In the Wilds of Florida: A Tale of Warfare and Hunting
Page 37
pieces by the wolves. Myfather, who had had some experience in gunshot wounds, did his best toattend to the poor men; but the last discovered died in the course of afew minutes, and we had now only one, the sole survivor of the massacre,to carry with us. A rough litter was at once formed, as he could notbear the jolting of a horse; and he was carried forward on the shouldersof some of our people, who willingly undertook the task. As it wasdangerous to remain in the exposed position in which we were, we nowadvanced as fast as possible, fearing that at any moment we might beattacked by a vastly superior force. Every man of the party, however,was resolved to fight to the last, and to sell his life dearly.
Spotted Wolf had appeared as much astonished as any of us at thediscovery of the massacred troops. Carlos observed to me that hethought the fellow was looking out for an opportunity to escape. "If hetries to do so, I'll shoot him," he added. "I have mistrusted him fromthe first. I suspect that, in advising us to take this route, heexpected to lead us up to the ambush into which our troops have fallen;and I believe that he wants to get off for the purpose of letting Oceolaknow how small a party we are. Probably the enemy were deceived, and,getting information of our approach, supposed that we were a large forcecoming to the assistance of our friends."
I thought that Carlos was right in his conjectures, as did my fatherwhen I told him of them. Carlos also spoke to Captain Norton on thesubject in a way which induced him, at all events, to be cautious infurther trusting Spotted Wolf. He also issued an order to all the mento keep an eye on Spotted Wolf, and to shoot him without ceremony shouldhe attempt to escape.
Before long we came upon a well-defined trail made by wheeled vehicles,as also by the feet of horses and men, and we had no doubt that it leddirectly to the fort which we desired to reach. We pushed forward,therefore, with revived confidence, hoping before long to get withinstrong walls, where, with the assistance of its present garrison, wemight bid defiance to all foes likely to attack us. As we approached,however, we saw that it was little more than a block-house, and that noflag waved above the stockade. Advancing nearer, we expected to behailed. No friendly voice, however, reached our ears.
"Can it be deserted? or have the Redskins got possession of it?" Iheard my father exclaim.
"We must not be taken by surprise," observed Captain Norton. He calledfor two volunteers to go forward and ascertain the condition of thefort. Tim, who was always ready for anything, sprang to the front. Ibegged my father to let me accompany him. He hesitated; but heconsidered that it would be setting a bad example to the men if herefused, and he gave his consent. Tim and I immediately advanced,looking out for any hole or opening through which the muzzle of a rifleor the point of an arrow might appear. The building had lately sufferedeither from fire or assault. Many of the palisades had been brokendown, and the buildings inside were roofless. No one was to be seen,and the gate was open. We entered, still, however, keeping our riflesready for instant use. Not a voice was heard. We soon discovered whathad taken place. The small garrison had been overpowered andslaughtered to a man. The larger number lay inside the house, intowhich they had evidently retreated to defend themselves. The remainderwere found close under the stockade. Nearly all had been killed in ahand-to-hand fight, and few, if any, had been shot down from theoutside.
"Depend upon it," said Tim, "there was treachery here, an' the gate wasopened at night to let the enemy in. A place like this might bedefended against any number of Redskins, unless the garrison ran shortof ammunition."
"That's just what I suspect they did," I answered, examining the pouchesof two of the men who lay nearest me. They were both empty.
We had, however, no time to discuss the matter, as it was our duty tohurry back and report what we had discovered. On hearing it, CaptainNorton resolved to occupy the fort. Our first business on entering wasto carry out the bodies of the late garrison. It was a mournful task,as we had no means of burying them, or, at all events, no time to devoteto this object. As soon as this duty was performed, we set to work torepair the fort. Most of the men had axes, which they vigorously plied,and soon cut down a sufficient number of trees for our purpose. The menlaboured hard, knowing that their lives might depend on their gettingthe fort into a fit state to resist the enemy. Not until every breachwas repaired, the gate strengthened, and the centre hut--for it waslittle more--roofed in with the split trunks of trees, did we cease fromour toil. It was nearly morning by the time our work was accomplished.Not until then did the captain or any of the men lie down to snatch ashort sleep. Fortunately, the storehouse had escaped, and in it wediscovered a supply of salt provisions sufficient to last us severaldays, while a well dug within the stockade afforded an ample supply ofwater. We might thus hold out for a considerable time, without thenecessity of venturing far from the fort to obtain game.
The captain was still unwilling to make it impossible for Spotted Wolfto escape, by shooting him or binding his limbs; but he charged two ofthe most intelligent of the men to keep a constant watch over theIndian, and not to allow him on any pretext to leave the fort. It wasnecessary to send out a few men to cut grass for the horses, as it wasimportant to keep them in good condition. Those who went, however, wereordered not to venture beyond the immediate vicinity of the fort, intowhich they could escape should an enemy appear. We had reason to bethankful that we had not been disturbed. But we had made no progress,as far as we could judge, in the object of our expedition; neitherRochford nor Juanita had been discovered, and they might still beleagues away.
Two days passed. Captain Norton and my father were constantly talkingover plans for our future proceedings. The captain even asked my fatherif he would take command of the block-house, while he himself with threeothers should make their way on horseback to one of the larger forts,where he could obtain information for his guidance. As we all knew thatit would be impossible to hold the block-house during a protracted siegewithout a larger supply of provisions than we possessed, it becamenecessary, as soon as possible, to obtain game, so as to enable us tokeep the salt provisions for such an emergency. Though we had little tofear from their usual style of warfare--for the red men, when they failin an attack, generally abandon it altogether--still, it was possiblethat, under their bold and sagacious chief Oceola, they might adopt anew system, and attempt the destruction of one fort after another, untilthey had rid the country of the Palefaces, as they boastfully assertedthey intended to do.
As soon as the fort was placed in an efficient state, Captain Nortonsent out the scouts to ascertain if any Indians were in theneighbourhood. They returned, stating that they had seen none, and thatthey believed the country would be found open to Fort King, or to theeastward, and that we might therefore return to the river, should such amovement be considered desirable. None of them brought any game,asserting their belief that the Indians had driven off all the deer andwild cattle, and that, except some birds and small animals, we were notlikely to obtain any. Thus we all felt that the expedition would bebootless, as we had utterly failed to obtain tidings of those of whom wewere in search.
Captain Norton now determined to take two of the best horses, one forhimself and the other for a companion, and push on to Fort King,trusting to their speed to escape any enemies they might fall in with.Carlos and I both volunteered to accompany him. He decided, however, totake only one of us, and fixed upon Carlos, as he knew the countrybetter than I did. It was settled that they should set out by daybreakthe next morning. The horses had been well fed, and the captain hopedthat in three or four hours they might reach their destination. Whenthe animals, however, were led out, the one Carlos intended to ride wasevidently lame. Its leg was examined, but no cause could be discoveredfor its lameness, and none of the others were fit for the journey.
"I must then start by myself!" exclaimed the captain. "I am sorry notto have your company, Carlos; but as there is some hazard in theexpedition, it may be better for you to remain in the fort."
"I suspect that Indian
fellow has had something to do with the lamenessof the animal," whispered Carlos. "Captain Norton, who still thinks himhonest, would not believe me if I said so. However, I will keep my eyeon him; and I will shoot him through the head if I find him playing anytrick."
I urged Carlos not to do that, at all events; though I agreed that heought not to be allowed to go out of sight of his guards for a singlemoment.
While we were still examining the horses, hoping that after a littlewhile the lameness would go off, one of the scouts called out that astranger was approaching.
"Maybe he is one of the blacks," I observed. But on mounting theplatform placed inside the stockade, I saw that the man was a white inhunter's garb, and that he was carrying a deer on his shoulders. He wasaccompanied by a handsome hound, which every now and then turned round,as if on the watch to give him timely notice of