The Free Rangers: A Story of the Early Days Along the Mississippi

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER XVI

  IN PRISON

  Their fortress prison was built of brick, but it was not a particularlysomber place. They were all put in one large room which had two windowsbarred with iron; but plenty of air came in at the windows, and the place,though bare, was clean.

  "Well," said Lieutenant Bernal, when they were inside, "tell me all thatoccurred before Bernardo Galvez."

  Paul was again the spokesman telling everything that was said as literallyas he could.

  "I have an impression," said Lieutenant Bernal, "although my impressionsare usually wrong and my memory is always weak, that you have scored, atleast partially. You have sowed the fertile crop of suspicion in the mindof Bernardo Galvez. He has shown that by making Francisco Alvarezvirtually a prisoner, also, and you have a powerful advocate in the SenorPollock, the great merchant, and I may add the great diplomat, also."

  "How long do you think we will be kept in here?" asked Shif'less Sol,looking around at the room, which, though wide, was by no means so wide asthe forests of Kentucky.

  "I do not know," replied the lieutenant, smiling--he understood the lookof the shiftless one, "but you shall not be ill-treated, and do not feelthat any disgrace lies upon you. This is a military prison. Good men havebeen confined here; I myself, for instance, because of some little breachof military discipline magnified by my officers into a fault. Oh, youshall not suffer!"

  He bustled about cheerily. He had food and drink brought to them, and thenhe departed, volunteering to see that their private property on "TheGalleon" was saved and brought to them.

  No one spoke for a little while after his going, and then the silence wasbroken by a long, dismal sigh. It was drawn up from the depths of LongJim's chest.

  "Are you sick, Jim?" asked Henry.

  "Yes, Henry," replied Jim in a melancholy tone, "I'm sick; sick uv allthis jawin', sick uv seein' things pulled here, an' then pulled yonder,sick uv hearin' people lyin', knowin' that they're lyin', and knowin' thatother people know that they're lyin'."

  "Why, Jim," said Paul, who had a twinkle in his eye, "that's diplomacy,and the man who practises it is called a diplomatist or diplomat. It'sconsidered a great accomplishment."

  "It ain't so considered by me, an' I'm bein' heard from," said Long Jimwith great emphasis. "Them dy-plo-may-tists or dy-plo-maws may reckontheirselves pow'ful big boys, but I've got another an' better name fur'em, and it's spelled with jest four letters, uv which the furst is l an'the last is r, an' them that comes in between are i an' a, with the ifirst. Why, Paul, it makes me plum' sick, all these goin's on. In a bigtown like this, full uv Spaniards an' Frenchmen an' Injuns an' niggers an'mixed breeds, an' the Lord knows what, you can never tell nuth'in' 'boutnobody, 'cept that he says what he don't believe, an' that he ain't whathe is.

  "I guess I'm in love more with the big woods than ever. Thar things iswhat they is. A buffaler don't pretend to be a b'ar. He'd be ashamed to becaught tryin' to play sech a trick, an' a b'ar has the same respect furhisself; he'd never dream uv sayin' in his b'ar language, 'Look at me,admire me, see what a fine big buffaler I am!' An' I've a lot uv respeckfur the Injun, too. He's an Injun an' he don't say he ain't. He don't comesneakin' along claimin' that he's an old friend uv the family, he jest upan' lets drive his tomahawk at your head, ef he gits the chance, an' makesno bones 'bout it. I'd a heap ruther be killed by a good honest Injun whowuz pantin' fur my blood an' didn't pretend that he wuzn't pantin', thanbe done to death down here, in some cur'us, unbeknown, hole-in-the-darkway, by a furrin' man who couldn't speak a real word of the decent Englishlanguage, but who wuz tryin' to let on all the time that he hated to doit."

  Long Jim stopped, breathing hard with his long speech and anger. Shif'lessSol rose, walked across the room, and solemnly held out his hand to hiscomrade.

  "Jim," he said, "you don't often talk sense, but you're talkin' a heap o'it now. Shake."

  Long Jim shook and added with a grin:

  "When me an' you agree, Sol, 'bout anythin', it's shorely right."

  Then they fell silent for a while, each thinking in his own way of whathad occurred. Henry Ware walked to one of the windows and looked out for along while. He relished little the idea of being a prisoner for the secondtime, even if the second imprisonment were a sort of courtesy affair. Hesaw from the windows the roofs of houses amid green foliage and he knewthat only a few hundred yards beyond lay the great forest, which, now inthe freshest and tenderest tints of spring, rolled away unbroken, save forthe few scratches that the French or Spanish had made, for thousands ofmiles, and for all he knew to the Arctic Circle itself.

  The words of Long Jim stirred the youth deeply. He did not like intrigueand double-dealing and the ways of foreign men. Like Long Jim he longedfor the great honest forest, and he, too, had his respect for the Indianwho would tomahawk him without claiming to be a friend. He was glad, veryglad, that he had come upon so great an errand, but he would like tocleave through the whole web of intrigue with one sturdy blow and then beoff into the forest which was calling to him with such a dearly lovedvoice.

  Paul saw Henry's face and he understood its expression. He knew that itwas harder for his comrade than for himself to endure the confinementwithin four walls, but he said nothing. Words would be wasted.

  Later in the day their door was opened, and Mr. Pollock came in bringingwith him a cheery breeze.

  "I've come to tell you what news there may be," he said, "and also to askquestions. Now, sit down and make yourselves comfortable. That's right.The cunning and ambitious Don Francisco Alvarez is in a rage. He is alsosomewhat frightened. He knows that Bernardo Galvez will be busy the nextfew days trying to secure the proof of the charges that you make againsthim. In my opinion, Galvez believes that they are true, but, as you willagree, he cannot act without proof."

  "But that is exactly what we lack at this time," said Henry, "and how canwe get it while we are locked up here?"

  "Just so! Just so! That is a point to which I am coming. Now, about thisrenegade, this Braxton Wyatt. You say he is the man who drew the maps andwho has been the intermediary in this whole nefarious scheme. Maps couldbe drawn, of course, for a purpose not wicked, but if they could beproduced, and above all if Alvarez had made any notes upon them in his ownhandwriting, they would go far to help. If not proof, they would at leastbe a strong indication. Now, where do you think these maps are kept?"

  "On the person of Braxton Wyatt," replied Henry promptly.

  The merchant smiled with pleasure.

  "Of course! Of course!" he said. "They belong to Wyatt and naturally hewould keep them. Naturally, also, Alvarez would want him to keep them. Hewould take care that such things were not found on his own person. We mustget possession of those maps. But we must go further. This renegade haslived among both the Shawnees and Miamis and is high in their confidence,is it not so?"

  "Yes, both the great head-chiefs, Yellow Panther and Red Eagle, trusthim."

  "And to carry out this nefarious alliance some promise must have passedbetween Alvarez and the two head chiefs. That promise had to take aconcrete form to be binding."

  "War belts," suggested Henry.

  "But a white man does not send war belts. He has another kind of token,and he makes that token with paper, ink, and a goose quill. Yes, Alvarezis cunning, I know, but the most cunning of all men when he enters a greatconspiracy must leave a loose end hanging about somewhere. Or, to changemy simile, there is no armor of deception so complete that there is not acrack in it. We must find that loose end, we must find that crack, andwhen we do, we can see victory just ahead of us."

  "Do you mean," said Henry, "that Alvarez has probably sent a letter to theNorthern chiefs, promising that as Governor General of Louisiana he willhelp them with soldiers and cannon against us in Kentucky?"

  "I think it likely, quite likely," returned Oliver Pollock, nodding hishead to give emphasis to his words. "He had to give them something thatwould bind. A conspirator must take a risk and in this case it seemed
small. The villages of those chiefs are beyond the Ohio, fifteen hundredmiles at least from here. The chance that such a letter would reappear inNew Orleans was most remote, and Alvarez, might have expected to provideagainst that, too, by being Governor General within a few months. I feelconfident that there is such a letter and we must find it."

  "It's a pretty problem," said Paul.

  "I admit it," said Oliver Pollock, "but a new continent teaches one toachieve the impossible. That is what are we to do; how, I do not yet know,but we must do it."

  "It's important," said Henry, "that it be done soon."

  "It certainly is," said Mr. Pollock with great emphasis, "because I wishto start North soon with a great fleet of canoes and other boats loadedwith rifles, powder, lead, blankets, medicines, and other absolutelynecessary things for our suffering brethren in the east. They are hardpressed there, and it takes a long time to pull up the Mississippi and theOhio and then carry these things across four or five hundred miles ofcountry to our army."

  "It's shorely a wonderful thing," said Shif'less Sol, "that you kin takeboats up a big river hundreds an' hundreds o' miles into the heart o' acontinent, then bend off into another river runnin' into it that takesyou nearly over to the Atlantic. An' mebbe ef you took one o' the riversthat runs in it on the other side you might follow it up 'till you gotpurty near to the western ocean. It says to me plain ez print that we musthev this here Mississippi all the way to its mouth. We can't stay bottledup."

  "Sh-sh," said Mr. Pollock, warningly. "Leave that to the future. It willadjust itself, and I think it will adjust itself in the way that we wish,but we cannot talk of it now, while Bernardo Galvez is our good friend andSpain inclines to our side. Of course Louisiana may be passed back toFrance, but France is a better and more powerful friend than Spain canbe."

  "Do you think you can get hold of Braxton Wyatt?" asked Henry of Mr.Pollock.

  "I shall try," replied the merchant. "Our association has agents here, andin such times as these and in such a great emergency much may be excused.If we can get hands upon him at a convenient moment and place we'll seewhether he has those maps about him."

  "He'll surely have them," said Henry. "But he'll stick close to Alvarez."

  "Yes, there lies the trouble," said Mr. Pollock, "but we'll do our best."

  He took his departure, and they were left again to loneliness. Severaldays passed thus and they chafed terribly. Food and drink they had inplenty, and even some English books were sent to them. But the narrowspace and the four enclosing walls were always there. Outside the springwas deepening. All the great forest throbbed with the life of bird andbeast, but they, the highest of creation, could not walk ten paces in anydirection.

  "Jim," said Shif'less Sol to Long Jim, "there's a spring 'bout twentymiles north o' Wareville that you an' me hev sat by many a time. Thar arehundreds a' springs through that country, yes, thousands o' 'em, but thisone is the finest o' 'em all. It comes right out o' the side o' a rockhill, a stream so pure that you kin see right through it same ez ef itwuzn't thar, then it falls into a most bee-yu-ti-ful rock pool scooped outby Natur, an' ez the pool overflows, it runs away through the grass an'the woods in a stream 'bout two feet wide an' four inches deep. I thinkthat's 'bout the nicest, coldest, an' most life-givin' water in allKentucky. You an' me, Jim, hev gone thar many a time, hot an' tired fromthe hunt, an' hev felt ez ef we had landed right on the steps o' Heavenitself. An' the game, Jim! The game, big an' little, knowed 'bout thatspring, too. Remember that tre-men-je-ous big elk you an' me killed 'bouttwo hundred yards north o' the spring. He stood most ez high ez a horse.An' remember, Jim, when we climbed up on top o' the hill out o' which thespring runs, we could see a long distance every way, north, south, eastan' west, over the most bee-yu-ti-ful country, an' we could go whar wepleased. We could follow the buffaler clean to the western ocean ef wefelt like it."

  Long Jim had been sitting on the floor. Now he rose and advanced in athreatening manner upon Shif'less Sol.

  "See here, Sol Hyde!" he exclaimed, "me an' you hev had words many a time,but they hev always ended in smoke! They hev never gone ez fur ez this!An' I want to tell you right here, Sol Hyde, that I kin stand a lot uvthings but I can't stand this! 'Ef you say another word about thatbee-yu-ti-ful spring, an' them bee-yu-ti-ful woods, an' that bee-yu-ti-fulgame, thar'll be a heap uv trouble, an' it'll all be fur you!"

  "Hit him anyway, Jim," said Tom Ross. "He's done filled me clean up withdiscontent, and he ought to be punished."

  Shif'less Sol laughed.

  "I won't do it again, Jim," he said. "It wuz 'cause I feel ez bad about itez you do, an' I jest had to let off some meanness."

  Lieutenant Diego Bernal reappeared at last. He bestowed shrewd looks uponthe five and said:

  "I have an impression, though my impressions are usually false and mymemory always weak, that you are pining. You wish the liberty and the openair of Kaintock. Your legs are long and you would stretch them."

  "You hev shore hit it, leftenant," said Tom Ross. "Sometimes I think uvstartin' off walkin' ez straight an' hard ez I kin, goin' right throughthe wall thar, an' then through any house that might git in the way, an'never to stop goin' 'till I got to Kentucky, whar a man may breathe freean' easy."

  Lieutenant Diego Bernal laughed and daintily stroked his little mustache.

  "I understand you and you have my sympathy," he said. "We Catalans are atheart republicans, and I am interested in this new place of yours that youcall Kaintock. But you will have to endure this fort a while longer. Thegood Senor Pollock does not make progress. He cannot produce the proof ofwhat you charge. Yet Bernardo Galvez waits. He believes in you, and heholds Alvarez and Wyatt in the city. He is strengthened in his opinion,too, by gossip that has come down from Beaulieu, but that is not proof andhe cannot act upon it. But be patient. I have an impression, although myimpressions are usually false, that time is fighting for you."

  He stayed with them an hour, precise and affected, but they believed himto be brave and true. A few days later Oliver Pollock himself came again.

  "I have not been able to get hold of Wyatt," he said. "He stays tooclosely with Alvarez. I don't think that my agents are skillful enough.Hence I decided to procure a new one and fortunately I have succeeded."

  "Who is that?" asked Henry.

  "Yourself."

  "Myself!" exclaimed Henry in astonishment.

  "No one but you," replied the merchant. "I have been able, by the use ofgreat influence, to secure from Bernardo Galvez your temporary release. Itis to his interest to have this plot exposed if it really exists, andaccordingly he has allowed me to borrow you. You can go forth with me ifyou give your word of honor that you will not leave New Orleans or itsvicinity and will report again here."

  "Why, of course I'll go! I'll"--exclaimed Henry joyfully, and then hestopped suddenly, looking around at his comrades. Then he added: "I don'tfeel right, Mr. Pollock, to go away and leave the boys in this place."

  Up rose Tom Ross.

  "Don't you fret about us, Henry," he said. "You're goin' on a good workan' you'll do it, too. We need to hev one uv our gang outside. Remember upat Boo-ly, when Alvarez had us, how much better we felt 'cause he didn'thev Sol. 'Twas a comfort to think that Sol wuz out thar in the woods."

  It was a long speech for Tom Ross, but it expressed the sentiments of themall. Henry left with Mr. Pollock and they went to a handsome brick housein the city. This house was store, office, and residence combined, andseveral clerks were about. But these clerks did not have pale faces andbent backs. They were mostly strong-limbed, broad-shouldered men withtanned faces.

  "They work out of doors," said Mr. Pollock briefly. "Some are to go withthe fleet up the rivers, others have been as far as the West Indiesaccumulating supplies. It is necessary for them all to be able to writeand shoot."

  Henry liked their looks, but he did not have a chance to speak to any ofthem as Mr. Pollock quickly led the way Into a small inner office, wherehe motioned Henry to a chair and
took one himself. Henry was now withinnarrower walls than those that confined him in the prison, but he felt ahuge sense of relief. He was free. If he wanted to open the door and walkout he could do so. He expanded his great chest and took a mighty breath.Mr. Pollock heard the suspiration, looked up, and laughed. He understoodperfectly.

  "I'd feel that way, too, if I had been in your place," he said. "Now whatwe want to do is to devise some plan of trapping your friend and enemy.Mr. Wyatt. What do you think?"

  "Once," replied Henry, "when, he was carrying war belts between theShawnees and Miamis we simply seized him and took them away from him. Wemust do something of this kind. Where is he staying?"

  "Alvarez, has a house near the river. He is there. I know that the two areplotting all the while, but I cannot get the proof."

  "Do Wyatt and Alvarez know that I'm out?"

  "No, neither of them."

  "That's good. I think I can surprise Braxton Wyatt. If I can get my handson him I'm sure that we'll find those maps. What kind of a house hasAlvarez?"

  "You can see it from that window. A pretty place, standing among thetrees."

  Henry looked, and the longer he looked the more pleased he felt. The treeswere thick around the house of Alvarez and the fact gave him an idea.

  "I think I know how to do it," he said.

  Oliver Pollock leaned forward, his shrewd face eager, and for a fewminutes the two talked low and earnestly.