Part 35 (1/2)

Paul moved a little on his elbow and turned the other side of his face to the fire. Then he glanced at the silent worker with the moccasins.

”Sol and Jim don't seem to agree much in their second sight,” he said.

”Can you have any vision, too, Tom?”

”Yes,” replied Tom Ross, ”I kin. I shet my eyes, but I don't see like either Sol or Jim, 'cause both uv 'em see wrong. I see Henry, an' I see him plain. He's had a pow'ful tough time. He ain't threatenin' to bust with fat out uv no huntin' s.h.i.+rt, his cheeks ain't so full that they are fallin' down over his jaws. It's t'other way roun'; them cheeks are sunk a mite, he don't fill out his clothes, an' when he crawls along he drags his left leg a leetle, though he hides it from hisself. He ain't spyin'

on no Injun village, an' he ain't in no snug camp with a dressed deer hangin' by the side uv him. It's t'other way 'roan'. He's layin' almost flat on his face not twenty feet from us, lookin' right in at us, an' I wuz the first to see him.”

All the others sprang to their feet in astonishment, and Henry likewise sprang to his feet. Three leaps, and he was in the mellow glow.

”And so you saw me, Tom,” he exclaimed, as he joyously grasped one hand after another. ”I might have known that, while I could stalk some of you, I could not stalk all of you.”

”I caught the glimpse uv you,” said Silent Tom, ”while Sol an' Jim wuz talkin' the foolish talk that they most always talk, an' when Paul called on me, I thought I would give 'em a dream that 'wuz true, an'

worth tellin'.”

”You're right,” said Henry. ”I've not been having any easy time, and for a while, boys, it looked as if I never would come back. Sit down, and I will tell you all about it.”

They gave him the warmest place by the fire, brought him the tenderest food, and he told the long and thrilling tale.

”I don't believe anybody else but you would have tried it, Henry,” said Paul, when they heard of the fearful slide.

”Any one of you would have done it,” said Henry, modestly.

”I'm pow'ful glad that you done it for two reasons,” said s.h.i.+f'less Sol. ”One, 'cause it helped you to git away, an' the other, 'cause that scoundrel, Braxton Wyatt, didn't take you. 'Twould hurt my pride tre-men-jeous for any uv us to be took by Braxton Wyatt.”

”You speak for us all there, Sol,” said Paul.

”What have all of you been doing?” asked Henry.

”Not much of anything,” replied s.h.i.+f'less Sol. ”We've been scoutin'

several times, lookin' fur you, though we knowed you'd come in some time or other, but mostly we've been workin' 'roun' the place here, fixin' it up warmer an' storin' away food.”

”We'll have to continue at that for some time, I'm afraid,” said Henry, ”unless this snow breaks up. Have any of you heard if any movement is yet on foot against the Iroquois?”

”Tom ran across some scouts from the militia,” replied Paul, ”and they said nothing could be done until warm weather came. Then a real army would march.”

”I hope so,” said Henry earnestly.

But for the present the five could achieve little. The snow lasted a long time, but it was finally swept away by big rains. It poured for two days and nights, and even when the rain ceased the snow continued to melt under the warmer air. The water rushed in great torrents down the cliffs, and would have entered ”The Alcove” had not the five made provision to turn it away. As it was, they sat snug and dry, listening to the gush of the water, the sign of falling snow, and the talk of one another. Yet the time dragged.

”Man wuz never made to be a caged animile,” said s.h.i.+f'less Sol. ”The longer I stay shet up in one place, the weaker I become. My temper don't improve, neither, an' I ain't happy.”

”Guess it's the same with all uv us,” said Tom Ross.

But when the earth came from beneath the snow, although it was still cold weather, they began again to range the forest far in every direction, and they found that the Indians, and the Tories also, were becoming active. There were more burnings, more slaughters, and more scalpings. The whole border was still appalled at the ma.s.sacres of Wyoming and Cherry Valley, and the savages were continually spreading over a wider area. Braxton Wyatt at the head of his band, and with the aid of his Tory lieutenant, Levi Coleman, had made for himself a name equal to that of Walter Butler. As for ”Indian” Butler and his men, no men were hated more thoroughly than they.

The five continued to do the best they could, which was much, carrying many a warning, and saving some who would otherwise have been victims.

While they devoted themselves to their strenuous task, great events in which they were to take a part were preparing. The rear guard of the Revolution was about to become for the time the main guard. A great eye had been turned upon the ravaged and bleeding border, and a great mind, which could bear misfortune-even disaster-without complaint, was preparing to send help to those farther away. So mighty a cry of distress had risen, that the power of the Iroquois must be destroyed. As the warm weather came, the soldiers began to march.