecthim of plotting. But before John could answer, the red man, bending low,darted away in the darkness.

  "What's the old chap up to?" asked John, startled by the Indian's suddenmovement.

  "I think he is only scouting around to see what he can discover; but keepyour eyes and ears open, it has been mighty ticklish around hereto-night."

  As they watched and listened, John told of his afternoon's experience. Hehad gone a long way into the woods without seeing any such game as hewished, and had about decided to content himself with some squirrels, andreturn to the road, when he came upon a deer-lick--a pool of salt orbrackish water, in a flat, level place, to which deer and other animalscame to drink, or to lick the earth at the water's edge to satisfy thecraving which all animals have for salt. As it was then nearly sundown hedetermined to hide nearby, confident he would get a shot at a deer assoon as darkness came. Concealing himself in some brush at the north sideof the lick, the wind being from the south, he waited.

  Scarcely had the sun set when a fine young doe approached the brackishpool. One shot from his rifle brought the pretty animal down, and in afew more minutes he had secured the skin and best portions of the meat.Slinging these over his shoulder, he set out to find the road and Ree'scamp-fire. But he had been careless in keeping his bearings, and walked along way in the wrong direction. When he did find the road at last, heknew not which way to go to find the camp. He secured a light, however,by flashing powder in his gun, and thus found the tracks of old Jerry andthe cart. He then knew which way to go, but traveled a couple of milesbefore coming within sight of the camp-fire.

  He heard a rifle shot but paid little attention to it, and saw nothing ofany prowler, though he came up in the direction from which the mysteriousattack was made. When Ree called to him, he had dropped the venison andit still lay at the roadside a hundred yards from camp.

  "We must have an understanding with one another that when either of usleaves camp, he shall return at a given time unless something happens toprevent it," said Ree; "then the other will know that something hashappened and can act accordingly. I was probably not more than a mileaway when you found that deer-lick. If you had let me know, it would havesaved a lot of worry on my part. Why, I was just on the point of going insearch of you. And as it was, old boy, you whistled just in time. ThatIndian heard you coming before I did, and a little more--"

  "And he would have sent me to Kingdom come," said John, finishing thesentence, very soberly. "Your watchfulness saved me, and I can't--"

  "You better get your venison into camp," Ree whispered, interruptingJohn's thanks, "I'll crawl over and see how that young Indian's gettingalong--poor chap."

  The wounded Redskin was conscious as Ree bent over him.

  "Don't speak if it will hurt you, but if you can, tell me who fired thatshot at you," Ree urged.

  "Black Eagle come soon," was the buck's only answer; and indeed it wasbut a few minutes until the other Indian returned. Ree met him andinquired calmly. "What luck, Black Eagle?"

  "Gone. Paleface robber gone."

  "Who was it? Where has he gone?"

  "Gone," the savage repeated.

  "Turn in and get some sleep, John; Black Eagle and I will watch a while,"said Ree.

  "Gone," growled the Indian with gruff dignity; and wrapped himself in ablanket and was soon asleep.

  John likewise lay down, but Ree, resolving to exercise every care,remained awake through the whole night. Twice John awoke and wanted totake a turn at guard duty but each time he was told to go back and "Coverup his head." Reluctantly he did so. He felt that he would do anything inhis power for Ree Kingdom, but he was far from guessing what Fate had instore for him to do in his friend's behalf before they should seeConnecticut again.

  With the first light of morning Ree went reconnoitering hoping to findthe trail of the young Indian's mysterious assailant. Scarcely had hestarted when Black Eagle joined him, and in the road three hundred pacesfrom the camp they came upon the trail together. A single man hadapproached the camp on foot--a white man it was certain, for he woreboots--and from behind a thick thorn bush had fired the shot. Then thetrail led back along the road, but soon disappeared in the woods.

  "If North Wind die, scalp will hang here," said Black Eagle, pointing tohis belt. "Black Eagle follows trail long--even many moons, but he willget the paleface scalp."

  What to do Ree did not quite know. He disliked to lose time in helpingthe Indian to find the man who had shot his son, yet disliked to leavethe wounded North Wind without doing something for him.

  "White brothers go far; go now," said Black Eagle as they returned to thecamp. "Go long way off and never mind. North Wind stays with BlackEagle," the Indian added.

  Ree made no objection to this arrangement. Reaching camp they found thatJohn had some venison steaks ready. The young Indian arose and greetedRee by silently shaking his hand. It was plain to be seen that he wassuffering greatly, but he said nothing and when the breakfast was readyhe tried to eat.

  Thankful that the night of watching was past, Ree and John prepared topursue their journey. They watered Jerry at the little brook hard by andhitched him to the cart. When they were ready, Ree took a knife fromtheir stock of goods and gave it to Black Eagle, who with North Windstood looking on, saying:

  "Maybe we will never meet again, but here is a present which we wish youto keep. We do not know the enemy who fired upon us, but we were indanger together and whether it was your foe or ours, who attacked us, wewould have fought together. Good-bye."

  "We journey to the fires of the Mohawks," Black Eagle answered. "NorthWind now goes forward but Black Eagle, his father, follows the trail ofsnake which shoots from the dark."

  As he spoke the Indian turned and strode away. North Wind followed, Ree'shandkerchief still about his neck. He was really too sick to travel, butit is a severe wound, indeed, which makes an Indian unable to move whennecessity demands it.

  For a moment the young travelers looked after the red men; then a word totheir horse and they were once more upon their way.

  It was a glorious morning. Particles of frost glistened on the leaves andgrass and in the road; a light wind set the trees and brushes rustling, arabbit went bouncing across the path, and still neither boy spoke as theytramped along beside the cart, Ree in advance, driving.

  "Who fired that shot?" John asked at last, as though speaking tohimself.

  "May as well ask old Jerry, or the wind," Ree answered. "The samequestion has been on my mind so long I am trying to think of somethingelse."

  "But I can't help wondering," John persisted, "if it could have been thelone horseman we saw the other day. Could it have been Big Pete Ellis,tryin
g to kill you, Ree? I have been expecting to meet that fellow."

  "We must keep our eyes about us," was the only reply.

  Several days passed and the mystery of the shot from the darkness wasstill unsolved. The boys had now reached the mountainous country and thenights were often cold. The days, too, gave promise of winter's coming,and had it not been that they were hopeful of Indian summer weather inNovember the young travelers would have been discouraged. Their progresshad not been so rapid as they had planned. The roads were too bad topermit fast traveling. In many places they were little better than pathsthrough the woods, and though there were stretches of smoother going,occasionally, there were other spots in which fallen trees or otherobstructions blocked the way.

  Old Jerry stood the strain of the journey well, and that was certainly aconsolation; for some of their friends back in Connecticut had told theboys they had better stay at home, than attempt to make the trip withonly one horse. Often, too, it was the case that the lads drove far outof their course to pass around great obstacles, and they eventually foundthat they had gone miles out of their true course. Many were thehardships they encountered, and one adventure which they had must berelated here.

  For days at a time no human being was met on those lonely mountain trailsand it was this fact which gave rise to much uneasiness when John oneday, for just a moment caught sight of a rough-appearing fellow in theirrear. He had gone back along the road to search for a bolt which was lostfrom the cart box, when he chanced to look up and saw the strange fellowa quarter of a mile away, coming toward him. The man raised his rifle andsprang in among some trees as he caught sight of John, his movement beingso quick that the boy did not get a good look at him, and neither ingoing on beyond the spot where the fellow had been, nor in returningafter he had found the lost bolt, did John see him again.

  "We must be on the watch-out constantly," said Ree when told of theincident. "I would have thought nothing of it, but for the man's desireto hide."

  "That is what I can't understand," said John, and as he thought thematter over it added to a downcast feeling which had seized upon him. Itwas by his looks more than by words that he betrayed his low-spiritedcondition, then, and at other times, as day after day nothing save thetrees, great rocks and wooded hills and frowning mountain sides wereseen.

  On the other hand, Ree's quiet disposition seemed almost to disappear inthe face of hardships and difficult obstacles. If the cart broke down hewhistled "Yankee Doodle," while he managed to mend it. If the road wasespecially rough and their progress most unpleasantly slow, he wascertain to sing. Even Jerry could not fail to catch the spirit of hischeerfulness no matter what bad luck they had, and from looking glum,John would change to light-heartedness every time. Ree's smile was anever failing remedy for his blues.

  "Time enough to be blue and all put out when you have utterly failed,"Ree exclaimed one day. "And if you only make up your mind to it, it isthe simplest thing in the world not to fail. If I were the general of anarmy, I wouldn't own up that I was whipped as long as I had a breathleft. Now just suppose that Washington had given up at Valley Forge!"

  "Well, I want to say that the chap who starts out west thinking he isgoing on a frolic, will be mighty badly fooled," John answered. "I amlearning, but it is like the Indian who believed powder didn't amount tomuch unless it was in a gun; so he filled his pipe with it. He learned aheap."

  "Ho, ho, pardners both!"

  The voice came so suddenly to the young travelers, they started andlooked around questioningly. With a flying leap from some brush whichbordered the road, came an odd looking woodsman.

  "Lift my ha'r if ye ain't the nearest bein' kittens of anythin' I'veclapped my old goggles on in the emygrant line in all my born days!"Putting his hands to his sides the stranger laughed uproariously.

  "Oh, it's funny, ain't it!" exclaimed John Jerome, witheringly.

  "Age is not always a sign of wisdom," said Ree Kingdom in much the sametone.

  "Right ye be, lad; right ye be," said the woodsman, quieting himself."But I swan I'm that glad to see ye so young an' bloomin', both, that itjes does me old eyes good. Where ye bound fer, anyhow?"

  The speaker was tall and rugged, his age probably fifty years. A grizzledbeard clustered round his face and his unkempt hair hung almost to hisshoulders. On his head was a ragged coon-skin cap. All his dress was madeof skin or furs, in the crudest frontier fashion. He was not adisagreeable appearing person, nevertheless, for his eyes twinkledmerrily as a boy's. Each in his own way, Ree and John noted these facts.

  "I might say that we are going till we stop and that we came from wherewe started," said John in answer to the stranger's inquiry.

  "What a peart kitten ye be!" smiled the man, looking at him quizzically.

  "To be honest with you, we are going to the Ohio country," said ReeKingdom, satisfied that the stranger wished to be friendly.

  "Ye've got spunk, I swan!" the fellow exclaimed. "Don't let me be keepin'ye though; drive along, we kin swap talk as we're movin'."

  "How far do you call it to old Fort Pitt?" asked Ree.

  "Well, it ain't so fer as a bird kin fly, an' its ferder than ye want towalk in a day. If ye have good luck ye'll come on to Braddock's roadafore supper time, an' if ye don't have good luck, there's no tellin'when ye'll get thar. It want such a great ways from here that Braddockhad _his_ bad luck. If he _hadn't_ had it--if he'd done as GeorgeWashington wanted him to, he'd 'a' got along like grease on a hotskillet, same as you youngsters."

  "Hear that John? We will make Fort Pitt in a day or two," cried Ree.

  "Yaas, it was forty odd years ago that Braddock had his bad luck when hebumped into a lot of Injuns in ambush. I was jest a chunk of a boy then,but I've hearn tell on it, many's the time, by my old gran'sire wholearned me how to shoot. I was a reg'lar wonder with a gun when I wasyour age, kittens. I've picked up some since then though! See theknot-hole in that beech way over yonder? Waal, I'm going to put a bulletin the middle of it."

  Taking aim, the stranger fired. "Ye'll find the bullet squar' in thecenter," he said, in a boastful way.

  "Shucks!" exclaimed John, who was often too outspoken for his own good.He raised his rifle and fired. "There's another bullet right beside yourown, mister," he said.

  "Well I swan! So there is!" called out the woodsman in great surprise."But I'll bet a coon-skin my tother kitten can't do the like."

  Like a flash Ree's rifle flew to his shoulder and he seemed to take noaim whatever; yet the bullet flew true. But just an instant after hefired the crack of another rifle sounded behind him. A leaden ballshrieked close to his head and a lock of his hair fell fluttering to theground.