Part 44 (2/2)
”Besides the fleet, Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, and thirty or forty men like them have come to the relief of the fort,” said Girty.
”It is so,” said Timmendiquas.
”It would be a great stroke,” continued the renegade, ”to destroy Boone and Kenton along with the fort and the fleet”--he was as anxious as Timmendiquas to continue the attack.
”That, too, is so,” said Timmendiquas gravely. ”While it makes our task the greater, it will make our triumph the greater, also. We will watch the fleet, which I do not think will move yet, and when our warriors are rested and restored we will attack again.”
”Beyond a doubt you're right,” said Girty. ”We could never retreat now and leave them to enjoy a victory. It would encourage them too much and discourage our own people too much.”
Timmendiquas gave him a lightning glance when he used the phrase ”our own people,” and Girty for the moment quailed. He knew that the great White Lightning did not like him, and he knew why. Timmendiquas believed that a man should be loyal to his own race, and in his heart he must regard the renegade as what he was--a traitor. But Girty, with all his crimes, was not a coward, and he was cunning, too, with the cunning of both the white man and the red. He recovered his courage and continued:
”The taking of this fleet in particular would be the greatest triumph that we could achieve, and it would be a triumph in a double way. It has vast quant.i.ties of powder, lead, cannon, pistols, bayonets, medicines, clothing, and other supplies for the people in the east, who are fighting our friends, the British. If we should take it we'd not only weaken the Americans, but also secure for ourselves the greatest prize ever offered in the west.”
The eyes of all the chiefs glistened, and Girty, shrewd and watchful, noticed it. He sought continually to build up his influence among them, and he never neglected any detail. Now he reached under his buckskin hunting s.h.i.+rt and drew forth a soiled piece of paper.
”Braxton Wyatt here, a loyal and devoted friend of ours, has been in the south,” he said. ”He was at New Orleans and he knows all about this fleet. He knows how it was formed and he knows what it carries. Listen, Timmendiquas, to what awaits us if we are shrewd enough and brave enough to take it:
”One thousand rifles.
”Six hundred muskets.
”Six hundred best French bayonets.
”Four hundred cavalry sabers.
”Two hundred horse pistols, single-barreled.
”Two hundred horse pistols, double-barreled.
”Three hundred dirks.
”Six bra.s.s eighteen-pounder field pieces.
”Four bra.s.s twelve-pounder field pieces.
”Two bra.s.s six-pounder field pieces.
”Four bronze twelve-pounder field guns.
”Ten thousand rounds of ammunition for the cannon.
”Two hundred barrels of best rifle powder.
”Thirty thousand pounds of bar lead and more than two hundred thousand dollars worth of clothing, provisions, and medicines.
”Wouldn't that make your mouth water? Did any of us ever before have a chance to help at the taking of such a treasure?”
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