CHAPTER IX
THE REMAINS OF THE LOG HOUSE
In obedience to the instructions of the dying Indian guide, Fred leftthe trail and pursued a northern route.
Traveling along the trail was bad, but finding away through the woodswas impossible.
Fred realized this when the party had traveled for several hours throughthe dense forest. From the position of the sun he could tell what timeof the day it was, yet he knew, too, that they had not covered more thana mile. There were creeks to cross, swamps to circumvent, fallen treesto avoid, and difficulties of all kinds.
At noon the three held a council and considered what to do.
"The guide was right in saying that we cannot travel through the woodson horseback," Fred began; "I fear we must get rid of the steeds."
"But how are we to walk through this mass of entanglement," Agnes asked."We certainly won't make headway without the horses."
"Agnes is right," Matthew ventured to say. "I don't know where we aregoing, but I do know that on foot we will not get anywhere. So let'skeep the horses."
"I fear you are right," Fred meditated, "but I am sure the horses won'tbenefit us."
Suddenly Agnes exclaimed: "I know what we are going to do! We'll getback to the trail, and follow that to the next settlement. Samowat saidthat the Indians are south of us. Very well by this time they may bewest of us, and we might escape them since we go east. Let's try it; atleast then we know where we are going."
"I am in favor of it," Matthew replied; "if we are attacked, we canfight; but who is going to fight with conditions as we find them inthis dense underbrush."
After some delay Fred gave in, and so the three adventurers turned theheads of their horses south, and after a few hours found the trailwhich they had left in the morning.
Quickly they pushed east, spurring on their horses who by this timewere quite exhausted.
They traveled until dusk, and they were about to leave the trail andhide in the woods when suddenly Fred's steed neighed.
"What's the matter with you?" the boy reproved his horse. "You willnever get any oats if you make such a noise like that."
To his great horror, however, the neighing was answered by anotherhorse at some distance.
"It's time for us to hide!" Fred cried. "Away into the woods! TheIndians are coming."
Fortunately they found a deep ravine in the woods were they couldconceal the horses.
"You stay here, till I come back," Fred said. "I will see who theyare."
"I am coming along," Agnes ventured; "you cannot go alone on soperilous a mission."
"Stay back," the lad urged her; "this is a job for one man." But thegirl would not listen, and so the two stole along the edge of theravine hiding themselves as best they could.
Near the trail they climbed a huge tree from which they could look downconveniently.
In a short time they saw a horse, followed by several others. They wereloaded heavily, and Fred saw at once that this was a troop of Indianscarrying supplies.
In fact, he could not see a single warrior, for ugly women and childrenfollowed the train.
"The Indians are marching west," Fred whispered to his sister, "this isa troop of women and children. That means that the warriors are aheadof them. We are lucky to be informed of their movements, because wecan now follow a definite course."
Agnes nodded, as she intently looked upon the passing horses and people.The women and children were in a jolly mood, and did not make anyefforts to keep silence. For about half an hour the Indians were movingalong the road.
Suddenly Agnes gave a start, and nimbly as a squirrel she slid down thehuge tree, were she crept silently through the brush.
Soon Fred heard the hooting of an owl, and he perceived how at this cryone of the Indian girls, of the age of Agnes, detached herself from thecrowd.
"It is time for me to join," he muttered to him self; "Sister cannotattend to that alone."
In a few moments he was near enough to hear what the girls were talkingabout. The girl was one of the Sunday school scholars whom Agnes hadbefriended by many acts of kindness.
"Pequots---go---west," she said to Agnes; "will go around big bendsouth and come back and take settlements. 'Little bird of the woods'go to big log house, and take boat and tell white men at Hartword. Butquick, I must go."
In a few moment she was off, treading softly over the grass and joiningthe other Indians, as if nothing serious had happened.
At once Agnes stood by her brother's side.
"The path is clear, Fred," she breathed to "now for the horses; we arenot far away from the trading post."
They reached the log house just as the sun was setting, but as theyapproached, Matthew emitted a cry of despair.
"The Indians have burned down the log house," he said sadly. "The smokeis still breaking through the woods."
Cautiously they made their way through the woods, and soon stood besidethe remains of their log house, where during the previous year they hadspent so many happy hours.
"What a pity," Agnes said; "so this is the fruit of war and hatred."Tears welled into her eyes.
"And our Sunday school classes have become our enemies, no doubt,"Matthew reflected; "all of love's labor is lost."
"War destroys, and peace builds up," Fred spoke calmly; "we must expectall this, and more. The end is not yet."
"What do you mean?" Agnes asked as she watched her brother's furrowedbrow. "Do you expect trouble?"
"The Indians who burned this log house, are not far away," he whisperedto her. "We must try to get to Hartford before they detect us."
"Let's talk it over quickly," Matthew suggested who in hours of dangerwas always impatient.
"Yes, let's do that," Agnes assented; "we'll hide our horses in the deepwoods along the river. I know a fine place, where we may concealourselves."
"How about our boat?" Matthew asked. "Wouldn't it be better if we goto Hartford by way of the river?"
"Pst," Fred warned him, "you and Agnes are talking too loudly andexcitedly. I am afraid that these woods have ears, as the Dutch say.Let's get away from here."
Fred was right. The children had not seen the Indians who, hiddenbehind the trees, observed every movement they made. So of this theywere unaware, and in a moment they disappeared in the thick bush,drawing their horses after them.
The Indians did not disturb them, for they knew that they could notescape, though they were not many in number, since they constitutedonly a scouting party, left behind the main body which had moved westto come back from the south and thus surprise the white men.
As soon as the children had hidden their horses, they sought a smallcave which they had discovered the year before, and here they held acouncil.
"First," said Fred, "let us kneel down in prayer; for if the Lord willnot guide our thoughts, we shall never escape."
They prayed fervently, as people do who are in great trouble, andclosed their devotion with a Lord's Prayer in unison.
"And now you wait here, till I return," Fred said; "but don't make anynoise. I must find out whether our boat is still here."
He slipped away from them, carrying his rifle, but avoiding everypossible noise.
"How clever Fred is!" Matthew said; "I wish I could be like him. But Ifear I can never overcome my fright on expeditions such as these. I wasnot born to be a soldier."
Agnes smiled.
"The Lord has wisely not made all people alike," she said; "some Hewants to be soldiers, other ministers, and others statesmen. Each hashis peculiar gift. But oh, how I wish that I had been born a boy! Idon't mind this at all."
Matthew looked at her with surprise.
"Aren't you, too, a bit afraid?" he asked her "It seems to me as if youreally enjoyed this kind of frolic."
Agnes looked at him seriously. "Indeed," she said, "I do not, for Ihate war. War is of Satan, and peace is of God. It is dreadful thatPeople should kill each other, and this for the sake of
money and gain.Had these Indians been treated kindly, they never would have gone on thewar path. But the English traders deceived them, and the Dutch incitedthem to blooodshed. So here we are!"
"It _is_ a pity," Matthew said; "and what a fine Sunday school we had!The children could sing, and praise Jesus as well as the white people.There is no reason why they should not be true Christians, every one ofthem. It is the fault of the white men, as you say. I deeply regretthat there are rascals who disgrace our religion."
Agnes did not answer. Her eyes were riveted to the entrance of thecave where she anxiously watched the fading light of day.
"It is getting to be night," she said, "and I am hungry as a bear. Iwish Fred would come."
"I wonder where he can be," Matthew said wearily; "this business ofwaiting doesn't strike me as a very opportune thing just now. If I hadmy way, I would be running like a rabbit, until we were back at Boston.And never will I leave that place again! We did wrong in not obeyingour parents."
Agnes looked at him reprovingly. "That does not solve our problemsnow," she ventured. "I, too, wish we were back, but we are here now,and we must make the best of it. But oh, if only Fred were here."
"Let's go and look for him," Matthew broke in.
"No," Agnes replied, "we must stay and wait. They also serve who onlystand and wait."
Yet she also became tired as the moments crept on slowly and wearily.Darkness covered the cave, and she could hardly see the opening anymore.
"Matthew," she whispered as she walked forward, "you remain here withthe guns. I will go and look for Fred. It is dark now!"
In a moment she was gone, while Matthew almost wept for anguish ofheart. Yet he had learned to obey both Fred and Agnes, though he wasolder than they. There was something indescribably firm in their voicesand conduct which he never could understand, and often he himselfwondered what made him stand in awe of them.
Just now he bitterly reproved himself for not having followed Agnes.
"She is a girl and you are a boy," he scolded himself; "but she is aheroine, and you are a coward. How could you let her go alone!"
He waited impatiently, but neither Agnes nor Fred returned.
Overcome with fear, he knelt down in prayer, for he was a very piousboy.
"Good Lord," he prayed, "help Fred and Agnes and me, and let us notperish in this wilderness. Show us a way to escape out of this troublethat we may praise Thy glorious name. Help us for Jesus' sake."
Then as the dreary hours passed slowly and monotonously, his strengthgave way, and he soon was fast asleep.
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