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

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER XVIII

  NORTHWARD WITH THE FLEET

  When Alvarez was gone, the five rose and thanked the Governor General.They, too, did not wish to rejoice over a fallen foe, but it was themoment of their complete triumph. Success had come better than they hadever hoped and the great three-faced conspiracy was shattered. It wasSpanish cannon that they had dreaded and now they could not thunderagainst the wooden walls in Kentucky. They crowded around the priest, too,and shook his hand and were grateful for his timely assistance. He hadcome at the most opportune of all moments.

  It was Paul who acted as spokesman for them with Bernardo Galvez.

  "Your Excellency, we came this vast distance confiding in your justice,and we have found our confidence well placed," he said.

  Bernardo Galvez smiled. It was a moment of triumph for him, too. A boldconspiracy against him had been crushed, and the five had been the chiefinstruments in the crushing of it. Even without the aid of his good heart,his feelings toward them would have been very kindly.

  "If New Orleans has proved inhospitable to you for a time," he said, "sheis now ready to make atonement. Your good friend, Mr. Pollock, will carefor you."

  The five withdrew with the merchant, still elated, still feeling the fullsense of victory. Mr. Pollock had been very quiet but when they reachedthe open air he burst forth.

  "Lads," he said, "'tis a great task that you have done. You have savedKentucky--and these things are far-reaching--you may have saved all thecolonies beside. If the Mississippi had been closed to us we could notreach our friends in the east with the supplies that they need so badly.But I can't say more. You were surely inspired when you set out upon thiserrand, and there is a tremendous debt of gratitude coming to you."

  He shook hands with them all, one by one. But Long Jim heaved a mightysigh of relief.

  "Is it all over, Paul?" he asked.

  "I think so, Jim. We seem to have destroyed for good and all the greatthree-cornered conspiracy against us."

  "Then," said Jim, "ef it's all done I want to talk sense. I'm in favor uvour startin' to Kentucky right away, that is, in about five minutes. Thembig woods keep callin' to me, I heard 'em callin' last night in my dreams,an' I hear 'em callin' now when I'm awake. I've breathed indoor air longenough. It's layin' heavy on my lungs, an' I want to put in its place airthat's swep' clean across from the Pacific Ocean an' that ain't hit notbin' foul on the way."

  "Five minutes is too short notice, Jim," laughed Paul, "but we'll surelystart soon, though it's a tremendously long tramp through the woods andeven if we had 'The Galleon' we'd have to pull and sail against thecurrent."

  Oliver Pollock was watching them as they talked and his eyes gleamed, buthe said nothing until they were within his house, where he took them andgave them refreshments. There he had a proposition to make.

  "The boat, of course, you have lost," he said, "as it belongs to Spain,but your arms and other equipment are all in my possession--they weregiven to me to keep for you. But our fleet of canoes loaded with arms andsupplies will start north in three days. Will you go on it? Not to work,not to paddle, unless you wish, but to guide and to fight. It is no favorthat I am conferring upon you, but one that you can confer upon me if youwill. We need such as you and with you I shall feel that the fleet issafer."

  It was a most welcome offer. They could serve the cause and themselves atthe same time. All things seemed to fall out as they wished.

  "Sir, we thank you," said Henry speaking for them all. "You do not have tomake such an offer twice."

  "Good! Good!" said Oliver Pollock. "Then the main feature of the bargainis closed and now I must have you to know the captain of the fleet. Oh, Ithink that you will agree with him famously. He will be in charge of thenavigation and the fleet, though not of you. You are to remain in yourrole of free rangers."

  He clapped his hand upon a little bell on the table and one of thestalwart, sunbrowned clerks entered.

  "Bring in Captain Colfax. I want him to make some new friends," saidOliver Pollock, who was in the greatest of good humors.

  Captain Adam Colfax of New Hampshire, who found the climate of New Orleansvery warm, came in in a minute or two, and his was a figure to attract theattention of anybody. Middle aged, nearly as tall as Jim Hart, red haired,with a sharp little tuft of red whisker on his chin, and with featuresthat seemed to be carved out of some kind of metal, he was a combinationof the seaman and landsman, as tough and wiry as they ever grow to be. Heregarded Oliver Pollock out of twinkling little blue eyes that could bemerry or severe, as they pleased.

  "Captain Colfax," said Oliver Pollock, "These are the five from Kentuckyof whom you heard. They are to go with you on your great journey as far asKentucky, but they are to do as they please. They are scouts, warriors,and free rangers. You will find them of great service."

  He introduced them one by one, and Adam Colfax gave them a hearty gripwith a hand which seemed to be made of woven steel wire.

  "Good woodsmen and good riflemen I take it," he said, "and we may needboth. I hear that the Creeks, Cherokees, and others, are feeling full offight. Now, I ain't looking for a fight, but if it happens to get in myway I'm not running from it."

  "You old war horse," said Oliver Pollock, laughing, "it's your business toget these supplies through, not to be shooting at Indians. I wish I couldgo with you. It's a wonderful journey, but I have to stay here in NewOrleans. This is the gate and we must see that it is not closed. How manycanoes and boats have we now, Adam?"

  "About sixty, and they are manned by at least three hundred men. As I seeit, we can take care of ourselves."

  "Adam," said Mr. Pollock laughing, "I believe you're really looking for afight."

  Adam Colfax showed two rows of fine, white teeth, but said nothing. Aftera little more hearty talk he went away to look after his fleet, and Mr.Pollock made arrangements for the five to stay at his house until theirdeparture north. They were to occupy a single big room, and their rifles,other arms, and general equipment were already there waiting for them.

  "I'll miss 'The Galleon,'" said Paul, "I'd like to be going back in her. Isuppose it's sentiment, but I became attached to that boat."

  "She wuz shorely comf'table," said Shif'less Sol. "I had a good timefloatin' down her on the Missip'. Now I reckon Jim here will hev to row meor paddle me all the way back to Kaintuck."

  "Ef you wait fur me to row or paddle you, you won't ever travel more'n sixinches," said Long Jim.

  "Jest like you, Jim; you ain't got no gratitood at all fur me gittin' youaway from New Orlee-yuns."

  Paul, who had been speaking to Henry in a low tone, now turned again toMr. Pollock.

  "There is one more thing that we want you to do for us, if you will, Mr.Pollock," he said. "We took the boat from Alvarez because he attacked usfirst, and we put it to what we think was a good use. But it reallybelonged to Spain and Bernardo Galvez. So if any wages are coming to us wewish that you would take enough in advance and pay the Governor Generalfor the use of the boat and what stores we may have consumed."

  "It shall be done," said Oliver Pollock, "and I like your spirit inwishing it to be done."

  It was a promise that he kept faithfully.

  When they reached their room they found their rifles and other arms inperfect order. Lieutenant Diego Bernal had taken good care of them. LongJim picked up his rifle and handled it lovingly.

  "It feels good jest to tech it," he said. "I didn't think I could everlike a Spaniard ez well ez I do that thar little leftenant. I'll miss himwhen we go ploughin' up the river."

  They were preparing to leave the room and breathe all out of doors, as Solput it, when they were stopped by the entrance of Father Montigny. Theycrowded around him, expressing anew the gratitude that they had shown tohim at the house of the Governor General.

  "It was really you, Father Montigny, who saved everything," said Paul.

  The priest smiled and shook his head.

  "No," he said, "It was not I, but your courage an
d tenacity. I had therare good fortune to find the letter among the Chickasaws and obtain it.It was sent by the Shawnees and Miamis as a sort of token, a war belt asit were. It was only a remote chance that brought it back to New Orleans,and even then Alvarez confidently expected to be Governor General."

  "What will become of Alvarez?" asked Paul.

  "It is the plan to send him a prisoner to Spain on the galleon, DonaIsabel, as you know, but I fear that we have not heard the last of him. Heis a man of fierce temper, and now he is wild with rage and mortification.Moreover, he has many followers here in New Orleans. All the desperadoes,adventurers, former galley slaves, and others of that type would have beenready to rally around him. But I have come to tell you good-bye. I goagain in my canoe up the Mississippi."

  "Can't you stay a while in New Orleans and rest?" asked Paul--the sympathybetween Paul and the priest was strong, each having a certain spiritualquality that was in agreement.

  "No," replied Father Montigny, "I cannot stay. You came on your task inspite of hardships and dangers because you felt that a power urged you toit. Farewell. We may meet again or we may not, as Heaven wills."

  They followed him to the door and when he was almost out of sight heturned and waved his hand to them.

  The next day New Orleans, which was already deeply stirred by news of theplot of Alvarez and its discovery, had another thrill. It was LieutenantDiego Bernal who told the five of it at the counting house of OliverPollock.

  "Francisco Alvarez has escaped," he said. "The watch at the prison wasnone too strict; it may be that some of the guards themselves were friendsof his. In any event, he is gone from the city, and his going has beenfollowed by the departure of many men whom New Orleans could well spare.But whether their going now will be to our benefit I cannot tell."

  "Do you mean to say," asked Henry, "that all these men have gone away tojoin Alvarez in some desperate adventure?"

  "I have an impression, although my impressions are usually false," repliedthe Lieutenant, "that such is the case. The Chickasaws, the Creeks, andother tribes of these regions are his friends because he has promised themmuch. A capable officer with a hundred desperate white men at his back anda horde of Indians might create stirring events."

  The five became very thoughtful over what he said, but when LieutenantDiego Bernal was taking his leave he looked at them rather enviously.

  "You five inspire me with a certain jealousy," he said. "I have animpression, although my impressions are usually wrong and my memory alwaysweak, that you are strongly attached to one another, that no one everhesitates to risk death for the others, that you are bound together by ahundred ties, and that you act together for the common good. Ah, that issomething like friendship, real friendship, I should like to be one of aband like yours, but I look in vain for such a thing in New Orleans."

  "I wish that you were going with us," said Henry heartily.

  "I wish it, too. Often I long for the great forests and the free air asyou do, but my service is due here to Bernardo Galvez, who is my goodfriend. But it is pleasant to see that you have triumphed so finely."

  "We may encounter great dangers yet," said Henry.

  "It is quite likely, but I have an impression, and upon this occasion atleast I am sure my impression is not wrong, that you will overcome them asyou have done before."

  When he was gone, and every one of the five felt genuine regret at hisdeparture, they went down to the river, where their fleet was anchored,and were welcomed by Adam Colfax.

  "We're certainly going to-morrow," said the captain, "but nobody can tellwhen we'll get to Fort Pitt."

  It was indeed a fine fleet of canoes and boats to be propelled by paddle,oar, and sail, and it bore a most precious cargo. Eight of the largerboats carried a twelve pound brass cannon apiece to be used if need be onthe way, but destined for that far-distant and struggling army in thenortheast. Stored in the other boats and canoes were five hundred muskets,mostly from France, barrels of powder, scores of bars of lead, preciousmedicines worth their weight in gold, blankets, cloth for uniforms andunderclothing. It was the most valuable cargo ever started up theMississippi and there were many strong and brave men to guard it.

  "We carry things both to kill and to cure," said Paul.

  "An' we're goin', too!" said Long Jim, heaving again that mighty sigh ofrelief. "That's the big thing!"

  They started the next day at the appointed time. Henry, Paul, and Long Jimwere In one of the leading boats, and Tom Ross and Shif'less Sol were inanother near them. The population of New Orleans was on the levee to seethem go, and some wished them good luck and many wished them bad. Themajority of the French were for them, and the majority of the Spanishagainst them.

  But the five, now that the time was at hand, felt only elation. The breezeblew strong and fresh over the mighty river that came from theirbeloved-forests and vast unknown regions beyond. They seemed to feel in itsome of the tang and sparkle of the north.

  "Good-bye, New Orleans," said Jim Hart, waving a long hand on a long arm;"I'm glad I've seed you, I'm glad I've laid my weary head to rest insideyour walls fur a few nights, but I'm glad I don't stay in you, nor in anyother town. Good-bye."

  One of the brass cannon fired a salute, cannon on the fort and thegalleon, Dona Isabel, replied. Adam Colfax gave the word, and at the sameinstant hundreds of oars and paddles dipped into the muddy current of theMississippi. The great supply fleet leaped forward as if it were onewhole, and soon New Orleans and its intrigues sank under the curve behindthem.

  Henry and Paul, although they did not have to work, pulled at the oarswith the others, and more than one man noticed how the mighty muscles ofHenry Ware's arm swelled and bunched as he made the boat leap forward. Butthey did not maintain their high rate of speed long. As the rivers ran itwas a good two thousand miles to Fort Pitt, and they did not wish toexhaust themselves on the first twenty. Long Jim at last let his oar restand patted Paul joyfully on the shoulder.

  "Ain't you noticed nothin', Paul?" he asked.

  "I've noticed a lot of river, and a fine little fleet on it."

  "But somethin' better than that. Look at the trees, Paul, all along oneither side, an' not a house in sight, an' not a human bein' 'ceptourselves, not a single trail uv smoke to dirty the sky. Nothin' but thewoods ez God made 'em. I tell you, Paul, it's pow'ful fine jest to live!"

  Paul shared his enthusiasm, but his feelings went further. Beyond a doubtthey had been successful in their great journey to the south, but anotherand large purpose was yet left. Their task had brought them into contactwith the world outside, and Paul devoutly hoped that the supply trainwould reach Fort Pitt in time.

  The day went smoothly on. The fleet kept its formation something, likethat of an arrow, with Adam Colfax's boat the point of the arrow, andthose containing the five just behind. The river assumed a whollywilderness aspect. Spanish or French boats were few and they gave thefleet a wide berth. Wild fowl swarmed once more, and they saw a bear onthe bank regarding them with a half wise, half comic countenance.

  When the sun was low the boats containing the five were turned toward theland. There they found a cove in which the boats could be safely tied anda fine grove in which they could cook, and which would also furnish a goodplace for those who wished to sleep ashore. Henry Ware and Shif'less Solscouted in the country about but saw no sign of anything that mightdisturb.

  All five slept on land wrapped in their blankets under the trees, andearly the next morning the journey was resumed. Progress could not berapid. They had to face the slow, heavy current of the Mississippi, andnow and then Henry and Shif'less Sol and Tom Ross walked through thewoods along the shore. They early established their reputations as thebest hunters and shots in the fleet, and they kept the men supplied withgame, bear, deer, and water fowl.

  Several days passed in this manner, and Henry noticed that people wereeven scarcer than they had been when they were coming down. Then they hadseen a few, now not more than two or three, and these avoided th
em.

  "I don't believe they are really friendly to us," said Henry to Paul, "andsomething to injure us may be on foot. I wish that we were beyond the lastFrench and Spanish settlement."

  "We are too strong to be attacked," said Paul, "I don't think we haveanything to fear."

  Henry shook his head somewhat doubtfully, but he said nothing more on thesubject at that time, and the fleet moved steadily on without event. AdamColfax exercised a stern discipline. There were wild men in his fleet,adventurers, fellows who had floated about the world, but he was a matchfor any of them, and those who did not respect his voice feared his readyhand. But even these were animated by the great purpose and the thrill ofa two-thousand mile journey on unknown rivers through a vast wilderness.

  Half of the men slept ashore every night. They would build great fires,cook their suppers, and then sit around awhile talking. Some one wouldsing, and others would play strange, old tunes on accordion or guitar.Paul heard many a snatch of song in Spanish or French or Portuguese, andthe wilderness would lend an additional charm to the melody. Adam Colfax,stern ruler that he was, never forbade these amusements.

  "It isn't well to stop up things too tight," he would say. "Children havegot to make noise, and men are a good deal the same way. If you seal 'emup they'll bust."

  These evening scenes always made a deep impression upon Paul. There werethe cheerful fires, lighted for cooking, and now dying down to great bedsof coals, the surrounding darkness seeming to come closer and closer, butwithin it a wide circle of light in which many men sat or reclined atease, smoking or talking, or doing both. All were good-natured, theweather was fair so far, the journey easy, the work not excessively hard,and the hunters brought in fresh game in plenty.

  They passed the mouth of the bayou near which the Chateau of Beaulieustood, and Henry and Shif'less Sol went to see it. They found a smalldetachment of Spanish soldiers sent by Bernardo Galvez in possession, butthe followers of Alvarez had disappeared. The place seemed lonely anddeserted, as the soldiers of Galvez kept close to the house, as if theywere afraid of the wilderness.

  Henry and Shif'less Sol sped back through the forest toward the river.

  "Now I wonder," said Shif'less Sol, "what could hev become o' that Spanishfeller. He wuz jest the kind, so proud he wuz, an' thinkin' so much o'himself, to be burnin' up with hate over what has happened."

  "He has made himself an outlaw," said Henry, "and it's my opinion, Sol,that he's somewhere in these regions. And Braxton Wyatt is with him, too.That fellow will never rest in his plots against us. We'll hear from themboth again. They'll try for some sort of revenge."

  They rejoined the boats at noon, and three or four hours later they saw acanoe ahead of them upon the water. It contained two occupants who gradedtheir speed to that of the fleet, keeping well out of rifle-shot.

  "What do you take them to be?" called out Adam Colfax to Henry.

  "Indians, I know, and spies, I think," replied Henry.

  Several of the more powerful boats moved ahead of the fleet and endeavoredto overtake the canoe, but they could not. The two Indians who occupied itevidently had skill and powerful arms, as they maintained the distancebetween themselves and their pursuers. Henry and Paul, stirred by theinterest of the chase, also seized oars and pulled hard, but the canoepresently turned up a small tributary river, where they did not have timeto follow it, and they saw it no more.

  It was something that many might have passed as a mere incident of theriver, but Henry did not forget it. His sixth sense, the sense of danger,as it were, had received a definite impression, and he paid heed to thewarning.

  That afternoon clouds came up for the first time. It had been very warm onthe river, but the heat and closeness did not develop into a rapid stormof thunder and lightning as so often happens in the Mississippi valley.Instead, the air turned colder, and a raw, drizzling rain set it. It wasthen that they appreciated the comfort of their well-equipped boats.Everybody was wrapped up and protected, and they moved steadily on.

  Henry and Shif'less Sol, as usual, went ashore later on to seek a landingplace, and a site suitable for a camp, as it was considered wise always togive the men warm food. Presently they found a fairly well sheltered spotnear the shore, a slope surrounded by high trees, and when Adam Colfaxreceived the word the boats were tied to the bank. Some tents were pitchedin the opening, and with considerable difficulty the fires were lighted. Adrizzling rain still fell, but the fires finally triumphed over it, andblazed and crackled merrily. Nevertheless, this lightness and merrimentwere not communicated to the men, who shivered in the wet, drew close tothe flames, and had downcast faces. All the five were ashore and in theshadow of the woods they held a little conference of their own, talkingwith great earnestness.

  "I think," said Henry, "that we're being watched and that there is danger,great danger. One never knows what the wilderness contains."

  "Suppose that all of us watch the night through," said Paul.

  "No," said Henry, "I think, Paul, that you ought to sleep and Long Jimshould do so, too. There are enough without you. To-morrow night will beyour turn. We shouldn't waste our resources."

  This satisfied Paul and Jim, and soon they were asleep in one of thetents, but Henry, Shif'less Sol, and Tom Ross were in the dripping forestoutside Adam Colfax's own line of sentinels, seeking the hidden danger.The three remained together, and they looked everywhere. They were on theeast bank and there was nothing but forest. The moon lay behind soddenclouds, and the trees were dark and shadowy. Now and then the wind swept adash of rain in their faces, and the air remained raw and chill. Sharp aswere their eyes, they could not see very far into the forest, but theycould see behind them the flame of their own camp fires, a core of lightin the wilderness.

  "It might be better to put out all those fires," said Henry, "but I don'tbelieve Captain Colfax would hear to it. He thinks we're too strong tofear any serious attack."

  "No," said Shif'less Sol, "he wouldn't do it, an' the men would grumble,too. We've got to be the outside guard ourselves."

  The three kept together, continuing their steady patrol in a semi-circleabout the camp, the side of the river being guarded by the boatsthemselves. The rain died to a drizzle, but the clouds remained, and theskies were dark. Hours passed, and nearly everybody slept soundly by thefires, but the faithful three, gliding among the wet trees and bushes,still watched.

  They heard faint noises in the forest, the passage of the wind, or thestir of a wild animal, and after a while they heard the long, plaintiveand weird note, with which they were so familiar, the howl of the wolf.

  It was characteristic of the three that when this faint note, almost likethe sigh of the wind among the wet trees, reached their ears, they saidnothing, but merely stopped and in the obscurity glanced at one anotherwith eyes of understanding. They listened patiently, and the low,plaintive howl came again and then once more, all from different points ofthe compass. There had been a time when Henry Ware was deceived for amoment by these cries, but it was not possible now.

  "It must be a gathering of the southern tribes," he said, "and I imaginethat Braxton Wyatt is with them, giving them advice. Sol, suppose that yougo to the right and Tom to the left. I'll stay in the center, and if anyone of us sees an enemy he's to shoot at it and rouse the camp."

  The two were gone in an instant, and Henry was left alone. That instantall the old, primeval instincts, so powerful in him, were aroused. Hissixth sense, the sense of danger, was speaking to him in a voice that hecould not but hear. There, too, was the quaver of the wolf. All thesignals of alarm were set, and he resolved that he should be the first tosee danger when It showed its head.

  The clouds piled in heavier masses in the sky, and the darkness thickened.The wind blew lightly and its sound among the boughs and leaves was along, plaintive sigh that had in it a tone like the cry of a woman. Therain came only in gusts, but when it struck it was sharp and cold. Thetrees stood out, black and ill-defined, like skeletons. But the forest,its wet,
its chill, and its loneliness, had no effect upon the attunedmind of Henry Ware. He was in his native element, and every nerve in himthrilled with the knowledge that he would rise to meet the crisis,whatever it might be.

  He was crouched by the side of a great oak, his form blurring with itstrunk, his eyes, now used to the darkness, searching every covert infront--he knew that Shif'less Sol and Tom Ross would watch to right andleft.

  The cry of the wolf did not come again, save for a lone note, now muchnearer. But when its sound passed through the forest, Henry Ware's formseemed to become a little more taut and he leaned a little furtherforward. Beyond the slight bending motion he did not stir.

  He still saw nothing and heard nothing, but that voice which was his sixthsense was calling to him more loudly than ever, and he was ready torespond.

  In front of him, thirty yards away, lay a thicket or undergrowth, and hewatched it incessantly. It seemed to him now that he knew every bush andbriar and vine. Presently a briar moved, and then a bush, and then avine, but they moved against the wind, and the sharp eyes of the watchersaw it. He sank a little lower and the muzzle of his rifle stole forward.He made not the slightest sound, and good eyes, only a few yards away,could not have separated his dark figure from that of the tree trunk.

  The same briar and bush moved a third time, and, as before, against thewind. It did not escape the notice of Henry Ware. Now he saw a sharp, rednose appear, and then the shaggy head behind it.

  The nose remained--projected and lifted in the air, a-sniff to catch thefleeting scent of an enemy. Fancy could readily paint the ugly head of thelank body behind it. But Henry Ware was not deceived for an instant. Themuzzle of the rifle that had been thrust forward, was raised now, andtaking swift aim, he fired.

  A wild and terrible cry swelled through the forest. An Indian warriorsprang to his feet, casting off his guise of a wolfskin, stood perfectlystill for a moment, and then fell headlong among the wet bushes. The crycame back in many real echoes, the shouts of the warriors who knew nowthat there was to be no surprise for them. Their battle cry swelled involume, fierce with anger, but Henry, Shif'less Sol, and Tom Ross werealready running back upon the camp, sounding the alarm, and the men,roused from sleep, were springing to arms.