CHAPTER VII

THE FLINT-TIPPED ARROW ON THE ROOF

AS Bob Armstrong and his brother drew near the well-beloved cabin which had now been their home for almost an entire year, their hearts beat high with anticipation of a reunion with their mother, father and sister.

The door stood partly open, as though, perhaps, Mr. Armstrong had just entered, to bear the latest news concerning the rising of the river to his family circle. And, looking through the opening thus formed, the boys saw the three whom they loved standing by the table, on which still rested the dishes of the evening meal, as if the fond mother had not given up all hope that her sons might yet come in, tired and hungry.

They could see her face as she listened to what the good man of the house was saying. It could not have been cheerful news, either, for the concern deepened on the countenances of Kate and her mother.

The boys could stand it no longer, but, bursting through the door, they were quickly in the arms of the mother for whom either of them would have given his young life any day; nor did either Bob or Sandy deem it unmanly in the least because tears ran down their cheeks, induced by their great joy at once more being home.

Then came many questions; and, as the story was told, how those fond ones hung upon every word! No doubt that brave little mother could see, just as vividly as though she had been there, her younger boy caught in his own trap, with that fierce woods tiger creeping closer and closer.

And then, later, when between them the boys had described the accident out on the river, whereby the breaking of the paddle was responsible for the collision with the great unwieldy log, and the loss of the dugout, she realized the peril her sons had been in, even though they strove to make light of it.

Last of all came the news that Blue Jacket was trying to fetch to his friends at the time he and Pat had so opportunely come upon the floating log in the middle of the Ohio.

"Let us hope and pray that it may not be so bad as that," Mrs. Armstrong said; for, now that her boys had been restored to her, she felt that she could face almost any calamity with calmness. "The Indians may have over-estimated the force of the water, and it will not rise higher than our doorstep, at most."

"It is not very far from that, even now," observed Bob, who had noted before entering the cabin how terribly near that flowing flood came to their home, and that already it had covered the patch of ground where he and his brother were accustomed to work at odd times, when not hunting, or attending to their string of traps.

"We shall not dare sleep much to-night," declared Mr. Armstrong. "You see, my boys, we have been busy, and our few possessions are already done up, ready to be carried to higher ground, if necessary--which we hope may not be the case."

Then came Pat O'Mara, always a welcome guest at the Armstrong cabin; for he had always shown himself one of their best friends.

"Sure, there be some av the settlers who make light av the direful news Blue Jacket brings, becase, ye say, 'tis only an Injun that fetches the same," the trapper remarked, after he had greeted the rest of the family, and joined the circle. And then with the boys ate heartily of the food Mrs. Armstrong had placed before them.

"A strange thing happened since you left home," remarked the owner of the cabin, as he reached out, and, picking something up, laid it on the heavy table, scoured snowy white by the hands of the good housewife.

Sandy uttered a cry of astonishment.

"Why, look at that, will you?" he exclaimed. "It must be another of those strange warnings we have been getting for a long time past, though we can never understand who sends them, for I can see the same figures marked here on the birch bark that we settled before meant those rascally French trappers."

"Yes," said Bob, who was closely examining the little roll of thin bark, almost as light as a feather; "I am sure you are right about that, Sandy; and these two creeping figures must be our enemies, Jacques and Henri, the brother of the dead Armand. But where did you get this, father?"

"Your mother and myself were talking here late in the afternoon, when Kate came and told us she had heard a strange sound from the direction of the roof, just as if some one had thrown a stone. I went out, expecting to find that those small boys of the new settler, Seth Smalley, had been pelting each other again; but, when I looked, no one was in sight. Then, chancing to cast my eyes upward toward the roof, what was my astonishment to see an arrow sticking there, to which was attached that little roll of bark. So I climbed up, and possessed myself of the whole. I do not much doubt but that this unknown friend, who has several times tried to warn us about those bad men, the French trappers, is again sending a message which is intended for you two boys."

"What does he seem to say this time?" asked Sandy, as, with his brother and the Irish trapper, he bent over the scroll which was being held open in the extended fingers of Bob.

"Here is a cabin, which must be meant for our own home," commenced Bob; "because, you see, it has a little flagstaff fastened to the top in front. Well, two creeping figures are coming toward the cabin. One of them holds something in his hand, which I can hardly make out, but it may be a burning brand. Yes, it surely is, for here you can see smoke curling up from the side of the cabin."

"Well, the whole settlement shall know about it at once," declared Sandy, angrily; "and it will be a bad thing for Jacques Larue or Henri Lacroix to be seen creeping up the rise. I do not believe we will ever know peace until something happens to those bad men. Little they care for the sacred belt of Pontiac, and even the death of Armand Lacroix does not seem to have daunted them."

"I think you are wrong there," Bob went on, earnestly. "They have been afraid to do either of us bodily injury, because they know what the anger of Pontiac would mean to them. But they think they can find other ways to annoy us, and those we care for. To burn our cabin to the ground seems to be a favorite way of satisfying their idea of revenge; but they will have a hard time doing it, now that we are warned."

"I read the scroll somewhat as you do," said Mr. Armstrong, "and at once commenced to ask among the neighbors concerning them. One man, who had been out hunting most of the day, told about seeing the Frenchmen in the woods. They seemed to be heading this way, and acted as though they were making sure of their ground as they advanced. As he did not fancy running into trouble, he simply lay in the bushes until they had passed on."

"Which proves that they are really around here again, urged on by some foolish notion that they have suffered wrongs at our hands, and ought to square the account," remarked Bob, seriously.

"It will be squared, one of these fine days," said Sandy, with a glance in the direction of the corner where he had stood his musket after entering, taking it from the hands of Pat, who had been carrying the heavy piece for him, because of his lame leg.

"Yis," spoke up Pat, "there be but wan way to aven accounts wid such spalpeens as thim Frinch trappers, who make most av their livin' stalin' from the traps av honest min; and that is by diskiverin' the same in some ugly thrick, an' wastin' a precious bit av lead."

"Here comes Blue Jacket to see you, mother," said Bob.

"Oh!" broke in Sandy, "if you could only have seen him when he was telling that war-loving Little Turtle how much he was in debt to the Armstrong family, it would have done you good, mother. Of course we didn't just understand all they said; but Pat could, and he told us how Blue Jacket was declaring he would lay down his life for any one of us, if the need arose. He said you attended to his hurt just as if he were your own son."

It could be easily understood, after that, what a warm welcome greeted the young Shawanee brave when he strode into their midst. Doubtless it was pleasant to him to know that they thought so much of him; but he did not betray this fact even by a smile. An Indian learns from childhood to repress all outward evidence of feeling springing either from joy or pain. Anger alone will he allow himself to show, and that only because it excites his ardor for the battlefield or to follow the trail of his enemy.

Sandy was waiting to spring something upon the young Shawanee brave. He had asked his father for the arrow which had been shot so as to drop directly on the roof of the Armstrong cabin. This he suddenly laid before Blue Jacket.

"You, who can tell the different arrow-points, and the way of feathering the shaft, of every tribe along the Ohio, look at this, and say whose was the hand that drew the bow from which it came," Sandy went on to say.

Blue Jacket looked gravely at the flint tip that was bound in the cleft of the straight shaft with strong fibres taken from some plant. There must have been signs that immediately informed him as to what tribe the party belonged who had made that arrow. (Note 7.)

"Ugh! Delaware arrow, him," grunted Blue Jacket; and no one dreamed of disputing his simple assertion; indeed, Pat O'Mara was seen to wag his head in a satisfied way, as though that declaration exactly coincided with his own private opinion.

"So, you see," remarked Sandy, with an air of triumph, turning on his brother, "I always said I believed it was an Indian who sent those queer messages; but why do you suppose he does it? The Delawares as a rule are not in love with the white settlers. When a colony is attacked there are generally Delawares among the reds who creep up to surprise the poor settlers. Why should a Delaware want to do us a good turn; tell me that, Bob?"

"Well, now, I am just as much in the dark as you are," returned Bob; "unless that was a Delaware youth you rescued, Sandy, from that horrible quicksand late in the autumn on that day you went out hunting alone."

"It might be," Sandy replied, looking thoughtful; "he never told me who he was; but held out his hand to me, and then disappeared in the bushes, from which fact I made up my mind that he must have been on a very important errand at the time he got trapped in that slough. A Delaware--well, perhaps he was. Seems to me he looked like the one who was caught hanging around here early last summer, and who was allowed to go, with a warning never to come back. But I suppose I never will know the truth."

"But, it sames to me it's a mighty good thing to have sich a grand fri'nd always on the watch till warrn yees whin danger draws nigh," remarked the trapper. "Now, av I'd had the same, 'tis manny a bad time I might have been saved from goin' through wid, in me day. And marrk me worrd, this same party must have a bad falin' towards the Frinchmin; becase he sames to kape watch over them, so he do; plazed to upset anny plans they might be after makin'."

Leaving the cabin in the charge of Mrs. Armstrong, Kate, and Sandy, the last of whom wished to have some of the home-made salve applied to his swollen ankle, the rest went out to watch the rising of the waters, and to compare notes with others among the anxious settlers, now in fear of having the little homes for which they had toiled so hard swept away with the flood.

One who had been keeping close watch over the situation declared that for more than half an hour now the river had been at a standstill. Even such a small thing as this brought some ray of hope in its train; though Pat warned them not to relax their vigilance one iota, because the information sent down the Ohio by means of those signal smokes was usually very accurate, and could be depended on.

It was after a time decided to set a watch, while the rest of the settlers tried to obtain some sleep, of which they were in much need. Should the river once more begin to rise, information of the event would be carried around quietly from cabin to cabin, so as not to awaken the women and children, and needlessly alarm them, even though it were deemed the part of wisdom for the men to be abroad.

But, in case the water started to rise swiftly, as would be the case should the flood predicted by the Indians arrive, then the alarm bell, used only in cases of great necessity, like a threatened Indian attack, would be rung.

Should that be heard, every one must immediately start to remove all of his possessions, scanty as these were at the best, to a place of security on higher ground.

It was an anxious group that gathered there for a last consultation, before separating for the night. Bob missed Blue Jacket, and yet the Indian came and went at will when visiting his white friends, so that his absence caused no alarm.

Finally Mr. Armstrong took Bob by the sleeve, saying:

"Come, you and Pat, we will return home. We all of us need sleep, and surely you in particular, my son, after the excitement of the perils that hung over your head. Perhaps a kindly Providence, that has all along watched over our fortunes, may see fit to ward off this new and terrible danger. But, if it is to come, we could not help matters by remaining awake. Let us then be securing some rest, so as to be ready to work with a will, in case the worst comes."

Half an hour later perfect quiet seemed to surround the cabin of the settlers from Virginia; but, nevertheless, Pat slept, as he himself expressed it, "wid wan eye open." Besides, he kept his long rifle close to his hand; and Sandy felt positive that, in case there came any midnight alarm, O'Mara would be out of the cabin like a flash, and woe to the skulking figure on which his eye rested.

Tired out after the labors of the day, and easily able to throw the burden off his young mind, Bob Armstrong was not long in going to sleep, once he had dropped down on his bed, covered with some of the furs taken by himself and Sandy.

They had been warned not to undress, lest there might be need of sudden action with the coming of the flood. But such a little thing as that did not bother either of the Armstrong boys, who were used to roughing it whenever they went into the woods.

Bob never knew how long he slept; but it must have been for several hours, because the fire on the hearth had died down when he opened his eyes again, and it had been looked after at the time he lay down.

But the condition of the fire gave the boy little or no concern at the time he awoke; for, hardly had he opened his eyes, than he became conscious of the thrilling fact that it had not been a dream after all but the alarm bell was wildly pealing out its brazen notes; and outside he could hear men's hoarse voices shouting:

"Up, every one of you! The flood is coming swiftly, and already the water has commenced to rise at a fearful rate. Awake! Be up and doing, if you would save your possessions! The flood! the flood!"