CHAPTER XI

TENDING THEIR TRAPS

THE manner of Blue Jacket while saying this was grave. He had no liking for the whites, save the family of David Armstrong. His sympathies must be wholly bound up in the interests of his race. And yet, unable to rest easy when he knew these good friends would soon be in peril from another uprising of the allied tribes between the Great Lakes and the Ohio, he had come to give them warning.

Bob appreciated what a tremendous sacrifice this act must have been to the red brave, for, in bringing his terrible news, Blue Jacket was in part proving false to his teachings, and the interests of his tribe.

"You must come home with us, and see our parents," Bob insisted, when he thought he saw an inclination on the part of the other to leave them.

"Tell no more than that, Bob," remarked the young Indian. "All can say keep open eyes for bad times along Ohio. Big chief think now can drive paleface settlers back other side mountains, never return. Many tribes send back wampum belt wrap up round tomahawk. Know that mean hatchet dug up; and ready to fight. Watch out, see storm, get in fort! Blue Jacket sorry, no can help."

When it was known that fresh word had come in connection with the dreaded uprising, the pioneers of the Ohio would find new cause for anxiety. But there had never been a time since their arrival that they had not been concerned about the hostile attitude of the Indians. Despite the protestations of some of the tribes as to their desire for peace, even to smoking the pipe with their white brothers, few believed that they meant it; and hence no man ever went far from his cabin without making sure to have his gun along, and that the priming was in the pan, ready for immediate use.

Mr. Armstrong was indeed glad to see Blue Jacket, for while at first he had distrusted him as an Indian, after the rescue of Sandy he could not doubt the loyalty of the young Shawanee.

In the morning he hoped to find out more particulars concerning the important news the newcomer brought, and which fully corroborated that which Pat O'Mara and Simon Kenton had carried, after their trips to the north.

But, when morning came, Blue Jacket could not be found. He had vanished again, after his usual way of leaving the cabin of his friends.

"Here is some Indian picture writing on this piece of white birch bark, that he left behind him," said Sandy, when he had looked everywhere without finding the dusky guest, who had slept on the hard floor by the fire, using for a bed only a bearskin thrown on the hard puncheon floor.

By this time the two boys had learned to read the sign language of the Indians to a fair extent. Blue Jacket himself had taken pains to teach them many things that had to do with his people, and their odd ways.

Consequently, between them Bob and Sandy started to figure out just what the various signs stood for. But this time the friendly young Shawanee had confined his efforts to one subject. Cabins and wigwams were given over to the flames, for the smoke curled up above each one. The various rude figures in sight they could understand to be Indian braves, carrying on the massacre, dancing around fires, and waving objects in the air that must stand for scalps.

"It is only the same warning he gave us last night," said Bob. "He wants to make us believe that all this is coming, and we must keep on guard, day and night. But there was little need of that, because in Anthony Brady we have a leader who sleeps with one eye open. Whatever comes, this little Ohio River settlement will never be caught napping."

It was indeed a time that tried men's souls. And even pioneer boys felt the terrible responsibility resting on their young shoulders, for, as soon as a lad could aim and fire a gun, he became one of the defenders of the home, and must face danger bravely, or be branded as a coward by his kind.

"When we go out hunting after this we must always be on the watch for sneaking enemies," said Sandy, with a tinge of disgust in his voice.

"I only hope the scare will die out," ventured Bob, though his manner told that he did not have great faith in this direction.

"Well, we must not pull too long faces about it," remarked Sandy; "because poor mother is dreadfully worried even now about what may come to pass. We can't prevent it, do what we will, and there's no use crying till you're hurt."

From that time on a feeling of uneasiness rested over the little settlement. Men went about their daily tasks as usual; but many suspicious glances were cast upon the heavy forest beyond the clearing, as though they might be wondering how soon it would be before the shrill war cries of the painted foe burst from those gloomy depths, and blazing cabins told that the worst had come to pass.

And the women stuck closer than ever to their homes, while children were never allowed to stray away, as had been their habit during the earlier summer. Around the humble tables, when the supper was spread, the talk was chiefly concerning such shreds of news as floated in to them from other settlements.

As yet, so far as they could learn, no concerted outbreak had occurred, although, further south and west, the Shawanees were, as usual, harassing the settlements founded by Daniel Boone. But these valiant pioneers of Kentucky were so quick on the trigger, and so ready to match their cunning against that of the red foe, that the Indians had not made any great progress toward wiping out the hardy invaders.

The lateness of the season caused some of the more hopeful to believe that the contemplated uprising might be delayed until spring, since winter was seldom a time for Indian warfare.

As they already had every trap they possessed in use, Bob and Sandy knew that it was necessary for them to visit the entire line daily, unless they wished to lose what fur had been taken over night. These traps had not been set any great distance from the settlement, for they had found plenty of traces of mink, marten, otter, badger and fox in the ravines and creeks within a couple of miles of home; and while, at one time, they had contemplated going further away, the uneasiness of their mother influenced them to make a shorter circuit.

Accordingly they started every other day to visit these traps. Sandy had also discovered a colony of beaver up a lonely stream, and, as he coveted their glossy pelts, he had made sure to leave several of his best traps hidden just under the surface of the water with the bait, scented with castor, above, so that, when one of the little animals tried to reach up, it would surely step into the open jaws of the trap, and be drowned.

One thing the boys had faithfully promised their parents. This was to always keep close together when out in the forest, either in search of fresh meat or visiting their traps to remove the captured fur-bearers.

Bob was particularly interested in every sort of information which he could secure concerning the Indians of this Northwest Territory. He knew the chief differences between the many tribes, and that, while all the rest were in favor of the wily French traders, most of the Iroquois or Six Nations inclined toward the English.

But this did not mean that they would be friendly toward the settlers beyond Fort Duquesne, later known as Fort Pitt; for already were the strong signs of rebellion rife in the Colonies; and the Indians began to take the side of the loyalists against the Americans.

Often, while he and Sandy were making the rounds of their traps, Bob would relate something of interest that he had managed to pick up; and his brother, though not as deeply concerned as himself, always asked numerous questions.

Some days passed after the visit of Blue Jacket, and thus far nothing had come about that might excite new alarm. Almost daily some scout or courier belonging in the settlement would come in with news; but the reports all seemed to point to a possibility of the outbreak being postponed, for a while at least. Pontiac had not had sufficient time in which to mature his terrible scheme; because it was so difficult to get answers from distant tribes, in the confederacy of treachery.

Things were drifting on in this fairly satisfactory way when there came a sudden break in the calm, so far as the Armstrong family was concerned.

As usual, the two boys had been out on their line of traps, and were returning home late in the afternoon. They had been unusually successful, which accounted for their tardiness, for as a rule they were home long before this.

Sandy had succeeded in shooting a deer, and bore a bountiful supply of fresh meat on his broad shoulders. Bob, on the other hand, staggered under a goodly bunch of pelts, consisting of two beaver, a beautiful black fox, three mink, and some muskrat skins that were not worth anything at the time in the market, but were used by the settlers for making warm mitts for winter wear, or snug caps calculated to keep their ears from freezing when the cold winds howled, and the snow fell.

The boys had just come in sight of their cabin when Sandy saw something that caused him to call to his brother.

"Look, Bob, what do you suppose all those people are doing around our home? I can count five, six, seven women standing, talking; and there's Mr. Brewster and Mr. Lane coming out of the cabin. Oh! I wonder if that firebrand has been about again, trying to burn us out?"

And Bob, looking hastily, was also thrilled to see that his brother spoke the truth, in so far as the gathering of neighbors was concerned. He too became immediately deeply concerned, and his boyish face lost every particle of color.

"No, it couldn't be that, Sandy," he said, in a voice that trembled with new-born anxiety; "but I fear it may be father has hurt himself again. Ever since that tree fell on him, and nearly took his life, he has been hardly himself."

"But you must surely be wrong, Bob," spoke up the other, eagerly; "for see, there is father coming out of the door now, and shaking hands with Mr. Lane. If there is any one ill it must be our darling mother, because I can see sister Kate with the women right now."

"But no, that cannot be either, Sandy," said Bob, as he stared at the group near the cabin. "If our mother were ill you do not believe that both father and Kate would leave her alone, while they gossiped with the neighbors outside the doors? It must mean something else! See, Kate is dancing about as though she could not quite contain herself. Now she looks this way, and I believe she sees us."

"Which is quite true," Sandy observed, still trembling from excitement, "because the little witch is running straight toward us as fast as her dear feet will carry her. Listen, she is calling something too; but for the life of me I can't quite make out what she says."

"Anyhow, Sandy," Bob said, smilingly, "we need not fear that it can be very terrible, or Kate would not be looking so gay. See her wave her hands to us as she dances along! Come, why longer hang back, when by meeting her half-way we shall the sooner learn just what has happened to bring the neighbors to our home."

"Just as you say, Bob. I was afraid at first, thinking that something had gone wrong with our loved ones; but--why, there is mother right now, joining the rest at the door. Look, they seem to be saluting her, as though there might be some cause for congratulations. Bob, I no longer fear that trouble has visited us; but, if I am shaking, it is with eagerness to know what it all means."

Kate had ceased trying to make them understand; but all the time she was rapidly approaching the heavily laden boy trappers.

Almost out of breath she came up finally, to throw her arms about the neck of one brother, and then affectionately embrace the other.

"Come, what ails you, Kate?" demanded Bob, when the girl had repeated this demonstration twice, as though unable to articulate, owing to her excitement and loss of breath through running.

"Good news!" she managed to say, beaming at them in turn.

"Something's happened then," cried Sandy; "something good, you say? Bob, can you make her stop dancing around like that, and speak? I'm feeling like I was in a dream, and just can't for the life of me understand what could happen out here so far away from everywhere."

Bob caught his sister, and, having dropped his burden, threw an arm around her.

"Now, tell us at once," he said, in his commanding way; "was it a letter?"

"Yes, yes!" she answered, with a happy gasp, and merry eyes that seemed suspiciously moist with tears of very joy. "A letter from the lawyer in Richmond, telling father that at last, after these years of waiting, the great case has been decided, and in his favor. He is to come and receive the money of which his wicked cousin robbed him ever so long ago. Is it not splendid news, brothers?"