The Forest Runners: A Story of the Great War Trail in Early Kentucky

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER XIV

  IN WINTER QUARTERS

  The three walked slowly on for a long time, curving about gradually to theregion in which Paul and Jim Hart remained hidden. They did not say much,but Shif'less Sol was slowly swelling with an admiration which was boundto find a vent some time or other.

  "Henry," he burst out at last, "this whole scheme o' yours has been workedin the most beautiful way, an' that last trick with Braxton Wyatt wuz thefinest I ever saw."

  "There were three of us," said Henry briefly and modestly.

  "It's a great thing to use your brain," said the shiftless one sagely."I'm thinkin' o' doin' it hereafter myself."

  Tom Ross laughed deeply and said:

  "I'd make a beginning before it wuz too late, ef I wuz you, Sol."

  "How long do you think it will take the Shawnees an' the Miamis tostraighten out that tangle about the great war trail?" asked theshiftless one of Henry.

  "Not before snow flies," replied the youth; "and then there will be somuch mutual anger and disgust that they will not be able to get togetherfor months. But we must stop up here, Sol, and watch, and egg on themisunderstanding. Don't you think so, Tom?"

  "Of course!" replied Ross briefly, but with emphasis. "We've got to hangon the Injun flanks."

  Late in the afternoon they reached familiar ground, or at least it was soto the sharp eyes of these three, although they had seen it but once. Herethey had left Paul and Jim Hart, and they knew that they must be somewherenear. Henry gave forth the whip-poor-will cry--the long, wailing note,inexpressibly plaintive and echoing far through the autumn woods. It wasrepeated once and twice, and presently came the answering note.

  The three walked with confidence toward the point from which the answerhad come, and soon they saw Paul and Jim Hart advancing joyously to meetthem.

  Paul listened with amazement to the story of their wonderful adventure,told in a few brief phrases. Not many words were needed for him. His vividimagination at once pictured it all--the deadly play of words in theCouncil House, the ambushing of Braxton Wyatt, and the triumphant result.

  "That was diplomacy, statesmanship, Henry," he said.

  "We're going to stay up here a while longer, Paul," said Henry. "We thinkour presence is needed in these parts."

  "I'm willing," said Paul, wishing to have assurances, "but what about thepowder for Marlowe, and what will our people at Wareville think has becomeof us?"

  "As long as we can keep back these tribes, Marlowe will not need thepowder, and some of the buffalo hunters have taken word to Wareville thatwe have come into the North."

  "I purpose," said Shif'less Sol, "that so long ez we're goin' to stay inthese parts that we go back to the haunted islan' in the lake. It's in theheart o' the Injun country, but it's the safest spot within five hundredmiles o' us."

  "I think with Sol," said Henry. "We can prepare there for winter quarters.In fact, we've got a hut already."

  "An' I won't have nothin' to do," said the shiftless one, "but lay aroun'an' hev Jim Hart cook fur me."

  "You'll hev to be runnin' through the frozen woods all the time fur gamefur me to cook, that's what you'll hev to do, Sol Hyde," retorted JimHart.

  The idea of going into winter quarters on the island appealed to Paul. Hehad grown attached to the little hollow in which he and Jim Hart had builtthe hut, and he thought they could be very snug and warm. So he favoredSol's proposition with ardor, and about twilight they brought the hiddencanoe again from the bushes, paddling boldly across the lake for theisland. The place did not now have an uncanny look to Paul. Instead, itbore certain aspects of home, and he forgot all about the mummies in thetrees, which were their protection from invasion.

  "It's good to get back again," he said.

  They landed on the island, hid the canoe, and went straight to the hollow,finding everything there absolutely undisturbed.

  "We'll sleep to-night," said Henry, "and in the morning we'll plan."

  Paul noticed, when he rose early the next day, that the whole earth wassilver with frost, and he felt they were particularly fortunate in havingfound some sort of shelter. The others shared his satisfaction, and theyworked all day, enlarging the hut, and strengthening it against the windand cold with more bark and brush. At night Henry and Ross took the canoe,went to the mainland, and came back with a deer. The next day Jim Hart andShif'less Sol were busy drying the venison, and Paul spent his timefishing with considerable success.

  Several days passed thus, and they accumulated more meat and more skins.The latter were particularly valuable for warmth. Paul draped them abouttheir hut, arranging them with an artistic eye, while Jim Hart andShif'less Sol, with a similar satisfaction, watched their larder grow.

  "This is the finest winter camp in all the wilderness," said Shif'lessSol.

  "You couldn't beat it," said Jim Hart.

  These were happy days to Paul. Knowing now that a message had been senthack to Wareville, he was released from worry over the possible anxiety ofhis people on his account, and he was living a life brimful of interest.Everyone fell almost unconsciously into his place. Henry Ware, Ross, andShif'less Sol scouted and hunted far and wide, and Paul and Jim Hart werefishermen, house builders, and, as Paul called it, "decorators."

  The hut in the hollow began to have a cozy look. Henry and Ross brought inthree buffalo skins, which Jim promptly tanned, and which Paul then usedas wall coverings. Wolfskins, deerskins, and one beautiful panther hidewere spread upon the floor. This floor was made mainly of boughs, brokenup fine, and dead leaves, but it did not admit water, and the furs andskins were warm. In one corner of the place grew up a store of driedvenison and buffalo meat, over which Jim Hart watched jealously.

  All of the cooking was done at night, but in the open, in a kind of rudeoven that Jim Hart built of loose stones, and never did food taste betterin the mouth of a hungry youth than it did in that of Paul. The air wasgrowing much colder. Paul, who was in the habit of taking a dip in thelake every night, found the waters so chill now that he could not stay inlong, although the bath was wonderfully invigorating. Whenever the windblew the dead leaves fell in showers, and Paul knew he would soon bedeeply thankful they had the hut as a retreat.

  About ten days after their return Henry came back from a scout around theMiami village, and he brought news of interest.

  "Braxton Wyatt is still there," he said, "and he is so mixed up that hedoes not know just what to do for the present. After saying one thing andthen denying himself, he is in the bad graces of both parties of theMiamis. For the same reason he doesn't dare to go back for a while to theShawnees, so he is waiting for things to straighten themselves out, whichthey won't do for a long time. The Miami belt bearers have not yetreturned from the Shawnee village, and then belts will have to go back andforth a dozen times each before either tribe can find out what the othermeans."

  "An' if we kin keep 'em misunderstandin' each other," said Shif'less Sol,"they can't make any attack on the white settlements until away nextspring, an' by that time a lot more white people will arrive from over themountains. We'll be at least twice ez strong then."

  "That's so," said Henry; "and the greatest work we five can do is to stayhere and put as many spokes as we can in the Indian alliance."

  "And I am glad to be here with all of you," said Paul earnestly. It seemedto him the greatest work in the world, this holding back of the tribesuntil their intended victim should acquire strength to beat them off, andhis eyes shone. Besides the mere physical happiness that he felt, therewas a great mental exhilaration, an exaltation, even, and he lookedforward to the winter of a warrior and a statesman.

  Paul's body flourished apace in the cold, nipping air and the wild life.There were discomforts, it is true, but he did not think of them. Helooked only at the comforts and the joys. He knew that his muscles weregrowing and hardening, that eye, ear, all the five senses, in truth, weregrowing keener, and he felt within him a courage that could dare anything.

  Henry made anoth
er expedition, to discover, if he could, whether theMiamis suspected that the haunted island harbored their foes. They did notask him what means he used, how he disguised himself anew, or whether hedisguised himself at all, but he returned with the news that they had nosuspicion. The island was still sacred to the spirits--a place where theydare not land. This was satisfying news to all, and they rested for awhile.

  Three or four days after Henry's return a strong wind stripped the lastleaves from the trees. All the reds and yellows and browns were gone, andthe gusts whistled fiercely among the gray branches. The surface of thelake was broken into cold waves, that chased each other until they diedaway at the shore.

  The next day heavy rolling clouds were drawn across the sky, and all theworld was somber and dark. Paul stood at the entrance to the hut, and now,indeed, he was thankful that they had that shelter, and that they had fursand skins to reinforce their clothing. As he looked, something cold andwet came out of the sky and struck him upon the face. Another came, andthen another, and in a few moments the air was full of flakes whirled bythe wind.

  "The first snow," said Paul.

  "Yes," said Henry, "and let us pray for snows--many, hard, and deep. Thefiercer the winter the easier it will be to hold back the allied tribes."

  It was not a heavy snow, but it gave an earnest of what might come. Thebare boughs were whipped about in the gale, and creaked dismally. Theground was covered with white to the depth of about two inches, and dark,rolling waves, looking very chill, chased one another across the lake. JimHart and Paul had managed to build of stones, in one corner of their hut,a rude oven or furnace, with an exterior vent. They had plastered thestones together with mud, which hardened into a sort of cement, and inthis furnace they kindled a little fire. They did not dare to make itlarge, because of the smoke, but they had enough coals to give out a warmand pleasant glow.

  All of them retreated for a while to the "mansion," as Paul rather proudlycalled it, and Henry. Ross, and Shif'less Sol busied themselves withmaking new and stout moccasins of deerskin, fastened with sinews andlined with fur. Shif'less Sol was especially skillful at this work; infact, the shiftless one was a wonderfully handy man at any sort of task,and with only his hunting knife, a wooden needle of his own manufacture,and deer sinews, he actually made Paul a fur-lined hunting shirt, whichseemed to the boy's imaginative fancy about the finest garment ever wornin the wilderness. All of them also put fur flaps on their raccoon-skincaps, and Shif'less Sol even managed to fashion an imitation of gloves outof deerskin.

  "I wouldn't advise you to try to use your hands much with these gloveson," he said; "leastways, not to shoot at anything till you took 'em off;but I do say that so long ez your hands are idle, they'll be pow'fulwarmin' to the fingers."

  "We don't have to go out very much just now," said Paul, "and if we onlyhad two or three books here, we could pass the time very pleasantly."

  "That's so," said Shif'less Sol musingly. "You an' me, Paul, wuz intendedto be eddicated men. Ez fur Jim Hart here, he's that dull he'd take morepride in cookin' in a stone furnace than in writin' the finest book in theworld."

  "When I cook I git's somethin' that I kin see," said Jim Hart. "I neverread but one book in my life, an' I didn't find it very sustainin'. Iguess if you wuz starvin' to death here in the wilderness, you'd rutherhev a hot hoe cake than all the books in the world."

  "'Tain't worth while, Paul, to talk to Jim Hart," said Shif'less Solsadly. "He ain't got no soul above a hoe cake. I've allus told you, Paul,that you an' me wuz superior to our surroundings. Ef Jim Hart wuz lockedup in a schoolhouse all his life he'd never be an eddicated man, while ezfur me, I'm one without ever gittin' a chance, jest because it's in mynatur'."

  Paul laughed at them both, and drew a little closer to the bed of redcoals. The warmth within and the cold without appealed to all the elementsof his vivid and imaginative nature. Not for worlds would he have missedbeing on this great adventure with these daring men.

  "I'm a-thinkin'," said Ross, as he lifted the buffalo robe over their doorand looked out, "that ez soon ez the wind dies the lake will freeze over."

  "An' it will be harder than ever then," said Paul, "to catch fish."

  "I guess we kin do about ez well through holes in the ice," said Ross.

  Ross's prediction soon came true. When they awoke on the morning two daysafterwards the lake curved about them in a white and glittering sheet,reflecting back a brilliant sun in a million dazzling rays.

  "I'm glad all of our party are here on the island together," said Henry,"because the ice isn't thick enough to support a man's weight, and itisn't thin enough to let a canoe be pushed through it. We're clean cut offfrom the world for a little while."

  "An' this is whar poor old Long Jim becomes the most vallyble uv us all,"said Jim Hart. "It's a lucky thing that I've got a kind uv stove an'buffalo meat an' venison an' other kinds uv game. I'm jest willin' to betthat you four hulkin' fellers will want to lay aroun' an' eat all thetime."

  "I wouldn't be surprised, Jim, if we didn't get hungry once in a while,"said Henry, with a smile.

  Two more days passed, and the ice on the lake neither melted nor grewthicker, and they were as well shut in and others were as well shut out asif they had been on a lone island in the Pacific Ocean. Once they saw athin column of smoke, only a faint blue spire very far away, which Henrysaid rose from an Indian camp fire.

  "It's several miles from here," he said, "and it's just chance that theyare there. They don't dream that we are here."

  Nevertheless, they did not light the fire in their furnace again for twodays. Then, when the skies grew too dark and somber for a faint smoke toshow against its background, they kindled it up again, and once moreenjoyed warm food.

  "Ef I jest had a little coffee, an' somethin' to b'il it in, I'd bepow'ful happy," said Jim Hart. "I'd jest enjoy b'ilin' a gallon or twoapiece fur you fellers an' me."

  "Wa'al, ez you ain't got any coffee an' you ain't got anythin' to b'il itin, I reckon we'll hev to be jest ez happy without it," said Shif'lessSol.

  The night after this conversation Paul was awakened by a patter upon theirskin and thatch roof. It must have been two or three o'clock in themorning, and he had been sleeping very comfortably. He lay on furs, andthe soft side of a buffalo robe was wrapped close about him. He could notremember any time in his life when he felt snugger, and he wanted to goback to sleep, but that patter upon the roof was insistent. He raisedhimself up a little, and he heard along with the patter the breathing ofhis four comrades. But it was pitch dark in the hut, and, rolling over tothe doorway, he pulled aside a few inches the stout buffalo hide thatcovered it. Something hard and white struck him in the face and stung likeshot.

  It was hailing, pouring hard and driven fiercely by the wind. Moreover, itwas bitterly cold, and Paul quickly shut down the buffalo flap, fasteningit tightly. "We're snowed in and hailed in, too," he murmured to himself.Then he drew his buffalo robe around his body more closely than ever, andwent back to sleep. The next morning it rained on top of the hail forabout an hour, but after that it quickly froze again, the air turningintensely cold. Then Paul beheld the whole world sheathed in glitteringice. The sight was so dazzling that his eyes were almost blinded, but itwas wonderfully beautiful, too. The frozen surface of the lake threw backthe light in myriads of golden sheaves, and every tree, down to the lasttwig, gleamed in a silvery polished sheath.

  "It 'pears to me," said Shif'less Sol lazily, "that we ain't on an islan'no longer. The Superior Powers hev built a drawbridge, on which anythingcan pass."

  "That's so," said Paul. "The ice must be thick enough now to bear a warparty."

  "Ef that war party didn't slip up an' break its neck," said Shif less Sol."All that meltin' stuff froze hard, an' it's like glass now. Jest you tryit, Paul."

  Paul went out in the hollow, and at his very first step his feet flew fromunder him and he landed on his back. Everywhere it was the same way--icelike glass, that no one could tread on and yet feel secure.<
br />
  "We have our drawbridge," said Paul, "but it doesn't seem to me to be verysafe walking on it."

  Nevertheless, Henry and Ross slipped away two nights later, and were goneall the next day and another night. When they returned they reported thatthe Miami village was pretty well snowed up, and that the hunters evenwere not out. Braxton Wyatt was still there, and they believed he wouldsoon be up to some sort of mischief--it was impossible for him to remainquiet and behave himself very long.

  "Meanwhile what are we to do?" asked Paul.

  "Just stay quiet," said Henry. "We'll wait for Braxton and his savages toact first."

  But the ice did not remain long, all melting away as the ficklenorthwestern weather turned comparatively warm again, and the five oncemore began to move about freely.