CHAPTER XXIV
DEERFOOT
When Deerfoot the Shawanoe bade good-by to Jack Carleton and OttoRelstaub, it was with the declaration that they would soon see eachother again. Precisely what he meant would be hard to say; butprobably it implied that he would take pains in the near future tomake them a visit when they should be settled in their ownlog-cabins at home.
He left them, as has been intimated, because he believed there wasno further need of bearing them company, and because business ofgreat importance to himself demanded that he should take anothercourse, and travel many long miles toward that wild region in thesouthern part of Missouri, which is broken and crossed by the Ozarkrange of mountains.
For fully an hour after he turned away from his friends he pushedthrough the forest in a south-western direction. He advanced at aleisurely pace, for there was no call for haste, and he loved to bealone in the vast solitude, where he often held sweet communion withthe Great Spirit, whom he worshiped and adored with a fervency ofdevotion scarcely known except by those who have died for His sake.
The sun had descended but a brief way in the western sky when theyouthful warrior found himself steadily climbing an elevation ofseveral hundred feet. He had been over the ground before, and heknew that, after passing the ridge, the surface sloped downward formany miles, shutting the Mississippi out of sight altogether.
For some time a suspicion had been steadily taking shape in the mindof Deerfoot, and it was that which led him to hasten his footstepsuntil he reached the crest of the elevation, where he paused to makean investigation.
The thought which ran through his mind was the probability that alldanger from the Miamis and Shawanoes (especially the latter) was notyet at an end. He reasoned from well established facts; they knewbeyond question that it was he who had outwitted them in his effortsto save the boys when they were placed in such extreme peril. TheShawanoes hated him with an intensity beyond description, and,despite the repeated disasters which had overtaken those who sought,his ruin, they would strive by every means to revenge themselvesupon him.
What more likely, therefore, than that they had crossed theMississippi in pursuit? The certainty that they had done so wouldhave caused Deerfoot no misgiving, so far as he was concerned, buthis fear was for the boys. He reasoned that the Shawanoes wouldfollow the trail of the three, including also that of the strayhorse. When they reached the point where Deerfoot left them theywould read its meaning at a glance. They would know the whites werefollowing the animal, while the Shawanoe had gone about his ownbusiness.
Deprived of his matchless guidance and skill, the destruction ofJack and Otto would seem so easy that two or three would hastenafter them. The action of their guide would naturally imply that hehad no thought of any such attempt on the part of his enemies, who,therefore, would be the more strongly tempted to go in quest of hisscalp.
As I have said, Deerfoot could laugh at all such strategy whendirected against himself, but he was uneasy about the others, whowould never think of their danger until too late. Ordinarily theywere not likely to encounter any red men, except the half friendlyOsages, and would be without protection against a stealthy shot fromthe woods behind them.
If such an issue threatened, Deerfoot felt that his duty was clear:he must spare no effort to protect the boys to the last extremity,and it was the hope that he would be able to catch sight of somealmost invisible sign which would tell the truth that led him tohalt on the crest of the elevation and gaze long and searchinglytoward the Dark and Bloody Ground, which had been the scene of somany fearful encounters between the pioneers and untamable red men.
The great river was several miles distant, the almost unbrokenforest stretching between. Deerfoot narrowly scrutinized the yellowsurface as far as the eye could follow the winding course, but notthe first evidence of life was to be seen. Not a solitary canoe orwild animal breasted the swift current which is now laden withthousands of crafts of almost every description.
The searcher after truth hardly expected to discover anything on theriver itself, for if the Shawanoes were hunting for him they hadcrossed long before; but away beyond, in the solemn depths of theKentucky wilderness, burned a camp-fire, whose faint smoke could betraced as it rose above the tree-tops. A careful study of the vaporled Deerfoot to suspect that it had served as a signal, but it wasbeyond his ken to determine its nature.
There was nothing on the other side of the Mississippi which couldafford the faintest clew, and he began the study of Louisiana, sofar as it was open to his vision. His altitude gave him an extendedsurvey toward every point of the compass. As it was impossible thatany of his enemies should be to the west of him, he did not bestowso much as a glance in that direction.
Again and again the keen eyes roved over the space between him andthe great stream, but nothing rewarded the visual search. It wasnot to be expected that if the Shawanoes were stealing along histrail they would stop to build a fire--at least not before nightclosed in. The only circumstances under which they would attemptanything of the kind would be in the event of their wishing tosignal some message to those left on the other shore. Possibly theywanted reinforcements, or wished those who were in waiting to makesome movement of their own, and, if so they would be sure totelegraph.
If such was the case, the telegrams had been sent and theinstrument--that is, the camp-fire had been destroyed. Nothing ofthe sort was now to be seen.
But Deerfoot did discover something to the northward. A longdistance away could be detected another column of vapor--slight, butdark, and with a wavy, shuddering motion, such as is observed whenthe first smoke from the fire under an engine rises through thetall, brick chimney.
He watched it fixedly for several minute and then smiled, for herightly interpreted its meaning.
"There is the wigwam of the Osage chief, Wish-o-wa-tum, theMan-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, who lives alone with his family in thewoods, and smokes his pipe. He cares not for Miami or Huron orShawanoe, but smokes in peace."
Inasmuch, as no other vapor met the eye, the sagacious Shawanoeadopted a very different line of investigation, or rather research.He was able to tell where the lesser elevation stood, on which hehad bidden good-by to the boys, and could form a tolerably correctidea of the line he had followed since then.
If the Shawanoes were pushing the search for him, several must besomewhere along that line. Most of the time they would be effectuallyhidden from sight by the foliage of the trees, but there were openplaces here and there (very slight in extent), where they would bevisible for the moment to one who fixed his eyes on that particularspot. On the site of the encampment, where the little party hadeaten their meal, and where not the slightest ember remained, thepursuers would halt for a brief consultation. If they divided intotwo companies of pursuit, it was there the division had taken orwould take place.
Unfortunately the vegetation was so abundant just there, that hecould not hope to catch sight of any of his enemies, until afterthey should reach a point a considerable distance away. It wouldtherefore seem impossible for him to tell whether a portion of thewar party turned to the northward in quest of the boys, or whetherthey all concentrated in the search for Deerfoot himself.
It would appear beyond his power, I say, for the extraordinary youthto settle the question, while standing carefully hidden behind thetrunk of a tree, but a single slight chance presented itself, and tothat he appealed.
He knew the general direction of the horse's trail after it had leftthe spot where Deerfoot parted company with his friends. Unless itturned abruptly to the right or left, it led across an open space,which was in plain view of the Shawanoe, and provided the crossinghad not already been made, he would be able to observe it.
He therefore watched this opening with a keenness which would permitnothing to elude it. His brain had handled the problem with thecertainty of intuition. Following a process of reasoning whichcannot be fully explained, he convinced himself that the redskinshad not yet fled acro
ss the narrow space. Whether they were to doso or not would be determined in a brief while.
If the savages hunting Jack and Otto had gone beyond the pointnamed, before Deerfoot fixed his attention on it, then it followedof necessity that those who were so eager to suspend the scalp ofthe youth from the ridge-pole of their wigwams were at that momentclose upon him. In any event, he was morally certain the wholequestion would be settled within the coming hour, for, if no signappeared, it would be a sign of itself that nothing was to befeared.
Fully aware of the woodcraft of his own people, Deerfoot threw awayno chances. He kept closely hidden behind the tree which served asa screen, as though an enemy was in ambush within bowshot.
He waited a briefer time than he anticipated. His eyes were flittinghither and thither, when a couple of warriors deliberately walkedacross the opening on which his attention was fixed. Though only two,they moved in Indian file, one directly behind the other.
There could be no doubt they were after the scalps of Jack Carletonand Otto Relstaub.
It was equally certain that a larger number were hunting for Deerfoot.The fact would not have caused him an additional throb of the pulse,could he have been assured that no harm, would befall his friends.True, they had displayed much courage and brilliancy a few hoursbefore in their contest on the other side of the Mississippi, andit would seem that, with their training from earliest youth, theyought to be able to protect themselves against an equal number ofred men. But, reason on the matter as he chose, Deerfoot could notdrive away the feeling that it was his duty to go to their help.
"The Great Spirit wills that Deerfoot shall be the friend of thewhite people who are his friends. The Shawanoes and Miamis have noright on these hunting-grounds," he added, with a dangerous flash ofhis black eyes; "if they follow Deerfoot here, he will teach themthey do wrong."
Clearly it would not do for him to take the back trail and retracehis steps, for that would insure a collision with those who were soanxious to meet him. Much as he detested them, and little as hefeared the issue of such a meeting, it would be certain to delay hisgood offices for those who caused him so much anxiety, and suchdelay was dangerous.
His purpose was to "cut across lots," that is, to hasten by thenearest route to a point which would place him in advance of thecouple that were giving their attention to Jack and Otto, and tocarry out that plan necessitated his making no mistake in hisjudgment as to the trail of his friends.
"The warriors will have to walk until the sun goes down," he said tohimself, "before they will come up with them; if they run, or if myfriends have paused to rest, then they will find them sooner.Deerfoot must not wait, for he is needed."
He had not yet left his place behind the tree, for he was convincedthat some of the Shawanoes were close to him, even though he hadreceived no proof that such was the fact, but that proof came withinthe following few minutes and before he had yet stirred from hisposition.
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