The Keepers of the Trail

ll gully, so thickly covered with vines and bushes, that it was almost like a subterranean channel, allowed them to go much nearer. There lying hidden until twilight, they distin

n' when it does come free it comes a-poppin'. It's Jim tellin' them warriors what he thinks of 'em. He's tellin' 'em what scalawags they are, an' how their fathers an' mothers a

. His words shot forth in a stream and Henry knew that the savages were writhing in anger at his taunts. The report of a rifle came suddenly and echoed through the darkening forest. When the

An' did you ever hear him do better? Thar ain't a word in the hull Shawnee an' Miami languages that he hasn't used on 'em an' a sprinkling

the woods. Henry and his comrade debated as they lay in the little gully. Should they try to get in to their comrades? Or should they t

be me," s

at it, but you always take the most dangerous part. It's nothin

was invisibl

y called a lawn festival. That's what you're going to have, a lawn festival. While I'm gone you'll walk about here and pick flowers f

it ain't no hard job fur me to hang 'b

e as you reasonably can, Sol, and if we come out and give the howl of the

in' ag'in, but not doin' any yellin'. So they haven't hit a

st possessed, creeping closer and closer and ever closer, until he could see, despite the darkness, the painted forms of Miami and Shawnee warriors in the thickets, all looking up at the point where the crevice in

fire at the hidden mark. Then he heard two impacts of the bullet, first as it struck upon stone, and then as glancing, it fell among th

at him as a target. He would even mark off spots on his chest and offer prizes to any one who might hit them, but he knew very well that none of the

uage, and the present occasion was better than any other that Henry could remember. Events, chief of which was a successful def

you Shawnees an' Miamis, an' Wyandots, why are you waitin' down thar when jest a few uv us are up here, ready to give you welcome? I don't think you're re'lly warriors. You're jest old squaws paint

een so exultant. They were confident, too, that they could hold the narrow opening indefinitely, else he would not have sent forth such intolerable taunts. He made his position a little easier and again laughed deep i

, an' plenty of cool runnin' water! An' ef you want our scalps you'd never find grander heads uv ha'r. They're the finest an' longest an' thickest that ever grew on the head uv man. They're jest waitin' to be took. Any warrior who took one uv 'em would be made a chief right away. Why don't you come o

as still in his grandest form, and although many Indian chiefs were great orators, masters of taunt and

fle. I hear the wind blowin' too, but it don't bring me no sound 'cept that uv dogs barkin', low-down curs that would run away from a chipmunk with their tails atween their legs. I'm gittin' mighty tired now uv waitin' fur t

rage from the brush, and H

Jim! Well done,

tened his voice

, hev gone to sleep, leavin' me to welcome the guests, when they stan' afore our door. I'm waitin'! I've b

ushed up the slope. There was a puff of smoke from the cleft in the cliff and the foremost warrior fell, shot squarely through the forehead. A second puff and a second warrior was gone to

is breath. "Splendid shooting! They're bold war

the dense thicket or behind stony outcroppings, and again the

' the gushin' fountains, an' the wreaths uv rose leaves to wrap aroun' your necks, an' the roses droppin' from the ceilin' on the table loaded with ven'son, an' turkey, an' wild pigeons, an' rabbits an

ughed deep in his throat. He knew how the taunt stung the Indians, and

ow to live! The tables are all set an' the couches are beside 'em. The hummin' birds' tong

ild scene lost in the vast green wilderness. But he was sure that the Indians would not return to a headlong charge. The li

thar in the woods, whar I can't see you. Five minutes more an' the invites are all withdrawed. Then the eatin' an' the singin'

re consumed with rage. Those whom they wished to take were so near and so few a

anness. Their ancestors had been buzzards feeding on offal, they themselves were mangy, crippled and deformed, and, when the few that were left alive by the white men returned home, they would be set to work cooking, and caring for the l

it a poor amusement to fight with such men, but when they finished with their eating and drinking and sleeping they might go north to the Indian villages and whip the warriors in the presence of their squa

the red men to the quick. He knew that they were lying in the bushes, their hearts beating heavily with anger and the hot breath burning their lips. Two

es might fail his acute sense of hearing would reveal the approach of any enemy. But as he lay close he again laughed inwardly more than once. The three were certainly holding the grotto in most gallant fas

the cliff, nor did any come from the Indians in the thickets. Apparently the whole place was a wilderness, as lone and desolate as it was when it first emerged from the sea. Nowher

just how he would do it, but such was his confidence that he felt q

to lie within a couple of hundred yards of the besieging force, and not fear de

of weather, and intent upon his task, took no note of it, except to be glad that it had come, because it

m distinctly, about thirty warriors, mostly of the Shawnee tribe, with their head chief, Red Eagle himself, present as a leader, and the two renegades Braxton Wyatt and Blackstaffe. Henry noted Blackstaffe and Wyat

after the Fallen Timbers, where Wayne crushed the allied tribes. Now he was a young man, tall, heavily built and tanned almost as dark as an Indian by weather. He and Braxton Wyatt had become c

emorial custom of his race and, in fighting the white people, he was fighting those who would some day, far distant though it might be, turn the great hunting grounds into farms. Henry, so mu

they imagined that all of the five were now inside, and it would rejoice the heart of Shawnee and Miami alike if they could slay them all, or better still, take them alive, and put them to

veral warriors were on watch near the mouth of the cave, and that those in the main body would take their ease before the coals. His surmise proved to be correct, as they appeared to relax and to be

ound the fire no more desolate scene might have been witnessed on the continent. The old, primeval world had come back, and forgotten monsters ranged the wood

Paul or it might have been some dim heritage from a dimmer past that made him, as he lay there under the soaking bushes, call up visions of the great beasts that once stalked the earth, the mammoth and the mastod

present and the living and throbbing realities of life. With his rifle he was more than a match for any beast t

rawn their blankets over their heads. The fire was a great mass of coals and Henry knew that it threw out an abundant heat

riek, and now a howl. In spite of himself the ancient monsters of the primeval world came back again and these were the sounds th

e chilled to some extent by the cold rain, and, after such a long silence, would naturally relax their vigilance. He had protected his weapons from th

o play all his natural and acquired powers. An eye looking down would have taken him for a large animal stalking his prey with infinite cunning

series of muscular efforts. It was painfully slow, but it was necessary, because the Indian ears

at last he saw one, a Shawnee warrior crouched in the lee of a huge tree trunk to shelter h

d slowly on, infinite patience allied with infinite skill. If there was anything in heredity and reincarnation he was the greatest tracker and hunter in that old primeval world, where such skill ranked first among human qualities. As always with him, his will and courage rose with the danger. Crouch

ne that would have appalled an ordinary scout and stalker, but which drew from him only supreme courage and utmost mastery in woodcraft.

rect among some bushes, his rifle in the crook of his arm. He seemed discontented with his situation-even the savage can get too much of cold and wet-and presently he moved a li

least one, and bearing that fact in mind his progress became still slower. He merely went forward inch by inch, and he was so careful that the bushes above him did not shake.

t broken by the figure of any warrior, and he began to wonder. Could the vigilance of the savages have relaxed? Was it

rprise and the single second of time was worth diamonds and rubies to him. Dropping his rifle he reached out both powerful hands and seized the warrior. The loud cry of alarm that had started from the chest never got past the barrier of those fingers, and the comp

y would reach the warriors below, and then the whole yelling pack would be upon him. The warrior's hands grasped his wrists and pulled at them frantically. He was a powerful savage with muscles like kn

out would have thrust his knife at once into the heart of the warrior. It would have been the safest way, but Henry could not do it. He saw the great chest of the savage tremblin

s the last sentinel, and as he approached the ent

Don't fire! I

e the whisp

Henry, we'

hand and that of Tom Ross meeting in a powerful grasp, while Paul and Long Jim,

d you git in, Henr

on the other as an escort. I told them that of all places in the world this was the one to which I

in, Henry, no matter how you got

inside. I think I'll let him k

ed a moment or two in breathless silence, and then on the edge of the shrieking wind came a similar reply, fierce, long and s

t he's there, and he knows that I'm her

om the valley below. It was so fierce tha

down there, I wonde

o choke the breath out of one of their best warriors.

s nothing but the shriek of the wind th

u been besieged h

them may have been in this grotto once. At any rate a band started up here and w

If they can't rush us they'll at least hold us three or four days, or try mighty hard. But I want a

nk deep at the p

ou're mighty tired. You've been trampin' about in the woods

t was beginning to feel the effects of his immens

y found out we wuz here Tom went out one night an' killed a deer an' brought him in. While he wuz gone I took the trouble to gather some woo

s back, "and it was cooked by an Indian, the best cook in all these wood

arefully in a corner an

n they come visitin'," he said, "they'd

d caught sight of Shif'less Sol and were pursuing him. But no sound came out of the vast dark void, save the shriek of the wind and the beat of the rain. Henry had no doubt th

ft behind. The shiftless one like himself was a true son of the wilderness and he would be as clever as a fox in fi

but I managed to keep my blanket dry. If the warriors attack, Jim, wake me up

of warmth and that of success. What a glorious place it was! All things are measured by contrast. After the black and cold wilderness, swarming with dangers, this was the other extreme. The C?sar in his

one ceiling, carved by the ages, and beneath him was a stone floor made by the same master hand. The leaves were very soft to one so thoroughly hardened of bo

had acquired the power of complete relaxation when the time came. Now all of

TNO

is told in the author's no