The Pioneer Boys of the Mississippi; or, The Homestead in the Wilderness

by St. George Rathborne

  CHAPTER XXX

  THE MYSTERY SOLVED CONCLUSION

  BOB, despite his long tramp, as well as the excitement that had beenhis portion during that day, felt little like sleeping. It seemed tohim as though something weighed upon his mind, preventing him fromenjoying his customary slumber. He did not know just what to make ofit, and wondered whether it might mean that danger again hung over thecabin of his parents.

  When the others had settled down, Bob wandered forth. It was not histurn to act as sentry, and so, instead of passing around to converse inlow tones with Mr. Bancroft, who was serving at the time, he found aplace where he could be comfortable, and there remained, with his backagainst the cabin wall.

  The night was warm, so that it was no task to remain out of doors.Besides, Bob was accustomed to looking upon the star-decked sky as hisroof. Many a time had he and Sandy slept in the open, with no othercovering. They were hardy, as indeed all pioneer boys had to be, inorder to encounter successfully the privations that seemed to be theirbirthright.

  Bob, himself, hardly knew just why he had chosen to settle downthere, where he could observe the door of his father's new cabinin the flickering light of the dying fire. He seemed to take solidsatisfaction in just sitting where he could keep his eyes upon it,while thinking about that other home, many hundred miles away, whichthey had left forever.

  Bob was just becoming conscious of the fact that his eyes were feelinga trifle heavy, and wondering whether, after all, he would not bewise in entering the cabin, so as to seek rest upon the furs thatconstituted his couch, when he suddenly became aware that there wassomething moving between him and the almost dead fire.

  Now thoroughly aroused, he bent over until upon his knees, and eagerlywatched. In this fashion he presently became aware that it was a humanfigure, and not a prowling wolf, that had attracted his attention. Itwas surely advancing, slowly yet positively, toward the cabin occupiedby the Armstrongs.

  Bob felt his pulses thrill. Was this some friend of the prisoners,and did he mean to try to effect their release? Then why pick out thecabin where Sandy, Kate, Mr. Armstrong and the little mother slept, intotal ignorance of the peril that seemed to hover above their heads;unless, as seemed possible, he knew not where the captive Frenchmenwere confined. And it added to Bob's anxiety when presently he made thealarming discovery that the silent creeper was a painted and featheredIndian!

  Waiting until the creeper had bent low near the door of the cabin, Boblaunched himself forward. He landed full upon the other's back. Therewas an involuntary grunt from the Indian, and a twisting of the lithefigure; but either the savage did not wish to resist violently, or elsehe realized the folly of trying to get away from the strong clutch ofthe young pioneer, for he almost immediately relaxed his muscles, andremained there, limp enough.

  Meanwhile Bob's cries had brought forth, not only his father and therest of the family, but everybody in the settlement. They came crowdingaround, the men with guns, ready to defend their families against apossible attack of the treacherous red foe.

  Great, therefore, was the surprise of the men when they learned howBob had captured the creeping Indian, whose actions would indicate thathe must have had some base designs upon the Armstrong cabin. His armshad been hastily secured by one of the men; but he now stood calmlybefore them, apparently scorning to show any desire to flee.

  Pat took one look at the prisoner, and uttered an exclamation ofamazement.

  "By the powers, now!" he cried, "and who would be afther expectin' tosay a Delaware brave as far away from his home country as this wan?"

  "A Delaware!" echoed Sandy, in his turn pushing forward, to stare inthe face of the prisoner; and then he, too, gave a cry.

  "Bob, look here, and tell me if this isn't that same young brave wefound with his foot caught in a crevice of the rock, and nearly starvedto death?"

  And the astonished Bob, after coming closer to the prisoner, agreedwith his younger brother.

  "Yes, as sure as you live, it is the young brave who said at thetime when we set him free and gave him meat, that his name wasBuckongahelas, and his father a chief of the Delawares. Oh! now weknow who sent those warning letters written on birch bark. Just as weguessed more than once, it was he. That was the Indian way of showinggratitude; and he has even followed us all the way to the Mississippi,in order to again help us. It is the strangest thing I ever knew."

  "But, if he is your friend, what was he creeping up to the door of yourcabin for?" demanded Mr. Wayne, who did not trust the Indian nature anytoo well, and found it difficult to believe that any redskin could feelgratitude.

  Sandy was already unfastening the thongs that held the arms of theDelaware behind his back; and he answered indignantly:

  "I'm sure that, if you take the trouble to look, Mr. Wayne, you willfind that he was placing another of his friendly birch-bark messagesunder the door of our cabin."

  It was Bob, however, inspired by a sudden thrilling hope, who turnedto look; and, hardly had Sandy spoken, than the other gave a shout ofdelight, as he snatched some object up from the ground, where it hadbeen pushed from the stoop by the hasty exit of the Armstrong family.

  "The precious wampum belt, Sandy!" he cried in glee; "see,Buckongahelas has brought it back to us, and was about to leave it atour doorstep when I jumped on his back!"

  "Oh! where do you think he could have found it?" gasped Sandy, as hetook the gift of the great Pontiac from the hand of his brother, andeven pressed it to his lips, because he considered it the greatestblessing the little colony could own.

  "Stop and think, Sandy," said Bob, trying to control his voice; "andyou will surely remember what Jacques said about some one creeping uponthem while they slept last night, taking only the belt, and nothingmore. Buckongahelas did that; and to complete his splendid showing ofIndian gratitude."

  They all now turned upon the young Delaware, as though expecting thathe should explain the mystery; which he did not seem averse to doing,though he evidently knew so little of English that he spoke to Pat inhis native tongue, and the trapper translated the same to the colonists.

  "Buckongahelas owes his life to the young white hunters. When he wouldhave died like the old wolf that has lost its teeth, and can no longerhold fast to its prey, they came and saved him. More than that, theygave him meat to take him on his journey to the lodges of his people.

  "It is not well that a Delaware, and the son of a chief, should bein the debt of a white man. Buckongahelas made a vow to the GreatManitou that he would repay it all. So he hovered about the home of thepalefaces. Many times he saw them and they knew it not. He had reasonto hate the two French trappers who came from far away in the land ofthe setting sun. He watched, and saw that they meant harm to the familyof the white friends of Buckongahelas. Again, and yet again, did theDelaware send messages with warning. Yet did the bad palefaces stealthe belt of Pontiac away, and flee for the land of the Great Water.

  "That was bad. Buckongahelas could not bear to see the grief of hiswhite friends, and go back to his own lodge. A Delaware knows no fear.So, when they journeyed down the beautiful river on their new boat theDelaware was always near by. Day and night Buckongahelas kept with thepalefaces; sometimes on a log floating along, and passing their camp,but always watching for the two bad men who would wrong their own kindby keeping the belt of Pontiac, that did not belong to them.

  "And when the sun went down last night, the Delaware crept into thecamp of the French trappers, and took away the belt that belongedto another. Now Buckongahelas feels that he can go back on the longjourney to his own people. The debt has been paid, and he may look inthe face of his father again. It is well."

  And so was the mystery lifted from the strange friendly warnings that,from time to time, had been received, when some particular perilhovered over the Armstrongs. After all, it was very simple. Both Boband Sandy understood Indian nature well enough to know what a stronghold the question of honor had upon a brave like the highly-strungyoung Delaware. Proud of his own
strength and courage, it galled him tothink that he was under so great an obligation to those two half-grownwhite boys; and he could never rest content until he had succeeded incancelling the debt after the manner of his people.

  He would not remain even over the night with them, for, truth to tell,Buckongahelas had no particular love for the whites, no matter whetherthey were English or French; and what history tells about his futureexploits amply proves that what he did for the Armstrongs was a purelypersonal matter, and not because he wished to be friendly toward thepeople who were slowly but surely driving his tribe toward the settingsun. The Delawares had once inhabited the land near Chesapeake andDelaware bays, though at that time they had moved so as to be furtheraway from the encroaching whites. They now found that the latter werefollowing on their track in constantly increasing numbers.

  With the recovery of the wonderful wampum belt the boys no longerfeared an Indian attack, unless something happened to Pontiac thatwould remove the famous sachem from the leadership of the confederatedtribes. And we, who have read the history of our country in the earlydays, know that this did not occur for several years.

  The new settlement progressed wonderfully. It was not very long beforethey had an accession, as the several families who had manifested adesire to follow them to the land of the Mississippi joined fortuneswith those who had already built cabins, and were engaged in clearingand planting the land.

  It soon became known to the Indians roundabout that the all-powerfulPontiac had spread his protecting mantle over this struggling littlesettlement on the bank of the Big Water; and from that hour they gavethe colonists no trouble.

  And the commandant at the nearest French trading post must havereceived the message that Mr. Armstrong forwarded in care of JacquesLarue, for he sent back word that there would be peace betweenhis trappers and the little English settlement on the bank of theMississippi.

  The two rascally trappers had been greatly surprised at being let offwithout punishment. Perhaps their rough natures were not capable ofcomprehending the real meaning of the act; but they were glad to getaway without paying for their evil deeds; and expressed the intentionof fighting shy of the English settlement after that. As to whetherthey would keep their word or not may be made apparent later on, whenmany of the characters who have figured in this volume may be metagain in the pages of a new book, to be called, "The Pioneer Boys ofthe Missouri."

  Bob and Sandy had good reason to feel satisfied with the outcome oftheir little act of kindness. Of course, it did not amount to much tothem, when they released that young Delaware from his rocky trap, bymeans of which his foot had been held secure for several days; but,to the mind of the Indian, it was a debt that must be sacredly paidseveral fold. And, whenever they looked upon the magic wampum belt thatstood as a signet of the all-powerful protecting arm of Pontiac, theboys were wont to exchange a significant glance, as though to say that"bread cast upon the waters will return ere many days." And surely thissaying had been amply justified in their case.

  THE END.