CHAPTER XXV

THE PERIL OF KATE

"WHAT have we here, Henri?" exclaimed the man Kate had seen. She was struggling in the rude grasp of the other fellow, but was like a baby in the clutch of his powerful hands.

"I am surprised, Jacques, at what I have here," was the reply, in French. "This girl, she surely must be the same we know lives in the cabin, up on the Ohio, belonging to our enemy, Armstrong. Yes, I am not mistaken. But what brings her down in this country of the Mississippi?"

Evidently both French trappers were astounded to see Kate there. Many hundreds of miles stood between the little settlement far up the Ohio and this region; and in those primitive days this represented an almost insurmountable obstacle.

"Look again and make sure, Henri," said the other fellow, himself striding forward to leer into the face of the terrified girl, who by now understood that these men were the rascals who had given them so much trouble, trying to injure both Sandy and Bob, and finally robbing their cabin home when it was in the grip of the flood.

Why, one of them was even then wearing the wonderful wampum belt which Pontiac himself had bestowed upon the boys as an emblem of his friendship, and as a protection to their home against the savage fury of any Indians who belonged to the great confederation of which he was the leader.

"Well, what do you say now, Jacques?" demanded the first trapper, with a chuckle.

"_Sacre!_ it is as you say; hard to believe as it is, she must be the same girl. Ha! I have an idea! It may explain the sound of the axes which we heard such long time on the trail now, as we come back once more to our old campground. See, there is the little boat she paddle down the river in. I begin to scent the truth now, Henri."

"Then supposing you inform me as to the same, since I am groping in the dark," demanded the other Frenchman.

"It may be that, if we but come closer to the old camp, we shall find it occupied by some of the hateful English settlers. I would not put it past them to descend the Ohio in a flatboat, till they come here. They have the nerve to face all the French along the Mississippi. And, Henri, among the rest is our old enemy, Armstrong. So you see now how the girl comes to be here."

They stared at each other as though hardly able to believe the facts thus presented by the shrewd statement made by Jacques Larue.

Meanwhile Kate had almost ceased her struggles, because she could only with difficulty breathe, having that broad palm thrust over her mouth, and gripped, as she was, in the strong arm of the trapper.

Oh! how she wished that her brave brothers would only appear just then, and take these two ruffians to task for all they had done. How like savages they looked, in her eyes, with their brutal faces. And Henri Lacroix was not a bit careful as he held her, so that she might not scream, and thus give the alarm. What would they do with her? The very thought brought a cold chill to the poor girl.

Once Kate had been taken prisoner by a young Indian chief belonging to the Iroquois nation, and carried far away to the country of the Great Lakes. Eventually she had been rescued by her two brothers, assisted by others, and brought back safely home. But she would never forget what she had suffered in mind during the time of her captivity.

And yet she really feared these two rough men more than she had the Indians. As she looked into their snapping black eyes, she seemed to see lurking there passions that would stop at nothing, even murder, in order to carry out any mad scheme to which they had turned their attention. Even the girl could realize how Henri Lacroix longed to avenge the death of his brother, Armand, at the hands of Simon Kenton, the friend of the Armstrong family.

If she could only manage to give one loud cry, surely some one would hear; and at any rate these cowardly French trappers, becoming alarmed for their safety, would drop her, and take to their heels, fearing lest the settlers shoot them down like wolves. But Henri Lacroix evidently did not mean to give her the slightest chance to make any outcry, judging from the way in which he kept his hand over her mouth.

"This is no place for us, Jacques," he was saying now, nodding his head in the direction whence came the steady plod of the axes.

"But I hate to go away, and leave them no token of our good wishes," remarked the second trapper, with a wide grin that somehow made poor Kate tremble again.

If only they would let her speak, how gladly would she have promised not to whisper a single word about their having been near by, until hours had elapsed, and they had a chance to get clear away; but Henri Lacroix would not give her that chance, in fear lest she bring vengeful foes down about their ears.

"Ve haf a long bill to settle wif zem boys," remarked Lacroix, in his broken English.

"It took us some time to strike von blow, when we lay hold upon zis belt; and when we come away to ze country of ze Mississippi we do not expect evaire to set eyes again on zem. But, _parbleu_! ze fools follow us here; zey even dare build zere hateful Eenglish cabins on zis river zat belongs to ze French alone. Zat is too much for us to stand. For ze lilies of France we must strike a blow zat vill tell zem zey nevaire can remain here."

"I am of ze same opinion," declared the other Frenchman, gritting his strong white teeth in a way that renewed all the fears of the captive girl.

Were these men even more savage than the redskins, and would they actually kill her, as she had heard of others being treated by whites who had joined forces with the Indians in the cruel wars that were always in progress?

"It is plain, when we leave here, we cannot be trouble with the girl," observed Jacques Larue, in French. Then, as he seemed to allow his roving eyes to glance toward the river, just seen through openings in the trees, a grim smile broke over his swarthy face, while he went on speaking: "Ha! I have deescovered a plan that promises well. It will not only get rid of the _ma'm'selle_ in a fine way, but at the same time strike a blow at our old enemy, Armstrong. The boys perhaps may not feel so proud because they once get the better of your dead brother, Armand Lacroix, and Jacques Larue."

"Tell me your plan, then; and, since we are now in a place of much danger, the quicker we put it into operation the better, it may be," said Henri.

"Listen," the other went on, quickly. "Let us bind this girl so she cannot run away. Also we will fasten over her mouth a bandage, and that will prevent any outcry and call for help."

"Yes, and then?" asked Henri Lacroix.

"We can lay her in the boat she has down here," continued Jacques. "Then, after we have tucked her in, _pouf_! the little boat sails from the shore, and is carried down the current of the mighty Mississippi! Day and night it floats on, the sport of wind and waves. And the Armstrongs will never know what became of the girl!"

Even the cruel Henri seemed to be a little disturbed at the inhumanity exhibited in this plan of revenge; but, as he remembered the fate of his brother, he crushed any objections he might have advanced, and nodded his head, as though agreeing with his mate.

"You are right, it is a beautiful idea," he declared. "The only thing that I like not is the fact that we cannot ourselves see how they feel when they not be able to find the daughter. Ah! it is a noble scheme! Let us then begin the good work by fastening the hands of our captive."

He took out some stout buckskin thongs, of which every borderer carried a supply, as they were useful in many ways. Kate tried the best she knew how to interfere with his brutal designs, but in the power of those two men she was as weak as a babe, and before three minutes had passed her hands had been tightly lashed together behind her back.

After that the trapper proceeded to secure her ankles in the same way, so that she felt herself absolutely helpless.

"Now for the beautiful gag," said Jacques, when this part of the undertaking had been completed.

He took out of the pack he carried a piece of cloth, which he managed to fasten across the mouth of the girl in such a fashion that, while she could still breathe with some effort, speech was impossible.

At any rate, they apparently did not mean to bring about her immediate death. Perhaps they feared lest, in such a case, some of those hardy English rangers might set out on their trail, with the determination never to leave it until they had avenged the fate of Armstrong's daughter.

"How will that do, Henri, _mon cher_?" asked Jacques, gaily, stepping back to admire his own handwork, with the air of an expert.

"Capital! I congratulate you, Jacques, on being such a good hand at such work," the other answered. "Perhaps Armstrong will follow the boat down the river, and rescue the girl; but it will put them to great trouble, and perhaps they will regret raising a hand to injure Jacques Larue and Henri Lacroix."

"You carry her to the boat, while I go ahead to make sure nobody may see us do the work," and, speaking in this strain, the burly trapper led off, with Henri coming along in the rear, bearing the form of Kate as easily as though she were a sack of feathers intended for a pillow.

It was found that a little bend of the shore intervened above, so that the spot where the settlers must have landed could not be seen. They caught a glimpse of the extreme outer edge of the tied-up flatboat, which fact told the trappers they had guessed truly as to the means taken by the Ohio settlers in descending to the region of the Mississippi.

Henri deposited the helpless form of the girl in the bottom of the dugout. Then, with a heartlessness that seemed to be a part of their half-savage natures, the two French trappers shoved the boat away from the shore.

It was immediately caught by the current that flowed more swiftly at this point than above, and began to drift down-stream. The Frenchmen dared not wait, lest, in exposing themselves they be discovered by hostile eyes; but, with more or less laughter that, reaching the ears of the alarmed girl, must have added to her tortures, they turned and plunged again into the woods.

And the little boat, passing on into swifter waters, was soon swirling and dancing gaily on the bosom of the broad Mississippi, bearing Kate Armstrong further and further away from all those she held dear.