The Free Rangers: A Story of the Early Days Along the Mississippi

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER VI

  BATTLE AND STORM

  It was yet dark, in fact much darker than it had been just after the foglifted, and the dawn was a full three hours away. Although the floodedarea of forest on the western shore was much less than on the eastern, itwas sufficient to furnish ample concealment for the boat, and, when theytied up amid dense foliage, they could not see the main stream behindthem.

  Jim Hart laid down his oars, stood up, and carefully cracked his joints.

  "I _am_ tired," he said. "Never wuz I so tired afore in my life."

  "But, Jim," said Shif'less Sol, "Think what a pow'ful lively naval battleyou hev been through. Ef you ever git a wife--which I doubt, 'cause youain't beautiful, Jim--you kin tell her how once you rowed right over agreat Injun warship. Mebbe, Jim, she'll believe all them fancy detailsyou'll stick on to it."

  "I know I ain't beautiful," said Long Jim thoughtfully, "an' I don't knowez I want to be, but ef any woman wuz to marry me she'd most likelybelieve whatever I told her, bein' ez I hev a truthful countenance, butez fur you, Sol, anybody kin tell by lookin' at you that ef you wuz toketch in this river a little cat-fish six inches long you'd tell them thatdidn't know that it wuz a whale."

  "Seems to me," said Tom Ross, "that I wuz waked up kinder suddint a fewhours ago. I wuz in the middle uv a most bee-yu-ti-ful nap, and I knowright whar I stopped it. I'm goin' back an' pick up that nap at the exactplace whar I left off."

  Without another word he pulled his blanket over him and stretched himselfon a seat. In a minute or two he was sound asleep. Tom Ross was a veterancampaigner. He not only knew what to do, but he could and would do it.

  "Paul, you and Jim follow him," said Henry, "I'll keep what's left of thewatch with Sol."

  Jim was treading the easy path of slumber in five minutes, but it tookPaul at least ten to pass through the gates. Henry and Sol sat in theboat, silent but watchful.

  "We're between two fires," whispered Henry at last. "I don't think thatwar party will give up just yet, and maybe we'd better stick here in thewoods for a while, on the chance that they think we belong to the Spanishforce and have rejoined it."

  "We've got to stay in hidin' fur a spell, that's shore," said Shif'lessSol. "We might stick here all day. We kin overtake the Spaniards any time,cause we have only one road to foller an' that's the river."

  Henry nodded and they settled back to the watch and silence. Their threecomrades stretched on seats, lockers, or the boat's bottom, sleptsoundly, and they could hear their regular breathing. But they heardnothing else save the light lapping of the water against the tree trunks.

  Dawn came, golden and beautiful. Tom Ross opened his eyes.

  "Anything happened?" he asked.

  "No," replied Henry, "and we are not going to move yet. Sleep on."

  Tom closed his eyes again, and in a minute was back in the pleasant landof slumber. The other two did not awake and Henry and Sol still did notstir. From the leafy arbor in which "The Galleon" was moored, they wereintently watching the surface of the river. An hour passed and the sunrose higher and higher, flooding the surface of the great stream withgolden beams.

  "Do you see anything, Henry?" asked Sol.

  "Yes, I think there's a canoe among the trees on the opposite shore."

  "I reckoned that I saw it, too, but I wuzn't certain. Must be a scoutcanoe."

  "Do you see anything to the southward, Sol?"

  "I reckoned that I saw somethin' thar, too, an' I took it fur smoke."

  "The Spanish camp, of course."

  "O' course."

  "And I think the Indians are spying upon it. They are quite sure now thatwe were a part of the Spanish force."

  "They think they know it, an' they'll hang 'roun' until to-night, whenthey're more'n likely to shoot into the Spanish camp."

  "Which won't hurt us, Sol."

  "Not a leetle bit. We kin sing all the time, 'dog eat dog, go it one, goit tother.'"

  "Instead of singing," said Henry smiling, "we can put in most of the timesleeping."

  "Both please me," said Shif'less Sol, rubbing his hands gleefully.

  Everything befell as they thought it would. Other canoes appeared at theedge of the wood on the far shore, but on every occasion further down theriver. There was no doubt in the minds of the watchful observers aboard"The Galleon" that they were spying upon the Spanish camp and meditated anattack at night. It was equally certain that the Spaniards knew nothing ofthe Indians' presence. All the five were now awake and they rejoiced atthe prospect.

  "I see an easy day comin' to me," said Shif'less Sol luxuriously. "'Tain'toften that a lazy man like me kin hev sech a good time an' I'm goin' tomake the most o' it."

  "I think," said Henry, "that while the Indians are busy with the Spaniardswe'd better try to fix up that sail. We don't need a tent and we do need asail. Some time or other, when we get in a pinch, the sail might do thepulling, leaving the rowers free to use their rifles."

  "Jest ez I might hev expected," said Sol in a tone of disgust. "All readyfor rest, fixed fur it most bee-yu-ti-ful-ly, an' told instead that Imust go to work. This world shorely ain't kind to a good man."

  Once more the staunch ship, "The Galleon," proved herself to be a treasurehouse. They found in the lockers plenty of rope and stout cord, and theycut in the forest a stout young sapling which they made of the rightlength, peeled off the bark, and adjusted in rude fashion, as a mast. Theyalso made a boom and then rigged a single sail, somewhat after the fashionof the cat-boat of the present day.

  This would have been an impossible task to them, had not "The Galleon"been so well provided with axes, saws, hammers, other valuable tools, andcord and nails. The mast could be taken down in an emergency, but theywere all of the opinion that the sail would draw, and draw well. It mightnot always be easy to control it, but "The Galleon" was built in Spanishfashion, heavy, deep, and square, and it would take a great deal to makeher capsize.

  While the others worked one watched, and the boats of the Indians wereseen again at the edge of the far forest. The last time they saw them theywere so far down that they were almost opposite the point where theSpaniards lay, which indicated two things to them, first the certaintythat Alvarez had not moved, and second that "The Galleon" and her crewwere absolutely safe for the time being, where they lay.

  "I suppose that Alvarez is in no hurry and decided to take a day of rest,"said Henry.

  They finished their own labors late in the afternoon and contemplated themast and sail with pride.

  "Now that it's done, I'm glad that it hez been done," said Shif'less Sol."It'll save me a lot o' work hereafter. It would be jest like you fellersto make me git callous spots all over the inside o' my hands, when thehide on Jim Hart's is already so thick it wouldn't hurt him to do all hisrowin' an' mine, too."

  "I jest love to see you work, Sol," said Long Jim Hart. "I can't enjoy myrest real good, 'less at the same time I'm layin' on my back watchin' youheavin' away."

  Nevertheless, all took a long rest though maintaining a vigilant watch,and, with pleasure, they saw a dark night come on. When the twilight wascompletely gone they steered once more for the main stream, not usingtheir sail yet, because of the boughs and bushes.

  "We've got to keep in the edge of the forest," whispered Henry, and inthat manner they crept cautiously southward. After a while they stoppedsuddenly and all exclaimed together. They distinctly heard the sound ofrifle shots straight toward the south and perhaps a mile away.

  "The savages hev attacked," said Shif'less Sol in a whisper. "Go it,Spaniard, go it, Injun, one may lick and tother may lick, but whether onemay lick tother or tother lick which. I don't care."

  They pulled a little nearer to the last line of trees in the water andthere off to the south they saw the little pinkish dots that marked therifle and musket fire. It was too far away for them to see anything else,but they heard distinctly the intermittent crackle of the shots.

  "Neither will win," said Henry. "The Spaniards are too s
trong to bedefeated, but they won't venture the unknown terrors of the river atnight. The Indians, who are in their canoes, will draw off when they findthey are not doing much harm."

  "Wish we could put up that sail," said Shif'less Sol, who was still at theoars. "I'm shore gittin' a callous lump in the pa'm o' my hand."

  "It wouldn't do, Sol," said Henry. "We're going to run past a battle, andwe mean to lie as low as possible."

  Paul again steered, Henry sat, rifle in hand, and the others rowed. Theytook a diagonal course across the stream once more, but this time towardthe eastern shore. They advanced slowly, hugging the dark. Fortunatelythere was no moon and the dusk came close up to the boat.

  "That's a right noisy fight," said Shif'less Sol, looking toward thesouth, where pink and red spots of flame still appeared in the dark andthe rattling fire of rifle and musket grew louder.

  "More noise than anything else," said Tom Ross, "but it keeps 'em pow'fulbusy an' that's a good thing fur us."

  They were now near the flooded forest on the eastern shore, and they movedslowly along in its shadow, still watching the distant battle. Itlightened a little, the rim of a moon came out, and they saw toward thewestern bank the dark silhouettes of canoes moving back and forth on thewater. Flashes came from the canoes and returning flashes came from thebank.

  "Go it, Spaniard, go it, Injun, go it, one, go it, tother," mutteredShif'less Sol again.

  "The Galleon" slowly passed by in the darkness. The pink and red dots wentout and the sound of the rifle fire died behind hem. They could neithersee nor hear anything more of the battle, and all were of the opinion thatit would soon cease by a sort of mutual agreement of the contestants.

  Paul once more turned the head of the boat toward the middle of thestream, and she swung gaily into the current, where her speed soonincreased greatly.

  "We can fix up our mast and hoist our sail now," said Henry. "Since thereis nobody to look, it won't hurt us to make speed for a while."

  It required some time and exertion to put the mast in place and then theyunfurled the sail. They were rather clumsy about it from lack ofexperience, but the tent cloth filled with the north wind, and "TheGalleon" leaped forward in the water, her broad nose parting the streamswiftly, while the youthful hearts of Henry and Paul swelled withexultation.

  Shif'less Sol drew in his oars and bestowed upon the sail a look of deepapproval.

  "That's the most glorious sight that hez met the eyes o' a tired man in ayear," he said. "Blow, Mr. Wind, blow! an' let me rest."

  The others also rested, but Sol and Henry put all their attention upon theboom and sail. They did not intend to be wrecked by ignorance or anysudden flaw in the wind. The breeze, however, was steady and strong, and"The Galleon" continued to move gallantly before it.

  They sailed for three or four hours and during the latter part of the timethey coasted along the western bank. There they came to the mouth of asmall river, thickly lined on both shores with gigantic trees.

  "I think we'd better take down our sail and run up this," said Henry. "Wecan go back some distance and hide close to the bank. The Spaniards ofcourse will not dream of coming up it, and we can stay here until they goby."

  "A safe and pleasant haven as long as it is needed," said Paul.

  They took down the sail and pulled at least a mile up the little river.There they tied close to the bank, and, happy over their success, soughtsleep, all except the watch, the night passing without disturbance.

  The day came, again unclouded and beautiful, and the five regarded it, theboat, and themselves with a great deal of satisfaction.

  "I'm thinkin' that our treasure ship, the gall-yun, ought to hev the mostcredit," said Shif'less Sol. "She brought us past all them warrin' peoplein great style. Without her we'd hev a hard time, follerin' the Spaniardsto New Or-lee-yuns."

  After breakfast they remained awhile in the boat, content to lie still andawait events. Everywhere around them was the deep forest, oak, hickory,chestnut, maple, elm, and all the other noble trees that flourish in thegreat valley. Just above them was a low point in the hank of the littleriver and they could see that it was trodden by many feet.

  "Game comes down to drink thar," said Shif'less Sol.

  "Lie still and let's see," said Paul. The boat was almost hidden in thethick foliage that overhung the river, and nobody on it stirred. Two deerpresently walked gingerly to the water, drank daintily, and then walked asgingerly away. Soon a black bear followed them and shambled to the water'sedge. He looked up and down the stream, but he saw nothing and the windblowing from him toward the boat brought no dread odor to his sensitivenostrils. He drank, wrinkled his face in a comical manner, scratchedhimself with his left paw, and then shambled away. Shif'less Sol laughed.

  "I'd hev to be hard pushed afore I shot that feller," he said. "Ain't theblack bear a comic chap when he tries to be. I declare I hev a real fellerfeelin' fur him. I couldn't ever feel that way toward a panther. Theyalways look mean an' they always are mean, but I could hobnob right alongwith a jolly, fat black bear."

  "Yes," said Paul, looking dreamily far into the future. "It's a pity theyhave to go."

  "Hev to go, what do you mean, Paul?" interrupted Long Jim Hart, as hecracked a joint or two.

  "Why," replied Paul, "all this country will be settled up some day, andhow can bears and panthers and buffaloes roam wild on farms?"

  Long Jim looked at him with eyes slowly widening in wonder.

  "Paul," he exclaimed, "you do say the beatinest things sometimes! Now whatdo you mean by sayin' that all this country will be settled up? Why, tharain't enough people in the world fur that, an' thar won't never be."

  "Yes there will be, Jim," said Paul decisively, "although it will notoccur in your time."

  "Not if I lived to be a hundred years old, Paul, or mebbe a hundred an'twenty, 'cause I'm a pow'ful healthy man?"

  "No, not if you lived to be a hundred and twenty."

  Long Jim heaved a deep sigh of relief--he had the true soul of thewoodsman.

  "That's mighty relievin' an' soothin'," he said. "Think uv havin' to walkevery day through cleared ground! Think uv lookin' every day fur abee-yu-ti-ful sky only to see cabin-smoke! Think uv drawin' your sights onwhat you fust take to be a fine buffalo, an' then find out is only yourneighbor's old cow! Think uv your goin' off to a river to trap beaver, an'findin' nothin' thar but a saw-mill! Think uv your havin' to meet mornin'an' evenin' all kinds uv people that you don't care nothin' about! Thinkuv your goin' out on a great huntin' expedition only to find all themnoble trees cut down a thousan' miles every way, an' nothin' wanderin'around thar but old lame horses an' gruntin' pigs! I'm plum' thankful thatI'm livin' at the time I do, when thar's lots uv countries you don't knownothin' about, an' lots uv fun guessin' what they are, an' mostly guessin'wrong. An' I'm glad too that I didn't live in them old days that Sol tellsabout, when people had to build walls around theirselves in towns, an' wuzafraid to go out in the woods an' hunt bear an' buffalo like men!"

  Jim Hart, after this speech, so long for him, stopped for want of breath,and Shif'less Sol, regarding him with a look of deep sympathy, held out abrown and sinewy hand.

  "Jim Hart," he said, "shake. I'll be proud to hev you do it. You ain't nobeauty, Jim, an' somehow you an' me are kinder disputatious now an' then,but you are lettin' flow at this minute a solid stream o' wisdom, afountain, ez Paul would say in his highfalutin' way, at which everybodyought to drink."

  Jim Hart also reached out a brown and sinewy hand and the two met in apowerful and friendly clasp.

  "I'm like Jim," continued Shif'less Sol. "'Tain't what you git that makesyou happy, but thar's a heap in bein' suited. I'm glad I'm livin' when Iam, an' whar I am. Me an' things suit each other. What Paul says may cometrue, but it won't bust my heart, 'cause I won't be here to see it."

  An hour or so later Henry and Sol went through the woods and watched forthe Spanish fleet. They saw it presently moving in single file down theMississippi, and showing, so far
as they could judge, no signs of damage.

  "Twas ez we guessed last night it would be, a dogfall," said Shif'lessSol, "lots o' noise and not much done. Now that Injun crowd hez drawed offto the east, an' I think we've seed the last o' them, while the Spaniards,thinkin' they've had enough o' excitement, will keep straight on to NewOr-lee-yuns."

  "I've no doubt you're right," said Henry, "and we'll follow to-night.We'll let them take a good start."

  They watched the little fleet until it passed out of sight down the riverand then returned to their own boat. There they devoted the day to furtherpreparations for a long journey. As game was close at hand in suchabundance, they shot two deer and took the meat on board. They alsoundertook to provide shelter, as this was the period of the spring rainsand they did not wish to be drenched or have their stores damaged.Fortunately they found a tarpaulin in one of the lockers and, taking thisand the two deerskins, they united all in a larger covering which theycould spread over nearly the whole boat. This all considered a highlyimportant task, and they meant to enlarge the tarpaulin still more asthey killed more deer. Meanwhile they let it lie in the sun, in order thatthe deerskins might dry.

  Their tasks occupied them until about 10 o'clock at night and then theydecided to start again, thinking that night traveling would be safer for aday or two. They rowed down the river until they entered the Mississippi,and then they set their sail again.

  No other human beings were afloat on the river, at least not within therange of their vision, but there was a plenty of floating trees and otherdebris brought down by the spring flood. Careful steering was necessary,but they went on without any accident. Shif'less Sol, however, gazed up atthe moon with an unquiet eye.

  "She looks too soft an' fleecy," he said, speaking of the moon. "Whenshe's peepin' through them lacy-lookin' clouds it means that trouble isabout to stir."

  "We'll keep a watch," said Henry.

  They continued until midnight and Sol's troubles still kept off, but aboutthat time all noticed a sudden increase of the breeze, accompanied by anequal increase of dampness.

  "Something like a storm is coming and you were right, Sol," said Henry."Now, I wish we knew a lot about sailing."

  "But as we don't," said Paul, "I think we'd better take in our sail atonce."

  They quickly did so and their precaution was wise. The wind, blowing outof the north, began to shriek, and the boat, even without the aid of asail, leaped forward. Driving clouds suddenly shut out the moon, and theyellow waters of the giant stream, lashed by the wind, began to heave andsurge in waves like those of the sea. The treasure ship, "The Galleon,"pitched and rocked like a real galleon in the long swells of the Pacific,but the five knew that she was perfectly safe. The broad, square Spanishboat could not be swamped.

  "Thank God, we've taken in that sail," said Henry. "We're going to have anight of it! Do you think we'd better pull for the shore?"

  "Not now," replied Shif'less Sol, "the wind's risin' too fast, an' we'dhit a tree or a snag, shore. Better keep ez nearly in the middle o' theriver ez we kin!"

  The soundness of Sol's judgment became apparent at once. The shriek of thewind rose to a scream and then a roar. The night became pitchy dark. Theycould see nothing around them but a narrow circle of muddy waters heavingviolently. Under the far horizon in the south and west, low, sullenthunder began to mutter. Suddenly the sky parted before a tremendous flashof lightning that blazed for a moment across the heavens and then wentout, leaving the night darker than before. But in that moment they caughta vivid glimpse of the flooded forest, the great waste of troubled waters,and all the vast desolation about them. It was weird and uncanny to thelast degree, and despite all the dangers and hardships through which theyhad passed on land, the five steadied their nerves only with supremeefforts of the will.

  "We've forgot the covering for our boat," exclaimed Henry. "Paul, keep hersteady, while the rest of you help me."

  It required the strength of four to spread the tarpaulin in the wind andmake it all secure, but they were a strong four and the task was quicklydone. Meanwhile the turbulence of air and water were increasing. The waveson the river rose higher and higher and the wind drove the foam in theirfaces. The thunder, no longer a mutter, became one terrific peal afteranother, and the lightning burned across the great stream in flash afterflash.

  "I sp'ose it's jest the same ez bein' at sea," said Sol between crashes."I don't know much choice between bein' drowned in the Mississippi, whichI know is muddy, an' the sea, which they say is salt."

  "No danger of either!" said Paul cheerfully, "but I'm glad this is such awide river. So long as we can keep the boat straight there is not muchrisk of being driven into anything."

  Then everyone jumped suddenly to his feet. There was a tremendous crash ofthunder louder than all the rest, and the whole river swam for a moment ina burning glare. The lightning seemed to have struck upon the surface ofthe water not far from them. Then, when the lightning and the thunderpassed, they heard only the wind and saw only the darkness.

  "This ain't so easy ez it looked," said Shif'less Sol in a plaintivetone. "It's nice ridin' on a boat, but if the lightning should strike 'TheGall-yun,' whar are we? I'd a heap rather be on the land."

  "That must have been its climax," said Paul, "and if so look out for therain."

  Paul was right. The lightning began to decline in intensity and thethunder sank in volume. The wind died rapidly. Yet there was no increaseof light, and presently they heard afar a rushing sound. Great drops beatlike hail upon their tarpaulin, and all except the man who was steeringsnuggled to cover. The steersman happened to be Shif'less Sol this time,and he wrapped one of the new Spanish blankets tightly around him fromheel to throat.

  "Now let it come," murmured the indomitable man.

  It took him at his word and it came with a sweep and a roar. The heavensopened and a deluge fell out. The thunder and lightning ceased entirelyand from the black skies the rain poured in amazing quantities. Now andthen all except the steersman were forced to bail out the boat, but mostlythey kept to cover under their tarpaulin, which was a good one.

  Shif'less Sol held the good ship "The Galleon," in the middle of thecurrent, and all the time he strained his eyes ahead for floating debrisand particularly for the terrible snags which were such a danger in theearly Mississippi. Keen as were his eyes, he could see little ahead of himbut the black water, now beaten into a comparatively smooth plain by thesteady rain.

  Shif'less Sol had taken off his cap and the rain drove steadily on theback of his head; but his body, thanks to the thick blanket wrapped sotightly around his neck, remained dry.

  Shif'less Sol was not uncomfortable. Neither was he alarmed or unhappy.There was a strain of chivalry and romance in his forest-bred soul, andthe situation appealed to him. He was in a strong boat, his four faithfulcomrades were with him, and he was piercing a new mystery, that of a vastand unknown river. The spirit that has always driven on the greatexplorers and adventurers thrilled in every nerve of Solomon Hyde,nicknamed the Shiftless One, but not at all deserving the title.

  The boat went steadily on in the blackness and the rain, and Sol's soulswelled jubilantly within him. He could see perhaps thirty or forty feetahead of him over the smooth plain of black water, and at an equaldistance to right and left the black wall rose, also. So far as feelingwent, the land might be a thousand miles away, and he was glad of it.

  "Which sea are we ploughin' through now, Paul?" he said. "Is it theAtlantic or the Pacific or one I ain't heard tell of a-tall, a-tall? Butwhich ever it is, I'm Christopher Columbus the second, on my way todiscover a new continent bigger than all the others put together! Jumpin'Jehoshaphat! but that was a narrow escape! It made my flesh creep!"

  Sol had shifted the boat in her course, just in time to escape an ominoussnag, but in a moment his joyousness came back, and without giving Paultime to answer, he continued:

  "A boat goin' down stream on a river is shorely the right way o' travelin'fur a lazy man like m
e. I wish it wuz all like this!"

  The violence of the rain abated somewhat in an hour or so, but itcontinued to come down for a long time. Far after midnight the cloudsbegan to part. A damp patch of sky showed, but it was clear skynevertheless and soon it broadened.

  The flooded world rose up before the five voyagers, the vast river, stillblack in the night light, floating trees, perhaps rooted up by the streamfrom shores thousands of miles to the north and west, the low dim outlineof forest to right and left, and all around them an immense desolation.Everything to other minds would have been gigantic, somber, and menacing.Gigantic it was to the five, but neither somber nor menacing. Instead ittold them of safety and comfort and it was, at all times, full of a variedand supreme interest.

  As soon as the light was strong enough for them to find a suitable placethey pulled the boat among the trees on the western shore and tied it upsecurely. Here they made a critical examination and found that none oftheir precious goods had suffered a wetting. Powder, provisions, clothing,all were dry and every one except the watch went to sleep with a soundconscience.