Kitabı oku: «With Rogers on the Frontier», sayfa 6

CHAPTER XI
SETH RECEIVES PROMOTION

It was with scrupulous care that Seth dressed himself on the following morning. To be sure, he had only his simple Ranger uniform to wear, but he took pains to be as neat as possible, and it became his shapely sinewy figure so well that more than one of those he met on the street turned to have a second look at him, and to wonder to what regiment he belonged.

Major Rogers was in high spirits, and talked freely as they walked at a good pace to Government House.

"You may consider yourself pretty lucky to have had this trip to Boston, Seth," he said in a tone of paternal patronage, that showed he wished his companion fully to appreciate his good fortune. "Not many of my men have ever been here, and none of them I'm sure has ever seen the Governor, and you will not only see him, but may have a chance to speak to him."

"I do, indeed, think myself lucky, and I'm more obliged to you for bringing me here than I can tell you, sir," responded Seth, with a conviction that left no doubt as to his sincerity and quite satisfied the Major, who smiled in a kindly way upon him, and, patting him on the shoulder, said:

"That's all right, Seth. I brought you along just because I thought you'd get more good out of the trip than almost any of the other fellows, and I guess I haven't made a mistake."

This implied compliment warmed Seth's heart and helped to brace him up for the ordeal of appearing before the famous Governor, of whom he had heard so much.

They were promptly ushered into the great man's presence. Governor Shirley, Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in North America, although now well past sixty years of age, had lost little of his vigor and none of his enterprise, and, despite his being a lawyer by profession, took a keener interest in martial matters than in anything else. The one supreme ambition of his life was to overthrow the French power and make the whole North American continent an English possession, and to the fulfilment of this great purpose he devoted himself with an energy and determination that were altogether admirable.

In Major Rogers he had a man after his own heart – one who shared to the full his hatred of the French, and his passionate desire to see them driven back across the Atlantic, and he did not hesitate to say that had he only been a younger man he would have liked nothing better than to become a Ranger himself, and pit his daring and skill in scouting against French and Indian wiles.

His reception, therefore, was entirely gracious, and when the Major presented Seth, who felt very much abashed, he said to him genially:

"And so this is one of your young men, Major. He seems to be made of the right stuff."

Then, addressing Seth, he added: "How do you like being a Ranger? Do you prefer it to being in the ranks?"

Seth lifted his head and with glowing countenance replied heartily:

"Yes, indeed, your Excellency; I never want to be anything else than a Ranger."

"That speaks well for your method of command, Major," said the Governor, with a smile. "If all your men held the same opinion, there is no fear of them failing in their duty or loyalty, and now if our young friend will withdraw I will have a word with you alone."

Seth, though greatly pleased at the Governor's kind words, was glad enough to return to the ante-room, where, in conversation with one of the aides-in-waiting, he passed the time until Major Rogers came out again.

On their way back to the tavern the Major gave him the further particulars of his interview and the instructions he had received. His company was to be composed of sixty privates, three sergeants, an ensign, and a lieutenant, and they must all be picked men, thoroughly used to forest life, and of unquestionable courage and fidelity.

"My brother Richard will, of course, be my lieutenant," he went on with a keen look at Seth, who was listening intently, "but I have not yet quite settled who will be ensign. Who do you think would be the best man?"

"I'm sure I don't know," replied Seth quite innocently, for he had no glimmering of the Major's drift. "I expect any of the men would be glad to be ensign."

"How would you like it yourself, my lad?" asked the Major, laying his hand upon his shoulder.

Seth started and flushed to the roots of his hair. That the choice should fall upon him had not entered his head, yet there was evident earnestness in his chief's tone.

"I?" he exclaimed, half incredulously. "I'm not fit. I don't know enough. I'm too young."

The Major smiled approvingly, for he liked his spirit of modesty.

"What you don't know, you can learn, and you'll learn all the better for being young. I think I'll give you a trial anyway."

Seth could hardly believe his ears. It seemed too good to be true, and yet he knew the Major too well to suspect him of jesting.

"You are very good, sir," he faltered. "I will do my best to please you, and if I fail, then you must try somebody else."

"All right then, that's a bargain," laughed the Major. "I'll appoint you my ensign, and if you should not prove yourself fit for the position, I'll be free to try somebody else."

And thus the matter, which meant so much to Seth, was settled, and he went back to Fort William Henry in an even happier frame of mind than he had left it the fortnight before, and fairly bursting with eagerness to tell Reuben Thayer all about his trip, and how wonderfully well Major Rogers had treated him.

Reuben was impatiently awaiting his friend's return, and having a nature entirely free from petty jealousy, heartily shared in his joy and pride, at the same time expressing the hope that Seth's altered rank would make no difference in their friendship.

"No, indeed, Reuben," responded Seth emphatically. "We'll be just the same friends as ever I'm sure, even if sometimes you have to take orders from me, for, of course, we will both of us just be doing our duty."

With his wonted promptitude and energy Major Rogers set about forming his company. There was no lack of material. At Albany as well as at the fort the men offered themselves in numbers. The difficulty was to pick and choose.

In this the Major allowed no other consideration than the personal qualifications of the man to influence him. He would have nothing but the best, and when he had finished his task, he certainly had gathered together a band of forest fighters whose superiors could hardly have been found throughout the province.

A proper allowance for equipment having been made by the Commander-in-Chief, the Rangers were fitted out with everything necessary, and presented a really fine appearance when they were paraded at Fort William Henry.

Major Rogers surveyed them with pride and pleasure, that he took no pains to conceal, lighting up his usually stern features.

"They're a likely lot," he said to Colonel Glasier, "and after they have had a season of it with me, they'll give the French all the trouble they want and more too."

"No doubt – no doubt," assented the Colonel, none too cordially, for, to tell the truth, he was a trifle jealous of Rogers' Company, and inclined to think that too much was being made of them.

Major Rogers quite understood this, but was too shrewd to appear to do so. It suited him best to keep on good terms with the other officers, and particularly with those in command of the forts, and he took care to avoid all ground of friction.

At this full dress parade, for so it might be considered, he read to his men for the first time the instructions received from Commander Shirley, and they certainly outlined an extensive programme that afforded unlimited scope for daring enterprise.

They ran in part as follows:

"You are from time to time to use your best endeavors to distress the French and their allies by sacking, burning, and destroying their houses, barns, barracks, canoes, bateaux, etc., and by killing their cattle of every kind, and at all times to endeavor to waylay, attack, and destroy their convoys of provisions, by land and by water, in any part of the country where you can find them."

"Plenty of work there, and lots of danger too," remarked Seth to Reuben when the reading of the instructions, to which they had been attentively listening, was over.

"Yes, indeed; but I don't mind that, and I don't care how soon we are given something to do. We've been shut up in this old fort so long that I'm sick of it," was Reuben's characteristic response.

As it happened, they had not much longer to bide their time, for presently Major Rogers received orders to see what the enemy were about at Crown Point, and he set off thither with a part of his company.

Although spring was at hand, the snow still lay deep in the densest parts of the forests, and it was wet and mushy in other parts, so that the Rangers could not make as rapid progress as they wanted, and the first week of May had nearly ended ere they reached the eastern shores of Lake Champlain, about four miles south of Crown Point.

"Now, Rangers," said their leader, "we'll hide our packs here so as not to be weighted by them, and then push ahead until we get as near Crown Point as we can without being seen."

Considering how completely they were in their enemies' country, and how easy it would be for the latter, if they discovered them, to surround them and cut off their retreat, the light-hearted way in which they obeyed orders certainly betokened an indifference to danger that was almost heroic. They literally held their lives in their hands, and yet not a trace of anxiety or concern showed upon their countenances.

Advancing cautiously two miles farther, they came to a little village, which appeared to be deserted, for not a sign of life could they make out.

But the Major was too sagacious a scout to take anything for granted. The silent village might be only a cleverly designed trap, into which he had not the slightest notion of falling.

"Seth," he said to his Ensign, "take five men with you and reconnoitre that place. The rest of us will stay here until you have found out all you can about it."

Well pleased at being chosen for this perilous service, Seth quickly named his men, one of them, of course, being Reuben, and then, dividing them up into three couples, directed how they should approach the village from different directions.

Taking advantage of every bit of cover, the Rangers crept toward the little group of log houses which composed the village, not knowing at what moment there might come spurts of smoke from their windows, and the crack of muskets be followed by the whistle of bullets.

But the strange silence of the place continued, until at last Seth felt convinced that it was really untenanted, and, rising to his feet, said:

"Come on, Reuben, there's nobody there."

It seemed a rash proceeding, but he had made no mistake. The village was deserted, although it showed signs of recent occupation, and when, in response to Seth's signal, the rest of the Rangers came up, they ransacked it thoroughly without finding anything of value, not even a morsel of food, which they would have been very glad to get.

"I don't quite understand this," said Major Rogers, tugging at his beard. "The place is all right to live in – why, then, should they abandon it?"

"Perhaps they're expecting us to attack them, and they've all gone into the fort," Seth suggested.

"I reckon it must be something like that," the Major assented, "and if it wouldn't give the alarm over there and bring the garrison out after us, like hornets from their nest, I'd set these houses on fire. But I'll have to leave them for the present."

So the silent village was spared, and the Rangers returned to the lakeside, opposite to Crown Point where they lay in hiding the whole of the day following in the hope that some of the enemy might cross the lake and fall into their hands. But they waited in vain, for none of the French came within their reach.

A little before sundown a regular fleet of batteaux and canoes appeared. They had evidently come from St. Johns, on the north, and carried not less than 500 men.

At the sight of them the Major's face grew troubled and he shook his head, muttering:

"The first batch, no doubt, and many more to follow. They'll be having more men at Crown Point by midsummer than we'll have at Albany."

Dangerous as their situation was, the Rangers remained there one more night, and the next morning killed a number of cattle that were roaming about, taking only their tongues, as they could not burden themselves with the meat.

They had just finished a very much needed and refreshing repast on these when Reuben, who had been to the shores, hurried back, crying:

"They're coming after us! A dozen canoes full of French and Indians are crossing right towards us! We've not a minute to lose!"

Major Rogers took one quick look, to make sure that Reuben was right, and then ordered his men to scatter through the forest and find their way by different routes to where they had hidden their packs.

CHAPTER XII
FROM PERIL TO PERIL

The Rangers would, of course, have much preferred keeping together, but they quite understood the wisdom of their leader's plan, and dutifully did as they were told.

Seth struck off to the east, with the idea of making a long detour and then steering straight for the rendezvous. He could get through the forest at a surprising rate of speed, and ere many minutes had passed had put such a distance between himself and the enemy that he had little to fear from their pursuit.

But they were not the only source of danger. He knew well that the whole country round about was being constantly traversed by scouting parties of Indians in the pay of the French, and if he should be captured by any of them he was far more likely to be made the victim of their fiendish ingenuity as torturers, and to be finally tomahawked and scalped, than to be delivered over to the French as a prisoner of war.

Still he did not allow these thoughts, disquieting as they were, to depress his spirit. The dangers that threatened were just what were to be expected, and so long as he continued a member of Rogers' band they would have to be faced.

"The Major was right enough, of course, in making us scatter like this," he said to himself philosophically, "but all the same I'll be everlastingly glad when we all get together again."

Guided by his compass he pursued his lonely way through the forest until sundown, and then looked about for some snug spot in which to pass the night.

It was cold enough to render a fire almost a necessity, but, although he had a well-equipped tinder-box, he did not attempt to make a blaze, lest it should betray him to some skulking Indians.

A small portion of ox tongue, cold and tasteless, served him for supper, and he lay down on some moss at the roots of a big tree to pass the long hours of the night as best he could.

The cold chilled him to the marrow, and hunger gnawed at his vitals. The forest that was so silent during the day now gave forth sinister sounds as the birds and beasts of prey hunted eagerly for victims. First far off and then nearer, one answering to another, the blood-curdling howl of wolves echoed through the darkness, and Seth, shivering with cold, hugged his trusty gun tightly, and hoped that the fierce brutes would not scent him.

He wondered where the others were, and what distance separated him from them. If only Reuben were with him, his situation would not be quite so miserable; but Reuben had taken a southerly direction, and was no doubt miles away at the moment.

The horrid howling of the wolves drew nearer, and the unpleasant conviction began to force itself upon him that they had found him out and were of a mind to hold a nocturnal banquet on his body.

"They'll have to pay dearly for their supper," he soliloquized grimly, "for I'll kill as many of them as I can first, but if the pack is a big one, they're bound to get me in the end, unless" – and at the idea his heart leaped and the blood coursed warmly through his veins – "I keep them off with a big fire. I'll do it and risk the Indians being round."

With trembling fingers he went to work and, of course, the first attempts to light the dry moss with a spark from his tinder-box failed, but he tried again and again, and at last succeeded in starting a tiny flame, which he sedulously fanned into a blaze.

There was no lack of fuel at hand, and, piling this on, he presently had a glowing fire, that lit up the far-reaching forest aisles, and revealed the proximity of the wolves by being reflected in their gleaming eyeballs.

"Just in time!" he ejaculated fervently. "They'll keep their distance so long as the fire lasts, but if it goes out, they'll be on me quick."

If he had had only the wolves to consider, he would have seized the opportunity to do execution amongst them that they afforded by sitting upon their haunches and gazing hungrily at him; but the report of his gun might betray him to the enemy if any of them were within hearing of it, and so he was fain to content himself with speculating how many of them he might kill before the pack would have the sense to take to flight.

The fire burned so brightly that, in spite of the purpose for which it was lit, he found it cheering to his spirit, but it required a lot of wood to keep it going, and after a while he had gathered all that was near at hand, and must needs go farther from the protecting flames in order to keep up the supply.

This, of course, brought him nearer to the waiting wolves, and they were quick to snap at him menacingly, so that he had to make sudden dashes out and in again to the circle of safety.

Presently he bethought himself of a better plan.

"I'll be a magician and carry a wand that will be my protection," he said to himself, smiling at the childish notion, which, nevertheless, he put into execution, for, seizing a blazing brand from the heart of the fire, he swung it before him shouting.

"Avaunt, ye fiends! Begone into the darkness!" (quoting from a book of legends he had read in his school-days) and charged dauntlessly at his determined besiegers.

The seemingly desperate expedient succeeded beyond his expectations. The frightened wolves fled howling before him, and he had time to secure more than one big armful of wood ere they recovered from their panic sufficiently to resume the siege.

Seth laughed at the brutes being so easily fooled, and congratulated himself on having solved the problem which at first promised to be so difficult.

What between the heat of the fire and the warmth due to his exertions, he had lost all thought of the cold, and if only Reuben or any other of the Rangers had been there to keep him company he would not have minded the situation at all, save that he never forgot the possibility of Indians suddenly announcing their presence by a well-aimed bullet or the whiz of a tomahawk.

But the hours went by, and the wolves were still kept at bay, and no wolves in human guise appeared, and at last the darkness gave way to dawn.

The new day found Seth sorely tired, and suffering from hunger and loss of sleep, but far from despondent. He knew pretty well in what direction to steer in order to reach the rendezvous, and he at once set off, for the wolves had slunk away with the night, and he had nothing more to fear from them.

He pushed forward as rapidly as the nature of the ground permitted, keeping a keen lookout in every direction for either friends or enemies, and hoping as strongly to meet the first as to avoid the second.

The morning had well advanced, however, before anything that resembled a fellow-being crossed his vision, and then he was somewhat startled by catching a glimpse of a human form several hundred yards distant.

"Can that be an Indian or a Canadian?" he asked himself, "and I wonder if he's alone."

He could not answer his own question, but he could take to cover, and this he did instantly, muttering,

"That fellow may think I've not seen him, and come right on, and if he does I'll finish him."

With his nerves strung to the highest tension, Seth crouched behind the trunk of a big tree and strove to follow the movements of the other man without exposing himself to the risk of a bullet from his gun.

Not the snapping of a dry branch nor the rustling of dead leaves betrayed his approach, and Seth at last, unable to stand the strain any longer, with infinite caution peered around the protecting tree.

This action nearly cost him his life, for the instant his head appeared the report of a gun rang out and a bullet, striking with a wicked thud, buried itself in the trunk not more than an inch from his head. It was a close shave with a vengeance, but it did not daunt Seth.

"A miss is as good as a mile," he soliloquized philosophically, and feeling safe now until his antagonist should have time to reload, he sought his chance to return the compliment.

It came a minute later as the other raised his head full for a peep, and Seth's finger was pressing the trigger when with an exclamation of astonishment, he lowered his gun, crying,

"Good land! that's not a Canadian, but one of our own men!"

Sure enough, it was a Ranger who had thus been stalking Seth, supposing him to be an enemy, and who had come within an ace of losing his own life in the endeavor to take Seth's.

Relieved beyond expression, Seth sprang to his feet and shouted,

"Oh ho, Ranger! Whom are you firing at?"

At this the other came out from his cover, and with beaming face hurried over to him. It was Andrew Wilcox, who had lost his way in the forest, and was doing his best to find it again when he sighted Seth, and, mistaking him for one of the enemy, determined to get the first shot whatever might be the consequences.

Highly delighted at the fortunate meeting, the two set forth with renewed energy, and by the middle of the afternoon reached the rendezvous, where they found the rest of the company already assembled, and Major Rogers in a humor to rate them for their being last, but on hearing Seth's explanation he considered it sufficient, and said in a kindly tone,

"Not your fault this time, Ensign, and now let us see how we're to get across this lake."

Having neither bateaux nor canoes the only thing to be done was to build a raft, and to this they now gave themselves, toiling away like beavers, and making use so far as possible of the dry driftwood that abounded until they had completed an ugly and clumsy but substantial structure.

Then under cover of darkness they set out for the western shore, propelling their slow craft by means of such rude paddles as they could fashion with their hatchets.

It was a clear, still night, and after the toilsome tramping through the forest the easy gliding across the placid bosom of the lake was very delightful.

"I quite like this," said Seth, who, being by virtue of his rank relieved from the labor of paddling, had stretched himself out on a pile of spruce boughs in great comfort. "I don't mind if it takes us all night to cross."

"But I do," spoke up Reuben, who was one of the paddlers. "It's no easy job keeping the old thing moving, I can tell you. Just come and try it yourself."

"No, thank you," responded Seth smilingly. "I'm enjoying myself too much here – but, hullo! what's that light over there? Do you see it?"

All eyes were at once turned in the direction indicated, where now appeared plainly enough the blaze of camp fires burning brightly, against which the dark forms of a number of men could be descried.

The sight was by no means a welcome one, and there was no mistaking the tone of concern in Major Rogers' voice as he said:

"Confound them! They're encamped at the old Indian carrying place in great force, and we can't get past them without being seen. I don't know just what is best to be done. Stop paddling until I think it over."

The paddlers were glad enough to take it easy for a while, and while the raft floated motionless on the water the Major wrestled with the problem upon the solution of which the safety of the party depended.

The vital question was whether the enemy had reached the place of their encampment by water or overland, for if they had come by water they would be well provided with batteaux and canoes, but if they had come overland they would have nothing of the kind, and those on the raft were quite safe so long as they kept out of range of their muskets.

But how was this to be known? Calling some of the older men around him the Major consulted with them, but they had no practical suggestion to offer. They were in the main disposed to go ahead and take chances.

To this, however, their sagacious leader would not consent. Brave as he was, and ready enough for fighting when the conditions were at all equal, he had no thought of risking the lives of himself and his men by attempting anything so hazardous as to get past the French on the slow moving, clumsy raft. Some expedient offering more hope of a safe issue must be devised.