CHAPTER IV.
THE NIGHT ATTACK.
The night gradually closed down upon the flat-boat. Upon inquiry, Hezekiah found that their elderly companion, Mr. Lander, instead of being an assistant to them, was an encumbrance. A confirmed invalid, he was barely able to remain on his feet for more than a few moments, and had expressed the wish only that he might be allowed to reach the settlement and die.
He was totally unfit to handle a rifle, and had not attempted it for years, so that, although Waring had another weapon beside his own, it may be stated that he started upon this expedition entirely alone—a proceeding, that in its foolhardiness, was unaccountable.
As Waring had predicted, the night proved of intense darkness.
In a few hours, both shores became entirely invisible, and shortly after, it was almost impossible to see the length of the boat. Under these circumstances, it was proposed to work the flat-boat into shore, and tie up for the night. All were totally unacquainted with the windings of the river, and they were fearful that they might run aground in the darkness, and be unable to get the craft afloat again. They were pretty certain, too, that they had been constantly watched from the banks, and that it would not be long before the Indian canoes would be ranging up and down the river in search of them.
If this were the case, their only plans of escaping them would be by sweeping into shore, and remaining there until the moon arose. On the other hand, it was hardly probable that the flat-boat could approach nigh enough to the shore, to gain any protection from it.
The water was so shallow, that it was likely to ground when several rods distant, in which case, the situation of the fugitives would be far worse than if attacked while in the midst of the channel. And beside this, they also ran the chance of being discovered, even if they should reach the bank without grounding.
The savages would be passing up and down the shore; and as it would require considerable effort and some noise to work the lumbering concern out of the course it was pursuing, the trained ears of the redskins could hardly fail to detect it.
All these considerations being taken into account, it was decided that, for an hour or two at least, they would keep their position in the midst of the channel.
The greatest cause for alarm, as we have before hinted, lay in the fact that not one of the whites in the flat-boat was acquainted with the river.
They were drifting aimlessly downward, only conscious of their general direction. The Ohio River abounds, as all our readers are aware, with numerous islands, and many of these lying directly in the middle of the stream—our friends had good cause to apprehend running upon one of them.
The flat-boat had a long oar swung at either end, by which its motions were controlled, much in the same manner that the rafts which descend our rivers at this day are managed.
To guard as much as possible against the calamity mentioned, Hezekiah Smith and Pat Mulroony passed to the forward part of the boat, so as to be ready, not only to sheer the boat off, when "breakers" were discovered, but to be prepared for any venturesome Shawanoes that might choose this as their point of attack.
Mr. Lander and his daughter remained below, as both well knew their presence would be of no assistance to those above; and the whites were thus disposed when the incident we are about to describe took place.
Hezekiah stood leaning over the prow, listening intently for the least evidence of the approach of their enemies. The only sound as yet heard, was what might be characterized as the audible silence of the forest—that deep, solemn roar, like the distant voice of the ocean, that is as eternal as the great sea itself.
Now and then, the melancholy night wind moaned through the tree tops, with a dismal and lonely voice, in consonance with the feelings of the three listeners; and once or twice the far off scream of some denizen of the forest was borne faintly forward to their ear.
Then, again, the silence became so profound, that the soft ripple of the current could be heard against some projecting root, or dipping branch. But these sounds were all natural to the wilderness, and excited no emotions, except to add to the dreary loneliness of the scene.
The New Englander had stood in the attitude of attention for more than an hour, when he detected the cautious dip of a paddle. He instantly raised his head and peered out in the direction from which it came, but in the Stygian darkness could detect nothing at all. He maintained the same attitude for full an hour, during which he heard the sound repeated twice. Fully satisfied that strangers were in the vicinity, he gave utterance to a suppressed whistle, to place Waring on the guard, and leaning toward Pat, he asked in a whisper whether, if he had no objection to tell, he had detected any suspicious sound.
"There's a haythen canoe that has been following us for the last hour or more, or my name isn't Pat Mulroony."
"Hist! there it is again!" admonished Hezekiah, arching his neck, and gazing out in the darkness. Both listened, but Pat failed to hear that which had startled his companion.
"They're mighty oncareful is them same Injins," added the Irishman. "Whisht! but look! there's the divils this minute!"
As he spoke, Pat sprang up in great excitement, and pointed out on the river. Looking in the same direction Hezekiah caught the outlines of a long Indian canoe, filled with shadowy figures, which glided under the prow of the flat-boat, and came to rest as noiselessly as a phantom. Almost at the same instant a tufted head appeared above the gunwale, but it was crushed like an eggshell by a tremendous blow from the clubbed rifle of the Irishman. This was scarce done when the head and shoulders of another rose within a foot of where Hezekiah stood.
"Take that, you thundering redskin!" he exclaimed, striking him a terrible blow square in the face, that sent the dusky savage spinning out in mid-air, with the blood spouting from his nostrils. "Dern your picter! what business you got poking your head up here? I say, Waring, the Indians have come—look out for them."
In his excitement, Hezekiah Smith dropped his rifle, and springing up and down, as though the deck had suddenly become red hot, he delivered his fearful blows indiscriminately, while Pat kept his rifle swinging like the arms of a windmill.
"Begorrah! but the shillaleh comes natural to the Tipperary boys!" he exclaimed, between his set teeth, "and Pat Mulroony was born with one in his hand, and has been trained up to the illigant profession of breaking heads. Some of ye will go home to-night with bootiful faces, barrin' yer won't have any faces at all to go home with."
The Indians had evidently counted upon a surprise, and were not prepared for the furious courage with which they were received. They had followed the flat-boat until they judged the inmates were either asleep or off their guard, when they had come upon them in the stealthy manner narrated. The consequence was that in less than five minutes after the attack, the canoe had disappeared with the surviving Shawanoes, and nothing was heard save the slapping of Hezekiah's feet as he still sprang up and down the deck, and swung his arms around him ready for the next bronzed head that might offer. It required Pat some time to convince him that the danger for the present had passed, and there were no more enemies to contend against. By degrees he became quieted, and was able to converse rationally when Waring made his appearance among them.
During all this tumult, Lander had not shown himself, nor even so much as given evidence that he felt the least concern at the conflict going on. His daughter, when the firing had subsided, cautiously opened the door, and called the name of her lover. He instantly assured her that the savages had fled, and besought her to return to her room. First receiving a hurried but fervent kiss upon her blanched cheek, she complied, imploring him to be careful and not expose himself unnecessarily to danger.
A silence as profound as that of the tomb, succeeded the onslaught of the savages. Some minutes later, the noise of paddles was again heard; but, as Hezekiah had, by this time, gained his equilibrium of mind, and convinced that the Shawanoes could not immediately attempt the same stratagem in which they had so signally failed, he returned to his place beside Waring, leaving the Irishman alone at the bow of the boat.
"If you have no objection to tell me," said Hezekiah in his usual insinuating voice, "what do you propose to do, now that we are in the midst of danger? How, in thunder, are we to get out?"
"I am afraid," replied Waring, "that the Indians are constantly ranging up and down the river, and so long as we remain in the channel we are not safe."
"How do you propose to get out of the channel?"
"Let us work the craft into shore, and wait till the moon rises before starting. Thinking that we are in the middle of the current, they will not look along the bank for us, and we shall thus be safe until we can see where we are."
It was Waring who first proposed to run in under the protection of the bank, and he had never once doubted its expediency. He advocated it now so earnestly that neither Hezekiah nor Pat made any objection. Accordingly, the long, sweeping oars were dipped deeply and silently into the water, and under the powerful impulse of the sturdy-armed men it began gradually veering off toward the Ohio shore. The greatest caution was exercised, as the creaking of one of the sweeps might tell any savages in the vicinity what the whites were doing. This was a delicate task, but our friends believed they were succeeding as well they could wish. All at once, the dark line of trees were discovered through the darkness, and ceasing their efforts, the boat continued approaching, until the branches brushed over their heads, and the bottom, striking the mud of the stream, the forward motion of the craft was checked.
The whites had every reason to be pleased with their situation had not a slight accident caused them a little anxiety. As Pat Mulroony attempted to shove a limb from before him, it broke with a cracking noise that could have been heard across the river. This caused so much apprehension, that for a time, Waring was on the point of working the boat out into the current again; but, finally, his fears subsided, and he concluded to remain in his present position until the rising of the moon. The flat-boat lay about ten feet from the mainland, and had grounded so slightly that had it not been secured by tying it to one of the branches ahead, it would have floated off again. This was the precise situation in which Waring had been anxious to get it; and, excepting the slight accident alluded to above, he had every reason to be satisfied with the state of affairs. The darkness was so great, and the peculiar position in which the craft lay so favorable, that no Shawanoe would have discovered it in passing within a dozen feet of it had not his suspicion been first attracted to it.
The three whites remained on deck, now and then whispering to each other, and passing on tiptoe from one portion to another, but nothing more of their enemies was seen or heard for a long time.
Pat Mulroony was leaning over the prow, as he had been leaning for the last hour, and was looking down in the water, when he discerned a dark, ball-like object moving along on the surface. At first, he took it to be a piece of floating wood; but, as it passed around the prow, in a manner that the motion of the current could not have caused, he was not long in identifying it. It was the head of an Indian.
Communicating this fact to Waring and Hezekiah, the hold upon the branch was loosened, and under the additional impulse of the oars, the flat bottom was once more floating down the Ohio.