Hugh Pendexter

“ Black Hoof jeered him, sardonically crying:
“The white man makes medicine to his white manito. Let Big Turtle [4] try him with a mouthful of fire. We will see if the white manito is weak or afraid to help his child.”
A burly warrior scooped up coals on a piece of bark and with a fiendish grin leaped through the smoke. Two rifle shots, so close together as to be almost one, shattered the tense silence as the savages held their breath to enjoy every symptom of the excruciating agony. Dale went down on his knees, a small blue hole showing where the bullet mercifully had struck his heart. ”

“ Half a dozen of our men were down and the rest were slowly giving ground. Up to the time Colonel Lewis left us I had seen very few Indians, and only mere glimpses at that. Now they began showing themselves as they crowded forward through the timber, confident they were to slaughter us. Above the noise of the guns, the yells and shouts of red and white combatants, rose a deep booming voice, that of Cornstalk, and he was shouting:
“Be strong! Be strong! Push them into the river!” ”

“ Making sure that the priming of my long Deckhard rifle was dry, I crawled out into the thicket and stood erect. As far as the eye could roam stretched the rich bottom-lands and the low ridges, covered with the primeval growths of giant walnuts, maples, oaks and hickory. Small wonder that the heart of the homeseeker should covet such a country.
Groves of beeches, less desired by settlers, were noisy with satisfied squirrels. From river to ridge the air was alive with orioles and cardinals and red-starts. ”

“ No woman, even border-born, could be more brave than you have been.”
“And I was so woefully wrong when I made fun of your long rifle. I want you to forgive me.”
“Patsy, don’t. You are wonderful.”
“Still being good to me, Basdel. But I know the truth now. Back over the mountains I was wicked enough to feel a little superior to frontier folks. No. Don’t wave your hands at me. I must say it. I even felt a little bit of contempt for those brave women who went barefooted. God forgive me! I was a cat, Basdel. A vicious cat!” ”

“ From the direction of the settlement came the scream of a panther, and at the sound the camp seemed to stir uneasily. With a fiery glance at the warriors Black Hoof gave an order, and a score of men glided into the forest. To me he quietly said:
“There was a panther’s whelp in the little valley we did not get. The Shawnees would dance his scalp ahead of all the hair growing in any of these valleys. He rode to the settlement ahead of me. But we shall get them now. We shall get him. Then we will see if his war-cry is strong when he feels fire.”
“Where is the white woman? Did you kill her?” ”

“ To convince her—which was not possible—that her father’s success was no success at all, that Black Hoof’s behavior was simply an Indian trick to lull us into a foolish sense of security, would mean to alienate even her friendship, let alone killing all chance of her ever reciprocating my love.
While not deeply experienced with women, my instinct early taught me that my sex is most unwise in proving to a woman that she is wrong. She will hold such procedure to be the man’s greatest fault. ”

“ The only way to help the Indian is to trade with him. And when you help him that way you’re helping yourself. That’s the only point you can ever make a red man see.
“I know the Indians. I can go into their towns now, be they Cherokee, Mingo, Shawnee or Delaware, and they’ll welcome me as a brother. They know I don’t want their land. They know I’m their true friend. They want me to make a profit when I trade with them, so I’ll come again with more rum and blankets and guns, and gay cloth for their women.”
“You have the trader’s point of view, and very naturally so,” I said. ”

“ The cabin was like an oven and the sting of powder-smoke made our eyes water. Outside the birds were fluttering about their daily tasks. High among the fleecy cloud-bundles were dark specks which we knew to be turkey-buzzards, already attracted by the dead. For some time the only sign of the enemy’s presence was when three horses galloped down the valley, running from the savages in 221 the edge of the woods. As the animals drew near the cabins and showed an inclination to visit the lick-block a volley from the Indians sent one down. The other two dashed madly toward the Bluestone. ”

“ Kirst was still mounted and bleeding from a dozen wounds. His long rifle was being swung for a club.
My first view of him was as he splintered the butt on an Ottawa head. He bawled in triumph. The Ottawas, expecting no diversion so near the village, were armed only with their knives and axes. A fellow leaped on to the horse and tried to stab him from behind, and one immense hand reached back and caught him by the neck and held him in midair, and squeezed the life from the painted body, and then hurled him among the remaining warriors. ”

“ Dale became very angry, and upbraided me:
“It’s the like of you that spoils the Indian’s heart. You men have heard what the Black Hoof says. You men and women of Howard’s Creek are foolish to believe this young fool’s words. The Shawnees have gone. You heard their travel-cry. They have left none behind to harm by treachery. I told you I could keep the Indians from attacking this settlement. Could your friends, the killers, have sent them away so quickly? I think not. Open your doors. Light your candles. Make merry if you will. There is nothing in the forest to harm you.” ”

“ I mocked you because you were from the border. Poor father! He knew many Indians, but he did not understand them. Town ways seem mighty small and of no account now.”
“Patsy, you must get a grip on yourself. We must get clear of this village at once. We must get back to Virginia.”
She shivered and her eyes dilated as she stared at me and she muttered:
“I dread the woods, the silence, the darkness. The wolves howling at night. Worst of all is the creeping horror of being chased. No! No! I can’t stand any more, Basdel. The black horror comes over me when I let myself think of it. ”

“ I did not believe the Indians would seek to cut off the settlement. They must strike and be off, and they would prefer to have the settlers in flight over the mountains, with the inevitable stragglers easily cut off, than to have them stubbornly remaining in the cabins and fort.
If time was not vital, and providing the Shawnees could bring a large force, then an encircling movement would be their game. But Cornstalk and Logan would not lead a big force into any of the valleys. They knew as well as the whites that the war was to be won by one decisive battle. ”

“ A general war can result only from the Indians’ belief that our settlers are crossing the mountains to settle in the Kentucky country.”
“Ah! There you go! True to the dot, too!” he cried. “You Americans are restless. You acquire no attachment to any place. Wandering about seems to be engrafted in your natures. It’s your great weakness that you should forever be thinking the lands farther off are better than those on which you’re already settled.”
“But land-grants on the Ohio are worthless without settlers,” I meekly reminded. Colonel Lewis indulged in a frosty smile. ”

“ When I opened my eyes a young man was surveying the clearing through a chink above the door. This morning vigilance was customary in every cabin along the frontier and revealed the settler’s realization of the ever present danger. No wonder those first men grew to hate the dark forest and the cover it afforded the red raiders. A reconnaissance made through a peephole could at the best satisfy one that no stump in the clearing concealed an Indian. ”

“ Ever see a single piaster of profit made out of a dead Indian unless you could sell his hair? Of course not. The Indians don’t want war. What they want is trade. I’ve lived among ’em. I know. It’s Dunmore and the border scum who want war. They want to steal more land.”
I had no wish to quarrel with the man, but I, too, had been among the Indians; and I could not in decency to myself allow his ridiculous statements to go unchallenged.
“How can the country expand unless the settlers have land? And if the Indians block the trail how can we get the land without fighting for it? ”

“ Doubtless the savages believed him to be an important officer because of it.
Five of them rushed in to secure his scalp, and each fell dead, and their bodies concealed the boy from view. Up to one o’clock the fighting raged with undiminished fury, with never any cessation of their taunts and epithets and Cornstalk’s stentorian encouragement.
Now it is never in Indian nature to prolong a conflict once it is obvious they must suffer heavy losses. They consider it the better wisdom to run away and await an opportunity when the advantage will be with them. ”

“ I am governor of Virginia. I will serve her interests, and by gad! if the Quakers don’t like our way they can chew their thumbs.”
“We are one in that!” heartily cried the colonel.
Governor Dunmore frowned down at his gold shoe-buckles and wearily said:
“They say I want war. But the Williamsburg paper has insisted on this war since last March. Truth is, the border wants the war. And let me confess to you, Colonel Lewis, that the Earl of Dartmouth, as Secretary of State for the colonies, will express His Majesty’s great displeasure to me before this war is over. ”

“ On the other hand there was, I sensed, a peril in the situation, a peril to Howard’s Creek, that made my seeming acquiescence in her opinion very distasteful 169 to me. I had no proof of my suspicions except my knowledge of Indian nature and my familiarity with frontier history. A red man can be capable of great and lasting friendships. But to judge him, when he is at war, by the standards of the white race is worse than foolish.
Cornstalk, according to his blood, was a great man. Under certain conditions I would trust him with my life as implicitly as I would trust any white man. ”

“ Wherever nut-trees stood the squirrels made more noise than did the House of Burgesses when dissolved by Governor Dunmore for expressing revolutionary sentiments. A most gracious country, and because of its fairness, most fearfully beset. That which is worthless needs no sentinels. I met with no humans, white or red; but when within a few miles of Patrick Davis’ home on Howard Creek I came upon a spot where three Indians had eaten their breakfast that very morning. ”

“ Why not? Trade is most honorable. The world is built up on trade. Men in trade usually have means. They have comfortable homes. They can give advantages to those dependent upon them. Trade? Why, the average woman would prefer a trader to the wanderer, who owns only his rifle and what game he shoots.”
“Patsy, that is downright savagery,” I warmly accused. “Come, be your old self. We used to be mighty good friends three years ago. Be honest with me. Didn’t you like me back in Williamsburg?”
The pink of her cheeks deepened, but she quietly countered:
“Why, Basdel, I like you now. ”

“ When the light died from the heavens I would assassinate the man.
This would give him a scant hour, but a dozen or fifteen minutes of life could make small difference. Then again, once the dusk filled the glade my impassive victim would become alert and up to some of his devilish tricks. He did not change his position except as he turned his head to gaze fixedly at the western forest wall. One could imagine him to be ignorant of my presence.
“Where does Black Hoof lead his warriors?” I asked him. ”

“ None below us knew we had left the upper town, and would not be looking for us. In the beaten path there was much less chance of leaving signs for some scout to pick up and follow. I knew warriors would be scouring the country in all directions once the news of our escape was carried to Chillicothe, but the Scioto path was the last one they would expect us to take.
I had remembered Lost Sister’s warning and planned to follow the Big Sandy until its head waters interlocked with those of the Clinch and Holston. It was nerve-wearing work, that crossing of the Ohio. ”

“ I cried. “The one message your cousin, Patrick Davis’ wife, on Howard’s Creek, asked me to deliver to your daughter is for her not to cross the mountains until the Indian trouble is over.”
“An old biddy whose husband is scared at every Indian he sees because he knows he’s squatting on their lands. My cousin may not be safe on Howard’s Creek, but my daughter would be. I’ll say more; once the Indians know I am at Howard’s Creek, they’ll spare that settlement.” ”

“ I honestly believe the Shawnees are playing a game, that they are hoping the settlers are silly enough to think themselves safe. I am convinced that once Black Hoof believes the settlers are in that frame of mind he will return and strike just as venomously as the Shawnees struck in the old French War and in Pontiac’s War, after feasting with the whites and making them believe the red man was their friend. ”

“ He had barely put the query before John Ward stalked through the fort door and stood at Dale’s elbow. Speaking slowly and stressing his words in that jerky fashion that marks an Indian’s speech in English, he said:
“The trader is right. I have been a prisoner among Indians for many years. I know their minds. Dale can go anywhere among Indians where he has been before, and no hand will be lifted against him.”
“You’re a liar!” passionately cried Hughes, his hand creeping to his belt. ”