The Border Watch: A Story of the Great Chief's Last Stand

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER XIX

  A HERALD BY WATER

  The start from Louisville was made and the great expedition began amongthe cheers of the women and children of the little place and from themen who were left behind. Most of the army were in boats which alsocarried great quantities of arms, ammunition and food. All of the littlesettlements buried in the deep woods of Kentucky, though exposed at anytime to sudden and terrible raids, had sent volunteers. They took therisk nevertheless, and dispatched their best to the redoubtable hero,George Rogers Clark. Few people have ever given more supreme examples ofdauntless courage and self-sacrifice than these borderers. Tiny outpostsonly, they never failed to respond to the cry for help. There wasscarcely a family which did not lose someone under the Indian tomahawk,but their courage never faltered, though for nearly twenty years no manwas safe a single hour from savage ambush. They stood fast and enduredeverything.

  Henry, Paul and their comrades were not in the boats, but were withDaniel Boone who led a party of the best scouts on the southern shore.It was not only their business to find their enemy if he should bethere, but to clear him out, unless he were in too great force, and itwas a task that required supreme skill and caution. Throughout its wholecourse dense forests grew along the Ohio, and an ambush might be plantedanywhere. The foliage was still thick and heavy on the trees, as it wasnot yet August, and one seldom saw more than a hundred yards ahead.

  The boats, keeping near the southern shore where their flank wasprotected by Boone's scouts, started, the sunlight streaming down uponthem and the water flashing from their oars. The scouts had already goneon ahead, and the five were among the foremost. In a few minutes thelast sign of the new settlement disappeared and they were in thewilderness. At Boone's orders the scouts formed in small bodies,covering at least two miles from the river. The five formed one of theselittle groups, and they began their work with zeal and skill. No enemyin the underbrush could have escaped their notice, but the whole daypassed without a sign of a foe. When night came on they saw the boatsdraw into a cove on the southern bank, and, after a conference withBoone, they spread their blankets again under the trees, the watch notfalling to their share until the following night. Having eaten from thefood which they carried in knapsacks they looked contentedly at theriver.

  "Well, this will be twice that we have gone up the Ohio, once on thewater, and once on the shore," said Paul. "But as before we haveTimmendiquas to face."

  "That's so," said Shif'less Sol, "but I'm thinkin' that nothin' muchwill happen, until we get up toward the mouth of the Lickin'. It's beenonly two nights since Timmendiquas hisself was spyin' us out, an' aforehe strikes he's got to go back to his main force."

  "Mebbe so an' mebbe not," said Tom Ross. "My eyes ain't so bad and thisbein' a good place to look from I think I see a canoe over thar rightunder the fur shore uv the Ohio. Jest look along thar, Henry, whar thebank kinder rises up."

  The point that Tom indicated was at least a mile away, but Henry agreedwith him that a shape resembling a canoe lay close to the bank.Shif'less Sol and the others inclined to the same belief.

  "If so, it's a scout boat watching us," said Paul, "and Timmendiquashimself may be in it."

  Henry shook his head.

  "It isn't likely," he said. "Timmendiquas knows all that he wants toknow, and is now going northeastward as fast as he can. But his warriorsare there. Look! You can see beyond a doubt now that it is a canoe, andit's going up the river at full speed."

  The canoe shot from the shadow of the bank. Apparently it containedthree or four Indians, and they had strong arms. So it sped over thewater and against the current at a great rate.

  "They've seen all they want to see to-night," said Henry, "but thatcanoe and maybe others will be watching us all the way."

  A half hour later a light appeared in the northern woods and thenanother much further on. Doubtless the chain was continued by more, toofar away for them to see. The men in the main camp saw them also, andunderstood. Every foot of their advance would be watched until theIndian army grew strong enough, when it would be attacked. Yet theirzeal and courage rose the higher. They begged Clark to start again atdawn that no time might be lost. Boone joined the five under the tree.

  "You saw the lights, didn't you, boys?" he said.

  "We saw them," replied Henry, "and we know what they mean. Don't youthink, Mr. Boone, that for a while the most dangerous part of the workwill fall on you?"

  "Upon those with me an' myself," replied Boone in his gentle manner,"but all of us are used to it."

  For two successive nights they saw the fiery signals on the northernshore, carrying the news into the deep woods that the Kentucky army wasadvancing. But they were not molested by any skirmishers. Not a singleshot was fired. The fact was contrary to the custom of Indian warfare,and Henry saw in it the wisdom and restraint of Timmendiquas. Indiansgenerally attack on impulse and without system, but now they werewasting nothing in useless skirmishing. Not until all the warriors weregathered, and the time was ripe would Timmendiquas attempt the blow.

  It gave the little white army a peculiar feeling. The men knew all thetime that they were being watched, yet they saw no human being savethemselves. Boone's scouts found the trail of Indians several times, butnever an Indian himself. Yet they continued their patient scouting. Theydid not intend that the army should fall into an ambush through anyfault of theirs. Thus they proceeded day after day, slowly up the river,replenishing their supplies with game which was abundant everywhere.

  They came to the wide and deep mouth of the Kentucky, a splendid streamflowing from the Alleghany Mountains, and thence across the heart ofKentucky into the Ohio. Henry thought that its passage might bedisputed, and the five, Boone, Thomas and some others crossed cautiouslyin one of the larger boats. They watched to see anything unusual stir inthe thickets on the farther shore of the Kentucky, but no warrior wasthere. Timmendiquas was not yet ready, and now the land portion of thearmy was also on the further shore, and the march still went onuninterrupted. Paul began to believe that Timmendiquas was not able tobring the warriors to the Ohio; that they would stand on the defensiveat their own villages. But Henry was of another opinion, and he soontold it.

  "Timmendiquas would never have come down to Louisville to look us over,"he said, "if he meant merely to act on the defensive at places two orthree hundred miles away. No, Paul, we'll hear from him while we'restill on the river, and I think it will be before Logan will join us."

  Boone and Thomas took the same view, and now the scouting party doubledits vigilance.

  "To-morrow morning," said Boone, "we'll come to the Licking. There arealways more Indians along that river than any other in Kentucky and Iwish Logan and his men were already with us."

  The face of the great frontiersman clouded.

  "The Indians have been too peaceful an' easy," he resumed. "Not a shothas been fired since we left Louisville an' now we're nearly toTuentahahewaghta (the site of Cincinnati, that is, the landing or placewhere the road leads to the river). It means that Timmendiquas has beenmassing his warriors for a great stroke."

  Reasoning from the circumstances and his knowledge of Indian nature,Henry believed that Daniel Boone was right, yet he had confidence in theresult. Seven hundred trained borderers were not easily beaten, even ifLogan and the other three hundred should not come. Yet he and Boone andall the band knew that the watch that night must miss nothing. Theboats, as usual, were drawn up on the southern shore, too far away to bereached by rifle shots from the northern banks. The men were camped on alow wooded hill within a ring of at least fifty sentinels. The Licking,a narrow but deep stream, was not more than five miles ahead. Clarkwould have gone on to its mouth, had he not deemed it unwise to march atnight in such a dangerous country. The night itself was black withheavy, low clouds, and the need to lie still in a strong position wasobvious.

  Boone spread out his scouts in advance. The five, staying together asusual, and now acting independently, advanced through the woods near
theOhio. It was one of the hottest of July nights, and nature was restlessand uneasy. The low clouds increased in number, and continually grewlarger until they fused into one, and covered the heavens with a blackblanket from horizon to horizon. From a point far off in the southwestcame the low but menacing mutter of thunder. At distant intervals,lightning would cut the sky in a swift, vivid stroke. The black woodswould stand out in every detail for a moment, and they would catchglimpses of the river's surface turned to fiery red. Then the nightclosed down again, thicker and darker than ever, and any object twentyyards before them would become only a part of the black blur. A lightwind moaned among the trees, weirdly and without stopping.

  "It's a bad night for Colonel Clark's army," said Shif'less Sol. "Tharain't any use o' our tryin' to hide the fact from one another, 'cause weall know it."

  "That's so, Sol," said Long Jim Hart, "but we've got to watch all thebetter 'cause of it. I've knowed you a long time, Solomon Hyde, an'you're a lazy, shiftless, ornery, contrary critter, but somehow or otherthe bigger the danger the better you be, an' I think that's what'shappenin' now."

  If it had not been so dark Long Jim would have seen Shif'less Sol'spleased grin. Moreover the words of Jim Hart were true. The spirit ofthe shiftless one, great borderer that he was, rose to the crisis, buthe said nothing. The little group continued to advance, keeping a coupleof hundred yards or so from the bank of the Ohio, and stopping every tenor twelve minutes to listen. On such a night ears were of more use thaneyes.

  The forest grew more dense as they advanced. It consisted chiefly ofheavy beech and oak, with scattered underbrush of spice wood and pawpaw.It was the underbrush particularly that annoyed, since it offered thebest hiding for a foe in ambush. Henry prayed for the moon and thestars, but both moon and stars remained on the other side ofimpenetrable clouds. It was only by the occasional flashes of lightningthat they saw clearly and then it was but a fleeting glimpse. But it wasuncommonly vivid lightning. They noticed that it always touched bothforest and river with red fire, and the weird moaning of the wind,crying like a dirge, never ceased. It greatly affected the nerves ofPaul, the most sensitive of the five, but the others, too, were affectedby it.

  Henry turned his attention for a while from the forest to the river. Hesought to see by the flashes of lightning if anything moved there, and,when they were about half way to the mouth of the Licking, he believedthat he caught sight of something in the shape of a canoe, hovering nearthe farther shore. He asked them all to watch at the point he indicateduntil the next flash of lightning came. It was a full minute until theelectric blade cut the heavens once more, but they were all watching andthere was the dark shape. When the five compared opinions they were surethat it was moving slowly northward.

  "It's significant," said Henry. "Daniel Boone isn't often mistaken, andthe warriors are drawing in. We'll be fighting before dawn, boys."

  "An' it's for us to find out when an' whar the attack will come," saidShif'less Sol.

  "We're certainly going to try," said Henry. "Hark! What was that?"

  "Injuns walkin' an' talkin'," said Tom Ross.

  Henry listened, and he felt sure that Ross was right. Under hisleadership they darted into a dense clump of pawpaws and lay motionless,thankful that such good shelter was close at hand. The footsteps, light,but now heard distinctly, drew nearer.

  Henry had a sure instinct about those who were coming. He saw BraxtonWyatt, Blackstaffe, and at least twenty warriors emerge into view. Thenight was still as dark as ever, but the band was so near that thehidden five could see the features of every man. Henry knew by theirpaint that the warriors belonged to different tribes. Wyandots, Miamis,Shawnees, and Delawares were represented. Wyatt and Blackstaffe weretalking. Henry gathered from the scattered words he heard thatBlackstaffe doubted the wisdom of an attack, but Wyatt was eager for it.

  "I was at Wyoming," said the younger renegade with a vicious snap of histeeth, "and it was the rush there that did it. We enveloped them on bothfront and flank and rushed in with such force that we beat them down ina few minutes. Nor did many have a chance to escape."

  "But they were mostly old men and boys," said Blackstaffe, "and they hadlittle experience in fighting the tribes. Clark has a bigger force here,and they are all borderers. You know how these Kentuckians can use therifle."

  Wyatt made a reply, but Henry could not hear it as the two renegades andthe warriors passed on in the underbrush. But he did hear the click of agun lock and he quickly pushed down the hand of Shif'less Sol.

  "Not now! not now, Sol!" he whispered. "Wyatt and Blackstaffe deservedeath many times over, but if you fire they'd all be on us in a whoop,and then we'd be of no further use."

  "You're right, Henry," said the shiftless one, "but my blood was mightyhot for a minute."

  The band disappeared, turning off toward the south, and the five,feeling that they had now gone far enough, returned to the camp. On theway they met Boone and the remainder of the scouts. Henry told what theyhad seen and heard and the great frontiersman agreed with them that theattack was at hand.

  "You saw the war paint of four nations," he said, "an' that proves thata great force is here. I tell you I wish I knew about Logan, an' themen that are comin' down the Lickin'."

  It was now nearly midnight and they found Colonel Clark sitting under atree at the eastern edge of the camp. He listened with the greatestattention to every detail that they could give him, and then his jawseemed to stiffen.

  "You have done well, lads," he said. "There is nothing more dangerousthan the calling of a scout in the Indian wars, but not one of you hasever shirked it. You have warned us and now we are willing forTimmendiquas and Girty to attack whenever they choose."

  Many of the men were asleep, but Clark did not awaken them. He knewfully the value of rest, and they were borderers who would spring totheir feet at the first alarm, alive in every sense and muscle. But atleast a third of his force was on guard. No attack was feared on thewater. Nevertheless many of the men were there with the boats. It was,however, the semicircle through the forest about the camp that was madethick and strong. Throughout its whole course the frontiersmen stoodclose together and keen eyes and trained ears noted everything thatpassed in the forest.

  Henry and his four comrades were at the point of the segment nearest tothe confluence of the Ohio and the Licking. Here they sat upon theground in a close group in the underbrush, speaking but rarely, whiletime passed slowly. The character of the night had not changed. Thesolemn wind never ceased to moan among the trees, and far off in thewest the thunder yet muttered. The strokes of lightning were farbetween, but as before they cast a blood red tinge over forest andriver. The five were some hundreds of yards beyond the camp, and theycould see nothing then, although they heard now and then the rattle ofarms and a word or two from the officers. Once they heard the sound ofheavy wheels, and they knew that the cannon had been wheeled intoposition. Clark had even been able to secure light artillery for hisgreat expedition.

  "Do you think them big guns will be of any use?" asked Shif'less Sol.

  "Not at night," replied Henry, "but in the daytime if we come to closequarters they'll certainly say something worth hearing."

  It was now nearly half way between midnight and morning when thevitality is lowest. Paul, as he lay among the pawpaws, was growing verysleepy. He had not moved for so long a time and the night was so warmthat his eyes had an almost invincible tendency to close, but his willdid not permit it. Despite the long silence he had no doubt that theattack would come. So he looked eagerly into the forest every time thelightning flashed, and always he strained his ears that he might hear,if anything was to be heard.

  The melancholy wind died, and the air became close, hot and heavy. Theleaves ceased to move, and there was no stir in the bushes, but Henrythought that he heard a faint sound. He made a warning gesture to hiscompanions, and they, too, seemed to hear the same noise. All of Paul'ssleepiness disappeared. He sat up, every nerve and muscle attuned forthe crisis
. Henry and he, at almost the same moment, saw the bushes movein front of them. Then they saw the bronze faces with the scalp lockabove them, peering forth. The five sat perfectly silent for a fewmoments and more bronze faces appeared. The gaze of one of the Indianswandered toward the clump of pawpaws, and he saw there one of the fivewho had now risen a little higher than the rest to look. He knew that itwas a white face, and, firing instantly at it, he uttered the long andthrilling war whoop. It was the opening cry of the battle.

  The five at once returned the fire and with deadly effect. Two of thewarriors fell, and the rest leaped back, still shouting their war cry,which was taken up and repeated in volume at a hundred points. Far abovethe forest it swelled, a terrible wolfish cry, fiercest of all on itsdying note. From river and deep woods came the echo, and the warriors inmultitudes rushed forward upon the camp.

  Henry and his comrades when they discharged their rifles ran back towardthe main force, reloading as they ran. The air was filled with terriblecries and behind them dark forms swarmed forward, running and bounding.From trees and underbrush came a hail of rifle bullets that whistledaround the five, but which luckily did nothing save to clip theirclothing and to sing an unpleasant song in their ears. Yet they hadnever run faster, not from fear, but because it was the proper thing todo. They had uncovered the enemy and their work as scouts was over.

  They were back on the camp and among the frontiersmen, in less than aminute. Now they wheeled about, and, with rifles loaded freshly, facedthe foe who pressed forward in a great horde, yelling and firing. Wellit was for the white army that it was composed of veteran borderers. Thesight was appalling to the last degree. The defenders were ringed aroundby flashes of fire, and hundreds of hideous forms leaped as if in thewar dance, brandishing their tomahawks. But Colonel Clark was everywhereamong his men, shouting to them to stand fast, not to be frightened bythe war whoop, and that now was the time to win a victory. Boone, AbeThomas and the five gave him great help.

  The riflemen stood firm in their semicircle, each end of it resting uponthe river. Most of them threw themselves upon the ground, and, while thebullets whistled over their heads, poured forth an answering fire thatsent many a warrior to explore the great hereafter. Yet the tribespressed in with uncommon courage, charging like white men, while theirgreat chiefs Timmendiquas, Red Eagle, Black Panther, Moluntha, CaptainPipe and the others led them on. They rushed directly into the faces ofthe borderers, leaping forward in hundreds, shouting the war whoop andnow and then cutting down a foe. The darkness was still heavy and close,but it was lit up by the incessant flashes of the rifles. The smoke fromthe firing, with no breeze to drive it away, hung low in a dense bankthat stung the mouths and nostrils of the combatants.

  "Keep low, Paul! Keep low!" cried Henry, dragging his young comrade downamong some spicewood bushes. "If you are bound to stick your head uplike that it will be stopping a tomahawk soon."

  Paul did not have to wait for the truth of Henry's words, as a shiningblade whizzed directly where his head had been, and, passing on,imbedded itself in the trunk of a mighty beech. Paul shuddered. Itseemed to him that he felt a hot wind from the tomahawk as it flew by.In his zeal and excitement he had forgotten the danger for a moment ortwo, and once more Henry had saved his life.

  "I wish it would grow lighter," muttered Shif'less Sol. "It's hard totell your friends from your enemies on a black night like this, andwe'll be all mixed up soon."

  "We five at least must keep close together," said Henry.

  A fierce yell of victory came from the southern side of the camp, a yellthat was poured from Indian throats, and every one of the five feltapprehension. Could their line be driven in? Driven in it was! FiftyWyandots and as many Shawnees under Moluntha, the most daring of theirwar chiefs, crashed suddenly against the weakest part of the halfcircle. Firing a heavy volley they had rushed in with the tomahawk, andthe defenders, meeting them with clubbed rifles, were driven back by thefury of the attack and the weight of numbers. There was a confused andterrible medley of shouts and cries, of thudding tomahawks and riflebutts, of crashing brushwood and falling bodies. It was all in the hotdark, until the lightning suddenly flared with terrifying brightness.Then it disclosed the strained faces of white and red, the sweatstanding out on tanned brows, and the bushes torn and trampled in thewild struggle. The red blaze passed and the night shot down in its placeas thick and dark as ever. Neither red men nor white were able to driveback the others. In this bank of darkness the cries increased, and thecloud of smoke grew steadily.

  It was not only well that these men were tried woodsmen, but it wasequally well that they were led by a great wilderness chief. GeorgeRogers Clark saw at once the point of extreme danger, and, summoning hisbest men, he rushed to the rescue. The five heard the call. Knowing itsurgency, they left the spicewood and swept down with the helping band.Another flash of lightning showed where friends and foe fought face toface with tomahawk and clubbed rifle, and then Clark and the new forcewere upon the warriors. Paul, carried away by excitement, was shouting:

  "Give it to 'em! Give it to 'em! Drive 'em back!"

  But he did not know that he was uttering a word. He saw the high cheekbones and close-set eyes, and then he felt the shock as they struck thehostile line. Steel and clubbed rifle only were used first. They did notdare fire at such close quarters as friend and foe were mingled closely,but the warriors were pushed back by the new weight hurled upon them,and then the woodsmen, waiting until the next flash of lightning, sentin a volley that drove the Indians to the cover of the forest. Theattack at that point had failed, and the white line was yet complete.

  Once more the five threw themselves down gasping among the bushes,reloaded their rifles and waited. In front of them was silence. Theenemy there had melted away without a sound, and he too lay hidden, butfrom left and right the firing and the shouting came with undiminishedviolence. Henry, also, at the same time heard in all the terrible uproarthe distant and low muttering of the thunder, like a menacingunder-note, more awful than the firing itself. The smoke reached themwhere they lay. It was floating now all through the forest, and not onlystung the nostrils of the defenders, but heated their brains and madethem more anxious for the combat.

  "We were just in time," said Shif'less Sol. "Ef Colonel Clark hadn't leda hundred or so o' us on the run to this place the warriors would hevbeen right in the middle o' the camp, smashin' us to pieces. How theyfight!"

  "Their chiefs think this army must be destroyed and they're riskingeverything," said Henry. "Girty must be here, too, urging them on,although he's not likely to expose his own body much."

  "But he's a real gen'ral an' a pow'ful help to the Injuns," said TomRoss.

  Clark's summons came again. The sound on the flank indicated that theline was being driven in at another point to the eastward, and the"chosen hundred," as the shiftless one called them, were hurled againstthe assailants, who were here mostly Miamis and Delawares. The Indianswere driven back in turn, and the circle again curved over the groundthat the defenders had held in the beginning. Jim Hart and Tom Ross werewounded slightly, but they hid their scratches from the rest, and wenton with their part. A third attack in force at a third point wasrepulsed in the same manner, but only after the most desperate fighting.Each side suffered a heavy loss, but the Indians, nevertheless, wererepulsed and the defenders once again lay down among the bushes, theirpulses beating fast.

  Then ensued the fiery ring. The white circle was complete, but theIndians formed another and greater one facing it. The warriors no longertried to rush the camp, but flat on their stomachs among the bushesthey crept silently forward, and fired at every white man who exposed ahead or an arm or a hand.

  They seemed to have eyes that pierced the dark, and, knowing where thetarget lay, they had an advantage over the defenders who could not tellfrom what point the next shot would come.

  It was a sort of warfare, annoying and dangerous in the extreme, andClark became alarmed. It got upon the nerves of the men. They werec
ompelled to lie there and await this foe who stung and stung. He soughteagerly by the flashes of lightning to discover where they clustered inthe greatest numbers, but they hugged the earth so close that he sawnothing, even when the lightning was so vivid that it cast a blood redtinge over both trees and bushes. He called Boone, Henry, Thomas andothers, the best of the scouts, to him.

  "We must clear those Indians out of the woods," he said, "or they willpick away at us until nothing is left to pick at. A charge with our bestmen will drive them off. What do you say, Mr. Boone?"

  Daniel Boone shook his head, and his face expressed strong disapproval.

  "We'd lose too many men, Colonel," he replied. "They're in greaternumbers than we are, an' we drove them back when they charged. Now if wecharged they'd shoot us to pieces before we got where we wanted to go."

  "I suppose you're right," said Clark. "In fact, I know you are. Yes, wehave to wait, but it's hard. Many of our men have been hit, and theycan't stand this sort of thing forever."

  "Suppose you send forward a hundred of the best woodsmen andsharpshooters," said Boone. "They can creep among the bushes an' maybethey can worry the Indians as much as the Indians are worrying us."

  Colonel Clark considered. They were standing then near the center of thecamp, and, from that point they could see through the foliage the duskysurface of the water, and when they looked in the other direction theysaw puffs of fire as the rifles were discharged in the undergrowth.

  "It's risky," he said at last, "but I don't see anything else for us todo. Be sure that you choose the best men, Mr. Boone."

  Daniel Boone rapidly told off a hundred, all great marksmen and cautiouswoodsmen. Henry, Paul, Shif'less Sol, Long Jim and Tom Ross were amongthe first whom he chose. Then while the defenders increased their fireon the eastern side, he and his hundred, hugging the ground, began tocreep toward the south. It was slow work for so large a body, and theyhad to be exceedingly careful. Boone wished to effect a surprise and tostrike the foe so hard that he would be thrown into a panic. But Henryand Paul were glad to be moving. They had something now to which theycould look forward. The two kept side by side, paying little attentionto the firing which went on in unbroken volume on their left.

  Boone moved toward a slight elevation about a hundred yards away. Hebelieved that it was occupied by a small Indian force which his gallanthundred could easily brush aside, if they ever came into close contact.Amid so much confusion and darkness he could reach the desired placeunless they were revealed by the lightning. There was not another flashuntil they were more than half way and then the hundred lay so low amongthe bushes that they remained hidden.

  "We're beatin' the savages at their own game," said Shif'less Sol. "Theyare always bent on stalkin' us, but they don't 'pear to know now thatwe're stalkin' them. Keep your eye skinned, Henry; we don't want to runinto 'em afore we expect it."

  "I'm watching," replied Henry in the same tone, "but I don't think I'llhave to watch much longer. In two or three minutes more they'll see usor we'll see them."

  Fifty yards more and another red flash of lightning came. Henry saw afeathered head projecting over a log. At the same time the owner of thefeathered head saw him, fired and leaped to his feet. Henry fired inreturn, and the next instant he and his comrades were upon theskirmishers, clearing them out of the bushes and sending them inheadlong flight. They had been so long in the darkness now that theireyes had grown used to it, and they could see the fleeing forms. Theysent a decimating volley after them, and then dropped down on the ridgethat they had won. They meant to hold it, and they were fortunate enoughto find there many fallen trees swept down by a tornado.

  "We've cut their line," said Boone, "an' we must keep it cut. I've senta messenger to tell Colonel Clark that we've taken the place, an' sincewe've broke their front they'll be mighty good men, Indians andrenegades, if they're ever able to join it together again."

  The warriors returned in great force to the attack. They appreciated thevalue of the position, but the sharpshooters fired from the shelter ofthe logs.

  The five, following their long custom, kept close together, and whenthey threw themselves down behind the logs they took a rapid accounting.Paul was the only one who had escaped unhurt. A tomahawk, thrown atshort range, had struck Henry on the side of the head, but only with theflat of the blade. His fur cap and thick hair saved him, but the forceof the blow had made him reel for a minute, and a whole constellation ofstars had danced before his eyes. Now his head still rung a little, butthe pain was passing, and all his faculties were perfectly clear andkeen. A bullet had nicked Tom Ross's wrist, but, cutting a piece ofbuckskin from his shirt, he tied it up well and gave it no furtherattention. Jim Hart and Shif'less Sol had received new scratches, butthey were not advertising them.

  They lay panting for a few minutes among the fallen trees, and allaround them they heard the low words of the gallant hundred; thoughthere were not really a hundred now. Boone was so near that Henry couldsee the outline of the great forest-fighter's figure.

  "Well, we succeeded, did we not, Colonel Boone?" he said, giving him atitle that had been conferred upon him a year or two before.

  "We have so far," replied Boone, guardedly, "and this is a strongposition. We couldn't have taken it if we hadn't been helped bysurprise. I believe they'll make an effort to drive us out of thisplace. Timmendiquas and Girty know the need of it. Come with me, Mr.Ware, and see that all our men are ready."

  Henry, very proud to serve as the lieutenant of such a man, rose fromhis log and the two went among the men. Everyone was ready with loadedweapons. Many had wounds, but they had tied them up, and, rejoicing nowin their log fortifications, they waited with impatience the Indianonset. Henry returned to his place. A red flare of lightning showed hiseager comrades all about him, their tanned faces, set and lean, everyman watching the forest. But after the lightning, the night, heavy withclouds, swept down again, and it seemed to Henry that it was darker thanever. He longed for the dawn. With the daylight disclosing the enemy,and helping their own aim, their log fortress would be impregnable.Elsewhere the battle seemed to be dying. The shots came in irregularclusters, and the war whoop was heard only at intervals. Directly infront of them the silence was absolute and Henry's rapid mind divinedthe reason for all these things. Girty and Timmendiquas were assemblingtheir main force there and they, too, would rely upon surprise and theirresistible rush of a great mass. He crawled over to Boone and told himhis belief. Boone nodded.

  "I think you are right," he said, "an' right now I'll send a messengerback to Colonel Clark to be ready with help. The attack will come soon,because inside of an hour you'll see dawn peeping over the easterntrees."

  Henry crawled back to his comrades and lay down with them, waitingthrough that terrible period of suspense. Strain their ears as theywould, they could hear nothing in front. If Timmendiquas and Girty weregathering their men there, they were doing it with the utmost skill andsecrecy. Yet the watch was never relaxed for an instant. Every fingerremained on the trigger and every figure was taut for instant action.

  A half hour had passed. In another half hour the day would come, andthey must fight when eyes could see. The lightning had ceased, but thewind was moaning its dirge among the leaves, and then to Henry's earscame the sound of a soft tread, of moccasined feet touching the earthever so lightly.

  "They are coming! They are coming!" he cried in a sharp, intensewhisper, and the next instant the terrible war whoop, the fiercest ofall human sounds, was poured from the hundreds of throats, and duskyfigures seemed to rise from the earth directly in front of them, rushingupon them, seeking to close with the tomahawk before they could take aimwith their rifles in the darkness. But these were chosen men, ready andwonderfully quick. Their rifles leaped to their shoulders and then theyflashed all together, so close that few could miss. The front of theIndian mass was blown away, but the others were carried on by theimpetus of their charge, and a confused, deadly struggle took place oncemore, now among the logs. H
enry, wielding his clubbed rifle again, wassure that he heard the powerful voice of Timmendiquas urging on thewarriors, but he was not able to see the tall figure of the greatWyandot chieftain.

  "Why don't the help from Colonel Clark come?" panted Shif'less Sol. "Ifyou don't get help when you want it, it needn't come at all."

  But help was near. With a great shout more than two hundred men rushedto the rescue. Yet it was hard in the darkness to tell friend fromenemy, and, taking advantage of it, the warriors yet held a place amongthe fallen trees. Now, as if by mutual consent, there was a lull in thebattle, and there occurred something that both had forgotten in thefierce passions of the struggle. The dawn came. The sharp rays of thesun pierced the clouds of darkness and smoke, and disclosed the face ofthe combatants to one another.

  Then the battle swelled afresh, and as the light swung higher andhigher, showing all the forest, the Indian horde was driven back, givingground at first slowly. Suddenly a powerful voice shouted a command andall the warriors who yet stood, disappeared among the trees, meltingaway as if they had been ghosts. They sent back no war cry, not anothershot was fired, and the rising sun looked down upon a battlefield thatwas still, absolutely still. The wounded, stoics, both red and white,suppressed their groans, and Henry, looking from the shelter of thefallen tree, was awed as he had never been before by Indian combat.

  The day was of uncommon splendor. The sun shot down sheaves of red gold,and lighted up all the forest, disclosing the dead, lying often insingular positions, and the wounded, seeking in silence to bind theirwounds. The smoke, drifting about in coils and eddies, rose slowly abovethe trees and over everything was that menacing silence.

  "If it were not for those men out there," said Paul, "it would all belike a dream, a nightmare, driven away by the day."

  "It's no dream," said Henry; "we've repulsed the Indians twice, butthey're going to try to hold us here. They'll surround us with hundredsof sharpshooters, and every man who tries to go a hundred yards from therest of us will get a bullet. I wish I knew where Logan's force is orwhat has become of it."

  "That's a mighty important thing to us," said Boone, "an' it'll growmore important every hour. I guess Logan has been attacked too, but heand Clark have got to unite or this campaign can't go on."

  Henry said nothing but he was very thoughtful. A plan was formingalready in his mind. Yet it was one that compelled waiting. The daydeepened and the Indian force was silent and invisible. Theinexperienced would have thought that it was gone, but these borderersknew well enough that it was lying there in the deep woods not a quarterof a mile away, and as eager as ever for their destruction. ColonelClark reenforced the detachment among the fallen trees, recognizing thegreat strength of the position, and he spoke many words of praise.

  "I'll send food to you," he said, "and meat and drink in plenty. After anight such as we have had refresh yourselves as much as you can."

  They had an abundance of stores in the boats, and the men were notstinted. Nor did they confine themselves to cold food. Fires werelighted in the woods nearest to the river, and they cooked beef,venison, pork and buffalo meat. Coffee was boiled in great cans of sheetiron, and breakfast was served first to the gallant hundred.

  Shif'less Sol, as he lay behind his tree, murmured words of greatcontent. "It's a black night that don't end," he said, "an' I like furmine to end jest this way. Provided I don't get hurt bad I'm willin' tofight my way to hot coffee an' rich buff'ler steak. This coffee makesme feel good right down to my toes, though I will say that there is along-legged ornery creatur that kin make it even better than this. Hey,thar, Saplin'!"

  Long Jim Hart's mouth opened in a chasm of a grin.

  "I confess," he said, "I'm a purty good cook, ef I do tell it myself.But what are we goin' to do now, Henry?"

  "That's for Colonel Clark to say, and I don't think he'll say anythingjust yet."

  "Nice day," said Tom Ross, looking about approvingly.

  All the others laughed, yet Tom told the truth. The clouds were gone andthe air had turned cooler. The forest looked splendid in its foliage,and off to the south they could see wild flowers.

  "Nothin' goin' to happen for some time," said Shif'less Sol, "an' mebein' a lazy man an' proud o' the fact, I think I'll go to sleep."

  Nobody said anything against it, and stretching himself out among thebushes which shaded his face, he was sleeping peacefully in a fewminutes. Paul looked at him, and the impression which the slumbering manmade upon him was so strong that his own eyelids drooped.

  "You go to sleep, too," said Henry. "You'll have nothing to do forhours, and sleep will bring back your strength."

  Paul had eaten a heavy breakfast, and he needed nothing more thanHenry's words. He lay down by the side of his comrade, and soon he toowas slumbering as soundly as Shif'less Sol. Several hours passed. Thesun moved on in its regular course toward the zenith. Paul and theshiftless one still slept. Toward the eastern end of the camp someoneventured a little distance from the others, and received a bullet in hisshoulder. A scout fired at the figure of an Indian that he saw for amoment leaping from one tree to another, but he could not tell whetherhe hit anything. At the other end of the camp there were occasionalshots, but Paul and the shiftless one slept on.

  Henry glanced at the sleepers now and then and was pleased to see thatthey rested so well. He suggested to Jim Hart that he join them, and Jimpromptly traveled to the same blissful country. Henry himself did notcare to go to sleep. He was still meditating. All this sharpshooting bythe two sides meant nothing. It was more an expression of restlessnessthan of any serious purpose, and he paid it no attention. Silent Tomnoticed the corrugation of his brow, and he said:

  "Thinkin' hard, Henry?"

  "Yes; that is, I'm trying," replied Henry.

  Tom, his curiosity satisfied, relapsed into silence. He, too, caredlittle for the casual shots, but he was convinced that Henry had a planwhich he would reveal in good time.

  The sniping went on all day long. Not a great deal of damage was donebut it was sufficient to show to Colonel Clark that his men must lieclose in camp. If the white army assumed the offensive, the great Indianforce from the shelter of trees and bushes would annihilate it. Andthroughout the day he was tormented by fears about Logan. That leaderwas coming up the Licking with only three or four hundred men, andalready they might have been destroyed. If so, he must forego theexpedition against Chillicothe and the other Indian towns. It was aterrible dilemma, and the heart of the stout leader sank. Now and thenhe went along the semicircle, but he found that the Indians were alwayson watch. If a head were exposed, somebody sent a bullet at it. Morethan once he considered the need of a charge, but the deep woods forbadeit. He was a man of great courage and many resources, but as he satunder the beech tree he could think of nothing to do.

  The day--one of many alarms and scattered firing--drew to its close.The setting sun tinted river and woods with red, and Colonel Clark,still sitting under his tree and ransacking every corner of his brain,could not yet see a way. While he sat there, Henry Ware came to him, andtaking off his hat, announced that he wished to make a proposition.

  "Well, Henry, my lad," said the Colonel, kindly, "what is it that youhave to say? As for me, I confess I don't know what to do."

  "Somebody must go down the Licking and communicate with Colonel Logan,"replied the youth. "I feel sure that he has not come up yet, and that hehas not been in contact with the Indians. If his force could breakthrough and join us, we could drive the Indians out of our path."

  "Your argument is good as far as it goes," said Colonel Clark somewhatsadly, "but how are we to communicate with Logan? We are surrounded by aring of fire. Not a man of ours dare go a hundred yards from camp. Whatway is there to reach Logan?"

  "By water."

  "By water? What do you mean?"

  "Down the Ohio and up the Licking."

  Colonel Clark stared at Henry.

  "That's an easy thing to talk about," he said, "but who's going down theOhio
and then up the Licking for Logan?"

  "I--with your permission."

  Colonel Clark stared still harder, and his eyes widened a little withappreciation, but he shook his head.

  "It's a patriotic and daring thing for you to propose, my boy," he said,"but it is impossible. You could never reach the mouth of the Lickingeven, and yours is too valuable a life to be thrown away in a wildattempt."

  But Henry was not daunted. He had thought over his plan long and well,and he believed that he could succeed.

  "I have been along the Ohio before, and I have also been down theLicking," he said. "The night promises to be cloudy and dark like lastnight and I feel sure that I can get through. I have thought outeverything, and I wish to try. Say that you are willing for me to go,Colonel."

  Colonel Clark hesitated. He had formed a strong liking for the tallyouth before him, and he did not wish to see his life wasted, but thegreat earnestness of Henry's manner impressed him. The youth's quiettone expressed conviction, and expressed it so strongly that ColonelClark, in his turn, felt it.

  "What is your plan?" he asked.

  "When the night reaches its darkest I will start with a little raft,only four or five planks fastened together. I do not want a canoe. Iwant something that blends with the surface of the water. I'll swim,pushing it before me until I am tired, and then I'll rest upon it. ThenI'll swim again."

  "Do you really think you can get through?" asked the Colonel.

  "I'm sure of it."

  Colonel Clark paced back and forth for a minute or two.

  "It looks terribly dangerous," he said at last, "but from all I haveheard you've done some wonderful things, and if you can reach Logan intime, it will relieve us from this coil."

  "I can do it! I can do it!" said Henry eagerly.

  Colonel Clark looked at him long and scrutinizingly. He noted hisheight, his powerful figure, the wonderful elasticity that showed withevery step he took, and his firm and resourceful gaze.

  "Well, go," he said, "and God be with you."

  "I shall start the moment full darkness comes," said Henry.

  "But we must arrange a signal in case you get through to Logan," saidColonel Clark. "He has a twelve pound bronze gun. I know positively thathe left Lexington with it. Now if he approaches, have him fire a shot.We will reply with two shots from our guns, you answer with another fromyours, and the signal will be complete. Then Logan is to attack theIndian ring from the outside with all his might, and, at the same momentand at the same point, we will attack from the inside with all of ours.Then, in truth, it will be strange if we do not win the victory."

  Henry returned to his comrades and told them the plan. They were loth tosee him go, but they knew that attempts to dissuade him would beuseless. Nevertheless, Shif'less Sol had an amendment.

  "Let me go with you, Henry," he said. "Two are better than one."

  "No," replied Henry, "I must go alone, Sol. In this case the smaller theparty the less likely it is to be seen. I'll try, and then if I fail, itwill be your time."

  The night, as Henry had foreseen, was cloudy and dark. The moon andstars were hidden again, and two hundred yards from shore the surface ofthe river blended into the general blur. His little raft was made allready. Four broad planks from the wagons had been nailed securelytogether with cross-strips. Upon them he laid his rifle and pistols--allin holsters--ammunition secured from the wet, and food and his clothingin tight bundles. He himself was bare, save for a waist cloth and belt,but in the belt he carried a hatchet and his long hunting knife.

  Only his four comrades, Colonel Clark and Boone were present when hestarted. Every one of the six in turn, wrung his hand. But the four whohad known him longest and best were the most confident that he wouldreach Logan and achieve his task.

  Henry slipped silently into the water, and, pushing his raft before him,was gone like a wraith. He did not look back, knowing that for thepresent he must watch in front if he made the perilous passage. Theboats belonging to the army were ranged toward the shore, but he wassoon beyond them. Then he turned toward the bank, intending to keep deepin its shadows, and also in the shade of the overhanging boughs.

  The Indians had no fleet, but beyond a doubt they were well providedwith canoes which would cruise on both rivers beyond the range of rifleshot, and keep a vigilant watch for messengers from either Clark orLogan. Hence Henry moved very slowly for a while, eagerly searching thedarkness for any sign of his vigilant foe. He rested one arm upon hislittle raft, and with the other he wielded a small paddle which sent himalong easily.

  As it nears Cincinnati the Ohio narrows and deepens, and the banks risemore abruptly. Henry kept close to the southern shore, his body oftentouching the soft earth. Fortunately the bushes grew thickly, even onthe steep cliff, to the water's edge. When he had gone three or fourhundred yards he pulled in among them and lay still awhile. He heard thesound of distant shots and he knew that the Indians were still snipingthe camp. The curve of the Ohio hid the boats of his friends, and beforehim the river seemed to be deserted. Yet he was sure that the Indiancanoes were on watch. They might be hovering within fifty yards of him.

  He listened for the noise of paddles, but no such sound came, andpushing his tiny craft from the coil of bushes, he set out once moreupon the Ohio. Still hearing and seeing nothing, he went a littlefaster. Henry was a powerful swimmer, and the raft, small as it was,gave him ample support. Meanwhile, he sought sedulously to avoid anynoise, knowing that only an incautious splash made by his paddle wouldalmost certainly be heard by an Indian ear.

  Presently he saw on the northern bank a light, and then another lightfarther up the stream. Probably the Indians were signaling to oneanother, but it did not matter to him, and he swam on towards the mouthof the Licking, now about a half mile away. Another hundred yards and hequickly and silently drew in to the bank again, pushing the raft farback, until it, as well as himself, was hidden wholly. He had heard thedistant sounds of paddles coming in his direction, and soon two Indiancanoes in file came in sight. Each canoe contained two warriors. Henryinferred from the way in which they scrutinized the river and the bank,that they were sentinels. Well for him that the bushes grew thick andhigh. The penetrating Indian eyes passed unsuspecting over his hidingplace, and went on, dropping slowly down the river to a point where theycould watch the white boats. A hundred yards in that darkness wassufficient to put them out of sight, and Henry again pushed boldly intothe stream.

  The young blockade runner now had a theory that the sentinel boats ofthe Indians would keep close in to the shore. That would be theirnatural procedure, and to avoid them he swam boldly far out into theriver. Near the middle of the current he paddled once more up stream.Only his head showed above the surface and the raft was so low that noone was likely to notice it. The wisdom of his movement soon showed ashe made out three more canoes near the Kentucky shore, obviously onwatch. Toward the north, at a point not more than seventy or eightyyards away he saw another canoe containing three warriors and apparentlystationary. Others might be further ahead, but the darkness was toogreat for him to tell. Clearly, there was no passage except in themiddle of the stream, the very point that he had chosen.

  Many a stout heart would have turned back, but pride commanded Henry togo on. Fortunately, the water lying long under the summer heat was verywarm, and one could stay in it indefinitely, without fear of chill.While he deliberated a little, he sank down until he could breathe onlythrough his nostrils, keeping one hand upon the raft. Then he began toswim slowly with his feet and the other hand and all the while he kepthis eyes upon the stationary boat containing the three warriors. By dintof staring at them so long they began to appear clear and sharp in thedarkness. Two were middle-aged, and one young. He judged them to beWyandots, and they had an anchor as they did not use the paddles tooffset the current. Undoubtedly they were sentinels, as their gaze madea continuous circle about them. Henry knew, too, that they were usingears as well as eyes and that nobody could hear better than theWyandots
.

  He decreased his pace, merely creeping through the water, and at thesame time he swung back a little toward the southern shore and away fromthe Wyandots in the canoe. But the movement was a brief one. To theright of him he saw two more canoes and he knew that they formed a partof the chain of sentinels stretched by Timmendiquas across the river. Itwas obvious to Henry that the Wyandot leader was fully aware of theadvance of Logan, and was resolved to prevent the passage of anymessenger between him and Clark.

  Henry paused again, still clinging to his little raft, and holding hisplace in the current with a slight motion of his feet. Then he advancedmore slowly than ever, choosing a point which he thought was exactlyhalf way between the Wyandots and the other canoes, but he feared theWyandots most. Twenty yards, and he stopped. One of the Wyandot warriorsseemed to have seen something. He was looking fixedly in Henry'sdirection. Boughs and stumps of every sort often floated down the Ohio.He might have caught a glimpse of Henry's head. He would take it for asmall stump, but he would not stop to surmise.

  Holding the planks with but one hand, Henry dived about two feetbeneath the surface and swam silently but powerfully up the stream. Heswam until his head seemed to swell and the water roared in his ears. Heswam until his heart pounded from exhaustion and then he rose slowly tothe surface, not knowing whether or not he would rise among his enemies.

  No one greeted him with a shot or blow as he came up, and, when his eyescleared themselves of water, he saw the Wyandot canoe cruising aboutsixty or seventy yards down the stream, obviously looking for the darkspot that one of them had seen upon the surface of the river. They mightlook in his direction, but he believed that he was too far away to benoticed. Still, he could not tell, and one with less command of himselfwould have swam desperately away. Henry, instead, remained perfectlystill, sunk in the water up to his nostrils, one hand only yet clingingto the raft. The Wyandots turned southward, joined their brethren fromthe Kentucky shore and talked earnestly with them. Henry used theopportunity to swim about a hundred yards further up the stream, andthen, when the canoes separated, he remained perfectly still again. Inthe foggy darkness he feared most the Indian ear which could detect atonce any sound out of the common. But the Wyandot canoe returned to itsold place and remained stationary there. Evidently the warriors wereconvinced that they had seen only a stump.

  Henry now swam boldly and swiftly, still remaining in the middle of thestream. He saw several lights in the woods on the southern shore, notthose of signals, but probably the luminous glow from camp fires as theyburned with a steady blaze. The Indians were on watch, and the faintsound of two or three rifle shots showed that the night did not keepthem from buzzing and stinging about Colonel Clark's force. Yet Henry'spulse leaped in throat and temple. He had passed one formidable obstacleand it was a good omen. The stars in their courses were fighting forhim, and he would triumph over the others as they came.

  But he checked his speed, thinking that the Indian canoes would be thickaround the mouth of the Licking, and presently he became conscious of agreat weariness. He had been in the water a long time and one could notdive and swim forever. His arms and legs ached and he felt a soreness inhis chest. It was too dangerous to pull in to the bank at that point,and he tried a delicate experiment. He sought to crawl upon his littleraft and lie there flat upon his back, a task demanding the skill of anacrobat.

  Three or four times Henry was within an inch of overturning his frailcraft with the precious freight, but he persisted, and by skillfullybalancing himself and the raft too he succeeded at last. Then he wascompelled to lie perfectly still, with his arms outstretched and hisfeet in the water. He was flat upon his back and he could look at onlythe heavens, which offered to his view nothing--no bright stars andshining moon, only lowering clouds. If an enemy appeared, he must dependupon his ear to give warning. But the physical difficulty of hisposition did not keep him from feeling a delightful sense of rest. Thesoreness left his chest, the ache disappeared from his arms and legs,and he drew the fresh air into his lungs in deep and easy breaths. Anoccasional kick of his feet kept the raft from floating down stream,and, for a while, he lay there, studying the clouds, and wondering howlong it would be until the twinkle of a star would break through them.He heard the sound of both paddles and oars, the first to the north andthe other to the south. But his experienced ear told him that each wasat least two hundred yards away, which was too far for anyone to see himstretched out upon his boards. So he rested on and waited for his earsto tell him whether the sounds were coming any nearer. The boat with theoars passed out of hearing and the sound of the oars became fainter andfainter. Henry's heart ticked a note of thankfulness. He would not bedisturbed for the present, and he continued his study of the low clouds,while the strength flowed back into every part of his body.

  It occurred to him presently that he could steer as well as propel hisfloat with his feet. So he set to work, threshing the water very slowlyand carefully, and turning his head towards the mouth of the Licking.Occasionally he heard the sounds of both oars and paddles, but he judgedvery accurately that those who wielded them were not near enough to seehim. He was thankful that the night was not broken like the one beforewith flashes of lightning which would infallibly have disclosed him tothe enemy.

  After a half hour of this work, he felt a strange current of wateragainst his feet, and at first he was puzzled, but the solution came ina few minutes. He was opposite the mouth of the Licking, and he had comeinto contact with the stream before it was fully merged into the Ohio.What should he do next? The cordon across the Licking, a much narrowerriver, would be harder to pass than that on the Ohio.

  But he was rested fully now, and, sliding off his boards into the water,he took a long survey of his situation. No break had yet occurred in theclouds, and this was a supreme good fortune. To the east, he dimly sawtwo boats, and to the south, the high black bank. No lights were visiblethere, but he saw them further down the shore, where it was likely thatthe majority of the warriors were gathered. Henry resolved to makedirectly for the angle of land between the mouth of the Licking and theOhio, and he swam toward it with swift, powerful strokes, pushing hisraft before him.

  He calculated that at this angle of land he would be between the twoIndian cordons, and there, if anywhere, he could find the way to Logan.He reached the point, found it well covered with bushes, and drew thelittle raft into concealment. Then he climbed cautiously to the top andlooked long in every direction, seeking to trace the precise alignmentof the Indian force. He saw lights in the woods directly to the southand along the shore of the Licking. The way there was closed and he knewthat the watch would be all the more vigilant in order to intercept thecoming of Logan. He could not pass on land. Hence, he must pass onwater.

  There were yet many long hours before daylight, and he did not hasten.Although the water was warm he had been in it a long time and he tookevery precaution to maintain his physical powers. He did not dress, buthe rubbed thoroughly every part of his body that he could reach. Then heflexed and tensed his muscles until he had thrown off every chance ofchill, after which he lowered himself into the water, and pushed outwith his raft once more.

  He turned the angle of land and entered the Licking, a narrow, deep, andmuddy stream, lined there, like all the other rivers of that region,with high and thick forests. Ahead of him, he saw in the stream a halfdozen boats with warriors, yet he continued his course towards thecordon, keeping his float very close to the western banks. It is saidthat fortune favors the daring, and Henry had often proved the truth ofit. Once more the saying held good. Clouds heavier and thicker than anyof the others floated up and plunged river and shores into deeperobscurity. Henry believed that if he could avoid all noise, he might, byhugging the bank, get by.

  He went in so close to the shore that he could wade, but finding that hewas likely to become tangled among bushes and vines, thus making soundswhich the warriors would not fail to hear, he returned to deeper water.Now the most critical moment of the river
gauntlet was approaching. Hesaw about one hundred yards before him, and directly across his course,a boat containing two warriors. The space between this boat and thewestern shore was not more than thirty yards. Could he pass them,unseen? The chances were against it, but he resolved to try.

  Swimming silently, he approached the opening. He had sunk deep in thewater again, with only one hand on the float, and there was yet nothingfrom the boat to indicate that the two warriors had either seen or heardhim. Despite all his experience, his heart beat very fast, and his handon the float trembled. But he had no thought of going back. Now he wasalmost parallel with the boat. Now, he was parallel, and the watchfuleye of one of the warriors caught a glimpse of the darker object on thesurface of the dark water. He stared a moment in surprise, and then witha yell of warning to his comrade, raised his rifle and fired at theswimming head.

  Henry had seen the upraised rifle, and diving instantly, he swam withall his might up stream. As he went down, he heard the bullet go zipupon the water. Knowing that he could not save his little craft, he hadloosed his hold upon it and swam under water as long as he could. Yetthose boards and the packages upon them saved his life. They were theonly things that the warriors now saw, and all rowed straight towardsthe raft. Meanwhile, Henry rose in the bushes at the edge of the bankand took long and deep breaths, while they examined his rifle andclothing. Before they had finished, he dived into the deep water oncemore, and was again swimming swiftly against the current of theLicking.