The Keepers of the Trail: A Story of the Great WoodsAltsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
General
The Keepers of the Trail: A Story of the Great Woods
Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
Wilderness areas -- Fiction
"The one of whom I spoke is named Henry Ware. There is another, a youth
of about his own age, named Paul Cotter. The third is Solomon Hyde, a
man of amazing skill and judgment. The other two are Tom Ross, a
wonderful scout and hunter, and Long Jim Hart, the fastest runner in the
West. It was he who brought relief, when we had the emigrant train
trapped. I think that all the five are somewhere near and that we
should beware."
The heavy, gruff voice was lifted again in an ironic laugh, and Henry,
creeping a yard or two more, saw through the leaves the whole group. The
English officer whom Wyatt had called Alloway, was a man of middle
years, heavily built. His confident face and aggressive manner indicated
that he was some such man as Braddock, who in spite of every warning by
the colonials, walked with blinded eyes into the Indian trap at Fort
Duquesne, to have his army and himself slaughtered. But now the English
were allied with the scalp-takers.
A half-dozen English officers, younger men, surrounded Colonel Alloway,
silent and attentive, while their chief talked with Wyatt. The older
renegade, Blackstaffe, was leaning against a tree, his arms folded
across his chest, a sneering look upon his face. Henry knew that he
thought little of European officers there in the woods, and out of their
element.
But the most striking figures in the scene were Yellow Panther, head
chief of the Miamis, and Red Eagle, head chief of the Shawnees. They
stood erect with arms folded, and they had not spoken either while
Alloway and Wyatt talked. They were imposing men, not as tall as the
young chief whom Henry had seen distantly, and who was destined to have
a great part in his life later on, but they were uncommonly broad of
shoulders and chest, and, though elderly they were at the very height of
their mental and physical powers.
They were in full war paint, their scalp locks were braided and each
had flung about him somewhat in the manner of a Roman toga a magnificent
blanket of the finest weave, blue for Yellow Panther, red for Red Eagle.
Wyatt translated to them Alloway's words, and Red Eagle at length
raising his hand said to Wyatt in Shawnee, which all three of the hidden
scouts understood perfectly:
"Tell our white ally that his words are not those of wisdom. The Indian
when he goes upon the war path does not laugh at his enemy. He knows
that he is not fighting with children and he heeds the warnings of those
who understand."
His tones were full of dignity, but Wyatt, when he translated, softened
the rebuke. Nevertheless enough of it was left to make the arrogant
Colonel start a little, and gaze with some apprehension at the two
massive and silent figures, regarding him so steadily. It was likely too
that the grim forest, the overwhelming character of the wilderness in
which he stood, affected him. Without the Indians he and his men would
be lost in that mighty sweep of country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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