CHAPTER II
THE KINDLY BRIDGE
The thicket in which the three lay was of low but dense bushes, withhigh grass growing wherever the sun could reach it. In the grass tinywild flowers, purple, blue and white were in bloom, and Robert inhaledtheir faint odor as he crouched, watching for the enemy who sought hislife. It was a forest scene, the beauty of which would have pleased himat any other time, nor was he wholly unconscious of it now. The riveritself, as Tayoga had stated, was narrow. At some points it did not seemto be more than ten or fifteen yards across, but it flowed in a slow,heavy current, showing depths below. Nor could he see, looking up anddown the stream, any prospect of a ford.
Robert's gaze moved in an eager quest along the far shore, but hedetected no sign of Tandakora, the Frenchman or their men. Yet he feltthat Tayoga and Willet were right and that foes were on watch there. Itwas inevitable, because it was just the place where they could wait bestfor the three. Nevertheless he asked, though it was merely to confirmhis own belief.
"Do you think they're in the brush, Dave?"
"Not a doubt of it, Robert," the hunter whispered back. "They haven'tseen us yet, but they hope to do so soon."
"And we also, who haven't seen them yet, hope to do so soon."
"Aye, Robert, that's the fact. Ah, I think I catch a glimpse of themnow. Tayoga, wouldn't you say that the reflection in the big green bushacross the river is caused by a moonbeam falling on a burnished riflebarrel?"
"Not a doubt of it, Great Bear. Now, I see the rifle itself! And now Isee the hands that hold it. The hands belong to a live warrior, anOjibway, or a Pottowattomie. He is kneeling, waiting for a shot, if heshould find anything to shoot at."
"I see him, too, Tayoga, and there are three more warriors just beyondhim. It's certainly the band of Tandakora and De Courcelles, and they'veset a beautiful trap for three who will not come into it."
"It is so, Great Bear. One may build a splendid bear trap but of whatuse is it if the bear stays away?"
"But what are we to do?" asked Robert. "We can't cross in the face ofsuch a force."
"We'll go down the stream," replied Willet, "keeping hidden, of course,in the thickets, and look for a chance to pass. Of course, they've sentmen in both directions along the bank, but we may go farther than any ofthem."
He led the way, and they went cautiously through the thickets two orthree miles, all the time intently watching the other shore. Twice theysaw Indian sentinels on watch, and knew that they could not risk thepassage. Finally they stopped and waited a full two hours in thethickets, the contest becoming one of patience.
Meanwhile the night was absolutely silent. The wind was dead, and theleaves hung straight down. The deep, slow current of the river, althoughflowing between narrow banks, made no noise, and Robert's mind, coloredby the conditions of the moment, began to believe that the enemy hadgone away. It was impossible for them to wait so long for foresters whomthey did not see and who might never come. Then he dismissed imaginationand impression, and turned with a wrench to his judgment. He knew enoughof the warriors of the wilderness to know that nobody could wait longerthan they. Patience was one of the chief commodities of savage life,because their habits were not complex, and all the time in the world wastheirs.
He took lessons, too, from Tayoga and Willet. The Onondaga, an Indianhimself, had an illimitable patience, and Willet, from long practice,had acquired the ability to remain motionless for hours at a time. Helooked at them as they crouched beside him, still and silent figures inthe dusk, apparently growing from the earth like the bushes about them,and fixed as they were. The suggestion to go on that had risen to hislips never passed them and he settled into the same immobility.
Another hour, that was three to Robert, dragged by, and Tayoga led theway again down the stream, Robert and the hunter following without aword. They went a long distance and then the Onondaga uttered a whisperof surprise and satisfaction.
"A bridge!" he said.
"Where? I don't see it," said Robert.
"Look farther where the stream narrows. Behold the great tree that hasbeen blown down and that has fallen from bank to bank?"
"I see it now, Tayoga. It hasn't been down long, because the leaves uponit are yet green."
"And they will hide us as we cross. Tododaho on his star has beenwatching over us, and has put the bridge here for our use in thiscrisis."
Tayoga's words were instinct with faith. He never doubted that the greatOnondaga who had gone away four hundred years ago was serving them nowin this, their utmost, need. Robert and Willet glanced at each other.They, too, believed. An electric current had passed from Tayoga to them,and, for the moment, their trust in Tododaho was almost as great as his.At the same time, a partial darkening of the night occurred, cloudsfloating up from the south and west, and dimming the moon and stars.
"How far would you say it is from one shore to the other?" asked Robertof Willet.
"About sixty feet," replied the hunter, "but it's a long tree, and itwill easily bear the weight of the three of us all the way. We may beattacked while we're upon it, but if so we have our rifles."
"It is the one chance that Tododaho has offered to us, and we must takeit," said Tayoga, as he led the way upon the natural bridge. Robertfollowed promptly and Willet brought up the rear.
The banks were high at that point, and the river flowed rather moreswiftly than usual. Robert, ten feet beyond the southern shore, lookeddown at a dark and sullen current, seeming in the dim moonlight to haveinterminable depths. It was only about fifteen feet below him, but hisimagination, heightened by time and place, made the distance three orfourfold greater.
He felt a momentary fear lest he slip and fall into the dark stream, andhe clung tightly to an upthrust bough.
The fallen tree swayed a little with the weight of the three, but Robertknew that it was safe. It was not the bridge that they had to fear, butwhat awaited them on the farther shore. Tayoga stopped, and the tensemanner in which he crouched among the boughs and leaves showed that hewas listening with all his ears.
"Do you hear them?" Robert whispered.
"Not their footsteps," Tayoga whispered back, "but there was a soft callin the woods, the low cry of a night bird, and then the low cry ofanother night bird replying. It was the warriors signaling to oneanother, the first signal they have given."
"I heard the cries, too," said Willet, behind Robert, "and no doubtTandakora and De Courcelles feel they are closing in on us. It's a goodthing this tree was blown down but lately, and the leaves and boughs areso thick on it."
"It was so provided by Tododaho in our great need," said Tayoga.
"Do you mean that we're likely to be besieged while we're still on ourbridge?" asked Robert, and despite himself he could not repress ashiver.
"Not a siege exactly," replied Willet, "but the warriors may pass on thefarther shore, while we're still in the tree. That's the reason why Ispoke so gratefully of the thick leaves still clinging to it."
"They come even now," said Tayoga, in the lowest of whispers, and thethree, stopping, flattened themselves like climbing animals against thetrunk of the tree, until the dark shadow of their bodies blurred againstthe dusk of its bark. They were about halfway across and the distance ofthe stream beneath them seemed to Robert to have increased. He saw itflowing black and swift, and, for a moment, he had a horrible fear lesthe should fall, but he tightened his grasp on a bough and turning hiseyes away from the water looked toward the woods.
"The warriors come," whispered Tayoga, and Robert, seeing, alsoflattened himself yet farther against the tree, until he seemed fairlyto sink into the bark. Their likeness to climbing animals increased, andit would have required keen eyes to have seen the three as they layalong the trunk, deep among the leaves and boughs thirty feet fromeither shore.
Tandakora, De Courcelles and about twenty warriors appeared in theforest, walking a little distance back from the stream, where they couldsee on the farther bank, and yet not be seen from it.
The moon was stillobscured, but a portion of its light fell directly upon Tandakora, andRobert had never beheld a more sinister figure. The rays, feeble, wereyet strong enough to show his gigantic figure, naked save for thebreech cloth, and painted horribly. His eyes, moreover, were lighted upeither in fact or in Robert's fancy with a most wicked gleam, as if hewere already clutching the scalps of the three whom he was hunting sosavagely.
"Now," whispered Tayoga, "Tododaho alone can save us. He holds our fatein the hollow of his hand, but he is merciful as well as just."
Robert knew their danger was of the uttermost, but often, in the extremecrises of life and death, one may not feel until afterward that fate hasturned on a hair.
De Courcelles was just behind Tandakora, but the light did not fall soclearly upon him. The savage had a hideous fascination for Robert, andthe moon's rays seemed to follow him. Every device and symbol paintedupon the huge chest stood out like carving, and all the features of theheavy, cruel face were disclosed as if by day. But Robert noticed withextraordinary relief that the eyes so full of menace were seeking thethree among the woods on the farther shore, and were paying littleattention to the tree. It was likely that neither Tandakora nor DeCourcelles would dream that they were upon it, but it was whollypossible that the entire band should seek to cross that way, and reachthe southern shore in the quest of their prey.
The three in the depths of the boughs and leaves did not stir. Therising wind caused the foliage to rustle about them again. It made thetree sway a little, too, and as Robert could not resist the temptationto look downward once, the black surface of the river seemed to bedancing back and forth beneath him. But, save the single glance, hiseyes all the while were for the Ojibway and the Frenchman.
Tandakora and De Courcelles came a little closer to the bank. Apparentlythey were satisfied that no one was on the farther shore, and that theywere in no danger of a bullet, as presently they emerged fully into theopen, and stood there, their eyes questing. Then they looked at thebridge, and, for a few instants, Robert was sure they would attempt thecrossing upon it. But in a minute or so they walked beyond it, and thenhe concluded that the crisis had passed. After all, it would be theirplan to hold their own shore, and prevent the passage of the three.
Yet Tandakora and De Courcelles were cruelly deliberate and slow. Theywalked not more than fifteen feet beyond the end of the tree, and thenstood a while talking. Half of the warriors remained near them, standingstolidly in the background, and the others went on, searching among thewoods and thickets. The two glanced at the tree as they talked. Was itpossible that they would yet come back and attempt the crossing? AgainRobert quivered when he realized that in truth the crisis had notpassed, and that Tandakora and De Courcelles might reconsider. Oncemore, he pressed his body hard against the tree, and held tightly to asmall bough which arched an abundant covering of leaves over his head.The wind rustled among those leaves, and sang almost in words, butwhether they told him that Tandakora and De Courcelles would go on orcome upon the bridge he did not know.
Five minutes of such intense waiting that seemed nearer to an hour, andthe leaders, with the band, passed on, disappearing in the undergrowththat lined the stream. But for another five minutes the three among theboughs did not stir. Then Tayoga whispered over his shoulder:
"Great is the justice of Tododaho and also great is his mercy. I did notdoubt that he would save us. I felt within me all the time that he wouldcause Tandakora and De Courcelles to leave the bridge and seek uselsewhere."
Robert was not one to question the belief of Tayoga, his sagaciousfriend. If it was not Tododaho who had sent their enemies away then itwas some other spirit, known by another name, but in essence the same.His whole being was permeated by a sort of shining gratitude.
"At times," he said, "it seems that we are favored by our God, who isyour Manitou."
"Now is the time for us to finish the crossing," said Willet, alive tothe needs of the moment. "Lead, Tayoga, and be sure, Robert, not to giveany bough a shake that might catch the eye of a lurking savage in theforest."
The Onondaga resumed the slow advance, so guiding his movements that hemight neither make the tree quiver nor bring his body from beneath thecovering of leaves. Robert and the hunter followed him in closeimitation. Thus they gained the bank, and the three drew long breaths ofdeep and intense relief, as they stepped upon firm ground. But theycould not afford to linger. Tayoga still in front, they plunged into thedepths of the forest, and advanced at speed a half hour, when theyheard a single faint cry behind them.
"They've found our trail at the end of the natural bridge," said Willet.
"It is so," said Tayoga, in his precise school English.
"And they're mad, mad clean through," said the hunter. "That single cryshows it. If they hadn't been so mad they'd have followed our trailwithout a sound. I wish I could have seen the faces of the Ojibway andthe Frenchman when they came back and noticed our trace at the end ofthe tree. They're mad in every nerve and fiber, because they did notconclude to go upon it. It was only one chance in a thousand that we'dbe there, they let that one chance in a thousand go, and lost."
The great frame of the hunter shook with silent laughter. But Robert, invery truth, saw the chagrin upon the faces of Tandakora and DeCourcelles. His extraordinary imagination was again up and leaping andthe picture it created for him was as glowing and vivid as fact. Theyhad gone some distance, and then they had come back, continuallysearching the thickets of the opposite shore with their powerful andtrained eyesight. They had felt disappointed because they had seen notrace of the hunted, who had surely come by this time against thebarrier of the river. Frenchman and Ojibway were in a state of angrywonder at the disappearance of the three who had vanished as if on wingsin the air, leaving no trail. Then Tandakora had chanced to look down.His eye in the dusky moonlight had caught the faint imprint of a foot onthe grass, perhaps Robert's own, and the sudden shout had been wrenchedfrom him by his anger and mortification. Now Robert, too, was convulsedby internal laughter.
"It was our great luck that they did not find us on the tree," he said.
"No, it was not luck," said Tayoga.
"How so?"
"They did not come upon the tree because Tododaho would not let them."
"I forgot. You're right, Tayoga," said Robert sincerely.
"We'll take fresh breath here for five minutes or so," said the hunter,"and then we'll push on at speed, because we have not only the band ofTandakora and De Courcelles to fear. There are others in the forestconverging on Fort Refuge."
"Great Bear is right. He is nearly always right," said Tayoga. "We havepassed one barrier, but we will meet many more. There is also dangerbehind us. Even now the band is coming fast."
They did not move until the allotted time had passed. Again Robert'smind painted a picture in glowing colors of the savage warriors, led byTandakora and De Courcelles, coming at utmost speed upon their trail,and his muscles quivered, yet he made no outward sign. To the eye he wasas calm as Tayoga or Willet.
An hour after the resumption of their flight they came to a shallowcreek with a gravelly bed, a creek that obviously emptied into the riverthey had crossed, and they resorted to the commonest and most effectiveof all devices used by fugitives in the North American wilderness whowished to hide their trail. They waded in the stream, and, as it led inthe general direction in which they wished to go, they did not leave thewater until they had covered a distance of several miles. Then theyemerged upon the bank and rested a long time.
"When Tandakora and De Courcelles see our traces disappear in the creekand fail to reappear on the other side," said Willet, "they'll dividetheir band and send half of it upstream, and half downstream, lookingeverywhere for our place of entry upon dry land, but it'll take 'em along time to find it. Robert, you and Tayoga might spread your blankets,and if you're calm enough, take a nap. At any rate, it won't hurt you tostretch yourselves and rest. I can warn you in time, when an enemycomes."
Th
e Onondaga obeyed without a word, and soon slept as if his will hadmerely to give an order to his five senses to seek oblivion. Robert didnot think he could find slumber, but closing his eyes in order to restbetter, he drifted easily into unconsciousness. Meanwhile Willetwatched, and there was no better sentinel in all the northernwilderness. The wind was still blowing lightly, and the rustling of theleaves never ceased, but he would have detected instantly any strangenote, jarring upon that musical sound.
The hunter looked upon the sleeping lads, the white and the red. Bothhad a powerful hold upon his affection. He felt that he stood to themalmost in the relationship of a father, and he was proud, too, of theirstrength and skill, their courage and intelligence. Eager as he was toreach Fort Refuge and save the garrison and people there, he was evenmore eager to save the two youths from harm.
He let them sleep until the gold of the morning sun was gilding theeastern forest, when the three drew further upon their supplies of breadand venison and once more resumed the journey through the pathless woodstowards their destination. There was no interruption that day, and theyfelt so much emboldened that near sundown Tayoga took his bow andarrows, which he carried as well as his rifle, and stalked and shot adeer, the forest being full of game. Then they lighted a fire and cookeddelicate portions of the spoil in a sheltered hollow. But they did noteat supper there. Instead, they took portions of the cooked food and asmuch as they could conveniently carry of the uncooked, and, wading alongthe bed of a brook, did not stop until they were three or four milesfrom the place in which they had built the fire. Then they sat down andate in great content.
"We will fare well enough," said Willet, "if it doesn't rain. 'Tis luckyfor us that it's the time of year when but little rain falls."
"But rain would be as hard upon those who are hunting us as upon us,"said Robert.
"'Tis true, lad, and I'm glad to see you always making the best ofeverything. It's a spirit that wins."
"And now, Great Bear," said Tayoga, his eyes twinkling, "you have talkedenough. It is only Dagaeoga who can talk on forever."
"That's so about Robert, but what do you mean by saying I've talkedenough?"
"It is time for you to sleep. You watched last night while we slept,and now your hour has come. While you slumber Dagaeoga and I will besentinels who will see and hear everything."
"Why the two of you?"
"Because it takes both of us to be the equal of the Great Bear."
"Come, now, Tayoga, that's either flattery or irony, but whatever it isI'll let it pass. I'll own that I'm sleepy enough and you two canarrange the rest between you."
He was asleep very soon, his great figure lying motionless on hisblanket, and the two wary lads watched, although they sat together, and,at times, talked. Both knew there was full need for vigilance. They hadtriumphed for the moment over Tandakora and De Courcelles, but theyexpected many other lions in the path that led to Fort Refuge. It wasimportant also, not only that they should arrive there, but that theyshould arrive in time. It was true, too, that they considered the dangergreater by night than by day. In the day it was much easier to see theapproach of an enemy, but by night one must be very vigilant indeed todetect the approach of a foe so silent as the Indian.
The two did not yet mention a division of the watch. Neither was sleepyand they were content to remain awake much longer. Moreover, they hadmany things of interest to talk about and also they indulged inspeculation.
"Do you think it possible, Tayoga," asked Robert, "that the garrison,hearing of the great cloud now overhanging the border, may haveabandoned the fort and gone east with the refugees?"
"No, Dagaeoga, it is not likely. It is almost certain that the young menfrom Philadelphia have not heard of General Braddock's great defeat.French and savage runners could have reached them with the news, couldhave taunted them from the forest, but they would not wish to do so;they seek instead to gather their forces first, to have all the effectof surprise, to take the fort, its garrison and the people as one takesa ripe apple from a tree, just when it is ready to fall."
"That rout back there by Duquesne was a terrible affair for us, Tayoga,not alone because it uncovers the border, but because it heartens allour enemies. What joy the news must have caused in Quebec, and what joyit will cause in Paris, too, when it reaches the great French capital!The French will think themselves invincible and so will their redallies."
"They would be invincible, Dagaeoga, if they could take with them theHodenosaunee."
"And may not this victory of the French and their tribes at Duquesneshake the faith of the Hodenosaunee?"
"No, Dagaeoga. The fifty sachems will never let the great League joinOnontio. Champlain and Frontenac have been gone long, but their shadowsstill stand between the French and the Hodenosaunee, and there isQuebec, the lost Stadacona of the Ganegaono, whom you call the Mohawks.As long as the sun and stars stand in the heavens the Keepers of theEastern Gate are the enemies of the French. Even now, as you know, theyfight by the side of the Americans and the English."
"It is true. I was wrong to question the faith of the great nations ofthe Hodenosaunee. If none save the Mohawks fight for us it is at leastcertain that they will not fight against us, and even undecided, whilewe're at present suffering from disaster, they'll form a neutralbarrier, in part, between the French and us. Ah, that defeat byDuquesne! I scarcely see yet how it happened!"
"A general who made war in a country that he did not know, with an enemythat he did not understand."
"Well, we'll learn from it. We were too sure. Pride, they say, goesbefore a fall, but they ought to add that those who fall can rise again.Perhaps our generals will be more cautious next time, and won't walkinto any more traps. But I foresee now a long, a very long war. Nearlyall of Europe, if what comes across the Atlantic be true, will beinvolved in it, and we Americans will be thrown mostly upon our ownresources. Perhaps it will weld our colonies together and make of them agreat nation, a nation great like the Hodenosaunee."
"I think it will come to pass, Dagaeoga. The mighty League was formed byhardship and self-denial. A people who have had to fight long andtenaciously for themselves grows strong. So it has been said often bythe fifty sachems who are old and very wise, and who know all that it isgiven to men to know. Did you hear anything stirring in the thicket,Dagaeoga?"
"I did, Tayoga. I heard a rustling, the sound of very light footfalls,and I see the cause."
"A black bear, is it not, seeing what strangers have invaded the bush!Now, he steals away, knowing that we are the enemies most to be dreadedby him. Doubtless there are other animals among the bushes, watching us,but we neither see nor hear them. It is time to divide the watch, for wemust save our strength, and it is not well for both to remain awake farinto the night."
It was arranged that Robert should sleep first and the Onondaga gave hisfaithful promise to awaken him in four hours. The two lads meant to takethe burden of the watch upon themselves, and, unless Willet awoke, ofhis own accord, he was to lie there until day.
Robert lay down upon his blanket, went to sleep in an instant, and thenext instant Tayoga awakened him. At least it seemed but an instant,although the entire four hours had passed. Tayoga laughed at the dubiouslook on his face.
"The time is up. It really is," he said. "You made me give my faithfulpromise. Look at the moon, and it will tell you I am no teller of afalsehood."
"I never knew four hours to pass so quickly before. Has anythinghappened while I slept?"
"Much, Dagaeoga. Many things, things of vast importance."
"What, Tayoga! You astonish me. The forest seems quiet."
"And so it is. But the revolving earth has turned one-sixth of its wayupon itself. It has also traveled thousands and thousands of miles inthat vast circle through the pathless void that it makes about the sun.I did not know that such things happened until I went to the whiteman's school at Albany, but I know them now, and are they not important,hugely important?"
"They're among the main facts
of the universe, but they happen everynight."
"Then it would be more important if they did not happen?"
"There'd be a big smash of some kind, but as I don't know what the kindwould be I'm not going to talk about it. Besides, I can see that you'remaking game of me, Tayoga. I've lived long enough with Indians to knowthat they love their joke."
"We are much like other people. I think perhaps that in all this greatworld, on all the continents and islands, people, whether white or red,brown or black, are the same."
"Not a doubt of it. Now, stop your philosophizing and go to sleep."
"I will obey you, Dagaeoga," said Tayoga, and in a minute he was fastasleep.
Robert watched his four hours through and then awakened the Onondaga,who was sentinel until day. When they talked they spoke only in whisperslest they wake Willet, whose slumbers were so deep that he neverstirred. At daybreak Tayoga roused Robert, but the hunter still slept,his gigantic bulk disposed at ease upon his blanket. Then the two ladsseized him by either shoulder and shook him violently.
"Awake! Awake, Great Bear!" Tayoga chanted in his ear. "Do you think youhave gone into a cave for winter quarters? Lo, you have slept now, likethe animal for which you take your name! We knew you were exhausted,and that your eyes ached for darkness and oblivion, but we did not knowit would take two nights and a day to bring back your wakefulness.Dagaeoga and I were your true friends. We watched over you while youslept out your mighty sleep and kept away from you the bears andpanthers that would have devoured you when you knew it not. They camemore than once to look at you, and truly the Great Bear is so large thathe would have made breakfast, dinner and supper for the hungriest bearor panther that ever roamed the woods."
Willet sat up, sleep still heavy on his eyelids, and, for a moment ortwo, looked dazed.
"What do you mean, you young rascals?" he asked. "You don't say thatI've been sleeping here two nights and a day?"
"Of course you have," replied Robert, "and I've never seen anybody sleepso hard, either. Look under your blanket and see how your body hasactually bored a hole into the ground."
Then Willet began to laugh.
"I see, it's a joke," he said, "though I don't mind. You're good lads,but it was your duty to have awakened me in the night and let me take mypart in the watch."
"You were very tired," said Robert, "and we took pity on you. Moreover,the enemy is all about us, and we knew that the watch must be of thebest. Tayoga felt that at such a time he could trust me alone, and Ifelt with equal force that I could trust him alone. We could not put ourlives in the hands of a mere beginner."
Willet laughed again, and in the utmost good humor.
"As I repeat, you're sprightly lads," he said, "and I don't mind a jestthat all three of us can enjoy. Now, for breakfast, and, truth to say,we must take it cold. It will not do to light another fire."
They ate deer meat, drank water from a brook, and then, refreshedgreatly by their long rest, started at utmost speed for Fort Refuge,keeping in the deepest shadows of the wilderness, eager to carry thealarm to the garrison, and anxious to avoid any intervening foe. The daywas fortunate, no enemy appearing in their path, and they traveled manymiles, hope continually rising that they would reach the fort before acloud of besiegers could arrive.
Thus they continued their journey night and day, seeing many signs ofthe foe, but not the foe himself, and the hope grew almost intoconviction that they would pass all the Indian bands and gain the fortfirst.
The Rulers of the Lakes: A Story of George and Champlain Page 4