CHAPTER III.
THE SKELETON SCOUT.
TO their utter surprise, the Yankee ran madly toward the high wall of the stockade, and, leaping upward, clung like a cat to the top. It seemed hardly possible that so heavy a person could display such agility, and certainly no one in the stockade would have thought Long Seth capable of it, but for the way in which he had handled the Indian. He hung a moment upon the edge of the stockade, and then, drawing himself up by a strong muscular action, looked over. Then, waving his hand toward the occupants, he slid over the outside and dropped to the earth. No sound indicated that the savages had heard him, for they remained pounding at the gate, uttering wild threats against the Floyds if they did not open.
Somewhat surprised at the desertion of the Yankee, Will Floyd made no answer until the harsh voice of Willimack came to his ears.
"Hark to my words," shouted the chief. "You have disgraced Willimack, a chief of the mighty tribe. Dogs could not be used worse than you have treated him. I am not a fool and I will have revenge."
"Leave the gates," replied Floyd, angrily, "or my men shall fire."
"Let them fire at us if they will," replied the chief. "We will enter the big wigwam. I will eat the heart of the man who shook me, and kicked me with his foot."
"I tell you to go away!" said Will Floyd. "I have no desire to quarrel with you, but if you try to break in here it is your own fault if you get hurt."
The only reply was the crash of axes against the heavy gate, and the young man saw that they were determined upon making a persistent effort to break in. Bringing forward a short ladder which was lying near the wall of the house, he ran up to the top of the wall and fired his pistol at the Indians below, and knew by the cry of rage which went up that he had not missed his mark.
This determined course roused the ire of the savages and they began to bring up poles to climb the walls, full of hatred of the men inside. Will shouted to his men and they brought their ladders—for they had one for each defender, and the walls were manned. The number of savages was not great enough for an assault; yet they fought with determination. They climbed like cats up the sides of the wooden fort only to be beaten back by the defenders. Each soldier, besides his rifle, had a hatchet and a pair of pistols, and so armed, they were more than a match for the Shawnees, who retreated to a little distance, out of reach of the rifles, where they halted and seemed to consult for a moment.
Just then came a horrible yell, and, to the utter terror of the Indians, there bounded from a thicket near at hand a fearful creature calculated to strike terror to the stoutest heart. To the white men looking on from the wall, there was something supernatural in this strange appearance flaming out in the darkness. Two blazing eyes gleamed in its forehead, emitting lurid flashes as it bounded on. In hight it was nearly seven feet, and the head was that of a skeleton, grinning and ghastly!
The Indians saw that terrible creature coming down upon them, and, with wild cries of dread, they broke and ran in every direction, some seeking safety on the river and others running up the bank. Will Floyd beheld the figure seize upon a flying savage and drag him shrieking to the earth; then a great silence fell upon the scene. All was dark outside; the Indians were gone, and, in the place where the fiery figure gleamed a moment before, nothing was to be seen. Soon after the sound of hurrying feet was heard, and the Yankee came climbing over the rear of the stockade, evidently terrified nearly out of his senses.
"Did you see it?" he cried. "Oh, holy Moses! I never was so skeered in all my born days! Whew; I'm out of breath!"
"What did you leave us for?"
"Wanted to ketch that Injin. I couldn't, though; he run so like the devil. Then I calculated I'd git round in the rear and give 'em a shot, an then holler as ef a hundred sojers was in the woods, when, Jehosaphat! up got that b'ilin'-hot Image, with his fiery eyes, and skeered the life out of them Injins, and me too, I guess."
The Yankee sat down on a log and panted for breath.
"Did you see it closely?" said Floyd.
"Close as I want tew, darn it! This beats my fust wife's relations all tew pieces. Whew! I thought I were a goner."
The men looked at each other in surprise. What was this strange being, that came and went like a shadow, leaving no trace behind? Will Floyd was not naturally superstitious, and yet he could not account for this apparition in any natural way. Long Seth evidently was as much puzzled, and looked from one to the other in ludicrous dismay. The black boys, who also had seen the specter, stood with chattering teeth and a sort of ashy gray color in their faces. Nature had made it impossible for their hair to stand up straight or it would surely have done so, then.
"Hi, you Pomp," said one, "see dat ar' t'ing, dat time?"
"Iss, Dick; I seen him, an I so skeered I dunno w'at I's gwine ter do. Oh goodness gracious!"
"Dat's de debbil, Pomp. Dat's juss de Ole Harry, heself, an' notting else. We's gone chiles dese times."
"That's trew," said Seth, glad of an opportunity to pass his dread onto some one else. "And I have hern tell that the old 'un is partial to black fellows. Mebbe 'tain't trew; I ain't enuff 'quainted with the Old Boy to speak sartin, but I've good reason to believe that he duz like 'em."
"Sho, now, you!" roared Pomp, raising one leg in agony. "Git along dar! w'at you a-tryin' to do, say? De old debbil likes a Yankee. Eberybody knows he likes a Yankee."
"I don't think it," said Seth, as if revolving the subject in his mind. "May be jest as yew say, but, I think they'd make it tew lively fur the old man down thar. They'd trade him out of his throne, sartin! They ar' all-fired hands at a dicker, yew know, and they'd beat him, sartin! So I guess Yankees are pooty safe. Not too safe, yew understand, but pooty safe, pooty safe. I don't reckon they'll trouble us a great deal, nohow. Guess we'd better git a light an' go out an' try them cussed Injins, and see what's likely to be done."
"Maybe they are hiding somewhere," said Will Floyd. "If they are, it would not be safe to go out."
"Waal, ef I'm any judge, they ain't hiding anywhar on this side the river," rejoined Seth. "I hern 'em jump intew the water, an' swim as ef the devil was chasin' 'em clust. Yew see they're mighty feared of the devil, and ef that wa'n't him, then I dunno what it was. Old Satan on a scout, shure!"
"Did you ever hear of this figure before?"
"Yaas," said Spink. "When I was in old man Harrison's camp they said something 'bout it and they called it the Skeleton Scout."
"The Skeleton Scout!"
"That's the name. 'Tain't a purty name, nyther. Not by no manner of means. It makes me shake all over when I think the pesky critter is round here, though I must own he has an all-fired good way of cleaning out red-skins. Git a lantern or a torch."
Will went into the house for a lantern, and when he came back Seth took it from his hand and gave it to Black Dick.
"Here, boy, take that and go out and look around to see if any of the red niggers are hiding anywhere."
"Me, massa?"
"Yaas, yew! Who else do yew s'pose I mean? Come, don't keep us a-waiting. Why don't yew git?"
"But, mars' I dunno w'edder I likes to go out dar. Plenty Injin out dar, I t'inks. How we ebber fine 'em?"
"Oh, go 'long! That's what we want tew find out, whether they are or not. Ef they should be, why then they'll shoot at yew, and we'll hear 'em."
"S'pose dey hits Dick?" said the negro.
"Why then, Dick will holler like all possessed, and put back ef he kin. Ef he kain't, then we'll bury the sed Dick with the honors of war."
"See yer, marse Yankee, you t'ink I ain't a fool, I ain't. I's gwine ter stay yer."
"Then mebbe Pomp would like to go, seeing he ain't a coward? Come, Pomp; distinguish yerself and laugh at Dick."
"Don't tink's I keer 'bout it, marse," replied Pomp. "Dick good fren' ob mine. What I wants to laugh at he for?"
Long Seth laughed, and taking a pistol from the belt of one of the soldiers, led the way into the open air. An Indian lay under the wall, and the Yankee stumbled over him. Seth held the light closer and saw that the savage had a broken leg.
"Got a knife, boss?" he said, speaking to Will Floyd.
"Certainly I have."
"Stick this man and come along. I'd dew it myself only I've got both hands full."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't want tew save the red nigger, dew yew?"
"I will not allow him to be killed," replied the young soldier.
The Yankee straightened his long back, and looked at the young man as if taken completely aback by this speech. "Not kill a red-skin? Not stick him when yew've got him? By the mortal, ef this ain't pizen. Not—good gracious, yew raise my dander mortal bad! What yew goin' tew dew with the critter then, if I may ask 'thout giving offense?"
"Take him into the stockade, cure him of his wound if possible, and—"
"Give him yure skulp when he gits strong enuff tew take it! That's right! Keep up the repitation of the fam'ly, by all means! Waal, I won't say no more. Come along, yew! But, if the time don't come when yew jest ez live stick an Injin as eat a b'iled potater, then ther ain't no snakes in Kentuck'."
They hurried on to the place where the Skeleton Scout had been seen; the grass was bent and trodden down, and, further on, an Indian was lying on his face, dead. Floyd turned him over, and saw that it was a Winnebago, a desperate villain, who had been suspected of the murder of a white family, years before, but escaped through insufficient evidence. However, innocent or guilty, he had met his fate at last.
"How was he killed?" said Floyd. "I don't see any blood."
They examined him closely, but not a mark could be found upon the body to show how he had died. Dead he certainly was, and the stiffened muscles told that he had not died easily. The puzzled look again came into the face of Seth Spink.
"Now, don't this beat all natur'?" he ejaculated. "We'll hev tew believe pooty soon that the Skileton Scout is a skileton, arter all. Leastways he don't leave no marks upon his victims."
"It is strange indeed," replied Captain Floyd. "Hold the lantern close, will you? There must be a mark on him somewhere."
A still closer search failed to elicit any further information. The Indian was dead, but how? He had not been choked, for the face of a man who dies in that way always shows unmistakable signs of strangulation. His neck was not broken, as Floyd began to believe, and not a drop of blood was visible upon his person.
Yankee Seth stood holding the lantern, and looking down upon the face of the dead Indian, while his young companion was searching him. A slight noise, so slight that Floyd did not notice it, but Seth heard it, yet did not turn his head or show that he was aroused. Looking covertly toward the spot he saw a dark object extended upon the earth, not ten feet away, and caught the gleam of a rifle-barrel. Giving his companion a sudden push which sent him rolling to the earth, Long Seth bounded four feet into the air just as a rifle cracked, and came down uninjured upon the back of a prowling savage, who, hiding in the bushes, had crept up unobserved.
As Will Floyd started to his feet, confused and angry, a terrific struggle was going on upon the grass a few feet away. Seth found his enemy, whoever it was, "no chicken," to use his own expression, and his powerful muscles were tried to the utmost.
Will Floyd darted forward, but the lantern had gone out and he dared not strike in the darkness, fearing that he might wound his friend. Then, two figures rose; there was a muttered curse, and a heavy blow or two, and the sound of hurrying feet succeeded, followed immediately by a splash in the water, and Seth came back, furiously angry.
"He got away, the cussed sneak," he said. "He'd 'a' cooked yure goose or mine in another minnit. Lucky I saw him."
"Why did you push me down?" cried Floyd, angrily.
"Did it jest tew be mean, young'un," said the Yankee, indolently. "Did it a-purpuss. Yure head was rite in a line with a rifle-barrill, and like ez not yew'd 'a' got hurt if yew'd 'a' stood up half a second longer. 'Tain't no matter."
"I beg your pardon, Spink," said Will, frankly. "I was so confused by your sudden action that I really did not know what to do or say. So you pushed me down because the rifle was aimed at me?"
"Sorter think I did! There; don't say nothin' 'bout it. Let's git back tew the stockade. 'Tain't edzackly safe tew stay here now; these critters mout come back, yew know, and a shot from a bush ain't what I hanker arter."
The rifle-shot had been heard, and Captain Floyd, with one of the soldiers, was hurrying out to meet them. He expressed his satisfaction at their safety, and listened eagerly to their explanations.
"The day of safety is over, then," he said. "All my endeavors to make friends with the savages have been of no avail. What had we better do, Mr. Spink? You seem to understand the Indians better than I do, after all."
"Any one is likely tew git fooled," replied the Vermonter. "Yew can't bet a cent on an Injin. Mout be friendly tew yer face while he was stealing out a knife tew take yure skulp. I'm sorry the gal is here; she ort tew be in the village."
"We can take her there."
"'Tain't safe. The road is full of red-skins. I tell yew that the Prophet—darned little profit we'll make eout of it—is up, and his cussid black-and-tan tribe are with him. 'Twon't be many days afore the woods will be full of the pizen heathen. My advice ain't much, but, if I was yew, I'd send one of the men tew Guvnor Harrison for reinforcements, and stay here til they cum."
"You think that the safest plan?"
"It's the only one I think of. Willimack 'll be on the watch, and yew kain't git eout. Give the man that goes a canoe and send him down-stream. I'll go with him and show the way."
"Who shall go?"
"I," replied Will, promptly.
"I am afraid we can not spare you, William," said the captain. "Let Forbes go."
"One more or less won't make no manner of difference," said Seth. "I think the young 'un is in the right of it, and I'll pilot him till I think he's safe. Look out sharp, night and day, till we come back. Now, young 'un!"
There was no time for long partings. Will ran into the house to bid Madge good-by, and came back with traces of emotion on his face. Then, pressing his father's hand, he followed the erect figure of Seth Spink out into the gloom.