CHAPTER XBOONE LEADS THE WAY
“Daniel Boone!”
The cry came from several lips at once, and not only Harry and Joe, but also Mrs. Parsons and Harmony, leaped up to meet the newcomer on the rocks.
“Hullo! Reckon I’ve struck some sort of a camp,” were Colonel Boone’s first words. Then he looked at his late companion. “Where did you go to in the rain, and what is the matter of you?” he continued.
“Oh, Colonel Boone, how glad I am to see you!” exclaimed Harmony.
The great hunter nodded and descended to the shelter.
“Thank you, miss—but I don’t reckon I know you,” he said simply.
“I am Harmony Winship, and this is my brother Joe. This is Mrs. Parsons and her son Harry. We were all on our way to join Mr. Parsons at your fort.”
“Tell me, good sir, how is my husband?” put in the Quakeress quickly.
Before answering Boone removed his coonskin cap and bowed politely. “He is tolerably well, madam, but for his leg, which he hurt while felling trees in the forest. But for his hurt he might be with me this moment.”
“Is it serious?”
“Far from it, and I doubt not but that he will be up and around before we get back. But where are the others of the expedition, and why are you in such a place as this? And why are you here?” went on Colonel Boone to Jerry Wright.
It took the best part of half an hour to acquaint the great hunter with all that had occurred, both to the party under the leadership of Ezra Winship, and to his late companion. Boone listened quietly, but as he learned of the attacks by the Indians his brow grew dark and his lips were tightly compressed.
“They are nothing but fiends after all—after all the promises they have made,” he said at last. “To trust them even for a moment seems foolish.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “When do you expect Mr. Winship and Frost back?” he questioned of the boys.
“I suppose they will be back sometime to-day,” answered Joe.
Colonel Boone told them that he had left the others of his party on a trail quarter of a mile away, having come on foot to the river bank to see if any Indians were in sight, or to learn, if possible, what had become of Wright.
“I will go back and bring my companions to this place,” he said. “And then we can talk over what is to be done.”
“If thee will but get us safe to the fort I shall ask no more,” said Mrs. Parsons.
Before sundown the other hunters and pioneers came up and were introduced. They were glad to learn that Jerry Wright was not seriously wounded, and one brought the good news that the missing horse had turned up unharmed.
Fortunately for those in distress the party under Colonel Boone had brought with them a fair supply of provisions and also a couple of extra rifles and three long pistols, with ammunition. Each of the young pioneers was provided with a rifle and ammunition, and even Mrs. Parsons accepted one of the pistols, while Harmony took another.
Colonel Boone was of a humor to follow up the canoes with captives that had passed up the river, but after a talk with his companions it was decided to wait until morning to see if Mr. Winship and Pep Frost might not return.
“The Indians must not be allowed to go too far,” said Daniel Boone.
“But with even my father and Frost we will number but eight,” said Joe.
“True, lad; but I calculate that a good white hunter is worth four or five redskins,” answered Boone.
The well-known old hunter was dressed in the typical garb of that period—loose hunting shirt, or frock, of dressed deer skins, leggings of leather, fringed on the outer seam, and a coonskin cap, in which was stuck a curled feather or two, and on the feet a pair of coarse, heavy moccasins. Around his waist the hunter wore a substantial belt, with a tomahawk at his right side, and on the left his long hunting knife, powder horn, bullet pouch, and small metal case containing extra flints and tinder.
All were seated around a tiny camp-fire at about eight o’clock that evening, when Boone suddenly arose.
“Somebody is coming,” he said.
Neither of the boys had heard a sound out of the ordinary, nor had some of the others for that matter. But Daniel Boone’s ears were trained to woodcraft, and he had caught the cracking of some brushwood a good distance away. He picked up his rifle and moved out of the circle oflight, and several of the other men followed his example.
It was soon seen that Ezra Winship and Pep Frost were approaching, followed by two men and several women and children—all members of that ill-fated band that had suffered so much but a short while before. One of the men was wounded in the shoulder, and one of the children had been partly scalped.
It can well be imagined that Ezra Winship was glad to meet Daniel Boone, whom he knew so well by reputation, if not personally.
“We need your assistance sorely,” said Mr. Winship. “Our whole party has been either killed, taken prisoners, or scattered, and I must say that I hardly know what to do.”
He listened closely to what Joe had to tell him about the canoes that had gone up the river.
“Your mother must have been of the party,” said he. “For I have learned that she and Cora and Clara Parsons were together.” He turned to Boone. “Colonel Boone, where do you think the captives will be taken?”
“’Tis hard to tell, Winship,” was the reply. “Perhaps to the village of Go-wan-shi-ska. That is a favorite spot with them at this season of the year.”
In their trip back to the former camp Mr. Winship and Pep Frost had seen but two Indians and they were a long distance off. In coming through a patch of timber they had heard the cry of a child and this had led them to a shelter where they had found those that they had now brought with them.
“We must rescue those who have been carried off,” said Ezra Winship. “I cannot consent to go on to the fort until that is done. My own wife and daughter are missing and so are five or six others. To leave them to the mercy of the savages would not be human.”
“We cannot go after the missing ones until we have seen the women and children who are here safe,” replied Daniel Boone. “But once they are at the fort I promise you that I will use every effort within my power to bring back the missing ones and avenge this great wrong.”
The great hunter spoke feelingly, for he had not yet forgotten the death of his beloved son nor the deaths of many of his old-time companions.
It was arranged that the whole party should move forward under the personal guidance of Colonel Boone without delay. The wounded and the small children were placed on horseback, and the men and boys, all armed, tramped on aheadand behind, Boone himself far in advance, making certain that the way was clear.
On the way two Indians were encountered. One was shot down and the other taken prisoner.
The captured red man was closely questioned by Colonel Boone and others. At first he refused to talk, but at last said that the tribe under Red Feather was journeying toward Go-wan-shi-ska. They had some captives, he did not know how many, nor did he know how long Red Feather intended to remain at the village before moving further to the north.
When the news reached the fort that the expected expedition had been attacked by the Indians under Long Knife and Red Feather there was great excitement, and a score of men, including Peter Parsons, rode out to meet those who were coming in.
“So you are safe,” said Mr. Parsons to his wife. “I am glad of that.”
“Yes, yes; but poor Clara!” groaned Mrs. Parsons, and then burst into tears on her husband’s shoulder.
The stories the various survivors of the expedition had to tell were listened to with interest by all at the fort, and under Colonel Boone’s command a party of twenty-two men, young and old,prepared to follow up the trail of the red men and give them battle if necessary. All were aroused to the necessity of swift action, and each man was prepared to fight to the last in defense of his own family and those of his companions.
With the men went Mr. Winship and Joe. Mr. Parsons wanted to go, but it was thought best to leave him and Harry behind to look after the women folks, for it was barely possible that, during the absence of so many of the garrison, the Indians might attack the fort itself.
“You must be on guard, day and night,” said Colonel Boone to the officer who was left in charge. “Keep pickets out constantly and do not allow any Indians to visit the fort proper. If they want to parley let them do it outside and not more than two at a time.”
The entire party went out on horseback, Joe riding a steed provided by Mr. Parsons. The young pioneer had been introduced to all of the others in the expedition and felt thoroughly at home among them. The men, young and old, were a whole-souled body and willing to do almost anything for each other.
It was now that Joe learned for the first time in his life what real hard riding meant. Daniel Boone allowed no dragging behind, and the hunters went forward as fast as their steeds couldcarry them, up trail and down, over stretches of deep grass and then along and over the rocks. Often a stream would have to be swum or forded, and the riders would have all they could do to get over and keep their ammunition dry.
The first night was spent in the open, without a camp-fire, and long before the sun arose the party was again the saddle, riding as hard as ever.
“I hope you are not tired out, Joe,” said his father, on the way.
“Not yet; but how long are we to keep this up?” questioned the son.
“Colonel Boone says until we see something of the Indians. And I am glad of it,” added Ezra Winship. “We can’t come up to those rascals too quick for me.”
On the third day out, however, the speed was slackened a little, and just before sundown Daniel Boone and two of the other skilled hunters went on ahead. They were moving up a hill, the ridge of which was located in some timber quarter of a mile away.
Colonel Boone and the others were gone the best part of an hour. The remainder of the party were then ordered to swing round to the left of the trail they had been following and halt just this side of the ridge of the hill.
“The Indians are encamped in the valley on the other side of the hill,” said Colonel Boone. “There are about thirty of them and they have at least some, if not all, of the captives with them.”