CHAPTER XIII
BRAXTON WYATT'S ORDEAL
The blood of Big Fox leaped for a moment in his veins, but it did not showunder the paint of his face. His figure never quivered. He still knew allthe danger, and he knew, moreover, how it had increased since the entranceof Braxton Wyatt, but he said, in slow, cold tones, full of deadlymeaning:
"It is the white youth who left his own people to come to our village andjoin our people. We have received him, but the eyes of the warriors arestill upon him."
The insinuation was evident. The renegade could not be trusted. Already,with the first words spoken, Big Fox was impeaching his character.
Braxton Wyatt stood with his back to the buffalo robe, which had fallenagain over the entrance, and looked around at the circle of chiefs who hadresumed their seats on the skin mats. Then his eyes met the stern,accusing gaze of Big Fox, the Shawnee belt bearer, and were held there asif fascinated. But Braxton Wyatt was not without courage. He wrenched hiseyes away, turned them upon the ancient chief, Gray Beaver, and said:
"I have been long in the Shawnee lodges, great chief of the Miamis, but Ido not know these belt bearers."
There was a murmur, and a stir on the skin mats.
Big Fox scorned to look again at Braxton Wyatt. He gazed steadily at thecouncil fire, and said in tones of indifference:
"The white youth who left his own people has been in the lodges, where theold men and women stay; we have been on the war trail with the warriors.The day we returned to the village we were chosen to bring the peace beltsto our good friends, the Miamis."
"The belt bearers are Big Fox, Brown Bear, and The Bat," said YellowPanther, looking at Braxton Wyatt. "You have heard of them? The Shawneevillages are full of their fame."
"I never saw them, and I never heard of them before," replied BraxtonWyatt, in a tone of mingled anger and bewilderment, "but I do know thatall the Shawnees wish the Miamis to go south with them at once, on thegreat war trail against the white settlements."
The old chief, Gray Beaver, looked from the belt bearers to Braxton Wyattand from Braxton Wyatt to the belt bearers. His aged brain was bewilderedby the conflicting tales, but he put little trust in the white youth.Already Big Fox had sowed in his mind the seeds of unbelief in the wordsof Braxton Wyatt.
"Scarcely a moon ago the Shawnees, as we all know, wished to go on thegreat war trail at once," said Yellow Panther, "but now three come, whosay they are from them, bearing peace belts. Moreover, here is another whosays that the Shawnees would send war belts. What shall the Miamis think?"
There was another murmur, and then silence. The surcharged air was heavyin the great lodge. But Big Fox merely shrugged his shoulders slightly,and answered in tones of lofty indifference:
"Big Fox, Brown Bear, and The Bat were sent by the old chiefs of theShawnees to deliver peace belts to the chiefs of the Miamis, and they havedelivered them."
Brown Bear and The Bat nodded, but said nothing. Yellow Panther looked atBraxton Wyatt, who was shaken by varying emotions. As he truly said, hehad long been in the Shawnee villages, but he had never seen or heard ofthe three warriors who now sat calmly before him--Big Fox, Brown Bear,and The Bat. Yet he could not say that no such men existed, because smallparties had roved far and long on the hunt or the war trail. He gazed atthem before answering. He, too, was struck by the splendid figure and poseof Big Fox, and he was impressed, moreover, by a sense of somethingfamiliar, though he could not name it. It haunted him and troubled him,but remained a mystery. He collected his shrewd wits and said:
"As I told you, the warriors who bring the peace belts are strangers tome. Yet the Shawnees, when I left the head village, but a few days ago,wished war at once against the white settlements, and the Shawnees do notchange their minds quickly."
"Is the word of a renegade, of one who would slay his own people, to beweighed against that of a warrior?"
Big Fox spoke with lofty contempt, not gazing at Braxton Wyatt, butstraight into the eyes of Gray Beaver. The old chief felt the power ofthat look, and wavered under it.
"It is true," he said, "that the Shawnees, a moon ago, were for war; butBig Fox, Brown Bear, and The Bat have come, bearing peace belts from them,and what our eyes see must be true."
There was a murmur again, but it was very faint now. The authority ofGray Beaver, in his time a mighty warrior, and now wise with years andexperience, was great, and the under chiefs were impressed--all but YellowPanther, whose eyes flashed vindictively at the belt bearers. Angry bloodalso flushed Braxton Wyatt's face, and he did not know at the moment whatto say or do.
"It is true that I was born white," he said, "but I have become one of theShawnees, and I shall be faithful to them. I have spoken no lies. TheShawnees were for war, and I believe they are so yet."
"The Shawnees from whom I have come," said Big Fox, in his grave tones,wholly ignoring Braxton Wyatt, "expect peace belts in return. Will themessengers depart with them to-morrow?"
He spoke directly to Gray Beaver, and his powerful gaze still rested uponhim. The withered frame of the old chief trembled a little within hisfurred robe, and then he yielded to the spell.
"The Miami messengers will start to-morrow with peace belts for theShawnees," he said.
A thrill of triumph ran through the frame of Big Fox, but he said nothing.The eyes of both Braxton Wyatt and Yellow Panther flashed vindictively,but they, too, said nothing. Big Fox judged that they were not yet whollybeaten, but he had accomplished much; if each tribe received peace beltsfrom the others, it would take a long time to untangle the snarl, andunite them for war. Meanwhile, the white settlements were steadily growingstronger.
"Our Shawnee brethren, the belt bearers, will stay with us a while," saidthe crafty Yellow Panther. "They have traveled far, and they need rest."
Big Fox knew that it would not do to be too hasty; a desire to depart atonce would only arouse suspicion, and he and his comrades, moreover, hadfurther work to do in the Miami village. So he gravely accepted the offerof hospitality, and he and Brown Bear and The Bat were conducted to alodge in the center of the village, where they ate again, and reclinedluxuriously upon buffalo robes and deerskins. Yellow Panther followed themthere, and was very solicitous for their comfort. All his attentions theyreceived with grave courtesy, and when there was nothing more that hecould do or say he withdrew, letting the covering of the lodge door fallbehind him. Then the three belt bearers, putting their ears against theskin walls of the lodge, listened intently. Nothing was stirring without.If any person was at hand, or listened there, they would have known it; sothey spoke to each other in low tones.
"Your plan seems to have worked so far, Henry," said Ross, "even ifBraxton Wyatt did come."
"Yes--so far," replied Henry Ware; "but Braxton is sure that something iswrong, and so is that cunning wolf, Yellow Panther. They want to hold ushere in the village until they find out the truth; but we are willing tostay, that we may checkmate what they do. I can work on old Gray Beaver,whose age makes him favor caution and peace."
"An' while you are thinkin' it over," said Shif'less Sol, "jest rememberthat I'm a belt bearer who has traveled a long way, an' that I'm pow'fultired; so I guess I'll take a nap."
He rolled over on the softest of the skins, and was as good as his word.In five minutes he was sound asleep. Tom Ross leaned back against the skinwall and meditated. Henry Ware arose and walked in the village; but themoment he stepped from the lodge, all trace of the white youth was gone,and he was again Big Fox, the chief of the belt bearers from the Shawnees.
The village was the scene of an active savage life. It had been a seasonof plenty. Game and fish abounded, and, according to the Indian nature,they ate and overate of that plenty, thinking little of the morrow. Hencethis life, besides being active, was also happy in its wild way. Big Foxnoticed the fact, with those keen eyes of his that nothing escaped.
And all in their turn noticed Big Fox here, as he had been noticed in theCouncil House. Old and young alike admired h
im. They thought that no suchsplendid warrior had ever before entered their village. Surely theShawnees were a nation of men when they could produce such as he. Hisheight, his straight, commanding glance, the wonderful, careless strengthand majesty of his figure, all impressed them. He looked to them like onewithout fear, and moreover, with such strength and quickness as his, heseemed one who had little to fear. But as he walked there, Yellow Panthercame again, and spoke to him with sly, insinuating manner:
"The belt bearer is not weary, though he has traveled far."
"No," replied Big Fox. "Manitou has been kind to me, and has given mestrong limbs and muscles that do not tire."
"Did Big Fox, in his journey from the Shawnee village, hear of white men?It is said that a band of them have been in this region about the lake,there to the southward. One of our warriors was slain, but we could notfind those whom we pursued."
Big Fox wondered if it was a chance shot, but he looked straight into theeyes of Yellow Panther, which fell before the gaze of his, and replied:
"I came bearing belts, and I thought only of them. If there are white menin the Miami woods, the Miamis are warriors enough to take them."
The Forest Runners: A Story of the Great War Trail in Early Kentucky Page 13