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

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER VIII

  THE CHATEAU OF BEAULIEU

  They noticed one day a high bluff shooting up on the eastern bank andrunning along for some distance. It was clothed in dense green forest, andit was rather a welcome break in the monotony of the low shores.

  "A big city will be built there some day," said the prophetic Paul.[B]

  "Now, Paul, why in tarnation do you say that?" exclaimed Tom Ross.

  "Why, because it's such a good place. It's a high hill on a great river sowell suited to navigation, and it has a vast, rich country behind it."

  But Tom Ross shook his head.

  "Seems to me, Paul," he said, "that you're bitin' off a lot more'n you canchaw. Things that are to happen a hundred years from now ain't neverhappenin' fur me."

  But Paul merely smiled and held to his opinion.

  On the following day they tied up at a point, where the river began asharp and wide curve around a long, narrow peninsula. It was just aboutdark when they stopped and, as usual, they were able to run the boat intodense foliage at the margin, where not even the keenest eye could see it.

  "We've got plenty of goose and duck left over from dinner," said Henry,"so I'm thinking, Jim, that you'd better not light the fire on your bricksto-night."

  "All right," replied Jim, "I don't mind restin'. I feel about ez lazy ezSol Hyde looks."

  But Henry Ware had another and more important thing in mind. His was thekeenest eye of them all, and just before landing he had noticed to thesouthward and on the other side of the peninsula a faint, dark lineagainst the edge of the sunset. Few, even with an eye good enough to seeit, would have taken it for anything but a wisp of cloud, but the physicalsense of Henry Ware, so acute that it bordered upon intuition, was notdeceived.

  "Sol," he said after they had eaten a little, "let's walk across this neckof land and explore a bit."

  "It's a dark night to be traveling," said Paul. But Henry only laughed.Tom Ross may have had his suspicions, but he did not deem it worth whileto say anything. He knew that Henry and Shif'less Sol were quite competentto achieve any task that they might be undertaking.

  Henry and Sol strolled carelessly into the bush, but before they had gonea dozen steps their whole manner changed. Each became eager and alert.

  "What is it, Henry?" asked Shif'less Sol. "What have you seed?"

  "Smoke! the smoke of a camp fire and it's on the other side of this neck.I think it's the camp of Alvarez. He must have been going more slowly thanwe thought."

  "We'll soon find out," said Shif'less Sol, as they advanced.

  But the task was not as easy as they had thought. The peninsula was verylow and the greater part of it had been overflowed recently. Their feet,no matter how lightly they stepped, sank in the mire, and when they pulledthem out again the mud emitted a sticky sigh. An owl perched in a tree,high above the marsh, began to hoot dismally, and Shif'less Sol uttered agrowl.

  "I wish we had the big, dry woods o' Kentucky to go through," he whisperedto Henry. "I ain't much o' a mud-crawler."

  "But as we haven't got those big, dry woods," Henry whispered back, "we'llhave to crawl, creep, or walk through the mud."

  It was about two miles across the neck, and as they went very slowly forfear of making noise, it took them a full hour to reach the other side, orto come near enough to see what might be there. Then they found thatHenry's belief, or rather intuition, was right.

  They could see quite well from the dense covert. All the Spanish boatswere tied up at the shore and two or three fires had been built for thepurposes of cooking. The soldiers in their picturesque costumes loungedabout. The hum of conversation and now and then a laugh arose.

  Henry soon marked Francisco Alvarez. The Spanish leader sat on a littleheap of boughs on the highest and dryest spot in the camp, and all whoapproached him did so with every sign of respect--if they spoke it was hatin hand.

  The firelight fell in a red blaze across the face of Francisco Alvarez andrevealed every feature in minute detail to the keen eyes in the covert. Itwas a thin, haughty face, clear-cut and cruel, but just now it's air wasthat of satisfaction, as if in the opinion of Francisco Alvarez all thingswere going well with his plans. Henry believed that he could guess histhoughts. "He thinks that the Spanish are already committed against us andthat he and Braxton Wyatt with a force of Spaniards and the tribes willyet destroy our settlements in Kentucky."

  Thinking of Braxton Wyatt he looked for him and, as he looked, therenegade came from a point near the shore toward the commander. It wasevident that Wyatt had been faring well. His frontier dress had beenpartly replaced with gay Spanish garments. He now wore a cap with afeather in it, and a velvet doublet. He, too, had a most complacent look.

  Wyatt approached Alvarez and the commander courteously invited him to aseat on the hillock near him. When he took the seat a soldier brought therenegade a cup of wine, and he drank, first lifting the cup toward Alvarezas if he drank a toast to the success of the alliance. There could be nodoubt about the perfect understanding of the two; and Henry's anger rose.It was impossible to set a limit to what a ruthless and determined manlike Francisco Alvarez might do.

  Wyatt rose presently after a nod to the commander and walked among thesoldiers. He seemed to have no particular object in view and hisstrollings brought him near to the edge of the swampy forest.

  "Perhaps he's spying about, and will come into the woods where we are,"whispered Henry. "Maybe he has those maps and plans upon him, and it wouldbe a great thing to get them. I don't believe he could make a new setsoon."

  "It's a risky thing to try," said Shif'less Sol, "but ef he comes in here,an' you think it the best thing to do, I'm ready to help."

  The two crouched a little lower and remained breathless. Braxton Wyattstrolled on. He was making a sort of vague inspection of the camp, but hewas really thinking more about the great triumph that he saw ahead. Sincehe had turned renegade, leaving his own white race to join the Indians, athing that was sometimes done, he had been stung by many defeats and hewished a great revenge that would pour oil upon all these wounds.

  A bad nature grows worse with failure. Seeking to injure his former peopleand failing at every turn, Braxton Wyatt hated them more and more all thetime. His wrath was particularly directed against the five who had beensuch great instruments in sending his careful plans astray. His schemewith the Indian league had failed chiefly through them, but he felt thathe could now come with a Spanish force that would prove irresistible. Thatwas why he glowed with internal warmth and pride. The settlements would bedestroyed and he, in fact, would be the destroyer.

  Braxton Wyatt entered the edge of the woods, still occupied with the crueltriumph that was to be his. He did not notice that the foliage wasgradually shutting out the firelight. Presently he saw, or believed thathe saw, a shadowy but terrible figure. It was the figure of the one whomhe dreaded most on earth.

  It was but a glimpse of a form, seen through the bushes, but Wyatt's bloodturned cold in every vein. He uttered a half-choked cry, and running backthrough the bushes, sprang into the firelight. Two or three Spanishsoldiers looked at him in amazement, but he was not a coward, and he hadpride of a kind. As soon as he leaped back into the firelight he felt thathe had made a fool of himself. Henry Ware could not have been there--heand his comrades had been left behind long ago. Coming suddenly out of histhoughts, he had been deceived in the dark by a bush and imagination haddone the rest. Yes, it was only fancy!

  "A rattlesnake! I nearly trod on him," he said in broken Spanish wordsthat he had picked up, and then walked in as careless a manner as he couldassume toward the mound where Francisco Alvarez sat. But he could notwholly control himself--the shock had been too great--and his body yettrembled. He did not know it, but the pallor of his face showed throughthe tan, and Alvarez noticed it.

  "You have had a fright, Senor Wyatt," he said in his precise, coldEnglish. "What is it?"

  "Not a fright," replied Wyatt in tones that he sought to make indifferent,"b
ut a start. I nearly trod on a rattlesnake that lay coiled ready tostrike, and I got away just in time."

  The Spaniard regarded him with a penetrating look, but the chilly blueeyes expressed nothing. Yet Francisco Alvarez thought that a bold woodsmanlike Braxton Wyatt would not show so much fear after a harmless passagewith any kind of a snake.

  "Do you think the five, the party that you said were so much to bedreaded, are still following us?" he asked presently.

  The pallor showed again for a moment through the tan in Braxton Wyatt'sface, but he answered again as carelessly as he could:

  "It may be. I hate them, but I do not deny that they are bold andresourceful. They have a good boat, and they may follow; but what harmcould they do?"

  "As I told you, they might go before Bernardo Galvez, our Governor Generalat New Orleans, and spoil the pretty plan that you and I have formed.Galvez is--as he calls himself--a Liberal. He would help these rebels andfight England. How can a Spaniard lend himself to the cause of Republicanrebels and injure monarchy? Cannot he foresee, cannot he look ahead alittle and tell what rebel success means? It would in the end be as greata blow to Spain as to England. If Kaintock is permitted to grow she willthreaten Louisiana. These men in their buckskins are daring and dangerousand we must attend to them!"

  The Spaniard clenched his hands in anger, and the blue light of his eyeswas singularly cruel.

  "Galvez is a fool," he continued. "He is not allowing the English to tradeat New Orleans, but he is giving the American rebels full chance. He hisallowed one, Pollock, Oliver Pollock, to establish a base there. ThisPollock has formed a company of New York, Philadelphia, and Bostonmerchants, and they are sending arms and ammunition in fleets of canoes upthe Mississippi and then up the Ohio to Fort Pitt, where they are unloadedand then taken eastward by land for the use of the rebels. A fleet ofthese canoes is to start about the time we arrive in New Orleans."

  "We might meet it," suggested Braxton Wyatt, "and say that it attackedus."

  The Spaniard smiled.

  "The idea is not bad," he said, "and it could be done. We could sink theirwhole fleet of canoes with the pretty little cannon that we carry, and wecould prove that they began the attack. But I do not choose to run therisk of compromising myself just yet. There is a more glorious enterpriseafoot. Hark you, Senor Wyatt."

  Braxton Wyatt leaned forward and listened attentively. Francisco Alvarezhad drank of wine that evening, and his blood was warm. He, too, dreameda great dream.

  "You are a man of discretion and you have helped me. I speak to you as onedevoted to my cause. If you should but breathe what I say to another Iwould first swear that it was a lie, and then deliver you to these fivegentlemen, former friends of yours, who would tear you in pieces."

  Braxton Wyatt shivered again, and the Spaniard, seeing the shiver, laughedand was convinced.

  "Why should I betray you?" said the renegade. "I have no motive to do soand every possible motive to keep faith."

  "I know it," replied Alvarez, "and that is why I speak. It is to yourinterest to be faithful to me and when my enterprise succeeds, as itcertainly will, you shall have your proper share of the reward. BernardoGalvez, as you know, is the Governor General of Louisiana, and his fatheris the Viceroy of Mexico. They are powerful, very powerful, and I am onlya commander of troops under the son, but I, too, am powerful. My family isone of the first in Spain. It sits upon the very steps of the throne andmore than once royal blood has entered our veins. I was a favorite at thecourt and I have many friends there. The King might be persuaded thatBernardo Galvez is not a fit representative of the royal interests inLouisiana."

  Francisco Alvarez leaned a little forward and his blue eyes, usually sochill, sparkled now with fire. He was speaking of what lay next to hisheart. Braxton Wyatt, full of shrewdness and perception, understood atonce.

  "Bernardo Galvez might give way as Governor General of Louisiana," saidthe renegade, "to be succeeded by a better man, one who had the realinterests of Spain at heart, one who would refuse to give the slightestaid to rebels, rebels who would strike against a throne!"

  The Spaniard looked pleased.

  "I see that you are a man of penetration, Senor Wyatt," he said, "and I amfortunate in having you as a lieutenant. You have divined my thought. Iwork, not for the interests of a man whose name has been mentioned byneither of us, but for the true interests of Spain and the divine right ofkings. What is this miserable Kaintock which is springing up? We willcrush it out as you would have crushed the rattlesnake! The people of NewOrleans and Louisiana hate rebels! Why should they not? It is the rebelswho in time will take Louisiana from us if they can, not England."

  Braxton Wyatt smiled. He was delighted to the very center of his cunningheart. His plans and those of Alvarez marched well together. Eachstrengthened the other.

  "I am with you to the end," he said.

  "The end will be a glorious triumph," said the Spaniard in emphatic tones.

  Meanwhile Henry and Shif'less Sol still lay in the thicket. Their projectto seize Braxton Wyatt and strip him of the maps and plans had beendefeated. Henry knew that the renegade had caught a glimpse of him in thedusk and among the thick bushes and he expected an immediate alarm. Butwhen Wyatt raised none, he and Sol lingered. They saw the renegade go tothe Spaniard's side on the little mound, and they saw the two talk longand earnestly, but, of course, they could not understand a word of whatwas said.

  "They look mighty pleased with one another," whispered Shif'less Sol, "soit's bound to mean that they're up to the worst sort o' mischief."

  "Yes," replied Henry, "and that mischief is sure to be aimed at ourpeople."

  They waited about a half hour longer and then picked their way backthrough the marsh to their own side of the peninsula.

  It was now very late and Paul and Jim Hart were sound asleep in the boat,but Tom Ross was keeping vigilant guard.

  "Wuz it them?" he asked.

  "Yes," replied Henry. "They're camped on the other side of this neck, andBraxton Wyatt is still with them. There's big mischief afoot and we've gotto keep on following, waiting our chance, which, I think, will come."

  They did not start until noon the next day, in order to give the Spaniardsa longer lead, and they rounded the neck of land very slowly lest they runinto a trap. But when the river lay straight before them again they beheldnothing. They passed the point where the Spaniards had camped and saw thedead coals of their fires, but they did not stop, continuing insteadtheir steady progress down stream.

  It now grew hot upon the water. They had come many hundreds of miles sincethe start, and they were in a warmer climate. The character of thevegetation was changing. The cypress and the magnolia became frequent onthe banks, and now and then they saw great, drooping live oaks. The soilseemed to grow softer and the water was more deeply permeated with mud.Although the flood was gone, the river spread out in places to a vastwidth, and even at its narrowest it was a gigantic stream. Other great,lazy rivers poured in their volume from east and west. Narrow, deepinlets, half-hidden in vegetation, extended from either side. There werebayous, although the five had not yet heard the name, and many of themswarmed with fish.

  The warm air was heavy and languorous and now Shif'less Sol confessed.

  "I'm gittin' too much o' it, even fur a lazy man," he said. "'Pears to meI'm always wantin' to sleep. Now, I like about sixteen hours sleepin' outo' the twenty-four, but when it comes to keepin' awake jest long enough toeat three meals a day I ain't in favor o' it."

  "It must be a rich country, though," said Tom Ross. "No wonder themSpaniards want to keep it."

  That day they passed at some distance three canoes containing Indians, butthe canoes showed no wish to come near and investigate. Henry said thatthe Indians in them looked sprawling and dirty, unlike the alert,clean-limbed natives of the North.

  "They probably belong," said Paul, "to the Natchez tribe who were beateninto submission long ago by the French, and who doubtless lack energyanyhow."

&n
bsp; The Indian canoes went lazily on, and soon were lost to sight. Now aserious problem arose. They were approaching the settled parts ofLouisiana. It is true, it was only the thinnest fringe of white peopleextending along either shore of the river a short distance above NewOrleans, but they were coming to a region in which they would be noticed,and they might have to explain their presence before they wished to do so.Nor had they found any opportunity to capture Braxton Wyatt and his mapsand plans. Nevertheless, they hung so closely on the trail of Alvarez thatevery night and morning they could see the smoke of his camp fire.

  They stopped one evening in a cove of the river, sheltered by greatmournful cypresses, and Henry and Shif'less Sol went out again toscrutinize the Spanish camp. They returned before midnight with unusualnews. Alvarez with his whole force had turned from the Mississippi and hadgone up a bayou about four miles. There he had landed some of his smallcannon and stores at a rude wharf, and showed all the signs of making astay, but whether short or long they could not tell.

  "Alvarez must have a place, a plantation, I believe they call it, nearhere," said Paul intuitively, "and he's going to stop at it. As he wantsto get Spain into a war with us he could plot a lot of mischief in a houseof his own away from New Orleans."

  "Of course, that's it," said Henry with conviction. "Now if we could onlycapture Braxton Wyatt and then carry off the fellow and his maps and planswith us, it would be a great stroke. It might make Alvarez quit his wickedplot."

  Henry and Shif'less Sol slept briefly, and rising before daylight, wentforth to investigate again. When they arrived at the edge of the bayou,they saw that the work of removal had been resumed already. All the boatshad been tied up securely, and a mongrel lot of new men had joined theSpanish force, shiftless and half-civilized Houma and Natchez Indians,coal black negroes, some from the West Indies and some from Africa,Acadians, and fierce-looking adventurers from Europe. Most of them seemedto be laborers, however, and they worked with the arms and baggage takenfrom the boats. Among these laborers were several stalwart negro womenwith blazing red handkerchiefs tied around their heads.

  Alvarez came off one of the boats, followed by Braxton Wyatt. The Spanishcommander had attired himself with great care, and he was a reallysplendid figure in his glittering uniform and plumed hat. His gold-hiltedsmall sword swung by his side. He bore himself as a lord proprietor, andin fact he was such at this moment. He was about to go, surrounded by hisretainers, to his own house on a huge grant of land made to him by theSpanish King--Spanish kings granted lands very freely in America tofavorites, and the relatives of favorites.

  Braxton Wyatt also showed pride. Was he not the most trusted friend of anable man who was dreaming a great dream, a dream that would come true? Thelast remnants of his border attire had disappeared and he, too, wasdressed wholly as a Spanish officer, though by no means so splendidly ashis chief.

  Alvarez addressed a few words to a man in civilian attire, evidently hisoverseer, a dark, heavy West India Spaniard who carried a pistol in hissash, and then advanced through the rabble, which quickly fell back oneither side to let him pass.

  Horses were in waiting for Alvarez, Wyatt, and several others, andmounting, they rode off, Henry and Shif'less Sol watching from the bush aswell as they could, and following. The way of the officers led through agreat plantation but partially redeemed from the ancient forest. Cane andgrain fields were on either side of the path, and presently theyapproached a large house of only one story, built of wood, and surroundedby a wide veranda supported with posts at regular intervals. This housewas built around a court in the center of which was a clear pool.

  Henry and the shiftless one saw Alvarez and his company dismount and enterthe house. They noticed others who approached on foot, but who did notenter, obviously men who did not dare to enter unless asked. Among themwas a thin, middle-aged Natchez Indian, whose extraordinary, feline facehad won for him the name of The Cat. Henry particularly observed this man,whose manner was in accordance with his appearance and name. Like thosethey had seen in the canoes he had a hangdog, shiftless look, differentfrom the bold warrior of the more northerly forests.

  The two did not remain long. So many people were about that they werelikely to be seen, and they returned through the forest to the cypresscove in which "The Galleon" lay hidden. Here, it was agreed that theyshould go forth later in the day on another tour of inspection,re-inforced by Tom Ross, while Long Jim and Paul should remain to guardthe boat and their precious stores.

  When the three had gone, Long Jim sat on the edge of the boat and lookedaround at the sluggish waters of the bayou, the sad cypresses, and thedrooping live oaks. An ugly water snake twined its slimy length justwithin the edge of the bayou, and the odor of the still forest about themwas heavy and oppressive.

  Long Jim took a long, comprehensive look, and then heaved a deep sigh.

  "What's the matter?" asked Paul.

  "I don't think the country and the climate agree with me," replied LongJim lugubriously. "I wuz never so fur south afore, an' I'm a delicateplant, I am. I need the snow and the north wind to keep me fresh an'bloomin'. All this gits on me. My lungs don't feel clean. I'm longin' furthem big, fine woods up in our country, whar you may run agin a b'ar, butwhar you ain't likely to step on a snake afore you see it."

  "Give me the temperate climate, too," said Paul, "but we've come on agreat errand, Jim, and we've come a long way. It's good, too, to see newthings."

  "So it is, but I don't like to set here waitin' in this swamp. Think I'llstretch my legs a little on the bank thar, ef it's firm enough to hold meup, though I do have an abidin' distrust uv most uv the land hereabouts."

  Jim leaped upon the bank which upheld him, and stretched his long legswith obvious relief.

  "A boat's mighty easy," he said, "but now an' then walkin's good."

  He strode up and down two or three times and then he stopped. He had hearda sound, faint, it is true, but enough to arrest the attention of LongJim. Then he went on with a look of disgust. It was surely one of thosesnakes again!

  He was about to pass a great cypress when a pair of long, brown armsreached out and grasped him by the throat. Long Jim was a strong man and,despite his early advantage, it would have gone hard with the owner of thearms, none other than The Cat himself, but three or four men, springingfrom the covert, threw themselves upon him.

  Paul heard the first sounds of the contest and sprang up. He saw Long Jimstruggling in the grasp of many hands, and snatching at the first weaponthat lay near, he sprang to the bank, rushing to the assistance of hiscomrade.

  A shout of derisive laughter greeted Paul. Long Jim had been thrown downand held fast and the lad was confronted by none other than Alvarezhimself, while Braxton Wyatt, smiling in malignant triumph, stood justbehind him.

  "Well, my young man of Kaintock," said Francisco Alvarez in his preciseEnglish, "we have taken you and at least one of your brother thieves. Ingood time we'll have the others, too. It was an evil day when you venturedon my plantation so near such a wonderful tracker as The Cat. Why, hedetected them instinctively when your comrades ventured near us!"

  The eyes of the stooping Natchez Indian flashed at the compliment but, ina moment, he resumed his immobility. All the blood rushed to Paul's face,and he could not contain his anger.

  "Thief! how dare you call me a thief!" he said.

  "This is my boat before me," replied Alvarez. "You stole it."

  "Not so," replied Paul. "We captured it. You seized and held me a prisonerwhen I came to your camp on a friendly mission, and we took it in fairreprisal and for a good purpose. Moreover, you are plotting with that vilerenegade there to destroy our people in Kentucky!"

  "You are a thief," repeated Francisco Alvarez calmly, "you stole my boat.Why, the very sword that you hold in your hand is mine, stolen from me."

  Paul glanced down. In his haste and excitement he had snatched up one ofthe beautiful small swords when he leaped from the boat, but he had beenunconscious of it. He was yet free and
he held a sword in his hand. One ofthe men who was holding Jim Hart suddenly kicked him to make him keepquiet, and Paul's wrath blazed up under the double incentive of the blowand the sneering face of Francisco Alvarez.

  The lad rushed forward, sword in hand, and one of the soldiers raised hismusket. Alvarez pushed the weapon down.

  "Since this young rebel wants to fight, and has a stolen sword of mine inhis hand," he said, "he can fight with me. I will give him that honor."

  So speaking Alvarez drew his own sword and held up the blade to the lightuntil it glittered. A shout of approval arose from the soldiers, but LongJim cried out:

  "It ain't fair! It ain't right to take one uv your kind uv weepins an'attack him! It's murder! Let me loose an' I'll fight you with rifles."

  "Have you got that ruffian securely bound?" asked Alvarez.

  "Yes," replied one of his men.

  "Then I'll teach this youth a lesson, as I said."

  Paul had stopped in his rush, and suddenly he became cool and collected.

  "Don't you be afraid for me, Jim," he said. "I can take care of myself,and I'll fight him."

  Alvarez laughed derisively and the others echoed the laugh of theirmaster, but Paul held up his own sword, also, until it glittered in thelight. Every nerve and muscle became taut, and the blood went back fromhis brain, leaving it cool and clear.

  "Come on," he said to Alvarez. "I'm ready."

  They stood in a level glade, and the two faced each other, the sunshinelighting up all the area enclosed by the cypresses. Around them stoodBraxton Wyatt and the followers of Alvarez.

  FOOTNOTES:

  [Footnote B: It is probable that the bluff, indicated by Paul, is the oneon which the present city of Memphis stands.]