The Hunters of the Hills

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER III

  THE TOMAHAWK

  Willet awakened Robert about two o'clock in the morning--it wascharacteristic of him to take more than his share of the work--and theyouth stood up, with his rifle in the hollow of his arm, ready at once.

  "Tayoga did more yesterday than either of us," said the hunter, "and sowe'll let him sleep."

  But the Onondago had awakened, though he did not move. Forest disciplinewas perfect among them, and, knowing that it was Robert's time to watch,he wasted no time in vain talk about it. His eyes closed again and hereturned to sleep as the white lad walked up the bank, while the hunterwas soon in the dreams that Tarenyawagon, who makes them, sent to him.

  Robert on the bank, although he expected no danger, was alert. He hadplenty of wilderness skill and his senses, naturally acute, had beentrained so highly that he could discern a hostile approach in thedarkness. The same lore of the forest told him to keep himselfconcealed, and he sat on a fallen tree trunk between two bushes that hidhim completely, although his own good eyes, looking through the leaves,could see a long distance, despite the night.

  It was inevitable as he sat there in the silence and darkness with hissleeping comrades below that his thoughts should turn to St. Luc. He hadrecognized in the first moment of their meeting that the young Frenchmanwas a personality. He was a personality in the sense that Tayoga was,one who radiated a spirit or light that others were compelled to notice.He knew that there was no such thing as looking into the future, but hefelt with conviction that this man was going to impinge sharply upon hislife, whether as a friend or an enemy not even Tarenyawagon, who sentthe dreams, would tell, but he could not be insensible to the personalcharm of the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc.

  What reception would the fifty sachems give to the belt that thechevalier would bring? Would they be proof against his lightness, hisease, his fluency and his ability to paint a glowing picture of Frenchmight and French gratitude? Robert knew far better than most of his ownrace the immensity of the stake. He who roamed the forest with Tayogaand the Great Bear understood to the full the power of the Hodenosaunee.It was true, too, that the Indian commissioners at Albany had not donetheir duty and had given the Indians just cause of complaint, at thevery moment when the great League should be propitiated. Yet thefriendship between the Iroquois and the English had been ancient andstrong, and he would not have feared so much had it been any other thanSt. Luc who was going to meet the sachems in council.

  Robert shook his head as if the physical motion would dismiss hisapprehensions, and walked farther up the hill to a point where he couldsee the lake. A light wind was blowing, and little waves of crumblingsilver pursued one another across its surface. On the far side the bank,crowned with dense forest showing black in the dusk, rose to a greatheight, but the lad's eyes came back to the water, his heart missing abeat as he thought he saw a shadow on its surface, but so near theopposite shore that it almost merged with a fringe of bushes there.

  Then he rebuked himself for easy alarm. It was merely the reflectionfrom a bough above in the water below. Yet it played tricks with him.The shadow reappeared again and again, always close to the far bank, butthere were many boughs also to reproduce themselves in the mirror of thelake. He convinced himself that his eyes and his mind were having sportwith him, and turning away, he made a little circle in the woods abouttheir camp. All was well. He heard a swish overhead, but he knew that itwas a night bird, a rustling came, and an ungainly form lumbered througha thicket, but it was a small black bear, and coming back to the hollow,he looked down at his comrades.

  Tayoga and Willet slept well. Neither had stirred, and wrapped in theirblankets lying on the soft leaves, they were true pictures of forestcomfort. They were fine and loyal comrades, as good as anybody ever had,and he was glad they were so near, because he began to have a feelingnow that something unusual was going to occur. The shadows on the laketroubled him again, and he went back for another look. He did not seethem now, and that, too, troubled him. It proved that they had been madeby some moving object, and not by the boughs and bushes still there.

  Robert examined the lake, his eyes following the line where the far bankmet the water, but he saw no trace of anything moving, and his attentioncame back to the woods in which he stood. Presently, he crouched indense bush, and concentrated all his powers of hearing, knowing that hemust rely upon ear rather than eye. He could not say that he had reallyseen or heard, but he had felt that something was moving in the forest,something that threatened him.

  His first impulse was to go back to the little hollow and awaken hiscomrades, but his second told him to stay where he was until the dangercame or should pass, and he crouched lower in the undergrowth with hishand on the hammer and trigger of his rifle. He did not stir or make anynoise for a long time. The forest, too, was silent. The wind that hadruffled the surface of the lake ceased, and the leaves over his headwere still.

  But he understood too well the ways of the wilderness to move yet. Hedid not believe that his faculties, attuned to the slightest alarm, haddeceived him, and he had learned the patience of the Indian from theIroquois themselves. His eyes continually pierced the thickets for ahostile object moving there, and his ears were ready to notice the soundof a leaf should it fall.

  He heard, or thought he heard after a while, a slight sliding motion,like that which a great serpent would make as it drew its glisteningcoils through leaves or grass. But it was impossible for him to tell hownear it was to him or from what point it came, and his blood becamechill in his veins. He was not afraid of a danger seen, but when it cameintangible and invisible the boldest might shudder.

  The noise, real or imaginary, ceased, and as he waited he becameconvinced that it was only his strained fancy. A man might mistake theblood pounding in his ears or the beat of his own pulse for a soundwithout, and after another five minutes, taking the rifle from thehollow of his arm, he stood upright. Certainly nothing was moving in theforest. The leaves hung lifeless. His fancies had been foolish.

  He stepped boldly from the undergrowth in which he had knelt, and aglimpse of a flitting shadow made him kneel again. It was instinct thatcaused him to drop down so quickly, but he knew that it had saved hislife. Something glittering whistled where his head had been, and thenstruck with a sound like a sigh against the trunk of a tree.

  Robert sank from his knees, until he lay almost fiat, and brought hisrifle forward for instant use. But, for a minute or two, he would nothave been steady enough to aim at anything. His tongue was dry in hismouth, and his hair lifted a little at his marvelous escape.

  He looked for the shadow, his eyes searching every thicket; but he didnot find it, and now he believed that the one who had sped the blow hadgone, biding his time for a second chance. Another wait to make sure,and hurrying to the hollow he awoke Tayoga and the hunter, who returnedat once with him to the place where the ambush had miscarried.

  "Ah!" said the Onondaga, as they looked about. _"Osquesont_! Behold!"

  The blade of an Indian tomahawk, _osquesont_, was buried deep in thetrunk of a tree, and Robert knew that the same deadly weapon hadwhistled where his head had been but a second before. He shuddered. Hadit not been for his glimpse of the flitting shadow his head would havebeen cloven to the chin. Tayoga, with a mighty wrench, pulled out thetomahawk and examined it. It was somewhat heavier than the usual weaponof the type and he pronounced it of French make.

  "Did it come from Quebec, Tayoga?" asked Willet.

  "Perhaps," replied the young warrior, "but I saw it yesterday."

  "You did! Where?"

  "In the belt of Tandakora, the Ojibway."

  "I thought so," said Robert.

  "And he threw it with all the strength of a mighty arm," said theOnondaga. "There is none near us in the forest except Tandakora whocould bury it so deep in the tree. It was all I could do to pull it outagain."

  "And seeing his throw miss he slipped away as fast as he could!" saidWillet.

  "Yes, Grea
t Bear, the Ojibway is cunning. After hurling the tomahawk hewould not stay to risk a shot from Lennox. He was willing even toabandon a weapon which he must have prized. Ah, here is his trail! Itleads through the forest toward the lake!"

  They were able to follow it a little distance but it was lost on thehard ground, although it led toward the water. Robert told of the shadowhe had seen near the farther bank, and both Willet and Tayoga were quitesure it had been a small canoe, and that its occupant was Tandakora.

  "It's not possible that St. Luc sent the Ojibway back to murder us!"exclaimed Robert, his mind rebelling at the thought.

  "I don't think it likely," said Willet, but the Onondaga was much moreemphatic.

  "The Ojibway came of his own wish," he said. "While the sons of Onontioslept he slipped away, and it was the lure of scalps that drew him. Hecomes of a savage tribe far in the west. An Iroquois would have scornedsuch treachery."

  Robert felt an immense relief. He had become almost as jealous of theFrenchman's honor as of his own, and knowing that Tayoga understood hisrace, he accepted his words as final. It was hideous to have the thoughtin his mind, even for a moment, that a man who had appeared so gallantand friendly as St. Luc had sent a savage back to murder them.

  "The French do not control the western tribes," continued Tayoga,"though if war comes they will be on the side of Onontio, but as equalsthey will come hither and go thither as they please."

  "Which means, I take it," said the hunter, "that if St. Luc discoverswhat Tandakora has been trying to do here tonight he'll be afraid tofind much fault with it, because the Ojibway and all the other Ojibwayswould go straight home?"

  "It is so," said the Onondaga.

  "Well, we're thankful that his foul blow went wrong. You've had a mightynarrow escape, Robert, my lad, but we've gained one good tomahawk which,you boys willing, I mean to take."

  Tayoga handed it to him, and with an air of satisfaction he put theweapon in his belt.

  "I may have good use for it some day," he said. "The chance may come forme to throw it back to the savage who left it here. And now, as oursleep is broken up for the night, I think we'd better scout the woods abit, and then come back here for breakfast."

  They found nothing hostile in the forest, and when they returned to thehollow the thin gray edge of dawn showed on the far side of the lake.Having no fear of further attack, they lighted a small fire and warmedtheir food. As they ate day came in all its splendor and Robert saw thebirds flashing back and forth in the thick leaves over his head.

  "Where did the Ojibway get his canoe?" he asked.

  "The Frenchmen like as not used it when they came down from Canada,"replied the hunter, "and left it hid to be used again when they wentback. It won't be worth our while to look for it. Besides, we've got tobe moving soon."

  After breakfast they carried their own canoe to the lake and paddlednorthward to its end. Then they took their craft a long portage across arange of hills and launched it anew on a swift stream flowing northward,on the current of which they traveled until nightfall, seeing throughoutthat time no sign of a human being. It was the primeval wilderness, andsince it lay between the British colonies on the south and the French onthe north it had been abandoned almost wholly in the last year or two,letting the game, abundant at any time, increase greatly. They saw deerin the thickets, they heard the splash of a beaver, and a black bear,sitting on a tiny island in the river, watched them as they passed.

  On the second day after Robert's escape from the tomahawk they left theriver, made a long portage and entered another river, also flowingnorthward, having in mind a double purpose, to throw off the trailanyone who might be following them and to obtain a more direct coursetoward their journey's end. Knowing the dangers of the wilderness, theyalso increased their caution, traveling sometimes at night and lying incamp by day.

  But they lived well. All three knew the importance of preserving theirstrength, and to do so an abundance of food was the first requisite.Tayoga shot another deer with the bow and arrow, and with the use offishing tackle which they had brought in the canoe they made the riverpay ample tribute. They lighted the cooking fires, however, in the mostsheltered places they could find, and invariably extinguished them assoon as possible.

  "You can't be too careful in the woods," said Willet, "especially intimes like these. While the English and French are not yet fightingthere's always danger from the savages."

  "The warriors from the wild tribes in Canada and the west will take ascalp wherever there's a chance," said the young Onondaga.

  Robert often noticed the manner in which Tayoga spoke of the tribesoutside the great League. To him those that did not belong to theHodenosaunee, while they might be of the same red race, werenevertheless inferior. He looked upon them as an ancient Greek lookedupon those who were not Greeks.

  "The French are a brave people," said the hunter, "but the most warlikeamong them if they knew our errand would be willing for some of theirpainted allies to drop us in the wilderness, and no questions would beasked. You can do things on the border that you can't in the towns. Wemight be tomahawked in here and nobody would ever know what became ofus."

  "I think," said Tayoga, "that our danger increases. Tandakora afterleaving the son of Onontio, St. Luc, might not go back to him. He mightfear the anger of the Frenchman, and, too, he would still crave a scalp.A warrior has followed an enemy for weeks to obtain such a trophy."

  "You believe then," said Robert, "that the Ojibway is still on ourtrail?"

  Tayoga nodded. After a moment's silence he added:

  "We come, too, to a region in which the St. Regis, the Caughnawaga, theOttawa and the Micmac, all allies of Onontio, hunt. The Ojibway maymeet a band and tell the warriors we are in the woods."

  His look was full of significance and Robert understood thoroughly.

  "I shall be glad," he said, "when we reach the St. Lawrence. We'll thenbe in real Canada, and, while the French are undoubtedly our enemies,we'll not be exposed to treacherous attack."

  They were in the canoe as they talked and Tayoga was paddling, theswiftness of the current now making the efforts of only one mannecessary. A few minutes later he turned the canoe to the shore and thethree got out upon the bank. Robert did not know why, but he was quitesure the reason was good.

  "Falls below," said Tayoga, as they drew the canoe upon the land. "Allthe river drops over a cliff. Much white water."

  They carried the canoe without difficulty through the woods, and whenthey came to the falls they stopped a little while to look at thedescent, and listen to the roar of the tumbling water.

  "I was here once before, three years ago," said Willet.

  "Others have been here much later," said the Onondaga.

  "What do you mean, Tayoga?"

  "My white brother is not looking. Let him turn his eyes to the left. Hewill see two wild flowers broken off at the stem, a feather which hasnot fallen from the plumage of a bird, because the quill is painted, andtwo traces of footsteps in the earth."

  "As surely as the sun shines, you're right, Tayoga! Warriors havepassed here, though we can't tell how many! But the traces are notmore'n a half day old."

  He picked up the feather and examined it carefully.

  "That fell from a warrior's scalplock," he said, "but we don't know towhat tribe the warrior belonged."

  "But it's likely to be a hostile trail," said Robert.

  Tayoga nodded, and then the three considered. It was only a fragment ofa trail they had seen, but it told them danger was near. Where they weretraveling strangers were enemies until they were proved to be friends,and the proof had to be of the first class, also. They agreed finally toturn aside into the woods with the canoe, and stop until night. Thenunder cover of the friendly darkness they would resume their journey onthe river.

  They chose the heavily wooded crest of a low hill for the place in whichto wait, because they could see some distance from it and remain unseen.They put the canoe down there and Robert and Tay
oga sat beside it, whileWillet went into the woods to see if any further signs of a passing bandcould be discovered, returning in an hour with the information that hehad discovered more footprints.

  "All led to the north," he said, "and they're well ahead of us. There'sno reason why we can't follow. We're three, used to the wilderness,armed well and able to take care of ourselves. And I take it the nightwill be dark, which ought to help us."

  The Onondaga looked up at the skies, which were of a salmon color, andshook his head a little.

  "What's the matter?" asked Robert.

  "The night will bring much darkness," he replied, "but it will bringsomething else with it--wind, rain."

  "You may be right, Tayoga, but we must be moving, just the same," saidWillet.

  At dusk they were again afloat on the river and, all three using thepaddles, they sent the canoe forward with great speed. But it soonbecame apparent that Tayoga's prediction would be justified. Cloudstrailed up from the southwest and obscured all the heavens. A wind aroseand it was heavy and damp upon their faces. The water seemed black asink. Low thunder far away began to mutter. The wilderness became uncannyand lonely. All save forest rovers would have been appalled, and ofthese three one at least felt that the night was black and sinister.Robert looked intently at the forest on either shore, rising now likesolid black walls, but his eyes, unable to penetrate them, found nothingthere. Then the lightning flamed in the west, and for a moment thesurface of the river was in a blaze.

  "What do you think of it, Tayoga?" asked Willet, anxiety showing in histone, "Ought we to make a landing now?"

  "Not yet," replied the Onondaga. "The storm merely growls and threatensat present. It will not strike for perhaps an hour."

  "But when it does strike it's going to hit a mighty blow unless allsigns fail. I've seen 'em gather before, and this is going to be a kingof storms! Hear that thunder now! It doesn't growl any more, but goesoff like the cracking of big cannon."

  "But it's still far in the west," persisted Tayoga, as the three bentover their paddles.

  The forest, however, was groaning with the wind, and little waves roseon the river. Now the lightning flared again and again, so fierce andbright that Robert, despite his control of himself, instinctivelyrecoiled from it as from the stroke of a saber.

  "Do you recall any shelter farther on, Tayoga?" asked the hunter.

  "The overhanging bank and the big hollow in the stone," replied theOnondaga. "On the left! Don't you remember?"

  "Now I do, Tayoga, but I didn't know it was near. Do you think we canmake it before that sky over our heads splits wide open?"

  "It will be a race," replied the young Iroquois, "but we three arestrong, and we are skilled in the use of the paddle."

  "Then we'll bend to it," said Willet. And they did. The canoe shotforward at amazing speed over the surface of the river, inky save whenthe lightning flashed upon it. Robert paddled as he had never paddledbefore, his muscles straining and the perspiration standing out on hisface. He was thoroughly inured to forest life, but he knew that even thescouts and Indians fled for shelter from the great wildernesshurricanes.

  There was every evidence that the storm would be of uncommon violence.The moan of the wind rose to a shriek and they heard the crash ofbreaking boughs and falling trees in the forest. The river, whippedcontinually by the gusts, was broken with waves upon which the canoerocked with such force that the three, expert though they were, werecompelled to use all their skill, every moment, to keep it from beingoverturned. If it had not been for the rapid and vivid strokes oflightning under which the waters turned blood red their vessel wouldhave crashed more than once upon the rocks, leaving them to swim forlife.

  "That incessant flare makes me shiver," said Robert. "It seems everytime that I'm going to be struck by it, but I'm glad it comes, becausewithout it we'd never see our way on the river."

  "Manitou sends the good and evil together," said Tayoga gravely.

  "Anyhow," said Willet, "I hope we'll get to our shelter before the raincomes. Look out for that rock on the right, Robert!"

  Young Lennox, with a swift and powerful motion of the paddle, shot thecanoe back toward the center of the river, and then the three tried tohold it there as they sped on.

  "Three or four hundred yards more," said Tayoga, "and we can draw intothe smooth water we wish."

  "And not a minute too soon," said Willet. "It seems to me I can hear therain coming now in a deluge, and the waves on the river make me think ofsome I've seen on one of the big lakes. Listen to that, will you!"

  A huge tree, blown down, fell directly across the stream, not more thantwenty yards behind them. But the fierce and swollen waters tearing atit in torrents would soon bear it away on the current.

  "Manitou was watching over us then," said Tayoga with the same gravity.

  "As sure as the Hudson runs into the sea, he was," said Willet in a toneof reverence. "If that tree had hit us we and the canoe would all havebeen smashed together and a week later maybe the French would havefished our pieces out of the St. Lawrence."

  Robert, who was farthest forward in the canoe, noticed that the cliffahead, hollowed out at the base by the perpetual eating of the waters,seemed to project over the stream, and he concluded that it was theplace in Tayoga's mind.

  "Our shelter, isn't it?" he asked, pointing a finger by the lightning'sflare.

  Tayoga nodded, and the three, putting their last ounce of strength intothe sweep of the paddles, sent the canoe racing over the swift currenttoward the haven now needed so badly. As they approached, Robert sawthat the hollow went far back into the stone, having in truth almost theaspects of a cave. Beneath the mighty projection he saw also that thewater was smooth, unlashed by the wind and outside the sweep of thecurrent, and he felt immense relief when the canoe shot into its stilldepths and he was able to lay the paddle beside him.

  "Back a little farther," said Tayoga, and he saw then, still by theflare of lightning, that the water ended against a low shelf at leastsix feet broad, upon which they stepped, lifting the canoe after them.

  "It's all that you claimed for it, and more, Tayoga," said the hunter."I fancy a ship in a storm would be glad enough to find a refuge as goodfor it as this is for us."

  Tayoga smiled, and Robert knew that he felt deep satisfaction because hehad brought them so well to port. Looking about after they had lifted upthe canoe, he saw that in truth nature had made a good harbor here forthose who traveled on the river, its waters so far never having beenparted by anything but a canoe. The hollow went back thirty or fortyfeet with a sloping roof of stone, and from the ledge, whenever thelightning flashed, they saw the river flowing before them in a rushingtorrent, but inside the hollow the waters were a still pool.

  "Now the rain comes," said Tayoga.

  Then they heard its sweep and roar and it arrived in such mighty volumethat the surface of the river was beaten almost flat. But in their snugand well-roofed harbor not a drop touched them. Robert on the ledge withhis back to the wall had a pervading sense of comfort. The lightning andthe thunder were both dying now, but the rain came in a steady andmighty sweep. As the lightning ceased entirely it was so dark that theysaw the water in front of them but dimly, and they had to be verycareful in their movements on the ledge, lest they roll off and slipinto its depths.

  "Robert," said Willet in a whimsical tone, "one of the first things Itried to teach you when you were a little boy was always to be calm,and under no circumstances to let your calm be broken up when there wasnothing to break it up. Now, we've every reason to be calm. We've got agood home here, and the storm can't touch us."

  "I was already calm, Dave," replied Robert lightly. "I took your firstlesson to heart, learned it, and I've never forgotten it. I'm so calmthat I've unfolded my blanket and put it under me to soften the stone."

  "To think of your blanket is proof enough that you're not excited. I'lldo the same. Tayoga, in whose country is this new home of ours?"

  "It is the land of
no man, because it lies between the tribes from thenorth and the tribes from the south. Yet the Iroquois dare to come herewhen they choose. It's the fourth time I have been on this ledge, butbefore I was always with my brethren of the clan of the Bear of thenation Onondaga."

  "Well, Tayoga," said Willet, in his humorous tone, "the company hasgrown no worse."

  "No," said Tayoga, and his smile was invisible to them in the darkness."The time is coming when the sachems of the Onondagas will be glad theyadopted Lennox and the Great Bear into our nation."

  Willet's laugh came at once, not loud, but with an inflection of intenseenjoyment.

  "You Onondagas are a bit proud, Tayoga," he said.

  "Not without cause, Great Bear."

  "Oh, I admit it! I admit it! I suppose we're all proud of our race--it'sone of nature's happy ways of keeping us satisfied--and I'm free tosay, Tayoga, that I've no quarrel at having been born white, because I'mso used to being white that I'd hardly know how to be anything else. Butif I wasn't white--a thing that I had nothing to do with--and yourManitou who is my God was to say to me, 'Choose what else you'll be,'I'd say, and I'd say it with all the respect and reverence I could bringinto the words, 'O Lord, All Wise and All Powerful, make me a strongyoung warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of theLeague of the Hodenosaunee, hunting for my clan and fighting to protectits women and children, and keeping my word with everybody and trying tobe just to the red races and tribes that are not as good as mine, andeven to be the same to the poor white men around the towns that getdrunk, and steal, and rob one another,' and maybe your Manitou who is myGod would give to me my wish."

  "The Great Bear has a silver tongue, and the words drop from his lipslike honey," said Tayoga. But Robert knew that the young Onondaga wasintensely gratified and he knew, too, that Willet meant every word hesaid.

  "You'd better make yourself comfortable on the blanket, as we're doing,Tayoga," the youth said.

  But the Onondaga did not intend to rest just yet. The wildness of theplace and the spirit of the storm stirred him. He stood upon the shelfand the others dimly saw his tall and erect young figure. Slowly hebegan to chant in his own tongue, and his song ran thus in English:

  "The lightning cleaves the sky, The Brave Soul fears not; The thunder rolls and threatens, Manitou alone speeds the bolt; The waters are deep and swift, They carry the just man unhurt."

  "O Spirit of Good, hear me, Watch now over our path, Lead us in the way of the right, And, our great labors finished, Bring us back, safe and well, To the happy vale of Onondaga."

  "A good hymn, Tayoga, for such I take it to be," said Willet. "I haven'theard my people sing any better. And now, since you've done more'n yourshare of the work you'd better take Robert's advice and lie down on yourblanket."

  Tayoga obeyed, and the three in silence listened to the rushing of thestorm.