The Scouts of the ValleyAltsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
General
The Scouts of the Valley
Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
Chemung River Valley (N.Y. and Pa.) -- Fiction; Historical fiction; Wyoming Valley (Pa.) -- Fiction
“That's sure to be done,” said Henry. “I heard General Sullivan himself
say that his orders were to root up the whole Iroquois power.”
They returned slowly toward the main force, retracing their steps over
the path of battle. It was easy enough to follow it. They beheld a dead
warrior at every step, and at intervals were rifles, tomahawks, scalping
knives, blankets, and an occasional shot pouch or powder horn. Presently
they reached the main army, which was going into camp for the night.
Many camp fires were built, and the soldiers, happy in their victory,
were getting ready for supper. But there was no disorder. They had been
told already that they were to march again in the morning.
Henry, Paul, Tom, Jim, and Shif'less Sol went back over the field of
battle, where many of the dead still lay. Twilight was now coming, and
it was a somber sight. The earthwork, the thickets, and the trees were
torn by cannon balls. Some tents raised by the Tories lay in ruins, and
the earth was stained with many dark splotches. But the army had passed
on, and it was silent and desolate where so many men had fought. The
twilight drew swiftly on to night, and out of the forest came grewsome
sounds. The wolves, thick now in a region which the Iroquois had done
so much to turn into a wilderness, were learning welcome news, and they
were telling it to one another. By and by, as the night deepened, the
five saw fiery eyes in the thickets, and the long howls came again.
“It sounds like the dirge of the people of the Long House,” said Paul,
upon whose sensitive mind the scene made a deep impression.
The others nodded. At that moment they did not feel the flush of victory
in its full force. It was not in their nature to rejoice over a fallen
foe. Yet they knew the full value of the victory, and none of them could
wish any part of it undone. They returned slowly to the camp, and once
more they heard behind them the howl of the wolves as they invaded the
battlefield.
They were glad when they saw the cheerful lights of the camp fires
twinkling through the forest, and heard the voices of many men talking.
Heemskerk welcomed them there.
“Come, lads,” he said. “You must eat-you won't find out until you begin,
how hungry you are-and then you must sleep, because we march early
to-morrow, and we march fast.”
The Dutchman's words were true. They had not tasted food since morning;
they had never thought of it, but now, with the relaxation from battle,
they found themselves voraciously hungry.
“It's mighty good,” said Shif'less Sol, as they sat by a fire and ate
bread and meat and drank coffee, “but I'll say this for you, you old
ornery, long-legged Jim Hart, it ain't any better than the venison an'
bulffaler steaks that you've cooked fur us many a time.”
“An' that I'm likely to cook fur you many a time more,” said Long Jim
complacently.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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