Part 25 (1/2)

At last a cry was raised that the fort itself was on fire. The cry, terrifying as it was, instantly brought Henry to the front, who said calmly: ”I put out flame.”

For a moment every gun and voice within the fort was silent while the anxious inmates watched Henry as he made his way to the roof where the fire already was kindled. A wild yell from the Indians greeted the appearance of the young man and a shower of bullets fell all about him.

Undismayed by his peril, Henry succeeded in making his way to the blazing arrow, flung it to the ground, and succeeded in putting out the fire. As he turned to make his way back to his friends another shower of bullets fell about him, and a groan escaped the watching defenders when they saw the young hero suddenly lose his grasp upon the roof, and after a brief struggle roll to the ground outside the walls.

The numbers of those who had fallen within the fort had not been great, protected as they were by its wall and also by their own continued vigilance. The ranks of the a.s.sailants, however, steadily had been thinned, and on the ninth day, without any warning to the defenders, the attacking Shawnees withdrew from the place.

Peleg was engaged in his duties in the fort on the morning following the siege when the scout approached him and, in response to the enthusiastic words of the boy, smiled as he said: ”Well, we did pretty well, lad. We lost only two and had only four wounded.”

”And Henry was one of the killed,” suggested Peleg.

”I do not know. He has not been found,” replied Boone. ”If one had to die I think Henry was the best one to go.” In response to a look of inquiry from the boy, the scout continued: ”He had no family; his white blood prevented him from being entirely at home among the Indians, while his Indian bringing-up would have prevented him forever from feeling that he was one of us. There were times when I was afraid for the life of Sam Oliver, so bitter was Henry's hatred of him.”

”Do you know how many of the Indians were killed?”

”It is reported that thirty-seven were killed and a great many wounded.

It is difficult to say just what the losses were, because the Indians always carry away their dead and wounded.”

”Do you think they will come back again?”

The scout shook his head as he said: ”The country hereabouts is increasing so rapidly in its population, and there are so many other stations now between Boonesborough and the Ohio, that I hardly think they will attack us again. Certainly not in the near future.”

”How is Jemima this morning?” asked Peleg.

”She will be all right in a few days,” replied Boone. ”It was only a flesh wound in the shoulder that she received.”

”What are you planning to do next?”

”If you agree,” replied Daniel Boone, ”I shall leave you in charge of my farm and start as soon as I can for North Carolina, to bring back my family.”

It was not long before the scout set forth alone on his journey to the Yadkin, whither his wife had gone with all her children except Jemima, to find a refuge in her father's house, after she had become convinced that Daniel Boone had been killed by the Indians.

The journey was successfully made and the coming of Boone was to his wife almost like the return of one from the dead. There were some matters on the Yadkin, however, which prevented their immediate departure, and it was not until several weeks had elapsed that the scout with his family returned to Boonesborough.

Meanwhile Peleg had looked carefully after the farm which his friend owned, and he received warm words of praise for his efforts when Boone came back.

As soon as the scout saw that his family once more was established in the settlement, and the attacks of the Indians, for a time at least, had ceased, with his brother, who also now had joined the settlers, he once more started for Blue Licks to make salt, of which the settlers and their cattle were greatly in need.

”Are you not afraid to go to the Blue Licks?” inquired his brother when Boone was ready to set forth on his expedition.

”Why should I be?” inquired Boone.

”It was there that you were taken by the Indians.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”The scout, with his family, returned to Boonesborough”]

”They say,” replied the scout with a smile, ”that lightning never strikes twice in the same place. I am not afraid. I think the Shawnees have been taught a good lesson. Colonel Bowman and his one hundred and sixty men, though he was not very successful in his attack upon old Chillicothe, nevertheless showed the Indians that we were not unmindful of their plans. And Colonel Harrod at all events, when he made his attack with the hors.e.m.e.n, certainly scattered the Indians on every side.

I think they will remember both men, although I wish that we might have inflicted greater damage upon their village. The report is that only two scalps were taken, but that may mean very little. The attacks which Colonel Bird, with his five hundred Indians and Canadians, made upon Riddle's Station and the little station upon the Licking River, seem to me to show that the Indians are not ready to give up yet.”