CHAPTER XXIV

A NEW HOME ON THE MISSISSIPPI

"THE little box in which mother kept her few treasures!" exclaimed Bob.

"And our wampum belt, which Pontiac presented to us with his own hands!" echoed Sandy, as he once more let his gaze rest on the object he had discovered, thrown aside in the grass near the ashes of the deserted fire.

"Those rascally French traders have been right here on this spot, brother," remarked Bob, glancing around, and unconsciously half-raising his gun, as though he partly expected to see the vicious faces of Jacques Larue and Henri Lacroix peering at them out of the undergrowth.

"And only a day or two ago, just think of that!" exclaimed Sandy, a sudden glow coming into his face. "Oh! what if, after all, we should have the great good luck to meet the robbers some fine day; wouldn't we demand that they return our property, though? And if so much as one single thing belonging to our dear mother were missing, they would have to account for it!"

But Bob shook his head. He did not possess the same sanguine spirit as his younger brother, and consequently could not see things in the same light.

"It is true they have been here, and lately, too," he remarked, seriously; "but you must not allow yourself to hope too much that there is any chance for our meeting them. We are far below the mouth of the Ohio River now; and the fact of their having been here seems to say that even now these Frenchmen may be on their way down to the town their countrymen have started on the lower waters of the Mississippi, and which they call New Orleans."

"But we could follow them!" exclaimed Sandy.

"As well look for a needle in a haystack," observed the far-seeing Bob.

"Just to think, if only we could have come upon them while they were seated here, eating their supper, and never dreaming that those they had robbed were at their elbows! Wouldn't we have given the wretches a scare, though, Bob?" and Sandy gritted his white teeth savagely, as he stared at the dumb ashes, just as if they might be to blame for the misfortune that had befallen the brothers in arriving too late.

"Of course there is one little hope that we will yet run across them," Bob said, as though he, himself, wanted to cling to such a shred. "Perhaps they may be lingering around this part of the country, meaning to rest and hunt, after the long trip they have just made from away up the Ohio. And if they do, Sandy--"

"Yes, if they do!" echoed the impulsive lad, shaking his gun impressively, so that further words were unnecessary.

"Let us go and show father what we've found," remarked Bob. "Poor mother will feel so sad when she sees this little box, for it held a number of pretty trinkets which she valued more because they were connected with the past, when her children were small, than on account of their worth in a money sense. To think of those big thieves carrying them around in their pockets or medicine bags; it will make father furious."

"But how does it come, do you think," Sandy went on, "that, after carrying the box all this distance, they threw it away here?"

"That is hard to say, Sandy; and I can only guess at it. Perhaps, now, they liked the looks of this pretty little casket, which a cabinetmaker once fashioned for our mother when she lived in Jamestown, back in Virginia. But, in the end, it began to get in the way; and, tired of carrying it, the men took out the contents while sitting here by this fire, and threw the box into the bushes."

"Never dreaming that the Armstrong boys would come along a day or two later, and find their property again," mused Sandy. "Finding this box seems to tell me that next we will be fortunate enough to run across our wampum belt."

"I hope so," was all Bob said, as he turned around, to return to where the rest of the party were busily employed.

Great indeed was the surprise of Mr. Armstrong when he saw what the boys had discovered on the very spot where they meant to build their new home. As for the little mother, she took the quaint casket in her hands again with a look that told of renewed hope in her heart. It was all so very remarkable that the final recovery of the lost articles now seemed to lie within the bounds of possibility.

The balance of that day was given up to settling themselves as comfortably as they could. Already, the pioneers liked the situation so much that they were unanimously agreed upon staying there permanently. Nowhere could they hope to find a location uniting more natural advantages than here. Long years ago the wandering Indians and white trappers had discovered this fact, as witness their stopping to pitch their camps in the vicinity. It was noted as a country teeming with game, and offering the adventurous settler the finest soil possible.

Then there was the great river close at hand, from which considerable of their needed stock of food might be procured--fish the live long year, and ducks and geese during the colder months.

Everybody seemed fully satisfied that they could not possibly fare better by continuing on down the river; while there were many chances that they would never run across so splendid a site for a settlement.

That night passed peacefully, and, with the advent of another day, operations immediately commenced. They were so wearied of the close confinement aboard the cumbersome flatboat, which had really been overcrowded, that all of them longed to possess their own homes. Humble though these log cabins might be, at least they would prize them highly, with their few possessions giving the interiors the air of home, so dear to the hearts of women the world over.

The merry sound of axe blades biting eagerly into the trees could soon be heard. Every head of a family selected the site where he wished to build his cabin. These were so arranged that, while the structures themselves were close together, each had a gradually increasing strip of land running back, which could be quickly cleared, so that a small crop of corn and some vegetables might yet be planted, for the season was not late.

As they worked, the men always kept their guns within easy reach. They had been brought up to know how trouble often springs out of a clear sky, and did not mean to be taken unawares.

Until the separate homes were completely done, the women and children lived aboard the boat, secure within that stout log cabin which had sheltered them all so long during the cruise down the Ohio.

Several days passed, and the four cabins were fast nearing completion. Indeed, another twenty-four hours would see the finishing touches given to a couple of the rough log buildings; and that of the Armstrongs was one of the most advanced, since the two boys assisted their father considerably in the work.

The chimney was partly built, out of slabs and mud that would harden with the heat and smoke until it became like granite. That generous fireplace they anticipated would ere long take on the "homey" look that had always marked the gathering place of the little family after the candle or the crude lamp was lighted for the evening; though, as a rule, they depended altogether upon the glow of the blaze itself for illumination, since the candles, made mostly from bear fat, were too precious to waste.

Kate had been greatly pleased with the situation of the new home in the western wilderness. Often she had heard her father talking about what Washington advocated in connection with giving every survivor of the French and Indian wars a large tract of fine land in the bountiful west, and thus start a movement that sooner or later would oust the French from that debatable territory. And, when she saw the charming nature of the land, Kate felt in full sympathy with all her father had said upon that subject.

She spent half her time wandering around, picking the most wonderful wild flowers she had ever seen, listening to the birds singing in the trees, or paddling in the little dugout upon the sluggish current of the river; for, owing to a point of land that extended out some distance above, the eddies had formed what was almost a great pond in front of, and below, their camp.

Of course she had been warned many times to be exceedingly careful, and not go far away; but, as Pat O'Mara kept circulating around the vicinity, and reported seeing absolutely no signs of Indians, Kate soon lost all fear.

On the fourth day, which was near the end of the week, the girl had allowed the boat to drift a little way down the river, as she watched the shore for a good spot where she might land and find new treasures in the form of curious flowers. She knew that the boys had gone off on a hunt that morning, as there was need of fresh meat in the camp; and, besides, the cabin was by this time so far advanced that Mr. Armstrong declared himself able to complete it, and move in their few possessions; so that, when they came back, Bob and Sandy might expect to be invited to take their first meal in their own home.

The afternoon was half spent, and the sun well on his journey toward the horizon that Sandy so often viewed with yearning, because it held so much of mystery that appealed to his adventurous nature.

Kate had drawn the dugout up on the sandy beach, and, landing, strolled into the edge of the great woods. She had promised her mother never to go out of hearing of the busy axes; and even now she could catch their steady fall, as the men hewed the logs they had secured from the fallen trees and adapted them for the walls of their cabin homes.

In a short time the girl had her arms filled with the most beautiful flowers she could remember ever having come across. Each new treasure excited her afresh, and she almost forgot her promise not to wander too deeply into the forest, where there was always a chance that some savage wildcat might be lurking.

Kate had just turned around, meaning to head back toward her boat again, which could just be seen through the forest aisles, when she thought she heard a stick snap. Turning around with a half-laugh, under the impression that it might be her two brothers stealing up with the intention of surprising her, the poor girl was amazed and horrified to see a rough man, whom she immediately knew must be a French trapper, standing within five feet of her. Before she could think of screaming a second man arose from the bushes, and clapped a hand over her mouth.