CHAPTER XXIII

THE CAVERN OF THE WATER SPIRITS

"WE must get away from here right soon," announced Kenton, after he had asked the boys a few questions concerning the adventures that had been met with on the long and dangerous journey across country from the Ohio to the region of the Great Lakes.

"Whatever you say, we will do only too gladly," declared Bob; and Sandy nodded his head eagerly, to denote that he was of the same mind.

"Very good," remarked the borderer, who had been thinking over matters even at the time he questioned the boys. "And, as it happens, we know of a fine hiding-place not a great way off, where we can keep these fellows safe during the time we must stay around the Seneca town."

"Troth!" remarked Pat O'Mara, immediately; "'tis a jewel av a place. They till me they have kept house in the same both toimes whin comin' up till the counthry av the Great Lakes, to say phat the crafty ould sarpint Kiashuta might be about. By the greatest luck in the worrld I ran acrost Abijah Cook here, and was introduced to the cavern. 'Tis a grand place I'm tilling ye, me boys; and bad cess to the ridskin that iver discovers the same."

"Come, let us depart without any more delay," said Kenton, impatiently; for he knew that there was more or less danger lest one of the medicine men find some excuse to return to the sacred oak, and thus make a discovery that must cause the Seneca village to buzz like an enormous hive of bees, with scores of warriors rushing forth to scour the whole neighborhood for signs of the bold palefaces.

The four Frenchmen evidently did not enjoy the prospect by which they were confronted. Still, they were soldiers of fortune enough to accept things as they came along. Who could tell what the next shuffle of the cards might bring forth? The first often became last, and the under dog might find himself in a position to make terms as victor.

That their air of indifference was assumed even the boys felt sure. They could detect the cautious looks cast around by the leaders of the Frenchmen, and understood how eagerly they would seize upon a chance to escape.

Nor were the three white men in doubt as to what such a catastrophe might mean for them; since it must bring a mob of cruel foes howling at their heels like a pack of timber wolves eager for the blood of the wounded stag.

Quitting the wonderful oak that had, perhaps, witnessed these strange councils of the red men for centuries past, all plunged into the forest.

The French trappers were fastened together with a hide rope which Kenton happened to have wrapped about his waist.

Guarded by men with ready rifles, and followed by the two boys and Blue Jacket, the prisoners knew they would show their good sense by refraining from any demonstration.

Crafty Larue might have sought to delay the march by pretended stumbles, but he did not exactly like the manner of Kenton. Possibly he knew something of the fiery nature of the rash borderer, and feared to arouse his anger.

As they thus threaded the mazes of the deep woods, winding in and out while following certain trails made doubtless by wild animals, not a word was spoken. Kenton had warned the prisoners that talking would not be allowed under any circumstances.

He himself wished to ask a score of important questions of the boys, knowing that, since they had been hidden in the oak tree during the holding of the great palaver, they must know much that he yearned to grasp. But he could wait until they were in a position of safety before making his inquiries.

"I hope we are nearly there," whispered Sandy in the ear of his brother, for, to tell the truth, the boy was nearly exhausted after the great strain of the last week, and then those two long hours up in the tree, when he could hardly breathe freely, for fear of betraying their hiding-place to the watchful enemy.

Pat O'Mara was close enough to catch the low words, or else he guessed what Sandy must have said. At any rate, he dropped back a pace or two, and managed to remark in his genial, consoling way:

"Whist now, be aisy, me boy; 'twill not be long afore we reach our distination. And thin, by the powers, ye can rist as long as ye plaise. Do be lookin' out that ye lave the trees alone, and save the skin av your nose," he added, as Sandy, forgetting to be as careful as usual, in his desire to hear what Pat had to say, ran full into a sapling that he failed to see in time, and consequently suffered to the extent of several scratches on his face.

It was almost marvellous the way those forest rangers managed to pass in and out of the dense forest like so many shuttles in the hands of an expert weaver. The moon was utterly missing now, and even the light of the stars failed to penetrate beneath that thick canopy of matted branches overhead, so that they stalked along in almost complete darkness.

But they were at home under such conditions. The woods were an open book to Kenton. He read the pages as readily as any Indian who ever crouched in the war-dance, or lifted his voice in the whoop of a foray. They used to say that Kenton possessed the eyes of a cat, so that he could see when other men were blind. And perhaps they were right, for he certainly led his little troop in and out with marvellous skill.

Some ten minutes later Bob heard the music of a waterfall ahead.

"Phat do yees think av that?" asked Pat O'Mara a moment later, as they stood on the bank of a fairly large stream, and looked up at the sheet of water that shot over the ledge above, to fall in a white tumbling mass into the pool at their feet.

"It is beautiful," observed Bob, who, however was wise enough to know that Kenton would not have brought them hither simply to admire the cataract.

"Back of that sheet of water there is a cavern," said the leader, as they stood on the shore. "I have been many times to the great Niagara, and a friendly Onondaga chief took me back to the wonderful shelf of rock that is hidden by that wall of falling water. So I suspected that there might be just such a fine hiding-place here. Many months ago, when I was up in this country on a mission for Governor Dunmore of Virginia, I investigated, and found it to be true. Follow after me and you shall see."

The four prisoners held back. They did not like the idea of braving the wrath of those descending waters. Perhaps there may have been some superstitious fear connected with their hesitancy, for the Indians had legends concerning this same cataract, and believed that the spirits of the departed came hither, to sing again the war chants and songs of love that they had known when on earth.

But there was nothing left for the Frenchmen to do but obey, when those grim keepers urged them on. Life was sweet, even to such reckless rovers, and so, overcoming their reluctance, they obeyed the directions given, and passed in safety behind the sparkling, water curtain.

"Keep against the rock, all!" said Kenton, who was in the lead.

Sandy stumbled; but, as usual, Bob was quick to throw out a helping hand, so that the other was saved a plunge over the edge of the rock, which must have resulted in a good ducking, if nothing more serious.

"Now stand still," came the voice of their leader from a point close at hand. "I have torches handy, and, as soon as I can get at my tinder, you shall have light."

Presently, as they stood patiently waiting, holding on to the prisoners lest they be tempted to make a dash for liberty in the dark, they heard Kenton striking his flint against the steel. Then a tiny blaze sprang up, which in turn was communicated to a long splinter of fat pine, taken from a tree, they afterwards learned, that had been lately riven by a thunderbolt, and hence was scrupulously avoided by the Indians.

When the torch lighted up the cavern the boys found that, owing to the formation of the rocks, it was next to impossible for any one outside to see signs of human occupancy. Besides, should a Seneca warrior discover a strange weird glow behind the water curtain, he would very likely fall on his face in the full belief that the spirits were holding council there, and that the fire was not of this world, but from the land of the great Manitou.

"Here you can rest, my brave boys," said Kenton, kindly. "We have plenty of meat, and there is no lack of fuel. The smoke of the fire escapes through crevices in the rocks above. See, yonder are beds of leaves and stripped hemlock. After we have eaten, and you have told me what you heard while hidden in the oak, you must lie down to rest. As to the rescue of Kate, we will make our plans later."

A fire was soon started, the same supply of pine wood doing service. And, under such singular conditions, the two young pioneers ate the first good meal they had enjoyed for more than a week.

Afterwards Bob sat beside Kenton while the borderer plied him with many questions. Of course Bob was not always able to give as intelligent an answer as he would like, since his ignorance of the Indian tongue had prevented his understanding much that had been said by Pontiac and the other head chiefs during the council; but Kenton, in his customary shrewd way, managed to guess at what was lacking.

"It is all plain to me, Bob," he said, later on. "Pontiac is at his old game, and hopes to weld all the various tribes from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi in a grand confederation in favor of the French, whom he loves, and against the English colonists, whom he despises. The Sacs, his own people, the Pottawottomies; the Foxes; the Delawares; even the Illinois tribes he is sure of; also the Shawanees. He longs to add the Six Nations, or Iroquois, to the list. That is why his silver voice is heard in the land of the Senecas," he added bitterly.

"But the Iroquois are the friends of the English?" Bob exclaimed.

"Yes," Kenton went on, a frown mantling his fine face. "They have been, in the past; but the artful French have long tried to undermine this old established friendship. They constantly seek opportunities to make the Onondagas, the Oneidas, the Mohawks, the Cayugas, the Tuscaroras, and the Senecas believe that the English governor of Virginia is playing them false, and speaking with a double tongue."

"But they have not wavered, up to now," said Bob. "Surely they hate the French so much that they will refuse to join with them in warring on our settlements, just because the lilies of France seek to run a line of trading posts all the way down the Mississippi?"

"We believe that is true with most of the tribes; but the Senecas have acted in a suspicious way," returned the borderer. "That is why we two came up to this northern country. News reached Boone that Pontiac was sending his wampum belt to the Seneca chief, Kiashuta, with word that the owner expected to personally follow it up, and address a great gathering of the various tribes under the famous Seneca council oak."

"If that was Kiashuta with whom Pontiac departed, I greatly fear he is leaning toward the teaching of the great plotter," Bob declared.

"Yes, he has little love for the English, the more the pity," Kenton added; "but, left to himself, the Seneca would have been swayed by his fellow chiefs of the Six Nations. Now that he has heard the fiery, persuading voice of Pontiac, I fear he, too, will be ready to dig up the hatchet that has been buried these many years, and go with his young braves on the warpath, burning and slaying."

Sandy had already thrown himself down on some of the hemlock boughs, and was far gone on the road to slumberland. The warmth of the cavern, together with his more satisfied mind, and the good supper of which he had just partaken, combined to make the lad very sleepy.

Nor was Bob averse to following his example when he found that Kenton had no more important questions to ask. He did not inquire as to what plans the other might have already budding in his mind, looking to the stealing of their captive sister from the clutches of the Senecas.

Kenton was a man to be trusted when he had such a task on hand. He would sleep on it, and, with the coming of another day, no doubt they might hear just how he expected to go about entering the village of the Senecas, and robbing Black Beaver's wigwam of its latest tenant, the paleface girl whom the young chief had stolen to replace the daughter so mourned by the old squaw, his mother.