The Border Watch: A Story of the Great Chief's Last StandAltsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
General
The Border Watch: A Story of the Great Chief's Last Stand
Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
Frontier and pioneer life -- Juvenile fiction
Henry was sure now that what he had heard was the product of a too vivid
fancy, but a little later he was not so sure. It must be the faint cry
of a wolf that he now heard or its echo. He had the keenest ear of them
all, and that Tom Ross did not hear the sound, was no proof. A vivid
imagination often means a prompt and powerful man of action, and Henry
acted at once.
"Tom," he whispered, "I'm going to scout in the distance from which I
thought the sounds came. Don't wake the boys; I'll be back before
morning."
Tom Ross nodded. He did not believe that Henry had really heard
anything, and he would have remonstrated with him, but he knew that it
was useless. He merely drew his blanket a little closer, and resolved
that one pair of eyes should watch as well as two had watched before.
Henry folded his blankets, put them in his little pack, and in a minute
was gone. It was dark, but not so dark that one used to the night could
not see. The sounds that he had seemed to hear came from the southwest,
and the road in the direction was easy, grown up with forest but
comparatively free from undergrowth. He walked swiftly about a mile,
then he heard the cry of the wolf again. Now, the last doubt was gone
from his mind. It was a real sound, and it was made by Indian calling to
Indian.
He corrected his course a little, and went swiftly on. He heard the cry
once more, now much nearer, and, in another mile, he saw a glow among
the trees. He went nearer and saw detached cones of light. Then he knew
that it was a camp fire, and a camp fire built there boldly in that
region, so dangerous to the Kentuckian, indicated that it was surely the
Indians themselves and their allies. He did not believe that it was the
force of Timmendiquas which could only have reached this spot by turning
from its course, but he intended to solve the doubt.
The camp was in one of the little prairies so numerous in the old
Northwest, and evidently had been pitched there in order to secure room
for the fires. Henry concluded at once that it must be a large force,
and his eagerness to know increased. As he crept nearer and nearer, he
was amazed by the number of the fires. This was a much larger band than
the one led by Timmendiquas. He also heard the sound of many voices and
of footsteps. From his place among the trees he saw dark figures passing
and repassing. He also caught now and then a metallic glitter from
something not a rifle or a tomahawk, but which he could not clearly make
out in the dark.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account