"Reckon I'll have to shoulder 'em as my own," remarked Sam Barringford one
day. "I'd do it in a minit if it wasn't thet I haven't nary a home to take
'em to."
"You may leave them here," said Mrs. Morris promptly. "I have talked it
over with Joseph and with James and it will be quite suitable."
"If you'll take 'em in charge I'll pay you for it, Mistress Morris," said
the old frontiersman. "It will be a weight off my shoulders to have ye do
it. I know as how the little chaps will get the best o' care."
And so it was arranged that the twins should remain with Mrs. Morris.
Barringford named them Tom and Artie, after two uncles of his own, and
these names clung to them as they grew older. Little did Barringford or the
Morrises dream of what the finding of these twins was to lead to in years
to come.
"Of one thing I am certain," said James Morris one day. "They are of good
breeding. No common blood flows in their veins."
"I take it you are right," answered his brother. "And it may be that some
day Sam will be well rewarded for saving them from death."
After a great deal of deliberation it had been decided that James Morris
should start for the west about the first of May. Dave and Henry were to go
with him, and likewise Sam Barringford and three other frontiersmen named
Lukins, Sanderson, and Jadwin. The party was likewise to contain four
Indians of the Delaware tribe under White Buffalo. The whites were all to
go mounted and were to take six pack-horses in addition. At first James
Morris thought to take a couple of wagons, at least as far as Fort Pitt,
but this plan was at the last moment abandoned, for wagons were scarce and
high in price, and there was no telling if they could be sold when the last
fort on the frontier was gained, and further progress with anything on
wheels became out of the question.
The coming of White Buffalo with his handful of trusted braves was an event
for Dave and Henry. This chief had been their friend for many years and
they felt that they could rely upon him, no matter how great the emergency.
In the past the tribe to which White Buffalo belonged had been split, some
fighting with the English and others with the French, but now some of the
leaders, including Skunk Tail, were dead, and, the war being at an end, all
were reunited under the leadership of White Buffalo and a young chief named
Rain Cloud. But White Buffalo could not forgive some of the men of his
tribe for taking up arms against the English and he was glad enough in
consequence to get away with his few chosen ones.
"How? How?" said the Indian, meaning "How do you do?" as he took first
Dave's hand and then Henry's and gave each a tight grip. "White Buffalo is
glad to see his young friends looking so well. The war has not harmed
them."
"No, White Buffalo, we are as well as ever," answered Dave. "And how have
you been since last we saw you?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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